Starfire at Traitors Gate

by Christine Westhead

  "I was watching you," he said quickly to Hal. "You're really fast with that pistol. And in the hut when you were outnumbered…" He motioned a fast draw with an imaginary gun.

  "Ahem!" coughed Kaura. The young prince bowed.

  "I'm sorry, father." He turned to Hal. "My apologies, sir." Hal smiled grimly.

  "Listen to your father, Prince Grennig. Being fast with a gun is a sure way to get yourself killed. I've seen too many friends die who thought they were the best."

  "But…"

  "That's enough, Grennig. I have let you stand in on this meeting as a personal boon, now please be silent." Kaura turned to face Hal. "Will you help us?"

  "Sure," said Hal, buckling on his gun belt and seating the big pistol correctly, "If you'll fix up our ship."

  "The work has already begun," answered Kaura. "We would have repaired your ship even if you decided not to help us." He extended his wings and glided from his podium to land beside them. "I apologise for misleading you." He motioned with a claw tipped wing and another tunnel opened up in front of them. It was well lit, straight and went as far as the eye could see. A small hover car sat at its entrance and Kaura and Grennig walked with them towards it.

  "Good luck," said Prince Grennig. "I wish I was coming with you."

  "You'd have trouble fitting in that," Starfire pointed to the car.

  "It isn't that, Starfire," the young dragon looked down, sadly. "We're trapped here. I shall never know the feeling of travelling in space."

  "You know that is impossible, Grennig." Kaura spoke sharply. "We have been over this before. Stealth and secrecy are the only things that can keep us safe."

  "But the 'Young Dragons'….."

  "That silly society is naïve and dangerous. I thought I had forbidden you to attend its childish secret meetings."

  "But Father…"

  "Enough!" It was Prince Grennig's fate not to finish a sentence that day. "These are private matters." The huge dragon turned his old, scaly head towards Hal. "We are not far from the underground base of Dolton Blass," began Kaura. "The tunnel will seal behind you." He seemed to want to say more, gathered his wits, and continued. "We are a shy people and value our privacy. We do not wish others to know we are here. Since Dolton Blass came here we have not even dared visit the surface in case we are seen."

  "If that's the way you want it," said Hal softly, "No one will hear about you through us."

  "We are grateful." Kaura bowed and they bowed back before climbing into the car. It set off as soon as they were seated and Starfire risked a backward glance to see young Grennig standing alone, one wing raised in silent salute.

  Chapter 10

  Starfire and Hal sat in the speeding car, the sides of the tunnel blurring into white streaks of light as they hurtled onward. They covered more than thirty miles in only a few minutes, then the little car slowed quickly to emerge in a large, windowless room filled with pipes and metal cupboards. There was a large console in one corner of the room with wiring and pipework leading to and from it.

  "Heating system," muttered Hal after a quick glance. There were two exit doors and they tossed a credit to see which one to take. The choice made, they set off, not seeing the little car reverse back down its tunnel and the walls close in behind it. They found themselves in a long, concrete corridor. It was cold, damp and the only light came from feeble bulkhead lamps, spaced far apart. It was obvious that they were underground and in a place that was not frequented often.

  "Where do you think we are?" asked Starfire as they reached a junction.

  "Now where did I put my map," answered Hal dryly, patting imaginary pockets.

  "Oh, come on!" Starfire pushed past him and stalked off to the right. It didn't take long before they came to another junction but this one was painted in cream and the corridor had better lighting.

  "Look," said Starfire, pointing to the far end. "An aircar; let's try it." The programming panel looked familiar, and with the uncanny knack of a flight console operator, Starfire took a lucky guess and pressed a few buttons at random, bringing them out near the command centre. As they opened the door and stepped quickly outside, a siren sounded. People started to fill the corridors, rising panic making them run.

  "I hate sirens," muttered Starfire, darkly. "It's never good news is it, with a siren?"

