“This is my fault. I should have mentioned the drone. But it’s here for your protection. We just need to set up some parameters.”
“You think?” Nan barked. Then she gestured for Jason to look behind him.
Startled, Jason jumped back. The drone was hovering mere inches from his back.
“Get away from me!” Jason yelled.
This brought nervous giggles from both Nan and Mollie.
“Seriously, Jason. That thing creeps me out. Tell it to stay outside. And maybe it can make some noise once in a while,” Nan said.
“Yes, absolutely.” Jason held two fingers to his ear and hailed Ricket.
“Go for Ricket.”
Chapter 9
Chapter 9
Bristol had contemplated leaving—but where would he go? Pirating had been the way of his family, their clan, for hundreds of years. Truth was, it was all he’d ever known. If nothing else, he supposed he was loyal.
Bristol watched as his brother sent another backhand toward Brian’s already red and beaten face. Usually, he was not one to feel much in the way of sympathy for anyone, but this new round of beatings was taking things a bit too far. Fuck, the guy had already lost an eye to his brother’s fury.
Brian, a bloodied makeshift patch covering his now empty right eye socket, moved to protect his damaged face. But he was too slow, or too weary to fend off the blow.
A week had passed since Brian had been chained to a post below ground in the bowels of this ridiculous fortress monstrosity. Made of stone, and virtually all the available timber on this Godforsaken planet, Bristol’s brother’s lair was more like a castle.
“Generalities are useless. So exactly where will I find them?” Captain Stalls asked, his voice stern but hushed.
Bristol had to give Brian his due; he’d still not given up the specific location on Earth for Captain Reynolds or his family. And he knew his brother well enough not to intervene, but the continual torturing of Brian didn’t seem to be working very well.
“Just tell him what he wants to know, Brian,” Bristol said. “Come on, you’re going to tell him eventually anyway.”
Captain Stalls hesitated. “They always do, don’t they, little brother?” Stalls replied, with a quick glance and smile toward Bristol.
“I haven’t lived on or even visited Earth in years. I have no idea where Jason or his family would be living now.”
“So, let’s start with the last place you saw him. How about that?” Stalls asked.
A virtual image of Earth hovered in the air close by. Brian watched as it slowly rotated. Stalls pointed a finger toward North America. “Let’s start with the continent and work our way down from there.”
Stalls knelt down next to Brian and put an arm around his shoulder. Somewhere along the line Stalls had pulled a knife from his sleeve and now held it in front of Brian’s one remaining eye. “Remember this? Silly of me, of course you do. I imagine it was quite uncomfortable, losing an eye that way. Plucked from your head like a plum from a jar. You have plums on your planet, don’t you?”
“We have plums.”
Now seated, Stalls used his hands to virtually expand North America. “Where?”
Brian hesitated, then gestured his head toward the left. The western states of the U.S. magnified. The knife was back in front of his eye.
“San Bernardino. We grew up in San Bernardino, Central Valley Scrapyard. That’s the only place I know where he may still go.”
Stalls got to his feet, then gave Brian several pats on his head. “Release him into the dunes. It’ll give the hoppers something to play with tonight.”
“Why don’t you just kill him? You’ve gotten everything you need from him,” Bristol asked, immediately regretting he’d opened his mouth.
“Oh, so now you want to tell me how to run my business? Perhaps you think you’re ready to lead the clan yourself? Be my guest … but be forewarned, it’s far more trouble than it is worth. You’ve seen it. Nary a day goes by without someone evoking the clan challenge, thinking they are strong enough or cunning enough to take my place at the top. It has not been easy, little brother. The many scars on my body are a testament to that, no?”
“I’m just saying it seems senseless to keep tormenting him. Why not just kill him and be done with it?”
Stalls contemplated that for a moment, then shrugged. “No. Strip him down and deliver him out on the dunes. Do it now and let’s not speak of this again, understood?”
“Yes, okay, whatever.” Bristol watched as his brother rushed across the stone floor and ascended the long stairway.
“What are hoppers?” Brian asked, his one eye still on the stairway.
“Best if you don’t know ahead of time.”
Chapter 10
Chapter 10
As of that morning, the modifications to The Lilly were finally completed and put through an exhaustive regimen of tests and virtual combat scenarios. Jason reluctantly said his goodbyes to Nan and Mollie and wondered if he was doing the right thing leaving them behind. But in the end, he’d left them with the droid, a healthy stock of energy weapons, and one of the older shuttles, parked in the cavern below the scrapyard. With luck, they would be fine and even have some semblance of a normal life again, at least for a while.
