by Justin Sloan
"Yeah, all that." The woman leaned forward, cheek against Valerie’s, then whispered in her ear, "We wouldn’t be able to stop, would we?"
Valerie closed her eyes and breathed out as the chill ran up her spine. She licked her lips. When she opened her eyes Robin had drawn back, but there wasn’t passion in her eyes anymore. It was something else—excitement mixed with relief.
"Get a good show?" Robin shouted, and Valerie spun.
There was a ship with its rear hatch open and a smiling Tenowk framed in it.
"Actually, I recorded the whole thing in my databanks," he told her with a grin. "Might broadcast it across the galaxy if you piss me off."
"Can I get a copy?" Valerie joked, earning her a punch in the arm from Robin. The punch clanged off her armor.
"Seriously, get in here!" Tenowk waved them over. "You want five minutes alone before we grab the rest of them?"
"Shut up already," Robin snapped as she ran over and jumped in, landing gracefully when he moved out of the way.
Valerie joined them a second later.
"The bad news is, we lost a couple. So...probably need to find them. Raincheck on the five minutes?"
"Val," Robin chided.
"Joking, joking." When Valerie winked at Tenowk, he held up his hand as he mouthed that she’d get her five minutes. She chuckled, wondering if she was joking.
"Good news, if that’s what is worrying you," Tenowk said, "I saw them running this way, but figured I’d get you two first. I was totally joking about the five minutes, and damn…we’re wasting time."
"You should probably shut-up," Valerie said, "is what I would say if you hadn’t just saved our butts. Jilla, Bob, and Garcia are that way," she added, pointing.
He grinned. "Aranaught will take us right down."
Even as he said it the ship moved around to the front of the hill, where the rest were waiting. Valerie quickly explained, and they all jumped in.
"Let’s go get Kalan," Valerie said, excitement rising. She realized they really might have a chance at this as the hatch closed and the ship sped off.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Planet Rhol
Kalan and his friends followed Moralu’s directions, walking up a nearby hill to get a vantage point. According to the Norrul, they’d be able to find Valerie and the team at a place with three holes and a vine.
“Sounds like a dirty joke,” Wearl had quipped.
When they reached the top of the hill, Kalan shielded his eyes with his hand and stared north. He saw a glint on the top of another hill that could have been the light reflecting off the ship Moralu had described.
“I don’t see it,” he told the others.
Flynn sighed. “You know, I can’t wait to get off this planet. Maybe we’ll end up in a place where we have fewer enemies.”
“Is there such a place?” Wearl asked.
The human grinned. “We haven’t found it yet, but I remain optimistic.”
Nostro sidled up beside them. “As much as I’ve enjoyed this brief escape, I won’t be joining you when you leave.”
Kalan glanced at him. “What? You going to fight the Borin for real this time?”
The big Pallicon chuckled. “No. I’m needed back at the One-Eight-Nine. I figure if I hang out near the wreckage long enough, eventually someone will show up to gather the prisoners who lived through the crash and take them back up.”
Kalan shook his head. “You’re crazy. I respect your commitment to Cellblock One-Eight-Nine, but you are insane.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“You’re right about one thing,” a voice said behind them. “You are going back SEDE. Every damn one of you.”
Kalan recognized the voice, and his hand started toward his gun.
“Don’t even think about it,” Captain Tuttle said. “Hands in the air. Turn around slowly.”
Kalan did as he was told, as did the others.
Captain Tuttle stood there grinning at them with his pistol raised. Ten prisoners stood behind him, many of them battered and bloodied from the crash.
“I see you’ve been rounding up prisoners,” Kalan said.
Tuttle nodded. “With a little help from the Shimmers. These ten agreed to help me hunt the rest in exchange for a slight reduction in their sentences.”
Kalan looked the prisoners over. He couldn’t help but feel sorry for them, even though they were working with Tuttle. They hadn’t asked for any of this, and were just doing the best they could with what had happened to them.
