Fierce Radiance

by Tymber Dalton

  After two hours her helm, nav, and engineering officers coordinated their planned emergence from the jump. The two battle cruisers soon emerged from their jumps and rejoined them. Aine almost forgot Sammuel’s distracting presence as he stood behind her, flanked by Caz and Jarl, as she ran through the power-down of the jump engine.

  Something niggled at her. She checked the systems on her command panel, frowning as she looked at it. Something wasn’t right.

  She called out to her engineer as her Ice Queen mode fully slipped back into place. “Engineer, full systems status report.”

  “Full, sir?”

  “Was I not clear?” she snapped.

  “Right away, sir.” He ran the diagnostics. “Results to your console, sir.”

  She studied them. Nothing wrong. Not a reading out of place.

  “Run them again,” she ordered as she stood and walked to his panel. “Now.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Caz moved across the bridge to stand behind her. “Sir?” he asked.

  She shook her head and held up a hand to stay his questions.

  The feeling grew stronger in her gut. There was a problem, she just couldn’t pinpoint it.

  Three more checks and nothing wrong.

  “Go down to engineering and run a complete ship diagnostic scan from there,” she softly ordered, looking at the results on his console. “Something’s not right. I want to know what that something is.”

  He nodded, “Aye, sir. Right now.” He quickly left the bridge.

  She turned to Caz. “You don’t feel it?” she asked.

  He shook his head. “No, sir.”

  She returned to her command chair and punched through the systems again. Screen after screen of nothing but green lights and readings at perfect levels.

  Her gaze fell on Sammuel. “Do you feel it?” she mentally asked him.

  One eyebrow arched, but he imperceptibly nodded. “Master is asleep. I sense that. He is fine.”

  So what the fuck had her skin feeling like every hair on her body wanted to stand on end?

  “Com, get me the Markus Bight and the Exceloran on the com.” Maybe it was a problem with one of the battle cruisers.

  “Aye.”

  After a few minutes of discussions with those captains, nothing appeared out of the ordinary there, either.

  She contacted the Tav’rokian Might and asked to speak to their captain. When their com officer hesitated, she barked at him in Act’huran. “Get your captain on the line, now, or Admiral Jorvis will hand your head to you!”

  “Right away, ma’am!”

  She didn’t correct him. Behind her, Sammuel snickered. “I think he’ll have to change his trousers, love,” he murmured in Act’huran.

  Both Jarl and Caz laughed.

  Their captain hesitated to give her access to his diagnostics systems until Sammuel stepped behind her and barked at him himself through the com. Within seconds, the Tav’rokian Might’s computer streamed the data to her, flooding her command console display with the info she called up. Tapped into their computer, she ran through familiar systems and readings she hadn’t seen since her time on the Haltoran-dey.

  All normal.

  Without warning, she stood. “First, take over. Admiral, come with me, please.” Before the men could react she left the bridge without waiting for a reply.

  The men hurried after her. Once back in her cabin she paced. “What the hell is wrong? I feel it!”

  Sammuel frowned. “I do too, love, but I also do not know why.”

  She wheeled around and looked at Caz. “Do you feel it?”

  “I feel stress from both of you, but I don’t feel whatever it is that’s stressing you.”

  “Shit.” She immediately glared at Sammuel. “Don’t you dare try to spank me over that, either.”

  He smirked. “No, love. Not under these circumstances.”

  * * * *

  Ker awoke face-down on what he assumed to be his cabin floor. With the lights off he didn’t know if he was alone or not. His hands were cuffed behind him. Energy shackles, if he had to guess.

  He held his breath and listened, but didn’t hear anyone else in the room.

  What in holy hell is going on?

  He sensed his t’wren on the other ship, a little agitated but unaware of what was going on.

  The cabin door opened. Two sets of footsteps approached him, then hands grabbed his arms and hauled him to his feet. In the light from the passageway he saw the faces of the first officer and one of his guards. Both unmated t’amen-ra.

