Pay attention to what you’re doing! she wanted to scream.
“Starship?” Willet asked yet again. No one was listening.
“I know it’s insane.” Jess wanted Satori to believe she understood. Wanted her to know she, Jessica, realized just how crazy it was, what she was suggesting.
Satori held her eyes forward—thankfully—concentrating as she banked them through a narrow pass.
“I thought he could pop his own way back!” she yelled over the roar of wind and machine, whipping them up a ridge and over it, down the other side, dipping on currents of air that made Jessica’s stomach rise.
She swallowed it down. “He can’t. It goes to Earth.”
Satori executed yet another snap maneuver, sweeping close enough to a stand of trees to count the leaves. “Zac’s on Earth?” They were entering the foothills.
“Yes. Maybe.”
The circumstances were horrible to be trying to convince anyone of anything. The loud roar of wind, turbine and wings made even yells hard to hear. The erratic flight necessary to clear the outer fringes of battle, the fact that they were even in a battle, running for their lives—all these things added up to make it near impossible to make a case.
But there was no time for anything else.
“Why is he on Earth?” Satori was incredulous. “I thought the Icon came back here!”
Willet continued looking back and forth between Satori and Jess. About all it seemed he could do in that moment.
“It goes to Earth,” said Jess, wishing this wasn’t so complicated. “And I’m not sure he made it. I have a bad feeling.” She did. A horrible intuition she couldn’t shake.
Satori concentrated on flight. “You mean, maybe he didn’t make it?” Despite her anger she was working to grasp the situation. “He could be floating in space?” She brought them around a soaring peak and higher, clear now of a direct line of sight with the last of the forces at war behind them. As she did so she glanced over her shoulder once more. Jess knew she had the most horrible look on her face.
“Dammit!” Satori put her attention back on the mountainous pass ahead.
Jess swallowed. “That’s why the other Icon isn’t enough. It’s why we need the starship.
“Only the starship can go both places.”
“You just keep pushing!” Satori yelled, exasperated. “Pushing, pushing, pushing! Expecting people to follow! To do what you say! The most absurd things! Now you’ve sent Zac off and he may be floating in space?! Dammit!” She smacked the console. Then again, harder. So hard it made Willet jump.
“I thought this was over,” she kept shaking her head. “Yay! We saved the world from the monster!
“Ha! It’s not over. It’s never over with you. Is it?” She looked back accusingly. Jess wished she would just keep her eyes ahead. Strands of red hair continued their mad dance about her head, a halo of rage as she flew on, grumbling. She faced forward and said no more.
In that moment Willet fixed Jessica’s gaze. Finally, it seemed, he’d found an opening.
He mouthed a single word:
“Starship?”
* *
Kang waited as the robotic arm brought him in. As yet he had no idea what the mechanics of this ship were capable of, but if they were in any way comparable to those of his own world a hydraulic boom—even one of this size—would be no challenge. Escape, however, was not his purpose. He wanted to get aboard this alien craft and so far the arm was helping him do that. If he broke it, or started fighting before he got inside, he was just as likely to end up spinning off into space as he was to make it aboard, and he was quite certain, if he did that, they would not try again to retrieve him. Looking at the armored soldiers waiting for him in the dimly-lit hold, and having now studied the craft in greater detail, he was confident they would simply try to blow him to bits.
These were warriors.
Seven of the dark-suited men stood in wait. They seemed stuck to the floor of the hold, and as he at last passed within the confines of that room he felt himself pass through an invisible shimmer, the smell of breathable air washing over him, some sort of artificial gravity tugging him to the deck.
Yes! he enthused silently.
He must gain control of this machine.
The arm stopped slowly and released him. He stepped from it; stood naturally, arms at his sides, observing his would-be captors. They were human-like, but definitely not human. Their black armor did not look powered, not like the Skull Boys and Astake of his world; more a suit worn rather than operated. They carried no rifles or sidearms, but each held a club in one hand. The club looked to be made of something similar to the armor and had what he could see were retractable blades. No doubt a brutal, gruesome weapon against a target of flesh and bone.
