When Stars Fall (The Star Scout Saga Book 4)

by GARY DARBY

  In an instant, the door slid into place, leaving Teng alone with the captives.

  Teng swung to gaze at more than twenty sets of eyes filled with a mix of desperation, fear, and anger. He took a few steps toward them, his heavy boots clanking against the metal floor, and stared at his gasping prisoners.

  “You—can’t—do—this,” a heavyset man with a full beard muttered out between gasps. “You’re—marines.”

  He stopped to suck air in deeply and then stammered, “The law says—you can’t—torture prisoners.”

  Teng hooked a thumb toward the door. “They’re marines,” he stated. “I’m not, and the organization that I belong to doesn’t play by the same rules.”

  “Doesn’t matter,” the man wheezed out. “We’re Imperium citizens—entitled—to our rights—under the law.”

  “You’d be perfectly correct,” Teng replied, “if we were in Imperium space. But since you chose to place your base over a hundred light-years outside Imperium boundaries, my question to you is, what law?”

  The man’s eyes grew wider as he grasped the implications of Teng’s statement. They were in the hinterlands, beyond civilization, and beyond Imperium jurisdiction.

  There was no law here.

  Teng bent over to peer intently into the man’s face. “And while you’re pondering over that, I’ll also let you think about how it’s going to feel once you use up what little oxy remains in this room.”

  He straightened to spread his arms out wide. “And gauging by the room’s size, I would venture to guess that you’re going to start feeling the effects very soon.”

  “Give us air!” one man shouted, his face turning red with the exertion. “We haven’t done anything!”

  “No,” Teng responded coldly. “You haven’t done anything much, just cozied up with a bunch of Faction killers. Or do I have to remind you about Brolin’s Colony, or New Canberra or . . . Science Outpost 83?”

  He jabbed a gloved finger at them and said, “You want air? You talk first, and if I like what I hear, the door opens, but not until I get some answers.”

  Teng took several steps back, keeping a wary eye on his prisoners. He peered at the room’s contents, which seemed to consist mainly of compu consoles and sensor array stations.

  He ran his gloved hand over several of the nearby surfaces, noting the various instrumentation displays before switching his communicator to his private link with Jin-Sang. “Have we searched and secured the whole complex yet? Any more survivors?”

  “Not yet,” Jin-Sang returned. “We’ve found several more layers below this one. I’ve got a couple of squads doing an area recon. So far it looks mostly to be living quarters and storage, but no bodies, no survivors.

  “I think we caught’em pretty much by surprise and the Intrepid reports that everything is quiet topside.”

  “Good, ask Captain Federov to send his best compu techs down, will you? Tell them we’ll probably need some first-rate hacking.”

  “Will do, sir. Anything else?”

  “Not yet, just let me know when Federov acknowledges.”

  “Roger that.”

  He strode back over to the prisoners. He waved the barrel end of his laser rifle at several and said, “You two are beginning to look awfully pale. I don’t think your red corpuscles are getting enough oxygen.”

  Several captives glanced sideways at each other, their eyes anxious and afraid. Slowly, one man raised an arm and wheezed, “I’ll talk, just give me some air.”

  Teng leaned in closer, his face a whitish outline from the tiny lights inside his helmet. “As I said, answers first. What is that thing out in the hangar? A ship?”

  The man nodded. “Yes.”

  “What kind of ship?”

  “Shut up, Stein!” the stout, bearded man seated nearby exclaimed.

  “No, I won’t,” the man called Stein huffed. “Don’t you get it?” He motioned weakly toward Teng. “He said his organization doesn’t play by the rules—he’s an SOG agent, and that means he has no compunction in letting us die.”

  Stein turned back to Teng and ran a hand over his sweating, flushed brow. “Give us air and I’ll tell you everything.”

  With hard eyes, Teng stared at the man for a few seconds and then said over his communicator, “Lieutenant, crack the door for one minute, and then reseal it.”

  “Opening now,” Jin-Sang replied. The door slid aside, letting fresh air flow into the room before it closed after exactly sixty seconds.

  “Okay,” he said to the group, “you’ve got a few extra minutes of oxygen. You want more, talk.”

