Resolute Omnibus (The War for Terra)

by James Prosser

  The field snapped off and Melaina rushed in, followed closely by Tuxor, who needed to double over in the small cell. Melaina stepped close to Erik and put her arms under his body to try to lift him up. His head raised and he seemed to take a long time to focus on her face.

  “Who is it?” Erik asked. “What do you want from me now?”

  “It’s me Erik,” Melaina said. “It’s Melaina Petros.”

  “Melaina Petros?” Heyerdahl repeated, narrowing his eyes to look at the woman. “No, it can’t be. Melaina is dead. I heard that Harpy Station was destroyed.”

  “We escaped, Erik,” Melaina said, holding up Heyerdahl’s head as he tried to sit up. “I’m here with Tuxor and some of the others. We’ve been looking for you.”

  “Where are we, Melaina?” Erik asked. “Where have they taken us this time?”

  “We’re above Karisia, Erik,” Melaina replied. “We’ve come back home.”

  Heyerdahl’s eyes went wide suddenly and he struggled to sit up. After seeming so weak, he suddenly seemed to have gained strength from the news. He glanced around the small cell at Tuxor and Henry, becoming more agitated as his eyes rapidly flitted between the three.

  “No,” he said, reaching for Melaina’s shoulder. “We’ve got to get out of here, Melaina. We’ve got to get away from Karisia!”

  “Erik, why?” Melaina said, leaning in close to the man to try to calm him. “Karisia is no threat to us.”

  “Not Karisia, Melaina,” said Heyerdahl. “The Karisiens are peaceful.”

  “Then who,” asked Henry, stepping forward to let Heyerdahl get a better look.

  “It’s the Ch’Tauk,” Erik said, becoming very excited now. “They are planning a major attack on Karisia.”

  “You’re right, Erik,” said Tuxor, stepping closer to the man. “My people are peaceful. Why would the Ch’Tauk want to attack us?”

  “I think,” Erik said, looking again at the three people arrayed around him. “It’s because of me.”

  17

  The Gilbert’s Luck sliced through the atmosphere of Karisia, trailing a long line of condensing water vapor. Beside the ship, the Red Sweeney was struggling to keep up with its twin slave transport. Both ships had received clearance from the small Ch’Tauk patrol vessels that orbited the green world and had begun to follow the precise instructions for landing.

  Captain Connor Jakes was aboard the Gilbert’s Luck directing both ships to their revised destination. He had ordered the Sweet Liberty to stay at a safe distance from the planet and await a communications signal from him when they knew that the situation was under control. He had left Bonnie in charge of his pirate vessel and loaded up the converted yacht with some of the freed slaves from both ships.

  “Alright, Greg,” ordered Jakes. “Take us to the new coordinates. Relay to Red Sweeney our new course.”

  “Aye, sir,” said the big man, punching the course corrections into his console. “Changing course and heading for wherever we are supposed to be going.”

  “The new destination is my home,” said Tuxor, stepping closer to the human at the navigation console. “It is where my journey began.”

  Jakes looked to the tall amphibian for a few seconds before turning his attention back to the view screen. He saw the image shift as the ship changed course. He saw the landscape, almost a blanket of green and blue vegetation sliced through with long rivers of murky swamplands, speeding under his new ship.

  “I still say it don’t make sense,” said the captain. “Why would the Ch’Tauk launch an invasion when they already control this system?”

  Melaina turned from her position near to the man and pinched her nose in frustration. She had already explained the story to the man several times but it didn’t seem that he didn’t understand the plot that Heyerdahl had related.

  “Captain Jakes,” Melaina began. “Erik said that he told the Ch’Tauk all about our research here and they sent him and the slaves to recover all the tech we left behind.”

  “I get that, precious,” he said with an amused smirk. “It’s just that if they already have patrol ships here, why do they need to bring a fleet to suppress a bunch of pacifist frogs? No offense, Tuxor.”

  “I understand, Captain Jakes,” replied Tuxor.

  “Erik said that they tortured him,” Melaina continued. “To get them to stop, he told them that there was a cell of engineers that had survived the invasion and were working on a super weapon to defeat them on Karisia.”

