TANAK: Sci-Fi Romance (Star Fall Series Book 1)

by E. A. James

  The guttural growl came again, but this time, there was more than one.

  She continued pushing the door open inch by inch as the scurrying sound resumed, the Zel’Dar closing in on her position rapidly.

  With a final grunt Kira managed to create an opening large enough, she pushed through, her body squeezed tightly by the metal door. As soon as she cleared the door she dove, landing on her back with her Phantom aimed at the opening in the door.

  As she landed, at least one Zel’Dar launched itself at the opening in the door, getting wedged between the door itself and the metal frame. Its large mandibles thrashing as it struggled to free itself.

  Kira fired three quick bursts with her Phantom, hitting the Zel’Dar with each. The third found its home and a jet of blue liquid erupted from the carapace of the creature. Its body went limp, wedged between the door and its frame.

  Kira let out a small cry of relief. She quickly stood, still hearing the sounds of the Zel’Dar in the corridor behind her. She didn’t know how many were out there. Looking around the cargo hold Kira found the intercom panel and approached it, hoping it still worked.

  She pressed the button for the ship-wide emergency broadcast, “Thor! Zel’Dar – cargo hold deck, they breached in the attack!” Kira nearly yelled into the intercom.

  A moment passed that felt like a lifetime.

  “Understood, get the shuttle operational, I’m on my way!” came Thor’s reply. Kira could sense the urgency in his voice.

  Kira turned and ran for the shuttle. It was a small craft with a rear loading ramp. Kira found the control panel for the ramp and hit the release – the door slowly descended and Kira cried out in celebration “Yes! At least something still works around here!”

  She entered the shuttle and slid into the pilot’s seat. Kira quickly scanned the panel and began entering in commands, the ship’s engines hummed to life and the running lights illuminated the cargo hold. The shuttle lifted off the ground slightly, ready for flight.

  “Get ready, I’m coming down!” Thor’s voice boomed over the intercom. Kira turned and looked over her shoulder, back out to the corridor. Kira saw several green bursts from Thor’s plasma rifle fly down the corridor and heard the pained shrieks from the Zel’Dar.

  The cargo bay door began to slide open wider and the body of the Zel’Dar that was wedged in between slumped to the ground. Thor leaped through the opening and was running for the shuttle, Zel’Dar streaming in behind him.

  “Go!” Thor shouted. Kira didn’t hesitate and started accelerating the vessel towards the cargo hold exit, slow enough that Thor would be able to board on the run.

  Kira marveled as Thor deftly ran and jumped over obstacles with ease and even fired a few shots back in the direction of the Zel’Dar with surprising accuracy.

  As Thor reached the shuttle he athletically jumped onto the ramp and hit the control for the door – it whirred shut with an emphatic clunk.

  “Punch it!” Thor exclaimed as he took the seat next to her.

  "What the hell am I doing out here?" Kira scolded herself. "I'm on the run with a Jaantu 7 fugitive. There might be a bounty on my head. I’m pretty sure I’m out of a job, and I’m damn sure running for my life isn’t what three weeks of leave is supposed to look like!"

  Steadfast on the controls, she propelled the ship forward, praying that the landing bay doors opened before they crashed into them. The large metal gate trembled as it pushed outward, and the vast, endless sky became slowly visible.

  Thor clenched his fists in his lap, almost nervously, but didn’t speak. Kira kept her eyes locked on the fine line of star-filled blackness as she urged the ship to continue forward. Just as they were approaching the door, a ball of orange and yellow began to spill into the room behind them.

  The door, still not fully open, was just ahead of them. Positioning the ship just right, Kira led them into the open, the vessel just barely squeezing through the tight space.

  As she accelerated the ship, the ball of heat behind them continued to surge up at them. It was another few moments before they both relaxed as the explosion calmed and the wreckage of the freighter could be seen floating through space.

  Leaning back in her chair, she turned to face Thor. His eyes were still fixed out the window, and his fists still clenched at his sides.

  “Well, we’re still alive, so there’s that,” she said cheerfully with an awkward laugh of relief.

  “Just barely it would seem.”

  “That just makes for a better bar story,” she said with a shrug.

  “I have a feeling this is a story I won’t be telling for quite some time,” Thor replied, finally turning his attention in her direction. “What do we do now?”

  “Well, we don’t exactly have a lot of options,” Kira replied. “We’re fairly near the Galactic Bazaar – we might be able to better assess our situation there, hopefully with some anonymity.”

  “It’s a great place to go if you want to put yourself in the midst of low-life’s, criminals, bounty hunters and pirates, all eager to claim their reward,” Thor replied quickly.

  “Do you have any better ideas? It’s not like we can return to Earth, and we don’t really have the provisions for long distance travel.”

  “I guess if we’re going to be criminals on the run from the law, what better place to do that than the Bazaar?” Thor said, sitting back in his chair and turning his attention to the horizon again.

