Empire Saga: The Fight for the Paradise, #1

by Lori Beery

  “Yes, Sir,” said Lt. Dresdan, once I handed him the communicator. He conducted us to the bridge. This time we were permitted to enter.

  Chapter 17

  The bridge of the Paradise was a rectangular shaped room. The front wall was filled with a huge view screen. Computer consoles lined the wall from the main doors in the back left corner all the way around up to two meters from the front wall. More computer stations lined the back third of the wall adjacent to the main doors. The rest of the wall was clear allowing room for the walkway to the captain’s ready room. There was a step down into the middle of the room. Two computer consoles were placed parallel to the view screen about one and a half meters from it. Behind them was the Captain’s chair.

  We gathered behind it, since it seemed to be the only place we would be out of everyone’s way and still able to see the view screen. Every station was manned. I noticed that Lt. Dresdan was at the console directly behind the captain. I surmised that must be the communications station. Lt. Faber sat at the front console on the right. I guessed that was the helmsman’s station.

  I turned my attention to the view screen. The ion trail of the probe showed its course paralleling the Paradise. It was now far ahead of us, as it was travelling eighty eight percent the speed of light. Shortly, I would need to adjust its course. I wanted it to enter the small body field so that we could see behind those four space rock to know if pirate vessels were truly hiding there.

  The time came for me to reach out to the probe. I fired the thrusters near the cone for a short burst. Its trajectory changed to meet my objective. About a turn later, the ion trail stopped.

  “Sir, the probe is gone,” reported a woman at the first console on the upper level near the view screen.

  “Noted Ensign,” said Captain Lawrence. After a moment, he turned to me, “Hexator Nickoli, do you have a means to track the probe?”

  “I do,” I replied. “If you will permit me, I will display it on your view screen.”

  “Yes, please do it,” he responded.

  I reached out to the probe again. I allowed my awareness of the probe to overlay the view screen. The probe was on course. But it would not enter the small body field for another three turns. I would wait until it did before activating the shielding that would protect the probe from the space rocks. The ward had repulsive properties. It was capable of pushing the small rocks out of the way. The bigger rocks would require a much larger pulse or a different strategy. I would not know what was needed until the probe was actually in the field.

  Time passed slowly. Everyone seemed intent upon the probe and their instrumentation. Once the probe was within sensor range, it began sending data back to us. Fortunately, the rocks appeared relatively small. This confirmed my scans of the area. I activated the shielding. It worked! The probe continued toward the heart of the field without mishap.

  “Hexator Nickoli, let us see the data the probe is sending us,” said Captain Lawrence.

  “Of course,” I responded. I stopped projecting my awareness. The view screen began displaying the data from the probe. The rocks were made up of the usual materials. However, there were pockets of silicates, carbon compounds, ammonia ice, methane ice, heavy metals, and – water ice. These outer bodies contained none of the scan scattering material.

  Using the probe, I extended my awareness out toward the center of the field. My scan revealed a cliff, an end to the small body field. There was a significantly vacant ring between the cliff and around the planetoid and the three rocks with the scan scattering material. These bodies appeared more ovoid in shape than any of the other rocks. That implied an orbit around a star. Except there was no star close enough to exert much gravity on them. The ring encircling them was laced with ion trails. Such trails suggested ship activity.

  I focused my scan on the bodies within the ring. I detected no vessels. I couldn’t scan the bodies like I could a person, a probe or any other space rock. I did pick up numerous anomalies. There were definite man-made structures studding the surface of all four bodies. Some were sensors and emitters. Others looked like portals of some kind. I detected a low-level energy signature. It reminded me of a shield used to cover a cargo bay door. I, also, noticed the crater from which the energy signature emanated seemed to be the destination of the many ion trails. Could these rocks contain pirate bases?

