by Ryk Brown
“I don’t give a shit what my orders are,” Jessica said angrily. “I’m going…”
Commander Telles raised his hand. “You need to stop this behavior right now,” he insisted.
“What?”
“There is a crisis. Millions of people are about to die, and your ship is about to go into battle in the hope of protecting them. Your place is on that ship, not running around on the surface of Tanna looking for your friend.”
“That friend has two newborn babies, and a hus…”
“If you cannot follow orders and perform your duties as instructed, you do not belong in that uniform, Lieutenant Commander.”
“There are three other tactical officers on board the Aurora,” Jessica argued.
“And you trust them to perform their duties as well as you?”
“That’s not the…”
“It is the point,” Telles insisted, interrupting her. “How will you feel if the Aurora and her crew are lost because of errors made by the tactical officer who took your place because you decided to ignore the orders of your superiors in order to save one insignificant family?”
“She is not insignificant!” Jessica protested.
“Perhaps not to you,” Telles replied. “But you cannot deny that in the grand scheme of events, they are.”
Jessica stood there, staring at Commander Telles, fury in her eyes.
“Consider this decision carefully, Jessica,” Commander Telles warned.
“The men are loaded and ready to go,” Master Sergeant Jahal reported over the commander’s comm-set.
“Very well,” Commander Telles replied, his gaze still fixed on Jessica’s defiant eyes.
“If she dies…” Jessica said in a low, determined tone.
“Give me her pertinent data, and I will try to locate her and bring her to safety.”
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” Jessica warned.
“I make no promises,” Telles replied. “I said I will try.”
“Try hard.”
“The Ghatazhak always do.”
Jessica turned and headed up the cargo ramp. Commander Telles watched as she disappeared into the back of the Mirai. His left eyebrow went up and he shook his head as he started up the ramp, tapping his comm-set. “Pilot, Telles. Take us to the Aurora.”
* * *
Brill brought the vehicle to a stop at the edge of the crowd. “I cannot go any further,” he told Captain Dubnyk, who was in the passenger seat next to him. “There are too many people.”
“Press forward,” Captain Dubnyk insisted. “They will part, or they will be run over.”
“There are too many of them,” Brill objected.
“Brill, if we do not get onto a shuttle soon, before Alliance forces arrive to take control, it will be too late.”
“How do you know they will come?”
“You must trust me on this,” Captain Dubnyk assured him. “They will come, and soon.” The captain reached over and turned the young man’s face to look at him. “I once told you that for every man there will come a day when he must do the unthinkable in order to survive. Today is that day. You know this to be true.”
Brill reluctantly nodded agreement. He depressed the accelerator pedal ever so slightly, inching the car forward, forcing those in front of him to move aside. As the mob slowly parted, the occasional man beat angrily on the side of their vehicle, threatening to break the windows.
After several minutes of slowly breaking through the crowd, Captain Dubnyk was frustrated with their lack of progress. “Kino, Elaz. Get out of the vehicle and work your way to either side and ahead of us. Go maybe twenty or thirty meters, then fire your weapons in the air. When the crowd begins to disperse, fire into them to create even more panic.”
“What?” Kino exclaimed, surprised by the captain’s instructions.
“The crowd will attack them,” Brill warned.
“No, they will scatter,” Captain Dubnyk said confidently.
“But why fire into the crowd?” Elaz asked.
“If you do not show them that you are capable of killing them, they will attack you, and you will die,” the captain explained.
“Why can’t we just take our chances in here?” Fayla asked.
“The crowd will become even more dense as we get closer to the shuttles,” Captain Dubnyk explained. “If we do not do this, we will be left behind and we will all surely die. Is that what you want? Because if it is, I have chosen the wrong students to follow me to glory.”
A determined look came over Elaz in the back seat. He opened the door, pushing it against the crowd that was pressing on it from outside, and climbed out. Inspired by his friend’s determination, Kino did the same, exiting the vehicle to the right and disappearing into the crowd.
