OMEGA Conscript

"February 27, 2015. A sad day it is in the lives of many a science fiction fan. As I finished the final chapter of this book, we lost an icon. Rest in peace, Leonard Nimoy. Our memories of your work will be everlasting!"

S.A.

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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright 2015 Stephen Arseneault. All Rights Reserved

   Chapter 1

The portal back to the Triangulum galaxy had opened. Our handful of ships raced through to the other side. Only upon our arrival did we see the long line of transports and destroyers that were heading through. Hails from our comm were ignored.

I stood on the bridge of the
Garmon
. "We can't just let them all go! That is certain death!"

Jack replied, "Well, we only have about two and a half minutes to decide something. That portal will be closed for another four to six months."

Garrett said, "We'll just have to open it again ourselves then."

Jack pointed to the nav screen. "Those five destroyers sitting over there by the portal structure say that's not going to happen."

I shook my head. "We have to go back through to warn them. They have to be turned around. That is a much bigger force going through there, but it won't be enough once they meet up with those battlecruisers."

Garrett offered an unhappy look. "I'll go back. I'll take the
Jess
."

Joni protested. "If you go, I'm going."

Jack held up his hand. "Hold on. Whoever goes through will have to catch up with those ships. You three need to fight this war from this side of the portal. I'll take the
Garmon
and I'll head after them. I have a trained crew, I have supplies, I am, believe it or not, a trained officer in the Alliance fleet. I can't save my own people, but I can save whoever that was that just went through.

"Now, the four of you have less that two minutes to get your asses on the
Jess
and to get off my ship. Scram! Scoot! You keep anyone else from coming through that gate and I'll have those ships waiting there whenever the portal reopens. No arguments! Move it!"

Jack was right. He was the best option for convincing the others to not leave the portal area.

I grabbed Garrett and Joni by their arms and nodded at Go. "Joni, get Raptor and get on the
Jess
, set us up for a quick exit. Go, Garrett, come with me. We need to bring the Green and the Grumar with us!"

We raced down two decks and into the holding room where the Green was strapped to a bench against a wall. I grabbed him by his good arm and jerked him to his feet, dragging him from the room and into the hall. Go and Garrett emerged from behind us with the Grumar. As I hurried the Green down two more flights of stairs and out to the
Jess
, I did my best to not let him see the Grumar coming from behind. Once up the ramp I forced the Green back into Garrett's cabin, shutting the door behind me. I again strapped him to the bed, keeping him immobilized. Go and Garrett boarded with the Grumar.

Joni closed the ramp, and the
Jess
lifted, hovering just above the deck.

Jack came over the comm. "You're gonna have to take off hot! That portal is about to close and I've gotta go!"

Joni acknowledged, "We're on our way! Head on through!"

We exited the gravity wall with only a few kilometers of space to spare. The
Garmon
proceeded through with the portal closing only moments later.

Garrett remarked. "That had to be close to a thousand transports going through. And an equal number of destroyers. Where could they have gotten all those ships?"

I replied, "They must have other shipyards. What I want to know is what colony they conscripted to send through. That has to be between ten and twenty million people on those transports. That's no small colony."

Joni grabbed our shoulders. "Unless you want us to be taken into custody we need to move! Those destroyers are heading this way!"

I hailed the Talisan ships in our group. "Turn yourselves over to the ships that are approaching. Don't fight them. If they release you, return to Dallex."

Garrett referenced the handful of transports with Adicans that had escaped. "What about them?"

I shook my head. "We can't help them here. We have to get Joni to her uncle. That's the only way we can help them or anyone else."

Garrett nodded. "OK, so, we drop her at the palace for a cup of tea with the king? I don't think he'll be interested in seeing you or me, seeing as how we're wanted men."

Joni replied, "No, just take me there, or at least get me close and I can make it the rest of the way. I'll convince him to pardon both of you and to release the Adicans. I have to believe he will be thrilled to know what we know. We even have two prisoners for his people to interrogate. They will corroborate our stories."

I turned to face her. "I'll be seeing him with you. Aside from me losing you before, he likes me and I believe he will listen to my reason."

Garrett chided. "Likes you? He exiled you! I'm not going near that place until Joni tells me with 100 percent surety that it's safe to do so. Besides, if things go wrong, you'll want to have someone on the outside."

I nodded. "It's decided then. Set a course for Alpha Prime."

Go held up his hand in an attempt to be noticed. "OK then, I guess I'll hang out with Garrett."

Garrett pointed to the comm display. "Those destroyers have been hailing us non-stop. Anything you want to say before we run? Unless they've made improvements over the last set of destroyers, the
Jess
is faster. We will be out of their sensor range in a couple hours, even if they follow."

I gestured with my hand. "Just keep going. They will grill the others about us, the Adicans don't really know who we are and the Talisans think I'm their emperor. They have been told to not speak my name. Hopefully, we make it to Alpha before word of the Talisans gets back from SS241. I'm sure we can count on Layda to delay things for us."

The trip to Alpha Prime took three weeks. The Grumar sat quietly with us in the cockpit while the Green was safely confined in Garrett's cabin. Quarters were cramped, but livable. We approached Alpha by piggybacking on a freighter.

Garrett continued a conversation with Layda. "... yes, credentials for Knog and Joni under other names. They need to be able to move freely through security for just long enough to get down to the planet's surface."

Layda replied, "I can make that happen. What names do they want?"

Garrett smirked as he typed in a response.

I attempted to see what he was typing to no avail. "What are doing?"

Garrett looked up with a smile. "I'm getting you and Joni your credentials."

Layda responded a few seconds later. "OK, identity tokens are coming your way. I'll personally keep filtering requests for the Emperor's full name on this end. They won't get a straight answer as to who he is for at least a few more days."

