by Tim Morrison
Chapter 3.3
Everything Changes - Clanworld Camelin -17 BA
"What is the plan for this rest day, my Lady?" Ryo asked as he pulled on a formal jacket.
"Gya has gotten her pilot's clearance, and has been begging to take us up to the Foaming Falls. We'll take one of the larger flitters, I think. Probably spend the day and be back in time for your return." Lya replied as she was assisted into a warm dress by her Lari'Sota.
"Sounds like a better plan than what I get to do. Dealing with the minor Clan disputes is so tedious, however with my Regent offworld dealing with the Grand Council, it falls to me to deal with this paperwork. I should be back in plenty of time to see you land." With a gentle kiss to her cheek, Ryo strode out of the chamber and off to administer the needs of the Clan Camelin.
Lya finished dressing, then sat patiently as her Lari'Sota fussed over her hair and neckline until she felt that the Lady Desinlo was perfect, only then was Lya allowed to leave the chamber and be seen by the rest of the house staff.
As they glided out, little Aya came running up to her mother on almost steady legs, followed closely by her own Lari'Sota who deftly grabbed the small child as she began to topple and lifted her up to her mother's waiting arms.
"Morning, my Aya, Did you sleep well?" Lya asked as she was hugged in almost a stranglehold by her giggling daughter.
"She slept fine, no nightmares or dreams of note, my Lady." Tiana replied with a smile.
"Very good. We're off to the Falls today, my sweet. Your sister will fly us there herself. All day to enjoy the water and sand, and the beaches."
Aya giggled and clapped her hands, then settled herself down in her mother's lap as Lya steered the travel chair down the corridor towards the kitchens.
Gya came out of the kitchen doors, already dressed in flight uniform, followed closely by Lyo, who never seemed to leave her side these days, Lya realized.
"I've already got our morning meal packed, Mother. We can eat at the Falls, if that pleases you?" Gya asked, almost visibly buzzing with anticipation at being able to have the freedom to do this without assistance.
"That would be a splendid idea, darling daughter. Lead on to our adventure for this day." Lya said, and they all turned and walked down the hallway leading to the landing platforms.
...
Lya settled back in her chair and made sure Aya was secured in her Grav Harness, in the unlikely event they had to jump out of the flitter and glide to the ground. The small child's harness was designed to clip onto a full-size unit and boost power so that the harness could handle the extra load and the off-center mass.
Aya giggled and twisted around so she could look out the windows that were all over as her big sister sat up front with the pilot, a Captain Tokoma, who conspicuously kept his hands in his lap and watched her, quietly reminding her if she missed a step.
Lya smiled as she watched Gya take the control shaft and apply power to the motors so that the big flitter smoothly lifted off and began to glide on a north-westerly direction towards the far-off waterfalls where they would spend most of the day.
She looked over to where Lyo was strapped in, watching Gya, and looking at little Aya as well as looking out the window. She noted that he was armed. She wondered about that as she had not seen him armed before, but figured that if Lyo was armed, then Lord Camelin must be aware, and perhaps he had given the sidearm to the boy so he could feel more useful and protective.
Gya swooped the flitter slowly around the main city so they could see the massive tower in the middle, the one that connected to the Camelin skyhook and allowed easy access to the orbital facilities. Aya clapped and giggled as the tower lights flashed on and off in sequence to alert flying craft of it's presence, even in foul weather, then Gya took the flitter in a straight course, followed by a support flitter with House Guards on board.
"Attention, passengers. This is Pilot Gya, we have just passed 40 kims altitude and are on course for a landing at the Falls in just over an hour's time." Gya said as she looked back at her family, grinning happily as she continued to play tour operator. "The weather is clear, Central control says they are generating a high pressure zone over the area so we should have clear skies and light winds, with a temperature about 28 degrees at the water's edge."
Lya settled back and closed her eyes, listening to the soft thrumming of the engines as they propelled the flitter at transonic speed, the soft singing voice of Aya's Lari'Sota as she sang a lullaby to the toddler to keep her amused, and the quiet conversations going on around her.
She woke with a start as the engine sound suddenly shifted into a strong hum and she felt the flitter begin a powered descent.
"What is going on?" she asked as she noticed Gya was staring off to the side as Captain Tokoma, his hands now on the controls was also busy trying to open a comm channel.
Gya grabbed the Comm and began relaying information as Tokoma rapidly read off instruments, then the flitter swerved sharply, and Lya noticed a shadow pass by it, too close for coincidence.
