Broken Stars (Universe on Fire Book 1), page 10
The Admiral shook his head. “In our mining of their data we’ve come upon some information that makes our survival against the Qash’vo’tar unlikely.”
“What kind of information?” Aiko asked before Kane could.
“The Qash’vo’tar hold fifteen fully populated star systems, as well as a dozen others. If we have correctly translated their data, their fleet has almost a thousand warships. And well… there are other races out there. We are in fact located in a territory that they call the Neutral Zone. It is a buffer almost two hundred lightyears wide between the Qash’vo’tar and the Zhal Confederation. We don’t know much, but from what we have managed to learn from the data and interrogations, they are just as big. And the Qash’vo’tar occupation of Earth has been against something that they call the Compact. It was why they kept such a small force here, they feared being discovered by the Zhal Confederation. We are a very small fish in a much grander ocean. We need any advantage we can get. The exact mission parameters are still being debated, but aside from technology we need to find out as much as possible about the Zhal Confederation. We need to know if they could be an ally or if they are worse than the Qash’vo’tar.”
“It seems unlikely that we would be able to gather much information, we know next to nothing about the societies up there,” Aiko said. “We don’t know the languages, cultures, we don’t even know if we have anything worth trading.”
“We are working on that, don’t worry,” the Admiral said. “If we do send you, it will be undercover, you will not be Representatives of Earth but rather private ship owners, basically traders and mercenaries for hire. It seems that such privately owned ships and corporations are rather common out there and can usually operate across borders with the right permits. For now, we want you to work and help develop the ship, after that we will see.”
“You plan on sending us together?” Kane asked, somewhat surprised. If they both held equal rank it could make things a bit more complicated.
“The plan is still being worked out, and you will be undergoing a crash course in undercover work—although we have no idea if that will be useful against other races… Anyways, if we do decide to send you, you will be acting as a married couple that owns the ship, with the crew being in your employ. We are hoping that they won’t know enough about us to be able to tell that the crew are military personnel. As such we will be choosing the crew especially for the goal of appearing a bit less… military. We are hoping to get a few of the Wanderers on board as well, hopefully that would make it seem like you are a multiracial crew.”
“Wanderers?” Aiko asked,
“Aliens from another universe,” Kane told her. Her eyes narrowed at him in a way that he knew very well, it meant that she thought that he was playing with her. She then turned to look at the Admiral and the expression on his face told her that Kane had in fact been serious. “I’ll explain later,” Kane added.
She opened her mouth to speak, but closed it and crossed her arms across her chest.
“As far as leadership is concerned,” the Admiral started, “we are hoping that your relationship will help you work together better. But you will both have clearly defined areas where you are in charge. You will be in command of the ship itself, Captain Nishimura, and Captain Reinhart will be in command of the fighters and ground missions. The time lag makes it hard for the carrier ship to command the fighters so we have decided to make the squadron commanders fully in command of any flight missions. But for now we need you to help the design teams, any input you might have will be useful. And after we shall see.”
“Of course, Admiral,” Kane said. There was much work to be done, but his mind was already out in the stars.
CHAPTER EIGHT
“For those no longer with us,” Kane said and raised his glass. Jane and Ishanvi followed. Kane took a sip and brought his glass to the table, and then watched as Jane downed the entire glass in seconds.
She finally finished and put it back on the table. She took a long look at the empty glass then shakily stood up. “I’ll get us another round.”
Ishanvi and Kane watched her walk away without saying anything, they knew her enough to know that no good could come from trying.
“She isn’t well,” Ishanvi said.
Kane nodded, it had been three months since Jackson died and Jane hadn’t taken his death well. It had hurt Kane and Ishanvi too, the four of them had been as close as siblings. But for Jane it was more, she had felt something more for Jackson, the same way that he did for her. And the thing that was hurting her now was the regret. Neither one of them had said anything before he died.
“You think that she will get herself together in time?” Kane asked.
Ishanvi narrowed her eyes as she watched Jane argue with the bartender. “I’ll give her two more weeks, if she doesn’t I’ll nudge her in the right direction.”
“Good. You will be reassigned soon,” Kane told her.
“Oh?”
“There just aren’t enough people with magic for us to sustain mech-frame losses, and they will happen. Space Fleet has decided that they will not be producing as many mech-frames as they will fighters. The mech-frames will be used as part of a new assault force. We will be going out on attack runs with the fighters for now but it will not last. We will be switched over to elite commando teams that will execute delicate missions.”
“What kind of missions?”
“Depends on the situation, perhaps elite teams similar to what we used to do as spec-ops only with mechs. For now we are in a stage where we don’t know much about what will be required of us. We are the experiments, they’ll make the regulations and tactics based on our experiences.”
“So they’ll split us up?” she asked.
