The Archer's Paradox - The Travis Fletcher Chronicles Page 29

  Pausing briefly, he considered picking up one of the discarded weapons but decided against it. He had no idea if the automated defences could tell the difference between him and him with a gun, not that he knew how to use it anyway. At the door to the main hangar he peered round. He was right. Over by the crashed ships he could see two more soldiers randomly breaking open crates and tossing the contents over the floor like a gang of looters with no idea what they had stolen.

  “In for a penny.” he grimaced to himself. Taking a deep breath, he moved out and stood foursquare in the doorway with his hands on his hips, trying to look unconcerned but every sinew prepared for flight. “Oi! Fuckwits! I’ve just seen off your whole mob, including your commander and you’re next.” That got their attention and they drew their guns and started converging on him. “Come and get me, if you think you’re hard enough!” he dived back inside just as two shots whipped though the space he had just vacated. Travis rushed back to where Xnuk Ek’ lay and gently repositioned her so the wound in her back was clearly visible to anyone entering the strut and took up his protective stance over her again.

  He did not have long to wait. Having entered the cavernous anteroom, the two soldiers could see the pile of bodies in black uniforms beyond the adjoining doors. They approached carefully to see The Original standing over the body of his Otoch minder. His stance and expression exuded bravado but fear oozed from every pore of his body. They levelled their weapons at him and one of them opened his mouth to speak. Whirr, zap, zap, whirr. Two more bodies lay on the floor.

  Travis stepped over them and spat on them as he passed. “Fuckwits! Idiots!” he snarled.

  Out in the hangar he found what he was looking for. The cargo mover was a flat plate, about nine feet long and five feet wide with a control stick at one end. Gripping the stick activated it and the plate rose a few inches off the ground. Travis manoeuvred it to beside Xnuk Ek’ and gingerly lay her on it. Once in place, Travis was able to push her forward effortlessly and covered the hundred feet or so to the main body of the ship in moments.

  Looking left and right down identical corridors in both directions, his heart sank. Which way to go? He could see nothing to help direct him. He could not give up now. He could not let her down. Not now. But which way? He looked up to the ceiling and pleaded in desperation. “Come on! You’re supposed to be intelligent. Help me, she’s dying.” His voice dropped to a whisper as he realised how stupid he sounded and how farfetched his plea was. “Please, help me.” he was talking to a machine.

  Silently and without warning the right hand corridor went dark. Travis did a double take. Surely not. Fuck it! If it’s a chance. He set off down the lighted section at a trot with the floor augmenting his speed. Before long the light stopped and he found himself standing outside a bank of bounce tubes. The door of one stood open. Inside he looked up and down the columns of symbols. He knew they were numbers but he had no idea which he needed. The centre of the ship. He remembered Niji No Tori describing the layout of the ship to him. Not much but all he had to go on. He ran his fingers up and down the columns of symbols, finally pausing over the one he hoped would be right. The doors closed and he felt movement. Moments later the door opened and Travis saw another lighted corridor. He set off, pushing the injured girl in front of him.

  Again the lights stopped, but this time he was in front of a large doorway. Double doors slid silently open and Travis saw his destination beyond. He pushed the cargo mover with his charge on board into the White Room. Down the middle of the room was a row of about twenty circular plinths, about a foot high, with a console in front. He pushed the cargo mover to the closest plinth and lifted Xnuk Ek’ onto it as gently as possible. After a moment’s hesitation he reached down and found the, almost invisible, catch on the collar of her jump suit, drew it across her shoulder and diagonally across her chest. The jump suit lost integrity and sagged limply around her. He eased it off her body, peeling the material away from the wound in her back. If it gave her any pain she showed no sign. Now what? He looked at the array of symbols on the console. One leapt out at him: Start/begin/go, it had many translations depending on the context. He touched it. Holographic displays materialised over the console; figures and graphs rolled and swept across the three-dimensional field. Silently a transparent cylinder rose around the plinth and began filling with a clear, viscous liquid. It enveloped Xnuk Ek’ and as it filled the tank, she became suspended in it like a puppet with her hair splaying out in silver waves.

