by Damon Alan
Moments later Heinrich was walking from the office, wearing the Fleet Captain insignia that Admiral Sarah Dayson had worn just a short time earlier. Mayor Jannis had kept them in her possession after the admiral’s pinning ceremony.
She looked at herself in the glass of the corridor that led to the elevator down from the mayor’s office.
She looked good.
Now to prove she was good.
Chapter 33 - Bodyguard
09 Febbed 15332
Faroo sat low on the horizon, and soon longnight would begin. It was already dark in Zeffult, pushed into darkness by the turning of the world around Jalai. Time for him to address his monarch and explain his failure to stop Fasdamar before he harmed the military leader of the newcomers.
Sarah Dayson.
It wasn’t his fault. He knew that. Nobody expected Karanya’s betrayal of the adept council. Nobody expected Fasdamar to turn assassin. It was remarkable coincidence that he was in the right place at the right time to take part in the fray.
He felt his face, the burn scar still prominent.
None of that mattered. If Sarah Dayson died, Alarin Sur’batti felt nobody was currently in position to replace her. Nobody else, except Thea Jannis, had confronted Merik. Nobody else had hunted down their own to avenge the destruction at Zeffult.
Salphan, if he was to stay in New Korvand, must do his part to make sure nothing like that happened again.
It was time to speak to his master.
Master Edolhirr.
I am here, Salphan, Edolhirr responded. I heard of your wounds from Alarin. And of your sacrifice.
Salphan rested uncomfortably in the apartment Sarah Dayson’s people had provided for him. It was a marvel. Running water. Pillowed couches and beds. Controlled temperature, so it was comfortable regardless of the outside heat. A box that preserved food with cold. More metal than he’d ever touched in his life.
It was no sacrifice. She called to me, and I had to respond.
Edolhirr paused before answering him. It was entirely possible the Master Adept and ruler of Antecar was dividing his attention between Salphan and events where he was.
I understand, I have met the woman, he finally responded. She is of a powerful mind for an ungifted person. You were wise to save her, my friend.
More compassion than wisdom I think, Master. But I’m honored you think me wise.
Salphan could sense Edolhirr’s amusement.
I should tell you that you’re fired as my ambassador, by the way.
What? Praise and then dishonor? How could that be?
Edolhirr’s amusement grew stronger. It’s not dishonor, you should never think me capable of harming you, body or soul. You are one of the greatest men in Antecar, Salphan. A talented battle adept. A skilled tactician. Alert. And yes, wise. Which is why you would be wasted as ambassador, and with your response to Fasdamar, I see that.
What would you have me do then?
You will be Sarah Dayson’s bodyguard. She always has two or three of her soldiers with her, and with self-minded and selfish adepts like Fasdamar in the world, I can’t blame her. You will join that contingent.
That was the opposite of dishonor. The newcomers were very important to Master Edolhirr, to Master Alarin, and his wife. To be trusted to protect their leader, that was a high honor.
You treat me as I do not deserve, Master. I however, accept before you can change your mind. I will guard her with my life.
You’ve already proven that, Salphan. I want you to travel everywhere with her. Obey her commands as if they were mine. Report to me if you see anything that would threaten this unity of our people, Edolhirr said. If she asks you to fight, then you fight. I want to be kept informed.
It will be as you say.
Edolhirr clearly had every intention of making sure Salphan knew the significance of his new assignment. Alarin already knows. He has completed the deal assigning you to Sarah Dayson with Thea Jannis. I believe she is safe now, and under heavy guard. Alarin is leaving soon, however. He and Emille are traveling with the newcomers once again. You will remain with Sarah Dayson and keep her safe in his absence.
She will be protected. I wasn’t expecting trouble when I came here, especially not from another adept. But I am not some third rate adept, Master Edolhirr. I am an Antecaran battlemaster trained by the best, Salphan said.
Edolhirr shared his mirth with Salphan. I have no idea how you got through training with me when you’re such an arrogant suck up.
