Goliath Emerges by G J Ogden

Author:G J Ogden [Ogden, G J]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ogden Media Ltd
Published: 2020-05-31T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 16

Hudson strapped himself into the pilot’s seat, and activated the pre-flight systems. The navigation scanner immediately bleeped, and displayed a unique star-shaped chevron in close proximity to the Orion. Hudson arched his neck to peer out through the cockpit glass, and then saw Morphus’ vessel hovering nearby. He remembered that Liberty had earlier calibrated the scanner to pick up the alien ship. However, whereas Morphus had previously been attempting to remain hidden, now it was operating in plain sight.

“Well, my wingman or woman is here,” said Hudson, getting everything set for take-off. “Only question is, how the hell do I start the engines?” He looked at the ID scanner port, where normally he would attach the ID fob, then tentatively waved his wrist in front of it. The metallic patch that Morphus had grafted to his skeleton glowed brightly, causing him to jolt back and shake his arm, as if trying to extinguish a fire. Then he heard the engines spark into life, and all the other ship’s systems began to spool up too. “Well, I’ll be damned, it actually worked,” said Hudson, staring at his wrist. It was still glowing softly, but he felt no pain or discomfort at all.

Lowering his arm again, he checked his boards and saw that all systems showed green. Hudson smiled, realizing that Liberty had done her usual stellar job of looking after the ship. He glanced over to the empty second seat and his smile fell away. Her absence was as stark as a gaping hole in the hull. He’d spent half his life flying solo from one portal world to another, but now the thought of being on his own terrified and saddened him in equal measure.

Hudson tried to park these darker thoughts, and grabbed the controls, lifting the Orion off the ridge and into the now dusky sky. The black shape of Morphus’ ship edged in front of him, and he slotted in behind as the alien vessel climbed higher. Compared to the Orion, Morphus’ ship had a far more organic appearance. It looked like it had been sculpted from an inky black clay, rather than hammered together from a bunch of metal panels and frames. It was elegant, in an unearthly way. Even the manner in which it moved through the sky seemed to defy logic, and physics.

The orange sky melted away to darkness as the two ships passed out of the atmosphere and into space. It wasn’t long before the remains of the alien space station, still burning brightly, became visible. Flashes occasionally popped off all along its surface, but then Hudson realized that there were other flashes ahead too, and these weren’t coming from the space station. Sensing something was wrong, Hudson hurriedly checked the navigation scanner to determine what other vessels were still in the system.

The scan updated and Hudson noticed that only a couple of the contacts were relic hunter ships. However, a small fleet of MP military vessels had since arrived to secure the portal.

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