Chapter 10
Once Galactron had reached the space station Len Tarak, and repairs were underway, Gerran Marnax retired into his room to rest awhile. It was lonely here, with his family so far away, but at least it was possible to relax without the disturbances of battle reports and repairs updates. He and Marvis Harvey had been over the results of the battle several times now, and then they had studied a dozen possible scenarios for the battle they knew would come soon. Gerran was exhausted. He collapsed into a large, padded chair and tried to clear his mind. He had just dozed off when a sharp buzzing sound brought him suddenly awake. He sprang to his feet, his hand impulsively reaching for his blaster.
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” a familiar voice said.
Marnax let out a sigh of relief as he caught sight of Mirana, arms crossed in front of her as she regarded him with a wry smile. “Mirana! I am so glad to see you.”
“Not as glad as you would have been yesterday, I think. I am so sorry I wasn’t here.”
“You’re here now. How did you get in here, anyway? Is my security that bad?”
“I walked in behind you just now. I was going to let you sleep, but I figured you’ll rest better if you know we we’re here. Sorry about keeping you guessing for so long, but I figured you might want our arrival to be secret for the moment.”
“That’s probably wise. We need to talk, though. Harvey wants to use Nemesis in the next battle, obviously, but I’m wondering if you should first go and see if you can…”
“Find the Shield Master?” She smiled.
“You have him?”
“What ever did you think I was doing? I got a tip from Ruggles Girx about where Trelan Thendrak picked up some of the Plasma Crystals, and I figured I should bring an expert along when I checked it out.”
Marnax was not exactly sure what she was saying, but the part about having Nedward Simmons was clearly good news. “Where is he?”
“Aboard Nemesis. Close. Do you want to go there, or should I bring him here?”
Marnax sighed. “I really was looking forward to a nap. I guess you’d better get him, though. I’ll call Harvey. Actually… let’s meet aboard Green Scorpion. There’s someone else I think you and Nedward should meet.”
Ned was relieved when Mirana returned to Nemesis after just an hour or so. The anxiety from the trip had died down a bit once they had located the fleet deployment and discovered that the ships Ned was familiar with were more or less intact, but Mirana had insisted that they wait a little longer before appearing openly, in case Marnax wanted to use their powers in some kind of surprise attack. Nemesis seemed to getting smaller by the hour, and when Mirana sounded at his door, he was out in the corridor in seconds.
“We’re taking Nightsong to Green Scorpion,” she informed him as they walked the short distance to the launch bay.
“You’re not taking another space jump?”
She smiled. Mirana’s historical strategy for getting aboard Galactron undetected had been to simply jump through empty space and into a shuttlebay as another ship entered. The very thought made Ned cringe; even though Nemesis had managed to get pretty close to Galactron, there just seemed to be too much that could go wrong. Cramming himself into Nightsong’s storage compartment felt luxurious by comparison.
“Good,” he heard Mirana’s raspified voice call from the cockpit. “Looks like they’re already docking. It took me a while to get an opening off the ship, but at least now we won’t have to wait.”
Once they were set down in Green Scorpion’s launch bay, Ned felt Mirana release the Shadow field around her fighter. Evidently this ship’s crew had enough clearance to know they had arrived. He teleported himself to the floor and waited while Mirana joined him. When he deactivated his helmet, she did the same.
“I’ve never attended a meeting as the Shadow Master before,” she said. “Think I should leave the armor on?”
“Definitely. This armor is one of the coolest things about the job.”
Mirana returned his smile. “You’re doing it again. Enjoying yourself during a war.” She led the way to the prearranged conference room before Ned could think of a witty reply.
She was right, though. The idea of being reunited with the people he had missed for years and having everyone able to share the information they had individually gathered was about as much as Ned could hope for under the circumstances. In spite of his regret about not arriving sooner, he was definitely happy to be here now.
The conference door opened, and Mirana motioned him through with a look that might have been a warning. He walked through and smiled.
“Nedward!”
Ned walked right over to Smardwurst, who rose from his chair to envelop Ned in his huge arms. “It’s so good to see you,” Ned said, choking back a bout of sudden emotion. Gerran Marnax and Ambelshack Devorion shook his hand before he had time to feel too awkward, though, and Marvis Harvey nodded politely from the other side of the table. Mirana almost escaped notice as she stood by the closed door. Finally Marnax called her over, and everyone took their seats around the large table.
