The Epherium Chronicles: Echoes (8 page)

Maya turned toward the pair. Thielson was on her knees, struggling to get up. Raven delivered a quick snap kick to the back of her head, and Thielson crumpled to the floor. Behind the pair, she heard a man call out Thielson’s name. It was Harrison Krieg, the Rook’s leader, who was covered in food, and his face had a cut over his right eye. Krieg lunged forward. He pushed away the closest Phantom pilot then ran toward Thielson. Raven was ready for him, but he never made it. Two more Phantom squadron pilots grabbed his arms and wrestled him to the floor.

Maya glared at Kadin. “Stop this now,” she growled, “or I will.”

Looking slightly dejected, Kadin nodded. He put two fingers into his mouth and issued a loud whistle, which echoed throughout the room. Immediately the Phantom pilots disengaged and backed away from the other
Armstrong
pilots. The Phantoms filed in behind Kadin’s table, all except Raven, who moved to stand next to Kadin. “You see, sis?” Kadin started with a smug look of confidence. “Problem solved.”

It had been Maya’s experience that, often in Kadin’s exuberance, his actions instigated more problems than they solved. This was no different. A disdainful scowl crossed her face. Maya took a step toward her brother when a fresh new calamity entered the room. Her security team, led by Sergeant Collins, rushed forward and took positions around both groups of pilots. The Phantoms stood still, but many of the pilots from the other squadrons needed help reaching their feet. The one Maya had noticed when she’d first entered was still unconscious under the table.

She scowled at her brother and his wingman and walked over to Collins. “Room secure, Lieutenant. I’ve already contacted Medical, and triage teams are on the way.”

“Quick work, Sergeant. I think—”

“XO in the room!” Collins interrupted and snapped to attention.

“What the hell is going on?” Sanchez bellowed from the mess doorway.

Maya closed her eyes in frustration. This was the last thing she needed. She collected herself and pivoted to face him. The
Armstrong
XO’s face was red with anger and he glared at the
Armstrong
pilots to his right while he approached Maya and Collins.

Sanchez stopped and crossed his arms. “Lieutenant, please explain this.”

“Simple brawl, Commander,” Maya stated evenly. “My team and I just arrived and have the situation under control.”

“Huh,” Sanchez grunted, and she could tell he didn’t believe her.

“Pardon me, Commander,” Kadin interjected, and Maya’s hope for a contained situation faded.

“You have details to share regarding this debacle, Lieutenant Commander Greywalker?” Sanchez asked.

“Actually, I do.” Kadin stepped forward and straightened. “This entire situation is my fault, Commander. Phantom squadron and the other pilots were involved in a training scenario. It unfortunately got out of hand.”

Astonishment struck Maya like a sledgehammer, and the same level of emotion mirrored on Sanchez’s face. “Really?” Sanchez’s reply had enough sarcasm to drown the room in it. He stomped over to a group of pilots receiving treatment by a medical team. He pointed to Thielson, who couldn’t stand on her own, and the glassy-eyed look in her eyes suggested she had a mild concussion. “It just got out of hand? How can instituting an outright brawl on board an
EDF
vessel that results in the incapacitation of over half of its active pilots possibly be considered a training exercise!”

“Sir, with all due respect, I was just complying with your orders.”

Maya turned in shock at her brother’s response, but to her own surprise, nothing about his actions or even his heart rate suggested he was lying. He had never been good at guarding his emotions before, and she took his explanation as sincere.

Sanchez was furious now. “My orders were to evaluate our pilots. Run simulations. Help to train them on patrol. Not beat them senseless.”

Kadin shook his head. “Commander, I’ve trained most of these pilots at the academy. I’m fully aware of their flight capabilities and how to manage their performance in the seat of a fighter. What I needed to understand was your pilots’ functions outside of the cockpit. Their motivations and how they work as a team on board ship often amplifies one hundred times in the middle of a battle.” He turned and gestured to the Phantoms. Just two had any marks from the brawl on their faces. “I’ve spent the last several months honing the skills of this squadron. Each pair of wingmen acts in concert and, in turn, the other pairs can anticipate one another. Our squadron performance goes beyond simple teamwork. We’re a fighting unit whose effectiveness is equal or better than two operations squadrons.” He stepped over to Krieg. The leader of Rook squadron had been excited to see his old teacher when he’d first arrived on board. Now, he was skittish. “Lieutenant Krieg’s reaction to his friend’s situation was driven by raw emotion. In his effort to assist, he left himself vulnerable.” He put his hand on Krieg’s shoulder. “In a battle against the Cilik’ti in space, he would’ve only gotten them both killed.”

In response, Krieg looked away from Kadin and gave a single nod.

