The Alpha Choice (82 page)

‘They will convince themselves, by a combination of wishful thinking and naïveté, fostered by a mistaken interpretation of minor technological advances, that you are safe. You will enhance both your weaponry, and defensive capabilities, and all too quickly come to believe you can defend yourselves, but make no mistake, without the power of the Artefact, or many thousands of years of advancement, you cannot repel a Te’an attack, and we cannot help you.’

‘You couldn't help us this time, but you did.’

‘We would advise you not to test out your theory.’

Jon felt heavy. ‘There isn't really a choice is there. I mean, if we stay within the Zone we’ll be swallowed up by this…void, and if we move outside, the Te attack us?’

‘Yes,’
Jane
admitted.

‘So, what’s the answer?’

‘You need to discover that, for yourself.’

He should not have been surprised. ‘It seems the only help we’re going to get from here on, is the Artefact. As I told you, it disappeared…but you already knew that. I don’t suppose you’re going to tell me where can I find it?’

‘It is no longer on Earth.’

Instead of waking from this nightmare, he was plunging ever deeper into darker dreams. ‘I’m not sure I can process that just now, where do I go from here?’

‘You need to speak to your friend, and both of you need to convince your leaders of all that we are telling you,’ answered
Alf
.

‘My friend?’

‘Hugo Black, he remains the CEO of TeCorp, although I anticipate he may very well change the name. He has the power and influence to aid you,’
Alf
replied.

‘I’d hardly call him a friend.’

‘Really?’
Alf
raised an eyebrow, but only by a minute fraction. ‘The two of you fought against the greatest threat your planet has ever known. He saved your life, or at least secured your liberty.’
 

Jon was confused. ‘He was almost one of them. I know he helped at the end, but without him none of this would have happened.’

It was
Jane’s
turn to reply. ‘If not him, another would have been chosen. He never saw TeCorp as an opportunity for self advancement, and at no time did he believe he was acting other than in the interests of your species. Of course Gerry Wye was similarly misguided. The difference between the two men is that as soon as he became aware of what was at stake Hugo Black was prepared to do what was necessary stop the Te. In similar circumstances, it is unlikely that any of the others on the Te’an list of candidates would have acted as he did in assisting you. Probably the biggest mistake made by the Te was in choosing Hugo Black. He still wants to see the human race evolve into something worthy of its potential. He will help you, and the pair of you will become firm friends for as long as you live, or your species survives.’

Despite what he had just said, Jon had a sneaking regard for the TeCorp CEO. A thought then occurred to him. ‘Everyone on the planet will have seen what happened, there’ll be riots, and worse down there.’

Jane’s
response was as dispassionate as ever. ‘None of what transpired within the room you call the Unification Chamber, or above your planet was seen by anyone outside the room. Other than you, only your leaders and Hugo Black will have any recollection of what happened,’ no further explanation was given.

Jon nodded, relieved. ‘The man in the hologram, Tala’s boss, he referred to rebels, what did he mean?’

‘Elizabeth Corcoran was released as a result of their action aboard the Te’an flagship,’ replied
Jane
. ‘They have been working in secret, since our last encounter, to undermine the Te’an imperative. This was their first opportunity to influence the outcome of contact with another species.’
 

Jon’s eyes narrowed. ‘Do the Te’ans know the rebels released Liz?’

‘Yes. More precisely, it was one person who aided Miss Corcoran, as well as orchestrating your escape and enabling Hugo Black to assist you.’

‘Won't they search until he…?’

‘You have guessed correctly, it is a man, a young man of exceptional talents.’

‘Won't they search until he’s found?’

‘They will try, but for the moment he is safe.’

Alf
added. ‘If you are to prepare your world to face the Void
,
you will again need the help of the rebel faction, as well as others who recognise the greater threat, and are willing to help.’

‘Who are they, these
others
?’

‘They will make themselves known,’
Jane
replied.

‘How will we contact the rebels?’ he asked, unconsciously confirming he would be working with Hugo Black.

