The Topaz Operation

by Jared Sizemore

Jyssa eased up and peeked out. Columns of troops poured out of buildings and headed for the exits. A transport ship lifted up ahead and blasted into the sky. Several troops ran right past Jyssa and Tara without a word. Jyssa froze up.

  “This appears to have nothing to do with us,” said Tara.

  “Lygalia, are you seeing this?” said Jyssa.

  After a pause, Lygalia’s voice came through. “Yeah, hold on...”

  “Holding.”

  “If I’m reading this coding properly…,” said Lygalia. “It’s an evacuation.”

  “Of the base?”

  “At least, yes. But I’m seeing activity all over the city.”

  “Sergeant, this will work to our advantage. I propose we blend into the crowd,” said Tara.

  “Not a bad idea, Tara.” Before plunging in, Jyssa waited for the right moment, grateful for her robotic companion with her logical brain circuit pathways. As a pack of about dozen troops jogged by, Jyssa nodded to Tara and they fell in behind the pack and followed them until Jyssa suddenly ducked into an alley between two block structures.

  “They were leading us the wrong way. We should go this way.” She led Tara down the alley. Jyssa stepped out from the alley’s far side and motioned to Tara to follow when a mini-scrum tank came barreling around the corner toward her. She spun out of its way but ran into a set of passing unmasked officers—a major and a captain. She fumbled an apology and tried to jog away with her head down.

  “You there, don’t move!” said the major, his pistol aimed at her.

  Jyssa stopped and glanced over at Tara who was still in the alley. The captain waved down a squad of six troops and called them over. The troops stopped and lifted their guns at Jyssa. The major ran a scan with his handheld.

  The captain eyed her. “She’s clearly not one of us. Let’s just leave her or shoot her!”

  “Wait just a moment, Captain,” said the major. “Look.” He held up the scanner.

  The captain’s eyes went wide. “That’s Jyssa Gelibor. She’s on the Capture on Sight List!”

  “Captain, we have here quite a prize for the Supreme Archon,” the major said, putting away the scanner. “Load her onto my personal transport.” He barked orders at the troops and noticed Tara cowering in the alley. “What is that beast over there? Bring her here. Or just get rid of her.”

  A spherical canister clanked across the ground next to them. Smoke erupted from it, quickly filling the area. The officers covered their mouths choking at the fumes. Blaster shots flashed through the smoke, ripping into the chests of both officers and they collapsed to the ground.

  The troops scrambled to see where the shots came from. Tara leapt out of the alley and bashed two of the troops’ heads together. Jyssa fired and blasted down two more. A burst of laserblasts flared from the darkness and took down the last two troops before smoke completely enveloped the area. Two men wearing gas masks emerged from the white mist.

  The man with the larger head ran over to Jyssa and removed his mask. Semo put his hand on her shoulder. “Gotcha.”

  “Semo!” she exclaimed. She eyed the other guy up and down. He’s too tall to be Mitchett. But could it be…

  “That’s Rostov,” said Semo. “He’s one of our team, what’s left of it.”

  Rostov nodded, keeping his mask on and watching for any attackers.

  Jyssa pointed at her companion. “This is Tara. She’s with us. It’s a long story.”

  “Hello,” Semo said to Tara, gazing up at her height. “Jys, I think I know where he is. Let’s go.”

  Jyssa wiped a tear from her eye, gripped her rifle, and the three of them followed Semo down the path, the lingering smoke concealing them as they went.

  * * *

  Mitchett slouched on the floor against the wall, staring up at the window. The sirens presented at least a change in the routine, but he couldn’t place what the sound was for as it didn’t sound like a typical emergency. The glowing light from the diamond was gone. Something about that light... He was definitely not the sentimental type, but he felt a burning inside, or something. Or maybe it was just indigestion from the moldy piece of bread they threw him yesterday. He reconsidered his earlier plan.

  Mitchett again walked up the steps to the window. Rear lights from a dozen ships dotted the sky, followed by the bluish-orange glow of boosters rocketing them into the clouds. Hmmm, are they leaving? I better do this now so I can take out some of them. He turned to look at the cracks in the wall one more time—no shining diamonds. He took a deep breath.

