... and they are us

by Patrick McClafferty

Lola’s mental comment made him jump.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Eyes coming back into focus, he glanced up at the frowning young woman. “I was just informed that we have a new frigate entering construction. She will be named the Constellation, after an ancient warship on my own world. Interested?” He could almost see her drooling.

  “Absolutely. Where do I sign?”

  Zed chuckled at the enthusiasm of youth. “Why don’t you inform your crew first, and then make sure everybody is off that ship. Your old frigate will be salvaged to create the new, and the sooner we can begin the better.”

  Heels popped together, and she snapped him a sharp salute. “It will be as you say, Fleet Captain Yates.” Her eyes sparkled and she almost said more, leaving it with a simple; “Thank you.” Zed watched the sway of her hips in the tight uniform as she walked away, and he gave in to temptation.

 

 

 

 

  Twenty days after the short and decisive Battle of Chamdar, the Rose of the Dawn slid out of its orbit, leaving a black star-drenched sky uncluttered by any sign of a warship. The remains of the Chamdar fleet had either been sent off to Alina DeThomaso and her construction crew, (the vast majority) or recycled by Lola herself for use on the new frigate. Of the fleet, nothing else remained. One hundred and nineteen new crewmembers had been added from the damaged frigate, while the last eighteen, all with families, had opted to return home. Unsurprisingly, Sindiix Tran had chosen to stay. She would have happily camped out in the construction bay, watching with rapt eyes the creation of her new command, but finally Kat had her escorted, almost physically dragged to Medical Bay to get her own memory implants and physiological conditioning. She was stretched out right next to Jerlan Bentax, Sergeant Kal Sirak and as many others from both Dramul and Chamdar volunteers as the Medical Bay would hold. Zed was going to make damn sure that he was never caught shorthanded of personnel again.

  Since he had ‘officially’ named the Rose of the Dawn his flagship, Lola had insisted that a second command chair be installed for Zed, on the bridge, lower and slightly to the right of the original command chair. Zed had put his foot down when Lola had wanted to install the chair behind and above all the rest, looking down on the bridge. He was shocked, however, when he asked Lola about the Tactical Holographic Display he remembered from his implanted studies; suddenly discovering the reason the bridge had been designed in a horseshoe shape around an open central void. The center of the shoe was filled by a glowing red globe representing a quarter of a light year of space. Currently the globe contained a single blue arrow in the center, labeled Rose. Memory reminded him that hostile forces would be marked with red arrows, along with suggested attack vectors. Friendly forces would be marked in blue. There was a gasp of surprise behind him, and then a mumbled curse.

  “So that’s what they meant by Tactical Holographic Display. I’ll be damned.” Kal Sirak came down to the railing where Zed was standing. “May I, Fleet Captain?” He nodded at the display.

  Zed gave him a whimsical smile. “Be my guest.” Sergeant Sirak just winked.

  “Lola, please reduce display by twenty five percent.”

  “As you wish, Sergeant Sirak.” The red display quivered for a moment and shrank. Zed was pleased to note that they could see the entire forward screen now, over the top of the tactical display.

  “Good call, Kal.” Staring down at the display, he murmured. “Lola, what is the range of this display?”

  “Two light-years maximum, to one hundred kilometers minimum.”

  “And I didn’t even know it was there.” He muttered darkly to himself. “Lola, display off.” The red image vanished.

  “Ahhh, Zed??” Sirak looked uncomfortable using Zed’s first name. “When I woke up I found that I had all this extra stuff stuffed in my memory. I know how to fly every ship we have now. Why?”

  “I got stuck once, Kal, with insufficient pilots and crew. It won’t happen again.”

  The sergeant nodded slowly. “I can see that.” He gave Zed a crooked grin. “Did you know that your hot little frigate captain has herself a copilot? Weltak something-or-other. I can’t remember his last name.”

  “Good.” The fleet captain let out a sigh. “Maybe he will keep her occupied and out of trouble. She was a knockout before she went in for imperial conditioning. Now she’s drop dead gorgeous.”

