Rise of the Altered Moon: Altered Moon Series: Book One (The Altered Moon Series 1) (23 page)

“I’m sorry Crissiael, my dear,” Nelson said, which prompted CJ and the others to stop watching to spare her the embarrassment. “You must forgive our curiosity.”

“Aukay Nneelssaunn,” she said quietly, as her eye swirls turned back to blue. The shy behavior endeared her to the group even more.

“Don’t let her fool you,” Nelson said. “Crissi is harder than diamonds, literally, and quite the taskmaster. She’s one of the engineers along with Katherine who will oversee the
Altered Moon
’s refit. She’s tough, capable, and smart, as are all the Keect’na. They’re a task-driven people and highly communal, always willing to do their part for the whole.”

“How did you find them, or did they find you?” asked Cat.

“We answered a distress call and found a ship adrift with both Humans and Keect’na aboard and in pretty bad shape. It was a ship full of refugees and escaped slaves, running from the Kang invasion.” Nelson said.

The mention of the Kang caused an odd reaction from Crissi. She seemed to shrink as the dermal plates of her hands, arms, shoulders, and chest closed together to form crystalline armor, which made soft tinkling noises as they did. Her facetted eyes swirled with a mix of red and black.

“That is the Keect’na’s version of anger,” Nelson explained. “Crissi’s people have been enslaved by the Kang, you see. The Keect’na physiology is able to channel and amplify light and energy through the crystals of their bodies. The Kang increase the power of their weapons by strapping the Keect’na into a firing chamber, alive. The power that courses through them is agonizing but not fatal. The Kang use the Keect’na until the crystals of their bodies are cracked and shattered; then they are either jettisoned or simply left behind to die a slow and lonely death.”

The image of Crissi’s people enslaved, abused, and then thrown away put a damper on the gathered group’s breakfast. Crissi relaxed her plating, looked around at the sympathetic expressions, and said one thing, “Auee ffiight!”

“Yes and they fight quite well, too,” Nelson said, as he raised his coffee mug to her. “The Keect’na formed a resistance against the Kang and managed to win back a few of their own star systems. That is the reason why the Kang have turned their attentions to Human space in the past decade.”

“The Tengshi radiation field,” CJ said, thinking of the collection of dots on his navigation chart.

“Yes, yes, how do you know?” asked Nelson apparently surprised.

“I plotted the positions of starship accidents and disappearances for the last century,” CJ answered. “An overwhelming majority were in that sector.”

“Yes, it acted as a barrier against the Kang for many centuries,” Nelson said. “They had not developed quantum jump technology and to travel by star drive would take hundreds of years. Well, now it is hundreds of years later and it seems the Kang have not forgotten about us. One outpost a hundred years ago now is several dozen. The incursions into Human space have begun to increase and I believe invasion is imminent.”

“Wait a minute,” Gina said. “A hundred years have passed and we’re just now hearing about contact with an alien species? A cover-up of that scale can’t be kept secret for a hundred years. Someone would have accepted a bribe by now.”

“Right, there would have been reports of weird sightings or a buildup of rumors, at least, over a century,” said Cat.

“Hmm, yes, yes,” Nelson answered them but looked at CJ expectantly.

CJ thought of his earlier suspicions about the
Istraulis
’ destruction. “MT&T…they know,” he said.

“Very good Captain, yes, they made a pact with the Kang monsters,” Nelson said. “Sacrifice a few to protect many. Always an acceptable loss to any credo based on the accumulation of power instead of freedom of the individual. The Kang Raljon made the deal and Merilee supplied targets that were easily missed.”

“Hold on, the
Istraulis
is not what I would call an easily missed ship,” Boss countered.

“No, the tiger has slipped the cage,” CJ thought out loud. “The Kang probably got tired of playing by the rules. The Empire will have to retaliate.”