  He squatted down opposite Stein. “I’m listening.”

  Stein hooked a thumb toward the heavy-set man and said, “I’m just a computer programmer, he’s the one you want to talk to, since he designed the ship and invented the interspatial calculus that makes it fly.”

  He stopped for a second to take in a breath and then gestured toward a slim, dark-skinned man who sat to one side. “Or maybe him, he’s the pilot.”

  Taking another breath, he gasped out, “All I know is that they call it a SlipShip and it supposedly moves virtually instantaneously through hyperfolds in interstellar space.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Star date: 2443.097

  Orbiting an unnamed planetoid near the Helix Nebula

  “Brant!” Lia screamed. “Mongan cruiser—headed right at us!”

  Brant slammed into the Zephyr’s copilot chair. He took one look at the display and ordered, “Evasive maneuvers! Now!”

  He slammed his palm down on the ship’s communicator panel, “Base camp, we’ve got a Mongan warbird inbound, get Zephyr Three and Four up. Do your best to evade and escape.”

  Lia pushed the little craft over into a screaming turn to starboard. Brant powered up the weapon’s console, prepared to fight if they couldn’t outmaneuver the giant ship.

  Grabbing his arm roughly, Lia pointed. “Look at the scope!”

  Brant peered at the sensor display, and his eyes grew wide. Two more ships now sped alongside the Mongan cruiser. For a moment, he was too stunned to speak. Then he breathed out, “What the—”

  He turned to Lia with eyes wide and mouth open. “One of those ships is a—”

  Over the ship’s communicator he heard, “Nice work, sir. I see you’re still on your toes.”

  Brant’s mouth worked up and down as if he were a guppy gulping water. He croaked throatily, “Scout Thorne, is that you?”

  “Yes sir,” Dason replied. “And I’ve brought some friends along with me in a nice new shiny Mongan battlewagon we managed to commandeer.

  “We also have some long-lost friends from our old home away from home, the Queen Bee, or rather the INS Argos. Where shall we link up?”

  Lia whispered, “Might be a trick, how do we know it’s really him?”

  Brant nodded several times in agreement. “Wait,” Brant responded, “before we do that, answer a question for me so that I know it’s you. When and where did you sit on a nest of Flame-Wasps?”

  “I didn’t,” Dason returned with a light laugh. “Sami did. During our no-notice on Alistar, you and IS Grolson got quite a laugh out of it as I remember.”

  Brant chortled loudly and heaved a big sigh. After giving a thumbs up to Lia he said, “Welcome back, scout; it’s good to hear your voice. I hope Scout Romer is with you, too.”

  “That she is,” Dason answered, “plus Jy and Dani, along with the crew from the Argos. We also have Colonel Shar Tuul, Chief of Staff for Star Scout Command, and Lieutenant Colonel Jadar Marrel with us.

  “Sorry if we gave you a scare with the Mongan warship, but don’t worry, we’re the ones doing the piloting and before you ask, it’s a long story and we’ll fill you in once we link up.”

  “Best news I’ve heard in a long time,” Brant replied. “I’ll sound the recall to the team. Is the Argos able to take us all in?”

  “Yes, sir,” Dason responded.

  An hour later, from the
sealed-off observation deck above the Argos’s hangar, Dason watched with anxious eyes as the last Zephyr settled to the landing pad. Overhead, the clamshell doors closed shut and within a minute, Karm’s voice came over the ship’s speaker.

  “Hangar doors are tight and atmosphere at one-Earth standard. Set Zulu protocols throughout the ship.”

  Dason sped down the stairwell and through the now open hatchway into the bay. It took but an instant for him to spot the one and only person he wanted to see right then. With a rush, Shanon was in his arms, her arms wrapped tight around his neck and her head buried in his shoulder.

  He stroked her hair and held her close, his heart ready to leap out of his chest. In that one instant there was no one, nothing, just Shanon in his arms.

  She pulled back, her deep, tender eyes staring straight into his. Then, before he could react, she took a fist and thumped him hard on his chest. “Hey,” Dason responded with a little wince, “what was that for?”

  “For making me think you might be dead. I didn’t appreciate the feeling one bit, so don’t do it again, mister.”

