Space Chronicles: The Last Human War (27 page)

“Prime Skah Rotaga, the Tanarac attack did very little damage to your flag ship. We destroyed the enemy ships, including the cowards who attempted to surrender. Communications will be restored within a few hours.”

Rotaga had greater concerns.

“How did those Tanarac ships get under our shields?”

“It was a cowardly
, surprise attack, sir. They were inside our shield extension before the energy field reached full strength. It was a fools’ attack with no hope for success.”

“Indeed
! No hope? Their mission was to disrupt our central command structure and delay our assault. Their mission was a complete success.”

Enraged, Rotaga demanded an accounting.

“Bring me the head of the officer on duty in the Shield Room when the attack occurred. Tell his second in command, his head will be next if his department fails again.”

Rotaga’s aide promptly set about
the orders while the Heptari commander looked out his bridge window at his fleet. He openly pondered his adversary.

“This Tanarac commander correctly anticipated my actions. He set the antimatter trap in the outer quadrants. That cost me forty percent of my fleet. He anticipated I would lead with my heavy ships through the asteroid belts. I lost two Rahls and one Cosh in those traps. I countered by sending a single ship ahead of the fleet to clear mines. It slowed my progress
. That, too, was his goal. Now, he orders a suicide attack against my command ship to disrupt communications and further slow my progress.” Rotaga turned away from his command window. “These Tanaracs are neither stupid, nor cowards.”

One of his senior aides approached and waited
for acknowledgement.

“Prime Skah, should our fleet begin through the last asteroid belt? Perhaps, we should send a Rahl ahead to clear mines at the other side while repairs are completed on your flagship.”

“What makes you think there will be mines on the other side?” He tested his subordinate.

“That has been their pattern,
sire.”

“What would you do, if you were in their position?”

“I would deploy all the rest of my mines on the other side of the asteroid belt and form a defensive blockade to protect the planet.”

“Is that predictable?”

“Yes, Prime Skah, but they have no other choice.”

“There are always other choices, especially during desperate times
,” Rotaga snapped back.

“Sir, what do you expect?”

“I expect the unexpected. I will take your suggestion to begin the last asteroid field penetration, but not with our heavy ships. This time, we lead with our light ships.”

“But
sir, the Tanarac vessels are more than equal to our light ships. Won’t they be destroyed on the other side?”

“Probably, but they are expendable. They have no bearing on the final outcome of this war
, and their destruction will reveal my counterpart’s plan. That will be his flaw.”

Another young officer approached Rotaga carrying a
flat-black box. He kneeled behind the Prime Skah and waited for acknowledgement.

“Rise. Do you present a head?”

“Yes, Prime Skah. Pak-one Cyndar sends his deep regret for his failure and requests honor for his family name.”

“Granted.”

Inside the human spaceship, Simon and Dr. Boroski watched images from the sentinel satellites that gave quiet witness to the devastation taking place in space.

“Do you think Tanarac can win this war?” Simon asked in hushed tones, almost anticipating the answer.

“I don’t know. Heptari ships have a new particle cannon that is quite powerful. A single pulse penetrates most Tanarac shields. The situation does not look good.”

“How are we gonna get past those cannons?”

“This ship is not affected by Heptari weapons.”

“Do we have stronger shields?”

“Actually, we have no shields at all. Our entire ship is an energy conversion matrix. If a Heptari vessel fires a photonic or particle beam weapon at us, our hull will simply absorb the radiation and convert it, adding to our energy stores.”

“Why can’t Tanarac use the same technology?”

“To our knowledge, we are the only scientists in the galaxy who have solved the field transformation equations associated with the Theory of Temporal Displacement.”

Simon asked with intentional sarcasm, “What’s that s
upposed to mean?”

“I’m sorry. I suppose you never reached
theoretical time equations in your education. In reference to this ship, it simply means Heptari weapons are actually beneficial to us. The more they fire, the more energy we acquire.”

“
Are you saying we can fly right through their fleet?” Simon began to understand.

“Correct
. Well, it’s a bit more complex than that, but you are essentially right.”

“Why didn’t Earth’s military use your technology to win the Human War?”

