by Andrew Mack
Willits said, “Belinean officers on Belinea? Since when?”
Jones replied, “They are either going to arrest us or more likely, shoot us on site.”
Willits answered, “I told you, I got a plan for that.”
Jones asked with skepticism, “Really?”
Willits answered, “Just blame it on the people trying to kill us.”
Belinea 7.8
Avola
Lowell Mining Center Six
Donovan and twenty other miners walked into the facility. With them were Cortes and four other Valmay soldiers, dressed like miners. They walked through a Vait detector device that allowed field stones and rings. The Majavkee Security was not searching for weapons or even paying attention. They were more focused on workers leaving the facility and the transports on the pad. Nevertheless, Donovan, Cortes, and the rest walked through security, past the loading areas, and straight down into the shafts.
They got to the staging area, where there was a supervisor. Sterling was in charge and nodded when they came in. He then yelled at them and said, “There are two large drop pallets of Vait at the entrance of tunnel four. Grab them, take one to pad seven, and one to pad eight.”
They marched down to Tunnel Four and noticed the Four large drop pallets, two with Vait, two that were empty. Cortes and another Valmay soldier got into one empty crate, while two more Valmay soldiers got into the other empty crate. Donovan and the other miners put a lid on the crate, and semi-sealed it shut. They jumped on the forklifts and loaded the crates on, driving them out of the tunnel and over to the Landing Pads. Donovan drove the forklift straight up the mall transport and dropped it off. He drove the forklift back down the ramp.
A few minutes went by, and the two AuFa pilots entered the transports, walking up the ramp and into the cockpits. After buckling in, one of them radioed in “Processing Center Two, this is Transport 8152, requesting take off from Mining Center Six. Cargo in hand.”
A few seconds went by before on the radio, a call was heard. “Transport 8152, copy that, expected ETA twenty-two minutes.”
The two cargo ships slowly took off. As they did, Cortes and the other Valmay soldier unlocked the top of the crate and climbed out. When they slowly and quietly walked up to the Transport’s cockpit area, they got right behind the pilots. Cortes and the Valmay Soldier turned their ring’s into daggers and placed them in front of the throats of the pilots from behind.
Cortes asked, “What are your orders?”
A suddenly very nervous pilot responded, “Take the Vait Cargo to Processing Center Two.”
Cortes said, “Not anymore. If you want to live, change your course to 2-7-0 for four minutes.”
The pilot and co-pilot changed course without resistance.
Belinea 7.9
On the way to Belinea
Nick Devanoe had slept eight hours. He felt refreshed. He walked out of his quarters and to the common area. Tunsall was sitting in a chair guarding the hallway that led to the Ambassador’s quarters. He was reading on his tablet. Nick went over and poured himself some coffee. He said, “I don’t think anything can happen to the Ambassador on this ship, so you can ease up on the guard duty.”
Tunsall put his tablet down and said, “Willits gave us a direct order to never not have eyeballs on him. He got away from us for five minutes on Molar and look what happened.”
Nick sat down opposite Tunsall and said, “Your loyalty is commendable, but my officer insight points out there was a lot more threat on Molar than this ship. I don’t think Bird has the ingenuity to do anything stupid at this point.”
Tunsall gave a small smile and replied, “I know. I have been asleep for most of the time. I woke up about an hour ago and started reading some things I downloaded when we were on Hovron.”
Nick took a sip of his coffee. “Like what?”
Tunsall looked back at his tablet and said, “A situation on Avola. Terrorists calling themselves the Valmay Opposition Group are killing hundreds of locals and disrupting Vait production. The Press releases claim Taz is working with them, coordinating the Braccus and Earth bombings together.”
Nick put his feet up on the corner chair. He replied, “Interesting. I do remember reading a security clearance memo on the Valmay on Avola. I guess it has gotten much worse, but I don’t recall anyone tying them to Taz.”
Tunsall put the tablet down and said, “You cannot believe everything in the press releases. They have their own initiative that does not necessarily align with everyone else.”
