Discovery

by Craig Martelle

More warriors showed up to help as the two delegations stared daggers at each other under the watchful eye of the Bad Company. The drop ships appeared and hovered, looking for clear space to land. They moved to the side of the parade deck.

  That wasn’t good enough for Cory.

  Get a Pod here NOW! We need to get these warriors back to the War Axe. No one dies today. Do you hear me? No one dies!

  Band Rayal Seven, Okkoto

  Tonie hung his head in a combination of exhaustion and failure.

  “What’s wrong with it?” BA stormed into the room and looked at the panel.

  “Energy’s not flowing through it right or something. It’s bungled.”

  Her eyes traveled around the panel, searching for anything to give her a clue. “Not on my watch,” Bethany Anne said softly.

  She moved to where he could see her, closed her eyes, and held her hands up. Etheric power arced around her body, dancing off the walls and through the panel. Terry backed up with Char in his arms and continued until he was on the elevator. Tonie was torn between staying at the panel and counting on the strange being to complete the circuit.

  He chose the elevator. “I guess I’m coming with you.”

  Terry nodded, hoping his willpower kept Char alive until they could get out from under the crush of Etheric energy.

  BA opened her eyes long enough to wink at TH. “Move!” She mouthed.

  The doors slammed shut, and the elevator started to rise.

  Flayse Conglomerate, Efluyez Homeworld, Alganor Sector

  The cryo-drones secured themselves to the roofs of the Pods while the warriors boarded. The mechs were the farthest away, so they had to wait for them to board while cattle-herding the VIPs onto the two drop ships that wouldn’t be carrying the armor.

  Slikira ran back along the parade route to pick up dropped weapons. She had lost one of the mortars and was concerned that it could fall into the wrong hands. She found two railguns and a warrior’s cloak. The Ixtali were extremely fast, and she made up for her delay by running at full speed into a Pod.

  Cory nurtured the wounded while pumping her fist for the group to hurry. “Button us up and take us home,” Christina ordered, finding herself on the same ship as Cory. Kimber, you’re the last one out.

  I’ll make sure we don’t leave anyone behind, the major reported, sending two warriors over the parade deck for one last scrub before her Pod departed. The Magnate was less than amused at being abducted from his own planet.

  After Kimber had boarded and signaled for the ship to take off, the Magnate squeezed through the mass of bodies to stand toe to toe with the major.

  “Can I help you, Magnate?”

  “I demand to be taken to my palace.”

  “I am in no position to grant your request. Warrior. Following orders. Your regime is under threat, and we are ensuring your safety. That is what people hire us for.”

  “I assure you that I will be safe in my own palace.”

  “I would have thought you could ensure the safety of your guests, but that assumption was wrong, so we’ll stop making assumptions. We’ll do what we know is right. You and your people, as well as the Frikandans, are being taken to the War Axe, neutral ground, where you two will work out an agreement before you can return to Efluyez.”

  “There is no need for such a stunt. We already had an agreement. Couldn’t you see that they were on the same field as we were? That their lives were threatened, just like ours?”

  “What I see is that you seem indifferent to the fact that someone attacked us. If we lost any warriors today, you are going to pay.”

  “We’re already paying. Half a million credits! Take the loss out of that,” the Magnate retorted.

  Kimber cooled to the point of freezing, and the other warriors backed away as much as they could within the confined space of the drop ship. “Why were we attacked?”

  “What?” the Magnate shot back dismissively with a half-shrug.

  “We were attacked while under your protection. Since you’ve abrogated your responsibility, we have no problem picking up the slack, as it may be. Your failure has resulted in the Bad Company taking over. Your half-million credits are nothing compared to what you’re going to end up paying when this is over.” Kimber’s tone was low and steady.

  Dangerous.

  The Magnate caught the magnitude of her words. “You can’t. The Federation doesn’t interfere in the internal politics of signatory worlds!”

