Bilrak slapped Crystal's arm and gave a friendly squeeze. “We are like brothers and sisters, your race and mine. Take us back to our home, my lady, and we will walk side by side on Gaia once again.”
Crystal looked toward Daf, who was biting her bottom lip. Crystal then grasped Bilrak's shoulder, squeezing just like he did hers. “Then we will show our loyalty.”
“We fight!” Bilrak cheered, hoisting his pickaxe into the air.
Everyone roared, then several Dwarves entered the cell and escorted Daf out. Daf turned her head, eying Crystal as she pressed forward down the hall. “I guess I'll see you later?”
“I...think so,” replied Crystal.
Daf disappeared out of view, prodded along by more than a dozen Dwarves.
Shan gestured for Crystal to exit as well and when she did, she saw Thun standing by Shan's side.
“We have created a small crew for you,” said Thun. As he spoke their names, one by one they stepped forward. “Meet Algona, Bavila, Ramira, Magil, Dilgor, Thodion, Shan Ru, me, and Harak.”
Crystal was surprised to hear Harak’s name. He seemed to hate Crystal, so why would he want to be on the Tranquil's bridge with her? She placed her fists on her hips, standing strong. “Harak?”
Harak grunted and stepped forward. “I'll be with my—our crew. So, no funny stuff.”
“And,” spoke Bilrak, ignoring the rift between his son and Crystal, “Ramira is my daughter. She is noble and wise.”
Ramira bowed. “Thank you, father.”
Bilrak continued by saying, “Algona is our wisest. She is our Chief Medicine Woman. Bavila can heal anything under the earth and sun.”Crystal looked in the direction of Magil, Dilgor, and Thodion, who though a little wobbly from drink all stood erect and appropriately serious. They were all caped and hooded, including the women. The men's beards hung down past their bellies and one had his beard tucked into his belt.
“What are their specialties?” asked Crystal.
“Magil,” said Bilrak, “is the strongest of us by far. He carries the heaviest swords, eats the most at meals, and can drink a wicked amount of mead.” He walked over to Magil and gave the man a hearty hug. They matched laughter and as Bilrak turned, wiping some spit off of his jovial lips, he saw Crystal's expression and frowned.
Crystal shook her head. “No, what can he do for us on the ship?”
“You can figure it out.” Bilrak hurried past Crystal, calling over his shoulder. “I'm late for the tunnel. I have to catch up to them or they'll leave their King no fighting scraps!”
“Let's go!” ordered Harak, snaking himself around everyone and at the head of the line. “It's to Tranquil we go.”
Crystal stood her ground. “You do not order my crew...on or off my ship.”
Harak stomped his foot, then marched over to Crystal. “These are my people. When my father is not in the presence of my people, I am King by birthright. You cannot tell me what to do, lassy.”
“From what I hear, your brother, Thun, is first in line as King. Regardless, the ship does not move unless I move it. I have full authority over everyone on it—or we don't fly.” Crystal wanted to kick the small man as hard as she could, just to drive her point home.
Harak brandished a sword from behind his long cape. He took a swing and before Crystal knew it, she had her sword out, catching his sword upon hers, reverberating steel against steel. Harak fell to one knee doing his best to hold his strength against the strong force of Soul's Eye.
Thun's voice boomed in the hallway. “Enough!” He kicked his brother out of the way and faster than most eyes could see, Crystal had sheathed her sword back into her baldric. How did I do that? Crystal wondered, staring at her hands. Then she turned to Harak, who was getting up and dusting himself off. “You tried to kill me!” she accused.
Thun stroked his heavy beard. “He wasn't going to kill you. He'd arrest his sword a nose length away from you, like he has done a hundred times with others. He likes to show his strength and his aim, and his harmony with his sword.”
Harak kicked the dirt. “Don't talk as if I'm not here, brother.” He smirked at Crystal. “I'm not a cold-blooded killer. Though sometimes I may need to be.” He pointed his sword down the passage. “Let's move. Tranquil awaits.”
“We have a day of wait,” replied Crystal. “Why the hurry?”
