by Brian Dorsey
“We are but I have a feeling they want something else.”
“Captain,” informed TC, “picking up craft off our bow, coming in…really fast.”
Two fast-moving craft rapidly approached Hydra. A few kilometers from the ship, they slowed and took up escort positions. Their silver metallic coating shimmered against the backdrop of space.
“I think those are condors,” said Stone. “But none like I have ever seen.”
“Daaammn,” declared Orion. “That’s the sexiest ship I’ve ever seen.”
“I hate to break up the love-fest, but if we don’t give them whatever code they want that sexy ship is going to vaporize us,” warned Mori.
The group stared at one another, not sure of their next move.
“Might as well give it a shot,” said Orion, breaking the silence. “TC, upload that code we purchased on Port Royal…the one you said was a waste of Humani.”
“What code?” asked Stone.
“I came across a Xen code in the market polis a few months back. The dealer said it was a code for slaver vessels allowing access to special territory. They were asking a fortune for it but the dealer was reputable and had some connections with the Association so I figured it might come in handy someday…Let’s hope today is that day.”
“Sending the code,” reported TC. “Hopefully it was worth the money.”
A few seconds elapsed.
‘Confirmed,’ came through the comms circuit.
“Damn, that was close,” exclaimed Orion.
The two advanced condors cut in front of Hydra and were gone with a flash of silver, accelerating to near-jump levels in seconds.
“Those condors were something,” said Orion, still impressed. “But I don’t think we’re gonna get through the field as easily as they are.”
‘Falcon vessel vector to 320 relative, maintain current Z position.’
“Roger?” answered Orion as she looked toward TC and shrugged.
Following the ordered course, Hydra continued on toward the asteroid belt. Soon, two large orbital stations came into view in the distance. Slowly an opening began to materialize in the field between the stations. Eventually, a void large enough for Hydra to pass was created.
“Those stations are putting out a massive magnetic field,” said TC. “It must be acting on the metals in the asteroids.”
“I guess they’re opening up the doors for us,” said Mori. “Better get through before they change their mind.”
Hydra drifted through the corridor created by the stations. Massive floating boulders floated in all directions—held back by electro-magnetic force.
Those same magnetic fields were also wreaking havoc with ship.
“Thrusters to port,” ordered Orion as she struggled against the forces pulling the ship off course. “It might have been easier to navigate the field.”
Stone looked over toward Mori and smiled.
“What is it?” she asked.
“Your hair.”
Mori’s hair had returned to its normal length, and the static electricity created inside the ship caused it to expand in all directions.
Mori’s cheeks grew flush as she felt her hair. “Shut up, Ty,” she replied with a quick jab to Stone’s shoulder.
A quick jolt of electricity passed from her hand, giving Stone a little shock and giving Mori obvious satisfaction.
“Looks like we’re almost through,” said TC. “Systems are returning to normal.”
“There it is,” said Orion.
Venato lay dead ahead of them.
“Shit!” uttered Orion as an enormous Royal Xen battle cruiser drifted along in high orbit. Noticeably larger than the Humani or Doran versions, the gigantic ship orbited Venato like a small moon, keeping watch on the secret project and ensuring the Directive was being carried out. Several smaller crafts made their way toward the planet—undoubtedly slavers with more specimens for the Xen.
“All right, Tyler,” asked Orion, “where do we go from here?”
Stone froze. He didn’t have a plan. He was actually surprised they had made it as far as they had.
“Stone?” asked Orion again.
“I’m thinking.”
“You need to come up with something fast. We’re entering the atmosphere, and a slaver ship without a cargo of slaves is going to cause some problems.”
“We need a way to get on the planet and not have them come after us,” said Stone, thinking out loud.
“Oh, that’s all,” said Orion sarcastically. “Why didn’t you say so?”
“Just give me a couple minutes.”
“Another couple minutes and we’re either gonna be face to face with those reptiles or shot out of the sky.”
“Wait,” interrupted Mori. “You’ve got it.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” asked Orion.
“We need to crash.”
“What?” said Orion as she turned in her cockpit to look at Mori.
“You can do a dead stick entry, right?”
“Like a silent insertion mission?” added Stone, starting to understand Mori’s plan.
“Yeah…but…” Orion mouthed the word “Oh” as she grasped Mori’s plan.
“TC, kill the sensors…Engineering, standby for deadstick landing. TC, patch in our comms.”
“Engineering, standing by,” reported Rickover.
“Securing thrusters and stabilizers,” warned Orion. “Hold on.”
Hydra pitched downward as all electronic power was lost. The familiar floating stomach sensation came to Stone as the ship plunged downward.
“Time to give ‘em a show,” said Orion as she activated the comm link. “Venato Control, this is falcon vessel, captives have escaped hold. Electronics damaged, flight control inoperable, losing altitude.”
‘Falcon vessel, this is Venato control. Per Directive instructions, assistance is not authorized.’
“I knew they wouldn’t give a damn about a single load of captives or the crew,” shouted Mori, breathing heavily against the gravitational force exerted during the free fall.
