by Dave Walsh
“Sor’el,” she shouted over the comm. “Right gunner.”
“I can’t get a good shot,” he said.
“Aim toward the guns.”
“I can, but I don’t see him, I can’t get the shot.”
“Just aim and take it, trust me on this.”
“Alright,” he sounded unsure but he aimed and squeezed the trigger, sending a rapid-fire barrage toward the gun. Alva did a quick zoom and saw a guard slumped over on top of the mounted gun.
“That’s a hit,” Alva called out.
“How can you see that?”
“I’ve got enhanced vision,” she said. “Line up a shot on the left one now.”
“Copy,” he said.
They continued in pursuit, closing the gap between them to just a few transport lengths. While the dust was still kicking up, they were close enough for them to start picking off shots at the transports, being careful to avoid the center one carrying the supplies. Sor’el rattled off a few shots at the other transport’s heavy gun but went wide each time while the other gunner returned fire. Alva had to think fast and dodge out of the way of a shot, almost sideswiping Zun’thir’s car. “Aim to the right a hair,” she called. He took another shot, just barely going wide. “Right more!”
“I’m trying, keep her still!” he called down, forgetting about his comm.
“You’ve got this,” she said. “Just concentrate.”
More shots came in, and Alva was forced to once again take evasive maneuvers. The transport bucked right, and it took all her power to correct it before the transport jolted, alarms buzzing all around her. “What’s wrong?” Jum’en asked.
“Took a hit to the left engine,”
“Alva, come in,” Zun’thir’s voice crackled over the comm.
“Yeah,” she said. “Things are a little hot over here.”
“I see smoke, are you hit?”
“Left engine is hit, Jum’en is seeing what she can do.”
“Change of plans,” he said. “We’ll swarm and force them to stop. You hold position, clear?”
“Clear,” she sighed. This wasn’t how she had envisioned this run going and it was important to her to be the tip of the spear for this attack, but without a left engine, they couldn’t keep up a high-speed pursuit. The rest of the Wild Ones followed Zun’thir’s lead, flowing like a flock of birds around the convoy from a V-formation into flanking around the three vehicles before finally enclosing them with Alva in the rear, Zun’thir in the front and two on each side keeping them boxed in. The back door to Zun’thir’s transport blew open and one of the Wild Ones stood with what looked like a giant launcher pointed at the transport in the middle, them quickly decelerating, Alva having to catch herself and make sure not to slam into them.
The entirety of the convoy and the flock of Wild Ones crawled to a stop, tension mounting along with the understanding that things could turn ugly in a hurry. Alva looked back at Jum’en still trying to fix the engine while Sor’el manned the mounted gun. “Kenta, Jum’en, gear up,” she said. “Sor’el, we need you up there watching our six.”
“Copy,” he said.
“Alva,” Zun’thir’s voice came through.
“Yeah?”
“Take the lead on this one.”
“Oh,” she said. “Yeah, I got it.” She switched her comm to the main band and swallowed hard. “Alright everyone, in pairs, drivers keep those engines warmed up and gunners keep a lookout. The rest approach but let me talk to them first. Got it?”
“Copy,” their voices filtered in almost in unison.
“Let’s move,” she said, grabbing her pulseaxe and kicking the door open, jumping down with Jum’en and Kenta following closely behind her. She carefully moved around her own transport before approaching the cargo transport in the middle, motioning for Jum’en and Kenta to flank on each side while she went with Jum’en along the left side. “Keep an eye on that left gun, Sor’el.”
“No movement,” he said.
“Approaching the door,” she said, pulling her pulseaxe over her shoulder and holding it at the ready. Alva banged on the side of the door with the blade of her ax; the windows were tinted and she couldn’t see inside but heard low voices. She banged again on the door, and this time it slowly creaked open, an older looking man in a pristine uniform stepping out with his hands out.
“I don’t want any trouble,” he said, stepping down slowly with his hands out. Jum’en grabbed at his uniform and pushed him up against the side of the transport, his head smacking against the aluminum side.
“Good, we don’t want any trouble, either,” Alva explained. “Now tell your men to stand down and this will all be over in a hurry.”
“Wait,” he said, a faint hint in his eye of familiarity. “I know you.”
“No, you don’t.”
“I do, I do,” he was smiling.
“Tell your men to stand down.”
“Oh right, right,” he said, nervously fumbling for his comm. “Stand down, stand down.”
“Thank you,” she said. “Now we can have a civilized conversation.”
“Civilized?” He let out a nervous laugh. “With a demon? I know who you are.”
“Do you? I’m interested to hear how.”
“You’ve been all over the news,” he said, nervously fumbling with his hands. “A part of the resistance. They say you were dead, they say the gods brought you back to seek vengeance on Cronus and—”
“They say a lot of things,” she cut him off.
“But you are here now.”
“So you think.” Alva was growing agitated with him. The Wild Ones were already in motion, unloading the contents of the cargo transport. The twinkle in the eyes of the driver was wearing thin on her patience. Oystein’s plan was working and her legend was growing even without her in Krigar carrying out whatever schemes he was hatching for the public eye. Like it or not, she was a visible figure in his revolution and she needed to take control of it.
