Tem-aki sighed. “Yes, but exactly what type of spacecraft is a scyphozoan style?”
“It is a composite of five antiquated types.” The system came as close to sounding superior as it was possible for a computer. Tem-aki nearly laughed since the Defense Ministry had decommissioned her ctenophore class ship over a year ago and the only reason it hadn’t been recycled into razor blades was because the Science Ministry had claimed them for their exploration fleet.
“What is it's function?” Frayed as it looked, it was unlikely to be a war ship, but she'd learned not to judge things totally by appearance.
“Unknown.”
Tem-aki signed. The only thing she was fairly sure about was that a ship that size was probably not a freighter.
Suddenly, the ship’s shape shimmered, then it condensed into what looked like a starburst instead of a ragged comet. “What in the galaxy?”
She blinked in surprise while her computer pompously said, “It is definitely a Kalamaran design.”
If its sudden shape change wasn’t enough, the odd ship next moved toward the madrox as if it thought it could catch such an enormous beast with such a tiny trap. “Like a gnat trying to catch a praying mantis,” she murmured as she recalled two of the insects she’d studied in entomology. Tem-aki held her breath at the daring display, expecting the madrox to devour the ship any second. Instead, it backed away as if terrified of the ship. Why was the madrox acting tame as a pet?
As she watched, the ship calmly settled onto the black surface of the planetoid. Immediately, a cloud of dust enveloped it. The dragon paused, as if undecided, then crept closer to the planetoid. “Computer, center on the ship that just landed and enlarge.” Though the dragon’s scales became visible, she couldn’t see through the sparkling cloud. “Computer, compensate for the dust or whatever that cloud is and enhance the image.”
The hologram wavered, then displayed tiny, oddly humanoid shapes lying prone between two of the tentacles.
ooo
Blood thundering, breath rasping, Raine dug in her heels, tightened her grip and tugged, again. And again. Each time she only managed to shift the strangely heavy humanoid one step toward Nambaba’s hatch.
After nine pulls, sweat burned her eyes, which were useless to see in the hovering cloud of dust. Gritting her teeth, she heaved, again, and continued to wonder how the humanoid could be so heavy in an atmosphere where dust didn't succumb to gravity. That was as amazing as the fact that she’d managed to find the humanoid at all. After fifteen pulls, she let go of her unseen burden, stood and stretched a kink out of her back, then used her hand-held tracking device to verify that she was still going toward the hatch.
With only two hands, she couldn’t use it and move the unseen victim at the same time. Sucking in a much needed breath, she bent back over, dug her heels into the planetoid’s shifting surface and made the move again then and again and again until she felt Nambaba's hard security against her spine. Her limbs felt as if she’d swum a marathon. She paused to catch her breath and blink perspiration from her eyes before she tried to heave the victim into the hatch.
Her vision cleared slightly, and in the light from the hatch, which illuminated distorted swirling dust particles, she thought she saw her shadow lying over the silver and black form of the victim. I must be hallucinating. Raine closed her eyes and shook her head at the memory of the four-armed apparition. The instruments identified the victim as a humanoid. Humanoids only had two arms. Didn’t they? The heat must be pickling her mind or the vapor steaming her visor must have altered the scene. Perhaps the thump she’d taken on the back of her head had affected her sight more than she’d initially thought.
Why was she so hot?
Knowing there was a logical reason for the heat, she looked upward and saw the wavering white glow of the dragon’s immense heat overhead.
She’d been right, but she wished she’d been wrong.
She was to die on this desolate planetoid, consumed by the mooncalf she’d sworn to protect…
If she’d had a free hand, she would have shaken a fist at the hovering dragon.
Strange that it wasn’t attacking.
Yet…
Odd that it wasn’t leaving, either.
Yet…
Perhaps it was toying with her.
Raine scrunched her eyes closed, took a cleansing breath and looked down at the lumpy, two-headed creature, which was her burden. This wasn’t a humanoid. She lost her grip, fell backward, landing hard on her bottom. Again, she thought how strange this planetoid's gravitation seemed; that soot could remain airborne for an extended time, while the two-headed entity seemed heavy beyond belief.
