Time's Curse

By Marius A Smith

Having fled to the Triangulum galaxy, the crew of Valentinian, in company with a Karathi and a Branhal ship, seek a place to settle while also searching for whatever remains of the long-lost Ahshari race in the hope of seeking their help. But the leaders of the Maht Imperium that rules the galaxy have a vested interest in eradicating the Ahshari, and it seems the three ships may have only left one hostile galaxy for another. While attempting to evade the Maht Imperium, members of Valentinian's crew are suddenly taken from their ship and find themselves in different places where they must survive long enough to seek answers about what's happening to them, and where the last of the Ahshari went.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Marius A Smith
• Release date: May 5, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310177415

Marius A Smith

Marius Augustus Smith was born in 1981 in Adelaide, Australia, and is a life-long fan of science fiction. He has travelled to many places around the world, with many more he has yet to visit, although some destinations can only be travelled to in the mind (at least until the invention of warp drive!). Also having an interest in history, especially ancient cultures, and Egypt in particular, Marius has incorporated these interests into his books. His favourite authors include Alexandre Dumas, Kevin J. Anderson, Drew Karpyshyn, Anne Rice and J. K. Rowling. Some of his not-so-common experiences include shovelling coal in a 1920s locomotive, and being an extra in a police line-up. Marius currently lives in Australia with his wife.

Book preview

Time’s Curse

The Course of Time

BOOK EIGHT

Marius A. Smith

The Course of Time:

Larissa

Cerah

From Time to Time

The Time of Humanity

Time and Time Again

The Time of Sacrifice

Mysteries of Time

From the Depths of Time: Part One

From the Depths of Time: Part Two

Time’s Curse

In Times of War: Part One

In Times of War: Part Two

Copyright © 2024 Marius A. Smith

This book is copyright under the Berne Convention.

Published by Marius A. Smith at Smashwords

All historical individuals or places mentioned or referred to in this book are portrayed in a purely fictitious sense. All other characters are purely fictitious, and no resemblance to individuals living or dead is intended.

No part of this work may be reproduced or copied in any form without the prior permission of the publisher. All rights reserved.

Chapter 1

Vicissitudes

Like many things, time can be both a blessing and a curse, depending on how it’s used.

The three starships, Valentinian, Jhutat, and The Heart of Turilsus, had nearly completed their journey of two hundred and twelve years to the Triangulum galaxy. Supplies were nearly depleted, and most of their resources had already been used to maintain the ships in constant flight for so long. The centuries had begun taking their toll on the once immaculate vessels, and their hulls no longer had the sheen that they’d possessed before they’d embarked on the journey. Now their surfaces were weathered by so many years of intergalactic dust particles.

On board Valentinian, William was sitting by his wife’s bedside in their candle-lit quarters, scanning through the latest maintenance and supply reports on an electronic data pad. Larissa was still in a coma, as she had been since before the journey. Physically, her body had been maintained with regular intravenous injections of vampire blood from William, and even occasionally from the 1,700-year-old ancient vampire Talamayn. Mentally, they still had no idea of whether or not Larissa was even aware of anything, on any level. Her spirit was trapped inside her body, each keeping the other present and alive, but without the connection and interaction necessary for conscious life. William had hoped to have found a way of re-establishing the proper connection by now, either with the help of the two Devorahl on board, Vorgh and his sister Alorkh, or by some ingenious nanoscopic device created by the Zyarya, who specialised in such things. Despite all of their best efforts, they hadn’t made any progress in restoring her, or even in understanding her situation properly, even with the help of Zahlmann’s brilliance.

Throughout the journey there had been several mysterious occasions in which Larissa had suddenly developed some sort of malady that threatened her life, each time different, and in each case with no apparent explanation as to the cause. But on each occasion they’d succeeded in keeping her alive. The most recent had been only a couple of days ago, but Thea had succeeded in stabilising her.

Although William didn’t share his increasing feelings of foreboding with the crew, he was becoming ever more worried that their supplies would fail before they reached the nearest planets, which were still thousands of light years away in a dwarf galaxy that orbited the outskirts of Triangulum. The ship’s nature chamber was as verdant and productive as it could be, but it wasn’t nearly large enough to sustain the growing population on board, even with the additional hydroponics rooms that had been set up since leaving the Milky Way. Even with all thirty one of the cryogenic stasis pods on board being constantly occupied, with changes in who slept in them every year with the exception of the ship’s senior officers, and with a certain amount of rationing, it seemed less and less likely that their supplies would last them all the way. When they’d left the Milky Way there were more than one hundred people on board, which itself filled all of the crew quarters. Now, due to couples having had children along the way, as well as the fact that people’s life spans had been dramatically increased by Zyarya genetic manipulation, there were over three hundred, so families lived in rather cramped conditions. William had encouraged people to be conservative about how many children they chose to have, but had wanted to avoid imposing any official population control regulations if it could be avoided. Even so, the people born aboard Valentinian had in their turn wanted children of their own. Considering how much time had passed, he had to be grateful that the population was only three hundred. Many of them had chosen to become vampires after having a child, which then served as a natural population control method since vampires didn’t produce offspring in the same way as normal humans; it was only ever through passing on the blood. At least that was the case, until the Zyarya had succeeded in developing the research that Ainsley had obtained from Epoch that would enable even vampires to have children naturally. William had been forced to order that research to be kept from the crew until such time as they found a planet to settle on, though he did tell his comatose wife about the development, and how he still had hope that they’d one day be able to use it to have a child of their own.

The report he was reading showed that most of the ship’s supply of spare parts and the materials needed to produce more had already been used. If any major systems failed they might not have the resources to repair them, and they’d be doomed to drift in space until they all starved to death, or until the population declined to a level that the nature chamber could support. William knew that the captains of the other ships shared his fears, being in the same situation. They’d even had to resort to using candles for lighting in most rooms of the ship to conserve power. Fortunately the Karathi candlemakers produced enough for the needs of all three ships.

