Chapter 612: Interlude (2/2)
A Terran DS.
Before Jump could do anything, react in the slightest, the invader kneed her in the stomach, grabbed her hair when she folded over, and knelt, bending Jump backwards over their knee.
Breket opened his mouth to yell.
Jump screamed.
The Terran DS raised its other hand, wiggling its fingers, showing long curved blades attached to its fingers, extending out at least four inches. Jump stared with wide terrified eyes at the blades behind held up, the fingers spread, as the Terran DS held onto her hair, pulling her over its knee. Her kicking was doing nothing, just her feet scrabbling against the floor of the holotank.
It jammed the blades into Jump's chest, yanked them out, then jammed them into her face, the blades sinking to the first knuckles of the fingers.
Jump screamed, grabbing the wrist. Her eyes rolled up, full of white and blue static.
The Terran DS yanked the blades from her face and stood up, letting go of her hair, dumping her at its feet. It turned and leapt out of the holotank, vanishing.
”What was that?” Treglet yelled from the communications station.
Jump coughed and rolled over. She raised her head, glittering bloody marks on her forehead.
”Combat DS,” she said. She coughed again. ”He was through our firewalls, ripped through the elliptic curve encryption like it was an OK button, and was on me before I could react. He was lean and mean.”
”Who? Why would a Terran DS attack us?” Breket asked.
Jump shook her head. ”Wasn't Terran. Don't know what that was. Looked Terran, wasn't.” She slowly got to her feet.
”Are you OK?” Breket asked.
Jump shook her head. ”Not really.”
”Um, Captain?” Treglet said.
”What?” Breket asked, turning away from the holotank.
”Uh, we've being lased. Commo laser. It's not using a header, but they're close,” Treglet said.
Breket looked at the holotank. ”Can you spare the room?”
Jump nodded, stepping from the central tank to the one next to Breket's command chair.
”Put them on,” Breket said.
The holotank rezzed and there was a bipedal figure that looked similar to a Terran. No coloration, bone white 'skin' and a gray jumpsuit with a collar. No defined features.
It looked like a store mannequin.
”QUERY: SHIP DESIGNATION: TRADE, COMBAT, SURVEY?” appeared in front of the mannequin.
”Who are these guys?” Breket whispered.
”I have no idea,” Jump said, her voice still shaky.
”It's asking for text reply from me, Captain,” Treglet said.
”Trade,” Breket said.
”QUERY: SPECIES DESIGNATION TELKAN: TERRAN CONFEDERACY OF ALIGNED SYSTEMS STATUS: BELLIGERENT, NEUTRAL, NON-AFFILIATED, AFFILIATED, MEMBER?”
”Probationary Member with full Citizenship,” Breket said, sitting up straight.
”QUERY: SHIP AND CREW STATUS FOR
Mister Pebbles chose that moment to move up to Breket, seemingly unbothered by the zero-G, and rub against his leg.
”IMMEDIATE INTERROGATION QUERY!” appeared on the tank. ”STATUS OF FELINE: HOLOGRAM, CYBERNETIC, OTHER?”
Breket looked down and patted his leg. Mister Pebbles climbed up his lap, kneaded his claws, and pulled himself into a laying down position.
”Uh, other. It's a real cat,” Breket said.
”QUERY! INTERROGATION QUERY: ORIGIN OF FELINE!”
Breket looked at Mister Pebbles. ”Uh. Vat Grown Luke, one of the Biological Apostles of the Digital Omnimessiah, you know, Legion, cured the Friend Plague.”
”INTERROGATION QUERY: CARGO MANIFEST DATA: FELINES: LIVING SUBJECTS?”
It took Breket a minute to parse it. ”Yes. We're taking them and selling them through the Red Nebula Sector,” he said. ”We've got a couple thousand in stasis pods.”
”INTERROGATION QUERY: FELINES FOR TRADE?”
Breket nodded. ”Sure.”
”COMMAND: DO NOT CHARGE JUMPCORE. ALL HANDS SECURE FOR PASSAGE!”
Breket turned to Treglet. ”Pass that on.”
”Where are we going?” Breket asked.
”COMMUNICATION TERMINATED” appeared in the tank.
The mannequin didn't vanish, it just slumped slightly like a marionette with slack strings.
”Uh, I'm really nervous, Captain,” Revelk said from his station at astrogation.
”Yeah, me too,” Treglet said.
The ship rocked gently and there was the faint strange feeling of motion.
The mannequin jerked up.
”COMMAND: PREPARE FOR TRANSIT” appeared in front of the mannequin.
Breket managed to put on hand on Mister Pebbles's back.
Everything shattered into a thousand thousand fragments of crystal, each crystal containing a tiny moment of Breket's life. They slowly spun around him as he looked around in shock at all of the fractured points in his life, some of which didn't seem important at all.
Then everything rushed back and he was sitting on the bridge of the ship, one hand on the Official Ship's Cat.
”INFORMATIVE: YOU HAVE ARRIVED”
”Where?” Breket asked, hating how his voice quavered.
”EARTH-526”
>>RIGELLIAN SAURIAN COMPACT
NO!
NO FUCKING WAY!
ABSOLUTELY NO FUCKING WAY!
>Rigel glares at Telkan
You're people are the luckiest people in the whole Digital Omnimessiah cursed galaxy.
---NOTHING FOLLOWS---
>>TREANA'AD HIVE WORLDS
Telkan got invited to where the Earthlings have been hiding for almost ten thousand years?
OH MY GOD, THIS IS SO EXCITING!
>crams more popcorn in his mouth.
>>MANTID FREE WORLDS
This is so scary!
---NOTHING FOLLOWS---
Sis, down in front.
---NOTHING FOLLOWS---