Starseers

by Lindsay Buroker

  “Commander Fujimoto of the Final Impact pointed out that it would be polite to thank you and give you a chance to escape before we destroy the Starseer compound.”

  “Final Impact?” Alisa mouthed. That had been the ship in dock at Arkadius Gamma at the same time as the Nomad had been there. It was Khazan’s ship. “Why do I have a feeling that’s not a coincidence?” she muttered.

  “What was that, Captain?”

  “I was wondering why you’re thanking me,” she said.

  “You’re the reason we were able to find this place. The Arkadians have suspected it was here all along, and they’ve been blaming the Starseer presence for many of the recent natural disasters. They’ll be pleased with the Alliance, and quit blaming us for their problems, when the Starseers on Arkadius are no more.”

  “You’re attacking them because of public gossip?”

  “We’re attacking them because of crimes they’ve been committing against normal, good human beings for centuries,” Farrow said coolly. “This is your last warning. Leave now or you’ll be destroyed along with the temple.”

  Leave? How were they supposed to leave with an energy shield surrounding the temple? The very thing that was keeping the enemy fire out would keep the Nomad in.

  Alisa looked toward the doorway of the temple again, hoping Leonidas was on the verge of pushing through and joining them. She would gladly open the hatch for him. More smoke than ever covered the landing pad, making it hard to even see the door. Some of the Starseers had gone closer while others still blocked the way to the Nomad. Blazer fire flashed somewhere behind the smoke-filled doorway. Was he fighting inside now?

  She clenched her fist, tempted to grab one of Beck’s weapons and run out to help, but she could not refute his logic, that one of the Starseers could simply flick her off the pier with a thought.

  Another volley of e-cannon fire slammed into the temple’s shields. The warriors out on the pier looked toward the sky, and several spoke into comms, or maybe they were yelling to each other.

  “We need to get out of here,” Beck said.

  “I know that, but I’m still not leaving without Leonidas.” Alisa realized that since he was in his armor, he ought to have access to the comm unit integrated into his helmet. Distracting him might not be a good idea now, but she had to know his status and if there was anything she could do to help him with the Starseers.

  But as she reached for the comm panel, a clank-thunk sounded from under the ship.

  “What was that?” Beck asked.

  Alisa pointed at the undercarriage camera, where one of the docking clamps was once again in view. The explosives that Mica had planted on them earlier were nowhere in sight. “I believe our invitation to leave was just revoked.”

  Chapter 15

  “Leonidas?” Alisa asked, calling his helmet comm from the Nomad. “Are you—”

  A stab of pain erupted inside of her skull, the power making her suck in a sharp gasp. Something that felt like a dire hawk’s talons raked through her brain. Memories of the last several days flashed through her mind—no, they were taken from her mind.

  She had no idea which Starseer was scouring her brain, but it was someone powerful. This was a lot more than the reading of surface thoughts that Yumi had spoken about. She relived the stopover on Starfall Station, the cargo drop-off on Arkadius Gamma, the flight down to the planet, the pursuit by the White Dragon ship and the crash, everything that had happened over the last week before the Starseers had appeared to guide them to their temple. Captain Khazan’s face flashed in her mind, and then the memories disappeared. Unfortunately, the presence in her head did not.

  You led them here with a tracking device, someone spoke into her mind.

  Lady Naidoo? Alisa could not be sure.

  “I didn’t know,” she blurted.

  Alisa was vaguely aware that she had fallen out of her seat and lay flat on her back on the deck. Beck crouched next to her, his eyes wide with concern. “Captain?” he asked. “Captain, are you all right?”

  His voice sounded far away.

  I see that, Naidoo said, but you have brought trouble down upon us, nonetheless. More trouble. Those words came as a growl, and Leonidas’s armored figure flashed into Alisa’s mind.

  “I didn’t mean to,” she whispered, wincing. The sensation of having talons raking through her brain had lessened, but her head still throbbed with pain. It was as if Naidoo’s very presence caused distress.

  “Captain?” Beck asked again, his voice still very distant. “Who are you talking to?”

