Dawn of a New Age (12 page)

“Yes, my love,” K’Alan nodded.  “We’ve talked.  He and I have come to something of an understanding.”

“Good.  I hate to think that my son hates his father.”

“He’s still angry, but he’ll be all right,” K’Alan smiled.  “We’ll all be all right.”

K’Itea nodded and smiled.

2.2.2136

1202

SLS White Knight

The Gym

Mario had the gym to himself when he stepped out on the mat.  He slowly began going through his kata, allowing it to soothe him like it always did.  He closed his hazel eyes as he slowly went through the motions, one move flowing into the next.  The young colonel’s tall thin frame swept gracefully through the complicated moves that he had practiced so many times before, his long fingers cutting through the air as cleanly as if blades.  His short black hair was plastered to his head with a light coating of sweat.

“Nice moves,” a female voice called out to him, almost causing him to miss a step.  But only almost, as he had been expecting the visit.

Mario opened his eyes, and, as expected, he saw Erin Sykes standing there.

“Commander,” he nodded.

“Oh, don’t be so formal, Mario.  We’re both off duty,” Erin laughed a little laugh.  He decided that she looked even better when she was smiling.  “Call me Erin.”

“Sure,” Mario grinned.  “There something I can help you with, Erin?”

“I just thought we might talk for a little while, Mario.”  She looked around for a place to sit, but with the gym set in dojo mode, there were nothing but mats on the floor.

“Sure,” Mario nodded as he picked up a towel and dried his face.  “You have something specific on your mind, I would assume.”

“I want you to do me a favor,” she said to him, still trying to figure out where to sit.

“What’s that?”

“Make sure nothing happens to the Captain on this mission.”

“That would be my intention,” Mario wiped his face again.  He tossed the towel down on top of his gym bag and sat on the mat.  “Why?”

Erin followed his lead and sat down on the mat, crossing her legs under her.  “I have no desire to have a command of my own.  Least of all at the expense of someone like K’Alan.  He’s been a good friend for a few years, and I have the utmost respect for him.  But I don’t ever want to replace him.”

“Erin, I can’t promise nothing will happen to him, but I’ll do my best.”

“That’s all I ask.”  She looked Mario over.  “So, you any good at martial arts?”

2.2.2136

1300

SLS White Knight

The Lounge

Sarah Hodge sat in a corner of the lounge, nursing a root beer.  She’d been working on the shuttle modifications that the captain had requested, and her teams had just finished as much work as they could handle for the time being.  The work would have to continue after they’d all had a chance to get something in their bellies.  She expected that it would be another very long day of modifications.  All she wanted at that point was some rest and relaxation.

“Mind if I join you, Sarah?” Katherine Yeuid asked as she approached the table.

“Am I falling apart?” Sarah smiled at her own weak attempt at humor.

“Cute,” Kath chuckled as she sat down.  She motioned for the bartender to bring her a drink.  “Real cute.”

“What can I do for you, Kath?”

“I just thought you could use some company,” Kath smiled.  “You look like hell.”

“I spent the morning working on the shuttle modifications for the Captain,” Sarah groaned.  “I’m exhausted.  And we have so much work still to go if the captain’s plan is going to be successful.”

“Do you want me to leave?” the older woman asked.

Sarah looked over at the woman who had so quickly become her friend over the past couple weeks and smiled broadly.  “No, you’re right.  I could use the company.”

“So, tell me about these modifactions…”

2.2.2136

1344

SLS White Knight

The City

K’Alan walked through the city inside his ship.  The sights of the city tormented him.  Duterians, some still injured, moved through the city still looking dejected and lost.  No one noticed that the ship’s captain was in there walking among them.  He walked straight to the temple in the center of what would be forever known on the ship as the Duterian sector.

“I come seeking the blessings of the gods,” K’Alan said, his voice suitably reverent.

“Then come inside,” an acolyte said from the door of the temple.

“Thank you.”  K’Alan bowed as he walked inside the temple.  He looked, amazed.  In a little over one day, they had managed to completely and accurately recreate the temple from the village that he and K’Itea had grown up in.

