Robotech and their characters are properties of Harmony Gold USA Inc., Mass Effect and their characters are properties of Bioware. There´s no economic remuneration gained from this story.
Si deseas leer esta misma historia en idioma español, por favor checa: "Sombras de los Segadores", en el mismo apartado Crossovers: Robotech-Mass Effect.
I extend an apologize for taking so much time to update. Life is such a time-consuming ocurrence!. Anyway, before we procede, i want to thank all of the people that have subscribed, favored or commented this story. They are:
Relvain Jenafuse, Dutch reader, Knight298051, Zerogoki, CyberAngelOne, Trife, Nairojam, JC, urielv59, raazz, inuboy86, syed, V. Silva and curlyjr.
(Hope I`m not forgetting anyone!). To all of you boys BIG THANKS!.
Chapter Two:
Traveling to the pinnacle of the world.
Antaeus system, Hades Gamma Cluster
(previously Crab Nebula)
Terminus Systems
Karen Penn jumped into the bed of her room and relaxed deeply, her yellow hair floating on the surface of the furniture, as if she was underwater. She secretly gave thanks for her shift having already ended. While the other flight controller, Adelle, was on duty, she would be able to sleep. REF regulations said that the cubicles should be shared, especially when it came to junior staff, but she was exempt of following such an order. Furthermore, in a ship capable of carrying at least six thousand people, officers could afford to have private rooms...
Privileges of rank, she thought.
Her mind went over the things that had happened in the last few hours. First the arrival of the "alien" ship, which turn out to be not so alien.
She recalled the moment with absolute clarity...
The three Legioss fighters landed on the repairing deck, in the east starboard wing, bringing in the small ship, even though they were like half the size of his keepers. The freighter had a very particular design, modular, very... human so to speak. The three Veritechs had gone to Battleloid mode and made several maneuvers, aided by some Destroids, to graciously accommodate the foreign vessel on the deck.
Karen waited nervously to the left of the welcome group: You don´t get to meet people from other dimensions every day, thought, as she scanned the characters around her. A detachment of marines in CVR-3 armor, armed with Gallant rifles, formed six meters away of the ship. Weapons were prepared, but the officer´s orders were to show no hostility towards the newcomers.
Beside her, a fierce expression in his face, was Admiral Hunter and his wife Lisa, who were dressed in their finest attire. She wore a little sling on her left arm. She had tended her wounds after the emergency jump, but doctors had determined that her condition was of no utmost importance and she had been prescribed only an orthopedic support and analgesics.
Lisa´s right was flanked by Dr. Lang, with his white robe and the Chief Scientist´s insignia strung on the left side of his chest. Being one of the few civilians of great importance in the expedition, as well as being "efectively" the father of Robotechnology, the soldiers treated him with great deference. Colonel Dana Sterling was also at his side. She had been appointed Chief of Ground Forces of the SDF-3 contingent, in the absence of the infantry officers who had joined the Third Reclamation Force Mission. The face of the blond with short hair was that of a bit-curious child, while the scientist´s was one of contained interest.
The Sterlings and Jack Baker had come out of their fighters and approached the ship, tapping the hull, to give the exiting signal to the guests. The outer hatch let out a whistle, matching the two atmospheres´ pressures. When the airlock cycled, the thick composite materials sheet retreated, giving way to three figures.
Upfront was a woman, rather small in stature, of good figure and long red hair a bit disheveled. She moved with the unmistakable presence of a commanding officer. After her came two men, one Caucasian-blond, with hair at his shoulder, perfectly groomed, yet he showed a severe bruise on his face, likely left by the butt of a gun. He was maybe twenty centimeters taller than the redhead, but he didn´t have the same aura of confidence that she radiated. The third man was an Asian, taller than both of the others, with a lean physique, steeled by -probably- years of hard work. Looks were drawn to him by his bald head and a small Fu-Manchu style mustache, framing the hint of a beard.
Maybe the result of a diverse racial mix. Certainly it was an interesting group...
The two men were dressed in black shirts with vests, made of something like orange denim. Their pants were thick and short, with a plethora of pockets and belts that could contain tools. Under them and up to the knee, boots came thick and tough, reinforced on the joints, with a rather utilitarian design. The clothes tended to obscure the impressive physique of both men, but certainly seemed comfortable. Clothing made for comfort was constant trend regardless of the galaxy.
The red-haired woman was wearing a kind of one-piece lycra dress that fell from the neck, steel gray and white on top, both solid colors divided by a thin red line running from her right shoulder, across her chest down the left side of her body, gently outlining her silhouette. In her left hand shone what seemed a kind of holographic gauntlet highlighting her clothes. A few seconds later the piece of technology vanished on thin air and only her gloved hand remained. The commanders of the group of soldiers turned to see each other in disbelief and suspicion and then to Mayor Sterling, who said absolutely nothing. Their orders were still standing.
"Holographic technology... sehr interessant!." She heard the old doctor mutter.