  A slight noise made me shift my awareness back to the probe. It had just fired a rather strong repulsive pulse to move a big space rock out of its way. Sadly, the rock started a chain reaction that sent several small bodies into the vacant ring. I slowed the probe so that it hovered on the edge of the cliff. Its sensors were trained on the energy-leaking crater. Forty-five deci ticked by. The energy leakage increased substantially and three fighter sized vessels emerged. They headed straight for the rocks in the ring. Two of the ships fired a type of repulsing beam at them. The beam pushed the rocks back into the cliff. The pilots only had to fire once to get their targets back into place. I didn’t notice any disturbance with any of the other rocks. These were experienced pilots.

  The third vessel flew a path above the small body field out toward the field’s edge. His course mirrored the route taken by the probe to this point. His scans didn’t locate the probe. However, he may have detected a path through the field. I hoped it would be too small to require further investigation. That seemed to be the case because the scanning vessel returned. It made to follow the other two into the crater.

  I reached back to my Hexacle. ‘Link with me!’ I sent to them. In short order, I felt them join with me. ‘Here is what I have discovered.’ I allowed all that I had seen to flow through our links. ‘I’m going to send the probe inside the base. I need your help to do it.’

  ‘Whatever you need,’ responded Beltrain.

  ‘Won’t we lose contact with the probe when it goes inside?’ asked Marleah.

  ‘Only the physical,’ I replied. ‘Help me teleport the probe so the light thrust will be lost in the vessel’s own propulsion. On my mark, Three, Two, One, Execute.” I felt the energy rise. I used it to teleport the probe under the last vessel. It was, even now, entering the crater. As the ship and the probe sank into it, a bay door opened on the far wall. When the ship added thrust to initiate forward motion, I activated the probe’s tail thrusters. Both vessel and probe entered the planetoid.

  I saw a huge base with many vessels docked inside. They were of various sizes. I counted two ships the size of battlecruisers. There were six cruiser sized vessels. And twelve were frigate class. The ships in this base dwarfed the fleet at Thendara’s disposal without even including all the fighter class crafts. It seemed the small vessels were docked at the opposite end of the base.

  It became apparent my protection was going to be docking. I teleported the probe from under the vessel to a ledge above where the vessel was docking. In the process, I deactivated the communication mechanism. The data would not be able to get out of this base. And the transmission would compromise the probe. Sooner rather than later, I would need to find a better place to park it. Perhaps I could locate a place that would allow me to monitor the base’s activity. That seemed to point to the entry at the other end of the base. Also, finding the power source would be a bonus. That might allow me to explode the base should the need arise.

  I allowed my awareness to return to the Paradise. I took a breath and looked around at my Hexacle. Their attention was on me. I smiled and nodded signaling I was well.

  “Report!” commanded Captain Lawrence. He was looking at Lt. Dresdan. The Lieutenant was busy checking over his instruments. The forward view screen showed the local area.

  “Captain, I’ve lost contact with the probe,” he reported. “It’s as if a door closed.”

  “Captain, if I may,” I said.

  “What do you know, Hexator Nickoli?”

  “I know the probe is within the planetoid,” I replied. “For now the probe is safe, but since it can’t transmit through the planetoid and the act of transm
itting is detectable, I shut down that capability. The Lieutenant’s door description is exactly what happened. The docking bay door of the base within the planetoid closed.”

  “The ships weren’t hiding behind the rocks,” responded the captain. “They are inside them.”

  “Yes, Captain,” I acknowledged.

  “Before the data stream stopped, we saw the docking bay,” he continued. “They have a bigger fleet than Thendara Station.”

  “Yes, they do indeed,” I confirmed.

  He rubbed his temples. “How do we survive this?” he asked, depression welling up and over him. “Even if we win pass this, what refuge does Thendara hold?”

  “Do we have any other options?” I asked. “We don’t have the fuel to turn back. The only place we could hope to get fuel would be to continue on to Thendara. I don’t think the pirates would be likely to accommodate us.”

  “True. We will continue on to Thendara,” he said, resigned.

  “Yes, but not by your current course,” I suggested. “I understand that a change in course may lead us into the unknown. I submit that such an action could keep us from being attacked by the pirates.”

