"I just want to meet them," Ravel insisted. He moved toward the gangway that led into the ship.
Both Roche and Parker leapt to the side and cut the man off.
"Get out!" Parker said through clenched teeth.
"Fine," Ravel said with a fake laugh. "You guys from Lunara sure know how to welcome a guy."
With that, he turned and left the hangar.
Parker narrowed his eyes. His gut told him something was wrong. "Come on, Roche. We’re following him." Parker turned to Jan. "Lock the hangar when you leave. Roche and I will be gone for a bit."
"Okay," Jan said. "But you have to come to the reception. I don’t want to be stuck with a grumpy captain."
"We’ll be there. I want to talk to Eamonn on the ride in." Parker dashed to the hangar door and looked out both ways. "Roche, hurry. I see him hustling away in the distance. Come on."
Roche grabbed his jacket, and they hurried down the corridor after Ravel.
In one of the many corridors leading to the marketplace of Trivium Port, Parker and Roche edged around the corner and saw Darid Ravel exiting the public bathroom two minutes after he had entered it. He had changed his coveralls for a pair of thermopants and a light jacket, which wouldn’t have been surprising if the man was carrying a bag or satchel. But his hands were empty, which meant he had ditched the coveralls.
"Why would a man who works in the port throw away a pair of perfectly good coveralls?" Roche uttered Parker’s exact thought.
"They were a little too clean. I don’t like this," Parker whispered to Roche. "A man in a costume asking questions can’t be a good thing."
"Looks like it. Who is this guy?"
"Let’s keep on him and find out."
They pushed their way through the busy market area of the port and down a series of stairs to the civilian hangar bays. They had no trouble tailing the man the entire way, as the traffic was thick enough to hide them.
Ravel entered a private hangar bay, forcing Parker and Roche to halt outside and linger.
"He’s prepping his ship for takeoff," Roche said. "What should we do?"
Parker was aware of the problem they faced. "He could be using the hangar to trap us. The question is, do we want to trip it?"
"I’m game for anything," Roche said. "Do Martians typically carry weapons?"
"No," he said. "But this guy isn’t a typical Martian. He’ll have a sonic pistol in his jacket."
"Who do you think he is?"
"I don’t know," Parker said. "He might work for Mars Medical. He was asking about Seth and Chloe."
Roche let out a sigh. "You want it to be Mars Medical, and if he hadn’t thrown away his coverall, I would think you were paranoid."
"Perhaps I am. Eamonn seems to think so." Parker edged closer to the open hangar door. He saw no movement and heard nothing. The sour smell of xenon fuel saturated much of the air on these levels, so he had a hard time pinpointing whether the man was fueling his craft or not.
"Eamonn has a lot on his mind," said Roche as he leaned against the wall.
Parker reached to his side and pulled out his cantina. He took a large gulp of algae water, savored the sweet taste until it turned bitter, and swallowed. "Maybe so, but did you notice how this man Ravel didn’t ask about Gwen when he was poking around?"
"So?"
"He wanted Seth and Chloe. Eamonn insists that Gwen is the target, but she isn’t."
"Gwen is pretty famous on Mars. Her return has been plastered all over the newscasts since our return."
"So?"
"So, she has been parading around Zephyria. He wouldn’t ask about her since everyone knows where she is."
"So why did he come to the hangar if Gwen is the target?"
"Perhaps to get information on when she will return."
Parker shook his head. "Call it a hunch, but his interest was entirely on Seth and Chloe."
"So you are Chloe now? Sensing his motives and feelings?"
"No." A stab of anger irked Parker for a moment. He didn’t know why, but making light of Chloe at this moment didn’t seem like the right thing to do. His friends were targets and in serious trouble.
Roche looked up and down the corridor. "Where are we, anyways?"