  “I demand to know what is going on!” Ker snapped.

  The first officer, Parekin, smirked as they pushed him out the door and down the hallway toward the bridge. The man was very young, someone he had never worked with before, a last-minute addition to their crew when the original first officer was killed in an accident.

  Ah.

  “You demand nothing, Ambassador,” the officer said as he shoved him again. “We are in control of this vessel. Where are Admiral Jorvis and your yeoman?”

  “If you are in command of this vessel,” Ker said, trying to maintain a placid tone, “then you know very well they are on the Candola Ryke. I sent them there to learn from the crew.”

  “Recall them. Now.” They reached the bridge. There were only two men manning the controls when there should be at least four.

  Dark fear coiled in his stomach.

  “Why would I recall them? They have not yet completed what I sent them to do.”

  “He is your t’arn, Ambassador. I am not stupid. You will not tell him anything is wrong, either. Either recall him, now, or we’ll kill you.” The guard pointed a plasma pistol at him.

  “I do believe if I am the one with a weapon held on me that I am owed an explanation.”

  “Fine. Your Admiral has quite a raider bounty on his head. And we’ve been offered a handsome bonus to bring you along as part of the deal. Disrupt the treaty talks, send the Confederation and the Act’hurans on a hunt to locate you both, and that will leave a large swath of territory mostly unprotected.”

  “The diryllium mines.”

  “Exactly. Twenty-five freighters full, to be precise, a large convoy ripe for the taking if the Confederation is otherwise distracted hunting you down. Recall him.”

  “You realize we’ll be destroyed by the Confederation battle cruisers? Captain Lorcan will hunt you down. She will never allow you to take me when I have been trusted to her protection.” Especially since I’m her Master and you are too stupid to know that.

  “My financiers are counting on Captain Lorcan’s dedication to duty, Ambassador. They want to lure her away from the fight to try to take her out as well. Lots of old scores to settle at once.”

  “Where are the captain and the others?”

  Parekin arched an eyebrow. “I suggest if you don’t wish to join them that you don’t ask questions.” He shoved Ker toward the com console. “Recall them. Now.”

  * * * *

  It was close to dinner time, but Aine wasn’t hungry. She used her cabin console to go through the systems again and again, the systems on the other two battle cruisers, and the Tav’rokian Might. Just as she was about to start another round on the Candola Ryke, something caught her eye.

  “Sammuel, how many crew on the Tav’rokian Might?”

  He sat in one of the chairs, legs crossed, hands clasped behind his head. “Thirty-two total, including myself, Master, and Jarl. Why?”

  A chill washed through her. “There’s only five live bodies showing on the sensors. And we know one of them is Master.”

  Sammuel bolted from his seat for the cabin door. Before she could stop him, the sound of her com link did.

  “Captain? I have a hail from the Tav’rokian Might. Ambassador D’arsolan wishes to speak to Admiral Jorvis immediately.”

  “Patch it through.” She slid out of her seat and let Jorvis have it. “Don’t let on we know,” she thought to him.

  Sammuel s
chooled his face to a bland expression. “Ambassador?”

  Standing to the side, she could see the screen but knew she wasn’t visible on it. “Admiral Jorvis, I need you and Jarl back on the Tav’rokian Might to go over some things.”

  Aine shook her head. They couldn’t clearly read Ker’s thoughts from that far away, but she knew if Sammuel and Jarl set foot on that ship all three men were as good as dead.

  “Ambassador, I do not believe Captain Lorcan is finished with our tour yet.” He looked at her. “Are you?”

  She spoke loudly enough they could hear her on the other end. “We need another two hours, then they’re all yours, Ambassador.”

  She watched Ker’s eyes flick to someone standing off-screen, then back. “Very well, that is fine. Two hours then. Thank you, Admiral. And thank you, Captain Lorcan. I sincerely appreciate your indulgence in this. Tav’rokian Might out.”

  The screen cut off.