William kissed Larissa’s forehead before putting on his leather jacket and leaving their quarters. As he stepped out into the dimly-lit passage he crossed paths with Thea, who was carrying a medical kit. Like all of the humans who’d left the Milky Way aboard Valentinian, in the space of a couple of centuries she only looked a couple of decades older for it, due to the genetically reduced rate of ageing.

I was just on my way to check up on Larissa, Thea said.

What’s your prognosis?

I’ve analysed the blood sample and the scan results thoroughly, and the acetylcysteine I synthesised seems to have helped. But I’ve still got no explanation for how she got hepatotoxicity in the first place. Her only sources of nutrition are from you and Talamayn, and neither of you have any sort of vampire illness that could’ve damaged her liver.

Could it have been some sort of long-term side effect from the way Vorgh prevented her from dying in the first place? William asked, struggling to find some explanation.

We really don’t know enough about that process to rule it out as a possibility, though it’s reasonable to assume that if there were any such side effects we would’ve seen them long before now.

Is there anything we can do to prevent her from getting any more of these mysteriously occurring ailments?

I think the only thing we can do is keep giving her regular checkups, and handling each situation as it comes. I wish I had something better to tell you, Thea said apologetically.

You’ve already done a magnificent job treating her, and I’m very grateful for that.

Sure, it’s no problem. I’ll keep looking for anything that might give me some idea of how it occurred.

Thanks. William excused himself and continued on his way to the nature chamber.

All of the ship’s passages were kept illuminated by the ship’s lighting system so that people could still move around easily, it was just set at a much lower level. He greeted people as he passed them, being acquainted with each person aboard.

When he entered the brightly-lit nature chamber it took his eyes several seconds to adjust, being accustomed to the relative darkness of the rest of the ship. The ceiling of the converted cargo bay was lined with ultraviolet panels to keep the vegetation alive, and consequently no vampires other than the few who were immune could enter. William walked up the ramp from the original floor level to the ground level that was a metre and a half higher because of the soil that layered the chamber. The space had been used as efficiently as possible for their various needs. Watermelon and strawberry plants grew at the base of the fruit trees, and the rows of wheat and corn crops had been planted as close together as was practical, as had the vegetables in their multi-levelled gardens. The pond in the centre was teeming with fish and, thanks to Luke, trilobites, from which Pete and Xujania were able to make delicious soups and other creative recipes. Around the pond deer, sheep, cows and chickens roamed within the confines of an area that was fenced off from the rest of the vegetable produce. They had plenty of grass and shrubs to graze on, with a number of shorter trees. The nature chamber also supplemented the ship’s oxygen supply to some degree.

As William looked around to check that there weren’t any problems two men passed him, one carrying a plastic crate of cucumbers and the other a crate of carrots. They both nodded to him politely as they walked by to take the vegetables to the galley.

Nearby, Mase was checking on the peaches to see how close they were to ripening. He spotted William. How’s Larissa doing now?

Thea seems to have the situation under control. How are things here?

This harvest is turning out very promising.

That’s always welcome news. Any problems?

Not at all. The plants are healthy and we’ve got lots of good compost. That’s the one benefit of having a crew of three hundred.

William grimaced at the thought, despite being aware of the extensive processing that was done in that regard. I’m about to head over to the Karathi ship to meet with the other captains.

Pete and I were planning to head over to one of their taverns for a drink shortly, so let me know when you’re done.

Will do.

I think Zahlmann might already be over there. Rumour has it that he’s been seeing a lady friend on that ship, but no one seems to know anything for certain.

William raised an eyebrow. I’ll let you know if I find out anything, he said, and left the nature chamber.

He arrived at the spatial transference chamber to find Victoria on duty; a twenty-three-year-old young woman with hip-length hair and inquisitively bright eyes. She was a mixture of Asian, Caucasian and Middle Eastern descent; her mother was Pete and Xujania’s daughter Tina, and her father was the son of an Iranian couple who’d been picked up from Greenland before Valentinian began its galactic crossing, Ibrahim and Sholeh, who worked in the galley with Pete and Xujania. Working closely together every day, the two couples had become close friends, and inevitably their children became well acquainted, and when they’d grown up they’d fallen in love and were married by William, and had given their parents a grandchild, Victoria.

Hello, Captain. Which ship would you like to go to? Victoria asked in her naturally cheerful manner.

The Heart of Turilsus, William answered. Despite the trials of their lives on board, he found it hard not to be infected by her undaunted enthusiasm for life, and his mood was lifted just by her simple greeting. By the way, how are your studies in advanced temporal physics coming along?

I think I’m starting to get the hang of it. Is it true that when you were at the Temporal Security academy you received a lot of your knowledge from direct downloads into the brain?

You’ve been talking to Luke again, haven’t you? It is true, actually. Like any form of study, it often takes a few repetitions for it to really stick, but it was still a much quicker method of education.

What did they do, stick wires into your head? Victoria asked with unhidden curiosity.

Nothing as barbaric as that. The computer would be set to the individual’s brainwave pattern and would transmit information directly into the brain that way.

That sounds like an extremely boring way of studying. There would be no thrill of gaining an understanding of something for yourself.

You’re probably right, William said, stepping into the transference chamber. Any idea what your grandparents have on the menu for tonight?

I’m not sure, sorry. I know that Grandpa Pete is planning to go over to The Heart of Turilsus as well shortly, so you might be able to ask him yourself if you cross paths with him.

