“Now, Saturn,” Liam yelled into his intercom while lying on his back huffing air.
Liam heard a clank as they detached, followed by the rumble of their engines. He got to his feet and dragged Nix up from his knees to a standing position. Together they ran through the curving passageway to the cockpit. Saturn sat in the pilot’s seat with her arm through the copper circle, maneuvering the ship. When they approached she turned her head and asked, “What the hell happened down there?”
The Garuda shook violently, toppling Liam and Nix to the floor. Saturn brought up the rear cameras and watched the Ansaran vessel explode, the fire being eaten by the vacuum of space as fast as it was being produced. Still, countless metal fragments were shot in all directions, some of them glancing off The Garuda’s hull.
Ju-Long stared at the image on his console, clearly excited by the blast.
“What’s so funny?” Saturn asked him.
“I was starting to think this mission would be boring.”
“So it was worth the trip after all?” Liam asked.
Ju-Long’s smile faded and he brought up a star chart, setting their course once again for Narra. He said insolently, “It depends on what we find on Narra. If that’s all the excitement I get I’d have been better off on Garuda.”
10
Two Hours Later – The Garuda’s Mess Hall
“I thought the Ansarans killed all of the Kraven on the surface,” Saturn said before taking a sip of her tea made from Nerva plant.
Liam swirled his finger through his bowl of broth, waiting for it to cool down enough to drink. Nix had been hard at work on some new recipes and Liam was still gun-shy from his strange concoctions. Most of the time they smelled far worse than they tasted, but his cooking ability outside of making Leguma was questionable.
He raised his head and regarded Saturn, who was immediately calmer after drinking her tea. She let out her signature black ponytail and her hair fell just past her shoulders. She ran her fingers through to take out the tangles. Her dark brown eyes were warm for once and a small smile crept up her lips like she just came out of a snowstorm and into the warmth of a fire.
Liam affirmed, “I don’t think we can trust anything the Ansarans tell us. I remember the face of that Kraven warlord anywhere. He took control after Crius; he calls the shots now.”
Nix crossed the room from the cabinets along the far wall with a mug in tow. When he sat down on his stool he reached to the center of the table and pulled the pot of Nerva tea off the heating element, filling his cup to the brim. “The question is, what are his plans?”
Nix and Saturn sat silently sipping their tea while Liam decided to test his broth. Liam raised the piping hot bowl to his lips and took a small slurp. The citrusy flavor was less repellent than the other dishes Nix had made in the last week, but was still far too strong to fully enjoy. He felt the roof of his mouth with his tongue. A small flap of skin hung down where the broth had burned him. Liam hated that feeling.
Liam gasped for cool air to fill his mouth, and then asked Nix, “Are the stories of the Nightstalkers consistent with what we saw on the Ansaran vessel?”
Nix nodded in silence. He’d been fairly quiet since they returned to the ship. What they’d seen proved the stories were right and Zega had his head in Garuda’s coarse sand. Now that he’d seen the truth for himself, there was no denying the implications. The Kraven were growing stronger.
Liam thought out loud, “So this new Kraven lord finds his way off Garuda, rallies his troops, kills Ragnar, and then rigs the ship to explode. What’s his next move?”
Saturn set her mug down on the table and used it to warm her hands. “He clearly wants revenge, but there’s a lot of ways he could go about exacting it.”
Nix raised his eyes from his cup and said, “I might have an idea.”
Liam and Saturn looked to Nix expectantly, to which he responded by finishing his mug of tea and staring off into space.
“During the war,” Nix continued, “The Kraven sought revenge for their race. They felt they’d been wronged millennia ago and wanted to take back Ansara. Obviously, their plan failed. Still, they managed to kill millions of Ansarans and Dinari alike in the process. The Kraven with the blue war paint seemed stronger than Crius, physically and from a leadership standpoint. The Kraven follow those who project power. It’s all they know or respect.”
