by Leslie Chase
“Mr. Mews, show me the security footage from outside the engine room,” I said. The holographic cat purred an acknowledgement and a grainy image appeared beside him. A blue skinned alien hammering on the heavy door with his fists.
For a moment my heart leaped and I hoped it was Auric. But no, that was wishful thinking. Auric hadn’t worn that black uniform. It was one of the attackers, coming to stop our escape. As I watched, the alien drew his pistol and fired a beam into the door, starting to cut his way through.
My heart froze, the last hope that Auric was alive draining away. I wiped unexpected tears from my eyes and turned back to my work. If Auric had died fighting for me, I wouldn’t waste his sacrifice.
At least there’s only one alien out there, I told myself. Maybe Auric had killed the others. That evened the odds and gave us a fighting chance, but it was still Orson, McKenzie and me against a trained alien warrior. Not exactly heartening, even if the rest of the plan worked perfectly.
I looked at the mess I’d made of the drive. The vast energies that the ship had built up were going into motion now, ready to rip a hole in space and push the Wandering Star through it. Hopefully it would work, and not kill us all.
It would still be minutes before the drive fired — minutes in which the alien could cancel the jump. The door glowed where the beam struck it and I knew I wouldn’t have that long. The alien weapon cut through the steel with terrible efficiency.
I picked up my heaviest wrench and stood against the wall beside the door. After my brief struggle with Auric, I doubted I’d be able to win a fight against one of these aliens, but I knew for sure that I wasn’t going to give up without trying. All I need to do is slow him down until we jump.
The glowing patch on the door spread as the alien’s blaster cut through the hinges, and my heart hammered in my chest. I tried not to think about Auric’s fate. Was he lying somewhere, dead or dying? No good could come of thinking about that. The wrench felt slippery in my hands as I raised it high.
I might not be much of a fighter, but I’d do my best to avenge Auric.
The heavy door rang like a bell as the alien warrior kicked it open, and he pounced through the opening like a tiger. I swung the wrench down with all my strength, feeling the shudder of impact as it struck the man’s wrist. The ugly snap of breaking bone filled the room and his pistol went flying into the depths of the engine room.
That was my first and only piece of good luck. Before I could pull the wrench back for a second blow, he was on me. His left hand slammed into my stomach hard, driving all the air from me and throwing me back against the wall. I didn’t even see the next punch coming, it was so fast, and it rocked my head to the side leaving me seeing stars. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as I slid down the cold metal wall.
I tried to raise the wrench, but my grip was too weak. The alien plucked it from my hand easily and threw it aside with a look of contempt.
He growled something in a language I didn’t understand, but I recognized an insult when I heard one. And a threat. Pinning me against the wall, he grinned, sharp teeth glinting in the light. Out of other ideas, I did the only thing I could think of and brought my knee up as hard as possible between his legs.
If he’d been paying any attention at all it wouldn’t have worked, but he underestimated me again. Gasping and staggering back, my attacker gave me just enough space to leap away. I dove for the floor, looking for the pistol he’d dropped. His good hand caught my leg as I scrabbled desperately, trying to find the only weapon that would give me a chance.
There! The pistol lay under the drive casing, almost in reach. Almost but not quite. The alien’s hand closed on my ankle, pulling me back, and my fingers missed the weapon by inches.
I tried to kick back at his face but he just laughed, dragging me out into the open. My only chance slipped out of reach.
He hissed something awful-sounding and grabbed at my belt. I didn’t want to find out what he had in mind for me, but even with an injured wrist he was more than capable of pinning me. I looked up at him, panic setting in as he pulled a knife from his belt.
This is it, I thought. I’d failed. Failed to avenge Auric, failed to jump the ship to safety. Failed to achieve anything. I was going to die here at the knife of this monstrous alien warrior, and there was nothing I could do about it.
The alien warrior looked down at me, savoring my defeat and enjoying my fear. He traced the tip of his blade down my neck, pressing just hard enough to hurt without breaking the skin. It looked like he wanted to enjoy my suffering after the pain I’d visited on him.
“Tresh prensec chro,” he said. I didn’t know what that meant, and I didn’t think I wanted to.
“Get on with it,” I spat back at him, refusing to let him see how frightened I was. “Come on, do it!”
His nasty smile widened and he raised the blade. I saw it gleam in the lights, strangely beautiful for something that was about to kill me. My eyes locked on it, watching the blade rise.
Pause.
I took what I expected to be my last breath, and then the alien’s head exploded. A light as bright as the sun tore through him, and his headless body spasmed, falling to the floor in a shower of blood. The knife came down towards me, carried by his weight, and all I could do was watch as it swung towards me. Missed me by an inch. Clanged into the decking beside my neck.
I blinked, sucking in a shaking breath, surprised I was still alive. The alien’s weight trapped me and I couldn’t see my savior, but I knew who it was. Who it had to be.
As Auric hauled the corpse off me, throwing him aside with casual strength, I breathed a sigh of relief for both of us. His concerned gaze raked across my body, checking for injuries before he relaxed and offered me a hand.
“You took your sweet time getting here,” I said in English, knowing he wouldn’t understand. It was an ungrateful sentiment but I needed to let out some of my frustration.
