Petty Officer Third Class Mina Coulson was fairly new to the marines back on Earth. Like most of the others, she lucked into a station on Fort Tacoma guarding the orbital elevator because her father was an influential scientist in Mr. Right’s company. He’s now, ironically, one of the team monitoring the health of alien embryos in extremely fancy jars.
Mina and Rena have a close relationship with their father, especially since their mother left for the east coast with a wealthy celebrity when the twins were very young. Both their father and stepmother are fairly laid back, but they work hard, and they both encourage the twins for their triumphs.
Heloise, their stepmother, made the ‘cut’ for the ship only because she was married to Craig, their dad. Heloise was a police officer on Earth in the town they lived in. Because the marines have been policing the ships, she was assigned basic kitchen and custodial duties. But, Mina made a request, and now Heloise is ‘caretaker’ for the alien broodmother the fleet picked up. The former police officer does almost anything a butler would do, including cleaning and tending the Queen’s garden for edible fruits. But, she’s different from ‘companion’ detail in that she never has to come in contact with the Queen if she chooses not to. It’s still a few big steps down from police officer, but it’s something.
And, unlike kitchen duty, Heloise counts as security, so she is once more allowed to serve as a defender and carry one of the new hybrid sidearms. Though, the intent is that she defends the Queen and her brood.
Still, EVERYONE: Craig, Heloise, and even Rena, have warmed up to the octopus-like alien like she’s a new neighbor up the street. Rena even took companion detail and is standing by as the Queen fawns over the capsules stuffed with her offspring. Heloise is talking cordially to them, and Craig is sampling the liquids in the capsules. The offspring are doing quite well already, and it’s only been a little over a week since. The variations haven’t revealed a difference yet, but apparently all of the embryos are developing.
Mina isn’t sure what to feel. She was scared to death when the Queen grabbed her, and she was terrified when they learned what was intended for her body. But, she also, like everyone else, quickly understood what drove the Queen to such desperately aggressive action.
And, she isn’t mad at Grey for using her to talk to the Queen once the Queen had removed Mina’s helmet. He was the first one in the water after her, and he may have led the negotiation, but she KNOWS he’d be the first to pull the trigger, too.
Mina’s helmet is another thing. Given the ferocity and speed of Mina being snatched, even she was surprised when the Queen had her alone. The alien was incredibly delicate about figuring out how to remove Mina’s helmet. She, of course, didn’t know how dangerous that could be to her prospective ‘host’, but she didn’t really hurt Mina at all, even inadvertently.
A morbid curiousity has consumed Mina’s thoughts, the last couple of days especially. Her mind wonders what might’ve happened. Would SHE be stuffed full of all of those alien eggs, unable to walk, but… being doted on by someone as affectionate as the Queen?
The Queen claims her species is solitary, which may be true out of necessity, but she is extremely affectionate to inanimate objects, touching and hugging them and… singing, all because they hold her spawn.
Mina’s had weird thoughts in her life, but this isn’t the same. She’s envying inanimate objects because of the attention they’re receiving and because it could have been her. Her eyeline happens to notice the Queen’s abdomen. It already has a purplish glowing orb faintly visible inside; her body still ceaselessly producing offspring. Will the fleet try to address that? Their mortality rate won’t be nearly as high as their own world, meaning their population can QUICKLY explode from even one fertile individual.
Mina tries to convince herself that such a thought is her ONLY interest in the visible egg, but…
She shakes her head to try to clear it. She decides it’s time to leave the area. She carefully navigates the darkened hallway to the zebra doors meant to protect the ship if any room is breached to space. The hallway is sectioned with a ‘light lock’ room between dark and light.
From there, Mina makes her way to the hangar, where Chief Grey is cleaning his weapons and drilling rookies –including Long- on the same. Mina checks out her hybrid rifle to join them.
Grey is just finishing asking, “What’s the most dangerous thing taking this apart, Pratt?”
Pratt, the rookie, replies, “Th-the capacitor, Chief Petty Officer. It can store a lethal charge.”
Before Grey can confirm, Mina jokes, “The trigger, rookie. It’s still a gun.”
The Chief chuckles, replying, “I won’t say that’s wrong, Thing Three. Both right. Keep that in mind, too, recruit, but the capacitor is right. It’s sending your bullets down range with a packet of excited electrons. That’s a lot of energy. The terminals are recessed, but they’re there.”
Pratt replies, “Yes Chief Petty Officer!”
Grey asks as he scrubs the receiver of his rifle with a toothbrush, “So, what caused the great and mighty Thing Three to grace us with her presence?”
Mina smirks as she clears her weapon and begins disassembly, “Very funny, Chief. But, your sarcasm is thin. We all know the truth.”
