Worlds Away (The Interstellar Age Book 3) Read online

  “What?” Michael asked.

  “I’m not sure…” Alex started to say. Then he saw that the attacking ship had changed course.

  The Gliesan vessel drifted into another mine.

  The explosion sent out enough of a shock wave to crush the command pod’s hull.

  “Ah Tabai!” Alex called out, but there was no answer.

  In the escape pod, Alex didn’t feel the aftershock of the blast, since they were already far enough away to escape the effects. When the Gliesan scout ship exploded ten seconds later, however, the concussion wave slammed against them so hard that, even in their restraints, the occupants were knocked around.

  The monitor of the escape pod blinked on and off, and Alex had to turn his head as an electric spark shot out of the console.

  He could feel the pod tumbling, but the only thing he could do was hold on. There was no way to control its spin.

  A low moaning sound filled the chamber, but Alex couldn’t tell who it was.

  He tried to push his sight out again, but before he could focus, the escape pod struck something hard and unyielding. The impact knocked him unconscious.

  3

  Escape Pod :

  Sol System :

  Michael was the first to return to consciousness.

  It took a long time for him to orient himself. There were no interior lights inside the escape pod, but he could still breathe air. He moved his leg, and pain from his bruised knee coursed up through his body. He tried to bite back a cry, but it came out anyway.

  Grimacing until the pain subsided, Michael took a deep breath and reached out beside him. His hand touched Kenny’s shoulder, and he gently shook the physicist.

  “Kenny, are you all right?”

  A low-pitched moan came out of the younger man, and when Kenny spoke, it was with obvious effort. “It’s hard to breathe.”

  “Hold still. Don’t move. If you’ve broken a rib, the last you want is for it to puncture your lung.”

  He reached out in the other direction and felt Yaxche’s hair. Moving his hand down to the older man’s neck, he felt for a pulse. It was there, but faint. “Yaxche?” he asked. “Are you hurt?”

  Gently, he tapped the side of Yaxche’s face, and then repeated his question when he felt the older man flinch.

  Yaxche said, “Ahyah. I’m fine, except I think I might be blind.”

  “The lights are out,” Michael said. He was still secured by the restraints and fumbled for the safety latch. “I can’t reach Alex. Is he still unconscious?”

  Michael couldn’t see whether Yaxche nudged Alex or not, but a moment later, the young man groaned.

  “What happened?”

  Michael said, “I was going to ask you the same question.”

  “My head hurts. I think I banged it on something.”

  “Can you use your sight to see where we are?” Michael asked.

  “Yeah,” Alex said. “Give me a minute.” A moment later, he let out a sound of despair.

  “What is it?” Kenny asked.

  “I can see the remains of the scout ship, and … I can’t tell for sure, but it looks like the command pod is destroyed.”

  “Ah Tabai.” Michael’s voice was hoarse. “Aliah.”

  “I can’t feel their Kinemetic signatures. I think they’re dead.” Alex made a moaning sound. “They risked everything to help us, and they paid with their lives.”

  Michael felt a deep anger at the news. More lives lost needlessly. Who were these maniacs who had attacked them without warning?

  Kenny said, “So that means we’re stranded here?”

  “We’re not that lucky,” Alex replied.

  “What do you mean by that?”

  “We landed on Pluto. The bad news is we didn’t land close enough to the star beacon for it to mask us. Our attackers are heading in this direction.”

  ∞

  They sat in silence as the long minutes stretched out. Michael knew that even if none of them were claustrophobic by nature, being in the dark in an enclosed space could work on anyone’s psyche.

  “What are they doing now?” he asked, keeping his voice as calm as he could.

  Alex cleared his throat. “I’m not sure. They’ve established an orbit, but they haven’t sent a shuttle or anything. Maybe they’re waiting for instructions.”

  “From where?” Michael asked. “If they’re contacting Earth, it could be over eight hours before they get a reply. It seems like a long time to wait.”

