The Dark Star War (Codex Regius Book 3) Read online

  “That is sound advice,” the emperor agreed, “and it was my intention to do so. Anything else?”

  “Yes sir,” Captain Sheppard replied. “I know it isn’t my place to tell you, but I think you should send word to the Archons. The Aesir need help, and they’re the only ones who might be able to assist. It’s in their best interest to do so; if the Aesir are destroyed, the Archons will be next in the Shaitans’ advance down that stargate chain. I’m sure the Archons would rather fight as far away from their own borders as possible.”

  “What are your intentions?” the emperor asked.

  “Even though I doubt the Ssselipsssiss are going to come up with anything to make it worth our while, I think we ought to see if we can find the Dark Planet the Ssselipsssiss want us to look for. The Vella Gulf is the best reconnaissance ship we have, and the one most likely to make it there and back. We are the most experienced with fighting the Shaitans, and we have the ability to jump back and forth with them. We’re the best qualified for the job.”

  “And what are your intentions if you find the Dark Planet?”

  “I’ve never been a fan of genocide,” Captain Sheppard said, “so it isn’t my intention to destroy the planet. That being said, the Shaitans have given no indication they’d discuss peace with us. Ever. My goal is to bring them to the negotiating table; failing that, I’ll give them a demonstration that will.”

  “What can I do to assist in this?”

  “Well, we’re sort of short on space fighters again. If you have five we could borrow, I could certainly use them. Also, on your next courier run to Terra, could you please take back word of our intentions to Fleet Command?”

  “I would be happy to,” Emperor Yazhak replied. “Before you leave, though, I was wondering if you would do one thing for me first…”

  Bridge, Harvest of Flesh, Sssellississ System, December 12, 2021

  “The Jotunn are in range,” the missile technician advised.

  “Fire!” Captain Skrelleth ordered.

  The two battleships and the missile base on the moon launched at the same time as the three Jotunn battlecruisers. As expected, all three enemy ships targeted the flagship, Harvest of Flesh, although Calvin didn’t know whether that was because the Jotunn were trying to kill the ship or the Terran aboard it.

  Either way, he approved of the way Captain Skrelleth had positioned his forces. The Harvest of Flesh was in the center of the formation facing the Jotunn vessels. The other battleship, the Blood Drinker, was 100,000 miles ‘above’ the flagship. The two battlecruisers, the Dagger and the Knife, were a similar distance to the sides and the cruiser Reaper the same distance ‘below.’ All five ships were broadside to the giants’ ships and were able to provide mutual defense.

  The giants’ initial salvo was destroyed.

  “Pop-up target, sir!” the sensor technician said. “It is on the far side of the Knife.”

  Calvin heard a small hiss from the captain; the missile pods were on the opposite side of the formation. “Understood,” the captain said after a second. “Have the Knife maintain position.”

  “Another pop-up,” the sensor tech said. “Opposite side of the Dagger. Both are preparing to launch torpedoes.”

  “Have them both fire, now!” the captain ordered. “When the Shaitans disappear, activate the missile pod by the Dagger!”

  “Missiles away!” the missile tech acknowledged. “The Jotunn vessels are firing again.”

  “Understood; continue firing at the Jotunn vessels and defend the ship.”

  “The two Shaitan vessels disappeared again,” said the missile tech. “Launching the Dagger’s pods.”

  “Do you think this will work?” Captain Skrelleth asked.

  “I don’t know,” Calvin admitted. “I hope so. If the Shaitan ship pops back like normal, the missiles from the pod should be right on top of it…”

  “Pop-ups!” the sensor tech called. “Same two! Hit! At least four hits on the Shaitan opposite the Dagger, with secondary explosions from its torpedoes! That ship is destroyed! The other Shaitan vessel is launching at the Knife.”

  “Sir, the Knife is using its missiles to defend itself,” the missile technician said. “Without its defensive fire, some of the Jotunn missiles will probably get through to us.”

  “I am aware,” Captain Skrelleth replied. “Keep firing.”