“Let’s head back to the crash site,” Tuttle said. “We’ll wait there for the transport back to SEDE, where all of you will be spending the rest of your natural lives.”
Flynn frowned. “Um, you know I’m not a SEDE prisoner, right?”
“You are now. You made a poor choice in friends. Let’s move.”
A loud crack split the air, and Tuttle’s head rocked back as if he’d been punched.
“Let’s not,” Wearl said, plucking the gun from his hand. “People always forget about Shimmers, but I didn’t think the captain of SEDE would.”
Tuttle staggered, trying to keep his footing. With a furious scowl on his tattooed face, he turned to the prisoners. “Anyone who kills one of these bastards walks out of SEDE free and clear.”
The prisoners looked at each other for a moment in surprise, then turned their gazes on Kalan, Nostro, and Flynn.
“Uh, this doesn’t seem good,” Flynn said with a scared hitch in his voice.
Kalan’s hand went to his pistol again but he hesitated, then decided not to draw the weapon. He couldn’t shoot these prisoners—not unless he absolutely had to. Instead, he raised his fists and set his feet. He glanced at Flynn and Nostro. “Don’t hurt them more than you have to.”
“Does that include me?” Wearl asked.
“Of course!”
The prisoners charged.
Kalan immediately homed in on the biggest of them, a genetically-modified Skulla with massive shoulders and arms to match. The guy looked incredibly strong, but he wasn’t too steady on his feet—a product of his unnatural musculature. Kalan stood his ground as the Skulla charged, but at the last moment he dodged left and drove his fist into the prisoner’s stomach.
The force of Kalan’s punch combined with the momentum of the running Skulla to produce a devastating impact. The Skulla doubled over and fell to the ground.
He saw a Pallicon slam a fist into Flynn’s jaw, and the human staggered backward.
Kalan let out an involuntary growl of anger and charged. He delivered a massive uppercut to the Pallicon, and his fist connected with the underside of the male’s jaw. Somehow, the prisoner remained on his feet, and he punched Kalan in the ribs.
“Are you sure I can’t kill these guys?” Wearl asked.
“What? No?” Kalan tried to stay focused on his opponent, who once again hit him in the side.
“Just one?”
“Wearl, I’m a little busy. Don’t kill anyone!” Kalan dropped his elbow to catch the Pallicon’s next punch on the arm instead of his battered ribs, then responded with a powerful jab that cracked the prisoner’s nose.
He took a quick look around to see how his friends were doing. Nostro was fighting a second genetically-modified Skulla, and he appeared to be making his way to Captain Tuttle. Flynn had taken on a lanky Skulla, and though the human was bigger, the Skulla was fast as hell and was putting up a respectable fight.
“Last chance, Kalan.”
He turned and saw Captain Tuttle. Somehow he’d gotten his gun back, and he had it trained on Kalan. “Tell your friends to stand down, or I will shoot you. I’d prefer not to—Grayhewns are an endangered species, after all. But I’ll do it if I have to.”
Kalan gritted his teeth. There was no way he was going back to SEDE, not after everything he’d done to get out. And he certainly wasn’t going to let this idiot capture Flynn or Wearl.
“Kalan, you need to get out of here,” Nostro called.
He’d dropped the Skulla he’d been fighting and was stalking toward the captain.
“What are you doing, Nostro?” Kalan shouted.
“Just a dumb display of bravery.” With that, he sprinted toward the captain.
Tuttle had just enough time to turn before Nostro slammed into him. The Skulla captain’s small body lifted right off the ground when the big Pallicon hit him. Nostro’s momentum carried them off the top of the hill and they tumbled down the side, still locked in combat.
“Damn,” Flynn said. “That was dumb.”
Kalan grabbed his arm. “Nostro bought us a little time, so let’s make good use of it.” He turned to the prisoners. “You shouldn’t be fighting us. You want freedom? Don’t wait for Captain Tuttle to give it to you. I don’t see any chains on your hands. You’re already free.”
The prisoners just stared at him. It wasn’t clear whether they’d taken his words to heart, but at least they weren’t attacking anymore.
