Gateway to HeVan (2 page)

As the alarm blared, blast shields instantly closed over the exterior viewports.  Addie felt a slight sensation of movement as the section of the ship she was in lowered from its raised position at the top of the ship into the hull.  Another set of blast shields closed over the top.

This was the most protected area of the ship
.  If necessary, it would separate.  Equipped with its own auxiliary engines, it could take off at a high rate of speed.  Keeping the High Queen from harm was of the utmost importance.

“What’s going on?” Addie asked in a slurred voice, pushing her bright red hair away from her face.

“I’m not sure, the safety precautions have been put in place.  Rune will stay with you while Kylan and I find out,” said her mate, Arjun, before giving her a quick kiss on the forehead. 

Luckily, Kylan had also stopped the alarm from continuing its harsh sound in their quarters.  They didn’t want Addie to become agitated.  She
needed her rest, especially now.

As they quickly
dressed, Arjun and Kylan watched as Rune slowly massaged Addie’s back, encouraging her to go back to sleep.  Turning his head, he gave Arjun a slight nod.

At his signal that Addie had truly fallen asleep, the expressions on their faces
hardened.  Reaching into a cupboard, they pulled out weapons and strapped on holsters.  Kylan passed a stun stick to Rune before following Arjun from the room. 

It was too dangerous to use laser weapons within the confines of a ship in space.  For this reason, they each had
a stun stick, as well as their bladed weapons.  They could be used as a contact stunner or as a fighting baton.  Both Arjun and Kylan, as warrior commanders, were experts with both weapons.

Opening the door to the hall, six of their most trusted warriors entered.  They would remain within the
queen’s quarters in case it became necessary to separate from the main ship.  She would have extra protection, including one of their best pilots.  Stepping into the hall, they could hear the alarm still sounding.  Another six warriors were coming down the corridor to take up positions.

“We’re putting the safety of the
Nam-Nin
in your hands,” Arjun said to the lead warrior.

“We will keep her safe
.  No one will come near,” he answered, vowing his life to protect his queen.

Arjun
gave them a sharp look and nodded his head. Then he and Kylan quickly made their way to the Bridge.

“Status report!”
said Arjun.

The crew member in charge of the vessel during this shift
stood and moved to an empty station, allowing Arjun to take the Central Command chair.  Too keyed up to sit, Arjun stayed in front of his chair, while Kylan took the second chair to the right, which set slightly behind the central chair.  He immediately swung a console over his lap, brought up the screen and started typing in commands.

“Commander, we
’ve reached the next Gate.  When we started the sequence to open it and make the jump to the KowLer star system, we discovered the sequence had been interrupted.  The Gatekeeper does not answer our hails.  The science officer has noted some strange energy signatures in the area.  Also, when we tried to hail the Gatekeeper, a high speed transmission was sent out—although not to us,” reported the Watch Commander.

“Wake up Commander Rale and ask for
him and his brothers’ presence on the Bridge.  Contact the Venger; have them take up a protective position between us and the Gate.  Launch fighters to take up stations around our ship,” said Arjun.

“The Venger has already been contacted.  They are moving into position now,” said Watch Commander
Hakor, before he put through the order to scramble the fighter squadron.  At the same time, he motioned for another crewman to contact Commander Rale.

Commander Rale and his two brothers, Recca and Rufan, commanded the Venger.  They were Purgatian and the uncles of the current regent, Malpha.  When the warriors on the Venger, representing each of the
Houses on HeVan, found out their Aunt Durga was responsible for the death of the last two High Queens, they knew their future was in jeopardy.  However, their new mate was Glynnis MacTavish, grandmother to Addie, the current High Queen.  Glynnis was in a position to take Malpha’s place as Regent until Addie took the throne. This saved them because a HeVanthian and descendant of Tamiel would now be head of the House of Purgat.  As she refused to be parted from her granddaughter until after the babies were born, they were all still on the Far Star Explorer.

They were about to hail the
Gate once again when Rale and his brother Recca entered the Bridge.

“Rufan is with Glynnis.  We didn’t want her to worry, should she waken.  We heard the alarm for battle stations.  We
would have come earlier…,” Rale came to a stop.  He and his brothers were older than many of the warriors on board but they were still feeling their way, trying to find their place in this new changed and extended family.

Arjun filled them in on the problems with the
Gate and then asked the obvious question.

“When you came after us, what was the situation on this
Gate?  Did you give them any special instructions?” asked Arjun.

“No special instructions were given.  We asked when you had passed through and in what direction you were traveling.  We wanted to know the next
Gate you would be taking,” said Rale, pausing for a moment before speaking again.

“It’s possible Malpha sent instructions after we left.  You had been gone for so long and we weren’t able to find out from the probe how far it had traveled.  We didn’t know exactly how long it would take to bring you back to HeVan but we estimated two to six months.  So if Malpha wanted to put another plan of hers in place, she had time,” he finished.

Arjun thought about the delays they were experiencing and what Rale had said. 

“Communications officer, open a channel to the Venger,” said Rune. 

As he waited, he turned to Kylan on his right and looked at him as he flipped open the console under his hand.  Kylan gave him a nod of agreement.

“Explorer, this is Venger,” said Commander Thors, a seven and a half foot warrior of the House of Celes.

“Commander Thors, when we went on our quest to find the High Queen, we spent time at each of the Gate stations.  Each time, we filled our stores to replace any supplies we had consumed, since we didn’t know the length of our journey.  Something else we did, however, having spent so long observing Malpha’s machinations, was to put a back door into the command computers of every Gate.  We didn’t want to take the chance of being kept from returning home,” Arjun said, giving Thors a straight look and a raised eyebrow. 

