Ghost Ranger

by Dayne Edmondson

  “What?” I tried to say, though I must admit it came out more like a moan than actual words. I hadn’t heard a voice in my head before.

  The voice in my head didn’t answer me. Then it dawned on me. It was the voice of my implant. They had installed one after my run in with the virus but had neglected to tell me how it functioned. You’re my implant? I asked, this time in my thoughts. Even my thoughts sounded weak. I felt my will to live fading.

  Correct. My designation is IM-8-LNT, but you may name me whatever you choose.

  I’m not exactly in a position to be naming you right now, I thought back. What is a code indigo?

  Before my implant could answer, however, a boot descended toward my head and, after a violent burst of pain, my world went dark.

  Chapter 11

  An alarm blaring awoke Captain Wilson. “General quarters, general quarters,” came a muffled mechanical tone over the loudspeaker from the squad’s ready room.

  He rolled out of his bunk and activated his comm. A message request waited for him. “Captain Wilson here.”

  “Captain, this is the tactical commander. Please prepare your rangers for emergency orbital drop.”

  Captain Caleb Wilson’s brows furrowed. “Emergency drop? Aren’t we still in orbit around Xaros III?”

  “Correct. There has been a Code Indigo issued. Tac Comm out.” The link closed before he could respond.

  “Shit!” He swore, leaving his quarters and joining the rest of his team in the ready room.

  “What’s up, Cap?” Lieutenant Vranson asked.

  “Code Indigo,” he replied.

  “What’s that?” The question came from Private Derikson, the rookie of the squad.

  “High level target in imminent danger,” Captain Wilson explained as he activated his synth suit and went to his locker, opened it and began gearing up. “We drop as soon as the ship breaches atmosphere.

  As if waiting for his announcement, the tactical commander’s voice filled the ready room. “All crew prepare for atmospheric drop in ten.” A heartbeat later... “Ten, nine, eight...”

  The room shuddered, almost throwing the rookie off his feet, as the Solace made its descent into atmosphere. They’d trained for this scenario countless times, and deployed in such ways several dozen times, but it felt strange to be deploying on a Federation world and have it not be a drill. Like a damn invasion, he thought.

  “Let’s get to the pods. Move it people!” Captain Wilson reminded his rangers.

  They descended faster than usual, Captain Wilson noted. Under normal circumstances the ship would have taken several minutes to stow cargo properly and prepare. But under such emergency circumstances Caleb knew only the essential procedures to prevent loss of life would have been followed.

  He made his way to the pods, fully geared now, rifle in hand, and entered his designated pod. The other four rangers were already there, strapped in and waiting. They nodded to him and he returned the acknowledgment. It felt strange being with a new squad. But after the garrison on Galatia IV fell to the infected, and he almost died after becoming infected himself, he was lucky to have been returned to his former rank and given his commission back. Hell, he would have died aboard the Cheville if not for Isabelle Thorpe saving him. Still, his squad mates were inferior to him. They didn’t have his power. They hadn’t survived death. He knew that was why the Federation had kept him around - because of what he could do. Or perhaps they were afraid of him. They had reason to be.

  Less than a minute later the light outside in the hangar turned red and the pod door closed. Their pod was picked up and shuttled to the launch chute. Then, seconds later a thump came from beneath the pod and the g-forces shoved him back into his seat as they plummeted toward the planet below. The planet’s gravity had them, so they did not float weightless, which was one of the reasons for launching from atmosphere instead of orbit - they didn’t have to deal with as strenuous of a re-entry procedure. There were cases where orbital drop ship launches were required, such as in a war zone where it was unsafe to descend, but standard operating procedure called for them to descend to atmosphere first.

  As they hurtled toward the planet at high speed, the external sensor array displayed a view of the ground and a zoomed-in view of their landing area. A massive crowd of people had gathered around what looked like a school. Their LZ was a rooftop near the square, while their target was obscured by a mass of people. Refuse of assorted colors of green, red and yellow littered the ground. Captain Wilson only hoped they wouldn’t be too late for whoever it was. If they warranted this level of response, they must be extremely vital to the Federation.

