The Pathfinder Trilogy

by Todd Stockert

  As he spoke the words, the motion sensor console barked out electronic warnings, one after another. Vasten studied the active blips on the board and turned to stare at Adam with clear astonishment. “Two more vessels have emerged from transit,” he announced, his eyes wide and eyebrows raised. “They’re of a kind unlike anything I’ve ever seen.” He whistled under his breath, watching them on the monitors as they grew rapidly from the size of small dots while swiftly closing the remaining distance. “And remarkably fast.”

  “I know.” Adam moved to stand next to the forward windows, smiling as he watched the easily recognized profiles of the Ranger and Corona pass by them, their powerful, rail gun turrets already firing protective bursts past the Ali Rinai.

  The two durable, all-purpose shuttles were built for cargo but armed for combat as well, manned by the same trained pilots who had served so well on the Pathfinder’s original mission. They slowed to a crawl in front of the approaching alien fighter craft, protective bullies daring their enemies to approach. There was a brief exchange of gunfire as both shuttles opened fire on the enemy fighters. The Kuth responded by firing some kind of exploding projectiles, but everything that was shot at the two larger vessels simply disintegrated far short of their intended targets.

  Frustrated, one of the pursuing fighter pilots tried to move his craft in closer and took the full brunt of a point blank, precision targeted rail gun shot, exploding in a fiery blast of burning fuel and fragmenting hull pieces. The three pursuing capital ships from the convoy tried their luck next, launching at least six missiles that instantly began searching for heat. They homed in on the Ali Rinai and columns of dark smoke trails rocketed through space toward the large warship. The Ranger and the Corona responded by flying past the Yakiir cruiser and dropping dozens of flares that distracted and confused the missiles’ targeting systems before detonating them prematurely. Then the shuttles turned their rail guns on the cruisers themselves, forcing all three to bank sharply away and withdraw with huge, newly-punched glowing holes in their outer hulls.

  Snee Vasten had moved away from the motion sensor console to stand near the monitors, intently studying the streamlined shuttles as thick blotches of crimson and orange fire continued to blaze brightly from the long barrels of their dorsal gun turrets. “Who are they and how are they managing to defeat even smart missiles?” he inquired curiously. “Guided missiles are extremely rare here and, since they home in on active heat sources, almost always lethal.”

  “Those are some of the friends that I’ve been talking about,” Adam told him, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “They’re support ships for a larger starship called the Pathfinder, the vessel I’m originally from. Almost ten years ago, it nearly perished right here in your Wasteland.” He couldn’t help feeling a profound sense of relief upon seeing the welcome, streamlined contours of the two ships.

  “How can they stop entire ships and missiles at that distance?”

  Adam continued to smile. “Those aren’t just projectile weapons they’re firing, but a much deadlier version called a rail gun.” He brought up an aft image on the console in front of him and studied the image displayed there with interest. “Rail guns are sophisticated firearms that are tough to build without a foothold, weapons with a much longer range than Wasteland guns. Fortunately, my people have a very solid foothold.”

  Seconds later, the Ali Rinai vanished into transit in a bright flash of emerald light.

  PROJECT WASTELAND

  Pathfinder Series: Book Two

  Chapter XI: A Brief Taste Of Home

  Planet Tranquility in the Proteus Galaxy…

  Thomas Roh watched the golden glow of an active, spherical transit portal form in the center of the Science Lab, expanding rapidly until it was approximately two and a half meters in diameter. He was smiling, because the other end of the wormhole was fixed on a small, private cabin aboard the Ali Rinai. President Kaufield and Noriana Roh stood next to him, waiting with Dr. Karen Simmons as the energy barrier flashed briefly. Then, a dark silhouetted figure appeared, walking toward them and emerging with a grateful smile. Nori rushed forward immediately to embrace her husband, and he put his broad-shouldered arms around her in a giant bear hug. He lifted her off of her feet and swung her around with a relieved laugh. “Hi everybody!” Adam Roh said with an enthusiasm that was diametrically opposed to the mood where he came from.

