"Damn!" snapped Raemond, raising his wrist.
"It is too late to contact them," Fabidon placed a gentle but restraining hand on his arm. "We have already tried."
"What news of captives?" he asked.
"Major Erion and her group were taken intact, of those involved in the Pinnacle Flats, three were killed, two walking wounded and," he paused slightly, "Princess Rigondal and Captain Raan are missing."
"She isn't dead," stated Raemond firmly. "She's with Raan, I know it. They'll be okay."
"We must find a way to release Major Erion," said Fabidon. "The weapon is surely on its way and only she knows of the plans to deploy it."
"She won't be killed yet. Prince Farrell will want to put all of the prisoners on display at his coronation."
"True, Raemond, and they will be expecting an escape attempt to be made then. If we strike now, when they are not ready, we will succeed." Lord Fabidon looked earnestly at Raemond. The young man nodded.
"She was right about the tunnels though," said Raemond, "we can't get in that way." He sat opposite Fabidon and ran a weary hand through his thick hair.
"Don't worry, Raemond. I have a very important friend on the inside."
"I'm sure you do, sir, but those prisoners are going to be guarded by people very loyal to Farrell."
"They will listen to me," stated a quiet voice from the corner. All eyes turned to the old man sitting there in the gloom and a hush descended room. King Lendus stepped into the light, his trembling hand resting on a jewelled staff. All in the room, including Fabidon, rose from their chairs to bow, but he stayed their movements with a wave of his hand. "I am not so feeble minded that I cannot see what is going on in my own palace," he sat down beside Fabidon. "I have been a silly old fool and I must take full responsibility for the predicament that we now find ourselves in. I must insist that I play my part in removing this pretender from my throne." He lifted his head and his keen, amber eyes raked the room. "I shall release the prisoners into my custody on the pretext of moving them to more secure cells. I shall take Moon and my personal guard with me. Once the prisoners are free, they can assist them to flee from the palace."
"Thank you, Your Highness," Raemond bowed low. The old king looked Raemond up and down with keen eyes. "Stand up, young man. You're the one that has designs on my daughter, aren't you?" Raemond passed a tongue across dry lips.
"Oh no, Sire, we've been friends since we were children."
"Your father had the inn in the square. Served a good flagon of ale as I recall." King Lendus smiled sadly. "You can't marry her, you know. Wouldn't be allowed. Not the son of a taverner. Not possible."
"But Sire..."
"Still your tongue, young man." He looked across the room, "Moon, the loan of your sword if you please." It wasn't a pretty weapon. This one didn't have a hilt encrusted with fine jewels and would never be seen in a painting, being held by a handsome knight on a white charger. This sword had a wooden hilt, worn black and smooth by constant use, and a pitted steel pommel. The steel blade though, was perfect and as smooth as silk. Moon grinned, slid the sword from a scabbard at his waist and laid the blade across his forearm so that the hilt was facing the king. The old man used two hands to lift the weapon and placed it on Raemond's shoulder. "By the power of the Royal Court of the House of Mur, I appoint you Aide to the Realm." He lifted the big sword, raised it over Raemond's head and lowered it on his other shoulder. "Rise, Sir Raemond and get me my throne back."
"But Sire..."
"Now, Sir Raemond."
"An honour and a pleasure, Your Highness." Raemond bowed low. "There is a tunnel, I take it?"
"Of course, young man. It leads to my private rooms. No time like the present." He took Raemond's arm and they walked out of the room.
An hour passed before Raemond, Moon, King Lendus and Captain Jakoral stepped cautiously out of a wardrobe in the King's dressing room. The King could not walk very fast but refused all offers of help with fierce dignity. While Raemond could understand the old man's pride, he secretly seethed with impatience as they had to keep stopping to allow Lendus to rest. The men, dressed as they were in the uniform of the King's Private Army, were tolerated in the Palace as they consisted of old soldiers or men wounded in action and incapacitated in some way. Far from being an army, their use was a ceremonial one and mainly consisted of opening doors for the King, helping him to dress and appearing at his side on social functions to make sure he didn't fall asleep.