  Chapter 12

  I awoke some time later, though I didn’t know how long, to find the same horrific sight greeting me. Angry-looking men and women staring down at me. I still couldn’t feel my legs, and although the pain had subsided a little it hurt to breathe. I wish I knew how to stop my body from wanting to breathe, I thought. I didn’t need to breathe, but how to get my body to stop doing something I’d been doing since birth?

  Something caught my eye in that moment as I blinked against the morning light. A large object in the blue sky. Now, I was no stranger to air ships and starships and the like, but this was unusual enough that even in my disoriented state I noticed. It wasn’t a small star yacht or star fighter. No, this was a warship. A cruiser, if I had to guess, and it had descended into atmosphere. I knew nothing about military protocol, but the sight kindled a tiny, insignificant hope in me. My implant had said it sent out a signal. Could the ship in orbit have heard, and cared?

  The angry mob, having finally noticed I was awake, started kicking me again. One man pointed his pistol at my face. “Go ahead, bitch, turn feral and we’ll put you down like the animal you are. I dare you.”

  I flinched away from the gun but couldn’t even scurry backward to avoid my assailants. On top of that, a part of me wanted to rage out and chew on people’s legs or, better yet, rip out their throats. But the rational part of me knew that would be suicide, even if I could feel my legs. I had to stay calm if I wanted any hope, no matter how slim, of surviving.

  Another barrage of blows came, almost pushing me over the edge. The pain to my upper body worsened. My implant screamed warnings at me about nanites being deployed to heal me, yet clearly the nanites were being overwhelmed by the damage to my body. I’d been told that being undead meant the virus healed me rapidly - well, not that rapidly, apparently. The nanites and virus were overwhelmed.

  I felt blackness again closing in on me when a thump sounded in the distance and reverberated through the ground. Another followed, and then another and another and another. On and on the thumps came, throwing up dust from atop a building in my line of sight. I lost track of how many but could now see ships flying overhead as well. Starfighters, this time, silhouetted against the now ever-present warship maintaining its orbit.

  The crowd had noticed the thumps and aerial activity too by this time, giving me a welcome respite from the constant pain and allowing my virus and nanite-laden blood to affect at least a few repairs before they noticed me again.

  And notice me they did. “Shoot her and let’s get out of here,” one of the men said to the man holding the gun pointed at my head.

  That man hesitated but then something seemed to click inside his head, and he focused it rock-steady on me. His finger went to the trigger.

  I refused to back down. I stared straight into the man’s eyes, daring him to do it. If I had been confident of my voice I would have shouted at him to do it, but it probably would have come out as a squeak or a whimper. Instead I braced myself for dying a second time - this time for good.

  A shot rang out, but not from my assailant’s gun. The bullet struck flesh, but not my flesh. Instead it struck the gunman’s hand, ripping it off and striking one of the on-lookers in the stomach. The gun intended for me toppled to the ground. All this happened in a flash, then the screams started as people looked around for the source of th
e bullet.

  The source made itself known an instant later as four black-armored figures hurtled through the air and landed with powerful thuds around me. Each carried a rifle and they took up stations in the four cardinal directions around me, guns pointed at the crowd instead of me, for once. “Back up!” A mechanically-amplified voice bellowed. Terrence’s voice. Hope surged in me and tears sprung up.

  “Or you can charge us. I’d like a good fight,” Phillip quipped even as he lunged toward two protesters who hadn’t moved fast enough. They stumbled back, with one falling as they did.

  “You’re all right now, hun,” Delenn’s voice came from behind me. “Medevac is en-route and so are the rangers.” She leaned over and pressed a cylinder to my thigh. A hiss indicated medication being injected.

  Support nanites detected, announced my implant.

