by Ken Lozito
"They just took him away to the doctor's station. What's this about?" General Sheridan asked, sounding slightly annoyed.
"We just saw the news broadcast where he collapsed. Tell me, is he muttering something that might sound incoherent? Does he have abnormal vitals?" Ed asked.
"How should I know? They just took him away. He's in good hands. I've got a lot on my plate right now and I can't do this with you," General Sheridan said.
"Bill, please wait. This is important. I wouldn't have called you like this if it weren't," Ed said.
General Sheridan didn't reply, but Ed could hear people speaking as the general approached them. "I need Hunsicker's status, now," Sheridan said.
Ed glanced at Iris and muted his line to Sheridan. "Iris, I need you to bring up the remote-viewer protocols used in project Stargate. I need to send a briefing up to the ECF ASAP."
"Are you still there? Did you hear what the doctor said?" General Sheridan asked.
Ed closed his eyes for a moment. "Yeah, I heard it. Listen to me very carefully. Don't let the doctors do anything to him. You need to record everything he does, everything he says. Is his heart rate elevated?" Ed asked.
He heard Sheridan repeat the question to the doctor. "Yeah, Ed, it's really high and they're concerned about it. They're about to give him medicine to bring it down."
"No! Don't do that. I think he's getting a message."
"A message?" General Sheridan said in disbelief. "What kind of message?"
"Are there any Boxans with you? They can confirm it, but I think he's being contacted like our remote viewers were in the Project Stargate Program back in the eighties. Just make sure we don't interfere with it," Ed said.
"Michael Hunsicker doesn't have this ability. Why would a message even come to him?" General Sheridan asked.
"I don't know, Bill, but you need to trust me. Someone’s trying to communicate with us, and they were able to get past the Star Shroud shield. Is the shield still up?" Ed asked.
There was a moment of silence before Sheridan answered. "All shroud monitoring devices report as active. The shield is still up."
Ed blew out a breath of relief. "That's good. I'm going to send the remote-viewer protocols we used with Project Stargate, along with the videos of those viewers receiving the previous messages. They recorded everything and were able to disseminate a message from what the reviewers were saying. There were even hidden messages within their vital signs, fluttering of the eyes, twitching of the fingers. It goes on and on. You need to record everything right now."
General Sheridan said he would and closed the line.
Ed rolled his shoulders and blew out a long breath. "Did you send that data to the ECF?"
"Sent and received," Iris confirmed. "Good catch. I would've missed that completely."
Ed brought his hands to the top of his head and arched his back, stretching his muscles. He pressed his lips together. "This isn't good. That news broadcast was nationally televised, correct?"
Iris frowned and then nodded. "You look worried. I would've thought you'd be happy that we received the message at all."
"I'm concerned about the message, but I'm more concerned that the message was received during a public broadcast—meaning we're not the only ones to realize that a Mardoxian message has been received by the ECF," Ed said.
Iris pursed her lips in thought. "You think the Xiiginns are going to find out about this? Ed, it looks like Hunsicker just collapsed. Even the media is saying it's some kind of illness."
Ed shook his head. "We can't trust the media. They’re too busy trying to be seen rather than providing intelligent content. It's been that way for over twenty years, probably even more so now. No, if I saw it, there isn't a doubt in my mind that the Xiiginns will notice it. They're going to know we've been contacted by Boxans outside the shield."
Ed paced back and forth for a minute while he considered the possibilities. What could have happened that the Boxans would try to contact them now? "We can't wait for Sheridan. We need a resource on that base to give us the details about Michael Hunsicker."
"What happened to playing well with others?" Iris asked with a knowing smile.
"We still are, but I need to know what's in that message. They wouldn't contact us if it weren't important. Once the Xiiginns realize that a message has been received, they're going to want to know what's in it, too," Ed said.
Iris returned to her console and began working. She glanced over at him. "You could go up to the base yourself."
Ed snorted. "You trying to get rid of me?"
