"Take a point, Del," instructed Erion. "Scan for any life signs. We don't want to be taken by surprise." Starfire and Hal waited for the small group of rebels to pass them by and took their places side by side at the rear. They kept the Robo Grazers to a walking pace for over an hour, then Erion called a halt in a small clearing. Silver shafts of moonlight filtered down between the branches of the surrounding trees and a small brook tinkled over pebbles somewhere nearby. Raan steered his mount towards Starfire, lifted a long leg over the saddle horn and dismounted effortlessly. Delta Ten leaned sideways from his mount, lifted Starfire off her Robo Grazer and deposited her on the ground.
"I won't be able to walk properly for a week!" she grumbled.
"You're only half way yet," said Raan.
"I called a halt because this is where we part company," said Erion, dismounting with ease. "Raan, and I take the road east to the Pinnacle and this is where you turn North for the Palace." Delta Ten nodded gravely.
"We shall return with the weapon. If all goes well, we should be back within a few days." They stood in a little group, speaking softly, heads close together.
"Good luck," whispered Raan. "Be careful."
"And you," began Starfire. "Don't take any risks. If you can't get 'The Grennig', wait till we come back. Just try and make it look real." They stood in silence for a moment then shook hands fiercely, Terrellian style. Erion and Starfire did the same, then Raan playfully punched Delta Ten on the arm.
"Look after them, Del."
"Their safety shall be my primary concern," he answered gravely.
"Where's Hal?" asked Erion, scanning the dark clearing.
"I don't think he does goodbyes," said Starfire. "He's probably gone for a quick smoke and a pee."
"I'm here," said a soft voice from the darkness. Hal rode forward and looked down at the small group.
"Damn it, you've even managed to get yourself a sneaky Robograzer!" hissed Starfire.
"Be safe, Hal," said Erion, quietly. He didn't answer her, but she caught sight of his quick nod in the gloom.
"Del, get me back up on this contraption," muttered Starfire, grasping the saddle horn with obvious reluctance. She placed her foot in Delta Ten's hands for a boost upward and swung her leg over the saddle. They set off again, Starfire, Hal, Delta Ten and their guide heading along the north road, towards the Palace, and Raan, Erion and the rebels heading towards the landing pad on Pinnacle Flats, where The Grennig sat, guarded by Galactic Police.
Erion kept looking back at Starfire, Hal and Delta Ten until their silhouettes could no longer be seen outlined against the sky, then, as she had done before on many missions, she put her friends from her mind and concentrated on the task at hand.
"How long till we reach the cave?" Raan asked Raemond.
"At least an hour," he answered softly. "That glow up ahead is the Starport on Pinnacle Flats, where your ship should be. He looked back at the small band of rebels. "Quiet it down, you guys. We'll be at Pinnacle Point in a minute." They walked on in silence, the robograzers threading in and out of the tall trees until Raemond brought the group to a halt at the foot of a low rocky outcrop. "This is the base of Pinnacle Point," he explained to Raan and Erion. "We have to skirt the base of it to get to the cave entrance." They walked on, keeping the face of the mountain to their left, and eventually, Raemond called a halt and parted some bushes to reveal a low cave entrance. They had to dismount and make the robots bend their jointed legs to get them through and once inside, it opened out to make a sizable cave. A couple of the rebels pulled the bushes back over the entrance and activated a hologram to conceal it. They left the Robo Grazers in the cavern and walked to the back of the cave, where it narrowed into a long tunnel. They set off with Raemond and Rigondal at the front, followed by Erion and Raan and the rest of the rebels. They were mostly young men and the whispered banter that travelled back and forth along the line could not mask their excitement. It was pitch black in the tunnel and they lit small wrist torches to guide their way. It sloped gradually upward in a slow spiral and after they had been walking for nearly half an hour, Raemond called a halt.
"Where are we?" asked Erion to Raemond.
"We're headed to Pinnacle Flats on the side of the mountain. Your ship stands on the west side of it, where the mountain side was blasted away by an eruption, years ago. We cleared it and flattened it out. It makes a good landing platform and saved us clearing away the forest that surrounds the mountain. We're more than half way up now."