The little party made their tottering way towards the new high security holding cells that had been erected in the Palace cellars. They were basically white, interlocking plastic cubes, two metres square and containing a contoured bunk, table, toilet and a light that burned in the centre of the roof. The left half of the front was opaque and ridged to form steps, and the right half consisted of a sliding metal gate. They were stacked two high along one wall and were watched over by five bored looking guards. At present the cells were occupied by Erion's group and two wounded men from the Pinnacle assault.
The King walked majestically up to the front desk.
"Yes?" asked the stockade guard in a weary tone. King Lendus raised his heavy walking stick and smacked the guard over the head with it. The other one rushed around the counter and received a sideways blow to his stomach with the jewelled handle end. As he doubled over in agony, the King whacked him on the head as well and he fell to the floor in a crumpled heap. A third guard raised wrist to call for help but was pulled to the ground by Raemond and knocked out with a blow from the butt of his gun. The other two remaining guards, who had been playing pan at a folding card table, were quickly subdued by Moon and Jakoral. The cells were opened and the prisoners exchanged for the now miserable looking guards.
"Very neatly done, Sire," congratulated Erion. She and her men retrieved their weapons and wrist links, donned the spare uniforms that had been hidden about the persons of their rescuers and a courtly procession of King and his Guards of the Private Army, made their stately way back to the King's Chambers without being challenged.
"I can't believe how much I enjoyed that," puffed the old man as he sank gratefully onto his bed.
"You can't stay here now, Your Highness," warned Erion. "You'll have to come back with us for now. Farrell will be furious with you when he finds out how we escaped."
"I know, my dear." The King made to rise and then sat back down again. "I fear that I might have overdone things a little."
"No arguments, Sire," Raemond motioned Captain Jakoral forward and they positioned themselves on either side of the King.
"Oh, very well," he sighed and allowed himself to sit on their crossed hands and to be carried between them.
They were back in Fabidon's castle in half the time it had taken to get there and the happy but weary King was put to bed by two of his servants.
Erion, Raemond and Fabidon held a council of war in the quiet cellar while a meal was being prepared for them. According to Fabidon, there had been no word of Captain Raan or the Princess.
"Raan's still out there somewhere," said Erion, quietly, not wanting to entertain the idea of losing yet another friend on this awful mission, "and if Rigondal is still alive it's because she's with him."
"Princess, wake up!" Raan shoved his hand over the young girl's mouth to prevent any outcry and he could see the whites of her eyes momentarily in the gloom as they opened wide. She nodded quickly and he took his hand away. "Time to go," he said softly. "Ready?"
"I'm ready," she said, firmly. They had napped for another hour or so and it was oh four thirty on a very dark, foggy night. It hadn't been raining, but the heavy mountain mist had seeped into their clothing and they both felt bitterly cold. They stood up as quietly as they could and Raan looked down over the edge of the ridge. The lights of the Pinnacle Flats above them cast an orange glow that seemed to crawl down the side of the volcano and tinge the fog with a dull, yellow hue. It was pitch black out of the glare of the lights, but Princess Rigondal assured
Raan that she knew exactly where they were and set off along the ledge until they came to another set of steps hewn out of the rock.
"We go down," stated Raan, but the Princess shook her head and whispered,
"They don't go down, they only go up."
"Up it is then," sighed Raan. "Let me get in front, Princess." He eased himself around her and started to climb up the rocky face. The lights were so bright up top that he could clearly see the edge of the flats and, listening carefully, he raised his head up until he could see the well-lit base. He was almost directly opposite where he had been a couple of hours before and now the side of the volcano was to his right and he had a completely different view of the Pinnacle Flats. He eased back down, and stood next to the Princess.
"There's two guards walking about. They're tired and bored and I think we can overpower them, but I need your help. Can you do it?"
"What do you want me to do, Captain?"
"Good girl! I just got one question to ask you, then I want you to get out there."
Five minutes later, a shivering and bedraggled Rigondal staggered towards two hard looking guards as they neared her position. She was missing her coat and her shirt was ripped open to show a small, but perfectly formed cleavage.
