NEBULAR Collection 7 - Guardians of the Continuum: Episodes 31 - 34

by Thomas Rabenstein

  »I’m in charge of the spacecraft, and I prefer to check the key parameters. All pilots did this in the past,« Samura said dryly, nodding at Bennett quickly. »Navigation console and communication?«

  »All check!« replied the cosmologist with a grin. »You should rather check the weapon controls. I think our friend is very keen to try them out.«

  Kel-Nar flared his nostrils and took a deep breath before he commented hoarsely, »The two plasma guns are too weak by a couple of tontonas in my opinion, but they load fast and have a high firing sequence. However, after four shots the energy accumulator needs to be charged with plasma again. This causes an interruption of the combat flow sequence by 30 moments, or about 15 seconds of your time scale. In the hypothetical case of a dispute with a space fighter of my pack, it would mean your demise, because the Hawk weapons could barely penetrate the marmorite armor of our ships, provided you can hit the hunter vessels in quick space combat at all. You don’t even have guided plasma weapons.« The Krolakan raised his lips and produced a high-pitched giggling sound. He sounded like a hyena. »This ship is good enough for patrol services and smaller missions, but not for battle!«

  »Well, that’s great then because we won’t leave our Solar System and only make a training flight to the outer ring,« replied Bennett dryly.

  The Krolakan showed his teeth.

  »You feel really safe in this system? We Krolakans have long known – there is no safe place in the universe!«

  »Thanks to the Krolakan Expedition Fleet we can feel safe and protected,« Langlo tried a diplomatic approach, which was immediately negated by Bennett.

  »Sure, of course. Everything that moves will be atomized,« he added ironically.

  Kel-Nar replied with a faint growl.

  »Let’s concentrate on our mission and act as expected,« Samura reminded the crew and completed his short check list. »The self-test is done, and the Hawk is okay.«

  »I just received the mission parameters,« Langlo announced. »We’re supposed to leave the Saturn System and take the fasted route to Neptune. We report properly to space surveillance and take the approach pattern for Triton. Our challenge will be to find the proper waiting position without interfering with interstellar space traffic.«

  »Sounds very exciting. I bet, an incident would certainly lead to point deductions,« groused Bennett while his fingers swept across the holo-terminal of the navigation console. After a few seconds, he reported, »Route calculated and entered. All there’s left is to find the start button and leave the rest to the autopilot.«

  Langlo grimaced and activated the communication link to the Marigold command central.

  »Hawk-IV on training mission, requesting permission for take off.«

  The response from the command central of the fleet training ship was prompt.

  »Take off granted! Once you’ve left the hangar, space surveillance on Titan will take over. Your ID is Firedrakin. Have a safe flight.«

  »I’m sorry, what?« Samura crooned and covered the helmet microphone with the hand so that flight control couldn’t hear his words. »Firedrakin? What’s that supposed to be?«

  »That was my suggestion,« Langlo replied briskly while she took over the flight controls. »Gravo-drive activated. The Hawk is hovering two meters above take off position.«

  Accompanied by a slight vibration of the ship’s hull, the Hawk’s powerful propulsion system started up.

  »Forward vector to zero-point-five meters per second. We’re going to penetrate the security force field of the hangar deck and then accelerate in space to ten kilometers per second. Our course vector is – Twelve – Seven – Four! We remain on this course until we receive instructions by Titan Control.«

  The Hawk slowly moved forward, directly toward the large hangar opening. With moderate speed, the nose of the small spacecraft plunged into the force field and broke through. The hull took no harm while there was no trace of any energy forces inside the ship.

  Although the force field seemed delicate and fragile like an elegant veil, it was still strong enough to shield the inner hangar area from space and maintain the atmospheric pressure. The field density increased, however, with growing permeation force. Fast flying micro dust particles, which could damage the ship’s hull because of their high kinetic energy values, were simply vaporized. A crew that flew too fast with their Hawk in and out of the hangar had to expect high deceleration forces upon contact with the force field. At worst, the Hawk could be severely damaged. However, Langlo’s start was exemplary. The cadet appeared highly concentrated.

