H.E.R.O. - Rise and Fall (27 page)

Tiriffa found it interesting that it took so long for the systems to decipher the languages, yet only an hour to train Kazhan in them.

She settled back into her seat, placed her hand on the console next to her and brought up the interface for language learning in her mind's eye.  Soon she was duplicating Kazhan's activity, with the exception being that she used her own special power to communicate with the machine rather than the helmet.

Rishan said, “It is unfortunate you have but one language learning console on the ship, Captain Trilk.”

The Captain’s ears pointed forward in the affirmative, “Indeed.  The Selestor is a transport, not a science vessel.”

Once complete and the machine stopped sending information into Kazhan's mind, the scientist pulled off the helmet and set it off to the side.  He rubbed his temples and looked around the ship's cabin with his bright orange eyes.  Tiriffa was laid back in her seat - she had to be learning the languages via her gift.

He stood up and shifted to another seat, and then waved to Rishan.  "Next."

Rishan stood and moved to the seat with the helmet, relaxed back into the chair and slid the helmet on his head.  With a few swipes on the display's menu he was being trained by the system.

Captain Trilk asked, "Does your mission change at all with the new information you have acquired?"

Kazhan shook his head, "Perhaps.  We're here to gain information on the comet's chunk that broke off and came to this system.  The fact that there is an intelligent species here does expand our scope and what we can learn.  Think about it, we've detected some power activity - but not as much as would happen if the mutations were widespread yet.  They are still in the very early stages of changing from their pre-existing race to one likely more similar to our own.  I foresee a great many scientific missions being commissioned to come here and study the race.  They may be worthy of communicating with and opening trade arrangements as well."

"Did you intend on making a ground excursion?"

"I believe we should.  Is there an issue with that?"

"Not at all.  We may want to choose an area away from large city centers, though."

"Actually, I was thinking the reverse.  Large cities are always home to a greater diversity of people.  We're more likely to fit in."

"If the garb you are currently wearing is any indicator, the group is not well prepared for an excursion."

"True, but we'll adapt.  The opportunity is too great to miss.  I didn't imagine that we'd even see a populated system.  I thought we'd spend the entire mission in the ship."

"As did I.'

Qarath interrupted them, "I hope your field will be enough to disguise our landing, Captain Trilk.  They appear to have fairly sophisticated sensor systems, although not equivalent to our own."

Tiriffa shook her head, sat up and took several deep breaths.  She blinked and looked around the ship.

Qarath said, "Did you finish?"

She replied, "Yes.  I have a good grasp of their English and Spanish languages at this point."

"Sometimes I wish my own gift were more like yours.  Communicating directly with our systems would be far more beneficial than a defensive ability."

"Possibly - and yet we are likely to venture into an unknown area with a potentially hostile race.  You may find your gift coming into use in the near future."

"While true, I hope it is not.  It would mean either those with mental gifts are after us, or a large percentage of their race has some form of mental ability.  That wouldn't be a good thing for us."

"No, it wouldn't."

Captain Trilk said, "We have arrived over the location Rishan pointed out."

Kazhan replied, "Excellent.  Tiriffa, Qarath - please attempt to discover if the being with Paragon power levels is still active, and if they are Gahranii."

Qarath said, "I've been monitoring as we approached.  The sensors are performing better at this distance, although it would help if we were much closer yet to the location.  The being is still using their power."

"Is the power level still consistent with a Paragon?"

"Yes.  I've seen nothing yet that distinguishes the being from being a Paragon.  They are also too close to a massive population center to determine if they are Gahranii."

"I'm looking at the residual of the Dark Energy burst Rishan discovered.  It's fading, we need to approach that site and acquire as many readings as possible while we can.  Can you bring us down, Captain Trilk?"

"Of course.  Proceeding through their clutter - I am attempting to avoid hitting any of their devices in orbit, there is a surprising quantity for a race that does not appear to be active in space exploration."

Qarath said, "They do have the community on the fourth planet.  They have expanded that far."

