The Soldier: Escape Vector

by Vaughn Heppner

  Velia joined him on the forward deck. She didn’t shiver anymore or sweat due to pain. The healing salve had done wonders to her burned skin. The passage of wind must have also felt good and reviving.

  “I’ve been thinking,” Cade said.

  Velia glanced at him sidelong.

  “You hinted earlier that you’re not a Rhune spy.”

  “I’m not,” she said.

  “The trouble is I’m not buying the act. I’ve reconsidered the things you’ve done. The only conclusion is you’re a spy for the Rhunes.”

  “I’m pleased if that’s what you think, as I hope the Rhunes believe the same thing.”

  “No. From what I’ve seen, you must have implants inside you.”

  “A tracker, but that’s it.”

  “Velia…in certain ways, the Rhunes act like cyborgs. They never tell you how much they’re going to screw with your basic humanity when they capture and implant you. You have no idea what they put inside you unless you’re a Rhune.”

  “The way you talk, it sounds like you’ve faced cyborgs before.”

  Cade nodded, as he grew moody, remembering.

  Velia studied him. “In light of this, your actions make more sense. You attacked the Rhunes as if you had a personal grudge against them. Clearly, you hate cyborgs.”

  Cade grunted the affirmative.

  She sighed, staring into the horizon, shaking your head. “None of this might make any difference, anyway.”

  “Why?”

  “The Eagle-Dukes and Rhunes have been warring against each other since the beginning. I believe they came from your war.”

  “My war was in a different space-time continuum. For Rhunes and Eagle-Dukes to have come here—” Cade’s jaw dropped as a new realization sank in. “The cyborg mobile base, the ancestral railguns guarding the mountain fortresses, everyone here did come from my space-time continuum. The question is when.” He scowled. “Given the mobile base, the Raptor 5000s and this—” Cade pulled out the Lupus 19 Energy Gun. “The exodus from our space-time continuum must have happened during The War, from my original time, in other words. You people must be descended from various factions from The War. The Eagle-Dukes—the man-makers—what are fighting thralls like?”

  “Some move fast like you. Some are powerful like you.”

  “They must be a form of Ultra then,” Cade whispered. Furrow lines appeared on his forehead. “But what about the Rhunes? There were never cyborgs like them during The War.”

  “I don’t have an answer for that.”

  He gave her a piercing glance. “You said earlier that the Eagle-Dukes would have launched a thousand torpedoes if they knew the whereabouts of the last Rhune base. Does that mean the Eagle-Dukes destroyed the other Rhune bases?”

  “A few,” Velia said. “I don’t know about all. From what our intelligence services have found, a strange disease slaughtered the majority of formerly existing Rhunes.”

  “You’re part of those intelligence services?”

  Velia nodded.

  “And Dorian Blue?”

  “Was my second cousin and lover like I said,” Velia told him. “I wormed my way into his confidence, and possibly the Rhunes suspected me as an enemy. I changed their minds when Dorian brought me to them.” Velia made a sour sound. “I’ve been playing a part for so long I hardly remember the person I was. At first, I wondered if you were an elaborate Rhune ploy. Now, I don’t think so.”

  “Does Tarvoke know about the Eagle-Duke intelligence services?”

  Velia shrugged. “I’m not privy to the highest dealings of the service.”

  “One service, not many?” asked Cade.

  She stared at him.

  “I’m almost beginning to believe you,” Cade said. “Do you truly have a Rhune tracker in you?”

  “As far as I know,” she said.

  “Did you radio the Rhunes earlier?”

  Velia shook her head. “The sky-raft approached the Day Star too soon. The Rhunes must have sent it after Dorian spied you or after you slew Dorian. If only they’d delayed sending the raft just a little longer.”

  “Why?”

  Velia’s nostrils flared as she searched his face. “I don’t know if I dare trust you with my people’s fate. Your spaceship came at just the wrong time. A little longer, and I think the plague raging through the Rhune fortresses would have slain the last of them.”

  “Let me stop you right there.” Cade searched for the right words. “How are the Rhunes able to achieve their feats of what seems like magic? After all this time, the Eagle-Dukes’ intelligence service must have figured it out.”

