by Candace Sams
Now came the part where they felt the consequences of their actions. Brave as they were, wars always came with a heavy cost. Because they had finally chosen to fight back, at least some of Aigean’s crew had survived and might be free — if they hurried and made no mistakes.
He walked toward Aigean, but stopped far enough away to avoid being a distraction. “I’ve got to find Cordis and Lyra. Can you watch D’uhr alone?”
“I have been dealing with him alone for a long time,” she responded without taking her gaze off D’uhr. “He knows what will happen if he moves.”
Soldar nodded then turned away. His duties at that point were clear.
First, he must make sure the crew efficiently went about the tasks Aigean listed. Of particular concern was getting the weapons into the cargo bay so they couldn’t be used to fire on the Venus as she took off. Some of the photon rifles could take out a ship even the size of Aigean’s, if they were aimed properly.
But he was determined to get everything done while searching for his brother and the woman he loved.
Cordis was easy to spot. His brother held a sidearm on Condorians who were offering their weapons to the Venus’ crew. Most of the enemy was so ill it appeared they no longer had the stomach for a fight. Sounds of their coughing and vomiting filled the dirty air.
Soldar tentatively moved toward Cordis. He feared he might be dreaming and that his missing brother wasn’t among the fighters Aigean had hidden in the bowels of her craft. But then Cordis turned his head and their gazes locked.
When his sibling smiled and tears began falling down his cheeks, Soldar knew their meeting was no dream. He rushed forward to embrace his younger brother. Cordis quickly handed his sidearm to a robed servant so he could return the hug.
“I won’t ask how you got here. I don’t care,” Soldar whispered as he held his brother tightly.
Cordis returned the hearty squeeze then moaned loudly.
“You’re hurt,” Soldar muttered as he backed away and gazed down at the blood seeping through the front of Cordis’ blue robe.
“The wound is days old, my brother. It’s nothing incurred during today’s skirmish, though it’s opened up a little.” Cordis waved off the concern with one hand. “The med-tech cared for me well. But so you won’t pester me about my appearance in this sector, I came looking for you when you were reported as missing-in-action.”
Soldar tilted his head in confusion. “One of us is very confused. You were the one missing. No one heard of your whereabouts for months. I received messages to this effect.”
“Soldar … it was not I who was reported as missing. It was you. I used my influence with General Shafter to attach myself to an Earth ground division though I told Myranda and your mate that I’d been separated from my comrades and was unable to contact a Craetorian ship. I didn’t want anyone knowing I’d used the family name to come searching for you.”
Soldar blinked and held out his hands. “I-I don’t understand.”
“Soldar … Mother and Father have been worried sick. They and our sisters have sent numerous missives asking about your safety or any news of you. I was originally aboard a Craetorian ship about to be sent into deep space, to fight in another sector. But I knew you’d last had contact with the general and that all Earth ships would be ordered to converge on this planet. It only made sense that, if you were still assigned to Shafter, you’d engage the enemy on Reisen Four. I just didn’t know it would be aboard a pleasure craft that’d been overrun by Condorians!”
Soldar stood there staring at Cordis for a long moment. Something in his mind made connection to memories. Cordis wouldn’t lie about such a thing. There was no reason for his brother to fabricate anything.
“Your mate is a brave fighter, Soldar. You should have seen her leading the Venus’ crew into the fray. They would have fought demons from the Ascers Nebulae on her say so! She was magnificent.”
“Lyra!” He put his hands on Cordis’ shoulders. “Have you seen her? Do you know where she is?”
“The last I saw of her, she fought her way toward the bow. That was where most of the Condorians were fleeing. They were almost ready to give up in the face of healthy, energized combatants rushing them so unexpectedly. Your shape shifting had them stupefied. I only wish I could have joined you but I have never been able to tap into that rage as you do, and Aigean was not nearby to help me.”
Cordis’ hastily uttered words were confounding but the meaning of them could be sorted later. He had to find Lyra and make sure she was safe.
“Come with me,” Soldar ordered as he navigated his way through a sea of robed servants, prostitutes, and sick, dead, or injured combatants.
What he found minutes later made his blood freeze.
Myranda was kneeling on the ground shouting orders for drugs and bandaging. Her patient was a lovely girl, lying still and pale. She was stretched out beside the hull of the ship. Red dirt was filtering over her wounded body as the breeze began to pick up. A long gash, probably delivered by an incendiary pulse pistol, meandered down her left thigh. Bone and muscle was exposed to the filthy air. But the more serious wound was a huge hole in Lyra’s lower left side. Myranda had torn away what little her patient wore to expose the wound for treatment. A quickly applied pressure bandage wasn’t enough. The hole was large and the gauze originally used to patch it had soaked up all the blood it could.
Soldar fell to his knees.
Myranda looked at him and shook her head. “She’s badly hurt. Without any armor, she took the full force of the blast. I haven’t the equipment necessary to repair massive organ damage, assuming I can stop the bleeding.”
“Please, there has to be something we can do … anything,” he insisted as he pushed his way to the other side of Lyra’s body and clasped her hand.
