Can you see the blue override lever on the wall?
Kalrea asked him.
Yes. What do you want me to do?
James replied, moving over to it.
Pull it downwards. It will open the pojin lift door alongside it,
Kalrea said.
James tried to pull the lever.
It won’t move,
he thought, feeling the tension build in his arms. He stopped and then focused all his weight on the lever, which with a sharp pull downwards finally freed itself. There was a flash of light from the lever, but the door remained closed.
He tried the lever once more.
Kalrea, it hasn’t worked
.
You’re going to have to find another way in. Can you make it into the adjacent starboard drive room?
James remembered the layout of the
Aurora
.
Yes, I think so.
He floated over to one of the many large gashes in the blast wall and looked nervously into the starboard drive room. The light from his helmet illuminated the blackened remains of the event horizon drives. His heart quickened, when he noticed movement below him. He looked quickly down. The floor was thickly covered in soot that swayed slowly, like the surface of a calm pond caressed by a soft breeze.
Detecting James was anxious, Kalrea asked,
Are you all right?
Yes. The floor looks liquid; it seems to be moving.
It’s the atomised remains of the drives, which have settled over many years. The scanners are showing that the floor is badly damaged, so don’t drift too low.
Is the dust harmful?
Only if you breathe it in.
James travelled above it, but the thrusters from his suit whipped up the dry dust, obscuring his vision. He felt venerable.
I can’t see anything, Kalrea.
Turn thirty-two degrees to your left. No that’s too far.
Kalrea, I have enough problems trying to operate these thrusters. For all I know, I could have just rotated one hundred and eighty degrees!
Sorry. Turn to your right a bit.
James smiled. Kalrea’s comment made his feel more relaxed.
That’s it! Stop there! You’re now pointing roughly towards the lift.
James moved slowly through the soot. Approaching the lift door the atomised particles thinned, and he could now make out the distorted floor beneath him. He glanced at the scorched lift door ahead, but his attention was drawn to a large access panel, which was open to the right of the door. Inside it all the electronics were melted, and when he looked closer he could just recognise the bones of a hand welded to the circuitry. He looked down at the floor beneath it. In a sooty mass, the remains of two skulls were visible.
Who are they?
I think they’re Horus and Maris,
Kalrea replied.
They piloted the Pulsora away from Qintaino. I have their DNA on file. One moment.
The telementor flashed a blue light over the remains, so Kalrea could analyse them.
Hurry up, Kalrea.
The DNA scan confirms they’re Horus and Maris,
Kalrea replied.
They didn’t even have time to get to the lift.
James felt dizzy and wanted to be sick.
Can’t; not in the helmet.
He took deep breaths before turning to the lift and quickly operating the manual override lever. A few seconds later, which seemed like an eternity to him, the door slid open.
I’m now in the lift shaft
, James thought, relieved to get out of the drive room.
He looked along the pojin lift shaft but could not see where it finished.
Which way?
Take the right shaft,
Kalrea instructed.
James travelled along the smooth shaft, following the instructions of Kalrea at each intersection until he reached the open door to the bridge.
When he entered the room an alarm started to sound.
‘INTRUDER ALERT!’ echoed in Qinant from the ships address system.
James noticed an electronic eye light up in the centre of the ceiling.
Kalrea,
he thought worried.
‘INTRUDER ALERT!’
The eye brightness intensified.
Remembering the
Aurora
defence systems, James realised the eye was about to atomise him and moved rapidly towards the door.
Kalrea,
he thought urgently.
It’s all right,
Kalrea said reassuringly.
Sarhao knows I’m here. He won’t harm you.
James turned around. The eye was no longer illuminated.
‘Wel… Welcommm… Welcome onboard,’ the voice of a middle-aged man said in Qinant, over the address system.
‘Sarhao?’ James said with surprise.
His voice was somewhat dampened by the helmet.
‘Ye… Yess,’ Sarhao replied.
The door of the bridge slammed shut, making James jump. Air rushed into the room and lights slowly brightened.
‘You can…nn rem…mmove your…rr hell…met… now,’ Sarhao said shakily.
James removed his helmet and placed it on the only upright seat.
‘At…t las…st,’ Sarhao said. He paused for a moment. ‘At… At last. I… always hoped that you escaped… the attack on Qintaino, Kalrea. But why… did it take you so long to find me?’
‘I’m afraid I’ve been missing and out of action all this time too,’ Kalrea replied over the same address system. ‘We’ve just come from Normia. I have a Plyane hull, Sarhao. We made it.’
‘Have you been back to Qintaino, yet,’ Sarhao said.
‘No and from the data we have there may be nothing left of Qintaino,’ Kalrea replied.
‘At least you are in one piece,’ Sarhao said with great anguish. ‘I failed. Horus and Maris are dead. I should have detected the plasma leak.’
Kalrea
, James thought, sensing Sarhao needed to be reassured.
‘It wasn’t your fault,’ Kalrea said with sorrow in her voice. ‘At least you escaped.’
