by Justin Sloan
“That’s bull, and you know it,” Samantha replied. “If we had not killed that space dragon, you’d all be dead. Elder Orlean’s death was an accident.”
“Always this focus on Earth, Hadrian, and these… humans.” Elder Camor’s nostrils flared as he glanced over to Samantha with contempt, ignoring her words. “I never understood why you love it so.” When no response came, the Elder continued. “Your actions have repercussions. The Dexetilaitite have retaliated against the Shadow Worlds in response to your actions against them; the costs of your reckless actions may be immeasurable.”
“Enough,” Hadrian said, holding out his hands. “I have no intention of fighting anyone on Entono Fos, you can rest assured.”
“But—” Samantha began to protest again, but was cut off as Hadrian gave her a stern look and held up a hand.
“Arrest her too!” Elder Iresan demanded, and two of the members of Red Company turned on her.
Go! Hadrian commanded with his mind. Clearly reading the mental command, Iresan spun around to warn the others that Samantha was going to run. But it was too late. Samantha was already shoving past them and pushing out into the hallway.
One last message came from him as she fled the room—If I don’t make it, find the Three Kings. And then she was gone, out of range and utterly confused.
Momentarily clear of the soldiers, Samantha tried to make sense of the message, but knew she couldn’t go back. Triggering her HUD, she set her armor on advanced speed, then darted through the next room. She tapped the button to make her helmet fold out to protect her face, and threw herself through the window. Exclamations from the Red Company followed Samantha, but they weren’t about to jump after her.
She flew out the window with a sprinkling of glass.
Now she had two options: rely on her cloak for a gentle descent or latch to the wall with her enhanced boot grip, a feature she had been upgrading on her biotech armor lately. The risk was that if she hit the wall too hard on contact, she could break a bone or two.
Instead of going with only one of her two options, she relied on the cloak to slow her just enough while still letting her momentum carry her, and then hit the wall running. As the black cloth streamed out behind her, her feet met the wall and she ran along it, body sticking out almost horizontally.
Damn, that was fun.
More than once she had imagined using the palace for practice, but had been warned against it. Instead, she had been forced to use the cliff walls or go into the training jumps. But now she was—as far she knew—a fugitive here. So she may as well break a few rules.
Considering the fact that Orlean’s death had been due to the space dragon’s fall, and it had fallen because of Samantha, she was more responsible for Orlean’s death than Hadrian.
Never mind the fact that killing the dragon had saved them all—the whole universe, maybe. She was a hero, not a criminal. Apparently, no one cared.
She was halfway to the next balcony when her foot slipped.
Her mind raced, trying to calculate how much energy she had used up. Too much, likely. Samantha tried to focus on using the cloak to slow her fall, but with all the confusion it was like getting a kite to do a loop when the string’s tied around your head. It had always responded when she was focused, or in a fight against true evil, when she knew who the bad guy was and that she was the good one. She knew that here too—or at least, she thought she did… But her thoughts were jumbled as the ground rose up to hit her.
Hadrian had taught her about sword forms and meditation, both Napalm and Hadrian about manipulating energy, Kwan had helped her improve her target practice, and Carma… she wasn’t sure what Carma had taught her.
None of it seemed useful in this moment. Desperate, Samantha did the only thing she could think of. She slammed her forearm up and out so that the force field shield emerged. It shot out little bursts of lightning as it hit the wall, and she leaned into it. Tilting her body as best she could, she focused on the shield as it started veering down and at an angle. She was riding it like a sled in the snow, only at a much faster rate, with chunks of wall flying off as she descended.
The shield faltered, flittering out. And then she was on her own, but thankfully with only a ten-foot drop. With a grunt, she hit the ground and rolled, then slammed her fist into the garden floor to come to a stop.
Samantha’s breath was coming fast, and she had to tell herself to calm down or risk hyperventilating. Everything was falling apart, and Samantha didn’t just mean the wall above that was—thanks to her—quite literally falling apart. Its rough surface bore a smooth, angled cut where her shield had torn into it. Her attention shifted from the wall as the sounds of shouting could be heard drawing near.
Right now, getting to the ship was her only course of action. If Hadrian hadn’t fought the Elders and their soldiers, he must’ve known something she didn’t. In any other circumstance, someone taking her friend and mentor into custody would be grounds for a good butt-kicking. But this was the home of the leaders of the alliance, the one stronghold that could fight the coming danger threatening to wipe the Earth from existence.
She moved from the garden, darting into the outer courtyard. A door opened and a form appeared in front of her, but she caught only a glimpse of blue skin and blue eyes before turning to run.
