Out of the Darkness of Space
by Maurice Humphrey
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Table of Contents parts: 1, 2, 3, 4 |
part 2
Myla began: “The war started several hundred years ago, when an invasion force first landed on the occupied worlds on the farther side of the galaxy. The invaders were called Ionids, and Derring’s world was one of the first to be overrun. He and the rest of his group were orphaned while on a mission to warn other worlds of the invasion.”
It took a week to tell the whole story. Myla also left me some reference material in the library to study. When he could, Derring kept me occupied with little bits and pieces of Myla’s culture. Some taboos were reminiscent of our medieval times. It was during one of these conversations that Derring announced, “I believe they are here.”
“Who are here?”
“Those who will determine your fate.” Then he left; he sounded angry.
That sounds ominous, I thought.
* * *
Derring returned several minutes later escorting two older men and a woman, all in uniform. It wasn’t hard to tell which one outranked the others. To my surprise, Myla quietly trailed behind. Her face had a pensive look, but she was just as beautiful as I remembered from my dreams.
I took the initiative: “My name is Major Ross Weller. To whom do I have the pleasure?” extending my right hand in a gesture of friendship.
The grumpy one in front looked offended, but we weren’t here to play games. I motioned to the table: “Would you please be seated?” There were five chairs. I pulled one over to the side for Myla; I didn’t want to push my liberties with her just yet.
Grumpy sat to my left, the other man on my right, and the woman across from me. As Grumpy was about to speak, the woman stood and introduced herself.
“I see you have learned our language, Major Weller. I am Major-General Helio Neech, and these two sourpusses are,” pointing to Grumpy, “Major Arman Seag and Colonel Aldus Veed.” With a slight smile she looked over at Myla. “You already know my daughter, Myla.”
I stood up and smiled back. “Yes, but not personally. Thank you for the introductions and for coming to see me. I think we may be of use to each other in the upcoming conflict.”
Grumpy jumped up. “What upcoming conflict?” he roared. “The Ionids are all gone.”
“I’m sorry, Major Seag, but from what little I’ve seen and heard, these Ionids may have been beaten back into hiding, but they’re far from gone. I need to know everything you have on them.”
“And how do you know this?” he replied with a look I’d seen before, the look of a know-it-all. At least, so I thought at the time.
“I admit it is conjecture, but I spent time on front lines when I was younger, and this feels like one of those times.” Before he could answer, I continued, “What I really need is more information and history on the invasions. I assume there were more than one?”
“There were,” Colonel Veed replied, “and on what do you base that assumption?”
“I’ve read all the reports I could get my hands on. We’ve found other outposts and, from their condition, they appear to be older than this one. From what I can tell, Outpost-DP451 is fairly new, but still hundreds of years old.”
“How do you know that?” Grumpy growled.
I smiled back at him. “Simple, I learned your language and compared it to the signage on the doors and walls. There are hundreds of years of change in the language.”
Colonel Veed looked thoughtful. “A brilliant observation, young man.”
“Any more questions, Colonel Veed?” the commodore asked; the two of us were still standing.
The dark-haired man gave me a questioning look. “I’ll withhold my opinion until after his indoctrination. Good luck, Major Weller, until we meet again.”
I felt like I’d just survived the third ruffian.
We escorted them to the Personnel Transport area, and the three officials vanished in the same manner that Derring had. That left me with the feeling I had forgotten something.
“You two can get along without me,” Derring chipped in as he trotted out the door.
TWO? Whoops.
“You haven’t forgotten me already, have you?” Myla said with a slight amount of embarrassment.
“I could never forget you, but actually witnessing the transport in action is amazing.” That was both true and a lie.
“You said you wanted to learn about the invasions and the Burning?” she chided.
“Yes, but...” as I looked around. Just in this one room alone, there was so much to learn. Then I realized she was standing there, and I wasn’t dreaming. I felt like a fool as I stared at her. The crisp uniform she wore looked like her mother’s, only with less gold braid.
“Well?” she asked again, “is there a problem?”
“Uh, no.” I checked my watch, I had several observations to make, and my monthly reports were due. “But if I don’t get my reports in on time, the brass on my side will notice. How much material did you bring? If I don’t do this right, Colonel Feld will haul me away and take over.”
