by James McEwan
“Are you sure? How Long ago?” Tor Tran-kor asked so quickly that the translator box around his neck had a hard time translating it correctly.
“Yes Master it was him and not long ago, maybe within the hour,” the slave replied.
“Ready the grav-sleds. We are going after them. I am not about to lose my prizes,” Tor Tran-kor commanded as he stormed out of the cool room.
Chapter 17
St. Claire and Kára had enjoyed their visit with Ruby, but it was time for them to fly back to Rio and pick up the team. Hugs and kisses were exchanged. Ruby stood on the tarmac of the landing pad and waved as she watched St. Claire and Kára board the Eden. Captain Hunter was standing next to Ruby as the Eden started her engines. They watched as the Eden took to the skies and quickly disappeared from sight.
It was getting late and Ruby informed Captain Hunter that she was tired and would turn in early tonight. What Captain Hunter didn’t know was that Ruby really wasn’t there. She had snuck onto the Eden and what he was experiencing was an image of Ruby projected into his mind. As far as he was concerned she was right there and everything was normal.
Thought projection was just the latest of her powers that she had discovered. However, she knew that it wouldn’t last for long and that when it wore off they would be looking for her. She hoped that it would last long enough for her to be out of their reach. Ruby had read St. Claire’s mind and she knew all the mission details and knew that once they launched they would be going into a total communications black out. Once that happened they wouldn’t be able to call them back to return her.
Fooling the humans on the ship would be easy as she could hide herself from their minds too. Not really invisible, but as far as they were concerned she was. The problem was Kára and Eve. Kára would feel her entering her mind and would know instantly that she was near. This meant she would have to stay out of sight.
Eve on the other hand was the real problem. There was no hiding from her. She would know the second she was on board. Being the heart and soul of the Eden she had thousands of sensors to see, hear, or feel Ruby moving about the ship. Once on board she made straight for her estate room. The only two rooms not in use on the Eden were Thad’s and the twins’ estate room and Ruby’s room. All the others were occupied by the crew and team members of the unit.
St. Claire and Kára had the biggest of the guest rooms and the rest of the estate rooms went to the officers. Some things never changed even in the twenty fifth century, the enlisted made do with whatever the officers don’t use. A portion of the cargo hold had been converted into a makeshift barracks with double bunks set up in rows. The two rows of bunks were separated by a bank of lockers that had been installed for the unit members to store their personal uniforms and gear. The other side of the cargo bay was filled with crates and other containers all filled with weapons, ammo, and other nasty toys. The walls of the cargo bay were lined with racks that held the team’s specialized powered armor.
Ruby had easily slipped past the few crew members that had been assigned to the Eden. She made it to her room without detection. The only light was dim star light coming in from her window. She had not been in the room for more than a second before the soft voice of Eve spoke to her, “So shall I turn on the lights or would it be easier for you to hide in the dark young lady?”
“Please Eve don’t tell anyone that I’m here, oh please don’t tell!” Ruby begged her.
“I haven’t yet, but you need to give me one good reason not to,” Eve said as she raised the light levels a bit, just enough for Ruby to see to move around without bumping into things.
“My family is in danger, and there is no way I can’t just sit back on Earth and do nothing. I have to help them,” Ruby said as she sat down her bed.
“Very commendable, but what makes you think that they are in trouble and how do you think you can help?” Eve asked as she projected a small hologram of herself on the end table near the bed.
“I can feel it. I can’t really explain how I know, it is just a feeling and I just know it,” Ruby said with passion.
“I see, however, I don’t see how you can help them,” Eve replied.
Ruby looked at one of the stuffed bears on her bed and said “let me show you.” Eve watched as Rudy stared at the bear intensely. After a few seconds the bear shot up into the air and then it stopped at Ruby’s eye level. It floated in midair as if the artificial gravy had been turned off. Ruby keep starting the stuffed toy as it glided over to her.
“I see,” Eve said impressed by her powers.
“You haven’t seen anything yet,” Ruby responded. Then the expression on her face changed from one of calm to one of anger. The toy began to crush downward in on itself. Eve had detected a localized change in the gravity field when Rudy had lifted the toy off the bed. However the gravitation field around the toy was increasing exponentially. A few seconds later the toy had been crushed down to round ball about the size of a marble.
Eve was at a lost as to how she was able to do that. She wasn’t sure if Ruby was manipulating the gravy field or generating one by herself. However, she was starting to think that Ruby was somehow creating a gravitation field because the Eden’s gravy generators didn’t register a spike in power consumption as they would have if Eve had done the same trick.
Ruby let go of the toy and the super condensed ball landed softly on the carpeted floor, “See Eve, I can do all sorts of new things. I can help them, I know I can. Please you have to let me come. Please don’t tell, please,” she begged again.
Eve thought it over, and for now she chose not to upset the young woman as she was worried that she could tear the ship apart. “Don’t worry. I won’t rat you out. But you best stay in here until I find the right time and right way to tell the others that you are here.”
“Oh thank you. Thank you, Eve. You’re the best ever!” Ruby bounced up and down on the bed.
