by David Lund
“We can’t do that,” Michael exclaimed. “We’ll be destroyed in seconds. Have they detected us?”
“I don’t know. Probably.”
“Is there anywhere we can hide until we decide what to do?”
Michael could feel panic rising inside him. They were totally unprepared for this mission, it seemed unlikely that they could survive, let alone rescue their friends.
“No,” Videem answered. His unhelpfulness was getting on Michael’s already frayed nerves.
“What do you suggest?” he asked through gritted teeth.
“I have already told you what I think we should do, and your aggressiveness in not helping. May I remind you that I volunteered to help you, and I am in fact risking my own life to help your human friends, so I would appreciate it if you dropped you hostility towards me.”
Michael realised he was acting like a jerk.
“I’m sorry, Videem, I’m just nervous.”
“I realise you are upset with me for destroying the Friiist ship, but I remind you that had they captured us, they would have shown no mercy.”
“I know, I’m just not a fan of murder.”
“Captain,” Lindsey said, “Sorry to interrupt but two of the ships have turned and are heading towards our position.”
Michael sighed.
“I guess we’re going to fight.”
“Maybe there’s another way,” Caitlin said thoughtfully.
“What are you thinking, Commander?”
“Isn’t there a way we can mask our signature so they can’t pick us up on their scanners?”
“Not easily,” replied Videem thoughtfully. “Their sensors are very acute, and we would have to disperse our signal, but I doubt if we have time to do that before they reach us. And, it would only work for a few minutes. I must remind you that their vessels are much faster than this one underwater. There is no way we can outrun them.”
“Maybe we can buy some time while you do that?” Michael suggested. “I can talk to them, say we’ve come to negotiate terms.”
“We can try, I’ll need at least ten minutes to create a dispersion field, and there are no guaranties.
They might just need to recalibrate their sensors and they’d be on to us like a shot.”
“It’s worth a try,” Michael said, making the decision. “Lindsey, open a channel to the nearest Friiist ship.”
“Yes, sir.” She pressed a few keys. “Channel open.”
“Approaching Friiist vessel. This is Michael Edwards, captain of the Earth ship, Interstellar. I wish to negotiate the release of my men.” The response came immediately.
“Negative, you are surrounded and have entered our territory without permission. Stand down your weapons and prepare to be escorted to our prison to await trial. There will be no negotiation.”
“We had to enter without permission, as you won’t listen to reason.”
Michael heard a distinct laugh coming from the other vessel.
“Reason? You have destroyed my planet, human, there is no reasoning with you. It was foolish of you to come here today. I promise you, you will suffer before you die.” The connection cut off.
“That’s not enough time,” Videem said, as calm as ever.
“What else can I say?”
“Nothing,” he admitted. He was fiddling with many controls and had opened an access panel near his feet. “I’ll work as quickly as I can, meanwhile, I suggest miss Highcliff take the helm.”
“Me?” Lindsey gasped.
“You are a pilot?”
“Yes but -”
“Come on Lindsey,” Michael said. “You can do it.”
She sat down at the helm and pressed a few keys. It was very different from the spaceship she was used to, but Videem had explained a few of the controls to her and she found that she could operate them now. She took the ship into a steep dive and swerved sharply to the right.
“What are you doing?” Michael yelled after being bashed against the side of the hull.
“Buying us some time,” she answered.
She took the ship further into the dive and kept banking right until she completely turned the ship around. She had spotted on sensors a small cave about one hundred and fifty meters deep and that was where she was heading. She could see the Friiist ship still coming fast behind them on the sensors. They had no trouble following her course.
When she reached the cave however, she began to regret her plan. The cave was smaller than she had anticipated, and wasn’t very deep, it would not hide them well enough. She hesitated and brought the ship to a full stop. The Friiist vessel was only two kilometres away now.
“Lindsey,” Michael growled.
“Hang on, Captain, I’ve got an idea.”
“Videem, how are you doing?” Michael asked.
“A few more seconds.”
“One kilometre,” Caitlin said.
“Lindsey!”
“A few more seconds.”
“There are charging weapons,” Caitlin yelled.
“Now!” Lindsey suddenly dived, and two seconds later a shock wave hit the ship.
“They hit the cave,” Caitlin said.
“I’ve done it,” Videem said. “We should be hidden from their sensors. But we need to reach the base
quickly, it won’t work for long.”
Michael breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Lindsey.
“That was close, but good going sailor.”
*
They reached the base twenty minutes later, thankfully managing to avoid detection from any enemy ships. The huge building loomed slowly into view. It was hard to see clearly through the murky water, but it appeared to be roughly the size of a big hotel. They could see many Friiist ships on their sensors, but the conditions made it impossible for them to see them with their own eyes. It was really quite eerie.
They glided silently towards the building. Michael could make out slime coated grey walls, but he couldn’t see any docking ports. Videem checked the sensors to see if they showed anything but after several minutes, he came up with nothing. They decided they were going to have get closer and search manually.
