Chapter 2
Taylor strode towards the bridge, but when he took the final turn, a shot from one of their weapons struck the wall beside him. He stopped, looking to see it had come from one of the crewmembers beside Parker at the barricade ahead. He saw her backhand the perpetrator.
Bodies lay atop one another, and he had to tread in an ungainly fashion from one to another. He reached Parker. Her cheek was bleeding where a few pieces of shrapnel had cut into her flesh, but she was still standing, and that was all he needed to know.
The defenders split apart and allowed him to pass where he found Huber sitting beside his operations table, with his rifle next to him. He did not have the look of a man who had successfully held onto his ship.
"We have secured all system control points. We're just carrying out final sweeps of any stragglers. This is over," Taylor stated.
Huber nodded and sighed as if there was no relief in the news at all.
"You didn't get to them in time," he muttered.
Taylor took offence to the comment.
"Yes we did, Sir!"
The Admiral turned in surprise but could not get a word out as Taylor carried on.
"We stopped the weapon systems as fast as was humanly possible. We saved all the lives that could be saved, so don't you start calling this a failure. Whatever, and whoever, we lost to our own weapon systems was tragic, but let's not forget who the enemy is. Let's not forget who fired those weapons. We cannot afford to turn on one another and blame one another when this is all we have left!"
The Admiral nodded in agreement as Taylor approached.
"I don't like losing a single soul anymore than you do, but let's get real here. This is a war. We may have escaped it for a while, but we are going to keep losing people until we have won."
"Won? You think we can win this?" Huber whispered.
"F*ck yeah. And if you don't believe it too, we have no chance."
Taylor was speaking quietly, but it was still carrying throughout the room. Everyone stood and listened. Taylor took a step closer and whispered to Huber.
"They need you. So what do you say? Will you fight for this?"
Huber nodded in agreement, and Taylor stepped back for him to address the crew.
"We've got people that need our help. I want emergency crews out there now, doing what they can. All crews are to be escorted by marines until further notice. Let's get to work!"
He looked to his XO, Captain Vega. "See to it."
"Aye, aye, Sir," he replied, calmly moving to take control of the situation.
"What are our losses? What sort of damage was done?" Taylor asked of the Admiral.
"One frigate, the Valiant destroyed, severe damage to a Destroyer, the Tuscon, and one of the barges destroyed."
"Completely?"
Huber nodded and brought up a small display screen so that only the two of them could see. Taylor saw thousands of little bits of debris floating in space. It was only as Huber zoomed in a little that he could see many of those pieces of debris were actually bodies.
"There were up to twenty thousand souls aboard that ship. Gone, just like that, and at the hands of our own weapon systems. This happened on my watch, and I will never forgive myself."
"You take that anger, and you vent it somewhere else. You are the leader of this fleet, and perhaps the de facto leader of the human race. You do not have the luxury of feeling that guilt."
Taylor rested against the table and took off his helmet, placing it beside him. He tried to think about the next step. It was hard to even imagine what life now had in store for them. He looked up. His own people looked to him for direction now, just as did many of the ship's crew.
"First things first," said Taylor, "Where the f*ck are we?"
He looked to the Admiral, who in turn looked to his navigation officer who was as speechless as the rest of them. Eventually, Taylor looked to Jafar, who had not spoken up yet.
"You said you would choose our final destination. That is what you told me, wasn't it? That you would know and no other until we made it through?"
Jafar slowly nodded in agreement.
"Then start talking."
All eyes turned to the alien. They did not stare in contempt or distrust now, but in curiosity. They wanted to hear what he had to say, and they were willing to believe it, no matter what. They simply wanted answers.
"Well, are you gonna share, or what?" Taylor asked.
"Maybe this is better done in private," added Huber.
"No," he replied and pointed to the crew, "They have all sacrificed enough and given enough to be deserving of answers. I won't keep them from it now."
The Admiral nodded in agreement.
"All right, let's hear it..."