  “Speak for yourself,” Kira muttered as she directed the ship towards the Bandurian section of space that contained their intended destination.

  “I’m just someone who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I’m not a criminal; I’m just working with one.”

  “I already told you, I’m not a criminal,” Thor said pointedly.

  “Right, you were wrongfully accused by one of the most respected military leaders in the Terran Alliance,” Kira responded.

  “He’s not who everyone thinks he is—at least not anymore.”

  “He seemed the same as always the last time I spoke to him.”

  “Really? The man you claim to know would ask you to participate in an off-the-record, unsanctioned mission to transport a classified prisoner to Jaantu 7?”

  “Maybe…” she said, unsure.

  “He’s become obsessed with genetic and cybernetic manipulation. Not only that, he’s become fanatical about his obsession. He has made claims that members of the Arcanum are superior to other Terran's. He’s been isolating himself more and more from the T.A.F. He’s gone mad with his lust for power and supremacy.”

  The famously stoic, unemotional Colonel had been more and more elusive in recent years, Kira conceded. But, she only assumed that was because he had been assigned to work with the Arcanum.

  “He will do anything in his power to continue with his experiments. He won’t let anything pose a threat to his work. As soon as I began to voice my opposition to his careless, dangerous, potentially lethal enterprise, I became a liability.”

  “So, he sent you to Jaantu 7 just to keep a secret?” Kira asked, still suspicious of Thor’s account.

  “Not only that,” Thor said. “He’s planning something. Something big.”

  “What?” Kira asked, her eyes wide.

  “I don’t know,” Thor admitted.

  Kira scoffed, but Thor continued. “Even though I can’t be specific, I’m certain he’s planning something, though. That’s why having an Arcanum soldier who openly expressed opposition to his experimentation walking around a free man is so worrisome to him. He can’t let anything stop him from bringing his plan to fruition. Especially because I assume he’s close to putting it into action.”

  Kira opened her mouth to respond, but the words caught in her throat. An unmarked gunship suddenly warped in near them and locked onto their position. She looked down at her sensors quickly and realized that they weren’t working properly.

  “Damn,” she said as she grabbed for the controls.

  Kir
a started to navigate the shuttle towards the nearest asteroid cluster in the hopes that they could outmaneuver their new pursuers. Before Kira could do much other than reorienting the vessel in her intended direction another three assault class fighters warped in and immediately locked onto their shuttle.

  “I thought today felt like a lucky day,” a voice came over the ship’s communication system. “Looks like I was right.”

  Just then, the gunships starboard side became visible on Kira’s view screen and a large red and black skull decal stared ominously back at them.

  “Shit,” Kira mumbled, “Roughnecks.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  The Roughnecks were a blended group of rough-and-tumble Terran pirates, mercenaries, and devious opportunists. They happened to be on their way to the Bazaar when they detected the explosion of the freighter.

  Coercing their shuttle into the holding dock of the pirate vessel was easy. Deciding what to do with their new prisoners seemed to pose a slightly larger problem for the relatively unorganized group of shameless felons. The second Kira and Thor exited their ship, the questions began to fly.

  The men assumed that the two of them were military, but they didn’t know who they were. They questioned them for their names, hoping that a search of their identities would prove that a hefty ransom could be exchanged for their safe return to their fleet.

  Kira remained silent, as did Thor. Keeping their identities secret was the best thing they could do. If there were a bounty out for them, this group would quickly and eagerly turn them in—there was no doubt about that.

  Their silence frustrated the unkempt, chaotic group, and they were quickly escorted off the landing dock and thrown into the brig. Kira would have tried to fight back if they weren't outnumbered six to one. Even with Thor's enhancements, whatever they were, there was no way the two of them could take on the large group.

  Just before throwing them into a small, damp, foul-smelling cell, four of the men came forward, one carrying a medical applicator. He went for Thor first, considering him the greater threat. It took a few attempts as Thor fought back against the group, but finally, he plunged the applicator down into Thor's neck as the other three worked to tangle him up in close quarters.

  Thor instantly slumped forward, his body suddenly limp and unresponsive.

  “No!” Kira called out, trying fight off the four men who had turned their attention on her.

  And then, everything went dark.

  Kira had no sense of time when she finally woke up. Her head ached and her mouth was dry. The ground beneath her was hard and cold, and as she rolled over, trying to get her bearings, her ears began to ring slightly.

  Lying on the ground next to her was Thor. She reached up and grabbed hold of his wrist, shaking him slightly.

  “Get up,” she gasped. “You have to get up. We have to get out of here.”

  “There will be no escape today,” a man’s voice startled her. His voice was deep and sinister.

