NEBULAR Collection 3 - Morgotradon: Episodes 12 - 16 Read online

  »The tachyon hub is located above the seventh planet. This is also the location of the portal.«

  Looking at the maps, Lai Pi didn’t miss the fact that the marked target was actually a double planet. Two worlds, almost identical in size, were connected to each other in synchronized gravitation. It was therefore not possible to see one twin from the backside of the other.

  »A very impressive solar system,« Arkroid admitted. »What else did you find?«

  The Techno-Ferry switched the displays to a spherical radiation image, whose center was changing continually.

  »There’s a mobile source of radiation between the dual planets. I can’t analyze the type of radiation, but I can detect similarities to microscopic Black Holes.«

  »The Trox-Altar!« Pi commented in alarm.

  »There’re also eleven large ships which are continually scanning the system with remote scanners.«

  »Trox guard ships!« Vasina hissed. »I assume they’re conical?«

  »Affirmative, Vasina!« the Techno-Ferry acknowledged.

  »Can they detect us?« Pi inquired worried.

  »No, they can’t detect me inside the dimensional field we’re enveloped in,« the Techno-Ferry announced.

  »What’re we waiting for then?« Arkroid asked. »Let’s check them out!«

  »New course vector acknowledged,« the Techno-Ferry announced, »target planet number seven! Toiber, would you like to name that planet? I do not have a name yet for it.«

  »I’ll let Pi handle that; he’s the explorer.«

  Arkroid winked at Pi.

  Pi’s smile told Arkroid that he had already made up his mind.

  I’m taking over command

  Morgotradon had issued the order to prepare for departure two hours ago. Not all the Progonauts were happy about his decision; some of them had demanded to remain behind and establish a new civilization. Three thousand Progonauts assembled for the last time on Lanuk to celebrate their departure. Morgotradon personally opened the celebrations. One hundred ships had landed on the planet while the rest remained in orbit, following the event live from a distance. The majority of the ships had already assumed their predetermined positions for departure. Morgotradon had decided to leave not only this system, but this galactic sector. He had informed Mandatt about their new destination. Mandatt was already in space assembling the departure formation.

  It became silent as Morgotradon raised his arms. All Progonauts turned toward him at attention and holographic links broadcast the ceremony to all the ships.

  »Warriors of Persia,« he began, »the moment has come to begin a new journey; a journey which will lead us into uncharted sectors of the galaxy.«

  He paused briefly to let his words sink in.

  »We need to realize that we may be the last surviving Progonauts of the House of Persia. Our future depends on our actions. If we battle the Dark Brotherhood again now, then we will lose everything.«

  Morgotradon observed the people’s reactions.

  »If our actions are intelligently planned and we retreat now, then there is a chance that we will return stronger than ever! I have chosen a destination for our fleet where we will be able to establish a new civilization. When the time comes and we return to our old worlds and our empire, then the enemy will face Progonauts who have grown strong and determined, and who still remember what they have done to us!«

  Morgotradon noticed that one of his peukooms received a high priority fleet message – and paled! He squinted briefly but continued his address.

  »Lanuk was only meant to be a temporary refuge until we could find a better place.«

  Some of the Progonauts grew restless, and ran toward communication hubs nearby. They seemed to be communicating with their ships. Morgotradon ignored them with effort and continued, »It is our goal to settle a new world and bring our culture with us. We will give future generations a new perspective, so they can finish what we’ve started. Crucial times lay before …«

  One of his fleet commanders swiftly approached and interrupted him.

  Morgotradon turned toward the commander and angrily demanded a report. He knew what was coming, but hoped that he was wrong.

  »Raghoon,« the peukoom whispered in Morgotradon’s ear, »we’ve lost contact with our guard and scout ships! The flagship scanners have detected heavy energy bursts near the gas giant.«

  Morgotradon grimaced. He turned again toward the congregation.

