by Frank Carey
"Great. We need to leave, so get Mr. Helpful and yourself onboard," I said as I watched the last of the survivors board the ship. I scanned the perimeter for stragglers and found none, so I boarded last, as I always do.
"Shenda, you've got the Center Chair. I've kicked the tires, so light the fires and get us out of here," I yelled as I sat down at the Science Console and scanned the area. I still couldn't find any sign of the Centasi. Damn, where were they? I thought as I scanned the Tenjin and saw that we were minutes away from implosion. "Captain, we are less than six minutes from FTL implosion."
"Thank you, Mr. Quist,” Shenda said. “Morga, what's our status?"
"Sub-light engines two minutes to activation and the FTL drive is spinning up."
"Morga, Get us out of here ASAP. When we reach minimum safe distance from the planet, set course for Station Zed at best possible speed. Natalia, send out an Alpha18 warning and attach a summary."
"Yes, ma'am," they said in unison.
A proximity warning went off from our rear sensors. I panned a video camera to look there and saw where the Centasi had gotten to. The building we were just in was collapsing in on itself, and in its place, a giant warship was rising out of the rubble.
"Captain, alien warship dead astern," I yelled as I aimed all of our scanners at it. What I saw chilled my spine. "Sir, one of its energy signatures matches the Lewis's energizers."
"Captain, we are caught in a tractor beam and are being hailed," Torque said over the intercom.
"Torque, activate the distress beacon and add all further recordings to it. Now, put them on the main screen," she said calmly. "This is Captain Shenda Quist of the Space Freighter Sancus. How may I help you?"
"Captain Quist. How good it is to hear your voice," came from the speakers as an image solidified on the screen. It was Dr. Patoor. "I see that someone is about to activate an FTL Drive on a planetary surface. That's not very nice."
"You've killed dozens of Consortium citizens and you have the audacity to lecture me about nice. How about you stick around and see what's on the other side of an unstable worm hole?"
"I don't think so. Instead, I think I will blast your puny freighter to that place you call hell, before heading to another planet to conquer. Your consortium is rich with possibilities."
"How could you do this to my father? He was a man of peace, a man of knowledge. You've turned him into a monster," Cassandra said with tears of anger filling her eyes.
"Ah, the other Dr. Patoor. You will soon join your father in whatever afterlife you believe in."
From where I sat, I could see the lit ready lights for both sublight and FTL drives, but the tractor beam prevented us from leaving. Shenda looked over at me and I signaled that we had three minutes. I had a thought.
"Emperor Rytel, this is John Quist, you know, the one who ruined all your plans."
"Yes, Mr. Quist, I remember you.”
"I offer my life in exchange for this ship, her crew, and her passengers. I will tell you in vivid detail how we beat you. Just let this ship leave in peace."
“Belay that shit, mister. No one is leaving this ship…” A round of concussions shook the ship, interrupting her in mid-speech. Too bad, I wanted to hear the rest of it.
A new voice came over the radio, hailing Rytel’s ship. "Centasi ship, this is Calla Quist, Captain of the Consortium Warship Physta. Break your tractor beam and release the Sancus immediately or we’ll send you to hell.” She fired two rounds across his bow for emphasis.
The beam broke and we were free.
"Now, in less than a minute, this planet is going to implode,” Calla said calmly, “so I suggest we all just leave and fight this battle another day."
"Agreed, Captain Quist, but be warned, this incident will not be forgotten," Rytel said as his ship powered up. Just as they were about to leave the atmosphere, I punched a button on my console. A moment later, they were gone.
"Yeah, and your mother wore army boots," Calla said with disgust. "Sancus, we'll meet you at Station Zed. Physta out."
"Morga, punch it," Shenda said as the Physta turned away from the planet and dropped into FTL. We quickly followed as the planet below us started to break-up as it fell into a worm hole.
###
"Well, little brother, just another day in space," Calla said as she gave me a big sister hug. I was never going to hear the end of this. "I've got to get back on patrol."
