Last Stand on Talos Seven

by Rodney Hartman

  A wide smile appeared on Janet’s face. “That outa light a fire under someone’s rear end. The commandant’s wife is Councilwoman Deluth. She used to be a wizard scout. She knows what a titanium strike of this magnitude would mean to the Empire. If I know her, she’ll call an emergency meeting of the Imperial High Council and expedite a decision.” Her smile grew even wider. “Heck, if we’re lucky, we could have a destroyer or two orbiting Talos in a couple of days.” She looked at the mayor and the two teens. “That would be the end of your pirate troubles. No one would dare challenge the Empire’s mining rights once they stake a claim. It would mean full-scale war. No one’s that stupid. Not even pirates.”

  Trinity cleared her throat. “Let’s hope not. In the meantime, Janet, I want you to load up the transport with the Leviathan and a couple of the other cats along with their crews and take them to the mine. The Leviathan’s too big to get through the last part of the trails to the mine.”

  “Are you expecting trouble?” asked the special operations officer.

  “Expecting?” Trinity said. “No, but if the titanium vein’s as rich as we hope, then I’m not taking any chances. McAvits has the Donovan out on routine patrol, so we don’t have space cover. I want some real security at the mine as soon as we can get it. When credits are involved, you never know what someone might try.”

  The others at the table nodded. Greed was a powerful motivator even to the best of people.

  Chapter 17 – Betrayal

  ___________________________________

  The darkness of the pit mine was broken only by the two headlights of the hover-truck that was parked next to the opening in the cliff face. The potbellied man watched his son hook up the seat harness and attach it to the rope. Once it was secure, the young man peered dubiously down the hole.

  “I don’t understand why we’re the ones who’ve got to get a sample,” said his son. “We’re farmers, not miners. Why not ask the mayor to send one of the townies down to get a sample? They’re used to doing it. For that matter, why do we even need samples? And why do we need them at four o’clock in the morning?”

  The potbellied man glanced at his wrist-timer before looking back at his son. “We just do. Now stop asking questions.” He handed the young man a small box with two prongs sticking out of the top. “Once you grab a couple of samples, hold this up against the vein in the wall.” He pointed at a light near the two prongs. “When this turns green, call me on your communicator. I’ll pull you back up.”

  The son looked down the hole again. “Dad, I’m not sure—”

  The potbellied man glanced at his watch again. “We don’t have time for this.” He placed his right hand on his son’s chest and shoved. “Now go!”

  The young man fell back into the hole. The rope tightened on the seat harness, stopping his decent with his head just above the mine floor.

  “All right. I’m going.”

  As the young man began rappelling down the side of the hole, the potbellied man peered over the lip of the opening. “Don’t forget to call me so I can pull you back up.”

  His son didn’t bother replying. He just kept rappelling lower down the dark shaft.

  The potbellied man watched the light from his son’s headlamp growing dimmer until it was only a faint glow. Then the movement of the rope stopped.

  The communicator on the potbellied man’s belt crackled.

  “I’m down,” came the voice of his son.

  The potbellied man glanced at his wrist-timer again before looking at the opposite rim of the mine pit.

  Hurry, thought the man. I’ve got to get that sample. The pirates are expecting my call. I’ve got to get it done before anyone from town shows up.

  An image of the long-range hologram transmitter stashed in the back of the hover-truck flashed in the man’s mind. He’d been able to make contact with one of the pirates’ scout ships while his son was getting ready at the house. The memory of the conversation with the scout ship commander wasn’t a pleasant one. The pirate captain had been full of threats and scorn even after he’d been told about the discovery of the titanium vein. It was only after a series of hisses came from off screen that the pirate had shown interest in the vein. A shiver ran up the potbellied man’s back as he remembered seeing a leathery wingtip at the corner of the hologram just before the connection had been cutoff.