I’ll make a point of doing that, William said. He gave her a nod to indicate that he was ready for transport. Victoria operated the controls, and the sight of the transference chamber shimmered and distorted around him, quickly resolving into the transport room on board The Heart of Turilsus. The Karathi ship didn’t have its own transference capability, so all transport between the three ships was done via Valentinian, which required someone to be on duty around the clock to carry out the transports as needed. The room he’d materialised in had been designated as the Karathi ship’s official transport site, as had one of the rooms on the Branhal ship, Jhutat. Both alien vessels had wormhole technology, but the galaxy-class engines interfered with their stability, making them unusable.

As William left the room and proceeded along a passage that was panelled in dull green with a deep brown floor, he couldn’t help but glance up at the grandiose ceiling art that ran the length of the entire passage, as it did in every other passage and room, like one enormous ship-wide fresco. Extreme attention to detail had been painstakingly put into every inch of it. The vast majority of it depicted scenes of nature, from thick jungles to amber and crimson sunsets, but with the odd scene that portrayed a story, such as a battle or a golden age of prosperity for the Karathi people. The whole of The Heart of Turilsus was certainly much more artistic than Valentinian’s comparatively stark interior.

William followed the passage to a wide doorway that was always left open due to the constant flow of people coming and going through it. The Karathi he passed gave him brief respectful nods, which he reciprocated. He was quite used to the aliens, with their almost reptilian dark green skin that was paler and almost coppery around their faces, their bony cranial crests lined on either side by a row of small horns, their prominent sharp-edged jaws, sapphire-blue eyes and sharp teeth.

He stepped through into the main public area, which resembled the public areas in the cities on the Karathi home world, Turilsus. It was a spacious circular area that was three floors high, with each floor having a balconied walkway that ran the full circumference of the area with a stone parapet. Stairwells led up from ground level at regular intervals. All of the structures in this part of the ship were made of stone to give it an authentic feel of the cities on their home world. Even though it took up a considerable amount of interior space, the public area was an important part of any city or vessel in Karathi culture. Its central area was a lush garden with trees, flowers and small ponds that had twenty stone tables and benches, making it the favourite meeting place for most people of any species. The high domed ceiling generated a holographic image of a sky that changed with the time of day to give it the feel of being a wide outdoor courtyard, but to conserve power it was now generally kept at a twilight level, which had a charming ambiance of its own.

Dozens of Karathi were walking about the area or sitting up on the balconies where they sipped herbal teas, all dressed in the elaborately embroidered loose robes that were typical of their race, each with an intricate circular symbol on the chest. Behind the balconies’ many doorways on all levels were restaurants, taverns, and even the workshops of small craftsmen’s guilds where everything from clothing to intricately designed candles were produced and distributed. Other than the entrances that led to the rest of the ship, there were also three high-arched passages that branched away from the main public area to three similar but smaller versions of it that were only two floors high, and which were each dedicated to a specific type of purpose. One was devoted to philosophy and religion, another to science and learning, and the other to entertainment and leisure. Each of those areas also had their own eating and drinking areas for those who were engaged in those respective activities, where they could meet and dine among their fellows of a similar inclination away from the general bustle of the constantly busy main area.

Even though William visited the place regularly and it was all familiar to him, it still felt like stepping into the market square of an ancient Mediterranean city, and didn’t feel like he was on a starship at all, least of all an alien one.

He was crossing the main area when he spotted Delilah coming from the philosophy and religion section. She looked a little flushed when she spotted him just as he called out to her.

Thinking of taking up the Karathi religion? William asked, having noticed her look of suppressed embarrassment.

Just having a look around in there. It’s nice to have a change of scenery every once in a while, she replied.

That’s certainly true. With three starships as the only places to go for over two hundred years I’m surprised you haven’t gone there sooner. Now that I think of it, I don’t think very many of our crew do go there.

I didn’t see any of our people in there.

Will you be on Valentinian for dinner tonight?

Actually I won’t be. She hesitated for a moment before saying, Can you keep a secret?

Sure.

Delilah leaned in closer as though she feared being overheard by passers by. I have a date tonight. I want to keep it quiet for the time being, so I’ve been looking around for a restaurant that not too many of our people go to.

I understand completely. This one must be serious, because you’ve never been secretive about your dating before now.

Again Delilah looked a bit flushed, but hid it well. It might be. I just want to see how things turn out before I tell people.

Be careful, a lot of our crew come here on dates. In fact, I’ve heard that even Zahlmann has started coming here to see someone, William said in a confidential tone.

Delilah smiled. Well good for him. It’s about time, too. I was starting to wonder if the old guy ever would. Any idea who it is?

William shrugged. For all I know it’s one of the Karathi.

Or a Branhal. After all, it would be much more conspicuous if he suddenly started going to their ship all the time, so what better place to meet up with a Branhal lady than over here?

That’s a very good point.

If you do get wind of who it is be sure to fill me in on the gossip. We could even start a betting pool.

I doubt he’d ever forgive us for that. But likewise, if you find out, let me know.

As a matter of fact, I think even Rick has a secret interest in someone.

I wonder if Mase and Thea are aware of that, William said, as Rick was their son.

They’re probably who he’s keeping the secret from.

You’re probably right. Anyway, I’m meeting with the other captains, so I’d better be off. All the best with your date.

Thanks, Delilah said, and continued on her way.

As he watched her go, William wondered if perhaps Delilah was the one seeing a member of the Karathi crew, and if her remark about a Branhal had actually been intended to throw him off of who her own date might be. He, like most of Valentinian’s crew, was acquainted with the majority of the Karathi after so many visits to their ship. On the other hand, Delilah might’ve been right about Zahlmann seeing a Branhal, and if that was the case he wondered if it might even be Captain Lyla. But it was much more likely to be a scientist of some sort, and there were many more scientists among the Karathi crew.