Liam pushed his bowl of broth away. It would take a while for it to cool anyway. He looked to Nix and said, “Two months ago they attacked Garuda, now they’ve killed its former Caretaker. They don’t strike me as stupid.”
Nix shook his head. “Far from it. During the war the Nightstalkers were a small sect within the Kraven fleet, known especially for their viciousness and willingness to play by a different set of rules than the whole. The Nightstalkers are the vanguard of a much larger force. There’s been silence from the Kraven for generations, so there’s no way to know just how powerful they’ve become. It seems the Kraven want a war but this time they’re going about it differently.”
“How so?” Saturn asked.
“Crius was brazen like the Kraven of old. He rallied some ships and attacked Garuda Colony without much forethought. This new Kraven lord is different. He acts with caution, carefully planning his next move. Like a ghost, he’ll be hard to track.”
“It’s guerilla warfare,” Liam said.
“I do not know this phrase,” Nix replied.
“It means he’ll focus on small strikes, ones he knows he can win. Taking out a lone ship here and there might not sound like much, but the impact could be large in the long term. If I’m right and he’s playing the long game, it means we’re already several steps behind.”
Nix filled his mug with more tea and poured a bit into his mouth. “The Ansarans aren’t preparing for a war and most of the Dinari have lost their warrior spirit. The tournament is the last remnant of the old ways. The people need to know what’s coming. If we don’t do something, the Kraven could whittle away at the Alliance before they even know what’s happening.”
Liam nodded and said, “Narra is still our objective. The research facility might provide us with the answers we need. If there’s anywhere we can find out more about the Nightstalkers, I think this facility might be it.”
“I hope you’re right,” Nix said. “For all of our sakes.”
•
Two Days Later
Liam walked toward the cargo bay from the living quarters, growing more frustrated by the minute. The Garuda wasn’t a very large ship, but even so Ju-Long had managed to find a few hiding places. When he reached the cargo bay he stood with his hands on his hips, scanning the room. Nix came out from the corridor to the cockpit and cocked his head to the side, his clawed hands peeking out of his robes and clasping one another.
“Is everything alright?” he asked.
“Have you seen Ju-Long?”
Nix shook his head. “No, but you might check the engine room.”
“Engine room?”
Now that he thought about it, it was obvious that The Garuda would have an engine room, though he’d never seen it. Nix approached the center wall of the cargo bay to an area they called the armory, although Liam had seen breathing apparatuses, goggles, and all manner of other items stored as well. He found a switch on the wall and flipped it up. The wall moved back a few centimeters and then split in two, revealing a grated metal staircase leading down to a lower level.
“Has this always been here?” Liam asked.
“Of course it has,” Nix said with a laugh. “How do you think we get anywhere?”
Nix shook his head and continued on toward his quarters. The Dinari technology was still so foreign to Liam that Nix could have told him the ship ran on Leguma and he might have believed him.
Liam stood at the top of the staircase gazing down into the relative darkness. Lines of flashing purple ran along the walls and lit the passageway. Liam descended, taking each step cautiously to keep his balance on th
e steep metal stairs. When he reached the bottom he found himself in a long room that curved up from the floor, countless steel struts spaced every few meters to strengthen the hull in the rounded chamber. Thick pipes lined the low ceilings, some of them pulsing along with the hum of the engines. Two long cylinders that were several meters in girth lay side by side ahead of him. They seemed to be the source of the mysterious purple energy.
Between the two cylinders, Ju-Long hung from a pipe, his brown shirt discarded on the grated floor below. His back was turned to Liam while he pulled his chin up to the bar several times. The muscles of his back contracted, sweating profusely from the combination of exertion and the heat that came off the engines. After several more repetitions Ju-Long dropped from the pipe and stood breathing heavily. From the purple reflections gleaming off his skin, Liam saw several bruises remained where the electrified barbs had struck. Most were far along the healing process though the discoloration remained.
