*****
James quickly tossed his shoes away and climbed into the seatra. Kira jumped in alongside him and lay down.
The
Aurora
accelerated upwards through the atmosphere.
Will they be safe in the cargo bay, Kalrea? There’s little protection in there.
They’ll be all right.
From within the seatra, James looked out the side of the
Aurora
. The approaching Treitan ship dwarfed the
Aurora
. It was grey and red like the scout ships he had seen at Normia, but there was much more red colouring over its hull. It was a frightening sight.
What do you want to do, James, run or fight?
Kalrea said.
Fighters launched from the side of the cruiser and turned toward the
Aurora
.
I’m not sure.
‘SIX FIGHTERS ON INTERCEPT.’
James thought to himself for a moment. He was feeling anxious and unsure of himself.
I suppose I’ll have to do this sometime. All right Kalrea, we fight.
I’ll concentrate on the cruiser. You take care of the fighters,
Kalrea replied.
Now you’ll see what this ship can really do.
‘WEAPON SYSTEMS ACTIVATED.’
If you want me to get a look at their computer systems and data files, then I’ll need to get closer,
Kalrea said.
Well if you have to.
‘PLASMA TORPEDOES GENERATED.’
*****
In the cargo bay, Gulino and his team viewed the monitor.
‘We’re attacking!’ Gulino said, looking worried.
‘What is he doing?’ Antaio said furiously. ‘You thought I was mad!’
‘You’d better hold on to something tightly,’ Kalrea said, across the address system. ‘This may get a bit bumpy.’
‘Was that the computer?’ Gulino asked.
Londuo nodded in disbelief.
‘Yes, it was.’
*****
The
Aurora
banked towards the cruiser.
The fighters approached rapidly, showering the
Aurora
with laser fire. The lasers flashed across the hull, leaving bright yellow lines, which gradually dissolved away.
James targeted the fighters.
Fire now!
Kalrea said.
James hesitated.
Kalrea fired the front multi-directional laser of the
Aurora.
It pulsed six times in quick succession at the approaching fighters. There were six explosions outside the ship. All that passed beyond was molten debris.
The cruiser fired three plasma missiles and five more fighters were launched from the port side.
‘THREE INCOMING, WIDESPREAD.’
The plasma missiles hurtled towards the
Aurora
, which banked away rapidly and twisted to avoid them.
Are you all right, James?
Yes. I’m sorry. I can do it.
Destroy the cruiser’s weapon systems,
Kalrea said.
James targeted where the plasma missiles had emerged from the cruiser
. I have to do it. Four torpedoes. Fire!
he thought, once the
Aurora
had levelled again.
The
Aurora
rocked and they screamed away.
The cruiser started to bank slowly.
‘THREE INCOMING, TRIANGULAR SPREAD.’
Lasers from the cruiser flashed across the
Aurora’s
path. The
Aurora
was thrown off course when one of the plasma missiles struck its belly violently. The hull flickered as it phased briefly.
Two of the
Aurora’s
torpedoes struck the cruiser. Massive explosions erupted from its front.
Fighters destroyed. Now targeting defence matrix and bridge.
Kalrea’s voice flashed in James’ head.
The
Aurora
passed close to the hull of the cruiser. Laser fire from the cruiser’s defence matrix strafed the ship.
James looked back at the cruiser’s exposed drive units.
Six torpedoes. Fire!
James thought, but only four left the
Aurora
.
‘THREE INCOMING, RANDOM SPREAD.’
Three of the
Aurora’s
torpedoes struck the rear of the cruiser. Its event horizon drives shattered and an intense white light swept through the interior of the ship, lighting every window and vent. Like a breaking egg, the hull cracked open and the light escaped. Debris showered the
Aurora
.
Suddenly the
Aurora’s
rear multi-directional laser started to fire rapidly. Then, out of the debris appeared one of the plasma missiles fired from the cruiser.
Kalrea fired the last two rear torpedoes at the missile. They left the rear tubes of the
Aurora
and exploded instantly, causing the incoming plasma missile to explode just short of the ship. The
Aurora
started to spin out of control.
That was nearly your first mistake,
Kalrea said softly, while she brought the ship under control.
Never fire all six rear plasma tubes.
Sorry Kalrea. I forgot. I’ve never done this before.
As you know it takes twenty-one seconds to regenerate the plasma shells. One of those missiles could have struck our drives. The hull may be Plyane, but the drives aren’t. You saw what happened to that cruiser.
The
Aurora
turned back towards the wreckage of the cruiser.
Scanners are picking up a gitrup transmitter in the debris. That’s like a black box on Earth
, Kalrea said. She targeted the small object spinning away from the heart of the explosion. The
Aurora’s
front laser fired once, shattering the transmitter.
Why did you destroy it?
We cannot let the Treitans discover the Aurora’s capabilities.
Are there any survivors,
James said.
No, they didn’t have time.
*****
Gulino, Londuo and Intropa picked themselves up off the cargo bay floor.
‘Where’s Antaio?’ Gulino asked, concerned.
A nearby scattered pile of material moved. Antaio was half buried and lying on top of a micnorit drone. The drone buzzed when he got up off it.
The drone hovered drunkenly away.
‘See, you’ve found a friend,’ Londuo laughed.
‘What happened?’ Antaio asked, slightly dazed by his experience.
