by Ryk Brown
“What?” Terig asked, not quite sure he had heard her correctly.
“Nevertheless, we have an obligation to protect him,” the general replied to Jessica.
“I can’t just go,” Terig argued.
“Your parents died when you were young, and your wife’s parents died nine years ago during the battle to defeat Caius Ta’Akar,” General Telles explained. “Neither of you has significant ties to this world.”
Terig looked to Jessica, stunned. “How does he…” He looked back at the general. “…How do you know all that?”
“I’m a general.”
Jessica nodded. “He is.”
General Telles reached into his coat pocket, pulling out a small device, which he activated and placed on the table.
“It seems that Mister Espan has outlived his usefulness.” Although somewhat distant and tinny, the voice of Lord Mahtize was unmistakable. “It is time that we dispose of him.”
“I will see to it, personally,” the other voice said.
“That’s Damon Holub, the chief of House Mahtize security,” Terig said, his eyes widening as he stopped pacing, concentrating on the recording.
“It would be best if we dispose of his wife, as well,” Lord Mahtize added. “She could ask uncomfortable questions.”
“We should thoroughly sweep his residence, as well as his accounts on the net just to be sure he hasn’t stashed any incriminating evidence to protect himself.”
“I doubt he is clever enough to think of such things, but I suppose it would be best.”
Terig plopped down on the sofa, suddenly feeling drained. “He’s right, I didn’t.”
“When?” Damon asked.
“As soon as possible,” Lord Mahtize instructed.
“It will be completed tonight, my lord.”
General Telles turned the device off, placing it back in his pocket.
“When did you get that?” Terig wondered.
“This morning,” the general replied.
Terig sat in disbelief. His life was crashing down around him. “How did you get that?” Terig wondered. “His office is bug proof.”
“The method is unimportant,” the general replied. “Only the content.”
Terig cast a puzzled look the general’s way.
“He means it doesn’t matter, Terig,” Jessica explained. “It’s time to go.”
“What about my wife?” Terig wondered.
“She can come, as well,” Jessica promised.
“How are you going to get us off Takara?” Terig asked. “Ever since the Teyentah, everyone traveling off-world is thoroughly checked, and I mean thoroughly.”
“Again, the method is unimportant,” General Telles said, growing impatient.
“Terig!” his wife called from the back door as it opened. “I brought benta pies from Elle’s!”
“Oh, my God, what am I going to tell her?” Terig said, jumping to his feet, back in panic mode.
“How about the truth,” Jessica suggested.
“You’ve never been married, have you?” Terig said, lowering his voice. “She’ll kill me.”
“She may think you’re a brave man,” General Telles suggested.
“Also never been married,” Terig decided, shaking his finger at the general. He spun around as his wife entered the room. “Sweetie!” he said, suddenly turning on the affection. “You’re just in time.”
“What’s going on?” Dori asked, spotting the two new faces in her living room and wondering why her husband was acting so strange.
“These are two of my friends, Lucius Telles and Jessica Nash.”
“That was a mistake,” Jessica mumbled, standing along with the general.
“This is my wife, Dori.”
“A pleasure to meet you both,” Dori said, shaking the general’s hand. She reached for Jessica’s hand, a curious look on her face. “You look familiar. Are you coworkers of Terig’s?”
“In a manner of speaking, yes,” General Telles confirmed.
“Nash…” Dori said, still trying to remember where she had heard the name before.
Terig looked as white as a ghost.
Jessica rolled her eyes, taking control of the situation. “You probably remember me as the one who killed Caius Ta’Akar.”
Now Dori’s eyes widened. “Oh, my God,” she exclaimed, her hands covering her mouth. She looked at her husband. “Terig, what’s going on here? Why are these people in our…”
“I can explain,” Terig assured her, practically pleading.
“It would probably be easier if I explained it,” Jessica suggested.
Terig looked at her, his eyes wide with panic.
“Back when you two were on the Mystic Empress, your husband volunteered to use his position in House Mahtize to collect intelligence on the Dusahn and relay it to us.”
“He what?” She looked at Terig. “Where was I?”
“You were unconscious, sweetie,” Terig defended.
“So, instead of staying by my side, you decided to put our lives in danger—again—by volunteering to be a spy?”
“In my defense, the first danger was not of my doing,” Terig insisted.
“Miss Espan,” General Telles said, interrupting Terig, “your husband did an incredibly brave thing.”
“You mean an incredibly stupid thing!” she argued, smacking Terig on the shoulder. “How could you?”
“I was only trying to do the right thing,” Terig insisted.
“Oh, my God,” she said, suddenly realizing something. “That’s what all those molo candles were about?”
“Dori, let me explain…”
“As much as I’d love to watch you try to talk your way out of this, Terig, we don’t have time. We need to go, now,” Jessica insisted.
“Go?” Dori asked. “Go where?” She looked at Terig. “Where are you going, Terig?”
“Where are we going,” Terig corrected. He looked at Jessica. “Where are we going?”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Dori insisted. “I have to go to work in the morning!”
