The Search for Gram

by Chris Kennedy

  “Me too,” said the DSO. “The harmonics match the data on the Soaring Eagle that the Vella Gulf passed to us.”

  “Concur,” said Steropes; “it’s the Soaring Eagle.”

  “The Shimmering Falls just gated in,” said the OSO.

  “We’re receiving a call from the Jotunn ship,” said the communications officer.

  “Put it on screen,” said Captain Griffin.

  “The Western Aurora’s here,” said the OSO.

  The front screen lit up with Captain Fenrir’s face. “Ah, the Aesir’s lackeys have returned with a bigger ship. And look, they brought friends this time. Isn’t that sweet? Three battleships to take on our one, poor little battlecruiser. No wait, four battleships? You honor me.”

  “You will surrender your ship to us and return any Aesir crewmembers you have,” said Captain Griffin. “In return, you will be treated well and given a fair trial for war crimes against the Aesir nation. If you fail to do so, you will be destroyed. Do you surrender?”

  Fenrir began laughing. “Ho, ho, ho. Us? Surrender to little people like you? Not today, midgets. Not tomorrow or any other time in the future either.” He made a motion to someone off screen. “Our purpose wasn’t to destroy you, or even to do battle with you. We were sent here to deliver a message, once the Aesir mustered an appropriate force. I say this to the Aesir and anyone else foolish enough to stand with them.”

  “The Soaring Eagle is underway,” said the DSO. “It appears to be headed away from us.”

  “Beware, Aesir, for the Jotunn are coming for you,” continued Fenrir. “We have begun Ragnarok, and it will surely end with your destruction. Run, puny ones, run, for we are coming to reclaim our homeland. Anyone who chooses to deny us our birthright will be destroyed. You have been warned.” The screen went blank.

  “The transmission ended at the source,” said the communications officer.

  “Try to reestablish communications,” said Captain Griffin. She turned to Steropes. “If we went to flank speed, could we catch them?”

  Steropes shook his head. “If they continue to accelerate at their current rate, we will not catch them before they reach the other stargate in this system.”

  “Understood,” said Captain Griffin. “Proceed to the first planet and the wreck of the Blue Forest.”

  “Proceeding to the first planet, aye,” said the helmsman.

  “Sir, the Jotunn are not responding to our hails.”

  “I didn’t think they would,” said Captain Griffin. “It looks like they have given us their message, and now they are leaving. I expect they’ll be back, but next time they’ll be back in force.”

  “Do you want me to jump to the other universe to begin the search for our missing fighters?” asked the helmsman.

  “Not right now,” said Captain Griffin. “We said we would help recover any of the Blue Forest’s crewmembers we could. If they are still onboard the Blue Forest, we will help get them. If they’re onboard the Soaring Eagle, they are out of reach.” She paused, looking at the tactical screen. “Besides,” she added, “I don’t want them to know we can jump to the other universe yet. We’ll let that be a surprise for the next time.”

  “I’m getting power readings from the first planet, ma’am,” said the DSO.

  “Can you identify them?” asked Captain Griffin. “Could it be the missing Aesir crewmen?”

  “No, I can’t,” said the DSO. “The readings are still very weak, but it looks like there’s something on the planet.”

  “I can’t tell what they are either,” said Steropes. “We will have to get closer.”

  Dendara, Wendar, Day 4 of the Third Akhet, 15th Dynasty, Year 14

  K-Mart shot the charging giant a fourth time, then a fifth, but the monster kept coming. It had crossed the open area between the battle lines faster than K-Mart would ever have thought possible, drawing the enemy forces along behind him. The caliph’s forces were in trouble; K-Mart had seen a number of additional giants on both sides before his focus had narrowed to stopping the behemoth headed toward him. He doubted the lines would hold this time.

  He fired again, but the bolt was far less intense and accompanied by the “beep” signifying the rifle’s battery was dead. K-Mart knew that he was dead, too; the Jotunn was too close for K-Mart to change the battery in time. The giant was slowed by his shots, and a number of bullets from the caliph’s troops, but it wasn’t going to be enough.

