by S. H. Jucha
“Admiral, our dark traveler is uncovering,” Julien announced.
“Where’s he going, Julien?” Alex asked.
“One moment, Admiral,” Julien requested. Hearts beat faster, everyone expecting this might be the springing of the trap. “The dark traveler has slid forward along our hull.”
Julien slid the central vid screen up to clear the view of the bridge’s plex-crystal shield. The crew stared at the rear of their dark traveler. Ships in space kept hundreds of kilometers of separation between them when underway, except under special circumstances, certainly not a mere forty meters directly in front of a bow of a starship.
“Admiral, we’re receiving a message from our friend at the bow,” Julien said. “The First sends ‘Swei Swee plus Star Hunters’ over and over.”
Alex looked at Andrea and Tatia. They wore diametrically opposed expressions. Tatia was grinning; Andrea was frowning. Alex looking at Andrea and asked, “Do you think their ruse is just getting more elaborate?”
“That’s correct, Admiral. We have no proof of their willingness to fight on our side. Just some fancy flying,” she said, nodding toward the dark traveler ahead of them.
“Begging your pardon, Captain,” Tatia said, “but that doesn’t add up. Those dark travelers at our back can achieve 0.2c delta-V over us and easily destroy us. They don’t need any more ships.”
“Maybe they wish to capture us,” Andrea said.
“The only way that might happen, Captain,” Alex replied, “is if that world traveler has some sort of beam capable of tethering us, and we’ve seen no evidence of this. I believe the Swei Swee are using the excuse of our presence to make a break with their captors and put some distance between their dark travelers and that prison ship.”
“What about their hatchlings?” Renée asked. When no one answered her, she whispered a quiet “Oh.”
“I’m sure they have some sort of plan to free them,” Alex said, attempting to comfort Renée.
“If I might, Admiral,” Julien interjected. “Three Swei Swee ships exited the prison ship and temporarily joined the escorts. Then just before the escorts launched toward us, those same three ships dove for a beach location on Libre at the edge of the Clarion Seas.”
“The Swei Swee indicated eleven dark travelers were aboard the world traveler. Did more than three manage to exit,” Alex asked.
“Negative, Admiral.”
“Then if I was to guess, those three spirited away their hatchlings, and the rest of the Swei Swee aboard the world traveler are still at risk,” Alex said.
“Admiral,” Andrea said, “there’s still time to dive below the ecliptic, if we do so now. We can make our move before the bow or aft silver ships can catch us. If they follow, we can leave them floating in space.”
“And what would that do, Captain?” Tatia said. “All we would be doing is proving to the Swei Swee that their new allies are undependable.”
Alex watched his two officers stare at one another. The pressures of the past year had brought about subtle changes in both of them. Andrea had shouldered the responsibility of the ship’s operation with solid determination, but continued to shy away from the tough, strategic decisions. On the other hand, Tatia, who had always been planet-bound, had taken to the spacer role, and she had the inventive and intuitive thinking required of a senior officer.
“We stay the course, Captain,” Alex affirmed.
“Admiral,” Julien said, “interception with the Swei Swee to our bow occurs in 0.23 hours, 0.11 hours if they do not drop velocity before they reach us.”
As the chronometer counted down, Andrea and Renée took to the command chairs and kept their thoughts to themselves. Alex began a slow pace around the bridge, his hand on his lowered chin while he reviewed his decision for the hundredth time. He and Tatia nearly collided. She had been pacing in the opposite direction, deep in thought as well.
Tatia gave Alex a wry grin and sent,
* * *
The Swei Swee First led the frontal force that bore down on the Star Hunters. On his orders, the dark travelers with him bent around the Star Hunter vessel when the distance closed to within 200 kilometers. The Swei Swee First opened his star singer to signal the Nua’ll that the energy on their shells failed when they approached the quarry. He sang his regrets.