  As for the rangers, I kept my eyes on the building I’d seen dust rising from and watched as dozens of figures leapt off the top of the four-story building and landed on the concrete below, becoming lost in the crowd.

  “I’m sorry,” I said, my first time speaking since my protectors arrived. “I should have let you come.” As expected, my voice came out as a sickly croak. But the words had to be said. I was feeling better already, and I wiggled my toes. “I can feel my legs,” I announced.

  “Good,” Terrence said, not taking his eyes off the crowd. “As soon as we get a stretcher we’ll get you to a transport.”

  The crowd, startled at first by the appearance of four Shadow Watch Guards, were emboldened by the chaos. Several of the men threw rocks at the armored figures, though it wasn’t clear if their target was me or my guards. A few more charged forward, some wielding make-shift clubs. They were rebuffed with fists to the face or gut, which I knew was showing restraint.

  A disturbance among the throngs of people caught my eye. Moments later a stream of armored rangers passed through a forced opening and started to spread out, shoving rioters back.

  “Form a perimeter!” Terrence ordered, voice still amplified. “Protect target Indigo at all costs.”

  “Target Indigo,” I mumbled. “That’s what my implant sent.”

  “Yes. Code Indigo is reserved for Eternals and their kin,” Terrence explained. “There’s no higher alert - not even for the president of the Federation.”

  “Wow. That makes me feel like an even bigger fool,” I said. “All this attention for me.”

  “You almost died,” he scolded me. “Your implant sent your vitals along.”

  “I’m already dead,” I pointed out.

  “She’s got you there, Chief,” Phillip said.

  “She’s undead,” Delenn scolded.

  “Tomato, tomahto,” Phillip said, stressing different vowels in his words.

  The rangers finished establishing a perimeter before we’d even finished talking. The protesters, intimidated by more than four soldiers, started to disperse, though many still shouted hateful words as they went.

  A second ruckus in the crowd revealed a medivac team breaking through and racing toward us.

  “Here’s your ride, princess,” Phillip said. “You think you can walk?”

  I nodded and took his hand when he offered it. Standing wobbly to my feet, I turned to look at the school. Despite the police and protesters retreating, the national guardsmen hadn’t budged. If anything, they made the school look more imposing.

  Bracing myself, I pointed to the school. “I need to go there first.”

  “What?” Phillip asked, startled.

  “Have you lost your mind,” Terrence said. “You need medical attention.”

  I turned to face the squad leader. “And I’ll get it. But not yet. I need to walk up those stairs.”

  “Why?” he asked, point blank. He hadn’t said no yet.

  “It’s important. If I back down now the bigots and haters win. But,” I held up a finger, “if I walk up those steps I show them that I ultimately won, not hate.”

  “This isn’t the time for symbolism,” Terrence growled.

  “I think it’s noble,” Eleanor said, shrugging.

  “I’ll have you four, and the rangers, the entire time. No one will hurt me.”

  “You bet they won’t,” Phillip said.

  Terrence was silent for a long moment, looking around at the assembled rangers and at the medivac team and the ships still swarming overhead. News media had arrived too, with their recording drones filling the sky. Even now he was likely on camera. “Fine,” he said, relenting. “But you don’t leave our sight for even a second, you understand?”

  “Yes,” I said, putting as much innocence into my voice as I could.

  “And if things get too hot you listen and obey when I tell you to evac, yes?”

  “Of course.”

  He walked away to talk to the medical team, clearly telling them to wait in the wings until I’d accomplished my mission. When he returned he pointed toward the stairs. “Eleanor and Philip, take point.” He looked straight at me, helmet down-turned to face me. “Don’t make me regret this.”

  “I won’t,” I promised. Then, turning and throwing my shoulders back, in addition to wincing and almost doubling over when my ribs protested with twinges of pain, I walked through the line of encircling rangers and toward the stairs.

  If the national guardsmen were nervous they didn’t show it. They maintained their blockade of the school I intended to enroll at.

