The Aurora (Aurora Saga, Book 1) (17 page)

‘No, we don’t,’ Milonri said, trying hard to disguise his anguish. ‘It has been a long struggle. All we do is hit and run. The Treitans think we are a large force, but we haven’t had any great victories for over eight sykals. You achieved more at Qintaino in one day than our whole force has in half a sykal. The intelligence reports we receive are not always accurate. We’re gradually losing our ships, one by one, and we’re struggling to repair any major damage.’

‘Kalrea managed to access the computers onboard that cruiser we destroyed,’ James said.

‘Excellent!’ Milonri said. ‘I would like you to get Kalrea to download the information to our central computer.’

‘No problem,’ James said and instructed Kalrea to do so.

As he spoke, the door of the room opened and in came two men and a woman. James and Milonri got up to meet them.

‘Let me introduce you to the rest of the Telqintre,’ Milonri said. ‘Julio, Cairl, Stuilo— Where’s Amaunet?’

‘She was in security,’ Stuilo said.

James looked at them in turn. They were all dressed in tight black uniforms like Milonri, and it was evident that Cairl was not a Qinant.

Cairl’s a Telecan,
Kalrea informed James,
and they’re not really that ugly!

He’s not what I’d have imagined
, James thought, looking at Cairl’s leathery pale-grey face. He had no visible nose, and his hair was very flat and straight, almost artificial-looking. As James introduced himself he noticed that Cairl’s eyes blinked like a lizard’s.

Julio the female and Stuilo looked much older than the others. James noticed they were both carrying some sort of pistol in holders attached to their belts. The pistols made him feel uneasy.

‘We’ve just seen the ship for the first time. It’s far more beautiful than I ever imagined it, Milonri,’ Julio said.

‘I’m amazed the
Aurora
is here at all,’ Cairl said.

They all sat down around the table.

Cairl continued,

‘I have to say, I didn’t believe Milonri when he told me. I thought it was just a mythical ship, but there it is standing like a Tylop statue, outside.’

James smiled, while he listened very carefully to Cairl’s voice, which sounded very nasal.

The door suddenly opened and in walked Amaunet.

‘Apologies for being late.’

She walked over to Milonri and gave him a metallic bar.

‘Hello, James,’ she said, glancing across the table.

Amaunet appeared to be a lot younger than the others.

Milonri looked at the metallic bar and then laid it on the table in front of him. Light from it illuminated his face. James noticed some writing on the bar, just before it turned black.

Milonri appeared concerned.

‘We have a problem. The security of the base has been compromised.’

He paused.

‘A Dreh agent has relayed data to the Treitans from within the base.’

‘What?’ Julio said.

Is a Dreh agent a kind of spy?
James thought.

Downloading data
, Kalrea replied. There was a slight pause while Kalrea accessed the base systems.
Yes, they are
, Kalrea informed James.
Any Qinant taken prisoner is used by the Treitans
.

What do you mean?
James thought.

They partially wipe their minds, erasing their real identities,
Kalrea replied.
Then, they’re programmed to serve. Selected prisoners become Dreh agents and are sent back to infiltrate us. When they return they behave normally, and they do not even know they are Dreh agents until they are activated by the Treitans. Then they change, with only one purpose, to obey any command they receive from the Treitans.

James felt angry.

‘I thought the regular mind-scans were supposed to detect them,’ Julio said.

‘They do, but I believe the success rate is higher when the Dreh agents are activated,’ Amaunet said.

‘They must have activated an agent just recently, to get information about the
Aurora
,’ Julio said.

‘It could be anyone,’ Amaunet said.

‘Amaunet’s right,’ Milonri said. ‘It could be anyone, so we must look for any changes in behaviour and personality, but it might be difficult to detect.’

‘We were able to trace where our security system was breached,’ Amaunet added. ‘Whoever broke in was very clever. They knew the access codes to disable the perimeter security matrix. They hacked into the main computer through one of the personal access panels in area thirty-one in the main accommodation block. The data was transmitted to a shuttle which then relayed it to the Treitans.’

‘Whose room was it?’ Julio asked.

‘Londuo Besic—’ Amaunet said.

‘Wasn’t she on the
Aurora
?’ Julio said, interrupting.

‘Julio, please let me finish before you jump to any conclusions. Yes, she was a member of Gulino’s team, but she was in the command centre when the data was transmitted.’

‘What about the DNA scans of the room?’ Julio asked.

‘There were only Londuo Besic’s DNA traces.’

‘How much data did they manage to transmit?’ Stuilo asked.

‘Never mind how much; what about the base?’ Julio asked, concerned. ‘Do the Treitans know our location?’

‘It’s all right,’ Amaunet said. ‘The base is safe, at least for the moment. The perimeter security matrix recorded and analysed the data being sent. The Dreh agent was more concerned with transmitting everything they had on the
Aurora
. The unauthorised transmission was quickly detected and terminated. They were about to give out the location of the base.’

She paused.

‘All the security matrix access codes have naturally been changed.’

‘What data was sent on the
Aurora
?’ Julio asked.

‘Only images,’ Amaunet replied.

‘This time we were lucky,’ Milonri said. ‘We must find the Dreh agent. I want everyone put through the mind-scans within the next three days.’

‘Do we put the base on alert, then?’ Amaunet asked.

‘No,’ Milonri replied. ‘Think of some excuse. Say the computer screwed up.’

He paused.

‘Or… we’re uncertain who we scanned last time. I’m sure you’ll be able to find something. We’ll keep it quiet for now. I don’t want people constantly watching their backs.’

Milonri pressed a symbol set into the surface of the table in front of him. Food was brought in and placed on the table.

Cairl turned to James.