A small smile tugged at the edges of Iris's full lips. "I thought maybe you'd like to be present on the scene."
Ed considered it for a moment and shook his head. "No, I don't need to be there. I just need to know what's going on. This might actually work out for us, now that I've had a chance to think about it."
Iris's gaze narrowed suspiciously. "What do you mean?"
"Whatever’s in that message, the Xiiginns will likely expedite their timeline, which means they might make mistakes. I think we can help them along with that, perhaps entice them by making an offer they can't refuse," Ed said.
Chapter Twelve
Michael lay in a bed that felt as if it would swallow him up. He tried to turn his head, but he might as well have tried to push a Mack truck with just his neck muscles. He heard a distinct clearing of the throat that was decidedly feminine in tone and opened his eyes to a dimly lit room. He couldn't tell who was in the room with him.
"You just couldn't stand not being the center of the attention. Isn't that right, Mr. Hunsicker?"
"Alyssa, is that you?" Michael asked. He felt like he had massive weights slowing down his brain.
"Who else would it be?" Alyssa said and grasped his hand, giving it a firm squeeze.
Michael worked his jaw into a swallow and drew in a deep breath. "What happened?"
"You've been out of it for three days. What do you remember?" Alyssa asked.
Michael winced from the pain in his head. It hurt just to think. "Three . . . days," he muttered.
"Take your time," Alyssa said. "I'm going to raise the bed so you're sitting up more. Tell me if this bothers you."
Michael clenched his teeth in anticipation of more pain. His body ached as if he'd just run a marathon, but the bed pushed him upright and some of the fog seemed to lift. He saw the soft contours of Alyssa's face and tried to smile.
"Stop trying to smile at me, you idiot. You really scared the hell out of me," Alyssa said.
"Sorry," Michael said. "Thanks for keeping the lights turned down low."
"You can thank Edward Johnson for that. Somehow he reached General Sheridan's emergency line and told us what he suspected was happening to you," Alyssa said.
"What happened to me?"
Alyssa's eyebrows pulled together in a concerned frown. "You really don't know?"
"It hurts just to think, Allie."
"Indeed, the information sent up by Ed warned it might take you a little while to catch up with what happened," Alyssa said. "Don't give me that look; I'm going to tell you. You and a couple of other people nearby were contacted through Mardoxian means. That's how Chazen explained it."
Michael blew a breath and felt his mind clear even further, as if he were waking from a very long sleep. "I'm not a viewer."
"No, you're not, but the other two are. You remember them: Alicia Murphy and Blake Allen. They're not doing much better than you, but according to the Boxans, you bore the brunt of it," Alyssa said.
Michael squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, and a pair of startlingly blue eyes appeared in his mind’s eye. He chased after the memory, but it fled away from him. Michael pushed harder and snatched the knowledge from the gloom. He opened his eyes and looked at Alyssa. "My god, it was Kaylan! Somehow, she did this."
Alyssa nodded as if she had expected that answer. "Can you remember anything else?"
Michael looked away from her and tried to concentrate. "A
warning. The shield—" A sharp pain lanced across his brain and he felt as if his head were in a vise. "It hurts!" he cried out.
He felt Alyssa's hands on his head, gently massaging his temples and working her way to the base of his skull. The pain lessened.
"Okay, that's enough. Just close your eyes and try to sleep a little more. I'll be right here," Alyssa said.
Michael had a notion to protest for the briefest of moments, but he didn't want to move. He didn't even want to think anymore. He just wanted to lie there and breathe. He focused his breathing and felt himself lured back into a restful sleep, far away from the pain in his skull but for a thought that skirted the edge of his mind. Kaylan had reached out to him somehow. When he tried to focus on the warning, the pain in his skull returned, so he stopped thinking about it. His body was warning him that he wasn't ready.
He woke sometime later and Alyssa was there, urging him to go back to sleep. He needed more time, she insisted, and who was he to argue?
