by Trevor Gregg
“Chhhhhkscree ‘click’ ‘click’” Chk’thra said.
Translating, Sarwan relayed, “He says the signal is strong, we are getting close.”
Alis could barely contain her enthusiasm, so eager to finally see if the ship was intact. Sarwan had deployed the robotic arms on each side of the craft. She moved a large fragment aside revealing a large hollow space within the rubble. Within the void she could see the remains of a massive pre-millennium war battleship. It looked as if it had exploded from the inside out, the outer skin peeled back, scorched and melted to slag.
“Boris, take us around that wreck, let’s see what’s on the other side,” Gravos suggested.
Alis was literally on the edge of her seat as Boris maneuvered the Custodian around the massive hulk. And then she saw it. Her heart skipped a beat. The Ashari was intact! And she was the most beautiful spacecraft Alis had ever seen.
Four large cylindrical engines adorned the aft. She had sleek lines and sexy curves, and came to a dual point at the fore. Chromed and looking laser-resistant, her exterior skin gleamed in the Custodian’s lights. There was even a wicked looking cannon turret on the roof. Alis was in love.
As they approached, she could see the Ashari was still coupled to the battleship’s airlock by a docking tube. She had survived whatever blast had gutted the larger ship. Now they just had to get inside.
“Boris, line up our airlock with the port side of that ship,” Gravos said, then turned to Theo. “That is what you are after, isn’t it mate?”
Theo nodded and then spoke in low tones to Alis, “Your wrench can become a data core reader, right? We’ll need that to upload the codes to get in and take control of the ship.”
She nodded, her hand unconsciously resting on the wrench tucked in her belt. Boris lined up the two ships’ airlocks and extended the docking tube. Alis saw the status on Sarwan’s holopanel. The seal was established and atmosphere was being pumped in.
Gravos got up and made his way to the bridge exit. “Follow me, mates, let’s go knock on the door.”
They cycled through the Custodian’s airlock and strode down the docking tube to the Ashari’s airlock. Theo stepped forward and motioned for Alis. She stepped closer on shaking legs. Her anticipation was getting the better of her.
Steeling herself, she extracted her wrench from her belt and began to key in commands on the small control panel. The wrench began to clack and click as it reconfigured itself into a handheld datacore reader. Theo extracted the core and handed it to Alis. She inserted it into the circular hole and turned it clockwise, locking it in. A small control panel lit up then a larger holopanel appeared in the air above the device.
“Okay, I’ve got access to the data core’s structures,” Alis informed Theo.
She pulled some inductive electrodes from the underside of the device and attached them to the Ashari’s airlock control panel. Under Theo’s direction, she found the ship’s access codes in the data structure. With great trepidation she hit the send key and her wrench transmitted the entrance codes to the door’s control system.
The control panel flashed red, and Alis’ heart sank. The codes must have been changed. Or… maybe the door was locked from the inside, it might have a mechanical failsafe. She went to work at the holopanel, attempting to interpret data from the door’s control system.
“It seems this airlock has been mechanically sealed by a failsafe system that is isolated from the ship’s main network. We can’t get in,” she said, her heart heavy.
“Not necessarily,” replied Kyren. “Maybe the other side is unlocked. Let’s find a way through that battleship.”
Alis felt a surge of hope.
“Smart one, ya are,” Gravos said while they retreated into the Custodian.
As they entered the bridge Gravos instructed Boris, “find us a way into that wreck, get us as close to the deck that ship is docked as you can.”
33
The Ashari
Boris maneuvered the Custodian up and over the wreck, looking for a large enough entrance to accommodate them. Tipping the ship’s nose down, he entered a massive rend in the skin of the battleship vertically. Nudging the thrusters, he nimbly descended into the darkness, slotting into the space like a knife in a sheath.
“We’ve bottomed out, Captain,” Boris stated. “By my telemetry we’re three decks above the target.”