He stopped abruptly, not sure how to address the alien.
"Jafar is a Sergeant in my unit," Taylor prompted him.
"Sergeant Jafar..."
"I plotted a course for us to the only place I knew they would not be, and the last place they would want to go to pursue us. No Krycenaean would ever choose to come to this place. "
"Why?" Taylor asked.
"This system is called...what can only be translated as the 'Death Space'. To the Krys it is a kind of hell mixed with the myth of your Bermuda Triangle. Those who come here never return."
"And you brought us here?" Huber asked sternly.
Taylor lifted his hand to stop the Admiral as he stormed towards Jafar. The Admiral first took offence, but then calmed himself.
"So where the hell is this place?" he spat.
"With the correct maps, I should be able to show you, but it is not where we are that need concern you, but what the place is."
"And what is that?"
"In truth, I do not know."
"You what?"
"You’d better start talking some sense," added Taylor, "as this is starting to sound like crazy talk."
"Yes, it is, and always was," Jafar replied.
Taylor strode across the room and leaned in close to whisper to Jafar.
"Look at these people. They are ready to give up. You need to give them something. Make them know we are safe."
"But I do not know that we are."
"I don't give a shit. You brought us here, and you must have had some pretty good reasons for doing so. Make them understand, and better still, help me understand."
He looked into Jafar’s eyes as the alien thought it over and finally nodded once in agreement. Taylor took a few paces back and let him continue.
"This place is feared by all of my race. Rumours and myths surround it. I do not know how many if any are true. All I know is that no Krys has ever gone there in my lifetime and returned."
"And why would that be?" Huber asked, "Don't you think whatever makes it so dangerous to your people might be equally so for us?"
"Maybe, but it cannot be worse than the alternative. There is no other place I know where Erdogan would not find us and bring an end to us all."
Huber shook his head. "I'm hearing a whole lot about what you don't know about this place, what do you know?"
"Nothing that is fact."
Taylor could see there was something Jafar was wary of telling them, almost fearful. He wanted to press him on it but knew it was neither the time nor the place.
"Is that all you have for us?" asked the Admiral, "So let me get this straight. You have taken us to a ghost system, which could well contain dangers that could bring about our end, and you cannot tell us anymore?"
"Yes."
"Well, that's just great. We trusted you. We entrusted the human race to you, and you have failed us."
"And what else would you have had him do?" Taylor interrupted, "He is not a miracle worker. If you could have picked a location, where would you have gone?"
"Anywhere that I knew wasn't enemy controlled, or somewhere called the... Death Space or whatever it is."
"Erdogan's influence stretches across vast swathes of the galaxy as you or I know it. Anywhere you would have chosen would only likely have contained Krys forces or long distance scanners and drones that would have had the same effect," added Jafar.
Huber turned to the alien and opened his mouth to speak but stopped, realising Jafar may have made the best of a list of bad options.
"We're here now," Taylor said firmly, "and most significantly, we are alive. Let's not forget how valuable that is and keep going forward."
The XO stepped back aboard, and Huber took it as an opportunity to speak.
"Where are we up to?" asked Huber, "I want an update on all systems."
Vega rushed to his console. He clearly already had an overview because he began talking before he reached it.
"Power has returned to most systems. Engines and weapon systems are active. Life support is holding, but we still have fires on two levels, and several sectors have had to be isolated due to hull breaches. We have crews working as fast as they can, but it's taking time while the marines ensure they can work in safety. Sweeps of the ship are ongoing."
"All right, good work. I want a full report of casualties across the fleet.”
Huber turned towards Taylor but stopped, looked back to Vega, and hesitated before asking. “And a full headcount of the fleet. Let’s see how many remain of the human race.”
It was a gruelling thought and a tough question to ask, but they needed to know.
“Sir, I’m getting readings of something…”
They all turned to the comms officer carefully studying a display before him.
“What the hell is it?” Vega asked.
