The Agathon Book 3: Sword Of Stars

by Colin Weldon

  Tark’An thought about it for a moment. He had overseen the elimination of thousands of worlds and the process was starting to become grim.

  “No, Gra’Xn, you can handle it. Let me know when it’s complete and forward the data of the changed Targlagdu trajectories to my data nodes,” he replied turning his back and making for the exit of the device chamber.

  “As you wish, sir,” Gra’Xn said raising all four of his arms and crossing them across his chest in salute.

  ***

  Tark’An walked across the courtyard outside the main hangar building of the device corp. The air was warm. He looked up at the red sun’s overhead that orbited Ruthenium. The last stages of the dying stars, while frightening to some, held an ambient beauty that Tark’An welcomed. It was a reminder to him that all things end. He brought his gaze to the West and looked at the dark formation of the orbiting Targlagdu vessel that his people had been able to partially destroy and capture. He noted how close it looked on the horizon and how it had very nearly taken their home world and every living soul that lived on it all those centuries ago. Once a day, every day, it would fully eclipse the nearest sun. His people had called it ‘The Vengeance’. That time in the late afternoon when the light from the red giant would be cut off and the darkness of the Targlagdu vessel would cut across the cities and continents of Ruthenium, bathing the planet in darkness as a reminder of how close they had come to annihilation.

  He gazed up at thought of his wife. She was there. Waiting for him. For all eternity. He tried to think of her as she once was and not what she had become. He raised his upper left arm and waved at the alien planet monster. He liked to think her soul was looking down at him and waving back.

  He made his way into the shuttle hangar and greeted the members of the maintenance crew, who all stood to attention as he boarded his personal shuttle craft. The sleek little vessel held six, but today he would be making this journey alone. Sitting on its three struts, the triangular ship had only one window at its front. He settled in and sealed the two doors, which slid shut behind him. He activated the antigravity engines and slowly raised the ship off the ground and pointed the nose directly for the orbiting Targlagdu vessel.

  4:

  THE SIENNA CLARK

  Carrie waited in the control centre of Jack’s vessel. The curved white walls were smooth to the touch. It was like being inside of an egg. It seemed to incorporate holographic interfaces along with the use of telepathic neural alignment with the operator. The command centre appeared empty, but Carrie knew that wasn’t the case. She could sense the presence of others. It annoyed her that they persevered in remaining unseen, while Jack was the only one she had contact with. It was more than xenophobic. It was rude. A shiver of air in front of her made a ripple in the visual spectrum as Jack’s long body shape emerged from nothingness. His alien form looked down at her and smiled through pointed teeth. His large almond shaped eyes darted between Carrie and Tyrell.

  “Hello Carrie,” Jack said in perfect English.

  He had a strange neutral accent. It was still disconcerting to hear the projected voice coming from something that looked so completely inhuman.

  “Hello Jack,” replied Carrie.

  “Your control is becoming impressive,” Jack said moving his long legs towards her.

  “Thanks to you,” Carrie said, “and this ridiculous suit.”

  “Perhaps we can tailor something more aesthetically pleasing to you?” Jack said.

  “It will do. In the mean time, we have more pressing matters to attend to,” Carrie replied.

  “That is correct,” Jack replied, “We have detected several Targlagdu vessels in a nearby star system. I believe that we must find a way to not only disable them, but also to gain control of their systems so that we may use the technology to our advantage,” Jack said.

  Carrie raised her arms stopping Jack in mid-sentence.

  “Hold on a second. We have an entire colony on board that I’m not willing to risk on an assault. The deal was, we settle these people and rendezvous with The Agathon. Then I help you with the Targlagdu threat,” Carrie said.

  Jack pulled his thin lips back and smiled again.

  “Of course, Carrie, that was our deal. How are the passengers doing?” Jack asked.

  “They’re scared,” Carrie replied, “And your people spying on them isn’t helping either.”

  Jack’s grey naked skin seemed to flush momentarily. Carrie thought for a moment that she had finally been able to anger the strange being.

  “We do not spy, nor have we any need to spy. The ship’s operations sometimes require our people to pass through the decks where the humans have been allocated. As per your request, we remain hidden so as not to cause distress. If you wish, we can simply show ourselves and be done with it?” Jack said calmly turning his back on Carrie and moving over to one of the curved smooth walls of the control centre.

  Carrie looked at Jack as he pressed one of his long fingers against the smooth wall bringing it suddenly to life. An array of images and data began streaming down its surface from the ceiling to the floor. Carrie thought about his answer and realised that it made perfect sense. Then again… Maybe it was time. She could not protect people from the truth of their situation and they were already growing suspicious. Suspicion and fear rarely grew hand in hand together.

  “I think it’s time you met them,” Carrie said.

  “I do not think that would be wise,” said Tyrell suddenly beside her.

  “Oh?” Carrie said frowning at him.

  Tyrell looked at Jack, who was still watching the string of alien data on the walls.

  “Your people act violently towards things they do not understand. They will attack,” said Tyrell.

  Carrie turned to Tyrell.