The group walked towards them, Max Sterling posing as an intermediary:
"Admiral, I present you Captain Jennifer Sparks of the MSV Destiny," claimed the pilot on a mature, conciliatory tone:
"Captain: This is Admiral Hunter of the Robotech Expeditionary Force and his wife, Ambassador Lisa Hayes-Hunter."
The face of the woman called Sparks was one of well-concealed surprise. She didn´t look impressed by the soldier detachment, but if Karen had to bet, she´d say she was confused by the technology of the ship and its dimensions. Her Asian companion had a round "o" painted on his face as he looked around, and the other man didn´t stop admiring the robotech gadgets. She recovered quickly from the initial shock:
"A pleasure to meet you Admiral Hunter, Ambassador Hayes." She reached out to the two leaders, shaking their hands strongly. If Rick had noticed the unusual strength of the woman, he said nothing.
"We must thank you for rescuing us from those mercenaries. Without the cooperation of your men, we would be well on the way to the Terminus Systems, to be sold as slaves."
"There is nothing to thank Captain. We heard your distress signal and were around to help..." Rick said quietly and then continued:
"I understand your crew needs medical attention..."
"Yes. Officers Huxley, Cho Li and myself..." said gesturing to her companions, who became fully aware and extended their hands "...are in better shape than the rest. We addressed our most critically injured over the infirmary of the ship, but still..."she sighed:
"...even medigel has its limitations".
Rick's face curled into a grimace of misunderstanding that was imperceptibly replaced with a more serene one. Lisa Hayes however, saw that grin and went forward:
"I understand. Our medical facilities are available to you if needed be, as well as technical and material support we can give you to repair your ship. Meanwhile may I suggest a tour of our own, as a gesture of goodwill?. If someone in your crew wants to rest, we have plenty of accommodation."
"On behalf of my crew, I thank you deeply. I would certainly like to see your ship. You can´t always see a dreadnought so closely. I was never stationed in one of them in my time as a soldier of the Alliance..."
"So you were a soldier?"
"Yes. I was a Gunnery Chief in the Army of the Alliance before retiring, about ten years ago. I know enough of protocol to understand that if you don´t want to show me some parts of your vessel for reasons of confidentiality, I will respect that decision."
"Let´s not talk of prohibitions for the time being Captain. Let me introduce you to the rest of the staff. You already know both Commanders Sterling and Lieutenant Commander Baker, who is the current CAG of the ship..."said Rick pointing to Miriya and Max, who both had their helmets in their hands and were staying close to Dana, who looked a bit uncomfortable with their presence. Jenny turned to look at Jack, giving him a piercing look from top to bottom. He couldn´t less than feel that he was being undressed with her eyes. Karen stirred in her place, feeling a little uncomfortable...
"...Dr. Emil Lang, Chief Scientist of the ship..." the mature, bearded doctor stepped forward and greeted the woman, trying to keep his curiosity suppressed. "...Colonel Dana Sterling, Chief of Ground Forces..." the short haired blond thanked the officer's intervention to get away from her parents and, after exchanging a formal greeting with the red-haired, pulled back, among the soldiers and away from the faces of hidden consternation of her parents:
"...And our Air Control Officer, Lieutenant Commander Karen Penn."The two women crossed sights. Karen kept her gaze fixed on the honey eyes of the small girl, however, she couldn´t help but turn back to Jack for a few seconds. The woman saw the gesture and smiled slightly. Despite the friendly handshake, some animosity had already been created between them...
Once protocol had been fulfilled, Rick informed Dr. Salazar, Chief of Medicine, to help the crew members as much as possible. Jenny ordered Officer Huxley to go have a check-up and assist the physicians as much as possible. After that they parted ways to see the ship...
The blond Karen visibly relaxed, her mind returning from the scene, back to the things around her. As she sank into the blessed oblivion of sleep, she thought it all seemed to have gone very well in their first contact with other humans...
Captain Sparks was not so sure everything had gone that well.
Three hours after their arrival, Jenny had seen enough to understand that whoever their hosts claimed to be, they weren´t from the same place she had imagined.
After the diplomatic tour had ended, Lisa led the redhead and her companion to the Operations Room, where they were offered a light snack and allowed to eat without interruptions, showing that their peers were receiving similar attentions as well. When finished, Lisa and Rick sat in front of them both, with serious expressions. The thin woman guessed that the time had come for explanations:
"It's time to talk about why we brought you here, Captain." Said the diplomat, in her most cordial way.
"Well... If it all comes to fattening and then eating me, like they do in those old alien vids, I fear this appetizer is not even remotely enough..." she said playfully. Cho Li just shook his head, squinting his eyes as one who hears a bad joke.
Both Hunters smiled with relief. It seemed the serious faces hadn´t made a dent in the mind of the slender commander.
"No. Definitely that´s not our intention. But it is clear there are things you want to ask. Its painted all over both your and your partner´s faces." Lisa said quietly.
