Lost Planet 02 - The Stolen Moon

by Searles, Rachel

  The hovercraft came to a gliding stop, and the guards hustled them into an immense steel and glass structure that looked entirely different from the rest of the buildings in Lumos. Almost immediately inside the building they were taken into a large holding cell with no windows and stale air. A thick metal door slid closed behind them.

  The cell was full of benches, but when Chase went to sit on one, he realized that the seat was stained with oily patches of a blue-greenish substance. He leaned over and examined it, frowning.

  “Werikosa have been here,” said Analora, crossing her arms. “A lot of them, by the looks of it. Their skin secretes this oil that protects them from high UV rays and a bunch of other harsh climate factors. I guess it gets everywhere too.”

  Lilli stood before one of the stained benches in her overlong sweater, looking it over as if she were seeking the cleanest place to sit. She glanced at Chase, and he saw violet crescents of exhaustion under her eyes like he hadn’t seen in months.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  “I’m just really tired.”

  “Take a nap. Who knows how long we’ll be here.”

  She shook her choppy blond head and looked at an open door in the corner of the cell. “Is that a bathroom?” Excusing herself, she crossed the room and went inside.

  Analora gave him a funny look. “What is she?” she whispered, once Lilli was no longer in the room.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I saw what happened. When that guard was chasing us, there were two of her for a few seconds. How did she do that?”

  Chase froze, uncertain how to proceed.

  Parker snorted. “That’s crazy. Whatever you think you saw, it must have been a hallucination. Lilli’s just a normal kid.”

  “Don’t treat me like I’m stupid,” said Analora sharply. “I know what I saw.” She turned back to Chase. “That’s why you’re on the Kuyddestor, isn’t it? Because of her. Is she some kind of science experiment?”

  “No.” Lilli stood on the side of the holding cell, glaring at Analora. Chase hadn’t even heard her come out of the bathroom. “I’m just a normal kid, like Parker said.” She sat down hard on one of the benches, right in the middle of a grease spot.

  Analora frowned at Chase, and he knew she wasn’t convinced. It was silly to feel jealous, but despite all the effort Chase had made to seem normal around Analora, he had a sudden urge to show her that Lilli wasn’t the only special one. He squashed the foolish thought immediately. What she’d seen was how Lilli used her ability to get the guard off their cart. But what she’d missed was how Chase’s phasing had hampered him from being able to kick the guard’s hands, or stop the forest creatures, or do just about anything when it really mattered.

  He motioned for Parker to join him on the other side of the cell. “Did you see Ksenia at the protest?” he asked.

  “See who? The tall Earthan lady with the dark hair?”

  “That was Ksenia. She came over with the ambassador yesterday. I saw her on the soldiers’ level right before we realized your chip was stolen—she must be the one who took it and left the note.”

  Parker raised his eyebrows. “Why would she make you come all the way down here to talk? She could have told you this stuff on the ship.”

  “And she could have asked you permission to take your microchip, but she didn’t. Maybe she’s worried about eavesdroppers, or maybe she thinks the ship is bugged.”

  “There are ways to get around a bug other than traveling all the way to the next available planet,” said Parker. “Like a jammer.”

  Chase huffed impatiently. “I don’t know what her reasons are!”

  Parker raised his hands. “Lords, I’m not saying it wasn’t her! Right now I agree—it sounds like it was. I just wonder why she wanted to get you so far away from the captain if it was only to talk.”

  Chase ran his fist along the edge of a bench. “I guess we’ll never know. By the time we get out of here, everything will be over.”

  The door to the holding room slid open, and an officer stepped inside. “Time for processing.” He looked around the room, his gaze falling on Chase, who stood closest to him. “You first.”

  Taking a deep breath and glancing back at the others, Chase stepped into the hall. The officer waddled beside him, indicating where he should turn. There were signs on the wall, but they were all written in a round script he couldn’t read. Eventually they came out to a big open area sectioned off into little round cubbies, where dozens of Storrian workers sat at consoles. The Storrian beside Chase gestured toward the rear of the room. “My colleague is waiting for you back there.”

