Last Stand on Talos Seven

by Rodney Hartman

  The crowd stopped running for the most part. Some people had to be held in place by others. Once the chaos died down except for the crying of the children, the pirate in the cat spoke again.

  “We hear this same sob story from every worthless mining planet and asteroid on our route. ‘The vein’s running out. We’re doing all we can. Please leave us alone.’” The pirate laughed. “There’s still titanium in that mine, and you’d best figure out a way to get at it. We provide you protection from pirates less kind than us. And how do you repay our generosity?” He pointed at the pile of ore with the cat’s four-barrelled plasma rifle. “We told you how much tribute we expected. You fell short. Your mayor has paid the price for your mistake. The next time we come, we aren’t going to be so lenient. We’ll be back in six months. When we get here, you’d better have twice what you’ve got this time, or I swear we won’t waste time landing. We’ll just drop a nuke and be done with the whole lot of you.” The cat started to turn back to the shuttle but stopped halfway through the maneuver. The pirate reversed the light UHAAV and looked back at the crowd. “And don’t be thinking about trying to run away and hide in the hills. The next time I come, I’ll bring a battalion of infantry with me and a platoon of cats. We’ll make an example out of you and hunt every one of you down. There’s no escape for you. I suggest you deal with the fact and get back to mining.”

  With that, the cat turned and entered the shuttle. The six pirates in power-armor followed close behind. As soon as the shuttle’s ramp closed, the ship took off and headed up to the waiting transport. A yellow beam from the transport ship’s belly shot down and touched the pile of titanium ore. The blocks of processed titanium ore rose into the air until they disappeared in the bowels of the hovering ship. Soon after, the roar of ion engines increased as the large transport moved higher. Before long, it was just a speck in the sky. Then it was gone completely.

  Not gone, Anna thought. They’ll be back. Next time I swear we’ll be ready.

  Chapter 2 – Smoking Hole

  _____________________

  The funeral for Mayor O’Reilly was done on the spot. At the mayor’s request, the undertaker had been standing by just in case. The hasty burial ceremony was a solemn affair. Most of the town was already there, having already assembled for the offering tribute. The priest said a few words, encouraging the crowd not to give up. Then it was over.

  As the people dispersed, Anna spotted Connor’s red hair across the street. He was talking to a half dozen of the younger men from the mine and pointing up into the sky.

  As if sensing her stare, Connor looked over. When he caught her eye, he nodded.

  After a slight hesitation, Anna returned his nod, suspicious of the boy’s interest. Other than a few words at school or while working at the mines, she’d certainly never given him any reason to take notice of her. Their talk earlier had been the most words said between them in a month of Sundays.

  With a final word to the mine workers, Connor turned and made his way toward her. When he drew close, he started right in as if they were on friendly terms. “I’ve been talking to some of the others. We’ve got the rest of the day off while the old folks decide who’ll be the next mayor. That is, if they can find anyone who’ll take the job.” He glanced over his shoulder at the hover-truck that was carrying the late mayor’s coffin to the town’s crematory. “I sure as heck wouldn’t want it.”

  Anna glanced around at what remained of the dispersing crowd. A more dejected group of people she couldn’t imagine. For some reason, Anna let her normal shields down a little. Perhaps it was the obvious hopelessness of the situation. Whatever the reason, she allowed some of her emotions to rise to the surface. She shook her head in disgust. “It doesn’t matter who they get. None of the adults have the guts to stand up to the pirates. Don’t they realize we need to fight back?”

  Connor glanced around as if making sure no one was close enough to hear. “It’s not just the adults. I was trying to convince Artrim, Dylan, and some of the others from the mine that we needed to resist, but they’re as whipped as their parents. They think it’s hopeless.” Looking over at her as if seeking a hope of his own, Connor said, “I’m starting to wonder if they’re right. What can a handful of teenagers do? What can anyone do for that matter? We don’t have enough weapons in town to blast our way out of a grain sack.”

