They arrived back at the apartment; Kerulithar ushered the two men inside.
“This calls for a celebratory drink,” the Solarian reached toward a cupboard which opened automatically and took out a bottle of a yellowish coloured liquid. He handed each of the two men a glass, and poured them each a drink, which the two men eyed with even more suspicion.
“Don’t worry; it’s not Atollos. This is Gimva whisky from Celius II; I was given it from the Governor there for helping to mediate a dispute between two rival terrorist factions.”
Michael and Vargev gingerly sipped from the glass. It was not like an ordinary whisky, this was smooth and slightly fruity, but it still had the warmth that traditional whiskies had.
They spent the night in Kerulithars apartment once again, Michael asked the ambassador the question he had been pondering all day, “why six weeks?”
“Solarian space is vast, there are 125 planets spread out across nearly 400 light years, six weeks is the minimum that the warhost could be mustered.”
“Now I understand,” Michael said feeling a little stupid.
Next morning they awoke and had breakfast, “I’m going to take some of this with me.” Vargev said as he ate the sorgrest mash with gusto.
“Unfortunately it only keeps fresh for a week.”
“Damn.”
“You might be able to find dried sorgrest on Omicron though. But the drying process takes some of the taste out.”
After they had breakfast they were making ready to depart back to Omicron.
“I wonder what gadgets they are going to put on the Liberty,” Michael thought aloud.
“The likelihood is they will explain what the technology does, and how it operates, then they will give you the choice of whether you want it or not,” Kerulithar said.
“The first thing I’ll want is all the controls in plain English,” Michael smiled. They arrived back at the Allathas spaceport again and despite the bustling crowds, managed to make it to pad ‘B’ where the shuttle was located.
Kerulithar opened the hatch once again, and all three of them went inside, the Solarian pressed a control and the hatch gently closed behind them, once Kerulithar had took up his position on the pilots’ seat he keyed in a few more controls and the shuttle began to gradually power up.
He contacted the Spaceport and requested clearance to depart. After a short pause while launch control checked that it was clear an affirmative came. The Solarian keyed in a few more controls and the gravitic engines slowly powered up with their customary whine; the shuttle began to lift off, quickly gathering speed.
Michael peered out the side window next to him and looked down at the shrinking form of Solaria city below. Feeling a slight sadness at leaving, at the possibility of not getting to experience the beauty and majesty of Solaria again, and he wished Jana and Theo were there and could see what he had seen. He also wondered if one day humanity could build something anywhere near as beautiful.
The shuttle punched through the cloud cover; soon enough they had achieved orbit of Solaris IV, the familiar multitude of vessels and facilities that crowded the orbit of the planet greeted them once again, and Kerulithar had to manoeuvre the shuttle around several large bulk transports and freighters, before they put enough distance between them and the planet to clear the throng of vessels.
The journey back to Omicron was once again an uneventful one; with the three of them swapping places again to take turns between resting and piloting. Two days journey later and they had arrived back at the Omicron repair facility.
It was slightly busier than usual. Already a dozen sleek Solarian battle cruisers had formed up in close formation near to the facility.
“It looks like they are also using Omicron as a staging point; more ships will be arriving soon,” Kerulithar pointed out.
He contacted the station requesting docking clearance, and it was heartily granted.
“Apparently the news of our deliberations with the council has reached here already.”
Michael and Vargev simply smiled, hey at least the good guys are finally beginning to get some support in this goddamn war, Michael thought.
The shuttle slowly glided into a hangar bay almost full of other shuttles and fighters all lined up; and it gradually touched down in an empty space near to the other shuttles. The hangar bay doors slowly closed behind the small craft.
Once the doors had closed, and the bay was re-pressurised, Solistis made his way across the hangar bay as they disembarked the shuttle to greet them, “Welcome back,” he said warmly. “Commander Ralavas has been expecting you.”
“No doubt he has,” Michael said with a smile as they walked with the Solarian officer once again.
