by Cheree Alsop
“Uh, thank you,” she said, answering with an uneasy half-smile.
She glanced up to find Tariq watching them. She swore there was the ghost of a smile on his lips at the awkward exchange.
As strange as the hug had been, it felt even more peculiar to be in the same room with the person who had saved her life. He had carried her from death. There was no doubt in her mind that she would be dead if he hadn’t appeared. The bullet would have been fired. Her life, as little as it might be worth, meant a great deal to her, something she hadn’t realized until it was about to be taken. The fact that without Tariq, she wouldn’t have been standing there, was something she didn’t know how to deal with.
A warning siren rang, saving Liora from the need to speak. Immediately, Hyrin’s drowsy face appeared on the monitor.
“What’s that?” he asked as he attempted to rub the sleep from his eyes.
“The monitor says ‘Approaching Ship’,” Devren told him.
Hyrin’s tired expression vanished immediately. “I’ll be right there.”
“I’ll head back to the med bay,” Tariq said. “Let me know if you need anything.” He paused on his way out the door and nodded at Liora. “I’m glad you’re feeling better.”
Liora watched him walk down the hallway until the door shut, blocking her view. She was grateful he spared her a hug. She didn’t know how she would survive another one.
Devren glanced behind him. “Duncan, all hands on deck.”
“Yes, Captain,” Duncan replied.
He pushed a button on his console and a pulsing horn sounded down the hallways.
“All bridge members are required at their stations,” he announced.
It wasn’t hard to imagine snores changing to exclamations and crew members jumping out of beds. Within minutes, Shathryn, O’Tule, and Straham appeared at the door. The girls gave Liora hugs and exclaimed how good it was to see her. Liora took the hugs equally as awkwardly as she had Devren’s. Straham looked as though he didn’t know whether to hug her or shake her hand. He settled for a combination half-hug shoulder pat. She was glad the situation finally took their attention away so she could sit in her seat against the wall and pretend things were normal, or as normal as her unplanned position as an officer aboard a starship could be.
“There’s two ships, Captain,” Hyrin reported. His sideways eyelids blinked rapidly in his anxiety. “They just appeared through the Dakota transporter. One has Coalition markings.”
“And the other?” Devren asked.
Hyrin brought the image up on the screen. It was Stone’s ship from planet F One Zero Four of the Cetus Dwarf Galaxy.
“How’d they find us?” O’Tule asked.
“I’m not sure,” Hyrin replied. “But Stone’s trying to contact you.”
“Put him through,” Devren answered.
Stone’s face appeared on the screen. “Captain Metis,” he said with a respectful nod. “Yours is a hard ship to find.”
“Yet it seems you found us,” Devren replied. “Can I inquire as to why?”
Stone’s amiable smile vanished. “Let’s not play games, Captain. We both know what you carry aboard the Kratos. Frankly, I’m grateful you have it and the scavengers don’t. I have to ask myself why Coalition ships are intent on combing the galaxy with pictures of your craft flashing on every mercenary’s board.” His gaze was intent when he said, “I can only assume you, like me, feel it’s best to keep such a power away from all sides until you can deactivate it completely. Am I right?”
Devren hesitated as if he debated whether or not to trust the rebel. He glanced at his crew. His eyes rested on Duncan last. The older man gave an approving nod. The bands in his ears moved with the motion.
Devren turned his attention back to Stone. “Yes, you’re correct.”
“Captain, there are two more ships,” Hyrin announced. “They’re scavengers.”
Before Devren could reply, Hyrin’s face paled. “Three mercenary ships have just arrived through the transporter.”
“You’re in trouble,” Stone stated. “I can help.”
“Why should I trust you?” Devren asked.
“Two more Coalition ships, Captain,” Hyrin reported. “I don’t know how they’re energizing the Dakota transporter. It should need to recharge.”
“They must have portable power cells,” Straham replied. “Those aren’t cheap.”