I took his hand and he hauled me up with no difficulty at all.
“Must leave now,” he said in Galtrade, holding up an alien communicator flickering with information. “Too many close ships.”
The display meant nothing to me but I trusted he knew what he was talking about. If the alien ships got too close, they would get sucked into the drive field — the quicker I hit the switch, the more likely we were to escape on our own.
McKenzie’s had plenty of time to set a course, I thought as I ran to the control panel. Half the warning lights were amber, several more were red, and as I uncovered the warp switch an alarm blared. The akedians were serious about us not using the drive this way.
Tough. I brought my hand down on the switch with as much force as I had.
The universe disappeared around me as we made our jump.
10
Auric
Alarms blared as the universe sprang back into existence. Sparks showered the engine room from Tamara’s improvised overrides and flames leaped from the panels, lighting the room in a ruddy glow.
Which was useful, because all the lights were out. The jump had used every bit of stored energy the human ship had — the question was, had we reached a destination where we could survive?
And would the Silver Band follow?
There wasn’t time to worry about that now. Flames threatened to engulf us and the entire ship shook as the pilot tried to maneuver.
“We must leave,” I said to Tamara, who was staring in horror at the damage she’d done to her own engine room. The fire spread fast, whatever fire suppression systems the ship had were not kicking in.
Tamara nodded, my words snapping her out of her paralysis. Grabbing my arm, she pulled me out through the ruined door and out of the flame-lit chamber. Smoke billowed around us and she staggered, coughing and choking.
I didn’t hesitate, picking her up and throwing her over my shoulder. Long strides took us up towards the deck, but as we passed the next door Tamara pounded on my back.
“Wait,” she shouted,
coughing. My instincts screamed at me to get her up, out of the smoke and away from the fire, but I put her down and hoped she knew what she was doing.
Pulling open a red hatch on the wall, Tamara pulled a lever inside. Instantly a door slammed down between us and the fire and I felt the ship shudder.
“Vacuum,” Tamara gasped, leaning against the wall to catch her breath. “Let the air out…”
She trailed off in coughs again, but I understood. The emergency system would vent the air out from the burning area and starve the flames. Primitive but effective, though it would have killed anyone trapped inside.
Before we had a chance to say more, the ship shuddered under us. Something was wrong, something more than the fire. I had to know what. Taking Tamara by the arm, I pulled her with me as I ran out onto the deck.
And stopped, awed by the sight that greeted us. Above us, the sky wheeled too quickly, and a planet filled half of it. The Wandering Star had come out of hyperspace far too close, and we were falling fast. I hoped the human on the bridge managed to bring the ship under control. If he didn’t, the ship would plunge to its destruction and all of this would have been for nothing.
The artificial gravity shuddered, and for a moment I thought we would drift free of the deck, falling up towards the planet. Then I fell back, stumbling as the deck twisted and bucked beneath us. The ship’s drive fought against the planet’s gravity, trying to pull free, and it wasn’t having an easy time. Above our heads the forcefield shimmered, weakening and looking like it might fail at any moment.
My teeth ground together. Death was coming for us in a dozen ways, despite everything Tamara and I had done. Were these humans cursed, doomed to die no matter what I tried?
No. I will not accept that. I can save at least one of them. Tamara yelped something as I dragged her towards Kozan’s ship and carried her inside, slamming the airlock behind us. Putting the human female down in the copilot’s seat, I turned to the control board.
“What are you doing?” Tamara demanded, remembering her Galtrade. She tried to stand, the seat’s protective forcefield keeping her pinned in place.
“Saving you,” I snapped back. “Your pilot will either get control or he will not, there is nothing more we can do to help.”
I started the engines as I spoke, glad that Kozan had left his raider ready to launch at a moment’s notice. Before Tamara voiced another complaint I hit the throttle, launching us into space and pulling away from the Wandering Star.
Hopefully the humans would make it to the planet’s surface, but if not, at least Tamara would be safe. I would have something to show for my actions.
The planet was too close above. Green and blue and white, the colors of life — which was good news and bad. The Wandering Star was tumbling down towards it and I doubted the humans would pull up in time, so it was good that they’d be able to survive on the surface. But it also meant the Tavesh Empire might care about this world.
My stolen heavy raider accelerated slowly compared to the agile fighter I preferred to fly, but this was what I had.
Beside me, Tamara struggled against the forcefield. Not wanting to deal with a panicking human and flying the ship, I dialed up the field to maximum strength. That would be difficult for a prytheen to fight free of, and Tamara fell back into the chair with a gasp as it gripped her.
We pulled away from the planet and I caught my breath as the raider steadied itself. We were going to make it clear of the gravity well. At least one human would survive this mess.
“Where are we going?” Tamara gasped from her seat beside me.
“To safety,” I replied. “I can save you at least.”
She gasped something I didn’t understand and lay back in the chair. I glanced over, caught between bitter amusement and worry for her safety. I’d killed three prytheen warriors for her and she didn’t care.
