“Commander, this is mutiny,” Tallos said. “You have examined the command chip. You are violating Space Force orders.”
“No, I am not. The command chip gives you authority to take command if the mission is threatened. I do not agree that the mission is at risk. That makes your actions mutinous.”
Several tense moments passed. The Captain looked furious. He glared at her, his eyes murderous, but she didn’t budge. She was not going to let Tallos take over the Hermes, regardless of what type of pressure they were exerting on the Captain.
She knew she had violated his direct orders, and that he had every reason to throw her in the brig for it. But it would be the Captain doing so, not Tallos.
The Captain sighed. “You’re not going to stand down no matter what I say, are you?”
“No, Sir. I’m sorry, Sir.”
Her mind registered the blur of movement only after it had already happened. The Captain’s arm had fired out and seized Tallos by the throat. The two Diakans moved to draw their weapons and the Marines fired, killing them instantly. Unphased by the weapon fire, the Captain hoisted Tallos off the ground and held him suspended in mid-air by his throat.
“Where are you holding Breeah and Anki?” the Captain demanded.
Tallos didn’t respond.
She now understood what had coerced the Captain to surrender. Holstering her weapon, she rushed to her console and had the computer display the movements of all Diakans on board the ship over the past twenty-four hours. She felt the Captain’s eyes on her and knew she had to produce results.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t going to be easy. Two hours were deleted from the logs. Trying a different approach, she had the computer account for the current location of all Diakans on board the Hermes. All were accounted for but one, Kinos. She then tried to open a comm with Security Chief St. Clair, but there was no answer.
“Well?” the Captain said.
“The computer cannot locate one of the Diakans, and Security Chief St. Clair is not answering my comms.”
Still holding Tallos off the ground the Captain opened a comm.
“Sergeant Henderson here,” came the voice over the comm.
“Sergeant I want you to assemble a team and locate every Diakan on board the Hermes and have them taken into custody. You are authorized to use deadly force if they resist. Move fast and move quietly.”
“Yes, Sir,” Henderson said.
The Captain then looked back at her. “Find me those hostages, Commander.”
“Yes, Sir!”
CHAPTER 38
Breeah watched the alien warily. She knew it was the same one from the hangar bay. The aggressive one that Chief St. Clair had difficulty controlling. And from the looks of the Chief, he never did manage to get the alien under control.
Crumpled on the floor a few feet away from her and Anki, the Chief had been propped up against the wall, his hands and feet bound by some type of energy restraint. His legs stretched out in front of him and his chin rested on his chest. He had not gained consciousness, but she could tell he was alive. His massive frame heaved steadily with each breath, generating a rumbling sound like a sputtering engine.
She was certain that the aliens were trying to take control of the ship, and that they were using her and her daughter as leverage against the Captain. The fact that they made her speak to him made that obvious.
None of this made sense, though. The Doctor had told her that these aliens, these Diakans as she called them, were their allies. They had freed humanity from slavery and were helping them rebuild, so why were they moving against them now? What had changed?
She knew it could only be the battle with the Kemmar. The Diakans clearly didn’t agree with the Captain’s decision and were now moving against him.
It was foolish of the Captain to engage the Kemmar. He owed her people nothing. He should not have risked his ship and crew for people he had never met. What was it about being a starship Captain that turned them all into fools?
Her husband may have had different motivations, but he was no different. How many close calls did they have? How many narrow escapes? Her people used the gate for centuries without a problem. Yet her husband’s provocations had destroyed all that.
His actions made the Kemmar take notice. It was only a matter of time until they found the gate. Only a matter of time until they came for them. And then there would be nothing left but death and slavery, the Reivers and their ways dust amidst the rocky multitude of the asteroid field.
This alien was proving himself to be another fool. He had charged her and Anki in the hangar bay. He had respected the potential danger she represented. Now that respect was gone. The Chief had been bound, but she was free. He did not see her as a threat, yet he should have.
Everything about her and where she came from should have warned him. It should have been simple common sense that someone with her upbringing should be taken seriously.
Had he been more observant he would have noticed that she was no delicate flower. He would have seen that her limbs were as hard as any man’s. That her movements were effortless and clean. That her eyes missed nothing.
She pulled Anki closer and nudged her to rest her head and shoulders on her lap. The alien watched her but did not object to the maternal gesture.
With her free hand now safely hidden behind her child she gently rested her palm and fingers on her belt. It was a simple lariat rope design with two ornate weighted balls on the ends running through a noose shaped loop in the middle.
In slow, precise movements her fingers worked to pull the weighted ends through the loop, careful not to let the two balls touch and make a sound.
Forefinger and thumb pinched the strand of rope, moving it barely an inch at a time. The rest of her arm lay perfectly still, and she made sure that even the strands of muscle in her forearm betraying her fingers’ movements remained hidden behind her child.
Slowly, deftly, she pulled one of the balls through the loop and secured it against her palm. With the rest of her fingers she worked on the other end.
