by Sam Coulson
“Growd?” she repeated as she brought the Tons around to face the incoming Slires. “Where is my father?”
“Since he was nice enough to take us in after the raid on New Haven,” Growd responded. “I’ve been helping him out by taking over some of the more menial duties of managing the Downs, that’s all. My man here tells me that you’re being followed by, er, wait what? She just turned toward them? Miss. McCullough, you do realize that there are three Draugari fighters closing on your position?”
I took a deep breath, focusing on the display as the Slires neared. Almost in range.
“Yes, I’ve seen them,” Ju-lin responded. “Where did my brother go?”
“Well now, that’s complicated,” Growd responded. “You don’t seem too concerned, you should probably take some evasive action. The Draugari aren’t coming by for tea.”
“Almost in range,” I said quietly. “Hold steady as long as you can.”
“You don’t sound too concerned, Growd,” Ju-lin countered. “Why is that? You know that after they get us they will come for you?”
The Tons’ large guns had a longer range than the Slires, I knew I would have a few precious seconds of shooting before they were in range. The reticule went green and I opened fire on the first ship. With his shields already weakened, it took mere seconds for Tons’ powerful guns to slice through the ship’s armor. Its main wing broke off from the hull, sending the ship spiraling downward.
“A lot has transpired in the little time you were away,” Growd replied. “After what happened we contacted our benefactors at MineWorks, they provided us with a small but adequate defense force. A few raiding Slires aren’t really too much of a concern. But we would prefer to keep them away from the colony. So I repeat, divert your course”
As they closed into range, the remaining Slires opened fire. Our shields were holding, but couldn’t take much more. I adjusted my aim to the second ship.
I pulled the trigger, but this one was ready. He made a tight roll, avoiding my fire. I adjusted, but again, the Slires evaded. Our shield indicator went from green to yellow as the energy field continued to absorb the Draugari’ fire.
“A few Slires?” Ju-lin mimicked his voice. “Do you have any idea what’s out there?”
“Out where?”
“Out there!” Ju-lin snapped back as she threw us into an evasive roll just as our shields began to buckle. “About a half-million miles above the surface there are a few hundred Draugari and Celestrial ships blowing the hell out of each other! It’s a matter of time before the Skins push through and drop enough atmo gens on this planet to turn it into a toxic soup by dinner time tomorrow.”
I had almost gotten a steady track on the Slires when Ju-lin sent us into a roll, my volley flew wide as Ju-lin once again kicked the thrusters into full. The Slires began coming around to pursue.
“Really child,” Growd responded with a barking laugh. “A few hundred, eh? Not just one fleet, but two fleets? Draugari and Celestrial? Overplaying our hand a bit, aren’t we?”
“Overplaying my-what hand? Are you thick?” Ju-lin snapped back. “When the Skins are done with the Draugari they will come here and finish what they started when they bombed your colony to the ground! You have to evacuate, now.”
“Ah, there it is,” Growd responded. “So they were right. You do know where it is hidden and are trying to get me to panic so you can get it for yourself. Interesting. Captain, dispatch the Draugari and escort Ms. McCullough to the surface. I want her alive.”
“We know where what is? Bring us in? What the hell are you talking about?”
Her only response was silence.
“Six new marks coming in fast,” I said. “Looks like they were using the planet’s magnetic field to hide their signatures. They are good-sized, about 30-tons, well-armed, fusion engines. System identifies them as Falcons. Some kind of heavy fighter?”
“Nice ships,” Ju-lin said over her shoulder as she thumbed off the coms. “I guess he wasn’t bluffing about a defense force.”
I watched the scopes as first one, and then the second Slires blinked out of existence as the Falcons overtook them.
“I hope there’s a lot more where those came from,” I said. “They are coming up fast.”
