Infinity's End: Books 4-6, page 10
“It’s nothing I can’t handle.” She blinked a few times and hoping the redness in her eyes was dissipating. She’d go see Xax later about something that might help stave off the effects of not sleeping. But knowing their chief doctor she’d probably chide Evie for using stims in the first place. At this point she didn’t care.
“It’s exciting, isn’t it?” Greene replied. “Being out here. I wish we could stop and look around, take in the sights. But I’m sure there will be plenty of time for that once all this is over.”
She didn’t like the sound of his voice. It was too optimistic. Did he really believe the armada had been nothing more than an elaborate prank of some kind? “If we get the chance,” she said, standing. “I doubt Zenfor will let us keep the wormhole technology.”
“Even if they do take it back, with the Claxian’s advanced drive on every ship it will be much faster. Think of all we could learn.”
She hadn’t even considered it. Since seeing those ships she hadn’t thought about anything past getting to this point and confronting them. Everything else she’d ever planned for her life had been put on hold. There were no other future moments past the ones they were about to experience because as far as she could tell, they would very likely be her last. She’d seen these aliens destroy an entire star. Even with the Sil, how were they supposed to combat something like that?
She brushed some errant hairs out of her face. “We can hope, but I’m not willing to dismiss what Five saw out here. Those results were verified a hundred times over. They didn’t just make it up.”
“No, you’re right. And I don’t want to sound overconfident,” Greene replied. “We need to stay on high alert. It’s very possible these aliens have some technology shielding them from us in some way. We can’t get complacent.”
She nodded and followed him back on to the bridge. Uuma was taking her station again from Laura who had come in just to hold tactical while Uuma was in conference. Laura happened to glance up just as Evie entered the bridge and their eyes locked. Evie turned away, her guilt gnawing at her from the inside. Laura had reached out to her and she’d done nothing but slap her hand away. If she was smart, she’d stop trying before one of them got hurt. Laura didn’t say anything, but she didn’t need to. Her face said it all. Maybe it was too late for anyone not to get hurt. The hypervator doors closed and she was gone.
Evie took her chair again, bringing up the most recent scan data from Omicron Terminus, determined to keep her mind on her work. She stifled another yawn, and no sooner had she focused on the words on the holoscreen had they blurred, and she was back in that Kor-forsaken room on Cypaxia, her father holding her down. She shook her head of the image, trying to focus but finding it difficult. What little sleep she had been getting hadn’t been pleasant and now she was thinking about it during the day. She couldn’t keep going like this unless she wanted it to be obvious to everyone around her she was struggling. Maybe if she talked to Cas about what had happened. He’d been there, he’d seen it, though he probably thought it was no big deal. But Evie couldn’t get over the terror she’d felt as her father held her down. The fact that she was unable to move or kick him off was the worst part of all, despite having taken years of self-defense. It was as if he was a gravitational force in himself and she was nothing but a speck of dust.
Not to mention he would think because her father was dead she should feel better. On one hand she’d been relieved, but on the other it was even worse because it meant those were the last memories she would ever have of her “father”. No. The man who raised her. That man had been no father. And she was tired of trying to pretend like they’d had anything but a contentious relationship. But still, it had never been that bad. She could only hope whatever had ravaged his brain to death wasn’t genetic. If she became like that in her old age, she’d instruct the nurses to shoot her before she could traumatize anyone else. Not that she would have the chance. It wasn’t as if there were any more Diazals around anymore. And based on what a shitty job Osborn had done with her she wasn’t even about to chance screwing some kid of hers up that badly. She wouldn’t perpetuate a cycle of abuse to her offspring just because she needed to leave a legacy or some crap like that. Her professional career would be her legacy; that way no one else could get hurt.
Chapter Sixteen
Captain Greene couldn’t help but study the images on the small holoscreen in front of him. Nothing about this felt right, but most of all the entire mission itself hinged on the alien armada being here and it just wasn’t.
He hoped to find some anomaly in the scans of the Omicron Terminus system. Some explanation of what could have happened or where the armada could have gone. He compared them to the scans Starbase Five had taken over the past few seasons, each one with the encroaching armada ever nearer. He even adjusted their current scans to the same angle so he could switch back and forth between the two, only to find it was as if they had all vanished. The most recent scans from the system had been less than a week ago. Normally a Coalition ship couldn’t have made the trip that fast but then again he wasn’t on an ordinary ship.
He tossed the device to the side of his desk, intent on finding some caffeine and a new resolve to discover this mystery.
“Captain?” Lieutenant Uuma’s voice came through his command room comm.
“Go ahead.”
“We got word back from Starbase Five.”
Greene closed the comm and jumped up from his chair, striding on to the bridge from the adjacent room. “What did they say?”
Uuma tapped her console. “They confirm they can still see the armada, holding position in this system. As we speak.”
Greene turned to the main viewscreen. “What the hell?” he muttered. Omicron Terminus was displayed on the screen as their main destination, their long-range scanners having reached out to take images and video of the system from their great distance. He made up his mind. He was going to figure out what was going on and he was going to do it right now. “Volf, can we do a short jump into the system using Zenfor’s technology?” he asked.
