“In fact,” Pyrhinia continued, “I’ll allow all of you to witness the complete destruction of this world under my hand until your people arrive at which time, we will leave on your ship.”
The mounted Kursas took off, their creatures running at an incredible speed across the open ground. As Phyrinia flew away in the shuttle, she released them all.
Confusion from the people who had been momentarily zombified gave way to horror as they discovered the loved ones who had been killed. Cries and screams echoed across the field as the days’ events were made clear to those who had no idea they had experienced them. Retinda dropped to her knees next to the body of Darvin.
Michelle knelt next to Retinda and placed her hand on the leader’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry,” she said.
Retinda closed her eyes, tears falling freely as she allowed herself a moment to grieve not only for her fallen friend but for everyone they had unwillingly killed. After a moment, she spoke softly.
“To all who lost a loved one, I bid you give me leave
To cry along beside you as for the lost you grieve
To the widows made too young and widowers too old
Your beds will now be silent and your nights will now be cold
To orphans without their parents and grevaldors without their child
The tears are never-ending for the days and nights reviled
To friends without their partner and lovers without their mate
The memories made precious as too soon they met their fate
No one can ever bring them back nor can one justify
The reasons we are left alone when those we love have died.”
“You were right,” Retinda whimpered. “I’m the one who is sorry. I caused this.” She gently touched Darvin’s shoulder. “He was always so cautious, but never in a bad way. He just came off as sort of gruff and angry, but he was honestly the best second I could have asked for. He questioned where questions were important, and he did what needed to be done. I will miss you, old friend.”
“You didn’t cause this,” Blake said. “If they had left with it, this would have been much worse.”
“What are we going to do then?” Perry asked.
“Where would they go?” Michelle asked. “Their ship is gone, so they flew away from here to where?”
“Do you really think they believe us about the starship Enterprise?” Perry asked.
“If I were her, I would allow myself to accept the possibility given the evidence,” Blake said, “but also proceed with what I have available to me.”
“What do they have available to them?” Halera asked.
“The original ship,” Retinda said.
“There is no way they could fix up that old wreck,” Perry said.
“I think desperate times call for desperate measures,” Blake said. “Remember that it did send a fully functional distress beacon. I would think that is their most likely course of action. Whether the Starship Enterprise ever comes, they’ll have another force here in no time to deal with the planet, now that they have the manipulator.”
“Then let’s go,” Retinda said fighting the physical and emotional pain, rising to her feet, and wiping the blood from her face with her shirt.
“Can you get there from here?” Blake asked.
“The wreck will be in our vehicle’s memory,” Retinda said. “I’ll have to drive it manually off-road, but we’ll get there. We don’t have a choice. We cannot let them leave with that thing.”
“And we won’t,” Blake said. “I promise we’re with you on this.”
Retinda took a step, but Blake caught her as she stumbled from her injuries. Blake and Michelle supported her as they made their way back to her vehicle, still parked in front of Wilster’s house. As they approached it, they saw the massive crater left by the Kursas in order to gain entry.
“The verse you spoke,” Blake said as they walked. “What was it from?”
“Something that I hear at funerals,” Retinda explained, “especially military ones. I’ve never read it myself, but I’ve heard it too often. I’m not sure I remembered it correctly.” She chuckled. “Darvin would have noticed it was wrong.”
“I’m sure he would have appreciated it under the circumstances,” Blake assured her.
Once they reached the bullet-shaped vehicle, Retinda guided them to the rear and pressed the panel that lowered the door. The interior was too small to accommodate three of them abreast, so Blake supported her as she shuffled up the ramp. It felt like ages since they had ridden in the seats along each side of the vehicle’s interior as Blake guided Retinda to the front seats and set her in the left position.
She thanked him and she gingerly spun herself toward the panel that was normally untouched as the vehicle drove itself to its destinations. She activated a small screen in the center of the console as Blake sat down in the right position and watched. Perry and Halera entered the vehicle followed by Michelle who closed the door behind them.
Retinda pulled up the location for the wreck of the old Kursas ship, and the fastest route took them back to the city where they had begun before turning off road. She stared at it for a moment as if considering whether this were truly the fastest route and then sighed.
“It will take some time to get there,” she admitted. “I considered taking us on a more direct route if there was one, but while it is technically shorter, the roads would be faster just because it’s smoother. Their ship wasn’t too far from the original wreck, so we’d do well to simply head back there before going off road.”
“At least we’ll have a moment to consider our next move before we get there,” Blake offered.
“Any moment spent is too long,” Retinda said. She initialized their destination on screen, and the vehicle started its drive. Retinda opened a different screen on the drive panel and entered a code. “This overrides the speed governor of the vehicle and allows it to go as fast as it determines it can go. One of the perks of my rank.”
“Couldn’t hurt,” Perry commented.
“It’s about as good as I can do,” Retinda said. “Everyone should be seated. We can talk on the way.”