He grinned.
As he did this they separated a bit, cautious of him now that he was among them. They were slightly taller than he was, making them taller than an average man, uniformly on the slim side, and though he could not see faces through the reflective gold of their stylized visors—a color that stood out brightly against the gloss black of the rest of them—he had a sense they were of some exquisite visage beneath those elegantly shaped helmets. Each sported a long tail of hair that protruded from the rear of the helmet, all but one of them dark. The exception was white. Whether the hair was mere decoration or it was their actual hair pulled through an opening it gave them an air of the living. Otherwise they might as easily have been robots as men.
The white-haired one spoke. Stepped to the side as he did, almost cocky in his movements, and Kang was sure then that they were living. It was the voice of a man, projected from a speaker on the suit, terse and, Kang could swear, condescending.
He couldn’t help himself. He grinned wider.
“You might want to show me some respect,” he said easily. The man said something else, equally choppy, equally agitated.
It was possible, Kang had to consider, that these aliens were as strong as he. Unlikely, of course, but he’d just appeared in a whole new star system and was aboard an alien ship with beings that were not known to him. Anything was possible. Until someone made a move he had no way of knowing for sure.
He looked to the side, at the bulkhead spanning the breadth of the cargo hold. It was not a gigantic space, this ship obviously built for war, not cargo, but everything in there was sturdy beyond reckoning. He doubted there was truly anything to fear from these soldiers, however he did have doubts as to his ability to enter the ship by force. Maybe he could beat down the outer door. Maybe not. It was a chance he was unwilling to take. For now he would allow himself to be led. Captured, if that was the way they chose to see it.
Unsure how to convey his decision he simply raised his hands. That seemed to work. The group gestured with their clubs, the leader continuing to issue sharp commands, herding Kang to the door and into a smaller room beyond. The door shut on the hold behind them and different air began to flood in, slightly thicker air, richer, giving Kang to assume this must be an airlock. Pressure built, confirming it. The air had a sweet-smelling musk he found at once offensive and … intriguing.
Once the room was set the far door opened, admitting them into yet another, this one lit just as dimly; an austere, functional aesthetic that spoke of combat and minimalism. The metal was dark green, the lighting green as well, and as Kang swept the room with his gaze he saw three other aliens at the far side, helmetless, waiting. He felt his eyes widen at the sight of their faces.
Curious.
Those three also wore armor, but without helmets he was able to get a far better idea of what he was dealing with. Exquisite, as he’d imagined. Definitely humanoid; two eyes, a nose and a mouth, their features angular, sharper than an average human, more defined. There was a purity to their skin that nearly defied description. Never had he seen such a complexion. They were uniformly pale, each of them male as far as he could tell, each with dark hair pulled tight into a tail that hung from the top and back of t
heir head. The hair was real. Their eyes were bright yellow, and each had some form of unique markings around one or both sockets. Black ink, almost like a tattoo, or perhaps even part of their skin.
No matter, they were not some kind of bug-eyed monster. They were men, of a sort, though definitely not human. The only question remained: Did they bleed?
One of the three helmetless ones took over. Barked a cursory gesture of command and, quick as that, Kang heard a snikt to his right and … decided to hold himself still for the blow that was no doubt coming. One of the soldiers had flung out the blades on his club and, without delay, swung mightily into Kang’s back. Had Kang been “normal” it would’ve felled him. He could sense that. Possibly even killed him. Was that their objective so soon?
The blow was as nothing.
And so the question was answered. These aliens were no more than men in all ways. No superior strength. Nothing to concern him.
He chuckled.
Reached and grabbed the hair at the back of the helmet of the one that struck him; picked him up as the soldier began striking furiously with the bladed club.
Useless.
