Darkness: Book One of the Oortian Wars

by Iain Richmond

  Aris offered a second proposal to the Creators. Expecting they would approve, the fear of being attacked… No, she realized, it is the fear of being replaced by the invaders that gave her all the influence she needed.

  The upload was swift and direct. No pulsing current attacked her organs or sent pain shooting through her systems.

  The Creators quickly responded, Go forth and conquer.

  31

  Station Pluto Command Center

  Admiral Chen

  “Admiral, the black field has overtaken the battle group and surrounds them on three sides.” The officer remained still with a permanent flinch hammered into his stance.

  Chen looked to the man and remained silent, his eyes searching for an answer or a solution. Captain Falco and his officers had just arrived and were now seated around the command table. “Cut the hologram. Welcome, Captain Falco, your insight would be of value.”

  The Pluto Room returned to a soft glow, the hologram faded into nothingness and the lights in the center of the massive table went dark.

  Falco stood. “Thank you, Admiral. Lieutenant, please bring up the Anam Cara’s original image, scaled to the table.” He moved towards the center of the room.

  Chen and his officers trailed behind Falco toward the newly sized hologram showing the Anam Cara’s encounter. Falco’s own officers sat against the wall.

  Falco stopped, staring at the blackness floating above the large poly-slab that was crafted into a tabletop.

  “Camouflage,” Falco stated.

  Chen’s notorious impatience quickly rose to the surface. “Captain. My battle group is practically surrounded. I need your insight based on your encounter. I need it now!”

  Commander Shar’ran looked to Lieutenant Wallace who was making eye contact with Falco while gently shaking his head from side to side. “Let it go, now is not the time,” he whispered to his comrades more than his captain.

  “Admiral,” Falco stated curtly. “Our sensors, like yours, could not penetrate the black field. In fact, the only shred of movement or life that we managed to glean was the lightning storm across its face as we were leaving.” Falco again locked onto the floating hologram.

  “We know at least some of these ‘weapons’ came from the field. Our sensors only picked them up as they left the field. If it is camouflage, which it seems to be as it renders our sensors useless…” Falco’s eyes fell from the hologram and found Admiral Chen’s intense gaze.

  Falco continued, “What would such a vast, almost infinite field be used to conceal?”

  Chen swallowed hard. “We still do not have any evidence this field could have been designed or engineered by the Russian Federation or any other hostile nation. The sample you have from your damaged boat estimates material from a neutron star.”

  “How else could something of that mass exist if not from the power and wealth of an advanced civilization? We can’t explain…” Falco trailed off. “As you stated, Admiral, there is no history or proof that humanity could produce this type of technology… and hide it from us out here.” Falco’s hands gestured toward the hologram.

  Chen nodded at the captain. “The United Nations agrees, and every government on Earth now knows we have come in contact with something that seems to be of another’s making.” Admiral Chen felt a storm was coming and Captain Yue Fei was now in its path.

  “Captain Falco, is there anything you can offer outside of what we have read or seen from your reports and feeds from the Anam Cara?”

  “Only that they hit us hard, where it would hurt and then let us go.” Falco turned from the holo-display toward Admiral Chen. “We need the full report from Station Pluto’s lab on the remains. Until then—”

  “Enough.” Chen’s hardened gaze fell on his commander. “Ready the remainder of 10th Fleet, we depart in two hours. Get Captain Fei on feed, now.”

  “Admiral,” Falco’s voice boomed, “there is nothing you can do for them now, they’re twenty-four hours out, even at a dreadnought’s speed. We have thousands of civilians on Station Pluto! We should prepare for the worst. Ready the civilians for a possible evacuation scenario and ready the station and the remainder of 10th Fleet for a possible hostile situation.”

  “Captain! Learn your place or you will see yourself a private in the brig before this day is finished. I never took you for a coward, Captain Falco.” Chen kept a steady eye on the officer.

  Falco moved towards the admiral and was quickly redirected by his officers. Falco muttered something to his commander who released his arms.

