Void Star (11 page)

     The Eckelion pulled a small orb out from his robes.

     "Here it is, the Void Star, the most powerful weapon in the universe."

     Nathan walked back with more wood. He didn't look like he was paying much attention. His eyes caught on the little device, and his mouth grew thin.

     "I coded this pad in a specific way. The first solution is the easiest and why you should be seeing this first. The second is more difficult and gives the coordinates to where I am. The third, should all else fail, is nearly impossible and tells who the chosen one is. The one with the terribly scarred eyes. Even if Ruvera gets their hands on this, it'll take them forever to break into it, since they aren't familiar with our sciences or math. I will have to move locations should it take you longer to find where I am in order to protect this." Raxus the hologram appeared to be nervous about being caught. "Each solution will show you another piece of the puzzle, this being one of the three. Now this wasn't part of the vision I received, but I knew you would want to be a part of this. Your people were right about the Void Star when everyone else was wrong.  It is…remarkable."

     The explosions outside were either taking a break or were too far away to hear.

     "I hope to see you soon with the chosen one. I fear to imagine another outcome.  Farewell old friend." The hologram blinked off.

     A silence descended on all of them. It was a lot to process.

     Nathan broke it. "Boost, what do you have on this Void Star?"

     Boost took a moment to gather facts from his information bank. "Void Star. Three entries; first one, known to those in the Parsi System as Vuli'sa, the Jewel of the Universe. They believed it existed to stop a universal rebirth, where everything would be pulled back into itself and burst forth once more to re-evolve as something else. They were a strange people who kept to themselves, but records show they once had the star before it was moved to Vale. Second entry: Yehara 45-3 System, known as the Helcarion which roughly translates to 'unstoppable force.' They believed it contained some massive, unknown power. They had it for a while until the Salarians got it back through years of war. Last entry: this is according to a Valian inscription I saw once, 'Void Star, protect us from the Dark One in our greatest time of need.' It's either Dark One or Darkness. In the Salarian tongue—"

     "I got it." Nathan stopped him. He mulled this over silently.

     An explosion shook the ground above them, and for a moment, the power flickered. It took a second for the emergency lights to come back on. A worried look flashed across everyone's face for a split second. But the ship hadn't been hit directly.

     "Close one," Trevor whispered.

     Kaida nodded.

     Nathan walked up to Kaida. "Do you think you can solve the other two algorithms?"

     "It will take me some time. But, yes, I believe I can." She pocketed the data pad.

     Suddenly, a hard metal clang rang out through the cargo hold. Trev and Nathan exchanged a look. The two men ran up to the catwalk and crawled up to the top of the ship. Nathan had a flashlight out and found that the ship hadn't been completely covered by snow after all. They were embedded in a large ice cave. The light reflected off the ice crystals, and the whole cave lit up.

     Already in the distance, they could see a figure disappearing deeper into the caves. The figure had made off with some of their spare cold-weather gear and a bag of supplies by the look of it.

     The two of them dropped back down and closed off the freezing cold. It had been hard to imagine it getting worse outside, but it was worlds colder.

     They retreated back to the cell, and sure enough, the cell door was wide open. There was no one inside.

     Nathan just shook his head.

     Kaida watched both men return and could tell what had happened. Daphkalian had escaped. She didn't want their moods to become too somber. "He probably won't survive for long out there." Even though she had meant it to cheer them up, it just sounded cryptic when it came out.

     Trevor shrugged. "I guess."

     "Hold it." Nathan shushed them.

     Trevor struggled to hear anything through the thick lining of his jacket. There wasn't a sound to be heard.

     "Boost, can you pick that up?" Nathan asked.

     Boost connected a piece of equipment he kept locked inside his central compartment and held it up toward the ceiling. He waited to make sure he had it right. He put his sound amplifier away. "It sounds like a battle."

     "Who would fight the Ruverans?" Trevor scoffed. He knew whatever fight this was would be short-lived.

