The Siege of Sirius Read online

  “Keep us still for one moment,” Tolukei said.

  EVE brought the Carl Sagan to a stop. The three alien ships began to regroup and enter their deadly tri-attack formation. Tolukei’s mind reached out to the ships and forced them to move and slam into one another with his telekinetic powers. A bright explosion followed and reduced the imposing vessels into hulks of twisted metal that continued to fluctuate with tiny bolts of power.

  “All targets destroyed,” Tolukei said.

  “What about the other three hundred plus?” Williams asked him.

  “They are still en route.”

  “Let’s get out of here, maybe our show of power will make them think twice.”

  EVE resumed their escape course and guided the Carl Sagan out of the Sirius B system. Both Tolukei and EVE confirmed sometime later they were not being pursued by the other three hundred plus ships behind. Williams sighed in relief then took his seat back on the captain’s chair as his mind began to calm down from the ordeal.

  Medics arrived seconds later and carried Collins away, while the remaining bridge crew gawked at Williams and waited for their next commands amidst awkward silence. Only, he didn’t know what else to tell them. He was an explorer, not a battleship captain nor the captain of the ship, just the first officer, a newly promoted one at that. Experience was the key, the key he left back at Earth.

  “EVE, are you OK controlling the ship until repairs are made?” he asked.

  “Of course, Commander,” EVE said.

  “All right, everyone,” Williams said, addressing the skeleton bridge crew. “We had an interesting day, relax while the damage control team does their thing.”

  It was all he had to offer. The bridge was in no condition for operations until repairs were made. He placed EVE in control of all bridge operational functions until further notice and took his leave along with the rest of the crew while Rivera and her team came up to start repairs.

  ESRS CARL SAGAN, Sickbay

  Exiting Sirius B system

  May 19, 2050, 11:56 SST (Sol Standard Time)

  Williams entered the sickbay which was located on the habitat ring where Collins had been transferred. To his relief there was only one medical bed occupied, and it was Collins, nobody else was injured during the battle. Chief Medical Officer Dr. Irena Kostelecky stood above Collins’ bandaged body as she waved a medical scanner over his wounds and reviewed the data that outputted into a nearby computer screen.

  “Commander, can I help you with something?” Dr. Kostelecky said in her eastern European accent.

  Williams stepped next to her and looked at Collins closely, he was out cold. “Just checking up on him, seeing if he’s doing well.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Uh, yeah.”

  “Take a good look at him; does he look like he’s having the time of his life?”

  He looked at her and her long blonde hair, puzzled by her aggressive response. “Someone is having a wonderful time,” he heckled to her.

  “Hey, if you think he’s good for duty, then we’re all in trouble with you in the captain’s chair.”

  “What’s with the attitude?”

  “You call this attitude?” Kostelecky walked over to a cabinet while her white IESA lab coat rustled behind her, the Czech Republic flag stitched to her jacket’s shoulders. She gripped a flesh regenerator tool and then returned to treat Collins wounds. “If so, you have a lot to learn about me my friend.”

  “How much time does he need to recover?”

  Kostelecky waved the tool around Collins’s burned skin forcing it to heal up slightly faster. “At least two weeks to be safe, so you better have a spare pilot lying around.”

  “I have EVE at the controls right now.”

  “Do you really plan on letting the AI pull off fancy flying skills in the heat of battle?”

  “I’m not expecting any more combat; we’re here on a mission of peaceful exploration and colonization after all.”

  “What happened just now—?”

  “Wasn’t peaceful, I get it.”

  “Just find a skilled pilot, ASAP.”

  “Doctor’s orders?”

  “Yes, because I don’t want to see more of the crew members end up in here because the AI wasn’t programmed to get us out of danger or some nonsense like that. Anything else, Commander?”

  “That’s all.”

  “Good, you can grab a lollipop on the way out.”

