by David Lund
“How much time we will save doing this?” he asked.
“We should gain forty minutes. We cannot keep up such a burn for too long, however, the engines will not appreciate it.”
“Will that be enough to outrun the war ship?”
“I hope so.”
Videem turned to everyone on the bridge. “Prepare for engine boost, it will be a sharp acceleration, I strongly suggest you grab hold of something.”
Michael hugged the Captain’s chair beside which he was floating and gripped it hard. Caitlin floated next to him, holding on to a console. The group of prisoners pressed themselves against the far wall, Jal and Marshall flanking them on either side. They had been very quiet since Kaywal’s outburst, Michael thought this was very strange.
The engines roared loudly and they shot forwards. Michael had not being expecting something so strong. He was whipped backwards, and it was only instinct that kept him holding on. His whole body felt like it weighed a ton, and he couldn’t breath, with the weight of it all pressing against his chest. He could barely keep his eyes open. They must have taken 10 g. After a few seconds, things levelled out and they drifted back to a normal state of being although they will still floating.
Michael looked around him, everybody looked slightly the worse for wear, but nobody seemed to be hurt.
“What a ride!” Jean said loudly. “‘Ow fast are we going?”
“Very fast,” Videem replied, as composed as ever. “The engines are already overheating, they won’t take this much longer, we are going to have to cut them out earlier than I thought.” He tapped a few keys on his console. “We are also going far faster than I thought we would, I did not realize that this ship was capable of this.” He appeared to frown. Then, with an urgent note, “We need to stop, now!” A deep explosion sound came from somewhere in the gut of the ship. Videem was tapping furiously on his console.
“Something is wrong, I have lost control of the engines.” Another explosion. “We are losing containment. There is a hull breach on deck eight. There -” He didn’t finish his sentence, there was another explosion, but on the bridge this time. It was only small but it blew Michael’s eardrums and everything went very bright. He couldn’t see anything. He pushed himself off from the chair which he had been holding onto, and reached out to find Caitlin’s arm and pushed them towards the floor.
It was a good thing too because the gravity suddenly came back online and they dropped the last few centimetres and hit the floor hard. Michael got up to a crouch and tried to peer through the smoke. There appeared to be a hole in the lift beside which Marshall had been. Michael looked around, and saw no sign of him. A buzzing sound filled his ears, and everything seem to be moving in slow motion. He looked at Caitlin who seemed to be saying something to him but he couldn’t hear her.
“What?” he tried to yell, but his own voice seemed quiet and far away. He pointed towards the hole in the lift doors and she nodded. They walked towards it at a crouch. About halfway there, something collided with Michael and he was thrown to the floor. He saw a streak of blue and realized as a fist hit him in the stomach, winding him, that it was Kaywal. He rolled onto his side and scrambled up. Kaywal was already on his feet, ready to deliver another punch. Michael was expecting him this time and ducked, throwing his own fist as he got up, hitting the alien in the face.
Another alien came at him from the other side, but Caitlin intervened and kicked him in the stomach, and it went down. Michael grabbed the gun which he had stowed away in his pocket and pointed it at Kaywal.
He didn’t say anything, but the alien got the message. He raised his hands and got up slowly.
“Marshall!” Michael tried to yell, the buzzing in his ears still there.
Ventilators on board the bridge were working frantically to get rid of the smoke, and as it cleared, Michael saw that his operations officer was gone. “Marshall!” he yelled again, this time he heard his voice but it still sounded distant. “Videem,” he said quietly, or at least he thought it was quietly. Their new alien friend was slumped over the console he had been working on. Michael gave his gun to Caitlin, told her to watch Kaywal, and ran over to Videem. The rest of the crew were rounding up the prisoners.
“Two are missing, Captain,” Jal reported. “So are Adrian and Marshall.”
“Damn them.”
“I’ll go after them,” Jal said heading towards the door.
“No, it’s too risky, I’m not losing someone else. We will find them.” Michael found it odd that two of the Friiist would leave without their captain. He left Videem to one of the crewman, and strode over to where Kaywal was and grabbed the collar of his uniform.
“Where are they going?” he said menacingly, shaking the alien slightly.
“I have no idea.” The blue face looked so open, Michael couldn’t tell if he was lying, after all, perhaps when the Friiist lie, they look as if they are being honest to a human, or perhaps Kaywal had learned to develop a poker face.
“You’re lying,” Michael growled. He wanted to hit Kaywal, but thought that was going over board.
They didn’t want to start a war with these people, but the aliens were not making it easy for them.
“Listen, Kaywal, I know you still don’t believe me, but we meant no harm to you.”
“The Henfor might believe your tales but I don’t. I told you before, your planet will be destroyed.
It’s only a matter of time.”
“What do you mean it’s only a matter a time?” Panic rising within him.
“I told you before, Human, steps are being taken to destroy your world.”
“What steps?”
Kaywal laughed.
“The war is close, Captain, closer than you might think, if I were you, I’d tell your people to prepare themselves!”