"True... You can start by telling me who you really are. The Human Systems Alliance certainly has dreadnoughts, but they´re not as large as this ship... uniforms and ranges don't match ... your technology is..." she stopped a moment and breathed heavily "...something I had never seen. It is true that I was a soldier like ten years ago, but anyone savvy enough can see that you are not from Earth´s military. You are human, at least that I can say with certainty. Your behavior and routines are the same: Your recruits still fall asleep at their posts sometimes. Your officers still look at us with frowns and looks of concern. They still tend to rail against the first officer while his back is on. All of that is very human, your technology, however, is not."
"You're right Captain Sparks. We are not part of the Human Alliance... I´m afraid we don´t even come from "Earth" ... not at least the one you know as "Earth." The problem of explaining where we come from, doesn´t have a "diplomatic" way of being expressed, so I'll better say it straight away: We come from another dimension..."
Lisa didn´t continue further, giving time for the officers in front of her to digest the information they had just received. Cho Li quickly stood up, livid. He was heading toward the door when Jenny called him with an imperious tone:
"Cho!, sit down please..." she didn´t even turn to see him. Her hands were clasped and her face had a stern visage, a gesture that both Rick and Lisa identified as a familiar one.
"Jennifer, by the Gods!..."
"Cho, sit down please." Her voice remained calm, but there was the urgency of command in it. Rick remembered suddenly and couldn't be least than impressed a bit. This little woman had brought him back memories of his old friend and superior, the late Admiral Gloval.
The Asian turned around and returned to his place. She returned to her quiet gestures, without uncrossing her hands:
"Really... I don´t think you have appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the Terminus Systems to save us, then practice a joke as bad as this... what you, Mrs. Hayes, are telling me, is something quite unusual. No offense but... how do I know that this isn´t a montage?... how do i know you´re not pirates with innovative technological toys, conspiring to get hold of my properties, as humble as these are?"
Rick's face was visibly altered. No doubt the redhead's comment had offended him. He was about to respond in a bad manner to her, but Lisa had anticipated that move:
"I understand your reluctance to believe our story, Captain. If i were in your position, i would´ve taken you for fools. Look... we're not sure how it happened... but Dr. Lang believes that our way of FTL travel, our "folding" system, reacted to a massive gravitational field, like the one a planet or a black hole can create, and instead of leading us to our destination, it brought us here, wherever it may be..." said the brown haired woman approaching her husband.
Lisa knew that those words were not going to calm the mood on the old pilot, but she hoped they were sufficient to contain his anger for some seconds, a critical time necessary for the slim woman to fall into account of the situation. The diplomat reminded herself that the path they were traveling was too narrow to allow it to be stretched even more, by adding the pressure of injury.
"Mass effect reactors don´t interact negatively with..." - Cho Li started, almost choking on the words.
"...gravitational fields. I know it Cho. But they, if you didn´t notice, don´t use the same technology we do."Jenny interrupted him immediately. Lisa couldn´t help but appreciate the calm with which the woman was taking the situation.
"You're correct, Captain. This vessel operates with two Mark IV Reflex reactors running on protoculture. In case of failure or emergency it has eight mini-nuclear fusion reactors to keep systems up and running."Rick said, his voice controlled, not allowing himself to show a grudge.
Jenny raised an eyebrow. Eight nuclear reactors?. No doubt whatever that protoculture was, it was some damned powerful resource. Mass effect reactors equated only three times the power of a thorium nuclear reactor. If that was true, the speed, capacity and range of the ship was far greater than any transport of the Alliance:
"Damn, it is larger than any ship of all known races!".
That monster could contain a group of Alliance frigates with plenty of room in between for maintenance groups in its landing deck. Its firepower, reflected in the number of sites for defensive turrets and its fighter payload, was greater than anything showed and deployed in either Asari or Turian dreadnoughts. If the main gun was as powerful as they hinted, the ship could make the "Destiny Ascension", the largest ship of the Citadel Fleet, look like a mere toy.
Perhaps the ship alone would suffice to jeopardize the entire Citadel Fleet. The mere thought of it made her head roll...
"This is a very powerful battleship!. Assuming you're telling the truth... Can you explain to me what or who were you fighting, that was needed so much power?." She said, rising from her seat. Lisa feared the worst.
Rick turned to see his wife, holding her gaze for a few seconds, as if they were trying to relieve each other from a really heavy burden, without succeeding. Finally, after moments that seemed like hours, Rick stood up and walked to the video projector. Typed in a few instructions on the keyboard and then said:
"Watch carefully, Captain. I don´t know to which extent, the history of the Earth as you know it, is the same as ours. What I'm almost certain, is that you never had to deal with things like the ones you´re about to see..."
The tone of the admiral was that of a tired man. Jenny wondered if it was just dramatic effect or there was really a heavy burden on the shoulders of the graying adult, face marked by a deep scar on his right cheek, filling with wrinkles at an incredible rate. At an order from the Admiral she turned her gaze to the screen. The images in it left her speechless...