  “They know our course,” he responded. “Wouldn’t they come find us?”

  “Probably,” I confirmed. “But what if we sent a decoy in our place? Perhaps if they find what they expect to find where they expect to find it then their search would not continue beyond it.”

  “What are you suggesting?” He asked.

  “What if we successfully imaged a replica of the Paradise?” I proposed. “We have the replica follow your current course. We do what we can to protect that vessel. Meanwhile, the actual Paradise continues on to Thendara by a different route.”

  “That could work,” he reluctantly agreed.

  “We will have to change our course very soon,” I commented.

  “By tomorrow evening at the latest,” he told me.

  “Then we will use the time to prepare ourselves,” I responded. With that, we left the bridge through the main back doors.

  *****

  Later that night, we gathered in our suite. We had eaten well. We would probably eat again before turning in. Hopefully the food and the sleep will recharge us for the trials we would be facing in the next few days.

  I rose and retrieved the crystal from the shelf under the light. It sparkled. I brought it with me as I sat on the settee. My movements drew the attention of my Hexacle.

  “What are you planning to do?” asked Beltrain.

  “We have a probe inside a hidden pirate base,” I replied. “Let’s see what we can learn.” They all moved closer to me. Lucera, Jacarr, KwinJai, and Marleah sat on the floor before me. Beltrain and Dulain sat on either side of me on the settee. “Dulain, would you erect a ward?” I asked him. “Just make it large enough to surround us.” He complied. I placed the crystal on the floor at my feet. “Ready?” I inquired of them. They nodded and linked their minds with mine. When I felt all of them, I reached for the probe.

  All seemed very still and quiet in the far side of the docking bay. The probe remained perched on the ledge above the small craft-docking racks. We conducted a proper scan. We learned there were almost fifty-thousand people in the planetoid. Housing seemed to account for a little more than a quarter of the interior space. No one seemed to be here against their will. At least, there was no sign of incarceration. Half the inside area was clearly dedicated to the space dock and ship yard. The rest of it seemed to be power generation, environmental, medical, storage, and training facilities. It appeared the planetoid was a vessel of a sort. We couldn’t quite get a good read on the engine. It seemed to be shielded with the same material that encased the planetoid.

  There was a command bridge positioned a third of the way in from the bay doors. It nestled into the rock perpendicular to the door. The side overlooking the dock was built with large transparent planes. Whoever looked out through there would have a view of the entire bay. Presumably, the base commander would oversee operations from there. Perhaps that would be a good place to collect data about the pirate’s plans.

  We explored the exterior of the bridge. We found a good location. It was back against the rock before the transparent panel began on the door side. The spot was behind and out of sight of a visual security devise. It didn’t take us long to teleport the probe into place. We spent a while making it possible for the probe to detect sound within the bridge and not leak dock noise into the interior. The task took us just short of a turn to accomplish. Before we left the probe, I had Marleah download the data it had collected. We would take the time to view it when we finished looking around.

  ‘Dulain, you and I are going to focus on the power source,’ I sent to him. ‘While we do that, the rest of you go scan those ships. Do as many as you can before we are finished.’ The five of them shifted their awareness toward the larger ships. I kept a tether attached to each member of my Hexacle.

  Dulain and I began to actively search for the power source. We discovered that neither heat nor light provided the location. Following those energy signatures led us astray. The sources we found were not massive enough to provide the power needed to move this facility. Eventually, we switched our search parameters. We began searching for the mysterious scan-scattering material within the planetoid. The more disturbance, the closer to our destination. This proved to be a very uncomfortable task. Both of us had throbbing headaches by the time we located the interior shell. As expected, we could not penetrate the material.

  We did locate the entry. It turned out to be a double door affair. One set of doors was always closed as a person entered or left the area. This arrangement kept energy leakage at a minimum. It appeared access was restricted. Two guards were stationed outside the exterior doors. We assumed an additional set guarded the interior doors. We saw no way to enter that wouldn’t arouse suspicion.

