by Tim Marquitz
The words left a sour taste in her mouth.
Is this what I’m becoming?
No. Not yet, at least.
She hadn’t lost all of her compassion, and Rowl willing, she never would. She simply understood that there was a large amount of gray in the world, squeezed in between the black and white. And the more she experienced out in the universe, the more she realized she would have to skirt the line more often than she liked.
But she swore she’d never cross it.
“Regardless, stay put while I look around,” she ordered, not wanting to dwell on the realities of her new life.
She waited a moment longer, watching the guards go about their rounds, and when it was clear, she shot off across the barren field. When she reached the wall, she pressed herself against it, glad she’d thought to check if there were scanning devices there.
The cold of the stone couldn’t penetrate her armor, but she imagined it was there and a chill skittered down her spine as she waited.
She counted down, having memorized the timing of the Wyyvan soldiers above, and when she felt safe, she spun around and scrambled up the wall, using the armor’s built-in climbing gear.
At the top, she waited again, then shot across the narrow parapet and into the compound. She dropped to the ground inside the wall and darted into the shadows cast by two small buildings that were squeezed close together.
She hadn’t wanted to do all this in the daylight, but circumstances had left her little choice. The suit’s camo program was impressive, but there was still a chance she could be detected without the cover of night to amplify its effectiveness. But what could she do?
With that in mind, she crept through the streets, ducking or dodging every time someone walked past or she heard a vehicle close by. She realized quickly that the slaves didn’t walk the streets alone, and she wondered if that was something recent that had been put in place after the escape of the others or if it had always been that way.
She presumed the former, since it would make it damn impossible for the workers to slip away under the constant eye of the guards.
When Taj examined the place, she realized the vehicles were automated and they seemed to be running a circuit, picking up loads of Toradium-42 and dropping it off somewhere she couldn’t see from where she sat.
It gave her an idea how she could speed her reconnaissance up, however.
She lurked in an alley until she spied a loaded vehicle. The streets were clear of Wyyvans, so she bolted out and dove under the vehicle, latching onto the undercarriage and pulling herself tight against it.
The vehicle bounced along, unaware of her presence, and she grinned.
She couldn’t have pictured doing something so reckless before, but with the powered suit keep her protected, hidden, and her limbs from tiring, the maneuver was a simple one.
She likened it to the trrilac herding she and the crew participated in every year. Won’t be long before they’re back, she thought, remembering how the Wyyvan ship had crashed just after they’d turned the herd aside, keeping it from tearing apart Culvert City.
Chastising herself for letting her mind drift, Taj shook the reverie clear and went back to noting the layout of the outpost and the arrangement of the artillery units that kept anyone from approaching the compound too closely.
She let the suit record her passage so she could review it later—well, Dent could review it—and pick out anything that would speed up the recovery of the workers and get them the gack out of there.
The vehicle paused only long enough to have an automated device shovel tons of Toradium-42 into the back of the vehicle, Taj’s perch rumbling as it did, and then stopped once it reached its destination.
Which was a walled-in chute that protected a conveyor belt with scoops.
The vehicle dumped its load and the conveyor carried it out of sight. Then, not more than a moment later, the vehicle was back on the road, trundling toward the pickup location.
Taj rode it around twice to be sure there wasn’t more to the route than she’d seen the first time around and dropped off near the same alley she’d hopped on at.
Back in the shadows, she hunkered down and assessed what she’d seen.
It wasn’t good.
The main doorway was the only real entrance or exit to the outpost. All of the Toradium-42 was apparently shunted over the wall into a huge open area in the far corner of the outpost. From there, the machines loaded it and sent it on its way.
She hadn’t seen the outside machinery working because the Furlorians’ arrival had forced everyone inside, she suspected, but it was kind of obvious how it all worked.
The process was simple, at least as far as she could see, but she could imagine dozens of ways it could be streamlined.
That made her think that Dent was correct in his assessment of Grand Admiral Galforin’s intentions.
Like Vort before him, the admiral wanted as much of the mineral as he could hoard before he attracted attention to himself.
She imagined Captain Vort would have done the exact same thing if he hadn’t crashed on the planet and had no way off. As it was, he had tried to steal the mineral out from under his superiors anyway.
That was likely why Galforin hadn’t cared when he first came to Krawlas, blasting Furlorians and Wyyvans alike. He didn’t want any competition for the prize, and that was what Vort had been.
Taj grinned at the thought.
If that were the case, she and her crew might have more time than they imagined.
She couldn’t picture Galforin being quick to report recent events to his bosses, given what she’d learned from Vort and Dard about the Wyyvan mentality, so he’d likely have to be more circumspect about finding reinforcements.
And if that were true, Taj could picture being able to take a little more time and do things right rather than rushing them and putting everyone at risk.
Bolstered by that, she slunk back up the wall and made ready to slither down the other side when her armor’s sensors picked up a sound she didn’t recognize.
She froze and looked around, realizing the soldiers on the wall had hunkered down into their shelters, leaving her alone atop the parapet.