All along she kept her eyes on the alien, not making eye contact, not challenging, but watching all the same.
She didn’t know if the aliens would succeed. But if they did, where would that leave her and Anki? These aliens would not care much about what happened to them.
Any hope for a future on this ship, with these people, would be lost if these Diakans took over the Hermes. She could not let that happen.
CHAPTER 39
Chief Engineer Singh was finally making some progress, now that the Diakan stopped interfering. For hours he had been immersed in his work, barely lifting his head to even look around.
This was what he enjoyed. Just being left alone to concentrate on the task at hand. Every request, no matter how small, broke his concentration.
This didn’t matter for most tasks. He had performed them thousands of times, so getting back to it required little mental focus. It was when there were complex problems that required deep analysis that he preferred to block everything else out. This was where his talent shone. This was when he dug deep and came up with creative solutions.
The Diakan, Boufos, didn’t understand this. He believed that two minds, or more, on the same task would always produce superior results.
While this may be true in some tasks, Singh knew that in others it constrained creativity. You ended up with decision by consensus, which often produced watered down results.
There was nothing to ignite that illusive spark of genius. It stayed hidden, afraid to show itself to others. He knew how to coax it out, but that required quiet and focus.
There was truth to the phrase ‘human creativity’. It really did appear to be unique to humanity. The Diakans certainly didn’t possess anything similar.
They did everything by committee. For them ten minds were better than one. And who was he to argue with their logic?
They had built an empire. They saved Earth from perennial slavery.
Their methods sure were working for them. How was that good old ‘human creativity’ working for Earth?
Lying there on his back under the primary relay he realized that Earth had to fight its way off the ground. The aliens had put Mother Earth on her back and kept her there.
It was not humanity’s fault that a race like the Juttari conquered them. The Juttari were far more advanced, so Earth didn’t have a chance.
Looking up at the impressive technology in front of him, technology he understood, he knew that humanity had caught up. Given half a chance, he knew human ingenuity would surpass anything the aliens could come up with.
A disturbance near the entrance to Engineering pulled him out of his thoughts. He came out from under the primary relay and sat up to see what was happening.
A group of heavily armed Marines had charged into Engineering and were now fanning out, obviously searching for someone. His technicians were taken by surprise and tried to move out of the way of the rushing Marines.
He recognized Sergeant Henderson, who was shouting orders at his men. He got to his feet quickly and walked over to him. Henderson noticed Singh coming and met him halfway.
“What’s the meaning of this, Sergeant?” Singh said.
“I have orders to take Engineering Advisor Boufos into custody, Sir. Do you know his whereabouts?” Henderson said.
“Why? What’s happened?”
“You’ll have to take that up with the Captain, Sir. Now where can I find Boufos?”
“He should be here, Sergeant. He was helping with repairs.”
“Ok, internal sensors have him in Engineering. My men will flush him out.”
As if on cue, Boufos jumped out from behind a control panel and ran for the exit. Without hesitation two Marines wheeled around and fired on Boufos.
Two blue energy bolts plowed into the Diakan’s back sending him reeling forward and crashing onto the ground. His head struck the hard floor, the impact sounding like a dropped bucket full of water. He lay there, not moving, wisps of smoke spiraling up from the burn marks on his back.
The two Marines rushed to where the Diakan had fallen, weapons still trained on the still body. One of the Marines checked his vitals, looked up at Sergeant Henderson and shook his head.
“Check his comm,” Henderson barked.
Singh watched the ghastly scene in disbelief. “You killed him. Why?”
Henderson looked back at Singh, barely hiding his annoyance at the question. “Sir, you’ll have to take that up with the Captain.”
The two Marines were rifling through the Diakan’s clothing and one produced his comm device. Analyzing it quickly he spoke without looking up at the Sergeant. “An encrypted transmission was sent less than a minute ago, Sir.” Using a handheld security scanner, the Marine worked at deciphering the transmission.
“I need to know the destination of that transmission, Corporal,” Henderson said.
“Yes, Sir.” The Marine’s thumbs tapped the scanner in rapid movements. “Got it,” he said, looking up at the Sergeant, relief on his face.
“Relay coordinates to the rest of the team. Everyone move out.”
Singh watched as the Marines stormed out of Engineering, leaving Boufos where he lay. An uncharacteristic silence now enveloped Engineering, and the rest of his team gathered around and watched as he approached the dead Diakan.
The smell of seared flesh almost made him throw up. He shook his head. He didn’t like Boufos, but he was a colleague nonetheless. He opened a comm with Commander Wolfe.
“Yes, Chief,” Wolfe said.
“Commander, I have a dead body here,” he replied.
“Yes, I just got the report. I’ll send a medical team down to retrieve the body right away.”
“What is going on, Commander?”
“I will give you a full briefing, Raj, but later. Okay?”
“Understood. Singh out.”
CHAPTER 40
Breeah had managed to get the other strand of rope through the loop without the alien taking notice. She sat quietly, stroking Anki’s hair, watching the alien, waiting for the moment she was sure would come.
