Stalls looked up at Leon. “So tell me … what services do you require of me?”
Leon wanted to kill Stalls right then … this second … and someday he’d make that happen. He hesitated before answering, “You mentioned Lord Vikor Shakrim.”
Chapter 33
Dacci System
The Minian, Flight Bay
_________________
Jason stood at the massive, arched bay opening on the Minian’s starboard flight deck. He felt the subtle effects of the invisible energy field—used to maintain the integrity of the ship’s internal environment—a barrier against the vacuum of space beyond. There, in the distance, was the twinkling starlight of three planetary systems. The flight deck was quiet, with the exception of maintenance droids—attending to the Caldurian fighters, numerous pilotless fighter droids, and a handful of shuttlecraft.
Jason continued to stare off into distant space. His father, perhaps his daughter, too, was out there … somewhere. In both cases, Jason felt responsible for their situations. So now he’d have to wait. The team had already set off to HAB 331, to find and bring back Stalls. Something he was more than a little leery about. Stalls was ever the sly egocentric, and Jason was well aware what the ex-pirate was capable of … something he’d reminded Rizzo about, and more than once.
Jason decided to take advantage of the downtime. He needed to discover more about the Sahhrain and the Blues, before confrontations between them came to pass. The best way to do that was to visit Harpaign, the desolate world in the Blues’ solar system.
Ricket arrived with his battle suit already initialized. He stood at Jason’s side in silence for a moment, and together they looked out toward the distant stars. Jason eventually said, “This will be somewhat dangerous, Ricket. As you well know, the Pacesetter’s probably undetectable to any vessel we’ll be coming into contact with … with that said, still we’ll be skirting a hostile fleet.”
“I do understand that, Captain. But the planet Harpaign, for the most part, is sparsely populated. As miserable as the weather is within HAB 7, it seems to have worsened even more over time. A most undesirable environment.”
“You know where to go … where to locate these ancient tablets?”
“I believe so, Captain. I’ve uploaded all the pertinent information to our HUDs and to the Pacesetter.” Ricket gestured to the fighter stationed nearby.
Together, they headed over to the sleek, dark red Caldurian vessel. Jason felt the familiar rush of adrenalin as he approached his most-favored fighter … it was fast and remarkably intuitive. He’d learned to pilot vessels like her only after his own hyper-learning stint in a MediPod, two years earlier, and the thrill of piloting a small, highly-maneuverable ship, like the Pacesetter, was now in his blood. He waved Ricket toward the inset ladder.
“Up you go.”
The canopy was open and Ricket took the front-most seat, while Jason sat in the seat directly behind him. The canopy closed and the cockpit came alive with multiple holographic 3D displays, which hovered just above their dual dash control boards. Jason listened to the soft voice of the AI, providing ship status information over his NanoCom. All was well—the Pacesetter operating at a hundred percent.
Jason quickly reviewed the latest uploads from Ricket on his HUD, skimming some items, giving others more attention. They’d be traveling to the far side of Harpaign. Since the Pacesetter was equipped with phase-shift capability, their actual travel time in space would be limited. He viewed the suggested plot coordinates, optimal phase-shifting points, along their upcoming flight. Phase-shifting allowed for jumps across great distances in space, thousands of miles—but there were limitations to how many phase-shifts could take place within a given block of time, without providing adequate time for the system to recharge. In this particular case, the Pacesetter’s AI had calculated seven phase-shifts, while providing hands-on, sub-light flight in areas of space that were the least congested with alien spacecraft. He entered a few adjustments to their plot coordinates and reduced the plot screen down to a small icon window on his HUD.
“Ready?”
“Ready,” Ricket replied.
Jason, though well aware the Pacesetter’s AI was more than capable to fly the little space fighter with little or no assistance from the pilot, nevertheless preferred a hands-on manual mode. He was also aware that at this stage of interstellar flight, pilots were never really flying on their own … human reaction time was far too slow, too inaccurate. Although the pilot’s hand movements on the controls were followed, they’d been anticipated by the AI, along with thousands of other, best-guess decision scenarios, where the AI actually made all the intricate, necessary micro-adjustments to fulfill the pilot’s commands. Safeguards were in place where the AI could override a pilot’s faulty, or dangerous, decision making … but most of those safeguards were deactivated by Jason early on, as his skill at the controls heightened, and his need for riskier maneuvers increased.
Jason heard the fighter’s powerful drive start whirling at a higher pitch as he brought the Pacesetter up off the flight deck. He punched the controls forward and the fighter rocketed out, beneath the Minian’s expansive flight bay archway, into open space. He immediately went through a series of forward and backward loops, sideways turns, and various combat maneuvers he’d been thinking about since the last time he’d been behind the controls. As his excitement elevated, Jason became more and more aware of the AI’s voice in his ear, letting him know that he had deviated from the prescribed flight plan. Reluctantly, he slowed the Pacesetter down, straightened out her trajectory, and returned to the plotted course.
“You all right up there, Ricket?”
“I’m fine, Captain. That was quite invigorating.”
“I guess I needed to get it out of my system. Okay, we’re coming to our first phase-shift coordinates in ten seconds.”