“No problem,” she replied, not looking up. “We’re in range.”
“Get us there, now. Lieutenant, raise our shields and prepare all weapons. If they are hiding, I want to be ready.” He took the captain’s chair.
Evie leaned over to him. “Is this the best move, jumping right into the system? What if it’s a trap?”
“I’m done trying to figure this out. There’s only one way to handle this and that is to face it head-on. If we are destroyed, the Coalition will know what’s coming.” He turned back to the front. “River, set course. Ronde, let’s do it.”
The navigation and helm officers nodded without turning and the image on the screen in front of them went blurry for a moment before clearing with the two supergiants in the system taking up most of the screen. “Report,” Greene said.
“Nothing is coming up on sensors,” Zaal said. “We have no indication of alien craft.”
“Full sweep of the entire system. If they’re hiding here we need to find them. And if they’re not, we need to find out why Five can still see them.”
“What are you thinking, sir?” Evie asked.
“That I’m tired of being jerked around. One way or another there is something out here and we’re going to find it.” He turned to Uuma. “Get Zenfor and Cas if you need him. Let them know about all this data we’re about to throw their way.”
“Aye,” Uuma replied, speaking into her own comm.
“It’s hard to fathom how big those are.” Evie stared at the giant stars on the screen.
They were still a good distance from the center of the system where the two were locked in an elliptical orbit of a common point, seeming to almost feed off one another. Omicron Terminus had a third, Class F White Star which orbited both and had planets and a system of its own. The system was full of small planetoids, moons, gas giants and smattering of asteroid fields. Greene took a moment to appreciate how no other Coalition species had ever seen anything this far away before.
“It almost doesn’t seem real,” he said, echoing Evie’s sentiments. The two giants in the center of the system were some of the largest stars he’d ever seen. But not for much longer. The red giant was close to the end of its life cycle and would either expand to intersect the blue giant or it would collapse in on itself. Either way, when it did the system would be forever changed. Only a few hundred million years away.
“The consul has responded, Captain. She’s analyzing it now.”
Greene relaxed back in his chair. He couldn’t imagine the repercussions if no armada was found. How would the Sil react? Would they think it had all been nothing more than a ruse to peace talks? That was sure to set them off. And what about the incident back at the nebula? They would have cut off two whole planets; future members of the Coalition and for what? Nothing. For the first time since this assignment began, he felt uneasy. Before he’d been sure they were on the right track; whether that was building an alliance with the Sil or traversing Coalition space to get out here. He’d felt like they had a purpose and now all that had been thrown into question.
“Lieutenant?” He turned to Uuma. “Did Five say anything about malfunctions in their telescopes? Anything that might account for this discrepancy?”
She shook her head. “They said they’d just been calibrated a few weeks ago and were in top working order.”
“Captain,” Volf said, standing from her station. “I have an idea. These two stars are generating a massive gravitational field in the system which may be disrupting how our sensors are ‘seeing’. Think about it, there’s not another system in the Coalition with a blue supergiant and a red giant. Five is almost eight hundred light years away. Maybe from that distance the effect is negligible.”
“What are you suggesting?” Greene asked.
“We take the shuttles out into the system. All of them. And the spacewings. Do a visual inventory of what’s out there. We can cover a lot of ground with as many support craft as we have. In this case our sensors may be lying to us whereas our eyes won’t.”
Greene glanced at Zaal who was concentrated on his own station. “She could be right, captain. We are dealing with an unknown amount of gravitational energy in this system.”
“We used to do the same thing back on Arc N’gali when the pirates would use their scatter tech on us,” Volf said. “It was like this lens that bent scans around their ships in pockets of heavy gravitation. But we could still see them.”
“But if there is something out there,” Greene said. “Our ships will be close to defenseless against it. At least the shuttles. They have limited weapons.”
“Then use the spacewings as escorts,” Volf said. “Simple.”
Greene exchanged glances with Evie. The last time they’d used the spacewings as escorts they’d lost three crewmembers. He wasn’t sure how the crew would react to being back in the same situation again. Especially the wing pilots. He’d need to speak with Rafnkell. Though they may not have a choice.
“What?” Volf said, her face awash in confusion. “Did I say something?”
“No,” Greene replied. “I’ll take it under advisement. Thank you, Commander.”
For the first time since he’d been aboard, Cas found himself on the upper levels of Tempest, staring out at the magnificent view before him. After taking in the view on three he’d come all the way up to deck one to just watch. And maybe plot an escape, though if he was realistic that was just impossible. But it felt good to plan for it anyway. The windows were wide and large, big enough to get a great view of the system beyond. There weren’t a lot of crucial systems on the levels one and two which made them more ideal for extravagances like observation decks. Stellar cartography was only a few short corridors down the way. Usually when he looked outside it was a brief glance to tell if they were still in an undercurrent or if they’d exited to normal space again. Cas never took the time to enjoy the stars anymore. That was something he’d had plenty of time to do on the Reasonable Excuse. He could spend days or even weeks studying them, watching them go by or updating his old maps with new coordinates or new discoveries. Though new to him usually meant within the last fifteen hundred years due to the age of his maps.
