Derelict 3, Chapter 27.

Chapter 27.

“Slater there is something I don’t understand about the early games of your culture,” Kraxton said. Slater looked over and found the young Chixturax had started his foray into human gaming with some of the classic early games. They were primitive things, but that didn’t seem to stop Kraxton from enjoying them.

“What don’t you understand?” Slater said, paying half attention to the kid while considering how the current research might require him to rebuild his entire hull design.

“I am playing this game featuring a large simian creature that has taken a human female prisoner. Is that something that happened often in your world? Why didn’t the military or law enforcement respond, it appears only a simple tradesman responded to her call for help? To top everything off, are wooden barrels one of your world’s archaic forms of weaponry, it seems too inefficient? I should also mention the name of the game references a mammalian creature that is not featured in the game at all,” Kraxton asked. He sounded frustrated, but that didn’t stop him from playing.

“It’s a game kid, you just play it for fun, don’t overthink things. I mean, you’re asking these types of questions to a human that was turned into glowing ball of energy by an explosion that combined him with a parasite. Not only that, but you’re also now talking to a fragment of his mind who’s currently housed in the body of genetically engineered bilge rat that can stealth and has a grenade implanted in its belly,” Pixi said. Slater had rebuilt his stealth rat body, which the fragment of his mind seemed to prefer.

“While that does not answer my question, it does put it into perspective, thank you mind-fragment Pixi,” Kraxton said, stepping away from the console to give his sister a chance to play. He walked over to the research station and dug right in; all further video game related questions put on hold.

“It’s just Pixi, kid, the name’s Pixi, none of this mind fragment stuff,” Pixi replied. Slater turned his attention away from the kids and Pixi, instead looking at what Bexlan had done with the research console. It didn’t look like there were any new revelations yet, not that he expected anything other than the idea she had sparked earlier.

“Slater, what is this giant ship you are referring to, I meant to ask you earlier but found myself distracted by the primitive games of your people,” Kraxton asked.

“I can show you the clip, hang on a second,” Slater said, pushing the information over to the research screen. Kraxton stared at the screen in shock, frantically calling his sister over to watch.

“Slater, where did this ship go, did it continue out of human space?” Bexlan asked as she reviewed the footage.

“I have no idea, there’s been no other information the data net for sale other than what you see. Do you know what this ship is?” Slater asked, they obviously recognized the ship, and what the saw scared them.

“Perhaps, may I send this to my father to review, he might have more information,” Bexlan asked. Slater agreed and she forwarded the information over.

“We should leave, father may have work for us,” Kraxton said awkwardly.

“Come back soon, you think that first game you asked about was confusing, wait until you get a load of the floating head that eats light dots and is being chased by ghosts,” Pixi said as they left.

“Pixi, you did pick up on that, they knew who these aliens are that attacked the human fleets,” Slater said.

“Yeah, I got that, just wanted the kids to feel more at ease. I think you’ll be getting either a visit or a call from Hixrax soon,” Pixi predicted. The expected call didn’t materialize, and the kids didn’t come back the next day. Slater’s initial research into the new weapon system was done. It wasn’t a complete design, only a concept schematic and based on what he saw, it was going to work. Pushing the new weapon back into research, he began to look at the modifications needed for the main hull.

“You think the big gun is viable?” Pixi asked.

“It looks like it, the Franklin will have to be redesigned, but it won’t really hamper any of our other systems, other than the need for an additional reactor. The only question is what I’ll have to leave out to install another reactor aboard,” Slater said.

“We can take out more of the crew areas, after all, we won’t have anyone aboard, at least not at first. The new reactor will also be vulnerable to damage from a boarding party, but if they get aboard the Franklin, our MOBS should be able to deal with them,” Pixi said. It was a disappointment that he wouldn’t have a human crew and cutting back on the available crew spaces wasn’t too much of a loss. He would be left with a ship interior similar in size to that of the old Franklin, the larger ship using all its new real estate for weapons, drives, and shields.

