“Is there a problem, Admiral?” Wandering asked.
Boyce was drawn out of his musing by the unexpected question. “Hmm? No – I’ve been enjoying the food and the chats for the most part.”
“But something is still bothering you, isn’t it?”
Boyce nodded. “I know the ponies are trying their best to not show it, but this aversion you have to me is getting a bit wearing. It puts a bit of a strain on any conversation that I try to have.”
“I see. Perhaps this would be a good time to get away from the crowd for a moment. I was planning to offer to show you around the ship later, but we can do that right now if you would prefer?”
“That sounds like a good idea, and I would appreciate a tour. How is the aversion affecting you though?”
Wandering gave the human a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry about that. After the initial shock, I got that under control. I’m far more used to uncomfortable situations than the majority of the crew and have learned ways to control my emotions.”
“Then let’s get started, shall we?”
As the Park was located at the rear of the ship, it made sense to simply work their way forward. Aside from a maintenance and preparation room for the Park, the crew quarters were closest to it. A griffon emerging from his quarters was happy to show it off for the benefit of their visitor, proudly displaying his House emblem adorning the wall of the small room. The common bathing facilities were next, and finally Wandering let him see the much larger quarters with private bathroom that he shared with Starry.
“I noticed that there seem to be a lot of couples among your crew, Captain – are there shared quarters for them too?”
Wandering chuckled. “Plenty, actually. The single rooms were designed such that the adjacent walls could be removed to make a larger suite for two or more occupants.”
“Ah, that makes sense for the limited space that you have available. How many have you had to convert that way?”
“About three quarters of them.”
Boyce raised a surprised eyebrow. “That many? I’m all for relationships among the crew, especially on a long journey such as yours, but that still seems high. It can’t be that easy to find a compatible person amidst a crew of this size.”
“You would normally be right, but that’s where the changelings come in.”
“The shape-changers? That surprised me when I saw it in action. Are you saying that they change their form and personality to become compatible companions?”
Wandering shook his head. “Personality – no, but form – that depends on the couple. The changelings are a symbiotic species, and because they are emotivores, they seek out suitable people in need of companionship and form a relationship with them. The changeling gives that person what they need and in return they get the emotional sustenance that all changelings require. It could be simply as a good friend, but it often grows into much more. While a changeling can feed on any positive emotion, and in fact the different sub-species have their personal taste preferences, love gives them the most energy. If the changeling is very lucky, they may find a pony or griffin who is also totally compatible with them, such as Xanth and Coldfire who have become mates.”
“I find it hard to believe that a species gets their energy needs from eating emotions.”
Wandering grinned. “Don’t worry, Admiral – it seems a bit strange to most Equians too, even as we enjoy the benefits of such relationships.”
“I saw several eating regular food though.”
“Oh, they are quite capable of eating and enjoying the taste of our food, and in fact they need water and raw material to grow and replace worn-out cells. However, they can’t extract energy from food because their biology is different.”
“Remarkable! I bet Forestwalker would find this fascinating. But if they are so different, does this mean that they can’t have children?”
“We have compatibility spells nowadays that enable drones to have foals if they desire. You have seen the result of one such union. Amethyst Scroll is a unicorn with changeling wings and chitin on her lower legs. At least one changeling trait is often passed on to the child, although it’s not always obvious.”
“I see. Do you have many children on board? I haven’t seen any so far.”
“We have just one foal, and he was unplanned. No one was supposed to get pregnant during our voyage because of the limited resources, and how it would be unfair to the child, but one exception occurred. Come with me – he should be in his parents’ room.”
Wandering led Boyce down a corridor which took them to a room that had its door open already. Peering inside, they were surprised to see Forestwalker already there. Shi noticed Boyce and waved him in.
“Boyce! You have to see this! He’s adorable!”
Wandering noticed the amused and indulgent expression on Coldfire’s face and judged that it was okay to enter. He allowed the human to precede him and they approached the double bed where Coldfire lay curled around her foal who was fast asleep.
Forestwalker said, “This is Skyborn – isn’t he the cutest thing you’ve ever seen?”
Boyce personally felt inclined to agree, but he judiciously answered, “He’s almost as cute as our cubs were when they were his age.”
The chakat looked at him with a smirk on her muzzle. “Smart answer. Anyway, I got to hold him for a little while as Coldfire and I chatted. He radiated so much happiness, it was all I could do to hand him back.”
Boyce smiled indulgently before looking at the happy mother of the foal. “A word of advice when it comes to chakats – they’re suckers for children and might snuggle your foal nearly to death.”
Coldfire laughed. “Yes, I got that impression.”
“Well, I will leave you to my mate’s tender mercies for now. Your captain is giving me a tour of your ship, and we have a lot to see as yet.”
“I’m sure that we’ll be seeing more of each other in the future, Admiral Kline.”
