"Nick, set a path to Tabby's location," I said. "Moyo, Perasti Tertiary, I promote you to fleet commander. Fight with honor and may your ancestors sharpen your claws."
"Do not forget about us," Moyo said.
I saw both fear and pride in her eyes as the colors of the world suddenly smeared, as if we'd slid forward in an impressionist painting.
I stumbled back, grabbing for my chair as my head spun. Just as suddenly, the effects of the jump cleared. I looked over to Nick, who was making gagging sounds and then proceeded to vomit onto his console. I thought he'd gotten over that particular reaction but apparently, he'd lost the knack of transitioning to fold-space.
"Frak," he grumbled, opening a cabinet and looking for something to clean his mouth.
Marny stepped toward him. "I've got you."
"Mr. Stolzman, just keep us in the center of that wave," I said. "I guarantee you don't want to get off the edge of it."
"I wasn't sure," Stolzman answered. "My research into fold-space suggested we would create a bubble and should make every attempt to keep it balanced."
"Glad you did your research," I said. "Tabby, you still there?"
"We're all here," she said. "But I'm going to need to ask my friends to stay behind. Ada, Sendrei, Jonathan. You can't come along on this one."
"I suppose you think you can sail this old girl by yourself?" Ada asked. "Remember, you've only got one arm that works and you're having trouble breathing."
"We will accompany her," Jonathan said. "She is right. This is not a journey you would return from and you must stay behind."
"Is that why you had us put on those fold-space engines?" Ada asked. "Did you know this was what was going to happen all along?"
"It was Master Anino who first proposed the idea," Jonathan said. "I am not at liberty to further discuss it, beyond the fact that there is no expectation any will survive."
"You’re willing to kill all fourteen hundred thirty-eight of you?" Sendrei asked. "That's not much of a trade."
"We will not perish," he said. "There is some possibility that we will remain trapped for a few years or even millennia, but we are a very resilient species. The fact is, you have little choice. Even now the tranquilizers within the dermal patches I've applied are taking effect. Don’t struggle. I've disabled your medical assistant so that you will sleep for a short period. I have so enjoyed your friendships. Be well."
"Tabby?" I asked. "What's going on?"
"I guess, since you put Ada in charge, we're having a mutiny," she said.
For some strange reason, I slept well during the four days we traveled in fold-space. I'd always been uneasy in the past, but this time I was relaxed. I suspected it had more to do with the fact that I would soon see Tabby. It was fitting that we would end things together. I'd been willing to sacrifice myself for the destruction of Kroerak for quite some time. It seemed apropos that Tabby and I would do it together.
"If you really think you're leaving us behind like Tabby did Ada and Sendrei," Marny said. "I'm telling you, you've got another think coming."
I chuckled. "Nope. Up to me, you'd head back to Kito and wait for the Kroerak to come in a few years, but I know better than that. No, I'm going to join Tabby and Jonathan on Intrepid, and you're likely going to follow us back to the Kroerak homeworld."
"You're awfully sanguine."
"I've just been getting really good sleep lately," I said. "There’s nothing I can do at this point but play things out."
"All hands, dropping from fold-space in five … four … three …" the AI informed.
I was happy to see that Nick held down his lunch this time. It was progress. A blip on the holo projector showed the presence of another ship. I wasn't a bit surprised to see it was Intrepid.
"Marny, the ship is yours," I said, pulling her into a hug. "Give it another thought. You really shouldn't follow us back."
"Not a chance, Cap," she said. "I've played that game before. Not going to happen."
"Fair enough," I said, moving over to Nick. "Nick, you're the best friend a person could ever ask for. It's been a real pleasure growing up with you."
"What are your odds, Liam?" Nick asked.
"No idea," I said, not even a little surprised that he'd likely figured out what was going on. "But I think it's our best chance."
"You want to explain it to me?" Marny asked. "I hate all this secret crap."
"Just have some guesses," Nick said. "I think Liam's not saying anything because he's afraid of tipping off Kroerak."
