by A. K. DuBoff
“What happened?” one murmured.
“Where am I?” another asked.
The one closest to Kira, whose knife Cynthia has taken, reached for his gun. “Who are you?” He spotted the chancellor’s corpse. “The fok?”
Kira’s soldiers hurriedly put on their helmets and reactivated their suits’ stealth mode.
She located her own helmet several paces away and made a run for it. She dove the last two paces as one of the guards fired. The blast barely missed striking her in the shoulder.
Kira hit the ground and rolled to the side, sliding her helmet over her head in one smooth motion. She activated the stealth tech.
The guards grunted with momentary confusion but then began tracing her likely path.
On her HUD, Kira saw the members of her team darting for Ellen’s position.
Ari was the first to reach her. He grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet.
Ellen recoiled from the cold, invisible touch at first, then realization passed over her face. She followed his directions toward the door.
Kira fired a warning kinetic shot into the ceiling with her multi-handgun, then switched back to sonic mode. “Don’t follow us.” She shot off three sonic blasts around the room, hoping to hit as many guards as possible with the wide spread.
Kira’s soldiers were headed for the back door.
“No,” Ellen stopped them. “Out this way.” She pointed for the door through which the guards had entered.
“That’ll lead out to the landing above the main lobby,” Kyle objected.
“Which gives us the straightest shot to outside. Trust me.” Ellen jogged ahead.
Kira followed. “Come on!”
The adjacent room was empty, since all of the guards had entered the meeting room when the conflict began. Kira ran to the door on the right wall, which her HUD indicated led to the lobby. She tried the door handle. Locked.
There was no time to crack the security. Kira pulled her rifle from her back and started shooting. The lock exploded in a satisfying spray of melted shrapnel.
“That’s one way to open a door.” She kicked her armored boot against the pulverized surface and it flew open. She holstered the rifle.
Cries of surprise sounded from downstairs. Kira spotted the open stairwell to her left. At the top, two guards had their weapons leveled in her direction. Thanks to the stealth armor, her exact position was invisible.
Kira held up her hand to stop her team from coming through the opening. She fired a sonic blast with her multi-handgun at the guards, and they crumpled to the floor.
“All right, there are mostly civilians downstairs, but more guards are certainly on their way,” she said to her team. “Ellen, you’re an escaping worker—pretend we aren’t here. Move quickly.” She headed down the stairs.
“What just happened in there?” Nia asked over the suit’s interior comm, following Kira down.
“Those soldiers and head of MTech were linked to Hale,” Kira explained. “When she died, the alien no longer had a host to support its telepathic link.”
“But Nox jumped from Kaen into Jared.”
“Nox wasn’t embedded like Reya here—that was this one’s name. It was too large and complex to go into someone else. Nox was like an infant by comparison.”
“Foking fantastic,” Kyle muttered.
When they reached the switch-back landing on the stairway, Kira paused to make sure no one was about to try to blow their heads off. Fortunately, the lobby’s occupants appeared to have scattered when they heard gunfire upstairs.
“Okay, at the bottom, we head through those doors,” she pointed, following the indicators on her HUD, “and then it’s a relatively straight shot out the front door.”
“Should I have the shuttle meet us around this side of the building?” Kyle asked.
Kira nodded. “Do it.” She noticed a new proximity alert flash across her vision. “And bring it close. I imagine we’ll be under fire on our way out.”
The rest of her team noticed the alert on their own HUDs.
“I’m on it!” Kyle bolted down the stairs.
Nia positioned herself between Ellen and the incoming enemy, weapon raised. While Ellen would still be visible, Nia’s armor would at least protect her.
“Go for the door. I’ll hold them off,” Kira instructed.
They descended the final steps, and Kira crouched behind the base support column. Her team ran across the lobby, passing through the door a second before the first guards came into view.
“Target detected through—” The guard never got the chance to finish his statement.
Kira lobbed a flash grenade, followed by a burst of sonic blasts.
The soldiers stopped their advance for a moment, but as the scene cleared following the grenade, it was obvious they were still standing.
Shite, they must have muted their external comm mics. Kira judged the distance to the exit doorway. It wasn’t far; she could make it in a sprint.
“Someone is still here!” one guard shouted. He tossed a smoke grenade into the center of the room.
Kira bit back a curse as the fine smoke spread. Her suit was great at making her blend in with the surroundings, but having anything like smoke in the air would result in a big soldier-shaped hole.
She had a split second to act. With no other choice, she ran for the door. Though her suit did its best to mask her movement, the air was already too thick with debris, and she was running too hard for the sound canceling to have full effect.
The first volley of kinetic shots hit the back of her armor a meter from the doorway. She raced through and slammed the door closed behind her.
Her team was pressed against the side walls of the corridor.
Ari looked at his chest plate, which had been sticking out just enough to deflect a bullet and keep Ellen from taking a shot to her head.
The woman’s breath was ragged as she realized what had just happened. “Oh, shite.”
“Yeah. These friends of yours aren’t very nice,” Kira said. “This door won’t hold, come on!”
