Chapter 47: Tians

The next day, Ship informed us it had completed the transport vessel. Jem and I went to Cham’s quarters. Jem pressed the chime, and the door opened.

“Time for you to leave. Please follow us,” said Jem.

Cham looked her in the eyes with a thinly veiled malice. I was ready to intervene if he tried anything. Then it was if a curtain closed on his emotions. He nodded and stepped out of the cabin.

We escorted Cham to the shuttle bay, which was huge compared to the one aboard Quon. In the middle stood a vessel, slightly larger than a shuttle.

“This vessel will take you to Ori Major. When you arrive, you will receive credits to help you begin a new life there. I have prepared an introduction message to the minster, and I expect they will honour our alliance and give you Ori citizenship as I asked. After that, you are free to choose whatever you want,” said Jem.

“Thank you Commodore,” said Cham. Without delay, he entered the vessel. We moved out of the shuttle bay.

Ship depressurized the shuttle bay, and the vessel departed. We had locked the controls, so Cham couldn’t go anywhere else.

“I am glad to see him gone,” said Jem.

“Ship, locate Laine and Mina?” I asked.

“You will find them waiting for you on the main bridge,” replied Ship.

“Let’s go join them,” said Jem.

I followed Jem to the main bridge. We met up with Laine and Mina who were watching the tactical display. The dot representing Cham’s transport was accelerating out of the system.

Jem took a seat. “Ship, are we done in this system? If so, recall your probes and take our task force to our next destination.”

“Confirmed. Recalling probes,” replied Ship.

The tactical display showed a carefully choreographed event. As Ship and Quon moved toward the edge of the system, dozens of probes intercepted their path and were stowed aboard. By the time we reached the edge of the system, we had them all gathered. There was nothing to show we were ever there.

Our two vessels accelerated in formation out of the system until the hyper drive cut in and we winked out of normal space.

On a primitive planet known as Earth, the unthinkable happened again. Aliens abducted a teenage girl, Cathy. They kidnapped her in the dark of night, never to return. There were no clues, no trace of where she went.

Her alien abductors were of a race that had visited Earth before. The aliens, known as Tians, gathered samples from more primitive, non space-faring races for study. Earth was a closed world to all space-faring races, except for the occasional scientific study. Their gathering of samples fell within this loophole.

It had been over two Tian decades since their last visit here. This time they were careful to scan for a sample that wasn’t pregnant.

They took Cathy back in a space cruiser to their home world to live there the rest of her life as their guest. The journey to their home world would be a one-way trip for Cathy.

Unfortunately for her abductors, their vessel experienced a technical malfunction in their main drive that dumped them out of hyperspace and back into normal space, far from any inhabited systems.

The crew of the Tian vessel was mainly scientists and administrative beings. They didn’t expect problems with their vessel, and had no engineers needed to diagnose and repair the main drive. They were in deep trouble, in deep space, a long way from home.

As per usual protocol, our first two days of our journey were mandatory rest. We could sleep in our quarters, or we could visit the Lido and relax in the artificial sun on the beach.

Having chosen the former, I was napping in bed alone. My crewmates had figured out the Lido was more fun. I was glad because I enjoyed my time alone.

I slept for a while, then wake up and lie in bed thinking, until I fell asleep again.

One of those times, I thought about the recent investigation. Laine found the sabotage to the stasis capsule, and Jem did most of the interviewing. She did a great job with sentencing Gil. I was glad to be reduced to providing support. If I ever left, they would be fine without me.

Sometime around day two, Ship disturbed my sleep.

“Attention Commander, I am picking up a distress call. It is coming from a vessel up ahead in deep space,” said Ship. While travelling in hyperspace we did not keep a watch. Ship would alternate between those of us with command rank if something like this happened. It must have been my turn to handle the call.

“Ship, change course to intercept. Inform the Commodore. How long until we get there?” I asked.

“Confirmed. We will arrive in two point six hours,” replied Ship.

“I have time for breakfast. Please ask if anyone would like to join me in the main dining lounge,” I said.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

I got up and cleaned myself up after two days in bed. I put on a clean jumpsuit and went to the main dining lounge.

It amused me to find my three crewmates waiting for me at a table. They had my favourite breakfast and a cup of coffee in my place. I just took my seat, smiled and nodded at them. They knew me too well.

“Welcome back, Commander. Did you enjoy your rest?” asked Jem.

“Yes Commodore,” I said. I took a sip of my coffee. It tasted even better than usual.