‘We assumed both the
Aurora
and
Pulsora
were lost trying to flee Qintaino,’ Cairl said. ‘The
Aurora’s
here, so there’s still hope that the
Pulsora
will turn up too.’

James was about to speak.

‘I have some news on that subject,’ Milonri said, looking over at James. ‘But it’s not good. James has already located it. I’m afraid it’s badly damaged.’

‘We must recover it,’ Cairl said.

‘If there are no objections I’d like to send the
Landopila
and
Atenopila
to salvage it,’ Milonri said, looking at the others in turn.

They all nodded.

‘And the sooner the better, Milonri,’ Amaunet said.

‘Let’s eat,’ Stuilo said.

He dished up a yellow vegetable, which looked like sweetcorn, onto his plate.

Suddenly, a message came over the room’s address system.

‘EATHOPILA
NOW AT STATION.
EATHOPILA
NOW AT STATION. ALL KEY PERSONNEL REPORT TO THE COMMAND CENTRE.’

‘I’ll go,’ Julio said, rising from her seat. ‘I’ve eaten already.’

‘We’ll brief you later, Julio,’ Stuilo said, munching eagerly.

Julio moved towards the door.

‘I’ll organise those ships for you, Milonri,’ she said.

Milonri raised his hand in acknowledgement while he chewed on some food.

James tried the various types of food laid out in front of him. It was very similar to what he ate back on Earth, although everything… beef curry… duck… it all tasted sweeter. He asked what the duck-like meat was.

‘Oh that’s dirkon,’ Stuilo replied. ‘They’re everywhere on Brinoli.’

The drink he had was dark-blue in colour. It tasted like pineapple and blueberries.

‘You’ll be able to get an experienced pilot for the
Aurora
now,’ James said, slightly saddened by the thought of never hearing Kalrea’s voice again, but also resigned to the fact he had to give up the
Aurora
.

‘No, I’m afraid that’s not possible,’ Milonri replied. ‘Remember I said Kalrea needed someone to protect. Well until you die or become too old, that’s you. We can’t change it. Kalrea will only respond to you.’

‘But I thought that… I mean… I’m not sure I can,’ James replied, stunned.

Amaunet smiled at him.

‘Don’t worry. You’ve got more experience of the
Aurora
than anyone we know.’

‘That may be so, but I can’t… I mean… I would like to pilot the
Aurora
, but—’

‘I know. You feel you don’t know what you’ve got yourself into. We all thought that at some time. I know you’re scared, James.’ Milonri said softly. ‘We’re all scared, but sometimes you have to put your emotions to one side and sacrifice yourself for others. We need you to do this.’

‘Then why don’t you just kill me, then Kalrea would obey a new pilot,’ James said, bowing his head.

‘I’m not going to do that,’ Milonri said bluntly. ‘We are not like the Treitans. None of us would ever kill anyone for no good reason.’

He paused for a moment.

‘Anyway, I don’t think Kalrea would take kindly to that,’ he said more cheerfully. ‘She’d probably fly away and leave us.’

James raised his head and managed a slight smile.

‘Will you help us, James?’ Milonri said. ‘Please.’

‘Well, I did make a promise to two people very close to me.’

He paused.

‘And I suppose I didn’t come all this way for nothing. I just didn’t expect to keep the
Aurora
. Yes, I’ll do whatever you ask.’

Julio came back into the room once more.

‘I have news from the
Eathopila
. They managed to recover a gitrup, from the wreckage of a Treitan transport. We know their next targets,’ she said.

Julio approached the table and pressed a small keypad inlaid in its surface. A holographic chart of the entire galaxy appeared above the table. The image zoomed in on one section of it.

‘And what’s more important is this time we know their attack window from the information Kalrea has provided,’ Julio added.

The image showed a mass of stars and planets. To the left-hand side of the galaxy the dominant colour of the planets was blue, whereas, moving toward the centre, there were increasingly more whiter planets. James counted at least thirty blue planets, one of which was Qintaino. Close to them there was Brinoli, highlighted in red. Near to the centre of the galaxy were also two planets highlighted in green.

‘Those blue planets. They’re the ones the Treitans have defeated, aren’t they?’ James said, his head moving from side to side, to look over the image.

Julio replied,

‘Yes, and they’re about to add two more.’

She picked up a long black rod to indicate the two planets. Once she pointed the rod to the first planet, its name, ‘MOULO’, was displayed. She then pointed to the other.

James stopped eating.

‘That’s Earth!’ he said aloud, almost spitting out his food.

He suddenly felt the need to do something, because Earth was in danger, but some of the Telqintre were now looking at him, making him feel totally helpless and frustrated.

‘We must warn them,’ Cairl said with concern. ‘Evacuate as many of the population as we can.’

Amaunet shook her head and said,

‘Both Moulo and Earth inhabitants have only just ventured into space and they’ve never met aliens before. We can’t just arrive and expect them to accept that all life on their planet will be extinct in less than sixty days.’

‘Amaunet is right,’ Julio said. ‘It would take too long to convince them. They may even attack us.’

Milonri stood up.

‘If we are to help those people, then we must stop the Treitan assault.’

‘And how do you intend to do that?’ Amaunet said. ‘Once they’ve selected a planet to attack, that’s it. We’ve seen it so many times before. The only way to stop them is to destroy them.’

‘Wait,’ Julio said. ‘We don’t need to attack their main forces. Why don’t we try to hit one of their key supply bases again?’

‘But that would only be an annoyance to them. We’d have to do more than that,’ Amaunet said.

Julio replied,

‘Even if you are right, it’s worth the risk. At least we would delay them and this would give us more time to make contact with the people of Moulo and Earth. We must get as many people away from those planets as we can before their attack.’