Nick asked, “I’m not supposed to believe Taz attacked Space Port Earth?”
Tunsall responded, “There was an attack on Space Port Earth, an explosion happened, lives were lost. Those are facts. Who did it and why, at this point, is speculation until I see evidence that I trust and is undoctored.”
Nick took another sip of coffee. He paused for a second, before he said, “That is not exactly a popular Belinean opinion.”
Tunsall responded, “I am not Belinean.”
Nick looked confused. “Your father is the Captain of a Belinean Battle Cruiser….”
Tunsall replied, “And he is not Belinean either….”
Nick was now perplexed. “But, then, how….”
Tunsall replied, “He is from Verona.”
Nick turned his head sideways and said, “That is practically the same thing.”
Tunsall, trying to find out how much Nick knew about Belinean culture, said, “Is it?”
Nick answered, “Sister planet, same solar system as Belinea. Allies for centuries, a good number of Veronians in the AuFa, representation on the Council is exactly aligned with the Belineans. You both practice the Quill, it’s essentially the same.”
Tunsall, questioning that fact, asked, “Is there a good number of Veronians in the AuFa?”
Nick answered, “A lot more than Earthlings.”
Tunsall half-smiled and said, “That is true, but not as many as you think. It is probably why you did not know your Commanding Officer was a Veronian. They do not exactly go around parading it. And the Quill is different.”
Nick was now actually curious. He asked, “Really? What is the difference?”
Tunsall sat up as he tried to explain. “The Quill started on Verona, with the Four Founders Points…”
Nick interjected, “I knew that, but it was carried over centuries ago to Belinea, where it is practiced equally, no?”
Tunsall answered, “Veronian Quill understands the energy from the planets is different on each planet and thus will produce different results with their field stones. The spirituality of believing that we are all energy, is the same. Belinean Quill believes the pure Quill comes from their planet alone. It ties the Water Field blue stone into passionate Quillisars and dedicated warriors. It does not recognize Fire Field stone warriors, mainly because Belinea has no rock or desert landscape to draw that energy from like it does on Verona.”
Nick asked in an almost joking manner, “So your father is an orange stone warrior capable of making flaming swords?”
Tunsall replied, “No. The Belinean Quill quickly made it an offense for the orange field stones to have weapons. My Dad is an orange stone, but that practice has long been removed. There are no more fire swords. Well, until I saw that security footage of Taz.”
Nick now sat up. “Yeah, what the hell was that?”
Tunsall replied, “ I do not know. It was undoctored security footage and sure looked like a fire circle to me.”
Nick paused for a second. He then asked, “Your father taught you a lot. His Quill passion is obviously strong.”
Tunsall shook his head and said, “Captain Kimmel is practically a non-believer, I think he only wears his stone to keep in good grace with the AuFa. I do not have a stone, so I am a non-believer like you. What I learned was mostly from my mother when I was young.�
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Trujillo had now come walking up from the front cockpit area. He interrupted with, “What are the chances one of you can relieve me? I’ve been up there for over eight hours.”
Nick then asked, “Wait, Tunsall and Kimmel? Why the different last names?”
Tunsall got up and looked at Trujillo. “I got you, as long as you got guard duty?”
Tunsall took one step toward the cockpit/bridge area. Trujillo navigated around as if waiting to get into the chair Tunsall was in. “As long as it is sleeping guard duty.”
Nick stood up and said, “Wait, I got the conn. Get some rest, both of you. I can pilot the ship, and I promise the Ambassador isn’t going anywhere.”
Trujillo asked, “You sure?”
Nick nodded and then grabbed his coffee, taking a couple of steps towards the cockpit/bridge. Tunsall gathered his tablet and began to walk down the corridor to the personal quarters. Nick quickly turned around and said, “Tunsall….”
Tunsall and Trujillo turned around at the same time. Nick asked, “Why the two names?”
Trujillo and Tunsall looked at each other. After a two-second pause and a deep breath, Tunsall said, “Tunsall is my mother’s maiden name.”