It is how I survived your training.
Insolent. Get to work. I will be here, seeing to our country and Zeffult while Alarin is gone. You get to have the fun. Now get to it.
I serve Antecar and the gods, Salphan replied ritually.
Salphan felt the disconnect from Edolhirr as if a lifelong friend had stepped out the door. He stood up, walked to his sleeping room, and packed enough clothing for several days. If he was to protect Sarah Dayson, he’d need to be where Sarah Dayson was. The hospital.
By the time he had his gear in order and stepped out the door, it was getting dark.
Surprising him, a young military man waited outside. “This way to your ground car, sir.”
Salphan let the man take his pack, and guide him into the newcomer machine.
Moments later, to a stunned and awed Salphan, they arrived at the hospital. He stared at the machine. It had nothing he saw that made it move as it did, nothing that cranked the wheels. More of the newcomer magic.
He stepped into the building with the young man, who still carried his pack. They stepped into a box that lifted them upward, allowing them to step out on a different floor. Salphan discussed how it worked with his escort, then admitted that was a vast improvement over stairs. He’d wondered about the same thing getting to his apartment earlier.
The soldier led him down the hall, and he finally recognized Sarah Dayson’s room from when he’d been brought here before.
“This is the team protecting the admiral, sir,” the soldier with him said.
Two men and two women greeted him. One of the women shook his hand. “This is long overdue if you ask me,” she said. “We needed one of you on the team a long time ago.” She jabbed a thumb toward the admiral’s door. “Maybe this wouldn’t have happened, and maybe our brothers and sisters that died in the square would still be around.”
Salphan wasn’t sure what her tone meant. Was she blaming the adepts for not protecting Sarah Dayson from other adepts?
To be honest, if she was, it might not be unreasonable to feel that way.
“I think we failed to realize not all adepts want the new world,” Salphan replied. “But most of us know that it’s the new world or no world. I’m here now, and I promise you that I’m good at what I do.”
She nodded toward him. “Judging by what I’m seeing, you paid the price to protect the admiral. That makes you good with us.”
He smiled. “So what do I do now?”
“I’m Sergeant O’Nichols. We’re down to five primary guards, we’ve been running with one in the room and four patrolling this floor. Now, with you, I think we can even expand that patrol area a bit.” She handed him a device of some sort. “This is a radio. Let me explain to you how it works.”
Salphan turned out to have a knack for technology. He didn’t need one of their weapons, but the rest of it he took to like a curious child. He followed O’Nichols lead, did as his new team asked of him, and used his gift to make sure no further harm came to Sarah Dayson.
Additionally, Thea Jannis, who he met in Sarah Dayson’s room, asked him to use his gift to check on the admiral’s mind after he explained to her that he’d learned that skill from Alarin. He did as she asked.
“I sense nothing in the way of conscious thought,” Salphan said. “She rests. Her mind is not dead, just empty. It awaits the return of whatever it is that makes Sarah Dayson who she is. I can’t tell you any more than that.”
Thea sighed. “It’s probably what I shoul
d have expected for an answer. But I was hoping for better news. Keep checking for me once in a while, let me know if you detect anything that changes.”
Chapter 34 - Expedition
18 Febbed 15332
“What’s our velocity,” Heinrich asked.
“We can jump anytime you’re ready,” Algiss responded. “The difference between us and the system the Gaia is terraforming is under forty kilometers per second, sir.”
Heinrich considered the situation before she committed.
The Kurig floated two kilometers off her starboard bow. Fully loaded and staffed, the ship was a formidable fighting machine. While it was less armored and armed than the battlecruiser it accompanied, it was much more nimble and fast than the Stennis. Not to mention undamaged by any actual battle. It looked new, to be honest, although Hozz had assured her it was over a decade old.
With both ships, if the signal from Andromeda was a lure, they had a greater chance to commit to a strategy other than run away.
