Beyond the Shroud of the Universe Read online

  “You anticipated?”

  “I found it 74% likely either you or Lieutenant O’Leary would want him onboard. When I added in the possibility he might know something about Captain Nightsong’s plans, having been his hostage for so long, the likelihood increased to 87%. It was a logical deduction, put into what I determined to be the correct phrase. Is ‘anticipated’ not the correct word?”

  “It is the correct word,” the CO said. “I’ve just never heard you say it that way. Nicely done.” He turned to the front of the bridge. “Helmsman, all ahead flank; make for the stargate. Comms, call Fleet Command and let them know we are in pursuit of the courier ship and to deactivate the mine field. Don’t answer any further communications from Fleet Command without my permission.”

  “Heading to the stargate,” said the helmsman. “Coming up to flank.”

  “I told them, sir,” replied the communications officer. “They ordered us to maintain our position until told otherwise.”

  “Noted,” Captain Sheppard said. “Continue the pursuit.”

  Bridge, TSS Vella Gulf, Earth Orbit, October 7, 2021

  “Sir, Fleet Command is calling,” said the communications officer. “They’re ordering us to break off the pursuit and remain in the Solar System.”

  “Did you answer them?” the CO asked.

  “No sir, I did not.”

  “Good; continue radio silence. There is a problem at Fleet Command. I don’t know what it is, but Admiral Wright personally ordered me to recover Lieutenant Commander Hobbs, and that is what we are going to do.”

  “Sir, we’re not going to catch the courier ship before it reaches the stargate,” Steropes said.

  “Then we’re going to follow it into the next system,” the CO replied, “and the next one, and the one after that, too, if that’s what it takes. We are going to run it down, recover Lieutenant Commander Hobbs and find out what the heck is going on. Any questions?”

  The bridge was silent.

  “Steropes, how long until the courier ship reaches the stargate?” the CO asked.

  “Two hours.”

  “And how long until we hit the gate?”

  “Five hours.”

  “Good. In that case, I want a staff meeting in my conference room right now so we can figure out what we’re going to do after that.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  CO’s Conference Room, TSS Vella Gulf, Approaching Stargate #1, October 7, 2021

  “So that’s what we know,” Lieutenant O’Leary said. “Arges has been helping the Iranians and the Efreet. Based on his troops’ weapons and technology, Arges either has a replicator of his own or access to one. It appears Captain Nightsong has also been helping the Efreet although I have no idea why or how. We believe the courier ship we’re following is his ship, and that he has Lieutenant Commander Hobbs onboard as a captive.”

  “We really don’t know if that’s true, though, do we?” the Vella Gulf’s executive officer, Commander Russ Clayton, asked. “We may very well be chasing a ship that has neither Lieutenant Commander Hobbs nor Captain Nightsong aboard. We don’t have any hard evidence that confirms Lieutenant Commander Hobbs is even alive, much less onboard that ship.”

  “That’s correct,” Lieutenant O’Leary replied, “but it’s the only lead we have. He could have been killed when the cave blew up, and he might have been killed when we destroyed the Efreeti facility in the other universe. Both times, though, a ship just like the one we’re following lifted off. Whoever is in it has been a couple of steps ahead of us ever since we went to the other universe, which shows they have a foreknowledge of our plans. They may have received that information from Arges, but they may also have gotten it from Nightsong. We just don’t know.”

  “And, as the lieutenant said,” Captain Sheppard added, “that ship remains our best lead in figuring out what is going on. Its pilot was almost certainly involved in the cave explosion, and it was also at the Efreeti transport facility. Whoever is onboard has to know something about what’s going on.”

  “I have a question,” Lieutenant O’Leary said, looking at Steropes. “What did Arges mean when he said he had ruled the planet since before we ventured forth from our caves?”

  Steropes eyes twitched from side to side. “He said that? Um…I was afraid of that…”

  “You were afraid of what?” the CO barked, knowing that none of the Psiclopes liked to reveal more than they had to. “Out with it! All of it!”

