Fractal

by Rachel J Mannino

  “I’ll admit that I had hoped for a much better outcome to our time together.” He tugged her closer. “You are the loveliest woman I have ever seen. Bold, caring, loyal to your people. A true queen.”

  Her blush deepened when he released her right hand to caress the hair by her temple. Then he cupped her face, stroking his thumbs over her cheekbones. Anna gaped at him in utter shock. She couldn’t move. She didn’t want to offend him after all he had done for her, but couldn’t return his affections

  Councilor Illeel sighed. “I was not about to take chances with your life. No matter how confident I am in my skills. I answered your questions—questions I would not have discussed with any other prisoner. Now I’m glad that I did.” His eyes burned into hers

  “You know we’re planning to—”

  He placed his hand over her lips. “Don’t tell me specifics. I don’t want to know in case I’m questioned. As I said before, do what you must. Do not destroy the ship or kill the commander. These are unforgiveable crimes. Only do enough damage so you can escape. Once they have discovered your escape, every Star Alliance command ship will be out looking for you. I will appeal to the commandant.”

  The councilor’s grip tightened. Anna took a shaky breath and nodded.

  “I will tell him that Commander Vok overstepped his bounds and violated the laws of our alliance. His attempted execution of you is not only groundless, it would be considered an act of war against your people. If I am successful, you will not be punished for trying to escape.”

  “Are you sure? What happens if the commandant sides with the commander?”

  “This will not happen. I know the commandant. I argued in front of him for years before I took this assignment. I know his mind. He trusts me. If you leave, and cripple the ship so it doesn’t follow you, he will see that you had no choice but to try to escape. I will argue it. I will bring the logs from your trial with me as evidence.”

  He grimaced, his eyes dipping to the floor. Anna waited for whatever came next. He raised his eyes to hers again. They were full of indignation.

  “I found out Commander Vok has a heavy financial stake in a company that is trying to figure out how to undo the damage on your planets so they can be taken over and sold. It is a new venture, and they have not made much progress. Your return means that you plan to reclaim your planets and the commander will lose a great deal of his investment. He’s trying to keep your people away from Dahrel for his own profit. The commandant should know this. I have all the evidence I need. He will listen to me.”

  That cheating bastard. He sentenced her to death because he wanted to make money? Anger burned in the pit of her stomach.

  “I don’t know how to access our ship. I only know where.” She flicked her eyes at the ceiling.

  Councilor Illeel let go of her hands long enough to reach into his pocket. He took out a small piece of paper. He pressed it into her hand.

  “The code to the collar is 0-1-4. That will open the corridor. Once everyone is across, you break the collar with 4-1-0. In exactly one minute, the collar will detach from your ship and retract. You must make sure that whomever types in the last code runs to your ship or they will die when the collar detaches into open space. I’ve given you the coordinates for this ship’s fuel supply, and our main thrusters. That is all the damage you need to do to get away. Do no more and no less.”

  She squeezed the precious information into her palm. “I don’t know how I can repay you for your kindness to me.”

  The councilor stroked her cheek with his thumb. Then he sighed. “Knowing that you are safe will have to be payment enough.” He brushed the back of his fingers along her arm. “I will not be able to contact you until the commandant makes his decision. I hope that you will be very far away by then. Perhaps I will see you again someday. For now, I wish you well.”

  “I wish you well. You have my heartfelt gratitude. I hope you succeed.”

  The councilor leaned forward, and for a moment, Anna feared he might kiss her. Varick’s face flashed in her mind, and she tensed. The Councilor brushed his lips across her cheekbone. He contemplated her for a long moment, his gaze smoldering. He released her. Without looking at her again, he called for a guard, exited her cell and strode down the hall.

  Stunned, she gaped at Hannah. Hannah smirked back at her. “You didn’t notice he was boiling hot for you, did you?” Hannah propped her chin on her hand

  “No. Not at all.” Anna let out her breath in a slow hiss. Hannah chuckled, Anna scowled, which made Hannah laugh harder.