  “Of course.”

  “How?” Cade half-shouted.

  “You said it earlier,” she told him. “They have implants, powerful ones. According to a briefing I once received, they have extra sensitivities, energies, projections, nullifications, emanations, new glands to counter fatigue and poisons and some have enhanced intelligence in ways we haven’t yet discovered. They pose as logicians, but ape the manner of magicians, as you’ve suggested. Their original name for themselves was cyber techs.”

  “Cyber as in cyborgs,” Cade whispered.

  Velia nodded. “Our earliest history indicates the giant spaceship around Sarus—”

  “Do you mean the nearest gas giant?”

  “Yes,” she said, “the Jovian planet Sarus.”

  “Go on.”

  “According to the oldest lore, the giant cyborg ship chased the Rhune vessels that had fled to his lonely system. The cyborgs almost destroyed the fleeing Rhunes, too, but the cyber techs employed some of their technical sorcery against the giant craft. The stricken vessel parked in Sarus orbit, and there it has remained to this day.”

  “Just a minute,” Cade said. “You’re saying that happened over a thousand years ago?”

  “That sounds about right.”

  “But I saw particles leaking from the hull rupture. After one thousand years, that shouldn’t be possible.”

  “I know nothing about that, but I think Graven Tarvoke does.”

  “Did Tarvoke really land on Coad?” Cade asked.

  “Years ago, yes.”

  “And?”

  Velia shrugged. “I have no idea what happened after that, except to say that he eventually made it back into space and his ship.”

  “What about the Eagle-Dukes?” asked Cade. “When did they arrive on Coad?”

  “Just in time to witness the Rhune strike against the giant cyborg ship,” Velia said. “Then, strange magic or high unfathomable technology, take your pick, sabotaged our ancestors’ fleet. Some perished in the Kuiper Belt. Others barely made it to Coad. The ancestral railguns came from the surviving landing ships. Another strike from a mysterious source gutted much of the remaining technology.”

  “A mysterious Rhune source?” asked Cade.

  “Our history says otherwise, as the Rhunes received a massive setback at that time, too.”

  “You mean…there’s a third or fourth party in play, one that no one has discovered?”

  “I don’t know about that,” Velia said, “as I’m just a pawn in a vicious spy game. I’m not privy to higher strategy or the secret thoughts or knowledge of the Eagle-Dukes. I do know our basic history, but not the deep secrets.”

  “What was or is your intelligence service’s ultimate goal?” Cade asked.

  “That should be obvious. We desire to obliterate the Rhunes while we can. Given enough time, they will become cyber-tech gods. They seek ever more power, grafting machines and other parts to themselves in painful and sometimes horrific surgeries.”

  “Why haven’t the Rhunes obliterated the humans on Coad?”

  “They’ve tried more than once,” Velia said. “Hundreds of thousands of people died each time. That finally galvanized the Eagle-Dukes into shelving their internecine wars and creating one over-reaching secret service to battle the Rhunes in kind.”

  “Where does Graven Tarvoke stand in all this?”
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  “He’s a complication, but he appears to have sided with humans over the Rhunes in most things. I think he is what he claims to be: an outsider from a different space-time continuum than ours.”

  “Interesting, interesting,” Cade said, as he stroked his chin. “Who made the pocket universe?”

  “Maybe the mysterious third or fourth party you spoke about,” Velia said. “Maybe the Rhunes know, but they haven’t told us.”

  Cade took several steps closer to the edge. He halted, looking down at the passing waters. He stood there in order to give Velia an opportunity to try to push him. He would hear her footsteps if she moved quickly. If she tried to shove him, he’d know that she was snowing him. Hearing nothing, he looked back to see her standing at the same location, watching him.

  Thoughtful, he walked back to her. “You believe the sky-raft is heading for the last Rhune base, an underwater facility that no Eagle-Duke has been able to find. Oh,” he said. “I understand. We’re bait—no, not bait exactly. We’re the advance scout. In some manner, you’ve rigged a signal device. Maybe the device is in you.”