"Where does it come out?" asked Raan from behind them. Rigondal looked quickly back at him before she spoke.
"There is another cave entrance, near the top. There is a ledge that runs around the point and goes down the side of the mountain. The ledge leads up until it is level with the flats.
"How long before Starfire needs her diversion?" asked Erion. She saw the light cast shadows on the tunnel walls as Raan moved his wrist link to see the chronometer.
"About an hour and a half," he answered. We arranged it for oh-two-thirty. If we start our attack fifteen minutes before that, we'll draw a lot of fire away from Palace."
They had been climbing gently but steadily for the last twenty minutes and the pace had slowed considerably. Raemond raised his hand in the gloom and stopped.
"I've called a halt for now," he explained. "We can talk quietly as we're still twenty yards from the entrance. We have it shielded with a hologram so unless somebody falls in it, they're not likely to discover it." Raan lit a cigar and passed one to Raemond.
"Is everything ready to go up ahead, Rae?"
"Just waiting for your signal," he answered. Raan looked at his comlink again. "Del will give me the okay when they are ready to go."
"I wonder how they're doing," mused Erion.
"There's the launch pad up ahead." Hal parted the bushes in the Palace grounds and aimed his binoculars towards a graceful silver planet hopper. It sat, sideways on, slightly elevated on a small knoll and glinted every so often when the moonlight emerged from cloud cover. Small, upward pointing lights illuminated it from all sides and two Galactic Police stood talking just under its pointed prow.
"Tell me, is there a way to get from A to B anywhere on this planet that isn't below ground or up a mountain?" muttered Starfire, pulling stray twigs from her long tresses.
"There does seem to be a very elaborate network of tunnels and caves in this area," supplied Delta Ten.
"This is where I must leave you," whispered the young girl that had brought them to this point.
"Thank you, Jensie," said Starfire. They touched palms Aurian style and the young girl disappeared back into the undergrowth.
"Life signs approaching," warned Delta Ten. They ducked quickly back into the bushes and waited while a Palace Guard sauntered past. Hal gazed up at the clouds that had drifted over the moons and made his decision.
"He's just what we need and the light is right!" He lifted his left wrist and spoke quietly into his comlink. "Raan? Go now!" He made a sign and Delta Ten slipped onto the small path and crept quickly up to the guard. He deliberately stepped on a dry twig and made a sound which alerted the guard and he spun round, raising the carbine to his shoulder. Delta Ten knocked it from his hand and they began to tussle on the grass.
"Kill him Raemond!" hissed Starfire. "Don't let him get a message to the others."
"I'm trying, Princess!" choked Delta Ten. He was lying on his back and the guard had both hands around his throat. In the end it was Starfire who rushed up to the guard and hit him on the back of the head with her gun butt. He flopped to one side and Starfire offered her hand down to Delta Ten for him to take.
"He isn't dead is he?"asked Starfire as Hal turned the guard over and inspected his unconscious form.
"Just stunned, Your Highness," he answered softly.
"Good, Anton." Starfire addressed Hal with the name of Rigondal's manservant. "Let's get to my ship and get away from here." She tried to sound like the Princess and guessed that the
guard had never heard her speak, but it didn't pay to take chances. They dragged the semi conscious groaning man under cover of the bushes and Delta Ten tied his wrists and ankles in a way that should make it easy for him to escape. Hal had his night binoculars trained on Pinnacle Point, now only a small wedge on the North East horizon.
"Come on, Raan," he murmured under his breath. The first flare ignited almost as though the rebels had heard him. A few distant flashes could be seen and it wasn't long before one of the Troopers guarding the Launch called to his comrade. Hal waited until they both walked to the stern of the little ship for a better look at the display.
He motioned Starfire forward and they ran quickly across the damp grass and threw themselves down at the foot of the incline Hal silently crawled up the slope until he was on the rocky slab that served as a pad, waving Starfire and Delta Ten to follow. They set their guns on light stun, took aim and shot the two Galactic Police in the back. They didn't stay long enough to see them fall, but rushed towards the ship. Delta Ten opened the starboard hatch and it dropped down, revealing a small staircase.
