Worlds Revealed Read online

  “Admiral, I do not know yet. We need to capture a couple of them to obtain those answers. I also believe we need to take those towers off the planet right away sir. We have no idea if they can damage the planet, or its population. It is better to take the alien tech away before any humans discover it. Or worse, its origin.”

  “Yes, I agree with you, as does the President. You have orders to attack that ship and destroy it. Do not let them leave. Try to keep a few bridge officers alive long enough to get the information we need After that, I don’t care if you pull their appendages off one at a time. They have no right to be here, or to be monitoring us either.”

  “Yes, Admiral. I will contact you when we have some answers.” Nayven disconnected the communication and looked back to his bridge crew who had been listening to the entire conversation.

  “You heard the Admiral, I want that ship destroyed!” Nayven pounded his frustration out on the armrest of his chair. “Locate all of the QT’s tech on the planet’s surface. Also, scan the entire system to see if they have placed any satellites anywhere at all. Then, check our own satellites to see if they have done anything to them. I don’t want the QT’s to have a backdoor into our systems.”

  Everyone got to work trying to find any technology that belonged to the QT’s. Nayven’s Security Officer approached him. “Commander, I believe I have just the weapon to use for our ‘friends’. I brought along a new torpedo to test out once we entered the badlands. Central Security had tasked me with testing their latest design. I know that they wanted to see if it could pierce the QT’s shields but we didn’t have any viable targets, until now.”

  “I want you to also have our standard laser cannons and torpedoes on standby in case the new shield busters don’t work.” The Commander stood up and followed his Security Officer, Lieutenant Zelork, to his workstation.

  Nayven knew all about the new weaponry. As a ship’s Commander, he had been in a top secret meeting to discuss the new torpedoes. He had actually volunteered his ship to test the new design.

  The mood on the bridge began to change, from one of boredom to that of excitement. The warriors focused on their workstations, but they all had a bit of a smirk on their faces as they considered the battle they were preparing for.

  Chapter Three

  “Listen up, I know we have the element of surprise here. In the past, we have always won against our enemies. Don’t get overconfident. The QT’s have invested heavily in new technology. We don’t know everything they have right now. For all we know, we are their new testing ground. Focus on your task and don’t let anything go to your head,” the Commander announced to his bridge crew.

  He continued, “I want to wait and see if they send a crew down to the planet. Then we will attack. I need to grab a few of them for interrogation. So we will wait and see what they do.”

  Captain Temek was an average height for his species, almost seven Earth feet tall. He was a human/V’Zenian hybrid, also known as a VZ hybrid. One of his parents was human. The standard family unit for hybrids was a V’Zenian father and a human mother. One more reason they needed to protect their planet full of humans. Not all were destined to become slaves, some became mates.

  “Sir, they have just sent a team to the planet. I see traces of transporter use. I have locked on to their away team. Should I bring them here?” Captain Temek smiled as he kept his eyes on the QT’s who transported to the surface.

  “Where did they land?” the Commander asked.

  “It is strange. They are near an empty part of the New Mexico desert. The coordinates put them close to the tower in that region.”

  “I really need to know what those towers do. Can you keep a lock on them so that their ship can’t bring them back?” The Commander looked at his Comm Officer.

  “Yes, I can transport them here as soon as you give the command.”

  “Then do it once we make our move. I want those insectoids before they can be transported back to their ship.” The Commander then announced on the ship’s intercom, “Prepare for battle. We are going to engage the enemy who has invaded our sovereign space.”

  To his Security Officer, he said, “I will need a full team of warriors to be waiting in the Beta cell block holding room. We will beam the QT’s there once we have them. Also, have your best interrogator ready. I want to know why they are here and how long they have been coming to Earth.” The Commander fisted his hand and slammed it into his other palm.

  “Yes, sir. I will handle the team personally.” Zelork responded before going back to his workstation.

  “Sergeant Vierian, I have an assignment for you. I need you to gather your best warriors and prepare to interrogate the QT’s spies. They will be sent to the Beta cells interrogation room soon. Be there and be ready. I will join you once we have them.” Zelork went back to planning the arsenal he was going to use on the QT’s ship after giving his orders to the Sgt.

  Nayven rarely got nervous or excited, except right before a battle. He relished the feelings his body experienced since it was so rare for him to experience anything intense. He felt a chill go down his spine as he thought about how they were about to destroy the QT’s and the information they were going to bring home to their President.

  This Commander knew he was going to rise high up in the ranks, and this one battle could be the catalyst to start it all for him.

  The Commander stood in front of his chair and looked at each member on his bridge. “Today, we are going to show the QT’s that they cannot get away with breaking our treaty. I want that ship completely destroyed. However, we must do this without letting any debris make it through Earth’s atmosphere. I want that ship broken up into small pieces that will burn up completely upon re-entry.”

  He sat down in his chair as each bridge officer nodded their understanding to him. “Zelork, do you have weapons online and ready?”