  Travis approached the tank and put his hand on it, close to her heart. “I hope I’ve got it right.” he turned to leave with no idea where he was going, but there was nothing more he could do.

  Xnuk Ek’’s eyes opened slowly and her hand raised and pressed against the inside of the tube, over Travis’. Stay. The single word, so small, so frail and so far away, impinged on his mind. Please. She pleaded.

  Of course. He replied. Where would I go? A wave of exhaustion washed over him as the exertions and emotions of recent events all caught up with him at once. He slumped to the floor to wait.

  He was standing in front of a door. It felt familiar but he was sure he had never been here before. It was a deep green and looked like highly polished stone but had the texture of wood with intricate designs etched into it and inlaid with gold and silver. It looked like a miniature version of the Central Pyramid except that the designs were static and not fluid like the pyramid. He reached out to touch the door and he found himself flying over a city, the likes of which he could not have imagined. It was laid out in a circle of zones surrounding a central zone. Each zone was connected to its neighbours by wide boulevards, each at least twice the width of a three lane motorway. Even wider boulevards radiated out from the central zone and disappeared over the horizon, presumably to other cities, with feeder roads from the zones it passed between. Within each zone pyramids and towers strained towards the heavens with a dizzying array of designs and colours. Interconnecting roads and high level walkways latticed the whole area like an immense spider’s web. Travis discerned a passing nod to the glass towers of The City but this one had beauty and age that was missing from the city under the dome.

  He was obviously in a Mindscape and it could only belong to one person. As he flew round aimlessly admiring the vista below, a number of questions came to his mind: how did he get here, why was he here and where was the owner? He thought about his own Mindscape. Everything centred round Radio Sheffield although this had no base in reality either geographically or architecturally. With that in mind, he headed for the building at the centre of the central zone. It was a tall, slender, octagonal building that towered above all the other buildings of the city. It was made of a smooth purple material and had a flat roof. As he came in to land he saw a figure laid in the centre. Xnuk Ek’ was wearing a simple white robe with high collars, similar to the one Sundaravāda Ciṭṭe was wearing in his Mindscape, and her hair splayed about her head like a silver halo. She looked to be asleep or unconscious. He gently brushed aside some stray hair from her face.

  Xnuk Ek’ opened her eyes and turned to face him. “You came.” she smiled wanly. “You found me.”

  “Yes.” he replied, not knowing what else to say. He had questions about what he had seen, but now was not the time. Although she showed no sign of the injuries she had in the real world, he could feel her pain and overwhelming exhaustion. He took her head and cradled it in his lap. Xnuk Ek’ smiled again and closed her eyes.

  “Help me, please.” she whispered.

  “Anything.” he replied, stroking her hair.

  On the bridge of The Beorn, Commander Beadu Slecg paced impatiently. The fleet was nearly at battle readiness and the spy on Otoch had not rendezvoused as agreed. Also, the team he had sent to retrieve Travis Fletcher was late checking in. The fleet was like a highly compressed spring; either its potential energy had to be released or the spring was in danger of fracturing under pressure.

  “Commander!” The Communications Offic
er snapped to attention in his seat. “An encrypted communication is coming in for you, Sir.”

  “I’ll take it in my cabin.” Beadu Slecg stood and strode to the back of the bridge. The Commander’s cabin opened directly onto the bridge, as well as into the main body of the ship.

  It was not long before he returned, his face an emotionless mask. All the personnel on the bridge looked expectantly at him. Áhýdende Snaca had not conveyed good news to him. Not only had the covert infiltration of Otoch failed to retrieve The Original but so it seemed had the elite commando squad he had entrusted with the captured Otoch surveillance ship. That had been his First Officer’s responsibility and he would rip him a whole new set of orifices when this was over. He looked over and saw his First Office blanch as he caught the edge of his Commander’s train of thought. But this was not the time. He needed everyone alert and focused. He took a deep breath.