I replied, "We appreciate all you are doing for us. Hopefully, in another day, the secrecy will no longer be needed."

Layda smiled. "You two freed an entire sector. I'll do whatever is asked of me. Let me know if you need anything else."

Joni looked over the Grotus battle-suit I was wearing. "Walking around in that might be a problem."

I replied, "Unless you can find a shop that sells Grunta-sized clothing, this will have to do."

Garrett laughed. "I don't think anyone will bother you two. They'll be too distracted by your identities!"

Joni asked. "What did you do?"

Garrett pulled up the holo-display over his arm pad. Two names appeared along with identity tokens.

I growled. "You gave me the name of Whip Cream?"

Joni scowled. "Daisy Poppins? Really?"

Garrett laughed. "Oh, come on. Those are funny. And bizarre enough that they won't be questioned! Things have been so tense lately. I thought a little levity might loosen the two of you up before you hop off this freighter, which should be happening in the next few minutes. It looks like they've been cleared to dock. I transferred a modest number of credits to each of your stores. You should be able to buy passage down to the surface without issue."

Joni let out a sigh. "Daisy? That's worse than Jetta! The whole of the Adican command has been calling me Jetta since they grabbed me during the rebellion. Knog stuck me with that."

I replied, "And you stuck me with Bogg. Although I will have to say that it would be much preferred over Whip. I am not a vengeful person, but I can promise retribution for that one at some future point."

Garrett threw up his hands with another smirk. "Hey, I'm just trying to protect the both of you. You're important to me!"

The freighter soon came to a stop.

Garrett lowered the ramp as he brought up an image of the freighter. "Use your gravity boots. It'll be about a half kilometer walk, but you should be able to gain access into the bay where these loading tunnels are connected. Just hop down and walk through there like you belong. Nobody will even notice you."

Go raised his hand as he pointed towards Garrett. "I'll just hang out here with him."

The walk along the exterior of the freighter passed quickly. We jumped down into the docking bay to a flurry of cargo hauling activity. The workers nearby only glanced our way before returning to their tasks.

We walked quickly to the doorway and out into a hall that led to the main terminal area of space port Alpha-26.

A security guard stepped in front of us, gesturing with his hand. "Let's see some identification."

I pulled up my holo-display.

The guard looked. "Whip Cream?"

The guard shook his head. "I guess you're big enough that the other kids didn't torture you about that."

I leaned in with a scowl. "Torture me about what?"

The guard froze. "Uh, nothing. Just trying to... oh, never mind. Ma'am, may I see your credentials?"

Joni held up her display. "Daisy... oh, sorry. You two have a nice day."

The guard quickly turned and walked into the docking bay.

Joni frowned as we continued to walk.

I asked, "What's wrong?"

Joni replied, "Daisy Poppins. It worked. The guy was too embarrassed to question us further. I'm almost disappointed."

We made our way to the main terminal and purchased a shuttle pass to the surface. We were looked at curiously by both the ticket agent and the guard at the shuttle gate. Both moved us along without issue.

The shuttle landed on the surface in the capital city. I remembered my previous ride in the pearl-white limo when receiving an award and a star. So much had transpired since that time. My memory of it seemed like something I had seen in a video, something that had happened to someone else. A transport was hired, and we were soon on our way to Salton city.

Joni scanned several screens on her holo-display. "When we get to the gates, I'll send for my father. We'll be safe with him until we can see my uncle."

I nodded. "You are of good character, Joni Salton. You stood by the Adicans even though you had no duty to do so."

Joni modestly laughed. "Yeah, well, if I'm of good character, you are of great character. You have a family with eighteen little Gruntas to feed and you put your life on the line repeatedly just to save me. I'm not deserving of that effort. I haven't done anything with my life yet, other than try to help the Adicans. And you risked it all to come after me before you even knew I was helping them. No, the two of us don't even compare. I may be Joni Salton, which is only a name, but I'm no Whip Cream!"

I shook my head as the transport pulled into the station. Joni hailed her father on the comm.

"Joni? What the... you're alive! Where are you?" Joseph Salton said excitedly.

Joni replied, "I'm at the main gate. I have Knog Beutcher here with me, he rescued me. Come and get us, we have a lot to discuss."

Joseph Salton nodded. "I'll be right there."

Fifteen minutes later a pearl-white transport showed up. The driver got out, opened the door and gestured for us to climb in. Joseph Salton was not there.

Joni frowned. "I would have thought my own father would come out to see me."

The driver said before closing the door, "Your father will be meeting you at the palace, my lady."

Several minutes later the transport stopped. We stepped out onto the white tile of the main palace entrance. I again took in the look and feel of the majestic white marble and stone and the lush green plants which were covered with flora. Joseph Salton was not there waiting to greet us, four large Human males of the family's personal guard, were.

"Please follow me," one of the guards instructed.

Joni commented in a low voice. "I don't know that I like the way this is going."

We were escorted into a grand room where Joseph Salton was waiting. He opened is arms as Joni ran to him.

"We all thought you were dead!" Joseph Salton said through teary eyes. "How is it you have come back to us?"

Joni's two cousins stood nearby with scowls on their faces. They were not so thrilled to see their rebellious cousin.

"I was caught up in the rebellion on Adicus. I was injured, they took me in and cared for me. When they were forced into conscription, I felt it was partly my fault, because it was my family that was doing it. I went with them through the portal."

Joseph held her at arms length. "Wait, you went through the portal? To the war?"

Joni nodded. "I did. Knog came through and rescued me."

Joseph stepped over and held out his hand in what seemed like a reluctant gesture. "I can't thank you enough for bringing our Joni home to us. I will speak to my brother about your exile."