“A deal?” Art was insulted by the arrogance of Asger and any proposition he would offer.
“I have given you some pretty valuable information and a very desired war criminal already. I think I should get something out of this. I want whatever baseless charges that you have against me dropped,” he stared Art reading his face which still exuded anger.
“You know that I can’t do that. You will have the opportunity to prove or try to get a jury to believe whatever lie you have concocted,” Art said with a tinge of anger in his voice.
“How about I fly out of here then? I have secured a lot of information for my defense, let me retrieve it and then I will return to clear my name,” his tone was solemn and calm.
“Can’t do that either. I doubt that you have anything that valuable. If you had, you should have sent it to me long ago,” Art said.
“Billions…perhaps trillions will die then. Go ahead and lock me up and their blood will be on your hands,” Asger said holing out his hands.
Art looked at him, “I can promise to seek leniency on you. We will take into consideration the value of the information you have and what you have done here today.”
“The Kasadu, on her orders, has an armada heading to Earth. They plan to ‘send a message’ to Viennin and the Baraza Zima by killing a third of the population. It will be a blood bath. Whoever is left alive will fear anyone who is ‘alien’ to them. They will see us…everyone as a threat and will trust no one.”
Art looked at Asger for a second, “You realize that bringing her here makes us a target? We usually keep high profile criminals in strategically placed facilities for any number of reasons. Despite who she is and what she has done, she has rights, oddly enough, that are afforded to her by the Universal Code. There may be an attempt to recover her,” Art paused for a second, “I assume your crew knows that you have her?”
“Yes. Apparently, someone tried to reach out to the Kasadu shortly after she was captured. Two Imil took off when I was leaving. I assume the transport was redirected or destroyed after I left. I am not sure of the status of any of the crew.”
“You are responsible for the deaths of those men,” Art said.
“What was I supposed to do? Just watch as she flew by? What about the untold deaths on Earth…and here?” he argued.
“Here?” Art asked reluctantly.
“They are also sending a fleet here,” he said while turning to face Ningal.
“I have to notify the President. You will have to go into custody to be debriefed. The council will decide what to do with you afterward. I hope you have a compelling story and that you do have a mountain of favorable evidence…somewhere. I am sure they will track you here and that will not help,” Art said while considering the validity of an impending attack.
Pointing at Ningal, “This Tisht right here is responsible for killing twenty…thirty or more Senators of Viennin and their staff. On her orders, the Jamhuri delegation was wiped out. My question is why has there been no counteroffensive? Have we become a nation of cowards?” Asger snapped back. “Always doing things the right way, the SINSTER way, gets us nowhere!”
Without warning, Asger raised his sidearm and pointed toward Art. Before he could defend himself, the weapon fired, and a blue laser cut through the darkness and passed to his right. Art was taken back by the sudden movement of the renegade agent but realized that he had not been struck by the round. A second shot was fired. Art turned to see a Roo’kall lying on the floor. A second and third appeared out of thin air with their weapons drawn. Art moved out of the room when shots flew over his shoulder. The rounds burned through the metal as he passed the door. Asger took position on the side of the doorway and continued to fire into the room while being careful not to strike the prisoner. In the hallway, Art opened a gun closet and retrieved a PX and set the charge for short range. He raised the weapon and noticed that more Roo’kall were appearing in the hallway. He fired off several rounds that found their mark.
The Stur Craft began to power up. It was evident that someone was on the bridge preparing the craft for take-off. Art had only seconds to make a decision, run off before being taken, or go to the bridge and take down the Roo’kall. He quickly settled on the latter and ran for the door. Art could feel the craft increase its thrust as it began to lift. He slapped the door control and the slab of metal did not respond. He tapped it again only to be ignored by the control. Art realized that it had been disabled from inside the bridge. He stepped back and set the PX on max power and fired a plasma round at a downward angle into the door. It quickly burned a twelve-inch diameter hole through the metal and plunged into the floor where it burned out. He fired a second and third round at the same angle. The Stur Craft was airborne and simply shooting whoever was on the bridge would not be possible. He needed to be able to control the craft. There was no option but to get into the room.