Rick told them, supported by the footage stored on the computers of the ship, the odyssey of mankind since the beginning of the Robotech Wars. With their mettle fighting hardly to contain the horror, they learned of the fall of Zor´s space fortress on Earth, the battles of the Unification Wars, the arrival of the Zentraedi and their fight with the humans. One that reduced civilization almost to ashes, killing seventy percent of life on the planet and transforming huge, vast areas of land in barren deserts.
As officer Cho-Li put his hands on his face, as if to shield himself from vengeful ghosts, and Jenny tried to remain impassive, unsuccessfully, they both learned of the Pioneer Expedition and the SDF-3's travel to the Valivarre system, to avoid a second war. One they failed to stop when they learned that the Robotech Masters, creators of the Zentraedi, were already traveling to Earth to retrieve the ship that their slaves could not.
It sparked a new conflagration that devastated the planet again, one that humans won by a narrow margin. The information and pictures of that event, came with Dana Sterling and her group, who traveled to Tirol to reunite with the REF, in the months after the destruction of the protoculture matrix, that was the central reason for the dispute between the two sides, after releasing the parasite Flower of Life on Earth.
With contained affliction, they learned how, while the mother planet was invaded again, the Pioneer mission was forced to fight for their lives when the Invid, who had become entangled in conflict with the Masters and had devastated their home planet, Tirol, realized their existence. The confrontation would´ve been disastrous had it not been for the Sentinels, extraterrestrial allies who helped them at all times.
When the Invid detected the presence of the Flower of Life, the schism in their ranks meant half of the conquering army left the Valivarre system. Even with its forces reduced, the invaders were strong enough to defeat the Army of the Southern Cross, who had defended Earth against the Masters, and whose resources were exhausted, becoming helpless to contain them...
Earth was dominated a third time and humanity became reduced to a series of groups who mistrusted each other, stuck in feudalism, bordering on anarchy, staying away from the Invid -and some of them collaborating with the invaders-. The Pioneer Expedition organized two missions to retake the planet back, only to fail miserably every time, due to the countless number and ferocity of their enemies. Despair came to such an extent that some elements of the expedition allied themselves with the enemy, leading to a bloody internal struggle, which had ended just recently.
In total, nearly fifty years of war had passed before their eyes in just over ten minutes.
Cho Li wanted to sink himself into the deepest hole he could find and never come out of it. Jennifer Sparks didn´t want to show the tears that adorned her cheeks, but her efforts were doomed to fail inevitably. When Rick ended, she hastily withdrew the pearls of pain rolling down her cheeks. But the last surprise came later, when the Admiral gave an order through his personal comm. and Dr. Lang entered the room.
In his hands was a cylindrical container containing a trio of orchid-like flowers, light pink, with a structure of long and slender petals, bell-like elongated. They glossed-off a very particular, rosy glow that could be noted despite the intense light of the room. When the captain reached out, trying to touch one of them, the coarse secondary stems of the flowers delicately curled in her hand. Cho approached with caution, while Jenny lifted the flower to his view. The plant was curled up in her hand, but it was not applying any pressure, instead it gently rested on her palm, and seemed to undulate to the rhythm of her heartbeat.
"This is the Flower of Life of the Invid, that the Robotech Masters stole. The possession of this little thing caused the wars of which we have spoken..."Lisa said in an ominous tone:
"...If subjected to the correct processes, it´s able to provide an incredible amount of energy."
Jenny said nothing. The diplomatic´s voice was fading quickly. As she watched the flower-creature, as if hypnotized, her mind caught a thought. Images came to her:
She saw a garden planet, beautiful in its vastness, in which varied and stylish life forms lived in harmony. The shape of a mature woman, whose delicate face reminded her of a mother, stern, but always devoted to her family, called her to stand by her side. She was replaced almost immediately by the silhouettes of three elderly men, not bent with age, but in an upright position, showing pride and power. Then it all changed around, and while the silhouettes were seen from far away in the stars, everything was flooded on fire, the destruction of that eden world falling from the hands of a race of giant creatures wielding deadly weapons of destruction.
All of it was overcome by the face of a young man whose long, curly violet-hued hair, reflected confidence and a deep understanding, rivaled only by unparalleled melancholy. And behind him, in the reflection of his eyes, the unmistakable silhouette of the third planet from the sun, Earth in all its beauty and splendor...
Cho and Lisa tried to wake the captain up, but she didn´t answer their calls. The Flower of Life still hovered in front of her, moving slowly. Jenny responded a moment later, a look of shock on her young face. She put the flower in the container carefully and then demanded to retire to their rooms, to weigh all the information they had received. Rick assured her that, as soon as her crew recovered, they would be free to go, if that was what they wanted. They would facilitate materials and support them to repair their ship.
Jenny thanked them for everything and left, trying to control the tremor that ran over her body. She turned quickly to the small freighter, and once there she locked herself in her cabin. Hurriedly took off her clothes and tools, fighting an urgent feeling of suffocation and tightness in her chest that didn´t diminish. It was like reliving the terror and cruelty of both the Skyllian Blitz, and Torfan all at once. It made her think of the stories her father used to tell her about the First Contact War. She even used to play in the ruins of those cities destroyed by the Turian ships...
