Command Decision

by S. E. Smith

  “We… You were part of the Gallant; one of the original knights?” Josh asked in surprise.

  Jemar released a deep sigh and nodded. “Yes, until the death of my wife,” he murmured. “I returned to the valley and the vineyards that belonged to my family. I am too old and the Gallant needs younger men to fight against the Legion’s forces.”

  *.*.*

  Later that evening, Josh stood outside of the house in a small garden. He stared up at the moons. It felt strange, yet natural to see three of them. One was nearly full, while the other two were in different stages based on their distance from the planet. In the back of his mind, he was curious about the geological makeup of Tesla Terra. Something told him it was larger than the Earth.

  He turned when he heard soft footsteps behind him. His eyes widened when he saw not only Jemar, but Cassa and Jesup walking toward him. Jemar carried a long box in his left hand.

  “If you are going to be in our world, Joshua Manson, then it is important that you know how to defend yourself,” Jemar stated, placing the long box on the stone planter and opening it. “I have trained all of my children. Now, I will train you.”

  Josh frowned when he saw four long staffs in the box. Each had an intricate design etched into it. His hand automatically reached out when Jemar held one out to him. He was surprised by how light the staff was considering it looked like it was solid metal.

  “The staffs have been in our family for centuries. They were carried by the Knights of the Gallant Order. Each staff was made for a specific family and entrusted to them to be used to serve and protect those less fortunate. There were originally five brothers in the de Rola family that carried them. I have kept the others safe, teaching my own children how to use them,” Jemar explained, gently lifting one of the staffs up out of the case and turning toward him.

  Josh took a step back when the staff in Jemar’s hand suddenly expanded. On each end were two bright, round red orbs that looked as if they contained a fire storm of electricity inside them. He watched intently as Jemar moved with a grace that belied his advanced years. The old man reminded him of the Masters in the old Chinese films he used to watch as a kid.

  He didn’t take his eyes off of Jemar as he swung the staff. Instead of expressing a loud shout like they did in the movies, Jemar breathed out in long breaths as he thrust. Josh had watched so many martial arts movies as a kid that his father had actually enrolled him in a class down at the local youth center. He had managed to make it to a first degree black belt before girls and cars replaced his interest. He had continued to practice, more out of the enjoyment of the movements than for any other reason. Still, it was years since he had been in any of the competitions and none of them had ever held the moves that Jemar was doing.

  A few minutes later, Jemar turned to Josh and retracted the staff. Josh stared into the old man’s eyes, seeing a quiet question in them, as if he was asking Josh if he would accept not only the staff, but the responsibility that came with it. Josh glanced down at the beautifully crafted weapon in his hand.

  He carefully ran his fingers over the staff, memorizing the feel of it. He felt the small indention where the release was and pressed it. Each end of the staff slid out. He began to slowly twirl the staff, relying on instinct and years of practice to guide him. Instead of mimicking Jemar, Josh moved in graceful sync with the katas from his youth. He discovered as he moved that the position of his hand on the staff controlled the orbs at the ends of it.

  After several minutes, he straightened and bowed to Jemar, holding out the now retracted staff. His gaze remained locked with Jemar’s inquisitive one. He was surprised when instead of taking the weapon from him, Jemar closed his fingers around Josh’s and pressed them to the staff.

  “On your world, you were a warrior,” Jemar murmured with curiously satisfied insight. Josh hesitated for a moment before he gave a brief nod. The satisfied smile on Jemar’s lips confused Josh for a moment. His gaze slipped back to where Cassa and Jesup stood in silence. He stepped back when Jemar turned and reached for the other staffs. “Now, my daughter will show you how to use it correctly.”

  Josh’s gaze flashed to Cassa. A sense of unease swept through him when she moved and lengthened the staff. He noticed that the ends of her staff were glowing green. Stepping to the side, he gave her a brief bow just before their staffs clashed together with a surprising force that told him that Cassa knew what she was doing.

  Chapter 11

  “Sir, the last of the debris has been retrieved,” one of the lower officers aboard the Legion Battle Cruiser stated.

  General Roan Landais glanced up from the report he was studying. An intense frown creased his brow at the interruption. He rose from his desk and stepped around it, walking over to the large window so he could stare out at the service ships.

  “You are sure it is from the same spaceship?” He asked in a harsh tone.

  “Yes, sir. We’ve received information that five signals were intercepted moving away from the debris,” the man stated.

  “Have any of the signals been traced yet?” Roan asked, continuing to stare out the window.

  “One was reported in the region of Tesla Terra,” the man replied.

  Roan was silent for several seconds before he raised his hand in dismissal. Once the door shut behind him, he continued staring out the window. He folded his hands behind him, deep in thought.

  Turning, he walked back to his desk and sat down. With a flick of his hand, he accessed the secure communication channel to the Director. His gaze flickered to the report next to him.

  “What have you found?” Lord Andronikos demanded.

  “The last of the pieces have been found,” Roan responded calmly. “I have our engineers recreating the ship, but it looks foreign. There is additional debris mixed with it that appears to match the information you gave me. Unfortunately, there is very little of it that survived whatever happened.”

