Titan Encounter

by Kyle Pratt

  He recalled Naomi’s stated willingness to kill Titans and Mara’s attempted suicide when she realized she was one. They would not want to remain. He sighed. “We may never have the means to leave.” Even if we all wanted to.

  “I’ve asked technicians at our space dock orbiting Lepanto to repair your vessel.” He smiled weakly. “Even an old admiral has some influence.”

  “Really? When will it be ready? We can help.”

  “I’m afraid your ship is of low priority, but it should be ready when we get to the system in just over a week.”

  “A week? Why so long to get there?”

  “Remember, we are traveling at sub-light speed.”

  “But Terra Nova was an FTL vessel, the biggest one ever built.”

  Leonidas nodded. “Was is the key word in your sentence. Earth forces hit the ship several times during the battle, damaging the FTL engines. They failed after a few short jumps. We’ve been trying to fix them for years. Our repair dock is attempting to salvage the needed parts from the many destroyed ships still in orbit around the planet.”

  Justin eyes drifted down to the table as he allowed all he had heard to sink in. Finally, he lifted his gaze. “It seems that I have a week to get to know you before I make a decision.”

  The faintest hint of a smile crossed the old man’s face. “That is all I hoped for—right now.”

  Justin leaned forward. “Where are my friends? We have a lot to talk about.”

  * * *

  Justin cautiously opened the hatch wondering how he might be received. A chair crashed into the wall beside his head and exploded into fragments. Instinctively he dove behind the door.

  “Get out or die!”

  From behind the door he called out, “Naomi it’s me, Justin.”

  Silence. Then a sheepish voice, “Really? Justin is it you?”

  “Yes. I’m going to open the door and…”

  The hatch flew from his hand and Naomi swept him into her arms. “They said you were alive, but…I didn’t know if….” She kissed him. “You should have told me.” With her arms still around him, they stumbled back into the room. Her eyes locked on him. You could have—should have—contacted me this way.

  They taught me techniques they said would keep my thoughts private, but I couldn’t be sure. You were the test.

  Confusion clouded her face.

  If I could get close, without you knowing, then I would know my thoughts were private.

  Minutes slipped by as they sat beside one another holding hands. Only occasionally a sound escaped their lips as Justin described the light that he thought was the ship, the pack of telepathic dogs and being stunned.

  Naomi nodded. When I couldn’t contact you, I dressed as best I could against the cold and opened the hatch. They were waiting for me. We fought. I think I hurt one or two, but they had the advantage of both surprise and some form of stun weapon. I awoke here.

  Have they treated you well?

  Yes, I guess, but when they told me they were Titans I… Her eyes darted about the spartanly furnished room and rested first on a busted table in the corner and then on the shattered chair by the door. I broke off contact. She giggled.

  Justin smiled then told of awakening in a space place and the mind probe interrogation. Finally, he described meeting Leonidas, discovering that he was on Terra Nova, and the older man’s admission that he led the Titan fleet in the Battle of Earth. Naomi was familiar with time dilation, but it still took several minutes to explain that the people who rescued them were the Titans of the Titanomachy War and the Battle of Earth.

  Justin tried to explain how his own feelings had evolved over the last two days as they continued to talk. Finally he sighed. I guess what I’m trying to say is after they knew that I wasn’t an enemy, that I was a Titan, they treated me well. He held up his hand showing the several fingers still bandaged due to frostbite. I’ve walked all over Exodus….

  Naomi didn’t understand and let Justin feel her puzzlement.

  Terra Nova. They changed the name of the ship after they captured it at the Battle of Earth.

  You sound like you want to stay here.

  We are Titans.

  But these are the people who attacked Earth. The war they waged destroyed the United Planets and allowed the Nephilim to take control. How can we stay?

  Justin stood and looked about the compartment. We don’t have to stay here. Well, as long as you promise not to hurt anyone.

  She nodded. I promise, as long as I am with you and they stay back.

