‘Yes, ma’am.’
‘We got the data,’ Captain Unnaerd said. ‘Ready to port.’
‘Do so. See you at Realmport, Ma-T.’
‘There she is,’ Unnaerd said as they came out again, nearly half a lightyear from the other ships and barely a hundred miles from the scout, invisible against the backdrop of stars.
They crept to the drifting vessel on the flagship’s engine, and suddenly Kambisha could see her. With her gravity down, the scout turned slowly around her axis, a small, coppery bee with a beam gun nose and four stabilizer fins. The crew’s cockpit was on the outside. Beneath it would be a narrow cargo space and the column with the power crystals. This one was a two-man scout, but still with very little room for someone beside her crew.
‘Hello, U-Rac 204, this is High Admiral Kambisha, Realmfleet. Do you have air pressure?’
The answer was a whisper, a barely audible ghost of a voice. ‘No air; power two-point-six percent.’
‘I’m coming over to get your crew out. After that, we’ll see to your power. Open the airlock.’
She saw Ram’s scowl and shook her head. ‘There’s no room for one more body inside; those scouts are really small.’
He wanted to say something, but she strode on and shut the airlock door behind her. As the pump started removing the air, she took out her broom and activated her shield. Once the door opened, she rode over to the scout ship. Its doors were open, and she slipped right in. Climbing hand over hand along the ladder to the cockpit, she found the pilot and his partner wedged into the small space, too large inside their stasis suits and locked to their seats by their seatbelts.
Darn! I can’t reach the buckle past their unmovable bulk. ‘U-Rac, switch off both stasis suits.’
Immediately she called up her own shield, covering all three of them, and went to work on the seat belts.
‘Ooh!’ the pilot muttered.
‘Stay calm and don’t move,’ Kambisha snapped. ‘Emergency.’
One belt unbuckled, and she started on the second one. The co-pilot struggled, but she held him down.
‘Easy, Ensign,’ she said, recognizing the single thin stripe on his sleeves. ‘Obey orders.’ For a fleeting moment she thought of that other co-pilot, the unlucky Jinesey, but she resolutely pushed it away; this one was alive.
The scout relaxed, and the second belt snapped open.
‘Done; out we go.’ Kambisha ported them back to the flagship and Thron’s capable hands. ‘There you are, scouts; safe and sound.’
‘Ma’am,’ Captain Unnaerd said urgently. ‘There’s a Dregh ship around. ‘Do we leave or stay?’
‘Stay!’ she said without hesitation. Curse those Dreghs! ‘U-Rac needs those crystals. Where is the enemy?’
‘Close, ma’am.’ An image of the space map appeared on the screen. On it were three dots; they were the blue one, beside a smaller white one, and a red one moving closer on its other side.
‘They must be after the scout!’ Kambisha said. ‘Where are those crystals?’
‘Here,’ Jathra said. ‘I wanted to go...’
‘I’ll install them myself.’
Reluctantly, Jathra handed her the box with the crystals.
‘If that Dregh tries anything, shoot it out of existence,’ Kambisha said. ‘I’ll be right back.’
She turned, and now Ram gripped her arm. ‘Scouts are out, there is room. I’m coming.’
She looked at his hard eyes. ‘All right. Hold me tight.’ She grinned in his face, made a shield around them both, and ported back to the scout ship.
‘You can watch, but try not to move.’ Then she enlarged her shield until she could get at the crystals. ‘I don’t know what will happen,’ she said, while she opened the box of crystals. ‘But with any luck my shield will hold, should that Dregh blow the scout up around us.’
‘Why are you doing this?’ he said. ‘Just to save a ship?’
‘Yes,’ she said. ‘Or rather, to save the brain.’
He grunted. ‘It’s just a thing.’
‘I’m a tech. I see things differently.’ She carefully removed a crystal from the formation, and the emergency lights went out. ‘Darn!’
Without a word, Ram pressed the light on his belt.
‘Thanks.’ Then she replaced the exhausted crystal in the box and picked up a second one from the column.
The scout shook around her and loose objects bounced off her shield.
‘Someone’s shooting,’ Ram said coolly.
‘Not at us,’ Kambisha muttered, concentrating on the second crystal as she lifted it from the box and shoved it in its place. Another three to go.
