Nova

by Lora E. Rasmussen

  Avara was forced to adjust tactics a moment later as a Zirgesh male with a milk–brown carapace and sand colored armor also blurred to meet her and then launched just under two dozen blows, all within the passing of a single heartbeat. Trusting the rest of her Squad to deal with the room’s other occupants and due to the speed of the Zirgesh bruiser’s eight–limbed attacks, the Shield deliberately dropped her Volturno pistol and focused on melee tactics to meet her DSA Arca–enemy’s rocketing punches and kicks. Falling into the rhythms of evasion, attack, and counterattack, Avara skillfully met eleven successive blows from foot, arm and elbow then, with a twist of her left arm, caught the Zirgesh’s middle left upper arm in a slip–grip and slammed her elbow down, snapping the insectoid biped’s arm at the joint.

  Absorbing a glancing blow to the jaw, the Captain then used her foot to capture her opponent’s foot, twisting her knee, and also cracked his leg. Just as he lost his balance and was slipping to the floor with a high–pitched scream, Avara viciously twisted his head to the right. The Zirgesh’s six, small onyx–hued eyes dulled as his limp head lolled to the side and he lifelessly dropped to the gold and brown flooring.

  Quickly surveying the scene, Avara noted that her companions had eliminated the rest of hostiles, yet that which they sought was nowhere in sight. “Where is Risha?”

  “No sign, Captain. But… I do detect that a presence was here and recently vacated.” Naxos answered, his long tongue tasting the air and slitted blue–green eyes pinioning with concentration.

  “Lieutenant Commander Adeline?” Serros queried.

  “No trace of heat signatures exiting the room, Captain.”

  “All right, give me a moment, people.” Avara stated, then once more shifted her Arca enhanced vision first to the more dependable thermal spectrum and then, when that method failed to net results, switched to x–ray mode.

  With an expectant inhalation, Avara reported “There, behind the display case; a doorway.”

  K’llan walked over and a few minutes later announced “Got it!” just before the case rose up into the ceiling above and a short opening was revealed. It led into an unlit passageway beyond.

  “All right, we’re in. I’ll take point. Z’arr, you’re with me; Naxos, take up our six, Perez–in–between.” Serros commanded.

  Settling into a half–crouch due to the low ceiling, Serros and the rest of the team thumbed on the small flashlights located on their weapons; K’llan and Avara with pistols out, Marcus and Belgrum training rifles forward. Moving with sure yet cautious steps, the Squad strained to capture any sight or sound in the dim, half–light of the tunnels which seemed to go on forever.

  As time passed, their route began a gradual decline, the air became heavier and groundwater beat a steady drip–drip–drip from permeated stone ceilings and walls. They had to be even more cautious with their footing so as not to slip on the wet stone flooring. Avara found the scent of clay–filled soil, moss, and fungus to be almost overwhelming, spurring her to consciously reduce her sense of smell as they went.

  What seemed like years later, Avara reacted automatically when she heard K’llan’s warning cry and hurled herself to the side of the cramped passageway just as a score of five foot long, razor–sharp durexium spikes shot from the turf straight up and through the space where they’d been standing an instant before.

  Hearing a yelp of pain but unable to identify the source in the wildly gyrating lights of their weapon barrels, Avara deliberately froze her position. “Status?”

  “Thigh’s diced but nothing I can’t handle.” Perez reported a heartbeat later, a mild note of strain evident in his low voice.

  “A scratch only.” Naxos called out. Not surprising, since he was the last of their trail.

  “I am unharmed.” K’llan responded.

  “Okay,” Serros acknowledged as they all readjusted their sights and lights. “Let’s move; be ready for more surprises.”

  The group again resumed their cautious pace, and Avara could feel the team’s nerves keyed in heightened anticipation.

  The four crewmen of the Excalibur didn’t have to wait long, for no more than fifty paces forward the tunnel walls seemed to issue a slight shiver, and then their world fell into itself as a massive stone slab that must have weighed some thousand pounds or more crashed down on top of them in a spray of rubble and wet–earth.

