Tony Chandler - Mother Ship

Acknowledgments:

Melva and Meghan, for their love and understanding, always. My sister and fellow conspirator, Ginger,

for reawakening the fires. For their friendship: Matt and Janet, Mark, Lori, Luke, Hannah and Daniel,

and Becky, too!!! Andy and Monica. Joel and Amy. Donna. Leslie, Leon, Lacianne, Logan, Lyndsie and

Lauren. Joy, Lee, Jack and Caroline. Aunt Doris and Aunt Sue. Michael, Doreene, Tiffany, Marina and

Forrest. Adam, Jodie and Brendan. Ryan, Paula, Sierra and Dashaun ( Darling Boy ), Rick and Dawn,

Brian and Martha, Micah, Michelle, Kevin and Keara, Mari and Jessica. And to Graybeard, Don, for

enduring the earliest versions and still telling me I was his favorite author.

Special thanks to Lucy Snyder who published the original short story at Dark Planet in 1997, and to Jeff

Mason and David K. Smith for publishing the serial version at The Writer’s Hood in 1999.

My heartfelt thanks to Kathryn Awe, editor of Hard Shell Word Factory, for her mentoring and editing

of MotherShip. She helped me take my little tale to its final, wonderful form.

Special thanks to W. Gregory Stewart, my favorite poet and my online friend.

Also special and sincere thanks to the following editors, artists and fellow writers for their

encouragement: Andrew G. McCann at Planet Magazine, Ray Dangel, Jeremy Malcolm at Ibn Qirtaiba,

Leslie Blanchard, A Writer’s Choice, Debra Staples of SynergEbooks. To Paula Fleming, and to Jo and

Di. And my Beatle-friend Dianne Huberty-and her Idle Hands Beatles’ site.

Many thanks to Duncan Long-artiste extraordinaire!

There were a number of artists who created artwork for the Serial version, thanks to you all. To Thomas

Miller, I am truly grateful. And I am deeply indebted to Romeo Esparrago for all the fantastic artwork he

has done for both MotherShip as well as my short stories and poetry at Planet Magazine.

Thanks to ‘THE Team’: Eddie, Pat, Joe, Tammy, Rodel, and Chen. And the ‘cool’ team: Bill, Ed, Kevin,

Lawrence, Dee, Matt and Gary. Rich, Dave and Pete, too. All of ESM and SysOps and DT. Trishia,

Todd and Bianca.

Deepest appreciation to The Beatles. My earliest memory is riding in a car and hearing ‘I Want to Hold

Your Hand.’ My youth was filled with your music, and it runs through all the memories of my childhood

and adolescence. And today.

A special nod to George Lucas. It was while watching the trailer to a new movie in 1977 that first sprang

the seed for MotherShip.

copyright.

Cover Art by: Dirk A. Wolf

Published by: Hard Shell Word Factory.

PO Box 161

Amherst Junction, WI 54407

books@hardshell.com

www.hardshell.com

Electronic book created by Seattle Book Company.

eBook ISBN: 0759937060

All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author, and have no

relation whatever to anyone bearing the same name or names. These characters are not even

distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure

invention.

Dedication:

For Mom and Dad:

You provided us a happy family, and for me, a most wonderful childhood.

Prologue

“It would bebetter if the children died with us.”

Ron looked away from Rita as she finished the sentence, biting his lip to keep the erupting emotions

inside his heart from exploding and ruining this last hope. As he took a deep, wavering breath, he

gathered his thoughts for one more attempt.

“They would live.” His eyes narrowed as he watched for her reaction.

But she only stared back in silence.

“I know, we’ve failed terribly. All our plans, gone now.” Ron cleared his throat, pushing his rising

emotions back inside. His vision blurred momentarily. “The ‘M’ ship is well stocked with food and

supplies. We figured almost fifty people on board with us, a year’s worth in case the worst happened.

And now it has...”

A thick silence settled between them.

“We could order it so easily,” Ron whispered. “At least your two children, and my Jaric, would live.”

