Nova

by Lora E. Rasmussen

  A few minutes later, the Captain spied their first target. Odass’s skin was a mossy color, his protruding, round eyes a similar hue. His pebbly scalp was slightly darker and he wore gold ear brackets on his right ear. Odass was dressed in light tan and dark red synth and seemed perfectly at ease as he sat in a plum–colored lounge booth. The Irdoi broker certainly wasn’t alone, for Avara could spot at least four guards attempting to not look like protection, and doing a very poor job of it; another Irdoi, a Gorath, and two Humans.

  “Still no lock on Z’arr.” Lieutenant Commander Adeline’s voice again came over the Shields’ receivers, offering an update without being asked.

  “Got it, A.” Captain Serros responded.

  “You know, you’re actually quite good at this.” Hadarr remarked a few minutes later, half–shouting to be heard.

  Serros laughed at that. “Surprised?”

  “Well, yes, a bit. Your record suggests that to Humans, you’re the ‘soldier’s soldier,’ so to speak. Sadly, that kind of reputation usually means a life that allows little time for anything else for the shorter lived races of the galaxy.”

  Avara Serros made a deliberate choice to be good natured about the comment, accepting the back–handed compliment rather than the insult implicit in the Major’s words. “Well, us shorter lived species may surprise you from time to time.”

  “So I see.”

  Again, Serros got the distinct impression that the Major was studying her, and just for an instant, she felt an inkling of intense curiosity, then once more, Goyan Hadarr’s emotions were entirely barricaded with surprising skill and ease. Avara had never met another that could so completely close–off to her Arca Synergy enhanced empathic senses. It was a somewhat disquieting sensation.

  Approximately twenty minutes later, Adeline’s voice sounded once more, tone simultaneously perplexed and concerned. “Captain, all of the micro–imagers you and the Major placed just went dark.”

  “Is it an issue on our end?” Serros asked, raising her arms to match the syncopated beat pounding across the dance floor.

  “No, Captain.”

  “It means Z’arr is here.” Serros and Hadarr said in unison, looking at each other with faint humor at the realization.

  “And she has enacted counter measures to possible surveillance.” Major Hadarr continued, looking wryly at Serros.

  “Do you think it means she’s marked us?” The Captain asked. The thought was a worrisome one.

  “Unlikely. As I said, she’s very intelligent. I strongly believe she’s just being cautious.”

  “I can confirm now that the micro–imagers were hacked and disabled.” Diana Adeline updated.

  “Can you overwrite?”

  “No. Whatever she did fried the circuitry.” The Ops and Intel Officer answered.

  “All right. We’ll finish this the old fashioned way; with our own eyes and ears.” Serros proclaimed.

  “Agreed. My guess is that she will show within the next fifteen minutes or so.” Major Hadarr stated, eyes narrowed thoughtfully as she moved her hips and upper body to match the music’s rhythm and move in opposite of Serros doing the same.

  The Major was correct in her assessment, for eleven minutes later, Serros spotted their target live for the first time. Focusing her Arca–enhanced vision, the Captain was able to telescopically augment her sight as if she was only one rather than twenty–five feet away. Her first impression of Lieutenant K’llan Z’arr was competence coupled with grace as she moved towards Odass.

  Her second impression was one of remarkable beauty. Z’arr’s loose hair was a brilliant, royal blue that shimmered in the ever–interchanging and pulsing lights of the club, almost like sapphire spun into strands of living silk. Her features included a straight, somewhat delicate nose and large, almond shaped eyes a lustrous, deep violet. Just as the two Quorum Shield Operatives, Lieutenant Z’arr was dressed in everyday clothes to betray no hint of her military background. In her case, flatteringly complimentary colors of black, indigo, and white synth. Despite appearances, Captain Serros had no doubt that just like the two Shields, their target was armed.

  For just a second, Serros and Z’arr’s eyes locked, and Avara felt those lilac orbs slam into her with the force of a K–Blast, felt as if her mind, her emotions, her very essence, were exposed to that vivid gaze.