"Help me, please…" she gasped, pathetically. Raan was impressed. Not only had Rigondal turned out to be a cracking little actress, she had positioned herself between two wasp fighters in such way that they would not be seen on the Port Scanners. They rushed toward her and one of them caught her in his arms as she collapsed.
"Call the base," he stated, "we got another one."
"Nah, don't do that," stated Raan from behind them, "just drop your weapons and put up your hands." Ten minutes later, two surly, sulking guards glared at Raan and Rigondal from where they were tied, back to back, to the strut of a Wasp Fighter as it sat facing towards the edge of the flats and crucially, away from the Port Com buildings.
"Sorry about this," said Rigondal, brightly, clearly not sorry at all, as she stuffed their gloves into their mouths. If looks could kill, she would have dropped dead on the spot as the two angry guards watched Raan and Rigondal melt away into the yellow, foggy gloom.
"You absolutely sure you got full authority?" asked Raan for the third time.
"Yes, Captain!" she snapped," I am Commander in Chief of the Air Force. Please stop asking! You are making me nervous."
"Okay, honey" began Raan, "we'll take that one." They scuttled from fighter to fighter, ignoring the gleaming, Class Six Wasp machines as they stood in their graceful splendour, still in formation in the centre of the flats. Instead, they made for a larger, older looking Class Five Tiger Shark that sat with four others on the far edge of the flat, stone launch pad. They were almost hidden by the shadow of the mountain, but Raan had spotted them from his new viewpoint and decided the risk was worth it.
"Ready?" hissed Raan. The girl nodded and waved her hand over the cockpit locking mechanism. It hummed and the canopy lifted with a creak to stand at ninety degrees to the body of the plane. Interior lights came on and Raan jumped up, caught the hand hold and put his foot in the bottom rung of a short ladder. He stepped up it and swung his lithe body into the cockpit of the old fighter. "Come on!" he snapped, as Rigondal joined him. It was a single seater craft and Raan waved his hand over the starter crystal as the Princess slid onto his lap. Nothing happened and shouts went up as some Galactic Police, headed their way.
"Override it!" gritted Raan. He leaned out of the open cock pit and fired at a Galactic Officer who was in range. The man went down without firing a shot, but others arrived and started to shoot at them. Rigondal pressed her palm over an ident on the panel and the console lit up with a whine. Raan grabbed Rigondal's hand, shoved it on another crystal and the engine fired up at the second attempt. He pressed his gun into Rigondal's hand and reached both arms around her to get to the controls. The fighter wobbled off the ground, emitting warning beeps because the canopy was still up, but Raan still lifted off and turned away from the mountain and out into the night. The Princess kept up her steady firing until Raan steered the old space ship out across the forest. He knew it would not go any higher with the cockpit canopy open, but that didn't matter. Away was what he was after, not up. They almost rounded the old volcano, then the ship lurched to one side with a bang and Rigondal screamed. Another alarm went off and the fighter's nose dipped momentarily. Rigondal kept pressing her palm over the ident as if it would make the little fighter go faster, but Raan leaned around her to look at the controls.
"We've been hit, Princess," he yelled above the engine noise. He steered the old fighter over the tree tops, pulling the emergency joystick with both hands and cursing freely. He knew he had to get the little spaceship down before the spluttering engine cut out. "Brace yourself, Rigondal," he shouted in her ear as he yanked the joystick towards him in an effort to lift its nose, "we're going down!" He cleared the woods and headed for the only wide, flat piece of countryside he could see, glinting below in the moonlight. The river! The fighter hit the water, luckily for them, nose up, and rushed forward, creating a small bow wave. The engine cut out and they were covered with spray as it slowed to halt and settled down on the dark water. It bobbed from side to side, spinning gently downstream and Raan could see the prow of the little fighter was already underwater. "Come on!" he yelled, pushing Rigondal off his lap and out of the cockpit. "We're sinking."
