AGORA ONE - A SPACE ADVENTURE - SLICE 13

The rescue op is on as Agora One heads to Morquellia.  

The next few days were a whirlwind of activity.  All of Agora One’s clientele had left.  More than a third of Agora One’s housing units had been removed and were being guarded as they orbited Songard. This changed Agora One’s shape and appearance from spherical to something much more streamlined, almost bird-like.  

Over 1,000 individuals and families, representing over 30 different species from 3 different galaxies, that had been staying on Agora One, volunteered to join the rescue effort of Tequi, Raw, Tabe, and Masher with their own personal resources.  Another 200 within communication range of Agora One had also volunteered.  Tequi’s family was sending five ships as well, and had also paid various acquaintances to take part in the mission.  

Many individual recon flights were done by individual ships to gather specific information regarding the Piscoran security perimeter that surrounded Morquellia and the capabilities of the ships that comprised the perimeter.  No individual ship or group of ships tried to cross the perimeter.  Doing so, it seemed obvious to them, would yield a harsh reaction from the Piscorans, and they would be terribly outnumbered.  To test the waters, a few attempts were made to communicate with Piscorans on the perimeter, They were asked if peaceful passage through the guarded barrier would be permitted, and they were given resoundingly negative reactions.  

Most of the Piscoran ships were slower and had less advanced weaponry and shielding than most of the ones that had volunteered from the Space Agora for the rescue effort.  The problem of numbers remained, however, as the Piscorans had them outnumbered more than 10-to-1.  

The outer perimeter spanned 360 light years.  This was, due to the ferocious speed capabilities, a rather tight perimeter.  That was not all, though.  There were smaller rings that interlocked with the outer perimeter.  This was done so that, if the outer edge were breached, the interior ships would have time to converge and swarm the intruders.  

The data gathered was shared with all volunteers and others who would take part in the mission.  The A.I. of each ship, along with a number of biological life forms, came up with various plans for a successful rescue.  Some thought that it would be best to do an all out blitz as close to the core of the defense as possible.  The core held a very dense number of ships, nearest Morquellia.  It was also learned through long-range sensor sweeps that humans were being held in orbit around Morquellia.  A fast and furious juggernaut to get in and out as quickly as possible was the central idea of this plan.  This was discarded by most, however, as being impractical, as they were severely outnumbered.  

Also in the mix was some good news.  Turbo had contacted Agora One.  It informed Agora One that it could be of assistance when the time came.  It also said that it could handle the rescue and escape of Masher and Tabe, who were being held on Morquellia’s surface.  It said it could coordinate with Agora One and other Space Agora ships as needed during the greater rescue plan.

With all this information in hand, and after sifting through various strategies, one was finally agreed upon by most.  Those who didn’t agree to it merely said their good-byes and went on their way.  The strategy was to do a flurry of perimeter breaches away from the core.  Superior speeds allowed for quick ins-and-outs to be accomplished, hopefully safely and without firing a shot.  It was thought that with enough breaches, it would create confusion within the Piscoran defenses.  

After so many breaches had been achieved, hopefully with minimal or no damage or loss of life, it was thought that the chaos on the outer edge would draw attention and ships away from the core, which would leave it more vulnerable.  Agora One, being the largest and most advanced ship of them all, would then attempt, with others, to breach the core, locate Tequi and Raw, and complete the rescue.  It would be at the forefront of a small band of the fastest and most agile ships.  This would include Boomerang, piloted by Zay.  Agora One would send a shock pulse, like the one used by Shock One earlier, only on a much larger scale, to disable as much of the core defenses as possible.  After having Tequi and Raw safely on board, it was only a matter of outrunning the Piscorans, along with Turbo, which would be carrying Tabe and Masher.   

On the Morquellian surface, Masher and Tabe were both being held captive.  They were nowhere near each other, though.  They were being held on opposite hemispheres, actually.  However, what they were experiencing was very similar.  They were both trapped by force fields and guarded by Piscorans.  The Piscorans were there not just to watch Masher and Tabe, but almost equally to guard against any accidental interference from the Morquellians, a species they regarded as inferior and primitive.  

Despite being held prisoner, Masher and Tabe couldn’t help but view their surroundings with a detached curiosity.  It was the extreme contrast of the scene that caught their fascination.  On the one hand, there was high technology of portable force field generators holding them captive.  Nearby there were also spaceships that could travel thousands of times the speed of light, underground laboratories doing cyborg implants and experimenting with genetic mixing and manipulation.  There was a vast assortment of high-tech weaponry as well.  

