Star Runners 2: Revelation Protocol

by L. E. Thomas

  “You heard the briefing. Command is trying to shuffle resources around the quadrant. Earth only has so many fighters as it is. More are coming, but it’s going to take time. You know what we have to do. We have more ready fighters than we do pilots. I know you’re tired and you don’t have much combat experience. If San Francisco is about to be hit, we will need you up there.”

  Austin clenched his teeth. “I’ll be ready.”

  “Good.” Nubern tapped the side of the bed. “First thing tomorrow, you will be transported to Atlantis. Once you have your Trident prepped, we have been authorized to carry out shrouded patrols just off the coast of California.”

  “Sounds good, sir.”

  Austin smiled. He welcomed the idea of getting back into the cockpit. Of course, he had never flown in Earth’s atmosphere, never dreamt he would have the chance.

  “Any idea what we’re looking for, sir?”

  “Everything.” Nubern nodded. “Anything that seems out of place. Any ships coming into the atmosphere. We don’t know more other than the fact Earth is in the crosshairs. Intelligence still says San Francisco will be hit.”

  Austin nodded and slid his fingertips over the laser wounds, felt the smooth skin.

  “Your skin has regenerated and created new flesh,” Nubern said. “You won’t be able to tell the difference.”

  Austin shivered. He thought of the flash of intense burning when the laser hit him. He could still remember the smell of burning flesh. He shook his head.

  “It doesn’t matter,” Austin said, still gazing at the wall. “I won’t be forgetting this soon.”

  Nubern touched his shoulder. “You won’t ever forget it, son.” He smiled. “I’ll see you on Atlantis tomorrow. I’m heading out now.”

  “Ready to get down there, sir.”

  Nubern paused in the doorway. “Ah, Stone, one more thing.” He nodded to someone in the hallway and a nurse appeared carrying a tablet in her hands. “You received a message during the night.”

  Austin blinked. “A message? For me?”

  “Yes, Lieutenant. I will see you tomorrow on Atlantis.” He nodded and walked away.

  The nurse smiled and set the tablet in Austin’s lap. A white screen glowed with a white arrow in the center. “Hit play when you are ready.”

  Without another word, the nurse left the room.

  Austin swallowed. He had no idea who would have sent him a message. He took a deep breath and pressed the arrow.

  The screen flickered, white static flashed. The image stabilized, revealing a beautiful and familiar face.

  “Hello, Rock,” Ryker “Scorpion” Zyan said with a smile. Her black hair was pulled back. She wore a Tizona blue sweatshirt, the silver sword on her chest. Behind her stretched a gray mat like you would see in a gym. “I am glad you are okay, Austin. Nubern sent me a message.”

  Austin cocked his head to the side, bringing the tablet closer to his face as Ryker spoke.

  “The doctors say my leg has recovered. I have learned to walk again and I am getting stronger. I should be able to return to duty in a couple of days.” She looked at her hands. “You know, I wouldn’t have been able … I wouldn’t be, ah, I wouldn’t be here at all.” She cleared her throat. “Anyway, I know your leave hasn’t gone the way you had hoped, but I’m so glad you are safe now.”

  She leaned closer to the camera and stared. “I wish we could have spoken live, but you know the distance between the Legion capital worlds and Earth is too far.” She shook her head. “I’m stalling … I wanted to invite you … here. After my rehab is complete, I will wait for you if you, well, want to come here. I will wait. I miss you and hope you would like to come see me. If you want. If you can’t and you want to stay there for leave, I understand. I, ah, hope we can be stationed together. Take care and I will be in touch, one way or the other.” She touched the camera, gave a crooked smile, and killed the transmission.

  Austin sighed, staring at the black tablet. He wiped at his eyes not allowing a tear to fall.

  *****

  Base Prime’s hallways seemed empty compared to yesterday. One nurse passed by his room earlier in the morning, smiled, and continued on her rounds. A medical robot trolled by after the nurse, its servos whining.

  Austin sat up in his bed and stretched, reaching his hands high above his head. His new skin tingled, but no pain flashed as he moved. He shifted his legs out from underneath the blanket and slowly stood as if he traveled on a ship in rough seas. Wobbling, he steadied on shaking legs.