  I reached the foot of the stairs and looked behind me. The rangers had fallen in to form a corridor on either side of the sidewalk, with the medical team not far behind me. While most of the protesters had departed, several hundred remained off to the side, chanting behind a police barricade. It seemed the police would do their jobs when all eyes were on them.

  Seven steps to reach the top. I took the first step, then the next, wincing at the momentary pain. But compared to what I’d just endured, this was nothing.

  At last, I reached the top. My four guards stood behind me, while a straight-faced national guardsman stood in front of me, arms crossed. Six guards stood at his back. “I would like to pass,” I said, resisting the urge to say something more aggressive, like “you’re in my way” or “move.”

  “I’m sorry, we have our orders,” the guard said, eyes dull. If he feared the Shadow Watch Guards and rangers at my back, he didn’t show it. “You’re not allowed into the building.”

  “By whose orders?” Terrence asked.

  I held up my hand, forestalling him from speaking more. This was my fight. But he had a point. “Who ordered you here to keep me out?”

  “The planetary governor,” the guard replied.

  “So, you won’t leave until the governor calls you off?” I asked.

  “Correct.”

  I thought furiously. We could fight, as I knew my guards and the rangers could handle the guardsmen handily, but that could turn into a bloodbath on live holo, something I didn’t really want. I could turn and walk down the stairs into the custody of the waiting medics. But then the bigots would win. The crowd would cheer if I did that. I didn’t want them to cheer. But what other option was there?

  “May I speak to the headmaster?” I asked.

  “One moment,” the guard said. He pressed a finger to his ear, likely activating a comm, and moments passed as he stared toward the sky. “He’s on his way. But don’t try anything,” he warned.

  “That goes double for you boys,” Terrence shot back. “Lay a hand on this girl and you’ll have a war on your hands.”

  The lead guard didn’t reply, nor did he look scared or impressed. “You don’t have jurisdiction here, and you’ll be gone soon enough.”

  “What’s he talking about?” I asked, not turning my head as I scanned for the arrival of the headmaster.

  “Federation forces have no law enforcement jurisdiction on Federation planets,” Terrence explained. “It’s to prevent the military from being used as police forces and to prevent vigilante justice when we’re on shore lea
ve. It’s a check and balance.”

  “So, you’re here illegally?”

  “There’s one exception to that rule,” Terrence went on. “And this jerk may not be aware of it, so I’ll spell it out. The law states that in the event of a Code Indigo emergency being declared, all Federation forces are automatically deputized in the system the emergency was declared. So, friend, we are here legally.”

  “We’ll see,” the lead guard said, though I thought I saw seeds of doubt sprouting in his eyes.

  Sirens in the distance drew my attention. Police forces had arrived and set about forming a perimeter. Their SWAT officers formed a perimeter around the rangers, weapons faced toward them. Whoever was commanding the police forces was an idiot for escalating the conflict.

  “Idiots,” Terrence growled, echoing my thoughts. “They’re just making it worse.”

  We stood in silence for several long moments before the door of the high school creaked open. A pot-bellied, shorter-than-average man with glasses stepped out and strode haughtily toward me. Four National Guardsmen followed him. He pushed his way through the guards in front of me and stepped up next to the lead Guardsman. “What is the meaning of this disturbance?” he sneered at me.

  I swallowed a snarky retort, instead clearing my throat. “Well, the National Guard here won’t let me into your school. Would you mind telling them to let me in?”

  “Why would I ever do that?” the headmaster asked. “I’m the one who called for their assistance.”

  I had been expecting such a response. “Well, call the governor and tell him to call off his wolves.”

  “I will not do that.”

  “And why not?”

  “Because your...kind...do not belong here.”

  I took a deep, calming breath. Don’t punch him, don’t punch him, I repeated internally. “Sir, I am alive, as alive as anyone else. I can think, and I have feelings. What makes me less than human?”

  “The fact that you are not technically alive means you are not technically human. You are...something else...something sub-human,” the headmaster explained.