  The giant raised his enormous battle axe over his head, and K-Mart could see his opponent intended to split him in half. K-Mart held his rifle up in both hands to block the stroke. He didn’t think he could stop the blow, but if he could just deflect it, maybe he would get another second or two of life.

  As the axe fell, a wall of silver intercepted the stroke as Bordraab swooped in from the side. The earth shook as thousands of pounds of dragon and giant crashed to the ground. Bordraab tore out the throat of the stunned giant before it could move, then she looked up for new targets.

  K-Mart could tell the dragon had been in the thick of the fighting as several bloody gashes ran down her side, and huge rents had been torn in her wings. Spying her next prey, she gathered herself and leapt into the air. She only made it 15 feet into the air before falling heavily back to the ground.

  Her head snaked around to look at K-Mart. “I fear I am spent,” said Bordraab, forked tongue hanging out of her mouth like a dog panting.

  “Don’t worry about it,” said K-Mart as he changed out the battery in his laser. It was his last; he’d have to make his shots count. He motioned toward the dead giant with his rifle. “Thanks,” he said; “you’ve certainly done your part today.”

  K-Mart scanned the battlefield for a target, but the bulk of the dragon blocked most of the enemy lines from his sight. The enemy had also learned it was death to approach Bordraab, and the enemies’ common soldiers gave them a wide berth. Part of the battlefield was also covered in smoke from a number of burning Efreeti vehicles. The Eco Warrior teams had set several successful booby traps with the last of their nanobots the night before. It had slowed the enemy for a little while, but they were on the move once more.

  “C’mon,” said K-Mart as horns began blowing from behind them. “That’s the order to fall back.” He turned and trudged away from his position on rubbery legs. The Sila on either side of him weren’t moving much faster. They all were spent.

  “There is only one more set of lines to fall back to,” noted Bordraab.

  “Yeah,” said K-Mart. “It’s time to make our final stand.”

  Chapter 44

  Bridge, TSS Terra, 14 Herculis System, August 17, 2021

  “It looks like a Jotunn outpost,” said Steropes, “but it appears to be abandoned.”

  “How do you know it’s a Jotunn outpost?” asked Captain Griffin.

  Steropes brought an image up on the front screen. “This building appears to be the main building in the complex. The imagery indicates each floor is well over 20 feet high. All the other buildings are constructed similarly although they are not as long.”

  “All right,” said Captain Griffin, “I’ll agree it is a Jotunn building as I don’t know anyone else who needs 20-foot tall ceilings. Any guess as to what it is?”

  “There is a fence around it, so I’d say it looks like a jail, or maybe a military compound. It doesn’t appear to be inhabited now, though.”

  “So they probably kept the Aesir there but have now moved them. Are you getting any readings from the Blue Forest?”

  “It’s a hulk,” replied Steropes. “It looks like it was hit by at least six of the Efreeti time bombs, as there are a number of holes down its side. Both engines are gone; it isn’t going anywhere on its own.”

  “So it looks like the Jotunn took the Aesir crewmembers with them,” said Captain Griffin. “The Thor will not be pleased.”

  “Is it time to go look for our ships, then?” asked Lieutenant Commander Brighton.

  “It is,” said Captain Griffin.
“Recover our fighters and prepare to make the jump to the other universe.”

  Dendara, Wendar, Day 8 of the Third Akhet, 15th Dynasty, Year 14

  They were doomed, thought K-Mart. It didn’t take an army general to see it; the outcome was painfully obvious, even to an aviator. The capital city of Dendara occupied a peninsula which jutted from the northern end of the continent, although it was currently cut off from the rest of the land mass by the enemy troops who spanned the peninsula from east to west. Both the caliph’s neighbors had thrown their most capable forces into the fight to end it; the caliph’s troops were now outnumbered by more than 10-1, and their enemies had more armored vehicles than the caliph’s troops had ammunition to kill them with.

  The Jotunn had also equipped the caliph’s enemies with lasers that completely outclassed anything the caliph’s troops had in terms of range or damage.

  The caliph’s troops were doomed.