She left everything on her bed and only in her underwear, ran to the bathroom of her room and vomited the food she had been offered. The twitches of pain held her mercilessly, until she could throw-up nothing more than bile from her body. She washed, cleaned and cooled her face with the cold water coming from the faucet of her room.
She went back to bed with difficulty, burdened by the weight of the revelations she had received, unable to grasp all the connotations of what she had learnt. She laid there and tried to sleep without much success. The tears shed for the torn and troubled history of Mankind that swarmed out of her ship, accompanied her throughout the night...
Lisa Hayes-Hunter entered the Officers' Club, to the greetings of the guards at the gates and several other officers who were nearby. She was no longer an official part of the militia, having resigned to become ambassador to the peoples that made up the Sentinels, but the crew of the ship recalled perfectly that she was the previous Admiral of the Pioneer Expedition, before her husband became the senior officer. Saluting her, as they would to any superior, was their way of expressing their respect and affection to the still-young woman who had led them until not too long ago.
Lisa thanked the gestures with a smile and walked through the area along the tables, watching the officers talk to each other, several of them in a grim fashion. The voice of a very familiar woman stood above the low rumble of the place. Someone was playing a record of those mellow songs of Linn Minmei, which were so common in the fleet.
She made a grimace of disgust, complaining internally about the music selection, but didn´t do any more than ignoring it. The times of the grudge against the singer had been left behind. There even were days when they could be considered good friends. For a long time since, Lisa hadn´t consider her a love rival anymore. The former admiral was a confident woman, a voice of reason in the fleet and an equal among the alien intelligences that shared their cultures with her.
For all was worth, Minmei was only a bittersweet memory...
She approached the area reserved for High Command. There, sitting comfortably, were Miriya and Max in a circular table, vigorously studying a data pad. No doubt it was the info Dr. Salazar had found about the crew of the Destiny. She recalled they literally had lost contact with Captain Sparks after their "most revealing chat", two days ago. She was concerned that the attitude of horror she noticed on the girl, at the end of their interview, was bound to degenerate into open hostility:
"Lisa!, Come here. How's Rick?." Max´s perennial smile and his wife´s serious gesture beckoned her.
"He´s okay Max. He has devoted himself in body and soul to the technical aspects of bringing order to this ship, but sometimes I think it exceeds him..."
"You should tell him not to try too hard. Sometimes I guess the responsibility of being an Admiral overwhelms him," said the veteran pilot, while spooning a steaming soup with an odor of garlic and onions that looked very appetizing to the diplomat.
"In a certain way he does, but I think he feels responsible for our current situation... and you know how he behaves when such ideas get into his head!" - she clarified, while getting to the bar and taking a tray of cutlery and a small bowl. While she stood there, filling her plate with her personal pickings, Miriya said:
"He should go to the shooting range and unload a few rounds for a while. It really works for me,"the grin of the green-haired woman made Max arch an eyebrow.
"So you keep yourself lethal on those nights when you can't sleep?..." asked the man in a tone of sarcasm.
"Sometimes... sometimes I just go to the gym and exercise myself until I can no longer. You know me... always beautiful, always lethal!." The Meltrandi woman smiled with a charm that Lisa had seen her acquire over time. All three of them laughed amicably.
"The medical results of the crew of the Destiny are very interesting..."the woman added, pointing to the data on her tablet "...They are as similar as our peoples were, when our races started mixing. But there are genetic modifications in them, to correct defects such as cancer and hereditary diseases, there are also some mods to increase strength and performance."
"Mankind version one and half, why not blatantly a version two?" Lisa asked, more to herself than to her peers.
"Good question... with such a level of genetic control there could be interesting achievements. Not superhumans, but more likely strong and resilient people. Remember though that the Robotech Masters, who had a better command of genetics, just opted for switches to exacerbate mental control of their clones. Exedore would have been able to clarify the issue more accurately..."Miriya said thoughtfully.
All three of them were reminded of their fallen Zentraedi fellow. A mind so educated and incisive as the one of Exedore Formo could help them a lot at this moment. And even if he wasn´t able to help, he would still be sorely missed...
They remained in an awkward silence that lasted a few seconds, until Max dared to break it:
"Genetic modification was too convenient for the Robotech Masters. It is certainly easier to dominate a population receptive to mental conditioning, than one that is not. It is an interesting topic..." Max tore a chunk of the baked bread loaf he'd gotten to eat with his soup:
"Hey Lisa, do you think the people of the Destiny will help us?." He changed the topic all of a sudden.
"I don´t know Max. I didn´t like how the meeting with Captain Sparks ended. And although I insisted to Rick that he shouldn´t disclose our history on the first meeting, damage is done now. I'm afraid that for now, we are dependent on what she decides..."
One of the officers approached the table:
"Admiral Hayes, there's an urgent communication from the "Quarantine Zone" for you". That's how they had called the deck area where the foreign cargo ship was stationed.
"Thanks corporal..." the rank insignias on his shoulder defining him as such:
"... but now is ambassador only."
