The Dave Brewster Series

by Karl Morgan

  As she approached, she pulled him downward and threw her arms around his neck, pressing her lips against his. He tried to resist, but soon found himself kissing her back. When she released him, his shirt was wet and he was panting for air. She stroked his cheek and said, “I’m glad you find me pretty, Admiral Dave.”

  He stammered for words, but could only say, “You are very beautiful, Lini, and please just call me Dave.” Thankfully, she did not have the communicator in her ear so he was certain she could not understand him.

  She smiled again and giggled. “Okay Dave. I think you are very handsome as well.”

  “You can understand me now?” he asked. “How is that?”

  “The guardians have enabled it Dave,” she said. “They do many such things here. One of them is coming here to see you. She should be here soon. That’s why I was in the river. I was calling her.”

  As she spoke, two blue eyes peered out of the water. Dave saw them and was shocked. They were exactly like the eyes of the Zula on Nan. He walked past Lini who was beginning to put her clothes back on. At the water’s edge, he lay on the pebbly bank and crawled forward until he was inches from the Zula. He smiled and said, “I should have known Zula would be here.”

  “Not just the Zula, Dave. Don’t you remember me?” the creature thought.

  “Ulook, is that you?” he gasped. “How is that possible? You are from another galaxy. You can’t be here.”

  “It’s good to see you too, Dave Brewster,” Ulook replied. “I have missed you. But I think it’s pretty clear that I am here.”

  “I don’t understand,” he sighed. “How did you get here?”

  “You’re not even trying, are you?” Ulook laughed. “You used to be so grounded. What happened?”

  “The Zula are guardians of all natural Hives. You can move freely among them to make certain they are all safe,” he answered. “Is that close?”

  “That is pretty close, my friend,” she said. “But I can’t say any more tonight. Your friends will be stirring in the Gallicean camp soon and will notice that you and Odo are missing. We don’t want a bunch of crazed Galliceans flying all over Zulanan trying to find you.”

  “What do you want me to do, Ulook?” he asked.

  “Tomorrow, you and your friends will make the pilgrimage to the sacred temple. The others will be in a hurry to leave after that. I want you to convince them to stay another night. I have programmed a course into your shuttle that will lead you all over the ocean. They can set the shuttle on hover there. All of you should don pressure suits and jump in the ocean. We will be there to meet you. There is so much you all need to know,” Ulook said.

  “It may be difficult to convince Fa-a-Di,” Dave replied. “He had a great time tonight, but will likely be feeling bad tomorrow.”

  “You have to convince them Dave. Odo will help you. If you must, demand to be left behind here. The others and I will take care of you and Odo and make sure you get home if they do go, but I sincerely doubt that. Obu Neela told you things were going to go quickly now. The success of your mission depends on being in the ocean with us tomorrow,” Ulook urged.

  “I’ll do my best,” Dave replied. “If worse comes to worst, Odo and I will be here.”

  “Just one more thing, Dave,” Ulook said. “Please bring Dar Lini with you. Find another pressure suit for her. She has been a great friend of ours, and we owe it to her to join this sacred mission. I love you, Dave. After I leave, kiss her lips again. When you do, you’ll be back at the Gallicean camp with Odo.”

  “Why kissing? You know I’m married,” Dave argued.

  “Just do what you’re told,” Ulook laughed and disappeared into the water.

  Dave stood up and brushed the dust from his uniform. When he turned, he saw Lini standing on a boulder to make her as tall as him. “You heard all of that, didn’t you?”

  Lini laughed. “One cannot argue with guardians Dave.” He walked over to her and she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. He opened his eyes and was standing in the clearing with the sleeping Galliceans. Odo and Lini were sleeping under a blanket next to his feet. He lay down and pulled another blanket over his body and tried to relax. Soon, he was asleep.