“A manmade, or… something not naturally made structure, Sir. It's the nearest object in space to our position.”
Vega rushed to the officer’s side and studied everything before him. Huber and Taylor waited anxiously. They half expected it to be an enemy vessel, but prayed for it not to be.
“It looks like…” Vega started slowly.
“What, speak clearly damn it!” Huber yelled.
“Like a space gateway, and yet… not.”
“Shit!” the Admiral shouted and turned to Jafar.
“This is on you. All this bullshit about taking us to safety, and you’ve landed us right on top of one of their gateways! What the hell are we supposed to do now? We’re finished!”
Taylor paced up close to him and leaned in quickly.
“Get a hold of yourself, Admiral. We need your leadership, right now.”
“Need? What about what I need? You were in on this, too. What the hell have you done?”
Without any warning, Taylor backhanded Huber. It wasn’t especially hard, but the shock was enough to take him off balance, and he stumbled down onto the deck. The XO drew his sidearm and several followed, but Parker and her platoon were as quick to respond with rifles trained on them.
“Put your weapons down!” she screamed.
“You have struck your commanding officer!” Vega yelled at Taylor. He turned to one of his own marines.
“Sergeant, arrest this man. Colonel Taylor, you are under arrest and will cool off in the brig.”
The Sergeant didn’t move through fear of Taylor and his own people.
“I gave you an order, Sergeant!” Vega repeated.
“No,” replied Taylor calmly in defiance.
He wasn’t even holding a weapon, despite the Captain’s pistol being training on him. He took a seat on the edge of the operations table but made no attempt to reach for the rifle on top of it.
“I’ve gone through too much to put up with this crap. You don’t like me. I get that. Live with it. I don’t want command of this fleet. The Admiral here is quite capable and entitled to the position. But neither will I stand by and see us fall to destruction because of some slackness and weak mindedness.”
“So what, you want command?” Vega sneered.
Taylor sighed and yet was as calm as he could be, as all around him were on edge and with fingers on the triggers. He simply shook his head.
“Is this how it will all end? Will humanity not be taken out by an apocalypse or invasion by an alien race? Will we destroy ourselves? Have you not listened to a single word I have said, Captain?”
Vega looked confused and bent down to help the Admiral up when he realised Taylor meant him no harm, or at least appeared to.
“Time to man up, Captain, and that goes for you, too, Sir.”
The Admiral looked up at him and into his eyes. Huber’s face had no anger in it, only shame. He had already made some bad calls and appeared weak before the crew. Now he had done it all over again.
“I’m sorry.”
Taylor looked surprised. He got up and stepped a little closer to the Admiral, and that made Vega nervous.
“I don’t want an apology. I don’t want you to say sorry. I don’t want you to accept my insubordination. We need you to be the kind of man who doesn’t accept weakness, doesn’t accept defeat. The kind of Admiral that would be so single minded and focussed that I would be in the brig by now for everything I have just done. It isn’t a problem I struck you, Sir, only that you accepted it and have not acted. Get up, and be the man you were always meant to be. Be the Admiral of the fleet.”
Huber straightened his uniform and stood up a bit straighter. He began to open his mouth to apologise once again but stopped himself. He smiled and then began to laugh. It broke the ice, and Taylor started laughing with him; many of the troops began to lower their weapons. Finally, Huber raised his right hand to bring silence, and he got it.
“Taylor, you are a son of a bitch, but you are my son of a bitch. You strike me again, and next time you’ll not walk.”
Taylor grinned at his response, nodding in appreciation as he watched Huber pace confidently across the bridge. He finally stopped and looked back to Vega.
“Put you weapon down, Captain.”
“But, Sir…” he protested.
“Put it down,” the Admiral said in a sterner tone but without shouting, “and that goes for the rest of you,” he added.
Everyone complied with some relief.
“Let’s focus on the task at hand, and that will be our job for every moment of every day we are awake. There is a lot to be done, so let’s do it. The space gateway, I want info, now!”
