Star Runners 2: Revelation Protocol

by L. E. Thomas

  "But there's still two in the cockpit!"

  "I'll get in there!” Fischer yelled, his eyes wide. “Cover me!"

  Josh ran among the bodies in the forward cabin behind the cockpit, taking care not to allow his gaze to linger on the carnage littering the floor. He grabbed a pirate rifle and knelt down in the aisle. His heart raced as he gasped for breath, trying to steady the weapon. He imagined the pirates rushing toward him through the white gas and black smoke. He tried to envision dropping each of them with one shot as he maintained his cool. Austin would tell him to stay frosty, but flying in the cockpit of a Trident was different than shooting a man in front of him.

  Or would the pirates try to move quietly?

  The Saber had to be closing on Tarton's Junction. Where were the alert fighters? How much longer until they arrived? He thought of Austin watching him leave from the mess hall and hoped his friend wasn't there anymore.

  Stop it, he told himself. Stay frosty.

  "Hurry up, Fischer!"

  "I'm trying to bypass the lock so - wait!"

  The laser rifle sliced through the inferno. Josh spun around, his finger resting on the rifle's trigger. Fischer fell to the ground, hands clutching at his stomach as two pirates emerged from the cockpit. Josh aimed and squeezed the trigger.

  Nothing happen.

  He squeezed again and again, but no fire burst from the weapon. The pirate’s rifle would not work. He couldn’t verify if it were out of charges or broken. Standing in the aisle, he hurled the weapon at the pirates and yanked his pistol from its holster.

  His world flashed with light, pain searing at his back. His muscles burned as if they ignited in gasoline. He tumbled to the aisle floor, his body refusing to respond to his commands. His muscles twitched. His head smashed into the base of a seat, fire raging around him.

  "Wicked little toy, isn't it?" the pirate asked as he stood over Josh. “You can’t fire another man’s weapon.”

  The pirates roared with laughter. Josh stared at the pirate who had spoken, the man’s face concealed by black fabric. He only saw one bloodshot, watery eye, the other covered with a metal patch.

  "Your muscles are incapacitated,” the pirate said. “You are our prisoner. You will regain control of your body if we decide to let you live. For now, it's lights out."

  Before Josh could speak, the butt of the rifle smashed into his face.

  The world went dark.

  CHAPTER ONE

  The freighter came apart, the Tyral Pirate fighters firing with lethal precision. Josh's body floated through a burning gap in the hull and into the vacuum of space, his hands reaching as he stared with eyes black as eight balls.

  "Help me!" His face twisted in pain.

  Austin jolted, kicking the seat in front of him. Blood pumped through his ears with the force of a cannon shot. A bead of sweat dripped down his cheek.

  "You okay?"

  The passenger next to him stared; the tablet in his hands momentarily forgotten. He wore a green flight suit with the Lobera patch.

  Austin blinked and raised his eyebrows. "Sorry."

  "Bad dream?"

  He nodded. "Yes."

  "They pass."

  Austin leaned forward and rubbed his face. Outside his window, the freighter circled Earth's moon, the blackened craters drifting past his view. The freighter's engines whined as the shroud activated, hiding the vessel from any instruments on Earth. It had been a year since he had seen the moon's surface. He remembered Bear and Skylar pressing against the window, the excitement something tangible and real. Their anticipation of what would happen next mixed strangely with the professional boredom of Captain Jonathan Nubern.

  He smiled.

  Before he boarded this freighter for his anticipated flight home, Nubern said the Legion recruited medical personnel. His stomach churned at the thought of the impending conversation with Mom. She wouldn't believe him at first, would probably accuse him of doing drugs while he had been at school. Austin wondered how he would start off the discussion, and then tell her she might have the opportunity to join him.

  It wasn't something he would bring up right away. He hadn't been home in a year, so he wanted to soak in the next two weeks of leave. He needed to make each day count, maybe even each hour.

