Scrapyard Ship 4 Realms of Time (2 page)

Slowly, he got to his knees and, like a blind man, groped—trying to get his bearings as to where he was actually situated on the bridge. His left hand brushed against something solid to his left. Reaching in that direction, he realized it was the command chair. Fighting off another wave of nausea, Jason blacked out.

He had no idea how much time had elapsed. Somewhere there was a faint light moving in the distance. Someone was sobbing. Then more hands were on him, feeling around his body.

“
I’m fine; check again on the others,” Jason urged.

“
The others have been taken care of. “Dira’s lightly accented voice was close to his ear. She’d found his injury and was wrapping a bandage around his head. When finished, her hands continued to check his body. Then they were on his face, her fingertips gently checking his skin. Dira leaned in close and he could smell her familiar fragrance.

“
You’ve been out for close to an hour, but you’ll be okay. You have a concussion. Don’t move around too much until I’ve had a chance to treat that gash.”

“
Dira, where’s Mollie? Is Mollie all right?”

“
She’s with me, standing right in front of you.”

“
I’m sorry … so dizzy. We need to get the emergency lights turned on.”

“
Definitely a concussion. The lights are already on, Captain,” Dira replied. But there was something different in her voice.

“
So, I’m blind?”

Jason felt Mollie pull herself onto his lap and hug him close. He reached for her, taking her small face into his hands and felt her tears. She had been the one sobbing. Now, uncontrollably shaking, she cried into his chest.

Hugging her tight, he leaned over and whispered, “Come on, I’ll be fine, Mollie. It’s all going to be fine.” He felt her pull away, trying to speak, to say something between sobs.

“
Daddy… Mommy’s… dead.”

“
What? Oh no. Please no.”

Dira’s voice was soft and sympathetic, “It was an unstable, nearly catastrophic phase-shift. It sent multiple power spikes throughout The Lilly. Many systems went offline. I’m sorry to say, Nan’s MediPod shut down before she could be saved. There was no way to get the MediPod up and running again fast enough…”

Jason reached again for his daughter, trying to pull her in close, but the blackness pulled at him, engulfing him. Fighting now to stay with his daughter, consciousness gave way to deeper darkness and utter silence. He desperately clung to his final thoughts. I’m coming, Nan. Wait for me.

* * *

Mollie crawled into the MediPod even before its clamshell lid completely opened. Jason, coming awake, took in a deep breath as realization of recent events flooded his mind. Dread coursed through his body as he put his arms around his daughter and held her tight. Oh God, Nan is dead.

He kissed Mollie’s forehead and she shifted her position so she could better look at him. Her eyes were puffy and red … and questioning. She didn’t need to speak to convey what was going through her mind: How could this happen? How could Mom be taken from me? More jostling around and Mollie pulled one of her arms free. Gently, she wiped away the tears beneath Jason’s eyes.

“
I’ll take care of you, Dad.”

“
We’ll take care of each other, sweetie.” They hugged each other tight. Jason saw Dira standing alongside the MediPod. Her face showed concern and something else. “Captain, I’m sorry. We need you. Things are happening—”

“
Help us out of this thing,” he said, lifting Mollie up to Dira’s outstretched arms and sitting up. With another deep breath, Jason climbed out and was on his feet. Mollie, now standing near Dira, looked up at her father. Jason took a quick look around Medical and realized all the MediPods were occupied, as were the hospital beds in the next room. His eyes lingered on the MediPod where Nan had lain, seeing instead another crewmember’s face through the small observation window.

“
I’ve got to go to work, Mollie. I’m sorry. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Dira nodded and attempted a weak smile. “She’ll be here with me. Go, they need you.”

* * *

Jason left Medical and walked into a crowded corridor. Brian was the first to greet him. He’d obviously spent time in a MediPod himself. The MediPod had gone to work, replacing Brian’s eye in the process. The bandage he’d seen around Brian’s head was gone and he seemed miraculously no worse for wear. His face showed concern when he stepped toward Jason and the two brothers hugged.

“
I’m so sorry, Jason.”

Jason nodded. Before he could comment, Perkins nudged him on the elbow. “Captain, we have a situation.”

Jason hurried down the corridor after Perkins, nodding back towards his brother before disappearing into the bridge.

“
Captain on deck,” announced the AI as Jason moved to the command chair. The bridge showed some damage, and several stations were unoccupied.

“
Status, XO?”

“
The Lilly is situated within a forward section of the Minian.”

The overhead display showed a high-resolution perspective of the Minian from several miles off her port side. Distorted and venting from multiple locations along her hull, she appeared to be a dying ship. The XO continued, “The result of our phase-shifting into the Minian’s hull was devastating. She’s obviously no ordinary vessel. While The Lilly is in relatively good shape, the displacement of matter from the phase-shift process was nothing less than cataclysmic to the Minian. Her bridge and numerous other sections of the ship are now history. Subsequent explosions resulted, forcing multiple hull breaches; the ship’s atmosphere has vented into space at multiple locations. Billy is currently heading up a rescue team to locate any survivors. We’re not optimistic that there will be any.”

Jason brought his attention to the display and there, bright blue and perfect, Earth slowly rotated in the distance. The loss of Nan filled his mind and he longed to see her again. There were things left unsaid, things incomplete. It took all his will to push the vision of her aside. Jason gestured toward the blue planet above them on the display.