“I thought you were leading the Krigans, though,” he mumbled. “Not the Wild Ones.”
“Consider them good friends of mine,” she said.
“My gods,” he said. “I can’t believe that I—”
Alva brought the barrel of the pulseaxe up and smashed him in the temple with it, his head snapping to the side and his body falling over into a heap. She let out a sigh and looked over to see Zun’thir standing there laughing at the scene. Alva turned flush and stomped off back toward the transport, motioning for Jum’en to follow her. “C’mon, we need that engine at least operational.”
“Copy,” Jum’en followed behind her.
033. Of Plans and Failures
Jace
There was an odd calm in the apartment when Jace woke up in the morning on the couch. It was early, just before dawn, but the sun was streaming through the blinds of the large glass door that led to a balcony. The balcony brought back memories, most of them happy memories of how he and Ro would spend time out there together when they first moved in. It didn’t matter if it was watching the sunset over the city or rise, they had the perfect view from the north-facing balcony; the sun rose in the west and set in the east.
Jace stood looking out the window when he felt his stomach grumble. He could go for some coffee and something to eat, but he realized he hadn’t lived in this apartment since Ro died, which meant that even though the housekeepers were keeping it neat and tidy, they surely weren’t keeping a fully-stocked fridge when there was no one there to eat any of the food. He thought about checking on Katrijn but knew better at this point than to wake her up and instead decided to try to scare up some food for when she woke up. They hadn’t really spoken much the night before, but things between them felt good, like there was a new level of understanding and appreciation.
It was difficult for him to ignore that there was a spark between them and that he was starting to develop strong feelings for her. Well, starting to feel like he was being dishonest with himself. He was u
sually a reasonably rational person and storming off as he did wasn’t exactly rational, it was an emotional decision. He had been trying to ignore it and it felt especially wrong that he was mulling over these feelings while inside the apartment he and Ro had lived in together. Even if she was gone it felt like she was still lingering around every corner and for a moment the night before, he had woken up on the couch and almost went and collapsed on the bed next to Katrijn. He caught himself at the door and stopped himself, but a part of him almost just gave in anyway.
He needed some time out of the apartment anyway to clear his mind. Jace brushed through the lobby smiling and nodding at the girl at the desk, the same one who was there the day before. “Hello Mr. Krios,” she said. “I’m sorry about the mixup last night, I didn’t know that you and Mrs. Krios had returned, we hadn’t seen you in quite a while.”
“Yeah,” he scratched the back of his head, pausing at the door. “We’ll be back here for a little bit. Not sure for how long. Sorry I didn’t let anyone know.”
“Oh, it’s no problem.” Her smile was large and unsettling to him. “We’re sorry about the confusion and any difficulties it may have caused, we just believe in keeping everything secure, especially with all that is going on in the city of late.”
“It’s been pretty crazy out there,” he said. “Speaking of the city, is there anywhere nearby where I can get some coffee and breakfast, maybe? We’ve been off-world for so long now that I’m not even sure what’s nearby.”
“Of course,” she beamed. “There’s a little cafe just ’round the corner. Head out and take a right, then take a right on the corner and you’ll see it. Their coffee is great,” she lifted up a cup to show him.
“Thanks, I appreciate it,” he nodded to her, walking out the door and feeling the balmy heat hit him like he had stepped into a furnace. He wished they had chosen a better time of year to execute whatever kind of half-cocked plan they were going to end up rolling with, because Krigan summers were not his favorite by any stretch. The cycles out on the fringes had left him accustomed to his climate-controlled Pequod, space docks and transports. Very rarely did he have to stand out in the sun and face the elements.
It was still early but the streets were bustling with life. Parents were walking with their children, seeing them off to school, transports were zipping by and city workers were tending to the sidewalks and streets, ensuring that everything was working smoothly. The contrast from the poorer district he had had to walk through was a stark one, but he tried to push it out of his mind while he rounded the corner and saw the cafe the girl was talking about, the Omega Cafe. Their sign was shaped in a model of the Omega Destiny and the inside was filled with various memorabilia from the ship that flew from Earth to Andlios. This definitely wasn’t there when he had lived in the area, that was for sure.
Jace ordered two large coffees and a sack full of Krigan pastries, hoping that Katrijn liked them. He didn’t have much of a taste for them but knew they were pretty popular. It probably wouldn’t matter, neither of them had eaten anything the night before, they simply came back to his apartment and both crashed after what was a rather stressful day. Jace had eaten a few rations and assumed that Katrijn had done the same, but he was out of rations now and chances were that she didn’t take many with her either. Back in the apartment, he set the coffees down on the counter and pulled a pastry out from the bag, taking a bite of it and feeling it melt in his mouth. He went for another bite when he heard Katrijn approaching.
“So that’s where you went to,” Katrijn’s voice came from behind him. Jace spun around, pastry still dangling from his mouth while she chuckled.
