REDEMPTION TRAIL

The air aboard the Star Saber had become much too stale for Cassie's liking, though she still had something in the neighborhood of an hour before reverting to panic. She was sitting in front of an old computer console, which was located beneath the half-opened iris of the huge viewport. All the internal lighting and nonessential systems had been shut down in order to mimic space junk, though several systems had to remain on line despite the circumstances. The navigation computer was one such system; it had to stay active in order to continually track the Star Saber's position and keep critical navigation data updated. The antimatter reactor for the time distortion engine was another system that couldn't be shut down; it had to remain at an idle in order to produce power for the navigation computers.
As the dilapidated craft tumbled end over end, light from Capella slowly swept across the floor in endless repetitive patterns, which seemed to bring a sick, nauseous feeling to Cassie that deepened with each persistent pass. The relentless motion of the tumbling Star Saber also added to Cassie's discomfort, as well as the constantly changing view of dead, dismembered bodies drifting aimlessly through space.
Cassie did her best to ignore the horrifying sight lurking beyond the hull of the Star Saber, though the silent presence of Theti's countless dead was impossible to deny. The sickening sights, thinning air, and growing nausea was a constant distraction from Cassie's work, yet she continued with persistenceas if the entire human realm were clinging to existence solely by her efforts.
Cassie had switched the old computer console on line and was diligently analyzing data from the Star Saber's navigation system. Specifically, she was interested in the mammoth time wake, which overtook the Star Saber several days earlier. She discovered that, although the navigation system was not on line at the time the wake occurred, the system had taken the initiative to track the unprecedented phenomenon for a short distance. The position and speed of the time wake, during the encounter, was still in the system's memory; Cassie was doing her best to project that data in hopes of determining where the wake came fromas well as where it was going. The preliminary indications were frightening.
At the time it had occurred, the time wake was a complete mystery; time wakes do not occur in nature and, as Krey had mentioned, no ship ever built produced a time wake any larger than that of the Star Saber. However, after the rogue ship with its unorthodox flight path appeared out of the time continuum, Cassie realized that perhaps the time wake might have been produced by a shipa ship that could not have been built with human technology... An alien ship.
The assumption that the time wake was produced by an alien vessel was indeed presumptuous. Sciencecenturies agohad ruled out the possibility of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe. Any notion that alien beings could tread across the human realmin any form whatsoeverwas reserved strictly for science fiction writers; it was considered an iron-clad impossibility.
It was, therefore, ironic that Cassie's assumption of an alien vessel happened to fit the standard set of equations to the teeth. After biasing the equations with exaggerated distortion, time, and drive factorswhich would be unattainable with human technologythe notion that the time wake could have been produced by a spacecraft made perfect mathematical sense. In Cassie's mind, it was quickly becoming the only logical explanation for the mammoth wake.
An uneasy sense of dread came over Cassie as her calculations approached conclusion. Using an extremely sophisticated version of calculous, she had already managed to trace the source of the time wake back to Theti; the time of its departure closely coincided with her estimate of when the destruction had reached completion. That in itself was frightening enough; to realize that three and a half billion human beings were deliberately annihilated by who-knows-what. But the preliminary projections of where the time wake would eventually end up proved to be even more horrifying; it appeared to be heading toward the more heavily-populated planets of the frontier. Cassie had begun to suspect that the fall of Theti might be repeated elsewhere in the realm, though she needed more time to deliver specifics.

Across forty-two light years of empty, unforgiving space, in the constellation of Canis Minor, was a hot, yellow-white star named Procyon. It was a close neighbor of Earth's sun; only a scant ten light-years separated the twothough Earth's sun was by no means its closest star. Procyon was part of a binary star system; it shared an opposing orbit with another star, a white dwarf known simply as Procyon's Companion.
