Invasion

by L. E. Thomas

  Sighing, she leaned back in her seat. "It all seems so long ago."

  Nat studied her, saw the tension lines creeping away from her eyes. Gone were the colorful makeup and rebellious clothes from her teenage years, replaced by the gritty determination of a soldier, a leader.

  She looked at him and smiled. "At least we'll have a chance to start something new in the Frontier on another world somewhere."

  He offered a tight smile but couldn't look at her. He couldn't escape the nagging belief the resistance was doomed to fail. Even if they got this weapon and disabled the Justice, the Tarrafa cruisers would be tracked down and destroyed. What was left of his family would be killed ... for nothing.

  "Nat?"

  He sat up straight and gripped the stick. "Sorry," he muttered, clearing his throat. "We're almost there. It might feel a little weird when we drop back to standard speed ‘cause the artificial gravity has to adjust for the change. Might feel like your stomach's on a speed coaster, but it's supposed to be normal."

  "You don't know?"

  He shrugged. "First time for everything."

  She gave him a mock salute. "You got it, sir."

  Taking a deep breath, he eased back on the Lutimite Drive. Space normalized around the cargo shuttle, revealing the solitary ice world of Sapphire in the distance. The tension left his shoulders, if only for a moment.

  "You did it!" she shouted, clapping her hands once. "You're amazing!"

  He shook his head. "Lucky. That's all. Amazing will be if we get away with this at all." Pointing down at the inserted flight tablet, he asked, "You sure this thing has proper encryption codes and an authorized flight plan installed?"

  "Trust me." Sliding a hand through her short hair, she added, "You got us here, brother. I'll do the rest."

  The cargo shuttle fell into the orbit of the farthest planet from the system's star. The icy blue world stretched out beneath them. Nat shut down the engines, using his thrusters to settle into a high orbit and allowing gravity to do the rest.

  "Terrier Two, this is Solitary Seven," the earpiece sizzled. "We have you on our screen now. Confirming your authorization code. Stand by."

  As the transmission ended, Nat sighed. "I copy, Solitary Seven. Standing by."

  He shut off his microphone and exhaled. "Now we wait," he said under his breath. "If these codes don't work, there isn't anywhere to hide out here."

  "Relax," Tressa said, raising her head to stare down at the surface of Sapphire. "You have to understand the Zahl think they've won. Our system has been conquered. Most of their attention is already focused on the next operation to move into the Frontier. The thought the resistance is still operating hasn't even crossed their mind."

  He cast a sideways glance in her direction. Captain Tox obviously hadn't forgotten about the resistance. It seemed both sides were sitting back, waiting for the other to make a move. Tox had ordered Nat to report any actions in an attempt to end any remaining insurgency and promised the handsome reward of admission to fighter school. And now Nat had made his decision to give up the way of the Zahl.

  His stomach fluttered.

  Tox would be merciless if the rebellion flared up again. The Zahlian garrison would lash out, striking at the local populace without any thought of collateral damage. Tressa and Da would be caught up in the retaliation, probably killed or captured for information. Nat pushed away thoughts of what Tox would do to him—a traitor.

  "They just verified our codes," Tressa said with a smile, interrupting his thoughts. She arched her eyebrows. "I told you."

  "So you did."

  The acknowledgment came a moment later complete with docking instructions.

  Nat fired up the engines and adjusted the shields for atmospheric entry. As he eased forward on the stick, he asked, "What do your orders say we are here to pick up? Surely it doesn't say anything about transporting something as powerful as a system disruptor."

  "Oh, it's exciting stuff. Replacement parts for cafeteria equipment and medical boosters—all bound for Tarrafa."

  "You mean, Yesro Vraun."

  She rolled her eyes. "Of course, the orders use the new planetary name." Her face hardened as she stared forward. "I'll never use it.”

  The space outside the canopy glowed as the cargo shuttle descended toward the planet. A fiery aura surrounded the ship as Sapphire's atmosphere battled against the shields. The shuttle rocked, rattling the equipment inside the cockpit. His chair rumbled.