“They will be killed,” Fayla said in despair.
Captain Dubnyk turned to look back at his followers. Their faces revealed their fear and their uncertainty. “If they should die, then we shall respect them for their sacrifice so that we might live.”
* * *
Jessica entered Nathan’s ready room without warning.
“Glad you made it back,” Nathan said, looking up from his data pad.
“I need a shuttle and your authorization to take it to Tanna,” she said abruptly.
“Why?”
“It’s chaos, there, Nathan. I need to find Synda and her family and get them off that planet.”
“I’m afraid I can’t allow that,” Nathan told her, setting the data pad down.
“Can’t, or won’t?” Jessica demanded.
“Excuse me?” Nathan said, not caring for her tone.
“You heard me.”
Nathan leaned back in his chair, folding his hands across his lap calmly. “Close the hatch,” he instructed.
Jessica did not respond, only continued to stare at him.
“Sergeant!” Nathan called. A moment later, the guard appeared at the hatch. Nathan motioned for him to close it.
“Would you like to rephrase your question, Lieutenant Commander?” Nathan suggested politely.
“Oh, don’t play that rank bullshit on me, Nathan,” Jessica warned.
“Fine. How’s this. Shut your fucking mouth and stand at attention…Lieutenant Commander…or I’ll have the good sergeant out there arrest you and throw you in the brig for the duration of this mission, after which you’ll be handed over to command to face charges of insubordination. Is that more to your liking?”
Jessica stared at him for several seconds. Finally, she stiffened up and assumed the position of attention, her eyes fixed straight ahead instead of trying to stare him down.
“I’m going to speak now, Lieutenant Commander, and you’re going to listen. Not talk, but listen. Is that understood?”
“Yes, sir.” Jessica replied, her eyes still looking straight ahead.
“Your attitude has become increasingly worse since you returned from Kohara. I’ve noticed it, Telles has noticed, the admiral has noticed it… Hell, even Vlad has noticed. I’ve cut you some slack because you’re a valuable member of this crew, and you’ve been through a hell of a lot recently. Also, because you are my friend. But this bullshit of storming about and making demands, saying whatever you want has got to come to an end, right here and now. Is that understood?”
“Yes, sir,” Jessica replied.
Nathan sat there for a moment, observing his officer, his friend. He knew how angry she was at him at the moment, but she had left him little choice, as she was setting a bad example for the rest of his relatively young and inexperienced crew, as well as undermining his authority as captain.
“As captain, I do not owe you an explanation,” he said. “However, as your friend, it is the least I can do. I cannot give you a shuttle to go look for your friend, because command has ordered all our shuttles, as well as the Celestia’s, to head for Tanna in order to assist in the evacuation. All we have left are two SAR shuttles, and we need to ensure that those remain available to
retrieve pilots during battle.” Nathan sighed. “Now, go to your quarters, get cleaned up, and get some rest. We jump to Tanna in just under three hours, and I need you at my tactical console.”
“Yes, sir,” Jessica replied, her anger subsiding.
“Telles is a man of his word, Jess,” Nathan added as she turned to exit.
Jessica paused, closing her eyes for a moment. Finally she spoke. “Thank you, sir,” she said quietly before opening the hatch and exiting the ready room.
* * *
Commander Telles walked down the Mirai’s cargo ramp onto the tarmac at the Cobra gunship production plant on Tanna. All around him, people were running away as his Ghatazhak soldiers spread out to secure the area. To his left, a shuttle was lying on its side, on fire, with a number of bodies scattered nearby. The scene was grim, but not unexpected. The commander’s experiences had taught him that when faced with significant risk of death, humans could do just about anything. The chaos he and his men had been sent to control was proof of that.
“Troop jumpers have put down along all sides of the compound,” Master Sergeant Jahal informed his commander. “Marines are establishing an outer perimeter, Ghatazhak will secure the flight line. Boxcars are holding in orbit until we give them the go ahead to land.”