"With all due respect ma'am... you will always be Admiral for us. Am I dismissed?" he asked.
"Thanks. Continue your duty, corporal." she said with her most cheerful tone and smile. The officer saluted and turned to attend his own chores.
Both Sterlings smiled to her:
"The herd still cares about you, even if you officially no longer take care of it," said Max.
"Something I thank them for with all my heart ... I'll see you later. Let's see if Captain Sparks has already made a decision..."
Lisa rose from the table to approach the video link, where the deck chief reported that Captain Sparks had come out of the ship and wanted to talk to both her and the Admiral. Lisa acknowledged the message and left in a hurry.
Upon exiting the elevator leading to the deck, she noticed that the usual rumor of people working was not present. Her husband probably had given the order to leave them alone for a while. She found Rick near the ship, flanked by a soldier and behind them, Sparks, Cho Li and Huxley, who had received medical attention and was in a better shape:
"Captain, glad you decided to join us again!," she said, sweating a very real enthusiasm.
"Thank you, Ambassador. Guess I've taken more time than what was convenient..." said the woman and then approached to them, releasing a long breath and speaking in a softer voice:
"I must express my sincere condolences for all that you have been through. Given what i know of my people, if my land had suffered what yours had, who knows if we had had the strength to stand up again..."the look of the girl showed a genuine sadness.
"We thank you deeply, Captain. It's a fate no one deserves... Does that mean you agree to help us?." She tried to steer the conversation to the point that interested her.
"You know, I have still some doubts about the help I can give to you, but I believe in that old adage: "Noblesse oblige". I will lend my support, as you have kindly assisted us previously. But I fear the help I can give you is rather limited..."She said as she walked to her ship, the group looking at her leaning down on the hull of the transport, caressing it like a docile pet. The REF technicians had done a good job in repairing it, even if it was only apparent in the hull.
After that she turned to them:
"...Despite everything, I am only a sub-contractor who commands a transport ship for a large company, in a very competitive galaxy. However, the formal powers of the galaxy could provide more resources..." she flashed a wide grin.
"We couldn't ask for any more from you Miss Sparks. Who are these formal powers that you make reference to?"asked Rick.
She came forward to them, throwing her red wavy hair back:
"When humanity... I mean humanity in this dimension, began traveling through the stars, they met with a group of aliens who had taken residence in a gigantic space station, a functional relic of an ancient race that dominated the galaxy until more or less fifty thousand years ago. It is known as The Citadel. The races that make up "The Council", the organization that governs it, are the prolocutors for several peoples' policies regarding issues of capital importance. At the present time we are in league with them, and much of the scientific and technical knowledge of this universe is in their possession. If anyone can help you, that is The Council!."
"I understand your point of view Captain, but let me ask you something: Why are we being redirected to a group of aliens, instead of being led to its equivalent on Earth?... why not negotiate with the Human Systems Alliance?"Rick asked, curious by the fact that the girl in front of him didn´t think of the government of Earth as her first resource.
Captain Sparks sighed for a moment. Cho and Huxley tossed looks at each other but said nothing. Lisa just thought whatever the reason, it wasn´t often discussed...
"I have reasons to believe that asking for help to the Systems Alliance maybe dangerous and inconvenient for you..." - she said in a tone of cool determination. Lisa raised an eyebrow. What the Captain said had caught her attention.
"I´m sorry, what do you mean by that?," the ambassador stole the question the Admiral was about to make.
"I mean that your technology is in some ways more advanced than ours. And the fact that it can fall into the wrong hands, which unfortunately have become commonplace in the Alliance, would be a tremendous disruption of the status quo, and a threat to all beings, humans included..."
" If I may have a word in it Captain... I think you're exaggerating!. We humans aren't as bad as we look!" Officer Huxley said. Sparks turned to see him.
"That I believe, Huxley. But it is as if suddenly you invent a dangerous toy and hand it out to everyone around you. How much time do you think it would take 'till mankind abuses of it ?. In my opinion, not that much. I won't be responsible for any bad consequences that decision may have!."
Lisa nodded silently. She had imagined something like that. Growing up in a military family, obsessed with the supremacy of humanity, was in itself a lesson about the many virtues, flaws and failures of human character. The images of her father, the late Admiral Donald Hayes and Supreme Commander Anatole Leonard, who both advocated full-scale war with the Zentraedi and the Masters, roamed her head.
There were things that didn´t change, no matter what galaxy you were in.
Jenny continued:
"I understand that you may distrust my word. In other circumstances I would have taken you to my father, a senior high-ranking officer on Earth. But we parted ways in bad terms, and despite what I told you, may sound as vague as it comes, I´m sure I´m acting in your best interest telling you that it is best to approach the Council. There are more chances of success with them"
"That is a most strange decision Captain. Do you have any reason to distrust High Command of the Earth?," asked Rick.