Procyon's Companion, like all white dwarfs, was incredibly massive, extremely hot, and surprisingly dim; its surface temperature was over twice that of Procyon, yet Procyon was more than two hundred times as bright. The most unique characteristic of Procyon's Companion, however, was its size verses mass; it was just slightly larger than the diameter of Earth, yet boasted a mass of one and a half times as great as Earth's sun. Procyon's Companion was so incredibly dense that one teaspoonful of its core material would have a mass equivalent to fifty tons. As a result, Procyon's Companion had the most pull of anything in Procyon's solar system; Procyon itself appeared to orbit around its companion, while the white dwarf just wobbled in place.
Procyon and its companion were only the core of the solar system; they were surrounded by eighteen planets, six comets, and two asteroid beltsall of which interacted in odd, irregular orbits due to the constant, shifting motion of Procyon against its white dwarf companion. Because of the strange gravitational tides of Procyon's solar system, most of its planets were largely uninhabitable. There were three planets that, from time to time, would exhibit livable characteristics, but their irregular orbits would soon take them too close or too far from the suns to be livable year-round.
One of those not-quite-livable planets was the infamous world of Menti, which harbored an artificial ring composed of wrecked war machines, shrapnell, blood, and bodies. Menti had become a de facto monument, of sorts, to the men and women who died in the bloodiest battle of World War Five. It was the world over which The General and his Star Saber struggled for victoryas well as the world that inspired the final obsolescence of human war.
Of all eighteen planets in Procyon's solar system, there was only one that was habitable year-round; Tricana. Tricana was the third frontier planet to be colonized and one of the most heavily populated, which was surprising considering its climate. Unlike Theti, which had absolutely no seasons, Tricana was blessed with not less than six distinctly different seasons, each of which were spread out sporadically over its 524-day year. The wide diversity of its seasons was due to the constant interaction between various heavenly bodies in the solar system, as well as the wobbling rhythm of its two suns.
It was the peak of Tricana's desert season; a time of year when most people avoided the searing double suns by pursuing indoor activities. Daytime temperatures often reached 125ø, while the nights were graced by a cool 100ø reprieve. The desert season, which was relatively short, was by far the hottest season of the year; it was a stark contrast to Tricana's winter, which the residents playfully referred to as `The Ice Age'.
Tricana's 33-hour day was just coming to a close in the sprawling metropolis of Ethen. It was an evening like any other; the shops were closed, younger crowds had begun to collect in indoor recreation centers, and dinner was on the table in most homes. One of Ethen's younger couples, Harris and Deli, were just getting ready to spend a quiet evening at home.
Deli, like so many times before, was watching the double sunset from a picture window, which was situated on the west side of their quiet high-rise apartment. Procyon had already dropped behind the horizon and graced the distant skyline with diverse shades of red, orange, and violetdespite the fact that its dim companion was still visible in the sky. Watching the sunset had always been a ritual for Deli; she often reserved that time of the day for herself. As such, Harris usually spent that particular time of the day catching up on local news.
Harris was sprawled out on a wide, stuffed chair in front of a paper-thin television screen, which was laminated to the wall like wallpaper. He hastily flipped through numerous news stations, using the remote control, then stopped when he found a sporting event that caught his interest. He was just about to set down the remote control and watch the contest when, suddenly, the picture began to tear and twist. A moment or two later, the picture completely degraded to a ratty interference pattern, which was marked with a persistent, unnerving buzz.
"What crap!"
Harris furrowed his brow in disgust, then flipped through several more channelsonly to discover the same interference pattern across the entire band. He carefully studied the strange, tattered pattern on the screen in an attempt to determine what might have caused it. After scrutinizing the screen for some time, he shouted to Deli.
"Honey! Did we pay the television bill?"
Before Deli had a chance to answer, the ominous shriek of disaster sirens shattered the tranquil peace of the city.

