“And then what did he say?”
“He said if I didn’t transfer the call, he’d see to it personally that I’d be sweeping the floors of SCGF barracks… only with more curse words.”
The Prime Minister grinned. “Send the call through,” he ordered.
“Right away, sir.”
There was an audible click and the Prime Minister spoke. “Khai, I sincerely hope you have some good news for me.”
“Well, I do and I don’t.”
“Can you elaborate?”
“We have the Alarrs. So we have the proof we need to get us out of this mess, hopefully.”
“That sounds remarkably like all good news. Where’s the bad?”
“They were in on it.”
“The kid’s family?”
“Yeah. At least his parents were. I highly doubt his siblings were old enough to understand what was going on, but they inflicted their own wounds and those on the younger children and sent the picture themselves.”
“That’s sick,” the world’s leader hissed with disgust. “Where are you?”
“Not entirely sure. We had to make a quick Eve’Zon jump in atmo. Fried a lot of circuits, was barely able to make the call. Your little brother here proved to be quite resourceful. He found a SpySat within short coms range and bounced the signal at you.”
“Huh. Thought I was a bit short of breath a while ago.” They both chuckled at the black-hole-in-the-atmosphere joke and moved on. “Are you mobile?”
“No, sir. Thrusters and Eve’Zon are both toast.”
“Then we still have a problem. You know Prefect Chuumdar will not be convinced without being able to talk to you face-to-face.”
“Then send someone to pick us up.”
“That would require a ship that can jump multiple times. We don’t have any of those, unless while you were playing with your friends you discovered a way to change the laws of physics.”
“Why not send two ships through one black hole?” That was Sibrex, his voice low and rumbling even with it thinned out by the shoddy signal.
“That’s too dangerous. We’ve lost thousands of ships that way. They continuously would crash into each other from the gravitational pull.”
“Vyysarri ships have been doing this for almost a hundred years. That is how we’ve managed to conduct successful hit-and-run attacks on your worlds. In a fleet of ten ships, five use their Eve’Zon drives to arrive and the other five use theirs to retreat.”
It had never occurred to Khai that they had been able to do that. He knew that Vyysarri ships would jump in, attack, and jump out within less than an hour. He always assumed they had simply found a method of power production that surpassed Seryys tech.
“How did you accomplish that?” the Prime Minister asked incredulously.
“Simple. Our capital ships are built to maneuver in atmospheric conditions so they possess hoverpads. When making a jump, the two ships going through together fly belly-to-belly…”
“Using the hoverpad banks to repulse each other,” the Prime Minister finished his sentence.
“Plus, it would only be a one-way trip. Two ships arrive together and then only one needs to bring me and the Alarrs back to Seryys.” Khai added.
“And, though your capital ships do not possess hoverpads, you do have freighters that do,” Sibrex also added. “These ships will be much easier to pilot together.”
“We’ll need two crazy pilots to pull this off.”
“Well, I know one,” Dah piped up.
“We’ll also need some engineers to get the Splitter running again or she’s dead in the water,” Khai added as more of an order than a request.
An hour later, a black hole yawned, spewing forth two ships. An old clunker of a freighter and…
“The Bucket!” Dah exclaimed. “They fixed her!
“Bolt Bucket, this is-” Khai was cut off.
“Whooo! What a rush!” the over-excited pilot screamed over the com.
“-the Star Splitter!” Khai finished, annoyed.
Dah recognized the voice immediately. “Glad you were up to the challenge! And thanks for not trashing my ship!”
“This baby? Nah! I wouldn’t put a scratch on her smooth skin. She’s a lady.”
“You remember General Khail, right?”
“Sure do!” he shouted. “It’s a pleasure to be working with you again, sir!”
“Likewise?” Then it hit him, this was the crazy cowboy that flew SCATT around in the days when Khai was a police officer.
The two ships docked. For a brief time, as the prisoners were transferred and the crews exchanged, the Star Splitter and the Bolt Bucket were connected from airlock to airlock much like Khai, Sibrex, and Dah were connected at the hip. They would forever go on adventures together; they were the best of friends. They had fought together, bled together; there was no stronger bond than that. Now they were prepping to make the trip back to Seryys together, to save the system from an eminent re-visitation to a centuries-old war.
