Supreme Star Admiral Hassit, snapped, “I want to watch this primitive thing that you are so afraid of, Hissin!” He started to shove his overweight bulk into Sensor’s seat.
Hissin placed his ceremonial but totally functional firearm against Hassit’s head. “You will remove yourself and allow a trained slave operate her station! If you do not, I will kill you and we will drop your carcass to burn in the atmosphere below!”
Hassit, being quite sure that Hissin would kill him, started to pull himself insultingly slowly from the sensor station’s seat.
Sensors called out in dismay, “It is starting! I need my controls!”
The whole bridge was watching the scene between Admirals unfold. Now they shifted their attention to the big video screen! Sensors was trying frantically to reach past Hassit to reset equipment! Hassit was striking her away when Hissin’s gun fired once.
Hassit looked in unbelieving shock at his hand and whole first joint of his arm spinning across the deck, ripped off by Hissin’s bullet!
On the screen they all watched aghast as the event began.
The spark was near instantaneous. Remote air pressure sensors played a sound that roared like a thousand enraged dragons as the spark grew to ball of light shot through with billows of paler, darker flame. Hurling a huge obscuring ring shaped cloud of debris before it, it continued to expand, filling the whole valley. Even the debris ring cloud, rising thousands of meters was lit from within by the released inferno. Its growth slowed but did not stop at the cradling hills. It took less than seconds for the hills and land about to vanish under the dark cloud that was trying to out race the expanding waves of heat and shock.
Cradled within the roiling curtain of debris picked up from all that it touched, the monster of flame inside it hurled a huge fan of glowing vapor high above the original point of detonation. The enormous reaction raised a dome shaped incandescent cloud, with a ring of points hurled above it like a diabolical crown.
The interior fire, brighter than any sun, winked out. The raging heat and shock waves did not die so easily. Their rising fan of death continued upward, dimming a good bit at the last.
Debris in the form of molten drops of all sizes had been hurled skyward and now were falling back. All around the huge debris ring cloud, a patter of craters formed.
Sensors was possibly the only being not watching. She was attempting to preserve her precious data!
Hissin bodily dragged Hassit out of the seat and hurled him to the deck! Glaring about, he demaded, “How did this PRISONER get out of the brig?”
Fearfully, a slave near the bridge door spoke. “He wished to be on the bridge. He is both a Master and a Supreme Star Admiral.”
Hissin focused his gaze on the speaker. “I do not recognize you. Are you one of the Chain survivors?”
Cringing deeply, the slave replied, “Sir and Master, I am.”
Hissin nodded slowly. “I see. Your lapse was regrettable but understandable. Hassit ruled by fear and brutality. Understand this. He has NO rank. He lost his vessel by criminal misconduct and stupidity. He is a PRISONER being transported for trial.”
Sensors interrupted, screaming, “Incoming! We have solid debris from the event!”
Pilot was only beginning to try maneuver when they all felt the impacts begin! It was over in only about a half minute. Emergency sirens and gongs were sounding throughout the Lash! Damage Control’s board was lit up with the blue of disaster and the yellow of warnings!
Even wounded and cast down, Hassit sneered, “So much for your soft treatment of slaves! Look at this mess!”
Hissin stomped a foot down on Hassit’s torso, keeping him from rising. He grabbed Hassit’s crest and slammed his head to the deck twice!
He hissed in Hassit’s ear, but loud enough to be heard over the whole bridge, “You did this! You threw Sensors out of her seat and refused to let her operate her station! That is WHY we had no warning of this!
“This is the SECOND SHIP IN A ROW THAT YOU HAVE WRECKED BY SIMPLE STUPIDITY!”
Pilot just said, “Sir and Master, we cannot maintain any safe orbit about either the planet or its satellite. Damage control reports that we do not have enough auxiliary power to get us safely to a solar orbit. Only a solar orbit will be safe enough to for us to carry out operational repairs. What should I do?”
Hissin thought for only a moment. “Do we have enough power to establish an eccentric obit tilted enough to keep us from coming between the planet and the satellite?”
The Pilot, Astrogation, Sensors, Engineering, and Damage Control conferred, putting up data and figuring frantically.
Pilot looked up and reported, “Sir and Master, we can do that for up to four days. It will require two adjustments of the orbit so great that we are going to have to shut off artificial gravity for the whole vessel to have enough energy to manage it. After four days, our reserves will be gone.”
From his place on the floor, Hassit tried to snap, “Not good enough! What are you afraid of? These mere primitives?”
Even before Hissin could reply, the one who had inadvertently allowed Hassit to the bridge kicked him in the jaw to silence him. Glaring down at the fallen Hassit, he snapped, “Yes! These PRIMITIVES who move whole worlds without damaging them!
“They destroyed the Chain of Empire without even noticing that one of the Empire’s three most powerful dreadnoughts was there! Your interference here caused the wrecking of this ship by those same PRIMITIVES.
“Whatever that detonation was, it was powerful enough to hurl destructive debris straight up 150 kilometers with enough force that our shields were overcome! We took so much damage that we cannot even get away from this world.
“AND THE SO-CALLED PRIMITIVES STILL HAVE NOT EVEN NOTICED OUR PRESENCE!”
They were interrupted by the all too familiar dry voice of the blue quadruped. “An excellent summation, there! Not quite accurate, but pretty close.”
The elderly creature had quietly appeared on the bridge again.
Almost not surprised, Hissin turned to the newcomer and made a gesture of equals. He was even less surprised when the blue creature returned it.
“In what particular was this slave incorrect? We are most curious to know.”
The blue creature replied, “Mind if I sit? Happy to tell you.”
He folded his legs, using Hassit for a cushion. “While it is true that my foster daughter Luna did not know that the Chain of Empire was there, before the adjustment that she was doing, that mass of conducting material, active circuits and a running Displacement Engine made itself known! The uncorrected energy release when the Chain’s Displacement Engine blew totally ruined her Lunar adjustment. She was pissed, too.
“She made sure that the Chain was down on the moon’s surface, where its presence could be accounted for in her re calculated second adjustment. Your ship happened by just in time to foul up that one.
“I made sure that both of your vessels were totally inert for her third try, which went exactly as it should.
“My foster daughters DO know that you are here, now. They don’t like it, either. In spite of that, Luna is offering you your choice of a lift out to your chosen solar orbit or letting you crash without interference except that she will make certain that you hit an ocean to minimize local damage.
“Your pick, Hissin.”