The Admiral’s pained expression had spoken volumes. “Don’t take the Lumians to Drakar, Cade. That’s the first place I’d look. And I cannot know where they are.”
He hadn’t elaborated, but his comment had left a nagging sense of unease in Cade’s stomach.
Despite the dire warnings, the journey from Gaia had been blissfully uneventful. Burrow, the planet he’d finally selected as their hiding place, wasn’t ideal by any stretch, but it was the best he could do under the circumstances. He didn’t know which direction Aurora had gone in her search for a homeworld, but since the Kraed were going to be part of the solution, it seemed logical she’d start her search in the quadrants near Drakar.
The smart move was to follow. Even if he guessed wrong, bringing the Lumians closer to the Kraed seemed like the best plan, as long as he didn’t ignore the Admiral’s warning.
That had left him with the question of where to land. Docking at one of the independent outposts wasn’t an option because the Nightingale didn’t have any valid credentials. While the dedication plaque was still affixed to the wall of the bridge, the ship’s exterior Fleet designations had been scrubbed clean. From a distance, the freighter could be mistaken for a privately owned vessel. Maybe. But the subterfuge wouldn’t hold up under scrutiny. Even if it could, requesting provisions for three hundred visitors, a third of which were children, was guaranteed to draw attention. It would be like holding up a neon sign that said Lumians here.
But even more critical was the issue of time.
The Nightingale had been designed for a standard crew of five and a maximum of twenty-five short-term passengers. Primarily, it was a cargo ship, hauling medical supplies and personnel to locations that had suffered an epidemic or natural disaster. It could also serve as a mobile medical unit.
It had never been intended to house three hundred individuals during a prolonged interstellar flight. Since leaving Gaia, the situation had deteriorated rapidly. They had plenty of food provisions, but their water and air supplies were reaching critical levels.
That’s why he’d finally settled on Burrow, a habitable planet orbiting a yellow-white dwarf star. Until four years ago, the system had been the site of an ambitious biological research project that focused on the planet’s dominant species, the Meer. While the race bore a remarkable resemblance in body shape and coloring to their namesake, the meerkat, they stood at shoulder height to an average human and had developed a mostly upright posture and opposable thumbs. They lived in tribal groups, moving among several semi-permanent underground locations as they followed the herds of cow-like animals that provided them with much of what they needed to survive.
The scientists had hoped to gain insight into how the Meer’s development paralleled human evolution, and the reports for the first few years had been promising. But all that ended the day one of the Setarip factions had decided to raid the research station.
No one in the Council had ever considered the research facility as a possible target for Setarips because it didn’t house the militaristic hardware and weapons that the Setarips needed for their civil war. It was also located near the Kraed border, which should have made it untouchable. The Setarip factions rarely ventured through any of the systems that bordered Kraed space. Not since they’d learned how deadly the race could be when angered.
Unfortunately, the misconception that Burrow was safe from Setarips had cost many lives. The orbiting space station had been hit first. Several members of the team had escaped to the planet’s surface in a shuttle while the Setarips had slaughtered the rest. After the Setarips had stripped the station clean, they’d headed for the planet’s surface. They’d captured the escaped shuttle and dispatching the crews of two of the three mobile research pods before the Fleet ship Armstrong had arrived on the scene in response to the distress call.
The Setarips had beaten a hasty retreat, leaving behind the bodies of sixty-three researchers and an unknown number of Meer who had been caught in the crossfire. The Meer had made a valiant stand against the monsters from the sky, but the Setarips hadn’t hesitated to destroy the entire settlement and every Meer they’d encountered.
It was a dark chapter in the Council’s recent history, one they’d vowed never to repeat. The Armstrong’s crew had been put in charge of dismantling the space station while Cade’s team had been sent in to clean up the mess on the planet’s surface. They’d had strict orders to avoid all contact with the Meer, which had been easy considering the devastation to the local tribe. But the scene had hit Cade hard. Not being able to offer the Meer any assistance had been even harder.
By Council orders, Burrow had been placed in a rare category of one—a planet in Fleet territory that was strictly off limits. Cade was breaking at least a dozen Galactic laws by going there, but he didn’t see any other options. The Lumians needed a temporary hiding place, and Burrow was his best bet. He’d just have to make sure their presence went unnoticed.
And then there was the other complication in his current situation—Aurora Hawke. He’d only heard from her once since the Starhawke had left Gaia the previous week. They’d each sent a message to test their relay system, which routed everything through Drakar to insure the messages couldn’t be traced to the location of either ship. Admiral Schreiber had placed his faith in the Clarek clan, so Cade had as well, even though he had personal reasons for disliking Jonarel Clarek, Aurora’s chief engineer.
“We must be getting close.” Justin Byrnes, his first officer, stepped onto the bridge.
Cade glanced at the chronometer on the console. “About fifteen minutes until we reach the system.”
Justin settled into the chair to his right. “Good.” He stifled a yawn with his hand. His curly blond hair was flattened on the left side of his head and his clothes were rumpled, indicating he’d just woken up.
Cade grinned. “Looks like you’ve been hanging out with the Sandman.”