“Venato, falcon vessel, approaching too fast…can’t maintain control…” Orion looked over toward TC. “I hope they bought it.”
‘Condor CAP 7, this is Venato Control, incoming track 32 experienced power failure, crash imminent, perform visual.’
“Are they going to buy this with a flyby?” said Stone as he struggled against the force of the dive.
“They will now,” said Orion as she yanked back on the controls.
Stone felt dizzy as the ship tumbled end over end, spinning as it fell. The condors were looking for a ship out of control—Orion would give them one.
‘Venato control this is CAP 7, verified falcon control and power failure. Returning to orbit.’
Stone tried to focus on the horizon but had to close his eyes as the spinning a rattling of the ship took its toll on his senses.
“They bought it,” huffed Orion. “TC…mark…altitude…”
“One…five…zero…zero…meters.”
“Give…me…hydraulics and weapons control,” ordered Orion.
“Come on Hydra, you bitch!” she yelled. “Work with me!”
Hydra complied and slowly righted itself with a little help from Orion.
“TC, release debris storage. Reverse thrusters, full rudder. Standby to release explosive inventory.”
“What kind of explosives are you carrying onboard?” asked Stone.
“I had Rickover make a mod to carry six carriage bombs…never know when you might need to make your own landing zone, or in this case, fake your own crash,” smiled Orion.
TC reported he was ready. “Debris hatch open, standing by to release…”
“Release.”
With Orion’s order, the ship bounced as the weight of the debris and the bombs were released and the thrusters engaged. As Hydra’s descent slowed, Orion fired the main engine to get forward momentum before the bombs impacted. The explosio
n pitched Hydra forward, but it was nothing Orion could not control. Bringing Hydra to the treetops, Orion turned to view the impact area.
“Hopefully this scattered debris and scorch patterns should provide enough evidence to satisfy any follow-up Xen patrols. TC, secure everything except passive search, hydraulics, and weapons. Let’s keep as quiet as possible.”
She turned back to Stone and Mori. “We’re about ten or fifteen kilometers from their main base. Sorry I couldn’t get it closer. We’ll move parallel until we find a place to put down and figure out our next move. That should give you more than a ‘couple minutes’ to get a plan together,” she smiled.
“Orion,” said Mori. “If the Terillian Confederation had more pilots like you, we could deal with the Xen easily.”
“I’m not sure about that,” answered Orion, “but consider me in the service of the Confederation once again. I can’t sit this one out. It’s too big…and way too exciting.”
In a few minutes, Orion found a small clearing that Stone would never have thought a falcon could land in, until he met Orion.
Once on the ground, Orion unbuckled herself from her seat and turned TC. “You and Rickover find some camouflage to hide the ship from overhead patrols.” She turned toward Stone and Mori. “Let’s get some fresh air and figure out our next move.”
Stone felt the warmth of the sun and the cool breeze on his face; he breathed deeply. The smell of wildflowers, trees, and a nearby stream filled his senses.
“Now that’s refreshing after all that time on recycled air,” said Orion as she stepped out of Hydra and onto the soft ground below.
“It’s actually kind of beautiful,” said Mori as she looked into the forest surrounding their ship.
“It’s hard to believe that amidst all this beauty, such evil is taking place,” added Stone, remembering what had brought them to the planet.
“Well, what do we do from here?” asked Orion.
“At first I just wanted to find out what was going on out here, but now we have to find a way to shut down the operation,” said Stone.
“Maybe we should just try to get out of here and inform the Terillian military,” proposed Orion. “Let them take out the base.”
“First,” added Mori, “we would have to get out of here without getting killed. Then we would have to get through the asteroid belt, no doubt chased by those badass condors. If we somehow make it past them and get through the Dark Zone to Terillian territory, they would have to redirect at least an entire national or even Confederation fleet and fight their way here. By then they could have the virus weaponized.”
“Looks like we will have to do it from here,” replied Stone. “Now we just have to figure out how to destroy an entire base with a thirty-year-old falcon and five people.”
A report from Rickover came through the short-range comms link.
‘Captain, we’ve got something over here you should see. We’re about half a kilometer forward of the ship.’
“Roger. We’ll be there in a minute,” replied Orion.
Thick layers of decomposing plant life, moss, and fallen trees covered the ground in the dense deciduous forest as the group headed toward Rickover and TC. A few yards into the forest, Stone began to feel uneasy; something was not right. He brought his rifle to the ready and motioned to Mori, who had already done the same.
Stone quickly and quietly moved to take a flanking position and faded into the wilderness.
***
“What is it?” asked Orion as she caught her breath after reaching TC and Rickover.
“It looks like an abandoned camp of some sort,” said TC, sifting through the grayish black remains of a fire.
“About a day old,” stated Mori. “Probably about ten strong.”
“Wonder what they’re doing out here,” added Rickover. “I would have assumed the Xen would have cleared the planet of any indigenous populations.”
“They would have,” replied Mori as she rummaged through the remnants of the campsite,
moving a small branch with her foot. Seeing a metallic object lying underneath the brush, she knelt down to investigate.
It was a magazine for an assault rifle.