  “Is this really you?” his wife asked tentatively. “It feels like you and not some electronic protection grid.”

  “It’s me,” he chuckled merrily. “I can deactivate it in pre-designated safe areas simply by thinking about it.”

  “It’s time for a hot cup of coffee along with a serious discussion,” decided the Council President with a huge grin. “I think we’ve managed to pull a few answers together for you.”

  “Coffee? How about a hot freaking meal for a change?” replied Adam somewhat crustily. “Is there a burger joint near here? How about hash browns… do you have any of those?”

  Noah was standing nearby, next to a pair of lab technicians. “Welcome back Adam Roh,” the friendly alien told him cheerfully. “It’s good to see you in such good spirits after a rough ride.”

  “I have to admit that the Wasteland is everything it was rumored to be,” Adam agreed by way of response. “I’ve met some mighty tough folks.”

  “Why don’t you follow us to one of the conference rooms and we’ll see what the cooks in this building can rustle up for you?” suggested Kaufield. He shook his friend’s hand warmly, holding the grip long enough to convey his deep gratitude for the man’s incredibly selfless, ongoing sacrifice.

  Despite the urgency of the situation, it nonetheless took them a few minutes to follow the President’s advice. Adam was clearly glad to be back in safe territory – if only temporarily – and all of his friends continued to surround him, slapping him playfully and throwing all kinds of questions at him. Thomas, of course, wanted to know if there were any additional patches needed to the implant and his personal defenses. Nori kept cutting him off in mid-sentence, eager to tell him cute stories about Billy and Cassie. Noah was curious if everything was proceeding as planned in regards to his personal comfort, wondering if there was any additional equipment or information that he needed while stationed in the Wasteland. Dr. Simmons was eager to ask him about his emotional state.

  Kaufield, naturally, watched the mayhem with undisguised amusement and did his best to gradually guide all of them away from the Sentinel chair and the on-duty technicians. Eventually, the large group of people ended up in the large, adjoining conference room where they could speak privately and without interruption.

  “Thank you for sending the shuttles,” Adam stated gratefully at the first opportunity, locating a chair and sitting down in it. “Ah… cushions!” he exclaimed with only slightly feigned admiration. “You people have no idea just how many creature comforts we take for granted in our world.”

  “Yes we do,” Thomas countered, his expression clouding. “We’ve all watched you, each step of the way.”

  “You can thank Glen for the shuttles,” pointed out Kaufield. “He’s up in orbit and got the Pathfinder’s CAS singularity burning in the cargo hold… it’s inside the ship now. Then he used the projector on the forward hull to open a large enough window for the Ranger and the Corona. A lot of pilots from Nori’s former squadron have been itching to do something, so I sent some boys that were ready to rattle a few teeth.”

  “That’s exactly what they did,” grinned Adam. “Those rail guns are nasty in action, and they can shoot accurately at a distance that more than doubles our opponents’ range. You should have seen that convoy turn on its heel and flee when the larger ships started to take damage.” He turned and leaned his head against Nori’s shoulder, noticing that she had pulled her chair up right next to his so she could hold his hand. Hold it? She’s gripping it so tightly it hurts! he noticed wryly.

  “I’m going along on one of those shuttles the next time w
e make use of them,” Noriana declared sternly, casting a dark, ‘I dare you to object’ glare at Kaufield. “Aunt Kari has already agreed to watch Billy and Cassie. They love to stay with her.”

  One of the lab assistants appeared suddenly with a large tray filled with donuts, pitchers of ice water and hot coffee, along with an array of mugs and glasses. She vanished for a moment before returning with another tray filled with traditional food choices of all kinds. Adam glanced at her gratefully and smiled, then dug into an omelet eagerly with a long metal fork. Everyone else settled for the water, coffee and donuts. He ate in a room that grew temporarily silent for a few minutes as everyone let him reset his bearings and acclimate himself to the familiar surroundings. “Somebody please fill me in on what’s going on,” he requested finally, waving the fork for emphasis. “What the devil is up with transiting an entire planet? We only studied it for a few minutes, but it looked to us like a world with little or no atmosphere.”