The Lilly made her approach to the Allied outpost in the Chihuahuan Desert. Jason, who had been sitting at the desk in his ready room for the last two hours, needed to get his head back into the game. He’d been working and reworking a strategy to deal with the Craing fleet, but each plan of approach came up short. Simple math revealed the problem: fifteen hundred Craing vessels against eight or nine hundred Allied warships. Even with The Lilly’s advanced capabilities, the Craing fleet, with their three massive Dreadnaughts, would be nearly impossible to defeat in any kind of conventional space battle. Although no one had used the words, it was obvious the upcoming confrontation would be all or nothing. A defeat by the Craing fleet would certainly result in the total subjectification of all the Allied worlds, including Earth.
As the Allied Forces Commander, Jason’s father Admiral Reynolds was in command of the EOUPA fleet, as well as its ragtag forces now assembling in space. The logistics alone had become an overwhelming nightmare for the admiral, and Jason had seen and heard little from his father over the past week. In lieu of that, the admiral was adamant that his commanders come up with better, more effective strategies than those proposed thus far.
Jason entered the bridge. The wraparound display, showing the outpost below, was a vision to behold. Freshly painted, the fleet of two hundred and thirty destroyers, light cruisers, and heavy battle cruisers shimmered under the midday sun. Each vessel bore a large U.S. flag at its aft section. Looking at the warships on display, Jason became more cognizant of another potential complication. The vessels’ pilots were mostly Craing, and out-and-out bribery had been used to entice those same Craing prisoners to join the Allied fleet. But it was the threat of being sent back home to the Craing worlds that worked best. Dishonored by a defeat against significantly fewer ships at the edge of the solar system, the captured Craing crewmembers faced public humiliation and inevitable execution if they ever returned home. Jason wondered if they would hold to their new Allied allegiance during intense battle situations … or would their previous loyalty to the Craing Empire re-manifest itself?
Jason gave the order to set down at the designated landing zone, but to keep all systems active and at the ready.
* * *
The admiral had assembled his fleet commanders in the outpost mess hall and Jason took a seat just as Admiral Reynolds moved to the front of the room.
“The Craing will most assuredly be ready for us. The same unconventional methods used by Captain Reynolds and The Lilly crew to defeat the Craing at the edge of our solar system will be expected and, if tried again, could be used against us.”
Heads turned in Jason’s direction. He felt scrutiny from the other officers as they assessed him. Not only was
he the admiral’s son, he had defeated an overwhelming force and virtually saved their planet. There wasn’t a man or woman present, Jason thought, who didn’t want to prove they were just as capable, or even more so, than he.
The admiral continued. “With that said, we have been studying the combat vids from that battle and have uncovered several potential weaknesses within the Craing defenses.” The admiral proceeded then to talk specifics, including the use of drone fighters, combined centralized attack formations, and better utilization and distribution of shields.
Unfortunately, Jason thought to himself, none of that was going to be enough. Perhaps he should have pushed Granger and the Caldurians harder to upgrade the weaponry on the outpost’s fleet and not just on The Lilly. But Granger had been fairly clear that the Caldurians weren’t ready to go that far. It seemed the last thing the Caldurians wanted was an imbalance of military might in the universe, and a force, perhaps, to contend with further on. Simply put, they did not trust us yet. So … the one technological advancement they were given access to would have to be enough.
“With the detection of the Craing fleet on long-range scans,” the admiral continued, “I’ve had numerous enquiries as to how we’ll even reach the Allied systems in time to make a difference. But there have been some new and, quite frankly, exciting developments in that regard. Captain Reynolds, please come on up and give your report.”
Jason made his way to the front of the room where the thousand-plus seated officers silently waited for him to take the podium.
Jason pointed out the large floor-to-ceiling windows to the airfield beyond and the hundreds of warships sitting at the ready. “What if each one of those vessels had the capability to reach virtually anywhere in the universe—and do so in the blink of an eye? This technology may soon be available.”
Expressions of disbelief were followed by low murmurs. This was all about instilling some semblance of hope. Jason maintained an expression of confidence, while in truth, he had no illusions that defeat by the returning Craing fleet wasn’t possibly imminent. He raised a hand. “Hold on, everyone. Let me bring you up to speed: first, about the race of people who call themselves the Caldurians, and then about an alien being simply known as the interchange.”
Chapter 11
Chapter 11
Traveler awakened groggy and feeling strange. He opened his eyes and was relieved that the pain at the back of his head was gone. But something was not right. Perhaps the blow to his skull had made his brain dysfunctional. Certainly hearing voices and seeing brightly-colored images flash before his eyes meant only one thing: he’d gone crazy. He’d witnessed crazy rhinos before. It would be far better to end his life now than to go through life, dishonored, as a crazy one.
Looking around, he knew where he was. This was Medical on board The Lilly. He tried to sit up, but a small hand on his chest pushed him back down.
“Take it easy, Traveler,” Dira said calmly. “You will feel disoriented for a while, and no doubt you want to know what’s going on in your head.”
“I have gone mad. I choose not to live like this. You must let me—”
“Hold on. You’re not mad. What you are feeling is totally normal. Your injuries have been healed by the device you are lying in. It’s called a MediPod.”