  Kimber pointed at her people, who were pressing in on the Magnate and his delegation. The warriors loomed over the shorter Flayse. One of the VIPs grabbed at a railgun, earning himself a punch in the face. He had no chance of taking the weapon.

  “Looks like we can and we have,” Kimber continued, tipping her chin at the warrior who had resisted the attack.

  “I will call Reynolds!” the Magnate blustered.

  “Fuck off,” Kimber told him. Her hand vibrated with the desire to grab the Magnate by the throat, but someone had to be the adult. “Here’s what’s going to happen. We’re going to put you and the Frikandans in a room together, and you are going to hammer out a non-aggression and mutual-trade pact. During your negotiations, you’re going to come clean on who planned the attack on us. Then the Bad Company is going to take those people into custody and give them a fair trial. If they are found guilty, they’ll go to the prison planet of Jiordaan.”

  “Fair trial. From the Federation? Is that what I’ve just gotten? I’ve been kidnapped!”

  “Tell it to the Magistrate. I’m sure she’ll be delighted to hear your take on things. And let me tell you, if any of my people die, you’ll be right there with the terrorists in Jiordaan, serving your time, side by side with your fellow criminals. You failed us. You failed your people. And that is why we are now in charge. Shut your mouth before I put my fist in it.”

  One of the Flayse put his hand on the Magnate’s shoulder and whispered something into his ear. Kimber heard it and smiled as the Magnate harrumphed and turned his back on her.

  Please stop pissing her off. They have guns!

  Cory attended to the wounded as well as she could. Water. Pain medication. The Bad Company had been boosted, getting treatments from the Pod-doc, but limited in case anyone left. Their nanos would fail over time. They could heal injuries unless the damage was too great. The warriors were borderline.

  Christina urged the drop ship to greater speed, but it was already topped out. Smedley was bringing them home as fast as possible. The War Axe had moved into a lower orbit to shorten the distance.

  Still, it was taking time.

  One of the warriors started to spasm. They’d all seen it before. Death throes.

  “We’re coming in hot,” Christina told the War Axe. “We have one for immediate transfer to the Pod-doc.”

  The Pod didn’t slow down until right before it passed through the forcefield at the entrance to the heavy destroyer’s hangar bay. The warrior sighed his last breath with the buffeting of a radical maneuver to place the ramp close to the mobile Pod-doc units at the back of the hangar bay. The Bad Company had developed them because too many times they’d raced back to the War Axe exactly like this, carrying the injured. The cryo-drones were one piece of the battle-wounded puzzle. Instant access to a Pod-doc was another, without exposing the technology to a potential enemy.

  The ramp dropped, and two warriors grabbed the injured and ran, Cory and Dokken right behind them. They waited while Cory manually activated the Pod-doc. The hatch popped, she lifted it, and they put the man inside. “Smedley, this thing better be working.”

  Once the hatch had closed and secured, Smedley took over.

  “We have all eight nominally operational, but some of the automated controls will have to come later. And the injured may require further treatments in our primary system. These are limited to main procedures at present.” He hadn’t told Cory anything she didn’t know. Maybe he was reiterating it for those in the area who were concerned for their teammates.r />
  It was about morale. It was easier to convince a warrior to take risks if he knew that his unit would do everything possible to save him should he be injured. That was already the case, but they were bringing more technology to bear.

  The galaxy was a dangerous place.

  Two other warriors had picked up the other injured man, using his cloak as an ad-hoc stretcher. They waited at the next mobile Pod-doc for Cory to start the system. After a few deft touches, the lid popped and they place him inside. She turned Smedley loose on the second treatment. “We have six more coming, Smedley. They are in cryo, so there isn’t the rush. One already flatlined, so he’s first. We got him into stasis within a couple of minutes. I hope that was quick enough.”

  “Know that I will do all that I can, as you have done, Cordelia,” the AI reassured her. Dokken rubbed against her leg. She wasn’t as exhausted as if she’d used her nanocytes to treat the injured—not that she hadn’t tried.

