“Um, yes, very hospitable,” stammered Clay.
“So these draken will return?” inquired Agent Vaughn. “Can they find us down here?”
“It’s likely they will,” answered the eldrick. “They will correctly conclude there is something of significance here now that they know we keep a cruiser in the system. They are not a subtle species. They will bring every ship they have nearby and bombard every world in this system to expose us.”
“And we can’t evacuate and flee somewhere else?”
“There is a high probability they will discover us, but they will not overrun us. There force is a danger to us now, but we will make short work of them once our fleet arrives. Fleeing will also force them to scatter their convoy in their attempt to search for us, not only making them more difficult to eliminate, but conceivably having them encounter more humans. We have decided it is best to preserve our adversaries in a single unit and eliminate them with a single attack.”
“You guys sure are confident,” said Kalie, steadily starting to realize she was speaking to an alien. “Do you even know when your fleet or the enemy fleet will get here?”
“We expect our adversaries to arrive first, but our bunkers go deep and this outpost does have defenses and warriors enough to withstand a short siege. The draken scouts are far from their territory, making their presence minimal.”
“Um, I guess we should tell you to expect human ships to eventually jump here,” said Clay. “Some law enforcement people are looking for us.”
The eldrick looked at Agent Vaughn. “You title gave me the impression you were an official member of an Arcadian law enforcement agency.”
“I am, but my partner and I were in the middle of apprehending my friends here when their ship jumped to this place.”
“I see. No matter. We will have contingencies prepared for reacting to more human intervention. Perhaps we may even convince them to aid in our defense if enough time is allotted.”
“Excuse me for asking,” said Mr. Broussard, “but why were you chosen to speak with us? Are you actually a high ranking military official?”
“No. I am indeed a long time vicar of the Sacred. Everything has been done to ease any tension in our first meeting. It was believed speaking with an instructor of the Faith instead of a soldier would make for a calmer conversation.”
“Wait,” said a befuddled Kalie, “You guys believe in the Sacred, too?”
“Indeed. Humanity is among several other species who have been guided by the Sacred to be leaders of this galaxy, and perhaps beyond. My own species belongs in this category.”
There was another round of general, disbelieving glances from everyone. For Kalie, there was a sudden influx of memory of her aunt reciting the Sacred Script to her and teaching her what it meant to trust in the Sacred and their plans. She really wasn’t such a bad aunt, thought Kalie.
Bringing her back from the past, Agent Vaughn asked, “So you know about vida and the Ether and all that?”
“We have different terms, of course, but…” The eldrick raised his left arm. At the same time, four chairs warped from the stone ground rose from beside the table. “As the Sacred say, all life is capable of learning to use the energy of life latent in all our souls. As to be expected, our holy writings are quite analogous. You may sit if you wish.”
“Wait,” said Clay, “We should get the others. No sense in separating them from history.”
An almost painful jab struck Kalie’s sensibilities when she realized Brandon could be in the history records. She almost laughed at the thought. The rest of the company was caught up with the historic event within the span of a few minutes. Brandon nearly fainted when learning of the alien base they were on and the enemy aliens coming to attack them. For what Kalie believed to be the first time in the co-captain’s life, Trista was at a loss for words for a considerable amount of time, which amounted to a minute for her. Wei and Agent Grace handled the news as stoutly as Kalie expected, though the dumbfounded expression in the agent’s face that lasted for a split second was burned into Kalie’s mind, mostly because of its comical effect, but also since she had a suspicion her own face was not so different when she saw the extraterrestrial’s face for the first time.
Soon joining the group in the conference room were two heavily armored, but helmetless eldrick. These were clearly high-ranking, veteran soldiers, bringing an air of command that made Kalie feel very small. One of the eldrick warriors had more feminine features, but Kalie could not be sure that meant the eldrick was a female until she spoke and bluntly established herself as one. The third eldrick’s skin color was in sharp contrast to the other two, being exceedingly fair, soon confirming that he belonged to a separate eldrick race. The soldiers’ silver hair was a practical shoulder length, while the vicar’s hair reached his waist when he removed his own helmet. Names were given. The vicar’s was Ibi-Jed, who explained that he specifically belonged under the holy order of the Sacred God of Flame, hence his red apparel. The female soldier was General Tebias and her compatriot was Major Felk-Seeder.
For the second round of talks, most of the humans were sitting on one side of the table, excepting Wei, who stood behind Brandon’s chair, and Agent Grace, who stood behind her partner.
Just how long have you been watching us?” asked Trista.
“Close to three years,” translated the computer for General Tebias, no one willing to ask if they meant Earth years, Arcadian years, or even the eldrick’s version of it.
“You built all this just to watch us?”
“This is actually an old prison outpost we adapted to oversee you soon after discovering your existence.”
Kalie now understood why she had originally felt troubled with the place.
“And why have you been waiting all this time to contact us?” asked Agent Vaughn.
“As previously indicated,” began the light-skinned major, “we are in the middle of a war. We must ascertain without a doubt that you will, at the very least, not be a hindrance in this conflict. The fact that your species has two distinct empires also complicates matters.”
“And just what is this war all about?” inquired Agent Grace.
