The Alpha Choice (70 page)

Despite Narol’s orders, Gorn had to stop Darl. In warning his commander, he was in danger of giving himself away, but what did that matter now? He knew there was only one way it could be done, and it had neither the luxury, nor relative safety of subtlety. ‘Sir, the Alpha Wave has a flaw that could result in the destruction of both ourselves, and Telluria.’

Darl turned slowly towards the young science officer and asked, slowly. ‘How do you know of the Alpha Wave?’

Gorn, guilelessly replied. ‘You told me, sir.’ He could see the shadow of uncertainty in his commander’s eyes, his mind, undoubtedly going back to that night when he drank himself almost senseless, his uncertainty confirmed by the words. ‘Of course, in all the excitement, it had slipped my mind,’ the older man paused before adding, ‘but I can assure you Gorn, everything has been worked out to the finest detail. We are in no danger whatever.’
 

With that, he turned back to the holo-sphere – the discussion was over and Gorn had risked exposure, for nothing. He tried to explain how he had discovered the flaw. ‘Sir, I have checked the calculations and they miss an important element, if you would just put the deployment on hold, I would be happy to explain.’

Darl ignored him.

As Eclipse acknowledged Quasar and Nova being in position and signalling their readiness to proceed, Gorn heard a voice, a soft female voice, not through the ship’s systems but in his head. He looked at his fellow officers and saw them looking around for the source of the sound. Like him, they each could give a name to the manifestation.

Δ
∞

Where once there was nothing but blackness there now appeared, between the three enormous Te’an ships and the waiting planet, a very small electric blue light.
 

Jon heard a voice, which did not appear to emanate from anywhere, it was simply in the room with them. From the expressions around him, it was apparent that everyone could hear the voice. None of the little group, including Hugo Black appeared to be looking for the source and, once again, it seemed to Jon that
Jane
was cushioning them from the effects of what they were experiencing. So far as he could tell, she had not interfered with
his
mind.

He, instinctively knew the source of the voice was the blue light. The voice was that of a woman, softly spoken, nonbelligerent, unthreatening but not human. It sounded like
Jane
, but there was something about it that confused and disoriented him.
 

Unlike anyone else present, he had some knowledge of the Custodian, but even that was qualified because he had no idea what she actually was. More accurately, he was aware that she was not and possibly never was, remotely human. The voice was not addressing his group, they were merely being allowed to hear and observe. It was directed towards the waiting Te’an warships.
 

Even with his limited awareness of the capabilities of the Custodians, the sight of the Te’an ships still filled him with dread. They had played, contemptuously, with the augmented ships that were sent to repel them and now sat, for there was no impression of movement, implacable and menacing in their silence, conveying no sign of concern or flight.
 

The small blue light hovering before them, seemingly gave the commanders of these killing machines no cause for concern. They would surely know what befell their ancestors three thousand years ago, but that was a long time ago and their technology would have advanced in the intervening years. Perhaps they had good reason not to be afraid.

The not quite human voice spoke. ‘You were warned, when we last met of what would befall you if you breached the Accords,’ there was a pause, and Jon guessed that if the ships were to reply he, and the others would be allowed to hear. There was no response. Minutes later, there was still no response. On the viewing platform, no one moved.
 

He watched as the three huge ships silently manoeuvred into positions placing the tiny and motionless blue light in the centre of yet another triangle. The movement signalled purpose and increased his sense of dread. As soon as the warships came to a stop they fired upon the little illuminated sphere, subsuming it in an intense ball of white light. Alarming though it was, he could not help but picture the futile attempt to destroy
Jane
, just moments before.
 

Knowing that
Jane
was in no danger, his mind swept back to the senseless death of Emily. Right up to the moment she died, he never truly realised the danger they were in. He had gone through the whole thing as though it was a virtual game, where the danger is never real, no matter how realistic it might appear. If he had taken the whole thing more seriously, would Emily still be alive?
 

The answer to his question would have to wait, as a new development in the latest battle for Earth caught his eye, and then his whole attention. What he saw frightened him on a level so deep he could not name it. While he had never seen anything like it before, he instinctively knew it was something of which to be very afraid. Looking around the viewing platform, he still saw only unconcerned, mildly interested faces.
 

While the ball of energy enveloping the blue light continued to glow with a fierce intensity, something less obvious was moving out from each of the ships and coursing, relentlessly, towards where the little Custodian ship was hidden.
 

There was no beam, or anything else that might signify use of a weapon, simply a rippling in space that caused the stars behind the steadily advancing stream to distort. It was almost as though the ships were cascading rivulets of water to douse the white-hot energy ball. He did not think, for a moment, that the purpose of this latest manifestation was anything so benign. While Jane concentrated on keeping the destructive energy surrounding her ship at bay, she would have no idea of the presence of this new horror.

Within moments, the three streams converged on the area of the energy ball. The white plasma immediately disappeared, to be replaced by roiling blackness. While the only colour Jon could discern was an inky black, there seemed to be different shades writhing within the enveloping horror. The visual effect was terrifying, as though some monstrous being was battling to escape the confines of its stygian prison. As if to confirm his surreal interpretation, the darkness began to expand outwards.
 

Of
Jane’s
ship, there was no sign. The monstrous globe, having done its work with ruthless efficiency, was seemingly endowed with a mind of its own. It had become dissatisfied with its prey, and the expansion gained in momentum as it moved outwards, in all directions. Within seconds, it would overtake the Te’an ships. A few more seconds and the viewing platform upon which he and the others stood, would be swept away and, looking back at Earth, he wondered how his planet would fare?
Not well
, he answered himself.

In the few short seconds before the Te’ans were consumed, he wondered what they were thinking.