“Looks like you mates get to use your fancy spacesuits after all,” Gravos remarked.
Kyren was definitely beginning to buy into this whole Oracle business. Why else had Elarra insisted they buy spacesuits while on Zataxia station. They returned to their cabins and donned their suits. Kyren was quite happy with his. It was nearly skin tight, light and unrestrictive. So unlike the bulky, awkward suits he had worn aboard the Searcher.
He activated his helmet and it extended outward from the collar, coming over the top of his head, then sealing with a hiss. The tiny holopanel HUD came to life, its data indicating atmosphere levels, suit integrity, and a dozen other statistics.
“Captain Gravos, you don’t have to come with us. It could be dangerous in there,” Theo said as they entered the airlock.
“Of course I’m coming. Not only do I want to make sure you mates are okay, but I wanna see the inside of that ship too,” he responded enthusiastically. “Besides, I have this,” he said holding up a small silver cylinder with a handle on one end.
“Ooh, an airlock actuator,” Alis exclaimed. “We’ll need it if there are any sealed doors, it’ll power them enough to open and will bypass any locks.”
The airlock closed and Kyren watched his display as atmosphere levels dropped. It hit zero and the outer door slid open, revealing the wrecked interior of the ship, jagged metal struts, twisted deckplates, burned and melted metal. Directly across from the airlock was the entrance to one of the decks via a large hole in the bulkhead.
“Looks like we’ve got our back door, eh?” the Captain’s voice crackled over the radio. He stepped out into space and kicked on his suit’s thrusters for a brief moment, sailing slowly toward the opening.
Surprising him, Theo reached out and hit a button on the control panel embedded in Kyren’s suit’s forearm. Theo held up a finger indicating he should wait. Theo put his helmet against Kyren’s and yelled, “Gravos is going to be trouble, just be ready.”
Kyren nodded inside his helmet, then thumbed his radio back on and kicked out into space, goosing his jets and streaming toward the opening. At the last second he spun around and maxed his jets out for a short second, arresting his momentum. Spinning again, he flicked on the suit’s lights and entered the dark space.
The hall continued on and ended at a sealed door. They came to rest in front it after a short burn down the corridor. Gravos extracted his cylinder and slotted it into the receptacle below the control panel.
“And now for the moment of truth…” Gravos said dramatically, and turned the cylinder, locking it in. The panel lit up and went green, the door retracting into the wall as they watched. Gravos motioned for them to enter then extracted his cylinder.
Kyren’s HUD indicated they had been in their suits for just over twenty minutes by the time they discovered a stairwell. They descended three decks and made their way aft. Shortly after, they discovered the airlock.
Gravos inserted his cylinder and powered up the airlock doors. The inner door slid open and they entered the large airlock. Alis went to the panel on the outer door and examined it.
“There’s atmosphere in the docking tube, it looks like it stayed sealed through the destruction,” she revealed, hitting the panel’s open button.
The inner door sealed and the outer door opened. Atmosphere from the docking tube rushed into the vacuum inside the airlock, blowing Kyren back a few feet before he could stabilize himself. They sailed up the tube to the Ashari’s airlock, navigating the boundary between artificial gravity and zero g.
“Wow, the grav plates are still powered!” She exclaimed. Inspecting
the panel, Alis declared “It’s open!” and hit the button, revealing a small airlock chamber.
They entered and she cycled it, closing the outer door then opening the inner. Kyren’s HUD read green on atmosphere, so he opened his helmet. It retracted into the collar of his suit with several quiet clacks. The others followed his example. Kyren inhaled. The air was stale but breathable.
It was too late by the time Kyren realized Gravos had positioned himself behind Elarra. Before he could react, the Captain drew a small autopistol from a compartment on his spacesuit. He grabbed the Oracle around the neck and pointed the gun at them.
