by Regine Abel
CHAPTER 20
Kamala
It always felt weird sitting in ‘the Admiral’s’ chair on the bridge. This time, however, I was having this odd sense of déjà vu, except that it wasn’t Ghan standing by his mate commanding the Tempest, but Xevius standing by my side. His hopeful trepidation seeped through our empathic bond as we dropped out of warp speed. Based on our trajectory calculations and the coordinates of the Exiled’s last position they’d communicated to Xevius, we should be encountering them within the next ten minutes or so.
The Infiltrator—the Xelixian battleship—and its fleet also dropped out of warp near us. It was a bit of overkill, but we wanted to be prepared for all eventualities. We especially wanted the Korlethean Enforcers to be cowed into avoiding an actual confrontation that would needlessly result in bloodshed.
“Long range scans?” I asked Ashara, our Weapons System Officer.
“A small fleet of Korlethean ships are half a parsec away. Initial scans indicate many have sustained significant damage, at least two of them appear to be in distress,” Ashara said, provoking a surge of tension in my mate. “They do not currently appear to be under attack.”
“Kamala, they’re hailing us,” said Genovia, our navigator.
“On screen,” I said.
The face of an attractive Korlethean female appeared on the giant display, clad in a combat uniform similar to the one I’d seen Xevius wear. Despite her long, dark brown hair falling on each side of her face, it failed to completely dissimulate a fresh gash on her cheek. Judging by the appearance of the bridge behind the female, her ship had heavily been battered in a recent attack.
Her eyes landed on me first before flicking right to Xevius, who was standing at my left. A barely noticeable smile of relief appeared fleetingly on her lips.
“Greetings, Lieutenant Kamala. I am Leya Himlis, formerly rank six agent of Korlethea’s Imperial Agency and captain of this vessel,” the female said, standing to attention. “My crewmates, our small fleet, and I are being persecuted for our beliefs and facing multiple attacks for exercising our freedom of choice. Our ships are severely damaged, and many members of our crew are grievously injured. As citizens of the Galactic Alliance, we humbly request sanctuary within your ship, and an escort either to Xelix Prime or Veredia where we seek to claim asylum.”
“Greetings, Agent Himlis,” I said. “We acknowledge your sanctuary request and agree to honor it. Prepare your wounded for transport. We will reach you shortly.”
“Thank you,” Leya said, hiding none of her gratitude and relief. The same emotion reflected on some of her crew manning the bridge, visible on screen. “We owe you our lives. A few of our ships are no longer safe for flight, but the rest should be able to complete the journey.”
“If they are stable enough, we will take the most damaged ones into our hangar,” Kamala said. “For those that must be abandoned, whatever cargo they transport that you wish to keep, have also ready for transfer.”
Leya looked over her shoulder at a male with long blond hair—lighter than my mate’s golden mane. He nodded at her unspoken command.
“On it,” the male said before gesturing at another crewmate and leaving the bridge.
Looking back at us, the female agent appeared to hesitate, then chose her words carefully. “Some of our brothers are in need of assistance,” Leya said. “When our pursuers nearly destroyed a couple of ships of our fleet, Febus and Thaddeus broke off from us to lure away our attackers. They possess our only two military-grade vessels. Still, they are outgunned and outnumbered. Their plan was to hopefully lose the Enforcers in the Neytin Nebula. They’ve gone silent, as the nebula is preventing our sensors from reaching them.”
I exchanged a look with Ashara. After nearly a decade of teamwork, words were often superfluous between us.
“The Xelixians and the rest of our fleet are sufficient to protect the Korletheans,” Ashara said with a frown. “But it looks like Xevius’s friends have extra company. There’s a Guldan frigate headed in that direction. I didn’t mention it earlier because it didn’t seem relevant.”
“Dalina, take Merasha and Thesala with you to the Fury. You are now in command of our fleet and of the rescue efforts,” I said.
Dalina hesitated and cast an uneasy glance to the Korlethean female on screen.
“What is it?” I asked, taken aback by her odd behavior.
