But Wexan's words fell on deaf ears. The Railen to a one, opened fire on the gathered troops. The Regulation forces crouched and returned the shots. The air exploded in a sea of blasts from the Railen front with return fire from the Regulation. Selina rolled and returned fire herself; her shots landed a few glancing blows on the Railen.
Selina heard Jared yell and saw him fall to the ground. She scampered to his side, but he waved her back. He shouted commands to her and the rest of the Regulation in earshot as a thick ooze of blood trailed from his lips.
Wexan yelled over his shoulder to Selina. “Back to the hover, and get outta here! Mardak Militia’s en route; I just hope they make it before it’s too late!”
Selina and Wexan made a beeline for their vehicle as the rest of the Railen party advanced and fired at random at the gathered force of Regulation troops.
Selina and Wexan were almost to the hover when the sound of Darrick's voice to their side stopped them in their tracks. There he stood, the reddish glow of his weapon staring Selina and Wexan down like an angry eye.
“Not another step. Hand it over.”
Darrick's gaze locked in on Selina. She thought about the disruptor, how her dad and mom held it all those years, and how her father was killed by a Railen because of it. She knew in her gut whatever this device meant to Darrick, for her it meant her father's life. That wasn't something she threw away on a demand. However, the sight of Darrick's rifle trained on her had Selina worried she was about to pay the same price Erick had.
Selina searched Wexan’s face for their next move. Wexan eyed Darrick, then Selina, and she saw a look in Wexan’s eye she'd never seen before. This Mardak, who sworn earlier her life wasn't even worth the paperwork it took to explain it, jumped in between Selina and Darrick, his rifle raised, but before he got off a volley, Darrick emptied a barrage into Wexan's midsection, littering the area with grayish Mardak blood and innards.
Time froze a bit as Selina watched her partner crumble to the ground slowly. She gasped at the sight of Wexan, the first Mardak she'd ever really known at all. To say she knew Wexan was a stretch too, but in their hours together, they'd managed a sort of ease with each other. Theirs wasn't a warm association, but their grouping had a kind of teacher-student familiarity, and suddenly Selina wondered about his last gesture and how much Wexan's earlier disinterest toward her was a front.
From the look of it, she‘d be able to ask Wexan in person in the afterlife shortly.
A thousand thoughts flooded her mind. Plans unmet, promises unfulfilled, a future unlived. Selina felt though, if her death was here, she was ready. The rest of her crew were too far away, still engaging the Railen, and they wouldn't have made it in time. She pulled in a deep breath and waited for her end.
A crackling sound erupted around her. Her entire body tensed, a flash of light engulfed her, and then darkness and void. She tried to feel for something, anything, but instead of a sense of peace, an excruciating headache came over her. And then, her eyes opened and she saw she was in a room, but her vision was too blurry to identify anything
A mechanical droning sound was a clue her surroundings had indeed changed. Furthermore, the way the room eased back and forth on occasion, made her suspect she'd somehow left Zormad altogether. She blinked her eyes, but the room was still too blurry and dark for making out anything.
Selina then noticed she lay on a mattress. It was moderately firm. She noticed a nearby pedestal with a digital readout display and thought, Maybe it's some kind of sick bay area like the Mardak infirmary.
A gruff male voice spoke. “Take it easy. You've been out for the past twenty minutes.”
Selina looked around and saw an outline of a person, but her vision was still too fuzzy. “I had to grab you in a hurry; once I saw Darrick with a bead on you, I knew time was short.”
Selina's eyes focused a bit more and saw the body that went with the voice. A pilot; from the looks of it. “My name's Ket Durban, but you can call me Ket. You're on my ship, the Crimson Lance.”
Selina rubbed her temples together until she realized it did absolutely no good at all. “What're you doing? You've gotta get me back to Zormad.”
“Back to Zormad? Honey, you were in a big ass hot spot back there. If I hadn't grabbed you right then, you'd be a whiff of vapor right now.”
Selina's throat tensed as she thought of her group, the Regulation, Wexan, Jared. They were under attack, and she'd left them. “You don't understand. They're my people, they're all I know, all I have. My mother—”
Ket looked on her with compassion. “I'm sorry, I would've stuck around longer, but me and the Railen go way back, and not in a good way.”
“Uh huh.”
Selina glanced about the room for anything she could've used to bludgeon Ket for a quick getaway. But nothing looked promising enough, and then he said, “So, what's your name?”
“Selina. Now that we're exchanging names, you mind telling me what the hell you were doing with a ship around Zormad and NewEarth?”
Ket's eyes widened. “Really? I save your ass from getting vaped, and you're questioning me? I don't know if Xeno have a saying like 'thank you', but that's a customary response when people in Ling Galaxy get favors like the one I just did you.”
“You took me from a fight. My people were being slaughtered by the Railen.”
“Uh huh, and you'd have been there with them, charred remains in that field.” Ket's mouth formed in a line. “Look, that Clutch I yanked you here with can throw anyone for a loop. Just sit there a few minutes, get your head together, then I'll school you on gratitude.”
Selina wriggled back in her seat, put off by Ket's cavalier attitude. She racked her brain over why she was taken, and not others. Could Ket have known about the disruptor? She sighed with relief when she felt it still safely in its hiding spot. Not only that, the Railen Tracker was still there too.
Selina lay back down. As Ket left the room, she activated her Digivisor. The reddish block over Ket's frame made her chuckle and wonder where gratitude ended and obligation began.
The story has just begun…
Whatever will happen to Selina? Will she make it back to NewEarth in time to help save the colony? And just who is Ket Durban? Find out in Gambit of Dares Gambit of Dares, the follow up to Xeno Reckoning, coming soon!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08PYJD2B2
About the Author
Paul Heingarten mainly writes science fiction and fantasy, with the occasional detour into general fiction. A musician for most of his life, and an IT professional because it pays the bills, he lives in the Southern US with his wife Andrea. In addition to sharing his passion for writing with his wife and the local Bayou Writers Club they belong to, he’s also a diehard Saints fan.
Keep in touch with Paul Heingarten and get more offers for free books at his website www.paulheingarten.com
Other books by Paul Heingarten
The Harvest (Short Story)
Leave from Absence
The Monitor (Short Story)
Natural Election (Short Story)
Cataclysm Epoch
Menace Ascending
Valkyrie Rising
Xeno Reckoning (Short Story)
Keep up with Paul Heingarten at these links:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paulheingartenauthor/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tanis2112/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/tanis2112
Blog: http://www.paulheingarten.com
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Xeno Reckoning: An Interstellar War Story (The Essence Wars Book 1) Page 5