Until the Dawn, page 39
"Many thanks go to our new friend Noah and also to his people," the Chaplain said proudly. "We sincerely appreciate their invitation that will allow us to stay safely with them during our time of crisis. It is also most kind of him to give us this opportunity to hold our first shipboard wedding on the very edge of the Creation from which we have all sprung forth." He turned his attention back to Melissa and Greg. "Now then," he said with a Chaplain's confidence as the sparkling blue fog continued to swirl merrily around the ship. "Do you, Greg Fredericks, take this woman…"
Later that evening the dance part of the ceremony was in full swing. Melissa Fredericks smiled with pure joy as she danced slowly with her new husband Greg. Band music filled the makeshift ballroom with a cheerful atmosphere, while the sparkling, intermittent white traces from the outside view continued to captivate most of the guests. Melissa no longer saw it… she simply looked into Greg's deep brown eyes and continued to dance with delight, feeling safe and secure for the first time in almost six months. Gently he spun her as they moved, and she gracefully allowed herself to twirl away from him until she held only his fingertips. Drinking in the emotional overload, she reversed direction and spun herself back into his arms. Grinning, he dipped her backward before they continued their dance deeper into the crowd of happy couples.
"Watch it people, I've got a full load of cargo coming through here," said Aaron with a chuckle as he and Liane bumped into Greg. Melissa watched her pregnant friend quickly swat the elder Rem and she smiled with approval. Her attention focused back on the crowd and she noticed Jillian and her husband also dancing energetically past them.
"Aren't you supposed to be studying this?" she shouted over the music at her friend. Jillian glanced back at Melissa and grinned in response.
"Every system I have including that last active telescope in the corner is set to record!" Dr. Marcus laughed with glee. "I'll get around to reviewing it… eventually. Right now it's time to have some fun celebrating your big night!"
The happy new couple continued their romantic twist through the crowd and smiled cheerfully as they passed Trey and Nell. "It won't be long before you're in my shoes buddy," Greg hollered to his friend, watching him blush several shades of red. He continued to watch all the happy faces in the crowd pass by and suddenly noticed something odd. "Where did the Captain go?" he asked carefully while continuing to scan the room.
* * *
They found Norris seated with Noah, Dr. Simon and Peter Wrangler in the Infirmary. William was a little bit shocked as he watched Greg, Melissa, Aaron, Trey, Jillian, Nell, Father Dorgan and Colonel Emerson file slowly into the room – still dressed in their formal attire. Jeff arrived a few seconds later from the Lab wing, where he had been emceeing the ship's other party until Trey managed to have him paged.
"I didn't mean to spoil a perfectly good time," Norris said sincerely, watching his close-knit group of friends and officers carefully. "But once we return to Tranquility and park the Waywardsman for good we'll be unable to use its CAS Drive for a while. I've thought the matter over and decided that there is one more task as Captain of this ship that I have to perform." He shook his head in wonder, watching them with the respect and appreciation that only people who have served together for years have for each other. "That's my responsibility, however. You folks should return to the party and continue having fun. After all," he grinned, looking at Greg and Melissa proudly. "It is your night, after all, and it should be a memorable one!"
"Earth is our home too Captain," said Greg firmly. "The responsibility and yearning you have to do something about the Brotherhood – at least in some way – is equally strong among the rest of your crew, I can assure you."
"What are you planning, sir?" asked Trey curiously. Norris's response was to hand him a sheet of printed paper containing a very short message that Cassie and Peter had helped him write. The young scientist read the text message printed on it before handing it down the line so the rest of his friends could also review the content.
"It reads well," Aaron commented, handing the note back to his Captain. "But they'll never believe us unless we offer them proof that we're not kidding. If you don't mind, I'd like to make a small suggestion…"
Later that evening found the Captain and most of his Council of Twelve standing side by side in the Command Dome, carefully studying the overhead monitors. Trey and Greg had taken complete control of the central computer ring and were busy working from the stations normally occupied by Aaron and Melissa. The view that the rest of them were watching was an image of the bottom of the Waywardsman's hangar bay. A large Canary Probe dropped from its secure position on the bottom of the hull and floated free for a moment. Then the small craft's aft thrusters fired and it began moving slowly forward into its pre-programmed position.
"CAS Drive is on-line and ready," Trey said confidently.
"Shrinking PTP window for transport," Greg replied. He watched the readouts on the work station in front of him carefully and nodded as its lights flashed green. "The probe is away Captain," he said with enthusiasm. "There is no way we can precisely hit Earth orbit from this distance, but the Canary will arrive close enough for its internal systems to guide it the rest of the way."
"That's it then," Norris said softly, smiling at the people standing with him. "It's time to pick a party and go back to having some fun."