  “Look, Melaina, I’ve been dealing with the Ch’Tauk all over this galaxy,” Jakes replied. “And they ain’t that stupid. Torture or not, they would have needed more to go on before they sent any ships to this mud pit. No offense, Tuxor.”

  “I do not take offense, Captain Jakes,” Tuxor replied, still looking out at his home planet. “But I might start soon.”

  “Erik can be very convincing,” Melaina said, turning away from Jakes and looking at the screen. “Trust me, I know.”

  “Oh really,” Jakes said, growing a wide grin across his thin face. “And just how convincing is he, Miss Petros?”

  Melaina ignored him and stepped closer to Tuxor. The big alien was leaning towards the screen, seeming to want to reach out and touch the green treetops and brown lowlands. She patted his lower forearm in a comforting expression. Tuxor relaxed visibly and put the arm around his colleague in return. Jakes glared at the alien as he watched him hold the woman.

  “Preparing to set down, captain,” announced Greg from the navigation console. “I’ve got a fix on a large landing area.”

  “That must be where our shuttle took off from,” Melaina said, pulling away from Tuxor and leaning to look closer at the screen. “I wonder what’s left.”

  The Gilbert’s Luck slowed as it approached the abandoned engineering complex. Greg turned the ship slightly as he brought the ship to a halt, allowing Melaina and Tuxor to get a look at the home that they had left four years ago. Melaina drew an involuntary breath as she looked at what was left of the research facility, attacked by the Ch’Tauk during their genocidal invasion.

  The prefabricated building, once a three story office lined with filtered glass and gleaming white in the hazy swamp, was now a blasted crater filled with debris and scorched rock. The remains of a Confederation shuttle lay scattered across the landing field, making a careful set-down nearly impossible for the two ships. Melaina remembered watching the ship explode just prior to their own escape and was horrified at the thought that nothing had been done to clear the remains.

  “Alright Greg,” said Jakes when the ship had finally settled to the ground. “Pop the hatch and lower the ramp. Let’s go take a closer look. Call the Sarge and have him meet us at the door, would you?”

  “Aye Captain,” replied the big human. “I’m sure he’ll be thrilled.”

  Jakes, Tuxor and Melaina left the bridge and headed down to the debarkation ramp of the slave ship. After riding the lift down and walking to the big exit door, they were joined by Henry Moore and his security team. The soldiers were fully equipped with light armor and rifles. Henry looked ready to take on the entire Ch’Tauk army as he stomped down the ramp to the surface.

  As Tuxor stepped off of the ramp and on to the surface of his home planet, he stopped and took a deep breath. To Jakes, the planet smelled like damp moldy carpet and dead things. The air was thick with humidity and insects that seemed to sense that new meat had arrived. The captain began to regret his choice of sleeveless shirt as the native mosquitoes began to draw his blood.

  “My God,” Melaina whispered as she surveyed the damaged research facility. “It’s all gone.”

  “They couldn’t leave anything,” said a voice from the top of the ramp.

  Erik Heyerdahl was standing unsteadily in the doorway of the ship. He had changed out of the tattered prison clothes that he had been wearing in the slave cell and now sported a loud Hawaiian shirt that made his pale skin look even more sallow. He started to walk down the ramp, but stumbled as
his legs seemed to give out. One of Henry’s men stepped up to catch the man and steady his journey down the ramp.

  “The Ch’Tauk are terrified of technology that they don’t understand,” Heyerdahl explained. “And they don’t understand anything about technology.”

  “How is that possible, Doc,” asked Jakes. “I’ve seen their ships and those things are pretty bad-ass.”

  “Those ships are copies of ships that their own engineers created centuries ago,” Erik said. “But their engineering caste left them because of the Ch’Tauk military taking over the caste system there. The Ch’Tauk had been looking for a whole segment of their society for hundreds of years. They call them the Engineers.”

  “It wasn’t a caste, Doctor Heyerdahl,” said Tuxor unexpectedly. “They were a separate race that the Ch’Tauk had convinced to work for them. When the Engineers found out what their designs were being used for, they took their own research and left the Ch’Tauk home world.”

