by Rupert Segar
“My liege, we have forces in all the Chimera systems except Chimera Six.”
“Let me blast Chimera Six. I need vengeance!”
“The renegade, Arthur King called it a ‘Forbidden Planet.’ Legends tell us that attacks on such worlds always rebound.”
“What do you mean ‘rebound’?” said the Brood King, his mouthpiece head choking on green bile like liquid.
“In one story an armada attacked a Forbidden Planet only to discover that they had annihilated their own home planet. In other tales, missiles aimed at the enemy world turn round and strike the attacking vessels. Invading armies find themselves scattered across endless deserts on far off worlds and whole flotillas of warships just disappear.”
“This is superstitious mumbo jumbo, typical of your uneducated species. We strike,” said the arachnid.
“Do you want to risk annihilation?”
The Brood King stopped his crawl towards the Sentinel and the dangling head gurgled.
“Send word to the Chimera Sector and everywhere else in your puny empire,” said the obese spider. “All our forces are to gather here, for the final battle.”
The Brood King heaved itself against the side of the coffin shaped Sentinel.
“Peter, ready the cables. We must prove our powers. Which worlds can you spare, oh, Ruler of Ten Thousand Worlds? Out of all those planets, how many will do: ten … twenty … one hundred?”
Chapter 28: Preparing for Battle
“That’s the third report of a sun going super nova,” said Carole Porter, sitting at an impromptu work station set up on the circular table in the Ship’s main cabin.
“Two’s a coincidence, three’s a conspiracy,” replied Yelena Kolowski, sitting in the captain’s chair. “Someone or something is definitely doing it.”
“I’m monitoring a high energy tachyon burst,” said a voice emanating from a striped holosphere spinning slowly beside Yelena. “A guardian ship, the Alamo, is emerging from the portal.”
The planet of Agincourt was twelve gates away from Marylebone and the Kargol Royal Fleet. As such it was an ideal place to rally the guardian fleet. A string of thirty, mostly former explorer ships, were in geostationary orbit just below the gateway. The Ship kept sentry just above the grey oval, checking each new arrival to make sure the armada was not being infiltrated by imperial forces.
“Guardian vessel Alamo, audio comms only, stand by,” ordered Yelena Kolowski.
“Sure thang,” came a drawled reply, “I did have some red hot news, but it’ll simmer a while.”
“The Sentinel on board reports the crew and cargo all correct,” said a slightly mechanical voice emanating from the air near the spinning holosphere.
“The Sentinel also says the captain of the Alamo, he is called Tex, does have some remarkable news. I’m receiving technical details now but, perhaps, you should speak directly to Tex.”
Art King emerged from the kitchen with three containers purporting to hold brioche rolls stuffed with pulled pork and a sweet cherry sauce. He placed them on the circular table by Gill’s workstation and was just about to pull the heating tabs when Yelena stopped him.
“Lunch will have to wait, lover. The Ship says we’ve got an important message coming through.”
Art sat down in the seat next to Yelena as she swiped and dabbed at the control pad in front of her. The vid screen above the pad came on showing the control room of the Alamo. A thin, fair haired, young man was leaning back in the navigator’s chair with his booted feet propped up on the consol. Along with his footwear, the rest of his uniform was far from regulation; over his shirt he wore a leather jerkin and on his head was a large cowboy hat.
“You’re looking good, Tex,” said Yelena. “What’s new?”
“You’ve gotta stay sharp, sister. But here’s the latest: you’ve got a call from a clever dude on Devastation. He’s turned those Pools of Light into exchange central. The star phone is ringing, folks, and he’s awaitin’ for you all to pick up.”
“As instructed by the Sentinel, I am detecting low energy tachyon transmissions coming from the gateway,” said the striped orb next to Yelena. “There is digital patterning. I am converting the data stream to audio visual and setting up a feedback connector.”
“You’s got the signal. I’m signing out, pardners. Let you all get on with your call.” said Tex.
