Human Chronicles Part 2 Book 3: A Galaxy to Conquer (11 page)

Chapter 15

J
ym was in the pilothouse of the
Pegasus
, practicing controlling the ship’s systems with his ATD when Kaylor entered.

“I think something has gone wrong with the mission.”

Jym swung his seat around and sat up straighter. “Why do you say that?”

“Adam has been in contact with me surreptitiously so that McCarthy would not be aware of our following, and the last contact was when they were leaving the main ship for the surface of Elision. Nothing since, and when I try to communicate back in his direction all I get is nothing. You’re much better at using the ATD; can you try?”

“Of course, but I will need a normal comm link between here and there. Have you tried contacting Sherri and the Formilians?”

“I get nothing there, too.”

Jym frowned, which simply meant his ears drooped some and his eyes narrowed. “No communication with any of the assault team?”

“Not for four hours or more.”

“I think you need to get Ruszel up here; I’ll try bursting a navigation beacon through the Shield and see if anyone picks it up, but comm through all that turmoil is nearly impossible without a direct link. If it does get picked up, then that ship may be in contact with Elision, and I can gain access then.”

********

Ruszel had spent plenty of time in the pilothouse of the
Pegasus
, enough time to grow envious of the large, concentrated-array spaceship. His ship—the one he’d acquired from Riyad Tarazi—employed a similar gravity drive, but it was half the size of the
Pegasus
. Even at that, it was still the fastest ship in the Nebula. However, the grass was always greener....

“I am linked in to Elision through a series of other ships that have joined the Kracori forces,” Jym announced as Kaylor and Ruszel entered the pilothouse. “So far no security alerts. Either the mission is proceeding with stealth, or the fate of the team is not being broadcast. And still nothing from the Volseen ship and Sherri.”

“So the rescue has failed?” asked Ruszel, his tone more curious than concerned. Even though he resented being taken captive by a splinter group of the rescue team, he did owe his current fortune to Riyad Tarazi. Just from a peripheral viewpoint, he was curious about the results of the mission.

“We cannot determine that. We have no comm links with any of the Humans or the Formilians.” Kaylor answered. “It seems strange that we would lose contact with both the surface team
and
those still in orbit.”

“Wait one…” Jym said, holding up a hand. “I have a link with an orbiting ship reporting a hazardous debris field not on any of the charts. It is the only debris field in orbit around the planet and the reporting vessel is concerned at the sudden appearance of the hazard.”

“That could be the remains of the ship containing the orbiting team, the one with Sherri still aboard,” Kaylor said, his voice trembling.

“Then we could have had a catastrophic failure of the mission,” Jym added.

“Then there is no reason to stay here,” Ruszel said, suddenly energized at the prospect of returning home. “I promise I will not report any of this to the enforcers if we return to Tel’or now.”

“No,” Kaylor said forcefully. “We are going through the Shield. We must know what happened to the surface team.”

“You cannot go into the Dysion Shield!” Ruszel stated. “The transit will be too difficult for you to attempt, and if you do by chance make it to the other side, this ship will draw too much attention. The drive signature is unique and not of any kind in the Nebula. We will be detected.”

“Line us up, Jym,” Kaylor said, ignoring Ruszel’s protestations. He slipped into the pilotseat and began to activate the drive.

“You cannot do this!” Ruszel grabbed Kaylor by the shoulder and spun his chair around. “It is too dangerous. You do not know the Shield.”

Kaylor looked up at the green alien with no emotion on his face. “We’re going through—or at least we will attempt it. We’re part of the mission to rescue Riyad, and as such, we have a responsibility to learn the fate of the other elements of the team. We may not make it through the Shield, but at least we will then die serving the mission. Now leave me alone and let me concentrate.”

Kaylor shrugged off Ruszel’s grip and spun the chair back around to the command console. “I’m creating a shallow well to move us in closer. Jym, can you help with detection and course corrections. This is going to be difficult.”

Jym moved to the navigation station and lit up his screen. “Ready when you are.”

“Okay, let us get this started—”

“Wait!” Ruszel cried out. Kaylor didn’t bother turning to look at him. “You cannot do this—but I can.”

Now Kaylor spun around. “Yes you can, but are you willing?”

“Yes,” Ruszel stated. “I do not want to die, yet if you attempt a crossing yourself, then we all will.”

“I’m willing to take the chance.”

“But I am not. Please give me the seat. I will take us through.”

“Don’t do anything foolish or contradictory,” Kaylor warned as he stood up. Ruszel fell into the chair and spun it around.

“Do not worry. I will do all I can ... but you already knew I would relinquish.”

“I was hoping. You didn’t strike me as the type of being who would passively give in to death, especially when there was something you could do to prevent it.”

The
Pegasus
moved into the first dense layers of the Shield; already Ruszel was making minor course corrections. “We are not through yet. Whether I succeed or fail will be known in about an hour.”