His thoughts were interrupted by the beep of his comm unit. It was Thea, so he thought it best to answer it now rather than call her back after speaking with the other captains, just in case it was something important regarding Larissa.

Will, I need to tell you something, and it’s probably best that we’re not overheard, Thea said.

The seriousness in her tone immediately worried William. Hang on a moment, he said, and went into one of the taverns where the general conversational din would make it hard for anyone to overhear. A secluded corner of a place like that would mask their conversation better than someplace like the tranquil and meditative philosophical section where it was so quiet that anyone would easily hear what was said. Once he was in one of the circular seating alcoves, he said, Go ahead.

I’ve discovered what caused Larissa’s hepatotoxicity, and it has disturbing implications, Thea said, and gave William a moment to prepare himself for the news. The toxic agent was a compound called alpha-amanitin, which is derived from certain types of poisonous mushrooms.

We don’t grow mushrooms on the ship, poisonous or otherwise.

We don’t, but the Branhal do. They have a natural immunity to most of the toxic species, which is why I had certain precautions set in place for any meals that we share with them. One of the types that they grow is called amanita muscaria, otherwise known as fly amanita. It’s not as toxic to vampires as it is to humans, but it’s not far off. Had Larissa been human she might’ve died before I had a chance to figure out what was wrong with her and come up with a treatment.

Since Larissa’s only intakes of nutrition are intravenous from me and Talamayn, that would have to mean...

That since neither of you have been affected to have passed it on to her, someone injected it into her bloodstream deliberately, Thea finished.

But why? I can’t think how anyone could benefit from her death, William said, now deeply worried for his wife’s survival. Since they’d left the Milky Way there hadn’t been a single death on any of the ships because of the Zyarya’s genetic manipulations for increased longevity, and William was not about to let Larissa be the first. Do you have any suspects?

Members of Valentinian’s galley crew often go to Jhutat to swap some of our produce for theirs to make a number of recipes. I’m certain it wouldn’t have been Pete or Xujania, but I don’t know that other couple all that well.

Ibrahim and Sholeh? They’re two of the nicest people I’ve met. And what would they gain from it?

At the moment I can’t give you a motive. Another possibility is their granddaughter, Victoria. She often works shifts at the transference chamber, and the Branhal that come aboard could easily slip her some of the mushrooms. Or it might even be someone on the Karathi ship who wants to frame the Branhal for some reason.

None of these theories make any sense. Each of our crews are dependent on the others in some way. Without any one of the ships the others would have a greatly reduced chance of survival. We must be missing something, William said, perplexed.

What if someone’s getting worried about how much longer our supplies will last, and are testing out a poison with the intent of using it on a number of victims so that there are less people, and therefore more food to go around?

That’s extreme, but I suppose it could be a possibility. Really, what other motive could there be behind it?

Anyway, I just thought you should know about this as soon as possible.

I appreciate that. While I’m gone, arrange for Cerah, Luke, Talamayn or Hatshepsut to watch over Larissa until I get back. They can appear to be there just for a casual visit without it raising suspicion. I don’t want to tip off whoever it is that we’re on to them.

Agreed.

Have you told anyone else about this?

No, I wanted to find out what you wanted to do about it first.

For now, let’s just keep it between us. I’ll bring it up when I meet with the captains. If either of them know anything about it I should be able to sense it from them by their reaction.

Sure. Let me know when you get back to Valentinian.

Will do. William ended the call and left the tavern.

He went through a doorway on the opposite side of the main public area to the one he’d entered by and continued along another fresco-adorned passage to the captain’s conference room. When he touched the door control an inbuilt sensor recognised his genetic pattern and it opened. Hissad and Lyla were already seated at a small table waiting for him, each sipping a Karathi herbal tea. As always, both were dressed according to their office. Hissad’s robes had a high collar that the other Karathi lacked, and Lyla wore a full-length deep violet gown and a lighter purple headscarf with the sides draped down over the front of her shoulders, leaving the three small horns on her forehead and her light brown hair visible beneath it.

William poured a tea for himself, briefly recalling something that Zahlmann had said to him recently; that the rejuvenating properties of Karathi tea would probably add a few years to anyone’s life span, while Branhal tea on the other hand would probably reduce it.

Once he was seated, Lyla opened their private meeting by saying, I think it’s safe to say that the main concern on all of our minds is whether or not we can make our supplies last until we reach a habitable planet without our people starving to death in the meantime.

Or becoming mutinous. We would have done well to impose population control protocols on our crews a long time ago, Hissad muttered.

Maybe, but criticising the choices of the past isn’t going to help us. We need to focus on arranging the present to shape the future, William said.

Is there any possibility of constructing additional stasis pods based on the Ahshari design? Lyla asked.

I doubt that any of us have the resources for that, but I’ll get Ainsley to look into it in collaboration with the Zyarya. If it’s possible, they’ll be the ones to figure out how, William said. While we’re all here, I’ve just been apprised of something of a very serious nature that I’d like to bring to your attention.

Go on, Hissad encouraged. His curiosity was already piqued, primarily because after two centuries just about anything was a welcome distraction from the daily, monthly, and yearly routines.

As you know, my wife Larissa has recently suffered some health problems.

Is her condition becoming worse? Lyla asked, at once concerned.

No, our medical officer has been able to treat her. The disturbing part is that her near-fatal illness appears to have been a deliberate attempt on her life. William paused for a moment while the captains considered that shocking truth.

I trust that you are quite confident about those findings? Hissad asked.

I wouldn’t have mentioned it unless I was. She was poisoned by a type of mushroom that’s cultivated by the Branhal. He saw that Lyla was about to raise an objection about the obvious implication, so he quickly continued, I’m not by any means trying to allege that the perpetrator was a member of the Branhal crew in particular, as I’m perfectly aware that all three crews visit each other and exchange produce on a regular basis. At this point I don’t have any suspects. The core of the matter is that it was without doubt an attempt at murder.