“We’re taking you back to the Aurora and the rest of the fleet,” Jessica explained.
“The hell you are!” Dori argued.
“Dori, please!” Terig pleaded, raising his voice for the first time. “Lord Mahtize is going to have us both killed.”
“Why would Mahtize have us killed?” his wife demanded.
“Because he figured out what I was doing and began feeding me intel to send to them. When the relay site closed down, he somehow must have found out, and now he wants to kill me so I can’t tell the Dusahn that he was involved, as well!”
“But why would he want to kill me?”
“Because he fears that when your husband is killed, you’ll ask too many questions,” Jessica explained. “And he knows that neither of you have any family who will do so either, if both of you are killed. Hell, he’ll probably make it look like you both died at the same time. Maybe even a murder-suicide.”
“Oh, my God!” Dori exclaimed, yet again. “Terig!”
“I’m sorry!”
“Look!” Jessica interrupted, growing tired of all the drama. “We don’t have time for all this. You two can hash it out later, once we’re safely back on the Aurora.”
“Maybe you’re wrong,” Dori stated.
“I heard Mahtize give the order,” Terig told her. “He’s sending Damon to do it.”
“The guy from the party? The guy with the black, spiked hair and scary eyes?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh, my God!”
“Look, are you two coming willingly or…” Jessica finally demanded.
“No, we’re not!” Dor
i insisted.
“We’re going!” Terig argued. He looked at his wife, putting both hands on her cheeks. “Look, Dori, I’m sorry I got us involved in all of this, I really am, but what’s done is done. We have to go…right now.”
“I can knock her out, if it’ll speed things up,” Jessica suggested.
Terig looked at her. “Not helping.” He looked back at his wife. “I’m begging you, Dori. I can’t leave without you. I’d rather stay here and die with you.”
Dori looked into her husband’s eyes. “What are we going to do?”
“We’ll figure something out,” Terig promised. “We always do.”
“We’ll set you both up nicely on another world,” General Telles promised. “Good jobs, a nice place to live, everything you need.”
Dori leaned forward, putting her arms around her husband, burying her face in his chest. “Okay, I’ll go,” she finally conceded.
“Great,” Jessica said. “Grab what you need, quickly, the less the better.”
“She is all I need,” Terig said, kissing the top of Dori’s head.
Dori pulled away from her husband, taking his hand with her right hand, and clasping at the locket hanging around her neck with her left hand. “I have all I need, as well.”
“You will need coats,” General Telles told them. “It is chilly where we are going.”
Terig nodded and led his wife toward the bedroom to grab their coats.
“Touching, wasn’t it?” General Telles commented.
Jessica just looked at him, one eyebrow raised.
* * *
Corporal Amund was thrown against the bulkhead, then to the deck, as the Seiiki violently bucked about. Air rushed through the corridor, threatening to suck him out the back of the ship. Sunlight spilled in from somewhere aft, but he didn’t know where. “Torlak!” he called over his helmet comms, but got no answer. “Anyone!” Again, no answer.
He glanced at his environmental readings on his tactical visor. There was oxygen around him, but it was too thin to breathe. Fortunately, his suit pressure seemed stable.
The rushing air subsided, and he managed to get to his feet, despite the violent shaking of the ship that was constantly trying to knock him over. Bracing himself against the bulkhead, he peered through the hatchway into the main cabin, not prepared for what he saw.
The starboard side of the main cabin was gone, as well as half of its aft bulkhead. From his vantage point, it appeared that the entire starboard wing and engine nacelle were also missing. There was no tearing of metal, or twisting of frames, and no dangling wires or conduit. It was as if that part of the ship had been cut cleanly away.
Shit.
The corporal struggled forward a few steps, moving into the pass-thru galley to get to the starboard side. When he reached it, he found his comrade lying on the deck, clutching the hatchway with all his might, the entire lower half of his body gone, severed cleanly at the waist.
The look on Corporal Torlak’s face was one of complete anguish, one that Corporal Amund had never seen. His friend stared at him, his eyes pleading to be put out of his misery. At that moment, he knew what he had to do.
In one smooth, fluid motion, Corporal Amund pulled out his sidearm and took aim at his friend’s neck, and fired. His shot found the weakest point in the Ghatazhak armor, obliterating the dying corporal’s neck, and ending his suffering. The doomed soldier released his grip, slid across the deck and out the gaping hole, into the atmosphere of whatever world they had jumped to.
“FUCK!” Josh cursed, struggling to gain some semblance of control as the Seiiki plummeted deeper into the atmosphere. “I’ve got no controls! We’re falling like a fucking rock!”
“I’m trying to send power to your thrusters by cross-circuiting all batteries to them!” Deliza reported.
“I’m not getting any readings from the starboard engine nacelle!” Loki added as the ship continued to shake violently. As if someone had whispered in his ear, Loki suddenly turned to his right, looking out the window toward the starboard nacelle. His eyes widened. “The starboard nacelle is gone!”
“What?”