  »Contact with force field and complete exit into free space in – Three – Two – One – Now!«

  The Hawk finally left the protective hangar and flew toward Saturn.

  Langlo, Bennett, and Samura held their breath. This indescribable feeling of falling, the own littleness in the infinity of space, a simulator could not convey.

  »That’s fantastic!« cheered Langlo and accelerated. Although the Marigold fell abruptly behind, the gas giant in the front sector only increased marginally in size. Nevertheless, the small spaceship shot at high speed into Saturn’s ring plane.

  The Scandinavian spread out her arms and shouted, »I’m the Queen of the Universe!«

  Kel-Nar made a sneezing sound and growled softly, »In the name of the swamp snakes of Krolak! I’m traveling with a litter of puppies!«

  »Firedrakin?« Samura asked again and swiped his hand across his forehead to wipe off a few small beads of sweat which Langlo noticed very well.

  »You’re a little nervous,« remarked the astrophysicist with a smile.

  »The Firedrakins are a reptilian species, located in the Flaming-Star Nebula, almost 1,500 lightyears from here. This space sector is of particular interest to astrophysicists but also to you as astrobiologist, it holds many surprises. The drakins have been encountered in five different solar systems. The different nations appear to be related to each other, but only possess the technical knowledge of the early nineteenth century. They don’t know space travel. This begs the legitimate question of how they managed to spread over different solar systems? I’d like to fly there one day and solve that mystery.«

  »That’s all fascinating,« Bennett commented dryly, looking with dreamy eyes through the cockpit window and earning a reproaching glance from the Scandinavian.

  »Is there any place in the universe you want to see?« she asked tartly.

  »Oh yes,« Bennett responded to everyone’s surprise. »The center of the Milky Way would be such a place. There, all gravity lines of our Star Island are focused with an incredible stellar density. So far, no one has been there. This is the place where supposedly Nebular resides.«

  Langlo reverently held his breath.

  »Nebular.«

  »I know another place for you,« chuckled Kel-Nar in the typical Krolakan way. »How about the zone behind the event horizon of a dark soul?«

  »You mean the interior of a black hole?« Bennett replied with a grin.

  Kel-Nar pulled up his lips, panting, which apparently meant agreement.

  »That would be interesting,« replied Bennett. »However, some cosmologists argue that our universe is already located inside an ultra-compacted black hole and that we live only in the reflection of genuine reality.«

  »The pack cadet squinted and growled, »Such a reality would be a nightmare!«

  »To fly with a cosmologists is always a nightmare,« teased Langlo and gave Bennett the signal to engage the autopilot. »We’ve just received the go-ahead from Titan.«

  »Let’s fly to Neptune,« Bennett acknowledged bored. »Sit back, please, open your parasols and enjoy the flight.«

  »You Humans often talk nonsense,« said Kel-Nar confused, took a last look at his weapon controls and assumed a comfortable seating position.

  Krolak

  »How do your people actually live on Krolak?« Langlo asked quietly.

  For more than half an hour the flight ran completely uneventful, only th
e monotonous sound of the Hawk’s propulsion system filled the cockpit. Even the view from the cockpit offered no variety. Neptune was only visible as a tiny disk, framed by holographic crosshair of the flight computer. The stars in front of the craft seemed like pinned, not sparkling at all. Outside in space, they shone constant and bright, each star in a different color. Even a flight across the Solar System could not produce a parallax shift, significant enough to make the stars move against the backdrop of the universe. If the ship’s computer systems wouldn’t continually monitor and indicate the speed and position of the vessel, one could assume, the ship would be at a standstill.

  »Is this an attempt to make some conversation in an incredibly boring situation?« asked Bennett cynically while closing his eyes, making some snoring sounds.

  »No, it really interests me,« replied Langlo, friendly smiling at Kel-Nar. »Ignore our mission specialist’s comments.«

  Kel-Nar slightly opened his dog-like mouth and produced some giggling sounds, showing his pointed yellow fangs while saliva dripped from his lips. »You Humans have a lot of humor – that’s what we like about you.«

  Bennett smirked and interrupted his snoring. He opened one eye and squinted at Kel-Nar.