  Movement caught his eye on the top edge of his prison cell’s wall to his right. Two feminine hands reached over, a head popped up, and a girl hoisted her torso over. “Von!”

  Mitchett blinked. A female Archon soldier? Don’t see many of those. Maybe this was another wizard. A rope was flung over the edge down into the room. The girl descended the rope and landed onto the floor. He stepped down from the window, nearly stumbling to the floor. For some reason the girl’s eyes were damp with…tears?

  Jyssa. As Mitchett finally figured out what was going on, a lump formed in his throat.

  Jyssa rushed to him and they embraced. “Are you okay? We’re getting you out of here.”

  “Bout time. And no, I’m not okay.”

  Her smile became a frown. “Are you injured? What did they do to you?” She checked all over his bruised and battered shirtless body.

  “I’ll be all right.”

  “Is he in there?” shouted Semo from the other side of the wall.

  “I got him!” Jyssa shouted back.

  “Who’s that? Semo?” said Mitchett.

  “Yeah, and Rostov and a captured Archon wizbot. Let’s get you a shirt.”

  They lowered Jyssa and Mitchett to the ground outside. Tara fetched a discarded Archon vest and Mitchett put it on—better than nothing.

  “You got a gun?” asked Mitchett.

  “Uh, sure,” said Jyssa, handing him her blaster pistol.

  He checked the pistol and gave it approval, though he would have preferred a rifle. The group started to march off to find an escape ship, but Mitchett stopped them. “Wait! Over there, in that building I saw a shining object. A diamond, I swear.”

  Jyssa and Semo glanced at each other with skepticism. “Mitch, we need to move,” said Semo.

  “Yeah, we don’t have time,” said Jyssa.

  “Guys, I’m serious! Let’s just take a look. Besides, I still outrank all of you.”

  “Guess he hasn’t changed much,” said Semo.

  Mitchett led them over to the other concrete block room, now deserted by the Archon. He pressed the door handle, applying all his body weight, but the door was securely locked. “We need to get in there.”

  “Let’s check with Lygalia,” said Jyssa, getting out her comm.

  Mitchett whipped his head toward her. “Lygalia’s here?”

  Lygalia’s voice came over the comm. “I was just about to call. I have more information.”

  Mitchett stuck his mouth up to the comm. “More information on what?”

  “Von, is that you? Good to hear your voice,” said Lygalia.

  “Thanks. You too. Whatcha got?”

  “This evacuation is big. Very big. I believe it’s planet-wide.”

  “Planet-wide?” said Jyssa.

  “Yes, and I’m overhearing reports implying it’s Archon forces only. Meaning, not the general populace.”

  “Hmmm,” said Jyssa. “Is our fleet attacking?”

  “I haven’t heard anything like that.”

  “Okay. Lygalia, can you open one more door? It looks like another prison door, but I’m not sure if it’s connected to the others. Where are we now? Section three point five.”

  “I’ll try,” said Lygalia, followed by a long pause. “I’m sorry, it’s out of my range. Not in the network.”

  “Back away,” said Mitchett as he took aim and fired on the door, but the blasts couldn’t penetrate the door or its embedded lock. “Do we have any gr
enades?”

  Rostov unclicked a grenade from his belt. “Last one, Mitch,” he said as he plopped it into Mitchett’s open palm.

  As Mitchett prepared to activate it, he noticed the cracks in the wall above. “If anybody’s in there, get away from the door now!” Mitchett jammed the grenade into the door frame and yanked the pin. With a loud bang, the explosion busted the door open where it teetered on its hinges for a moment then broke off and slammed to the ground.

  They trained their guns on the room’s interior. Once the smoke cleared they found three scruffy-looking children with dust on their faces and hair, wearing ragged clothes, and huddled up against the far wall with their hands raised in terror.

  “Don’t shoot!” said Malaiya.

  Jyssa ran in first and looked them up and down. “Oh my.” She put her hand to her mouth. “This might be—”

  “Do you know them, Jys?” asked Mitchett.

  She put her gun down. “I do know you. Brayden and Malaiya, right?”

  “Yes!” said Malaiya. “How do you know us?”