“Regardless of your effectiveness, Lieutenant Commander, there are rules on board this ship. Any unorthodox training methods will be cleared by either myself or the captain. Do I make myself clear?”

Kadin snapped to attention and saluted. “Yes, Commander!”

Ignoring Kadin’s salute, Sanchez spun toward Maya. “Lieutenant, all pilots not in need of medical attention are confined to quarters for the next forty-eight hours. Once the others leave Medical, they’ll receive the same. They’ll won’t be allowed to leave except during their standard patrol rotation.”

“Aye, sir,” Maya replied. She waved toward Collins, who started to move pilots out of the room. She glanced back at Sanchez and met his eyes. She could sense the anger and disappointment, but it changed. He softened, and a whole new spectrum of his demeanor opened to her. A fondness lay behind his eyes, and fear. Not the horrific sense, but the fear of the unknown. He cared for her. She was certain of it now, and the warmth of it made her feel better.

Sanchez turned to leave. “We’ve got two more jumps until we reach Tau Ceti. Hopefully we won’t tear ourselves apart before we get there.”

Kadin had created another problem for her to fix. He seemed uniquely suited to stir up trouble when she was around. Perhaps he was just showing off.

Maya smiled. She’d been right about Sanchez. He was different from the others. She peered at her brother, who was standing next to Raven. Kadin had been watching the exchange between her and Sanchez. She was certain that whatever she’d sensed in Sanchez, Kadin had too.

Chapter Nine

Tau Ceti Solar
System
Cabot
Hyper
Beacon
Tuesday, March 4
Earth Year 2155

The
Armstrong
flashed into the Tau Ceti system approximately one hundred thousand kilometers away from the
Cabot’s
hyper beacon located inside the orbit of the fifth planet.

Out of caution, Hood held the
Armstrong
in position and waited for data from the satellites and sensor probes that were launched upon their arrival. Unlike Cygni, Tau Ceti had six planets, and only one had any chance of being a viable colony world. The first two were locked into close orbits of the Tau Ceti star. Both had extreme surface temperatures and were incapable of supporting human life. Even a dome would be useless against the heat and solar radiation.

The fourth and fifth planets were gas giants, both about the size of Saturn, and each had several moons. The fourth planet was a beautiful swirl of red and white, while the fifth was a crystalline blue. The outermost planet had an orbit three times of the fifth planet. Sensors indicated it was a frozen world of rock and ice.

Hood waited for the details on the real prize of the system, planet number three. The early images of the planet showed a lush green world with a thick atmosphere. If the news of this world continued to be positive, they’d be two-for-two in finding habitable colony worlds. With all that was going on back on Earth, they needed all they could get.

“Sir, I’m picking up transmissions from the planet,” Lieutenant Wells said. “They’re full of static and hard to hear. They’re the same messages requesting contact from Earth. I’ve tapped into the beacon to help amplify the signal. I can get visuals, but distortion is still heavy. We might have better luck when we get closer.”

“Any idea of the cause of the distortion?”

“Negative, sir, but it’s definitely at the source.”

Hood studied the image of the third planet. “Aldridge, can you get a fix on the
Cabot’s
location?”

“Still trying to get an exact location, but she’s in the southern hemisphere. Whatever is interfering with their comms is affecting the locator beacon.” She typed a few more commands on her terminal. “Sir, I recommend we launch our planetary satellite grid and—”

A loud beep from her terminal interrupted her, and Hood spun around in alarm.

“New contact!” Aldridge announced.

“Identify and give me a bearing, Lieutenant,” Hood ordered with a sense of calm. He was expecting to find a ship or two already in system, but the way things had been going lately, he needed a little assurance.

Aldridge keyed in a few more commands to her terminal. “Contact is in high stationary orbit over the third planet’s north pole.” She gasped. “Sir, it’s a Cilik’ti mother ship.”

Hood wasn’t surprised by Aldridge’s announcement. If he wanted to park a ship in the best location to defend a planet with least chance of detection, it was there. “That would be the Qu’tan. Kree told me they’d be watching over the system until we arrived.”

“Looks like Kree’s friends weren’t messing around,” Sanchez added, seated next to Hood at the Command Station.

Hood agreed. He doubted any single ship could be seen as a sense of stability and protection more than one of the gigantic Cilik’ti mother ships. “Helm, set a course for the third planet and increase speed to three-quarters.” He stood and walked over to the Communications Station. “Lieutenant, do you have the comm channel settings supplied to us from the N’lan?”

“Yes, sir,” Wells replied and accessed the channel on the terminal for him.

“Excellent. Open it.” Wells opened the channel as instructed and nodded to him once the connection to the mother ship was established. “Attention Cilik’ti vessel. This is Captain James Hood of the
EDF
Dreadnaught Armstrong.
I send greetings to the Qu’tan. Please respond.”