  Kneeling on the slick–stone floor and arms held above her as if in prayer to some ancient and unforgiving god, Avara gripped the underside of the gray–green tajet rock slab with Arca born strength. She was acutely aware of the uncomfortably warm sensation of blood dripping down her forehead from cuts she’d sustained in catching the hunk of worked stone.

  Feeling like every last cell of her body was being pulverized under the strain, Avara finally gasped out, “Move… now!”

  Marcus caught hold of and dragged the semi–conscious Lieutenant Belgrum Naxos to safety back the way they’d come even as Z’arr called, “Clear!” from the opposite end of the tunnel.

  With a final monumental effort that made Avara feel like her shoulders were being ripped from her sockets and wrists were slowly being snapped back, Avara flexed and then heaved the stone block upward and without delay, leaped forward after the Vosaia.

  Unceremoniously crashing to the ground, the Captain immediately felt armor–covered yet gentle hands cradle her head and upper body. K’llan’s face came into focus a moment later as prickling stars gradually faded from vision.

  “Avara… Avara, are you well?”

  Hearing and feeling the barely checked concern radiating from K’llan, Avara managed to twist her lips into a reasonable approximation of her usual crooked smile. “Ugh. I think I need a vacation.”

  K’llan’s answering smile was coupled with an emotive explosion of flowing relief as she briefly clasped Avara closer. “After this mission, I think you may very well deserve one.”

  Falling into the rich violet of K’llan’s eyes, Avara was abruptly aware of how close their two heads were to one another, barely a breath apart.

  Just as the thought whispered through her mind that it would be so very easy to close that distance, Marcus’s worried voice came over the Comm. “Captain, you all right? Hello! Avara… K’llan, respond!”

  “It’s okay, Marcus; we’re fine. You and Belgrum?”

  “Fair, but I don’t think there’s a way to reach you from this side without triggering a damn cave in.”

  “That’s fine.” Avara answered as she and Z’arr regained their feet. “You two circle back and meet up with Ca’rrakk and Rygel to cover the perimeter. Lieutenant Z’arr and I are going to continue forward. We will apprehend Risha.”

  “Roger that.” The Commander replied.

  “Shall we?” Captain Serros asked Lieutenant Z’arr.

  “After you.”

  Setting off again, the two were greeted by no more traps as they progressed, eventually finding themselves at the aperture of a large, water filled cavern with piercing stalactites jutting from the calciferous ceiling above.

  An eerie glow suffused the hollow and played across the still waters of the underground lake, the illumination originating from iridescent white lichen that sheeted the rough cavern walls. Following the sound of several low curses, Avara and K’llan carefully hunted the source of the Zirgesh voices that were coupled with the choking sound of a temperamental engine.

  Having cautiously worked their way down several muck–pasted stone steps, Serros and Z’arr spied seven Zirgesh attempting to start up the engine of one of a pair of four person water–skiffs anchored at a makeshift dock.

  “Leave it and start the other, Ganzsha.” One of the Zirgesh, a male with cream–colored translucent skin and rich brown armor ordered in an impatient and imperious tone, reedy voice bouncing across the cavern as a musician played pipe.

  Avara could feel fear, anger, impatience, and a total lack of regard for those under his command roll off of the speaker.

  “Yes,
Risha.” Using her right three arms, the female Zirgesh left off from attempting to start the ignition of the first water–skiff and propelled herself over the side to the second skiff. A moment later the action was answered by the fluid–filled rumble–whine of the start of a miniature kobalt engine.

  With a nod to one another, Serros and Z’arr took up position and began to fire their pistols. Two, three, four then five Zirgesh were dropped.

  “By Quorum Shield authority, you are commanded to surrender yourself into my custody, Iak Risha, and answer charges before the Quorum.” Avara’s voice rang across the cavern expanse like a monastery bell sounding at dawn’s light.

  Risha and the final Zirgesh, Ganzsha, who based on the speed of her reflexive evasion was also imbued with a DSA Enhancement, both scrambled to position within the rumbling water–skiff and then the female gunned the craft’s throttle. The two Zirgesh shot forward across the now rocking waters.

