“What’s the situation,” Wakinyan intervened. He saw that his friend was visibly shaken and at a loss for thought.
“The colonist’s are under heavy attack by the Crimson Fleet. They’re at the edge of their system,” Randall reported and then swiftly displayed coordinates on the viewer. “Here’s their position,” he pointed out.
Wakinyan dashed to the navigator’s seat to size-up the situation. With his sure fingers, the man swiftly tapped the button images on the holographic screen of the navigational computer to display the quadrant of star systems that filled the gap between the Crazy Horse and the colonists. A band of red lights suddenly appeared, highlighting possible solar systems as halfway points. Each system was then zoomed in on in sequence by the computer and its properties listed. Wakinyan smiled as a particular one caught his eye. He then began to work out a plan—and a set of new coordinates.
“I’VE GOT CHILDREN ON BOARD, AND THEY’RE NOT ABOUT TO TAKE PRISONERS!” Tara’s voice echoed again in chilling fear.
Randall gritted his teeth in frustration. He did not know what to do, and regretfully had no answer for the woman.
Tara’s voice again sounded over the intercom, “WE CAN’T WAIT! THEY’LL KILL US ALL IN A FEW MINUTES! I’M DISPERSING THE FLEET! IT’S OUR ONLY CHANCE!”
“NARGIS, THIS IS DEPUTY COMMANDER WAKINYAN!” Richard forcefully interrupted. “MAKE A JUMP INTO HYPERSPACE TO TIBULA IN THE MAGNUS SOL SYSTEM! COORDINATES LEMA NINER-SEVEN BY ONE-FOUR-THREE BY TWO-FOUR-EIGHT! REPEAT! COORDINATES LEMA NINER-SEVEN BY ONE-FOUR-THREE BY TWO-FOUR-EIGHT! RUN TIME IS THREE HOURS SEVENTEEN MINUTES AND FIFTY-TWO SECONDS!”
The mention of the system’s name made Randall’s eyes bulge and mouth drop in shock. He grabbed Wakinyan by the arm and squeezed his muscles tightly. “Are you nuts!” he whispered into Wakinyan’s ear. “That’s Indra space!”
Richard momentarily shot Randall an annoyed look, but then broke away and continued his conversation with Tara. “Nargis, it will be harder for them to track you in hyperspace. And by that time, we’ll be there. I swear it!” Richard unquestionably promised.
For a minute, there was a brief pause, but then Tara’s voice answered a little more calm. “We’ll be waiting for you! Just hurry as fast as you can—please! Nargis, out!”
As the colonist fled into hyperspace, both senior officers on the bridge of the Crazy Horse took up counsel.
“Those colonists don’t have much of a chance!” Randall was angry in his opinion. “The odds are if the Earthers don’t destroy them, the Indra will!” he stated as a matter of fact.
“It’s better than no chance at all!” Wakinyan defended his decision. “Look, by having them jump to Magnus Sol, it will swing them in a course directly towards us. From our present position, we can make it there in a little bit over three hours. Hopefully, the Earthers will be a little reluctant about shooting up an Indra system. Besides, Tibula is a hot, magnetic star. There’s a good possibility that the radiation emissions and its magnetic field will block their sensors. Maybe the Earthers will even run into a few Indra warships. That will give the colonists—and us the time we need to get the hell out of there!”
Randall just shook his head. “And I thought flying through a volcano was crazy!”
Richard, however, was more philosophical. “Jim, we both know that war is nothing more than organized insanity. That’s why crazy works most of the time.”
“And when it doesn’t?”
Richard smiled, “Then none of us will live to tell about it. Besides—it will be a good day.”
Wakinyan’s words brought a quick smile to James’ face. Randall thought when Wakinyan moved on to a new ship that he would surely miss him.
Suddenly, the communications crewman turned to the two men. “Sir, incoming message from Captain Denko aboard the Nelson,” he announced.
“Put him on audio only,” Wakinyan ordered.
Richard cleared his lungs in a breath and then spoke, “What is it, Yuri?”
“Commander, I was listening in on the Ariana. You can’t be serious? We only have eight obsolete destroyers. How the hell are we expected to take on a whole modern battle fleet?” Yuri questioned.