Rather than sit there, she eased over the wall and started down as the sound continued, growing louder with every passing moment.
“You hear that, Dent?” she asked over the comm.
“I do, but I’m not sure what—” The AI’s voice cut off and Taj checked her comm, wondering if it had gone out, but the suit’s diagnostics showed it was fine.
Dent came back a second later. “Get out of there! Now!”
Explosions tore up the ground near where the rest of the crew had been hiding, and Taj sucked in a sharp breath.
Something shrieked overhead, a flash of silver that cast a cold shadow over her
Chapter Five
Grand Admiral Galforin fumed, stomping back and forth on the bridge of his dreadnought, the Stormfront.
“Have you reestablished communications with the planet yet?” he stopped long enough to ask his communications officer, glaring at the male before resuming his pacing.
“No, sir!” Ensign Huh replied. “Transmissions continue to be blocked. We’re working on breaking the coding.”
“I suggest you hurry,” Galforin warned. He wasn’t in the mood to be patient.
Whoever these attackers were, they had come out of nowhere and engaged the grand admiral’s fleet without warning or obvious explanation.
Unsure what their goals or capabilities were, he’d ordered the fleet to retreat so he could assess the enemy, but doing so had only made matters worse.
While they pulled back, the enemy fleet had launched an armada of shuttles, sending them down to the planet’s surface. Blocked from scanning them as they descended, Galforin could only imagine they were filled with soldiers staging an invasion.
His inability to confirm that with his troops on the ground infuriated him.
He hated
being cut off. Galforin barely maintained his composure and kept from ordering his fleet back into firing range. Although his XO, Volg, suggested they hadn’t felt the full measure of the enemy fleet’s power, Galforin was uncertain that was true. Why would they attack and not wipe the entire fleet out if they were capable?
It made no sense to leave an enemy behind to come at you again, especially one as powerful as Galforin’s fleet.
Yet, he found himself listening to Volg’s advice because the XO had been with him since the admiral’s start. Volg had been instrumental in Galforin’s advance, although he was unsure if the man’s patient approach was the correct one given the circumstances they currently found themselves in.
“I don’t like this, Volg,” Galforin told his XO.
“Nor do I, Admiral,” the XO replied, “but there is no reason for the enemy to initiate a ground assault unless they have an understanding of what lies on the planet’s surface, sir.”
Galforin hissed, licking his lips, his tongue flicking.
It infuriated him that Volg was right, and it flew in the face of Galforin’s desire to exact revenge upon the upstarts who dared attack him so boldly.
What made it worse was that he had no idea as to who the enemy fleet belonged to.
None of the ships bore any obvious insignia or were of a design that allowed him to determine who the attackers were.
They could be pirates for all he knew, or agents of Captain Vort, for that matter.
Galforin chuckled.
No, they wouldn’t be that.
The admiral recalled hearing the report of one of his scout ships stumbling across the remains of Captain Vort—a frozen, shriveled husk floating in space. The Furlorians who’d escaped the planet and stolen a leech ship had apparently grown tired of the captain and had killed him, ejecting him into space with the tracking device that allowed Galforin to follow the ship.
It had been a bittersweet moment to be sure, Galforin recalled. Though he hated to lose the leech craft since it represented his failure to wipe out the local pest who’d dare defy him, finding Vort that way had been quite amusing, he had to admit.
Galforin had hoped the bastard had been killed by Galforin’s assault on KI1047-32—or “Krawlas,” as the star registry noted it had been named in recent years—but that hadn’t happened, obviously.
Still, it was pleasant to learn that Vort had met a cruel and spiteful end, even if it had been at the hands of someone else.
Galforin had been tempted to order his people to collect the body and return it to him, but he’d decided the captain’s fate was the perfect end to the man’s treachery and designs at sidestepping Galforin.
So thinking, he let the bastard drift, bound to spend eternity flying through space, a wretched, soulless, frozen corpse.
“How long before the troops arrive, Volg?” Galforin asked, shaking off the pleasant memories of Vort’s death.
“Our people are being circumspect, sir,” XO Volg answered. “I’ve made it clear they must hurry, but there is no clear timeline for their arrival without inadvertently drawing the attention of Command.”
Grand Admiral Galforin growled.
Too much rode upon stealth; it frustrated him to have to be so careful.
He’d been glad that Captain Vort had reached out to Galforin directly after his accidental discovery of the mineral on KI1047-32. Had he reported the finding to Command, then the Toradium-42 would have been stolen out from under him—like he’d done with Vort.
He clenched his fists at the thought.
It was far too valuable to allow Command to come in and take it away. He needed only a little longer to collect enough of the valuable mineral to assert his right to a position on the Command Council.
With a planet of the resource, he could buy his way to the top of Command and never have to bow to their wishes again. He would rule Belor Prime, and he could spend his days basking in luxury and the adoration of his inferiors—as long as he could control the planet.
But first, he needed to stop these upstart invaders and bleed them into the sands of the desolate orb that was worth so much.
