by Frank Carey
Kelsey walked up. "This way, Doc. Let's see if we can find your suit cases."
"Thanks," Sheila replied. Quickly, the lights were off as everyone tried to get some sleep.
###
Back in the meeting tent, Danyr sat and sipped a hot beverage while she waited for her brother to return with the information she had requested.
"Mistress, the scholars are asleep. They know about the samsar."
"How is that possible?"
"Someone called Dr. Minty before we arrived."
"That woman will be the death of me. How are the scholars taking the news?"
"They were shocked at first, then Dr. Minty and Dr. Miln calmed them. They convinced the others to work with us. Oh, and Dr. Minty is convinced her mate will rescue them."
"That may be a problem," Quinto said as he walked into the tent. He handed his sister a printout of the information he was able to obtain from his contact back on Tegan. "Dr. Hardy is a Basili historian born on the Sokuhl home world to Sokuhl parents."
"A number of our scholars are Basili. So what??"
"The Basili from Arctillus were genetically modified to protect them from a mutagen unleashed on their population millennia ago. This modification lost them their wings, tails, and fire breath. Dr. Hardy is a two-meter-plus tall fire-breathing bipedal dragon just as Dr. Miln described. Dr. Hardy is totally devoted to Dr. Minty and their unborn daughter. I have no doubt that he would incinerate anyone who threatened them in any way. He is also a historian and archaeologist. His IQ is off the scale, and he has eidetic memory. In a word, we need to be off this planet before he arrives."
"I can handle him..."
Quinto shook his head. "No, sister, you cannot. Even if you went into a berserker rage, I am convinced he would mop the floor with you. One more thing. He isn't the only old-school Basili in the League. There are several million of them. Rumor has it that several young ones have been formed into security squad. Danyr, we must finish this mission and get the hell out of here without harming any of the off-worlders."
"You dare speak to me like this?"
"Danyr, you are my sister, and I love you. I do not want to see your charred corpse lying on the scorched ground at the feet of a living, breathing, flying blowtorch. Kill me it you feel the need, but I will not stand by idly and watch you die. Let us retrieve this weapon and get off this accursed planet before these demons arrive."
She reached over and placed her hand on his. "I am truly blessed to have your guidance and wisdom. Wake the men and the scholars in four hours so that we can begin this task."
"Yes, mistress," he said as he stood up. He walked out of the tent to attend to his duties while leaving his sister to her tea and her thoughts.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Kel and Maeve walked onto the Bridge and found Rex plugged into a wall charging rack while Dash stared out the front window. "What's up?" Maeve asked.
"That," Dash replied. He pointed to a spacecraft sitting in front of the Zephyr, blocking its way. "That's an EMEF battle shuttle. Three more are ringing us while a another is sitting on our hull, blocking the dorsal launch bay. We're trapped."
Maeve grimaced. "Talk to them yet?"
"No. They refuse to acknowledge my hails." He looked at the historian. "What did you do, Kel?"
"I fell in love with Sheila," he replied.
"Been there, done that," Dash commented. "Anyone have a suggestion of what we should do next?"
Seemingly answering his question, the shuttle's hatch opened. Three people emerged, one was in handcuffs. "What the hell?" Kel said as the three came to a stop between the shuttle and the Zephyr. "Why is Negrue cuffed."
"What the hell is Negrue?" Dash asked. "I've met with every species in the League, and several who aren't, but I never saw anything like him."
"He's from the Large Magellanic Cloud. Specifically, he's a member of the Tegan race," Kel said. "It was one of his probes that put those images in my brain.
"Who are the two Marines with him? The girl holding your buddy is kinda cute."
"Her name is EMEF Maj. Nayla Hardy, and she's my cousin. The big one is EMEF Gen. Royce Aymar, and I think he wants to talk," Kel said as Royce tapped his ear.
Dash flipped a switch on the console. "Go for Captain MacFarland."
"Captain, this is General Royce Aymar of the EMEF. Permission to come aboard."
