She made her way in and found Kali who directed her to Gate 3. When she entered the gate lounge Buster pointed down and to his left and put his hands together against his cheek and tilted his head to indicate ‘asleep’. She stepped to her right and saw him. A big smile came over her face. She went to where he was, leaned over and saw that he was breathing heavily, though thankfully not snoring. She left him at peace and followed Buster into the room where Pious and Packer were being treated.
Pious had been sedated and Dai was dealing with a gash on the side of Justine’s head. “Sue” Justine said with some energy.
“Stay still” said Dai.
Sue came over and pulled up one of the chairs and sat next to Justine leaving enough room for Dai to manoeuvre around her patient. Sue reached out and held Justine’s hands. What struck Sue was the sense of frailty she felt. It was the complete opposite to what she had known. Justine had been a pillar of strength – the ice maiden of Niku people referred to her as. But now she looked frail.
Justine could sense Sue’s assessment. “Don’t worry about me Sue. I just need some rest. I’ll be back in the saddle tomorrow. Don’t you worry. I’m going to show those traitors that they can’t get away with this.” Then she looked across at Pious who was now sleeping on a makeshift mattress of blankets they had found in one of the rooms. “Poor Julian, though, he’s going to need a little longer but he’s tough. You know that…” Justine stopped as a tear rolled down her cheek. She searched for a tissue but there was none to hand.
Sue gave her one from her pocket and Justine dabbed the moisture away while Dai was applying the tape to her dressing. “Yeah we all know how tough he is Justine. Don’t you worry about him now. We’ll look after him. Have you had anything to eat. I’m starving.” Justine shook her head. “Leave it to me” and Sue left them.
She found Buster outside. He had finally sat down in one of the chairs in the lounge. He looked like he too may fall asleep any minute. Reg was lying across a row of chairs and was definitely asleep. Gregor had been given the grizzly task of cleaning up the mess that once was Felicity. He had some assistance from one of Kali’s team and the two of them were not relishing the job. Dakota was actually on watch but even she was yawning. Akos was on the floor trying to go to sleep but not successfully. His mind was still processing what had happened.
“Buster” said Sue. Buster shook his head and looked at the source of the sound. “We need a meal.”
“Do we?” he managed to respond.
“Yep we do. Come on let’s find Tammy and see what we can rustle up.”
“If you insist Maam” said a reluctant Buster.
“Yes I do.”
The two of them headed out to find Tammy.
Chapter 16. Resolute in warp to Klaster 1830, 22 May
Dave and Rihan had just finished dinner, though both looked on it as lunch. A group of the pilots had taken over the lounge area and were trying to agree on what movie to watch.
“Come on darling” said Dave “Let’s retire early.”
“I’ve only been up for three hours” said Rihan. Then the penny dropped. “Oh I see.”
“No you don’t. I want to talk.”
Rihan looked in his eyes. She could see he was serious. “Sure.”
When they got back in their cabin, they both took off their shoes and sat on the bed. Dave was up against the head rest with his feet extended and Rihan was cross legged a little to his side and facing him.
“So what’s on your mind” she asked.
“You had another one of those nightmares.”
“Oh that. Yeah.”
“Was it the same as last time?”
“Pretty much…” she paused and thought for a moment “well I was more…objective…you know like an observer…though parts are still very much me reliving that experience.”
Dave nodded but she didn’t continue. So he said “at the end you yell out ‘WHY?’ It was blood curdling. Why what?”
Rihan took a deep breath in. She wasn’t really that comfortable. She didn’t want to add to Dave’s burdens. “It’s probably about why we were attacked.”
“So, you really think that?”
She knew he hadn’t bought that. “What does it matter honey. It will pass.”
“I don’t think so darling. It’s about our lost baby isn’t it?” He could see the contortion on Rihan’s face.
She was desperately trying to hold it together. She forced herself to take a deep breath. Then she nodded. She could feel her eyes watering. She rubbed her eyes and then tried to sit more upright, reclaiming her posture and composure. He leant over and took her hands in his. His contact triggered another rush of emotion. She couldn’t hold it back this time. The tears began to pour out now. He leaned over and hugged her. He pulled her head into his shoulder and she sobbed as he gently stroked the back of her head.
Eventually she stopped crying. He gave her a tissue and she sat back upright. Her reddened eyes looked at him. There was almost a quality of pleading about them. Dave interpreted it as ‘pleading for understanding’. He so desperately wanted to give her that understanding but he felt he must choose his words very carefully lest he hurt her in this fragile state.
“I don’t think it was right of me to ask you to come on this mission.”
“Oh no Dave...”
But he cut her off. “No it wasn’t right. I was being selfish. I couldn’t bear not having you with me for two years.” Now it was Dave’s turn to be emotional. She could see it in his face. She leant forward and took his hand in hers. “But I see now that you are done with all this, this death and destruction. You just want to create don’t you? To have our child, to start a family?”
Rihan nodded and the tears flowed down both faces as they embraced. They held each other tightly like they dare not let go. Finally they parted and each went for the tissue box.