“Sam, wait,” a voice called, and she turned back to see that it was Ferder. There wasn’t time for this. She took a step to start running again, but then he was raising his hands, saying, “I’m with you, right? I’m with you.”
Her helmet translated his words for her. She stopped, but kept her faceplate opaque so he could not see her expression. It could clear when she wanted it to, but right now she had no intention of showing her fear.
“What the hell is happening?” she asked.
Ferder shook his head. “Some old code they’re enacting. This place is full of old customs and all sorts of bull.”
She glanced behind her and saw a flash of black and red through a window. “They’re coming.”
With a nod of determination, he ran, pulling her by the wrist. She wrenched herself free and let her faceplate clear, her frown visible. Then, with a burst of speed, she ran ahead of him, taking the lead in case there was trouble.
“What’s going to happen to Hadrian?” she asked as they rounded the palace and darted through the alleys between the rows of nearby houses. Buildings reached tall around them, some connected with narrow sky bridges.
Hearing a sound, she glanced up to see someone following their progress from one of the sky bridges, and she pulled Ferder with her down a different route. Her boots clanged against cobblestones, and a number of residents—mostly Eliolations like Ferder, with their blue skin and water-like eyes—stared out at them or shouted at their passing.
“Hadrian…” Ferder started, taking a deep breath. “He’ll be detained. It won’t be serious, I would think, since he’s an elder.”
“But?” she asked, sensing the hesitation in his voice.
“None of this makes sense to begin with. Why arrest him? Why now?”
She had been wondering that herself. Swerving left, they ducked under a low-hanging archway. They were turning into a walkway beneath a series of porticos when Samantha saw the dark form of their stalker again.
She was prepared to fight whoever it was, if that’s what it took, but then a voice came to her. It’s me. Quickly, they’re not far behind.
“Just Dex,” she hissed, then looked up to see which way Dex was moving. “Come on, we gotta follow… it.”
“What’s wrong?” Ferder asked, hearing her hesitation.
She laughed, starting after Dex. “It’s stupid. I just… whenever I say it, I’m not sure if it’s offensive, or rude. It feels that way to me, you know?”
“Dex won’t be offended if you say ‘she’ or ‘he,’ since he’s neither,” Ferder explained. “I asked.”
“Oh, I suppose that’s the sensible thing to do?” She frowned. “Why he th
en? Because Dex can fight?”
“Are you kidding?” Ferder scoffed. “You could take me in a fight with your hands tied behind your back, and you’re a girl. No, it’s just that he doesn’t have breasts. To me, breasts equals female.”
She laughed at that, very cognizant of her armor and how it formed around her body. “Well, don’t you dare ever look to see if I’m a girl, or I’ll slap you silly.”
He rolled his eyes and motioned for her to watch where she was going, as she’d almost run into a pole. She avoided it with a quick sidestep before they came out into the open.
“Don’t you worry about me,” he said. “I knew you were female because of your voice. And the way your lips are shaped. No man could have lips like yours.”
“Watch it,” she replied, glancing around to see if danger was nearby.
“You want me to watch my comments, or… watch for danger?”
“Both.”
Dex leaped down, landing between the two, and nodded his hooded head. Samantha had seen him without the hood before, but at the time he had—
Huh. It was much easier referring to Dex as a ‘he’ instead of an ‘it.’
Dex, mind if I refer to you with the masculine pronoun? she asked as they ran.
Whatever you like, as long as you don’t hit on me. It won’t work.
She frowned, not sure if that was a joke. Then she heard a noise that sounded like a gust of wind, which she took to mean he was laughing.
I’ll keep that in mind, she replied, playing it cool.
The ship was up ahead, at the field where Samantha had once found herself fighting a very tough alien to prove herself among the rest of these crazy aliens. It wasn’t the most pleasant of experiences, and it looked like she was about to get an even less pleasant one.
A group of white-skinned aliens in purple-and-gold armor and robes had begun to form. Some held broad swords glowing with purple light, some carried blasters.
The royal guard.
She reached for her own sword, but a sound came from Dex.
No need, he said. Jackal and the others are already on board. I had to come back for you. Otherwise we would’ve already taken off.
Ohhh, I’m so sorry I was a bit busy almost getting arrested with Hadrian.
Dex seemed to glance back, though it was more of a shuffling of his hood. Then he turned as a new sound distracted everyone on the field, including the royal guard.
Hadrian’s ship, named Noraldian after his wife, had just lifted into the air and was plowing forward, directly into the ranks of the royal guard.
“Oh, please don’t hurt them,” Ferder said to himself. At a look from Sam, he added, “What? I don’t want to be an accomplice to anything that bad.”
