As he contemplated what that meant, his attention was immediately drawn to a glass case, more like an enclosed room at the center of the gigantic room. There were tools, bodies and other debris seemingly stuck to the glass like magnets. Cautiously, Khai inched his way closer. It didn’t take long to start to feel something pulling him closer to the glass chamber. There was a point where nothing sat on the floor of the engineering section, a point of no return. Despite the steep incline toward the glass chamber, each step became easier.
Eventually, he was trying not to be sucked toward the area of interest. With every step he felt his feet getting lighter. There was still so much debris on the pane of the glass that he couldn’t tell what was within. However, what he did see puzzled him. The bodies were partially decomposed, not frozen like the rest of the bodies. His space suit was insulated well enough that he wasn’t feeling any changes in temperature.
Suddenly, Khai’s foot slipped out from under him as he stepped in some kind of frozen liquid stuck on the floor. With the loss of traction, he fell or flew—or maybe a little of both—forward, sliding along the floor out of control. He started picking up speed, careening headlong toward the glass window. Khai had only a few seconds to think of how he could have avoided this when darkness took him immediately after a bright flash of light.
Khai came to staring into a set of eyes beyond a helmet visor.
“Hey, buddy,” Puar said with a goofy smile and tone, also stuck to the glass case.
Khai was unable to move his helmet, but his head was able to move just a bit within his helmet. He saw Sibrex in his peripheral vision standing safely outside the gravity well, or whatever it was.
“Apparently,” Puar continued, “this box is highly magnetized.”
“You don’t say. What’s causing it?”
“A star,” Sibrex said. “Albeit, a small star.”
“How do you know?”
“We were able to hack the system. And yes, it was difficult. But we got a layout of the ship. This thing is huge, biggest ship I’ve ever seen. An orbital base could fit in it! Anyway, as it turns out, the ship is powered by what these people called ‘micro-star’ technology. They have gas collectors all over the external skin of the ship that collect interstellar gasses to fuel the sun. In return they get unlimited power for their massive ship.”
“Also, because it is a star and still has an ample fuel supply on this planet with no atmosphere, the star never died,” Sibrex added. “It’s intriguing, all of the information we found was in Seryysan, or a close approximation. There were some words with which we were unfamiliar, but the language is definitively Seryysan at its core.”
“So why doesn’t the rest of the ship have power?” Khai asked.
“Not sure,” Puar admitted. “It’s possible the power transfer conduits were damaged or severed during the crash. Who knows, maybe they just eroded.”
“So how do we get out of here?” Khai asked.
“The metal components in our suits are attracted to the magnetic field produced by the sun’s several layers spinning at different speeds. I will attempt to rescue you, but I will have to set my visor to maximum polarization and will be unable to see. So I will be relying on your directions to lead me to you.” Sibrex explained.
“We should take as many readings as we can,” Khai said.
“Has your micro-comp been running this whole time?” Sibrex asked.
“Yes, yes it has,” Khai said.
“Then we have all the scans we need. Plus I was able to transfer all the non-corrupted files from the computer we hacked. It’s not much, but it will prove useful still.”
In short order, they led Sibrex to them, hooked up to the rope that he brought just in case and were tumbling downhill toward the front of engineering. After they crashed into the wall in a heap, they brushed themselves off and headed for the point of entry.
Once back on the ship, they took off headed home for whatever was waiting for them.
He was able to hook into the holo’vyyd and saw something that made his stomach turn: a debris field where two ships used to be.
“This is all that remains of our flagship, the Vyysarri, destroyed in a fight with the Hellfire. General Khail and Captain Sibrex: two friends and allies turned mortal enemies seemingly killing their crews and themselves in a firefight that resulted in the destruction of both ships,” the reporter said. “SAVR-”
Khai turned it off. He didn’t even want to think about the ramifications of a Vyysarri captain with the second Vyysarri/Seryysan crew attacking a Seryysan general in a ship named for the Vyysarri with the first Vyysarri/Seryysan crew. There were extremist parties on both sides crying out for segregation. This would only throw fuel on the fire, and Khai knew it.
It was an hour before Khai was calm enough to call The Prime Minister. When he finally contacted Prime Minister Puar on a secured channel, Puar’s chiseled features betrayed nothing. He was definitely a politician.
The first thing he said was, “Is my brother okay?”
“Yes. He’s fine. He came aboard with Sibrex.”
The tension in his face loosened almost imperceptibly. “Thank the Founders! When I saw the debris field, I thought the worst.” Puar was instantly back into his business demeanor. “Khai, what the hell have you done?” Prime Minister Puar’s face betrayed nothing.
“Sir, I can honestly say that none of this was planned,” Khai defended himself. “Sibrex was on my ship when the firefight started. Someone in engineering overrode the Vyysarri’s system and fired back. The Hellfire fired on us outside of Sibrex’s knowledge.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, sir.”
“How do you know?”
“Like I said,” Khai angrily reiterated, “Sibrex was on my ship when it happened.”
“Khai, calm down. I want Sibrex to be innocent just as much as you do. But we know Vyysarri have been martyrs before. Maybe he didn’t expect to live through this.”
