by John Coon
“That depends.” The other Earthian spoke for the first time. “How far away is your ship?”
He pointed to the eastern mountains.
“Up there.”
“A ship? In the Wasatch Mountains?” The man in the wide-brimmed hat chuckled as he posed his questions. “Those lakes up there are barely big enough to hold a small boat.”
Calandra sighed. Maybe he was trying to be funny. She could not tell, but his motives were irrelevant. She was in no mood to hear a lame Earthian joke.
“Our spaceship is up there.” Calandra put an extra emphasis on the word spaceship. “Can you please help us get back to it?”
The man in the wide-brimmed hat scrunched up his face at her. He turned to his riding companion and shook his head.
“I think we found us a couple of druggies. Let's get out of here and call the police.”
Both Earthians tugged on their reins to urge their animals to move again. The two long-snouted animals started off on a brisk trot. Calandra called after the Earthians, pleading for them to come back. They ignored her pleas and soon disappeared down the trail.
“So much for that idea,” Lance said. “We're on our own until Xttra gets here.”
A visible ripple and audible crackle ripped through the energy shield. Both Calandra and Lance snapped their heads toward a patch of trees on the south side of their vehicle. A long dart lay on the ground at the foot of the barrier. She glanced up. An Earthian, clad in a helmet and uniform, aimed a long-barreled weapon at the shield. Calandra took cover behind an open door. Lance raised his eliminator a second time. He crouched down behind the rear of the wrecked aerorover.
“That must be an alien soldier.” Lance said. “They found us much quicker than I expected.”
Calandra instinctively reached for her arca vox.
“We better warn Xttra! He's flying into a trap.”
A second soldier emerged from a trail behind the first. Both Earthians wore dark glasses obscuring their eyes. The second soldier stepped forward and raised a different long-barreled weapon. Several shots rang out. Numerous small metal casings fell at his feet. Each shot produced a corresponding ripple in the shield.
Calandra’s hands let go of the communicator for a moment. She shot a worried glance at Lance.
“Is this shield going to hold up? Their weapons can't punch through it, right?”
“As long as the shield markers don't fail, they can't touch us.”
The first soldier pulled out a small spherical object from a vest pouch. They yanked out a small ring hanging from the top and tossed the object toward a shield marker a second later.
An explosion followed.
Two markers blew apart.
Plumes of flame, dust, and smoke flew upward. Violent shock waves rippled through the entire energy barrier. The shield crackled with heavy static and finally collapsed.
“Oh no.”
Lance's words cut through the air with the same level of fear Calandra felt enveloping her from head to toe. When enough smoke cleared, both soldiers advanced toward their aerorover.
“Get out of there!” Lance shouted at Calandra. “We need to move. Now!”
Calandra ducked inside the aerorover, crawled across both front seats, and dropped out through the other open door. More ear-piercing shots rang out. Without a shield in place, the alien weapon peppered their wrecked aerorover and created many large holes at projectile impact points.
“Surrender yourselves.” One soldier finally addressed them. “We have you surrounded.”
“We are not your enemy.” Calandra's voice trembled a bit as she said those words. “We came here in peace.”
“Then surrender peacefully to us.”
His gruff response did not inspire confidence that she should take such an action. Lance’s thoughts were in harmony with her own.
“How can we trust you?” He said, cocking his eliminator. “What happened to the rest of our crew?”
The soldier ignored both questions.
“We're bringing you in no matter what. You can make it easy on yourselves or you can make it hard. Your choice.”
Lance swallowed hard and flashed a worried frown at Calandra. He leaned in closer and cupped his other hand to his mouth.
“When I give the signal, we'll make a run for the gully just north of our current position. We'll hide among the trees downstream and alert Xttra once we've evaded the Earthians.”
Calandra cast an equally worried glance toward the gully in question. Reaching it required a dead sprint across open terrain. Covering the ground they needed to cover would take several minutes.
“That sounds really dangerous.”
“No worse than staying here.”
“I don't know if we can reach the gully. They're armed with tons of weapons.”