His abnormally strong hull would resist most attempts by a boarding party to cut through, leaving their only option the boarding hatches. Those he had laden with traps and automated weapons. Once a foe left the boarding hatchway, they would face a winding main passageway where he would bleed them dry with attacks by his MOBS from inside various compartments and at fortified blockades throughout the ship. Like before, this whole top deck would resemble normal ship spaces including cabins, mess halls, a bridge, and other expected structures. The second deck would contain living areas for any live crew he might acquire, their numbers hopefully including Harris and Long. Another rifle range, expanded from his original design, would house their best chance at holding back an attacker. Reinforced bunkers, command detonated mines, heavy weapons emplacements, and every other trick that Slater could think of would be included in his defense.

Below would be a smaller third deck, where Slater’s core would be housed. Another gauntlet of defenders would have to be dealt with before they reached his core room where, once again, a false core would be prominently displayed. If they made it past the defenders in his false core room, the boarders would have to face his avatar in the actual core chamber. If any boarders made it here, things would be dire indeed, perhaps even to the point of another self-detonation, though Slater had doubts about surviving another. Even if he did survive, did he want to drift about the universe on the brink of madness again? No, he would live or die in the core room of Franklin, taking down as many foes as he could.

To deal with spaceborne threats, Slater would retain the three, triple gun turrets with the eighteen-inch railguns as his main armament. These guns would be supplemented by twenty, five-inch dual mount turrets of both laser and railgun varieties. The guns were big enough to engage warships but could also be used in the dual-purpose role against drones or missiles. For point defense, Slater’s latest design had supplied the Franklin with nearly two hundred railguns and lasers to swat down any small vessels or missiles. There would also be the missile battery of twenty vertical launch tubes for longer range threats. The oversized drone bay was still in place, though his hopes for an effective solution were fading. In a worst-case scenario, he could replace that area with more vertical launch tubes as well as a few more batteries of point defense.

“Slater, do you have time to meet with me now?” Hixrax asked over comms.

“Sure, you’re always welcome,” Slater replied. The hatch to his Derelict immediately opened, and Hixrax, along Ixlab and the elders, entered his core room. The group looked more somber than usual and must have been waiting just outside when Hixrax called him. It was bizarre, even for Chixturax.

“What can I help you with?” Slater asked.

“It is regarding the video you showed to Bexlan and Kraxton earlier. Do you have any other information about the attack on your people?” The elder he thought of as Gramps asked.

“No, all information dropped off the net as soon as Pixi downloaded the clip. I haven’t been able to find anything else out, not matter the price,” Slater said.

“Odd, someone doesn’t want you to know about this. Sarton Station will typically offer anything for a price, so why restrict access to potentially valuable information?” Gramps asked. Slater had a good idea why. Administrator had already admitted that he had more money than he could ever use and the only thing he was interested in was entertainment. Slater could see Administrator cutting things off to keep him aboard, but why do that when his ship wasn’t even close to being ready? That begged the question of whether Administrator intended to ever allow him to leave.

“You seem to know of the attackers, can you tell me something about them?” Slater asked. They Chixturax didn’t usually waste time so if the whole entourage was here, they were here for a purpose.

“I believe this is a Gargonth, the very creature that is responsible for the destruction of the Chixturax home world,” Gramps said, still not offering a real name.

“I thought you said you wanted your ship built to return to your home world, why do that if it is destroyed?” Slater asked.

“Our people have hives on many worlds, and we seek to return to one of those. As for the planet my race spawned from, it is now a dead world, thanks to that Gargonth,” Gramps said.

“So, these Gargonth, with only a single ship, destroyed your planet? How? Surely one ship wouldn’t be able to destroy an entire world?” Slater asked.

“Our fleet was powerful, and we met the Gargonth in battle, the monster brushed aside our defenders and took orbit over our planet. Once there, it released a substance that eradicated all life on our world. Once this substance hit the atmosphere everyone, and everything, died in a matter of days. We still do not know what it did, or even why it chose our race, but we do know that when you see a Gargonth, some race is going to lose their home,” Gramps said.

“And these Gargonth didn’t make any demands, didn’t take resources from your world, just poisoned it and left without saying a word?” Slater asked.

“That is how it happened, and the same has happened to others throughout the galaxy. It is rare, and the Gargonth is typically not seen for centuries, but its presence always heralds death and destruction. If it is targeting your people, you have our condolences,” Gramps said.

