1 "Tempus Fugit" [Part Three]
All good plans fail for one,
Yet succeed for others.
Dark Thunder of Night
C.Y. 10088 – at the Signing of the Commonwealth Charter
Harper walked through the vast, endless corridors silently, trying to go unnoticed. It was easy not to be noticed in this alien environment. Even though it was a Than docking port there were people from all over the galaxies. He had so far recognised Than, Perseids, Humans, Nietzscheans, Nightsiders and Kalderans.
The Than corridors went on forever. He was always turning from this way to that, left or right and he never seemed to be getting anywhere.
"Take the next left, you're nearly there," Harper heard the voice of Ashes of Lightning in his head. Two days ago, when Lightning had agreed to help him, they had begun to formulate a plan to steal a Than ship, without Lightning being part of it. Harper respected the Than for actually agreeing to help him, and he understood why he didn't want to steal the ship himself. It was Harper who had come up with the easy solution. He had created a radio link between their two implants, which not only allowed them to hear and talk to each other, but they could see through each other's eyes. Harper had simply made the implants record what each person was seeing, so at will, the other person could see the recording.
Harper complied with the orders and turned to his left. However, he immediately came up against a security door. Two Than guards were standing there with pulse rifles in their hands, and the doors remained shut. Harper turned back on himself, trying not to look suspicious and stepped back into the corridor. He turned back the way he had come and leaned against the wall.
"I see them," Lightning reassured him, "I'm now looking through their systems. I'm trying to create a diversion."
That was another part of the plan. As Lightning had explained it, he was a General in the Hegemon's Guard, one of the two fleets at the time. The other fleet was known as the Hegemon's Sentinel and the two had been locked in a fierce war since that fateful day on Syn-Avan-Dar. When the Than told him that story, Harper couldn't help feel a pang of guilt. He was trapped in a world at war. A war that he began.
Ashes of Lightning's high up position in the Guard allowed him to gain access to the systems in the massive complex that he had sent Harper to. He was only allowed restricted access, but he had bypassed the systems and now had free reign.
"Now," Lightning said after a few minutes. "Go up to the doors. They should open automatically."
"Won't the guards shoot?" Harper questioned before he remembered all of the people who might stare at him.
"They shouldn't do," Lightning told him, "they are programmed to read the person they see in front of them. If they recognise them, the doors will open. No questions will be asked. Trust me. The doors will open."
Harper did as he was instructed. He turned back to the left and made as if to march straight through the doors. To his utter surprise the doors slid effortlessly open. He was through. He felt the suspicious eyes of the Than guards following him through the corridor beyond, until the doors had closed behind him again.
Now he was in a very short, but extremely large corridor. Two more massive corridors went off to his right and left and one straight in front of him.
"They are for cargo," Lightning said. "Take the one straight in front of you."
Harper did as he was told and continued to march through the corridor ahead. It seemed endless, until he found himself at another massive door. There was another pair of guards again. He walked straight at the door as he had before, but failed. The door didn't open.
The two Than thrust the weapons out into Harper's chest and threw him back. He landed in a heap on the floor. He sat there and waited for Lightning's command, but none came. In the end, he decided he had no other choice. He jumped to his feet. He pulled out his concealed force lance and shot at the Than. They both, fell but they were only wounded.
"Nooooo!" Lightning cried in desperation.
"Now what?" Harper cried, desperate to get out of there before it was too late. No answer came. "Now what?" he demanded again.
Suddenly the doors in front of him shot open. He walked through and was in the biggest single room he had ever seen. All around the place a metal walk went; penetrated in multiple places by stairways to other levels. Gangplanks led off from the walk into Than shuttle ships. They looked very similar to the Than warships, but they were much smaller, and Harper believed that they looked more elongated.
He looked over the bar on the edge of the walk and saw that the docking bay of Than shuttles stretched low down and when he looked up he could hardly see where it stopped. To his right he saw endless streams of Than ships. To his left. Far to his left he could faintly see the massive doors which led to the outside. A forcefield in each door.
"Why did you bring me to a Than bay?" he cried. He was worried that the Than security would easily recognise him amongst all of the Than-Thre-Kull.
"No other ships are compatible with our technology," Lightning shot back. "Now," Lightning continued, "go to the nearest Than ship on your right. Its completely empty."