  “Take it easy,” Christina said softly. “You’ve done all that could be done and put our good people into the right hands. Thank you.”

  Christina one-arm-hugged her friend.

  “No one is going to die today,” Cory whispered.

  “Not today,” Christina agreed. “Close, but no cigar. We shall party well once we get these cockwads straightened out.” Christina’s expression hardened. “Speak of the devil.”

  The other Pods landed with less aggressive maneuvering than what Smedley had done for Christina’s drop ship.

  “Get those cryo-drones down here and in line!” Christina ordered, never taking her eyes off the newly arrived Pods. She waited for the ramps to drop and them to disgorge their passengers.

  “Keep our guests separated.”

  After the last drop ship had landed, Kai raced into the bay with a team to move tables and chairs to a spot close to the open door where space would provide the backdrop for the negotiations. This part of Christina’s plan had been a contingency just in case, but Kai played his role well, even though he’d only had a few hours to get everything ready.

  Jenelope appeared, with Xianna and two maintenance bots acting as food carriers. They decorated the tables and set out a small tray of local snacks while avoiding looking at the wounded. Xianna sighed in relief when she saw her husband, but then felt guilty about it. He pointed to the injured and gave her the thumbs up. “We’re okay,” he mouthed.

  The drop ships had emptied. The Black Eagles had parked near the portable Pod-docs, with Aaron and Yanmei joining Cory to stand by and wait for good news.

  The Frikandans were led to one side of the massive hangar bay, and the Flayse to the other. The two delegations stood apart, silently watching each other.

  Christina took a deep breath and walked into the area between them, then waved for them to come closer. Cap and Kelly in their mechs moved with them, staying nearby.

  Intimidation—something the Bad Company was getting better at with each operation. Joseph stood nearby, helmet cradled in the crook of his arm. Petricia was by his side, her helmet nowhere to be seen.

  “I don’t know which of you attacked us—” Christina didn’t finish before the outburst.

  “Not us!” they cried together. “It was...” They both declared the other side to be the culprit, the terrorist.

  Joseph turned toward the Frikandan delegation and pointed to the second to last person in line. Petricia walked over and yanked that person out of line.

  “What are you doing with my finance minister?” the chairman demanded.

  Petricia dragged him closer to Joseph. “Outrageous!” the minister shouted. “Get your claws off me.”

  Joseph moved forward and leaned close until their foreheads were nearly touching. He tried to push the vampire away, but Petricia caught his arms from behind and locked them next to his soft body.

  He’d spent too much time making backroom deals to remain fit.

  “Why did you do this?” Joseph looked into his mind to find the answers.

  “I didn’t!” The minister’s denials were growing weaker.

  Joseph turned to look at the Flayse. He didn’t see the face from the finance minister’s mind. “Do you have a city planning commissioner?”

  The Magnate’s jaw dropped. “I knew he was angling to undermine me!” He turned to face one of those with him. “Have him arrested immediately.”

  The other Flayse held their hands up in surrender, powerless to comply with the order.

  Joseph nodded at Christina, and she motioned for two warriors to seize the finance minister. “Put him in the brig. Joseph, if you would be so kind as to share what you learned?”

  “After we take our seats and get a drink.” Joseph pointed to the tables and smiled. “You are much closer to a resolution than you realize.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Band Rayal Seven, Okkoto

  Char wasn’t improving. Terry had hoped the effect would be immediate, but it wasn’t.

  “I don’t know what else to do,” Terry said.

  “There is nothing else to do,” Tonie replied.

  The elevator continued to rise. The Erthos’ eyes shot wide in shock right before he disintegrated, becoming nothing more than dust particles filling the elevator. Terry covered his mouth as Char took a deep breath, her chest heaving with the effort.

  “Cover your mouth,” he cautioned as he put a sleeve over her face. She continued to take deep but quick breaths until she opened her eyes.

  The air cleared in the elevator as it continued to rise.

  “Where...” Char couldn’t finish her question.

