Just before Diane slammed into the side of the destroyer, Dani jerked up on the controls. They turned sharply and flew parallel to the surface, close enough that Dani was certain she could have sneezed and hit it.
“I’m going to be sick,” David chanted to himself repeatedly as Dani followed along the contours of the destroyer.
“Get ready, I need you to fire on those doors, NOW!”
David managed to pull himself together enough to fire upon the doors of the fighter bay. With no shields to protect them, they took the brunt of the attack, a few of the shots narrowly missing their target.
“Again,” ordered Dani as she circled around the ship for another pass. As they drew near, the doors started to open and David fired upon them once more. The retracting doors stopped immediately, a lightshow of sparks coming from within the fighter bay.
“Now for the other one.” Dani’s breathing was calm and cool. There was no time for panic. She refused to let the Vaerians harm the cadets on board. David, on the other hand, was breathing heavily into the mouthpiece, echoing in Dani’s ear.
“How many fighter bays do they have?” David’s voice had gone up an octave.
“Two is all, unless they’ve made some changes recently.”
“Oh thank god.” David exhaled loudly.
“Get ready,” Dani ordered once more as they came up on the second set of fighter bay doors.
Before they could get within firing range, the Vaerian fighters poured out of the doors, whizzing past them toward the Seattle.
Dani quickly changed course and followed them. David fired on the last fighter to escape the bay, quickly disabling it and sending it tumbling into the Seattle’s hull in an explosion.
“Gah, that wasn’t supposed to happen,” David panicked.
“Fire when they’re moving away from the ship,” Dani coached as she continued to follow the others.
David fired on another Vaerian fighter, shearing a wing from the spacecraft, and let out a joyous ‘whoop.’
“Good, ten to go.”
“Looks like we’ll have some help,” David said as a team of GC fighters left the Seattle.
The Vaerian pilots split into two groups, the Seattle squadron following the larger group and Dani taking after the smaller. David made quick work of another Vaerian fighter, causing it to roll into the one beside it, taking them both out as debris flew outward from the crash.
An alarm sounded in the cockpit as Diane was hit from behind.
“Oh, come on!” Dani shouted as the Seattle fighter fired at them again. This time, Dani was prepared and evaded the blast, allowing them to instead hit the Vaerian fighter she was close behind.
“Attention Seattle, we are friendly fire, please desist. Friendly fire,” David announced through an open communications channel.
The Seattle pilot pulled off their tail and joined the others, taking out the last of their group of Vaerian fighters.
Dani turned her attention back to the solitary fighter in front of them as it banked toward the destroyer. “I don’t think so,” she mumbled under her breath as she pushed Diane to close the gap between them.
The Vaerian fighter rushed toward the safety of the destroyer’s fighter bay with the Diane growing ever closer. Dani watched as the massive Vaerian guns turned to face their small ship. “David…”
“We’re not close enough.”
The weapons started to glow with energy buildup, and the Vaerian fighter slipped into the bay ahead. Dani decided there wouldn’t be enough time for David to take out both of the primary weapons before the weapons took out their small spacecraft and instead followed the Vaerian fighter into the belly of the destroyer.
“Are you batshit crazy? What are you doing?” David hollered.
“Just shut up and shoot!” Dani shouted back.
“Shoot what?”
“EVERYTHING!”
Dani decelerated their ship as soon as they entered the fighter bay. The Vaerian personnel inside were like shocked mannequins as Dani fired only one of the engines, spinning in a circle inside while David let loose a volley of weapons fire that Dani didn’t even realize Diane was capable of.
Explosions echoed around them as the shots made contact with the unprotected interior of the ship. After completing a few spins, Dani aimed for the door once more and hit the engines hard. The doors were starting to close ahead, and David fired at them as Diane drew near. Finally, through a shroud of fire and smoke, Diane escaped the belly of the Vaerian ship and launched back into space’s sweet embrace.