The next time Michael woke up he felt much better. The hundreds of jackhammers in his head had ceased their assault and he could think clearly. The lights were on in his room and it didn't feel like somebody was stabbing his eyes. The doctors had formulated a cocktail to give him, which was based on the recommendation from Edward Johnson that came from the Dux Corp data archives. It was how they’d helped viewers cope with the previous Boxan warning.
He had just finished his breakfast and was dressing himself when Alyssa walked into his room. She regarded him with all the scrutiny of a mother hen monitoring her chicks. "We can delay this meeting if you need more time."
Michael's shoulders and back muscles were still sore, but the doctors had assured him that it would just take a little more time. They’d been able to almost completely alleviate his concussion-like symptoms. There was only one other time in his life when his head had felt like his brain had been swished up in a blender, and that had been when he'd played football in high school.
"I need to be there in case I remember something else. I think that's worth a little discomfort," Michael said.
Alyssa rolled her eyes but didn't press the matter further. She wouldn't lie in a bed recovering when there was work to be done, and neither would he. They left his room to find two ECF soldiers waiting outside.
"General Sheridan's orders," Alyssa said.
Michael gave a nod to the soldiers and walked down the corridor. Fifteen minutes later they met up with General Sheridan and his staff, including Kyle Matthews, in a conference room near the command center. Michael glanced around the room and noticed that there weren't any Boxans in attendance.
General Sheridan waved them over to where he and Kyle were sitting. Sheridan asked how he was feeling, and Michael told him he was fit for duty.
"Why are there no Boxans here? I thought they usually had at least one representative here," Michael asked.
The Boxans were rarely far from the command center and different operation centers throughout the base.
"They’re discussing the contents of the message you received," General Sheridan said.
Michael had watched a video feed of what happened to him and the subsequent days that followed. Parts of Kaylan's message were clear and easily understood, but there was something else that not even Michael could make heads or tails of.
"Have you remembered anything else?" General Sheridan asked.
Michael's memory of the message was strange, almost as if he could hear echoes of Kaylan's voice coming down a long tunnel. "I think you've captured everything, and if anything, my memory reconfirms what I already said." He looked away for a moment. "You'll have to forgive me, General, but this is extremely strange."
A short man in an ECF uniform leaned forward and cleared his throat. "Don't try to force the memories. You might gain new insights as time goes on," Blake said.
Michael recognized the man as being part of a classified group within the ECF for those with the Mardoxian potential. "The part of the message that is very clear is that the Confederation’s putting together an armada and they’re going to attack us here. They believe that with enough firepower they can cause the shield to fail, even if it has to constrict enough to cause planetary realignment."
General Sheridan nodded. "We knew the shield was constricting, which we think is due to the power requirements for maintaining the shield. So the message reiterates some of our concerns. The closest planet to the shield is Neptune, and I have a room full of astrophysicists trying to come up with theories of what would happen if that entire planet was suddenly pushed from its orbit. I've seen some of the early mockups—worst-case scenario stuff—and it's enough to make me sick."
Michael knew that the outer solar system planets were quite far from Earth, but not since the early life of the solar system had the planetary orbits been put into disarray. The real danger was if a planet like Neptune or Saturn was suddenly pushed into Jupiter's orbit, which had up till now provided stability in the entire solar system as its largest planet. The technology behind the Star Shroud shield was something that could affect these planets. Even the Boxans were of the opinion that there was a strong probability the danger was quite real, even when considering the vast distances between the planets.
"I do remember something that seems like a foreign language. I don't understand what it means though," Michael said.
"The Boxans are working with our scientists on that part. They believe they’re some kind of instructions for the Star Shroud devices. Perhaps even a way to disable them," Colonel Matthews said.
The doors to the conference room opened and Chazen and Scraanyx walked in. The loud thuds of their footsteps pounded the floor with a sense of finality. They were grim-faced and carried with them an aura of severity. Chazen glanced over at Michael and gave him a nod.