  I don’t care who the pirates are working with, the potbellied man thought. All that matters is my family. I warned the townies. Whatever happens to them is on their own heads. As long as the pirates get my family and me off Talos, my conscience is clear.

  The next five minutes dragged by. Finally the communicator on the man’s belt gave a loud click.

  “I’m done,” said his son.

  The man flicked the transmit switch on his communicator. “You’ve got the samples, and you’ve done the test, right?”

  “Yes,” said his son. “I did what you asked. Now pull me up. I don’t like it down here.”

  The potbellied man ran back to his truck. He was careful not to trip on the rope he’d attached to the winch on the front of the vehicle. Once in the cab, he flicked the winch’s power switch. The rope began retracting on the metal drum. The man was half tempted to speed up the winch, but he controlled himself. He had no desire to hurt his son.

  After another minute, the man noticed the glow of a light on the cliff face above the hole. Ten seconds later, his son’s arms reached over the rim of the hole followed by his son’s head and chest. The potbellied man shut off the winch’s power, jumped out of the cab, and ran to help his son climb out of the hole.

  Once the young man was on solid ground, the potbellied man held out his hands. “Let me see the samples. Show me what you’ve got.”

  His son dutifully pulled a half dozen thumb-sized pieces of metal out of his pocket and dumped them into his father’s waiting hands.

  Lifting one of the pieces of metal to eye level, the potbellied man rotated it in the light from the hover-truck. Placing the samples in his pocket, the man pointed at the ore tester dangling from a strap around his son’s neck. “Let me have it.”

  The young man removed the strap from his neck and handed the device to his father.

  The potbellied man cycled the ore tester through the test results. He whistled. “It’s better than I expected.” The man grinned. “This is our ticket out of here.”

  The son frowned. “What are you talking about? Our ticket out of where?”

  The potbellied man laughed. “Off of this stinking planet, boy.” He pulled one of the samples out of his pocket. “Don’t you know what this is?”

  His son stared back at him and shrugged his shoulders. “We’re in a titanium mine, so I assume it’s titanium. So what?”

  “It’s not just titanium, boy. It’s almost pure titanium. It doesn’t come this way. Do you know how many tons of ore has to be processed to get a single gram of titanium dust?”

  The son looked back blankly.

  The man laughed. He didn’t know either, but he didn’t care. “Well, it’s a lot.” He held the sample out. “There’s nothing like this anywhere in the galaxy. We’re rich, boy, and we’re going to make the most of it.”

  “How?”

  “Never you mind how? Get in the cab. I’ll be there in a minute.”

  The potbellied man waited until his son had climbed into the cab of the hover-truck before heading to the back of the vehicle. Opening the double door to the enclosed cargo area, the man uncovered the hologram transmitter and switched it on. An image of a half-meter tall man appeared over a circular disk on the top side of the transmitter.

  “Well, it took you long enough,” snarled the pirate. “You’d best have what you said, or I swear we’ll hunt you and everyone in your family down and rip your hearts out.”

  Sweat popped out on the potbellied man’s forehead. He wiped at it with his left hand as he pulled the handful of samples out of his pocket. “I told you I’d get them. See for yourself.�
�

  The pirate laughed. It wasn’t a friendly laugh. “What ya take me for? That could be anything?”

  The hissing sound the potbellied man had heard on his earlier call sounded from off screen again.

  The pirate looked at someone, or something, off screen. The pirate’s face turned ashen. “Yes, of course. I, err... of course.” The pirate’s hologram turned back toward the potbellied man. “The assay test results. Send them to us. Now!”

  The potbellied man fumbled at his pocket. “Yes, of course. I’ve got it right—”

  “Dad! What are you doing?”

  Spinning, the potbellied man stared at his son. “I told you to stay in the cab.”

  The young man looked past his dad’s shoulder. His gaze fell on the hologram of the pirate. “Dad. They’re the enemy. What are you—”

  Desperate, the potbellied man grabbed his son by the collar and threw him into the truck’s cargo area. At the same time, he snatched the hologram transmitter out of the way and slammed the cargo doors shut, securing the latch.