He scoffs, and she replies, “Everyone I’d rather be talking to is doting on the squid.”
Grey teases, “Uh oh. I sense a little jealousy.”
“Call it what you want, Chief. I call it boredom and nothing more.” Mina notices Long fidgeting with something in her uniform, but ignores it. If she’s like Rena, it’s a videogame or snacks she’s hiding from Grey.
Chief Grey replies, “A’ight, Petty Officer. Welcome to the party.”
She scoffs, continuing to work on her weapon. Her thoughts still dwell on the Cave Queen, though, and she boils over into blurting out, “I mean, she’s an absolute primitive. Why does everyone think she’s so special? The crocs at least have tech for us to steal. The squid’s just a parasite. Literally.”
Chief Grey sets his brush and receiver down. He asks calmly, “What is tow’s first policy?”
Mina snorts, huffing, “Appease aliens.”
Grey growls quietly, “Long?”
The teen snaps her attention back to the group, replying, “Chief! The Tactical Exploration and Assault Unit’s first policy is to preserve sentient life where possible. This could mean non-interference, negotiation, or upliftment, as the case may permit, Chief.”
Grey nods. He says equally calmly, “If I was ten seconds later finding you, it likely would have been different. And, you can bet your rear I’d have pulled the trigger to protect your life. The Cave Queen praises you, specifically, for saving her race, solely for the fact that you didn’t ask to leave her behind. If you fought, we would have. So why didn’t you?”
Mina sucks her teeth, “Tch!” She retorts, “Great question. I…” She pauses, straining to think of a snarky response.
Instead, her honesty seeps out of her. “I felt pity for her. Doesn’t mean I have to like her.”
Grey chuckles, replying, “And here we are. We have a croc pilot instructor, the Captain plays chess with the croc captain, and a parasitic squid Queen is a welcome guest. If this isn’t some TV-grade crap, I don’t know what is. Oh, and let’s not forget our buddies from the iceteroid.”
Mina scoffs. She places her chin on her hand, mumbling, “Yeah, I guess.”
Long offers gently, “She is sorry she scared you, Coulson. She was desperate.”
“Hmph! Would she have been if she got to do what she wanted?”
The teen nods, “Mm-hmm. I believe so. She liked how things were on her planet. Before the roaches arrived.”
Mina crosses her arms, saying sourly, “Maybe I should see how sorry she is. I think I’ll volunteer for companion duty.”
Long says warmly, “She’ll be very thankful if you forgive her, Coulson.”
“No one’s being forgiven yet. This will just let me know more.” She wants to know. But, what concerns her is her subconscious motivation. She'll keep herself in check, though. Military duty is no place for personal curiosities.
Grey replies as he picks up his rifle barrel and starts cleaning it, “You sure, Coulson? You realize you’ll be alone with her for hours on end sometimes. And, any time she needs to talk, she has to be in physical contact with you. You sure you’ll be comfortable with that?”
Mina hesitates. Comfort is what’s concerning her. But, she has some curiosities with the Queen. She needs to focus on, well, not those either, but ensuring the Queen can be trusted. That’s it. She’s the most objective about the Queen. Only SHE can determine if the Queen is dangerous for certain. Or something.
The young Petty Officer replies, “I can handle it, Chief.”
Grey shrugs, “Suit yourself. I’ll add you to the watch rotation. Might wanna go nap. I think the next watch that would be Long’s is tomorrow midnight to four.”
Long adds, “It also lines up with this world’s mid-day time, which is when she sleeps anyways, usually.”
Mina nods. She says to Grey, “I’ll do that then. Thanks. Midnight to four.” Mina finishes cleaning her weapon more hastily, reassembling it and returning it to the armory. She heads to her room to sleep. She has some trouble drifting off at first, as she wonders what she’s going to ask the alien Queen. Eventually, though, she is able to fall asleep for her nap.
***
Niolayt Jardzen Mrff makes his shuttle ready to fly. He had everything unnevessarry to this mission pulled from the hull, which includes landing supplies, EVA suits, weapons –both infantry and ship-, and the backup life support for the shuttle. If his mission is to fail, it’s not going to be because of running out of air.
His preflight checks are going smooth, and the navigations team is doing their best to ensure an immediate escape coordinate is prepared for him. Mrff himself isn’t sure how he escaped the Zarrak interdictor the time he did, which is why he never claimed he did before. The Fievegal would demand to know how, and he wouldn’t be able to answer. He doubts he’d be a Niolayt Jardzen, though. Or, alive for that matter.
