Star Brigade: Maelstrom (Star Brigade Book 2)

by C. C. Ekeke

  27.

  “[You’re waking just in time, Tharyn. Everything’s in place. Just a few more algorithms to enter.]” Masra’s singsong voice sounded discordant to Tharydane’s ears. She opened her eyes and realized that she was on her back. Tharydane sat up quickly. The throbbing in the back of her neck reared up and she grabbed at the pain like one swatting a buzzing insect.

  Masra turned from her console to smile down at Tharydane. The hologlobe display of Sollus behind her was glowing brighter by the nanoclic. Tharydane could see the dot on the display that Masra had pointed out as the station they were on. It pulsed just as brightly as the other dots surrounding Sollus.

  “[Sorry about earlier, Tharyn. But my duty to Korvan’s Way, his Anointed and the Korvenite race comes before even friendship. You understand, right?]”

  Tharydane mutely and fearfully nodded. Seeing this subservience caused Masra to relax. “[Good, now stand up and watch. We’re about to get our homeworld back!]” She walked forward and held out her hand. With bone-deep reluctance, Tharydane took it and was pulled to her feet. The other Korvenite female giggled girlishly and drew her to the console.

  “[Now, once this is all done. I have a ship with more of our brethren waiting to get us out of here. Maelstrom will reward me, as will Korvan.]” Masra began tacking away again at the console which controlled the shields of this station, rambling on and on. Tharydane could only watch helplessly. Everything was wrong, but what could she do? Masra had mastered her abilities more so than Tharydane. Any assault she tried would be fruitless. This was over before it even began.

  Tharydane? The gentle brush across her thoughts felt familiar, the Kudoban Tharydane had encountered earlier. Masra was so caught up in her craziness over Korvan that she didn’t notice.

  Don’t answer. Just listen. Right now, no ship can either enter or leave Terra Sollus. Whatever the Korvenites mean to do, your friend is apparently the final key. If you can, stall her until I arrive.

  Tharydane spared a glance at Masra typing away at her console, still rambling about Korvan’s Way. Despite what had transpired, Tharydane still cared deeply for her friend. Will she die? she asked.

  I will try to save Masra. Lethe replied. But you must stall her. Billions of lives depend on it.

  Then he was gone. Masra looked up. “[Alright, one more code and—AAAAAHHH!]”

  Masra clutched at her head and let loose a horrible shriek. Tharydane knew no other kind of psychic attack. Whatever she had done back on Bimnorii to those thugs was a rage-fueled power she didn’t understand or want to understand. So she used an attack that couldn’t fail.

  Memories. Tharydane focused all her crazy visions from this past month—the death, the anguish and speared them full force into Masra’s mind. Masra kept screaming, stumbling from side to side.

  “I’m sorry, Maz,” It pained Tharydane to watch her friend in such agony. But this was the right thing to do. “I won’t let you become a mass-murderer!”

  To her surprise, Masra still strained with all her worth to reached for the console, to finish her task.

  With no other options, she threw herself at Masra, knocking her away from the shield generator’s console. The two rolled around on the floor, entangled in each other’s limbs, until Tharydane ended up on top. She kept up her psychic attack while trying to pin down her former friend. But now she felt Masra fighting back, bit by bit. “Sweet Korvan, Maz STOP!” Tharydane screamed.

  “[Don’t you dare speak Korvan’s name, race-traitor!]” Masra snarled, shoving Tharydane out of her mind psychically and off her body telekinetically at the same time.

  Once again Tharydane shot straight up in the air and smacked hard against the cold metal floor, the wind knocked out of her. She looked up, shocked to find herself the focus of Masra’s terrifying contempt. She flicked her hand, shoving Tharydane backward across the flooring. The younger Korvenite cried out as rough metal flooring scraped away clothing and skin.

  Tharydane struggled to her feet, and desperately tried another mental attack. Masra’s head snapped back as if punched, but Tharydane’s attack hit a wall.

  “Not again Tharyn,” Masra hissed in Standard. She gestured both hands around her, small tools and warped metal sheets rose at her behest.

  She pointed, and every floating item shot at Tharydane.

  “Maz, please!” Tharydane yelled, but Masra was beyond listening. Tharydane ducked the first volley, but the shrapnel kept coming. A metal sheet whistled past, slashing her left thigh. She wailed and clutched at her leg. And another sheet sliced her right cheek, followed by a rather hefty toolbox bashing into her face. Bright spots danced in front of Tharydane’s eyes. Once again she lay flat on her back.