"You think they can hear us out here?" Marny asked, bewildered.
"I think you'd be surprised at their reach," I said. "Here's to reunions." I held my hand up for a high-five as I walked past. At the last moment, I moved my hand out of the way and allowed my arm to travel around and slap Marny on the butt.
"Seriously, Cap?" she asked, chuckling.
"I can die a happy man, now." I exited the bridge.
Flicking a tear from my cheek, more from the deep feeling of gratitude I had for my friends than any sense of my own mortality, I took the lift down to Deck Four and exited through the airlock closest to Intrepid. Feeling eyes on my back, I waved over my shoulder before sliding through the pressure barrier into Intrepid's aft hold. I was surprised to find Jonathan there with a full set of tools spread out on the floor. He seemed to be working on two torpedoes.
"Uh. Hi, Jonathan," I said, awkwardly. "What happened to your legs?" The lower half of Jonathan’s corporeal form was now a hyperalloy combat chassis endoskeleton.
"Spring force problem. We should allow Tabitha to explain what is happening," he said.
"Is that it?" I asked, pointing at the tarp-covered torpedoes.
"It is," they answered.
"Okay." I nodded and jogged forward and out of the hold. Intrepid had a weird feeling, like the lights weren't up fully in the hallways, or the air was stale, or … something. But then, it always felt weird to enter a ship that I'd flown before but no longer regularly used.
All thought ended when I saw Tabby floating in the hallway. I ran to her and stopped short. The glow of her eyes was beyond intense as she smiled and reached for me. "You came …"
"And you're doing that Lady of the Lake thing," I said. We'd enjoyed more than one rendition of Excalibur together. They all had a creepy, but helpful, mystical woman who floated and bad things tended to happen around her.
"Hug me," she said. "I thought I'd never see you again."
I embraced her and closed my eyes, trying desperately to ignore the feeling of hardened stone beneath the suit. "Does it hurt?" I asked.
"A little," she said. "Iskstar have children, Liam. Did you know that?"
"Like, in you?" I asked.
"Yes," she said. "For the first time in a very long time, they are working on a new child."
"That sounds very polyamorous," I said.
She chuckled, the sound bringing happiness to my heart. "It's different for them. But they have hope, Liam."
"You're okay with this?" I asked. "With us doing this?"
"Would you let me do it on my own?" she asked.
"No."
"I almost skipped stopping here," she said. "Jonathan talked me out of it."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm not really sure I need you for this next part," she said. "Jonathan convinced me you'd come for me, regardless. And if I fail, you'll be dead."
"He's right," I said. "I just had this conversation with Marny and Nick. Speaking of, we need to get going. They're going to try to beat us back."
"They have way too much mass," she said. "We’re already moving."
"We are? I didn't feel the transition to fold-space," I said.
"Iskstar use fold-space to communicate," she said. "They like our rings."
"Wildly unrelated ideas," I said.
"Not so. Iskstar take years to communicate incredibly complex emotions and ideas," she said. "Their communications are shared by all, as are their deaths. Our rings allow u
s to communicate individually. Even though there isn't much information, there's love. They like that."
I sighed. Somewhere along the way, my warrior princess had turned into Yoda. We had a few days and then we were going to simply crash land on the Kroerak homeworld, riding on the back of an Iskstar crystal, powered by a missile engine.
Tabby explained what she had learned about Iskstar. They were a peaceful and trusting species that desired connection with others. One of the first encounters they had was to join with a bug species on their home planet. Initially, like with the Piscivoru, it was a harmless interaction. But over long stretches of time, the bugs evolved into what would become the Kroerak. These bugs, who still carried a part of the Iskstar within, had developed an overwhelming need to consume and they spread like locusts on the galactic winds.
"You know Ada's going to be pissed," Tabby said.
"I slapped Marny's butt," I said. "You know … when I walked out."
"What'd that feel like?" Tabby asked, eyes boring into me. "I've always wanted to do it, but figured she'd pound me into the dirt."