  Then abruptly, the moment ended and the Captain felt her head pulled down and lips crushed against another’s. Major Goyan Hadarr. Caught utterly by surprise, at first Serros did nothing, then, concerned that their target would escape, she tried to break away but the Vosaia’s response was to pull more firmly onto Serros’s neck and kiss her even more deeply.

  When Hadarr also subtly added a hard, painful pinch with her fingers on the back of Avara’s neck, Captain Serros belatedly realized what her fellow Operative was trying to do, and so settled into the position and returned the kiss with a like amount of apparent enthusiasm.

  A minute later, Hadarr stopped and looked at Serros’s face, her features conveying the excitement of an ardent lover, though her words certainly did not match. “Our target is still present, speaking to the Irdoi. Tell me, what kind of look was that and are all Humans so utterly inept at subterfuge, or is it just you?”

  “Speaking for myself, I don’t make a habit of dishonesty, so no; thankfully, not really a part of my every day job description.” The Captain responded, fighting for just a heartbeat to keep her voice level at the Vosaia’s scathing tone.

  “Ops, we have sight of our objective.” Serros then reported to Adeline over the still open link.

  “Well learn fast, Captain.” Major Hadarr stated adamantly. “I do not want the mission to fail because you’re still using training wheels.” There was no mistaking the irritation in Hadarr’s acerbic tenor.

  “Understood, Captain.” Lieutenant Commander Adeline voiced over the Comm.

  “Don’t worry, I can keep up.” Serros responded to Hadarr with unruffled confidence.

  Hadarr twined her fingers through Serros’s dark hair and made as if to nuzzle the Captain’s neck, conveniently allowing her a clear view of Z’arr. “It looks like the target is concluding her business. When she leaves, we should wait a few moments, then follow.”

  “Agreed.” The minutes trickled by as the two kept up pretense and observation both.

  “You know,” Hadarr started, then grazed Serros’s lips with her own in a second, lingering kiss before continuing, “As a very minor positive, I will say you kiss quite well, Captain.” Again, the Major’s tone and psychic signature were entirely unreadable.

  “Um… Nova Squad is in position and the secured Comm channel is now open to the Squad.” Lieutenant Commander Diana Adeline’s somewhat nervous voice came over their receivers, cutting off any response Serros might have made.

  “Understood, Ops, and thank you.”

  “She’s beginning to leave the table.” Major Hadarr quietly remarked.

  “What’s this about kissing, Captain?” Commander Marcus Perez’s voice cut in, laughter bubbling over the channel.

  “Is that some sort of Human expression for a mission going well?” Major Ca’rrakk rumbled.

  “Oh, I see. Like the Kiss Of Death? I saw a Human produced Vid of that title once.” Lieutenant Naxos commented, his s’s drawn out and sliding like parchment into a folio tube.

  “Yeah, yeah, let’s focus. Target’s on the move; time to commence pursuit.” Captain Serros broke in.

  The Captain and Major nonchalantly made to leave, following the probable route of their target. A few minutes later, Lieutenant Rygel’s voice cut into their ears announcing, “Caught sight of the target; she’s on the rooftop, not the lower level. Repeat, target is on the rooftop.”

  “Copy that. Major Hadarr, you take the street level in case she doubles back; I’ll take the roofs.” Captain Serros ordered.

  The Major nodded once and then was gone, her form a faint blur as she sped away through the crowd down the stairs. Serros
blinked a moment in thought, then she too focused and activated her Arca Dexterity, Speed, and Agility Enhancement, practically rocketing up the stairs towards the roofs.

  CHAPTER 4

  It took Captain Serros less than one minute to make the roof–top and another to override the door locks by utilizing a quick hack with her biotech–based CPA. By the time she reached the roof it was empty but she didn’t let that discourage her; she’d poured over Lieutenant Z’arr’s dossier and knew her to possess a DSA as well. Instead, Serros spent a moment accessing first her SP and then TXL Enhancements, extending the normal range and focus of her vision across the immediate cityscape of Ophere. When that tactic failed, she switched to first low–light and then thermal range.

  There!

  Serros spotted a single, lean heat signature speeding at the rate of close to one mile per minute across the rooftops, gracefully leaping over each obstacle in her path. “Target is on the roofs heading north; in pursuit.” Captain Serros updated her team, then launched herself after her quarry, pace more than matching Z’arr’s.