“We’ve been expecting you, Captain,” a priest said.  “You carry a great burden.”

“Yeah, you can say that again,” K’Alan grunted.  “It’s been a rough week.”

“And yet you remain here.  To protect your people.”

“Yeah.  Seems pretty strange to me how things work sometimes.”

“Not really, Captain Bryce,” the priest gave him a kind smile.  “Your soul tells me many things.”

“My soul and I aren’t on speaking terms.”

“Yes, I see that too,” the priest sighed.  “It is a shame.  Your soul can tell you a great many things, Captain.  Your soul will save your life one day.”

“I’m sorry, I just can’t believe that,” K’Alan shook his head.  “My wife believes.  Her faith has always been stronger than mine.  But of late…  I just don’t know.”

“You will,” the priest turned away.  “And very soon.”

2.2.2136

1500

SLS White Knight

The Lounge

“So, have you seen the Captain today, Lieutenant Commander?” Soran’s pleasant baritone greeted Kath when she came up to where he was tending bar.

“Not since the mission briefing,” the young woman replied.  “Why?”

“I’m looking for him,” the bald barman shrugged.  “He hasn’t been in, so I’m a little worried.”

“You’re worried because he hasn’t come in for a drink?” Kath raised an eyebrow.  “That’s odd.  What makes you worried?”

“Well, among other things, the captain is a creature of habit.  He usually comes in and has lunch here around 1200 hours.  He hasn’t been in yet today.”  The large barman crossed his beefy arms across his chest.  “I worry when people I know do things contrary to normal.”

Kath chuckled and looked around.  She inclined her head towards the door.

“His wife just walked in.  You might ask her,” Kath smiled.  “But I’m sorry, I can’t help you.”

Kath took her drink and walked off towards a table, where a couple other bridge officers were sitting.  Soran shrugged his shoulders again and started to wipe down the bar.  K’Itea Bryce slipped onto a stool at the bar, still a little unsteady on her feet.

“What can I get for you?” the barman asked.

“Duterian Sunmist,” she said, her voice tired.

“One Duterian Sunmist coming up,” he smiled.  “If you don’t mind my asking, are you K’Itea Bryce by any chance?”

“Yes,” she said, startled.  “How did you know who I am?”

“I cheated.  Your husband showed me a picture of you once,” he admitted.  “He’s a good man.”

“Yes, he is,” K’Itea smiled.  “I love him very much.”

“And he does you, I’m sure,” the barman smiled again.  He started wiping the bar some more, although the bar was as clean as it always was.  “I have to admit I’m a little worried about him.”

“Why?”

“He’s been very distant the last couple days.  I’m sure he’s just worried about the situation, but as I said, I think he’s a good man, and I worry.”

“I’ve never heard of a bartender worrying about one of his clients before,” K’Itea laughed.  “Why are you worrying about Kal?”

“He saved my life once.  I never forget something like that.”

“Well, thank you for your concern…”

“Soran,” the barman said, pausing from wiping the bar.

“Thank you for your concern, Soran. I’m sure he’ll be all right.”

2.3.2136

1049

SLS White Knight

The Bridge

K’Alan settled into the command chair.  He wanted to get this mission over with, and he fidgeted with a loose thread on his uniform jacket.

“Approaching jump gate,” Tyla Barros announced.

“Jump engines reading normal, Captain,” Sarah called.

“Jump!”

             
2.3.2136

1055

SLS White Knight

The Bridge

H
YPERSPACE is a layer of space under our own that we can tap into.  Distances in our galaxy between two points are greatly reduced by going through hyperspace.  In order for a ship to go into hyperspace, it must engage jump engines while going through a jump gate.

Hyperspace itself is nothing special to look at.  Black against black, there are no stars, no planets.  Nothing but an endless void.  Navigating in hyperspace is usually done by computer because it’s so tricky.  Jump gates have a hyperspace homing beacon attached to them that ship computers can lock onto to navigate in hyperspace.             

Hyperspace can be a very lonely place.

“ETA at the Brentax jump gate?” K’Alan asked.

