“You will have to destroy them,” Marzon said, loud enough for Norsh to hear.
Norsh stood up, “Fine, but I have one request…if that is to be our fate. “Let me say goodbye to my niece first. With the recent loss of my brother, she is my only remaining family member. A crewmember on your vessel, I believe her duties are performed somewhere within Engineering. Her name is Min Sub Pith.”
Cuddy was reminded of Norsh’s relationship to Lorgue Sub Eminence Langer, who’d succumbed to that vile curse. He mentally pictured the younger Howsh leader—the countless small heads sprouting all over his furry body. Still, it was a strange request. Quietly informed by the helm that the Farlight had reached lower orbit, he quickly eyed the tactical readout. Although they were fairly close, no specific coordinates showed the fleet’s exact whereabouts—a fleet outnumbering them fifteen to one.
Marzon said, “This is an obvious trick. Do not trust him, Captain. I don’t like it.”
Cuddy saw Jackie moving beside him, standing directly to his right. “Who exactly is this Min Sub Pith?” she asked Marzon.
Looking annoyed, Marzon replied, “She is just as he stated. Min Sub means an entry-level position. Her duties deal with the Farlight’s propulsion system.”
Jackie spoke just loud enough for Cuddy to hear: “Maybe we should see what she has to say about her…uncle, or whatever he is to her. What could it hurt? It’s not like we have a lot of choices here.”
Cuddy looked from Jackie to Marzon. Due to certain circumstances, both were now first officers: Jackie’s was a carryover position from the Evermore, and Marzon, stationed here on the Farlight.
“Let’s go ahead then and bring her up to the bridge,” Cuddy ordered. While they waited, Cuddy quietly watched the display, taking in the bridge confines of the opposing vessel. Although similar to the Farlight, it didn’t have the same alterations directed by Lorgue Supreme Eminence Calph. Alterations Cuddy was still pretty much oblivious about—what they either were, or did. He scrutinized the opposing Howsh bridge crew. No one had moved yet. Except for Norsh, all were still bowed down on one knee.
Being escorted in, Min Sub Pith looked nervous as she approached. Cuddy noted she was indeed young, also tall. Her six exposed teats were small and firm, different from the few other, older, Howsh females aboard the ship. Approaching the red railing, her eyes darted from Norsh on display then up to Cuddy.
“Thank you for coming, Min Sub Pith. Look…you’re not in any kind of trouble here. You can relax. It’s come to our attention you are the niece of Lorgue Prime Eminence Norsh. Is that true?”
Pith’s eyes went wide, looking ready to bolt.
Cuddy glanced around the bridge until he found Spilor. He raised his chin in a summoning gesture the robot understood, and then he waited.
When he arrived, he said, “Yes, Captain Perkins.”
“Is it true, what Norsh claims, about the two being related?”
“Most definitely, Captain.” Min Sub Pith threw the robot a hateful glare back.
“Lorgue Prime Eminence Norsh once had a sister too; dead now for ten years. This is her offspring,” Marzon said.
Upon seeing her, Norsh lifted a hand, as if he expected his niece to somehow reach through the display and grab it. “Little Pith…it is so good to see you again. It has been too long.” A smile, perhaps only a reflexive response, momentarily flashed across her lips then was gone.
“Enough…he has seen her, Captain. We must remove her from the bridge—”
Marzon’s words were quickly drowned out by Norsh: “I know you are a patriot, Pith, have proven to be so. You are loyal…to the Howsh and to me…”
Cuddy realized that very moment that Marzon was right. This was a mistake.
Yelling now, Norsh demanded, “Read me the Farlight’s set of coordinates, there on the readout to your right! Do it now, Pith…do it now!”
Young Min Sub Pith, nodding enthusiastically, did as asked: 44.234.555.641112! The feed went black, but it was already too late. She’d given her uncle the Farlight’s exact coordinates.
“Enemy ships are coming alive! God!…so close…they’re powering up weapons!” Jackie called out, sitting now alongside the tactical officer.
