“Why would Ulven risk being here himself? It looked like him, but something isn’t right. He could hire any one of a thousand snipers or assassins. He could have sent them here. Why would he risk getting caught or killed?” Einar asked aloud.
“I mean, was it Senator Krico that was shot? Are you sure? Is there any way that you could have mistaken him?” she asked pleading in her voice almost begging him to admit that he was uncertain.
“I’m sorry, but there is no way that I mistook him. I was standing in the entry from the great hall when it happened. The Senator was speaking when he was shot in the back. I watched him fall over onto the desk. I’m sorry, but I am certain it was him and I don’t think he made it.” While Einar knew very little about Eerika, he sensed her great affinity for the Senator.
“You don’t think, which means you can’t be certain,” she fired back.
He didn’t see any need to press the issue, especially in their situation. What would it hurt to let her hold on to the possibility? “You are right. I didn’t check his injuries. Maybe he did survive,” he reached over and touched her shoulder to comfort her.
“What about the other members?” she asked.
“I’m not sure how many of the others in the Jamhuri Federation were shot and possibly killed. It was way too easy. There was very little they could do to protect themselves…no one was armed. They were defenseless…it was a slaughter. I took a shot at the sniper…or Ulven hoping to help at least a few escape. What happened here was unprecedented.” Einar relived the scene in his mind of the desperate attempts to escape.
“So, you did have intel? You did know he was going to be here. That is why you came,” she snapped chiding him.
“Nothing solid, just some rumors our informants picked up. Nothing that hasn’t been a dead-end in the past. He does that to test what information is getting out and to see what the response will be. There has been a lot of chatter… but nothing to suggest anything on this kind of scale. I feel really stupid that I underestimated him. I didn’t see any of this coming.”
Eerika jerked the Imil starboard as a laser passed to their left. She pulled up and rolled the craft as she did so. Einar was able to get a better look at the oncoming Schwan fighters. Two had broken formation and were headed for them, but three appeared to be heading toward the primary transport which was sitting just outside of the planet’s gravitational field.
“Captain Menel of the Vandeley…you have incoming! Do you copy?” Einar anxiously said attempting to send a warning. He repeated the call but did not receive a response.
Eerika accelerated the Imil and pointed it toward the opening in the ceiling created by the sonic grenade. From above, the structural damage appeared to be far worse than she initially realized. Several sections of the flat roof over the hallway and a section of the arched roof over the Grand Hall had caved in due to the failure of the structural supports. Einar considered the size of the opening in the roof and wondered if Eerika was going to make an attempt to fly into the Great Hall and somehow follow it around with the Tisht soldiers beneath them. The concept was tempting as such a move could shake off the Schwan fighters, but her unknown skill as a pilot, while impressive initially, gave him grave concerns. Eerika slammed the thrusters to maximum power accelerating the craft to top speed. Even if they were able to magically fit in the opening, with their speed a crash was imminent. The approach to the opening in the roof was less than optimal. Einar realized that they were not in position to make a clean pass, “We’re not going…” The Imil turned upward. The g-force compressed Einar’s body into the seat and they were looking up as the craft made a large arch in the sky. The Imil completed the loop but had not shaken off the Schwan fighters.
The Imil came out of the roll, Eerika throttled back and aimed for the gash in the roof. Einar knew for certain that her goal was to pass through this time. He started to express his objection but realized that it was too late. They were upon it as they came out of the loop. The forward momentum would cause them to crash regardless if they passed through the tight opening. The jagged opening tapered downward and was not as clean as he would have liked. They would need to enter at an angular position to pass. He had no option but to have confidence in Eerika to make it, despite being fueled by suicide, desperation, or overconfidence. He considered an override of the controls, but the craft plunged into the opening. At the exact second she needed to, Eerika jerked the nose of the Imil to the right and shut down the thrusters. The maneuver greatly reduced the area required for entry. The Imil slid sideways and fell through the opening and into the Grand Hall in the location where the Tisht troops were still attempting to remove the debris field blocking the entry of the hallway. As the craft dropped below the hall ceiling, the Imil lunged forward as Eerika engaged the thrusters sending them forward just before crashing to the tile floor.
From the monitor, Einar could see that about fifteen of the Tisht troops were engulfed in flames from the Imil’s thrusters. They ran aimlessly from the rubble desperate to extinguish themselves. Not willing to be outdone, one of the Schwan fighters pursuing them attempted the same maneuver and crashed into one of the panels in the ceiling sending tons of new debris into the hallway. Tisht soldiers running to the aid of the burning Redum were crushed.
Einar turned his attention back to the assault as more troops entered the hallway and for the first time, he was able to get a good look at their uniforms. He manned the lasers and began to return fire. The larger automatic weapons of the Imil cut the soldiers down as Eerika guided the Imil through the radius of the Grand Hall.