‘Yes, but the ship sustained too much damage. I tried to land the ship at the entrance to the space station, because I needed the light energy to replenish the reactor, but I failed. I ended up down here.’
Sarhao paused. His voice sounded like he was about to cry, had he been able to.
‘We tried to repair the drives, but an explosion finished off any hope we had. The power is almost exhausted.’
‘You’ve saved one of the crew though,’ Kalrea said, trying to be more positive. ‘There’s someone alive in the seatra.’
There was a click and the lid of the seatra started to rise.
James could not see inside, so he moved towards it. Just as he was about to look over the rim, something leaped out. James almost jumped from his skin. It scampered around the back of the seatra.
‘What the hell was that?’ James shouted in Earth English.
He moved backwards towards the corner of the room, fearing he could be attacked.
‘A kiol,’ Kalrea said, surprised. ‘It’s a kiol.’
‘A kiol,’ James repeated, speaking once more in Qinant. ‘What’s a kiol? Is it dangerous?’
‘No, it’s not dangerous, James,’ Kalrea said. ‘Its closest counterpart on Earth would have been a dog,’ Kalrea said.
‘But dogs can bite!’ he said, moving slowly around the seatra to see where it was.
‘She was the ship’s mascot,’ Sarhao said. ‘She’s been in there since Horus and Maris died.’
The kiol looked out from behind the corner of the seatra. Its black and white head with two small grey horns moved from side to side, causing its long ears to swing.
‘It’s trying to make out who you are,’ Sarhao said, his voice brightening up.
‘What’s its name, Sarhao?’ James enquired. ‘It looks so funny.’
‘Kira,’ Sarhao said.
James crouched down and called its name a number of times.
Kira looked at him and hesitated, before slowly approaching. She was the size of a hound, with long fur and no tail.
James held out his hand.
‘I hope you’re right, Kalrea. If she bites me, I’ll never trust you again.’
Kira sniffed the hand, then without hesitation rubbed up against James.
‘She likes you,’ Sarhao said.
James stroked her gently.
It’s more like a cat
, he thought.
‘Can we help Sarhao, Kalrea?’ he asked.
‘I could leave some construction drones, but they won’t last very long. The
Pulsora
needs power.’ Kalrea replied.
‘Can we move it?’
‘We don’t have the equipment onboard.’ Kalrea said. ‘If we stayed here I could construct something.’
‘Kalrea’s right,’ Sarhao said. ‘There’s nothing you can do for me. Go… Bring back help. There’s one thing you can do for me, though.’
‘Whatever you want, Sarhao,’ James said.
‘Please take Kira with you,’ Sarhao replied.
‘I would love to, but how am I going to get her onboard the
Aurora
?’ James questioned.
While he spoke, a panel opened in one of the walls of the room. Inside was a large red and white box. On its side were the words ‘QURQAL VUXIJ PIPAPU.’ James instantly translated it to ‘ANIMAL HOVER KENNEL.’
‘They think of everything, don’t they?’ James remarked.
He was surprised how easily the box slid out and moved across the floor. Beneath the kennel he could see a number of metallic pads. When he moved his hand nearer to one of them he felt a slight tingling sensation in his fingers. He thought,
I wonder how it works.
Kalrea replied.
This is mark three, made by a company called Anihov. It has six high-density pulse-wave generators. The door has a magnogen vacuum seal for space transportation.
Oh, okay,
James thought.
Wish I hadn’t asked, now.
James opened the front of the box, but before he could even see where Kira was, she dashed in.
‘Well trained!’ he said.
‘I wouldn’t say that,’ Sarhao replied. ‘She just knows when she’s better off.’
‘We’ll be back, Sarhao. I promise,’ James said.
*****
James left the
Pulsora
the same way he entered and arrived back onboard the
Aurora
. He opened the hover kennel. Kira looked out inquisitively. She took a moment to look around, sniffed the air, then slowly walked away to explore her new home.
The
Aurora
dropped from light speed.
‘The Ulio system is clear of any ships,’ Kalrea informed James, over the ship’s address system. ‘Look, there’s Qintaino.’
James viewed the monitor in expectation.
The light from two nearby stars made the patchy grey atmosphere of Qintaino sparkle like a bauble hanging from a Christmas tree. The atmosphere was moving slowly in large spirals. Where it thinned, the mottled mustard and black coloured surface was just visible.
‘I’ll enter a standard orbit,’ Kalrea said.
‘Can you scan the surface?’ James asked.
‘It looks so dead,’ Kalrea said, while the ship approached Qintaino. ‘All the coloration’s gone from the planet’s surface.’
James sensed sadness in her voice.
‘There are no oceans,’ she said. ‘All the water’s gone.’
‘What do you mean, there are no oceans?’
‘The oceans have completely dried up. There’s no water anywhere.’
The
Aurora
entered the orbit. While the ship travelled, he heard the floating debris from the war with the Treitans striking the hull.
James stared at the monitor.
‘What is that?’ he asked, watching the remains of a large ship eerily tumble past. The wreckage was the size of the
Aurora
.
‘That’s what’s left of the Qintaino carrier
Inori,
the bridge and one of the front fighter bays.’
