by Jan Domagala
“We have to get out of here, now,” Kurt said urgently.
“Where to?” Aswan asked incredulously.
“Anywhere, but here would be good,” Kurt replied and, as if to illustrate his point, the lifeboat dropped a few centimetres, a sudden jarring motion sending a wave of fear through all three of them.
“Good point,” Aswan agreed regaining a little composure. Knowing he had not been abandoned helped quell some of his fear.
Natasha looked up the craft to where the exit hatch was and said, “Come on, this way. I’ll lead, sir, you follow and Kurt you bring up the rear.”
Kurt admired how she took charge of the situation thinking she would make a good Recon Delta marine.
She set off at a good steady pace, picking her holds carefully and moving with a fluid grace. Kurt saw the prince watching her movements then copying them, he would not need telling what to do. It was obvious by his actions he’d had instruction and was an accomplished climber.
The two of them were half way up towards the exit when the lifeboat gave another sickening lurch towards the ground.
“Hurry!” Kurt said urgently.
Kurt soon caught up with the prince climbing rapidly up the craft.
Natasha reached the exit and immediately after opening it disappeared through it.
Aswan increased his efforts but with the speed his movements became jerkier and the lifeboat became more and more unstable in the branches.
Falling back in the foliage, the lifeboat’s movements shook Aswan free from his hold just on the edge of the exit. Letting out a scream he tried desperately to regain some purchase on the floor of the craft as he fell.
Kurt was almost shaken loose as well and as he saw the prince fall towards him he braced for the inevitable impact.
Only holding on with one hand and with one foot in a secure position, Kurt tensed for the impact. Aswan fell towards him and collided against Kurt’s shoulders, the blow almost knocking him from his position. Kurt hugged the floor as he was hit, riding the blow. Then, as the prince rolled off him heading towards the shattered viewport, he reached out with his free hand and grabbed hold of whatever he could, in this instance Aswan’s left wrist.
The sudden jerk from him catching the falling prince sent the lifeboat down a bit more.
“Hold on,” Kurt said as he looked down into the terrified eyes staring up at him.
With an effort born of desperation and that would cripple most men, Kurt pulled Aswan up towards him.
“I need you to climb up me to the exit, and hurry, we haven’t much time,” Kurt said as Aswan grabbed hold of him in desperation.
“Hurry man, move it,” Kurt added to spur him on.
Aswan began to climb, carefully at first then more rapidly scrambling over Kurt’s body until he was over him and heading once more for the open hatchway.
“Hurry you two,” Natasha said from the hatchway, her head appearing through the opening.
Securing his position Kurt set off after the prince and then with the two of them rushing towards the exit the lifeboat began to fall.
“She’s about to fall so move it faster,” Kurt said, but he needn’t have said anything for the moment Aswan felt the vehicle move he fairly ran up the floor and pulled himself through the opening.
Kurt found himself remaining stationary yet seeming to climb, an optical illusion as the lifeboat sank lower and lower in the foliage. The exit was actually coming to him but if the craft sank too low before the exit reached him, although he would be able to get out of the craft there would be nowhere to go as he would have sunk below any branches he could grab hold of.
Kurt hurled himself at the exit hoping he was not too late and pulled himself up just as the foliage gave way and the lifeboat fell.
Suddenly a hand appeared in front of him and, letting go of the doorway, he reached for it.
As the lifeboat fell away Kurt was left dangling out in the open holding on to Natasha’s hand.
The strain on her face as she held onto him was evident. She was hanging onto the trunk of a massive tree with one arm wrapped around it holding on to Kurt’s hand with the other as she took purchase on a sturdy branch.
“Help me, Prince, please. I can’t hold him for much longer,” she said through gritted teeth.
Aswan was wrapped around the trunk also, terrified for his life.
“Swing me towards the tree,” Kurt said when he saw the prince was not moving.
“I can’t,” Natasha replied. “I can’t hold you much longer.”
Just as her grip was beginning to slacken she felt the branch begin to wobble.
Anguish filled her eyes as she realised her grip was failing and he was slipping from her fingers.
“No!” she screamed as Kurt’s hand slipped lower and lower in her grip, then, just at the final instant, when her grip failed completely, another hand appeared and grabbed hold of him.
“I have you,” Aswan said as he held onto Kurt. Natasha grabbed hold once more and between them they hauled Kurt up to the branch where he would be safe, for the moment at least.
The sound of the lifeboat crashing through the branches made them all turn and look.
As it slammed into the ground there was no explosion, no fireball, it just crumpled into itself. Its velocity had been impeded by the branches, which clawed at it as it passed through their domain.
Natasha turned to Kurt and asked, “What now?”
“Firstly, thanks for saving my life, both of you. Secondly, to be honest, I’m not sure. We should have a day or two before the radiation begins to affect us but...”
“But what?” Aswan asked.
“Well, look around you, this forest shouldn’t be here, not if the levels of radiation are as high as we’ve been led to believe. This entire planet should be a wasteland.”
“Are we on the right world? Perhaps this is another in the system,” offered Natasha.
“No, this is definitely the planet the war was fought over,” Kurt said emphatically.