Again, the ship shook.
‘Idiot Dreghs,’ Ram said. ‘They really are stupid, attacking us just for this little thing. There’s plenty loot in the universe for all.’
‘I wish I could fathom what those rats think,’ Kambisha said. The third crystal clicked into place, and she lifted the fourth one.
‘Ma’am,’ Ram said suddenly. ‘Do I stand a chance?’
She paused a second. Only a true Kell would ask that in a situation like this. He showed his priorities, and their safety wasn’t number one. ‘Sure,’ she said, and brought the fourth crystal to its socket.
A third shock made her stumble, but nothing else happened, and she went to remove the last crystal. She put it into the box and moved its replacement into the column.
Immediately, the scout came alive around them.
‘Danger! Danger! Enemy ship nearby!’
‘You can shield up, U-Rac.’ The scout ship acknowledged, and she turned to Ram. She touched his broad chest with her fingers. ‘I’m too busy for fun, but you do have a chance. All right?’
‘It must do, then. All right.’
‘U-Rac, we will be leaving you. When we’re gone, port to Firstworld Flor 3 for repairs.’ She collected the box of depleted crystals, gripped Ram’s shoulder and returned to the flagship.
‘The admiral is back!’ Captain Unnaerd cried. ‘And now the scout is gone. We can go all-out! She’s yours, Emma!’
Three heavy beams crossed the void and hit the shadowy shape of the Dregh amidships. Its hull went from black to dull-red to incandescent white. Large chunks of metal melted away, rents appeared, and then the ship fell apart into four pieces, spewing their contents into space.
‘That did for the Dreghs!’ Emma said grimly content. ‘The next part is rescue. Captain?’
‘Go ahead,’ Unnaerd said.
A bright beam shot out and touched one of the tolling bits of the Dregh ship’s bridge. ‘Got him! Mr. Zhivas?’
‘In position at Hold 3,’ the first officer said.
Kambisha stared out the window and saw the bit of wreckage being roped in until it disappeared from view alongside the battlecruiser’s bulk.
‘Wreckage secured inside,’ Zhivas reported. ‘Tech Jathra is inspecting it now.’
‘I’m closing the outer door, Mr. Zhivas,’ Emma said. ‘Ma’am, we are ready.’
‘You rescued that ship’s AI?’ Kambisha said. ‘How brilliant! What type of beam was it you used?’
‘Our tractor beam,’ Captain Unnaerd said. ‘We have got two of them. They are intended for just these things; salvage and haulage.’
Kambisha had done just enough pilot courses to know her way around, and this was new to her. ‘Do all ships have one?’
‘Only the major ones,’ Unnaerd said. ‘The beams need a solid platform, and they use a lot of power. Smaller ships mostly have skyhooks, which are thinner and less strong.’
‘I used the other beams to slice his ship away from him instead of blowing it up,’ Emma said. ‘I hope I didn’t shock his poor brain too much. Now, what’s next, ma’am?’
‘Where did those Dreghs come from, so suddenly?’ Kambisha said. ‘Coincidence?’
‘No, ma’am,’ Emma said. ‘They came from a nearby planet. Perhaps they have a hide-out there.’
‘Well now,’ Kambisha said slowly. ‘Why
don’t we have a look?’
What they could see of the planet, on the chart as Tollen 4, was rocky, sparsely covered with bushes and some weird, tall trees.
‘Air, breathable; gravity, .89 standard; temperature 18 standard. There is more, but all indicate it is habitable,’ Emma said.
‘Not very cozy, though,’ Zhivas muttered.
‘There is a base,’ Emma went on. ‘It looks like one of the old ones the Realm stopped using some fifty years ago... Before the quake, I mean.’
‘What kind of bases were those?’ Kambisha said.
‘Moi Space Navy, pre-Realm models, with an AI brain and lacking the facilities modern bases have. Many were refurnished, but others were closed because the Realm wasn’t any longer interested in guarding that region,’ Emma said.
Kambisha frowned. It all sounded very careless. ‘Weren’t they dismantled, or anything like that?’
‘No, ma’am. That was considered to be too costly. The Fleet just pulled out and abandoned them, trusting in the dome and the AI to guard the place.’
‘Without regular inspections of said dome and AI?’