Wandering then led Boyce to their next destination which was the common room/mess hall which was almost empty at this time. Sparks was one of the exceptions, and shi was lying next to one of the low coffee tables and engaged in conversation with an earth pony stallion who had his forelegs propped up on the chakat’s lower torso. They seemed to be engrossed in debating an engineering topic while referencing something on the table, so Boyce did not disturb them. Hopefully Sparks was gaining some valuable insight into their hosts’ systems.
Wandering was privately amused when he realized that the stallion was a changeling whom he identified as Xeros through the network. It seemed that there was a practical demonstration of how changelings interacted with other species happening right under the human’s nose without him even realizing it.
Next came a large number of rooms dedicated to a variety of research projects, all currently unattended of course. To Boyce’s surprise, the bridge came next.
“You have your bridge located well back from the bow of your ship – why is that?”
“It’s the heart of the ship, and best protected there. Besides, the forward section is dedicated to another purpose which we will get to soon. Let me show you how the bridge operates.”
Two crewpersons were still on duty, although they had very short shifts as they interchanged with other bridge crew so that they could all have the opportunity to enjoy the party. They happily demonstrated the purpose of the various stations to their human guest. Boyce found many to be quite familiar in function, although bewildering in how they actually worked, and he left with more questions than answers.
Maintenance and engineering departments were next, and the latter was even more incomprehensible to the engineering-trained human. Both he and Wandering were surprised to encounter Techbird working at one of the stations. Boyce was fascinated to see in person the translucent crystalline griffon. In defiance of all logic, the obviously inorganic creature seemed just as supple and full of life as any other being that he had met so far on this ship.
“What are you up to, Tech?” Wandering asked quietly. “Shouldn’t you be at the party?”
The griffoness was startled, and jerked her head around to look at Wandering. “Oh! Captain – I… Galena is busy schmoozing with our guests, and I wanted to pursue that idea that I told you about earlier.” She gestured at the large monitor screen on the wall in front of her. It was covered with equations and diagrams that exceeded Wandering’s expertise, but surprisingly made more sense to Boyce.
Techbird continued, “Admiral – I noticed on the recordings that we made of your ship as it approached that the star-field behind it seemed to be distorted. Upon measuring those distortions and the vectors of the ship, I determined that it was using a reactionless drive that involved manipulation of space itself.”
Boyce blinked in surprise. “That is essentially correct, although more precisely it’s space-time manipulation. At its simplest, the Pegasus contracts space and the ship moves along in that direction.”
Techbird’s smile of vindication was enormous, but she was not finished. “I extrapolated those results, and I believe that given some time and resources, I could build a version of that drive that could accelerate us to virtual speeds far greater than that of light. If we can locate Equus, we might have an alternative means of getting home.”
“What do you mean by virtual speeds?” Wandering asked.
“We’ve already determined that it is impossible to exceed the speed of light by purely physical means, but this method does not actually require doing so. Instead, by contracting space-time in front and expanding space-time behind the ship, a warp bubble would form and push the ship forward through the universe faster than light while its relative speed remained zero!”
Boyce was stunned. Merely from observing the Pegasus approaching their craft, this strange being had made a logical leap that had taken decades for humans to make. She had to be some kind of genius! There was one disturbing flaw to her idea though.
“I strongly suggest that you do not build a drive like that,” Boyce said earnestly.
The griffoness gave him a disturbingly intense stare. “Why not?” she asked.
“That is what is we call an Alcubierre Drive, and it has a very serious problem. You would probably destroy or at least irradiate anything directly ahead of you at your target destination.”
“How so, Admiral?” Wandering asked.
“Space is not just an empty void between point A and point B… rather, it’s full of particles that have mass and those can get swept up by the warp bubble and focused in regions before and behind the ship, as well as within the warp bubble itself. When an Alcubierre-driven ship decelerates from superluminal speed, the particles its bubble has gathered are released in energetic outbursts of gamma rays and extremely high-energy atomic nuclei. In the case of forward-facing particles, the outburst can be enough to destroy anyone at the destination directly in front of the ship. The further you travel, the more particles and the more energy that it gains. Go far enough and you could destroy the entire ecosystem of a planet!”
Wandering gulped. That was a serious flaw.
Techbird glared at Boyce for a long moment before she sighed. “I had not foreseen that possibility. And yet, I still feel that there is an answer to be found in those equations.”
Boyce nodded. “You are correct. Warp drive goes another level further. The only way to avoid the problem with particles in space is to leave space entirely.” Had he given away too much? Would this remarkable being figure out how warp drive took a ship into hyperspace merely from that hint? He both dreaded and eagerly anticipated the answer to that question.
“We’ll leave you now, Techbird,” Wandering said, “but I suggest you take a break and socialize a bit. I’m sure Galena would appreciate the company.” As the griffoness looked wistfully at her work, the alicorn added, “The equations can wait. I’m sure that it’s going to take more than one evening to crack that problem.”
The tour continued, but as impressed that Boyce had been so far, it was the final stop that was to be the most amazing.
“This is Engineering, and here we have the power source of the Cosmic Lotus,” Wandering announced.