“We heard what happened on Solaria; news is spreading fast throughout the Confederacy. An alliance with the Terrans and war with the Krenarans; repairs are also going well with the captured Krenaran vessel.” He said as he walked.
“The Liberty,” Michael corrected him once again; he wondered how many times he would have to do this. “As for an alliance; that is for our governments to decide between themselves, all we asked for was aid.”
“Of course, my mistake.”
“It does feel good to finally be able to take the fight to the Krenarans though,” Vargev interjected.
Eventually they arrived at Commander Ralavas’ Office once again.
“Ah, Michael Alexander and Nikolai Vargev if I remember correctly; welcome back to Omicron, I trust your stay on Solaria wasn’t too hectic?”
“Well apart from the council,” Michael replied. “You have one hell of a city over there.”
“Thank you. It’s one of our proudest achievements, though personally I have never been there.”
Michael was genuinely surprised at this news, a high-ranking Solarian Commander that has never been to his homeworld before, but then again being the Commander of a repair facility the size of Omicron; Ralavas mustn’t get out much.
“I have just received the repair report on your ship the Liberty.” The Commander continued, picking up a small display device. “Exterior hull damage is eighty percent complete; the primary sub-light drive however was damaged beyond repair so with your permission I would like to replace it with a Solarian negative Ion propulsion system.”
“What benefits would it give us, and how long would it take to fit?” Michael asked.
“Solarian propulsion units have been found to be thirty percent faster than typical Krenaran units, as well as being more reliable. However they do use more power, so we would have to upgrade the primary power source on-board,” Ralavas said.
“May we see the Liberty?” Vargev asked.
“Of course.”
They made their way down to the lower repair docks, and stood by a large viewing platform. There in all its dark brooding glory, rested the Liberty.
Unmanned repair drones controlled by Solarians on board the station crawled over parts of its hull that were damaged in the fighting. Flashes from the drones’ welding arcs could be seen reflecting off the Liberty’s dark hull.
“Soon we will strike back against those Krenaran scum,” Michael whispered with malice, almost as if he was talking to the ship.
“We have drawn up a list of upgrades as advised by the Solarian council that we would like to carry out to the ship,” the Commander said as he passed the data pad over to Michael after re-configuring it so that he could read it.
Michael took the list and began reading through it; a new negative Ion propulsion system, and replacement of the Krenaran thruster system with Solarian Ionic ones. Replacement of standard Krenaran torpedoes with new Solarian high energy launchers, and finally replacement of the standard Krenaran particle cannon with a Solarian fusion cannon.
Ralavas ran through the relative advantages of each. “The Solarian Ionic thruster system, especially when linked with the negative Ion propulsion system, allows the vessel to turn within approximately half its current turning circle.”
There was a slight pause as he fumbled for words, “what is that saying you Terrans have? Turn on a sixpence.”
Michael and Vargev both smiled.
Ralavas continued, “Solarian high energy torpedoes have a forty percent higher yield than Krenaran ones, and an eighty percent higher explosive force. We would like to replace both launchers and install automatic feeds, with 30 warheads per launcher,” he said watching the two humans nodding in agreement.
“And the Solarian fusion cannon has been constantly developed, researched, and re-developed to become the most powerful anti-ship weapon anywhere in the known galaxy. However with that we have a slight problem.”
“What’s that?” Michael asked.
“To fit the fusion cannon would require the stripping of the old detention facility on deck five to allow the fitting of the power couplings, fusion coils, and targeting matrices essential to the operation of the cannon.”
“It’s not like we need the detention centre anymore anyway,” Michael replied as he looked at Vargev.
There was still one burning question on Michael’s mind however; how the hell were they going to operate all this stuff.
The Solarians were turning the Liberty into a veritable ship of death. Filling it full of new advanced technology that was light years ahead of what the E.D. F could produce; even now as he looked upon it he swore that the ship took on a more menacing air.
Were they becoming as bad as the Krenarans? He hoped not, he swallowed his pride and said. “Carry out your modifications Commander.”