Everyone in the room understood Arjun was alluding to the fact Malpha would be made queen if Arjun and his crew came back empty-handed. 
For a long time, she had plotted and schemed on ways to force a
joining
with Arjun and his brothers, which meant she probably didn’t want them dead but unfortunately, it left the field wide open for other schemes.

Arjun let
it sink in before he spoke again.  “We’re going to open the Gate using our override code.  We’ll have a short window of opportunity to get through before they cancel our override.  So every ship has to be ready to move on my signal.  Communications officer, link up all the fighters.  Confirm link-up.”

Each of the fighters sounded off, as well as the Venger, responding to Arjun’s command.

“Move forward at my mark,” said Arjun, as he and Kylan began feeding sequences into their keypads.  “Three, two, one and—mark,” he said.

All the ships started moving forward toward the
Gate, their speed increasing as they gained momentum.  Thors had faith in Arjun so he didn’t slow down even as he moved past the point where he could safely stop before striking the Gate’s energy barrier and destroying his ship and every man on board.  Just moments before impact, the Gate opened and the Venger slid through.  The lead fighters and the Explorer, in tight formation, quickly followed.  The Gate re-energized just after the last fighter went through. 

It was
too close; there was a backlash.  The fighter immediately jettisoned his power supply, which exploded seconds later.  Kylan reacted immediately by sending the closest two fighters to go to the pilot’s rescue.

T
he fighters swung around.  Flying through the field of debris, they attached magnetic tow cables to the disabled fighter.  Since the power supply had been ejected, the pilot would have limited life support.  They had a short amount of time to get him back to the Explorer.  The explosion was so close, they could see heavy damage.  As quickly as they could, they maneuvered back through the debris with no time to go around it.

Arjun and the others on the Explorer had not been idle during the passage through the
Gateway.  They had sent for Glynnis.  Recca and Rufan now occupied the two seats by the command chair and Rale stood just behind the central chair as they waited for their mate.  Arjun and Kylan flanked Rale.

They were barely through the
Gate when the door to the Bridge slid open and Glynnis MacTavish walked through. 

Hakor
, Commander of the Watch, moved to the navigation station.  He’d been tracking all the ships as they passed through in formation.  Suddenly he stood, his face paling. 

“Commanders, my brother Makor’s fighter
—it was the one damaged coming through the Gate.  He’s being rushed to the medical bay.  May I have permission to leave my duty station?  I would like to get Maggie and take her to medical,” he said.

Before either Arjun or Rale could speak up, Glynnis d
id.  “Well, of course you must go, dear.  Hurry along now—I’m sure Maggie must be worried sick,” she said, before she took her seat in the center chair.  She had shooed Rufan along as she wanted to take a little extra time with her appearance. 

“You only get one chance to make a first impression,” she said
, pushing him out the door.  She didn’t want to look like she’d just gotten out of bed and rushed into her clothes, even though that was exactly the case.  Hurriedly prepared, she had just taken her first action as Regent of HeVan.

Glynnis wiggled around a little in the big chair.  She was five foot three with the padding she’d earned in her seventy years of living
.  The chair was made for someone over seven feet tall.  Her feet hung over the edge and didn’t quite touch the floor.

“Okay, I’m ready.  Let’s make
the phone call now.” She quickly turned around and shushed her mates before they could say anything.  “Be quiet, I know how to do this.  I’ve watched all the Star Trek episodes―and not the reruns either,” she said, before turning back toward the front.

“Communications
Officer, open the hailing frequencies, please.”  She looked around to see who had responded.  When she saw him nod, she began to speak.”

“This is Glynnis Kolrami, Beleti of the House of Purgat and Regent of HeVan.  Respond now,” she said in her best―you better do what I say
or else—voice.  It had always worked with her daughter and her grandchildren so she hoped it worked now.

Just when she was about to speak again, the forward screen lit up and she saw a man sitting in a similar chair, only it
definitely fit him a little better.

“Starships Venger and Explorer, this
Gate is now under the control of the KowLer.  By energizing the Gate and passing through without permission, you have violated our laws. State your business and intentions,” he said in an angry and irritated voice.

“First, this
Gate was built and put in place by my people.  We have a treaty with the KowLer and you are in violation of it.  I would like to know what you’ve done with my Gatekeeper.  Secondly, when addressing a new person, young man, you should identify yourself.  It’s extremely rude to make demands and speak this way to people you haven’t met.  Didn’t your mother teach you any manners?” she asked in a calm but
don’t mess with me
tone.

Arjun,
Rune, and the other warriors turned their heads to hide their smiles.  They were a little surprised to see the Kowler warrior’s cheeks color slightly.

“I am
Ral CaliBan, Master of this Gate and Proctor of Clan CaliBan.  Your Regent Malpha updated the treaty with HeVan eleven cycles past.  All HeVanian personnel were sent home and replaced with citizens from the Clans of KowLer.  After your first transmission, I notified Clan KowLer, ruling clan of the KowLer star system,” he responded.  He stood and approached the view screen before continuing.

“As our home planet
KowLer is currently on the far side of the sun, you will need to maintain position for nine solar hours and speak with King Ben KowLer before proceeding.  The weapons of the station are armed and locked on.  You must recall your fighters and stand by.  Any signs of aggression will be met with an immediate response,” he finished.

“Young man,” Glynnis answered
, “I am shocked and surprised at your continued rudeness.  I believe I’ve explained that
I
am now regent—
not
Malpha.  Her treaty with your people is null and void.  You must deal with me now.  The fact you continue to act toward people who are your allies―and would come to your aid should you need it―in this manner, is despicable.  So I have no qualms in telling you all the Gate Station’s weapons have been disarmed and locked out beyond your control,” she said, almost shaking.