“Eh, well, not exactly. When we get old enough, we’re just sort of expected to go out and make a living for ourselves and carve out our own lives. We don’t all live together communally like that.”
“How lonely,” he said, furrowing up his brow.
“Trust me, if you had grown up at my house, you would have been ready to get the hell out when the time came.”
“I can respect your traditions even though they are alien to my own,” he said.
“Fair enough. Now, let’s go back to what you were saying about revenge killing my soul,” she said.
“Oh that. If you like,” he said.
“Do you really believe that?”
“Well, the Sersay says..”
“Not the Sersay, but you,” she said. The puzzled looked he gave her proved that he wasn’t sure what she meant. It was obvious that Barringes weren’t accustomed to thinking in an individual way.
“I believe that one must be careful about the goals that guide one’s life. If your entire intent is to kill the man who killed your father, what will you do once you’ve accomplished your goal?”
“I haven’t thought about that. I guess I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it,” she said as they reached the mess hall. Dedron was puzzled again, having never heard the expression she was using.
“That means I’ll figure it out once Commander Frembor is pushing up daisies,” prompting another puzzled look. “Dead,” she said for clarification.
They sat down together at one of the long tables.
“And this is the way that you hope to best serve those that you love and care about?” he went on.
“Yes, I’m quite sure that my entire family would be most pleased to hear the news that Frembor is no more.”
“What about the greater good of your race?” Donna just stared at him for a second. Again, she got lost for an instant in his mesmerizing eyes.
“Are you alright?” he asked.
“Fine. To answer your question, I guess humans do what they feel is best for themselves rather than what’s for the greater good of their kind. Perhaps, though, our society would be better off if we thought a bit more like you,” she admitted. Dedron smiled at this.
“That doesn’t mean it’s ever going to happen. As for my soul, I assure you I’m in no danger of losing it.”
“I hope not, but be aware of rash decisions guided by anger and hate. They might eventually cause you to make the wrong decision.”
“You mean like the decision that I made to go after those creatures that were coming for you?”
“Think about it. You made that decision as a way of helping me, not out of anger or haste,” he said. She gave him a soft glare. He was right, and she didn’t want to admit to it. Just then, the others came in from the training mission.
“Well, how’d you do?” she asked Kadija and Laura who came to sit beside the two of them.
“We did fine, but you no one could beat the time that you and Dedron set,” Kadija said. Donna turned to Dedron and smiled. He smiled back, but this time it was a full grin. Then, Dedron quickly got up and walked away fearing that he was letting too much of his emotions show, which was not the Barringe way. Donna felt something strange in the pit of her stomach, a nervousness that she hadn’t felt since she met her last boyfriend. She quickly dismissed her feelings and turned back towards the other women.
“What’s with him?” Laura asked.
“I wish I knew,” Donna said, shrugging her shoulders.
“Seems like you two have some sort of chemistry,” Kadija said.
“What are you talking about? He’s a Barringe, and I’m an Earthling,” Donna said, incredulously.
“So, does that really matter?” Laura asked.
“Well…” Donna said, hesitating to fully respond. Now that she really thought about it, there was no good reason that she could think of to back up what she’d said.
“Let’s eat,” she said, trying to change the subject as the cook opened up the serving line at the front of the building.
Chapter 4
After two intense weeks of training, Donna had no trouble getting to sleep. The next day they were going to embark on their mission, and she wanted to make sure she was ready. She fell into a deep dream that found her back home again with her grieving mother back in the days just following her father’s death.
“I will bring father’s killers to justice,” she whispered to her crying mother.
“I just want you to be safe,” her mother responded. A second later, the sound of a loud explosion could be heard just outside. It was loud and real enough to shake Donna out of her slumber and cause her to look around. At first, she thought it was part of her dream and heaved a sigh of relief. However, a second explosion, which seemed louder and closer than the last soon rang out. The other women were now up as well.
“What the hell is going on?” Laura said, leaping to her feet. Donna got up and strapped on her laser cannon.
“Do you think that some of the munitions went off somehow?” Kadija said.
“I don’t think so,” Donna said, getting the sneaking suspicion that the Remoirs were behind it somehow. “I’d be willing to bet this is the work of the Remoirs. Come on, let’s get out of this building before someone decides to bomb it!”
They sprang into action and left the barracks as quickly as they could. As soon as they stumbled out into the early rays of dawn, they could see a large rectangular shape hovering above the main training facility. Further inspection revealed it to be a large Remoir cruise ship that glowed like black glass. It looked like a large, sleek skyscraper with flight capabilities. A large energy beam projected out of its bottom and hit the training facility. It burst into flames seconds later. The soldiers on the base were fighting back, but no weapon that they fired at the cruise ship seemed to help. There were fighter rockets circling it, and several other weapons firing from the ground including blaster bombs and high-powered lasers. None of them could make a dent in the glass-like Remoir ship. It simply sent out beams in the direction of the firing weapons and destroyed them one by one.
“Run for those trees over there!” Donna said, fearing that they would become targets. As soon as they reached the cover of the woods, the ship blew the barracks apart.