  “And the signals that were intercepted?” Andronikos asked, sitting back in his seat and making a temple of his fingers as he stared back at Roan.

  Roan kept his expression blank. It was one of the many skills he had learned early in his career; keep all thoughts and feelings under control at all times. He should have known that the Director would have been informed of the unusual signals that had been detected moving away from the area.

  “One was intercepted in the region of Tesla Terra,” Roan responded, repeating the information he had just learned from the other officer. It was obvious that there was a spy on board his Battle Cruiser, something that he would not tolerate. While there was little he could do about it, he would discover who it was and make sure he limited what the person had access to. “Do you wish an investigation?”

  Andronikos was silent for a moment before he shook his head. “No, continue to search for the rest of the signals. I want to know where that ship came from and who was on it. Keep me informed.”

  “Yes, Lord Andronikos,” Roan said with a bow of his head.

  Roan ended the call and turned back to the report he was studying. He glanced at the symbols on one of the pieces of debris. The strange design – Gliese 581 – looked as if it was some type of writing. It was a language he wasn’t familiar with and there were no known symbols in the database that matched it. He glanced at the console when it pinged.

  “Report,” Roan ordered.

  “Sir, we have traced another signal,” the communications officer reported.

  “Plot a course,” Roan ordered as he ended the link and rose out of his chair.

  When the report was initially sent to Lord Ankronikos, the director had been adamant that Roan oversaw the investigation. Since the recovery of the first pieces, the leader of the Legion had become more demanding and insisted that any findings be immediately reported to him. Roan felt that there was more to the strange ship than he had been briefed on. Striding toward the door of his office, he decided it was time that he personally inspected the new pieces of the unusual spac
eship.

  *.*.*

  Josh wiped the sweat from his brow and pulled loose the flask of water attached to his side. He grimaced when he felt the muscles in his arms protest. Between the work in the vineyard and the training sessions in the evenings, he was discovering muscles he hadn’t used since leaving Earth.

  He took a deep swig of the refreshing liquid before lowering it and wiping a hand across his mouth.

  His gaze moved over the large field. He could see Cassa arguing with one of the robots. She was pointing down the row and shaking her finger at it. Amusement swept through him.

  During the past couple of weeks, he was slowly discovering more about the unusual, but beautiful alien woman. Cassa was an enigma. She held an air of quiet reserve about her, but there was also an edginess that he found captivating. He couldn’t quite figure her out. That was something that had never happened before.

  A low chuckle escaped him when she threw her hands up in the air after the small robot turned and headed down the row. The smile froze on his lips when she turned toward him, as if aware that he was watching what was going on. Her lips twisted in response to his observation of her argument.

  His gaze followed her as she moved between the rows towards him. Surprise swept through him when he felt a heat building inside him that had nothing to do with the work he was doing. A silent curse escaped him when he realized his body was definitely not immune to Cassa either. He could never remember being this distracted before. She had been in his thoughts, and his dreams, constantly since the first time he saw her through the glass of the emergency pod.

  “The robot is malfunctioning,” she said with a frustrated sigh. “That is the third time this week. We are already shorthanded.”

  “Would you like me to take a look at it?” Josh asked, not sure that he could do much, but feeling like he needed to at least offer.

  Cassa shook her head. “No, I sent it back to the house. Jesup can take a look at it. He has a knack for repairing them,” she murmured, staring up at him with a sudden look of confusion.

  Josh took a step closer to her, as if pulled by an invisible string. They were alone in the far fields, working with the V2 Harvest robots while Jesup, Jemar, and a handful of the other workers from the nearby village worked near the processing center closer to the house.

  “Cassa,” Josh murmured, lifting his hand to brush a strand of her loose hair back from her cheek. His hand continued to slide along her jaw to draw her closer. “I’m going to kiss you.”

  Her eyes widened and her lips parted on a slight breath of surprise. Josh didn’t wait. Bending forward, he captured her lips in a kiss that both surprised and shocked him. A soft groan escaped him and he deepened the kiss when she stepped closer to him and raised her hands to rest them on his shoulders.

  The jolt he felt at their first touch shook him. That had definitely never happened before between him and a woman. While it fascinated him, it also raised a warning flag that this could be dangerous. He ignored it and pushed down his reservations even as he pulled her closer.

  Several long seconds later, he pulled back. He drew in a deep breath and stared down into her eyes. He saw confusion mixed with desire.

  “You are a very strange man, Joshua Manson,” Cassa whispered, blinking several times.

  “You have no idea,” Josh muttered, turning his head when a dark shadow caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. “Fire!”

  Cassa’s gaze turned to follow where he was staring. Alarm flashed across her face. He released her when she pulled back.

  “Legion troops,” she whispered in a shaken voice. “Father! Jesup!”

  Josh cursed when he saw several low flying ships coming toward them. The ground rocked as they fired on the vineyard, sending up waves of flames. Several of the V2 Harvest robots were caught in the blasts. He turned in time to see Cassa climbing on one of the land skids.

  “Cassa!” Josh yelled before cursing when several more blasts almost knocked him off his feet.

  He turned and ran toward his land skid. Jumping onto it, he thumbed the control and turned it around. He shot down the row, trying to catch Cassa.

