“What would happen if we didn’t?” Saturn asked.
“It’s better if we do.”
“So you can tell them to kill us upon landing?”
Astrid’s eyes glowed furiously and she said, “If Taleris was at peak strength this vessel would have been incapacitated by now.”
“Not this ship,” Nix said with a smirk.
“Let me send the message or you’ll soon know what I mean.”
Liam regarded Astrid incredulously. It was like she’d flipped a switch and had transformed into a little firecracker. Liam knew this meant she’d expected them to have been ambushed by now, but her tone suggested she had other motives. Still, he had to be sure.
“Let her send it,” Liam said.
“Thank you, Liam.”
Saturn objected, “You can’t be serious.”
“If she tries anything I’ll kill her myself.”
Astrid regarded him with fear in her eyes. Without breaking her gaze, Liam said, “We do what we have to for family. Nothing personal.”
Astrid nodded nervously and approached the center of the long front console. Saturn pointed to the communications link and Astrid input a frequency reflexively. When she pressed the button to talk the ship sputtered. She tried again and a deep groan emanated from deep within the vessel. The Garuda wasn’t pleased.
Nix laughed and said, “I always knew she had good taste.”
Liam walked up to the console and pressed the button, this time with better results.
Astrid spoke into the console, “Caretaker Ruen, this is Astrid. Some friends and I will be landing shortly. Please treat them with hospitality.”
Liam cut the transmission.
“It’s done,” Liam said. “One thing bugs me, though. Without communicating with Taleris since Narra, how would you know what would happen when we got here?”
“The Kraven attacks started a few months ago. Since then any vessel carrying anyone but Ansarans has been incapacitated or destroyed. With me on board, it was likely they wouldn’t destroy the ship outright until they knew the reason for my presence here.”
“An awful big risk.”
“There was nowhere else to go. I couldn’t stay on Narra and my presence would not be heralded on Garuda either. I was only trying to make the best of my lot.”
“It must be hard carrying around a burden such as yours,” Saturn chided.
Astrid looked like she was about to retort but thought better of it. She appeared dejected, truly hurt by Saturn’s words. She said gently, “You can’t know the pain a simple name can bring.”
“You’d rather be Dinari?” Nix asked glibly.
Astrid eyed the Dinari with her glowing eyes and said in a furious tone, “I’d rather be anything but a chip to be bargained.”
20
The headwinds on Taleris were whipping past The Garuda as Liam maneuvered through a storm of lightning and ash. Taleris was a dead planet, or might as well have been. The sky was as gray as the ground which made telling up from down nearly impossible without instruments or the occasional bolt of lightning to illuminate the factories below. Where one ended and another began was beyond Liam’s imagination. As he steered the ship closer to the ground he noticed smoke rising from the factories, and not just from the tall stacks projecting into the sky. Fires fizzled in some of the buildings, sending up thick black clouds of smoldering ash.
Astrid’s face displayed her horror. The glow faded from her eyes and tears welled up, finally trickling down her smooth blue face and collecting on her chin.
Liam tried to keep a detached demeanor and simply said, “I’m sorry.”
“Taleris was never beautiful, but this...it’s as though the whole world is burning.”
Liam tried to spread The Garuda’s wings to slow their descent but the ship protested. She must not have wanted to expose herself to the foul atmosphere.
Astrid noticed the ship’s objection and commented, “It’s a fickle thing, isn’t it?”
Nix said smugly, “She knows what she wants; a rare feat for a woman, even less so for a ship.”
Liam saw Saturn cringe at their Dinari friend’s statement, though she didn’t say anything. Nix was probably going to get an earful later when the Ansaran was no longer with them. Liam focused on the fast approaching ground. He fired the reverse thrusters, boosting the undercarriage jets. The Garuda slowed to a reasonable speed and Liam released the landing gear.
