Chapter 5:Cosmic Castaway Tom: "Goal!" Kay: "Aw, nuts!" Kay threw down the playstation2 controller. "No fair, Tom! I've never even heard of soccer before!" Tom had beaten her 6 times strait in Fifa and the robot girl wasn't happy about it. "It's more of an Earth thing," Tom said, turning off the game. "I've never seen Earth, either," Kay said. "Maybe we can swing around it on our way past Alpha Century 3." Sara: "Tom, don't even think about it. That planet's too dangerous," Sara advised as the two others walked out into the hallway. Tom just waved it off. Sara shook her head then said, "We've arrived at the wreck."
Retch's voice: "Yo, this thing is huge! Some really great scrap!" the two ships veered in the same direction. Shards of several destroyed starships lay infront of them like a graveyard. Tom's voice: "We still have to check it out first." "What are you planning to find? It's bits and pieces of practically nothing." "Can't hurt to look around." Sara: "Just look who's talking. Tom, you of all..." "Yeah, I know." he cut her off, not wanting to get a speech on his tendency to rush into things. On the other end of the channel he could hear Retch laugh. "So let's make this an easy job," Tom said, walking up to the main screen on the bridge, "Sara, scan for anything unusual in the wreck." A light from the side of the Absolution, bearly visible even to a robot, engulfed the wreckage and moved along the different segments. A line on lights showed up on the lower right of the screen. Sara moved so a 3-d image of the ship outside appeared. Something flashed red, the scanner stopping. "There's something on the inner side. It's concealed in what looks like the old control room." Sara reported. Just then Kay's small figure appeared at the screens top. Kay: "Everything in the cargo bay to send the clydes over, Tom." Tom: "Alright. Kay, we'll launch the cyldes to get whatever it is that's over there. Sara, keep scanning the ship." Tom headed down to were Kay was, just as a clyde headed out towards the wreck. Retch: "Please tell me what's so important about this thing?" Retch asked after Tom had left the bridge. Sara: "It could be the ships 'black box'. Whatever caused that starship to be destroyed may be helpful in the future." Sara said in an obvious tone.
Like a video game, Tom and Kay maneuvered the Clydes through the wreckage of the starship. They were only after one thing, but both tended to stop the clydes now and then to check something out. Kay: "This ship had some serious technology. Wonder what destroyed it." Tom: "We don't even know where it came from," he said, a different clyde leaving the dock to pick up something they had found. Sara: "When you two are done being technology pack rats, we still need to pick up that box." Sara reminded them. "I got it," Tom reported, a cylde grabbing hold of the black box. Kay: "Wow, look at that control... Ah, Tom, what's it doing?" On the other ship, the box had begun beeping, followed by the reanimation of the entire control room, or what was left of it. The wreck started shaking, smaller bits flying off it. Tom pulled the clyde out of there, dropping the box.
Retch: "Whoa, don't like the looks of that," the AI commented, the falling apart ship beginning to glow. He opened a link to the Absolution, "Anyone else think we should get out of here. I think one of your little bots sent the thing nuclear!" he directed his attention to another screen, "Mel, turn us around!"
The Absolution was closer to the third ship than the salvage ship. Tom and Kay attempted to recall all the clydes before starting to move away from the now very unstable looking ship. Sara: "We have to get out of here, now." The Absolution started to move just as the wrecks shaking intensified.
Retch: "Come on, get outta' there... MOVE IT YOU GUYS!" he yelled at the picture on the screen.
Tom: "Sara, revert the engines to full power and punch it!" Tom ordered, getting onto the bridge. Sara: "Roger," the engines glowed but suddenly there was an intense pulse of light from the wreckage. It filled the entire space for atleast an eighth light year in all directions. There was a large sonic boom that followed, scattering the light everywhere.
When Retch looked back at the scene his circuits nearly froze up. There weren't two wrecked ships as he thought there might have been, but nothing at all.
