by Andy Kasch
They came in low over the mountains. The leader tipped his wings.
“Spread out,” Ilsted said. “We’ll take the peaks to the left.”
Jumper hesitated before following the last order. Alan certainly understood why. Those peaks were the last place they wanted to scan. The three of them had taken care to hide the Ossurian bodies the best they could, but they were heavy and difficult to move. Consequently, they were not safe from discoverability by a thorough probe.
“No, no, you’re too far now,” Ilsted said. “There’s a flat clearing behind us. Circle back around and hover over it. Behind us!”
Jumper, Kayla, and Alan remained silent as Jumper took the craft back around to the spot of the incident. Alan noticed Jumper was careful not to come directly over the west trailhead, where the thickest patch of vegetation was.
“Here?” Jumper asked.
“Yes, hover for a moment. You should have come here without my telling you, Orthan. You may be good at flying and shooting, but there’s more to being a pilot in the service of Ossur. Learn to be studious in all assigned tasks. This seems like a natural spot for an ambush. There, that rockslide. Does that look fresh to you?”
“No,” Kayla and Jumper said in unison.
“The dead tree trunks in the slide,” Kayla explained. “They’ve obviously been there a while.”
“Hmm.” Ilsted motioned towards the closed-in cave. “Perhaps. Move closer to it, all the same. I want to get a good look at it. In fact, maybe we’ll move some of those rocks out of the way with the tractor beam. See if anything is underneath.”
Jumper responded without talking this time. He maneuvered the ship over the covered cave entrance, as instructed.
Alan kept stealing glances at the laser holstered on Ilsted’s left side. Ilsted’s arm lay naturally over it, making it difficult to grab. Alan would need him to reach up with that hand for some reason, and then he would have his chance. But he would have to be fast and agile. If he failed, it would cost them all their lives.
“Engage the tractor beam and start pulling these boulders away,” Ilsted said. “Don’t waste time. Get the bigger ones first.”
Kayla spoke. “Wait. We’re getting a command to return to formation and pull up into orbit. They’ve seen some unidentified blips outside the atmosphere and want us to check them out.”
“Very well,” Ilsted said. “We’ll have to come back to this.”
That was close. If this timely diversion was a ploy on Kayla’s part, it was a good one—although it would soon be exposed when the other patrol ships failed to collaborate. Alan would need to make a move for Ilsted’s weapon in that case. Maybe that’s what Kayla was trying to give him time for. If only she could also come up with a reason for him to raise that left arm.
But the other patrol ships did collaborate, rising out of the mountains and coming back together in front of them. It wasn’t a trick from Kayla. Alan felt a wave of relief, but realized his heart was racing. He took hold of his quarner stone and tried to calm down before Ilsted noticed.
Within a few seconds the patrol merged tight again and soared upward. As welcome as this development was, it did come with its own set of potential hazards. If the “blips” turned out to be from The Measure, which was now long overdue, they could possibly be ordered to fire upon it. Jumper and Kayla would have to respond by attacking the other ships in the patrol instead, and Alan would be right back to attempting to wrest the hand weapon away from their flight instructor. Of course, that needed to be done anyway, at some point, if they were to escape. Alan kept watching for the opportunity, but it seemed as through Ilsted sensed it. His arm pulled tighter to his torso, rendering the prospect impossible. Alan needed to get him to voluntarily raise that arm. How?
The four ships cleared the atmosphere and came out into the orbital space above Sulien. Jumper was still at the rear of the formation, in perfect position to shoot at the rest of the small patrol. Even without engaging the other fighters, if they could get get away from them somehow—and neutralize Ilsted—it would be their opportunity to dag away. But there was no point in making the attempt while the large Ossurian in the rear seat was still armed.
No other ships were in sight, thank Erob. Whatever caused the blips they were investigating wasn’t making itself easy to see. The patrol made two complete orbits around the planet before Kayla announced they had received instructions from ground control to return to the mountain range and resume the search.
That’s when a sudden laser from behind connected on the left ship in front of them.
