Child of Time (67 page)

“So where is this portal?” Theo interrupted Kiyan’s
train of thought and reminded him of the matter at hand.

“On the drakken home world. It means little to them
in the way that earth means to humans. It’s only remaining value is
the portal. Every dark lord that gets cloned has to be taken to the
portal to forge the connection with the dark one.”

“You had to access all the networks to find that
out?” Fred received a glare from Alec’s hologram.

“It was not so simple.” Alec began qualifying his
achievement. “None of them will even admit to ever having been to
the world accept for a couple that happened to pass through the
system over the course of their career. I had to reconstruct their
origin point from their first records. Also events from the war had
to be factored in. It appears that when the portal opened a number
of the drakken were killed outright by the reaction between the
dark universe and this universe before the portal settled down. The
drakken had just begun colonizing several nearby systems and had
made contact with a few alien races. They believed that one of the
aliens was responsible for the disaster and promptly engaged in
settling their suspicions violently.”

“I’m sorry I questioned you. I ask a simple question
and I get the rise and fall of the Drakken Empire.” Fred’s last
words were a barely distinguishable mutter.

“It does shed some light on the drakken. If the dark
one was controlling them all along. It also explains why such a new
space race was able to subdue the rest of the known universe.” Theo
mused for a second on the information.

“It also suggests that they were a peaceable race in
the beginning.” Kendra added her thoughts on the matter.

“If you asked the free drakken I am sure that they
would agree.” It all made a little sense to Kiyan.

“I admit that I never had your remarkable trust in
them despite the fact that they have never done anything untoward.
The fact is that they have shown themselves to be quite peaceable
in nature.” Kiyan smiled at his mother's words. It was hard to
explain his experiences in an aberrant timeline to someone that
hadn’t experienced it.

“What of the world you said that the drakken were
guarding?” Terra questioned Alec and changed the course of the
conversation.

“It is an archival planet. It holds the dark lord’s
genetic sequences as well as most of the drakken race. Oddly they
seem to realize that they sold their race for survival and now are
paying the price with the extinction of their peoples. I was able
to extract that when their revenge for the attack that had
devastated their planet soured. They were faced with the
overwhelming might of a dozen united races who would not tolerate
the irrational drakken assaults. Instead of submitting to having
their wings clipped and losing their independence the elders turned
to the one responsible for causing the needless war. They signed
pacts with the dark one and became dark lords. Now the descendants
of these proud drakken watch as their race is replaced by machines.
They fear that they too will be dispensed with one day so they
unite on an attempt to preserve their forefathers.”

“That’s really sad in a way.” Kiyan saw for a moment
the soft nature that Terra hid under her bossy bravado. The moment
was short lived when Terra saw Kiyan’s smile and punched him hard
enough to make his shields flicker.

“That hurt!” Kiyan rubbed his shoulder ruefully.
“Last time I lower my shields to avoid breaking your hand.”

“Oh really? I bet you will next time anyways.”

“And if I don’t?” Kiyan assumed a mischievous
expression.

“Then you can heal my broken hand.” Kiyan noticed
that she was rubbing her knuckles absently as she spoke.

“What are we waiting for?” Kronos was
characteristically blunt.

“Just a small drakken fleet to leave the subspace
vicinity.” Alec was most casual about his explanation.

------

Kiyan stood looking at the images that were displayed
on the holographic screens before him. “You are unable to get any
clearer scans of the surface?”

“Sadly the location of the location of the portal in
unclear. Only that it is somewhere on the northern hemisphere. I
believe that it is on this continent from the records detail the
resulting disaster when it opened.” Alec called up an image that
was fuzzy but one could make out the outlines of the grey continent
against the red ocean.

“Then there are the fleets in orbit.” Kiyan scowled
at the clearer images of the ships that guarded the planet. It was
clear that the task would be more difficult that Kiyan had
initially anticipated.

