The Rock
________________________
“What exactly was that you injected into me?” Jed asked the ship’s doctor.
Artemis approached Jed, nodded and then began speaking with his mouth, “Teechi goolon, goolon nosee.”
“What?”
“Teechi goolon moment now.”
“Oh, hey, I understand the last part...what did you just say again?”
“Forgive me,” Artemis said, “Let me explain. The serum that Doctor Lambert injected into me was to boost my immune system against any foreign life forms that might be harmful to me. The injection you received was similar, in that it also contained Nanites. Small microscopic robots that are now integrating within your blood to assist translation of alien languages. It takes a moment or two for them to activate. What you were hearing was my native language. The Nanites will also speed up your body’s natural healing process from days into hours.”
“That’s why you’re now speaking to us verbally?”
“Exactly. This was necessary in order for you to understand the many cultures as you travel among the stars. It takes enormous concentration to continue communications telepathically. With your limited minds, we had to translate for you. Now the Nanites do that for you. Each crew will be inoculated as the Doctor makes his rounds.”
“Well, thank you for that...I think…” Jed said, rubbing his neck.
“The discomfort will dissipate momentarily, I assure you,” Artemis smiled.
“Sir,” Lieutenant Foster interjected, “I have the coordinates for the Conduit plotted.”
“Comm, recall fighters and prep for Jump!”
“Aye, Sir,” Lieutenant Foster punched in a couple commands and spoke into his headset mic, “Major Phillips, recall all fighters to The Rock...Chief Kelly, prepare for jump condition,” Foster relayed.
“This is Major Phillips, return to The Rock...I repeat: all fighters fall into formation and head back to The Rock. Rocinante, our ETA is five minutes,” The CAG reported, “Phillips out.”
Jed glanced at Artemis and then back toward the CSC view screen, “You might want to take a seat.”
As Artemis walked, the Eridonian gown flowed across the floor, making it look as if the alien was floating over the ground, “Thank you, Captain. We should coordinate our efforts with the rest of Earth’s fleet.”
“Agreed...Comm, patch me to the Aga.”
“Right away, Sir,” Foster obediently replied.
Jed pressed a button on his console and a tube rose from the floor. When the bar stopped, arm holds and a skinny seat popped out. He examined the seat, “What am I supposed to do with this? There’s no way my butt cheeks will fit on this.”
Commander Jameson leaned over to Jed, “You’re supposed to straddle it like a bicycle seat, Captain.”
“I see...hmmm. Doesn’t look all too comfortable.”
“If you prefer to stand, Captain,” Artemis added, “You can hold on. The restraint system will secure you either way.”
“Captain,” Foster reported, “I have the Admiral.”
“Patch it through to my headset,” Jed ordered, “Admiral?”
“Captain, what the hell’s going on over there?”
“Your Eridonian hasn’t filled you in?”
“Yes, we know all about Race and his crew being taken by the Antarians. I’m wondering why you’re acting alone by preparing to chase an enemy whose capabilities are unknown?”
“Admiral, this is not up for debate, Sir. We’re going in, so I suggest we have a plan in place for keeping this conduit secure.”
“I know you and Colonel Jennings were close, Jed, but it’s not worth risking an entire ship and crew.”
“Sir, I made a promise to our new friends here, that we place great value on all life. The aliens also took Malcom. I offered to find them and bring them back.”
“I will not allow you to sacrifice your ship!”
“Admiral, I do not plan on sacrificing this ship. Believe me, that’s the last thing I want. Sir, we have to make an attempt to recover our men. They have vital information regarding our defenses.”
Jed heard a sigh in his ear piece, “What’s your plan, Captain?”
“Sir, I don’t have a plan yet, but I do feel that with a single ship, we may just go undetected. Once we know what we’re dealing with, we have plenty of Marines that we can use for a covert op.”