Nobody moved. The Admiral looked around and finally added, “Get to work.”
He sounded confident and that confidence projected throughout all of them. Huber and Taylor stared at a projection of the suspected space gateway on the table before them, but it wasn't long before they felt Jafar's presence looming over them. Taylor looked back and could see the same puzzling expression on his friend’s face.
"What is it?"
Jafar shook his head.
"This looks somewhat like a jump gate, but not like any I have ever seen."
"Maybe an older pattern?" Taylor asked.
Jafar shook his head. "I do not know."
Well that's f*cking great, Taylor thought.
"First thing we need to know is where are we and what are we dealing with? What planets, moons, and threats do we face? These are the questions we need answers to," added Huber. "Taylor, I'll find bunks for you and your people aboard this ship. It won't be pretty, but this is where you need to be right now."
Taylor nodded in agreement. It hadn't even occurred to him that they had no space of their own at all. All they had was what they were wearing. It was a gruelling thought to realise they had quite literally left everything behind.
"I want you to assemble a team to investigate that gateway or whatever the hell it is."
"I'll take two platoons, and I’ll need two ships. The Mastiffs we came in on have taken a beating and aren't exactly too flexible."
"You got it, you will be escorted by the Frigate Warrior. She'll keep you safe."
"Thank you, Sir."
"And Taylor," whispered Huber.
"If that gateway shows any sign of opening. Any enemy presence at all, or anything you don't like the look of, you blow it to high hell, you hear?"
"Bet your ass, Sir."
"Take Jafar with you. He's clearly got a better eye than we have for this."
"Aye, aye, Sir."
Taylor could feel exhaustion kicking in, but he knew it was no time to slacken off.
"Lieutenant Anders, Captain Morris. Gather your platoons and come with me. Where the hell is King?"
"He's en route, Sir," replied Parker.
"Tell him to get half our people into bunks and to get their heads down and rest up. I want the rest cycled through protection details and regular sweeps of the ship."
Parker looked at him in surprise as if to ask why she was being asked to relay a message when their comms were back online.
"Just do it," he repeated.
He carried on past her with Jafar beside him. He realised he was already expecting Morris to fall into line as his right hand man. The Captain was a good man and a solid officer, but he was no replacement for Jones. The loss of his best friend had only gone from his mind in the heat of battle, but now the thoughts of loss flooded back into his head.
"Aysen really owed you so much that he would sacrifice himself like that?" he asked Jafar.
"Is it so hard to believe after what Captain Jones did for us?"
Taylor shook his head.
"That is three of you now, three that have opposed your leaders. It gives me hope."
When Jafar did not respond, Taylor looked around and stared at him to prompt an answer, but one did not come.
"Three of you came over to us, why not more?"
"It was exceptional circumstances which drew us together."
"And that cannot happen again?"
Jafar shrugged.
"One day this war will be over. If we lose, we will likely go to extinction. But if Erdogan loses, we would never wish such an end on his people."
"You would leave them alive, and risk it all happening again?"
"I'm a fighter, like you, not an executioner. If we win this, when we win it, we are gonna have to learn to live with one another. I'd hope some more of your race sees that sooner than later. We are gonna need all the help we can get to return from this."
Taylor could see Jafar was not at all convinced, but he wasn't sure if that was in relation to the Krys living alongside them or the chance of victory. He didn't want to ask. They reached the hangar bay and found Lieutenant Eddie Rains awaiting them.
"So here we are, Colonel. On the raggedy edge of, well, God knows where. But all that matters is..." he turned and pointed, "I got myself a new ride, and she's a sweet one. Mercury T151 combat transport, twice the armour of a copter, pilot controlled weapon systems, and auto targeting turrets top and bottom. She ain't the fastest or the smoothest looking bird out there, but she sure is a bruiser."
Taylor could not help but smile.
"The World may have come to an end, and this is all it takes to perk you up?" he asked Rains.