“I won’t be part of his condemnation. He gave me his word, and that’s good enough for me,” Khai insisted. “Besides, wasn’t he ordered to come to our aid? He wasn’t the closest ship, I do know that. Maybe it’s someone in Naval Administration, a dispatcher, or worse, an officer.”
“Before you go throwing accusations, you need to clear Sibrex’s name. He’s wanted for murder, and as far as Seryys is concerned, he’s dead. Come to think of it, if you survived as well, you’re wanted for treason for firing back. You guys need to lay low, and let me take care of this. Just stay where you are and I will do what I can.” Khai had the look of someone who had more to say, Puar picked up on it instantly. “Is there something else?”
“We… uh, found something interesting, sir.”
“Could you be a little more specific?”
“I’m sending you our findings from my micro-comp. I had to see it with my own eyes to believe it.”
“Okay. This is a secure channel?”
“It is. You should have it now, sir.”
“Got it,” he said, looking over it. His face elongated as his jaw dropped. “This is… This is…”
“The biggest ship you’ve ever seen,” Khai finished Puar’s astonished stammering. “Keep reading, it gets better.”
“Micro-star technology? Are these files taken from the ship?”
“Yes sir,” Khai confirmed. “The Freedom.”
“But it’s in Seryysan!”
“Or a close dialect.”
“How old is she?”
“The readings on the micro-comp tested the particles floating around in the ship and got a very close reading of the glass chamber that housed the micro-star. Initial carbon dating scans indicated it’s forty thousand years old.”
“Do you know what this means?”
“They could be the Founders…”
It was the second watch shift, Puar and Khai were sitting in the cockpit staring out at the wayward planet. Sibrex was in the back resting.
“You real
ly think those people were Founders?” Puar asked.
“I don’t know. They fit the bill. It’s completely plausible that a ship that big could have crashed on Seryys and populated it. You saw the tech, it was far more advanced than anything either one of us have ever seen.”
“Yeah, but-” Puar was cut off by a klaxon. “What’s that?”
“It tells me that there’s a gravity well out there.”
“A black hole?”
“Yup? We’re about to have a fight on our hands, I think.”
“How can you be so sure? Maybe it’s the Navy.”
“No. They would have sent me a transmission. These guys are not friendly. Joon!”
“Yes, Khai?” Joon was the snippy onboard artificial intelligence.
“Get the weapons online. Puar, get the shields up and take the stick. I’ll get Sibrex up and transfer power from the Eve’Zon Drive to the shield generator.”
“On it!”
The engines thrummed to life as Khai kicked the bed to wake Sibrex. “Wake up, we have company. I need you to manage damage control in case we get into a firefight.”
“As you wish,” Sibrex said, hefting his bulk out of bed.
As Khai settled into the pilot’s chair, a vicious-looking vessel emerged from the micro-black hole. It was bristling with weapons and vectoring in for an attack.
“What kind of vessel is that?” Puar asked.
“Not sure,” Khai had to admit, “Haven’t seen one like that.”
Sibrex leaned back and looked to his right out the canopy. “Stiprox-Class attack shuttle. They were decommissioned fifty years ago due to a design flaw in the internal fire suppression system. It seemed like more of our soldiers burned to death in those deathtraps than died by Seryysan cannons.”
“So just hammer it and hope they burn?” Khai asked.
“Essentially, but let me try something before you kill my kinsmen. Can you patch me into your communications system?”
“You’re up!” Khai said after a quick flip of a switch.
“Unidentified vessel,” Sibrex boomed in his deep voice, “This is Supreme Commander Sibrex, you will state your destination and intentions immediately!” There was no reply, but the sensors indicated they went weapons hot. “This is Supreme Commander Sibrex ordering you to stand down!”
“We do not recognize your authority! You are a traitor to the Vyysarri people, the true Vyysarri people!”
“On the contrary, it is you who is the traitorous filth. I am under direct orders from our government to be here!”
“That government won’t stand for long.” The attackers cut the channel and let their cannons do the rest of the talking.
Khai reacted faster than either of them. Before they could even register that they were moving, they were sucked into their seats as Khai pushed the Star Splitter into a nose dive that evaded the first salvo. The Stiprox-Class gave chase. Khai took the fight to the planet. With lots of canyons and mountain ranges, it was the perfect place to wage a dog fight.
“Weapons charged, Khai.” Joon said.
From the belly of the craft, two laser cannons dropped down and panned 180 degrees to face aft.
“Take the guns, Puar!”
A targeting console dropped from the ceiling with two mini-joysticks for individual gun control. The attacking craft opened fire and splashed the starboard shields with energy. The ship bucked hard to port and they were jolted against their crash restraints.
“What are you waiting for? Shoot back!” Khai snapped as beads of perspiration formed on his forehead.
“Well hold the damn thing steady so I can get a good shot!” Puar shot back angrily.
“If I hold steady long enough for you to get a ‘good shot,’ we’ll be dead!”
“Is that a fact?”