“Correction, Captain, we have eight fully armed destroyers and the element of surprise. The Earthers won’t be expecting us—and that will make the difference. In any event, I am not leaving defenseless civilians to die in space. Am I clear?” Richard’s tone rang with his authority.
But Denko became enraged. “You crazy bastard! This is nothing more than a suicide mission and you know it! I’m not taking what’s left of my squadron in there to be slaughtered for a bunch of genetic freaks!”
Now it was Wakinyan’s turn to become enraged. “Captain Denko!” Richard’s mouth slowly snarled. “Both Commander Paladin and myself have promised these people that we will be there! And by Almighty God, the Martian fleet will arrive on time and on position! Whether it be with one ship—or eight, it does not matter! What will matter is that I will bring charges against any crewman for refusing to obey my orders—regardless of their rank! Any other comments, Captain?”
For a moment, Yuri thought over his response. “Yes, Sir!” he spat out. “Just one—go to hell!”
“You just better be there to see it!” Wakinyan spat back. “Have all ships change course to the Magnus Sol System and follow us in. Wakinyan, out!”
Denko’s head snapped to his first officer. “Do it!” his bitter voice ordered.
As though they were welded together, the eight Martian ships changed their course in unison and headed off into an uncertain destiny.
* * * * *
Chapter 17: Clash at Magnus Sol
Tibula, a giant magnetic star, bathed the Magnus Sol system in a powerfully charged corona that fluctuated eerily with a blinding white glow and a background tinted in an oscillating purple plasma vapor. Its size dwarfed that of the Earth’s sun by more than twenty times while its magnetic field engulfed and penetrated planets and moons that were unimaginatively distant.
Here, dust particles and hot gases were kept in a highly energized and volatile state, as they floated freely in hot patches of various bright colors of neon through the inner system. Beyond the floating auras was a veiled universe, cloaked in the dangers of the unexplained and unseen. For all knew that the mysterious Indra dwelled in this quadrant and trespassing into their space was considered foolhardy at best.
The Indra were beings of an ancient and solitary race, whose appearance was—unknown. A highly technically evolved culture, they neither sought contact, nor tolerated any intrusion upon their privacy. Over the millennia, many alien species sent ships to probe and explore the Indra’s worlds, but all vanished strangely without a trace. Only occasionally was a vague call of distress received. However, when rescue craft were quick to respond, not even the smallest trace of debris was found. For such reasons, this area was more than avoided. Not even warships from the mighty Galactic Union dared to venture here, and all this crossed Captain Tara Nargis’ mind as the Ariana and the small convoy of unarmed colonists ships materialized out of hyperspace next to the giant star.
It was a hair-raising experience as gigantic solar flares and prominences twisted and curled furiously away from the massive star and dangerously close to the small fleet, regardless that they had materialize well away from the corona and chromosphere of the star. Tara now understood why Wakinyan had chosen this system. It at least provided temporarily concealment for the colonist’s fleeing ships from the pursuing Earth forces. Yet, the woman prayed that the Martians would arrive sooner rather than later.
First Mate Martin Pearl, however, did not share Tara’s optimism about the agreement with the Martians. He had his doubts from the very beginning about them. Other “normals” had shunned, lied to, and used the mutants too many times before in the past. Why should the Martians be any different, he thought.
Still, he did not wa
nt to upset any of the others with his suspicions, and secretly hoped he was wrong. So he went about duties, neither voicing his uncertainty or negative opinions.
“Sensors show very erratic and high radiation readings,” he confirmed to Tara. “Even normal inter-ship transmissions have broken up, forcing us to rely on our Aldis Signaling Lamps for communications.”
“Good,” she was pleased with the news. “It means we’ll be harder to follow.” Take us around the other side and then deeper into the system. We’ll hold in an orbit around the first planet we come to.”
Martin nodded in agreement and set a new course.
In a gentle arc, the ships swung about the star and began to disappear around the far side. Just in time too, for pathfinder ships of the Crimson Fleet suddenly and without warning emerged out of hyperspace close where the colonists had first appeared. One unlucky pathfinder ship, however, came out near the chromosphere of Tibula at its apex just as a colossal coronal mass ejection (CME) shot out from a huge sunspot on the star. It broad-sided the vessel and the craft blew apart in a massive fireball, which even the colonists could detect with their sensors.