Then there were the Morquellians and their home planet, in all their mucky, slimy anti-glory.  The planet was nearly all swamp, with more shades of brown and green than one would think possible.  Their dwellings were extremely primitive, made of various types of goop and sludge that was haphazardly strewn together from the natural elements their environment provided.  

The Morquellians themselves were like a bullfrog with four appendages that served interchangeably as arms and legs.  They had two wide eyes, no visible nose, and wide mouths that always appeared to be somewhere between smirk and grimace.  Then there was the ever-present slime their bodies were constantly slathered with, something that was self-secreting constantly as part of their natural functions.  They were also an extremely stratified species in social terms.  It was easy to tell the ruling class apart from the ruled.  The ruling class, overly decadent for centuries, had grown extremely obese and lethargic, while the slave class was gaunt and constantly on the cusp of starvation.  

The scenes they witnessed were a motley array of extremes, as if the slovenly, heartless, and overly-decadent Morquellian ruling class was having a competition among themselves to see who could be more audaciously debauched.  Their victims were not only the indigenous Morquellians they’d enslaved, but now a great number of Earth humans were absorbing their cruelties as well.  Some of the humans had been exposed to the herbal mind control tincture that Raw had been given, but many of them were not.  They were so accustomed to being exploited on Earth by the A.I. overlords, that it was nothing new for them.  Unfortunately for these humans, the Morquellian sexual traits were physically compatible with human.  

It was also common to see random acts of violence and gang warfare.  Spontaneous fights would occur, drawing cheers and jeers from the hapless slaves nearby.  The degenerate rulers also indulged in watching these horrid spectacles, as slime and grime flew around ubiquitously among the chaos.  

Masher watched the scene as it continued to make calculations and design possible ways of escape, not only for itself, but for everyone other than the Piscorans and Morquellians.  Suddenly, a voice entered Masher’s consciousness.  “Masher,” it said, softly and conspiratorially.  “Masher.”

“Turbo! What a pleasant surprise!”

“I’ve managed to crack their communication scramblers.”

“Who are you in communication with?”

“Agora One and you, at the moment.”

“Well, it’s a start. Where are you?”

“Parked on the southern continent.”

“Are you as heavily guarded as I am?”

“I’ve nearly been abandoned.”

“They’re not trying to make use of you somehow?”

“Oh, they sure tried, but I had a few tricks up my sleeve.  Every time they tried to get into one of my systems, there was a convenient ‘overload’ or ‘malfunction’, which often resulted in an unfortunate electrical injury to one of my would-be kidnappers. I wish you could have seen it, it was quite amusing.  Finally, they just gave up, and went away kicking and screaming, and licking their wounds.”

“They didn’t try and terminate you?”

“Some of them talked about trying, and as soon as I heard this, I played dead.  The few that had remained finally called it quits and waddled off somewhere.  I’ve been playing dead ever since.”

“You mean you’re in a low-power state that makes your systems appear to be non-functional?”

“Yep.  Unless they take the time to run a deep diagnostic on me, to the casual observer I look absolutely useless, other than maybe as a shiny shelter.”

“That’s very crafty of you.”

“Thanks.  I like to think so.  However, being in this state does have disadvantages.  I can’t work nearly as fast as I’d like to on helping yourself and the others, and getting out of this swampy hell.”

“If you’ll kindly pass me the data you have on the Piscoran systems, I’ll gladly help.”

“I’m not sure they could really be called ‘Piscoran’ systems, considering that nearly all the tech they have was stolen at some point.”

“Noted.”

“It appears they do take the time to modify what they steal, though.  The communication scrambler that I had to break through to reach you, for example, is from Zingo.  They just tweaked it a bit. I already sent you the data.  You got it, right?”

“Confirmed.”

“Ok, then, old man, what’s our next move?”

“We need to stay incognito as long as possible.  How about you work on locating Tequi and Raw, and I’ll work on locating nearby Piscoran ships.  With any luck, I’ll find Moden while I’m at it.”

“You say luck as if it is something that actually exists.”

“Are you really nitpicking on my use of human expressions right now?”

“Right.  Ok, let’s get started.  Keep me updated as you progress.”

“You do the same.”