Harper complied. He found the nearest shuttle on his right and he walked up the gangplank into the ship. Somebody saw him. Either that or somebody had called an alert after finding the guards. He was shot at. He was hit. He fell to the metal gangplank with a thud and held his arm as blood poured from it.
"Get up," Lightning screamed. "Get up! You can still escape."
Harper cried in pain as he got to his feet and rushed onto the shuttle. He was closely followed by the Than guards but once he was inside the doors shut behind him. He was safe.
He was already in the central chamber of the shuttle. There were small rooms coming off, but he didn't need them. He fuelled his actions with urgency when he heard the Than weapons begin to pound on the doors. He remembered the Maru. He remembered Beka.
"What now?" Harper said to Lightning trying not to think of the events that had scarred his life.
"Sit in the pilot's chair."
He did so. It was not very comfortable. It was conformed to Than comfort, and to Than rules and regulations. Other than that however, it was very similar to the Maru's chair. He grabbed hold of the steering command rods and waited for more orders.
"I've done it," Lightning cried, obviously very pleased with himself as Harper felt the Than ship move towards the docking bay doors. "Now you have control, the panels are all in Vedran so it should be simple."
Harper was still not sure. He guided the ship carefully through the constant mass of other ships. He glanced down at the panels to get an idea of the controls. He tried to remember where most of the important ones were.
All of a sudden, he saw a massive bolt of red light speed past the viewscreen. It impacted on a Than ship down below him, but a few metres in front. He saw the shuttle explode into a ball of fire. "That's my fault," he said to himself. Horrified.
He manoeuvred the ship at an angle through other ships. He felt more weapons fire shoot by him. Another ship was hit, but it only began to fall away from its original path. Harper fell forward as he was suddenly hit. And again. He was hit. The shuttle began to descend at a rapid pace.
Harper gazed in horror as his shuttle collided with another, unsuspected shuttle. Fire roared openly through the shuttle now. It was knocked to its side by the impact and Harper saw the other shuttle erupt into fire and chaos.
He was desperate to escape. He knew that if he were captured he would most likely be killed. Killed by the Than and all of this would be over.
"Lightning," he cried but there was no response.
Suddenly: "Harper. Harper. I'm in danger. They've traced the signal back to me."
"Help me," Harper cried.
"I have to cut the link."
"No," Harper pleaded, "if they already now where you are. Please help me."
Harper felt that the link was still there, but he couldn't hear Lightning. He was completely lost. He didn't know what to do. He got up from the chair. He looked back at the doors and had one final hope. One final idea. He forced the doors open and stood there for a while. It was amazing. He could see. He could hear. He could feel the weapons rush by. And the ships exploding.
Then, one particular bolt of energy seemed to be coming his way. He had no choice. It was the end. He looked down and swallowed.
"Goodbye!" He shouted. Not at Lightning. Not at anybody.
Harper felt as if he was suddenly moving in slow motion. He took the leap of faith. He made a move that would kill him. He decided that it was better than being captured. He closed his eyes. The tears that ran down his face were beginning to sting his wounds.
Then. He jumped. He jumped from the doorway and into the abyss below. As he did, he felt the sudden blast. The blast, as his shuttle was ripped to pieces by Than weapons. He couldn't help but open his eyes. There was nothing he could do.
He was falling. All he could see was falling. All he could feel was falling. The plan had failed. It had been obvious from the start that it was a very risky plan, but he had never expected it to fail so horribly.
He was falling. All he could see was falling. All he could feel was falling. He had lost everything. His friends. His family. He had no reason to live. He had given up, and even as he continued to fall he was happy in his final resolution.
He was falling. All he could see was falling. All he could feel was falling. The shuttle craft was left a long way behind him now. He could see the bottom of the bay, where strange Than machinery continued to work. Sharp, evil, pointed edges would be his end. He saw the place that would be his untimely grave.
"Harper," he heard Lightning cry through the link.
Harper was falling. All he could see was falling. All he could feel was falling. He could say nothing.
He was falling. Falling. He was falling forever. Then, the slow motion that had seemed to envelop Harper for so long fell. He closed his eyes tightly. He heard yells from the Than above. He heard the roar of fire and engines. He heard his own scream.
"I failed," he heard his own words. His own last words.