“Let’s get down to it,” Marnax began. “We are expecting another attack soon; you know about as much as we do about the last one. What can you tell us to bring us up to speed?”
Mirana briefly summarized her trip to pick up Ned and investigate Girx’s lead, but Ned noticed that she gave only vague details about the timeline. “So we didn’t really find much, other than the fact that someone might have been worried about Shadow Plasma being used at the site of Plasmic artifacts.”
“What about Dread Phoenix? Do you think Nemesis could be used against it? Maybe its Shadow field could block its Plasma beam…”
“That’s a possibility,” Mirana said, thinking. “I was originally thinking that Ned could enhance its shields instead.”
Harvey had been eying Mirana with distain as she spoke, but at this comment he jerked upright. “What? You can transfer Ned’s power to the ship?”
“It turns out the Plasmic transducer aboard Nemesis can amplify any Plasma-based power. It won’t make the ship invincible, but it should strengthen its shields. But it’s one or the other. I'm thinking extra shielding might be a more useful power, considering that you’ll probably want its weapons to be firing pretty much constantly, from the sound of things.”
“The real goal has to be offensive,” Harvey pointed out, looking a little annoyed that Mirana was once again dictating tactics to a man who had made a career out of winning battles. “It doesn’t matter how much damage your ship can take if Dread Phoenix can just target weaker ships.”
Mirana nodded patiently. “That’s why Ned and I are going to board the ship.”
Ned was a little surprised at the matter-of-fact declaration. He and Mirana had not really discussed strategy, but Ned figured that was because they needed more information from Marnax. Yet here Mirana was, practically ordering Ned into battle before Marnax had even told them anything new.
Marnax raised an eyebrow. “You have a plan?”
Mirana glanced at Ned and shrugged. “Not a plan, exactly. But we have to find out who or what is powering that ship, and either destroy it or seize it for ourselves. Either way, we need to get there.”
“How? We haven’t been able to get past its shields, remember?”
Ned coughed, realizing that he now had to reveal that he himself had been holding information back. “I guess I didn’t mention this before, but I have some control over the Vortex Plasma. If we get close enough, I should be able to teleport us aboard.”
Ambelshack Devorion nearly jumped out of his seat. “Excellent! I can land you on the shield bubble itself if I have to.”
“Wait,” Harvey said. “You mean you can push things through a ship’s shields? Why not just fire a missile into its engines? Markan Dren certainly pulled that enough times.”
“It’s a good idea,” Ned said. “I’ve wondered about that too, and it’s probably worth a try. But my ran
ge isn’t great, and if I don’t take them out with the first shot, another Plasma Master might be able to block me.”
Mirana was nodding. “Dren had trouble in space because of the lack of Plasma to draw from. And directing one distant, moving target into another one was a challenge even for him. I don’t think we can rely on Ned being able to destroy the ship remotely.”
“I could carry a bomb on board, though,” Ned offered.
Harvey was nodding. “If you could go in close to the warp core or that beam emitter, you might be able to take it out before whoever’s controlling it has a chance to interfere. But, why bring Mirana? If the ship explodes, you’ll survive, presumably, but what about her?”
“Actually I kind of agree,” Ned said almost apologetically to Mirana. “If Dark Viper really is behind this, killing you has got to be a top priority. What’s to keep him from just self-destructing that ship the moment he knows you’re aboard?”
“You’re putting a lot of faith in him,” she replied with a scowl. “Since he would obviously not join the battle in person, I have to assume that whoever is on that ship isn’t going to be self-sacrificing enough to blow it up just to take me out. And besides, you should be able to protect me, right?”
“From a warp core explosion?”
“Fine,” Harvey cut in. “If you’re okay going, I’m not going to argue the matter. Getting back off the ship can be your problem. So Captain Devorion gets you onto that ship to plant a bomb or at least disable its weapon and regenerative powers. Can we agree that Nemesis should be launching an external assault at the same time? If we can get the shields to a weakened state before they regenerate, the annihilator cannons might be able to finish them off quickly. And if Nemesis can block that energy beam, that’s half the problem solved right there.”