The images of the ships crowded across the side screen. Cannons fired from one of the Coalition ships at a scavenger vessel. Several other ships opened fire.
“The ships are fighting,” Hyrin announced even though they could all see it. “Should we join in?”
“No; hold back,” Devren ordered. “The Kratos can’t take many more hits.”
“You don’t have any allies,” Stone replied. “You’ve got to trust someone.”
Devren kept his eyes on the monitor. “We’ve got ourselves in a bit of a bind.”
“What if I told you I have a carrier not too far from here?” Stone asked.
“A carrier?” Devren repeated. He and Hyrin exchanged surprised glances.
Stone’s smile returned. “I don’t suppose you remember the story of the Albatross.”
“There’s no way,” Hyrin breathed.
Liora leaned over to Duncan. “What’s the Albatross?” she asked the officer quietly.
“The Diamond Albatross is the biggest ship the Coalition ever made,” Duncan whispered back. “It was named the SS Atlas. Years ago, on its virgin voyage, the Atlas disappeared, vanished, poof.” He opened his worn hands. “Personnel, officers, and basic crew gone without a trace. The Coalition couldn’t explain it, so they tried to cover it up. It’s considered the biggest blunder they ever made.”
“You’re saying you know where it is?” Devren asked.
Stone nodded.
“Why would we go to a Coalition ship when we’re running from them in the first place?” Shathryn asked as though she couldn’t keep silent any longer.
“It’s empty.”
Stone’s words made everyone pause.
“What about the crew?” Devren asked.
Stone shook his head. “I have no idea. When we found it, there was no crew, no message, and no sign on monitors or logs that they’d ever been there.”
His words sent a shiver down Liora’s spine. By the looks on the other crew members’ faces, the news shocked them all.
“And you think we should hide there?” Devren pressed.
Hyrin let out a low whistle.
“Captain, that’s a bad idea,” Shathryn protested. “There’s no way I’m setting foot on some empty ghost ship. Let the Coalition do what they want with us. It won’t be worse than whatever haunts the Atlas.”
“It will be worse.”
All gazes shifted to Stone again. The older man’s expression was serious.
“It will be worse,” he repeated. “Trust me on that. You’re on the run from your alliance. You’re a traitor.” He paused, then said, “Face it. Finding the Omne Occasus has made you a rebel to your precious Coalition.”
“You take that back!” Shathryn yelled.
O’Tule and Hyrin fought to keep her away from the screen. She struggled in their arms.
“We’ll never be Revolutionaries,” she shouted. “We’re Coalition through and through!”
“No, we’re not.”
Straham’s quiet words stole Shathryn’s protest in a way Hyrin and O’Tule’s attempts to calm her couldn’t.
“Take it back,” she pleaded, but her voice was heartbroken and her purple hair frazzled.
Straham shook his head. “Captain, if I can be so bold.” At Devren’s nod, he continued with his eyes on the screen of battling ships, “The Coalition wants that imploder for their own reasons. It sounds like they’ve gone so far as to send mercenaries after us.”
At Shathryn’s sounds of protest, Straham raised a hand. “Hear me out. Captain Metis,” he swallowed, then said as if it was painful, �
��the late Captain Metis, often said he would rather take the right way over the easy way. In this instance, turning the imploder over to the Coalition is the easy way. We can let them take the machine, pretend we don’t know it exists, and go on our merry path. Then, someday, somewhere in the Macrocosm, a galaxy disappears. It vanishes like the Atlas, but instead of a single Albatross, it’s a network of planets, stars, and lives.” His voice quieted. “And you will know at that moment that you could have stopped it from happening.”
His words were met with thick silence.
Straham ran a hand through his short gray hair. “I, for one, would like to choose the right way over the easy way and make sure the Omne Occasus is destroyed forever. Let the pieces fall where they may.”
“I agree,” Officer O’Tule said after a moment.
“Me, too,” Hyrin agreed.
Duncan stood. “Count me in.”
Liora rose as well. She didn’t speak, but she knew she didn’t have to.
