Into the Horizon: Taken
#4 of Into the Horizon
Into the Horizon: Taken
Scott woke up to the sound of the alarms on the Siberia going off. As he made his way to the bridge, thoughts of it being too early for this were at the forefront. As he got to his destination, the severity of their situation became apparent. Then, as soon as he arrived he saw a flash, then nothing but black. As he came out of the darkness, he became aware that he was on a very hard surface. Probably the floor from the way it felt. Afraid to open his eyes, he aware of his other senses slowly. He could smell stale are, mixed with a musky smell that could only be a wolf. He had spent enough time around Bane and Ron to tell the difference in smell. He could feel the cold metal of the deck beneath his body. He could tell that he only had his under garments on. They probably stripped him to ensure he had no weapons.
"At least they left me some dignity," he thought as the slowly opened his eyes.
The only thing that greeted his vision was a dimly lit, gray prison cell. He could tell that he was onboard of a ship, he could hear the warp drive. As he stood he suddenly heard the door being unlocked, it then swung open to reveal a lethal looking wolf. As he stepped though the threshold, the door was closed and bolted behind him. He was a sight to behold. He was about six foot tall, and was covered in dark gray fur. There was a nasty looking scar above his left eye, probably the result of a knife fight. He looked to be of some importance as his uniform was heavily decorated.
"Welcome Scott, and yes we know your name. My name is CJ, I'm the commander of this humble vessel. Oh, and in fact, we know a great deal more than just your first name. Your name is Scott Ronaldson; you are what is called a CET. You are an expert in your technology, and you are going to help us."
Scott was taken aback by the information given. They knew who he was and what he did. They knew his specialty, and wanted his help.
"Why would I help you, you want to destroy the Human race and enslave the Fox."
"That is a good question, and one I'm quite prepared to answer. You will help us because you have no other choice. You can help us willingly, or we can torture you until you decide to submit. Personally I wish you would choose the fun way."
Scott pondered this statement, and decided to play along just long enough to get some much needed info on what the hell was going on.
"Ok, lets say I was the least bit interested in helping you. First, what do you need. Second, I will have no place to return to so what do you plan to do about that."
CJ stood observing his prisoner. He wasn't fond of talking to a Human, let alone negotiating with one. However, he needed his help if they were to continue to gain benefits from the data core found before the war started. They had used a lot of information from it, but there was still a lot there. Most of it was well above their level of understanding. They needed somebody who understood it to convert it into something useable. That somebody was Scott, the other two didn't have the same level of abilities and wouldn't be nearly as useful. So, for now at least, he would have to play ball.
"Your just full of questions aren't you", responded CJ at last, " we need somebody to make some information we obtained useful for us. That's all you need to know about what we need for now. As for a place to go, we can give you your own country on a planet of your choice as well as a fair amount of slaves after you help us win the war. For now though, I'll let you sit here and think on exactly what you should do. If your helpful, you'll live to see another day. If you stop being helpful, well then I don't suppose we would have any further use for you. At least not as an engineer."
CJ then turned and left. He felt pleased about this conversation. He hoped for the Human's willing help, as he lacked the time and patience to have Scott tortured. They needed the information soon, the other two friends of his were assisting the Humans in getting better, faster, and stronger ships. It was only a matter of time until they started to gain the advantage. The Fox were more difficult to rid themselves of than anybody anticipated, and resources were starting to shrink. They needed a quick victory and soon. They had thought the sub space weapons would give them this quick victory, but it only served to strengthen the resolve of the Humans and push victory back even further. He would often doubt the purpose of this war. Many couldn't even remember how it started. Those that could wouldn't admit it, as it had been the Wolves who began the bloodshed. If he followed though with his orders to bring this human back to where the core was, there would be more death. He simply turning the ship around could prevent more destruction and devastation. Once order could stop it, and his crew was loyal to him alone. But he pushed these thoughts from his head. He was a loyal Wolf, he had always followed orders and wasn't about to start disobeying them now. But still, it nagged at him as to what his superiors wanted with this man. They had mentioned something about an ultimate weapon that had been designed by the future ones. A weapon capable of mass destruction, something that would force the others to surrender for fear of its use. The problem was, it had never been built and the plans were incomplete. They needed somebody to finish it, and that somebody was Scott.
As Scott watched the commander leave, he suddenly felt a heavy weight upon him. If he corporate then he would be guilty of betrayal. If he didn't, well he would probably be tortured for information. He obviously wouldn't give anything to them. At which point he would stop being useful as an engineer. Scott hadn't quite understood the last threat, and he wasn't sure he wanted to. His only hope was rescue, but he knew the Siberia was in no shape to do it. He was lost and alone. He was captive aboard an enemy ship in a time that was not his own. He curled up on the floor to sleep, knowing it was the only thing to do at the moment. His last thought before he slipped into unconsciousness was a longing. He wished he had died with his crew. Had they stayed, all of this could have been prevented. Once bad decision had altered the course of history and possibly destroyed the future. For a brief moment he felt the weight of the entire universe on his shoulders, but it was a passing thought.
________ (meanwhile aboard the Siberia)__________
Max finally looked up and noticed Bane standing at the open door to his office. He could see people running around on the bridge as they attempted to gain control of the now damaged ship.
"Ron told me about the core Bane, and I can guess why the Wolves need Scott."
Bane was struck at just how old the Capitan suddenly looked. It was as if the entire weight of the universe was suddenly on the man. He had to find a way to fix this, they had done this and he must fix it.
"What if I said we could get Scott back, possibly before they get any information out of him."