“Alright, Captain Fitz. Knowing an enemy makes defeating him more likely. If you can go in undetected, I’ll give you authority to scout the enemy and recover the captives if possible. But if it is not a high probability of recovering the captives and returning to us safely, or if you are detected at any point, your orders are to bug outta there. Do I make myself clear, Captain?”
“Yes, Sir,” Jed smiled, “Crystal clear. In the meantime, I suggest the three remaining ships enter the conduit an hour after we do. Set up a barricade to prevent any unauthorized vessels from entering the corridor.”
“That sounds like a solid plan, Captain. We have learned from our Eridonian that another saucer ship has been dispatched to Earth. Their ETA is three days. Just be aware there’ll be traffic in the conduit in about a day and half.”
“Understood, Admiral. I’ll get word back to the fleet on our progress.”
“Very well, Captain. Take good care of your ship. It’s brand new, you don’t want to bring it back with any scratches now.”
“Don’t worry, Admiral. We’ll be fine, though I can’t guarantee there won’t be any scratches,” Jed smiled.
The Admiral chuckled through his headset, “Always the kidder. I do expect a report once you arrive to your destination.”
“Yes, Sir. We’ll leave a drone after we exit the wormhole. It will fly to your ship and download our course and the rest of our plan. Once we arrive at Antares, I’ll dispatch a support ship back to the main fleet. We can shuttle that back and forth for communications. Otherwise, the Eridonians are telling me, that the Warlords will be able to intercept our communications sent via radio or micro waves, but, they won’t detect our support ship unless they visually see it.”
“Alright, Captain. We’ll be in position to enter the conduit in one hour. Aga out.”
“We’re ready to jump in two minutes, Rocinante out.”
Jed set his headpiece on the console in front of him, “Action stations! Prepare for jump start sequence.”
“All fighters secure, the launch bay doors are closed and sealed, flight deck is reporting ready,” Lieutenant Foster sounded.
“Start the clock. Two minutes until Jump sequence.”
“Aye, Sir,” the helmsman nodded, “Spooling FTL drives, jump clock running.”
The noise of the engine sounds spinning nearly drowned out their voices, “Sub light!”
“Go!”
“NAV!”
“Go!”
“Tactical!”
“Go!”
“Jump resolution check!”
“We’re a go, Captain!”
“Generate negative energy densities!”
“Generating negative densities,” the engineer officer reported.
“FTL!”
“Jump drive is spooled! Go!”
“The board is green, Captain!” Commander Jameson reported.
“Initiate jump!” Jed ordered, grabbing the hand holds of his restraint system.
________________________
Betelgeuse Conduit
Antarian Corsair
________________________
“My Lord,” Tornado reported as Thelix entered the small bridge, “The jump drive is prepped and ready at full power. We are ready, but I must caution you, we are also close to redlining.”
“Explain!”
“Our negative density generator will burn out and we will be stranded.”
“Our third jump will be this one, we can risk one more jump to our space. Use thrusters to navigate to one of our orbiting stations for repair.”
&nbs
p; “Yes, my Lord. Coordinates have been entered.”
“Darnash, you coming up here?” Thelix asked through the ship’s comm system.
“Yes, my Lord. I was just ensuring our guests were…comfortable.”
“Don’t make them too soft now, we want a good show in the arena when we return.”
“Oh, that will not be a problem, my Lord. They’ll be fit and rested up to give us the best arena battle the Emperor has seen in years.”
“Excellent! Take your station, we’re ready here.”
“On my way, my Lord.”
A few moments, Darnash entered the bridge and took his seat at tactical control. Thelix looked over at him, “You have a red substance on your lower lip.”
Darnash wiped it off and licked it from his large finger, “Yes, well I had to taste.”
“What have you done, Darnash?”
“Do not worry, my Lord. I only cut one of them so I could taste their blood. The Nanites will repair the cut shortly. The gorech, or Human as they call themselves, will live.”
“Which one did you cut?”