He aimed the ship toward a long bridge that stood hundreds or perhaps a thousand meters above the factories on the ground and was made from a solid gray material akin to cement but with a sheen that suggested stone. At the end of the sky bridge was an ovular platform with flashing red lights to illuminate the landing zone. Several figures were making their way down the bridge toward them in small hovering vehicles, the massive structure behind them standing a number of stories taller than the platform, a sort of metal palace jutting from the ground. Liam began the final landing procedures and set the ship down gently on the platform, a flawless landing despite the inclement circumstances.
Liam started powering down systems but Saturn put a hand on his arm to stop him. She said, “Let’s leave it running.”
Liam nodded and took his hand off the main power switch. The engines continued to hum along, nearly fading entirely into the background a moment later. He unstrapped himself from his seat and put a hand on Astrid’s triceps, without a word leading her to the cargo bay. The rest of the crew followed close, the dull hum of the engines still the only sound in the ship apart from their feet clanking along the grated metal flooring.
Liam passed Astrid off to Nix and began pulling out energy weapons from the storage cabinet. He handed one to Saturn and Ju-Long and strapped one to his own thigh. When he was done he handed the final energy weapon to Nix and closed the cabinet, locking it with a heavy turn of a rusted handle.
He checked over the crew one last time before using his fist to hit the square red button that lowered the ramp. The metal creaked and lowered sluggishly on its old hydraulics. Liam led the way down the ramp and took several paces toward the approaching Ansarans. Several small vehicles drew near, each large enough for just one rider and hovering half a meter off the ground with two glowing blue discs beneath the rider.
The six hover bikes came to a stop perhaps twenty meters from the crew. Astrid remained unbound but Nix had his hand firmly planted on her shoulder, his menacing claws daring her to attempt an escape.
Keeping his eyes on the Ansarans, Liam asked Astrid, “It’s time you paid up.”
Liam could feel Astrid’s gaze turn in his direction.
“Very well, a deal’s a deal. The key was taken back to the high council on Ansara until such time as a vessel is completed to use its power once again. I’m sorry, Liam. Remember what I told you. It is just one of many abominations produced by Vesta Corporation.”
“A fool’s errand,” Nix spat, gripping her shoulder tighter. “She could have told us it was useless days ago.”
“And I wouldn’t be on Taleris,” Astrid shot back with a wince.
Saturn kept her hand close to her weapon and said, “Enough, let’s just get this over with.”
The Ansarans had dismounted their vehicles and taken a few steps forward, each armed with laser pistols and wearing form-fitting gray body suits that terminated at the neck. The Ansaran in the center came to within ten meters of them and held his empty hands out for Liam to see.
He was a thin man with bulging black eyes and long ears that extended well past his bald head. His features were almost a caricature of the Ansarans he’d met in the past, some of his features highly exaggerated. He opened his thin mouth, revealing long pointed teeth as thin as his waistline. He declared, “I am Caretaker Ruen of House Ansara. Welcome to Taleris.”
Caretaker Ruen cocked his head and examined Astrid. When he was satisfied, he asked, “What are your intentions?”
Liam waved to Nix and said, “We had an arrangement with Astrid. Returning her concl
udes our business here.”
“Is that so?” the Caretaker said with curiosity. “I’m sure Astrid has much to tell.”
Liam felt the Caretaker stare coldly at Astrid. Something told him he was about as kind-hearted as Ragnar.
“What happened here?” Ju-Long asked, looking around at the dilapidated scenery.
When Ju-Long mentioned it, Liam noticed what wasn’t clear from the sky. The bridge had been struck by laser blasts, chunks of the low walls lining the bridge had been destroyed. As it was, he wouldn’t want to get close to the edge. It was at least one thousand meters to the planet surface.
The Caretaker lowered his eyes as though in shame, and replied, “The Kraven I’m afraid. Three ships evaded our planetary defenses and took out key components of our infrastructure. They knew where to hit us.”
There was a brief silence, after which the Caretaker said, “Now, as you can see I have a lot to do, so if you’ll return my niece to me we can all go about our business.”
