The Last Child

by Troy Osgood

  “You will follow my commands,” Hunil told me pointing at a seat. He spoke in heavily accented Tradelan.

  “Right,” I lied.

  *****

  We entered the labyrinth of warehouses from the other side, our hovertank stopping a couple buildings back. I didn’t have the layout of buildings memorized, but I had seen enough to have a general idea of where we needed to go. We filed out of the tank and Hunil put me in the middle of the group.

  I noticed that he didn’t offer me any armor or other weaponry.

  Whatever, I hated wearing blastarmor anyways. Heavy and bulky.

  Moving silently we made our way to the target building, crouching against the wall of one warehouse and looking across the open space at the target. It looked like all the others. Nothing noticeable. I wondered how the Tiat planned to get out of here. I think whatever original plan they had was spoiled by the actions of the assistant but they had to have a ship somewhere but no idea where that could be.

  “Where’s the nearest spaceport,” I asked Hunil in a whisper.

  He looked over his shoulder at me, annoyed, but then registered what I had asked. He hissed, the equivalent of a Thesan curse, and spoke quickly into his comm unit.

  “Some of these warehouses have private docks,” he said angrily. Probably upset he hadn’t thought of that himself.

  We both knew the skies above were locked down but we both also knew that really didn’t amount to much. Sometimes you could prevent a ship from taking off but if the person was really adamant about leaving, they would leave. Once a ship was in the air, there was no way of stopping it short of shooting it down.

  I didn’t think Yoterra would risk killing Kaylia and the Thesans would want to question the Tiat to discover how they had learned of the kid’s parents and gotten onplanet in the first place.

  So they would want to capture the Tiat alive.

  Which meant we had to prevent them from launching.

  Which meant we had to move now.

  If I was the Tiat, I would assume we had tracked the hovercar and were quickly moving in. They’d have their ship prepping to launch and scanning the skies for the patrol ships. It would be risky but they’d want to establish a pattern in the patrols and find the best moment to launch. They’d only get one shot. It would take some time to open the bay doors on the buildings roof and longer to get the ship out and into position to fire the thrusters and get off planet.

  It gave us some time, but not much.

  “Tighten up the patrol paths,” I told Hunil. “Don’t give them a window.”

  He gave me that annoyed look again but relayed my plan. I recognized enough of the whispered Thesan to know that he also took credit for it.

  Whatever. I didn’t care. Let him take the credit. He’d take the blame if this went wrong.

  Or he’d transfer it to me, the offworlder who had forced himself onto the operation.

  If this went wrong, I’d be blaming myself also.

  “There is low level jamming,” Hunil said after speaking to the command center. “We can’t scan inside the building.”

  So no idea how many there were. And just the six of us. I assumed more Thesans were moving into backup positions but for now we were it.

  “What’s the plan,” I asked. Hunil gave me a surprised look. He must have thought I’d butt in with some brilliant idea. Any idea I had would be brilliant but this was his home. “It’s your city,” I told him.

  Nodding, Hunil gathered the six of us close and told us the plan.

  Simple. I liked it.

  *****

  Only six, we split into three teams of two. I was with Hunil.

  Glancing up, I could see the shadows and dark shapes of the Thesan patrol crafts moving through the clouds. They were as close to the buildings, and each other, as they dared to go. I would have liked the pattern tighter, even from here I could see gaps that I could fly the Nomad’s Wind through, but it wasn’t my call.

  Hunil led us around the side of the warehouse, keeping to the shadows before we’d make the run across the open space. This reminded me of my time in the military. I’d run a lot of ops like this but mostly those were kill missions not rescue. I hadn’t run many rescue missions and usually the enemy didn’t know we were coming.

  The Tiat in the warehouse were expecting us. Maybe not right this minute, but they knew the Thesan forces were close. We didn’t have the element of surprise.

