Destination Alara

by S. Y. Thompson

  "Yes, I'm well aware of your reputation for valuing responsibility above all else."

  He sounded pleased that she refused to do as he ordered. Unaccountably, that worried her more than anything else. "You don't care if I make the recording or not."

  "You're right. In fact, I knew it was a waste of time, but I did promise to try."

  Nemo actually giggled a little and she felt the hairs on her arms rise. Cade's heartbeat increased, adrenaline driving up her body temperature and preparing her to do battle. This was all leading to a crescendo and when the final notes fell, she was sure they would culminate with her death. He was a psychopath and in her experience, such individuals were notorious for lying.

  "Something tells me I'm not going to like this."

  Nemo raised his arm and pushed one of the long, black sleeves back from his wrist. Cade saw a metal bracelet round his wrist and a series of multicolored lights. He touched one of these lights and a few seconds later the door opened.

  Cade thought she'd lost it. Her brain had succumbed to the cold and now she was really hallucinating.

  A woman who wore the Coalition uniform of a Vice Admiral entered the room. She stood straight and tall. And she wore Cade's face. She couldn't be a clone; such technology didn't exist regardless how scientists tried. However, there was no denying the truth. Nemo had her doppelganger.

  Chapter Six

  VAN HAD LED the men through the deep snow toward the Southern Mountain range. She projected an air of calm confidence, but inside she was worried. After checking the area of the admiral's kidnapping and finding nothing, she didn't have any idea what to do next. She squatted in the snow and analyzed the patches of blood with a micro-scanner, unhappy with the results.

  "It looks like you guys completely missed the...creatures. These bloodstains are all Human. Are you getting anything on Admiral Meryan's life signs?"

  She hoped Cade's wrist communicator, which doubled as a bio-signs detector, would give them something to work with. If it didn't, she was open to suggestion from anyone on how to proceed. To her dismay, Commander Byra shook his head.

  "I'm not reading anything out here but us. I can't even find the base camp," Paul shouted through the respirator that shielded his face from the wind.

  "There must be a weather system moving in. This planet is famous for them and it'll definitely interfere with our equipment."

  "Perfect. How long do you think we have before it hits?"

  "No way to know without contacting Gauntlet and I'd prefer to not to give away our position by using an open comm channel. Our personal communicators use a much weaker signal, so I doubt anyone could pick those up."

  "And if they can?" Paul shouted.

  Van perceived a note of worry in his voice. "Then we jump off that bridge when we come to it." Byra stared at her for a second, but she couldn't see his expression through the dark black goggles.

  "Any idea where we go from here?"

  "We look for her," she stated, thinking the answer should be obvious.

  "Captain, I don't mean to rain on your parade, but we don't have any clue where to start."

  She couldn't argue. Van stood and looked around the area. There were no obvious signs of tracks, digging, or construction. The pristine planet boasted meters of snow to the surface and a brisk breeze threw blasts of shrapnel-like ice. Van could hear the sound as it hit their all-weather gear and it reminded her of sandblasting. She fully expected to find her goggle lenses scratched when she returned to the ship.

  Van concentrated on relaxing, allowing the concern to stop surging and her higher reasoning to take over. It was a tactic she'd used many times over during her military career. In the distance, she watched a Tokarian snow rabbit bound across the terrain before it darted into a concealed underground burrow. For a moment, she watched the animal without any clear thought to its actions. Then the answer came to her.

  "Where did you say you last saw the beast holding Meryan?"

  Paul turned and pointed. "Up there on that ridge."

  At that point, it was more hunch than fact, but Van trusted her instincts. With the lack of other evidence, there wasn't anything to lose by trying.

  "Heliosius, Yosef, keep your eyes open and prepare to join us at the top," she ordered through her wrist com. Though the security personnel were only a few yards away, they wouldn't hear if she shouted. "Let me know if you even think you see something move that doesn't belong. Ozal, spread your team around the perimeter. Nothing gets past you, understand?"

  They responded immediately.