  “Bring the fleet to battle readiness. It is time.” That was enough to set his officers firing off barrages of orders. He could feel the ship coming to life under his feet. What was once an inanimate transportation device slowly became a living, breathing predator emerging from hibernation, hungry for prey, with every member of the crew becoming an integral part of its nervous system. Around it, the rest of the pack was beginning to stir as well and pity the poor fool that dared to stand in its path. Adrenalin coursed around Beadu Slecg’s in anticipation of battle.

  Vita Nyundo nodded sadly as the news came in from the surveillance station. He was standing on the mezzanine floor overlooking the stations around and below him. Dozens of faces turned his way waiting for orders. He could see fear etched in every face and could imagine the same throughout the ship and on the fighters waiting in ambush. Like him, everyone had held out the forlorn hope that that their ancient adversary would back down and agree to talk out their differences, but it seemed that even after two thousand years, the children of Xi Scorpii E had still not learned. His mind raced as he looked around the bridge. His thoughts had become a chaotic mess as fear twisted his insides. People were going to die, lots of people, maybe everyone, and he was going to give the orders that would send them to their deaths. Is this how warriors of old felt on the cusp of war? He was no warrior and neither were the people around him. Everything he knew about war he had gleaned from the City’s database. For the first time in millions of years, a Xi Scorpii sent a silent prayer to a higher power.

  Chapter 16

  Beadu Slecg moved the fleet from behind its hiding places. One hundred and eight warships bristling with weapons and packed with battle hardened veterans who had subdued five systems surrounding their home world facing down one single ship of their oldest enemy. This was not going to be a war. It wasn’t even going to be a battle; it was going to be a massacre, unless their opponent turned and fled.

  Never underestimate your opponent. The voice of his first drill instructor boomed in his head. Yes, only one ship, but they had already discovered and defeated a full infiltration squad and somehow a shuttle of, supposedly, unarmed civilians had successfully overcome a squad of his best commandos and twice the object of this whole exercise, Travis Fletcher, had slipped through their fingers. He would be having an interesting conversation with their commanding officers after this was all over.

  “Cruisers take flanking positions,” he barked orders into the command headset, “battleships form round The Beorn and assault craft bring up the rear.” he formed his fleet into a standard attack formation. The weight of the fleet in the centre where it could do most damage, surrounded by the smaller, faster but still well armed cruisers that could turn up the speed at a moment’s notice to cut off their opponent if it attempted to run. The assault craft were equipped with defensive armaments only but were packed with hardened shock troops to board and subdue from the inside. It would be a major coup to bring back an operational ship with a working hyper drive engine. “The Eardgeard Cwellend is to remain in position unless I specifically order it otherwise.” he could feel the wave of displeasure as the Eardgeard Cwellend’s Commander acknowledged his order. He was keen to join in the (no doubt) glorious battle and share in the victorious accolades that were to come, but the last thing Beadu Slecg needed was that lumbering monster getting in the way. It was so large and so slow that a blindfolded child with a hand gun could score hits on it, and he was not going to break his formation to guard it just so its Commander could have his name on the victory roll call. The Eardgeard Cwellend had only one purpose and Beadu Slecg had no intention of using it.

  Vita Nyundo descended to the lower floor of the bridge and took his place in the Commander’s chair in front of a three dimensional holographic display of the surrounding area. He moved slowly and deliberately, trying to give a sense of confidence to those around him. He had a rousing speech prepared, designed to lift the spirits and give hope to the people under his command, but it sounded trite and thin in his head in the cold light of reality. Instead he looked round the expectant faces around and above him, touched the control that linked him with the rest of the ship and the fleet of fighters and said, “Otoch is depending on us. Your families and your friends are depending on you. The Council has failed, now it is our turn.” he paused for a moment. “We must not fail.” he finished with finality.

