Ep.#1 - Escalation (The Frontiers Saga: Rogue Castes)

by Ryk Brown

  A fifth digit appeared.

  Captain Tuplo readied himself, moving his finger to the trigger of his weapon, as the sixth digit appeared and the inner hatch slid open. “Take one step beyond that hatch and we will burn holes through you both!” the captain warned.

  They heard nothing.

  “Now, I know you can hear me,” the captain continued, “what I don’t know is if you speak Angla. Either way, in five seconds we start shooting. Five…”

  There was immediate movement inside the boarding airlock as the two men quickly exited the ship, skipping the ladder they had originally used, and jumping the two meters to the tarmac below.

  “I guess they spoke Angla after all,” Josh said.

  Captain Tuplo came back out around the corner to inspect the boarding airlock.

  “What the hell’s going on out here?” Marcus demanded as he came down the corridor, Dalen and Neli hot on his heels.

  “Just a couple of Haven’s finest,” Josh joked as he powered down his weapon.

  “Locks don’t appear damaged,” the captain said as he examined the controls. “Nevertheless, we should probably change the codes.” The captain looked at Dalen.

  “Now?”

  “Now,” the captain replied.

  “But I was sleepin’.”

  “And the sooner you change those codes, the sooner you can get back to sleep,” the captain said as he came out of the airlock and headed forward to the cockpit.

  “Where you going?” Josh wondered.

  “Someone’s got to take first watch,” the captain replied, “in case those two are dumb enough to come back and try again.”

  “They can’t be that dumb, Captain,” Josh argued. “They know we’re here, and they know we’re armed.”

  “Never underestimate how stupid someone can be,” the captain said, as he ascended the short ladder to the cockpit.

  “He’s right,” Marcus agreed. “Besides, there’re more than enough dumbasses to go around on this world. That’s why the overnight fees are so low on Haven, and why no ship captain in his right mind would want to spend the night on this dusty rock.” Marcus turned to head back to his cabin. “Neli and I will relieve you in four hours.”

  “I’ll put on some coffee,” Josh said.

  Dalen watched as everyone else left him standing there by the boarding airlock inner hatch.

  “Get on it, Dalen!” the captain bellowed from the cockpit.

  “Son of a bitch,” Dalen cursed.

  “You want some coffee?” Josh asked from the galley.

  “No thanks,” Dalen replied. “Besides, this will only take ten minutes.”

  “Then why the hell are you bitching?” Josh called back.

  “Because it’s the middle of the night,” Dalen reminded him, surprised that he had to ask.

  * * *

  A blue-white flash appeared in the evening sky over Lawrence. A moment later, it was followed by the distant thunderous clap that accompanied all jumps into the atmosphere.

  Although Lawrence was Burgess’s capital city, and by far the largest city on the only inhabited world in the Sherma system, it rarely received more than a few jump ships per day, especially after sundown.

  Loki and Deliza ran out of the Ghatazhak hangar office, peering up at the night sky as they came outside. Several kilometers away they could see the flashing lights of the approaching ship, though it was still too distant for them to identify.

  “Lawrence Control, Jumper One Golf,” the pilot’s voice crackled over the speakers in the open hangar, “inbound for landing on pad one four.”

  “Is it them?” Deliza asked Loki.

  “I’m not sure,” Loki admitted.

  “It is,” General Telles assured them as he approached from behind.

  “Jumper One Golf, Lawrence Control,” the speakers blared. “Clear direct for pad one four.”

  “Jumper One Golf, clear direct, pad one four.”

  The three of them watched as the combat jump shuttle descended quickly toward them, leveling off on the far side of the spaceport ten meters above the surface. The shuttle transited the spaceport quickly, rotating to port and sliding sideways to starboard as it descended the last few meters and touched down on the tarmac before them.

  Loki and Deliza both turned their backs toward the landing shuttle to protect themselves against its considerable thrust wash. The general only squinted.