  And then they were through, streaking across the clear sky over an endless tundra. The sunlight, dim and duller compared to back home, cast its beams across the ice, glittering across the horizon like diamonds. If it weren't for the landing beacon on his HUD and navigational computer, the world would seem wholly barren and uninhabited. It didn't surprise him the Zahl would use it as a depot. No one would ever think to look here.

  From what he had learned of the operations in the Empire, nothing was left to chance. The Navy had redundancies for their redundancies. In the event the primary presence in the system at Yesron Vraun was threatened, it made perfect logistical sense to have an auxiliary base on the planet farthest from the sun where no one else would look.

  "So how do you plan on getting the disruptor off-world?" he asked, taking a deep breath. "The guards will notice if we start wandering around the base."

  "There won't be many guards."

  "How do you know?"

  She looked at him and playfully slapped his upper arm. "Because you're an actual pilot, Lieutenant Hodges. There's no war out here. In my experience, the Zahl's greatest weakness is arrogance and complacency. Relax."

  "I'll try."

  Following the guide beacons, he took the shuttle down into a canyon surrounded by solid ice. The frozen walls blocked the sunlight, forcing him to hit the forward lights. Up ahead, a thin tower rose twenty feet from the ground adjacent to an octagonal landing pad faintly lit by round orange bulbs.

  "Temperature's 130 points below freezing out there." Nat shook his head. "Hope you aren't planning on taking a walk."

  "I don't think so. Base is underground."

  Nat dropped the landing skids and hovered over the landing pad. Battling strong crosswinds sweeping through the canyon, he eased the shuttle down. Within seconds, ice crystals formed on his canopy. The shuttle shook. Tressa let out a brief shriek, grabbing her seat. The ground beneath them rumbled like an earthquake, and they were being lowered into the interior of the Sapphire base.

  "Here we go," Nat said, cracking his knuckles and looking to his sister. "You said this is where you'd take over?"

  She wet her lips, her eyes flashing back and forth as if she mentally ran through a checklist in her mind. Unbuckling her safety harness, she stood and grabbed her satchel behind her seat.

  "Protocol requires us to stay with the ship while they load what's on the manifest, right?"

  Nat nodded. "Yeah, so?"

  "Okay," she said, digging into her satchel until she found a tablet. "That gives me some time."

  He shook his head, glancing out the canopy as the shuttle was lowered into a shaft illuminated by harsh, fluorescent lights. The outer hatch shut above them, blocking what little light Sapphire had during the day.

  "Time for what?"

  "I'm hacking into their local network," she said, her fingers flying across the tablet. "I need to get a detailed layout of the place, see if I can determine where the weapons are located."

  She worked fast, schematics projecting on her screen as Nat looked over her shoulder.

  "What am I going to do?" he asked, acid riding up his throat as his stomach swirled.

  "You'll greet the crew loading our cargo," she said as simply as if giving instructions to a child. "Once I find the disruptor, we'll decide how to get that on board the shuttle."

  Nat gasped. "Wait, you mean you haven't decided how we're getting the disruptor on board?"

  She shrugged. "I didn't know the layout of the place, and I didn't want to draw suspicion by c
reating a fake order for such a powerful weapon. Nobody was going to bat an eye with an order to get replacement parts for a cafeteria."

  The elevator stopped, and the shuttle swiveled on the landing pad. As it turned, Nat saw a massive underground warehouse stretching as far as a city block. Piles of supplies on steel pallets stacked two stories high to the ceiling. Two men in plain coveralls boarded a forklift and loaded boxes. Once they finished, they turned the vehicle with the flashing lights toward the cargo shuttle.

  Other than the workers, no one moved.

  "Forklift on the way," Nat said, "but I don't see any guards."

  She snorted. "Told you."

  Shaking his head, he stared at the sheer enormity of the supplies in the depot. The base must have taken months to construct. The resources here were enough to keep an entire city afloat for years.

  How could the resistance expect to fight against a force like the Zahl? Even though he had read about the vastness of the Empire, the scale of resources at their disposal amazed him now that he saw evidence of their magnificence with his own eyes.

