Lunara: The Original Trilogy

by Wyatt Davenport

  He drew his pistol. The warmth of the handle transferred to his sweaty hands, which contained the residual heat from the access tunnels. He squeezed it tighter, preparing begrudgingly to kill—or at the least maim—the members of the organization he had sworn to protect. He felt justified. They wanted to murder his wife.

  Hannah dropped down behind him. She didn’t wait to take in the corridor as he had. Immediately, she moved down and stopped where the large tunnel split in two. He hurried to catch up. The second tunnel was empty as well, and it turned out to be short, stretching only a few meters to a circular doorway. The label "Engine Room" marked the top half of the door. No good to them.

  They moved down the main corridor, found the door to the detention center, and Parker activated the doorway. It opened, and they walked inside.

  The detention center contained a main lobby with a doorway leading to a back room, where the cells were. A desk sat in the center of the room. No guards were seated at it.

  Parker stepped farther in. He was too eager, whether it was because Sarah was so close or because he was frustrated enough not to concern himself with the consequences. He had done it, and he realized his mistake when out of the corner of his eye he saw a forearm rushing toward his head.

  It struck him squarely in the jaw, sending him tumbling across the floor. He managed to use his feet and hands to keep his balance, but eventually, after staggering to his right, he fell to one knee.

  From behind him, Hannah screamed, but it was not a terrified scream of a frightened woman. Rather, it was a battle scream. Parker turned back toward the guard who had struck him.

  She was a well-built woman, and it was only because he had seen the coming attack at the last moment that he was not sprawled on the floor. He drew his gun and pointed it at her, but Hannah darted in too fast.

  She lunged, sending both her fists spearing at the guard’s head. The guard ducked the attack, shifted a step to the side, and jabbed her fist in an uppercut punch into Hannah’s ribs.

  Hannah wheezed, staggered back a few steps, and then launched a second attack. She grabbed the guard by the head and drove both of them into the opposite wall.

  Parker only heard the thud as the two women collided against the wall. Another guard—whom he hadn’t seen creep up behind him—grabbed him by the shoulder and tossed him across the desk. He crashed into the edge of the desk where it met the floor.

  Lying, licking the blood from his lip, he could have kicked himself for watching Hannah and the other guard fight. He had no time to fret. He stood, aimed his pistol, and—

  Pain!

  The wrist holding his gun felt like a horse had kicked it. The gun flew to his side and rattled along the floor. Parker didn’t dare look to see where it landed. Instead, the attacker, barreling at him, consumed his attention. The man’s shoulder drove into Parker’s midsection, pushing him back against the wall. He was pinned.

  Parker adjusted his foot while slamming his fist repeatedly into the man’s back. However, his smashes did little to deter the man’s footing. Then Parker noticed the man reaching for his hip, from which an electrostick dangled. He had to do something. He reached for his breast pocket, which contained his multipurpose tool.

  He fiddled with it for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, unnoticed by the guard, who was concerned with grabbing his electrostick and keeping his advantage, Parker drew the screwdriver part of his tool from its enclosed position and thrust it into the guard’s ear.

  Blood splattered into Parker’s mouth. The coppery taste made him retch. The guard screamed in pain and reeled backward toward the desk. Parker was on him fast. Taking three steps, he jump kicked into the man’s chest, sending him toppling backward. The guard tripped over his own feet, and with a horrific crack, his head slammed against the edge of the desk, dazing him.

  Out of the corner of Parker’s eye, he saw Hannah and the female guard wrestling. The guard was over Hannah, pinning her to the ground. Hannah fought violently, twisting her arms and legs around the woman, making it difficult for the guard to deliver the final blow.

  Parker glanced back to the guard who had attacked him. His eyes were still glassy. The man staggered to his feet, but then, without fighting to stay up, he fell back to the floor.

  They both noticed a glint at the same time. It was the reflection from Parker’s sonic pistol, and they both lunged for it. Parker scrambled quicker and grabbed it before the guard could. He reached his arm back, thrust the hilt into the guard’s temple, and pistol-whipped the defenseless man into unconsciousness.