Ralavas was making his way to the door when Michael turned toward him; remembering another important question. “All the ships functions will be in English, right?”
“Our translation processors are already working on it,” the Solarian Commander gave them a respectful nod, turned and left the booth.
“I am not sure this is right Nikolai, the Solarians don’t just want to go to war with the Krenarans, they want to decimate them. They’re turning the Liberty into a virtual ship of death.”
“It is what must be done comrade,” Nikolai replied. “You saw how they attacked Agemman, and tore apart the fleet in orbit.”
“But in defeating the Krenarans, will we become like them?”
“That; no man can guess, but I honestly believe the E.D. F and E.O.C. A will grow stronger and more powerful from this.”
Michael considered this for a moment, “I hope you’re right Nikolai.”
“So do I.”
Kerulithar returned to the booth bearing drinks for everyone. Michael and Vargev both took one; long minutes were spent watching the repair work being done, the small unmanned vessels continued to constantly repair the damaged parts of the Liberty’s hull.
Michael and Vargev slept in quarters that had been prepared for them during their stay. Michael slept rather uneasily; haunted by the magnitude of the storm they had just unleashed. Would anyone survive it? He simply didn’t know.
Next morning he awoke feeling no better; the three of them had breakfast together in the canteen area of the station, and they spent some more time in the booth watching the repairs and upgrades progress.
Later in the day Kerulithar spoke to the both of them.
“Gentlemen, my work here is now done, the Solarians are going to aid you in your war, however I am an ambassador and not a soldier.” He took a slight breath before continuing, “my place is at the negotiating table. I hope to count you among my friends and I look forward to visiting your planet in the future, as you have mine. I really hope that this trial leads to true friendship between our peoples. I will bid you a good day and good luck in your war.” Finally he said with a nod, “may your people prosper.”
“And yours,” Michael and Vargev replied together; they were sad that Kerulithar was leaving. However they understood his motives; he had no reason to be here. They both hoped they would see him in the future if they survived this war.
“Thank you for all that you have done for us,” Michael said.
“As you Terrans say, it was nothing,” and with that Kerulithar, the Solarian ambassador, left the two humans.
Over the next few days Michael watched as the repair drones and small one man vessels carried equipment over to the Liberty; and as the days and weeks rolled on he watched his pride and joy metamorphose into the lethal killing machine it now was, and he didn’t like it.
He felt like he was slowly selling his soul to the devil, the smaller torpedo launchers at the top of the ship were gradually replaced by two huge launchers. The wrecked primary sub light drive was replaced with the brand new Solarian unit. Great indents were cut into the port and starboard sides of the ship. There the new Solarian Ionic thruster systems sat glowing a bright electric blue as it powered up.
Michael watched as his favourite Roy Orbison song, ‘only the lonely’ he had requested was playing in the background of the viewing platform.
Every spare man was busy on the Liberty; desperately trying to have it ready for the approaching deadline which was just two weeks away.
A few more days passed, and finally they began the first manned test of the vessel. Michael and Vargev both watched on a nearby monitor, as the wreckage of a previously decommissioned, and very old Solarian merchant vessel was towed out into space a safe distance away from the station.
All was quiet; the wreckage of the aged ship simply floated there silently.
Then like a bullet, the Liberty swooped down upon the drifting vessel. Its fusion cannon shot out an incandescent bright blue beam of death, which slammed into the wreckage with tremendous force; the wreckage was smashed to pieces with a huge explosion, the pieces of debris scattered in all directions. The flames slowly dispersed as the Liberty shot past where the wreck once floated.
It was at that moment when Michaels’ will wavered, as he watched the sheer speed and lethal efficiency that it dispatched the abandoned vessel.
Nikolai also watched, smiling, his head nodding in appreciation.
“I’m not sure I want to do this Nikolai.”