  Sammuel swore. He stood and started pacing. “What the hell is going on? We must go get him!”

  She held up a hand to silence him. She slipped back into her seat, her fingers flying over the console. After a moment, she turned to Caz. “Get your body armor on and get mine. We’ll wear stealth suits and we need weapons. I also want a mini console and an electro tap. You know the one I mean?” He nodded and raced to retrieve the items.

  Sammuel turned on her. “Do you honestly think I will let you go over there without me?”

  Her face turned grim. “You have no choice, Admiral. This is my ship. If I have to lock you in a fucking brig cell while I go get him, I will. Otherwise, I want your word you and Jarl will not try to interfere.”

  Explosion wouldn’t adequately describe the volume of Sammuel’s outburst. By the time he calmed himself a moment later, Aine coolly waiting him out, Caz had returned from his cabin. He’d changed into one of the tight, black stealth suits, worn over his body armor. He carried a large satchel, which he set on her bunk, opened, and started removing the contents.

  She unbuttoned her uniform coat. “There are currently two ways onto the Tav’rokian Might, Sammuel. The airlock and the utility umbilical corridor. Both are airtight. They’ll be monitoring the airlock, obviously. They’ve got it locked down, and if I try to override it, even having access to the main computer, it’ll alert them. They won’t be monitoring the umbilical corridor because the only alert is if it’s open or closed. And it has to remain open while it’s connected to us. You are too damn big to get through the utility umbilical corridor. You’re built like a freaking space station. I’m not even sure Caz can make it. I know I can.”

  “And then what is your plan, Ki’ato? To get yourself killed storming their bridge?”

  She smiled, but there wasn’t a drop of mirth in her grim expression. “No. First I plan to do a little eavesdropping.”

  * * * *

  As she changed clothes and Caz helped her don her body armor, she explained her countless hours exploring the ventilation ducts in the Bagtopy Yau as a kid. “I’m a little bigger, but I pulled up their vent specs and I know I can easily make it.” Caz helped her load weapons into her stealth suit’s pockets. “Once I’m on board, I can figure out where he is. Then I’m going to kill those other four fuckers.”

  “How do you know there are four involved?” Sammuel asked.

  “Basic strategy. The lander and emergency pods on that ship only hold six at the most.”

  “But with Jarl there would be seven.”

  She didn’t answer him, didn’t want to say it in front of their beloved yeoman.

  Sammuel looked at Jarl and he understood her meaning and let out another epithet. “Why did they make him call both of us back then?”

  “Appearances. I’d be willing to bet those fucks don’t know I’m your t’wren, do they?”

  He shook his head. “None of the guards with us were aware of it. Only Master, myself, and Jarl.” He thought for a moment. “Well, the captain does. Marcoln. He was your first officer on the Haltoran-dey, but you don’t think…” He shook his head. “I refuse to believe he’d betray Master.”

  Another cold smile crossed her face. Whether he was a conspirator or a victim of whoever planned this, Aine knew she had justice to mete out. “Caz, let’s go hunting.”

  Sammuel grabbed her and kissed her, hard. “Please let me go with you.”

  “You can’t. Stay here. If I have to worry about you, I can’t focus.” She caressed his face. “I can do this. I have to trust that you aren’t going to distract me. You said you’d respect my authority as captain.”

  He nodded. “That does not mean I have to like doing so.” He turned to Caz and squeezed his shoulder. “Please protect her with your life.”

  Caz nodded. “Absolutely. Without question.”

  Sammuel nodded and let go.

  Caz quickly moved with her. They ran down the corridor to the security chief’s cabin, and after a brief consultation he personally went to mobilize five of his best men. They would wait outside the airlock for her to open it and let them in. She didn’t want any of their plans communicated over the ship’s com links in case the men in control of the Tav’rokian Might had figured out how to monitor them. In the hangar bay, Aine popped the access hatch leading to the utility umbilical corridor and looked into it, then glanced at Caz’s large frame. Shorter and lighter than Sammuel, but a lot bigger than her.