“I wish there was some way to simply slip in and get
you close enough but I’m not the smallest ship if you haven’t
noticed.” Alec sounded apologetic.

“A drop ship won’t work either. Too much discordant
energy. The cloaks would fail and we would be sitting ducks.” Theo
weighed in.

“If only there was a way to make the fleet leave or
to distract them.” Fred stared gloomily at the images.

“That might be an idea, except that I used the vast
majority of my fighters in our entrance display unless....” Alec
trailed off as he began running calculations and scenarios.

“No, there has to be another way! There always is.”
Kiyan was connected enough with the ship to know what Alec was
thinking about.

“If there is I am glad to hear it. If I sacrifice the
Avenger in an assault they won’t notice if you get sent to the
planet.” Alec was determined. “It’s not like I would die, I was
backed up before we left our universe.”

“There is no other way apparent to me son.” Theo
didn’t sound like he liked the idea any better than Kiyan.

Kiyan balked. Several ideas flew through his head but
deep down he knew that Alec was right. Only by slight hand would
they ever be able to reach the planet surface. He was loath to
sacrifice the Avenger but knew that it was the only way. His
parents couldn’t ascend in this proximity to the portal let alone
descend to the surface. Kiyan was sure that he could free fall but
he also knew that he needed all the help he could get.

“Are you sure?” Kiyan controlled the quiver in his
voice and hated himself for it. Now was no time to cling to
childish emotions. War demanded sacrifice yet Kiyan was loath to
consign the ship that had carried him thus far to so ignoble fate.
To be destroyed by the drakken as a distraction burned at
Kiyan.

Alec seemed to sense some of Kiyan’s conflicting
emotions. “I can assure you that the Avenger will be worthy of her
name. Many drakken ships will merge with the void by my cannons.
Besides, I will be waiting for you with a new ship when you get
back. My temporal dampers will protect me from any time shift.”

“Like the Assurian high command would entrust me with
another battleship.” Kiyan tried to shake off his feelings and
accept the inevitable.

“You are Prime. Nothing less than the crown of
Assurian technology is worthy of you.” Alec was all seriousness
with his promise.

“Then we will meet again my friend?” Kiyan received
Alec’s confirmation before he agreed to the plan.

Chapter Twenty-Four: Revenge's End

Everything was set into motion and Kiyan assembled
with his parents and the crew that had managed to remain on the
Avenger on its last voyage. They all knew what has planned but none
of them made an effort to speak. There was a holographic screen
visible that showed the surrounding drakken fleets in orbit of the
drakken world. They were silent blissfully unaware of the
battleship moving into position among them.

Kiyan flinched when sensed Alec give the order that
meant there was no turning back from the chosen path. The drakken
responded remarkably fast to the sudden appearance of the Avenger.
Already several of them had been smashed under the torrent of fire
that Alec poured forth. The others that managed to raise shields
lasted a moment longer before succumbing to a similar fate. Kiyan
had the impression that Alec might yet survive the opposition.

In an instant the bright interior of his ship was
replaced by a rocky outcropping on the planet surface. The hand was
played and now Alec battled ferociously by himself in the sky. They
could see the ship in the sky above them. The avenger was trading
fiery shot for shot with the encircling ships. Sky was lit with the
weapon fire and the exploding drakken ships.

Suddenly the sky was not the only thing on fire. The
ground around the group seemed to explode. Theo was the first to
respond to the unexpected threat. Rock slabs shot out of the ground
on all sides of them blocking the weapon fire.

“Where did that come from!?” Corban had managed to
absorb or neutralize anything that had come near enough to him and
was unharmed.

Before anyone had a chance to respond explosions
shook the ground as a wing of the Avenger’s dropships swept
overhead with guns blazing. Being outside of a ship during a
firefight was rather disconcerting. The guns that had been blasting
at Theo’s walls turned to the new threat. Kiyan watched as the
dropships blasted at the embattlements without much success. Alec
must have detected their plight and was trying his best to
neutralize the threat.

