Hallowed Nebula

by Eddie R. Hicks

  “Thank you,” Sarpanit said. “You won’t regret this, I promise.”

  She floated up to the AI core, hoping the rest of the staff below assumed she was just going up to perform maintenance checks. Just like before with the Carl Sagan, Rivera pulled out from the walls the inner workings of the Gerard Kuiper’s EVE and transferred Sarpanit’s programming into it, overwriting its matrix and taking control.

  It was as if a heavy weight was removed off her head when the transfer had finished. Sarpanit was no longer in Rivera’s HNI, though she did leave behind a number of files. Data from the Carl Sagan. Rivera wasn’t sure if it was a parting gift or an error.

  Twenty minutes later, the ship’s EVE unit entered engineering, with its magnetic boots clinging it to the floor. The EVE looked up at the AI core where Rivera stood looking down at it and smiled at her. Normal EVEs don’t smile. After the smile, the EVE made its way up to the AI core, discreetly.

  “It worked?” Rivera asked.

  “Not completely,” Sarpanit said, now in her new android body. “The EVE AI of the ship remains active; you only took control of the android. I can’t connect with it.”

  “You might not have the programs needed,” Rivera said. “When the android models came out, they rolled out a new OS for it that could dual sync with the computers and android. The Carl Sagan’s EVE which you are based off, just had a hologram that was generated by the ship.”

  “This is still a step in the right direction.”

  “And will make this harder,” Rivera turned to the computer screen and looked to ensure the crew wasn’t watching the two. They weren’t. “I’m disabling the EVE for the ship, she’ll still be able to track our movement and report that she can’t control her physical unit. Of course, this is going to make things harder for us. We have to disable the ship from the inside out, rather than you taking control.”

  “Wait,” Sarpanit said, looking down at the drop to engineering. “Delay it for two minutes.”

  “That’s way too long; someone will know something isn’t right.”

  “And if you shut it down the second we make our escape; the crew may clue in.”

  The sound of the air recyclers accompanied them as they left engineering. Getting Nereid free was a priority, plus she was a psionic, her powers might come in handy for defense. After that it was escape. She didn’t get around to figuring that part out, and as it stood there was no time. Thinking on your feet was part of a spaceship engineer’s job description.

  Rivera and Sarpanit arrived at the habitat ring first and charged into the quarters nobody was supposed to enter, but she did anyway. Inside, they saw Nereid floating inside the aquarium-like tank. It was full of the goo that protects ships from the maelstrom’s clouds. Nereid was in a trance-like state, swimming within the goo, her body shimmered with purple ripples of psionic waves. EAD scans showed that the goo Nereid swam in was being pumped out of the pipes at the back of the aquarium, likely coating the exterior of the ship.

  “They must be using her powers to stimulate the goo and control it,” Rivera said, stepping closer to the aquarium.

  “You are indeed correct,” Sarpanit said. “This is how this ship arrived in the nebula according to the logs this EVE unit had. They kidnapped an Undine from Sirius and forced it to use the device until it died. That’s why they got stuck at the planet; they had no means of continuing their voyage, plus they were low on fuel.”

  “How did they enter the maelstrom in the first place?”

  Sarpanit faced the aquarium, giving Nereid’s body an inquisitive glare. “An existing vortex was found at the edge of Sirius and the Gerard Kuiper slipped through.”

  As Sarpanit spoke, Rivera’s hands and eyes searched for a shut off command to free Nereid. With her not controlling the goo might make the Gerard Kuiper vulnerable to the maelstrom. They’d be forced to return to normal space. It was a better escape plan than drifting through the maelstrom alone on a transport.

  “The Gerard Kuiper,” she continued. “Goaded the Draconians to appear after learning about the dragon songs from the Marduk Poniga and Undine. They sent false messages into the vortex claiming to know the location of the artifact on New Babylon.”

  Rivera paused in her search when she remembered the small silver artifact found on the hellish landscapes of New Babylon, outside its protective energy shields. Nereid had led them to it. She was able to sense it with her psionic powers. It was lost when the Dragon Maiden showed up to claim it.

  A haunting look spread on Rivera’s face as she faced the android next to her. “Alisha knew about it?”