  Alisa could not respond to him. She twitched a finger. It was all she could manage.

  Command your cyborg to stand down, Naidoo ordered. My people must get to our fighter ships so they can defend the temple. We are targeting the warships, but they are well armored, and their small fighter craft are harrying us. There is a limit to what we can do with our large artillery weapons. The smaller ships are too maneuverable for us to easily target.

  Alisa could imagine. She had flown similar craft all throughout the war.

  A silence came after her thought, though she sensed that Naidoo had not left her mind.

  We must take down the pilots one-by-one with our mental powers. There are many, many craft up there. We need our own pilots in the air. Call off your cyborg. He’s too damned crafty, keeping our warriors distracted and under attack so they’re struggling to focus their mind powers on them.

  Alisa resisted the urge to think a firm Good in response. This wasn’t the time to be smug, not when she was in the same boat as the Starseers right now. If the Alliance succeeded in destroying the temple, the Nomad would surely be destroyed right along with it.

  I must have your word that your people will not harm Leonidas if I ask him to get out of the way, Alisa thought back, then wondered if she should have spoken out loud. How in the hells did telepathy work? She decided that if Naidoo knew who she had spoken to days ago at the station, then she ought to be able to hear these thoughts.

  He has injured many of my people, Naidoo growled into her mind, not sounding like she wanted to issue that order.

  Well, he’s not going to stand down so they can injure him right back. Again. Alisa tried to make her own voice a growl. They’ve been treating him badly since he arrived. Have you even knocked on Abelardus’s door to see if he’s in his room? Or done a scan of the station? I sincerely doubt he’s been murdered. If only Alejandro’s look at the blood had helped confirm that notion.

  He is one of our best pilots, and we’ll be missing him in this battle, but one man is not what’s important now. Call off your cyborg.

  You’ll give the order that he won’t be attacked? And you’ll let us go? Alisa asked.

  Naidoo did something akin to a snort in her mind. Your fate should be intertwined with ours, since you led these people here.

  How do you know that’s true?

  Alisa couldn’t rule out that Khazan might have done something, but if she didn’t know that for sure how could Naidoo possibly know it? Or was this more jumping to conclusions, as they had done with Abelardus’s supposed murder?

  Your fate is tied to ours, Naidoo repeated. You’re not going anywhere. Unless you want to help with the battle.

  What?

  Your cyborg has robbed us of one of our pilots, and I saw in your mind that you have experience with fighter craft.

  “I’m not fighting the Alliance,” Alisa blurted, so appalled by the notion that it came out through her lips rather than from her mind.

  A light shone into her eyes. Alejandro had joined Beck in kneeling to check on her, and was peering at her pupils.

  “She’s clearly conscious,” Alejandro told Beck.

  The Alliance is trying to destroy us, Naidoo said. And you may have noticed that they’re not overly concerned about taking you down with us. If not for our shields, your ship would already have been destroyed. We all would have been. Your precious cyborg too.

  Alisa wanted to argu
e, to say that Naidoo was wrong, but she couldn’t. It would be a lie. Farrow didn’t care if the Nomad went down with the temple. He’d given her a chance to escape, but if she hadn’t taken it, that wasn’t his problem. What did he care if extenuating circumstances had kept her from fleeing?

  Just help us drive them off, Naidoo said. Once they leave, we’ll move our temple so they can’t find us again. You’ll be free to go.

  And Leonidas?

  Naidoo sighed.

  I need him. Realizing that was not likely to sway the woman, Alisa added, I need him to go up and fight, to help you. Most of what you’ve got that I can fly are two-man fighters. I need him to be my gunner.

  A boom rattled the Nomad—it must have rattled the entire temple. The warships were hurling more than torpedoes and e-cannon blasts now. Alisa thought of what might happen if the engines that held the temple aloft were damaged.

  Very well, Naidoo said. Take him. Help us fight off the intruders, and we will let you and your freighter go afterward. I will also tell you what I know of Durant if we’re successful.