  “[You know the funny thing?]” Masra sneered. “[As long as we’ve known each other, I always wished that I was you!]” She knelt forward and seized Tharydane roughly by the hair and hauled her up. The younger Korvenite shuddered, unable to defend herself. The Masra that Tharydane knew was truly gone. “[I can’t believe I even dreamed of lowering myself to your repulsive level.]”

  Tharydane felt herself float into the air, until she was hovering a couple metrids over Masra. The other Korvenite raised a hand and clenched it into a fist. At the same time Tharydane felt a vise-like grip clamp her neck. She couldn’t draw in any breath. The Korvenite kicked and thrashed with all her might, which did nothing to loosen Masra’s telekinetic chokehold.

  “[P-please Maz! Don’t do this!]” Tharydane somehow gasped out. At those words Masra clenched up her fist even tighter. Tharydane’s lungs burned and pleaded for precious nitrogen. Little by little, consciousness slowly ebbed away. Now she could no longer feel her lower extremities.

  “M-Maz….” Tharydane didn’t even know if that came out as much more than a pathetic gurgle.

  As Tharydane’s consciousness faded, Masra briefly resembled like the girl Tharydane used to know. “[I’ll make it quick, Tharyn,]” she whispered sadly. Tharydane couldn’t see anymore. Numbness had spread through her whole body now, pulling her under. A tingling rang in her ears.

  Abruptly, the grip on her neck loosened. She dropped to the ground like a stone. Tharydane gasped. Never had gulping down nitrogen felt so marvelous, but so much at once burned and made her cough violently. The Korvenite curled up on the ground and inhaled more slowly. Sensation seeped back into her limbs, just in time to feel her knees throb from landing on them. But why had Masra not killed her?

  “STOP RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE!” Tharydane winced. Her hearing was also back to normal, which she was ill prepared for. She looked up at Masra, knowing that wasn’t her voice, race or gender. The other Korvenite female was looking straight ahead, no longer facing her former friend. She looked petrified, terror rolling off her in waves. Tharydane turned to what the other Korvenite was gaping at, and her blood went cold. Several security officers, mostly human and some other races, stood opposite them with sleek pulse rifles trained on Masra. Their uniforms were black, with snug helmet-like apparatuses. One of the officers, rubber-skinned with eye-stalks, pointed his rifle at Tharydane. In the rear of this group, Tharydane spied the long-necked Lethe she had met earlier. He was unarmed, genuine concern painted his face as he watched both Tharydane and Masra. Are you seriously hurt, child?

  She gave a small shrug. Could be worse.

  Thank you. I will try my best to keep you and your friends safe.

  Part of Tharydane was relieved, though she didn’t know what would happen next. At least she was still alive and Masra had been stopped. More sensation returned in the form of pain; her slashed cheek and thigh, her aching forehead. Masra, still terrified, dared enough to take a step back.

  “I said freeze!” The human officer in charge barked again. She stopped. “Hands over your head and get on your knees.” Masra refused to move.

  “Do it. Now!” Still, no compliance. The room was silent as a crypt, but the roiling emotions spoke in explosive volumes. Masra’s fear mingled with an overwhelming devotion to Mael
strom. These officers’ brave veneers barely masked their terror and revulsion for Korvenites. And in the center of this emotional whirlwind stood Lethe, a pillar of quiet potency. Never was he hateful or fearful. Tharydane sensed it all and it sent shivers down her spine.

  Stay where you are, Tharydane. I instructed these UComm Security officers to take you and your friend alive. Lethe’s voice breezed through her mind.

  The eye-stalked officer with his weapon on Tharydane advanced, reaching for his utility belt.

  Masra snaked her arm out and pulled. The officer was yanked forward. It happened so fast Tharydane almost missed it.

  The next thing she knew, chaos reigned. All the officers were yelling, waving their weapons threateningly at Masra. She held the eye-stalked officer by the neck with one arm, pointing a pulse rifle at his head with the other. “Back off! I have no problem offing this sycophant!” Masra shrieked in Standard. She looked more unhinged than Tharydane had seen earlier. The officers didn’t move, but didn’t lower their weapons either. Tharydane tasted the uncertainty coloring their minds. The soldier in Masra’s grasp looked scared, but retained his composure. Holding her hostage in place with Mindshift, Masra began walking again toward the shield console. Tharydane’s heart sank. Things couldn’t get any worse.