  “You will soon be the ranking officer of Station Pluto, Captain.” Chen stepped toward Falco. “Act like it and do your job.”

  “Yes, Admiral.” Falco faced his officers. “Come with me and find Chief Tenzin. We are going to need him.”

  32

  the Black Field

  Captain Fei

  An eerie quiet hung over the open-COM connecting the battle-group as they continued a deliberate crawl towards open space left by the black field. Red lights lit up the screen, the Battle-Net was flooded with potential threats.

  Captain Fei turned towards the Battle-Net post while Commander Zhu calmly stated the incoming warnings. A gray streak blazed through the center of his cropped black hair, and gave an added intensity to an already hardened face. “Battle group has lock on 144 targets, Captain. Marks breached the field and stopped.” The steely commander raised an eyebrow.

  He likes the odds, Fei thought, twenty-nine to one. “Hologram.” Fei waited for the image to update to their current position. If ever there was a reason to leave this rat trap, this would be it, Fei thought.

  “Captain, the objects are positioned precisely level with our vessels. Holding their positions.” Commander Zhu squinted and read the data flowing from the Battle-Net.

  “Either they are guarding the gate, have limited military experience, or…” Captain Fei paused as the third possibility rose to the surface, “or they have a commanding technological advantage and do not need to be above or below our position, as neither matters.” Fei always spoke his thoughts aloud to the bridge and all that were on it. He had done so since his youthful beginnings, years ago, when boats mainly sailed the seas and oceans of Earth.

  “Or,” Commander Zhu added, “they have us vastly outnumbered and feel little threat from our five Viper class boats.”

  “Captain Fei.” Admiral Chen’s voice sounded over the open-COM.

  “Sir.” Fei waited.

  “Fall back. Full burn. We will rendezvous at the sent coordinates.” Chen was gone.

  “Coordinates received, Captain.”

  “Plot them Lieutenant and increase burn. Let’s take the exit in the least threatening way possible.” Fei wanted to leave whoever or whatever had emerged from the field with a farewell wave instead of a missile barrage.

  “Captain, sensor field is clear. Wait. Thirty-four marks.” The unflappable Commander Zhu sounded flustered.

  “Sir, field is clear again. Captain, Battle-Net tracking eighty-nine potential threats.”

  “Commander.” Fei looked at the man, his gaze demanding calm.

  “Sir, the marks are passing in and out of the field, changing their numbers with each pass.” Zhu’s breathing was softening with each word. “Field is clear again, sir.”

  “Lieutenant. Full stop. Swing the formation around. Full burn as soon as we are in position.” Fei could feel it coming and hoped his battle group could make a dash for the door, if it was still open.

  ‘Door’ was nothing short of an analogy. The door represented the only physical area the sensors could get a read. The dark field was covering everything else but the ceiling and floor, both of which were bottomless, their height and depth far greater than the technological range of the battle-group.

  “COMs,” Fei looked towards his young officer. He mouthed ‘open-COM’ and then drew his hand in a slicing motion across his neck. The light on the panel turned orange and Admiral Chen could no longer listen to t
he crew, but Fei could hear incoming orders.

  “Almost in position, Captain.” Turning five boats locked into the Fighting Wing formation took time. If anything, Fei hoped, it shows that we are leaving. He exhaled sharply, assuming they know our bow from our stern. Not good, not good at all, he thought.

  “610 targets locked!” Commander Zhu boomed across the bridge.

  “Hold on. Engage main engines, Lieutenant.” Fei’s voice remained calm.

  “Initiating full burn."

  Five rocket engines engaged at one hundred and nine percent, generating a combined three hundred million horsepower.

  “Incoming!” The commander shouted over the engines’ rumble, trying to fight off the Gs while the grav-system caught up.

  “Twenty-eight smaller targets have entered open space. In pursuit! Battle-Net signatures match those that hit the Anam Cara. 610 marks remain in holding position.”

  “Commander.” Fei remained locked on the hologram feed in the center of the bridge, “Time to impact.”

