She made her way back to the launch bay and caught a glimpse of Commanders Reskit and Veniur standing in a small circle of men and women in the same black uniform, talking quietly together.
They were in front of a sleek runner that looked like it was Special Forces property, rather than part of the Galaha's standard vessel allocation, and Tally was pleased to see the Caruson runner was at the other end of the bay.
She tagged along behind a group of crew who were headed for the small, agile fighter ships in the middle of the bay, and then broke off and made her way to the Caruson runner.
There was no one around it now. All the Caruson had obviously been moved out of the hold to the med bay.
It was her lucky day.
The little helpers sort of got the joke. She could sense a stirring of amusement, and then a single thread of query about whether this was a good idea.
Probably not, she told them. But I'm not letting the chance go.
She stepped into the runner and settled into the pilot's chair.
Another fear gripped her.
This was going to out her. She had no explanation as to how she knew how to fly this runner. Eventually whatever she was about to do would come out, and if she was alive to face the consequences, she was going to have to tell them about the little helpers.
She blew out a breath and touched the controls, closing the door before she started the engines so there was no chance someone would notice what was happening and jump onboard.
Then she let the little helpers have the wheel, and they showed her how to start the engines in a soft, launch bay mode, so the runner rose up more like a hover and then drifted forward toward the flexi-screen that sealed in the ship's air.
Just before the runner hit the semi-liquid curtain, she caught movement from her left, saw Reskit and three other special forces officers running toward her, shouting.
She judged the distance and kept the gentle speed as the runner slid through the pale blue wall, and out onto the other side.
Then she bent over the control panel and let the engines rip.
The comms squawked and then a string of unintelligible Caruson came over it.
She hesitated. If this was from one of the Caruson warships, they had caught on to her very fast. And if she answered in VS vernacular, she'd be made. But it was most likely the Galaha, who thought a Caruson was flying the runner.
If she didn't set them straight, they'd shoot her.
“I don't understand Caruson,” she said at last.
“Is that Tally Riva?” Captain Harris's voice was a hiss.
“It is. Sorry, Captain Harris. You shut me out, and I didn't feel I could share my idea with you. I'm going to blend in with the runners the Caruso have launched into near-space and see if I can retrieve my friends.”
“Come back right now.” Harris's tone was harsh.
“Sorry, no. I don't report to you, Captain. And I have a good idea what your plans for me would include if I did come back. There's no time to waste, anyway.”
She cut off the comms over Harris's reply, and concentrated on piloting toward the dark green, gold, and red planet below.
She didn't have time to find the warships and slip amongst them, she realized. They would be heading down to wipe out every single witness, so she needed to be the first one down.
She just hoped the Caruso didn't notice.
* * *
“Comms says there are two warships coming in.” Garner called from inside the building that housed Rainerville's communal lounge and dining room.
Ben was standing just inside the door to avoid the heavy rain, and he looked up. There was nothing to see but dark purple clouds. “We'll have to take their word for it.”
Garner must have left the comms unit because suddenly he stood shoulder to shoulder with Ben. “Shit. We're blind.”
Handel and Sari ran toward them when Ben gestured to them, slowing when they saw the direction of Ben and Garner's gaze.
“Caruson warships,” Garner explained. “Two.”
“Why come back?” Sari asked, making room for herself in the doorway and wiping the rain from her face. “Especially when they'd gotten away.”
“Because they didn't want any Caruson left to talk about what they've been up to.” Handel's eyes were on the tents just visible through the curtains of rain. “Someone over there probably knows what use they're going to put the mineral they're mining to back on Caruso.”
“Vrk does, I'm sure,” Ben said. He looked over at the field, and saw Vrk walking through the downpour toward him.
This time, he was willing to bet, they'd have sent Caruson warships that were prepared to fire on their own people. Not like the last one, the crew and captain of which had probably known Vrk and some of his people personally.
The comms unit behind them emitted a high pitched squeak, and Garner rushed back to it.
They all turned toward him.
“The warships have launched at least four runners each at Veltos.” Garner tapped out a confirmation of receipt, and then went still. Lifted his gaze and when it met Ben's, he flinched away.
“What is it?” Ben knew he wouldn't like it, whatever it was.
“The runner that took off when they were shooting at us? It got taken by the Galaha. Tally was onboard.”
If it had been any other time, Ben knew he'd feel the weight of worry for Tally lift. But those two Caruson warships meant the Caruso didn't want any witnesses, and that included the Galaha.
The Galaha had no way to transmit what was happening to the rest of the VSC--the comms satellite was gone. If the Caruso could destroy the Galaha and everyone on Veltos, they could get away with what they'd done.
He forced himself to shrug. “She'd be in as much danger down here as she'll be on the Galaha.”
He looked back toward Vrk, who was still jogging through the rain toward him, and it suddenly hit Ben. If there were runners coming, the injured Caruso in the tents were sitting out in the open, completely vulnerable.
