by C H Gideon
“They’re on us,” Ria reported.
Asya didn’t need to comment. Drawing the bombers in close was part of the plan.
“Missiles are rising at their backs,” Ria went on.
“Time for you to work your magic,” Asya told Takal over the comm.
“This can hardly be considered magic, my dear,” he replied. “This is a purely scientific response to a—”
“Just do what you’re going to do, or I’ll shoot you out the airlock and have you take on the ships by hand, Takal,” she sniped.
“On it,” the inventor replied. An alarm flashed on her console, clarifying that Takal had fired the pucks into space. “They’re away,” he reported.
“I know we probably should have discussed this earlier, but how will these things get past the Orau shields?” Asya wondered.
“The pucks are so small, as well as inert in their normal state, that they will pass harmlessly through the shield and attach themselves to the hull without alerting the Orau that it’s even happened,” Takal explained. “Once they’re attached, the trigger devices on them can be activated.”
The SD Reynolds shuddered under another barrage and Asya snarled at the viewscreen. “These guys are starting to piss me off. Tactical?”
“I also took the liberty of dumping the trash while I was at it,” Takal told her.
Asya watched the screen as the ship’s debris spilled out into space, trailing the superdreadnought. She thought she caught a glimpse of one of the tiny pucks tumbling alongside the trash.
The Orau ships flew right into the mess before veering off.
Takal’s laughter flooded over the speakers. “It’s like fishing for morons,” he said. “I’ve eight confirmed latches on three of the Orau ships.”
“Trigger those, Takal,” Asya ordered, then twisted in her seat to glance at Tactical’s position.
Although she always felt stupid doing it, she felt it best to address the post, even if the AI’s personality wasn’t actually in it.
“Target the three that don’t have hitchhikers and keep them too busy to get above us,” she called. “XO, shift energy to lower shields and make ready for missile impacts. Ria, bring us about to block as many of the missile paths as possible, belly up.”
The crew leapt to do as commanded. Asya hoped she was making the right choice.
“Pucks ignited,” Takal called. Asya was happy to see the enemy fighter-bombers leaking sparks.
With no atmosphere, the sparks died as soon as they started to flare, but Takal had assured that they didn’t need to see the discharged elements for them to work.
And sure enough, he was right.
As the salvo of missiles closed, she could see an immediate reaction on the scanners.
The missiles nearest the tagged Orau veered off course erratically, almost as if their targeting systems had been fried by a massive EMP. Their engines drove them relentlessly.
The first of the tagged Orau didn’t notice the change and was rear-ended by a half-dozen missiles.
The ship exploded, shrapnel and debris destroying other missiles in its wake.
Ria cheered, but Asya hunkered down, keeping her eyes on the viewscreen. They weren’t out of the fight yet.
Several missiles struck the shields of the Reynolds, their reverberation shaking the massive ship as they impacted. The gravitic shields held.
A second Orau ship tried to avoid the missiles, but Tactical’s constant weapons fire pushed it dead into the path. The Orau was dust and debris a moment later.
Asya spied a few missiles explode on their own and zoomed in to see that they had impacted the pucks directly, the magnetic clamps drawing them in and detonating the warheads.
Tactical whooped as he blew one of the Orau ships away, then focused his efforts on the others.
“Damn it!” XO cried. “We’ve got one of the Orau slipping over the top of us.”
“I got it!” Ria shot back.
Not to be outdone in the fight, the young ensign pushed the SD Reynolds forward and up, swinging the nose about as though it were a giant boot heel squashing a bug.
It was just as effective.
The shields caught the Orau vessel before it could dodge and the ship was slammed backward, spinning out of control until it exploded.
Tactical shot down another and another until there were none left.
Free of the Orau bombers, Tactical, Helm, and San Roche were able to focus on the remaining missiles while Asya targeted the last of the launch sites.
