by R. E. Weber
Sensing the enemy vessel’s failing systems, the two attack cruisers ceased their bombardment of energy pulses and released a swarm of missiles, which accelerated rapidly towards the cruiser. With its remaining energy weapons, the enemy ship fired back at the missiles, but they were far too manoeuvrable, each time dodging the bolts with split second efficiency. One by one the missiles struck the enemy vessel tearing it to pieces, and as a final missile slammed into the engine housing, the vessel exploded in a brilliant flash of light.
*
From the bridge of the attack cruiser Zehur Alpha 207, the Polisian commander breathed an inward sigh of relief as he stared at the expanding cloud of debris that had been the enemy vessel moments before. Then he opened his companion, selected the Affinity Navy command station as the recipient and began to speak.
‘Commander Raltess Ham, reporting. Enemy target has been terminated. Vessels Zehur Alpha 203 and 206 have been destroyed, with total loss of command crews. Zehur Alpha 209 has been incapacitated. The Null Conduit Accelerator has been completely destroyed, and no survivors from the enemy vessel have been detected. All mission parameters achieved.’
The commander terminated the message, then stared back at the starscape and the shimmering cloud of debris. It had been just days since his promotion, and he had already commanded an attack fleet for the Affinity Navy high command on a covert, high-risk mission to destroy a renegade attack cruiser, resulting in the deaths of dozens of Affinity Navy officers and crew. He sincerely hoped that not every mission would be so eventful.
26 – The Other Journal
You know, a thought occurred to me this morning. I think it was because I’d noticed the time as I’d woken and then again in what seemed like a few minutes, only to find that a whole hour had passed. The first and most obvious answer was that I’d drifted off to sleep again in the meantime, but I was sure I hadn’t. So I think the real reason was to do with the way I’d perceived time. Because my head had been so full of other thoughts, I hadn’t noticed time passing. I know that might sound obvious and a little dumb, but it made me think about when we were in the ship with Mulha Ran, making our escape from their base. I remember thinking how long it had taken for their missiles to catch up with us. I don’t know an awful lot about H’th’hka tech, but I do know this: they should have caught us up sooner, certainly before we’d reached that planet’s ring system anyway. It was almost as if time had ran faster for us than for them. But how had the Metah Dah managed it? Their ships were ancient and falling to pieces, so unless they were using some super-advanced alien tech – which I didn’t see any sign of – it had to be something else.
That was when I had my revelation. It wasn’t the ship but something outside it. I remember just before the missiles had caught up with us, I’d had this weird feeling, just for a second. It was as if we’d just come out of a tunnel. OK, so you’re wondering what the hell I’m talking about. Well, it’s like when you’re on a train, in a long tunnel. All around you outside it’s black. It’s also really noisy because the sound of the train is bouncing off the tunnel walls. Then you come out of the tunnel, it’s really bright, your ears pop, and it feels weird for a second. In a way, it was like that. The ship was in a tunnel where time ran quicker. Then we came out, jumped back into normal time, and for a second I felt disorientated. I know it sounds crazy, but I’m convinced I’m right. Not only that, I think I know where the tunnel came from. It was a Star Wraith. Mulha Ran told me that when they pass through space, they churn up space-time behind them, like a ship on Earth leaving a wake in the ocean. Maybe we’d flown along the wake of a Star Wraith where time had ran quicker.
How long the wake had been there, I don’t know. From what he told me, they remain in space for millions of years, so it might have been ancient. Then again, it could have been recent. Perhaps Mulha Ran had even seen the creature himself and plotted its wake so he could use it later. I bet that’s why he built the base on the planet. Maybe the wake and the planet are somehow locked together, in orbit around the star. And I bet the shield at the top of the main tunnel was just a decoy, and they’d really used the Star Wake to enter and leave the base undetected. The Star Wake. That sounds cool, doesn’t it? Perhaps the name will stick and one day everybody will use it. Then again, perhaps not. In any case, I think my theory holds water, even if it does seem rather incredible.
