by Calista Skye
Olivia said nothing. She remembered seeing the name General Tarrant on some list, a roster that the MPs had, for some reason. So someone by that name had been on the station, and he would be one of only four generals here, including Star Marshal Hoffner. The story checked out as far as she could tell right here and now.
“Can you guess why they chose you, Olivia?”
“I think you're making all this up, Ethereal.”
“Oh, we stopped making things up long ago. If we ever did. I honestly don't care. The truth is always more effective. So that's what we use. You were his price.”
“I was Tarrant's price?” she misunderstood on purpose.
“I see Wilhelmsen is not the only disruptive bitch on the station. You know perfectly well that I mean Ator'aq.”
“Okay.”
“Tell me what I just said so I know you understand.”
“I was Ator'aq's price.”
“Good girl. Did you know that he was about to leave? That he saw no value in Space Force or in the Space Marines, that he thought that he would let us Ethereals just finish off Earth and then hunt us down when we were leaving the Solar system and not on our guard? No? Only one thing changed his mind.”
Olivia kept her gun aimed squarely at the alien's torso. She would kill him if he moved.
“If you want to know what changed his mind, say 'please tell me',” the Ethereal said.
“Go fuck yourself.”
“Close enough. He saw you. And you became his price. He told your generals that he would only help them if he could have you. It was a low price that they could easily afford, so they agreed. They gave you to him.”
“I don't believe you.”
The Ethereals eyes were huge and almost child-like in the sincerity they radiated. “You should. Like I said, we don't make things up. Why would we? They gave you to him for his very own. They had no idea why. They were just happy his price was so low. Just one space marine sergeant? Without any political connections at all? That's bargain basement. They were so happy he wanted so little that they didn't bother asking you if it was okay with you. But that was all he wanted. He wanted nothing more. It's laughable, Olivia. Sure, you have a cute little face and a nice rack and a round booty. But is that not all you have and all you are? And don't thousands of other women have more of both? Still, you were all he wanted. That's why I'm here now.”
Olivia struggled with both keeping the gun aimed at the Ethereal and process what he was saying. It was a lot to take in and evaluate. How much was a lie and how much was true? She wanted most of all to pull the trigger and get out of this situation the easiest way she knew how. Getting caught up in all these things was a little out of her league as a simple space marine.
“I can see you're thinking. It's charming, because it's not what your species does best. Let me make this easier for you. We want to know why you're so important to the Braxian barbarian. We're stumped. You're not worth anything, as far as we can tell. Zero value. For him, you're worth hampering his own efforts by tying him down with the ridiculous Space Force and changing his carefully planned strategy for destroying us. He has risked his life's goal to get you. It worries us. I'm sure you can see why.”
She couldn't and she didn't care. If the enemy was uncertain about something, so much the better for her and for Earth.
“Not that it matters,” the Ethereal continued. “To you, I mean. All you must know is that we want to know. And I'm asking you. I know you don't know the answer right now. But I also know that you will find out. When you do, tell me. Tell me why the Braxian wanted you. Any time, day or night. Just say my name backwards and I'll be there. My name is Denibael.”
“I will never tell you shit.”
“Oh, don't tell me shit. Tell me the truth. You will, too. Because while I've been chatting with you for several minutes now, keeping you from doing your sworn duty as a space marine, my friends have acquired something that I think you'll want back. Something important. We will give it to you in exchange for that one little piece of information.”
The Ethereal smiled innocently and Olivia was stunned as the realization hit her. Tessa. They had taken Tessa!
“Of course, the longer I have to wait, the less you will get back. This is time-sensitive information. The price will increase the longer you make me wait. The Braxian had his price. I have mine. And you have yours. Let's all just pay up, Olivia. That's how the world works. Tell me why you're so important to him.”
“If anything happens to her, I'll chase you to the end of the universe.”
The Ethereal stifled another yawn. “Well, I think we're done here. We have what we came for, and you know what to do. See you soon, Olivia.”
The Ethereal sauntered in her direction, his face so wonderfully beautiful she had to shake herself out of a trance. Her gun was still aimed right at him. He was the enemy. No space marine needed to know more than that.
She pulled the trigger and the gun jumped in her hands.
15
Olivia ran on in the darkness. Her head was spinning in confusion and worry. There was a good chance the Ethereals had Tessa.
No, it was more than that. She was sure. They had her. That Ethereal had been too sure of himself.
Now all Olivia wanted was to find Ator'aq. The last shot she had fired directly at the Ethereal from point-blank range hadn't had any effect, as far as she could see. He had just vanished into thin air. At least she had shot, at last. Next time, she wouldn't just stand there and listen to bullshit and enemy nonsense. She'd just shoot.
She got to the entrance to the Friendship section where the Braxians were barracked. The Space Force guards were gone, and that was a bad sign in itself. She stopped. Ator'aq would not just sit in his barracks if the base was under attack by the Ethereals.
She heard a sound from behind her. From another corridor, two Braxians were dragging a third one toward their quarters. He was obviously injured and left a trail of blood on the floor.
She ran over, turning on her light so they could see her. “Need a medic?”
