by E. A. James
The group worked quickly, in silence, as they each walked handfuls of items back to the ship. The task was made slightly clumsy by the combat armor. Even the highest, cutting-edge technology couldn’t make a pulse-proof, oxygen producing suit as light-weight as normal clothing. Finally, though, the task was nearing the end.
“Where’s Vinnie?” Kira asked as she loaded the last of the food from the shelter into the ship’s airlock.
“Here,” Vinnie’s voice came over the speaker in her suit. “I’ll be right there; I just need to get…”
His voice trailed off and a cold shiver ran down her spine. “Vinnie,” Kira said, looking out in the direction of the bunker he was rummaging through.
“Vinnie,” Bron said sternly. “This is no time for pranks.”
Still, nothing.
“Shit!” Vinnie yelled, his yell breaking through the silence, causing Kira’s ears to ring as she instinctively took off in the direction of the supply cabin.
Thor and Bron were on her heels. The closer they got to the shack, the clearer the events unfolding became.
“What the hell?” Thor asked, stepping forward and reaching for his sidearm.
A small group of oversized insects had swarmed out from a hole in the surface near the supply bunker.
“Zel’Dar,” Kira muttered, reaching for her Phantom. “How many are there?”
“Does it matter?” Bron asked, swiftly pulling his assault rifle from his shoulder and engaging the Zel’Dar.
The blast from Bron’s rifle quickly drew the Zel’Dar’s attention toward them. The massive insects, some doubling even Bron’s impressive size, turned slowly as one of their own was struck down by the pulse radiating out of Bron’s weapon.
“Four more,” Kira reported, watching the lifeless body of the Zel’Dar bounce slowly back toward the rocky surface.
“We can see that,” Thor replied, lifting his weapon higher as the large insects began to move in their direction.
“I wasn’t sure you or Bron could count that high,” Kira quipped as she lifted her Phantom and squeezed the trigger.
The Zel’Dar, accustomed to moving through Space without the need of suits or armor, zipped toward them quickly, ducking out of their weapons’ line of fire with ease. One of them broke away from the group, extending their circle out and drawing Bron’s attention with it. The remaining three continued their quick advance in Kira and Thor’s direction.
One of them appeared to hone in on Kira, focusing its red eyes on her and extending out an arm that was nothing more than a single, razor-sharp talon. Launching itself off its hindquarters, it threw itself in her direction.
She held her ground, knowing that this might be her only chance at a direct hit. She waited, Phantom raised, until the creature was no more than five feet in front of her, and squeezed the trigger.
The pulse burned into the insect’s exoskeleton with ease, sending streams of radiating heat through its body and causing a loud, screech like sound to come from its mouth. Within seconds, the blast had done its job, and the Zel’Dar’s body went limp.
There was no time for celebration. Bron was now facing off against one of the remaining three Zel’Dar, his back to Thor and Kira. He continued to shoot at the large insect who continued to dance tauntingly out of his line of fire.
The remaining two were both focusing their attention on Thor. He lifted his gun to shoot at one, and the other swarmed in behind him. The ease with which Thor moved out of the line attack was impressive. As much as he hated his enhancement, it definitely came in handy more often than not.
“Hey!” Kira yelled, trying to draw one of the Zel’Dar’s attention to her. “Hey!”
She fired a shot in their direction, but they both moved before the stream of energy could make contact with either of them. But, her attempts to draw their attention to her worked. One of them focused on her while the other once again turned its sights to Thor.
Now that they were separated, Kira and Thor had no problem taking them out. All that was left was the one that was continuing to taunt Bron. Kira was about to yell out to pull its attention off of Bron and onto her like she had done with the other, when a blast of light flashed through the air, hitting the creature square in the chest.
“First try!” Vinnie yelled victoriously as he ran out of the supply shack. “How many times did you shoot, Bron?”
“I’m beginning to forget why I keep you around,” Bron muttered, holstering his weapon.
“Obviously, because you need me,” Vinnie replied with a cocky smile.
“I would have gotten him,” Bron replied.
“Eventually,” Vinnie said. “But, we don’t have time to sit here, watching you dance around with a giant bug. In case you forgot, we have a mission to complete.”
Kira laughed, motioning for the others to follow her back to the ship. “He does have a point, Bron. No time for dancing around with giant bugs.”
CHAPTER TEN
“It doesn’t make sense,” Kira said, leading the crew back onto the ship.
Releasing her helmet, she inhaled deeply. She didn’t stop when they reached the common area. Her mind was set on getting to the next colony, on getting answers.
“The base is abandoned, so why would the Zel’Dar have any interest in it?” she continued to think out loud.