But, he has his suspicions. He’s given much thought to his escape. Usually, to leave an encounter with the Zarrakyssns, a Fievegal Baskylla or larger battlegroups even, must hold their ground and fight to the last. The Zarrakyssns utilize numbers and little else. No one in the Fievegal is certain how they obtained their interdiction technology, and few have seen it used and survived.
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Technically, the Fievegal and the Zarrakyssns have a territorial truce. While the Zarrakyssns consume everything as they slowly expand outward, they do not expand very hastily towards sovereign Fievegal territory. The Fievegal is the only force capable of driving back the Zarrak fleets with devastating losses. A single Fievegal battleship is worth twenty Zarrak horde ships; their equivalent. Because Zarrakyssns favor boarding and capturing their opponents to be enslaved briefly before consumption, their ships are geared for boarding operations. And, on many races, their tactic is extremely effective.
However, Grodrrns individually are worth 100 or more Zarrak soldiers, meaning the Zarrakyssns have better odds ship-to-ship than onboard a Fievegal battleship.
That’s certainly not to say the Fievegal is eager to fight the Zarrakyssns and conquer them. Battles against them are fought to escape. If a battle starts, a signal goes out, and the longer it takes, the more Zarrak ships arrive. They have numbers to account for how fragile they are. Mrff believes the humans might survive a small skirmish and escape, but even he is certain they’d quickly be overwhelmed.
Khla’s face appears on screen, asking, “{Are you still certain, Yarjen? There may be other options.}”
Mrff replies, “{This is the best. If the human fleet is undiscovered, this ensures they stay that way.}”
Khla nods. Mrff is just about to close up the ship when boots thud on board. The Niolayt Jardzen whirls in anger, and a young Helmdraavv halts, saluting as he announces, “{Niolayt Yarjen! Helmdraavv Grrgyllyn’hrrch Zharr Dzhonn’chn, present for your command.}”
Mrff growls, “{I didn’t summon you. Get off this ship.}”
Khla replies, “{I’m sending him, Murf. Consider him backup, your disciple, or simply a comfort to me. He will run any secondary functions –specifically the location plotting- once you arrive so you can focus on piloting.}”
“{I don’t need him, Yarjen. One more body if I fail.}”
“{The only reason you’re going is because you gave your word you wouldn’t fail, Yarjen. Dzhonn will be a boon. I can sense it.}”
Mrff stares at Khla’s face. He finally concedes, grunting, “{As you wish, Yarjen. Helmdraff, take copilot and prepare for takeoff.}”
Dzhonn stows his gear, quickly taking his position. He states, “{All systems green, Yarjen!}”
Mrff glances at Khla skeptically, grunting with a hint of exasperation, “{I know…}”
Khla says calmly, “{May the suns’ warmth reach your mission.}”
Mrff nods. He states, “{Taking off.}” The Niolayt Jardzen eases the ship out of the battleship’s hangar, and he pilots it to the launch point. He aligns with the coordinates plotted by the forensics team. He asks dryly, “{Ready to die, Helmdraff?}”
The young pilot replies with only a hint of nervousness, “{If need be, yes, Yarjen.}”
Mrff scoffs, replying, “{Good.}”
Suddenly, the human female voice of Laurel says from the computer screen, “Be careful, Murf. Come back safe, please.”
Mrff nods. He activates the shuttle’s jump drive, and the screens go dark. With the shuttle well on its way, Mrff says plainly, “{Jump is estimated to be a little over one and a half stellar. Entertain yourself quietly until then.}” Mrff takes a seat on the floor in a corner, beginning a meditation session.
Dzhonn is quiet and respectful of Mrff, and the Jardzen easily tunes out his subtle noises. He descends into the quiet, clearing his mind of all thoughts.
{One who fights is free.}
Mrff doesn’t ponder the thought just yet. It feels like more is coming. Time is an illusion when he is meditating. He is well-trained to achieve his desired time in meditation, so no matter how long it appears to take for a thought to form, it’s rare that he’s actually interrupted before the full thought forms.
{One who is bound is not dead.}
Still, it seems like there’s more. Mrff relaxes in the inner depths of his mind. It is quite peaceful; a testament to how long he’s spent training himself to shed anxieties and fears.
{One who chooses to live free can never truly die.}
Mrff’s eyes open. Now, he ponders the message of his meditation. Was it referring to someone specific? Speaking of freedom MUST be in regards to the Zarrakyssns. They’re widely identified as slavers, so it could be a warning to fight to the death, even if captured. Zarrakyssns have difficulty capturing Grodrrns alive, as Grodrrns are several times bigger and stronger than the Zarrakyssns.
It’s not much for wisdom this time, as Mrff intended to do so anyways. But, before that, the Zarrakyssns would have to catch him.
