Free Titan Encounter by Kyle Pratt

solar system, please identify friend and
foe.”
    Justin quickly did
so.
    “Do you wish me to
engage the enemy?”
    “We need to return
to our ship and jump. Provide covering fire as we do.”
    “Yes,
Admiral.” Again the sentinel gestured to a console. “Please insert the key.”
    “Key?” Naomi asked.
    Justin pointed to
the chain in her hand. “Your pendant.”
     She placed the
golden orb in a slot on the terminal.
     “Coordinates
entered…Destination locked…Activating gate…You may remove the key.”
    Naomi retrieved her
pendant, but her eyes remained fixed on the sentinel.
    “Justin,” Mara
shouted over the commlink , “The gate!  A
wormhole is forming!”
    “We’re coming,”
Justin shouted into the commlink . “Be ready to jump.”
He ran toward the door, but stopped short when it did not open. He looked back
at Naomi.
    She had not moved.
    “We’ve got to go.”
    “Of
course.” Her gaze slid from the silent sentinel to Justin. “It all makes sense
now.  “Dr. Galen knew I was made from Titan DNA and figured they would
hide me.” Her mouth hung agape. “The Titans must be on the other side of the
gate.”
    “ Ferren and the police are on this side.”
    She remained fixed
like a statue.
    He breathed deeply.
“What chance do we have here?” He walked up to her and gently took her hand. “ Ferren and the police will kill us.”
    Tears welled in her
eyes. “The Titans…”
    “Didn’t
kill other Titans.” He moved quickly to her and pulled her close. “Please,
come with me. Whatever is on the other side we’ll face it together.”  The
door opened as they stepped forward. He urged her on as raced down the
passageway, through the ship, and across the docking bay. The whoosh of missile
launches and the crackle of particle beams greeted them as they ran up the ramp
and into the skiff. 

Chapter
12
    Explosive flashes
and searing beams of light illuminated what, minutes ago, had been a tranquil scene.
    Naomi eased the
skiff out of the bay. Her eyes darted from the sensor console to the cockpit
window. “Where is Surfeit?”
    Quickly Justin
scanned from port to starboard. He cursed and grabbed the commlink .
    Hiding.
    With Mara’s single
word echoing somehow in his head he knew the location of Surfeit as if he had
moved the skiff. He turned to Naomi. 
    She nodded. “I heard
her,” and threw the craft into a high-speed 90-degree turn over the central
portion of the frigate. 
    Justin struggled to
clip his belt as Naomi, hugging the Titan ship, passed through a dip in the
superstructure to the port side.  Surfeit, illuminated by the reflected
light of the planet, hovered close alongside. 
    As they approached,
Surfeit rolled over, revealing the open docking bay.
    Deftly, Naomi
aligned the skiff with the mother ship.
    A loud clank told
Justin the docking clamps had locked in place. Go! Through
the gate—now.
    Thrusters roared.
    Inertia flung Justin
hard against the seat. Within moments came the flash and familiar sickness that
signaled the event horizon.
    Without a word,
Naomi stood and hurried out. 
    He guessed why she
rushed out and followed, hoping the queasiness in his stomach would soon pass.
    Stepping onto the
bridge Naomi shouted, “You communicated with us. You are telepathic.”
She stepped closer. “ You are one of them—a Titan. ”
    Mara pulled a knife
and pointed it at her. “So are you,” she sneered.
    “What are you doing,
Mara! Put that away.”
    She lowered the
knife, but kept it out. 
    Justin stepped
between them and lifted his arms to fend them off.  “Apparently we have a
Titan family reunion on this ship.”
    “It makes sense
now.” Naomi smirked. “You were both on that ship as children. It must have been
a Titan ship.”
    “You told her about
that?”
    “Sort
of.” Quickly he mulled Naomi’s assertion. It seemed logical. If he were a Titan,
Mara would probably be also. What use would the Titans have for norms? 
Facing her he asked, “How long