Kalan trotted down the hill, heading toward the location where they hoped to find Valerie.
They’d only started down the hill when a glint of light appeared in the distance. A ship approaching. Kalan tensed, wondering if it had been spotted.
The ship landed not far in front of them. The door opened and someone climbed out. Valerie!
Kalan smiled when he saw his friend, but he felt a little sadness at what had just transpired too. He felt odd leaving Nostro behind—like he should go back and fight to save his new friend—but the Pallicon had made his intentions clear. He wanted to return to SEDE, and he’d attacked the captain to give Kalan and the others time to get away. Going back now would be disrespecting Nostro’s wishes.
When they reached the ship, they were delighted to see Valerie and the others gathered around it. Kalan greeted her with a hug.
Valerie grinned. “Took you long enough to get out of the tunnels.”
“Yeah, well, we had a complication or two on the way.”
“Us too,” Valerie replied.
Bob walked up to Flynn and gave him a nod. “So you’re with Kalan on his missions now?”
Flynn laughed. “It wasn’t exactly my choice. Kinda just happened. Wait, are you jealous?”
Bob’s face reddened. “What? No, of course not.”
Jilla put a hand on Bob’s shoulder. “I got left out too. Don’t feel bad.”
Kalan chuckled. “I would have loved to have had both of you along, especially when we fought the monster.”
“There was a monster?” Now the jealousy was clear in Bob’s voice.
“Just a small one,” Flynn explained. “Well, smallish. Big teeth, though.”
Valerie nudged Kalan. “Hey, you haven’t met Tenowk yet, have you?”
She led him onto the ship, and the others followed. They found someone working on the wiring near the bridge.
“Tenowk, meet Kalan.”
Tenowk started to turn, but he suddenly froze. “No. Not now.”
Concern furrowed Valerie’s brow. “Are you okay?”
Tenowk frantically began inspecting the panel next to the wires. “No! He’s getting into the ship! And into my head! The enemy is here!”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Planet Rhol, Tenowk’s Ship
Tenowk was pulling out wires and connecting them to the metal in his head, shouting about pain and crazy things, too.
"Dragons all around me! I can’t stop them!" he yelled, then turned to Valerie with white eyes. "Plug in. I can’t do it alone."
"Plug—what?" she asked, but he was holding out his hands, cables connected to his gloves, and she had a damn good idea what he meant. She hated the idea, but knew she needed this guy to get them out of there. If he needed help and said this was the way to do it, she’d step up.
As soon as she was close enough, he placed his hands on her exposed head and she felt pulses of electricity go through her. For a moment, she wondered if she’d made a terrible mistake. This could be the end of her, if the electricity fried her beyond healing.
Well, at least she’d had that kiss. With a smile she focused on that—and then felt her eyes roll back into her head as visions hit her.
Tenowk was shouting at her as she stood in front of him, only they weren’t on the ship anymore. They were on a planet with purple gasses floating around them like fog.
A roaring dragon appeared through the gasses, coming for them.
"It’s not real," Tenowk told her. "Neither are we."
"Then what do we do?" she asked, voice rising in panic when the dragon opened its mouth. Purple light glowed in its throat.
"Fight as if it were real, but remember that it’s not—and that rules can be broken."
She blinked and was about to say something when Tenowk shouted, "Dive!" and took her down with him as the dragon shot a blast of plasma at them. It ate up the ground where they’d stood a moment before…and the attack kept coming.
Tenowk pulled Valerie up and they ran. He explained, "Demus hacked into our system and is in my mind, or Aranaught’s."
"All of this is just him fucking with us?"
"You got it."
They dove again, then Valerie got up, ready to attack. "What if I kill the dragon?"
"It’s just something he conjured up, so it won’t matter," Tenowk replied as the dragon circled back into the gasses, likely preparing for another strike.
"So?" She held out her hands, desperate. "Tell me what to do!"
