Star Force: Origin (SF24) Read online

  “We’ve learned a lot more about the V’kit’no’sat…from a dragon…that used to be part of them.”

  Ariel’s face contorted, hiding her usually bemused demeanor with a scowl of rage. “They are here?”

  “No, they’re not. And it’s a long story, but to summarize, the dragon we found…”

  “Found?”

  “Underneath the Alliance base,” Mark said offhand like Paul should already have known. “Was originally part of the V’kit’no’sat, a race called the Zak’de’ron…which, by the way, were transformed into the Les’i’kron, after they were defeated after the V’kit’no’sat backstabbed the Zak’de’ron, who was one of three races that originally formed the V’kit’no’sat as a defensive alliance against the Hadarak. Savvy?”

  “You’re having way too much fun with this,” Paul said, trying to comprehend what Mark was saying.

  “Kara is the one that got the information out of him, and she got a nice jewel stuck on her wrist as a thank you. Anyway, we’re meeting the dragon on Earth so we can let him into the pyramid because he wants to know what the V’kit’no’sat did to his race, because he’s been sleeping all this time in some form of doomsday egg cache…which is what was underneath the base that the Nestafar found and wanted bad enough to send a huge warfleet out to get, seeing as how they used to be a subservient race to the Zak’de’ron a long, long time ago, which they and most of our Alliance refer to as Keepers.”

  “Ok, just stop already,” Paul said, holding up a hand that twisted his floating body aside. “Let’s continue this on dry land.”

  “See,” Mark said to Ariel, “he doesn’t like the water.”

  “I know the name ‘Keeper’ from Elarioni history. They were a magical race that had many others serving them…then they vanished from the galaxy, leaving behind artifacts that were highly sought after. The Eulersol claimed to have been one of their former servants, but that assertion was doubted by many.”

  “You’ll have to tell me that story later,” Paul said, thinking hard. “Whose bright idea was it to give this dragon access to the pyramid?”

  “That would be Kara, but I agree with her reasoning and I’m hopping on the next jumpship headed that way. The Hycre just dropped me off here a few hours ago.”

  “What’s her reasoning?”

  “The dragon agreed to unlock the restricted portions of the database…if we agree to keep its presence a secret. Apparently our minds are shielded to its mind control, so it couldn’t wipe our memories. Instead of killing us, its trusting us to keep our mouths shut so the V’kit’no’sat don’t find out that it survived.”

  “And here I thought you would be bored on some backwater world…” Paul mewed. “Ariel, can you get us back up there. We’ve got a lot to do and I don’t want to waste time.”

  “With me?” she finished, then smiled to let him know she was only joking. “Alright, but I want to know what’s going on as soon as you get the chance…before you leave.”

  “I promise,” Paul said a moment before she grabbed him by the back of his collar and dragged him up through the water at incredible speed…though lesser than normal because she had Mark in the other hand. As they angled up towards the surface they passed by several of the glowing hoops marking the obstacle course they had been working on earlier then they moved through an empty section of water until several small lights began to appear in the distance.

  Those lights eventually grew into the underwater architecture that Ariel had helped Star Force design and build. It functioned as both a prototype testing facility as well as underwater embassy and city for the lone Elarioni. Inside it she conversed with Star Force Archons and engineers, continually helping them to upgrade their aquatics division, in both military and civilian applications.

  She pulled both Archons up into the structure and through several tunnels before depositing them in a shallow pool with an underwater staircase leading up into the dry land segment of the small city. They eventually got their footing and climbed out after Paul disconnected the prosthetic from his legs. Ariel poked her head up out of the water and waved to them, which both Archons returned graciously before walking out of the room and up towards the surface pad where Mark had a mantis waiting.

  “Dragon?!” Paul asked/yelled after removing his mask.

  “Crazy, I know, but it’s true. It saved the Alliance from the Nestafar ground assault, mentally forcing some to retreat and killing the ones that wouldn’t. It also wiped all computer records of the battle, but a few people saw it first hand and, if that’s the kind of firepower the V’kit’no’sat have we don’t stand a chance in hell of even scratching them. It did say, though, that the Zak’de’ron were more powerful than the other races, but still, if they could defeat them then we’re sitting ducks. It also singlehandedly took out their warships and jumpships.”

  “How big of a dragon are we talking about?”

  “Big…like, dropship big.”

  “And where is it now?”

  “It said it would rendezvous with us at Earth, and we’ve only got a few months to get back there and set things up. We’re going to have to remodel the factory to let it in.”

  “It has a ship?”

  “It is a ship…don’t ask me how. Some sort of transformer-like armor add-on. Kara said it also had armor that extruded from rings on his claw/fingers.”

  “Did you talk to it?”

  “Never got the chance. After it kicked the crap out of the Nestafar it sealed itself away and no one on the base knew it had ever existed except for us. Really creepy knowing it can do that.”

  “Why are we shielded?”

  “Zen’zat.”

  “What else haven’t you told me? Did Kara come with you?” Paul asked as they walked up the boarding ramp and into the back of the waiting mantis.

  “Only to get her trinket examined. She’s not heading back to Earth.”