Harak walked on, ignoring Crystal's question. Thun patted Crystal's elbow as he walked by, following his brother to Starship Tranquil, along with the rest. “He'll lighten up.”
She turned around. “Daf, I—” She paused, realizing Daf wasn't there, remembering she left a while ago. Instead, it was Shan staring back at her. His face was calm, as usual, and his eyes gentle.
Shan spoke. “On Tranquil, there can only be one leader and one co-leader. In my eyes, I see Thun as co-leader and you as leader. If we are to make this work then we will have to convince Harak of that.”
“Yeah, good luck. The guy's a stubborn wart if I've ever seen one.” Crystal spun around and followed the Dwarves to Tranquil.
∞
The door nudged open an inch more and they could see several Plaerian shins and feet.
Kalista kicked at the window and seethed, her face turning red. She slammed her elbow into it, grimacing. Then her eyes narrowed and she spun around, eyeing the pry bar. A wicked grin formed on her lips.
“The bar,” she growled in a low tone.
Devon and Chase stepped back as she lunged toward the door. She grabbed the bar with both hands and yanked. It looked effortless as the bar slipped out of the Plaerian's hands and into Kalista's. She returned to the window with the pry bar in hand, her knuckles white from squeezing and pretending it was Y'taul's neck.
“Get back.” She slid her grip down the shaft of the bar, leaned on her back foot, and took a giant swing. The bar connected and the entire window shattered, sending thousand of pieces to the docking bay below.
Kalista jumped down to the docking bay floor, as if it was only a few feet down instead of two-dozen or more. She landed athletically on her feet and looked up. “Let's go! I'll catch you. One at a time!”
Devon and Chase looked down at Kalista with her arms out and ready to catch, the flashing red lights streaking across her body.
“Uh...you go,” said Devon, trying unsuccessfully to sound gallant instead of afraid.
“We've got to go now,” Chase urged, and nudged Devon, who reluctantly took a step and jumped. In a matter of seconds, Devon was cushioned in Kalista's embrace and set feet first on the floor.
“Thank you,” he mumbled, straightening his shirt and eyeing every corner of the docking station, his heart racing, wondering when the Plaerians would show up blasting their ray guns, or whatever those hand-held weapons were.
Chase took a step and let himself fall into Kalista's arms. Safely placing him upright on the docking bay, Kalista hustled them to the Starhawk Transport.
Chase opened the co-pilot door and jumped in, Devon following, and both moved to the back, taking their positions on the bench, waiting for Kalista.
“Where is she going?” asked Devon.
Chase could see Kalista through the cockpit window, racing toward another smaller ship.
Chase slumped, moaning quietly. “She can't be leaving us.” He ran to the pilot's chair and sat in its wide frame, feeling like a small child in an adult lounge chair. He scooted to the edge of the pilot's seat, held the control stick, and pressed on the HDC. “Where's the engine's ignition command?” He searched for a moment. “There it is.” An instant later, he pressed alive the engines and the Starhawk powered up.
He looked over his shoulder at Devon. “Hold on. We're getting out of here with or without her.”
Suddenly, a wall in the docking bay disappeared as if it was never there, revealing an expansive space lit by a million stars.
“Was that a hologram the entire time?” asked Devon.
“I guess so.”
A hazy field stretched from the top and
bottom of the opening, a technology similar to many of Star Guild's starships, keeping the vacuum of space out, yet allowing ships to freely move in and out of the large vessel without issue.
Chase had flown before—a has-been Star Guild pilot—but these controls were a little different, a little beyond his experience. He pressed on the display and the Starhawk trembled for a moment.
A large hand appeared out of the corner of Chase's eye and he flinched and ducked. Too late. A strong grip around his arm pulled him out of the pilot's seat like a stuffed doll and tossed back into the cargo bay.
“Get out of my seat!” yelled Kalista.
Kalista slammed the co-pilot door and jumped into the pilot seat. “You boys trying to leave without me?”
Chase rubbed his lower back gasping for breath. Devon pulled Chase to the bench seat and strapped his friend in, just as the Starhawk shuddered and lifted.