At the far end of the machine-packed room was a huge spherical chamber about forty meters in diameter that occupied all the levels at the forward end of the spaceship. There were several pylons isolating it from the majority of the vessel, with the decks ending about a meter from its surface. Guardrails along the edges allowed Boyce to safely look down to the lower decks and up to another from all around the structure. There were many conduits leading from the chamber to various equipment in the engineering section – some of them obviously for fluids but others mystified the human. However, there was only one obvious entry into it, and a ramp bridged the gap between the deck and the hatchway.
“Would you like to have a look at the mini-star?” Wandering asked.
Boyce blinked in surprise. “Are you saying this is a fusion reactor? It’s nowhere near big enough for that!”
“Judge for yourself,” Wandering said with a smile. His magic carried two pair of goggles from a hook nearby. “You’re going to need this,” he said, passing one of them to the admiral.
Boyce adjusted the strap on the goggles and donned them. Wandering looked at the changeling crewperson on duty who nodded and put on a pair of goggles too. The alicorn then fitted his and walked over to the hatchway door which he unlatched and opened. Intense light flooded the room, but the goggles automatically adjusted to bring it down to bearable levels. Boyce was urged to peer through the window that the hatch had covered, and he gaped in shock. Suspended in the middle and filling over half the volume was a sphere glowing with light and heat, its surface crawling with patterns that anyone familiar with the photosphere of a star would have recognized. This was no fusion chamber, but what he was seeing had to be impossible.
“That… that’s a miniature star!” he gasped.
“Exactly as I said,” Wandering replied. “It powers our systems, light-tubes from the chamber illuminate the entire ship, heat from it is used for various purposes, and small portions of it were used to make light bombs and concussion bombs that were used to accelerate and decelerate the ship.”
Boyce was overwhelmed. This technology was far beyond anything that the Federation had produced, and here it was tucked neatly inside a starship propelled by a solar sail! Although they lacked a means of travelling faster than light, these strange beings had more than matched the Pegasus’ power capabilities. They even had artificial gravity! He pulled out a small PADD from his pocket to test for what he suspected. Confirming his hunch, the mini-star’s chamber was giving off the tell-tale indication of the Swarm’s mysterious energy – so much that it exceeded his device’s ability to measure the spectral flux density. Such an enormous amount of power under their complete control! If this was an example of what these Equians could achieve, how much of a threat could they prove to be to the Federation if they chose to be hostile rather than throwing a party?
With the tour completed, Wandering led Boyce back in the direction of the Park via a lower deck level so that they did not simply retrace their steps. On their way, they almost bumped into Ortzi and Helen coming out of a side corridor, both of whom were nervously concerned about nearly colliding with their commanding officers.
“Pardon me, sir,” Helen said, snapping a salute.
“What have you been up to, Lieutenant Baines?” Boyce asked. “I was looking for you earlier.”
“Crewman Ortzi was showing me some of the ship’s systems, sir,” shi replied.
Wandering was hoping that the human couldn’t read griffon expressions well because he doubted that was all that Ortzi had been showing the rabbit person this close to the crew quarters.
Boyce nodded. “I expect that you will have a lot to report later. Carry on.”
“Don’t get too carried away, Ortzi,” Wandering added. “You’ll have to leave something to show your friend the next time Baines visits.”
If the human couldn’t read Ortzi before, the blush that was betrayed by his ears surely must have been a giveaway. “Yes, sir!”
Wandering managed to conceal a grin as he and Boyce continued on to the Park.
The party started to wind down about an hour later, and eventually Boyce put out a call over the combadges for the visitors to rendezvous for a return trip to the Pegasus. Wandering shuttled them back over, with the Admiral going on the second trip. He paused just before exiting the skiff to talk to the alicorn.
“Thank you very much for your hospitality, Captain Path. It was both pleasant and educational.”
“You’re welcome, Admiral Kline. I hope that we can continue to further our relationship soon,” Wandering replied.
“I assure you, your ship and its crew have certainly made an impact on both me and the Federation already. We will talk again soon.” Boyce then stepped out of the craft to join Forestwalker, M’Lai and Midnight who had been waiting for him.
Wandering sealed up the door and headed back to the Cosmic Lotus, well satisfied with how events had played out. Now he had only to wait to reap some potential rewards.
Boyce spent a good deal of time debriefing every member of the crew who had attended the party. Then he called a meeting of all the heads of departments plus several other relevant crewmembers. He started with a summary of what had been learned.
“The Cosmic Lotus is crewed by a mixture of races. Primary among them seem to be the species that designates themselves as ponies. Although they do indeed possess many equine features, it is obvious they are vastly different from Terran species – even more so than an equine morph in many cases. They are separated into several sub-species including what would otherwise be considered mythological – unicorns and pegasuses.”
“They say pegasi usually,” Forestwalker offered.