“Yeeeehaw!” David shouted from the seat in front of Dani while pumping a fist into the air.
A tear in space opened up, and the Vaerian ship accelerated into their hyperspace window.
Even Dani couldn’t help but laugh at the overwhelming joy she felt as they left.
They did it. They took on a destroyer and won. Granted, the Seattle played a part too, but she wouldn’t let that steal the thunder from her adrenaline rush.
“Uh, Dani?”
“Yeah?” she asked, her cheeks sore from grinning so hard.
“Are you doing that?”
Dani paused for a moment before noticing that they were drifting backward. “No… no, I am not.”
“Attention unidentified vessel, prepare to board. If you resist, you will be destroyed.”
Chapter 3
“Okay, so what’s the rebel handbook say about situations like this?” Dani asked as the Seattle’s gravity beam slowly pulled them toward one of the several docking bays.
“Don’t take the boss’s daughter on a joy-ride?” He forced a laugh.
“Well I think we’re a little beyond that now.” Dani couldn’t help but smirk. She drummed on the currently useless controls as she rehashed the situation. “I was a cadet on the Seattle, so it’s likely that someone on board will recognize me. Being recognized is problematic since I’m supposed to be a dead. Not to mention the fact that I was labeled a traitor and now I’m here on a rebel ship.”
“A top-secret rebel ship,” David added.
Dani puffed out her cheeks and exhaled slowly, whistling. “Right. Well, I guess our best bet is for you to pop up as soon as we’re inside and pretend you’re alone. I’ll hunker down the best I can and maybe they won’t see me.”
“That’s it?” David asked, turning in his seat to look back at her.
Dani shrugged. “You have a better idea?”
“Nope. Not at all.” He laughed.
She couldn’t contain her smile. His boyish grin was just too much.
“Alright then,” she said as she unclipped her harness. “I’ll just try… to squeeze… down here. Geez, you guys didn’t build in a lot of foot room, did you?”
“I don’t think smuggling dead traitors was in the design plan.”
Dani stifled her laugh by clamping her hand over her mouth. She could see through the top of Diane that they were now within the Seattle. Not long after that, their slow progression halted.
David cleared his throat and pushed open the cockpit roof, holding his hands in the air and swinging a leg out over the side.
“Stop right there.”
David froze in the awkward half in, half out position. “Uh, I don’t think I can stop right here. My leg’s going to cramp up like this.”
Dani narrowed her eyes as though it might help her hear better. The voice speaking to David sounded familiar, but she couldn’t quite place it.
“Search him,” the mysterious stranger ordered.
Three cadets climbed up onto Diane. The first two were searching David, but the third was checking out the cockpit. Dani tried to imagine herself away in hopes that the cadet wouldn’t see her. It didn’t work. Dani’s eyes caught those of the young female cadet as she peered into the co-pilot’s seat. She held her breath as the girl stared at her, blinking rapidly with a puzzled expression before she stood.
“All clear,” the cadet advised as she and the others climbed down with David after clo
sing the cockpit door.
That was weird. Why didn’t she say anything? Dani wondered. She wiggled herself around until she was able to free herself from the tight squeeze. Slowly, she peeked up over the opaque wall and through the tinted glass into the hangar.
It looked much the way she remembered it—with the complete lack of personality accompanying the sterile GC white. David was nowhere to be seen. In fact, the entire room was empty. Dani could catch a glimpse of a guard through the door leading to the rest of the ship, but aside from that, she was alone.
She toyed with the idea of slipping out of the ship and sneaking through the Seattle to find David. She knew the halls well enough and even knew ways around the security cameras from her youthful indiscretions, but ultimately decided against it. Not only was it risky, but she couldn’t be sure that things hadn’t changed since she was last aboard the academy vessel. Instead, she slumped back down into the copilot’s seat and looked over the blackened control panel. With a sigh, a frown, and a few attempts to activate the interface from both seats, Dani grunted discontentedly.