"Well, hell yeah. I'll take what I can get."
The pilot seemed to genuinely believe his words. Taylor wondered how much of it was a coping mechanism for dealing with all they had endured, and yet, it was working, so he could not criticise it.
"You know our mission?"
"Investigate that gateway, got it."
"We have no idea if that thing is operational or not, or even who it was built by or when, so keep your wits about you. This could be a fact-finding mission, or it could be a trap. Who knows? So you keep alert at all times."
"I always see you home safe, don't I, Colonel?" Rains grinned.
Taylor grimaced. He could think of too many times they had taken a beating and forced to bail or make crash landings.
"All I can say, Lieutenant, is that flying with you if never boring."
Rains laughed.
"Well, I wouldn't want to bore you," he replied, stretching out his hands to invite them aboard, "Step aboard, Gentlemen."
As Taylor paced up the ramp, he saw Rains had painted the name Gerty beside the cockpit. It was hand-painted and still shining a little as it hadn't fully dried. It brought a smile to his face once again.
The interior was cramped, due to the thickness of the bulkheads and support beams inside, which meant they had to duck under as they got to their seats.
"Not exactly travelling in style, are we?" Taylor asked. Rains was squeezing past them to reach the cockpit.
"Hey, you've got air and a place to park your ass, what more can you ask for?"
"Quite a bit," he replied sarcastically.
A few minutes later they were lifting off from the Washington, and Taylor could just about see out through one of the cockpit windows to the vast fleet before them.
"A lot made it," Rains said.
"A lot didn't."
It was hard to disagree.
"There she is. The Warrior, and what a fine ship she is. Ever thought you'd have a frigate flying in support?"
"No, but then I'd rather like to think we didn't need it."
He turned to Jafar, hoping the alien would share some further knowledge with him.
"So what else do you know about this thing?"
"Nothing," he promptly replied.
"Nothing? I find that hard to believe."
"As I have told you. All I know is what I have experienced and been told by my own people. This I have never seen."
"All right, so these space gateways. Did your people invent the technology?"
He shook his head. "I do not know."
"Well, are there any other races out there you know of who use them?"
"I have heard of such in our history, but they are long forgotten. Defeated by the Krys."
"Defeated? You mean they were made extinct?"
He nodded.
"I just don't get it. Why hunt down a species or people to their very extinction? Why not assimilate them, even use them in some secondary roles, and put them to work or something?"
Jafar shrugged. "I cannot explain it."
"Well, that's a conversation killer," muttered Taylor.
They waited in silence while Rains flew them to the gateway. After an hour, Taylor fell into a daydream, thinking of his time back home between the wars. He remembered the moments he had gotten alone with Eli Parker and then to the seemingly never ending parading around the globe. His staged fights to the cameras didn't seem so bad anymore.
What I'd give to have it all back.
He looked around at the faces of those around them. He didn't have to say a word. Their expressions said all he needed to know. It was the same despair and depression he felt inside. He tried his best to hide it, but it was hard to be convincing.
"How much longer, Eddie?"
"Oh, about two hours."
"F*ck me," he whispered to himself.
Several overheard and nodded in agreement.
Taylor once again fell into a dream, and the time passed quickly now as he visualised Parker’s face. Before he knew it, he was being ripped from his pleasant abyss by Rains’ voice.
“There she is!”
Taylor looked around in surprise, wondering if those were the first words spoken in the last couple of hours that had gone by, or if he had just tuned everything else out. He stretched to the edge of the small seat and strained his neck to get a better view past the pilot.
“Sure is a big mother,” he added.
“What do you make of this?” Taylor asked Jafar, leaning back to let him see.
He took a quick look and then responded, “Nothing more than last time you asked.”
Taylor shook his head. “You’re a big f*cking help.”
Jafar seemed to right his back and take offence at the comment before settling down.
“Still not got a full grasp on sarcasm, hey?” Taylor asked.
He looked back to Rains, noting as they approached the structure just how vast and imposing it really was.