  Without hesitation, the Nova Squadmates leaped into the remaining water–skiff, K’llan immediately setting about the ignition controls.

  “Can you start it?” Avara asked, slipping into the pilot’s seat.

  “Give me a minute. She panicked and flooded the engine.”

  “Not sure we have one.”

  “Draining now… okay… got it!”

  Just as K’llan found her seat next to Avara the skiff rocketed after the fleeing Zirgesh. The craft’s floodlights, bouncing with the motion of the skiff racing across the clear underground waters, merged with the glow of native lichen to create a gyrating spin of lancing light, bounding off walls and reflectively skating the surface of the waterway. Fortunately, despite the dizzying sensation, the other water–skiff remained fairly distinct as it represented the single glowing source of movement that was consistently pulling forward. Very quickly the two water–skiffs had reached the outer boundaries of the underground lake. Without hesitation, they shot off the edge of a fifteen foot cataract onto a rushing highway of streaming water, with Avara only barely maneuvering the little craft around jutting rocks and a nature–hewn corner way.

  “You know, I could drive if you like.” K’llan shouted over the engine roar, water spray licking her sapphire swath of whipping hair that had come loose with velocity.

  “Nope, no problem; wouldn’t dream of it.” With the most miniscule of last minute alterations, Captain Serros consistently tracked the skiff around obstacles with a hair’s margin of error, all the while gaining on their quarry.

  “Well, given your vehicular tendencies, I might!” Z’arr replied as Avara narrowly avoided two more sharp protrusions of rock and then gunned the craft over a third, all the while pushing the protesting engine to its maximum speed.

  “This time I get to drive; you get to shoot.”

  “Fine!” K’llan yelled, fighting to be heard over the cart–wheeling engine rumbles sounding through the suddenly low cavern ceiling, even as she was already taking aim. She fired off two blasts of gunfire that both missed their mark, biting into rock instead of armored flesh.

  “Remember, take Risha alive!” Avara cautioned.

  “I know; you keep the skiff steady.” The Vosaia responded as her third shot went off mark due to a sharp cut to the left Serros had made to narrowly avoid the down–plunge of a looming stalactite reaching for the waters of the river.

  Seeing approaching disaster, Z’arr frantically shouted “Go around, go around, go around!”

  “For you, I suppose!” Serros quipped, again gunning the craft over the edge of another waterfall. Despite her friend’s protests, Avara just couldn’t help herself. Wild laughter bubbled in her throat at another narrow miss, propelling them still closer to their target.

  “Avara; you’re enjoying yourself!”

  Helplessly, Avara could feel herself laughing all the louder at K’llan’s indignation, but knew she’d won her co–pilot over when, seemingly in–spite of her best efforts, K’llan also chuckled, caught up in the exhilaration of the chase.

  A spew of pistol fire caused the Captain to again execute some fairly daring dodges as Risha, his six blood–red, round eyes wide in shocked determination at his circumstances, attempted to rid himself of his pursuers.

  “K’llan!”

  “Got it!” The Vosaia answered, and a moment later the Zirgesh screamed as her bullet–fire shredded his middle left arm, causing the pistol he’d been gripping to go tumbling into the waters below. Risha maintained his hold on his second pistol, however, held fast in his right upper hand. With a snarl, the Zirgesh drug–lord withdrew several small metal items from his belt pouch and tossed them towards their speeding craft.

  Instantly, the objects transfigured to miniaturized drones and began firing arcs of white electricity at the two women, causing Avara to veer their craft to the left and scrape along a rock face with an ear–bleeding screech.

  “Looks like he’s borrowing tactics from you.” Avara remarked as she brought their water–skiff back under control.

  “Ha! Maybe it is time to take a cue from you then, Captain.” K’llan responded, even as she withdrew her second pistol and with fierce exactitude, began peppering the drones with fire from both guns.