  The final attack had begun at dawn. Bordraab had fought from the sky, spitting acid on concentrations of soldiers and their armored fighting vehicles until a group of Jotunn lasers brought her down. No longer able to fly, she scratched out a hole next to the trench in which K-Mart waited. It wasn’t much protection for the dragon, but she wouldn’t have to wait long; as quickly as the enemy forces were advancing, they would be in the trenches within the next hour.

  K-Mart shot a scout who was sneaking up to their lines. With his suit and laser, he had a better tracking system and weapon than his counterparts in the caliph’s army, and he was usually able to kill the enemies’ scouts before his allies even knew they were present. Too bad his rifle’s battery was down to five percent remaining.

  He shot at another scout, but was distracted by a commotion from further down the trench.

  He turned to see the caliph had arrived, along with the last 20 of his personal troops. The vizier in charge of the battle came running up, ducking to stay below the lip of the trench.

  “What are you doing, my caliph?” asked Vizier Bulah. “This is far too dangerous a place for you. The enemy will be here soon, and it is likely this position will be overrun.”

  “I understand that,” said the caliph, “but if this is to be the end, I intend to die in battle.” He turned to one of his troops who was carrying a radio on his back. “On my command, give the order to charge.”

  “I guess this is the end,” said K-Mart to Bordraab.

  “I am afraid so,” said the dragon, surveying the battlefield. “The time in jail has taken too much out of me. I will, however, die with one of the Jotunn in my mouth.” She spotted a target and tensed her legs to join the charge.

  “K-Mart, Calvin,” his CO commed. “I don’t know what it looks like down there, but from orbit it looks like you could use a little help. Tell everyone to close their eyes and keep their heads down; it’s going to be a big one.”

  “Incoming!” K-Mart yelled. “Get under cover right now!” He dove into the trench.

  Calvin’s voice counted down, “Three…two…one…” He might have said “Impact,” but it was drowned out by the supersonic shock waves of the incoming kinetic bombardment.

  Accelerated to a speed of 36,000 feet per second, 12 of the telephone pole-sized tungsten rods slammed into the planet’s surface, with each releasing the kinetic energy equivalent of 120 tons of TNT. Even though his eyes were closed, K-Mart could still see the flash. The blast effect was multiplied as the shock waves overlapped, reinforcing each other, and K-Mart felt himself hammered into the ground, which shook with the violence of a major earthquake. One of the trench walls collapsed, coating him with dirt. At least it helped protect him from some of the flying debris.

  When the shaking ended, K-Mart risked a glance above the trench wall. A near-continuous mushroom cloud ran from one end of the enemy’s line to the other. Underneath the cloud, there was a half-mile wide strip of…nothing. Everything that had been there, both men and machinery, was vaporized. Even the Jotunn were gone.

  K-Mart turned to view his own lines, and what he saw was nearly as bad. Many of the caliph’s troops hadn’t heard his yell and were injured by the blast and flying debris. Many more had been looking in the direction of the enemy lines and were now flash-blind. At what price, victory, he wondered.

  Bordraab had protected herself by throwing her wings over her head, and she didn’t appear any more hurt than she had previously.

  “Did that help?” Calvin asked.

  “Uh, yeah, that helped a lot…for those of us who survived it, anyway,” said K-Mart. “Did you have to do it so close to us?”

  “Close?” asked Calvin. “That was 3/4 of a mile from your position. We wanted to make sure we got the enemy’s attention.”

  “Well, there’s no doubt about that,” K-Mart replied. “Now I know why I’m an aviator. This ground-warfare stuff sucks!”

  “Tell everyone to keep their heads down. There’s a second round coming.”

  When a second earthshattering series of explosions didn’t immediately follow, K-Mart risked a look, hoping his suit’s visor would protect his eyes from any further flashes. While the first round was anti-personnel, the second round was anti-materiel, and there were no flashes. The incoming rounds initially resembled the telephone poles of the first barrage, but this time the poles separated into a stack of Frisbee-like saucers as they passed through 15,000 feet. The saucers fanned out on both sides of the first strike’s ground zero, with some close enough for K-Mart to get a better look as they initiated their attacks.