She slid away from whatever her sensors had proclaimed to be humanoid. Whatever it was, she did not want the thing in her ship! The stiff form didn't move a muscle. Why had she risked her life to save such a monstrosity, especially when it was probably dead?
Raine struggled to her feet, feeling hotter than she'd ever been. It seemed terribly difficult to think, let alone move. A blue flare illuminated the mangled form and she saw a beaked emblem on the other's uniform.
A two-headed Guerreterran Shadow Warrior!
She leaped backward, nearly falling, again.
Another azure flare flashed above her. She looked upward to see the mooncalf's vermilion eye watching her as it hovered overhead and tasted the dust cloud with its burning, sapphire tongue. It had approached so close that she could see how individual scales interlocked along its gnarly jaw. So close that its fiery heat overloaded her suit's cooling system. So close that she could see herself and her monstrosity of an enemy reflected in its enormous ruby eyes.
So close that she could see that two Guerreterran warriors were clinging together, instead of a two-headed monster
Raine swallowed with the realization that one must have died when her discharge impacted and that they had clung together in death.
The forked tongue inches above the entwined pair. Raine raised a clinched hand, shook it at her ward. "Go home, you miserable mooncalf."
Again, its tongue flashed toward her like blue lightning. So close that the air crackled around her. She shut her eyes, expecting to die.
"You will listen to me," a high-pitched voice said. Raine flinched. A vise clamped around her ankle. "You will carry my partner to your ship, or I will kill you."
After the brilliance of the mooncalf, it was difficult to see the warrior, who threatened her. "But-" Where the silver one's face should be there were mangled wires and gnarled metal. Her protest was lost in her scream.
"Save him." The pressure on her leg intensified until her bones ground against each other.
Rescuing a sadistic pervert, who wouldn't hesitate to murder her was asking too much. "No."
"If he dies, so do you." A small, undamaged plane of the android's metal face reflected the mooncalf's ruby-eyed stare.
Despite the heat, Raine grew cold. Her gaze moved from the torn face to the exposed wires near the android's waist, her heart beat faster at the sight of the virtual parts store of components, which would be valuable on Kalamar's black market. If she could salvage the machine, she could upgrade Nambaba and maybe even acquire a few luxuries. The android might even have priceless data in its files. Raine swallowed. If she didn't save the machine, she'd be throwing away riches, and perhaps even the title of nobility. Raine placed her hands under the android's arms.
"No," it said. "Take my partner."
"But-"
"My conduits were crushed when a hydro-blast tore out the escarpment. My program will soon terminate."
So it was confirmed, she'd somehow shot down the enemy. Was this the warrior who had killed Gornt? Had she actually taken down one of the most formidable fighters in fifty galaxies with a shepherd ship? Rumors whispered that The Zar had signed a peace treaty with the murderers. If a truce existed, it explained why she’d passed into their territory unchallenged. Trust the nobility to keep that information from the masses.
&n
bsp; Hot and cold sensations washed over her, as did the mooncalf’s seeking tongue.
"Move." The android leveled a las-gun at her. "He doesn't have much time and he can not be replaced." Sparks shot from a laceration near its left eye socket.
Raine dropped the android and grabbed the Shadow Warrior. "Can you grab hold?"
"My scanners indicate that my partner's condition is grave. You must attend him."
The android’s parts were valuable beyond imagination, but she’d have to be careful how she marketed the bits and its information files – particularly if The Zar really had made a treaty and she’d shot down an ally. She looked up at the hovering mooncalf, wondering if she dared leave such wealth.
"I don't have a med-kit, much less a spare seat. If you want your partner treated, you will have to do so. Grab hold."
"I only know herbal theory from Nimri."
"Whatever you know is more than I do." Perspiration stung her eyes. Raine looked upward. The mooncalf hovered over Nambaba's hydro-shielded skin, its nostrils flared and its claws trembled.
In all the years she'd been a dragon shepherd, Raine had never seen one so close nor realized that an adolescent’s snout was twice the size of her ship’s hub. She concentrated on breathing normally.