There was a second sonic boom. Tom was thrown up against the far wall of the room with a thud and all the lights slammed off at once. There was silence in the ship like the dead space outside, the only light in the room from the atom symbol on Tom's chest. He stood up in the still blacked out room, thanking Sara for the night vision.Tom: "Hey, is everyone okay?" Ten feet away, Sara's screen flickered and came on, filling the room with a blue glow. Sara: "What happened?" "You tell me." he pressed a button on the darkened console, "Kay, you alright? Kay?" it wasn't responding. Tom hit the console with his fist, "Damn it, Kay." he turned and ran for the elevator. It wasn't responding either. "You'll have to blow out the floor of the elevator to get to the lower levels," Sara said, sounding worried about the robot somewhere in the lower levels. "Sure, answer to everything," Tom said, taking a blaster out from under the main console, "blow it up." The floor of the elevator shattered under the charged blast, revealing the long shoot below. "I'm gonna' regret this," Tom muttered, jumping down the shaft.
The cargo bay was a disaster. Kay had been recalling the last squad of clydes when the ship had slammed them with that wave. The emergency lights were giving the room an eerie red effect, casting shadows on the fallen panels of metal and sparking wires. Tom ran into the dock, stopping for a second to stare at the destroyed room. From the left wall came the sound of metal moving over metal. Tom ran over, pushing a sheet of metal to the floor. Kay: "Tom! I think I'm stuck," she said. Another piece of fallen metal had her pinned against the wall. Tom: "Guess so, hold on," Tom pushed the last piece of metal off the robot and Kay got up, brushing herself off. "You okay?" he asked. "I think so, but I'll run diagnostics later. What happened?" "Good question." They walked out of the dock, stopping at the elevator shaft. "I got a better one," Kay said, "how do we get back up to the bridge?" she leaned into the shaft, looking up. Sara's voice: "You can take the service elevator up to level two and reach the bridge from there." she offered through Tom's still functioning communication system.
Up on level two, Tom and Kay used three hoovering clydes to get up the shaft to the bridge. Sara looked happy to see the both of them, especially that Kay was alright. Tom: "Sara, how bad is the damage?" Tom asked, not really wanting to hear it. Sara: "Besides the destroyed elevator and cargo bay, levels 30 to 41 are barely responding. That's where most of the impact was taken. The engines programming matrix was scattered and it will take awhile to get them back online. All the clydes are still functioning however some of the clyde 50s power cells were somehow drained in the pulse." "The prototypes didn't have surge protectors yet. Anything else?" "Yes, it appears the wreckage from the ship responsible for the pulse is here with us." "Okay, and where's here?" "Somewhere atleast," she paused, "251 lightyears from our last recorded location." Tom&Kay: "What?!" Kay: "How is that possible? No systems hyperdrive engines, not even ours, could go a fraction of that distance in mere seconds." Tom: "So we're in uncharted territory with a severely damaged ship and limited power, great." Sara: "We've had bad sircumstances before," she said, trying to be an optimist. "This is worse," Tom muttered also mockingly, attempting to get power back to the main console. Around the other side, Kay's voice spoke up, Kay: "Uh, Tom, there's a ship approaching us from one eighth light year, fast." "How fast?" "I'd say recklessly fast!" she answered, running around to join him. "Sara, can you pull up a picture?" Tom asked. Sara: "At the very least but the shield is totally offline line." "Then lets hope they're friendly."
Outside the Absolution, a smaller starship came to a halt on a dime, it's engines blue glow dieing away. For afew minutes nothing happened, as if the ship was indecisive about what to do. Finally, a space rider emerged from the ships bay, heading for the Absolution's dock. The ship meanwhile turned to position itself parallel with the damaged Absolution.
Kay: "Whoever they are, they're boarding." Kay stated, the space rider rounding to the ships dock. Tom: "I'll go check it out." he grabbed his blaster, turning for the elevator shaft. Sara: "Tom, no. We don't have any idea who they are or what they want." "Exactly what we need to know. I'll be alright," he assured her. Kay: "I'm coming to." "Kay, stay here." "But..." "Stay here." Tom repeated and the robot didn't make any other attempt to argue. "Just be careful then!" Kay called after Tom as he disappeared down the shaft.