  Calvin felt the ship shudder as the first Jotunn missile detonated on the Harvest’s shields. The Jotunn missiles were huge; it wouldn’t be long until the shields failed.

  Emperor Yazhak the Third’s Estate, Grrrnow, 61 Virginis, December 12, 2021

  “It seems every system that is inhabited in this universe is also inhabited in the other,” the emperor said. “I would like it if you could tell me if my planet is inhabited in the other universe, and if so, what race or races are living on it. I heard about what happened on Terra, and I would greatly like to avoid that here.”

  “Did you want the Vella Gulf to jump to the other universe and see if the planet is inhabited,” Captain Sheppard asked, “or for us to send some people across from here on the planet?”

  “If possible, I would like them not to know we’re doing it,” the emperor answered.

  “We’d be happy to do that for you,” Captain Sheppard replied, “but there are some considerations you should be aware of. First, it is more likely we will be seen in the Vella Gulf than if we just send some people over on the surface of the planet. We will go over stealthed, but it is always possible the stealth module could break or that they might have something which can see through the stealth. If so, it’s going to be hard to miss something the size of the Vella Gulf.”

  “On the other hand,” he continued, “we haven’t surveyed the planet in the other universe; my men and women would be jumping in blind. They might jump in where there is a house or a tree or something, which would be fatal. Jumping in the Vella Gulf runs the same risks, of course, but there are less likely to be obstructions in space. Not impossible; just less probable.”

  “So what would you recommend?” the emperor asked.

  “I would rather jump over with the Gulf,” Captain Sheppard replied. “I can do it with less risk; losing someone to an unsurveyed jump would be both wasteful and unnecessary. After we take a look, we can come back and let you know what we found. I don’t mind taking a quick look, but an extended survey will have to wait. I want to get Calvin from the Ssselipsssiss as soon as possible. I don’t think the lizards will last much longer, and I’d hate to leave him hanging in the wind.”

  Chapter Four

  Bridge, Harvest of Flesh, Sssellississ System, December 12, 2021

  “The Reaper has been destroyed,” the sensor tech reported.

  The battle had gone almost exactly the way Calvin had imagined. The missile pods had closed some of the technological gap between the Shaitans and the Ssselipsssiss, but now their pods were out of missiles, and the Shaitans weren’t out of ships. And the Jotunn battlecruisers continued to wear away the Ssselipsssiss ships.

  In addition to the Reaper, both the Knife and the Dagger had been destroyed, and the Harvest and Drinker were both heavily damaged. On the good side, they had destroyed one of the Jotunn battlecruisers, and had damaged the Falcon, but the others continued to bear down on the Ssselipsssiss battleships. The lizards had to defend themselves from the Jotunn…which let the Shaitans get undefended shots from the flanks.

  “Pop-up behind us!” called the sensor tech. “Cruiser size. It’s getting ready to fire.”

  “Rotate the ship,” Captain Skrelleth ordered. “Head straight for the cruiser.”

  “Some of the Jotunn missiles are going to get through if you do that, sir,” the missile tech advised. “I can’t stop them all with anything short of a full broadside.”

  “Understood,” Captain Skrelleth said. “We can’t let the Shaitans hit our engines.”

  “The cruiser is firing,” the sensor tech called.

  “Head straight for the torped
oes,” the captain ordered.

  The ship rocked. “Missile strikes aft, sir! At least three hits. Damage repair technicians are responding.”

  “Torpedo impacts in three…two…one…” The ship buffeted slightly.

  “That felt…weird,” Calvin said. “Did we get hit by the torpedoes?”

  “Yes and no,” replied Captain Skrelleth. “About the only thing we’ve been able to learn in this war is how to take the first hit. The bows on all of our ships have a gigantic metal plate welded to a 200-foot spar. By turning into the missiles, we present a much smaller target and the missiles draw close to each other as they near the ship. Most of the time, we can catch at least one of them on the plate, and when it detonates, it usually destroys the others. We lose the pole but can sometimes weather a volley without taking a single hit.”

  “That’s a great idea,” Calvin said.

  “Unfortunately, it only works once. There are still four Shaitan ships remaining.”