The members of my crew are always extremely careful when serving food to members of the other crews, knowing that many of the mushrooms we consume are toxic to both humans and Karathi. That being the case, any of my people who’d been asked for those types by another species would certainly remember such an unusual request. I’ll start asking around, Lyla said.

For all we know, the person in question, while perhaps not a Branhal themself, might have had a Branhal accomplice who could’ve obtained the mushrooms without raising anyone’s suspicions, Hissad said.

And there’s also the possibility that a member of the other crews picked a few mushrooms while working in the Branhal nature chamber, William said.

What could the would-be assassin’s motive be? Lyla wondered.

I haven’t been able to establish that with any certainty yet. My medical officer’s most plausible theory is that someone was experimenting with poisonous substances with the intent of using it on a larger number of people if it proved effective, for the purpose of reducing our population by a certain degree in order to make our supplies last longer and ultimately ensure their own survival, William said.

I sincerely hope that’s not the case. As captains, we’ve all tried to reassure our people that things will work out fine if we cut back on consumption a little. The people shouldn’t be feeling that there’s cause for panic at this stage, Lyla said.

Just the same, it does seem the most likely explanation, in the absence of others with any plausibility, Hissad said. Are there no logs that might reveal who accessed her room within the last few days?

I’ve kept our quarters unlocked so that our medical officer and Larissa’s mother and close friends can visit her freely, as they do on a regular basis. There hadn’t seemed any need to use any great security measures, although now I’ll be having one of my most trusted friends with her at all times until we can determine who was responsible, William said, keeping his anger about the situation under restraint in front of the other captains, though with some difficulty.

You have our word, we will do our utmost to assist your investigations into this matter, Hissad promised solemnly, and Lyla agreed wholeheartedly.

I thank you both, William said with grateful sincerity.

Hissad removed a metal disc from inside his robes that looked like a large coin and held it in the palm of his hand. When he touched it with his finger a small holographic display appeared above it, and he entered a command.

Moments later the door opened to reveal a female Karathi dressed in robes that were a deep shade of purple. Yes, Captain?

William and Lyla were already acquainted with First Vigilant Ishana; Hissad’s head of security. She was a highly intelligent woman, and it seemed no detail ever escaped her notice. She’d even deduced that Zahlmann wasn’t human within the first fifteen seconds of meeting him, and William tended to think of her as a Karathi version of Sherlock Holmes.

I’ll need a list of all members of our crew who have visited Valentinian during the last week, with their times of arrival and departure. Correlate our sensor logs with Valentinian’s transference logs and look for any discrepancies, Hissad ordered.

At once, Captain, Ishana said, and promptly left.

The captains resumed their discussion regarding matters of their survival for another three quarters of an hour, after which William called Mase to find out which tavern he and Pete were at in the Karathi ship’s public area. On the way there he called Ainsley and asked him to look into the possibly of working with the Zyarya to build more stasis pods, and he agreed to the project enthusiastically.

When William arrived at the tavern, Mase and Pete already had a drink waiting for him. He decided to take them into his confidence regarding Larissa’s situation, and they were equally appalled by the thought that someone would attempt to kill a woman who’d been in a coma for a couple of centuries, and were as determined as William to hunt down whoever was responsible.

When he left the tavern half an hour later he called his and Larissa’s other friends together in his quarters to also share the news with them, so as to have a number of trustworthy people on the lookout for anything suspicious, who could also make discreet enquiries regarding people’s activities over the past few days. The others that he asked to come were Luke, Cerah, Talamayn, Hatshepsut, Delilah, Patricia, Xujania and Zahlmann. Ainsley and Josephine weren’t there as they’d both already begun working with the Zyarya to build more stasis pods in case it took longer than expected to locate a habitable planet where they could replenish their supplies. But those present were deeply shocked by the news, and agreed to assist in the search for clues as to who the culprit might be. William also told them about Thea’s theory that Larissa could have been a test subject for the poison with a future attack on a larger scale being the ultimate plan.

You could always get Xujania to scan the ingredients in the galley before preparing each meal, just in case someone’s extracted the mushroom’s poison and plans to put it into some other ingredients that we might not otherwise think to test, Patricia suggested.

That’s a good idea, William said.

Pete and I will start doing that from now on, Xujania said, determined not to let anyone use her as a means of killing people.

Perhaps you should get First Vigilant Ishana to come over here to investigate the crime scene. She might be able to pick up some clues that the rest of us have missed, Zahlmann said, aware that the others had been discreetly staring at him the whole time. Instead of his usual plain clothes with a white lab coat over the top, he was wearing a nice black suit with a white shirt and dark grey tie that he’d asked Ainsley to tailor for him.

I’m sure Hissad would be willing to spare her for a few hours, William said.

We’ll make sure someone’s here to watch over Larissa at all times, Luke reassured William, knowing that although his brother looked fine, he had a lot of contained rage about the attempted murder of his wife, as well as a deep worry about her safety.

Having seen the same things in William’s eyes, Cerah said, And heaven help whoever it was when you find them.

Out here they’ve got nowhere to run, William said. I’ll stay with Larissa for the time being.

I’ll come by later this evening so you can get some sleep, Talamayn offered.

William nodded in appreciation and went to the bedroom to check on Larissa.

So, Professor, what’s with the suit? Cerah asked. Could it be that you’re going to meet with your mysterious lady friend tonight?

As a matter of fact I do have a date.

Delilah raised an eyebrow. Really? That’s what you wear on a date?

Zahlmann glanced down at his suit. What’s wrong with it?

You look like an undertaker.

Perhaps you should change your tie, Hatshepsut suggested. Nothing too garish, just something with a little more flair.