  Anna stepped over to their tiny sink and splashed some water on her face. Then she sat down on her cot and went over their plot to escape.

  ~ * ~

  After their lights dimmed and the guards told them to go to sleep, Anna and Hannah rose from their cots. They tucked their rough, threadbare blankets around their pillows. Hannah helped Anna climb onto her shoulders. Once Anna removed the vent and climbed into the shaft, she hauled Hannah up. They replaced the vent and crawled through the ventilation. Anna’s heart pounded in her ears so hard, it should have echoed off the cold metal walls surrounding her.

  “We have to find Varick first and tell him the plan. Then we can free the others, cell by cell.” She glanced at Hannah’s dark gray outline behind her as they slid along the smooth metal of the ventilation shaft.

  They both lingered over the cell where Brendan and the other Guards of the Realm lay. They could hear someone crying below. Anna swallowed hard

  Hannah put a hand on her shoulder. “We’ll come back for him next.”

  She nodded. The men and the crew would follow Varick’s orders. They needed the Guards of the Realm to fend off any attacking Mara in the surveillance station. She pulled herself away from the grate and proceeded down the shaft.

  When they came to a T intersection, they veered left, away from the path toward the courtroom. The next few cells held more of the crew, but at the end of the hall, they peered down to see Varick and the councilman

  Varick lay on his cot—wide awake, staring at the ceiling. He clutched at the blanket where it rested over his heart. They loosened the screws that held the grate on. He glanced up at them. His eyes narrowed as he studied the soft scraping noise emanating from the grate. When they lifted it off, Hannah ducked her head down. Startled, he sat up on his cot. “Hannah?” he whispered

  “Are there any guards around?” she whispered

  He shook his head. “They won’t be back for some time. What are you doing?”

  “Just help us down.” Hannah waived him over.

  He got up and extended his arms to her. Hannah lowered herself until Varick caught her around the middle and set her on the ground. Trembling from nervousness and exhaustion, she dropped her legs into the hole of the open grate.

  “Anna,” Varick breathed

  His voice came out soft and husky when he said her name. She shivered. It filled the void in the center of her chest.

  She lowered herself down until Varick caught her waist. He yanked her straight down, setting her on the floor in front of him. His arms tangled around her, and he crushed her to his body.

  “Anna,” he said again, his voice thick with emotion

  He buried his face in the crook of her neck. Anna’s hands crawled up his arms to circle around his shoulders. She leaned into him, giving in to his warmth, and his strength. She forgot why she was there. She forgot why she was mad at him.

  “I hate to break up this happy reunion, but we don’t have all night,” Hannah interrupted

  Hannah’s voice roused Varick. He pulled away, and cupped her face with his hands. His gaze searched hers. “Did they hurt you? Are you all right?”

  She shook her head and withdrew from him. “I’m fine.”

  Councilman Meroca sat up in his cot, shaking himself awake. “Your Majesty? What’s going on here?”

  “If you all don’t mind holding off on your useless questions, I would like to escape before the Mara finds our asses and
haul us all off for execution.” Hannah folded her arms across her chest.

  Anna griped Varick’s wrist, feeling his strong pulse beneath her finger. “We have a plan to get us out of here, but we need your help to do it.”

  “How?” His expression turned sober

  She launched into a complicated series of tasks they would need to complete in order to get themselves and their entire crew to their own ship. Then they would need to pound the command carrier with enough weaponry to cripple it

  When she finished, Varick blinked. A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “You masterminded this plan?” Admiration shown in his eyes.

  “I helped, too, you know. Oh, and I’m fine, by the way. Just in case you were wondering if the Mara hurt me at all.” Hannah huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

  Varick sent Hannah a rueful grin.