  Alisa sucked in a breath. Before, Naidoo had denied knowing who Durant was. How much did she truly know? Enough to help Alisa finally find her daughter? Would Naidoo keep her word?

  Yes, came the firm response.

  The pressure in Alisa’s mind eased, and she was able to sit up. Beck and Alejandro helped her.

  “Captain, are you all right?” Beck asked. “What happened?”

  “I… just agreed to fight the Alliance.”

  Beck rolled back on his heels. “I don’t think that will go well.”

  “Nor do I, Beck. Nor do I.”

  • • • • •

  Alisa inched down the Nomad’s ramp, well aware of the smoke still clouding the chilly air and of the Starseer warriors in the middle of it, some of them crouching behind the landing pylons of her ship, some of them boldly facing the doorway into the temple with their staffs or firearms raised. Their backs were to her. She did not know if Naidoo had relayed her orders to them, but she found it encouraging that nobody was shooting at the moment. She could not see Leonidas, but she assumed he was still near that door.

  “Leonidas?” she whispered, tapping her comm. “Has anyone talked to you yet?”

  She had not told him about Naidoo’s words yet. After her conversation with the woman, Alisa had simply grabbed a spare blazer pistol out of Beck’s cabin and hustled for the cargo hatch. She missed her Etcher. She should not need a handgun of any sort in the cockpit of a Striker or whatever they put her in, but if she was captured, it could be a different story. Maybe. Her stomach churned at the idea of firing on her own people, on fellow pilots she may have flown with in the war.

  When she flew up there, would they know it was she shooting at them from the cockpit of a Starseer craft? She wished she could think of a way to help end this battle without actually hurting anyone.

  Fiery blue and white streaks rained down overhead, bouncing off the translucent dome-shaped energy shield that protected the temple, at least for now. A torpedo exploded with a thunderous boom and a flash of white light that made her cover her eyes. Alisa shivered from more than the cold air. When those shields failed, as she imagined they inevitably would, those projectiles would slam into the towers and spires—and the landing pad. As she stared at the attack pouring down from the mists above, she imagined Jonah watching from the balcony of their apartment as bombs tumbled from the sky and into their neighborhood. Had he seen it coming? Had he watched the inevitable, knowing there was not time to escape?

  “I’m here,” Leonidas said finally, sounding bewildered.

  Alisa jerked her thoughts back to the present.

  “The woman who came and let you out of your cell is here with twenty people in flight suits,” he said, “and she’s telling me I’m supposed to stand down, that she won’t fire.”

  “I negotiated a deal.” Alisa was surprised Yumi’s young half-sister had been chosen to talk to Leonidas, but maybe it made sense. They probably thought he wouldn’t harm a woman who was somewhat familiar to him.

  “A deal that involves me standing down?”

  “They want to get by you and out to their fighter craft so they can defend the temple. You’re a minor inconvenience now.”

  “Minor. Really.”

  A couple of the Starseers in the smoke had noticed her murmuring from the ramp. One woman faced her, lowered her staff, and waved for her to come the rest of the way down. Tears streaked the woman’s cheeks, and her wave turned into a nose wipe. That smoke was potent. Even here on the edge of it, Alisa could feel her eyes starting to water.

  “Go get him, will you?” the Starseer woman asked. “We won’t bother you.”

  Alisa licked her lips, nervous despite the promise and despite Naidoo’s words, but she walked down the ramp and turned for the door. She held her breath on the chance that it would help against Leonidas’s smoke. The Starseers, many of them wiping their noses and eyes—one looked to have vomited on his robe—stood aside to let her pass. They appeared more relieved than irritated, at least when it came to her. They were probably happy to let someone intervene with Leonidas.

  Alisa poked her head through the doorway to the temple and found him standing against the wall in his armor, a lumpy black bag she had not seen before slung over his back. The tip of a rifle poked out of it, and he carried another rifle in his arms. He also had more of those grenades hooked to the belt built into his armor.