As the final one disappeared from the scanners, she slumped into her seat and grinned. “Excellent work, people,” she told them. “Now let’s get our crew back aboard, San Roche.”
The shuttle pilot replied in the affirmative, and the shuttle dropped from near orbit on its way to the planet’s surface to collect the crew.
Asya smiled and let her head loll against the headrest of her seat.
“Somebody owes us pizza, damn it.”
Chapter Nineteen
Back aboard the superdreadnought, Reynolds surveyed his kingdom.
“Doesn’t look too much worse for wear,” he said after a quiet moment. “Excellent work, people.”
“Did you expect anything less?” Tactical asked.
“You really want an answer to that?” Reynolds fired back.
“Mission accomplished, it looks like,” Asya interjected. She figured it was time for Tactical to take a break.
“Not quite yet,” Jiya replied, shaking her head.
“What am I missing?” Asya wondered.
“It turns out there are still a large number of Orau soldiers dirtside who need to be dealt with.”
“How are we supposed to do that?” Asya asked. “It’s not like they’re going to sit still and let us shoot them.”
“Already in motion,” Reynolds told her with a sly grin. “Comm, open a channel for me.” Reynolds provided a specific frequency, and Comm did as ordered.
“Channel’s connecting,” Comm announced.
“You made friends while you were down there?” Asya asked.
Reynolds grinned. “I’m a charmer, what can I say?”
“You there, Mahd Si?” Reynolds asked.
The old female’s soft voice came back right away. “I am indeed, Reynolds.”
“Were you able to do as we discussed?” Reynolds asked.
While he was stuck dirtside waiting to be collected, an idea had struck him. He reached out to Mahd Si and organized a surprise for the surviving Orau on Krokus 1.
“Exactly as you requested,” Mahd Si replied.
“Excellent,” Reynolds told her. “Have your people hunker down, and my crew and I will take care of your infestation problem.”
She laughed softly. “Execute your plan, Reynolds and may the Krokan god smile on you and your crew.”
“I’m sorry we don’t have room to haul all of you back to Krokus 4 with us, but I promise I’ll negotiate terms with President Jaer Pon and get supplies to you or an agreement for relocation, whatever works best for you and your people.”
“You’re a saint, Reynolds,” Mahd Si told him.
“Awwwwwww,” the crew intoned as one, amused smiles all around.
“We’ll talk soon, Mahd Si,” Reynolds closed. “Be careful. Reynolds out.”
The AI cut the link, and Tactical laughed at him.
“Looks like you made one hell of an impression down there, Reynolds,” Tactical said. “You give her a peek under the chassis while you were at it?”
“I’m going to put my foot in your chassis if you keep it up,” Reynolds fired back.
“Don’t threaten me with a good time,” Tactical told him, chuckling.
Jiya stepped in right then, playing the mediator. “What are your orders, sir?”
Reynolds noted she only called him sir when she was mad or when she wanted him to get on with things.
“Bring up a scan of the outpost,” he told her.
Jiya did, and her eyes n
arrowed at what she saw. “That’s…odd.”
“It looks like there’s a mass migration going on down there,” Asya reported, leaning over Jiya’s shoulder and examining the screen. “Are those Krokans?”
“Scanners say it’s the Orau,” Jiya said, eyes wide with disbelief. “What would make them pull out like that?” She glanced at Reynolds.
“Maybe someone made them an offer they couldn’t refuse,” Reynolds replied.
Jiya nodded. She wished Reynolds had shared his plan. She’d been insubordinate enough on this mission alone to rate being treated like a second-class crewmember. She held her tongue for a private conversation with Reynolds where she would try to convince him of her commitment and professionalism.
She’d been committed to his mission since she’d agreed to leave her home behind, but she hadn’t been professional. She’d been a sniveling child who let emotions guide her actions.
No more.
“I asked Mahd Si to have one of her people drop off the communication device I found on the shuttle crew where it would be found by the Orau.
