The Agathon: Reign of Arturo (36 page)

Carrie looked at Tyrell.

“You just gonna tag along and stand there?” she said.

Tyrell looked at Jack.

“I assure you we’ll be doing more than simply tagging along,” Tyrell said.

Carrie sighed and looked at the floating holographic stars. There was suddenly a small bright light blinking close to The Agathon.

“What is that?” Carrie said looking at the images.

Jack and Tyrell looked up at the blinking light. It was a few stars to the right of where The Agathon was. Carrie knew it was light years away, but it was less than a third of a metre on this floating representation of the galaxy. Jack waved his hand up and touched the blinking light. Alien writing began to appear in mid-air. It looked like it was a computer readout with sensor information of some sort. He turned to Tyrell.

“I’m not sure she is ready for this yet,” Tyrell said.

“For what?” Carrie said.

Jack turned to Carrie.

“That is a Targlagdu vessel,” Jack said.

“What?” Carrie said raising her voice.

Her pulse quickened.

“How far away is it from the ship?” she said stepping closer to the map.

Jack turned towards the image.

“Just over half a light year,” Jack replied.

“Is it moving?” Carrie asked.

“It appears to be moving in the direction of your vessel,” Jack said.

Carrie looked at Tyrell.

“How far!” Carrie said, her voice no longer able to hide the panic.

“A half a light year,” Jack said.

“Can you get me back to my ship?” Carrie asked.

Jack looked at Tyrell.

“Carrie, there are far bigger things here than-” Jack began.

“Get me back to my ship and I’ll do anything you want, please, you want to know if I can save the universe, then let me save my ship. They won’t survive that thing; they have no weapons. Get me back
there and help me save them!” Carrie said walking straight up to Jack and looking up at his large almond eyes.

“I’m not certain that our ship will be able to reach your vessel in time,” Jack said.

“Try!” Carrie said in an almost threatening tone.

Earth One

Aron was a little surprised at how easy it had been. He had expected a firefight all the way to The Unity, but the halls were cleared and it had been a straight and quiet walk all the way to the airlock. Arturo had requested all Colonial Guard personnel to report to the Red Tribe colonial zone, as there was a fictitious riot. That included the guards from outside his own office. They had taken a little more convincing and a threat from Arturo, but they had eventually obeyed. It gave Aron a few minutes, anyway, to try and launch the ship. They stepped through the airlock and walked inside the ship. Arturo walked ahead of Aron and Vishal brought up the rear. The airlock sealed behind them and Aron felt his ears pop at the change in pressure. Arturo had been silent the whole way down to the main hangar bay. A few times, Aron thought he had muttered a few words to himself, even hearing him laugh slightly, but that had been it. He trained his weapon on Arturo’s lower back and kept it there as they stepped inside. India Walder was waiting for them. She looked tense.

“Okay,” she said to Aron, “welcome aboard, Chancellor.”

Arturo did not respond. He looked behind at Aron and smiled.

“Really? So this is your big plan? You and the rest of the rats are going to have yourselves a little revolution?” he said quietly.

Arturo turned back to face India.

“You must excuse me, my dear, I seem to have forgotten your name,” he said.

India frowned and moved closer to the chancellor.

“Easy, India, let’s get him to the flight deck,” Aron said seeing a familiar look in her eyes. A look that, not long ago, had led to Aron being covered in another man’s blood.

India continued to move towards Arturo. “India, let’s move now!” Aron said, raising his voice to a level that got her attention.

She looked at him and nodded turning to the side and raising her arm.

“This way, Chancellor,” she said leading the way.

“Where is Florence?” Arturo suddenly said, “you have not killed her, I hope, that would simply be barbaric.”

Aron found Arturo’s tone to be chilling. He was almost jovial. It was clear at this stage that the rumours of his mental condition were well founded. He was erratic. Disconnected somehow. There was no response to his question.

They arrived at the flight deck and were met by Florence who was standing at the hatch. Aron saw instantly that she was shaking. There was a ferocious anger in her eyes. Arturo looked at her and smiled.

“Ah, Florence, they have you too, how delightful,” he said.

