by Kyle Mata
“Welcome to exile!” Karr said with about as much enthusiasm as any of them had ever heard from him. Roux stifled her laugh at the Shadowri’s joke, as it seemed Thomas and Daena were in no mood for it.
CHAPTER 13
SUSPENDED ANIMATION
“What’s our plan?” Roux asked over the intercom, allowing Karr and Daena to join the conversation from the passenger bay below.
“Admiral Majex is in command of the first fleet in the Dreadnaught NRS Dawn’s Grip. Admiral Foxe is in command of third fleet in the Mega-Cruiser NRS Rommel. Whichever fleet is in orbit we will hail immediately; if we can show them the footage on Karr’s helmet, we can convince them this is all a mistake,” Thomas said. He had little faith in his own plan, not because of the admirals; he knew Majex and Foxe were well-grounded men. If presented with proper facts, they would believe them. Thomas, however, was less confident he’d ever get the chance to present such facts, since either fleet would probably blow the Mason rocket out of the sky when it dropped out of warp near their space.
“And if they aren’t too keen on meeting us?” Daena asked.
“We can board them,” Karr suggested.
“Karr, this is a cargo rocket, not a boarding craft,” Roux pointed out.
“They’ll meet with us,” Thomas reassured the others. “Assuming it’s not too late…” His voice trailed off. Despite what Daena believed, Thomas wanted to avoid another war with the Coalition as badly as she did.
“Well, let’s hope your plan holds water. We’re dropping out of warp in thirty seconds,” Roux announced.
They dropped out of their warp-jump and directly in front of them were the words ‘NRS Rommel’ floating on a section of a once glorious Nyrotsi Mega-cruiser. The Rommel now floated in two lifeless scorched pieces. Roux pulled hard on the flight controls, and the Athena’s Owl pulled up quickly, narrowly missing a section of the Rommel’s hull.
If not for her quick reaction time, their trip would have been cut very short. Thomas slammed his fists down on the copilot console.
“Damn them! Damn the Rae, damn Admiral Tavington!” He cried. At this, Daena and Karr climbed up the ladder and stood behind Roux and Thomas in the cockpit. Roux turned her radar up to full strength to search for any survivors in escape pods.
The picture before them was grotesque. The aftermath of what must have been a grand battle was now a floating cemetery, captured in a horrid and timeless suspended animation. The entirety of Admiral Foxe’s third fleet had been decimated, and even the most seasoned scavengers would have trouble picking through what remained. Among the destroyed Nyrotsi vessels were a few Coalition ships, likely present for routine planetary patrol, caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. There also appeared to be a few curvy golden ships, smashed to pieces, as though the Rae ships were designed to leave no proof of their existence. Had Thomas not seen what the ships looked like whole—with his own eyes—even he would not have recognized them to be out of place. But it was enough proof for the team that the Rae fleet had played a role in the battle.
“We need to get planetside, now!” Daena called. Roux was reluctant to give up the search for escape pods, but her radar was finding no signs of life even at maximum range. She maneuvered through the debris toward the planet, which from orbit seemed untouched.
“The Rae are not on Gardenia, nor are any Nyrotsi forces,” Thomas said quietly, staring blankly at the battleground, drifting lazily in zero G.
“How can you be so sure?” Daena demanded.
“Think about it. The Rae are playing all of humanity for fools. Surely, they have realized that the Nyrotsi and Coalition have been at war several times. Abyss, they may even be stroking the fire for war once more. They’ll let the two largest militaries in the galaxy obliterate each other and then waltz in unopposed and enslave the survivors. I’d be damned if Admiral Tavington wasn’t an agent of theirs himself.”
“Well, we’re here now already; let’s just go check out Gardenia to be sure. Please?” Daena insisted. “Karr, if there’s any Rae on the surface, we’ll take care of them, won’t we?” Daena pleaded, looking up at the Shadowri. All of her friends and family aside from those on this ship, and Bo, were on Gardenia. Karr gave her a nod.
“Yes, we will. They killed my crew. They’ll all pay,” Thomas added.
