Chapter 11
‘Mervyn! Mervyn! Wake up it is nearly midnight.’
His dream about winning the Galactic Champions took a strange turn. Midnight? Then he realised he had forgotten to set the alarm and someone was hammering on his bedroom door.
‘Mervyn ,wake up!’ Tarun yelled.
He flung off his covers and raced to the door in his pyjamas. Tarun and Loren were already assembled in front of the main screens in the common room.
He peered at them through sleep laden eyes, ‘What’s up?’
Tarun yawned, ‘Nothing. Absolutely nothing.’
Loren nodded, ‘There’s a meteor storm hitting Garagyat II, and unseasonably high level of noxious gases in the swamps of Bocas Dorcus. Apart from that, it’s the quietest night the Galaxy has ever seen.’
‘It’s not midnight yet,’ Mervyn reminded them.
‘Ok, one more sweep of the net, then I’m going to bed,’ Loren sighed. She waited for midnight to pass then started the sweep. A collage of images flashed across the screen, the news stories of the moment; a crashed train, an erupting volcano, storms, the meteor shower on Garagyat II, minor dignitaries spouting about local politics, flies around a nut, the swamps of Bocas Dorcus.
‘Wait,’ Mervyn shouted, something had caught his attention, ‘go back, Loren.’
‘What, the swamps of Bocas Dorcus?’
‘No, before that.’
Loren scrolled back to the flies.
Tarun squinted at the screen through tired eyes, ‘What is it.’
‘It’s a long range shot of an asteroid,’ Mervyn informed him, ‘and those flies are ships.’
‘Nothing significant about that,’ Tarun said. ‘Keep scanning.’
Loren had the glazed look of someone accessing data on the link.
‘What is all this noise,’ demanded a strident voice behind them, ‘it has gone midnight – how dare you keep me awake.’ Aurora, hugging a fluffy pink dressing gown around her, glared accusingly at each of her team mates and then at the screen, ‘And why are you watching a battle?’
‘Battle?’ Realisation struck Mervyn in the gut, ‘Great muons -- it’s Starlight. And someone’s attacking it. Look!’ They watched in horror as more explosions blossomed silently on the surface of the asteroid.
‘I’ve got to talk to Dad,’ Mervyn said. He tried to link to his father via his biolink, but all he received back was static. ‘It’s blocked,’ he said in despair. All he could do was stand helplessly and watch Starlight be ripped apart, and his family with it.
‘Everything’s blocked,’ Loren confirmed.
Mervyn glared accusingly at Aurora, ‘Where’s the Ethrigian navy? Why isn’t anyone defending them?’
‘I will speak to my father,’ she announced and went glassy eyed. After a few moments she turned back to the others, she swallowed hard, ‘My uncle says the navy is on exercise with the Republic. They are steaming back here as fast as they can, but I don’t think they are going to make it in time. Sorry, Merv.’ Tears blossomed in the corners of her eyes, it was the first sign of emotion, other than contempt, Aurora has ever shown. He shouldn’t blame her.
‘Is this the best view we can get?’ Mervyn asked, desperate to see more detail, yet afraid in case he saw too much.
‘It’s a long shot from a relay station, there’s nothing closer,’ Loren said.
‘We’re closer, Mervyn said. ‘What about the Academy’s telescopes?’ The Academy had an array of telescopes for astronomy classes.
‘Of course,’ Loren said. ‘Give me a moment,’ her eyes glazing as she searched for the right connections. A few seconds later the giant screen flicked to a background of stars. The largest of Academy One’s telescopes tracked slowly to Loren’s new co-ordinates and Starlight filled the screen.
A swarm of fighter craft circulated the asteroid bombarding the surface and a single warship sat in orbit blasting away with its big guns. As Mervyn watched, horrified, a photon blast ripped apart Starlight’s central dome. Debris scattered outwards as Starlight’s atmosphere whooshed into the vacuum of space. He turned away from the sight. Anything not tied down would have been sucked out too; he could only imagine the devastation inside. A shoal of life-rafts erupted as Starlight’s residents fled the safety of their home. With his heart pounding, Mervyn hoped fervently that one of them contained his family. A moment later he changed his mind.
‘Look!’ Tarun called.
‘Oh quarks,’ Mervyn mouthed in horror. The fighters began picking off defenceless life-rafts as if for target practice.
‘I wish we could do something,’ Aurora said, her eyes staring wide in shock.
‘We can,’ Mervyn said. ‘Loren, upload this feed to the main news networks -- all of them! Let everyone see what’s going on. It might just stop them.’
Loren’s eyes glazed again, ‘the original station has taken it, and five more -- let’s hope that’s enough.’ Almost instantly the fighters turned away from their prey and returned to the warship.
‘Someone’s given an order,’ Tarun said. ‘Thank goodness for that.’
‘Saw themselves on the news I’ll bet,’ Mervyn said. The friends watched with relief as shuttles appeared and started gathering up the life-rafts. Soon the warship sped off taking the survivors with it.
‘We must go and see what we can do to help,’ Mervyn said starting towards the door. ‘I’m going to wake the principal.’
‘No need,’ Aurora said. ‘My uncle has already ordering him to help.’
‘In that case, I’m going to kill De Monsero or at least find out what he knows,’ Mervyn snarled, but before he had even taken two paces towards the door the alarm sounded calling all hands to emergency stations and locking them in their apartments.