"Had a glove on," I admitted. "It was kind of a thought that counts type of thing."
"Ada kissed me," Tabby confessed.
We were just about to enter local space next to the Kroerak homeworld, yet this was what we chose to talk about in our last moments.
"What's that about?" I asked. "If I'd known that, maybe I would have looked for an upgrade from Marny."
"Careful, sailor," Tabby warned, smiling. "I still have one good arm left. And it was everything and nothing. She was just telling me to return to her and somehow, I did. I can still feel it on my cheek."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah."
"We have arrived," Jonathan said. "Sensors have detected multiple small ships on intercept."
Jonathan had fashioned two chairs between the missiles. The Kroerak homeworld had no atmosphere and we'd impact the surface within a few minutes of taking off, accelerating to our deaths.
"You have returned," a voice in my head said. "We will give you entire worlds if you turn away now."
"I think they know we're here," I said. "Someone's talking to me."
"I can hear her too," Tabby said. "You're talking to an ancient one."
"Are you holding my friends in their ships?" I asked.
"I could kill them with a thought," she said, "but I have not done so. Simply speak your desire. I will deliver it to you."
My view changed and I suddenly saw Admiral Alderson standing on the bridge of the dreadnaught, Bukawana. He simply stood there, not like a statue, but relaxed, as if he were getting ready to bark out his next command. As I watched, blood poured from his nose and ears but still, he said nothing. My view shifted and ran to the rest of the bridge crew, still at their posts. They too had blood running from their eyes, noses, and ears.
"Treaty with me. You will live forever and the infants called humanity will be raised up as gods among the peoples of the universe. Fight me and watch as I destroy those you care for."
Again, my view changed and we were aboard another ship, looking at an admiral I recognized but whose name I couldn't bring to mind.
"Patch," Tabby said. Her voice sounded like it was a thousand kilometers away.
"What?" I asked, just as I felt a small prick on my neck.
"Only room for one, Love," Tabby said, sliding into the forward chair.
"May the genocide of the glorious Kroerak haunt you forever," intoned the disembodied voice of the Kroerak ancient. "Let the time of humans begin. Such is the nature of the universe."
"Judgment comes to us all," I murmured as I slid down the wall to the deck and thumbed my ring a final time.
It was through blurry eyes that I watched the missile streak toward the planet’s surface. I considered feeling betrayed, but I would have done the same to Tabby under the circumstances. She'd given me a final gift of the last three days and all I felt now was gratitude.
It was almost anti-climactic when the missile disappeared and crashed into the planet. Its surface crystalized into a brilliant blue mass, spidering out from the point of impact, speeding up geometrically as Iskstar took more and more area, faster and faster, finally enveloping the entire planet.
Tears streamed down my face as I felt the loss of my best friend. For a long while, I found I either could not or had no desire to move.
Chapter 23
Breaking Free
"Cap, you've got to get up," Marny said. She'd wrapped her fingers around my upper arm and was attempting to pull me from the deck where I lay.
My mind was foggy and I couldn't quite figure out how she'd come to be on Intrepid. From my best recollection, Hornblower should have been three days behind us. Looking around Marny, I saw the planet that had once been the homeworld of the Kroerak, sparkling the brilliant blue of Iskstar.
"You sure made it here fast," I said, coughing, as my throat was dry. An overwhelming desire for something to drink struck me about the same time a whiff of body odor escaped my grav-suit. That was odd. My suit-liner should have kept me fresh for several days.
"Ten days, Cap," Marny said.
"Ten days, what?" I asked.
"It's been ten days since I last saw you. If I understand correctly, you've been lying on this deck that whole time, with Jonathan doing what they can to keep you alive. The rest of us have been rounding up and putting down the Kroerak fleet ever since they lost contact with their home planet," she said. "Other than that, we've been running rescue missions. Jonathan said you all were managing, although I'm not sure I completely buy his analysis. This was the first chance we had to get back to you."
