Perbron’s image immediately appeared on the screen. His red eyes were glowing even brighter than usual, a sign of his irritation.
“Captain Clauson, why have you taken so long to respond to my communication?” Perbron shouted.
“I am sorry sir. We were having some technical problems with the control board, but it is working now,” he responded.
“Well, let’s make sure we take care of that so it doesn’t happen again. I am tracking your ship’s course and I need to know why you are not headed for Yoanthuma as I commanded you. In fact, you seem to be plotting a course towards Sector 17. What is going on?”
“Well sir, we have had a fuel leak and need to go to the nearest refueling station which is in Sector 17. Once we have re-fueled, we will plot our course for Yoanthuma as ordered,” he said. Perborn was silent for a moment as if he were contemplating what Captain Clauson was telling him.
“Hmm, I see. It is no matter. I plan on dealing with the Barringe after I’ve dealt with the other Defense Squad members anyway, so there is plenty of time. Let me know when you have re-fueled and have begun your journey to Yoanthuma,” Perbron.
“Yes sir, I will,” Captain Clauson said, switching off the communicator.
“That was too close, but you’ve done well. Now back to your cell,” Dedron said.
“Now you can see that Perbron is tracking our movements. Once he sees that we are headed for the Dark Moon, he will know something is not right. You are not going to get away with what you’re trying to do!” Captain Clauson said.
“Alright, that’s enough out of you. You heard Dedron. Back to your cell!” Donna said, waving her laser pistol at him. She and Dedron followed behind the captain until he was safely back in his cell.
“Although I hate to admit it, he’s right. Perbron is going to catch on to the fact that something is not right,” Dedron said.
“So, he will be too far away to be able to do anything about it. By the time he catches up with us, we will have escaped with my parents,” Donna said, confidently.
“My dear, I love your confidence and I hope that is proven to be correct,” Dedron said, but secretly he had his doubts.
After a few days past, they entered Sector 17. There were only three planets in the spiral-shaped galaxy that revolved around one red giant sun. None of the planets were habitable due to their hot climates. Only the planet Kelron, which was the farthest away, had one moon that was able to sustain life. It was called the Dark Moon because there was only a small window of time everyday when it faced the sun and got any sunlight. The Remoir took an interest in the moon because they discovered high amounts of useful minerals within its soil. They had set up mining operations there a decade before and had set up a small outpost.
Dedron was busy examining the computer’s navigation computer to see where they could make a secret landing on the moon’s surface when Donna appeared in the bridge after looking in on the prisoners.
“Have you found a good place for us to land?” Donna said.
“I have found a mining outpost that seems isolated enough, but I can’t tell if it’s been abandoned or if there are any Remoir stationed there. We will have to take the chance or we can ask Captain Clauson what he knows. If there are guards stationed there, we will have the Captain give some excuse for our landing and then we can make our way to where they are keeping your mother,” Dedron said.
“Ok, I will go and get the captain,” Donna said.
A few minutes later, she came back into the bridge with the captain.
“We need you to tell us about this outpost,” Dedron said, pointing to the map on the navigation computer’s screen. Captain Clauson looked at it and shook his head.
“I don’t believe there are any current mining operations happening there, but there may be a guard posted,” he said.
“If there is a guard, we will need you to talk to them and gain permission to land,” Dedron said.
“If I must,” the Captain said. “However, Commander Perbron will now by then that I have lied to him. More than likely, he will have warned our people stationed on the Dark moon that something isn’t right.”
“Well we will have to take our chances on that, won’t we?” Dedron said.
They kept the captain on the bridge as they made their approach to the Dark Moon. The nearest re-fueling station was on the nearby planet Kelron, which is where Perbron expected the captain to take his cruiser ship. The moon stayed true to its name, barely making itself distinguishable from the darkness of space that surrounded it.
“What a desolate looking place,” Donna said.
“Try living there for a time,” Captain Clauson said.