“Alright, ‘eres how this is going down. Sarwan, deploy the arms and prepare to tow the ship,” he said into his radio. “Old man, toss your blaster to me,” he demanded. “Then you lot are going to get off this ship.”
Theo gingerly extracted his blaster from his suit’s holster, flicking a furtive glance to Kyren, and tossed it toward Gravos. Kyren saw his opportunity, and launched himself at Gravos, grabbing for his gun hand. Concentrating on the blaster flying through the air toward him, Gravos was caught off guard by Kyren’s charge.
He barreled into the captain, driving him backward into the bulkhead, forcing him to release the Oracle in order to stay on his feet. Kyren grabbed Gravos’ wrist and attempted to wrest control of the pistol. Gravos pulled the trigger and the pistol barked a short burst of automatic fire, the report of the shots deafening in the confined space of the corridor.
Kyren slammed Gravos’ hand into the bulkhead and the pistol went flying. He delivered a wicked punch to the side of Kyren’s head, stunning him long enough to break free. Dropping to his knees he scooped up the pistol and brought it to bear on Kyren.
“Nice try, kid, but no one gets the drop on Captain Gravos,” he said cockily, just before Alis’ wrench, now configured as a sledgehammer, impacted with the back of his head.
34
Tertiary Interlude
The black triangular ship touched down in the field of tall green grass that was waving in the wind, at the entrance to the cluster of large buildings. A ramp extended and Tharox strode down. The servos in his cybernetic limbs clicked and whirred as he walked, striding into the shadows of the buildings. He scanned his surroundings but found the complex deserted. The blinking red light on the mind lash on the back of his head began to blink faster.
He continued down the shaded avenue making for the spire at the center of the small, empty city. He knew it was foolish to come here. He didn’t need physical proximity to the computer to communicate with it. The mind lash provided a direct mental link.
But somehow, this question required face to face interaction. That is, if you could call the Epsilon Computer’s central chamber its face. He reached the central spire and entered through a large door, crossing the expansive space and locating the stairway leading down. The stairway he had taken not so long ago, before he had been granted the power of vengeance.
Entering the central chamber, he strode to the catwalk and out over the central core. “Epsilon Computer!” he cried.
“I am here,” it said in his mind.
“Events have not come to pass as your prediction has shown. Why not?” he asked. “I was supposed to kill that rillian girl with my bare hands, but she got away, helped by a human man and a child. Who are they? Why was this rillian girl important?” he said, realizing he was rapid firing questions.
“Your future path was calculated based upon all known variables. Deviation is the result of an unknown variable,” it replied mechanically. “Analyzing recorded data.”
His head split in half and his brains poured out, or at least that is what it felt like. He screamed in agony as the computer rifled through his memories.
Three pictures swam in his mind, put there by the Computer, the rillian woman he had tried to kill, the human man with a wide jaw and tan skin, and the young human girl in a blue sun dress.
“What does that mean, what are unknown variables?” he questioned fervently.
“Unknown variables have no data associated, therefore future path is calculated without their influence,” was its vague explanation.
Trying to keep his frustration from taking over, he asked “what can be done about these unknown variables?”
“Unknown variables may be eliminated from the timeline to thus render the equations complete again,” was the mechanical response.
“But how can I kill them if I don’t know how to reach them?” he asked desperately.
“Reticulating splines… recalculating future path… sequence complete.” Computer said, and a flood of pain and images poured into Tharox’s mind. He saw his dragoon fleet wiping out a Consortium contingent. He saw himself aboard a massive space station, a great sphere composed of two massive city domes, melded together at their bases. And he saw himself killing them all with his bare hands.
35
Enemy Space
“Theo!” Elarra cried, dashing over to him.
Kyren made sure Gravos was down for the count and turned to see Theo slumped against the wall, blood pumping from several neat holes punched in the chest of his spacesuit. Coughing blood, he tried to stand but slid back down the wall, leaving a smear of blood.