"Come on, Your Highness!" he urged as Starfire flung herself up the steps. Delta Ten followed and waited at the hatch as Hal, seeing that one of the guards was waking, fired at his head and missed him by inches. The guard unconsciously ducked down, but raised his head in time to see Hal lean out from the little ship and pull the hatch upward.
"Get it shut, Raemond!" called Delta Ten, in an exact replica of Rigondal's voice, as the hatch lifted up. The answer was lost to the guard, but he had the sense to drag himself to his feet and pull his companion clear of the rear engine. The two of them rolled down the slope as Starfire fired the lift thrusters and the graceful ship left the ground with a whining roar and hovered ten feet above them, blowing leaves and twigs in its downward wake. The wheels retracted inside the wings and its nose lifted. The rear engine burst into life and it shot upward leaving a bright red rainbow trail in the sky behind it. The guard raised his rifle, wiped the tears from his half blinded eyes and tried to take aim, but he was still shaky from the stun effect and his shot went wide. He raised his wrist and spoke quickly,
"This is Trooper Forty Eight. Princess Rigondal and The Rebel Raemond have just stolen the Royal Launch. Scramble fighters to head them off before they can leave orbit."
Chapter 14
"That's the signal!" snapped Raan as his wrist link chimed into life. He stubbed out his cigar and rose swiftly to his feet, along with Erion, Raemond, Rigondal and the rest of the rebels.
Raemond deactivated the holographic door to the cave, cautiously put his head into the cold, bright night and looked left and right along the narrow ledge. To his left, the path led downward in a gentle slope and disappeared from view around a curve. To his right, the ledge rose quite sharply until it was level with the plateau floor. Although it was hidden from his view by the rock face, the sky above it was ablaze with light from the Pinnacle buildings and from portable arcs that the Galactic Police has set up. Without looking back, he waved everyone on and stepped out onto the ledge.
Erion, Raan and Rigondal joined him to the right, but the others went to the left, quietly fanning out into a rough line.
"Are your men ready on the other side?" asked Raan, quietly. Raemond nodded. There was a similar ledge on the other side of the flats, but it was difficult to reach and several rebels had climbed up the roughly hewn steps on the opposite face of the mountain during the night.
"They've been in place for over an hour. I wasn't sure when they would be needed."
"Right then," began Raan, "everyone set?" The sound of weapons being drawn was his answer and the small band of rebels began to inch their way forward. Raan pulled a small cylinder out of his belt pouch, aimed it skyward and pulled the little string hanging from one end of it. The sky blazed red as the flare ignited and sped upward like a rocket, to descend slowly, burning brightly. It was joined in the bright sky by several others, then the air was filled with the sound of people yelling and screaming as the rebels surged towards the ships, firing at the Galactic Police guards as they went.
Raan and Rigondal headed towards the group of ships clustered on the plateau while Erion and Raemond turned their attention to the Port Authority building, which had been appropriated by the Galactic Police as a bunk house and guard room.
"Try and keep them inside," instructed Erion as they led a small group of rebels towards a burnt out ground car and huddled behind it, taking pot shots at the guard house.
"Keep our exit clear," she ordered to the rebel who was wearing Delta Ten's uniform. "Take two men and make sure we don't get cut off." The men ran off towards the edge of the plateau and turned to face the battle, ready to give covering fire to the rebels on their return.
On the other side of the plateau, Raan and Rigondal led a small group of rebels towards the Grennig. It was heavily guarded and they had to be content with hiding behind the one seater Wasp Fighters and peeking out to fire a few shots at the Troopers. The sky lit up behind them as limpet mines exploded on the hulls of several of the Galactic Police ships. They put their hands over their ears as a ship erupted nearby in a massive thunderclap of sound and then instinctively dived underneath a Planet Hopper as debris rained down all about them.