"It's going to be bad for a while on Earth, William," said Noah cautiously. "The killing will continue, and the Brotherhood will have to make a choice."
"Yes, but they'll have to do so… alone," replied Norris with a sharp grin. "I can't thank you enough for using your technology to bring Earth's refugees to us."
"Some of them are Brotherhood devotees, many of whom are still on the fence as to who to trust…"
"They will no longer be the bully," the Captain replied firmly. "We will deal with them more fairly than they dealt with us."
"I will leave you to your new world then," the alien said, turning to go.
"Everyone enjoy themselves and have fun tonight," William decided. "Tomorrow the hard work begins, rebuilding a new world for more than a billion refugees. We will construct new cities and increase our population first, and only after that is completed will we decide whether or not to open negotiations with Earth's current leadership. It may take decades, it may take hundreds of years… and it remains to be seen whether or not anyone will survive back there." He flashed a wry smile.
* * *
Sol-system, 172 days after the initial attack
* * *
The Canary Probe emerged from its CAS-assisted transit having traveled almost instantly all the way back to the edge of the Sol star system in the Milky Way. The incredibly long distance PTP hop wasn't perfect by any means, so its programmed computer systems immediately activated its motion sensors and on-board observation equipment. The probe began a search for nearby objects and very quickly began to populate an empty computer file with a detailed map of the solar system. Mere moments later its scan was detected and the probe noted ships moving toward it – none of which signaled it with a friendly identification code.
The four enemy fighters moved quickly into the area and began to rapidly close the distance between their patrol and the unfamiliar probe. They were preparing to open fire on the unknown intruder when the Canary suddenly activated its own small PTP unit and transited away. One of the fighters immediately reported its findings back to home base. They patiently waited until a return signal was received, indicating to them that the matter was under control. Accepting the transmission, they resumed their patrol along the outer edge of the solar system.
There were even more enemy warships in Earth orbit but the Canary proved to be very precise in its measurements. It emerged from its second, short-range hop already in the upper atmosphere and its hull instantly began to heat as its thrusters moved it even more sharply downward toward the distant surface below. The vulnerable equipment inside of it began to fail from the extreme heat and it tried one last time to adjust its course toward a rural region located just south of the Himalayas in a small country called Hariden. The course correction failed along with the rest of its electronics and, a blazing ball of fire, the Canary Probe dropped out of the sky trailing a huge column of smoke behind it right before crashing heavily into the ground.
The wreckage was still smoking when a large shuttle dropped out of the sky and landed near the new crater in the ground. Four Brotherhood soldiers emerged from the ship and walked over to the remains of the probe and then paused, waiting for additional instructions. A beautiful dark-haired woman dressed in black also stepped out of the cargo carrier and walked over to examine the wreckage.
"Load this into the ship," Jelara 001 told the soldiers. "We'll take it back with us to Dran Graven's palace." Without saying a word, the soldiers immediately moved to obey and – relying on thick gloves to protect them from hot metal – the four of them easily lifted the hot, blackened wreckage of the probe out of the large crater and began moving it back to their ship. Small fires still flickered in the grass around the crater and Jelara tilted her head upward, watching the gradually dispersing remnants of the probe's descending smoke trail in the cloudless sky overhead.
"What is it?" Horrend 322 asked as she stepped back aboard the shuttle. He sat next to additional soldiers, watching the other four loading the probe into the cargo area at the rear of the ship. "Was it supposed to be some kind of weapon?" Normally such questions would have continued to pour out of him one after another, but the presence of an actual member of the Triumvirate unnerved him.
"Maybe," Jelara shrugged, taking a seat beside him. "Who knows what the survivors will try. They've got something up their sleeve that we don't know about. I've been sent out here specifically to discover why so many of them are vanishing without a trace."
Horrend smiled. "Mass suicide. They know their situation is hopeless."
She shot him a dirty, intimidating look that silenced him instantly. "Over confidence will not help," she told him. "I have seen for myself evidence that something very odd is taking place." He waited patiently, but she chose not to share anything further with him. The shuttle's engines fired and it slowly took off and began moving off on a course back toward Hariden, before altering that heading just slightly enough to move north of the capitol city. Jelara and Horrend remained silent for the rest of the journey back until the small cargo carrier finally arrived at its destination. It landed next to a large building that was basically intact, but whose entrance had been severely damaged during a prolonged gun battle.
Upon landing, the soldiers immediately began unloading the probe's wreckage. Like a ghost sliding out of the shadows, the dark-haired woman appeared beside them. "Take it to Dorgain 001," she ordered before looking directly back to Horrend with some authority. "Make sure that he knows I want a complete analysis ready by tomorrow morning."
"I'll certainly do that," the Horrend clone said, bowing deeply before moving off to follow the soldiers.