“Very well,” Commander Telles replied. “Begin loading personnel as soon as the area is secure. No one gets on board a transport without presenting an ID and being searched and scanned.”
“Understood. I tasked Sergeant Lazo and a squad of his marines to locate the lieutenant commander’s friend, assuming she is still at her place of residence.”
“Tell the sergeant to do what he can to find her.”
“He has the coordinates of her residence, along with her comm-unit number, and images of the woman and her infant children. I have assigned him a combat jumper as transport.”
“Very well,” the commander replied. “Let’s get to work.”
* * *
Elaz pushed his way through the crowd of people trying to get closer to the two jump shuttles in the middle of the square. He had never in his life seen Tannans behaving like such madmen. They seemed truly insane…yelling and screaming, pushing and shoving. Grown men were even pushing women and children out of their way, forgetting everything they had been taught as Tannan men.
When Captain Dubnyk had first spoken of the ugly side of men, Elaz had not taken it seriously. Like many of the things of which the captain often spoke, they seemed to be from days long past. He knew that humanity had been more advanced technologically back then, but he found it hard to believe that they were still just as barbaric then as they were now.
But what he was seeing today affirmed his belief in everything Captain Dubnyk had ever told them.
Elaz stopped, turning around to look back at the vehicle containing the captain and his friends. People bumped into him constantly, sometimes forcefully, as he stood there, trying to find the vehicle he had left only minutes ago. But the vehicle was nowhere in sight. All he could see was the ever-pulsing crowd of people.
There was a loud roar of engines. Elaz turned to his left, and saw one of the shuttles lifting off. It was barely above the crowd and pulling away as it rose. Elaz watched it for several moments, until it disappeared in a flash of blue-white light.
There is only one shuttle left, Elaz realized. He had to act, before it was too late. He reached in his pocket as people continued to push up against him, taking hold of the handle of his weapon, but he was too afraid to pull it out and use it. He closed his eyes, trying to find the courage, all the while cursing himself for his cowardice and wondering if the captain had chosen the wrong man for this horrendous task.
The screech of energy weapons fire cut through the voices of the crowd. The sound caused Elaz’s eyes to open with a start. People were screaming and yelling, running in all directions and knocking one another over.
Elaz pulled out his weapon and pointed it skyward, firing repeatedly. The crowd of people around him began to flee, seeking to escape the gunfire. He fired several more times. He heard the sound of an electric vehicle engine suddenly surging to full power, and the thud of metal against bodies.
Elaz looked to his right and saw the vehicle accelerating toward the last shuttle, running over anyone who failed to get out of its way in time.
Out of the corner of his eye, Elaz saw several men running toward him. Elaz lowered his weapon, pointed it at them, and fired… over and over again, until all of the men had fallen. He kept firing into the fleeing crowd, shooting people in the back as they escaped. He could hear Kino firing as well. Blast after blast, along with the sickening thud and sizzle as the energy blasts found human flesh.
Elaz felt a tremendous blow against his back, knocking him forward onto his belly. Something struck him in the head, then in the neck, back, and head again. He felt the air leave his lungs as more blows struck him in the back and sides. A terrible pain in his head, warm fluid coming from his mouth, and finally a searing pain in his head followed by blackness.
Two of the four men guarding the shuttle ran toward the sound of the second shooter, firing their weapons as they ran. Just as they left, an electric vehicle rammed into the barricade, crashing through and almost hitting the last remaining shuttle. The other two guards held their energy rifles high, urging those Tannans brave enough to still be in line to quickly board the cargo jump shuttle so they could depart before the crowd got completely out of control. The guards took aim at the vehicle, moving slowly into better firing positions, suspicious of what had transpired.
Fayla practically fell out of the vehicle as the door swung open. “Help me!” she cried out in anguish. “My grandfather! He is injured!”