“Okay, I’ll start a planetary cartography scan and run it against the most up to date records in the database for the planet. If there are any major changes to the planet’s topography, such as large craters or scarred areas from major fires, the scan will find it,” Roux said as she started flicking switches and activating a console above her head.
“You’re going to run a scan of the entire planet? That will take weeks!” Thomas exclaimed.
“Not for the Athena’s Owl it won’t. We just have to do one pass above the equator of the planet from orbit. Judging by the size of Gardenia, and the lack of high altitude weather, I estimate it will take twenty minutes at most.”
Roux flew the rocket in a perfect route around the planet. The cartography console above her beeped in completion. Daena held her breath as she watched Roux interpret the results.
“0.05% change since the last sweep. No signs of any invasion. The last invasion I witnessed was relatively small scale and it registered a 4.67% change. Thomas might be right,” Roux finally said. Daena exhaled in relief.
An alarm klaxon began to sound. Before anyone could ask what was causing it, Roux flung the power control levers fully forward and the ship rocketed ahead, pinning Thomas in his seat unexpectedly. Daena nearly fell down the ladderway but Karr caught her with one arm and reeled her back, planting her firmly in front of him. She stood on his boots and continued holding onto his arm for stability as Roux began putting the ship into strenuous maneuvers.
“We’ve been target locked by someone. There are two missiles incoming,” Roux said as she continued to whip the ship about. Her knuckles white as she clutched the ship’s controls.
“Where are the countermeasures? Where is your weapons console?” Thomas asked, trying to find some way to help, as he flipped through the settings on the copilot console.
“I don’t have any,” Roux admitted.
“You what?! This is a Troubadour-class, isn’t it?” Thomas asked.
“Yes, and can we please—” Roux pulled hard left heading for the debris field from the space battle. “—Talk about this later?” Roux said, finishing her sentence. The artificial gravity generator struggled to keep up with her incredible flying. Fortunately, Karr’s magnetic boots kept himself and Daena from flying around the cockpit.
The Athena’s Owl made it into the debris field. Thomas finally found something of use; he pulled up the scope in his console. “I’m tracking two unidentified ships on our tail. Must be Rae fighters, probably left to clean up any loose ends.” Thomas announced. “But where are those miss—OH, THOSE MISSILES ARE VERY CLOSE!”
Roux yanked the Owl upward and into a destroyed frigate. She flew in one side of the now empty hangar and out the other. The klaxon died down as the missiles impacted inside the destroyed frigate. Upon detonation, they turned the husk of the ship into dust. Roux hoped the fragmentation from the explosion would throw her pursuers off her trail.
“That was incredible! Where did you learn to fly like that?” Thomas asked, genuinely impressed. He did not even know a Troubadour-class could be maneuvered in such a manner.
“Get coordinates into the warp-jump computer, now.” Roux said, ignoring his question. She pitched down hard. Although most would argue ‘up’ and ‘down’ were nonexistent in space, the artificial gravity—and Daena’s stomach—disagreed.
“Okay, where to?” Thomas asked. The missile-lock klaxon began again.
“THOMAS!” Daena and Roux yelled in unison.
“Okay, okay.” He rapidly typed into the console. The missiles grew dangerously close.
“Hurry!” Roux said as she approached the edge of the space battlefield. She needed to
use the debris to evade the missiles. If any foreign object was caught in their warp-jump bubble, it would be flung around their small pocket at 0.99 of the speed of light with them, tearing the ship to ribbons.
“Punch it!” Thomas said, as he hit the final key. Roux flung the ship into warp-jump.
The klaxon ceased once more as the welcome glow of the warp filled the forward viewport. There was silence in the cockpit for a moment before the group collectively exhaled. Outrunning missiles without countermeasures such as flares, decoys, or point-to-point rail guns, was not something that ever really happened in the current day and age. Space seldom offered things to hide behind.
“Where are we going anyway?” Roux asked. Sliding back from the pilot seat, allowing the Urdaneta navigational computer to do its job. She exhaled deeply. Her hands were shaking from nerves just enough for Karr to notice.