Ned was drumming his fingers. “I say we try blocking the beam once while we’re still aboard. If it works, we leave the Shadow field up. It should last through the battle without you, shouldn’t it?”
“As far as I know.”
“If it doesn’t work,” Ned continued, “we switch to the Plasma shield and board Dread Phoenix. I can only assume you can take out whatever is there, and I should be able to protect us. If something goes wrong, I’ll teleport you out if I can, and we can have Nemesis or some other ship waiting to come and get us.
No one objected, and Ned felt a surge of excitement at being the one to propose a useful idea.
“It makes sense,” Ambelshack said after a moment.
Marnax was scratching his beard. “The only thing that bothers me is that Dark Viper must undoubtedly know what you two are capable of, and I don’t think that he would attack us now unless he were confident that he could defend himself.”
“Dark Viper does not yet know that Nedward has returned,” Smardwurst reminded him.
“Well,” Mirana said, “whether or not he’s ready, we have to attack as soon as possible. I suggest we proceed as Ned suggests. The sooner we hit, the less damage Viper will be able to do.”
Ned almost added his immediate thought: And even if we fail, at least we’ll know more than we do now. He realized, though, that he was probably the only person in the room who would classify academic knowledge as even a partial victory.
Marnax looked around the room and met with nods of approval. “Let’s set it up then. In the meantime, the rest of us need to make plans for the rest of the fleet. We have to be ready in case this mission doesn’t put a stop to Dread Phoenix’s weapon, not to mention the thousands of other Vortak ships that are after us.”
“We are still studying the beam,” Harvey said. “But as usual, there isn’t a lot our scans can tell us about Plasma weapons; most of what’s going on is beyond our observation.”
Marnax sighed, then looked back at Mirana and Ned. “As you can see, it appears that once again our fate lies in your hands. The Plasma force is the rising power in the galaxy, and it will be up to you to see to it that favors us. If you can do that, I have complete confidence in the Imperial Armada.” He did not need to say that failure on their part would almost definitely spread throughout the entire empire.
Smardwurst smiled then, surprising everyone. “We can do this. This is a battle that has been fought before, countless times. Nedward, you have successfully defeated every enemy that has challenged you, and I am confident that you will continue to do so.”
Ned smiled, feeling empowered by his old friend’s faith in him. “Thanks,” he said, and looked over at Mirana. She was not frowning, which was good enough for Ned. He was still trying to think of an appropriate response when he realized that Marnax was already closing the meeting.
“… so I’ll leave you to fill them in on the details,” Marnax was saying to Smardwurst. Then everyone was standing up, and Ambelshack was telling him how excited he was to be working with a Plasma Master, so Ned could not really hear what Harvey and Mirana had started arguing about. It was a little overwhelming, but then Smardwurst’s huge, green hand appeared on his shoulder, and Ned turned around with a smile.
“There is one other thing I need to… brief you and Mirana on, but it looks like she is busy at the moment. Do you have a minute to talk?”
“Yes, definitely! How are you?”
“Well enough,” Smardwurst said with a broad, sharp-toothed smile. “Come, we can talk in my quarters.” They walked down the corridor to Smardwurst’s room, where Ned let himself be ushered inside. He cringed a little at the heavy scuttling he heard in the adjacent room, but for the moment Guz did not appear, so Ned relaxed.
Smardwurst insisted that Ned recount to him everything that had happened since they had parted two years previously, and in summarizing his activities over the course of those years he realized that he had indeed done a great deal, even if not all of it seemed relevant to the task he was now undertaking. Smardwurst listened with interest, and this helped to ease the sense of futility which Ned had painted over his life on Earth.
Ned then listened as Smardwurst told of his assignments as an ambassador to the various parts of the newly-reunified empire. His days of shipping cargo for a living seemed distant now that the Emperor had found such abundant use of his skills and experience. Like many of the earlier members of StarBlazer, Smardwurst and his crew were used to functioning on their own, which, coupled with their loyalty to Gerran Marnax, made them an invaluable tool for the Emperor. Smardwurst’s time in that capacity had been full and rewarding. Ned noted that Smardwurst did not mention any visits to his homeworld or family members. He almost asked about it but decided that if any of that turned out to be awkward, this would not be the time to bring it up. After Smardwurst finished speaking, the two of them sat there silently for a moment, staring at each other.