  He smiled. That was probably the best he could hope for now. Then let’s go back to Exodus. They stood. We’ll see Mara. Justin stepped toward the door then paused and turned. “And dinner tonight will be a bit of a surprise. Try to keep an open mind. Okay?”

  “Okay,” she said hesitantly. As they walked to the door she asked, “What took you so long to get here?”

  “Actually it was you that came to me.”

  “Huh?”

  He gave her a quick grin. “Because of our injuries, they rushed Mara and me back to the main fleet where they had hospital facilities, but they kept you on a ship in the Lepanto system. Shortly after they discovered we were Titans I asked to see you. They rotated your ship back to the main fleet as soon as they could.” Stepping out the door he said, “I came here as soon as you arrived.”

  She smiled at him.

  “And when I got here you threw a chair at me.”

  She thumped his chest. “I didn’t know…”

  He laughed, as they walked down the passageway hand-in-hand.

  * * *

  Justin and Naomi packed into a shuttle with people who had completed a week of duty in and around Lepanto. The two found a seat near a portal on the crowded shuttle, and after it launched took in the vista of other vessels heading toward a giant microworld.

  That’s our destination, Exodus or Terra Nova,” Justin said.

  Throngs of people swarmed about them as several shuttles emptied into the Exodus docking port. Walking across the platform Justin said. “Yesterday morning, after I finished what Leonidas called, ‘primary school mental training,’ he offered to get someone to show me around.”

  Naomi’s eyes narrowed. “A spy.”

  “I thought of that, so I told him I already had someone in mind.”

  Oh, who is it?”

  Up ahead in the crowd a pregnant woman waved.

  “Her,” he said waving back. “I think you’ll like Becca; she’s a norm.” He said as he walked towards her.

  “Why would that make me like her?”

  You can read her thoughts. It’s against all Titan rules of decorum, but I wanted to know if she had been told to hide anything from me.

  Was she?

  No. As they approached, Justin introduced the two women.

  “You made a pregnant woman show you around?” Naomi said.

  “I was glad to do it.”

  Smiling at his guide, Justin said, “You didn’t have to come here. I could have….”

  She shook her head and smiled. “No, that’s not why I’m here. My husband is coming on another shuttle.”

  “Glad to hear it,” Justin said. Looking back and forth between the women he asked, “Should we wait and meet your husband?”

  “No. He will be stuck here with his platoon for a while and I know you want to see Mara. Go ahead and, if she is well enough, bring her to dinner tonight.”

  “Dinner?” Naomi said with some surprise. “Perhaps we should not. Your husband is…”

  “It’s fine. He wanted to meet all of you and,” she patted her stomach, “cooking is about all I can do now.”

  As they walked away from Becca, Naomi shot Justin a glance. I sensed the baby’s mind reaching out to us. Is her husband a Titan?

  Yes.

  We are eating with one of them?

  Justin shook his head. Is it possible that much of what they taught you in the Empire is a lie?

  From what you have told m
e, they do not deny the worst of what we both have been taught.

  Just try to keep an open mind.

  She stopped and took his arm. “Try to remain skeptical.”

  “They did save us on Lepanto and in a few days we will know if they have repaired our ship.”

  “And if they let us, we should leave.”

  “They’ve been kind and apparently honest.”

  “Don’t forget, they are genetically enhanced killers.”

  The last moments of Garrett’s life flashed through Justin’s mind. “They deny being genetically enhanced and whatever they are, so are we.”

  “We are not killers and we are hundreds of years removed from them. We may be their descendants, but these are the creatures that killed hundreds of millions.”

  Justin nodded. Leonidas, and others, had admitted their guilt, but for hardened mass-murderers, they seemed strangely troubled by the events.

  She took his arm and pulled him in close. “I could never stay with these people.”

  He sighed. “Okay, when Surfeit is ready, we’ll collect Mara and leave.”

  Alarms sounded.

  Chapter 18

  “General quarters, general quarters, all hands man your battle stations.” The message seemed to come from everywhere.

