Far From Home: The Complete Series (54 page)

It made her heart feel heavy as lead in her chest. In a major way, she felt as though she’d failed them all. How would they continue from here? How would she manage to move them all at once without a ship large enough to take the whole crew? How would they continue to search for a way home?

But she knew she’d not properly considered the fact that some of them might want to remain with the Krinuans. The idea of home, of returning to their own galaxy, may well be out of the picture. It wasn’t an agreeable situation, but if that’s what they wanted, she could not deny them.

Still, it was a worry for another time. They’d have a few hours layover, re-gather themselves for what was to come, and then head straight back out.

“There’s work to do,” she said aloud to herself. “A madman to stop.”

Jessica sipped the tea, and in the quiet she couldn’t help but contemplate the way starships blossomed into momentary suns, their reactors igniting, an explosion of energy and light. She thought how it had been both awful and beautiful to witness. As if death –
even the death of a starship
 – were a majestic, natural act. And how could such a thing be both of those at the same time?

2.

General Carn walked next to the Naxor High Vizar, hands clasped behind his back. They crossed the long, glass corridor connecting one end of the base to the other. The sky above them was a dirty pink, reflecting the nature of the planet’s volatile atmosphere. Once it had been a prosperous world, with trees and rivers of cool, clean water that flowed from mountain springs. Now it was a dying world, an old world, a rotten home to a race of warmongers.

“General, this will be the last time I allow you to command my forces,” the High Vizar warned him. “The losses have been…
extreme
, to say the least.”

“I will not fail you again.”

The Vizar glanced across at him. “I do hope so, General. I am handing you one of our most powerful battleships. I don’t think I need to explain to you, the resources expended in constructing such a vessel. If we were to lose it…”

The General peered up through the glass. Even from the surface, one could make out the hazy shape of the battleships in orbit. They were so massive, their blocky white frames could be seen through the pink smog of poisoned ozone. They were clear as white moons in the dusk.

“It is an honour,” Carn said. “And this time I will be victorious.”

Truly, the General could not have cared less for the concerns of the Naxor. They were but tools to be used in the moment. A means to an end.

The two of them walked farther on in silence. Then the Vizar spoke again. “You know where it is?”

Carn shook his head. “No, but I am drawing closer to it. All of the artefacts are capable of performing wonders, but only the master pyramid can do what I need it to do.”

They reached the end of the connecting corridor. “Let us hope you are successful,” the Vizar said. “Remember our deal, General. Everything rests on this.”

Carn nodded slowly, as if in complete compliance. However behind the faceplate, his grin was so wide it would have seemed comedic if anyone had been able to see it.

He watched the Vizar go, then turned back the way they’d come. His next port of call, a shuttle takeoff strip. His destination, one of the behemoths in orbit of the Naxor’s home world. A mighty hammer with which to smite his enemies and finally have in his grasp ultimate power –
dominion
 – over the universe.

3.

“I wish you’d reconsider this plan, dear Captain,” Praror said with regret, his big eyes full of concern. “Though I will, of course, assist you in any way I can.”

Jessica laid a hand on his shoulder. “I can’t ask that of you, my friend.”

Praror smiled. There was the distinct hint of a purr to his voice. “You do not ask. I offer. It’s different. And it is not an offer you can refuse. There is no choice in the matter.”

“I believe that’s so,” King said with a laugh. “When will you be ready to leave?”

“Give me three hours.”

* * *

Commander Chang met Jessica on the station side of the airlock.

“Lisa,” King said. “I wanted to give you this. It was Singh’s.”

She reached up, removed her own Captain’s pin, and added it to Chang’s uniform. Her Father’s pin had looked worn before, but now it was battered and scratched, more than it had been when Admiral Grimshaw had given it to her. How all of that seemed like a lifetime ago now.

Chang was speechless.

“I am promoting you to the rank of Captain,” King said. “And placing you in charge of everyone until I return.”

If
I return
, she thought.
If.

“Captain . . . I don’t… I don’t know what to say…”

King leaned in, gave Chang a light kiss on the cheek. “You don’t have to say anything. You’ve more than deserved it. I can’t think of anyone I’d trust more with the lives of the crew.”