“Lyo, Tiana, speak to me." She said in a commanding voice.
Aya's Lari'Sota looked up from where she was cuddling the child, still sleeping, and then looked to Lyo who had unbuckled and was standing, holding on to some overhead cargo straps. She noted the clasp on his sidearm was undone, the weapon now ready to be drawn at a moment's notice. He moved close to her chair.
"I'm not too sure what's going on. The security flitter has made two very close passes to us. It seems to be trying to guide us away from the Falls, but they have not communicated with us at all. Their comm may be damaged." Lyo said as he watched out the windows at the other flitter as it swung around for yet another pass.
"Gya, take the controls, bring us down, vertical, max thrust!" Tokoma snapped as he flicked the engines off of their normal mode and into emergency thrust. Gya slammed the control stick hard forward and the flitter jumped earthward as a whisper of noise passed overhead.
"Are they shooting at us?" Lya cried.
"Hold on, my Lady, this ship is not meant for battle." The Captain said as he took the controls back from Gya and began to spiral the ship down, watching the altitude carefully. He pulled the ship out of the dive, making the engines howl in protest, when the flitter was at 10 kim altitude. Aya awoke at the noise, and began to cry. Tiana quietened the child down and began to sing softly to her, looking around worriedly.
Gya took the comm unit and began to call an Emergency, but got a blast of static. "I think they're jamming us. What do we do?" She asked.
"Dodge, weave, and roll." Tokoma said, then pulled the flitter into a full power barrel roll, pressing everybody into their chairs and throwing Lyo off balance as the flitter spun around in a vain attempt to dodge the spray of bullets fired at it.
...
"Captain, we've got something unusual happening down there." Tactical reported to Kalen as he walked the perimeter of the TGX bridge.
"What do you mean?" He said as he walked over to the tactical station.
"Two flitters lifted off about a half hour ago, heading for the Falls. This was a logged flight plan for one of them. The smaller flitter has no flight plan. I've just detected what looks like weapon fire."
"Who is on the flitters?" Kalen asked.
"The larger flitter has ... The Commander's family, Sir. It is definitely under attack by the smaller flitter."
Kalen swore. "Do we have anything that can assist?"
"Not at this range, Captain. We'd have to drop into the upper atmosphere before the lances could target it properly."
"By the time we get there, this battle will be over. Track everything, and drop us into very low orbit, Helva's teeth – atmospheric dip, full burn – get us down there as quickly as possible. Alert Traffic and Weather control. Clear the skies round us and prepare a tractor field in case we have to pull one of them out of a crash. Cato, get me the Commander, now!"
Seconds later, Kalen was on the Comm. "Under direct fire, Ryo. We
have no idea where it came from. We're dropping into the upper atmosphere to get close enough to assist, but we'll be a few minutes before we can stabilize."
Ryo was running back to his flitter as he yelled into the Comm. "Get a tractor lock on all of my flitters, Kalen. You're going to boost us into a sub-orbital path. I want us dropping down on that zone within five minutes, understood?"
Kalen nodded and signalled to various stations. Over the front of the battlecruiser, tractor units came to life and began to glow with golden light as they phased raw energy into gravity waves that could be tuned to pull or push objects. As the six flitters launched from where Ryo was, the TGX reached down and enclosed each one in a bubble of tractor energy then pulled, gently. The flitters sped upwards, reaching over two hundred kims altitude in seconds, shielded from the friction by the tractor fields even as they were swept in a parabolic arc towards the distant one-sided battle.
The massive battleship followed them as it dipped into the atmosphere of the planet, friction causing the bow to begin glowing with fire as it drove through the thickening air at near orbital velocity.
...
A slew of red lights covered the controls as the big flitter staggered, then they felt the engines cough and the power level dropped. "Engine two is on fire, flaming it out. We've got no chance to outrun them on only one engine. My Lady, what do you want to do?" Captain Tokoma asked.
Lya blinked, then made a decision that would change many lives.
"Gya, Lyo, you're jumping. Gya, grab Aya and take her with you. The rest of us will distract them." She said.
"No way on Helva's breath am I leaving you, Mother." Gya gasped.
Lya wasn't listening. She had already picked Aya up from Tiana's arms and before Gya could really react, had attached the toddler's Grav Harness to her own in front, so Aya was nestled against her sister's chest.
"You're jumping, this is not a discussion, or a debate. Lyo, get her out of here, and for the Gods' sake, keep my daughters safe." Lyo nodded, and even as Gya protested, he slammed the cargo hatch open and bodily pushed her out of the flitter.