  “Ohhh? Is that what you think?” A soft vibrant voice said from the bridge door. The two men turned and Zed could feel the flush creep up his cheeks.

  “As a matter of fact.” He found it difficult to swallow. “Yes.”

  Her smile was warm, slightly sultry and her startling blue eyes never left his face. She took another step closer, brushed a blond wisp of hair out of her face. “Weltak is my brother, and has been my copilot ever since I took command of a ship.” Her smile was slightly wicked. “We used to get into trouble together all the time, so don’t count on him to hold me in check, Fleet Captain.” She reached up and patted his cheek with a warm hand, turned and swayed out of the room. Both men stood paralyzed for several moments.

  “You have a problem.” There was an ironic touch to Sergeant Sirak’s deep gravelly voice.

  “Lola, what did you do to Lieutenant Tran?” Zed gasped, having trouble catching his breath.

  “Why, I installed standard Frigate Captain’s implants and imperial conditioning. Since she was so young to begin with, the conditioning didn’t do much more that tone her up a bit, and drop a few years from her physical age. Physically, she’s about seventeen or eighteen years old now.”

  Zed groaned, and Sirak began to laugh. “Lola, at seventeen or eighteen human males and females are just coming into the first flush of their sexuality. Please check the air in the bridge for human pheromones.”

  “Oh dear.” Lola sounded shocked. “She is absolutely reeking of pheromones. If I don’t do something quickly she will cause a riot just walking by.” There was a short pause. “I have requested that Lieutenant Tran report to sick bay for memory upgrades. I will adjust things back to their pre-conditioning levels. She will still look eighteen, but her impact won’t be so—incapacitating. Sindiix Tran is attracted to you however, Fleet Captain, and there is nothing I can do about it.”

  Laughing, Kal Sirak slapped Zed on the back. “You run an interesting ship, Zed. You might, however, consider taking one of the small fighters and heading back to your own homeworld for a few years. Maybe in four or five years Sindiix will forget about you. But don’t count on it.” He held up his hands at Zed’s glower, still laughing. “OK, I’m going.”

  It had been two months since they left Dramul, and Zed knew that the trail to QX’an tril Station was getting colder all the time.

  “Lola, please get the planetary president on the line.” There was a long pause.

  “He’s on, Fleet Captain.”

  “This is Fleet Captain Yates. Who am I speaking to?”

  “I am Tular Fell.” A pompous looking, overweight man appeared on the screen. He was sweating slightly.

  “Are you ready to abide by the terms of your surrender, Mister Fell?” Zed purposely didn’t use the man’s honorific.

  “Abide by it? Absolutely not! We demand that you depart our space immediately. In the past two months
we have repaired and fortified the orbiting space platforms you destroyed. You will be destroyed if…”

  Zed spoke quietly, and everyone on the bridge was holding his or her breath. Sindiix, her face showing in the bottom of the main viewscreen, was sitting in her own command chair, on the half-finished bridge of the Frigate Constellation watching, her eyes wide. “Tactical holographic display, Lola.” The red globe appeared in the bridge well, and there were several muffled gasps. The two blue arrows seemed to be surrounded by dozens of red circles indicating orbital defense positions. “Analysis?”

  “They couldn’t hurt us if they tried, even with our shields down.”

  “Thank you, Lola. Are there any people on either of the moon bases?”

  “No lifeforms are detected, Zed. I believe they all came to work for us.”

  Fleet Captain Yates’ smile was cold. “Chesapeake, you are cleared to engage planetary defenses. Lola, destroy the nearest moon. Now!” It was all over in the space of three heartbeats. The red circles indicating orbital defense positions in the display were gone, as was Dramul’s smallest moon. “Let’s see what the president has to say now.” The screen flickered, to show a small festively decorated chamber. The walls seemed to be shaking, and several men were trying to revive the fainted president. Finally Tular Fell opened his eyes and looked up. When he saw Zed watching, he turned pale. “Have you reconsidered my offer? You surrender I let you live. The president of Chamdar was more cooperative, but then he saw his entire grand fleet obliterated before his eyes.”

