Morgan's Return (44 page)

She fell silent, frowning, staring at nothing. Ravindra chanced a glance at Davaskar. His cousin watched her.

At last she stirred. "I think I know how we might get to him."

***

M
akasa strode onto the star destroyers bridge and parked himself in the observer's chair for the transfer from shift space. The klaxons sounded the warning, the status flashed on the screen. The blue planet filled the screen, two of its moons' shadows passing across the surface. The system's star was a brilliant red dot in the distance. He supposed it looked pretty. Not that he cared. The sooner this was over, the better he'd like it.

"Well, Captain? Anything to report?"

Treannu glanced over from his seat in his command chair. "All's clear so far. All ships have reported in."

"Sir?" One of the bridge techs pointed a finger at the screen.

Makasa stiffened, his gut clenched. "What in God's name is that?"

The thing in the screen looked small, but it was distant, millions of klicks away. It almost looked liked a grinning, green mouth, two lips, slightly parted. Or maybe a tear in the fabric of space. That last thought sent a shiver down his spine.

Treannu's jaw had dropped. "Scan?"

"Working on it, Sir. Visible light plus a swag of shortwave radiation." The analysis appeared on a flat screen.

The whole bridge was tense. None of them had seen anything like this before. Neither had Makasa. He could imagine all sorts of things, but if that was where the aliens had come from, then some sort of portal would be his guess.

"Yes, but what is it? A black hole? Some sort of weird nebula?"

"Negative on black hole. Otherwise it doesn't correspond to anything we have recorded."

A bridge tech turned in his seat. "Sir, we have a transmission coming in, requesting a connection. Ship identifies as
Vulsaur
."

"Put them through," Makasa said. Maybe they would have some answers. "Send out a couple of frigates. I don't want that ship going anywhere."

Ravindra appeared on the screen, just head and shoulders. Those cruel amber eyes pierced a man. The fellow hardly blinked at all. So hard to read him.

"Admiral Ravindra. So nice of you to call." Makasa used his most cultured voice.

Ravindra inclined his head. "My pleasure, Admiral Makasa. Have you seen the… disturbance at your destination?"

"We could hardly miss it, could we?"

"The aliens are there, at least two of the large ones. But these are not ships. They are life forms."

Makasa's heart bounced. A susurrus of gasps and whispers swept around the bridge.
Rubbish.
It couldn't be true.

"I expect you don't believe me, but listen to what I have to say, because if you attack these creatures I believe you will start an interspecies war, which might well wipe out your species, and mine." Ravindra's deep voice resonated.

All eyes were locked on the man on the screen.

"They were protecting their young," Ravindra said. "Your Cruickshank destroyed a curious youngster. The parent returned to avenge its loss. And its retribution, as you have seen, was terrible. Imagine that unleashed on your more populous planets."

Ravindra paused, letting the image sink in.

"I must tell you, we have seen a second of these creatures, perhaps the first one's mate. It must be three times the size of the one you have seen."

"Are we expected to believe this nonsense?" Treannu hissed. "He's probably controlling those ships himself. Maybe that's where he comes from."

Makasa lifted his hand. "Patience, Captain." Via his implant, he asked, "
You have
Vulsaur
?
"

"
Not yet. We have two frigates chasing it around a moon
.
They'll trap it between them
."

Easier said than done with Morgan in control, Makasa thought.

On the screen, Ravindra dismissed the captain's words with a jerk of his head. "That is absurd and you know it, Admiral. Approach closer to investigate if you wish. You are a father, are you not?" He waited for an answer.

"Yes. Yes, I am," Makasa said.

"And a grandfather?"

"Why are you asking this?" Was he really going to play the sympathy card? The man didn't seem the type.

"Many times over, I believe?" Ravindra raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. Many." Let him try. It gave the frigates more time to trap
Vulsaur
.

"Let us say your grandson went out to play, found a toy, and followed where it led. A curious child, perhaps accompanied by a friend, or a brother or sister. And only one of them returned. The other child had been destroyed, killed by something. The child telling the story does not know by what. It tells a garbled tale of strange monsters not at all like us. So you gather up your older children and go to find out what has happened. And yes, these things are strange, and they are evil. They are faceless, you can't talk to them, and they fling their weapons at you and your older children."

He paused, let the bridge fill with silence, those amber eyes unblinking.

Makasa gritted his teeth. The story made sense, damn him. They hadn't been able to communicate. They'd even thought the things looked alive.

Ravindra's image disappeared. Morgan took his place, her mercury eyes flashing with angry ice-fire. "Think on it, Makasa. Think how you'd feel if that was Obra who'd gone off chasing after a toy ship, and never returned. How would you feel?"

She glanced to her right. "Your frigates are trying to trap me. I've dumped some footage on your systems. Take a look before you act. We're leaving. You've been warned. Now it's up to you."

Makasa raised his hand. "Morgan." But she was gone. Gazing at nothing, he sighed, a huge gust of air that shuddered through his body. He'd never get her back. In a way it was worse than thinking she was dead.

"Admiral?" Treannu's voice was diffident. "My frigates report they've lost
Vulsaur
. It has disappeared from their screens. It came close to the moon's surface. They're looking for wreckage."

Makasa shook his head. "She's gone. That ship was controlled by the most powerful Supertech it has been my privilege to know."
She's gone
. If he had been alone he might have let that moisture gather in his eyes.

Treannu waited, standing at ease. "Your orders, Sir?"

