Beyond the End of the World, Lokians 1

Chapter 22

Chapter Twenty Two

Swain and the Thewls dismantled the satellite. All the electrical components were fried. Thankfully, the ship's engineering lab had plenty of useful parts stored away. While doing repairs they came across a few tools none of them had ever seen before. Swain kept those where he found them, believing they probably went hand-in-hand with whatever other tools were in the vicinity. It took some doing, but they were making headway.

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Meanwhile, on Eon, Yon helped relay messages between Humans and Thewls. The admirals agreed to station Thewlian units in order to slowly integrate the two peoples. Initially, the Thewls landed miles away from Eon's base camp, or Horizon, as it was dubbed. As the process unfolded, Humans and Thewls found working together most enjoyable. Soon after, Thewls were given permission to work in plain view of non-military personnel.

After that, a perimeter was set up both on land and in orbit. Scanners and weapons platforms were erected, and Presh was devoted to weapons research based on Thewlian technology. Modifications were even made aboard the Phoenix. Unfortunately, a degree of tension arose when Humans wondered if such a defensive stance was going to arouse Lokian suspicions.

Since Lokians had never presented themselves to Horizon, colonists believed staying off the radar was the safest course of action. The Navy, however, believed it a necessary precaution to prepare for war. Admiral Lay continued building relations, hoping to unify with the Yvlekesh. To Lay's chagrin, Admiral Yew had no success in contacting them as of yet; both Humans and Thewls grew more concerned as time passed. It seemed that their greatest hope was the traveler and the spec ops team.

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As Day meandered through space, Swain and the Thewls finished work on the satellite. A Thewlian distress signal relayed a repeating message stating that an Explorer landed on a nearby asteroid in need of repairs. O'Hara ordered the drop in the vicinity of an asteroid caught in a planet's orbit. Then, Day engaged stealth systems before flying circles around the rock in an effort to leave a hint of energy residuals. She then shut down all nonessential systems, slowly listing away, thus hiding the fact that they had left.

The crew waited patiently for the Lokians' arrival. The only problem was the dwindling supply of rations. They had been aboard the ship a week since the departure from Eon.

Returning to Eon or the Carrier was out of the question. O'Hara had confidence in his plan, but the first twenty four hours passed with no incident. With so much downtime, they found themselves huddling around the traveler; on occasion they got a little refresher course on their abilities. Thewls had little else to do, so they attempted the meditation techniques given them.

The second day, the helm dinged. Only Day heard it. She checked the readings to find a subspace disturbance. She notified the crew, and they all ran to the bridge.

"Battle stations," she yelled.

The crew perked up, momentarily confused. They frantically looked around the bridge before realizing the joke; Day was in control of the vessel's every aspect. The rest were just willing participants along for the ride.

A few thousand miles away, a black hole opened and faster than light speeds registered in Day's mind. Then, a strange energy signature negated the black hole, leaving large signatures.

"Two transporters...I think," she breathed. Her scanners tracked the movement. Aliens headed for the satellite. "At their current rate of speed, they should arrive at the bait in a few hours."

"Good...here we go," O'Hara said.

"Soon as they're in range, I'll nail them with a photon beam. I should be able to destroy one with a precision strike. Likely, they'll both release fighters. If I keep moving while cloaked, they won't be able to pick up our trail, hopefully. All I have to do then is disable the other ship, and hook it with the electron, tractor beam," Day reported.