The major was beginning to tire of Michael’s despondent mood, “listen to me, you little prick!” The Russian roared. “I have not travelled half way across the galaxy, watched thousands of innocent people be slaughtered and be damned near strangled to death, just for you to quit now.” Fuming, he took a short breath. “Those fucking Krenarans have killed thousands of people; ripped apart my entire unit, many of which were my friends. And you want to go easy on them!”
He paused slightly as he collected his thoughts. “We’re going to take the Liberty, and, with the help of the Solarians we are going to tear apart every goddamn Krenaran we see, no warnings, no prisoners; nothing, period. So you better toughen up real quick.” The Russian said as he stormed out of the room in disgust.
Michael was left alone, his thoughts went to the video of the Agemman attack; of the mutilated bodies lying upon broken streets, just left there to rot, attracting flies and maggots and smelling of charred meat.
What of the attack on Bravo Gamma base at the Aurelias colony, and the destruction of unarmed civilian transports simply trying to find a place to land and a new home, since the one they had; had been reduced to rubble.
His thoughts turned to Jana and Theo, what of them? Would they be ripped apart from the Krenaran weaponry or led away in chains to god knows where.
An angry fire was beginning to rise in him now; he could not, would not, let that happen. The Krenarans were doing terrible atrocities to humanity and they had not deserved it. They had not even known the Krenarans, or the Solarians for that matter even existed two months ago. Humanity was quite happily going along completely oblivious to the races that surrounded them. Settling new worlds and developing new technologies, and just generally getting on with things.
And then this war had to happen, didn’t it; and now because of the Krenarans the whole galaxy is going to hell and a hand basket. Michael wanted to take the Liberty right now and ram its Fusion cannon down the throat of every last Krenaran that dared to stand in his way, and press the trigger. He strode out the viewing platform and said to Nikolai, “let’s show these Krenaran bastards who they’re really messing with.”
An evil smile rose across Nikolai’s mouth, curling his moustache slightly, “that’s better.”
Over the next week and a half they were involved in every major test the Solarians performed on the Liberty; until with just 24 hours to go until the deadline. The work was finally finished.
And there it was; the E.D.F. S Liberty, a mix of Krenaran and Solarian technology. Owned and controlled by the E.D.F. And with it, they would strike the hammer blow that would end this Krenaran war once and for all.
Vargev, Michael and over a hundred Solarian workers stood in the canteen area and had a celebratory drink. Commander Ralavas had come down and led the celebrations personally.
“In 24 hours we will receive the signal to get underway; sixty eight Solarian Battle cruisers have already arrived, and are lined up in formation outside the station.”
He paused for a moment as he regarded the arrayed Solarians, as well as Micheal and Vargev. “Shortly the Liberty will join the formation at its head since the Terrans know their territory much better than we do. Then with a single command the entire formation; together with fleets stationed at other facilities from across the Solarian border, shall fall upon the Krenaran enemies like a great hurricane; blasting everything in its path.”
He paused for a breath as the arrayed crowd nodded in approval. “The Liberty will be at its head, like the dagger that will pierce the heart of the Krenaran battle lines, and we will go on to victory; and to the defeat of the Krenarans!”
The whole galley rose as one, “to the defeat of the Krenarans!”
Michael thought to himself; yes the ship is small, it only had a standing crew of 41 people and it is only 140 meters long, but like a 140 meter long rapier it shall be, slicing through the Krenarans with a speed and ferocity that is unmatched.
That night when the celebrations were all over they slept for the final time before setting off once again; to war.
Commander Ralavas met them the next morning and asked, “how are you feeling.”
“Excited, nervous, and even a tiny bit hopeful, it’s a feeling we have not felt in a long time. At last our people may have a chance,” Michael said solemnly.
“I took the liberty of revamping the stealth abilities on board; you will be detectable to all ships except the Krenarans. We don’t want to shoot you by mistake,” a wry smile fell across the Solarian Commanders features.
Michael smiled, the irony of what Ralavas had said was not lost on him, the very ability that had plagued the E.D. F was now being used against the Krenarans.
“Will you be coming with us?” Vargev asked.