  “We surrender, totally, and without reservation. Please don’t destroy us. You’ve caused enough damage and cost enough lives.”

  Zed gave him a hard look. “You will allow my computer to access your central computing net, with no restrictions. Understood?”

  “Understood.” Tular Fell’s voice was weak, and several men in lavender uniforms were trying to help him stand.

  “You may survive the day yet, Tular. We’ll be in touch.” He cut the connection. “How badly did we hurt them, Lola?”

  “I used a weapon on the moon that was actually larger than necessary. The blast was more spectacular, and the debris considerably smaller.”

  Zed’s laugh was sad. “I noticed that you reduced it to dust. It was a good call, Lola.”

  “Thank you. The loss of the moon, however, caused earthquakes and tsunamis on the planet below. Several thousand people were killed, mostly along coastal flood zones.”

  “Damn.” Zed slowly got out of his seat. “Call me when you’ve discovered what happened to QX’an tril Station, and where the Creednax homeworld is. I just need to be alone for a while. Kat, you have the conn.”

 

  The blue ball appeared floating in the air, leading the way.

  The observatory was small, no more that twenty meters wide and perfectly dome shaped. The low curved ceiling stood a comfortable six meters over the dark deck. There were no windows in the chamber, and no walls. The entire room, save the floor, was crystal clear, near impregnable glassite. It felt, Zed thought to himself, like he was walking on the hull without a suit. There were several overstuffed and comfortable chairs scatter about, and one massive curved couch that had to be at least four meters long, and sat snuggled up against the far edge of the observatory. Zed dropped into a well-cushioned chair, draping his legs over the arm. “Lola, could I please have a bottle of wine and a glass?”

  The air sparkled and an open bottle of wine appeared on the low table, a single deep-bowled, long stemmed glass beside it.

  He really felt stupid. “We have a bar?” Overhead, small fragments of the moon drew white traceries in the planet’s blue sky as they burned.

  For the next three weeks Zed kept mainly to himself, returning to his quarters to sleep, bathe and change clothes before he was out of the door again. Kat looked on him with worried eyes, until she assured herself that he wasn’t sneaking off with Sindiix to some dark and hidden corner of the ship. Zed walked down the long unused hallway toward the edge of the saucer and slowed, checking for witnesses before he slipped into an unmarked door. Soft lights and subtle music greeted him, and he smiled despite his fey mood. Twenty meters by thirty meters by five, the entire curved front wall looked out onto the blackness of space. On the opposite side of the room stood a thick and heavy mahogany bar with a huge mirror back and racks of bottles. Side walls held small cozy booths, and circular tables, both small and large were scattered liberally throughout the room. In front of the window stood several clusters of heavy, well-padded chairs and couches. Crackling merrily, a circular fireplace sat in the very center of the room. He called the lounge The Bow-Wave, although its location in the edge of the saucer ruled out a true bow or stern location.

  Ralph stretched luxuriously on her rug in front of the fire, and opened a blue eye. Mrrrrowwwww? The feline voice was a mere rumble of sound.

  “No, not now, you spoiled cat.” Zed ruffled Ralph’s fur, and she gave him a soft growl and a playful swat. He was almost sure that none of the bones in his hand were broken. “I’ll announce the grand opening as soon as we get under way.” The cat, he noted wryly was very round, and the birth of her kittens was imminent. He held up a beautiful, if cold picture of Mount Everest, raising it as high as he could against a wall. “Would you hold it there for me, Lola?” He stepped back, considering. “A little higher… There! Thank you.”

  “I could do all this for you, Zed.” Lola’s voice sounded puzzled.

  “I know. I prefer to do it myself.” The walls in the lounge were hung with pictures of famous natural scenes from Earth, Dramul and Chamdar, as well as a few of deep space. “Turn up the lights, Lola, and turn on some rock and roll.”