As they moved forwards, they all got a shock as a ship passed so close to them that the water around them suddenly sloshed against their own ship. Through the view screen, they saw the vessel overtake them. It was a large blue submarine, shaped like a large truck. It seemed to be heading towards the building.
“Did they see us?” Michael asked.
“I don’t think so,” Videem replied.
“Then let’s follow them in.”
Videem altered there course to tail the ship. It was heading deeper, underneath the building. As they followed in it’s wake, they noticed two very large doors on the underbelly of the base.
Thankfully, they were open and stayed that way as they followed the submarine inside.
They entered a very big underwater room where there was dozens of ships, of all shapes and sizes, all docked in different areas. There was lighting around the walls, and although it was very dim, Michael was worried they would be seen. However as they turned away from the leading ship to try and find somewhere quieter to dock, they didn’t see anybody, or anything. They sailed towards the edge of the hangar and found a small and empty docking arm. Videem navigated to the arm and docked with it. Apparently, the Friiist and Henfor had similar docking mechanisms.
“Let’s just hope it’s dry on the other side,” Caitlin muttered.
Videem opened the hatch and luckily for them, there was no water in the docking arm, but a damp tunnel that led out onto a platform overlooking the docking bay. It was ferociously cold and they all shivered instantly. Something occurred to Michael as they walked up the tunnel.
“How come you didn’t die of cold when you were a spy on the Friiist ship?” he asked Videem.
“Internal body heater. It had to be removed when I got back to Henfor, but I was operated on for six hours to have that installed. Tricky business. I
t had to be done though, this will be all right for a few minutes but I’m afraid I won’t be able to withstand this cold as long as you.”
“I’m not sure I can withstand it for that long, either,” Lindsey shivered violently.
They exited the tunnel and they all cried out in pain as the temperature suddenly dropped twenty degrees. Videem actually fell to the floor. The cold seeped into every pore of their bodies, and Michael was sure he was turning blue. This was cold as they had never experienced it before. Even training in the depths of the south pole, back on Earth, he had never felt this cold. They had to hurry. Michael and Lindsey each grabbed one of Videem’s arms and pulled him forwards. They ran as best they could to the nearest ship and Videem, who was really suffering, attempted to open the docking tunnel. After several tense, freezing seconds, the door swished open and they all clambered inside, and although it was probably at less than minus ten, it felt wonderfully warm and cosy.
Videem, who had gone a ghastly shade of white while outside, had now regained some of his darkish colour.
He blew hard on his hands to try and regain some feeling in them and operated the door to enter the ship. Again, it took a few seconds but he managed to get the door open. They all climbed inside.
It was a small vessel, about twice the size of the one they had previously occupied, and had three work stations around its main room. Videem immediately sat down at the main navigation console and fired up the power, and the first thing he did was crank the heat up to an uncomfortable thirty degrees. Michael didn’t complain though, as he too was freezing. Videem then went on to start the powerful aquatic engine, and manoeuvre them towards the door. Shortly after they had started to move through, a voice came out through the loud speakers.
“Vessel 211, you are not authorized for departure, state your intentions.”
“Damn,” Michael muttered.
25
The man was sitting in the small room looking out at the stars while the two aliens stared at him.
The aliens were part of the unofficial Friiist redemption manifestation. This group was against the war with Henfor and against the destruction of the Humans. Indeed, they believed the probe was launched by their own government to control the population, and that they only used the humans as scapegoats. Of course they had no idea the probe really was launched by Earth.
The group had a total of two hundred and twenty three members, and ever since the news that humans had entered the solar system, they had been doing everything they could to get into contact with them. Unfortunately for them, the government was controlling every communication passing through the system so they had had very little opportunity to do so.
The two aliens on this small craft, gaping at the old human before them were Janewall and her husband Kraywall. They had both been assigned to work as guards for the Central – Friiist’s main government building – and luckily, they had been asked to escort the old man to an observation station near the border between Friiist and Henfor. They had no intention of doing this of course, and were instead on their way to a secret meeting point on one of the main living stations. Their status as guards would protect them from any questions.
The man turned to look at the two Friiist. He stared at Janewall openly, he had long lost any tactful manner and didn’t feel inclined to be polite in the presence of creatures who had locked him up for decades. The female Friiist had long, dark blue hair, and red eyes with soft green spots in them. Her face was thin, and pale blue. She was slim and wearing a black uniform with some sort of logo on the breast.
Kraywall was larger and was wearing the same uniform as his wife. He too had dark blue hair, although it was cut very short. His eyes were a deep red and had none of the green his wife’s possessed. His face was also a darker blue. He had a very large nose and the gills behind his ears were more pronounced than his wife’s. Both aliens were far taller than the man, and though they seemed frightening, the man sensed no hostility coming from them, especially the female, who seemed to have a kindness in her.