Ω

Commander Darl gave the order to break formation and engage the sub-weft drives. He knew they would not escape. The orb of writhing blackness was moving outwards at an almost exponential speed. Horizon and Quasar could no longer be seen, the size of the wave blotted everything else from sight. Darl would later have wondered how Gorn could have figured this out, but that would not happen, not now. All he could do was wait out the few seconds it would take before his entire command blinked out of existence. The only thought that went through his mind,
it wasn’t my fault.
 

As the wave was about to sweep over them, he looked at his officers and braced himself for what was about to come…
 

Δ

Jon watched with horrified fascination, as the grotesque, bloated sphere was about to simultaneously, envelope all three Te’an ships. Then, as quickly as the thing had expanded, it stopped, almost touching the ships. For several agonising seconds it remained like this, as though pondering whether to continue on its all-consuming way, then it vanished.

Everything returned to the way it looked before the Te’an ships had opened fire with their energy weapons. The three ships still formed a triangulated array and there, in the middle of the huge triangle...

Ω

The commander looked at the holo-sphere and saw, in the centre, unblinking and unharmed, the softly glowing light harbouring the awesome power of the Custodian.

Darl was prepared to die in the course of destroying the Custodian, but to learn that their ultimate weapon was ineffectual made him feel small and insignificant. Some part of him fled into the shadows never to return, and for the first time in his life he felt afraid.
 

The years since Khitaa had been spent discovering, creating and honing their means of deliverance from the spectre of interference, and their efforts had been swept aside with indifference. To allow the wave to expand within millimetres of their ships and then extinguish it, was a message that would ring clear across the Te’an Empire:
We live and die at the whim of these beings
.

Δ

Jon looked at the light that was
Jane’s
ship, and wondered how he could have doubted the outcome. Her power was beyond anything he could imagine, and the monstrous wave was clearly no threat to her, if indeed anything was,
but why didn’t she allow that thing to destroy them?
he wondered. Everyone else on the viewing platform just seemed relieved: partly at the sight of the wave vanishing before it could overwhelm them, and the Earth; partly because the warlike Te’ans, bent on destroying them, had been brought to heel.
 

The platform observers had no idea of the history between the Te'ans and the Custodians, and were unaware that the entire Te'an race was about to be utterly destroyed, not that any of them would have been remotely concerned, had they known.

The voice from the blue light spoke again, the words still not meant for him or his fellow observers. The tone was unchanged, unthreatening as though no attack had taken place. ‘We hoped you would learn compassion and gain in wisdom in the years since we last encountered one another, but you remain intent upon destroying, or enslaving all that you encounter.’
 

Notwithstanding the disembodiment of the voice and its otherworldly quality, Jon detected something else…
sorrow?
Perhaps I’m imagining it,
he thought.
 

Without further ado, the three giant ships disappeared. They were not enveloped in energy beams, they did not implode or break apart, they simply vanished.
 

Ω

Darl had no time to dwell on his misfortune. All systems on Eclipse seemed to malfunction at once. ‘Zan, an initial status report, if you please?’

‘Sir, according to our instruments, we are…six thousand parsecs from our last position. All systems now appear to be operating within normal parameters,’ replied the tactical officer.

So,
thought Darl,
their whim is that we shall live!
‘Quasar and Horizon?’ he asked.

‘No sign of them, sir,’ Zan replied.

Darl breathed out, heavily,
what’s that all about?

Before retiring to his ready room he asked Kirion, Zan and Gorn to provide him with a full report within the hour. The hour may as well have been a minute for, as he anticipated, they had no answers. He made the decision to wait twenty-four hours before embarking on their lengthy journey home. ‘I want to give our sister ships a chance to find us, and a stationary ship with a beacon is the best chance of that. The loss of a day is a minor inconvenience, considering all we’ve been through,’ just as he was about to dismiss them, Gorn begged leave to remain behind. Darl dismissed Zan and gave the young officer his full attention. ‘What is it, Gorn?’

‘I’ve tried to contact my friend, Genir, he isn't in his quarters. I took the liberty of checking the roll call, and he did return. I don't know what’s happening but I’m worried. We are like brothers and if there was a problem, he would tell me. I know it sounds absurd, sir, but is it possible the Custodian has done something to him? I can’t think of any other logical explanation.’
 

Darl pondered, before replying. ‘There’s a…situation. I understand your concern, but there are reasons why I can't give you any details, at least for now. I can tell you that, as far as I’m aware, the Custodians are not involved and your friend is still on board,’ the commander looked at the door, and Gorn took the hint.

The young officer gone, Darl walked over to his desk and sat down, ‘What do you make of that, XO?’

Kirion answered immediately, ‘I think it affords us an ideal opportunity to discover the motive behind the pilot’s actions,’ he took his commander’s silence as tacit approval to continue. ‘Something has happened between the asteroid exercise and the battle, and whatever we do to him, the Admiralty, if not the Council itself, will want to get to the bottom of it…’

‘You're not suggesting he’s part of the rebellion, surely?’

‘Not at all, sir. I believe the rebellion may take his actions as indicative of a wider disquiet.’

‘Makes sense, I suppose. So how is this an opportunity for us?’

‘The boy is unlikely to open up to us, and whilst there are means to extract the truth, we can hardly expect their use to remain secret. If it gets out we had to resort to non-voluntary means, it is again playing into the hands of the rebellion. We get around that by having our science officer speak to him. If anyone can get to the truth, it will be his best friend.’

‘If it doesn't work?’ Darl sounded dubious.
 

‘Then we are no worse off than we are now.’

Darl sat back and swivelled his chair. ‘Except that Gorn will know of the problem!’

‘Given their closeness, it would only be a matter of time before he finds out. You might consider it’s a risk worth taking, bearing in mind what else Gorn knows.’