The Aurora (Aurora Saga, Book 1) (30 page)
*****
Back on the
Aurora
the Treitans had reached the door to the bridge. The red eye in the bridge started to glow.
They’re almost here,
Kalrea said.
One of the Treitan assault ships, which had landed behind the
Aurora,
lifted quickly away. The scout and remaining Treitan fighters turned as a swarm of Qinant fighters burst through the clouds. Laser fire suddenly filled the air. Explosions erupted from one of the assault ships banking over the front of the
Aurora
.
Fire!
James thought.
The front laser of the
Aurora
lashed out at the Treitan assault ship. The rear of the ship was torn open, and sections of the hull fell to the ground. Its drives gave out a burst of orange light before the ship exploded. A Qinant fighter suddenly crashed into the side of the
Aurora
.
James looked out from the
Aurora
in amazement. The massive bulk of a Treitan cruiser appeared through the clouds in the distance. The burnt out and discarded remains hurtled into the ground. Huge explosions blanketed the green sky, like fireworks, as fragments burnt up in the atmosphere.
*****
In space, above Ghuno, two missiles struck the
Yemolopila,
which was now engaged the other fleeing Treitan cruiser.
‘Why isn’t that Treitan ship fighting?’ Adonti said, looking to Isistia.
‘Try and jam their communications,’ Isistia said.
‘It’s too late; they’ve already signalled the main fleet,’ Adonti replied.
The Treitan cruiser accelerated away, leaving its fighters stranded behind.
‘Do you want to pursue?’ he asked Isistia.
‘No,’ Isistia ordered. ‘Break off the attack, and head back to Ghuno. Commander, contact the
Aurora
.’
‘LONORI
TO
AURORA
. PLEASE ACKNOWLEDGE!’
‘AURORA
RECEIVING.’
Captain Brasdoi, are you all right?
Kalrea placed Adonti’s voice in James’ mind.
Yes commander, I’m glad to hear you
, James’ thoughts were converted into words, over the ship to ship communication system.
Sir, we need to get you out of there. We don’t have much time. Is the Aurora operational, or do you want a shuttle sent down?
Adonti’s voice said in James’ mind.
James checked the ship’s systems.
Kalrea, I don’t want to leave you here. Can the ship operate on the one drive?
James thought.
The
Aurora’s
only operational event horizon drive started.
I’m not finished, yet. I’ll get us into space,
Kalrea replied, determined.
We’re on our way, Commander,
James said.
The thrusters were operated erratically causing the ship to shudder and creak. Slowly it began to rise drunkenly skywards.
James, the Treitans are still at the control room door!
Kalrea said.
What?
James thought.
I forgot about them. Give it all you’ve got, Kalrea.
Come on, Captain Brasdoi. You need more power,
Adonti said.
The noise from the event horizon drive increased, and the
Aurora
was thrown clumsily through the atmosphere. James watched the Treitans at the bridge door panic. Some slithered back along the pojin lift shaft heading for the exit. Others looked at each other when the air started to thin. They slowly sunk to the floor, one after the other, and their skins shrivelled like dried-out prunes.
*****
The
Aurora
breached the atmosphere and was greeted with the welcoming sight of the
Lonori
flanked by the three destroyers.
Commander, the thrusters are operating erratically,
James said with concern.
We won’t be able to manoeuvre into the docking bay.
Don’t worry, sir. Get as close as you can to the Lonori and cut power,
Adonti said calmly in James’ mind.
We’ll use the Golp cranes to bring you onboard.
The
Aurora’s
drive became silent, and the ship drifted silently in space. James watched on as the huge mass of the
Lonori
manoeuvred with great precision alongside the
Aurora
.
‘CLAMPING STATION ONE PREPARED FOR DOCKING.’
‘GOLP CRANES ACTIVATED.’
Two large cranes extended out from the
Lonori’s
open docking bay and flexible claws gripped the edge of the
Aurora
, front and rear. Then, slowly they pulled the ship into the internal docking bay. As soon as the
Aurora
cleared the docking bay doors they started to close.
*****
Six symbols illuminated on Adonti’s console.
‘Docking bay doors locked, Captain,’ Adonti said.
‘All ships synchronise control.’ Isistia ordered. ‘Turn to a heading of 236 sectors.’
‘Synchronisation confirmed,’ Adonti replied.
Isistia looked across to Adonti.
‘Let’s be somewhere else.’
The ships turned and accelerated.
Isistia glanced at one of the monitors to see the
Aurora
being slowly guided into a clamping station.
‘Well done, Captain Brasdoi; you did it! They aborted their attack on Moulo and Earth,’ Isistia said.
Thank you, sir, but Lieutenant Besic was badly hurt in the attack. She needs urgent medical care,
James thought.
‘DOCKING COMPLETE.’
‘A medical team’s already at the clamping station, James,’ Isistia replied. ‘Londuo is in safe hands,’ she said reassuringly.
*****
James climbed from the seatra.