"I figured," I said as I handed her a slip of paper.
"What's this" she said as she unfolded it.
"The specs on the pulser I attached to the Centasi ship's hull just before it went FTL. Normally I use them to tag derelicts and wayward asteroids, but it works equally well when attached to a ship’s hull. You should be able to track it from at least a quarter million clicks."
"You devil! And they didn't even notice?"
"Nope. They were a little busy trying to escape the planet breaking up to notice a small thunk sound between the engines," I said, smiling. "Good hunting and be careful."
"I will and thanks," She said as she headed to her ship's berth. "By the way, when are you going to tell her?"
"I'm sorry, I couldn't hear the last thing you said," I said as I waved goodbye.
She pointed at something behind me before disappearing into the crowd.
"Tell me what?" Shenda said from behind me.
Ooops.
"Nothing," I lied.
"Tell me," she ordered.
"The artifact thing," I said, "was sort of a cover-up."
"Go on."
"A gang of government-sponsored Klyston smugglers had shipped in a very rare Sil drug inside a one-of-a-kind artifact from Sector 5. The Science Council got possession of it, the Klystrons wanted the artifact back, and the Sil needed the drug inside to cure some of their people. Red tape and bureaucracy would have led to delays, which would have led to a lot of dead Sil."
"What did you do?"
"I stole the artifact, broke it open, gave the drugs to the Sil, and the pieces to the Klystons."
Her jaw dropped. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"The Klystons wanted to declare war, but everyone wanted to keep things hush-hush, so they made up the smuggling story so that everyone could save face. I couldn't drag you into the morass. Anyway, our marriage was over long before then, so it gave you a way out, a win-win for all."
She sat down on a bench and just stared at me.
"On the plus side, you kept your command, and I was adopted by the Sil. Morga and Torque are now my parents, something I didn't have as an orphan, and I’m the only carbon-based life form with Sil citizenship."
She looked at me like I was growing pigeons from my ears. "You’re a Citizen of the Sil Collective?"
"Yep."
"Anything else you need to tell me?"
"Almost forgot. Morga and Torque are very impressed with how you handled yourself, so they have asked me to offer you the position of Captain of the Sancus. We've already offered jobs to Cassandra, Natalia, Bruce, and Sybol, and they've accepted."
"What about you? Aren't you already Captain?"
"Only temporarily. Morga and Torque were looking for a real crew, but couldn't find anyone compatible, so I volunteered. They really think you would be perfect."
"What about you?"
"I'll be Science Officer and Engineer. You can pick your First Officer—either hire one or promote from within."
I handed her the documents. "At least think about it," I said.
She took the packet, opened it, and looked the papers over before pulling out her communicator. "Edith? Shenda. I resign my commission immediately. Paperwork will be on your desk in the morning. Thanks. Bye," she said as she broke the connection. "Got a stylus?"
I handed her the one she gave me for my last birthday.
"I accept your offer. When do I start?" she said as she signed the documents and handed me the packet. She kept the stylus.
"Right now," I said, wondering how I was going to get
my stylus back.
"Good. Now take me to dinner. I'm starved and you and I have a lot to talk about."
"OK. I know a great place just around the corner," I said as I took her by the arm and escorted her to the Sector 99 Bar & Grill, a noisy place with the best food on the station.
Starsa
League of Planetary Systems Outpost 7 on the planet Quassa…
“Alfred, initiate shift-change on my mark. Ident, Ban-er, Bartholomew, designate Bart, this day, mark.”
“Working… Welcome, Bart, to Monitor Station 6.”
“Thank you, Alfred, for the warm welcome. Any messages, problems, or things I need to know about?”
“No sir, everything is nominal.”
Ah, an auspicious start to a duty tour. I went upstairs and put my stuff in my bedroom before heading down to the basement to check on the monitoring equipment. When I got down there, I found everything in standby mode. “Alfred, is the outpost in a maintenance cycle?” I asked as I checked my personal data device. There was nothing scheduled.