  As they crossed the open space, Chase glanced over at a long counter, behind which sat a Storrian arguing with, or rather being argued at by, a human. A human in a gray Fleet uniform.

  Chase stopped in his tracks. “Hey!” The soldier turned, and to Chase’s surprise, it was the sharp face of Lieutenant Vidal. She blanched when she saw Chase, and her mouth fell open.

  “Keep moving,” said the officer beside Chase.

  “Wait!” Vidal rushed toward him, dodging around cubicles. “What are you doing here?”

  Flushing with both embarrassment and relief, Chase told her, “We, uh, got picked up for entering the planet illegally.”

  “What do you mean?”

  The Storrian on his left had placed a hand on his arm, and so his words came out in a rush. “I came down with Parker and my sister and Analora Bishallany. We were following you.”

  Vidal’s face creased with confusion. “But how did you even get here?” Before Chase could reply, the Storrian officer began pulling him away, and he had to step along with him to keep himself from phasing. Vidal reached out toward him with one hand. “Just sit tight! I’ll get you all out once I get Maurus free!”

  Get Maurus free? Chase didn’t have much time to question this information, because he found himself in one of the cubbies, being offered a chair opposite another Storrian immigration officer. She scarcely glanced at him, using one long finger to pick something from her soft, droopy mouth, and placed her hands on her console.

  “Name and origin,” she droned.

  “Um, Corbin Mason,” he said, using the fake name Parker had chosen for him months ago. “I’m, uh, Earthan.”

  “Mr. Mason, what was your purpose in illegally entering the borders of Storros?”

  Should he explain everything that had led him to this point? “Somebody left a note in my room—I live on the Kuyddestor, the Fleet ship orbiting around here. And in the note, the person told me to meet her on Lumos, and I tried to come down with some Fleet officers, but when I tried to teleport…” He trailed off, trying to think of a way to explain his inability to teleport.

  The officer slowly raised her eyes from the console. “A short answer will suffice, Mr. Mason.”

  He froze a moment, racking his brain for a simpler explanation. “I came to meet a friend.”

  The officer typed his response. “Did you come to Storros intending to take up illegal residence on this planet?”

  “No. I just told you why I came here.”

  “Were you planning to bring assistance to any illegal aliens currently residing on Storros?”

  Chase stared at her. Was she for real? “No.”

  “Do you know the location of any illegal aliens currently residing on Storros?”

  “Of course not,” he snapped.

  The Storrian smoothed back her eyebrow stalks and placed her hands on her lap. “Mr. Mason, are you aware that illegally entering Storros is punishable by up to ten years in prison and a five-million intercurrency fine?”

  His irritation quickly gave way to a racing pulse. “I’m just a kid,” he said in a weak voice. “You can’t put me in prison.”

  The Storrian pushed herself away from her desk and motioned for him to rise. “Don’t be so sure about that. We’re done. Please accompany Officer Squoda back to the holding room.”

  * * *

  Ch
ase had been staring for what felt like hours at an unintelligible script carved into the back of one of the holding room benches, nerves twisting his stomach. Parker and Analora were both convinced that the captain would be able to get them free, and Chase agreed that that made the most sense. They were dumb kids who’d made a mistake, not refugees or criminals. But still, until they were safe and sound back on the Kuyddestor, ten years in a Storrian prison seemed like a very real possibility.

  The door to the holding cell opened, and Lieutenant Vidal stepped inside. The stress and surprise was gone from her face, and in its place was blazing fury. “You stole a jump pod? What on Taras were you kids thinking?”

  “We’re so sorry, Lieutenant,” blurted Analora.

  “Captain Lennard has been informed and has claimed responsibility for your actions, including the astronomical fine. The Storrians are releasing you into my custody. Analora, this is for you.” Vidal twisted the teleport return ring from her own finger and handed it over. “Your father wants you back immediately.”