Liam’s eyes propped open wide. The Caretaker was from House Ansara, which meant Astrid had lied once again, this time about her lineage. Astrid made an uncomfortable sound, drawing Liam’s gaze. The expression on Nix’s face was unadulterated fury. His claws dug deep into Astrid’s shoulder, drawing blood through her light blue body suit. Astrid’s jaw was clenched tight as though determined not to show her pain.
“Astrid of House Ansara?” Nix mumbled through gritted teeth.
Nix was going to provoke the Ansarans if he didn’t let her go soon. Already a few of the Caretaker’s guards had their weapons pointed at his chest. They couldn’t afford to get into a shootout.
Ju-Long reached out toward Nix and said calmingly, “Let her go, Nix. Let’s chalk this one up to a loss and lick our wounds.”
Nix brushed Ju-Long’s arm away.
“She didn’t hold up her end of the deal. She played us every step of the way. She was never going to tell us how to get the Azure Key. If it is on Ansara then we can’t hope to get it back now.”
Caretaker Ruen bowed his head.
“My, Astrid. You have been busy. Even whispers of a matter such as this must be dealt with. You know this.”
Astrid nodded solemnly and said, “I know, Uncle.”
Liam looked back and forth between Astrid and Caretaker Ruen and asked, “Astrid, what’s he talking about?”
“I told you there are things that must not be spoken of. It is my fault and I must pay the price.”
Saturn asked the Caretaker skeptically, “You’re going to kill your own niece?”
“What we do is a matter for and between Ansarans. I need not explain myself to outsiders.”
Nix released Astrid’s shoulder and shoved her forward. “Good riddance.”
Astrid took one small step toward her uncle and then stopped. She looked back to Liam and said, “If you want to learn more about Vesta Corporation, you need only look where the twelfth planet once was. Do not give up on the key, but remember there are more pressing matters if you want to remain alive.”
Astrid broke Liam’s gaze and turned back toward the Caretaker. Liam wondered what she meant by the twelfth planet. There were only eleven in the Ansara System. She couldn’t really be giving up so easily. He’d seen the fight in her. Despite the lies he saw the person behind those glowing blue eyes. She was good-natured at her core, even if her actions didn’t always show it. Before he knew what he was doing, Liam’s energy weapon was in his hand, a swirling bolt of lightning at its tip, aimed at the Caretaker’s head.
“Not another move,” Liam said darkly. “She’s coming with us.”
21
“You’ll never make it off this planet, rake,” Caretaker Ruen spat. “Now come along, Astrid. You need not associate with such filth. Remember your birth.”
At the mention of her birth, Astrid was furious. She looked to Liam, whose gaze was locked on the Caretaker in cold determination. She asked him, “You would take me with you?”
Liam nodded and replied, “I won’t have more innocent lives on my conscience. Come and live or go with your uncle and die. Either way, you’ve made the choice.”
Liam remembered Tiffany, that naïve redhead who’d shared his bed and was subsequently cut down by Takara. It was only right that he gave Astrid the choice Tiffany never did. Associating with him had become a deadly game, one that ate away at his insides every time he thought about it.
Saturn and Ju-Long raised their weapons, pointing them at two of the Ansaran guards. They were still outnumbered but at the very least they had a chance. Nix kept his weapon holstered, still taking in what was happening.
“You mean to take her with us?” Nix asked. “You don’t know what she is; what she’s capable of!”
“We’ll discuss this on the ship,” Liam told the Dinari before turning his gaze to Astrid. “What’s your decision?”
Tears fell down Astrid’s cheeks and she wiped them off with the back of her hand. She regarded the Caretaker with her blue-green eyes, her vertical black pupils growing wider.
“I’m sorry, uncle. There’s much I still must do. The old ways are blind to the necessities our future holds. I guess this is goodbye.”
“I am your uncle and you will obey me,” the Caretaker roared.
“Not anymore.”
The Caretaker’s face grew purple beneath his scales, his rushing blood visible beneath his pale skin. He pointed to Astrid and yelled to his guards, “Kill them all.”