"Permission granted," Dash replied. He flipped a switch and they could hear the forward ramp lowering. "Sorry, folks, but they got the drop on us."
The three took a gangway down to the forward hold where Royce, Nayla, and Negrue waited for them. "Sorry about the delay, Captain," Royce said as they came into view. "This won't take long."
"General, I can't let Sheila die without doing anything," Kel started to say, but Royce stopped him. "Doctor, we owe you an apology. Nayla and Mr. Negrue will explain after you take off. When this is over, I'd like to talk to you about you joining the EMEF as a commissioned officer. I need people with your kind of drive." He shook Kel's hand then walked away, rotating his finger in the universal sign for his ships to move out. In moments, the crew of the Zephyr was alone.
Kel, Maeve, and Dash looked at Nayla who was wearing street clothes. On her back was a Marine pack while she carried two cases. Kel took the cases, then asked, "Cuz, what just happened?"
"I'll explain once we're underway," she said as she took the still-handcuffed Negrue by the arm and led him up the ramp and into the ship. Dash shrugged, then walked up the ramp with Kel and Maeve following close behind.
###
After takeoff, Kel sat back on a couch and watched his cousin release her prisoner from his shackles. "Behave now and you'll be fine," she said. He gave her a dirty look, then saw Kel staring at him. He found a seat while Nayla and Maeve talked by the bar in hushed tones. Finally, Dash walked in and sat down. "So, Major, care to fill us in on this op?"
The door to the Bridge opened. Maeve walked in and headed to the bar. "Yes, Major, do tell."
Nayla reached into her pack and pulled out a pair of datapads, handing one to Maeve and one to Dash. "First, paperwork. Captain, I have been authorized to hire the Zephyr for the duration of the mission at a rate of standard plus three times hazard pay. Place your thumb on the screen to accept."
She never saw anyone move so fast as Dash did as he printed the pad before handing it back to her. "Ms. Guchel, same offer."
With raised eyebrows, Maeve printed the pad before handing it back. "What about Kel?"
"He works for the university. He'll be getting a sizable bonus when the mission is finished."
"I just want to get my Sheila back safe and sound."
"That's our goal along with the destruction of the samsar," Nayla said while taking a box from her pack and handing it to Kel.
"A short time ago, Sheila and the rest of the expedition were taken prisoner by a group of Tegan freedom fighters."
"Did they contact us with demands?"
"No, we watched them through one of the expedition's security cameras which activated right after they blew up the Nelly Bly. We've been monitoring them ever since, though we're not sure how long it will be before our live stream is noticed. These are not your run-of-the-mill paramilitary types. We showed the video to Percy..."
"Percy?" Maeve asked.
"Yeah, Percy," the young Tegan replied. "'Negrue' sounds more intimidating."
"Anyway, Percy identified the leader as Danyr, a member of the Tegan royal family."
"Oh lord, not another one," Kel said as he put his face in his hands. "Let me guess, she wants to bring more joy to the 'normal' people."
"Wow, you are good," Percy said.
"Does she have a special trait she's compensating for?"
Percy nodded. "Berserker rages, especially when she's around other females. Her brother and fellow insurrectionists have convinced her that all Tegan females act this way. In reality, it's a treatable condition..."
"Why doesn't your mother treat it?" Kel
asked while looking askance at the young man.
"Yeah, about that. I may have exaggerated that story a little."
"How much is a little?"
"Dad is still alive—he runs a hardware store on the homeworld. Mom's criminal enterprise is real, though. She's ambitious."
"Kel stared at Percy over steepled fingers. "Percy, where's the lab, exactly? Surely they have a way to manage it, perhaps even destroy it."
"It’s on the OORT of the system that contains the planet you call Cerberus. The scientists and engineers there create some of my family's most profitable weapons."
"What is our ETA at Cerberus, Captain?" Nayla asked.
"Our gate transit is schedule for thirty minutes from now. Cerberus orbital injection an hour later.”
"Then we should get started," Kel said. "Percy, why don’t you sit down with the Captain and Major at a table and show them where this lab is.”
