Jason let them blather on. He was not immune to the pre-op jitters and the meaningless conversation was an easy distraction. Besides, he was the only person doing anything as he flew the designated glidepath that would put him at an altitude of fifty meters just outside the spaceport limits where he would be required to wait for final clearance to land from a live controller at the port itself.
It was forty-five minutes later when he had Mazer negotiate their landing with the port controller as the others continued to argue in the background about the next inane subject in their near constant bickering since they made orbit. He looked back in annoyance, but held his tongue as the landing pad and clearance code appeared on his nav display. He settled the shuttle down to an altitude of ten meters and began a slow crawl across the tarmac, the ship sluggish and unresponsive as the maneuvering thrusters fired at a near-constant rate to keep them moving. When he was finally over his designated pad, he deployed the landing skids and set the shuttle down with a slight bump and grinding of metal against tarmac.
“Slick landing, Captain,” Kage called up from his seat. “When’s the last time you flew something this small?”
“It’s been awhile,” Jason admitted. “First time landing something without struts and wheels in a long time too; the fixed skids aren’t very forgiving. So where is our guy?” His last question was directed at Morakar.
“He will be negotiating the entry gate even now,” Morakar said confidently. “He will have been waiting for the shuttle to overfly Cessell.” Jason shrugged and went back to shutting down the flight systems.
“This place really must have sparse traffic if he can pick out a single shuttle overflying the city.” Once he had shut the engines down, and switched the accessory bus over to battery power so they still had lights and ventilation, he left the cockpit and flopped down casually in the seat on the far side of where Crusher sat. But before he did, he cranked the air handler blowers up to full blast, creating a wall of white noise that forced everyone to raise their voices to continue talking. “We’re really exposed here,” he whispered near his friend’s ear. Crusher just nodded in the affirmative, also looking out the canopy with a tense expression. His punishment for even being back on Galvetor would be severe, and likely fatal.
“Here’s our contact,” Mazer called out, pointing at an enclosed airtruck that was lumbering across the tarmac towards them. It had the same markings on it as their disguised spacecraft.
“Not a moment too soon,” Jason said. “Mazer, shut off the marker lights and the rest of the systems. Kage, pull the flight data recorder and hit the boxes with that pulser.”
“On it,” Kage said. Mazer turned and began killing the power to the rest of the ship. They would pull the data recorders to ensure that when the ship was discovered it would be harder to backtrack, and as an added insurance Kage was going to hit all the avionics modules themselves with a device Twingo had fabricated for him: a directional EM gun that shot an intense burst of electromagnetic energy into the device it was aimed at. It would kill any redundant backup memory the unit may have as well as any other clues stored within the box. A competent investigator would probably still be able to track down where the shuttle had come from, but by the time they did the team would be long gone. Well … hopefully.
There was a bump as the airtruck backed all the way up to the side of the shuttle, its open rear door making direct contact with the cargo hatch. Mazer and Lucky covered the door as the others tensed up. There came a tapping at the door that seemed random at first, but was actually a specific pattern that was repeated four times. After the fourth iteration, Lucky stood down and Mazer popped the release on the hatch, sliding it up out of the way.
“Lord Felex Tezakar, Guardian Archon of Galvetor, I greet you,” the gelten standing in the hatchway said formally, sinking down to his knees.
“Rise,” Crusher said impatiently, “we cannot risk the time for such things. I greet you in turn, soldier of Galvetor.” This seemed to satisfy the gelten who, while not a member of the warrior class, was still bigger than any human Jason had ever seen.
“I am Meluuk,” he said. “If you and your team will get into the vehicle, we will quickly be away.” With that Meluuk climbed back into the cab of the airtruck and waited as the team climbed into the bed and sealed the hatch on the shuttle behind them. Once they were all settled, the airtruck pulled smoothly away and made it through the gate without incident.
Chapter 12
The ride through Cessell City was boring. That was mostly because they were stuck in an enclosed cargo bed and were unable to see anything, and partly because the repulsors the airtruck rode on made for a ride without any real sense of movement. This meant Jason couldn’t get a feel for how far they had traveled from the spaceport. He knew the exact distance from the pre-mission brief, but he always preferred independent verification. While his own neural implant was having trouble calculating the distance traveled, he knew Lucky’s internal systems would have no such issue. In fact, he knew that if the battlesynth detected any deviation from the prearranged course, he would alert them immediately. So he quit fretting about the things he couldn’t control and settled back for the remainder of the ride.
When the airtruck finally pulled to a stop and the door opened, Jason found himself inside a large industrial flat, one of the ubiquitous shells that seemed to dot the periphery of any major city. But, in what he came to recognize as the gelten flair for the artistic, the interior of the building wasn’t bare steel girders and corrugated outer walls. Instead, sculpted stone columns rose up to support the roof and the walls looked to be made of enormous, square bricks that were hewn from solid stone. Even the floor, a smooth permacrete, was inlaid with swirling patterns of colored stones. Jason shook his head in wonder that anybody would take the time to design and build what was essentially a warehouse in such a manner.