  “Let’s see, I’m your…mother’s cousin’s boyfriend’s sister.”

  Brayden and Malaiya looked at each other in bewilderment.

  “But I don’t know you,” Jyssa said to the other boy.

  “That’s our friend, Arlo,” said Brayden. “Are you helping us escape?”

  Jyssa kneeled and brushed dust off Brayden’s shoulder. “We’re gonna try.”

  Chapter 45

  With most of the Arrow’s power still shut down, Ryle risked a quick sensor sweep. Nothing of note revealed itself, but Ryle was purposely keeping far enough away from Amethyst to be detected. For the past several hours, Rez had kept to himself—meditating, stretching, exercising, drinking water and eating sparse but healthy food. He liked vegetables, of which the ship was stocked. The occasional song and even whistle echoed from the cargo hold. Aphiemi remarked that it sounded pleasant.

  She had been distant since Rez came aboard and Ryle didn’t force her to engage with him. He understood. She was an honest, loyal, diplomat who had built her life on integrity. And here they were teaming up with an escaped planetary traitor and murderer so they could track down another planetary traitor and murderer—no wonder she hesitated marrying into the family! Who in their right mind would willingly join the Gelibor clan? At least Jyssa was normal—for now. But she was so young. There was time for her to be corrupted too.

  “Hey,” said Aphiemi, snapping Ryle out of his downward spiral of thoughts.

  “Hm?” said Ryle, his head twitching toward her.

  “Did I startle you?”

  “No,” he said, clearly not at ease.

  “Amazing. You can be calm under fire with bombs blowing up all around you, but when your lady friend says ‘hi’ you get scared.”

  “Funny, isn’t it?” He ran his hand through his short but messy hair, not improving it. “Our passenger seems to be doing better.”

  “Looks like it.”

  “It’s hard to really fathom what he’s going through.”

  “Hm, I tend to care more about the people and families he’s hurt. I mean, I know he’s your family and all, but—”

  “Why don’t we save that for after this is all over?”

  She stopped. “Fine.”

  “I’m sorry, Aph. I just need to focus on the task at hand.”

  “I know,” she said. “I do need to talk about something else, though.”

  “Sure.”

  “I just got a call.”

  “A call? You broke protocol! I shut down all communications except for the emergency line only a few have access to. I even shut off my ILT.”

  “I realize that, but Tevin called me from Onyx. He said negotiations between the factions have broken down and they could really use me right now.”

  Ryle considered what she said but shook his head. “We can’t go all the way back there. Not now. We have to see how things play out here first.”

  She looked toward the cargo area where Rez was, and back at Ryle. “How do we know his sensing thing even works? Do you trust him?”

  Ryle shut down the sensor system. “Put it this way—I’ve seen the good wizards at work, and I’ve seen the bad ones. I’ve learned to trust the good ones. Everything I’ve seen from Rez suggests he’s at least not one of the bad ones anymore.”

  Aphiemi didn’t respond. She held his gaze for a moment, then stared blankly out the viewport.

  A red light flashed on the dash. “Speaking of the emergency line,” said Ryle as he pressed the receiver. “Yes?”

  “Ryle, it’s me,” said Qusam.

  “Q, I’m so glad it’s you. Where are you?”

  “We made it off Carnelian and are traveling back to Chrysolite in Sienna’s ship. Sienna, uh...she’s been in better shape.”

  “What do you mean? Is she okay?”

  “She’s currently unconscious and very weak, but I believe she’ll be fine as long as we make it back swiftly. We were attacked by advanced Qesem and also by a creature I have never seen or heard of before.”

  A creature Qusam had never even heard of before? How was that possible? “That’s not good. What kind of creature?”

  “Something Aqtal’s foul creative powers concocted, I’m sure. It was a man of some sort but not a man. It delivered a serious blow to Sienna. I will have to explain more later.”

  “Sure.”

  “But Ryle, listen. I just heard Topaz is under evacuation.”

  “Evacuation?”

  “Yes, the entire planet. Aqtal is up to something and it most likely has to do with the mountain, as we saw. Have you discovered anything on your quest?”