  "All right," Tressa said, clapping her hands once and popping her thumbs. "I've found the ammunition. Looks like that's on level two. It'll be where the disruptors are located. Should be easy enough to grab it and get it back up here."

  Before he could say anything else, Tressa stood and stripped off her flight suit. Underneath it, she wore the same crimson coverall as the workers on the forklift. She put on a black hat.

  "It'll take them some time to load the other cargo," she said. "That'll give me time to get the disruptor back up here." She held out her hands. "How do I look?"

  He stood. "You have the authorization to proceed to level two?"

  "Well, it wouldn't be much of a mission if I didn't have something saying I should be here. Jax does ... did… great work after all." She pulled a palm pad from her pocket and turned it on, revealing a fake identification. "It's not perfect, but it'll pass a cursory glance. I plan on not being stopped at all."

  Nat sighed, glancing back at the approaching workers. "I guess you'd better go then."

  "Hey," she said, pulling him to face her, "it'll be all right. We've been planning this for almost a year. You've done everything you were supposed to do for the first phase of the operation."

  Nat blinked. "There's another phase?"

  "We'll get to that. Someone has to pilot this disruptor to the Justice." She smiled. "For now, it's my turn. Okay?"

  "All right. Be careful."

  She mock punched him in the chin. "I'll be right back."

  The workers turned the forklift back into the depot, heading for one final palette. Nat watched them drive away, sweat filling his flight suit.

  Where was Tressa?

  The cargo shuttle had been loaded in less than an hour, and his sister was still gone to the second level. He stared up the elevator shaft to see the outer door was still closed.

  If Tressa didn't return soon, the workers would expect him to depart. He couldn't leave his sister—especially not now.

  The workers quickly loaded the final palette and turned toward the cargo shuttle despite Nat's wishes the forklift would break down. The palette crashed to the deck behind him and was pushed into place. Nat remained in the cockpit, still unsure what he was going to be able to do. For a brief moment, he hoped the enlisted men would just walk back into the warehouse and allow the space traffic controller to clear him for take-off.

  "Lieutenant?"

  Nat winced, facing forward and acting as if he concentrated on his controls. "Yeah?"

  "It's Sergeant Bishop, sir," he said in a gruff voice, the words sliding together to form one. "We're finished up back here. Anything else you need?"

  Taking a deep breath, Nat turned his seat around and faced the older man. "No, thanks. All good here."

  Bishop's weathered face tightened. "You all right, sir? You look all sweated out." He gestured to his partner, who stood a few paces behind him. "We've been doing all the work. You need a drink or something?"

  Nat faked a smile and waved him off. "Thanks, but no. We're ready to get underway here."

  Bishop made a half turn, but his body suddenly grew rigid. His eyes fixated on the right cockpit.

  "Where's your copilot?"

  Nat's mouth dried up, and he tried to swallow. "Hmm?"

  It sounded painful the moment it came out of his mouth. He cursed himself for his apparent inability to come up with an excuse. His mind cycled through possible responses, but all he could think was that he was in trouble.

  Bishop squared off, placing his hands on his hips. "Where is he?"

  Blood rushed to his face. "Oh, you know how it is. Command's been tightening up lately. They aren't allowing us to fly in teams on low priority runs like this." He nodded toward his controls. "I'd better get—"

  "You know as well as I do it's regulation to have two pilots on a cargo shuttle for safety reasons." He lowered his gaze. "And this installation is restricted. No one is allowed to wander around without authorization. I'll ask you one more time. Where is your co-pilot?"

  His heart raced as Bishop's partner stepped next to him, wearing the same grim expression as they awaited an answer.

  Nat exhaled and shook his head. "You guys are paranoid. Been out here on Sapphire too long."

  "We've been ordered to be on the lookout for the local resistance in case they get any ideas. It might be true, this dung about dropping the regulation for two pilots. I hadn't heard it, though. I'm not getting a reprimand for—"

  The lights in the station dimmed, blood red replacing the sterile white light. Bishop back away, glancing in confusion at his colleague. Nat held his breath as the workers in the cargo bay halted and scanned the area as the ominous aura washed over everything.