  A cold twinge struck his heart. Josh's parents had probably been notified by now of their son's disappearance. The Legion had an Expiration Protocol for missing pilots and crewmen who hailed from dark worlds like Earth. The families would be told a story of their loved one's disappearance, but Austin still dreaded facing the Morris family. He thought of avoiding them for the entire two weeks, but knew it was an impossible task since his mother had probably already told Mrs. Morris he was coming home.

  He often thought of Josh since the Tyral Pirates had taken the Saber within sight of Tarton's Junction. Josh had probably been killed along with the other several hundred passengers. From what he had gathered from the scuttlebutt around the space station, the pirates were not known for their humanitarian gestures toward prisoners. In fact, most pirates would either kill the prisoners during interrogations, sell them to slavers or work them to death through mining, farming or whatever other work they could find. He clenched his teeth and glared out the window.

  "Don't fight the battles of the past," the passenger said as if he were telepathic.

  "Excuse me?" Austin asked.

  "Your nightmare. It's best to try and let things go."

  Austin sighed. "I lost a friend."

  "I've lost comrades. It comes with the territory. For what it's worth, I'm sorry." The passenger looked at him. “Are you headed home?”

  Austin nodded. “Yes. What about you?"

  "Heading home like you." He extended his hand. "Lieutenant Ryan Bean. I'm from Bozeman, Montana."

  "Austin Stone. Atlanta, Georgia." He shook the lieutenant’s hand.

  "Nice to meet you, Austin. Been flying long?"

  Austin glanced down at the shiny wings on his chest and studied Ryan's. His wings looked older, dimly glistening under the freighter’s interior lighting. "Just got my wings, actually."

  Ryan exhaled and leaned his head back against the seat. "Ah, going home on the reward leave. Enjoy it. It won't come again for a while."

  Austin thought for a moment. "Have you been gone long?"

  Ryan nodded. "About three years on a carrier, and one-year planet side for training. It’s been long months of nothing broken up by brief sessions of crazy. I've been told most tours are like that on The Fringe."

  "I see," Austin said.

  In his courses, Austin learned about the boundaries of Legion and Zahl space. However, he found an area Star Runners referred to as “The Fringe” infinitely more interesting. The sparsely populated worlds at the edge of known space struggled with marauding bands of vicious pirates, conniving smugglers and oppressive warlords. The Fringe was a boundary the Legion needed to patrol just as aggressively as the Legion-Zahl border.

  "Have you received your orders, yet?" Ryan asked.

  Austin shook his head and smiled. "Not yet. I’m supposed to get them after my leave is up."

  Ryan smiled and gazed at the ceiling. "I remember my first trip home. My cousins and I went camping in the Spanish Peaks. We sat around the fire for hours. They wanted to know about my travels, but I had to give them the script of helping people. It's true, I guess, just not the people they thought I was helping. It was hard, but I knew it was important to keep the secret." He exhaled slowly. "That was four years ago."

  Austin looked at Ryan, who was not much older than him. The tone of his voice seemed different than that of Austin’s classmates, aged and monotone. Ryan’s mind seemed to be elsewhere, lingering on a memory. "I bet you've seen some things out there."

  Ryan stared at him without blinking. "I've seen things you wouldn't believe."

  Austin swallowed. “Like what?”

  Ryan sighed. “I don’t want to disappoint you. I remember when I was in your shoes.” />
  The tone of Ryan’s voice sent a chill straight through Austin’s gut. “Go ahead.”

  Looking over his shoulder before he spoke, Ryan leaned closer. “Just be sure, when your term is up, that you really want to continue being one of the Legion’s ‘Star Runners.’”

  Austin frowned as Ryan held his fingers over his head when he spoke the words “Star Runners.”

  “What do you mean?” Austin asked. “Why wouldn’t I?”

  Ryan lowered his voice. “Some people love it—I’m not denying that. But let’s just say they don’t exactly tell you the entire truth during flight academy. Everything’s not puppy dogs and ice cream out there.”

  Austin shook his head, his blood pressure rising. “You don’t know what I’ve seen. The pirates—“

  “Pirates,” Ryan said shaking his head, “they’re nothing.”

  Austin clenched his teeth. “They killed my friend.”