Kalrea, have you been able to seal the hull?
The pojin lift shafts are sealed and pressurised but are inoperable,
Kalrea said.
‘Isistia, the
Aurora’s
pojin lifts are damaged. I’ll need to show the medical team the way from the docking bay,’ James said.
Kira peered out from the seatra. She sniffed the air.
James moved to the lift door. It opened to reveal the bodies of six Treitans outside.
What’s that smell?
James covered his nose and mouth with his hand. The stench of rotting plants filled the air. When he entered the lift shaft, he could see more bodies strewn along it in the distance.
Kalrea, make sure Kira doesn’t follow me, please. It’s not very pleasant out here.
The lift door closed behind him.
Suddenly something gripped his leg. He felt an intense pain. The telementor turned white and a halo of light surrounded him. The bodies of the Treitans around him were instantly atomised. James looked down. Around his leg were the remains of a thick mustard-coloured Treitan tentacle. He squatted down to remove it. It was soft but very dry and started to crack when he unwound it; a sap-like liquid oozed out. He felt a shiver run down his spine. He tossed the tentacle away quickly and then vigorously rubbed his fingers against his trousers to remove any traces of the sap from them.
*****
Londuo was rushed, on a Metrol hover stretcher, to the hospital facility onboard the
Lonori
. James accompanied her. They entered a small white waiting room where James had to stay while medical staff moved Londuo quickly into an adjoining room. There was a large window looking into the hospital. He looked on, his hands pressed up against the glass.
Londuo, please be strong
. James felt unease and concern. He wanted to be in there with her.
The hospital consisted of a huge semi-circular room and spaced around its curved wall were five large containers similar to the seatra. Three were closed and had blue lights above them; the other two were open and their bright interiors were visible beneath the lids. Doctors were frantically rushing around, attending ten other patients, who were all on identical padded tables. Black control panels and monitors were positioned on one side of the room and a large flat metallic arm extended out over each patient. There were many other empty tables scattered about the room.
James was so focused on Londuo that he jumped when the doors behind him slid apart suddenly. He turned. A fighter pilot was rushed through into the hospital. James looked at him in pity. His hands and legs were badly burnt.
James looked through the window once more. Londuo had now been placed on one of the tables and instruments were scanning her body. Her table was then moved and slid into one of the containers. The lid of the container slid shut, and one of the doctors glanced around at James.
James was suddenly aware that he wasn’t alone. He turned to see Gulino alongside him. They embraced each other.
‘Gulino! It’s good to see you again. How’s Frasin?’ James asked.
‘She’s fine,’ Gulino said, sounding sombre. ‘She was one of the lucky ones that got picked up before the ships retreated.’
The doctor who had looked at James earlier walked out through the door.
‘You must be Captain Brasdoi,’ he said to James.
‘Yes,’ James replied.
‘Don’t look so worried,’ the doctor said calmly. ‘Lieutenant Besic will be all right. She was very lucky. If she had not been put in stasis on the
Aurora,
she would have been dead hours ago.’
James felt relieved.
‘When can I see her?’ he asked impatiently.
‘Come back in three days; she should be in the rest ward by then,’ the doctor replied.
‘Three days!’ James repeated.
He felt deflated and disappointed by the doctor’s reply.
‘Sir, there’s nothing to worry about,’ the doctor said. ‘She’ll be fine, I assure you, but Lieutenant Besic needs time to heal in the seatosipo.’
‘Come on, James,’ Gulino said, placing his right hand on James’ shoulder. ‘There’s nothing to see here now. Londuo will be in the seatosipo most of the time. Milonri wants to talk to you.’
The door to the
Lon
room closed silently behind James and Gulino. James looked down the long narrow room. In the centre of the room were fifteen elliptical Kimlo holographic tables, each with ten chairs neatly positioned around it. Slowly rotating above the first five tables were holographic images of an assortment of weapons. Milonri was sitting at the furthest table, his back to them, and there were two women and a man sitting to the left of him. James could just hear them talking. Milonri looked around and gestured for James and Gulino to come over.
As they walked past the tables, James glanced at the images of the weapons. There was a Terman rifle, pistols and a large round plasma launch tube. Milonri said a few more words before the others stood up and walked out the far door. Then he turned to James and said,
‘Is Londuo all right?’
James smiled and nodded.
‘Yes, I think so. The doctor said she’ll be in a thing called a seatosipo for about three days.’
He glanced behind Milonri down at the table. There were a cup with a steaming green liquid and a holographic note pad. In the centre of the table were three sealed vials, each with an orange gas inside.
‘Both of you, well done,’ Milonri said. ‘The mission was a success.’
He gestured for them to sit.
‘All the Treitan ships have been recalled to Dagnamk. Moulo and Earth are safe for the moment. The Treitans have other more important issues now their main base has been destroyed. There’s never been so much inter-stellar communications between their command ships. Isistia said one of their ships actually withdrew from Ghuno. This is the first time that they’ve ever retreated,’ he continued but seemed distracted. ‘The data from the Treitan command centre is unbelievable. We always thought that they only wanted the water, but the parasites; the thought of that… What do the Treitan call it? Dem-I-Lar—’
‘It’s Dem-Fi-Larvay, sir,’ Gulino said.