“No…no, you see, already new media reports have been released throughout the Empire telling of the tragic accident of the
Istraulis
,” Nelson told them. “Fuel leak in the hydrogen matrix chamber caused a catastrophic detonation of primary reactor, resulting in the loss of all passengers and crew. MT&T of course, is heartbroken for the loved ones of the deceased.”

“Yeah, heartbroken my ass, and MT&T will try to reseal whatever deal they made with the Kang and continue with this charade of peace in the Empire,” CJ reasoned.

“My family will think I’m dead,” Katy said sadly.

“Maybe that’s the best thing for now,” Boss told her. “No reason to hassle your family if you’re dead.”

“Who, or what, are these Kang?” asked Cat.

“Kaanngaska naun tau ssaunnn,” Crissi said in her native language, with red swirls in her eyes.

“She says, ‘Kang are dark stone,’” Nelson translated for them. “Dark stone to us would be evil or very bad.” He turned to Crissi. “Crissi, I’m going to have to show them.”

Crissi nodded her head down, up once, and said, “Naut sstaay, sscuusse ne dlease.”

“Yes, yes, of course, my dear.” Nelson said.

“I think I’ll skip out on this one, too. I’ve already seen more of them than I care to,” Katy said, as she looked down at her gloved hand. “Crissi and I will get started on the ship. I’ll catch up with you guys later.”

“Wait, do you need help?” CJ asked her.

“No, you need to stay and see this,” she said, “and you won’t want any popped corn for this show…I’ll tell ya that.”

Katy and Crissi left to begin the repair and refit of the
Altered Moon
, as Nelson engaged the view screen and activated the video file. The first thing to come up was a display with the image of an alien creature that was covered in ornate jeweled armor plates from the forehead down to the tip of the tail. Tan, green, yellow, and red splotches covered the Kang’s black-skinned body. Large weapons sat in sheaths on its back with smaller weapons and firearms tucked into holsters and harnesses at various places around its torso.

The head and neck were sleek, almost snakelike, with powerful jaws lined with sharp pointed teeth along the front and massive gnashing teeth in the rear. Their eyes were set deep under scaly ridges, the black Y-shaped pupils surrounded by a yellow iris rimmed with green splotches and a red dot at the three points of the iris. Thin, rubbery growths of various lengths ran from the top of their heads and tapered to a point at the bottom of their backs.

The Kang stood ten feet tall, with all four feet on the floor, to fifteen feet tall when they stood on their back legs. They had six appendages and a stout tail as long as their rear legs. The two upper arms were attached to a massive torso. Their thick paws had eight-taloned digits, four on the end and two sets of two more along each forearm. The feet and hands had barbs that extended and retracted from the palms of the hands and soles of the feet that set an iron grip on their prey or grabbed on to any terrain.

The body of a Kang was quadruped: there were two rear legs, which were short and stocky, and two fore legs, which could be used either as legs or arms when the creature stood on its rear legs and tail. The rear legs were the shortest and caused the back of the creature to drop like a bulldog.

“The Kang are war mongers and slavers with a never-ending lust for more of everything. They care nothing for any creatures but themselves and keep grizzly trophies of their conquests,” Nelson said, as the image of the Kang faded away to be replaced by video footage of small piles of blackened rocks. The small piles were the bodies of Keect’na that had been used by the Kang to increase the power of their ship’s weapons.

“The Kang torture the Keect’na to get them to constrict, which brings the epidermal plates together,” Nelson continued. “Then the Kang confine them to keep them from expanding again. The Keect’na are then strapped into a firing chamber that uses their crystal structure to increase the laser’s power by five magnitudes. The power that flows through the Keect’na is excruciatingly painful to them. The Kang have an affinity for gems and jewels. They prize the crystal plates of the Keect’na over all. The crystals are torn from living Keect’na and used by the Kang to adorn their armor and weapons.”

The video ended with the footage of starships that were similar to the one that attacked the
Istraulis
. The Kang armada engaged other ships that were difficult to see, but the red streaks of charged plasma bolts and the red flared missiles were all too familiar.

“Captain…” Gina said.