  “No offense, Stone, but your friend is just one of the million pilots recruited off these Legion backwater worlds. You ever wonder why they recruit from a video game? I mean really wonder about it? And why everything’s set up like a happy flight academy with sim pods and Rockshot competitions? You’re being indoctrinated. They want you so into this that you’ll be willing to go anywhere.”

  Austin thought of Nubern and the entire recruitment process. “I don’t believe that.”

  Ryan eyed him. “It’s why they recruit so young. They identify you have talent, but they are also looking for dreamers; people who want to get out of their current situation. You’ll be sent so far away you won’t even remember what Earth looked like.” He stared at the floor. “Or what it smelled like … felt like. This galaxy’s a big place. There are rumors of factions setting up for another galactic war, who knows if it’s true. Then there are the pirates, warlords, slavers and the endless vigil of what might come from The Fringe. And we get to patrol all of it. It’s why the Legion desperately needs pilots. You’re giving up the best five years of your life for this, and they know it.”

  “I haven’t signed anything,” Austin said. “Where are you getting that?”

  “That’s what they tell you after your reward trip home,” Ryan said. “Once you get back, and you’re excited and ready to go, they’ll quickly get you to sign the papers locking you in for five years. And then they’ve got you.”

  Austin did not know what to say. What if Ryan was right? Following his trip home, the Legion could have him locked into service for the next five years. He was so focused on going to college and getting a degree because he knew it was what Dad had wanted for him. He didn’t stop to ask questions and when he did have questions he just shook them from his mind. Then his wildest dreams came true once the video game he escaped into became his reality.

  “Look,” Austin said after a long pause, “I want to do this.”

  Ryan held up his hands in a mock surrender. “I just wanted to tell you the truth. Some people love this, are born for it.”

  Austin decided to turn the tables. “So you aren’t? Are you going to re-up?”

  Ryan sighed. “I’m coming home to think about it. I’m due next year. I just don’t know. I was recruited when the game was brand new. I was so excited.”

  For the first time, Ryan’s eyes softened, and he leaned back into his seat, smiling. Austin relaxed a bit, listening to the other Star Runner speak.

  “Four of us left the school in San Francisco. I remember seeing Atlantis for the first time.” He shook his head. “It was like having the blinders pulled off. And the first time I saw a Trident? Forget it, man. I was hooked.”

  Ryan fiddled with his hands. “I left my girlfriend for this. At first, they don’t tell you how long the tours are going to be. You just give the mission trip speech over and over.”

  His face grew rigid. “But right after you are rewarded leave home after flight school and you sign your papers for that first assignment, months turn into years. Command knows you don’t need any cover story after that. Your friends and family give up on you, figure you’re just some reclusive freak.”

  “If you’re thinking about dropping out, what would you do?”

  Ryan thought for a moment. “I’ve heard of some Star Runners transferring to desk jobs; some have gone into recruitment. This guy I knew, Draven, grew tired of the long tours and monitors the servers on Earth and keeps an eye open for new recruits.”

  Austin blinked. “He’s a Legion officer now?”

  “Yep. Has a wife and kids now, too. No long tours, no time away from home. He got out of being a Star Runner and was able to get a pretty sweet gig out of it.”

  “Wouldn’t you miss it?”

  Ryan shook his head. “Miss what? Space?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I’ve seen enough to last a lifetime. More than any humans from Earth get to see. I’m thinking some time at home wouldn’t be such a bad idea.”

  Austin looked at him. “What happened to your girlfriend?”

  “Same thing that happened to all my friends,” he said softly without looking away from the floor. “Sometimes I wish the Legion would take a page from the Zahlian playbook.”

  Austin shook his head. “Like what? I thought they were our enemy.”

  Ryan exhaled. “That’s what I’m told. I just know there are no dark worlds in Zahlian space, no need for the lies … the secrets.” His eyes bore into the back of the seat in front of him. “I might still have my girlfriend if it weren’t for the secrecy.”

  “I thought the Legion didn’t reveal itself in hopes of protecting the planet and providing natural freedom to progress.”