“The female, of course, my Lord. I wanted to save the best for last. The female of this race is inferior, smaller, weaker, and more fragile than the male.”
Thelix laughed and shook his head, “You should have waited. The real blood lust satisfies within the arena.”
“You will not be disappointed, my Lord.”
“I’m sure our blood lust will be satisfied...Tornado, if all systems are ready, go ahead and jump us through to the exit.”
“Yes, my Lord. All systems are spooled. NAV checks.”
“Tactical is ready, and standing by, my Lord.”
“Initiating negative energy densities,” Tornado reported, “jumping sequence in five, four, three, two, one...jump complete!”
The Antarian corsair appeared just outside the event horizon of the Betelgeuse conduit.
“We made it, sir,” Tornado stated, “Ion drives online. We’re moving away from the event horizon of Betelgeuse.”
“Reset jump drive, set course for Antares.”
“Yes, my Lord. Course plotted and programmed. Jump drive spooling will complete its cycle in thirty seconds.”
Darnash’s console lit up, “My Lord, receiving a red light on the board. The negative energy density generator is compromised.”
“Can we make this jump or not?”
“If the EDG system goes down during the jump, we will end up short of our destination.”
“Can you compensate?”
“There is only a twenty percent chance that it will fail, my Lord.”
“Helm, proceed with jump condition on my mark.”
“Yes, my Lord.
“Initiate jump sequence to Antares...Mark!”
“Jumping sequence in five, four, three, two, one...jumping!”
Instead of the ever increasing whine of the jump engines, a sound like groaning metal failing under great stress. The crew saw the stars move slightly, and then stop. The engines fell silent, then made a loud thunk.
“What happened?!” Thelix bellowed.
“The negative energy density generator failed. We did not jump.”
“How far did we go?”
“We’re still holding position outside the event horizon, my Lord, we only moved twenty kilometers.”
“Are we in communication range with Antares?”
“No, my Lord, there is too much interference from the conduit.”
“GLOBFLOSH!” Thelix snorted, “This is not good. Options!”
“We do have a ship in the hold that would take us there.”
“The vessel we captured from the Humans? Yes, that may work out. The ship is too small to carry us all. And the Eridonian ship is smaller still.”
“I could go, my Lord,” Darnash offered, “I will take one of the humans to pilot the ship. I can deliver him to the Emperor and send a repair team back for you.”
“Find out what the travel time would be in the human’s captured vessel.”
“Yes, my Lord. I will choose the arrogant human. He seems be the one in charge.”
“Very well. Take him to his ship and have him calculate the jump.”
“It will be my pleasure, my Lord,” Darnash grinned.
“...and no more cutting the humans to taste their blood. Wait for the arena!”
Darnash growled with displeasure, “Yes, my Lord.”
“But if he resists with plotting the course, kill one of the others to convince him. In that case, and that case only, you may fulfill your blood lust.”
Darnash licked his lips, “Yes, my Lord, and I thank you.”
A few minutes later the cell door slid open. Race, Danielle, and Harry looked up at the towering Antarian.
“What do you want with us now?”
“Get up! You and the female. You’re coming with me.”
“Where you taking us?”
“You shall see, but know that if you refuse, the female dies.”
Race looked into Danielle’s eyes with sorrow, “I’m sorry, I never intended this to happen.”
“I know, Race. It’s okay; we better do as they ask.”
“What about me?” Harry Gill, the Calypso’s navigator asked.
“You will stay here,” Darnash instructed.
“Why aren’t we moving?”
“How can you know this?”
“I could feel the ship’s vibrations. There aren’t any now. We’re dead in space, aren’t we?”
“You will show me how to program your ship. We are taking it to Antares.”
“You’re stranded, I knew it!” Race smiled.
“My people are going to be coming for me,” Race narrowed his eyes, “...you had better not stay here.”
