by Ryan Kirk
Alston laughed. “Yes, although not a very good one. My job was to be part of the crew. If Derreck ever looked as though he was going to cause trouble for Fleet, I was to use my discretion in handling the situation.”
Derreck translated. “In other words, you had permission to kill me.”
Alston looked uncomfortable, but he didn’t deny it was true.
Kindra stared at Derreck. Her captain had just found out that one of his crew, one of the men closest to him in the world, was a traitor who had permission from Fleet to kill him if necessary, and he was acting as though he had just found out it was going to rain. She put a hand on his shoulder and stopped him. “Wait a second. I know we’ve got decisions to make, but I think this is something we should take a minute and talk about. How can you be so calm about this?”
Derreck smiled. “I had my suspicions for a while, but I wasn’t acting against Fleet … until recently. Anyway, I knew I could trust him.”
The captain tried to turn around and resume his journey to the bridge, but Kindra prevented it. “How?”
Derreck looked at Alston, the two of them sharing a look that indicated Kindra should have figured everything out by now. “He broke his own orders. Back on Haven, I talked openly about disobeying Fleet on this mission. And yet we’re still here.”
Pieces slid into place in Kindra’s mind. Derreck had explicitly told them he was considering disobeying the will of Fleet, and yet they had still been allowed on the mission. The only way that would be true was if Alston hadn’t said anything to his superiors. She considered the spy in a new light yet again. But she wasn’t satisfied as easily as Derreck. She needed to know more. “Why?”
Alston’s voice was steady. “We are a very small part of Fleet, but we wield incredible power. All of us are allowed to use our discretion as we see fit. Simply put, I believed in Derreck.”
The explanation was enough for Derreck, but Kindra still held reservations. Unlike Derreck, she had never suspected Alston, and the change was difficult to process. But then they were on the bridge and Derreck was looking at a projection of the planet. Hellbringer was currently in range of Vigilance’s sensors, and just a glance was enough to let Kindra know that the ship had changed course.
Derreck confirmed Kindra’s analysis. “We need to get out of here. That operative had to contact Nicks before he tried to singlehandedly capture our ship. Nicks will be in a position for orbital bombardment in about twenty-six minutes.”
So little time to make the decision. So little time to act. Derreck was as calm as she had ever seen him, but she imagined his mind was racing.
Derreck looked up at Alston. “If you’re Intelligence, I assume you’re a better dropship pilot than I am.”
“Yes.” Alston seemed to know what Derreck had in mind.
“I want you to take Kindra and get out of here. Stay out of Nicks’ crosshairs, and use your best judgment.”
Another look passed between them, and Kindra felt as though Alston and Derreck were long-lost brothers. They thought the same and knew how the other would react.
Derreck turned to Kindra. “You have fifteen minutes starting now before Alston takes off. Do whatever needs to be done to be ready.”
Kindra had too many questions. “I thought you said we would be dead if we took off?”
“Probably. The jumpship will eventually catch you, and you don’t have the weapons to stand up to it, but if you have mobility, you have a chance, slim as that might be.”
“What about the others?”
“I’d love to do more, but there isn’t time. Your fifteen minutes are wasting away, Kindra.”
She hated being rushed, and her mind was still catching up.
“Aren’t you coming with us?”
“No. No one down here has the skills to lead these people. I need to stay here. They recognize me and will listen.”
Kindra wanted to pick apart the argument. She didn’t want to take off without the rest of the crew. They were leaving Derreck and Eleta behind. And Tev. She wanted to be able to say her goodbyes, to get some semblance of closure. But she only had thirteen minutes, and there was too much to do. She bent to her work, afraid that she would never see most of her friends again.
Nine
Tev and Derreck sat around a campfire, surrounded by a small group of hunters and villagers. The past few days had been chaotic, but life was slowly starting to settle down into a new normal. Around them, clusters of two to four enjoyed the fire and quiet conversation. If not for the deadly danger in the sky, tonight would seem almost the same as any other. A soft breeze occasionally stirred the trees, and when Tev took a deep breath, he could feel the tension melting from his body.
Tev had gotten the message from Derreck as soon as the captain found out they had been discovered. Tev left one trained hunter to escort the new pilots while the rest of them made for the camp as fast as they could. They ran through the night and arrived the next morning, exhausted but ready to help.
Derreck’s greatest fear had been that Hellbringer would begin dropping bombs from space. To save Tev’s people, Derreck had them separate. That way, even if destruction did fall from the sky, they would only take out a handful at a time. The process had gone surprisingly smoothly, but had still taken a tremendous effort from the hunters in the exosuits, carrying large amounts of gear for kilometers.
Tev’s hunters were spread out now, pairs of them accompanying many of the groups. At the present moment, there was little for them to do. Hellbringer was in space, and they were locked on the ground.
Tev feared for Kindra. She had been ordered to leave the planet with no warning, and she was in as much danger as the hunters on the ground. Nicks had all the advantages, and now they were stuck waiting to see what he would do next.
