by Terry Mixon
Unfortunately for him, that meant he was also in range for her to take action.
The rocks on the slope were relatively stable, but there were a few that didn’t seem as deeply embedded in the ground. She kept her eyes peeled for those. Up until this point, it was so she could avoid taking a nasty tumble. Now she was deliberately going to use one of them.
She just hoped her wild plan didn’t end up with her tumbling down the side of the hill and breaking every bone in her body.
Annette tried not to tense when she stepped on the loose stone, but that proved impossible when it skidded out from under her feet and she flew backwards. She just hoped Derek interpreted her premature stiffening in a different manner or missed it entirely.
The reason she’d chosen this particular stone was that they’d just passed a fairly loose bit of ground. When she fell back into her captor, his feet slid out from under him as he struggled to hold her weight and maintain his footing.
She had to give him credit. He made a Herculean effort to both stay on his feet and keep her from falling down the hill. One that fell short of absolute success, but not by as much as she’d hoped.
Derek’s feet stayed mostly under him as she slammed her upper body into his, right up until a rock shot out from under one of his feet and he went down hard.
Her hands were already in motion as they fell, and she came up with the pistol he had strapped to his waist.
That didn’t stop her from sliding half a dozen feet down the hill and fetching up hard against a boulder. Thankfully, she’d been able to use her artificial arm to stop her fall. She didn’t feel like anything was broken, but she imagined her back was covered with bruises.
Belatedly, she realized she could’ve used her arm as proof of her story. A cut with a knife would have revealed the machinery within. The damned thing felt so real that she’d forgotten about it.
That was usually a plus, as she had no desire to recall the horrific crash that had amputated the original. Oh well.
Derek slid to a halt about a dozen feet away. He started to reach under his jacket but stopped when he realized she had a weapon aimed at him.
“I’d really rather not have to shoot you,” Annette said casually. “I’d hoped to get your stunner, but I’ll use this flechette pistol if I have to. Don’t make me kill you.”
The alien shook his head slowly. “That was stupid of me. I allowed you to lull me into a false sense of security and then use the terrain against me. Clever. So what do we do now? Go back and search for your Kalorian allies?”
“Seriously? You didn’t hear a single thing I told you?”
“I heard you. I just don’t believe you.”
She smiled coolly. “Then let’s see if I can make you a believer. Toss your weapons over here. Where are mine?”
“I have yours stored in my pack,” he said as he gingerly levered himself to his feet.
He made a show of slowly removing his stunner from a holster on the other side of his body and tossing it halfway between them. She wasn’t going to fall for the bait and come into his range.
She gestured up the hill with her free hand. “Up you go. Don’t try to get fancy with any rocks. I’ll be watching.”
Once he’d climbed far enough ahead of her, she squatted and picked up the stunner he’d tossed. She relaxed a little bit as she stuffed the flechette pistol into her jacket. She didn’t really want to kill the alien.
Annette half expected him to try something before she made it back up to his level, but he only stood there watching her expectantly.
“What do we do now?” he asked.
“I prove I was telling you the truth. We head back the way we came.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You could very well be leading me back to be captured by your companions.”
“You’re already captured. I have even less reason to lie now. I think the fact that none of your friends came away from the ambush should tell you something too. Do you think the people you were attacking were numerous enough to take you all out, even with surprise on your side?”
“No. Still, it’s a more likely turn of events than the story you’ve been trying to sell me.”
“I suppose we’ll both find out what happened, won’t we? I suggest you take it slow and stick to areas where no one will see us. I’d rather not be captured by the people setting up the ambush, either.”
Considering the tangles and dense foliage he led her through on the way back toward the campsite, Derek was taking every precaution to avoid discovery. Annette stayed far enough back that he would not be able to surprise her.
She supposed that meant he was far enough ahead to escape, if he really wanted to. She’d already decided to let him go if he tried. Well, if the stunner didn’t bring him down anyway. She wasn’t going to chase after him, and she wasn’t going to kill him.
They didn’t run into anyone as they came back into the area near her fighter. Annette halfway expected to find it gone, but it sat in the clearing just as she’d left it.
Derek stopped short as soon as he saw the small craft. He stared at it, not moving.
After a long, long moment, he turned his head and stared at her. “I must confess that I thought you were lying. My apologies.”
She stepped into the clearing and into range of the fighter with her implants. The computer inside immediately forwarded her a message.
An image of Princess Kelsey appeared. She seemed to be staring straight at Annette.
“If you’re seeing this, you made it back to your fighter before we found you. We’ve already cleaned up the area around the campsite and are searching for you. Let us know, and we’ll have a marine pinnace on your location in five minutes, if you need it. We picked up the guy on the road too.”
Annette dismissed the message.
She smiled at Derek. “Apology accepted. According to a message my friends left for me, they have your friend and your men in custody. Would you like me to take you to them or trust that I’m going to see them returned?”
His eyes narrowed. “Precisely where are you holding them? Better yet, how did you get that message?”