“Noted, Shir Forestwalker,” Boyce replied a little curtly. “Of a similar natural build to the ponies but with insectoid characteristics are the changelings. These actually outnumber all the other species combined, but mostly serve in a symbiotic partnership with them rather than acting in dominant roles. The one exception is Princess Galena who is described as a queen changeling. Their most obvious and remarkable trait is their ability to shape-change into facsimiles of other species which are indistinguishable from the originals. I’m told that due to mass-constraints, there’s a limit to how small or big that they can become, however. Next most common are the griffons – another supposedly mythological species. Unlike the ponies, they are a lot closer to our descriptions of their species, although with a larger variety of avian and feline sections than the classic eagle-lion combination. Rounding off the crew, we have zebras that are similar in build to the ponies, a bipedal canine species they call diamond dogs, a minotaur, and even a small dragon-equine hybrid.”
“That ‘small’ dragon is over a century old, sir,” Midnight pointed out.
“Yes. Even if their year differs significantly from our standard year, that is a lot. And despite the fact that he’s bigger than the ponies, I’m told that he has a great deal further to grow as he’s only a very young dragon as yet. And he breathes fire! There are so many creatures from Terran mythology on board that starship that it can’t be a coincidence, but it’s difficult to comprehend how they are found light-years away from their presumed origin.”
“And then there’s what they call magic. Although it has been conclusively shown that there is no such thing as what we think of as magic, there is mounting evidence that we may be wrong about that. Frankly, there is no explanation for how half their equipment operates otherwise. Added to that is their power source and the mystery energy that the Swarm also employs. Gentlebeings, we are confronted by a civilization that poses so many questions for us, we cannot be sure if they are potential new additions to the Federation, or a threat to everything and everybody we hold dear.”
“I keep telling you that I can detect nothing but friendly intentions from them,” Forestwalker protested.
Boyce frowned and replied, “Forest – there’s a saying that I’m sure that you’re familiar with: ‘The road to hell is paved with good intentions.’ I can’t afford to assume that something so outside of our experience is totally harmless. That is why I am charging each and every one of you here today to put your best efforts into analyzing all the data that we brought back from our visit to their ship, and getting me and Star Fleet Command some answers that we can rely on. For now, these Equians remain a wild card that we can ill afford to have in play.”
“So – how do you think it went?” Starry asked Wandering as they headed for the bridge. The ship had finally resumed normal operations after everything had been cleaned up post-party.
“We gave it our best shot, and I believe we impressed our guests with both the crew and the ship. I’m confident that we have made strong inroads into a beneficial relationship. Now, if we have to wait for months to get in contact with home, at least we will have an alternative to limping around this star system.”
“We came here to do research – discovering another civilization is just icing on the cake,” Starry reminded him. “There’s still an enormous amount we can achieve with or without these Federation people.”
“While that is true, we can learn more and faster if we can forge an alliance. I believe that we have much to offer them too.”
“Give them time. After all, we only just met them a few days ago.”
Wandering chuckled. “I know, and I’m the one who talked about how long it can take to establish a relationship with a new nation. However, given their mixture of species and their adventurous nature, I hope to find kindred spirits rather than suspicious strangers.”
“Some aren’t quite strangers anymore. Have you noticed Ortzi lately?”
The alicorn stallion grinned and nodded. “Talk about the cat-bird that caught the mouse – or the rabbit in this case. He surprised me hugely. After all these years in space without a partner, he gets smitten with a bunny mare. I wonder how she feels about it?”
“According to a couple of drones that encountered them, I’d say that the feeling was mutual. Talk about an odd couple!”
“Are they sure about that?”
His partner waved a hoof airily. “You’re the one with the changeling network connection, so check for yourself.”
“I’ll take your word for it. I don’t delve that deeply into the crew’s personal space unless the situation requires it.”
The two of them arrived at the bridge, and the personnel on duty acknowledged Wandering’s arrival.
“I’m ready to relieve you, Commander,” Wandering told Bluequill. “Anything to report?”
“Yes, Captain,” the griffon replied. “While there has been no further activity from the Federation ship, we need to look at resuming our deceleration. We can’t afford to wait for them much longer.”
“What’s the problem?”
Playbitz spoke up from his station. “It’s our current orbit around the Far Star, Captain.” He threw an image up on the main screen that showed the position of the star and planets as well as the Cosmic Lotus. A line indicated their trajectory. “If we do not resume braking maneuvers almost immediately, we will not have enough fuel for the vectoring rockets to make a rendezvous with the inhabited planet. In fact, if we don’t slow down at all, we will shoot right through this star system with no hope of returning for a long time.”
“We can’t have that,” Wandering replied. “I assume that you have recalculated our course?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Then let’s get started.” Wandering took his place in the command chair and pushed an intercom button. “Engineering – prepare to resume orbital maneuvers.”
“Engineering here. Aye, Captain.”
“Sir – the Cosmic Lotus has started decelerating again,” the helmsman reported over the intercom.
Boyce looked up from the report that he was reviewing at his desk. “What?! Put it on my screen.”
The image formed just in time for him to see a concussion burst and the subsequent glow of the force field that absorbed the momentum. It was quickly followed by another. He reached for the comm unit that the Equians had left with him.
