The Krenaran ships moved into position to surround the stricken Liberty; looking like vultures about to sound the death knell to the disabled ship. And for all the world the ship seemed doomed.
Three more plasma wakes rapidly opened up in space close by. With horrific speed, three Solarian ships emerged out of plasma drive; silver in colour and resembling a large metallic crescent with a ferocious looking raised metallic beaklike structure at the centre.
Bright blue incandescent beams shot forth from their beak like protrusions; instantly two Krenaran ships were totally decimated by the sheer force of the weapons. What remained of their hulls trailed fire and debris out into open space.
The remaining Krenaran ships ignored the Liberty, and moved to intercept this deadly new threat.
Several high energy torpedoes smashed into another Krenaran ship; devastating the upper dorsal area of the vessel, its particle cannon totally torn away, and its torpedo launcher left a flaming ruin. On fire, it limped away.
The remaining two Krenaran ships returned fire on their Solarian attackers; particle cannon shots slammed into one of the Solarian ships. However a crackling blue energy field shimmered into existence and shielded the ship from the impacts.
The remaining Krenaran ships dispersed before the speed and ferocity of the Solarian attack.
“Ambassador Kerulithar, please respond,” A voice spoke over the crackling speakers.
Groggily Kerulithar limped his way over to the communications console; fortunately it had managed to survive the attack somewhat intact. “This is ambassador Kerulithar; I am unharmed, however the ship has suffered severe damage. We have casualties on board, main sub-light drive is down.”
The Solarian ships performed a thorough scan of the Liberty. After a short bout of silence, a response came through the speakers. “We are detecting several different species on board, however no Krenarans,” the Solarians asked quizzically.
“It is a long story; I will fill you in along the way,” the ambassador said smiling.
“We will tow you to the nearest Solarian repair facility, we have medical teams standing by to treat your injured,” the response came.
“Thank you,” Kerulithar replied with genuine relief.
Slowly Michael regained consciousness, and picked himself back up; rubbing his throbbing head his vision gradually cleared just in time to see the comparatively huge silvery crescent shape of a Solarian battle cruiser maneuver into position just ahead of the crippled Liberty, and fire a red beam at the ship. Not knowing what these strange new ships were, he panicked.
“Jesus, we’re still under attack!” He leapt back into his seat and tried to use the controls again, they were useless.
“Relax; their friendlies. It’s just a tractor beam; they are giving us a tow,” Kerulithar pointed out. “Don’t you have a similar device?”
“No; we haven’t developed that technology yet. We use magnetised tow cables,” Michael replied, a little sheepish at having panicked at the shape of that massive Solarian vessel looming just in front of the Liberty.
“I…See,” Kerulithar said, marvelling at how humanity even managed to get beyond their solar system with such limited technology; however he said nothing.
Within hours, they had reached the repair facility; Solarian medical teams had treated the worst of their injuries.
Michael marvelled at how grand the station looked. It was bright silver and shone brightly set against the backdrop of deep space. Its super structures shone as the light from a nearby yellow sun reflected off its numerous surfaces.
A multitude of smaller vessels flitted to and fro from the massive installation. Some looked like transports, others like warships; there were many different shapes and sizes of vessel. All manner of configurations were present, they couldn’t all belong to the same species, Michael thought.
He also thought the Solarian ships were equally grand, with their majestic silvery crescent shapes, extended wings and metallic beak; they resembled an old earth catamaran, and had an almost regal look about them.
This station was however an altogether different beast. Numerous docking arms jutted out from it, some were already occupied by other vessels. The station had thousands of small ‘port hole’ shaped windows dotted liberally about its surface. At the top of the station, multiple communications aerials rose like fragile silver strands reaching up into space.
“Welcome to the Omicron repair facility and shipyard, one of the largest of all our repair facilities,” Kerulithar announced with pride.
Michael and Vargev said nothing, they were simply awestruck by the sheer size and magnificence of this massive structure.
Another beam shot out from another smaller rectangular shaped vessel which aligned itself in front of the battered Liberty; taking the place of the warship which now returned back to its formation.
Navigation lights from the station shone down upon the severely damaged Krenaran ship, showing up its scorched, fractured hull as it closed with the station. The awful shredded exterior where the main sub-light drive once was could clearly be seen.
The other three warships now made a graceful turn in perfect arrow formation, before they shot back off into plasma drive, and back out to the border.
“Where did they go?” Vargev asked.
“Back on patrol,” Kerulithar answered.
“What is that ship in front of us?” Michael asked. It looked kind of ugly, not at all like the other Solarian ships.
“It is a small tug; used for towing damaged vessels,” Kerulithar replied.
The ship was getting very close to the station, suddenly alarm bells began to ring in Michael’s mind.
“err…how do we dock this thing?”
Kerulithar calmly walked over to the console in front of Michael’s chair. It was partly damaged in the attack and the glass was cracked, but was still operable enough that he was able to use it. He pressed a green button, then a white one.
“The green symbol decompresses the air, and the white one opens the hatch.”
The tug slowly decelerated to a stop; then released the Liberty and moved away. Almost simultaneously a cylindrical hatch extended out from the station and connected to the open docking hatch of the ship, with a slight shudder the docking hatch was sealed and re-pressurised.
“Would you like to take a look inside the station?” Kerulithar asked.
“Hell yeah.”
The three of them made their way through the smoky, dark, debris strewn corridors of the Liberty to the hatch five decks below them. From there they simply walked onto the station.
What greeted them was truly astounding. Huge metallic archways graced the ceiling high above the repair area; massive floor-to-ceiling windows looked out at the vessels that glided by the station, as well as those already berthed. Everything was clean and shiny.
Machines the size of houses with highly complex displays dotted vast walkways at various intervals; several Solarian workers could be seen manning the machinery. Michael hadn’t the faintest idea what they were used for. Along certain areas yet more displays showed a wealth of complicated information.
Michael stopped at one; studying it, trying to figure out what exactly it all meant.
Kerulithar caught up to him, “It’s in Solarian script, you won’t be able to understand it.”
Another Solarian approached them, “I am Solistis, Rulvaa third class, welcome to the Omicron shipyard. The Commander of this facility is most eager to meet you; if you will follow me I will show you the way to his office.”
Michael and Vargev fell in behind the Solarian stranger. Michael thought he seemed a little stiff compared to Kerulithar, he whispered to Vargev, “what the hell is a Rulvaa third class anyway?”
“Beats the hell out of me.”
“I shall check and see if I can get us a shuttle to Solaria,” Kerulithar said as he slipped off down another corridor; his tattered and burnt ambassadorial robe flowing as he walked. While Vargev; Michael and the Solarian officer continued toward the Commanders office.