by Brian Fisher
Chapter 56
Kamira Nor unleashed the full fury of hell upon the Ta'Reeth. Her dual Gatling railguns tore gaping holes in the armor of the Ta'Reeth carriers, crippling the giant beasts. The wounds closed quickly, and the creatures continued their relentless assault.
The carriers were heavily armored, but the infantry were not. Kamira's barrage of fire ripped through the soldier's chests, leaving nothing above the waist. She continued to fire, despite the warnings that flashed before her. She was quickly running out of ammunition, and if she wasn't careful, the weapons system was going to overheat.
Glancing down at her displays, Kamira grimaced. Her shields were still holding, but losing power quickly. Her ammunition was starting to run low, the guns were running too hot, and the Ta'Reeth continued to advance. Where was Jason? She thought to herself.
When she looked up, she had her answer. The ship shook violently from the impact of heavy particle beams, as they obliterated the enemy from above. Kamira Nor held a front row seat as she witnessed the manifestation of Ragnarok.
"You o.k. down there?" her husband's voice rang clear over the intercom.
"It's about time you got here." Kamira forced back the tears. It had been too long since she had seen her husband, held him in her arms. Now, he was here. He was finally here to rescue her, to bring salvation.
"It's good to hear you too. I'm sending down a rescue crew. Hold on." She could hear the relief in Jason's voice.
"O.k., could you have Angel send down a couple of her repair drones? The ship down here still needs a lot of work." she forced herself to speak, still struggling to hold her emotions in check. It had been a long fight, one that had taken a heavy toll, and Kamira was ready for it to be over.
"Angel's sending down three drones. Will that be enough?" Jason asked. His voice carried an urgency that she hadn't heard before.
"Yeah, three drones will be fine. I assume there's a shuttle coming too?" Kamira sighed, realizing just how tired she actually was. She felt it deep in her bones, even in her soul. There seemed to be no end to the fight. Fighting begat more fighting in an endless war with no victor, only more casualties.
"Yeah, the rescue crew's bringing a small shuttle. Should be enough for everybody." Jason's voice was clear, not showing any remorse for the hordes of Ta'Reeth that he had just destroyed.
"You might want to a bigger shuttle." Kamira smiled at the thought of Brutus in a small vessel.
"It's just you, Corin Dante, the kid, and the cat right?" Jason asked, the puzzlement evident in his voice.
"Yes, but Brutus is kind of a big cat. Just trust me on this." Kamira unbuckled herself from the turret, and climbed down. Whether Corin was ready or not, she needed to wake him up.
"O.k. I'll send a bigger shuttle. See you soon." Jason called to Kamira as she jogged down the corridor.
Brutus looked like a giant immovable statue, guarding the door to some fantastic treasure. He peered out of the corner of his eye at Kamira as she came near him. His steady gaze caught every detail, watchful for anything that might be out of place.
"Brutus, I need to see Corin. Can I go in?" Kamira felt odd asking the cat for entrance, or asking him anything at all for that matter. There was intelligence in Brutus' eyes that was as undeniable as the laws of physics, yet she could not explain it either. How was it possible that a mere feline could understand her?
Kamira smiled softly as Brutus simply nodded his massive head, and then moved to the side of the door. She patted him on the side as she passed, and pressed her hand against the pressure plate. The door slid silently aside, and Kamira stepped into another world.
Inside the room, Mekala lay sleeping on the floor next to the DioBed. Corin was awake, his legs dangling over the side of the machine. A smile was on his face as he watched the little girl sleep.
"She refused to leave you, you know." Kamira said softly, not wanting to wake Mekala.
"I see. She's something else, isn't she?" he sighed. "I mean, the things that she's been through. Her entire world is gone, and the only people she has right now are absolute strangers."
"She has you." Kam walked over to her friend. "She made sure of that." she said, leaning against the DioBed. "Jason's here with Redemption. They're sending down a crew to help us."
"This ought to be fun." Corin grumbled as he jumped down from his perch. "I'm glad that they're here to help, but I'm not exactly fond of cops."
"He's not a cop anymore, Corin." Kamira stared in disbelief at her friend. She had known him only a short time, but she had come to trust him. There weren't very many people that Kamira actually trusted, but Corin was one of them. The fact that Corin didn't want to meet her husband, hurt her more than she had thought possible.
"Any particular reason that you don't like cops?" Kam turned to follow Corin.