The general responded, explaining, “This is a war that has involved every known spacefaring species and affects much of charted space. As one might expect in a war this vast, the reasons and underlying causes as to why hostilities are in their current state are too many to go into sufficient detail.”
“We’re okay with just the gist of it,” said Trista.
“Yes, I was getting to that.” Kalie noted the negligible change in inflection in the female alien’s voice, concluding this was the eldrick’s form of annoyance. “The main propagators of the war is a species known as the ikuga.” Once again the holoscreen changed to the appropriate image. It showed a hulking creature with three small yellow eyes (one at the center of forehead just above the other two) and heavily plated, blue-gray skin. Adding to its burly frame was the way its jagged plates fanned out an inch or so from its body, creating a sight that made it seem as though the beast had been formed from a splash of murky water. “Their leadership have been supplanted by religious fanatics who have come to believe that only they are sufficiently capable of spreading the Sacred Faith and shepherding the flock, as it were. They have some cause to be distrustful of more casual believers, given their history with the Depraved, but we consider their motives to fall in line with religious totalitarianism.”
“That sounds bad,” said an outwardly relaxed Kalie, barely hiding most of her shaky nerves. “We humans are pretty against those types of things, religious freedom and all that. Combine that with us liking to find any excuse to show off our shiny new guns and you got some allies on your hands.”
“That is the expectation from many of our military and political leaders.”
After several more minutes of conversing, mostly spent describing a few other species, both the military officers stood up.
“It has been
a pleasure meeting with the first humans,” said the general with a small bow, “but we must be getting back to our obligations. Ibi-Jed will act as your attendant whenever you require anything we can provide, which I’m afraid is not much in this unembellished outpost, but we will do our best to accommodate you. To make communication easy, and as most of the outpost will be barred to you, it is recommended you stay in your ship and keep you comm line open for our S.I. When our enemy arrives, we will move you to a more secure location.” They bowed again and left through the automatically opening door behind them.
As the human group made their way back to the ship, Trista asked the agents, “Say, do you think being the first humans ever to make contact with aliens gives us a get-out-of-jail-free-card? I mean, it would look pretty bad to send us to prison, right?”
Agent Vaughn chuckled. “We are technically in an old prison. Perhaps this might count as your time served.”
“Bullshit!” said Agent Grace. “They basically kidnapped us after evading arrest and-”
Agent Vaughn laughed more heartily. “Some things are bigger than us, Agent Grace. Besides, if they had not attempted to flee, we might not be in the middle of history.”
“If we even survive this part of history,” his partner grumbled through clamped teeth.
During the next few hours, Kalie and the other humans gestated over the fact she had met aliens. As was the case for most humans, events themselves rarely affected people, it was in the lull periods when the mind would be allowed to zip about in different directions and force deep deliberation. She found she could not handle being static and among the chatter, so when she saw her chance, she sneaked off to busy herself in engineering. Her working hands eased her nerves, and the rustic, greasy smell of the deck relaxed her lungs. When twenty minutes passed, her unconscious body had matched up with her conscious mind and there was an epiphany; her prospects just became much more interesting. If only she was as confident about surviving the near future as the wardens of the base were.
Nine hours after first contact, the base’s S.I. requested for the Oracle’s ramp to open. When it was lowered, Ibi-Jed came in and said, “The enemy flotilla has arrived. The dock will descend shortly.”
“How bad is it?” Agent Grace asked the vicar.
“A little worse than we calculated,” answered Ibi-Jed. “They have an ikuga carrier with them, though whether it lodges ikuga, draken, or both is of little matter. We simply do not have the firepower to deter it.”
“Since I can’t tell if you’re worried or not,” said Trista, “do you still think this means we’ll live through this?”
“The odds have diminished slightly, but they are yet in our favor.”
“As in you don’t have to pray for our souls?” asked Wei.
“As in I will not stop you from praying for yours,” the vicar responded calmly.
A loud clanging noise echoed in the dock and the floor of the chamber began to gradually plunge deeper into the planet. Three hundred feet later and a blast door shut above them. This pattern repeated itself three more times before the platform stopped its descent.
“I have been instructed to tell you that you may all take as many weapons as you choose outside your ship,” said the pious eldrick. “Granted, they will not be very effective against their armor and shields, but that issue will be of little meaning if this battle is able to reach you.”
“Of little meaning to you,” said Trista. “What’s wrong with giving us some of your weapons? We can fight too.”
“The commanders see you as an unknown. Eldrick never take unnecessary chances with the unfamiliar, particularly when it comes to sharing technology. You might see it as mistrust, but we would see at as simple caution. Once you have gathered what you wish to carry, I shall take you to your elected defenders. I recommend donning air-tight suits, if you have them. We cannot guarantee the life support systems will survive a relentless offensive.”