  "They're in a hell of a hurry to get somewhere, that's for sure," mused Hal. "Come on, we'll follow them." A second siren started up and a helpful computer informed them that they only had forty three minutes to clear the complex before they were blown to pieces. "Looks like Raan beat us to it," said Hal with a wicked grin.

  "Then let's find the others and get out of here," panted Starfire. They stopped at an aircar terminal where a fight was taking place as too many people tried to cram into the little shuttle. Hal grabbed one and shoved his gun barrel up the man's nose.

  "Where do we find Dolton Blass?" he asked. The computer spoke again.

  "Thirty eight minutes and counting..."

  "Gotta get out!" screamed the man, trying to pull out of Hal's grasp.

  "Dolton Blass!" snapped Hal again. "Where is he?"

  "He'll be in his office if he's not already out of here."

  "Where would that be?" asked Hal gently, stroking the man's cheek with his gun barrel.

  "Follow the red line," yelled the man, twisting out of Hal's grasp to pound on the now closed aircar door.

  "Follow the red line?" mused Starfire. Hal tapped her arm and pointed downward. Several different coloured lines were painted on the floor. They picked out the red one and started running in the direction of the small arrows on it. Five minutes later, they stood outside the double office doors where the red lines and arrows converged. Hal opened them quickly and stepped inside to be confronted by Vander, who stood behind her desk. She had swapped her pistol for a rifle, which she aimed at Hal's chest. She sneered at him with obvious contempt.

  "Halt or I fire, Terrellian." It was very clear that she would rather shoot than not, and Hal stood quietly, his arms by his sides.

  "Lady, I don't have time to argue," he said softly. "Put the rifle down and get the hell out of here alive."

  "Unbuckle that gun belt, 'Terry' and you…." Vander motioned to Starfire with the rifle, "Drop..." Hal shot her through the heart as soon as the rifle's muzzle was pointed away from him. Starfire, who was standing by his side, jumped at the sound. She had thought Raan was fast with a gun, but there really was no comparison. She had not seen his hand move, but Vander was dead, sliding to the floor with her back against the wall, her chest a mask of blood and the big gun was back in its holster.

  "See you're quiet for once," he murmured as he strode past her to the connecting doors. He triggered the mechanism and they opened to reveal Erion, framed in the far doorway, a split second away from death. She dived to the left as Hal went into action again and shot Blass in the right shoulder. His body was mostly hidden by Erion, and it was the only target he could safely hit without endangering her. Blass screamed and spun around to face the other way, the little gun firing at the floor as his fat hand closed on the trigger in a reflex action. Hal shot again, to hit Blass in the back of the head as he jerked away from Erion and into his line of fire.

  "Hal!" she gasped. The two shots were so close together, they sounded as one and she was slightly confused at the sight of two wounds. "I thought I'd had it there." Hal extended his hand and hauled her to her feet, brushing away her thanks. He walked to the headless body, reached down and deactivated the little laser blade in Blass's back. The hilt fell neatly into his hand and he passed it to Erion, who took it and pressed it back into place on her bracelet.

  "I'd say he's really dead this time," said Starfire, looking down at the body.

  "Yeah!" murmured Hal, "if it really is him."

  "Oh come on," began Starfire, "how many idiots that look like Dolton Blass could there be in the universe?"

  "Hey you guys," shouted a voice. "Come on, we have to get out of this place;
it's gonna blow."

  "In twenty one minutes and fifteen seconds," added another one. Starfire smiled broadly.

  "Raan! Del!" they grinned at one another like idiots for a split second, then Hal broke in sardonically,

  "Do we have a group hug right here, or do we get to the surface first."

  "Hal!" sighed Erion, "we were just having a moment there; something you wouldn't understand." She marched past him. "Blass's personal aircar is through here. It has top priority." They all piled in and Erion said, "Can you hotwire it, Del?"

  "There is no need, Major," answered the android, holding the severed hand of Dolton Blass over the ident call pad. The aircar moved off immediately and two minutes later, the door opened directly into the vehicle park.