  With the enhancements provided by his suit, he could see the saucers weren’t symmetrical; a sensor stuck out from the underside. He couldn’t tell whether the targeting system was based on infrared or optics, but the saucers unerringly found the remaining fighting vehicles of the caliph’s enemies and homed in on them. Prior to impact, explosives on the upper part of the saucer detonated, firing an anti-armor dart down into the weaker armor on the top of the armored vehicles. Within 10 seconds, all the remaining vehicles were smoking hulks.

  “This is our opportunity!” called the caliph. “Soldiers, to me! Attack!”

  He climbed from the trench and started toward the enemy lines. Though the dust raised by the orbital bombardment was still thick, the devastation of the enemy’s forces was visible to the troops, and they raced forward with a renewed enthusiasm to get in front of their leader as he charged toward his opponents.

  “For the caliph!” they yelled as they assaulted the enemy lines, invigorated for the first time in weeks. Disoriented and demoralized, the remaining enemy troops were no match for the caliph’s forces, and they turned and ran. Although only a few at first, platoon-sized units quickly joined the stampede, then entire companies fled en masse.

  The battle was over in minutes; the rout continued for three days.

  Dendara, Wendar, Day 8 of the Third Akhet, 15th Dynasty, Year 14

  The shuttle landed, raising the dust which had just settled from the orbital bombardment. The ramp at the back was already in motion before the shuttle touched down, and suited Terran Space Marines poured out of the shuttle to set up a perimeter.

  K-Mart watched the evolution with pride; the Terran soldiers were obviously professionals who knew their jobs and carried them out without any apparent oversight. The only thing that was odd was how few there were; K-Mart always thought the platoon had more men and women than the 20 or so he could see. He shrugged, deciding the rest of the group must have been employed on other missions.

  Calvin walked down the ramp with the Aesir captain K-Mart had seen onboard the Vella Gulf. K-Mart climbed from the trench and went to meet them. Reaching the pair, he stopped and saluted.

  Calvin and Captain Nightsong returned the salute, the Aesir in the hand-to-chest manner of his race. “We found one of the fighters in orbit,” said Calvin. “Are you the only Terran who survived?” he asked, dreading the answer.

  “Yeah,” said K-Mart. “We had to ditch one fighter so the other to have enough fuel to carry their
space station to the surface.”

  One of Calvin’s eyebrows went up. “Space station?” he asked.

  “Long story, sir,” said K-Mart. “You can buy me a beer, and I’ll tell you all about it. In any event, we crashed the other fighter bringing down the space station, which converted us from aviators to ground troops. With our weapons and suits, we were better armed and armored than the rest of the troops here, and we led a series of recon missions back into our universe to rescue the elves from a Jotunn jail.”

  “You led a recon mission to free the Aesir from a Jotunn prison?”

  “Well, it wasn’t me alone,” said K-Mart. “All four of us did our parts, and it was a little more complicated than that.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, in order to free the Aesir, we had to free a Sila craftsman, so we could get a transportation device, so we could free the dragon, so we could get her help fighting the Jotunn. It’s kind of complicated.”

  “I guess so,” said Calvin. “But I see you’re here, so I guess you were successful?”

  “Yes, sir,” said K-Mart. “We rescued the Aesir and their prince. There are about 40 of them left, I think. Assuming the prince wasn’t killed in the fighting today, we should be able to return him to his people.”

  “Outstanding!” said Calvin.

  “Yeah, it turned out pretty well,” said K-Mart, “aside from losing Rock, Chomper and Hooty. The only thing we missed out on was rescuing some of the Sila scientists who were working on the time weapons. They were in the Jotunn jail we rescued the Aesir from, but we got there too late to save them. Apparently, the Efreet moved them to their home world for safekeeping.”

  “Did you get any information on where that might be?” asked Calvin. “As you can see, we were able to capture the technology to cross from one universe to the other. If we knew where they were, we could try to take them back from the Efreet.”

  “No, I didn’t,” replied K-Mart. “Apparently, every Sila who has been taken to the home world has never been seen again. It’s some place named Efron.”