  »Progonauts! The enemy has arrived in this system and eliminated our guard- and scout ships!«

  He had to force himself to continue calmly, »We had expected them to have lost track of us, but we’re nevertheless prepared to defend ourselves. Battle Stations … go back to your ships and prepare for an alarm start. We have to act now and leave!«

  Morgotradon knew that it was not impossible that the ships and crews on Lanuk would never make it into orbit. The Dark Brotherhood carriers would act swiftly and attack the planet without delay. He looked into the sky and looked at the twin-planet Baldar, standing close to Lanuk again. He could clearly see the crystal structures on Baldar from this distance.

  The retreat was well organized and calm. There was no panic. Morgotradon was proud of them, although they knew their fate by now. Men and women were rushing to the transports while the ships started their drives in the distance.

  Morgotradon’s commander-comm activated and Mandatt sounded from the speaker.

  »The Persia is ready! You need to return to the ship by the portable Tachyon Portal, Raghoon! We have detected the signatures of at least 300 carriers! The ships still on Lanuk won’t make it, but you must save yourself!«

  Morgotradon saw his crews fleeing the planet and sent his officers through the portal. The transport via the mobile Tachyon Portal took one at a time. Time was becoming tight. With tearing eyes, he watched as the remaining ships on Lanuk opened their hangar gates, taking in their crews.

  Too slow! How could we’ve been so brainless? The enemy will attack any second! he thought bitterly.

  »Mandatt, do you remember what I told you?«

  »Yes, Raghoon!«

  »Don’t lose time. Transfer to the tachyon trail as soon as possible! You know the secret destination coordinates and the emergency orders! You will take the fleet to the nearest pulsar. That should confuse the enemy for a while, at least long enough for you to leave this sector. Every minute counts! Execute my orders! I will not abandon my ships or the crews here on Lanuk. I’m going to try to save them.«

  Mandatt’s voice trembled in reply, »I wish you all the luck in the universe, Raghoon. Try to follow us if you can.«

  Morgotradon smiled, satisfied. He knew he could count on Mandatt, even though his deputy commander knew that they would never see each other again.

  Seconds later, bright light effects high above Lanuk indicated that Mandatt hadn’t taken any chances. He had led the ships away from Lanuk and transferred onto the tachyon trail while still within Lanuk’s gravitational field.

  That’s what I want to see, Mandatt. That’s your only chance, even if you lose a couple of ships to the side effects!

  Morgotradon’s eyes caught a comet-like trail, streaming across the zenith, remaining visible for a couple of moments.

  He yelled a warning at his people. Seconds later a fireball expanded at the horizon, turning into a mushroom cloud, about 50 kilometers away. This was followed by several other explosions. A couple of minutes later the pressure wave arrived, but the moss and lichen forests had absorbed most of the force.

  »What’s our largest ship remaining?« Morgotradon bellowed into the howling inferno.

  »It’s the Kerba!« somebody yelled back at him.

  »I need a transporter at once! I’m taking over command!« he yelled.

  More and more streamers appeared in the sky, descending in horrifying beauty, exploding on the planet’s surface.

  Morgotradon knew he had next to no time before the main advance began.

  The ball is in t
he enemy’s hands now

  Nok Daralamai was suddenly busy. The Nova-Hawks were continually deploying sonar bombs to track the platform’s movement in Neptune’s atmosphere. The enemy forces seemed to have figured out the Hawk pilots’ strategies and launched a barrage of countermeasures, communication jammers and noise-saturation jammers. More and more of the sonar bombs were intercepted and destroyed on descent. The Nova-Hawk pilots had to fly evasive maneuvers to evade hits by high energy plasma weapons.

  Triton’s orbital movement around Neptune opened another can of worms – the large moon and the platform would be facing each other in about two hours. Nok didn’t have any data about the actual enemy weapons’ range, and had to be prepared for the worst. She had ordered the Triton personnel into the underground bunkers while keeping an open comm-channel to the Hawks.

  Commander Petrow had reported the Blue Moon as Clear and Ready and was awaiting further orders from Nok.