And why does that matter? I didn’t do it for her thanks, I did it for my own honor. I shrugged uncomfortably, trying to keep control of my emotions. For the first time since we’d met I didn’t have the pressure of immanent death hanging over us both and I could afford a moment to think about other things.
Like just how beautiful the human female was. Had I really just thrown her into this raider to get her away from danger, or did I want her to myself for other reasons?
I shook my head to clear it, focusing on the displays. We had enough charge for a jump, thank the blessed stars. If I chose, we could leave this place behind. But that would mean abandoning the Wandering Star to its fate, along with Tamara’s people.
They might not be savable anyway. The fire damage and Tamara’s hasty fixes had left the hyperdrive a mess — perhaps their best hope was us fetching help? But who would dare cross the borders of the Tavesh Empire in search of a lost colony ship? Better, much better, if the ship left on its own, quietly and without being noticed.
Which would mean bringing Tamara back to repair the damage.
I looked at the sensors. Behind us, the Wandering Star was wreathed in flames as it descended into the atmosphere. It looked like it was coming apart, but no. The bits were too big, and their paths too deliberate. The human ship launched its colony pods, scattering them across the planet as it went down.
“What does your captain think he’s doing?” I asked.
“The captain’s dead,” Tamara shot back. “McKenzie is doing what he has to. He’s trying to land, and that means dropping the pods first.”
My jaw tightened, but I didn’t argue. So much for leaving quietly — even under the best circumstances, it would take a long time to gather all those colonists together again. This disaster kept getting worse.
As though to prove that point, the raider’s sensors started screaming warnings at me. More ships emerged from hyperspace, appearing almost on top of us. First one, then another, then a whole fleet blinking into existence exactly where the Wandering Star had been when it emerged. All of them caught in the gravity well of the planet below, tumbling out of formation as they struggled to adjust.
The Silver Band was here, weapons armed and ready for a fight.
I cursed under my breath. Zaren had followed after all, risking the wrath of the taveshi to claim his prize. And he’d followed the human ship’s course exactly, bringing everyone who followed him out far too close to react.
My blood froze as I saw ships fall into the atmosphere and break up, howls of outrage and fear echoing from the communicator. Others managed to pull up, nearly colliding with each other as the formation dissolved into chaos.
“Kozan,” Zaren’s voice barked from the comms. “Kozan, what happened? Why did you let them jump?”
My lips pulled back from my teeth. Zaren had no idea that I was flying this ship, and that gave me a chance to get close. A chance I’d never have if he recognized my voice, so I stayed silent as I pulled the raider around towards his fleet.
There was no choice, not if I wanted to protect the humans. The Wandering Star was steadying, coming in for a rough landing, and they might make it down in one piece if I could keep the remains of Zaren’s forces from interfering.
I should have known Zaren wouldn’t back off. He might be dishonorable but he was no coward — and if he turned back now, he’d have broken the Code for no gain. That would be a blow he couldn’t recover from. He needed something to call a victory.
And I would have to deny him that.
One pass, I told myself, looking at Tamara beside me. I’d thought this would be the safest place for her, but now it seemed that she’d have been safer back on the Wandering Star.
One pass, and then we jump to safety.
With luck, the Silver Band would follow me rather than the humans, if I made enough noise. I needed all attention on me, but that wouldn’t be a problem.
I was close enough, in amongst the fleet. A difficult target for them all to turn on. Time to drop the ruse.
“Zaren,” I shouted into the comms, arming the raider’s blasters and powering up the shields
to full strength. “Zaren, I challenge. You have broken the Code and are not worthy to be Alpha-Captain.”
A moment’s silence answered that as every warrior in the fleet heard my announcement. Then Zaren answered with a laugh.
“Auric, you are the one who defies the Council,” he said. “You have no honor, and you are no part of the Silver Band. Kill him!”
A fight between alphas was a rare thing, and not a good one. Traditionally it was fought empty-handed, a warrior’s claws and strength and skill tested against his foe. As I’d expected, Zaren didn’t intend to honor tradition unless he had to.
One of the nearby fighters fired at me without hesitation. I dodged, firing back, blaster bolts chewing through empty space as we both maneuvered.
A fighter flew into my crosshairs and I fired, blasters ripping through its shields and hull. A bright explosion lit the sky and I winced. These warriors were my people too, and I had to remember that they had chosen to attack the innocent humans.
Other ships angled towards me, but all of us were too close to the planet’s gravity well to maneuver freely. Some tumbled into the atmosphere, others struggled to avoid that fate. I drew back my lips in a hungry snarl, aiming for deep space on the far side of the fleet.
I’ll draw them off and then jump, I told myself. Getting Tamara to safety was my priority, but I had to get through the fleet first. On the way past I’d take a shot at Zaren.
His fighter angled towards me, shots zipping past. All around us the sky burned with weapons fire, unimaginable destructive energies unleashed. The entire fleet targeted me.
But I was amongst them, and that made hitting me hard. None of them dared risk a shot that might hit another of the Band, so I danced my raider closer and closer to the other ships, counting on that to protect me.
My own shots hunted Zaren, but his fighter was too nimble. Blast after blast scored his shields without hitting. Soon we’d be past each other and I’d lose this chance to kill him.