Captain Kuo would have been her choice as captain of the Kurig, but he was her XO and moving him from that position didn’t seem appropriate after his support of her with the Mayor.
Lieutenant Commander Harmeen was sitting in a captain’s position for the first time, at least the first time for an entire mission. Training captains was something they desperately needed to do, but he would experience a trial by fire if there was any trouble.
And, more strangely, Lieutenant Seto had wanted to stay in her position on the Stennis instead of transfer to the Kurig with her husband. With that in mind, Heinrich had put Command Sergeant Stornbeck in position as the comm officer of the light cruiser. As experienced as Stornbeck was, she’d be quite the asset to the new captain.
A young ensign named Javik Mors filled in at Harmeen’s spot. He was Kuo’s man, from the Hyaku.
She had a thousand marines on board, along with the shuttles and assault pods to get them to whatever destination was appropriate. A dozen tanks waited on standby, and she’d stolen Lieutenant Hamden from the occupation forces at Karanya to lead them.
They really needed to promote Hamden another grade. A lieutenant, while favored by the upper command, shouldn’t be commanding higher officers within the marines. The problem was that Hamden had more experience fighting on the ground than anyone else in the Seventh Fleet. He’d been on every mission Admiral Dayson ordered, and a few that she didn’t. Experience won over rank, at least in his case. Hamden would lead the marines.
Heinrich was, at least on paper, ready. Why was something making her nervous? Was it that, for the first time, she really was the one with all the weight on her shoulders? Did Admiral Dayson feel like this every mission?
It didn’t matter. The Mayor was right. No more doubts were allowed.
She keyed her mic. “Kurig, Stennis. Verify all green.”
“All green, Stennis,” was the reply. “Condition one set. We are locked to you for tactical sensor information on arrival.”
“Very well,” Heinrich said. “We jump in two minutes. Stick close, Captain Harmeen.”
She could practically hear Harmeen grinning over the radio. It would match the grin on Seto’s face.
Kuo activated the PA. “Set condition one. Battlestations. Combat is not expected, but is a possibility. Damage control to your stations.”
Even as he spoke, she was already on the mic to the flight control deck. “Emille, we jump in two minutes. No command needed, just do it.”
Algiss set a timer on the tactical display.
“Okay,” Emille replied. “I will take us where I brought Gaia in before.”
Kuo spoke into her ear, on a private channel. “You’re nervous.”
“Drat, you’re not supposed to notice,” she answered. “And quit watching me.” She thought a second. “Wouldn’t you be?”
“Be? I am,” he answered. “I’m just hoping that being Sarah’s XO at one time transfers into being good as your XO.”
That made her laugh. The thought that he was worried what she would think about him. The largest battle today would probably be mostly about a dozen people, all in their particular positions for the first time, wondering if they had what it took.
She keyed her microphone again, activating the PA on both ships. “This is Fleet Captain Heinrich. Today we leap once more into the unknown, as once more a mystery confronts us. But it is our duty to investigate what might be a threat to our people, and rest assured, Eislen and his colonists are our people. They may have been sent far away to avoid conflict, but if there is a chance they need us, we’ll be there. Combat is not expected, however we will be ready. Everyone stand by for transfer, in just over a minute.”
Kuo nodded his approval. “Stations are reporting green across the ship, Captain.”
“Then let’s get this show on the road,” she replied.
The fleet transferred to New Kampana moments later. For a few seconds, it was hard to tell the difference. Eislen’s world, much like Oasis, was extra-galactic. It was even further removed from the disk of Andromeda.
“By the stars…” Kuo whispered. “That’s going to take some getting used to.”
“Status?” Heinrich asked Mors.
“Sensors are clear of ships,” Mors reported. “I’m detecting machine language transmissions from the second planet of the system, and one out of system signal.”
“Mister Algiss, as soon as you’ve matched the velocity of Eislen’s world, inform Emille Sur’batti,” Heinrich ordered. She transferred her channel to the flight control deck as he acknowledged. “Emille, when Ensign Algiss lets you know he’s ready, move us to the coordinates he shows you.”
