“There’s got to be something,” Asha said.
The ping sound came again, and he wondered if this was Navika’s way of quietly getting his attention.
“What?”
“We are being hailed by a vessel that is requesting an encrypted channel. However, I do not recognize the ship’s identity. Would you like me to grant the request?”
Zahn furrowed his eyebrows. Somehow, he felt a familiar presence, but he had no idea who this could be.
“Any chance that opening a channel will make us easier to be detected by the Vakragha?”
“Doubtful, as this is a narrowband transmission originating from behind the seventh moon of Rodhas. The Vakragha would need to have a ship directly between us and the source to intercept it, and there are no ships detected in that area.”
“Understood. Establish the encrypted channel and put it on surround so that everyone can hear.”
Moments later, the sound of static briefly filled the room and then resolved itself into a gruff yet warm voice.
“Are you reading me? Is this the captain of Navika?”
“Yantrik?” A look of disbelief crept across Zahn’s face.
“Zahn! Is that Zahn I hear?”
“Yes! Is that really you, Yantrik?” Zahn was stunned to silence for a moment. “How did you know we would be here?”
“Let’s just say I got a bright idea. Strange fellow, too. Kept talking about purity of the heart and lenses or something.”
“Dad! You’re okay! How did you find us?”
“Is that my little Asha? Hi! I’m doing just fine. Your old dad knows how to fight off a few marauders by now. Anyway, during the attack I shut down the power for the entire outpost and threw out some junk to make it look like I was evacuating. They blew that to bits as I’m sure you can guess. Then I waited in silence until they eventually left. I don’t think it was me they were after, anyway.”
“Dad, it’s wonderful to hear your voice. You’ll never believe what we’ve been through. And Dad, we found the Tulari!”
“I know! That strange fellow who brought me here mentioned that you would be ‘wielding the pearl’, and that I would be needed, as well. By the way, why don’t I hear Oonak?”
Asha and Zahn fell silent for a moment.
“He sacrificed himself so we could rescue my mother from captivity,” Zahn said. “And he told us to leave without him.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. He seemed an honorable man.”
Zahn reminded himself to focus on the task at hand. For all he knew, the Vakragha would detect them at any moment.
“Yantrik, I’d like to confirm your location. Navika is detecting from your narrowband signal that you’re on the far side of the seventh moon.”
“Navika is correct. I’m not too far from your position, but far enough that when we attack, it should divide their fire. And I brought a surprise for Asha.”
Beside the command chair, Navika displayed a hologram of a maroon, crescent-shaped fighter ship.
“You brought my ship!” Asha said.
“That’s right,” Yantrik replied. “You can thank your strange friend for that. He asked if he might bring me and your ship to where we would be needed most. He said it was vital that we come. When I said yes, there was a flash unlike any I’d ever seen, and I found myself here.”
“Who was this person with such power?”
“Well, he showed up at the outpost a good while after the attack. Could barely even make out his face, he was so bright. I asked him how he got to be that way, but he only chuckled. Like I said before, strange guy.”
Zahn and Asha looked at each other. “The radiant figure!”
“What? You’ve seen him around? Any idea who he is?”
“No,” Zahn said. “But he’s already helped us once. Whenever he shows up, he seems like an angel.”
“Yeah, I can see why. I wish I knew his trick on how to get us here so fast. Anyway, Asha’s ship is heading to your position now. Don’t worry, I calibrated the cloaking cells carefully. Tell Asha to let me know when she’s ready, and then we can finally see what this Tulari can do. I’ve spent too many years searching for it to miss it in action now.”
Out of the corner of his eye, the mindcap showed Zahn that Asha’s ship was requesting to dock, and he accepted the request. After a few seconds, he heard a hissing sound behind him, and Navika told him that they were now docked. To his surprise, Navika also informed him that her ship had sent detailed radiation readings which he had just used to further improve the cloaking field at close range.
“Thanks, Yantrik! That helps.”