  The sound of pounding came from the other side of the doors.

  “Dad. Let me out. You don’t know what you’re doing.”

  The potbellied man placed a hand on a door. “This is the only way, son. Trust me. I’m going to make sure we’re safe.”

  Turning away from the truck, the man placed the transmitter on the ground and knelt beside it. He plugged the leads to the assay tester to the transmitter and pushed the send icon.

  The hologram of the pirate looked over his shoulder as a stream of data scrolled down a computer screen that was built into the scout ship’s control panel. The pirate’s eyes widened. He turned back to stare at the potbellied man. “You’d best not be pulling a fast one on us.”

  “I’m not,” said the potbellied man. “That’s the results. I told you it was almost pure titanium. You said you’d get my family off—”

  “You’ll get what’s coming to you,” snapped the pirate. “What I need you to do now is to get to someplace safe and hunker down until we can get a ship—”

  The hissing sound came from off screen again. The pirate glanced at whoever or whatever was making the noise and nodded his head.

  “On second thought, stay where you’re at,” said the pirate. “We’ll have someone there in a few minutes.”

  The potbellied man glanced at his wrist-timer and frowned. “I can’t stay here. There’ll be a skeleton crew coming to work at the mines in a couple of hours. They might come earlier. I told you about the wizard scouts. I took a risk just—”

  The hologram of the pirate glared at the potbellied man. “You’ll do what I tell you if’n you want to save your miserable hide. I said we’d have someone there in a minute, so stay put.”

  The hologram winked out.

  The pounding from the inside of the truck’s cargo area stopped.

  The potbellied man placed his palm on a cargo door. “You’ll thank me later,” he whispered. “I’m doing what needs to be done. You’ll see. You’ll thank me later.”

  Glancing at his wrist, the potbellied man wiped sweat off his brow. It was too warm. It was always too warm on Talos.

  I hate this place, he thought. I’ll be glad to be rid of it.

  Chapter 18 – Grand Admiral

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  The grand admiral of the Crosoian fleet that had been assigned to invade the Empire’s district five stood on the bridge of the dreadnaught Blood Fury. She listened to the communications officer as her subordinate relayed the communique from the Crosoian scout that had been tasked to monitor Empire and Trecorian movements in the neutral zone. The admiral bared her teeth in frustration. It was too close to the invasion to be bothered with details at a time like this. Still, the Crosoian scout was known to be the best in the federation. The scout had killed three Empire wizard scouts in honorable combat. The grand admiral knew that to be a fact because she’d seen the skulls of the wizard scouts mounted on the Long Wing tribe’s Wall of Honor.

  Besides, thought the grand admiral. The scout is the daughter of the Long Wing tribe’s representative to the council. Even the supreme leader listens to this scout.

  The grand admiral kept her features neutral until the communications officer completed her report. Then she swiveled her ears toward the map of the border between the Crosoian Federation and the Intergalactic Empire’s district five. She listened for the sonic waves denoting the positions of the hundred and fifty dreadnaughts and thirty-two thousand support ships of her invasion fleet. She knew that similar fleets were stationed along the borders of a half a dozen of the Empire’s other districts.

  Soon, she thought, the filthy humans will be wiped from existence. Crosoians will rule the galaxy as intended. I cannot let anything stand in the way of our victory. Still, I cannot ignore the scout’s request to be teleported to Talos. The admiral stretched her wings and gnashed her teeth. Perhaps this is for the best. She has been nothing but trouble from the start. The supreme leader is grooming her for a special mission. He has ordered her to be kept out of major battles. If I send her to Talos, she will be out of my fur until our victory is complete.

  The grand admiral retracted her wings and bared her teeth. She motioned for her science officer to join her. The bat hurried over and raised a paw across her chest.

  “Yes, Admiral,” said the science officer.

  “You saw the results of the assay, I assume.”

