by A A Warren
“What in blazes?” The old man adjusted the controls, tilting their nose up. A glowing star-path filled the heavens above, and a squadron of gleaming starships emerged from the swirling portal.
B’Turo squinted as the largest of the ships moved towards them. The massive battle cruiser dwarfed the tiny transport. Its armor-plated hull filled the cockpit, blocking the faint starlight, and casting a shadow over the bridge.
“Who the hell are these guys?” He squinted at the hull passing over the cockpit. “Wait… that’s the symbol of the Jotoru Emperor. What the hell is he doing here?”
Vaki ran to the co-pilot’s chair. “I called them.”
The old man glanced over at her. “You called them? And just who the hell are you?”
The girl brushed her purple hair from her face and grinned. “Let’s just say I have an 'in' with the Imperial family. Open a channel, quick!”
B’Turo’s fingers danced over the controls. “Whatever you say. You’re on, kiddo.”
Vaki leaned over her console as the massive ship continued to drift over them.
“Imperial Vessel Shokar, do you read me? Neros is undergoing a planetary collapse. We have multiple emergency transports that need passage out of this system immediately.”
The reply crackled through the speakers. “Unidentified transport, this is Imperial Vessel Shokar. By whose authority do you—”
Vaki tapped a code into her console. “Transmitting Imperial IDENT code now.”
There was silence. A series of beeps sounded from the tactical display. More fighters appeared behind them, rushing towards their stern.
“Fighters closing in,” B’Turo muttered. “They’re locking weapons.”
Suddenly, the enemy ships veered off. B’Turo cocked his head and stared at the display in confusion. “They’re breaking off the attack. But why?”
“New orders,” Vaki said with a mischievous grin. “From a higher authority.”
The speaker crackled back to life. “IDENT code received and acknowledged. We have granted all vessels access to our main docking bay, and we are prepared to offer medical assistance. The Jotoru Emperor sends his regards, Your Highness.”
B’Turo’s jaw dropped. “Wait, did he say—”
“Acknowledged, Shokar command. We’re on our way.” She cut the channel and handed B’Turo a regulator belt. “Send a general message to all transports leaving Neros. Direct them to the Shokar’s main docking bay, and give them the code I transmitted. Then put this on.”
“A regulator belt? What the hell for?”
She strapped a belt around her waist and activated it. The first power cell glowed to life. “I have to get back to the cargo bay. We’re going back for Talon. Then we’re getting the hell out of here, before that cursed planet—”
A new alarm wailed. The holo-display flashed red and filled with warning symbols.
“Too late,” B’Turo shouted. “Neros’ core just went critical. The outer crust is collapsing. It’s generated a shockwave that’s off the scale…” He consulted the readings, then looked up at her. “And it’s going to hit us in less than a minute.”
Darkness.
Cold.
Oblivion.
Talon was cocooned in black silence. He saw nothing. Heard nothing. Felt nothing.
Then a voice cut through the haze of his dulled senses, echoing from the fringe of consciousness.
Wake up, boy. What do you think this is, a pleasure planet?
He knew the voice. Its deep bass tones were some of his earliest recollections. The memories of his own parents were shattered fragments, mere glimpses, lost during a life pod malfunction ages ago. But this voice… this voice he remembered.
“Orex?” he mumbled. “Orex Griff?”
Who else would it be? You are in battle, are you not? And I am your battle instructor, am I not?
Talon sensed the darkness receding. A faint glow crept over the horizon. A warm light in the cold, infinite blackness.
“But… but you’re dead.”
Perhaps I am. But no matter. The greatest victory is that which is snatched from the jaws of defeat. And you, Talon… You are my greatest victory.
“I don’t understand…”
The voice chuckled. Are you a gladiator or a philosopher, boy? You don’t have to understand. You have to wake up. You have to fight. Do you hear me, boy? You have to fight!
The glow was blinding now. A shimmering sphere of light filled his vision, burning away the frozen shadows.