Brix, Puar and Kay stayed behind to watch over the Splitter for Khai, to make sure those “grease slugs” didn’t muck things up. Once Khai’s “passengers” were securely locked up in a cargo crate—barely big enough to allow them to sit upright—in the main hold of the ship, Khai joined Sibrex and Dah in the cockpit.
“Are we ready?” Dah asked his friend.
“Yep!” Khai said, putting his feet up on the console and leaning back in his seat and prompting an irritated look from Dah. “Our friends are secured. I bound and gagged them, then locked then in that empty crate back there.”
“What about the kids?” Dah asked.
“Oh, don’t worry, honey,” Khai mocked. “I locked them in your room!” he said with a mischievous grin.
“Oh! That’s reassuring. If anything’s broken, it’s coming out of your pay.”
“Okay, Captain Pig-Face!” Khai mock saluted. He was, of course, referring to an old boss he had when he worked construction after “retiring” from the military. Anytime Khai broke something, this pig-faced foreman would dock his pay to fix it.
“Amber,” Dah called out.
“Yes, captain Dah?” his onboard AI answered.
“Run a pre-jump diag.”
“One moment, please.”
Khai didn’t care much for Amber. She was too cold, too…mechanical. Joon, his AI, had attitude and fire.
“Pre-jump diagnostic complete. You may activate the Eve’Zon Drive when ready.”
“Here we go,” Dah said, flipping the switch.
The micro-particles emitted from the Bucket collided several miles in front of the ship and the resulting impact tore a hole in space-time. The black void at which they stared slowly began to ingest them. Then, as if in that moment before one was about to sneeze, they were looking out at a slowly-spinning orb of green, blue, brown and yellow: Seryys, their home.
Before they could really enjoy her beauty, the communication console lit up with a call.
“Captain Dah, here.”
“Dack, Khai! If you’re not too busy, would you mind coming and saving the planet now?”
The three friends exchanged glances and smiles. It was good to be home and not getting shot at. They dropped into Seryys’ atmosphere just as the sun began to set, were escorted to the Honorifical Office and were granted access to the presidential landing pad.
“Well, gentlemen,” Khai said, putting an arm around each of his friends. “I think we’re about to get our asses kissed by a prime minister.”
“Again,” Dah added.
“Why would we want…?” At first Sibrex was genuinely confused, but realization crept across his pale, aged features. “Ah! A joke!” He then laughed. They laughed with him as the loading ramp lowered and they walked down together.
“Welcome, sirs,” a tall, slender man with a pressed, high-collared suit, slicked back iron-gray hair and clear green eyes that betrayed his lethality greeted them. He was the Captain Dan’Kin Danyarr, head of th
e Seryys Combat Interplanetary Intelligence Administration. A man not to be trifled with. Khai had always wanted to go toe-to-toe with the guy, just to see who would come out on top. At one point, almost a decade earlier, he and the good captain had an angry exchange of words that almost came to blows before a commanding officer had come to break it up. Oh, yes. He would love to take a crack at him, but now was not the time.
“General,” Captain Danyarr inclined his head slightly and shook his hand.
“Captain,” Khai growled, returning the handshake.
“Anytime you wanna take that shot, I’ll be waiting… but not today,” he whispered into Khai’s ear and moved on to Dah. Something about the way he was acting caused every warning bell to go off in Khai’s head. Instinctively, his hand slowly worked its way down his leg to the thigh holster where his trusted hand-held cannon rested.
“Captain, Dah.”
“Captain, Danyarr. Always a pleasure.”
From there, Danyarr skipped right over Sibrex and headed for the door.
“What the hell!” Khai snapped. “You’ll disrespect a superior officer?”
Danyarr stopped and spun on his heels. “Oh, I’m afraid it’s much worse than that. I only have to delay a few minutes and the war will be back on.”
“Shit!” Dah screamed. “He’s working for Warthol!”
“Get them!” Danyarr yelled.