“Well that’s what must happen then. But Rihan it can’t until we see this through here. We need to resolve this insurrection first. But then, then I promise I’ll put this right.”
“I know. I know” she said.
Part 5
Pursuit
He runs. He claws. He fights. He strives.
But there comes a point when all is clear
What is sought is not so near
He runs. He claws. He fights. He strives.
Then launches forth in earnest quest
To pursue the worst, to be the best
He runs. He claws. He fights. He strives.
Tomorrow’s dawn who knows what it brings
But into the night his body he flings
He runs. He claws. He fights. He strives.
This enemy he seeks he shall find
It’s not for justice or peace of mind
It’s for the future of all mankind
Chapter 1. Niku 0200, 23 May
Art woke famished. He looked around it was dark bar for the lights emanating from both access corridors. He went to put his arm out on his left but encountered a body. He tried to look closely but his eyes were still adjusting. Then he realised it was Sue.
His hip ached from the hard floor. He noticed that Sue was asleep on a blanket. ‘Smart girl’ he said to himself. He pulled himself up and could see Reg was on watch looking out the windows on the outer wall south towards the freight terminal.
He went over as quietly as he could, avoiding the bodies that were lying all about, except for a lane through the centre that someone with some foresight had marked out. He suspected he knew who.
“All’s quiet” he whispered to Reg.
“Yeah we had a bit of excitement around 2100 but the rogan were just probing. The droids dealt with them. It was all over in five minutes. Do you think they’ll try again?”
“Not sure Reg. Depends on what forces they have. They may wait for reinforcements. I would.”
That reassured Reg. “Good. I reckon we could do with a breather.”
“Is that shuttle there still working
?”
“I don’t know. Most of them copped it in that strike.”
“I’m going to take a look don’t shoot me by mistake.”
“Of course not Sir.”
“Good man Reg. You did all right yesterday. You did all right.”
Reg gave him a big smile. It meant a lot to hear that from the man who had threatened to kill him only a day ago. He knew he had stuffed up then and knew he shouldn’t have baulked in getting that grenade launcher but now he knew that the other things he did do were all right in the eyes of this veteran. “Thank you Sir.”
Art nodded and went back to where his gear was and put on his webbing and grabbed his rifle. It disturbed Sue.
“What” she said.
He patted her shoulder and she let her raised head fall back onto the jacket she was using as a pillow.
He went outside onto the hard surface of the landing bays. He took a deep breath in. He was grateful for the fresh air and the absence of any combat smells. It was a little humid but almost no breeze. There was a pale attempt at moon light from the one visible moon. It was enough to make out the shape of the shuttle in front of him.
It was a rogan light shuttle like the ones he had flown on Fulmar. He made his way to the hatch at the rear. It wasn’t locked. ‘They never are’ he said to himself.
He went to the cockpit, took out his torch and, recalling Evie’s instructions given to him on Fulmar, fired up the on board systems. He checked the display for the status checks and alerts. ‘Looking good... plenty of fuel.’ He ran a diagnostic on everything other than the engine. That would require firing it up and he didn’t want to wake everyone.
But then he thought that he had to. So he fired up the engines. Needless to say it did wake almost everyone inside the adjacent Gate 3. But he didn’t let that deter him. He ran the engine diagnostics and once convinced they were in working order he was satisfied he had a serviceable craft.
He re-entered the Gate lounge after powering down the shuttle.
“What’s up boss?” asked Buster. Other heads were raised and a few people had actually stood up.
“It’s alright folks. Party’s over. Please, go back to sleep.” He could see that one of those standing was Jade. He walked over to her and asked her to follow him into the corridor.
“We can use that craft there. It’s good to go. I reckon we should leave by 0430. Are you still up for it?”
She had already rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and had jarred her brain into action before Art had asked her to come with him. “Yes I can be ready. It might be good to have some help – armed help.”
“Leave it with me. I need to discuss this with the leadership.”
“Who is in charge around here?”
“Well it’s a sort of collective leadership. We have three Lt Commanders. I know…but it’s worked so far. Give me half an hour and I’ll sort things out.”
“OK I’ll be ready either way.”
After Jade went in search of a weapon Art hailed “Jim you awake.”
“Yeah I’m awake. Not much rest for the wicked, hey?”
“No there isn’t. Look I have another big decision.”
“Oh really. What is it this time?”
“Can you meet me in Gate 4?”
“Give me five.”
“OK in five.”
Art then went and woke his wife. She wasn’t happy. She waited though till they left the lounge before asking “Why what’s so important?”
They continued walking to the next Gate. He explained his plan but she still wasn’t happy. Jim was just entering as they did from the opposite direction. He went through it with him and he was not happy either.
“Not a good idea Art” said Jim “Not now. We’ve fought hard to secure this spaceport and you know the enemy are going to want to take it back. They will be marshalling their forces and bringing in reinforcements to counterattack and you want to weaken our defences by taking a team down to Assam to chase around the city after this Bane fellow. I’m not in favour.”
“Jim’s right Art” said Sue “I know you’re smarting after he got away on Fulmar but this is not the time.”