"The private hangar bays. I worked here as a kid, running parts between the hangars. Got to know it fairly well. Ships arrive in Trivium Port’s three sections. The larger freighters park along the ground in front of the port, the taxis have complete access to the porches along the cliff face, and these hangars are for private yachts, starships, light freighters, and hovercars. They’re built into the side of the cliff." Parker chewed on his lower lip. "He is currently within the hangars for the smaller of the yachts and the hovercars. One- to four-man ships."
"What about exits?"
"Just the main door and the hangar doors. We have him trapped."
"He could leave in the ship."
"Agreed. So let’s take a risk." Parker moved to the door of the hangar and looked in.
Ravel stood on the far side. He looked up and stared right at Parker.
"Ravel," Parker said. "I came to apologize for my rude behavior."
"You knew where I was?" Ravel took several steps to his side and came close to the yacht resting on the hangar floor.
Parker gazed around the hangar. It was smallish with a plasma shield on the open end to allow the ships in and out. The far wall was the bare rock cut out of the port’s cliff. The wall closer to the door contained a bank of terminals which chirped away, spitting out data.
Parker moved up to one of the terminals and glanced at it. The terminal showed the takeoff diagnostic sequence. Someone had initiated it only a minute before, and it could only have been Ravel. This had to be his ship.
Roche stayed near the entrance to prevent Ravel from running away.
"Where you headed?" Parker said.
"What do you care?" Ravel stayed behind the wing of the craft.
"You can care about the Protector. Yet we can’t care about you?"
"Why are you hounding me? I just came to see the crew of the Protector and admire you. I’m a simple worker."
"With access to a yacht," Parker said. "A pretty decent one, too."
"I’m borrowing it from a friend."
"You have all the answers." Parker moved closer to Ravel. The evasive talk pricked at his agitation more than he expected, and his patience started to wane. "Can I see inside?"
"After—"
Parker ducked under the wing and popped up in front of Ravel, who was now hemmed in between Parker and the ship.
Instantly, Ravel drew a sonic pistol and pointed it at him. The man’s hands trembled terribly.
Parker backed away a half step but could tell Ravel was scared. He wondered if the man had ever held a gun before. He raised his hands in surrender and stepped forward. "I’m trying to be friendly with you."
"Get back," Ravel said in a shaky voice.
"No," Parker said, fiercely. With a quick slap, he knocked the gun out of Ravel’s hand, and it rattled across the deck.
Ravel took a step toward the gun.
Expecting the move, Parker grabbed Ravel’s collar, pulled him up, and pressed him against the ship. "What do you want with us? Were you a part of the invasion? Tell me!"
"I . . . I don’t know what you are talking about," Ravel whimpered.
Parker pressed his forearm hard into Ravel’s neck, cutting off his air. The man thrashed about, trying to break free, but he was not as strong as Parker and had no leverage.
"What do you want with Seth and Chloe?" Parker screamed.
The man moaned as he tried to breathe.
Parker pushed in harder, the man’s refusal to tell the truth stoking his anger.
From the side, a large hand grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him back. Parker turned and found Roche standing there.
"Don’t hurt him," Roche said. "There are too many cameras in the area for us to get tangled in another mess."
&n
bsp; Parker let Ravel go. He gasped for breath and then sputtered, "I don’t know what the problem with you guys is! Did the tragedy on Lunara send you into madness? I just wanted—"
"Shut up!" Roche and Parker said at the same time.
Parker shoved his finger toward the man. "Leave Seth and Chloe alone."
Roche pulled on his arm. Parker wanted to resist, but he had already done enough to warn Ravel. There wasn’t much else he could do. The man had committed no crimes. Yet he didn’t trust him, so he felt he had delivered a strong message, and Ravel might now think twice about hurting Seth and Chloe. He had also sent a warning to Ravel’s bosses that the crew wasn’t going to accept any further intrusion in their lives.
Chapter 12
Seth scanned the room, and judging by the remaining seats, almost all the local government leaders were in the briefing room: the mayors from the Zephyrian domes, the consuls from the Aethpisian city complexes, and even the representatives from the smaller, nonaligned colonies. Rumors filled the air with nervous chatter and fearful forecasts. In the center, a three-dimensional display screen projected the governmental symbols of both Zephyria and Aethpis.
