by Selina Rosen
"I think maybe you're judging yourself, Drew," Arcadia said calmly.
Drew spun back around and started back down the hall with purpose."What the fuck is that supposed to mean? Why would I judge myself? I'm not doing anything wrong. This operation has become unprofitable. At any moment we could be bombarded. I'm leaving, and I'm taking my money with me. There's nothing bad or evil about it. It just makes good plain sense."
"I didn't say it didn't. I also didn't say that I was the one with morals and ethics. I implied that perhaps you were," Arcadia said, a hint of laughter in her voice.
Drew stopped and spun on her abruptly. She stood nose to nose with Arcadia, and punched Arcadia's shoulder with her forefinger."You wash your filthy mouth out this minute."
"Sorry," Arcadia said with a smile and a shrug.
"Come on, let's get this show on the road," Drew said spinning back around and walking faster this time.
"If you say so," Arcadia said.
"Damn it, Arcadia! Quit doing that," Drew said over her shoulder."I don't care. I don't care about my stupid sister or the stinking country. All I care about is my money and my empire, and I'm not going to let these idiots ruin all that I have worked and grifted to get."
"I know that."
"I said, knock it off!"
"All right, I will."
"If you keep it up, I'm going to leave you here."
"If you have to."
"Dylan, smack the shit out of her," Drew ordered hotly.
"No, she'll hurt me bad. I don't know what the hell you're actually even fighting about, so leave me the hell out of it," Dylan said.
Drew ignored them both. She knew what she had to do. If her sister knew her "secret" vault was at Hepron Station, so did other heads of state. If other heads of state knew, it was a sure bet that the Lockhedes knew. And if they knew, they'd figure out she was here, and they'd aim every bomb they had at them. She and her money weren't going to be here when that happened. None of this was her fault. She hadn't caused any of this shit, why should she have to suffer for it?
Putting the vault in her chambers would have been too obvious. The vault was hidden under a sliding panel in the farthest of the six loading bays of the station.
She ordered the area cleared, and by the time they got there they were alone. She opened the secret panel and punched in a code. The floor opened, and when they had walked through, it closed behind them. Six doors and six codes later they were standing outside the main vault.
"How does it open?" Arcadia asked, seeing no recognizable panel.
"Ah! Now you see, people, that's the beauty of it." She found the secret panel, flipped it open, and punched some buttons on it, which caused a long thin panel with thousands of points of light to pop out."A retinal scan can be very easily duplicated, finger prints are the same way, and voice activation is a joke. But did you know that each tongue has its own unique signature?"
"I knew yours did," Arcadia answered with a smile.
Drew smiled back, then continued to explain."You can get a cold in your eye. A scar can screw up your fingerprints, but what the hell could happen to your tongue?" She stuck her tongue on the pad, and nothing happened.
"Oh, I don't know, Drew," Dylan said angrily."Some idiot drunk could let some alien whore paint God only knows what on it."
"This can't fucking be happening!" Drew tried it again and again and again, until her tongue was completely dry, and still nothing happened. Then she went completely ballistic. She started kicking the vault door and screaming, "You stupid worthless forty-hundred-thousand iggy piece of crap! Give me my fucking money! You hear me? I said give me my fucking money!"
Arcadia turned to Dylan as they both ignored Drew's rampage."Look on the bright side, now you can continue to try to bed Stasha."
"Oh, I am sooo over her. I tried to help console her after she heard about Zarco's death, and she called me a perverted pig. Hell, I might be perverted, but I ain't no pig."
"How were you trying to console her?" Arcadia asked with a knowing smile.
"I dove between her legs."
"Hell, that always works with Drew."
"Do you think you two assholes could stop with your little tête-à-tête and come help me?" Drew yelled.
Arcadia and Dylan looked at each other, shrugged, then walked over and started kicking the safe and cussing.
Drewcila was less than amused.
"I'm not leaving without my money, Van Gar!" Drew screamed at his picture on the viewing screen.
"Any idea when that crap on your tongue is supposed to go away?"
"None at all, but I'm pretty sure it's fading."
"Well, I hope the shit at least did what they promised it would," Van Gar laughed.
"It's not fucking funny, Van, and for the record, no. Not as far as I could tell. What a fucking mess!"
"New game plan?"
"Yeah, meet us in Capital. We'll be leaving here within the hour and taking up residence in the castle. After all, that's the last place those Lockhede bastards will think to look for me. I've got to find a way to win this fucking war. Quick."
"Tell the truth, Drewcila, you're sort of glad you have to stay there and save the country," Van Gar needled.
"I wish everyone would just get off my back!" Drewcila spat back angrily.
"So you're alone now. No one to show off for. Did you miss me at all?"
"When did I have time?"
"Ah, come on, Drew . . ."
"All right! Damn! What the hell is happening to me? Yes! Yes, I fucking missed you."
