Diaspora

would be symbolic of the union we are forming, between q’Chek and humans.”

  The ceremony was simple, dignified, and fairly quick. Once Kark’s body had been sent into the depths of space, the three remaining survivors ate and went to sleep without saying another word.

  After a few days, the food finally ran out, and the hunger was starting to set in.

  “Alright,” said Gray. “Now’s the time. I’ve set the pods to revive us when we’re one day out from Earth. I also recorded an automated message that explains that we’re in stasis, in case someone happens upon us before we’re revived. We’ll be in the pods for nearly forty days. When we are revived, we will be very weak at first. We’ll also be hungry, stiff and sore, and basically feel like we’d been hit by a shuttle. These things will keep us alive, but they weren’t designed to ride like a single good night’s sleep. We will feel it, and it will be pretty miserable. But we will survive.”

  “Very well,” said Spreck.

  “I am ready,” said the one-armed McKay.

  “Gentlemen, I’ll see you in the solar system,” said Gray.

  The two q’Chek stepped into the pods and Gray proceeded to hook up their life support attachments, then punched some buttons on the interface and watched as the hatches slowly closed down, sealing them in for the duration. He then climbed into his own pod and did the same procedure. Minutes later, he was asleep.

  ۞

  “I’m sorry, Joshua,” said Chief General Douglass. “The Global Council and the UEA cannot move forward with your proposal.”

  Captain Gray sat in an office at UEA headquarters in Houston.

  “What? Why?”

  “When your crew destroyed the entire q’Chek army, it opened a window of opportunity,” said Douglass. “It will take them years to rebuild their forces. Now is the time for us to act decisively. We’ve offered them the olive branch already, several times. They are implacable. They have been relentless, unreasonable, and bloodthirsty, and there’s no reason to believe that will change. They will not stop until every human is dead and the Earth is in their hands. Now, I appreciate that you’ve befriended this one q’Chek, the former leader of their army, but we cannot base our policy decisions on this one-off relationship and the word of an enemy. It is not in our best interests to believe that this Spreck character, as you call him, will be able to convince his entire species to call off the war and move to Mars instead. You said yourself that they’ve had their sights set on Earth for thousands of years – and your log indicates that even Spreck’s first officer was opposed to a peaceful resolution.”

  “With all due respect, Sir, you’re wrong. Spreck was willing to sacrifice that first officer – a man who’d served under him for years – so that this peace process could take place. He has significant clout with his people – he was, after all, their top general – not unlike yourself, Sir. And the UEA Science Directorate has confirmed that with McKay’s energy source modifications, the terraforming of Mars will work. Don’t you think it’s worth giving this a try? Imagine the lives we’ll save. Besides, the q’Chek would make good, strong allies, right next door on Mars. They could even help us defeat the Anglers.”

  “They’d be right next door until they got overcrowded and decided to get rid of us and move to Earth. You said yourself they see us as interlopers, that they think they have some kind of right to the solar system because they were here first. I just don’t trust them. They’ve killed many good soldiers these last seven years. Now that their defenses are down, we need to take the war to them and put an end to this once and for all.”

  “But Sir -”

  “The Council’s decision is final, Captain. You’ve served admirably and distinguished yourself in combat. You secured two very valuable prisoners. Go take some much-deserved time off.”

  “They’re not prisoners, they’re defectors! And this cannot end here. Not like this. There has to be another way. A better way.”

  “I’m sorry, Joshua.”

  ۞

  “We have to convince my people that you can convince your people to accept our peace plan,” said Gray. “Before it’s too late. My people are gearing up to launch their assault.”

  Gray had managed to get in to visit Spreck, who was being held in a comfortable, but high-security UEA containment cell.

  “But how, my friend?”

  Gray’s voice dropped to a whisper. “I have a plan. UEA captured a q’Chek war vessel a while back. They’ve been studying it, trying to learn your technology secrets. It’s one of your battle cruisers – the fast ones. If we can commandeer it, we could make it to your population transport ships long before UEA forces get there.”

  “And then I can convince the king to make peace,” said Spreck.

  “Exactly.”

  “How are you going to break me out and steal the ship?”