“What about the guys? Do you think they made it out?” Donna said.
“I don’t know, but we had better keep our cover if we want to survive.”
“I don’t understand. They decided to attack us the day that we were going to leave on our mission. They must have known somehow,” Kadija said.
“The Remoirs have spies all over the place, or we have a traitor somewhere in our midst,” Laura said. They women all looked at each other as if they were wondering if it might be one of them.
“We have to stick together. We know it wasn’t one of us. There’s no time to speculate now. We have to see if we can help the others. After all, we are all on the same Defense Squad,” Donna said. Laura and Kadija looked at one another and then at Donna.
“I don’t know,” Laura said.
“Well, I’m going to see if I can help them,” Donna said, determinedly. She did not wait to see what the others decided. She ran as fast as she could from the cover of the woods towards the direction of the men’s barracks. A tracking beam followed her, trying to capture her and load her into their ship, but she ran so fast, it was not successful. When she reached the building, she found it already in ruins, but she was comforted to see someone firing from the cover of the trees, nearby. She ducked behind a large tree and waited for the right moment to run. Something else captured her attention at that moment. Kadija and Laura were running across the field in her direction. Donna waved for them to come meet up with her, and just when they were about to reach cover, the tracking beam came down and captured both of them. They were drawn up to the ship helplessly, immobilized by the power of the beam. After the two women were pulled into the ship, the opening it its large hull closed up, swallowing them
.
“NO!” she shouted, but it was of little use. In order to keep from suffering the same fate, she ran towards the woods where someone was still firing at the ship to no avail. The tracking beam again tried to capture Donna unsuccessfully. When she reached the woods, she saw Dedron hunkered down behind a large pile of rocks.
“Quickly, over here!” he shouted to her.
“Where are the others?” she immediately asked.
“They were captured. I awoke to the sound of explosions. The first thing the Remoirs took out was the munitions plant. They must have just found out about our mission and decided to strike us first.”
“But how did they find out?”
“No time to talk about it now, come on!” he said, grabbing her by the hand.
“Where are we going? We have to help the others! We have to get on board that ship. It has Kadija and Laura in it.”
“It is likely they are being taken to a holding room for questioning. That’s the Remoir way. What we have to do is stop them from destroying the reactor. It will put all of the surrounding areas in terrible danger from the fallout. We have to get to an armored vehicle with more powerful weapons than the ones we have on us,” he said.
“There was an armored Galactank near the eastern entrance,” She said.
“Good thinking. If they haven’t already destroyed it, we might have a chance. Let’s make our way through the woods in that direction.”
With that, they ran as quickly as they could through the dense trees, paying little attention to the thorns and vines that pulled at their legs. Soon, the Galactank came into view. It was parked near the entrance as an extra means of defense, but the Remoirs had paid it little mind due to its separation from the main munitions plant.
“Come on, let’s get inside!” Dedron said. The Galactank was much more sleek and compact than the tanks of yore. It had a cloaking device, and several weapons including high-powered lasers, crater bombs, and guided missiles as well. It also went about twice as fast as old model tanks. As soon as they got inside, Donna got behind the controls while Dedron positioned himself in the seat suspended above the driver’s seat in order to man the weapons.
Donna switched on the cloaking device and the tank lurched forward.
“Hang on, I’m operating it at full speed!” she warned. As they drove across the shattered base, they quickly realized that all of the buildings were now in a smoldering ruin. The Remoir ship had now stopped firing weapons and seemed to be in hunting mode, looking for any other survivors. It was moving towards the reactor, which was on the northern edge of the base.
“I’m going to give them everything we’ve got!” Dedron said as he prepared to send all of the guided missiles, a supercharged laser beam, and a crater bomb all at once. Donna brought the invisible tank right beneath the Remoir cruiser, which had a smaller ship emerging from its center in the shaped of an oval. The small ship landed near the woods and two phantom-like Remoirs emerged from a sliding door. It was the first time that Donna saw them, and she didn’t like their appearance one bit. They both had long, black hooded cloaks that shrouded their facial features, but she could make out sinister eyes that glowed like a red neon sign. Both of them clutched large guns of some kind.
“Those two are probably looking for us. Let’s make sure that they have no cruiser to return to!” Dedron said, determinedly. Once the weapons were fully charged, he fired everything the tank had straight up into the bottom of the Remoir cruiser. The combined strength of the weapons penetrated the Remoir ship, creating a fiery hole in its hull. Unfortunately, the hole quickly began to rebuild itself before their eyes. A tracking beam larger than the ones they’d seen previously began to lift up the tank.
“Quickly, let’s get out of here!” Donna said as she unstrapped herself from the driver’s seat and made her way towards the doorway. Dedron followed just behind her. The tank had now been lifted twenty feet off the ground, so they had to leap out of the doorway. As soon as they had exited the tank, they ran for the cover of the nearby woods again. The tracking beam detected them and followed immediately behind them. Once they were in the woods, they could hear the movement of the two Remoirs coming for them. Donna looked back and saw the phantom-like creatures hovered above the ground, clutching their weapons. Their feet did not touch the ground, but their cloaks caught on the surrounding brush, making their presence known.