There was a flash as four lasers streaked passed our cockpit as the two lead Falcons flew by. All of the ships were painted black with yellow and green stripes on the tail fins. MineWorks’ colors were blue, these were hired mercenaries I guessed. The ships themselves were wider and shorter from bow to stern than others I had seen, shaped like the tip of a spade or an arrow-head. The lines from the cockpit at the front ran smoothly from bow to stern. If it weren’t for the bulky gun mountings on the nose and under the wings I could have mistaken it for a Celestrial vessel.
“Starship Tons-o-Fun,” a new voice broke in. “We are taking up positions on your wing and will escort you to the landing pad on the eastern edge of the Downs. You will comply or be fired upon. Understood?”
Ju-lin looked at the two Falcons as they slid into formation in front of us as the others pulled in behind and boxed us in.
“Understood,” she said sharply and flipped the coms back off.
My mind raced. Growd somehow knew we had figured out where the map would lead us. He would try to make us take him to the site. Whatever it was. I was torn between my curiosity of what lay hidden, and my fear of what it could do in the wrong hands. And what was it? A matter of time, minutes? Hours? Certainly not more than that before the Celestrials would outmaneuver the Draugari and come streaking into the atmosphere.
“I don’t like this,” I said feebly.
Ju-lin kept looking forward. Her knuckles were white as she gripped the controls, and her jaw was clenched tightly. She said nothing.
Chapter 31.
“The other two fighters are coming around,” Kel called. “They are focusing on the Slires, but staying low. They’re too fast for us, but we’re moving into position to cover our ships.”
“These pilots are trained,” I replied. “They’re staying too low for our targeting systems, I can’t isolate them. Order the pilot’s to raise altitude.”
“Lor’ten,” Tren said, his voice was unusually low. “Look at the scan, below us, there-”
“Bladestones,” I said softly as I looked out the viewport at the huge white stone spires jutting out from planet’s surface.
“Huge bladestones, bigger than I’ve ever seen,” Tren replied. “Do you think that is what we were sent to protect?”
“Why would they send us this far to protect bladestones?” Jen’tar asked. “There are bladestones on dozens of worlds.”
“None that big,” Tren countered. “Take a look.”
I looked out the viewport and saw bladestones below, somehow, even in the dim starlight, they were starkly visible. They were reaching up to the sky in spires like arrows fired into the ground.
I had just looked away when the night lit with a flash of yellow-orange light, I turned to see a pillar of fire rising from the center of the bladestones.
“What happened?”
“Fire, that’s all I can see,” Tren said as he continued his scan. “Wait, I have two lifesigns, humans right next to the flames, sonar pulse is showing there’s a cave.”
“Maybe this is what we were sent to protect,” I mused out loud. “Signal the fighters to continue the fight. Break off pursuit and set us down.”
“Why?” Kel asked. “We should just kill the humans from here.”
“What if those two just destroyed what we were sent to protect?” I asked. “The chieftain and the conclave will want answers.”
Two of the Falcons hovered at a distance, keeping their guns trained on us as Ju-lin set Tons-o-Fun down. They held position until Ju-lin finished the shutdown sequence and our powerplant went silent.
“A bit paranoid aren’t they?” Ju-lin said as she unlatched her harness, pulled herself out of her seat, and took a step up toward the cockpit window.
I joined her and followed her gaze. There was a small crowd of about a dozen armed men waiting. They all wore dark green uniforms. MineWork’s colors. In the center was a middle-aged human wearing a dark grey suit with a purple tie. His jet-black hair had faint wisps of grey coming from his temples and was neatly combed.
We were on the edge of town. A mere 10 days ago this had been a grassy field, now it was a dusty staging area and makeshift starport. There was a row of new prefab structures that looked like parts and equipment. Nearby I saw mechanics working on one of six other Falcons: they had an even dozen.
In each of the four corners of the field were ground-based laser turrets, each of them manned. On the western edge of the clearing was a large command structure. The roof was covered in antennas, satellite dishes, and other equipment.
“All that tech, but they still can’t see the fleets?” I asked.
“The first thing the Skins or Draugari would have done would be to disable the orbital communications relay. Without an eye in space we’re as good as blind sitting down here.”