In the cargo bay, the boarder from the other ship got off the jet-ski looking space rider and started to make his way through the wreckage in the dock. He obviously didn't appear human, the tail a dead give away. He looked up with a start suddenly, Tom appearing in the door way. Not taking chances, the stranger pulled his gun, the sound of a charge filling the room. Person: "You own this ship?" he called through gritted teeth set in a pointed, bird-like blue face. Tom flipped the charge switch on his own blaster behind his back. Tom: "Yeah, who are you?" he called back. "Name's Aquarius." the other replied, "Where you from?" "Not from around here," Tom replied. A look of relief seemed to move over the others face and he dropped the gun, the charging sound dieing away. Relieved that there wasn't a gun pointed at him anymore, Tom dropped the charge on his own gun. Aquarius pushed a button on his suit and said, "It's cool, guys. They're not a Segs ship." closing the link, he gave Tom a suspicious sideways glance, "But what were you doin' using Segs technology?" There was an edge in his voice as he waited for an answer. "What the heck are Segs?" Tom asked honestly. Aquarius looked like he'd just been asked whether the Earth went around its original sun anymore. "Ya don't know? You really ain't from around here, are ya? Hmph, well I dunno were you came from but where'd you find that ship?" He asked, pointing a finger out the cargo door. "It was a wreck in the middle of no where. Guess we hit the wrong lever or something because it sent us here." Tom answer. Aquarius turned his head to look around the cargo bay. "Yeah, this ship definaitly wasn't made to travel that way, it's been totaled. Sorry." he press the same button on his suit again, "Guys, this ship is really hurtin'. Let's take it in." Voice: "Roger that, Aquarius. Uh, you sure this is on the up and up?" the voice asked hesitantly. "Yeah, Viregta, get the cables ready." Aquarius answered back, slightly annoyed. He turned back to Tom, "My ship mates are slightly paranoid of new comers, especially the way you showed up." he explained, "Come on, I'll give you a lift back to our ship." Tom: "I'd rather stay here, thanks." "Why?" Before Tom could answer there was a crash of metal behind him as a sheet of scrap slid off the wall, Kay running into the room. "Kay, didn't I say stay on the bridge?" Kay: "Sorry, Tom, me and Sara got worried. So whose this?" She gave Aquarius an untrusting look over. Aquarius: "I'm Aquarius, little lady, a defender. Nice to meet you," he smiled. "Defender of what?" "Of our colony and against a race known as Segs, but I can explain that later. First, let's get this ship back to do repairs. It looks like a big job." Outside, the two ships started to move in a predetermined direction. Tom: "I need to go check out the other levels and see just what needs to be done." "Mind if I come along? So I can give my engineers a warning before we get there?" "Alright." Tom answered, and the three of them left the dock.
In a remote corner of space, a gray colony spun absently. Not far from it stood a planet of no inhabitants. The two ships neared the colony, stopping shortly for clearance and to explain what was going on. Voice: "Damn, it's that bad? Well, that's what the Segs get ya, nothing but trouble. Alright, you're cleared for docking." Once in the massively large dock of the colony, Aquarius, Tom, and Kay returned to the dock of the Absolution. Aquarius: "I'd understand if you'd want to stay and over see my engineers, but they wont be on the job for afew hours. I'd like to show you two around." Tom: "Sara, can you watch things for awhile?" Sara: "Of coarse, we should get a better idea of what's going on out here anyway." "Settles that. Alright, let's take a look around." Once out of the dock, the air lock sealed and Aquarius took off the helmet to his suit. Sure enough, he did look like a bird, his face more like a flat triangle(see Outlaw Star). Off best guess he looked around nineteen. Aquarius: "I'll give you two the story while we head up to meet the others." he said as they started down a long hall, "About 17 years ago, that planet out there, Fhrue, was our home. It was a trader planet, even though we don't get much traffic out in these parts. It was mostly a 'go-between' between certain parts of space. We had races from all over the galaxy, then those damn Segs showed up. They ain't the friendliest types and wanted to take over the planet by force, we fought back, but didn't have enough. They let loose a bomb that poisoned half the planet to death and made the rest practically uninhabitable. Those who could, escaped to this colony we had set up for clearance of new ships and residence for travelers. After that we organized the Defenders to keep the Segs away from this colony. They had incredibly fast ships and hyper drive that could move hundreds of light years in mere seconds. I suspect you stumbled upon one of their ships that we managed to nearly destroy, after it made a jump. The hyper drive must have still worked, that's why we were so nervous when you showed up." He finished, waiting for a reaction to the story. Kay: "Is the planet going to be livable again?" "We aren't sure. They've got some people working on it. So what do you think, Tom?" Tom: "Well, I feel bad for you guys, getting forced off your planet like that." Aquarius black eyes seemed to shine, "So you'll help us?" "Whoa, what?" "I knew you would! Thanks, Tom." "Hey, wait a minute. I didn't..." "Ah, we're here." They stopped at a large door and Aquarius tapped in a code that opened it. Spreading out before them was a large residence of houses, looking newly constructed(think L1). A crowd of people had showed up to see these newcomers who used Seg technology to get here. Person: "Aquarius! Good to see you got back safe!" Another of Aquarius' species walked up to them. He turned Aquarius toward him and whispered, "So will they help?" Aquarius smiled back and turned back to the crowd. "I have great news, everyone. Tom and Kay here have agreed to help us fight off the Segs!" The crowd cheered. Kay: "We never said that..." she said softly. The crowd infront of them was a variety of different races, there were even some humans mixed in who were rarely seen outside of Earth's territory. Never the less, they were all looking thrilled at the false news. Tom couldn't bring himself to say he wouldn't help, even if he had no idea how he would.