“You’re interrupting my workout,” Ju-Long said, still with his back turned.
“I was hoping you had a minute to talk.”
Ju-Long turned his head without moving from his spot between the engines. “Now’s not a good time.”
“We haven’t seen a lot of you since we boarded the Ansaran vessel. Is everything okay?”
“I’ll be better when this milk run is finished.”
Liam took a couple of steps toward Ju-Long and asked, “Do you know why we’re going to Narra?”
“To find the Azure Key. To get back to Earth where everything is perfect.”
Ju-Long’s sarcastic tone was not lost on Liam.
“You know there’s more to it than that.”
Ju-Long turned to face him, his muscles pulsing with every breath. Standing there in the purple light he looked more intimidating than ever. The look on his face was dangerous. “Is there? You would abandon these people in a heartbeat if it meant we could make it home. And for what? Vesta Corporation would have you back on a mine in months.”
“No one said anything about abandoning anyone. If you’d have been involved in the crew’s discussions instead of being so absorbed with yourself you’d see what we’re trying to do.”
“Absorbed? I have a chance in this system to make something of myself; to be somebody. If I return to Earth I’ll only wind up dead.”
“I’m going to destroy it.”
Ju-Long shook his head and turned away from Liam, jumping back up to the pipe and continuing his workout.
“You don’t believe me?” Liam asked.
In between repetitions he said, “I’ll believe it when I see it.”
Liam started back toward the staircase and stopped after a few meters. He said over his shoulder, “We’re going to need your help on Narra. When you’re done brooding you know where to find us. It’s a small ship.”
Ju-Long didn’t respond. Instead, he dropped from the bar and went right into doing pushups. Liam frowned and started up the stairs. Getting through to Ju-Long was going to be harder than he’d originally thought. He was so focused on making a name for himself with the Dinari people he was unconcerned with the bigger picture. He only hoped Ju-Long’s caginess would be short-lived. Liam could only guess at what they’d find on Narra and he couldn’t afford to be down one crew member.
11
Two Weeks Later – 75,000 Kilometers from Narra
Narra’s lush green surface captivated Liam as The Garuda began its approach toward the small planet. The twin moons of Narra were visible on either side of the cockpit, offset along each horizon, one slightly smaller and farther away. Liam pulled his seat’s straps over his shoulders and clicked the center latch in place. He slipped his arm through the copper ring and took the ship off auto-pilot with the flip of a switch.
After pulling her straps over her long-sleeved white shirt, Saturn pulled up a hologram of the surface and pointed to a location in the Northern hemisphere. Most of the surface was covered in jungle with several small seas cut out of one major continent. The spot she’d pointed to was blinking red. It was the location Zega had told them about. An Ansaran research facility in the heart of the jungle.
“Interesting,” Saturn said.
“What is it?” Liam said, looking over at her screen.
“I’m picking up a small Dinari settlement near the facility. It doesn’t look like they intermingle with the Ansarans like they do on Garuda.”
Nix couldn’t help but laugh. “Most of the colonies are segregated.”
That shouldn’t have come as any surprise. After spending some time on Garuda, it was clear to Liam that there was a complicated class structure not only between species, but within as well. Earth was no better. For all of the visible progress made on race relations on his planet, the undertow remained. The utopian messages of politicians only fooled those who never left their high towers.
“Have you ever been to Narra before?” Liam asked him.
“No, but I’ve heard about it. The Dinari here will not be like the Dinari on Garuda.”
Liam turned his head and regarded Nix in the seat behind Saturn. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Ju-Long sitting in silence with his arms crossed, staring out the window. Liam ignored his gloomy crewmate and asked Nix, “How are they different?”
“The Dinari on these backwater colonies are supposed to be rough creatures, without any refinement that comes from civilized society. If we encounter them, let me do the talking. They won’t respond well to outsiders.”
