by Amy DuBoff
Here it goes, Karen thought as she began her subtle modifications to the next scheduled outbound message. It didn’t need to be much, just a generic ping to Leon to acknowledge she’d confirmed her previous intel, per their agreement. Assuming he’d been able to make contact with Ava, the FDG team should land on the planet in another hour.
There was nothing more for Karen to do before then.
She slouched in her chair while she reviewed the notes she’d typed up. Reading it back, she was pleased to see that her proposed plan didn’t seem completely ludicrous.
With that matter settled, she was just about to invent a new task for herself when the sound of approaching footfalls drew her attention.
Karen craned her neck to see who was coming. To her horror, she saw three guards wearing body armor.
Oh, shit! Karen ducked back into her cubicle. Being in the back corner, she had nowhere to run except straight past the approaching soldiers. Did that latest communication to Leon give me away?
Her mind raced, trying to think of how she’d explain her actions.
She held her breath while she prayed to the stars that the guards weren’t coming for her. Of course, she couldn’t be so lucky.
The three soldiers turned down her aisle. Two stopped three meters from her while the other continued ahead until he blocked the entrance to her cube.
“Karen Carter.” It was a statement not a question.
She swallowed. “Is there a problem?”
The burly man scoffed. “That depends on whether or not you want to cooperate.”
“I’m here as a servant to the Nezaran government. Why wouldn’t I?”
The guard shook his head. “It really didn’t take long for you to confirm our suspicions.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Karen insisted, even as an icy chill gripped her chest.
“Did you think we were that stupid? That you could contact an Alucian ship without us knowing?”
Karen bristled. “Yes, of course I’m communicating with that ship! I was sent here on official Alucian business, and I need to keep up appearances. I have a designated contact on that vessel. I wasn’t hiding anything from you.”
The guard consulted with the colleagues. Another guard nodded.
“All the same,” he continued, “we need to take you in for further questioning. Standard procedure. If you have nothing to hide, then you don’t have anything to worry about.”
“Have you talked to Dominic about this?”
“He’s the one who requested we take you in,” the guard replied.
Karen’s heart dropped. “He—”
“Well, it wasn’t me, exactly,” Dominic said from behind Karen.
She spun around to face him. “I just got here! Why are you—”
“Oh, Karen.” Dominic leaned against the cubicle divider of an adjacent workspace. “Did you honestly think you could get back in with us this easily?”
“I was loyal—”
“Oh, at the time, yes,” he agreed. “But we know you’re one of the Alucians now. We’re not sure who you’re working with, precisely, but this was all a ploy to gather information, no?”
“Dominic, you know me.”
“I knew you, Karen. But you are no longer the young woman I mentored. Whatever happened on Alucia was not a setback to our plans. You turned against us. When you showed back up here with that bold plan, I suspected you weren’t being genuine with your motivations. Only the chancellor could determine if your intentions were honest, so she read you. And Karen, you have not been very forthcoming.” Dominic locked her in a piercing stare.
Karen’s heart pounded in her ears. They weren’t supposed to find out so quickly. I thought I’d have more time….
She should have known her cover was blown the moment she went to meet with the chancellor. Of course, she’d never get an audience like that, regardless of the plan she had presented. Dominic had been playing her the whole time.
“What happens now?” she asked, realizing it was pointless to resist. Being too obstinate might make them inclined to kill her on the spot, but if she feigned cooperation, perhaps she’d be able to buy herself some extra time by being potentially helpful.
Dominic scoffed. “What do you think will happen, Karen? We’ll learn what we can from you, and then it’ll end for you the same way it ends for anyone who’s opposed us.”
Yeah, with that kind of thinking, no wonder people have a tendency to defect. It was a little late for that sentiment. If they already suspected her of being a traitor, may as well play up that story.
“Yes, I was sent here to relay information back to Alucia,” Karen admitted.
“Ah, finally some honesty.” Dominic perked up.
His willingness to believe the lie revealed a valuable piece of information to Karen: he wasn’t subverted by one of the aliens, at least not under permanent control. She might be able to slip some little lies through. I’ll see how long I can keep them off the FDG’s trail.
Dominic took a step for her. “You know, that’s the only reason we didn’t arrest you the moment you walked into my office. There’s no way you’d come here completely alone, so it was much more valuable to let you lead back to your co-conspirators.”
“They haven’t done anything to wrong you,” Karen shot back.
“As individuals, no, but matters of war are almost never about the citizens themselves. We’re all driven by a sense of duty and answer to the moral code of our ideals. Unfortunately for anyone collaborating with you, our definition of victory calls for total dominance.”
Karen swallowed. “Have you ever taken a step back to ask why? Do you know who you’re working for?”
“That’s why it’s always been such an easy decision,” Dominic replied. “We are such simple, moral creatures. How could we not answer to such superior beings?”
“They’ve brainwashed you.”
