Gabatrix: The First Peace

"I need to have a talk with both of you," the commander said. "It is imperative. I need to talk to your adjunct. Ifra, I will need you to help translate for me. Kane, this whole mission reflects around you. The captain trusts both of you with his own life. Every second is priceless right now. Ifra, can you take me to your bridge?"

"Yes," she replied. "Follow me."

Kane almost forgot about the almost zero-gravity environments. He noticed that the women from the Gabatrix, even with their hair tied down, were gently being pulled downward. The insanely light gravity emitted from the Itrean ship was barely noticeable, but it was still there regardless. Even some of the crew noticed it as well.

Ifra's tail accidentally hit Kane as he went and followed behind her. Ramírez walked beside Kane as they began to head forward to the bow of the Atra. There were additional Yutilians that stood beside the hallways watching the two humans walk behind Ifra. Ifra almost seemed to reflect a form of royalty status. She even walked in a style that showed that she was both kind but important. The feathers would even lower down the moment they would see her. Kane was observing all of it. A few of the Yutilians even lowered their heads a little bit. The two humans were the only thing that really made them look up, though. It made Kane feel better to see that the Itreans didn't look so savage up close than they should. The only noticeable exception was the Shal'rein, which obviously towered over the humans. It did make him feel better to know who the Itreans really were, though.

"Kane....." Ramírez spoke to him. "The Atra is currently trying to make a wormhole gate to make a leap to the New Olympian system. I must get a chance to talk to the adjunct. I know that she is in control of the ship, but I still want to be updated on the battle scene. The Durgas is going to be in weapon's range in like five minutes."

"I know that doesn't sound good," Kane said.

"The only reason why the Durgas can't fire its railguns is that its nose is pointed directly at us while accelerating. If it fires its rounds, it will actually run into its own shots. It is speeding up quicker than the rounds. We are at least safe from that, but we have issues to worry about."

"What is it?"

"When the wormhole gate is opened up, I need either you or myself to send a communication to the New Olympian fleet. If the Atra jumps into their system, we risk getting ourselves blown away by their defenses. Supposedly they managed to repel two Shal'rein clan fleets without even getting a scratch from one of their dreadnoughts. I don't know about you, but I don't want whatever they have to be used on us by accident. This mission is so important that I don't want us to die because of simple, friendly fire."

Kane remembered those great white ships that the New Olympians possessed. The commander was right. They had powerful warships and more than the means to repel fleets of enemy warships.

"I would encourage us to take us to Mars or Earth, but I am still afraid of the wormhole gate being traced. If the Aksren and the Shal'rein get the coordinates to Mars before this treaty is ratified, then kiss our ass goodbye. That is assuming if they don't already have the coordinates," Ramírez directed his question to Ifra. "How much further is the bridge?"

"It isn't that far," she said with a couple of clicks in her voice. "We take an elevator and ride up to level 1. They operate both the dorsal bow and ventral bridges during combat."

"It doesn't help we are a sitting duck. Assuming the Itrean gate folding technology is the same as ours, they would have to be near still in order to open the wormhole. It makes escaping difficult."

"It's why the captain is staying behind, isn't he?" Kane asked.

There was a short pause in Ramírez's voice. "Si......he knows what he is doing. It was just like the Cabot. The UHN Drake managed to escape because the Cabot distracted the Aksren warships long enough to allow the others to escape."

"There is no hope for him is there?" Kane asked.

"There has been no hope for us this whole year. It was only until these last couple of days before something did happen. The captain knows that, and it is worth dying for it. That small amount of hope is all that matters."

Kane nodded his head. Even Ifra turned her head a little bit as she replied back to him. "He won't be forgotten, though....."

*******

On the Gabatrix's bridge, the captain sat by the center command console of the bridge. William knew that even if the warship was set to automatic, the quantum computer core was still no match for human ingenuity and the reflexes against its foe. The computers could make numerous calculations a second, but in the end, it was no match against the human heart. One person was still needed to control the whole ship in this final action.

The captain was strapped in his chair. He reached into his Velcro pocket and pulled out a small hypo syringe. Only to be taken in an emergency, he looked at it closely.