  Glittering city lights, flashing holo–adverts, the whirring noise of sky transports and the hum of ground vehicles, as well as the blended voices of hundreds of sentients seemed to spin around the Captain as she ran, creating a peculiar, dream–like sense to the experience. The city itself was a marvel of black–glass and bright, steel colored durexium facades. Flat in design, most were well over three hundred stories in height and rooftops some several hundred feet across.

  In seconds, Serros could feel that she was gaining on her target, each passing moment bringing Z’arr closer, especially because the Vosaia seemed to be slowing even as Avara’s momentum was picking up. With a thought, the Captain dropped the thermal vision enhancement of her TXL and adjusted sight back to slightly augmented normal range. When she was only about a dozen feet away, Captain Serros saw her chance as Z’arr prepared to bound gracefully from one rooftop to the next over a twenty–six foot gap.

  Pouring on the speed and launching herself upward through a flashing green and gold holo–advert touting the must–have value of the latest generation of Sphinx CPAs, Serros leaped an additional twenty feet past the gap’s requisite length. She twisted mid–air to land face–foreword and directly in front of Z’arr. At touchdown, Serros executed a slight spin to move with the motion of her target while at the same time, used her left arm to drop Lieutenant Z’arr to the rooftop floor.

  It was a tricky maneuver, one that had to be timed perfectly or, due to impact speed, could potentially fatally stop Lieutenant Z’arr. If she wanted the STF Agent for questioning, it simply wouldn’t do to snap her neck or have her puncture a lung on a shattered rib through carelessness. Not to mention splinter Captain Serros’s own forearm.

  The Shield Operative recognized she had been successful in stopping the Vosaia’s flight when the thud of impact sounded through the city–night. Surprisingly, with a grunt, the brilliant haired Vosaia was able to regain her equilibrium and roll over Serros’s arm, coming to a stop in a rough yet controlled skid some few feet away.

  When K’llan Z’arr rather gracefully flipped upright she found herself looking directly at the muzzle of Serros’s drawn hand pistol, a Talon V7.

  “Who are you and what do you want?” Lieutenant Z’arr queried, violet eyes cold. Serros noted that both her stance and tone were anything but afraid; indeed, her posture was of a predator about to pounce on a late night snack.

  “Captain Serros, Strategic High Risk, Intelligence, and Enforcement Operative. By the Authority of the Quorum, Consulate, and Ministry, you are to surrender yourself into my custody and await charges.” Avara Serros answered calmly, her eyes unblinking, hand steady.

  “What?” Z’arr asked sharply, quick intake of breath clearly audible, then her eyes narrowed. “I think not, Captain.”

  Just as Z’arr finished her last word, a kshh–boom split the relative silence and the roof erupted into a shower of durexium and glass shards even as Serros was slammed backward into the side of an iron colored advert scaffold. Left ear ringing and with the warm trickle of blood slipping down cheek to neck, Serros blinked away dust and grime from the grenade–charge that Z’arr had obviously placed on the ground between them while skidding to a stop.

  Clever; very clever. Avara admitted to herself. But not enough.

  The Captain immediately caught sight of her target again, who had almost reached the opposite end of the three hundred foot span and was about to jump to the next roof. Captain Serros pushed herself to her feet, replaced the hand pistol into the inside of her jacket that she’d managed to hold on to even in the explosion, and set off in pursuit once more.

  “Captain, scanners are reading an explosion. You alright?” Commander Marcus Perez’s voice cut in, worry audible.

  “Fine, Marcus. Still in pursuit. Where is Nova Squad and Hadarr?”

  “Nova’s trying to make position. She’s traveling fast, Captain. Myself, Naxos, and Rygel are about a click and a half away, on the roofs.” Perez answered, his voice sounding heavy with exertion.

  “I’m in the shuttle, two klicks away.” Major Ca’rrakk reported.

  “I am on the ground, working to get ahead of your position and cut Z’arr off; about a klick away.” Goyan Hadarr’s voice chimed in.