  “I hadn’t heard that, Mister Tuxor,” replied Heyerdahl. “In any case, the Ch’Tauk needed to be sure that the Confederacy technical machine was utterly destroyed. They attacked everywhere simultaneously. Somehow, they found out about this facility and added it to the invasion hit list. Since then, they have been patrolling the area to be sure no one else finds any leftover technology that could be used against them.”

  “Doc,” Jakes asked, “You still haven’t told us why the bugs would be sendin’ an attack fleet to take out the frogs… I mean the Karisiens. Sorry.”

  “You have to understand, Captain Jakes,” replied the scientist, looking at the blasted ground beneath his feet. “They were torturing me. I was ready to tell them anything to get them to stop. I didn’t even care if they killed me; I just wanted the pain to stop.”

  “I get that, Doc,” replied Jakes with an exasperated sigh. “I just want to know what you told’em”

  “I told them that there were still some scientists left on Karisia,” said Heyerdahl. “I told them that they had created a weapon to destroy them.”

  Tuxor turned and strode over to the man. Although Erik was tall for a human, Tuxor still towered over him. The big alien held out his lower arms and placed the paddle-like hands on the man’s shoulders. Heyerdahl looked up at him, pleading with his eyes for forgiveness.

  “Doctor Heyerdahl,” said Tuxor in his deep melodic voice. “You may have doomed my people to death.”

  “I know, Tuxor,” said Heyerdahl with tears in his eyes. “I am so sorry.”

  Jakes stepped away from the group and closer to the Gilbert’s Luck. Red Sweeney had landed and was now opening up its own landing ramp. The captain pushed at the little transmitter sewn into his collar.

  “Jakes to Liberty,” the man ordered. “Get back to Perigee and tell’em to bring help.”

  Jakes continued to explain the situation to Bonnie as the two groups met on the blasted landing pad. Melaina began to advance on the ruined building, now covered in moss and green-blue algae. As she came to the edge of the crater that had been her workplace, there was a noise from beyond. Henry Moore stepped around the woman and advanced around the edge of the crater.

  Moore’s team spread out and raised their rifles as a group of creatures began to emerge from the swamp. Each well over two meters tall and having four upper limbs, the Karisiens seemed to blend in to the surrounding area as they approached the humans. Tuxor pushed past Moore’s team as he met the closest of the native inhabitants in between the two groups.

  The two amphibians began to hum to each other. At first, the sound was a deep croak, almost imperceptible amid the noise of the swamp surrounding them. The sound slowly rose in both pitch and tone. As Jakes rejoined the group, Tuxor and the other Karisien reached for each other and wrapped all four of their limbs around each other. The noise broke off as the two separated and Tuxor turned back to the humans.

  “Melaina,” Tuxor said with an almost joyous tone to his voice. “It’s my wife.”

  Henry waved to his men to lower their rifles and stand down. Melaina rushed over to her friend and stood at this side as he began to introduce the group. It seemed that his entire family had come to greet the newcomers and he was nearly ecstatic as he greeted them all. Jakes stayed behind with Heyerdahl as the humans surged forward to meet the natives.

  “Doc,” said Jakes to the scientist. “Where did you find out all about bugs and their engineering problem?”

  “We were being held on Isnee for a few weeks,” the man replied, hesitating only a moment as he looked at the Karisiens mingling with the humans. “I overheard the Holkans talking about the Ch’Tauk and how they were hard to do business with. Why?”

  “Just wondrin’, I guess,” Jakes replied, glancing back at the man. “I been all around and ain’t never really heard that story before.”

  Heyerdahl shrugged and walked over to join Melaina. Jakes stared at the man’s back as he left. His brows furrowed as his mind tried to grasp a lost bit of information. When it came to him, he realized the danger of what the man had said. He needed to get over to Henry Moore to talk, but the man was currently being embraced by a giant amphibian female.

  The assembly stopped and the swampy area went silent as a new group joined the Karisiens. Small, white creatures seemed to materialize out of nowhere, skittering around the legs of the big amphibians. They were each wearing an identical white robe and had long, translucent sensory hairs streaming from their pale heads. Melaina squealed as the Elves joined their larger protectors, mingling with the humans.

