by Lewis Dually
“Probably. A ship that size you’re bound to have survivors in trapped air pockets. Just be careful. If they make contact let them come to you. Don’t go in that thing.”
“Yes Sir.” Leland replied again.
I sat back in my chair and reached for the can of snuff I no longer carried in my shirt pocket. An idea had tickled one of my nicotine deprived synapses. What if we could get a ship inside that cavern? It was big enough that even the Dawn Rising would have some room to maneuver.
Blain interrupted my thoughts. “Sir, Commander Sprite is on video feed.”
I looked up to see Sprite’s grinning face streaked with sweat and his black war paint. Beside him was a cowering smoke and dirt covered Antwon Adolphus.
“Well look who I found hiding in an ore locker!” Sprite said as he pulled Antwon upright for me to see.
“Antwon. It’s good to see you.” I said with a heavy note of sarcasm. “Ever since our first meeting you have lied to me, miss directed me and tried to derail my investigation. You even tried to short out our subspace radio. That just pisses me off! It’s time you tell me the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth or so help me I’ll have Sprite flush you out that big airlock with nothing but the clothes on your back! You get my meaning here?”
“Yes Sir.” Antwon replied and hung his head again.
“Where is the vaccine, Antwon?”
“I don’t know. My brother loaded it on a cargo ship and took off with it. I have no idea where he went.”
“Where are the captives?”
“He took them too.”
“How many of them are there and what is their condition?”
“Last count I had was eleven hundred and forty. That was about two months ago so there may be a couple more.”
Behind me I heard Walters proclaim “Holy crap! Eleven hundred!”
“Is the lab on the ship or on the asteroid?”
“It’s here mostly. My brother took some of the equipment but most of it is here along with all of the records. That’s what the Krueg were doing when you got here. They didn’t find the vaccine so they were taking all the data to download to their ship. Without the vaccine they knew they could not go back themselves. They have been exposed to the virus.”
“So at this point they don’t know the true nature of the vaccine? How exactly does the vaccine kill the Krueg?”
“The vaccine gives them an immunity against the bird flu but it also increases their production of globular proteins. After six months they will develop Alzheimer’s.”
“Alzheimer’s? You mean an entire species would be suffering from Alzheimer’s at the same time? Good Lord. An entire planet of people entirely unable to care for themselves. They would basically starve to death or die of exposure. How could anybody do that to another race? I don’t understand it. I really don’t.”
Antwon looked up at me and for the first time I saw hatred burning in his cold black eyes.
“You don’t know what they did to my people. You could never understand.”
“You didn’t answer my question about the captives’ condition. Are they well?”
Antwon hung his head again. “They are kept in hibernation, in stasis pods. Their vitals are monitored and medication is administered to keep them healthy. They are fed intravenously and their blood is processed to remove the antibodies for the vaccine. If one becomes sick or weak from the inactivity then they are brought out of hibernation and put through a rehab program that helps them get healthy and strong again.”
“And then what happens when they’re healthy again?”
“They are put back into hibernation. We have a good record. Less than two percent loss rate. That’s really good.”
“Oh, well, I guess that makes it all right then!” I leaned forward and stared into the camera for Antwon to see me. “I may not know what the Krueg did to your people but now I know what you’re doing to mine.”
Antwon snapped back at me. “Your own people are doing it to yours. We’re not the only ones with blame here.”
“I know, and believe me, we will deal with them. Answer me two more questions. What ship did your brother take and where is Joydeus?”
“The Javelin, he took the Javelin.”
“And Joydeus?”
“I dropped him at the refueling station.”
“At Pinky’s?”
“Yes.”
“Commander Sprite, would you turn Mr. Adolphus over to the Rangers and finish your sweep of the asteroid?”
“Yes Sir. What do I do with the Krueg prisoners?”
“I don’t know yet. I’ll let you know.”
“Copy that.” Sprite responded.