  He studied the huge display for a few moments. They were coming straight at them, two circles of ships with the biggest in the centre and most manoeuvrable on the outside. Only the World Killer remained hidden, presumably still concealed behind the debris of Tocha. That meant his attack plan had to change and they could lose the element of surprise. He had studied every ship used by the Xi Scorpii during The Fall from the archives on Otoch. He knew their speed, acceleration, manoeuvrability and weapons capabilities intimately, as well as the tactics and deployments used by Xi Scorpii E. If intelligence was correct, these ships were almost identical to the ones faced by his ancestors. Plans, strategies and counter strategies formed in his head. He touched a control.

  “Load type twos, wide spread, prepare a salvo of type threes and type ones to follow in a narrow pattern and wait for my order.” he spoke as clearly and calmly as his nerves allowed him as he saw the torpedo fire control teams above him relaying his orders and imagined his instructions being carried out in the vast new torpedo rooms at the front of the ship. Again, he touched a control. “All fighter wings move up but do not attack yet.” he paused for a moment and added, “Group 4, take the lead and engage the World Killer and disable its communications arrays on my orders.” he touched a third control. “This is the Xi Scorpii Interstellar Explorer One calling the Éðel fleet.” he had to give them one last chance. “Stop your advance and take your weapon systems off line.”

  “You presume to order me to surrender?” The harsh, angular tones of the Éðel Fleet Commander cut across the bridge.

  “I do not order,” Vita Nyundo countered evenly, “I request that you stand down. This war has been over for thousands of years.”

  “Not for The Children of Éðel!” the disembodied voice paused for a moment, but before Vita Nyundo could respond, it continued. “Give up The Original and we will spare your pathetic fleet. Can you call one ship a fleet?” it finished sarcastically.

  “We no longer have Travis Fletcher.” Vita Nyundo replied. “He has been sent back to his home planet until we can guarantee his safety. There is no longer a reason for this war. You should…”

  The stream of abuse and expletives that cut across his request finally convinced Vita Nyundo that negotiations had failed again. He cut off the stream of vitriol with a sigh of resignation and touched another control. “Fire.” the command was almost a whisper. Twenty cylinders sprang from their launch tubes and silently sped on their way using the Xi Scorpii sun’s electromagnetic field for power and guidance.

  “Sir, the enemy has fired weapons.”

  “What sort of weapons?” Beadu Slecg demanded, somewhat bemused. It was far too early for engagement.

  “Torpedoes, Sir. Ve
ctors suggest the cruisers are the targets.”

  “Tracking?”

  “Negative.” the tracking station operator sounded surprised. “Line of sight.” he confirmed after a short pause while he double checked his instruments.

  Too soon. Beadu Slecg smiled to himself. The cruisers will be able to track them and destroy them without even breaking step.

  “More torpedoes, Sir. Heading this way. Weapons range in five minutes.”

  Five minutes! What a rank amateur. He could have the whole fleet break, go round and reform in that time if it was not such a pointless waste of fuel and energy. He almost laughed out loud. This was going to be far too easy.

  The minutes ticked away slowly as the dots that indicated the incoming ordnance closed on them.

  “Sir, we’ve lost contact with the Eardgeard Cwellend.”

  “What?”

  “Sir, there was a burst of static, then nothing.”

  Did the Xi Scorpii have more than one ship and how did it, or them, sneak up on the Eardgeard Cwellend without being detected? “More than likely a communications failure.” he replied. “You know how old that pile of rust is!” he finished with a laugh and the rest of the bridge laughed appropriately, but he still had a nagging voice in the back of his head, never underestimate your enemy. “Tell two of the assault ships to break off and verify the Eardgeard Cwellend’s status.”

  “Yes, Sir!”

  That done he returned his attention to the forward displays. Twenty seconds to weapons range on the first salvo. Ten…five...he had no idea why he was suddenly so nervous; this was nothing more than a firing exercise. Just then, the entire first wave of torpedoes vanished from the screen.