Tiriffa replied, "Mars.  They call the planet Mars.  My readings showed that nearly all of the beings were affected by the Dark.  It is more likely that these beings chose to move away from the beings - humans they are called - that lack their gifts."

"They may be worth speaking with after we research this Dark Energy burst then."

"Perhaps, although it may simply mean they are phobic or elitist.  The non-gifted beings there may be pets or slaves."

"Then it gives us something else to research."

"Indeed."

Behind the ship a second, invisible ship moved into position and began charging its weapons.

Captain Trilk interrupted them in turn, "I am reading an unexpected energy spike behind us."

Kazhan replied, "Behind us?  A satellite perhaps?"

"My sensor sweep is being scattered.  Oh, no - incoming fire!  Hold onto something."  His claws darted over the display to perform an evasive maneuver and bring the ship's full shields online.

A massive plasma blast struck the maneuvering engine attached to the base of the right wing.  The ship lurched as the plasma blast damaged the engine.  A sweep of laser fire darted across the ship's surface until the shield came online, although the damage to the ship's surface prevented the shield from fully forming around the rear of the ship.

"I believe they are pirates, their ship appears to be built to avoid detection and has heavy firepower.  I cannot get a fix on them, and we are not a combat ship, they easily outgun us."

Kazhan said, "Then fly down to the planet.  Damage in space will mean death.  On the surface we have a chance."

"We are receiving a communication."  He tapped a spot on his display image floating over the console.

A three-dimensional image appeared in front of the main viewport.  A mutant Gahranii sat in the captain's chair, staring at them.

He said, "Selestor, you will surrender your ship and its Gate device or we will destroy you.  If you give yourselves up we will deposit you safely on the planet below."

Captain Trilk tapped a spot on the display image, causing the hologram to disappear.

He said, "I am not about to give up my ship and be left on a forlorn planet at the edge of the galaxy.  Why does it seem that all pirates are Darkburned?"  He tapped several more times and the ship shot forward into the planet's atmosphere.

Rishan replied, “The Darkburned were left more unstable in mind as well as body.  Add to that the cultural repulsion and … oh, you actually didn’t want the reason.”  He’d noticed the unwelcome glance back at him by the captain.

The pirate ship K'Vor dove after them.  While three times the length of the small transport, it was built for speed and kept pace with the Selestor.

The pirates had charged their main plasma cannon for another shot while the captain of the K’Vor made his demands.  As the Selestor moved lower into the atmosphere the pirate ship fired again at the smaller ship’s engines, followed by another burst of laser fire.

The plasma blast was only partially absorbed by the shields.  It missed the engine, and instead it struck the right wing again.  Most of the lasers were absorbed by the Selestor’s shields, the remaining missed the sleeker ship.  The right maneuvering engine shut completely down.

Trilk threw his ship into a direct descent at the planet below.  The compressed air before his ship’s shields heated and made the ship appear as though a flat fireball descended toward the planet.

A display to Captain Trilk’s right showed four craft approaching his ship from below and to the left.  Another display gave a visual of the four craft.  While also winged aircraft, they appeared to be maneuverable in the atmosphere only.  Missiles were a primary weapon system of these craft.

Captain Trilk exhaled in relief as the K’Vor swung left and began firing on the incoming jets.  He changed the path of the Selestor to approach the city center identified as the source of the energy burst.

Qarath, while watching a display, stated, “The K’Vor is quickly destroying the ships.  The craft don’t appear to have shields of any sort.”

The Captain said, “We are nearly to the city.  I am approaching the southern side, more craft are incoming from the city, however.  We have lost significant speed and maneuverability due to wing damage.”  He fought with the controls to keep the ship stable as he approached the city.

The K’Vor quickly gained on the Selestor again after a rapid-fire laser salvo cut off a wing of the aircraft it had been fighting.  The additional four aircraft coming from the human city turned as a group toward the K’Vor, identifying the pirate vessel as the primary danger.