"Well....only to be taken in times of severe stress and high gs," the captain said to himself. "The price of living on a low gravity planet....."

The syringe was an emergency medication to help prevent blacking out and to give the body the temporary extra strength in case of shipboard combat operations. It would give the body the edge needed to handle the high-intensity gravity pressed onto the human body. He undid the cap and pressed it to his neck. He then pressed the button as the liquid was quickly injected into his bloodstream. It was quick and painless. He then put it back into his pocket.              

He took a deep breath and already felt some of the effects kick in. He looked at the screen as he then reached into his other breast pocket. He felt it as he grabbed the large brown wrapped cigar out of his pocket. He put the cigar to the edge of his mouth and admired the taste of it.

"Yep...," he said with a mouthful of a cigar. "Time to stick it to them." He pulled out the one match that he had and then pulled out a small laser igniter. He held the match near to his face and then placed the laser igniter to the tip. With a little button press, the laser emitted its oppressive heat as the match began to cook.

In zero gravity, fire reacts a little bit differently in an oxygen environment. The captain already knew this as he saw the match ignite. With no gravity acting on it, the flames will instead expand like a sphere from the burning tip. The fire will quickly burn out as he brought it to his cigar. The tip of the cigar began to burn. He saw as the flame started to consume the match quickly and burn it up. He took a few puffs of his breath to ensure the fire would slowly burn the cigar. He tossed the match in a random direction as it burned up to a black molten stick. Without much fuel to burn off of and the fact that the flames go everywhere, the match will quickly burn itself out.

"Now.....to turn on the ventilation to the max," he said as he put the laser igniter away and reached his hand to the control console panel.

He stuck his augmented arm onto the controls. Immediately his arm began to glow blue as he interfaced with the ship. He could feel the connection. As captain, he had full control. The ship was his to do as he pleased. No one would be there to complain about smoking a cigar and burning the oxygen up. No one would be there to tell him what he was doing was insane. This was his world now.

William could feel the controls in his mind. He took control of the ventilation to ensure that the smoke wouldn't pile upon his face. Without a proper channel, even cigar smoke would go in all directions and get into his eyes and vision. He felt the air kick in as it began to push the growing sphere of smoke.

"Damn good cigar.....," he said to himself. "Too bad the humans on Earth screwed themselves up. They must have made a good profit off of these. At least now....."

The captain paused as he saw on the display that the hatchway passageway had been retracted. The Gabatrix was free from the Atra. He then began to activate the forward thrusters. Slowly the ship began to clear from the Atra. William could still see the Durgas getting closer. Little by little, it would be within firing range. Instead, he seemed unfazed.

"Opening up a channel to the Atra...." He said as he sent off the signal to the T'rintar warship.

The straps were holding him into his chair. He could feel the acceleration pulling him forward slightly. The mechanisms in the ship sent out the signal. He looked at the large horseshoe display screen. He could see the Atra as it was deploying gate probes very similar to the Gabatrix earlier. The probes were shaped differently. They were starting to form a ring that was at 30% completion. He waited for the Atra to respond.

"Tala'Talar....where are you?" he asked. He waited for a response from the hail.

He waited for several seconds when the screen popped up on his display. The face of Tala'Talar was clear and easy to see. The elongated cranial crest was prominent.

"Captain...." She called out.

"What is your status on your wormhole gate?"

She seemed to struggle as she translated the words in her head. Finally, she replied back to him. "We have 15 of your minutes left."

"Good....keep it up," he replied.

"The Askren...dreadnought will be firing its weapons soon. We will use what is.....working here to shoot at them."

"Don't hesitate. As soon as that wormhole is open, get out. Don't worry about me. I called because I need to know about Aksren battle tactics. When I shoot my rail guns at them, what direction will the Aksren go?"

Tara'Talar was processing the information. The captain could see that his ship was completely clear of the Atra. He issued out a new series of commands to the ship. The forward thrusters ceased, and the rear thrusters activated to slow the vessel down. He felt himself be pushed to his seat lightly as the ship came to a stop. The vectoring thrusters began to activate. The Gabatrix was altering its course, pointing its aft section directly at the incoming Aksren dreadnought.