“Hold on, how would the Gargonth know where our homeworld even was? Do they have spies to look for their next victims? What do these creatures even look like?” Slater asked. Gramps looked at him funny, taking a moment before responding.

“Slater, the Gargonth has no spies, and nobody knows how it picks it’s target. You may not realize it, but the Gargonth race is one being, as far as we know. That enormous ship you saw was the Gargonth,” Gramps said. Was that even possible, a ship, larger than anything Slater had ever seen, was a single creature?

“How do I stop it?” Slater asked.

“You don’t. The best thing you can do is prepare your people to flee, if it truly is heading to your homeworld,” Gramps replied.

“And just how do I know if it is heading for Earth?” Slater asked.

“Follow it’s path through the jump gates, it possesses the ability to jump, and it will always take the most direct path to its target. I’m sorry, but if there was any other information available, we could perhaps plot its course, but you only have a few moments of video to work with,” Gramps said.

Slater pulled up star charts, running the position of the stars captured in the video find out where the attack occurred. It was useless though; he had no idea of where the jump gates were and that was the key to finding the path of this monster. He would try and buy star charts to human territory as soon as the Chixturax left, then he might know for sure where the Gargonth was headed.

“Is there no way to stop it?” Slater asked.

“Our ships damaged it several times, often seriously as we fought it on the way to our homeworld. Sadly, the monster would just stop and feed, using the smaller hives in the outer systems to repair the damage our ships had inflicted. As a last resort, we tried to board the creature and destroy it from the inside, but our forces were too depleted by then, and we lacked enough warriors to carry out our plans,” Gramps said.

“It ate your colonists? I thought you said it dropped some gunk that killed all life on your homeworld. Why would it use some bioweapon to kill life on your world but take the time to feed on outlying colonies?” Slater asked.

“We do not know, it feeds upon intelligent life to repair damage, but when it reaches its target, it just kills and does not feed. Expeditions back to the homeworld turned up nothing, all life had died and decayed, nothing new would grow and we were unable to resettle. Our people split off into the galaxy forming various hives but never reuniting in one place. It is my hope to return to our homeworld and see if it can be brought back, perhaps the damage can be reversed,” Gramps said.

“I hope you can, but it this thing is coming for Earth, I need to get out of here and get back home,” Slater said.

“We shall continue to help you in any way we can. I pray that your homeworld is not the Gargonth’s target, and if it is, our condolences to your people.

“Don’t write off humanity just yet. If there’s one thing we excel at, it’s killing stuff. I don’t doubt your warriors fought hard, but they didn’t have the Franklin, and they didn’t have a Derelict at their disposal,” Slater said with more enthusiasm than he really felt. If humanity had fractured, it might be hard to rally everyone to Earth’s defense, and if this thing were as powerful as the Chixturax said, he would need every ship and every gun to stop it.

“I wish you luck. We will try to acquire star charts for you to use. We will be glad to share all the information on our war against the Gargonth once our new ship is ready for launch,” Gramps said, leading the entourage out of his core room.

“Hold up there, what do you mean with after your ship is done? If you have something that can help, hand it over. We’re supposed to be partners in this,” Slater said.

“It has been decided, when the ship is complete, you will have everything we know,” Gramps said, leaving despite Slater’s protestations. Oddly enough, Hixrax stayed behind.

“I wish they hadn’t done that, but the elders fear you will rush to finish your own ship and leave ours incomplete. Please don’t look down upon us, with the chance to leave so close, many are frightened that it will not happen,” Hixrax asked.

“Not sharing the information seems like a good way to ensure I don’t finish your ship. I’ll keep building both ships for now, but if I find out that Earth suffers because your elders were running scared and unwilling to share information, I will hunt down your ship and blow it to pieces. Get out!” Slater ordered. Hixrax left, his head hung in shame. At least Slater hoped that gesture meant the same thing to the Chixturax as it did to humans.

It took some time for Slater to tamp down his anger. He had started to like these people, but apparently, they didn’t value the partnership enough to help him in his hour of need. Hixrax, the kids, and maybe even Ixlab and been good to him and Slater knew he couldn’t hold the decision of the elders against them. Despite knowing this, it was hard to not plan some sabotage of their vessel. They were taking a foolish risk in angering the person building a ship they would depend on for survival.