“This will be the operations center, as Connimon no doubt already told you,” Meluuk said. Jason noticed that the gelten’s arms were massively overdeveloped, far more muscular than any non-warrior he had met so far. After seeing the look of awe on his face as he watched Crusher, Mazer, and Morakar walk around the area, he thought he understood why. “It is an honor to have you all here. If there’s anything you need, don’t hesitate to ask.”
“We’ve had a long flight,” Morakar said. “It is currently early morning, local time, and we should all get some rest.”
“Of course,” Meluuk said, almost bowing before stopping himself. “If you’ll follow me I’ll show you to where we’ve prepared temporary barracks.” They all followed the tall gelten deeper into the warehouse until they came to a pre-fab structure that was free-standing near the southwest corner of the building. The unit was complete with sleeping quarters, showers, and their equipment laid out in front of their bunks. “I will be standing watch while you sleep.”
“You won’t be the only one,” Jason said, looking over his shoulder at the gelten. “Lucky.”
“Of course, Captain,” Lucky said, turning to make his way out of the temporary barracks. When he had left, Meluuk turned to Jason.
“I’ve never had the honor of meeting an actual battlesynth,” he said. “Or any synth, for that matter. Is there anything I should be aware of?”
“Don’t piss him off,” Kage said as he flopped down on his bunk. “He’ll tear your arms off.”
“Ignore him,” Jason said. “Lucky is a soldier. Treat him with the according respect. He’s also my crewmember, a personal friend of Lord Felex, and a free-thinking being. He’s not a machine or a tool to be ordered around.”
“I wouldn’t dream of giving him insult, Captain Burke,” Meluuk said, still eyeing Kage uncertainly.
“Good,” Jason said, patting the other on the shoulder.
“Feel free to engage him in conversation,” Crusher called. “He likes to meet new people, but he’s a little shy. You have to be persistent to get him out of his shell.” This time Meluuk actually did bow before
leaving the barracks and pulling the door closed after him. Jason waited a few beats before speaking.
“You know Lucky’s going to kick your ass for that, right? Meluuk will follow him around and drive him insane the entire time we’re sleeping.”
“That’s the idea,” Crusher said with a smile. “It’s what he gets for selling me out about the race when we picked you up on Aracoria.” Jason opened his mouth to argue, thought better of it, and went to his bunk to lie down. Mazer was already snoring by the time he kicked his boots off and stretched out. Tomorrow night the mission would hit the operational stage and there would be no easy way to turn back. Although even if he wanted to call it off now it would be problematic. They were dependent on the sympathizers here to get them off-world and the Phoenix was on the other side of Galvetor Prime with no way to call it in if he got into trouble. As he drifted off to sleep, his last thought was that he may be using the powerful gunship as a crutch, always depending on her speed and firepower to bail him out of situations he had planned poorly for. Maybe that was why he was so apprehensive now.
*****
Jason’s neural implant told him he’d been asleep for seven hours. He hadn’t authorized it to try and link up with the local nexus over operational security concerns, so he wasn’t aware of what the local time was. He rolled out of his bunk, restless after so much sleep. When they were aboard the Phoenix and there was no real day or night, he tended to take a series of two or three hour catnaps throughout the day. He found it broke up the monotony a bit and allowed him to be up for significant portions of both watch shifts.
All the warriors were now snoring loudly and Kage was making a weird, warbling sound in the back of his throat, so Jason slipped on his boots and padded quietly out of the barracks. The warehouse was still dimply lit and the lack of windows made it impossible to tell if it was day or night, but he assumed it had to be mid-morning given when they had arrived. He saw Meluuk walking the perimeter and strode off towards him. Lucky was nowhere in sight.
“Good morning, I think,” Jason called as he approached.
“It is indeed and good morning to you as well, Captain Burke,” Meluuk said.
“Where is Lucky?”
“He went out to inspect the neighboring buildings a few hours ago to ensure that they were empty as they are supposed to be,” Meluuk said. “He should be back soon.”
“Is it wise for him to be out there?” Jason asked with a frown. Getting caught before they even started wasn’t what he had in mind when he signed on for this mission.
“There is little risk,” Meluuk said. “This area has practically no surveillance and his sensors would be able to pick up someone, or something, hiding in one of the adjacent flats better than our own visual search would have.” Jason couldn’t fault his logic so he let the matter drop.
“Can I ask you what may be a personal question?” he asked.
“Certainly,” Meluuk said somewhat hesitantly.
“This is my first time around any geltens other than Crusher … Felex … and I notice that you’re much larger than anyone else I’ve seen that isn’t in the warrior class,” Jason said. “Is this something natural, or from conditioning?”
“I am somewhat taller than the average here on Galvetor, but my size is also from near constant training,” Meluuk said with a hint of pride in his voice. “The day is coming when the classes won’t live separately, as if we were different species. When that day comes I want to be ready.”
“For what?” Jason asked. “Surely this abolishing of the class division wouldn’t result in a war. Would it?”