Florence walked over to Arturo slowly. Aron saw a small tear release itself from her right eye. He kept his weapon trained on Arturo at all times. If he tried to hurt her, he would fire without hesitation.

“I brought them to you,” Florence said, “I led them to you, my dearest. You will not hurt anyone else, anymore. I have seen to that.”

Arturo’s smile faded and his eyes widened.

“Take a seat, Chancellor,” Aron said directing Arturo over to a pull out platform, behind India’s flight chair.

Arturo was still looking at Florence.

“This is how you repay me?” he said to her, lowering himself into the chair.

“Report,” Aron said to India, still watching Arturo in the seat.

“They have locked their starboard guns onto us, we’re not going anywhere right now,” India replied looking out the forward windows.

“What’s your big plan then?” Arturo said to Aron.

“Well, Chancellor, first things first,” Aron said, “you are going to hail Escat and tell him that I have agreed to grant you access to the communications relay. Tell him that you are on board The Unity and
to follow us to the coordinates of the first relay buoy, to get a better signal. Tell him that you are voluntarily on board this ship and to stand down his weapons lock on us.”

Arturo frowned.

“You think the general is a fool?” Arturo said to Aron, “he’ll blow this ship straight out of the cosmos.”

“For your sake, let’s hope he doesn’t do that, ay?” Aron replied. “India, patch us in.”

India climbed into the flight chair and activated the comm channel. Aron looked at Arturo.

“Don’t do anything stupid, Chancellor,” he said raising his weapon and placing it against Arturo’s temple.

The chancellor’s mouth formed a strange grin. There was a chirping sound from the comm system as the channel was opened.

“This is The Unity calling The Kandinsky, please respond,” said India.

There was a momentary crackle, then Escat’s voice quietly responded.

“Go ahead, Unity,” Escat replied.

Aron looked at Arturo. He watched his eyes closely, trying to sense if he was about to go all kamikaze on him and blow the whole plan.

“General, this is the chancellor, please stand down the weapons lock on The Unity and prepare to escort us to the alpha relay site. Mr Elstone and his crew have agreed to allow us access,” he said.

There was a silence on the comm system.

“Chancellor, you are on board The Unity?” Escat asked.

Aron watched Arturo carefully.

“That is correct, General. Mr Elstone and I have come to an arrangement,” Arturo said.

Aron did not like the sound of that. He suddenly realised that sentence could have meant several things and could very well have been a code for capture between Arturo and his security staff. He frowned and placed the barrel of the gun at Arturo’s head. He thought about pulling the trigger quickly and just getting it done. At least he would
have the satisfaction of knowing he had done it himself, before The Kandinsky blew the ship apart.

“I understand, Chancellor, we are standing down weapons and awaiting further instructions,” Escat suddenly said, “Kandinsky out.”

The comm system went quiet. India looked around at Aron.

“Okay, that was too easy,” she said, “their weapons systems have deactivated their lock.”

Aron looked at Arturo curiously. He was sure that he had just passed Escat a code, but there was nothing he could do about that now. He had to act fast.

“Fire up the engines and get us the hell out of here,” he said to India.

“Roger that,” India replied, getting busy activating the main engines.

Aron looked at Florence who was staring at the chancellor.

“They know,” she said.

Arturo’s grin widened.

26

The Agathon

Engine Room

“H
ow’s my ship?” Barrington said to Tosh walking around the underside of The Betty.

Tosh looked up from his control pad. “She’s in one piece, Captain,” Tosh replied.

Barrington had not had much time to talk with Tosh about Young. They had been close. Very close. The Agathon was their brainchild and if it had not been for Young insisting on Tosh’s presence on Phobos, he would have perished on Earth with the rest of them.

“Did Kevin survive?” Tosh asked.

Barrington nodded placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Just about, Doc is patching him up now, he’ll be fine,” Barrington replied.

There was a gentle vibration coming from the large spherical orb, in the centre of the Faster than Light drive, nicknamed The Betty.

“And Chavel?” Tosh asked.

“That man has more lives than a cat,” Barrington replied trying to smile.