They took off at full speed. Ellen began to fall behind, so Ari scooped her into his arms.
Kira would have previously been winded by the sprint, but she found she was easily able to keep up with her team as they made the final push toward the exit.
A door smashed open somewhere behind them, but she didn’t bother to look. More guards were no doubt coming, and they’d keep coming so long as there was anyone left standing.
“Home stretch!” Nia cheered.
Kira could see the way to the exit on her HUD. Unfortunately, there was also a line of Mysaran guards blocking their path ahead.
“Fok!” Nia exclaimed. “Sonic blasts aren’t viable in that configuration.”
They couldn’t make a run for it, either, without getting too holey for Kira’s liking.
“The shuttle will be here in one minute. If it sets down out there, they’ll blow it up and we’ll be really stuck,” Kyle cautioned.
“Are you still patched into the security system?” Kira asked him.
“Yeah, but I’m pretty sure they know we’re right foking here.”
“Can you feed sonic feedback through their comms?”
Kyle considered her suggestion. “I can try.” He made some rapid entries on his mobile tablet. “If this works, we’ll know right about—”
The soldiers in the lobby simultaneously raised their hands to their ears, trying to rip out their comms.
“Go!” Kira shouted.
Her team raced across the open lobby while the guards were temporarily distracted. Nia shot out the door lock and busted it open with her shoulder to clear a path for the others.
Twenty meters from the building’s exit, their shuttle was on final descent to the dusty ground.
They closed the remaining distance in a mad dash amid kinetic rounds, with Ari shielding Ellen against his chest.
The group piled into the shuttle, and Kira hit th
e back hatch controls. Kyle ran to the front of the craft with Nia. The shuttle lifted from the ground and rocketed toward space.
Kira collapsed into one of the passenger chairs and removed her helmet. “That was way too close.”
Ari lowered Ellen from his shoulder, and she slumped into a chair across from Kira.
“Thank you for getting me out of there,” Ellen murmured. “I’m so sorry. I was only trying to help.”
“Next time, leave it to the professionals.” Kira fluffed her red hair with her fingers.
The other woman paused. “What happened to you?”
“That’s a long, classified story,” Kira said. “But, given what you’ve seen, I suspect a debrief is in order. That approval will need to come from higher up the command chain.”
Ellen took a shaky breath, still clearly in shock. “Is the chancellor really dead?”
Kira gave a solemn nod. “Her body, anyway. As for the thing that was controlling her, I suspect it’s gone rather than dead—that its consciousness went back to… wherever it came from. The others it had its telepathic tendrils in are themselves again.”
Ellen nodded.
“Politics you can do, stick to that. No more action hero business,” Kira advised.
“Yeah.” Ellen cracked a smile. “I don’t think I’ll be leaving my office any time soon.”
“Approaching the Raven,” Kyle stated from the cockpit.
Kira took a slow breath. “This will be another fun mission brief to write.”
Ellen gave a sheepish look to the team. “I don’t suppose I could get a ride home?”
CHAPTER 23
Leon held Kira in a quiet embrace. “Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked her again.
“Yes, I’m fine.” She beamed at him. “I feel better than I have all week.”
He released a long breath. “Okay.”
Her account of the events on Mysar had been alarming, to say the least, but he knew that he’d better get used to her harrowing tales of near-death. In all fairness, he’d been shot at multiple times that week, too. The era of being a lab jockey is officially over.
Leon released Kira from the hug and looked her over again. “I still don’t know what to make of Hale—of one being controlling that many people.”
Kira leaned against the hallway wall in the Orion Station’s science wing. “It was in her, not just possessing her.” She looked down. “I wish we’d been able to recover her body for you to examine.”
“Part of me is relieved.”
“Yeah, I wouldn’t want to do that autopsy, either.” Kira wiped her hands down her face. “Hey, has Jared been through the extraction yet?”
Leon shook his head. “Elric was running one more round of tests before we do. Our time to work with him is up in a couple of hours.”
Kira got a glint in her eyes. “You know that world I told you about, the one Reya showed me?”
“Yeah.”
“What if we could find it?”
Leon frowned. “Somewhere in Gaelon, right?”
“But systems are huge, and we have no idea how many planets there are or how large those planets may be. What if we could locate the exact position of that forest that was sending the telepathic commands?”
“I don’t like where this is going.” Leon crossed his arms. If she knows that exact location, she’ll almost certainly try to go there.
“If we don’t take them out, then what happened to Mysar could happen somewhere else.”
“Yes, if your assumptions are correct, in theory it would be possible to locate the source of the signal,” Leon yielded.
“Then let’s find it.” Kira grinned.
“You should pull in Sandren and Kaen,” Leon suggested. “I’m not sure what kind of record we’ll be able to make of the location.” If they needed to authorize a mission later, it was best that they witness the mysterious intel firsthand.
“Yes, good call.”
“Not that I think you should be the one to go on said mission, considering the aliens’ fixation on you.”
She flashed a sweet smile. “I like knowing that you care.”