“What does all this mean?”
“I don’t know, I really don’t know. Come on let’s get down there and see what we can salvage, I’ve a feeling any answers we need we’ll find down there.”
20
Tula Rhan, the homeworld of Prince Aswan was a non-aligned world that had trade agreements with both the Confederation and Elysium Alliance.
Emperor Arat was waiting for his son to return from his cruise. Aswan was headstrong, always had been, and all his efforts to instil in him the humility and sense of duty a good ruler requires had so far come to naught. His son was his own man and Arat would just have to hope that he would grow into the role when the time came.
Standing at almost two metres tall, Arat had been a warrior in his youth. Before the mantle of Emperor had been passed onto him by his dying father, Arat had served in the military. His dark skin was a testament to the genes of his ancestors from Earth being of South American descent. His hair was still inky black and pulled tightly back from a high forehead to be tied at the back of his head in a ponytail, a feature copied by his son.
His hawk-like features were set in a stern expression as he listened to the report an aide was delivering.
“Our last report had the Colonial Queen approaching the Tartaran Battlefield, my lord. Since then we have been unable to contact Prince Aswan or anyone on board the liner.”
“How long?” asked Arat.
“It’s been fifteen hours, my lord.”
“And you thought to leave bringing this report to me this long because?” Arat said calmly yet with a mounting anger in is voice.
Thinking quickly the aide said, “They were supposed to report in every fourteen hours, my lord, by the time I learned of this I brought it to your attention immediately. I was unaware of the diversion from the flight plan until just now.”
“Why was the schedule set for only two reports per day?” Arat asked.
“After the Prince filed the proposed flight
plan we decided two reports per day would be sufficient. My lord, you know the Prince as well as anyone, the detour to the Tartaran Battlefield could well have been a whim and if that’s the case no one would’ve seen it coming.”
“Okay we’ll deal with that later, what we need to do now is get my son back safely.”
“I agree, my lord, what would you suggest?”
Arat turned to his aide and shouted, “What do you think I’m suggesting? I want my son brought home.”
“My lord, if you send in our troops you will undoubtedly cause an interstellar incident. It would jeopardise the trade agreements we have with both the Confederation and the Alliance to say the least and at the worst they could charge us with violation of Interstellar Law with the breach of the treaty.”
“So what am I supposed to do, leave my son to his fate out there? That is something I’m not prepared to do.”
“I agree, my lord, and if he was my son I would feel the same. What we need is plausible deniability.”
“Are you suggesting I entrust the safety of my son to mercenaries?”
“I have taken the liberty of locating Jared Saladar. I think he would be the man to send. He commands an elite troop of ex military, special forces soldiers who are respected throughout the galaxy as being the best at what they do.”
“Yes, Saladar’s record is well known to me,” Arat said as he began to calm a little at what was being suggested. He could possibly see a way to solve this problem that would please all involved.
“He is awaiting confirmation of mission details, my lord, and of course, payment. Time is of the essence here as he is due to begin a job for another client in less than a week. He has agreed in principle to take this commission because of who the client is, but at this point in the negotiations he has no idea what we require of him.”
“Okay brief him with what is required and pay him his fee, money is not an issue, my son’s life is more important to me than any fee he could imagine.”
“I understand, my lord. I will pass on your wishes immediately.”
“One more thing,” Arat said halting his ageing aide in mid turn.
“Yes, my lord?”
“Tell Saladar that failure is not an option. If he fails I will devote what is left of my life and my considerable wealth to searching for, and killing him,” Arat said with a coldness that chilled his aide to his core.
Bravely his aide said, “My lord, I don’t think Saladar is a man who reacts well to threats, whomever they’re from.”
Leaning in to his aide so that his breath could be felt on his face, Arat said, “Tell him anyway.”
Without another word his aide simply bowed his head, turned and left the large, cold chamber leaving his emperor to stare out of the large window that overlooked the city below.
The wheels had been set in motion. Although it was frustrating for the former warrior, there was nothing he could do now, but wait.
RILEY AND THE REST of the team arrived in orbit around Earth and were soon in approach to dock with the main body of the Pulsar, which had briefly de-cloaked. Sensor jamming was maintained so that they were not picked up by the myriad of sensors operating on the surface of the planet or from orbiting stations or ships that were within range. The docking manoeuvres were completed and the entire ship was cloaked once more.
Accessing a com. channel via his NI, Riley said, “General Sinclair, sir, we are on board the Pulsar awaiting any final instructions before commencing our mission.”
“No final instructions, Captain. The passenger list has been uploaded to the Pulsar as we agreed. Keep me informed and good luck,” Sinclair replied.
“Copy that, sir. Wildfire Team out,” Riley acknowledged then severed the call. “Okay people, we have a job to do. I want you to acquaint yourselves with this new ship, pick your quarters and get settled. Mission briefing will be in the ready room in fifteen minutes. Artie upload the Pulsar’s schematics and blueprints to every team members NIs then plot a course for the jump to the Tartaran Battlefield. I want you to take us within sensor range of that Zone. Is that understood?” he added.