“They are getting restless,” I said, looking down as the guards, laser rifles at the ready, shifted their feet nervously and pointed up at us.
“I don’t see my dad,” she said softly. “I don’t see anyone I know. They have fences up around the landing area, MineWorks is running this place like a military installation.”
“We won’t find out what’s going on by sitting here,” I said.
“True, but we may get shot out there,” Ju-lin turned to me and smiled. For a moment we stood, inches apart. I remembered the soft touch of her kiss when she and Loid had rescued me back at the station.
“There is always that,” I pulled myself back into the moment and tried the best I could to force a rakish smile.
Her shoulders bounced as she chuckled. She reached up and lightly touched my arm as she walked past me back toward the cargo bay.
A few minutes later we stepped down the cargo ramp back onto the dusty surface of the world. The guards spread out, and kept their weapons trained on us as we walked toward Growd.
“Now here we are. Good to meet you two at last. Been having quite the runaround now haven’t we kids?” His smile had an unquestionable air of condescension.
Neither of us spoke as he stepped forward.
“Silence?” He continued. “I guess that’s to be expected, it is a virtue after all. Well now let’s see, I can’t say I like what you did with your hair Juliette. Though I guess it could just be the style these days. But blue really isn’t your color.”
Ju-lin’s lip curled in a sneer at the use of her first name.
“And you, the mystery boy, quite the knife you have there.” He stepped next to me, tilting his head to the side as he looked at the blade on my belt. “A notable weapon. I’m sure you understand when I say my men will keep that for you.”
One of the guards stepped forward and pulled the knife out of my belt.
“Now then,” Growd continued. “That’s better, less hostility, eh?”
“You still have a dozen guns pointed at us,” Ju-lin snapped. “We are citizens of this colony, you have no right to take us prisoner.”
“Ah, and there you are right, well, half-right,” Growd smiled once again. “Juliette Linaea McCullough, citizen of this Earthborn colony, you are under arrest for theft.”
“Theft?” Ju-lin’s tone was incredulous.
“Yes,” Growd said as he took a step backwards. “Don’t you think we’d notice that you just landed a stolen starship? Do you have a legal deed of sale? Certificate of ownership? A signed notice of salvage reclamation? Anything?”
“You know damn well we didn’t steal it,” Ju-lin pressed forward. The nearest guard closed in before she made it two steps. With a deft move he pinned her arm behind her back and held her. A second guard closed in behind me and pressed the end of his rifle into my back.
“Little girl,” Growd stepped forward, eye-to-eye with Ju-lin. “I know nothing of the kind. I know that the rightful owner of that starship is a known smuggler with quite a lengthy yet somehow unimpressive dossier of minor legal infractions to his credit. As the duly appointed and authorized Governor of this colony I have the-”
“You are not,” she snapped back. “Lee McCullough is the governor of this colony. Where the hell is he?”
“Ah, yes,” Growd stepped back and sighed slowly. “After New Haven was bombed and my people moved here, we had a bit of a rearranging of responsibilities. Lee abdicated his position as Governor to me.”
“I doubt that,” Ju-lin answered. “Where is he? What did you do to him?”
“Pretty girl,” Growd turned and looked at me. “But not too trusting is she?”
Though part of me wanted to agree, I said nothing.
“The simple answer is that your father has been ill. He wasn’t up to running the day-to-day operations of the colony, so he asked me to step in.”
“Asked you to step in? Bullshit, take me to him!”
“You don’t quite understand what being under arrest means do you?” Growd shrugged. “Take her.”
“I won’t go anywhere until you let me see my father,” Ju-lin struggled against her captors, he twisted her arm in response and she cringed in pain but said nothing.
“You’re clearly distressed about all this,” Growd said slowly. “So how about a deal, if you cooperate and calmly and quietly go through processing and get to your cell, you can see the doctor who has been treating your father. Chen I believe it is, you know him?”
“I know Chen,” she snapped. “How can I trust that you will do what you say?”
“You don’t have a choice,” the forced softness of his demeanor fell. “I don’t have the time or the patience for this. Get her out of here.”
