Trinity eyed Jerad. “Well, you just make sure you’re standing right there next to her when they pin on those golden-dragon insignias.”
Jerad nodded. His face took on a serious look. “I’ll be there Trinity. No amount of harassment from Myers or any other TAC officer is going to make me DFR. That’s a promise. I’ll get through this wizard scout training, and then we can get married.”
“You’d better. I’m depending on you.”
The intercom on the cabin wall crackled.
“Wizard Scout Trinity,” said the ship’s computer. “Sergeant Ron requests that you join him in the cockpit. He says it is urgent.”
The hologram of Jerad grinned. “Duty calls.” He glanced at his wrist. “It’s just as well, I guess. I’ve got formation in three minutes.” His grin grew wider. “Myers is probably going to take us on another forced march. My poor aching feet.”
Trinity flashed a grin before growing serious. “Take care of yourself, Cadet. I need you.”
“I need you too, uh...Sir!” Jerad stiffened to attention and gave a crisp salute. He winked. “I love you.”
The hologram went blank.
“I love you too,” whispered Trinity.
After staring at the blank disk for half a dozen heartbeats, Trinity left her quarters and made for the cockpit. It wasn’t far. The door to the cockpit was already open when she got there. Sergeant Ron, Charlie, and Janet were sitting in the room’s pilot, copilot, and navigator seats respectively. A half-meter high hologram of the commandant hovered above the hologram pad that was located between the pilot and copilot’s seats.
“Ah,” said the commandant, “I’m glad you could make it Trinity. Sergeant Ron told me you were on a call with one of our cadets.” He winked. “I hope we didn’t disturb you.”
For the second time that day, Trinity felt her face grow warm. “Uh, not at all, Sir.”
The commandant nodded. “Good. Good. Commander Stevens was telling me about the training. You’ve all accomplished a lot during the last couple of weeks.”
“Thank you, Sir,” Trinity said. “Jennifer,” she thought. “Do you know what this is about? I can’t believe the commandant has called us together to chit-chat.”
“I do know, Wizard Scout,” replied Jennifer in their shared space. “I calculate if you listen instead of wasting time talking to me, you will know soon enough as well.”
“Well, I doubt you’ll be thanking me in a second,” said the commandant. “I need Sergeant Ron and the Defiant back here now.”
“Now?” Trinity asked, growing suddenly alert. “You said the Defiant could stay a month. She’s still got two—”
The commandant nodded. “Yes, believe me, I know what I said. Things have changed. Reports have been coming in from other wizard scouts that support what you found during your raid. The Crosoians appear to be supplying weapons not only to the pirates, but to the Norwedian Federation and several of the Empire’s other adversaries at no cost. If the bats are really giving away their advanced gear for free, that could spell trouble for the Empire. We’ve got to find out why they’re doing it. I have a mission for Sergeant Ron and the Defiant that can’t wait. I’ll send him back to Talos before the pirates return if I’m able. In the meantime, you’ll have to make do with the Donovan.”
“Sir,” Trinity said, trying her best to be civil. “Nothing against the Donovan. She’s a good ship in her own way, but she’s not the Defiant. If the pirates bring more than a troop transport with them when they come, we’re going to need something heavier than the Donovan’s fifty-gigawatt cannons to hold them off.”
The commandant nodded. “Believe me, I know. But I think there’s more going on than meets the eye with the Crosoians. I’m trying to convince the Imperial High Council that we should be putting our forces on alert, but I’m meeting resistance. Several of the councilmembers are hesitant to escalate a situation that might turn out to be nothing.” He shrugged. “Maybe they’re right. I don’t know.” He looked at Sergeant Ron. “What I do know old friend is that I need you back here now. If the Crosoians are up to something, I need information. You’ve got sources that can ferret out information even wizard scouts can’t find. I need the Defiant back on Velos.”