“I might be able to combine some drugs and induce a coma,” Myranda told him. “If I can slow down her body processes enough, without making things worse, it’ll give her a few hours. But if we can’t get her to a star-class surgical unit … ”
As her words trailed away, Soldar closed his eyes and fought for control of his emotions. He could do nothing for Lyra if he couldn’t think. After a moment of fighting his fear, a door suddenly opened in his brain and years of experience took over.
“We need to get off the surface of Reisen Four. I can send a coded distress message to Elias Shafter. His command ship has a well-equipped sick bay. But we can’t stay here. D’uhr’s ship is in orbit and Shafter’s vessel will come under attack if we attempt a rendezvous on the surface. We need to get into deep space and try to escape detection.”
“Give me the sequencing for Shafter’s ship, Soldar. I’ll get to the bridge and send the message,” Cordis said as he automatically assumed command of the evacuation. “Stay with Lyra. I’ll coordinate everything. We’ll be off this damnable rock in short order. I promise!”
Soldar swallowed hard and repeated the sequencing twice so there’d be no mistake with the transmission. As an officer and ground force captain, Cordis would know how to send a message so D’uhr’s orbiting base ship couldn’t intercept it. But just before he hurried away, Cordis squeezed his shoulder in support. Soldar smiled at him and bid him to hurry.
Once Cordis was gone, Soldar couldn’t move. His entire body shook and he felt his reason leaving. His emotions were almost out of control. All he could do was sit there and stare down at Lyra’s beaten face.
The bruises delivered by Condorian brutes threatened to cause another shifting experience. But he fought it with all his might. They couldn’t afford such an outburst now. He had to help Myranda. He must concentrate on getting Lyra inside the Venus.
To steady himself, his mind reached out to Myranda’s shouted commands. He clung to her professionally delivered orders. And slowly — ever so slowly and with great deliberation — he held onto his real
persona.
In the midst of all the chaos, more memories returned. The images in his mind made no sense and some faces in those memories weren’t recognizable. But he held on and did exactly as Myranda bid.
• • •
“I’ve done all I can and there’re other wounded to tend,” Myranda softly advised. “If we can get to that other ship in time, she has a chance. But I won’t lie to you, Soldar. Even Shafter’s physicians might not be able save her.”
“She’s a fighter. She’ll hang on … I know she will,” he woodenly responded. He sat on the pillow bed next to Lyra’s body and carefully arranged the bedclothes around her shoulders and smoothed back her hair. His fingers skimmed over the swollen wounds on her face.
Once again, he held back the shifting demon within him.
Why did Earthlings allow their women into battle? He silently cursed their independent natures. But then, that was the very thing he so loved about Lyra. She was a courageous warrior. She had a right to fight and die for her freedom. If the Condorians reached Earth, she’d fight and die there no matter what anyone did. It was better that she was trained and took the battle to the enemy.
In the time he’d known her, she’d never lied about anything. She’d only covered Cordis’ presence because of an order. Cordis had explained that he hadn’t wanted to interfere with whatever mission was ongoing. He further explained that Aigean couldn’t clarify the sudden appearance of another new Craetorian — one who hadn’t been previously accounted for among the crew and who looked so much like D’uhr’s lover.
Indeed, Cordis’ discovery would have led the enemy to the other injured allies.
All this information supported Lyra’s decision to keep Cordis’ presence a secret. She’d followed a command to the letter. His brother had lived because she’d kept all the survivors’ existence hidden. That was all that mattered.
He was aware of Myranda leaving the quiet space they’d chosen for Lyra. The comfort provided by Cordis’ presence was indescribable. His brother gave him hope when nothing else could. Though he knew Lyra wanted to live, there were some things a great heart and fighting spirit couldn’t endure. She’d lost so much blood and was now in such a deep coma she couldn’t possibly know who was present or what was happening.
At least she couldn’t feel any pain. That was one reason Myranda had loaded every drug she safely could into Lyra’s system. But those same drugs could harm her and bring on her demise. Her body functions could shut down as they tried to save her brain.
All Myranda had done was buy some time so burned organs could eventually be treated and her blood pressure stabilized. It was a small chance.
As Soldar stared down at Lyra’s face, a goblet of fresh water was shoved before him.
“Drink this, brother. You won’t do her any good if you expire from thirst. It’s been two hours since we reached deep space. The Creator is with us. D’uhr’s vessel either didn’t detect our departure or there are so many sick crewmembers aboard his ship that they didn’t care.”
Soldar took the goblet his brother offered and sipped his water slowly before speaking. “There are things we need to say to one another, Cordis. You seem to know about a shape shifting ability I never knew I had before boarding the Venus … and you accept it.”
Cordis looked away.
“What’s going on?” Soldar asked. “What’s happening to me?”
“Now isn’t the time for revealing secrets. In fact, I should help Myranda and the crew. There are dead comrades in the cargo bay and they should have words said over their remains.”
“You’re too wounded to move safely. It’s a wonder you haven’t torn that suture open again,” Soldar said as he gestured toward Cordis’ healing midsection. “Myranda gave you an order to stay put and rest. In fact, she seemed curiously concerned. More so than a simple med-tech might show toward a patient … if I’m correct in my summation.”