Michael was having trouble grasping what the alien was saying. Did this mean that they had already launched some sort of attack on Earth? But with what capability? How could they possibly send something or someone to destroy Earth? He decided now was not the time to worry about it.
They were drifting through space, with no propulsion, the only person they could count on to control the ship was unconscious or dead, they had no way of knowing; and on top of that, two of their crewmen were missing, again.
Jean was already working at the console where Videem lay slumped, trying to understand the alien language and get propulsion back online. Michael needed to do something, he needed to act.
“I need communications with the Henfor ship,” he said. “Jean, can you do that?”
“I’ll try, Captain.” He pressed a few keys and a noise sounded. “I think I’ve got it, sir.”
A voice came through the speakers.
“Har tron fren Hassut.” Michael went to Videem and saw that his translator had been smashed. He sighed, thinking hard, then he remembered he had pocketed a similar device, when he was in the storage area. He reached into his pocket and found the object. He flipped it open and pressed a button.
“This is Captain Michael Edwards, from the human vessel Interstellar, we are in need of assistance.”
“I am Captain Gareen, where is Videem?” said the alien voice, thankfully translated through the device.
“The engines overloaded and caused explosions throughout the ship, Videem is injured, we can’t wake him, we have no propulsion.”
“Wait there, we are fifteen minutes away. Gareen out.” Great, Michael thought. Hopefully they won’t be attacked in that time.
11
Fifteen minutes later, Videem still hadn’t woken. They had tried for a pulse but found none, but they had no way of knowing whether Henfor physiology was the same as humans, so they weren’t pronouncing him dead just yet. Although, Michael wished Adrian was still here. He might have been able to do something.
He didn’t know where his two missing crewman were, but he hoped they were still alive; he had to believe they were still alive, but he couldn’t send people after them. Who
knew how many aliens were still on the lower decks? At any rate, they were seriously outnumbered.
Something beeped and Gareen’s voice came through the comm again.
“We are approaching your position, are the docking ports secure?”
“I’m afraid not, we only have control of the bridge. There are only a few of us, we can’t get to the docking ports.”
“Stand by.” Michael waited, looking at Jean quizzically. “We are about to shoot the ship, prepare yourselves.”
“Wait, why?” A large sound resonated through the ship, and a shock wave went through it. The bridge shuddered, but nothing serious.
“We are attempting to blast a hole in the docking port, it will make them step back.”
“Please, two of my men are captives somewhere on the ship, I do not want them hurt.”
“Understood.”
“Captain,” Caitlin said, “Jal and I can try and clear the way for them from this side. We just need to know where the docking ports are.”
Michael thought about it for a second.
“I don’t want to lose you two as well.”
“We can’t just sit here, Captain, we need to do something.” Michael sighed, but had to agree.
Lindsey went to a console and punched a few keys, she quickly brought up the map of the ship.
“I watched earlier when Videem did it,” she explained. “Cancarr is the word for map, I think.” She scanned the map and quickly found the docking port.
“Take Jason and Franck with you, and try and find a way to let me know what’s going on, there are comm buttons near most of the doors,” Michael said. The four left the bridge through the gap, each armed with electronic guns.
Michael paced the bridge, thinking hard. He was worried about everything, it was all so uncertain. If only he had been trained for this situation, he would have known what to do. Damn wormhole! He would have given almost anything to be back with his family.
The next few minutes dragged by, but the comm finally buzzed.
“Captain,” Michael sighed with relief as Caitlin’s calm voice flowed through the speakers. “We have secured the docking ports.” Michael transmitted the information to the captain of the Henfor ship.
Barely five minutes passed before the door to the bridge opened, revealing several people: Caitlin, Jal, Jason and Frank, but also several aliens. The Henfor were different from the Friiist.
Their skin was dark and crackled, like someone who had spent far too much time in the sun, and their hair was bright yellow, almost white; there were no gills on the sides of their heads. They donned light uniforms of a deep red, which clashed somewhat with their skin. The one in front walked purposely towards Michael. He was a squat man, who barely reached Michael’s chin.
“I am Gareen,” the deep voice said. He looked around the room, saw Videem and nodded to one of his men, who walked over to the unconscious alien. “We must leave, now.” He turned around without waiting for an answer. Michael grabbed Gareen’s arm.
“I have two people captured somewhere on this ship. I am not leaving without them.” Gareen stopped and looked intently at Michael.
“I understand your position, Captain, but I’m afraid, the Friiist who escaped have taken an escape pod, your men are no longer aboard this ship. Unfortunately, they have managed to mask their trail and we are unable to find the pod. However, I promise you we will help you find them, but as this ship is on the verge of exploding, I really insist that we leave, now!”
Michael reluctantly agreed. They rounded up the prisoners and crewmen, two of the Henfor carried Videem, and they left the ship; walking back down the stairs and towards the docking port.