‘Thanks, Gulino. The thought of those creatures living on our planet; growing, feeding, producing young; it makes my stomach turn, but now we can strike back hard. We’re already converting two destroyers. They’re going to attack Qintaino and Tetrol tomorrow.’
‘How can they be killed?’ James enquired.
‘Astoflorinic gas,’ Milonri replied. ‘Poison the air. It attacks the creatures’ nervous systems. It’s harmless to all other life forms.’
‘Astoflorinic gas?’ James repeated.
Milonri picked up one of the vials from the table and held it out to James.
James took it. Inside was a misty orange gas.
‘I forget you’re not from Qintaino,’ Milonri said. ‘I’m not thinking straight. It’s a harmless gas to us. Our lasers use it as an amplification gas inside the main generation chamber.’
He paused.
‘We always wondered why they preferred the less powerful Telecan lasers to ours. After all, they stole all our other technology.’
He paused again.
‘We’ve converted one of the plasma tubes on each of the
Atenopila
and
Yemolopila
. Five torpedoes detonated in the atmosphere will be enough.’
James held the vial out towards Milonri.
‘Keep it,’ Milonri said.
James placed the vial in his pocket.
‘Did we lose any more ships in the operation?’ he asked.
‘The
Rellopila
is still missing,’ Milonri said.
His head dropped slightly.
James looked at Gulino, sensing that something was wrong.
‘Perhaps we should leave, sir?’ Gulino said.
‘No, I’m fine,’ Milonri replied, saddened. ‘I’m sorry, James.’
He paused once more.
‘My son… my son was the captain of the
Thardopila
. He sacrificed his ship to save the
Lonori.
’
‘Oh. I didn’t know. I’m very sorry,’ James said.
‘He was your age. The youngest captain in the fleet,’ Milonri said and sighed. ‘He fulfilled the calling of his soul… How bad is the damage to your ship?’ Milonri asked, looking at James.
‘It’s not good, I’m afraid. Kalrea can repair the port event horizon drives in three days, but the starboard drives have been completely destroyed. They can’t be repaired.’
‘Damn! We have enough problems getting parts for the other ships. The
Aurora
event horizon drives have much larger Hognor accelerator coils than standard Qintaino ships and the plasma injectors are paired.’
‘It gets worse. We only have one reactor left,’ James added.
Milonri looked down at his holographic notepad.
‘We must repair the
Aurora
.’
He pressed some of the symbols on its keypad. A holographic image of the wrecked
Pulsora
illuminated just above the notepad.
‘If Kalrea had all the parts she required, how long would it take to get the
Aurora
operational?’ Milonri asked.
Kalrea?
James thought.
She answered.
‘If we had new drives and all the manpower we needed, the ship could be flying in five days,’ James replied. ‘To repair the rear plasma tubes we’ll need at least fifteen days. We could also use another reactor. But—’
‘Right,’ Milonri said suddenly. ‘The
Pulsora
is back on Brinoli. Salvage what you can. I want the
Aurora
operational.’
James felt uncomfortable.
‘We can’t!’
‘I’m sorry, but stripping the
Pulsora,
is the only solution.’
‘What about Sarhao?’ James asked.
‘Anything else you or Kalrea need to get the
Aurora
operational again, just ask Gulino. He can get hold of almost anything,’ Milonri said, as he quickly got up. ‘I’m needed in operations.’
He picked up the notepad and left.
‘James, if you don’t need me anymore, they could use my expertise to assist in repairing the
Lonori’s
turret control sensors,’ Gulino said.
‘Yes, of course,’ James said, distracted.
Gulino opened the door.
‘Gulino,’ James said, turning. ‘Thanks for saving us, back on Ghuno.’
‘My pleasure, sir,’ Gulino replied, and the door closed.
Kalrea?
James thought.
What will happen to Sarhao?
Once we take what parts we require to repair the Aurora there won’t be much left of the Pulsora. Sarhao will no longer have a purpose.
James could sense sadness in her voice.
Can’t he be transferred to another ship,
James thought in hope.
We were both specifically designed for the Aurora and Pulsora. I’m sorry, James, but there’s no other ship capable of interfacing with us,
Kalrea said.
But they may never build another ship like these.
James felt responsible.
He may never be needed again.
We were created by Qinants,
Kalrea said.
You said yourself, that, I’m just a computer.
I know, but that was before I got to know you. I was wrong,
James thought.
I think that you are no different from me, really. You’ve a consciousness. You’re able to feel sadness and happiness. You seem to know what love and hate are.
He paused.
And you know that I love both you and Londuo.
Yes,
Kalrea replied.
Well, I would hate to lose either of you. Please promise me you’ll not end up like Sarhao; it would break my heart.