Jenny spent some time explaining how the Alliance managed things around. His explanation seemed convincing to some extent, but it didn't let Lisa completely satisfied. When she finished, both Hunters excused themselves, promising to return with her once a decision had been made. They talked about it alone for half an hour, making conjectures. They soon concluded that there were things the red-haired girl was not telling them but, at this stage of the game, any help they could gain would be welcome. They would take Sparks' warning with a grain of salt...
When they returned to the ship, Jenny was reviewing the blueprints of the ship in her omnitool, verifying that repairs had been made according to what she had specified. She turned to see them:
"O.k. Captain. You trusted us and we will trust you. However we know you're not telling us everything. At some point we're going to need more details about those evil hands of the people in the Alliance that you mention." said Lisa. She approached and shook hands with the read-headed woman.
"I´ll let you in on the details Mrs. Hayes, I promise!. I don't expect you to believe me just because I say so. However at the time I don't have proof of what I say. However I have a small department on the Citadel where I have stashed some documents to verify the truth of my claims." said the redhead, feeling more committed than ever.
"Well... so be it. We'll go to the Citadel and see those documents. In the meantime be welcomed aboard again!." the Admiral said, shaking hands with her.
Rick Hunter finished his daily review of the ship and headed for the bridge, jogging lightly through the aisles. He had been overseeing the repair of the SDF-3 during the last fifteen days and had concluded that making contact with the humans of this universe, had boosted the morale of both crews. They were progressing with the work very quickly. Dr. Lang however, claimed that it was not possible to address all of the structural flaws of the hull of the huge ship, and made special emphasis on the existence of special electronic components for which they had no adequate material resources even though they had the facilities to manufacture them.
The sub-light propulsion and folding systems were functional, but the ship was severely limited in their ability of attack and defense. While the omnidirectional barrier still worked at a respectable sixty percent of capacity, one of the two synchrocannons that were their main weapon, was not yet operational due to the lack of those specific components the science officer spoke of.
Jenny Sparks had assured him that there was a large supply of raw materials in the Citadel, and expressed her full confidence that the resources that were needed, could be found there. Lieutenant Commander Penn and certain personnel of the crew had been carefully handpicked to serve as liaison officers with the other humans, while the Asian Third Officer Cho Li, acted as her counterpart.
The result was that the two groups were beginning to integrate slowly, but surely. They had established a friendly coexistence with the captain´s group, who had taught them the different perceptions of this new universe, while the REF technicians helped them repair their vehicle and talked about their own ways. They still had the occasional quarrels and misunderstandings, and in many cases the liaison officers had to be consulted on matters that were hinted, could affect the company they worked for.
All in all Lisa commented that integration was taking place without any severe problems. It became even faster when Jenny decided, in a gathering with her group, that they would stop working for that company.
Intelligence officials had spent many hours studying the footage that the Sterlings had brought when they rescued the Destiny. At some point even the Captain was required, due to her extensive military background, to be consulted on certain issues regarding the aliens.
Rick had eagerly devoured the reports of the liaison officers, especially those of Medicine and Engineering. He was able now to hear about medigel, without looking as if he was being spoken in some obscure alien tongue. He also learned how an omnitool worked. And let´s not mention the extensive report of Science, on the first studies of "element zero" and the mass effect core reactors. The chief scientist made a series of preliminary comparisons to their own systems and concluded that they could serve as an interesting replacement for Reflex reactors in a pinch. Considering adapting such systems to the SDF-3 however, was not in short-term plans.
Just the same as Lisa, his interest was more focused on the social nuances, -technology was the strong suit of Dr. Lang, after all-.
He had studied more about the progress of humanity after year 2010. Lisa and her aides had chatted at length with Officer Huxley and Communications Officer Velázquez, who had the highest degree of knowledge of the history of mankind. Their talks were the most fascinating: Hearing about how men had managed not to kill each other and form a coalition to explore the stars, was a most comforting thought. Life with the aliens was also interesting, and although the crew of the Destiny was one hundred percent human, he had studied the records of new species awaiting them in this universe, using everything he could get his hands into, given the little general information the freighter had.
They had also discovered that the timescale was not exactly the same. For the inhabitants of this dimension, the Earth year was 2183, not the 2044 of his home universe.
These differences and some others, had left Dr. Lang scratching his head more than once, and in the company of the scientists from the ship, had tried to figure out the inner workings of this new reality. Gradually the old robotechnologist´s inquisitive mind began to assemble the pieces, but it was too early to find the answer to the question of how to get home. That is, if Vince Grant was able to reach the fleet on time and there even was a home left to return to...
Now, leaving behind the hallways and entering the control room, to make a further fold jump, he wondered if he had ever imagined the strange situation they were in.
They initially opted for traveling through the mass relay systems to the Widow Nebula. But when the ship approached the massive structure -which definitely left stunned more than one person-, they found, in singular confusion, that the systems of the big fork-shaped interstellar drive were not responding to their presence -and the good doctor couldn´t wait to test and learn more about the fascinating transport system, but at the time there was no useful information to take advantage from-.