“Sir, we received a manual maintenance request five hours prior to your arrival. We've been in standby mode since then. Is there a problem?”
“No, someone at OffSec probably forgot to send me a notification. I’ll look into it later. How long do we have until we exit standby mode?”
“Exit is scheduled for two hours from now, sir.”
“Two hours? Not bad,” I said as I headed upstairs. Until standby ended, I had nothing official to do, so I thought I would set up my office and do some writing.
I went out to my conveyance and pulled out boxes containing my personal computer and printer. Once set up, I started work on a new novel, which I hoped to finish before my duty shift was up in six months. I had gotten about a thousand words into the story when Alfred interrupted me.
“Sir, we have a visitor,” he said.
“Identify, please,” I requested, taking a drink of coffee. I wasn’t expecting anyone.
“It is Ms. Starsa Moheet of the Quassan Hegemony, sir.”
I sprayed coffee as I choked in surprise. A Quassan? Here? I thought to myself as a jumped out of my chair and headed to the front door. “Tell her I'll be there in a moment,” I said as I ran into my bedroom to grab a shirt and jacket. Though League members for many years, the Quassans almost never interacted with outpost personnel.
“Yes, sir. I have taken the liberty of showing her to the sitting room and serving some refreshments.”
“Alfred, you're the best,” I said as I hurried out of the bedroom and down to the sitting room.
I walked in to find a young, Quassan female sitting on the couch sipping tea while one of Alfred's server bots idled nearby. She was dressed for hiking, and like others of her species, she was tall and willowy, with huge eyes and pointed ears.
“Ms. Moheet, welcome to my humble home. I'm Station Agent Bartholomew Ban-er, but, please, call me Bart.”
“Bart, what a lovely name. Please, call me Starsa,” she said as she offered her hand, which I took and kissed the back of as per protocol.
“So, Starsa, what brings you out here to the middle of nowhere?” I asked as we sat down, she on the couch and me in a side chair.
“Well, I was out hiking when I got a message from my father, First Chancellor Damar Moheet, requesting I stop by and ask you a question,” she said as she pulled a communications device from her jacket pocket.
Shit, she’s the Chancellor’s daughter, I thought in panic. “Oh, what question is that?” I asked with a calmness I didn't feel.
“Why is there a warship in orbit taking out your satellites?” she asked calmly as she displayed a 3D image above her device. It was a Traskan raider and it was firing on one of our comsats.
“Um, excuse me for just a moment,” I said as I jumped out of my chair and looked up at the ceiling. “Alfred,” I yelled, “code red. Lock down the compound and activate perimeter defense.”
“I’m sorry, sir, I cannot do that. The system is in standby mode.”
“Then take it out of standby mode,” I yelled.
“System is non-responsive. Sir, passive sensors are working, and they indicate incoming air traffic on an attack vector.”
I grabbed Starsa and pulled her over to a really ugly throw rug in the middle of the room. “Alfred! Initiate evac protocol one, now!" I yelled as the sound of explosions filled the air. We were falling through the floor as Outpost 7 disintegrated around us.
We found ourselves standing on an inertial dampening platform deep underground. Above us a steel hatch had slammed shut, but we could still hear the muffled thump-thump of explosions destroying the outpost. I realized Starsa was hugging me so hard as to make breathing difficult, so I tried to reassure her as I pried her arms open.
“We’re safe down here. There’s over one hundred meters of rock between us and whatever is happening on the surface,” I explained as I led her to an overstuffed chair. “Alfred, did you make it down here?” I called out into the dimly lit room.
“Yes sir, though it was close.”
“Good. Activate Emergency Protocol Seven, please.”
“Yes sir,” he replied as lights and equipment came on. We were in a large, open room filled with consoles and computer monitors, all in some stage of booting up. At opposite ends of the room were large steel doors, our exits to the surface. Both doors indicated locked, so I went to work finding out what happened. First, I had to deal with Starsa.
“Starsa,” I said, “we need to get word to your people about what has happened and let them know that you’re okay.” Does your communicator work on a secure link?”