“Sitrep!” Galforin called, although he’d been informed only moments ago.
“The enemy fleet remains in orbit around KI1047-32, Admiral,” XO Volg replied. “No changes of note.”
Galforin stopped his pacing, turning to look at his XO. An idea struck him.
“Perhaps it’s time to force a change,” he suggested. “How effective are the scanners on the Vipers?”
“The fighters are limited in range, Admiral,” Volg answered. “I assume you want them for a more accurate assessment of the enemy on the surface of KI1047-32. If so, given the signal blocking, they would need to be right on the enemy for an accurate read.”
“That is exactly what I want from them,” Galforin replied. “How long would it take them to reach the planet?”
“Minutes, at most,” Volg replied, “although it would be best to route them around the planet so as to disrupt any tracking of them by the enemy fleet. That would take a short while longer.”
Galforin grinned. “Then do that. Send a cadre of Vipers out immediately, Volg. I want eyes on these would-be usurpers.”
XO Volg nodded. “Orders relayed, sir.”
The grand admiral drew in a deep breath, reveling in the moist air the Stormfront’s life support provided. He hated the dry, hot air of KI1047-32, which was why he’d remained aboard his dreadnought rather than oversee the mining operation directly. He didn’t know how anyone could stand to exist there.
He grinned as he watched the blips of the Vipers launching on the scanners.
In just a few minutes, if the invaders weren’t already burdened by the heat of KI1047-32, they would be.
Chapter Six
Taj watched as a second Wyyvan fighter shrieked overhead. She thought to stay put, hunker down and let the camouflage system do its job, but it didn’t take more than a second to realize the fighter had already pinpointed her.
“Camo doesn’t work,” she screamed as she dove away. The ground was ripped apart and shredded behind her as the fighter zipped past.
“Kinda figured that out,” Torbon shouted back over the comm, his breathing fast.
More explosions tore at the dune where the rest of the crew had been hiding. Her advanced optics showed her they had bailed in time, escaping death at the hands of the first Wyyvan pilot.
But it had been close.
The crew scrambled to their feet and scattered to make themselves harder to hit, but out in the open as they were, there wasn’t much comfort in it. They were sitting targets in the barren fields, nowhere to hide or take cover.
“Two more incoming,” Dent reported.
“Gacking great!” Taj griped as the two Wyyvan fighter craft appeared, strafed the ground, and roared by, veering away sharply to prepare for another pass.
“Air support would be nice,” Taj called over the comm.
“Shuttles inbound,” Dent came back immediately, “but they’re not exactly designed to go one on one with fighters like these.”
“And we are?” Torbon asked.
“Good point,” the AI admitted.
By then, the first of the fighters had swung around for another shot at the crew.
Taj wasn’t going to take the attempt sitting down.
Leading the craft with her pistol sights, she loosed a barrage of fire as soon as the ship cleared the outpost’s wall. Blaster shots burst against the hull, kicking up sparks.
Too bad it was like throwing rocks at the planet.
The fighter’s armor shrugged off the attack, but the unexpectedness of it surprised the pilot enough to distract him.
His return fire was way off the mark, tearing up the dirt a good five yards from where Taj stood.
She breathed a sigh of relief at that, although it was a pyrrhic victory at best.
“That was ineffective,” Krawg muttered.
“Thanks for stating th
e obvious,” Taj growled as the second fighter cleared the outpost and veered off after Dent. “You and Cabe are getting good at that.”
Taj’s heart thundered against her ribs as she watched the AI feint a leap in one direction only to dart back her way.
She had to give the Dandrinite’s form credit: it was graceful.
Dent rolled and came back to his feet with acrobatic ease as the fighter flew overhead, his weapons fire kicking up clouds of dust and debris well away from where Dent stood.
“We can’t keep doing this,” the AI warned, and Taj knew he was right.
Fast as they were in their suits, they would eventually slow down or make a mistake, and that would be the end of them.
“How far out are the shuttles?” she asked.
“They’ll be here shortly, but as I said earlier, they’re not going to be much assistance,” he replied. “They’ll have to contend with the remaining AA guns shortly.”
“They’ll risk shooting their own ships to get at ours?” Lina asked.
“I wouldn’t put anything past them,” Taj answered, remembering just how vicious Vort had been.
The captain would have sacrificed all of his people to take down his enemies. As long as he still stood when the dust cleared, he didn’t care what the win cost him.
She didn’t imagine Grand Admiral Galforin would be much different.
The fighters were resources to be used up, and they were well worth the cost if they took out the Furlorians.
“Gacking Rowl!” Taj cursed as the third fighter came at her.
She leapt back toward the wall as it ripped up the ground just ahead of her. The plink of debris against her armor set off warning alarms across the visor display, and she sighed.
Too close, she thought.
“We need to do something soon,” Cabe said, stating the obvious.
“What the gack do you want us to do?” Torbon whined. “Wrestle the things?”
Realizations struck Taj, and she grinned.
She imagined she looked a bit feral just then, but given the thoughts flashing through her mind, she felt that it was fitting.