Krey's muscles were beginning to ache under the weight of his tools and tri-ox torch as they hurried down the long, curved tunnel that led to the landing field. He was immeasurably grateful that he didn't have to run all the way back to the service tug with them, though just hanging onto the perch with the load on his back seemed to be enough to wear him down. They had traversed most of the tunnel and were just slowing down to make the tight, 90 ø turn before heading out into the clearing. He hoped that the service tug was still thereand intact.
"Careful!" The General warned.
Krey rolled back the throttles to a crawl as they cautiously approached the corner. He carefully inched his way toward the edge where daylight was shining in, then stopped altogether just short of the corner. He spoke quietly to The General.
"Lean over and tell me what you see."
The General gave Krey an uneasy look, then turned toward the edge of the 90ø bend, which was hardly more than a foot in front of the equipment. The General steadied himself with a hand pressed against the edge of the tunnel, then carefully peered out into the opening. He studied the scene for a moment or two, then slowly withdrew.
"Well?" Krey asked.
"There's a UN service tug out there... on a pad made of this stuff," he placed his fingertips on the side of the tunnel to show Krey what he was talking about.
"Anything else?"
The General shook his head, "Nothingno treesnothing."
Krey nodded, then carefully rolled the throttles forward.
They turned the tight corner, headed out of the tunnel, then finally found themselves in daylight as they made their way into the clearing. Krey pushed the throttles all the way to the forward stops in an effort to make an expedient dash for the service tug. The self-propelled equipment gradually picked up speed to something around twenty miles an hour; it was an adequate speed, though Krey would have preferred something at least twice as fast.
Chellaina looked up at the sprawling blue sky in disbelief, "Where are the Bao trees?... The Krellos?"
"Gone," Krey's voice was cold and blunt, "Flattened like toothpicks."
"For how far?" The General asked.
"Planet-wide... Hold on."
Krey turned toward the waiting tug, then started up the cargo ramp. "The destruction goes into space as well. I'm warning youit's not a pretty sight."
Chellaina and Fenton exchanged uneasy glances.

Cassie finished loading the final sequence of her equations into the computer, then glanced at her watch as the system began the calculations. She realized that she still had something on the order of fifteen minutes before her distant encounter with the strange vehicle, which had mysteriously appeared from somewhere in the time continuum. She looked out the forward windows to see if the craft had come into view, though she couldn't make out anything other than wreckage and drifting bodies. It did not take long for her to grow weary of the sight.
Cassie turned her nervous eyes from the atrocities outside, to the dimly-lit confines of the ancient bridge. An eerie, creepy felling rippled down her back as she carefully scrutinized the abundant shadows for tiny, crawling robots that were programmed to stalk her. She took several slow, deep breaths in the failing air as she listened to sounds of the creaking hull; she tried to separate them from any subtle, insect- like clicks that might be coming from the shadows. Although she was unable to hear any of the robotic adversaries prowling about, her imagination faithfully painted pictures of dozens of carnivorous devices lurking in the darkness... watching... waiting...
A loud beep from the computer console sent a surge of fear through Cassie, which quickly diminished when she realized that sound was not caused by robotic intruders. She turned toward the computer screenthen shuddered. The results of her calculations were undeniably clear; the theoretical alien craft that had produced the time wake was heading directly for the frontier planet of Tricana, in the solar system of Procyon.
A look of horror came over Cassie as she stared at the screen; the implications of her calculations could not possibly be coincidence. Considering the vastness of the universe, the human realm was like a grain of sand on a planet-wide beach, and the time wake just happened to be moving from one tiny, populated grain to another. More than thatit was moving from the most remote of the frontier planets, to the next closest.
Cassie was convinced that it was no coincident. She started thinking about the foot print on the planet, the strange crystals on the hatch, and the survivors who appeared to have been deliberately spared as bait. She also thought about the complete lack of response from the rest of the human realm; she came to the realization that the trap baited with survivors was apparently a failsafea mechanism to catch any one who might have slipped through the invader's elaborate scheme to cloak their advance. She also thought about the strange implant that was lurking in the UN mainframe.