  “Son-of-a-…,” Josh’s curse faded as he weaved through the openings in the vines.

  The fields were ablaze. Thick, black smoke obscured the house. Leaning forward, he pressed the accelerator on the land skid down as far as it would go. He could see Cassa’s slender figure to the left of him. Turning the handles, he cut out onto the straight road leading back to the house just ahead of her.

  Sliding sideways, he blocked the road. Cassa pulled to a stop just inches from him. Josh swung off the land skid and rushed to Cassa. His arm wrapped around her waist just seconds before one of the airships broke through the thick smoke. He twisted and fell as it fired on the two vehicles.

  “No!” Cassa cried out as he covered her with his body when they exploded. “Father! Jesup!”

  “We can’t help them if we are dead,” Josh said in a grim voice. “Come on!”

  Josh rolled to his feet, pulling Cassa up beside him. They ran down the long row. Fire licked at the vines barely ten feet from them, forcing them to run flat out. He kept his hand wrapped tightly around hers as they practically flew over the uneven ground.

  At the far end was the first of a series of repair-charging and storage buildings. He pulled her behind him and flattened her against the side of it. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw that the two airships were moving over the far fields where they had been a short while ago.

  Turning his head back to Cassa, he saw the angry tears glittering in her eyes. He could feel her trembling, but she stared back at him with determination. His jaw clenched and he pulled his gaze away from her.

  “We have to get to the house. Do you know if there are any weapons in any of the buildings?” He asked in a husky voice that held a thread of steel in it.

  “Yes. All of the repair-charging stations hold at least one blaster. It is necessary in case one of the fences goes down. Each land skid is also equipped with one. The next building is a repair-charging station,” she whispered. “Follow me.”

  Josh wanted to argue. Everything in him wanted to protect Cassa, but he knew she knew the location of things far better than he did and time was critical if they were going to reach Jemar, Jesup and the others. He gave her a sharp nod and stepped back.

  Josh ran slightly behind Cassa, scanning the area as he ran for the airships and any Legion soldiers. Cassa palmed the door to the next repair-charging station and hurried down the steps. Inside were a land skid and several V2 Harvest robots that were charging. He watched as she pulled open a cabinet. Turning, she tossed him one of the rifles similar to what he had discovered the first night of his arrival. Gripping it, he walked over to the land skid and opened the seat. Inside the compartment, there were a variety of curved blades used by the workers. He quickly removed several of them.

  “Take this,” Josh said, handing her a long, deadly looking blade.

  Cassa gripped it in her free hand. “There are six more buildings before we get to the house. At the rate the Legion airships are destroying things, we may not have much time,” she said, moving to a panel on the wall. “I’m going to send the V2 Harvest robots out just in case. I don’t want them destroyed if I can help them.”

  Josh heard the thickness in Cassa’s voice. He reached out with his free hand and brushed her cheek in support before turning away. She was right. The last thing they wanted to do was get caught inside one of the buildings. He watched as she opened the door to the repair-charging station and the little robots rolled out.

  “I hear one of the airships coming back this way,” Josh cautioned through gritted teeth. “Let’s move.”

  He stepped through the door, glancing around before looking up. Shouldering the rifle, he calmly aimed at the airship coming in low back over the fields. He waited, focusing on the right engine. He fired just as it did. He jerked back in surprise when both engines exploded at the same tim
e. The airship rocked before it plummeted to the ground, exploding in a massive fireball. Glancing to his right, he saw Cassa standing with her blaster pressed firmly against her shoulder.

  “Remind me never to make you mad,” he muttered, turning back around.

  “The same for you,” she replied, following him.

  Together, they ran between the buildings, only pausing when the other airship turned to investigate the one that had crashed. Josh waved his hand for Cassa to move to the next building. They were too close to the house to fire on the airship. Closing the distance to the repair-charging station he was living in, they peered around the edge of the building.

  “Sir, one of the airships has crashed,” a soldier was saying.

  “Find out what happened. Where is the person who was in the pod?” The Legion commander demanded, turning to Jemar and standing with his legs apart and his hands behind his back.

  “I do not know what you are talking about,” Jemar said in a tired voice. “We are simple people. You have destroyed the vineyard that has been in my family for centuries. The lives of the people in the valley depend on the income from the harvest for their survival.”

  “I want to know where the person that wore this is,” the commander demanded, lifting his hand and snapping his finger to one of the soldiers standing nearby.

  A silent curse went through Josh’s mind when he saw the clothing he wore under his space suit. He should have destroyed it. Watching, he inched closer.

  “I don’t know where that came from,” Jemar replied with a wave of his hand. “I have workers come and go from the spaceport. I do not keep up with them all, nor what they wear. I never saw any of the men wearing such clothing.”

  “He is telling the truth, sir,” one of the soldiers replied. “The scans are coming back clear.”

  The commander’s face darkened in anger. Josh breathed out a sigh of relief. Jemar must have known that he was being scanned. The old man was smart. He hadn’t lied. He didn’t know where the clothing came from because he didn’t know about Earth. With a few carefully crafted words, he had been completely honest in everything he said.