  “Maybe they can’t see us,” Kenny said, his voice filled with hope.

  Alex said, “Our sensors and lights are offline. It’s possible that’s enough to hide us. They might know the general area where we landed, but can’t tell our exact location.”

  Michael let out a short, hollow laugh. “If that’s the case, then maybe we should let them know we’re here.”

  “Are you crazy?” Kenny’s voice was strained. “They’ll kill us.”

  “Maybe,” Michael said, “but if we don’t take that chance, we’re dead, anyway.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Instead of answering the question directly, Michael asked Alex, “Is there any way you can be sure that Ah Tabai and Aliah are dead? Maybe they just quantized themselves, like you did.”

  “I can still sense traces of the Kinemetic radiation around where their command pod exploded. If they quantized themselves, I should be able to detect them the same way. I’m sorry to say it: I don’t think they survived.”

  “Then no one knows we’re out here,” Michael said. “It looks as if the life-support systems are working fine. We’ve just lost communications and lights. If we can jump-start the systems, we can send out a distress call.”

  “Wait a minute,” Kenny said. “Don’t you think we should vote on this?”

  “If you have any better suggestions,” Michael said, “now’s the time…”

  After a moment, Kenny huffed. “Fine. How do we get communications back up?”

  “When we were setting up the quantum drive on the Ultio, Justine mentioned that she was the spark to engage the damping field and kick-start the main engines. Alex, can you use your electropathic ability to do that here?”

  “I can try,” Alex said. “Give me a minute. The systems here are completely unfamiliar.”

  They all waited in silence for a short eternity. Without warning, the cabin lights turned on, and all of them cried out in surprise. Michael, feeling like he’d been blinded, covered his eyes with his hand until he adjusted to the light.

  Alex said, “I think I can trace the communications array … ah, yes, here we go.”

  The display on the wall lit up, showing life support.

  “Oh. That was the diagnostics array,” Alex said. “Still looking for communications.”

  While Alex continued to use his abilities to try to repair the communications system, Michael looked over at Kenny. The young physicist wasn’t looking very good.

  “Are you all right?” he asked.

  Kenny, his face drained of color, forced a smile. “It only hurts when I breathe—at least that means I’m still alive, right?”

  Alex said, “Got it. We have communications again.” He glanced at Michael. “I’m broadcasting on several frequencies.”

  Nodding at Alex, Michael spoke in a louder voice. “Attention unidentified vessel orbiting Pluto. This is Michael Sanderson, a Canada Corp. citizen. There are three others aboard our pod—Alex Manez and Kenny Harriman, who are also Canadians, and a Honduran translator named Yaxche. We offer our surrender.”

  The four men looked at one another uneasily until the speaker crackled.

  “This is Lieutenant Gao of the Solan Empire. You have arrived in imperial space on a vessel of unfamiliar manufacture. According to our records, the four people you named have all been declared traitors by your respective governments. Furthermore, they have been missing for over four years and presumed dead. We must conclude you are spies for a foreign government, or you are f
ugitives attempting to disguise yourselves with false identities. In either case, the penalty for espionage is clear.”

  “We’re not fugitives,” Michael said. “And we’re not spies. We are who we say we are. If our governments have warrants out for us, I’m sure they would appreciate it if you arrested us and turned us over. It’s all a big misunderstanding. Please, we have an injured man here. He may have broken some ribs and will require medical attention.”

  The radio went silent for a moment. With a note of apprehension, Kenny asked, “Why aren’t they replying? Does that mean they’re just going to fire on us?”

  Michael looked at Alex. “Can you see what they’re doing?”

  Alex closed his eyes in concentration. “They’re approaching our geosynchronous position. I can’t tell if they are arming weapons or not.”

  “They’re going to blast us,” Kenny said in misery.

  Lieutenant Gao’s voice came over the speaker. “Occupants of the escape pod. Stand by. We are sending a shuttle down to investigate. Should you not be who you said you are, you will be destroyed on the spot.”