  “Can we get going, already?” Hannah arched one darkened eyebrow

  “There’s one more thing, Varick.” Anna waved the small piece of paper from Councilor Illeel. “The code to the collar is 0-1-4. To release it, the code is the reverse, 4-1-0. Once the reverse code is punched in, there will only be a minute for the person to run the full length of the collar and get to the other door before the collar starts to retract and they get sucked out into space. You’ll have to choose your fastest soldier to make the run.”

  “I will.” He took the piece of paper.

  Varick helped Hannah climb onto his shoulders. Once she wiggled her way into the airshaft, she caught Anna’s arms, as Varick lifted her up. Groaning under the heavy weight, Varick helped lift the councilman to the women’s outstretched arms. Meroca barely fit through the entrance of the vent, but Anna and Hannah were able to lug him up. Then Varick took a running leap, and grabbed the grate opening. He heaved himself up and through.

  They crawled along the ventilation shaft until they were above the largest holding cell for the crew. They turned right and headed toward the room with the Guards of the Realm and the crew’s highest-ranking soldiers. Varick removed the gate, and Brendan sat up in his cot

  “Varick?” Brendan whispered.

  Varick lowered himself down without answering. He lowered Anna to the floor.

  “Anna.” Brendan ran to her.

  “Shhhhh, Bren. It’s okay. Everything’s going to be fine.” She wrapped him in her arms.

  The guards and soldiers, a dozen of them, sat up in their cots. Most of them were awake, talking in small groups. Some were on their feet ready to do battle before Varick even finished explaining to them what they had to do.

  One of the guards kept watch at the entrance to their cell, while Varick lifted first Anna and then Brendan into the grate. Then he climbed up, and one by one, each of the guards and soldiers followed him.

  Once they replaced the grate, they continued to crawl along the shaft, passing Anna’s prison cell. The corridor was long, but when they came to the end of it, Anna surveyed Hannah, Brendan, and the councilman

  “Wait here,” she commanded

  She headed right, but Varick grabbed her arm. “I would like you to wait here as well.”

  “I’m coming with you.”

  His mouth pulled into a grim line. “I will not risk losing you. You’ll be safe here.”

  His gaze burned into hers. Her throat constricted. Varick’s tone was so earnest, desperate. She swallowed past the lump in her throat, unsure of what to say

  Varick rounded on the three guards lined up behind him. “Tael, Siair, Dadon. Wait here until we return with weapons. Then take the Vadana up to the third deck, and the entrance to the collar. Clear the way for us. She knows the code to enter the collar. Guard her with your life.” He gave her arm a gentle squeeze.

  The three men imparted a small nod. Anna backed up against the wall to let him pass.

  Varick went right and crawled away. The guards and soldiers all followed him, except the guards now assigned to protect her. She sighed and settled down beside Brendan, putting her arm around his shoulders as they waited.

  ~ * ~

  Varick crawled down the corridor, his soldiers behind him. He wanted to return to Anna’s side and hold her, to tell her they would be all right. He couldn’t, and the only way he to ensure her safety was to get them all out of here

  Varick pushed aside his thoughts of her and focused on the mission. He moved over the first grate along the shaft and peered down at the metal floor beneath him. With great care, he turned the screws holding down the grate. Then he slowly lifted it. A figure moved beneath him, and he flattened himself down onto the hard surface of the ventilation shaft.

  The guard took off his rifle and hung it up on the wall alongside the dozen or so others just like it. Then the guard left the room.

  After waiting a few minutes, he leaned over the open ventilation shaft. He glanced around the room. Rifles hung on the walls, and there were metal bins filled with battle helmets and shields.

  Varick pushed himself through the opening and dropped to floor. The rest of his group came down, and they grabbed as many weapons as they could. One of his guards found their own weapons stashed in a corner of the room. His electric sword leaned against the wall. He belted it on, feeling much more at ease now.

  They grabbed shield guards from the bins. The metal plates slid over their wrists and rested on their forearms. They activated them, and the magnetic shield flashed in blue around their bodies before it became transparent.