Lance cast a nervous glance toward the end of the wrecked aerorover.
“Look, this isn't an appropriate time to argue the point. Get ready to run.”
Calandra closed her eyes and drew in a sharp breath. Her heart pounded against her ribs anew and adrenaline surged through her body.
“Now.”
They both sprang forward. Lance fired his eliminator. A laser bolt struck the first soldier's long barreled weapon. It left a melted hole in the middle, rendering the weapon useless.
“Son of a bitch!”
The soldier threw his weapon down on the ground. Calandra smiled and turned her attention back to reaching the gully.
Score one for Lance.
“Alanson!” the second soldier called out behind her. “Cut off their escape route. Shoot down those damn aliens before they reach the creek.”
Lance stayed a half-pace behind Calandra, trying to shield her from both soldiers on their tail. He fired his eliminator again. Calandra heard a pained groan. She looked back. The second soldier collapsed on the ground, cradling a spot on his left thigh where a laser bolt ripped into flesh and bone.
“Jesus, Alanson!” The first soldier screamed into a tiny communication device suspended before his mouth. “Move in. You aren't on a damned holiday out here.”
A third soldier appeared before them on a trail ahead. He ducked down near a short, thick log fence bordering one side of the trail. This Earthian soldier – the same one Calandra assumed the others called Alanson – carried a similar long-barreled weapon as the first two soldiers.
Lance and Calandra plunged into thick underbrush bordering the gully. Alanson turned and fired. A small projectile struck Lance in his right shoulder. He stumbled forward from the force of impact and his eliminator flew out of his hands. Still, he stayed on his feet. His flex armor absorbed much of the impact and stopped the projectile from penetrating flesh or bone.
Calandra drew her eliminator from her holster. Before she could fire the weapon, Alanson clutched his throat and collapsed to the ground. Blood spurted through his fingers. A gurgling sound escaped his lips. A razor disc, launched from one of Lance's armored sleeves, found its mark in the Earthian soldier.
Calandra glanced at Lance with a horrified expression. Tears threatened to burst forth from her eyes anew. She never witnessed anyone get killed before. Calandra only wanted to wound him or shoot the weapon out of his hands.
They neared a steep slope overlooking the gully. She glanced back over her shoulder. The first soldier drew a smaller sidearm. He raised the weapon.
“Lance!” Calandra screamed. “Look out!”
He spun around to unleash another razor disc but did not beat the Earthian soldier to the punch. A second small projectile struck Lance below his left hip. He stumbled backward and lost his footing. Lance tumbled down the slope. He grabbed at tree branches to impede his fall. The assistant pilot bounced off a thick branch and dropped into the gully. Water splashed straight up a second later.
Calandra pivoted and ran northeast toward a different section of the creek. The slope grew flatter closer to the log fence. If she climbed down near the fence, and then tracked down Lance, they
could elude the Earthian soldiers and disappear amid the trees downstream.
At once, something struck her in the right calf. Calandra lost her balance and stumbled forward. She crashed against a giant boulder, landing on her left side.
Both bones in her forearm snapped below the wrist. Her left arm now had a giant dent in it. Her wrist and hand bent at an odd angle.
Calandra's face contorted with sheer agony. Shallow rapid breaths escaped her lips. Tears rolled down her cheeks. The first Earthian soldier caught up to her and stood over her.
“This is Thorn,” he said, speaking into a tiny communication device in front of his mouth. “Two joes and two aliens down. Caught one alien alive. Need dustoff inbound. Over.”
Thorn wrapped a metal restraint around her legs, just above her ankles. She had no strength left to fight back.
Calandra was his prisoner now.
27
Lance found himself laying at the bottom of a gully. A small creek bubbled a short distance from him. Trees resembled indistinct blobs after his eyes first opened. Lance squinted and shook his head. Those landmarks began to grow more distinct again. He pushed off his left hand and pulled himself up into a sitting position.