“The Warrior, she still with us?”
“Yes, Siree.”
“Good, any signs of life?”
“Negative. It looks…well, abandoned.”
“What do you mean? Surely the Krys wouldn’t leave a gateway like this to rust out and fade away?”
He turned and looked at Jafar to answer him, but the alien only shrugged.
“What do you want me to do?”
“Take us in for a closer look. I want to know for certain what the status of this thing is before we put boots on the ground.”
As the words came off his tongue, he realised what a bitter thought that was. Stepping foot on real solid ground seemed like a pipe dream now. It had been less than a day since he had left Earth, but it felt like it could be years before he ever did again.
If ever, he thought.
“Right then, here we go,” Rains finally added.
He put power to the reverse thrusters and brought them in quickly but calmly until they were less than fifty metres from the structure.
“What the hell is that?” Rains asked.
On the screens beside him he could see what looked like some kind of lettering across the surface of the ring of the structure.
“That mean anything to you, Jafar?”
Taylor could see the confusion in Jafar’s face, and that worried him. It was clear he had never seen them before.
“Those are not Krys symbols. Nor anything I have seen before.”
Taylor wasn't sure whether to feel grateful it wasn't Krys, or fearful that another unknown threat now existed.
"Look at this thing," said Rains.
He pointed to damage over multiple parts of the structure.
"Has that been hit deliberately?"
"I'd say more likely it's been hit by space debris, and a lot over a long time period. I think we're looking at some kind of ancient artefact, Mitch."
"What is keeping it where it is?" Morris asked.
The thought hadn't even occurred to Taylor.
"I couldn't say, but it's definitely anchored to this point somehow. What do you want to do?"
"Take us in, Eddie. More than anything right now we need information."
"Well, okay."
He brought them in cautiously towards what looked like some kind of opening ten times the size of their gunship.
"Looks about the best place to put down."
They began their approach, but Taylor was feeling uneasy.
"I don't like this. Old tech of an unknown race, it looks dead, but it’s somehow holding its position in space. I don't like it at all."
As he said it, there was a glimmer of movement ahead of them.
"Break, break!" Taylor shouted.
Rains put all power down and banked hard as they saw a dazzling flash ahead of them, and a beam weapon almost the width of their craft narrowly missed them.
"Jesus Christ!" Rains swore under his breath.
He banked again, and another beam rushed past them. As they soared back towards the Warrior, a third beam struck their starboard side and tore off one of the engines and wing. They immediately lost most of their power, went into a spin, and continued to barrel towards the frigate.
Taylor knew they were helpless now and could only hope they would not be hit again. Lighting began to fail, and they lowered their visors, expecting to be blasted into space any second, if they survived at all. The seconds went by, and they felt nothing. Finally, Rains broke the silence.
"Well, that went well."
"What can you do?"
"Nothing, Colonel, it's out of my hands now."
They felt an impact on the ship as if they had collided with something, but there was nothing visible out of the pilot's cockpit until he looked up and could see the lower hull of the other Mercury gunship overhead. They began to slow as they approached the Warrior and they were out of their spin.
"They've got us," Rains said in relief.
None of them said a word as they were escorted to the docking bay of the Warrior. The hatch opened, allowing the access to the ship, and they stepped aboard thankful they were still alive.
"Abandoned my ass, Eddie," said Taylor.
"Hey, I said it looked that way. I'm no expert."
Taylor looked to Jafar. He opened his mouth to ask a question, but he could already see the alien was as surprised by it all as they were.
"Let me guess, you have no more clue than us, right?"
Jafar nodded.
"Where the hell have you brought us?" Morris demanded.
Jafar did not respond, but they all thought it, too. It was hard to think of what else they could have done, but that did not stop them from thinking on it over and over again.
"Wherever the hell we are, it ain't home," said Taylor, "It truly is alien, and we need to start treating it with a little respect and a little caution. That was too close a call."