Chapter 9: Escape

There was a slight flashing light that came from the room where Javier sat in. It was the first time seeing it as it slowly stirred him awake. The red light was slow and faint as it would fade in and out. He could see the red light reflection as it glowed in the pool. No alarm sounds were being given out.

“What the hell?” Javier noted as he started to stir out of his chair. “What is going on?”

He stood near the chair as he looked at the lights and tried to think of what was going on. He didn’t know what to say of it, but he started to shrug a little bit.

“Probably nothing... , “ he remarked.

The door slid open to reveal Doctor Folar’sha as she came in. She had something in her hands that immediately caught Javier’s attention. As the door closed behind her, she had a smile on her face and walked closer to him.

In her hands were his uniform nicely folded up and his boots.

“What the... ?” Javier remarked.

“Lesser Adjunct wanted to ensure that you had your uniform to wear again. She expects you on the bridge.”

The words shocked Javier as the Doctor went and placed the uniform on the chair. She placed her boots next to him. He did not expect to hear this at all.

“I ... I am sorry, what?” Javier asked as he tried to make sense of it.

“I was asked to bring your uniform back to you. You will put it on and accompany me as I take you to the bridge of the ship.”

“I... , I understood that. I ... just wasn’t expecting that. What happened?”

She looked at the silent alarm. “It is best to have Shira explain it to you. You are no longer our prisoner. Maybe that is the best way to explain it.”

Javier wasn’t going to argue about hearing this. His mind was filled with questions, and it was comforting to see his uniform once again. He had almost forgotten what it felt like to wear something else besides his underwear. It was a welcoming sight to behold, and he didn’t care if the doctor was going to witness such a thing.

“Thank you, Doctor. I wasn’t expecting this as at all. You caught me off guard,” he told her.

“Once you are done putting your uniform on, come, and tap the panel by the door. It has been unlocked. I will wait outside and escort you to the bridge.”

She stepped back as he walked over to his uniform. A part of him felt like this was some trick, but why would they do that? He lacked answers, and the only direction for him was to comply. Seeing his uniform felt wonderful to see.

He picked up his pants and started to put them on. The doctor almost began to walk away when she realized something.

“Oh, and Javier?” she called out.

“Yes?”

“Do you need any type of ... ummm ... what would it be called ... magnetic ... footware?”

Javier was putting his blue pants on. “No. The UHN boots are standard issue for us. On the ground or in space, the boots are equipped with magneto pads. They will activate the moment we are in zero-g environments.”

She seemed a little bit relieved to hear that. Even Javier could tell that the Shal’rein probably didn’t have much besides their magnetic wrappings for their feet. Having to fit them on a human might prove a little too cumbersome and problematic.

“Alright... , “ she said. She turned around and began to look at the door.

“Oh, and doctor?” Javier asked her.

“Yes?” she said as she turned around.

“I am not going to get shot or something heading to the bridge, right?”

“No. I was instructed that you come with me. I will be your escort. Don’t worry. I am not going to restrain you or anything. Shira was the one that gave the orders for this. The other Shal’rein will leave you alone as you are with me.”

“Ok...” Javier replied as he fitted his pants on. He put on his shirt as he started to wrap his red and blue topper and coat uniform over him.

He watched as the doctor gave a quick nod as she opened up the door and proceeded out of the room. He was alone again as he started to adjust his uniform.

It felt dignified as he started to look at himself. He had no mirror except the reflection in the pool. He looked at his uniform that was nearly put on as he sat down and began to put on his boots.

“Well, at least if this is some sort of execution, they are going to let me die with my uniform,” he remarked. “It is quite obvious that something happened on the ship.”

He began to slip on his boots. His feet were mostly dry enough that he quickly wiped any remaining water off of it. He then put his feet in as they slipped on comfortably. It take long as he finished up putting his uniform. He took a nice quick look at himself. His dress uniform was still dirty from the battle, but it wasn’t too dirty. Most of it was loose and quickly came off. Any blood from the battle blended into the red portions of the uniform. There was a little bit of mud in some areas but nothing too bad. All in all, the outfit still looked suitable to wear. If anything, it didn’t matter anyway to him. He was just happy to wear his uniform and be released.