Kalrea brought James’ attention to another piece of debris.
‘That’s part of an event horizon drive.’
James was stunned by the size of the devastation; there were fragments everywhere. He felt disheartened by what he had seen so far.
‘What does the scan of the surface show?’ James asked.
‘The air is breathable, but there’s high hydrogen content. There’s minimal plant life. The only life signs I’m reading are on a continent in the Southern Hemisphere.’
‘Let’s take a closer look. Take us through the atmosphere,’ James perked up slightly.
The
Aurora
descended through the grey swirling gases that blanketed the planet. The ship trailed a bright white flame as it broke through. Below was a desolate landscape.
‘Scanners are reading three Qinant males and a female, five hundred kilometres North West on the outskirts on a city called Denogpa. There’s a faint power source emanating from a shuttle, sixty-three metres from their position.’
A shuttle
, James thought.
‘What would be the range of that shuttle?’ he asked.
‘1.8 light years.’
‘That means there must be some sort of base on a nearby planet,’ he remarked.
‘Or there’s a ship somewhere just outside the Ulio system,’ Kalrea added.
‘Over-fly the site,’ James instructed calmly.
The monitor showed a flattened city. The surface looked like a desert with only the outlines of square ruins indicating that Qinants once lived there. At the end of a large trench cutting across the ruins were the remains of a Qintaino destroyer, the
Potopila
, half buried.
James was looking sorrowfully at the scenery.
*****
Meanwhile, on the surface of Qintaino, the Qinant leader, Gulino, saw the
Aurora
and shouted out to the three members of his landing party,
‘It’s already here! There’s no time to reach the shuttle. Antaio and Intropa - get as high as you can in the
Potopila
, and target that ship! Londuo, you’re with me.’
Gulino and Londuo ran to the shelter of some nearby ruins.
*****
‘Can we land down there?’ James asked. ‘I want to make contact with them.’
‘No problem. I can put the
Aurora
down near to the remains of that destroyer.’
The
Aurora
came about and descended slowly towards the landing site.
*****
Gulino and Londuo peered through a gap in the wall of the ruins, to watch the ship touch down.
‘Where the hell did that come from? Intelligence guaranteed me the Ulio system was safe,’ Gulino said, catching his breath. ‘Londuo, check the shuttle’s scanners on your komkey for other ships.’
‘I’ve never seen a ship like that before,’ Londuo said.
She removed a small device, which was the size of a small mobile, from her belt and pressed a symbol on its face.
‘It’s the only ship,’ she reported.
‘It must be a new class of Treitan assault ship,’ Gulino said.
‘I’m not so sure it’s one of theirs; look there’s no markings on it,’ Londuo replied. ‘Anyhow, why haven’t they fired on us?’
*****
The
Aurora’s
drives powered down.
‘Kalrea, I’m going outside. If any ships show up on the scanner, I want to know.’
‘Be careful. They look a bit edgy,’ Kalrea said. ‘Remember. Concentrate when you want to talk to me.’
James set foot onto Qintaino. A strong wind was blowing across the landing area, whipping up the dry dust. He had to shield his face and squint, to prevent sand from entering his eyes.
It’s very humid and hot,
he thought.
Where the wind swirled around the landing legs of the
Aurora,
circular patterns were forming.
Where are they now?
he thought to Kalrea.
There are two in the destroyer and two in the remains of the building directly ahead,
Kalrea replied.
James started to walk towards the ruins. He had gone no more than a few steps when he almost tripped over. He stopped and looked back to see a thick mustard plant creeper which had been exposed by the
Aurora
landing thrusters. The creeper quickly withdrew back under the surface, surprising him.
What an eerie plant
, he thought, now looking where he was stepping.
*****
Gulino and Londuo observed the approaching figure.
‘He looks Qinant,’ Londuo remarked.
‘But his clothes, they’re not,’ Gulino replied. ‘Far too scruffy. He looks like someone from one of those old holographic pictures. You know, about 380 sykals ago.’
‘Oh, yes. I see what you mean. He doesn’t appear to be armed.’ Londuo said.
‘Why is he alone?’ Gulino added.
‘He could be one of their Dreh agents,’ Londuo said. ‘Perhaps they want us alive.’
‘No, we’re no threat to a ship that size. There’s no reason to try and trick us with an agent.’
‘I don’t think it’s a Treitan ship,’ Londuo said.
*****
High in the wreck of the
Potopila
Antaio nervously observed the solitary figure.
‘The traitor; he knows where Gulino and Londuo are,’ Antaio said, his adrenaline rushing.
He raised his Terman Laser rifle.
‘We’re dead. We’re all dead… What are they waiting for? That ship could have killed us without landing.’
He started to panic.
‘Calm down, Antaio. Gulino knows what he’s doing,’ Intropa said, worried. Antaio targeted the figure. ‘Wait! He’s unarmed.’
*****
James! The destroyer!
Kalrea shouted in his head, making him jump.
He looked around instantly. A pulse of yellow light streaked out from the wreck of the
Potopila
striking James. He fell to the ground.