  “You give me too much credit,” she said.

  “Whatever your real goals, you’ve acted with cunning and courage. If anything, I don’t give you enough credit.” He waited as he let that sink in and for her to attempt something.

  Maybe she understood that, for she smiled. “Do you think I could outdraw you?”

  “I know you can’t.”

  “The famous Ultra arrogance,” she said quietly. “It’s why my ancestors resorted to man-makers. We wanted to keep our Ultras under control. The designers limited the fighting thralls, unwilling to give them all the Ultra traits.”

  “Am I correct about you and I being the advance party for an Eagle-Duke strike-force?” he asked.

  “I don’t know,” she said. “Maybe.”

  “How are the others going to reach the hidden Rhune base?”

  Velia stared at him, looked away, sighed and regarded him once more. “Lord Magnus has probably already launched the bulk of his air fleet. Will they arrive at the Rhune base while we’re still alive? I seriously doubt that.”

  “Airships?” Cade asked with surprise. “The Rhunes will burn an air fleet with ease. We could do it ourselves with the sky-raft and its cannon.”

  “Don’t underestimate the Eagle-Dukes or Lord Magnus.”

  “Meaning what?” asked Cade.

  “That the humans are winning the overall war,” Velia said quietly. “Remember, there’s only one Rhune base left. The others have fallen. How do you think we achieved that?”

  “You already said, through a terrible disease.”

  “That’s our best guess. The truth is that we don’t really know.”

  Cade thought about that, about air fleets, sky-rafts and a possible hidden enemy. He turned and walked around the control cabin to stare into the distance behind them. Afterward, he peered in other directions, searching for some indication of an air fleet or other type of airborne transportation. The sky was the same color as far as he could see, with no specks to indicate others.

  Velia joined him.

  “Do the Eagle-Dukes have submarines?” he asked.

  “Just torpedoes,” she said.

  Cade pulled out the Lupus 19 Energy Gun, checking the charge. It was almost full. Tucking the gun away, he headed for the cabin. It was time to take decisive action. A gun, no matter how powerful, wasn’t enough to win free of Coad. He needed something bigger, more destructive.

  It struck him then. If he couldn’t figure out how to regain control of the sky-raft, maybe he could tamper with its mechanisms and create a mobile bomb. Maybe he could take out the last base in an explosive ball of fury. He’d have to figure out a way to survive if he could, but even if he died, that would be better than aiding the Rhunes in some manner.

  Yet, wouldn’t that mean he’d be aiding the cyborgs? They’d wanted to destroy the Rhunes. Was the enemy of my enemy truly my friend? If the Rhunes wanted to defeat the cyborgs—

  “The cyborgs are defeated,” Cade muttered.

  “What was that?” Velia asked, as she walked through the doorway.

  Cade glanced back at her. “Can we rig the sky-raft to blow?”

  “And kill ourselves?”

  “Not if I can help it. But we could destroy the last Rhune base.”

  She studied his face until a change swept over her. She bit her lower lip, turning away and balling her fingers into fists, which shook.

  “What’s wrong now?” Cade asked.

  “You’re willing to die in order to kill Rhunes?” she whispered.

  No. That wasn’t the plan. Shouldn’t a secret agent be willing to do that, though?

  “They’re really cyborgs,” he said briskly, “and I’m trapped in a pocket universe. Yes! If I can’t escape this place, I’ll slay as many cyborg-Rhunes as I can. Now, help me rig this thing, so I can give the last Rhune base a mighty sendoff.”

  Her shoulders shook. “I don’t want to die, Cade. Not like that.”

  “We all die sometime,” he said with a shrug. “Why not while we’re striking back at our enemies?”

  Velia gulped air, and that seemed to steady her. She faced him, saying, “If I help you, I have a final request.”

  He nodded.

  Her eyes gleamed as she said, “I want you to make love to me before we die.”

  Cade’s features hardened. She was pissing him off about this. “Hey, if I’m about to die, I’m going to do it as a faithful husband to the end. I love my wife, and I took an oath made in love. I will not sully that in my final hour.”