They may just get their chance, though. As the shuttle drops out of jump, Mrff finds himself more surprised than he probably should be. A sizable fleet of Zarak horde ships and many more smaller ships are scattered around the landing site. Mrff estimates quickly more than 50 horde ships and at least ten smaller ships per horde ship.
However, just before he kicks into survival mode, he notices what there REALLY is to see.
Over half of the ships are destroyed. They are mangled beyond repair, venting atmosphere, or simply shredded to pieces in an outward direction from a central point. The ships that aren’t mangled are salvaging and rescuing from the destroyed ships.
A single, humongous explosion did this. Mrff is certain of it. Assuming he is in the right location, he has to wonder if the humans did this. And, if so, was the trap intended for the Grodrrns, or have the humans already encountered the Zarak fleet?
His curiosity will have to wait, though. He orders quickly, “{Concentrate on identifying where we are precisely. Let the computer map determine what’s close.}” He accelerates, knowing by the fighters turning that he’s already spotted.
Dzhonn replies, “{Yes, Yarjen!}” He works his calculations and star I.D.s as quickly as possible. Mrff prays it’s quick enough.
The Niolayt Jardzen watches the flagship –the largest of the horde ships- closely. He’s almost certain the interdiction is on the flag ships. It requires an immense amount of power in order to counter a jump-bubble. Mrff’s theory is that it actually ‘pops’ the bubble, so to speak, which tricks the target ship into thinking it’s already in jump. But, with no bubble to move, the ship stays where it was with no engines. In order to undo this, the ship would have to be powered all the way down and started back up. And then, the ‘jump power lost’ alarms have to be overridden because the ship will think it’s jump drive is faulty.
Like the Grodrrns, the Zarak ships use energy weapons. However, theirs are always set to disable a ship, and they will hammer the hull seemingly harmlessly with micro-EMPs until the ship shuts down. Their fighters are fairly quick, but not very agile, and their horde ships have large anti-capital ship cannons. Because of these two things, a master pilot in an unladen shuttle stands a chance of out-flying the Zarrakyssns long enough to escape. Mrff just hopes he hasn’t lost his teeth.
Before he starts zipping through the swarms of meteor-like fighters, Mrff must confirm what he suspects. He activates the falight drive’s charging sequence. The ship hums as it readies to generate the bubble.
Dzhonn asks, “{Yarjen, is there no interdictor among them?}”
Mrff ignores him. He must focus on the whole of the flagship. It’s there. It must be. Even the virtual display will catch it.
“{Yarjen…}”
“{Shut up and focus!}”
THERE! He almost missed it, but a tiny glint catches his eye. He zooms in quickly. With no warning, he yanks the controls, jerking the shuttle in a hard turn. Flashes illuminate the rear screens, but none of the Zarrak fighters hit.
Mrff makes another sudden bank the other way, zipping over another swarm of fighters that adjusted. The shuttle groans from strain.
Mrff slams the throttle full, sprinting towards the flag ship. The screens finally clear, but he’s no longer a tactician. He is an Ynnkcza. His wings are powerful, his mind is clear, and his heart is racing as fast as it can go. Mrff is the most alive he’s ever been.
Mrff banks hard again, rolling at high speed to make a tight downward corkscrew turn. The shuttle shakes, and Dzhonn groans as he tries to hold his seat.
The swarms catch back up, but Mrff is far from captured. He cuts the throttle, spinning the ship 180 degrees on its vertical axis and slamming the throttle full again. Dzonn catches himself with his forearm before his head slams his console. The young Helmdraaff yells as the hull of the shuttle groans and creaks in dire protest, but the fighters zip by harmlessly, “{Yarjen! This shuttle can’t handle these maneuvers!}”
Mrff laughs, banking the shuttle back to resume his course. Several hapless Zarrak fighters collided in that moment, and they are scattering debris as they explode. Mrff shouts, “{SHUT UP AND CALCULATE! AND THEN, WATCH HOW A MASTER DIES!}”
Two anti-fighter corvettes are drifting close to the flag ship, and they attempt to blanket barrage towards the shuttle. But, Dzor’s eyes are still perfect, it seems. They might as well shoot the opposite way. He weaves the shuttle straight into the rainstorm of energy bolts being fired from his front. He dips, swoops, rolls, and loops to narrowly skim through. The shuttle lurches from one shot hitting them, but so long as he has power, he won’t stop.
Mrff roars in exhilaration. He asks sharply, “{Do you have our location!?}”
Dzhonn quickly replies, “{Yes, Yarjen! Plus or minus…}”
“{NO PLUS OR MINUS!} snarls Mrff. He banks hard, yelling, “{EXACT OR NOTHING!}”
Mrff dives to the ventral surface of the flag ship. He scans, confirming his working theory.