All eyes focused on Shathryn. Stone watched quietly, his expression pensive as he waited for the crew of the Kratos to make their decision.
Shathryn blew out a breath and threw up her hands. “Fine. Count me in. Captain Metis said he would haunt me from his grave if he ever died, and now I guess he is.” She raised her voice, “You win, Captain. We’re going to be rebels. You happy?”
Devren nodded at her. “I think he is.” He turned his attention to Stone. “Alright. We’re in. We’ll hide at the Albatross.”
“Your ship’s in need of repairs; it’s quite the journey. Can you make it to a Gaulded?”
Devren nodded. “We’ll make it. We’ll have to disguise the Kratos with so many mercs out looking for her. We’ll sneak in and out. Where should we meet you?”
Hyrin jotted down the coordinates.
“I suppose you have a plan to get out of here?” Stone asked.
“My thought was to make a run for the transporter and close it from the other side,” Devren replied.
Stone tipped his head in approval. “Trap them in battle. Smart. That’ll give you time to run.” His eyebrows pulled together slightly. “But your ship’s been through too much to handle any of the potential blowback.”
“Do you have a better idea?” Devren asked.
Stone nodded. “I’ll distract them. Wait for my signal, then make a run for it.”
“If we disable the transporter, you’ll be stuck here, too,” Hyrin pointed out.
Stone smiled. “I have a few tricks left up my sleeve.”
The screen went dark. The silence that returned to the room felt different; it was charged with expectancy. Though they were on the run from everyone, including their supposed alliance, they had a purpose and a destination. It changed the desperate flight into something solid and possible.
Hyrin moved the image of the ships to the main screen.
“What do you think his signal’s going to be?” Straham asked.
“I have a feeling we’ll know,” Devren replied. “Officer Hyrin, ready the thrusters and send full power to the shields. If anything goes wrong, we don’t want the Kratos to blow up.”
O’Tule looked at the captain with wide eyes. “Why did you have to say that?”
“It was a joke,” he told her.
She rolled her eyes and gave an exasperated shake of her head. “Who jokes about a ship blowing up in the middle of some cursed galaxy in the center of some infuriating fight with an inconceivable plan to destroy a stupid machine nobody had any right to make in the first place?” she muttered loudly to herself. “We actually deserve to blow up at this point.”
Apparently used to her rants, Devren kept focused on the screen.
“Officer Duncan, warn the crew that we are about to transport.”
“Yes, Captain,” the officer replied.
The ships were locked in a fierce battle. Missiles impacted; pieces floated away. Nobody seemed to notice the rebel ship drifting closer.
Hyrin sat up. He pointed wordlessly at something along the side of the Star Chaser.
“Is that what I think it is?” Devren asked.
Hyrin shook his head in amazement. “Where in the Macrocosm did he find a curvator?”
As they watched, the missile left the Star Chaser and arched high above the ships where it wouldn’t be detected. At the top of the arc, small thrusters opened, tipping the nose of the missile down to aim at the middle of the cluster of ships.
“This is going to be big,” Hyrin said.
A burst of flame propelled the missile forward. It hit the mercenary ship in the center of the battle. The ship exploded on impact. The other ships closest to it were impacted with debris. Surrounding crafts caught fire. The explosions ran through them in a domino effect.
Liora realized she, like the others, was staring at the chain reaction caused by Stone’s attack.
“That’s the sign!” she called.
Devren tore his gaze away from the screen. “Head for the transporter.”
Hyrin hit the thrusters. The Kratos sped past the ships reeling from the explosions and reached the transporter before any of them had a chance to react.
Hyrin maneuvered the arm of the Kratos to the link on the transporter. As soon as it touched, he pressed the button and the toggle came out, locking them into place.
“Prepare for transport,” Duncan called over the ship’s speakers.
Liora felt the rushing sensation that came when the Dakota transporter contracted the space in front of the ship and expanded the space behind it faster than the speed of light.