Kalista pressed several more buttons on the HDC and the ship lurched back as the ion thrusters came on line. “This is how you guys treat me? Just leave me?!”
The ship blasted forward and out of Y'taul's vessel. The g-forces grabbed them tightly but somehow Chase flung out of his restraints and headlong into the back of the cargo bay.
“Get Chase back into his restraints,” shouted Kalista. “We have bogeys, six o'clock.”
Devon couldn't move, and if he did, the toss and turn of the craft would slide him across one end of the ship to the other just as Chase was doing.
Chase managed to find a handhold, and then another, as he crawled weakly back to the bench.
“Don't worry about me,” muttered Chase, buckling himself in, making sure the straps were secure this time.
Kalista banked hard right as a laser zoomed passed the Starhawk.
Chase rubbed the back of his neck. “We didn't leave you. You were leaving us!”
Kalista barked back. “I what? You idiot! I had to —”
She pulled the Starhawk up and to the left, again avoiding another weapon's fire. “I had to open the docking bay doors through the...” She pressed her control stick forward, successfully avoiding another potential hit. “...through one of Y'taul's ships. This Starhawk isn't linked into to Y'tauls ship and —”
Chase and Devon leaned forward, then back, then to the right, and so on as Kalista continued to maneuver the Starhawk away from enemy fire.
“Can't you just hyperjump to the next system?” asked Chase.
Devon nodded his head up and down, which seemed more exaggerated from the sharp movements of the craft.
Kalista made a fist and shook it. “I can't put the coordinates in. I'm too busy trying to keep us alive!”
Chase unbuckled himself and stood up, then toppled to the side, bracing his hand against the top of Devon's head to steady himself. He took a step forward and almost lost balance again as the Kalista dodged another laser. “I'm coming to help!”
“Sit down!” ordered Kalista.
A blast charred the stern of the ship, tossing Chase to the floor. His eyes widened as a rush of adrenaline hit him and in a flash he found himself back on his feet, leaping for the co-pilot chair, successfully grasping the chair's arm and pulling himself into a seated position. He buckled himself in. Kalista ignored him, intent on guiding the ship away from more blasters.
“Y'taul's ship is equipped with long range cannons and he seems happy to use them. We're pulling away from him, but —”
The ship shook as another laser hit its mark. The HDC brought up a display with a red flashing light under the belly of their Starhawk, indicating damage.
“Give me a break,” groaned Kalista. She swiped her hand across the HDC, deleting the display. “It's just one of our landing gears.” She pulled back on her control stick, then immediately pushed forward.
The HDC pulled up another display as it beeped several times, showing their current location, along with Y'taul's ship, and several other smaller crafts in pursuit. Kalista pressed a holographic button, turning off the beeping sound.
“They aren't slowing down,” she said, irritated. “How did I get myself into this mess? I was having such a good day before all of this.”
“What can I do?” asked Chase.
“Nothing!” She pulled hard left, twisting their ship several times, again missing more laser fire. “Never mind. Type in the coordinates zero-zero-one.”
“Okay,” Chase fidgeted with the display console in front of him, unsure which buttons to push. “Where?”
“Right there! Course module drive!”
“Oh!” Chase reached directly between their chairs and pressed a button on a rectangular box extending an inch outward from the flight console. The digital display blinked on, highlighting several green numbers.
Another blast erupted and the entire craft shivered. Chase panicked, quickly pulling the hyperdrive lever, catapulting them at a thousand times their speed in a blink of an eye.
The space before them filled with stars streaking like lines across the window, and colors changing from white, to yellow, to purple, and back to white again. In the ship all was quiet. They stared at the beauty of it all, their brains and body floating and feeling like mush all at the same time.
And then it all stopped and they were in front of a starbase more than a million miles away from their previous location. But to Chase, this starbase seemed all too familiar.
“Looks like we're back where we left,” observed Devon, now standing next to Chase and leaning against his chair, his hair disheveled and his eyes wild. Chase checked the coordinates, seeing 5-4-8. “Did I just take us back to Starbase Matrona?”
Kalista pointed ahead. “Does that planet look like the same green planet that Matrona was orbiting a few minutes ago?”