“Yeah, I see,” CJ responded. “Nelson, who are the Kang fighting here?”

“Ah, I thought they may spark some interest. They are the Blood Stars,” Nelson said in an unhappy tone. “They are raiders, a ragtag gang of thugs that somehow rose in power to become a legitimate threat to Arzian commercial traffic. They have even struck here, twice. Anything that is of value is a target to them. Food, medicine, guns, people, technology…they will trade them all to stockpile their precious red plasma. That is what gives them their advantage. It is incredibly powerful and also leaves a specific signature upon impact. I am told such a signature was found along the blast damage of the
Altered Moon
.”

“Yes, we encountered their incredibly powerful weapons, firsthand,” CJ told him. “On our way here, looking for you. They attacked us when we came through the Arzia system. We were forced to jump while we were still within the star system to escape them. That’s how we ended up here.”

“Yes, you are all very lucky to survive such an encounter,” Nelson said.

“Nelson, there was a reaction to the Blood Stars’ weapons when we projected dark matter using the Moonbeams,” Boss said.

“As well it should,” Nelson replied. “Two equally powerful forces battling over a single molecule—eventually something must give. And give it does. A tremendous release of dark energy will blast out in every direction. I have never had the nerve to try it out. What was it like?” He looked around the group and waited for answers.

“Like nothing I’d want to go through again,” said Cat.

“It was almost too much,” said Boss.

“It
was
too much,” Gina countered.

Nelson looked at CJ, who returned his look and said, “Can we put the two into one charge, load it onto a missile?”

Nelson pulled at his bottom lip, raised his eyebrows. “Hmm, a very clever young man you are, Crucible”

“Aww, no, no, please call me CJ,” he pleaded. “I haven’t had this many people call me Crucible since grade school.”

“A good name, Crucible,” Nelson said. “A forger of destiny, yes?”

“CJ, please,” he repeated.

“As you wish, CJ, as you wish,” Nelson conceded. “I understand that there was a sizable dark energy release around Octonus recently…”

“Do you know absolutely everything?” Boss asked.

“Mostly,” he answered. “I do, however, wonder why the Blood Stars would send so many ships after you. Pull the tiger’s tail, did we?”

“A bit,” Boss answered. He looked over at CJ with a ‘can I?’ look.

CJ waved a hand, indicating that Boss could tell Nelson of what they found on Arzia Octonus, as far as he was concerned. Boss started to relay the story when Nelson held up his hand.

“One moment,” he said to Boss. Nelson poked at the door lock icon on the table and pulled out a small round device, placed it on the table, and poked a blue spot on its side. The device emitted a soft high-pitched squeal that ended after a second.

“Now you may speak freely. There are many loyal Arzians here and we wouldn’t want to offend anyone,” Nelson said.

Boss told Nelson the tale of their encounter at Arzia Octonus and a bulk of what else had happened to them since the destruction of the
Istraulis
as well. Nelson listened intently and asked questions occasionally, especially when GABI was mentioned. The crew all answered what questions pertained to them.

When he heard of the Arzian artifacts, he nodded his head and simply said, “I would be careful of who you tell of this, yes? Very valuable, what you have there. Enough to buy you all Arzian citizenship, with much left over.”

Boss finished up with the second encounter with the Blood Stars and the jump to the Garddon star system.

“Well, well, quite an adventure indeed, my friends,” Nelson said at the end of Boss’ narration. “Many answers and yet many new questions, but they must wait. Now, I must attend to other matters, unfortunately. You are all free to discover as much of Cantankerous Base as you’d like. I encourage you to be curious of the repairs and upgrades…Katherine is one floor down, she can fill you in.”

“I can’t thank you enough, Nelson, for all that you’ve done for Katy and for us,” CJ said as he shook Nelson’s hand.

“Yes, thanks for breakfast, Nelson,” Cat added.

“You are all most welcome,” he said warmly.

The group meandered across the room and started out the door. “Bernard, if you don’t mind, a moment, please,” Nelson said.