He chuckled. “Oh, no. They’ve been kind enough to show us how much better we can become.”
Karen stared at him with disbelief. “Is that all that Nezar is now? A planet dedicated to helping some outside race exert its superiority?”
“It’s not like we wouldn’t get anything in return.” He smiled. “We’re so close to being able to turn our simple race into the warriors we were meant to become. The ancient technology has been there, and they took it and built upon it. With their intellect and our physical forms, we will rise.”
“I think you’re underestimating your opposition.”
Dominic cocked his head. “If they want a fight, then let them bring it.”
* * *
“All right, team, we have everything we need to complete this op without coming under fire,” Ava said while she loaded into the landing pod with Edwin, Nick, and Samantha.
“Then why do we have the big guns?” Nick asked with a smirk.
“Because we’re totally going to get shot at,” Edwin said loudly while cupping his hand over his mouth to mime a whisper.
Ava chuckled. “You know the drill.”
Samantha took her seat at the pod controls next to Ava. “What happens if we get captured?” she asked.
The team didn’t broach the topic too often, even on the riskiest missions. Even though there were the official protocols on the books, each situation called for a tailored approach, given the relatively likelihood of backup arriving, the sensitivity of the information they were sent in to extract, or other factors. They were all prepared to give their lives in the line of duty, but facing that possible mortality was always different than the hypotheticals.
“We don’t get caught,” Ava told the private. “There’s no reason all of us won’t walk out of there just like we come in.”
Samantha nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”
Ava kept her own nerves to herself, knowing that expressing her misgivings about their ill preparation wouldn’t help her team. At least Leon had relayed Karen’s confirmation of the landing plan. That part was on track, if
nothing else.
When everyone was strapped in, Ava powered up the pod. “Here we go!”
The pod dropped out of the Raven’s belly. The engines boosted it at an angle toward the planet as soon as it was clear of the craft. Its stealth tech would make the craft almost impossible to spot during its descent.
Ava and the rest of her team remained silent for the initial approach, their gazes fixed out the windows to get the lay of the land.
“It’s so barren,” Samantha commented once they were low enough that details in the landscape began to come into focus.
“Nezar is closer to the star than most inhabited worlds,” Ava replied. “It’s not a place where you want to get stuck outside without a suit.”
“All that dust and rock.” Nick shook his head. “I can’t imagine why anyone would settle here when Coraxa was an option.”
Ava shrugged. “I never understood it, either. Coraxa is the Goldilocks world of the system, yet everyone fights over Nezar and Alucia.”
Samantha frowned. “At least Alucia has an abundance of water. This…”
“To each their own, I guess.” Ava said. “We’re not here to pass judgment on the settlement.”
Edwin smiled. “No, but it does support the argument that the creepy alien dictators are crazy if they selected this world over others.”
“All right, I can’t argue with that,” Ava agreed. “But you’d be surprised how nice Nezar can be inside the biodomes. It’s not like people live out here in the wasteland.”
“Then why is the government building out here all unprotected?” Nick asked.
Ava glanced at him. “I had always thought for security reasons, but I now suspect that the motivating factor was always secrecy.”
Samantha nodded. “Funny how things come into focus in retrospect.”
“Ain’t that the truth?” Ava stared out the window at the dark stone building sprawling across the landscape in the distance.
“Wow, this really is remote,” Nick said, taking it in.
“Are those the city domes on the horizon?” Edwin pointed toward several reflective points toward their right.
“I believe so,” Ava said with a nod. “I’ve only ever been once, and that was on a civilian transport.”
Edwin tilted his head. “Yeah, can’t imagine a native Coraxaner like yourself would come here when you lived in such a picturesque place.”
“Coraxan,” Ava corrected.
“What?”
“Not Coraxaner.” Ava shook her head. “Never mind.”
The pod set down behind a rock outcropping a kilometer from the capital building. Ava and the team moved to the back of the pod and checked their stealth armor.
“Everyone ready?” she asked.
“All set,” the three warriors acknowledged.
“And you have the…?” Ava prompted.
They all patted compartments on their hips containing a sedative.
“We won’t need it, but we’re ready,” Samantha assured her.
Ava secured the pod while the others scrambled up the side of the surrounding rock outcropping to get eyes on their destination. She joined them on the lip of the ridge. “How’s it look?”
“Clear, as far as we can tell,” Edwin replied.
“Then let’s go,” Ava ordered.
The four warriors loped across the harsh landscape, keeping to the shadows of rocks as much as possible. Stealth armor or not, there was no need to run right out in the open in case the enemy had some means of spotting them.
They covered the one kilometer quickly. As they neared their destination of the back-entry door, Ava motioned for Edwin to take point and scope out their final approach. She waited with the other two members of the team behind a boulder.
“Two guards are posted outside,” Edwin reported into his comm. “There’s cover on the approach. We should be able to get close enough for a sonic blast.”
“Do it. We’ll cover you.”
