Alpha One - Chris Burton [118]
“This is not right,” He announced. “The system is highlighted as being spectacular because of the proximity of the stars and their systems, not the color. We may be too late. Is the blue tint caused by the blue wormhole?”
“I don’t know, but that’s not the only weird thing. There is no comm traffic. The frequencies are all silent. That can mean there is nothing in the system to make a noise, or Alpha imposed a block. Either way, this doesn’t look good.”
“Should I send a comm flare?” Jake asked with concern. Were they too late to help Carla?
“Best not to. We don’t know what we are up against. I think we should slow to impulse drive and enter the system slowly and unannounced.”
“There may be no comm traffic, but there are sure as hell going to be people listening. We could launch a probe ahead of us to see if it picks anything up visibly. That way we will have some idea as to what we are driving into.”
“Okay, yes. I’ll see to it. Do you want to take over your shift while I set the probe up?”
Jake agreed, and assumed his position in the pilot’s chair to begin his shift at the helm. He looked on apprehensively. He knew this would not be as straightforward as planned.
Chapter Fifty-Two
The First Kryl
Jonathan Hoskins could not believe what just happened. He had carried out his orders proactively, and had tried to persuade Winterburn to leave the danger zone. He never had any intention of taking his ship into the blue wormhole, travelling tens of thousands of light years, and yet here he was.
The Halo 7 travelled eighty four thousand light years in less than ten minutes. She was pulled into the blue wormhole, spinning out of control. As the vortex subsided and the stabilizers took hold, she came out of the wormhole on the other side, the Kryl Galaxy. There was damage and some minor injuries. The Stellar drive and the main shield system were offline and the medical center was inundated with injuries. All in all they were lucky. No one had died and the ship’s critical systems were all returning to a live status.
It was difficult to take it all in. Just as he had on the other side of the blue wormhole, Winterburn sent out a message. The content was much the same but the ending was different; Winterburn did not tell them about those who followed him into the vortex being the Kryl’s new food source.
So, the Betanica Sect was right all along. The Kryl did exist and their suggestion that demon-like creatures would extend from their galaxy into Earth’s looked to be a realistic proposition.
So where was Winterburn? Hoskins ordered a tracker be maintained on the AUSWAS ship, It was an easy task to reconfigure the tracker to determine their whereabouts. Hoskins knew he must first speak to Winterburn to negotiate. He must get the single Earth ship back through the wormhole before the Kryl mounted their first attack. The first issue was to pinpoint and record the precise point in this galaxy where the blue wormhole stood. This was critical, as already the makeshift Alpha fleet drifted further into deep space. He stood on the bridge, with both hands clasped behind his back. He had just received confirmation that the Stellar drive and the defense shields were back on line.
Over eight hundred fifty private ships had followed the AUSWAS ship and the Halo 7 into the blue wormhole, and they all stood and waited. They were not sure what to expect. Hoskins broke the silence by opening a short range frequency hailer comm link.
“To all Earth vessels. This is the Commander of the Alpha Fleet Cruiser Halo 7.” He spoke calmly and tried to avoid sounding anxious. “We have been pulled through the blue wormhole, and arrived in what we presume is the Kryl galaxy. We have all heard the message from Winterburn and, understandably, are all anxious. My job is to get everyone back through the wormhole before we are threatened by the Kryl. We have already drifted some distance from the hole and need to get back to within close proximity