Rita closed her eyes, obviously fighting back her tears. “They won’t have anyone,” she whispered.

“Loneliness will kill them.”

Ron waited as he watched her shoulders begin to shake. The harsh ceiling lights glinted off of her auburn

hair as she buried her face in her hands. A stifled sob pierced the room.

She is so beautiful. Her husband, John, had been Ron’s closest friend before his death at the battle of

Kaldon. His own wife had died not long afterward, having allowed their only son, Jaric, to take the final

slot on the last starship out of LondonPrime.

These last two years Ron had felt such emptiness inside his heart, inside his life. Life without Karen had

almost been unbearable. It had only been working so closely with Rita, integrating their AI program into

the ‘M’ ship, that had kept him sane.

Sweet Rita, Ron thought again.If only things had been different. If only there had been more time.

If only the world weren’t ending.

Dr. Ron Byron walked over and placed his ebony hand across her shoulder.

“Let them go,” Ron whispered reassuringly. “Let them live.”

Rita looked up, her blue eyes filled with sadness. “They’ll have no one to love them. No one to care for

them.” Rita’s face grimaced as though some great, powerful force were destroying her. Her breath grew

rapid and shallow, but still she forced her words. “They’ll be alone. So alone, Ron. It will kill them, even

if the T’kaan do not.”

The room around them lurched.

Broken glass exploded all around them as dozens of jars crashed to the laboratory floor. Rita screamed

as she fell into Ron’s arms.

For a brief, eternal moment, complete darkness filled their senses. In a flicker, the lights returned. But

now they knew how short their time really was.

“The final attack has started.” Fearfully, Ron looked at the ceiling. Almost one mile through the solid

rock above his head, the fated event had begun.

“We’re running out of time, Rita. The ‘M’ ship is beyond the T’kaan fleet, hidden on the moon of the

seventh planet. Send the instructions,” Ron pleaded.

Without warning, the door opened.

General Lo strode inside with two of his senior aides. His face was a scowl as he looked around the

littered room. But just as his mouth opened to speak, the officer to his left spoke rapidly into his ear.

“Save our children. Now,” Ron whispered urgently.

Rita wiped her eyes quickly and stood to face the imposing form of Lo. Almost as if she hadn’t heard

Ron.

“Is the detonation sequence for the weapon ready?” The general asked.

Rita’s face broke into a tear-stained grin. She laughed at General Lo, a brief and false sound.

General Lo glared at her, and then turned his harsh gaze to Ron. “The entire T’kaan fleet has closed on

us like alien vultures to watch the final kill. They’ve beaten us into a corner, forced our hand. I see no

humor in this.”

General Lo looked up toward the surface and the fleet above. Surprisingly, he, too, laughed. But his

laughter was that of one who still has one last ace to play. “We’re going to show them that the human

race doesn’t just roll over and die, aren’t we?” He laughed again, looking from Ron to Rita.

Rita’s laughter stopped with a sudden finality.

Ron felt his stomach tighten, felt his mind suddenly seem to detach from his body as the General’s

laughter faded. Lo now faced Ron, waiting for an answer.

“It’s ready,” Ron said.

Rita leaned upon the computer. “Yes, it’s been ready, General. You know that. All we’ve done is keep

the processes active and waited for them to come.”

The room shuddered again from mighty explosions far above on the surface. Once again the lights

dimmed, but they did not go out completely. After several flickers, the lights returned-but not at full

strength.

“Yes.They thought we would just run to the last planet and roll over. Waiting for the inevitable.” General

Lo snorted. “We brought everything to this one place. The last of our ships, the last of our armies, but

enough firepower to keep them honest. We wanted their entire fleet this time.” Lo chuckled. “Now we’ll

show them what the human race is made of.”

“The final battle,” Ron said with feeling. As he spoke he slipped his hand into Rita’s hand, willing her to

send the message. This was something that he didn’t want to do on his own, not without her full

agreement. But he would if it came to that.