Liam got his shot off first, taking out one of the guards with a ball of energy that left him convulsing on the ground. Saturn and Ju-Long fired on the remaining guards as Liam took Astrid by the arm and started moving with her back toward the ramp. One of the guards caught Nix in his left shoulder, grazing it and leaving a hole where the meat of his deltoid should have been. Nix cried out angrily and retrieved his weapon from its holster, returning fire and hitting his attacker in the face with an energy blast. The crew continued to back toward the ship, blue lasers flying past them and sparking off The Garuda with little effect on its hull.
Only one Ansaran guard remained along with the Caretaker, who hadn’t bothered drawing a weapon. Before the crew disappeared up the ramp Liam heard him say, “She’s no blood of mine.”
At the top of the ramp Liam hit the square button and the lift began to close. Liam took off toward the cockpit at a run. They had to get off Taleris, and quick. In the cockpit Liam put his arm through the metal ring and gripped the control handle.
“A little help here?” he asked the ship, not expecting a response.
Several of the switches flipped on their own and the engines whirred louder than before. Liam pulled up on the controls and the thrusters fired. They were airborne and gaining speed in seconds. Out the side window Liam saw thick blue lasers shooting past them. It must have been the planetary defenses the Caretaker had mentioned, only they were clearly functioning. Liam cut hard to the left, maneuvering around in an unpredictable pattern to throw them off.
The Garuda fired a pair of extra boosters on its own and the ship shot forward at a blistering speed, leaving a trail of fire in its wake as the engines combusted the toxins in the air. Moments later they were crossing the threshold into space, a few stray lasers still firing upward but were refracted slightly off-kilter by the atmosphere. The Ansarans wouldn’t be able to adjust in time to make a difference. Liam punched in a quick course heading for one of the outer moons. They needed to get their bearings.
Saturn appeared in the cockpit’s entrance and said urgently, “You better get back here, it’s Nix.”
Liam set the autopilot and removed his hands from the controls. He stood and followed Saturn down the curving corridor to the cargo bay. Nix lay propped up against a yellow crate, hand bracing his left shoulder.
“Move your hand,” Ju-Long said. “We need to see.”
Nix dropped his clawed fingers and Ju-Long ripped the hole in the Dinari’s shirt to get a look at the wound. It wasn’t bleeding much, li
kely because the laser cauterized most of the wound. Still, it looked painful and the burn was at risk of infection.
Liam dropped to one knee in front of Nix and asked, “Do we have any medical supplies on board?”
Nix pointed to an adjacent crate.
While Saturn popped it open and began searching for something useful, Liam assured Nix, “We’re going to get you fixed up.”
Astrid paced around the cargo bay nervously. She was mumbling, “It’s all my fault. I’ve denounced my family and now I’ve killed one of the people helping me.”
“Don’t get your hopes up your grace,” Nix said in a daze. “I’m not dead yet.”
Saturn handed Liam a syringe filled with a yellow fluid.
“What’s this?” he asked.
“Judging by the label I’d say an antibiotic, but their medicine is a lot different than ours.”
Astrid took the syringe from Liam’s hands and said, “If you inject him with this, he’ll have a pretty good resistance to the Dinari phage sickness but that’s about it.”
Astrid searched through the crate and found another package, ripping it open with her teeth. She held the glass syringe in her hand, squeezing the plunger to remove any air inside. She approached Nix, who quickly tried to move away.
“I’m not trusting her with that. She’s going to try to kill me off.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Astrid said. “You saved my life.”
“Besides,” Ju-Long remarked, “There probably isn’t anything in our medicine stash that could kill you anyway.”
Astrid tried to approach once more but was met with the same reaction. She looked to Liam and handed him the syringe.
“Maybe you’ll have better luck.”
Liam shook his head out of exasperation and moved in to administer the antibiotics. Nix tried to scoot away but was held firm by Ju-Long.
“I don’t like needles!” Nix cried.
Liam injected him near the site of the wound and between two scales, each the size of a human thumb nail. When he’d finished squeezing the plunger he said, “Tough.”
The Corsair Uprising Collection, Books 1-3 Page 27