The android made a sweeping motion with its arm and hurled the las-gun away, then wrapped its arms around the warrior in an oddly loving way.
ooo
Tem-aki stared at the hologram. She had to be hallucinating. “Computer, recenter and enhance on the area beneath the madrox.” The facsimile flickered. When it reconfigured, a hunched, greenish form appeared to be pulling a silver and black object toward the main hub of the strange starship. “Computer focus on the humanoid forms.” What had been important enough for the pilot to risk confronting a madrox to retrieve?
Tem-aki leaned so close that her skin throbbed with the energy produced by the display. Again and again the computer zoomed in until there was no doubt – the black portion displayed Guerreterre's Shadow Warrior’s symbol. Larwin was the only one listed as having been lost in this sector. It had to be him. Tem-aki fell back in her chair and shivered at the realization that she had actually gotten the confirmation she had come for.
Why had the pilot risked all to retrieve him?
Wanting to see him one last time; wanting to know it was him for a fact, she had the computer focus in on the bubble-shield, but it only mirrored the madrox’s sinister red glare. When he’d been lost the previous year, Larwin was testing a G.E.A. pilot prototype. “Computer, analyze the silver object wrapped around the Shadow Warrior and report.”
“G.E.A. pilot test model 4.”
Tears sprang to her eyes. “Larwin, what happened to you?” she whispered.
“Impossible to determine due to diminished vitals.”
“That’s one way to describe death,” she said sarcastically.
“The warrior is injured, not dead.”
Heart pounding with mixed excitement and dread, Tem-aki sat bolt upright. Surely Larwin would have run out of basics by now. “Computer, scan the warrior. Who was the suit issued to?”
“Colonel Larwin Atano.” Unbelievable! Amazing! Incredible! “Vital signs are deteriorating, but stable.”
Papillae bumps rushed over Tem-aki. “He should have run out of oxygen months ago.”
“Twenty point seven-nine hours of oxygen remain.”
How had he managed to lengthen his supply? Did that mean his ship remained intact?
Her gaze narrowed on the image. How could she get to him when a madrox guarded the other ship?
Why had that Kalamaran pilot come so far to get him?
How had they known, when her own planet didn't?
Nothing made sense – yet. “Computer, make a file copy of this situation.” Tem-aki keyed in the communication network, then praying that she was doing the correct thing, she sent the file to her superior. Moments later, the halo-image changed to display the admiral’s aristocratic face.
“I received your report and will send a mining team to the crevasse,” Admiral Roget said. “Good work, Atano.”
“Thank you, Sir.” Tem-aki swallowed. “Did you have a chance to see the most recent data?”
The Admiral frowned. “Guerreterre is at peace with Kalamar. When was this file made?”
“Moments ago. I am still monitoring the madrox and ship.” She discretely wet her lips. “Should I try to liberate the warrior?”
“Intervention could jeopardize our eepyllihg contract.” He pulled at his goatee. “I must take this up with the warrior’s Commander. For now, continue monitoring the situation.” One brow arched. “Does your ship have stealth-mode capabilities?” She nodded. “Excellent. Use it, until we can determine the best way to handle the situation.”
“Yes Sir.” Admiral Roget’s image vanished. Tem-aki ran her fingers through her wiry red curls, still stunned by the Admiral's comment about their eepyllihg contract. If they got that nearly magical fuel from Kalamar, it explained why they had a treaty and no one had investigated her brother's disappearance. Had fuel for warp engines taken precedence over saving her only sibling?
Tem-aki feared she knew the answer.
Chapter 5
After heaving her cumbersome load past the mooncalf's hot watchful gaze and into the airlock’s shelter, Raine sighed with relief.
Guerreterran’s greed had been a threat to planets with ancient civilizations and good resources for the past millennium, and now she was about to come face to face with one of their shadow demons.
As soon as the chamber flooded with air, she yanked her helmet off. Unfortunately, the android looked worse without a fogged faceplate. Raine ran her hand over her short, sweat-saturated blond hair.
"Help me get his helmet off," the android said.