She tapped the side of her head. “Implants. At short range, I can link with the computers in my fighter.”
To prove her point, she instructed the canopies to open.
“I’ve never seen or heard of such a thing,” Derek said quietly, watching the fighter open up with wide eyes. “I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a piece of recovered equipment this functional, either. Except for the handheld weapons, of course. I believe I’d like to see where you’re keeping my friends.”
Annette gestured toward the front of the fighter. “You get in up front. Once you’re inside, I’ll see that you’re secured and off we go.”
Getting close enough to strap him in was a risk, but one she was willing to take at this point. She didn’t think he’d attack her until he’d seen everything she had to show him.
He stared curiously at the cockpit as she secured his restraints. “Even after having seen what was left of Dauntless, I confess that I never expected to actually fly anywhere. It still seems mythical.”
“Well then, you’re in for a treat.”
Annette sealed up the front canopy and climbed into her seat. She’d contact Persephone as soon as she lifted off. She wanted to get off the ground before anything else went wrong.
Raul felt mildly ridiculous stashing the unconscious prisoners into the high-security cells. The power was on, and they’d have plenty of food and water once they woke up, so it was the best call. Still, literally anyone could come in and find them.
He took the opportunity to drop into his office. Someone had ransacked it and opened his safe. The armored door was actually half melted. He certainly hoped they had fun with the encrypted chips it had contained and the false data stored on them.
Raul reached under his desk and touched a hidden button. He then made his way into the attached washroom and opened a previously hidden safe built
into the tiled walls.
This was his actual safe. He pocketed the data chips containing his actual files and then began pulling out his weapons. The extra stunner went into his pocket, the heavy-duty flechette pistol went onto his belt, and the plasma grenade stayed in the pouch it came in.
Out of habit, he closed and locked the safe when he was done. He then went out to rejoin the destroyer’s crew. He handed his spare stunner to one of them. That meant all of them were armed now.
With the weapons they’d seized from the marines and the cutter pilot, that provided a stunner for each of the officers. Veronica had chosen not to take one with her, because she wasn’t going to need any firepower for her part of this operation.
He hoped none of them had to use their weapons. If they did, someone would realize something was wrong. As it was, they were running a risk that the nosy lieutenant would, if they were still aboard the orbital when he left.
The man would probably check the interior scanners to verify that no one was moving around. He’d make a call across the interior communications systems too. The people in the cells wouldn’t be able to respond, and the man wouldn’t see them.
He consulted a map of the orbital and made a guess at the closest airlock to where the recovery ship was attached. It took them another fifteen minutes to get there, and they quickly donned vacuum suits.
Once they were ready, he led them into the airlock and bled off the pressure. The exterior hatch slid open, and he was pleased to see that the recovery ship was virtually on top of them.
Raul didn’t have much experience working in zero gravity, but he had enough to avoid making a fool of himself. He led the others onto one of the arms where it connected nearby and then onto the hull of the recovery ship.
“I see Commander Giguere ahead,” Graham Bakersfield said. “She’s up near one of the airlocks that we had designated as a potential entry point.”
It took a moment, but Raul spotted her. She had her arm wrapped around something to hold on to. He supposed that made sense, but something looked wrong.
They didn’t dare risk anything more powerful than short-range communication. They wouldn’t be able to talk with her until they were less than a dozen meters away.
Bakersfield took the lead and closed the distance to his commanding officer. The man glanced down before straightening abruptly and gesturing for them to hurry.
The man dug into a satchel he’d acquired somewhere and began scanning the surface of Veronica’s suit.
Something was wrong.
“What’s the matter?” he asked as soon as he arrived beside them.
“Her suit integrity is compromised, and she’s lost a lot of air. Too much. I don’t think she’s breathing. She used an emergency cable to secure herself. We need to get her out of that suit now.”
“Get the hatch open,” he ordered. “It must be locked down if she couldn’t get inside. We’ll have to hope we can resuscitate her once we get inside.”
The engineer pulled out a hammer, braced himself, and shattered the controls. Once he had the parts of them separated, he reached inside with his gloved hands and did something. The hatch slid open.
They managed to get Veronica’s body inside the airlock, and Raul hit the control to seal it. Air began rushing in.
As soon as the pressure was high enough, they got Veronica’s helmet off. She still wasn’t breathing. The helm and tactical officers began working on resuscitating her.
Raul hoped their efforts were successful, but he had other work to do. He gestured for the other two officers to join him and headed into the ship.
“It’s possible someone noticed the airlock cycling,” he said quietly. “If they did, we’re going to have trouble in very short order. If they didn’t, we need to secure the ship before anyone finds out we’re here.
“Lieutenant Bakersfield, go to engineering. Stun anyone you find. Search carefully to be sure no one is hiding there. Lock it down so no one can come in once we begin the assault on the bridge.”
He looked at the executive officer next. “Commander Fuller, I want you to hit the crew quarters. I’ll take the bridge.”
