The Last Story by Christopher Pike Page B

distorted travel through hyperspace, ripping ships to pieces.

    "Their technology would appear to be far in advance of our own," Pareen said. "They are able to change speeds rapidly. Certainly their weapons are far superior to anything we have."

    "Has our fleet been able to ascertain the nature of their weaponry?"

    "No. It appears to be a new form of energy. Our shields can stand against it for only a short time."

    "Has Earth been attacked?" Sarteen asked.

    "Not yet. But many of the alien vessels are moving in that direction."

    "Have we any communication with the alien fleet, besides the ultimatum?"

    "No, Captain."

    "Have you altered our course to head away from Earth?"

    "Yes. But to what purpose?" Pareen was angry. "Our place is with our people."

    Sarteen ignored him for a moment. "Put the relative positions of our ship, the alien ships, and our fleet on the viewing screen."

    "Captain?"

    "Do it!"

    Pareen manipulated the controls. A mass of purple and white lights appeared. Their own vessels outnumbered the aliens three to one, but as she watched several white dots blinked, and then vanished altogether.

    Surrender seemed the only course—for the others.

    "We are still far from Earth," she said aloud, talking to herself. "We might be able to escape." She turned to Pareen. "Are any of the alien ships heading our way?"

    Pareen consulted his instrument. "One seems to be breaking away from the main pack.
    It's accelerating sharply." He looked up, fear in his eyes. "It's coming in our direction."

    "How long before it reaches us?" Sarteen asked.

    "At its present rate of acceleration, four hours. We would not be able to return to near light speed and make a jump through hyperspace before then."

    "How much time do we need to regain enough velocity?"

    "Five hours."

    Sarteen was thoughtful. "The ship that's chasing us might not be able to keep up its present rate of acceleration."

    "I wouldn't count on it. I think we have to surrender."

    "We will not surrender!" Sarteen shouted at him.

    Pareen stepped toward her. "Then turn our ship around and let's fight. Let's at least have a noble end.

    Why do we run?"

    "Because perhaps this is the end. The end of everything.

    But we can't let it finish, not like this. If humanity is so special, as the Elders say, we must survive."

    Pareen sneered. "You believe anything they said after this?"

    Sarteen was surprised that he automatically assumed the Elders were responsible for the attack. Yet as she glanced around the bridge, she saw the rest of her crew nodding agreement.

    "We do not know who is in these alien ships," she said quietly.

    Pareen burned with bitterness. "Of course we do. The Elders told us to recall all our ships so that they would all be in one place, easy to wipe out. Then this murderous fleet materializes.
    They must have intended to exterminate us from the beginning."

    "But when we linked minds with them," Sarteen said,

    "their love was so great."

    "They cast a spell over us. And we fell for it."

    "No," Sarteen said. "I trust in that love. It was real."

    "So is the ship that chases us. Love will not turn back its energy beams. We either turn and fight or we surrender. There is nowhere to run."

    "There is the whole universe." Sarteen considered.

    "If we could gain an extra hour, we would be able to jump into hyperspace. Then we would be safe."

    "The mathematics of their speed versus our speed will not give us that hour," Pareen said.
    "It is a simple fact."

    "We have to slow them down, catch them by surprise."

    Sarteen pointed to Pareen's monitors. "In three hours we will reenter the cometary cloud.
    Find me a gaseous cloud."

    "This far out, comets have no tails or gas surrounding them. It is only when they approach the sun that they begin to boil and throw off material. You know that—it is elementary astronomy."

    "Yes, I do know that, Pareen. What I am asking of you is to find me a gaseous cloud of even minute size, which you should be