“CAPTAIN, A LARGE EXPLOSION NEAR THE TOP OF TIBULA!” the sensor crewman cried out. “IT LOOKS LIKE IT WAS A SHIP!”
“IT’S GOT TO BE THEM! THEY’VE TRACKING US!” another crewman shouted in near hysteria.
“QUIET!” yelled out Tara to stop a panic while she prepared herself to go into a hypnotic state.
After a few deep breaths Tara closed her eyes and went into a semi-trance. Slowly she extended her mind outward from the Ariana, beyond the star, and gently into the thoughts of the enemy.
For a short time, she dwelled among their racial hatred, their arrogance of superiority, and their lust for slaughter. The malevolence was staggering, but Tara was more incredulous at what was not there. The tiniest imprints of mercy and compassion were all gone. Instead, she felt a soulless vacuum descending into a bottomless pit that surged with an inexhaustible evil. Its unimaginable proportions were most terrifying to the woman, but still she remained seeking what she needed to know.
Finally, she pulled her mind back into her body and her own sheltered reality.
“It is the Earthers—but there’s too much interference for them. They can’t trace our ion trail,” she announced with guarded joy as she came out of her meditative state. “Martin, lay in a course directly away from them at flank speed, but keep that star in between us and them,” Tara commanded. “In the meantime, ready all distress markers and make it in the universal galactic code. Also, have all ships make-ready their hyper-drives again and prepare for dispersal.”
Martin said not a word as he followed her commands to the letter. However, sadness filled his eyes that could not be hidden, which conveyed the crushed hopes that abided within him.
Tara immediately knew what he thought and felt, finding her own feelings empathizing with his. As the woman slowly turned and looked about the bridge, a sensation of overwhelming despair flooded the atmosphere around her. She realized then that all were convinced of the hopelessness of the situation and that time—and possibly their lives were running out.
“Damn you, Wakinyan!” she cursed the Martian officer under her breath and near to tears as her hope began to failed too, “Damn you!”
* * * * *
It took more than twenty minutes before the entire Earth fleet managed a safe transition from the inter-dimensional continuum. After some confusion due to the effects of the magnetic star, all ships quickly reformed into their respective battle groups and waited for further orders.
“Report!” Selena ordered her second in command.
Trager took a deep breath in disgust. “Our pathfinder ships have confirmed that the dimensional disturbances left by the hyperspace travel of the colonist fleet ends with this system. However, the radiation and magnetic fields from the star have obliterated any ion trail generated by their space normal engines. It’s also making it extremely hard to scan as well. Several destroyer squadrons are now conducting a visual search of the system—but there is another problem,” he informed his superior.
“Such as?” Selena questioned.
“We are deep within Indra space. If we don’t find them soon, we risk being discovered—and a possible confrontation with the Indra. Since they are an isolated race, we don’t have much information about them. But we do know this, they don’t like invasion into their territory by other species—and have eliminated all who have attempted it,” Trager clearly pointed out.
Selena, however, was not impressed. “They haven’t met my battle fleet, yet!” her smugness was clear. “In any case, I don’t care who I have to crush to complete this mission! Continue with the operation!”
“As you wish, Admiral,” Trager conceded to Selena’s authority.
Selena settled back into her command chair and waited. Even though the minutes slowly passed, she knew it was only a question of time.
“SHIELD FOUR TO STEEL GODESS!” the expected call came from the captain of the Chirac. “WE HAVE THEM, ADMIRAL! WE HAVE THEM!”
* * * * *
The colonist’s raced through the system for their lives as an Earth destroyer squadron slowly began to over-take them. Tara kept an eye on the narrowing distance, praying for a miracle. But the last of her faith faded as her ships came within the range of the weapons of the blood-red fleet.
“CAPTAIN, THEY’RE POWERING UP THEIR WEAPONS!” the sensor crewman informed all on the bridge.
“DEPLOY ALL DISTRESS MARKERS!” Nargis yelled to Martin. “GIVE THE ORDER TO DISPERSE THE FLEET!” Tara realized that there was no time left.
Suddenly, a new threat appeared on her sensor screens.