“
And the result of those five missiles fired from the Minian? Earth seems to be in one piece.”

Perkins didn’t answer, waiting for Ricket to slowly make his way across the bridge. He was limping and seemed to be in some pain. “Captain, those five projectiles were actually targeting transmitter drones. Each hit its intended target and was in the process of a massive data download when the Minian was struck.”

“
What were the targets?”

“
Spread out over five continents around the planet—the specific locations allow for optimal communications dispersal between transmitter drones.”

“
So, what were the Caldurians planning to use those drones for?” Jason asked.

“
I believe they were following up on their promise. Setting the time reference of Earth back one hundred years.”

“
So we stopped whatever the Caldurians were attempting?”

Ricket and the XO glanced at each other. Ricket continued, “The transmitter drones were able to connect, basically network between themselves and generate a continuous, overlapping, relay system. The Caldurian intent was to blanket the Earth, within the shifted time/space reference, back to the beginning of the twentieth century.”

“
That would have been devastating. We stopped it, right?”

“
No, not entirely, Captain. When we phase-shifted onto the Minian, the data stream was interrupted. From what I’ve been able to piece together, this caused the transmission drones to compensate, or at least try to compensate. Corrupted information was propagated across the drone network and replicated itself, until finally stabilizing at its current time reference.”

“
And what time reference is that?” Jason asked.

“
It depends on the specific location. There doesn’t seem to be any one single timeframe, Captain. The planet is in chaos—multiple time references, or realms of time, are coexisting. One, two, or even three completely different time references can be found within a one hundred mile radius.”

“
How do we turn them off? Is there something on board the Minian that can do that?”

“
There was,” Ricket replied, matter-of-factly. “Not now. I can’t stress this enough, Captain. How we proceed is critical. Tampering with any one of the five transmitter drones could make this time imbalance permanent. Only by destroying the five drones simultaneously can we enable our present day timeframe to be reinstated.”

Chapter 3

Phase-shifting into open space, The Lilly was finally extricated from the Minian. Jason, running from one emotional fire to the next, tried to keep his grief in check and still be present for his little girl. Mollie was sleeping now, which gave Jason the opportunity to check in with his father and the fleet’s ongoing battle with the Craing, some sixty light years away.

“
I’m sorry, son. I wish I could be there for you. I’m ever so sorry.”

With a subtle nod, Jason acknowledged the sentiment. “Well, I’m sorry I had to leave you to fight the Craing on your own, Dad. But I understand the Craing have surrendered.”

Jason saw the life return to his father’s eyes. “I can’t tell you how good it feels to finally turn the tables on those …” the admiral let the words trail off as he shook his head.

“
Dad, Earth as we know it is gone. Ricket believes there’s a remote chance things can somehow be returned to normal. But he warns us we should be prepared for the worst.”

The admiral saw the pain and guilt on his son’s face. “You did the right thing, Jason. Earth, our home, was undergoing an alien incursion, and you used the only means available at the time to strike back.”

“
To what end, Dad? Nan is dead. Life on Earth is a living hell. Wouldn’t things be better if I’d—”

“
Fuck no! We’d be at the mercy of those pinch-faced Caldurians while they held our world hostage a hundred years in the past. No, you did the right thing. Now, I need to get back mopping things up here. And by the way, thanks for the mess you dumped on the Meganaught. We have Serapins, trolling pill bugs shooting acid from their asses, and a wide assortment of every man-eating creature you could possibly think of—yeah, thanks a lot for leaving us to deal with all that,” the admiral added with a wry smile.

Jason appreciated his attempt at humor and smiled back.

“
Oh, and have Ricket coordinate the spooling of a wormhole for tomorrow. I’d like to be there for Nan’s service, son.”

* * *

The flight deck was open on both sides, The Lilly’s shields invisibly holding back the black void beyond. Shuttles and fighters were moved closer to the bulkheads, leaving room on the flight deck for the simple pod of brushed-chrome metal. Positioned at the starboard side of the deck, Nan’s pod sat mere feet from the open vastness of space.

Jason held Mollie’s hand. She wore a simple dress—one her mother had previously configured and stored on a replicator. Jason wore his captain’s dress whites. Behind them stood the crew, family and friends. Rhino-warriors stood tall at the perimeter of the flight deck, their hides painted black, their horns a contrasting bright white.

The admiral, then Orion, and lastly Jason, shared warm remembrances of Nan Reynolds. Tears fell, not a dry eye to be seen. He looked out at family members, and those who’d become his shipboard family. Brian looked pained and uncomfortable. Ricket, standing near the front, was wearing officer’s whites. Unaccustomed to the spectrum of emotions he had been feeling over the last few days, Ricket seemed to have taken the loss of Nan particularly hard. His eyes were moist and he repeatedly blinked and wiped at his cheeks.

Earlier, Jason had asked Mollie if she wanted to select the music, or a special song to play at the end of the service. She had spent hours alone listening to her mother’s iTunes library. In the end, she selected It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday by Boyz II Men. Now, as the familiar song filled the flight deck, Jason felt as if his heart was being torn from his chest. His eyes never left Mollie, standing beside him, looking so brave. Brave and something else … She looked determined.