“Thesala will certainly wish to remain on board for this rescue,” Dalina said carefully. “Maybe I can take another healer with Merasha instead?”
It took me half a second to realize why: Febus was Thesala’s sire. If he got injured, she would want to be there to save him.
“Good thinking, Dalina,” I said. “Take Irena instead.”
“Acknowledged,” Dalina said with a relieved smile. She performed a Veredian salute then hurried off the bridge.
“Genovia, set a course for the Nebula,” I said, my skin tingling with the pre-battle excitement.
“Acknowledged,” the navigator responded.
“Ashara, I want all the tactical details about that nebula and the Guldan ship,” I said. Although she also acknowledged my order, it hadn’t been necessary. Knowing her, my weapons officer had already been all over it.
This was where I excelled. This was what got my blood pumping; not dealing with disgruntled parents acting up out of fear in schoolyards or juggling the too numerous hats of being the military leader and protector of the Veredians.
Tapping the interface on the arm of my chair, I opened the ship’s intercom. “All hands, prepare for combat. Man the battle stations, and Hunters, standby for takeoff.” Turning back to the screen, I locked gazes with Leya. “If they’re still alive, we’ll get your men back.”
A strong emotion flickered on her face, quickly silenced. She placed her palm on her heart and bowed her head. “You have our deepest gratitude. May the Goddess shine a kind light on the path you travel.” Her eyes flicked to my mate. “It is good to see you well and whole, my brother. We’ll see you soon. Agent Himlis out.”
The com ended, and I turned to Xevius. The love in his eyes turned me upside down. “Leya is Febus’s soulmate. He’s sacrificing himself to try and save them all.”
“Then let’s bring him home,” I said, my heart going out to the Korlethean female. “For her sake, and for Thesala’s.”
Minutes later, we parted from our current fleet, getting only a slight glimpse of the Exiled’s ships limping forward towards their salvation.
“Febus and Thaddeus will be skirting the edges of the nebula,” Xevius said pensively as he studied the map Ashara had displayed for us on the screen. “Leya said he was in a military-grade ship, so it’s likely a chaser similar to my old one. All those static discharging clouds in the nebula are messing with their tactical display and weakening their shields. Going in too deep would make them too vulnerable. The Enforcers’ frigates will fare better, but it will still make it harder for them to track and aim at the chasers. From the direction in which Febus and Thaddeus arrived, they would have entered the nebula somewhere around here.”
“Would they have split up?” I asked.
“Yes,” Xevius replied without hesitation.
“The Agent said only two ships peeled off from their fleet,” Ashara reflected out loud. “But my radar shows five chaser-sized ships, three frigates, and the Guldan vessel.”
“The frigates are the Enforcers,” Xevius said, looking suddenly quite uncomfortable. “Three of the chasers are decoys. They are small drones created to fool most scanners into thinking them much larger ships.”
“So how do we know which ones are fake?” Ashara asked. “They’re all heading in different directions. We can’t chase them all at once.”
Even as she asked the question, I knew Xevius would be unable to give her the solution, if one existed. This would jeopardize their entire military, not only by making their drones ineffective, but by possibly giving us a window into other means of bypassing Korlethe
an technology.
“I need to see all the ships on screen and their flight pattern,” Xevius said, as if struck by a sudden idea.
Complying, Ashara projected the radar onto the screen. Xevius studied it, and the sliver of hope bubbling within him turned into joy.
“Yes,” Xevius hissed in victory. “Either an Oracle warned him, or he guessed that I’d be on board and knew I’d recognize this pattern. It’s a trick we used together a while back,” he added evasively in response to my inquisitive stare. “These two are the real ships. I will message them, although I’m not sure it will get through.”
“Genovia, head for the closest one,” I said. “Ashara, hail the Enforcer ships.”
“They are not responding,” my weapons officer replied.
“Record the following message and send it in a loop,” I said.
“Ready,” she answered, seconds later.