“Cosmic Lotus – this is Admiral Kline. Please respond.”
After a brief wait, Wandering’s voice came back. “This is Cosmic Lotus. How can I help you, Admiral?”
“I did not give you permission to resume orbital maneuvers, Captain.”
“I was not aware that I required your permission, Admiral. We stopped of our own volition, and now we have merely resumed operations.”
“You are now in Federation territory and specifically in Chakona-controlled space. As a non-allied ship, we require you to subject yourselves to our directives.”
Wandering’s voice held an edge when he replied. “Admiral – are you familiar with the concept of Freedom of the Seas? We regard open space such as we are currently in as a similar situation and expect the right to safely navigate through it.”
Boyce frowned, acknowledging that he had a point. Nevertheless he could not let them proceed. “Due to current circumstances, martial law supersedes that right. I am ordering you to cease your maneuvers immediately.”
There was a long pause before Wandering replied. “Acknowledged, Admiral.”
There was no further word from the Cosmic Lotus, but Boyce’s screen showed that they had stopped decelerating.
Boyce shut off the comm, dissatisfied with how the relationship with the Cosmic Lotus had now been soured.
Wandering slammed a hoof into the armrest of his chair, permanently denting it.
“Celestia damn it! After all we did, this is how they treat us?”
“I thought that we had reached some sort of rapport with them,” Starry commented. “I did not see this coming. What was that about martial law though? No one mentioned anything about it at the party.”
Wandering scowled. “I’m beginning to think that they have been keeping something from us. I put down changeling reports of suspicion and mistrust among the visitors as merely because of unfamiliarity with strangers, but now I reckon that I was being overoptimistic.”
Bluequill said, “You ponies have ever been so. You need a bit more griffon perspective. Griffonia has been Equestria’s strong claws for over a century for that reason. Time for you to be more proactive, Captain.”
The alicorn grimaced and nodded. “You’re right, Galen. And I think I have an idea how to go about it. Commander – you have the bridge. Starry – come with me.”
Wandering stormed off the bridge with Starry hastening after him. Without a word, he headed towards their room, and he locked the door behind them.
“What are you up to?” Starry asked.
“I’m going to get us some answers in a way that only I can do,” Wandering replied grimly as he started getting out of his uniform.
“Aren’t you overreacting a little?”
“I have been admonished like a foal, and we have been kept in the dark about something important enough to restrict our right to free movement. After going out of our way to be friendly, I am more than disappointed in their response.”
“Can’t you at least give them more time to explain?”
“We don’t have the luxury of time. We need answers now and we are too much at their mercy. It’s time to even out the playing field.” Green magic flames enveloped him, and moments later a chakat stood in his place. This time Wandering had chosen a tiger-striped fur pattern and long dark-brown hair. Hir size was between that of Midnight and Sparks, and with a more modest bust than the mimicry of Forestwalker’s form. “We’ve seen three of these chakats so far which leads me to believe that they are fairly common among their crew, and they all have feline fur patterns. I should be able to sneak around their ship unnoticed,” shi said in a pleasant feminine voice.
“Not without clothes, you won’t,” Starry commented.
“All three only wore a uniform top. I just need a replica made to suit me.”
“Ah! That’s why you need me,” Starry said with a grin.
Wandering nodded. “That, and I need someone aware of what I am doing. I’m going to call in Galena too. I need to maintain contact with the network without every changeling being alert to what I am up to.”
“Well, while you do that, I’ll get to work on your new outfit. What color should yours be?”
“Red should be the safest, I think.”
“One red shirt coming up!”
Wandering teleported into the Pegasus’ shuttle bay – specifically into an alcove near the door. Having been in the bay earlier, shi had a firm lock on the place, but unfortunately that was the only area that shi had been so far, so that had limited hir choices to one. Shi waited to see if shi had triggered some sort of an alarm before shi headed for the door. Shi passed through a prep room before entering a corridor that was fortunately free of anyone at the time. That would save any awkward questions.
Wandering headed down the corridor. ‘The secret to a good infiltration is to look like you belong,’ shi reminded hirself, adjusting hir stride to look confident and with a purpose in mind.
When shi came to another door similar to the one shi had just exited, shi cautiously entered. This time the room held a couple of personnel – a male Caitian and female wolf morph. When they looked hir way, shi gave them a nod of acknowledgement which they returned and went about their business. Confident that hir disguise was working well, Wandering then continued into the next section and found hirself in another launch bay. This one did not contain utilitarian shuttle craft. No – these looked every bit like military fighter craft, each being kept in a steady state of readiness by the crew working there.
The disguised alicorn made hir way down the rows of craft, hir replica PADD held as if shi was checking things as shi went. Occasionally shi received and returned salutes from the workers – Starry had provided hir uniform with a replica combadge with a lieutenant commander’s rank. It was considered high enough to allow hir to go places without being expected to be giving commands.
After hir ‘inspection’ of the status of the fighters, Wandering concluded that they were indeed in a state of war-readiness as the imposition of martial law implied. Was it hir ship that was considered the source of the threat or some other source? Shi needed to learn more.