Kneeling beside Theo, he placed his hands over the holes, attempting to staunch the bleeding with pressure. Theo grabbed his wrist and choked out “No, can’t save me…”
“Take… ‘cough cough’ data core, yours now,” he choked out. Reaching into a pouch, he extracted it and pushed it into Kyren’s hand.
“Nooooo!” Elarra cried, reaching out to touch Theo’s face gently.
He grabbed her hand and looked her in the eye. “…Love…” was all he could croak out before he expired. Elarra began to wail.
“Theo, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. I never saw this,” Elarra cried between sobs.
Kyren had no idea how to comfort her. So all he could do was attend to their current situation.
“Alis, do you think you can get this ship up and running?” Kyren asked, shoving the grief and horror down so he could focus on their predicament.
“Yeah, I can handle it. What about that piece of crap?” she asked, delivering a vicious kick to Gravos’ midsection.
“I’ll drag him back into the battleship’s airlock, he’ll be able to radio his crew to pick him up when he comes to,” Kyren said, punching the helmet close button on Gravos’ suit. Grabbing his suit by the shoulders, he hauled him to the Ashari’s airlock.
Navigating to the zero-g portion, he pushed Gravos harshly down the tube. He hit the closed door at the opposite end with a great clang. Good enough, he thought, closing the Ashari’s airlock.
As he re-entered the ship, he felt a jolt as the ship shook for a second, accompanied by two loud clunks. He made his way to the bridge, where Alis had settled into the helmsman station and Elarra was seated behind her and to the right.
There were three other stations arrayed around what was obviously the captain’s chair. Each station had physical controls and a floating holopanel as well. The entire surface of every wall was covered in seamless viewscreens, displaying camera angles from all over the ship, augmented by system telemetry readouts.
“Um, guys, I think we’ve got another problem. That felt like the Custodian’s arms locking on, I think,” he said while entering the bridge.
“Alright, I found the engine start sequence, firing up now,” Alis said enthusiastically.
There was a winding, whirring sound and then a continuous flat beep. “Shit!” Alis cried. “What the hell did I do wrong?” she said, her hands flying over the controls. She tried again and same result.
The ship jolted and there was a grinding, wrenching sound reverberating through the ship as the docking tube was torn from the side of the Ashari, as the Custodian began to drag her.
“Oh, that’s right, I need to prime the baryonic bypass compressor!” she exclaimed, initiating the engine start sequence again. This time, the winding sound ended
with a bang and a rumble as the thrusters ignited.
There was a bright flash in one of the viewscreens on the port side as a massive ship warped in nearly on top of them.
“Shit, Crevak battleship!” Alis exclaimed with horror.
It was the Crevak Tribe, an urnak battleship. It was a much, much larger twin to the urnak pirate vessel that had attacked the Searcher. It’s great black bulk bristled with spines, each ending in a weapon.
“Kyren, get to the weapons station, get our shields up. Elarra, see if you can figure out how to get us a jump solution. I know this is your first time, people, but we need to move now!” she encouraged.
Just as Kyren sat down there was several bright flashes in the viewscreens and from the top view screen on the ceiling. Kyren watched in horror as energy beams punched massive holes in the Custodian, sending debris flying off into space.
Alis hit the thrusters and the ship lurched, but failed to make any progress. The clamps at the end of the Custodian’s arms were still attached. The Ashari was still tethered.
“Kyren, we’re stuck to their ship, can you find a way to un-stick us?” Alis said, immediately turning her attention back to the helm.
Kyren had been panning through the weapons commands and found one for the main weapons turret, some sort of augmented beam cannon. He flipped the controls on and a joystick popped out of the console. The holopanel went into targeting mode and he realized he was looking through the turret on the roof.
More flashes and blasts of debris as the Crevak vessel unleashed another volley on the Custodian. Alis gave the thrusters another burst, but the ship failed to break free. Kyren spun the turret until he spotted one of the arms. He lined up and depressed the trigger.