Hours later the Eden landed in Rio and the ship was met on the landing pad by the members of the unit. Some of them looked well rested, while others looked like they enjoyed their night off and were a little worse for the wear.
St. Claire disembarked and Ruby chanced a peak out the window. She watched as St. Claire shook the hand of one of the men and then she watched as they marched up the Eden’s ramp and out of view. She got a quick glance of her Grandmother as she exited a black military staff car. St. Claire snapped a salute which she returned. Ruby reached out and touched their minds to listen in.
“I have some updated intel for you,” Amanda said, as she handed him a tablet. St. Claire took it and read over it.
“So someone blew up the slave market. Do you think it is Thad?” he asked.
“Yes, we believe it is, so I am amending your mission. As a secondary objective, if possible locate and assist Thad in the recovery of my daughters.”
St. Claire smiled, “Consider it done.”
Amanda looked up towards the Eden and right at Ruby’s window. Ruby ducked out of sight and hoped that she hadn’t been seen. W Ruby didn’t know was that the windows were tinted for privacy and there was no way that Amanda could have seen her.
St. Claire noticed her looking at the Eden, “Something wrong?”
“No, it just that,” Amanda paused, “it’s nothing. I guess I’m just missing Ruby. How is she doing by the way?”
“I have heard about kids having a growth spurt but that was insane. Other than growing a foot and skipping a few years, she is good. She seems happy and healthy and she misses everyone though,” St. Claire said.
“I know, and with all of the events of the last few months I forgot to warn everyone about here accelerated growth starting. It must have been quite the shock. Please tell Thad about it when you see him, and Dominic,” she paused to salute, “Gods speed and good luck.”
He returned the salute then headed up the ramp. The airlock closed and sealed. The Eden’s engines powered up and she lifted into the sky. A few minutes later they were in outer space.
Eve gave every one a warning before space folding. “Alright ladies and gentlemen grab your towels and prepare to jump space fold in five minutes.”
Meanwhile on New Hope, the fight for the planet was about to begin. The NGE forces had fought their way through the outer defenses and were about to blockade the planet. The Amerons had used the time and the bulk of their fleet to evacuate as many of the people as they could. Not surprisingly was that the first ones to get on the evacuation ships was Kruger and his supporters. However, when Ark got wind that the coward Kruger was trying to leave, he had him arrested for cowardice in the face of enemy. Kruger protested until the officers sent to arrest time informed him that they were authorized to use deadly force. That tidbit of info shut Kruger up fast.
Ark stood on the tarmac at the Nineveh airfield. It was the military spaceport for the capital city of New Jerusalem. Captain Adele Theron stood next her ship. It was an Ameron deep space fighter/bomber known as a raptor. She snapped to attention and saluted as General Ark approached her.
He returned the salute, “At ease Captain.” He handed her a data chip. “I have a special mission for you.”
She took the chip and asked a little confused, “Sir?”
“This might just be the most important mission in Ameron history,” he paused, “I need you to get as far as you can before you broadcast the message on that chip. Now as soon as you try to jump they will be all over you. You have to get through no matter what or else.”
She shifted her weight, “Or else, Sir?”
“Or else we will all die and many of us will be turned into those abominations,” he said with a look on his face that told her that he was not being overly dramatic.
“I won’t let you down Sir,” she said as she stood a little straighter.
“I know you won’t. That is way I picked you for this mission as all of our lives depend on it,” Ark said as he gave her a smile that reminded her of her father. He saluted her, “May the lord watch over you and protect you. Go in peace.”
She returned the salute, “Go in peace Sir.”
She turned and grabbed the ladder. She had climbed up and jumped into the cockpit when Ark turned back and said, “And Captain if they try to stop you, send them straight to Hell!”
“You got it Sir,” she said as she put on her helmet.
Ark cleared the launch area and watched as she went through her preflight checklist. She lit up the engines and when everything was green she asked for her flight clearance. She looked up and gave the general thumbs up. Then she taxed to the main runway. Once in position for takeoff the engines spat out a long cone of fire. The fighter roared down the runway and after a few seconds she lifted the craft off the runway. Ark said a silent prayer and watched until she was out of sight.
In the cockpit Captain Theron placed the data chip into the chip reader and punched up the program to read it. It was a self-loading program all she had to do was to push on the file name on the touch screen. She activated the program and it loaded its self into the Raptor’s comm unit. On the control screen a large button labeled broadcast was flashing green. “Golden Saber one to command over,” she transmitted.
“This is Command. Go ahead Golden Saber one, over.” the controller responded.
She keyed her mic, “Please inform Alpha one that the package is loaded and ready for delivery, over.”
“Understood Golden Saber. Also your call sign is now Dark Star. Dark Star you are cleared all the way and Golden squadron will prove you cover. Good luck and may the Lord be with you, over.”
“Acknowledged, Dark Star out,” Captain Theron transmitted.
As soon as she left the atmosphere Captain Theron found herself in the thick of the fight. The blackness of space was lit up like a brilliant light show, with fighter craft of all makes and models swirling about as if they were dancers and elaborate ballet of death. She would have enjoyed the light show if it hadn’t been for the fact that it was life and death and it was her friends being killed.