"I'm listening, what do you have in mind?"
"Well sir, the data core is equipped with a sub space beacon. Similar to the shuttle pod you found, but its only visible to somebody who knows exactly what they are looking for. I recently found this signal; I know where the core is. The Wolves will need to get Scott to the core before they make him do anything. If we get there before they do then we might just stand a chance. However, there's only one way to beat them there, and you're not going to like it."
"I suppose you are talking about a Fox ship. I would like to know how in the hell you intend to pull that one off."
"Simple," replied Bane, "we'll just tell them the truth. If we can get them to believe us, then they have no choice but to help. The chief duty of a ship commander at this time is to preserve the empire at all costs."
Max sat in his chair behind his desk. He hated the option of going to the Fox for help. Yet at the same time, if they did nothing then all was lost. Even if they Fox betrayed the Humans and tried to take the core for themselves, it would still buy time for them to find a way to combat this situation. Max then stood and walked onto the bridge and activated the internal communication system.
"Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention for a few minutes. All of you are very aware of our current situation and mission. I am sad to say that we have failed at that mission. The Wolves have captured one of the three we rescued. Moreover, this person is capable of using his knowledge to aid in their understanding of some very dangerous technology. Now I don't believe that he would willingly help them, but there are ways of attaining information from an unwilling body. I have decided that it is time to reach out to the Fox in an effort to get assistance in this matter. This is no longer about us, this is about the future of our children and their children. What I am going to do is against fleet policy, with that said if you disagree with my actions I will note it in my log. Max out."
The crew then sat about making the plan a reality. A distress signal was activated, and shortly thereafter, a Fox Warbird arrived at the scene.
As the Warbird came into visual range, the commander was shocked at what he saw. The Siberia was a floating heap. The hull had been all but completely ruptured in several spots. A lot of compartments were exposed to space, and there was debris and bodies everywhere surrounding the drifting ship.
"What do our scanners read about that ship?"
"Sir, scanners indicate a mixed race ship. Dragons, Humans, Wolves, and Fox are all present onboard. The blast marks resemble the marks of the Wolves new particle cannons. Main power is down onboard, and life support is failing. Backup systems are responding, but only at half of what they should be. Time until the ship becomes unlivable, five hours."
Mustapha sat on the bridge of his ship pondering what his tactical officer had just read him. Mixed race ships were not common in the Human empire, and nonexistent in the Fox or Wolves. This ship was the Siberia, its shields were far beyond anything the Fox possessed. The superstructure was superior as was its power core. The Wolves had made quick work of them.
"Contact the ship and offer our assistance."
The crew did as he instructed, and Max's face appeared on the view screen.
"Commander, thank you for responding, I know you are taking a great risk by doing this. We need help, but first you need to know something. The shuttle you were after a month ago contained three strangers. I assume you know their makeup. They were from a point in the future. Their ship was destroyed and they were sent back in time as a result. However, a data core from that ship traveled back further and the wolves have it. It's how they have gained such an advantage over us. Furthermore, they attacked us and took the only person on this ship who fully understands how to use the information in that core. We can track where the core is, but as you can see we currently have no way of going after them."
"Right, and you want us to help you chase after the big bad dogs."
"Make fun of us if you wish, but this could be your last chance to save your race from certain death. Do you really think they will stop until they have killed all of you, and us. Do you want to be responsible for not acting on info that could have saved your people?"
Max had struck him in the heart. Mustapha wanted the war over; his government was unwilling to make peace with the Humans for fear of looking bad, and they could not hold out much longer against the Wolves. He was obligated to follow his orders to kill any humans he ran across, yet he had no ill will towards them. If what they said was true then the Fox Empire was in great danger, and it became his duty to take actions to preserve it. However, even if the empire believed him they would never let him do what needed to be done. The only way to fight this would be together with the remaining crew of the Siberia.
"Human Commander, I shall consider your request and inform you of my decision."
With that, the signal was ended, and Mustapha called a meeting of his senior officers to discuss the situation. Once assembled he replayed the Human commander's conversation, and after it was finished he was met by blank and nervous looks.
"I need advice; I have no clue what to do here. If I follow my gut and help them, we are committing treason and will be killed. If we ignore them and kill them and they were right, then we are responsible for the death of our race. I feel as though they are truthful, because it actually explains a lot. However I cannot make this decision without all of you in agreement with me. If we take this action, its all together or not at all."
After some rather heated discussion, he was satisfied to see that his entire senior staff agreed with him. They would all rather die traitors than to let a chance to save their race and end the war slip by. The next problem was that of how to inform the crew of the events of the day. Furthermore, how was he going to take the other crew onboard? Almost everybody on the ship had lost somebody at the hand of one of the species on that ship, and he doubted that a simple apology would do to settle the tensions. No both sides would be out for blood. There was no way to fix their ship, and he needed them to find the core. Mustapha slowly dismissed the meeting and retired to his office for some silent contemplation on exactly how to pull this off. Either this was the smartest and bravest thing he had ever done, or it was the stupidest thing he had ever attempted. Either way he doubted it would end well. The humans could help reinforce the shields and get more power from the core. However, there was nothing they could do about the firepower of the Wolves ships. From what he had been told they would have to go to the very center of the Wolves territory in order to get to the core. He had no doubt that they could get there, but getting back in one piece was the tricky part. He decided that a meeting with the Human commander and the two remaining visitors was in order to see if this was actually possible. As much as he wanted to believe them, he was not going to take his ship on a suicide mission on something that might exist.