Of course, I haven’t told anybody yet because it’s just a theory. I’ve got no evidence to prove it, just a wild theory that happens to fit the facts. I’m sure that if it’s scientifically possible, the Affinity would have already thought of it and sent a team to investigate. So what use would it be for me to give them my theory? After all, I’m not a scientist, just a tech specialist.
Still, it blows your mind to think about the possibilities. Just imagine if there are creatures like that still living in the Universe. What would they think of us? Would we just be like insects to them – insignificant and barely noticeable? Or would they not even notice us at all and drift right by? Either way, I’d love to see one. Perhaps one day, I’ll look into it further. Maybe I’ll mention it to Larissa. After all, she’s a biologist and seems to know about living things. Then again, the word biology probably doesn’t even apply to them because they’re so far beyond anything that we can understand. She’ll probably just think I’m crazy, if she doesn’t already.
There’s so much about what’s happened to me recently I don’t understand, its mind boggling. For a start, when we were with the He’tal, I didn’t notice any young ones around. Why was that? Are they all hidden away somewhere else, perhaps at the fall-back base? Or is it simply that there aren’t any for some reason? Have they chosen not to breed or is it that they can’t? I never got around to asking Mulha Ran about that. I’m sure he would have told me if I’d asked, so I’m kicking myself right now.
Then there’s the question of how they’d stayed hidden for so long. Their technology is old, perhaps decades or even centuries behind the Affinity. So how had they kept their base secret for so long? Even with a Star Wake locked onto that moon so they could take off or land undetected, they would have been spotted elsewhere, surely.
More interestingly though, how had the H’th’hka found them? After all, they don’t have the resources and intelligence the Affinity has. Maybe they’d known for a long time and just waited until they’d withdrawn from the Affinity to attack. Or maybe it was because they were free from Affinity rules and regulations and able to use some unorthodox practices to locate them. The Affinity has strict rules of conduct governing everything – for example, they’re not allowed to monitor or secure the quantum portal network. So maybe the Affinity are tying their hands behind their backs when it comes to tracking down the Metah Dah. Maybe they know how to find them, but aren’t allowed to. Who knows for sure?
On a different matter entirely, it’s so great I can talk to Ruby more easily now. It was a real pain the way things were, sending a message and then not getting a reply for days. Now I get one in a few hours. I know it’s not exactly real-time, but it’s all I’ve got. We’ve been chatting quite a bit since they lifted the restrictions. She’s finding things weird at the moment because the H’th’hka have her down as some kind of messiah. Yet she doesn’t even follow their religion. From what she tells me, she’s following Buddhist teachings nowadays, what with the meditation and all. Still, it makes sense, I suppose. She is, after all, from Sri Lanka and that’s the main religion there.
She said it was weird that she’d never looked into Buddhism when she’d lived on Earth, but now she’s out here, five hundred light-years away, she’s developed more of an interest in it. Perhaps it comforts her to have a link back to Earth. But whatever the reason is, I think it’s helped her because she’s much calmer and more in control now. I’m hoping to get over to see her one of these days, when I have some spare time and she can cover it at her end. I do miss her terribly it has to be said. I wouldn’t tell Larissa that though for obvious reasons.
<
br /> On the subject of Larissa, did I mention that we’re an item now? I can’t believe I’m saying this, but it’s true. She’s amazing. So amazing, I’m surprised she even gives me a second look. I’m a skinny, lanky haired English nerd, with some funny ideas and a weird sense of humour. Perhaps I’ll try and change – you know smarten myself up. Maybe I’ll get my hair cut, like Ruby. Well not like Ruby if you know what I mean, just following her lead. I think Larissa might like that. Then again, what I know about girls you could write on the back of a postage stamp, so I might be barking up the wrong tree. She seems to like me as I am, so as granddad used to say, ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’ Or something like that.