  Several of the guards climbed back into the ventilation shaft, while others snatched rifles from the wall and handed them up. The rest grabbed shields and tossed them through the grate. Once they depleted the entire bin of shields and stole enough rifles to afford protection while they escaped, they climbed into the ventilation shaft. Varick replaced the grate and moved farther down to their next target

  He unscrewed the grate and lifted it clear with barely a whisper. He peered into the room to find three guards sitting in chairs below him. They were pouring over security footage from every camera installed throughout the ship. Dozens of view screens lined the walls. The guards tapped the control board, flipping each view screen to a new view of the ship every few minutes. It was enough to make him dizzy.

  He stuck his rifle through the opening, lining up his shot. He took aim and fired on them in rapid succession.

  Dropping from the ceiling, Varick went toward the door. He made it one step before a shadow fell across it and another guard entered. The guard’s eyes blinked several times in shock. His eyes slid over to the three men lying on the floor of the control room, and he growled. He lunged for Varick’s weapon. Varick threw himself out of the way, while firing on him. He collapsed to the floor, unmoving.

  Varick shut and locked the door. Several of his men jumped down, and stacked the guard’s bodies next to each other against the wall, cuffing their hands behind them.

  Varick found their communication devices and tossed them up to his other men through the grate. Then his best tech experts sat down at the controls and took the surveillance systems off line. One by one, each view screen went down.

  A senior crewmember disabled the automatic alert device that would set off a ship-wide alarm. Their work finished, they helped one another up into the ventilation system. Varick reinstated the grating, and directed them all toward the place where Anna waited with the others.

  Anna sat up, leaning away from the wall as Varick approached her. He spared her a quick glance, unwilling to let his gaze linger. All of his attention need to be focused on saving her life. He took three rifles and handed them to Tael, Siair, and Dadon. “Take them up to the third floor and get them onto the ship safely.” The three men nodded

  She tugged at his sleeve. “You disabled all of the surveillance systems?”

  Varick turned to her and slipped two shields on her wrists. He would take no risks with her life. His other men handed out shields to Brendan, Hannah, and their guards

  “Yes. The door is locked, and the guards who were in there are in
capacitated. We should have enough time to get everyone on board. Still, we need to move, so go—now.” He gestured to the vertical ventilation shaft with his head

  He crawled away toward the prison cells, but Anna gripped his elbow. “Don’t forget about the code. Please be careful.”

  The anxious look in her eyes made his heart lurch with a primal urge to protect her. Her eyes glassed over with tears. She was afraid, and he had no time to comfort her.

  “I will. The code is 410. I will not forget.” He removed her hand from his elbow, the simple touch hardly enough to squelch the overpowering desire to kiss her. “I’ll see you on the ship.” Varick turned away before he changed his mind and went with her himself. He had to get everyone out alive.

  ~ * ~

  Anna gulped down her fear as Varick crawled away, with the rest of the men following behind him. Anxiety paralyzed her limbs. She wished he had stayed with her. Hannah placed a hand on her shoulder

  “They’ll be fine.” Hannah peered up at the ventilation shaft over their heads. “We need to get to the ship.”

  She turned and studied the metal ladder that extended upward. Two of the guards climbed up in front of her, and then Anna followed, with Brendan, Hannah, Councilman Meroca, and the third guard.

  When they arrived at the third floor, they crawled a few feet to the nearest grate. The guards removed it. Below, the hallway was deserted. Tael and Dadon dropped down into the hallway, their rifles ready to fire. One ran to the closest door, painted white, unlike most of the doors in the ship that retained their metallic finish. He ran back to the grate

  “That’s the door, Your Majesty. It’s a small airlock room. I can see the pathway to our ship.” Tael shouldered his rifle

  “Quickly,” Dadon responded.

  Dadon extended his arms up to her. She slid out of the grate, and he caught her. He set her on the floor, and Anna hurried to the door. She pressed the key code into the pad on the wall. The key pad flashed twice, and the door opened.