Depending on who it is you’re seeing, of course, Luke prompted, as curious as everyone else as to whom it could be.

I’m not one to kiss and tell, Zahlmann said. Seeing their immediate reactions, he quickly added, Figuratively speaking, that is.

At least tell us if it’s a Branhal, because none of us could picture you with a Karathi, Delilah said.

Although there are more scientists among the Karathi crew than any other, Xujania pointed out.

Drawing himself up proudly, Zahlmann said, Actually, you’ll all be interested to know that my natural appearance is in fact closer to that of a Karathi than it is to a Branhal or a human.

The others weren’t quite sure what to say to that.

Anyway, I’m off to change my tie, Zahlmann said a little sheepishly, and left the quarters.

*

Another month passed. Their collective investigations had turned up no leads whatsoever. Even Ishana hadn’t been able to identify who it might’ve been after examining William and Larissa’s quarters and checking all available sensor and transport logs. Whoever had made the surreptitious attempt on Larissa’s life had covered their tracks extremely well. No further attempt had been made, so William wondered if the assassin had somehow gotten wind that they were being hunted for. The presence of Ishana on board Valentinian would’ve been enough to tip them off, as she rarely left her own ship. William had even gone to the extent of concealing a sensor device under the bed where Larissa lay to keep track of each person that came anywhere near her, but so far the only ones who had were their oldest friends. Pete and Xujania had both been meticulous in scanning all of the ingredients before preparing any food, and so far no trace of poisons or toxins had been found.

The Triangulum galaxy was now much too close for William to see its entire expanse on the bridge’s view screen. He recalled the first couple of decades of the voyage, when it had been nothing more than a distant and almost indistinct blur of light in the centre of the screen with countless distant galaxies around it instead of the familiar sight of the stars of the Milky Way. Eventually Triangulum’s image had become larger and more distinctive until it dominated the screen. Each of its billions of stars was a shining pinpoint of light with a denser and brighter cluster of them in the galactic centre, all of which was clearly distinctive because of the way the spirals of Triangulum faced the Milky Way pretty much front on. As they progressed in their journey it loomed to the point where only the relatively small section immediately in front of them could be seen on the panoramic screen that reached from one side of the bridge to the other. Despite how close it looked now, William knew it was still deceptively far away. But now they were close enough that the vista of stars before them was starting to thin out. Several dwarf galaxies in orbit around Triangulum were now easily visible, each one looking like a comparatively small but dense cluster of stars, their stellar populations ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions, all grouped together in tighter orbits to each other. The three ships were currently on course towards one of them, being a few months closer than Triangulum, offering the possibility of resupplying before covering what remained of the distance to the immense galaxy behind it.

We’re close enough to the dwarf galaxy to get some sensor information, but it’s mostly spectroscopic at this range, Rick reported in his deep voice from the sensors console. He was a strong-built man who looked twenty five years old, even though in truth he was ninety eight because of the Zyarya’s genetic alterations. He was clean-shaven with close-cropped hair, and being the son of Mase and Thea, his semi-dark skin reflected his mixed heritage.

What can you tell me about it? William asked, briefly wondering who it was that Delilah thought he was interested in. For all he knew it was Delilah herself, as she was certainly an attractive woman, and the age gap of a century and a half could be the reason it was being kept a secret, if they were uncertain about what people might think of that.

It’s only about 8,000 light years in diameter, but there’s a good range of star types, so chances are there’s a habitable planet in there somewhere.

Hopefully on this side of it, William said.

The stellar density does reduce the probability a little, but I think we can be optimistic. The lights and displays on Rick’s console suddenly flickered, and then stabilised a moment later.

What happened there? William asked.

I’m not sure. It’s never happened before.

Vorgh entered the bridge. Something’s wrong. I can sense power fluctuations occurring throughout the ship.

We’ve just noticed that ourselves, William said. Would you mind going to the engine room to see if anything’s wrong there?

Sure thing, Vorgh said, and in a flash of movement and its accompanying gust of wind he was gone.

How’s the galaxy-class engine? William asked Rick.

So far it’s still operating normally.

Moments later they received a call from Vorgh in the engine room. According to these readings the output of the main power system’s dropping. I’m going to have a look at the power generators and main conduits.

William and Rick heard the whoosh of Vorgh’s movement over the communication system, and it was only a matter of seconds before they heard it again, followed by Vorgh’s voice.

Will, you might want to take a look at this. It seems as though the power generation cells are starting to burn out from old age and overuse, and are losing their capacity to generate power.

How about the emergency power system?

That looks fine, but it was only designed for short-term use, so it’d only keep us going for a matter of months, three or four at the most at our current power usage. Maybe Ainsley or Zahlmann can come up with a way to repair or rebuild the main power system, but if not, things are definitely starting to look grim.

I’ll switch over to emergency power for the time being to keep things stable until Ainsley can do a full diagnostic of the main power system, William said, and went over to the appropriate console to implement the change. The transition was immediate, so none of the systems were interrupted. Then he called Ainsley and asked to meet him in the engine room. Before leaving the bridge, he said to Rick, Contact the other ships and inform their captains of what’s happened, and tell them that I’ll apprise them of the situation further once we’ve investigated it.

Of course, Rick said, and promptly moved to the communications console.

William arrived in the engine room as Vorgh was bringing Ainsley up to date on the situation. Together they went into an adjoining chamber that had four upright metal cylinders in the centre, the generation cores, each of which was taller than head height and had a series of a hundred small blue lights down the side that indicated the power output level. One of the cores had the lights falling only a little short of its full output capacity, two of them were down to about three quarters, and the last was well below half. As they watched, another of its lights went out as its output dropped further.