"Captain.....you shoot them, and they will go to port......they will go to the left," she tried to answer the best she could.

"My left or their left?"

"Theirs....."

"Good...., that is all that I will need."

Tara'Talar gave a quick nod to him. Her reptilian eyes seemed to explain it all. "Captain....human named William......we will remember you. Your sa.....sacra.....your action will not be lost."

"Thank you, adjunct. Take good care of Earth.....or in this case....Itrea. Captain William out....."

The channel closed as the face of Tara'Talar faded. His cigar was still in his mouth as he savored the taste. He had to keep puffing it, or the cigar would quickly burn out.

"Let's do this.....," he said to himself. He looked at the overhead screen and still saw the dreadnought getting closer. "How about a little music?"

He cycled through the list of music available that was depicted in the Gabatrix's core database. He already had the music chosen. A melody of Chinese war drums and electro beats began to play together.

"Ah......nothing beats 'Telin Lee's Martian Dance Music.'"

He didn't hesitate any longer. This part he knew was going to get intense. He activated the forward thrusters. The fierce hot flames began to emit from the warship. The acceleration of the ship going backward was pushed onto his body harder than ever before. If the straps didn't hold him in place, he would have flown out of his seat and slammed into the forward horseshoe display.

"Come on.....come on...." He said. "The enemy has a head start over you. You have a lot of ground to make up.....Come on, Gabatrix.....you may be old, but you still got some fight in you yet."

The g forces were getting intense as he could feel his body being pulled hard. The blood was pulling forward. The ship was going in reverse as fast that it could go. The Atra was starting to get further and further away from his screen.

*******

Kane, Ramírez, and Ifra arrived at the bridge of the Atra. The place looked different than the Gabatrix's bridge. It seemed somewhat small. There was a large central section that consisted of consoles that pointed up like a cone. Yutilian women were sitting on chairs that held them in place. The center bridge almost looked like a giant tree of some sort, but you could still see the computer consoles and working technology in place. The large console in the center of the circle of consoles was the place where Tara'Talar was standing.

Kane briefly saw Captain William's face before the screen went down. It appeared that the adjunct of the ship and William quickly exchanged words before they closed the channel.

Ramírez looked around him as well. The room was elaborate. It was almost alive with all the branches and vines. There was no horseshoe display in front of the bridge. There were a couple of screens here and there in the circular room. The crew's location was where things seemed interesting.

It didn't appear that the Itreans used augmented arms or limbs that he could see. The Yutilians, in this case, were on chairs that kept them cushioned and protected. Their arms and hands were fully integrated into the consoles. The orifices that their hands were inserted into almost looked a man with his arm stuck in an animal's mouth. This must have been the way the Itreans operated. It was very similar to how most humans worked in UHN vessels, but they needed augmented limbs to do it. These Itreans literally connected their own bodies to the framework of the ship. It was like watching cells in a bodywork.

Kane remarked in how the Yutilians looked like. There must have been like twelve Yutilian women working on the consoles. Each Yutilian, even if they were the same race as Ifra, had different defying looks. Some had different colored feathers. Some had different cranial shapes, breast sizes, scale patterns, colors of the scales, slightly fatter or skinnier, and different tail shapes. Some had blue scales, while others had more red or green color. They were dressed in some sort of thin, almost skintight green overgarment. Rank insignias at least what they looked like, seemed to be at the center just above the chest. They had the same magnetic wrappings on their feet, just like Ifra's. Their brains and minds seemed focused on the tasks at hand. They didn't even notice Ifra and the two humans walking into the bridge.

Ifra walked up to the center portion of the large cone. Almost like an office in the dead center of the bridge, the adjunct was busy behind her console. Her hands were placed at the center of her screen. Unlike the other consoles, this one seemed more original, having a series of digital buttons. She was busy issuing commands but was alerted to Ifra and the humans' arrival.

