The Third Book of the Alienbutt saga. Emperor of the Universe. Part 85.

ONE YEAR EARLIER.

Wickede stood on the bridge as the ship’s speed increased and their course changed. All around him, the crew rushed around trying to regain control of the dreadnought.
“The computer has locked us out, we can’t shut down the engines!” the Science Officer shouted, close to panic.
“Order a manual shutdown and I would appreciate a little less panic please,” Wickede ordered in a calm voice.
“Emperor, change our course! On our new heading we will be entering dead space in under five minutes. From our readings, the rest of the fleet are also locked out of ship control and have suffered the same change in course,” the Navigation Officer said, trying to sound as calm as possible.
“Can we not do one of those computer reboot things, Mr Rancort?” Wickede asked the Science Officer.
“Not at the present time. The computer’s security system has activated and it is working to isolate the problem. It appears that our navigation systems have been hacked and a virus is preventing us regaining control of them. The engine room has managed to instigate a manual shutdown of the engines and a disconnection of the reactor core,” the Science Officer explained.
“Well that’s a good sign. How much time till we hit dead space?” Wickede said, sitting back down in his seat.
“Four minutes. Our speed is starting to decrease, we should drop out of light-speed in three minutes,” the Navigation Officer said.
“Do we have a fix on the rest of the fleet?” Wickede asked.
“The Spatial location readings suggest all but four of our ships have started to decrease their speed but all are on the same course change as ourselves, apart from Blackarachnia’s, his ship seems unaffected by the cyber-attack,” the Navigation Officer replied.
Wickede sat back and silently cursed. How had the Federation managed to hack into their computer system? If the fleet failed to reach Hunter’s Rest, there would be no way Duke Ramboe could hold out and the war would be lost. How could things be ending this way? If this was the end of the war, where was Alienbutt?
“We’ve dropped out of light-speed, Emperor. Other ships in the fleet are starting to as well,” the Navigation Officer announced.
“Mr Rancort please give me some good news on your computer problem, it seems you have less than sixty seconds to pull something out of the hat,” Wickede said.
“It appears the computer will be about ten seconds too late with our solution,” the Science Officer said with resignation.
“Well that really is...” Wickede began as they entered dead space.

THE YEAR LONG DRAMATIC PAUSE.

“A bitch,” Wickede finished.
Confused, Wickede stood up. The ship had come to a complete stop and emergency lighting illuminated the bridge. The crew of the bridge looked around in confusion before they turned their attention to their Emperor.
“Is this dead space?” Wickede asked.
“We’re being hailed,” the Communications Officer said uncertainly.
“I thought everything stopped when you entered dead space, what could be trying to communicate with us?” Wickede asked, his bewilderment obvious.
“May I make a suggestion?” the Science Officer asked.
“Suggest away,” Wickede said.
“Answering the hail would be the most logical way to get some answers,” the Science Officer said.
“A very good suggestion,” Wickede said sitting back down. “OK, open communications.”
“Wickede, you must listen carefully and don’t do anything until we explain what has happened,” Frank said as his face appeared on the bridge viewing screen.
“Frank, is that you?” Wickede asked, his confusion growing.
“Yes, now listen and stop asking questions,” Frank said. “You and your fleet flew into dead space after Mr Fluffy hacked your on-board computers.”
“Mr Fluffy? You mean that stinky old cat of Nifty’s?” Wickede interrupted.
“If you would just be quiet and listen, I’ll explain what’s happened. If you’re going to keep interrupting it will take a lot longer,” Frank said. “We didn’t free you from dead space just so you can ask stupid question. None of the other ship’s captains are being so difficult. They’re just listening quietly and waiting to be told what to do.”
“You’ve freed us from dead space? I didn’t think that was possible,” Wickede said in surprise.
“I just said we did, so it must be possible. Kirk get over here. You can explain things to Wickede I’ve had enough of his interruptions. Doesn’t he realise I’ve vital research to start?” Frank said. “Is there any tomato soup left?”
“In the thermos flask,” Kirk answered before turning his attention to the Ick leader. “Emperor Wickede, now if you let me explain what has happened over the last year, there should be time for you to catch a film while we get you all organised and ready to join up with Alienbutt. I would suggest you watch Star Trek twenty-three, an often overlooked classic in my opinion.”
“Over the last year?” Wickede asked, trying to make sense of what was happening. “We’ve been in dead space for a year?”
“Tell them to reconnect their reactor core before life support begins to fail,” Frank shouted as he struggled to open the thermos lid. “Who in their right mind puts a child-proof lid on a thermos flask?”
“No one, you’re twisting it the wrong way, remember it's lefty loosely, rightly tightly. Now can I have less interruption so I can explain to Emperor Wickede and his fleet what happened?” Kirk asked, his monotone voice failing to express the frustration he felt at the stupidity of carbon based life.
“Now can I get on with telling how the War of the Coffee Bean ended with the rise of Mr Fluffy who is now calling himself the Emperor of the Universe?”
“I’m sure I speak for the fleet when I say I can’t wait, Kirk,” Wickede said in resignation. He sighed and sat back into his chair.

Here ends book three of the Alienbutt Saga and I'm afraid book four isn't finished yet so there will be some wait before I can start posting it here.
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