This one’s responsible for the power fluctuations, and once it fails it’ll actually start draining power away from the others as it tries unsuccessfully to continue the fusion of the matter and antimatter particles. I recommend we shut it down at once, Ainsley advised.

Do it, William agreed.

Ainsley went and deactivated the power connection of the dying core.

So is it a matter of running out of the particles and anti-particles needed to generate power? William asked him.

No, we can produce enough of both for another fifty years at least. I’m afraid the core’s simply too old and worn down, like Vorgh said, and it can no longer process the anti-particles efficiently. There’s nothing to be done. These other two that have started dropping considerably are also on their way out, and will decline at a constantly accelerating rate. I’d give them a day or two before they’ll need to be shut down as well. The antimatter containment will remain active long enough for me to safely remove and neutralise any particles that are still in the cores, so they don’t pose a danger in that sense.

This ship’s designed to operate on the power of a fully operational quad-core reactor. How far will just that last one get us? Vorgh asked.

Even conserving power, one core won’t be sufficient to keep the ship going, especially the galaxy engine. We’ll need to keep things running on emergency power. I can integrate the good one to supplement the emergency power system to make it last longer, but by my calculations we’ll be out of power in about five months, the android said solemnly.

We’ll be lucky to reach the dwarf galaxy at all, let alone look around for a habitable planet, William muttered despondently. As soon as the power level dropped too low to keep the galaxy engine running the ship would drop to sub-light speeds. They could still use Valentinian’s original engines for a while, but their maximum thrust was less than half of that of the galaxy engine. People would starve to death before they reached the nearest planet.

If you deactivate the stasis pods the power will last a few weeks longer, but then you’ll have those extra people for the supplies to be divided between, which I understand are already running quite low. But as the captain, that’s your call, Ainsley said.

For now, see if there’s anything you can do to reduce Valentinian’s power usage further. Vorgh, go and have a word to the Zyarya and see if they’ve got any ideas. I’ll be on the bridge, William said, and they went their separate ways.

When he reached the bridge, William said to Rick, Run a detailed spectrographic analysis of the nearest stars in the dwarf galaxy and see how many fit the types that typically have planetary systems.

Rick’s fingers expertly flew across his controls, and within a few seconds he had the results. Of the nearest 500 stars, 47 of them fall within that range.

Locate the region that has the highest density of those stars and alter our vector accordingly, to give us the best chance of success.

Rick analysed his scan results and sent the coordinates to the helm, and then went over to the helm to update their course, coordinating with the helm officers of the other ships so that the three of them would remain in formation as a group. We’ll enter that region in a little under six months.

Can you be more precise? William asked, hoping that his building anxiety about their situation wasn’t coming through in his voice.

Five months and twenty two days.

William had no choice; he’d have to take everyone out of stasis to make the power last, but that meant that the dwindling supplies would have to stretch to feed over thirty more people than they already had to. The crew was going to notice that everyone was coming out of stasis early, not to mention the rationing that would have to be put into effect for half a year. It would put a strain on everyone. He would have to transport the stasis pods to the other ships to be able to put people in hibernation again. Hopefully Jhutat and The Heart of Turilsus’ power systems didn’t fail as well, or there would soon be anarchy among all of the crews, which was already a possibility that William would have to start preparing for. He was weighing up whether or not to inform the crew of what was happening, and if so, when the right time would be. He decided to go and talk to Larissa about it. Even though she might not even hear him in her coma, and in any case wouldn’t be able to respond with any advice, talking about it might help to make the right course of action clearer in his mind as he considered what her wise counsel might’ve been.

Inside his quarters he found Luke sitting by Larissa’s bedside reading a book, it being his turn to be on guard duty.

I was wondering when you’d turn up. I was getting hungry, Luke said.

Things are starting to look even more grim around here, William said, and told him what was going on.

So what are you going to do? Luke asked.

William sighed. I don’t know yet. I was planning to discuss it with Larissa.

Luke chuckled briefly before realising that William’s remark had been serious. Maybe it’ll help to get your thoughts off your chest.

That’s what I’m hoping.

Well, I’ll leave you to it then. Do you want me to bring you anything back from the mess hall?

No, I’ll eat later.

Suit yourself. Cerah’s next in line for watch duty, so give her a call whenever you need to leave.

Will do.

After Luke left, William sat beside Larissa and took a few moments to gather his thoughts before telling her everything that was going on and how dire the situation looked, describing it all in as much detail as he could. By the time he finished a good couple of hours later, he was certain that he knew what his wife’s advice would be; everything that went on for good or bad affected everyone on board, so it was their right to know exactly what their situation was without deception or omission. She would have faith in the human spirit and the ability of people to pull together to help each other get through the tough times. Hoping that she would be right, William composed a written summary of each aspect of their situation, only leaving out the situation regarding Larissa for the time being. He then made the file accessible to everyone aboard, and made a ship-wide announcement requesting that everyone read it during the next twenty four hours and discuss it with each other, after which he would hold a meeting to which forty randomly-selected individuals would be invited where they would represent the voices of the crew, as there wasn’t anywhere on the ship big enough for the entire crew to congregate. The meeting would provide the opportunity to voice any concerns that people had and to ask questions. William sent out the names of those selected after the summary so that everyone would have time to approach them about anything that they wanted to have brought up.

*

That evening he held a smaller meeting in his quarters where he described the situation to his closer friends and senior officers in great detail, so that they were all fully aware of the situation. Talamayn voiced concerns about William’s decision to apprise the crew, expecting that many of them would eventually, if not immediately, panic and become hostile at the realisation that their survival was threatened. It was something he’d seen time and time again in his long life. Luke reminded them that the ship had a brig, and was as willing as any of them to use it if anyone became a danger to the crew or tried to incite sedition.