Placing the magazine in her pocket, Mori quickly scanned the forest and made her way toward a large felled tree to take a defensive position. “Everyone find a place to take cover.”
The rest of the group was looking for adequate cover when Mori heard a noise coming from the dense foliage.
“Get down!” she shouted as she positioned her rifle downfield toward the noise, waiting for something to appear.
Focused on the initial threat, she was slow to hear the noise to her right.
Finally, the sound registered and she swung her rifle toward the new threat.
As she turned, a blow to her shoulder knocked the rifle out of her hands and sent her tumbling. Rolling to her left she drew her sword and brought it to bear just as the attacker stepped toward her. A tall, slender man stared down the blade as she looked into the barrel of his pistol.
Her intuition had been right. Several attackers had rushed out of the forest. A quick scan of the situation appraised Mori of the fate of her comrades. Rickover hadn’t even moved from his prone position. A woman had a foot placed on his back and a rifle to his head. Orion was wrestling with two attackers, but it appeared they were getting the best of her. TC had one attacker in each hand, dangling them several feet off the ground, but two more had their weapons pointed at him and he was submitting.
Mori was disgusted with herself. How could she have let someone get that close? Had her skills deteriorated that much or were they that good?
“Who are you?” she asked.
“I will ask the questions,” snapped the man. “Your friends are captured. Submit or they will be killed.”
Mori thought she at least had a chance to take out the man in front of her, but she was less confident about the others. Just as she was about to concede, there was more rustling from the trees.
“Put down your weapons!” came a voice from nearby.
Mori turned toward the noise to see Stone emerge from the forest with a woman in front of him. He held her hair tightly, forcing her head toward the sky with his pistol rested firmly against the base of her skull.
“Drop your weapons or I will scatter her brains across this forest,” he warned.
The man in front of Mori looked toward Stone. In doing so, he was distracted just enough to allow Mori to make her move. In a quick, fluid movement Mori grabbed the weapon and twisted it behind the man’s back and brought the blade of her sword to his neck.
There was a long silence as each person nervously examined their opponents, playing out options in their minds.
***
Fearing someone would make a hasty and deadly mistake, Stone took action. He twisted the woman’s hair, forcing her to her knees. Pressing the pistol to the top of her head he issued the warning again. “Now!” he ordered. Stone noticed the rest of the attackers looking toward the man under Mori’s blade. Pegging him as the leader, he turned the woman’s face toward him. “Surrender!” he shouted.
“I’m sorry, Horatio,” said the woman.
The man’s focus remained on Stone’s captive. From the look on his face, Stone could tell the two shared deep feelings toward one another. Either way, Stone had the advantage. It was time for him to capitalize on it. He shifted his grip on the pistol from his right to left hand and then, placing his boot on her neck, he forced her to the ground. Once she was pinned, he drew his sword and placed it against her neck. “Maybe I will take her apart piece by piece.”
The sword against her neck had made the difference. After a deep breath, the man conceded. “Release them,” he ordered. “Drop your weapons.”
The attackers released TC, Orion, and Rickover, who quickly picked up the would-be captors’ weapons.
“Release her!” ordered the man. “We have surrendered. Do not harm her!”
Stone remove
d his foot from the woman’s back, allowing her to scramble over to the leader. They embraced and then turned back toward Stone and Mori.
“Like I was saying,” said Mori. “Who are you?”
The woman looked toward the leader. “Horatio, don’t tell them anything.”
“I guess the Humani have finally starting helping their Xen masters with the experiments,” replied Horatio.
“We’re not working with Xen,” said Orion in a reassuring voice.
“We’re here to stop them,” added Mori.
Horatio turned his nose back toward Mori and drew in a deep breath, sniffing the air.
“Kendra, the scent,” he said.
“Yes,” she replied, “I smell it too.”
Pointing to Mori, Horatio asked, “What is that one’s name, please?”
***
“Captain Mori Skye,” Mori answered.
Horatio and Kendra looked at one another. Kendra nodded and Horatio looked back toward Mori.
“My name is Horatio. I am the second leader of the wolf clan. This is my mate, Kendra.”
“Wolf clan?” asked Orion. “Are you native to this planet?”
“Native!” said Horatio. “I am from Bravo 3. I was captured by slavers when I was ten and transported here. Kendra was a Terillian trader before she was taken. We are a small group of escapees from the Citadel.”
“Were you captured for genetic testing?” asked Mori.
“Yes,” replied Horatio. “But I do not know to what end. All I know is that we escaped and have fought to survive ever since.”
“I assure you we’re not your enemy,” Mori replied, dropping her weapon to her side. She motioned for the others to do the same. “The Xen are experimenting with humans to create a hybrid that is resistant to a virus killing off their slave populations,” she continued. “We have come to stop them.”
“So they have changed us…done all of this only to keep us slaves?” declared Horatio, his anger boiling over. “I thought my hatred for them could grow no more.”
He let out a guttural groan.
As he did, Mori saw large canines, protrude from his mouth.
“Five of you?” asked Kendra. “How will five of you stop the Xen?”
“We’re still working on that part,” said Orion. “Aren’t we, Stone?”