  “What trinket?” he asked, then realized that she was sitting in the back of the mantis waiting for them.

  Kara held up her left arm and pulled back the sleeve, revealing the diamond-like jewel inset there. “This one.”

  Many weeks later, back on Daka, the ground underneath the Alliance base began to shake with a steady and low hum that coincided with all the external sensors going offline simultaneously. Those Alliance pilots in the air at the time flew away from the western edge of the base and would have no recollection or sensor data afterwards to confirm what had happened, but a pair of skeets were in the air at the time and, though their sensor data also went ‘missing’ their eyes weren’t blocked from seeing a series of holes in the mountainside open up as worm-like tendrils extruded themselves from the rock that then somehow reformed behind them, leaving the mountainside untouched save for a bit of displaced grass.

  On the surface the worms floated up into the air and coiled together into a long chain that then doubled back on itself and pulled together to form a donut, not unlike the original Star Force command ships, save for this one did have a small hole in the center. The massive construction floated above the surface for a moment before the dragon came up out of the ground from another disappearing tunnel, then he flew around the contraption as if inspecting it before flipping over and landing in the small center opening, whereupon the machine appeared to swallow it up with hull morphing to cover the previous hole.

  The catalyst then rocketed off into the sky, heading into space and leaving Daka for good. It traveled across the star system until it set on a distant jumpline that would head straight to the Solar System, then winked out of existence as it set off across the galaxy, leaving behind only a handful of individuals that had memories of ever setting eyes upon it.

  10

  August 4, 2400

  Solar System

  Earth

  Mark ducked under a left cross then exploded back up into the holographic opponent’s midsection, tossing the artificial Zen’zat to the ground while staggering to stay on his own feet. The taller opponen
t hit hard and rolled across its shoulder, spinning back onto its feet just as Mark kicked its legs back out from under it with a low roundhouse. He pulled out of his spin and leapt up into the air and came down on his opponents back with a stiffened elbow, feeling it give slightly, then the hologram disappeared and he smacked his elbow on the ground.

  He glanced up at the statistics floating above the control console, then was startled to no end when the dragon’s voice suddenly thrust into his mind. “I am here.”

  Mark jerked back, falling on his butt a meter back from where he had been laying before he realized what was happening.

  “Where’s here?” the trailblazer asked aloud.

  “In orbit. Have you made the necessary preparations?”

  “Yes, but it will take a few moments to remove the camouflage.”

  “Do so, then I will approach.”

  “Alright,” Mark said, getting to his feet and grabbing his earpiece from atop the console. He slipped it in and ran out of the training chamber, heading down to the lower levels in the pyramid. “He’s here. Open it up.”

  Down in the command deck, on one of the Star Force work platforms they’d constructed in the gaps between the V’kit’no’sat pedestals, Davis frowned deeply when he heard Mark’s message. “Orbital tracking hasn’t shown anything. How do you know?”

  “He just telepathically told me.”

  “Very well. Where are you?”

  “Heading down.”

  “Do you want me to wait until you’re here?”

  “I’ll be there before he is. Where are the others?”

  “Working on the database a few pads away.”

  “Don’t wait on me.”

  Davis turned to one of the many Star Force techs roaming the work area. “Retract the cover.”

  The man’s face blanched. “Is it here?”

  “So I’m told.”

  He nodded nervously and walked off to a station where he began making contacts within the network of installations that they’d set up within the pyramid, one of which was to the security station guarding the topside entrance that had recently been carved out of the foodstuff factory that set overhead.

  “We have incoming,” the Knight in command told the Star Force security team stationed on the rooftop around the entry corridor. “Retract the roof.”

  “Let’s hope nobody’s watching from space,” the woman next to him said, triggering the snow-covered square plate to separate along the mid seam and gradually scoot off to either side, revealing a deep chasm that part of the pyramid was visible through. Down through the gap the hollow angled off to the left and out of sight where the main entrance to the pyramid sat, given that the Zak’de’ron was too big to enter through the Zen’zat levels.

  After several minutes the cover panels locked into place, fully revealing the exposure as the 50 man security team searched the skies for any sign of the dragon, cloudy as it was. A few heartbeats later a giant red mass burst through the grey clouds and fell down towards them like a meteor. The security team reflexively ducked for cover as the dragon’s wings spread wide and braked its decent less than 200 meters overhead, then it tucked them into the hollows on its back and fell down through the open doors, planting its massive feet on the green/black stone of the pyramid and crawling down through the fairly tight pathway Star Force had cut out for it.

  “Holy shit,” one of the security officers swore nearby the Knight, as many others did around the perimeter checkpoints.

  “Focus people,” he reminded them over the comms. “We have a duty to perform. No one gets in, so keep your eyes on the perimeter and not down in the hole.”

  Paul drove his mongoose over to the main doors with Morgan on his back just as the dragon came down outside and pivoted around to face in. Both Archons’ eyes widened at the spectacle, then as it walked through the giant opening on the pyramid’s exterior the red scales covering it suddenly began to disappear, rolling down its body like a sheet of water until they collapsed into a series of rings on its claw/fingers, revealing a deep grey flesh underneath.