“Exactly. Every little bit helps.”
On her way out, Asha grabbed her bag and the sphere containing the jagrul bird, which was now sleeping beside the long bench. She reassured Zahn that she would be of much greater help now that she had her ship, but Zahn stopped her.
“Wait,” Zahn said. “Mom, go with her. You’ll be safer with Asha than with me and the Tulari, and I’m sure you could be of help to her.”
“Are you sure, Zahn?” Darshana said.
“Trust me, Mom. It’s better this way.”
“Be safe, Zahn.” There was a sadness behind her eyes.
“Mom, we’re about to launch a covert attack on an alien base hidden within a hollow planet. I don’t think anyone is going to be safe for this.”
“Then be lucky.”
Zahn embraced his mother tightly.
“I can do that.”
Once they were in the central node, Asha helped Darshana put on an extra flight suit that she had kept on her ship for emergencies like this.
“Darshana, have you ever fired a plasma cannon before?”
“No, but I could learn.”
“Can’t think of a better time than now. You’ll take the auxiliary cannon.”
In a strange silence, Zahn watched as the door slowly closed, leaving him alone for the first time in what felt like days.
After a short conversation with Navika, Zahn decided that the best way to deploy the Tulari would be to place it in the central node of the ship, and then open the door to blow all of the air out, taking the Tulari along with it.
When he asked, Navika assured him that his core nucleus would be fine. The cables that connected Navika’s nucleus to the ship were extremely strong, and Zahn got the idea to wedge the Tulari between a few of the cables above the door. It was secure enough to prevent it from falling out and rolling around, but was easy enough to push it out of the cable mesh if he tried.
When he sat back down in the command chair, Asha was hailing him.
“We’re all set here,” she said. “Darshana already seems comfortable with the weapon interface. Between all of us, we’re going to make these Vakragha wish they’d never been born, or hatched, or whatever they do. Do we know how they reproduce?”
“Navika, do we know that?” Zahn said.
“The reproductive cycle of the Vakragha is currently unknown to the Confederation.”
“Guess not. Okay everyone, report in.”
“Asha reporting in through a secure narrowband channel.”
“Darshana, standing by on same channel.”
“Yantrik, standing by.”
“Good. Okay, here’s the plan. We’re going to wait for a shaft in the planet to open again. Asha, when it does, I want you and your father to make a low pass and take out as many surface cannons as you can. While you have the Vakragha distracted, I’ll get into position. When I give the signal, I want everyone to retreat, since using the Tulari could very likely destroy the planet along with the wormhole. They don’t even know we have it, so we have surprise on our side. Does everyone understand?”
Everyone did, and when a part of the planet’s crust slid back again a few minutes later, they descended upon the Vakragha like invisible ghosts descending upon unaware prey.
Yantrik and Asha dove under the planet’s atmosphere, fast and low, taking out dozens of cannons as Zahn set in a course to enter the plan
et through a large opening nearby. Once he finally got a glimpse of the core through the opening, an alarm sounded throughout the ship.
“Zahn, we are being exposed to intense radiation emanating from the core of the planet. It’s a modulating wave of energy, and exposure will likely overload the cloaking cells, revealing our location. Wait—I’m detecting a swarm of fighters heading toward our position. This radiation must also prevent the swarm from staying cloaked, as well.”
As Navika finished relating this, Zahn saw a swarm of the small angular fighters in the distance open fire on him.
Dozens of narrow, green bolts of plasma flew toward the ship, and Zahn evaded as many of the bolts as possible and returned fire. He felt a rumble as a few bolts impacted onto the ship. On an impulse, he raced toward the planet’s northern hemisphere, his cloak recovering in moments.
Meanwhile, Asha and Yantrik were dealing with their own challenges. Whenever they passed over an opening, the surface cannons saw them, demanding immediate evasion. In the process, Asha’s ship sustained a direct hit, and her shield strength was instantly cut in half. However, they had already destroyed a good number of cannons, and Darshana’s aim was better than she had anticipated. She had destroyed almost as many as Asha had.
