A Twist of Destiny Bk. 02

Aventine stepped forward with tears in her eyes. "Tell us about this menace of yours," she said as she wiped the tears away with the back of her hand. "We need as much information on them as we can get if we're going to give them a good fight."

We can do more than tell you. Open your minds.

We all closed our eyes to free our minds of direct thought and, like a dream, images began to fill our heads. Unfortunately, the images amounted more to a nightmare than a bucolic dream. We saw hundreds of thousands of machines, similar to mechanical exoskeletons that were driven by small, furry, carnivorous-looking creatures, descend upon the Kholain homeworld like a swarm of locusts. The only name the Kholain had for them was "The Horde." The peaceful people were caught totally unawares and unprepared, which The Horde used to their advantage. Kholain women and children were slaughtered wholesale, almost gleefully, while men and soldiers were mowed down like bowling pins. Millions of Kholain were killed within minutes of the first attack, which was a global invasion, and the survivors were quickly subdued and pressed into slavery. Over the following weeks Horde patrols began to spread out across the lands and bring in more survivors, sometimes in small groups and sometimes with a full city's worth of people on a death march (watching those death marches was eerily how I imagined the Trail of Tears to be in our own American history, a chapter that still rings of sharp regret and shame).

A few rebellions broke out here and there around the Kholain planet, but all of them were quelled or completely put down in short shrift. Unfortunately, the Kholain are too unaccustomed to war, having enjoyed peace and prosperity as the reward for putting such things aside millennia before. These people had simply forgotten how to fight and defend themselves. The few exploratory and merchant ships that had been out of that sector of space during the attacks had gotten emergency transmissions which described the carnage but, so far, none had found a way to reclaim their homeworld successfully. One coordinated effort to repel The Horde from space had ended in disaster, which left the only free Kholain to roam space as hopeless orphans of a dying race.

All of this information filled our minds in a matter of seconds but it felt like years had gone by as we processed it. It was hard not to feel the emotional turmoil that these people were in and I found myself frequently wondering just what Humanity would do if we had been in the same situation. Of course, I knew the answer: we'd fight to the death, every last man, woman and child, even if it meant the end of our species. Us humans hold freedom in extremely high regard and will not suffer any kind of violent oppression for too long without revolt.

When the "viewing" was over, I saw that my fellow teammates were just as shaken as I was. "What in the world do they want from you?!" Aventine asked miserably.

Slaves and technology, perhaps. We have seen reports of them attacking other species before and it seems that they do this for fun. They are extremely powerful and difficult to defeat. The rest of the galaxy's space-faring races avoid them entirely and live in fear of them. They are intelligent and very... angry, we do not know why, but we are helpless to stop them. Their strength increases with every attack they commit. The Horde will subdue a culture, strip it of its technology and resources and then, when there is nothing new to take, they simply cleanse the entire planet of its inhabitants. We know of six cultures so far that they have erased. Ours will be the seventh. The way V'Kesh bowed her head as she said this was unmistakable: she felt helpless to save her planet and even though there were still millions of survivors, I had a sneaking feeling that she'd already lost her family.

I turned to face my teammates. "Guys, we have to help them. I'm going to, whether you're with me or not. No one deserves that kind of treatment."

"No argument there, buddy," Tank growled. "I'm chompin' at the bit to rip those bastards to pieces! When do we go? Now?"

"We have to report back to General Hannis," Aventine said evenly. "Oh, don't look at me like that, Tank. We have to. We can't just up and leave Earth without even clearing it with the Brass. David can do what he pleases, but we're still soldiers." She looked at V'Kesh. "I'm not saying no. I'm pretty sure that our leaders will accept your request and... payment for our services. We just need a little time to prepare."

We understand that. It is good that you need this time to prepare, as we cannot bring you to our home planet anyway.

Aventine looked surprised. "What? Why not?"

Our method of travel would kill you. But we can give you coordinates and directions to our planet if you are able to gain passage there.