  “Oh my God!” Heyerdahl exclaimed over the din of the welcomes. “The Engineers!”

  18

  Battleship Resolute

  The Resolute shed its corona as it exited the jump exit and slowed to normal velocity. The Battleship had chosen a distant jump point to avoid any of the normal traffic around Perigee Station. Already present was the remains of the battle group attached to the carrier Baal as well as several ships that had been salvaged or restored over the last year.

  The station, shaped like a series of lotus petals, spreading out from a central spire. The station was lit brightly from spotlights that showed off the strong curves and nested levels. When built, the station had been left in its natural metallic silver patina, but years of neglect and bombardment by micrometeorites had turned it to a dark gunmetal gray. Many of the ships that had been retrieved were still docked and being repaired by the crews on the station.

  Resolute executed a wide turn that position the nose of the aging ship towards the orbital station and the planet that they were using as a base of operations. The ship had suffered tremendous damage, but had been repaired quickly enough by the Elves and the repair crews provided by the carrier group accompanying the Zeus. She had returned ahead of the other battle group to prepare Perigee or their arrival. As they slowed for their approach, a familiar voice sounded over the bridge intercom.

  “Battleship Resolute,” said Kama Yu from the station. “Welcome back. Alliance control confirms your approach and requests that you dock at the port station 3.”

  “Thank you, Kama,” replied Lee over the radio. “It’s good to be back, but, what is the Alliance?”

  “A lot has changed, Lee,” replied the former communications officer from the Terran Hope. “We have a civilian government now.”

  “I’ve got a lot to catch up on, I guess,” Lee responded. “Can you get me through to Captain Chang?”

  “You mean the Commodore,” Kama said. “No problem. He’s on the Baal. Hold on just a second.”

  Lee’s mind swirled at the news that his friend and former commander of the Resolute had been promoted by a civilian government to an outdated rank. Whoever was in charge of the new Alliance worked fast. Lee tried to think of who might have gotten the station organize and finally settled on Banu Rao as the most likely candidate.

  “I’m patching the Commodore through now, Lee,” said Kama after a few seconds. “And Lee, you’ll love the new uniforms.”

&n
bsp; Lee glanced around his bridge crew at the collection of uniforms that his own people now wore. While he had kept wearing the tan and green uniform of the Confederation, some of his crew had begun wearing plain white shirts and dark pants, making the bridge seem more like a casual office than the bridge of a warship.

  “Captain Pearce,” said Commodore Chang. His image appeared on the main view screen wearing a dark navy uniform that reminded Lee of the formal livery of the cruise ship lines. “Good to see you again. I was hoping you would be back soon. We’ve got a new mission for you.”

  “Cap…I mean Commodore Chang,” Lee replied. “It’s good to be back but we are in need of some repairs and down time. I’ve got some great news.”

  “I’m sure, Lee, but it will have to wait,” said the commodore. “We are mobilizing Baal and the bulk of the fleet for action near Karisia. The Ch’Tauk are readying for another invasion.”

  Lee did a double take at the view screen. After all of the action he had seen during the last year, another invasion was the last thing he had expected to hear about. He knew about the planet from his time with Tuxor and Melaina and believed that the people were peaceful. The destruction wrought by the Ch’Tauk during their last invasion was staggering and to think that they would be gearing up for another genocidal attack was mind-boggling.

  “Wait, Ron,” Lee said, slipping into an informal mode with his apparently superior officer. “Karisia? Why would the Ch’Tauk attack Karisia? It’s just a swamp with no military presence whatsoever.”

  “It seems that the Sweet Liberty has been busy, Lee,” replied Chang. “Jakes was able to find Heyerdahl and uncover the plan to destroy the Karisiens. It seems that Heyerdahl told the Ch’Tauk that there were still military assets there and that they were preparing a new weapon.”

  “This doesn’t make sense, Commodore,” Lee said, shaking his head to escape the confusion. “Let’s start over. Can you get Jakes on the line to explain all this?”

  “Negative Captain Pearce,” said Chang. “Jakes and most of his crew stayed back on Karisia. He sent Lieutenant Estevez back with the Liberty and a few dozen rescued slaves. It looks like you’ve got competition in the heroic rescue business now.”