“Puar, Khai, now is not the time for playful banter!” Sibrex boomed.
“’Indeed!’” Puar mocked as he pulled the trigger.
One of the cannons flashed; the lights in the cabin dimmed and the ship listed a little to the starboard. The blast impacted on the ship’s shields, which flickered and dropped instantly.
“What the hell are you packing on this ship?”
“Two SC Mark IV HDNC’s,” Khai said with mock innocence. The Seryys Combat Mark IV High-Density Neutrino Cannons were the next wave of laser cannon technology found mounted to most of the capital ships produced by the company, Seryys Combat. “Compliments of your brother.”
“I once asked for a thousand credits to buy a new a shuttle and he turned me down. You save his life once, and he gives you a flying gun boat with illegal tech. That seems fair.”
Khai rolled the ship up her port side to squeeze into a canyon. The pursuer buzzed the canyon tops and fired down on the Star Splitter. The ship rocked as Khai leveled out and pulled back on the yoke sending it straight up into a climb.
“Will you stop bitching and fire?!”
“Fine, but I’m having words with my brother when this is all over.”
During the climb, the Stiprox fell in behind and to the right of them. Puar lined up the shot and took it. Though the Stiprox’s shields had regenerated a little, it wasn’t nearly strong enough to stop the inevitable. The shield flickered and died, then the ship exploded. Khai leveled out and let out a sigh of relief.
“Well, that was fun.” Puar said sarcastically. “Can I fly next time?”
Chapter Five
As much as the peace treaty with Vyysarri brought peace, it also brought more war… only in an unofficial capacity. Infighting, terrorist attacks, hate-crimes, and those were only the tip of the iceberg. Captain Dack’Tandy Dah of the Seryys Police Department, Chief of Police and head of SCATT (Seryys City Anti-Terrorist Team), swore he could actually feel his hair graying. He wasn’t old by Seryys standards at fifty-eight years old. His slicked-back black hair was starting to sprout grays, but his intense hazel eyes took ten years off his life. His squared jaw twitched with frustration. Since the reintegration of the Vyysarri people, the police department had to establish four more teams taking the total count to five. The worst part was that he couldn’t be out there fighting to the keep the city safe. He was needed right where he was, to command the whole outfit.
Now he understood why Khai had refused promotion after promotion. Going out there, commanding from the field—which is what he and Khai did before, bleeding with his brothers was one thing, but sending his men out there without him seemed wrong on so many levels. Making choices that got people killed aged him faster than any combat ever did. If anything, combat seemed to keep him younger. He still had his locker with all his riot gear and weapons, they had an inch-thick layer of dust on them, but they were there nonetheless. Sitting comfortably in his office with a picture of his new wife, Bri, a hot cup of drip and a trophy-like award from Prime Minister Puar on his desk, he would often fantasize about donning his equipment with a dark-visored helmet and being a vigilante, running a major metropolitan police force by day and cracking wrongdoers’ heads by night.
He didn’t have the gall to do it, though. He had too much riding on his career to put it in jeopardy. He would just have to do what he could from where he was sitting.
He was watching the ‘vyyd. It was on the news. Khai was wanted for treason—again—and Sibrex was an enemy of the state. The media was having a field day with this whole debacle. The most famous shot was the debris field where the two ships used to be. Apparently, Sibrex fired first and then Khai retaliated. Of course it was all bogus. He knew both of them better than that. Sibrex and Khai were brothers. They bled together, fought together. There was no bond, for soldiers, closer than that. Dah sighed heavily. Not again, he though ruefully. Now watch, I’ll be getting a call from Khai any day now asking for my help. His com unit chirped. See?
“Captain Dah,” he said expecting to hear Khai’s gruff voice as he took a sip of his drip.
“Dack’Tandy Dah, this is Prime Minister Puar.”
Dah coughed as he choked on
his drip. “P-Prime Minister! This is unexpected.” It was the truth, after all. “It’s pleasure to hear from you again!”
“Well I wish I could say this was simply a social call.”
“But Khai’s in trouble,” Dah said flatly.
“Exactly.”
“You know you can count on me, sir. How can I help?”
“Is this channel secure?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Khai sent me a message with some information in it. I’m having my people work on it, but Khai suspects that there’s a mole in my organization again. I want your best tech to go through every file and report it to me. If Khai’s right, there may be some discrepancies between what my people and yours tell me. I’ll be honest, Captain Dah-”
“Please, call me Dack.”
“-Dack, I’m skeptical. Khai has some valid points, but I can’t, in good conscience, rule out Sibrex or the Vyysarri. I want to believe that Sibrex is innocent in this, but there is a lot of evidence pointing at him right now.”
“You can’t possibly believe that Sibrex, the man who saved your life, is in on this!” Dah felt the heat rising to his cheeks. “He would never fire on Khai’s ship. You know that!”
“Unfortunately, it’s not about what I believe. If I truly thought Sibrex was guilty of selling information to either of the resistance groups, I wouldn’t be talking to you now. I need you and your team to help clear Sibrex’s name.”
The Seryys Chronicles: Of Nightmares Page 5
