I looked at the shield indicator. Five percent.
"Time for you to go?" I asked Thirteen.
"No Jon. This time I'm riding it out to the end with you."
Our shields failed.
Fifty Four
A grey coloured circle opened up to the right of me, and four, for the want of a better word, people, stepped through it, into perhaps the only spot on the front end of the Bridge big enough for them.
One of them was carrying a long staff, and he ground it into the deck while shouting a word I didn’t understand.
Everything went black.
Fifty Five
I came to only a few minutes later, but whoever it'd been, wasn’t there now. I wondered if I’d imagined it, until I looked at the navmap.
We were well outside the Outback system. The tactical display showed the sun was still expanding. But we were in no danger from it.
"What the fuck just happened?" asked Dick.
"We have guests," said Jane.
"What?" exclaimed the twins together.
"Where are they?" I asked Jane.
"Downstairs," she responded. "Hadn't we better go say hello?"
"Say thankyou, don’t you mean?" said Grace.
I noticed she was cuddling both Nut and Max. She saw me looking and let them both go.
I nudged Aline, and she rose. Instead of jumping down, Angel clung to me, so I pushed her up onto my shoulders, and she straddled me around my neck.
I stood, and walked out to the stairs leading down. Everyone followed me, and I led them down and into the barracks mess area.
And stopped dead. There were two people there. And two others.
One was a man with completely black skin. Not the shades of brown which some people call black, but true black. He was dressed in black clothes of a kind I’d never seen before. He held a staff which was taller than he was. His skin colour was not the only thing strange about him, but I couldn’t put my finger on what it was.
The other person was a woman, shorter than the man, with completely white, but heavily wrinkled, skin. Not the pinky-white of what we called white skin, but the colour we use to paint our ceilings with. She was dressed in white flowing robes.
The first of the other two was a white and black striped Tiger, standing erect, but looking uncomfortable doing so. The fur on Angel's back rose, her tail bottle-brushed, and she spat at it. It smiled back at her in a predatory way, although I felt no menace from it.
The last of the four looked vaguely like a Kangaroo, but stood taller than I did. The front paws were nothing of the kind, being real hands, but with what looked like opposable thumbs.
I looked back at the tiger, and it too had hand like digits instead of paws on its arms. But they were also paws, allowing both four leg movement, and tool using. They were very strange looking.
Once again, the man spoke a word I didn’t know. For a moment I felt dizzy, and looking around, I saw everyone looked the same.
"Greetings Admiral Jonathon Hunter," said the Tiger. "It is good to finally meet you. Would you all care to sit?"
I looked around to see who'd fainted. We'd obviously dropped into an alternate reality, and one of the ladies was supposed to faint to show how unexpected this was. They were all startled, but no-one had fainted. I still wasn’t convinced this was real.
"No, you've not been sent somewhere else," said the man. "I'm sorry for you all blacking out. It was a difficult transport. We are exactly where you think you are, and yes, we are aliens in your terms, but all from the same galaxy. Sit. We need to talk."
He waved to the table, and the four of them moved to one end of it. I shrugged, and moved to the other end, and the rest of the team took their seats, although it was no surprise there was a gap left between us and them.
"How do you know Jon's name?" asked Jane, who was standing behind me.
They didn’t answer, the four of them seeming to be fascinated by Angel. She was still in full alarm mode, still on my shoulder. I pulled her off gently, and set her down in front of me. She stood there, back arched and totally fluffed, eyes never leaving the Tiger. When you’re a lot smaller, with much less fur, it's all in the stance. Angel was projecting a 'bring it' attitude. I started smiling as well.
"They told me you had one of our distant relatives domesticated and sub-servient," the Tiger said, with obvious delight. "I see this is true. Not an ideal way for our species to meet."
"Sub-servient?" I asked. "Domesticated yes. But I think you have the wrong idea about cats."
Angel was still looking puzzled, but hearing it talk, her fur was slowly returning to normal. She looked up at me.
"Meow?"
"I think its safe sweetie. Some sort of long lost relative of yours by the sound of it."
"Meowrow."
"No, I don’t think it's going to eat you, and I won't let it."
Her tail relaxed, and she presented her back for patting. I stroked her gently, and she started purring.
The Tiger started laughing.
"Ah I see, it seems the reports that your cats are actually in charge seems more credible now."
I laughed.
"Actually no. But we have a saying. Dogs have masters, cats have slaves. It’s supposed to be a joke."
The Tiger laughed again, and I joined in. The rest looked as if we were both crazy. I was joking with an upright tiger. Maybe I was.
"Enough of this foolishness," said the Kangaroo. "We have much to discuss and little time to do it in."
"Who's in charge?" asked Annabelle.
"I am," said the Tiger and the Kangaroo together.
They looked at each other with obvious distaste, and repeated the statement again.
The man quickly broke in.
"No-one is in charge," he said. "These two represent two of the three ascendant species in the galaxy at this time, and have an uneasy truce going for the duration of this crisis."
"And you two?" asked Aleesha.
