by Shae Mills
Korba stared at her, but he did not smile. “I know that you have been forced to harden, and that you asked for none of this in the beginning—”
Chelan pressed her fingers to his lips. “The past is in the past. Now all is well. So let us get this over with, shall we?”
Korba smiled. “Yes, my Lady. As you command.” And he released her. He looked to the man closest to him, the First Officer still mounted. “Tannis...”
“Yes, my Lord.”
“We shall go the rest of the way by fighter.”
“Yes, Sire.” And Tannis dismounted and began issuing orders.
Korba turned to face Shabby and Zar. “You will continue to the facility in case we need you.”
Shabizar signed. “Yes, Sire.” The Centurion turned and waited for all of Korba’s men to dismount, and then the sea of black took off at a gallop, melding into the forest.
Chelan was mesmerized by the whole spectacle, but then her attention was directed upward as several Secondary fighters descended before them. From one of the ships, a warrior vaulted out and headed for a second ship. Korba took Chelan by the arm and hustled her to the vacated fighter. Within moments, they were inside, helmets on and strapped in.
Korba looked about him as troops dispersed and entered the remaining fighters, and when the last of his warriors were off the ground, the cockpit cover sealed shut. No holographics came up and the cockpit cover stayed clear. Korba left all the surveillance to his warriors as he negotiated the terrain to their destination. The trip took but a flash.
Chelan sat quietly in the stationary ship and looked at the massive structure looming before them. There was nothing fancy about the rectangular building, but when compared to the fighters hovering near it, its scale was impressive.
Their fighter hung in the afternoon air while Korba took in all that was around him. Cyphers flashed, and incoming reports scrolled across the fighter’s primary screen. Finally he spoke to Chelan. “All is going according to plan. Everything is ready for us.”
Chelan peered all around them. It was as if dusk had descended. In the light of the afternoon sun, it was actually dark. Not only did the sea of fighters suspended at all different elevations provide an impressive display of force, but the inky birds of prey, by virtue of their thick blanket of protection, actually blotted out much of the sun. “Uh,” she said, “I know this concentration of firepower is hardly necessary. I know the fighters’ capabilities. Protection could be afforded from afar and be just as effective.”
“True, but it does drive home a point. The Troke simply have no chance.”
The cockpit hood slid back and Chelan watched as the sea of ebony parted a bit. Their fighter began its final descent, and as Chelan looked across to the neighboring fighter, she froze. “Korba. Stop!”
Their fighter halted and he glanced back at her. “What is it?” he asked almost frantically.
“Look at Tannis next to us.”
Korba looked over as Tannis, the First Officer’s canopy retracted. “What do you see,” he asked warily.
Chelan sucked in a deep breath. “It is what I do not see. In the shadows of the other fighters, Tannis sitting there with his helmet and shroud... He is formless, an apparition. It is as if he is not there.”
Korba became very still. “My Lady, you are alarming me. I do not understand your point.”
“The shrouds, the uniform, the helmets... They all thwart light’s intrusion, rendering us but formless shadows.”
“Yes, that is the whole idea...” His voice broke off. Suddenly, the cockpit cover closed and he shouted into the intercom. “Everyone up!”
Fighters for kilometers around shot up through the atmosphere. Tannis shouted back. “What the hell?!”
Korba engaged the ID system and kicked his fighter right out of orbit, warriors all around him. “The Troke—their weapons are primitive but most effective. We need to be out of the line of fire.”
“Sire, the whole area has been screened. All the Troke have been rounded up and disarmed.”
“Yes, the Troke we can see have been.”
“What?”
“The Zenatropium. It could be woven into their clothing. We have all the Troke we could find, all the Troke they wanted us to find—Withlow Taves, their leader. What better way to strike at the Empire than to surrender to us, have me and my mate and my First Officers all in one spot, and then materialize from out of nowhere to slaughter us all.”
There was radio silence. Korba took a moment to recalculate everything. He pressed a switch.
“Terig here, my Lord. We are still awaiting your arrival.”
Korba drew in a deep breath. “Just a little change in plans coming your way.”
“Sire?”
“Withlow, is he near you?”
“Close enough, Sire. Do you wish to—”
“No. Tell him he needs to come outside with you. Take all his main men with you.”
There was momentary silence. Then Terig spoke. “Okay. That will take a moment or two. He has a few hundred men here with him.”
“Make it happen.”
“Yes, my Lord.”
Korba hit another switch. “Tannis, did you catch that?”
“Yes, Sire.”
“Focus scanners on the area surrounding that building. Once everyone is outside, I want fighters to blitz the area with cyphers flashing plans. I want Centurions cycling through the area picking up our troops. Direct a contingent of Secondary fighters to the plateau area near the city to pick the warriors up once the Centurions have delivered them. Once most are airlifted out... send in a final few to retrieve Terig and the immediate guard. I want all our people out of there as fast as possible.”
“Yes, my Lord.” And fighters began descending.
Chelan could felt her heart pounding. “What if I am wrong?”
“You are not wrong. This was too easy right from the beginning.”