"This has got to be some kind of friggin' joke!" Leviathan exclaimed. "You ask us to save your planet but don't have a way of getting us there?"

V'Kesh looked squarely at me. There is a way.

Everyone looked at me while I tried to figure out what V'Kesh meant by that. Unbidden from the depths of my mind came an idea, however, and I realized then that the idea wasn't mine to begin with. V'Kesh had planted it there, but it was an idea I could definitely use. "We build a ship," I said calmly. "Or, more to the point, I build a ship. At least, I'm pretty sure I can."

Tank guffawed. "He built his house. Why not a ship?"

Aventine narrowed her eyes at me skeptically. "Are you sure you can do that?"

I see-sawed my hand. "Mostly sure, yeah. I've studied physics a bit and I always tried to keep up with at least knowing about new scientific advancements. I'm pretty sure that Humanity has the theoretical knowledge even if we lack the capacity. With my transmutation ability, I can probably do it. There's only one real way to know for sure, though."

"I will discuss your situation and offer with our leaders," Aventine told V'Kesh. "If they agree to help you, how do we contact you?"

We will know. Once the decision has been made we will transmit all relevant data to NightShade's home so that he can begin fabricating your own vessel.

"Actually," I said, "I'm going to start making that vessel as soon as I get home. I feel like an idiot for not having thought of it before. When the ship is ready, just transmit the data there. Like I said: regardless of what the others end up doing, I'm committed to helping your people."

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"You can't do this, David," the general said over the video-phone in my home office. He looked annoyed and flustered, like a man that had suddenly found himself juggling pony-nukes. I guess, in a sense, he had. Aventine's report had been given directly to POTUS within moments of us getting back. As someone who was no longer part of the team, I was free to leave and did so promptly without telling anyone what my plans were. The Kholain ship, after we were sent back to our original rendezvous point, sent me all of the information I'd need to build the ship and then left our sky to await our arrival in its solar system. It wasn't until a few minutes after I'd started to tell my wife about what had happened that General Hannis called me. I didn't ask her to leave, so Kathy simply stood out of the visual range of the camera and silently listened.

"Sir, with all due respect, I can do whatever the hell I please. I'm a private citizen. If it wasn't for the Kholain, The Guardians wouldn't exist. You would most likely be pushing papers at some NATO desk. Sir, they need our help and we owe it to them."

"But you can't just create a starship and then zip off to some unknown part of the galaxy, David! It's... it's..."

"It's not against the law, General."

"Well, it ought to be! And it isn't against the law only because no one's ever had the ability to do it before."

A playful smile crept across my mouth. "Let me guess, sir: the Air Force wants in on it, right? They want control of the first inter-stellar starship."

General Hannis started to deny it but seemed to sag under the strain of the situation. "Yes, they do. The President wants that ship to bear the American flag and represent the entire human race. He's threatened to use imminent domain on it if he has to."

I arched a skeptical and surprised eyebrow at that. "Seriously? Sir, forgetting that I am literally the most powerful being on the planet, exactly how does the President suppose he'd gain control of a starship that no one on Earth but me can reach? NASA sure as hell doesn't have the resources to attempt it. He's dreaming and we both know it."

"God damn it, David, we need that starship! The North Koreans-"

I shook my head. "War again? Sir, I've told you before that I will not be a party to political games or warmongering. The technology that a starship represents could and probably would be turned into a weapon and I won't have that on my conscience. The answer is no. I am more than happy and willing to bring The Guardians with me as my crew, but positive control of my ship stays in my hands and that's final."

"This could be regarded as treason. You know that, don't you?" the general asked darkly.

I shook my head balefully at him. "Alec, you respect you a lot, but you can't intimidate me. How many times am I going to have to tell you that conquest is the absolute wrong direction for us to take? When will you get it through your thick skull that humanity's best possible future does not lay in war? Looking out for the best interests of the entire human race is the furthest thing from treason. That dog won't hunt. Now... are The Guardians coming with me or not?"