"We are merely transportation," said the woman. "It was necessary to save you, and only between both of us could this be done."
"We thank you for that," I said sincerely. "I thought we were gone for sure."
"That could not be allowed," said the Kangaroo.
"Why not?" asked Amanda. "Don’t get me wrong, we're all happy to be saved, but we'd like to know what's going on."
"What is going on, as you put it," said the Tiger, "is exactly the same as your situation has been. Did you think the Darkness was only attacking you? As we speak, they overrun species which cannot escape them, nor fight them. They push into the heart of the galaxy, laying waste to everything as they go."
"Our people," said the man, indicating himself and the woman, "developed ways to escape the Darkness. Although we did not know it at the time, both of our people found you, Jon Hunter, and from you came the answers to our salvation."
"Our people are safe," added the woman, "because of what we discovered from you. Both our species use magic."
The word magic seemed to hang there in the air for longer than the sound lasted.
"What sort?" asked Dick.
"My people have many skills," said the man. "Like the spell in use now to allow us all to communicate. We gained knowledge of two types of travelling from the fiction we took from your pad, Jon Hunter."
"What were they?" asked Dick eagerly, cutting across me about to ask about my pad.
"What some call sight to sight jumping by an individual, was combined with a concept of rune based starship jumping. We have no need of runes, but this branch of magic was new to us. We managed to learn enough to be able to build large structures on our planet, move them into space, and then through what you call jump points."
"But that wasn’t how you arrived," I added.
"No," said the woman. "We took from you the designs of your Redoubt station, the devices which move it, and the ships which transfer people from the ground to the station. Among our people, the ability to copy and create from a th
ought is highly prized, and greatly rewarded. So initially, we escaped the same way most of your people did, using moveable space stations. We met them," pointing to the Kangaroo, "and we provided many services in exchange for ensuring our safety within their space. They in turn introduced us to these," indicating the Tiger, "who introduced us to our counterparts in magic." She waved towards the man, who nodded. "From them we learned of what you might call rifts, and found we had a natural ability to open them, once we melded the ability to create with our ability to skry time and space."
"So," said Dick quickly, beating me to the question, "you opened a rift to the Bridge of our ship, and the four of you walked through." He indicated the man. "And you immediately moved the ship to safety. Why not open another rift?"
"Because there wasn’t time," said the man. "We could not open the rift to you until your energy shield was down, at which time you had only moments before you died. It was quicker for me to move the ship. Unfortunately, no preparation could be done, and so the transport knocked you all out. But saving you was the only priority. The next move will be much better, I promise you."
"Next move?" asked George.
"Yes," answered the man. "Here is nowhere. We need to move to where your station awaits. From there, we have a long journey to make, but a rift can be used for that."
"Wait. Station?"
Dick was confused. They all were. I grinned at them.
Fifty Six
Four beings go into a bar.
A human is threatening the barkeep.
The Tiger hits him with one massive paw. The Kangaroo swats him with its tail as he falls. The white witch materializes a baseball bat over him, and hits him with it. The black mage transports him to smash into the nearest wall. The four of them sit at the bar.
"What'll you have?" asked the barkeep.
"We’ve already had it," laughed the Tiger.
I shook my head. It didn’t really work as a joke, but someone popped it in there, and was obviously trying to tell me something.
I led everyone back onto the Bridge, and sat in my chair. Angel jumped up next to Nut and Max, who hadn't moved.
The last in were our four new friends, but they stopped short when they saw Thirteen.
"You!" said all four together.
"Me," said Thirteen.
"That figures," I said. "I might have known all those times you were gone, you were off helping others."
"Helping?" said the woman. "I wouldn’t go quite that far."
"Pain the arse is closer to the mark," said the man.
The Tiger and the Kangaroo looked annoyed.
"How do we all recognize you at the same time if you're in a human shape?" asked Aleesha.
"Human?" said the four together.
"You all see me in a shape which matches your own expectations," he said.
"Not my expectations," growled the Tiger. "My species perhaps, but definitely not my expectations."
The Kangaroo laughed.
"Who would have guessed we actually agree on something."
The Tiger gave him an annoyed look, and the rest of us smiled at the byplay.
"Where to?" asked the man.
"Jane, did the comnavsats get left behind?"
"They did."
"Show us."
The navmap expanded to show a white dot in the distance, and four more white dots about two thirds of the way towards it. I looked at Jane.
"Yes Jon."
On the one hand, I wasn’t happy. To be sure, I brought up the details for each dot. Redoubt, Orion, Hammer, Sceptre. On the other hand, being in exile as we now were, was going to be easier to bear with people we knew. And a lot of people instead of a few. On the gripping hand, nothing about this was in any way safe. But perhaps there were now a lot more options than I'd believed there would be. Lastly I brought up the details on the other dot.
"Hunter's Haven?" exclaimed Grace.
"What's it doing way out there?" asked George.
"Lifeboat?" asked Dick, looking at me.