  The shuttle settled onto its landing gear, and its thrust wash suddenly disappeared, while the engines stopped screaming and began to spin down. Loki and Deliza turned back around as the shuttle began to roll toward the open hangar. Its large side door slid opened, revealing Jessica and Sergeant Torwell inside. Her data pad in hand, Jessica hopped down from the rolling shuttle and jogged toward them.

  “Please, tell me they’re alive,” Loki begged, noticing the look of concern on Jessica’s face.

  Deliza had also noticed Jessica’s expression, but was unable to speak, her hands covering her mouth.

  “They’re alive,” Jessica assured them as she came to a stop. “All of them. Yanni, Lael, Ailsa, Michi and Turi. They are alive and well, and hiding out at Doran’s.”

  “Oh, thank God,” Loki exclaimed.

  Deliza also breathed a sigh of relief. “Do they know we’re alive?”

  “Yes,” Jessica replied, “I included that in the original message to Dumar.” She continued walking, leading them all back to the hangar office.

  “Did they say anything else?” Loki wondered. “Did they say how… Did they say where… I mean… How do we rescue them?”

  “Slow down, Loki,” Jessica insisted. “One thing at a time. Let’s get inside first.”

  Jessica exchanged glances with General Telles. He knew she had bad news.

  Moments later, they entered the office. Jessica removed her helmet and life support pack, setting them down next to the door. She turned back around before speaking, in order to face the others as they entered. “Okay, like I said they’re all alive, they’re all fine, but that’s pretty much the end of the good news. Dumar’s reply was far more detailed than we expected. I don’t know how he did it so quickly, but he provided us with quite a bit of information about the invading forces, and how they’re spread out across Corinair. Every major city on Corinair has been occupied by the Jung. Dumar estimates at least a battalion, perhaps even a brigade or a division in the larger cities. Aitkenna definitely has at least a division on the ground. We’re talking close to half a million men planet-wide.”

  “If the Jung have put that many men on the ground, then it means their goal is to take that world with its infrastructure still intact,” the general said.

  “Dumar also thinks the Jung have captured Donegan and Kurzweil as well, however, he has no confirmation.”

  “If their intention was to take the Darvano system without damaging her infrastructure, then surely they would do the same to the Takar system,” Commander Jahal added as he entered the room.

  “Indeed,” General Telles agreed. “Darvano and Takara were the only armed systems in the Pentaurus cluster. They would have to be taken simultaneously in order to utilize the element of surprise to their advantage.” General Telles looked at Jessica. “Then it is confirmed?”

  “I’m afraid so,” Jessica replied. “The Avendahl was completely destroyed. She left a debris field at least a hundred kilometers wide, and that’s after half of it fell back to Corinair and burned up in its atmosphere.”

  “How are we going to rescue them?” Loki demanded. “We have to get them out of there.”

  “It’s not that easy, Loki,” Jessica insisted.

  “Yes, it is!” Loki replied stubbornly. “Just give me a jump shuttle and I’ll go get them myself!”

  “You’d be intercepted before you touched down, Loki,” Jessica explained. “We were intercepted less than a minute after we jumped in. Both times. And we were in deep space.”

  “We can jump into a canyon or something. They’ll neve
r see us.”

  “That won’t work!” Jessica protested.

  “Sure it will!” Loki argued. “You guys used to do it all the time,” he continued, looking at the general. “Isn’t that right?”

  “Corinair has an extensive satellite surveillance network,” General Telles reminded him. “It was put in place to allow more accurate tracking and control of jump ships due to the increase in traffic over recent years. If the Jung have control of that network, and we must assume they do, then they will see your jump flash, and respond quickly.”

  “This isn’t like before, Loki,” Jessica said. “They didn’t have jump drives. They’ve got jump fighters all over the place. The moment you jump in, the nearest Jung fighters will jump to your location and you’ll be dead, as will everyone you meant to pick up.”

  “But we can’t just leave them there,” Loki argued. “It’s only a matter of time until the Jung find them.”