  “I don’t know if you’ll fit,” she whispered.

  His grim expression most likely matched her own. “I’ll fit, sir.”

  She touched his arm and smiled. “Hey, he’s our Master. Aine for now.”

  He grinned. “Always wanted a little sister.”

  He wanted to go first, but she made the valid point that if he got stuck it would block the way for both of them. She went first, pulling up the ship’s schematics on the mini console in her hand. As they passed over the galley area, her heart sank as she peered through the grate. Only the dim exit lights illuminated the room, but she easily made out the shapes of several still bodies sprawled on the floor.

  After silently lifting the vent grate out of her way, Caz lowered her through the opening into the room. Walking around the outskirts, she made her way to the door and locked it down.

  Then she turned on the lights.

  Caz dropped through the opening in time to turn and suck in sharp breath at the gory sight.

  Aine wished she hadn’t looked. The men’s throats had been slit. From what she could count, eight men, including one she suspected was the captain from what she could see of his uniform. She carefully avoided the pools of blood around each body and knelt beside the man. Caz helped her turn him face up.

  Marcoln’s sightless eyes stared up at the ceiling.

  “Oh, no,” she sadly whispered. Which was worse, seeing him lay dead before her, or knowing she might have had to kill him for treachery?

  This was worse. Much worse.

  “You knew him?” Caz asked.

  She nodded and closed his eyelids, unable to stomach his empty brown gaze. “He was my first officer on the Haltoran-dey. He was a damn good officer.”

  “What do we do next?”

  She stood and surveyed the carnage. Good men, all of them. Loyal to their Ambassador and Admiral and now needlessly dead over raider greed.

  Rage threatened to take her. How many more people had to die because of these fucking bastards? How many lives ruined?

  Temptation warred within her to send her screaming out the galley door and down the passageway like she had that night when she liberated the Bagtopy Yau, mowing down raiders in her path with her energy rifle.

  But if she tried that it could get her Master or Caz killed, neither option one she could live with.

  Aine hardened her heart. “Back to the ventilation ducts,” she said. She turned off the galley lights, unlocked the door, and let Caz jump up and pull himself into the duct first. He reached down and caught her outstretched arm and pulled her up with him. She continued down the du
ct with Caz stealthily on her heels. All their hours of sparring practice had paid off. They could work well in close quarters and had a silent rapport allowing them to read the other’s body language.

  They crossed one of the large crew dorm cabins that normally housed eight. The room lay dark below them. She reached into her pocket for her flashlight and played the beam through the grate.

  More bodies. Some lay in their bunks, murdered while they slept. Some lay sprawled on the floor in puddles of blood.

  Aine barely clamped down on her scream of rage.

  She wondered where the rest of the bodies had been left, or if the other dorm cabins would reveal more victims.

  They silently crawled through the ducts until they reached what she suspected was Ker’s cabin. She closed her eyes, let her mind reach out, and found him close by.

  “Are you alone, Master?”

  His faint reply. “Yes. Please, Ki’ato, they are soulless. Be very careful.”

  She pulled out her flashlight and shone it around the cabin through the grate. There, in a chair, sat Ker. He looked up into the beam. She allowed herself to breathe a sigh of relief.

  Caz patted her thigh to get her attention and silently mouthed, “What now?”

  She pulled out the mini console again, consulted it, and trained the flashlight beam down the ventilation duct until she focused it on an electrical junction box. Creeping down to it, she used her electro tap to hook the console into the ship’s systems and override them. First job, lock down Ker’s cabin from the inside to prevent them from getting in.

  Second, shut down sensors.

  Third, open the airlock.

  She ripped the tap free and motioned Caz back to the grate over Ker’s cabin. He held on to her legs as she unhooked the grate and then he carefully lowered her into the cabin.

  She used the electro tap to short-circuit the energy shackles and free Ker. “Are you okay, Master?”