  “We act violently to things we foresee as a threat. Like alien fluids that liquify organic material on contact for instance,” Carrie said feeling a twinge of anger inside her, “We are perfectly capable of processing an encounter with an alien life form.”

  “I do not agree,” Tyrell said frowning at Carrie, “We should deposit the humans at the designated coordinates and carry out our plan as agreed.”

  Carrie took a step towards Jack ignoring Tyrell.

  “Sorry, guys,” she said putting up her hands, “As the only resident human in this room who can speak for her people, this is not something that we debate. I’ve run through all your little hoops, but when it comes to my people I’m afraid it’s my way, or the highway.”

  She could feel Tyrell’s eyes as they bore into the back of her head. She sensed anger coming from The Black that inhabited his body. It was the first time she had sensed anything from him in weeks. It briefly let her mind drift inside his momentarily. She sensed something else, darkness she had not felt before. She turned and looked straight into his black eyes. She was about to speak when the connection was broken by the feeling of Jack’s long fingers on her shoulder. It made her jump.

  “Very well, Carrie, let us meet your friends, shall we?” Jack said.

  Carrie watched his large almond eyes and nodded. Something was very wrong and she suddenly had the urge to quickly leave the control centre.

  “I will arrange to have the leaders brought up here, if you will both excuse me,” Carrie said turning and walking away from the pair.

  She hadn’t felt in the least bit threatened around Tyrell since leaving The Agathon. It was so strange. He was hiding something. She had initially thought it was just the real Tyrell’s consciousness, but there was definitely something else. She stepped onto the semi-circular pod and watched as Jack and Tyrell waited for her to leave. She felt a momentary flicker of cold air as she left the control centre and was deposited back on the human habitation deck. She placed a hand on the side of the wall. She felt alone again. It was so strange. She took long deep breaths and tried to figure out why she was ha
ving this sudden reaction to what she had felt from Tyrell. Her heart rate slowed as she focused on the corridor ahead. She needed to get these people off the ship. There was danger here.

  THE AGATHON

  Captain Barrington sat at the head of the conference table and looked around at his crew as the colours from the nebula streaked through the observation windows and painted the table in a beautiful array of reds and blues.

  “Report,” he said opening the table up for discussion.

  Boyett was first to speak.

  “We are in equatorial orbit, sir. All ship systems are functioning within normal parameters,” she said sitting up straight.

  “Well, I wouldn’t exactly say that,” said Tosh from his levitating wheelchair at the bottom of the table.

  Barrington turned his head and looked at the former Jycorp scientist turned chief engineer. He raised his hand, indicating to him that he now had the floor.

  “I’m worried about these upgrades, Captain,” Tosh said, “The power systems were not meant to handle this kind of drain on The FTL drive. We need more testing before we can bring them all fully online. I need more time.”

  “And what happens if one of those things suddenly drops out of hyperspace and lands right next to the ship?” said Chase Meridian who was sitting on Barrington’s left.

  “Won’t really matter if we blow ourselves up now, will it, Doctor?” replied Tosh.

  “Well, I’d rather blow up than be turned into a mechanical replicant of myself and start killing the crew, thank you very much,” replied Meridian in her usual sarcastic tone.

  “The Betty would get us out of here long before that happened and you know it,” replied Tosh referring to the FTL drive by its nickname, “Captain, we are dealing with untested alien technology. I understand your need to defend the ship, and quite frankly, I agree with you. Everyone does, but I’m telling you that if we fire those cannons without a controlled test, we run a significant risk of overloading the reactors.”

  Barrington leaned back in his chair as he listened to his crew.

  “All due respect, Tosh, but if The Betty gets damaged from a pre-emptive strike, then all we have left are our thrusters. I’d rather have a fighting chance with an untested technology, which by the way I fully believe is going to work, than be solely reliant on engine power to get us out of trouble,” said Chavel.

  “Hear, hear,” replied Meridian tapping the desk with her knuckles.

  “At least let me fire the damn things before we attempt a landing, sir,” said Tosh, “If we are thinking of landing on the planet’s surface, let’s run the cannons through their paces beforehand.”

  Barrington rubbed his cheek and looked at Boyett.

  “It’s a good idea, sir. It might also show a sign of force to anything that may be watching us from the planet surface,” Boyett replied.

  “I agree,” said Barrington, “Let’s fire them up and see what they can do. Open the bay doors, David, and prepare for a test firing sequence.”

  Chavel nodded.

  “Any word from Carrie?” said Meridian looking at the Captain.

  Barrington shook his head.

  “Nothing yet, they’re still a few days out,” Barrington said.

  “Do you really trust him?” Meridian asked.

  There was an awkward shifting of bodies in seats as the question was asked. Barrington took a deep breath and looked around at his senior staff.

  “I don’t see that we have much choice, do you? Given the new information about what is really happening out there, we can’t go this alone,” Barrington replied.

  “She’ll be fine, Chase,” said Chavel, “I think she can look after herself.”

  “She’s not indestructible, Lieutenant,” Meridian replied forcefully.

  Barrington didn’t like the sound of that as levels of anxiety began to creep into his stomach. He could have done without that feeling at present. It was a useless emotion that did nothing but hinder his judgement.