“I’d rather not, thank you,” She replied.
“Ok, I can see the runway coming into view. We will be on the ground in minutes. Prepare for landing,” Dedron said.
Donna strapped herself into the seat beside Dedron and braced herself. The moon had no atmosphere, so there was no need to worry about turbulence. The cruiser touched down without incident and was not asked for clearance. It seemed as though no one was manning the small control tower that was next to the runway.
“You are fortunate. There is no one stationed here at this time,” the captain said once the ship came to a stop on the runway. Indeed, there didn’t seem to be any sign of movement anywhere. However, the ship’s communicator immediately began to light up. They all knew who was trying to message them without having to look.
“That would be Commander Perbron wanting to know why we aren’t going to the re-fueling station at Kelron,” Captain Clauson said.
“Tell him the ship was just short of the fuel that was needed and had to make an emergency landing on the Dark Moon,” Dedron said.
“Very well,” Captain Clauson said. Donna and Dedron unstrapped themselves from their chairs and stepped away form the view of the communication camera, keeping a laser pistol trained on the captain.
“Captain, what is going on? You said you were going to the re-fueling station?” Perbron said angrily.
“Yes sir, we have had to make an emergency landing just short of our desired destination due to a lack of fuel,” the captain said.
“Hmm, well too bad you couldn’t make it to the main landing. There is no fuel available at the western mining compound. I will send some soldiers with a supply of fuel your way,” he said.
“Yes sir.”
“As soon as the ship is re-fueled, I want that ship headed for Yoanthuma. Is that understood?”
“Yes sir.” Perbron switched off the communicator.
“We’ve got to get out of here immediately. There will be Remoir soldiers headed this way any moment. You are coming with us, captain. We may yet need you,” Dedron stated. The captain did not seem happy with this arrangement but had little choice in the matter. They put on space suits and strapped on oxygen packs in order to deal with the lack of oxygen. As soon as they stepped out onto the black sands of the desolate moon, a hovercraft was seen coming towards them in the distance.
“Quickly, let’s get to the mining compound and get out of sight!” Dedron shouted. The captain and Donna followed him to a nearby dome-shaped building. Dedron was unable to access the doors so he ran around behind the building where he could hide and keep the hovercraft in view. The three of them peered out from behind the building. Donna kept her laser pistol at the ready in case the captain should try something. The captain was looking for any opportunity to gain an advantage over her and Dedron.
The hovercraft stopped beside the parked cruiser and three armed Remoirs exited it. Two of them were carrying a large tank of hydrogen fuel. The first Remoir in the group was trying to make contact with the inhabitants of the cruiser to no avail. Finally, after making several attempts to contact the captain, the Remoir forced open the door of the cruiser and entered the ship. The two Remoir carrying the fuel tank entered behind him.
“Now’s our chance. We should grab that hover craft and get to the main facility before
they exit the ship!” Donna said.
“Great idea!” Dedron said.
“You will have them swarming on you like flies in no time. As soon as they discover that there is no one aboard the ship except my crew that has been imprisoned, there will be soldiers everywhere and no escape for you,” the captain said.
“I don’t remember asking your opinion,” Donna snapped. “Come on, get inside that hovercraft immediately if you don’t want to be disintegrated!”
“You are so gorgeous when you take charge!” Dedron said.
The three of them ran to the hovercraft and got inside of it. As soon as Dedron closed its doors, which opened from the top, the Remoir guards began to exit the cruiser. Dedron had never operated a Remoir hovercraft before so he was uncertain about the controls.
“Quick captain. How do we operate this thing?”
“The ignition button is on your right. After the craft’s engine is engaged, you can control your speed and hover height with this control stick over here,” The captain said.