*

The next day the meeting was held in the ship’s conference room. Because it wasn’t designed to accommodate a meeting of over forty people, with the senior officers also being present, everyone had to stand. The table had been removed to make sufficient space. Candles had been set up around the room for lighting, as now more than ever it was imperative to conserve as much power as possible.

William solemnly recalled that the last time so many had congregated in the conference room it had been for Dobbins and Argyle’s funeral service after the two men had died saving the ship. The silver lining was that the spirits of the two men were inside Vorgh, so the crew could still keep in touch with them, as many of them regularly did.

Once all who were invited had assembled, William opened the meeting. Thank you all for coming. I trust that you and the other members of the crew have had a chance to discuss our situation at length. This is your chance to voice the views of yourselves and your shipmates, and pose any questions that you might have. Before opening the meeting to the forty to have their say, he elaborated on some of the things he’d summarised for them the day before so that everyone had a good understanding of where they all stood. As soon as he asked to hear what the people had to say most of their hands went up. He was prepared to keep the meeting going for as long as it took to answer all of their concerns, so he chose one person to speak first, and would go around the room until everyone who wanted to had spoken.

The first was a middle-aged woman named Bertha who’d been one of the original people that William had taken aboard from Greenland. Are there any more measures that we can take to make the power last longer than the five and a half months that we have left?

Read books instead of watching movies, keep the heating in your quarters a little lower, and try to avoid using anything that uses the ship’s power as much as possible, William suggested. At the moment we’re running everything about as conservatively as is possible, but I am planning to dim the lighting in the passages a little more for whatever difference that might make.

Another woman asked, Is it possible to boost the galaxy engine’s thrust so that we reach the nearest habitable planets sooner?

I’m afraid not. Professor Zahlmann already looked into that possibility in the first year of the journey. It’s only designed for one speed, and making any adjustments would introduce variables that would shut down the drive.

This time a man spoke. I understand we’re five months and twenty one days away from the nearest stars that are likely to have planetary systems, but what if none of those planets have habitable worlds?

That thought worries me constantly, William said honestly. I’m afraid that we’re in the hands of providence there. As we get closer we’ll be able to scan those star systems in greater detail and direct our course to the most promising candidate, but we will have to rely on a certain amount of good fortune. Rest assured that I’ll be meeting with the other captains on a regular basis to find ways of sustaining Valentinian’s power levels for longer.

Victoria voiced her idea. Would it be possible to wire in the power cells from our Branhal fighter drones to give us an extra little bit? And maybe even borrow some drones from the other ships as well?

That’s an excellent idea. It wouldn’t give us a great deal more, but for all we know it could make all the difference in the end. I’ll have someone look into it as soon as we’re finished here.

Victoria smiled, pleased to have made a contribution, however small.

You’ve told us about the food situation, but where do we stand with water and air? a man asked.

We’ll be alright in those regards. Both are recycled, with some fresher air being added by the trees in the nature chamber, William responded. He wasn’t looking forward to taking the next question, which would be coming from a man named Spencer Uhlenberg. Not being a socially warm person, he was generally referred to just by his last name. No slave to fashion, Uhlenberg’s appearance was known to always be a little unkempt, although he did have a natural knack when it came to electronics. William knew who he was but wasn’t well acquainted with him on a personal level. Even so, he knew enough about the man to know that he wasn’t the most agreeable of people. But be that as it may, Uhlenberg had been selected and therefore had the right to voice his mind.

The Karathi have a greater population on board their ship than we do, so therefore they have a greater consumption of supplies, Uhlenberg began.

William groaned inwardly. He’d known it would only be a matter of time before someone brought this up, but he’d foolishly hoped it wouldn’t be Uhlenberg. That’s correct.

To keep that many people alive must mean that they’re consuming some of the supplies that are rightfully ours. I and several others that I’ve spoken with think that they should pay for it somehow, Uhlenberg said.

What are you suggesting, that we introduce a monetary system between the ships? William asked, thinking it to be the most absurd suggestion that someone could possibly come up with.

If that’s what it takes.

And just where would you go to spend it? Cerah asked.

If not money, then they should pay for it in some other way, with another resource that would be useful to us, Uhlenberg said.

They already provide us with all of the candles we use, Luke pointed out.

We still shouldn’t have to support them with our supplies, Uhlenberg insisted adamantly.

Well the Branhal have a smaller population to feed than us. Does that mean that they shouldn’t help us out when our supplies start running lower? William asked him.

If they have an abundance then of course they should. But we don’t have an abundance to share.

And if we introduced something like a monetary system it wouldn’t be long before we started dividing into race and class distinctions, between us and the other crews as well as among ourselves. We cannot have such a thing if we’re to survive. Haven’t people learned from Titanic? If it wasn’t for the whims of the upper classes who didn’t want to share boats with people of the working class the lifeboats wouldn’t have been sent out half empty, with hundreds of people being locked below decks on a sinking ship.

As I recall, most of the people on Titanic were saved, Uhlenberg said, a little confused at the analogy.

William realised that he was thinking of the events surrounding Titanic’s sinking before he’d changed history in a way that ensured more people survived. My point is that a monetary system would only make things harder for everyone except for the privileged few who were better off than the rest, and it wouldn’t make our supplies any more abundant.

I heard that you and a couple of the other older vampires were once quite powerful. Together you could take over all three ships.

And what would that accomplish? William asked, annoyed at Uhlenberg’s selfishly unproductive thinking.

That way you could at least make sure that your own people are the ones to survive, instead of wasting your time on that unconscious vampire chick.

Before William could contain his rush of anger, a burst of mental energy erupted from his mind. He quickly controlled it, but not before Uhlenberg was flung violently across the room and slammed into the back wall.

Chapter 2

Seeds of Sedition

Not having had the need to use his mental abilities