  “Yes, because she ordered it unburied after it fell and left it on the high grounds as proof. When the Draconians returned to Sirius, Alisha ordered the Gerard Kuiper through the vortex. The fleet, in a rage, left the artifact to chase the Gerard Kuiper.”

  Giving the hell-like conditions outside New Babylon’s dome shields, seismic activity probably caused the artifact to be lost, only to come loose as the years went on until Nereid led them to its location. Whatever the artifact was made of was tough, having spent all those years in the heat, radiation, and volcanic chaos and retained its shiny luster.

  “Why would the crew help Alisha with crazy plans like that?”

  “The crew tried to form a mutiny after it arrived in orbit of the planet we found it at. To quell it, she lied and offered to take them back. Then ordered the EVE to shut down everyone’s cryo pods, but not revive them. Then went into stasis herself when she realized she’d be stuck.”

  Rivera stopped with the questions. She was getting off track. She needed to find a means to get Nereid out who continued to float inside of the aquarium full of the goo. Rivera began to wonder if the face Nereid had was the same as the Undine Alisha had captured and forced into the aquarium before it died.

  “Will Nereid die if we leave her, then?” Rivera asked, not that she had any plans to do so.

  “Probably not,” Sarpanit said. “Nereids are stronger than normal Undine. She might live, she might not.”

  “The EVE you took control of have anything in it about deactivating this?”

  “Still searching,” Sarpanit said, and then her eyes blinked twice. “Oh, well this is interesting. Turns out Alisha was obsessed with the Carl Sagan’s mission. She knew everything about it, and its disappearance was the reason why she demanded this ship to go to Sirius. She knew exactly what to look for when they arrived, Marduk-loyal Poniga. She also had Jainuzei smuggled aboard, that would explain the cryo pod with nonhuman DNA.”

  “Oh my god,” Rivera said as the third computer console in the room showed no means of giving her access to the aquarium.

  “Alisha and Jainuzei discovered something on New Babylon. It doesn’t say what, but when Alisha returned she had the tattoos, as you call them, over her body and then left with an Undine in captivity. Jainuzei wasn’t there; he stayed behind to search while she left seeking a way to Kur and found it via the maelstrom.”

  Kur, it was the destination the Draconian fleet was searching for, and apparently, the same for Alisha and Jainuzei. It would explain the growing fleet of bio-ships around the Imperial command ship they were escorting. Jainuzei stole the Kepler’s vortex key to continue Alisha and the Gerard Kuiper’s quest to Kur.

  Why there was a command ship following she couldn’t answer, and at that point, didn’t care. They needed a new plan and fast. They needed to get the ship back into normal space quickly and ideally far away from Kur. As far as Rivera could see, she stood as the one and only person that could prevent either faction from taking Kur.

  The pressure for her to end the situation intensified.

  Desperation kicked in. Rivera tried kicking the glass, it wouldn’t break, not even when she had Sarpanit with her newfound android strength punch and kick it. It was made from robust material, probably a transparent metal alloy.

  Sarpanit pulled all data pertaining to the aquarium’s functions and wirelessly transmitted it to Rivera’s HNI. S
he pulled up the files in her virtual vision, and with the guidance of her EAD scanner, Rivera found a maintenance hatch in the corridors outside the room. She had Sarpanit pull it open and they crawled inside. If they couldn’t stop the goo, plan B was to make the ship fall apart with critical system failures, starting with the small access panels Rivera opened and began cutting wires.

  When she went for a sixth panel, Sarpanit pulled back on her shoulders. “They are restarting the AI core,” she said.

  Rivera’s lips twisted. “That will bring it back online; they can use it to track us.”

  Going back to the AI core to shut it back down wasn’t an option. They had to finish up their internal sabotage of the ship’s systems while searching for the panel that controlled power to the aquarium Nereid was in.

  The clock was ticking.

  58 Karklosea

  Rezeki’s Rage

  Terran Alliance Fleet, Inside Imperial Command Ship, Dark Energy Maelstrom

  July 24, 2119, 07:25 SST (Sol Standard Time)

  Something wasn’t going according to plan.