  “Why would the Jung wish to find them?” the general wondered.

  “Because we were trying to rescue them,” Loki replied. “Us, and three of the Avendahl’s fighters. Don’t you think the Jung are going to be curious about someone to whom such resources would be committed?”

  Jessica looked at the general. “He’s got a point.”

  “Indeed,” the general agreed. “However, that changes nothing. As you said, their fighters would be on us before we even touched down. We may be forced to wait until things settle down on Corinair before we can attempt a rescue.”

  “But…” Loki began to argue.

  “That’s probably what Dumar is thinking as well,” Jessica said, cutting Loki off. “He has arranged to get them out of Aitkenna and to the safety of his resort in the mountains.”

  “What good would that do?” Deliza asked. “Those satellites can see Dumar’s resort as well, can’t they?”

  “Of course,” the general admitted, “but it will be some time before the Jung get around to inspecting such facilities. I suspect they will be safer there than any place else on Corinair, at least for the time being.”

  “But…”

  Jessica held up her hand, interrupting Loki yet again. “The admiral used to command a counterinsurgency unit on Corinair… A covert one at that. He knows what he’s doing, Loki. We have to trust him.” Jessica put her hand on his shoulder in comfort.

  Loki sighed. The idea of his wife and child stranded without him on a Jung-occupied world was more than he could stand. “I don’t know if I can,” he admitted, his voice trembling.

  Deliza placed her hand on Loki’s other shoulder. “Travon Dumar is a good man, a smart man. My father trusted him without reservation, and I trust him as well.”

  “Come, you both need rest,” Commander Jahal said, as he led both Loki and Deliza out of the office.

  Jessica and General Telles watched them leave, then the general turned to Jessica. “How did it really go?”

  “That system really is crawling with Jung,” Jessica replied.

  “Any idea what the admiral is up to?”

  “Gather the troops, lay low, and wait for an opportunity, I guess. I’ll tell you one thing, though. Whatever plan he does come up with, is not going to be an easy one.”

  * * *

  Josh placed the two mugs of coffee on the deck of the Seiiki’s cockpit, then climbed up the short ladder to the cockpit’s deck. He picked up the mugs and moved forward. “Coffee, Captain?”

  “Thanks,” the captain replied, taking the mug offered by his copilot. “You don’t have to stay up, Josh. I can handle the watch by myself.”

  “I can take the first one, if you’d like,” Josh offered as he slid into the copilot’s seat. “I’m already wide-awake.”

  “That’s okay.”

  Josh took a sip of coffee. “Trouble sleeping?”

  “Something like that.”

  “Wanna talk about it?” Josh asked.

  Captain Tuplo frowned at him.

  “Just thought I’d offer.”

  The captain took another drink of his coffee as he stared out the windows at the dimly lit spaceport. “Why does Marcus hate Haven so much?”

  “You mean besides all the dust, the stink, the crappy food, and let’s not forget all the wonderful people just waiting to rob you blind when your back’s turned?”

  “It’s not the only shithole in the sector.”

  “Just the shittiest,” Josh replied.

  “You guys lived here for what, ten years?”

  “Ten or twelve, I don’t rightly know. I always get confused trying to calculate Haven years to Earth years to Corinairan years… Doesn’t really matter. Let’s just say I was just outta diapers when my mom got shipped here to serve her debt, and full grown by the time we left.”

  “How old were you when she passed?” the captain asked.

  “Not very… Not old enough to remember, that’s for sure.”

  “That’s when Marcus took you in?”

  “Yup. He was always sweet on my mom, always bringing her stuff… Little things like extra blankets, extra food, toys for me. I don’t know that she ever returned his kindness, if you get my meaning, but it don’t matter. He took care of me, nonetheless. He’s the only father I really had. Never knew my real father. My mom never talked about him, at least not that I can remember. As best I can tell he ran out on us when I was still a baby.”

  “So Marcus took good care of you, then.”