  “Pop-up target on the port bow!”

  Bridge, TSS Vella Gulf, 61 Virginis, December 12, 2021

  “All hands, this is the captain,” Captain Sheppard said over the public address system. “In five minutes, we are going to jump to the other universe. It is my intention to activate our stealth system before we jump and avoid contact with any inhabitants we might find there. Prudence dictates, however, that we be prepared for any eventuality, so we’ll be going to General Quarters prior to making the jump. Once all of our weapons are manned, we’ll make the jump, survey the planet quickly then return. Stand by for GQ; that is all.”

  Captain Sheppard’s eyes scanned the bridge. His crew had made the jump on many occasions, including a number ofcombat jumps; they were focused, but loose and ready. “Here we go, folks,” he said. “Set General Quarters! Stand by to jump to the Jinn universe.”

  Bridge, Harvest of Flesh, Sssellississ System, December 12, 2021

  “The ship is lost,” Captain Skrelleth announced. “Abandon ship!”

  Yellow lights began strobing across the bridge, and an ear-splitting siren sounded for five seconds. When it ended, a voice ordered, “Abandon ship! Abandon ship! All hands, abandon ship!”

  The ship rocked with the impact of another Jotunn missile, and Calvin was thrown to the deck, slamming his head into the steel surface. The ship’s lights went out. Everything went fuzzy, and Calvin decided the momentary silence and darkness were pleasant. Maybe he would take a nap, and things would be better when he awoke. The cool steel felt nice under his cheek.

  Bright green lights snapped on, and the voice returned, “Abandon ship!”

  Calvin had just decided a nap would be more fun than abandoning a perfectly good ship when a claw grabbed the back of his suit, nails raking his back. He was lifted from the deck, and another claw grabbed his shoulder, its nails piercing deeply into his flesh.

  “Let’s go, Terran!” Captain Skrelleth bellowed. “We’re leaving!”

  Calvin found himself placed on his feet. The lights had dimmed again and were barely bright enough for him to see by, although a fire at one of the consoles provided a little extra illumination. Shadows danced across the bridge as the flames flicked across the display.

  The pain of the nails in Calvin’s shoulder was excruciating but helped him focus. The claw began dragging him along.

  “Wait…” he muttered. “Need…my helmet…”

  “We don’t have time!” Captain Skrelleth shouted. “Let’s go.”

  Calvin dug in his heels. “Need…helmet.”

  “By the 15th level of hell,” the captain hissed. The pressure on his shoulder disappeared, and Calvin’s helmet was slammed over his head. The enormous Ssselipsssiss grabbed Calvin by the shoulder again and began dragging him off the bridge.

  Calvin reached up and seated the helmet, and the space suit activated. The miniature artificial intelligence (AI) determined his status (“heavily damaged”) and began injecting him with a variety of pain killers and stimulants. The suit also sprayed his face with a nanobot wash as it worked to simultaneously repair the damage caused by Captain Skrelleth’s claws and getting slammed to the deck. The miniature machines cleaned the blood from his eye and began closing the wound on his scalp. Slowly he regained some equilibrium and was able to walk on his own.

  “Here,” the captain said after 15 seconds of forced marching down the passageway. He pushed a button, and a panel slid open, revealing the access tube to a two-seat cockpit. The Ssselipsssiss shoved Calvin into the back seat, leaving the Terran to deal with the oversized straps, while he vaulted into the front. As Calvin’s backside hit the seat, the canopy began closing.

  Calvin barely heard Captain Skrelleth yell, “Hold on!” before the small craft detached from the battleship in a flash of rocket fire. Clear of the surrounding structure, Calvin could see the craft was a small two-person transport, probably used to ferry the captain to other ships.

  As the transport dropped away, Calvin could see a portion of the destruction inflicted on the warship. Huge gaps were missing where the Shaitan torpedoes and Jotunn missiles had hit. The first left smooth edges where the time bubbles had carved away sections; the missiles left jagged-edged holes. The Harvest of Flesh looked like an overgrown metallic Swiss cheese. The captain spun the transport down and away from the battleship, and Calvin lost sight of it as the planet came into view.