  »Oh, I didn’t think that Krolakans knew the term humor at all.«

  »Of course, we have humor,« the pack cadet growled at him, snorting heavily through his nostrils. »It just depends on the punch line.«

  »Clever answer,« Eno Samura acknowledged, winking at Langlo.

  »So, well?« she asked again. »Tell us something about your home-world.«

  Kel-Nar suddenly squinted. His ears and facial hair laid back flat. With his mimics, the Krolakan looked threatening, almost like a wolf before jumping. Langlo shivered and asked, slightly confused, »Did I say something wrong or even touched a taboo?«

  In response, only a gasp, then a frantic snort came from the Krolakan’s mouth. Finally, after a series of strange convulsions, he broke out in a liberating sneezing while he sprayed a mist of fine droplets around the cockpit. Seconds later, his weapon control console shimmered damp. Then Kel-Nar leaned back satisfied and relaxed and folded his hairy arms behind his head.

  »Your air conditioners are not optimized for us Krolakans. It’s too warm in here. My nostrils are drying up.«

  »That’s disgusting!« commented Bennett and turned to the side, as he didn’t want to look at Kel-Nar’s fogged holo-terminal.

  »It’s not taboo to talk about the central world of the Krolakans,« Kel-Nar picked up the thread again. »What do you know about my home-world?«

  »We’ve never been there, of course, not even out of the Solar System yet,« regretted Langlo. »But as an astrophysicist, I know of course that Krolak is in the Large Magellanic Cloud. A cold terrestrial planet, orbiting a red dwarf star.«

  »I haven’t really looked into it yet, but I assume that Krolak is a typical high-tech metropolis,« speculated Bennett. »I think that the entire surface of the planet is built up, the planet’s core is hollowed out. Spaceports and shipyards for warships, as far as the eye can see, but only a little countryside. Maybe there are a few minor nature preserves, but without wildlife, because this was already eaten by the Krolakans. The Krolakan building mania knows no boundaries. In the midst of their large settlements, with towering apartment buildings, there are still fighting arenas where Krolakans congregate after work to fight each other.«

  Kel-Nar stared at Bennett rigidly and steadfastly with his big brown eyes. It seemed as if he was still processing what he just heard. While Kel-Nar stared at Langlo, Bennett noticed that the Krolakan possessed slotted pupils.

  Kel-Nar tilted his head back as far as his seat in front of the weapon controls allowed it, then he let out a seemingly never-ending flow of giggles, interrupted by howling sounds. The Krolakan was gasping for air in between the howls and laughs.

  »I guess, your assumption is totally wrong,« Eno Samura noted exhilarated and joined Kel-Nar’s laughter.

  »In the name of the ten-headed Hydra of Cats from Osgur! That was beautiful!«

  Kel-Nar wiped the tears of laughter from his hairy cheeks and slowly calmed down.

  »Krolak is a planet with steppe character, you would call it a cold world. We, however, perceive this as very pleasant. The landscape and climate compliments our nature and awakens our hunting instincts, even with the present generation of my people,« enthused Kel-Nar. »There are no cities on Krolak. The planet was left in its original state, except for a place, we call The Ring of the Tribes. The huts of many shamans and holy men are encircling this place.«

  »Huts?« Bennett asked surprised, raising an eyebrow. »Shamans, holy men?«

  »Krolak is our central world but not the planet of our origin. The coordinates of our first world were forgotten or lost in the swirl of time. We have long since given up looking for that planet. The prehistoric expansion of my people went too fast. Today, there are nearly seventy different Krolakan tribes in my home galaxy. Each tribe populates several solar systems. I belong to the Silverback Tribe. Our clan claims 33 solar systems near the center of the Large Magellanic Cloud, as you call our galaxy. We call it Hyfoor-Laar, which means in your language something like Cradle of Civilization.«

  »What significance does Krolak have then?« Bennett interjected.

  »Krolak is that world where the Alliance of all Krolakans was sealed. A planet that suits and stands for all Krolakans. A substitute for our lost home-world, so-to-speak. The Ring of the Tribes is a place with towering monuments of chiseled marmorite tribal laws in the center. The testimony of our covenant is indestructible and clearly visible from space. A myth says, My people will only fall and be scattered in all the directions of the winds when Krolak was destroyed, but we will never allow this to happen!«

  Demonstratively, Kel-Nar clenched his claws.

