by Cheree Alsop
“Your father would protect you,” she began.
Gage shook his head. “He’s a Commandant of the Corian Day Fleet and an Ambassador for the CUOC. I can’t let him jeopardize that by taking in a pirate.”
“Don’t you think that should be his decision?” Sienna asked.
At his silence, she shook her head. “All finished. Let me clean this up and we should probably remove the stitches across your ribs. It looks like that one’s healing just fine.”
She ran a rag across his chest, cleaning away the blood. Her movements slowed. Gage glanced up and found her staring at his skin.
“What is that?” she asked.
He sucked in a steeling breath and pushed up. When she saw what he was doing, she helped him to a sitting position.
“I showed you what Donovan did,” he said softly.
She nodded. “Yes, but only glimpses. This? This is so cruel.” She shook her head as if she couldn’t understand. Her fingers traced the fine lines that ran across his entire torso.
Gage knew without looking down that she touched the scars from Donovan’s blade. They were so precise, running from the bandages that covered his right shoulder and down in a diagonal across his stomach. Another set started at his left shoulder and arced over his heart. His brother had been so careful not to cut too deep and risk losing his victim before he paid for his actions. The acid had ensured that the wounds healed on top but simmered beneath. Each line had been placed millimeters from the one before in a pattern so exacting it looked like it had been made by a machine.
“I didn’t see this in your bedroom on Corian. The lighting was dim. If I had—”
“It wouldn’t change anything,” Gage replied. He reached for his shirt. “Thank you for your help.”
She caught his hand. “I still need to remove your stitches.”
“I can do it myself,” he told her.
She gave him a challenging look. “Really? With your shoulder like that? Good luck.” She set the curved scissors in his hand. “I need to see this.”
Gage bristled at her tone. He might have thought to sneak back into the Medical Bay later to have Cisco remove the stitches, but he couldn’t back out now.
He held the scissors in his left hand. Over the years, he had worked hard to perfect his ability to throw knifes, fight, or shoot with both hands in case one got injured. He had seen too many soldiers and pirates killed because of their inability to use anything when their dominant hand was useless; however, turning that same skill into snipping stitches that were barely visible when he twisted to look down at them was a different matter. It didn’t help that he had to hold his right arm away from his side, a motion that was painful at best and agonizing if he shifted his injured shoulder just barely the wrong way.
Gage let out a breath when the scissors successfully snipped through the first stitch. His hand shook. He wondered if it was from the anesthesia wearing off or the fact that he had nearly given himself a reason for more stitches in the time it took to cut just one simple knot in the thread.
“Oh, give it to me,” Sienna said. She snatched the scissors from his hand and proceeded to cut the knots with quick, practiced movements. “Why are you so stubborn?” she demanded as she worked.
“Because if I die, Donovan wins.”
She set the scissors down on the table and looked up at him, her green eyes flashing. “Is that really all that drives you? A chance for revenge against your brother for something you didn’t even do? Isn’t life worth more than that to you?”
Her words took Gage back. He stared at her. For some reason, it appeared very important to her that he answer. He almost went with something flippant like, ‘Revenge adds a sweet, ironic bitterness that livens up what would be my otherwise mundane life,’ or ‘Everybody should have something to avenge; it gives purpose to waking up in the morning.’ Instead, he went with the truth. “The lives of my crew are the reason I’m still alive. Many of them have families they protect and hide. I’ve given my crew a home here on the Kratos; it’s my job to see them safely back to their loved ones.”
His honesty took away some of the accusation in her expression. She handed him back his shirt. “I’ll help you put it on.”
“I can do—” He paused under her watch and then nodded. “Thank you.”
She helped him work his shirt back over his head. When she stepped behind him to help him pull it down, he felt her hands pause. He waited with his muscles tense for her to comment about the matching scars that ran down his back, but she kept silent and finished smoothing down his shirt.