Jumper immediately reacted by rolling away from the formation, as did the ship on the right. They rolled in opposite directions. When Jumper came out of it and held them steady for a moment, Alan stretched his neck to look out behind them.
“Extat! Torian fighters! Where did those come from? And what are they doing here?”
“How many?” Jumper asked.
“I only see one squadron. Nine, Jumper. They’re all staying on the other two patrol ships.”
Jumper turned their vessel around so they could all see. The patrol ship that had been hit first exploded. By this time, the additional Torian fighters had also connected on the lead ship, which was now making futile evasive maneuvers. Three or four laser beams stayed on it no matter which way it turned. They had been surprised magnificently, and the lead ship didn’t have time to engage the distortion drive. They watched as it too was destroyed in a bright fireball.
Below and to their right, Alan saw the other escaped patrol ship speeding back into the planet’s atmosphere. Jumper followed it. They shortly emerged into the blue sky again.
Ilsted wasn’t happy.
“If Orthans are a pure race, why did you flee? This was a pathetic display. We should have stayed and defended.”
“Defended how?” Kayla snapped. “They were behind us, more than twice our number. And we’re only following the other escaping vessel. If Ossurians are a pure race, why did they also flee?”
“I will see to it that the other crew’s disgraceful actions are reprimanded as well.”
“As well?” Jumper asked. He had caught up to the other patrol ship now. They came down fast and headed into the canyon where the primary base entrance was.
“You can never serve in the Ossurian military after this act of cowardice. Colonel Halstov will be disappointed, but I expected this. Now take us in slowly and make your last landing with whatever dignity you have left. I’ll see what the colonel wants done with you. Perhaps you can serve on the flight deck crew, if you’re fortunate.”
“You’re being ridiculous,” Jumper said as he slowed and followed the fighter in front of him into the cliff-side opening. “We took the only reasonable action, as did this other patrol ship. Suicide doesn’t help our cause. And you have bigger problems on your hands than deciding our fate. If there’s a Torian fighter squadron up there, then transport ships are nearby. They must know about the base here—and Torians don’t travel this far from home in small processions.”
“Silence!” Ilsted placed his hand on his weapon. Alan hoped it was only an instinctive reaction to the danger of the overall situation. But he leaned forward to speak before Jumper aggravated him any further.
“Don’t argue with him, Jumper. Just dock us.”
Jumper seemed to perceive the concern in Alan’s appeal and stopped talking. He navigated the fighter through the tunnel behind the other remaining patrol ship until they came out into the large opening.
Jumper’s landing was good. The whirring noise of the hover engines subsided, the canopy above them lifted, and they all exited the craft. A ground crew ran over to inspect the vessel.
“Come with me,” Ilsted said.
The underground base was now a flurry of activity. Crews ran back and forth shouting. Fighters hovered and moved about. More fighters formed lines in the storage tunnels. A group of Ossurians with larger rifle-type weapons ran across the ledge above them. The Torian arrival was kn
own, and the Ossurians appeared to be reacting in a frantic scramble of defensive preparations.
Jumper, Kayla, and Alan followed their imposing flight instructor up the ramp towards the operational control center. They could see Colonel Halstov through the glass doors meeting with different subordinates, some of whom ran to him and then ran off just as quickly. Ilsted had them sit in the front reception room and wait while he went to report their “failure.” As soon as he left, the three of them stood right back up.
“What are we going to do?” Kayla said. “I’m afraid we may have missed our opportunity.”
Alan shook his head. “I’m sorry. I waited too long to try and grab his weapon. Looked for too perfect of an opportunity. Extat. Nice flying, Jumper.”
“Not your fault,” Jumper said. “If the opportunity wasn’t there, what could you do? Better that you didn’t try at the wrong time and fail. We’d probably all be dead now. Although we were nearly killed just as dead by our own people.”
Kayla pointed back to the entrance tunnel. “If Tora’s here, and they do know about the base, our problems might take care of themselves. We might be able to wait and be rescued.”
“Not likely,” Alan said. Jumper and Kayla both cocked their heads at him.