Shi made hir way out of that section of the ship and back to the main corridor once more. Shi eventually came to a junction point which contained what looked like an elevator. Fortunately, a crew member who came down an adjoining corridor walked up to it before shi got there. It soon opened without the need to call for it, and the human male waited patiently for Wandering to join him.
“Deck two,” the human announced.
Rather than showing hir ignorance, Wandering nodded and said, “Same for me.”
The chakat stepped out into what seemed to be a totally different ship. Rather than the more utilitarian area shi had just left, this section had a high ceiling, ornate design, large view windows, sculptures, and even a fountain. It reminded hir a great deal of Canterlot Castle.
‘Such an odd juxtaposition of warlike and peaceful pursuits. What kind of ship is this anyway?’ Wandering asked hirself as shi continued on, almost forgetting to keep up hir purposeful air. After exploring that level and coming to the conclusion that it was made to impress, shi headed back to the elevator. Shi experimented with deck numbers and discovered crew quarters and recreational areas, workshops, and then the entrance to the Engineering Department. There shi was balked as the door refused to open for hir.
“Unauthorized access,” announced a disembodied voice.
Wandering frowned. They had no such restricted areas on the Lotus, and it had slipped hir mind that this ship might have such. Shi hastened back to the elevator to leave the area. The door opened, but before shi could enter, a black chakat emerged with a weapon pointed at Wandering.
“Who are you, and what are you doing on my ship?” demanded Commander Midnight.
Wandering agreed with Eon’s assessment of the weapon’s capabilities and shi had no reason to doubt that hir personal shield could easily stop it, but it would serve no purpose to fight the Security Chief. Shi had been caught, and left with only two alternatives – flee or go along with Midnight. The latter promised the possibility of more answers though, so shi raised hir hands, hoping that this gesture was universally recognized. “I surrender to your authority, Commander Midnight. I request a talk with Admiral Kline.”
“My thoughts exactly. Get on the elevator.”
Midnight escorted Wandering to the Security Chief’s office where she held hir prisoner under the watchful eyes of two of hir deputies while shi called the Admiral. It was not long before Boyce joined Midnight in the office and the two started to question hir.
“Let’s start with the obvious – who are you?” Boyce asked. “There isn’t a chakat resembling you in our records.”
Wandering was loath to reveal hir secret ability to shape-change, but shi could not see any reasonable alternative. Shi still lacked vital information and shi would never learn anything more if shi simply teleported away, and shi did not know enough about these people to brazen hir way through the questioning. “I am Captain Path,” shi replied.
Boyce’s eyebrows raised in surprise. “You’re a changeling then?”
“No, I’m an alicorn. My mother is an alicorn, but my sire is a changeling queen. I inherited the ability to shape-change from him.”
“A queen? Like Princess Galena?”
“Yes, only he’s a chrome changeling. Queens can assume fertile male forms unlike drones. Dad prefers being male.”
“Can you resume your normal form then?”
“As long as these guards don’t shoot me as I do so,” Wandering replied. Shi wasn’t really concerned about the weapons, but shi wasn’t about to give away any more secrets.
Midnight addressed the two guards. “Their shape-changing involves what looks like fiery effects. Don’t be startled by them.”
The guards nodded acknowledgement, and Wandering resumed his normal form. The uniform hung uncomfortably on his body, but he ignored it.
Boyce asked, “How do I know that I am actually addressing Captain Path and not a changeling pretending to be him?”
“I suppose you will have to take my word for that, but I can say that I would not send a drone to do this.”
“How did you get aboard my ship?”
Wandering shrugged. “I snuck on.”
“Some more of this so-called magic of yours, I suppose. Why were you spying on us?”
“Why won’t you share with us?” Wandering retorted. “We opened up to you completely, showed you around my ship, answered all your questions, threw you a party, and yet you give so little in return! The last straw was when you banned us from continuing our deceleration. How arrogant are you to presume control vast volumes of empty space?”
“We have a lawful claim, and reasons to enforce it.”
“Yes – reasons. Reasons for all those fighter ships that I saw earlier. Why are you so afraid of us, Admiral?!”
“We’re the ones asking the questions, Captain Path,” Midnight said sternly.
“I’ve answered more than enough questions over the past couple of days. Now it’s your turn. You’re obviously not peaceful explorers like us, so that makes me suspect the opposite.”
“You’re wrong, Captain. We desire nothing but peace, but we have no choice than to be ready for war,” Boyce said sadly.
“And how are we a threat to you? You have dozens of fighter ships, and I suspect you have many other weapons at your call. We have none whatsoever.”
“You have those energy balls that you use to propel your ship. One of those could severely damage my ship.”
“Oh yes, I can just see it now. As I slowly turn the Cosmic Lotus with my vectoring rockets so that I can point my vessel directly at yours, you remain frozen in terror at what is to come,” Wandering replied with all the scorn that he could pour into his voice.