Justin nodded. “Those bunks aren’t half bad. I passed Williams on the way up here. He was heading down to the med bay to check on the Lumians.”
Tam Williams, the team’s medic, had spent most of the trip to Burrow in the large med bay, which doubled as a cargo hold. Currently, that cargo consisted of the three hundred refugees. Like the rest of the team, Williams found the Lumians fascinating.
Justin ran his fingers through his hair, restoring a modicum of order to the tousled locks. “The Lumians are still sleeping on the floor.”
“I know.” The last time he’d checked on them, they’d been curled up together like kittens on top of a mountain of blankets at the center of the room, rather than sleeping on the convertible med platforms his team had set up. “After all the time they spent in their cells, it’s what they’re used to.” Even med blankets would feel like a cloud compared to the atrocious conditions the Lumians had endured in their rows of tiny cages on the Setarip ship. “Besides, I think they need the feeling of connection right now.”
“Yeah. That makes sense. Reynolds is down in the bay, too. She plans to stay with them until we land.”
“Good. That should help.” Tracy Reynolds, his security specialist, had been responsible for getting the Lumian children safely off the Setarip ship. She and Justin had taken care of the kids until the rest of the team had defeated the Setarips and rescued the children’s parents. Most of the kids looked at Justin and Reynolds with hero worship. “They really respond to her. And to you, too. You’re good with them.”
Justin shrugged off the compliment. “They’re easy to like. I’ve never seen a group that’s so well behaved. And they’ve been doing a great job teaching me their language.” As a communications specialist, Justin had been eager to bridge the language barrier. “I’ve been inputting the data into the translator, and I think with another week or so of fine tuning, I’ll have it up and running to the point that we’ll be able to have real conversations. That will help.”
“Definitely.” Communicating with the Lumians had been a challenge. His few inte
ractions had involved a lot of nodding and gestures, which was frustrating. He wanted to know more about them, in particular how they’d ended up as prisoners of the Setarips.
They shouldn’t have existed at all. According to what Aurora had told him when they were at the Academy together, the Lumian race had been exterminated during an alien invasion of their homeworld more than forty years ago. Aurora’s mother had been part of a small contingent that had escaped and sought refuge on Earth. They’d successfully passed themselves off as humans since biologically, the two races were virtually indistinguishable.
However, the Lumians had an ability that humans did not—they could generate energy fields that affected the cellular structures of living things. They’d developed the skill in order to grow food and to promote healing and protection for each other. Unfortunately, at some point the Setarips had figured out they could weaponize the ability by reversing the process, leading to destruction and death rather than growth and life. For a while, they’d turned the Lumians into killing Necri slaves.
That was why Cade needed to keep the Lumians hidden. Recent events, including the disappearance of the decoy ship, indicated that whoever had imprisoned them was still on the hunt, intent on reclaiming their prize.
“We should be entering the system in a few minutes,” Cade said. “Why don’t you join Reynolds and Williams for the trip down, and send Drew and Gonzo to the bridge.”
“You’ve got it.” Justin headed for the doorway.
Bella Drew and Christoph Gonzalez appeared a few moments later. Cade relinquished the navigation console to Drew, who slid onto the seat and tucked her short dark hair behind her ears.
“Any issues?” she asked.
Cade settled into the captain’s chair. “Nothing so far, but we need to keep our eyes open when we enter the system.”
Gonzo brought up the tactical display as Drew took them out of their interstellar jump.
The bridgescreen filled with the image of the large debris field that formed a near-perfect disk encircling the interior planets of the system. The mystery of the disk had been another selling point for constructing the Burrow research station. The total mass of the debris in the disk equaled twice that of Earth, as if two planets had been broken apart and the remnants sprinkled to create the disk. By comparison, the total mass of the asteroid belt in Sol’s system was only one one-thousandth the mass of Earth.
The scientists had hoped to figure out how or why the disk existed, especially since Burrow didn’t appear to be negatively affected. The presence of the disk, however, acted as a barrier for interstellar jumps. Any ship that approached Burrow had to arrive and depart through the debris to access a jump window.
“Anything on scanners?” Cade leaned forward, his body poised for action. After so many surprises on Gaia, he couldn’t help feeling cautious.
Gonzo’s fingers moved over the console. “Scanners are clear. No indication of ships in the outer regions of the system. We’ll need to get to the other side of the disk to check the interior.” He gave Cade an encouraging nod. “But it looks good so far.”
Cade’s shoulders relaxed. At least it was a start. “Then let’s head into the disk. Take it slow. Shields at maximum.”
Avoiding the large objects wasn’t difficult. They floated along like boulders tossed by a giant. But the smaller pieces filled the gaps like a thin mesh screen. The shields flared as they made contact, creating a light show as the ship made its way to the other side.
The frequency of the flashes decreased as they reached the interior edge of the disk. Burrow appeared in the distance, the light from the star bathing one side in its glow, revealing shades of blue, brown, and subtle green.
Water covered less than fifty percent of Burrow’s surface, compared to seventy-one percent on Earth, giving it a distinctly arid visage from space. However, vast channels of water flowed beneath the soil and rock, far more than expected. Despite appearances, water on Burrow was plentiful. You just had to scratch the surface to find it.