“It won’t be a rescue mission,” Alan explained. “No one back home knows we’re here, remember? They’ll want to destroy the base, that’s all. And everyone in it.”
“He has a point,” Jumper said.
“Look.” Kayla motioned through the glass doors. “He’s talking to the colonel now.”
The three of them watched Ilsted’s animated report to the colonel, pointing at them and throwing his hands in the air. Then he motioned downward. It seemed to Alan that he might be pointing to the mines. Colonel Halstov looked in their direction for a moment, then turned back to Ilsted and nodded.
“That can’t be good,” Alan said.
“No, it can’t.” Jumper looked back to the flight deck. “Let’s get out of here. Slowly.”
Kayla and Alan readily agreed and followed Jumper out of the room and back down the ramp. They tried to act casual, but kept having to step out of the way of running Ossurians. When they arrived on the flight deck, they heard Ilsted’s voice echo across the cavern from his translator.
“Orthans! Stop!”
The three of them looked up. Ilsted was pointing at them from the ledge. He then said something to three other Ossurians there with him. Those three began running down the ramp.
“What should we do?” Alan asked Jumper.
Before Jumper could answer, an overhead explosion deafened them. The ground shook. The three Ossurians who were running after them were all knocked down. One of them rolled off the ramp and fell to the flight deck twenty meters below. It was suddenly brighter. Alan saw rays of sunlight in places. He looked up.
The far wall on the upper portion of the cavern was crumbling in one spot. Another explosion then rocked the base, blowing huge chunks of the cliff side away. The opening above grew instantly larger, and the flight deck was now exposed to direct sunlight. Sizable portions of rock and mountain crashed to the far side of the cavern, bringing down additional structures with it, and causing a ricochet of smaller rocks to shower upon everyone on the flight deck. Alan shielded his face with his hands.
When he looked up again, figures were descending through the new opening in the cliff. But they came down in an unpredictable fluttering motion. Lasers began firing from the descending figures.
“Torian ground forces!” Jumper shouted. “Invading the base!”
“Yes!” Alan pointed at one of them. “In float suits!”
More Torian soldiers floated in through the ceiling, more lasers fired, and now some lasers fired back at them. The Torian soldiers were difficult to hit, though, because of the swaying motion.
“Come on!” Jumper said. He pulled Kayla behind and pushed Alan in front of him. Alan stumbled but recovered, and ran in the direction Jumper pushed him. Ossurian deck hands scurried back and forth all around them. Flight crews frantically climbed into fighters. Lasers fired from the floating Torian soldiers across the flight deck. More fighters came to life, hovering their way up towards to the new hole above them or out the normal exit tunnel directly ahead.
“There’s one!” Jumper shouted. “To your right. Let’s take it!”
Alan saw the fighter Jumper was referring to. Some deck hands had just run away from it. The cockpit canopy was already open. Ossurian pilots were climbing into fighters all around it, but that one looked available. One of the other pilots saw the three Earthlings and waved them towards the craft. Alan recognized him—it was one who had been impressed with Jumper and Kayla’s scores in the simulator. He was probably looking forward to their help now.
The three of them made it into the cockpit of the enemy fighter and sealed the canopy. They finally had one all to themselves. No more Ilsted to have to deal with.
But they were now a Torian enemy, and Tora was launching a large-scale attack. They needed to get away, fast.
Jumper fired the hover engines and lifted them forward.
“Up and out?” Kayla asked.
“No!” Alan leaned forward from the rear seat. “The Torians blew that gap open and will be waiting for enemy fighters to come out of it. Take the standard exit tunnel. They might not have zeroed in on that yet.”
“Good thinking, Alan.” Jumper followed another fighter through the narrow tunnel ahead. It was nerve wracking, as the craft in front seemed to move too slowly. The sound of a fighter exploding on the fight deck behind urged them forward. Finally, the vessel in front cleared the opening and Jumper followed. He hit the thrusters and swerved right, away from the action. But when they had come up out of the canyon, Jumper turned the ship back towards the base.