Theron pushed her throttles to the max. She scanned the heads up display under cockpit watching the computer track all of the other craft moving through her flight path. The computer displayed a clear path for her to follow, however, she only used it as reference as the computer can track targets faster than she could, but it lacked two extremely important things, human intuition and luck.
“Gold leader to Dark Star, we have your back and will clear the road, good luck,” said the voice over her Comm.
“Thank you Gold leader,” Captain Theron transmitted back.
The NGE forces seem to be without end, but the Ameron pilots were better than the drone Necromorph pilots. Golden squadron gave their lives one by one to ensure by Captain Theron’s raptor made it to safety. Even though she was a highly trained professional pilot seasoned in combat alone, a tear ran down her face as one by one her squad mates went silent. She would miss them forever.
The Amerons raptor did not have an advanced hyperspace engines and this meant that the raptor had to get to an area of space that was free from any other forms of energy that would disrupt the hyperspace window. Captain Theron had several close calls including two direct hits on her rear shielding. However, her raptor only received minor damage. “Dark Star, Dark Star, you’re cleared to jump, you are…” the transmission cut off midsentence and she knew the last of the golden squadron was gone. Captain Theron open her hyperspace window and jumped.
Meanwhile back on the planet, the defenders were ready or at least as ready as they could be. The NGE forces had broken through the Amerons fighter defense. It wasn’t long before their landing crafts punched through the atmosphere. On the ground the air defense guns lit up the sky. The battle for New Hope had begun.
General Ark was riding back and his staff car when he received the message, “Dark Star is away.” A small wave of relief watched over him. He spoke to his driver, “She got through Maxwell. Now all we can do is hold on and pray that help comes in time.”
Chapter 18
Eve carried Rod on her back as they forged ahead deeper into the desert sands. Normally Eve would have been leading the others. However, with no access to GPS satellite data or any other type of navigational radio beacons she had to rely on visual cues, like the direction of the sun, and her internal compass. Lex led the way with Commander Cotton Paw at her side. Fiona and Freya marched happily in the middle.
As the sun rose in the east so did the temperature and the ankle deep sand was nearly white in color. It acted like a solar oven blinding and roasted them at the same time. Commander Cotton Paw’s fur protected her from being sunburned, but she was the first to overheat. Lex had brought water. They knew that they would have to ration it, but Lex failed to take into account the heat and how it would affect Commander Cotton Paw. About every half an hour they would take some water and rub it over her fur.
“Lex, do you know how far it is to the settlement?” Fiona asked.
“I’m sorry I don’t. I just know it is due west of the jungle,” Lex answered.
Freya who was already starting to turn red from the blistering sun said, “Well, we better find it soon or some other form of shelter before us humans succumb to heat exhaustion or poor Cotton Paw gets steamed alive.”
“Eve, can you come up here?” Fiona asked.
Eve sat Rod down on the soft sand and joined the others at the front of the group, “what is it my dear?”
“Do you think you can run up to the top of that dune and survey the area and look for some kind of a shelter?” asked Fiona.
“Sure thing, be back in a jiffy,” Eve said as she took off at a full run. She reached the top of the dune in a matter of seconds. She then scanned the terrain in front of them using several different sight modes and with each pass she was able to compile a detailed map of the topography. She studied the map. It looked like they were headed for something that looked like a spine that split the desert. Confident that they would find some form of shelter all along the spine structure
, she turned and ran back to the group.
“Did you see anywhere we can get out of this damn sun?” Lex asked.
“There looks to be some sort of rocky structure sticking out of the sand a few clicks to the west of us,” Eve pointed to in the direction they should go.
“Since you seem to know where we are going could you please take point?” Lex asked Eve.
Eve smiled and nodded yes and returned to help Rod back onto her back. With Rod riding piggyback Eve led the way. The closer they came to the spine structure the sand became easier to walk in. However, they were no longer walking on relatively flat ground. They were walking uphill towards what looked less like rocks and more like bones sticking out of the sand.
Hot, tired, and running out of water, the group needed to find shelter soon or they would be in real trouble. As if that wasn’t enough, the wind was picking up the sand was starting to wash over their mostly unprotected skin. Eve, who was normally impervious to most the things, was starting to have a problem with the static electricity that was being generated by the sand storm.
They had to stop to deal with the sand as it was getting worse. When Fiona looked over the next dune she could see a wall of sand that was at least thirty feet high and as wide as she could see. The wall of sand was illuminated by frighteningly beautiful lighting strikes that cracked across the sky for miles.
Fiona half slid half walked down the sand dune to the others who were doing their best to use the dune as a wind break. Lex and Freya had torn off the long strips off of their skirts leaving them with nothing but bikini bottoms for protection from the sand. They had then wrapped them around their faces to help shield them from the relentless sand. The fabric was silk like and because of the tight weave it did a decent job of keeping the tiny grains of sand out.
“Good idea,” Fiona said as she tore at her own skirt. “However, if we don’t get out of this storm and soon I’m afraid that there will be nothing left of us to find but our bones,” she had to shout as the noise from the wind was increasing in intensity as well.