He took one last look as he started to walk around the room. He didn’t look back at the pool as he walked up to the panel and tapped one of the buttons. The door slid open, and he stepped outside.

It was the first time actually seeing the corridor of where he suspected to be in a large centripetal rotating ring. Using centripetal force, it simulated the gravity that he had been experiencing all this time. The ring was simple but huge. It was designed like a large city inside the ship. He could see the veins and pipes in greater detail. It truly was like walking in an organic underwater facility. He had heard of the stories of the T’rintar and how their ships looked like.

He spotted the doctor as she gestured him to follow her. He felt his beard as he looked up at her.

“Oh...” The doctor noted. “Not that way. I am sorry. Keep coming with me.”

“I am with you. You know your ship better than I do.”

It seemed to be far more than just that. Javier noted that he could see Shal’rein in power armor with rifles as they went from door to door. They looked like they were rounding up separate Shal’rein in their rooms. It, at least for Javier, seemed somewhat out of the ordinary. She asked him to continue walking with him as they made a turn away from the direction.

“What is going on?” Javier asked him. “I see Shal’rein being taken from their rooms. They looked like they are being held at gunpoint.”

“As I said,” Folar’sha replied. “It is best to talk to Shira on this.”

“Ok...”

It had been a few minutes later. Javier and the doctor had left the centripetal habitation ring of the assault carrier. They took an elevator that led up to the top main deck as they proceeded forward along the long passageway that would lead to the bridge. Javier had been used to seeing the Shal’rein in their suits by now. It was hard to see any reactions, but a few would turn their heads toward him as they saw him walking with the doctor. It was an odd sight for him. He was a prisoner, and now he was almost completely ignored.

“We are almost there,” the doctor informed him.

Behind Javier was the shuttle bay. He continued to follow the doctor as they reached a room that had its door opened. He noticed a Shal’rein woman in her uniform that was carrying a large body bag with her. The bag was completely sealed, and he couldn’t see in it to tell who it was. The extremely light gravity and the Shal’rein’s strength was more than enough to carry the mass of another. Javier’s mind was aflutter about what was happening. The red, flashing lights were still a sign that something was happening on the ship.

“That Shal’rein is carrying a dead body...” Javier remarked to the doctor as they walked past it.

“That is because Adjunct Delajar is dead,” the doctor simply replied.

It almost caused Javier to stop walking altogether. His mind was in shock at what he heard. The very woman that bit his ear off was now dead. That might have been her body that was being carried off. A part of him felt like celebrating, but at the same time, he felt several different emotions hit him as well. It was startling, to say the least.

“I guess this will be an interesting conversation,” Javier noted.

“It is,” the doctor replied. Javier could sense some tension in her voice.

They saw more Shal’rein in uniform or in armor that had taken up positions and safeguarded rooms. A couple of rooms had armed guards, fully armed with their powerful rifles.

“Is this normal?” Javier asked Folar’sha.

“No, it isn’t.”

“Is this all for me?”

“No. As I said, you are with me.”

“I am not really afraid. I just remember hearing from Shira that you completed your tests, and you confirmed it. I am safely assuming that whatever is happening is because of me... , right?”

The doctor seemed almost afraid to answer him. Instead, she decided to remain quiet and keep continuing down the long passageway. He noted the same network of veins and pipes on the bulkheads. Javier said nothing else as they started to get closer and closer to the final door at the end. It was safe to assume for him that they were far forward of the ship as possible. They were approaching the bridge.

There were two guards posted at the door. Their purple and black colors radiated from the white and red lights. Their heads looked at the approaching doctor and human in tow. They stepped together to block entry as one held her backhand as some gesture for them to stop. The doctor replied, and Javier did, in turn. He knew all too well that the Shal’rein were almost invincible in their armor. He was not going to do anything that would get himself killed.