“Honey, what are you doing?” Kayla said. “We need to get out of here!”
“Just want to see what’s happening. Look—Alan was right. Torian fighters are hovering outside the new opening picking off the fighters that come out of it. Way to go, boys.”
Kayla shot Alan an appreciative look before begging Jumper to get the extat away from the scene. But before Jumper complied, Alan saw something interesting up on the cliff side.
“A human!” Alan said. “There, above the opening. Another Earthling, directing the float suit soldiers.”
“That must be Major Perry,” Jumper said. “I really feel like we should stick around and help.”
“They’ll kill us, Jumper!” Kayla was becoming extremely agitated. “We’re the enemy! They have no way of knowing we’re in here!”
Jumper listened to the voice of reason—and domestic harmony—and turned the ship around. He took it down and across the local landscape, staying low. As he did, a squadron of Torian fighters could be seen coming in overhead from the left. Two of them broke off to chase another Ossurian fighter that was in the area. Jumper went right, hugging structure where he could.
“This area looks clear,” Kayla said. “We should be able to get out here. I’ll have the distortion drive ready. If it’s safe where we come out, stop us so I can plot a destination and engage.”
Jumper did as Kayla suggested. In another minute, they were out of the atmosphere and orbiting Sulien. Fighters of both types could be seen all around them in the distance, but the immediate area was relatively clear. Jumper slowed the ship to a drift and Kayla plotted an interstellar point to dag away to.
But the cockpit was suddenly bathed in orange light. It instantly became unbearably hot. A laser had connected on them, from what must have been just outside optimal firing range. Alan looked behind them.
“It’s The Measure!” he yelled. “That beam is coming from The Measure! Kayla, go!”
The stars before them suddenly stretched out. They escaped into bent space in the Ossurian fighter. None of them said anything for several minutes. Then, they came out of distortion drive. Nothing was around them.
“Where are we?” Alan asked
.
“Nowhere,” Kayla answered as she adjusted her instruments. “A local void. We’re lucky that weapon from Trodenjo’s ship was fired from such a long distance. It still might have damaged some of our systems. I’m getting a failure reading on our communications equipment. Not sure how to fix that. But the distortion drive appears to be fine. I stopped us here so I could get our final destination correctly plotted.”
“Where’s that?”
Jumper cocked his head at Alan as Kayla responded.
“Home, of course.”
*
The landscape didn’t remind Brandon of anywhere. A beautiful orange dust covered the ground, but there were too many trees for it to be a desert. Delightful small birds and reptiles hopped about. This was a much different countryside than the area where Brandon last visited this planet thirty years ago.
Brandon waited for Arkan9 to come back with a rare contentedness. He didn’t even feel a need to draw close to the halcyon arc thirty meters behind him. No, his mere presence in this place was enough. It was more than just seeing Arkan9 again. At this moment, Brandon fully understood why the half-breeds were irresistibly drawn to relocate here. There was a peace about it that couldn’t be described.
Brandon saw the Ulorks he transported off in the distance talking with members of three or four different half-breed races, not all of which Brandon recognized. On top of the small bluff beyond them sat Brandon’s shuttle.
His crew was all in orbit above, resting and awaiting his return. They had all refused the invitation to come down with him, even Milon4. Brandon knew why. They were, simply, afraid of this place. Brandon wasn’t. But he felt he understood his crew’s fear. It wasn’t rational, but he could relate to it. So much of his own former life had been misdirected by unfounded fear. Not anymore. Not now.
Milura was not a place to be feared. The planet itself pulsated with a spiritual power of some kind. The more half-breeds that congregated here, the greater that force became. Brandon relished it. He also realized that was the factor which scared all the native races, though they couldn’t define exactly what they were afraid of. Whatever it was, they just wanted to ignore it and continue living in the comfort of familiarity—much in the same way they now ignored the half-breeds amongst them in their societies. Some races, such as the Dirgs, ventured to such irrational extremes that they insisted on denying the living evidence before them. So they could easily ignore whatever was happening here on this remote world.