“And the pictures and sounds in my mind?”
Dira hesitated. “To make you well, your body required the introduction of nanites into your system. Other procedures, ones that will enhance your capabilities for communications and thought processes, were also added. Others on board, including myself, have these same additions.”
Traveler listened carefully. Dira stood back and he slowly sat up. He realized the pictures in his head were not arbitrary. He was beginning to understand their meaning. He also felt a heightened level of strength throughout his body.
“I feel what you call nanites. I am stronger now. I am smarter now.”
Dira shrugged, then nodded. “Yes, you are.”
“Then I approve of these changes to my body.”
“Good. Over time the systems in your head, we call them nano-devices or nano-tech, will guide you to better understand how to use their functionality. It will take time, so be patient. Do you understand?”
“I understand.”
“Good.”
“When will the others, the other rhino-warriors, begin this process?”
Chapter 12
Chapter 12
Brian was less concerned with his nakedness than with the cold. The cold, and his pounding, aching, head. And there was something wrong with his internal nano-devices. Repeatedly, a countdown timer had appeared. Apparently, something was going to happen in the next few days. He didn’t want to think about that right now. And the pain emanating from his open, oozing eye socket was worse than ever.
They’d left him alone for several hours in the dark dungeon below Stalls’ fortress. When they’d come for him, a part of him hoped his death would be quick; he hated pain. Let others play the hero. He knew his limitations. But they had other plans for him. Two of Stalls’ men released his bonds and dragged him up the stone stairs and out to a waiting hover ship. More like a cart. By the looks of things—some dried blood, several errant bone chips—he was keenly aware others had taken this same joyless ride. An hour or so later, they reached a shoreline—perhaps of an ocean or large lake. They secured him to another pole. Again, someone mentioned hoppers. The two men seemed to be in a hurry. Perhaps that was why they’d only secured his hands and not his feet. At least this way, with his arms wrapped around the pole, he could turn and see what was around him. What the fuck is a hopper? The tide was coming in and small waves lapped several yards from his feet. In the early morning dawn, more and more of the beach became visible. Squinting his solitary eye, Brian could see other poles off in the distance. And there, past several empty poles, was a figure tied to another one, and by the looks of him or her, the body was long dead.
“Shit!” He closed his eyes, unable to believe Stalls had turned on him like this. He’d certainly made their relationship worth Stalls’ while. The business he’d brought him with the Craing was highly profitable. Truth was, Brian knew perfectly well why things had turned out badly. Jason. Jason had humiliated Stalls in front of his own men. No, it was more than that. It was that woman, Nan. Jason’s ex-wife. Stalls wanted her for himself. Brian had learned long ago that love and business don’t mix.
Movement. Brian jerked his head and then spun his body around the pole. Subtle, but there was definitely movement close by, off to his left. There it was again, near where the lapping waves met the sand. They all seemed to arrive at once, as if an early morning bugle call had summoned the troops forth to assemble.
“Holy mother of God! Get the hell away from me!” Brian screamed, while repeatedly kicking out with his bare feet at the approaching monstrosity. Wet and bulbous, the thing moved toward him backward, propelled by four crab-like legs covered with hundreds of knife-like spikes. It seemed to have trouble moving. He saw why. Hanging down from its belly was a large translucent sack. Inside it were four bright orange balls, which jostled around as the creature repositioned itself. Brian figured they were probably eggs.
“Terrific, soon there’ll be four more of these fucking things.”
Brian heard a series of rapid clicking sounds and something else. Actually, he did hear something else—talking. Two more of the eight-foot-long, crablike creatures emerged from beneath the sand. With their arrival, more clicking, and more talking. Crap, his nano-tech was deciphering their clicks. From the sound of things, they were hungry. They were looking at him. They were portioning out his body—Good God, they were deciding who would get what to eat!
“Get back!” he yelled, kicking sand in their direction.
The three crab creatures then turned and were facing him—maneuvering to get in closer. Large rubber band-like mouths gaped, each with a series of tiny fine teeth. Rows and rows of teeth. Brian pulled back against his bonds a
nd looked behind him for anything that could help.
Ahh, now he knew what the pirates were referring to when they spoke of the hoppers. Hundreds of them appeared, jumping ten, twenty feet in the air. They came from the dunes behind and were making their way towards the crabs. Breakfast time.
A hopper landed atop one of the craps directly in front of Brian. Man-like with two arms and two thick legs, it was green and scaly. With three thick fingers, each with long, extended talons, it ripped and pried at the crustacean’s back plates. Brian grimaced as the hopper drove a hand beneath the shell and pulled out a handful of wet white meat and brought it up to his mouth.
“That’s truly disgusting,” he said, but he spoke aloud in a foreign language: the language the hoppers spoke. Aided by NanoCom, Brian was used to the nano-tech in his head utilizing this capability, but the hopper certainly wasn’t. It stopped chewing and looked over at Brian.
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