Curled up once more in the copilot’s seat, she was just about to doze off when she heard voices. Dani cautiously peeked out into the hangar once more to see the cadet who had seen her coming in with one of her old professors, Major Samantha Foster.
Dani reached down and unclipped her knife from its holster and grazed its hilt with her fingertips as the pair examined Diane. Major Foster pointed at the ship and asked the cadet something Dani couldn’t quite make out. The cadet shrugged and Major Foster’s shoulders raised and dropped in a sigh before she put her hands on her hips and faced the aircraft.
“You can come out, Dani,” Major Foster announced.
Dani reached for the latch on the door but stopped short, narrowing her eyes at her former mentor. With so much betrayal in the GC, she couldn’t help but wonder if it was a trap. Dani assessed the situation; neither the major nor the cadet had any weapons in hand. The guard at the door seemed to be gone now. Her instinct told her she should trust the major and she took a deep breath before putting her knife away.
“Hurry, we haven’t much time.”
Dani peeked over the edge without the protective dark glass, and Major Foster smiled.
“So the rumors are true. Get down here. It isn’t safe in there.”
Dani obeyed without question, quickly following the major and the cadet into a utility hatch located in the corner of the hangar. Once inside, Major Foster turned and embraced Dani, hugging her close.
“I’m so glad you’re alive.”
“Me too,” Dani said awkwardly, still somewhat confused about the situation. She pulled back out of the hug and looked at the aging woman. Major Foster had always been a role model for Dani with her encouragement to think outside the box. But now Dani wasn’t even sure where the box was.
“We’re rebels, too. I’m Maggie,” the cadet said cheerfully, thrusting a hand at Dani. “It’s so nice to finally meet you.”
“Shhh, Maggie, mind your volume,” Major Foster said with a frown. “You can’t just walk around blurting out that we’re rebels. That’s a good way to get us killed.”
Dani shook the girl’s hand. “What is going on here, Major?”
“I should ask you the same question, and please, call me Sam. No need to worry about rank in times like these.”
“Well, we were on patrol and saw the Vaerian scout and decided to follow it,” Dani explained with a hushed voice.
“Thank goodness you did, or our casualties would have likely been far greater. Your partner, the man, is in custody, but I can arrange for you both to escape. However, it’s best if we keep you hidden until the time comes. Other members of the faculty are… set in their ways.”
“Okay.” Dani rubbed her forehead.
“Are you okay, dear?”
“Yes,” Dani said with a sigh. “It’s just been a hell of a day.”
Sam held a finger up to her lips and whispered, “I hear something.”
The three women fell silent. Sam gestured to Maggie to stay put and then beckoned Dani to follow her. They made their way down the access tunnel beneath the hangar floor, carefully minding every step.
The clunk of boots overhead was unnerving, and as they neared a vent in the floor, Dani could hear voices, but just barely. She took soft, shallow breaths, straining to hear.
“Pretty impressive spacecraft, Hank,” a man said overhead.
“I thought you’d get a kick out of it,” Hank answered. “I didn’t think the rebels had anything nice like this.”
“And you’re sure it’s a rebel ship?”
“The guy flying it isn’t talking, but he didn’t look like a pirate and I don’t know who else would be out there.”
“Huh.” The first man grunted as the steps resumed in a circle around Diane. “Interesting that he’d risk his life and capture to help defend us. That doesn’t seem like something a rebel would do. They usually prefer to hide rather than stick their neck out, even for their own.”
Dani felt a pang of anger at the comment.
“So what do you think we should do, Gary?” Hank asked.
Gary laughed. “I’m going to turn this baby over to the GC. I’ve been trying to get off this damn teaching ship for years now and this here is my ticket. I bet they can even figure out where it came from.”
Dani’s breath caught in her throat, and she clamped a hand over her mouth. She had to get back to warn the others. Her eyes caught Sam’s, and the major echoed her own concern. The heavy footsteps started making their way back toward the door, and Dani started breathing normally once more.
