Omega Force: Savage Homecoming (16 page)

“We will do the same,” Crisstof declared, standing up. “We received the message on our ship as well.”

Jason led the three members of the
Diligent’s
crew to the airlock. Taryn made it clear she intended to stay on the
Phoenix
, which caused an arched eyebrow from Kellea. Jason knew the polished captain well enough at this point to recognize that as a particularly significant outward display of emotion. He suddenly felt guilty about how he’d treated her in the passageway on her ship.

“We’ll be in orbit for a while,” she said to him as she brushed by. “Let’s continue to share information … at least until this is over.”

“We will,” Jason promised her.

The
Diligent
and
Phoenix
continued to orbit the unnamed planet as their crews struggled to make sense of Deetz’s actions. On the surface it looked like a series of random attacks, but Jason refused to believe they weren’t somehow connected. Taryn had been quiet since coming back aboard the gunship. The violence of the past few encounters had erased some of the wonder she had first felt when she realized that all the stories Jason had been telling were real. Now the danger was real for her as well.

Jason wasn’t sure what to say to her about it, so he said nothing and decided that she’d come to him if she needed to talk. Lucky and Crusher were doing what they usually did when the crew was in the planning stages of something: they trained in the cargo bay or hid out in the armory. Kage, with Doc’s help, was busy trying to glean any clues he could out of the video Deetz had provided, so that left Jason to roam about aimlessly since Twingo had chased him out of Engineering.

It was times like these when he keenly felt his lack of understanding of the universe around him. While he was catching on fast, everyone else had been born into a world where starships traveled between exotic worlds and miraculous technology was commonplace. So instead of getting in their way, he sat in the galley and played cards with Taryn, trying to take her mind off things, and often sneaking off to his quarters together. The crew had enough couth to pretend they didn’t notice, save for Kage’s creepy smile every time they emerged disheveled.

The first break came when Twingo randomly had the computer search for practical uses for
samarskite, the mineral they were assuming Deetz had stolen from the mining site on Torestellia.

“When Crisstof heard back from his ConFed contact about how much refined
samarskite was missing, I began digging a little deeper,” he was explaining as the crew ate. “That much would be a bit excessive for a reactor build, not to mention there are better powerplants readily available for purchase. Matter/anti-matter reactors have really come down in price over the last—”

“Twingo, for the love of God … get to the damn point,” Jason snapped. His friend’s tendency to get sidetracked during his own explanations sometimes grated on his nerves, this being one of those times.

“What the hell is your problem? Anyway,” Twingo continued, unfazed, “it’s used heavily in the construction of masers.”

“Huh,” Crusher grunted.

“Indeed,” Lucky agreed. Jason looked around the table suspiciously. He had no idea what a maser was, nor was he even certain it was a real thing. It wouldn’t be the first time they’d set him up to look stupid.

“Twingo, don’t be rude,” he said, trying a new tactic. “Taryn doesn’t know what a maser is … at least describe it for her while you’re rambling on.” Twingo narrowed his eyes at him and crossed his arms.

“Go ahead, Captain. I wouldn’t presume to know better than you how to explain it to her.”
Damn that little blue bastard.

“Alright, damnit!
What the hell is a maser?” Jason asked, holding up a finger for silence. “But … same rules as always. Lucky explains it to me and none of the rest of you talk until I leave the room. Then you can make fun of me like you usually do.”

“We do not!” Kage protested.

“Intercom, Kage,” Jason said. “You don’t always remember to turn it off. Anyway, Lucky?”

“A maser is similar in operation to a laser,” Lucky began. “However, instead of emitting a coherent beam of light, a maser will emit a coherent beam of electromagnetic energy.”

“That doesn’t sound that exotic,” Jason said.

“It’s not. The technology is positively ancient,” Twingo said. “In fact, since the development of energy shields, I don’t think anybody is even making them anymore.”

“This sort of explains why he’s stealing component material, but not why he would build a maser at all,” Jason replied. “If they’re useless in modern warfare, what’s the point?”

“Remember, we’re assuming the alien weapon Deetz is using is fired by the same principles of a static discharge,” Twingo explained. “What if he was able to fire it in a coherent beam?”

“Ah,” Jason said, finally getting it. “That would be bad. What sort of range are we talking about?”

“It’ll depend on his power source, but much more than he has now,” Twingo shrugged.

“Doc, send this new information to the
Diligent
. Unfortunately, this doesn’t put us any closer to finding out where he may be hiding, so keep at it guys.” Jason got up from the table and made his way back to the bridge. When he saw that Taryn had stayed with the crew he ducked quickly into the com room and shut the door.

Once he was sure she hadn’t followed him up, he sat down at the console and began entering commands. Despite the attack on Earth, his little stealthy satellite was still in orbit and still performing its store-and-forward task. It took a little over a minute to download the latest package, and then he was able to begin parsing it up and viewing the news media broadcasts from home. The news was disheartening, to say the least.

A common trend was that he was being branded as an alien conspirator and blamed for bringing the attack upon them. It seemed the general public had no idea that he had been on the
Phoenix
. There was also a vicious debate about what role his ship played in the drama over DC. Despite the clear video evidence that the gunship had downed one of the attacking ships, there were still hysterical proclamations about its involvement in the attack on the planet.

Most disappointing to him was the collapse of social order in some areas of the globe after the revelation of advanced alien species. He had always held out the fantasy that when the presence of a galaxy teeming with life was revealed, humanity would take the next step and set aside its petty differences and become a unified species. It seemed the opposite had happened. Most first world powers were accusing the United States of not cooperating with other nations in the investigation of the downed ship in the Potomac River. Third world countries had erupted into riots and chaos as a primal panic gripped the populations of those areas and the reality of an alien invasion sunk in.