* * *
Julien reported the bending of the dark travelers around their ship and their subsequent swing behind them. There was no one left between the Rêveur and the Nua’ll, who were a mere hour and a half away.
“Admiral, your orders?” Andrea asked.
Tatia asked the more pertinent question of “Do the Nua’ll have a weapon?”
“None of their actions indicate they do, but who knows,” Alex responded.
Andrea looked at him, incredulous at his comment. “You’re risking our lives on a ‘who knows’?”
Alex smiled at her, which infuriated Andrea even more. “It’s a risk we’re taking, Captain. The Swei Swee may have deserted their prison, but as long as that ship sits out there, none of us are safe—not until the Nua’ll surrender or they are destroyed.
“But we haven’t any weapons with us,” Andrea said, her anger still rising.
“Captain,” Tatia said, trying to calm her superior down. “I believe our weapons are right behind us. Much of what the Admiral has done is to give the Swei Swee an excuse to execute one of any number of their plans. A prisoner will spend months, years even, planning their escape. The Swei Swee have had eight lifetimes.”
Andrea brought her temper under control. It wasn’t doing her thinking any good. She realized that above all else, she wanted to live—and she wanted others to shoulder the risks of the universe. “So if the Swei Swee are executing their plan, what is our role?” she asked.
“Another good question,” Alex answered. Before Andrea could take his comment negatively, he continued. “The Swei Swee might have attacked the world traveler at any time. Based on our communications with our Hive First, I think they were stopped by two conditions. Their young were held hostage, and they needed a provocation.”
“A provocation, Admiral?” Andrea asked.
“Yes, we’re the provocation, Captain. Even if the Swei Swee were to retrieve their hatchlings, they would still be trapped in the system. When their food or other necessities ran low, they would be forced to land. In this system, Libre would have been their only option. It’s obvious the prison ship is too large to land, so the Swei Swee must be afraid of something else. That something else would be the ringed dark travelers, the vessels our First mentioned.”
Alex began walking in a slow circle to gather his thoughts. “Now we have met four times and shown the Swei Swee we are powerful hunters. More importantly, the Swei Swee discovered we are not just hunters, we are singers. When we offered to search with them to the detriment of the Nua’ll, they decided to throw in with us. What I couldn’t figure out was our opening move. Then it hit me. I didn’t have to figure one out. The Swei Swee must have devised a myriad of escape gambits. All that was necessary for us to do was start a simple maneuver and let the Swei Swee’s plan unfold. The most powerful but simple opening move was to set a course directly at the world traveler. While we did that, the Swei Swee used the opportunity to anoint us with a ‘giant repulsing shield,’ which the Nua’ll have appeared to accept as truth. Now the Nua’ll are frightened. They’ve sent every dark traveler after us, including their escorts.”
Tatia had started snickering at the “giant repulsing shield” comment bu
t quieted when Andrea glanced coldly at her.
“The Swei Swee have rescued their hatchlings,” Alex continued. “At least, I hope they have. But they’re still holding off. I think they’re either waiting for those first dark travelers to come out or they’re waiting for the Nua’ll to run. Personally I hope that prison ship doesn’t run.”
Andrea started to question why, but Tatia headed her off. “Captain, if the Nua’ll run, they could come back anytime anywhere, with another slave species. It would be better to end it now.”
“The Nua’ll are probably convinced of our superiority after having seen the defeat of many of their dark travelers,” Alex said. “Now we appear to have returned with some invincible tech against their dark travelers. So they must either run or pull out their big weapons which would be the ringed dark travelers.
“And you believe that the Swei Swee will destroy them?” Andrea asked.
“Hoping so, Captain,” Alex said. He glanced at Renée, who sat quietly in the command chair.
When Alex looked her way, Renée gave him a confident wink, even though she felt much the same as Andrea. She didn’t want to die, either. But more importantly, she didn’t want to live without Alex, and that life included supporting him in his efforts to rid the Confederation of the Nua’ll.