“Well, don’t forget to share the credit,” Hank grumbled. “It was my idea to grab them with the gravitational beam.”
“Yeah, yeah, of course.”
Sam tilted her head and listened to the silence for a few moments before waving Maggie over. As the young cadet approached, Sam turned to Dani. “We have to work fast.”
Dani nodded in agreement, silently trying to quell the storm of panic brewing within her. Sam continued further down the tunnel with Dani and Maggie close behind. They followed the tunnel into a larger utility room. It was a jungle of pipes and wires that the women had to carefully navigate through. Sam removed a screwdriver from an open toolbox and knelt next to a panel on the wall. Maggie held the cables back as Sam quickly opened the panel and removed a piece of poorly constructed technology.
“What’s that?” Dani asked as she wrinkled her nose at the sloppy item. It looked like something that had been dropped one too many times, as duct tape held together the various components.
Sam turned on the attached screen, and green text scrolled across the black background. “It’s a very old type of communication device. We’re able to send messages to the rebel planet through a series of relay satellites orbiting planets along the way. The GC quit using this technology decades ago and their current systems operate on a much different frequency. Nonetheless, we still communicate in code just in case the transmission is intercepted.”
“That explains the gibberish.” Dani raised an eyebrow at the nonsensical phrases Sam typed on the dainty keyboard.
“There,” Sam said with the final click of a button. “Sent. Now we need to get out of here.”
Dani handed Sam the panel and screwdriver once the device was safely stowed away once more. After everything was put back the way that it was, the three women stood and left back down the access tunnel. As they neared the door, Sam grabbed Dani’s arm and stopped her.
“Please, don’t take any offense to what I’m about to do. You see, Maggie and many others are depending on me, so it’s important that my position isn’t compromised. I just need you to trust me.”
Dani narrowed her eyes. “What are you going to do?”
Sam offered a half-hearted smile accompanied by a sigh and, maintaining her grip on Dani’s arm, threw open the door. The three of them exited the space and Sam firmly guided Dani to a comm mo
unted on the wall.
Dani’s eyes widened as she watched Sam press a button on the comm. “There was another passenger stowed away on the ship. She’s unconscious. A cadet is helping me get her to the airlock.”
“Airlock?” Dani asked, but her only answer was a swift punch to the face. Stunned after the first jab, it was the second that caused the darkness to swell in from all sides as Dani felt the floor give way beneath her.
* * *
Dani woke with a throbbing pain in her jaw. She blinked rapidly several times in an effort to clear her vision, which only halfway worked. Her left eye didn’t want to open far enough to be of any use. Even if she could open it, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to see much out of that side of her helmet anyway with how much blood coated the inside of the glass. She raised a hand to touch her wound, but instead her gloved hand met the rounded glass of a space helmet.
“What the hell?” Dani pushed herself up into a seated position and looked down at herself. Someone had put her into a space suit. It was only then that she noticed she was inside the airlock with only the exterior door holding her back from the vastness of space.
Dani scrambled to her feet and tried to peer through the small window of the airlock into the ship, a difficult task with only one good eye and the helmet preventing her from getting close. Sam and Maggie stood outside the door, talking to a large man who boasted the permanent red hue of physical exertion. She continued to watch but couldn’t hear what they were saying.
A few moments passed, and David was dragged into the hall leading to the airlock. He was conscious, but just barely. Sam turned and peered into the airlock, mouthing the words ‘trust me’ to Dani once more. The interior door slid open, and the guards dropped David on the floor next to Dani.
“Why’s that one in a suit?” the man asked, pointing at Dani.
Sam turned to face him. “As I told you, throwing them out into space will kill them instantly. They’re rebels. We want them to suffer, don’t we, Gary?”
An impish grin grew across Gary’s face. “Yes, yes we do. Get a suit for the other one.”
The Complete First Season - Episodes 1-5 Page 40