  "There's the truck!" called Raan, "come on!" They rushed over to it and Delta Ten opened the hatch. Raan quickly started the ATV and pulled the heavy vehicle out into the stream of traffic, pushing smaller cars out of the way. The hover cars were faster, and many overtook the cumbersome ATV, but they were out into the bright sunlight with twelve minutes to spare. They surged forward at full speed then Raan stopped the truck with seconds to go.

  "We'll need full aft shields," stated Delta Ten, firing the emergency anchors into the ground.

  "Three.. two.. one!" he called, switching on the aft scanner. They all watched but nothing happened for a few seconds, then the ground shook beneath them and they grasped their seats for support. Smoke started to pour from the tunnel and the sound of several muffled explosions could be heard. Suddenly, the sky lit up and their scanner whited out. The temperature alarm shot off the scale for a split second then died down to a safe level and it was over. When the dust cleared, they could see that the cliff had collapsed over the tunnel entrance. If there was anything left inside, it was probably sealed forever.

  "Del, scan for life signs, " ordered Erion.

  "There are no signs from the complex, " he began, "but there are forty-nine survivors on the surface."

  "The Marines will pick them up," began Erion. "Now this place has blown up, the shield will be down." They digested this fact for a moment then Starfire said,

  "Well, we've done what we were sent to do. Let's go before they get here."

  "In what, Star," began Raan. "Our ship is one long dent in the sand." Starfire grinned at Hal.

  "We know something you don't know."

  "Oh come on Lieutenant, I'm not in the mood for games," said Erion wearily.

  "Just head for the ship, Del," began Starfire, "and hope we reach it before the Marines get here. The General might not have had the time to tell them we're the good guys after all."

  "Ship ahead," stated the robot, pulling the truck over to one side.

  "Is it ours?" asked Erion.

  "Sure," answered Starfire, "but we shouldn't reach it for two days at least." She caught Hal's eye and he shrugged.

  "Is this what you know that we don't?" asked Raan.

  "Kind of," began Starfire as they alighted from the ATV. "Let's take a look at her." A few minutes later, Delta Ten was at the stern of the massive ship, checking the engines with a portable scanner. Apart from some laser scorching he proclaimed them functional. Starfire and Raan opened the passenger ramp and went inside to check the pilot controls. Hal stowed away the ATV and joined them to check over the defence systems, his sixth sense telling him they would soon be needed.

  "Is she space worthy?" asked Erion.

  "All systems check out," answered Starfire, peering at her comp screen. "She's fully fuelled and ready to go."

  "How did it get here, Lieutenant?" asked Raan, "and who the hell fixed it?"

  "Some dragons," she answered, not taking her eyes from the controls in front of her.

  "What?" blurted Erion and Raan together.

  "Dragons," she stated, still busy checking the ship's status. "You know, big, scaly dragon things." Erion shook her head.

  "Now isn't the time to mess about, Lieutenant. If you don't want to tell us…. fine! How long till you can take off?"

  "About five minutes to power up, but there may be some minor malfunctions sort out."

  "She means bypass the fail safes," explained Raan. Starfire looked hurt.

  "I do not," she said with a guilty look. "That's illegal. Anyway, I wouldn't know how!"

  "While you're on pre flight, will you pass me the comlink?" asked Erion. "I need to contact my father and make sure we have a safe passage back home." She took the hand held link and tapped out her father's code on the small console in the handle. Static was all she could receive. "I can't get through, " she muttered.

  "Perhaps the link is out," suggested Raan, running a quick check. "No, it's okay. The shield is down and there's no ionic interference. There's no one at the other end to receive."

  "That can't be," snapped Erion. "Father wouldn't abandon us. We had everything planned to the last detail. He's been keeping a channel open since we left. I'll go through the ship's main systems." She leaned past Starfire and entered the code into the ship's communication post. The light stayed resolutely red and she quickly tried again, entering the wrong code in her haste.

  "Take it easy," murmured Raan, gently disengaging her from the equipment and sitting her down at her navigation post. "Perhaps he's not at home right now."

  "He's dead!" grunted Hal from his seat opposite her. He leaned over and quickly cut the link with a flick of the switch.