“There,” she said. “You’d look nearly one hundred percent if that tear in your shirt didn’t give you away.” She touched his shoulder gently where the bandages showed through the rip in the cloth from the Ketulan’s claw. “I can patch that for you.”
Gage shook his head. “Believe it or not, I’m a fair hand with a needle myself.” He lifted his injured shoulder and hid a wince. “Not quite the artist with wounds as you are, but I take care of my own clothes. Thank you, though, for the offer.”
“You’re welcome,” she replied. “You could use a sling on that arm to keep the pressure from your shoulder, but I couldn’t find anything here.”
“I’ll ask Cisco about it later,” Gage said.
Sienna pulled off the dark green headscarf she had been wearing to keep her hair under control. Before he could protest, she stepped behind him, eased it under his elbow, and tied it at the base of his neck. “That should do until you get something more suitable. Now get some sleep so your shoulder can start healing.”
“Dola silk?” Gage said with a teasing light in his eyes as he fingered the cloth. “Very expensive. Was this a gift?”
“From Parragosh,” Sienna replied with a smirk of her own. “I’m sure it’ll mean a lot to him to know he’s helping the mighty Pirate Gage Metis.”
The intercom beeped before Gage could reply. “Captain?”
Manax’s voice made Gage stand.
“What is it, Manax?” he asked.
“We reached the Terrarians, but something’s definitely wrong.”
“How do you know?”
“I asked them how things are going, and they said fine.”
Gage swore under his breath. “I’ll be right there.”
“Why does that mean things are wrong?” Sienna asked. “They said things are fine.”
“Exactly.” Gage grabbed his torn vest and hurried to the door. “Terrarians never miss an opportunity to complain. They must be under attack.”
Gage took off out of the Medical Bay at a run. Sienna fell in beside him. He reached the bridge in time to see a squinty-eyed, gray Terrarian’s face on the screen.
“Fine, just fine,” the Terrarian, Duggar, repeated.
Manax rose from the Captain’s chair as soon as Gage reached him. “It’s worse than I thought,” the Amphibite said quietly, the black scales around his eyes tightening. “Did you hear that?”
“I put it on repeat,” Klellen said, his scales showing blue and green in his stress. “I never thought I’d hear a Terrarian say something positive.”
“They’re definitely under attack,” Hyra told Gage. “Look at the scan.”
She indicated the monitor that showed a topographical layout of Tanus. The mining community had been created entirely underground. Due to the unstable atmosphere, the Class D planet had been terraformed to support life below the surface. The monitor revealed huge clusters of Terrarians in the big underground caverns.
“Someone’s keeping them there,” Hyra said. “Unfortunately, I can’t make out specific crafts due to the density of the planet’s ore.” She looked at Gage. “We’re going to have to send a ship.”
Gage nodded. “Tersha, have the ground crew meet me at Gull Two. We’ll do a sweep and see if we can find anything. Hyra, stay alert in case we need an immediate evac.”
“Yes, Captain,” Hyra said as Tersha’s voice rang out over the intercom.
�
�You shouldn’t go down there,” Sienna said, indicating his shoulder. “You’re already injured. You could make it worse.”
Gage felt everyone watching him. He straightened regardless of the pain to his shoulder. “Manax, I need a pilot. Klellen, you have the command. Keep the lines open. I don’t know what we’re going to find down there.” He slipped the sling off over his head and held it out to Sienna. “I appreciate your assistance; if we have more wounded returning, I’m sure Cisco could use the help.”
She took the sling from him with an unreadable expression; he knew she watched him when he walked out of the bridge.
“Do you think that was wise, Captain?” Manax asked on their way to the holding bay.
“Which part?”
Manax gave him a knowing look. “You went against her recommendations. She saved you twice.”
“Once,” Gage reminded him. “She saved my life on Corian, I’ll give her that. Cisco could have patched me up here just as easily.” The voice in the back of his head whispered that it wouldn’t have been as gentle of a process. He ignored it and continued with, “I appreciate what’s she’s done for me, but I don’t appreciate her undermining me in front of the crew. I’m the captain. My duties require me to lead, not lay in bed under the orders of some beautiful woman.”