He leaned against a rail and looked out towards the crew in the engine room.

“That’s good, we’re not winning this anytime soon, are we, John?” Tosh said, “our losses are mounting.”

Their eyes met and Barrington saw the sadness that he had been hiding. He thought about Carrie. Then shut it out. He had a job to do. He looked at Tosh’s wheelchair.

“Why are you in a wheelchair anyway?” Barrington asked.

Tosh raised his eyebrows at Barrington’s attempt to change the subject.

“If you think I’m going to let that woman open up my back and replace my spinal cord, you have another thing coming. Some things are not meant to be fixed and I happen to like my chair. I got enough grief about it from Young, I do not need another mother, thank you very much, Captain,” Tosh said returning to his data pad.

Barrington smiled. He looked up and took a moment to look around the impressive engine room. He hated waiting and the check-in time agreed for Elstone to radio in had come and gone. He started running his options through his mind as he watched the crew members going about their tasks.

“Is there some reason you are just standing there, Captain?” Tosh suddenly said breaking Barrington’s chain of thought.

“Hmm?” Barrington replied.

“Captain, all due respect, but there is nothing you can currently do until we get these engines primed up and ready. Standing around aimlessly is not going to make Aron Elstone call any sooner. You’re going to have to make a decision on our destination, we can’t stay here forever and we can’t go back. We have to keep moving forward, John. It gives people hope,” Tosh said.

Barrington smiled. He reminded himself to try and get to know Daniel Tosh a bit better. He thought about Carrie again. How would she be able to find him if they left.

“We still have a full complement of rescue beacons on board, yes?” Barrington asked Tosh.

“Yes, that we have plenty of,” Tosh replied.

“Prepare to launch one onto the planet surface. I want it activated and locked onto the ship’s locator beacon,” Barrington said.

“Of course, Captain,” Tosh said.

There was a sudden beep from Barrington’s wrist communicator.

“Boyett to Captain,” said Boyett’s voice.

“Go,” Barrington replied.

“Sir, we have an incoming signal that seems to be on an intercept course, can you come to the bridge?” Boyett said sounding strange.

Barrington frowned and looked at Tosh.

“I’ll launch it immediately, John,” Tosh said.

The Agathon

Main Bridge

The lift doors slid open and the captain strode confidently into the room, finding his way to the centre seat and lowering himself into it.

“Report,” he said to Boyett.

“Sir, we are tracking an enormous object, traveling at sub light speeds. It’s just entered the outer markers of the sixth planet in this system,” Boyett said.

“Chavel?” Barrington said looking to get an assessment from the main navigation console.

Chavel looked at his readings.

“Confirmed, sir, I am trying to get a visual lock on it now, but its speed is decreasing,” Chavel said.

“Decreasing?” Barrington asked.

“Yes, sir, we tracked it coming in at sub light, but it dropped to approach vector velocity as soon as it hit the boundaries of the sixth planet. It is definitely coming in our direction. Hang on, sir, I think I have a visual,” Chavel said looking up at the centre screen.

The image flickered as all members of the bridge crew looked up at the small round object. It looked like a far-off planet of some sort. Barrington looked at the image and stroked the side of his face.

“Can we get in closer, David?” he said to Chavel.

“Hang on, let me try and boost the confinement signal,” Chavel said.

The image on the screen flickered and the round planet sized object doubled in size. Barrington stood from his centre seat and looked at Boyett who was staring at him mouth opened. There was a deathly silence on the bridge.

“Oh my God,” Leanne Ripley said from behind the captain breaking the uniformed silence.

The image on the screen was one they had all seen before. The huge metallic sphere had found them. This was not the replicated blue world they had first encountered. It was a deformed and twisted creation with huge jagged metallic edges and a gaping opening in its centre. Barrington looked at Boyett.

“Time to intercept?” Barrington said, his senses jumping into full command mode running every possible scenario through his head.

“Twelve minutes,” Boyett said.

Barrington looked at the killer planet on the main view screen.

“Everyone, be calm,” he said looking behind him at Ripley, whose face had turned a stone white, “Charly, fire up the FTL. Let’s get the hell out of here.”