  “The Beatles again?”

  “Let’s try Creedence Clearwater Revival today.” The computer groaned, and the strains of Green River blasted from invisible speakers.

  Sometime later, with Zed stripped down to his undershirt and sweat dripping down his face as he hand waxed the huge twelve meter bar, Lola lowered the music.

  “Zed, I’ve finally found out exactly what happened to QX’an tril Station, and the location of the Creednax homeworld to the best of the Dramul knowledge.”

  “Shut off the music, Lola, and please get me a sandwich and a beer.”

  “Yes, Zed. As Captain Bentax mentioned earlier, QX’an tril Station was stolen. It was stolen by its supposed original creators, the Creednax. One small message pod arrived at Dramul, sent by a corvette guarding the station, announcing the Creednax arrival and their approximate numbers. Then nothing. By the time the fleet arrived the station and all trace of the Creednax were gone. Finish your sandwich, Fleet Captain.” Zed reluctantly took another bite, and a sip of the smooth pale ale. “Finish it!”

  “You’re getting to be a nag, Lola.” Silence greeted his comment and he finished the sandwich.

  “The Creednax fleet numbered in excess of five hundred ships, Zed.” He suddenly felt his appetite dwindle to zero. “Two of those were Creednax battleships, fully four times our size. Four were cruisers three times our size. Dozens of frigates. The message pod said something about spacegoing tugs and support ships.”

  Zed drained the beer without tasting it. “That would indicate that after all this time the Creednax can’t get into their own station, the station drives are inoperative, or the Creednax don’t remember how to operate them and are taking the station home to study it. In any event, if they get the technology on that station we’re screwed.” Zed stared out the window, into the blackness of space. “How are we set, Lola?”

  “Rose of the Dawn is
at eighty seven percent of full capability, captain. The limitations are wholly due to the incomplete nature of the Frigate Constellation. If you wish, the frigate could be launched now, with the finishing touches to be completed while underway. That way I could take on more construction mass and begin construction of the next frigate immediately. By the time we reach Captain DeThomaso’s location the new frigate will be well under way, and by the time we reach the Creednax it will be fully operational. I assume you are going there and then backtracking the Creednax fleet.”

  “You are correct, and your idea about the frigates is excellent. Do it… How is the new Dramul President working out?”

  “Kelto Darad is having a tough time, but our presence has made his transition much easier.”

  Zed chuckled dryly. “I suppose so. Please inform him that we will be leaving orbit shortly, and it may be a while before we return.” If ever, he thought to himself bleakly. “Have all ships prepare to get under way. Please notify appropriate parties that there will be a Command Staff Meeting in the general conference room in two hours, and we will leave orbit shortly after that. The waiting is over Lola. The last steps have finally begun.”

  “That they have, Zed, but where do they lead, I wonder.”

  The general conference room could have seated fifty, but Zed stared across the table at a scant thirty: some of the remaining Earth humans, some of the bridge staff, ship commanders, fighter squadron commanders, and the section chiefs. The walls of the room were a comforting sea green, but nobody noticed. A younger looking Jer Bentax was sitting on one side of the table staring in undisguised amazement at his ex-wife. Selena was taking it all in, with a kind-of grim satisfaction, a taunting grin on her face. Sindiix Tran looked on with wide blue eyes. Katherine and Dimitri both watched him with studied, expressionless faces. He stood up, brushing the non-existent wrinkles out of the razor sharp edge of his uniform pants.

  “We will leave Dramul just as soon as this staff meeting is over. Our destination is Captain DeThomaso’s construction site.” He glanced at the eyes regarding him, some excited, some worried. He swallowed, and it tasted of dust. “After we reach there we will be turning to follow the Creednax fleet back to their homeworld if necessary, to deprive them of the use of QX’an tril Station, and the vast store of knowledge it represents. They will be towing the enormous bulk of the station, so their speed shouldn’t be great. I hope to catch them well before they reach their own world.”