  “Our current burn, incoming burn plus acceleration factor… two minutes, Captain, maybe less.”

  “Lieutenant,” the pilot struggled to twist his head to the side. “Exit time?”

  “Ninety seconds.” The pilot was pushing forward in his harness, as if trying to pull the battle group out of harm’s way while they burned towards the small opening in the field.

  Fei looked around the bridge. His crew no longer fought the Gs, the Kwan Yin’s grav-system had neutralized the sudden force of the engines; all eyes remained on their stations.“Battle-group will be free of the field before the projectiles reach us.” Fei paused to look at his captain’s screen. One minute twenty-eight.

  “Battle-Net has a hard lock on all twenty-eight marks in pursuit.” Commander Zhu gripped both sides of his station’s smooth surface. “Ready to fire, Captain.”

  Admiral Chen’s voice sounded over the COM. “Captain Fei you are cleared to fire. Repeat, you are cleared to fire.”

  Fei nodded to his COMs officer. A second later and the orange COM light turned green.

  “Yes, Admiral. We have weapons lock on incoming targets. Battle group will clear the field in sixty seconds and fire if necessary.”

  “The final decision is yours, Captain Fei. Do what is required. 10th Fleet is on its way.” Admiral Chen was gone.

  Fei exhaled slowly, his posture arrow straight. We better be sure they want us dead before we start something our grandchildren may have to finish, he thought. The consequences of his actions today could echo an eternity; he closed his eyes and prepared to give an order that could change humanity forever. If these targets are not of Earth’s making, I am about to start the first interstellar battle with an unknown force. Once started, this action cannot be undone. For the love of Lord Buddha, please let us leave this place in peace.

  the Void

  LOR

  LOR floated in front of the Darkness, watching the tiny Seekers give chase to the fleeing vessels. Strange creatures living and feeding off the Prox, but fearless and deadly. He kept his thoughts his own, the warrior’s rage contained for the moment. Aris the Chosen One promised vengeance for the slain Warruq warriors and the thought looped over and over in his systems.

  LOR connected to the clans open thought-stream, feeling the hundreds that waited just beyond the Veil, the newest border with the Void. The Darkness had raced forward, expanding the territories again while surrounded the fleeing enemy on three of the six planes. If the Darkness ventured further into the Void, the Creators’ Law said it was now part of the territories and must be defended. If only the Darkness would put an end to this game and wash over the enemy. LOR spoke to the Warruq clans. My brothers, our time is near. The Seekers are pushing the intruders out of our newest territory, but they have not cleared the opening yet.

  Six hundred nine warriors, each representing a different clan, responded with a carapace-rattling roar. LOR made six hundred ten.

  He closed the open thought-stream and a massive armored form emerged from the Darkness behind him.

  Are the Warruqs prepared, LOR?

  Heat radiated from the leader of the Clans. Aris the Chosen One no longer feared the Void. He knew the weak young Prox whose mentor was blown into a thousand pieces was gone as soon as she was able to control the warrior’s rage and why she was named to lead them all. We await your command, Aris the Chosen One.

  The cycle is close, LOR. Let the Seekers enjoy their hunt. They have instructions to chase, not engage, not yet.

  Aris shared her optical connection to the Seekers with LOR. They were keeping their distance behind the five beasts that moved as one.

  LOR sensed the warrior’s rage building in each of the twenty-eight Seekers that were spawned by seven Prox. They were mothers to these young ones, LOR thought. If they survived, the Seekers would be sent to the Creators’ planet. Many cycles would pass and some would return to the Darkness as Prox and others would never be seen or felt again among the clans.

  LOR caught the flash of an Aris private thought while they still shared the connection with the Seekers… ‘Incubators of foreign dregs that grow inside us; a forced attachment that becomes a symbiotic necessity, and now they burn towards their death, hoping to find a realm of peace we do not know truly exists. That I do not know truly exists…’ Aris’s private thought-stream closed and LOR was left to wonder what she had meant. He watched her send the Seekers’ final order and assumed she was finished when the twenty-eight children of the Prox burned bright and full and increased their speed toward the intruders. Oath fulfilled? LOR questioned and continued to process what Aris had said, private or not, she had allowed him access.