The three split up and went their separate ways.
Raul almost made it to the bridge before he encountered anyone. The man wore blue coveralls that were nothing like those Fleet used. He was also warier than a Fleet officer would’ve been.
The man barely laid eyes on Raul before he turned and sprinted toward the bridge. Raul had his stunner in hand and took him out just short of the bend in the corridor.
He raced to the bridge and found it fully manned. One of the occupants was already heading toward the hatch. He must’ve heard something.
Raul set the stunner to wide angle and took them all down. All told, he’d stunned seven people.
He dragged the man in from the corridor and locked the hatch behind him.
Once he’d shot each one again with a full stunner blast, he sat down at the command console and tried to make sense of what he was seeing.
It looked as though someone had been laying in a course to the outer system. Perhaps they were getting ready to depart orbit.
Five minutes later, there was a rap on the hatch. Raul rose from his seat and walked over to the intercom. “Yes?”
If it was someone he didn’t know, they were about to get the surprise of their life.
“It’s Fuller. I think we got everybody.”
Raul opened the hatch and gestured for the officer to come in. “Find a compartment with a hatch you can lock and drag everyone into it. Search them closely. Leave them no tools or weapons. Strip them naked. That will make sure.
“By the time they wake up, I’ll have the computer system secured against intrusion. Leave Graham guarding the hatch and search the ship again. We can’t chance that anyone is still hiding.”
He stopped the man before he could exit the bridge. “Is there any word on Commander Giguere?”
The other officer shook his head. “Not that I’ve heard. Even if they save her, there may be permanent damage.”
Raul grimaced. He certainly hoped that wasn’t the case. Veronica was an amazing officer. Her loss would be an incredible blow to the Empire.
A chime from the command console drew his attention. They had an incoming call.
He gestured for Fuller to go. “I’ll take care this. When you pass the airlock, send Lieutenant Wells to join me.”
Without turning on the video, he accepted the call. “Go ahead.”
“We’ve accounted for everyone aboard the orbital,” a voice said. It certainly sounded like the lieutenant Raul had been dealing with earlier. “Is there some reason you’re not using video?”
“We’re doing maintenance on that system,” Raul said coolly.
There was a long pause before the man continued. “Copy that. No one is showing up on internal scans, so you’re clear to depart.”
“Roger that. We’ll see you once we drop this thing off and get back.”
He killed the com. Raul had no idea how to actually move the ship, so he wasn’t even going to try. He’d have to wait for the helm officer to arrive. Then he’d find out whether their resuscitation efforts had proven fruitful.
36
Kelsey was intensely relieved when word came that Annette was on her way back up in her fighter. The marines searching for her had hastily loaded up in the pinnaces and caught up with her just before she was ready to dock.
The shroud the engineers had cobbled together that allowed the fighters to pull next to a standard dock and open their canopies while still inside an atmosphere was something like Frankenstein’s monster. It basically provided a large, inflatable seal leading into a standard dock.
There was no way to secure the fighter to the dock, so they used the short-range remote controls to relocate it to the slot on the hull reserved for it once the pilots were clear. A work party then had to secure it manually.
At some point, they’d have to come up with a better
way of doing this. Thankfully, this had worked out so far.
She’d been on the bridge with Jacob Howell. As she’d expected, he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the people sitting at their positions and flying the ship. The view of the planet below on the main screen had mesmerized him.
“This is both exactly as I envisioned it and entirely different,” he confided as she led him into the corridor leading to the docking area.
She gave him a smile. “That can mean anything.”
He shrugged. “I don’t have the words. I wish my father could see this.”
“Maybe some other time. Once we have your friend on board, we can start loading all of you onto one of the pinnaces. We’ll take you down wherever you’d like to go. As I said earlier, I have no need to keep you prisoner.
“I’m overdue back in the other system. There are important matters there that I have to keep abreast of. Some tasks that I hope they’ve successfully completed. Once I check in with them, I intend to come back and have a much longer discussion with you about the clans and the Others.”
He grinned. “My schedule seems to have miraculously cleared. If you have no objection, I would take it as a great personal favor if you’d allow me to accompany you. I suspect that Derek will be of a similar mind, once he’s assured that his men are safely sent below.”
By this point they’d arrived at the docking area. Four marines stood by, ready for any trouble.
The hatch was just opening to admit Annette and a Pandoran. Kelsey made a mental note to inquire what they referred to themselves as.
The alien and Jacob clasped forearms. “I feared I’d seen the last of you, my friend,” the Pandoran said.
Jacob gestured toward Kelsey. “I met a new friend. Allow me to introduce you to the chief of Clan Persephone. Kelsey Bandar, this is my friend Derek.
“By the way, she has all of your people here. Some of them were injured attacking the ambushers, but none died. I’ve spoken with them all. They’re in as good a condition as possible. Better than I’d expected, honestly. The medical facilities on the ship are astounding.”