The remaining moments passed with tension so thick on the bridge, it could choke a person. Andrea ordered the crew to emergency positions. Tatia and Renée vacated the bridge for the pilots’ room and Medical, respectively. Alex and Andrea strapped into the command chairs.
“Admiral, the Nua’ll ship is moving,” Julien announced.
“Which way?” Alex asked.
“In no direction in particular, Admiral,” Julien replied. “The top and bottom halves are rotating in opposite directions, extending the diameter from top to bottom. I believe it’s unscrewing itself.”
Alex found himself wanting to laugh at Julien’s comment. I sure hope they are, he thought.
“A large central ring is being exposed, Admiral. Two sets of large bay doors are becoming visible.”
“Ninety degrees of arc separation?” Alex asked.
“Precisely, Admiral,” Julien replied.
“And the significance of the ninety degrees, Admiral?” Andrea asked.
“Four ringed dark travelers; four launch bays, each set ninety degrees apart from one another. That allows simultaneously launches … something not afforded their slaves.”
“So then the question becomes: Can the Swei Swee take the four ringed dark travelers?” Andrea said.
“And that, Captain, is the final question,” Alex replied. “If they can’t, we dive for the ecliptic and hope the ringed dark travelers don’t follow. I hate to abandon the Swei Swee at their most vulnerable moment, but if the Swei Swee can’t defeat those four ships, I believe the Nua’ll will exterminate them and go hunting for another slave species.”
As the Rêveur closed on the world traveler, one set of the enormous bay doors in the central ring began to open. A large, cylindrical-shaped ship, constructed in concentric rings, emerged from the bay. It turned toward the Rêveur and launched without any visible drive propulsion.
“Gravity drives as well,” Alex mumbled to himself. The port vid screen displayed a close view of the world traveler and the ringed-ship the Swei Swee had projected on their hull.
“Admiral, the Swei Swee are on the move,” Julien reported.
“Give me a steady account, Julien,” Alex ordered.
“The dark travelers are accelerating, Admiral. In 0.12 hours, they will pass us ... interception of the ringed dark traveler in 0.35 hours.”
After a short but seemingly interminable wait, Julien announced the Swei Swee had passed them by.
“All of them, Julien?” asked Andrea, uncertainty in her voice.
“Yes, Captain, all of them. They are on a vector to intercept that emerging ship.”
“Julien, any movement on those second bay doors?” Alex asked.
“Negative, Admiral,” Julien replied.
“Why only launch one ringed dark traveler?” Alex wondered aloud.
“Perhaps, Admiral, the others are emerging from around the far side of the Nua’ll ship,” Julien hypothesized.
As they waited for the distance between the dark travelers and the aggressor ship to close, Julien’s hypothesis proved correct. A second ringed dark traveler emerged from behind the right side of the gigantic sphere. It, too, turned toward the Rêveur and accelerated.
Alex was considering the odds against the Swei Swee if the world traveler managed to launch all four of its “wardens,” as he had begun to think of them. He considered the Nua’ll might still be unaware of the Swei Swee’s charade. The dark travelers had been careful to circle the Rêveur before they passed the ship. If that was true, the Nua’ll might be focused exclusively on them, the intruders, and desperately launching all four wardens in defense of their sphere.
“The first of the Swei Swee ships have reached beam range. They aren’t firing, Admiral,” Julien reported.
“Admiral?” Andrea asked, concern underlining her voice.
“Patience, Captain,” Alex said. “Julien, inform me when all the dark travelers have passed the first ringed-ship.”
“Admiral, a third ringed-ship has emerged from the left side of the sphere,” Julien reported.
Alex began to chew on his lower lip. He had only a few more moments to make a decision to abandon the Swei Swee and save the Rêveur and his people, if it was still possible.
“The last silver ships are about—one moment, Admiral … The nearest ringed-ship has detonated!” Julien exclaimed. “The Sleuth still lives!”