While walking back toward Leon’s lab, Kira sent the two commanding officers a message about what they had planned, and they replied with affirmation that they’d come to meet them.
Doctor Elric, Jack, Tess were working in the lab when Leon and Kira arrived. Jared was strapped to a mobile medical bed, in a drug-induced half-sleep. Two soldiers stood guard over him.
“Oh, Kira. Good, you’re back,” Doctor Elric stated. “I was hoping to get your help with some final testing.”
“Would this, by chance, have to do with measuring what happens to the TR in Jared’s brain while Nox is active?” she asked.
The doctor looked surprised. “How did you know?
“Because I had a similar thought. I’d like to see if we can isolate the specific telepathic frequency, or electromagnetic signature, or whatever that resonates with the TR in Jared’s brain so we can use it to search for the transmitter.”
“A strategy I fully endorse,” Colonel Kaen said from behind her. He was standing near the doorway alongside Major Sandren.
“Sirs,” Leon greeted.
“We’re here as observers,” Sandren said. “Please, go on.”
“Do you think it’s possible?” Kira asked Elric.
He nodded. “Isolate the signal in the TR? Certainly. I would have collected the data already, but I haven’t been able to coax Nox to the forefront so I can take accurate measurements.”
“I’d be happy to help with that,” Kira said.
Doctor Elric and Jack made the necessary preparations to record Jared’s brain activity. When they were finished, Elric indicated for Kira to proceed.
“All right, I’ll get Nox talking,” she said.
Leon watched as she bent over to look into Jared’s eyes. The captive went rigid under her intense gaze.
“Where are you?” Kira said in the tone Leon had come to associate with a telepathic command.
“Definitely getting something here,” Elric said, looking over the readings on a monitor next to the bed. “We’ll need a little more to get it fully calibrated.”
“I’ve seen the world,” Kira continued in her commanding tone. “Show me where it is.” She leaned in. “I can feel you, Nox. You’re trying to run.” Her eyes narrowed. “Show me!”
Leon watched the struggle on Jared’s face as Kira focused on Nox.
Elric kept a close eye on the monitor as the sensors continued processing inputs. “Isolating the signal now...”
“That’s right, Nox,” Kira said, her gaze intent. “You can’t hide any longer.”
“Okay, I think we have it,” Doctor Elric announced. “Hopefully this data will be enough to help focus your scans.”
“We’ll begin searching the Gaelon System right away,” Kaen acknowledged. “Now, I suggest you dissolve Jared’s TR and sever Nox’s connection for good.”
— — —
Ellen sat down in the visitor chair under the watchful gaze of President Joris.
“Okay, so that could have gone better,” she stated the obvious.
Joris leaned back in his chair, fingers steepled. “When I agreed to you going to Mysar, I thought it was to help the chancellor, not instigate her death.”
“I know, sir, but she died years ago. This was a necessary tragedy.”
He nodded. “A chance at a new beginning for us, indeed.” He paused. “I think you should participate in discussions with the new heads of state.”
“I had a hand in their previous leader’s death. I’m not sure how well that would go over.”
“That’s not in the official record,” Joris pointed out. “You know what really went on there before. That insight will be valuable when it comes to instituting a structure to keep this from happening again.”
Ellen shifted in her chair. “Have any new Mysaran representatives been nominated yet?” she asked.
&nb
sp; “No, but I heard it’s in the works. MTech and several other companies are also going through a reorganization now that the alien influence is no longer present.”
“Did they get a final count on the number of people who’d been subverted?”
“Over one hundred, in one capacity or another. They’re rolling out a program to test for the TR your brother’s team identified.”
Ellen released a sigh of relief. “With that resolved, we can finally move forward.”
“Indeed. Now that circumstances surrounding Mysar’s opposition to rejoining the Empire have come to light, the matter has been reopened.” Joris cracked a smile.
“Finally, a chance for peace.”
“It’s what we’ve all wanted, isn’t it? Even if we went about it in different ways.”
Ellen slumped back in her chair. “I can’t believe the things I was willing to do for the Sovereign.”
Joris smile broadened. “Impressionable youth.”
“And so horribly misguided. There’s such a huge difference between cultural identity and autonomy. They aren’t mutually exclusive.”
“Our little Elvar Trinary will find our voice, I have no worries,” the president replied. “We will remain Elusia, and hopefully Mysar can reestablish itself in a new image for the future.”
“I would like to be a part of that, sir, if they’ll have me.”
“I’ll make the suggestion as soon as it’s appropriate. You’re one of the few who’ve touched all three worlds in this system in a meaningful way—lived on each, knows the quirks and preferences. That will go a long way toward opening a productive dialogue.”
Ellen smiled. “I look forward to being of service.”
Joris nodded. “We have a long road ahead yet, but now we’re on the right path.”
— — —
Kira swiveled back and forth on a stool in Leon’s office. The others had departed for the night, and most of the equipment had been shut down. She looked Leon over in the subtle blue glow cast from a screen.
“What aren’t you saying?” she asked him.
He’d been distracted since her return from Mysar, but he had yet to make a clear indication as to why.