“No thanks, Olivia,” the injured man said, holding a blood-soaked piece of fabric to his abdomen. “We can handle this ourselves. It gladdens me to see you well. Lord Ator'aq is worried about you. It seems the Ethereals are withdrawing, but he is holding some of them back. The utility section.”
The injured man's head slumped forward and his friends dragged him into their section.
Olivia ran the way they had come, following the trail of blood.
The light suddenly came on again and the alarm started wailing once more before it was cut off after a few seconds.
The utility section was where the main machinery of the base was located, most importantly the life support system. It was a maze of machinery and technology, and off limits to everyone but the engineers who kept the complicated systems running.
Olivia could hear fighting in the distance, angry yells and thin squeals and the clanging of metal against metal. And she thought she could hear Ator'aq's deep voice. Knowing that she was near him made her run faster.
She turned a corner, and there they were. Ator'aq and Gar'ox and two other Braxians, as well as several Ethereals. The Braxians fought with their swords, while the Ethereals seemed to only have metal rods to use. The main Ethereal advantage seemed to be their ability to move so fast that they were just a blur. But they were being fought steadily back by the Braxians, who used their swords in intricate patterns and with movements that were almost as fast as the Ethereals'.
The fight appeared to have been going on for some time, because there was blood on the floor along with some strange bundles of shimmering, gray fabric.
Olivia aimed her gun at the closest enemy. The last time she had been faced with an Ethereal, she had been too slow to fire. This time, it would be the first thing she'd do.
She aimed, the visor confirmed that the shot would hit the Ethereal, and she pulled the trigger smoothly. The gun jumped in her hand.
A
tor'aq turned around to see what was happening. She could see his eyes widen when he saw her, and his face cracked into a sincere smile. “Olivia! Stay back and don't fire! We will handle this. Your weapon is inadequate!”
It looked like he was right. The Ethereal she had aimed for didn't seem to have noticed at all, and kept fighting the Braxians like before. And the Braxians were effective with their swords.
As Olivia watched, still keeping her gun raised, Ator'aq feinted and then killed an Ethereal with a lightning fast move that cut the enemy in half. The Ethereal fell to the ground and seemed to collapse in a heap of that same strange fabric that was strewn across the floor.
The remaining Ethereals gathered for what seemed like a desperate last attempt to break out of the trap they were in. They fought with a desperation that pushed Ator'aq and his warriors back for a couple of steps, but they countered the onslaught and set in an extra effort of their own.
Swords and metal rods clanged, sprays of green sparks flew and the Braxians yelled confident war cries. Ethereals collapsed into heaps, and soon there was only one left. The other Braxians pulled back and left him for Ator'aq.
The Braxian king lifted his elaborate sword and held it over his head. “Surrender and we will spare you,” he said, and his deep voice resounded through the corridor.
The Ethereal turned his metal rod on himself and fell to the floor in a heap.
Ator'aq turned around and walked fast over to Olivia, looking her up and down. “Are you injured?”
“No, I'm fine. Thanks.” She could see the relief in his eyes.
“Good. If only that were true for all of your kind. Thankfully, we only have one injured man.”
The Braxian king stooped down and gathered one of the strange bundles of shimmering, gray fabric on the tip of his sword.
“This is rare. Their physical bodies disintegrated when killed, leaving only this nanoshroud. It takes huge energy for them to do this. I have only seen it once before. They must be getting desperate. Gar'ox, Turion – gather it all and keep it from the Earthlings if possible. This we want to keep to ourselves.”
He dropped the fabric and sheathed his sword.
“They don't leave blood for the swords to drink, but the iron is happy anyway. It has slain many enemies. Come.”
The large warrior gently placed a hand on Olivia's back and led her away while his men cleaned up the strange remains of the Ethereals.
“Now you've seen the enemy,” he said. “What is your impression?”
Olivia hesitated. Should she tell him about her encounter with the one that had told her all those things? Or should she reserve that for General Wilhelmsen? But what about Tessa?
“They're strange,” she said. “They seem not to care much about anything.”
“Oh, they care a lot, as immortals must. Not that they're strictly immortal, but they don't die of old age. They seemed to care a lot about something here today, enough to come here in a weakened state. I wonder what happened elsewhere on this station. If they didn't want to expend much energy here, where did they use it? No, this force that we fought here gave me the impression of being a diversion more than anything. Something to keep me occupied while the important things were going on elsewhere. What did you see before you came here?”
What should she say? She trusted Ator'aq. But if he had asked Space Force to give her to him, and no one had told her... She had to make a split-second decision.
“Not much. I was held up in the MP area. Then I came straight here.”
Ator'aq gazed at her sideways. “I see,” he said at last. “I suppose we can talk about that later. I fear the Ethereals wreaked havoc among your friends. I sent some of my men to help when I could spare them from the fighting here in the utility section.”
They had reached the Braxian part of the station. “I will have to go and see the man who was wounded. Then I will go to your leaders and try to figure out what it was the Ethereals wanted. I think it may have been important. You go and see what you can do for your friends. The Ethereals have left now, don't worry. Go!”