“Oh, sorry.” He pulled it out of his mouth. “Yeah, I got us some coffee and something to eat. I figured we’d both had enough ration packs for a while.”
“Who knew you were so thoughtful?” she said, walking over and snatching up the coffee on the counter as well as a pastry from the sack. “Lemon kransekake? How’d you know?”
“Know what?” he asked, taking a sip from the coffee and feeling it almost burn his tongue.
“These were always my favorite growing up here,” she said, taking a bite of one and washing it down with some coffee. “They remind me of summers here in Krigar.”
“I aim to please, I guess,” he said, taking another sip of the scalding hot coffee. “This isn’t too hot for you?”
“No,” she laughed and shook her head. “Why, is it for you?”
“Maybe,” he said, taking another pastry from the sack. “I think I burned my tongue on it.”
She replied only with a laugh and a head shake, which made him turn a little red. “Oh c’mon. we should get ready and head back soon, Loren’s going to be worried sick.”
“I messaged him last night after we got back,” Jace said.
“So did I, but still, you know how he worries about me being exposed like this.”
Katrijn
The walk back was uneventful, although oddly tense. Jace seemed to be on high alert, which she would have to guess was an order from Loren. The chances of her being found out were incredibly slim, she knew that and Loren most likely knew that as well, but it gave Jace something to focus on and feel included in, which was important after his display the day prior. She had to hold back the laughter a few times, but she had to admit that she appreciated how seriously he took defending her. Somehow he had forgotten that first fight they were involved in where she did most of the work with her knives while he sat back, although he did have his moments, she had to admit.
A lot of their hopes hinged on Loren being prepared for them—when they showed up—with some sort of plan. It had been only 24 hours or so, but Loren had proven himself to be quite adept at throwing things together and their numbers were not going to be growing, it appeared. She could be wrong about that and they could return to the stronghold to find Trella back with a host of Krigans, but she very much doubted that would happen. Instead, it would be Loren hopefully exhausting his and her uncle’s contacts to help ease things along for them.
The abandoned factory did its job and they had almost passed by it on their own. The whole area was run down and most of the buildings were in a similar state of decay and abandonment. There was only a faint marking right above the door of a Krigan pulseaxe that told them that they were in the right place. It felt strange walking back into the factory after seeing so much of Krigar for herself, knowing they’d just be back down inside the stronghold again, cut off from the people they were trying to liberate.
Loren was sitting at the great table surrounded by projections of scrolling text and video feeds, not at all surprised by Katrijn and Jace strutting into the stronghold. Without looking up he smiled and shook his head. “Took you two long enough.”
“It’s hot out there,” Jace said, tugging at his shirt collar.
“And I’m the princess here.” Katrijn sat down at a chair near Loren. “I didn’t know you meddled with my records, Loren.”
“Yep,” he said, still studying the projections. “Thought it would be a good idea to get Eja Krios finalized before we showed up here uninvited. You were lucky.” He looked up at her with the smile washed off his face. “You know that, right? If those beat cops had pressed charges and your mugshot showed up on the official ‘net, well, yeah…”
“I know,” she said. “It just kind of happened, alright?”
“You are so unbelievably lucky, Kat,” he reiterated. “Never pull something like that again, you got that?”
“I know, I know, look,” she quickly tried to change the subject. “What have you come up with? We have both been anticipating what kind of plan you’ll come up with.”
“Ah,” Loren said, clicking his holoscanner and the projections disappearing into thin air. “About that. I’ve really been pouring through everything and I think we need to wait.”
“To wait?” She looked at him in disbelief. “What about this whole Cronus festival and that Hedlund girl’s movement?”
<
br /> “It would be prudent to act if we were with them,” he said. “The thing is, we sent Trella to test those waters and we haven’t heard from her since. For now, we have to consider that door closed to us. If they make a play in public we might be able to take advantage of it, but otherwise, it’s safer for us to just wait this out.”
“I don’t like this,” Jace said from across the room. “Just waiting? This place is private, but after yesterday I’m just a bit more concerned…”
“You were the one who ran outta here, man,” Loren said. “I’m not saying you were wrong or anything, but I’m just saying.”
“I know, I know,” Jace said.
Katrijn understood that it would be fruitless to argue with Loren over the plan, even if she didn’t like it. There was no play right now—that much was clear—but there was a feeling in the air out in the city that they were on the precipice of a massive change. The officer at the precinct even mentioned how uneasy it all was; the poor people were starting to feel empowered and it reminded her of how her father and uncle had helped to impassion the working class aboard the Omega Destiny to drive the Fourth Fleet out.
The rest of the day was spent in relative silence, a callback to before Jace walked out. She understood that Jace was sort of embarrassed, both for storming out like he did but also for the previous night. He stood for a long second in the doorway to the room, she could sense it, like he was considering climbing into bed with her. It was difficult to ignore the magnetism there was between them; even if it was faint at first, it was growing. Jace was a strange guy and a bit aloof, but he meant well and he never once doubted her, even when she was doubting herself.