  Chapter 25

  Major Ulan Makwee was more nervous than ever as the Kalidus lifted off from Lagamar Opa and made another slag run toward the Lagamar sun. The controls were sluggish due to the massive load the ship carried today. Rising tensions around the Society kept most people tied to their planets where the fleets of star cruisers could provide some level of protection. This was to be the last disposal mission for the time being, so the hold was packed to the brim with the most dangerous byproducts of the mining process. The remaining slag would have to stay on Lagamar Opa until the threat level subsided. Two star cruisers would normally accompany the Kalidus, but today urgent shipments of metal needed to get to Lagamar Ulu to support the completion of four new cruisers there. News of the attack on Nan shot through the system, including the presumed death of Elder Odo Pak and his family when their residence was blasted from space. All efforts had to be focused on defending the Lagamar planets. Allowing one small disposal ship to run alone was a risk that had to be taken. If the materials in the hold had been blasted from an orbiting ship, clouds of radioactive vapor would circle the planet causing catastrophic loss of life.

  Helmsman Balik Namm turned to Ulan and said, “All sensors read negative, Major. We should arrive at optimal distance in five minutes.”

  “Is there unusual sunspot activity today, Balik?” Ulan asked. “I’m getting a lot of static and distortion on my headset.”

  “I’m getting it too, sir, but Central Command did not mention anything about solar flares,” the helmsman responded.

  “Forget about it. We have urgent business and I want to get back to Lagamar Opa as quickly as we can,” the major said. “I’ll ask the hangar crew to perform a systems check when we get back.” Drops of sweat began to appear on their faces as the sun loomed larger and larger in front of them. The temperature on board was rising just as it should.

  “Thirty seconds to yaw distance, Major!” Balik shouted. As he spoke, forty star cruisers appeared on their sensors, having just raced around the sun. “Shit! The enemy is on us Major!”

  “Give me control, Balik!” Ulan shouted. The major performed a perfect yaw so the sun was now directly behind them, along with the enemy fleet. “Full thrust now!”

  A voice crackled over their speakers, “Opa ship, surrender now or we will blow you into dust!”

  “Major, we can’t go any faster with this slag load sir!” Balik shouted. “One of the cruisers is gaining on us quickly. What are your orders?”

  “Why haven’t they destroyed us already?” Ulan asked. “They can certainly tell that we are unarmed. What are they waiting for?”

  “Major, only one cruiser is following us now,” Balik responded. “The others are headed toward the planets. I’ve sent a distress call to all planetary commands.”

  Ulan pressed a button on his console to open communications with the approaching ship. “Captain, this is not a warship, please power down your weapons. We are unarmed.”

  The voice over the speaker was laughing. “Do you think I care if you’re armed or not, Opa? Your ship has new technology that we want. Prepare to be boarded. Power down now to save us all a lot of trouble.”

  “Major, what should we do?” Balik asked. “They’ll just kill us or put us in a work camp anyway.”

  “Captain, I am powering down now,” Ulan said to the other ship. The bridge crew turned and looked at him with disbelief on their faces.

  “A wise decision, Opa. We will be in tractor beam distance in one minute. Don’t do anything stupid or you will pay with your lives,” the enemy captain said.

  Ulan rose from his seat and walked over to Balik and whispered in his ear, then returned to the command chair. Balik was now visibly trembling as he held his hand inches above the power system panel. The enemy shi
p filled the view screen aimed behind the ship. “Nothing stupid Captain,” he said to the other ship smiling.

  “Major, the ship is only two hundred yards behind us now,” Balik stuttered with fear.

  “Now!” Ulan shouted as he pulled the lever that opens the bay doors and activates the ram. One thousand tons of radioactive slag was pushed out into space. Balik slammed his hand on the panel and the thrusters shot from zero to full thrust instantly. The crew was plastered into their seats as the ship accelerated wildly. The exhaust superheated the slag and pushed it toward the cruiser which had lowered her defensive array to activate the tractor beam.

  The enemy captain saw the deception and ordered the array up and weapons brought on line. As the weapons officer reached for his panel, a fifty ton chunk of red-hot slag smashed through the hull and onto the bridge. The hull was breached in dozens of places and the ship drifted backward along with the searing slag. The thrusters exploded and the pieces of ship and her crew fell into the solar atmosphere and were vaporized.