They met no resistance and managed to enter the Henfor ship quite quickly. As soon as they entered, Gareen pressed a button as the hatch closed and told his helmsman to clear out of the area quickly. The first thing Michael noticed, and was grateful for, was the sudden change in temperature. It went from below freezing to at least thirty degrees. Michael wandered through the halls of the ship with the rest of the crew, following Gareen and his men. He was not taking in their surroundings at all. His exhausted brain couldn’t handle any more information. Before he realized it, they were walking onto the bridge.
It was a large, square room, with several stations placed around the walls. At least twenty Henfor were working, reminding Michael again how insignificant their own technology seemed. These two different species had developed way passed their own, and it was a wonder to Michael that they hadn’t seen any sign of life further out in the solar system; with fifteen planets to explore, he thought they would have been more curious. But both species had said they were cautious, so maybe they didn’t like exploring.
It was even hotter in here. The human crew had gone from shivering to sweating. Gareen seemed to notice their discomfort.
“Bit hot?” he said, and Michael could have sworn he was smiling, or something similar. His mouth had stretched out, and had become twice as wide as it normally was.
“It’s okay,” Michael replied quickly. Gareen took little notice of his answer and immediately began shouting orders to his crew.
“Jononeen, take us to maximum engine yield and out of Friiist territory.” The ship vibrated slightly as the engines powered up and they started moving.
“Captain, the Friiist ship is two minutes from our position.” Gareen said nothing but sat in a chair in the middle of the room. Then, after a couple of minutes, the ship shook violently.
“They have caught up and are firing at us,” one of the Henfor said, in a calm voice.
“Stay on course and return fire, full laser canons,” Gareen seemed rather unfazed by this, as if he did this sort of thing every day. Michael stood next to the captain’s chair, looking at their view screen. The display showed the Friiist war ship – they obviously had cameras around their ship too – Michael looked at it with awe, and with disgust.
The vessel was huge, bigger than the one they found themselves on, and was obviously faster.
Videem had said that it was heavily armed and was very powerful. Michael wondered how they were going to get out of yet another sticky situation.
A beam, similar to the ones shot from their electronic guns, burst out of the back of the Henfor ship and hit the front hull of the Friiist ship. Nothing appeared to happen to it.
“Their shields are holding, sir.” Again Gareen said nothing, but just sat there.
“Gareen,” Michael said, somewhat anxiously. “We need to do something, now.” Gareen looked up at Michael, his expression still very calm.
“There is a sensor net close to our position, which separates our two worlds, once we have passed it, they will back off. Hopefully.” Gareen was calm but Michael felt far from relieved.
“How can you be sure?”
“I am not. But once we pass the net -” He paused as the ship shook as they were fired on again.
“Once we pass the net, every Henfor ship within range will converge on their position if they follow. Our people have ways of defending our territory. I doubt they will risk it.”
“Well let’s hope you are right.”
“Captain, they are charging their torpedo launchers.” This time Gareen reacted. He stood up and walked over to what Michael assumed was the tactical station.
“Shields to full power. Evasive action,” he said to another one of his crew. Michael watched the view screen as the ship sank into a deep dive, although the crew on the bridge felt nothing, thanks to the gravity stabilizers. He could still see the Friiist ship, but it moved out of sight as they changed course. Someone switched the camera view and it came into sight again. The front of the ship glowed red and two flashes of light shot out the front.
“Torpedoes have been launched sir, ten seconds to impact.”
“Get behind them and target their launchers,” Gareen was in control of the situation. Michael regretted the low opinion of his methods from earlier, Gareen knew what he was doing.
; The ship came to a full circle and managed to avoid the torpedoes. They were now behind the Friiist ship.
“Fire!” The view had changed again, and now showed the back of the Friiist vessel. The electronic beams were fired and hit the other ship, creating a small explosion.
“Direct hit, sir.”
“I thought they had shields?” Michael said to Gareen.
“Get us out of here, quickly,” Gareen said to one of his men before turning to Michael. “When they fire their torpedoes, they must lower their shields for almost a minute, it is their weakness. I took advantage of that weakness.”
Michael was impressed, their weaponry was very advanced, and humans were nowhere near developing anything of this scale. He began to wonder what sort of damage the Friiist might cause Earth if they did attack. There was no way they could compete against such technology, and Earth would surely be destroyed. He even suspected that just one of those torpedoes could blow a small island apart. That of course is if Kaywal was telling the truth.
“Thirty seconds to sensor net,” the helmsman said. “The Friiist are still closing on our position, and even without their torpedoes, they can still do some damage.”
“Maintain course,” Gareen said as he sat back in his chair. A few tense seconds went by before the helmsman declared that they had passed through the sensor net and that the other ship was backing off. Gareen stood and approached Michael.
“Welcome to Henfor,” he said, before turning to his crew. “Call the government and patch it through to my study. Please,” he turned to Michael again. “Follow me and we shall talk together.”
Michael looked at Caitlin, who was staring at the view screen, apparently lost in thought. He reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder. She turned to look at him.
