Philo remained standing, while the rest of the Carbonari tightened their harnesses or found empty seats to settle into. “Does anyone have anything else to say or ask? You better do it now. You may not have a chance later.”
Tentatively, Cierra raised her hand. It was clear she had been wrestling with something that had been weighing on her mind. “Back on Relisse, when we were trying to blow up the Yasta mines, I think I saw some of the monks vanish. I don’t know if they have any hidden cloaking technology. I think everyone should keep their eyes and ears open for any new advancements we may not know about. The Yasta could be planning anything by now. Learning about their advances could help us dismantle the Yasta Brotherhood more effectively.”
“Yes. Thank you for that input, Cierra.” Philo looked as if he had a sour taste in his mouth. He was still upset with Hubard for not telling him immediately about the possibility that cloaking technology might exist.
“Last warning.” Makram’s voice filled the hull again.
This time, Philo took a seat and strapped himself in. Theo felt the world inside of him invert. The sensation of traveling through a wormhole did not get better with time. He closed his eyes and tried to keep his mind calm. The shift through space made his senses see and hear things that were not there. Instead of being in his mind, it was like his thoughts were around him, circling him, closing in. Just as Theo was straining his last nerve, the world righted itself.
He gasped, and tried to calm his stomach. Most of the rest of the crew looked as terrible as he felt. To his surprise, Irane seemed unfazed by the travel experience. He was calm, and his cheeks still had color in them. Theo could smell vomit. Someone had taken the transition very badly.
Voices Theo didn’t recognize were speaking over the communication system. It took him a moment to realize that Makram was giving the Mithuna Regional Militia their authentication codes. The unknown voice spoke again. “Permission to enter the system has been granted.”
“Thank you, brother. May Batumah smile on you.” Makram spouted off the saying to really sell the information he had just given them.
The ship continued without incident, until they neared the first drop-off point. Hubard unbuckled, and went to relieve Makram from his piloting duties. Walking back into the seating area, Makram did a double take as he saw Irane in his seat. First, he had been demoted from commander, and now even his chair had been filled. He started to take another seat, but Philo stopped him.
“Don’t bother settling in. It’s time for us to go to the disembarkation chambers.” Philo released his safety harness and moved towards the back of the ship. The rest of the Strike Force Retaliation team, along with their new additions, followed him.
The drop pod was much larger than Theo was used to. He could see spaces for five people. Noticing the puzzled look on his face, Chanta spoke up. “The group pod will make sure you all land securely and together. Since there are only five spaces inside, we will have to do it in two waves. You five step in and get situated. The senator, Danthois, and I will go in the next one behind you.”
The pod was a little more cramped than the single units had been. Above each harness was the name of the member who was supposed to strap in there. Theo, Cherish, Cierra, Makram, and Irane all stepped into one of the empty slots. Each person’s gear was already in position by their designated spot. A countdown began. When the timer hit zero, the bottom of the floor opened up and dropped them. The sudden drop made Theo’s stomach fly into his throat. This wild ride continued for several minutes, until they were violently shaken and thrown about in their seats. They heard the crashing of branches, followed by bouncing and skidding along the forest floor. The shaking and bucking was almost enough to make Theo vomit. When the pod finally came to a rest, the hatch opened. The five of them released their harnesses and grabbed their gear. The air smelled sweet and cool. Theo could hear birds singing and crying out in the trees.
“Keep an eye out for the next pod.” Makram was already typing in the self-destruct code on the pod.
“Got it!” Cherish’s eyes picked up on the falling craft, before the others had a chance to see it.
Makram stepped back. Their own landing vehicle was already disintegrating. “How far off is it?”
“Looks a little over a standard Galactic Minute.” Cherish did a few calculations in her head. “If I put Irane on my back, we could probably run there in about fifteen minutes.”
“No. No sense in exerting ourselves right now.” He had been digging through his bag for something, and pulled out an official looking document. Makram quickly read over it. “It’s still predawn and fairly dark. We still have forty-five minutes to meet up with the others, and get to the starting point. Besides, no wife of mine is going to waste her energy like that.” He held up the forged document that showed he and Cherish were married.