“It is alright,” the doctor replied. “Lesser Adjunct’s orders that the human be brought to her in the bridge.”

“Of course,” one of them replied. They stepped aside and let the doctor and Javier free entry to the bridge.

The door slid open as both Javier and Folar’sha entered the bridge. The door closed behind him as Javier’s eyes scanned the room. The bridge itself was quite large. It almost consisted of several closed-off compartments that had a large u-shaped display system. The center compartment all the way forward had a throne-like chair that was dark. The sides consisted of consoles in which personnel worked. The further you got from the forward-center, the brighter it got in turn.

“Where is she?” Javier called out. “I can’t see her.”

“Shira always prefers to work in the dark when she is in the bridge,” Folar’sha commented. “She is where you think she is.”

Javier nodded his head as they continued to walk forward in the large room. He could see the consoles as they connected up to the u-shaped display overhead. Javier had realized that this was not just the nose of the lander, but underneath him was the quad turret gun that sprayed weapons fire back on Aphadus. These indeed were an incredible sight. Even the bridge had the same network of blue veins, but the fish could not be seen.

None of the Shal’rein peered over to look at Javier. They were too busy with their own work. Shark women were everywhere but did nothing to notice the lone human that was among them. Instead, Javier remained quiet.

Upon getting closer, Javier could notice that some of the Shal’rein crew were not only strapped to their chairs but had their hands inserted into alcoves of the console. It seemed similar to the interface of augmented hands and arms of human beings, but he couldn’t see any light being transferred. It was almost as if the Shal’rein were physically connected with the ships even though the Itreans never relied on augmented technology.

It was here that Javier had reached the darkest section of the bridge. It was so dark that his eyes had to adjust, but the console panel lights at least provided some illumination for him. It was here that he could detect the very faint smell of second-hand smoke.

“Ugh...” the doctor said. “I keep telling her to cut down on smoking.”

“And you are well aware that smoking does not hurt us doctor... , “ Shira replied in the darkness. “Our lungs regenerate, and it causes no harm in turn.”

“That isn’t what I mean Lesser Adjunct. It is the smell.”

Javier had walked around a large chair. The voice came from it as he stood next to a presence where the sound of Shira originated. The overhead display showed space itself. It was here that Javier had a general knowledge of where the ship was and perhaps what was happening to it. He did not understand the language but followed the pictures.

Outside in space, the Garja stood in place of space. Its centripetal ring was spinning, but a faint outline of damage could be seen from the battle. Not far in formation was the Shal’rein battleship Gigesh. It was a little bit smaller than the assault carrier’s larger composite frame. In the far distance ahead was a gas giant of green gases. It had a giant dark green spot that was swirling endlessly. A faint ring of particles and ice was swirling around the gas giant as a faint dim orange star was in the distance.

“Welcome to the Garja’s bridge, Javier” a calm voice of Shira filled the dark area.

Javier’s eyes were adjusting more and more to the darkness. He could see the faint outline of Shira as she sat comfortably in her chair. The one thing that he could see very well was her one eye as the console lights reflected her shark-like eyes. The doctor had backed up a little bit to give Javier and Shira the room to talk. She looked at the scene ahead of them.

“I admit that I wasn’t expecting to be brought up to the bridge, uniform and all,” Javier remarked.

“Were you expecting to be brought in naked?”

“No ... I mean that I am not a prisoner anymore.”

“Hmmm...” Shira remarked in her neutral tone. “Who says that you are still not my prisoner?”

“I ... I wasn’t saying that I was. What happened? What is going on?”

“The doctor has confirmed that human DNA can be adjusted. Everything that you said was true. Humans and Itreans are capable of having children together. The Shal’rein clan wants you dead regardless. It is a foolish mistake on their part. The humans are worth saving for the sake of Itrean survival. I am left with little choice on the matter. In order for all Itreans to survive, my best course of action is to leave the Shal’rein clan indefinitely and pledge allegiance to the UHN/T’rintar clan alliance.”

It hit Javier like a ton of bricks. “You’re defecting...”