“Perfectly, sir,” replied Artie, then before anyone could do anything he added, “Upload complete, sir, I also added the passenger list and schematics of the Colonial Queen. Also there will be no need to pick your quarters, they have already been pre-selected and some of your personal items have been relocated there along with your clothes.”
“Excuse me Artie did I just hear you correctly about our quarters and stuff?” Torres asked.
“You did Lieutenant.”
“Why?” asked Cooper also mortified by the intrusion to their privacy.
“Isn’t it obvious guys, this isn’t merely our transport, this is more like a base of operations cum temporary home,” Riley said.
“Indeed Captain, you are correct. General Sinclair did envision the Pulsar as your home base away from Earth. I hope you’ll be comfortable here,” Artie said.
Riley looked at the faces of his team and said, “If this is gonna be a problem we can sort it later. Right now we’ve a job to do, so let’s get to it. Convene in the ready room in fifteen minutes.”
21
Jared Saladar was on board his personal battle cruiser, an ex-military light battle cruiser he had purchased from an arms dealer over five years ago. Having spent an awful lot on refitting her she had become his base of operations and his home. His years in the military had given him the experience to run his present business, which was to hire himself and his select team of ex-professional soldiers, out to governments, corporations or private individuals for missions that were, to say the least, delicate, whereby it gave whomever hired them plausible deniability. In short, they handled jobs no one wanted to soil their hands with. They did it extremely well and charged extortionate fees.
Over the past five years, he and his team had worked for several clients in both the Confederation and his previous employer, the Alliance. For almost five years, he was the leader of an elite team of black ops specialists with the Elysium Alliance Black Knights under direct control of the late General Solon. The methods the late general employed clashed with Saladar’s code of honour which caused friction between the two of them, finally leading to the latter’s expulsion from the Black Knights. Saladar turned the black stain on his career bio into an advantage, setting up his own team and working independently meant he could work for whomever he pleased, picking the jobs he wanted and not doing something that would trouble his conscience just because he was ordered to.
Taking the news of the death of his old boss as a sign of change, he hoped whoever inherited the mantle had a stronger ethical compass.
Saladar was in his comfortable quarters when the familiar tingle alerted him to a call coming in. Routing it through to his holo-vid unit, a face appeared in the centre of his room, floating like some three dimensional apparition. It was the face of Emperor Arat’s aide, Leto Valdez. Saladar would not work for anyone who kept their identity from him, thinking that if they kept that a secret from him what other useful data was being kept from him.
“Emperor Arat has instructed me to pay whatever your fee is, to give you all the information we have available and finally to inform you that should you take the commission and fail he would hunt you down and have you killed,” Leto Valdez said.
“You can go ahead with the briefing, Valdez,” Saladar replied, ignoring the warning.
“What about your fee?” Valdez asked.
“We’ll come to that when I know what the mission is. My fee is non-negotiable by the way and paid half up front and the rest on completion.”
“No doubt you’ve heard of the Tartaran Battlefield?” Valdez said after a pause. He didn’t like the measure of control he was giving up to the mercenary but it was a necessary evil.
“Yes, it’s a Forbidden Zone governed by Interstellar Treaty Laws between the Confederation and Alliance and home to a colony of Outlaws.”
“Prince Aswan chartered the C
olonial Queen recently and for reasons unknown to us at this time, she took a detour to the Battlefield. Her last known position was inside the Zone close to the Battlefield and, as of fifteen hours ago, we’ve not heard from them. The Emperor cannot send in his Shock Troops for fear of bringing down the wrath of the Confederation and Alliance on to our planet.”
“Whereas we can go in, bring out the Prince and no blame will attach itself to you or the Emperor, is that it?” Saladar interjected.
“You have a grasp.”
“I’ve been doing this for a while now so I should have. We can give you plausible deniability, right?”
“Exactly.”
“Okay, here’s the deal. Twenty million, ten up front now, the rest on completion. All the data you have on the charter and I want a complete list of who he took with him.”
“Why is that important?”
“Because for every one of them I locate and bring back you’ll pay me an extra million, for those I don’t bring back you’ll pay the million to the next of kin. This too, is non-negotiable.”
“Everything you ask for will be done.”
“Once the funds are transferred, I’ll leave for the Zone. I’ll report to you when I have something to report,” Saladar said then broke the connection.
22
The climb down from the top of the tree where they initially crashed wasn’t as hard as they first thought. The branches were interconnected to such a degree that hand and footholds were therefore plentiful and they soon reached the floor.
“Let’s see if there’s anything we can salvage from this mess,” Kurt said as he surveyed the wreck of the lifeboat.
Natasha entered the crumpled forward section of the craft through a hole in the port side buckled hull section. Looking around she searched for something they could use.
“Do you think they’ll come down after us?” she asked Kurt when she saw him checking for weapons.
“I couldn’t say for sure, but it’s better that we be prepared. Who knows what we’ll meet down here. There might be indigenous life forms, animals, insects or birds, we just don’t know. What we do know from the initial reports is that this planet is an ‘E’ class planet. I have no idea what has happened here during the war or since but one thing’s for sure, what they told us about this place is no longer true. I don’t know if things have changed since the war or if what they told us was a lie but I intend to find out.”