The vehicle drove out of the neighborhood that had been destroyed by Pyrhinia’s use of the manipulator. Behind them, the people mourned their dead as emergency personnel arrived to assess the damage and determine if any of the injured could be saved.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
“Do we have a plan?” Halera asked as the military vehicle drove itself toward the site of the Kursas ship before Retinda intended to drive it manually off road toward the old Kursas wreck. As the vehicle was on automatic for the time being, Retinda and Blake had joined Perry, Michelle, and Halera in the crew seating in the back.
Michelle had expressed concern over the driver’s seat being unoccupied, but Retinda set her mind at ease. “This model has never experienced any sort of accident in its entire run,” Retinda said. “The driver in the seat is a precaution, yes, but we have other things to deal with at present.”
The discussion came back around to Halera’s question over a plan, and Retinda shook her head.
“I knew we needed to start by getting there, and you folk have shown some level of ingenuity thus far,” Retinda explained. “I figured we could put our heads together and come up with something.”
“What happened on the ship?” Blake asked. “Why would they have brought you to us?” Blake had realized that everything back at Wilster’s place had happened so quickly that he had not had time to take stock of what Perry might have learned.
“I doubt there’s time to cover all of it,” Perry explained. “I’ll give you the long version later. The short of it is that I crawled around the inside of their ship for a bit and met Halera here. Together, we were captured, tortured, figured out how to use their tech, escaped, and then got recaptured. When they found out where you were, they decided we’d make good leverage.”
“In the end, it just turned out to be convenient,” H
alera said.
“I have a lot to tell you about what they had, but nothing much that will help us for now,” Perry admitted.
“I don’t suppose you can just call out the military to bomb the place,” Michelle suggested.
Retinda shook her head. “The reason that civilians like Wilster were able to buy old military installations was because our military is very minimal these days. Our world is at peace. What we used against the Kursas ship was mothballed before trying to bring it back into service. My units are mostly local peacekeeping forces. We remember wars, sure, but we haven’t had one in a century when the planet was unified.”
“I thought Wilster mentioned a war seventy years ago,” Blake said.
“War is a little overrated,” Retinda explained. “There was considerable concern over a pending conflict, and some called it a war, but there was only ever one scuffle during its entire duration. Some believe it was more of an excuse to build up forces and conduct experiments in the name of defense.”
“So you have no disagreements at all?” Michelle asked.
“Oh, sure, we have disagreements,” Halera piped in, “and we have fights and such, but nothing large scale and nothing like these invaders.”
“As a result of this, I have no doubt that we’ll at least have a better military presence,” Retinda said. “Some of our older missiles would have given that spaceship a serious problem, or at least I’d like to think so. All of it is gone though. We have heavy machinery and weapons of that nature, as you saw, but I’d be afraid to take those out there. The Kursas could take control of them and turn them on ourselves.”
“We basically need to try and sneak in and end it ourselves, don’t we?” Perry asked.
“That’s the way it sounds,” Blake agreed. “We don’t know what kind of instruments are still functional on that old ship, but we also don’t have many choices.”
“We’ll stop a short distance away and walk up to it,” Retinda said. “If we’re lucky, they won’t know we’re there.”
“And we can just sneak in the door we went in originally?” Michelle asked.
“Surely, it would be guarded,” Perry said.
“I would think so,” Blake agreed.
“It’s the only way in,” Retinda confirmed. “We have weapons, though. If we have to shoot our way in, we do so.” She looked at her four passengers. “Well? Can any of you shoot?”
“I’ve never had to,” Halera said. “It isn’t something that’s exactly encouraged.”
“This is true,” Retinda noted.
“I have considerable experience,” Blake said. “I generally avoid this sort of fight, but we have little choice.”
“I’ve handled a gun before,” Michelle said, “but I didn’t shoot much.”
“I’ve had to fire a few times here and there,” Perry said. “We don’t always visit peaceful planets.”
“I believe we can at least appear threatening,” Blake said.
“That will have to do,” Retinda said. She opened a panel on the rear wall of the vehicle and removed three pistols, handing them to Perry, Michelle, and Halera.
“Since you said you have more experience, you’ll be with me on these.” Retinda produced an automatic weapon about the size of an M16 and handed it to Blake along with a clip.
“I always find it remarkable that no matter how many species we encounter, the basic implements are very similar,” Blake said, looking at the very familiar weapon designs of the rifles and pistols. “There’s just a convenient way of making things.”
“And I’m amused at how easily you’re amused,” Perry said.
“Approaching destination,” the panel said from the driver’s panel.
“Here we go,” Retinda said, and she walked to the front and sat in the left position. Blake walked up behind her and sat in the right.
Ahead of them was an open field, but the grass was utterly destroyed leaving deep gashes and tears in the ground. The landing gear of the Kursas ship had left square holes behind and its thrusters had burned not only the ground but some of the nearby buildings as well.