  The nurse who passed before stepped through the doorway. “Ready to get up and going, Lieutenant?”

  “You have no idea,” Austin grumbled weakly. “My legs feel strange.”

  “You haven’t used them in a couple days,” the nurse said, descending upon him like a doting mother. She checked his body sensors, pulling electrodes from his body. “It will feel strange at first, but you should be fine in a couple minutes. Just don’t go play any Ember Ball tourneys today.”

  Austin blinked. He looked at the nurse’s pale skin and purple eyes. “Ember Ball? Never heard of it.”

  Her eyes widened like plums. “You’ll have to try it. It is all the rage on the capital worlds right now. Might even replace Jouncy as the main pastime.”

  Austin shook his head and chuckled. “I don’t know what you are talking about.”

  She stopped working and looked at him. “Have you not been to the capital worlds?”

  “No.”

  “Where are you from?”

  “Here.”

  Her jaw dropped. “Really? You’re from Earth?”

  “Born and bred.” He shrugged and slipped on his freshly pressed Tizona blues. “I’ve only had my wings for a few days.”

  “You’ve had quite a ride then.” She shut off the final monitor at his bedside. “I hope to see you at a game in the future.”

  “Yeah. I will have to go sometime.”

  Austin strolled through the empty halls. He passed doctors and two officers focused on tablets. Mostly he paid attention to the tingling in his legs. He paused at a terminal station and checked for the location of his mother’s room.

  When he found her, she focused on a television in the corner of the room. The news played images of the San Francisco car bombing. Text along the bottom of the screen announced the solar flares had come to an end, but “hundreds of thousands” complained about the interruption in their cell phone coverage. Austin shook his head and looked back to Mom.

  The skin on her face seemed stretched, her cheeks more prominent. Puffy red welts mixed with black circles under her eyes. Austin composed himself as he stepped in the door. When she looked to him, the tension in her face eased.

  “Austin,” she whispered, her voice raspy. “Oh, honey. You look so handsome in your uniform.”

  He clasped her hand. “Mom, how are you?”

  “Oh, I’m okay. I think I’m okay.”

  “I’m so glad you are alright. When they told me, I wanted to come see you. They said I couldn’t move, something about my skin repairing itself.”

  “They told me you were okay, so I knew. I can’t tell you how glad I am.”

  Austin sat on the edge of her bed near her feet. “You sure you’re feeling alright?”

  She shrugged. “Some of this technology is beyond me and I’m a nurse.”

  “You’ll learn.”

  “I don’t know. I’m old.”

  “Only when you think you are.” Austin smiled. “Besides, you’ve always been the one to teach me everything. Guess it’s my turn now. I want you to be out there with me, Mom. I know we’ll be on different ships, but I hope you want to do this. I can’t imagine leaving you here.”

  She rubbed his hand. “Are you okay?”

  “Before all this happened, I was having trouble realizing I would have to leave Earth for years at a time. That meant I’d be leaving everything I’ve ever known.” He looked at her. “I didn’t want to lie to you. In a funny way, I’m relieved
you know. I just wish you hadn’t found out like this.”

  “I know, honey.” She squeezed his hand. “When I saw you in the woods, the gunfire all around us, the forest catching fire, I thought I’d never see you again. Are the doctors sure you’re going to be fine?”

  He took a deep breath. “Yes. They healed the wounds and regenerated skin over the burns. We’ve been here a couple days, but I’m feeling well enough to return to my duties.”

  Her brow wrinkled. “Duties? What does that mean?”

  “It means I’ll be transferring to Atlantis soon. They need pilots, Mom. That’s what I do.”

  She closed her eyes and sighed. “I understand. You have to do what you have to do. I just can’t get over, well, I just can’t believe what you went through.”

  Looking away from him and back at the television on a cart in the corner of the room, she wiped at her face. “This isn’t the college your father and I wished for, that’s for sure. I wanted you to have fun, to enjoy yourself, find a little bit of happiness. I didn’t want life to become so serious. You need to enjoy this, Austin. You’ve worked hard and never took a moment in high school to enjoy yourself. You’ve always focused like a missile. You ignored friends. Sometimes I think you only played baseball because your Daddy wanted you to or maybe you thought it would lead to a scholarship. I dreamed you would fall in love, have a job you would be proud of. I thought you were on the path of being happy, finding some joy. But you’ve changed. You grew up and have taken on this responsibility.”