“Unfortunately, I will be staying here; I think this place is going to get very busy in the months to come. You had best go, the signal to get underway will be coming soon, and the Liberty should be with the fleet.”
“Goodbye Commander; and thank you for all that you have done. You’re people have given a ray of hope to humanity,” Michael said with sincerity.
“No, thank you,” Ralavas replied nodding graciously. “And I hope one day we will meet again.”
And with that Michael and Vargev made the long journey through the Omicron repair facility; passing repair bays where other ships were birthed and docking ports where the endless stream of transports picked up and offloaded supplies to the station.
Finally they made it to the lower repair bay and strode onboard the Liberty. As soon as they stepped onboard they immediately noticed the difference. Clunky Krenaran control panels blackened with ruptures caused by the Krenarans’ onslaught were instead replaced by sleek new customisable touch screen systems.
Making their way to the elevator; the Automatic doors slowly opened, and as they stepped inside a welcoming sounding female voice greeted them, “destination please.”
“It’s in English!” They both shouted with relief, laughing.
“Unknown command, please repeat your request.”
“Command centre,” Michael replied with a smile.
The elevator silently whisked them to their destination; presently they arrived and stepped out onto the new command centre; both gasped in shock, oh how it had changed.
The pilot’s seat remained largely as it had been before, except there were not so many exposed wires; instead they were hidden. New comfortable chairs were arrayed along the perimeter of the oval shaped command centre. And new touch screen displays lined the walls, each with sophisticated lit up keypads. And in the centre of the command area there was a lone chair, the famous command chair.
A Solarian got up out of the chair and addressed them. “I hereby relinquish command of the Liberty to you; Michael Alexander.”
Michael nodded, “Thank you, err…”
“Televis sir,” The Solarian nodded.
Michael stifled a chuckle, “Televis, I gratefully receive command.”
Vargev took up a position at the weapons console; now that they were in plain English he was confident he could use them; while Michael took up the command chair, “Okay; let’s get this show on the road.” He said clicking his fingers.
The Solarians, who were unfamiliar with the gesture, looked at one another quizzically.
“Bring main power online,” Michael commanded.
The highly trained Solarian crew quickly responded and with a deep thrumming noise the new Solarian power core blazed into life; lights began to flicker into action all over the ship.
“Contact Omicron station, and request permission to depart.”
Suddenly a new holographic viewscreen shimmered into life at the front of the command centre; Michael almost fell off his seat as the face of Ralavas appeared.
“Sorry did I startle you,” the Commander said with a smile. “You have clearance to depart, Liberty.”
The holographic viewscreen shimmered back out of existence, just the wall of the command centre remained.
Now that is seriously cool, Michael thought. He recovered his thoughts and said, “blow docking hatch.”
The docking hatch on the starboard side of the Liberty blew with a hiss of released air, the short interconnecting walkway slowly retracted inside the Liberty and locked into place. Finally a panel slid over the hatch simultaneously hiding the hatch from view, restoring the outer hull, and keeping the stealth capabilities intact.
“Main engines at docking speed, port and starboard thrusters at navigator’s discretion,” Michael said.
The Liberty slowly glided close to the station; navigation lights from the outstretched docking ports and towers illuminated its black and silver hull as it gently drifted past them, the starboard Ionic thrusters lit up in a dazzling electric blue, increasing their brightness temporarily; as the small ship gradually banked away from the station.
“Rendezvous with the fleet and match formation; bearing 127 elevation 14.”
With a bright blue blaze of light the Ionic thrusters spun the ship around; its main engines also glowed as they propelled the little ship forward to join the huge Solarian armada now parked outside the station. There it spun around again and took up its position at the head of the fleet, where it silently waited.
“Jesus; I thought the thrusters would be good but not this good,” Michael said trying to hold onto his seat.
A tense quiet came over the ship as they awaited the signal to depart. Crewmembers busied themselves performing final systems checks; Michael and Vargev both grew pensive.
“It is the calm before the storm,” the Russian said almost whispering. He muttered a silent prayer to the motherland.
