Chapter 36
The Lilly phase-shifted to the Chihuahuan desert, a little more than two miles from the United Planetary Alliance Outpost. Within moments, the shuttle phase-shifted from a mile below the surface into The Lilly’s flight deck.
Admiral Reynolds had made his way to the bridge. He was eager to speak with Jason; he wanted to discuss this countdown with the nano-tech devices. He could handle the prospect of dying for himself, but not his eight-year-old granddaughter. Orion smiled and welcomed the admiral onboard. The admiral nodded and stood beside the command chair. He hadn’t noticed the man sitting in it wasn’t Jason. In fact, it didn’t appear to be human.
“Welcome aboard, Admiral,” Perkins said.
Admiral Reynolds hesitated. The anemic bridge crew was obviously enjoying the surprise exhibited on his face.
“It’s me, Admiral. I’m Perkins.”
“Perkins?”
“Yes. It was a mishap with the MediPod.”
“Perkins, if I came out of the MediPod looking like—”
“Dad!” Jason entered the bridge, brow furrowed. He looked at Perkins, “Perkins, you’re relieved. Why don’t you grab some chow. Ignore the Admiral’s total lack of tact.”
“Aye, sir,” Perkins said with a forced smile, and left the bridge.
“Damn it! You couldn’t warn me?” the admiral asked.
That brought more chuckles. Jason, irritated, signaled his father to follow him. “Ricket is waiting for us in my ready room.”
* * *
Jason and the admiral entered the captain’s ready room. Ricket, along with Captain Dolom, was seated on the other side of the conference table.
Jason was still speaking to Billy via NanoCom, getting an update on securing the last remaining Caldurian ship.
“Cap, the ship’s a mess, drives section is gone and the stern is open to space. We’re moving the remaining crew into the shuttle.”
“Keep me up to date, Billy.”
Still standing, Jason brought his attention back to matters at hand. Looking across at the small alien, he removed his sidearm, sat and slammed the weapon down with far more force than even he had anticipated. “I need to know what, specifically, you were looking for below the surface of our planet. Tell me one lie and I’ll shoot you, right now, between the eyes. Do you understand?”
The Craing officer squirmed in his seat. He looked surprised by Jason’s fury.
“I will tell you the truth,” the Craing officer said. The Lilly A.I. translated as he spoke. “Our directive was simple, to find the Source.” Seeing Jason’s irritation rise, the Craing officer continued. “Recently on my home planet of Terplin, all three of the vessels, the ones you call Caldurian, became active. This caused a great commotion. The hulls of these ships had never been breeched. Made of a strange and exotic substance, it was considered impregnable. Over time, the Craing lost interest in them. The ships were secured in an underground vault. Only recently, the ships came alive. Hatchways were released. Access was permitted. The artificial intelligence was fully functional. Over the course of several weeks, we learned of the ship’s unique and highly advanced capabilities, many of which were in line with the stories we’d heard of your vessel—this one.” Captain Dolom nervously looked around the table, looking for an indication to continue.
“I’ll tell you when to stop. Keep going,” Jason said.
“Advanced capabilities continued to be found. Medical devices with the ability to heal, even bring individuals back to life. Eventually, we learned of Caldurians using wormholes to traverse the universe. There is nothing more important to the Craing than this capability.”
“Probably even more, now that your Loop has been destroyed,” the admiral said.
Captain Dolom looked somewhat perplexed at that, but continued, “Specifics to how this capability worked were vague. Wormholes and the bending of space was not new to us. But wormholes that could materialize on demand, take us anywhere, at any time … that was unimaginable. We learned that it wasn’t a function of the Caldurian vessels themselves, so much as an external power emanating from one specific location within the universe. The information was not self-evident and was hard to decipher. But we learned the Source would be found here on your planet, four miles below ground. It would be protected by an indigenous people. We learned utilizing the Source without compliance or interaction with the indigenous ones would be futile.”
Jason had been watching the Craing alien. He had started to slur his words. His hands were shaking.
“What’s wrong with you?” Jason asked. “Do you need some water?”
Captain Dolom shook his head.
Ricket looked closer at the Craing sitting next to him. “Did you use medical devices aboard the ship? Did you have devices implanted in your head?”
He nodded. Then swayed in his seat. Tears filled the young officer’s eyes. He looked to Ricket as a child would a parent.
“Help me, please.”
He died in his seat. Ricket leaned over and felt for a pulse. Then prodded and probed his limp body.
“Evidently, his nano-device just extinguished itself.”
The room went quiet. Jason was being hailed.
“Go for Captain.”
Billy was out of breath, and something else. He sounded scared. “Captain, the remaining Craing prisoners from the Caldurian ship—they’ve all keeled over dead. Strangest thing I’ve ever seen. They’re all dead.”
Jason sat back in his chair and looked at the lifeless body of the Craing officer.
To be continued…
Thank you for reading HAB 12. If you enjoyed this book and would like to see the series continue, please leave a review on Amazon.com. To be notified of the soon to be released next Scrapyard Ship book, Space Vengeance, contact [email protected], Subject Line: Space Vengeance List.
Acknowledgments
I'd like to thank my wonderful wife, Kim, for (again) providing the loving and supportive space for me to write this book. Thank you to my amazing editors, Lura Lee Genz , Rachel Weaver and Mia Manns-the many hours invested are so very much appreciated. A big thank you also goes to Ryan Knope, for the cool CAD designs of The Lilly, and to Lura Fischer and Drusilla Tieben for their continued support; it really means a lot to me. I'd also like to thank the book's subject matter experts, and others who supported, contributed, and reviewed this book, including James Fischer, Sue Parr, Eric Sundius, and David Brock. They selflessly gave their time to this project. I'd also like to thank the fans of this ongoing saga. I read every one of your many encouraging emails.