Dark is the Night

On Endeavour's bridge, the proximity alarms went off with a strident howl and the ship's computer automatically engaged light and radiation filters as a blinding flash lit the screen, causing the watching officers to wince and cover their eyes.

At the same moment the Rapier was engulfed by light, Kehlan slipped quietly into unconsciousness, her body sliding to the ground in an undignified heap. Her collapse broke the link between her friends and the lost souls, freeing Khetara, N'Sal and Chrissie from the bonds that had held them united.

N'Sal, her mind and body overloaded by the dual role she had played in two timeframes, quickly followed Kehlan into oblivion. As Chrissie tiredly moved to assist her, the third member of the party, Khetara, fell to her knees. But there was one more thing to do before she could allow the exhaustion to claim her. With one last supreme effort, she raised her hand to her combadge, a slight smile crossing her face as she summoned the starship that lay cloaked and hidden nearby. Ostensibly sent back to Earth several days ago, only she and Mackenzie were aware of its presence. "Khetara to USS Soulwolf. De-cloak, engage the phase shift and fire at will."

*****

On the Viking beach, a slight rippling became definite movement. Sunlight flashed off dazzling white fangs and an ear-splitting roar rent the air. Sulphurous fumes assaulted the nostrils and the very air seemed to burn as, summoned by the priestess, the dragon launched itself from the structure of the long-ship and attacked the Dutchman. Busy with his foe, the Dutchman never saw it coming.

*****

Distorted phaser and torpedo fire flew from the Soulwolf and impacted the Dutchman, the blasts appearing to ripple through the ghost ship, making it shudder and sway as if caught in a storm. The enemy ship seemed to burn under the fire-power unleashed. The blast faded into nothing and for a horrible moment it looked as if the enemy was unharmed.

Doubled over in agony, Mackenzie peered through the view port at the bow of the ghost ship and for a moment he fancied he saw a bird formed out of pure white flames, its beak and talons open and extended for the attack.

Soulwolf opened fire again and the Firebird that he knew only he could perceive, seemed to dip its claws into the energy stream of the starship’s weapons. It rode the stream as it impacted, the plasma tearing into its target as the preternatural bird ripped into the flesh of the Dutchman himself.

*****

Semi-conscious on the deck of the Endeavour, N'Sal's eyes flew open, her irises blazing red as her back arched spasmodically. "Protector! Strike!" she screamed.

The burning breath of the dragon, freed from the prow of the long-ship, turned the beach to glass. The Dutchman reeled, instinctively covering his face. Inevitably on the slick surface, he lost his footing and fell.

The Viking warrior raised his sword. The captain of the Galleon raised his cutlass. Admiral Mackenzie raised his Katana. The blade reflected the fire and carnage. Energy weapons lashed out at the enemy and the Protector obeyed the injunction of the Goddess who guided him.

They struck.

*****

Kehlan dreamed. Her strength completely used up, she lay unconscious on the deck, her sister bending over her to check on her welfare. Dimly she heard Mara speaking. "Bridge to Sickbay, medical emergency!”

But while her body slept, her mind and spirit roamed free as the lost souls of the Dutchman's ship allowed her to witness their final moments of captivity and the beginning of their salvation.

Everything had come together, fate had intervened and protected. The goddess herself had spoken. And as Mackenzie's desperate struggle with the enemy kept him distracted and unaware of the greater plan, the spirits themselves rose up against the abomination. As firebird in the present and dragon in the past came to life from carved wood and paint to defeat the ancient foe, so did the Soul of the Wolf; the totem of the starship come into existence, its purpose to lead the trapped souls to freedom. For the imprisonment and torture of souls was anathema to the Soulwolf and as its weapons lashed out with deadly force to destroy the ghost ship, its spirit added its power to that of the goddess channelled through Kehlan.

*****

Suddenly the Dutchman was enveloped in a bright flash of multi-coloured light that forced anyone in range to look away or risk being blinded. When it faded the Dutchman was gone, the only traces of his passing being tiny particles of light spreading out from the ghost ship’s last position before they too faded from existence, like the vestiges of a bad dream. It was finally over.

*****

Endeavour limped back into dock, having first stopped to pick up the crippled runabout. Rapier's hull was almost shattered and life support was offline along with all but last resort solar batteries. As the waiting medics recovered the injured admiral and rushed him to sickbay, deckhands moved in to drain the last of the fuel from leaking engine plants and make Rapier safe. As they worked, not one of them had the time to notice that underneath the damage and carbon scoring, the firebird that stretched proudly across Rapier’s prow had changed. Talons that had clawed menacingly towards the enemy, clutching death were now relaxed and folded peaceably. For now, mission accomplished, the totem artwork slept.

***

Well, I hope you enjoyed this short story as much as I enjoyed writing it.  It was written for the fiction competition at the SF Ball in bournemouth (UK) an event that I thoroughly recommend to anyone interested.  The brief was a sci/fi or fantasy story with maximum 6000 words.  This one weighs in at around 5947 words.  Keeping it so short was an incredible challenge for me as I tend to like writing longer stories and finding the words to introduce the characters to new readers and still tell the story was not easy.  however, to my complete shock i won first prize.. an acheivement that got me a nice certificate, an autographed skateboard (yes i know, lol) and a hug from Marina Sirtis.  so one happy bunny!

I do have other stories revolving around these characters and will post some of them in due course.