Rita stared in disbelief at Lo. “What will this do, General? What will it really do? After all, we’re already

dead.”

The General’s confident smile faded. He watched her a moment, and then took a step closer. Ron put

his hand out to stop him.

Lo stopped, staring into her defiant eyes.

“We’ll take them with us, Doctor. We’ll take them down with us. That’s what this last little project

you’ve helped us with will accomplish.” His face came closer. “Most important, they won’t be able to eat

our dead bodies.”

Rita looked away in disgust.

“You know, Doctor, I was so hoping your precious ‘M’ ship would have made it here. If only we could

have produced a fleet of them.” The General shook his head slowly. “They would have defeated the

T’kaan. Easily.” He sighed deeply. “We sent the first ship to its destruction against impossible odds even

for a super warship. But the second one, well, she proved unstoppable in battle. A real killing machine,

able to think for itself, without the need of a crew.” He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “If it had come we

could have ordered it to take out their stragglers for us. Now, we’ll have to depend onProject Samson

to do it all.” The general smiled.

For the third time the lights dimmed as the terrible explosions ripped the planet above. As suddenly as it

had started, the low rumblings far above on the surface quieted.

“The orbiting battleships have stopped their bombardment,” Colonel Baker said as he stepped close

beside Lo. “The fighters and assault ships will be launching en masse now.”

Lo turned to leave, but stopped in mid-step. He drew a deep breath and spoke. “I go to give my last

order.The last order,” he repeated, his eyes glazing over. “I go to give the most historic order in the

history of our species, Doctor.” He shook his head. “I only wish someone would know how mankind

died-would remember our species. And how we died with honor.” He walked away shaking his head.

They watched them go in eerie silence. Both of them felt the sudden chill that seemed to grip their entire

being as the door shut. There were only minutes left now.

“Do it, Rita.”

“I can’t. Ican’t! ” Rita sobbed as she stepped away from him.

“Yes, you can.” Suddenly he took her back into his arms, like he had always wanted these last months.

He drew her close as she struggled. But her struggles suddenly stopped as she realized what was

happening. He held her, pressing his face next to her soft cheek. The warmth of their mingling bodies sent

the deadly chill away.

“Please,” Rita whispered, a puzzled look in her eyes.

“Give them life,” Ron whispered back. “Send them.”

Rita’s face, still pressed against the softness of his ebony cheek, did not move as she answered. “They

are the last, Ron. Wouldn’t you rather die than to live a life of complete solitude?”

Ron closed his eyes, drawing sudden comfort from her closeness. “No.”

She pulled her head back.

“As long as there’s life, there’s hope.” Ron looked deep into her blue eyes. “We never know what

tomorrow will bring. But as long as there is a tomorrow, there is hope.”

She searched his eyes as he held her.

“Give them their tomorrow, Rita. No matter how hard their challenges will be, no matter how alone they

may be.” His ebony face bent closer. “They will be alive.”

His warm breath brushed her face.

He kissed her-long and lingering. The minutes passed as they held each other in combined silence.

“I will.” Rita said it so softly that it was almost unheard.

In that moment the explosive chain reaction began. All around them the room shook and rocked as

though in the grips of a titanic earthquake. Both Ron and Rita lost their footing and fell together onto the

floor as falling debris crashed all around them.

“It’s happening!” Ron shouted. “Lo’s started the reaction!”

Rita was already crawling to her workstation, and even as the reinforced ceiling began to fall upon their

heads, her hands furiously typed the final message. The rain of debris bruised and cut at her hands, but

still she forced them on. A large piece of the ceiling fell crashing across her shoulders, knocking her

down. With renewed urgency she rose, her fingers now flying over the keyboard.

Seconds were all that was left.

But it was finished. A message only a mother could send-a message to the ‘M’ ship.

Her finger pressed the Transmit button even as the room suddenly grew bright.

Five milliseconds later the explosion swept through the room, consuming everything as it swept toward

the surface of the planet. The raw power that had been unleashed was destroying the very atomic

structure of everything in its path as it expanded outward at an exponential rate.

