✅ Project SETI Trilogy

Chapter Three - Part XXXVI: Neutralize

            As the troops behind the fugitive group moved away so that they could be shot properly without the risk of being shot themselves, there was a sudden shift in gravity that was so severe, the scene immediately ascended into chaos. Above them in the sky, the ACV fleet was rendered immobile by an unseen electrical energy field that felt like unbearably prickly static to the humans on the surface and in the vessels alike. A small ship of mysterious origin stayed in place above the fleet and kept the electrical weapon active, and a second identical in appearance kept its large-field anti-gravity device on while a third descended to the surface.

          As it approached, a deep polytonal vocalization boomed from a powerful transmission device mounted on the underside. It was extremely loud, and the sustained sound was potent to the point of being anesthetizing to all wildlife within earshot—all the humans that were suspended in midair from the calibrated anti-gravity field immediately fell unconscious. The only one that didn't pass out was Temet, and she watched, speechless, as the UFO landed right near the ship and turned off the inexplicably familiar-sounding audio transmission.

          "Everyone's out like a light," the pilot reported to his peers above. "Disable the anti-gravity field, but keep holding the Trailblazer Zero and her fleet until we're safely out of the star's orbit."

          "Copy that."

          The large group of humans fell to the ground with a collective thud as the side of the sleek vessel slid open to reveal an orange-crowned male Daxut in a grey and purple spacesuit equally as slick as the ship he came in on. He spotted Temet getting to her feet right away among the other still-unconscious bodies and urgently walked over to her with his arms raised to show he was unarmed.

          "Temet, I presume?" the Daxut chirped at her in their native language, but in a different dialect— it wasn't so foreign that she couldn't understand him, but his inflections were different and the clicks seemed to come from his tongue rather than his beak. "Are you hurt?"

          Temet hesitated. Her mind raced so fast that she couldn't hold onto a single thought for more than a second. When she finally registered what he had asked a few moments later, she shook herself and fluffed her feathers to jolt her mind back to the present. "No—I mean, yes, I'm Temet—but my friend Nova, he was... he was just going into labor and... Gabriel and Julia were gonna help him through it, but—"

          "Hold on a moment," the Daxut cleared his throat and walked over to the still-bound human fugitives. He took a small flat device from his pocket as he approached Julia and held it up to the lock on her bindings, which caused it to release immediately. As he removed her fetters, he put his beak near her ear and emitted a very quiet and soothing tone that gently woke her up, but it wasn't loud enough to affect anyone else nearby.

          Temet rushed over to her as she got her wits about her again, and the mysterious Daxut moved on to Gabriel to unbind and wake him too. "Julia?"

          "Ugh... what the fuck...?" Julia looked around, and the first thing she saw aside from Temet were all the felled GDF troops, which included Sam.

          "I—I don't even know, honestly," Temet said as she helped her get to her feet. She turned to look at the Daxut who was now in the process of waking Nova. His body was still contracting from active labor, and in general, he didn't look well—he was pale and shadows had appeared under his eyes.

          Julia followed her gaze, and she gasped and jumped back. "Who—who are you?!"

          "My apologies," the Daxut replied as soon as he was done using Saelan-speak to reverse the effect of the earlier transmission. "You may call me Jurark. I was sent here to ensure your safety and deliver you to my Prime Sentinel, Nedias. As the situation here seems quite dire, let us discuss the details later, shall we?"

          Gabriel groaned loudly when he regained full consciousness. He had heard everything the Daxut said, but before anything else, he looked over at Nova beside him, and he was immensely relieved to see that he seemed to be okay and in the process of waking up too.

          "The only way we're coming with you is if we get to tail you in our own ship," Gabriel said as he shifted to hold Nova's upper body in his lap. "We have a medbay equipped to help this one through the labor he's currently in—we need to go back in there, now—"

          "Very well," the Daxut stepped toward them and leaned down to heave the still semi-conscious Nova against his chest. "Show me. And excuse my boldness, sir... I'm only here to help," he cooed with soothing Saelan-speak to the incapacitated and very pregnant human in his arms.

          As the five of them walked up the entry ramp, Temet stepped ahead to point into the medbay. She was still in shock and unsure of how to process the turn of events, but she tried to hold it together long enough to get everyone out of immediate danger. "It's the second stall in here."

          Jurark gently laid Nova down on the gurney after moving the blankets and pillows that were in disarray, and Julia and Gabriel started to tend to him as soon as the Daxut was out of the way. "Before I liftoff, I will tether with you, and you'll be able to lightwarp with me."

          "Where exactly are we going?" Temet asked.

          "Saelan Majoris," Jurark replied in their native language without missing a beat. "An extremely distant planet. Your human pursuers wouldn't be able to find us there."

          How have I never heard of this, Temet thought. "They're tracking this ship somehow though..."

          "Please, Temet, I promise I wouldn't lie to you," he deliberately avoided using Saelan-speak as he said this. "There's an energy field around the entire star that shields it from being seen, and it also nullifies any tracking devices of that sort."

          "One more quick question," Gabriel held his finger up as he moved to the foot of the bed. Julia continued to reconnect the monitoring equipment and reestablished the intravenous line in Nova's back, and so far, his vital signs were coming up stable for where he was in the birthing process. "How long are the fuckers outside going to be unconscious for?"

          "About an hour or two, perhaps longer," Jurark replied promptly again.

          "Good. I've got something I need to do. Julia, look after him for a minute," Gabriel urgently moved out into the corridor with the two Daxut, and across to the supply closet where he and Nova had made their little nest. He kneeled down on the mattress they'd thrown on the floor and fished through the open duffle bag beside it until he found what he was looking for.

          He strutted down the entry ramp and easily found Sam's still-unconscious body among the sea of plain-black tactical military powersuits. The spacesuit that she wore was lightly armored too, but she'd evidently left the helmet back on-board upon realizing the air was breathable. In his hand, he held a gorgeous ornate antique handgun that still took actual bullets—one of the only 'nice' and sentimental items he'd allowed himself to bring with him when they were making their escape from Earth. It was a gift from Rey long ago, and he had planned on using it as proof of his identity if Rey hadn't taken to him like he did.

          "You know what I see here, Sam?" Gabriel said in a low level voice as he took the safety off and aimed the pistol. "A power-tripping, genocidal piece of shit that had this long time coming."

          There was a loud crack when he squeezed the trigger that reverberated dramatically off the surrounding lake. Sam's body jolted, and a pool of deep crimson began to rapidly spread from her head. Gabriel left her to bleed out in the dirt, and the entry ramp was closed for liftoff once he was safely back inside. Their vessel was tethered with Jurark's, and together, they lightwarped to safety.