“I already told you. Don’t you remember? Our scientific discovery came too late in the war to make a difference. Besides, the entire surface of this ship is an energy conversion matrix. There’s no place to mount weapons. A purely defensive vessel held no interest for our leaders. Of course, it is possible that—”

Dr. Boroski’s photon image froze for a second.

“That was a message from Dr. Hadje. He cannot make it back to the ship with the human embryos in time. We need to recall Shilgar so we can leave.”

Simon did not hesitate. After all his hours in the pilot chair, his actions seemed almost second nature. He returned to a semi-prone position and summoned the ship’s comm system.

“Kelly, can you hear me?” His voice startled her as it boomed out of the walls.

“
Yes,” she replied while looking for some visual hint of her friend. “Passengers are all loaded. Shilgar went to the surface to wait for Dr. Hadje, and I think I made Dr. Boroski mad at me. He left a little while ago and hasn’t come back, yet.”

“How could he leave you?
He’s been here with me since we started loading the ship.”

The hologram scientist interrupted
them.

“Actually
, I was visiting with Kelly too, until I received the radio message. That’s one of the perks of being a hologram. Photonic existence is great for multi-tasking.” The hologram scientist grinned at his own joke. “Kelly, I’m sorry for leaving so abruptly. I had to start several programs related to our departure.”

Satisfied with the hologram’s explanation, Simon resumed his instructions.

“Go to the surface and get Shilgar. I sent the signal, but there’s no way for him to confirm. We have enough time for you to get him, but we’ll have to leave as soon as you both return.”

“What about the eggs?” Kelly understood the need for additional DNA.

“Zygotes won’t get here in time, and Dr. Boroski says we can’t wait any longer.”

Kelly acknowledged
her instructions and hurried out into the dark tunnel for the last time.

Simon was troubled by an apparent contradiction.

“If we don’t have to worry about Heptari cannons, why is it so important for us to leave right away?”

“
I must admit something to you,” the old scientist said and paused, as if to carefully select his words. “We never had an opportunity to test Dr. Farnthal’s theory. Based on his equations, we should be able to withstand—”

“Wait a minute!
” Simon interrupted as his anxiety piqued. “You’ve never tested what theory?”

He looked at nearby monitors displaying widespread combat in near space.

“Dr. Farnthal postulated that our hull could absorb energy weapon discharges in the same manner as it does any other radiant energy source. We have no reason to distrust his predictions. Everything he theorized so far has turned out exactly as he anticipated.”

Dr. Boroski’s attempt to reassure Simon failed.

“This is not the time to be testing theories!” He expressed anger for the first time toward his teacher. “We have hundreds of people on this ship. They are depending on us, on me, to take them safely to another planet. Why don’t we just wait and see if Tanarac wins? Maybe we won’t have to worry about those Heptari cannons.”

“I didn’t want to tell you this because you are already under a lot of pressure, but I guess you need to know everything.”

Simon disconnected from his command center and approached the hologram. He feared he was about to hear some very bad news.

Dr. Boroski waved off the space images and faded out background sounds to eliminate distractions. Then, he revealed the seriousness of their situation.

“When we entered this mountain three hundred years ago, it took enormous amounts of energy to penetrate through solid rock. You would be amazed how much power is required to create a magma tube extending this deep into a mountain. Today, we have just enough energy stored to escape from this mountain. That’s it.”

The hologram directed Simon’s attention to a set of instruments near the command chair. Three bars lit up on a graph.
The vertical columns had a tall green section above a short yellow strip and a thin red section at the bottom. They were labeled “Total Fuel”, “Internal Operation Reserves” and “Escape Fuel”.

The first two gauges had a black line crossing well up into the green part of the bar. The yellow section of the last indicator flashed and displayed a black line almost touching the red
.

“These are our present energy reserves. The first two gauges show that we have plenty of energy for continued operations for many years to come. The third shows a different story. When the yellow stops flashing in the Escape Fuel indicator, we will no longer have sufficient energy to produce a magma column all the way to the surface. That crossover point is
in three days.”

Dr. Boroski raised both arms, gesturing to everything around him
.

“If we do not leave this mountain within the next three days,
” he said, “then, this ship will never leave this cave. If the Heptari Empire wins this war, the human race is doomed.”