Boyce had no answer to that. However, there was still one other thing that needed to be addressed. “The nature of your energy source is an unknown quantity to us, and therefore a risk.”
Wandering sighed. “It’s clear to us that you know nothing of mana and magic. You merely fear out of ignorance.”
“How can we believe in magic when it has always proven to be nothing more than misdirection and illusion?”
“Nothing more? Can I ask you one question then? How did you conceive children with no less than three different and totally unrelated species? Even we can’t do that without magic. Or is that a illusion too?”
That question floored Boyce. He had always put their conception down to the manipulation of the Rakshan deities, but how exactly had they made him super inter-fertile? Magic was such a glib answer, but here was an entire civilization that claimed to use it on a daily basis. “You have a point, but that also means that you are an even greater potential danger to us. We cannot afford to have you wander through our star systems with impunity.”
“WHY?!” Wandering shouted as he leaned forward, practically in Boyce’s face. “Why do you fear us so much?”
“Because the power that you wield is the same one that has destroyed worlds and killed tens of thousands of Federation citizens. We are at war with a merciless enemy, Captain Path, and if you are even remotely connected to them, then you may be our enemy too,” Boyce replied with deadly seriousness.
Wandering leaned back and considered what Boyce had just said. He nodded and said, “I am not your enemy, Admiral, not unless you make me one. Just let us continue without interference. We will respect your sovereignty to the inhabited world that you call Chakona and will not attempt to land there without your permission. We just wish to explore and learn, and while we would prefer to do so in your company, we will do so even without it.”
“Perhaps we could have allowed that eventually, but now there’s the matter of you spying on a Star Fleet vessel. I cannot simply ignore that,” Boyce replied a little sadly.
“I would say discovering more than spying because the latter implies hostile intentions. But this ship does have me a bit puzzled. Why is it part warship and part opulent cruise ship?”
“The Pegasus is the flagship of the First Fleet. As such, it is tasked to not only fight battles, but also to entertain dignitaries and diplomats. Star Fleet is more than just a military force – we prosecute peace as well as war, and diplomacy is our strongest tool.”
“Then be a diplomat and agree that this was just a misunderstanding. I will return to the Cosmic Lotus and we will continue to peacefully engage in our mission.”
“I’m afraid that I cannot allow you to go back, Captain,” Boyce said sternly.
Wandering sighed. “And I’m afraid that I cannot agree to stay. Very well, you leave me no choice.”
Wandering’s horn lit up, and the guards reflexively fired to stun him, but as the alicorn had surmised, his shield harmlessly absorbed the blasts. Then he disappeared.
“Damn! He’s a teleporter!” Midnight blurted out.
“Which explains how he snuck aboard the ship,” Boyce agreed. “Two can play at that game though. Prepare boarding teams. We’re going to introduce them to Federation transporter technology.”
Wandering reappeared in his room where Starry had been waiting for him. Upon seeing him in his natural form, she said, “Uh-oh. Things went wrong, I gather?”
“Yeah. Tripped a security alarm and got caught by Commander Midnight and taken to be questioned by Admiral Kline. I decided to be candid and tried to persuade him to be reasonable, but I think things have just gotten worse rather than better.”
“I hate to say this, but I didn’t think it was a wise idea from the start.”
“Maybe not, but I nevertheless learned a lot. They’re afraid of our magic. Apparently they’re fighting an enemy that uses it, and they are associating us with them.”
“That’s silly. We’ve done nothing but be nice and friendly – with your jaunt over there the single exception.”
“Mistake or not, at least we have a better idea of how things actually stand between us.” Wandering pulled off the now useless Federation top and started getting into his ship uniform. “It’s time we took things back into our own hooves. We’re going to resume our deceleration whether Admiral Head-up-his-plot wants us to or not.”
Starry could tell that Wandering was angry despite a relatively calm exterior. Name-calling just wasn’t in his nature. Arguing with him right at this moment would not achieve anything, so she just went with the flow. She followed him out as he stormed off in the direction of the bridge.
As soon as he hit the bridge, Wandering said to Playbitz without preamble, “Have you got a new deceleration program ready?”
“Been keeping one constantly updated, Captain.”
“Good stallion. Set our course.” Wandering informed Engineering to start up the system before even sitting down in his chair.
Radiance Point had just reported readiness and Wandering was about to tell Playbitz to engage when three columns of sparkling energy appeared on the bridge. As the surprised bridge crew watched, they resolved into the forms of Commander Midnight, Admiral Kline, and Sergeant Harrakar. Each had a large and dangerous-looking weapon held at the ready.
Boyce spoke up. “Security teams are now transporting aboard throughout your entire ship. In the name of the Stellar Federation, I am ordering you to surrender control of this vessel, and I am placing you under arrest for espionage, Captain Path.”
Wandering was already aware of the boarding parties as changelings were reporting over the network. He had underestimated Star Fleet almost as much as they had underestimated him. He still had a few surprises up his sleeve though.
“I am sorry that it has come to this, Admiral. We should have been good friends. Why couldn’t you have just trusted us?”