“It’s been transmitting a regular message from the assholes on the Loranian ship…” he put air quotes around the word “from,” “telling them we’ve left the system and the ships are coming back to pick them all up to transfer them to another planet where they still have resources.”
“And they bought it?” Tactical asked. “Fucking morons.”
Reynolds nodded. “They’ve spent a lot of time around Mahd Si and her people and they apparently have big mouths, always talking about things they shouldn’t.” Reynolds grinned, thinking about the conversation. “While I didn’t get the name of the head honcho aboard the Loranian ship, I did get the name of the Orau’s contact and enough other pertinent information to make the message sound authentic.”
The AI gestured to the screen as evidence.
“Looks like it worked,” Jiya said.
“So, you pranked them into a barbeque without anyone bringing the meat?” Tactical asked. “How’s that going to— Oooh.”
Reynolds grinned. “Oooh, indeed.”
Jiya and Asya got it at the same time, both smiling.
“Do what you do best,” Reynolds told Tactical.
“Better yet,” Jiya interrupted, “how about you just blow them up instead?”
“You take all the fun out of innuendo, Jiya,” Tactical complained, but he didn’t hold back with the weapon systems.
The Reynolds’ railguns came online and Tactical unleashed them on the Orau gathered below. Hitting the planet at hypervelocity had the same effect as if the Reynolds had dropped a tactical nuke on their heads. The surrounding buildings suffered greatly, but they were the ones the Orau had confiscated.
The bridge crew watched the main screen as the blips of bad guys went poof. He wished he could have been there in person to see it, but they had other things to take care of right then.
Reynolds signaled to Ria.
“Get us back to Krokus 4, Ensign,” he ordered. “We have a president to settle up with.”
“Course plotted, sir,” Ria replied.
A moment later, they were on their way.
If the crew had expected to return as conquering heroes, they were disappointed.
Minister To Gul met them at the landing field and led them in silence to a private presidential compound different from the one they had stayed at before.
“Bit of a change from last time, don’t you think?” Jiya whispered to Reynolds as the minister led the crew into the meeting hall.
In the room were nearly fifty of the presidential guards, lining both walls, weapons in hand. President Jaer Pon and Vice President Shal Ura were there, as were Flor and Sergeant Gib.
The administrative pair sat in what looked to be rather uncomfortable chairs, and it showed in their moods.
Both looked anxious and unhappy.
The vice president brightened perceptibly at their arrival, but Jaer Pon simply stared with cold eyes.
“This can’t be good,” Reynolds muttered, and Jiya nodded in agreement.
Ka’nak, Geroux, and San Roche followed a few steps behind Reynolds and Jiya, none of them wanting to become a part of the conversation that followed.
“What’s with the long faces?” Reynolds asked.
The minister huffed at his lack of decorum, but the vice president didn’t seem to care. She rose and walked over to the crew. Jaer Pon reluctantly followed her.
“It appears there was an attempt on your lives while you were gone,” she stated.
Ka’nak twitched, one eye closing. “I’m not a math wizard, but that doesn’t add up. How could someone try to kill us when we weren’t here?”
“They obviously failed,” Shal Ura replied matter-of-factly.
Jiya rubbed her temple, looking as if she might have an aneurysm. “Would you explain, please?”
The president motioned to one of his guards, who collected a body from a curtained alcove, dropping the corpse at the feet of the crew.
“This is one of the people who broke into the compound and assaulted your room while you were away.” He turned and glared at the vice president. “Obviously, no harm was done since you were not here, and my people have dealt with them already.”
“It’s not as simple as that, Mister President,” Shal Ura argued, but the president was having none.
He waved a hand for her to be quiet. “It is as simple as that, Shal. Now, please let me speak with our guests.”
Reynolds and Jiya exchanged looks. There was something more going on than the president was letting on, but Reynolds didn’t figure he’d get a chance to quiz the VP about it without Jaer Pon around to police her.