Jason waited for the telltale phase-shift flash. It came and in that same instant, they were propelled thousands of miles closer to their destination. The flash came again, and then again, and then again. With each phase-shift, Jason watched as their physical perspective, in relation to the Blues’ solar system, was altered. Jason halted the automatic, preset phase-shift program, and peered out through the canopy.
“Captain, Sahhrain warships are present here, within this system.”
Jason saw that the bulk of activity, hundreds of ships, was still within the nearby Dacci system. But Ricket was right—no fewer than thirty Sahhrain vessels were near.
“Let’s get a little closer,” Jason said. He configured the Pacesetter for another phase-shift, one that would place them fairly near Harpaign.
Flash.
Jason involuntarily clenched his teeth. “Crap!” He’d maneuvered the Pacesetter within two phase-shifts of the planet, but far too close to three Sahhrain warships. And that’s what happens when you manually override an AI.
“Can you confirm we’re not showing up on their close-range scans?”
Ricket didn’t answer for several moments. “What’s probably a more important question, Captain … is why didn’t these three vessels show up on the Minian’s or the Pacesetter’s long-range scans?”
“That is a good question,” Jason said. “Odd-looking ships … can’t say I’ve ever seen anything like them,” he added, using his HUD to magnify one of the warships. It was battleship gray and comprised of five pyramid-shaped superstructures, each connected to a pentagon- shaped center hub. In a sense, the ship appeared star-shaped.
“Captain … these warships are not of Sahhrain design. But from the communications chatter I’m picking up, they are, indeed, now Sahhrain fleet vessels. Probably absconded … much the way the Assailant was.”
“Speaking of which … any sign of her?”
“The Minian hasn’t picked up her signature within any of the planetary systems here, Captain. But these vessels are large … large enough to bring the Assailant on board … hide her from detection.”
“And there
’s no way of knowing how many of those … snowflake-looking ships … there are?”
“That is incorrect, Captain. I have altered both the Minian’s and the Pacesetter’s sensor databases to include the three vessels’ unique, variable-spectrum Teclar waves … ingenious as the process was that hid them, we’ll now be able to detect all these vessels.”
Jason was only partially listening to Ricket. His attention was on the holographic display and the light-blue icon now blinking. Below the icon was a single word: Assailant.
“Are you seeing what I’m seeing, Ricket?”
“Yes, Captain. I suspect we’ll be making another course change?”
“It’s right here in this star system … I’m not letting that ship out of my sight. Hold on while I set new phase-shift coordinates.”
“Yes, Captain.”
Chapter 34
Dacci System
The Pacesetter, Open Space
_________________
“Captain, I have determined the vessels are of Parlek Orion origin.”
“Parlek Orion?”
“Not from this galaxy. Only recently, actually right before the end of the war, the planetary system was conquered by the Craing. It seems the Sahhrain have since taken ownership of their fleet.”
“In another galaxy? How the hell would that be possible?” Jason peered into the forward section of the Pacesetter’s cockpit, where Ricket sat. A full minute elapsed before an answer came back.
“Captain, the Sahhrain are utilizing the local Loop wormhole … from my estimate, this wormhole, the one here in nearby Dacci space, has its outpoint near the Parlek Orion Empire … I’m sorry, Captain, I did not have this information available for you before.”
Jason let that set in. That changed everything. It went well beyond the purview of Star Watch. No longer a simple matter of policing a localized uprising … the situation had elevated, becoming instead an interstellar threat that would require the might of the full Allied forces.
Jason spent the next few minutes on comms, speaking with his XO back on the Minian. Perkins was instructed to send a formal correspondence back to Jefferson Station, one that would provide the pertinent information and convey the now-elevated threat level of their situation. Jason wondered who was the ultimate decision-maker at command, now that his father was gone.
“Captain, on the far side of Harpaign is another Parlek Orion vessel. It is positioned exactly where the Assailant is being held.”
Jason stared at his own console display. “I see a ship icon there … but there’s no indication it’s one of the Parlek Orion vessels.”
“With my internal nano-devices, the vessel’s unique signature is unmistakable,” Ricket added.
Jason again peered into the forward cockpit … just how much new tech has Ricket added into that little head of his?
“One more thing, Captain.”
“Go on.”
“The admiral’s life-icon, albeit critically faint, is there too.”
Jason immediately considered bringing in a rescue team. He called up a new flight path overlay layer onto the display. He tried several different scenarios, utilizing the absolute longest phase-shifts possible, from the Minian to their current position. He then calculated the time necessary for the assault team to be assembled and dispatched: Forty minutes, plus or minus.
“Can you guesstimate the admiral’s condition … how much time he has?”
“Not accurately, Captain. I’ve been working on that and my best-guess prognosis would be …” Ricket went quiet.
“Spit it out, Ricket!”
“Minutes. Mere minutes. He’s dying, Captain. I am very sorry.”
Jason was already looking at new overlays—ones that would bring the Pacesetter to the far side of Harpaign and to the alien vessel. “Ricket, contact the Minian … have Billy assemble an assault team and ensure they’re dispatched in the next few minutes. Ensure, too, that Dira is part of their team.”