  »A strong fleet, consisting of members of all tribes, is forming the Guard Squadron for our central world. No one should ever dare to fly to Krolak with evil intentions in mind.«

  Langlo, Bennett, and Samura were stunned.

  »Then, there’s now one more place in the universe, I would like to visit,« whispered Langlo.

  »A kind of gigantic, cosmic Stonehenge. Very impressive,« Bennett admitted while glancing at his controls. A short beep made him look up. The cosmologist checked the displays and said surprised, »An unidentified contact in sector 45-34-89. Distance … less than two light-minutes. I’m receiving an exceptionally strong indication from our energy sensors. Something is going on out there!«

  Langlo looked up.

  »Not identified? What does this mean?«

  »The vessel doesn’t transmit a valid system ID,« confirmed Samura. »This means that the crew hasn’t properly checked in at Triton Base and not received the current code.«

  »An intruder!« growled Kel-Nar belligerently.

  »Probably a test by Peleus,« Langlo replied with a fake smile.

  »You think, they want to test us?« Samura asked doubtfully.

  »This is a training flight!« Langlo reminded everyone. »Do you really believe that Peleus sends us with a Hawk to just perform an annoying approach maneuver on Neptune? He certainly has some sort of a challenge for us in mind, which, we as a team, must tackle.«

  »Then, we must live up to this challenge and engage this unknown contact!« Kel-Nar shouted enthusiastically and pulled back his ears. »My weapons are ready for action.«

  »Fly over and identify, Kel-Nar. Not shoot! Samura commanded explicitly and nodded to Bennett. »Calculate intercept course and enter the flight data into the computer.«

  »Already done,« grinned Bennett and raised his thumb. »Just tell me when to press the little button.«

  »Langlo, call Titan Base and transfer the location data to their space surveillance. Tell them that we will look at that vessel as it is close to our flight route anyway. Mission Specialist Bennett?«

  »Yes, boss?« Bennett replied sarcastically.

  Samura
smiled boldly.

  »You can press that little button now.«

  »I bet, Peleus will be proud of us,« murmured Bennett and initiated the change of course.

  From fun to dead serious

  »Titan confirmed the scan and issued official orders to identify the unknown ship!« Malin Langlo exclaimed surprised. Her water-blue eyes flashed excitedly.

  »A challenge, at last!« Kel-Nar hissed pleased and displayed his teeth. »Perhaps, we are the only Union ship within reach. The Firedrakin is armed and ready.«

  »We’re four cadets who still need to learn a lot before they can assign such tasks,« Bennett interjected quietly. »I bet there flies a drone through space, sending out strong simulated emissions. Peleus is observing us and writes down everything to tell the class at our next lecture about how not to do it.«

  »Anyway,« Langlo replied coldly. »The order comes from Titan Space Surveillance and is very clear. We have to intercept the unknown ship, identify it and make contact, if possible.«

  She blushed slightly. She was excited.

  »Firedrakin is on intercept course,« she radioed to Titan Space Surveillance and then turned to her team. »We’re doing this by the book!«

  »In about eight minutes, we can detect the unknown ship with our short-range scanner,« acknowledged Eno Samura. The astrobiologist from Addis Abeba was suddenly very focused.

  »Weapon systems are ready,« reported Kel-Nar and earned a despising look from Langlo.

  The Krolakan flattened his ears and panted softly.

  »Just so there are no misunderstandings, I’m the weapons specialist on board. Before you peace-loving smoothskins send us all to the eternal Incarnation Bubble of Light, I will act.«

  »Where?« Bennett asked stunned.

  »To Paradise!« Langlo replied dryly while staring at his scanner display.

  »Now, let’s all remain calm!« reminded Samura.

  »If the ship has flown unannounced into our Solar System and we can locate it, then they certainly have noticed our approach,« presumed Langlo. »But I see no reaction, so far. The unknown vessel maintains course and speed.«