Suddenly, the guards turned on them. Khai was already on the move, had pulled his gun, and dropped three of the ten guards before they could even attack. Sibrex roared with rage and charged the nearest guard with speed that no Seryysan of his age could’ve achieved. He slapped the gun out of the man’s hand, spinning him around and then put him in a half nelson. With the man’s neck exposed, Sibrex sank his fangs deep and fed right in front of the others, all the while using him as a bullet shield.
Once that guard was dead, Sibrex dropped him, let out another feral howl and leapt the thirty-foot gap between him and the next guy. The sheer force of the landing crippled the guard and Sibrex did the same thing: fed on him and used him as a shield. Sibrex had gone several days without really feeding and now he was going into a blood-fueled feeding frenzy.
There were five guards left, when Danyarr shouted something. Neither of them heard what he said over the roar of gunfire and gurgling screams from Sibrex’s victims, but they definitely saw the effect! Ten Vyysarri dropped down from the roof of the building and entered the fray.
“Stiprox sends his regards!”
“Son of a bitch!” Khai growled. He peeked out from his hiding spot, counted the number and enemies—fifteen, fired six times, counted again—nine, and dropped the empty magazine out of his gun.
He slapped another one in and spotted Danyarr scurrying for the lift door.
“Uh-uh,” Khai growled and fired. The shot grazed the back of Danyarr’s calf. He tripped up, stumbling forward and crashing face first into the control panel for the lift. “‘Not today,’ my ass!”
Despite the gunfire zipping bullets every which way, Khai charged after the good captain, firing at Vyysarri along the way. Out of the corner of his eye, he counted two more down and collided with Danyarr, who was just getting to his feet.
He stood up and examined the barely-bleeding scrape. “Your aim is slipping, Khai,” he chided.
“Who said I missed?” Khai shot back. “I just wanted the bragging rights of bringing you down in a fair fight.”
“That was your second mistake,” Danyarr seethed.
“Really?” Khai almost laughed. “What was my first?”
“Not taking me down the first time.”
“Well, I’m about to rectify that mistake right now.”
Khai threw the first punch, a straight shot for the face. Danyarr bobbed under the strike, grabbed Khai’s wrist and jabbed up at his elbow. Khai’s reflex package kicked in and he was able to use his superior strength to yank Danyarr off his feet and drag him to the floor. Before they hit the floor, Danyarr tucked and rolled, springing to his feet and taking a stance of a finesse fighter. He was a world-renowned martial artist, described as having flawless technique brought on by decades of perfecting it.
As soon as Khai got to his feet, he took a blinding kick to the side of the face. It was so fast, he didn’t even see it coming. He’d barely registered his injury when another lightning kick caught him on the other side of the face, snapping his head back. Bright flashes of light filled his vision as the building began to spin. Another quick attack at his lower legs and Khai was on his back. Suddenly, a fair fight was the last thing on his mind. He reached for his gun.
“Oh no you don’t!” The gun was kicked from his grasp. “What happened to ‘a fair fight’? I’m kind of insulted.”
“I forgot about that the instant I found out you were a traitor,” Khai growled as he got to all fours and spit blood on the floor. His vision was cloudy at best and even on all fours, his arms were shaking.
“I hate to say this, Khai, but you were a traitor long before I was,” Danyarr hissed. “After all, I’m not the one who married a blood-sucking whore.”
That was it! Anger boiled up in Khai like a volcano ready to blow its lid. Adrenaline coursed through his veins and his head began to clear. Suddenly having the strength to stand and much more, Khai rose, cracked his neck and took a menacing step toward Danyarr, cracking his knuckles.
“You don’t scare me, Khai!” he shouted.
“That’s fine,” Khai said, still advancing. “I don’t need to scare you to kill you.”
“Now wait a minute!” Danyarr said, backing up and putting his hands up. “Think about what you’re doing! I’m the director of the SCIIA! You can’t just kill me!”
Khai didn’t stop and said nothing.
“Look!” he shouted. “I’m giving up!” He put his hands behind his head. “You can’t hurt a man who’s surrendering.”
Khai hesitated. He knew Danyarr was up to something, but what?