  A thought-stream opened and Aris gave the order LOR had been waiting for, no, lusting for. Unleash your heat bloom.

  And now it begins, LOR thought as Aris disappeared back into the Darkness. He replaced the looping thought of vengeance for the fallen warriors with a new task. Finding the Realm of Warriors, if it existed at all.

  Blue flames lit the face of the Darkness. LOR and the rest of the Warruq warriors joined the Seekers’ hunt.

  33

  Viper Battle Group

  Captain Fei

  “Twenty-eight hostiles increasing speed. Contact in twenty-two seconds! A second wave has launched from beyond the field, 610 marks incoming.” Commander Zhu’s voice was amplified, but fear and panic were absent.

  “Engage Battle-Net. Damn it,” Captain Fei barked. The battle group was only seconds from pushing through to open space.

  Missiles flew from cradles buried deep in the protective hulls. The Battle-Net welcomed the attackers with deadly accuracy. Half of the incoming projectiles were shredded into scrap and organic pulp.

  “Remaining fourteen marks are locked. Missiles away.” The commander waited with the rest of the crew while the twenty-eight missiles honed in on the threat. Two missiles for each attacker, the Battle-Net was compensating for the unusual flight paths the objects were capable of.

  “Captain Fei, we are nearing the opening.”

  Fei gritted his teeth, held his breath and watched the holo-feed. The hologram in the center of the bridge displayed the almost perfect fit of the Fighting Wing formation’s fixed span compared to the exit they were pushing towards.

  Black, smoky cliffs with no top or bottom hugged the formation’s flanks. The portside and starboard vessels skimmed the black walls.

  Missiles fired en masse the moment the Battle-Net’s piercing proximity sensors flooded every Viper class vessel of the fleeing battle-group. Captain Fei’s boat, the Kwan Yin was in the center of two meteor showers that erupted out of the black field and hurtled death and destruction from both sides. The hologram faded in and out due to the sheer volume of incoming projectiles. Dispersing exhaust trails from launching missiles created a hanging mist dotted with glowing engines burning to defend the boats. It looked like a massive firework with the battle-group at its center.

  “Report!” Fei wa
s fighting to keep his mind sharp and in control. The open-COM sounded like a deep-space version of a hailstorm. Clanks and thuds pounded all of the battle-group except for Captain Fei’s vessel.

  “Thrusters destroyed, main engines at ten percent, missile bays one through five destroyed. Two hundred twenty-two enemies destroyed, one hundred fifteen unaccounted for. Battle-Net had a hard lock, then they were gone.”

  “Which vessel is the damage report for and how the hell can one hundred fifteen hostiles be unaccounted for?” Fei knew the answer was coming.

  “All of them, sir. All but ours, the Kwan Yin has lost her COM-Sat and nothing else.” The commander paused as the only reliable communication left to the Fighting Wing formation, the Battle-Net ship-to-ship direct COM, buzzed to life. The defensive system locked the open-COM between the battle group, ensuring voice-to-voice communication. “COM with Station Pluto, 10th Fleet gone. Line of sight only, Captain.”

  Muffled, static-ridden shouting spat over the ship-to-ship in bursts. “Get a filter on that feed! Who is firing weapons?” Fei imagined each round punching through the interior layer of the hulls, hopefully stopping short of puncturing the hardened, outer poly-epoxy layers and setting off the repair system.

  Before the officer could announce the filter was in place, the clarity of the scenario rippled through every crewman on the Kwan Yin. The direct COMs became a landslide of clear, panicked voices. Voices from four vessels, desperate, laced with fear, sounds of crewmen fighting for their lives in a guttural and primal death match.

  Fei’s crew sat in stunned silence. They had found the one hundred and fifteen hostiles that disappeared from their sensors. The enemy had pierced the hulls and were inside the vessels. The ships’ repair systems had sealed them in.