The vid screen in front of Art and Yelena slid the cowboy’s image off the screen, wiping on a frozen picture of Dylan from the other side, in the background there were several illuminated pools. The video became animated; Dylan addressed them.
“Hi, Art and Yelena, and thank you, Ship, for picking up the phone.”
“I can hardly believe this,” said Art “We’re a quarter of the way round the galaxy and you’re talking to us, Dylan, like you’re just up the street.”
“You really are a genius, Dylan” said Yelena.
“I can’t take all the credit. The Creators, the one who went into the future, designed the portal network. Among all the other wonderful things it does, it also works as a data collection device. The nuns here tap into the system using telepathy to sense what is happening around distance gateways. I’m doing the same but enabling a two-way digital feed of more conventional energy, if you can call tachyons ‘conventional.’”
“Don’t do yourself down, Dylan. This star phone could provide instantaneous communication with all our ships,” said Art. “That would give us a huge advantage. How quickly can you get your star phones out?”
“Every Sentinel has the ability to create a star phone,” said the striped holosphere. “It is just a case of spreading the word, from vessel to vessel.”
“We’ve been doing that for a few days now and it’s already paying dividends,” said Dylan. “In particular, we have made contact with Guardian Explorer II. Do you remember Thistle and Nigeal, who helped rescue Bazza Foster from the Quintox Library on Willow?”
Art nodded, wondering where Dylan was going.
“They’re the brother and sister from Fair Isles,” said Yelena.
“They were on their way back to Fair Isles, unaware that their home world is being blockaded by the Empire. Three gateways away, they bumped into a convoy of guardian ships heading towards you at Agincourt. One of those ships was the Alamo. Tex filled them in about the blockade and told them about our new star phone. Then Thistle rang me.”
“It’s nice you’re getting a bit of a social life, especially at your age, Dylan. But what has all this got to do with our counter offensive?” said Art.
“Everything: the war, suns going super nova and a secret enemy,” said Dylan. “The fate of the entire galaxy could depend on how you respond to your next call. Not from Thistle or Nigeal but from their passenger. I’m putting him through now.”
The vid screen went blank momentarily before the image of a tall grey haired man wearing the dark uniform of an imperial colonel appeared. His light blue eyes stared out of the screen with no hint of emotion.
“We meet again, Arthur King. Unlike you, I am no traitor. However, to save the Empire, along with the rest of humanity, we need to join forces. The fate of the galaxy is at stake.”
Chapter 29: The Guardians Strike Back
Colonel Garth leapt into the hard vacuum of space; fortunately, he was wearing a space suit. Ship to ship transfers were not uncommon but usually people employed a cable tethered between the two vessels. Colonel Garth thought such emphasis on safety was a sign of weakness.
The guardian ship Explorer Spirit II and Imperial Valliant were flying on a parallel course, just 20 metres apart. Superficially both vessels were identical; both had started life as explorer ships, used to bring isolated worlds back into the galactic community. They both had airlocks on the port side. Thus, for Garth to be able to jump from one ship to the other, Valliant had rolled 180 degrees and appeared from the other ship’s view point to be flying upside down. Garths space jump took just less than 10 seconds. His aim had been good but not
perfect. Instead of passing into the open airlock he hit the hull next to the entrance. He grunted as the air in his chest was expelled by the impact. Garth slapped the magnetic discs strapped to his hands flat on the metal surface to stop himself bouncing off. Another pair of magnets strapped to his knees clicked into position. Like a fly, Garth was stuck to the Valliant’s hull. Moving one limb at a time the colonel crawled to the doorway and slid into the airlock.
“Can we trust him,” said Nigeal to his sister.
“Of course not, but I think we can trust Garth’s self-interest to serve our purposes, as long as it coincided with his own,” said Thistle.
“I just feel safer now he’s off our ship.”
“Sentinel, please signal our departure to Valliant and move us away before deploying flux,” said Thistle.
On board Valliant, the five officers crammed into the control room attempted to stand to attention as Colonel Garth entered. With limited headroom in places, three of the officers were stooped to attention.