"What about you?" Maeve asked.
"I'm going to take a nap." With that, he lay back on the couch and fell fast asleep.
###
Kel opened his eyes to find himself in chaos as alarms and personnel screamed around him. He was on the Bridge of a ship of unfamiliar design with a crew from an unknown species. Noting that no one noticed him, he got up and peered out a nearby window. "Whoa, how big is this thing?" Out the window he could see only a small portion of a very large ship. What he did see suggested a ship possibly a mile long and wide. "I wonder how many people are aboard?" he asked out loud. A number appeared, floating in front of him—965. "Must be the probe. That's a lot of people." The deck under his feet shook.
"Report!" a large, angry-looking Tegan said from the center of the control room.
"It got the FTL-engines," the first officer replied. "We've dropped into normal space. Aft third of ship is open to vacuum."
"That thing can survive vacuum exposure?" the captain asked, incredulous at the thought.
"Seems like," the first officer replied. "Sir, we have a planet coming into range. Designation Alpha-Maxwell-358. It's dead and covered in ruins. Eta two minutes.”
"Can we land?" the captain asked.
"Maybe, but what about the weapon?"
Get everyone forward of the centerline, then blow the drive section into the sun."
"Copy that," the first officer said. He turned and rammed his fist into a button in the arm of the captain's chair. A new set of alarms sounded. "This is the first officer. Fall back to forward of the centerline. We are abandoning the drive section. All hands to habitat. I repeat, all hands to habitat section, this is no drill."
Moments later, a green light on the chair arm illuminated. "Drive section is evacuated, sir."
The captain flipped up a cover on the opposite arm and punched the button underneath. The lights flickered as the entire rear half of the ship disconnected from the forward half. Once clear, it changed course to a heading that would shortly take it into the sun.
"Helm, emergency landing procedures. Find a clear spot and set us down."
"Aye, aye, sir!"
"Comm, any chance we can get a message out?"
"No sir, most of the comm left with engineering. Maybe I can rig something, but it'll take time."
"After we land, I want that to be your priority, son. We need to let the home office know where we are."
"Aye, sir."
"Sir," the helmsman called out. "Found a spot."
"Take us down, Helm. First Officer, sound landing stations, emergency."
"Aye, aye, sir. Communications, ship-wide," he said as he punched the emergency landing button.
"Shipwide, aye, sir."
"Landing stations, emergency. I repeat, landing stations, emergency. This is no drill. People, evacuate the ship the moment the landing gear hits the ground. Section leaders, pick a staging area and get your people to it. First Officer out."
"Helm, take us in."
"Aye, aye, Captain. Entering atmo in three... Two... One... Mark!"
###
The ship, what was left of her anyway, hit the ground hard and at an angle steep enough for it to slide, tearing the gear out along with several ruined buildings. It finally came to a rest against a multi-story building which had survived millennia of weather and neglect. As the ship came to rest, the building gave up its fight and fell on the doomed vehicle, covering it in mortar, bricks, and sundry other debris, hiding it from sight.
Hatches blew outward as explosive bolts were activated. As the doors came to rest on the ground, crewmembers ran out and headed to a nearby building carrying wounded, injured, and unconscious to a relatively complete building. Kel followed them inside where they found several rooms ringing a central atrium. The survivors chose one and set up a camp inside it. Soon, the captain joined them, lifting their spirits with just his presence. "Listen up!" he called out. The comm officer has started work on creating a beacon. We should expect a rescue ship here within the next day or two, so hang in there."
The crew cheered.
"Sir!" the first officer yelled as he ran in. "We have a problem."
"What kind of problem?"
"The engineering section just crashed outside the city."
"And the weapon?"
"On its way here. ETA about two minutes."
"Dammit, and the control system is in engineering. Crew! Battle positions! Seal that door!"