I accepted her help in getting up and checked my HUD for status. An orange alert warned of stress to my suit's biological systems. I stumbled as I tried to move past Marny and she caught me before I fell.
"I've got it," I said, engaging my grav-suit to provide buoyancy. "What's our status?"
"Confederation Fleet is assembling," Marny said. "They'll be leaving system within twelve hours. Two-thirds of the Mars Protectorate fleet have already left. You should know, though. Everyone on Bukunawa was dead, including Alderson. We found a second ship like this."
"The Kroerak?" I asked, although I thought I knew the answer, even though it was more of a feeling than direct knowledge.
"Sir, if I might," Jonathan said, floating into view in his egg-shaped vessel.
"Please."
"We believe you were watching as Tabitha Masters directed the mother crystal found on Mendari to the planet surface below. You no doubt saw the planet's transformation," he said. "It was shortly after this moment that you became less responsive."
"Less responsive?"
"Correct," he said. "You entered some sort of fugue state, neither conscious nor unconscious. It was during this time that the Iskstar left your body and joined with the mother crystal on the planet below."
"Wait, my eyes. Are they glowing?" I asked.
"Negative, Cap," Marny said, handing me a water pouch which I greedily consumed. "Maybe we can walk and talk. I can smell your suit from here."
"Yeah, good idea," I said. The water only served to remind me just how hungry I was, although nothing overrode the desire to free myself from my suit.
"We have learned that Iskstar communicate using fold-space," Jonathan said. "This communication is more than just messages, however. They appear to be capable of moving the conscious state as well."
"Not sure why that matters," I said.
"Liam!" Ada yelped, as Marny and I made it around the corner. She was coming from the direction of the forward airlock and I suspected she'd just arrived onboard.
"The mother crystal delivered to the planet's surface would have been insufficient for the transformation we've observed," Jonathan said. "We believe we are witnessing a mass assembly of Iskstar, possibly the entire species, as it comes from the very edges of the great expansion of space."
Ada caught and pulled me into a hug, her
wrinkled nose the only indicator of my condition. Jonathan's mention of the crystal being delivered reminded me of something that hadn’t penetrated to this point. Tabby had guided the crystal to the planet and known full well she would die in the process. The weight of that knowledge struck me like the weight of a mountain and I sagged against Ada.
"Tabby." I whispered, my throat closing.
"We found her body, Liam," Ada said. "She’s on the planet."
"I need to see her," I said.
"Of course," Ada answered. "But you'll shower first."
"The Kroerak," I said. "What about the fleet?"
"Shower," Marny said, nodding sternly at the entrance to my quarters. "We'll fill you in while you're cleaning up." Any other time and I'd have had a smart response, but I had nothing.
"As we've discussed, Kroerak warships require the command of a noble," Jonathan said, as I worked to remove my grav-suit.
The smell wasn't as bad as I'd feared, but I was happy to get the first layer off. I set the suit onto the feed for the suit-freshener and then started removing my suit-liner.
"What we did not realize is that Kroerak nobles receive much of their executive function from higher-ranked Kroerak."
"That doesn't explain what we've seen: the total collapse of the Kroerak fleet," Marny said. "It's like they forgot how to sail their ships. According to Mshindi Prime, more of the Kroerak fleet was destroyed by friendly fire and collisions than by Confederation fire. When the opposing fleets actually came in contact with each other, it was a slaughter."
"Mshindi Prime?" I asked. "I thought Thunder Awakes was destroyed."
"Mshindi's bridge was armored," Marny said. "She and her bridge crew survived."
"That's good. Now turn away," I said, peeling off the remainder of my suit-liner. The hot water from the shower felt good, but the sadness I felt at losing Tabby made me want to tell everyone to leave. I desperately wanted to crawl under my covers and hide.
"The Kroerak nobles appear to have been incapable of functioning without their superiors," Jonathan said. "We believe the executive function provided by Kroerak hierarchy was considerably stronger than is found in human chains of command. It does not appear this was an optional …"
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