As a squad, the fighter planes fired their missiles in a massive salvo.  The automated defense lasers of the K’Vor blast rapid-fire at the missiles, knocking four of them out of the air.  The other four missiles impacted against the starship’s shield nigh simultaneously, overloading even those powerful systems and hitting the ship with some of the explosive force.

While mildly damaged, the K'Vor's hull was still intact, and the crew shifted the shield generators to compensate for the damaged frontal shields.

The pirate ship flew past the fighter aircraft and continued on its way after the Selestor.  A pair of rear-firing laser cannon continued firing on the aircraft as they curved around after the starship.

It fired two small smart missiles after the craft carrying the scientists, followed after a few seconds by another plasma blast from its main cannon.  One of the missiles struck the target, causing the Selestor's shields to flicker and weaken long enough for the plasma blast to strike the main engine and cause significant damage.

Captain Trilk said, "I cannot fight their ship, it is made for combat, and the Selestor is not.  I will attempt to land near the site you detected to enable you to study it while I make repairs. "

Two lines of rapid-fire laser bursts continued weakening the shields of the Selestor, two struck a weak spot in the shields and grazed the ship's body.  The right engine let out a stream of smoke behind it, while the main engine flickered sporadically.

Trilk dropped the altitude of the ship near the ground.  The speed of the ship had slowed far below that necessary to conflagrate the atmosphere, and had actually dropped well below the speed of sound.

The fighter pilots fired upon the K'Vor again, although they weren't in sync on the second salvo, and the defensive lasers destroyed all but two, one of which missed outright.  The remaining missile that struck caused little damage to the K'Vor's rear shield.

Kazhan said, "I'm reading two beings flying at us from the direction of the city."

Captain Trilk replied, "There is not much we can do at this point.  We must land.  The beings appear to be focused on the K'Vor, let us hope they intend to continue fighting them and ignore us."

"They continue to approach us."

"Let them.  The K'Vor has fallen behind, choosing to finish this new group of craft."

Tiriffa said, "I see two of the beings flying toward us from the edge of the city.  Their clothing lends itself to their city defenders."

As Captain Trilk brought the Selestor down in a rough landing, the incoming supers arrived at the ship....

Preview Chapter 7 - Aliens?!

Diva's Viewpoint

 Monday morning - my stomach still hurt from being stabbed by that monster at the jail.  The scars had almost faded already; I had to look closely to spot them.  I hoped they would fade entirely or it would be a real damper on my modeling career.  Not that I was getting calls left and right at this point, but I'd already been interviewed by the press numerous times just in the last three days.  That had to get me a contract.

For that matter all sorts of photos had to be on the web from people with their cell phones.  I might be becoming a sensation and not even realize it.

I started up my computer and did some searches for Diva. 
Dictionary and pop stars come up first?  What the hell? 
I'm
Diva!  Damn.  Well, this sucks.  I need more press coverage.

I showered, ate and cleaned the house for a while.  I didn't get why this other brick named Nick kept telling me how careful I had to be touching things or I'd break them all.  If you had a light touch, then picking things up and moving them wasn't a problem at all. 
Silly bricks. 
I often touched the spots where I'd been stabbed.  They weren't overly sore if I sat still, but moving around irritated the wounds.

I looked outside; it looked to be a sunny day, so I could spend some time tanning out on the deck around mid-day.  The odd tone of my H.E.R.O. phone went off.  I ran over and looked at it - someone named Firebane was calling. 
Who is Firebane?  Did I forget someone's name - I'm usually pretty good at those.

I picked up the phone, "Hello?"

"Hi, is this Diva?"

"Yeah.  What's up?"

"Oh, well, this is Firebane.  Psystar said you can fly, right?"

"Yes I can."  I grinned. 
Word was spreading about me!

"There's a big ball of fire coming toward Metrocity, want to fly me there and see if I can absorb it before it hits the city?"

A ball of fire?  At least fire can't hurt me.  "Sure, where should I meet you?"