  She sat up quickly, her head throbbing. She realized that they were no longer in the brig. They were, instead, on what appeared to be the ship’s flight deck, although the equipment around her was mismatched and most of it appeared to be somewhat out of date. The man who spoke paced back and forth in front of her, smiling down at her with a demonic look in his eye.

  Finally, Thor began to rustle. He let out a soft moan as he lifted his hand to cover his eyes.

  "The effects of the sedative will wear off shortly," the man spoke again. "You may care to know that we've just landed on Vandor," the man informed them coldly.

  Vandor was one of the main planetary hubs making up the Bazaar.

  “Thanks for the ride,” Kira replied between gritted teeth. Her head was still aching and her eyes adjusting to the lights. “We were on our way to the Bazaar ourselves, but at least this way we got a nap in.”

  The man laughed, a deep, guttural sort of laugh that filled the room and stuck to the walls, hanging in the air, even after he stopped.

  “You’re a funny little one, you know that,” he said, leaning in slightly, looking her up and down greedily.

  His piercing brown eyes burned into her, making her stomach churn with disgust. His overall presence was ominous. His head was shaved, revealing a long, gruesome scar running along the right side of his head. And his dark, tanned skin seemed permanently stained with dirt and grime.

  Thor pushed himself up slowly. As he fumbled to his feet, the man looked on with an amused, degrading expression written across his face. Even though Thor was slightly taller than him, it was clear that it took a lot more than size to intimidate him. Perhaps it was the five, equally gruesome looking men standing behind him, all holding assault rifles that gave him his reckless confidence.

  Kira noticed one of the guards wearing her Phantom on his hip, no doubt taken from her when she was unconscious on their journey to Vandor. She clenched her jaw and made a mental note, she would have to get that back.

  “Who are you?” Thor growled down at him.

  Kira pushed herself to her feet and stepped up next to him, showing her allegiance to her former prisoner.

  “I’m the captain of this fine vessel,” the man said, stepping back and stretching out his arms. “But, that has little bearing on our conversation.”

  He took a firm step in Thor’s direction as if he was challenging him. “What we’re all here to figure out is who are you?”

  “We’re just two people who want to continue on their way,” Thor said. It was obvious he was trying to keep his calm, but struggling to do so.

  Kira suspected that Thor would have had a reasonable chance at disarming or killing this group in a fair fight, but with five assault rifles staring back at them, they were forced into submission.

  “You may be able to do just that,” the captain replied. “We are a reasonable bunch. Just tell us your names and provide your identification, and we’ll make an informed decision as to what to do with you.”

  Kira’s body tensed as she waited to hear Thor’s response. Despite the captain’s cool demeanor, she had a feeling that there was a beast lying just underneath the surface, waiting to be freed.

  Instead of saying anything, Thor remained silent. As expected, the crooked smile on the captain’s lips vanished, and a crazed look of excitement filled his face.

  “That’s fine,” he said, leaning back on his heels with a devilish grin. “If you don’t want to talk, we have ways of making you – ways that I particularly enjoy.”

  With that, he reached into his holster and pulled out a sonic baton and with a flick of his wrist, it extended fully and crackled with electricity. Quickly, he thrust it forward and pressed it into Thor’s chest. Instantly, Thor fell to the ground, gasping for breath. Two of the men standing behind the captain rushed her as she leaned forward out of instinct to aid her companion.

  They pulled her back violently as the captain cocked his foot and let it fly; hitting Thor square in the chest, in the same place the baton had sent a pulse of electricity surging through his body.

  Kira felt her heart rate accelerate and her hands started to shake. She tried to pull herself free of the men holding her, but was unable to. The captain leaned in, pressing the baton into Thor's neck, sending another surge of current pouring into him. Thor's body began to shake, but his gaze, cold as ice, was fixed on the man as if daring him to continue.

  “All you have to do is tell us who you are,” the captain said, ignoring Thor’s glare and turning his attention to Kira. “I’m just getting started with your friend over here. You don’t want to know what my men will do to a pretty little thing like you once I give them permission.”

  Kira steeled herself and let her combat training take over, she spun on the man closest to her grabbing his wrist and twisting his arm beyond its range of motion. The guard let out a cry and his assault rifle dropped from his hands. Kira wasted no time and drove her elbow and forearm into his face, breaking his nose on impact. The second guard reached
for her and wrapped both arms around her, trying to wrestle her down. Kira planted her feet against a command console and violently swung her head up into his face three times. The guard released Kira and stumbled back a few steps with blood pouring from his mouth. Kira squared up into a combat stance and prepared to continue the assault.

  Suddenly, her whole body was on fire, pain echoed through every joint and limb and she dropped hard onto the floor, her body twitching in response as she cried out. Behind her, the captain released the baton from Kira’s shoulder and watched with amusement as she struggled on the ground.

  The captain seemed to find her display amusing. When she dragged herself back to her feet she turned back towards him, he was staring at her with lustful desire.