  Red in color, the planet only had a few small seas; there weren’t any ocean-like bodies of water to be seen. It appeared Captain Skrelleth either knew where he was going or had a navigation system in the front cockpit; the ship turned and oriented itself to a spot on the planet and accelerated in a straight line toward it. Wherever they were headed, they were going to get there quickly.

  Chapter Five

  Bridge, TSS Vella Gulf, 61 Virginis, December 12, 2021

  “Stealth?” Captain Sheppard asked.

  “On and operational,” the duty engineer replied.

  “Solomon, are you ready for the jump?”

  “Yes, Captain Sheppard, I am ready,” the ship’s AI replied. “All systems are operational.”

  “On my mark, then,” Captain Sheppard commanded. “Three…two…one…mark.”

  Everything flashed although the view on the front screen remained the same.

  “We have made the jump into the Jinn Universe,” Solomon noted.

  “You’re sure?” the CO asked.

  “I cannot know for sure whether this is the Jinn Universe without additional information, but I can confirm we are somewhere else. There is a solar power facility on the moon, which does not exist in our universe.”

  “A solar power station?” Captain Sheppard asked.

  “Calling it a station is deceptive as it’s not actually a station, but a 250-mile-wide band of solar receivers that completely encircles the moon. The power generated through the receiver array is transferred to laser power-transmission antennas, which in turn beam it to receiving stations on the planet.”

  “What about ships or space-based defenses?”

  “I have two destroyer-sized ships in planetary orbit,” Steropes said from the sensor station. “They do not seem to have noticed our entrance into this universe. There is also a considerable presence on the planet. The technology level is somewhat higher than Terra’s was prior to our intervention.”

  “How much further advanced?”

  “It is difficult to postulate how quickly Terran civilization would have advanced; however, it is probably on the order of at least 100 years. The access to cheap energy gives them a great advantage over your civilization.”

  “How much energy are we talking about?” Captain Sheppard asked.

  “The lunar production facilities are beaming back a steady stream of almost 14,000 terawatts of power. To put that into perspective, all of Terra only generated about 25 terawatts before we made ourselves known to you. They are producing several orders of magnitude more than you did, and this energy resource is transformative for a civilization.
To put it another way, they are a Type I civilization on the Kardashev scale of technological development; Terra was a Type 0 before our assistance. Although Terra is further along than they are now, you would not have been without our intervention.”

  “Can you determine what race inhabits this planet?” the captain asked.

  “It appears to be an offshoot of the Sila race. Of note, I do not see any evidence of Efreeti interaction. It appears that this planet was spared for some reason.”

  “I think we’ve seen all we need to,” Captain Sheppard announced. “Solomon, please take us back to our universe; we have a crew member to pick up.”

  Cockpit, Transport Craft, Sssellississ, December 13, 2021

  The escape ship angled downward in a steep descent. From his seat in the aft cockpit, all Calvin could see was the red soil of the planet, and a lot of it, as the transport dove toward its impending crash. Calvin hoped Captain Skrelleth knew what he was doing; if he didn’t pull the craft out of the dive soon, they were headed for a fiery impact with the planet.

  “Are you strapped in?” the Ssselipsssiss captain yelled from the front seat.

  “No!” Calvin yelled back. “My suit isn’t compatible with the fittings in this cockpit!”

  “Hold on, then!”

  Calvin scanned the cockpit, looking for something to tie into. Just like his F/A-18 fighter, everything was utilitarian; there weren’t a lot of extra things available to hold onto. To his right, he saw a handhold, or actually a clawhold, and he grabbed onto it with both hands although he suspected his grasp wouldn’t survive a crash. He finally figured out which gauge was the altimeter as it spun through the equivalent of 1,000 feet.

  The transport exploded in a burst of flames and black smoke.

  As the smoke cleared, Calvin realized the transport hadn’t been destroyed; instead, his pilot had ejected them from the craft, but instead of the individual ejection seats he was used to, the entire cockpit had come out in a single bathtub-like capsule.