"Sort of," I replied. "I had Janice take Haven way outside the system, as a form of backup. It was there in case anyone didn’t make it through the jump point, or I managed to survive what we just did with the sun. The idea was to have a decent sized base to live on, while we figured out what to do next, but far enough away the Darkness wouldn’t find us any time soon."
"You didn’t want to be restricted to ships?" asked Dick.
"Yeah. There's been enough fiction over the centuries to point out the problems of travelling long distances in ships not designed for it. I knew I wasn’t going back to Gaia. Hence providing somewhere decent to live while attempting to cross interstellar space."
"You and Jane rattling around on a station that big, all alone?" said Amanda, grinning. "Put your analyst on danger money."
"Better than risking a small ship," said Aleesha. "Gunbus is pretty small if you have to live on it for potentially decades, with no hope of resupply or rescue."
I nodded to her.
"To the ships?" asked the man. "Or your station? I'd prefer only one transport."
"The station."
"Do you have that energy barrier working again?"
"Yes," said Jane. "Shields are almost back to full strength."
"Good. It's easier with the energy in place." He saw puzzled looks. "I need something to define what I transport, and I need power to draw on to do the transport. Your energy barrier provides both. In the sun, I used your outside cover to define what had to move, and the sun for the energy. Please remain calm while I move us."
He stood there, obviously concentrating. His staff ground into the deck, and he shouted "Move!" We felt nothing this time, but the navmap shifted immediately.
"What the hell is that?" asked Grace.
She was pointing at the main view-screen. I grinned. Ahead of us was a giant cube. And it wasn’t Borgcubia, which was actually far larger.
"Jane, take us around it."
"Confirmed."
Once we passed one of the corners of the cube, we found a side completely open, and could see the side next to it further around, was partially open. Inside the cube, fixed to the sides in three places with station joining Hubs, was Hunter's Haven.
"What the hell is this?" demanded Dick.
"Survival," I said enigmatically. "You'll see. Let me put it this way. Bob's been busy doing other things than people thought he was doing."
Speaking of Bob, a channel opened from Haven.
"Jon old son, glad you made it. Get your arse in here, and let's get this Big Mother finished."
I laughed at all the shocked faces around me.
Fifty Seven
Bob had anticipated the problem of the airlock now being effectively welded shut. I hadn't told him what I had planned, and he was supposed to be in Gaia with everyone else, but he knew, and had prepared. Janice probably told him via Jane. I didn’t bother to find out for sure. Haven had been attached to the sides of the Cube in specially selected places, which left the entire Hunter and Australian sector docking areas free to be used with easy access from the open side. At one end, we found a station joining Hub, only it was fitted with the same smaller airlock Gunbus had on her sides. There was also room to dock sideways on, which is what Jane did.
I led everyone into the Hunter CCC, and found Bob there. But he wasn’t alone.
"What part of 'get your family to Gaia' didn’t you understand?" I asked David Tollin.
"Oh we did go. At least long enough to say goodbye."
"Why didn’t you stay?"
"And miss this? Are you kidding? A station out in the middle of no-where, destination adventure?"
I face-palmed, and everyone else laughed.
"How many others didn’t evacuate?" I asked, after a suitably demonstrative pause.
"About fifteen thousand I believe. And before you ask, it was made very clear to everyone that staying could be fatal, could be a lifetime of boredom in the deep dark, and was one hundr
ed percent guaranteed they'd never see anyone they left behind again. I think it was the last part which suited some of them."
I gawped at him. He went on.
"Fifteen thousand isn’t many considering how many lived here before we moved the station. It was well into the third million by then. You know…what the hell is that?"
That, was the Tiger walking in second last. I grinned at both David and Bob.
"Never mind the introductions," said the man. "Where can we talk?"
"We, as in?" I asked.
He indicated the woman, and myself.
"Jane, would you show them into my Ready Room please. And then see to our other guests. I would assume they'll be with us for a while, so assemble quarters for them. Best find out how to seat them comfortably as well."
"Confirmed. This way please."
She led the two away.
"Everyone else, you may as well claim your original quarters again. Nothing much to do now until the ships arrive."
"Alright you lot," barked BA. "Training starts in fifteen minutes. Move it!"
"Training?" said the Tiger.
The Kangaroo looked interested as well.
"We're a Mercenary unit," said Annabelle. "Most of us train every day, but it's been a strange week. I don’t know if our training ranges will suit either of you, but you’re welcome to join us."
"I will," said the Kangaroo, slightly ahead of the Tiger.
"After we have suitable quarters," added the Tiger.
There was doubt in his voice, so I presumed he didn’t think anything we could provide would be adequate.
I nodded to them, and headed for my Ready Room.
"See what you can do Janice," I subvocalized. "They think we can't provide, so it'd be nice to prove them wrong."
"Yes my Lord," she responded via my PC.
I entered and moved directly to the lounge chairs, Angel dropping to the floor, before jumping onto the back of the chair I then sat in. I waved the strange pair over to the chairs on either side of me. They sat, although it was obvious their idea of comfortable was different.
Hero to the End (The Hunter Legacy Book 13) Page 26