The huge warrior gave her a little shove and she stumbled in the direction of the space marine section. She turned to glare at him, but he was already walking fast into his own section. He had to really care about his men.
Olivia activated her comms for the first time since she'd left the MP room.
“Central, this is Lieutenant Cooper.”
“This is an automated message. No contact attempt by you will be accepted at this time. This is an automated message.”
Damn. She turned to the common channel which was used for lots of day-to-day business.
Now, it was a chaos of anguished calls for help and desperate pleas, sobs and cries.
“- help us, for heaven's sake-”
“- can't shut it off, it keeps building-”
“- are all missing. Request orders!”
“- completely blinded! I don't know where I am-”
“- coming back for me, I'm so scared, please help-”
An authoritative voice broke in and said “Any space marines on this channel, switch to channel twenty. Everyone else, stay quiet. Space marines are coming around to every station.”
16
Olivia switched the comms to the emergency battle channel that she had been told many times never to use unless in combat. But she supposed this qualified.
It was a much quieter channel. Marines were always disciplined about their communications.
“- missing, six cooks, about twenty grunts.”
“MPs still here?” the same authoritative voice said. Olivia thought she recognized Captain Duval's voice.
“Yes, sir,” a voice said, and it sounded like Devon. “Two missing, that's Lieutenant Cooper and Sergeant Cooper, her sister. Not sure if Lieutenant Cooper is still listed as an MP, sir. She was here right before all hell broke loose, sir. Sergeant Cooper has not been seen.”
“Copy that. Who else is on this channel?”
Olivia piped up. “Lieutenant Cooper here, sir.”
“Report to General Wilhelmsen, Lieutenant.”
“Sir.”
She wasn't far from the general's office. Now there were more people around, some sitting on the floor and some lying around. Some were dead, Olivia could tell, and some had medics administering to them. In some corridors, the light was working, and in others it was not. It was extremely eerie seeing the normally well-lit and safe station now in a total chaos.
She saw General Wilhelmsen coming towards her, wearing jeans and a purple shirt and a carrying a big, black gun.
“Olivia! There you are,” the general said when they approached. The silver stars were dangling from her ears as always.
“What have you seen? Did Ator'aq say anything?”
“Yes, ma'am. Seems the Ethereals have left. And it also seems they kidnapped my sister.”
“Your sister and about thirty others are missing. Fifteen people are dead. What did Ator'aq do?”
“As far as I know, he went to the utility section where most of the Ethereals were. He killed a whole lot of them, five that I saw. One of his men is injured.”
“How did he kill them? None of our own weapons seem to bite on these damn fairies.”
“Their swords, ma'am.”
“Their swords work where our last-generation guns don't?”
“Yes, ma'am. I shot two myself, but it had no effect.”
“Damn. Our gear is completely unsuited to this war. He said they have left now?”
“Yes, ma'am.”
“They pretty much owned this station for ten minutes. Thankfully Ator'aq sent some of his warriors to our parts of the station, or they might have killed and kidnapped a whole lot more. Shit. This is worse than we ever expected.”
“Ma'am, one of the Ethereals sought me out.”
The general froze and just stared. “Yes?”
“He told me that Star Force had given me to Ator'aq as his price for helping us out.”
/>
The general looked away. “I see. Anything else?”
“And that they had kidnapped Tessa, my sister, and that I could get her back by... by betraying Ator'aq.”
“Who was this Ethereal?”
“I don't know, ma'am. I don't know how to tell them apart. His name might be Denibael.”
“Denibael. Right. Okay, Olivia, don't worry about this. Your sister may turn up. We'll talk more later, and we'll analyze the recordings made by your visor. For now, stay with Ator'aq. As close as you can. The Braxians are the only reason this didn't break Space Force before the war has even begun. Make a note of any little thing he says. Go!”
The general's urgency was contagious, and Olivia took off again. She would not mind being close to Ator'aq. Not at all. At least she would be safe. Unlike Tessa.
The worry for her baby sister settled like a block of ice in her stomach, and she had to consciously keep from retching in her despair. But her space marine training helped her push it to the back of her mind. Duty first. She would deal with everything else later.
17
She met Ator'aq in a hallway and saluted. “I've been ordered to accompany you, sir.”
The alien king just smirked. “Keeping me safe from the bad aliens, huh? Fine. There's no one I would rather have at my side. Of course the bad aliens are long gone. They seem to have kidnapped some people in addition to your sister. The youngest ones, I'm sure. That's how they like their meals.”
Olivia tried desperately to not think of her sister being eaten alive by Ethereals. She fell into step beside him, walking back the way she'd come.
“Sir, is that how you usually fight Ethereals? I mean, with your swords?”
“Yes. Indeed it's the only way. They hate the iron. It's the only substance that bites them. Projectile weapons don't make an impact unless the bullet is iron. Your ray guns don't register at all. Let's go and talk to your generals.”
Just being in Ator'aq's presence made Olivia feel better. He walked beside her with calm steps, unworried, safe and steady as a mountain. He knew how to handle the Ethereals and he would keep her safe. She had an impulse to lean into him, but restrained herself. She was still in uniform.