  Justin’s eyes flashed right and left as the crowd hurried in all directions. He looked for his guide, Becca, but she was already lost in the multitude that now flowed toward every exit. Turning to Naomi he asked, “Do you think it’s a drill?”

  Naomi, still holding him by the arm, shook her head. “Were they listening? Did they hear our plan to leave?”

  “Bring an entire ship to battle stations because we want to leave?”

  A stubborn expression covered her face and, with a shrug she asked, “What’s your plan? What should we do?”

  He cursed the alarm as he tried to think. “Let’s go to Mara.”

  Even as they hurried from the docking platform, people shut some of the hatches and locked them down. With Justin in the lead they joined others heading down a wide passageway toward the central core of Exodus.

  Entering the open expanse of the habitat, Naomi slowed then stopped. “It is huge—and beautiful.” The crowd attempted to flow around, but some jostled her as they passed.

  Justin followed her eyes as they drifted along the arc of the ship and the buildings, farms, lakes and rivers that seemed to hang from the sky. After a few seconds he stepped toward her. “Yes, lovely.” He took her hand, “but let’s keep moving.”

  Within minutes, they trotted up the walkway that, just two days before, he and Leonidas had casually walked down. Few people were visible as they reached the top of the hill.

  The alarm stopped as thy neared the clinic door and, the voice from everywhere announced, “Condition one, set throughout the ship.”

  “Condition one? What does that mean?” he asked rhetorically. The clinic door slid open.

  “The ship is ready for battle,” Naomi said following him in.

  “How do you know that? Where you in the navy?” Justin picked up speed.

  “I was trained as a Marine.”

  Justin raced around the final corner to Mara’s room. Two armed men came down the hall. He stopped abruptly.

  “Are you Justin, Justin Garrett?” one of them asked.

  Naomi turned the corner and slammed into his back.

  A third man pushed Mara in a wheelchair out of the room.

  Justin smiled at his sister. “How are you doing?”

  She smiled weakly. “Getting better.”

  The other man repeated his question. “Are you Justin Garrett?”

  Naomi stepped forward. What do they want? Where are they taking Mara?

  Justin felt her fear.

  Her eyes darted between him and the marines. When they get closer, we could take them.

  Out the door came Thor, his tongue hanging to the side. The dog seemed to smile and that reassured Justin. He took Naomi’s hand and held tight. And after we ‘take them’ then what? “Yes, I’m Justin.”

  “Fleet Admiral Leonidas requests you follow us to combat.” The two-armed men moved past Justin and Naomi and disappeared around the corner. As Mara rolled by, Justin noticed the medic insignia on the sleeve of the man pushing her. Momentarily, he touched his sister’s hand, then turned to follow.

  Mara looked over her shoulder and smiled at him again. He knew she was pleased to see him, but it wasn’t the smile that told him so. Even with his minimal training, he now sensed her emotions and thoughts and knew she felt nothing radiating from him. He mused how much things had changed in just a couple of days. Out of politeness, he blocked out her mind.

  As they exited, a breathless Becca came toward the clinic. When her eyes rested on Mara in the wheelchair, she held up her arm, “Stop.”

  Everyone halted.

  Becca bent over and breathed deeply. “Where…are you…taking…my patient?”

  The soldiers quickly explained their orders and the medic then discussed Mara’s condition and care with Becca.

  Justin grinned that armed Titan soldiers stopped and explained themselves to a winded, pregnant normal human.

  “Okay, if you feel up to it Mara, but,” Becca turned to the medic, “you get her back here as soon as we secure from general quarters.”

  The group moved on as Becca continued to the clinic. Thor lead, followed by the two-armed marines. Mara and the medic came next. Everyone moved quickly behind the trotting dog.

  Justin followed the others pondering how Thor seemed to know where they were going. Naomi jogged to his side and he locked eyes with her. They said, Leonidas ‘wants us to follow them to combat?’ I don’t hear any shooting, any combat. What do you think they meant?