"What if we get attacked while you're away?" he asked. "What if this is some sort of elaborate gambit or ruse to lure the four most powerful individuals on this planet away from here?"

I mulled that over for a moment and thoughtfully stroked my chin. "Tell you what, General. I'll whip up a sub-space communications device for you. If Earth does come under attack while we're away, you can call us and we'll beat feet back home."

"Sub-space communications... like Star Trek?!"

I sighed deeply. "General, it might surprise you to know that most of the tech in Star Trek is derived from theoretical science which exists today. You'd probably be amazed at how much."

Resignation was writ large on the general's face, then, and he sighed. "You're damned stubborn," he said. "You know that?"

I smiled. "I do, sir."

"I'll send the team to your house," he said crisply. "Hannis out."

As I turned off the video-teleconferencing monitor, my wife said, "Wow. He didn't like that at all."

"He's an Army general, honey. He's not used to hearing the word no, least of all from a subordinate."

"But you aren't a subordinate anymore, David," she said. "You're a private citizen."

I shook my head. "While that's true on the surface, he still considers me to be under his command. For him it's a foregone conclusion that I will eventually be officially back on the team at some point."

"If they do bring you back on the team, do you think they'd be able to take the ship?"

I shrugged. "I highly doubt it. They might order me to hand it over, but since it is personal property that was acquired while I was off-duty, they can't do anything but want it. In the end, though, I don't really care. My concern isn't about the ship, which I haven't even created yet. I'm worried about the general's single-minded focus on domination. He's of the mind that the United States is the only nation that can responsibly lead the world toward a better future. And a lot of other nations feel the same way about their countries. Until that kind of thinking is gone, no one nation is suited to lead the world than any other. They've got to start working towards a common goal rather than working at odds against one another. Until that happens, I'm not giving anyone advanced technology or weapons. My role is to protect and I'm sticking to that."

Kathy smiled proudly and gave me a kiss. "That's the man I married, right there. All of the powers and experiences be damned, the man I married is bigger than any of that other stuff. I love you."

I kissed her back and sighed contentedly. "I wish I could stay here," I said wistfully. "But the things the Kholain showed us... I can't turn my back on that, honey. I hope you understand."

Kathy nodded solemnly. "I understand, my love. It's who you are. I just wish I knew how long you're going to be gone."

"I honestly have no idea, Kathy. It's a big planet and there's only four of us. Hopefully we'll make a big enough impression once we arrive to convince The Horde to pack up and leave. Unfortunately, something tells me that that won't happen. They'll put up a fight before backing out."

"And you'll give it to them," my wife said with confidence. "I can't pretend to know what they've gone through, but I trust you and believe you'll always do what's right. Don't worry about us while you're gone, honey. We'll be fine. Take as long as you need to."

I lovingly caressed her swollen stomach. "I might not be here when he arrives," I told her.

"I know," Kathy replied softly. "And it's okay. Heck, you probably won't be here when Holly gives birth, either. Remember?"

Holly2, when I'd impregnated her, had told me that I was "busy" and that was why the "me" of her time period couldn't do the deed. I guess I was already at the Kholain homeworld by then. I nodded and sighed. "You might be right," I said. "But I'll stay in touch. I'll set up a sub-space relay here, too, so that you guys can contact me whenever you want."

Kathy grinned. "I'd expect no less from you, honey."

Suddenly the proximity alarms around the house began to go off. I quickly activated the security feeds and saw that The Guardians had already arrived. They were standing on our roof, looking around in confusion. I flicked on a switch and spoke into a microphone, which was piped to a loudspeaker not far from where they stood. "I didn't expect you to arrive so fast. I'll be up in just a minute." I looked at my wife balefully. "Duty calls, my love."

"I want to see the ship before you go," she said and gave me another quick kiss.