“Oh, great.” She didn’t sound enthused.
Theo dug through his own pack. He had a similar document, showing that he and Cierra were wed. The Carbonari had even constructed a picture of the two of them together on their wedding day. Theo stared blankly for a moment at image. They were both wearing traditional attire. His arm was wrapped around her waist. In the picture, her green eyes were focused lovingly on his face. It was a look that Theo wondered if he would ever experience during his lifetime.
Cierra peered over his shoulder. “What’s that?”
“Nothing.” He shoved the picture and the document back into his pack.
“Come on. We need to get moving. We have time, but that doesn’t mean we should waste it.” Makram started to march off into the forest in the direction the second pod had landed. He hesitated for a moment. “Cherish, it might be better if you lead the way.”
“My pleasure, husband.” There was a slight chuckle in her voice, but Makram ignored it.
The forest seemed to know they were outsiders, but maybe that was just unease brought on by Aphio’s warning about the local flora. In the dark, the trees stretched up like rickety skeletons. The overhead foliage blotted out most of the fading stars. Animal noises creaked and cracked around them. The sweet noises from the birds could no longer be heard. Whatever was around them now certainly didn’t sound happy about their presence.
Theo hung back until he was walking beside Cierra. “Hey, can I talk to you about something?” His voice was low so the others wouldn’t hear.
“Look, it was just a little bit of flying anxiety. I’m fine. Let’s not make a big deal out of it.”
“What? No, I wasn’t talking about that.”
“Oh.” The defensiveness in her posture softened a little. “What did you want to talk about then?”
“I’m worried about our cover. How exactly am I supposed to play your husband? I don’t want to overstep any boundaries, but this has to look believable. Do you have any ground rules?”
Cierra paused for a minute. She hadn’t really thought about it before. “Well, nicknames are probably a good idea. We should stay together a lot, too. Don’t go getting ideas about physical contact though. If you touch me, I’m going to punch you.”
Theo was actually surprised that she was willing to go by nicknames. “Well…that sounds fair, sweetheart.”
“Don’t push your luck.” She glared at him, but he couldn’t help smirking a little. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad after all.
“I was just kidding!” Theo called after her, but she was already speed walking away from him.
“Hey.” Cierra began walking next to Irane and tried to strike up a conversation with him.
“Hello.”
She wracked her brain trying to remember the last time she had spoke to Irane one on one. “You’re not typically on the ground with us. How are you doing so far?”
“I’m fine, but we haven’t really done anything yet. Check back with me once the action starts.” His voice was smooth and charismatic.
Thinking back over the time she had shared with the resistance, Cierra tried to remember if Irane had ev
er been on the ground team for a mission before. Hadn’t he been with them for a mission a year or so ago? Her memory was fuzzy. Was her mind playing tricks on her? Cierra tried to clear her mind. Maybe it was just the strange darkness of the forest messing with her. She chewed on her bottom lip.
Theo felt a little pang of jealousy, as he watched her start talking to Irane. Determined not to let it get the better of him, he quickened his pace to catch up with Makram and Cherish. “So, from one newlywed to another, any advice?”
Makram snorted. “Weren’t you married once already? Didn’t you go through this before?”
“Things were a little different. Mari was already pregnant when we got married. We kind of skipped the newlywed phase, and went straight into being parents.”
Cherish cocked her head to the side. “All of the information on newlyweds in my database shows them as very clingy. It looks like a ton of physical contact, and big googly eyes.”
“Well, Cierra made it very clear that touching was not an option.”
“Guess you better practice your googly eyes, then.” Makram batted his eyelashes in exaggeration at Theo.
“Maybe. Or maybe I should ask our new commander for advice.” The snide comment earned Theo a glare. It was clear that Makram was still seething about his demotion.
“Someone’s up ahead.” Cherish hushed them. She took a step closer to her pretend husband.