  Kaufield laughed at his attitude. “We think that planet is what your second missile is for,” he told Adam. “Your second targeted star is only a couple of transits distant, and in perfect position to move that planet first to its location and then on to somewhere else.”

  Raising a curious eyebrow, Adam shrugged. “Where?”

  “Probably to a system with a stable star,” speculated Thomas while devouring a chocolate frosted donut hungrily. Adam wondered how the kid stayed as skinny as he did considering the frequent content of his diet. “We know from your experiences that they’ve got at least one ‘foothold’, as your friends call it, and probably more.” He touched a keyboard in front of him and a large screen on the far end of the room lit up with an enhanced image of the planet as it had been viewed from the Ali Rinai’s primary navigation telescope. “There’s a partial atmosphere present, which would normally burn off into open space if it’s left at its current position for any significant length of time. Then the ice would go next – the presence of large, usable water deposits is no doubt one of the reasons it was selected for transit from their side of the ‘bridge’ between universes. But the primary content is unmistakably the plentiful bounty of unknown metallic elements that can be mined there… materials that they need in order to continue producing additional quashing weapons.”

  Adam paused in mid-bite. “How the hell can you determine that from a simple telescope image?”

  “I sent a Canary probe through a transit portal while your ship was waiting by the dying star,” Thomas explained in his boyish manner. “Glen needed to test the Pathfinder’s singularity along with the portal projector and I needed more information. First the probe went all the way across the transit ‘bridge’ and mapped the Kuth’s home star system. Then it returned and I instructed it to do a couple of quick, planetary flyovers so that we could analyze the object they felt was so important it had to come with them.” He watched Adam’s reaction playfully. “I told you I was planning on sending one, and that it was going to be invisible,” he explained casually. “It’s parked on the bottom of your ship, with fuel to spare in case we need to use it again.”

  “I hope the atmosphere and ice burn off of that stinking world,” scowled Adam irritably, feeling awfully full but continuing to pick at the variety of food dishes with his fork. “Anything we can do to throw a wrench into Kuth plans is a good thing.” He watched both Kaufield and Noah smirk in response to his rather negative statement. “What? What are you not telling me?”

  “We brought their planet here,” said Noah with a pleased smile playing across his elderly features.

  Adam shifted his astonished gaze toward Kaufield. “It’s true,” the President told him. “Their precious planet, the one that they invested all this time and effort in bringing across this transit ‘bridge’ of theirs, is currently orbiting the same sun as Tranquility… our planet. If they want it back… well, too bad. It’s already gone from its entry point and sitting here, countless millions of light years distant.”

  “Their Caucus is going to be even more pissed at us than they already are,” Adam predicted.

  “Their Caucus is always pissed,” noted Thomas. “Your communications AI-program was monitoring the inter-ship transmissions during and after the battle. It also detected encrypted messages destined for the central Caucus leadership shortly after your first, shortest jump, while you were still only light minutes away from the destroyed star. Apparently this Admiral Deek fellow was a really, really big wheel of some sort and considered irreplaceable. The other Kuth in that convoy are furious.”

  Adam found himself much more pleased than he really should have been at the news, taking a moment to gather his thoughts before shifting his gaze to Thomas. “By the way, I obtained a couple of relatively undamaged Kuth bodies for you so that you can examine them. Their throats are crushed, but other than that everything should be preserved. They’re in the Ali Rinai’s freezer.”

  Dr. Simmons turned and stared at Thomas. “Why in the world would you want to examine those things?” she asked with a raised eyebrow, clearly intrigued. “They’re the most disgusting form of life I’ve ever seen.”

  “Let’s just call it scientific curiosity,” replied Thomas dryly. “I can understand how their skins could evolve with chameleonic properties, but that shape shifting deal is an entirely different matter. Is it biological too, or some form of technology? Can they turn themselves into other, smaller or larger life forms?” He was clearly very interested in the matter. “These are the things I think about in my spare time Doctor. These are the questions that I must have the answers to, Doctor.”