They continued silently waiting as if for the starting lights of a race. All 69 ships in perfect wedge formation; there was no movement and barely a sound.
The holographic viewscreen finally shimmered into life once again showing Ralavas’ features. “Clearance to commence operations has been given; good journey, and good luck.” The viewscreen shimmered out of existence once again.
In perfect unison the entire formation advanced. Indeed nearly seven hundred battle cruisers, escorts, and frigates, from two dozen facilities across the Solarian border slowly advanced as one into E.O.C. A territory that day.
On board the Liberty Michael commanded, “green light has been given; increase speed to full sub-light. Signal the fleet to engage plasma drive bearing 120 elevation 9 once we are clear of the station.”
“That would take us to Delta base,” Vargev said.
“Exactly; we will rendezvous with the remainder of the fleet there. And then organise the counter offensive.”
“Okay, you’re the boss.”
As the fleet accelerated away from the imposing silvery silhouette of the Omicron repair facility; a mass of swirling plasma wakes opened, and the fleet entered plasma drive together in a series of blinding flashes that lit up the entire station.
They had begun their race to save what was left of humanity.
Several hours into their trip Michael decided that the excitement he felt about rushing to the aid of his fellow men had given way to hunger. He decided to once again brave the food synthesiser; maybe it now had something reasonably edible to eat.
He headed to the elevator suddenly stopping short, and half-turned. “Televis, you are in command until I get back.”
The Solarian officer nodded in return, and with that Michael stepped onto the elevator and waited for the doors to close.
“Mess area,” he said as the elevator complied and whisked him off to his destination.
Televis; who the hell came up with a name like that, he had a little chuckle to himself as he thought about it.
At length when Michael arrived at the mess area he could not believe the change the small room had gone through.
The bare metal table was no more; instead a grand marble one had replaced it. However, it was the food synthesiser that Michael marvelled at the most; now there was a touch screen panel, in both English, and Solarian script, highlighting the different meals on offer. Michael perused the menu; he found there were hundreds of pre-programmed human and Solarian dishes on offer.
How did they do it? He thought. How did the Solarians get to know so much about us without being detected in the process? I mean they don’t look like us that’s for sure. They were 7 feet tall for heaven’s sake, completely bald, with thin, gangly arms and legs and a Blue-ish tinged skin; moreover, they definitely don’t talk like us either. They spoke with almost an echo of multiple voices all speaking as one.
Michael wondered if indeed they were telepathic. At once he dismissed the thought and keyed in his choice on the panel; good old steak pie with mashed potato and gravy, one of his old favourites; he was going to enjoy this; sitting down he began to eat.
The food was very appetising, but somehow it still had a very slight dryness to it, that home cooked meals didn’t. Still, he had to doff his cap to the Solarians for the effort they had put in. After finishing his meal, he surveyed the empty plate.
“Close but no cigar,” he said to himself, with a slight smile.
Once he had finished, he returned the crockery to the synthesiser to be reabsorbed. And decided to head back to the command centre; the elevator took him to his destination and he stepped out onto his new nerve centre once again.
“Any news?” He asked, settling back down into the centre seat once Televis had given way to him.
“Nothing of note,” the Solarian said. “It’s been rather quiet since you have been gone. Captain Sallus aboard the Faeriath has requested an approximate E.T. A; and the Loganith has developed a problem with its port thrusters. They have decided to drop back to make repairs, however they are confident that it will be fixed and allow them to rejoin the fleet before we arrive at Delta base.”
“Do they need an escort?”
“Negative; they are saying it’s only a minor problem, and should be resuming presently.”
“Good. Once the fighting begins we are going to need all the ships we can lay our hands on.”
“Quite.”
“Captain?” Another Solarian spoke up.
Michael smiled at this since he only held the rank of Lieutenant; however he recognised the Naval custom of calling whoever was in command ‘Captain’, the Solarians must have a similar custom.