Manax’s dark eyes shone when he said, “First of all, you just called her beautiful. Second, if a beautiful woman told me to lay in bed, I’d be there right now.”
Gage snorted. “And that’s why you’re not Captain.”
“And that’s why you don’t have a girlfriend,” Manax shot back.
Ruck and Yukan were already waiting at the bay.
“Where’s the others?” Gage asked.
“Vinian is grabbing the extra MRs from Gull One and Suye thought it would be wise to bring the infrared headgear. You know how dark it gets down there.”
Gage pulled on a new atmosphere suit. “Good idea. I swear those Terrarians can see blindfolded.”
“That’s impossible,” Ruck said, struggling into her suit beside him. “In order to see, light has to be reflected from the objects we look at. If there is no way for the light to get through the blindfold—”
“I was being facetious,” Gage replied. “I know you can’t see with a blindfold on. Let’s get going.” He climbed into the Gull.
“Come on, Ruck,” Yukan said to the striped Taikan as they followed Gage inside. “The Captain wasn’t making a literal statement. You have to see the meaning behind the words.”
“But the words themselves are the meaning,” Ruck replied. “Otherwise, why use words?”
“That’s a good question,” Manax told her as he crossed the pair on the way to the pilot’s seat. “We should see how far silence gets us.”
“Unless, of course, we’re down there and we need help. I can use the communicator for that, right?” Ruck asked Yukan worriedly.
The Zamarian chuckled and said, “That’s what the communicators are for.”
He and Gage exchanged a humored glance. The Zamarian gave Gage’s shoulder a pointed look. “You sure you should be going down there?”
“I’m fine,” Gage replied shortly. “Let’s go.”
Vinian barged through the door of the Gull with an armful of MRs. “That’s the last of them!” he announced, dumping them into the ammunition bin.
Suye followed close behind with five infrared headsets. “Indy said these are charged and ready to use, though he said if they get shot, we have to watch for glass shards.”
“If they get shot, we’ll be worried about more than glass shards,” Yukan pointed out. At her blank look, he said, “We’ll be dead.”
“True,” Suye replied. She didn’t appear at all bothered by his words. “I’ll tell Indy that next time he needs to make them with bulletproof glass for both safety and convenience.” The Artidus handed out the headsets to each person.
Chapter Ten
Gage took a seat next to Manax. “Head out and keep in contact with the Terrarians. If someone’s watching them, which it sounds like must be the case, we want to keep it nice and casual. Make it seem like a routine visit.”
“Yes Cap,” Manax replied as he maneuvered the Gull away from the SS Kratos.
Gage left the pilot and joined his ground crew. “We don’t know the situation on Tanus yet. This could be a general TL3 pickup, or we could be stepping into an all-out war for the biggest Trilithanium mining planet in the Macrocosm. It wouldn’t be the first time the Terrarians have been overrun. We’re just going to check it out for now.”
“What if the Coalition’s there?” Vinian asked.
“Then we’ll hightail it back to the Kratos and let them eat our exhaust when we blast our way out to the Fingers Nebula,” Gage replied.
“Just a reminder,” Manax called over his shoulder. “We’re running short on TL3 pods, hence the visit to Tanus. We used up the last one getting here. Our AB drive isn’t going to function without them.”
“Alright,” Gage corrected. “We’re going to check out what’s going on below, and if there is a war, we’ll grab a few pods on our way out if we’re lucky.”
“And if not?” Suye asked.
“Then we’ll fight our way out because that’s what we’re good at,” Gage replied.
His ground crew cheered.
“That’s what I’m talking about,” Vinian said with a deep chuckle. “It’s been a while since we’ve had a good fight.” He touched his nose in the Darfian signal for sarcasm. “Ketulans don’t count. Get me near another one of those godless machines, and I’ll tear it apart with my bare hands. Teach it not to mangle our captain or crew.”
