P J McDermott [McDermott - Fractured Prophecy

FRACTURED PROPHECY

A Science Fiction Action Adventure

By PJ McDermott

Copyright 2019

All rights reserved.

ISBN: 9780648092131

CHAPTER 1

The Ark

George Sebastian Lace, Admiral in the Galactic Alliance of Federated Planets, called the meeting to order. Are we good to go? He shuffled the papers in front of him and glanced at the five attendees seated around the oval boardroom table. Each nodded their assent. Before he could begin, the door slid open and a young woman with green eyes and long, burnished red hair popped her head inside. Hickory, glad you could make it. Come in, come in. He waved his arm to indicate she should take a seat.

Hickory Lace slipped in between her partners, Jess Parker and Gareth Blanquette and nodded to James Brandt and the two Agency staffers sitting beside him. My apologies, Admiral. Ive been in detox all week and only now got your message. She spoke in a husky voice then coughed, raising a hand to her mouth. Sorry, still have a touch of bronchitis from the trip.

Gareth grinned wryly then assumed a straight face at the Admirals stern look.

"Everyone knows my daughter? Hickorys on temporary loan from the Alien Corps. Shes been on assignment to a class IV planet in Canis Major where she needed a Maquillage procedure to help her lungs cope with the high levels of Xenon in the atmosphere. Since her return, shes been in our med center regressing to Earth-normal. He nodded at his daughter. Well, now we're all here, lets get started. He went straight to the point. Our friends the Bikashi have been spotted entering the quadrant.

Hickory glanced at Jess and Gareth and raised her eyebrows. Although not currently at war, the Bikashi were friends with no one in the Allied Federation of Planets. If they were hereabouts, it spelled trouble.

The Admiral continued. In the last week, several Alpha-class jets exited hyperspace inside the Eridanus system and rendezvoused with a mother ship in high orbit over the planet Prosperine. At first, we thought this might be the start of another attempt by the Bikashi Warlord, Kabutai, to grab the planets FTL fuel. Aurigas faster-than-light capability is inferior to ours, as you know, and theyd do anything to get their hands on some crynidium.

He leaned forward and slapped his palms on the table. Well, we were wrong. The jets flew to a point in space, about three million miles from Prosperines sun, and held their position.

Gareth whistled through his teeth. As close as they could get, eh? Any nearer and theyd burn up.

The Admiral nodded. They stayed there a little over six hours, then hightailed it back to their mother ship. He paused, looking up from the podium. Then, five days ago, the jets stopped coming, and the mother ship disappeared.

Jess emitted a nervous laugh. Whatwere they hoping to find the Ark? She folded her arms across her stomach. Good luck with that. It blew up into a million pieces.

They found something . Surprise made Hickorys voice rise in pitch. She wondered what there could possibly have been left to salvage. Shed witnessed the Teachers spaceship, nicknamed the Ark, fly into Eridanis corona where the temperature was over 35,000 degrees, Kelvin. The ship had lit up like a Roman candle. Jess was right, there couldnt have been anything left to find. She felt a flare of anger tinged with guilt at the mere hint the Bikashi might think differently.

Jess gripped her wrist. Take it easy, Hick. We dont know whether they found anything. Maybe they simply got bored looking. She shrugged at Gareths scornful face.

The Admiral stood and paced around the table. I dont think so, Jess

They found the Sword. Hickory completed her thought.

The odds on that are a zillion to one, said Gareth, shaking his head. When the ship went nova, it was the equivalent of a thousand simultaneous nuclear explosions. Nothing could have survived. There wouldnt be any wreckage.

In the end, I left him to go to his death alone. Shed fought to stay with him, but her father had dragged her to safety.

The Admiral held up a hand to forestall further argument. Normally, Id agree with you, but we need to remember the Ark was constructed from materials unknown to us. The technology of its drive systems was incomprehensibleit still is. Weve pored over the visual records left by the Ark builders and, to be honest, weve made little progress. We know the ship was designed to withstand extreme conditionsit was intended for a long space migration to New Prosperine, somewhere on the other side of the universe.

He picked up the holoscreen remote and dimmed the lights. I asked for a review of all the data we had on the Arks first and only flight. This is a recording from two hours after the Ark exploded. Look at the lower left corner of the projection, just there. He paused the video and waited for their reactions.

At first, Hickory could see nothing unusual.

Gareth shook his head, and Jess squinted, trying to make out anything other than the sun, its corona and the outlying stars.

Ill increase the magnification, said the Admiral. Now do you see it?

Hickorys heart missed a beat. She clutched at the emerald-encrusted crucifix around her neck. There, in the bottom left quadrant, was a point of light that shouldnt have been there.

What is that, some sort of computer glitch? A cyber ghost? said Jess, pointing her finger at the screen.

Its a reflection, said Gareth, awed. A solid body of some sort, but too smooth for a meteor, eh?

Its a life pod. Hickory bit her lip, then coughed uncontrollably into her handkerchief.

The Admiral frowned at his stepdaughter, then his stern expression softened. Im sorry, Hickory. Its a capsule, approximately five feet long by two in diameter at its widest point. Its much too small to sustain organic life for very long. If you watch the recording again in real time, youll see it sparkle like a star. Or like a beacon. He paused. We think its some sort of black box, jettisoned by the Ark before it exploded.

Hickorys mind was in turmoil. No, you dont know that! It might be Kar; he might have survived. But the spark of hope dimmed quickly in the face of the Admirals certainty. Youre sure it couldnt be a life pod? Her hoarse whisper was lost amid Gareths outburst.

He jumped from his seat, his eyes wide and face flushed. Where is it, is it here? His eyes swiveled around the room as though expecting the pod to be displayed nearby.

I wish it were, said the Admiral. But its gone, vanished, poof! He snapped his fingers, then walked over to the side table and poured himself some coffee.

The three Alien Corps executives glanced at each other. You think Kabutai has it, dont you? Jess asked.

The Admiral pressed his lips together and sipped his coffee. Its the logical explanation. He shrugged and the others stared at him, waiting. He blew on his coffee before taking a second sip. A pink blush appeared above his collar. You three have been through so much already, especially you, Gareth, after the treatment the Bikashi Commander, Vogel, dished out to you. He paused, placing his cup on the table. And youre due to return to your regular post at the Alien Corps soon, Hickory, but if theres the slightest chance the Bikashi have that capsule, we must make certain they dont use it.

The Ark builders were the furthest advanced of any people in the galaxy then and now, and their science is still centuries ahead of ours. If Kabutai manages to harness their technology, it will change the balance of power. I dont want to be dramatic, but Im talking a doomsday scenario.

We must prevent that happening at all costs, but I cant risk all-out war by sending in the troops, not yet anyway. This has to be a clandestine operation. You three are our most senior agents when it comes to dealing with the Bikashi. I would understand if you refused to go to Auriga, but He let the question hang in the air.