She remembered Admiral Grimshaw’s words to her that day.

“Just remember where it came from. Remember what it stands for.
Always
wear it with pride, because you deserve it.”

She stood to attention. Chang snapped a salute and Jessica returned it.

“Good luck, Captain,” Chang said.

“And to you,” King said. “Look after them.”

“I will do,” Chang managed to say. There were tears in her eyes.

Jessica made a stern face. “And stop crying, Lisa. That’s an order.”

“Yes Ma’am.”

* * *

“So, here’s the plan,” King said. Assembled in the tiny briefing room of the
Warrior
were herself, Commander Greene, Hawk, Captain Dolarhyde and Chief Gunn. “Praror will fly our wing in the Naxor ship. Its familiar signature should allow us to travel without incident through enemy space.”

“And what about our own?” Gunn asked.

“If the cloaking device on board the
Warrior
works as it should, we will appear as a very small blip on a very large monitor. And the Naxor ship, under Praror’s command, will help mask us,” King said.

“A fair plan. I take it I’ll be in engineering?” Gunn asked.

“Yes. And I’ll have Commander Greene and Captain Dolarhyde assisting you as needed. Unless you have someone in mind you’d like along for the ride? I’m trying to keep all of this to a minimum.”

“Well,” the Chief said. “I could bring across Lieutenant Belcher. He’s a good man. We work well together. He should be familiar with these older systems, too.”

Greene exchanged a look with the Chief, no doubt with regards to just how well she worked with Gary Belcher. But the Chief was having none of it, and rolled her eyes at his silent suggestion.

“If you want him, Chief, then put the call in,” King said. “Get him up here ASAP.”

“Will do.”

“So. My reasons for keeping this a small task force are simple and, no doubt, self-evident. I don’t want to put unnecessary lives at risk. Not anymore. We’ve lost enough already.”

“Fair enough,” Hawk said.

“This ship will run just fine on a skeleton crew,” King explained. “We slip in, do what we’ve got to do and get out with minimum fuss.”

“And Commander Chang?” Gunn asked.

“
Captain
Chang will stay behind and hold the fort until we return,” King said. She registered their faces and decided to explain before she got a barrage of endless questions. “And yes, I promoted her myself. This morning.”

“Well, she sure deserved it,” Gunn said.

“Yes. She did us proud.”

She looked across at Commander Greene and felt a twinge of guilt that she’d not promoted him for all he’d done. But it just didn’t work like that, and she knew Greene understood because she saw no sign of resentment or envy on his face.

“So we’re headed straight for the Big Kahuna?” he asked.

She shook her head. “Not right away. We have a slight detour first. Captain Dolarhyde, if you’d like to explain?”

Dolarhyde cleared his throat. “Uh, yes. I spent a lot of time around these things, and I think I have pretty good idea of how to operate them. Each one’s different of course, but the principle is the same.”

He tapped his temple slowly with the tip of his finger.

“Mind control,” Greene said.

“Yes and no. Think of it as a mental interface. And the more you use it, the more adept you get at accessing the device’s many functions. One of them being, in fact, control over time.”

The Commander folded his arms and looked about in disbelief. “That’s a bit of a stretch, isn’t it?”

Before Dolarhyde could answer, Captain King was there at his side. “Not really, Del. Remember, we did a little bit of time travelling ourselves arriving here. Time slowed down for us just as it continued on for everyone else. That, in itself, is time travel, don’t you think?”

“I guess…”

Dolarhyde raised his hands. “Listen, I don’t expect you to take this hook, line, and sinker right off. I plan on showing you all. I plan on demonstrating it. In my years alone, I discovered the capability. However I could never use it to get home. Only the master pyramid will permit time travel of that magnitude. At the most, I could travel back a matter of days. With the ‘Big Kahuna,’ as you put it, we will be able to achieve travel through time and space across whatever distances we wish.”

“But what’s the purpose?” Greene asked.