  “Like, right now?” asked Analora in a voice so timid Chase barely recognized it.

  “Like right now. I wouldn’t want to be in your boots. Go. The rest of us have to wait for the Kuyddestor to send down a transport vehicle.”

  Analora ducked her head in shame as she put on the ring. She glanced at Chase and Parker. “Good luck. See you when you get back … I hope.” Vidal punched something into her communicator, and a moment later, Analora faded out of the room.

  “The rest of you come with me,” said Vidal brusquely, leading them out of the holding cell.

  Chase rushed ahead to talk to her. “What did the captain say?”

  Vidal shook her head as they walked. “He’s not happy. People get kicked off the ship for what you kids did. I have no idea what you thought was so important down here that you had to go and do something like that.” Chase began to turn back toward the central processing area, but she stopped him. “No, go this way. We have to pick up Lieutenant Maurus from a different holding area.”

  “What happened to him?”

  Vidal gave a short, irritated sigh. “Someone alerted Storrian authorities that the former alleged Trucon plotter was walking around on their planet. They picked us up not long after we arrived and accused the Fleet of deceiving them because we didn’t state his species in our entry request.”

  It had been a long time since Chase had heard Maurus referred to as the alleged engineer of the Trucon disaster. “Who would have done that?”

  “Maurus has his enemies,” said Vidal dryly.

  And I can name one of them, thought Chase. “Where’s Lieutenant Seto?”

  “Our entry visa was revoked. I had to send him back to the ship already.”

  They followed Vidal up a long ramp that spiraled around to another level. “Are the high-security holding cells this way?” she asked a passing officer. They continued to a desk, where she provided a chip scan and badge swipe.

  Maurus came from deep down the hall, flanked by two of the largest Storrians Chase had seen yet. His cheeks were flushed, and his eyes dark with anger. When he saw the four children standing behind Vidal, a confused scowl etched itself into his face. The officer at the desk stopped him and pressed a boxy, gunlike device against his wrist.

  “Ouch!” Maurus jerked his hand away. On his wrist, a spidery pattern glowed orange under his skin.

  “The tracer under your skin will dissolve as soon as you clear our orbital borders. If you’re not off the planet within one hour, you’ll be picked up again and sentenced for illegal attempt at residence.”

  “Like I’d stay on your stinking heap of a planet,” Maurus spat, rubbing his wrist. “I’ll have my blaster back now.”

  “Your weapon has been confiscated and destroyed, along with any other devices you were carrying.”

  “My communicator? My return ring? Those items are the property of the Federal Fleet. If I’m supposed to get off your cursed planet in such a blasted hurry, then why did you destroy the one item I needed to leave?”

  “We’ve got a transport coming to get us at the Beman port,” said Vidal, flashing Maurus a warning look. “We’ll be off-planet shortly.”

  “You will be escorted to the port,” said the stony-faced Storrian. The two huge guards flanking Maurus stepped forward.

  As they exited the building with their escort, Maurus turned to Chase. “What on Hesta’s seven suns are you doing here?”

  “It’s a long story,” Chase faltered.

  “They took a page from the chief’s son and stole a jump pod,” said Vidal in a clipped tone.

  “They what?” Maurus’s voice grew dangerously loud.

  “Keep your voice down. They crash-landed outside Lumos and got picked up by immigration, just like you.”

  “I can’t believe you!” Maurus turned on Chase, his dark eyes flashing. “I’m incredibly disappointed. This was Parker’s idea, wasn’t it?”

  Feeling miserable, Chase began to apologize, but behind him Parker made a loud noise of disbelief. “Oh, so he’s the one who needed to come here, but I’m the troublemaker, huh?”

  “Enough.” Vidal’s voice was steely. “No more talking until we’re back on the Kuyddestor.”