She blinked and the feeling stopped. They had arrived at the opposite end of the transporter’s coordinates. As soon as Hyrin unhooked the toggle, massive solar sails unfurled from the transporter in order for it to collect energy from the starlight to recharge for its return.
“Good luck, Stone,” Hyrin breathed.
The officer fired one of the Kratos’ Gatling guns, shredding the sails and disabling the transporter’s ability to restore its energy.
“Stone’s crazy,” Straham said.
“He’s kind-of hot,” Shathryn replied.
Chapter 19
Liora wandered down the hallway. The damage to the ship would make their journey to the closest Gaulded a slow one. Apparently, while she had been fighting for her life against the poison, the crew of the Kratos had also fought for survival against the Coalition and scavenger ships that battled to take possession of the Omne Occasus. Hull damage and the loss of one of the thrusters made the journey slow but necessary. They didn’t dare risk a trip to the Albatross with the chance that someone would come upon them unable to defend themselves.
Liora’s goal was to go to her room and rest, but her feet took her past it to the medical wing. She peeked inside and found Tariq sitting on the floor with his back against the far wall. He held a book that looked as though it had been thumbed through so many times its pages barely held to the spine.
“Surely on a ship like this you can find a more comfortable place to sit,” Liora said.
Tariq looked up. His forehead creased slightly at the sight of her. “Sometimes chairs are too soft.”
Liora debated whether to enter the room or leave. She turned away, but Tariq’s voice stopped her.
“Did you need something?”
She took a calming breath and looked back at him. “I don’t want to interrupt you.”
He closed the book and glanced at the cover. His fingers ran across the title as though it was an old friend. “I’ve read this one a thousand times, but for some reason, it still calls me back. Has that ever happened to you?”
Liora shook her head. “I’ve never read a book.”
Tariq’s eyebrows rose. “Can you read?”
She nodded. “Yes.” She hesitated, then said, “Damaclans feel that reading for pleasure is a waste of time.”
He gave a noncommittal sound. “And what do you think?”
“I’m not sure,” she answered. “I’ve never tri
ed it.”
Tariq tossed the book to her. Liora caught it with the same care she would use to intercept a tarlon egg. “What are you doing?” she asked, shocked that he would treat the book like that.
“Giving it to you to read,” he replied with a hint of amusement in his voice. “Try it.”
“But this is yours,” she protested. She crossed the room with the book out, afraid she would damage it by holding it. Real paperback books were rare in the Macrocosm. Most of mortalkind read on loaded cards. She felt as though her hands were unworthy to hold the book that rested in them.
Tariq waved away her attempt to give it back. “If you’re going to read a book, you could do worse than starting with that one.” He paused and a thoughtful half-smile crossed his face. “You might relate to it.”
The title ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’ showed on the cover. Liora ran her fingers across it as Tariq had. The letters were raised and worn. She could smell the faint ink scent of the pages. She lifted it to her nose.
“What are you doing?” Tariq asked, watching her.
The old paper smell was better than she could have imagined. An unconscious smile spread across her face. “It’s wonderful.”
Tariq gave a little snort. “You know that’s not how you read, right?”
Liora rolled her eyes. “I know.” She couldn’t help the slight warmth that filled her at his gift. “I’ve just never held anything like this before.”
Tariq studied her for a moment. She felt suddenly self-conscious, a feeling she wasn’t used to.
He motioned to the floor a few feet away. “Liora, will you sit down? We need to talk.”
Liora did as he asked. She cradled the book carefully in her lap. Her fingers smoothed the sides, enjoying the way the pages felt when she moved the pads of her fingers across them.
“Liora.” Tariq paused as though unsure how to proceed. He cleared his throat and gave her an uncomfortable look. “How did you call me?”
It was the one question she had hoped he would never ask. She was sure her fears that Tariq would never trust a telepath, especially one with Damaclan blood, were about to be realized.
She lowered her gaze from his. “I don’t want to tell you.”