  ESRS CARL SAGAN, Mess Hall

  Exiting Sirius B system

  May 19, 2050, 12:18 SST (Sol Standard Time)

  Williams’ groaning belly forced him into the mess hall along with most of the crew, it was lunchtime. The mess was packed full of navy and IESA explorers alike, sitting, eating, and chatting about recent events. He overheard a few members talk about his recent actions in handling the matter, then stop abruptly once they noticed he had entered. He could sense that there was a difference in opinion in regard to his decision to abandon Foster and her team.

  He filled his meal tray with a burger seasoned with herb spices from Aervounis and a salad known as Jaukta, a popular dish among Javnis. He looked for a place to sit and wondered how Rebecca was holding out. She didn’t have a large meal before leaving nor did their expedition team take a lot of supplies with them, they weren’t planning on staying long after all. If they were alive, were they stuck on some alien planet with no food?

  Williams took a seat at a table with Tolukei and a navy man whose name tag listed him as ‘D. Chang.’ Tolukei was feasting on a large serving of the same salad Williams picked up, and kept his face and four eyes still obscured by his creepy, hooded cloak away from everyone else.

  “Commander,” Chang said to Williams as he began to feast on his burger.

  “How goes it?” Williams said to them. “Tolukei, enjoying your meal?”

  “It is fine.”

  Silence descended on their table as they began to eat. Williams could see that Chang wanted to engage in more chatter like the rest of the tables around them. “So, uh, is it true your race and the Aryile came from the same world?”

  “No, the Aryile uplifted my species when they discovered us,” Tolukei said. “The Radiance Union was founded afterwards.”

  “I see, so both the Aryile and Javnis coincidentally came from warm planets then?”

  “That is correct.”

  “And that’s why it’s so damn hot on Radiance ships.”

  “You’ve been aboard their ships?” Williams said.

  “Once, as a tour to show us navy folks how the Radiance navy operates,” Chang said. “Kinda felt sorry for the other races that had to endure those temperatures, kinda an asshole thing for the Aryile and Javnis to do—”

  Chang stopped himself mid-speech as Tolukei’s gaze shifted away from his meal and onto him due to his comment. Williams cringed internally and looked at Chang’s worried face. Offending someone that could kill you with a thought of their mind was never a smart thing to do.

  “No offence,” Chang said abruptly.

  Tolukei’s mouth twisted as he asked. “What’s an ass?”

  “Well you see Tolukei an ass is—”

  “Chang...” Williams cut in.

  “It is the way of our people,” Tolukei explained. “Much like how your species is forcing me to endure these freezing temperatures. An asshole thing to do, as you put it.”

  Chang ran his fingers through his short hair. “Ah, I didn’t think of it like that.”

  “If you want, I could turn the thermostat up on the bridge,” Williams offered.

  “It is fine,” Tolukei said, returning to his meal. “I keep a thin barrier psionic around me which traps the heat and humidity from my quarters.”

  An awkward silence followed as the three resumed indulging on their meal. It was a silence Chang was determined to break two minutes later. “So, Tolukei . . . Javnis, eh?” Chang said to him.

  “Yes.”

  “And a psionic.”

  To
lukei swallowed a fork full of his salad. “I prefer the term, Muodiry.”

  “Muodiry,” Chang said. “What does that mean?”

  Williams grinned and chimed in. “I came across that term in the Radiance database; it translates as ‘necromancer.’”

  “Ah, necromancer Tolukei,” Chang said, while struggling to force a conversation with the Javnis. “That’s cool. And he likes the salad chef made.”

  “My species is herbivore,” Tolukei explained.

  “A vegan necromancer. Cool.”

  Williams recalled that Muodiry was a term given to certain Javnis psionics. Radiance religion states that their gods gifted them with the technology needed to create psionics and in turn shared that technology with all the species that joined the Radiance Union. Prior to the Javnis encountering and joining the union, there were stories of people of the Javnis race that had skills that could only be described as psionic powers, the Muodiry.