  “Uh, yes,” Steropes stalled. “You see, this is a problem with people who live as long as we do; it is not uncommon for us to develop a degree of megalomania. In its most basic sense, a little bit is helpful in defending against loss, and trust me, loss is something we Psiclopes already knew a great deal about, even before we lost our home world. When one of us has been in a position of power for an especially long period of time, like Arges has, it can also lead to feelings of personal omnipotence and grandeur. As the leader for our mission to your planet, Arges was theoretically in charge of all the activities on it for many millennia.”

  “And you think this has happened to him?” the CO asked.

  “I believe it has,” Steropes replied. “I realized some time ago he was overly fascinated with information, and this has grown worse as time has gone on.”

  “What type of information?” Commander Clayton asked.

  “All types,” Steropes replied. “He wants to know it all. Not just important things, but everything there is to know. Knowledge is power, and if he knows everything, then he will also be all-powerful. He sees the human race’s ascendance as a blow to his power base, and I do not believe he wants to share. He probably started the global news network so he could keep track of everything going on, system-wide, and use it to stir things up. He started the Sino-American War; this could be his latest effort to take your society back a few steps.”

  “I thought he started the war to help find your hero souls,” Lieutenant O’Leary said.

  “That is what he told me, but it is also possible he had plans within plans. Wars serve all of his vices well. As he has often said, ‘where there is chaos, there also is profit.’”

  “Okay, so Arges likes wars,” Captain Sheppard said. “That much I can get. There’s profit and megalomania for him. Why did he start a war between the Efreet and the Aesir? Why not just start the war here if this is the planet he wants to control? Does he have bigger goals? The takeover of the entire galaxy?”

  “One reason to start somewhere else may be the state of the Efreet on anti-Earth,” Lieutenant O’Leary said. “Their technology level was pretty low; maybe the plan was to build them up until they were ready to take us on. He probably knew they wouldn’t be much of a fight for us right now.” He thought about it a moment, then added, “Well, aside from being able to jump in and nuke us at will, anyway.”

  “Yeah, that makes sense,” Lieutenant Commander Sarah Brighton, the acting CO of Vella Gulf’s squadron of space fighters, said. “If we were focused somewhere else, that might give him a chance to build up the Efreet on anti-Earth to the point where they were a credible threat.”

  “There is something we are still missing,” Steropes replied. “If Arges was trying to build up the Efreet, why did Nightsong lead us to anti-Earth before they were ready? It seems like all the reasons we went to anti-Earth were based on things Captain Nightsong said. If they were working together, why would he have led us there before both were ready? If he wasn’t working with them, why was his ship at the Efreeti transportation facility? We are missing a piece of the puzzle.”

  “Okay, we could go around chasing our tails on this all day,” the CO said; “let’s focus. What do we know for sure?”

  “The Aesir are at war with the Jotunn and the Efreet,” Lieutenant Commander Brighton said.

  “We are at war with the Jotunn, the Efreet and the Iranians,” Lieutenant O’Leary added.

  “I’m not sure we’re officially at war with the Jotunn,” Captain Sheppard said, “but I’m p
retty sure we’ve blown up enough of their stuff that war with both the Iranians and the Efreet is a given.”

  “We also know Arges is helping the Efreeti/Iranian alliance,” Lieutenant O’Leary noted.

  There was a long pause. “That isn’t very much,” the CO commented. “So, what do we think we know?”

  “We think that Arges and Nightsong are working together, and that Nightsong has captured Lieutenant Commander Hobbs and is taking him somewhere,” Lieutenant O’Leary said.

  Silence again filled the conference room. “It seems to me,” Captain Sheppard said, “that we don’t know enough about what’s going on to make good choices, and there are only two people who do know. The first is Arges, who is virtually unapproachable right now due to the attack on his castle, and who wouldn’t have told us anything in the first place. The second is Captain Nightsong, who we think is still alive, and who we think is in the space ship we’re chasing. He also won’t want to tell us anything, but at least he isn’t being protected by the Terran government.”