Following her lead, Theo hung back, until he was walking beside Cierra again. Irane tagged along beside them. It was another few minutes before they were in earshot of the group Cherish had detected earlier. Theo could pick out a few voices he had never heard before. Laughter boomed through the trees. The five of them stumbled into a clearing. Philo had his arm draped around Chanta’s waist. He was chatting with three Josti they had never seen before. As soon as they came into view, the Josti pulled out daggers and immediately took defensive positions.
Before the Josti could move to attack, Chanta squealed with excitement. “There you are, brother! I was beginning to think you would never find them!” She rushed to embrace Makram. With her back to the Josti, she gave the five of them a look that warned them to play along.
“These are the ones we were telling you about.” Philo patted one of the Josti on the shoulder and then proceeded to scold Theo and Cierra. “You two better not run off to have time for yourselves again. You have your whole life for that.”
A thin green Josti wheezed out a laugh. “They must still be under the lustful gaze of Yastarti.”
A fatter, yellow one patted his belly with his four arms and shook his jowls at them. “You will have plenty of time for that during Dargani.”
“Jaedo, Gopa, compose yourselves.” The third Josti reprimanded the green one and the yellow one respectively. Going by the way the other two snapped to attention, Theo assumed that the larger, more powerfully built sunburnt orange Josti must be the leader of the group.
“Sorry, Daja.” The green one wheezed again, and lowered his eyes to the ground.
Daja puffed out his chest and marched closer. “This one is your law sister?” He eyed Cherish as if trying to determine her fighting ability.
“Sister-in-law.” Chanta corrected him. “She’s the whole reason we are here.”
“You give me too much credit.” Cherish bowed her head.
“Nonsense!” Philo moved to hook his arm around Chanta again. “The way you spoke about the Yasta lifestyle was truly inspiring. After those trade deals fell through, we needed a change. Yastarti be praised that Makram married such a fine woman.”
“Perhaps I will get the chance to test your fighting prowess.” Daja stared at her intently.
“Perhaps you should back up.” Makram moved between the orange Josti and Cherish.
Daja glared at Makram for a second, before erupting into a booming laugh. “A husband who values his wife is a good thing indeed. You know that you have a good mate. She can take care of herself, and you still wish to protect her honor.” He turned back to Philo. “We will happily travel with you. You will make for a good story if nothing else.”
Chanta clapped her hands happily. “Oh, wonderful! We thought that it would be much safer to travel in a large group. We asked around on our home planet to see if anyone else wanted to join us. Danthois was one of the only ones willing to answer the call.”
“Darling, you make it sound like he’s some weak farm boy.” Philo chided her sweetly. Theo couldn’t help but take a little offense, since up until recently he had been a farmer himself. “Danthois is a mighty warrior. We were blessed that he wanted to make the pilgrimage with us.”
“Oh, I didn’t mean any offense.”
“It’s quite alright.” Danthois reassured her in his deep, rumbling voice.
“What about this one?” Jaedo, the thin, green Josti had taken an interest in Irane.
“My family died when I was young.” Irane stared back at the Josti levelheadedly. “Even the chance to join the Yasta was more than I had ever hoped for. There was nothing for me back there. At least here I have a chance to be something, to make something of myself.”
“And your home was destroyed?” Jaedo turned his attention to Theo and Cierra.
Theo’s body went rigid. Did they know he was from Relisse? Was their cover already blown? He started to reach for his lasana blade. To his surprise, Cierra wrapped her arms around him. Her embrace pinned his arms so that he couldn’t draw his weapon. She buried her face into his chest for a moment before she spoke. “It was terrible! We were on our consummation vacation. Our home moon was destroyed by unknown forces, before we were able to come back. My husband had put so much time and effort into our farm. He poured his heart and soul into the soil, and in a moment, it was gone forever.”