  “Shut off the thrusters, Balik!” Ulan shouted over the whine of the engines. Suddenly it became very quiet on the bridge. Ulan went to each member of the crew and asked if they were okay. Last, he came to Balik and kneeled next to him. “Are you okay, old friend?”

  Sweat was pouring down the helmsman’s face and he was breathing heavily. “Ulan, I thought we were all going to die back there, or at least spend our last days in a slave labor camp. What happened to the enemy ship?”

  “It was destroyed by the hot slag, Balik,” Ulan replied. “I sincerely doubt anyone on board survived. I hope you can live with that.”

  Balik laughed. “Live with it? That was awesome Major. You saved us all.”

  “Yeah, but for how long?” Ulan asked. “There are still forty star cruisers attacking our planets. And we can’t even join the fight since we have no weapons. If we try to go home, their ships will finish the job the other failed to do.” He stood and looked at the viewscreen. Only a field of stars could be seen, with one slightly brighter in the center. “We were only at maximum velocity for a few minutes, and I have no idea where we are now.”

  Balik was checking star charts and the ship’s tracking computer. After a few moments, he said, “Well, that bright star is Lagamar, and it’s now twenty light-years away. We’re actually a lot closer to Nan now than home. What are your orders now, sir?”

  “Tell the chef to prepare a gourmet dinner with wine for the crew,” Ulan smiled. “I doubt anyone will interrupt us out here in open space. Tomorrow, we’ll head for Nan. God knows how long the battle in Lagamar will continue. But we can’t do anything about that right now. Perhaps the Elders of Nan can tell us more.”

  The remaining forty enemy star cruisers broke into groups of ten. One group each was sent to simultaneously attack the Vol, Opa, Ulu and Boley planets. Brother Luka Nance was commanding the entire mission and the smaller group to Lagamar 7, now renamed Lagamar Boley. It had taken the Supreme Leader months to forge an alliance large enough to gather this fleet. Tens of thousands of Brotherhood agents had been training on Narta Ela under the leadership of Marshall Passor Valka. Although he had done a good job with the soldiers, Luka despised Passor to his soul. While Passor was an adequate President for the High Council, he allowed Dave Brewster and Fa-a-Di to ridicule the Brotherhood and ultimately destroy the Society. Luka knew one day he would get his revenge against his former master, but that was not a thought for today.

  Today was his opportunity to reestablish the Brotherhood as the preeminent power in the galaxy. After the Grand Conclave, the members of the Brotherhood were hated and rejected around the Society. After the battles today, they would be feared again and no human or Gallicean would stand in their way. Once their pride was restored, they could happily move to the Ulagong Galaxy and help the Supreme Leader rebuild their forces and weaponry. Ten Hives manned by Brotherhood agents would be an unbeatable force, even though it could take decades to come to pass. But time was on their side.

  Luka was not a fool. He knew the real prize today was Lagamar Ulu. If his forces could damage or destroy their star cruiser factories, the rest of the planets would fall quickly. He sent the ten best ships there. There were five or six cruisers protecting each planet, but he was not there to fight ship to ship, but instead to target specific sites and instill the appropriate level of panic and terror in the hearts of the locals. To make that happen, one captain was given specific orders to target the Mount Alila Temple. The Ulu had great faith and confidence in their priests. Just as he had done on Nan, now he would take out the highest religious authority on that world.

  The Opa and Vol planets were not significant targets, although he knew they too must be taught a lesson about respect. Those smaller ships were ordered to attack mines and large plantations at random, but keeping most of their fire power for the cities. Blasting an open pit mine might be fun but wouldn’t have the same impact as targeting hospitals and schools. The key mission for those ships was to keep the local ships engaged so they could not assist on the other planets.

  Even though it was not a real threat, Luka wanted to lead the attack on the Boley planet himself. He still remembered clearly how Fa-a-Di had held him over the open atmosphere and threatened to drop him to certain death. After today, the general would wish he had done that! The Galliceans had been building new cities for the Boley and many thousands had relocated there to staff new hospitals, schools and universities. The Galliceans had some crazy idea about making the Boley active participants in the Lagamar-Nan Free Society. How foolish they were? Soon enough, those migrants will be begging to come back home and forget the day they tried to get involved in the business of another galaxy.