Chelan watched the sensors: fighters swarmed the area near the city as Centurions raced in to the field that contained the Troke. Warriors vaulted onto them and headed for the rendezvous extraction point.
Korba panned in, the confusion on the Troke’s faces evident. Then he listened as Withlow approached Terig. “What the fuck is happening here?”
Terig did not even have to lie. “I have no idea. I am assuming his Lordship has decided on a more personal meeting with you.”
Withlow swung around and looked about him, his chest heaving. “This is not how it was planned!” he bellowed. “This is not what was agreed upon!”
Terig went to speak just as Shabizar appeared, racing toward him. Cyphers on a fighter overhead flashed orders, and Terig latched on to Shabby as he raced by, the Earth man springing onto his back and leaving the Troke far behind.
The Troke were bewildered and momentarily taken aback, their indecision allowing the entire area to clear of warriors. Then Withlow looked to the heavens. “Damn you to hell you, ebony bastard!” he yelled.
An officer from the ground shouted into the intercom. “Sensors picking up motion all through the surrounding hills, Sire, but we have no visuals!”
Korba issued the final orders. “Everyone out of there, now!” And he watched as thousands of fighters jettisoned out of the atmosphere in the blink of an eye.
Korba then stared at the scanners as he linked to RIBUS 1. “I want this same action repeated on all planets! Get our troops out of wherever the Troke have been sequestered. Then strafe the immediate and surrounding areas in a one-hundred-kilometer radius. Throw everything the fighters have at it—raze it to the bedrock. Leave nothing behind!”
Korba paused. “RIBUS 1 Command! Target this area and the whole city. I want everything decimated on my order.”
“Yes, my Lord. Gladly.”
Chelan could hardly catch her breath. “There will be innocent—”
Korba’s voice was as cold as ice. “This is war. They nearly got me, and worst of all, they nearly got you. Collateral damage is a noni
ssue.”
The fighter turned and repositioned. “You wanted to see this to its end, and so you shall.”
Chelan swallowed hard. Korba gave the final order. “Weapons fire!”
A streak of blinding light seems to come out of nowhere from space, and suddenly, a huge area of Rake was vaporized. Where once a large city had stood, nothing but blackened ash and soot remained. Chelan’s eyes bugged. “Oh my god, it is all gone! Just like that. It is all gone.”
Korba grunted. “As it is on ninety-four other planets. Good riddance to the Troke. This star system is mine.”
Chelan had never doubted the power of the RIBUS, and what Korba had unleashed was gentle compare to what he could have done. But still, the sight of the instant decimation was startling. Total eradication achieved. The entire area was now nothing more than sterilized rock.
Korba watched the scanners and incoming data. “We are done here. Time to return to the Outlays.” And they were off.
Chapter 32
THREE DAYS HENCE, CHELAN awoke in the military enclosure she and Korba shared high in the mountains. He had located his base camp well away from Flek’s settlement in case any Troke lurking followed them and took out their animosity on the innocent people. Korba’s army, active in ferreting out the remaining Troke in this region of the planet, would remain here until all was deemed clear and safe. That goal now appeared to have been achieved.
Chelan peered about the room. Korba was already gone, so she dressed quickly and headed outside. There, in the immediate vicinity, the Centurions were being loaded onto a large transport shuttle bound for RIBUS 1. Everywhere else she looked, men and women were in motion, tending to their tasks.
Fighters were arriving and departing regularly as aerial sweeps of the planet continued. Shuttles to and from RIBUS 1 carrying goods for both warriors and the liberated peoples of Rake could be seen piercing the atmosphere at regular intervals, the spectacle repeating itself all over the planet. The sky, for as far as the eye could see in every direction, was a beehive of activity.
A hand tapped her shoulder and she wheeled around, finding Korba standing there, a smile upon his face.
“Our part here is done now. My officers will look after things until another RIBUS can get here to finish with the procurement of all the planets. There will still be Troke scattered about the star system to deal with, many probably virtually invisible, but with all the workers free, they will be hunted down.” He brushed a strand of hair from her face. “Oh, and I checked in with our children. All is well with Shanna, but it seems Master Jason is somewhat ticked with me.”
Chelan grinned. “And why is that?”
“It appears he was looking forward to a little more military action, preferably with a planetary fireball or two for good measure. Taking out cities was a major disappointment to him.”
Chelan laughed. “That pyrotechnic display was a lot more than originally planned. He should be grateful, but he is his father’s son—both his fathers’ son. Would we have expected anything less from him?”
Korba chuckled. “I suppose not.” Then his smile waned. “I have been so busy here tending to details that we have had hardly any time to talk about anything other than the mission.”
“I more than understand, my Lord. The security people have been keeping me up to date on everything, and I got a visit from Terig yesterday, so all is well. Besides, there is not much to talk about with the negotiations having failed.”
Korba stared into her eyes, touching her face reverently. “There is much to talk about.” He paused. “I do not know if you realize it as of yet, the true meaning of what your revelation the other day meant to the whole Empire.”
Chelan smiled. “Well, I took away any chance of a negotiated accord with the Troke, that was for sure. And I inadvertently obliterated any chance of you had of extracting much-needed information from them.”