  "Aye, Captain Swann."

  "Understood."

  "Nothing will get by us," Ozal assured her.

  Confident in her tactical officers' abilities, she headed up the hill without a second thought. "Paul, come with me."

  Van trudged over the small dips and rises before heading up the steepest hill in their vicinity. Her snowshoes made the trip arduous. Her thigh muscles burned from wearing them for so long, but it was preferable to sinking into the white powder. She followed the crimson trail leading away from the sight of the original attack, but the droplets were rare farther away from the initial encounter. Regardless, she knew it belonged to Cade and the thought made her feel nauseous. She'd made a promise to the admiral's cousin to return with Meryan and didn't relish coming back empty-handed.

  The trail led over the top of the hill and partway down the other side where it suddenly vanished. Van squatted down again to get out of the worst of the wind. It was more abrasive because of the elevated terrain and she wanted to eliminate as much interference with her scanner as possible. At first, she was baffled. The device still didn't detect anything out of the ordinary.

  "Now what?"

  "Don't you do that," Van snapped, looking at him on hearing the defeat in his voice. "Don't you dare give up on me...or her. She didn't just magically disappear off this frozen snowball, and Gauntlet didn't measure any energy output from orbit indicating a ship to surface transit. That means she's here and we need to get our heads out of our collective asses and find her. Is that clear?"

  For a long, tense moment, his only answer was silence. Then he nodded once and said, "Right. Okay. Let me take some readings over there."

  Byra indicated another small ridge a few meters away, but Van didn't respond. She pretended to concentrate on her scanner, but she was really waiting for her heartbeat to return to normal. They couldn't afford to lose Admiral Meryan. Her loss would open the entire galaxy up to civil war as ruling houses jockeyed for position to replace the high queen. Cade's mother didn't have another heir. Van realized Meryan had a younger brother, but males did not take control of the throne.

  If some type of internal struggle for power happened, the entire system would be ripe for an attack. It could come from the Gothoans or any one of a number of other rebel factions that existed. Though the Gothoan soldiers were defeated during the Border Wars, Van wasn't ignorant enough to think they simply returned to their own planet with their tails between their legs. It would be an opportunity that would be difficult to ignore. They had to find Admiral Meryan and then Van would personally see to it that she never left the safety of Alara's palace again.

  Sure, because Meryan was really going to listen to her and because a possible war was the only reason it was so important to Van.

  A peep from the micro-scanner pulled Van out of her depressing thoughts. She saw a very slight irregularity on the screen, but it had already disappeared since her hand had been moving while she took readings. Carefully, she drew the tip of the instrument back the other way, rewarded by another small sound. This time, she trained the scanner on the area and increased the sensitivity as high as it would go. Her mouth went dry as she studied the readout. She couldn't believe what she'd found.

  "Paul, get back over here," she shouted over her communicator. "Lieutenant Heliosius, Chief Yosef, I need you up here on the double."

  Commander Byra dropped into the snow beside her. "What have you got?"
/>
  "I think I just found where Alice went down the rabbit hole."

  "Huh?"

  "Forget it. Ancient Earth reference."

  Van was content to leave Paul in the dark while she waited for the security personnel to arrive. In the interim, she took more readings for mineral composition, thickness of the shoring material she'd discovered and any unexpected life signs. They didn't need Phantoms sneaking up on them now.

  She heard the panting of the other two men long before they arrived.

  "What is it, Captain?" Lieutenant Heliosius asked. He wasn't as winded as his companion was, and Van thought it wasn't just because the lieutenant was from Duval, the farthest planet out in the Andromeda sector, which boasted notoriously lower oxygen levels than most humanoids found comfortable.

  Everyone leaned in close to hear her response. "I'm showing a small shaft, possibly leading to a tunnel or some other kind of underground structure, but we need to find the entrance. It'll be standing upright to keep any snow from building up on the surface. I'm betting this is where they took Admiral Meryan."

  "Who do you think it was what got her, ma'am?" the chief asked.