“Why were they traveling in such a small group is the question I’d like an answer to,” Dario added. “It’s unheard of, really.”
“Well, we’re not going to wait around here for more to show up,” Kira said as she continued her purpose driven march toward the flight deck. “Alaria, get to the engine room. We’re leaving for the next base—now.”
Alaria didn’t protest as she scurried off, followed closely by Bron and Vinnie.
“Dario, see if Thane knows anything about what’s been going on here,” Kira added over her shoulder as she exited the common area.
Thor marched quietly behind her.
“It shouldn’t take long to get to the next colony,” Kira said as she plopped down in the Captain’s chair and entered in the next set of coordinates Artanis had sent them.
“What do you expect to find there when we arrive?” Thor asked as he took his seat next to her.
“I honestly have no idea. I wasn’t expecting to find what we found here,” Kira replied.
“Do you think Grimm has anything to do with this?”
“I think that the Alliance should be giving us a lot more than just a cleared name for going through all this shit,” Kira replied.
“They haven’t even agreed to that much,” Thor reminded her.
“Assholes,” Kira quipped as she initiated the engines and lifted the Curio off the ground.
The flight to the next colony was less than an hour, as Kira had expected. What she didn’t expect, though, was what they found upon arrival.
“Told you I wasn’t going to try to guess,” she said as she leaned forward to gaze out the large view screen in front of her. “I could have said a lot of things, but this definitely would not have been one of them.”
The mining base was in a state of chaos. Destruction filled nearly every inch of the screens around them, illuminating and highlighting the tragedy that had taken place there. The bodies of dead Zel’Dar were scattered among the remains of Terran miners. Kira lowered the ship slowly as she and Thor scanned the area for any signs of survivors.
“There’s a bunker there,” Thor said, leaning forward and indicating an air-locked building that seemed to be more or less untouched.
“Perfect,” Kira said, guiding the ship just past the spot Thor had indicated and setting it down gently. “Get the others. We’re disembarking.”
Thor hurried away as Kira shut down the engines. Her thoughts were running wild as she exited the flight deck. Artanis had said that he suspected Grimm’s involvement in the events taking place on the mining colonies. In addition, they believed that if it was Grimm, it was just another attempt by the coup leader to div
ert more of the Alliance forces.
This, though, seemed like something else. Why would Grimm go to so much trouble to destroy a minor mining colony on the outskirts of the Terran space? He had to be aware of the fact that the Alliance was onto his plan to stretch their resources thin.
Perhaps that was it.
“I sent a message to Thane,” Dario said, walking up to her, cutting off her train of thought. “But he hasn’t answered any of my communications since we arrived at the Arbiter.”
There was a glimmer of worry in the man’s eyes. His relationship with Thane had always weighed on him. He felt guilt over putting his beloved in such a perilous situation. If Grimm ever found out that his assistant was feeding information to his enemies, there’s no telling what he would do.
“I’m sure he’s keeping a low profile for now,” Kira said, trying to encourage Dario the best she could. “So far, from what I’ve seen of Thane’s communications, no news is good news. I still jump every time that damn communicator goes off.”
Dario nodded, knowing she had a point.
“Let’s get out there,” Kira said, directing her comment to the rest of the crew. “I brought the ship down about a mile away from the bunker Thor spotted. We’re going to need to hike out there, but something about the situation isn’t adding up to me.”
Helmets up and weapons holstered, the group exited the ship, prepared to face whatever came their way. There was a silent tension in the air as they alternated between racing toward the shelter and taking cover behind boulders at the slighted movement in the distance.
What they were afraid of, no one knew. That was the problem. No one knew what to expect.
As they grew closer, though, a fragile calm settled among them.
“I guess we didn’t need to be so cautious,” Kira said, standing up a little straighter as she turned to face the crew behind her.
“It’s still too soon to…” Dario began.
But he was cut short when Thor threw himself forward and tackled Kira to the ground, simultaneously yelling for the others to duck for cover at the same time.
Just as the hard earth rushed up and smacked her in the back of the head, Kira heard the sound of gunshots ringing through the air. The blaze of electric energy streamed past her, floating over Thor, who now lay on top of her, and disappeared into the distance.
“What the hell?” she asked, wiggling around to search for the source of the blast.
The door to the bunker slammed shut as the shooter retreated back to cover.
“He was Terran,” Thor informed her as he pushed himself up and reached his hand out to help her to her feet.
“Why is he shooting at us?” Alaria asked, popping up to her feet gracefully, her eyes flitting past Thor and Kira toward the large metallic bunker just ten yards away.
The door to the bunker swung open again, but this time, before the man could shoot, Thor stepped forward.