"Hey, you know, I haven't always been on the straight and narrow road." Corin turned back and faced Kamira. "Sometimes you have to do things that the 'moral majority' doesn't agree with. I've been there Kamira. How do you think I got mixed up with the Regiment anyway?"
"I don't know what happened in your past Corin. What I do know, is that you are a good person." Kam stepped closer to her friend. Her thoughts and feelings mixed until she did not know what to do. "I trust you." she said, wrapping her arms around him and holding him tight.
"Kam, you don't want to trust me. I'm not a good person." Corin pulled himself out of her embrace. It felt good to be held by her, but he knew that it was wrong. It was a betrayal of her husband and a betrayal of his conscience. Corin surprised himself when he realized that it would also betray T'Sula.
"There are things about me..." he began, and then stopped when he heard Mekala stir. Corin looked at the little girl. Strange feelings entered his heart. She had just now come into his life, but already commanded so much from him. He didn't mind it. Actually, Corin wanted to give Mekala everything, and ask for nothing in return.
"Daddy." Mekala squirmed, fixing her gaze on Corin. She scrambled to her feet and ran, arms outstretched, to the only man in the room. "Up. Up you." she cried when she reached Corin.
Without hesitation, Corin reached down and picked Mekala up. Somehow, in this insane world, he had become a father. He wasn't ready for this challenge. Corin was ready to face the Ta'Reeth, or fight T'Sula Mir, but the thought of raising a child scared him to no end. How was he supposed to provide for her, to keep her safe, to make sure that she was taken care of? Corin had absolutely no idea.
"Well, you can tell yourself whatever you want Corin, but I'm not the only one that thinks you're a good person." Kamira smiled, placing a gentle hand on Mekala's back. The girl fidgeted a little, and then hugged Corin even closer.
"The repair drones are going to be here any minute, so I've got some work to get done." Kamira sighed quietly to herself. "The shuttle will be here pretty soon too, so you might want to get a few things together for going up to Redemption."
"Yeah, I will, just give me a minute here with Mekala." Corin held back the tears that threatened to pour forth. He hadn't realized just how empty he had been, until this little bundle of feelings had thrust herself into his life.
"Take your time." Kamira quickly excused herself from the room, and forced herself to focus on work. Her feelings still were a jumbled mess. She missed Jason fiercely, but there were also feelings for Corin that she refused to admit. He was a friend, and that was all.
Carnage met Kamira’s eyes when she stepped out of the ship. Pieces of smoldering Ta'Reeth lay strewn across the forested mountainside, like the remnants of an unwanted meal from out of an infant’s mouth. She watched as three of Redemption's repair drones landed only a few meters away. Kamira took out her data pad, and quickly downloaded her instructions to the machines. When she was done with that, she slaved her drone to the other three, and instructed them to begin their work.
Kamira calculated the amount of time that the drones would require for the repairs and upgrades. She wanted to be able to tell Co
rin any of the details that he inevitably was going to ask. Any time that they spent here, no matter why, was keeping them from tracking T'Sula. Having four drones to work with was going to speed things up immensely, but Kamira was still impatient to get back into space and find her cousin.
Dust flared up, and debris flew into the air as a shuttle settled to the ground. It was slightly larger and boxier than a simple personnel carrier. Large barn style doors dominated the rear of the craft, with a ramp that lowered to the ground to facilitate easier loading of cargo. Short, stub wings protruded from midway up the sides, studded with an impressive array of armaments. Sitting just above the rounded nose of the craft was the crew station, wrapped in a dark, armored view screen.
Aft of the crew station was a small door that hissed open as two crewmen stepped out into this new world. Their uniforms were clean and sharply pressed, until they reached the humid jungle air, and then they were instantly damp with sweat. The crewmen paused, and searched the area, until their eyes fell upon Kamira striding toward them.
"Commander." the taller of the two crewmen addressed his superior as he snapped to attention.
"At ease." Kamira was still uncomfortable with the military terminology, but knew that she had to use it when protocol dictated it. "Where's the rest of the team?"
"Ma'am, the Captain said that you had no need for an actual rescue team, so he sent us to bring everyone up to Redemption." Kamira watched the man fidget and glance to his partner. She didn't like nervous people. They usually tried to hide something, or had another unfortunate reason for acting as they did. Either way, she didn't like it.
"Is there something wrong crewman?" Kamira stepped in closer, knowing that she was only going to make the man even more nervous.