Remember. I will always be by your side…
Talon’s eyes snapped open.
He gasped for breath as he drifted in space. The cargo container hung a few meters away, slowly floating towards him. The worm writhed and thrashed around it, sending the pod tumbling through space.
The container, Talon thought. It struck me as it fell out of the ship, knocked me unconscious. But for how long?
He glanced down at the regulator belt wrapped around his waist. Half the energy cells glowed red. A third one blinked to life… The field was almost out of power. It would fail in a matter of minutes. Then he would suffocate and die, a frozen corpse tumbling through space.
As the cargo container tumbled closer, he reached out and grabbed a handle protruding from the side. The handle was connected to a circular module, implanted in the container. It was designed to allow for quick inspection of a container’s contents at trading ports. A small screen sat next to the handle, displaying a series of biological readings. Temperature, oxygen, dark energy concentration levels…. Talon narrowed his eyes as he saw tiny heartbeats flicker across the screen.
The words of the dorokuma echoed through his mind. Our remaining children… gestate in the black jade. You will know what to do…
The larva, he thought. They must be in the container’s sample module!
He twisted the handle, and the cylinder slid out the side of the cargo pod. Inside, suspended in the liquefied black jade, ten metal spheres floated in a row. He knew the larva were inside, waiting to emerge.
A voice crackled to life in his ear. “Talon? Talon, can you hear me?”
“Vaki, is that you?” he replied. Another power cell beeped and glowed red on his belt.
“Yes!” She laughed. “You’re still alive! Thank the gods!”
“The gods have nothing to do with it,” Talon muttered. “But yes, I’m alive for now. My regulator belt has a few minutes left, but that’s all.”
“We’re tracking your signal. Just hang in there!”
“I don’t have much choice. But you better hurry, or—”
Before he could finish his sentence, the razor sharp beaks of the worm stabbed into the container, barely missing his head. Talon bounced across the metal surface of the cargo container, struggling to maintain his grip as the worm thrashed around him.
Talon! Katara’s voice filled his mind. Talon, please don’t leave me. I have given everything, sacrificed all I have for this moment!
As the container spun through space, the glowing surface of Neros came into view. Talon saw the brilliant blue sphere yawning beneath him in space. A massive orange spot grew in the planet's center, consuming the pale blue surface in a fiery inferno. Massive chunks of ice and rock broke away as the planet crumbled before him.
I will grant you anything you desire. Orex… Or the woman, Salena. I can feel the bonds you share… I can bring them back for you!
“You bring only death and destruction, Katara,” Talon shouted, drowning out her whispering thoughts. “My bonds are my own. Alive or dead, those you speak of are a part of me. And you cannot grant me what I already have.”
Talon! Please, It is so cold... stay with me!
Another cell glowed red on the belt. There were only two cells left. He felt ice crystals form on his skin. The cold chill of space was already penetrating the field. One of the worm’s tendrils snaked around his arm, yanking him away from the container.
Please Talon… I am afraid. This death. So cold,
and black. So empty. I cannot face it alone...
“We all face death alone, Katara. It will be no different for me.”
Talon reached over his back and drew his plasma axe. Slashing down, he severed the tentacle, and drifted away from the container.
As more tendrils snaked towards him, he saw the planet below collapse in upon itself. Plumes of molten rock hundreds of kilometers long shot into space. Entire continents of ice and rock collided, then crumbled to pieces. The planet’s matter fell into a loose ball, compressed by the gravity of the collapsing core. Then a rippling wave exploded from the congealed mass of ice and rock. He could see it in the distance, distorting his view of the stars surrounding them.
The shockwave struck a tiny moon orbiting the collapsed planet. Within seconds, the lump of rock splintered apart, as the relentless shockwave tore through space. Talon watched as concentric bands of force streaked towards him, a silent oblivion, annihilating anything in its path.
“Talon, do you read me?” It was Vaki again, speaking through the nano-transmitter. “We’re almost there! Can you hear me?”