  “Drop the weapon and release the Galdorian. I won’t repeat myself!” The human in the lead stopped when Lethe walked up and placed a spindly hand on his shoulder. The two exchanged a silent look and the human nodded. With a gesture, the officers parted as Lethe walked to the forefront.

  “Masra,” Lethe spread his hands out. His composure amid this craziness floored Tharydane. “Calm yourself. Look at your situation.” Masra clutched the Galdorian closer, continuing backward. “The Korvenite you came with has already been captured. There is no way out.”

  Hearing this, Masra fired a hateful look at Tharydane. “You deceive me again, race-traitor. I’ll kill you! All of you!” Her gaze knifed through the security detail and Lethe once more.

  Tharydane pushed up to one knee to respond. But Lethe raised a silencing finger, so she stayed quiet.

  “Tharydane had nothing to do with this, Masra,” Lethe’s robes rustled somewhat as he slowly approached Masra. “I followed her after she left my presence.”

  Hearing that annoyed Tharydane, until she realized what almost happened before Lethe’s arrival.

  “Back!” Masra barked, jabbing the rifle into the poor Galdorian’s throat.

  Lethe stopped with his arms spread. He showed no fear, only a genuine desire to help. “What happens, Masra, once your duties are completed? These soldiers won’t let you to leave here alive. And I won’t be able to stop them.”

  Masra’s glare faltered, only for a nanoclic. “Korvan will reward me. Even if my body dies, I will live forever in Korvan’s abode, in Yvyria. Korvan protects me.”

  “Let us try a less destructive approach,” Lethe countered quietly. “There is another way—.”

  “There is no other way!” Masra’s voice hit a shrill upsurge. She quickened her backpedal toward the shield console. “Korvan’s Way is life and death, the first and the last!” The officers behind Lethe were growing fidgety with their rifles. Tharydane watched her former friend, thinking about how they were supposed to leave Bimnorii together. The memory brought tears to her eyes.

  Lethe spared a brief glance in Tharydane’s direction before continuing. “There is always another way. I respect your devotion to your Deity. But underneath it all, you just want a better life for yourself. I can help you do that, but this cycle of killing can’t continue, Masra.”

  “What choice do I have?” Masra again jabbed her rifle into the throat of the Galdorian, who winced. “I WILL NOT BE SOMEONE’S PROPERTY AGAIN!”

  “You won’t,” Lethe offered out his hand, speaking in softer tones. “But what if that was a planet full of Korvenites down there? Would you kill those billions in your Deity’s name?”

  For a moment Masra looked so sad and tired. For a moment. “Yes,” was her reply, curt and unyielding. She kept dragging the Galdorian toward the console.

  Lethe bowed his head, clearly saddened. “Then I am truly sorry.”

  No sooner than he said that, Masra stopped in mid-stride and shrieked. Tharydane sensed what had happened. Lethe stretched out psychically and shut off Masra’s senses.

  “I can feel nothing, hear nothing, see nothing,” she looked around, her eyes unseeing. She clutched even more desperately at the Galdorian. “What did you do to me?!” Masra teetered toward Tharydane.

  “What needed to be done.” Lethe wore a sad expression as he retreated behind the UComm Security officers. Masra, still clutching the pulse rifle, fingered the trigger and squeezed it tight.

  Tharydane saw it all in slow motion. Without a thought to herself, she lunged. Her injured leg ignited, almost tripping her up. But Tharydane still grabbed the Galdorian by the waist, dragging him down and away from Masra. The pulse rifle went off like thunder in the small room, its discharge harmlessly striking a wall. Masra’s senses returned to her then, as she turned to stare right at Tharydane, then Lethe. Tears streamed down her face and she dropped her weapon.

  “[Korvan’s Way is the only way,]” Masra dashed for the console.

  “NO!” Tharydane cried. Too late. She saw the UComm officers raise their pulse rifles, hear the rifles bark in lethal harmony, felt the heat of the discharges as they scorched overhead. She threw her petite self over the Galdorian, shielding him as best she could and covering her ears at the awful sound of gunfire. For a good 30 nanoclics, the pulse rifle fire continued—cruel and deafening. Tharydane psionically reached out to Masra, just as her life faded. Unlike Hugrask, she went quickly.