“Hold your fire!” Thor ordered.
The man ignored Thor’s request and pulled the trigger, sending a bolt of energetic matter flying in Thor’s direction. Without so much as blinking, Thor stepped to the side, letting the glowing current fly past him.
Thor continued to step to his left, leading the gun away from the rest of the group. The man followed his every movement with the barrel of his assault rifle, his eyes wide and his hands shaking slightly.
“You’re one of them!” he yelled, pulling the trigger again.
And again, Thor diverted the blast with casual ease.
Kira, finding her sidearm quickly, took a few cautious steps in the man’s direction. She held the gun out in front of her, training her sights on him. As she focused her vision, she noticed that the man was injured.
“You’ve come back to finish us off, haven’t you?” the man yelled, almost hysterically, as he pulled the trigger again.
Thor, clearly unamused by the interaction, reached for his gun as he gracefully moved out of the man’s line of fire.
“Don’t!” Kira ordered Thor as he lifted his weapon in one swift movement. “He’s injured.”
The man, now noticing Kira’s gun trained on him, swung his arm around so that she was in his sights. Thor tensed, but Kira gave him a long glance telling him to stay in place.
“We’re not here to finish anything,” Kira spoke to the man slowly. She lowered her gun, a sign of trust, and took a slow step in his direction. “We’re here to help.”
“Then why are you working with one of them?” The man asked accusingly, swinging his gun back in Thor’s direction. “One of those soulless machines?”
Kira had to stop herself from physically recoiling against the man’s words, not for herself but for Thor. She was beginning to understand more and more why he hated his enhancements.
“We’re not working with him,” Kira said, still calmly. “He’s working with us.”
The man’s helmet began to fog up as his breathing became heavier and more strained. His hands continued to shake nervously, and now his legs were joining in. He was on the brink of collapsing.
“Thor,” Kira ordered, “lower your weapon.”
He lowered his gun, but he did not holster it. Kira knew that if he wanted to, he could have the gun raised and the shot fired before the man across from them even had the chance to blink. Hopefully, he didn't know that, though.
“We have a doctor,” Kira offered. “Let us help you.”
“Why?” the man asked, still eyeing Thor down the sights of his gun. “Why do you want to help me?”
“Because that’s what we came here to do. We’re here on behalf of the Alliance. We’re here to help.”
The man looked as if he wanted to object, but his condition required a doctor. He knew that as well as the rest of them did.
“Fine,” he said, tossing his gun to the ground. He turned, without another word, and re-entered the shelter.
Kira waved the others on, and together they headed toward the entrance. Everyone was hesitant to enter the airlock, but the man had already disappeared through it. If they were going to get answers, they needed to follow.
“Can we trust him?” Bron asked.
“We don’t have any choice,” Dario replied. “We need to know what happened here.”
“Maybe I should stay outside,” Thor said, hanging back by the shelter’s door. “He’s clearly uncomfortable around me.”
The entire group couldn’t help but notice the hint of self-loathing wrapped around Thor’s words. Kira knew more than any of them how much of a struggle it had been for him to accept his past, how much he had struggled with what Grimm had done to him. She knew the man’s words had only reopened the wound he had been trying to heal since Thor openly rebelled against Grimm.
“No,” Kira said firmly, keeping her authoritative Captain’s tone heavy on her voice. “We do this together—all of us.”
Thor nodded and followed the others into the airlock. Once the air around them had been pressurized, the doors flew open, revealing what appeared to be a typical mining colony shelter. Kira and the others stepped inside, releasing their helmets and scanning their surroundings.
“Over here,” they heard the man who had been shooting at them call out.
His voice was weaker than before. His condition was worsening, and Kira knew that they had reached him just in time. He was huddled in the far corner of the room. Most of the lights were off, and at first, it was hard to see him.
As they moved closer and their vision adjusted to the low lighting, Kira saw the bundle of blankets piled next to him move slightly.
The man noticed Kira's apprehension immediately and lowered the edge of the thick brown fabric to reveal a Terran woman. Her eyes were pinched shut and her breathing was labored. There was blood running down the side of her face, and her entire body seemed to be shaking like a leaf.
“She’s worse than I am,” the man explained.
Dario rushed over to where the man and woman were seated. Kira and the others look
ed on as he assessed their conditions. The expression on Dario’s face did little to ease anyone’s concern.
“Alaria,” he said firmly, “go back to the ship and get my supplies. We can’t afford to move this woman, but she needs immediate attention.”
“The ship’s at least a mile away,” Kira replied.
“I can make it,” Alaria insisted.
“But can you make it fast enough?” Bron asked the question on all of their minds.