Jason sat back in his seat and sighed. What he had seen so far seemed to seal his fate: he would never be able to return to his home. He would forever be branded a traitor to humanity, no matter the truth of it. He leaned forward and began entering more search strings into the computer, waiting while it compiled the information. Once the results were spit back at him, he took some solace in the good news it provided. Taryn and her family had faded from the headlines and were never actually named anyway. With a little work it would be possible for them to go home.

He sat back again as he thought about leaving Taryn behind for what would undoubtedly be the last time. His chest tightened up at the idea of it. Part of him wanted to ask her to stay out here with him, but the realist in him knew that it was
an impossibility. She couldn’t stay on the
Phoenix
, that much was certain. It was simply too dangerous, and a threat to crew cohesiveness to have her aboard permanently. He could ask Crisstof if she could serve on the
Diligent
, but she would have no real function for some time, and would be the only human on board a ship with hundreds of aliens. What kind of life was that for a woman in her twenties? Not to mention they went months and months without ever being in the same sector as the other ship. No, the right thing to do was to get her back to Earth as soon as practically possible and let her get on with her life.

The tightness still in his chest, he shut off the terminal and exited the com room.

By the time he got to the bridge, everyone was already there. Kage looked like he had been told some very bad news.

“What is it?” Jason asked apprehensively.

“The data has been recovered off the A’arcooni device you brought back from the planet, and the computer has completed the translation,” Kage said. “It isn’t good.”

“You watched it?”

“Enough to know that things are a little more complex than they appeared,” the Veran said.

“Let’s see it,” Jason replied as he sat down. The rest of the crew perked up and watched as the canopy darkened and began to play the video data Twingo and Kage had recovered off the alien device. The scene resolved into a shot of the room Jason had found the device in; sitting center frame was a dignified looking A’arcooni. The translation matrix wasn’t perfect, so the computer also provided Jenovian Standard subtitles along the bottom of the projection.

“Hello. Due to events taking place on my planet even as I speak, my comments may be cut short, so I will get to the point.

“My name is De’Tarioas Mal. I am the Vice Chancellor of Economic Affairs, and as far as I know I am the last remaining vestiges of the government of the planet A’arcoon. We are currently under attack by no less than ten ships in orbit that we have no ability to repel, but worse than that … the ships are
crewed by our fellow A’arcooni.

“These ships have the capability to shut down power sources completely, and on a planetary scale. So even if we did have weapons that could reach them, they would already be rendered inert at this point. The ships arrived eight years ago and we were contacted by the beings
who flew them. They would only tell us that they were travelers who had come from across the galaxy, rendering aid to those who needed it most along the way. They were benign and immediately set about helping us take steps to clean our industrial processes, waste management, and power production.

“These aliens were trying to help underdeveloped species avoid the mistakes that had destroyed their own home, now so choked with pollution it could no longer sustain them. For the first few years it seemed these wondrous people would transform A’arcoon into a utopia, as our skies cleared and our oceans recovered from even our most destructive habits.

“When it became clear that the aliens intended to continue on their journey, a vocal sub-sect of the population implored them to stay and claimed that they hadn’t yet gone far enough in changing how we lived our lives. While initially ignored as a zealot and an opportunist, their leader, De’Astor Ka, continued to gain followers until the movement reached cult-like status … and then it transformed into something far more sinister. The group militarized and had every intention of forcing us to their will through a series of planned attacks on our remaining infrastructure in order to, as he put it, return us to balance with nature.

“Unfortunately, when they heard about the unrest, our alien benefactors landed one of their ships near De’Astor Ka’s stronghold in order to make him see reason. The travelers are without guile and were unprepared for how far this group was willing to go. Their ship was boarded and seized before anyone knew what was happening, and the cult was then able to execute their attack. They numbered a little over five hundred individuals and were able to capture a total of six ships before the remaining travelers broke orbit and escaped.

“De’Astor Ka then transmitted a list of demands, but before we could respond or negotiate, he began the attack in earnest. Major governmental centers were hit first by particle beams, and our remaining technology was taken out by the unique weapon their ships carry.”

De’Tarioas Mal paused in his narration to bow his head as the screen flickered and other A’arcooni voices could be heard shouting in the background. When he looked back up, the expression on his alien visage could only be described as utterly devastated.

“My hope is that this transmission finds similar civilizations before this cult does, for make no mistake: these are crazed fanatics. Their religion is to return planets to what they deem to be the natural order, which they will accomplish by wiping out the dominant species and its technology. At the end of this transmission will be a data package that contains all the knowledge of my people that we were able to save. It is our only legacy, as I am certain no A’arcooni will survive on the surface.”

With nothing more to say, De’Tarioas Mal pressed a button on the desk and the screen faded out. When the canopy cleared, the crew of the
Phoenix
sat in stunned silence.

“That … was not what I was expecting,” Doc said quietly.

“Contact the
Diligent
,” Jason said slowly. “They’ll need this information. Ask Crisstof if that helps him identify who made those ships, since we now know they aren’t A’arcooni in design.”

“This explains how Deetz got them to help,” Taryn said from her seat in the front of the bridge. When Twingo made a motion for her to continue she went on, “He offered Earth up as a target. We’re highly industrialized, with a ballooning population and a significant pollution problem. For a group of religious zealots bent on stamping out harmful civilizations, humanity would make a tempting target.”

“That does make sense,” Lucky agreed. “I had been pondering how Deetz was able to convince the A’arcooni to help. He told them of Earth and then bribed them with the promise of a more powerful weapon with which to continue their crusade.”

“The maser-based disruptor,” Jason agreed. “That would be a hell of a score for them. De’Tarioas Mal told us they had captured six ships, but we only saw three, and took one of those out already. It’s safe to say they’ve been meeting some resistance along the way and have been looking for something to even the odds with.