  »Petrow, you have permission for takeoff to Sedna. Your orders are to reconnoiter the Globuster bases – if there are any!«

  Petrow acknowledged and entered the course parameters. His mission was clear. Nok Daralamai expected them to bring back information about Globuster activities in the Kuiper Belt as well as on Sedna. The crew’s safety was paramount – they had to return with the data!

  The Blue Moon was a redesigned and re-engineered Pulsar-type cruiser. It accelerated and flew toward Sedna at high speed. The onboard inertia dampers allowed Petrow to fly the ship at full throttle.

  »Good luck!« Nok whispered, and turned her attention to the Triton-Hawks.

  »Attention Triton-Hawks! Deploy your spacecraft to a close Triton orbit and await my orders. I do not want Hawks on the ground. We don’t want to draw enemy fire on our spaceport!«

  Minutes later, the Hawks were catapulted into space by magnetic fields. The pilots took position over Triton, ready to react to enemy actions. Behind them the heavy hangar gates closed and the base was hermetically sealed.

  High energy laser turrets grew out of the ground near the newly constructed Solar Hall. After the Globuster attacks on Triton Base, nuclear cruise missile launchers had been installed next to the laser guns.

  Nok Daralamai was holding her breath. That was all she could do right now to protect the base and her crews.

  The ball is in the enemy’s hands now. We’ll have to see how he reacts.

  Somebody needs our help

  Toiber Arkroid, Lai Pi and Vasina watched the holographic displays. The Techno-Ferry employed various methods to feed information into its command central. The ship was approaching the seventh planet head on at high speed. The dimensional field enveloping the ship protected it from being scanned and detected by the Trox war ships. Still, the anxiety in the command central grew the closer they came to the seventh planet. They passed several other planets orbiting the central star. The white dwarf was currently located at the far side of the system. The Techno-Ferry was perfectly protected, but Lai Pi felt ill when he thought about the white dwarf.

  The Techno-Ferry had sensed Pi’s concerns via the mental interface and responded, »You can trust me, Pi. My energy shields would hold even in the sun’s corona or close to a pulsar. I can easily absorb the radiation from this white dwarf.«

  »That’s good to hear. I’ll bet that you wouldn’t even be stressed flying along the event horizon of a Black Hole,« Pi joked.

  »That’s absolutely correct, Pi. The temporal phenomena would, however, be a bit unpleasant for you.«

  Lai Pi paled as he absorbed the Techno-Ferry’s reply to his joke.

  They had just passed the brown dwarf which had failed to develop into a sun. The planet, with its diameter of 80,000 kilometers, was 14 times heavier than Jupiter. The view was impressive. 180 astronomical units separated the planet from its central star. The Techno-Ferry had counted no less than 400 different sized moons – some of them 10,000 kilometers in diameter.

  Arkroid swallowed hard.

  »This is a gigantic solar system. The brown dwarf and its satellites alone would take decades of research. There must be huge deposits of all kinds of metals here.«

  »Correct, Toiber,« the Techno-Ferry commented. »Humanity would need more than a hundred-thousand years to deplete these resources. However, there’s an early warning post located on one of the moons. I just detected one of their scanner signatures.«

  Arkroid almost jumped out of his seat.

  »Did they detect us?«

  »Remember, you’re safe inside my dimensional field.«

  The brown dwarf disappeared in the darkness of space behind them. The holographic display showed several orbits which they had to cross on their flight to the seventh planet. There were six Neptune-like planets orbiting around the sun.

  »Nobody will believe us when we tell this story at home,« Pi whispered.

  »Don’t worry, Pi. I’m certain that the Techno-Ferry will record everything we see for later use.«

  »I never forgot a system I flew through,« the Techno-Ferry replied, sounding almost peeved.

  Arkroid grinned, but held his breath when they approached the dual planets seven and eight. A dual planet was nothing out of the ordinary even to terrestrial scientists. The Earth and the Moon could be considered a dual system. People who believed that the Moon was simply circling Earth were wrong. Here, however, the dual planets were even more extraordinary.

  The crew looked at two planets which were almost the same size, rotating around a mutual center of gravity, always showing each other the same sides.

  Like two dancers holding hands and leaning back while turning around an imaginary center point, Arkroid thought.