  “I suppose so,” Josh said, leaning back in his seat. “It’s not like he was the perfect father. I suppose he was as good as any. Gave me a place to live, food to eat, made sure I learned what I needed to know, smacked me around when I needed it.” Josh smiled. “And trust me, I needed it.” Josh took another drink of his coffee. “To be honest, I probably wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Marcus.”

  “How so?”

  Josh looked at the captain. “You’re full of questions, aren’t you.”

  “Sorry if I’m prying,” the captain apologized.

  “No matter,” Josh assured him. “It wasn’t easy for Marcus, either. The company treated everyone like shit, Marcus included. On Haven, you can cheat, steal, hell you can even kill someone, and no one gives a damn. But being a debtor? Well that’s just about the worst thing you can be on Haven. And me being from outside the sector didn’t help much. That’s the second worst thing you can be on Haven.”

  “I didn’t realize you were from outside the Pentaurus sector,” the captain said. “Not that I give a damn.” The captain took another sip of his coffee. “Any idea where you were born?”

  “Not a clue.”

  “Your mother didn’t leave anything behind when she passed? Something that might suggest your place of birth?”

  “Does it really matter?”

  “I suppose not.”

  Josh stared out the window for a moment, watching the dust swirl around in the night breeze. “I used to think about it a lot, actually. I used to wonder if maybe I had relatives somewhere. Somewhere like Palee, Volon, or maybe even Takara for that matter. Truth be told, it used to bother me quite a bit. But then I got all swept up in the rebellion, and then the Alliance. After that, it didn’t seem to matter as much. Hell, I figure I’ve been more places, and seen more things than most people could ever dream of. So why should I care where the hell I was born, as long as I know where I’ve been.”

  Captain Tuplo said nothing, only nodding his agreement. They sat there for several minutes, both of them staring out the windows, saying nothing as they drank their coffee.

  “What about you?” Josh asked. “You remember much about your past?”

  “Bits and pieces, really,” the captain replied. “The crash wiped out most of my memory. I’m surprised I can remember how to pilot a ship.” The captain took in a deep breath and sighed. “I remember her face though.”

  “Whose face?”

  “My mother’s… I think. Short brown hair, big green eyes. And I remember that she never really got mad, or at least she didn�
��t look it. Of course, like I said, there’s not much left of my memories. And what few things I do remember don’t make sense.”

  “Whattaya mean?” Josh wondered. “Like there’s pieces missing or something?”

  “No, it’s like I’m watching someone else’s life. Little snippets, here and there, but I can’t put them together. It’s like watching a few minutes from a bunch of different vids, and then trying to string them together into a cohesive story.”

  “That sounds really fucked up,” Josh chuckled. “Sorry, Cap’n. I didn’t mean to make light of your condition.”

  “I know. And you’re right, it is fucked up.”

  “Do you remember anything about the crash?”

  “Not a thing. Not a damn thing. Nothing before and nothing during. Other than the bits and pieces I talked about, my memory only goes back five years to when I woke up in the hospital after the crash. That’s another thing that drives me crazy. I’d really like to know what happened, so I could avoid it ever happening again.”

  “Do those doctors think you’ll ever get your memories back?” Josh asked.

  “They have no idea,” Captain Tuplo said with a sigh. “They just keep telling me that I’m lucky to be alive, as if that should be enough.” The captain turned to look out the window again. “I suppose it should be, but it isn’t.”

  “But you do know who you are. Where you were born, where you grew up, who your parents were, that kind of stuff.”

  “Only because I read it in a file they gave me,” Captain Tuplo said. “It doesn’t make it any more real to me, no more so than you dreaming about where you were born.” The captain looked at Josh again. “I guess I’ll just have to follow your lead, Josh, and just look forward instead of back.”

  Josh raised his mug of coffee. “Here’s to always looking forward, Cap’n.”

  * * *

  “Coming up on jump point,” Lieutenant Commander Vidmar announced from the Aurora’s tactical station. “All anti-FTL jump missiles are running straight and true.”