I still think about granddad from time to time. I even dug out that puzzle he gave me the other day. Then I put it away again. I still haven’t got any idea what the code is to open it, and I ain’t gonna force it. He said to me, ‘you’ll know when’. So I just hope I will. I still miss him, even now. I sometimes feel like he’s in the room with me, which is crazy. Don’t worry, I’m not going mad. It’s just a feeling I have. Maybe it’s because I’ve not let go yet. Arrrggghh that sounds like the sort of psychobabble Auntie Annie would have said. I can just hear her now. ‘It’s not healthy all this living in the past.’ I wonder what she’s up to these days? I expect she’s sold the cottage for me and gone back to London. I hope she’s OK. Believe it or not, I even miss her from time to time. I’ve still got a pair of jeans with a faint line down the middle where she used to iron the creases. So one way or another, she’s still with me as well.
But there’s one last thing I wanted to share with you before I close this entry. I’ve noticed that as I write this journal, it’s as if I’m writing it to somebody, but at the same time I know nobody else is reading it. Why am I doing it, you might ask? One way of looking at it is to see it as a message to my future self – a snapshot of my mind if you will. No doubt I’ll look back at this one day and cringe at my stupidity. But somehow, right now, it feels right. Or maybe years in the future, I’ll let my kids and grandkids read it, just like I read my great grandmother’s journal. Then they’ll see what a crackpot I was.
Another way to look at it though is to say that I’m writing it to myself now, and it’s just a way of me thinking things through. I pose a question, think about the answer and then write it down. Either that or I have a split personality and I’m writing it to the other me, the one that comes out at night while I’m asleep. Am I going mad? Some might think that, but I couldn’t possibly comment. Or could I?
27 – Ghosts
‘Five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. OK, stand still, keep quiet, and I’ll try and slap your head.’
‘OK, Granddad.’
‘No, Theo, remember you’re not supposed to talk. If you talk, I’ll hear you, and I’ll know where you are. Now I’ve got to start counting again.’
‘OK, I’ll be quiet,’ said Theo, miming zipping his mouth up as he’d often seen his granddad do.
‘One, two, three, four, five…’
Theo looked at his grandfather and giggled quietly to himself. He knew he had to keep quiet, but he couldn’t help himself. His granddad looked so comical with a pink blindfold on and his wiry grey hair sticking out everywhere, like a mad professor.
Although his granddad had talked about slapping him on the head, Theo knew that a slap really meant a light tap with the palm of his hand. Except of course when it was Theo doing the slapping; then he could slap as hard as he liked.
‘…six, seven, eight, nine, ten. OK, now stand still again and I’ll try and find you. Remember, I can only try and slap your head three times. If I touch any other part of your body, I lose.’
Theo opened his mouth to say ‘OK, granddad,’ then froze. He had to control his urge to talk.
The old man remained still, listening intently as he tried to home in on the breathing of his grandson. He then turned forty-five degrees to his right, took a step forward, reached out with his right hand and lowered it slowly, hoping to find the top of the boy’s head. But to Theo’s delight, his hand passed through thin air about a metre to his right. Theo grinned. Only two tries left.
‘OK, one down, two to go,’ said his grandfather before stepping back into the centre of the room.
Again, he remained silent, turning his head left and right, listening for Theo. Then he took another step forwards, this time to Theo’s left, and lowered his hand, missing Theo’s shoulder by just a few centimetres.
One try left.
His grandfather stepped back once more, stumbling as he caught the edge of the armchair. Then he span himself slowly around and stepped forward, this time in completely the opposite direction. However, all his hand found was the edge of the coffee table, which had been pushed to one side to make space to play the game.
His grandfather had failed on his third and final attempt, and Theo was the winner. His grandfather was today’s slap head. In fact, he was every day’s slap head.
‘OK, granddad, I win again. You can look now,’ said Theo excitedly. But instead of pulling off the blindfold, his grandfather remained in the centre of the room, in silence.
Theo looked up at the old man, confused. Was he OK?
‘Granddad, I’m over here, look.’