The front of the fighter dipped and the rear tail fin lifted out of the deep, slow moving water as Rigondal slid out of the cockpit and crouched on its nose. The water was level with the cockpit now and gently flowed over the edge and into the pilot section. Raan didn't bother telling the girl to jump into icy blackness, he just gave her a hefty shove and jumped in after her.
"I still can't raise Raan or Rigondal on their comlinks," put in Raemond, worriedly.
"If they're still alive, they'll be hiding somewhere on the Pinnacle Flats," said Erion. She looked at Raemond. "They could be out of range or they've been using the torches and they'll want to conserve the batteries till daylight.
"You're right, of course, Major," said the young man. He knew that Erion would be just as worried about Captain Raan as he was about Rigondal, and he tried not to show his fear for her in front of the others. They were all sitting around the big oak table and Erion smiled as plates of hot food were placed in front of them. "We'll eat this meal, then I'll take Captain Jakoral with me to get The Grennig. Jed will be back here with the Rising Star any day now and I want to be in orbit to meet him." She turned to the tall Captain, "That is if it's all right with you, Jak."
"I'd be honoured, Sir," he grinned and bowed slightly. "I'm rarin' to go, but there are better fighter pilots here, you know."
"I know that, Captain, but I've seen how you handle yourself and I know I can rely on you when the going gets rough." She looked at Raemond. "Farrell told me Rimek had gone to Norbus to fetch the Planet Killer. Hopefully by now, we should be in possession of it. Either way, Rimek knows we're planning some sort of attack. He'll be back with reinforcements."
"I understand," said Raemond softly. There would be no going back now. He knew he shouldn't have said anything, but he couldn't help himself. "What about Rigondal?"
"They'll have to take their chances," answered Erion. I'll try and contact them at day break. Raan would expect that." She gave a yawn and looked at her wrist link. "That's two hours away. I recommend we all try and get some sleep."
Raemond woke her at dawn and she stretched in the chair and accepted a coffee. There had still been no contact with Raan but Erion tried to put him out of her mind. She walked stiffly to the big oak table and sat around it with Raemond, Jakoral and the other members of the strike teams. King Lendus, Fabidon and Moon entered leading the other members of the council and the table was cleared of plates and coffee mugs to make way for plans and maps.
"Because of yesterday's escape, two adults from every house are to be taken to labour camps, ready to bui
ld this Passing Station of theirs," began Lord Fabidon. "The prisoners will be paraded on Coronation day as an example to others." He gave a hard smile and continued. "Luckily, we have more time as the Coronation has been put back until Commissioner Rimek returns. We have not resisted, so the Galactic Police are content with keeping a general watch over the town."
"There are Galactic Police and turncoat officers at every corner," put in Moon, slicing pieces off an apple with a very large and extremely sharp knife.
"Do not worry, Major," Fabidon caught Erion's eye, "when the time is right, we all know what we must do." There was a general commotion outside the door and a young page put his head around it.
"We have two prisoners here, My Lord," he addressed Fabidon. "They were captured trying to enter the castle grounds. One of them says he has important information about the Planet Killer to trade."
"Bring them in," stated Fabidon. The door opened further and a damp, shivering Raan was ushered in, closely followed by a smiling Princess Rigondal. She ran to the King, hugging him tightly."
"Father, I thought you'd be in a dungeon somewhere!" The old man pushed her gently away and looked down at her.
"I have been hearing most complimentary things about you, my child. I am very proud of you." Raan walked quickly over to Erion and they raised their hands in the Aurian greeting. They held hands just a little bit longer than etiquette demanded, then Erion said,
"I knew you'd be all right. Only the good go young." Raan struck a pose from the popular holos of the day.
"Not me, baby."
"Oh, for goodness sake!" Erion rolled her eyes skyward. "How did you manage to get away?" Raan threw her a grin.
"We clobbered a couple of troopers and stole a Tiger Shark. What about the rest of my group?"
"I'm sorry, Raan," Erion knew there must have been more to their escape but decided to leave it for later to ask him. "Only two made it back."
Starfire and The Planet Killer Page 22