  Hannah squealed for help. Parker was on his feet fast and rushed toward her. By this time, the female guard had pinned Hannah and was about to deliver an electrostick to her neck. Parker drew his gun—

  Bang!

  The red splatter of the guard’s brain matter splashed across Hannah’s face. She flailed in terror, quickly threw the woman’s carcass off, and jumped to her feet. Her body was shaking.

  "You okay?" Parker said firmly.

  Hannah turned around. Shock filled her face.

  Parker stepped up to her and shook her.

  She snapped out of it instantly. "Thanks," she muttered. "I owe you one."

  "Don’t worry about it. Figure out these desk controls. I’m going to find Sarah." He turned and was into the detention cells moments later.

  Parker’s heart pounded as he edged into the corridor containing the cells. He wanted to rush in and whisk Sarah away, but he had to be cautious this time. Another guard could be hiding, and he would be ready to strike and with greater force than an electrostick. He rolled over his shoulder and aimed his gun down the corridor.

  Empty. Only two guards had been present.

  "Who’s there?" Sarah said, her voice coming from the back cell to his left.

  "Sarah!" Parker raced to the end of the corridor, stopping short of the cell door. He saw her face through the barred window. He yanked on the handle, but it was locked. "Come on, you jinxed piece of Alliance junk. Open up." He growled.

  "Find the release button," Sarah said. "Check the back wall."

  His head swiveled. Nothing! His lungs tightened as his breathing quickened, and then, as if his thoughts had torn the locks, the door opened with a clang. His face twisted for a moment.

  "Of course, Hannah must have found the release button at the control desk," he muttered.

  He flung the door wide open, grabbed his wife as she moved out, and hugged her. "I missed you so much. I was worried they killed you."

  "What are you doing here?" she said. "It was a stupid risk to save me."

  Parker was too dumbstruck to talk. He stood in front of his wife with his mouth agape.

  Sarah placed her hand on his chest. "Thank you for coming. But if they catch you, then our children have lost both of us. Harry and Emily can’t afford to lose a second set of parents."

  "If Mars is controlled by the MSA, their parents will be nonexistent anyway. It is better to die fighting and have Radella look after them. They can’t run with us forever. It’ll put them in danger, too."

  Sarah lowered her head. "Maybe it’s time we stopped and looked around at what the MSA—"

  "Hurry up!" Hannah called from the other room.

  Parker tightened his jaw, thanking Hannah for interrupting. If Sarah had, even for a moment, considered the MSA rule as anything but a disaster for the planet, he didn’t know what he would have done to her. He grabbed her hand before she repeated it.

  When they returned from the detention area, Hannah had moved from behind the desk and was making her way toward the side wall. Parker stepped into the reception lobby and stopped short. He went to raise his sonic pistol, but Sarah grabbed his arm firmly, squeezing it.

  Sarah spoke: "Captain Terry, you’ve made a terrible mistake by imprisoning loyal Alliance members."

  Captain Terry, along with a half-dozen of his loyal guards, stood before them with their rifles aimed at his chest. They waved at Parker to drop his pistol, and he d
id so, with the greatest of reluctance.

  He trusted Sarah. Her single squeeze of his arm made him relinquish control of the situation. They would rely on her diplomacy to get them out now.

  Terry laughed. "Your husband breaks into my ship, and we are expected to believe you are a part of the Alliance. Once again, he has betrayed my trust, and on top of that, killed one of my guards."

  "You don’t know what you are talking about, Terry," Hannah said, her tone razor sharp. "The Alliance has been split since you enacted your crusade against infiltrators. You left no room for anyone to maneuver with the sanctions against your own allies. Your desertion sentenced Castor and Pollux to doom."

  "Hannah Rohen. It is surprising to find you here. Then again, it isn’t. I flagged your access codes, and when you used them to join the fleet, they triggered quite a few alarms across my security grid." Terry laughed. "And to the elation of my crew, Parker McCloud was with you."

  "Don’t say my name, you paranoid old fool," Parker said callously.

  "My paranoia has strengthened our unity," Terry replied. "The actions of the McCloud family have been the only stain on our existence since I took over. It was my fault for ever trusting you."