“Yes, Captain.”
Flash.
“Perhaps we should wait for the assault team, Captain.”
Flash. Flash.
After the third phase-shift Jason answered, “You’ve done the calculations … you know as well as I do that my father won’t survive in the amount of time it’ll take Billy and his team to arrive here.”
“We’ll just have to be extra stealthy …”
* * *
Boomer was thrown off-guard, taking a distortion wave directly to her stomach. Doubled over, she was brought down to her knees. Tears came to her eyes, blurring her vision. Sensing, more than seeing, she assessed their movements—they were readying for another attack. She straightened and kept moving. She could now use her shield in ways others hadn’t, coming to rely on it like she relied on her own limbs. It was now a part of her … it was her. The shield, with its three curved sides, was basically triangular, its curved edges approximately one inch thick. It was the shield’s three-sided edging that Boomer first became interested in—had explored—realizing their unique design, potentially, made the shield capable of yielding so much more. Each of the three one-inch edges was independently accessible and varied from the other two. Understanding their dynamics made all the difference, when it came down to why Boomer was now capable of doing things with the shield that even Prince Aahil Aqeel could not do.
The prince was here, among four other Tahli warriors—each a Kahill Callan master. They moved with lighting-fast speed—sometimes coming together in a combined attack—other times, singularly.
Boomer cartwheeled left, using the shield’s three edges independently, to push and pull her spinning movements away from a newly assembled two-man attack. Violet distortion waves filled the space where she’d previously been only milliseconds earlier. Her cartwheel morphed into a running forward flip that put her near the base of a large tree. Her leading foot’s next step landed high up on the tree’s trunk, and instinctively she angled her shield down in such a way that she could continue running straight up the side of the great towering redwood.
Branches burst into sawdust around Boomer, as countless distortion waves shot up at her from below. Crap! Where do I go from here? At thirty feet up, her shield no longer pushing back against the ground and propelling her upwards, her ascent began to slow. Two distortion waves hit her at the same time—one hitting her in the buttocks, the other in her upper back. With only simple nomad’s garments on for protection, the pain … like white-hot lightning bolts … paralyzed her. She fell ten feet, landing across one of the few remaining, lower-level, horizontal branches. The slam to her chest forced all the air from her lungs. She tried to gasp but couldn’t—still paralyzed from too many distortion wave strikes.
The sounds heard earlier in the forest were now still as Boomer lay face down, straddling the tree branch. She felt the bark’s roughness on her hands and left cheek; the coolness of it. She slowly regained the ability to breathe again. Before she could fully fathom what the cracking, splintering sounds were, she was already falling to the ground.
Boomer fell, landing face down atop the same broken branch. Exhausted, and wondering if she’d broken something important, she stared at the accumulation of pine needles all around where she lay. What her father didn’t know was that these gifted nomads could travel between the Zoo habitats, as well as other places, other realms, with relative ease. They had purposely picked this dark and remote forest to continue her training.
Five sets of legs were standing nearby, and she wondered if she would ever be good enough … capable enough, to do what these nomads kept asking of her. She didn’t want to keep disappointing them—disappointing Aahil.
“Get up, Boomer.”
“I can’t.”
“Get up now … you cannot quit.”
“I’m too tired. I don’t want to do this anymore. I want to go home.”
Boomer heard a female’s voice, several steps back behind the others, say, “She’s too young … too immature. We should let her return
to her ship.”
Boomer recognized Capri’s voice. She knew what she was trying to do. What was the word … manip? … manipulate her. It wasn’t going to work. She’d given all she had and she just wasn’t good enough. If she were, she wouldn’t be lying facedown on the ground.
“I have a gift for you, Boomer. You may not want it now, though … since you’ve quit.”
Boomer tried to focus on Aahil’s particular set of legs. “What is it?”
“It’s two thousand years old and derived from a material found in only one small place in the galaxy.”
Boomer lifted her cheek off the ground and peered up at Aahil. He was holding out a wooden box, cradled in his two hands.
“Is it in that box, or is it the box itself?”
“It’s in the box.”
Boomer sat up and crossed her legs. “Can I see it?”
“Will there be any more talk about giving up?”
“Probably.”
Aahil and the others laughed out loud at that. “Then you still know how important you are … to what we’re trying to accomplish?”
“Of course I do.”
Aahil knelt down and set the large box on her lap. “Open it.”
Boomer rubbed at the scrape on her cheek and looked down at the intricately engraved wooden box. There were scenes of a battle carved into it. Strange men with spears and shields and words she couldn’t read. She opened the box.
“Grace it before you touch it, then do so again afterwards,” Aahil said.
Boomer removed her own shield from her wrist and looked up to Aahil. She saw the tension in his face … tension, and something else. Some sadness showing there, too? “This was yours, wasn’t it?”
“I suspect I was merely meant to hold on to it until you were ready.”
“Shalla ka la rohlm.” She placed her hand on the faintly blue-hued metal. Abruptly, she took in a breath as the shield’s electric charge coursed through her palm and up her arm. “Shalla ka la rohlm.”
Star Watch Page 19