He started running.
“Ben, wait!” Garner called behind him, but Ben waved his hand.
“Later!”
Handel and Sari had obviously come to the same conclusion as he had, because with a burst of speed, they drew level with him.
They met Vrk at the edge of the field.
“What is it?” Vrk asked.
“Your people are back.” He pointed up, shielding his eyes against the rain.
Vrk frowned as lightning lit the dark, bruised clouds.
“We've been told there are eight runners coming.”
Vrk stared at him, and Ben had the impression he was thinking the words over, trying to understand them.
“Eight?” He held up his fingers, showing seven.
“No. Eight.” Ben showed him eight fingers.
Vrk's mouth formed a grim line. “Need to move.”
“Yes. Into the forest. It isn't going to save everyone, but it's better than sitting out in the field,” Ben said.
Vrk gave a nod of agreement.
“Let's start.” Ben turned to Sari. “Get the scientists here to help as well. We'll need everyone.”
She nodded, turned, and ran toward the buildings.
Vrk turned the opposite way, running toward the tents and shouting the news to the Caruson who weren't hurt.
As Ben followed him at a jog, Handel put out a hand and gripped his arm. “We're going to try and save them?”
Ben glanced over. “They surrendered to us, so we are obliged to save them. But I would have tried anyway.”
Handel smiled cynically as he nodded. “Vrk knew what he was doing, all right. But if they hadn't surrendered? Even if they'd left us alone and stopped hunting us down, I don't know that I'd have tried to help them.”
Ben lifted his shoulders. “I don't think anyone who's injured should be attacked. But if you want to look at it another way, who keeps the moral high ground here?”
Handel shot him another look. “E
ven if they don't care about the moral high ground?”
“We don't worry about what they do or don't do. The Verdant String has to work with a lot of other people from a lot of other planets. Who are they going to prefer to ally themselves with when the Caruso get more aggressive with their attacks? Us, or them?”
Handel conceded the point with a nod, and took his side of a stretcher with good grace when they got to the first tent.
They started running the first wave of injured miners across the field and into the forest. With only four hovers, all the stretchers needed to be used, as well. Ben was paired with a Caruson soldier, and he was glad of it, because the Caruso they were carrying was heavy.
They all were.
He was also near death.
The rain pounded down on them and the injured Caruson didn't even turn his head.
Ben wondered if they needed someone to walk through the tents and choose who was most likely to live, so those people could be moved first.
He would have to raise it with Vrk.
His people. His call.
“Ben.” Sari reached him as they were loading the second Caruson onto the stretcher. “Garner got word Tally stole the Caruson runner out of the Galaha's launch bay, and she told Captain Harris she's on her way down here to get us.”
Ben stilled in shock, looked up. The clouds were too thick, and the rain still too heavy to see anything.
Suddenly, he frowned.
“How's she flying it?”
Sari shrugged. “They don't know. But she cut them off and she's gone dark for now. All they know is she said she's coming to get us.”
“Is she ahead of the runners the Caruso sent?”
Sari shrugged. “That's all I know.” She ran toward a stretcher being dragged by a Caruson soldier, and he stopped to let her pick up the other end.
Ben picked up his own end, and then he was running across the field, arms burning, injured side stabbing him with pain, mind spinning.
Tally had stolen a runner.
He didn't understand why she hadn't discussed it with Harris before she left, but he was sure he'd find out soon enough.
She was coming down. Coming to get them. And she didn't realize there were a lot more of them to get than she thought.
Chapter 40
The Caruson runners were just behind her.
Tally felt them like a hot breath against the back of her neck. They were racing down, and on the screen she could see the two warships had left their original positions and were moving toward the Galaha.
She'd gotten away just in time.
Veltos was no longer a sphere in front of her, she was close enough to see the large swathes of green forest, the red sand and gold grass of the plains.
A runner edged into her peripheral vision, over to her right, and she turned to follow it.
Somehow its pilot had caught up with her, knew how to go faster than she did, which was no surprise, but as she had no sense of where Rainerville was precisely on the vast planet in front of her, it would surely be quicker to follow someone who looked like they did know where they were going than guess.
A quick look at her tracking system showed her they were the front runners by a lot.
She pushed the runner more than she was comfortable with to keep up, and then felt her stomach cramp as she saw they were headed not for Rainerville, but the Caruson mine site.
She gnawed at her lip as she kept up her speed, wondering what to do, whether to veer north, toward Rainerville or follow along. Because Ben's colleagues were still down there, too.
But they wouldn't have any idea of who she was. Would certainly not come toward the runner if she landed. It might be a huge waste of time when every minute counted.
Any ideas? She asked the little helpers.
They were silent, and she tapped her fingers nervously on the control panel. Her gaze sharpened on a few of the controls near her drumming fingertips.
There were lights underneath the runner. She'd used them before when she'd entered the Galaha's launch bay.