“Sir,” Trinity said, seeing the already tenuous situation on Talos grow even shakier. “The citizens of Talos are—”
The commandant stiffened. “...are going to have to deal with their problems themselves. They are a backwater planet in the neutral zone. You said yourself that the titanium vein is played out. There’s nothing there that would make the Empire want to risk their forces to help. If there was a large supply of titanium that was still mineable, that would be one thing. There’s not according to you. I’ve done all I can. That’s final.”
Trinity stiffened to attention and saluted. He was the commandant, after all. “Yes, Sir!”
The commandant’s shoulders relaxed as he returned Trinity’s salute. “I’m sorry, Trinity. There are bigger things going on in the galaxy than Talos. You’ll just have to make do.” He gave a half smile. “I promise I’ll send the Defiant back if I get the chance.” He winked. “That’s wizard scout honor.”
The hologram went blank.
“Well, that sucks,” said Janet.
Trinity nodded. “You’ve got that right.” She looked at Sergeant Ron. “When are you leaving?”
The Defiant’s captain returned Trinity’s gaze. “As soon as the commander here and you get your bags off the ship. If the commandant says he needs the Defiant back on Velos, you can bet he needs her ASAP. I’d like to be off-planet and on my way within the hour.”
Trinity nodded again. “Well, it is what it is, I suppose.” She glanced at Lieutenant Commander Stevens.
“You ready?”
Janet smiled. “I’m special operations. I was born ready.”
Trinity returned her smile. Wizard scouts normally worked alone, but in this case it was nice to have a friend by her side.
“Hey, what am I, chopped pactar meat?” said Jennifer in their shared space.
Trinity laughed. “Believe me, Jennifer. You’ll always be my friend. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“Nor I, Wizard Scout.”
Chapter 12 – Spy in the Sky
______________________
“Incoming!” came the warning over the loudspeakers that were positioned on every corner of town along with an abundant supply that were located at each training facility.
Anna stopped firing her plasma rifle at the man-sized target three hundred meters away. She scrambled to her feet as she placed the weapon on safe and extracted the isotopic battery. The two dozen other trainees on the firing line with her did the same.
Some of the younger trainees began to panic. One young boy actually dropped his rifle on the ground. The fine brown dust had barely settled when a blonde-haired woman dressed in a black jumpsuit with silver trim stepped next to the boy. She picked up his rifle and handed it to him before giving the boy a pat on the shoulder and walking away. While the woman appeared to be in her late twenties, something in her eyes gave Anna the impression that she was a lot older.
“Let’s move it, people,” said Wizard Scout Trevor as she continued walking down the firing line. Her voice was amplified several times over by the external speakers of her battle helmet. “We’ve got twenty minutes before the pirates’ scout ship gets overhead. I want everything secured in five.”
At the steady voice of the seasoned wizard scout, the trainees lined up next to their firing positions and held their weapons at port-arms with the battery-well facing out to show that it was empty. Anna had to hand it to the wizard scout. While the woman might be medically retired, she’d quickly gained the respect of almost everyone in town with her firm-but-fair method of leadership.
After an acting sergeant cleared her rifle, Anna handed it to one of the armorers who were running down the firing line collecting weapons. Once her hands were free, she glanced at the old wizard sco
ut.
Hard to think of her as old with that blonde hair of hers, Anna thought, but Trinity told me Wizard Scout Trevor is eighty-one. Ryan says she was one of the best wizard scouts in the corps until her Power reserve got damaged decades before I was even born.
As if sensing her thoughts, Wizard Scout Trevor turned and stared at Anna. “What are you gawking at, Trainee? Do you expect me to get everything under cover by myself?” She smiled. “Do it like we practiced, and everything will be fine.”
Turning red, Anna dashed to a metal box located near the center of the firing line. She pulled down on a metal lever before punching the red ‘EMERGENCY DEACTIVATE’ button. The pop-up targets downrange immediately began retracting into the ground. Spinning to her left, she caught a glimpse of two large medium UHAAVs in the distance hightailing it for one of the six storage warehouses that had been converted into makeshift hangars. She knew once the cats were inside the titanium-dust lined building, the walls and ceilings would be energized to make the equipment inside invisible to any sensors the incoming scout ship might have activated.