  Radiance religious leaders refused to believe such stories as it contradicted their understanding of the origins of their gifts from their gods. Some Javnis claimed to be descendants of the Muodiry and as a result were often treated unfairly within Radiance society. Tolukei’s admitting to being one only shed more light on why the Radiance embassy on Earth insisted on Williams recruiting him for the expedition over the other psionic. It wasn’t because he was highly skilled, it was because they wanted to get rid of him because of his origins. And what better way to do that than to put him on a ship that was to embark on a seventeen-year voyage to the Sirius system?

  Williams began to wonder if he had done the right thing. On one hand Tolukei’s actions had helped save the ship, but on the other hand could he be trusted later on? Many of the stories Williams read from the Radiance database told stories of Muodiry lashing out at people around them because of how they had been mistreated their whole lives. It would explain why Tolukei was so distant with the rest of the crew.

  Time for a subject change, Williams thought. “You navy folks keeping busy?”

  “Most of us are pumped up and ready for a rescue mission,” Chang said.

  “And you?”

  “I’m just a transport pilot, one that’s glad he wasn’t asked to fly down to the surface.”

  Williams delayed taking another bite of his burger upon hearing what Chang mentioned. “Is that so?”

  “I enlisted to be a Solaris fighter pilot, never made the cut though, so I volunteered to come out here, and I convinced some of my family to come along for the ride.”

  “Just like that?”

  “I had nothing else better to do with myself,” Chang said. “Having my own fighter was my dream, and the UNE said I wasn’t worthy enough.” He shrugged.

  Williams smiled. “Think you could handle this ship?”

  “Can’t be all that hard, why?”

  “Our helmsman is out for the count,” Williams said. “We launched with a small crew to start with, lots of rookies. I can’t shake the feeling that those aliens will come back for more. Need someone really good at the helm.”

  “You’re looking at him then,” Chang said pointing his thumbs at himself. “I might not have made the cut, but I did originally train to fly a Solaris and spent a few hours in the simulator as well.”

  “So, you got some moves then?”

  “Fuck yeah, just ask the captain before we boarded—” Chang paused midspeech. Talking about Foster tended to stir some worried faces much like the one on William. “Err yeah, just let me and my superiors know, and I’ll take the helm for you.”

  ESRS CARL SAGAN, Aft habitat ring

  Interstellar space

  May 19, 2050, 23:01 SST (Sol Standard Time)

  Williams spent the rest of the day reviewing after-action reports, the status of the ship and its repairs, and the last trickle of data that the probes sent back before getting ousted from the system. He sat up from the chair he rested on in the lounge, realizing he was the only person inside. He’d had his face glued to his holo pad so long, he failed to notice all of the off-duty crew members leave him.

  A notification appeared on his pad, repairs to the bridge had been completed much to his surprise. There was significant damage done, he assumed repairs would have gone on for another day at least.

  Perhaps Rivera submitted the repair report as completed by accident? he thought, and tried to contact her via the intercom, but received no reply. His communicator produced the same results.

  “EVE, locate Chief engineer Rivera,” Williams said.

  “Chief engineer Rivera is in her quarters,” EVE’s voice replied via the intercom.

  Williams arrived at Rivera’s quarters and pushed the door chime button. The door opened on its own seconds later, and he stepped into a room full of smoke and strange soothing meditation-like music playing in the background. Rivera sat on a mat in the middle of her quarters cross-legged like a monk with a lit bong next to her, the source of the smoke and weird smell that made him cringe.

  “Sorry, didn’t know you had a Zen thing going on,” Williams said, trying to hide the awkward feeling growing inside of him, his hands waving the smoke away from his face.

  “It’s all right, Commander,” Rivera said as she opened her eyes. “I was just about finished.”

  She remained sitting on the mat smiling at him like she was spaced out. Williams pointed to the bong next to her. He may not have been the captain, but he knew prohibited items when he saw them.

  “Ah, would you like to try it?” Rivera offered.

  “Ah no, was more concerned about how you got that aboard to start with?”