With nerves tightening her breath, she made her choice to at least try and pick Ben's friends up.
She activated the lights, and then began using Verdant String Switch Code as she approached the mine.
She'd had to learn it because she was part of the Expeditionary Force, which meant theoretically she could be stuck somewhere without access to tech. Switch code gave her the ability to still send out a message. She hoped the Arkhoran Special Forces learned it, too.
She kept it simple, flipping the switch on the same message over and over, and then took a careful look at the landscape as she lowered the runner closer to the ground.
The little helpers told her where they thought the best place to watch the mine site would be, and Tally agreed with them, setting down in the closest open spot.
Her comms unit buzzed, and she kept the engine running as she checked her tracking system, saw the runner she'd followed down was circling the site.
It hadn't opened fire yet, and Tally wondered if that was to fool the Caruso hiding in the tunnels and tents into coming out, so they could shoot them down in the open.
The buzz on the comms set was probably the other runner trying to contact her to ask what the hell she was doing.
She ignored the hail and opened the door, walking through the back hold to stand at the top of the ramp.
The runner's engines were whipping up the dust from the dry plain, the red swirl making it hard to see.
She hesitated, searching through the flying sand for any sign of Ben's people. She couldn't stay. She was only just ahead of the other runners as it was, and every second was a second she wasn't headed for Rainerville.
Suddenly two figures dressed in black appeared, heads bowed against the blast of dust from the engines.
She waved, gesturing them in.
They hesitated.
Frustration roared through her. She pointed to the other runner, and then gave the VSC military standard sign for 'we have to leave now'.
They stayed were they were, and Tally took a step toward them, and then stopped, looked back to the bridge.
She didn't have time to persuade them. Regret held her for another beat, and then she broke free of it. Hardened her heart.
She turned back to face them, gave them the one minute signal, and ran back inside.
She started closing the door, and almost sagged with relief when she heard the clatter as the two soldiers threw themselves inside.
Then she lifted up, to the near constant buzz of her comms unit.
The other runner was still circling, and the technique was working. Some of the Caruso had come out of the tunnels, and more out of the tents.
She wanted to warn them, but--
She looked down at the panel, and engaged one of the laz on the underside of the runner.
She took aim at a point out in the open, where there was no one that she could see, and she took her shot.
The Caruso flinched back, and she shot again, this time a little closer to the tents.
“What are you doing?” The voice behind her was a little rough, as if they had been breathing in dust.
“I'm warning them to keep under cover, because the runners that are coming are here to wipe them out.” She lifted the runner up and banked to the left, heading in the direction of Rainerville, which she remembered from her earlier trip in the other direction. Last time, she'd had to do it at laz point.
She glanced over her shoulder and couldn't help the laugh that escaped. Looked like she was doing it at laz point again.
The two members of Ben's team who'd gone to watch the mine stood on either side of her, both with their weapons drawn, covered in red dust, faces streaked.
She couldn't remember either woman's name.
“I'm sorry, Ben told me your names but I've had so much happen to me, I can't remember what they are.”
That threw them a little.
“How do you know Ben?”
>
“We were on the Trail together.” She turned back to the control panel, even though the little helpers were buzzing, were telling her all the ways she could turn this situation around, so she was the one with the laz.
“So what's going on and what was that message--”
“Listen.” Tally flicked a glance their way. “I don't have time for a long explanation. I risked a lot to pick you up. While I don't expect you on your knees with gratitude, there are two Caruson warships in near-space, and they've released eight runners to come clean up the mess they made. That means killing their own people, and us. I'm going to grab Ben, Sari, Handel and Garner and the three scientists at Rainerville, then my three friends at the supply station, and try to get us all off this planet, or at least find a place to hide until the Galaha and those two warships finish facing off with each other.”
There was silence for a moment and Tally concentrated on checking to see what the other runner was doing.
It had begun to follow her, but after a minute, it turned back.
“I'm Enn, she's Va-Laya.” The woman with hair that gleamed almost as red as the dust caked on her cheeks gave the Arkhoran greeting, and her companion tucked a long, dark braid behind her ear and did the same.
“Tally Riva.” Tally nodded back, and tried to coax a little more speed out of the runner.
There were head winds, and the vessel was buffeted, rattling a little.
She went higher, and it eased off a bit.
“So, you were on the Trail with Ben. How did you get this runner?” Enn started wandering around, and Tally noticed her laz was no longer in her hand.
The little helpers stopped buzzing as much.
“I was captured by the Caruson, and they were going to take me to their warship.” She would stick to that story. It was simple, and at one point, it had been true.
“You escaped in it?” Va-Laya asked, surprised.
“No, their warship abandoned them, and then the Galaha arrived and the Caruson soldiers on this runner surrendered to them. I took it out of the Galaha's launch bay when the Caruson sent in those two warships, because I hoped the Caruso wouldn't notice one more runner in near-space. I was hoping to pick everyone up and get away.”
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