In a matter of seconds, all but one Howsh warship had been deactivated—each floundering uselessly about in space. That one command ship, though, was traversing through space with astonishing speed. With each pass, it fired off another volley of devastating plasma fire, causing the Evermore to violently shake.
“We’re going to die… we’re going to fucking die!” Tony yelled.
Cuddy could see the fear in Jackie’s eyes, too. He knew the Evermore couldn’t withstand another hit like the last one.
“Shields are decreasing with each strike, Captain. Down to thirty-two percent,” the orb reported, which was Cuddy’s cue—time to implement phase three. With difficulty, he pulled himself up to his feet and went over to the forward console. Standing beside the AI orb, he stared out the forward observation window. “Go ahead, Bob. Order the orbs still operational back to the Evermore.”
Cuddy watched as the Howsh command ship swung around for another fly by, then closed his eyes. Inhaling a deep breath, he opened them, his mind concentrating on a singular component within the command ship. A few days earlier, Bob provided him with numerous diagrams of what the Marauder’s forward emergency escape hatch looked like. Technical drawings—as well as a myriad of technical data Cuddy didn’t completely understand. But what he did know was how to blow the hatch. While he didn’t have the mental kinetic dexterity to do what the eleven orbs had been tasked with, he knew he could manhandle those three thick metal levers. Each one needed to be flipped over—one hundred eighty degrees—into its opposite seated position. A simple brute-force action that was easy to accomplish—if you were a Howsh standing within the ship.
“Do something!” Tony yelled.
Cuddy, aware the others were now rising to their feet, did his best to concentrate. Again, he mentally pictured the emergency hatch, situated in the forward section of the Marauder. He visualized it in his mind—all its detail. The approaching ship was mere seconds from firing at them again. Cuddy raised a hand, miming the action of someone grabbing on to the cold hard metal of the first lever, then swung his arm over in an arc, feeling the first of the three levers pivot around and slam into its opposing position. He then did the same with lever number two. It too slammed down into position.
The Howsh command ship decided, it seemed, to move in closer proximity before it fired its three powerful plasma cannons. Its purpose, undoubtedly, was to bring the battle to a quick, definitive conclusion. But those two seconds of added time cost them dearly.
Cuddy mentally gripped the last metal lever. With another swing of his arm, the lever pivoted around, and he felt it too slam home.
By this point, the Howsh command ship was close enough for Cuddy to view a remarkable level of detaiclass="underline" the wear and tear on the warship’s hull from three-plus years traversing the cosmos. Also, the forward starboard emergency escape hatch, which never was to be opened without first closing every internal adjacent hatchway.
A small explosion erupted near the bow of the approaching command ship. Fairly insignificant, compared to their blazingly bright plasma bolts that had been coursing through space only moments before—but effective nevertheless.
The Howsh command ship did not return fire but passed right under the nose of the Evermore. Cuddy tracked the ship’s passing with his eyes as long as he could, before it too became nothing more than a white speck in distant space—like so many others.
“What’s happening… why did it leave?” Jackie asked.
Bob said, “That Howsh command ship has currently lost atmospheric integrity. The vacuum of space is pulling all breathable air out through the blown hatch.”
“So they’re all dead?” Jackie asked.
“No…” the orb told her, “but crewmembers are certainly scurrying around trying to save themselves. Environmental suits have been deployed, their hatchways secured, as damage repair teams assemble. The Howsh command ship is now out of commission, at least for a while.”
Kyle asked, “So what’s been accomplished then, since all their ships can be repaired? They’re still a threat. Maybe not right now… but eventually. Soon.”
Cuddy smiled. “True. But we’ve done something else.”
“What’s that?”
“Kept in alignment with the way of the Pashier,” Jackie said, answering before Cuddy could respond.
Cuddy said, “Look, for the Pashier all life is deemed sacred. If they are to make it safely to their new home world… Primara… it cannot be at the expense of others’ lives.”
“Not even the Howsh’s?” Tony asked.
Kyle’s expression changed. “Actually… especially not the Howsh.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Tony replied back. “We killed a bunch of those fur balls back on Earth.”
Cuddy and Kyle exchanged a knowing look.
Late on the previous night, Cuddy, feeling exhausted, left the bridge and made his way into the main cabin where he found Kyle, sitting alone, watching something on the holographic display. “Where’s Tony?” he asked.
“Asleep… everyone’s in their bunks.” He’d replied without looking up.
“What is that?” Cuddy asked, surprised to see Tow speaking into the camera. “Can you make it so it’s understandable?”
“Yeah… wait… there’s a million damn menu settings with this thing.” Leaning forward, Kyle began tracing his finger along the top of the donut–shaped whoopie cushion—like using a giant mouse pad, much to Cuddy’s surprise. Suddenly, Tow’s words were now understandable.
“It just popped on the screen about ten minutes ago… that’s Tow talking, isn’t it?” Kyle asked.
Cuddy sat down next to his brother. “It sure is. He looks a bit younger there, but it’s definitely him.”
“Wait… I’ll restart it for you. I think you’re going to find this interesting.” Kyle quickly restarted the film.
Watching the three-dimensional image of his recently departed friend, Cuddy felt that Tow was looking right at him. As he walked about speaking, Tow smiled and said, “As we discussed in the three previous segments, the Pashier’s evolutionary story is both an exciting and complicated one. And one aspect, which we have only recently discovered, is filled with irony. What I’m about to show you has been buried within the vaults of Calirah, on the nearby planet of Darriall, for over eight thousand years. Our ancestors—both recent and old—did not want any of this to become public knowledge. They went to great lengths to bury the data… both figuratively and literally. Surprisingly, this fateful information was locked away by our own kind, and not by the Howsh. But things on Mahli have changed. Our forefathers are no longer. Our planet has been decimated. The Dirth plague has taken so many of us that very few now remain, outside those abiding in heritage pods. But soon, as the first officer on board an interstellar spacecraft, I will be part of something truly magnificent—a mission to bring us all home… home to a new life. But we cannot repeat the failures of the past. The secrets of the past must now be revealed. As our fleet of fifteen spacecraft await us above, we leave here not knowing if we will be successful. Our future is unknown. Either way, our contributing collaboration, leading to the demise of the Pashier, our wonderful species, must be exposed, for any and all to witness… to learn from. When the time is right… all will be revealed.”