“Come with us, Earthlings. It is over!” a sickly monotone voice called out.
“Stay down,” Dedron urged Donna. She shot him an incredulous look.
“Did you really think I was going to surrender after all we’ve been through?” she said.
“Shh!” he answered. “Wait until you see the glow of their hideous eyes. Then we’ll give them some serious fire power,” he said.
“Like you had to tell me that,” she said, getting annoyed at the fact that he was telling her what to do.
The Remoirs got within ten feet of them.
“Now!” Donna said. Both she and Dedron fired their laser cannons into the Remoirs. They both disintegrated into flames, letting off a horrifying shriek in the process. There seemed to be nothing left of them.
“Quickly, let’s get to the ship they came out of,” Donna said.
“That’s what I was going to say,” Dedron said, trying to assert himself. At the edge of the woods they found the small, oval vessel. It was sleek and black like the main cruise ship, but only large enough for two passengers. As soon as they were on board, a transmission was coming through. It was a high-pitched wail, which is what the Remoir language sounds like.
“Switch on your language decoders that the sergeant issued us,” Dedron said.
Donna did so, and soon they could make out the words of the transmission.
“Captain Herbror, have you spotted the two survivors? The Commander wants all of the members of the Defense Squadron alive!”
The language decoders also had the ability to translate their speech into four thousand different languages, including Remoir.
“Yes sir, we have them on board with us. We are going to dock with the main ship,” Dedron responded.
“Excellent, but something sounds strange about you. Are you alright, Captain?” the voice asked.
“Yes, I think I’m reacting to this highly oxygenated environment, sir,” Dedron said. Donna gave him a puzzled look. He shrugged his shoulders.
“Very well,” the voice answered. Dedron switched off the transmission receiver and got in the cockpit to drive the small ship. Donna found a small closet next to the cockpit with two extra black robes hanging in it.
“Here put this on,” she said. “I can’t believe we are going to actually board that cruise ship.”
“We have to try and find out where they took our comrades. It’s our duty,” he responded.
“I know, I just hope it doesn’t prove to be a suicide mission,” she answered, dubiously.
Chapter 5
As the small ship docked with the larger cruise ship, Donna swallowed hard.
“So what’s our plan here?” she asked.
“As I see it, we only have one option: To take over the ship by force. As soon as we open the door, we need to be ready to unleash a barrage of laser fire at them.”
“That’s what I was thinking, but I thought I’d check with you to see if you have a more subtle plan in mind. I can see we’re on the same page.”
“Well, we won’t be able to fool them into thinking that we are Remoirs. It’s the only plan that will work in this situation as far as I can see,” Dedron answered. Donna took a moment to look Dedron over. She realized how quickly she’d developed a trust and a fondness for him.”
“What is it?” he asked.
“Nothing. I was just thinking about what the sergeant said about us- he was right. We do make a pretty good team.”
Dedron revealed a slight grin, and although he was still holding back certain emotions, this glimpse of his emotional side warmed her.
“Let’s go and rescue our friends,” she said.
“Are you ready?” Dedron asked as he put his large hand on the button that would open the door to the larger ship.
“Yes,” she said putting her hand up for a high five. Dedron gave her a puzzled look.
“Slap your palm on top of mine. It’s something we do for good luck,” she explained.
“Oh, ok then,” he said, giving her a high five.
A second later the door opened and the two of them charged out into the hallway, prepared to shoot any Remoirs that appeared.
They found themselves in a long, dark corridor. Their ears were filled with the sounds of footsteps coming from a distant chamber. Once they reached the end of the corridor, an arched doorway opened for them. A few Remoirs were moving quickly through the more wide, well-lit hallway in front of them. These passers-by didn’t seem to pay Dedron and Donna any mind. Dedron waited for these guards to pass before turning to whisper to Donna.
“Lower your weapon. Let’s try to get as far as we can without drawing attention to ourselves,” he said.
“Ok,” she whispered back. The cloaks seemed to be enough to disguise them for the time being. They passed by a few other Remoirs and came to what seemed to be a control room of sorts. There were four Remoirs positioned behind large control panels lit up with red and blue lights. One of them wore a darker robe and a horned helmet. He seemed to be a higher-ranking crewmember.
“Identify yourselves. You know guards aren’t allowed in here without special clearance.”
“Eh,” Donna said, turning to Dedron. He nodded to her, and she knew what this meant. There was no use trying to come up with a fake credential that wouldn’t fool the adversary in front of them. All at once, Donna and Dedron fired into him. He let out a hideous shriek as he reached for his own weapon, but he was far too late. The others in the control room were on the immediate defensive, firing their own weapons.
“Duck!” Donna yelled out as both she and Dedron hit the ground and began to fire back at them. Soon, there was only one Remoir remaining. He dropped his laser pistol and backed up against the wall.
A New Reason To Fight: An Intergalactic Romance Page 31