At least that’s the theory, Anna thought. This is the first real test. I guess we’ll know for sure one way or the other in the next ten minutes.
“Anna,” came a shout from her rear.
Turning, Anna spotted Connor in the passenger seat of one of the mine’s hover-trucks. Old Man Ryan was behind the vehicle’s steering levers. The back of the truck was quickly filling with trainees as they scrambled to get on board.
“Hurry,” shouted Connor. “We’ve got to get to the mine.”
Anna ran to the truck and headed for the back. Before she got there, Connor opened the passenger door and yelled, “We’ve got room up here. Come on!”
Making her way to the cab, Anna placed a foot on the running board and started to step inside. Before she could finish the maneuver, Ryan shoved the accelerator toward the front of the dash. The hover-truck lurched forward, picking up speed as the hover-truck’s engine roared to life. Anna lost her footing on the sideboard and started to fall out of the still open door. Grabbing wildly for any kind of support, she succeeded in latching onto Connor’s arm. The boy dragged her onto the cab’s bench seat before slamming the door shut behind her. A box full of tools between Connor and Ryan left very little room in the cab, forcing Anna to turn sideways to fit. Her chest pressed hard against the boy’s arm.
Moving his arm out of the way as best he could, Connor turned a dark shade of pink. “Uh, sorry. I thought there was more room.”
“Sure you did,” Anna said as she pushed out with her arms to try and clear a little more space. “Why don’t you put that box in your lap? Then maybe my breasts wouldn’t be crammed up against your side like a block of processed ore in an extraction cart.”
Connor’s face turned a bright red as he shifted position to try and reach for the box of tools. When he did, his right arm jabbed hard against Anna’s chest. Somehow his face grew an even deeper shade of red.
“I... I... um, sorry,” he mumbled as he hefted the box onto his lap and scooted closer to Ryan to give Anna as much room as possible.
The hover-truck bounced as the old man passed over a dip in the dirt road without slowing down. Several yells came from the people in the back of the hover-truck.
“Sorry,” yelled Ryan out the window. He leaned forward to look past Connor at Anna. Giving her a wink, he said, “I’m thinking they’ll be more than happy to get off the truck when we get to the mine. Doesn’t pay to make passengers too comfortable, now does it?”
Anna didn’t bother replying. She gripped the handle on the passenger door and thanked her lucky stars Connor had made her get in the cab. The mine’s a good five kilometers away, she thought, and Ryan isn’t wasting any time getting there.
Anna glanced over at the vehicle’s speedometer. “You’re doing a hundred,” she said, pointing at the digital readout.
“By golly, I think you’re right,” grinned Ryan. “It is only a hundred.” He shoved the accelerator lever as far forward as it would go. “I’d better speed this baby up.”
The hover-truck lurched as the whine of the anti-gravity fans located beneath the vehicle grew to a high pitch. The roar of the fans did little to dampen the yells from the back of the truck. The flat terrain of abandoned fields with occasional patches of wild wheat whizzed past the open passenger window. Within two minutes, Anna saw the mounds of rock marking the edge of the mine come into view. She fully expected Ryan to slow down. He didn’t. If anything, the old man sped up. He zipped past the piles of rock doing a hundred and forty kilometers an hour. With the edge of the pit mine coming fast, Anna braced for impact. She needn’t have bothered. With a skill belying his age, Ryan jerked the steering levers to the left and brought the hover-truck to a skidding halt.
“Everybody off,” yelled Ryan out the driver’s side window. Laughing, he said, “No tips necessary.”
Opening the passenger door, Anna jumped out and joined the crowd of dust-covered workers as they ran to take up their positions in the mine. She headed toward the trailer with the power-drill that was assigned as her duty station. The drill was a five-meter long affair weighing in at fifteen thousand kilograms. Once at the bulky piece of equipment, she started the engine and activated the hydraulics. The end of the drill glowed red as she extended the creallium bit and began drilling a hole in the side of the cliff face. Glancing to her left, she saw Connor clambering up the side of a large hover-dozer.