Everyone on the Command Deck waited to hear a response from the Cilik’ti vessel, but after several minutes, there was nothing. Hood repeated the message. After another thirty seconds of dead air, an excruciating high-pitched screech erupted over the channel. Hood cringed at the sound and gestured for Wells to kill the channel.

“Well, that was inviting,” Sanchez said, rubbing his ear with his right index finger. “Maybe their translator device isn’t working.”

Hood grimaced and walked over to Aldridge. “Pull in the gunships, but leave two fighter squadrons on station. I don’t want us to look too threatening.”

Aldridge sent the orders to the gunships to dock and pressed a key on her terminal. “Sir, I have a visual of the third planet now.”

Hood walked back to his seat at the Command Station. “Put it on the main screens.” Seconds later, a high-resolution image of Tau Ceti 3 appeared on the primary Command Station vid screen. The planet was magnificent. He could see two large landmasses covered in swaths of deep green split by a wide ocean, which extended between the poles. The white peaks of a huge mountain range stretched over the center of the first landmass along the planet’s equator. The other continent had smaller ranges scattered across its surface. He studied the new details of the planet. It was a bigger world than Cygni 4, measured at one point four times the size of Earth, and her rotation was much slower. The average day was calculated at seventy-two hours.

Just below the mountain range of the first continent, a red dot flashed. “Aldridge, is that the
Cabot
?”

“Confirmed, sir. I have her location narrowed down to within one hundred kilometers, but she’s there.” She paused for a moment. “Sensor probes have detected a high level of ionization in the planet’s atmosphere, coupled with high-altitude electrical storms. They could be the cause of the signal distortion.”

“Agreed. It could also be part of our problems contacting the Qu’tan.” He glanced over his shoulder at Lieutenant Wells at the Communications Station. “Contact Commander Howard. Get her down to Kree’s quarters on his secure terminal. Let’s see if he has any better luck making contact.”

Twenty minutes later, Kree’s large alien head appeared on Hood’s terminal screen. “Captain, Commander Howard has informed this one of your difficulty establishing a communication link with the Qu’tan. It is very strange. All the information for the link and translation orb was transmitted to the Qu’tan before your ship left Cygni.”

“I understand. We were hoping you could try.”

Kree’s head dipped in a short bow. “This one will reach out to them.” He held up his translator device. “What this one hears, you will hear.” Kree raised his head, and the color of the translator turned a pale green. “Teribinam, great and honorable Hal’ta Qu’tan. Kree O’ta N’lan sends greetings and invites you to dialogue.”

A few moments later, the translator color changed to red. “The Hal’ta Qu’tan hear and understand, Kree O’ta N’lan.” The words echoed from the translator, giving Hood the impression Kree was speaking to more than one member of Qu’tan Hal’ta aboard the mother ship.

“Thank you for receiving this one. The human emissary, Captain James Hood, wishes to speak with you. Does your translator device function?”

There was a pause, and Hood noticed Kree’s body twitch slightly. “There is no need for dialogue, Kree O’ta N’lan. The Qu’tan’s purpose in this system is complete.”

Kree’s hand holding the translator globe was shaking now. Whatever telepathic connection he’d created with Qu’tan was causing him strain. “This one does not understand, Hal’ta Qu’tan. The N’lan and Qu’tan agreed that the Qu’tan would shelter this system until the humans could properly prepare.”

“All in is readiness, Kree O’ta N’lan. Only one thing remains.”

“No!” The scream from the translator was Kree’s. The Cilik’ti dropped the device and collapsed where he was standing.

Jillian Howard rushed into view on the screen. “Kree! What happened? Are you alright?” Kree didn’t move and despite Jillian’s best effort, she couldn’t get him to respond.

Hood jumped to his feet. Danger screamed in every part of his being and he didn’t hesitate. “Sound General Quarters and get the gunships back on station!”

“Sir, I’m detecting a massive energy buildup in the Qu’tan mother ship,” Aldridge alerted him.

Hood’s mind raced. They were too far out of range for them to attack, but the colony was well within the Qu’tan’s reach. “How fast can we reach the planet? We need to intercept them before they can get a clear shot.”

Aldridge shook her head. “Captain, the Qu’tan haven’t moved, and it’s not their weapons. Several of their reactors are going critical.”

“What?” Aldridge’s explanation floored him and he dropped back into his seat. He’d been told that a Cilik’ti warrior would simply switch off if captured. He wasn’t sure if it was suicide or the commanders pulling the plug, but this was different. The Cilik’ti only destroyed their own ships, which were too damaged to escape. Had Kree’s contact enabled a fail-safe? “Can you bring up a visual?”