Kang snatched away the club and threw it at one of the helmetless ones, the one that had barked the command; a casual toss yet it crushed his face and drove him back, nailing him against the wall where he spasmed and fell.
Before he hit the ground, before any of them could process what was happening, Kang ripped the helmeted head from the man he held and struck the head from another, the crack of his fist snapping sharply from the walls.
Pandemonium erupted in the small, green room.
Clubs came out, plus a gun—they did have guns—but the blast, while it definitely hurt and Kang made note of the fact, was not enough to phase him and in a matter of instants, with a flurry of sweeping strikes, he decimated them all, effortlessly. None escaped, though one tried, seeing too late just how futile it was to stand and fight.
In those final instants, however, Kang confirmed, weak as they were, these were warriors. Of course they were weak, and he was glad to have proven that out. All things were weak compared to him. But it was their attitude that intrigued. These were a brutal race. He’d gotten an inkling from the design of the craft, its obvious purpose, but the bladed clubs, with their potential for pain and gruesome injury, the look in these alien’s eyes, their mannerisms, unmistakable in any language, the fact that, even when it was clear they would die, all but one remained to fight—these things added up to a race whose philosophy he could appreciate.
He stood tall amid the gore. Breathing in the heady smell of the strange environment.
They bled. Even red, as far as he could tell in the green glow. No more came at first. He was sure others would be on the way. This was a large craft and it no doubt took many to run it. This was a warring race, and they would probably have a small army aboard. Of that he was convinced.
He stepped ahead to the next door, wondering at its function. It slid aside as he reached it. Probably they would begin locking things down. He had no doubt they would. But he would find his way. He would take control of this vessel and make it his own. And, once enough of the crew had died, perhaps they would see reason and follow him.
He started down the buttressed, green metal of the alien hallway.
Thrilled with new possibility.
CHAPTER 4: RETURN OF THE HEROES
Satori continued her battle with Jessica—battling with herself nearly as much, it seemed—even as she raced on toward their destination. “You know,” she grappled hard with the situation, “I thought, We owe you. You wanted to steal that damn Icon and I said, We owe her. For all she’s done. And anyway, this is for all of us. Ok. Let’s do it. Then it worked. We got rid of Kang.
“But this?”
She kept looking back, as if hoping to see Jess might be joking or something. Trying to make sense of it. Any of it. So amazing, so stupendously absurd was the mere idea …
“This?”
Jess tried to be calm. “It’s the only way.”
Satori shook her head vehemently. As if doing this crazy thing was actually, somehow, a real possibility and she had to shut it down. Now. “No! We can’t steal an entire starship.” She was adamant. Jess was quiet. Working to keep up the soft sell; to listen, to impose her will, firmly yet gently, hoping Satori would eventually run out of steam.
So far that tactic wasn’t working.
“Zac is a warrior,” her red-headed adversary went on, talking more to herself, it seemed. “A Kazerai for God’s sake. He’ll make it on his own.”
Jess looked out the window. The sun was at its zenith, high in the sky. Ahead she spotted their destination, recognized it as they rounded the last of the intervening peaks: the mountain housing the chalet, the wooden structure not yet visible, beneath its snowy slopes the top-secret labyrinth. Deep at its core the vast cavern, where sat the ancient Kel starship. Waiting. Ready to go. According to Nani all it needed was a test.
With it they could save Zac.
“How are we even supposed to take it?” Satori wanted to know. She gestured with one hand, steering with the other. “I mean, just the fact of—”
“Nani knows how to fly it.”
“And what? She’s going to tell us how, in the few seconds we have before they charge in and lock us up?” Satori scoffed. Continued to make empty, absent movements with her hand. It was like she didn’t know where to begin.
Jess didn’t either. All she knew was she couldn’t lose them. Couldn’t lose Satori. Couldn’t lose Willet.
If she even had them.