“Who is this Colonel Feld?” she asked.
“He’s the idiot who sent me here,” I replied with a sheepish grin. Damn, I let my feelings rule my mouth again.
Myla looked like she was about to say something, but kept it to herself. “All the material is in the library, and there’s a big screen for greater detail.”
She was ready to start, but I had other things to do. A cold shiver went up my back. Just how much time do we have? I made a quick decision: “I’m ready; the observations can wait.” And that earned me a smile I’ll never forget. I skipped the observations and spent the next few weeks learning about the invasion of the Ionids, and each evening we would part at the transport.
* * *
The race of people that built the outposts called themselves the Krotasons. They had been spreading out among the closer star systems long before the invasion began on the other side of the galaxy. They had been roaming the stars looking for other signs of life when they came across Earth. In form, they looked much like humans, not the little bug-eyed green men who spawned so many movies and books.
Myla’s people were actually settlers transplanted from Earth by the Krotasons over several hundreds of years; that’s why much of their history paralleled our own. And that answered another question I hadn’t realized: she was just as human as I was. After several generations, the population of people from Earth increased while the ancient Krotasons diminished.
The two races lived in harmony for many years before the Ionids began their invasion. By the time news reached the Krotasons, the enemy was only a few light-years away. And then, just as suddenly as it began, the invasion stopped.
“Why did they stop?” I asked. “Surely they would have rolled right over you before you even knew they were coming?”
“The Krotasons believe they depleted all their resources getting as far as they did,” she replied.
“And when did the outposts come into play?”
“The Krotasons built the first group of outposts to push them back to the edge of the galaxy,” she sighed. “It almost worked.”
“What went wrong?”
“There were more Ionids than expected. That’s when the Krotasons discovered that the invasion hadn’t stopped but paused for a breeding season.”
And how many died learning what you’ve just told me?
As if reading my mind, “They learned this from the ones that escaped.”
“And the purpose of the Burning?” I asked. I already knew the answer but wanted to be sure.
“Our ancestors were desperate. We had hundreds of outposts along the border with the enemy. They reconfigured the outposts to channel raw energy from the nearby suns into the enemies’ nests. That energy burned hundreds of worlds down to their mantle. Our ancestors caught them at a vulnerable time,” she said. “Only a few escaped the burning. No one knew how many, or where they disappeared to.”
“And this was how long ago?” I asked.
“Close to three hundred years,” she replied sadly.
Myla’s downcast eyes led me to ask, “That’s a long time for people to remember. Let me guess, some people don’t think it ever happened?”
She nodded in answer.
Something was missing. Then I remembered. “What do the Krotasons’ think about this?”
“The last Krotason died after the Burning,” she replied solemnly. “Our ancestors vowed to keep searching for the Ionids and prepare for their next assault.”
I hated the dramatic ending, but it was inevitable. I could see parallels with Earth’s history. Myla’s people were a different civilization, but they were facing the same prejudices and foibles of our shared human nature.
“I need to understand how all this armament works, Myla. Who’s the expert?”
“Oh, that would be Colonel Veed,” she replied with a slight smile.
Oh, great! I groaned inwardly.
* * *
“These machines are not toys,” Colonel Veed began, “and are not to be toyed with.”
“Yes, sir,” I replied.
I knew very little about what made the colonel tick. He was an enigma, having worked his way up the chain of command by making as little noise as possible. I tried not to let him browbeat me; I wasn’t under his command, and I had more combat experience.
For security reasons, he’d insisted any instruction be handled at his offices in the capital city, Canapolise. I’d hesitated to agree, but I needed him to trust me with the secrets of the outposts, how many were functional, and to what degree.
“We know little about the Ionids,” he told me, “and I believe they have spies among us.”
“Colonel Veed?” I asked in a straight voice, “do you believe the Ionids will strike again?”
I don’t know what he’d expected me to ask, but it wasn’t that. I know it bothered him as he turned and stared out the window at the city of Canapolise spread out below us.
“Some of us differ on that subject,” he replied, “but I think it’s more a question of when, not if.” Then he noticed my troubled look.