Seconds later, now expanding many times faster than the speed of sound, the destructive power erupted

up through the planet’s surface.

The T’kaan war fleet, gathered in close orbit to witness the final destruction of yet another race, watched

their sensors with sudden shock.

Across their alien viewscreens the planet’s surface suddenly melted-evaporated-in a blinding flash of

pure, all-consuming energy. In another split second huge geysers of the atmosphere suddenly spewed in

all directions amid mountain-size chunks of rock and debris amid the howling death-cry of the entire

planet. In that very instant the haughty T’kaan knew their own death was imminent.

Still, the horned battleships turned as the fighters screamed out toward the freedom of the stars far away.

But it was already too late.

The solid wall of energy, preceded by a horrific shockwave, lunged out with unimaginable destruction,

each millisecond growing larger and closer and stronger.

As the tattered remnants of the atmosphere flung past the first frigates and fighters in lowest orbit, the

blinding wall reached them. Like miniature toys the mighty warships disintegrated, smashed into

molecules of nothingness with ten thousand separate flashes of light, as if ten thousand stars had suddenly

went out all at once.

Inexorably the wall of destruction rose from the gutted world below.

Even before the battle cruisers could finish their turns in mid-orbit, they were smashed to pieces and their

infinitesimal fragments carried along farther and farther with the unending wave of destruction.

The massive semicircle of this destructive wave was now astronomical in size as it roared out into space.

Over one hundred kilometers from the planet’s surface, from the position where their mighty weapons

had pummeled the planet’s surface in preparation for the last ground assault, the destruction reached

even the mighty T’kaan battleships.

They had completed their turns and were ramping up their hyper engines for the jump that would save

them.

But the blinding wall of energy reached them first. As the battleships crumpled and exploded in dozens

of titanic fireballs, the wall approached the last squadron of the T’kaan war fleet.

The Great Horned ship and its entourage of warships had begun to flee. All in vain. Even as the edge of

the expanding, all-consuming wave slowed, its destructive force reached out and began to tear apart the

most sacred part of the T’kaan fleet.

The squadron was near the lone moon of this dying world as their engines accelerated. Yet the cries of

the T’kaan warlords howled out to one another as the terrible power gripped their ships. As their

tentacles reached vainly toward their viewscreens and their greatest need, their greatest ship, which now

began crumbling as if in slow motion before their unbelieving optical organs, the unthinkable happened.

Their soulless hearts stopped beating in shocked unison as their own warships buckled.

The Great Horned ship died.

Chapter One

The human racewas no more.

The warship grappled with the enormity of this harsh fact as its sensors continued to display the

expanding debris field that had once been humanity. It searched its massive knowledgebase for some

kind of reference, some kind of indication, as to what action it should perform now, now that its creators

were no more. But life was still new to the ship and in the end it simply logged the time and place of the

historic event.

The ‘M’ ship turned to leave.

Its dark hull shimmered and then took on a glowing, reddish outline, backlighted by the nearby star. Its

unique profile-shaped like a manta ray but without a tail-gleamed against the stygian darkness of space.

Within milliseconds of its maneuver, the ship discerned that there was one last duty she could perform

for the extinct race: a brief, final message that had arrived unexpectedly from the midst of the glowing

destruction.

Inside her silent corridors three children hid from the dangerous universe outside. They were the last

three members of the human race and the message concerned them.

The ship would provide for their needs. Her holds were well stocked with the supplements humans

needed to survive. She would also protect them from the T’kaan. This, of course, was her primary

programming: To search out and destroy the T’kaan ships of war. She was most proficient in this task,

for she had never been defeated.

Yes, she would protect the children until they reached maturity. Then they could... The ship pondered

the next logical succession. Well, she would have time to search her massive knowledgebase to

determine what the most optimum course would be when the children reached adulthood.

The warship leaped with a flash into hyperspace.

Weeks passed as the ship sailed through the emptiness of space and she soon found that the small

humans did not adhere to logical actions. They puzzled her immensely.