  “We don’t have very many choices,” Captain Sheppard concluded. “We can either continue to chase the courier ship in front of us, or we can go back and live under Arges’ rule like good little girls and boys.” He shook his head. “When you look at it that way, there really isn’t much of a choice. I have no desire to live under the rule of a megalomaniac. We will continue to follow the courier ship and see if we can get our hands on Nightsong. Meeting adjourned.”

  Bridge, TSS Vella Gulf, Earth Orbit, October 7, 2021

  “Sir, Fleet Command is calling us again. They are ordering us to break off pursuit and return to Earth.”

  “Understood,” Captain Sheppard replied. “Solomon, I would like you to transmit the following via standard radio. ‘Fleet Command, this is Captain Sheppard onboard the Vella Gulf. We are experiencing a communications failure and only have our standard radio operational. We are chasing down an intruder, but the ship has too big of a head start for us to catch it prior to the stargate. We intend to continue pursuit and capture the interloper. We will return once we have apprehended the fugitive.”

  “If I send that via standard radio, rather than the faster-than-light communications set, it will be several hours before Fleet Command receives the message,” the ship’s AI said. “We will not receive an answer prior to making the jump into the Vulpecula 452 system.”

  “Understood,” Captain Sheppard said. “Please transmit as requested.”

  “Done,” Solomon replied.

  “Well, we’re committed now,” Lieutenant O’Leary said.

  “Yes we are,” the CO replied. “Now we just have to catch him.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Medical, TSS Vella Gulf, Transiting Lacaille 8760, October 15, 2021

  “The last thing I remember is visiting a friend of mine who was in the hospital,” Father Zuhlsdorf said. “I got into the elevator with a man I had never seen before, and I don’t remember getting back off. When I came to, I was in the cave where I have been ever since. During my time there, I only saw two creatures: the man who looked like an elf, and a creature that looked like a large walking salamander. My time there does not bear repeating as it was a mix of starvation and torture. I’m afraid I must confess to having had some very non-Christian thoughts about the elf from time to time.”

  “The elf is a person who goes by a number of names,” Captain Sheppard said. “We know him most recently as Captain Nightsong; however, he has also been known as Wayland and Beowulf, among many other aliases.”

  “I believe he called himself ‘Wayland’ while I was in captivity, but most of it is kind of a blur now.”

  “Do you remember how you came to be outside where we found you?” Lieutenant O’Leary asked. “You had been shot with a laser.”

  “Yes! It is all coming back,” the priest replied. “Calvin came in with Wayland…no, wait, Calvin was his prisoner too. Wayland said we had to leave and cut me loose from where I was tied, and Calvin helped carry me outside. I walked as far as I could, carrying my own cross, as it were, but when I stumbled, Wayland shot me and left me to die.”

  “Did you see where they went after that?” Lieutenant O’Leary asked.

  “No, I didn’t. I’m afraid I may have passed out for a while.”

  “That’s okay,” Captain Sheppard said. “Go ahead and rest.” He looked up to Lieutenant O’Leary. “Well, if nothing else, I think that confirms Nightsong is our bad guy.”

  “Yeah, now I have an even bigger score to settle with the bastard,” Lieutenant O’Leary said. “Not only did he abduct my CO and torture a priest, but he also blew up the cave, knowing I’d be the first person to jump into it. He obviously intended to kill me and Captain Train. Just let me get my hands on that murderous bastard. All I want is five minutes alone with him…”

  “You do remember he is one of those Aesir Eco Warrior people, right? And he can manipulate fire and life-based nanobots?”

  “You’re right,” O’Leary said, “better make it 10.”

  Bridge, TSS Vella Gulf, 61 Cygni System, October 17, 2021

  “Sir, it looks like he’s heading for the Epsilon Eridani system,” Steropes said.