“Well,” Ned commented, “here we are again.”
“You have grown, Nedward.”
“I don’t feel any older.”
“You have matured. I was impressed with your decisiveness today. When I first met you, you were hesitant about your powers. Now you are confident and anxious to use them.”
“Yeah, I guess so. I know a lot more about how the Plasma works now, and I’ve waited so long to do something productive with it.”
Smardwurst nodded. “Nedward, I have been wondering. How exactly do you feel about this mission on which you are about to embark?”
Ned thought for a moment. “I’m not sure. I almost think I should be afraid, but I’m not. Maybe it’s because I don’t know enough about the situation, but everything I’ve seen says that this should work quickly. I’m a little nervous I guess, but basically I’m just anxious to have this all over with.”
“I think that all of us share your desires to have this matter ended quickly. We have had our share of war, and the prospect that another war is already upon us is greatly unsettling.”
Ned nodded, still thinking. After a moment, he said, “I think I know why it seems like this has to end soon.”
“Why?”
“Well, Dark Vipe
r has a ship that can’t be harmed and an army that seems limitless. We have one Plasma Master who can’t be harmed, and another that can cancel out the powers of any other Plasma Master. Both sides have become so powerful that there can’t really be much of a defense against their powers; one side is just going to have to destroy the other.”
“In other words,” Smardwurst summarized, “if we do not win soon we will be completely destroyed.”
Ned chuckled sarcastically. “Yeah, I guess that’s it.”
“Well,” Smardwurst said, rising, “I believe we should find out what happened to our Shadow Master.”
They found Mirana waiting near the launch bay, where Marnax, Harvey, and Devorion had departed some time ago. She was staring off into space, and she tossed her hair a little as they approached as if shaking free whatever train of thought she had been dealing with.
“What’s up?” Ned asked.
“Harvey. He ‘insists’ that I let an official military crew pilot Nemesis while we’re away. He says their ‘superior experience’ would be ‘essential’ to ‘maximizing the ship’s potential.’ As if he’d even have access to that potential if it weren’t for me. I’m keeping Ablithra and the crew.” No one present wanted to argue, so the matter dropped.
Smardwurst motioned down another corridor. “If you would both follow me, I think it would be useful for you to speak with Kjrvlnk before you go.”
Ned and Mirana exchanged glances. If she had known Kjrvlnk was aboard Green Scorpion, she had said nothing to Ned. Immediately he felt anxious. Reuniting with friends was one thing, but dropping in on a member of a hostile race was a little unnerving, even if Kjrvlnk did technically share a common enemy with them. Still, that was no reason not to meet with him.
The three paused outside a door where two security officers were stationed.
“Afraid he’ll escape?” Mirana asked.
Smardwurst lowered his voice. “I am afraid they are mainly guarding the other direction. Not everyone has shown a particularly enlightened reaction to Kjrvlnk’s presence.”
All of a sudden Ned felt a little ashamed for his apprehension, but he forced the feeling aside as the door slid open. It was dark inside, but Smardwurst walked in without hesitation. Once again, Mirana waited for Ned, and he wondered why. Probably just caution, he decided.
The door closed behind, and the darkness swallowed them. Except for the red eyes that appeared in the corner. That nervous feeling was rising again.
“Kjrvlnk,” Smardwurst called. “I have brought some visitors I thought you should meet. This is Mirana Kelar, and Nedward Simmons.”
“I see.”
Ned could just barely make out the insectile form crouched across the room from him. Ned would not say he was particularly frightened of bugs, but he was not a huge fan of interacting with them either. So even though he knew that Kjrvlnk was a sentient being, on a purely visceral level Ned was a little creeped out. “Hi,” was all he could manage for the moment.
“I understand you were driven from your home,” Mirana stated bluntly.
“I escaped.”
“So the Vortak army – do you consider them to be an enemy?”
“They are a threat. To all of us.”
“I agree. We’re looking for a way to defeat them – in particular the ship Dread Phoenix, which seems to use a Plasma weapon. Do you know anything about it?”
“I know of no unique ship. We fight together.”
“Kjrvlnk,” Smardwurst called, “you said before that you wanted to avoid the topic of the Vortak until we had heard from them. They have not communicated, but they have attacked.”