Sara: "Please tell me you're kidding," she said in a disbelieving voice. Tom: "Unfortunately, no." Tom was back on the bridge, Kay outside watching the repairs to the Absolution which were going very slowly. "We don't have the means to help them fight this war of theirs," Sara pointed out. "Yeah, I know... But I have always wanted to get some form of offence on the Absolution." Kay: "Hey, Tom?" a small picture of Kay appeared at the bottom of Sara's screen. Tom: "What's up, Kay?" "We've got afew problems out here."
Mechanic: "I'm not an expert on this style of engine, but I can safely say reprogramming them is out of my range." he closed the trap door that looked down on part of the Absolution's engine and straightened up to face Tom and Kay. "Then there's the destruction on 11 levels of this thing that will take along time with just my team. As for any weapons..." Kay: "Weapons? We never had any to start with." The mechanic tilted his blue head slightly, "Well, you'll be needing them if you're going to help us fight." Tom: "Yeah, about that. Look, this ship was never meant to be in space battles. It's an exploration ship. Not to mention I'm not looking forward to it." A horror struck look crossed the mechanics face, "But... I thought you said you'd help?" Kay: "We will," she said suddenly, "but we wont get blown up for it." "Well, if that's what you're worried about, you shouldn't be. I'm sure Aquarius wont let you two get into any trouble. We just really need the extra help. There aren't many around here willing to help. Matter of fact, there aren't many around here at all." And there was the guilt thing again. Tom: "Alright. Let's get to work."
It was a day in, day out project. They recruited anyone with the slightest clue as to what they were doing, but they seemed easily in over their heads. There were workers on all levels of the Absolution, Tom, Kay, and Sara making sure everything was done right. Tom repaired the Clyde-50's to help with the smaller jobs, that took the better part of a day. Parts of the Absolution slowly started looking better, once all the debris was cleared out and everything was repaired, replaced, or revamped. After the crew had finished, about two weeks later, Tom set to reprogramming the engines along with Sara.
There was a crowd merging at the glass window looking into the dock where the repaired Absolution was. Meanwhile, inside. Tom: "What are our chances this will work?" Sara: "It took us all night, but I'd say there's a fairly good chance." "Alright, let's fire this thing up," Tom flipped a switch from down in the engines control room. There was a pause and suddenly the room was flooded with light. Outside, the engines roared to life, the entire colony erupting with cheers. Tom sighed, leaving the room. "That was the easy part," he said to Sara.