  “Carrie will be fine, Chase. I trust that she will have the ability to deal with any situation that might arise and she gave us no sense that Jack posed any threat,” Barrington said suddenly realising how ridiculous it was to call the alien by such a normal human name.

  “Granted, Captain, but he still left a lot of unanswered questions about this Ruthenium place we’re supposed to be going to. Not to mention this drop off planet which clearly has advanced alien technology surrounding it,” said Meridian.

  “It’s a good point, sir. The sensors still can’t penetrate the shield that surrounds the biosphere. What are we supposed to do now? Just float the ship over to it and knock, hoping that whoever is on the surface just opens a door or something?” Boyett asked.

  “Why can’t we just find a normal planet with breathable air instead of all these inhospitable alien death traps? I mean, for Christ’s sake, the galaxy is a pretty big place and we’ve got data on literally thousands of planets,” said Meridian with vigour in her tone.

  The table went quiet.

  “She’s right, John,” responded Tosh, “Feels like we’re out of the loop on something.”

  All heads turned to Barrington. It was a lot to take in. He stood suddenly from the table and walked over to one of the windows in the conference room and looked out at the nebula.

  “What do you think they were trying to tell us?” Barrington said looking out at a patch of swirling coloured molecules of red gas.

  “Sir?” Boyett answered.

  “The Signal Makers. You know I never really got to discuss it properly with Young before he died. I think he knew more than he was telling us. They had to be sending that signal for a reason. Why give us a 100-year warning before blowing up the planet? It had to mean something,” said Barrington.

  “Well, we know there was a human DNA sequence attached to the message. We know that,” said Meridian.

  “Then there’s that,” replied Barrington turning his head, “Why send a human DNA sequence in the code?”

  “You want my honest opinion?” Meridian said.

  “Always,” said Barrington.

  “I think they were looking for an intelligent response from us. They were trying to see if there was an advanced race on the planet worthy of communicating to. Maybe it was a warning. Maybe they were trying to simply see if anyone was home worth saving. Turns out there wasn’t,” Meridian said looking around the table.

  “Well, that’s depressing,” Tosh said, shifting his weight in his chair.

  Tosh looked to have lost some weight over the last several weeks, and while he still maintained the heft of the pot belly, there were definite signs that it had begun to reduce with all the hours spent in the engine room. His hovering chair swayed slightly as he leaned on one of his hands.

  Barrington turned his head back to the beautiful view outside the ship.

  “Okay, let’s get ready to test the guns. I want to prepare to bring the ship closer to the planet’s shield. We can’t run forever and no matter what planet we land on, the mortal threat of the Targlagdu will follow us. Right now, all we’ve got is this allegiance with Jack’s race, and I believe that two ships are better than one,” Barrington said.

  He turned and sat back down on his chair.

  “Tosh, get ready to fire up the cannons. Charly, prepare for a test firing sequence. Take us out of orbit and 50,000 kilometres away from the shield,” he paused, “Dismissed.”

  “Yes, sir,” replied the group.

  All but Meridian.

  Barrington locked eyes with her and saw that she wanted to talk to him in private. He waited in his seat as the group stood, all but Tosh, who floated his chair over towards the door grumbling something under his breath. The doors sealed behind them leaving just the two old friends alone.

  “Drink?” he asked her.

  “Constantly,
” she replied smiling.

  Barrington moved towards a small cabinet and opened it taking out two glasses and a bottle of malt whiskey.

  “I wonder what Jycorp would make of a captain drinking on duty,” Meridian said as he handed her the glass.

  “Good thing it doesn’t exist then, isn’t it?” Barrington said sitting next to the table and putting his feet on the desk.

  “So, how’s your husband? Everything good in that department?” Barrington asked her smiling.

  “He’s a pain in my ass, but he’s a good man. I keep wondering how much time we have left together to be honest,” said Meridian swirling the liquid around in her glass and staring at it.

  “Jesus, Chase, we’re not dead yet,” Barrington said.

  Meridian looked at him and pursed her lips.

  “There’s a lot of talk amongst the crew. They think there’s no hope,” she said.

  Barrington couldn’t help but take that personally. Morale was starting to deplete on the lower decks and it was starting to effect how smoothly the ship was being run. Crew members reporting late for duty, fights breaking out in the mess hall and even some requests to be deposited on the nearest habitable world to fend for themselves.

  “Yeah,” he said to her, taking a drink and letting the familiar burn of the single malt to sink deep into his throat.

  “It’s subsided a little bit with the knowledge that there were survivors on the Jycorp stations after all this time. Some are simply wondering if they have any descendants left in their own bloodlines and some want to see if there are old friend’s family lines still going,” said Meridian, “but most are simply terrified of the Targlagdu vessels.”

  “Hmm,” replied Barrington, knowing exactly how they felt while he took another sip of his drink and looked out at the cloud of red gas.

  “Well, you’re just a barrel of conversation,” Meridian said, “How are you holding up?”

  Barrington smiled.

  “Me? I dunno. I really don’t, Chase. There’s an old saying that says that most battles are won before they are even fought. I’m flying by the seat of my pants here,” said the Captain.