  Anna resisted the urge to tell Connor her plan. She’d certainly kept it a secret long enough, but she knew that she had to keep it to herself a little while longer. Her parents had started the plan shortly after the first pirates arrived. She’d continued with the preparations after their deaths. Her self-imposed mission to finish what her parents had started was all that had kept her going over the last three years. She looked at the boy as he eyed her. His penetrating blue eyes drew her in. Anna’s resolve to keep the plan a secret nearly crumbled.

  No, Anna thought. He’s had an aunt and uncle to put a roof over his head and food on his plate for the last three years. The only one who I’ve been able to rely on is me. I’ll do the plan on my own. Anybody else will just get in the way.

  Glancing at the ground, Connor began scooting a loose stone around with the toe of his right foot. “Uh, you mentioned something about a plan earlier. What did you mean by that?”

  “Nothing,” Anna snapped, regretting her previous slip of the tongue. “I was mad, that was all.”

  Taking a final kick at the stone, Connor sent it toward the other side of the street. It hit the cement foundation of the old grocery building before plopping back onto the hard-packed dirt street. “So you don’t have a plan. Is that what you’re telling me?” He locked eyes with her. “You know, Anna, sometimes you’re a bad liar.” He grinned. “That’s just my opinion, so take it for what it’s worth.”

  Anna felt her face growing warm as her temper came bubbling to the surface. Before she could tell the irksome boy what she thought of his or anyone else’s opinion, Connor sniffed the air.

  Glancing around, Connor said, “I smell smoke.” He pointed toward the south end of town. “There. It is smoke. I think it’s coming from the warehouse district.”

  Near panic took hold of Anna as she scanned the southern sky. That section of town had once been used to store the vast amounts of wheat and other crops cultivated from the rich soils of Talos. Her parents had owned a series of warehouses there. After the pirates came to Talos, her mother and father had sold everything except for a single warehouse to support the development of their plan. Her parents and she had lived in the warehouse until her mother and father’s accident. With nowhere else to go, she’d continued living there after their deaths. Her sole purpose in life had become to keep their plan alive in their absence.

  The sliver of smoke called to Anna. Without another word, she took off running down the street leading south.

  Please, she prayed silently. Don’t let it be my warehouse. Not mine. Please.

  With the sound of another set of feet pounding after her, Anna set a fast pace toward her parents’ old storage building. When she entered the warehouse district, the sight of the long, single-story metal buildings reminded her of the time before the pirates had come. She remembered how the supply ships had come from Trecor and the Intergalactic Empire along with other federations every three months to pick up the harvests of grains so they could be transported to less agriculture oriented planets. From what Anna could remember, her parents had been well off then.

  So were most of Talos’s citizens, she thought. The supply ships stopped coming not long after the pirates showed up. Since Talos is in the neutral zone, we’re not under the protection of any of the major federations.

  With no army or navy of their own to protect them, most of the citizens of Talos had been herded from their vast farms and deposited in the only town on Talos. They’d all been forced to work at the mine to process titanium for the pirates. Refusing to do so had resulted in death, quick and simple.

  Beginning to breathe hard, Anna slowe
d her pace slightly. The warehouse district was extensive, and her parent’s storage building was at the extreme southern edge of town. She still had a long ways to go. Unlike the worn two and three story buildings made out of wood and cement composites that composed the town’s center, the buildings in the warehouse district were mostly simple affairs constructed of steel girders covered by thin layers of sheet-metal.

  The warehouses don’t need to be elaborate. All that’s ever been stored in them is farm produce.

  Even as she thought it, Anna knew that wasn’t quite true. Her parents’ warehouse stored something much more valuable than mere grain.

  Still, she thought as she passed a particularly sun-faded warehouse, there was no need to make the buildings anything but simple. It’s not like anyone ever came here to look at the architecture. Heck, Talos is so backwater our only town doesn’t even have a name. For that matter, why should it have a name? If someone says they’re going to town, everyone on the planet knows where that is.