Cuddy noticed the Farlight’s sensors had indeed locked onto the Raging Storm, as had the other fourteen warships. Each enemy ship exhibited a faint, ghost-like outline on the primary display. “Get us out of here!” Cuddy yelled, though he knew it was already far too late.
The display, now showing nearby space, suddenly came alive. Countless bright-red streaks of energy fire highlighted the screen as fifteen ultra-powerful warships all fired at once. Holding his breath, Cuddy reached for the railing and gritted his teeth in preparation for the impending impact. But none came. The warships had fired in the wrong direction; toward coordinates not their own.
Marzon calmly said, “Return fire, sir?”
“Yes! Fire at will. Fire everything we have!” Why was Marzon suddenly so calm? Cuddy watched Min Sub Pith offer Marzon an apologetic smile then turn and give Haffan a really wide grin. What the hell is going on? Cuddy wondered.
“We have a lock…” the tactical officer next to Jackie yelled. “Torpedoes away!” The Farlight shook with each torpedo deployment, as the ship’s multiple plasma cannons also continued to fire non-stop.
“They see us now, that’s for sure. Incoming!” Jackie shouted. Immediately, the Farlight shook violently, receiving three massive staccato jolts.
“Shields down to thirty percent,” someone yelled out.
An immensely bright flash filled the display—then another—and then another. Three Howsh Marauders had exploded.
“Shields at twenty percent!”
Cuddy wanted to do something, anything, wishing he could take over the helm’s controls. Standing around, just barking out orders, was not his forte. He realized theirs was indeed a valiant effort, but with their shields failing, and only three of the enemy ships destroyed, they were in big trouble.
“Incoming!”
Cuddy saw Brian step in front of the red railing, a few paces away from the display. Didn’t he remember? “Those Marauders are protected, Brian. TK has no effect—”
Brian threw up a hand. “Shush! I’m concentrating,” just as Haffan hurried over to his side—joining him at the railing.
What the hell? Cuddy thought.
No less than a dozen torpedoes were now inbound toward them, fired from two, or more, warships. Enough to easily take down what still remained of their shields. Haffan, glancing over her shoulder, dramatically waved for Cuddy to join them.
What’s the point? he thought, but did as asked, hurrying around the railing to join Brian and Haffan. Now, studying the display, he watched in bewilderment as the first incoming torpedoes began to change course—were separated from the rest of their arrowhead formation. Although the Marauders were immune to TK, their torpedoes apparently were not, at least not to the same degree.
Cuddy quickly focused on the rest of the warships, at their respective locations. Concentrating then on the incoming torpedo formation, he selected five from the trailing edge of the cluster. Entering into the hidden realm deep within him, he found the same inner quiet he’d tapped into before when he mentally excavated that huge cliff side of its giant boulders. Now, and with far less effort, he began to turn the five torpedoes away. Their trajectory moved along in a wide arc until they came around 180degrees. He noticed Brian and Haffan had also maneuvered their selected torpedoes into their new trajectories, as well.
Cuddy thought of Tow, of his simple pacifist ways, and could only imagine what his friend would think of him now…in the process of committing an incredibly violent transgression against other beings.
Haffan, without looking at Cuddy, telepathed, If you don’t shove them along…add your own push to them, what happens is not on you…
So you’re reading my mind now, Haffan?
Your expression told me exactly what you were thinking.
“Shields are down!” Jackie said. “We cannot take another direct hit.”
As the torpedoes closed in on their individual targets, Cuddy micro-adjusted their courses one final time. He remembered reading—some technical specification—that the Farlight’s weakest, most vulnerable point of contact was along their underbelly. Approximately five feet in from the aft thrusters, making a direct hit there would be cataclysmic. He was fairly sure the same would be true for the enemy vessels. He smiled…Drop the mic…turn out the lights.
But the first Marauder to explode was not one that Cuddy targeted. Haffan screamed out, “Got it!” Then another two of the Marauders that she’d targeted were also eviscerated. Next, came Brian’s. Like Cuddy, he’d also picked five torpedoes. Unaware of the same technical specs, only three of his five warships were completely destroyed.
