by JN Chaney
She smiled. We all did.
“Wonderful!” exclaimed the archaeologist, coming to my side. He reached his hand out, and I took it. He pulled me on my feet and wrapped his arms around me. “This is a true gift, Captain. Thank you!”
“Easy,” I said, pushing him off. “Personal space.”
“This should be an interesting trip,” said Abigail.
“Think so?” I asked.
“If the last few days are any indication,” she said.
“Let’s plot a course, then,” I said, cracking my knuckles. “First Bellium, and then to Earth.”
“To Earth,” agreed Hitchens.
“Wherever it is,” said Abigail.
I placed a hand on both their shoulders. “Here’s hoping it really does exist.”
EPILOGUE
I sat in the cockpit, staring at the little box Hitchens had given me. It was a piece of ancient technology, a kind of holographic storage device.
A tiny, porcelain finger reached out and touched the top of the cube, and it caused a series of lights to illuminate before me, showing the next coordinates.
I turned to see the little girl, Lex, sitting beside me, smiling a wide grin. She had a toy rocket in her hand, the same one I’d seen her playing with the other day. “Like that?” she asked.
“Exactly like that,” I answered.
She slapped her knees. “Where are we going now?”
“Looks like…” I paused, staring at the display. “Somewhere in Sector 2210. Siggy, you got that?”
“I am already charting a course, sir,” replied the AI.
“See there? You did it, kid,” I told Lex.
“Will I get sit up here with you from now on?” she asked.
“Normally, I wouldn’t allow anyone in here with me,” I said.
She started to frown.
I raised my finger. “For you, kid, we’ll make an exception.”
“Really?” she asked, widening her eyes.
“We’re partners, right?” I asked.
She furrowed her brow, very seriously. “Partners,” she said, nodding.
“Slip drive is ready. Awaiting your orders, sir,” said Siggy.
I looked at Lex. “You want to give the order?”
She grinned, eagerly. “Really? But I’m not the captain.”
“This will be an exception,” I said. “Think you can handle it?”
She nodded, still smiling. “Okay. Okay, I’ve got it!”
“Let’s hear it, kid.”
The little albino girl gripped the sides of her chair, and with the most commanding voice I’d ever heard from her, she said, “Punch it, Siggy!”
RENEGADE ATLAS
ONE
“OH, FUCK,” I muttered, dropping my coffee as I stared out through the window of the medical facility on Paragon III. The steaming black liquid spattered all over my pants, making me hop back a step. “Shit! Shit!”
I swiped my fingers along my leg, annoyed by my clumsiness. After a quick second, I looked again at the spectacle unfolding in the hospital yard. There were two dropships—Sarkonian, judging by the gold and red colors it carried—unloading nearly twenty armed, exosuit-wearing soldiers.
I hadn’t spent much time this close to Sarkonian space, so I’d only had the chance to see their military a handful of times, but every instance had told me everything I needed to know: avoid these sons-of-bitches at all costs.
“Sir, would you like me to prepare for departure?” asked the voice in my ear. It was Sigmond, my ship’s artificial intelligence. “It would seem you’re about to have unwanted company.”
“That might be a good idea,” I said.
“Very good, sir.”
I turned and fled across the hall, leaving the puddle of coffee for someone else to bother with.
Nurses and patients crowded the rooms, trying to look out the windows at the small army about to storm their building. I wondered if this was normal for them, seeing a pack of soldiers unloading on their front lawn. This far out into the Deadlands, I wagered it just might be.
I rounded the hall and instantly spotted Freddie in the third doorway. We made eye contact at once, and I already knew what he was going to say. “Captain, what’s going on?”
“Looks like the Sarkonian military,” I said, as I approached. He stepped aside to let me through.
Octavia was awake, sitting up in the hospital bed. She’d been here for nearly two days and was doing much better now, thanks to the surgical team and the incubation chamber they had on hand. When I brought her in, the doctors had said it was unlikely she’d recover, but she proved them wrong on that. “Captain, do we need to leave?” she asked.
“I don’t know yet.”
Hitchens was beside her, holding a small bucket of ice. “Goodness! We can’t move her yet. She needs her rest!”
I pulled Freddie inside the room and shut the door, heading straight to the window so I could close the curtains. “Rest ain’t a luxury we can afford, Doc.”
“Do we know why they’re here?” asked Octavia.
A voice exploded over the hospital com before I could answer. “Attention, Union fugitives!” it said, like thunder overhead. “We know you are here! Surrender yourselves now or we will use extreme force!”
I looked at Octavia. “Does that answer your question?”
“Damn,” she said, trying to straighten herself. “So much for my vacation.”
I grabbed the wheelchair from across the room, which the nurse had folded and squeezed between the closet and bathroom door, and flattened the seat with my palm. “No time for vacations when you’re with me,” I said, pushing it close to the bed.