“Your people are no threat to us. You are an inferior race...a gorech!” Darnash laughed, “Now, show me your ship’s systems, and calculate how long it will take to reach our star.”
“Very well,” Race relented, “Let’s go.”
Thelix’s comm system lit up several minutes later, the sound of Darnash’s deep voice rumbled, “My Lord, the human has run the calculations. He states that the range of their jump drive will take ten jumps to reach Antares over three days. We’ll be in communication range in two.”
“Very well, Darnash. Good work. Prepare to depart within the hour.”
“Only take the pilot. Leave the others here in the hold. We cannot risk letting the Eridonian leave this ship. Outside the range of the telepathic inhibitor, they will fool us with their mind tricks.”
“My Lord, there is room for all the prisoners. We could fit this ship with the TPI system and offer all our prisoners to the Emperor at once.”
“What makes you think the Emperor will send a rescue ship if there is no reward of prisoners?”
“Leave one of the humans.”
“My Lord,” Tornado added, “Darnash may be correct. Our systems are down. The TPI generator uses so much power, it may soon fail. They have a better chance with the power being generated in the human ship to survive the trip.”
“Very well, leave the other male behind. Fit the ship with the TPI, but knock out our Eridonian before disconnecting and moving it to that ship.”
“Yes, my Lord. We’ll be ready to depart in an hour. I’ll be taking the Eridonian, the arrogant human, and the female for insurance that we continue to have their cooperation.”
“Excellent, Darnash. Report back to me once you are ready to depart.”
“Yes, my Lord. The Emperor will be most pleased.”
“Yes, he will be indeed. Just remember to send us support once you are in comm range.”
“Yes, my Lord. You have my word on that.”
“No doubt. Oh, and Darnash, one more thing.”
“Yes, my Lord?”
“Just so you are aware, there are several individuals under contract to me and my family. Should part of my crew come home and claim that I breathe no more, these individuals will take certai
n…actions.”
“Understood, my Lord!” Darnash tried to loosen his suddenly tight collar.
CHAPTER NINE
________________________
The Rock
Betelgeuse Conduit
________________________
“Position report!” Jed ordered.
“Fixing our location now, Sir,” Lieutenant Foster reported. “We are stationary off the event horizon to the Betelgeuse Conduit.”
Cheers sounded out across the Command Support Center. Jed reached out and shook his officers hands, and congratulated them on their first successful jump.
“Well done, Captain!” Artemis said, joining in with applause.
“No,” Jed returned a smile toward the Eridonian, “We have you to thank. Without your assistance and telepathic training, we would have been another century, or more, from achieving this feat.”
Artemis bowed to his gracious host, “Together we may have a chance to overcome this current threat.”
“Tell me Artemis, why are you putting so much effort into helping us?”
“We have always had a fond connection to the star you call Sol.”
Jed nodded as if he agreed, knowing he had no idea what they were talking about. He also knew Artemis totally understood that he was just dumbfounded by all of this. However, Artemis kept that quiet.
Jed turned to Lieutenant Erica Payne, “Helm, ahead twenty-five percent thrusters. Take us into the Conduit.”
“Aye, Sir, ahead one-quarter thruster power.”
“NAV, confirm course.”
“Aye, Sir. Course confirmed. I’ll be calling out course corrections directly to Helm control, Sir.”
“Proceed,” Jed ordered, “ETA to crossing the event horizon?”
“ETA is five minutes,” Lieutenant Payne acknowledged. “Thrusters are at twenty-five percent. Engaging plasma drives to hold current speed. Switching thrusters to course correction protocol. Engaging inertial dampeners to one-hundred percent.”
“Helm,” Foster shouted, “course correction: aft pitch Z minus three degrees. Bow yaw port five degrees.”
“Course correction,” Payne replied in cadence, “aft pitch Z minus three degrees. Bow yaw port five degrees, affirmative.”
“Course correction confirmed. On course and holding,” Foster reported.
Warlords Saga Page 8