Lya grabbed his arm and pulled him close to her. "I took you in as a foundling for a purpose. This is that purpose, Lyo. Keep my girls safe, and by the grace of all the gods, stay safe yourself."
Lyo looked at the woman who had been as close to a mother for the past eight cycles, then kissing her on the cheek, leapt out the open cargo door to free-fall after the far-off figure of Lya's daughters.
Tiana pushed the switch to close the doors, and the roar of wind subsided. Tokoma continued to spiral the ship, then with a final burst of gunfire that raked along the side of their flitter, the smaller one spun off to pursue the free-falling children. The Captain spun their ship to give chase, but the rudder was not responding.
He turned to see Lya, looking in shock at Tiana, a spray of bullets had passed through the hull and had impacted the poor woman, killing her instantly.
"My Lady, the ship's controls are seized. We're going to crash."
"Did you get a message out?" Lya asked as looked at the body of a woman who had helped her raise her daughters for almost ten cycles, and who had now died because of her.
"I think so, not too sure how much we got out, but we got out at least part of an emergency distress." came the reply.
"Then get yourself off this ship, Captain." Lya said.
"Not without you, My Lady." came the stoic reply.
Lya looked firmly at the Captain. "Young Man, I am regent of Clan Desinlo. You will not refuse me this order. Get off this ship while you still can. If I am to journey to Pangea this day, I shall do it alone, knowing my daughters still have loyal people to assist them. Help my children."
Tokoma hit the switch to open the cargo door and with a final glance backwards, and a nod from his Lady, stepped into the slipstream, leaving Lady Lya Desinlo alone on board the stricken flitter. The last thing he saw was her sitting in her chair, watching the mountains approaching rapidly, and staring off into a distant sky.
The explosion as the flitter hit the mountainside obscured his view in a flare of golden light and fire. Captain Tokoma adjusted his grav harness and made sure he landed safely.
He shrugged out of the harness and looked to the distant fleck of metal that was the other flitter, then began to jog towards it, only to see a swarm of other flecks suddenly appear, and then the one he had been watching exploded in a glow of bright golden light, even as two flitters came over his position. He fired a signal flare and a flitter landed by him quickly.
Two crew came running out and helped him into the flitter, where the Captain gave his grim report.
...
"...In the blink of an eye, everything can change." Gya thought, a whistling sound broke her out of her thought and she twisted a control, making the grav harness ramp up power to slow their descent. Aya struggled against her sister, but was secured in the harness as they glided down towards the ground, almost a full ten kims below. Above them, the flitter burned and spiraled off, Gya could not see anybody else coming out of it.
"GYA!" She turned to see Lyo swooping in close, in another harness, with his pistol drawn and ready, he adjusted flight to follow her descent and watched the sky.
"Where is my mother, Lyo!" She yelled above the scream of the wind.
"I don't think she jumped, Gya. She's still in there. She pushed me out after you." Lyo called back above the wind's passage.
Aya suddenly screamed then went silent and Gya noticed whispers around her head, she slapped a control and the harness cut power, dropping her into free-fall and out of the range of the weapon still firing. She checked Aya, there was blood on her sister, and she was not moving. This was getting worse and worse.
She looked up to see Lyo taking careful aim and shooting, the flitter that had been firing at them wobbled as his weapon found it's target, then the flitter veered away, smoke beginning to billow from one of it's engine ports. Lyo dropped head-first to catch up to her.
"Turn on your Harness, we're getting too close to ground!" He yelled.
Gya fumbled with and activated the controls, the grav harness surged, lifting her and her sister as it slowed their descent, none to soon, as the grassy loam began to rush towards them at a very frightening speed. She hit the control on the harness to stop descent, and the generator began to rise in pitch as it slowed their descent even more, still, when she hit the ground, she promptly fell onto her side.
Slapping at the release, she pulled her arms free of the harness and immediately began to check Aya. Her sister was breathing very shallowly, and there was a bullet wound in her back. Aya had been hit, but was still alive.
A distant explosion jerked her head up, and she saw a cloud of black smoke and some golden flame many kims distant. Something had crashed. Then her blood froze as she saw the smaller flitter that had started all of this, smoke still leaking from one engine port, gliding close towards them.
She sensed, rather than heard Lyo's gun go off as he began to shoot at the flitter. Bullets striking it but not seeming to do much damage, and she saw it's weapon ports were open. Gya closed her eyes and hugged her sister, waiting for the end.
