CHAPTER NINE
-Intermission-
It was a game, perhaps. They were all sitting there around the table, their pieces scattered across the boards in various positions of play. It was a game, suspended somewhere outside of the tangible world in which they all lived.
But then again maybe it didn't exist, also.
The participants around the board were dressed in the way they first were- the men of the 42nd all in their uniforms. Shin, Tesh, Tag, Taru, Jinn, Horse, and Tex were all there. Opposite of them was everyone else, Meia, Dita, Hibiki, Barnette, Gascogne, Dureo, Parfait, Bart, Rebecca...
"I wonder where we are," Shin said, arching his head back to look at the ceiling and winced, "What's happened?"
Tag sipped at his drink and looked over at the others. They all had their eyes closed and were sitting, motionless, lit by an unseen blue light.
"Creepy..." Tesh said, shivering a little.
"What's happening?" Jinn asked.
Shin shook his head a little, staring across the table at the frozen face of Barnette Orangello.
"Where's Kai?" Asked Horse.
"What?" Every odd 42nder present asked.
Tex winced, "He should be here..."
"What makes you say that?" Asked Shin.
'um...excuse me,' a tiny voice said that drew the attentions of everyone. It was a little girl, sitting just off the table, with a large globe in her hands. That globe was a beautiful blue/green planet.
'It's your move...' she finished.
The men looked at the board, and of the group assembled only Tag would remember it. Scattered across sectors of space were pieces of a game. The board was mostly dominated by blue pieces, yellow was nearly off the board. And in the corner in the territory called MEJERE was the last collection of red pieces. The men looked at the girl, who was smiling.
--------------------------
Kai Allyard awoke with a start in his bed.
It was still the night hours on the Valhalla, millions of kilometers away from the Nirvana. And yet...
He stirred and got up from his bed to get dressed. This required a walk.... Especially after seeing the troubling dream he had been having again for the third night.
As he emerged into the nighttime corridors of the Valhalla he became aware suddenly of the emptiness of the ship. They were on their return trip, having done what they needed to with the mysterious ship before it's destruction. Now they were on their way back to the Mejerian system with the 'knowledge' they carried- and the three mysterious children they rescued.
Kai's feet allowed him to wander, and of all places he ended in the reactor space. Here, the massive energy arc soundlessly flickered in the dark cavity where the Pexis progma resided on the Nirvana.
He sighed on the walkway that went through the engineering space, and just watched the slow lightning flicker. This reactor, a derivative constructed by the Melanus fleet, had substituted for the Pexis progma power source magnificently. This meant the ship wasn't as random as her predecessor, but then again not as extraordinary.
"Couldn't sleep?" Asked a voice, which turned Kai's head. It was Thor Himel approaching, in uniform.
"What are you doing up this late?" Asked Kai, adjusting his stance to stand straight. Thor shrugged on his way over.
"End of watch for me." Said Thor, "Caught a nap and had a dream."
"With the others?"
"Yes." Nodded Thor as he watched the lighting, "I just went for a walk and ended up here."
Kai nodded slightly and stared into the lightning. "Do you think the others are in trouble?"
"If they are, it's not likely we're in any position to help them."
"Yes but," Kai said, sighing, "I just....don't know..."
"Hey!" Called a voice. The two men turned to see it was Clare, Kai's exec to the vanguard team, "What's going on?"
She approached in a bathrobe.
Kai had turned around and hesitated before asking the obvious question, "What are you doing here?"
Claire shrugged, "I saw you walk out of your cabin. Something wrong?"
"Thinking of friends," Thor replied over Kai's shoulder while he crossed his arms, "Nothing for you to worry about..."
"It is when my group commander isn't getting sleep," She replied and looked to Kai, "what's the matter?"
"Friends." Kai replied, shaking his head, "A reoccurring dream."
"What kind of dream?" Claire asked.
"We don't know." Thor answered.
Clarie hesitated, then asked, "Can I help at all?"
Kai was leaning against the railing as he said, "Are you some kind of astrologist or something?"
Clarie had her hands crossed now, "It's a pastime on Mejere I don't happen to indulge in. What's in this dream, other than your group mates?"
Thor looked up while Tag said, "The crew of the Nirvana. They were...." He winced, "frozen."
"In blue light." Added Thor, shaking his head, "What can it mean?"
Kai shook his head, "I'm more worried about the girl..."
Claire was wincing, "Do you guys want to talk this over a drink or something?"
"What?" Thor asked.
"That light is distracting," she said, pointing at the lightning bolt dancing in the room.
----------------------------
The Endeavor accident was well documented once. The complete file resided somewhere on Earth, in the archives of the interstellar exploration organization. Of course, that building now had been long reduced to ashes, but the documents had been tangible once.
Over the years things had leaked, and only part of the story escaped to tell of the Pexis. It was not of earth origin.
Prior to the discovery of the Pexis, humankind had been on the up-and-up. Interstellar exploration had been accomplished by the Kenai engine- a device that enabled ships somehow to circumvent the drawbacks of time dilation with speed. Thus, they were able to 'ignore' the speed of light and press onward as if there was no speed limit.