“Korlethean Enforcer vessels, this is Lieutenant Kamala Dartos of the battlecruiser Tempest of the Veredian Empire. I hereby order you to cease and desist in your pursuit of the vessels of Thaddeus Rounis and Febus Himlis. They are both under our protection in accordance with the edicts of the Galactic Accord of Minrath regarding Sanctuary. Refusal to comply will result in the use of extreme force to defend those under our protection.”
With a subtle gesture of the hand, I indicated for Ashara to end the recording. Unlike previous encounters before revealing the Veredian identity of the Tuureans, while still dressed in my celesium armor, the rest of my crew and I no longer wore our helmets. On top of making me feel more self-conscious, it had removed some of the aura of mystery and the intimidating edge of concealing the emotions that played beneath that mask—if any—and the synthetic voice that made us creepier. I therefore had to compensate, looking badass without going over the top.
“They’re not responding,” Ashara said.
“Are they ignoring it or is the nebula preventing them from receiving it?” I asked, my gaze flicking between Ashara and Xevius.
“I’m not certain,” Ashara admitted.
Xevius hesitated. “I couldn’t get through to Thaddeus on my com; too much interference. But I got through to Febus to let him know to come to us. If my personal com functions, the more advanced system on the frigates should allow them to receive the message, even if distorted.”
“Keep hailing them,” I said. “Deploy six Hunters to protect Thaddeus until we’ve recovered Febus.”
As we were closing on Febus’s location, one of the two frigates chasing him turned around and headed in Thaddeus’s general direction. The remaining frigate opened fire on Febus. While missing their target—their radar and tactical displays clearly affected by the surrounding static discharges of the nebula—the cumulative area of effect of each blast weakened, then destroyed Febus’s shield.
“Ashara, fire two warning shots at the frigate,” I said, trying to ignore the mounting tension emanating from my mate. “As soon as we’re in range, take out their shields. If they don’t get the message, take out their weapons.”
“On it,” Ashara responded.
“Genovia, get us between the chaser and the frigate,” I ordered.
The frigate ignored the warning shots and fired another barrage of photon torpedoes at Febus’s chaser. While the missed shots brutally rocked the ship, one found its mark.
“NO!” Xevius shouted.
I jumped to my feet and watched in horror as a series of explosions tore the ship apart, leaving a gutted wreck behind. Xevius’s pain clawed at me through our bond. We’d failed him, Leya, and Thesala.
“The frigate is turning around,” Ashara said in an apologetic voice.
“Get their fucking shields down,” I snapped at her. “Engineering,” I called over the com, “load five torpedoes with Mercy’s virus. I need them now!”
“Acknowledged,” Noelyn replied over the com.
“Give them chase,” I ordered Genovia.
“WAIT! Don’t move yet,” Xevius exclaimed. “I need access to your computer.”
Ashara gave me a questioning look, and I nodded, getting another weird sense of déjà vu. Xevius’s fingers flew over the keys, helpless hope shining bright from him.
“Fuck me,” he muttered with frustration. “I need a broader, deeper scan. Can you dampen some of the disruption from the static?”
“What are you looking for?” Ashara asked.
“An escape pod.”
Ashara’s jaw dropping reflected my own shock. She all but shoved Xevius aside and got to work.
“I may have something, but there’s too much disruption to be certain,” Ashara said with frustration.
“Cast our tractor beams in that general direction,” I said.
Xevius appeared to make a decision. “Narrow the scan to this signature. If he’s in your net, the tractor beam will lock onto his pod.” Sensing my heavy stare on him, he locked eyes with me. “With so many of us gone, the Agency will have all of these signatures changed in no time, so they’ll be useless to anyone.”
But we both knew even the seed of that signature was enough to make it easier for us to extrapolate on any other variations they would make. However, I wouldn’t abuse his trust and would make sure Ashara deleted all records of said signature.
“Got him!” Ashara shouted. “Reeling him in.”
“Good job!” I said before opening the com. “Security to the hangar. Escape pod incoming. Have a healer on hand.” I barely listened to the acknowledgement, turning back to Ashara. “As soon as he’s inside, I want us giving chase at maximum speed. What’s the status on Thaddeus?”