  Holding a hand up Hunil called a halt. I leaned out a bit to get a look beyond him and didn’t see much. Lots of open ground between us and the target. No windows facing us though, that was a plus. I could hear chatter through Hunil’s comms. Coordination between the teams. He looked back at me, checking to make sure I was ready.

  “Waiting on you,” I whispered.

  I got that annoyed look again.

  A couple seconds later and we were running across about a hundred feet of open space. We both kept low, eyes looking towards the target building. Hunil concentrated on that but I kept my eyes moving as well, trying to see off to the sides. If it had been me, I would have put people outside. All I saw was another one of the Thesan teams, the last on the opposite side of the building. Maybe that meant the Tiat didn’t have people to spare? Wishful thinking.

  We pulled up tight to the building and I could feel the cool metal against my hands. Colored brown, it was smooth with no markings. I kept watch as Hunil turned around and faced the wall. He ran his hands over it and took out a device. Holding it in one hand, I heard a faint hum as he ran the device across the wall. He traced an oval about a foot off the ground and six feet high, only a couple wide.

  Hunil slid the device into the middle of his oval and hit a button. He stepped back, the device stuck to the wall. Pulling a small controller, he motioned me away from the wall. I didn’t need the encouragement, I’d seen what a breacher could do. I probably didn’t want to mention to him that I had one aboard the Wind. On most planets it was illegal for a civilian to own a breacher, that included Thesan and Terran controlled space.

  About ten feet away, directly facing the device and wall, I got down on one knee and raised my blaster at the oval.

  As Hunil hit the button on the controller I saw lines of energy spark out from under the device. It crept along the wall, following the path Hunil had traced. The oval was lined by the blue sparking energy. It crackled and snapped. Another push of the button and the lines of energy flared.

  Smoke rose from the brown metal as the energy started cutting through the wall. It was bright and I wanted to turn away but I needed to hold steady. It only took seconds before the energy disappeared and the sound of metal hitting ground echoed through the buildings.

  The smoke cleared and I could see inside the building. White metal walls, furniture. An office of some kind. Empty.

  “Go,” I said.

  Hunil, keeping to the side and out of my firing lane, ran to the edge of the building. He leaned against the wall next to the opening and pivoted around it. He stepped over and through the hole and was in the office. When he moved into my line of fire, I lowered my weapon and quickly moved up to the new opening.

  It was an office. It was empty and looked unused.

  Already at the door, Hunil impatiently gestured at me to enter. One last look around the yard, at the alleys in between the buildings, and I stepped through the hole.

  I could hear activity beyond the door. Blasters firing and shouting. The other Thesan teams had breached. There was noise through Hunil’s comms. Just loud enough for me to hear it, not loud enough to understand any of it. Rapid fire Thesan, too low for me to get any words.

  And of course Hunil was not sharing with me.

  He was making no move to open the door. No signal for me to cover it. Nothing. I was getting impatient. At some point the Tiat would cut their losses and kill Kaylia.

  I hit the door release on the keypad and let it slide open. Hunil shot me an angry glance. So much for following orders. I ignored him a
nd stepped out of the office. We needed to move quickly.

  CHAPTER TEN

  The door opened onto a large space, the main warehouse. The walls were curved, metal beams supporting it that were thin at the top and got thicker as they went down to the ground. They were spaced close together on the ends, leaving an open spot in the middle. Smaller beams spanned between them. No windows, but lights hanging up high. Large doors could be seen along the far wall. A couple more small offices were to our right.

  The warehouse was mostly empty, some polyplas crates scattered around, except for a light cruiser in the middle. Fast and mobile, it was a Devret UT15. Common ships, they were found everywhere. Not too flashy, they were usually used by merchants and other business people as they were reliable and parts were cheap and easy to get. This one looked old and well used. If I had to fly under the radar, it’s exactly what I would have picked.

  A side benefit, the Devret couldn’t carry that many passengers so that limited the number of Tiat we had to deal with.

