Star Blaze (43 page)

What they couldn't know was that the Sun was being bombarded by tachyons, dragging mass from its far future to here in the present. In the course of a single day, it had become a very old, giant star, much of its fuel spent. There was only one thing left—the collapse. Heavy elements that now made up its outer shell headed inwards under the force of gravity, heating
the core to unimaginable temperatures and pressures. Something had to give and that something would be the Sun itself.

Johnny knew that, in a way, he was privileged—he had the best seat in the house to watch the greatest explosion in the history of the solar system. The only shame was that he'd not been able to prevent it. A wall of deadly fire, billions of kilometers across, rushed toward him, devouring everything in its path. It felt like standing on a deserted beach watching a wave taller than Mount Everest approaching. Flames licked around the planet beneath his feet. The atmosphere caught fire; the oceans boiled dry. In seconds, the mantle had evaporated and Earth's molten core was exposed, then enveloped, in a mightier furnace. In very little time the world he'd always called home was torn apart, leaving nothing behind.

Gazing at the spot where Earth had disappeared, it struck Johnny how he might have been able to stop it. He wasn't certain, but it could have worked. The words “Too late now, Johnny Mackintosh” came from an irritating commentator somewhere above. He wished he'd thought of it earlier. Another thing was nagging at the back of Johnny's mind—how was he still alive? Not even Nicky's myriad force fields could survive a supernova. It didn't make any sense … unless what he'd witnessed hadn't happened. Unless it wasn't real. Unless he'd
dreamt
it. He
could
still stop this, but to do that he had to wake up—and quickly.

Normally, the realization that he was dreaming would have been enough, but Alf's sedative must have been powerful. Johnny pinched himself, but nothing happened. He tried screwing his eyes up and blinking hard, then opening them as wide as possible. He was disappointed not to find himself staring at the sickbay ceiling. Instead, he stood in a darkened corridor stretching endlessly on, with many doors of all
different shapes and sizes leading off it. He screamed in frustration, but then realized he recognized this place. He'd been here before, in another dream. He stumbled forward and opened the only door he knew, falling through into the spongy vegetation by the shoreline on Novolis, fifteenth planet in the Alnitak system. He was alone, the landscape now lit by two blue suns, one dwarfing the other. He had no idea what to do except to shout, “Zeta!”

No time at all later, a purple-haired alien was sitting beside him. “Johnny … your face … and your hands.”

“They're not important,” he replied, as she took hold of his wrists and he saw the scars and rope burns begin to fade.

“Shhhh,” said Zeta. “Let me heal you.”

“I need to wake up,” said Johnny, pulling his hands away. “I have to stop Nymac.”

Zeta turned her attention to his scalp, rubbing ointment into the wounds that encircled it. “Do you mean the Andromedan General or your long-lost brother?” she asked.

“How? How could you know that?” asked Johnny in total amazement.

“The memories were still leaking from you,” replied the princess, matter of factly. “Do not fret—I have stopped them.”

“That's not what I'm worried about,” said Johnny.

Now Zeta was touching his nose. He could feel the tingling, burning sensation spreading across his face.

“It seems we are both burdened by our brothers,” she said. “We are not responsible for the actions of others—we choose our own paths.”

“I'm sorry I blamed you,” said Johnny. “And thanks for this.” He could see the scars on his wrists had vanished completely and he could breathe the vinegary air freely through his nostrils.

“You're welcome,” said Zeta, smiling at him. “I'm glad that your ship, too, has been healed. I hope you will visit me again.”

“I hope so too,” Johnny replied, “but I've really got to go now.”

“If it's so important, why don't you wake up?” asked the princess.

“I can't—Alf's sedated me. It was the injuries.”

Zeta tutted. “Check your face,” she said. “Has all the scarring gone?” She pointed to his reflection in the still waters at their feet.

“I'm sure it's fine,” said Johnny, peering into the great ocean.

“Goodbye, Johnny Mackintosh,” said Zeta, pushing him hard in the back.

Arms flailing and unable to stop his fall, Johnny plunged headfirst into the warm waters. He hadn't taken a breath so, lungs bursting, he kicked hard for the surface above him, patterns of light dancing across it. As his head broke through he opened his eyes properly and found himself staring at the ceiling in sickbay. He'd done it. Zeta had done it. “Sol—what's happening? Where are we?”

“Hello, Johnny. I hope you're feeling better. We have broken orbit from Titan. I have been asked to fold to Earth to begin an evacuation. You know I would rather counter the Andromedans more directly.”

“Don't worry—change of plan,” said Johnny as the sickbay doors swished open and he ran along the corridor toward the lifts. “I want you to head straight for the Andromedan fleet—the
Astricida
if you can find her.”

“It will be my pleasure, Johnny,” replied the ship.

“Master Johnny—why aren't you in sickbay? Your scars?”

“No time to explain,” said Johnny, knowing he wouldn't have been able to anyway, considering his wounds had been healed in a dream. He sat down in the captain's chair and said, “We're going to the Oort Cloud.”

“The tachyon bombardment has already begun,” said Alf. “The Tolimi are firing, trying to break the circle of ships. They know they don't stand a chance, but they wanted to buy us time while we evacuate who we can.”