Then to Theo’s surprise, his grandfather span himself around once more before stepping towards Theo. He lowered his hand again, this time narrowly missing Theo’s face. Then he stepped back into the centre of the room.
Confused, Theo walked over to his grandfather and began to tug at his trousers.
‘Granddad, it’s over. I’m down here, look.’
But his grandfather faced forward, resolutely ignoring the little boy’s tugging.
Frantically, Theo took hold of his grandfather’s hand and placed it on top of his head.
‘Look, Granddad, I’m here. Take the blindfold off and look at me.’
But instead, his grandfather pulled away his hand, then turned and walked towards the lounge door, still blindfolded and checking his route with his outstretched arms.
‘Granddad, where are you going?’ yelled Theo. But there was no reply.
‘Granddad, don’t go. I’ll let you win. Please don’t leave me.’
Sobbing, Theo followed his grandfather through the door and then screamed. Instead of coming out into the hallway, he was tumbling into a black, bottomless void. His grandfather was nowhere to be seen.
As he continued falling into the darkness, he looked below and spotted a distant figure tumbling end over end into the void with him. It was hard to see who the figure was because it was so far away. Yet despite the distance between them, Theo was convinced that it was Mulha Ran. Somehow, he could feel that it was him.
*
With a stomach churning lurch, Theo woke from his vivid dream into the darkness of his quarters. Startled, he sat up and took a swig of water from a bottle on his bedside table. Then he commanded the lights back on.
He sat for a few seconds to allow his pulse to slow. Then he stood up, enabled his companion’s mirror function and stared at the gaunt, pale face looking back at him. He looked stressed and exhausted. He hadn’t slept at all well since returning from the mission.
Irritated at the uncomfortable feeling the dream had impressed on him, Theo closed his eyes and focused on his thoughts. Although he’d often thought about his grandfather, it had been a long time since he’d dreamt about him. Even though the image of him had brought Theo some comfort, the situation had not. Why had his granddad been ignoring him despite his continued attempts to tell him where he was? And why had the dream ended with his favourite subject: falling from a great height?
Desperate to shake the feeling of unease, Theo walked over to the drink dispenser and requested some calming raja tea. Thirty seconds later, a tray slid out of a slot in the wall holding a mug of steaming liquid; Theo still preferred ceramic, Earth-style mugs, even if they did occasionally scold his hands. He took the drink, walked back to his bed, sat do
wn and began to sip the warming liquid.
Despite the calming effect of the tea, something still troubled Theo. Whether it was the sensation of falling from a great height once more or something else, Theo wasn’t sure. He thought about his grandfather and the little boy that he had once been – indeed, in the dream he’d even felt like a six-year-old. He’d been desperate to get his granddad’s attention, yet despite his repeated attempts to let him know where he was and that the game was over, he’d ignored Theo, seemingly deliberately. As Theo focused on that thought, he felt uneasy once more. There was something about being ignored that spoke to him. Even though it disturbed him a little, somehow it seemed relevant.
Theo put down the mug of tea, stood up once more and began to pace around the room, repeating the phrase again and again: why did he ignore me? He stopped for a moment and stared at the floor, continuing to mumble to himself. If anybody could see him now, they would think he’d gone mad. As he looked down at the cold grey floor beneath him, a shadow caught his eye from the corner of the room. Startled, Theo looked up and turned towards where it had seemed to appear. But there was nothing to see.
Convinced for a moment that somebody had been in the room with him, Theo walked shakily back to his bed, lay down, pulled the bed cover completely over him and turned off the lights; even though he didn’t believe in ghosts, the child-like instinct to hide under the covers was comforting. Closing his eyes, he lay as motionless as possible, hoping that the stillness would relax him. However, all he could think about was the presence that had seemed to appear in his room moments before. Despite all common sense and reason telling him otherwise, he’d been convinced that it had been Mulha Ran, although he had no idea why. Had he perhaps died from his injuries and come to haunt Theo? The idea was at odds with everything that Theo had ever believed in. Yet somehow, it remained in his mind.