  “Thank you, Lieutenant,” Michael said.

  The lieutenant did not reply, but a moment later, Alex told them a shuttle had been launched from the patrol ship.

  Before it arrived, Michael said, “I suggest none of us say anything about Ah Tabai, Aliah, or the Kulsat.”

  “What do we tell them, then?” Kenny asked. “How do we explain the alien ship, or this escape pod?”

  “Play dumb. Tell them we have no knowledge of what happened to us after we left Sol System.”

  Alex, his voice dry, added, “It worked for me last time.”

  ∞

  After latching onto the escape pod with a magnetic clasp, the shuttle lifted off Pluto and headed back to the patrol ship.

  Once they were safely in the docking bay, and Alex told them that the soldiers were approaching to surround the pod, Michael said, “See if you can open the hatch.”

  Alex did so, and a hiss of cool air flowed into their compartment.

  A voice from outside called out an order. It sounded like Lieutenant Gao. “Step out of the pod one at a time, slowly, and with your hands on top of your heads.”

  “Coming out,” Michael called back, and got out first, walking gingerly. His knee still throbbed.

  Six armed soldiers aimed their pulse rifles at Michael. As if seeing that he was, indeed, human, they all relaxed to a small degree—at least as far as Michael could tell by the expressions on their faces. They still trained their guns on him as they would a dangerous criminal.

  Next out was Alex, followed by Yaxche.

  Lieutenant Gao stepped forward. Though there was writing on the patch on his chest, it was in Chinese, as was the patch on the epaulet. He was clearly oriental, but he spoke English with no accent. His tone held no humor. “Where is the last one?”

  Nodding toward the pod, Michael said, “He’ll need help.”

  “Very well. You three will follow the guards to the detention area. If you do not follow instructions precisely, you will be shot without hesitation.” The lieutenant pointed to two of his soldiers. “You two, retrieve the injured prisoner and bring him to the infirmary. Ensure he is fully secured.”

  “Thank you, Lieutenant Gao,” Michael said. “We have been out of the picture for some time. Can you tell me what the Solan Empire is?”

  “Be silent,” the lieutenant said. “Until we receive further instructions, you will be held incommunicado. You will not speak to your guards, nor will you be given any information.”

  Michael wanted to watch as the two soldiers reached into the escape pod to help Kenny get out, but one of his guards pressed the barrel of his pulse rifle between his shoulder blades. The three of them headed out of the docking bay, none of them saying anything, as they’d been instructed.

  Just before they exited the main doors, Michael swiveled his head around and got a brief look at Kenny. The young physicist hung limply between the two soldiers, and was possibly even unconscious. Michael wanted to race back to help, but he knew anything he did might jeopardize the cooperation of the Solan Empire soldiers—whoever they were.

  ∞

  It was nearly nine hours later before anyone came to their cell. Michael was growing more and more worried that they hadn’t heard anything about Kenny, nor had they had any indication from the stoic soldier standing guard as to what their fate would be.

  Michael stood up from the long bench set into the wall of the cell when he recognized Lieutenant Gao, who was followed by two other soldiers holding handguns.

  “How is he?” Michael asked, glancing nervously at the guns. “Is Kenny all right?”

  “That should be the last of your concerns, Mr. Sanderson,” the lieutenant said, an ominous tone in his voice.

  Alex got up and stood next to Michael while Yaxche remained sitting.

  Michael asked, “What do you mean by that?”

  “We’ve received instructions from Central Command. They were explicit.” With that, he made a motion with his hand to the two soldiers. Both raised their guns and pointed them at Michael and Alex.

  “What are you doing?” Michael cried out. The only response he got from Lieutenant Gao was an amused smile.

  The lieutenant nodded at his men.

  Alex yelled, “No!”

  The soldiers opened fire.