"General Sheridan," Scraanyx said and brought his fist across his heart. "We have a formal request to make of the ECF in light of the Mardoxian message. I thought it best to bring it to you straight away."
General Sheridan regarded the Boxan for a few moments. "Let's hear it," he said finally.
"We would like to return to our colony," Scraanyx said and paused for a moment. "The Mardoxian message revealed that an alliance has been made between Boxans and a species called the Nershals, among a few others. They are planning to attack the Confederation Armada. Such a thing is unprecedented in our war with the Xiiginn, and we believe this battle will forever affect the fate of our species. We would like to fight at their side when they do."
"There's still the matter of the Star Shroud shield," General Sheridan replied.
"We understand that, and we're working hard to ensure that the message is deciphered as accurately as possible," Scraanyx said.
Michael's shoulders tightened. If General Sheridan denied the request, he had no idea what the Boxans would do. They could just take whatever ships they had left and try to bring down the shield, forcing the ECF into facing the harsh reality of defending the solar system.
Scraanyx held up one of his hands. "We understand this is not a request that should be handled lightly. You will no doubt need to consult with your United Nations. We want you to have time to consider it fully and continue to engage us with any questions you might have. We will, in turn, continue our ongoing efforts to assist you."
General Sheridan stood up. "Thank you for your understanding and for giving us time. We owe a great deal to you, and that’s something I will never forget."
Scraanyx and Chazen left the conference room, and an uneasy, tense silence settled in the Boxans’ wake. No one dared to break it.
"Look sharp, people," General Sheridan said. "Things have just gotten more complicated, but we still have a job to do."
If more of an understatement could be voiced, Michael couldn't think of what it would be. They had their work cut out for them, and on top of that, all the Boxans wanted to go home. The ECF did have ships that were, in theory, capable of making the journey, though they were untested and
there was the Star Shroud shield to contend with. Michael glanced at General Sheridan, who seemed to draw the eyes of all those in the room. While the Boxans someday leaving them had always been a probability, no one had thought it would come this quickly. Were they ready to defend Earth from invasion? Michael glanced at Colonel Matthews, whose face was a mask of determination. No doubt, he was working out what actions he would need to take to deal with this latest threat. The Mardoxian message was a wake-up call for the Earth Coalition Force and for humanity.
Chapter Thirteen
Zack stopped at an alcove in the corridor of the Boxan ship. He needed to look at something before he headed to the medical bay where Kaylan, Ma'jasalax, and Valkra had all been resting for several days. After multiple failed attempts to send a message to Earth, Kaylan had requested that they return to Earth’s solar system. The heavy cruiser didn't have any windows because it was a warship, but Zack was able to bring up a view of the solar system on one of the wallscreens.
He hadn't been this close to home since he'd activated the Star Shroud shield. At that time, two Boxan Dreadnoughts were holding the line against the Xiiginn fleet, and his mind flashed back to the bridge of the Athena. They’d all watched in horror as the Xiiginn fleet managed to begin pushing their way through the behemoth Boxan warships. Zack had done the only thing he could think of, and even then he'd relied on Athena to help him.
The wallscreen showed an image of the solar system with the sun gleaming like a lonely beacon amidst a celestial backdrop. Kaylan had insisted on coming here a few days earlier for one final effort to send a message to Earth. He didn't know whether proximity really played a role in what Kaylan had been able to do. A million miles was a million miles in his mind, and even though they were in the area known as the Oort cloud, they were still significantly far from Earth.
He and Gaarokk had monitored the Mardoxian chamber while Kaylan, Ma'jasalax, and Valkra went inside to try a method of communication that even the Boxans had serious reservations about. They had been in there for hours, and when the chamber finally opened, all three of them were unconscious. They were moved to the medical bay and Kladomaor ordered the ship to stay in the area and monitor the shield. They hadn't been sure if the message had been sent until Kaylan woke up. She'd been the first to regain consciousness and she told them that she’d been able to reach Michael Hunsicker. They’d loitered in the area for another two days and were about to head back to the Nerva star system.