“Yeah,” Ruck agreed. She pulled out her pistol and spun it on one finger. “Let me at them!”
“Whoa!” Yukan and Vinian said at the same time.
“Save it for the Ketulans,” Gage told her.
She nodded and put it back in the holster at her waist. It was clear by the fidgeting of her fingers that she would rather hold the weapon than not.
“Did you know the AB drive isn’t called that because it propels the ship from point A to point B at speeds faster than light as most believe?” Ruck said.
Yukan decided to humor her. “Then why is it called that?”
“Because the concept came from a theoretical physicist named Alcubierre who determined that faster-than-light travel works when the space around the object shifts rather than the object itself.”
“Why do you fill your head with unimportant facts?” Vinian asked.
“It’s better than not having anything in my head like you,” Ruck shot back.
“She got you!” Suye said.
“Captain,” Manax called.
Gage moved back to the co-pilot seat. He was about to ask the Amphibite what was wrong when he glanced out the window. He froze with his mouth open.
They were inside the pressurized loading tunnel of Tanus. The airlock bubble that surrounded the opening let ships in and out while still keeping the atmosphere inside. The small Gull flew over rows of ships that already lined the landing dock.
“Macsians,” Gage breathed. His grip tightened on the two-toned blade he hadn’t realized was already in his hand.
The ships that filled the loading tunnel below were no doubt of Macsian origin. The sight of their jagged edges, crude build, and ancient weaponry made it hard for Gage to breathe. He stared at the rows upon rows of the crafts.
“There are so many of them,” Manax said; trepidation laced his words.
The realization of what they were doing on Tanus dawned on Gage. “Enough to put a severe hit on the Unified Militia if they can turn Tanus into a jump base.”
Manax’s dark eyes widened. “If they get a firm hold here, they’re clicks away from any conceivable CUOC or Coalition base. Even Corian would be at risk.”
“Get us down there,” Gage told the pilot.
Manax stared at him. “You’ve got to be kidding. We need to notify the CUOC.”
> “We need to know where we stand,” Gage replied. “This is all supposition. If we can get some solid evidence that what we’re guessing is true—”
“It’s true, Gage! Look!” Manax said.
Gage turned away from the window. “Do you really think the CUOC, the Unified Military, or the Coalition are going to believe a ship full of pirates?” He shook his head. “If we’re going to save any lives down there, we need to act quickly. Drop us off, keep within contact range, and be ready to pick us up as soon as we get what we need.”
Hyra spoke over the intercom, “When we send them evidence that what we’re saying is true, they can use the old transporter system to get here much quicker with the Montana one still in working condition. They could be here in minutes.”
“I don’t like this,” Manax said.
Gage watched the rows of Macsian ships pass below. He wondered where all of the troops were. “Me, neither,” he agreed.
To their credit, the ground crew took the news in stride.
“What kind of evidence are we looking for?” Yukan asked.
“Anything that proves the Macsians are planning to use Tanus as their base,” Gage replied. “Yukan, Vinian, and Suye, search the ships. Find any orders. Ruck, you’re with me. Keep in contact and stay together.”
The group ran off the Gull as soon as it touched down. When it left, Gage had the distinct feeling of being stranded on a hostile planet. It wasn’t a pleasant thought.
“Stay out of sight and use stealth kills instead of bullets whenever possible,” Gage said quietly. “Our goal is to get in and out of here without them knowing. Any element of surprise we can give the Unified Militia could make or break this stronghold.”
Yukan and Vinian left to the Macsian ships while Gage and Ruck followed the wall toward the planet’s interior. At the first bend, Ruck paused. Terrarian bodies had been piled near the wall in a huge mound. Gage touched one of the gray, blunt-clawed hands.
“What are you doing?” Ruck whispered.
“The body’s not stiff,” Gage replied. “The blood’s fresh. Look.” He held up his glove. The red smear of the Terrarian’s blood showed on his fingertips.