  “Okay. Ca’rrakk, keep sight of the target. Everyone else, stay on it.”

  It was clear to Avara that K’llan Z’arr was indeed very, very good. Her speed, her agility and rapid thinking abilities all abundantly distinct as she raced after the Vosaia Strategic Task Forces Agent. Yet despite her skill, the Quorum Shield continued to inexorably close the distance between them. Serros could feel the vibrating pulse of her Arca Enhancements singing throughout blood, vein, sinew, and organs, the kobalt–fueled, microscopic bio–technology forever fused to and inseparable from her physical and cognitive framework at an atomic level. Coupled with her own exceedingly high personal ability, experience, and training, in the end equation, Captain Serros was an Arca VII. She possessed seven different Arca Enhancements, making her a true Arca Savant and outclassing all others in regards to Enhancements except for an extremely rare five percent.

  As remarkable as Lieutenant K’llan Z’arr clearly was, as an Arca IV, she simply couldn’t contend in a flat–out competition such as this race. In fact, the rooftops worked against her. They were too open and too direct; Z’arr would have been better off in the press and flow of street traffic at the ground level. Not surprisingly, Z’arr recognized that she was steadily losing ground and just as Serros step–leaped over a weather–scuffed, open ventilation duck–work, she changed the game once more.

  Feeling the disturbance in the cold city night air, the Captain landed on her feet and executed several tight rolls, barely avoiding half–a–dozen sizzling arcs of electricity from the cluster of swarming hand–drones circling her like crows sighting a dying soldier on the field. Just before she found her feet, Serros drew her pistol and then with deadly accuracy, snapped off shot after shot, all the while weaving gracefully to avoid being scorched by short lances of electricity.

  Swearing softly as she had to bleed three shots for each drone, she found herself wishing she was armed with her standard Volturno SX9s, rather than the smaller clip and non–adaptable, non–automatic Talon. For its concealability it was quite serviceable; for a dedicated firefight, not so much so.

  Though it had taken only moments for the Captain to dispose of the hand–drones, the delay allowed her quarry another lead and the time for another surprise. At the end of the concrete roof, Z’arr tossed second grenade, not at Serros, but instead at a window of the building directly opposite to the roof–edge she stood upon. The grenade stuck to the smoky glass prior to exploding, and before the swirl of glass, concrete, and durexium fragments had even remotely finished settling, the Vosaia dove straight through the newly made aperture.

  Clever again.

  The Vosaia STF Agent had changed the play, taking away the Ca
ptain’s advantage of the open–roof–top chase. Captain Serros’s respect for her adversary’s ingenuity and resolve continued to grow, even as she increased her pace and followed her target through the ruined window. Avara’s landing was somewhat marred as she half slipped and almost lost her footing on glass and dust covered flooring.

  The destruction of the building’s window façade seemed to be somewhat ironic, for the structure was unmistakably purposed to be a glass production company. Row after row of enormous sheets of glass were in clear view as Serros scanned the large, warehouse room she found herself in. Each row was at least one to two stories high, with the glass–panels being of all colors, though Ophere’s trademark smoky–black was definitely the most prevalent. Elaborate durexium frameworks and scaffolding as well as mechanical lifting cranes served to separate, organize, and manage the stacks. There were several lights around the room, but all were on a low setting and with even dimmed light, the illumination reflected wildly throughout the room as it bounced off the massive glass ingots.

  Though she couldn’t see a soul, Captain Serros extended her enhanced senses and after a heartbeat, was able to pick up the steady pat–pat–pat of running footsteps, as well as distant voices shouting in surprise and irritation. Making a quick decision, instead of directly following the retreating footfalls, the Captain swiftly climbed up one of the many scaffolding ladders to the top of the nearest stack. A rapid scan around the room proved the value of the approach, for she could see Z’arr pelting down one of the rows towards the warehouse’s exit–ways. Serros could also make out a few late night work crews, primarily Zirgesh, busily stocking the stacks, and carting the ingots on powered dollies and lifts.

  “Nova Squad, I have Z’arr in a glass panel construction building, upper floors, east–side. Closing pursuit.” Avara reported.