In the midst of their evasion, Zahn contacted them.
“Navika is detecting intense negative energy emanating from the wormhole inside the planet which disrupts the cloaking field,” he said. “We aren’t safe above the shafts. I was attacked by a swarm, but I was able to find cover. Wait… I’m detecting a massive vessel emerging from one of the shafts. It appears to be a Vakragha flagship. I’m going to try and find another opening on the other side of the planet. Be vigilant.”
Zahn knew he was racing against time. He flew Navika over the northern tip of the planet and beyond, to the other side of the world. In the far distance, he was relieved to see another gap in the crust opening up, and no ships were in sight.
And then, he heard the vile voice once more.
“I will devour your heart, Avanian.”
Once again, the voice was horrible and revolting. Like a vile whisper inside of his own mind, it was so clear that Zahn glanced around the cabin, but no one was there.
“No,” Zahn said aloud. “I have a surprise for you.”
“Not even the Tulari can help you. Your journey has been in vain. Your failure is inevitable.”
“What? How do you know we have the Tulari?”
“The Amithyans told us. They have a hidden base on Taarakalis. They have deceived you.”
“Liar! The Amithyans helped us save my mother. They are from a Transcendent World. They would never deceive us, and you will not succeed in enslaving Avani!”
“I am Razakh, Autarch of Hataaza Darad, and I will take what I may. The Amithyans led you to the Nirananda pulsar because they sought your death.”
For a moment, Zahn wondered what it would mean if that were true. Is it possible the Amithyans had lied to them? No. It wasn’t logical. But if this Vakragha was the overseer of Hataaza Darad, that would explain his determination.
Had he overseen this wormhole as it grew? That was too much of a coincidence to be pure chance.
“Your inner conflict is ironic, Avanian, since we are no different than you in the end. You, too, are a devourer of life. Yet you refuse to see this truth.”
“I am not a devourer of life or an enslaver of it, and I don’t believe your lies! The Amithyans were generous and kind. They would never deceive us. Their identity is Truth!”
“You delude yourself just as every other childish species does. You devour life, just as we do. We have witnessed this. We devour on a grander scale, but we are both violators of Free Will. Under our control, your race will learn this and other terrible truths of the galaxy.”
“No! We must eat to survive, and we do not enslave our crops. We cultivate them, and without them we would die.”
“How do you know that we have not cultivated your world, as well? Your world is ripe for harvest now, Avanian, and the harvest is inescapable.”
As Razakh finished saying this, Zahn noticed that the shaft he’d seen open up earlier was going to close before he would reach it, and no other openings were visible.
“Zahn,” Asha said, “my ship has sustained another direct hit.”
Zahn forced himself to push the Vakragha’s words out of his mind for the moment.
“Are you both okay?”
“Yes, but I have to fall back. We’ll do what we can from a greater distance.”
“Just be careful, Asha. I can’t lose her again.”
“I won’t let that happen, Zahn.”
Asha’s ship pulled up and headed back toward the eighth moon. On their way, they noticed that the flagship was no longer anywhere to be seen, so in the middle of her retreat she briefly moved the ship in front of one of the shafts before dashing away again. She knew it was risky, but she also knew that the information could prove crucial.
It did. Inside, she saw that the wormhole was now filling about half of the volume of the hollow sphere. From the readings, Asha was amazed to learn that the entire planet had been reduced to a mere shell, and she could see a superstructure on the inside surface of the sphere that was keeping it intact. All along the superstructure was a network of cones that had small points like needles protruding from them.
On the far end of the hollow sphere, she saw a glimpse of a massive black vessel that light itself seemed to fall into. She knew at once that it was the flagship Zahn had mentioned earlier, and it was heading to an opening on the other side of the planet.
Asha learned all of this once her ship was safely behind the moon. All of that information had been gathered in the split second she had dashed in front of the large opening.