"And do you love me, Drew?"
"You're pushing your luck, Van Gar." She closed the transmission.
Van Gar looked at the blank screen and smiled.
"So?" Shreta asked from behind him.
For answer he addressed the com."All hands, prepare for entry. We're going planet side. We will be landing in the Barion capital port Ionan."
Drewcila moved quickly now. Her ship was fueled and ready to go. A short planet hop was a simple maneuver, and she'd be piloting.
Stasha pitched a bitch and said she was not going back to the castle with Drew, so Drew had her sedated. Stasha, Margot, and Facto were already on the Garbage Scow. Drew left final orders for the station, grabbed her computer, and she, Arcadia, Dylan and Jurak followed Dartan and the news team, who were filming their departure.
Arcadia stopped suddenly and grabbed Drew's arm."I hear something."
"Everyone stop!" Drew ordered.
Arcadia's head swung around and up to their right. As they followed her movements, everyone saw the missile coming through the clear domed ceiling above them.
They ran, scattering in different directions. Drewcila, Arcadia and Dylan dove behind a huge rock planter as the missile hit. The dome held against the impact, but blew into a million pieces with the explosion.
Drew covered her head to protect it from the debris that rained down on top of them. She yelled into her comlink."We are under attack! Repeat. The station is under attack! Man all battle stations! Stomp these fuckers' asses!"
She pulled her side arm, although she wasn't sure what she thought she was going to do with it. This was an air strike, so there was really nothing to shoot at. Still, how could you feel battle ready if you weren't armed? Arcadia and Dylan must have felt the same way, because they had both pulled their weapons as well.
She could hear the sounds of the station's defenses as the anti-aircraft guns started firing steadily.
"They must have sent everything they had," Drew said.
Arcadia nodded.
Drew looked around at the devastation, looking for a safe passage way to get them to her ship, and saw Jurak lying amidst the rubble. She ran up to him with Arcadia and Dylan following behind her. They grabbed him and pulled him into a more protected area. He didn't look good. In fact, it looked as if his chest had been flattened. He didn't seem to be in any real pain, which was of course the worse sign of all.
"Hey, Jurak, what were yo
u trying to do? Catch that thing?" Drewcila asked, moving a bloody strand of hair away from his face.
"I'm dying."
"No, no, you're not, Jurak. You're a little squished, that's all. Here," she reached in her pocket, pulled out the hat, and stuck it on his head."There. Now that ought to do it."
"Not this time." The life left his eyes, and his body went into spasms. Drew tried to hold him still. When he stopped jerking, she was still holding him.
"Drew," Arcadia said putting a hand on her shoulder."He's gone. We have to get out of here."
Drew nodded, let go of Jurak and stood up."Now I'm pissed off! This way. Let's go!" She took off running through, around, and over the debris. Arcadia and Dylan followed with Dartan and the news crew not far behind them.
"Incoming!" Arcadia yelled, and again they scattered and hit the floor. This time the devastation was immediate since the dome was already broken. As soon as the dust began to clear, Drewcila screamed.
"Move! Move!"
"Drew, I don't see Dylan."
A quick search found him lying unconscious with his right leg stuck under a large piece of fallen ceiling. The whole place looked like it could come down with one more direct hit.
"Dylan, can you hear me, man?" Drew asked.
There was a muttering sound that echoed from his lips.
"What did he say?" Arcadia asked at her shoulder.
"Sounded like, go on, leave me here, save ourselves." Drew started to leave, and Arcadia grabbed her arm and shook her head no.
Drew sighed, and she and Arcadia put their shoulders to the chunk of rubble."Hey, you think some of you stupid media fucks could stop filming long enough to help us out here?" Drew ordered.
They slung their equipment down, still running—after all, they didn't want to completely lose the moment—and helped. Arcadia pulled Dylan out as soon as his leg was free and slung him unceremoniously over her shoulder. They started running again. They finally made it out of the building and onto the loading bay. Above them was an air fight of epic proportions, and it was impossible to see who was winning. Not that it really mattered, because down here on the ground, where they all were, all that really mattered was that all the shit that was being shot off machines above them was falling around their heads.
They made a run for the Garbage Scow. When they were all in, Drew closed the hatch and ran for the flight deck."All hands prepare for escape velocity."
"What?" Arcadia asked in a near panic.
"Hang with me, chick, I've got a plan. Everyone strap in, secure the wounded." Drewcila launched herself into her seat, punched some buttons, and the ship's engines came on line and started powering up."Take off in ten, nine, eight . . ." She punched the launch button, and they shot up in the air like a cat with a firecracker up its ass. Debris and a small ship or two bounced off their hull, doing little or no damage.
"You skipped a bunch of numbers, Drew!" Arcadia accused, hanging on for dear life to a seat she hadn't had time to fasten herself into.