Art could hear Asger bellow out in pain. He assumed that he had been struck. From one of the holes, he saw the end of a firearm just as a round blasted from the barrel and headed toward him. He dove and rolled, slamming into a wall. The cold metal didn’t give and the full impact was felt in his shoulder. He fired toward the hole and the plasma round burned a fourth oblong hole. Art moved against the wall by the door to make himself a difficult target. He changed the setting on the PX back to short range. Desperate to reach him, the perpetrator stuck the laser pistol out of the hole and shot blindly in multiple directions. Looking beyond the weapon, the Director noticed a royal blue sleeve that was similar to the uniforms worn by some of the ranking SINSTER officers. The hand that controlled it was not gray like that of the Roo’kall…it looked Viennin. He was puzzled.
Art felt the g-force of the Stur Craft as it darted out of the hanger and through the waterfall. He knew it was only seconds before they would be out of the atmosphere where an entire fleet could be waiting to receive them. Several rounds popped off and struck near him before he returned fire. A round struck the pistol causing an explosion that damaged the hand that wielded it. Art leapt up and ran for the hole and fired several shots before looking through the burned openings made by the plasma rounds. He didn’t see anyone on the bridge.
Art heard someone approach from behind and turned to fire. Asger ran toward him and slammed into the wall as the craft seemed to take a sudden nosedive, “Well, now that we are moving, the Roo’kall will not be a problem. They don’t have the ability to transport into moving vessels. The ones here are all dead,” Asger said while attempting to regain his breath. Blood trickled from his left arm, the result of a round that skimmed off his forearm.
Asger retrieved a small device from his pocket and pressed the button. The door slid open until it jammed due to the abnormality caused by the cooling of the once liquified metal on the perimeter of one of the holes. They quickly moved in and Asger ran for the controls.
Art stepped in and aimed the PX at the person in the blue uniform that was shooting at him and was mortified by what he saw. Lying on the floor grabbing her wounded hand was Salvana. Despite the pain, she gave him a look that reminded him of the one he had received from Ningal. The betrayal reverberated throughout his core and the thought of it nearly made him sick. He once trusted and confided in Salvana more than any person he had ever worked or served with. She was given clearance for all top-secret meetings and access to materials and here she was aiding their enemy. He became consumed by the thought of all the information she was privy to. How much of it made its way to the Kasadu? How deep did it run? How much of the information shared by him, President Safwar, the information SINSTER had acquired, and the case that was built against the Kasadu was compromised because of this spy? His conversations with members of the Department of Defense the details of which were certainly known by their enemies now.
It wasn’t until Asger fired off a round that Art looked away from Salvana. He was so taken by the revelation of her betrayal, for being duped, that he had not heard a word Asger was saying. “I have to disable
the autopilot. She set the coordinates and locked us out of the system.”
“Where too?” Art asked looking up and realizing they were already out of the gravitational pull of Econ. He looked as the satellites and space debris orbited the planet. Decades had passed since the last time he was in space. The thrill, if it truly was ever that, had long since faded since being a young military pilot and he lost any desire to see it ever again.
“It seems into the middle of nowhere,” Asger replied.
The round penetrated the panel, blowing off the transparent plate that was covering it exposing the heart of the ship’s electronic control. Asger reached down and forcibly removed a small black chip and tossed it aside. Immediately the tracking system disabled and the craft slowed down.
Asger reached under the captain’s chair and pulled out a pistol. He walked across the bridge. Art wondered what he was up too and nearly raised his weapon. Without an explanation or a warning, Asger pointed it at Salvana and pulled the trigger before Art could stop him. The percussion of the round reverberated. Art turned back to Salvana as a dart sank into her neck.