The first guard saw the attractive young woman in apparent distress, and automatically moved to provide assistance. He was so distracted, that he did not notice the other two men falling out of the open doors on the other side of the vehicle.
The other guard did.
The second guard immediately opened fire, shouting warnings to the first guard as he fired again and again.
Tahri was the first hit, taking a blast to his chest, sending him flailing backwards. Ranin, who had come out right behind him, tried to raise his weapon to fire, but took two shots to his head and neck, killing him instantly.
Brill, staying crouched behind the open driver’s door, eliminated the second guard.
The other guard pushed Fayla aside and brought his weapon around to shoot Oray and Toma as they climbed out of the vehicle, guns in hand. Oray fell to the guard’s first blast, but his second shot went wide as Fayla kicked the man in the knee, causing him to fall. Toma jumped over and shot the second guard in the face, then climbed over his body and charged toward the shuttle, following Brill and firing toward those trying to board the shuttle.
Fayla turned to help Captain Dubnyk out of the vehicle, but instead was handed a weapon.
“Go!” Captain Dubnyk ordered, shoving the weapon in Fayla’s hands. “Help them take the shuttle! It is our only hope!”
Fayla’s eyes widened when she looked at the weapon.
“GO!” Captain Dubnyk repeated.
Fayla turned and headed for the shuttle, shooting at anyone who was not Brill or Toma. She charged to the shuttle’s rear loading ramp, only to find Toma standing inside. There were at least twenty dead bodies around him. Men, women, even children. Toma turned and looked at her, a crazed look in his eyes.
“Toma!” she cried out, as if to ask what had happened.
“The shuttle is ours!” Brill yelled from the cockpit. “I have the pilot!”
“Get the captain,” Toma instructed Fayla.
Fayla spun around to return to the vehicle, but stopped dead in her tracks after the first step. There before her was Captain Dubnyk, standing taller and more proudly than she had ever seen the old man stand before.
“We must depart quickly,” Captain Dubnyk said. “We are not yet safe.”
“What about
the others?” Fayla asked. “What about Kino and Elaz?”
“They are all dead,” Captain Dubnyk said as he walked past her and headed slowly but surely up the shuttle’s loading ramp.
* * *
“Falcon One, Telles,” the commander called over the comms.
“Telles, go for Falcon One,” Loki replied.
“Falcon One, Telles. We have a fleeing cargo shuttle, believed to be hijacked. It left the surface and is climbing to orbit, but has not jumped. Intercept and destroy.”
“Did you say hijacked?” Loki asked.
“Affirmative,” the commander replied, sounding a bit impatient. “Intercept and destroy, before they figure out how to activate the jump drive.”
“Yes, sir,” Loki replied.
“Holy shit,” Josh exclaimed, surprised at the request. “I don’t believe it.”
“Neither do I,” Loki said as he scanned the atmosphere of Tanna.
“Who the hell would hijack a cargo shuttle?”
“I have no idea,” Loki replied. “All I know is that we have orders to shoot it down.”
“But what if it’s a mistake?” Josh wondered as he turned to the intercept heading that Loki had just sent to his flight display. “What if…”
“Not for us to worry about,” Loki interrupted. “Telles says shoot, we shoot.”
“Jump this ship, or I will kill you!” Brill demanded, the barrel of his weapon pressed firmly against the shuttle pilot’s head.
Something beeped.
“What was that sound?” Toma asked.
“It came from there!” Fayla said.
Captain Dubnyk came forward and looked at the console. “It is another ship. Most likely an interceptor, judging by its speed. They mean to destroy us.” Dubnyk looked at the frightened pilot. “I would suggest you do as the man asks.”
“I will not,” the pilot said defiantly.
Brill shoved the barrel of his weapon into the pilot’s mouth. “One last chance.” When the man still did not comply, Brill pressed the trigger, sending the back of the pilot’s head splattering across the aft bulkhead of the cockpit.