"You need to distract him to the same extent he’s distracting me," Tenowk responded. "Then I’ll be able to hack him back and break the connection so we can get off Rhol and reconnect with Lolack’s fleet."
"Done. How?"
He pointed, and she saw it—the ship she’d seen Demus arrive on earlier, when they were near the Silahu ruins.
"So if it’s not real, can I jump all that way?" she asked.
"If you accept that, and really believe it," he replied. "Like that movie…what was it?"
"Probably didn’t see it, remember?" she said. "Here goes!"
She took a running start and leaped, going all-out. She drew an imaginary sword as she flew. The jump had to have been over two hundred feet, but she was about to land on the ship when the dragon slammed into her.
They spun past the gasses into space. She held on with one hand as she slashed at its scales with her sword. They were too tough! Or they would have been, if this were real. Remembering that it wasn’t, she focused on her next action producing the result she wanted. She changed the sword into a bridle and threw it around the dragon’s snout.
She had it, and with a quick tug turned the beast for the ship. The dragon barreled toward Demus, and she saw him on the bridge, staring at her with his wild helmet. He braced as the dragon slammed into the ship.
She leaped from the dragon onto the ship and ran to the hatch. Each punch and kick dented the material, and the damage got worse as she focused on the false nature of this place.
"Keep it up," Tenowk said, his voice louder as he increased in size. Electricity crackled from his hands, and he shot in all directions. For a moment the place lit up, and what had appeared to be deep space surrounding them was revealed to be wires and more cables, as if they were inside the ship—or maybe even a computer of sorts.
For a moment she was back at the ship, Tenowk’s hands still on her head. Robin and Bob were looking at them like they were crazy. She screamed as more electricity hit her and she was gone again; back on that space ship, only now it was transforming and sending flames of metal out to capture her legs and arms.
She shouted for strength and pulled against the metal, and with a massive jerk that cramped all her muscles, she pulled the metal free of the ship. The ship shuddered, then began to fall. The metal still clung to her arms and legs so she shook it off, saw the purple gasses and the planet approaching, and timed her jump.
She crashed to the ground and turned to see Tenowk standing over her, still shooting out electricity, while Demus charged out of his cra
shed ship.
He glared at her, then at the large form of Tenowk.
"You two are cowards!" he spat. "Why resist when we can unite and work together for the universe’s greater good!"
"When a plan involves slavery and mass murder, it’s not for the greater good," Valerie replied. "No matter what the goal."
He growled and charged her, his army of robots appearing behind her, and then she charged him.
"Now!" Tenowk shouted and the electricity exploded…and then Valerie was back at their ship. Tenowk stumbled to the bridge and collapsed into the pilot seat, saying, "Strap in, ladies and gents. It’s go time."
With that the ship—the real ship, outside of that crazy experience—shuddered and shot into the air.
"I’ve taken over," Aranaught’s voice said. Tenowk just nodded, as if she were present and could see him.
Valerie turned to Robin, who ran over and caught her in her arms as she nearly collapsed.
"Here, sit, sit," Robin insisted, guiding her to the seat next to Tenowk’s. "What the hell happened just now?"
Valerie grinned. "You wouldn’t believe me if I told you."
"Fine, just get us out of here and I’ll be as happy as they come."
A glance at the display showed enemies in pursuit, but then the image changed and Admiral Lolack appeared.
"You got them, Tenowk?"
Tenowk mumbled and gestured to Valerie.
"We’re here, Admiral," Valerie said. "Ran into some trouble, but we’re back on course and we have…" She held up the orb, which they’d obtained from the prison ship.
"I don’t suppose it came with an instruction manual?" Lolack asked.
"No?"
"It’s just, the last being who truly knows how to operate it died," Lolack admitted.
Valerie’s mouth dropped open and her rage started to work its way up, beginning with her legs shaking slowly. "Then why exactly were we after it?"
"I’d thought I could find a way, but it’s proving futile. Damn, if only Sslake were still alive—"
"Sslake, Admiral?" Kalan interjected, stepping in from the back. "He is."