  I could see blaster flashes on the far side. Hear bolts hitting the walls and the ship. Sparks were erupting everywhere.

  Cursing I crept out into the warehouse. What were the Thesans thinking?

  Holding up behind a crate I took in the scene. The ship’s ramp was lowered and two Tiat were crouched on it firing at the far end of the warehouse. I could see two more behind crates. They had heavy blasters, the weapons loud in the confined space. The return bolts from the Thesans seemed weak in comparison.

  Hunil came alongside, crouching behind another crate. I pointed at the two on the boarding ramp. He nodded and took aim. Lifting my blaster, I held it steady with two hands and stood up. I took careful aim and pulled the trigger.

  My bolt sailed across the short distance and hit my target, the lower of the two Tiat. He fell and the other one above him had just a second to look down in surprise before he also fell dead.

  We ran forward and I crossed in front of Hunil. He ran towards where the other Tiat were, firing from behind cover. I made for the boarding ramp. Smoke rose from the blaster wounds on the dead bodies. I kicked their weapons off the ramp, not taking any chances. I also fired at one of the remaining Tiat, but I was moving fast and missed.

  There were only two left. Hunil and his team could handle them, I had more important business.

  I paused at the top of the ramp. The hatch opened onto a hall moving left and right and a body was slumped against the wall. It had slid down showing a blaster scorch mark against the metal. A matching one was on the bodies chest, no longer smoking.

  The Thesan assistant.

  I was kind of upset that I didn’t get to kill him.

  Turning right I headed towards the bridge. I had no idea where Kaylia could be but I could at least disable the ship. I’d been inside a couple Devret UT15s before so knew the general layout. The entrance corridor ran left towards engineering and right towards the crew compartments, lounge areas and bridge. The only other entrance was the loading hatch underneath for cargo. I had to hope that the Thesans could cover that. Anyone lowering it would be visible from their positions.

  Moving slowly, cautiously, I crept up the corridor. The paneling was old, faded and scratched, even missing in some places. The hall curved, following the line of the hull. It ended just ahead, turning left to go into the compartments and right to the bridge. I strained to hear, anything, something. But it was silent, no idea where Kaylia could be.

  Holding myself tight against the outer wall, I turned and tried to see down the intersecting hall that led to the compartments. I could see doors, all closed, but nothing else. I pivoted around the corner and faced the bridge. Set up much like the Wind’s, four stations on two levels, and it was empty.

  Keeping one eye on the hall, I stepped over to the pilot’s station and looked it over. Controls on most ships were the same, some small variations, but pretty standard. Some were fancier, others basic, but all in relatively the same locations. Made changing ships easier. So I knew where the power cut off for the Devret was.

  I hesitated before flipping the switch. Anyone still on board would know I was here if I did that. There were only two places that the entire power could be turned off, the bridge or engineering. No help for it.

  The click was loud in the silence of the ship. The lights shut off, everything going black, and then the emergency lights came on. Strips of small lights along the top and bottom of the halls, just enough light to see and walk by. The ship was now effectively grounded. Power could be restored, but it would take awhile, fifteen or twenty minutes, before there was enough to take off.

  I stepped back out to the hall, weapon raised, and looked down it’s length. The strip lights made it dark, increasing the shadows. Six doors, three to a side and the hall ending in a large room.

  Clearing all six would take time that I didn’t have and leave me open to someone from other rooms or the lounge at the end. This was why we never did something like this without back-up in my 2E days. One cleared the room, the other covered.

  It didn’t take me long to figure out my best move.

  I played the odds.

  Quickly I moved down the corridor, ignoring the doors, and stepped into the lounge. I moved to the side, so my back wasn’t to the corridor. Better safe than sorry.

  The lounge wasn’t large, chairs and tables with a vidscreen against the far wall. Serviceable, nothing fancy. But in front of the vidscreen was a Tiat.

  With Kaylia.

  *****

  “Let her go.”

  The strip lights gave some detail but not much.