“Redum soldiers. While I have never seen them in purple uniforms, I do recognize the symbol on the shoulder. It looks like a planet with a knife through the center and blood is dripping from the tip of the blade penetrating the bottom. Kind of morbid. In Onsan, that is a symbol of death that is stamped on everyone who is sentenced to die. They are given an option, fight or be executed. While I am certain that most are heartless killers, these creatures are hardly worthy of being called soldiers. They are very poorly trained and are more or less a suicide squad. But they can be merciless killers, as you can see.”
After completing the radius, they were back at the entry point. The crash of the Schwan fighter had nearly doubled the size of the opening in the roof and the debris crushed the remnant soldiers that were not scorched by the Imil’s thrusters. The Imil shot out of the opening and Eerika quickly turned the craft down and to her port hugging the outer wall of the Grand Hallway using the building for cover.
After rounding the structure, they came upon the Schwan fighter as it hovered low and to the right of the opening waiting for them to exit. Eerika’s maneuver to stay tight to the building’s walls allowed them to remain invisible to the Tisht. Now they were the hunters. Einar wasted no time firing off several shots that struck the fighter’s thrusters. The craft instantly gave in to Aigi’s gravitational pull and crashed into a tall oval shaped building that was next to the council’s headquarters. An explosion ensued, and flames quickly reached out to the sky nearly striking the Imil.
Cautiously, Eerika nosed the craft upward and hovered over the structure rotating three-hundred and sixty degrees. The light cast by the red star that Aigi orbited distorted colors and made the low-lying areas impossible to scan without the aid of radar. They visually searched the area above the purple vegetation for more incoming Schwan fighters and saw nothing approaching them. The radar screen revealed no known threats in the dark shadows of the great trees and buildings. Eerika applied the thrusters and aimed for the location of the transport.
“Do you think the transport was attacked?” she asked while nosing the craft upward. Einar did not respond. Passing through the atmosphere had only taken several minutes. The anxiety of the unknown fate of the transport made it seem like an eternity. The darkness of deep space was before them. The transport was not visible and no longer seemed to be in the location indicated by the Imil’s guidance system.
�
��Where is it?” he asked.
“It should be right in front of us.”
Einar punched a red button and commanded the computer to search the area for any signs of the transport. “I wonder if they have already made the jump,” he asked knowing that it was not possible.
“Do you think they could have fought off three Schwan fighters, loaded everyone onto the transport, and gotten in position to even enter celerity that quickly?” Eerika asked.
“Highly unlikely. Looks like we have a hit on something here. It is actually moving slowly away from us on the other side of Aigi,” Einar noted intently.
“That would be in the wrong direction. How can that be them?” Eerika asked somewhat perplexed but fearful of the answer.
“Running for their lives. Who knows? Let’s go check it out.”
The three Schwan fighters that had continued on course in the direction of the transport had not reentered the atmosphere and were yet to be accounted for. Eerika opted not to rely on the guidance system as it made them vulnerable. If they were attacked, the fraction of a second it took to switch back to manual control could be all the advantage the Tisht needed to get off a lethal shot. She engaged the thrusters and aimed the craft in the direction of the marker on the screen staying just out of orbit.
From above, Aigi looked like a dark desolate planet. On the horizon, the atmosphere gave the illusion of being on fire, while the lakes and oceans looked like black masses leading to a hellish void. Einar considered it to be one of the most unattractive and foreboding planets in all the star systems. Why it was ever selected to be the headquarters of the Universal Council, he could never understand.
Aigi had its own problems to contend with. It was one of only a handful of planets where the nations had willingly adopted open border policies and a single governing body that ruled over all the citizenry. Over time each generation had been increasingly influenced by collectivist precepts like children consuming candy. After a period of time less than a year on Aigi, the reality of the utopian lie came to fruition. The government seized assets and took over control of corporations and the major sectors of the economies. The end result of what they had been duped into believing resulted in exorbitant and stifling taxation, universal poverty for those governed, and the evisceration of all rights. This had ultimately led them to the brink of civil war. The sweet candy they had been fed became akin to poison. Unbridled corruption had become the new norm. The one-world government had not delivered on their promises and in a move to solidify their hold on their world, policies were enacted that resulted in increasing oppression and the expansion of the police state. The nations of Aigi had found themselves slipping into a totalitarian regime that now controlled every aspect of the lives of the citizens. Freedom had turned into slavery and was leading to rebellion. It was a planet on the verge of a war for liberty, which had been voluntarily surrendered and would require the shedding of blood to reacquire.
Coming around Aigi as if escaping the false atmospheric flames, the nose of the transport became visible. It moved quickly toward them as it followed Aigi’s orbit. “I’m so glad to see you,” Eerika said.
“Hold on. Something’s not right. Where did the three Schwan fighters go? Why is the transport orbiting Aigi instead of making a run for it? Get ready to get us out of here,” Einar warned.