“Young man?” Colonel Veed was studying me. “Your thoughts are somewhere else.” The last part was more a statement than a question.
“I’m worried about not being there if someone calls; and, yes, Myla said she could handle it.” He seemed satisfied with my answer.
“Let’s change the subject. Tell me about you.”
Surprising myself, I opened up and told him my life story.
“With all that experience, why are you sitting out here at this lonely outpost?” he asked. “You’re not the typical person we see spending three years of their life without companionship.”
Again I had the feeling of being grilled. He was searching for something.
“So why are you out here, young man?” Colonel Veed’s eyes bored at me intensely, his smile unsettling. “Just what did you do to irk someone so badly they sentenced you to this isolation?”
I couldn’t think of anything to say. This man had driven right to the heart of why I was out here. “It was my superior, Colonel Feld,” I told him. “I embarrassed him by showing people what an idiot he is.”
A slow smile crept across Colonel Veed’s face. “I’m beginning to really like you, Major Ross Weller, and you can call me Aldus in private.” He reached out his hand. “You will make Myla very happy.”
Myla was related to Colonel Veed, and the Commodore was Myla’s mother... Did that mean... I was so shocked that I missed the obvious.
“So much for pleasantries, son.” He poured a couple of drinks. “Let’s get down to business. If what you surmise is true, of which I have no doubt, then we’re going to need a full crew in training, and that will take at least a month.”
“We may not have a month,” I gulped.
He nodded in agreement. “You let me handle that.” Aldus was thoughtful for a moment. “And Ross, for now Myla will be staying with you. I need you proficient in both our language and customs before it causes problems.”
I still hadn’t caught on to his real meaning.
* * *
Myla was waiting for me outside Colonel Veed’s office. Before she could ask, I cautioned her to silence as we fast walked back to the transportation complex. I kept everything we said on a professional level, not knowing who might be listening. Here I was on Myla’s home world, and we couldn’t take the time for her to show me around. To avoid letting my feelings show, I changed the subject: “How many places can be reached using the transport system?” I asked.
“Several places upon our world and the nearer worlds of our friends,” she replied. The look on her face told me there was much more to tell, and here was not the place to discuss things of that nature; more mysteries to ponder on.
An hour later, we were in the main control room of Outpost-DP451. I’d been in here before and had thought it was a lecture hall. A podium stood near one wall, with rows of benches in front. The farther wall was blank.
Myla touched a spot on the left side of the podium, and other podiums rose out of the floor. We were now standing at the back of the room, behind the benches. The farther wall was now a large viewscreen surrounded by several dozen smaller screens and readouts.
On the left, a myriad of blinking lights of several colors begged my attention. Across the bottom were a series of power gauges. Only the leftmost indicated energy draw; it barely flickered. I shuddered to think how much power this station could handle when all of those gauges were full on. A vision of that much power literally melting a planet came to mind.
“Now press the switch on the podium that brings up the main holographic view.” She showed me the button, and a spherical holographic image filled the center of the room. She handed me a pair of gloves. “I hope you’re good with your hands.”
“I am,” I replied, without telling her what first crossed my mind. I dropped those feelings and concentrated on learning how to control everything from the podium using those gloves.
“Don’t worry,” she told me, “you’ll learn which ones you need to watch. Now point your right index finger at the top display and press your thumb against the knuckle.”
I followed instructions and a bright red beam of light shot out toward the screen.
“Make sure you’re on the right button, the one that says scan.”
Again, I followed her directions.
“Release the thumb and then tap it twice.”
The button lit up and several icons began moving about the display.
“How do I get them to go where I want them?”
“You don’t. Just let them do their job; they are following a special search algorithm.”
“Can I control which algorithm they use?” I didn’t want to be stubborn about this, but I explained that waiting for some algorithm to finish before changing the search pattern could be disastrous.
She gave me a shocked expression; it was something she’d never considered.
The viewscreens on the right side showed views of each of the rooms where our crew would be stationed. The screens across the top showed outside views. With the touch of my finger I could expand any view as the main view. As Myla continued explaining the glove’s functions, I shuddered to think how little time I had to learn it all.
* * *
Copyright © 2022 by Maurice Humphrey
