Beyond the Gates of Antares by Bancroft Tim; Rospond Brandon;

Author:Bancroft, Tim; Rospond, Brandon;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction
Publisher: Winged Hussar Publishing, LLC
Published: 2017-05-16T16:00:00+00:00

***

“What is the meaning of this!?!” Admmiral Bha ko-Rhan screamed, his voice shrill and shaking. “Where is Stihl?”

The vardanari honor guard moved forward, plasma carbines at the ready.

The four pirates stood before him with impudent smiles stretched across their pale, gaunt faces.

Ko-Rhan began to shake. The drones continued to hover, shifting around to catch as many angles of his embarrassment as they could.

It wouldn’t matter. Their memories could easily be wiped. This moment, as mortifying as it felt now, would fade. Even the honor guard would understand, given time. This heartsick pain wasn’t the end, merely disappointment at the death of this day’s glorious dream. It would have been so perfect, to take Rollen Stihl on the very dawn of the Golden Venture’s maiden voyage.

He shook his head, his face hardening. There would still be plenty of opportunity for him to cement his command of the ship. The politics would be galling, but his family was sufficiently well-placed, it shouldn’t be a problem, in the end.

“Admiral.” Commander Jhessik’s voice seemed strained over the general comms. Ko-Rhan realized his report was overdue.

“It’s alright, Commander.” He wanted to spit, but kept his voice calm. “We have four guests in the central boarding lounge. We’ll—”

“Admiral, we have a translation through the gate.” The strain was more pronounced. “Sir, it’s something large.”

There was a jumble of nervous voices in the background of the open channel.

“Two contacts, sir. The second is broadcasting vardosi codes, but they’re not up to date.”

Ko-Rhan shook his head. “Just bring up the defense grid. Not even another world ship could—”

“I believe that’s my cue.” The pirate woman, Aymes, raised one hand. A small, sleek remote was revealed there, its bronze finish gleaming dully in the pale overhead light.

She pressed a button.

Ko-Rhan reached toward her with a yell, and the vardanari raised their weapons to fire, faces twisted into fierce, threatening scowls.

There was a dull sound from behind the blast doors. A blue-white light seemed to flare for a moment, and the umbilicus, still attached to the Loyal Courser, shook slightly.

And then everything was still.

The admiral straightened and smiled evilly at her. “Well, whatever that was, it appears to have failed.”

Ko-Rhan gestured for the vardanari to seize the remote and restrain the prisoners. There would be plenty of time to deal with them when he had finished with this new strangeness.

“Commander, what is the status of the new arrivals?” He turned to move back toward the command center. His mouth tightened into an annoyed frown; he would have to deal with this new crisis in his dress uniform. Then he brightened, waving for the drones to follow. Perhaps the newcomers would provide a suitably impressive conclusion to the day’s drama. Images of him leading a battle in his formal gear wouldn’t hurt.

“Commander! There’s something wrong!” The fear in Jhessik’s voice was unmistakable. Beyond the tone, the audio itself seemed to waver, as if the signal was passing in and out of reception.

That should have been impossible on the internal systems.

“There’s something wrong with the systeml! The shard is … it’s dying, sir!”

That brought ko-Rhan up short.

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