“I have no new information about them.”
“Before, you spoke of the ‘Masters.’ You said they had tried to control you, but you destroyed them.”
“They were not needed.”
“But we believe that a Plasma Master is behind this attack. We witnessed his power from one of the Vortak ships at that battle. Is it possible that the Vortak are obeying one of the Masters now?”
“It does not seem likely. That power – it was used against us before.”
Mirana walked a little closer. “The man who wielded that power was Trelan Thendrak. He became a threat to his own people as well, and he was defeated. But we believe he may have found his way into Vortak space and somehow convinced your people to attack us. If that’s true, and if we can defeat him, then this war could end and you may be able to rejoin them.”
“You… do not… understand! The Vortak will fight until you are destroyed. It has been decided!”
Mirana threw up her hands and turned back to the door. “I guess I’ve said everything I need to, then.”
“Wait,” Ned said. “Kjrvlnk. I... I’m Ned.” It was redundant to re-introduce himself, but it seemed polite. “I come from a long way from here, and I’m not really part of Anacron… or anything, I guess. But I like to understand things. Even if I can’t do anything about them, it helps to understand. So even if there is nothing we can do, even if we’re all going to be destroyed in a matter of days, would you at least help me understand why? Why would the Vortak agree to help Trelan Thendrak wage a war?”
Kjrvlnk was silent for several seconds, but Ned did not turn away. He did not know whether Kjrvlnk was holding something back or whether he simply did not care, but somehow Ned could not bear the thought of letting this refugee cower in this room without even thinking about what could be done to stop this war – not when part of the solution might be standing right in front of him.
“The Masters. They were destroyed. But it was not easy. They were… convincing. They could communicate like we do. And they were powerful. They demanded obedience. It is said that the Vortak had help. Protection. But now we are alone. If the Masters were not destroyed – if a Master leads them now – then the Vortak will serve him. They will fight. It has been de-”
“But Trelan Thendrak – the Plasma Master we believe is behind all this – I think he’s hiding. He’s using the Vortak to come at me, because he knows I can defeat him. I am going to defeat him. Whatever he has done to persuade your people to go to war, that can be undone. Because he is going to lose. That has been decided.” Ned brought the fire into his fist, almost involuntarily. “I have decided that. I will defeat him. But I would appreciate any help you could give.”
“You…” Silence.
“What?”
“You… fool.”
Ned looked around, taken aback, but in the darkness he could not even see his friends’ expressions, much less gather anything from their reactions. “What?” he repeated, utterly confused now.
“You. A Master. You… dare to use your power against me.”
“No! I just…”
“You come here to convince me just as he did with them. I will not join this war.”
Ned’s eyes had adjusted a little, and he could see that Kjrvlnk had gone into an offensive crouch, low to the ground with two limbs spread wide, jagged edges turned forward. Ned backed up.
“I am not using my power against you! I just wanted to show you that I have it to use for you! I am not asking you to fight! But don’t you want me to put a stop to this?”
“I do not know how he did this. But I cannot help you. I wish to be… alone.”
Mirana immediately turned and opened the door. “Sorry to have disturbed you.”
Honestly, Ned did not want to leave. He wanted to stay and explain himself. To apologize for coming across wrong, to clarify that he had meant nothing offensive. But Smardwurst was obviously waiting for him, and he had to admit that Kjrvlnk did not seem to be in a conversational mood. Reluctantly, Ned left the room without another word.
“Well,” Smardwurst said when the door had closed behind them. “That was certainly more emotion than he has ever shown before.”
“Yeah,” Mirana said, still looking shocked. “I think you really connected back there.”
Ned was about to say something defensive, but he did not see
condemnation in her eyes. “What did I do?”
Smardwurst put a reassuring hand on Ned’s shoulder, and only now did Ned realize that he was still trembling. “You discovered something, Nedward. You proved that Kjrvlnk knows something he is not revealing. And I believe you proved that the motive behind this invasion goes much deeper than the Vortak’s sense of security from Anacron.”
“Which leads us right back where we started,” Ned said. “The only connection we have to Dark Viper now is Dread Phoenix. We have to find out what’s giving that ship power, or blow it up trying.”
“Nice,” Mirana said.
“Thanks.”