Damp soil clung to his uniform at various impact points. Fabric had torn open at the left elbow and right knee. Scraped flesh stung in both spots, a sign his flex armor got torn during his fall. Two gaping holes were in his chest and shoulder on his uniform – each one no larger than a typical Ra'ahm coin. Fortunately, his flex armor stopped the projectiles responsible for creating the holes from penetrating flesh and bone. Lance cast his eyes toward the hilltop. Trees and thick underbrush partially obscured his line of sight. Still, no sign of Earthian soldiers in the immediate area.
A lump formed in his throat.
Calandra. What happened to Calandra?
Lance grimaced as he scrambled to his feet. His right knee felt rubbery when he tried to put weight on that leg. Some blood oozed from where he scraped it open while tumbling down the hillside. His eyes darted in every direction.
Did the soldiers capture her?
Did they kill her?
Lance began to hyperventilate as he limped forward a few steps.
“Calandra! Where are you?”
Desperation dripped from the question as his words echoed through that part of the ravine. Evading soldiers was no longer his primary concern. Lance needed to find her. He promised Xttra he would keep Calandra safe.
He climbed the hill as fast as his injuries allowed. A rock slipped out from under his hand near the midway point. Lance stumbled and slid back down a few feet. He kept pressing forward, silently ordering himself to complete the climb. Sweat trickled down his forehead, rolling down his cheeks and off his jaw.
When he finally reached the walking trail overlooking the creek, Lance saw nothing. He heard nothing. His eliminator still lay along the side of the trail where it spilled out of his hand earlier. Lance pulled out his thermal tracker and activated it.
The tracker detected only a few small animals nestled in tree branches. No heat pattern matching a human popped up around the creek or the trail. Lance let his tracker drop to his side and then sank to his knees.
“No. Please, Ahm. No.”
Uncontrollable sobs enveloped Lance. He beat his fists into the ground.
His worst nightmare had returned.
“Nothing except pilot error could have caused that accident.”
Those words clawed their way into his mind again. Memories of that awful tribunal resurfaced right behind them. Lance found himself sitting in the witness chair again inside the tribunal chamber. Five Stellar Guard judicial officers sat behind a raised bench against the back wall. A witness stood behind a podium facing the officers. Lance sat in a chair bordered by a wood railing on three sides a short distance behind the podium. A larger box surrounding chairs holding other witnesses lay on the opposite side of the room.
“So, what you're saying, assistant pilot Grull, is the crash on the asteroid was preventable?”
“Without a doubt.” Grull cast a hardened glance out of the corner of his eye at Lance as he spoke from the podium. “Based on the evidence we uncovered in the wreckage, I believe Lance Ikara bears sole responsibility.”
Lance hung his head. He seethed at Grull's audacity to place blame for the crash on his shoulders alone. That liar never witnessed both antimatter fuel injectors lock up without warning. He did not experience a catastrophic engine rupture or endure the ensuing death spiral into an asteroid.
Lance shared compelling evidence confirming his account of how the crash unfolded. The judicial officers ignored what they saw and heard. Xttra's testimony on his behalf also failed to sway their hearts and minds. In the end, they stripped Lance of his master pilot rank and placed him on probationary status.
“You traitorous liar!”
Xttra tore into Grull once the tribunal concluded and they exited the chamber. Bo'un and Tressek each had to restrain an arm to keep him from raining blows upon his assistant pilot. Grull at once turned and shot Xttra an ice-cold stare.
“The truth needed to be told.”
“Your version of the 'truth' is not the truth. You never even set foot inside that wrecked ship!”
Grull stabbed his finger at Lance.
“He should never go near a scout ship again. Good people died because of his negligence. Their blood is on his hands.”
The scene dissolved and fell back among the rest of Lance's latent memories when a cool burst of wind slapped him in the face and a humming engine greeted his ears. Lance craned his neck skyward. An aerorover circled above him.
Xttra had arrived.
His throat tightened anew. What would Xttra say when he learned the Earthian soldiers captured Calandra? His despair and grief would dwarf what consumed and tormented Lance himself. How could he face his friend now?