Edwin slipped ahead while Ava jogged along several meters back with Samantha and Nick to either side. They darted to the various rocks along the way.
When he reached the boulder closest to the door, Edwin took cover and aimed his multi-handgun at the two guards, set to sonic stun. He fired.
The two guards dropped to the ground.
Ava ran forward with her own weapon drawn in case additional guards emerged from the building. “Okay, I’ll enter the code Karen gave us for the door.” She located the access panel next to the doorway and keyed in the code.
Nothing happened.
She tried it again. A red light illuminated.
Shit! She glanced at the other members of the team. “Nick, think you can crack it?”
He hesitated. “Sure, but what does it mean that this information was wrong?”
More than Ava wanted to admit. “We proceed with the mission.”
“All right.” Nick jogged forward, drawing the compact digital device he used to access computer terminals. He synced the device with the keypad.
“I don’t like this,” Edwin muttered under his breath.
“This reeks of a trap,” Samantha added. She tightened her trip on her weapon.
“We’ll fight our way in if we have to.” Ava pressed her back against the side wall, ready for action.
“Almost got it,” Nick said. “There!”
The light on the access panel turned green, and the internal door lock clanged open.
Nick swung the door open with one hand while aiming his weapon with the other.
Edwin ran up behind him, staring down his sights. “Looks clear,” he reported, then paused. “Did you hear that?”
Ava listened. “Shit, they’re coming!”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Ava motioned her team backward around the cover of the building. “Hold your fire.”
She listened to the swift footfall in the hallway. It halted just inside the door. “Do any of you have line of sight on the enemy?” she asked her team.
“Negative,” Edwin replied. “I can see where they found cover, though.”
Fuck, there’s no way to handle this without making a scene. She took a deep breath. “Toss in a flash grenade.”
Nick glanced at her. “That will give away our posi—”
“Do it!”
Edwin pulled out a grenade from his belt and activated it. “Not like they don’t already know we’re here.” He tossed it inside.
The hallway was bathed in white light as the flash grenade detonated. The guards inside stumbled from their hiding places, dazed.
Ava and her team fired into the hall, striking the guards with the sonic beams. Half a dozen armored soldiers dropped to the floor.
A volley of kinetic rounds buzzed past Ava.
“Back to cover!” she shouted into the comm.
Nick and Samantha took the left side of the entry door while Ava and Edwin braced themselves on the right wall.
“This is off to a great start.” Samantha seemingly stared into the surrounding terrain while she assessed the enemy’s positions on her HUD. “Six disabled, another four firing from seventeen meters back.”
Ava confirmed the survey on her own HUD. “We need to secure a position inside.”
“The air is clear when they aren’t firing. They won’t be able to see us in the suits,” Nick observed.
“Not until we’re right on top of them.” Ava crept into the corridor.
The drywall along the hallway was now pitted from the kinetic rounds. Better the walls than her armor.
She picked her footing carefully around the unconscious guards, jogging between the minimal cover afforded by recessed doorways.
Ava tried the handle on the first door she encountered, but it was locked. All right, straight ahead it is. She advanced, trying each door with the same result. By the time she reached the final door, she was a mere three meters from the four guards hiding in a hallway T-intersection.
There was no way to get a direct shot, but s
he could see her targets just beyond her sightlines.
“I’m going for it,” she told her team.
Without hesitation, she sprinted through the intersection, firing a perfectly aimed sonic blast into the perpendicular hallway as she passed by.
The four guards dropped to the floor before they knew what hit them.
“All right, that worked rather well,” Nick admitted over the comm.
“Not exactly a best practice, but whatever works.” Ava edged back to the intersection and looked down. The HUD showed the way was clear. “Let’s find a communication room. The original plan is off. We need to find out what went wrong.”
They made their way down the hallway, scouting for an access terminal. Eventually, Samantha spotted a dataport that might yield some answers.
Nick hooked up his digital interface and burrowed into the system. “There’s a communications room about ninety meters away down a couple corridors to the left.” He sent the map to the team’s shared HUD overlay.
“Looks like a pretty easy route,” assessed Edwin.
“That’s our best bet to get deeper into the database,” Samantha said. “If we can get to that room, we can likely procure all the access codes we’ll need to get into the chancellor’s chambers.”
“Agreed,” Ava said with a nod. “Reinforcements are almost certainly on their way.”
Not a moment later and the sounds of scuffling footfalls carried down the corridor.
“Shall we?” Nick held out his hand in the direction they needed to go.
“Time to test out this stealth tech for real.” Ava ran ahead.
Twenty meters down the hall, she spotted their opposition. The soldiers stayed mostly to the middle of the corridor, leaving a narrow margin along either side. When she was almost to the soldiers’ positions, she pressed herself into the narrow recesses of a doorway. The guards passed her by, leaving a clear path down the hall.
“Like a pro,” Samantha said with an audible smirk.