Lys chased her prey overhead, and Tev leaned back against a log, resting his head against the dead wood as he lazily stared into the sky. In his mind’s eye, he saw Lys as he had in his visions. Everything that was happening here was necessary. He was convinced of that. What he wanted was some guidance, some reassurance that their fight was the right thing to do. Dozens of his people had already been slaughtered. Thousands more were at risk. All Nicks needed to do was give a command and their civilization would be over.
Tev knew they were balanced precariously close to the cliff’s edge. He had spoken about the problem with Derreck in hushed whispers. Nicks had to decide whether Tev’s people were worth the trouble. So long as he saw the benefit, he would leave them largely alone. But if he ever decided they wouldn’t take his side, there was nothing stopping him from wiping them out so that they would never be used against him. Such an action was terrible to consider, but Derreck had assured him that Nicks was the type of person capable of making that decision. He was a true believer and would go to any lengths to keep the rebellion alive.
Tev glanced over at Derreck, whose gaze was focused far away. “What’s on your mind?”
Derreck’s eyes focused, and in a moment, he was back in the present, sitting around a fire with Tev. “I’m trying to think of any way to board Hellbringer.”
“Why?”
“It would solve all our problems. We would acquire whatever jump technology he found, and eliminate the threat to the clans and to Fleet. All our challenges, solved with one smooth stroke. I just don’t know how. If both our dropships attacked at the same time, one of them might make it to Hellbringer. We upgraded our point-defense cannons before we left Haven, so we’d have a chance. But that’s an awful lot to risk, and the point-defense system won’t do anything if Hellbringer brings its laser into play, which I expect it would.”
Derreck stretched his elbows back, taking a deep breath. “I’ve been thinking about it for days now, and I just can’t figure it out.”
Tev wished he had an answer for Derreck, but there was none to give. Derreck was the only one on the planet who had any chance of figuring out how to attack the jumpship, and they both knew it.
Derreck
looked over at Tev. “But I’m not the only one lost in thought. What’s on your mind?”
“Nothing so important.”
Derreck gave Tev a mischievous grin. “Thinking about Kindra?”
Tev nodded. “Among other things.”
A comfortable silence grew between them, but Derreck was one of the few people Tev felt like he could talk openly to, so he opened up, more than he ever had.
“Being with her, it makes me feel like I’m home. Like I have a place in the galaxy. When I’m with her, I don’t feel like an outsider stuck between two worlds.”
Derreck gave Tev a soft smile. “Have you thought much about the future?”
Tev shook his head. “Someday, perhaps.” He couldn’t bring himself to say anything about his greatest fear, but Derreck was no fool, and he saw something on Tev’s face.
“What’s really on your mind, Tev?”
Tev only debated for a moment. Derreck was the only other person he knew who’d been through anything similar, and so he spoke of the visions he’d had. Derreck listened intently, not doubting Tev’s claims at all.
Tev spoke of his visions of space, and of Vigilance and Destiny, and how he believed that his people would eventually spread through the stars. The visions weren’t rational, of course, but he believed them with his whole heart, even if he couldn’t explain them.
“The part that haunts me though, is the claim that I’ll need to hunt farther than any hunter who has come before.”
Derreck frowned. “But haven’t you already fulfilled that requirement?”
“I thought so, but why have I heard it twice? The second time, I’d already traveled to Haven and was on my way back.”
“You think she meant death, don’t you?”
Tev nodded, and Derreck leaned in closer, his eyes boring into Tev. “I can’t speak to the accuracy of what you saw, or what any of it means. But you need to get that thought out of your mind. I’ve seen people like you, Tev. Soldiers who thought they were doomed. The belief becomes self-fulfilling. If you believe you are meant to die, you’ll make poor decisions.”
The advice was good, but Tev couldn’t shake his fear.
Derreck laughed softly to himself. “Besides, if you are being literal about the vision, you can’t mean death. There are a lot of hunters who have died before you.”
The statement, simple as it was, shook Tev to his core, because it was true. If he had to hunt farther, death couldn’t be the answer. Even though the night was as dark as it had been five minutes ago, Tev suddenly felt like sunshine was beating down on him. He had resigned himself to the worst, but with one quiet statement, Derreck had changed everything.
And then he did again. All mirth faded from his voice as he received a message. “Hellbringer just launched her third dropship down to the surface of the planet. I have an idea.”
Tev chased after Derreck, who had left the blaze almost as though he himself had caught on fire. There was no place for him to go, though, and he suddenly stopped and turned around, almost bumping into Tev.
“I know how we end this.”
“Slow down. Tell me.”
“We take over their dropship and use it to sneak back aboard the Hellbringer. Then we take it over.”
The plan sounded simple enough in theory, but Tev knew that every part of that plan would pose a tremendous challenge. And there was one question that was bothering him most of all.
“Why would Nicks even send a dropship down? He has all the advantages by staying up where he is.”
The question stopped Derreck in his tracks. “I don’t know for sure, Tev. All I have are my best guesses, and I don’t know how accurate they are.”
“What’s your best guess?”