  As the last hand drone slipped into the surface of the clear water and was immediately left behind, Avara commented, “Not bad. I’d rate you at a nine.”

  “But you have not witnessed my closing act yet, Avara.” K’llan shot back, shifting the aim of her barrels until both were pointed not at the fleeing occupants of the water–skiff, but instead, ahead of their Zirgesh target and to the stalactite–ridden roof above.

  Several stone lances plunged downward and impaled the front–end of the foremost watercraft, causing it to tumble through the air and slam into the left waterway wall. Two very alive but waterlogged Zirgesh rose to the surface and began to rapidly scramble with their multiple appendages so as not to drown.

  Steering their skiff to a bone–jarring yet remarkably well aimed, swerving stop right in front of their targets, Captain Serros turned to her Vosaia Squadmate. “Okay; nine point five.”

  “Please. Don’t be jealous, Avara. The maneuver warrant’s at least a ten.” K’llan responded brightly, her violet eyes sparkling with the enjoyment of a shared, death–defying experience and, Avara knew, the easy banter the two had developed in the last months.

  With a wink and half–grin, Serros replied, “Ten it is, then, but you get to fish them out; spoils of victory and all that.”

  CHAPTER 11

  Having showered and changed into a blessedly clean uniform, K’llan Z’arr left her quarters feeling rather refreshed from her jungle trolling and cavern spelunking adventures on Moxar. As she made her way through the corridors of the QS Excalibur, several crew members paused in their own journeys to demonstrate some sign or other of friendly greeting.

  Over the last four months, K’llan had fallen into the rhythm of life aboard the primarily Human ship with surprising ease. Mornings began with an exercise regime which was supplemented several days a week by sparring bouts with Captain Serros or Commander Perez. Workouts were then typically followed by a rotation of duty. Her evenings were taken up by research and interaction with members of the crew that first began as acquaintances and now were becoming friends.

  The daily mode of starship routine was frequently broken up by on–planet or station missions, normally involving investigation and copious amounts of bullet–fire, contextualized by frequent near–death “adventures.” The Vosaia had found that monotony was a rare state of existence aboard the twelve–deck Human frigate.

  Though most certainly a military vessel with a primarily military crew, the just under one–hundred or so compliment of the QS Excalibur differed from K’llan’s previous observations regarding the feel of interaction between members aboard most units of armed forces in a very real, if intangible way. Specifically, in an emotive and cognitive sense. Each member of the Excalibur truly was among the very best and the brightest in her or his respective ar
ea of expertise, and even the non–senior crewmen were of the highest caliber in regards to ability, knowledge, and skill. The energy of working each day with a crew comprised of such exceptional individuals, coupled with the sense of purpose and infectious joy that most members seemed to operate with was beyond doubt, a vitalizing experience. Though at times overwhelmed by the high passions of a, at least to a Vosaia’s standards, psychically untrained and hence emotionally volatile Human crew living in constant near proximity, K’llan felt that the vessel was beginning to resonate as home.

  True to Captain Serros’s word, becoming a member of Nova Squad was indeed proving to be most engaging. Upon acceptance of the Shield Operative’s offer, Z’arr was immediately commissioned into the Human Ministry Navy as “Lieutenant, Third Class” and assigned to three senior officer–ranked positions that encompassed a like number of spheres of duty.

  First and foremost, she was given the position of Senior Weapons Specialist aboard the Excalibur. As such, K’llan was assigned her own lab on Deck 5 to manage and improve the functionality, usage, and performance of all the individual models of both hand–held weapons and body armor that made up the impressive store of the ship’s armory.

  Given her education and her close to fifty years of experience working in Research and Development as a weapon’s designer for the Vosaia government, it was a position she was exceptionally well suited for. In some ways, she felt like a child gifted with the ultimate play–room, for unlike her employment with either the Vosaia government or later ApexArcatech, her budget was, within reason, nearly unlimited. Her access to cutting edge technology and materials was a mere request away. It was a heady and exciting reality, for it meant that her imagination was limited only by the scope of her own thought rather that constraints outside of her determination.