  “I have done what I had to do, Mom, just like you.”

  “Your father would have been so proud of you. He would have wanted to see this. I wish we had time to talk. Do you have time to tell me more? The nurses have talked about you saving your commanding officers, how all of the Tizona Squadron and entire Legion Navy have been talking about it?”

  Blood rushed to his face. Austin held her hand and kissed it. “I need to get going, Mom.”

  “Already?”

  “I need to get there this morning. I’ll miss you, but you will be so busy you won’t have time to notice I’m gone.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “I’ve been told you start your transition classes today.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Because you live on Earth, you are already a Legion citizen by default. The transition classes are supposed to give you the history of the Galactic Legion of Planets.”

  “Oh.” Her eyes widened. “Fun.”

  He smiled. “After that, you’ll begin basic training to serve on a Legion medical ship, if that’s still something you’d want.”

  She smiled like a little girl. “Yes. It sounds fun.”

  Austin nodded and stood. “Once they let you start walking around, could you check in on Kadyn for me?”

  “Sure, honey.”

  “I’m worried about her,” Austin said, his gut twitching. “I can’t believe this happened.”

  Her face grew rigid. “None of this was your fault, sweetie. None of it. You saved us. I’ve been sitting here replaying the past day in my head. The image of you standing in the flames … fighting off those men, protecting us. Kadyn knows, honey. Give her time.”

  He nodded. “I will, Mom. See you soon.”

  *****

  The bright lights of the tube transport room glowed like a star. Austin blew a bubble with his chewing gum as the tube’s hatch moved into place.

  “Welcome to Atlantis, Lieutenant,” the crewman said.

  “Thank you.”

  He reached up for a hand.

  “Get yourself up,” the crewman grumbled and walked away.

  “Thanks a lot,” Austin said, climbing out of the tube. “What’s that all about?”

  “Just drop it.” The crewman glared back at him, his face rigid and covered in stubble.

  The regulations on Atlantis must be lighter than the rest of the navy. Austin had never seen a man on Tarton’s Junction with such a beard.

  Shaking his head, Austin hurried across the room. The door dilated in front of him. The bustling control room pulsated with activity. The dome stretched high above his head. A glowing green hologram of Earth floated above, dozens of red circles covering alert areas across the planet. Beyond, a pair of deep-sea creatures glowed, swimming in three pairs. They shot in different directions as a spacecraft rumbled past. Bubbles danced around like living creatures. He stood with his mouth hanging open, watching the glowing blue fish. Hundreds of staff worked at stations throughout the dome, some staring at standard computer monitors while others worked on holograms.

  Austin made his way down the steps. The staff hurried to different stations, the conversations frantic and rushed, a feeling of tension hanging over the room.

  “I want those six Tridents moved away from the civilian hangar immediately!” an officer yelled, sending staff scurrying like scared birds.

  Austin blinked. Commander Carv Wallace, the man who knew Lieutenant Ryan Bean.

  “Commander Wallace?” he asked, walking toward the muscular man. “Commander?”

  “What?” he barked, his eyes glaring. His expression softened slightly. “I don’t have a lot of time, Lieutenant. Sorry. What’s on your mind?”

  Wallace grabbed a tablet from the table and started walking. Austin shook his head and followed.

  “You might not remember me, sir. We met the other day when I arrived with Lieutenant Bean.”

  “Bean?” he asked, his attention focused on the tablet. “Bean was a good man. Great Star Runner. The Legion will miss him.”

  “Yes.” His legs still tingled like they had fallen asleep; Austin hurried to keep up with Wallace. “I am supposed to report to Captain Nubern. Has he been through here?”

  “Look, it’s Stone, right?” Wallace sighed, gesturing to the tablet. “I’ve got all manner of problems coming through here today. Half the planet’s trying to leave and squadrons from all over Quadrant Eight are trying to arrive over the next two days. Just managing the traffic with people trying to leave and fighters coming in has been crazy. I just had six Tridents diverted to the civie hangar because the control tower fouled up the incoming traffic. Now you want me to page a captain for you?”