“But what about the Celestrial fleet?” She called back as the guards pushed her forward.
“Oh not that again,” Growd waved his hand dismissively.
“Sir,” someone in the back spoke up, he was wearing a different uniform with blue and yellow stripes on the shoulder. It was the same colors that I had seen on the tail-fins of the Falcons.
Growd looked at him, pausing expectantly, “Well?”
“This morning we did lose contact with the orbital coms relay,” he said slowly. “If there is something out there, we won’t be able to see it.”
“Oh don’t tell me you’re buying this crap,” Growd answered. “You told me that it got hit by solar flares. You and your pilots were not hired to think, Commander Teigan. You were hired to do as I say. Bring your ships in and remain on alert. Understood?”
Teigan nodded.
After Growd turned, Teigan lifted his hand and rapidly spoke a few words into the comlink on his lapel.
“You damned fool!” Ju-lin called as they prodded her forward, leading her toward the command building and out of sight.
Growd ignored her as he turned toward me.
“Now, the girl, I can arrest,” he said softly. “She is a registered and certified member of this colony and her father is a full-fledged decorated Protectorate war hero. But you, you’re not on the colonial manifest. You’re not in the Protectorate’s register. You, I don’t have to arrest. You don’t exist. And like you’re friend Loid, nobody will miss you when you’re gone.”
“Those were your thugs who shot him back at the station?” I seethed, recalling the grey-haired human and old Celestrial who had shot Loid and followed us back on Tal. “And Joof, they killed Joof.”
“What the hell is a Joof?” Growd laughed dismissively. “Whatever it is, it was a detail, and I’m a big-picture guy, not a detail guy.”
“Nice way of rationalizing it.”
“Rationalizing? No, you miss the point. We all have our role to play,” he said. “Commander Teigan’s role is to provide some basic security against marauding Draugari and the snooping Skins. Trent and Ki’nathi, the two fine gentleman who you so crudely referred to as ‘thugs’, are expert tracke
rs.”
“Assassins you mean.”
“Two sides of one coin,” Growd smiled once again. “One does not track one’s prey just to observe it.”
“And you?” I asked. “What is your role?”
“Me?” he paused. “I’m just an administrator, a clerk. Wholly uninteresting, I assure you. But you. You are interesting.”
Fear crept through me. Fear that he knew what I was and where I had come from.
“Oh don’t look like that,” Growd said. “There is honestly no reason that we cannot be friends, or that this whole thing won’t work out in your favor. I don’t know where you came from, maybe you hitched a ride in on the colony ships, maybe you bribed some smuggler to drop you off out here, maybe you did something horrible and got marooned on this world. I have no idea, and I couldn’t care less. What matters is that you have information that I need.”
“Which is?”
“The location,” Growd licked his lips. “My workers had just discovered the symbols, but didn’t get a scan of it before we had to destroy it to keep it out of the hands of the Skins and Draugari. Thinking back now, I know I overreacted when I launched the drone. But I couldn’t be too careful, we couldn’t have such a treasure falling into the wrong hands. There is far too much at stake. But you. You saw the map room, you know where it pointed. You know where it leads. You know where it is.”
“Where what is?”
“Power,” he said simply. “Surely you know by now that this world was once inhabited by an ancient race of non-humans. There are clues scattered throughout the sector if you know what you’re looking at. Some time ago a few of these clues started falling into our hands, and so we hired an expert to help us track down the signs and solve the pattern. A treasure hunter that fancies herself as an archeologist. Either way, she’s very good. We found signs carved into standing stones on one of the moons in Aegle. We collected some images and pictographs found onboard the remains of a Draugari freighter, and dozens of other signposts scattered in the cosmos: all of them pointing here, to this world. What? Did you think the Company would send me out here just to colonize a mineral-poor world this far from Collective trade lanes and this close to Celestrial space just to run a relocation site? Do you think that we were really concerned about how a few sick colonists fare out here after the relocation? We own more than enough Senators to insulate us from any problems, believe me on that.”