  Tall, light blue skin and dark colored hair. Not in a standard Tiat uniform, which made sense considering. She was average height for the species, putting her taller than me. Hard face, could be attractive but this one was cold and hard. The commander of this team. To be given this assignment she had to be good. I knew what it took to be a special operations soldier and what it took to get these kinds of assignments.

  Tiat were matriarchal. Ruled by the Empress, the officers were always female.

  This one had one arm around Kaylia’s neck, the other holding a blaster to her head. I pointed mine at the Tiat’s head, visible over the shorter Kaylia. For me, an easy shot, but the Tiat could still get off a shot and kill Kaylia. I forced myself to wait.

  For her part Kaylia was remaining calm. She stood still, straight, with no tears. There was relief in her eyes as she looked at me. Confidence and hope.

  “This is none of your concern Terran,” the Tiat said. Her voice had the steely calm, lack of emotion that was common to the race.

  “Let. Her. Go.”

  “I should have killed her,” The Tiat said. I’d never known one to be talkative, but then I’d never encountered one in this position. She knew her time was up. “The mission was to bring her back alive for study.” I almost pulled the trigger at the way the Tiat said that. No emotion, as if Kaylia was just an object. “But better dead than free.”

  Keep her talking I thought as I looked for a way out of this stalemate. I could shoot her, but she’d pull her trigger and shoot Kaylia. She knew it. I knew it. She had nothing to lose, she was dead no matter what.

  “Why didn’t you,” I asked. Holding my weapon steady I tried to line up a shot, but the Tiat was moving just enough. Side to side, just a step, bringing Kaylia with her, forcing me to keep adjusting.

  “I wanted to see how this played out,” the Tiat replied, still with that matter-of-fact tone, as if nothing mattered anymore, which was true. “But mostly I wanted to see who was causing us all this trouble. She should have been kept on that asteroid. That team failed. Mine was sent here after you took her from us.”

  That was a bit of a shock. That meant they had stayed relatively close to Turesa. It was only a couple days ago that I had rescued Kaylia from the asteroid.

  “I was surprised to be told that a Terran was involved,” the Tiat continued and I wondered if she was stalling for time. Additional back-
up?

  Then it dawned on me. She was stalling. But not for her back-up. She was waiting for more Thesans. She intended to die and take Kaylia and as many with her as she could.

  Dammit.

  That changed everything.

  I released my two handed grip on the blaster, holding it with my right hand and pointing it away from the Tiat. In the near darkness I couldn’t see her eyes but figured she was wondering what I was doing. She knew I had to try something. It was my move.

  “I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time,” I said, keeping my tone casual. With my left hand, I started moving my fingers. I moved them slowly, carefully. I know I didn’t make the gestures right but hoped it was enough. “Wasn’t my intention to get involved. I just don’t like bullies.”

  The Tiat laughed, a cold chuckle.

  “The Thesans will pay for what they did to my people,” she said and for the first time there was emotion in her. “This brat will pay the same as did her family.”

  That was the wrong thing to say.

  I had expected Kaylia to react, I had told her to with my clumsy sign language, but not react like she did. I had thought she’d do the same to the Tiat as she had the Garand. This was different and it came from somewhere deep inside the girl. Some deep and primal instinct.

  The fingers grew to claws, a red rage came to her eyes and she growled. It was a mean growl, full of pure hatred. The claws of one hand stabbed down into the Tiat’s chest, cutting deep wounds as they dug. The other hand went up to the Tiat’s face. The angle wasn’t right, the arm swing awkward, which was the only thing that saved the woman’s life.

  She screamed as the claws cut lines down her face. Three deep gashes, down the left side of her face, through her eye. The arms slackened around Kaylia, who slipped out of the grasp. The Tiat tried to bring her weapon down, her arm had instinctively shot up pulling it away from Kaylia’s head. Even in her rage she tried to take aim but my shot took her in the shoulder. She dropped the weapon and fell against the wall.