He rocked forward in his seat, wanting to get up to find Chloe. She was supposed to come to the meeting and had been gone longer than he had expected. His head swiveled as he looked for her. Most of the officials from the colonies had taken their seats in the auditorium, and he wondered where she was. His eyes moved to the front, where the chancellor and the minister sat on opposite sides of the podium.
The lights lowered to signal the start of the briefing. Someone tapped him from behind, and he turned and saw Chloe, who sat down next to him.
"Where have you been?" he asked.
"I will tell you later," she whispered.
Minister Kaelin Cortez signaled for attention with a series of raps against the top of the podium. The whispers in the room fell silent and waited for the minister’s first words.
"As you all are aware," the minister announced, "Lunara Mining Colony was invaded four days ago. However, you are unaware that one week prior to this act, Aethpisian intelligence learned about the invasion force, and we moved quickly and silently to intercept them."
Seth sat up in his seat. He bit his lower lip hard. Mars saying it knew of the plot and didn’t inform Lunara was akin to treason in his eyes. A simmering rage roiled through his body.
The murmur of voices—no one seemed willing to speak out in a clear voice—became louder. Many of the officials jeered from the back of the room. They were irked because they had had no prior knowledge of the event, but no one in the crowd had enough courage to step up to challenge the minister.
Seth looked at Eamonn, whose concern wasn’t apparent yet; no emotion registered on his face. Seth shifted in his seat. If Eamonn didn’t speak in the next two seconds, he would assault the entire Martian Council with more than words.
Chloe sensed his urge to rise to his feet. She placed her hand on the back of his forearm and shook her head.
Seth sank back into his chair.
Eamonn leaned toward his microphone. In a calm but firm tone, he said, "Why was Lunara kept ignorant of this information?"
The minister cleared his throat. "It was prudent to hold back our intelligence from Lunara. The invasion force may have intercepted our transmissions and taken extreme action. They are more barbaric than you might hope. They would rather destroy Lunara and fail."
The minister showed no signs of remorse about his decision. He didn’t shrink under the podium or offer any apologetic gestures. He stood firm, as if he had known very well what the reaction would be.
Seth couldn’t believe what he heard. They had endangered the people of Lunara on purpose without giving Lunara a chance to defend itself.
The minister continued. "We anticipated that our forces would intercept the invasion force before it reached Lunara. Unfortunately, solar flares delayed them."
The minister activated the three-dimensional screen and allowed it to play the sequence of events. "To the left, the flares increased our travel path by almost two-thirds of normal travel time from Mars to Lunara."
"And the intelligence you gathered on the invasion force?" Eamonn said, remaining calm. "There is no use in hiding that information now."
"The data is still classified," the minister said. "Aethpis is hesitant to disclose any intelligence until the communications are back up and other safety precautions are met."
The outer colony representatives shook their fists and yelled, but the Zephyrians and the Aethpisians remained behind their leaders.
"Order, we will have order!" the minister boomed over the microphone. The crowd, satisfied that they had delivered their message, settled down and listened once again.
"What about the communications relay? Who did that?" Eamonn pressed for some answers.
A steely-eyed man stepped forward. The minister announced him as Thomas Cross. Seth wasn’t familiar with him, but Eamonn cringed on hearing his name.
Cross addressed them at the podium. "The relay was shut down five minutes before the Lunara attack. Please direct your attention to this graphic." A projection of Mars displayed. The graphic showed the two moons of Mars circling; the communications array was highlighted. "A coordinated attack was executed, one on the planet and one in orbit. In only a matter of minutes, they were both struck. An explosive device disabled the main processing core on the ground, located on top of Elysium Mons.
"While this happened, a shuttle containing explosives flew into the array network in orbit. It destroyed the alignment rings. We haven’t been able to determine if the shuttle was piloted automatically or manually."
