Dark Vengeance (38 page)

“Yes. It was decided that we should not have Earth’s population fearing they might be attacked by giant spiders at any moment, so it was kept from the public.”

“Admiral, you’ll have to forgive me, but this is a lot to accept. Did you know this was going to happen on XiTau?”

“Not a clue, Adrian, but it didn’t take long for our intel computers to identify the invaders. And keep in mind, this all classified above top secret. You are not to mention any of this to anyone or even make any references to it. I’ll send you a copy of the summary report from those days. It’s from a secret organization that you are not supposed to know exists. That’s why much of the report is still blacked out. It was written on paper and scanned in. That’s how old it is. You read through it. You’ll have thirty minutes to do so and then your copy of the file will delete itself forever. Afterward, if you have any other questions, don’t ask them.”

“Admiral, what will become of XiTau?”

“The Salantian spiders will harvest every possible resource from it including its atmosphere. They will then leave in search of some other world to invade. XiTau will be uninhabitable for one to two centuries.”

“My God!”

“Yes. We weren’t really seeking vengeance against XiTau, but it’s a very, very dark vengeance we seem to have achieved. The truth is, thank God we got here when we did. Even the XiTau military would agree with that.”

I sat staring at him on the monitor, speechless.

“I see you’re at a lost for words, Adrian. I’ll let you go. The report is attached to this communiqué. More later. Provose out.”

I scrambled to read the ancient Earth report on the Salantian Spidermen. The scanned paper had already turned yellow before being recorded. The report was written by an agent of an organization that had blacked out its own title field. The agent was someone named S. Markman. He described fighting and defeating spidermen in the sewers of New York. There were references to battlefield nuclear weapons being used by other countries to defeat the invasion. There was some advanced equipment involved but the descriptions were also blacked out except for a single reference to something called a vortport. References to another planet were also made and that planet’s name was blacked out. The report finished up with a variety of cover stories that would be used to conceal the entire affair.

I sat back and shook my head. There was just too much happening to grasp it all. I had a sick little feeling in my stomach from knowing something like that had happened on Earth. I felt as though I should have been told but maybe no one else. It took effort to get my head back around the dangers we were presently in. I pushed up and headed back out to the bridge.

The ugly little XiTau war was still playing out on the main monitor. On other monitors, carrier shuttles were arriving and departing the main hangar. The main tactical map was still up on a side screen showing who was where. I stepped up and took the command seat. Before I had time to speak, Elise called to me.

“We’re being hailed by a foreign spacecraft, Captain.”

Everyone looked.

“Put them on, Elise.”

To my surprise an image of Ambassador Ian Athos appeared on screen, seated in the command chair of the spacecraft.

“Ambassador! This is a surprise,” I said.

“It’s Captain Athos for the time being, Adrian. The Golian delegation drew the planet Moridia as our rescue objective, and wouldn’t you know it, they didn’t fire a shot. They turned over everyone with barely a whimper. Just my luck.”

“It’s good to see you, Ian.”

“Same here. I couldn’t resist stopping by on the way back just in case you needed backing up. But we’re so loaded down with refugees we wouldn’t be much help. How’s it going on XiTau?”

“Too long a story to tell, Ian. Advise your troops to steer clear. We’ll have to get together later and compare notes.”

“I’ll hold you to that, Adrian. Athos out.”

The mass exodus continued, eventually dwindling down to extra trips to rescue the group surrenders taking place by the XiTau military personnel. On the tactical map, more and more territory was quickly becoming occupied by spiders. As the last of the carrier shuttles settled into hanger bays, Command issued break orbit and grouping orders for the fleet. All ships were so loaded down with refugees the engineering departments had to recalculate ship operation parameters. For Electra, we would be limited to sixty percent power, making the ride home a bit longer, but allowing slower spacecraft to keep up. By the time our group was cleared to leave orbit and rendezvous, a last look at the surface and tactical map showed spiders spread out over half the continent.

Chapter 24

When our turn finally came, we were more than happy to get under way. The situation aboard ship was no less than anarchic. Environmental systems were constantly running at max. Food had to be rationed. A good number of people were camped out in the hanger bays. The various mess halls were operated in continuous shifts. There were sleeping bags scattered around the ship in every out of the way spot available. In the hallways, there seemed to be a faint drone of voices in the distance twenty four hours a day. We had nearly three hundred extra people aboard from several different planetary species, but there was not one instance of argument or fighting although there were numerous outbreaks of celebration with occasional drunkenness.

As I took my seat on the bridge for my next shift, Elise laughed out loud and called to me. “Captain, you’re being hailed by the Griffin.”

“Put her on, Elise.”

The face of a longtime, contentious friend, Danica Donoro, appeared on screen. She was smiling coyly. “The Starship Griffin escort ship at your service, Captain Tarn. Currently escorting a group three heavies off your starboard side.”

“Is it Captain, or Commander Danica?”

“It’s temporarily Captain, Captain. None of us here can get used to it.”

“Are you taking care of my ship, Captain Donoro?”

“Tell R.J. I think the ramasframas is going to quit again.”

R.J. happened to be on the bridge. He stopped what he was doing and laughed out loud.

“Try not to get into any trouble, Danica. I’ll catch up with you later.”

“Look who’s talking, Captain,” she replied. “Donoro out.”