Everyone but Mr. Broussard chose to bring weapons and ammo blocks. The lawyer only carried two duffle bags, one for each feline. Kalie wore her space suit begrudgingly, thinking as she put on the garish, yellow ensemble that this was the worst decision her captains ever made. The getups were essentially the cheapest pieces of scarcely armored, unshielded spacesuits credits could buy. The inside of the helmets even held a peculiar odor that was impossible to label, seemingly changing with every whiff, and which no amount of washing or dunking into bleach could get rid of. Kalie could have just done what Wei did and bought one of her own, but she did not think the investment worth the very few times she wore the suit. The freshly armed and garbed herd was steered down a short corridor that led into a roomy control room containing a central console and which had holo-projections displaying numerous areas of the former penitentiary on the walls to the left and right of the entrance. Beyond the control room was a long hallway, this one comprising two rows of small prison cells. No doors were apparent at their entrances, leaving Kalie to assume they had used some type of energy barriers to hold in their prisoners. The small but heavy blast door was shut when everyone crossed into the space. Within these spaces were three eldrick warriors, one of which Kalie recognized (by the distinctive green armor, not by his face) as Major Felk-Seeder. The other two introduced themselves as Lieutenant Ukai, and Sergeant Semblant, both of the ebony hue.
There was forty minutes of waiting before they felt the tremor indicating the orbital barrage had reached the ground above. The air was thickening and the rumbles became stronger and louder. The feeds from several cameras on the higher levels either went to static or didn’t broadcast at all. There was then a period of evenness when the opponent’s armaments met the bulk layers of the shielding and blast doors protecting the most critical points.
“It seems the draken are being reckless with their bombardment,” said Lieutenant Ukai, apparently getting appraisals through his thought-comm, since the monitors did not tell much of a story yet. “They’re acting as though we are hiding a true military garrison.”
“That could explain why their force is surprisingly large,” speculated the major. “They must have discovered we were keeping a base in the region and assumed it was a war asset. Not having comprehensive data to guide their tactics will buy us some time, as our power supply can keep the shields steady at this level of bombardment.”
And for a solid half hour the major’s assessment proved true, but as the enemy minds and their instruments steadily learned of their error in judgement, more focused firepower poured into the old prison. The lights flickered and the stone walls cracked at times, which were promptly fixed by Ibi-Jed’s warping.
“They have broken through the main shield couplings,” casually updated the major. “Power will be redirected to supplemental shields in preparation for ground incursion.”
“The first troops have touched down,” said the sergeant to his charges. Some ten minutes later, he said, “Dock Two has been breached.” He nodded toward one of the holoscreens on the wall showing a diagram of the base’s configuration. The computer highlighted their room, which was a room at the lowest level of Dock Three, a dock that formed the lonely point of an isosceles triangle. Not five minutes later, he said, “Forces in Dock Two are retreating to the lower levels. Draken are spreading to the upper levels of the remaining docks.”
“Several enemy squads have broken into the lower levels, major,” said Lieutenant Ukai.
As the resonances of gunfire were charging closer, the humans were told by the major to head for the prisoner hallway and seek cover in the vacant cells. They complied, with the agents taking spots nearest the control room while Wei took the cowering Brandon to the last cell. Ibi-Jed, under direction form the major, warped the stone from the wall near the entry door, using the extended rock to obstruct most of the corridor. The eldrick arcanist also rose two thick blocks from the ground behind the control console to create better cover for him and the major. The other two extraterrestrials procured positions on either side of
the clogged opening to the corridor. It was in these positions the newly acquainted species waited to see how history would archive this moment in the stagnant, sunken air.
The hush of the chamber was broken by the grating sound of splintering metal just outside the corridor choked with stone. This clamor was quickly followed by the grinding of rock. Kalie peered her head out from the cell, which she shared with Mr. Broussard and his cats, to see Ibi-Jed counter the attempt to push away the stone impediments by contorting his hands and focusing on the entry. She could also see he was straining to prevent the defensive slabs of rock from being removed. Major Felk-Seeder told the vicar something and the holy mediator answered in an unsteady tone, but their tongue was not translated. However, not long after this exchange, the vicar suddenly released his opposition in evident defeat.
The slabs of stone were roughly pushed back into the wall, allowing Kalie to discern two armored draken a few yards in front of the busted door. Even from a distance Kalie could see they were very tall, lithe creatures, likely measuring nine or ten feet tall in their hunched stances. Her examination of the apparent arcanists who had overwhelmed Ibi-Jed was cut short when the points of a gun appeared from each side of the uncluttered entrance and began to shove a stream of slugs into the room. The bullets buzzed into the warped stone barriers and the counter fire from the eldrick forced the two observable draken to seek cover.
Kalie risked a longer peek to witness Ibi-Jed concentrating on keeping the cover of his kin from disintegrating by bullet or from being warped back down. A couple of grenades were then fired by the draken’s guns, detonating into the vicar’s natural barricade and nearly destroying it completely before he rapidly raised more rock to restore it. A loud cracking noise turned Kalie’s attention to the ceiling in the control room, where she could see the stone above was fracturing above Ibi-Jed, who was then forced to keep the roof from collapsing on top of everyone. With the barriers now unabatingly being eaten away, the major and the vicar were obliged to move up and take their place alongside the other eldrick. While Ibi-Jed barred the failure of the ceiling, the lieutenant and sergeant emitted a continuous torrent of bullets from their rifles, generating a stalemate.
Generations (The Nimbus Collection Book 3) Page 11