Aquarius' ship wasn't as big as the Absolution, or as advanced as the Seg ships, but it looked set to do a combat job. It was as busy inside as out, as people ran doing repairs or checking supplies. Tom managed to get through everyone and to the bridge where Aquarius and some of the other ship captains were waiting. It was already open but when he walked in something barked loudly and knocked him over. Aquarius: "Astro! Get off!" Aquarius pulled the creature off Tom. Tom: "Thanks," he stood back up, "What is that?" The green creature squirming at Aquarius' grip was definiatly not a dog. It looked more like a like a lizard with two lower jaws that fit to its upper, all three with rows of teeth. "Him? This is my dog Astro. He wont hurt you." "Nice reassurance," Tom said, looking at Astro's sharp teeth. The others in the room were laughing in the corner. There was a table in the middle of the room displaying a 3D map of the surrounding solar system. Aquarius turned his attention to the people in the corner, "Alright, that's enough. Let's get this started." They all moved around the map and Aquarius began briefing a battle that did not sound promising. "There've been rumors of a fleet of Seg ships only `an eighth light year from here. They haven't made any threatening moves yet but it's safe to assume they will. We're going to head out tomorrow morning to intercept and destroy the fleet. Any questions?" Person: "Shouldn't we wait until they make a move so we know if they mean harm?" this came from a younger looking member of Aquarius' species. He was only met by Aquarius' stern glare and fell quiet. A smile then returned to Aquarius face and his eyes shifted. "Anything worth adding, Tom?" Tom: "Only that I can't believe I'm doing this." A human from across the table looked up, Person2: "You owe us, ya know. We didn't spend two weeks repairing your ship for nothing." Tom didn't bother responding, but none of this felt right.
Tom left the bridge of Aquarius' ship, Astro tagging after him. Tom: "Sara, are you getting the same feeling about this as I am?" he asked. Sara's voice: "Honestly, yes. However, we can't get away from here without being noticed and we do owe them for repairing the ship." Tom sighed, nudging Astro away from him. "Where's Kay?" he said. "Onboard." Sara replied, "Should I tell her about tomorrow?" "Sure." "Alright. And, Tom? What's that barking noise?" "That would be Astro. It's Aquarius pet." Tom quickly closed a door behind him, Astro getting stuck on the other side. Astro whimpered and clawed at the door, putting indents on the other side.
Kay: "Tom!" Kay jumped him, "Tomorrow sounds like fun." Tom: "I'm glad someone's looking forward to it." They headed back up to the bridge. Sara: "The entire ship is at maximum efficiently." she reported. "Why is it that for once that's not a good thing?" Tom asked, sitting down on the bridge. "Hopefully it wont last long," Sara said. Kay: "What are you two talking about?" Kay asked from the other side of the main console, looking over some star
charts, "This is what much of space was founded on; battle. There has to be battles if there is going to be peace." Tom: "Even if people die for it?" "It's what my brother told me was right." "Great, lot of sound judgement there." "Hey, Com wasn't always out of his programming," Kay said, she sounded pretty angry. Tom got up and walked around to where she was, "That doesn't mean that what he said before was right." "It's true. People have to die for peace!" she shot back. "Maybe that's what Com thought from being a security robot." "It's a simply matter!" Aquarius: "Sorry, am I interrupting a family thing?" They both looked at the screen Kay had been watching to find Aquarius looking at them, "I just wanted to make sure everything was set over there for tomorrow." Tom: "Yeah, we're ready."
Aquarius' ship left the dock first, flanked by several slightly smaller ships. The Absolution was last out, Aquarius was going to make sure nothing happened to them. They weren't set to reach the Segs stationary post for atleast a days time. Kay was down in the lower part of the ship checking things over, she had seemed a little withdrawn since her fight with Tom. Up on the bridge, Tom was trying to figure something out. Sara: "Tom, what are you doing?" she asked, appearing in the upper left of the screen. Tom: "Sara, doesn't it seem weird that even all the way out here there aren't any reports of the conflict involving the Segs 17 years ago?" "There should atleast be logs or records on it." "It's almost like they've been erased. If that's possible." "It's possible, of course, but why would someone want to...?" Tom didn't answered, "You're not thinking Aquarius lied to us, are you?" she asked. "I'm not sure." Just then the screen beeped and split, Aquarius' face coming on screen. Aquarius: "It looks like things are moving faster than we expected."Another picture replaced his, this of a fleet of starships other than their own, "They're coming to us, and they've been moving since yesterday. We're going to intercept in 20 minutes." He closed the link without waiting for a reply. Sara brought a picture up on screen of the two fleets positions. "There's still something not right about this..." Tom said, "Sara, tell Kay what's going on." Sara: "Right. Don't worry, we'll get through this." She disappeared off screen. "Well I already know that. It's the outcome I'm worried about." Tom said to himself as the two fleets closed in on eachother.