We entered the Terran system right on schedule. The great social experiment aboard Electra erupted into further jubilation. Approaching Earth, Orbital Traffic Control suddenly found they were fully expecting the rush of ships, but still completely unprepared for it. There was a bit too much com traffic in too many dialogues and too many accommodations needed for individuals not well suited to Earth hospitalities.

Fortunately, Global Space and the government had put a surprising amount of foresight into our return. They had taken over JFK stadium, and used national emergency measures to procure hotel space for one hundred miles around. Arriving refugees from all the different worlds were treated like kings and queens, a complete turnaround from the lives they had been living. They were recorded and processed at the stadium, then shuttled to hotels where no expense was spared to make them comfortable. Continuous tours of Washington were available to all of them. The grand welcome had ulterior motives, of course. Earth orbit was packed with the ships of visitors from other planets come to reunite and recover their lost family, friends, and business associates. The possibilities for expanding Earth commerce were unimaginable. A giant welcome mat from space had been laid out for new friends and allies. There was also the very covert process of transferring the surrendered XiTau military prisoners to secured military facilities for debriefing and evaluation.

I spent my time in orbit on the bridge watching the carrier shuttles leave on one orbit and then return on the next to pick up more of the freed. It went on for almost two days. In the end, there were a few stragglers, and one very exhausted crew, all ready for shore leave and more than deserving of it. I remained on board with a skeleton crew. R.J. took Elachia down to the surface for extensive touring and some just plain everyday living.

I was alone on the bridge for a few minutes when a call came in from Admiral Provose. On screen, he was seated at his desk in civilian clothes, smoking a pipe and looking somewhat fulfilled.

“Are you coming down any time soon, Adrian?”

“I’m kind of enjoying the deflated environment aboard, Admiral.”

Provose laughed and nodded. “It’s going extremely well down here. Washington has never been this busy with tourism and business. We are looking at a different future here on Earth. Our circle of friends has expanded by worlds of peoples. The VIP treatment is really paying off. Government and private business is ferocious.”

“Any news on XiTau?”

“There is no longer a XiTau as we knew it. Last word is the Salantians are setting up their atmosphere processors to extract what they want.”

“How about the former residents?”

“They have paid a high price and we didn’t have a thing to do with it. All we did is take back our stolen people and those of our new friends.”

“So they have no future left on XiTau?”

“None at all, and speaking of futures, have you thought at all about yours?”

“I’m still trying to unwind, Admiral.”

“Adrian, in times like these you should start addressing me as Neil.”

I paused for a moment to reevaluate him.

“You know, it just so happens we have some solid intelligence about something that’s coming up which I personally find very interesting. Apparently there is a rogue planetoid which passes near the Mu Arae system every thousand years. Rumors and legends say that it was once populated by a very advanced race that suddenly disappeared for no apparent reason. It is said that they were so advanced this rogue is still operating autonomously without any residents even after all these centuries. The body may have been ejected somehow from its original orbit. It's traveling so fast and passes by inhabited systems so seldom and so quickly no one has been able to catch up with it. Anyone who does stands to gain advanced technologies beyond imagination. And what an interesting coincidence, our stellar science geeks tell me that the Electra could be the first ship in the right area of space to catch up with the thing. But you know it would be a very dangerous undertaking; trying to step off a spacecraft traveling faster than a bullet, onto a huge chunk of rock traveling just as fast. That’s why we’re not really considering it. But it is intriguing, wouldn’t you say? They say after it goes by this time no one will have a chance for the next thousand years again. Besides, who knows what would be found there? It’s just a hypothetical curiosity, really.”

We both sat silently staring at each other. Provose laughed again as though he knew something I did not. “So when are you coming down so I can buy you a drink and toast the cargo we brought back, Adrian?”

“I promise to catch up with you in a day or so, Admiral.”

“It’s Neil, Adrian. Neil. Provose out.”

It sometimes seems to me that too often life will offer you a limited set of choices, all bad. Nasty little life quizzes with time limits and an annoying buzzer that signals when you’re wrong. There was something bothering me that just would not quit. Some things you can procrastinate away and some things you cannot. All of the ceremonial preparations you make in support of a good night’s rest are not enough when faced with the latter. You make the decision to sleep on it but your mind is not in agreement. I adorned myself in the most comfortable sleep apparel, gathered up the bed covers, punched the pillow a few times for good measure, and stared at the ceiling in waiting.

Later that night, well into the third shift, it was clear sleep would not be achieved. I pulled on a flight suit and accessories and made my way along the semi-darkened corridors to the bridge. As I entered, the skeleton staff began to rise. I held up my hand to signal as-you-were.

I took a seat at the con and switched the main viewer to the direction of Enuro. A curtain of stars rewarded the effort. I wondered if Fantasia had somehow paused to look back in my direction, not all of the bond completely silent. Our bonding had been the most sensational thing I had ever felt, but it had come with a price and comparable dowry. It was a bonding predicated on giving myself over to her completely, and she over to me. The creation of a new person for both of us. Our best and worst traits shared. No further signs of the old Adrian Tarn, a compromise compensated by infinitely new realization.

As I reached for the item in my zippered breast pocket, I felt of shiver of fear from Fantasia, but at the same time there was no sensation of surprise. Next a feeling of remorse along with an understanding that the future remained unwritten. I uncapped the small vial and without hesitation drank the antidote she had given me. The effect was instantaneous. A channel inside me was quickly replaced with just me. One light replacing another.