  4

  Kulsat Ship :

  Centauri System :

  When Justine had quantized herself in the past, she’d been completely aware of her surroundings.

  Not so this time.

  Her consciousness only returned to her when she materialized out of the quantized state—through no action of her own. It took her several seconds to remember what had happened to her.

  The Ultio.

  Someone, or something, on the Kulsat ship had scanned her with the sight and then, against her will, transformed her into quanta.

  … And then what?

  Her thoughts were thick; she had trouble concentrating. Where was she?

  She opened her eyes to an all-encompassing blanket of darkness. There was no Kinemetic radiation left in her body; she could not use its influence to sense her surroundings.

  Panic surged through her, and she fought back a scream. She had to keep her head.

  Though she was blind, she had other senses.

  She could breathe; therefore, there was oxygen. It smelled musky and a little stale. It reminded her of being in a large industrial complex with climate control.

  Straining her ears, she could hear the echo of her breathing; that meant there were walls, and she was in an enclosed space. A prison?

  Under her back was a hard floor, cold to the touch. Tapping it with a fingernail produced a high-pitched metallic sound.

  Extending her arms around in a fan-like motion, her hands did not come in contact with any walls or other objects in her immediate vicinity. She reached above her and felt no resistance in that direction.

  Carefully, she rolled to her stomach, drew her legs under her, and raised herself to her knees. Though her muscles were stiff and sore, she didn’t need much effort to push herself up. The gravity level was about half of Earth normal.

  She moved her arms around in a circular motion, searching for a wall or ceiling.

  “Hello?” she said. Her voice came back to her sounding small and frightened, but there was no reply.

  Stretching one hand out in front of her, Justine crawled forward on her knees. She needed to know the limitations of her prison cell, if that were, indeed, where she was.

  Her fingers came up against a wall, and she let out a small grunt at the sudden discovery. The surface of the wall was smooth and cool, but unlike the floor, when she tapped her nail against it, the reverberation sounded more like glass than metal.

  Rapping on it with her knuckles, she called out. “Hello. Is there anyone there?”

  No answer except the echo of her own voice.

&nb
sp; She used the glass wall as support and pulled herself to her feet. Reaching up as high as she could, even standing on the tips of her toes, she could not feel a ceiling.

  Keeping her hand firmly on the wall, she moved to her left until she came to a corner. The adjoining wall was made of the same glass-like material.

  Soon, Justine made a complete circuit of her cell. The room she was in was a cube, each wall at least three meters. She assumed the ceiling was at least a similar height. Although she couldn’t reach it, when she was near one corner, she could feel a hiss of oxygen coming from above her.

  Was she a prisoner of the Kulsat? Was she on their ship? The hull had been made of Kinemet. She’d sensed that before they abducted her. There had to be some dampening around her, however, because she could not sense any radiation.

  Alex, Michael, Kenny, Yaxche! Had they been abducted as well? Killed?

  Her military training told her that there was a possibility she would be tortured for information. She remembered the story Alex had told them moments before the alien ship had appeared before them.

  The Kulsat wanted to find the legacy left behind by the Grace, which they believed was in a pre-Emerged system. The Sentinel who had left the message for Alex had told them the Kulsat would not hesitate to destroy anything that got in their way.

  Justine knew they would question her about her home world: where it was, what level of technology they had, and any other information that would provide them with a tactical advantage. Now that they’d become aware of humanity, it would only be a matter of time before the Kulsat investigated the system.

  Earth would not stand a chance against a species who had the level of technology the Kulsat possessed—and for all Justine knew, what she’d seen might only be a small portion of their capabilities.

  During her four-year journey to the Centauri system, Justine had been fully conscious in her quantized state. Something during the Kinemetic conversion had altered her body’s chemistry in a permanent way.

  One of the other major side effects was that she retained information. She could recall the text of every book she’d ever read. Her mind was a storehouse of knowledge that an enemy would be eager to pillage.