“As it happens, I would have done so, but Star Fleet Command insisted that I detain you, and that is what I am doing. You do understand chain of command, don’t you?”
“I do indeed. Consider this my formal rejection of Star Fleet Command’s demands.”
While he had been talking, part of Wandering’s mind was engaged with all the changelings in the network. At his signal, they all simultaneously used their horns to send stunning beams at the invaders. Some of the Star Fleet security team managed to get off shots though. One made the bad mistake of trying to shoot Galena, only to have Techbird interpose herself between them. Her crystal body harmlessly refracted the energy beam. Her talons were not as kind to the offending shooter as she leapt at him with a skree of rage.
On the bridge, Pax had taken out Harrakar, his body armor proving totally ineffective against the magic blast. Midnight had reacted incredibly swiftly, diving out of the way of a follow-up burst, only to be hit by Starry instead. Boyce’s finger had jammed down on the trigger of his weapon, and it poured an unceasing beam of violent energy directly at Wandering’s chest… only to be dissipated harmlessly centimeters from impact as the alicorn dispassionately watched. Then he crushed the weapon with his telekinesis and tossed it aside.
“If I was a spy, does that make you pirates, Admiral? We both had our reasons for doing what we did, but only you threatened harm to my crew. Some of them have been hurt, but more of yours have been injured by this foolish invasion.”
“How do you know that?”
“Just as you obviously didn’t know that our horns can be weapons too, there are other things that you have yet to learn about us.”
“So – what happens now, Captain? Star Fleet will not let you simply capture us and leave you alone.”
“I have no intention of keeping you prisoner, Admiral. I have already stated my intentions – if you choose not to believe me, that is sad but not my problem. Go back to your ship, and leave us alone!”
Wandering’s horn flared and the three invaders on the bridge were teleported back to their ship – a meter above the floor of the shuttle bay.
“Starry – care to help me with clean-up?” Wandering asked as he headed for the exit.
“With pleasure, Captain,” Starry replied as she hastened to follow.
“Captain! Do you still want to resume deceleration?” Playbitz called out.
“Of course. Be prepared to engage as soon as I or Starry returns to provide the mass-cancellation spell. And put up our shield – full ship coverage!”
Wandering and Starry split up in order to cover more of the ship and teleport the Star Fleet crew back to the Pegasus. The invaders who had been stunned by the changelings were the lucky ones. Any who had tried to get a griffon to quietly surrender at gunpoint quickly discovered that the cat-birds did not believe in doing so, and responded swiftly and violently. While all of the Security forces survived, some were in need of hospitalization as soon as they were sent back.
As soon as Wandering encountered Techbird, he asked, “Did you witness how those troops got aboard our ship?”
Techbird nodded. “A fascinating but poor substitute for teleportation. Horrendously wasteful of power too.”
“So how hard would it be to block it?”
“Pfft! Chick’s play!”
“Do it. I don’t want them to come back better prepared to deal with us next time.”
“Aye, Captain. I’ll have the shield modified soon.”
Wandering headed back to the bridge, but noticed the tell-tale feel of a mass-cancellation spell engulf the ship. Starry must have finished before him. Upon arrival at the bridge, he saw her lying on the couch that they used while concentrating on the spell.
“Did you have any problems, Starry?”
“Nothing significant, Captain. A few lightly injured crew at worst.”
“Good. We came out of this pretty well, but now I’m wondering if we can salvage anything out of this situation.”
“As long as the crew is safe, we’re doing okay. Perhaps nowhere near as good as we hoped, but we’ve survived worse.”
“Yeah – I wasn’t thrilled about our ride through the wormhole either. It pains me to think that we may have to consider going back…”
There was a pop and a flash of light to one side.
“There you are!”
The bridge crew all stared at the newcomer and then gave a cheer.
Destined grinned and waved a hoof. “Sorry that it took me so long to locate you. I’m an idiot.”
“Huh? What do you mean, Des?” Wandering asked.
“Well, I told Mom that I was not willing to mess with the timeline just to ensure your safety when in fact you may have survived your encounter with that strange phenomenon.”
“It’s called a wormhole,” Starry supplied helpfully.
“Whatever. Anyway, I said that I could wait for months to hear from you and go back in time if necessary. Then it finally got through my dense head that I didn’t have to wait – I could jump into the future without affecting it, look for your beacon, and return to the present. Sorry for the unnecessary delay. It seemed like a huge jump though. Where did you end up?”
“Have a look for yourself, Your Highness,” Playbitz said as he put the outside view up on the main screen.
The alicorn’s jaw dropped. “How… how many…?”
“Billions and billions and billions!” Starry said with a grin.
“Sweet Mama Luna! How far did you go?”
“Best guess so far – a couple of thousand light-years.”
Destined blinked. “Well… that’s a new record for me.” He turned back to the others. “So what’s been happening while we’ve been out of communications?”
Wandering and Starry exchanged glances and smirks.
“Brother – have we got a story to tell you!” the stallion replied.
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