“That is correct. The fact is that there are more pressing issues than this mission. Many things are on the line. Since the beginning of my mission to Aphadus, I was well aware of the propaganda reports of the T’rintar clan. I was ordered to take human hostages. You are well aware of all this by now, but my personal goal was to either see you be dissected and turned into a weapon or to confirm the reports of the T’rintar clan. The fact that the doctor has confirmed all of this means that it is more valuable to save the human race than to see you dead. It is something that the Shal’rein clan does not acknowledge. I anticipated the Shal’rein clan would do this. Just as you humans are, my own people can be just as predictable.”

She stopped her explanation as Javier could see her head turn towards her right shoulder.

“Status on the Garja!?” Shira called out to her bridge crew.

“Lesser Adjunct,” one of the bridge crew replied. “All vital systems are in control and fully operating. All external communications have been sealed as your order.”

“Any actions on the Gigesh or Outpost 2924?”

“Nobody on the ship managed to get a communication off to the Gigesh or Outpost 2924. There is no major activity going on.”

“Good. Target the Gigesh’s power arrays with the railgun. Open fire as soon as you have a lock.”

“Aye!”

Javier couldn’t believe it. Shira and the crew of the ship were about to shoot their own people. It was somewhat understandable, but it seemed like a miracle had occurred. He expected none of this to happen.

Outside in space, the Garja’s massive dual barreled railgun began to rotate to starboard. Within less than two seconds, the entire turret had spun and adjusted its vertical direction to point directly at the Gigesh.

It happened quickly as it should be. The Gigesh had no chance to react and never saw it coming. The Garja’s massive gun emitted a bright flash of blue and purple particles as a hypervelocity round flew. The shot and the strike was almost precisely the same. The shell quickly pierced one side of the Gigesh’s power module and flew directly to the other side, where the round continued to fly onto the void of space. Debris shot out from where the shell slammed clean through. Another round was fired as a similar round punched almost in the same area. The entire rear section of the Gigesh was ripped into. The area that supplied power for the ship was suddenly torn asunder. Power fluctuated inside the battleship as the ship’s lights began to fluctuate. The vessel was almost cast aside adrift.

“Good ... now target the emergency power supply batteries and fire one round into it,” Shira ordered.

“Aye...”

Javier watched through the camera feed as the turret made slight adjustments. Another massive tungsten round was being loaded into the turret. The gun had made its minor adjustments to the battleship that was adrift. Power continued to fluctuate on the battleship as another round was instantly expelled into it. The precision hits at almost point-blank range were perfect.

“The Gigesh has been disabled,” the crew member called out. “They are adrift.”

“Good. Now launch the gate array probes. Set a course for New Olympia.”

“Aye.”

Javier had many questions to ask her. Before he could, she continued her explanation to him as if nothing happened. He could tell her hands were pressed together as her head was glued to the display screen.

“My true goal,” Shira explained. “Was to find the truth. Once that happened, and if it were true, I would leave the Shal’rein clan.”

“And the crew?”

“As the leader of my vessel, I made sure to select certain crew members that held misgivings toward the Shal’rein clan. Others I have spoken to, have no desire to remain with the Shal’rein clan and wish to leave to the T’rintar clan. Defection on both sides is rare, but it does happen from time to time. Most of the crew here are ready to say goodbye to their original homes.”

“Just like that?”

“If the story was true. Many events had to happen first for this event to take place. Of course, there are limits to me selecting crew members. If I purposely kept selecting all crew members that had histories of bad attitudes towards our own people or desires to defect, it could lead to others getting too suspicious of what I was planning to do or what we were might be planning to do. I had to purposely select ordinary crew members that were loyal to the clan.”

“I am trying to understand,” Javier asked. “You staged a mutiny on this ship? What about the crew that is not behind you, and what exactly happened to the Adjunct?”

“The crew that I know that are not behind me are to be taken, prisoner. My guards and loyal warriors are holding them to be eventually interned to the human/T’rintar clan to let them decide their fate.”

“That would explain the activity I saw getting here.”