  Dason laughed and ran a gentle finger across her cheek. “Trust me, I didn’t like it either.”

  Dason caught movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to find his uncle standing a short distance away with a bemused expression.

  Dason pulled Shanon around to face Jadar. “I’m sorry sir, I—”

  Taking a few steps, Jadar put a hand on Dason’s shoulder and squeezed. “Easy, Dason, cool your jets. It’s okay.”

  He turned approving eyes on Shanon and asked, “Would you introduce me?”

  “Oh, certainly, sir,” Dason was quick to reply. “This is Star Scout Shanon Hsu. Shanon, this is Lieutenant Colonel Jadar Marrel. He’s my uncle—my father’s brother.”

  Shanon came to attention and gave Jadar a pleasant smile. “An honor to meet you, sir.”

  “And you, Shanon,” Jadar replied as he held out a hand to shake hers.

  He eyed the two of them with a broad smile before he clapped Dason on the shoulder. “I apologize for making your reunion so short but all scouts to the captain’s ready room in five minutes.”

  “Yes, sir, we’ll be there,” Dason replied.

  With that, Jadar gave both another smile and strode away. Shanon playfully elbowed Dason in the ribs and giggled. “Right in front of your uncle, too.”

  Dason met her laugh with his own. “I know, but it’s okay and I’m glad you two got to meet. Now, c’mon, we’d best make formation.”

  Just as Dason finished, three familiar smiling faces swarmed them. Sami pounded Dason’s back; TJ gave him a quick hug, followed by a firm handshake from Nase.

  Moments later, a smiling Alena joined the group of scouts. A red line covered by InstaHeal marked where she had taken a nasty blow to the head from the explosion on the Mongan ship.

  “Hey,” Sami piped up, “there’s a rumor going around that you singlehandedly captured a Mongan warship.”

  He put an arm around Dason’s shoulders and with a proud expression said, “Looks as if everything I taught you is coming in handy.”

  Dason didn’t have a chance to reply for just then, Jy and Dani joined the group. With a mock reverent bow to Dason, Jy teasingly said, “You’re absolutely right, Sami. The man captured that whole Mongan ship all by himself. And did you also know he built the pyramids singlehandedly with only a trowel, raised Mount Olympus Mons on Mars with just a shovel, and formed the rings of Saturn with a single twirl of his finger.”

  “Wow,” Alena gushed before quipping to Shanon, “that’s quite a guy you got there. I don’t know, with a man like that I might make a run for him myself.”

  Everyone started laughing and Dason felt his cheeks turn warm as he muttered, “Okay, knock it off. No, Sami, I did not capture the Mongan cruiser by myself. It was very much a group effort.”

  He gave a little laugh and laid his hand on Dani’s shoulder. “We even had some special help. Great job with the Torther Ape, Dani. Those devil dogs never knew what hit them.”

  “Wait,” Sami yelped. “What’s this about the ape? I thought we got rid of that thing a long time ago.”

  “Nope,” Jy replied. “It’s been on the Argos the whole time. Dason and Dani came up with the idea to fire it up and put it into action when we decided to try and hijack the Mongan vessel.”

  “You bailed us out in the nick of time,” Dason said to the smiling, young woman. “I’m not sure we could have held out much longer against the dogs.”

  Dani laughed in her reply. “Actually, it was kinda fun throwing those things around. Virtually, of course.”

  “Uh, uh,” Sami grumped. “As much fun as when you were throwing Dason around with that thing?”

  Dani threw up her hands as if to ward off Sami. “Whoa there, Sami, that wasn’t me, that was Doctor Stinneli. And by the way, he’s not too happy with us messing with his toy.”

  “Why is that?” Dason asked. “It saved our skins.”

  “Oh, he’s fine with that part,” Dani answered. “It’s just that the dogs didn’t go down easy; they managed to take some pretty big chunks out of the ape’s plas-flesh, so the doctor is trying to patch it up, but the embedded circuitry kinda got torn up a little.”

  “Well, it was for a good cause,” Dason said. “We got a whole Mongan ship out of the deal along with some live Mongans.”