“Walters, pull up everything we have on the Javelin. Let’s see what she’s made of.”
Walters turned to her computer and pulled up the Javelin’s specs. Leaning forward she read out loud.
“Built in 2049 her hull is made of T-149 steel plate. Her engines are a combination of twin electro-magneto pulse rails and hydrogen-ion boosters. She has two reactors. One is a seven hundred megawatt GUTM coil reactor and the other is a twin core Plutonium-36 steam drive reactor.”
At that I interrupted her. “That’s it right there. The radiation from the second reactor will be pulled to the drive rails and pushed out the tail with the mag-pulses. It should leave a readable trail of radioactivity that we can follow. Blain, set your sensors to single out PU-36 decay and see what you can find.”
“Aye aye Sir.” Blain responded. “And be advised Sir, the Krueg Destroyer has arrested its tumble. They have gone static at 136 mark 101 at 3751 miles.”
“Crap!” I blurted out as I opened a channel to the engine room. “Chief! Where are my engines?”
“Two minutes Sir. We found the problem and are fixing it.”
“Ok Chief. We have an enemy destroyer thirty seven hundred miles behind us. If they start this way they will be on us in thirty seconds.”
“Yes Sir. Thirty seconds it will be.”
Switching off the engineering channel I looked at Hollister. “Load all torpedo tubes and have the gunners pull a bead on that destroyer. Walters, tell Gale to get her butt over here ASAP.”
Before she could answer Blain called out. “Got it!”
“What do you got?”
“Radiation trail Sir. We need to set course 189 mark 15 relative and track.”
“Well that’s good.” I said. “The Krueg went off in the wrong direction. You heard her Chaffey, set 189 mark 15 and as soon as Engineer Owens gives me some dad gum propulsion we’ll go liberate our captives.”
As if on cue Owens’s voice bellowed over the coms. “You’re back in the fight Skipper! Propulsion is restored.”
“Excellent! Good work Chief.” I replied. “Blain, what’s the Krueg Destroyer doing?”
“Still setting there Sir. They are actively sweeping us with radar so we know they’re not blind although I don’t know if they can see us. We lost some hull shielding so we may not be invisible to their radar anymore.”
“Even if we are they should be picking up our subspace transmissions so they know where we are and their engines are obviously working so what are they doing?”
Chaffey turned his chair to me. “They’re keeping us here Sir. As long as they are sitting there they know we won’t go after the carrier.”
“Good point. Blain, get me Sprite on the coms.”
“Yes Sir.” She said as she flipped a couple switches and hailed Sprite.
“Sprite here, go ahead.”
“Sprite, have you been able to talk with the Krueg prisoners?”
“Sure have. Their space suits have built in translators that broadcast on a VHF frequency. We tuned them in and have been talking back and forth. But I wouldn’t exactly call what they do speaking words. They make clicking and chirping sounds, sort of reminds me of dolphins.”
“What are they saying?”
“Well the soldiers won’t say anything. Not even name, rank and se
rial number if they have such things. There are six scientists with them and they have been talking. Basically they say they knew the vaccine was a trick but they were willing to risk it to get the real cure. They’re still afraid we will send the bird flu to their home planet.”
“Well that was the original plan according to Albright but the Krueg got wise to it so they came up with this cockamamie idea. Obviously they got wise to it also. Ok, here’s what I want to do. I’m going to try to contact this destroyer and tell them they can have their soldiers and scientists back but they have to leave our system immediately and never return. If they accept those terms then you put all of them in a shuttle along with a care package and send them back to their ship. Then you clear out everything you can from the asteroid and set demo charges to destroy the rest. Got that?”
“Ten four. Deport the aliens, gather the data and blow the rock. Got it!”
“Exactly! Blain, give me a ship wide broadcast.”
“You’re on Sir.” Blain replied.
“Attention crew, this is the Skipper. We are going back into the fray. All hands to battle stations, pressure suits on and zipped, keep your helmets close. That is all.”