Chapter 16

W
ith no one paying much attention to the escape pod, Trimen activated the tiny gravity drive and moved it out of the major traffic lanes surrounding the planet Elision. They moved off in the opposite direction from the Volseen Corridor, since that was where most of the space traffic was entering and leaving the Void. Within five hours, they were a light-year away and barreling towards the brilliant haze that was the Dysion Shield.

Trimen didn’t ask Sherri about the call sign for the
Pegasus
in all that time, content to let her mysterious mental process play out. Of course, his silence didn’t relieve the pressure she was feeling. She knew the numbers, she just couldn’t recall them. And the more she tried, the harder the task became.

There was food and water in the pod to last two people ten days if they were frugal, and the power would last ten times that. So except for the cramped conditions and lack of privacy, life within the pod was bearable. Even the lack of gravity could be tolerated for the duration of their other supplies without any lasting effects.

Sherri was confident she could recall the numbers if she could just find something to distract her. But with nothing to do in the pod except sit and stare at the forward control panel or out the tiny porthole, her mind kept continually wandering back to the call sign numbers. This only made her more frustrated.

Finally out of desperation, she decided to devote one hundred percent of her mental effort to remembering the numbers. Trying to ignore them and let them just pop into her head hadn’t worked. Maybe a full-on effort would do the trick.

She began by mentally recalling each number from zero to nine, to see if any would seem more prominent than others. She often did this when trying to recall names, and was surprised when she would reach a letter and suddenly the name would just appear out of her subconscious. Maybe the same would work with numbers.

After several runs through the digits—with no success—she decided to run them backwards. When she did, the number eight seemed to stick. Eight what? She tried the sequence again, and this time eight seemed to stick in her mind again. Two eights? Was that possible? Or was she just concentrating too much on eight—?

Eight-eight-four-six-two-two.

What was that? She thought. The numbers just seemed to explode in her head. But were they the right ones? The number seemed to bounce off her mental tongue.

“I think I have it,” she said. Her voice cracked and failed to project too much confidence. Trimen picked up on this.

“Are you sure? Your tone is not that confident.”

“I know, but the number keeps repeating itself. It won’t hurt to try.”

“Of course not. What is the call sign?”

She gave him the number. The Formilian entered in the frequency and then pressed the comm button. “Calling the
Pegasus
. Calling the
Pegasus
. If this frequency is correct, please respond. Security issues prevail.”

The interior of the pod was completely quiet, except for the roar of their breathing. Every breath was like a siren, and Sherri was afraid they wouldn’t be able to hear a response through the noise. Of course, her perception was amplified by the total lack of a countering sound.

After a minute, Trimen repeated the message. As the time click by, he turned to Sherri. “Maybe your memory is faulty. I would suggest you try—”

“This is the
Pegasus
! Who is this?” The voice was that of Jym, and carried with it all the emotion the tiny bear-like creature could muster.

Sherri leaned into the command console. “Jym it’s Sherri! I’m so glad to hear your voice!”

“The same here. We were under the belief that your ship had been destroyed.”

Trimen also leaned forward. “Can you switch to a secure channel? There is other traffic in the region.”

“Of course; switching now.” There was a slight pause before Jym’s voice blasted through the pod’s speakers again. “Can you still hear me?”

“Loud and clear, Jym!” Sherri said with glee.

“Are you safe?”

“Our ship
was
destroyed, but Trimen and I managed to escape in a pod. We’re about a light-year from Elision and headed two hundred-thirty degrees azimuth from Elision.”

“Wait one,” Jym said. Sherri knew Jym to be a superb navigator. He would be plotting the general vicinity of the pod.

“We have about ten days’ worth of supplies. You should be able to make the run from Tel’or to the Shield in about three days in the
Pegasus
—”

“We are already within the Dysion Void, Sherri.” Jym interrupted.

“You’re in the Void? Where?”

“Just one minute. Okay, we are approximately five light-years from your location. Ruszel finally agreed to help us navigate the Shield and when we lost contact with you and Adam, Kaylor decided to enter and investigate.”

“So you have had no contact with Adam either?”

“Not since he left McCarthy’s ship for the surface. Have you had any further communication?”

She hesitated while gathering her resolve. She knew her voice would betray her emotions. “I received a message from Adam that McCarthy had betrayed us again, and then our ship was attacked. Trimen and I were the only ones to escape. But Adam and the team are on Elision. They are either dead or being held captive.”

“Riyad was kept captive. I’m sure it is the same fate for the others.”

“Let’s hope so.” Her voice cracked. She knew that the situation was hopeless, so even if they were being held captive, there was nothing she could do about it.

“Kaylor here, Sherri,” said the new voice on the comm. “We are moving to your position. Time of arrival should be three hours in the
Pegasus
, assuming no unwarranted distractions.”

“Good,” Sherri said, feeling better now that Kaylor was on the way. The pale-skinned alien was very competent in most things he attempted.

“Once we have you onboard, we will then plan the rescue together.”

“Rescue?” Sherri was taken aback by the word.

“Of course,” Kaylor said his own voice strong and confident. “We are still a viable team. And the Kracori will not be expecting a second rescue attempt. The advantage will be ours.”