"Well, here they are. Pulling the warp engine off line in seven, six, five, four, three . . ."
"Are you fucking crazy!" Arcadia forced herself into the seat, and quickly fastened her harness.
'. . . two, one." Drew took the warp drive off line, and the ship stopped abruptly, and then started falling. She put the interplanetary engines on line, and their decent slowed. They finally stopped just a few thousand feet above the dog fight below.
"Arcadia . . .
"Can't talk. Stomach in tail," Arcadia said with a gulp.
"Take command of the weapons console."
Arcadia nodded, silently unstrapped herself, got up, staggered to the appropriate console, and strapped herself in, double-checking her harness.
"Van Gar, this is Drewcila. Where are you?"
"I was on my way to the capital. What in hell's name are you doing? Trying to rip your ship in two?"
"It would take a hell of a lot more than that to blow my ship. I'm in a fucking planet of trouble here, Van. Hepron Station—you know, the same Hepron Station where all my iggys are?—is under fire. I swear, it looks like the Lockhedes sent their entire fleet. I blew out of there quick because I wanted to be on top of the bastards, not under them."
"Well, that at least makes sense."
"I'm going to attack."
"Are you fucking nuts?"
"I didn't know that was ever a question. Get your ass over here and back me up."
"Drewcila . . ."
"I'm going in. Are you going to come back me up, or leave me blowing in the wind?"
"I'm coming, but at least wait for me."
"No can do. They killed my favorite lackey, and I'm royally pissed," Drew said simply and started the ship moving again. She looked at Arcadia, who was silent now."Well, aren't you going to tell me that we don't need him here?"
"No. I know you well enough to know that whatever you're planning probably is insane. We definitely do need Van Gar now. His skill was never in question." She smiled then."If it had been, he wouldn't have been any competition whatsoever."
Dartan had forced his crew to follow him to the bridge where the queen had said they could stay, but that they would have to find something to strap themselves to, as she fully intended to join the battle. Dartan had never stopped reporting, and his crew had never stopped shooting, and they were running live all over Barious. This was the story, this was the moment for which he would be remembered throughout the history of Barion journalism, and since he might very likely get killed in the next few minutes, he was going to make it count.
"The queen has moved her ship into a position where she can very easily see the battle going on below us and over Hepron Station. Our forces are obviously taking a beating. But the queen's ship is a large class freighter with a very thick hull, and we are told it carries more weapons than it's legally allowed to carry . . ."
"Hey, idiot boy!" Drew screamed."Did it ever dawn on you that the Lockhedes might actually watch TV, too? Why don't you just go ahead and tell them exactly where we are and how to kill us!"
"Sorry," Dartan said sheepishly.
"Don't be sorry, be smart."
Dartan nodded."Cut the audio. For now stick with visual."
The queen stuck a cigar in her teeth and lit it with her laser side arm. The ship seemed to have momentarily stopped. The Queen took a long draw on the cigar and holstered her side arm. Leaving the cigar clenched between her teeth, she puffed the smoke out and then announced through her teeth."Hang on, boys and girls. It's party time!"
She punched it, and the ship went screaming into the battle. It hit two small enemy planes, and they blew up. Apparently the ship was big enough and strong enough that such impacts did no damage at all.
Then the ship seemed to spin completely around.
"Targeting frigate," Arcadia announced. The ship lurched with the recoil as the guns fired a large missile. The frigate exploded in a ball of fire, and Drewcila pulled the nose of the ship up and over the burning wreckage.
Dartan figured out what was happening. The queen was maneuvering the ship into the best firing position, and the lizard woman manning the weapons station was targeting and firing at the precise moment that it would do the most damage. To do this as successfully and as seemingly effortlessly as they were doing it, it couldn't have been the first time. Drewcila moved the ship through the corridors of both enemy and friendly planes and ships, targeting the bigger and more dangerous Lockhede ships. The Valtarian aimed and fired, picking them off with deadly accuracy. But they were starting to take hits themselves now, and the computer was squawking about where and to what extent the ship was being damaged. It looked like they had met their end when they came nose to nose with a large frigate that had her canons aimed right at them. If they both fired, they'd both get hit, and one of them would go down. The other ship didn't seem as damaged as theirs sounded like it was. Then suddenly the ship in front of them exploded.
"What took you so long?" Drewcila asked
with a hint of laughter in her voice.
"I hit traffic," a strong male voice replied.
Dartan looked at her, and longed to tell the people what he was seeing. She wasn't afraid. There was part of her, perhaps the larger part, that was actually enjoying this. There was no fear on her face, nor in the voice of whoever had just ridden to their rescue.
"Target?" the male voice asked.
"Ship eight," she answered, and Dartan assumed they had some grid that marked the ship's locations and numbered them to make it easier to target."You go starboard."