Finding their assaults to be fairly ineffective the
dropships switched tactics. They split away from one another and
powered down at their respective targets. The first two reached the
embattlements that poked fire at them from the rugged hillside. The
resulting explosions were enough to shake group off their feet.
There was another explosion as the third ship disintegrated in the
air before reaching the target. Immediately fire was retrained on
the rock walls that protected the group.

Kiyan looked back up at the Avenger and noticed that
the giant ship suddenly seemed to shrink out of existence.
Following this sudden disappearance the ship reappeared only
looking twisted like what one sees through a drop of water. The
realization of what Kiyan was seeing dawned on him an instant
later.

“Brace yourselves!” The quantum singularity picked
everyone up a moment later before smashing them to the ground. The
sideways gravity indicated the direction where the singularity
struck. The group was only crushed against the wall for a moment
before the singularity destabilized. The sky flashed white hot for
a second before the shock wave engulfed them. Corban was able to
deflect the heat while Kendra managed the air pressures. Theo was
busy maintaining the rock walls that deflected most of blast. The
fire storm only lasted a moment. However long it felt the ordeal
was over as fast as it started.

Again their vision was drawn to the sky. The Avenger
was fighting valiantly but now the odds were stacked against the
ship. She was drifting now having paid for the lapse in defense
that had annihilated the planet side embattlements. The Avenger’s
shields were flashing with the strain but Alec was still keeping
her employed dealing death on any ships that surrounded him. There
were more drakken ships on the scene now. Each was intent on
vaporizing the invader. Finally unable to withstand any more
punishment the shields collapsed leaving the ship vulnerable. They
could see the failed shield emitters explode from where they were
on the planet surface.

Remarkably the Avenger withstood a period of
sustained fire against her armored sides. The effects were telling
in the fewer shots that were fired. Soon the Avenger was a
defenseless hulk with her last guns destroyed. Glowing with the
energy imparted by the drakken rounds Alec only had a few more
moments at the most. Suddenly the ship disappeared as it collapsed
in on itself. The Avenger’s death dealt as much damage to the
encircling drakken fleet as her final fight had. The drakken were
not prepared for the blast that followed the Avenger’s demise.
Radiating out in a disk the wave of raw energy disintegrated any
drakken ships that were in its path. Finally fading into the
brilliantly glowing colors of a supernova the Avenger died. Only a
fragment of the drakken fleet escaped her death throes.

Kiyan rubbed a tear from his eye. It was as much from
seeing his ship destroyed as from the overwhelming realization that
he had to succeed or all their lives were forfeit. Theo closed the
rock dome and they began sinking into the earth.

“Is everyone alright?” Kiyan heard Kendra call in the
darkness. He held up his hand a blue flames illuminated the domed
ceiling and cast everyone in a blue light. Jeremy answered with
blue flames of his own and together they illuminated the whole
cave. It was only a few paces across and maybe four times Kiyan’s
height tall. Everyone seemed accounted for. Ray was dusting himself
off over to one side and Sapphire was brushing her hair into place
on the other. Kronos joined with some blue flames of his own. Theo
and Kendra never seemed touched by the chaos. Fred was with Addy
and Jeremy was playing with his ice fire. Terra however...

“Terra!” Kiyan found her slumped against the wall
where she had been thrown. Hearing her name her eyes flicked open
and flashed around the cave in confusion.

“Did Alec die?” Kiyan was busy trying to see what was
wrong with her and almost didn’t hear the faint question.

“Yes, it is over. He took out most of the drakken
fleet in the process.” Sadness flickered through her deep brown
eyes at Kiyan’s words. Pain twisted her face as he rolled her onto
her back exposing her side. Blood soaked the clothes around the
wound. He realized that she had been caught in the first volley of
shots that they had come under on finding themselves planet side.
He cursed himself for not having noticed earlier and set about
trying to heal her. On opening himself he was assaulted with the
discordant energies that surrounded him. Focus proved elusive.