“Guild! Where did I take us?”
“To Starbase Ceres, you bonehead. How am I going to explain this? Why didn't you put in the coordinates I asked for?”
Chase smacked his forehead with his palm. “The last hit freaked me out. I'm sorry.” He looked up at Starbase Ceres. “I didn't finish patching in the coordinates before I pressed the hyperdrive.”
“You didn't put in any coordinates at all!” Kalista shook her head and pointed at a button next to the course module drive. “You pressed that button, which patches in the Starhawk's previous coordinates.” She groaned. “How am I going to explain this? I can’t just jump out of here.” She pointed at the starbase in front of them. “They’d report me for suspicious activity.”
“The planet is gorgeous,” Devon whispered with amazement. “It's as blue as any blue I have ever seen.”
“We are in Cygnus Alpha quadrant of the Milky Way Galaxy. It's a water planet named Opus.”
“Wait,” responded Chase. “Another starbase?”
Kalista hesitated before answering. “I'm afraid so.”
“Are there humans on that starbase?” asked Chase.
Kalista looked at him and nodded. “There are a lot of starbases with humans on them, and all doing the same thing that your race was doing.”
“Mining for gold?”
“Yes,” replied Kalista.
“Starhawk,” came a voice over the com link. “Please identify yourself. Your galactic entrance is not on our flight plan today. I have you as Starhawk signature 135.” There was a short pause. “Kalista?”
“Hey Al, and yes, this is Kalista. I was en route to assist mining operations on Otto's moon. My hyperdrives aren't working correctly and found myself in a small asteroid belt. Needless to say, an asteroid broke one of my landing gears.”
“Kalista,” replied Al, chuckling. “First off, you Starhawk pilots don't assist in the mining operations. You sit in your ships while we load the rocks in your cargo bay. Secondly, we still haven't met a single Starhawk pilot. Any chance we can finally meet you?”
“We can't show ourselves because of classified reasons, Al. Plus, you couldn't handle me.” She frowned, not wanting to play this silly human flirting game.
“Yeah, yeah. H
ead to Opus Underpost 9. I'll tell them about your landing gear. We can have you patched up in no time.”
“Thank you, Al.”
“You're welcome, Kalista. Maybe we can meet someday.”
“Out.” Kalista clicked off her com link, just as Devon tapped her shoulder.
“How are we going to land without a landing gear?”
“You'll see.”
“Do they have a bathroom down there? And, maybe some food?” asked Devon.
“Food, yes. I can have that delivered to us. Bathroom? No.”
Chase moved uncomfortably in his chair. “So, we have to piss our pants?”
Kalista flicked her thumb over her shoulder. “Please don't. Use the one back there. But hurry. I have permission to enter Opus waters in 10 minutes.”
Devon searched for a bathroom door or something that would indicate a bathroom on board. “I don't see it.”
Kalista keyed her HDC and a door flung open just off to the side of the cargo bay door. “It blends in well. Be careful. It's cramped.”
Devon walked back to the bathroom as Kalista turned her com link back on. “Al, this is Kalista.”
“Yes?”
“I'm starving. Like, really starving. Can I have three plates of your finest meal when I get down to Underpost 9?”
“How many people you got on that thing, Kalista?”
“Just me. Why?”
“I know. I'm just flicking you Crustacean spray. I'll have it delivered to your holding bay.”
“Thank you.” She flicked the com link off just as Devon walked out of the bathroom. Kalista nodded her head at the bench seat. “Buckle up big guy. We're going down into Opus waters.”
She tilted the craft, bringing the grand blue planet into view. Unlike Lumus, which was mostly red and gray from orbital view, or Tanza, which was mostly green, this planet was shimmering in blue, as if the entire planet was a big bowl of turquoise water.
She pushed the throttle forward, heading into the exosphere of the planet.
“Entry Shield,” she said out loud. After a few moments of silence she looked at Chase, who was slouched in his seat, staring at the oncoming planet. “Hey, co-pilot. Did you hear me?”
Star Guild Episodes 10 - 18 (Star Guild Saga) Page 21