  Its giant head swiveled to look down at the pair, then walked on by without further interest, heading through the huge walkways that now seemed aptly sized towards the command deck where Davis and the others were waiting.

  “Wow,” Morgan commented as its whip-like tail disappeared up around a corner as it scaled a ramp and Paul began to motor after it from a safe distance. “He didn’t even say hi.”

  “I hope Mark knows what he’s doing.”

  “Ditto.”

  Davis stood on the observation platform, some three stories up from the floor of the command deck when the dragon entered, yet still he was below its head height. Without so much as a word it walked around several of the platforms that Star Force had built and went straight towards one of the larger pedestals, the ones reserved for the Oso’lon, in fact. It climbed up over the steep edge with a simple step, then Davis saw three mongooses pulling up behind it as the onsite trailblazers followed it over.

  He made the conservative decision to stay put and let them handle the situation, realizing that even a haphazard step by the beast could crush him…but he did open his comm lines to include all six of the Archons so he could listen in on what was happening.

  Mark got off the back of Greg’s mongoose and ran up the side steps to get on top of the pedestal as the dragon stepped onto the large circle imbedded into the pad and stood in place, distractedly twitching its tail.

  It stayed like that for some time, long enough for all six trailblazers to arrive and mount the pedestal, taking up position amongst the Zen’zat control consoles.

  Jason nudged Mark in the ribs, which he returned in kind.

  “It’s your dragon,” Jason whispered.

  “He’s not exactly the talkative sort,” Mark said, grudgingly accepting the roll of ambassador. “Are you into the system?”

  “It will require a considerable amount of time,” the dragon said, eyes closed and concentrating. “Our access has been removed, therefore I must create a new entry path.”

  “You have a mental interface?”

  “Holographic.”

  “Different ambrosia, different access?” Paul suggested.

  “So he’s hacking in?” Jason asked, just to clarify.

  “Beats me,” Mark said, shrugging.

  “Zen’zat…take your place at the controls,” the dragon said, still not looking at the Humans.

  Morgan responded instantly, stepping up in front of one of the control boards. “What do you need?”

  Suddenly a plethora of images flashed into her mind, then they repeated more slowly, allowing her to work through the operations step by step.

  “Ok,” she said, turning on the console and having a hologram activate in front of her. She used various keystrokes on the luminous creation as well as on the control boards to dig into parts of the database she had never seen before, ultimately coming to a code prompt…at which point a very long and odd code entered her mind. It took her more than five minutes to put it into the system, but when she did suddenly the area around the circles on the pedestal where the dragon was standing filled with holograms, several of which were moving in unusual ways as if…

  “He’s telekinetic,” Paul said in a whisper.

  “Why?” Jason asked.

  “Those are control keys,” he said, pointing up at the holograms forming an arc around the dragon’s head and front torso. “He’s pressing them to interface with the computer systems.”

  “Why are we seeing them?” Taryn asked.

  “Something I did,” Morgan answered as she also continued to enter commands the dragon was mentally feeding her.

  “Do they all have Jedi powers?” Greg asked.

  “Kara said it said we did too,” Mark pointed out. “So my guess would be yes…which explains how they interact with most of their technology.”

  “And here we thought we did everything for them,” Greg said, shaking his head a
s he watched the dragon whip through command sequences on the holograms far faster than any set of hands could have. “Morgan, is he talking to you?”

  “Quite a bit. I’m having to focus to keep up.”

  “Shutting up,” Greg acquiesced, turning to face Mark. “He can’t understand English, right?”

  “Kara didn’t think so, and he doesn’t appear to be able to pull information from our memories…but he did ransack our computer systems, so I wouldn’t put it past him entirely.”

  “And you said he kicked the crap out of a Nestafar army?”

  “Not looking like this. He was wearing some sort of armor.”

  “He has it on now,” Paul interjected. “Those rings on its feet are the armor. It flew in wearing it, then took it off at the door.”

  “That’d be cool,” Taryn added. “And I like jewelry anyway.”

  “Is that what he gave Kara?” Jason asked.

  Mark shook his head. “I don’t know. Last she said was it was a lump of crystal giving her weird dreams. They’re doing a thorough analysis on Corneria, but short of cutting off her hand and regrowing it they haven’t found a way to take it off.”

  “I hope she’s not stupid enough to try that?” Taryn asked, eyeing Mark.

  “Don’t look at me, ask him,” he said, deferring to Paul.

  “She won’t,” he said confidently. “She’s think about it, but in the end she isn’t going to hack off her own hand.”

  “Saber taboo?” Greg asked.

  “Unless it’s harming her in some way,” Paul added, ignoring the Star Wars jibe.

  “He is here to help, right?” Jason asked, returning the subject to the dragon. “I mean, he’s not going to activate the internal defenses, kill us all, and reclaim the planet for himself?”

  Paul glanced over at the trailblazer. “Do we have internal defenses?”

  “Not that I know of, but who knows what’s in here that we haven’t found. Mark?”

  “I think he just wants the information then will be on his way…besides, he’d already discovered where Earth was from our computer records. Better to invite him here than have him force his way in.”