Chapter 21: The Inheritance

From the open door, Dusty stepped into the room.”I am containing the Dai.”

The living dust cloud flowed like a sand storm around me and engulfed both Dai.

The Dustcloud said.”Captain, they are riding on electromagnetic waves. They infiltrated us as we set the shields transparent for radio waves.”

Both Dai looked like living statues.

Now Orthbeer passed through the deck plating. I could not hear what he was trying to say, then he came closer and closer and his greenish hand passed into my head.” Captain Olafson, can you hear me like that?”

“Yes.”

“I am going to free the Narth do not be concerned about your friend. I will get him out. You should turn on your Suit.”

“I don’t know how.”

“There are manual activation modules on your wrist.”

He kept on floating before me and extended an almost invisible hand. I noticed the dark gray little bumps and pressed them.

“Suit Ensign Tyron activated, “Have I done you, proud Captain?”

“How?”

It explained.”When Lt. Har Hi told me you would only trust me if I showed him how I can be deactivated.”

Fenris passed through the walls with an angry screech, ripping one of the white worms apart that just tried to sneak up on me.

“You make me very proud Tyron, but here is the situation.”

“I told him as fast as I could.”

Before I could finish shiny spider silk glued me to the ground and Krabbel came fast through the open door.

I raised my finger. “Tyron paralyze only!”

Krabbel dropped and Suit switched to aggressive shields dissolving the spider silk.

I opened the weapons locker and took a broad sword.”Now to the Computronic Core.”

I had to paralyze and stun my way through a dozen of my crewmates before I reached the Computronic Core. This was the best-protected space in the ship, SHIP was inside a Reinforced Neutronium ball. There was the Emergency Access panel and I pushed my hand on it and slipped my code key in. SHIP came out of her cycle at once. “SHIP, Ganymede Protocol!”

This was a captains only knowledge, mutiny containment protocol. Core component was her accepting my commands only.

“Ganymede active.”

“Reduce inside temperatures to minus 50 degrees and increase Grav to 25. Flood every deck with Para Rays and sent the ZERO ZERO pulse.

“Aye Captain!”

“The ZERO ZERO pulse deactivated all weapons and battle suits.

“Do we still have Shields?”

“No Captain.”

“Activate all shields.”

Narth appeared next to me. “I am free and unharmed.”

“Let’s go and liberate my ship. No mercy no quarters. Intruders are to be killed on site.”

I activated the Fenrir Robots through SHIP and ordered them to contain crew members in stasis.”

Narth teleported me to the bridge. I found everyone pinned to the ground and everything was covered with a thin layer of frost, arm long white maggot-like worms lay everywhere.

There was Lia Bennett sitting in my Chair.Se was still grinning at me even though she was paralyzed.

A huge explosion rocked the ship and SHIPs Voice said.”Captain, severe damage to Engineering.

The Red Dragon in an active Seenian suit and in one of our Wolfcrafts!”

Narth teleported me right to Engineering, there was a huge gaping hole in the hull of my ship.

An energy blast hit Narth and made his shroud catch fire, a second one of tremendous force hit me.

“Narth get out of here, this is an order.”

An energy beam out of my finger hit the Wolfcraft with the Thauran while Narth disappeared. I could feel him being injured but alive.

“Good Bye perverted little girl boy. I know the secret of the Seenian depot now. I will be back and kill you all slowly.”

With that, the hovering Wolfcraft screamed with maximum acceleration into the sky.

We assembled in the Pirates Den. It was quiet and no one spoke.

Everyone looked at me with guilty faces. It had taken me almost two days to get one after the other out of stasis and checked by Narth and Cateria. The white worms aboard the ship were dead and I had robots scour and decontaminate the ship from top to bottom, now that they knew what to scan for it was easy to find the worms. Shea finally spoke.” I am so sorry Captain!” “You were under alien influence, nothing to be sorry about!” “Captain the Knnnk do not take over they threaten you with from within. I should have been stronger!” Hans actually was sitting on the floor crying.” I killed TheOther while the Y’All protected you, Captain!” Cateria shook her head.” No, you have not. The Y’All was seriously wounded but you did not hit anything vital. He has amazing self-healing abilities.” I said with the most serious tone in my voice.” Circuit is another matter! I don’t know if he is dead or simply deactivated but he is not moving! Cateria does not know how to help him and neither does Suit. Elfi sobbed.” I did that. I fired tech stop on him!” “Let’s not lose hope. He came around last time he was hit by tech stop.”

Warner’s tail seemed dead and limb as he dragged it behind him coming into the Den.”We were able to free Three-Four from the energy siphon, Shea had trapped him in, but we were unsuccessful so far to get more than a baseline of weak energy from Circuit.”

I swallowed hard, trying to keep my emotions under control.”What about the ship, can we lift off?”