“That is correct. Defection and mutiny is an ... annoying operation to commit to but a proper plan, and it will function correctly. I trust my crew and what they want.”

“And you, Doctor? What about you?” Javier asked her as she turned her head to her.

“I am ready. I want to leave and go to the humans. I ... don’t want to be an ivon anymore. I want to have a human for a mate and to finally have children of my own. I don’t want to worry about my son dying before he sees the light.”

Javier could understand some of the feelings from her point of view. He watched on the screen as the Garja was firing its gate probes. Side launchers would propel the probes into space as they turned and headed directly in front of the carrier’s nose. It was slow at first. A large ring was being constructed as they sat and talked. Creating an artificial gate ring was a timely process. The Itreans had mastered this a little bit better than the UHN did. The probes would stop and start to form a ring. Then a large metal structure would extend as the gate probes would start to link themselves together. Slowly, a large gate ring was being fabricated, but this process took time. For the UHN, it took thirty to forty minutes to create. He didn’t know how long the Itreans took.

“As for the Adjunct... , “ Shira continued. “Delajar and I had disagreements on what was to be done with you, so I killed her.”

Javier was shocked to hear her so blatantly admit that. He put his hand to his ear, remembering the events that happened earlier. A wave of anger filled him, and at the same time, he felt a minor amount of satisfaction as to the events that occurred.

“I won’t be the one to question the morality of this,” Javier commented.

“Some people must die, so others may live. Sacrifices must be made so that the group can survive. Delajar would not give up, and she would not surrender. I know this and her past actions.”

Shira said nothing more on the matter. Events were happening very quickly for Javier to note anything. Instead, he simply watched as Shira turned her head to her right shoulder again.

“Status on the gate array?” Shira called out.

“Around fifteen minutes remain, Lesser Adjunct,” the crew member replied.

“Keep me updated on the progress.”

“I feel like I am just a passenger...” Javier remarked.

Shira’s eye turned to look at him. “You are in a better position than many that would be under these circumstances. I have been impressed by how you have performed during the time you are here. Without you, none of this would have happened.”

“Yeah ... the attack on Aphadus...”

“Was a necessary one,” Shira interrupted him. “When this ship arrives at your capital world, I will surrender myself to your authorities to face judgment. Justice will be done.”

Javier put his hand to his head as he sighed. He felt a hand go to his shoulder, but he didn’t look to see if it was Folar’sha or Shira. It was momentary before it stopped. He looked back at the screen.

“I am curious though ... why go to New Olympia?” Javier asked as he recognized the star system on the screen.

“You will know the full story soon. It is why I asked you to come to the bridge. I need you here when we try to convince one of your colony worlds to let us into their space. Not having you here will most likely result in our deaths.”

She said it was such confidence even her neutral tone that she seemed more than convincing to Javier.

“Ugh ... why not just Aphadus or Mars instead of New Olympian?” Javier asked with some annoyance.

Shira’s eye was focused on the screen as she ignored him. Regardless, Javier was not in much position to argue. Shira was set in her ways. Her goal and plan had been placed far ahead of anyone else’s.

There was a moment of silence as Javier stood and watched the screen. The ring was slowly getting bigger as two minutes had gone by.

“Where are we?” Javier asked.

“Sector 3921. This is in the outer reaches of Shal’rein clan space. Our original goal was to stop here for repairs before proceeding to Shal’tar, the capital world.”

“How far are we?”

Shira seemed to think for a very brief moment. “We are approximately two thousand of your light years from your home planet.”

Javier’s jaw practically dropped. “Impossible...”

“Far from it, Javier. Folding space has no limits. Only the civilization that wields it proclaims its limits.”

“I ... you made one jump over two thousand light-years. Only the recent UHN Gabatrix and her mission took her two hundred light-years from Mars. The crew broke the record on the longest jump ever.”

“And now it will be passed to you,” Shira remarked. “I can make sure to pass the information to your superiors so it will be remembered.”

“Even our explorer Gabatrix never made it this far...” Javier remarked as he looked at the gas giant in the distance.”