Simon took a deep breath and asked his next question
tentatively.

“We still have three days, don’t we?”

“No. I’m afraid not. We need to leave while we still have surplus to compensate for unexpected energy drains. If we are to find a new planet for our people, our last safe opportunity to leave is now.”

Simon set his jaw. A steely resolve came over him. Now that
he understood the seriousness of the situation, he thanked Dr. Boroski for the explanation and returned to his command chair to begin integrating with ship technology. He tested every system from life support to engine sequencing. Monitors and gauges jumped to life with images or graphs as he ran through his checklist with single-minded concentration.

Kelly stepped out of the tunnel of The Wall.
Last time she saw the big cave, it was bustling with people and hicays. Now, it was eerily quiet. Vast dark areas extended where once many lights shone from dozens of homes. Even the ever present kips seemed to have vacated. The entrance to the big cave remained the only source of residual light.

As she walked up the incline toward the opening, she experienced an overwhelming sense of danger accompanied by
severe vertigo. Dropping her to her knees, a vision filled her mind. It was Shilgar sleeping on a large flat rock in the dim light of early morning’s first sun.

V
ertigo passed quickly, and Kelly got back to her feet. In a few more strides, she stepped into the full warmth of a summer morning on Tanarac.

R
esting on a rock at the entrance to the cave lay Shilgar, exactly as she envisioned him during her dizzy spell. A slight motion to her right caught her attention. Kerl-Ga stepped out from concealment where she guarded her friend.

At first, Kelly ignored the hicay, but then she looked back in astonishment. Once again, she realized she had seen through the animal’s eyes and
sensed the beast’s alarm at her approach.

“Shilgar, wake up!
” she called out.”

The old guide woke instantly and jumped to his feet.

“Didn’t you get Simon’s signal?”

“No
. My Skyguard monitor stopped working during the night. What about the DNA from Dr. Hadje?”

“Something’s happened. They aren’t coming. Simon said he’d explain when we get back.”

“You need water.” Shilgar saw the perspiration on her forehead and handed her his water bag. “Scouts can’t keep up a high pace without water.”

The scout-teacher made sure she drank in small sips as they walked back into the cave. He slow
ed their pace, explaining how she needed to regulate her breathing better. When they stepped into the ship’s entrance, he turned to face the darkness in the tunnel behind them. Kelly asked what he was doing.

“I must say goodbye to my old friend. She has been following us.”

He made a series of quiet grunts from deep in his throat. A dark shadow across the cave moved silently. Kerl-Ga entered the last light of a dying torch and slowly crossed the cave floor, holding her head unusually low. He met her at the center of the empty cavern and put his arms completely around her thick golden neck. Neither man nor beast moved from this embrace for some time. All the while, deep guttural sounds exchanged between them.

The old scout was first to break the union. Stepping back, he dropped to his knees and made slow hand gestures directly in front of her face.
Kerl-Ga watched but did not react.

He
returned to the entrance of the spaceship and turned to face the big hicay, one last time. To his consternation, she approached the ship. He repeated a series of hand gestures.

“What’s wrong with you, old girl? I told you to go.”

He sounded half-annoyed, half-honored that she did not want to leave him.

Kelly stood inside the ship talking with Simon.

“Be patient! They’re old friends.”

Shilgar turned to Kelly.
“She wants to know if we can take her with us.”

Kelly looked past
him at the big animal.

“That’s impossible. There’s no way to feed her. We’re going into space. What about her family? How do you know that, anyway?”

“I’ve known Kerl-Ga my entire life. I told her to go to her family. She said I am her family. I told her we do not know what the future will bring. She wants to go anyway. Ask Simon if she can accompany us.”

Kelly hesitated.

“Do it. Now,” he demanded.

Startled by
his authority, she passed on his request to Simon and was surprised by the reply.

“Okay
. He said she can come with us, but only if she agrees to go into stasis after we get into deep space. Can she understand that?”

“Just
a moment.”

Shilgar turned to the hicay and began an amazingly fast series of hand
gestures, sometimes adding a grunt or deep-throated rumble to the mix. She surged forward, her massive body shoving both humans aside as she forcefully entered the ship.

Kelly spoke into the communicator. “I guess she agreed. We’re all inside now.”