  »Have you located the portal yet?« Vasina asked the Techno-Ferry, interrupting Arkroid’s thoughts.

  »The portal bears a special signature, easy for me to distinguish. It is a fixed, planetary installation. I can also clearly detect the guard ships as long as they do not try to hide their emissions.«

  The Techno-Ferry changed the visual display and showed a large conical ship.

  »This is the largest conical ship, and the source of the unknown radiation flooding the entire space sector. I assume it’s their flag ship!« the Techno-Ferry announced.

  Vasina gnawed on her lower lip.

  »That’s the clan-ship! We should take it out and do Scorge a favor!« she suggested grimly.

  »That would be against the moral code, Vasina. There’re living beings onboard the ship,« the Techno-Ferry replied sternly.

  Vasina looked around with irritation. She wasn’t used to backtalk from an artificial intelligence.

  Arkroid looked up, frowning.

  »Absolutely not, even if we could! We observe, that’s all. Scorge is safe inside his refuge as long as he breathes the neutralizing gas. It will protect him from the Trox-Altar. Have you forgotten, Vasina, that the Techno-Ferry does not have offensive weapons? It was not devised for destructive missions.«

  »What is the ship good for then?« she snapped at Arkroid.

  »Well … you saw it yourself … to approach a planet unseen and undetected. We’re safe!« Arkroid replied in a hard voice.

  »Then, I can only hope,« Vasina replied with a calm voice, »that we’re only dealing with inexperienced allied forces of the Dark Brotherhood and not with one of their deputies. Camouflage won’t help us then!«

  Vasina leaned back and kept quiet for the moment. She was correct, though. Nobody knew what would come next.

  »I’m receiving a third energy waveform from this system, directly from the seventh planet. It is a very weak and primitive signal. I’m barely picking it up!« the Techno-Ferry announced.

  »What kind of signal?« Arkroid asked excitedly.

  »A digital signal, Toiber. Easy to decode. There’re only two elements encoded in the message, constantly repeating each other.«

  »What does it say?« Pi inquired.

  Arkroid noticed Pi’s nervous reaction.

  »The message text is: SOS!« th
e Techno-Ferry replied. »That’s all I can get and I don’t know what it means.«

  »WHAT?« Arkroid and Pi yelled at the same time.

  »That’s an emergency message! It only means one thing … there’re Humans in distress on that planet! Somebody needs our help!« Arkroid announced in a loud and trembling voice.

  The crystal world

  All Hell broke loose on the planet’s surface just as the Kerba ascended into Lanuk’s sky. The enemy carriers fired down on Lanuk and dozens of warheads exploded on its surface, devastating the lands below. More and more mushroom clouds expanded, as if they wanted to overtake the Kerba and pull it back down. The ship barely escaped the inferno. Morgotradon had no illusions. Once in space the small fleet would face a merciless enemy. It almost seemed that the crews who’d stayed behind had drawn a better lot – they would die quickly in their ships on the ground.

  »She’s bucking like a stubborn pnoch!« Commander Cranas yelled at his Raghoon, as his ship was thrown about by pressure waves from the explosions. »We’re proud to be with you in our last battle, Raghoon!« he shouted again at Morgotradon over the noise level in the command central.

  »How many ships made it into space?« Morgotradon inquired calmly.

  »Forty-two, my Raghoon!« It was the leading moktuum of the scanner section who replied, his face pale.

  »Did Mandatt escape with the first echelon?« Morgotradon demanded to know.

  »He’s already beyond our detection range. The enemy doesn’t seem too interested in his fleet;they’re concentrating on Lanuk!«

  Morgotradon closed his eyes briefly in triumph.

  Mandatt made it!

  »Forty-two Progonaut battle ships – far outnumbered by three hundred Brotherhood carriers!« Cranas mocked sarcastically. »Your orders, my Raghoon?«

  Morgotradon studied the tactical displays. The enemy had assumed a ring position around Lanuk in a very close orbit.

  Big mistake! Morgotradon thought, satisfied.