  “We’re light years away from Earth; a few rules can be broken.” Her voice, it was incredibly mellow and calm, Williams wasn’t sure if it was because she was high or relaxed from the meditation. Or both. “I had the botanist grow a stash for myself; they probably helped themselves to it as well.”

  Williams crossed his arms. “So, you’re an engineer, a language expert, and a dealer, talk about a jack-of-all-trades.”

  “This is legal in most parts of the UNE.”

  “Most. Not all regions, and certainly not aboard ships. But I’ll let the captain deal with that.”

  “She too has bent rules in her favor.”

  “And now we don’t know where she is. Which brings me back to my question, what’s the status of the bridge?”

  “Didn’t I tell you?”

  “No, you didn’t, and you didn’t respond to my comm either.”

  Rivera tilted her head to the side and saw her earpiece communicator resting on the bed. “Oh, my bad.”

  “Maybe you should lay off that stuff, at least until we’re in the clear?”

  “That stuff allows my head to be focused and clear.”

  She held onto the bong and took a small hit. The smoke she blew out was done in such a graceful and elegant manner, almost as if she was trying to create art with it. Williams was impressed, which meant he was probably breathing in too much of the smoke.

  “Case in point, we’ll be ready in the morning,” Rivera said. “Along with a few minor upgrades.”

  “Really?”

  She took another hit then pointed to the bong. “This is some good shit, what can I say? It’s probably why the great Carl Sagan himself was such a brilliant person.” Williams glared at her. “It’s true, look it up on the computer, he embraced cannabis on a regular basis. His mind, body, and soul opened up to the wonders of the universe we embrace and call home.”

  “Just make sure you can do your job correctly. We’re going back for the captain and her team once the way is clear.”

  “Promise us the same thing,” Rivera softly spoke. “Do your job correctly so the captain can come back, and these colonists can have a home. That, and I know she was close to you.”

  “Says who?”

  “Says the personnel I spoke with in and out of cryo during our fabulous journey. If I may ask what was she to you? Baby momma? Star-crossed lovers? The one that got away?” />
  “She took care of me when I lost my parents during the war. She was like an older sister.”

  “Oh. Well that’s noble of her. Not very sexy, but noble.”

  Williams shook his head, the muscles in his face struggled to hold back a smile as he left Rivera’s quarters and made the small trek into his. He was impressed how well the air recyclers worked in keeping the cannabis smoke inside her quarters and out of the halls. His quarters, unlike Rivera’s, were still littered with unopened boxes of personal belongings, Foster’s was the same when he was last in there to check on and feed her cat. A cat that might have to spend its days living with him until she was found.

  He stood next to the window and observed the uncountable number of stars as they passed by during their sub light journey . . . Where are we going? “EVE, what is our current destination?” he asked.

  EVE was nothing more than an AI, she did what she was programmed to do, and performed tasks that you gave her. As he recalled he didn’t request a destination, he had simply told EVE to get them away from danger and never followed up.

  “No exact destination has been set,” EVE said, confirming his worry. “You requested we leave the system, Commander, however you did not state a specific location.”

  Damn it, Dom, if you’re going to be a leader you need to think things through!

  He took a deep breath and tried to clear his head for he needed to prove to the crew he could handle things without the captain. Having the ship flee in a random direction at sub light speed wasn’t the way to do that. They still had a mission and a duty to protect the colonists and find them a home.

  He had to make that happen now. Thousands of lives needed his leadership, and the crew needed to trust his judgment calls.

  Williams placed the palms of his hands upon the smooth and cold window. “EVE, set a course to Sirius A system.”

  “As you wish, Commander, ETA seventeen hours.”

  Williams saw the stars move from his window as EVE changed the course of the Carl Sagan. The light from Sirius A and B slowly began to beam into his quarters giving it a slight blue hue as he stripped out of his uniform and climbed into bed. If he was going to be leading the expedition he was going to need as much sleep as he could muster for the challenge ahead.