“Sorry, Captain, there is too much gone. I am afraid the Tigershark won’t go anywhere without outside help.”

“We got two LEGO factories. If we have to, we build a dockyard and fix her.”

“We could never fix the TransDim chandeliers it was part Narth, but we might be able to manufacture and jury rig a few ISAH pods to get us home.”

“Then I this is what you do. While I go after this monster.”

I stood on the plane and met with the Down Commander.

“Thanks to you, we are all recuperating and soon fully healthy again.

“Sadly no one can leave this planet. I listened to your advice and had all Engines destroyed. So no one could escape and I would not have to use force on my own kind.

No Down is allowed to respond to communication coming from this planet for five years. Either you would beat the disease or we die here I thought.”

He looked towards the Tigershark. “Now that your ship is damaged we are stuck.”

I too turned and looked at the once beautiful Tigershark. Her aft section was a twisted mess of metal. The tough armor kept much of the explosion inside and caused even more damage.

“We find a way, we are not out of options.”

I said and turned to look over to the now quite impressive field hospital with several stories and several basement floors.

The construction robots relentlessly kept working.

Har-Hi came over and said.” It doesn’t look good. We completely lost TransDim and both our extendable ISAH pods are gone. In all the bad news I have good news too!”

“I can use them.”

He pointed to the Hospital doors and the Y’All came out with a big pale spot on his armor skin, but he seemed otherwise unharmed. He reached us and he saluted. “Ensign TheOther reporting back for duty Captain.”

“You saved my life and the ship.”

“And you gave me a purpose, a home, and true friends. None of these things any other Y’All could claim to have. I would do it gladly again.”

Har-Hi said. “I recommend Ensign Y’All for the Purple Heart and the Silver Star.”

“I second that and enter it so in the Logbook!”

Har-Hi said.”Not that these are great news, I meant something else.”

My eyes watered as I saw Circuit coming out of the Hospital as well.

He walked a little stiff, looked over his ship and then came.

“I am sorry Captain. I tried to prevent that by ejecting the core, but the altered Elfi got me in the middle of it. I guess that is the end of my own Engine rooms.”

I simply hugged him. “I thought I lost you.”

“You almost did. Elfi knew where to shoot. But SHIP had my schematics on file and Cateria and our Nanites were able to reconnect my neural pathways before they deteriorated. I am as good as new.”

He hugged me back and I knew he was crying inside. “I thought I lost you too Captain and everyone.”

I wiped my own tears off I didn’t notice until now. Narth scared me for a second as he popped out of thin air.” Oh sorry Captain, I better warn you mentally before I do that again.”

“Yes, that be a good idea. I am a bit nervous about things coming out of thin air right now.”

“Mao is in surgery and then will have to spend some time in the Regen tank, but Cateria prognoses a full recovery for him as well.”

“I feel terrible for giving him a liquid metal shower, but the alternative would have been a direct TKU hit.”

Narth switched subjects.

“The Red Dragon took one of our Wolfcrafts, and we think he took Melissa hostage. He is most certainly back on his way to the Seenian depot.

“I go after him as soon as possible, we do have another Wolfcraft and the Gazelle.”

I motioned to the hospital. “What is the situation here?”

“We analyzed the disease, it is a race of sentient beings. They can not affect the environment themselves to build a civilization but can make others do it.

The bad part is that they can’t control the side effects of their own poison and the disease they spread, so their host bodies deteriorate and die and they must find new species to take over to survive. They have the ability to teleport along electromagnetic waves like radio for example and as we made our shields transparent for radio they could infiltrate our ship.”

“We need to find their origin and destroy them. As soon as we can that is.”

Circuit shook his head.” Captain half of the spare parts are gone too. Warner is right there is too much gone. I am afraid the Tigershark stays planet-bound until we can manufacture ISAH pods.”

I then turned back to Har-Hi and asked the question I dreaded to ask.” Casualties?” “We have many wounded but no casualties.”

An ape-like being walking more on his knuckles than on his feet came from the hospital and bowed deeply.

“You must be Captain Olafson. We do not know how we can thank you. You have saved us. We are healthy and free of the influence. the Down allowed us to remain on this planet and settle here. I know of your great misfortune but if you ever get back please send a ship so we can join this magnificent Union of yours.”

“I will do that.”

I saw the Ghost floating by the ship in the distance and waved him over. Now that Suit was fully operational I could hear him talk.

“Captain, why don’t we go back to our home system and get one of the Seenian ships? You should be able to get home with one of these.”

“We have to fight the Dragon first, he might already have access.”

“He is not the authorized inheritor. He will face the First Servant.”

To Har-Hi I said. “Get the Wolfcraft ready.”

“Captain...”

“No discussion, no argument. I am going to finish this once and for all, but you are welcome to come along. There is the Gazelle.”