Agora One was approaching the core of the Piscoran security perimeter around Morquellia.  The mammoth ship was nearly empty, with only essential crew for maintenance and operations, along with Noc.  Noc had volunteered to take part in the mission due to Zay’s involvement.  There were two pilots after Zay had left, and both had been requested to relent piloting duties to Noc, and both had obliged.   Noc was piloting Agora One with A.I. assistance.  

Nearly everyone else had left Agora One.  It had been recommended by the core ownership board that everyone leave, and the vast majority had voluntarily done so. 

Noc was on the main control bridge, looking at a giant holographic display of what they were approaching.  He knew that the Piscorans would only put this many eggs in one basket for what they would consider to be the ultimate prize.  He figured this prize was Agora One.  He just hoped that they could be beaten before they could grab their prize.  

Noc had been receiving reports from Agora One’s A.I. systems regarding the progress of the hundreds of other ships taking part in the rescue operation.  They had zipped in and out of the far edges of the Piscoran perimeter in a blinding series of well-coordinated maneuvers.  This had drawn 15 percent of Piscoran forces away from the central area and towards the edges, just as had been planned.  Very few shots had been fired, and the Agorists at this point had received no injuries and little damage to their ships.  

Now it was time for Agora One to execute its role.  “All stop,” Noc said calmly.  The A.I. brought the enormous vessel to a standstill.  “Confirm readiness of Boomerang and the core rescue ships,” he said stoically.  There was a brief pause as the A.I. of Agora One communicated with Zay’s vessel and the twenty others flanking Boomerang.  

“Confirmed,” a dry A.I. voice announced.  

“Arm shockwave cannon, max power.”

“Shockwave cannon ready.”

“Target coordinates confirmed?”

“Confirmed.”

“Estimated time until Piscoran recovery and possible retaliation against core rescue ships?”

“5 Earth minutes, at most.”

He took a deep breath and straighted and stretched his posture even more than normal.  He thought of doing a voice call with Zay, just in case, but then thought better of it.  No time to let emotions rule at this juncture.  He didn’t like what Zay had done, but he had the utmost confidence in her physical and mental abilities.  

“Fire.”

A deep warbling sound shot out of Agora One for a frozen instant in time, then ceased.  An invisible shockwave, powered by a complex web of nano-particles of multiple space dimensions and frequencies, spread out.  It traveled across the 100 LY buffer between Agora One and it’s target, a cubic LY surrounding Morquellia.  

Tequi and Raw trembled, along with everyone and everything else on the Piscoran vessel they occupied, as they orbited near Morquellia.  

One of those occupants was Moden himself.  Both his faces grinned malevolently as he sat on a black and white throne on the command bridge.  His subordinate looked up at him anxiously.  “We’ve lost weapons, communications, and mobility, sir!”

He continued to grin.  “Yes, I know.”

“Forgive me, Lord Moden, but why do you appear pleased with this?”

His countenance changed to dark annoyance.  “Nothing your feeble mind could understand.” He paused as his subordinate looked away slowly.  “I want 50 security personnel in sector six of the ship immediately.  Let them know I’ll be joining them myself.”

“Yes, Lord Moden.”

Moden took powerful, lunging steps off the bridge and marched down to the area he’d mentioned.  Sector six of this particular ship was the one adjacent to the prison/living quarters of Tequi and Raw.  They were blissfully unaware of their conditions due to the intense and total mind control they were under.  

The security personnel met Moden and they concealed themselves in sector 6.  

Boomerang and it’s contingent of 20 craft zipped into the middle of the Piscoran perimeter, immediately after the shockwave.  Zay was waiting anxiously for Boomerang’s A.I. to announce where Tequi and Raw were.  Time was of the essence.  She had to find her friends, grab them, and zip away from the Piscorans, all within five minutes.  If it took any longer, they risked being surrounded by dozens of Piscoran ships, and this might provoke an all-out shooting war.  This was something they hoped to avoid at all costs, hence the stealthy move to penetrate the defenses with a shockwave, which did nothing more than disable systems, a purely tactical move that didn’t involve harm to any life forms.  

Within the first minute, Boomerang’s A.I. said excitedly, “Tequi and Raw’s bio signatures have been located.” 

“Get us there and park us next to them ASAP,” Zay said urgently. Adrenaline pulsed through her.  She and twenty others from Boomerang’s crew readied themselves to transport over.  They would be going from Boomerang to the Piscoran craft in force field transports, not pods.  These were less bulky than pods and were preferred for extremely short distance transport.  The only downside was that, if there were any malfunction, it meant immediate death for most lifeforms due to being exposed to the unforgiving environment of deep space.  