“Please,” she said as her voice was translated into English through their device. “Don’t be afraid, we really are here to help you.”
“I’ve had no help from any of your people over the last few decades.”
“Not everyone agrees with what our government does. We are not associated with them.”
“You’re wearing their uniforms,” the man said shakily, having seen the same sort of clothes on other guards over the years.
It was Kraywall who answered this time.
“We are spies,” he said and launched into the story of their group and the probe from Earth. Once he had finished, the man leaned against the wall and sat down.
“You’re conspiracy theorists?” he said finally.
“Yes. But it’s not theory. We know our government is corrupt.”
“I’ve never heard of this probe,” the man mumbled. “They say it came from Earth?” The man couldn’t see how this was possible, as when he was abducted, Humans did not have the capability to send something so far through space, although he supposed they could have developed it during the many years he had been away, especially seeing as the other alien had shown him the picture of the man and the earth ship.
“Why would Earth send a bomb to destroy your world without even attempting to communicate?
Did you attack Earth?”
“Our species do not have the means to travel to your planet.”
The man laughed.
“How do you think I got here?”
The two aliens looked at each other than back at the man.
“What do you mean?”
“To your solar system, how did I get here?”
It was Janewall who answered.
“You came in your spaceship and tried to attack our colonies.”
“That’s what you were told?”
“Yes, obviously we do not believe you came to attack our colonies. After all, you wouldn’t send a single person, would you? But are saying you didn’t travel here in a spaceship?”
“Oh I came in a spaceship all right, but it wasn’t mine. I was a young man when I was taken from my world. I had detected a signal in the lab where I worked, coming from a nearby planet. So I sent a message. Next thing I knew I was lying in a prison cell on a spaceship in a completely different solar system, surrounded by your lot.”
“Are you saying, that our people travelled to your world?” Kraywall asked, astounded.
“Yes, and believe me when I tell you that I was taken against my will. And because of your people, my life has been nothing but cold misery. You should have killed me when you’d finished your experiments, then at least, I would have been at peace.” He huffed and stood up and walked back over to the view screen. The aliens said nothing. They were speechless. After all they had no idea their government had been able to travel so far. They watched the man in silence for a moment until he spoke again.
“Where are we going then? You said you were taking me to my people? Are you talking about the man who came in the spaceship? The Interstellar? Where is he?”
“He is on a neighbouring planet: Henfor,” Janewall answered. “But it’s difficult to get you there. We are taking you to our friends first, then we will figure out how to get you to them.”
“I’ll believe it when I see it,” he huffed, but managed a smile. He outstretched his right hand.
“The name’s Simon Hank.”
26
On Henfor, two hundred kilometres south of Barneen’s palace, Kaywal still sat in his prison cell.
He was feeling hot and anxious. He’d had no other news from any of his friends who were supposed to be rescuing him, he had, in fact, convinced himself that it had been an elaborate hoax to give him false hope. It had been three days and apart from the terrible food, nothing else had come through the small opening in his cell door. He had checked every one of the dry biscuits, but no new message had appeared. He had become excited every time the hatch
had opened, expecting a new code from the Friiist, but his patience was rewarded with nothing but disappointment.
The heat was also getting to him, he believed he was becoming delirious, and kept imagining strange figures appearing in the darkness. He did nothing to fight them however, convinced as he was that they were hallucinations. He just sat there, eyes closed, willing them to go away.
As he sat there, waiting for his next meal, almost hoping that there was going to be a new message, he was wondering why they hadn’t even questioned him yet. The Henfor had just stuck him in this cell instead of torturing him for information. Not that the Henfor had ever struck him as a bright species. They always seemed too laid back, and he knew this would be there downfall one day. He still found it odd though, that Barneen would not want to get information out of one of the highest ranking captains in the Friiist fleet.
His thoughts were interrupted by a noise coming from the door, and he realised it was being opened. Kaywal got to his feet as it swung open. A Henfor stood there, staring at him with its horrible crinkled face, and pointing a gun at him. Kaywal didn’t recognise this one, as it wasn’t one of the ones who brought him down here.
In his other hand, the Henfor was holding a small translation device.
“Come,” the Henfor said. Kaywal said nothing but proceeded the alien out of the cell. They walked down a small corridor and into another room where there was just a single chair.
Now it is time for me to be tortured, he thought bitterly.
“Sit.” Kaywal sat. The Henfor closed the door quickly and lowered his gun. “We have to be quick,”
it said in a softer tone than it had used before.
“Who are you?” Kaywal asked.
“No time to explain, I’m on your side. I know,” he added as he saw Kaywal sceptical expression.
“Did you think the Henfor were the only ones who could modify their appearance?”
Kaywal leaned forwards in his chair and stared hard at the person in front of him.
“How can I believe anything you are saying, you look like a Henfor. You cannot be trusted.”
