"Well, you see . . . someone once told me that sometimes you simply have to assess a situation and say, 'Dammit, it's me or no one. And if you can't live with no one, then you have to take action.' "
"Oh, really. Sounds like a pretty smart guy."
"He likes to think he is, yes."
Calhoun walked out onto the bridge and said briskly, "Status report!"
The fact that Calhoun was bruised, battered, and bloody didn't draw any comment from any of the bridge crew. They were too busy trying to survive. Burgoyne was at hish engineering station on the bridge, someplace that s/he didn't normally inhabit. But with the rapid changes required in the ship's acceleration, s/he wanted to be right at the nerve center of the decisions so that s/he could make whatever immediate adjustments might be required.
"We're at full reverse, Captain!" McHenry said. "I couldn't maintain orbit; the planet's breaking up and the gravity field was shifting too radically!"
"Take us to a safe distance, then," Calhoun said. "Soleta, what's happening down there?"
"The planet is breaking up, sir," Soleta replied, "due to—I believe—stress caused by something inside trying to get out."
"Get
out?"
The area around Thallon was crammed with vessels of all sizes and shapes, trying to put as much distance between themselves and the shattering planet as possible. The confusion was catastrophic; at one point several ships collided with each other in their haste to get away from Thallon, erupting into flames and spiraling away into the ether. Fortunately enough most of the pilots were more levelheaded than that.
"Status on the current population?"
"Most of them have managed to clear out in private vessels, sir," said Soleta. "Some chose to remain on the planet and . . ."
"Foolish. Dedicated but foolish," said Calhoun.
"We've evacuated over a thousand people onto the Excaliburas well," said Kebron.
"A thousand?"gasped Shelby. "Maximum capacity for this ship in an evacuation procedure is supposed to be six hundred."
"We've asked that they all stand sideways."
"Good thinking, Kebron," Calhoun said dryly. He turned to Shelby and said, "Looks like we'll be taking Nelkar up on their offer sooner than anticipated." Then he noticed Si Cwan standing off to the side, very quiet, his attention riveted to the screen. "Are you all right, Ambassador?"
He shifted his gaze to Calhoun and said, "Of course not."
It seemed a fair enough response.
"Sir, energy buildup!" announced Soleta.
"Take us back another five hundred thousand kilometers, Mr. McHenry. Burgoyne, have warp speed ready, just in case we need to get out of here quickly."
"Perhaps it would be wiser to vacate the area now," Shelbysuggested.
"You're very likely correct. It would be wiser. However, I think I want to see this."
She nodded. Truth to tell, she wanted to see it as well.
On the screen, Thallon continued to shudder, its entire surface ribboned with cracks. Even from the distance at which they currently sat, they could see lava bubbling in all directions. The very planet appeared to be pulsating, throbbing under the strain of whatever was pushing its way out.
And then, all of a suddenly, something thrust up from within.
It was a claw. A single, giant, flaming claw, miles wide, smashing up through what was once a polar icecap. Then another flaming claw, several hundred miles away, and then a third claw and a fourth, but these at the opposite ends of the planet, and they seemed even larger. The screen adjusted the brightness to avoid damaging the eyesight of the bridge crew.
The process begun, it moved faster and faster, more pieces breaking away, and then the planet broke apart in a stunning display of matter and energy. Thallon erupted from the inside out . . .
. . . and there was a creature there unlike anything that Calhoun had ever seen.
It seemed vaguely avian in appearance, with feathers made of roaring flame and energy crackling around it. Its talons of flame flexed outward, and its massive wings unfurled. Its beak was long and wide, and it opened its mouth in a scream that could not be heard in the depths of space. Incredibly, stars were visible through the creature. It was as if it was a creature that was both there . . . and not there.
"I don't believe it," said a stunned Calhoun. "What the hell is it?"
"Unknown, sir," replied Soleta. "In general physicality, it seems evocative of such beasts as the ancient pteranodon, or the flamebird of Ricca 4. But its size, its physical makeup . . ."
"Oh, my God," said Burgoyne in slow astonishment. "It can't be. Don't you get it?" s/he said with growing excitement.
"What is it, Burgy?" asked Shelby, who was as riveted to the screen as any of them.
"It's . . . it's the Great Bird of the Galaxy."
THE GREAT BIRD OF THE GALAXY
XI.
"DON'T BE RIDICULOUS!" said Shelby. "That's . . . that's a myth!"
"Once upon a time, so was the idea of life on other planets," commented Zak Kebron.
The Great Bird, in the airlessness of space, continued to move its wings. It crackled with power. Extending its jaws, it gobbled up floating chunks left over from Thallon . . .
. . . and then it seemed to turn its attention to the Starship Excalibur.
"Uh-oh," said Shelby.
"I do notlike the looks of this," Calhoun agreed. "Aren't baby birds hungry first thing after they're born?"
"Customarily," Soleta said.
"What if it moves to attack the other ships?'"
"It doesn't seem interested in anyone else but us, Shelby," said Calhoun. "Probably because we're the biggest."
"Shall we prepare to fight it, sir?" asked Kebron, fingers already moving to the tactical station.
"Fight the Great Bird of the Galaxy?" said Calhoun. "Even we have to know our limitations."
The creature moved toward them, and Shelby said, "It seems to have a bead on us."
"I think you're right. Okay . . . move us out at warp factor one. Let's draw it away from the area and give everyone a chance to clear out."
"Incoming message from one of the vessels, sir," Kebron announced.
"Save it. Now isn't the time. Mr. McHenry, get us out of here."
The Excaliburwent into reverse thrust, pivoted, and moved away from the shattered remains of Thai-Ion, with the Great Bird of the Galaxy, or whatever it was, in hot pursuit.
"It's picking up speed," said Lefler.
"Jump us to warp four," Calhoun ordered, sitting calmly with his fingers steepled.
With a thrust from its mighty warp engines, the Excaliburleaped forward. The Great Bird, if such it was, flapped its wings and kept moving, pacing them.
"According to legend," Burgoyne was saying, "there can only be one Great Bird at a time. And when it senses its end is near, the Great Bird imparts its essence into a world, gestates over centuries, and is then reborn. I guess that's why it was