His orders indeed. What were the risks? Could he let these things escape? He hadn't seen what Morgan and Ravindra had seen. "Have your techs find the footage Supertech Selwood transferred here. Let's take a look at it in a conference room." He heaved himself out of his chair.

Treannu tried to hide his frustration, but it was obvious in the set of his lips, the lines between his eyebrows. "Stand to," he called over his shoulder as he followed behind.

By the time they'd watched the footage Morgan had supplied, and listened once again to Ravindra's recorded words, even Treannu could see the point. He'd gasped when he saw the size of the second creature.

"She could have manufactured all this, of course," he said, waving his hand at the screen. But the doubt rang in his voice.

Makasa sighed, shaking his head. "I don't think so." What to do? He was no combat commander. But then, this star destroyer would be no match for the alien things, creatures.

"We can move forward, Sir."

"No." The scenes from Ushas were burned in his brain. "Send two escorts forward, to the point Morg—Supertech Selwood gave us. I want them to observe. They are not, I repeat
NOT
to attack, or make contact. Just observe, and send back their findings. If these things move to attack us, we'll at least have fair warning."

"Sir." Treannu saluted and went off to give his orders.

Makasa leaned his head on his steepled hands. If Ravindra was right, this rift would close again in a few years. Meanwhile, they would have to hope no other juvenile went chasing a toy. He'd have his Supertechs work on some sort of weapon which could destroy the things. Such a pity the best of them was out there, with that pirate of an admiral. Damn his hide.

He flicked back to an image of Morgan smiling, her slightly curly hair flicking around her face, her silver eyes glittering. If Ravindra kept his promise, they would meet again.

***

M
organ slipped out of the navigator's chair. "It's all yours, Captain. That was fun."

Jirra chuckled. "I thought, for a moment, the two frigates were going to collide."

"So did I," Morgan said, running a hand through her hair. "I'll bet both captains went down for a change of underwear after that."

She trailed a hand over Ravindra's shoulder. "Going home,
Srimana
?"

He stood and wound his arm around her waist to escort her into the common room. It wasn't usual for him to show overt affection in front of the troops. She responded in kind, leaning against him, enjoying the grip of his fingers.

"Where can we drop off our human friends?" he said, sliding into a chair.

Morgan brought up a star chart, and pointed at a star. "This system isn't part of the Coalition, but it's civilized so Partridge's injuries will be treated. I asked him, and he's happy with that choice. From there, we can avoid Iniciara."

"Good."

She smiled. "We just follow our footsteps back to Manesai space."

"And you're happy to do that?"

Morgan found his hand and squeezed it. "I told you once before. Home is where the heart is."

"And marriage?"

She tried to draw her hand away but Ravindra held on. Smiling that sad smile she said, "Nothing's changed, Ashkar. I want you to make grand admiral, and you won't get there with me as your wife."

Epilogue

A
year later…

Ravindra cast an eye over the honor guard forming a corridor on the deck in front of him. They were immaculately turned out, of course, their officers had seen to that. The human fleet’s flagship, floating in space a klick away, had sent a shuttle, which was now settling in
Vidhvansaka's
airlock.

The airlock's status lamp flashed green. At last. Ravindra straightened up even more as the hatch sighed open. Human troopers came first, dressed in ceremonial dark blue uniforms. They executed a perfect drill maneuver, short-barreled weapons at their sides. Makasa, resplendent in a dress uniform sparkling with campaign medals, appeared in the hatchway. His fingers glittered with rings. A layer of fat oozed over the top of the high, red collar. Hard to imagine how he could move such bulk, and yet he walked quite nimbly at a smooth, unhurried pace, followed by a handful of lesser officers. Makasa’s escort turned, and paced with him down the corridor formed by the welcoming party, now rigidly at attention.

Makasa stopped three paces in front of Ravindra, and saluted in the Coalition way, right elbow tightly at his side, the forearm raised, palm out.

Ravindra responded, with his fist on his heart, and the slightest bow of his head. He outranked the man, after all. "Welcome to the Manesai Union, Admiral."

"Thank you, Admiral." Makasa smiled, his eyes almost disappearing in a layer of skin. "And may I congratulate you on your imminent promotion."

"Thank you." Just one more formality, and he'd be grand admiral. He was pleased. Of course he was. "I trust your journey was without incident?"

"Nothing of note. We were provided with most exact instructions for the journey."

Ravindra grinned. Yes, Morgan had sent the route plan herself. Nothing but the best. He'd bet Makasa would still like to lure her back to the human worlds. "If you’ll come with me, Admiral, we can have a brief chat and then I’ll show you your accommodation. Your people will be taken care of." He led Makasa to a transit for the short trip to his living quarters.

"Please, sit down," Ravindra said, sitting down on the couch in his apartment. "Morgan thought you might be more comfortable in this." He pointed to the hover chair she'd had brought in. What she'd actually said was, 'If he sits on one of your poufs you'll need a crane to get him up'. She was probably right.

"Thank you." Makasa eased his bulk down, sighing. "Morgan's idea?" The chair sank under his weight, then rose a little so Makasa's feet touched the floor.

Ravindra inclined his head, yes.

"She can be thoughtful. Sometimes."

Tullamarran appeared at Ravindra’s elbow. "Brandy,
Srimana
?"

"Yes. For both of us," he added, noting Makasa’s nod.

Makasa made a show of looking around. "I’d hoped that my very best Supertech would be here to greet me. I was looking forward to seeing her."

"No doubt. Although she is not
your
Supertech. She will join us later. At present she is conducting training on another ship. I wanted to have the opportunity to talk with you, privately."