  "Damn it Hal, do you have to say it like that?" gritted Raan.

  "There's no other way to say it." he answered, matching Erion's shocked gaze without flinching. "He's dead or in jail."

  "He's a General in the Aurian High Command. They wouldn't dare!" snapped Starfire.

  "Hal's right," Erion said, miserably. "Father wouldn't desert us."

  "Maybe…" began Starfire.

  "Face facts, Lieutenant," cut in Hal. "This thing is bigger and dirtier than we all thought. Someone pretty high up on both sides must be involved. They probably found out what the General was up to."

  "Even if that was so, he would only face an enquiry. The raids have stopped after all. He could be under house arrest." She sighed deeply. "If only I knew for sure." She looked at the faces around her. "You can understand that, can't you?"

  "Sure," answered Raan, "only we don't know if the General had time to clear our names. There's probably a price on our heads now and we wouldn't get past the outer marker before we were blasted out of space."

  "What about the Admiral of the Fleet," began Starfire. "Couldn't we contact him?"

  "He could be anywhere in the galaxy," said Erion. "We must think! Isn't there anyone on Terrell we can trust? Raan, even you must have one friend."

  "Thanks very much," answered Raan then he caught Starfire's eye and they said together,

  "Cully!" Raan leaned across the console and tapped out Cully's personal code. At the second attempt, his wheedling tones filled the pilot section.

  "Yeah, this is sanitation engineer third class Cully speaking. What do yer want?"

  "Cully, it's me, Raan,"

  "Oh, hi there Cap. They says you was a traitor, you know. Me, I says no way! You was always good to me, Cap."

  "Never mind that now, Cully. I need some information."

  "I don't know, Cap. There's a warning out about you.""I know that Cully. I'll transfer by computer."

  "I like cash, Captain, you know that. Good old fashioned creds."

  "Cully, I tell you what I'll do. You tell me what I want to know and I'll transfer you a hundred."

  "I'll have to pay tax if we go through the autobank."

  "All right, god dammit, I'll pay the tax as well!"

  "Okay Cap, here's my number." They all waited while Raan patiently tapped out his own personal identity number, his central bank number, Cully's number, and finally the amount to be transferred. The system was designed so that anyone could use it and many fail safes were built into the programming. There was a short delay, then a big green 'ok' lit up Starfire's screen
together with the standing charge for the transaction.

  "You got that, Cully?"

  "Sure Cap. Now, what do you want to know?"

  "Do you know where General Dubois is?"

  "The old man?" whined Cully, "he bought it!" Erion closed her eyes and sat back in her seat.

  "How?" grunted Hal.

  "How'd he die?" repeated Raan.

  "Aircar accident." answered Cully. "First one here for over fifty years. Funny, you think you're safe in those things, then whammo! Yer brake's fail and down yer go!"

  "All right, Cully, that's enough. Is there anything else you can tell us?"

  "Everything's going crazy down here, Cap. There's talk of changes in the whole Federation. You see, the old man weren't alone; the High Commander was in there with him."

  "Commander Nooran?" asked Raan, just to make sure.

  "The very same."

  "Dead?" just to make absolutely sure.

  "When yer aircar falls from the hundredth level, there ain't much left to scrape off the walls, Cap."

  "The only two people who could have cleared us," said Starfire, wincing slightly at the image that was now imprinted on her brain.

  "Who's taken over?" asked Raan, "the Second Admiral of the Fleet?"

  "No. Some guy on the Federation Council called Roland," grumbled Cully, his tone indicating his dislike. "He's already made a lotta changes."

  "Changes?" asked Raan, "like what?"

  "Hold it, Cap," began Cully, "someone at the door." They dimly heard footsteps walking away from them, together with Cully's fading voice whining, "All right all right, I'm coming." Starfire caught Raan's eye, a strange foreboding clutching at her. The pilot section filled with the sound of laser fire and Hal leaned forward to shut off the link again.

  "What the hell?" muttered Raan.