‘Once they were deserted, they were conveniently forgotten,’ Emma said.
‘Speak of helping the enemy,’ Kambisha muttered.
‘There weren’t any enemies then, ma’am.’
Kambisha snorted. ‘As far as they knew. I think it irresponsibly overconfident. Any idea how many Dreghs there are down there?’
‘I do not advise an attack,’ Emma said quickly. ‘The Dreghs may have activated the base defense system. Besides, I count at least five hundred of the creatures.’
‘Where would the AI brain be situated? And its code?’
‘The central tower, in the cellar. The code word is the name, Tollen, and a number that’s on the base frame. You need to type it in on a little keyboard.’
‘They didn’t see the smallest need for security?’ Even with the Dreghs confined to their planet, that is the height of foolishness. Any Lesser World or not yet discovered adversary needed only one spy to capture the whole base.
‘They didn’t think so,’ Emma said. ‘No one believed anyone would go against the Moi.’
‘Terribly naïve.’ Kambisha came to a decision. ‘Call Realmport. Ask Gunild to send me four hundred assault troops.’
Emma sounded shocked. ‘But the defenses?’
‘I’ll enter that tower, go down to the cellar and see to the brain,’ Kambisha said. ‘That will take care of any active weaponry before the troops arrive.’
‘I cannot advise it,’ Emma said.
‘Those Dreghs won’t be that stupid,’ Captain Unnaerd said, looking worried.
Kambisha smiled. ‘You’re both right.’ She called her broom. ‘Open the airlock, please, Emma.’
As she walked to the door, Ram fell in beside her with his squad on his heels.
They shielded up and stepped into space. Down they went, mile after mile through layers of ever thicker clouds, until finally they burst out into an ochre daylight.
Kambisha pointed. There was the base, and the central tower. It was at least twelve stories tall, made of a yellowish material much like the towers on Firstworld. Near the top was a circular balcony with windows, their glass cracked and broken. She sent her mind out, touching the Dreghs and sighed. They were all like Saqq and his soldiers: rats with guns and an insatiable hunger.
There wasn’t any alarm yet; no enemy looked up, no cannon or beam gun barrel turned their way. They entered the tower, landed and sheathed their brooms.
‘I’ll go first,’ Kambisha said, and she readied a ball of fire in her hand. Then she hurried down the corridor, past several doors to a flight of stairs.
A shout came from below, and a too hasty beam disappeared over her head to splash harmlessly against the wall. A Dregh was halfway the stairs, waving his gun at her. She threw the fiery ball.
The Dregh tried to run, but the spell followed him and he burst into flames.
Two more came running, shooting wildly and their beams shot pieces off the walls, but came not even close to one of them. Kambisha answered their enthusiasm with a huge gust of wind that lifted them off their unshielded feet and crashed them into the wall.
‘Three down,’ she said.
They followed the corridor to the next stairs, but met no one else.
Another run, another staircase, and five Dreghs with swords, dressed in what looked like discarded armor.
Ram laughed, a rare sound, and she glanced at him as he rushed past her, waving his sword. He broke the heads of the first two Dreghs in one blow, got the third one in the neck, booted the fourth halfway across the room and spitted number five. He pulled back his blade, kicked number four once more and spat. ‘Toddlers!’
‘Do you need us anymore, sir?’ Elementalist Noya said pointedly.
Ram gave her a brief grin. ‘Later.’
They reached the bottom without further delay and ran down s series of stone stairs into the dark cellar.
Kambisha activated her belt light. There! Against the back wall was an old-fashioned machine. It had a small keyboard, and just as she opened the lid, she heard high-pitched voices shouting, and a mass of Dreghs came running down the stairs.
‘Now!’ Ram said to Noya. ‘Enjoy!’
As the Marines engaged the Dreghs, Kambisha switched off her shield and typed the name of the planet. Then she had to wipe centuries of dust from the number plate and added its digits as well.
‘Admiral? Your assault troops are here, ma’am. Where are you?’ Emma’s voice said.
‘We’re in the cellar. I just typed the code. It’s bleeping all over the place, but... Wait a sec!’
‘Tollen Base reporting,’ a rusty voice said. ‘Orders, Commander?’
‘Is your defense system active?’
