Maker - Michael Jan Friedman [20]
They knew from the Nuyyad scout’s sensor log that she had attacked another vessel and that Brakmaktin had left her at that point. But they didn’t know where he had gone. And before they could figure it out, they had to determine the coordinates at which contact with the second vessel had taken place.
The scout’s stellar positioning data should have made the task a relatively simple one. However, the pertinent files were far from perfectly preserved. The scout had sustained quite a bit of damage in her battle with the second ship, and the positioning data was only one of the casualties.
Fortunately, the scout had recorded other kinds of information as well—data on plasma waves, neutrino activity, gravimetric imbalances, and so on—all of it gathered through the vessel’s long-range sensors. Stored in a different set of logs, it had come through the battle almost completely unscathed.
If Kastiigan could identify a part of space that exhibited the same long-range readings as those picked up by the Nuyyad scout, he might be able to point Gerda in the right direction. At the very least, the captain had believed it was worth a try.
“Anything yet?” asked Daniels, a Magnian with a red mustache who appeared to be Serenity Santana’s second-in-command. He had been hovering over Kastiigan for the last half hour or so, ever since he had entered the science section with his security escort.
The science officer turned from his instruments and smiled at the fellow. “Nothing yet. But I assure you, if I do discover something promising, I will let you know.”
Daniels nodded. Then he left Kastiigan and joined Bender, one of the other science officers, at her console. Bender had been through some difficult times recently. However, she seemed enthralled by Daniels’s presence.
And she wasn’t the only member of the crew fascinated by the Magnians. Kastiigan had seen a number of his colleagues exhibiting the same reaction, stealing wide-eyed glances when they thought their visitors weren’t looking.
It was understandable. These were people endowed with abilities about which other sentients could only dream. The power to manipulate matter with their minds, for instance. Or to resist energy blasts that would kill lesser beings. Or to absorb information at what seemed like an impossible rate.
Kastiigan was intrigued by the Magnians as well, but not because of their superhuman powers. He was captivated by the fact that they would soon be laying their lives on the line against a threat almost too powerful to imagine.
There was a chance that they would die fighting. A good chance, no matter how heroically they acquitted themselves, no matter how ferociously they struggled. And if Brakmaktin prevailed, their sacrifice would eventually be forgotten.
But if Brakmaktin fell somehow, thanks to the Magnians’ efforts or otherwise, they would be revered for what they had done. Their story would be told to children by starlight, and its details coveted like precious stones.
They would enjoy a life in death much greater than anything they had before, a life reserved for those who had paid the ultimate price. And because of that, they would never die.
How Kastiigan envied them.
Pug Joseph, acting head of security on the Stargazer, was concentrating so hard on reviewing the list of security personnel he had assigned to the Magnians that he almost collided with a Magnian there in the corridor.
As luck would have it, it was the only one he really knew—Serenity Santana, the woman who had dragged Joseph and his crewmates into the thick of her people’s battle with the Nuyyad.
Lieutenant Pierzynski was right there with her—a good thing, since the captain had said he wanted their guests accompanied by security officers at all times. It was an order the Magnians hadn’t questioned.
“Mister Joseph,” Santana said as she got closer, an unmistakable note of pleasure in her voice. “How are you?”
Damn, but she was beautiful. The security chief had managed to forget how beautiful.