“To keep away from the Condorians, she stayed with the hidden wounded that had been moved to an old section of this ship,” Cordis explained. “It’s a huge space that was of no importance to the Condorians since Aigean could no longer maintain it properly. All her crews’ time was expended on seeing to the enemy or staying out of their way. There was little time to scrub, paint or — ”
“I’m not talking about the space in which you were hidden. I was speaking of the way Myranda looked at you when she told you to stay here and mind your wound,” Soldar asserted as he raised his brows.
“She and I had a long time to talk,” Cordis remarked. “We became … close.”
“How close?” Soldar gently teased.
“What difference does it make? Once we reach General Shafter’s ship, she’ll be expected to help the injured. And there’ll be many more wounded allies aboard that vessel than we have here.”
A moment of silence followed as Soldar gazed into his brother’s eyes. “My memory seems to fail me,” he declared. “I keep seeing things that don’t make sense. I know why I’m on the Venus, and why I was sent here. But there are other issues that — ”
“Leave it, Soldar. When we’re safely aboard Shafter’s ship, you’ll know more. Right now, there’s nothing that can be accomplished by discussing the matter. Besides, you’re only trying to keep me here. You’d rather speak of anything than face reality. You’re frightened for her,” he said as he nodded toward Lyra.
“I … don’t know how to explain … I banded her … obviously,” he blathered as he pointed toward the armband on Lyra’s left bicep.
“That was nothing to do with the mission, brother. I know wearing the bands in front of the Condorians would denote a peaceful intent. That would be assumed and it would have been a very good ruse to placate D’uhr. But putting your band on her arm had nothing to do with whatever mission you’d been assigned.”
“She wasn’t on this mission. I’d lost my insertion unit and ordered her here.”
“But she wears your band by consent. Does she not? And she didn’t leave the Venus. Aigean could have hidden her somewhere if the girl really hadn’t wanted to join you.” He paused for a moment before continuing. “She did her duty. That much is clear. But the acceptance of your armband is something else, outside the purview of your mission or her duty.”
“I believed, by wearing it, that the Condorians would leave her alone. They did … at least until her identity was discovered and she was beaten. There was something to do with a man called Aercos.” He put his hand to his forehead as a dull ache began there. “That was the real reason D’uhr kept me alive and relented in the matter of Lyra’s safety. The beating was bad enough, but she would have received worse treatment if this so-called Aercos hadn’t clouded D’uhr’s judgment.” He blinked his eyes as the pain in his head grew worse. “Fornax uttered garbage that wasn’t true. What he said about me didn’t remotely approach reality but I believed him … at first. And Lyra believed him. I saw the look on her face as he told his lies.”
“As I’ve said … this can be discussed at another time and when you know Lyra is safe,” Cordis insisted.
Soldar leaned forward and lowered his voice. “I’ll ask one more time. I want the truth now, Cordis. What’s happened to me?”
“Keep asking and I’ll leave,” Cordis threatened but without any real anger in his voice. “I don’t have the strength to carry on the discussion, and I don’t have all the facts. I can’t do the subject justice. Right now, all you need to do is care for your mate. You must be with her as long as you can.”
Movement nearby alerted them to another presence. Both men snapped their heads in the direction of a shuffling sound.
“These are things neither of you should discuss,” Aigean said as she walked toward them like a wraith from the darkness. “One day, I will reveal all.”
“I suspected you’d used mind control techniques. That was
one thing I know Fornax wasn’t lying about,” Soldar said as he placed his palm against Lyra’s cheek.
Aigean nodded. “Your suspicions are justified. I had my duty and you had yours. And in reference to obligations and the weight we bear, there is one thing that should be mentioned before we rendezvous with General Shafter’s ship. I would not want either of you to assume blame for what I’ve done,” she warned.
“What are you getting at?” Cordis asked suspiciously.
“It’s about the Condorians we left behind,” she told them as she glanced between the two brothers. “D’uhr and Fornax attempted to rally their minions, even as we were preparing to leave. As I was the last person to board, I saw their actions as a threat and took such action as I deemed necessary.”
“Aigean … ” Soldar began.
“D’uhr and his son are dead,” she blurted. “So are all the Condorians we left on Reisen Four.”
Both men remained silent as they stared at her.
“My planting of a wide-range trungeon mine, retrieved from the Condorian’s arsenal, came as no surprise. Indeed, their expressions as I set the coded detonator and closed the hatch were rather matter-of-fact.” She paused to rearrange her cloak and gather her hood more snuggly around her neck. “I ordered the crew not to reference the large surface explosion as we made for deep space. Trust me when I say that no one outran that blast. Besides, the two of you were otherwise occupied.”
“There were wounded and sick enemy fighters among those we left behind,” Cordis reminded her.
“As there have been on every unarmed allied or neutral colony the Condorians assaulted,” she readily responded. “It may interest you to know that I retrieved every last bit of food, water, and medical supplies for our wounded. After all … the Condorians won’t need them where they’re going.”
With that, she turned and strolled away.