“Zahn! The flagship is about to exit on the far side of the planet. Are you there?”
“Yes, but I don’t see it. I’m waiting for this shaft to open. I’m detecting a vessel right behind it, but it’s the only opening I’ve found on this side of the planet. I’m going to wait out of view of the shaft and keep my cloak intact as long as possible. Wait. It’s opening now.”
“We’ve got to go back to that opening,” Darshana said. “We’ve got to take the flagship by surprise. Zahn needs us.”
“When did you become a tactical officer?” Asha said.
“This will give Zahn a chance to launch the Tulari into the wormhole. Trust me.”
“And how are we supposed to hit the flagship? There’s a wormhole between us and it. Even if we could fire off a volley and escape before getting hit again—”
“Tell Yantrik to break off his attack,” Darshana interrupted. “He needs to get into position above that opening. Asha, remember the superstructure over the inner sphere that’s holding the planet together? He should be able to reflect his fire off of that inner sphere.”
“I’ll be there in under a minute,” Yantrik said over the comm.
“What?” Asha was stunned. “How did you hear us?”
“Darshana left the comm on, and I’m glad she did. That’s a pretty smart idea. In fact, I’m going to try it. I’m going to fire a volley at the superstructure at different angles. One of these shots has got to hit ‘em.”
“Be sure to take into account the wormhole’s gravity,” Darshana said.
“Already have.”
As Yantrik’s ship raced by the opening, he fired about a dozen shots into the massive hollow sphere. Just as Darshana had predicted, most of them bounced off of the inner surface of the sphere and a few headed toward the flagship which was halfway out of the planet now. Only a few would have a chance at impact.
But, to Yantrik's relief, one of the shots made contact.
“Great job, Yantrik!” Darshana said.
Back on the other side of the planet, Zahn was already in position, indirect of the shaft so that his cloak stayed intact. Navika detected a faint flash of an impact beyond the shaft, and Zahn knew that it was his opportunity
to open fire.
In moments, he got into firing range and launched two white-hot bolts of plasma toward the flagship, impacting on what Zahn guessed was the command pod of the ship, though the shape was so dark that he couldn’t be sure.
The ship returned fire toward his general direction, so he dashed back into an area above the planet that he knew was safe. Yet, as more sections of the crust opened up, Zahn had to focus more on where he was flying than where he was aiming.
Dozens of small fighters poured out of the shafts now, raining green plasma down upon him. A moment later, a section of the crust slid open under him, and he knew that his position had been revealed. With all of his focus, he evaded the oncoming wave of fire, pushing the ship’s impulse drive to its limits until, to his relief, the shaft under him closed a few seconds later.
But it wasn’t enough.
One of the green bolts of plasma impacted onto the ship, causing an alarm Zahn had never heard to sound throughout the cabin. The sound gave him a sinking feeling in his stomach.
“Somehow, that last bolt passed right through our shields.”
Now that Zahn had acclimated to the mindcap, they could have entire conversations in mere seconds now.
“The impulse drive has sustained a direct hit. I’m sorry. You must manually disable it.”
“What? Why?”
“The impulse drive is not responding to my attempts to restart it and is entering a cascade failure. Perhaps the combination of you pushing the impulse drive to its limits and the wormhole's exotic radiation signature created—”
“Stop theorizing! What do I have to do?”
“You must manually disable it within the next forty-two seconds, otherwise the impulse drive will implode from the inside, critically fracturing the hull and depressurizing the ship. I have created a lighted path along the wall to guide you.”
“What about evading the flagship?”
“Without the impulse drive, evasion is impossible. Go!”
Zahn got up and ran to the central node of the ship which was now filled with a thin white smoke. He coughed and felt lightheaded. Through the smoke, he could barely discern a series of glowing dots leading to one of the three rooms he hadn’t entered before. He stumbled over to it, and the door slid back.
Epic of Aravinda 1: The Truth Beyond the Sky Page 25