“It’s gone! The nacelle, the wing, and part of the fuselage! All of it!”
“That explains why she doesn’t want to fly straight!” Josh exclaimed.
“Mayday, mayday, mayday,” Loki called over his comm-set. “The Seiiki is going down! Dead stick! Somewhere on Eralit Seven Delta! Six souls aboard!”
“Are you sure this is Eralit Seven Delta?” Josh wondered as he struggled to control their free fall.
“If not, the nav logs on the comm-drone will show them where we really are,” Loki replied.
“I got you some power to the thrusters!” Deliza declared.
Josh tried the controls again. “It’s working!” he announced. “Sort of! Can you get me more?”
“Comm-drone away!” Loki announced. “I hope.”
“I’ll try to tap what’s left in the jump banks!”
“I’m gonna need a place to land!” Josh said.
“Don’t you mean crash!” Loki replied as he frantically tried to get their terrain-following sensors to work.
“I was being optimistic!” Josh exclaimed.
“Why isn’t our TFS working?” Loki wondered.
“The TFS pod was in the starboard wing!” Josh explained. “We probably lost it, as well!”
“Shit!”
“Just look out the fucking window, Lok!”
Loki strained to see outside. “We’re still too high to make out any details!”
“I’ve tapped the jump banks!” Deliza announced.
Josh tried again to get control of the ship, but found there was only marginal improvement. “Son of a bitch!” he cursed. “All I’ve got is a little lateral control, no pitch control whatsoever, and we’re in a steep-ass dive. We’ll never survive the impact. We’ve gotta separate and ride the chute down.”
“What about the others?” Naralena asked.
“Amund! Torlak! Get your ass to the cockpit! Pronto!” Josh ordered. After a moment, he called again. “Amund! Torlak!”
“Why aren’t they answering?” Naralena wondered.
“How the fuck do I know!”
“If they were in the main cabin when the jump cut it open…” Deliza began.
“They were probably sucked out into space or into the atmo after the jump!” Loki concluded.
“We don’t know that!” Naralena argued. “I’ll go back and look!”
“Are you nuts?” Josh exclaimed.
“You can’t!” Loki told her. “We’re still too high! The atmosphere is too thin! You open that door, and we’ll all suffocate!”
“But we can’t just leave them out there!”
“We don’t even know if they’re alive!” Josh argued.
“Amund! Torlak!” Loki called over his comm-set. “If you can hear me, get to the cockpit hatch and stand by! Once we get low enough, we’ll pop the hatch and let you in. We’re going to have to separate and ride the chute down!” He glanced out the forward windows again, trying to judge their rate of descent as best he could. “You have a minute, maybe two! We’ll wait as long as we can, but if you don’t get to the hatch, we’ll have to eject without you!”
“Can you get me anything else?” Josh asked Deliza.
“There’s nothing else to tap into,” she replied.
“I see water!” Loki announced as they fell through a cloud bank. “An ocean, maybe. Can you steer us that way and follow the coast?”
“I can fucking try!” Josh replied, struggling with his flight control stick to get their wounded ship to comply. “You sure it’s going to be big enough?”
“It’s huge!” Loki assured him. “Keep us close to shor
e, and we can ride the chute down to the water and swim to shore.”
Josh frowned at Loki.
“What?” Loki asked.
“I’m not much of a swimmer,” he admitted.
“There’s a life raft in the bulkhead compartment, right behind your seat, Josh.”
“There is?”
“Jesus! How long have you been flying this thing?”
“Ditching in the water was never an issue!” Josh defended as the ship continued to fall toward the surface.
“Oh, my God!” Naralena exclaimed. “There’s somebody at the hatch!” she added, moving to the hatch in the deck at the back of the cockpit.
“Who is it?” Loki asked.
“I can’t tell!” Naralena replied.
“Only one?”
“Yes!”
“I think it’s Corporal Amund!” Deliza exclaimed, peering through the window in the deck next to the hatch.
“Think we’re low enough?” Josh wondered.
“I don’t know,” Loki replied, shaking his head. “I don’t see that we have a choice, though.” Loki turned to look at Deliza and Naralena. “Take several deep breaths, and then blow everything out of your lungs!”
Naralena and Deliza followed his instructions, as did Josh.
“Now!” Loki instructed.
Deliza blew the last of the air out of her lungs, and opened the hatch. There was an immediate rush of air, indicating they were still fairly high up, as they had feared. With Naralena’s help, they were able to get the hatch completely open, and Corporal Amund climbed up into the cockpit, turning around and closing it behind him.
Loki immediately reached down to the center console to flood the cabin with fresh oxygen again.
“Where’s Torlak?” Deliza asked Corporal Amund as she helped him take off his helmet.
“He didn’t make it!” the corporal replied.
“Think we’re slow enough for the chute?” Josh asked Loki.
Loki glanced at their dead displays, grimacing. “No idea.”
“Fuck it.” Josh braced himself, reaching for the ejection handle on the right side of his seat. “Everyone hang on!” he warned. “Ejecting in three……two……one……”