The Scalian Legacy

As the countdown dipped under ten seconds, Admiral Alterman stared out into space in resignation. Was he about to disappear? He wondered whether they would even notice when the change was starting, or if it would be immediate. Then, he saw something change on the screen. It looked like the gravity well had been shut down. “Did the gravity well..”

“Yes, sir!” Rivas yelled out. “The gravity well has been disabled and the repulsion systems on The Seguura seem to have shut down as well.”

“What is going on?” the admiral wondered. “Have they had any failure in their systems?”

“None that we have detected sir,” Haley, the communications officer, replied.

“Sir, the shield around the Redeemer has been removed!” Rivas said.

“Fire all weapons at the Redeemer!” Alterman bellowed to everyone on the command channel.

The result was immediate. The Redeemer exploded in a bright flash that sent shock waves through all ships in the area. The Explorer jolted backwards. The admiral was knocked to the floor, as were several others. Still, he was all smiles as he looked up to see that there was no Redeemer left out there. Cheers were heard on both the bridge and the command channel.

“We did it, sir!” Rivas cheered. Malarde gave the admiral a hug as he stood. It was soon a bedlam of celebration throughout.

“Yes, this is amazing,” the admiral said. “But, what happened? Why did the Scalians expose the Redeemer?”

“Maybe we are about to get an answer, sir,” Communications Officer Haley said. “I have a request to talk coming from The Seguura.”

“Really?” the admiral said. The surprises just kept coming. “Okay, let’s see what they have to say.”

The holographic display of The Seguura’s bridge appeared, with Captain Rauug at the center. “Hello,” Rauug began. “Admiral Alterman, correct?”

“Yes,” the admiral replied. “Given your dress and the fact that you are on The Seguura, can I assume that you are Captain Rauug?”

“You are correct,” the captain replied. “We allowed you to destroy the Redeemer as an act of good will. We can continue to fight, and in the end likely destroy most of each other, or we can resume the truce, now that the reason for your breaking it is no longer in play.”

“With all due respect, captain, that wormhole of yours is still a significant risk to us,” the admiral said.

“Understood. And we will not have a concern with your ships remaining in place to protect against its use.” The captain had offered Alterman more reason to stop the conflict.

“Well, that’s an offer that we cannot refuse. A cease-fire it is.”

The admiral asked all ships to move into position in front of the wormhole and to stop firing all weapons. Then, the admiral continued: “May I ask where Admiral Tarza is?”

“He is no longer with us,” the captain said. “I am now in charge of what remains of the Scalian fleet, and I would like to meet with you to explain more. I believe we have some older humans on board that you may want to have back, as well. I can bring them with me.”

The captain smiled.