Derreck took a deep breath, as though he thought his answer would somehow upset Tev. “I’ve been thinking a lot about Nicks’ tactics. Often, they don’t make sense at first, until we look at them in a new light. His behavior on the chase over here was downright bizarre from our standpoint, but we don’t think like him. He’s in charge of the last of the rebellion. Of course he would over-value caution.
“I believe the same thing is happening here. His efforts to coerce your people into service have been half-hearted at best. I’m convinced that while Fleet thinks this planet is the prize, Nicks looks at everything differently. For him, your people and this planet are secondary. I think Nicks is after technology.”
Tev was confused. “That doesn’t make any sense. Your technology is hundreds of years ahead of ours.”
“Yes, but there’s always been something more going on, something we haven’t even come close to answering, right?”
The hunter wasn’t sure if the question was rhetorical or not, but Derreck answered it quickly.
“Let’s start with facts. The signals that brought us out here in the first place. Your system is over nine hundred light years away from even our remote outposts. You don’t know the history of my people, but we only developed jump technology about eight hundred years ago. Hold on to that for a second.”
Tev tried to keep up. Derreck was speaking so fast it was challenging.
“Second fact. Both your people and another advanced civilization are found within forty light years of one another. We’ve been exploring the galaxy for hundreds of years, and I’ll let you know just how rare that is. It’s impossible. The odds of such an event happening are beyond crazy. And yet here you are. Even though your civilizations couldn’t be more different, you have to be linked somehow. Hell, you even share the same DNA. With us too, which I can’t even begin to explain.”
“Are you saying that you believe our planet has some sort of technology Nicks is looking for?”
“It’s the only explanation I can come up with that makes any sense. We received signals from both systems, which means at one point in time, your clans were capable of creating a strong electromagnetic signal. There’s no telling what Nicks found on that other planet, but if he found a clue that would lead him to search for a technology on your planet, it would explain why he’s made so little effort to recruit your people.”
“But even if that’s true, how does it affect us?”
“It gives us a window. Whatever Nicks is searching for must be difficult to find. Otherwise he’d have already grabbed it and left. Also, when we first came, we made detailed scans of the entire planet. Nicks has to have those, so again, if it was easy, he’d have already found it. I’m guessing whatever technology he thinks he’s uncovered will take a few hours to get to at least. And that means we have a small window to try and take over the dropship while it’s on the planet.”
“The ship will be well-protected.”
“Yes, but I think we both know that it will be our last chance. Once that ship finds what it’s looking for, we’ll be stuck in this system for a long time.”
“So, it’s everything or nothing.” The decision was easy to make. The stakes were too high for anything but an attempt to finish this all.
The past few hours had been beyond busy, and Tev was exhausted. As soon as Alston had mapped the trajectory of the incoming dropship, word went out to all the hunters. They made all possible speed to the landing site, a mountain hours away. Tev and Derreck were actually some of the closest to the site, which was a great benefit to them, because they needed to carry Eleta. If Derreck’s plan was going to have any chance, they were going to need her skills, and the fastest mode of transportation they had was the suits. She couldn’t pilot, and she couldn’t keep up on foot. The only other option was to carry her in their arms. She found the transportation demeaning, but acquiesced when it was clear there wasn’t another option.
While they approached, Derreck was constantly communicating with others. Tev didn’t know everything the captain was coordinating, but he knew Derreck was going to throw everything into this last-ditch effort to change the course of history. The hunters were only the tip of the spear.
Tev had battled with some of the hunters about attacking. The
y saw their duty as one of defense, and as escorts to the injured they fulfilled that duty. They didn’t have Tev’s perspective, one that thought far into the future. Nicks leaving with the technology did them no harm anytime soon. But sooner or later, more people were going to come to Tev’s planet, and when they did, Tev had decided he would rather they be part of Fleet. Their actions here would reverberate throughout time, even if few of the hunters saw it that way.
However, all hunters spoke the language of revenge, and when Tev reminded them of how Nicks’ pilots had fired on innocent villagers, the hunters were convinced. They didn’t attack to save their planet, but to avenge their friends and family.
Hours later, they were gathered to the south of the Hellbringer’s dropship, which had landed in the foothills of a small mountain range. Pair by pair, the hunters trickled in, and Tev urged them to get what rest they could. Derreck was sneaking his way closer without his exosuit to get a better idea of what their enemies were attempting.
They were dancing delicately with time. Every hour they waited meant they had more of their hunters in position, but there was no telling how long it would take the dropship to find what they were looking for. They knew that the window was only open for a certain amount of time, but they didn’t know how long that would be.
So, the hunters got what rest they could while Derreck took the lead. Tev was able to close his eyes, but he couldn’t sleep. Derreck’s call could come at any moment, and he needed to be ready.
As he often did when hunting, Tev slipped inside himself. He gently focused on his breaths, which became deep and long. All else was a disturbance, and he pushed those thoughts out of his mind. In time, his body relaxed deeply while still aware of what was happening around him. The practice, perfected over years of hunting, had proven its worth several times over. Tev knew that when he returned to full consciousness he would be relaxed and energized.