A sudden whoosh of sound and strong warm breeze made her look up. The Flitter was still there, only a few tens of mets distant, but it was now glowing with a soft golden light, and it seemed frozen. She could see the shapes inside of the glass moving around. They had no control. The flitter seemed to flare, and then it came apart, the pieces all floating in a very strong tractor field that had torn the metal body into components. The five or six soldiers aboard it were also floating, shouting incoherently as they struggled helplessly in the massive energy field.
More sounds reached Gya's ears, and she noticed the sky was full of ships, maybe six or more had suddenly appeared, two landed right by them, with two more remaining in the air, as more sped off towards the burning wreckage distant.
"Gya! Lyo, where is she?" She heard and rose to be enfolded in th
e strong arms of her father as he ran out of one of the flitters to reach her.
She vaguely heard her father call for a doctor, and Aya's still form was gently lifted from her to be placed in the care of the medical team.
"Where is your mother, Gya?" Ryo gently asked his distraught daughter. She could only look at him with tears freely flowing, no words were coming to her mouth.
...
"Lord Camelin, the Lady Lya Desinlo did not survive the crash. Do you wish to see the body?" Came the report from the distant teams that had found the wreckage of the cargo flitter crashed against the hillside.
"Yes, bring her home, and have her prepared for her journey to the Gates of Pangea. She deserves at least that." Ryo replied with a catch in his voice. He flicked the channel.
"Kalen, what do we know?"
"My Lord and Commander, I will take full responsibility for this tragedy, as it occurred while your family was under my protection. The Ship was too far distant to prevent Lady Desinlo's flitter from impacting the hillside. Had I been a bit faster, she may have-" Kalen paused, and Ryo could well imagine the other man gathering himself before continuing. "We have the assassins under shield now, they have been stripped and searched, we have five of them, one managed to suicide before we could stop him. They do not wish to talk to us, my Lord. I can identify them as being from Clan Kerilac though, they all have the Kerilac battle mark on them."
"Captain Kalen, I will not hold you responsible, you are one of my most loyal officers." Ryo told him.
"Commander, you must not trust anybody any more. These men infiltrated the Clan, got into a position of such high trust that they were in your home. Killed six security guards and took their flitter. They knew the flight plan for your family, murdered the Lady Lya, and possibly caused the death of young Lady Aya as well." Kalen almost snarled into the comm.
"I know, Kalen. I feel the loss the most of anybody. Once we are finished here, I will see these men, and we will find out why they did this, and what is so important that they are willing to risk causing a civil war for."
Kalen turned off the comm and turned to his troops who were standing with weapons drawn against the five burly Hablis who had dared to attack the heart of a Clanworld. "Secure them, not too comfortably though. The Commander will speak to them directly, and I want no incidents."
...
"We will say nothing to you, Clan Camelin. You are traitors to the Confederacy and to the Clans. You lie with Desinlo and raise bastard children with them." One of the soldiers snarled.
Ryo looked at the five men, all stripped down to just shorts, securely chained against escape or self-harm, and yet still so defiant.
He leaned forward. "All I need to know is who sent you? Hablis such as yourselves have no way of doing this on your own. You had help, from whom?"
Another of the soldiers smiled. "Clansman Michelab arranged for this action, Clansman Camelin. He said it was fitting for a traitor to lose his family before he loses his world."
Ryo nodded and stood. "Hull them, all of them."
An audible gasp was the next thing he heard. "Commander, that has not been done in over a hundred cycles." Kalen said.
Ryo looked at his XO, and Kalen saw the fire burn in his Commander's eyes. "I have no mercy for this, Kalen. These men killed in cold blood, let them feel the fires of the Vortex firsthand. Hull them. We travel to Clanworld Michelab this eve. This ends tonight one way or another."
...
The five men, clad in emergency pressure suits with their arms bound tightly to their waists, were all secured against the outer hull of the TGX-2, just inboard of the main drive pod. The radios were all turned off, and all controls that would be accessible were disabled, so all the men could do is shout and scream into the helmets, totally isolated by the deep vacuum of high orbit. Once the job of securing them had been done, the TGX crew withdrew into the ship's airlocks and the men were left outside for some meaningless time. Their own thoughts trapping them in the suits, listening to the air circulate, knowing that the suits had about a day's worth of air. A surge brought them out of their reverie, and they began to shout again as they saw a bright corona of light coming towards them as the massive battleship leapt into the miasma of Vortex flight.
