Chapter 39
The trip back to the bridge was easy, none of the Callos fired at them. The door hissed open and Captain Barras stood at the helm. The crew of CLERGY 1 worked busily, shouting commands and typing at their consoles. Captain Barras turned to speak to Miles, Lalia and Garth:
“I assume you were responsible for stopping the weapon.” He guessed.
“Yes, Doctor Melric is dead and the weapon has been deactivated.” Miles answered as Garth handed the Captain the metallic case containing the trigger.
Lalia’s and Miles’ communication devices scratched:
“Report to the bridge immediately.” Terk’s voice rang over the speakers.
Several Callos officers poured into the bridge, looking for Acting Admiral Barras’ guidance.
“We have a problem.” Garth told Lalia and Miles under his breath.
After Terk approached Barras, the Acting Admiral began to speak:
“Over the past few weeks there have been warnings that have been ignored due to infighting; but now there is absolute certainty that an enemy vessel awaits for the Convoy beyond Phlasia.” Barras announced.
A few of the Callos soldiers and crew exclaimed, some began to cry slightly, the rest fell silent:
“The signature of the ominous vessel is comparable to a…” The Acting Admiral paused and took a breath, “A Yau Tang warship.” He rubbed his hands across his face.
The crowd started to murmur loudly, several of the female Callos openly wept. Lalia, Miles, and Garth remained silent in thought, waiting for commands.
“I called each of you because you were leaders, I am asking you not to panic. Please, together we can get through this.” He pleaded.
“Sir, the vessel is positioning it’s self in front of the Phlasian Portal; they are blocking our route of escape.” A Callos crew member called out.
Miles and Garth pushed through the crowd to Barras;
“What do we do?” Miles asked.
“Prepare for battle!” The Acting Admiral ordered, the crew began to frantically scurry.
“Miles, Garth, Lalia. Come with me.” Barras led them out from the bridge into a small office space, he stood behind his desk, Lalia closed the door behind her.
“This is undoubtedly a Yau Tang warship; they are waiting for us to make the first move.” The console at his desk beeped and an image was projected. “Apparently, also, they have pulse cannons capable of ripping through the Convoy already charged for attack. Several of our linguist analysts confirmed that they sent a declaration of war over short-wave communications; but it was ignored while we were dealing with Melric.” Barras explained.
“I have a plan.” Garth interjected.
“I need you to reequip the weapons to my shuttle.” Barras directed.
“Sir, I have an idea.” Garth repeated.
The room fell silent as CLERGY 1 turned from Phlasia towards the Phlasian Portal.
“Sir, we can use the Portal against the Yau Tang. If we can cripple their ship it should freefall into the portal; the velocity of the object that enters the portal determines the destination that the worm-hole spits it out.” Garth explained.
“Where did you learn this?” Barras asked doubtfully.
“Miles did.” Garth answered. They turned to Miles for an explanation.
“Yes. When I was transferred Braes’ memories I noted a discrepancy; the Aurrus and the Callos are on a different calendar by a century. The portal could effectively banish the Yau Tang in any variety of eras or galaxies.” Miles proposed.
“We just fought a miniature civil war, and we unequipped our shuttles, we are not in any position for war. Half of our population is planet-side harvesting; now they are panicking. I’m putting you three in charge, if you fail many lives will be lost in a confrontation; only CLERGY 1 has weaponry.” Barras explained.
“I will realign the front-facing cannons.” Garth volunteered, “Lalia and Miles; you should prepare the velocity coordinates.”
Lalia nodded her head in understanding; she turned to leave, pulling Miles by the crook of the arm. Barras stopped them:
“I owe you each an apology; I am sorry for all that you had to suffer.” He apologized, they continued out the door.
“Thank you for everything.” The Acting Admiral called out as the three left, then under his breath he prayed:
“Best of luck to you. Saviors of the Convoy.”
Garth ran past Miles and Lalia to the weapon’s bay;
“Meet you in the bridge in a few minutes.” He called, running past.
Lalia pushed Miles through a doorway, he caught himself from falling.
“What is your problem?” He shouted.
“Shh.” She hissed, “We need to act fast.” She started to type quickly at the console.
“What are you doing?” He asked, confused.
She spun in her seat to look him in the eyes:
“Do you want to go home? Yes or no.” She asked.
He remained silent.
“I think you can use the portal to go back home, before you destroyed it. With the proper velocity and adequate accounting for the dimensionality of space, of course.” She thought out loud as she worked with an equation on screen.
“Wait.” He stopped her, “You want to send me through the portal? Past the Yau Tang warship?”
“Yes. You can disable the warship with a pulse, then you fly a shuttle straight through to the portal. You save us and return home. Barras and Garth won’t let you try it; it needs to happen now. Before we are within cannon-firing range.” She explained.
“Are you sure this will work?” He asked her, breathing in deeply so that his body began to glow.
She didn’t answer.
“I trust you.” He told her. “How do I get there?”
“Make sure you’re wearing your shielding system and a survey suit. We’ll put you on a shuttle.” She directed. “Come on, let’s go.”
Lalia led Miles to the CLERGY 1 hanger, and ushered him up the ramp.
“The ship can pilot it’s self, but you may need to override the controls.” She explained, quickly pointing to a square red button, “From there the flight controls are inverted; up is down and down is up. You won’t be able to take a hit. So be quick.” She embraced him, hugging tightly. She whispered:
“I’ll see you on the other side.” Her deep blue eyes felt like hot embers to his heart, he recognized them. Fiery warmth spread through his body, providing courage and confidence.
“Time to go.” He told her.
She ran up the metal scaffolding to the command tower and opened the hanger. The ship’s engines roared and it lifted off of the platform and through the gaping doors, Miles was gone.
“Good bye. I’ll miss you.” She bid farewell, sealing the doors behind him.
A light flashed on the tower’s console; Garth knew what had happened.