  Ryan closed his eyes. “I know the line just fine, Stone. They taught me, too.”

  The moon passed out of view. Austin leaned back in his seat and sighed, the dream images of Josh reaching for him searing into his mind's eye once again.

  "We made it," Austin breathed.

  "Made it where?"

  "Past the moon."

  Ryan nodded. "I heard about the Saber. Getting pretty ballsy, those Tyral Pirates. I've never heard of a vessel attacked so close to Earth. I don’t know how they plotted a curve this far out. I've heard agents from the Zahl Empire work on Earth all the time, but not the pirates."

  Austin blinked. "Why not?"

  "Can't afford shrouding tech."

  He shook his head. "But the Zahl Empire sends agents to Earth? For what?"

  "Spying, stealing technologies, disrupting our operations." Ryan shrugged. "All unofficially of course."

  Austin thought of Earth's history. "Sounds like the Cold War."

  "It is the Cold War, just on an infinitely larger scale. There’s so much space with so many planets in Zahl and Legion space, I doubt there would ever be a full-scale war again. It’d be the end of us all." Ryan placed his tablet in his lap. "Did you lose someone on the Saber?"

  Austin looked out the window, craning his neck for a view of Earth. "My best friend was on board."

  "And you saw it?"

  He nodded. "Once they passed through the curve at Tarton's Junction, I saw the fighters bearing down on the freighter, the other transport craft attached. It happened too fast for the alert fighters to respond. And then they were gone."

  Ryan crossed his arms over his chest. "He could still be alive."

  Austin sighed and cracked his knuckles, knots forming in his stomach. "Thanks, but I've heard stories about what the pirates do to prisoners. If he was taken alive, I hope it wasn’t for long. I don't want to think of Josh living as a slaver's workforce."

  “No, you don’t want that.” Ryan turned back to his tablet.

  They rode in silence, the hum of the engines lulling him to sleep. Despite the lingering doubt brought on by Ryan’s words, Austin focused on reuniting with Mom and Kadyn. It would be good to see them again.

  When he opened his eyes, the blue-green of Earth filled most of his window. The cloudless sky over the Pacific revealed Australia and New Zealand. Passengers started pi
cking up their belongings, and Ryan tucked his tablet into a black satchel.

  "Stone," he said, pushing Austin's shoulder, "we should grab a coffee in San Francisco. I didn’t mean to be such a drag. I just have too much on my mind. You need to think about these things now, so it’s not such an ordeal when your reenlistment time happens."

  "I will,” he said. “Thanks. I thought you had to get back to Montana?"

  "I have an old friend in the city I want to see first.” He smiled. “See if they remember me. Then I'll head out tomorrow."

  Austin thought about traveling back to Georgia. "So do we just take the tubes back to our schools?"

  Ryan peered over Austin's shoulder out the window. "Once you're home, you can take any transport you want. I'll be taking a company car home, though. I've been away from here so long, I’d like to drive when I'm back."

  "Oh."

  "Don't worry, man. They'll have someone there to talk you through. Just ask when we're going through de-con."

  Austin blinked. “De-con? Decontamination?”

  “They told you about that on the station, right?”

  “They mentioned it, yeah.” Austin frowned. “Didn’t know I’d have to go through it.”

  “It’s no big deal,” Ryan said. “It’s pretty standard on all Legion ports.”

  The freighter rumbled into Earth's atmosphere as it descended. His head rocked. He closed his eyes, the hum of the engines growing.

  "Ladies and gentlemen, we are starting our descent to Atlantis and should arrive in the next thirty minutes. Please remain seated and we hope you enjoyed your flight." The pilot paused before adding, "Welcome to Earth."

  Austin smiled as he watched the atmosphere burn against the freighter's shields, pulsating flashes of orange and yellow throughout the cabin.

  *****

  The freighter descended into the cold depths of the Pacific, the water outside the window transitioning from light to dark blue like a bruise before going black. When the surface light faded, and the bubbles disappeared, the view outside his window could have passed for the dark of space.