“About 24 hours, Captain,” Tyla Barros reported after doing the calculations.  “It’s just amazing.  Just fifty years ago, this trip would have taken twelve years.”

“Yeah.  And we weren’t at war with the Brentax either,” K’Alan reminded the young woman.  “You have the bridge, Ms. Barros.  Call me when we reach the Brentax jump gate.”

“Yes, sir.”

K’Alan walked off the bridge and headed for the nearest lift.

2.3.2136

1222

SLS White Knight

The Gym

“Hey, pretty boy,” Masha called.  “Wait up.”

Mario turned and looked at his friend.  While he had been expecting her to find him, he was not sure he really wanted to talk to the large security chief.  But the two had been friends for a while, so he would at least be polite to her.

“What do you need, Masha,” he asked.  “I’m getting ready for the mission.”

“Captain says you got almost 24 hours to get ready,” Masha said.  “How about a little sparring session?”

“Not right now, Masha.”

“All right, bud.  What’s wrong?” she growled.  “You never pass up an opportunity to spar.”

“I’d rather not talk about it.”  He started to turn away, but stopped when she put her hand on his arm.

“Mario, this is me you’re talking to,” she reminded him. “ You know I won’t just let this go.”

“It’s just…” he started to say.  He almost told her that he had a bad feeling about the mission.  But he knew that she would try to stop them from going, and he knew that this was the best chance of the mission succeeding, so he changed his mind. “Nothing.  Never mind.”

“All right, bud.  I’ll let it go for now.  But we will talk about this some other time.”

“I gotta go get ready.”

2.3.2136

1442

SLS White Knight

The City

K’Alan grunted.  He really didn’t want to do this, but he knew that it was better to get it over with now then to try to have this conversation when he was getting ready to leave for Brentax III.

He walked along the various corridors of the city until he came to the area that served as the palace.  It really didn’t look like the palace from Duterius Prime.  But it served its purpose.

The royal guard, one of a very few that had survived the destruction of Duterius Prime, at the palace entrance nodded at K’Alan and let him pass.  He smiled at the guard as he entered.  He remembered that the man had been one of the guards watching over the survivors when he and Mario had found and rescued K’Itea.

K’Alan walked down a hall looking for where his sister or wife were.  He saw K’Itea sitting in a room, watching out a viewport.  He walked up behind her and gently folded his arms around her from behind.  She looked up at him and smiled taking great comfort from being in his arms.

“Why are there no stars, Kal?” she asked.

“There are no stars in hyperspace.”

“It looks so empty,” she observed.  “So lonely.”

“It can be,” he said as he kissed her forehead.

“You’re leaving, aren’t you?” she said, sadness creeping into her voice.

“Mario and I are going on a mission, yes,” he admitted.

“Elam will be mad.”

“He’ll understand in time,” K’Alan said, his voice betraying his lack of certainty in his words.

“He may.”  K’Itea looked at him.  “Where are you going?”

“Brentax III.”

“Are you crazy?” she thundered.  She pulled away from his embrace.  “K;Alan Bryce, that’s the homeworld of the Brentax Empire!”

“I know,” he said.

“Why are you going?” she demanded.

“Because I’m tired of war,” he exploded.  He regretted his tone at once.  Sitting down next to K’Itea on the bench, he took her back in his arms and held her tight.  “All I want is for this war to end so I can spend more time with my family.  And this is a way to end it once and for all.”

“Oh?  Is that the only reason you are going?”

“Plus I’m going to kidnap the person who destroyed our planet,” he admitted after a moment.

“So it’s revenge.”

“Basically, yes.”

“I don’t want you to go, Kal.”  She buried her face in his shoulder, and he could feel the tears starting to soak through his uniform jacket.

“Kit, I have to go.”  He kissed her hair and squeezed just a little tighter.  What he really wanted to do was just hold her for the rest of his life, but he knew that he would have to go on this mission before that could really happen.  “If Mario and I are successful, we could end this war and start an era of peace here in the quadrant.”