After nearly an hour of discussions and ideas, Lang suggested that they would need to send the MSV Destiny ahead, -relay systems were acknowledging the ship after all-. It was suggested they use the star charts of the cargo ship, but the navigation computers were partially damaged and having them repaired and making the appropriate conversion between the two navigational systems, would be a very slow process. Huxley, who had spent most of his life sailing between the stars, was sure however to be able to bring them up to the Exodus mass relay. From there they could jump to Arcturus, then to some other intermediate relay and then connect to the Widow Nebula.
The ship would be leaving with a set of pointing beacons. Upon reaching the vicinity of the relays, all they had to do was to position the probes and turn them on -"like the trail of crumbs Hansel and Gretel left", he said-. They would locate the device with their long-range sensors, getting precise coordinates of where to make the jump.
Technical staff worked on the gadgets for a few hours testing them to determine that they could detect the signals. When the doctor was satisfied, they were given to Jenny Sparks...
It was the fourth day since the Captain had left. If their calculations were correct, Jenny had arrived at the Citadel at least two days ago. They were in their fourth jump now and the safety deadline for using the folding system again, without causing a catastrophic failure, was about to expire.
"Sitrep." He questioned Adelle, the brown haired flight controller replacement, in calm manner, as he went to sit on the command chair.
"Sir: Lieutenant Commander Penn is on her way over here with Officer Cho Li. They were reviewing some of the final considerations before jumping into the Widow system. Furthermore, Engineering reports that the folding system is ready to be used again. Air Group is ready to be deployed on your order. Ground Forces and all other decks are on alert and awaiting your orders in the event of a hostile situation..."
"My wife and the Sterlings?"
"Here we are Rick!" the voice of his friends came from behind, with the sound of the door opening.
"That leaves only our missing liaison officers,"he said, a little impatience in his voice.
The door opened again and the blond Penn and the Asian Cho came inside quickly.
"Liaison officers Penn and Li reporting!"both saluted the mature officer, even if only one of them was required to do so.
"At ease." he said and then turned to the Asian:
"Mr. Li, if your report is reliable, we must assume we will find a space station at least forty miles long, defended by a fleet of at least five hundred ships of all possible classes, including a dreadnought of at least four kilometers..."
"That's right sir. The "Destiny Ascension" is probably the largest ship I've ever seen, and the power of her mass accelerator is enough to disembowel a human ship without any trouble."
"Outnumbered and outgunned once again... if our mission wasn´t a diplomatic one, I would indulge myself in the luxury of feeling sorry for them..." Miriya launched an undeterred sarcasm. Cho Li turned to see the woman with a severe expression of mixed disapproval and awe.
Lisa was quick to calm the young officer, by reminding him that it was not even remotely the worst situation they had been in. They went over the plan once again. After the folding maneuver, they would launch several communication messages to the station, hoping Captain Sparks had done her job and had established contact with the right people to help them.
If the first contact protocol the captain stated was right, the aliens would wait a bit before attacking. Otherwise they would have to raise the omnidirectional barrier and pray that their enemies would tire from throwing stones at them, before the barrier system discharged itself in a huge surge of energy that would destroy everything within a two hundred kilometer radius, to avoid a catastrophic overload...
"Ready on your mark, Sir"said Adelle
"Three... two... one... mark!"
"Starting jump protocol. Attention all decks: Countdown begins for folding into the Widow system in a minute,"the voice of the controller had a tone of controlled emotion.
"Folding system reaching twenty-five percent of charge and rising..."had said Karen, taking an alternative position to that of Adelle. Old habits often die slowly.
Max Sterling led Cho Li to a seat on the far left side of the bridge, near a row of system controllers. The young man´s face was pale. No doubt he had just realized how badly things could turn out.
Lisa and Miriya sat near them, while Adelle announced that implementation of the jump would begin in thirty seconds. Karen added that the system charge had reached fifty-five percent. The seconds appeared to be eternal...
"Folding in twenty seconds!"
"System charge at eighty-five percent!"
"Folding in ten... nine... eight... seven... six..."
"Folding charge at one hundred percent. Introducing navigational coordinates. Coordinates ready!"
"...three... two... one... initiating jump"
If someone had been able to see the ship from the outside, he would have noticed the SDF-3 being wrapped in a giant sphere of light that illuminated the space around for several kilometers, engulfing the entire ship and falling back on itself, only to fade away without the slightest trace a second later.
Inside the ship, it was as if time had been elongated, while a huge amount of light came in through the bridge´s visual field. Lisa approached to the command chair, along Rick and sat down beside him, taking his hand. The Admiral turned to see her for a few seconds and flashed that familiar smile that was so comforting as well. The young woman grabbed his hand, and focused on the deep but comforting look. A known feeling for both suddenly invaded them. Time was returning to its normal flow, but the light hadn´t still dissipated all around.
Certainty that a new adventure was about to begin, bid them welcome...
Next chapter: We go back to both Commander Shepard and the ship The Archangel...
JC: You had it right!, apologies for a little slip... corrected year in script, it was 2187, the real date is 2183. Many Thanks JC!
