by John Foster
“No, not at all, take your time,” said West.
As the others left the room, Leda walked to the table and bowed her head again and said more words in her language. After she finished she pressed a button and the table started to close up again over the skeleton. As the table folded up into a box, she noticed that the bones had a faint sheen on them that she had not seen before. She thought it must be condensation from the air systems and then watched the lid slide shut with a click. As she turned away, she wondered what secrets the bones still contained and if the answers would be for good or evil.
As West, Madison, and Thomas walked back to the bridge, Madison said, “You know there’s also another equation in the mix here.”
West, looked down to her questioningly.
Madison smiled and said, “If your hypotheses are correct about the burial, then our finding it was timed by the aliens and that’s a little worrisome.”
“Timed?” asked West.
“Yes, and when I say timed, I mean several hundred years or so in order for our technology and interest to be able to detect the burial and the associated features. That might mean they were predicting something was going to happen and that we would need the weapon to deal with it.”
West and Thomas stopped and stared at her and West said, “Okay, that’s a possibility.” And then said, “Something else to worry about.” They started down the corridor again but they hurried a little faster now.
By the second day, they were only 4 systems away from reaching the Tene System. There was a palpable sense of anticipation as the destination grew closer. The crew started to provide updates on equipment status, emergency procedures, and contingency plans in the event that there was a hostile reception.
West came into the command center and sat in his Captain’s chair. He took a sip of his coffee, black and bitter, which seemed to clear his mind as he mentally sorted what needed to be done for the eventual planet fall. He looked over the bridge with Theo at the pilot’s seat, Madison by the science station, and Leda standing by the communication view screen, scanning for any signals.
Feeling restless, he got up and walked to the pilot’s chair where Theo was sitting, and stood beside him, his eyes looking at the view screen and the system chart next to it.
“Any idea of what we’re going to face when we get there?” asked Theo.
“Well, we know we have two competitors that are as eager to get to the weapon as we are,” said West. Madison walked up beside Theo on his other side and was looking at the view screen.
“I suspect that we’re dealing with one human and one alien group, each vying for the prize,” said Madison without looking at them while she picked up a coffee cup and spoon from her station desk.
Theo and West both turned to stare at her, their eyes seeking an explanation. Pretending to not notice their attention, she said nothing.
“Okay, okay, we’re listening, what’ve you got?” said Theo.
“That’s better,” said Madison, a small smile plying at her lips. “At Gobi, we encountered two different parties that both seem to have knowledge of the disc. The aliens are the easy part, as they know of earth, and they employed alien ... creatures as their minions. As we could see in the canyon fight the aliens are for the most part, barely intelligent but extremely strong and capable. Someone or something was directing them. Someone who had the time to find such a creature and then ... tame them. It doesn’t seem likely that any humans would have had the opportunity and the technology or skill to manipulate such a powerful creature. It also appears that there was a second alien type which seemed to be more intelligent. At least one of those was at the canyon fight using the plasma cannon near the end.”
West was nodding his head in agreement, “Go on,” said West.
“The creature at the cannon was probably directing those actually doing the fighting. West saw another creature running from the battle at the very beginning and while I didn’t see it, it appears to have been wearing clothing or other gear that provided some camouflage and was nearly invisible. I think that creature was the leader and actual director of the second group,” said Madison idly mixing the liquid in her cup with a spoon.
“My turn,” said West. Theo and Madison both turned to look at West. Theo was craning his neck to look at West and so West moved forward and turned to the right to face them both. “The first group had been heading to our location at the second tunnel entrance and only veered to the right when they saw the first group fleeing. I think they were heading directly to our position to obtain the disc. At the time, I thought it odd that the one body, clearly one of the thieves in the tunnel, had so much cash on him but what was really odd was that it was from different parts of Terra and it was old currency as well.”
“Why is that relevant?” asked Theo.
“Because someone had to have been from earth to have gathered that much cash and from so many different places. Someone was obviously using money and old money at that, that couldn’t be traced. Those thieves were hired to steal the disc and only a Terran would know where and how to collect that kind of money.”
“So, there’re actually three groups?” said Theo.
“In a way,” said West, and then continued, “The first group in the vehicles were off-worlders who didn’t have ready access to the cash or the means to get it for trying to buy the disc.”
“But why didn’t the off-worlders just steal the disc themselves rather than trust those thieves?” asked Madison.
“I think it was more important to the off-worlders that they not be identified, at least at that point,” said West.
“Who would do that?” asked Theo.
Madison continuing to stir her drink, but more rapidly, said, “it could be any of the mining syndicates or even one of the system colonies, possibly Venus, or even the Mars colonists,” said Madison. “They all have their grievances, although I didn’t think any were that bad that they would resort to murder to achieve some sort of political aim.”
“Or possibly the new Soviets or the Sovar as they call themselves,” said West. Both Theo and Madison looked at him. “I’m not sure about that or why they would do such a thing but I think they’re likely suspects. All of the other suspects already have ties to earth and wouldn’t have to use an intermediary to hire a bunch of thieves,” said West.