‘You cannot,’
Jane
replied, ‘they will contact you, and for that purpose we will allow restricted incursions into the Zone.’

‘Why would they do that, they don’t know anything about the
Nothing,
I mean the Void?’

She had not answered his question, but he reasoned that if his questions were totally unwelcome, they would just spirit him back home. He tried a different approach. ‘Can you at least tell me how we’ll recognise them when they make contact?’
Jane
locked her electric blue eyes onto his, and Jonathon Tyler found himself standing in the foyer of TeCorp headquarters.

Twelve years from now

Ω
   

Commander Kaarn of the Scion had waited inside the Weft for days, his face betraying none of the emotion he felt at having been diverted, on the whim of the Agency, to the desolate sector beyond. As ever, when the Agency were involved, only sparse details were given. The actual orders had come from none other than the High Admiral and were simple enough,
remain until I personally give you permission to retire. Any incursion into the sector and you are to exit the Weft and use lethal force on any vessel you find.
 

‘Any vessel’
was a matter for speculation, but Kaarn was not prone to speculation, he simply obeyed orders, and waited.
 

Δ
 

The Earth star ship ‘Endeavour’ slowed out weft space and the view screen displayed the coalescence of blurred, formless colours into the familiar images of ‘real’ space. Captain Johansson, from his position at the bridge, checked their position with his young Third Lieutenant, Thomas ‘Tom’ Lindsay, who was nervously navigating his way through his maiden voyage aboard a star ship.

‘The instruments are malfunctioning, sir.’ Lindsay reported.

The captain turned to the young officer. ‘In what way are they malfunctioning, Mr Lindsay?’ While he was fully acquainted with the personal details of all one hundred and thirty-five of his crew he noted, for the first time, how young his Third Lieutenant looked. Perplexity was writ large upon his reddening face, making him appear even younger.
 

Johansson remembered the panic he felt, sometimes groundless sometimes not, during his own first voyage, and recalled his old captain's reassurances doing nothing to calm him.
 

He looked at his first officer, Sylvia Fernandez, a sound officer not prone to panic, very level headed, who raised her right eyebrow. They had known each other for three years and he had, while on shore leave, been a regular dinner guest at the home of her parents. On their return from this mission he would be one of two hundred and seventy guests at her brother’s wedding. Yet, despite spending so much time together, they were, to use an old expression,
just good friends
.

Johansson had enjoyed a few intimate relationships in the years he had known her, as had she, but they both knew that as long as they were active officers of the ‘Galactic Fleet’ their relationship had to remain strictly professional. In three years time - the maximum period of active service permitted for an officer of the Fleet was nine years, and they had each served six - they would both enjoy their retirement, together.

He got up from his chair, determined not to prolong the misery of his young officer, then calmly, not wanting to spook the lad, walked over to the navigation computer to check the readings for himself. He would point out, in the most reassuring but more importantly, the least patronising manner he could muster, where the youngster had made his error.

In the instant he looked at the virtual screen, he knew Lindsay was right. According to the ship’s computer, they had exited weft space one hundred and eighty light years from Earth.

His instinctive first thought,
how is that possible
?

The brief moment of panic vanished, replaced by the mental clarity that came from years of experience. He asked his first officer to log on and check the readings at her own station. Bringing up the star charts on an adjacent screen, and separate diagnostic displays showing speed and fuel use, he overlaid one upon another. The calculation was carried out instantly and automatically. A glance at his first officer confirmed his findings, somehow they had exited the weft beyond the Zone. If discovered, they would not have the protection of the Custodians.

After the expulsion of the Te, twelve years earlier, Jonathon Tyler had explained to Earth’s leaders, that if they chose to venture out towards the stars they would be protected from the unwelcome attentions of the Te, provided they remained within one hundred and fifty light years of Earth, in any direction. The Te were physically prevented from crossing that perimeter, into what became known as the Zone. With the backing of Hugo Black and the incumbent US President, there was no resistance to Tyler’s warnings. Beyond the perimeter, they would have to fend for themselves, which seemed reasonable enough; one hundred and fifty light years is a long way, and there was much to explore within the Zone. They would only venture beyond the boundary once they had advanced to the point of being able to protect themselves, and that time was far, far away.