  “McKay.”

  Late that night, Gray smuggled in a standard scanner to McKay and had him use his engineering genius to configure the scanner to act as a skeleton key, able to break codes without a trace.

  “This should do what you need it to,” said McKay. Handing the altered scanner back to Gray. “I know I’ll only slow you down. Go now, and good luck.”

  Gray left McKay’s cell and made his way to Spreck’s, where he keyed his way in using the scanner. Spreck was ready for him, and they quickly headed out of the facility, to a ground transport. To fool the security cameras, Spreck wore a pair of magcuffs to appear as Gray’s prisoner.

  “Once we get out the gate, it’s about an hour drive to where they’re keeping the q’Chek ship. Here, cover yourself with this blanket and stay low until we’re clear of the guard house.”

  Since the breakout didn’t raise any alarms, it was a simple matter to get out of the compound and onto the open road. When they arrived at Area 12, Gray pulled up to the guard shack in full uniform, a stern look on his face.

  “Captain Joshua Gray,” said the surprised night guard. “You were skipper of the Magellan, weren’t you, Sir?”

  “I still am, soldier. She may have been destroyed, but they’re building a new one from the remains of the bridge. Now, I have business here and I can’t be late.”

  “Oh, of course, yes, Sir. I’ll open the gate, Sir.”

  Gray had made it past the hardest part. Now he just had to hope that the detention facility wouldn’t notice Spreck was missing and raise the alarm before they could get away with the q’Chek ship.

  They approached the hangar in which the ship was being stored, and two sentries stood each side of the door. When they saw Captain Gray coming, with a q’Chek at his side, they reached for their weapons. Before they could draw, Gray stunned them with the scanner.

  “Another little adjustment McKay made,” said Gray. “He learned that trick courtesy of Kark.”

  They slipped into the dark hangar and brought the lights up just enough to see.

  “The ship’s engines will require six minutes to initialize,” said Spreck. “However, the power grid can be brought online immediately, which will provide energy for the shield matrix. So, as soon as we’re inside, we can put up the forcefield, and even if they come for us before the engines are ready, they won’t be able to touch us.”

  “How far do the shields extend?” asked Gray.

  “They are adjustable. They can be set to hug the craft like a tight skin, or be expanded to about one hundred and fifty meters in all directions.”

  “Good,” said Gray. “I have an idea to aid our departure.”

  While the engines cycled, Spreck briefed Gray on the basic controls, so that they could fly the battle cruiser as a team. After a few minutes, they were set to go.

  Putting his exit strategy into action, Gray extended the shields to full size, blowing the building apart. As thousands of tiny bits of debris rained down, they took the ship up into the sky and headed for the upper atmosphere. They didn’t get far before a formation of UEA s
cramblers were in hot pursuit.

  “Avoid engagement,” said Gray. “I want us to outrun them. Even if they fire on us, we must not fire back.”

  “Understood,” said Spreck. “I’ll take us on a course they will have difficulty following.”

  At remarkable speed, Spreck piloted the vessel around the moon and then shot out away from the sun. As they reached the asteroid belt, Spreck took them on a wild ride, weaving in and out of the rocks at breakneck speed. He managed to lose all but one of the UEA ships.

  “We can’t shake this one,” said Gray.

  “If he continues to fire on this ship, he will eventually wear down the forcefield and rupture our hull,” said Spreck.

  Gray considered the situation thoughtfully.

  “Shields at thirty percent,” said Spreck. The ship vibrated violently again. “Twenty five percent.”

  Gray opened a comm amplitude. “This is Captain Joshua Gray of the q’Chek vessel to the UEA scrambler. Cease fire!”

  “This is Major James Largo. My orders are clear, Captain. The q’Chek vessel is not to leave the solar system. Return now, in one piece, or we’ll have to send out a salvage team to collect the pieces. Your choice.”

  “Major, you don’t understand. What’s happening here is bigger than your current orders. Stand down.”

  “Negative.” Largo broke the connection and resumed firing on the q’Chek ship.

  “Shields at twenty percent,” said Spreck. Another jolt. “Fifteen percent.” More violent