“Ok, here goes. Blain, open hailing frequencies to the Krueg.”
“Yes Sir, on channel one.”
I took a deep breath and then squeezed the mic’s transmit button.
“Krueg destroyer, this is the United Earth Space Ship Dawn Rising. We have captured the asteroid and taken your soldiers and scientists captive. We have destroyed one of your battle carriers and seven destroyers in sector four. Only you and the battle carrier in sector one are left. I will release your soldiers and scientists if you leave our system and never return.”
I let go of the mic button and held my breath. The last two times we had hailed a ship like this their answer came in a hail of bullets. Almost a minute passed before the Krueg responded and an image of the Krueg bridge materialized on the view screen. The Krueg commander stood directly in front of us with his grey scales glistening as if he had polished them with a buffing wheel. His eyes were the same black discs the Croiddan sported but they seemed to be dull and dry. The lights of the bridge put out an orange glow which made the green stripes running down either side of his head look brown. He began to make a soft clicking and chirping noise and I was surprised at how articulate his mouth and scale covered lips were. Sprite was right, it did sound like a dolphin. As the clicking and chirping continued a computerized voice began to speak in English.
“I am Draiggon of the Krueg ship Toatton. What is the condition of my men?”
“Seven are dead, ten are wounded and fifteen are fine.” I replied and hoped the translator got it right.
“Have my wounded been exposed to your atmosphere?”
“Yes, I’m sure they have.”
“Then they are infected. I can do nothing for them. Have the others been exposed to your atmosphere?”
“No. They are still wearing their environmental suits.”
“I will accept your terms. Return my men to me and we will leave your system and not return. You have my word.”
“Will the captain of the battle carrier leave our system with you?”
“No. He has sworn an oath to the high priestess to retrieve the cure for the bird sickness or die in the attempt. He will not leave without it.”
Well ain’t that just peachy! I thought to myself.
“Tell the captain of that ship that I will destroy him or I will destroy the cargo ship carrying the cure. One way or the other I will not allow it to leave our system.”
The Krueg commander stepped closer to the screen and seemed to eyeball me. Then he asked. “What is your name?”
“Commander Allen Paul.”
“The captain of the Moe-ogg is named Troak. I will tell him that you are a worthy adversary.”
“I don’t care what you tell him as long as you leave our system. I will have your men sent to you shortly.”
I motioned to Blain to kill the channel and then switched back to Sprite.
“Did you get all of that?”
“Sure did.”
“Send him his men and send me the care package codes.”
“Yes Sir.”
Seven minutes later the Crimson Moon pulled alongside and parked as her B shuttle proceeded on to the Krueg Destroyer with its alien passengers. We watched the shuttle fly into the open shuttle bay and disappear as the bay doors closed. Then the destroyer turned for deep space and sprang off into the stars.
“Sir.” I heard Gale’s voice call over the coms. “Am I going to get my shuttle back?”
“I doubt it. Don’t worry, you can have one of mine.”
“Yes Sir. If you say so. Commander Sprite said to give you this code. Alfa Victor 7-9-5-2-0-0 Charlie Delta.”
“Thanks.”
“What’s it for Sir?
“That’s the activation code for a care package Sprite set up for me. Are you ready to go set the captives free?”
“Absolutely! Let’s go!” She replied.
“Hollister. I think it’s time you earned your keep around here. Follow that radiation trail and let’s see where it goes.
CHAPTER 26: Ships Log, Final Entry.