  At least that’s what Karklosea’s guess was when she heard the footsteps of Imperial warriors and navy personnel run across the lower decks of the Rezeki’s Rage. There was a time in her past when she understood the Hashmedai language. But like all things, if you don’t utilize it enough, it fades away.

  Karklosea, Chevallier, and Avearan had spent the entirety of their time aboard the Rezeki’s Rage in its infirmary. The Taxah Hashmedai crew didn’t trust Karklosea and Chevallier outside of it. Avearan had finished a conversation with the leadership of the ship that hijacked it from Taxah via her wrist terminal. She reported that the Draconians had found the command ship and the Gerard Kuiper, and at the worst possible time. The Gerard Kuiper, according to what Avearan was told, was suffering major operational failures throughout.

  The Rezeki’s Rage, as with all ships part of the Terran alliance, inside the command ship, were put on alert and had their crews prep for combat with the dragons. Her suspicions that things weren’t going according to plan was right.

  “Avearan says now would be the time to act,” Chevallier translated for Karklosea.

  Karklosea glanced into the dimly lit and bitter cold corridors of the Rezeki’s Rage, noting that the number of Imperial personnel passing through them in a panic had reduced.

  She turned back to face Chevallier. “I agree,” Karklosea said. “These are the lower decks; all vital crew would have been called up to vital locations.”

  A sudden vibration made the ice-cold floor below rumble. Something struck the ship without its shields.

  “What’s happening?” Karklosea asked.

  Chevallier spoke with Avearan, who then checked her wrist terminal reporting back to Chevallier.

  “Avearan doesn’t know, and doesn’t have HNI like me,” Chevallier said. “The terminal has limited data too.”

  Imperial ship design didn’t change much from the last time Karklosea boarded and raided one. The upper decks during a time like this would be crawling with the ship’s crew attending to their duties. Lower decks held the barracks for warriors, guardians, riflemen, the medical team, and the brig. There was no need to have personnel that had no role to play in ship-wide operations on the upper decks.

  They left the infirmary, an easy task as Avearan was the only medical personnel aboard. The rest were in the brig along with the Rezeki’s Rage’s true crew and captain, a man named Peiun from what Karklosea was told. Chevallier took point, grinning at her new arm. It was the strongest weapon they had until they got armed. Karklosea’s psionic power, without her armor, was limited to telekinesis. It made her once again miss the old psionic sorcery she had when she was younger.

  Avearan used her wrist terminal to help guide them through the corridors, searching for the lockup room where Chevallier and Karklosea’s equipment was held. It was a long trek in the darkened corridors, at one point, Karklosea had to use her HNI’s night-vision mode. Hashmedai were the opposite of Radiance, they loved the dark and cold.

  She watched as Avearan and Chevallier stood before a large door, speaking in the English language, pointing at it. It wouldn’t open, not even when Avearan inputted a sequence of Hashmedai numbers on the door’s control panel. Chevallier pushed her back gently, clenched the fist on her new arm, and punched the door, each blow leaving a deep imprint of her fist.

  Chevallier’s blows against the door were followed up with loud bangs. They were loud enough to get unwanted Hashmedai attention from elsewhere on the deck. She had to hurry, someone wanted to know what the sounds were.

  Footsteps came from a distance. They grew louder as did the Hashmedai voices. Chevallier wasn’t finished punching a hole through the door. Karklosea kept her mind clear in preparation to push any unwanted guests back with telekinesis.

  A voice shouted. Karklosea looked ahead and saw two pairs of red glowing eyes in the dark corridor. They were spotted. She didn’t wait for them to act and extended her hands forward. One of the Hashmedai flew backward as a result, and the other fired a plasma rifle. It was both a good and bad thing. Good because Hashmedai gave rifles to those that were deemed too young and or weak to hold a sword, bad, because plasma could still vaporize unshielded targets, like them.

  The green bolts of light soared down the corridor, illuminating the dimly lit walls with its radiant colors. Dodging would be pointless, the Hashmedai fired with the intention to spray the narrow hall they stood in with plasma. She waited for her death. It never came.

  The plasma ended up crashing into a small dome-shaped lavender barrier Avearan’s powers created. They were safe for now, but not long, Avearan’s face cringed with agony. The simple act of using her powers to create the barrier to deflect plasma was too much. She lacked the implants needed for the job.