  The science officer nodded. “Yes, Admiral. If the readouts are correct, it would be a major source of titanium for our war effort. Will you be sending a fleet to secure Talos?”

  The grand admiral wasn’t in the habit of discussing her decisions with underlings, but the science officer was as close to a friend as the admiral had. She shook her head. “No. The invasion is set for two days. I cannot spare any ships at this time. Even the pirate ships attached to our fleets are needed.” Twitching her ears to make a final listen of the sonic map, the grand admiral made her decision. “I am authorizing a teleport of the scout to the position she gave us on Talos. Order the pirate scout ship assigned to her to make best possible speed to Talos and retrieve the scout after she checks out the supposed titanium vein. If things go as planned, we should have district five under control inside of a week. If the scout verifies the purity of the vein and that there is enough to warrant a full-scale mining operation, we will send a fleet to Talos to take control.”

  The science officer twitched her ears at the ceiling before turning them back to her admiral.

  The grand admiral’s chest turned a dark gray. “You do not approve?”

  “I...I was merely wondering, Sir, why send the scout ship to Talos at all? Once the scout has the samples and has disposed of any witnesses, why not just teleport her to our flagship? I have the necessary equipment to verify the samples.”

  The grand admiral’s chest lightened in color. She bared her fangs in a semi-smile. “Your mind grows addled in your old age, my friend. If you read the earlier reports on Talos by the pirates, you would know that the soil for a thousand kilometers around their town contains enough flecks of titanium dust to disrupt any sensors. We can teleport the scout in using the given coordinates, but our teleporter will not be able to pinpoint the scout’s location with the degree of accuracy necessary to teleport her out. She will need to be retrieved by the pirates’ scout ship. Besides...”

  The science officer’s ears twitched, and the fur above her eyes stiffened. “Sir?”

  The grand admiral bared her teeth in a full smile. “Besides, I do not want the scout back here too soon. She has been a thorn in my side ever since she arrived. The battle for district five will be as good as over if she returns by ship. A speedy teleport back would be err... awkward.”

  The science officer nodded. “As you say, Admiral.” Her ears fluttered slightly. “Uh, and what about the report that there are wizard scouts on Talos?”

  The grand admiral snorted, sending a spray of mucus into the air. “O
ne wizard scout and five disabled humans. I hardly think they would prove a match for the best Crosoian scout in the federation.” She hissed a laugh. “I do not believe for one minute that this assay report is true. Titanium ore that pure is not possible. If it were, I would risk one of my fleets even this close to the battle for district five. No my friend. I believe this is all a ploy by the scout to worm her way into the battle for district five and steal our glory. The Empire is not in the habit of sending wizard scouts to planets in the neutral zone. I seriously doubt there are any wizard scouts on Talos.” Baring her teeth wide, the grand admiral hissed, “But if there are, it would be no great loss to me if the supreme leader’s pet scout died in the process.”

  The science officer nodded.

  The grand admiral spread her wings and stared down at her friend. “Make it happen. I have a war to fight.”

  Chapter 19 – Hover Tank

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  The light hover-tank made good speed across the abandoned wheat fields. Once it passed the last of the old planting grounds and entered the rolling hills, Connor had to slow the tank down for safety reasons.

  “How much longer?” Anna asked, shouting the question out loud instead of using the tank’s intercom. The inside of the light hover-tank was crowded since it was only intended for a crew of three. Wizard Scout’s Trevor and Trinity were occupying the gunner and loader positions. That left Connor and her to share the driver’s seat. It was a tight fit. Since Connor was driving, she tried to give him most of the seat, which made for a bumpy ride for her.

  Taking his eyes off the trail, Connor turned his head and shouted into Anna’s ear. “I’d guess another ten minutes. Too bad this thing doesn’t fly. I’ve got to stick to the path. I’ll tell you one thing. Trinity was right not to try and take any of the larger cats up this trail. I doubt they’d make it.”