“The signal is too distorted to communicate with our Hunters, but they’re getting closer,” Ashara said. “Judging by the radar, the decoys have effectively fooled the frigates. One is changing course though, so I’m guessing they’ve realized their error.”
“I’m going to the hangar,” Xevius said, joy and worry battling within him. “They might need help opening the pod if Febus is wounded. I’ll be back soon.”
I nodded, and he marched out of the bridge. In the two additional minutes it took for the pod to finally be secured in our ship’s hangar, my impatience nearly had me climbing the walls. Our six Hunters and the Korlethean chaser would be no match against three frigates. Genovia pushed our ship to the limit without actually jumping into warp.
“The Guldan ship is closing in on Thaddeus’s position,” Ashara said. “All three frigates are now headed for him as well, but our girls got to him first.”
“As soon as you reestablish communications with them, tell the Hunters to set a star shield around his vessel,” I ordered.
“Acknowledged,” she replied, then appeared hesitant.
“What is it?” I asked.
“About the virus… If we hit the frigates with them, they will be dead in the water and defenseless against the Guldans,” Ashara said cautiously. “They’ll either be massacred or enslaved.”
“That would serve them right for attempting to murder their own people for exercising their freedom of choice,” I snarled.
Despite my anger, I couldn’t feed them to the hateful Guldans. Mercy’s psi power allowed her to infuse nanites or software with simple commands that would spread and replicate until it met its end condition or saturated the targeted systems. This was how she had helped us capture her brother Varrek by releasing such nanobots in the tractor beam she’d ensnared him with. That specific virus systematically shut down all systems of a ship except for life support. She’d graciously provided us with such nanobots—otherwise impossible to manually program—which we’d loaded into torpedoes.
A lot of the Tuurean technology was created that way, using the unique powers of our Sisters. Many of the most phenomenal properties of our celesium armor and swords had been ‘whispered’ into the metal with psionic abilities. That was the edge that made us one of the greatest forces to be reckoned with.
“Very well,” I conceded. “As soon as they are in range, knock ou
t their shields and give their ship a good dent as a final warning. And keep hailing them.”
Xevius returned to the bridge just as we began firing on the first frigate—the same one that had blown up Febus’s ship. I gave him a questioning look, and he nodded, indicating all was fine, despite the traces of blood on his suit: Febus’s blood.
“All Hunters deploy and surround the frigates,” I commanded over the com. “Do not fire unless they start firing on us. If and when they do, target their weapons but avoid their propulsion systems.”
Xevius smiled. Although I hadn’t issued that command in search of his approval, he wanted the Enforcers to flee with their tails between their legs as much as I did, and preferably without casualties.
Our first salvo pummeled the shield of the frigate who couldn’t outrun us. Even as we continued gaining on it, Ashara launched another round of photon torpedoes. They exploded like fireworks on their shield before it collapsed. Simultaneously, some of our Hunters surrounded the frigate like an angry swarm. The others continued on to chase the other two frigates.
When two more photon torpedoes struck their flank, rocking the ship, the Korletheans finally saw the wisdom of answering our hails.
“You are meddling into internal affairs involving traitors to the Korlethean Empire,” said the Enforcer as soon as the connection was established. “You will cease and desist immediately.”
“Funny how certain people always need a spanking before realizing it is rude to ignore a hail,” I said, ignoring his bravado.
“We didn’t ignore your hails,” he snapped back haughtily. “The static discharges disrupted our com.”
“Disrupted, my ass,” I replied in an icy tone. “You deliberately ignored our hails in order to attempt to murder a male under our protection.”
The Enforcer slightly stiffened at my words.
“Yes, Hoseas,” Xevius hissed, his voice full of venom. “You failed, you murderous shit.”
“Traitors!” Hoseas spat back. “Both of you.”
“YOU are the traitor,” Xevius shouted. “You swore an oath to protect the citizens of the Empire. Yet, here you are, trying to assassinate your own people because they have chosen to walk a different path of Fate than the one you have chosen! You have trampled your oath, dishonored your pledge as a Guardian of Fate, and violated the most sacred of our laws: free choice!”