  The ice-block corridor stretched ahead of him, several faces leaning around a corner at the first intersection. Alisa glimpsed the shoulders of someone wearing an orange flight suit rather than the usual robes. He looked like a normal human being, someone she would go flying with and then share a drink with afterward.

  As she reached Leonidas’s side, Alisa smiled up at him, hoping to put him at ease. She was also relieved to see him alive. She laid her hand on the barrel of his rifle and pushed it down so the tip pointed at the floor. He arched an eyebrow but let her.

  “We’re standing down here,” she called to the Starseers.

  Someone’s touch brushed her mind, and she stiffened. Next to her, Leonidas growled low in his throat. But the touch was brief—checking to see if they were telling the truth? Then the men and women in flight suits raced around the corner. They did not make eye contact with Alisa or Leonidas as they ran through the doorway. They sprinted straight for the one- and two-man craft docked at the far end of the landing pad from the Nomad. Their urgency made Alisa wonder just how much power those shields had left.

  Thwumps reverberated through the temple as the Starseers fired more of their artillery weapons from the tower tops.

  “How did you get out of that cell?” Alisa asked.

  “I pulled down the ice blocks in the ceiling to access the conduits there. I crossed a few wires and shorted out the forcefield.”

  A faint thrumming started up, reverberating through her shoes and up her legs. It was not the same as the abrupt thwumps of the big artillery weapons. Something to do with the hover engines that held the temple aloft? Were they being overtaxed because of the barrage?

  “Conduits in the ceiling?” Alisa hadn’t noticed conduits up there. She knew his vision was better than hers in the dark, but could he see through things she couldn’t? Or had he just been paying more attention than she had? “Is that what you were studying when you were flat on your back? I thought you were taking a nap.”

  “Cyborgs don’t nap,” Leonidas said.

  “I thought you were human. Humans nap.”

  “Not when they’re military officers—former military officers—trapped in an enemy stronghold.”

  “The ice pressing through your skimpy underwear kept you awake, huh?”

  His helmet rotated toward her, his eyes closed to slits behind the faceplate.

  “You don’t have to be embarrassed that I saw you in such a state,” Alisa said, undaunted. “It gave me time to map out my massage plans for wh
en we get out of this and you come visit me. I plan to shop for some nice rocks at our next stop.”

  Leonidas’s gaze shifted upward and out the door where another round of fire streaked down from above to slam into the temple’s shield. He did not correct her “when we get out of this” to “if we get out of this,” but it had to have crossed his mind.

  Several of the sleek, ice-colored combat craft lifted off, wind gusting across the landing pad in their wake. The engines on many of the other ships were firing up, preparing to follow their comrades into the air. They must know a way out through the shielding, or perhaps those manning the temple controls would lower it briefly for them.

  Alisa wondered if Lady Naidoo expected her to simply hop into one of the two-man craft and take off. Would the Starseer ships respond to a stranger pilot climbing in? Usually, craft were keyed to their pilots and the maintenance crew. Maybe Naidoo would forget about Alisa, and she wouldn’t have to go up.

  “You won’t be able to pilot your freighter out of here as long as the shields are up,” Leonidas said, stepping outside. “But they may not last much longer. If they falter, we may have an opportunity to lift off before we’re obliterated. With luck, those warships won’t waste time targeting a harmless freighter when their goal is close enough to taste.”

  “Unfortunately, that’s not the deal I made. Even if the docking clamps weren’t holding the Nomad down, I promised that you and I would join their pilots and defend the temple.”

  “We’re going to attack the Alliance?” Leonidas stared at her.

  “Are you stunned or pleased?”

  “Both. But why would you—”

  Back in the temple, a robed figure wearing a bulky satchel and carrying a staff ran around the corner, heading straight at them. Leonidas dropped his hand toward his rifle, but it stopped midair, two inches above it. The Starseer flicked a finger as he continued toward the doorway. A grimace of defiance crossed Leonidas’s face, and his fingers quivered, but he could not touch the weapon.

  “You’re going up with us, right?” the Starseer asked, his hood pulled low to shadow his features. He was tall and broad, and the voice seemed familiar.