TO BE CONTINUED…
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
All good plans fail for one,
Yet succeed for others.
Dark Thunder of Night
C.Y. 10088 – at the Signing of the Commonwealth Charter
Harper walked through the vast, endless corridors silently, trying to go unnoticed. It was easy not to be noticed in this alien environment. Even though it was a Than docking port there were people from all over the galaxies. He had so far recognised Than, Perseids, Humans, Nietzscheans, Nightsiders and Kalderans.
The Than corridors went on forever. He was always turning from this way to that, left or right and he never seemed to be getting anywhere.
"Take the next left, you're nearly there," Harper heard the voice of Ashes of Lightning in his head. Two days ago, when Lightning had agreed to help him, they had begun to formulate a plan to steal a Than ship, without Lightning being part of it. Harper respected the Than for actually agreeing to help him, and he understood why he didn't want to steal the ship himself. It was Harper who had come up with the easy solution. He had created a radio link between their two implants, which not only allowed them to hear and talk to each other, but they could see through each other's eyes. Harper had simply made the implants record what each person was seeing, so at will, the other person could see the recording.
Harper complied with the orders and turned to his left. However, he immediately came up against a security door. Two Than guards were standing there with pulse rifles in their hands, and the doors remained shut. Harper turned back on himself, trying not to look suspicious and stepped back into the corridor. He turned back the way he had come and leaned against the wall.
"I see them," Lightning reassured him, "I'm now looking through their systems. I'm trying to create a diversion."
That was another part of the plan. As Lightning had explained it, he was a General in the Hegemon's Guard, one of the two fleets at the time. The other fleet was known as the Hegemon's Sentinel and the two had been locked in a fierce war since that fateful day on Syn-Avan-Dar. When the Than told him that story, Harper couldn't help feel a pang of guilt. He was trapped in a world at war. A war that he began.
Ashes of Lightning's high up position in the Guard allowed him to gain access to the systems in the massive complex that he had sent Harper to. He was only allowed restricted access, but he had bypassed the systems and now had free reign.
"Now," Lightning said after a few minutes. "Go up to the doors. They should open automatically."
"Won't the guards shoot?" Harper questioned before he remembered all of the people who might stare at him.
"They shouldn't do," Lightning told him, "they are programmed to read the person they see in front of them. If they recognise them, the doors will open. No questions will be asked. Trust me. The doors will open."
Harper did as he was instructed. He turned back to the left and made as if to march straight through the doors. To his utter surprise the doors slid effortlessly open. He was through. He felt the suspicious eyes of the Than guards following him through the corridor beyond, until the doors had closed behind him again.
Now he was in a very short, but extremely large corridor. Two more massive corridors went off to his right and left and one straight in front of him.
"They are for cargo," Lightning said. "Take the one straight in front of you."
Harper did as he was told and continued to march through the corridor ahead. It seemed endless, until he found himself at another massive door. There was another pair of guards again. He walked straight at the door as he had before, but failed. The door didn't open.
The two Than thrust the weapons out into Harper's chest and threw him back. He landed in a heap on the floor. He sat there and waited for Lightning's command, but none came. In the end, he decided he had no other choice. He jumped to his feet. He pulled out his concealed force lance and shot at the Than. They both, fell but they were only wounded.
"Nooooo!" Lightning cried in desperation.
"Now what?" Harper cried, desperate to get out of there before it was too late. No answer came. "Now what?" he demanded again.
Suddenly the doors in front of him shot open. He walked through and was in the biggest single room he had ever seen. All around the place a metal walk went; penetrated in multiple places by stairways to other levels. Gangplanks led off from the walk into Than shuttle ships. They looked very similar to the Than warships, but they were much smaller, and Harper believed that they looked more elongated.
He looked over the bar on the edge of the walk and saw that the docking bay of Than shuttles stretched low down and when he looked up he could hardly see where it stopped. To his right he saw endless streams of Than ships. To his left. Far to his left he could faintly see the massive doors which led to the outside. A forcefield in each door.
"Why did you bring me to a Than bay?" he cried. He was worried that the Than security would easily recognise him amongst all of the Than-Thre-Kull.
"No other ships are compatible with our technology," Lightning shot back. "Now," Lightning continued, "go to the nearest Than ship on your right. Its completely empty."