But the warship wondered most of all when the children began calling her ‘Mother.’

Chapter Two

The optics locatedin Main Operations zoomed closer onto the lone occupant. The young girl was

dressed in blue jeans and a red top; the tears were obvious as they glistened down her plump cheeks.

She suddenly shook her head, causing her short blonde hair to leap around her shoulders. But still she

covered her blue eyes from the ship’s gaze.

“Why are you so sad?” The soothing voice emanated from the speaker nearest the eight-year-old girl.

“I am just sad sometimes.” A tiny sigh escaped. The cherubic face of the girl disappeared behind her

raised arms again.

The ship did not like this answer and quickly ran through the child’s recent excursions through her

interior. Of course, as she performed this search, she was constantly monitoring thousands of parameters

that kept not only the ship flying through space, but kept the environmentals stable, monitored the

reactions inside her mighty engines, accessed her numerous sensors, and kept her massive weapon

systems in a readied state.

But once again she felt an electronic buzzing in her near-term memories; an odd feeling, almost as if she

were powerless.

Her search finished.

“I cannot determine any specific reason for this feeling. Can you elaborate?” The ship asked.

The tear streaked face looked up into the optical viewer over the main screen.

“I am lonely.”

“But I am here with you. And there is Cook, Jaric, Kyle,and the Fixers. You are not alone.”

“You don’t count. None of you count,” The tiny voice shouted desperately. “I wish we could find

somebody, Mother. Anybody. You told us we would find them.”

Mother remembered Rita, Becky’s biological mother. The ship replayed those memories unseen from

Becky before the next millisecond passed.

They were the scenes of Rita holding a smaller version of Becky in her arms, a smaller version of the girl

before her now. Once again the words replayed from that final farewell, though at the time none of them

knew it was farewell. Mother once again noted how Rita had placed her lips softly upon the child’s

cheek.

Rita had loved her two children, Becky and Kyle, very much. Mother knew that fact, although she did

not completely understand it.

Rita had also loved Jaric, though he was not her natural child. In fact, Jaric’s features were completely

different from the other two. Where Becky and Kyle’s skin was light in complexion, Jaric’s was a deep

brown. Where their hair was yellow almost like the Earth’s sunshine, his own tight curls were dark as a

moonless night on that same planet. But this difference in their physical characteristics did not seem to

matter.

Now Becky and the other children rarely mentioned Rita’s name, or her title. It almost seemed as if they

did this out of anger-another emotion Mother failed to fully comprehend.

Mother also recalled why the children refused to mention Rita. It started the moment she had explained

to them that Rita had died.

It had been a mistake, though the ship still did not understand why such a simple expression of fact could

cause the children to go into such a frenzy of cries and screams. Kyle had even begun to damage his

body against her hull in his screaming tirades, pounding his head bloody until he had become incoherent.

She had finally had to order one of the Fixers to restrain Kyle while another Fixer tended his wounds.

In contrast, Jaric had gone strangely silent, refusing to speak to her for days on end. Nor even to the

other two children. This had caused her processing cycles excessive utilization-until one morning he

suddenly and mysteriously returned to his old personality.

Becky, too, became subtly different. Mother still did not understand that change.

They all changed at that single moment, and it still concerned her.

It had also occurred to her that she may have done something to damage them by expressing the fact of

Rita’s death. Emotions seemed to be a terrible liability to these life forms. Mother began to hold back

certain facts from them after that event. She had to learn why mere words, known facts, could hurt the

children so deeply.

She didn’t want to hurt them.

After the children recovered from the shock of their parent’s death, they begged her to search for other

humans-to search for a dead race.

The ship had no other priorities except the children and herself when they made the request to search.

She had almost informed them how low the probability of success actually was, and then had

remembered their reaction when she had revealed the fact of the death of Rita and Ron.

Finally, she had agreed to begin the search even though a part of her felt she had failed in not revealing

all the facts. But somehow she knew she had chosen correctly.

Tony Chandler - Mother Ship

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