“Will do,” she replied.
Heinrich wondered if the adepts shouldn’t be part of the military structure, but then scrapped the idea. Alarin was the First Adept of a nation, maybe a world. Where does that fit in a rank structure?
The ships ran through their procedures for the few minutes it took to match velocities. No targets, no known source for the extra-system transmission.
“What do you know about the signal, Mister Seto?” Heinrich asked.
“Laser link, very distant, definitely focused on this system. It is not a mistake that we’re receiving it. Someone had to want to send the beam here. And, even more strange, they did it tens or hundreds of thousands of years ago, when our ancestors were hitting each other with sticks on Earth.”
“Galaxies… that’s humbling. I guess that rules out a human origin. How distant is it?”
Aliens again. The Komi mentioned aliens as the reason the Hive were abandoning their assault on human space, and now this. No aliens for fifteen thousand years, and suddenly the universe was awash with as of yet unverified and still unsighted beings.
Seto messed with her equipment before answering, which took a minute. “Roughly one hundred sixty-three thousand light-years.”
“Andromeda is twice the size of the Milky Way,” Algiss added. “Still, that signal is coming from a good part of the way across the disk, well on the other side of the center.”
“Let me hear it.”
<— beep beep beep … beeeeeeep … beeeeeeep beep … beeeeeeep beep beep … bee —>
Seto silenced the signal when Heinrich gestured at her to do so.
“Have you discerned a message?” Heinrich asked.
“No sir,” Seto answered. “Effectively the laser is just a carrier, and it is modulated to count from zero to eight. Repeatedly. I believe the sender uses an octal numerical system, or base eight.”
That was mystifying. Who used anything other than decimal? Seto said the signal was no accident… but who went through that type of trouble not to send a message with it?
“It’s a beacon,” Mors said. “The numbers are just to make sure we don’t mistake it as artificial.”
“Agreed,” Kuo added. “Maybe the senders only have eight fingers? Which means the long beep would be like our five, transitioning to six. Signaling a full first hand of finge
rs.”
“Maybe. Assuming they have two hands. We’ll need to go there and see,” Heinrich said. “Once we jump into this system, we’ll make sure the Gaia is fine and if so, we’ll go investigate the anomaly.”
“Also agreed,” Kuo said. “They must want us to find something or speak with us in person, whoever it is.”
“The plan is in place,” Heinrich said.
“We’ve matched speeds,” Algiss reported. “Jumping now.”
Space shifted around them once more.
Chapter 35 - Captain’s Personal Log
AI Cynthia118B recording, Fleet Captain's personal log, personal archive: Galactic Standard Date 11:19:49 18 FEBBED 15332
Personal log entry #004, Fleet Captain Inez Heinrich, origin Matikar IV, Pallus sector.
Current Location: Outer reaches, inbound, Kampana System, Andromeda.
For the first time in my career, I’m in charge of a fleet. I might never have reached this point in the Alliance, although it was just a matter of time before I was handed a frigate or destroyer. Still, Admiral Dayson has shown tremendous faith in making me her XO and training me to command. Mayor Jannis was just as remarkable, trusting the admiral to pick her own successor.
I sort of feel like giggling. Something I’m not prone to do.
We just jumped to the Andromeda galaxy, something only done by a few before us, and all of those people are also in our fleet.
[A ten second pause]
This is a good time to be alive. All I can do is try to make sure that we all stay that way. This fleet has given me opportunity, given me position, and, even forgiven me the sins forced on me by another.
I will serve them. I will protect them. I will engage our enemies with ferocity and precision.
I’d noticed Captain Kuo looking at me from time to time, maybe he thinks my orders are too sharp, or my responses too critical. I think he might be a bit soft, maybe the result of his crew being taken prisoner after the battle at Hamor.
I will toughen him up. Results will reveal the truth of a hard punch to the enemy, and strong work ethics among our crew.