“I just don’t want to lose you, Kal.”  She looked up at him with her big tear filled eyes.  “And I’m afraid if you go, you won’t come back.”

“I’ll be back, Kit.  Count on it.”

2.3.2136

2000

SLS White Knight

Forward Observation Lounge

Mario stood looking out a viewport.  He’d been there for half an hour, just staring. He watched the blackness as it rolled past the viewport.  His thoughts were turbulent and troubled.

“Mario?  Are you OK?” Kath asked as she walked into the lounge her bootfalls muted by the plush carpeting.

“Hmm?”  Mario was startled from his musings.  “Oh, yeah, Katherine.  I’m fine.”

“You sure?  You’re staring out the viewport like you’ve never seen hyperspace before,” Kath chuckled.

“Looking out into hyperspace is like looking into one’s soul, Katherine,” Mario reflected.

“Getting philosophical in your old age, Mario?” Kath laughed.

“No, Katherine,” Mario chuckled.  “I just get this way before a mission.”

“You know, you’re the only one who calls me Katherine.  Why?”

“A beautiful name for a beautiful lady,” Mario smiled.

“You think I’m beautiful?” Kath blushed.  “No one’s ever said that to me before.”

“They must all be blind then,” Mario said, flashing his famous winning smile.

Kath blushed further and turned away.  “You probably say that to all the girls.”

“No, Katherine.  I haven’t said that to anyone in years,” Mario shook his head.  “Aw, hell.  Can’t a guy give a girl a compliment anymore?”

2.3.2136

2358

SLS White Knight

K’Alan Bryce’s quarters

K’Alan sat reading over status reports.  He’d been having trouble getting to sleep so he thought he’d do a little work.  He knew that the nerves he was feeling about the mission were behind the lack of sleep.

There was a soft knock on his door.  Frowning, he looked at the door and then at the chrono on his desk, wondering who could be visiting him at this hour.

“Come on in,” he called.

The door opened and K’Itea and Elam walked in.  A broad smile lit his face when he saw who it was.

“We couldn’t sleep either,” K’Itea said in answer to his unspoken question as to why they were there.

“Well, if I were going to have two midnight visitors, I couldn’t have picked a better two,” K’Alan said.  He moved over to the couch and motioned for his family to join him.

“You don’t mind us being here?” Elam asked.

“Nope,” K’Alan said.  “Not at all.  In fact, I have something for you, Elam.”

“You do?” Elam furrowed his brow.

“Yes, I do.”  K’Alan took a baseball glove and baseball off of a small table by the couch.  “I wanted to give these to you.  I’ve had these a long time.  I used to use these at the Academy.”

“What is it, K’Alan?” K’Itea asked.  “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“It’s part of a game from Terra called baseball.  I thought maybe I could teach the game to you, Elam.  Or at least the basics.”

“Is it fun?” Elam asked, his eyes lighting up.

“I’ve been told that it’s actually more fun to watch it than to play it, but yes, I’ve had a lot of fun playing baseball.”

“Maybe you should explain the game to us, K’Alan,” K’Itea said with a twinkle in her eyes, knowing that K’Alan had finally found the thing to connect him to his son once and for all.

“All right,” K’Alan smiled.  He wrapped one arm around his son and his other arm around his wife.  “There are two teams…”

2.4.2136

1103

SLS White Knight

The Bridge

“Captain, computers are reading that we have reached the Brentax jump gate,” Tyla Barros reported.

“Prepare to jump to normal space,” K’Alan ordered.

“Ready to jump on your mark, Captain,” Tyla said.

“Jump!” K’Alan said after a moment.

The ship shuddered once as it entered the jump gate.  Almost as soon as they cleared the gate, K’Alan could see stars through the stardome.

“Navigator, please confirm that we are near Brentax space,” K’Alan said.

“Yes, sir,” Mara Silvermaine said.  She made a quick check of her scanners.  “We are just outside Brentax space.  Brentax III is two days travel time at the shuttle’s max speed.”

“Prepare the shuttle for launch.  We leave in an hour.  Commander Sykes, you have the bridge,” K’Alan said as he headed to the lift.