I offered my arm and she took it, using me as leverage as she eased herself over. “You’re right. Why rest when I can get shot again?” She landed in the chair with a soft thud.
I smirked, rolling her away from the bed. “That’s the spirit.”
We rushed out of the room and into the hall. I was in the lead, pushing Octavia’s chair as we made our escape, everyone else behind me. “Where are we going?” asked Hitchens.
“The ship,” I said, over my shoulder. “Where else?”
“How do you plan to get by the—” Two Sarkonian soldiers appeared at the end of the hall. “—guards?”
The armored men raised their weapons the second they saw us. “Move!” I barked, rushing into a side room.
Multiple gunshots fired through the corridor, forcing us to take cover in a room. As soon as I was inside, I pulled out my pistol and set my back to the wall, then returned fire, delivering three rounds. They missed, and the Sarkonians fired again, forcing me to take cover. “Siggy, tell Abigail we’re gonna be a bit.”
“I shall inform her of your delay, sir,” said the A.I.
“Attention, fugitives!” called one of the soldiers. “Surrender now! You cannot escape this facility!”
I leaned in, peaking through the crack in the door, spotting one of them. There was just enough room in the crack to fit a bullet, I guessed.
I eased my pistol up to the slit, taking a second to aim, and then…
The frame of the wooden door exploded as the round left my gun, sending splinters into the air.
It struck the only visible soldier, ripping his jaw from his skull. He twisted where he stood, collapsing onto the floor.
In a heartbeat, I leapt into the hall, spotting the second man as he turned to look at his newly-deceased friend.
Before he could react, I pulled the trigger and fired two shots. One in the head, the other in the chest.
The poor bastard was dead before he had a chance to react.
Octavia rolled her chair out as soon as the body fell. “That was messy,” she said as we started moving again.
“You’d prefer a softer touch next time?” I asked, grabbing the handles behind her chair.
“Stop a second!” she snapped as we neared the two bodies.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
Octa
via pointed at one of the rifles. “Give it here, Jace.”
I snagged the gun and tossed it to her.
She gripped the weapon with both hands. “I figure if you’re pushing, you can’t aim, so I might as well pick up the slack.”
“Good thinking,” I said, handing the second rifle to Freddie, who took it with some hesitation.
Right as we started to move, another set of Sarkonians entered through the end of the hall ahead of us. Octavia unloaded a three-round burst, clipping their armor, and managing to snag one in the neck.
I let go of the chair, retrieved my pistol, and fired a set of shots. A bullet buzzed by my head right as I hit the still-standing soldier in the head and chest. “Hot damn!” I snapped. My adrenaline was in full overdrive.
“Like I said,” remarked Octavia.
I grinned. “Not bad for a cripple.”
She gave me a look. “Careful, Captain, or you’ll be next.”
We kept moving, running as fast as the chair would allow, but stopped when we neared a set of doors to the outer lobby. Both had a glass pane at their center.
I motioned for the others to stay back. With a quick glance, I spotted six soldiers, each in pairs of two. “Looks like half their squad is out there.”
“What do we do?” asked Freddie, a slight crack in his voice.
“What do you think?” I asked, looking back at him. “We’re not sitting here like a bunch of invalids.” I looked at Octavia. “No offense.”
She scowled at me. “Give me a target and get out of the way.”
“Someone’s eager for some killing. Okay, Hitchens, you’re on chair duty. When I go out there—”
“You mean you’re running into that room?” asked Freddie.
“Yeah, and you’re staying here.”
“You can’t do this by yourself, Captain,” he cautioned.
“I’m not. If you’d actually listen to me, you’d know that,” I said.
He gulped, then nodded.
“Do what I say and we’ll all make it out of here. Now, Hitchens, I need you to push Octavia out so the door cracks and she can get a decent view. Don’t push her all the way. Are you following?”
“I-Is that safe?”
Octavia took his hand in hers. “It’s okay, Doctor. Please, do as he says.”
Hitchens took a deep breathe. “All right, if you think it’s a good idea, Octavia.”
“And you, Freddie,” I continued. “You’re the rear guard. Don’t let anyone snipe us in the ass. You hear me?”
“I’m not coming with you?” he asked.
“Someone has to watch our backs. That’s you, kid. I swear to the gods, I ain’t dying from a bullet in the ass, you hear me?”
He nodded. “I won’t let you down, Captain.”
I turned back and raised my pistol. “That’s good, Freddie, ‘cus this sure as shit ain’t the end of my story.”
TWO
“Stop right—” My bullet cut through the Sarkonian soldier’s neck before he could finish the sentence.
His partner turned to me as I ran to the other side of the room, passing between the remaining five soldiers. In a panic, he unloaded his rifle, shots trailing me as I moved, ripping through the wall and, to my delight, his own teammate.