“We’ll be getting a few rookies to train, kids really. Two classes are nearing their magical studies graduation and one of them will be assigned to you two to train as mech-frame pilots and basically magic-troops. The plan is for at least one mech-frame squad to be assigned to every ship that will carry fighters.”
“I doubt that Jane is in the right state of mind to train kids. Hopefully I’ll have time to get her in order before then. What about the other class?”
“I’ll be training them on the way, the fleet wants us to set off with a full mech-frame squad.”
Ishanvi nodded, and took a sip of her beer. ”So, how goes the designing?”
“We are nearing the construction stage. We have a few pieces finished, but now we are finalizing the rest. The m-techs have some pretty wild ideas, but the problem is power—our fusion reactors can supply enough power for regular operations but adding the converters and magitech systems is too much of a drain. We are looking at workarounds.”
“Let’s hope you get it right.”
“We will, but problems are expected. We are using it as a prototype and a start line for the future designs.”
“We don’t have much time, the Qash’vo’tar will come back.”
“We have enough. The construction should start next month, and we hope to have the ship finished in another five. That leaves us with a little over two and a half years to finish the others.”
“Let’s hope that it is enough,” Ishanvi said as Jane managed to reach their table with three glasses in her hands.
***
“It’s a what?” Kane asked incredulously, eying the syringe full of milky fluid warily. He and Aiko were in one of the UESF’s research facilities, where they were studying the technology and items they had captured when the Qash’vo’tar surrendered.
“It’s a translator, you and the rest of your crew—once you select them of course—will be going through this treatment,” the doctor said. “Injecting this will allow you to understand any language. Of course if it is an unknown language it will take some time, but you will start understanding it within several minutes of exposure. If what we have read is correct, that is.”
“Wait, how much do you actually know about this?” Aiko asked, wide-eyed.
“Oh, we know as much about it as the Qash’vo’tar do.”
“Meaning?” Kane asked.
The doctor looked annoyed for a second but then he answered. “Well, as far as we can tell the Qash’vo’tar understood only some of what this liquid actually is. You see, it is actually technology that comes from the Empire that predated them. They know enough to make it work and to make more of it, although they can only ‘multiply’ the liquid, they can’t create it from scratch. They’ve lost the knowledge.”
“You are telling me,” Kane narrowed his eyes at the man, “that you want to inject us with a liquid that not even the Qash’vo’tar understand?”
“It’s perfectly safe! We’ve already done the testing, the Admiral wouldn’t have authorized it if we weren’t sure that it would pose no health risk to humans.”
“Do you even know what it is or what it does?” Aiko asked.
“It’s something akin to biological nano-machines. Actually… not really, but something like it. Once injected it travels through the bloodstream and to the brain and creates a kind of biological implant that attaches itself to the language and hearing centers of the brain, allowing for instant understanding between individuals speaking different languages.”
“In other words, you have no idea what it is,” Kane said.
“Okay, maybe not, but we are certain that it is harmless and we know how to use it. I mean, it’s not like every single human knows everything about the devices they know how to use every day. We know how to prime the liquid for human DNA and we have tested it on humans already. There have been no side effects, and from the Qash’vo’tar data we know that most every star nation uses this as a means of communication. You will need this if you are to be able to communicate with anyone outside of our solar system.”
Kane opened his mouth to argue, but closed it as he realized that the doctor was right. They already had precious little knowledge of the galaxy, they would need any help they could get. “Damn it.” Kane shook his head.
***
Later that day Aiko and Kane walked into the room they were staying in at the compound where they had been helping the design teams. Their input hadn’t been much, but there had been a few issues where their experience had been valuable.
“It’s done,” Aiko said as they undressed and settled in bed.
Kane was on his back looking at the ceiling. “It is,” said Kane. They had finalized the ship design and tomorrow it would start construction. Of course there would be more changes made as issues came up during the construction process, but their job was finished.
Since they had finished, they had both been assigned to different military bases. Kane was supposed to help train a squad of mech-frame pilots, and Aiko was going to be doing more studying and planning with the Space Fleet for spaceship command.
“I’ll miss this.” Kane turned on his side so that he was facing her.
“Me too,” she said with a smile.
Ever since their conversation with the Admiral, the two of them had spent every day together. Aiko liked to joke that they had spent more time together in the last two months than they had in the years they had been together. But that time had served to make them closer. Although part of that had to do with the fact that Aiko now knew everything about Kane, mainly his magic. Before it had always seemed like he was holding a piece of himself back. Now they knew everything about each other.
“Don’t worry, we’ll be together again soon enough,” Kane told her.
“Going to an alien star system…”
“Well, you always said that you wanted us to travel.”
She nudged him with her leg. “Don’t joke about that.”
“We might be going there for serious matters, but it will still be an adventure. We will see other races, cultures, it is everything my grandfather dreamed about. My mother would jump with joy if she knew.”