“Because if
we
can do it, then you can bet that it won’t be long before General Carn will be able to do the same,” Jessica cut in. “And
that
we can’t have.”

King walked to the navigation console and brought up a star chart on the viewscreen. It was the same chart on which Dolarhyde had pinpointed the location of the master artefact before – the monolith that would unlock all the others.

The one with every bell and whistle ready to go, right out of the box.

On the chart, where previously their course had been straightforward, there was a minor diversion to a system of two planets circling a red giant.

“Any idea on what kind of planet that’ll be?” Hawk asked.

“Hospitable but not habitable. We’ll have to suit up for it. And it has two gees, so it’ll be heavier going than we’re used to. Certainly much stronger gravity than what we use on board. But, if Captain Dolarhyde is right… it’ll be worth it,” King said.

Dolarhyde regarded them all one by one. “It will be. I promise.”

* * *

They left the Krinuan’s home world behind hours later, headed into open space with Captain Praror’s Naxor vessel at their flank.

“Is the device ready?” Captain King asked.

“The Chief says it’s fully operational,” Commander Greene said. “All boards show green.”

King got up, and rested her hand on Hawk’s shoulder. “Captain Gerard, if you please.”

“With pleasure,” Hawk said and flicked a switch.

The lights on the
Warrior
dimmed momentarily before the power could redirect from the auxiliary banks.

Commander Greene turned to Dolarhyde, who had his hand up to his earpiece, listening to Captain Praror’s ship. He looked up. “They say we’ve disappeared. Vanished.”

Jessica smiled. Finally, a break. “Good. Tell them we’ll proceed to our first stop, three quarters speed.”

“Very good,” Dolarhyde said.

“Increasin’ speed to three quarters,” Hawk said, his hands swift and sure at the helm controls. The
Warrior
answered his needs, the engines responding by ensuring they were a fast, however invisible, traveller of the stars.

4.

The two planets swung around a huge, engorged red sun on elliptical orbits. The innermost planet burned white hot, like a miniature sun itself. However, their destination stood farther out, a cooler world devoid of most of its once-breathable air. The nova had stripped most of its atmosphere away. What was left trailed behind the planet now, like the vaporous exhaust of a passing comet.

“Friendly lookin’ joint,” Hawk said with a trademark lop-sided grin. “Might have to come prospectin’, maybe sink a well, build a farm…”

“Another time, Mister,” King said with a slight chuckle. “Take us into orbit and scan the surface for anything resembling one of those pyramids. Then we can prepare for a landing.”

“You know, she’s not landed anywhere in a long time…” Dolarhyde said.

“She’ll be fine, Captain,” Jessica said. “I feel this ship is a tough old broad.”

Like mine
, she thought.
How I miss her…

She watched as Hawk slipped the
Warrior
into a low orbit. It didn’t take long to locate the giant, black pyramid, resting atop a plateau. It was fortunate, really, as it made it easier on them for landing and takeoff. The plateau was wide and flat, and thousands of feet below it, volcanic eruptions filled the air with black smoke. Rivers of lava burned down there, liquid fire caused by the planet’s increasing internal temperatures.

“Looks like this world will join its sister soon,” Greene remarked.

“Well, we’ll be in and out before it does,” Jessica said. “Dolarhyde, contact Praror and ask him to remain up here in orbit. Hawk, disengage the cloaking device and prepare for landing procedures.”

* * *

The
Warrior
settled upon the flat rock with a jolt and the hiss of escaping gasses from her landing gear, four legs extended from the belly of the ship. When landed, the ship resembled a rather big fly, minus wings and bug eyes.

“Distance to the monolith?” King asked as she suited up.

Hawk shrugged his arms into his own suit, and then grabbed a data tablet from a work station to the side. “Thirty minutes’ walk north.”

“Good. Commander, you comfortable in there? I know these suits are older models, but they should do the same job.”

He gave a thumbs up as Dolarhyde settled the helmet over his head and locked it into place. A second later, the lights inside the helmet came to life, as did his internal radio.

“Better?” Jessica asked him.

“Yeah. Smells musty in here, though,” Greene said.