‘We destroyed the Treitan cruiser,’ Gulino said with surprise. ‘This ship has the firepower of an
Ota
class frigate. The hull is incredible. It just seems to eat energy.’
The lift door opened and James emerged. He looked around at the mess.
‘Looks like you’ve been having a good time.’
Antaio rearranged his uniform.
‘Very funny,’ he said.
Londuo chuckled in the background.
‘James, this ship’s incredible. I’m sorry if we seemed at bit touchy earlier, but we have to be very careful,’ Gulino said.
‘I understand. I expect I was touchy too,’ James replied.
Gulino introduced himself and his team to James. James looked at Londuo.
‘Londuo. Nice name,’ he said.
He then felt embarrassed and thought,
nice name! What a stupid thing to say. What made you say that? You could have said something a bit more intelligent.
‘Where were you heading?’ Antaio asked.
‘For Qintaino. I was hoping the information I had on its destruction was wrong, but there is nothing left. Why would anyone do such a thing? It’s unbelievable. I’ve got to find the other Qinant ships, join them and fight.’
He paused for a moment.
‘That shuttle of yours. Its range must be limited, so you’re either based nearby or have a ship somewhere waiting for you. My guess is the latter. I’m sure the Treitans would have found you if you lived in this system.’
Gulino looked at Londuo. She nodded reassuringly back.
‘You’re right,’ Gulino said, ‘and if you want to find our ships, then we may be able to help. I need to contact my ship.’
James pointed to the monitor.
‘Help yourself. Just tell Kalrea what to do.’
‘Tell Kalrea what to do! How?’
James was confused by Gulino’s reaction.
‘Just talk to her!’
‘But she’s a computer. You’re telling me that she will understand?’
‘Yes, I can’t believe—’
Kalrea interrupted,
‘James, Gulino isn’t aware of my existence. Normal computers are not like me. Gulino, I’m a prototype Xint nuronic computer. I have a conscious.’
‘You’re conscious?’ Gulino repeated. ‘Unbelievable! Milonri must hear about this.’
‘He already knows,’ Kalrea replied.
Gulino shook his head.
‘There goes the surprise!’
‘What would you like me to do?’ Kalrea asked him.
‘Kalrea,’ Gulino said uneasily, ‘open a channel on narrow band 547.8.56 Hil Ghus, using omega class four encryption.’ He paused. ‘Er… Please!’
The monitor lit up and Gulino walked over to it. The others stood to attention when a well-dressed man appeared. He wore a black uniform with narrow yellow bands running down the outside of each arm, and he had a headset. Just visible in the background were monitors and control panels.
‘Commander Krestin, reports from the
Rellopila
indicated a Treitan cruiser entered your area. Is your team all right?’ the well-dressed man asked, addressing to Gulino.
Meanwhile, he glanced behind Gulino at the interior of the
Aurora’s
cargo bay.
‘Yes, there were no casualties, sir.’
‘Where are you? That’s not the shuttle?’ the man asked.
‘No, sir. Er… we’re onboard another Qinant ship. It destroyed the cruiser.’
‘But the
Rellopila
is the only ship we have in that area,’ the man replied.
‘It’s called the
Aurora,
sir. I’ve never seen anything like it before.’
The man turned away for a few seconds. His voice was muted as he talked to someone else standing out of view of the monitor. He turned back.
‘Did you say the
Aurora,
Gulino?’
‘Yes—’
‘Can you transmit the ship’s class code?’ the man asked.
‘One moment, sir.’
Gulino looked around at James.
James had been looking at Londuo and had not been listening to the conversation
. I can’t stop looking at her,
he thought.
I must stop or she’ll start to notice. I wonder if she has a boyfriend. Don’t be daft; of course she has a boyfriend; she’s probably married. Forget her.
‘James!’ Gulino said.
‘What… Sorry, what did you say?’ James replied. ‘I didn’t realise you… were you talking to me?’
‘Can you transmit the
Aurora’s
class code?’
‘Yes, I think so,’ James replied and then thought to Kalrea,
can you send the Aurora’s class code, please
?
Whatever that is!
The well-dressed man looked down at a monitor in front of him. He turned again, his voice once again muted. Ten seconds passed while he waited. He suddenly turned back.
‘We want to speak to the captain.’
James stood still for a moment before realising,
Er… that must be me!
Another man appeared on the monitor, with a headset on. His short black hair with grey highlights made him look middle-aged. He was dressed in black and had a blue badge on his chest, with the symbol from the telementor on it.
He noticed James looking at it.
‘Hello…,’ he prompted James.
‘My name’s James,’ James replied quickly.
‘James? Unusual name! I’m Milonri. You recognised the symbol, didn’t you?’
‘Yes,’ James said.
He raised his arm to show the telementor.
‘I never thought I’d see a telementor again,’ Milonri replied, sounding surprised. ‘The last time I saw them was at Rinaf when they were first given to Horus and Lex.’
James was taken by surprise.
‘Lex…’ James stuttered. ‘Lex Brasdoi! He’s my father.’
‘Lex made it, then? Your ship is the
Aurora
,’ Milonri said. ‘But where has it been all this time?’
‘Lex died before Kalrea could complete its construction,’ James said calmly. ‘I think he saw me as being the only hope of bringing it back. It’s been hidden in a Telecan science station.’
‘I’m sorry about your father, James. What about Karunet?’
‘Karunet! Oh, you mean Carol. She passed away very recently,’ James said sadly.