“I know, okaa-san will be proud,” Aiko said.
Kane’s lips curved upwards, as they always did when she called his mother that. He had heard the words in Japanese, the doctor had told them that if they already understood a language they would hear it instead of a translation. But of course he didn’t know how exactly it did that. “When she finds out,” Kane told her.
They lapsed into silence, content and secure in each other’s arms.
***
Chief Gene Randor looked at the techs working on the insides of the new ship and shook his head in disbelief.
“What the hell do you think you are doing?” he yelled at the unsuspecting group. “The plans clearly say that the power conduits for the conventional systems are to be placed inside the wall not the floor! The magitech conduits are going into the floor!”
The techs immediately started apologizing and rectifying their mistake. “I want this done by the end of the hour, we are on a schedule, people! And if you keep fucking up like this we will fall behind.”
He turned sharply and walked off. He still had to get down to the engineering deck and check everything, he didn’t trust the techs put in charge there one bit. He didn’t take more than three steps before someone walked up to him and started keeping pace with him. He didn’t bother to turn, he already knew who it was.
“You are being harsh on your subordinates, Chief, they are doing their best,” Specialist O’nga Uhra told him in her thick accent.
“They are mediocre at best, where they found them I have no idea.”
“Still, we have need of them. We will not build this grand metal vessel all by ourselves.”
Chief Randor almost smiled at her insistence to call it a metal vessel. Almost. “If we are to do what we need to do, we can’t afford mistakes. This ship will be a complete mess of systems as it is already. I don’t need some idiot technicians adding to the trouble.”
Specialist O’nga kept quiet, and walked with him. He was still surprised at times that he had found himself working with an alien from another universe. He himself didn’t have magic, but he had studied and learned as much as he could. His job was to learn how to integrate human technology and Ethorrian magic. But Specialist O’nga was the one in charge of all the magic parts. Her people were the ones that had taught him most of what he knew. Magic wasn’t required for crafting spellscripts, it was only required to activate them.
Or at least some of them. In truth most spellscripts could be designed to be activated when provided energy. In most cases that would mean a mage, but Earth magi-techs had found other ways. Converting energy and delivering it to a spellscript was something that they had worked a long time to accomplish. Now they could activate most of them without a need for a mage. But some spellscripts, like the control spell for the mech-frames, required active control, which meant someone who had magic.
The Wanderers themselves were capable of using magic, they just never did. Gene had tried to find out why once when he had managed to get the Specialist somewhat drunk—which was an achievement in itself, as her people were very resistant to alcohol. The only thing he had managed to learn was that they had done something long ago, and that they were punished for it. She didn’t tell him anything more.
It didn’t really matter to Gene. She was smart and competent, and those were the only things he cared about in a colleague. The fact that she was green, had tusks, and could probably throw him across the room was only a bonus.
“I was hoping that you might lend me your mind for a while,” she said finally.
“What for?”
“My people and I have been trying to come up with a spellscript that could be of use to you, an offensive spell. But we are trying to do something based on the things we have learned from your people, and are unsure if it is even possible.”
“Oh? That is interesting,” Gene said. Something like that would’ve been better revealed in the earlier phase, but he knew that the Wanderers had their own little quirks. They wouldn’t have said anything until they were sure that they could do it.
“Do you have some free time?”
Gene looked at his tablet, he was scheduled to do an inspection on the engineering deck, but he thought that he could push it back a bit. What O’nga had told him had intrigued him.
“Yes, I have some time. Lead the way.”
***
Kane and Aiko stood at the large viewing window on the tether station, along with a large group of people, looking at the stars. The UEC had spared no time and no expense in getting everything in motion. Almost as soon as they had taken back control of Earth, they had started working toward the goal of keeping it in human hands. The station in orbit had been expanded and was still being expanded with more shipbuilding berths being added. Currently there were three, and preliminary work was being done in those that were operational on new ships.
There were plans for an entirely new shipyard station, but for now the focus was on getting the ships and the defenses done. New satellites had been sent into orbit, as well as several missile launching platforms. The UEC hoped that it would be enough.
Kane and Aiko’s ship was not being built in orbit, but rather on the ground. And the two of them were on the station waiting for it to be brought into orbit. Which in itself was a grand undertaking. They had started the construction on the ground rather than in space because they had little time, and they couldn’t wait for the station to be expanded enough to handle ship construction. Ant that created a problem of getting the ship into space. It was not designed for flying through an atmosphere, in fact it couldn’t escape the Earth’s atmosphere on its own.
And so they had devised another way for it to get into space. The ship was currently somewhere in the middle of the ocean, on a large floating platform that was in fact a massive spellscript. They were about to teleport the ship from the planet directly into space. Teleportation spells were common in Ethorria, and with the help of the Wanderers they had managed to build a spellscript capable of sending a ship into orbit some thirty thousand kilometers from the ground.