“One minute,” blared a voice over the nearest of the dozen loudspeakers located around the rim of the mine. “If you aren’t in your assigned position already, then find something to do. Make it look real people. It’s now or never.”
Resisting the urge to search the sky for the approaching scout ship, Anna concentrated on drilling her hole in the brown stone.
It doesn’t matter where I put the hole, Anna thought. The titanium vein gave out completely last month. There’s nothing left to mine. All that matters is convincing the pirates in the scout ship that we’re hard at work. We can’t draw suspicion. Not now. Not when we’re so close.
A loud roar overhead made Anna look up as the scout ship, more a two-man fighter really than a scout ship, past above the mine at five hundred meters. The pirate ship made a hard turn to the left and circled the mine twice before heading in the direction of town. Anna reached for the drill’s kill switch as the workers around her began to relax.
“Don’t stop what you’re doing,” said the voice over the intercom. “That ship’s got rear videos, plus she’s liable to come back. Keep mining until I tell you to stop.”
With a shrug, Anna pulled her hand away from the kill switch and eased the lever for the drill’s extender arm forward. The phase energy surrounding the creallium bit blazed white-hot as the drill-head dug another fist-sized hole in the side of the cliff. Anna pushed the drill into the hard stone a full meter before the extender arm lurched forward hard enough to activate the drill’s emergency shutdown.
“Now what?” Anna muttered as she retracted the extender arm. Once it was clear she saw the problem right away. The end of the extender arm was empty.
The drill bit fell off, she thought. That’s impossible. The pressure from the stone should have kept it on. I’ll never hear the last of this from the other drillers. Creallium drill bits are expensive. Doesn’t matter if we’re fake mining or not. I’ve got to get that bit back.
The roar of an engine behind her made Anna turn around. A large dozer came to a stop ten meters away. Connor jumped out of the cab and walked over to her.
“Problems?” asked the boy as he eyed the empty end of the extender arm.
Anna felt her face grow warm. She grabbed a large wench attached to the side of the drill’s cart. “If you laugh, I swear I’ll—”
Connor raised his arms in a stopping motion. “Hey, I won’t say a word.” When Anna lowered the wrench, he walked over to the hole in the stone and reached in until his whole arm disappeared in the
opening. Pulling his arm back, he said, “I think you hit an air pocket in the rock. They’re usually only a meter or two deep.” He pointed at his dozer. “If you back the drill out of the way, I could probably force an opening in the rock with the dozer. You could get the drill bit back no problem.”
An image of the large dozer tearing into the cliff face appeared in Anna’s mind. “No! Everyone would know that I—”
Connor almost laughed, but caught himself just in time. Anna supposed the raised wrench in her hand had something to do with that.
“Hey,” said the boy. “It’s no big deal. Drillers lose bits all the time. It’s just one of those things.”
“Not for me. I’ve never lost one, and I’m not losing this one either.”
“All right then. I’ll get the doz—”
“No!” Anna said. She glanced around at the other workers. No one appeared to be paying them any attention. “I’ll come back and get it tonight.”
“That’s crazy, Anna. It’s not a big—”
“Stop what you’re doing,” said the voice over the loudspeakers. “The scout ship’s gone. Power your equipment down and get to the trucks. We can still get a good three hours of training in today if everybody hustles.”
Connor pointed at the hole in the cliff face. “My dozer’s still running. It will only take a min—”
Anna raised her wrench again. “I said no. I’ll get it back tonight.”
Shaking his head, Connor headed for his dozer. “You’re one stubborn girl, Anna. Have it your way. I’ve got to get back to my training on the Leviathan anyway. Wizard Scout Trevor’s cross training me in the rear gun turret today.”
Anna kept the wrench in her hand until Connor shut off the dozer’s engine and climbed down from the cab.
“Well,” said Connor. “Are you going back to town with Ryan and me, or are you going to stand here all day with that wrench of yours?”
Blushing, Anna stuck the wrench back on the side of the cart and began walking toward the hover-truck. She made a point not to look at Connor.
Last Stand on Talos Seven Page 11