Alex laughed. Apparently Julien was as worried as everyone else. He had just been better at managing his fear.
“Admiral,” Julien went on, “the silver ships are splitting into two groups, sharing their numbers against the next two ringed-ships. Now the fourth bay door is opening.” Moments of interminable waiting passed as the final battle of the Swei Swee’s quest for freedom approached. “The dark travelers are in heavy evasion mode, Admiral. They are still not in effective beam range. One dark traveler has been destroyed … two … three. Now the second ringed-ship has exploded.”
“The Swei Swee are paying a heavy price for their freedom,” Alex commented.
“And I’m ashamed, Admiral,” Andrea said. “My fear has been driving my decisions while these creatures are fighting and dying for their freedom.”
“Captain, give it time. It will get easier making the hard decisions,” Alex said in an attempt to lessen Andrea’s discomfort.
“The third ringed-ship should be in range of the dark travelers, Admiral,” Julien said. “Our new friends are evading. One lost … two …” Julien’s voice had become sadder with each count. “The third ringed-ship is gone.”
“Julien, status of the fourth ringed-ship?” Alex asked.
“It’s appearing in the bay opening now, Admiral. Two Swei Swee ships are charging it. The ringed-ship hasn’t cleared the bay … the bay doors are wide open.”
The moments ticked by ever so slowly.
Alex heard himself mentally urging the Swei Swee on.
“One Swei Swee ship down,” Julien reported. “The second Swei Swee ship is approaching the bay at an angle. Impact!” Julien yelled. “The Swei Swee fighter has slammed into the ringed dark traveler while it was still in the bay’s opening. Regard the vid screen, Admiral, Captain. We are close enough for long-range visuals.”
The monstrous sphere filled the starboard vid screen. Long tongues of hot gas and debris were shooting out the left-handed bay opening in the central ring. As they watched, more explosions launched tons of material out into space. Soon afterward, huge explosions burst through the right-handed bay, blowing the massive doors out into space.
As the Rêveur closed on the huge prison ship, its image grew on the screen. “Distance from the world traveler, Julien?” Alex asked.
“Five hun
dred thirty thousand kilometers, Admiral,” Julien responded.
“Close enough, Julien. Veer off in case this sphere goes out with a bang,” Alex ordered.
“Understood, Admiral. I’m selecting a starboard turn. It will head us toward Libre.”
“Good choice, Julien. Is this view being forwarded to the crew?” Alex asked.
“Actually, Admiral, to the flotilla,” Julien replied.
“My, my, look who has become his own media station,” Alex quipped.
“One tries to keep the Admiral’s people adequately informed. Is this not a tenet of a free and independent society?” Julien replied.
Before Alex could reply, his attention was drawn back to the central screen. Long tongues of flames erupted from several rings above and below the central ring. The light from the explosions showed kilometers into space.
“Just what was on board that prison ship that was so volatile?” Andrea mused.
“Another good question, Captain,” Alex replied.
While they watched, more explosions worked their way up and down from the central ring. Alex fully expected the destruction to end. He was very interested in getting a look inside another alien craft … his second in just a year and a half, but the detonations continued. There’s been sufficient time to close any bulkhead doors and shut down the spread of the fires, Alex thought. They could even have vented the fires to space.
Finally, a massive blast broke the giant sphere in two halves or, better said, two large pieces, the top and the bottom, since the previous explosions had already demolished much of the central rings. The brilliant flash obscured the vid screen. When the image reappeared, the Nua’ll ship was a giant ball of expanding debris.
“Julien, is Libre in danger from any of that debris?” Alex asked.
“Tracking, Admiral. Yes and no. Yes, some debris is headed Libre’s direction; and no, there is no concern. The Swei Swee are busy pounding the large segments and even smaller debris into space dust. Give them an hour or two and there won’t be a piece big enough to carry in two claws.”