The alien wasn’t paying attention to her, but instead focused on the Security Chief who began to stir. The Diakan didn’t show any emotion, but his right hand rested on his sidearm, leaving no doubt about his intentions.
His attention shifted away from the Chief back to her. He stared at her and spoke, but not to her. She didn’t understand his language and there was no translator here, but she could tell he was using some sort of communication device.
He spoke quietly, with no emotion in his voice, but something about the way he stared at her told her things had changed.
She gently dropped her hand to Anki’s shoulder and softly gripped her clavicle, ready to use it as a lever to move the child. She felt her child’s body tense up and knew that she understood her silent communication.
The next bit of information came from the Diakan. His fingers curled around his weapon which told her he was going to draw. With one hand she pulled on Anki and the child rolled off her lap.
As the Diakan’s weapon came out of its holster she shot her other hand out whipping one of the weighted ends of her lariat belt. The hard metal ball found its target, connecting full with the back of Kinos’s hand.
He let out a sound almost like a bark as his fingers released the weapon. Wasting no time she leaped to her feet and swung the rope over her head, the weight now a blur flying toward Kinos. If the Diakan skull was anything like a human’s, this blow would be certain to kill.
Taking barely a second for the weight to find its mark, Breeah was shocked when it failed to connect. Somehow Kinos had gotten out of the way.
Undeterred she chased the Diakan, the weight flying over her head like a propeller. But the Diakan was equal to the task and moved with precision, expertly avoiding each strike, sometimes by mere centimeters.
She changed strategy and with a flick of her wrist she sent the ball in a downward trajectory, taking away Kinos’s ability to duck. To her surprise he adapted and sidestepped the blow, only this time he dropped to the ground and spun his leg around, closing the gap between them and catching her behind the knee, kicking the leg out from under her.
In pursuing him she made the mistake of shifting too much weight onto that leg and when Kinos kicked it out she came crashing down onto her back.
“Momma!” Anki screamed.
Anki. She heard the fear in her voice and knew she couldn’t stop. She had hit the ground hard and was dazed from the impact, but instinct and a lifetime of training took over.
She kicked her legs up over her head, rolling backwards onto her knees, and quickly leapt back onto her feet. But before she could stand upright a fist crashed into the side of her head and she was on the ground again.
Relying only on instinct and muscle memory now, she rolled out of the fall and got herself up to her feet again, whipping the weight around before she even stood.
Her vision was blurred and she didn’t know where Kinos was, so she swung the lariat around, hoping to make contact, or at least keep the Diakan at bay until she could get her bearings.
Anki’s screams told her why she couldn’t find the Diakan.
A surge of adrenalin cleared her vision enough for her to see Kinos dragging Anki up by the hair while his free hand reached around for the little girl’s throat. Instantly she knew he was too far for her to reach him in time.
Her heart crashed into her ribs and despair began to suffocate her. She had failed, and the only thing she loved in the universe was about to die. She lunged toward them, trying to reach her child in time, but she knew it was in vain.
Time seemed to slow down. A green, scaly hand wrapped around the girl’s neck and she knew she couldn’t save her child.
Her despair now turned to murderous rage. The alien would not leave this room alive.
But the alien didn’t kill her daughter. He was stopped short when the Chief’s
massive shoulder smashed into him. His arms and legs still bound the Chief had somehow managed to get his feet under him enough to dive head-first at the Diakan.
He had caught Kinos by surprise, and the impact of his heavy frame forced Kinos to release his grip on the little girl.
Breeah now moved with all the ferocity of a tigress pouncing on her prey. In a split second she was on him, screaming with primal fury as her fingers turned into claws and gouged deep into the Diakan’s eyes.
Baying in agony he tried to kick her off his back, but she would not be denied her kill. She clung to him with unforgiving strength.
Growing weaker his body lost much of its resistance and he collapsed onto his chest. Shifting her weight she maneuvered herself so that she pressed full on his upper back, pinning him to the ground.
Removing her hands from his now bloody eye sockets she strung the lariat around his neck twice, creating a makeshift noose, and then pulled on the ends, leaning backwards to get more leverage.
She barely registered the Chief yelling something behind her, probably telling her to stop, but she ignored him, and heaved on the rope with all her Reiver strength.
CHAPTER 41
When Marines burst into the storage room, even the Sergeant was stunned by what he saw.
The Chief was on his knees, hands and legs bound, shielding the little girl who sobbed uncontrollably.
A few feet away from them the Diakan was on the ground with his head pulled up in an unnatural angle, eyeless sockets spilling thick black blood down his face. His head was pulled back by a rope wrapped around his neck so tight he thought it might decapitate him.
On his back was the Reiver woman, pulling on the rope so hard that it cut into her hands, the blood trailing down her forearms. Her face had turned savage and twisted. Her features contorted into something primal and base.
He had seen a lot of combat in his career. He had witnessed many horrors. But he had only seen that expression a handful of times.
The Pike Chronicles - Books 1 - 10 Page 16