Willet rubbed his temples. “You know,” he said, “I’m getting a headache. Just … tell me once more: There’s a starship, hidden up here?” He pointed: “In that mountain?” No one answered and he went on. “And you want to use it to save Zac.”
Jess nodded.
“Who might be floating in space.”
“Right.”
“Or, maybe, he’s on another planet.”
“He could be on Earth, yes. That’s where he was supposed to go.”
“Your planet.”
She nodded.
“And you want to use the starship to get him. No time for discussions, no time to ask, no time to talk to Lindin, to get the Venatres involved, no time to do anything other than … take it.”
Again she nodded.
“Steal a starship.”
“Yes. If Zac didn’t make it … I don’t know how long he can survive.” Truth was, she didn’t know if he could survive at all.
Willet squinted his eyes, speaking more to himself now, kind of like Satori: “There’s a real starship, hidden up here in the mountains.”
Jess watched him chew on that bit of info. He rubbed his temples harder.
“We’re not taking it,” Satori was firm. She shook her head “no way”. Sharp, side-to-side movements, almost childish in their stubbornness. No way! “Make your case to Lindin and the lab group. I don’t care. Our leaders will authorize it if it’s as important as you say. We’re not kidnapping our top scientist and making her steal our biggest secret. No way.”
Jess was practically in despair. “We’re already too late! If we don’t do something …”
Satori kept shaking her head. “We’re not,” she said, wide-eyed with the impossibility of the scale it even implied, “even if we can. We’re not.”
“We have to!” Jess fairly exploded, withdrawing at once from the force of her own outburst. Satori and Willet jerked around to face her, shocked with the amplification of her will. “I told him I would come for him! He did what he did because he trusted me!”
Consciously Jess reined herself in. But her frustration was not to be denied. She became stern. “We are,” she said, more quietly yet every bit as emphatic.
“Look,” she made them get it. Willet, who had no obligations in the operation of the ornithopter, kept staring. Satori looked ahead, piloting them on toward the complex. “This is not just about Zac. I’m n
ot some stupid girl swooning over a boy.” Though probably she was. “We owe it to him to do everything we can, and I’ll argue that with you all day. But. Outside that, beyond that: the Icon he used connects two points. Deep space and Earth. My world.” She gave that a moment to sink in. “Remember? When Zac and Kang popped out of the park, they went to deep space. If Zac was able, then he used the Icon a second time and ended up back on Earth. If so then all is great. Joy. And maybe we’re talking about all this for nothing. Maybe there is no dire rush. He’ll be fine until we reach him.
“But. You saw how strong Kang is. What if Zac wasn’t able to use it the second time? There’s a chance he wasn’t. That means not only is he stuck floating in space,” she paused as her voice hitched; imagining Zac floating dead in space was too vivid an image for the emotions of the moment, “but it also means Kang is on Earth.” She beamed it into them:
“Kang, not Zac, could be on Earth.”
Satori glanced around.
Jess went on. “If you thought Anitra wasn’t equipped to deal with a super monster, Earth definitely isn’t. If Kang made it …
“We have to do something. We don’t have time for discussions. More planning. Agreement. You know that’s exactly what will happen, and it could take weeks—if Lindin and those guys even agree at all. We’re already too late. We have no way to be sure. If Option One happened, and Zac made it to Earth, fine. But. If Option Two happened, which is just as possible … we have to do something. If we take even an extra second to discuss anything with anyone, to arrange a meeting and come up with a plan and … if we lose a single second, Zac is dead in space and Kang is wreaking havoc on Earth.”
Satori made a harsh sound. “So what if we found Kang on Earth?! What would we do any different there than here?! This makes no sense!”
“We shoot him from space!” Jess fairly screamed. “I don’t know! Maybe we should’ve just done that instead of giving Zac the Icon! I don’t know!” She didn’t. All she knew—all she knew—was that what was done was done, and if they didn’t take the next step, and fast …
Star Angel: Dawn of War (Star Angel Book 3) Page 3