  “Well, be certain to let me know if you find out anything interesting,” she told him, wrinkling her nose. “I’m not going anywhere near them. If you start up some kind of Dr. Frankenstein type project, you’re on your own.”

  Everyone paused for a moment to quietly digest the significant items discussed so far. Thomas reached for another donut, causing Adam to harrumph at him and shake his head. Noriana grabbed her husband’s hand even more tightly, leaning her own head against his. Dr. Simmons leaned her chair back, arms folded while mentally trying to erase images of the monstrous Kuth. Kaufield and Noah exchanged wary glances, the former preparing himself for what was to come next while the latter waited patiently. Noah was primarily a listener, for the most part, dedicated to non-interference wherever and whenever possible. That was why the alien’s suggestion to bring the alien universe planet into the Proteus galaxy had caught Adam completely by surprise. Just when I think I have the man figured out, he thought silently.

  Adam raised a hand to his mouth, managing to stifle a potential burp that would have just been plain embarrassing, considering the circumstances. Satisfied that he had eaten enough to survive another few days on limited Wasteland offerings, he pushed the tray toward the center of the table and poured himself a cup of hot coffee. “I need a destination,” he spoke up unexpectedly, sipping cautiously from a mug. “I believe our next step should be to locate one of these ‘foothold’ worlds. We’re going to need to know where the central leadership makes its home in order to have any hope of stopping the Kuth. They’ve been crossing that ‘bridge’ of theirs for almost fifty thousand years. Who knows how many ships and personnel have come through during that time period? Only nine ships took advantage of the opportunity that our quashing weapon provided, but the wormhole remained open long enough for thousands to come through.”

  “Identifying and locating those worlds represents our most difficult task yet,” stated Kaufield bluntly. “Which is why, for a time, we were thinking of ending your mission now, allowing us more time for study.”

  Adam stared him down. “Oh come on,” he countered warily. “We can’t just up and quit now…” He glanced from Kaufield to his wife, studying each of their faces. “More innocent people will continue to die!” He slapped his chest with both hands for emphasis. “I’m all suited up and ready to go. I have to go back! I want to go back!” Nori turned her head slightly to prevent him f
rom seeing her smile at his unexpected insistence.

  “The Caucus trusts only a few of its members with the location of its home worlds,” said Dr. Simmons. “I was on Sentinel duty when Thomas finished analyzing all of the data you sent back from the Ali Rinai’s main computer. There is nothing in navigation or the communications log to suggest where that warship originates from. We suspect that only Captain Barrek or officer Bok possessed any real knowledge of Yakiir territory, and unfortunately both of them are dead.”

  Opening his mouth to protest further, Adam paused upon seeing Kaufield raise a cautioning hand. “Then we decoded those communications you intercepted from that convoy,” the President told him. “There is information there regarding a major military facility of some sort orbiting a dead world… a facility that may hold all the answers we’re searching for. We did get coordinates for that, and it’s on a direct line with the convoy’s transit trail… we’ve been tracking them ever since you abandoned the target one area.”

  “Then that’s where I’m taking the Ali Rinai next,” Adam told them firmly. “We’re going to continue to raise hell until we drag these Kuth and their secret agenda out into the sunlight for all to see.” He scratched his head, mildly frustrated. “It would help if I had more support to rely upon than just the Pathfinder’s shuttles. When will the starship be ready to join me in the Wasteland?”

  Kaufield shrugged casually. “Theoretically we could go now, but Glen wants to make sure she’s properly weaponized prior to departure. We’re putting rail guns all over her dorsal and ventral hulls.” He glanced toward Thomas, who was still eating donuts, with the mischievous eye of a cat. “Your brother has been adding more to the workload, too, I’m told.”

  Refilling his coffee mug, Thomas smiled. “Trust me,” he replied confidently. “Now that we have the CAS singularity contained within the body of the ship, we can generate even more internal power. Everything I’ve submitted on the work chit will pay off in the long run. Glen’s team thinks the latest round of upgrades will take an extra eighteen hours to complete. For me, that’s an irresistible trade-off.”