“It’s coming up now.”

The large Cilik’ti vessel hovered in place in orbit. No drones or support craft surrounded her. Seconds later, a fissure appeared across the ship’s hull, linking many of its drone bays in a line of escaping blue plasma fire. The crack widened and the image of the mother ship was replaced by a brilliant flash, forcing everyone on the Command Deck to avert or cover their eyes.

The visual of the ship ended, and Hood rubbed his eyes to try to remove the daze. “Aldridge, do we have any reading on the mother ship?”

Like Hood, Aldridge was stunned for a moment by the explosion, and it took a few seconds for her to access her terminal. “The blast knocked out several of our sensor probes. I’m tasking others to give us a sweep of the area.” A few moments later, Hood had his answer. “She’s gone, but several large chunks of her superstructure are still intact. I’m tracking them now.” Hood watched Aldridge stumble once from dizziness, but she managed to key in a new set of commands. “There are several smaller sections burning up in the atmosphere. A few will make landfall, but their trajectory indicates planet strikes in that ocean, well into the northern hemisphere.”

Hood swallowed hard. Any pieces of that ship reaching the planet could be disastrous. “How big are they?”

The solemn look on Aldridge’s face told him it wasn’t good. “They’re large enough to cause severe tidal waves. The
Cabot
is far enough inland that it shouldn’t reach them, but it’s going to light up the sky.”

He peered at Wells. “Can we reach them on comms and warn them?”

Wells shook her head. “The explosion knocked out the communication link from the beacon to the
Cabot
. I can’t even pick up their locator anymore.”

Hood closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Silently, he prayed for a miracle. He’d found himself asking for a lot of them lately and wondered if he wasn’t exceeding his quota. “All ahead flank and order our screen to head to the planet at best possible speed. Hopefully there’ll be a colony left for us to protect.”

EDF
Fleet Headquarters
San Diego, California
Tuesday, March 4
Earth Year 2155

The doors slid open to the Senior Command briefing room on the top level of the expansive twenty-five-floor facility that served as the
EDF
Fleet Headquarters. Admiral Tramp saluted the two guards posted at the door as he walked inside. He turned to his right and followed the long ornate table toward the end. The table was made of fine polished walnut and its grain held an elegance that reminded him of his visits to older manor homes on field trips as a child. Tramp understood the need to have a structured command headquarters on Earth, but rooms like this one were just too flashy for his taste. His office, two floors below, was spacious, had windows and a spectacular view of the harbor. Many other officers would have seen it as prime real estate on the edge of a forested maze of cubicles, but he hated it. Trapped on Earth and stuck behind a desk wasn’t serving. It was a cage. He preferred to be off world aboard a ship or on a station. Even in a metal shell in orbit around a planet, he was out where it mattered.

At the far end of the table sat Admiral Grant. The top commander of the
EDF
military was staring at the terminal screen in front of him. He glanced up at Tramp when he pulled back a chair to his left. “Russell. Any news?”

Tramp sat down and activated his data pad. “I’ve got plenty, Admiral, but you’re not going to like it.”

Admiral Grant pointed to the terminal. “Anything could be better than this.” Tramp leaned over to see the terminal screen, populated with feeds of newscasts and security feeds. Two more acts of sabotage had occurred overnight, including the detonation of an electromagnetic pulse weapon, which had knocked out power in Berlin and everything around it for fifty kilometers. The casualty reports were still coming in, but the number of deaths from the two incidents had been low. The biggest loss of life had occurred when a maglev train crashed at a station, killing thirty-two. “Based on latest reports, there were three transports at different launch ports in the city that could have been used to reach Cygni. All of them belonged to a group rumored to have planted the bomb that destroyed the transport in Riyadh.”

“Any leads on the device?” Tramp asked as he settled back into his seat.

“Forensics is still working it, but the remains of the bomb lead us to believe it was an old Russian Sackharov IV model.”

Tramp thought about the name for a moment. “Weren’t those all destroyed in 2060?”

“They were,” Admiral Grant stated and raised an eyebrow. “I think we’re looking at another ghost coming back to haunt us.”

Admiral Grant’s reference to the emergence of the stealth frigate that had attacked the
Armstrong
and possibly the
Cestus
made Tramp angry. This new enemy was unleashing havoc on his people in the field. He needed to find answers and stay ahead of them. Then they could strike instead of waiting to be hit. But the events at home made it more difficult now. Panic was beginning to spread in several cities.

“Security forces around the globe are almost overwhelmed,” Admiral Grant said as he pushed his chair away from the table. “I’ve been told it’s a matter of time before the chancellor asks for military support, and you know what that means.” He sighed. “Just do me a favor, Russell. Don’t sugarcoat it. How bad is our situation out there?”