     "It's the people I work for." Kaida smiled underneath her mask. "The Elysians."

-o-

     Outside the ice world of Frosterrene, twenty-two gunships and a mother ship appeared out of dead space. The
Breaker VI
had not been expecting visitors. It turned to evasive maneuvers. The fighters returned from their bomb runs to defend it.

     "What do we got?" Fox asked his generals.

     "Looks like they won't be retreating, sir. They are digging in."

     Fox nodded. "All right. Just like we practiced, Ladies and Gentlemen. Hit them where it hurts. Show them they can be brought down."

     Outside the
Helcarion
, the Valians were unleashing their own sets of fighters. They were smaller than the Ruverans', but faster and more maneuverable. A small-scale battle broke out.

     Underneath
Breaker VI
, the rift gun started glowing. They had intel that Ruveran ships had the capability to use rift technology to destroy smaller-scale items instead of just to create a void in space that destroyed everything around it. It appeared that was the route they were going to take. The soft-blue hue of the machine warmed up, sending a shiver down Fox's spine.

     The huge white light boomed out of it, and
Valian 7
exploded.

     "Everyone, focus on your assignment. Take it out now!" Fox screamed.

     The Valians all opened up on the giant battleship, speeding around it, blasting away with everything they had. Even though they were doing massive damage, the ship was too great to bring down fast.

     "Sir, I suggest we use one of the X-13's," his weapons officer, his cousin's son, Lieutenant Jake Clemons, called.

     In that moment of panic, Fox didn't care how few of those weapons they had and how much they might need them later. "Use it!"

     Jake ran over with his order and motioned for his people to spin it up.

     An orange spike shot from the
Helcarion
and pierced the great gunship. The force of the shot tore through the Breaker, and then it shattered apart. The rift cannon evaporated.

     The dogfighting went on until the Ruveran fighters either blew up or light-jumped away.

     Fox mourned the loss of those aboard
Valian 7.
He would hold a memorial for them when he figured out the rest of this mess. It would be a bit. His people would be reporting losses and damage for the next few hours.

     "So where is Kaida now?" Fox asked. He walked up to his radar officers.

     One of them kept shrugging until a tiny blip flashed onscreen. "It's another ship. Not Ruveran by the look of it."

     "They appear to be under a snow bank," another chimed in.

     "That's probably her then." Fox smiled. "Send a team to help them out. I want another team here with me to greet them. I'm sure they'll have quite the story to tell."

Chapter 12

     After a team had helped rescue and extract the
Wrath
, Nathan slowly brought the ship back to life. They were back in open air. The blizzard was still blowing at them harshly, but no one was trying to kill them. In the open ice fields, Nathan went back to work. As soon as the quantum engines were maxed out, the temperature jumped up to normal levels. The wing anti-ice melted off any residual icing. The crew completed all preflight checks, and then they were ready.

     The
Wrath
jumped into the sky once more. Over the ground, they couldn't see any sign of Daphkalian. Most likely, he was a frozen ball of ice. Nathan brought them all out of the frozen planet, and they were back in open space. Once there, it was evident something had gone down. Chunks of a great ship were floating around, and fighter carcasses were slamming into each other. Beyond a dead field, the crew took in a sight.

     A couple handfuls of sharp-looking attack craft stared back at them. Fighters were looming around those like bees guarding honey. In the middle was a circular one with what looked like a spired city at the center. Whoever they were, they were clearly not Ruveran.

     Nathan played with the radios until he picked up their frequency. "Awaiting instructions." This was the usual parlay when you were overwhelmed by a peaceful force you didn't want to upset.

     "Let me talk to them," Kaida interjected.

     "Quiet," Nathan told her gruffly.

     Trevor finally recognized the uncle he knew. A hurt look played across her pretty face—she looked almost like a little girl about to cry—and then it turned to anger.

     "Unknown craft, follow vectors for docking."

