Sunderbans K: The beginning of the Ky Epic

II

Ky Commonwealth

Bright Stars Duchy

HMS Alecto

Bridge

Chattar stepped onto the bridge so quietly that hardly anyone noticed his arrival. The captain was busy helping Chiaten complete the sensor tests. "Next task." Chiaten said while his hands and eyes went over the entire interface as he searched for the right control.

The First Officer turned and saw Chattar standing behind them. Tagus noticed the surprise on Mirata's face, then he saw Chattar. He glanced at Mirata - had he called Chattar to the bridge? Mirata answered with a slight shake of his head.

"Captain," Chattar began, stepping forward "permission to complete the sensor tests." Tagus noticed Chattar looked overly tired, but there was something else too. He reached for his pad and saw a note from him. They had been so busy working the sensors that he had not noticed Chattar's message to him earlier. He nodded and stepped aside "Granted, Commander." He paused, "As soon as you can hand this off to Chaiten, report to my Ready Room with Commander Mirata."

"Yes, Captain." Chattar replied.

Tagus stepped back, opened the message and slowly walked to the Ready Room while Chattar continued the testing. Chattar found the "missing" control almost immediately. The console responded with a few beeps and created a new display showing the sensor array's progression with the scans.

An hour passed by and Chattar sighed. "There, all yours, Lieutenant." He said to Chiaten and then walked down to Mirata, who was standing by the navigation station. "Sir?"

"All done?" Mirata asked.

"It's at the point where Chaiten can handle it from here." Mirata acknowledged and handed the Con over to Krawj. He motioned towards the Ready room and headed that way. Chattar followed.

As they entered the room, Mirata called out, "Sir, reporting as ordered." The captain was sitting at a long oval table, he was at the end near the viewport which was filled with the gaseous world. On the view table, was a document he was looking over. He closed it as they approached. He motioned for them to take a seat. "Chiaten is adjusting to the science station and the new layout?"

"Yes, sir." Chattar replied.

"Good. Now there are two items I will address with you. One, you just worked a complete cycle with less than four hours rest before reporting to duty. That's three full shifts."

"Captain, I-"

"You need to rest, Chattar. It's not just the past day, you've been working double shifts since we left dry-dock. While I am pleased with your performance in making sure that the sensors are fully functional, I cannot have you worn out so early in a voyage."

Chattar nodded his head. "Yes, sir."

"Now, the second item." Perida looked straight at Chattar. "Your note you sent to me about an upcoming battle."

Chattar's eyes went from the captain to Mirata and back.

Mirata, who have been listening and watching, was initially confused. "Upcoming battle?" he managed.

"You do recall I mentioned that Commander Chattar has a unique ability?" Tagus asked. Mirata nodded and then Tagus instructed Chattar to tell what he had seen. Mirata then heard Chattar's dream, from the beginning, where the light cruiser's tractor was released, to the end, when the Alecto was crippled.

"Very good," Perida noted as he brought up the document again. "And Chiaten is trained up for the next task?"

"Yes, captain," Chattar responded.

"Good, then you shall have the next two shifts off. And I expect that you will rest, Chattar; no coming up to the bridge to check things. And don't access your station from your quarters."

"Yes, sir."

"Dismissed."

With that Chattar left the room. Mirata had been silent during the entire exchange. "That's an incredible story, Captain. Very detailed. I... " He stopped and thought out how to address his ponderings. "Sir, you certainly don't believe this... this dream?"

"I've known Chattar for most of his life. He was assigned to the Alecto three years ago, after he graduated the science academy. I can say that not only do I know him well, but I trust him."

Mirata's eyes narrowed. "But, it's a dream, captain. It's not, not a..." he stopped as Tagus stood up. "Perhaps to you, it's only a dream."

Mirata shook his head, "Captain. We gather and analyze information, not hearsay and so-called prophecies!"

The captain leaned onto the table. "And we are reasoning beings; we use empirical evidence to prove what is and what is not. I have seen great things in this universe, things that science alone cannot answer."

Mirata nodded thoughtfully, "Alright, I concede the point that science can't prove everything, but how does that verify this dream?"

"Verify?" Tagus said chuckling. "Chattar has had seven dreams. The first time he told me, it was odd, very odd. And I wasn't sure. But, when the event took place, and it was as he had dreamt it, I began to wonder. To be sure, the next two times they occurred, I asked him to write down the dreams and give them to me. After the events took place, he and I looked at his notes and compared them to what had happened. Eerily, it was precisely what he had seen. The next three took place before and during our assignment to the front. It was because of him that we saved the flagship in our assault on [system]."

Mirata spoke quietly, "Your maneuver nearly cost you your ship and almost half of your crew." He shook his head. "How is it that he was able to see the future, so that you could 'save the battle?'"

Tagus turned to the viewport. "His dream was of the assault, in the latter stages. The Mostrel had us by numbers, but we cut into their left flank, nearly destroying it, and then turned on the center group. We had just evened the odds, when suddenly, a group of cruisers appeared behind us. That's all that Chattar saw."

"In the early stages of that battle, as we were engaging, crushing their left flank, I launched all the fighters, turned and rushed back to meet those ships. They appeared, just as we cleared the last ship in our fleet. We changed course and came at them on their port side. We critically damaged one cruiser and severely damaged another, but there were still two other cruisers, and their attack had been thwarted. So they turned on us, fired, tractored us, boarded us." He paused, thinking of the time when they were fighting for their lives against hundreds of Mostrel Marines. He snorted, "And the rest, you could say, is history."

Mirata nodded. "So, he happens to see things fairly accurately."

Tagus's left arm pained him, it had been crushed and nearly severed during the defense of the Alecto. So bad he was not able to help finish the fight, but they had stemmed the flow of enemy troops, and eventually beat them. And yet, he insisted the medics care for the crew first, albeit, unsuccessfully. When they returned, and the Alecto was in space doc at Kya, he had two surgeries, one to set things right and a follow up, but it never felt right. He turned and looked out the viewport at the planet as they traveled into its dark side. "Yes, he does appear to have that ability."

"You said he has had seven dreams, but you stated that only six have come to pass. That's not close enough to be a sure thing."

"The one that has not happened, Mirata, is one he beheld almost two years ago, before we left for the front. It is the same dream he has now dreamed, for the second time."