“Thanks,” Dedron said as he started up the hovercraft and moved the control stick all of the way up. The hovercraft jerked forward just as the Remoir outside the cruiser ship began to fire at them. They quickly left the mining outpost behind as they streaked across the black sand into an area marked by deep craters and canyons. Donna was watching the terrain up ahead along with Dedron. The captain noticed that her attention was diverted from him although she still had a laser pistol in her hand. He saw his opportunity and lunged for the gun. Donna cried out as she fought with the captain for control of her weapon.
Chapter 11:
Captain Clauson grabbed the gun before Donna could get to it and quickly turned around to try and get a shot off. Luckily, Dedron beat him to the punch and shot his hand. The captain cried out in pain, dropped the weapon and fell to the floor in agony. All that was left of his hand was a burnt stump. There was an acrid burning smell in the air.
“You’re lucky that I didn’t kill you!” Dedron shouted at the captain. He was writhing in pain and unable to even garner a response.
“You should have killed him,” Donna said.
“We still need him alive to provide us with information and to use as a hostage if needed. Besides you know what they taught us in the Defense Squad. Don’t kill unless it is absolutely necessary,” Dedron said.
“Don’t try anything like that again!” Donna shouted as she picked up her laser gun and pointed it at the captain.
The captain got to his feet and took a seat, still clutching his maimed hand.
Meanwhile, the Remoir guards had just discovered their own men that had been placed in cells on the space cruiser. They released the prisoners and contacted Perbron about their discovery.
“Sir, we have a problem. We’ve just discovered Captain Clauson’s cruiser ship and the crew members were imprisoned on the prison level. There is no sign of the captain, and apparently someone has made off with our hover craft sir,” one of the guards said, using the cruiser’s communicator.
“What? Alert all soldiers on the Dark Moon to the presence of an enemy in their midst. I’m guessing the intruders either have the captain with them or they’ve killed him. I also suspect that our friends from the Defense Squad are behind this. Order the guards at the main complex to move Mrs. Stevens to the underground storage compound. They are going to find quite a surprise waiting on them when they try to rescue their loved one,” Perbron said gleefully.
“Yes sir!” the guard answered. He immediately turned on his communicator to warn the guards of the situation.
“Larborn, we have a situation. Our hovercraft has been commandeered by an enemy combatant. They are likely headed your way. Commander Perbron has ordered that we attack them on sight, and move the human female to the underground compound,” he said.
“We will be ready, Urborn,” he replied.
At that exact same moment, Dedron and Donna were about to reach the main compound. They were only about a mile away when Dedron noticed that there were several Remoir soldiers pouring out of two entrances to the large, dome-shaped building. He pulled the hovercraft behind a small building that looked to be an abandoned guard post.
“What are you doing?” Donna asked.
“We are going to have to take a more stealthy approach. Those guards have probably been sent out for a reason, and we may in fact be the reason,” Dedron replied.
“That is wise of you. More than likely, they know what has transpired by now,” Captain Clauson remarked, still clutching his ruined hand. Dedron ignored this comment due to the fact that he was pondering their next move.
“Tie up the captain, Donna. We have some guards to hunt,” Dedron said.
“What? Don’t you need me?” he said.
“Not anymore,” Dedron said. Donna got a length of rope from her supply bag and began to tie the captain’s wrists and tie him to his chair in the hovercraft. Donna and Dedron took up position behind the guard post with their laser guns at the ready.
“We need to disguise ourselves as Remoir guards in order to gain access to the main compound. When the guards come past us, we need to attack them and take their uniforms,” Dedron said.
“That’s just what I was thinking,” Donna said.
They didn’t have long to wait before a hovercraft zoomed towards the guard post. As soon as the hovercraft was next to the guard post, Dedron gave the order to fire.
“NOW!” he commanded.
Both Donna and Dedron stepped out from their hiding place and fired at the hovercraft’s thrusters. The back end of the craft erupted into a mass of flames, and the Remoir that were inside quickly exited the vehicle.
“Freeze!” Dedron and Donna both yelled, holding their laser pistols in front of them. The guards threw their hands into the air in a gesture of surrender.