  Chevallier’s indestructible fist finished. A sizable hole was formed in the door, allowing her to pull on it, using the strength of her arm, forcing the door open. The three darted in as Karklosea sent another psionic push against the two Hashmedai, hurling them back. They’d be back on their feet soon. She and Chevallier needed to hurry and find their equipment.

  Karklosea found her redeemer first and promptly switched it to its rifle mode. She heard the two Hashmedai get back to their feet, and ensured her redeemer was aimed at the ripped-open doorway. Two pairs of glowing eyes attempted to enter, screaming with their plasma rifles in hand. Two shots of psionically charged plasma left Karklosea’s weapon and vaporized them.

  Karklosea and Chevallier slipped into their respective armor as quickly as they could. Word had to have gotten out that they were betraying the trust of the Terrans and their alliance with the SOM and Taxah Hashmedai.

  When they were fully re-equipped, they made their way to the brig. The guards there weren’t happy to see them storm in. Chevallier made it clear she didn’t care and sprayed the walls with Hashmedai blood with her rifle. Hopeful cheers roared from the holding cells, Captain Peiun and his loyal crew were brimming with excitement for their long-delayed rescue.

  Karklosea grimaced and took a step back while Chevallier and Avearan worked to deactivate the force fields. She had a hard time believing she was actually helping Hashmedai, the people that took her son away from her, the people that forced the Linl to give up their culture, in order to survive the Empire’s need to conquer them. It was even harder to accept the fact that Peiun, with his white hair, wild beard grown from his imprisonment, and pale skin, approached Karklosea first wanting to thank her.

  After the crew was free, Avearan and Chevallier worked as translators for the group. It was a complex task. Avearan could speak English and Hashmedai, but not Radiance. Chevallier couldn’t speak Radiance either but did speak Linl and English. Peiun spoke English and Hashmedai. In the end, it was Chevallier that had to tell Karklosea they needed to arm the newly freed crew.

  The Taxah Hashmedai that controlled the ship was all aware of the fiasco brewing in the lower decks by the
time the group left the brig. Karklosea, along with her newfound friends, didn’t walk to the Rezeki’s Rage’s bridge, they fought their way to it in close quarters combat within the corridors. A few warriors and guardians surrendered when they saw Peiun was ready to take back his ship, especially when they took back upper decks, engineering, and the bridge.

  Peiun holstered his plasma sword to his side and took back his captain’s chair, while what remained of the crew loyal to him returned to their duties, unfazed at the tall Templar from Radiance that helped make it happen.

  The view screen on the bridge displayed the vast nebula, upstaging the black and star-filled void of space behind it. The Rezeki’s Rage and the Terran alliance fleet was back in normal space, having left the confines of the command ship. Tachyon beams shot past the view screen at random. The Draconians followed the fleet into normal space.

  Peiun and his Hashmedai crew communicated frantically, trying to assess the situation, or so she assumed and hoped. Because, at that point, it was up to them to get the Rezeki’s Rage out of the situation safely, Karklosea had done what she could.

  “This is a fucking mess,” Chevallier said. “Draconians, Terran ships allied with the SOM, and Taxah Hashmedai . . . And one of these ships has Lisette aboard.”

  Karklosea sighed, and then winced at the cold mist that left her lips. “Why do I get the feeling we aren’t going to flee and let the dragons end this for us?”

  “We need to protect the ship with Lisette, get her off, and then we can go.”

  The Rezeki’s Rage was engaged in combat, unleashing the fury of its anti-capital ship plasma cannons at Draconian bio-ships when Chevallier’s wrist terminal beeped. Saressea’s hologram floated over her wrist when she picked up the call, and the two spoke in English.

  She found it odd that Saressea was able to reach Chevallier at a time and place like this. She should be in prison unless she was found not guilty. Even then, it didn’t explain her presence here. That was until Karklosea remembered the codes she surrendered to the Terrans. They wanted to know the location of a particular prison ferry in the Avalon system and the command to deactivate slave collars using her codes. Suddenly, Saressea’s presence made a bit more sense.