After defeating another Krueg destroyer, capturing their soldiers, interrogating their scientists and giving an ultimatum to their commander, we were all fired up and ready for anything! Anything except what happened next. Absolutely Nothing! Hollister started us off in the general direction of the Javelin’s radiation trailer and nothing happened. I just sat there in my chair looking at the main viewer’s endless display of star specked black. No planets or heavenly bodies to give a perspective of motion. No enemy ships, no frantic calls for help from the running Javelin. Absolutely nothing happened for seven hours! Just a relentless slow methodical sweep of our sensors as they sniffed out the ever expanding radiation trail left by the Javelin’s engines. The coffee pots in the steward’s closet were percolating out their twelfth brew of the day and I had just popped the lid on my third can of snuff. As I looked at the fresh can I felt that familiar tingling of my scalp that always preceded the massive headache I would get from the nicotine overdose I had been stoking. I snapped the lid back on the can and slipped it into my shirt pocket. Just as I did Walters called out.
“I don’t understand this Sir. Why are they doing all this zig zagging back and forth?”
“Let me see.” I replied and stepped over to look at her tracking data. The radiation trail left by the Javelin was definitely zig zagging all over but when viewed as a whole it pretty much went in the same general direction. The zig zags, as she called them, looked more like cork screws. Swirling up, then down, then left or right and so on. It reminded me of the smoke trails left by the acrobatic biplanes in an air show I had once attended.
“I don’t think they are zig zagging.” I said. “I think they’re running flat out in a straight line and the solar winds are distorting her trail. If we take the general direction of their path and extend it out, where does it go?”
“Nowhere! There is nothing out there Sir, it’s the frontier, empty space.”
“That’s not exactly true. We’re approaching the edge of the Heliosphere. The leading edge at that.”
Walters looked at me with that quizzical expression she used when she thought I was making something up.
“The what?”
“The Heliosphere? You mean I know something you don’t?”
“Well apparently!” She snapped. Apparently the long hours of searching were getting to her too. I let it go and explained.
“It’s the outer boundary of our solar system where the sun’s solar winds react with the interstellar medium to carve out a protective bubble that shields the solar system from galactic radiation. Just like Earth has a magnetic shield to protect it from the sun’s radiation, the sun has a shield that protects the solar system from the galaxy’s radiation. The Heliosphere is shaped like a tear drop with the le
ading face very thin but very turbulent. The trailing end extends way out behind us like the trailing end of a tear drop. We are approaching the lead face now and I’d bet my last can of snuff that’s where the Javelin went. They could hide between the boundaries. With all that radiation and interstellar medium, sensors would be pretty much useless.”
“Skipper.” I heard Hollister interject from behind me. “The radiation we are tracking is totally different from anything we would encounter in the boundary terminus. I should still be able to track the Javelin through it. All other sensors would be offline but we can still sniff them out.”
“Excellent! Do we still have DTL link with The Crimson Moon?”
“Yes Sir.” Blain replied. “On channel seven Sir.”
I grabbed the hand mic and called Gale.
“UES one seven eight calling UES one eight five, do you copy, over.”
“Ten four Sir. I have you loud and clear on DTL link.”
“Gale, what do you know about the Heliosphere?”
“Hum. Well let’s see. Bumpy ride, radiation, no sensors, limited communications and, oh yeah, stay there too long and YOU DIE! And let me guess, that’s where you think the Javelin went?”
“Yes.”
“CRAP!” Gale replied. “I was kinda thinking the same thing. So what’s the plan Sir?”
“I think we should jump to the other side. Come out between the Heliopause and the Bow Shock. It’s supposed to be calm there. Kind of like the eye of a hurricane. If I were wanting to hide a ship out there, that’s where I’d go. We jump out and start searching again. Hollister says we should be able to track the radiation trail even with the interstellar radiation.”
“Ensign Lloyd agrees with that so let’s do it. Send us the coordinates and we’ll follow you.”
“One more thing.” I said. “If we encounter the Krueg ship, attack! Don’t wait for orders. Just fire at will and concentrate all your fire power on one spot dead center of the ship. Those carriers are hollow. If we can keep hammering at the same spot maybe we can punch a hole through and get a couple torpedoes inside, if we’re lucky. That’s the only way I see for the two of us to take that monstrosity down.”