Talon tried to answer, but no sound came out. He glanced down. The final power cell on his belt glowed red. Frost covered his skin, and he felt his eyes bulge in his head. His belt had failed. It was over…
Katara’s tendrils wrapped around his legs. She pulled him back toward the container. In the distance, the shockwave rippled closer and closer. A pair of Toho fighters streaked towards the Toho ships in the distance, but they could not outrun the wave of destruction. The tiny ships exploded into glistening shards of metal, reflecting the glint of the distant sun.
Do not leave me… stay with me. Die with me.
Using his last ounce of strength, Talon slashed with the axe, lopping off the tendrils that grasped at him. Then he twisted the controls in the axe’s handle, venting a stream of fiery plasma gas from the top of the weapon. The burst of super heated plasma rocketed him away from the container. He flew beyond the reach of the worm’s writhing tentacles.
Goodbye, Katara. Perhaps the golden stars may receive even the likes of you…
A haze crept around his edge of his vision. The regulator belt was fading. Soon he would fall unconscious as his oxygen-starved brain shut down. He had only a few seconds left…
Suddenly, he saw a light streaking towards him. He deactivated the axe’s plasma vent. The light grew closer. It was the transport ship! Vaki had found him!
The vessel spun around as it rushed towards him. It dipped up and down, lining up his floating body in the open maw of the cargo bay. At the last second, it fired its reverse thrusters. Four plumes of fire jetted through space, slowing the vessel to a near halt a few meters from his position.
Vaki stood on the lowered ramp, a charged regulator belt wrapped around her waist. She leapt from the ship, floating towards him through the black gulf of space.
The torn cable snaked behind her. It snapped taut as she floated less than a meter away.
“Talon!” Her voice sound distant, muted. She was only a few centimeters away, but it may as well have been light-years. His eyes slipped closed.
“Talon, reach for me! There’s no time! Hurry! Fight, damn you! Fight!”
Talon shook his head. He forced his eyes open. He stared into her brown eyes, just an arm’s length away. “Vic… Victory or death,” he croaked. He stretched out his hand.
Her fingers closed around his wrist. “I have him!” she shouted. She looped a fresh regulator belt around his shoulders and activated it. The shimmering field hummed to life, and Talon gasped as oxygen entered his lungs.
Vaki slapped a control unit hanging from her belt. The cable retracted, pulling them into the cargo bay. Within seconds they were inside, and the ramp slammed closed behind them.
“We’re in!” she shouted. “Punch it!”
The ship’s thrusters kicked in at maximum power, throwing them to the ground. They streaked forward, darting towards the Jotoru vessel’s star-path. Violet swirls of energy filled the rear windows, as they followed the massive flagship into the glowing portal.
Alarms wailed on the bridge of the Toho Dreadnought.
“Sir, the planet Neros has collapsed,” Koshigi shouted, as she glanced at the readings on her holo-display. “There’s a level five shockwave radiating through the system. If we leave now, we should be able to make it to the star-path before it hits us.”
The Captain gripped the railing of the command bridge. “Have our fighters returned to the flight bay?”
“Affirmative, sir. The Jotoru Emperor has ordered us to disengage and leave the area immediately.”
The Captain nodded. “Very well. An Imperial order is good enough for me. Helm, plot a course for that star-path, best possible speed. With any luck, we—”
“Negative! Belay that order!”
All hands on the bridge looked up as crown prince Mutaro and his guards marched into the room. His Kujita warriors took up positions next to the helm console, their hands resting on the hilts of their sutava blades.
The Captain gave a brief bow, but an incredulous look filled his face, and droplets of sweat ran down his forehead. “Your Highness, surely you must understand, if we stay in this system, we will be destroyed!”
Mutaro stabbed a finger towards a blinking dot on the sensor display. “Captain, that cargo pod contains enough black jade to power the Consortium fleet for decades. It is worth billions of shares. Billions! We are not leaving it behind.”