  "What is..."

  Bishop's voice trailed off as he backed out of the shuttle and down the ramp.

  An emerald green flash cracked through the air at the depot’s far end following by return laser fire. Nat winced. Tressa.

  Workers fled the area, leaving forklifts unattended and opened crates forgotten. More battle sounds echoed, followed by screams born of terror and pain. Crimson laser fire mixed with the spitting sound of a foreign weapon exuding green light. Was it Tressa?

  Military police, dressed in red coveralls, rushed into the cargo bay and ducked behind crates. They brandished laser pistols in shaky hands and pointed them down a corridor outside of Nat's view.

  As Nat felt as if he was falling into quicksand, another voice cut through the air.

  "Sorry, boys."

  Bishop and his comrade, Grayson, spun around to face Tressa. She stood at the base of the ramp, a laser pistol in each hand.

  She flashed an arrogant grin. "Had to go to the bathroom," she said. "Now get off our ship."

  Bishop glanced at Grayson, and gave a slight nod.

  Raising both pistols, Tressa fired off a shot into each man. An energy bolt blasted into Bishop's head, knocking him off his feet and onto the deck. His body twitched once, smoke rising from his charred forehead, and he lay still.

  Grayson took a shot to the chest that sent him staggering against the bulkhead. He writhed on the ramp, wheezing. Faint trails of smoke swirled from each pistol barrel. Tressa strolled forward, paused over Grayson, and shot him in the head.

  Nat recoiled, the unflinching cruelty exhibited by his sister shocking him. "How—what—why did you—what have you—"

  "Easy brother," she said, driving her toe under Bishop's corpse and sending him tumbling off the ramp, "you'll give yourself a heart attack."

  Jaw gaping open, Nat watched in horrified silence as his sister sent Grayson's lifeless body rolling off the ship.

  "We have to get out of here," she said. "Something's happening."

  "What is it?"

  "I don't know. Depot's under attack."

  "Your people?"

  "No."

  "Who?"

  Tressa shook her head. "The Zahl make
s enemies wherever they go. Doesn't matter. Let's use the distraction to get out of here."

  Nat turned back to the controls as Tressa buckled in beside him. He fired up the engines and keyed for the shuttle's ramp to close. Swinging around, he glanced over her shoulder into the depot and gasped.

  A liquid emerald fire cut down the military police, their skin oozing and burning as they twisted in agony to the deck. The attackers burst into the cargo bay, short and quick, their black armor shimmering under the red lights as they dealt death across the installation. Yellow eyes glowed through black helmets as they scanned the scene. They weren't human...

  "Tress!" he yelled. "Look!"

  She turned around, mouth dropping open in shock.

  The attackers clad in the black armor made short work of the station's guards, murdering without hesitation. They moved swiftly, unlike any soldiers Nat had ever seen. Just as the shuttle's ramp closed and the craft hissed shut, a human man barking orders entered the cargo bay behind the warriors. Wearing a hood and cloak, he walked with purpose and dignity.

  "Just get us out of here," Tressa said as she turned around.

  "Do you know—"

  "No!" she cut him off. "Leave before those things turn on us."

  "But why—"

  "Doesn't matter, Nat!" She nodded toward the control board. "Let's go! Please!"

  Holstering both pistols, Tressa pulled her tablet out.

  “We need to lower the ramp,” she said without looking up. "I've got command of the elevator, disabled the cameras and killed the internal transmissions. The weapon is on the second level. I'll load it up, open the outer door and we'll be ready to go. We'll be able to get out of here without anyone being any the wiser."

  The elevator rumbled to life and lowered the cargo shuttle to the second level. Another expanse revealed itself, dimmer than the first. Black boxes lined in rows concealed the contents of the depot. Had he been a little calmer, Nat would have been dreaming of the amazing technology locked in the underground depot. But as they came to a stop in front of a forklift hoisting a shiny dark box, he could only think of Bishop and Grayson. They were part of the Zahlian Empire, just like him. All they had wanted to do was to serve with honor, and now they were dead.