She glared for a moment, then spun on her heel and marched back to her chair and flopped into it sullenly. Flor set a reassuring hand on Jiya’s shoulder. A handful of guards edged closer, including the sergeant.
Once she was seated, Jaer Pon let out an exaggerated sigh. “We can speak bluntly at last.”
The first officer bit back a snarl, her demeanor wrestling with her instinct to lash out. She won, holding her anger at bay. The vice president was right there and could hear Jaer Pon being an ass.
“What’s going on?” Reynolds asked, not wanting to get into the politics unless he absolutely had to.
“Your mission on Krokus 1…was it successful?” the president asked. “We were struck by perhaps a dozen missiles earlier and feared you had been defeated.”
Reynolds shook his head. “We cleared the whole planet of Orau, and that includes their launch sites,” he reported. “There won’t be any further attacks from Krokus 1, I promise.”
“Excellent! Excellent!” Jaer Pon crowed, clapping his hands.
“Our success there opens up another matter regarding the planet, though,” Reynolds said, interrupting his cheer.
A curious eyebrow rose on Jaer Pon’s face. “And that matter is?”
“As I’m sure you were aware, and simply forgot to inform us, there are people living on the planet—fellow Krokans.”
Jaer Pon stiffened. Reynolds had inserted the verbal knife. Now to twist it.
“Thanks to the scavenging Orau,” Reynolds went on, “these people are in desperate need of supplies and equipment and a total rebuild of their infrastructure.”
Reynolds had initially thought to request that President Jaer Pon migrate the other Krokans to Krokus 4, but thought better of it. They were better off governing themselves.
Best if the Krokans stay independent and live their lives where they are, he thought.
“Given the miscommunication between our two sides, I’d like to amend our agreement. The cost of the defense ring now includes the maintenance and care of the people of Krokus 1, at least until they get back on their feet.”
“That’s perhaps a tad excessive,” Jaer Pon argued.
“So was sending us off to do your dirty work with the Orau without fully informing us of the operational situation,” Reynolds
fired back.
He was pissed at the president and wasn’t going to sugarcoat his feelings for the sake of diplomacy.
While he would be disappointed—or rather, Takal would be—if they left the planet without the schematics for the water purification system, Reynolds was more than willing to sacrifice that advance to make it clear to Jaer Pon that the SD Reynolds and its crew would not be used as puppets.
“I-I…” the president started, then offered a conciliatory nod. “You’re right, I was not as clear regarding the situation as I should have been. My apologies.”
Reynolds nodded his acceptance of the president’s apology, but he caught sight of the vice president sneering across the room. Close enough to have heard them, he wondered if she was reacting to what was being said or if she was still pissed at the president. Reynolds figured it was the latter when her glare settled firmly on Jaer Pon’s back.
Reynolds wondered if the president could feel it.
He sure could.
“There was more to our situation than politics allowed me to share, Reynolds,” Jaer Pon went on. “To that point, I, too, must ask for an adjustment to our agreement.”
Reynolds heard Jiya tapping her fingers on her thigh, and he knew without looking that the first officer was giving the president the same glare as the vice president.
“How…unexpected,” Reynolds remarked, his tone and expression making it clear it wasn’t.
Jaer Pon went on as if he hadn’t noticed.
Reynolds was quite sure he had.
The president gestured at the body on the floor. It was a Krokan.
“This terrorist was part of a group that supports the Orau and its goals of taking over Krokus 4, the Knights of Orau. There are quite a number of them on our planet, believe it or not, and they are largely to blame for the unrest that has plagued us and brought our great people down. Were their leader to be killed, however, they would fall apart.”
Reynolds stared at Jaer Pon, trying to figure out whether he was lying, but the president was a true politician. That guaranteed he was lying, but about what exactly, no one could be sure. He sold it perfectly, even if it didn’t make sense.
“So, a political enemy of yours took a shot at us to get at you?” Jiya asked. “Why would they do that and what concern is that of ours?”