  “Yes, sir. I have them targeted with two of our new VZL torpedoes, or shield busters, as you called them.” The Security officer held his hand over the button that would launch the torpedoes into history, as long as they did what they were designed to do. Zelork felt it all through his body, the tension from the excitement of what was to come, the clammy hands of anticipation, and the wide eyes as he waited impatiently for the order to fire. It was almost too much for him, he had to pull his hand back before his instincts took over and he pushed the button prematurely.

  Captain Temek also held his hand over a button, waiting for the order to transport the enemy aliens to their holding cells to be interrogated. He felt the thrill of what was to come along with the frustration of waiting. The Captain thought they should just take the aliens on the planet right then and there. But he knew why the Commander was waiting. It would show their hand too soon if he hit the button now. So he waited with baited breath while the Commander reviewed the data before giving his order to fire.

  The Commander felt the energy on the bridge, it fueled his desire for battle as well. He knew his crew well enough to know that each and every one of them was just waiting for his order. He hated waiting, but he wanted to make sure they didn’t jump the gun. “Sopok, quickly take us within firing range of the enemy ship. Don’t let them see us until the last minute. Can you use the curvature of the Moon and the Earth to hide us until we are in position?”

  “I can use them to hide us but not the entire way. They will see us coming if they are looking. But they won’t have much time to do anything about it. I anticipate them to have a forty-five second window to raise their shields before we are able to fire.”

  “That should be enough time. Temek, once they see us, grab the QT’s and send them to our waiting warriors.” The Commander buckled into his seat.

  He noticed a trickle of sweat running down Zelork’s face. “Zelork, are you ready?”

  “Yes, sir!” Zelork loudly announced.

  “Sopok, you have a GO!” The Commander looked over to Zelork and nodded to his Security Officer who responded with a smile as he turned back to his workstation and waited for the moment they were within firing range.

  Chapter Four

  The ship quickly made its way out from behind the moon and toward the enemy. They used the Earth to hide their movement for as long as possible.

  “Sir, they have already discovered us! They have raised their shields and are heading our way.” The Science Officer reviewed the scans once more and confirmed they were in fact, on their way.

  “Zelork, as soon as you have a shot, take it! Temek, grab those aliens on the planet and get them here now!” The Commander pounded his hand on his chair. “Someone, tell me how they knew we were here? Have they tapped into our satellites? Or did they upgrade their sensor array? Voken, get someone on your team on this right now!” the Commander yelled.

  “Torpedoes on their way! Ten seconds until they hit the QT’s ship. Five, four, three, two. We have detonation!” Everyone on the bridge yelled their excitement.

  Voken was watching his sensors to verify the damage. “Wait! The torpedoes have caused significant damage, but the ship is not destroyed.”

  Temek spoke up, “I cannot get a lock on them. They are blocking my attempts to grab them, sir.” Temek was working furiously trying to get the lock back on the QT’s he previously had a lock on.

  “We will worry about the enemy on Earth shortly. Zelork, what is the status of the enemy ship? Can we send more torpedoes and finish the job?” The Commander stood up and walked to the Security Officer’s station.

  “We have one shield buster left. I suggest we use standard torpedoes and laser cannons, if we can get a little closer. I would prefer to save that last torpedo in case we need it.”

  “I agree, Zelork. Start targeting them with standard torpedoes and fire when ready. Sopok, get us closer as fast as you can, but not too close in case we do get a good shot on their engineering section. I need them blown to smithereens before they start to fall into Earth’s orbit.” The Commander ran a hand through his long, dark hair as he considered his next move.

  “Temek, have you picked up any communications coming from them yet? Have they notified their command?”

  “No, sir. They have not yet sent any communications…OH, it looks like their communications array took a direct hit so they won’t be able to send any messages to anyone, including us. So I don’t know how their soldiers on the planet are blocking my attempts. They must have a scrambler on them. We will have to send a squad to get them and disable whatever technology they are using to block my attempts.” The Communications Officer kept his attention on his display while he updated the Commander and continued to try to get a transporter lock on the enemy who was now stranded on Earth.

  “Zelork, I want you to prepare a team to go down to the planet. But you are to stay here and make sure that you destroy that ship. We can’t afford for the humans to find out about us or the QT’s. They are not yet ready to know.” The Commander looked out of the view screen at the blue marble floating in space below them.

  “Sir, they have sent a torpedo,” Voken announced. “It…”

  The Commander interrupted him and announced on the ship’s intercom. “Incoming torpedo, brace for impact.”

  “Zelork, I need you to disable their torpedo bays.” The Commander didn’t sit back down in time. He almost fell down from the impact, but was able to stop himself in time. The ship’s shields prevented any real damage, but they were jostled about. He quickly sat in his chair and strapped in.

  Captain Temek, the Science Officer reported, “The enemy torpedo hit us, but it was on the starboard side of the ship and missed any critical systems. Our shields protected us from the majority of damage. They are down to 70%.”

  “Sir, I have a direct hit to their port torpedo bays, they will have to turn around if they want to try and send any more at us.” Zelork fisted his hand in the air in triumph.