“At ease,” said Garth. “Set course for Marylebone, top speed.”
+++
The portal above Marylebone was englobed by twenty-five cruisers and three Nemesis class battleships. An almost continual stream of warships and supply vessels came through the gateway. Many of the warships were from Chimera One, where half the Royal Fleet had been holding. One by one, the ships were parked beside the portal and ordered to drop their force fields and were subjected to a quantum level scan before they could join the growing fleet.
There were nearly 300 Nemesis battleships and one thousand cruisers in various orbits around the otherwise insignificant world. Shuttles and supply ships scuttled about like a shoal of herrings swimming among a giant school of wales.
A burst of tachyons announced another arrival at the portal. Imperial Valliant emerged from the gateway and was ordered to park and wait along with the rest.
“Message from Colonel Garth,” said the comms officer to the bureaucrat organising the security scans over his vid link. “He has urgent news for the Emperor and will not brook any delay.”
Colonel Garth was feared throughout the Empire and beyond. The bureaucrat burbled in panic saying that Valliant’s inspection would be given top priority. A boarding team would be dispatched straight away.
Garth was in his cabin when the expected knock on the door came.
“I need a blood test, Colonel,” said a young medic. He was accompanied by two armed marines who stayed in the corridor outside.
Garth rolled up his sleeve and held out his right arm.
“Left arm, if you please, Colonel.”
The colonel grinned and complied with the medic’s request. The hypo syringe extracted a small sample of blood that was visible in a clear phial at the base of the hypo. A green light came on the instrument.
“All clear, sir. You will be free to proceed to the flag ship as soon as we have disembarked.”
The medic left closing the door behind her. Garth began picking at the inside of his right forearm. The cosmetic skin came away in one piece. He repeated the process for his left forearm. He rolled them up and put them back into their stasis box which Garth tucked away in his locker. Dr Gomez did a good job, he said to himself, pleased and relieved that he had passed the first hurdle.
+++
The Brood King heaved its huge stomach over the side of the command desk, which stood like an abandoned piece of junk in loading bay 7. Its mouthpiece head dangled banging against the side of the desk. Cables ran all over the floor, the majority connected the desk to the coffin sized Sentinel. Peter, the deranged former guardian officer, crouched on the end of the Sentinel, looking like a chimpanzee dressed in rags. The Emperor stood by patiently.
“We have divined the nature of the shield,” coughed the mouthpiece head. “An almost infinite amount of subspace is folded inside the skin of a hyperspace sphere. It is almost the perfect defence.”
“Can you overcome it?” asked the Kargol King.
“No, we cannot go through it and we cannot go round it.”
The Emperor could not suppress a feeling of pride. The Brood King had finally met its match in the rebel world of Fair Isles.
“But, my liege, is it not true that, if we can’t get at them, they can’t get at us. We could blockade them.”
The spider king sent tools and reels of cable flying across the command desk.
“I do not want to stopper this wretched world in some makeshift bottle. I want to crush it. And that is exactly what I shall do.”
The tall doorway, the main internal entrance to loading bay 7, opened to admit Colonel Garth. The tall man in his black leather uniform approached the Brood King. He dipped his head to the Emperor then went down on one knee before the spider. The Kargol King noticed that Garth was keeping out of the spider’s reach.
“I understood you were gravely ill, Garth,” said the Brood King. “What miracle delivered you safely back to us?”
“My loyalty to you, my lord, was all the strength I needed.”
“And what is the urgent message you have for me?” asked the spider.
“The guardians are mounting a counter offensive, my lord. They are coming here.”
“Move Orion away from the portal,” said the spider to the king.
The arachnid turned back to the kneeling colonel.
“Garth, The Orion will lead a force of two hundred and fifty Nemesis class warships to Fair Isles. You will coordinate the attack. I will have my revenge.”
+++
A burst of tachyons preceded the emergence of a supply ship from the portal above Marylebone. Tractor beams lashed out from five of the nearly thirty ships englobing the gateway.