Two seconds later, Cuddy’s five redirected torpedoes did find their marks. Coming in through various outer bridge windows, the flash of the synchronized explosions momentarily turned the Farlight’s bridge a blinding white.
Chapter 54
Seven years ago… Woodbury, Tennessee
Momma slowed, cranking the steering wheel around all the way to the left. The old Maxima turned down the sloping driveway, avoiding the all too familiar potholes, lying along the left and right sides of the dirt drive. As she brought the car to a stop in front of the house, a trailing cloud of brown dust encircled the car then quickly dissipated in the late afternoon heat.
Kyle, with Jackie right behind him, hurried from the house. Both looked scared, trying to peer inside the bug-splattered windshield.
Cuddy waved. “Hey look…Jackie’s here!” He fumbled with the seatbelt till Momma swatted his hands away, saying, “Just let me do it, Cuddy!” She was annoyed with him and he wasn’t sure why. Wasn’t even sure where they’d just come from. Before opening the car door, he looked into the back seat.
“For goodness sakes, Cuddy, Rufus is right there…over on the porch,” Momma said.
Sure enough, there he was. Cuddy opened the door and scrambled out. But before he could take his first step Jackie was right there, throwing her arms around him and pulling him in tight. She hugged him like that for several seconds, awkward for two twelve-year-olds. When she released him she looked angry. “You should have kept up with us?”
Kyle, his hands buried deep in two front pockets, was far less accusatory. “Sorry, little bro…um…we heard you got abducted. Hope nobody did any weird shit to you.”
“Kyle!” Momma barked, coming around the front of the car. “No one did anything to anyone…you know that’s how rumors get started.”
“Sorry, Momma. So Cuddy…did old man Slatch really take you to see Pa? Did you see him? How was he?”
Red-faced, Momma stopped on the top porch step then spun around, “Kyle! You know he won’t remember…already too long ago. Drop it…never bring it up again…not ever!” With that she opened the screen door, letting it clap loudly behind her. A moment later, the screen door clapped again as Kyle went inside too.
“I’m sorry, Cuddy,” Jackie said.
Giving Rufus a pat on the top of his big head, Cuddy said, “There’s nothing to be sorry about. You’re my best friend, Jackie…you’ll always be my best friend.”
Years later, somewhere amidst many deep-space adventures, Cuddy would recall that exact precise moment—the way she smiled back at him so lovingly—and the burgeoning pain he’d noticed just behind her pretty blue eyes.
Chapter 54
Deep space — present day…
As the overhead klaxon continued to bellow, Cuddy stared at the display. The myriad of crisscrossing energy strikes had gone with no more incoming. What remained outside was a virtual scrapyard of space debris. One of the few remaining, somewhat intact Marauders, slowly spun on its axis, a constant misty spray of gasses escaping via a small hull breech.
“Any signs of life?” Cuddy asked.
Spilor, standing at one of the now-redundant stations, said, “There are some survivors…most have injuries.”
“What about the command ship? What about Norsh?” Jackie asked.
“The Raging Storm is unaccounted for.”
“Are you telling us Norsh escaped?” Cuddy asked, an edge to his voice.
“The Farlight’s AI will have that data,” Marzon replied, and proceeded to speak in low tones to a complex-looking panel two paces away from Spilor.
Cuddy turned his attention to Min Sub Pith, who appeared nervous, standing quietly on the bridge. “Explain yourself. What was that all about?”
“Don’t be a bully,” Haffan said. “It was my idea. Pith and I are friends.”
“Since when?” Jackie asked.
“Since I first came aboard the Farlight. That’s when I found out who she was related to.”
“What exactly did you two do…come up with?” Jackie asked, continuing her interrogation.
“I couldn’t tell you. Knew you and Cuddy wouldn’t approve,” Haffan replied somewhat defiantly.
“Approve of what? You’re evading the question,” Kyle said.
“Well, I knew about it, too,” Marzon said, looking somewhat pleased with himself.