  They were escorted by hovercraft to the port, where a Fleet transport was already docked and waiting. Maurus quickened his pace toward the sleek silver vehicle. “Seto, is that you?” he called out.

  “Keep your temper,” Vidal warned, putting a hand on his arm.

  Maurus arched an eyebrow. “Why?”

  Bootsteps rang out as someone descended from the cockpit, and Lieutenant Derrick jumped down beside the vehicle, smiling like a satisfied cat. “I insisted they let me come to your rescue, Maurus. What a shame that someone with your level of infamy can’t even visit a cesspool like Storros without attracting attention.”

  “I knew it was you, you—” Maurus broke into a string of foul Lyolian curses, but because of the translink, Chase understood every word. He grimaced at Parker, who mouthed the word Wow.

  Vidal ushered them all up into the transport ship. Lilli sat down quickly, not talking. Chase slid into the seat next to her and leaned forward. “Everything okay?” he asked. She nodded, but looked pale and worried.

  “Scared about the universe of trouble we’re going to be in, in”— Parker checked an imaginary watch—“ten minutes?”

  “Cool it,” said Chase.

  In the cockpit, voices were escalating. “The assigned pilot of the mission,” said Maurus hotly.

  “Until you got yourself arrested by immigration authorities, at which point you are automatically suspended from duty,” said Derrick.

  “And whose fault was that?”

  “I have no idea what you’re referring to, and I don’t like your tone.”

  “You just wait until—”

  “Knock it off.” Vidal’s voice cut sharply through. “Derrick, take the yoke. Maurus, go take a seat in the back.”

  His face livid, Maurus stormed into the rear cabin and dropped into a seat. “I’d feel safer letting Parker pilot,” he muttered.

  Parker grinned. “Happily!”

  “Buckle in,” growled Derrick from the pilot’s seat. Vidal took the navigator’s place beside him.

  They lifted gently off the ground and soared out of the port, accelerating sharply once they’d cleared the final towers of the city. Maurus pulled up his sleeve and looked at the radiant tracer on his arm. As the sky outside the windows darkened, the orange glow faded and vanished. He rubbed the spot and pulled his sleeve back down, frowning over at Chase.

  They traveled through space in silence for a while. Chase looked at Lilli, but as usual she sat quietly, focusing on the ground in front of her. He started to turn away when she gave a small gasp.

  “Everything okay?” he whispered.

  It took her a moment to react before she looked up at him, blinking. “I don’t think so,” she said solemnly. A bad feeling lodged in his gut.
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  “Home sweet home,” said Derrick at the console. “Kuyddestor flight deck, this is Lieutenant Karsten Derrick on approach, requesting entry.”

  They waited in silence as the ship filled the window.

  “Flight deck, requesting entry,” Derrick repeated, a trace of irritation creeping into his voice. “Hello?”

  A hiss sounded from the console. “Entry denied,” said a curt, raspy voice.

  “What?” Derrick glanced over at Vidal. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  Frowning, Vidal started scrolling on one of the console screens. “Try again.”

  Before Derrick could make the request again, another transmission came through. “Transport, do not approach the ship.”

  Maurus sat up straighter in his seat and leaned forward, suddenly alert.

  “Flight deck, you’d better explain yourself,” Derrick snapped, veering toward the ship.

  A jumbled sound came over the console, as if someone were running fingers over the microphone on the other end. The voice broke through again, breathless and urgent.

  “Transport, get out of here! The ship is under attack!”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  The Kuyddestor loomed before them, filling the whole window with its smooth metal curves. Like a massive building floating in space, it looked immense, impervious.

  “The ship is not under attack,” said Derrick in an irritated voice. “Look at it!”

  Vidal had taken over communications at the console. “Kuyddestor bridge, this is Lieutenant Vidal, please respond. We’ve received an unusual communication from the flight deck.” She paused, and when no one responded, she tried again. “Kuyddestor, please confirm your status.”