“But Your Highness—”
Mutaro whirled around to face the fox-like ensign. “You there… how long do we have until the shockwave hits us?”
Koshigi gave a brief, nervous snarl, baring her tiny white fangs. “Technically sir, we have approximately ninety seconds. But that doesn’t—”
“Then stop prattling, and target it with a towline! Do it now!”
“But sir, we—”
Mutaro slipped a pistol from his belt and aimed it at the quivering ensign. One of the Kujita drew his sword. The weapon hummed to life, and the stable pulse field running along the blade cast a crimson glow over the terrified face of the helmsman.
“The next officer who refuses my royal command will be relieved of duty,” Mutaro snarled. “Permanently.”
“Do as he says,” the Captain shouted. “Quickly!”
“Yes sir.” Koshigi bent over her console and typed in a series of commands. “Firing now, sir. Towline away!” She consulted her holo-display. “Mag lock attached. We have the container in tow.”
“You see how easy that was? Now, we may leave.”
“Helm, get us out of here!” the Captain shouted.
“Already on it sir,” the helmsman called back. “Heading for star-path at maximum sp—”
Suddenly the ship was thrown forward. Sparks flew from the helmsman’s console, and the hull creaked and groaned.
“What in blazes was that?” Mutaro bellowed, grabbing a nearby railing as another impact jolted the ship. He glanced down at his wrist unit. “You said we had ninety seconds!”
Koshigi flew out of her chair. She yelped as another shower of red-hot sparks exploded from her sensors. The deck plates in front of the prince ruptured, sending a jet of coolant steam into the air.
“The shockwave sir… It’s accelerating as it moves away from the gravity well of the collapsing planet. It’s picking up speed… we don’t have enough power to escape it now!”
“You incompetent fool!” The prince glared up at the Captain. “What do we do now?”
The Captain picked himself up and grabbed the railing. He turned to his holo-display. Glowing lines rippled from the site of the destroyed planet. The waves were moving faster and faster, pulsating through space with massive destructive force.
He shook his head. “There’s only one thing we can do Your Highness.”
The display showed one of the glowing lines moving closer, at terrifying speed. It was nearly upon them. The Captain closed his eyes.
&n
bsp; “We pray.”
The wave struck the ship, spinning it around in space. The centrifugal force threw Mutaro sideways. He flew through the air, and kept on going… a second later, he felt the cold stabbing at his skin. He realized he couldn’t breathe. The impact of the wave had torn the ship in half. He saw the shadowy corpses of his men and other debris rushing past him in the black depths of space.
He had just enough time to see the remains of his ship explode, sending brilliant bursts of glowing plasma into the darkness. Then, the last breath of oxygen left his lungs. His eyes bulged, and ice crystals formed over his face and hands.
Angry purple bruises erupted across his skin. The sudden drop in pressure had reduced the boiling point of his blood to below body temperature, and it was swelling beneath his flesh. But he felt no pain or discomfort. His lungs had ruptured when the oxygen trapped within suddenly expanded... He was already dead. His frozen body spiraled above the remains of the planet, as the death throws of Neros continued to radiate through the system. Another shockwave struck his frozen flesh. His body exploded into glittering ice crystals, hurtling through the dark void for eternity.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
IMPERIAL FLAGSHIP SHOKAR
Takori Nebula, Consortium of Free Worlds
A few days later…
Talon marched down the corridor of the Imperial Flagship. Shimmering membrane tapestries and ornate jade carvings lined the dim passageway. Talon wore a ceremonial fur cloak, draped over his broad shoulders. His axe and scimitars hung from his battle harness. The weapons clanked against his belt as he walked, drawing wary glances from the golden-armored Kujita warriors that accompanied them.
B’Turo’s fringe of white hair was drawn back into a loose topknot. He wore a crimson vest over a white shirt, and black breeches. New leather boots, polished to a high sheen, adorned his feet.
The old man glanced over at Talon and grinned. “Say, that cloak looks good on you, kid. You could be a Jotoru yourself someday.”