Gradually, the bridge of the transport moved toward the atmosphere as the large structure started to roll. The transport initially appeared to be in a controlled flight pattern, but in reality, it wasn’t being piloted at all. The profile slowly became visible as the nose continued to move upward. Eerika gasped when she realized that more than half of the transport was missing. Debris from the once large spacecraft trailed behind it. Piece by piece was being sucked back into the atmosphere by Aigi’s gravitational pull. Eerika tapped the camera and zoomed into the windows of the bridge. She moved her finger back and forth across the screen looking for any signs of life. On the far right side of the bridge, she could see the remains of the captain slumped over a table.
From behind the section of the transport, the three Schwan fighters appeared. Einar was prepared and began to fire upon them. Eerika quickly brushed off the emotional distress of losing so many of the people she had come to know and respect. It was not a time to mourn and she throttled the Imil and flew in a defensive formation making them a difficult target to hit as they headed directly toward the Schwan fighters. The three broke formation and spread out in an attempt to surround their target. Einar’s shot took out the center fighter and the craft fell into the atmosphere and was quickly engulfed in flames.
The craft barrel rolled between the two Schwan fighters and entered the debris field behind the lifeless transport. As a result of the transport’s slow roll, the bridge was coming into view once again. “Stop. Point up toward the transport,” Einar said.
“You want to stop in the open?”
“Yes, let them reverse their position and pursue us. We can’t let this large section of the transport fall back into the atmosphere. We can take care of two problems at one time. Do you see the square panel just below the bridge? That is where the telenium is loaded and stored. Let them attempt to make a pass.”
A red burst of laser passed above the Imil as the Schwan fighters were once again pursuing them and were approaching the remnants of the transport from the sides. “If you miss, we are as good as dead,” she said while shaking her head.
“We don’t exactly have any place to hide out here. We have to do something, or we are dead anyway.” Einar focused on the target and attempted to judge the speed of the Schwan fighters with the movement of the transport as it spun slowly around. The alarm in his mind went off demanding that he take the shot. Einar fired off several rounds. The first struck just above the compartment with no result. The second and third shots damaged the thick insulated door that was designed to protect the compartment from such an attack. In the upper corner of the door of the impacted metal, was an opening that would possibly allow entry of a fourth round. He switched to plasma and fired, “Get us out of here! Now!” Einar yelled.
At the sight of the streaking bluish ball, the two Schwan fighters attempted to turn away and make a run for it as if they knew what was about to happen. The plasma charge melted the metal and made its way through the opening. Just as Eerika dipped the nose of the Imil and was engaging the thrusters, the transport exploded. The percussion caught the Imil before it could turn and get away sending them speeding end over end toward deep space. Disorientation swept over Eerika and she struggled to regain control of the craft. Everything had become a blur. She pulled the lever back and jammed the thrusters forward attempting to pull the Imil out of its roll. As she looked from the cockpit, the lights of the universe slowly became distinguishable as the craft slowed down and came under control.
In the midst of the chaos, they were not able to tell the fate of the Schwan fighters. Eerika attempted to spin the Imil around to the port and the spacecraft refused. “We have limited control. We can’t turn port at all.” She made a large arching turn to the right. The debris field came into view. It appeared that at least one of the Schwan fighters had suffered catastrophic damage and no longer posed a threat. Due to the proximity of the second fighter to the explosion, Einar assumed that it received similar damages.
“What were you thinking!” Eerika yelled, “are you suicidal?”
“It worked, didn’t it? Don’t argue with the results,” Einar replied.
“You almost killed us. Now, we're out here with a damaged Imil that only wants to turn starboard.” Flashing lights accompanied by a beeping sound filled the cockpit. Eerika’s heart fell into her stomach, “We have company. We have limited control; we need to get out of here.”
“How much stick do we have left?” Einar asked referring to the amount of available fuel.
“Less than a third. How far will that take us?” Eerika asked aloud while running calculations in her mind.
Einar was puzzled
by the question, “You mean to tell me that you don’t know? How is that?”
“I’ve never flown one of these. We trained on a Stie back at home. Which are smaller, but for some reason a lot heavier than the Imil and much more difficult to control. I’m sure that they use a lot more fuel.”
“They earned the name because they fall out of the air like rocks. One of the worst machines ever built. I can’t believe they let you fly one of those. We would be pushing it to try and make it to Econ from here. We can’t just float around in space,” Einar said unintentionally dialing up the pressure.
“With the lack of control, I am hesitant about making the jump to celerity. The craft isn’t fully functional. Just a hair off can mean deep space with limited fuel,” she snapped back.
“Well, we’re about to have company. Looks like five unidentified craft heading this way. Friend or foe…I don’t know. About to exit the atmosphere. Fight or flight?”
“We are in no condition to fight,” Eerika acknowledged.
“Let’s make the jump but keep an eye on the stick. Let’s just get far enough away from here to buy some time, but we need to have enough fuel to return,” Einar said calmly.
“I don’t know about this, I am so ready to get out of this thing,” Eerika said.
“Out of this situation? Yes, me too. So, let’s go,” Einar said
“What if they are friendlies and we run into outer space for nothing?” Eerika asked stonewalling.
Universal Code Page 21