  “Any change in his speed?” the CO asked. They had chased the unknown ship through four systems but had been unable to make up any ground. Strangely, they hadn’t lost any ground, either.

  “No sir. He continues to maintain a two-hour lead on us. Whenever we speed up, he speeds up. Whenever we slow down, he slows down.”

  “So he’s just toying with us?” the CO asked.

  “Unknown,” Steropes replied. “He may be trying to lead us somewhere; it may also be he is slowing to maintain a more efficient speed to conserve fuel. There are a couple of things we could attempt to determine which is correct, like slowing down further to see if he does the same or running our engines at full thrust to see whose motors blow first.”

  “No, I don’t think we’re quite ready for that yet,” Captain Sheppard said. “Maybe some time, but not now. We’ll continue to follow the ship to Epsilon Eridani, if that’s where it goes. Maybe the Domans will have a ship in position to capture him.”

  Bridge, TSS Vella Gulf, Epsilon Eridani System, October 20, 2021

  “Domus Control, Vella Gulf, checking in entering through Stargate One.”

  “Good to see you, Vella Gulf. Did you bounce in and out? We thought another ship came in before you, but it disappeared immediately upon system entry.”

  “That wasn’t us, Domus Control; that was the ship we are chasing. Interrogative, do you have any ships available you can send to block the stargates?”

  “We have one cruiser available.”

  “We’ll stay here and guard this one; please send your cruiser to the other. We don’t know if the ship we were chasing jumped to the other universe or cloaked, but if we can trap them here, we can figure it out.”

  “What do you mean, ‘jumped to the other universe?’”

  “We will send a shuttle to the planet to meet with your leaders. We’ll explain everything.”

  “Got it, Vella Gulf. Domus Control, out.”

  Chadnezzar, Anti-Domus, Unknown Date

  “Well, we’re here,” Nightsong said as he brought the courier ship in for a landing on the airfield in the center of the city. Chadnezzar covered the area within a ring of seven hills, with the outlying urban areas climbing well up onto the hills. A modern city would have housed several hundred thousand; however, as the tallest building was only three stories, Calvin doubted the city had even 100,000 inhabitants.

  “You’re going to hide in the middle of the city?” Calvin asked. “Our forces will find you anyway and come for you.”

  “You forget the ship following us is the Vella Gulf. It doesn’t have the ability to make the jump. They can stay in your universe while we stay here. When I’m ready to leave, I have the stargates plotted very accurately; I will stay in this universe and only jump back to yours at the last minute.”
r />   “What if Fleet Command sends the Terra or the Spark?”

  “They won’t. They are more worried about the Iranians and the Efreet. You heard them trying to call the Vella Gulf back. I don’t believe the Gulf’s CO will still have a job when he returns to Terra.”

  Calvin felt a surge of pride as he realized the CO of the Gulf was more worried about trying to rescue Calvin than his career. “So what do you intend to do here?” he asked.

  “I don’t plan to be here long,” Nightsong replied. “I have some things to pick up, I need to refuel my ship and you have a date with a sword. After that, it is off to kill some Aesir and some Jotunn…but not necessarily in that order.”

  Palace, Remurn, Domus, October 21, 2021

  “So we chased the ship to this system,” Lieutenant O’Leary said. “We have discussed it and we do not believe the courier ship had stealth modules on it, nor would it have had the capability to stealth without them. The ship isn’t anything more than an engine and a minimal shell around it. It is meant to get diplomatic messages and an ambassador or two from point to point as quickly as possible. If the ship didn’t have stealth, it must have jumped to the Jinn Universe.”

  “Which would mean there is an Efreeti presence on this planet in the Jinn Universe,” the Kuji queen, Queen Risst, said. She turned to the humanoid queen. “I like this not.”

  “Nor do I,” the humanoid queen, Queen Glina, replied. She turned to Captain Sheppard. “We know so little about the Efreeti society, and now you tell us they could jump to our planet at any moment and destroy our cities and everything we’ve worked so hard to achieve in the last few years. This is unacceptable.”