Theo realized that he had missed some information about the part he was supposed to be playing. He had been so focused on the fact that he was supposed to pretend to be Cierra’s husband that he hadn’t even really looked at the rest of the assignment. The Josti had been talking about the moon they were supposed to have lived on, not Relisse. Chanta and Philo must have mentioned it to the Josti while they were waiting for Makram and the others to show up. He couldn’t tell if the adrenaline coursing through his veins was from Cierra’s embrace, or from having to lie. The others seemed to take to it so naturally. Suddenly, he realized everyone’s eyes were on him. Was he supposed to say something?
Clearing his throat, Theo awkwardly patted Cierra’s head. “As long as we have each other, nothing else matters.” His voice sounded more robotic than Rix. Hopefully, the lying would get easier.
Cierra turned her back to the others. From the position of her body in front of his, it would look like she was giving him an adoring look. Theo, however, was not in on that illusion. What she was really doing was glaring at him, and rolling her eyes at his ineptitude. Even though the others couldn’t see Cierra’s face, they had a full view of his. While she was glaring at him, he had to try to keep a loving expression on his face. In all honesty, he was just glad she wasn’t an augmented human like Cherish. Theo had no doubt that if she had been capable of it, Cierra would have shot lasers out of her eyes at him.
“Ow!” Theo cried out in pain. Cierra had pinched him, before removing her arms from around him.
“Oh, no! Did a bug bite you?” Concern filled Cierra’s voice. “Hold still! There’s another one!” She smacked his arm, while pretending to kill another imaginary bug.
“Ouch! Oww!! Okay, okay! I think you got it, sweetheart!” He wasn’t sure about a bug, but there certainly was a pest. Theo rubbed where she had smacked him and took a step away from her.
Makram had been watching the whole exchange. He had decided to let Cierra get in a few good whacks before he tried to get them all back on track. “Perhaps we could walk and talk at the same time. We still have quite a distance to travel.”
“You are quite right! We must go on!” Daja’s voice echoed off of the trees. “Come! You must tell me more of your stor
ies!” Daja motioned for Philo and Chanta to walk with him.
Gopa had started talking to Danthois about previous battles. The two of them were so broad that they almost couldn’t walk side by side on the trail. Danthois was taller than the Josti beside him, but Gopa had more girth. Theo watched as the two heartily swapped war stories. Was he the only one who wasn’t good at lying?
“Whoa!” Theo exclaimed and clutched his chest. Jaedo had slipped up beside him while he was watching the two warriors in front of him.
“You’ll have to have better situational awareness than that if you want to join the Yasta!” The green Josti slapped his knee with one of his four arms, as he wheezed out another laugh. He turned his attention to Irane again. “Say, kid, how long have you been an orphan anyway?”
“I don’t really remember my parents to be honest. I’ve been on my own for as long as I can remember.”
“Well, don’t worry about that now. I’ll take you under my wing.” He looped his two right arms around Irane’s shoulder. “I’ll show you the ropes, teach you how to pick up the ladies, give you the recipe for a killer smatter casserole.”
Irane looked at him curiously. “What’s a smatter?”
“Nothing. What’s a matter with you?” Jaedo laughed at his own joke and wiped a tear from his eye. “I crack myself up. You’re in good hands, kid.”
As they kept walking, others began to slowly trickle in. The paths through the forest seemed to all merge into one main trail. The further they went, the more well-traveled the path they were on became. Theo was a little more relaxed. The more time he spent playing the role of Cierra’s husband, the easier it became. He still tried to stay at least one armlength away from her in case she happened to spot any more ‘bugs’. There was no doubt that he would have at least a few bruises from her exhibition of tough love earlier.
The sky overhead lightened a little. Theo was beginning to notice the steep incline of the path more now. It was also getting narrower. Danthois and Gopa could no longer walk side by side. Ahead, a small outpost was stationed beside the trail they were on. A Yasta warrior was positioned outside of the small guard house. It was unlikely that more than two or three warriors could be stationed there at once. Theo figured they took the outside duty in shifts, to watch for those journeying along the path.
The Relissarium Wars Omnibus Page 26