  "That's what we're about to find out."

  "Here it is, ma'am." Lieutenant Heliosius had walked around to the side of one of the larger rises and held his micro-scanner aimed toward the front of what looked like nothing but a pile of snow.

  A heavy film of powder covered the entrance, obscuring it from the casual observer. Van reckoned someone had painted the door white to blend in, but Tokar's sometimes scouring winds would help camouflage the entrance by blowing fresh snow against the side of the hill. Now they had to figure out a way inside without alerting sentries, or her personal favorites, the Phantoms. Commander Byra didn't seem to share her concerns for stealth.

  "Laser torches? I doubt anyone left it open for us. Plus it'll be the fastest way to get inside without being caught at the entrance to a secret, underground hideout."

  Chief Yosef answered quickly, attempting to stop the commander before he could act. "It won't work, sir."

  Van interrupted before the two could debate the pros and cons of laser cutting. In her experience, seasoned military men rarely conceded their point of view without exploring every minor detail. They didn't have time for that. The Phantoms could show up at any moment and she wanted to miss that reunion. The threat of humanoid enemy forces surprising them with overwhelming numbers wasn't nearly as frightening, but neither outcome would help the situation.

  "He's right. The heat from the torches will set off any sensors on the hatch, assuming there is a hatch. Break out the shovels."

  All four removed packs, took out the tri-fold military shovels, and went to work on the spot where Van took the first spade full. The winds had done the job of concealing the entrance well and it was five minutes before her tool hit something solid. She quickly tossed the shovel aside and started using her gloved hands. The men joined her and soon they cleared the portal. A large metal door approximately a meter in height and width faced them. As thick as the breadth of her hand, she worried it might be too heavy to pull back.

  "Chief, see if you can dig around the edge enough for us to get a handhold."

  "Aye, Captain."

  Meanwhile, Van adjusted the settings on the scanner and began checking for any kind of perimeter alarm. She didn't find anything. Considering the cold on the planet, such measures probably wouldn't work anyway. Temperatures could plummet unexpectedly when storms rolled in and electronics didn't fare well here.

  "Finished, ma'am."

  "Great, stand ready, Chief. I don't want any surprises when we open this thing."

  He nodded in acknowledgment and pulled out a blast pistol while the other three grasped the edge of the door. Even with all of them pulling together, moving the cover wasn't an easy task. They slowly worked until there was a small breach through which Van could hardly get her fingertips. Grunting and straining, they worked it wider. She watched Paul use the toe of his boot to shove the buildup of snow from the base of the hatch and from there it moved abruptly, sliding open wide enough for them to enter. A dark hole on the other side offered up a belching plume of steam rather than murderous troops.

  "Guess they weren't expecting any trouble," Paul said. "At least we don't have to worry about hairy white demons popping out and tearing us limb from limb."

  "I'm so glad you felt I needed to hear that," Van responded with a growl of disapproval. "Now my nightmares will be even more vivid."

  She heard Lieutenant Heliosius snicker, but chose to ignore him. In hushed tones she said, "Make sure your sidearms are holstered and break out the pulse rifles, boys. We're going in. Hand signals from here unless it's an emergency."

  Van led the way with her rifle at the ready. They entered a small antechamber, just big enough to allow the four of them to stand tightly together. She didn't see any electronics on the walls or anything else, just the plain, circular room. Other than that, a few heavy-duty hinges held the portal in place. Additionally, two thick cables ran from the wall into the rear facing on the hatch. She assumed they kept the exit warmed internally, enough to keep it from freezing in place. The entrance didn't require locking because no one would expect anyone to be here who didn't belong.

  A single feature stood out and the quartet stopped in front of it with rifles raised as though they expected an enemy to burst forth at any second. Convinced that the large door concealed a lift capable of carrying them to the lower level, Van started looking for elevator controls. She quickly scanned the outer frame, worried that at any second they'd have company, but she didn't see any obvious instruments.