  Again we changed our strategy. Two people had excited through the doors. We sought them. We found the one that had emerged latest at a restaurant near the mystery room. He was a human with a slight build. His facial features resembled an Atheran. He had a flat face with high cheek bones and eyes that were slanted upwards opposite his nose. His hair was very dark and straight. He sat by himself. He was tapping away at a data pad, all the while stealing occasional glances toward the kitchen. He was definitely waiting for his food to be served.

  I ran a scan. His mind was fixated on his upcoming meal. I redirected my scan to his optical interpretation center of his brain. Yes! There were many pictures of the engine. It was quite powerful and antiquated. This was an ion drive – many ion drives – powered by electricity from a nuclear fission reactor. This arrangement had two ion accelerators. One was at the throat before each individual nozzle and the other was at the ‘throat’ of the accumulated nozzle. It appeared they were using metallic rock dust as their propellant.

  ‘Hexator Nickoli, are you and Dulain alright?’ thought Beltrain through the tether.

  ‘We are okay,’ I returned. ‘We both have splitting headaches, but we located the power source. How are you all fairing?’

  ‘We are okay,’ he responded. ‘We are growing weary.’

  ‘Then, it is time to go,’ I sent. Dulain and I followed the tether back to them. Once we were all together we pushed back to our suite. I released their links with me. When I focused on the here and now, my Hexacle was still in a rough circle about me. Lucera and KwinJai were laying on the floor instead of sitting. “Lucera?” I called her. “KwinJai? Wake up!” They murmured words too faint for me to hear. Their eyes fluttered open. “That’s it,” I encouraged them as I moved to kneel between them. “Wake up,” I told them, shaking their shoulders. “Beltrain, order two ‘healer specials’,” I commanded him. Before too long, he brought me the drinks. He had to remove the ward before heading to the replicator. I feed one to KwinJai as he feed the other to Lucera. Once they had drunk the ‘healer specials,’ we let them sleep where they lay. Upon turning to the ot
hers, we found them awake but in need of calories. Beltrain and I got them each one of the drinks, as well as one for each of us.

  The calories did a lot to revive us. My headache was gone. Dulain’s was dissipating. All except KwinJai and Lucera became much more alert.

  “Let’s take a quick look at the data we downloaded from the probe,” I suggested. We worked together to go over the information. There was very little to discover. The probes location was too remote. The probe caught nothing from the business end of the docking bay, although we did learn that five men met to talk about something. Sadly, we could not understand what was said.

  “What did you discover about the power source?” asked Jacarr.

  “They can move the planetoid with it,” replied Dulain. “They encased the room in that scan-scattering material. It was very uncomfortable to locate.”

  “The planetoid is a vessel?” inquired Marleah, surprised.

  “It is,” I replied. “It is propelled by an agglomeration of ion engines powered by a nuclear fission reactor.”

  “Wouldn’t that take a long time to get moving?” she asked.

  “It would,” I agreed. “But it is out in space.”

  “That would make it easier to move, control, and stop,” she said.

  “What is the material the shield is made of?” asked Beltrain.

  “No idea,” I commented. “It has to be made of something. It is very difficult to get any data.”

  “He means it is too painful to get any data,” interjected Dulain.

  “The stuff’s shielding ability is very effective,” I stated. “What did you find out about the vessels?”

  “Except a few, they are all photon impulse engines,” replied Jacarr. “There are a number of ‘safety measures’ we could take advantage of so that the engines, weapon, or shields go offline.”

  “That is very good news,” I responded. “Let’s get some more calories in us and them,” I continued gesturing to KwinJai and Lucera. “Then, let’s turn in.” As I moved to rouse the sleepers, the rest of my Hexacle moved with me. KwinJai woke up fairly easily. It took more effort to awaken Lucera. She rubbed her eyes murmuring something about just a little more sleep. Another gentle nudge and she was alert. “That’s it, Lucera,” I encouraged. “Let’s get you some solid calories. What would you like?” I said extending my hand to pull her to her feet.