As they drew closer, they saw hundreds of people who had previously been aboard the ship along with a sea of medical personnel. Some were being transported away while others were on makeshift cots being cared for on site.
Retinda deactivated the auto-pilot and took hold of a lever with her right hand that moved forward and backward which controlled their speed. Another level at her left hand moved left and right to control their steering. “We’ll have to go around a bit here,” she said. “There’s no way we can get through that. I’m also taking manual control of the vehicle from here on out.”
“There are so many of them,” Michelle said, looking through one of the side windows.
“I knew there were a lot,” Halera said, “but seeing them all out here is amazing. I know not all of them made it out, but that we saved so many is a victory.”
“I agree,” said Retinda. “It is for these and so many others that we can’t stop now.”
She turned down a street past the throng of people that headed toward the open field past the edge of town beyond which lay the wrecked Kursas ship. They could not be certain whether the Kursas would be watching for them, but they had to assume there would be resistance when they arrived. It would be over soon one way or the other.
CHAPTER TWENTY
The fields between the city and the Kursas wreck were wide open leaving no choice but to make the run straight up to it. Retinda decided to approach it from the side that had not been excavated just in case the Kursas had left guards at the entrance but not on every side.
They could see the protruding fin from a distance as they closed in along with the Kursas shuttle nearby, and little by little, the top of the ship that had been uncovered was revealed. The red panda mounts they had ridden to this place casually grazed in a group near the ship, and did not appear threatening at all. Retinda pulled back on the speed lever as they grew nearer to their destination before stopping entirely about ten feet from the buried vessel. As they slowed, Michelle had jumped to the back of the vehicle and pressed the switch to open the door. She, Perry, and Halera held their pistols ready, and once the door hit the ground, they jumped out.
Except for the docile grazing beasts, the field was silent just as it had been the day the travelers had arrived, but the trio trained their weapons on the shuttle, just in case any Kursas remained in it. Blake and Retinda carried their rifles at the ready as they exited the rear of the vehicle as well and took stock of the situation.
“Nothing,” Perry said.
“Let’s circle the shuttle,” Retinda said. “I don’t want any surprises.”
The doors of the shuttle were open, and Retinda went inside followed by Blake. It was completely empty. They exited back to the outside and turned their gaze to the relic in the ground. Retinda silently took the lead, and the others followed.
She carefully peeped around the fin to the excavated side of the ship. The cargo door and main exterior entrance were both closed. No guards were in sight. She turned back to the rest.
“Whatever they’re planning, they’re all inside,” Retinda whispered.
“Do you think they know we’re here?” Michelle asked.
“I expected some kind of greeting,” Perry noted.
“Perhaps they don’t have the manpower to spare to keep the entrance,” Blake suggested.
“Then they’re holed up inside somewhere,” Retinda said.
“I don’t suppose you know where the emergency signal might have been triggered,” Blake asked.
Retinda shook her head. “No one knows that. Could have been a door alarm for all we know.”
“Then maybe it’s already had its day and there won’t be another signal,” Halera said hopefully. Blake shook his head.
“An accident by foreigners is one thing,” he said. “But this is technology from their people. They can read the language and work the controls. If they ha
ve the right crew in there, they could potentially get some part of it running again.”
“Do you really think that’s possible?” Retinda asked.
“More hypothetical,” Blake shrugged. “This ship is stuck in a hole and the bridge was destroyed on impact. Unless they could fully control it from some other intact area, then it’s not going anywhere. I would also wager that engineers weren’t high on the list of soldiers brought out to retrieve their forswight.”
“If we’re lucky, they’re alone then,” Perry said.
“Alone, but with the means to control the mind of everyone on this planet including us,” Blake warned.
“And we can’t forget that,” Retinda said. “Let’s go.”
They moved around the exposed fin and climbed down the side of the hole in order to hug the side of the vessel as they approached the entry door. Even right next to the cargo hold, there was no vibration or indication of any power usage, despite their earlier findings of some kind of emergency power being present. Once all five of them were in the hole, they crept slowly towards the entrance listening for any indication of life, but none came.
Upon reaching the door, Retinda crossed to the opposite side leaving Blake where they had been. She signaled the others to stand ready on the dirt walkway and Blake prepared to open the door.
Retinda nodded and Blake threw the door open. The hall inside was empty. After taking a couple of steps inside the vessel and finding no sign of life, Retinda stepped back out.
“I’ll take point. Blake, you take the rear. The rest of you take the middle and keep your eyes peeled for any movement to the sides,” she ordered. The other four nodded their understanding, and Retinda led them into the ship.
As before, the emergency lighting provided enough illumination to see where they were going, but unlike their quick trek through when they arrive, this time, each step was carefully placed to minimize their sound. Their breathing was shallow to prevent any sounds from transmitting in the echoey halls of the ship.
The Kursas Page 14