  “Brother Nance,” Captain Zinga Abalon said, interrupting Luka’s thoughts.

  “What is it Captain?” Luka snapped.

  “Our forward sensors do not indicate any ships in orbit over Lagamar 7, which is odd. There should be some defenders here, don’t you think?” Zinga asked.

  “That is unusual,” Luka replied. “Perhaps that Opa ship notified them. If they’re smart, they relocated any ships here to Lagamar Ulu. We’ll find out soon enough when our ships arrive there. If that’s the case, we’ll head there and help them out. We can come back here anytime.” Luka smiled and took a sip of coffee. “When will we be in range?”

  “Any moment now, sir,” Zinga replied. “I’ve ordered all ships to activate their defensive arrays and arm weapon systems.”

  “Excellent! Have your sensor crew locate any new floating cities. We want to target them first. Keep shooting until your fingers bleed,” Luka laughed.

  “Aye-aye, Brother,” Zinga replied as he turned his attention to his crew and barked orders. The ships dove into the upper layers of atmosphere. Zinga dispersed the fleet and told them where to attack. “We have a large floating city under construction ahead, Brother. I’m targeting it now.” A plasma bolt shot out and pounded the city, where buildings exploded and Boley could be seen flying away as quickly as possible.

  “Captain, send some troop shuttles to land there,” Luka ordered. “I’ll go with them. I want to see those bastards pay face to face.” Before the captain could speak, Luka bolted off the bridge.

  “Stop firing!” Zinga ordered. “We don’t want to hit our own troops.” Ten shuttles flew ahead of the cruiser and headed to the city with the cruiser providing cover. Within a few minutes, hundreds of Brotherhood agents in pressure suits scrambled through the city, shooting anything in their path.

  The Kong-Fa rose through the atmosphere at full speed, closing quickly on the aft of the Brotherhood ship as it yawed to face the attacker. Captain Ka-a-Fa ordered his ship to fire and a withering blast of plasma smashed the forward defensive array. Captain Zinga frantically ordered the ship to turn to show her shields to the enemy, but the second blast smashed into the bridge first, incinerating the crew and causing the ship to shudder and break up. A cloud of escape pods littered the sky as the cruiser fell d
ownward, barely missing the edge of the city. It disappeared into the depths of the gas below. “Colonel Um-de-Bo, get your men down there now to defend the city!” Ka-a-Fa shouted.

  The lower bay doors opened and hundreds of Gallicean Marines took to the sky, chanting the ancient battle cries and waving their Baloos over their heads. Luka and his men had witnessed the destruction of their ship and the approach of the enemy troops. They fired at them and were met with heavy return fire. Once the Marines had landed, the real battle began as they engaged the agents. Waves of blaster shots filled the air and the screams of death were all around them.

  The Galliceans cornered the largest group of agents in a small city square. The buildings were heavily damaged from the battle and both sides tried to find cover where they could. Within minutes it became clear this would be a battle of attrition, with the larger surviving force winning. Luka was happy with that. He knew there were nine other star cruisers that would come to his aid. All he needed was time.

  Um-de-Bo knew the facts as well. Two other Gallicean cruisers would be jumping here in the next few minutes, but for now, only Kong-Fa could protect them. He turned to his commanders and said, “Men, this battle will define us forever. We cannot win if we play a shoot and hide scenario. We couldn’t call ourselves Gallicean Marines if we did that either. We must attack now and take the battle to them, regardless of the cost. Are you with me?” All of the officers shouted their approval. “Good. There is a group of agents near the far building. I think that is their command structure. We need to take them out. Give me fifty brave men, but no more than two of you can join me. Make sure their Baloos are sharp! Go now. You have two minutes.”

  Luka was communicating with the nearest ship when the assault began. The ship’s captain said he could be there in five minutes at the most. He peered out and saw fifty Marines running and flying toward them and chanting. He ordered his men to fire. Just as they raised their weapons, the Marines threw their Baloos to their right sides and raised their blasters in one hand and war blades in the other.