"Come on!" yelled Raan, seeing their way clear. They sprinted towards the Grennig and Raan activated his wrist link to deactivate its force field as they rushed toward the ship. The welcoming ramp began to lower and Raan and Rigondal headed for it while two men held back to give them covering fire. Raan turned at the top of the ramp to cover the two men as they raced up it to join him. "Follow me!" ordered Raan. He took the internal aircar to the pilot section, threw himself into the front seat and began to press the coloured glass display of Starfire's console.
Outside the Port Authority building, more troopers were arriving by the minute and Erion realised they were now heavily outnumbered. Her wrist link alarm went off and she knew the time she had allowed was up. She raised her arm, fired off a green flare and tapped Raemond on his arm.
"Time to go," she yelled above the din. He nodded and withdrew behind the ground car.
"I'm almost out of ammo anyway," he yelled back.
"Don't run out," warned Erion and motioned everyone back the way they had come. Slowly but surely, the rebels fought their way back to the edge of the plateau. A planet hopper screamed above them and bolts of blue fire rained down on the ground car. Erion and Raemond threw themselves forward, rolling and hitting the ground hard, taking the skin off their hands. Raemond dropped his weapon and leaned back for it but Erion pulled him forward.
"Leave it!" she shouted. The three men Erion had sent back stood up at great risk to themselves and fired past the returning rebels, trying to pin down the following troopers. One of them was hit and went down, but by then a rebel had reached them and picked up his fallen comrade's weapon and turned to help with the covering fire. Erion and Raemond were the last to reach the rim and began to descend the slope when they were blinded by the light from a searchlight on the attacking Planet Hopper. Raemond aimed his rifle in a futile gesture, then the Grennig roared overhead and the Hopper disintegrated in a flying ball of flame. Burning fuel fell like red and yellow streaks to disappear into the darkness below and the hot air smelled of burnt metal. The rebels ran quickly to the tunnel entrance and when they were all inside, Raemond activated the hologram and their entrance was hidden by a reflected view of the surrounding rocks and bushes. They sat huddled on the dirt floor, hearts thumping and chests heaving but trying to gasp quietly as the sound of Galactic Police boots trudged to the entrance and stopped outside it.
"Where did they go?" A disembodied voice called out.
"They must have run down here," called a distant answering voice, "there's a path cut into the rocks."
"Fall in on Barrent," yelled the voice by the entrance, "he's found their escape route." More feet thundered past and they waited until the sounds died away before breathing
out in a collected sigh of relief. One of the rebels made as if to rise, but Erion stayed him with a raised hand and a warning glare.
"They'll be one or two more," she said softly. The man looked to Raemond, who nodded his head and the man sank back down on his haunches. Less than a minute later, more feet ran past and Raemond whispered,
"How did you know?"
"Always happens," she said softly. "Let's go, but get up one at a time." She watched them get carefully to their feet and walk past her then she and Raemond rose to leave. They walked steadily until Raemond told Erion they were more than half way to the bottom and he called a halt for a rest. Erion studied the young men who lounged in the tunnel, knowing the look well. Gone from the eyes was the excitement of battle and gleam of youth, to be replaced by the look of those who had seen friends die a horrible death. Most of these boys had grown up together and, although they knew that some of them wouldn't be coming back, they hadn't realised the feeling of guilt that afflicted those who survived. Raemond left Erion's side to sit by a youngster who couldn't have been more than seventeen. He sat gripping his laser rifle so hard that his knuckles were white in the gloom of the tunnel.
"Are you all right Tomas?" he asked, gently. "Here, let me take that." Raemond made a move towards the rifle, but the boy snatched it out of his reach."
"No!" he yelped. "It's Marcan's gun. You mustn't touch it!" Raemond looked up at a much older man, who lounged against the tunnel wall and drew on a battered cigarette till the end glowed red.
"His brother," he explained. "Didn't make it back."
"Oh," Raemond squeezed the boy's shoulder and turned back to Erion. "If we don't make the cave by oh five hundred, we'll be travelling in daylight by the time we make the labyrinth and we can't chance that. I don't know about you lot but I don't want to sit in this tunnel till nightfall tomorrow." They stood up with renewed vigour and marched forward, young Tomas lurching after the others on automatic pilot.
Starfire and The Planet Killer Page 16