Legacy of the Guardians
by AJ Marks
Part 13
The long sleek, powerful form of the battlecruiser Seydlitz crawled slowly though the asteroid field. Heading out for the last trial, the targeting and weapons systems to make sure they were working together.
“Commence firing run,” Admiral Dinen said, standing on the bridge of the ship. He watched as the crew carried out the order. So far he was impressed with the way the ship handled. If the weapons worked as planned, the Seydlitz would be the fastest and most powerful ship in the fleet. And a ship he would welcome in a war against the Skartians.
He watched the readouts on the bridge and the ship accelerated to attack speed for the weapons run. Accuracy was only part of the test, but the total package. Would the computers work with the weapons and speed of the ship? He also needed to know if the weapons would be able to function with full power to the shields and engines.
The Seydlitz’s weapons opened fire on a nearby asteroid, quickly destroying it. Every gun, from the largest to the smallest fired away and for the test would continue for an hour. This would simulate a full scale battle and the engines could provide power for that long without a drop off. Energy was essential to the battle and any drain could endanger the crew.
George watched with interest during the test. He heard no reports, nor did he see any power drop off in any system. All weapons performed flawlessly, and the targeting system worked as planned. The hour passed quickly and soon the crew powered down the systems.
“Sir,” the head technician said, with a salute and looking at the admiral. “We should have the test results back within the hour, but, I’d have to say this ship passed with flying colors.”
“Very well, carry on,” the admiral replied, returning the salute. George had to admit, the Seydlitz seemed to pass everything. He rarely saw a ship perform so well.
He thought back to his first deployment on a warship, the Boston. The weapons put a tremendous drain on the engines, and he could feel that in the ship. Shortly after his deployment the ship went back to the docks for upgrades and when it finished the drop in power was reduced. Later classes were more efficient having learned from the previous class.
He had heard the Paris class had some power drain, and he wondered if the designers had forgotten he lessons from the war. The Seydlitz seemed revolutionary ship. Her multiple systems would allow for half the systems to be knocked out, and it would operate at almost one hundred percent. The most power and heavily armed ships in the fleet, and George could not wait for the ship to be commissioned.
Walking around the bridge he took his time waiting for the final results of the test. Once it passed, he could make the ship his flagship of the fleet. He also looked forward to the quarters, which were more spacious for everyone, including the admiral’s quarters. His staff would appreciate the additional room the ship had.
*****
Ahmed slowly came to, feeling himself bouncing around in the back of a vehicle. His head, again, felt like someone took a jackhammer to it. He fought down a wave of nausea, and his movement brought the attention of one of the guards next to him.
“I see you’ve finally woken up,” he said.
Ahmed said nothing, but looked around. The sun had gone down, and he was no in a van, with two guards, both looking at him. He waited a bit to see what might happen next.
“You’re not going to last very long, are you,” the guard said. “I’ve seen the leaders knock people down rather quickly.”
“I don’t fear death, because I’ve seen more than you will ever know in this universe,” Ahmed replied back, watching the guard shift slightly. His reaction gave Ahmed some satisfaction, and the knowledge that the man was not a Skartian. The fact they were using humanity only angered Ahmed, especially considering the fact his religion was being used in their twisted schemes.
“We’ll see,” the guard finally replied back to him.
Ahmed got a bit more comfortable waiting to see what might happen next. He felt sure the next stop would be the headquarters of the Skartians on Earth.
“So, how much further?” Ahmed asked the guard, who chose to ignore the question. The guard probably had orders to not answer any questions as they continued to ride on in silence.
The van started to slow, the sped up a few times and he figured they were approaching their destination. The van then stopped and the doors flew open revealing several armed men.
“Get out,” the guard said, giving Ahmed a slight push.
He managed to get out despite a small stumble, mostly due to the push and the shackles. A quickly look around he spotted several armed guards, and a very well-armed fort. Another guard shoved him to the ground before being picked up again and dragged across the compound to where several buildings stood.
Once inside the building Ahmed notice his brother, standing off to the side along with the other three men he had seen last time. He briefly wondered if he should activate the call to begin the mission.
Ahmed was led through the building into a room with couple of chairs, and despite the cleaner appearance, he had no doubt it was designed for torture. He guessed someone higher up would be meeting with him. The compound had heavily armed guards, heavily fortified, and he figured there would be casualties when his people arrived. He waited a bit to see what might happen next, or if the next person he saw was a Skartian.
They pushed him roughly into the chair and tied to it, which did not surprise Ahmed at all. He fully expected some sort of rough actions. He consoled himself with the knowledge he could signal for help at any time, and the fact his parents were already out of the country.