"No, Ma'am. I mean, yes ma’am." he paused, closing his eyes for a second. "Ma'am, I don't feel comfortable here, with all of these Ta'Reeth, ma'am."
"None of us do." Kam looked sternly at the man. She could feel some sympathy for him, but she could not get past his nervous behavior. "That's all the more reason for us to get moving, don't you think?"
"Yes ma’am." the crewman said without having to think about it.
"Good. Now wait here, I'll be right back." she turned quickly and headed back to Vengeance. It was only going to take a few moments to get everyone aboard the shuttle, and then she would finally be able to see Jason. Her pace quickened at the thought of her husband. She so desperately wanted to be with him, and to forget the moment that she had wanted to be held by Corin.
Kamira chastised herself for her weakness. She was married. She loved her husband. He was the only man for her. She knew that without any doubt, without a question. Why had she embraced this other man? This man that she trusted, but hardly knew? Why did she feel drawn to him? What was wrong with her? Kamira questioned herself endlessly inside the confines of her mind, where it was safe, where no one could hear her angrily berating herself.
Before she knew it, Kamira was standing in the same room as Corin Dante. He stood there, looking at her while holding Mekala, and not saying a word. There were so many things that they each wanted to say, needed to say, but could not.
"I think that I'm in love with T'Sula." Corin finally broke the silence. It felt good to hear the words that had been with him for so long now. He didn't know why he said them here, to Kamira, but he did. The truth was now out in the open.
"Excuse me?" Kamira asked Corin, unable to form any other words. His declaration had caught her off guard, unprepared for something of that magnitude. Corin was in love with T'Sula? She wanted to kill him, not love him. The thought of this was absolutely preposterous.
"I love T'Sula, Kam." Corin smiled and sighed softly. "She makes me feel complete." the sincerity in his face kept Kamira riveted to hear what he had to say. "I can't explain it any more than you can."
"No. No, no, no!" Kamira yelled. "This isn't happening. You have no idea what you're saying, and this isn't happening. She wants to kill you Corin!" She put her hand to her face in desperation. "We have to go. The shuttle's here. We have to go." frustrated, Kamira turned and walked out of the room, not turning back to see if Corin was following.
Brutus watched Kamira storm out of the room and into the corridor. He cocked his head at Corin who followed close behind her, clearly stunned by whatever had happened.
"She's not going to kill me Kam." Corin called ahead. "We talked about that before the Regiment came. She's not going to kill me."
"You don't know her as well as I do Corin. You've spent a couple of days with her. I've known her since I was born." Kamira stopped in the middle of the corridor and turned to look Corin in the eyes. "Once she sets out to do something, there is no force in the universe that is going to stop her. I love you Corin. You're like a, I don't know, like a brother to me. T'Sula's my cousin. I don't want either one of you to get hurt." Kamira forced the words out. She felt closer to Corin than she would ever admit, but now he knew most of what she felt. "You can't have a relationship with T'Sula. I forbid it." she screamed in his face, then stormed away.
"You can't tell me that Kamira." Corin motioned for Brutus to come with them. He paused only long enough to make sure that the big cat was moving, before he tried to catch up with Kamira. He stopped himself just short of running; the constant weight of Mekala reminded him that she was there, dependant on him.
"I forbid it Corin!" Kamira screamed as he drew closer. She never turned to look at him as they boarded the shuttle. She ignored the crewmen's reactions to the tiny group, and to Brutus, keeping her own company in the solitude of her mind.
Corin busied himself with taking care of Mekala and Brutus, before he sat down and strapped himself into his seat. He kept quiet during the ascent to Redemption. His thoughts wandered from his friends, to his ship, and back again before they finally rested on what he needed to accomplish. Life had never been easy or simple for Corin, and now his life was even more complicated than usual. The love of one woman, coupled with the fury of another, was enough to complicate things for any man.
It took only minutes for the shuttle to reach Redemption. The giant ship orbited high above the jungle planet, resting amid the debris of a Ta'Reeth vessel. Her elegant lines belied the sheer power that lay beneath her skin. Corin knew instinctively by looking at Redemption that the ship was powerful. Yet she seemed serene as she floated in space.
Seeing Redemption like this, for the first time, reminded Corin of when he had first laid eyes on his ship, Vengeance. The memories were bitter sweet, as most of them were. Still, he had no time for remembrance. There was too much that needed done.
The shuttle eased into a mammoth hanger bay littered with debris. When its doors opened, Captain Jason McWilliams was standing there, waiting to embrace his wife.