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Departure

Long before I ever became NightShade I had dabbled in 3D graphics design. It might sound nerdy of me, but yes, I was a Star Trek fan. I wasn't as big a fan of the stories as I was of the technology and science it proposed. I read up on all of that stuff when I was younger and retained almost all of it. The show's writers called it "techno-babble" but it was done with care to make it as realistic and theoretically true as possible, which I paid close attention to, also. I'd come up with some of my own starship designs and ideas as a fan, so it was no great feat for me to think up a ship design that would suit our needs. It had to be small and yet large enough to be comfortable for a crew of ten or more, fast and powerful, highly maneuverable and well armored. First, I created a computer that would help me to design the ship as quickly as possible, which was pretty easy. It had a holographic 3D interface that responded to my voice as well as my hands. The basic shape of the ship came to me quickly. Filling it with internals and creating a deck-by-deck layout, however, took a little longer than expected.

She's got four decks. Deck One is command quarters, Bridge, Sick Bay, Transporter Room, Armory, Shuttle Bay and Stellar Cartography. Deck Two is crew and guest quarters, Holosuite, Mess Hall, Gymnasium, Science Labs, Training Room and Brig. Deck Three is Engineering and Ship's stores- we've got spare parts for just about everything on the Athena. Deck Four is cargo storage, anti-matter/matter storage, replicator raw material storage, landing gear and extra cargo space for future use. The length of the ship is one-hundred and fifteen meters with a width of sixty meters and a height of thirty-five meters. The Athena is capable of sustaining a full crew of thirty people but can be managed by just us four. The Sick Bay has a holographic physician whose medical database covers everything imaginable that can happen to a human being including medical records on all of us from PROJECT: SERAPH.

Aventine and Tank, believe it or not, were very helpful in designing the ship's finer details. They offered suggestions and ideas when I needed them and the three of us seemed to work well during that process. Leviathan mostly just sat back and chatted with my wife while the two of them watched in awe. Within three hours the ship design itself was complete.

The computer interface, while somewhat reminiscent of the LCARS that you'd see on the show, is a lot simpler to understand and work with. The database, however, was the real trick. First, I had to create a computer core inside my house that would "mirror" the one that would eventually be made on the ship. Creating an AI that could sift through information on the Internet and copy it wasn't half so difficult as it was waiting for the database to populate- the souped-up computers I created work a lot faster than anything on the 'net, so the lag time was agonizing. I had to set specific search parameters on subjects that I figured would be critical- with plans to update that information in the future, once our mission on Kholain was finished and we'd come back to Earth. Fortunately, the AI I'd created was smart enough to all but blow past even the most stringent security measures it ran into, which made getting even classified information an untraceable breeze. When the database was full enough it would be a simple matter to upload everything over to the ship. The next stage, of course, was to create the damn thing.

With forty acres of land at my disposal, I had more than enough raw materials to work with. I'd memorized the schematics but kept a hard copy Mylar printout of them nearby in case I missed anything. I knelt down with my palm flat on the ground while my "audience" stood behind me and I began to concentrate, filling my mind with nothing but thoughts about the ship. This was going to be significantly more difficult than creating my house, and I knew it, but just because something is difficult doesn't mean it can't be done. We all felt the ground shift and twist in front of us and I heard a few gasps of surprise as the "construction" began, but my eyes were closed and I couldn't see what they could. I stayed like that, with my eyes closed and lost in deep concentration, for almost an hour before I had to stop and take a break. When I opened my eyes to see the progress I was astonished at what stood before me.

It was my ship. Gleaming metal and composites of all types, puzzled together in a thousand different ways. There was no paint on it (yet), but one glance at the massive vessel would tell anyone that this was definitely a starship with a decidedly Trek flavor. I glanced back at my team and wife, who were all just staring in wide-eyed, open-mouthed wonder at the vessel, and smiled. "She's not ready yet," I told them, "but she's close. I'm going inside to take a look around and see if the computer systems are operational yet. If they are, I'll be able to get a better idea of how much is left to do."