Nick tilted his head in confusion. After another pause, Tunsall continued, “It’s a long story, some other time.”
The two walked out, while Nick turned around and walked up to the cockpit chair. Nick slid into the chair and broke out his tablet, starting to read it. As Trujillo and Tunsall were walking back to the quarters, Trujillo whispered to Tunsall, “I don’t like the fact we left Willits and Jones looking for us on Molar.”
Tunsall softly said to Trujillo, “Neither do I, but that is if they are still alive.”
Trujillo said, “Alexis seems to think they are.”
Tunsall replied, “And you trust Alexis now?”
Trujillo paused and took a deep breath. He looked around for a second and then said, “Yeah, I think I do.”
Tunsall looked at him for a second, then said, “Alright. Just remember, pretty boy, you do not gain trust through your cock, okay?”
Trujillo replied, “Fuck you…”
Tunsall answered quickly, “Since when have I ever let my cock do my talking?”
Trujillo fired back, still in a whisper voice, “Never, that’s the problem. It’s like you’re not human.”
Tunsall quickly retorted, “I am not. Any other quick facts you want to verify?”
Trujillo sarcastically smiled and said, “I am going to sleep. Go fuck yourself.”
Tunsall replied, “I am going back to the common area to keep my eye on Bird.”
Trujillo answered, “Why? He is not going anywhere? Even Nick said so. He ordered us to sleep.”
Tunsall replied, “ I can just as easily sleep up there as back here. Better to be safe than sorry.”
Trujillo, watching Tunsall walk back to the common room, just said, “Alright….”
Trujillo entered his room quarters and closed the door. The room was tiny, consisting mainly of a cot-like bed for one, steel drawers off to the side, and a small stool with a fold-out desktop. He turned the low light on and noticed someone in his bed. Alexis turned over wearing nothing but a thong and a button-down shirt that wasn’t buttoned anywhere. Trujillo was confused and immediately said, “Sorry, wrong room.”
Alexis held a hand up to her eye to block the lowlight and said, “No, right room.”
He stared at her for a second while she slightly got up, putting her weight on her elbow. He looked down at her whole, soft, white body, before saying, “What are you doing in here?”
She replied quietly, “Waiting….”
Trujillo took his shoes off and sat down next to her in the bed. Very softly, he asked, “For…?”
Alexis took her hand that she was using to block the light and grabbed the side of Trujillo’s head. She pulled it towards her face. Before kissing him, she whispered, “You…”
The two had a long, passionate kiss. Trujillo took his hand and gently slid it inside of her shirt, caressing her breast. Alexis sat further up and began taking Trujillo’s shirt off. As he was kissing her, he said, “Aren’t you worried about your brother?”
Alexis just kept kissing him back and said, “No, but where is he?”
Trujillo got his shirt off, and then was rolled over by Alexis, who was now on top without her shirt on as well. She began unbuttoning Trujillo’s pants. Trujillo responded, “He is upfront flying the ship….”
Alexis got the pants and underwear off. She whispered, “Good, that will keep him busy while I thank you properly.”
Alexis proceeded to go down on Trujillo. Trujillo leaned back and began to softly moan as he had his cock inside Alexis’ mouth. Taking almost no time at all, Trujillo’s cock became hard. After a minute, Alexis stopped and got up on top of Trujillo. She quietly asked, “What are the chances you can do this quietly?”
Trujillo, putting his arms around the small of her back, replied, “I’ve done it quietly before…”
Alexis raised her ass and grabbed Trujillo’s cock. She slowly guided it into her, then relaxing as she fell back on top of him while still riding his cock. She began kissing his neck and then his ear before softly replying, “Yeah, but you’ve never had me before….”
Belinea 7.10
Avola
Medical Facility 4
Kaya was waking up. She was lying on a table, naked except for bandages, with a white sheet over her body up to the neck. She kept blinking her eye, finally realizing there was a patch on the other one. She whispered, but could barely get out “Where is…..”