‘Affirmative.’
Kambisha breathed deeply. ‘Tollen Base, this is High Admiral Kambisha of the Fleet. You are occupied by Dreghs, the enemies of the Realm. We are about to land troops to wipe them out, so hold your fire.’
‘Acknowledged.’
‘Emma, send them in. We would appreciate some support.’ Then she shielded up again, got out her own blade and ran to join Ram’s squad.
More Dreghs poured into the corridor and the pile of bodies grew. Even four-to-one, the Dreghs were no match for a Kell, but five hundred of them at once were a lot. Exhaustion set in and Kambisha felt her left wrist go slowly numb.
Then just as she was about to put her last energy into a spell, voices sounded on the stairs and boys poured in, dressed in the garish uniforms of the Nithalai and carrying beam guns. As they fell on the Dreghs, they screamed, holstered their guns and drew their sabers. Within minutes there wasn’t a Dregh left alive.
Their leader stepped forward, saluting her with his blade.
‘High Admiral, the 6th Marine Recruits, as ordered.’
‘Recruit-colonel Lhandor, I’m happy to see you,’ she said, panting, and lowered her own saber.
‘We got them all!’ a boy with three red rings on his arms cried, waving his sword. ‘Those creeps dared to stand against the Realm! Well, we showed them.’
He turned to Kambisha and saluted. ‘Recruit-captain Wannoth, Mr. Lhandor’s second, High Admiral. We owe you our lives, ma’am.’
‘You are welcome, Mr. Wannoth,’ Kambisha said shakily. ‘I love saving people.’
‘We had to come,’ Lhandor said. ‘First you came for us, then you did the same for the rest of the fleet. Our own superiors betrayed us, but you, the High Admiral herself, went into danger to save one AI brain. That convinced me you were worthy of our trust. When you went after those Dreghs, and needed help, we came.’
‘Thank you.’ She looked around and there was Ram, bruised but grinning happily.
‘Nice fight,’ he said. ‘Plenty entertainment and the other guests aren’t bad either.’
Both cadet officers glanced at each other and then laughed. ‘You are not Moi,’ Lhandor said. ‘But
I like your sense of humor, sir.’
Kambisha sheathed her saber. ‘Tollen Base, the enemy has been defeated. Do you have a dome?’
‘System breakdown. I have no operational repair units available.’
Kambisha sighed and sent a mindcall to NavBase. ‘General?’
‘Ma’am?’ General Cruishand said immediately.
‘I’m at Tollen Base.’
‘Yes, ma’am. That is one of the discontinued Space Navy bases. Of no worth to the defense of the Realm.’
‘I fear the Dreghs were less choosy. Five hundred of them used Tollen as a hide-out.’
Cruishand ha-hummed. ‘I see. Yes. Of course when the discontinuation policy was instated, the Dreghs weren’t a danger.’
‘Perhaps not. I would like a list of all those bases. We must make sure they are all protected against illicit usage. We can decide later what we want done with them.’
‘I will send you the details, ma’am. How is the situation at Tollen?’
‘The AI is back on its feet, but there was some damage. Its dome mechanism failed, and all repair units are down.’
‘I will port your flagship some replacement servors. In case it is the base’s power system, I will send you a spare set of crystals as well.’
Power crystals! Kambisha thought angrily. She should have checked that. ‘Thank you,’ she said.
Fifteen minutes later, Emma ported down the promised items.
‘Tollen Base,’ Kambisha said, as she walked down to the cellar, breathing in the strange air of this alien planet. ‘NavBase sent you a wholly new set of power crystals. Do you have a backup system to switch to?’
‘My backup mana generator is not responding, sir.’
Kambisha stifled a curse. ‘Where do you keep it?’
‘Mana generator house is at the back of the main hall.’
It was quickly clear that local animals had gotten at the generator, but when she had replaced some wires, it grudgingly came alive.
‘Backup mana generator is working at eighty-three percent, sir,’ the base AI said. Apparently, gender recognition wasn’t its strong point. ‘I am switching over now.’
The generator howled, but it stayed alive. Kambisha ran to the cellar and one by one replaced the ancient power crystals with newly charged ones. When it was done, she stood for a moment, basking in the glory of their song. Then she sighed.
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