  “How many did you capture?” Nase asked.

  “Three,” Dason stated. “I’m beginning to understand something that Tor’al said to me about how few the Mongans are in numbers. Maybe so few that they man their ships with only a tiny complement.”

  “And, always a product of three,” Nase observed, “three, six, nine, and so forth.”

  “Exactly,” Dason replied.

  Just then, Brant came up and ordered crisply, “Let’s go, scouts, formation in the ready room. Get a move on.”

  Brant’s stern voice and set expression told Dason that something was troubling him. He wondered if they would find out what in the upcoming meeting. With rapid steps, the group followed Brant into the ready room of the Argos.

  The scouts fell into formation and came to attention when Shar Tuul, Zane Busly, and Jadar Marrel walked into the room. The three senior officers faced the formation with Shar saying, “Report, lieutenant.”

  Brant gave a smart salute. “All present, sir.”

  “Very well,” Shar replied and returned his salute. He stepped forward and ordered, “Stand at ease.”

  The ranks relaxed and turned attentive eyes toward Shar. “If I stated that the last few weeks have been historic, that just might be the understatement of all time. Interesting enough, all of us in this room have had some part in these incredible events.

  “But it would appear that since we’ve been out of touch that even more remarkable occurrences have taken place.”

  He stopped and looked around, his jaw muscles growing taut. “I’ve managed to make contact with both Star Scout Command and the Navy, and the news is grim.

  “First, there is an Imperium-wide order that directs all scouts to cease starside operations and assemble at one of several bases that are deep within Imperium space.”

  At this announcement, there were quick glances around, and an uncomfortable shuffling of feet though no one uttered a word. “Second,” Shar went on, “General Rosberg and Scoutmaster Tarracas appear to be under arrest, on unspecified charges, by the High Council’s order.”

  At this announcement, there was an undercurrent of murmuring in the group. Dason turned to Shanon and muttered, “That’s crazy.”

  “And scary, too,” Shanon whispered back.

  Shar held up a hand to quiet the group and went on. “Third, the Imperium is under a general alert against a possible attack by either Mongan or Sha’anay forces or possibly both.”

  Dason grimaced at that news though it wasn’t unexpected. If either the Mongans or Sha’anay attacked, the Imperium faced a life-and-death struggle, since bo
th alien races now knew the location of Earth, the cornerstone of humanity’s civilization.

  Shar went on with a wry expression, “And, fourth, the Imperium has issued an arrest warrant for several of us.”

  He nodded toward Jadar. “It would appear that Colonel Marrel, Scout Thorne, and I are all desperados wanted for both unspecified high and low crimes.”

  A small smile played across his face. “It would appear that while we’ve been in deep space trying to ward off the Mongans, we’ve also been very busy stealing candy from unsuspecting children.”

  There were several chuckles at that and Dason lowered his head, the spotlight making him uncomfortable in the presence of so many eyes.

  He caught Shanon looking at him sideways mouthing the word, “Desperado?!”

  Dason ignored her and turned his head back to the front. Shar Tuul had turned serious again.

  “Each of us took an oath when we joined Star Scouts, an oath that among other things dictates that we are to obey all legal and lawful orders from not only our Star Scout superiors but from proper Imperium authorities as well.

  “I’m not a barracks lawyer and I’m not going to try and spin some excuse or split hairs over whether what the Imperium is doing or has done, is legal or not. And I’m not going to get into a discussion on how the Grand Charter guarantees innocence until proven guilty or any of that.

  “What I will tell you is this; under my authority I have directed Colonel Marrel and Lieutenant Renn, the two senior line officers on this team, to ignore the recall order and remain in deep space.

  In addition, they are to undertake what missions that they feel necessary at this time. I am staying with Captain Busly on the Argos. We will be joining the Nav fleet at Alpha Epsilon and taking with us the Mongan captives.”

  He glanced toward Dason. “I’ll also be carrying with me a compelling message regarding the Sha’anay threat to Earth, and who the council is actually dealing with, both human and supposed Sha’anay.

  “However, because of these unique circumstances, if any of you cannot in good conscience remain under Colonel Marrel’s command and wish to accept the recall order, please step forward.