“Drop your weapons!” Donna yelled. The two guards dropped their laser cannons and blaster grenades onto the ground. Slowly, Donna and Dedron crept up to them and confiscated the weapons. Donna placed them in her supply bag while Dedron held them both at gunpoint.
“Let’s have your robes and clearance badges!” Dedron commanded. “And don’t try anything funny or it will be the last mistake you’ll ever make!”
The Remoir exchanged a puzzled glance and began to disrobe. The sight of the Remoir with no clothes on was very disturbing for both Donna and Dedron. They resembled scaly, frog-like creatures with abnormally large, red eyes.
“Eww, I never realized how hideous they looked beneath those robes,” Donna said. Dedron did not respond to her.
“Into the guard outpost!” Dedron commanded the guards. They followed his orders and walked inside of the small building with their hands in the air. Donna got more lengths of rope out of the supply bag and bound their hands, trying her best to look at them as little as possible. Then, she used more rope to tie them to a metal bar that ran along the width of the building.
“You two stay put and let’s have those clearance badges!” Donna commanded.
“They are pinned to our robes,” one of them answered in a despondent tone.
Dedron and Donna slid the robes on and pulled the hoods over their heads.
“How do I look?” Donna joked.
“A lot better without the robe. A lot better without any clothes at all,” Dedron answered.
“Careful what you say or we may get distracted from our mission,” Donna said. They climbed back in the hovercraft and headed back towards the main compound.
By the time they reached the main compound, there were no more guards emerging from it. They got out of the hovercraft and used their security badges to gain access to the main entrance in the dead center of the dome. A huge door slid open, revealing a narrow corridor. Another group of Remoir guards came down the hallway, headed for the entrance. One of them shouted at Dedron and Donna.
“You there, why are you not headed out to search for the intruders? We have orders to search for the invaders that captured Cap
tain Clauson!” he barked.
“My partner’s weapon isn’t working properly. We are headed to the weapons cache to find a replacement. Then we will resume our patrol,” Dedron said.
“Well, you’re headed the wrong way. You mean to tell me you’re a guard of this compound and don’t know which way to go?”
“Very sorry, sir,” Dedron said as they turned to go the opposite way. The guards went on past them towards the entrance.
“Whew, that was too close,” Donna whispered.
“We need to make our way to the main control center of the compound. There we should be able to pinpoint the location of the prison level where they are likely to have your mother,” Dedron said.
“Which way do we go?” Donna asked.
“Good question,” Dedron said.
“I have an idea,” Donna said as she saw two more guards coming down the corridor.
“You there. Tell us where to find the prison level. We’ve been ordered to move the human prisoner and we are new to this location,” Donna said, in the deepest voice she could muster.
“That’s impossible because they just moved the prisoner. Who are you?” the guard asked, reaching for his weapon. Dedron beat him to the punch and pointed his laser pistol at the guard.
“Don’t try anything that you might regret, Remoir. Tell us where they have moved the prisoner, and do it fast!” Dedron said. The guard looked around him as if he wanted to warn someone, but there was no one anywhere around.
“They have moved her to the underground storage facility, about a mile east of here, but you will not be able to access it with your security badges,” the guard said, defiantly.
“Get some more rope, Donna,” Dedron said. Donna bound this guard and shoved him into a nearby supply closet.
“Come on, we have to hurry!” Donna urged Dedron as they moved back towards the entrance to the main compound. Some other guards rushed by them but paid them little mind thinking that Dedron and Donna were guards just like them. Once they got outside the compound, they jumped into the hovercraft and drove off towards the east where the guard had told them to go. As soon as they took off across the dark, crater-filled landscape, they saw another hovercraft just up ahead of them. In front of the other hovercraft, a huge half dome suddenly lifted up from one of the craters and began to open.
A New Reason To Fight: An Intergalactic Romance Page 16