The next day Jelara 001 entered the main underground chamber, where months ago they had held their brief meeting with Dran Graven. Surprisingly he was present, waiting for her a bit impatiently with Dorgain 001 and Horrend 001. "Why is he here?" she asked acidly, gesturing casually in Graven's direction. "If we add a new member to the Triumvirate, we will have to rename it."
"My people are disappearing just as fast as those in other nations," the Hariden King snapped back at her. "You promised me a kingdom to rule over." His anger had grown strong enough to overcome his fear of her, an annoying trait that Jelara made a mental note to put a stop to… soon.
"Why are so many survivors disappearing?" Horrend asked her intently. "What did you discover?"
"Either the moon colony project team completed its new type of PTP project, or some sort of alien influence is involved," she replied brusquely, studying the color on her fingernails. "Several days ago, I was searching one of the mountainous areas where survivors were rumored to meet. It was nighttime and we were hovering above a large group of them in a shuttle. We spotted a small oval filled with bright white light that appeared near ground level, it must have been some sort of energy portal. One after another, the crowd down below lined up and walked toward it. All of them disappeared inside of it." She studied Horrend's gaze with hate-filled glittering eyes. "Somehow I doubt that they were killing themselves with some sort of suicide weapon. It had to be a new form of Point-to-Point transport."
"That is ridiculous. Where would they go?"
"If I knew the answer to that question, Horrend, then naturally so would you."
He nodded, obviously not pleased by what she had told him. Turning his attention to Dorgain, he briefly studied the remains of the small Canary probe sitting on the table in front of them. "And you, what were you able to determine?" he asked. "Was this supposed to be a weapon of some sort?"
"Unlikely," the third member of their Triumvirate replied. "The Americans have all kinds of differing versions of these 'Canary' probes as they like to call them. Most are very sophisticated pieces of electrical equipment designed to monitor stellar phenomenon, but there are smaller versions of them also in use by the military as missile decoys or simply as a means to disrupt enemy communications."
"And this one?" asked Jelara impatiently. "What was it supposed to do?" She had been desperately waiting to hear something about the mysterious, crashed device ever since receiving the order to retrieve it.
"This probe has markings on it that indicates it is indeed from a vessel called Waywardsman." He shrugged. "That's the new ship that the moon Colonists built with what they call a CAS system. This Waywardsman would be the same vessel that escaped from us about six months ago after nearly destroying one of our warships."
Horrend reached forward and picked up the papers that Dorgain had set on the desk. He glanced over the images of the distant, spiral-armed galaxy clusters printed on them and shook his head with delight. "They're letting us know that they got safely out of the galaxy," he concluded with an evil grin. "They're convinced that they are protected from us, even though they're lost in the middle of nowhere and will struggle mightily on a daily basis simply to survive."
"They're more than convinced," Dorgain continued, turning over one of the pictures. On the back of it was a text message that he slowly read out loud to the two people seated across from him:
"These pictures were taken from a position that we call Bravo Point as proof that we have escaped from your military threat. You cannot track us and you will never find us. But we know where YOU are, and we are taking back the surviving members of our people. Earth is your planet now, and you will have to rebuild it with your own hands. Creating rather than simply destroying may teach you something about the value of life. But bear in mind that we have plans to return to our home someday.
We hope you enjoy waking up each new day to a bombed out horizon.
Also, by genetically enhancing yourselves, you should know that your Brotherhood and its Triumvirate have also accepted the consequences and the responsibilities that go with such gifts. So treat our planet and the people who choose to remain behind better than you have to date, or we promise that things will go badly for you in the end."
"Do they really think that we're going to take a message such as this one, delivered using a long distance probe seriously?" Horrend asked, laughing with enthusiasm. "They can't penetrate our defenses, so they hide somewhere distant in the universe and expect us to respond to idle threats? I've seen the Americans make some poor decisions in their day, but this one borders on ridiculous." In truth the crude text of the message unnerved him, but Horrend feigned a mocking laugh in order to hide the sudden chill that permeated his entire body.
"You wouldn't laugh so easily if you had seen that energy portal," snapped Jelara in response. Her emotions were also on edge due to the unknowns they had been witness to. "It isn't just a few groups of survivors that are missing. All of them… even the ones we recruited in other nations to work in our labor camps… they're all disappearing. Millions of people are vanishing without a trace. Where have they gone?"
"If this Waywardsman did indeed make it out of our galaxy, then that is no small feat. They might have the ability to transport smaller objects, like people, too." Dorgain watched Horrend's reaction as the full meaning of his statement weighed heavily on his colleague. "If they successfully locate a habitable planet to set down on, they could cause us great difficulties." He pointed at the cracked metal frame of the Canary probe. "This could just as easily have contained an armed nuclear device."