  “Finally on our way back to the surface.” Terry set her on her unsteady feet. “We’ve escaped the outpost.”

  “Finally,” Char confirmed. She looked at the empty elevator. “Where’s Bethany Anne?”

  “She saved us by using herself to power the elevator. Tonie couldn’t finish it, and then the doors closed. That was the last I saw of her, and Tonie dissolved when we passed through the Etheric shield. I guess there was more to the clones than just meat and bones.”

  “How are you feeling?” Terry asked. It was the best he could come up with. He didn’t want to tell her she looked like she’d spent too much time on death’s doorstep, so he settled on an alternative. “You are so beautiful.”

  “I look like shit,” she replied.

  “At least it wasn’t me who said it.” Terry chuckled.

  “But you’re thinking it,” Char mumbled, still trying to gather herself as her nanocytes struggled for normalcy. Her sensitivity to the Etheric had made her vulnerable to the Etheric power coursing beneath the Okkoto moon. She needed time.

  “You are so beautiful,” Terry said again.

  “And you are such a man.”

  “Guilty. Time to get the fuck off this rock and back to our vacation.”

  “I think I’d rather just go home.”

  “We can do that too,” Terry agreed. “We will do whatever you want.”

  The elevator stopped, and Terry craned his neck to look through the access hatch in the roof. “It’s dark up there.” He interlaced his fingers and held them down for Char to step into. He hoisted her up, and she struggled to pull herself through.

  Terry crouched and vaulted as high as he could, barely high enough to get his fingertips on the ledge. He did a pull-up until he could get his elbow over, then crawled out to find himself where they’d started however long ago. Their rope was still hanging from above.

  Char grabbed it tightly and started climbing, walking up the side of the shaft. Terry held the bottom of the rope out, keeping tension on it to make it easier. The elevator shifted beneath his feet and then started to drop, and he clung to the rope as if his life depended on it. Char almost lost her grip, freezing in place to make sure she didn’t fall.

  Terry let go with one hand and braced himself to catch his wife, but no one fell and time crawled. Slowly, Terry took the rope in two hands.

  “I’ll be there in a minute,”
he said as calmly as he could manage. He figured he could survive the fall, even all five hundred feet, but Char wouldn’t, not after returning to the other side of the Etheric shield.

  “I’m fine. Heading for the top now.” She saved her breath and soon was over the top, with Terry right behind her. He found her lying on her back, spread-eagled like a sacrifice to the gods. “It’s nice being outside, even though it’s a bit frigid.”

  “I’ll second that. Maybe we can still get in a few vacation days in the sun, enjoy nothing more than being outside.”

  “Maybe.” Char closed her eyes and concentrated on breathing. Clouds appeared before her face with each effort.

  Terry removed the communication device from his pocket and activated it. “Venus, this is Terry Henry Walton requesting immediate pick up from Okkoto, over.”

  Unlike when he had tested it when the shuttle was on Okkoto, there was no response of any kind. Terry didn’t think it was transmitting.

  It was cold outside, just like they said it would be. It had been cold in the daylight, but in the darkness, it was already pressing in on them.

  Terry kept trying, lying next to Char to share their body heat, but the ground was sucking it away more than the air. “We have to find shelter,” Terry said. Char grimaced as if he’d stabbed her.

  “I know. This is our life, TH. We go from one death-defying crisis to the next,” she mumbled.

  Terry helped her stand, supporting her once she was upright. “But we always survive. Always.”

  He hoped that the shuttle would return with the daylight, whenever that would be. They had one flask of water and one protein bar between them. He knew that hope was no replacement for a good plan.

  The War Axe, in orbit around the Efluyez Homeworld, Alganor Sector

  Christina stabbed her fingernails into her palms for the fourth time in the last minute. The delegates continued to argue despite the triviality of their points. She had no patience for stupid. She wanted to give the warriors her attention, but Kimber was there, guiding the efforts to get the injured into the Pod-docs, clean the weapons and their gear, and return to combat readiness as quickly as possible before standing down.