“A small fleet of six enemy Krenaran vessels have just shown up on our long range scanners; should we advise the fleet to change course and intercept?”
“Are they Stealth ships or Carriers?” Michael asked rather nervously as he mentioned the latter.
“Unknown at this range sir; however their mass seems to imply they are Stealth ships.”
“Have they detected us?”
“Not yet sir; they seem to be heading towards the Malthus system,” the Solarian replied.
Michael considered this for a moment; that’s a significant detour from our course to Delta base, especially for just six Krenaran ships. Ultimately he conceded they had bigger duties to attend to.
“Our first priority is that we need to get to Delta base to rendezvous with whatever’s left of the E.D. F fleet; contact the nearest Solarian task force, and transmit their co-ordinates; ask them to head them off before they reach Malthus.”
“Very good Captain.”
Michael relaxed in his chair a little, I could get used to this, “how long until we reach Delta base?”
“Five hours at present speed,” Televis replied.
The time passed slowly; Michael paced the command centre impatiently; looking over the monitors that lined the perimeter of the bridge. Something’s wrong; it’s too quiet, he thought.
Finally a Solarian officer broke the silence, “Sir, i’m definitely picking up something. I’m not sure what it is, but it’s definitely not moving. And it’s big; I think it maybe a collection of ships all tightly packed together.”
Michael looked at the officer, puzzled; then said, “bring it up on the viewer.”
The holographic viewscreen shimmered into existence once again. It showed what appeared to be a faint collection of metallic objects far in the distance.
“Magnify.”
There as plain as day drifted the blasted and blackened wreckage of dozens of E.D. F Naval vessels. They could make out the shapes of two Danitza class battleships; their once proud primary rail-cannon turrets smashed to pieces.
There was a Jupiter class assault carrier, the biggest ship in the E.D. F fleet, only four of them existed, and even losing one was a devastating blow for the Navy.
Two Jefferson class heavy destroyers also drifted, once thought of as a sturdy and capable warship. As well as the remains of a few Washington class heavy cruisers, which were identified by their raised rear sections and angled rail-cannons along their flanks. Dotted about the remains of the larger ships were several Ghandhi class destroyers and Mandela class light cruisers, obviously they were the escort force.
“How many are there?” Michael whispered.
“I count 27 vessels in all; of various sizes.”
Michael simply stared at the holoviewer; the scale of the devastation was hard to comprehend. Once proud vessels now reduced to smashed wrecks, the thought saddened and depressed him in equal measure.
After a few moments of silent contemplation Vargev suddenly spoke up, “any signs of life; at all?”
“None,” the Solarian replied solemnly.
Not a soul had survived it, Michael thought. He silently offered a prayer to all the brave people now lost in that horrendous graveyard. Even Vargev was moved as the holoviewer displayed the broken, blackened, smashed hulls of the various ships, silently drifting. Not a light twinkled, a power conduit crackled, nor even the fiery glow of an intact booster, it was like they were ghosts of what they once were.
Michael could just make out a single very small shape moving amongst the wreckage; it was barely visible amongst the comparatively enormous hulls of the wrecks.
“What is that?” He pointed out squinting at the screen.
The holoviewer zoomed in again.
There it showed the frozen remains of a mutilated E.D. F Naval officer, obviously he had been blasted out into space during the battle.
The frozen, yet perfectly preserved body slowly and silently drifted past the hull of a heavy destroyer; it was missing a leg, just reduced to a frozen crimson stump.
The body slowly rotated to face them; it began to reveal its features to the holoviewer. It’s left cheek; it’s bloodied, cracked, and frozen lips. It’s left eye, frozen open, unblinking.
It continued to rotate; as it did it revealed its horrific visage. Half of the man’s face had been torn away; showing the inside of his skull, bloodied, crimson and perfectly preserved, mashed pieces of bloodied brain matter and tissue remained inside the corpses frozen head.
It continued its slow rotation.
Michael turned away wanting to be sick, “murdering Krenaran bastards.” He muttered over pressed, angry lips.