“Look there never will be a right time but if we don’t stop this rat he will keep at his mischief and good men and women will die because of it. Face the facts. We would not be here right now if it were not for his involvement. The rogan need him to do their dirty work. It was Niku two days ago, Assam yesterday. It will be some other city tomorrow if we don’t stop him.”
“He’s right” called out Justine. She had overheard the noise and came to investigate. “Stop Bane and we stop the rot. It’s pretty simple really. How can I help?”
Well that was cause for a rethink and while Sue and Jim were reassessing in their own minds Art added “Besides you two can handle the defences here. Jade is coming with me. Give me Buster and Akos. We don’t need a whole team.”
Jim looked to Sue. She shrugged her shoulder as if to say ‘what the hell’. “OK but don’t get your selves killed” said Jim.
Art looked to Sue and she nodded her acceptance. Then she added with some earnestness “that last bit goes double for me.”
“Thank you” said Art.
Chapter 2. Resolute over Klaster 0400, 23 May
“Klaster Control this is Resolute” hailed John Conrad. He was the watch officer and under instructions to make it snappy.
“Welcome back to the friendly skies” said Klaster control “we have goodies for you. You are cleared to land.”
“Roger that” responded John and then to James Rao he ordered “Take us in pilot.”
“Right you are.”
Val and Tracy were first out and under similar orders to expedite the rearming. Dave and Rihan took the opportunity to accept Liz Adair’s invitation for a coffee. They found Liz waiting for them as they entered the facility. She looked like she had only just managed to get herself dressed in time. Her blouse was partially hanging down at the back of her trousers. The bright lights were still a glare to her eyes.
“Welcome Sir, Rihan. Come this way.” She led them to the officer’s mess having kicked the steward out of his slumber on her way to the entrance. He was doing his best though to put on a good manner despite the early hour. He took their order and suggested some raisin toast. He was delighted when the guests accepted.
By now Liz was a little more awake. She knew they would be coming and had a list of very specific questions that she and Polaris HQ wanted to ask.
But it was Dave who beat her to the punch. “Thanks Liz for this. I appreciate you meeting us at this dreadful hour. We won’t be annoying you for long. I plan to go back as soon as we are armed.”
“But Herb and Reina should be down soon.”
“Good but we can’t stay long.”
“Well what happened on Beta Phi?” she blurted out. “I have a whole list of questions from Polaris I’m supposed to ask you” and she put her console on the table and scrolled down a list of them.
Dave took a deep breath in. “Liz the paperwork can wait. We have most of our marines and droids trying to put down a rebellion in Niku. We need to get back. There were 6 rogan caps and was it 6 or 8 frigates Rihan?”
“Eight, eight frigates…but we think we should have destroyed one cap and damaged another” said Rihan. “We also smashed up a good number of fighters and shuttles trying to bring reinforcements down to the surface.”
“One cap was destroyed and another warped away” interjected Liz. “That’s what the latest report I got in said.”
“Good. But we had to warp away at that point because we’d run out of missiles. So as soon as we get these loaded we’ll be going back in” said Dave.
“Have you heard about Assam?” asked Liz.
“No” said Dave.
“What?” asked Rihan.
“The barracks have fallen to rebels. Last news in was that a big Alliance force was destroyed on the highway outside the city.”
Dave slumped back
in his chair. “Shit! We should have stayed.”
Rihan reached out with her hand to hold Dave’s. He pulled his hand away. But she wasn’t deterred. She looked at him earnestly. “No Dave we did the right thing. We’re alive and we’ll soon have the means to go back in and do what we do best.”
Liz wasn’t sure how to respond. She decided to wait and see.
Slowly Dave nodded. “You’re right.” He even managed a smile and reached out and took Rihan’s hand. “You’re always right.”
Liz breathed a little easier now that the tension was cleared. She could only imagine how much stress they were under. She saw Reina coming over and got up to greet her.
“Good morning Sir. Good morning Rihan” said Reina. She was properly attired as always. Her round face did not show for any lack of sleep. Reina immediately detected that something was up. She could see that Dave looked stressed. She took her time to focus on Rihan. She wasn’t sure about her but decided to wait for her boss to speak.
“Good of you to come and see us Reina” said Dave. “I’m afraid I have to ask you to warp to Alpha Phi along with the Sydney. Secure the space over Alpha Phi for the arrival of the resupply shuttles. Liz can you signal Polaris HQ and have them divert the resupply shuttles with our missiles to Alpha Phi.”
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea Sir” said Liz. “You’re taking away our CAP and moving them to within a few hours warp of the enemy fleet and you want us to send our precious shuttles into there as well. I can’t see what warrants the risk.”
Reina stepped in “I can. You want to use Alpha Phi so you can reduce the turnaround time between your raids.”
Dave nodded. “It’s the only way we can chew them out above the planet and provide reasonable support for our forces on the ground.”
“It’s still a big risk” argued Liz. “Their whole fleet could pounce on Alpha Phi and you will all be done for. Well maybe the Resolute might be able to hide but your ship, Reina, and Herb’s can’t and if the shuttles are there when they come well they will be dead meat and you know it.”
Insurrection: Book 3 of Warner's World Page 25