  “We found Rez. He’s with us now. He believes Jez is on Amethyst, so we’ve been strategically waiting.”

  “Ah, good work.”

  “Keep the Rez part between us, will ya?”

  “Of course. Take care, my friend. I must go.” The emergency comm went silent.

  “So you can take calls but I can’t?” said Aphiemi with a smirk.

  “It’s the emergency line! It’s secure. Calls to your comm could be tracked.”

  “Okay, I’ll shut it off,” she said. “Maybe.”

  Rez practically leapt into the cockpit. “He’s on the move.”

  They hurried around the system hologram. Rez pointed to a spot just outside the orbit of Amethyst’s moons. “He’s there. I know it beyond a shadow of a doubt. Adjust our course to coordinates 957 and we’ll be in tracking range.”

  “How do you know?” asked Aphiemi.

  “I understand the inherent peculiarity of the situation. Once our course is adjusted, you’ll see I’m right,” said Rez.

  Without a word, Ryle headed back to the cockpit and did exactly what Rez suggested. The Arrow’s engines came back to life and the ship blasted on its new course.

  * * *

  An hour later, they edged into sensor range. Aphiemi, sitting next to Ryle, bit on her fingernails.

  “I’ve never seen you do that before,” he said.

  “It’s my first special forces mission,” she said.

  He put his hand on her back and gently rubbed. “It’ll be okay.”

  “Promise?”

  He didn’t reply but rather turned toward Rez. “Do you think they’ll detect us?”

  “Possibly. But if you’re correct, this ship is excellent at avoiding detection. We have no choice but to press on.”

  Ryle turned on the sensors. The display showed a long, cylindrical ship with protruding tentacle-like boosters, surrounded by five escorts: three advanced Gak Destroyers and two light assault cruisers. “Best trajectory projection for this little wolfpack...Topaz,” said Ryle. “Jez is bringing the cavalry. Have you ever seen a ship like that?”

  Rez pored over the display, his fists clenched. “The Chironex,” he said through gritted teeth. “It was going to be mine, claimed Aqtal. I witnessed it under construction. The vessel’s final form resembles the death chamber h
e trapped me in, though on a much bigger scale. Its design facilitates large projectiles.”

  “How large?” asked Ryle.

  “Very.”

  Ryle hoped the nagging feeling in his gut was wrong, that there was no connection between Jez’s ship and the events on Topaz, but usually he was forced to trust his instincts. “Qusam just told us they are evacuating Topaz, as in, the whole planet.”

  “That is disturbing,” said Rez. “Move us in, brother.”

  Ryle guided the ship toward the Archon wolfpack. Striking distance: thirty minutes.

  Aphiemi’s right hand quivered, and she steadied it with her left. “So, do I get a gun or what?”

  “You said you could fly, right?” said Ryle.

  “When I was a teenager.”

  “I’ve been thinking. We’ll need you to take the ship’s controls, probably soon. Nothing fancy.”

  “Good thing I’ve been studying the cockpit for the past two days,” she said.

  “Rez, I’m assuming you agree with me on this,” said Ryle.

  “Our options are limited. Clearly you and I must board the Chironex. Not wise for Miss Waswin to try.”

  Ryle knew Rez was just speaking the plain cold truth. Aphiemi was not a soldier.

  “I’ll be able to manage the Arrow,” she said. “Ryle, shouldn’t we call the president first? Let him know what’s going on?”

  Rez spoke. “I would not advise that until we have more information.”

  Of course Rez wouldn’t want Prevwahn to know his whereabouts. He’s a fugitive. Ryle made a slight course adjustment and said, “I know what you mean, Rez, but before we go in I agree he should know what we’re up to.”

  Rez stared for a moment, then simply nodded in assent.

  “Why hasn’t Prevwahn called us? Can’t he call the emergency comm?” asked Aphiemi.

  “I blocked his code.” Ryle punched in an outgoing call code on the emergency comm and opened the channel. “Mr. President? President?”

  A couple seconds passed and then, “Ryle! Is that you? Where in blazes are you?” said Prevwahn’s frazzled voice.

  “Good to hear your voice too, Mr. President.”

  “Did you know the Archon is evacuating Topaz?”