  Chief Yosef reached around her and pressed what Van thought was just a crack or blemish. The door recessed into the jamb and she restrained the urge to jerk backward in surprise. She barely managed not to embarrass herself and stepped into the empty conveyance.

  "Keep alert," she whispered urgently. "Try to make as small a target as you can. We're sitting ducks."

  Van and Paul squeezed to one side of the lift near the control panel and the security officers did the same across from them. Van studied the alien script on the wall, attempting to decipher the words but couldn't make heads or tails of the markings. Finally, she decided that since there were only two buttons the choice wasn't that hard. Pressing the bottom one, she held her breath when the hatch slid closed. Van said a small prayer for luck that the car would stop and there wouldn't be an entire garrison of rebels, Phantoms or miscellaneous other forces waiting for them at the bottom. Unfortunately, war meant there were always disgruntled individuals banding into various-sized forces to promote their own agendas. She didn't know who'd taken Meryan, but their purposes probably weren't benevolent.

  Van nervously wiped the moisture from her gloves one at a time and then secured her two-handed grip on the rifle. As soon as the car started down, she experienced a moment of panic that she'd be so hindered by all-purpose gear that she wouldn't be able to move. She quickly jerked the respirator down around her neck and tugged the glove off with her teeth. Her dark goggles and the glove went into a pocket and she pushed back her parka's hood. It took moments to make these preparations and her men followed suit. The cold immediately numbed her fingers, but it was preferable to the alternative.

  The elevator slowed, indicating it would stop soon. Van felt her senses heighten as she readied for battle. She could hear the minute ticking of metal retracting from the cold. She could smell Chief Yosef's uneasy sweat and wondered if it would be an Achilles heel, alerting Phantoms to their presence. She'd never actually heard of such a thing happening but these beasts seemed to be something out of a nightmare, almost supernatural. It wouldn't surprise her to learn they had paranormal abilities to go along with their appearance.

  She blinked as the lift hit bottom and suddenly she was back on Tokar, eight years before. The darkness of the elevator car became the inky blackness of a stark, cold cave. Snow blew in sporadically on the wind, but she h
adn't been worried about the weather. Something was out there, prowling the moonlit planet and illuminated only by the shadows cast if light happened to encounter them.

  "You'll be fine, sir," then Junior Lieutenant Swann encouraged her commanding officer.

  He lay in a pool of his own blood, the left arm all but severed at the elbow by a Gothoan shrapnel pulse. Commander Frazil only groaned. His eyelids fluttered but nothing more. Suddenly, a monster flew out of the darkness and into the ring cast by Van's wrist beacon. It struck her, a glancing blow that tossed her across the cave to impact solidly with the wall. When she managed to open her eyes and focus on her commanding officer, part of him wasn't there anymore.

  Van shuddered and returned to the present just as the portal to the underground structure began to open.

  Great, perfect time to start having flashbacks.

  Tensed to fly out on the defensive, she discovered only more emptiness. Van stepped out, followed closely by her men. They swept their rifles in all directions, seeking concealed snipers that might attempt to eliminate them. A narrow walkway lay ahead, surrounded closely by rock walls. Moisture covered the stone's face and mist rose eerily from the floor. Under her boots, the surface felt rough yet slippery. The air was noticeably warmer than the surface but Van didn't believe it could be merely from the lack of wind and direct exposure. There were definitely artificial heating devices in operation. Already, she'd begun to perspire from the abundant layers of specialized clothing.

  Abruptly, the passageway terminated at the commencement of a cavernous bay. She thought the chamber could effortlessly accommodate the Coalition's flagship with room to spare. From what she could tell, the stronghold was natural, forming around a sizeable underground spring near the center. The sight of liquid water, instead of ice, indicated subterranean volcanic activity. Tokar's geothermal properties might become an issue thousands of years in the future, but Van didn't care about that now. She was just grateful whoever constructed this base of operations chose to leave the internal structure of the mountain largely intact. Boulders and unexpected outcroppings provided cover and lessened the fear of discovery.