“CAPTAIN, ALIEN SHIPS OFF THE STARBOARD QUARTER!” the sensor crewman screamed. “THEY’RE SCANNING US!”
“PUT THEM ON THE VIEWER!” Tara ordered Martin.
The viewer then came alive, displaying seven distinct vessels that looked similar to shapeless jellyfish. Each was followed by a track of pulsed clusters of ionized gas that was studded with sparkling beads of energy that fade within a few seconds. The energy, however, did not flow out from the ships themselves, but appeared some distance away as a trailing wash. Another oddity was a multitude of long and flowing thin appendages that surrounded the inner core of each ship and migrated in the direction of the bow. Each appendage ended in a rounded tip and glowed as a fiber optic cable would, emitting a laser light. The ships themselves were ghostly specters of brilliant white that seem to ripple and flutter to some invisible wind. Yet in their flowing, the vessels at times faded to a transparency that bordered on some trans-dimensional riff.
Tara stepped back in horror. “Oh my God,” her voice trailed to almost a whisper, “Indra!”
Ominously, the thin appendages of the alien ships began to point to the colonist ships as a spiral of green energy charged each tip into a growing ball of fire. Colonists close to portholes stared and screamed in alarm as the menace grew closer. Within a few minutes their outcries of fear setoff a general panic among both passengers and crews aboard each ship. Some fought to get to the few life pods available, while most waited for the end, their spirits completely broken in the misery of despair.
“CAPTAIN, ALL OUR SHIPS ARE BEING TARGETED BY THE ALIENS!” Martin bellowed.
“NO!” screamed Tara as her eyes suddenly became a starburst of illumination. In an instant, she threw out her hands—and a mental plea to stop the aliens from killing them.
Her thoughts and feelings traveled in an instant to illusive minds that were complex and vast. For in the dimly lit and dense fluid pressurized interiors of the Indra ships, the ancient beings perceived. Their floating octopod forms paused momentarily in communal thought and debated. After they finished, the extraterrestrial beings swiftly prepared to unleash the power of their weapons.
It was utter pandemonium on the colonist ships, as people shriek, cried, and prayed a
t the approach of the alien vessels. The appendages varied their aim from one colonist ship to another, their tips oscillating in an ever-increasing ball of energy.
* * * * *
The captain of the Chirac smirked as his sensors showed that the Indra were about to fire. He was happy to let them do his job for him. But amusement quickly turned to bewilderment, as the alien ships opened a large gap in their formation and let the colonist’s fleet pass unmolested. Bewilderment then translated into shock as part of his destroyer squadron suddenly dissolved into explosions and particles from the massive energy bolts discharged from the alien cruisers.
“TARGET THOSE SHIPS AND FIRE!” Captain Prues of the Chirac immediately ordered the remnants of his command.
The Earth ships swiftly deployed themselves into a skirmish line and returned a lethal barrage of fire. The accurate blasts from their weapons struck several of the Indra vessels in clear hits. However, the ghostly white specters just seemed to absorb the energy, which flowed across their skins and dissipated. The Indra then fired once again—and Destroyer Squadron Four of the Crimson Fleet ceased to exist.
The seven alien ships then stopped and held their formation in front of the Earth fleet. The energy balls at each tip of the Indra vessels grew menacingly bigger, and violently shimmer and threw off halos. To all that who witnessed the spectacle, the meaning was clear, the Crimson Fleet was to advance no further.
* * * * *
As Tara moved her ships deeper into the system, she was very grateful for the protection the colonists were being given. The aliens had conveyed their assurance to the woman that her charges would not be harmed. Unbeknownst to Tara, however, their decision was based solely upon the potential they saw within her alone.
Although Tara’s high intelligence and developing mental attributes counted in part for their judicious reasoning, it was the “essence” of the woman that had compelled the Indra to provide safe passage to the colonists from destruction by the red ships.
The Indra had scrutinized Tara by a wonder beyond known technology, where their space vessels that were living creations of biogenic silica and carbon merged temporarily with their own beings to become a single entity. Tara’s physical dynamics and DNA as well as the sum and substance of her soul impressed upon them a perception of an ascending race that was capable of much greatness and grandeur. It was well beyond the primitiveness of normal Homo sapiens and deserved a chance to flourish by offspring. Still, there was a great risk in allowing this.