  Sarah stepped forward but stopped short as the rifles pushed toward her. Parker grabbed her arm. She shrugged him off. "If there is a traitor within the MSA, it isn’t from my family. Parker never did that, and I never did that either. Listen to us. The MSA has a shipment of metalor set for delivery in the next few hours. You have to mobilize the fleet and take the shipment."

  "It will spark the Alliance forces on Mars into action," Parker added. "They’re out there, scared to act. Give them a reason to do so."

  "You are a part of the Martian Authority and—"

  Boom! A long rumbling sound accompanied a violent shaking along the floor. A tile from the ceiling fell with a terrific crash, causing them to raise their hands to their ears.

  The veins in Terry’s neck bulged.

  Then Terry’s CommUn chimed, and he answered it. A muffled exchange ensued, followed by a deeper reddening of Terry’s face. Parker knew something was wrong, direly wrong. Terry turned off his CommUn and looked up at him.

  "McCloud, you fool. You have led the MSA to our fleet. They are attacking."

  Parker’s heart dropped. Had Hannah inadvertently led the MSA to their fleet? She promised that she had been extra careful. It was impossible for him to know, since he had been unconscious throughout their exit from Mars.

  Terry turned to his guards. "Bring them with me. I want to kill them myself when this battle is over."

  Parker stewed on the bridge of the Alliance cruiser Sheriff. Guards blocked him from making any moves. Not that he could do anything with leg shackles and handcuffs impeding any attempts to gain freedom or even make himself comfortable in his standing position.

  Sarah stood to his right, as dignified as when he first met her in the Aethpis gardens two years earlier. Her outer appearance gave no sign that she was bothered by the entire ordeal, but he knew it was tearing her apart inside. Her Alliance was about to be obliterated.

  Hannah, to his left, scanned the bridge for any possibility of escape. There was none. He had looked as well.

  On the viewscreen in front of them, the battle raged. The Sheriff had taken a defense posture in the back of the fleet, curbing the mind-shaking jolts they had experienced on their way up.

  The MSA—two fleets in total, judging by the ship counts bantered around—engaged the Alliance forces on a single front, which seemed peculiar to Parker. Normally, you would either attack a fleet from its sides or split your forces to converge on two fronts. But the MSA was content to engage its forces on a unified front. This made it easier for Terry to set up his defensive posture, thwarting any forays by the MSA into the Alliance fleet.

  Parker did notice one thing the MSA forces were doing that annoyed Captain Terry no end. They fired a plasma weapon, splattering yellow energy balls across most of the ships engaging in the battle. But listening to the reports, Parker heard that the weapon did no damage to the ship it contacted. Perhaps the Alliance had prepared for it…but he doubted it; Terry’s agitation was too great.

  Captain Terry ordered a full assault on the cruiser firing the mystery weapon. Was this its purpose, to confound the Alliance commanders enough to act against a negligible target, leaving the rest of the MSA fleet safe from the wrath of the missile barrages? But Parker doubted that, too. He and the rest of the Alliance were missing its purpose. What was it? He was about to find out. The Alliance had moved into a strike position.

  Just at the point of attack by the Alliance, the MSA forces did something unexpected. They rotated their ships around, accelerated out from the battle zone, and engaged quickdrives.

  And just as quickly as they had appeared, they were gone, leaving only one task remaining: Terry’s execution of the trio.

  Parker swallowed.

  Captain Terry turned to them, grinning from ear to ear. "And that is how you instill fear into the MSA."

  "They left for another reason," Hannah said, her voice unwavering. She was no doubt feeling what was to come next, just as Parker did. "That weapon they were using, the yellow plasma globs…It is doing hidden damage to your ship. You don’t see it now, but the damage has been done."

  Captain Terry flicked his wrist toward the guard next to Hannah. The guard jabbed his rifle into her midsection, causing her to cough and wheeze.

  "What now, Captain Terry?" Sarah said. "You want to kill us, but you still have no evidence of treachery."

  Sarah was concise. Parker had always liked that about her, but a part of him didn’t want her to mention the execution. Maybe Terry had forgotten about it.

  "So you admit treachery can be uncovered."