Eamonn shook his head. "With the relay down, how did you confirm control is restored to Lunara?"
"Confirmation from our sources with the colony. I can assure you that Ty Falloom is in command again. We also received a communication from him when we brought up the array for a short time. We can’t hold a connection for long because our technicians are worried about a complete overload. They assure me the array will be operational within the next two days. We are working around the clock."
"May we listen to the transmission from Chief Falloom? Is it too much to ask for our minds to be put at ease, or does Mars Central believe it should be hidden from the people?"
"Of course, we will play it," Cross said. "The message is short and a little rough, but you can distinguish most of the words."
The screen flattened out into two dimensions, and Ty’s face appeared. "This is Chief Ty Falloom of Lunara Col . . . Thanks to the government of Mars, we have successfully taken back . . . Lunara. We sustained a number of casualties . . . I hope the Protector made its way to Mars . . . Eamonn, if . . . tell Jan ‘I love her’."
The screen went blank, and the transmission ended. The crowd responded with subdued handclaps and hollers.
Gwen patted Eamonn on the back, and he breathed a deep sigh of relief.
Seth held his relief inside, but Chloe felt it. She embraced him.
Perhaps Lunara is safe again, Seth thought. Still, he would prefer to talk to Ty. Something still wasn’t adding up in his mind.
"This concludes debriefing," the public address system announced to the room.
The dimmed lights in the auditorium were turned up, and the officials began to file out toward the back.
The minister moved over to their table. "I hope this calms your fears about Lunara."
"It does," Gwen said. "What will be done about the rebellious forces that invaded?"
"On Mars, they are scattered and hard to eliminate. We are doing our best to catch all attacks before they happen, and our success was spotless until this transgression. They are never this organized. We will provide all the help you need to rebuild the destroyed or damaged parts of Lunara. Supply ships are prepared."
Seth clenched his teeth. He had given Mars an honest opportUnity to redeem itself. In the few hours he had been back on the planet, political promises had be
en broken. He felt betrayed again. How can I protect Chloe in the midst of such disorder? "You said Mars was peaceful. What happened to all those words of progress we heard when we arrived here?"
The minister waved his hand with a sharp twist. "Mars is safe. I am not about to let a few bad seeds ruin what I have built."
Seth didn’t want to hear a political answer. "A bomb and a shuttle packed with explosives. How can that be safe?"
"One incident will not overshadow an entire society," the minister shot back. "You saw the progress here. The nonaligned colonies have sustainable food and shelter for everyone. Mars wasn’t always this way."
"Mars isn’t aggressive enough in handling the rebellious factions," Seth replied.
"I promise you, we are considering—"
"Considering what?" Seth’s eyes narrowed. "Considering that you stifle the people’s wishes for peace?"
"No," the minister shot back. "Considering the fact that these factions hide amongst the peaceful members of the nonaligned colonies. The Principles of Man can’t be used as a matter of convenience. We must follow the principles to ensure the people’s freedom. Innocent people’s rights and safety must be preserved."
"They aren’t innocent. They harbor these people, they accept them into their society, and therefore they are a part of those factions on Mars that wish to disrupt peace. They are guilty. Obliterating them is the only sure way of guaranteeing peace."
The chancellor moved over to the table. "Mr. Smith, I assure you that you are perfectly safe on Mars. The Anniversary Gala will be held in the coming days. I invite you and your crew to stay and enjoy Mars."
Seth shook his head. A party was of no interest to him. "We are going back to Lunara. Ty Falloom will need our help."
"Until the communications array is enabled, a blockade exists for all ships. You can accept our hospitality or not. Either way, you are stuck on Mars."
"Seth is right," Gwen said. "The Protector must return to Lunara as soon as possible."
"Gwendolyn," the chancellor said. "Safety concerns are the reason for the blockade on any ships flying into Lunaran territory."
Gwen stood tall. "As a representative of both Zephyria and a member of the Protector, I must return, and I should be given special clearance."
Lunara: The Original Trilogy Page 11