“Fordia. I’m going to treat you to some badly needed upgrades,” Thomas explained.
“Upgrades? I just got the newest manufacturer upgrades on Atlantis II,” Roux said defensively. Roux stuck up for the Athena’s Owl the way she would a younger sister or daughter.
“We’re going to get you some after-market upgrades, my treat. Plus, I could use a drink,” Thomas said, also sliding back from his console.
“What about the other fleet?” Daena asked.
“Do you want to get stuck in another fight without a means of fighting back?” Thomas asked. “I’ll monitor fleet general comms as soon as we drop from warp, just to see if first fleet is also a pile of floating dust.”
“I guess I could use a drink, too,” Daena admitted. Her stomach was doing backflips and it took all of her willpower to keep her meal capsule down. She realized she was still clutching Karr’s arm and hand for dear life. She let go and stepped down from her position on his anchored boots.
“I know I can,” Roux added, her hands were under control now as the adrenaline in her system ebbed off.
“You drink, don’t you, big guy?” Thomas asked, looking up at Karr. Karr nodded, and Thomas chuckled heartily, not expecting a positive response from the Shadowri. “Tell you what, drinks are on me, too.”
CHAPTER 14
THE INFORMATION BROKER
The Athena’s Owl dropped out of warp in orbit over Fordia. Fordia was an independent planet, free of any ties to other factions. This was purposefully done by the government because Fordia Ship Yards, or FSY, was the largest ship manufacturer in the galaxy. FSY made everything ranging from personal land speeders to juggernaut battle cruisers, and they sold to anybody willing to pay. The ship yards remained suspended in orbit over the ‘dark side’ of the planet. The yards were so large they permanently eclipsed more than half of the planet’s surface. Only once in history, nearly four hundred years prior, the ship yards had nearly been seized—no small feat, considering their size. FSY leadership prevented their loss by employing ships they were currently building for the invading faction against the attacking fleet. After the attempted seizure, FSY refused to sell ships to them ever again, and before long the faction was swept away by the galactic power curve of technology and now remains only as a footnote in history. Fordia has not been attacked since.
Nestled among the ship yards was a city, much like Atlantis II. When the ship yards first started up hundreds of years ago, the workers commuted to orbit from their homes on the surface via space-tether elevator. As time went on and the yards in orbit grew larger, the land beneath them, permanently in darkness, became infertile. So, people began moving up to the yards to live, where it was cheaper to import food from both the healthy side of the planet and other planets, too. Now, generations of workers have been born and raised on the yards, in a large, floating city at the center of the Yards. The Fordia government and Ship Yards are one in the same and, surprisingly enough, the businessmen and women who lead the corporation do a pretty good job of governing their people as well.
Roux requested clearance in the yards and docked on an inner ring near the city. She touched down and met with the others in the passenger bay.
“You can all go into the city and stock up on supplies. I have a feeling we’re going to be traveling on this ship for a while. I’ll stay with the ship to oversee the upgrades,” Thomas said, wearing his Nyrotsi armor once more, but with the insignia and badges of identification removed.
“No way palbert, I’ll be staying with the ship to make sure you don’t do anything without my approval,” Roux protested. Daena re-donned her Defender armor. No one on Fordia would look twice at armed individuals, on Gardenia maybe, but not a gritty place like Fordia. Roux even changed her flight suit to a dull gray to match Karr’s armor. As Thomas and Roux bickered back and forth, Karr lowered the ramp. Everyone looked at him.
“I have a friend here on Fordia. I am going to go see him.” Karr trudged down the ramp when it had locked down. The other three exchanged confused glances; they weren’t sure why they were surprised he had a friend, but they were. Daena ran after him. Thomas and Roux went down to meet with the FSY workers to discuss the desired upgrades they wished to purchase.
“Do you mind if I join you, big guy?” Daena asked.
“No,” Karr said in a tone less flat and more inviting than usual. She walked alongside him, still not used to his massive strides. Karr noticed her attempting to keep up and slowed down a margin.