She was already standing when she turned around. To Kane, her physical appearances were way more apparent when compared to the Yutilian women. She was an Aksren serving the T'rintar clan. Her cranial protrusion jutted from her head, and she had an almost beak-like nose. She did not have feathers like the Yutilians, and she was a little bit taller. In reality, she was actually just about human height. Her tail was slightly longer. She had the same amount of claws jutting from her fingers and toes. Her uniform was somewhat different in color, having green and black on it, and it covered her chest, arms, and lower extremities. Her scales also looked different, being red and green. Did all Aksren look like her? Who knew, but that wasn't important at the moment.

"Ifra.....Kane....," she called out to them. "The human named Ramírez...."

"Adjunct Tara'Talar," Ramírez said to her. "Thank you for having our presence."

"I am....controlling this ship. Please leave the command room."

"Tara'Talar, it is essential that we speak to you," Kane addressed her. "The New Olympians have a powerful fleet at their system. We need to send a message through the wormhole to that system. We need to tell them to stand down or risk them shooting us!"

The adjunct seemed to understand about three-quarters of what he said. She instead looked at Ifra and spoke in her own language. She made a series of local grunts, cackles, chirps, and of course, her own words. Ifra responded back, translating the words for her to understand.

"Yes.....Ambassador Kane.....Commander Ramírez," Tara'Talar said. "I will let you send the message when the worm....hole opens. I need to lead my ship."

Ifra gave her quick nods. She gestured for the two to leave the adjunct's alcove. She used her pointer claw to aim towards one of the displays away from the center of the room.

All three walked to the display near the entrance to the bridge. Instead, the screen flicked on, and they could see the camera of the Atra aim towards the Gabatrix. Another one was focused on the Aksren dreadnought.

Kane could see the intense flames that radiated from the Gabatrix's forward thrusters. The intense orange and blue light glowed as the ship was flying in reverse.

Ramírez looked around a little bit more. He seemed more composed, but his eyes would occasionally look back at the display. He crossed his arms.

"Everything will be alright," Ifra addressed Ramírez. She even put her clawed hand to his arm. It was the first time that Kane had seen her try to calm another human down. She had seen his inflections from his face and could tell that he was stressed. It was apparent why but Ifra was doing what she could to ease him.

Ramírez simply sighed. "I just hope it is worth it....."

Ifra let go of Ramírez as she watched the scene on display.

"Why is the captain flying the ship in reverse?" Kane asked as the ambassador was watching the scene unfold.

"The Aksren dreadnought popped in almost directly behind us," Ramírez replied to the ambassador. "He is just warming up. Remember that in space, you can do whatever you want with a ship. Most UHN warships are designed to be able to reach its top speeds in reverse just as it would be the other way."

"Why?"

"Sometimes, combat doesn't work the way you think in space. We noticed at times that the Aksren missiles have a greater range than us. We have had a skirmish or two in which they use their forward thrusters to achieve their max range over ours. This ensures that we can't hit them while they hit us."

"Does the captain have to worry about this?" Kane asked.

"Probably not. There are factors involved right now. That dreadnought is heading straight at us at full burn. It would take them much time to slow down and go into reverse. Another way is for them to do a slow turn to avoid the Gabatrix. Either way, the captain has advantages and disadvantages right now in this battle."

"In what way?"

Ramírez pointed at the dreadnought and the Gabatrix. "For one, the dreadnought has had at least ten minutes of additional burn time with their engines. I can't tell from this display, but the issue with traveling in space is acceleration. The Gabatrix is capable of reaching top speeds of about 400 kilometers a second. This may sound fast, and I bet the Aksren are capable of reaching similar or faster speeds, but if you notice, we are in ships that lack much in gravity. If this ship went from zero to 400 kilometers a second in well.....a second, we would be reduced to red paint stains on the wall and bulkheads. We have to build the ships to that top speed slowly. This isn't a battle of top speeds. It is about a battle of acceleration. The captain has his hands full."

"How can he win?" Kane asked, shaking his head. "You said six missiles, right?"

"Yeah....we typically have a lot more than that."

"Why did they underarm us?"

"They need them for the fleet. Each missile is one that can save a ship or take down another. Sorry ambassador, but we are all expendable in this mission."