“So, who am I meeting this time, another lackey?” Ahmed asked, knowing that he would not get an answer.
“Shut up,” one man said, backhanding him across the face. “We’ll be asking the questions.” Ahmed recognized him as one of the Skartians from earlier. The alien looked at him, then left the room leaving only the guard from the van and his brother in the room.
“You always did have a smart mouth,” his brother said.
“At least I still have my honor Aziz,” Ahmed replied back to him.
“Working for the infidels in America,” Aziz replied.
“You really don’t understand do you, I don’t work for the US government at all,” Ahmed replied back at him. “The people I work for are much higher up, they know many things and have no allegiance to any country.”
“Another grandiose idea and scheme,” Aziz taunted back at him. “You used to stare up at the stars all night long wondering if there was intelligent life out there, wasting away. Well dear brother, the answer is no there is not. Another part of your life wasted away, which got you nowhere.”
“That’s one person’s opinion,” Ahmed replied back, knowing so much more than his brother. He would be amazed at the truth in the universe, and he had seen aliens, and so had his brother but did not realize it.
“Yes, and you’re opinion is wrong,” his brother replied, walking back to the door. “I guess I thought you’d be able to see what we’re trying to do. I guess I was wrong.”
Ahmed watched his brother walk out of the room and sadly shook his head. If his brother understood the truth, he might have a different understanding of who he followed.
*****
Sam walked down the street looking for his hotel. He picked an interesting spot to go on vacation, Egypt. Most people would never consider such a place, go somewhere more civilized but he had a reason for being here. Of course a vacation during war was a bit rare, especially with the war so young.
Walking up to his hotel, which was close to where he wanted to go in the morning. Of course he spend the last hour looking at it, as if the building was trying to speak out to him but he could not understand the language.
He felt too excited to sleep, even though that was the main reason he was granted a vacation, to relax. His commander thought the pressure from constant active duty had finally made him crack.
Sam knew that his psychic abilities concerned his commander, and the last of sleep might be interfering with his abilities. Sam did not say that it happened most when he was asleep. For some reason his ability seemed to increase after falling asleep, which contributed to his lack of sleep.
He almost laughed at the thought. Most people thought using his powers drained him, in fact it was almost the opposite, he felt better. Of course one small problem, his power seemed to be increasing lately, something he did not understand.
Finally checking into the hotel, he made his way to his room. Slumping into the bed, he picked up a few of the tourist pamphlets and maps he had taken earlier. Looking at the information on them, he never realized when he fell asleep.
Sam jerked upright, feeling another presence in the room. Looking around he spotted the same hood figure standing next to the bed, as if waiting for him to wake up.
The time approaches, be ready to act! It said, the same strange voice from earlier. Blinking the figure disappeared.
Sam woke up to find the room empty. He wondered if perhaps he was going crazy, especially considering he seemed obsessed with some old, ancient building, and a strange hood figure kept talking to him. He wanted to get to the bottom of this mystery before he totally went insane.
*****
“So, how are you liking our hospitality?” a man said, walking into the room.
Ahmed looked up to see another man walking up to him. A close look and Ahmed noticed the indicators of a Skartian, which made three known ones. He looked at the others who walked in with him.
“I’ve been in worse places,” Ahmed replied, smiling in satisfaction that the smirk on the Skartians’ face disappeared.
“You are a fool,’ the Skartian said, striking Ahmed once more. “You’ll learn what everything is about soon enough.”
“Can’t wait,” Ahmed replied sarcastically, trying to clear the ringing in his head only to be struck again.
“I bet” the Skartian said.
Ahmed looked back at the Skartian wondering if now was the time to call in the troops, or if she should wait a bit longer. He figured the leader of the group was about to show himself, and if he could hold on a bit longer.
“We shall see what you have to say, though I doubt it will be anything that’s important,” the Skartian said, smiling back at Ahmed.
“I think it will be you who will impressed,” Ahmed replied under his breath, watching the Skartian head towards the door.
“Bring him,” the Skartian said, ordering two others nearby.
Ahmed was roughly grabbed by the guards and forced to stand up once more. Walking out of the room and back to another area where several people were waiting for him. He looked around, noticing the one man, Osama bin Laden in the group. The man did not look well, and in fact appeared to be sickly.
“You will kneel in front of the masters, pig,” the guard said, forcing Ahmed to his knees.
He looked around the group and carefully noticing that bin Laden did not appear to be a Skartian. He touched the small microchip underneath his fingernail, and slightly touched it twice, the signal to begin the mission. Now he only had to delay until they arrived.
End part 13
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