  Austin stared at his feet. “I’ll head to the military hangar. I’ve never been here for anything other than shuttle traffic to Tarton’s Junction. I’m sorry I bothered you, commander.”

  Wallace shook his head, placing his hands on his hips. “Look, Lieutenant. Things here have been, well, have been crazy.” He pointed to the far side of the dome. “You head that way and follow the glowing red rectangles on the wall. That’ll lead you to the military hangar where almost every Star Runner currently on Atlantis is staging to begin shrouded patrols. You should find your captain there.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  Austin nearly ran away from Wallace. The man exuded an annoyance with the entire world. His nostrils flared when he stared back at the tablet. The fluid workings of Atlantis had broken away to be replaced by chaos and frenzy. It was like watching a tornado of humanity with Wallace at the center. Austin weaved his way through the crowd.

  As instructed, he followed the glowing red rectangles to the military hangar, passed through a massive doorway and paused. Rather than seeing freighters and shuttles looming in the hangar he had seen before, Trident fighters lined the military hangar from wall-to-wall. Star Runners in different colored squadron uniforms mingled with the mechanics. The crew’s faces smeared with grease and sweat. The pilots studied tablets and conversed in excited tones. Sparks flew from a welding torch.

  “Watch it there,” a gruff voice called.

  “Ah, sure,” Austin said, moving past a pair of fighters he didn’t recognize. They looked related to the Tridents, but had canisters under the wings and two vertical stabilizers instead of one. The bulky nose of the fighter looked like a bulldog with two cannons under the cockpit, much larger than the standard laser cannons onboard the fighters he had seen. Like the Trident,
the wings curved above the fuselage in landing position.

  His feet scuffed the ground as he moved through the madness. He felt overwhelmed. He had never been in a room of this size with this amount of weaponry. It must be what it was like on one of the Legion carriers, but he had never until now realized what it would truly be like to be standing in the center of a galactic power.

  “Can I help you, Lieutenant?”

  Austin turned to see a tall, muscular woman wearing familiar Tizona blue. She had her blonde hair tied back in a bun tight enough to pull the skin back on her forehead.

  “I have orders to report to Captain Nubern.”

  “Nubern?” She glanced up like she was thinking. “From Tarton’s Junction, right?”

  “That’s right.”

  She nodded. “Nubern left with a couple other pilots to help transfer the Tridents from the freighter hangar. Got some geniuses up there running the control tower, but that’s nothing new. Am I right?”

  “Yes.” He smiled, not really knowing why. “Did he leave recently?”

  “Five minutes tops. If you hurry, you can catch him.”

  He gestured back the way he came. “That way?”

  “You got it.”

  Austin hurried back to the dome. He stared at the Earth hologram above as he walked, careful not to crash into the workstations. Green and blue blips soared to and from the planet, signifying the busy traffic coming and going. The hologram flickered.

  Austin paused a moment before he heard it; a shockwave rumbling beneath his feet like an earthquake. The drone of busy workers stopped as everyone looked up from their station. Another rumble shook the ground, somewhere from behind him.

  He turned around. Massive bubbles rushed up into the water above the dome. A light illuminated the disturbed water in an orange light. The lighting in the command center dropped to a dull red.

  “ATTENTION! ATTENTION!” a female voice boomed over the intercom. “HULL BREECH DETECTED IN HANGAR THREE. ALL COMPRESSION DOORS CLOSING. REPEAT: ALL COMPRESSION DOORS CLOSING.”

  In one movement, the crew turned toward the military hangar. Austin looked down at the doors he had just passed through. Water rushed through like it burst through a dam. The rush of ocean water howled like a growling animal. The water swept Austin off his feet. He crashed to the floor, the force throwing him across the room toward the wall. He collided into a desk and ended up in the corner, the frigid water surrounding him. For a moment, he wondered if the entire dome had collapsed. The water rushed around him like an icy bathtub. The frigid water numbed his skin, taking his breath away.