Once he had convinced them they could not rely upon Custodian intervention again, Tyler had told of the advanced civilisations which had fallen to the Te, notwithstanding technology dwarfing anything the Te had demonstrated, and the salutary warning did its work. Every ship was equipped with a failsafe device, which cut in once a ship had reached a cumulative hundred and twenty light years in the Weft.

He had told them nothing of the danger posed by the Void.

Endeavour’s captain was all too aware of the need to remain within the Zone. He gave the order to dispatch a message to Earth, confirming their position and status.

No sooner had this order been carried out than the view screen displayed a disturbance in normal space. It was the formation of a weft-space exit. Johansson’s stomach reacted faster than his brain, which was not far behind. He gave the order to activate weft drive, which would take all of twelve-seconds. In that time his worst fears were realised, a Te’an warship appeared, no more than three thousand kilometres from their position.
 

Nine-seconds to safety. He gave the order to activate defensive shields, and personally hit the transmit button, which would send all logs back to Earth, including the sighting of the Te’an ship.

Three-seconds before the activation of weft drive, he looked at Fernandez whose face tried to reassure him. Their screens confirmed the Te’an ship was charging it’s weapons.

Two-seconds later, he saw a flash emanate from the other ship.

Ω

On board the Te’an warship, Commander Kaarn, his face betraying no emotion, glanced over his command holo screen and instructed his communications officer to signal Te’ath. Signal transmitted, he gave the order to fire upon the errant Tellurian ship.

α

Just as Scion had despatched her signal to Te’ath, Agrion awoke. Stumbling out of bed, he walked over to the window, rubbing his eyes before letting them sweep over the peaceful landscape he had come to call home. He looked back at Liron, who was beginning to stir. They had both known this day was coming. Soon their separate journeys would begin, with no guarantee they would ever see each other again. Turning back to the view, he let his mind drift back to his arrival on Tellus.

From the moment their ship was taken, he was oblivious to all that had happened at Gallsor. He was sure he was conscious throughout, but his memory was blank. What was more, he had not seen his captors or Liron; he had called out her name and got no reply.
 

The first he knew of his arrival was when he found himself sitting in a circular chamber. In front of him was a semicircle of seated humans. They looked no different to anyone he might see on Te’ath except, even when seated they appeared quite tall and slim.
So,
he thought,
this is the Balg, I never expected them to be human.

All the seats were taken, he counted eighteen split equally between men and women. All of them shorthaired and wearing long, various coloured robes.

Liron?
He looked around, but beyond the immediate area there was only darkness. So far as he could tell, other than the semi-circle, he was quite alone. He returned his attention to his captors
.
Their reserved appearance made him no less afraid. Te’an philosophy was to assimilate or destroy, almost always the latter, why should he think the Balg would be any different?
 

A man at the centre of the semi circle spoke up, with a quiet yet surprisingly clear voice, ‘You have nothing to fear.’

Agrion heard the words and ignored them. He needed to find out what was going on, if he lived that long. ‘Why am I still alive?’

‘Why would we want to kill you?’

‘Because we’re at war.’

The man shook his head, but appeared amused. ‘You may be at war, we are not,’
he gestured towards his companions. ‘We are Tellan, and you are on our home planet, Tellus. But you call us Balg
,
due no doubt to listening in on a broadcast message.’ The man then turned his head both to left and right, and as Agrion followed the man’s line of sight he could see the remaining seventeen were smiling.

‘What’s so funny?’

‘Balg
means water, in our tongue.’

The Te’an agent closed his eyes. As long as the name, as everyone in the Agency knew, remained unexplained, it was as good as any other but knowing its true meaning, in his current predicament, was something he could do without. ‘Why did you take me, and where is my colleague?’