Person: "Segs in range in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. This battle has begun!" The owner of these words was Aquarius' navigator. Aquarius: "Open fire! Send the right flank out first." Person2: "Yes, sir!" responded the person to his right, giving the order. The opposing ships seemed to have the same idea. A third of their number took off to round Aquarius' fleet. The right flank that had gone first intercepted them as an eruption of lights and explosions followed. The second part of the Seg fleet headed up at an incredible speed. The back flank of Aquarius' unit locked on to several of these ships however and manage to take most of them out. The few that got through changed coarse and dove at Aquarius' ship in what looked like a suicide move. "Lock on over head! Stop them!" Aquarius ordered. The first half of the small group was destroyed but two managed to get past and smashed into the upper Starboard side of the ship. Engineer: "That took out most of level 30, 31, and 32 on the Starboard side, sir!" "Send the left flank out next. How is the first wave doing?" "Holding at..."
Sara: "75%. They're doing quite well, actually." The Absolution had managed to hang back in the fight so far and Sara was keeping track of Aquarius' numbers. Tom was watching the battle with slightly less optimism. "What's the matter?" Sara asked. Tom: "Why does it feel like this is suppose to be harder? Aquarius made it out to be a more than it seems. They've only sustained minimal damage and are obviously winning." Kay: "Not sure whose side to take?" A picture of the robot showed up in the bottom corner. "Exactly the problem." Tom answered. "I've been looking for records of the battle 17 years ago aswell. I turned up nothing. We can't be sure who is right and who is wrong in this fight." Kay sounded as unsure as the others.
Outside, the third part of the Seg fleet along with some of the first rounded the battle area the long way. They managed to avoided almost all of the attempts by the other group of starships to stop them. Aquarius: "Where are they heading?!" he demanded. His first in command looked up, Person2: "Toward the Absolution, sir." "Send our third flank after them!" "They are engaged in a battle with the remaining part of the first wave of the Seg fleet, sir. All other ships are within battle aswell." "Damn it, I hope they can take care of themselves."
Kay: "We have a mass of opposing ships coming around towards us from the Port side, Tom!" she said over the link. Sara: "Waiting for an order." Sara still sounded unsure about this but the safety of the Absolution came first. Tom: "Fire a warning shot, if they don't stop then we'll have to fight them."
A beam of light blasted pasted the fleet of Seg ships, coming close enough to make a point and far enough not to destroy anything yet. The largest ship, and head of the fleet slowed down, the flanking ships doing likewise. They had come to a standstill. Honestly, Tom hadn't expected them to stop. Before he could decide what to do next, the main ship was opening a voice link to the Absolution. Seg: "You are not registered with our enemies fleet." The voice was hollow and scratchy, "Identify yourselves." Tom glanced at Sara then pressed a button on the arm of his chair, Tom: "This is the Absolution, L-class D space explorer." "You are not with our enemy? If you are not we have no reason to attack you." "We're on their side for one battle because we were told you destroyed their planet." Tom knew he was being too blunt with them but it was the easiest way to get an answer, and they did. On the other end of the link the Seg seemed to scream with outrage. The noise was piercing. "We did not do any such thing!" there was a pause then the voice returned, "Fhrue originally belongs to our race. Seventeen years ago the other species who we had hospitably aloud residence to on our planet revolted against us, causing a war. The outcome was that currently unlivable planet just beyond the space colony that was taken from us." Just then another voice broke into the conversation. Aquarius: "What are you doing?! Shoot 'em already!" that went unanswered. "We do not blame the young ones," the Seg continued, "They have been told that we are the enemy by their elders to ensure their loyalty. It is not their fault." Kay: "Tom, I've confirmed all of that. I found an old trading report stating that the Segs did originally own that planet." Aquarius: "Tom! What the hell is going on over there?!" At this point Tom noticed that Aquarius' ship had gotten closer to the Seg fleet and the Absolution. Tom: "Aquarius, there's something you need to listen to." "I'm not listening to any Seg. If you're not with us, your against us. So who are you siding with?" Seg: "Can you patch us through to him, please?" the hollow voice asked. Tom: "Sure." Tom linked the Seg ship through to Aquarius' ship, "Kay, lock the channel so it can't be cut from either end." Tom said. Down on the lower level Kay hacked to the two ships and disabled their ability to shut the link. Then Tom sat back and listened to the Seg leader retell to Aquarius what he had told