Dickens approached and listened in. West glanced over to him and nodded.
“Hmmm, we should probably alert Terran authorities about this,” said Theo.
“I think so too but I don’t want to be recalled either,” said West, “So I’ll have to think it over before we call.”
Theo was watching the star map and called out, “Jump in 10 minutes.”
Everyone looked to the star chart and West continued, “The interesting part is who was the party who leaked the information about the Disc and then gave it to the off-worlders? That’s the person I want to talk to. It would have to be someone who had access to both off-worlders and knowledge of the disc.”
“You think someone on the crew?” asked Madison.
“Probably,” said West his arms crossed and his chin cupped in his hand.
“That’s pretty serious and who would have done such a thing?” asked Theo his eyebrows arching up in a thicket of bristles. “All of our people have been with us for years now,” said Theo.
“I know but I doubt any of the locals would have known about the disc in the first place. We didn’t have any contact with them after the disc was discovered and I think that is sufficient to let them off the hook. That leaves us with one of our own,” said West.
“But whom?” asked Madison.
“Jump starting,” said Theo.
“How long,” asked West.
“About 10 minutes,” said Theo.
The short hyper jumps were not particularly jarring but Theo initiated the warning that one was beginning so that the crew would be ready in the event that anything was amiss and so they could stop if they were doing anyth
ing they didn’t want to be distracted from.
“Here we go,” said Theo. The view screen darkened and the stars started to blink rapidly and then disappeared. The deck crew relaxed and after 10 minutes Theo initiated the warning again that they were coming out of hyper drive. The view screen showed blinking stars and then the blinking slowed and became solid dots of light. Madison’s eyes widened and she said, “My god, what is that,” as she pointed to the view screen.
The journey from Earth had been without incident even when they had passed through the war zone just outside Jo-Tene. The shadow ship had proved itself more than a few times as it slipped in and out of enemy territory. As far as the Nafti were concerned all territory outside of their own was enemy. Zerg stood at the control console watching the stars slide by in the forward view port. The Saars stood to one side of the room in stasis tubes, their features slack and without life. Zerg had lost more than 10 of these creatures but they had accomplished his purpose and the losses were certainly acceptable for what they had gained.
Having the disc had been worth the risk of having the Sovar find out that they had been duped by the Nafti. Even if the Sovar figured out that the Nafti had been involved with the theft of the disc, what could they do? Without the Nafti, they wouldn’t be able to push outward in their quest for territory and conquest. The Nafti had read the Sovar quite well. Not unlike themselves, they could see them for the predators that they were.
The Sovar had been easy to manipulate and had obediently followed the trail to the Soshi planets. The virus that the Nafti had unleashed on the Sovar clones had worked to excite them and push them to seek a cure no matter where it was to be found. It was a simple matter to lead the Sovar to think the birth planet of the Soshi was the source of the cure which was no accident. The Nafti scientists had used the Soshi birth material to create the virus in the first place and then the means to cure it. The Sovar were too unsophisticated to understand the advanced biology that the Nafti had developed to lure them in to do their bidding.
Zerg contemplated the plan that had been hatched more than 100 time units ago. His race had almost been annihilated by the Soshi in the last great war. The war leader of the Nafti had blundered into the Soshi and the fool had fired upon them. Now they were in hiding, striking from the dark and having to abandon their home world.
Now they had the disc and were headed to the planet where the weapon would be. It would be a simple matter of luring the Sovar to the planet, finding the weapon, and then taking it away from them. Then things would change and the Nafti would take their rightful place as leaders of the galaxy.
Before their eyes loomed a huge battle cruiser, burning with jagged holes and torn hull plates twisting and moving with the force of internal explosions.
“Hard about!” yelled West. The Paradig was heading straight to a heaving wreck of a AtVac that was in the process of blowing up. Theo pulled back on the controls, his face contorted as he struggled to guide the ship between glowing parts and flaming projectiles of exploding weapons. Immense flashes of light flared against their view screen as the auto controls dimmed the screen to avoid eye damage. The Paradig, built for speed and maneuverability snapped to the new course as Theo flew it freehand not trusting the ship’s guidance to handle all the obstacles that were barreling in at them.
“My god, we’re gonna hit that ship,” cried one of the crew members.
“No, we’re not, have some faith,” yelled Theo, his hair in wild disarray, looking confident, but his face was beaded with sweat.
“Sensors?” said West in as calm a voice as he could muster.
“Multiple ships in various stages of attack and defense,” said Madison her hands gripping the console she was looking at.
“Dickens, find us a way out of here so we can make another jump, even back to where we came from if necessary,” said West.
“Right, computing course,” said Dickens bent over his console his eyes scanning the blimps and trajectories of ships and missiles.
A sleek needle nosed ship with blasters flaring pulled up to the front of the flaming wreck and opened fire directly on what they all knew in their hearts was the command deck of the destroyed craft.
“It’s a Soshi ship on fire,” said Theo.
“How do you know that?” asked Madison.