Korba sighed. “You know that is not my point, my Lady. With you and me there, and many of my top officers in that building, it could have been a bloodbath. And I am not entirely sure, even with all the forces in place, that you and I would have made it out alive. The Troke were not looking for a standoff. They wanted to chop the head off the top of the Empire, and with their men virtually invisible to us, they could have very well succeeded.”
Chelan had realized the truth of what he had just said right from the moment her revelation came to her, but she had not allowed that possibility to sink into her psyche, the ramifications too dire to contemplate. Her voice was soft as she tried to keep the tremor she felt out of it. “If they had taken you down... I—”
Korba smoothed a gloved finger over her lips. “Shhhh... They would have taken both of us together.”
“Regardless, the Empire would once again have been thrown into chaos.”
“It would be upset, no doubt, but any chaos that would have ensued would have been nowhere near that which Talon created.”
Chelan shook her head. “But who would have taken your place after all the fighting was done?”
Korba smiled at her. “There are so many capable. Tannis, Lethiason, Ilan, Zane, Yanis... Any one of those men could more than competently take my place.”
She stretched up and kissed his lips. “I do not believe you. But thankfully it did not come to that.”
“Thankfully, I had you by my side, my Lady.” And he kissed her deeply.
When they parted, Chelan looked up at him through the corner of her eye. “Does this mean I get to come on more of your campaigns with you?”
Korba laughed. “Oh right—capitalize on your victory here and force me to say yes out of gratefulness!”
“So, is that a yes?”
Korba smiled down at her. “That is a yes. I want you by my side everywhere I go.”
“Good! Took you long enough to grant me what I have always wished for.”
Korba groaned. “You may come to regret what you have always wished for.”
Chelan bit her lip and smiled up at him coyly. “I doubt that, my Lord.” Then she peered around at all the activity. “So, what now?”
“Well, it is time for us to depart. Terig and some officers will remain here for a few more days, then he will join us on RIBUS 1 just before we leave to return to RIBUS 7.”
“When do we leave?”
Korba hesitated. “That depends.”
“On what?”
“On what we do about Fremma.”
Chelan suddenly felt winded. “Is that not up to him?”
Korba’s fingers entwined in a lock of her hair. “Ultimately, yes. But he will not be making any decision unilaterally. There is much to deliberate.” He looked deep in her eyes. “And there are the feelings of others to take into consideration.”
Chelan shied away. “He has only himself and Annya to consider.”
“You know that is not true.”
Chelan glanced at him. “He and I are worlds apart right now. And regardless, I am yours and yours alone.”
Korba looked off into the distance. “When I spoke those words, they were words born of our situation. Fremma and Dar were gone. You know I have always included them in your life, and I always will. I even told you that not long ago.”
“I remember. But ever since the Koll, I have known your true desires. Yet I was always drawn to them by their presence, their love, and the history I shared with them. So yes, Fremma is back, or at least alive, but he has a new life... a new woman. And I will never interfere in that.”
Korba looked back at her. “You make it sound so easy.”
Chelan slumped. “Easy? No. The moment I saw him, all my old feelings came rushing in. But then as he spoke and I saw the look in Annya’s eyes, I knew that even if I wanted him back, I could never ask him to be mine again.”
“Do you not think that is something you should discuss with him first?”
Chelan hesitated. “And what of you? Where is your heart in all of this now that he has been found?”
“My heart i
s where it has always been, with my woman. Originally, out of your bond with Dar and Fremma, I came to give you to them freely so that you would never be alone. But even that plan failed in the long run. Now that you and I are together again, never to be apart, bloody sandstorms aside, that aspect of the equation is no longer an issue. So, it is you who must ask yourself if you could lie with him again knowing that I am close by you for all time.”
“No, you do not get to dump this all in my lap, because he was and will always be one of your dearest and closest friends. Regardless, I am resolute in my decision that you and I are one, and I am yours alone. Besides, we do not even know what Fremma wants. After all, we promised Annya we would not tear him from her. If she wishes to stay here at her home with her people, then chances are Fremma will stay here also.”
“We promised not to tear her from her husband before we knew who her husband was. And, as it has always been, if you wish him as your lover, I will not interfere. In fact, as always, out of my love for the both of you, I encourage that bond. So the question is passed back to you. If he returns to us, will you take him back?”
“You are ignoring Annya. She is now a huge part of this. Somehow, I doubt her culture shares Iceanean sexual freedom. My thoughts and wishes cannot form unilaterally, in a vacuum. And I will certainly not take what is not mine.” Then she frowned at Korba. “Why all this now? Why so definitive? We both know he may choose to stay here, so all this is may be moot. And besides, I said I was yours and yours alone. Why are you opening doors where none should exist?”
“Because, my Lady, there are two major flaws in your thinking. First, I know Fremma will not stay here, Annya aside—”
“How can you jump to that conclusion?” Chelan interrupted. “I saw the love for her in his eyes. I could feel it. It was so strong it was palpable.”
“I say it because I know Fremma. Like me, he is a hardened warrior born.”
“He is also loyal to a fault. He has people to care for, people who care for him. He is not going to leave them on a whim.”