“Daena! Karr!” Roux called after them. “Let’s meet at the Grease Bucket Bar in three hours. Thomas did say he was buying, after all,” She said, pointing to a boisterous club visible from the landing pads. Daena gave a thumbs-up of acknowledgement.
“Who’s your friend?” Daena asked as they headed toward the heart of the city. All of the structures here had a functional beauty to them, and they were all clean and new, as if constantly upgraded.
“Mory.”
“How did you two meet?”
“He used to be Coalition intelligence during the Outer Belt War; he briefed me once.”
“Wait, some guy who briefed you one time is your friend now?”
“Yes.” Came his usual one-word reply. She wasn’t sure if she expected anything else. But now she was worried they were going to show up to some man’s house and he wasn’t going to have a clue who Karr even was. “You will have to ask him. He is a better story teller than me.” Karr continued unexpectedly. Daena intended to do just that. “I am glad Gardenia was okay.”
“Thank you, Karr, me too.” She wasn’t sure when he became so talkative, but she was happy he was opening up a bit.
Karr decided he would try to converse more with Daena. He liked her. And he liked talking to her; he just usually did not know what to say, and he was afraid of saying something foolish. “I really am sorry about what happened back on Shadowri’tira,” she continued.
“It is okay. I did not go home much anyway… not since what happened on Vir and Tique.”
“What do you mean? How did Vir and Tique affect you?”
“I was there.”
“During the massacres?”
“Yes. I tried to help.”
Daena was shocked. The Vir and Tique massacres were where the Shadowri earned their ruthless persona. As a rogue element of the Nyrotsi fleet bombarded the twin planets, the innocent, unarmed people called for help to anyone who would listen. The nearest planet was Shadowri’tira, and despite the fact that the Shadowri fleet could have obliterated the rogue fleet without taking a single casualty, they refused to help and from that point forward, they refused to help anyone but themselves.
A text message from Thomas arrived for both of them. It read:
First fleet has not deployed yet. Will keep tracking.
Daena ignored the message. “But the Vir and Tique massacres were over ten years ago. You must have been so young. What happened?” She asked, forgetting he had already fought in the Zebra Nebula War prior to the massacres.
“When I heard what was happening, I tried to gather a group to go help. But the Gunda’Clan declared no one wo
uld aid. Even my stepfather and brother agreed with them and tried to stop me. My sister helped me take the largest ship we could find in the junkyard and I went alone. I landed on Tique and crammed as many people inside the old micro-colony ship as I could... still so many were left behind. I wanted to come back for more of them, but as I took off the bombardment reached us…”
“How many did you save?”
“Nine hundred and twenty-three. The ship was only made to hold eight hundred, and four crew.”
“Where did you take them?”
“Shardonilia…” Karr admitted with a ping of guilt in his voice. “It was the only planet I could make it to safely; the colony ship’s fuel cell was damaged during the escape.”
Daena knew Shardonilia was an uninhabited planet in the mid rim near Shadowri’tira, Vir, and Tique. The entire planet was a jungle with predators, known as rexils, that are larger than any other the galaxy has ever seen. They are often compared to Earth’s dinosaurs. No attempts have been made to inhabit the planet since the original colony was decimated nearly one thousand years ago.
“Then what happened?”
“I do not know. Once I dropped them off I picked up a Nyrotsi gunship in atmosphere on my scope, looking for us. I took the only shuttle on board and lured the gunship away from the people,” Karr said defensively.
“Karr, what you did was great. Those people you saved may be the only survivors from their entire planet. You saved a civilization, singlehandedly,” Daena reassured him, putting a hand on his arm. Karr had never been congratulated for his actions on Tique before, only guilt-tripped and scolded. Even his sister didn’t talk about it.
“What did you do about the gunship?”
“I lead it back to Tira and the guardian fleet vaporized it the instant it came in range. The Gunda’Archon wanted me to be disarmored right then and there, but my brother called in a favor and promised to deal with me himself. Hector essentially informally exiled me instead.”