  With a shrug of her shoulders, Anna picked up the pace again. The sound of the footsteps that had been gaining behind her began to fade in the distance. She’d always been a fast runner. Before long, she was weaving her way among the final warehouses before the edge of town. The thin column of smoke rose ominously over the area where she knew her parents’ warehouse was located.

  No. Please no, she prayed again. Let it still be there.

  Within another two minutes, Anna discovered her prayers were for not. As she rounded the final corner, she stumbled to a halt and stared at the smoking hole that had been her parents’ storage building. Half of the two-hundred-meter-long metal building was completely obliterated. The other half was partially collapsed in on itself. Anna felt her eyes growing moist. Before the tears came, she sensed a presence next to her left shoulder. It was Connor. She forced her eyes to remain dry.

  I won’t cry, she thought. Not in front of him. Not in front of anyone.

  “That was yours, wasn’t it?” panted Connor in a surprisingly sympathetic voice. “I’m sorry. It must’ve been hit when the pirates fired those warning shots.” He pointed at the part of the warehouse that had taken the brunt of the plasma energy. “Whatever was in there is gone for sure. I hope it wasn’t anything important.”

  Anna’s legs grew suddenly weak. She stumbled and made a grab for the metal pole that supported a nearby street sign. She missed the pole and started for the ground face first. Before she fell completely, two strong arms wrapped around her and eased her into a sitting position with her back against the pole.

  “Hey, what is it?” asked Connor in a voice higher pitched than normal. He knelt next to her and began fanning her face with his hat. “Come on now. Don’t pass out on me, Anna.”

  Embarrassed at her show of weakness, Anna knocked the hat away with her left hand. After drawing in a couple of deep breaths, she tore her eyes away from the still smoking hole and looked into the boy’s bright blue eyes. Like before, they drew her in, causing her emotional shields to lower.

  “It’s gone,” she whispered. “It’s all gone.”

  Leaning back, Connor placed his hat back on his head, shoving his red hair underneath. “What’s gone?” he asked, also speaking in a whisper. “Does it have something to do with that plan of yours?”

  Anna took another look at the ruined warehouse. Mom and Dad always told me to keep the plan a secret, she thought. She sighed. What does it matter now? It’s all gone. The plan failed.

  She looked back at the boy. The loss of the building and all it held was the final straw. The thought of facing whatever lay ahead on her own swept over her like a dark cloud. For the first time in three years, Anna knew she needed someone, anyone, to talk to if only for a moment.

  “It had everything to do with the plan,” Anna admitted, relieved that she could finally share her secret with someone. “It doesn’t matter now. Everything’s gone.” Looking down at the ground, Anna shook her head. “What’s the use?”

  Connor stood and reached down with his right hand.

  Turning her gaze upward, Anna made a split-second decision. Grabbing the boy’s hand, she allowed Connor to help her to her feet. He gave her a half smile and shrugged. For some reason, his bright-blue eyes made the darkness in Anna less bleak.

  “Maybe it’s not as bad as it looks,” Connor said. “Why don’t you tell me about this plan of yours?” He flashed a full smile. “You never know. I might be able to help. Everyone needs a little help once in a while; even tough girls like you.”

  Whether it was the smile or the fact that it didn’t matter any longer, Anna gave in completely to the blue eyes. Once she started speaking, she found the words pouring out.

  “My parents planned on hiring mercenaries to drive the pirates away,” Anna said. “They managed to hide a sizeable amount of processed titanium during the seven years before their accident. They even acquired a small ship to get them off the planet. The ship didn’t work, but I’ve been fixing it up since...well, I think I had it just about ready to fly. Another month or two, and I’m sure I could’ve taken the titanium off planet, sold it, and come back with some mercenaries to help us.” She pointed at the part of the warehouse that was completely obliterated. “My ship was there. Now it’s gone.”

  Connor looked at the smoking hole that had been the bulk of the warehouse before pointing at the part of the building that was only partially collapsed. “That section of the building isn’t too bad. Maybe we can salvage something from it?”

  Anna took her eyes off the remains of the warehouse long enough to look at the boy. “We?”