But now he was staring at two stellar giants, each around a common orbit. The gravitational forces at work inside their orbits were almost incomprehensible. Greene had decided to jump right to the system, no more pretense. And just as the scanners had said, there were no traces of any “armada” out there. Just stars and planets. The few he could see, anyway.
“Excuse us!” Cas moved to the side as three junior crewmembers ran past him, their arms full of equipment. He recognized them as part of the stellar cartography team; no doubt they were headed to gather as much information about this system as they could while Tempest was here. Cas smiled despite himself. He couldn’t remember the last time he had that kind of optimism. And honestly he wished for some of it back.
“Caspian, respond,” his comm chirped. It was Zenfor.
“Go ahead,” he said into the back of his hand.
“We’ve received the data from Starbase Five. Please come to the weapons lab.”
“On my way,” he replied, taking one last look at the star system before heading back down the corridor to the hypervator. It was nice Zenfor was including him, even though she didn’t need to. She was perfectly capable of analyzing the data on her own. But from their brief discussion on their way to the bridge he could tell she was troubled. Maybe she wasn’t as impenetrable as she seemed.
He stepped into the weapons lab moments later, his thoughts lost on what exactly he was going to do if this all did turn out to be a hoax. The inquiry had specifically said he’d be dealt with once the crisis was over. So what if there was no crisis? It meant he’d be seeing the inside of a jail cell within the week most likely. As soon as they got back. There was never a better argument for leaving right now. If only he could convince Greene to let him go. Without the Andromeda threat it wouldn’t be like he’d be abandoning anyone; he’d just be safeguarding his future. But it would be a hard sell to get Greene to let him go. He needed to brush up on his negotiation skills.
“The starbase is still reporting seeing the armada.” Zenfor broke him from his thoughts. She was hunched over her primary control panel, her shoulders bunched up.
“What? How can that be? We’re here. There’s nothing out there,” he replied.
“I’m not so sure,” she replied, staring at her screen. “I’ve been comparing the data from Five as well as the scans Tempest took on the way here. There are minor differences in radiative output. Something was here. And not too long ago. But it’s impossible to tell what, for how long and where they went. Your limited scanners have provided me with little to work with.”
“So, what does that mean?” he asked.
“I don’t know yet. But we know one thing. This isn’t a hoax.”
Chapter Seventeen
The shuttles. They were going back out in the shuttles.
Cas took a few deep breaths and tried not to think about the accident. Of course, trying not to think about the accident was like trying not to think about a pink elephant. Once the image was in his mind it was the only thing he could focus on. He couldn’t believe after what had happened at the nebula they were about to send out more search parties to try and find these ships. And what were the shuttles supposed to do once they found one? Tap them lightly and say “tag, you’re it?”
Evie had sent him a comm letting him and Zenfor know the plan. Zenfor opted to remain in the weapons lab studying the information from Five and the current scans from the ship but as Cas had suspected she really didn’t need his assistance. He’d asked her if they could use the same Time Stamp technique they’d used to observe the Iphigenia and Genesis but she said the gravitational forces in the system would disrupt the process too much. They’d never be able to get a clear signal. Not that it mattered as it seemed from a distance the armada could be seen, while up close was a different story.
And now he was on his way to Bay One to climb aboard a shuttle and assist in the efforts.
Everywhere he passed it was a flurry of activity, apparently it was all hands on deck for this one. Evie had said they’d be using every available support craft they had on hand. Which meant close to sixty ships scanning the system. As he made his way down to the Bay he felt almost as if he were having an out-of-body experience. He could see himself, moving along the corridors, nodding to the few members of the crew he knew, everyone in a hurry to get to their destinations. It was a strange sensation, watching himself from a different angle, and yet he was still inside his own body at the same time.
As soon as he reached the opening to Bay One, he stopped cold.
Some of the shuttles had lifted off, heading out into the system to begin their scans. For some reason he felt like he was frozen to the ground. What was wrong with him? He’d just been on a shuttle only a few days prior down to Cypaxia. It hadn’t been a pleasant experience but now it was as if a current of terror was running through him.
He was about to take a step back when someone ran into him from behind, knocking him forward. He felt strong arms pull him back before he could hit the floor. “Whoa, sorry there,” Dorsey Ryant said, letting go once he was sure Cas wouldn’t topple over. He was one of the few spacewing pilots Cas knew personally and had been a good friend of Grippen.
“It was my fault.” Cas shook his head. “That’ll teach me to stand in the middle of an entryway.” He hadn’t spoken to Ryant since before Grippen’s funeral and had no idea how the man would react to him. He was a good head taller than Cas and probably had at least twenty pounds of muscle on him too.
“You headed out?” Ryant asked, indicating the shuttles taking off.