To the Ghost I said. “You saved my best friend, for that I am eternally grateful.”

“I am glad I could help. Narth is certain he can bring more of my mind matter back and find a way to allow me to sleep. I could not let come harm to him, for that chance alone.”

Har-Hi and I flew back. Ghost was with me as he took no room. Since I also wore Suit I actually had a mini crew of my own in my one seat spacecraft.

The second planet of the Antoo system was a marginal garden world with rugged mountains and very little vegetation. Nothing in terms of animal life, at least not where we touched down. The Wolfcraft had very limited science sensor capabilities.

We did find the other Wolfcraft, it had touched down on a mountain plateau within close distance to an artificial gate structure that was well hidden underneath a mountain rock overhang.

“Tyron, you say his suit is repaired right? Is it sentient like you?”

“While I can’t say for certain as this would require contact, but highly unlikely. Sentient suits like me are not the norm. I gained sentience on my own.”

“Well, we will find out.”

“Aye Captain and on a personal note, whatever Seenian mysteries we are about to uncover, I am no longer Seenian, but a Union Citizen, a fleet member and loyal to you alone.”

“I never questioned your loyalty.”

“No Captain but you were thinking it, you would not be the leader I admire if you didn’t.”

“You can read my mind?”

“No Captain, but being worn I can detect the faintest changes in body chemistry and language.”

Har-Hi who had joined me standing before the temple like entrance.”Captain, the writing above that temple entrance is Seenian.”

Tyron said. “He is right Captain, the words say. “The war is lost, may worthy children fight the darkness. With what we have left behind.”

The dark metal door was closed and there was more writing directly on the door.

Tyron read it out loud. “The writing promises great rewards to those worthy possessing them. It also reads that this door This door can only be opened by a Telekinet of considerable strength or a Seenian. It also warns of great dangers to those who are not deemed worthy.”

“Now what?” Har-Hi said.”We left Narth and Alice behind and how did he get in?”

Tyron answered.”The individual Melissa, she is a Telekinet of considerable strength.”

“How did he know that?”

“I assume she told him. Neither Kilkam nor she was apparently immune to the Knnnkt.”

My Dai friend sighed.

Orthbeer passed through the barrier and moments later it opened.”He was hovering in the now unobstructed entrance.”I am a very weak telekinet, but there are controls on the inside. I have been here before.”

Despite the tense situation. I could not help myself but smile.”It isn’t ghost proof obviously.”

The corridor behind the door was long and narrow, there was a moldy smell in the stale air. The floor was covered was covered with a thick layer of dust, but there were tracks of very recent footprints

We must have covered at least a klick when we noticed someone lying on the floor. It was Melissa, she was covered with brown spots, a white maggot had detached itself from her and now moved towards us. I blasted it with a feeling of grim satisfaction.

Har-Hi knelt next to her and said looking up. “She is still alive, but not in good shape.”

“She is human and the freak thing is dead. See if your auto doc can help.”

He nodded and detached his Auto doc and pressed it against her.

While he did that I slowly kept going, the corridor widened into a circular chamber of about fifty meters in diameter.

I noticed the Dragon taking a small cubical device from a stone pedestal in the middle of the chamber.

Tyron said with great alarm in his voice. “That is a casern.”

I remembered Cateria mentioning that before. “Did you not have one as well?”

Before Tyron could say another word, a bright flash of energy hit me full force and threw me against the wall. A conical shaped, man-sized gray object had appeared. As I hit the wall I noticed the Dragon attacked the same way.

I was not knocked out, and I was certain I was not seriously hurt.

“Captain, the Casern has a fully active casern bot and does not accept my command codes. I must put all energy into the shield.”

The cone-shaped machine snarled in Seenian. “The key is for revenge and for those who stand against the dark and not for darkness itself. If perish I must, I perish but there will be no surrender.”

The Dragon groaned in agony his own Seenian suit underneath, emitted puffs of smoke.

The robot fired another blast of tremendous power and engulfed me, making the previously invisible shield that surrounded me glow in the brightest purple. Vaporizing the wall behind me and turning the floor I was standing on in a large puddle of molten rock.”

“We need to go into Battle mode while we can, Captain. I am sure I can defeat a Casern bot, but there is one more coming.”

“Go!”

Like the first time I wore Tyron, I felt a faint prick in my neck and then everything changed. All my senses had been boosted by a thousand times. I suddenly could see everything all around me just like in Battle view. I got dizzy as I suddenly possessed 360 degrees vision. Something my mind had a hard time processing, instead of reading or identifying icons and data I simply knew it. My ears could hear the heartbeat of the Dragon, the grinding sounds of the sand and dust while at the same time hearing the thundering cracks of energy discharges, I could see the path of blaster bolts.