Asshole didn’t know what hit him.
I reached another set of doors, diving through them. They flapped open, slamming into the walls and swinging backwards, toward the gunfire.
I rolled on my back, aiming my pistol at the swinging doors, firing every time they opened.
With the Sarkonians’ attention on me, Octavia came rolling into the room, rifle in hand, and opened fire.
The first one took a straight hit in the back. His chest exploded as the bullet ripped through him, bringing shards of bone into the open air. He fell flat on his face, instantly dead.
One of the soldiers came at me, propping the doors open and extending a barrel in my face. I did the same to him, but before either of us could unload a round into the other’s skull, the woman in the wheelchair ended him.
Blood spattered out of his neck and onto my pants, and I quickly scrambled back. “Fuck!” I snapped.
The remaining soldiers turned their attention to Octavia, but Hitchens was already pulling her into the hall again. I took the opportunity to get on my feet again.
By my count, we still had two more to go.
“Walk away and we won’t kill you!” I yelled, throwing my back to the wall, just behind the doors.
“W-We have reinforcements coming! Surrender now and you won’t be—”
Two loud blasts interrupted the soldier before he could finish, followed by what sounded like bodies hitting the floor. I looked across the hall, but the others were still hiding. “What the fuck was that?” I asked.
“You can come out now!” called a familiar voice.
“Abigail?” I swung the door open and stepped out.
Abigail stood behind the two fresh corpses, a large rifle in her arms. “I thought you could use the assistance.”
Freddie came running out of the hall. “Sister Abigail!”
Hitchens and Octavia were right behind him. “Goodness!” exclaimed the doctor, looking at all the bodies and the blood pooling around them. “It looks like a warzone!”
“It is,” I told him, then turned back to Abigail. “Why aren’t you in the ship? Where’s Lex?”
“With me, sir,” answered Sigmond, his voice filling my ear. “I’ve locked down The Star until you return, rest assured.”
“I had this covered, you know,” I told the former nun as I approached her.
“I’m sure you did,” she answered. “But we’re pressed for time and there’s an army coming.”
“An army?” asked Hitchens.
I nodded. “She’s right. There’s bound to be more ships on the way. We need to get off this rock, and fast.”
“Understood,” said Octavia.
We raced through the rest of the building, towards the fifth loading platform where The Renegade Star waited.
The airlock was sealed, but Siggy opened it right as we had the ship in view. “Awaiting orders, sir,” he said, once we were onboard.
“Get us in orbit and activate the cloak,” I said, making my way through to the cockpit.
I spotted Lex in the lounge. She was playing a game on the viewscreen. Some kind of educational thing with numbers. “Hello, Mr. Hughes!”
“Hey kid,” I said as I ran by.
A moment later, I was strapped into my chair, staring out the front of my ship as the engines primed. The Renegade Star began to lift off the dock, hovering briefly before moving forward.
We ascended through the massive opening in the bay, angled toward the nearby clouds.
“Sir, I’m picking up movement near a slip gap point,” said Sigmond.
“More Sarkonian ships?” I asked.
“On the contrary, sir, it appears to be—”
“Attention, Renegade vessel,” interrupted a husky voice on the com. “This is General Marcus Brigham with the UFS Galactic Dawn, hailing the vessel identified as The Renegade Star. Respond now or you will be met with extreme force.”
“Fuck you,” I chimed back. “Siggy, cut the com and get us out of here.”
“Right away, sir.”
As we tore through the atmosphere of the planet, Sigmond activated a slipspace tunnel. The Galactic Dawn was moving towards us, but we’d be well on our way before it arrived.
“Entering slipspace,” announced Sigmond, this time over the ship’s com. “Please remain seated.”
The black void of normal space quickly dissipated as we moved into the emerald vortex. Yellow sparks flashed along the tunnel walls as the rift closed behind us, separating us from our would-be pursuers.
“That’s the second time that Brigham guy has found us,” I said. “The Sarkonians must have sent a message before we escaped.”
“That is very improbable, sir,” said Sigmond.
�
�Oh? You got another theory?”
“The UFS Galactic Dawn arrived out of slipspace as we made our escape, not long after the Sarkonian dropship landed at the hospital.”
“So?”
“Between the time the Sarkonians landed and the moment the Union ship emerged from the tunnel, only fourteen minutes passed. The nearest slip gap point along the slip tunnel they used is approximately thirty minutes away.”
“What are you saying, Siggy?”
“That the math implies they were already en route when the Sarkonians landed on the planet.”
“You think they signaled them when they were in orbit?”
“It is possible, but The Star’s sensors didn’t pick the Sarkonians up until a short while ago, moments before they arrived.”
“Do you think the Union knew we were there before the Sarkonians even showed up?”
“It certainly appears that way, sir, but I cannot be certain. Not without additional data.”