“This is not who you think it is,” Asger said confidently, “this will put her, or whatever it is in a comatose state.” Salvana stopped moving and moaning as she slipped into unconsciousness. “When the brain is shut down, shapeshifters cannot maintain their foreign state. The body’s system goes into preservation or healing mode and it is impossible to maintain their false identity.”
He looked on as the features began to change. The portions of the face that had been manipulated near the cheekbones, brow, and jawline faded. The tan color of the skin turned to gray and became covered in purple veins that ran across the face and neck like a spider’s web. “He is from Tavoy. Total fraud. Not even female,” Asger said.
Art wondered how long he had been fooled. How long had the Tavisian played the role of Salvana? Was there a real Viennin named Salvana that was perhaps forcibly taken and replaced with the shapeshifter? Did he put his faith in someone who was a complete fraud? Either way, he couldn’t imagine the sensitive information the Kasadu was able to access. Salvana had security clearance for even the most sensitive documents, meetings, and information.
The Stur Craft shook as there was an explosion just off the port. Asger ran back to the captain’s seat, “We have company. About twenty Schwan fighters just came out of celerity. More could be behind them. He fired several rounds while sending the craft in a one-hundred- and eighty-degree spin and accelerated towards the planet’s atmosphere, “I guess they don’t realize that if they kill us, they kill their Nam-nim.”
Art moved to the co-pilot’s seat and selected the rear weapons command on the dator. A prompt to enter a code for authorization of the rear weapons came on the screen, “What is the sequence?” Art yelled at Asger.
Asger hesitated and realized that by giving up the code, his ability to hide or block access to information, even in the hidden external memory, would be impossible. Resetting it would be unlikely to happen before being taken into custody. But if he didn’t give it up, they may not survive the advance of the Tisht’s Ummanate Space Force. He reluctantly yelled out, “Sjaks, fem, atta, fyra, niu, tri.”
Art entered the sequence. The familiar hum of the dator indicated it had powered up the rear guns. He laid down a blanket of fire as the Stur Craft dove back into the atmosphere but immediately pulled back out. Art thought of this as a particularly odd move, “What are you doing?”
Asger felt vulnerable and realized he needed to find a way to disable access to the information in the memory banks on the craft. While none of it was without reason, some of the information may have been hard to explain. He was going to be under enough scrutiny already, he didn’t want to hand over any additional information that may come off as incriminating. Why he had used the same sequence on the weaponry suddenly seemed extremely foolish and amateurish. The current circumstance was not something anyone could have planned for. He never considered the possibility of being forcibly taken on his own ship with the director of SINSTER? Nothing was going as he planned or as he hoped. Going to Guol, or ‘the yellow moon’ as referred to by the people of Viennin, seemed to be a way to buy himself some time to figure out what to do, granted they survived the attack by the Ummanate. “Guol seems like a better place to fight them off.”
“We are right over the Dalen!” Art yelled. “It’s a barren desert. We…you have trained there. We know the terrain, that will be to our advantage. We can get support quicker! We can’t hold twenty Schwan fighters off in this Stur Craft.”
One of the rounds hit its mark and the Schwan exploded sending a nearly blinding flash of light through the display. The percussion and debris hit a second fighter that was too close and seemed to disable the pilot’s ability to control it. The fighter began to spin in tight circles away from the planet toward deep space.
“When we trained it wasn’t in a Stur Craft. We were in Imil’s—”
“Yes, they are lighter and faster. What are we going to do on Guol? Fly from crater to crater? There’s no structure to hide or maneuver—” the rear of the Stur Craft jolted slightly left as a round from the Schwan exploded.
“I don’t think they realize that we have the Nam-nim.” From the other side of Guol, a line of Schwan moved in front of them, “Got to be fifty more of them,” Asger said as he reduced the thrusters and stopped the forward momentum. “Okay, maybe they do.”
“At this point, they will kill us regardless of what we do. Let’s charge them. They will have to kill her to stop us,” Art said.