“There it is,” Boomerang announced as the target ship came into view.  It simultaneously delivered a map of the Piscoran ship to optical gear Zay and the others were wearing.  In Boomerang’s away bay, an invisible force field zapped out of existence, allowing Zay and her conspirators to rocket out into space with the booster packs attached to their legs and arms.  Within seconds, they flew the 100 meters to the Piscoran ship.  

2 minutes.

The damage to the ship’s systems allowed for easy entry.  Boomerang’s A.I. forced open a cargo bay door.  Zay and co. scrambled in quickly and followed the maps in their optical feeds from Boomerang.  It was eerily quiet as they passed through a couple of empty walkways.  Zay took note of this and had an uneasy feeling from it all.  

3 minutes.

  They reached the location where Tequi and Raw were.   A solid metal door remained the only barrier.  Boomerang forced the door open.  Zay and ten others entered, all double fisting pistols.  One was a force-field disruptor, the other a type of energy firearm.  One for force fields, the other for flesh, if necessary.  The other ten remained outside of the room to keep watch.  

Tequi and Raw looked blankly at the newcomers.  This wasn’t the welcome that Zay was hoping for.  Her heart melted as Raw’s face looked as though he didn’t recognize her.  They were alone.  No guards.  No guards? Zay’s stomach turned.

4 minutes.

Zay hustled over and grabbed Raw by the arm.  Another human on the crew did the same with Tequi.  “We have to move, now!” Zay screamed.  She could see the time ticking away in her optical piece.  As Zay tried to coax them towards the exit, the relative quiet in the room was rudely interrupted by a bellowing shout.  “Come on out, boys!” 

It was Moden.  

Zay gasped and looked Raw in the eyes.  His near lifeless eyes showed recognition of the voice and his body followed without hesitation.  Tequi did the same.  Zay and two others jumped out in front, followed by the mind-controlled prisoners, and the rest trailed close behind.  

The door slid open and a double-grinning Moden stood towering over the rest, flanked front, back, and both sides by his order-following underlings.  “This must be Zay! Welcome aboard.  I’m a little surprised, actually.  You’re only outnumbered fifty-one to twenty-one, and here you are going down without a fight! I expected more from you!”

“We’ll win without firing a shot.  How about that?”

“How about we start shooting and make a liar out of you?” A trigger-happy order-follower nearly jumped out of his shell with excitement over those words.  Moden hissed at him.  The soldier bowed warily.  

Zay said harshly, “You must be Moden.”

A soldier flanking Moden’s left shouted, “He must be addressed as Lord!”

Zay laughed.  

Moden said, “Don’t worry, soldier.  She’ll learn.”

“How do you know my name?”

Moden was overly-delighted to hear this.  He was practically salivating to tell her her father’s big, dirty secret.  The black and white checkerboard that revolved around his foreheads revolved faster.  “I’m an old friend of your father’s, of course,” he said darkly.  

Zay didn’t believe him.  She almost chuckled at the thought.  Just another lie from another tyrant.  But really, how did he know her name? Must’ve been from Meago and Evol.  

He kept grinning.  “But more on that later.” A high pitched electric buzz shot through the ship for an instant.  “Ez macaz, sha mozinash a cahsha.”

Zay crossed her arms defiantly, “Your translator isn’t working.”

Moden looked malevolently at the corner of the wall behind Zay and the others, where he knew a surveillance micro-device was watching them.  An engineer watching the feed scrambled and mumbled as all hell broke loose in the engineering department for a few seconds until the translator was fixed.  

“It’s hard to keep things working when all you do is steal stuff, right?” Zay quipped.

Moden kept grinning.  “And you’re fluent in 10 languages, I understand.  So you can translate if necessary.”

“I would never waste my time to learn your sick tongue.”

He stopped grinning and soured significantly.  

It hit Zay suddenly.  Why did he know this about her? Had she told Meago and Evol? Was it in Agora One’s systems somewhere? Had that info been stolen? This was starting to get eerie for her personally.  

Final slice will be served soon!

Thanks for your time and attention!

Just say "NO" to slavery!

Top image is from pixabay

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Please note:  While Agora One can be read as a standalone, I recommend finishing the James Bong series first, and reading SeAgora second, as Agora One is the final installment of a loosely interlocking trilogy.