“Supply vessel 261A, lower your shields.”
There was no reply.
“Supply vessel 261A, lower your shield or we will fire.”
There was still no reply. Several of the encircling warships powered up their ion beams.
“Supply vessel 261, we’re detecting a build-up of flux …”
Supply ship 261A blew up, creating a growing sphere of superheated flux ions. The globe of destruction expanded at a furious rate, vortices of twisted space began forming on the surface of the sphere. The surrounding warships were all trying to power away from the explosion but they were too late. The blast wave engulfed them and the warships found their shields ripped away. They were vulnerable to the eddies of exotic energy, which tore into the ships, melting bulkheads and incinerating any crew members in their paths. Half of the warships exploded, the rest were left powerless venting air into space.
Nearby warships were rocked by the shock wave but their screens held. The shock wave had lost its energy. Ten Nemeses class ships were ordered to approach the portal, five on each side. They were getting into position as a single small guardian ship emerged from the gateway. All ten imperial warships unleashed their ion cannon. Twenty beams of intense energy were focused on the craft as it spun silver threads around its hull. The spinning threads almost formed a solid field but the defensive screen faltered and the ship exploded. Almost immediately the ion beams reduced the wreckage to atoms.
Two more guardian ships emerged from the portal. Unlike the previous vessel, they were already cloaked with a force field. Once more, twenty ion beams focused on the lead ship. Its mirror like screen began to shift and change. One of the ion beams was reflected back at a warship. There was a torrent of high energy electrical discharge as the beam fought with the imperial warship’s defence field. All the ion beams flipped off as one.
Scores of missiles and kinetic projectiles were fired at the guardian ships. As the lead missiles homed in, the guardian vessels expanded their defensive shields to ten times the size of the ships. The missiles exploded but the blocks of metal were held in some sort of suspended animation, all their kinetic energy paused. Twenty ion beams were switched back on, focused again on the lead ships. The beams appeared to penetrate the expanded force field. The guardian vessel exploded
.
Before the imperial warships could switch their beams to the second guardian vessel it had flung back the metal ingots stuck in its expanded force field. The ten kilogram blocks were travelling at one hundredth of the speed of light. They were not precisely aimed; they had just been hurled scattergun like towards the imperial ships. Only two of the metal blocks made contact. Their huge kinetic energy saw them puncture the ships’ defensive screens and go clean through the vessels. One of the warships exploded when the ingot struck a magazine of flux mines. The other was left crippled tumbling in space with its main engine partially vaporised.
Guardian ships were now pouring out of the portal. One hundred and twenty vessels now joined in the fight. Many of the guardian ships accelerated towards the closest enemy vessel. Then they activated their inverse flux fields and became singularity missiles aiming to cause massive destruction by passing straight through the imperial warships. The enemy were prepared; they ejected a new mine that combined gravity shears and flux mine. If the guardian ships came in contact with the oscillating gravity shears their own flux field became dangerously unstable and caused them to re-enter normal space. The flux mine then exploded and there was a good chance that the guardian vessel would be destroyed or badly damaged. The Empire had found a partial defence against singularity missiles. In the first five assaults, three imperial warships were disabled but one guardian ship was crippled and another destroyed. The odds were not good for the small guardian fleet.
“Send out a message to all vessels,” said Art. “Abandon Plan A, employ Plan B.”
“Messages sent and received,” said the Ship.
The ability of guardian vessels to talk to each other instantaneously rather than being limited by the speed of light, gave a tactical advantage. However, the two fleets of ships were now thoroughly mixed together in a number of different orbits around Marylebone. The battle became disorganised and almost random. There was ship to ship combat with, generally, the imperial vessels coming worse off. A score of imperial vessels controlled by spiders put their vast warships on a collision course with their much smaller opponents. If their relative speeds were high enough, the guardian vessels would be driven into the imperial warship. Mostly, the alien adapted spaceships lodged there like a bullet in a body. In eight ships, the collision caused their magazines or their flux capacitors to ignite. The result was the mutual destruction of both ships.
