War Angel: part seventy-one

2142 – The Kan’Tar

The War Angel’s landed in the Kan’Tar’s docking bay with a resounding clang that echoed throughout nearby corridors. The ship was never really built to land, so it lacked the requisite gear that most craft are equipped with. Instead, Gina used the ship’s control thrusters to “gently” slow the ship’s descent to the deck, finally letting them cut out once they were six inches above the pad they had been escorted to. It was, Jack thought, one of the more unusual problems this plan faced.

But it managed to work. The War Angel, a ship only he had seen the potential in at first, was now inside the belly of the beast. And an impressive beast it was.

Jack had read his ancestor’s journals, watched surviving historical footage, read accounts of those who had seen it during the first period, but it matched all of those accounts and more. As they entered the ship’s internal bay, he found himself slightly in awe of the real size of it. The Kan’Tar was the size of a major city, maybe larger than some of the ones the ship had destroyed with its rail gun bombardments. During the War Angel’s descent Jack imagined for a moment that they were being swallowed by a massive beast, and his literary imagination recalled classic stories where such a thing had occurred.

He smiled, remembering that most of those stories worked out well for the smaller creatures.

The ship shook and rattled for a moment, the impact of landing giving the old girl a quiver, then it stopped and settled into place. As it did, Gina muttered a silent prayer and then cut the engines, shutting them down.

“No running,” Sarah whispered.

Jack turned to her. “Not yet, at least.” He stood from his chair. “We’re all clear on what happens next, right?” The crew nodded assent. “Then let’s head for the shuttle bay. It’s the closest thing to a door we’ve got.” He tapped a comm. “Doctor? Please meet us in the shuttle bay. Time for dinner.”

“Aye, Captain,” came her reply.

Jack took appraisal of his crew. They stood in front of him, shoulder to shoulder, and he had to admit that they looked good. “The formal uniforms are a nice touch. I think they’ll be surprised by it,” he said, smiling.

As Jack described his plan, he added a new wrinkle that baffled the rest. “You’re all promoted, by the way.”

Ben leaned back away from the table. “Say what now? How is that even remotely important?”

“We’re going to be walking onto the decks of the most fearsome warship of all time. They think we’re ants to be stomped on. They think I’m a crazy murderer who stole his superior officer’s ship…”

“Which you –“ Sarah started, but he cut her off.

“Save it. They think you’re just a bunch of college students who don’t know anything about flying a boat like this. I want us going in looking the part. No cadet uniforms. Formal uniforms, with formal ranks.”

Sarah interjected. “And if they think we’re just kids playing dress up?”

“Then they’ll be underestimating us in another way, and that gives us another advantage.”

Kate tugged at her collar. “I still don’t like going in unarmed. At least let me take a knife, Captain.

He shook his head. “There are over two thousand Omegans on this ship. As good as you are, I don’t think you alone with a knife is going to do the trick. Besides, if they see a weapon, they might just open fire and shoot us all immediately.” He took a deep breath and then looked at each of them. “Besides, we aren’t exactly going in completely unarmed.” The five of them nodded slowly. “Okay. Deep breaths. Ready?”

Sarah spoke first. “Let’s do this thing.”

Jack turned and pulled the lever to manually open the docking bay. The upper and lower doors broke their seal and slowly began moving apart. As they did, Jack moved forward and the others fell in line behind him. Bright light began to fill the bay, but he refused to shield his eyes. Finally, as the doors finished moving, the War Angel’s captain could see the situation clearly.

Standing outside the ship was a platoon of Omegan soldiers, guns drawn and aimed at the War Angel crew. In front of them was an officer that Jack immediately recognized from the background from when he had spoken to F’ath M’isti. “Ahh,” he thought. “He doesn’t want me to feel important enough for his own presence, but he didn’t want to risk me doing something crazy and not have one of his best men here. Smart.” The Omegan held a small scanning device in his hands and was clearly using it on the crew. When he finished, he gave a small grunt and waived the soldiers away.

“I am M’aschi T’reen. I bid you welcome to the Kan’Tar, flagship of the Omegan Empire.”

The crew gave a slight nod and bow. “I’m Captain Jack Keys of the EAD ship War Angel. We are… delighted… to be your guests today.”

T’reen cocked an eyebrow and grunted. “Of course. Very well. Follow me, and stay close, please.” He sighed, something that Jack found himself surprised an Omegan would do. “Dinner,” T’reen said, beginning to walk quickly toward the landing bay’s exit, “awaits.”