  Naomi smiled at him. Military vessels navigate from the Bridge, but they fight from the Combat Center. For some reason the admiral wants us there.

  * * *

  Justin had visited the farms and communities that made up the core of Exodus, but now, with his friends, he followed the marines into the superstructure. This part of the vessel looked like the interior of a ship, gray and austere. They passed through several airtight doors. When he rounded a corner, Justin saw two marines standing on either side of a large, airtight hatch. As they approached, one of the guards opened the door and stood aside.

  Once within, their armed escort reported to the admiral and then departed, but the medic and Thor remained nearby. The compartment was roughly square with displays and consoles along the bulkheads and down the middle of most of it. The wall farthest from them presented a digital display of a solar system. Immediately in front of it was a large holographic map of part of the system. Justin could see a star, several planets and comets along with a host of nearby vessels. Leonidas moved with several other officers toward the holo display.

  Justin looked down at Mara in her chair, took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. Leaning down he whispered, “I came to see you the last two days, but you were always asleep.”

  “They told me. I’m sorry I missed you.”

  A tiny red light flashed on the wheelchair. For the first time Justin noticed a tube from the chair to Mara’s arm. The medic came up and made adjustments and the light went out.

  Naomi moved closer and with a tilt of her head directed his attention back to the display. In a low voice she said, “The bulk of the Titan fleet is in the Lepanto system Kuiper belt.”

  Wondering why that was significant, he whispered agreement.

  “But, see those two red dots? Those are unidentified ships.”

  As she spoke, the display zoomed in on the area around the frozen planet of Lepanto. Leonidas gestured toward two trajectory lines arching from the jump gate. Justin nodded. Apparently, two ships entered the system using the gate. Immediately upon exiting, the two vessels veered away from the debris field and were now on an arching course toward the yellow star at the center of the system. He fixed his gaze on Naomi. I guess we caused similar
excitement when we arrived.

  Naomi smiled.

  Justin’s eyes drifted to his left past a dozen men and women staring at consoles until they settled upon an older man standing alone at the far end of the compartment. Mr. Green. He fought to contain the thoughts and the emotions the erupted with seeing one of his interrogators from a couple of days ago.

  Green nodded to Justin, and then turned to the Admiral. “The captain of the lead vessel has ordered a search of the system.”

  Leonidas kept his eyes on the holographic display. “What are they looking for?”

  Green’s eyes closed and his head drifted down. Seconds passed then, with eyes still closed, he spoke. “His orders are to retrieve three fugitives. Two are wanted as Titans.”

  It felt to Justin like every eye fixed on him and his companions.

  Admiral Leonidas turned from the display and for the first time acknowledged the presence of Justin and the others. With a motion of his arm, he invited them to approach the holo display. “Our ship database is four centuries out of date. Can you tell us anything about these vessels?” The admiral nodded to a technician and the detailed image of two ships appeared before them.

  Instantly Justin recognized one of the vessels. “The smaller one is the Acheron, a pirate ship.”

  “Pirate ship?” Leonidas repeated with surprise in his voice.

  Mara leaned forward for a better look and then groaned. “Ferren? He’s still following us?”

  “It is worse than that,” Naomi added, “The larger ship is an imperial reconnaissance vessel.”

  Leonidas sighed. “What weapons do they have?”

  Justin described the Acheron missile launchers and lasers. “I don’t know what the imperial ship has.” Everyone in the group turned to Naomi.

  “I hate the Nephilim, but I am a loyal citizen of the Empire, a soldier. I will not tell you how to destroy an imperial ship.”

  Leonidas frowned. “You’re a Titan and the Nephilim are hunting for you. I strongly suspect they will kill you if you fall into their hands.”

  “I am not a Titan. I am a clone. I was created to….” Her voice trailed off into silence.

  The admiral looked at her incredulously. Then the word came slowly from his mouth, “Clone?” He shot a questioning glance at the medic who shook his head. “Talk to him about the details. You’re not a clone,” he waved his hand between Naomi and Mara, “but you two are sisters.”