  Velia shut the door behind her, leaning against it provocatively. “I’m going to change your mind about that, Cade,” she said softly, as she began to unbutton what remained of her blouse.

  This was too much. Cade turned his back on her, crouching at the controls, prying off a panel with his fingertips. He heard her approach. It bothered him that his heart thudded faster. What was he going to do if she draped herself naked against him? He gritted his teeth, shaking his head. He would resist despite the temptation. Raina, I’m coming back to you, darling.

  “Cade,” Velia whispered, picking up something that rustled against fabric. Or maybe she set her blouse onto a chair.

  He purposely ignored her, as he realized she was doing her damnest to crack his resolve.

  That was when a prickling sensation caused him to hunch his shoulders, and something crashed against the back of his head, dashing his forehead against the bottom control panel. He groaned in pain, turning, seeing Velia standing with a two-handed tool. Tears leaked from her eyes as she raised it.

  “I don’t want to do this,” she wept, swinging the tool at him.

  He shifted fast—although not quite fast enough. The metal clipped the side of his head before clanging against the control panel.

  “They’re making me do this,” Velia cried, with tears in her eyes. “Why don’t you let me knock you out? This is for the best, don’t you see?”

  She swung again, and once again, Cade, although groggy, slipped his head to the side, only taking part of the blow. She leaped back. Cade had twisted to face her as he thumped onto his butt. He moved a leg just in time, using his left foot to hook the back of an ankle. She went down, the tool clanging onto the floor.

  Despite the throbbing at the back of his head—his dizziness—Cade worked up to his feet. Velia scrambled upright, glanced around and surged to the fallen tool. She picked it up. The tears had stopped.

  Had the Rhunes made her cry in order to soften his resolve? Cade drew the blaster, aiming at her midsection. “I wouldn’t try it,” he said thickly.

  “I hit your square on the back of the head the first time. Why won’t you go down?”

  “What part of you is still Velia De Lore?”

  The tears started again. “I-I didn’t want to do that, Cade. You must believe me. It was a damned compulsion, a force in my mind. You were right earlier. The
Rhunes screwed with my humanity. I did work for the Eagle-Duke secret service. Uldin forced me to tell him everything about it before he had his techs insert controls in my brain.”

  “Who’s Uldin?”

  Velia quivered, which shook the tool in her hands. “Please,” she whispered. “Stop it. He’ll kill me if I say more.”

  “Is anything you’ve told me true?”

  The tears streamed down her cheeks. “All of it is true. I’m a pawn, a lost pawn in a long ugly war. But I don’t want to die because of that. I want to live. I want to love, really love. Why can’t you love me, Cade?”

  Once more, his features hardened. She knew the reason.

  Velia trembled violently, and she moaned as she raised the tool. “No!” she howled. “I refuse!” Her fingers opened. The tool dropped from her grip, hitting the floor. She lowered her face and wept bitterly against her hands.

  Cade’s fury shifted from Velia to the Rhunes and cyborgs that messed with people. They used others as if they were machines, or disposable items. It was part of their makeup to do that. Wait. Group Six used a cyborg chip to control you. Others than just cyborgs used people: humans did it too.

  “We’re doomed,” Velia said. “I had so hoped—”

  There was a whine, a loud whine from outside that cut her off.

  Cade moved for the door, grabbing one of Velia’s arms and spinning her around. He marched her outside, with the Lupus 19 Energy Gun aimed at the side of her head as he held her before him like a shield.

  Three large sky-rafts drifted down from higher up, the chrome under-housings doing the whining.

  Velia moaned in dread, shrinking back against him.

  Is that why she’d tried to knock him unconscious? Were Rhunes descending? Why hadn’t he seen these sky-rafts earlier? Did they possess special cloaking or camouflage?

  He slipped an arm around Velia’s throat, putting her in a chokehold. As gently as possible, he squeezed until she couldn’t breathe. She grabbed his arm, struggling, but he continued to choke. He wanted her unconscious so the Rhunes couldn’t see through her eyes, but he didn’t want to hit her if he didn’t have to. Velia’s eyelids fluttered as she slumped unconscious against him. Cade laid her on the deck.