There was a brief smile that came from Shira as it quickly faded. “Our people are capable of doing so much more than this ... all Itreans are capable of doing this. We choose not to, and it leaves susceptible to outside forces. Our greatest exploration attempt was the nearest galaxy. Never again did we do it. Our people and your people are too afraid of going too far. It is a gift that never ceases until we lose it one day. It is up to us to use it to its full potential.”

“Our races could become explorers. Every little corner of the universe can be explored. Gabatrix would have been beyond thrilled...”

Javier could hear a sigh come from behind him. The doctor was still there as she seemed a little tense and bored. She was gripping onto her arms as she gritted her teeth a little bit.

“Are you alright?” Javier turned to ask her.

“Yeah ... just a part of me is scared what will happen when I see the humans for the first time,” Folar’sha replied. “How I will be treated by both your people and the T’rintar clan.”

“I don’t think they will harbor any bad feelings toward you. I barely saw Shal’rein that worked on the base, but I have heard of others that see them work for the T’rintar. As the alliance continues, I am sure to see more and more of them.”

“You don’t think they will reject me, do you?”

“No. I don’t imagine it. I will put in a good word for you. You nursed me to health and kept me alive. You made sure to keep me treated during this whole mess. That alone will make sure that you get a job and have the sick and injured to take care of. Besides, you apparently know enough to treat humans.”

The doctor smiled a little bit. “Do you think ... there will be a human waiting for me? Do you think they will want to settle down and have a family?”

Javier smiled at her. “I am more than sure. Us humans have progressed more and more in ideas and who they want to be. Freedom is important to us and our desires. If anything, it is possible to be an ivon and still find a human being to be with.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah. I have a family member that lives on Palora. He is bisexual, and if you told him that you had both parts, then he would still take you in. I can only imagine the couples that would be made from the alliance alone. There are a lot of single men and women out there, and I know somebody like you, they would be happy to have you for a wife.”

She kept smiling. “Thank you, Javier.”

“Of course.”

Shira seemed to listen to everything, but she remained quiet. Instead, she briefly smiled as it faded away. She turned her head to the side again to ask the status.

“Status?” Shira asked.

“Approximately ten minutes before...”

“Lesser Adjunct!” another crew member called out. “We got word from Outpost 2924 in the system. They are attempting to communicate with the Gigesh. There is a brief signal coming from the Gigesh.”

“Expected...” Shira replied. “The ship still sent off an emergency transponder signal upon being disabled. The base is going to send in reinforcements to respond to the situation.”

“They are also trying to get in contact with us as well...”

“Ignore it.”

“How long should that take them?” Javier asked.

“Most likely, they will use the outpost’s own fabricated gate array to send a warship at us to explore what has happened here.”

“How long will it take before they reach here?”

“Five minutes.”

Javier knew that there was a five-minute window that the Shal’rein clan had before the Garja could make its escape. This meant that there was a brief moment of vulnerability before...

“I can see you thinking, Javier,” Shira interrupted his thought process. “You are attempting to figure out how long before my people will send additional ships. I will remind you that it will take a little longer once our own gate array is constructed. We have about seven minutes that we will have to fend off enemy warships that will come to us as we hold still.”

“Ugh...” Javier commented. “Stop reading my mind.”

There was a momentary brief smile on her face as they could see the faint blue vortex begin to appear about 230 degrees from the Garja’s port side. It was quite distant. Space was vast, after all.

“Lesser Adjunct,” one of the crew members called out to her. “The outpost’s gate array is powering up. It is opening up a vortex near our location.”

“Let’s give them a little bit of a scare to slow them down. When their gate reaches about 80% completion, target the railgun at the opening vortex and fire.”

“Aye.”

“It is time that I go,” Folar’sha told them. “We might expect casualties if we are going to be in a firefight.”

“Good luck, doctor,” Javier commented to her.

“As to you human named Javier.”

With that, the doctor turned around and proceeded to leave the bridge. Javier turned his focus to the screen as he stood by Shira’s side.