Suddenly, his answer came. From behind his head, Danyarr produced a long, serrated knife and flung it at Khai’s face. Khai’s reflexes saved him again as he snatched the knife out of the air in mid-flight, spun to his left foot and flung the knife back. To his credit, Danyarr was faster than he looked and barely had time to bat the knife away with his palm before it buried itself in his face. The distraction was enough for Khai to press the attack. After a barrage of high and low attacks, all backed by brutal strength, Danyarr was starting to tire and actually dreaded blocking another blow. That was Khai’s plan all along. In this case, a strong offense was the best defense. Finally, a bludgeoning right hook broke the stressed bones in Danyarr’s forearm.
Danyarr, Khai knew, would not give up easily and he continued to fight. Though he was down one arm, his legs were far more effective as weapons. A whirlwind of kicks battered Khai’s defenses; some found their marks and prompted a pained grunt from Khai. As the smaller man battered away with his feet, Khai suddenly had a plan and started backpedaling, feigning fatigue. The cocky grin on Danyarr’s face betrayed his ignorance and Khai knew his opponent bought it. Khai continued to back up, even purposefully let a couple kicks through to sell the ruse.
Finally, Khai dropped to one knee and Danyarr thought he had him. He dropped his defenses and started wailing on Khai with the same right-footed roundhouse kick over and over and over again. Khai saw the joy on his face and realized the sick bastard was actually enjoying this. He decided it was time to spring the trap. A final kick batted Khai’s limp arms away from his face; the next kick was designed to be a killing blow to end the fight.
Relying on his reflex package to save him, Khai let the kick come. The foot shot out in the blink of an eye, but Khai was just a bit faster. He caught the kick by Danyarr’s shin and flashed an angry and menacing grin up at him. He wished to the Founders that he could have had a snapshot of the look on Danyarr’s face when he realized he’d been had.
Quickly, Khai drove his palm into the side of Danyarr’s knee to
break it sideways. He screamed in pain, but Khai wasn’t finished. He hefted the man by his leg and bashed him back and forth into whatever he could find, using Danyarr as a bat. The man simply cried out with each blast into a wall, or a ventilation duct work, or the floor.
Khai finished by slamming him down on the ground hard enough to the crack the crete floor. Danyarr coughed up a lungful of blood. Knowing his life was about to end, he was defiant to the last breath.
“The peace between us and the leaches will never last!” he cried.
“We’ll see,” was all Khai said.
“There are too many people like me in the resistance! You can’t stop us all!” he coughed out.
“One less of you is a win in my book,” Khai said through a clenched jaw.
“You think you’ve won? Even if you make it to the Honorifical Office in time, you’ll never save your whore of a wife. You’ll have to make a choice. Save the peace that you’ve ushered in, or save your wife. You won’t have time to do both. “
The thought of losing his wife again sent him over the edge. With a howl of rage, he lunged for the dying man, grabbed him by a leg and the back of his neck and pulled them apart with every ounce of strength he had. Danyarr, though nearly dead, still had enough in him to scream at the top of his lungs, a high-pitched scream that was cut short by the blood-curdling sound of flesh ripping. The wild, guttural screams of the dying Danyarr briefly caught the attention of everyone there, and the fighting stopped, if only for a moment, save for a couple lingering shots that echoed in the silence. Then the only sound they heard was the wind.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Dah watched Khai run off after Captain Danyarr, he wasn’t able to completely watch him, as he lost sight of his friend while hiding behind cover. Bullets ricocheted off every inch of the small crete outcropping Dah was hiding behind. He could hear Sibrex howling with rage and the feral screams of those upon whom he was feeding. All Dah had was his sidearm, a little pistol against several armed guards. The bullets kept flying his direction and chewing apart his hiding spot inch by inch. He knew eventually he would have to move from his spot, but where? How? The moment he popped out from his cover spot, he’d by riddled with holes. He thought of Bri, thought of his twin brother, people he might never see again. He figured it was a hell of a way to go out, gunned down by people he thought he could trust. He also knew that they were running out of time, it was mere minutes before the Vyysarri ships began firing on Seryys ships again and the whole war resumed. At least, he thought, he would die in combat with his two closest friends, General Khai’Xander Khail, and Admiral Sibrex, aka Broon’Kur Broor. He tightened his grip on the handle of his gun, gritted his teeth and began to move. Good-bye, Bri! I love you!
The Seryys Chronicles: Of Nightmares Page 21