“Did you check out the details of the distress call?” she asked casually.

“No, not yet. I assumed that we were the only hope for a vessel this far out in deep space,” I replied.

“Ship, please share the details of the distress call,” ordered Jem.

“The call is from a Tian space cruiser, a science vessel. Their main drive has failed,” replied Ship.

I looked at Jem, whose eyes were saying ‘I told you so’.

“That is interesting. They are a long way from Tian Prime,” I said. I didn’t like Tians, even though I was one. I liked Tian scientists even less. We still had scores to settle for the death of my mother.

“Perhaps they are someone you know,” said Mina.

“Perhaps. Let’s enjoy this breakfast. We will be within communications range soon enough,” I replied.

We ate our breakfast together. Each of my crewmates looked at me when they thought I wasn’t looking. I assumed they were worried about me. They needn’t be.

We sat in the main bridge as our task group closed on the Tian vessel. The hyper drive went offline, and we decelerated to sub-light speed as we approached the vessel.

“Commander, please take the lead on this. I had the last mission, and these are your people,” said Jem.

“Understood. Ship, uncloak and hail the vessel. Quon, remain cloaked and move back ready to help if needed,” I said.

“Confirmed ... Connected,” replied Ship. On the tactical display, a window opened to show the bridge of the Tian vessel with a Tian in the foreground.

“Tian vessel, this is the Baglogi Dreadnought. What is the nature of your distress?” I said in fluent Tian. For a moment, it surprised the being that I spoke their language. It was ultimately my first language.

“Baglogi Dreadnought, this is the Tian science vessel Arzuth. Our main drive has failed us, and we need help with repairs,” replied the Tian. I could tell from his voice he was male. He remained emotionless. I mirrored him and I put on my Tian face.

“Understood Arzuth. We will scan your vessel to determine the nature of the failure. Please stand by,” I said in Tian.

“Acknowledged,” replied the Tian, unblinking. I pressed a button to mute the communications.

“Ship, deploy cloaked defensive probes and set up a perimeter defence. Scan the vessel. Monitor long range for hostile vessels,” I said in Ori.

“Do you suspect a trap?” asked Jem.

“Yes. I think they are hiding something, and I always prefer caution over death,” I replied. Jem nodded.

“Their vessel has no weapons,” said Laine.

“And the tactical display does not show any vessel within sensor range. They are alone out here. I can tell when a Tian is nervous,” I said.

“Attention,” said Ship.

“Go ahead,” I replied.

“Sensor scan shows drive failure result from a faulty power coupling and damage to several power relays. I am fabricating the required parts. If they don’t have skilled engineers, I can direct you with the repair procedure,” said Ship.

“Excellent, Ship,” I replied.

“There is one other thing. Sensor scan shows one human female aboard the Tian vessel,” said Ship.

“Crap! I bet that is what they are hiding,” I said.

I turned to the display and unmuted the communications.

“Attention Arzuth. We have identified the problem with your main drive. We are fabricating the required parts. Do you have a skilled engineer who can install them?”, I asked.

The Tian was so overjoyed with my response they almost showed emotion. I smiled inwardly.

“That is amazing. Unfortunately we do not have a skilled engineer,” said the Tian.

“In that case, I can come aboard your vessel and install the replacement parts. Before I do that, I have one concern. We detected a human female aboard your vessel. Please explain,” I said.

This time I’d shocked the Tian so much that his emotion showed.

“How did you... ? The human is a research subject, collected for further study. We are taking her to Tian Prime,” said the Tian.

Now they pissed me off big time! I bet several of their crew were on my grudge list. Without the human aboard, I was so tempted to destroy their vessel immediately. I muted the communications.

“Quon, move around behind the Tian vessel and uncloak. Target your weapons on the Tian vessel, but don’t fire,” I said in Ori.

“Confirmed,” replied Quon.

“Ship, task two of your probes to become dreadnought probes. Bring them closer and point them at the Tian vessel and have them uncloak and look menacing,” I said.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

Soon we surrounded the Tian vessel on four sides. I unmuted the communications.

“Attention Arzuth. In case you do not recognize me, my name is Brian. I hold Tian citizenship. My mother was one of your previous research subjects. I am disturbed to learn you continue to abduct humans,” I said.

The Tian shook and his facial expression screamed terrified. He probably needed clean underwear by now. He gestured to another Tian and a rapid conversation ensued. I couldn’t hear what they said, as he’d muted it from his end.