     Trevor sat back and watched in awe as they grew closer. The flagship they were headed toward was astonishing; it looked like the inhabitants had recreated a small planet. Though it was like they had taken a slice off the top of a world, it reminded him of home. The buildings were like those back on Earth.

     The docking station door opened as their ship arrived. They followed the glowing lines until they reached a large, empty spot. Already a crowd stood waiting, a lot of armed soldiers among them.

     Trev started to think this wasn't such a good idea. Then they touched down, and Nathan killed the engines. Too late.

     Outside the ship, Fox waited for the engines to speed down. It took a few minutes for the cargo ramp to open. He had everyone stand down until they knew the situation better.

     Then finally he saw her. Kaida Elwin was disheveled and red-eyed but still lavishly beautiful. She was all smiles as she ran to him. He picked her up off her feet and hugged her tight.

     Then he pulled away and took her beauty in once more. Her hair still shown like fire, even in the florescent lights of the docking bay. Her eyes were like emeralds. Old feelings welled up, but too much time had passed, and he knew those days were long gone.

     "Here's the crew that helped me." She motioned back toward the little Tiger-37.

     His eyes took in the little robot that oddly looked like a metal Salarian. Then he saw the dark-haired kid wearing…was that a sword? Finally, he saw a face he hadn't seen in a long time.

     "Captain Sutherland?" he asked.

     Nathan had the same look on his face, like he was seeing a ghost. "Fox…"

     The two men met in the middle of the throng and clasped hands. "It's…it's been awhile." Fox hadn't seen his old flight commander since the final attack on Earth.  The moment Nathan had lost his leg.

     Nathan straightened up and ended the handshake. "It has, Lieutenant."

     "Well, vice commander now. Is that your old ship?" He nodded toward the beat-up bird with the scratched-out letters on the tail.

     Nathan nodded. "Needs a new force drive."

     "I wish we could help with that. But she’s an old model we couldn’t recreate.  We'll fix what we can though."

     "Is your father…?" Nathan began.

     "He's…fighting. I'll take you to see him if you'd like. I'm sure he'd be happy to see you again."

     A dark look passed across Nathan's face, and then he smiled his crooked smile. "Sounds good."

     Fox motioned for them to follow. "Welcome to our flagship, the
Helcarion
. Let me show you around." He turned to one of his aides. "Get a maintenance crew down here."

     Trevor let their idle small talk drone on. His attention was on the city that had opened up before him. As soon as they left the docking station, they were inside of it. Buildings rose up on all sides; businesses were open and busy. He even saw a spot where they grew crops and raised livestock intertwined with busy city life. Parks ran through it. Rivers flowed. It was a perfect recreation of the world they had lost.

     People there used simple speeders to get around or a monorail. Most looked happy to walk. They weaved their way closer to the main structure in the middle of the city.

     Trevor saw all kinds of different aliens there. Nya had always said his education would be a waste, but since losing Earth and drifting through space, it had come in handy. He spoke most all their languages, 23 to be exact, and knew most of their histories. It could potentially pay dividends again.  Or he could win if they were doing a trivia night.

     He realized the tour was over and he hadn't heard a word.

     "So," Fox concluded, "you can follow me. The rest are welcome to explore the city."

     Trevor went to follow Nathan when he realized he was an uninvited guest.

     "Don't do anything stupid," Nathan told him.

     Trevor shook his head. "Wouldn't think of it." He watched his uncle rejoin the group and enter the heavily guarded structure.

     He felt something tug on his leg. Boost was looking at him, either confused or acting like it.

     Trev felt his stress bringing on another attack and in public; it wasn't the time. "C'mon, Booster. Let's get a drink."

     Boost shook his robot fist toward the Captain to show he was on Trev’s side, and then followed quietly.

-o-

     In a circular elevator shooting up, Nathan found himself in a strange situation. He may have been out of the romance game for a while, but he still recognized other players. Playing the love game rarely welcomed more than two players at a time.  He watched the floors speed past 150 and continue. How much longer?