  "Stop using my words against me," she said. "You can spin even the slightest of comments into your own web of distrust. You have no proof because there is no proof. My family has been nothing but loyal to the Alliance. For Pluto’s sake, the MSA killed my father. Don’t you remember him anymore?"

  "Enough," Captain Terry said. "Your execution will not have the honor of your father’s. He was a true loyalist to our way. Guards, prepare to dispose of the vermin."

  The guards stepped in front of them and cocked their guns. Then there was a long pause.

  Parker closed his eyes. He wanted to do so much with Sarah: have a baby, live in a farming community on the edge of the Aethpisian border, comfort her in his arms.

  Bang! Bang!

  He heard two bodies drop to the floor. He didn’t want to look, and forcing himself, he imagined Sarah’s face the first time he saw her. He wanted to die with that image. Tears seeped through his clamped-shut eyelids. His nose sniffled. He tightened his jaw. They wouldn’t get the satisfaction of seeing him grovel, although that is what he wanted to do more than anything.

  Bang!

  Another body dropped to the floor. It wasn’t him, unless this was what death was like. He opened his eyes. The three guards in front of him lay dead.

  The other three guards mobilized against a portion of the bridge crew, while another portion of the crew helped them secure the bridge. The mutineers held a gun to Captain Terry and moved the tactical officer beside him. Hannah had already reached down and taken the key to the handcuffs from the dead guard in front of her.

  Parker turned his head around. Sarah stood beside him, opening her eyes as hesitantly as he had. Their eyes met, and they smiled at each other.

  Hannah removed the cuffs from both of them. Parker held Sarah for a long moment.

  Parker looked around at the bridge. Hannah Rohen barked orders to the men. The woman from Castor and Pollux, whom he thought had abandoned the Alliance, and who thought the Alliance had abandoned her, had control over the bridge of the flagship of the Alliance.

  "Castor and Pollux had infiltrated the Alliance this entire time," Parker said. "You’re sneaky, Hannah Rohen."

  She looked at him and smirked. "You
didn’t think the clumsy MSA would get away with it for long? It took us two years to place our pawns throughout the MSA and the Alliance."

  "Do you have your knights and bishops in place as well?"

  "We have it all, Mr. McCloud. It is time we strike against the MSA," she said. "If you don’t mind, Sarah, I think my forces are more receptive to my commanding the fleet."

  "Of course," Sarah said. "As long as you uphold the Alliance principles and the Principles of Man, you can be in permanent command."

  Hannah didn’t reply. Instead, she turned toward Terry, who had remained surprisingly quiet. "Lock Terry and his friends in his ready room. Destroy the terminals in there as well. We can’t chance a mutiny against our mutiny."

  The three guards pushed the grumbling former captain and his crew away.

  Parker moved beside Hannah. "The MSA globs. We have to figure out what they did before we mobilize."

  "I know it is a terrible concern," she said, then stared at him with a concerned expression. "With things in motion on Mars, we can’t waste any more time. We’ll have to discover the secret on the way there."

  Parker groaned. "At least our plasma shields are holding."

  "Why wouldn’t they?"

  "The globs. My initial guess was a plasma shield disruptor."

  Hannah bit her lip. "Our weapons, engines, and shields are holding steady. Whatever the globs are supposed to do, hopefully it didn’t work."

  Sarah stepped beside Parker. "How do you know the Alliance fleet will follow us?"

  "The fleet is under my control," Hannah said. "Trust me when I say that our preparation was flawless. Captain Terry’s hold on it is broken. In time, I’ll address the fleet with you, and we’ll show the Alliance why we need to fight."

  Sarah nodded.

  Hannah spoke with her commanders on her viewscreen, and within fifteen minutes, the fleet mobilized, shifting into alignment toward Mars.

  Parker stood, his mouth agape in disbelief. The entire Alliance situation had turned completely around in an instant, so fast it left him feeling that they had missed something terrible: the MSA weapon, seemingly unproductive, could lead to disaster during a battle. He was also puzzled by several other things: how Hannah had suddenly and so surely seized control over the Alliance, why Eamonn hadn’t been given forewarning of the approaching help, and worst of all, why Sarah no longer wanted control of the Alliance. What had changed her mind?