As he zips the shuttle under the flag ship, another corvette appears as it tries to get a line on him and trap him. However, he has an abundance of missiles following RIGHT on his tail.
Mrff pulls up, threading the shuttle through a stupendously close gap between corvette and flagship. His rearview screen flashes with several explosions of fighters that thought they could match him, or, as much as a Zarrakyssn can think. He laughs boisterously, banking hard over the top of the flag ship. He skims low along the hull, counting his suspected targets. Even if he were armed, it’d be too much to handle with a single shuttle, but the objects ARE definitely tracking him. He’s almost certain it’s what he thinks.
Dzhonn finally announces, “{Got it! Current system!}”
“{You’re sure!?}” snaps back Mrff. “{We fail if you’re not exact!}”
“{I used a different set of stars. Worked out perfect!}”
“{Very well! Flash the hull white! Max brightness! NOW!}”
Startled, Dzhonn scans quickly. Mrff dodges more shots skillfully. The young Helmdraavv finds and sets the function, and he activates it. A different whine indicates the hull’s camouflage charging. It discharges bright white light.
An instant later, the shuttle lurches hard from a thunderous impact, much like a lightning bolt, from all sides. Power instantly dies.
However, the power blinks back on quickly. Mrff doesn’t need flight controls or visuals to reboot, though. His falight drive is already charged.
Mrff activates the falight jump drive, and the white bubble forms around them. Soon after, it blinks them out of the system.
Both Grodrrns pant heavily. Mrff hasn’t been this exhilarated in a long time. He was promoted shortly after his last escape, and he has been a Baskylla officer ever since.
Dzhonn grunts out humorously, “{I-… I thought… we were really going to die.}”
Mrff chuckles. He pants out, “{Seems I’m still a master pilot.}” When the youngling looks at him, still breathing heavily, Mrff adds, “{A master dies in his bed of old age.}”
There’s a quiet pause filled with only their labored breathing. Suddenly, both Grodrrns laugh heartily.
Once they settle in for the rest of the jump, Mrff asks sternly, “{You’re CERTAIN you have the proper coordinates? The fate of the Fievegal may hinge on it.}”
Dzhonn nods. “{Yes, Yarjen. As I said, the second set of stars I chose calculated perfect. The location is just inside the threshold by our intelligence. The humans may have trouble finding anything of use.}”
Mrff sighs relief. He replies, “{There aren’t that many, relatively speaking. And, they’re staying on the move. They don’t need much. Even the scraps left by the Zarrakyssns may be enough. Eat something and rest. This is the easy leg of the trip.}”
Dzhonn chuckles, replying, “{Yes, Yarjen.}”
The two eat their meals, celebrating the small victory. Dzhonn asks, “{Yarjen, how did you know?}”
“{About the interdiction?}”
“{Yes, Yarjen.}”
“{Instinct. Or, maybe a subconscious wisdom. When I escaped interdiction on my last combat flight, I started and stopped jump myself. I only barely saw a friendly ship limping away from the battle in time. I was hit by something similar then that killed power for a blink. On the virtual screens, I saw the friendly ship explode, and I was able to jump –without being interdicted, which I feared would still get me-.}”
“{Why didn’t it? Then or now?}”
“{My current hypothesis is that their interdiction technology disrupts the jump bubble with some sort of directed energy blast. But, it must take an immense amount of power. What we just tested was whether or not there is a delay between firings. By all appearances, there is.}”
“{I see. The window must be small, though. Whole fleets have been interdicted.}”
“{That’s also why I stayed so close to the flagship’s hull. It’s possible ALL hordeships have the ability, and if it’s a turret-based weapon, they’d risk hitting the flagship.}”
Dzhonn chuckles again, remarking warmly, “{That’s amazing, Yarjen. Who knew the Zarakyssns have such a glaring weakness?}”
“{It’s not that glaring. It’s unlikely one of our battleships could pull the same stunts we needed to succeed. It’s also unlikely our flash trick will work so easily again, either.}”
“{Maybe so, Yarjen. But, it’s something.}”
Mrff nods, continuing on his meal. Afterwards, this time, he sleeps instead of meditates. Though, his mind does still scratch at the thought of what his last meditation was telling him. His plan went according to plan.
Perhaps, and this thought is always present in his mind, his meditations are simply his own subconscious thoughts and NOT truly messages from either the Bachsu or the universe nor premonitions of future events.
But, if they are, what IS it trying to tell him?
He’ll have to give it more thought.
***