Harper complied. He found the nearest shuttle on his right and he walked up the gangplank into the ship. Somebody saw him. Either that or somebody had called an alert after finding the guards. He was shot at. He was hit. He fell to the metal gangplank with a thud and held his arm as blood poured from it.
"Get up," Lightning screamed. "Get up! You can still escape."
Harper cried in pain as he got to his feet and rushed onto the shuttle. He was closely followed by the Than guards but once he was inside the doors shut behind him. He was safe.
He was already in the central chamber of the shuttle. There were small rooms coming off, but he didn't need them. He fuelled his actions with urgency when he heard the Than weapons begin to pound on the doors. He remembered the Maru. He remembered Beka.
"What now?" Harper said to Lightning trying not to think of the events that had scarred his life.
"Sit in the pilot's chair."
He did so. It was not very comfortable. It was conformed to Than comfort, and to Than rules and regulations. Other than that however, it was very similar to the Maru's chair. He grabbed hold of the steering command rods and waited for more orders.
"I've done it," Lightning cried, obviously very pleased with himself as Harper felt the Than ship move towards the docking bay doors. "Now you have control, the panels are all in Vedran so it should be simple."
Harper was still not sure. He guided the ship carefully through the constant mass of other ships. He glanced down at the panels to get an idea of the controls. He tried to remember where most of the important ones were.
All of a sudden, he saw a massive bolt of red light speed past the viewscreen. It impacted on a Than ship down below him, but a few metres in front. He saw the shuttle explode into a ball of fire. "That's my fault," he said to himself. Horrified.
He manoeuvred the ship at an angle through other ships. He felt more weapons fire shoot by him. Another ship was hit, but it only began to fall away from its original path. Harper fell forward as he was suddenly hit. And again. He was hit. The shuttle began to descend at a rapid pace.
Harper gazed in horror as his shuttle collided with another, unsuspected shuttle. Fire roared openly through the shuttle now. It was knocked to its side by the impact and Harper saw the other shuttle erupt into fire and chaos.
He was desperate to escape. He knew that if he were captured he would most likely be killed. Killed by the Than and all of this would be over.
"Lightning," he cried but there was no response.
Suddenly: "Harper. Harper. I'm in danger. They've traced the signal back to me."
"Help me," Harper cried.
"I have to cut the link."
"No," Harper pleaded, "if they already now where you are. Please help me."
Harper felt that the link was still there, but he couldn't hear Lightning. He was completely lost. He didn't know what to do. He got up from the chair. He looked back at the doors and had one final hope. One final idea. He forced the doors open and stood there for a while. It was amazing. He could see. He could hear. He could feel the weapons rush by. And the ships exploding.
Then, one particular bolt of energy seemed to be coming his way. He had no choice. It was the end. He looked down and swallowed.
"Goodbye!" He shouted. Not at Lightning. Not at anybody.
Harper felt as if he was suddenly moving in slow motion. He took the leap of faith. He made a move that would kill him. He decided that it was better than being captured. He closed his eyes. The tears that ran down his face were beginning to sting his wounds.
Then. He jumped. He jumped from the doorway and into the abyss below. As he did, he felt the sudden blast. The blast, as his shuttle was ripped to pieces by Than weapons. He couldn't help but open his eyes. There was nothing he could do.
He was falling. All he could see was falling. All he could feel was falling. The plan had failed. It had been obvious from the start that it was a very risky plan, but he had never expected it to fail so horribly.
He was falling. All he could see was falling. All he could feel was falling. He had lost everything. His friends. His family. He had no reason to live. He had given up, and even as he continued to fall he was happy in his final resolution.
He was falling. All he could see was falling. All he could feel was falling. The shuttle craft was left a long way behind him now. He could see the bottom of the bay, where strange Than machinery continued to work. Sharp, evil, pointed edges would be his end. He saw the place that would be his untimely grave.
"Harper," he heard Lightning cry through the link.
Harper was falling. All he could see was falling. All he could feel was falling. He could say nothing.
He was falling. Falling. He was falling forever. Then, the slow motion that had seemed to envelop Harper for so long fell. He closed his eyes tightly. He heard yells from the Than above. He heard the roar of fire and engines. He heard his own scream.
"I failed," he heard his own words. His own last words.
TO BE CONTINUED…
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4