  “Cease fire!” the squad’s leader called out. The UComm Security officers stopped, leaving stillness. But the echo of rifle fire, the crackle of Masra’s burnt corpse told another story. Measured footfalls rumbled past her as the officers moved toward the shield generator console.

  Tharydane refused to look up. She clung to the Galdorian as tightly as she could, trembling hysterically. The thought of seeing another mutilated body of a loved one tore through her heart.

  “It’s over, child. You can let go,” she heard the Galdorian croak softy. But she couldn’t.

  “I’ll make her let go,” the human squad leader snapped. Tharydane winced and quickly rolled off the Galdorian when the human dug his rifle into her back. Through her thick, curly mane, she saw the human standing over her with his rifle aimed right between her eyes. Her insides went cold. “On your feet Korvenite, unless you want to end up like your psycho gal pal over there.”

  “Sir,” the Galdorian quickly got back to his feet, both eyestalks arched sympathetically. “She saved my life.”

  “Go help with that console,” the human barked, still glaring at Tharydane. “As for you—.”

  “Move away from her, Lt. Commander.” Tharydane saw Lethe stride toward her, his robes billowing behind him. Through her haze of grief, seeing him gave her hope. “This child is under my protection.”

  Lt. Commander Jennings moved to intercept Lethe’s path. “This Korvenite is going nowhere, Lethe. We’re grateful for your help in stopping these two. But her species are fugitives within Union borders.”

  Lethe calmly swept around the soldier and kneeled next to Tharydane. “If it wasn’t for her, the Korvenite plan would have succeeded, so your intention to arrest has neither warrant nor reason.”

  This exchange barely registered with Tharydane. Cuddled next to Lethe, she finally braved a look at Masra’s body. Her former friend lay face down with about 11 smoking holes in the back. Three soldiers examining the corpse had the gall to laugh. Tharydane quickly buried her face in Lethe’s robes.

  “You have yet to give me any reason why I shouldn’t toss this blekdritt trollop into a camp.” Two more UComm soldiers came behind Jennings to back him further. Tharydane turned in a panic to Lethe, who actually bristled in anger, but only for a mom
ent.

  “You want proof of her innocence? Here, let me show you.” Lethe reached out and caught Jennings by the arm with surprising speed. In rapid succession, Tharydane felt Lethe gently brush through her mind. Jennings, on the other hand, stiffened up. The three were connected in a psychic link; Tharydane the provider of memories, Lethe initiating the link and transfer, with Jennings on the receiving end.

  In a quick flash, Tharydane glimpsed at her memories the way Jennings saw them; her confrontation with Masra, trying to dissuade her former friend of how wrong this was and their ensuing fight that almost killed Tharydane. The whole thing took less than 20 nanoclics, after which Lethe quickly released Jennings. In his shock, the human lowered his weapon and shook his head in disbelief.

  Two of his subordinates strode forward, their weapons trained on Tharydane. “Sir, are you okay?”

  “I’m fine,” Jennings muttered, his eyes finally focusing. He looked at Lethe and then at Tharydane with totally different eyes. “As long as she’s in your custody, she’s free to go.”

  The soldiers behind Jennings looked at their leader like he had grown a third eye. “Sir—.”

  “The Kudoban showed me the truth,” he turned to Lethe. “This Korvenite is innocent. Now I’ve made my decision.” The finality in his tone caused both soldiers to lower their weapons and step back.

  “Sir,” the Galdorian called out from the shield console. “That Korvenite really did a number on the control panel. Looks like she was synching this commerce station with whatever the two hells is happening with Terra Sollus’ shield generators right now.”

  Jennings rubbed his chin, looking again at Lethe and Tharydane. “We got this.”

  Lethe nodded and helped Tharydane to her feet. She looked back as UComm Security lowered Masra’s corpse into a long, rectangular container. That sight crushed Tharydane. An anguished wail ripped out of the fourteen-year old. The death, the hate—it was all too much. But Lethe was there to hold her tight. He ushered her forward as she shook with sobs, even though her legs were unwilling. When Tharydane finally pulled her face out of Lethe’s robes, a wall of sparkling white transmatted them away.