Liam nodded and turned his attention back to the green planet. They would be breaching the outer atmosphere any minute and he needed to focus on putting them down in an innocuous location. He pointed to the holographic image of the planet, the globe shining orange beneath his hand and rippling at his touch.
“If we take a steep descent we might avoid unwanted contact. I can put us down a few kilometers from the facility at this open patch here.”
Saturn smiled and said, “The old HALO trick. It’s been awhile.”
“HALO?” Nix asked, confused.
Saturn explained, “High Altitude, Low Open. It’s an old parachuting maneuver to avoid detection.”
“I don’t know this word, parachuting.”
She shook her head and said, “Don’t worry, you’ll get it in a minute.”
Liam hardened his grip on the controls as the ship began to feel the atmospheric pressure build. Narra’s atmosphere was denser than Garuda’s and thick with humidity. After breaching the upper atmosphere droplets of water began beading up on the cockpit window and rushing back over the top of the ship. It wasn’t raining but the air itself was moist beyond belief.
“Two thousand meters,” Liam said. “Extend landing struts.”
Saturn flipped a switch on her side of the cockpit’s center console and Liam heard the landing gear come out. He found the switch to release The Garuda’s wings and flicked it, firing the reverse thrusters simultaneously to slow their descent. Liam felt his insides climb up into his throat and his chest heave against his straps. A moment later they were gliding over the jungle and marveling at the thick vegetation and the sage green sky.
Nix groaned and complained, “A little warning next time would be nice.”
“Hey,” Saturn said, “I tried to warn you.”
“Over there,” Liam said, pointing to a clearing.
Liam turned the ship toward the open glade and pushed his arm forward in the copper ring, simultaneously cutting the power to the accelerator. He hovered over the patch of grass for a moment and then dropped the ship down, the landing gear sinking nearly a meter into the damp soil beneath. Liam removed his arm from the circle and powered down the engines. He looked out the rapidly fogging cockpit window trying to make out any sign of a facility but he saw none. They’d landed about two kilometers away from where Zega had told them the facility was but through the dense vines outside he couldn’t see more than a few meters. He sat back in his chair and said, “Narra. Guess we get to check anot
her planet off the list.”
“At least we won’t die of thirst on this one,” Saturn said cynically.
Liam unbuckled his straps and stood, stretching and cracking his back. He started toward the cargo bay without a word and the rest of the crew followed suit. The earlier scans of the planet showed that it was safe to breathe the air. Narra was one of the earlier planets to be terraformed, but for some reason it hadn’t been colonized like Garuda. A nagging thought told him it must have had something to do with the research facility and the falsified radiation leak Zega had mentioned.
After reaching the cargo bay Liam opened the storage lockers and began pulling out weapons and handing them to the crew. Liam strapped one of the crescent-shaped energy weapons to his thigh and took a long blade as well. Getting through the vegetation might prove more trouble than he’d originally thought. After he was satisfied the crew had everything they needed Liam hit the square red button at the top of the ramp and it descended into the lush grass of the clearing, sinking slightly into the moist jungle floor.
Liam started down the ramp first and tested the ground. It didn’t give nearly as much with his weight compared to the ramp and landing gear, but it was still wet as though it had recently rained. Saturn joined him at the bottom and she examined a curved screen attached to her forearm with their location blinking in yellow on a black background.
She turned to her left and gazed out at the dense foliage which jutted up from the ground more than a hundred meters. The bright sun reflected off her tight shirt, the moisture in the air making it cling to her body even more. She pointed to the edge of the clearing and said, “The facility should be two clicks due West of our location, through there.”
Liam spun in a circle examining the clearing, which was just big enough to allow twenty meters on all sides of the ship. Something seemed strange to him. He kept looking around expecting to see or hear something. Then it came to him. Silence. There were no animals, no bugs, and no birds. Nothing. It truly was a manufactured planet and its only residents were the Dinari colonists and the Ansaran researchers.
The Corsair Uprising Collection, Books 1-3 Page 22