“Suicide maneuver,” he paused for a brief second and focused on the poor outcome of his decision to run to the moon.
Laser rounds erupted from beneath the Stur Craft and the Schwan began to scatter. A swarm of Imil fighters engaged and the Ummanate Space Force immediately scattered and retaliated. Art nearly fired off a round, but the speed of the Imil’s and the vast number of them moving around the craft gave him a concern of a friendly fire incident. He withdrew his hands in order to prevent an accidental discharge. One by one the Schwan exploded into tiny fragments overwhelmed by the number, speed, and agility of the Viennin forces.
“We need to get our guest to a more secure location,” Art said.
“Where would that be?”
“Sveka!” He replied.
“One minute you are talking about her rights and now you want to take her to a military prison?” Asger snapped back.
“It is the most secure facility. I don’t even know why I am discussing this with you!” Art said.
“Director Eirar,” a voice came in over the speaker.
“This is Eirar.”
“Sir, this is Einar Akre. We will escort you back to the Alum base.”
Just when it seemed that his circumstance was incapable of degrading any further, it was the sound of Einar Akre’s voice that assured him that it had much further to descend before bottoming out. He left him to die and surely this testimony would not add to his cause in a positive manner. Einar had somehow survived the incident on RA and would certainly not be a favorable witness. Four Imil moved in formation and dove into the atmosphere. Asger was left with no choice but to follow. In minutes they were slowing down as three of the Imil lifted off and headed in the direction where the Space Force fighters were based. One continued moving forward and slid under the cascading water touching down in the hanger. There was no doubt that it was piloted by Einar Akre.
As soon as the two spacecraft touched down, Einar jumped out of the cockpit and tossed his helmet onto the floor in front of the Stur Craft sending it rolling across the hanger. Asger knew what was coming and understood that Einar was justified in his anger. Nevertheless, he had no problem facing him as it was a long time coming. Asger strode down the ramp and when he was two-thirds of the way, without saying a word, Einar ran at him and took the first swing. Asger pulled his head back just enough to miss the blow but felt the breeze of the passing fist. He brought a left cr
oss into the center of Einar’s face on the right side of his nose just as Einar’s second punch connected creating a cut over the left eye. Blood poured out of the cut and into his eye. Asger felt the bridge of Einar’s nose crack under his fist. Both men fell from the ramp and were forced apart by the impact of the ground. Einar was on his feet first and started to lunge, but was met by Art.
“What is the meaning of this!” he yelled.
“It’s okay Director. I had that coming,” Asger said, “a little payback.”
Einar noticed the intense pain and the blood trickling from his nose as it ran over his lips. “Payback! Payback!” he yelled as blood flew like spittle with every word.
Cyperien grabbed Asger, “Come on man. Innocent until proven guilty!”
“He left us to die on RA. You knew what the psycho pharaoh was going to do! They were going to rape her. He sentenced me to be eaten by those stupid little green demons and you just walked away,” Einar said pointing as he spoke. He was unable to contain his anger and ran through Cyperien’s grasp.
Eerika stepped into his view. As if hitting an invisible wall, he stopped and looked at her and then back at Asger. She placed her hand on his arm, “It’s not worth it. We are alive. Nothing happened to me. We made it. Let’s just let them handle it.”
Several SINSTER agents intervened. Art grabbed Cyperien and pulled him to the side, “I didn’t realize you were back.”
“When we came out of celerity, we were notified of the attack. So, we immediately engaged.”
“The Nam-nim is in there. That is why they risked an attack. We have her. Assemble a team. We need to transport her to Sveka immediately.”
“Sir, I haven’t been debriefed yet.”
“This place was full of Roo’kall a little while ago. I don’t want to sit around waiting for them to return. Get a team together, get her on a transport, and get her to Sveka. She has ordered the Kasadu to send a fleet here,” he paused and looked briefly at the ground, “and to Earth. They plan on sending a message to the Council. What is left of it anyway?”
Universal Code Page 54