Tom. Aquarius shook his head, Aquarius: "I... don't believe you. No way. I was trained to fight you, I know when you're lieing." Seg: "But do you know when your own kind is lieing?" Aquarius fell silent then addressed his first officer, "Tell the fleet to siece fire." "Yes," the Seg said happily, "We will aswell." Finally it seemed that each side had figured out the truth. Sara: "I hate to break this up but there is another ship approaching us from the colony." Aquarius: "Probably a ship coming to collect our damaged troops." "It wouldn't be moving this-" She was cut off as a blast slammed the Absolution's Port side. "Which ship is that?!" Aquarius demanded of someone aboard his ship, "What? The commander's ship?" Tom: "Why would they be attacking us?" Voice: "It's your fault they learned the truth." the commander said calmly over another link, "We've worked hard against the Segs for so long, we can't risk defiance of our own troops now." Aquarius: "So it's true then. We were lied to! What have we been fighting for?!" "Aquarius, you are our best captain, I've known that since you were young. I've also known that you're heart would never agree with what your predecessors had done when you were only two. We are a conquering race that took over the Segs planet from the inside and we wont give up untill the job is done!" A barrage of shots fired from the starship aiming toward all three ships and the rest of the Seg fleet. Tom: "Sara, get the shield up!" A wave of green light encircled the Absolution as a similar blue shield spread over Aquarius' ship. The Seg ships had no defense against such a powerful ship and several of them were damaged from the battle already. Aquarius: "Hey, tell those guys to get behind us before they all get blown up!" That was surprising but the leader of the Seg ships ordered his fleet to take cover, it staying behind to make sure they got there safely. "Yo, hurry up!" Aquarius yelled to the leader ship, "They're preparing to fire an all out attack at you!" It was too late, before the final ship could take cover a powerful blast submerged it. Two following shots from the Absolution and Aquarius' ship took out the commanding ship, the destruction of both barely a second apart. There was quiet that followed. Sara: "They destroyed the Seg leader." Kay: "And we destroyed them." Aquarius: "It was their own fate, not us." Tom: "No, I guess not."
Two days later, the truth had been told to all the survivors of the battle and all inhabitant of the colony. The commander of both fleets was dead and those alive no longer faced the threat of oncoming conflict with the other. Tom was in the colony dock outside the Absolution, doing one final check of the ship before they headed out. He turned as the door behind him opened, a gray creature walking in. He was the new leader of the Segs. Seg: "I came to thank you." he had the same hollow voice as the old leader but looked and sounded younger. Tom: "For what?" "It was your unwillingness to fight us that aloud my father to tell Aquarius the truth." "I'm sorry about your dad." The seg shook his head and waved a hand in front of his face, "A word of thanks is not often followed by a word of apology. My father helped to save our race and the naive inhabitants of this colony. However, I would like to ask how you came to be here? There are no starships of your type in there regions." "We found the wreckage of one of your ships over 250 lightyears from here. It's hyper speed was activated and it brought us here." The Seg sighed heavily, "Yes, that was most likely a civilian escape craft destroyed when trying to leave Fhrue's territory. My kind has been left with many scars but we understand that the second generation was manipulated and did not know the truth about themselves and the planet." Sara: "Awfully forgiving people." she said only to Tom who couldn't help but agree.
Seg: "You are sure that you do not want to use our light speed technology to return to your former position?" Tom: "Thanks, but last time we traveled that way the Absolution was nearly totaled." "Very well. Have a safe journey." The picture left the screen on the bridge of the Absolution, Sara replacing it. Sara: "Ready to head out?" Tom: "Atleast we don't have to fight anybody this time." The Absolution left the dock of the space colony heading for no where specific. They were a research ship, however, so it really didn't matter where they were. When they were 10 minutes outside the colony Kay came up to the bridge. Kay: "Tom, can I ask you something?" "Sure, Kay, what's up?" "I know you didn't give the order to me or Sara to fire at that command ship, but I took the shot anyway. You're not mad at me, right?" "Kay, that shot helped destroy that ship. I didn't want to do that but if we hadn't destroyed it than it probably would have returned fire on us and then on the other unprotected ships. You did the right thing." "Aw, I knew you weren't mad at me!" she said happily and jumped him again. "Okay, okay. We got along way to go and all the time and the world to get there." Tom laughed as the Absolution headed towards coordinates 251 lightyears away.