  The Commander had his eye on the view screen as he noticed the steep descent the enemy ship made after the last round of torpedoes hit their mark. “Zelork, what happened. Are they trying to land their ship?”

  “I hit their propulsion systems and they have lost control of their ship. It is on a crash land trajectory. Give me a moment and I will tell you where it will land.” Zelork wiped the sweat from his brow as he did his calculations and discovered where the ship would crash.

  Zelork looked up to the Commander with wide eyes and hesitated before telling him, “They are on a direct course for Roswell, New Mexico. The only thing I can figure out is that they set the coordinates for that town before they lost propulsion.”

  “Will their ship break up in re-entry?” the Commander asked.

  The Science Officer responded, “No, sir. They are still at an angle that will allow them to make re-entry. They are going in pretty fast, so I don’t know if they will survive the crash.”

  “Zelork, Temek, you are both with me. We are going down there as soon as they crash. Zelork, get your security team to the transporters right now. I want us to beam to the crash site before they even stop moving. Bring twenty warriors. Voken, you have the bridge. Reacquire the transporter lock on the enemy soldiers on the ground and let me know when you have them.” The three of them walked to the armory to load up with weapons and protective gear.

  As they walked to the transporter room the Commander said, “Zelork, when this is over, I want a full report on those new torpedoes and why they didn’t break up the ship when they hit. Your aim was true, they should have destroyed the enemy ship. I want you and Voken to study all of our sensor data and figure out what their shields did. They must have upgraded them if they could sustain all of our torpedoes and not break up.”

  “Of course, sir. I am rather stumped as to why they were able to make it to the planet. And on a course that kept them from breaking up during re-entry as well. I wonder how long they knew we were here?”

  “I think we are going to find some rather disturbing information from their towers on the planet. That technology must not fall into the hands of the humans. They might end up with the ability to defend against us if they obtain it. We don’t know what it is yet, but it certainly gave the QT’s an advantage.” The Commander led the group around the corner to the transporter rooms where the twenty warriors were geared up and waiting.

  They could only transport ten at a time so the transporter engineer sent down ten of the warriors first, then the Commander and Zelork were accompanied by eight warriors in the second transport. It took three transports to get everyone down on the planet.

  “Zelork, take ten warriors and check the other side of the ship, I will take ten and check this side. Stay in constant communication and kill anything you see on sight.” The commander took his unit and they cautiously made their way to the side of the ship.

  “This ship is so badly damaged, I am surprised it didn’t break-up in re-entry. I want a sample of the alloy used to create their hull.” The Commander pointed to a small piece of the mutilated alloy the QT’s used for their hull on the ground.

  The nearest warrior responded, “Yes, sir.” Then he picked up a palm sized piece of the hull and stuck it in his pack. They continued on their way to the side of the ship but had to walk around a few larger pieces of the debris as well as a few bodies that had been thrown out of the hole in the side of the ship as it slowed down and came to a stop.

  The Commander looked at the all of the wreckage and the tracks that the ship left in its wake. “We will need a clean-up team here right away to gather all of this. I can’t have the humans finding proof of alien life.” He shook his head as he continued to walk toward the ship. The Commander wondered how they were going to cover this all up.

  As they entered the ship, they saw many dead bodies laying around. The QT’s were an insectoid race that looked like a cross between a grasshopper and an octopus, with a bit of a cockroach thrown in just to get your gag reflex going. While they were bipedal with grasshopper type of legs, they also had the ability to use their octopus-like appendages to help them move faster.

  “Nayven to Voken” the Commander comm’d his ship.

  “Voken here sir. Are there any left alive?”

  “No, so far all we have seen are dead bodies. We can’t leave them here. I need you work with the transporter crew to get all of the dead out of here. Then I need you to come up with a way to get this ship off the planet. It is too badly damaged to fly again. What can we do to get it off the planet?”

  “The only option would be to bring our ship down there and pick up the pieces. We can’t transport anything that large.” Voken scratched his chin as he thought about any other possibilities.

  “Excuse me, sir. I have an incoming from the Admiral.”

  “What does his message say Voken?” the Commander asked.

  “He is on via video chat, it is not a text message, sir.”

  “Patch me through, I have my tablet with me.” The Commander pulled his tablet out of his pack.

  “Nayven, what happened? I heard the ship crashed but is still in one piece? Why didn’t you destroy it before it could land?” The Admiral yelled at the Commander.

  “Sir, we used the new shield busters, but they did not do the damage we were led to believe they could do. The ship sustained serious damage, but not before they could plot a course to land on the planet. They did find a desert location, however it is not far from a human military base.”

  The Admiral interrupted, “I want that QT ship and all of the debris taken off that planet before the humans find it! The last thing we need is for them to know the truth. Most of the war council believe that the humans would not be able to handle learning the truth. Even mates and slaves have a hard time when they first learn the truth.”

  Nayven felt the disapproval of his commanding officer and thought about ways to fix this. “The ship has sustained major damage and will never fly again, but we can’t get it out of here without bringing our ship down here. Should we wait for the cover of night and come down and get it then?”