  Turning, Connor caught her eye and nodded. “That’s right; we.” His blue eyes softened. “Look, Anna. I’ve been watching you since the... well, since the accident. I know I can’t understand everything you’ve went through, but I’ve had a few problems of my own. The one thing I’ve—”

  “You’re right,” Anna said a little harsher than she intended. “You can’t understand. You’ve had your aunt and uncle. I haven’t had—”

  “My aunt and uncle are kind enough in their own way, but they aren’t my...” Connor’s voice cracked. “I’ve... I’ve, oh, never mind. You wouldn’t understand. You...”

  Connor’s blue eyes took on a watery look. He turned away from Anna to stare at the warehouse. Anna remained silent, unsure what to do.

  After a dozen heartbeats, Connor shook his head and turned back. “I’m tired of the status quo, Anna. I’m sick and tired of the pirates lording over us and no one trying to do anything about it. I was too young to fight back when my parents died at the mines, but things are different now. I’ll be seventeen in a couple of months.” His blue eyes locked with Anna’s. “Like I said, I’ve kept an eye on you since the accident. I’ve seen you filching titanium and taking it back to the warehouse. I... uh, I accidentally saw you one night trading your mom’s jewelry to Jack Dicus for a truckload of scrap electronics. I followed you to this warehouse. You left the door unlocked, so I went inside. I saw—”

  “You did what?” Anna said taking a step back. Her hand unconsciously went to the bulge under her shirt. She noticed Connor’s eyes focus on her hand.

  “What are you planning on doing, Anna?” asked Connor, his voice remaining calm. “Are you going to kill me?” He spread his hands as if inviting the blow. When none came, he continued speaking. “I went into the warehouse and saw your ship. It was the lifeboat off the old Donovan, wasn’t it?”

  After staring at the boy long enough to make him squirm, Anna let her hand drop away from the bulge in her shirt. “It was,” she admitted. “I guess it doesn’t really matter now.” She pointed at the part of the warehouse that was a hole in the ground. “The ship’s gone now. There’s no way I can get another. My parents’ plan failed. I failed.”

  Connor started to take a step toward her but stopped in midstride. He looked back at the section of the warehouse that was still standing. “The processed titanium was in the office the night I snuck in. Tha
t’s in the section that’s only partially collapsed. Maybe it’s still okay. Maybe you can move it somewhere else and—”

  “And what?” Anna snapped. “I told you I’ve got no ship. The pirates destroyed the few starships on Talos when they came the first time. No resupply ship’s been stupid enough to try and land in almost ten years. The pirates keep them away. I’m stuck on this planet just like you and everyone else.”

  “I’ll help you,” said Connor. “Maybe we can get a ship somehow if we put our heads together. Maybe we could—”

  “And how would you be getting a ship?” asked a voice to Anna’s right.

  Spinning on her heels, Anna saw Old Man Ryan standing five paces away, leaning against the side of a faded building. He took a puff from the long pipe he was known for carrying and blew smoke out his nose.

  “Uh...,” Anna said glancing around to see if anyone else had snuck up on them. The streets appeared empty except for the three of them.

  “Don’t bother trying to lie,” said the old man. He pointed the stem of his pipe at the part of the warehouse that was a smoking hole. “I can see a few pieces of the hull from the Donovan’s old lifeboat in the debris. I was the one who sold it to your parents ten years ago. I told them then it was a crazy idea to think they could make it anywhere in that old hunk of junk. Heck, it didn’t even have an energy core for its hyper-drive. The core shorted out when the Donovan crashed. Believe me, if you were planning to try flying in that old thing, the pirates did you a favor by blowing it up. You wouldn’t have made it out of the solar system using only an ion drive, even if it worked, which it didn’t.”

  Anna’s face grew warm. “My parents weren’t crazy,” she snapped. “Not that it matters now, but they bought an energy core for the hyper-drive from the last resupply ship that came to Talos before the pirates started keeping them away. They were converting it to work with the lifeboat before they were killed. I finally finished what they started last week. The engine would’ve worked. I’m sure it would’ve.”