Raine glared at the demanding machine, but knelt and yanked off the warrior’s helmet. Anything to keep it happy, at least for now. Long dark hair spilled across one chiseled cheek and wrapped around his neck as though shielding the warrior. She nearly gasped at the man’s unexpected appearance. Somehow, she’d assumed that anyone as savage as a Shadow Warrior would be uglier than a goatfish and mean as a sargon serpent. This fighter had smiled enough to form permanent laugh-lines. Could he be both a killer and a kind man? Perhaps he gave that impression because of the tender way the android stroked his hair out of his face. Perhaps the laugh-lines had formed when he celebrated the destruction of weaker worlds, who fought against Guerreterre's domination because they knew their only choices were to die fighting or to die in slavery. Even though the man was nearly dead, the hard planes of his face looked fierce.
It was definitely the face of a killer.
Raine sat back on her heels and studied her enemy. Was this man the same warrior who had killed her partner; the one who had shattered Dalf; the one who had destroyed her life? Or had one of his buddies done it? She sighed knowing a shadow warrior certainly wouldn't remember shooting down one solitary Kalamaran battleship, not with the thousands of vessels these savages purportedly destroyed. Not when they annihilated entire planets. Red light poured in the open view-port. Had he come back to the scene of one of his past conquests to gloat? Was that why he looked like he spent a lot of time laughing?
The android's hands fluttered over the warrior, as if he had immeasurable value.
She squinted at the exposed wires and tried to estimate how many reloons the robot might be worth. The numbers boggled her mind.
Such an irony that the war with Guerreterre had taken away Gornt and destroyed her security, and now, by a twist of fate somehow one of Guerreterre's mangled machines, which might soon provide more security than she had ever dreamed of, had come into her possession. Raine’s gaze narrowed as she studied the warrior. Perhaps he could become an asset of sorts, too
She’d have to be very careful about how she disposed of the machine and the warrior; very careful about who she dealt with and what she told them for The Zar had spies everywhere.
Perspiration stung Thunder’s eyes and his lungs begged for oxygen as his bleeding fingers searched for the next cleft in the sheer rock face. He willed himself to stay calm. Suddenly, green-spotted silvery tree trunks twisted around him like mating serpents. He gasped and would have taken a backward step, except the land fell away into a bottomless void.
Nightmare.
Thunder lay still and waited to wake up. Instead, the wild jumble of images increased: portal guardians; an ancient cave; Larwin’s special suit; putting on the grimy headdress in order to see what his efforts were saving Chatterre from; the smell of ashes; a sense of claustrophobia. Then, after he was close to giving up following the indefatigable GEA-4, the unexpected view of a vast blackness. Before he’d had a chance to understand what he was seeing, the barren world had erupted in an angry rocky fountain; stars beyond measure in an ash black sky, GEA-4's reflection along with that of two monsters in an enormous crimson eye, and the rank scent of an old forge. The jumble switched from half-understood images to twirling orbs and strange words. Pressure on his temples mounted until his head pounded. He jerked away from the pressure and the deluge ceased.
Thunder gasped with relief, then choked on the sudden pervasive taste and smell of melted metal. He tried to roll away from the awful smell, but heavy bands held him immobile.
The bed linens had him, again.
He lay still in the pitch-black darkness, listening for the familiar sound of a night bird, trying to sense the gentlest nighttime breeze, but only heard an odd rhythmic hum. Not Nimri’s waterfall, but what? Where was he? He tried to remember, but could only recall odd bits of his nightmare. Still seeking something solid to orient himself with, Thunder’s fingers twitched. Then his entire hand. Odd that the linens hadn’t managed to bind him from toes to chin. The strangely smooth surface where bedclothes should be felt even odder. A slight movement displaced the air near his head. Were these sensations still part of his nightmare? If so, it was certainly different from his normal one. In a way, he looked forward to finding out what came next.
Abruptly, hands clamped around his head, fingers pressured his temples and Thunder’s mind flooded with a confusing tumult of mathematical equations, star charts, unexplainable words, fleeting faces and strange, fast fading vistas.
Thunder Moon: Book 2 of the Chatterre Trilogy (Chatterre Triology) Page 5