Drew guided the ship into their approach, the planet steadily filling the bridgescreen.
“Take us to the northwest region,” Cade said. “Head for the canyon we used last time. But go easy. We don’t want to wake up the locals.”
Drew made the adjustment to their course. “We can stay on the night side. If any of the Meer are still in the area, they shouldn’t see us. I’ve switched over to near-infrared illumination.”
“Noise reduction settings are on full,” Gonzo said. “That’ll cut down the engine noise as much as possible.”
The ship dropped through the planet’s upper atmosphere before leveling off when they reached the cloud layer.
Cade gazed at the bridgescreen as the darkness outside wrapped the ship in its embrace.
“We’re in range of the canyon,” Gonzo said. “Scanning for habitation.”
Cade gave him a few seconds to check the results. “Any sign of the Meer near our landing site?”
Gonzo shook his head. “No. Not surprising, considering the destruction the Setarips caused.” He held Cade’s gaze, his expression uncharacteristically somber. “It looks like they’ve abandoned the area.”
Cade nodded. It made sense. Why would they stay in a place where their tribe had nearly been wiped out?
Drew guided the Nightingale toward the canyon, skimming the tops of the rugged trees that grew in the crags and crevices of the rocks. The roar of the engines cranked up as she brought the ship into a hover over the southwest end of the box canyon and extended the landing gear. The ship touched down on the rocky surface with a small bounce as the supports took the ship’s full weight, then settled down with the mechanical equivalent of a sigh.
“Well done.” Cade left his chair to join Drew as she powered down the ship’s flight systems.
He was the most experienced pilot onboard, but his unit had learned long ago that smart strategy required having more than one person who could perform each of the team’s essential tasks. As an engineer, Drew had a natural interest in all things mechanical, so she’d been a logical choice to train as a back-up navigator. Gonzo wasn’t half bad in the pilot’s chair, either.
“Thanks.” Drew gave the console an affectionate pat. “She’s a good ship. Very responsive.”
He agreed, although nothing would ever compare to flying the Starhawke. Talk about responsive. It was like the ship could read his mind.
“Anything we should know before we venture outside?” he asked Gonzo.
Gonzo shook his head. “I’ve set the ship’s perimeter alarms and calibrated them to recognize the Lumians and our team. If anything larger than a rabbit approaches the canyon, we’ll know in plenty of time to make a move.”
Cade slapped his hand on Gonzo’s shoulder. “Then let’s get some fresh air.”
They walked single file down the short set of stairs to the crew deck and continued to the spiral stairway that led to the lower deck.
Justin was waiting for them next to the main hatch, but the wide doors to the med bay were closed.
“We’ll take a look around,” Cade said. “After I give the all clear, you can see if any of the Lumians want to join us.”
Drew touched the panel to the right of the hatch and the two sections opened along the midline, creating an overhang above and a ramp below that settled onto the ground with a soft thump. Outside, the hush of night lay like a sheet over the scattered trees and massive boulders that surrounded them. Light from the crescent moon near the horizon combined with the halo effect of the disk in the distance to provide soft illumination to the scene.
“Hasn’t changed much since last time we were here.” Gonzo gazed at the readings on his comband. The glow from the device cast his angular features and goatee in sharp relief. “The underground river is still accessible from the side canyon. We’ll have plenty of fresh water.” He glanced at Cade. “Since we’re going to be here a while, we should consider building a well.”
“Good idea.” T
heir water needs would be substantial. At least they’d have plenty of hands to help with the work. The Lumians weren’t shy about pitching in.
He nodded at Drew and Gonzo. “Let’s get started.”
CHAPTER FOUR
THE SOFT FRONDS of low-lying ferns brushed against Aurora’s boots as she pushed toward the distant sound of rushing water. Behind her, the heavier footfalls of her companion kept in perfect sync. After the incident with the rock monsters, Jonarel had insisted on partnering with her for all planetary visits.
If anyone else had acted that way, Aurora would have objected, but Jonarel’s overprotectiveness was part of his Kraed DNA, and his special bond with her intensified that instinct. Resisting would have just gotten in the way of the job they had to do.
She didn’t need that, or any other new challenges. This was the fourth planet they’d visited since encountering the rock creatures two weeks ago, and her hopes were fading with each one they crossed off the list.
The first planet hadn’t made it past the orbital survey. It had suffered a recent meteor strike that had filled the atmosphere with a thick ash cloud, dropping the surface temperature into arctic ranges and killing off most of the flora and fauna.
The second had seemed promising until it revealed its predilection for sudden violent electrical storms. She could channel electrical energy, but she’d had zero interest in testing whether her energy shield could deflect lightning. The barrage had rocked the planet’s surface for half a day without a break while she, Jonarel and Mya had taken refuge in a nearby cave until they could safely return to the ship.
The third planet had been nixed because it sat a little too close to its parent star. Jonarel hadn’t seemed to notice, but the glare and the sweltering heat had taken a toll on the rest of the crew during the few hours they’d spent exploring potential sites.
The Chains of Freedom (Starhawke Rising Book 2) Page 2