The Doctor was next to her, finishing up wrapping a bandage. She said, “Be quiet. You are coming out of surgery. It will take you a few minutes to get adjusted.”
The Doctor then checked her eye for twenty seconds before putting the bandage and patch back over it. After looking at her shoulder, she used a device to look at the fracture in her skull when she said, “You lost a lot of blood, and your shoulder was shattered. I surgically repaired the shoulder, polsared the skull fracture, and pumped you back up to a normal blood amount.”
Kaya blinked her non-bandaged eye. She muttered out, “The eye….”
The Doctor looked at her and said, “Be quiet. Do not say a word. I treated the eye, but it needs further surgery that I could not give because we do not have the time. I need to get you out of here before he returns.”
Kaya’s eye got a little bigger. She turned her head as the Doctor went over to the table and grabbed a syringe. Walking back around, she inserted the needle into her bicep. The Doctor continued, “This will essentially numb your body. Any motion will be very difficult, so do not try. But you will be able to hear and blink your eye. In order for me to get you out, you have to be dead. Understand? Blink twice if you do.”
With a lot more difficulty than she thought it would be, Kaya blinked her good eye twice. The Doctor then put the sheet over her head. Kaya could see hospital lights through the sheets. The Medical Center still seemed to be in some slight chaos after the battle. The Doctor was coming up to two glass doors. Two AuFa Security guards, their backs to the doors, were directly on the other side. The Doctor looked through the glass and saw a nurse. She nodded at the male nurse, who gave a small nod back. The male nurse proceeded down the hall and made a turn right next to the guards. Holding on to Kaya’s gurney, the Doctor waited.
The male nurse turned into a room, and, within five seconds, had gotten into an altercation with a patient. The male nurse yelled, “He has a knife, Security!!”
Trays and equipment were being overturned. The male nurse and patient, who was a miner injured in the Processing Center attack, continued to struggle with each other. The male nurse had grabbed his patient’s wrist, holding back the scalpel in his hand. A female nurse walked by and tried to intervene
, but she got pushed back into the hall. Looking at the security guards, she yelled, “Will you help us!!”
The two AuFa Guards walked fifteen feet to the doorway of the room. Once they saw the struggle, they went in and helped the male nurse subdue the patient. The Doctor pushed Kaya’s gurney fifteen feet to the glass doors. She put her hand on the scanner, and it opened. The Doctor pulled the gurney through and was down the hall in under ten seconds. She could overhear the commotion from the room, where the male nurse said, “I don’t know what set him off, I had given him a shot for the pain, and he freaked out.”
The elevator doors were closing just as the guards returned to the security post of the glass doors. The Doctor took the elevator to the second floor, pushing the gurney down a very long corridor. A sign on the side said “Morgue Processing” with an arrow. She continued down the hall towards the outdoor bay. Upon arriving to the immediate right, personnel were working with a Quillisar. The Doctor counted over twenty dead bodies. To the left was another small corridor that led to a loading dock. The greeting AuFa officer, a female Lieutenant, looked at the Doctor. The Lieutenant said, “Soldier or Miner?”
The Doctor said, “Miner.”
The Female AuFa Lieutenant pointed to the left and said, “Down that corridor, leave the body at the end.”
The Doctor nodded and pushed Kaya’s gurney down the small corridor, which stopped after about twenty meters. There were already five other bodies, in bags, piled up on the side. The Doctor released the lever on the gurney, which dropped to almost ground level. The Doctor reached into her pocket and pulled out a canvas bag and some medical tape. She cut a piece off and taped the canvas bag to the sheet. She lowered her head and whispered into Kaya’s ear, “Stay still, close your eye. Someone will be here soon.”
The Doctor got up and began walking back. She almost got to the doors when the female Lieutenant asked, “You are not taking the gurney back up?”
The Doctor looked puzzled. Not knowing what to say, she hesitated and spoke in fragments. “I was….well, it….honestly, I have never been down here before. They needed help upstairs. This was my patient I lost, so I volunteered to take it down.”