“What will I do? What will I do?”
Lance kept repeating the question to himself as the aerorover touched down. He limped back down the trail toward the clearing bordering the creek. Breaths came in jagged bursts once again. Exertion from fleeing alien soldiers did not cause it this time. Fear and remorse over his failure drove the shortness of breath.
When the aerorover door opened, Lance dropped to his knees a second time. He buried his face in his hands. Tears soaked his palms and ran down his wrists.
“I came here as soon as I could escape. I thought those soldiers would never ...”
Xttra's voice trailed off. Lance swallowed hard and forced himself to make eye contact with his friend. Fear visibly gripped Xttra when his eyes fell upon Lance's tear-stained face.
“Where's ... Calandra?”
Hesitation now gripped Xttra's voice. Lance said nothing. His lips trembled as he struggled to find the right words to share such awful news. There was no good way to reveal what became of her.
“Where is Calandra?” Xttra's voice grew quieter as the reality of the situation grew clearer for him. “What happened to her?”
“The aliens shot down our aerorover.” Lance's voice became choked up. “We were forced to land in this ravine. We tried to flee into the woods. She didn't get away fast enough.”
“You're lying.” Xttra seized Lance by the collar and pulled him to his feet. “You have to be lying.”
“I passed out when their weapons fire sent me tumbling down a hill. Calandra was right there with me. When I woke up, she was gone.”
Xttra became stone-faced. He bit down on his lower lip. Tears rolled down his cheeks.
“We tried to fight back,” Lance trembled, and his voice quavered. “I tried to do everything in my power to protect her. I'm so sorry.”
Xttra relaxed his grip on Lance's uniform and pushed him away. His left hand dropped to his belt and he withdrew a melter from his holster. A second later, Xttra snapped his hand back up and pointed the barrel straight at Lance's face. He popped a fresh acid pellet inside the chamber. Pure anger coursed through h
is deep blue eyes.
“You abandoned her to the aliens,” Xttra said through clenched teeth. “You coward! Tell me why I should let you remain alive.”
“I hope you can save Calandra. When you do find her, please ask her to forgive me.”
“Forgive you?”
Lance reached out and wrapped his fingers around the barrel. He pulled the melter forward and pressed it against his forehead.
“I failed you like I've failed everyone else. Please tell my family I'm sorry. Tell Calandra I'm sorry.”
Xttra's finger rested in front of the trigger. It did not move. His whole body grew as rigid as a tree trunk. He lowered his head and pinched his eyelids shut. An uncomfortable silence formed between the two friends. It only added to an agony consuming Lance, an agony he knew Xttra also felt.
When Xttra raised his head again, he opened his eyes and tossed the melter to the ground. He pulled Lance to his feet and wrapped him in an embrace.
“I won't lose my best friend and the woman I love on the same day.”
Lance stooped down and plucked the weapon off the ground. He handed it to Xttra, who promptly returned it to his holster. Xttra put his arm around Lance's shoulders and helped him limp back to the aerorover.
“How do we find her?”
Lance's question upon reaching the vehicle sliced through an uncomfortable silence. Xttra turned and answered him with a blank stare. His face revealed what he could not put into words. Xttra had no clue where to even start when it came to tracking down Calandra.
Xttra stared at the small creek a short distance away. Only a few seconds passed before he stiffened and snapped his head back toward Lance.
“What happened to your aerorover?”
“An alien attack vessel damaged it and forced us to land in this ravine. Calandra told you this. So did I.”
Xttra stretched his hand out toward the creek.
“I don't see it. What happened to the aerorover? Did the Earthians destroy it?”
A light flickered on inside Lance's head as he gazed upon churning and bubbling water. The soldiers only took out shield markers during their attack. The aerorover itself was damaged in flight but remained intact when he and Calandra fled from the vehicle. No visible remnants or blast marks lingered in the soil to suggest alien weaponry destroyed it. If no sign of the aerorover remained, that meant only one thing. Those Earthian soldiers took possession of the vehicle and hauled it away when they captured Calandra.