“No one can listen in on it, if that's what you mean,” she said as she pulled it out of her pocket.
“May I see it?”
“Sure,” she said as she handed it to me.
“Alfred, analyze this, please,” I said as I placed it on a scanner pad.
“Working… Sir, this is very odd. This device is some sort of crystal. There is no mechanism, nor any circuitry that I can detect. It is completely inert.”
“What?” I asked skeptically. I distinctly remembered seeing an image of a warship floating above this very device. I had an idea. “Alfred, analysis of the crystal, if you please,” I said as I smiled at Starsa. She smiled back.
“Working… Unknown configuration, but similar to the amulets warn by the seers of Faustus Caldore. They are known to be low-level telepaths who use the crystals to amplify thoughts."
“Thank you, Alfred,” I said. I picked up the communicator and handed it back to her. “Starsa, are you and your people telepaths?”
“Of course, silly, all Quassans are telepathic. Aren’t you?”
“Alfred, database search, term: Quassan telepathy.”
“The indigenous people of this planet are rumored to have telepathic abilities.”
This explained everything. The communicator amplified thoughts for long-range communication as well as display of thoughts either for clarity or for dealing with non-telepathic individuals.
“No, young miss," I replied to Starsa's inquiry, "I’m not telepathic. Call your father and let him know you're okay,” I said.
Starsa’s eyes lit up as she stared at the crystal. A 3-D head appeared above it, which then spoke to her.
“Daughter! Thank the Holies. Are you hurt?” the head asked.
"Daddy! I'm ok. Bart saved me!" Starsa said.
"Who is this Bart?"
“Sir, my name is Bartholomew Ban-er, and I’m the station agent for the outpost your daughter visited,” I said, causing the head to turn in my direction. I noticed that Starsa turned and looked at me as well. I would bet credits to confections that she was acting as part of the video feed. “She is safe and unharmed. We are inside an underground bunker about one hundred meters below what’s left of the outpost.”
“What’s left of the outpost? What's happened to it?”
I told the Chancellor what had happened. "Sir, do you have any idea a
bout what's going on?"
“We didn’t know about the attack until it was too late. We tried to send a warning, but our signal was blocked by someone who warned us that they'd destroyed all outposts and had taken the Center. They warned us not to interfere or more League personnel would perish. I'm holding off a rescue mission until I know more. I've also informed your government about the situation.”
“Sir, I have to get to the Center, but I need to get your daughter to safety.” This elicited a large smile from Starsa. “Where can I meet your forces for a hand-off?”
“The whole border is being patrolled by packs of robotic beasts, the likes of which we have never seen. One of our patrol vehicles got too close, and one of the things shredded it. There's no way for a safe hand-off until reinforcements arrive. She'll be safer if she stays with you. One thing: Don’t let her have—”
“Sir!” Alfred yelled, interrupting the Chancellor. “We have several unknown vehicles approaching the compound. I designate them hostile. You have to leave. Now!"
“Chancellor, we need to go. I'll keep your daughter safe. You have my word.”
Before he could reply, Starsa waved at him and broke the connection.
“Alfred, which door?”
“Take the one to your left, sir. It's clear and I have a transporter stocked and running on the other side. Please hurry.”
“Alfred, transfer to the vehicle and set the self-destructs to manual mode,” I said as I grabbed Starsa and a box of coffee capsules from the kitchen. We ran through the left door and boarded the transporter as Alfred sealed the door behind us. I jumped into the driver’s seat while Starsa took the right. I floored it and left the bunker with the greatest possible speed. Just as we hit the exit, I punched the destruct button, detonating the charges set throughout the outpost. What was left above ground quickly fell into the bunker, leaving only a massive crater for the invaders to stare at, at least those that were lucky enough to be standing outside the blast radius.
With the destruction receding behind us, Starsa and I proceeded along the road to the Center.
“Heck of a start to the day wouldn’t you say, Ms. Moheet?”