“Knew about what? Could you just tell us what happened here?” Cuddy asked, glancing at Pith, who clearly was getting uncomfortable with the questioning.
“For the last week, we’ve been sending secret communiqué’s to the Raging Storm.”
“You what!” Cuddy and Jackie exclaimed at the same time.
Haffan’s first reaction was to smile and then, unsuccessfully, to hold back a short nervous laugh. “I told you…sometimes I get subtle nudges. This time it came to me in the dream state. I had a glimpse of the future. A future that included our same battle with the Howsh fleet.” Pointing to Cuddy, she added, “A battle between you and Lorgue Prime Eminence Norsh.”
For the first time, Tony—standing back and leaning on the Espy table—interjected a comment into the conversation. “I’m fucking confused,” he told them.
“It’s not that complicated,” Pith said, seemingly surprised by her own boldness. “Haffan can sometimes see little bits and pieces of the future. After she learned who my uncle was…she tracked me down in Engineering. Asked me if I wanted to save everyone onboard the Farlight. Told me only I had the unique capability to do so. It took some convincing…but she’s smart, and…well, I believed her.”
“So what did you do then?” Jackie asked.
“I knew I’d need help,” Pith said. “I didn’t know enough about the ship’s coms system, which meant I’d need to bring my boyfriend into the mix.” She looked over to the giant Howsh.
Everyone else looked at Marzon.
“You and Pith…” Jackie queried.
Marzon shrugged. “Whom I bed with is no one else’s business.”
“And you went along with their, whatever this was…this caper?” Jackie asked him, dismayed.
“In my own defense, I wanted to tell Captain Perkins,” Marzon replied, looking at Cuddy. “I was talked out of it. Told you needed to be totally surprised; that you wouldn’t be able to play the part if you knew how things really went down. I am sorry.”
“So you exchanged back and forth covert communications with the Raging Storm? Convinced the Howsh, Norsh, you were…more loyal to them than to your own crew here?” Jackie asked.
“Basically, yes,” Pith said.
“That’s where my inner nudges came into play,” Haffan said. “I saw Pith…in my dream. She was yelling, giving spatial coordinates of the Farlight to Lorgue Prime Eminence Norsh.”
Cuddy said, “That’s actually pretty ingenious. You get them…Norsh…to totally trust Pith, then, when the time comes, she blurts out the Farlight’s position, only it’s the wrong position…wron
g coordinates.”
“And when the enemy fleet began to fire, it gave away their own hidden location!” Jackie exclaimed, looking astonished.
“So you’re not mad at me anymore?” Haffan asked, turning to Cuddy.
Before Cuddy could answer, Brian, who’d stayed out of the conversation thus far, cleared his throat in such a way that caught everyone’s attention.
“You have something to add?” Jackie asked.
Brian studied Haffan with a bemused expression. “Are you going to tell Cuddy the rest of it? Or should I?”
The alien child’s happy expression froze, turning to something else. Mild panic. Glaring at Brian, she said, “Let me guess, you discovered my secret from your time within the Empyrean Expanse.”
Brian nodded, holding his tongue.
Again, Haffan turned toward Cuddy. “It’s not that big a deal. We still have an important mission ahead of us…right, Cuddy?”
Cuddy nodded. “Sure, we still have to track down the Prophesy of Harkstrong…”
“So what now? Where to?” Tony asked.
Before anyone could answer, Spilor turned away from his console, saying, “The Raging Storm left the area approximately halfway into the battle. The AI tracked the vessel’s movements well into the next planetary system, where it jumped to FTL.”
“Good riddance,” Jackie said.
“No…Norsh lives to fight another day. Destroying the Raging Storm should have been our first priority,” Brian said.
Half listening, Cuddy’s thoughts were still on Tow; the realization he would never see him again. Feeling an unavoidable sense of loss, he wondered how he would get past it? His eyes moved over to Haffan—the young alien, so animated—so engaged with everything going on around her. What a small dynamo she was. It then occurred to him that perhaps the only way to move past losing Tow, perhaps a father figure in his own life, was to become one, himself.
The Simpleton QUEST Page 24