“You misunderstand me, Captain,” Meluuk said with a patient smile. “When I am permitted, it would be my greatest honor to apply for entry into the Legions. I was not blessed with the warriors’ strength and abilities from birth, but I hope to overcome that through hard work.” A few things clicked in Jason’s head and confirmed his suspicions when he saw the awe Meluuk seemed to regard the other warriors with. “So allow me a question, Captain. You’ve served with Lord Felex since his exile?”
“Not quite,” Jason said. “We were both captives at one point and had to rely on each other to gain our freedom. Neither of us had reason to trust the other, but we succeeded and got along well enough together so we all decided to make the arrangement permanent.”
“Is it true what I’ve heard about your Omega Force? That you and Lord Felex fight for the oppressed?” There was a desperation in Meluuk’s voice that Jason picked up on. The hero worship of Crusher in some circles had almost reached cult status and his real actions while away from Galvetor had become legend. He was gaining valuable insight into the gelten psyche the more he was around them, and a lot of what he was learning explained some of Crusher’s more unpredictable behavior.
“It’s our primary mission,” Jason affirmed. “There are a lot of beings out there who are powerless to defend themselves. That’s where we come in.” He could see Meluuk swell with pride. His next question was cut off as Morakar emerged from the barracks.
“Is there anything to eat in this hovel?” he practically bellowed.
“At once, sir,” Meluuk called back, hustling away towards the stacks of equipment cases and work benches. Morakar nodded to Jason and then began walking off the perimeter of the building for himself.
“Captain,” a voice said from behind him, causing him to jump.
“Damnit, Lucky!”
“My apologies, Captain,” Lucky said. “I did not mean to frighten you.”
“You didn’t frighten me.”
“You jumped, as if in fear,” Lucky said in his deadpan delivery.
“What do you want?” Jason said irritably.
“Nothing in particular,” Lucky answered. “I completed a search of the surrounding area and found nothing of concern. My scans revealed that, aside from Meluuk’s vehicle, there has been almost no traffic to this area recently.”
“That’s good,” Jason said. “I’m trying to take it on faith that they know what they’re doing, but I keep reminding myself they’ve never been in a live operation and covert isn’t exactly their strong suit.”
“Agreed.”
“So what do you think of the geltens, Lucky?” Jason asked after a moment. “Now that we’ve spent some time around a group of them.”
Lucky considered the question before answering. “They live in a world of extremes,” he said. “They are capable of incredible feats of architecture and artistic expression, and also horrific levels of violence and savagery. Despite their reputation as hardened warriors, they are an overly emotional species, which may explain my earlier observations. It also makes them prone to melodrama and hyperbole in their interactions with each other.”
“That’s along the lines of what I was thinking,” Jason said with a nod. “You’ve said it a bit more succinctly, of course.”
“Of course,” Lucky agreed, drawing another annoyed look form Jason. The pair stood around until Mazer and Crusher made an appearance, leaving only Kage in the barracks still asleep. Not the least bit surprising.
“Crusher,” Jason called. “Wake Kage up, we need to get started on preps for tonight’s recon.” Crusher just smiled and turned to move back into the makeshift building. As Jason expected, there was soon what could only be described as a ruckus.
“What the hell!” he heard Kage scream, but before that there was a loud clanging of metal on concrete. Afterwards there was the maniacal laughter of a Galvetic warrior. As Jason and Lucky approached the group, Crusher emerged from the barracks with a beatific smile splitting his face.
“I take it you didn’t just shake him awake?” Before Crusher could answer, an infuriated Veran stormed out of the barracks, although a being less than one hundred and thirty pounds didn’t “storm” out of anywhere with much authority. He was pointing an accusing finger at Crusher with one hand while trying to pull up his pants and fasten them with the other three.
“Captain, this asshole kicked my bed across th
e bay while I was still in it. I want him punished,” Kage declared dramatically.
“What would you have me do?” Jason asked, trying not to laugh at his friend.
“What?” Kage asked incredulously. “I don’t know. You’re the captain … think of something.”
“I’ll give it serious thought,” Jason assured him, trying to give him his most earnest “Captain” expression. Kage just stared at him a moment before walking away, muttering to himself.
“Crusher, why do you insist on tormenting him just before we need him to perform a vital role in a mission to keep us alive or out of a prison?” Jason asked.
“You know … I’m not sure,” Crusher admitted before slapping Jason on the shoulder. “Let’s grab something to eat and get this final brief out of the way.”
Chapter 13
“I know this prison is a few hundred years old,” Jason mused while looking though his binoculars, “but why does it still look like it? I don’t see much in the way of improvements.”
“Casguard was designed for the warrior class when we all still lived on Galvetor,” Mazer explained, looking through a pair of similar enhanced binoculars. Both pairs were equipped to view in multiple spectrums and provide analysis of anomalous readings.
“That doesn’t really answer my question,” Jason said. The pair were sitting in a generic aircar on a seldom used side road that overlooked the prison a mile and a half away. They had popped off some panels to make it look like a breakdown to the unlikely passersby. While Jason’s presence would be difficult to explain, it wouldn’t raise much suspicion as Galvetor did have its contingent of alien guests. If Crusher were to be seen and recognized, however, it would be disastrous not only him but for the entire mission.
Omega Force 5: Return of the Archon Page 10