However, inertia was still a problem, and for this reason many ships stuck to a specified procedure to keep their starships from destroying themselves or killing their crews by problems of sudden shifts in inertia.
The Endeavor had been one of a fleet of twenty-eight survey ships, Liberty class. The Endeavor had been one of the furthest ships out at the time of the accident, reportedly exploring a world still marked on charts today as TX4117.
The rumor back then had been there was an accident with the Kenai engine when the ship tried to leave the system, stranding the Endeavor there in the system and requiring assistance from two of her sister ships. Eventually somehow the truth leaked out- probably during the golden age of humanity.
Somehow, upon exit from the Kenai drives the Endeavor collided with something. No report exists nowadays of what exactly happened on that midday which changed the universe, but whatever the instance mankind would be forever changed. No philosopher would survive to say this accident would spell the death of any hopes of a unified Human existence.
The Liberty seven was the first ship to respond to the distress signal. The massive ship reported on the detection of the distress signal, and that captain Wells was headed to render assistance. That was the last anyone heard of the Liberty Seven- she vanished without a trace.
The second ship, the Pioneer, managed to reach the Endeavor in system TX4117. Nothing is known of what transpired there, or how many survivors were picked up from the Endeavor, or even what became of the survey ship. The most popular legend of the day was that, upon arriving in the system, the Pioneer found the spilled remains of the Endeavor with her entire forward section blown open with debris littering the area. A sphere of light had also been found at that location, of unknown composition and origin.
What was also found at that location were fragments and shards of material not known to mankind.
From then, the space recovery ship Copernicus disappeared from her birth at Wolf 359, many believing she went out to salvage the remains of the Endeavor. This rumor persisted for some time, even after the Copernicus returned to her homeport free of any evidence.
Five years after, the golden age of mankind began. New ships were designed with such luxuries as artificial gravity, massive engines, new armor and weapons, and of course a way around the problems of inertia. The source of all these technological innovations was never disclosed... at least back then.
During the peak of the golden age a ship was designed to become the pinnacle of human technology. She was to be a warship; the pride and joy of mankind. She would be the guardian of Earth, an avatar of humankind and protector against the unknown of space.
Her name was the Amaterasu- and she quickly arose to become that symbol of humankind's dominance of the stars. She was commissioned and held station in the Solar System as guardian of the earth. Nobody quite knew what kept her operating or how she was the most 'dominant vessel of the stars.' The Amaterasu was a vessel never tested in combat- it's superiority was only an assumption.
As the years went on, other super warships were established and built, and the Amaterasu quickly faded into the background. Thirty years after her introduction, the ornate Amaterasu had become disused and out of date.
Following an unknown catastrophe on earth, the human race decided to begin another phase of mass colonization. Though new ships were being constructed, many felt it was cheaper to sell off old hulls for conversion to colony vessels.
The importance of the hull formerly known as the Amaterasu was lost on the buyers, who quickly modified the hull to serve as a colony vessel. The original power sections were largely untouched, as the weapons, magazines, and even extra armor were completely stripped from the hull. She was renamed and launched from her earthbound drydock under the name of the Ichazuchi.
-------------------------------------
The drinks were cool in the empty cafeteria. It was just the three of them- the kitchen was dark and the stars outside whipped past.
Claire sipped at her drink while Kai slowly spun his. Thor had his jacket off and stared into his glass.
"Who do you suppose that girl is?" Claire asked, scratching her head.
Kai winced, "She was in blue... and she was holding a planet."
"Metaphor?" Asked Thor.
"For what though?" Asked Kai Allyard, turning his head, "She controls a planet?"
"the Pexis is blue, isn't it?" Thor reasoned.
"Yes...but..."
"They were all there when the Pexis flared," Thor said.
Kai nodded, and Claire asked, "Do you suppose that has anything to do with it?"
Thor shrugged a little and went on, "It's something."
"But...what could that mean?" asked Kai, "The Pexis is alive?"
"I thought we came to that conclusion," Thor said, "Given how odd the Pexis is..."
"True." Kai replied.
Claire looked at the troubled Vanguard pilot, then smoothly reached out a hand to place it on his. Kai looked up at her concerned face. "I'm fine Claire..."
"You're worried for your friends."
Kai twitched the corner of his mouth, looking down, "Tesh was....is my best friend, Claire. They're all friends of mine..." He closed his eyes, his hand moving around hers to take it and lock fingers, "I feel as if they're headed into danger."
Claire's thumb rubbed across Kai's hand.
Thor sighed and sipped at his drink, thinking back to a woman he had abandoned.
------------------------------
The long, sleek, sword-like Valhalla continued on it's way back for Mejere just above the speed of light, millions of light years away from her sister ship.
------------------------------
Ezra awoke in a cold sweat.
Tag was awake instantly, hands to her skin, "What?"
"Hold me..." She murmured to his chest, panting.
Tag was confused, but then seemed to have a drop of memory leak into his perception. Ezra was shivering.
"What?" He asked.
"Soo....so coold....." She said between shaking teeth.
Tag looked into the darkness to see the shadows shift back into position and winced.
----------------------------------
A special thanks to Lezithian, AKA Mage-of-Souls, for making me look back on this series.
Don't get exited; I'm still lost