Cassie's feeling of dread deepened as her thoughts tormented her. Something of unknown origin had deliberately annihilated life on Thetiand Tricana was most certainly next. She had no reason to believe that the destruction would stop at Tricana eitherthe twin frontier planets of Ogle and Kahn, in the solar system of Sirius was only four light-years from Tricana, and Mother Earth was only eight light-years from that. She thought about the fragility of the human realm; there was no military, no war machines, and no possible means of defense. An invading armada could simply walk across the realm unopposedand do it in a matter of days.
Cassie glanced at her watch; she had ten minutes before passing within a thousand meters of the strange vessel. She realized that, at a thousand meters, she would only be able to see a small dot at best. The Star Saber's long range cameras weren't working and she lacked so much as a pair of binoculars or a telescope. She desperately wanted to get a good, close look at the thing in order to determine if it was actually an alien vessel, or, with luck, a misinterpreted rescue ship.
Reluctantly, Cassie decided to shut down the computer console. She had hoped to spend some time analyzing the strange implant, which she suspected had something to do with the apparent invasion, but the faint glow of the computer screen could be enough to give her presence away. She turned off the computer display, then nervously looked around the bridge for an adequate place to hide in preparation for the distant encounter. She wondered how many robotic insects were also taking advantage of the darkness.
Cassie had not yet located an appropriate hiding place when a brilliant blue light suddenly shone upon her through the half-opened iris of the viewport. She looked up in terror at a huge, yellow craft looming not more than yards above the viewport. She froze, starring at the craft. There was no doubt in her mind that she was looking at themthe annihilators of the human race. She wondered how long they had been therewatching by the faint blue light of the display screen. For a brief moment, she nurtured the notion that, perhaps they didn't realize that she was a living human being, though the false security of that notion was fleeting at best. These creatures obviously knew the difference between living and deada glance out the window would easily confirm that.
Cassie remained frozen, staring into the alien light like a deer staring into headlights. She could feel her heart in her throat. She was afraid to move so much as a muscle for fear that they might make her out as a living human in need of slaughter. At the same time, she was afraid of remaining in plain sight of the ungodly craft for the same reason.
A moment or two later, the alien light panned away from the viewport to a point somewhere on the hull. Cassie didn't have any time to thinkshe simply reacted. She clamored out of her seat, then darted in the direction of the prevailing artificial gravity, which was in the general direction of the nose. For a brief moment, her fear of the alien craft overshadowed her fear of robotic insects; she clamored for the deceptive safety of a dark cubby-hole under a dilapidated console.
Hardly a pounding heart-beat later, the light returned to the empty seat where Cassie had been sitting. It panned across the floor several times in quick, sporadic sweeps, then it shifted positions to get a better look at the interior of the bridge. Cassie saw the light fall on the makeshift bunk, the crude partition, the refrigerator. She knew that it would only be a matter of time before it got around to searching the front of the bridge.
The constant tumbling motion of the aged Star Saber produced a centrifugal force which, to Cassie, seemed more like a subtle gravity that pulled her toward the nose of the Star Saber. She let herself fall farther into the darkness of the cubby-hole as the light from the alien vessel began to search the mid section of the bridge.
Cassie suddenly realized that the alien craft must be expending energy in order to maintain such an accurately stable position relative to the tumbling Star Saber; it had to be literally chasing the viewport as the Star Saber tumbled end over end. With this thought, came the realization that the alien craft, for some reason, had taken an extremely deep interest in her; it would have been much easier to simply destroy the Star Saber. She sat there, cuddling the insect-infested darkness, wondering why they were searching for her; why didn't they just end it all?
Fear overtook Cassie as the intense blue light of the alien craft stripped her cover of darkness. The hammering rhythm of her heart skipped several beats when she realized that the light didn't continue on its way; the aliens had found her. Cassie looked up at the light in terror, then began to sob with slow, helpless moans.