“It’s a totally different type and style of construction,” said Theo as he swerved the ship out of harm’s way.
“It is Soshi,” said West. I’ve seen and been on ships that were vaguely similar but much smaller. This must be one of their war ships which I have never seen before. Look at it burn.”
“What are the other ships?” asked Madison gesturing toward the smaller needle nosed ship.
“My guess it’s the Sovar, while alien looking, it has markings that I’ve seen on news video of the ships they use,” said West.
Madison directed the view screens to remain focused on the battle behind them as Theo maneuvered the ship from the area. Theo had automatically switched to a view screen that provided a view towards the bow of the Paradig. Theo in reality had multiple view screens showing the entire 360 degree view around the ship and at any magnification he wanted.
“Full speed Theo,” said West.
“Aye, Captain, full speed it is.”
“Navigation, get us out of here,” said West.
“Nothing available Captain, the battle is in the middle of the hyper drive of this system. We’ll have to run to the other side of the system to get another shot at getting out of here,” said Dickens.
“Get us there then and feed it to Theo,” said West.
“Aye Captain.”
The ship weaved about trying to present as small a target as possible. Both Theo and West looked at each other recognizing that their presence wouldn’t escape notice. They were both hoping that they had enough time to hide among the asteroids and small planets of this system before someone started firing at them.
The great cruiser Petrov moved slowly around the still burning hulk of the Soshi vessel as its fires slowly extinguished themselves in the airless vacuum of space. The command deck was quiet and dark. “Sensors are reporting an unidentified Terran vessel has just entered into the system,” said the remote sensing operator.
“Is it a warship?” asked the Captain.
“It’s too small but it may be a scout,” replied the operator.
“Communications? Alert Commander Dragaan that his prey has arrived,” said the Captain as he turned back to watch the last fires on the Soshi ship sputter out.
Dragaan was in his quarters reviewing his satellite images of Jo-Tene when the communications officer reported to his door with an urgent message. “Compliments of the Captain,” said the messenger.
“Message?” said Dragaan.
“The Terran ship has arrived as you predicted,” said the man.
“Very good, have the Captain turn to follow it but at observation distance,” said Dragaan.
“Very good,” and the man turned and passed through the door which automatically shut.
The hooded man sitting across from Dragaan tapped the arm of the metal chair impatiently. “How did the Terrans find us and why do you hold off from destroying them?” said the man in a rough muffled voice.
“I have to assume the earth people had seen the disc prior to our agents stealing it. Their presence may be used to our benefit in that they are experts in finding lost items and we are not. It is in our interests to let them find the weapon and then we simply take it from them,” said Dragaan looking quite unperturbed.
The hooded man stood and started to pace. “You have them in your power. Are you going to squander it?” said the Commissar, his arms waving.
Dragaan stood and watched the man for a moment. “I will let them go for the moment,” said Dragaan and in any event, “Our spy will keep us informed and we’ll act accordingly,” said Dragaan.
“Your spy! He is worthless scum. Nothing more than a greedy dog lapping at your feet read
y to betray his capitalist masters for the feel of a coin in his hand,” said the Commissar.
“None the less, we will let them escape. Our lap dog will have no value to us if he is a prisoner as well. No, we’ll let the capitalists escape and make their way to Jo-Tene,” said Dragaan.
The door chimed to his quarters. “Yes?” said Dragaan.
“Captain’s compliments, but he reports that a Soshi vessel is in pursuit of the Terran vessel,” said the messenger.
“Order the Captain to close with the Soshi and eliminate it,” said Dragaan.
“The captain requests your presence on the command bridge,” said the courier.
“Tell him I’ll be there presently,” said Dragaan.
“West, we’ve got company and they’re coming in fast. Looks like a Soshi vessel,” said Theo.
“Battle stations!” West flicked the red button on his command chair. The ship speakers blared the warning tone for 10 seconds and then abruptly ended. “Can we outrun them?” asked West.
“Yeah, but I don’t think we can outrun their missiles if they decide to loosen them,” answered Theo.
West was leaning over a star hologram of the system. “Come about to the coordinates that I’m feeding to navigation,” said West.
“Aye, Captain,” said Dickens.
“Let’s head for those asteroids,” said West.
“Coming about,” said Theo.
“Sensors indicate the Soshi vessel is accelerating and targeting but with what I’m not sure,” said the Madison.
“Evade Theo and make it fast,” said West, the pace picking up and the urgency palpable to them all.
“Doing the best I can,” answered Theo, his brow furrowed and flushed.
The Paradig moved abruptly as the ship turned and rotated sharply to change direction and to head into the asteroid belt.
“Another ship, a Sovar is closing on the Soshi and, and, is firing on the Soshi,” said Madison whose voice had risen.
The Soshi ship abruptly turned to face the oncoming Sovar vessel and a volley of missiles erupted from the Soshi towards the enemy ship.
“Ouch, those were meant for us,” said Theo watching the rear-view port as a stream of red streaks headed towards the Sovar ship.