The first officer ran over, and with the help of several crewmembers, tried to push the door shut, but it was too late. A black cloud of death forced its way in and began to kill everyone inside.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN: Flashback
Wearing nothing more than swim shorts, Gus jumped into the river and headed downstream. According to the ambient temperature gauge in Themis' conveyance, the air temperature was just above freezing, perfectly normal for the dead of winter. Gus didn't notice since his body hair was an excellent insulator due to his ancestors being giant river otters. He made his way down the river to the main house where he found a door embedded in the building's foundation wall. He left the river and walked up to the door where he found a standard mechanical lock. Not seeing any cameras, he took a set of picks from his shorts and used them to quickly unlock the door. With a final look around, he pushed the door open and stepped inside.
Gus found himself inside a very large, and very old basement. Above his head was the bottom of a wooden floor situated atop large, round wooden beams. "Nice, a basement with a twelve foot ceiling. I like the architect," Gus whispered to himself. He removed a small penlight from a pocket, activated it, and panned it around the room. Scattered about were packing crates of all sizes and shapes. Luckily, Gus knew exactly what he was looking for.
"Ah, there you are," he said when his light shown on a crate labeled "River’s Edge." Looking around, he found a light switch on the wall. Flipping it upward activated several lights in the ceiling. Now that he could see, he walked over to the crate and examined it. "Here we are," he whispered when he found the shipper number, a number he had memorized out of habit when he had loaded the crate into the forward hold. Convinced, he reached up and tore the side of the crate off to reveal the Markson shipping container inside. He finished tearing the synthwood off before turning his attention to the Markson. He was so engrossed with the task that he didn't notice the woman walk up out of the darkness with a gun leveled at him.
"Who are you?"
"Ah, Lady Juno Demeter, I was hoping you'd join me," Gus said as he pressed a button on the side of the Markson. With a loud humming noise, the sides and top folded away to reveal the container's contents. Inside was a two-foot tall statue of a human throwing what looked like a bolt of lightning. "My name is Gustav Curran. I'm a finder hired by your sister to find this artifact. She's outside with a rather large squad of officers, listening to this conversation."
"They were going to put this in a museum, so that tourists could oogle it, oogle something that once contained a god?"
Gus recognized religious fervor and the danger it represen
ted. I really should have brought a gun, he thought silently. "So, you killed a team of Storen pirates and the crew of the River’s Edge to get it back."
"How do you know about that?"
He shrugged. "I was there. I was one of three survivors of that ill-fated trip. Now, I suggest you pick this thing up and carry it out to your sister. It will look good at your trial."
"I don't think so." She squeezed a broach on her jacket. Sirens went off around them. "I've activated an energy dampening field around the house and a dozen attack bots. By the time my sister and her forces deal with them, the statue and I will be flying off in a shuttle I have on the roof. As for you, Mr. Curran, I am truly sorry about your family, but they got in the way," she said as she thumbed the weapon to full power. "Just as you have. Goodbye..." She finished the sentence with a scream as a taloned hand reached around and crushed her hand and the weapon it held. She dropped to the floor, sobbing in pain as a being with the body of an Olympian athlete and the head of a Hawk emerged into the light and stood over her. He was followed by a tall human woman with flaming red hair who ran over and touched the statue. She leapt backward as the statue flared with the light of a sun going nova. A moment later, a tall, human male stood next to the crate. He held a thunderbolt in his hand.
"Athena! Horus! Thank you for freeing me from that accursed prison."
"Sir, we would have not found you was it not for this one's help," the woman—Athena?—said as she clasped Gus's shoulder.
"Ah, yes, Gustav Curran, Son of Nelson. I offer the condolences of the Olympian gods for your loss. If only I had not been trapped in that accursed prison..." He looked at Juno. "And who is this?"
"Lady Juno Demeter, sister of Themis Demeter, Director of Olympian Security. Oh, and she's the one responsible for the death of several pirates and my entire family."
"Is this true?" Zeus roared, shaking the very foundation.
"Yes, it's true and don't give me that high and mighty bullshit. You gods left us right before the nova destroyed Homeworld. Ultimately, this is your fault."