“Sol—have you found the
Astricida
? Is she anywhere near Pluto?” Johnny was desperate to kill two birds with one stone.

“The
Astricida
is on the opposite side of the Sun to Pluto Base,” Sol replied.

Johnny's heart sank. He was torn between two locations ten billion kilometers apart. If he turned the ship around to join the fight with the Tolimi, it would be simply be one ship against five hundred—the Sun would still be destroyed and everything with it—but he couldn't just leave them to sacrifice themselves.

Clara was standing beside the Plican's tank, her face even whiter than normal. “We're too late,” she said. “There's only a few minutes to save people—we were about to fold to Earth.”

“That is no longer possible,” said the ship. “Sensors indicate a massive spatial disturbance across the entire solar system. The continuum has become distorted beyond even unsafe limits. I am receiving a transmission.” Was it the supernova? Everyone on the bridge held their breath. “It is
Cheybora
,” Sol continued, “with an Imperial fleet. They are engaging the Andromedans around Pluto Base.”

“Yes!” said Johnny, punching the air. They had a chance—it was so slim the odds didn't bear thinking about, but there was still hope. “Sol—keep going straight for the
Astricida
,” he said. “Full speed and then some.”

Alf looked far from happy. “Master Johnny—at those speeds the
Spirit of London
cannot remain shielded. We will be, I believe the term is, sitting ducks. Are you quite certain your place is here and not in sickbay?”

“It's OK,” said Johnny. “I'm OK. They're expecting us so we don't need to be shielded—we do need to reprogramme your
nanobots.” The android looked totally bemused, but it was Clara who Johnny turned to next. “Remember the box you made for Kovac?” he asked. “I've got an idea.”

The
Astricida
had taken up position in the Oort Cloud, at the minimum safe distance from which to escape the coming Star Blaze. On the way to meet her, the
Spirit of London
was flying close to the Sun, using its gravity to slingshot them ever faster toward the outer solar system. Through the windows, Earth's nearest star glowed blood-orange, its surface in swirling turmoil as the Andromedan tachyon beams took an ever deeper hold. The ship flew within a giant looping flare that broke free as they sped on their way. Johnny hoped there was nothing in its path.

Traveling so close to the speed of light, the time dilation of relativity theory meant their entire journey would take them only a few minutes, even though hours would pass for both Earth and Sun. Clara had carried Kovac off to the garden so the quantum computer didn't distract Alf and Johnny, who were working together on the bridge, isolating and rewriting key fragments of the nanobots' programming code, hidden within millions of other lines. Johnny glanced out of the windows to see Mars whizz by, far redder than normal. He looked down at the console and went back to work, but it was barely any time later, as the
Spirit of London
careered beyond the orbit of Neptune, that Sol announced, “I am being hailed—it is the
Astricida
.”

Johnny shooed Alf out of sight and took a deep breath to compose himself—now was not the time to go red. “On screen,” he said and Nymac was projected into the bridge, but side on without the horrible mask showing. Light still shone from the face, only it was a soft, silvery glow, like Clara's.

“How was your first kill, my brother? Did the weakling cry?”

Johnny was relieved to see Nymac appeared distracted, his hands gliding across the holographic display on his bridge. “Like a baby, General,” he replied, adding, “I want more.”

“Yes … you're in quite a hurry—in more ways than one,” said the figure on the viewscreen, not looking up.

“I wanted to be by your side, General,” said Johnny. His plan would be a non-starter if he wasn't on board the
Astricida
in the next few minutes.

“So you shall be. I have left room for your ship at my right hand. Tell me—where is our new-found sister? I would have her come aboard to witness my triumph.”

“Er … she wasn't compliant,” said Johnny, improvising and hoping Clara wouldn't unfold onto the bridge while he was talking. “But she will learn.”

“Indeed she will.” Nymac still hadn't looked at him properly. Johnny's brother continued, “When this is over, I will ensure she is more obedient. We three shall be united in the service of the Nameless One—this galaxy will soon be our plaything.”

It was horrid listening as his brother sneered, but it didn't make Johnny feel any better about what he was planning to do. “Request permission to come aboard … General,” he asked, wondering if the nervousness in his voice would help or hinder.

“Can you not see I am busy?” shouted Nymac, still focused on what he was doing. “And who would fly your ship after it took so much to win her?”

“There's a robot here for that,” said Johnny. Alf looked up from his console, totally appalled. “It does what I tell it to,” Johnny added, hoping the android would keep working on their task. “I want to witness your triumph too.”

“Very well,” snapped Nymac. “I suppose it is fitting for you to be here, even though our master has not ordered it. I will arrange the fold. Be ready in one minute.”

“Yes, General.”

Nymac had cut the transmission.

“Exactly what is going on, Master Johnny?” demanded Alf. “Dealing with the Andromedans
and
insulting me all at once? I hope you know what you are doing.”

“I'm sorry,” said Johnny. “If we get through this, I promise I'll make it up to you. Now can you send the code?”

“But we are not ready.”

“Then we've got about half a minute to finish.”

To Johnny's relief, Alf's fingers began moving across the workstation at lightning speed. “Johnny to Clara—time's up. It's now or never.”