Without another word, the trio began to run as the ship made for them, keeping slightly to the left. The rear door opened as they drew parallel, but a group of buildings still stood between the ship and their group. Samantha knew they couldn’t all make that jump over the buildings.
She hoped her suit had been able to recharge, because she was going to need it for what she had in mind.
“Hang on!” she told Ferder, reaching out a hand as they ran straight for the buildings.
“What?”
“Just do it!” She thrust out her hand again, glancing back to the ship.
Tell Jackal to get ready, she messaged Dex.
Roger, but you’d better hurry.
Sam felt her suit tighten slightly as she readied herself, then she held onto Ferder and leaped. She ran as she connected, feet hitting the side of the building and giving her just the amount of stick that she needed. Another burst of energy, and the two of them were surging through the air.
“Grab on!” she shouted. The ship was pulling upward to avoid the buildings, the rear door within their reach for the briefest moment.
And they missed!
Samantha wasn’t out of tricks yet, though. As they started to fall, she focused her energy on the handles within the door, latching herself and Ferder to them. She pulled with all her strength, and they were thrust forward like a slingshot, where Carma stood waiting to shut the door behind them.
“Talk about your close calls,” the woman said with an impressed nod.
Samantha stumbled and put a hand against the wall as she lowered herself to a sitting position.
“I’m spent.”
Ferder knelt beside her, hands behind his head as he tried to catch his breath.
Dex appeared a moment later, gliding forward in his robes to stop and stare at them. The sight sent a shiver down Samantha’s spine, as if death were there, staring down at her.
That was too risky, the voice in her head said. Was there no better way?
I’ll try to avoid these kinds of situations. She wondered if irritation or sarcasm could be sensed in this sort of communication, but didn’t have time to ponder it. Carma was already at her side, helping Samantha, and then Ferder, to stand.
“Let’s get you up to the bridge,” Carma said. “Jackal was worried.”
“If it’s all the same,” Ferder said, “I think I’ll find the restroom to get cleaned up. I might’ve just…” He blushed, then added under his breath, “Peed myself a little.”
That brought a laugh to Samantha, which made her feel slightly better and more energetic. “Check the training room for extra clothes.”
He nodded and then headed off, walking about as wobbly as Samantha felt. Making her way down the hallways with Carma, Samantha realized how fast her heart was pounding, and how close she had come to being in real trouble back there. If they were all arrested, they were out of play. That would mean the Alliance had failed. Whatever was happening, she needed to keep her cool. Deep breaths in, deep breaths out. An intense pain was throbbing in her stomach muscles, working its way around to her back so that she cramped up, each breath coming with difficulty.
“Are you going to be okay?” Carma asked on the third set of breaths.
“We can’t just leave Hadrian back there, can we?” Samantha asked, waving Carma’s question off.
“Right now, I don’t think we have a choice.”
Samantha nodded, knowing it was true. Hadrian was a big boy; he could take care of himself. Right now, they had a mission. She paused at the sliding doors that led to the bridge, hand on the wall for balance, then gathered her nerves. It wasn’t time to show weakness or doubt. It was time to make this right.
She entered and took her spot at the rear of the ship’s bridge, where seats lined the wall. Those aliens had crossed the line.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Jackal said, removing his helmet to show her a friendly smile. As one of the very few humans still left in her life, this man provided a level of comfort. She was very glad to have him.
“Just… I thought I’d join you?”
“Of course, but actually join me, then.” He laughed and motioned to the large seat across the narrow aisle from him. Hadrian’s chair. “He’s not here, so that makes you interim commanding officer, in a sense. You are the leader of the Shadow Corps, are you not?”
“Well, yeah.”
“Then own it. Don’t worry, I’ll be flying and calling the shots as far as this bird’s concerned.”
She laughed. “Good, because if it were otherwise, we’d be screwed.”
Napalm entered as Samantha was lowering herself onto the chair. She froze, butt hovering, as if she weren’t going to sit at all. Just squatting there was even more awkward though, so she completed the move and then hesitated before looking back his way. He was actually smiling!
Not that she should have suspected elsewise, she supposed, but something felt wrong about taking the seat. She was no Hadrian. If anyone was a replacement for Hadrian, Napalm was a good choice. He could blow stuff up, and do it with his mind. He had even been the one to show Hadrian how to manipulate energy, though Hadrian had taken that lesson and increased his powers tenfold.
“It suits you,” Napalm said. “Maybe s
omeday Hadrian will retire and you can make it a permanent situation?”
She laughed nervously, and hated the sound of it. “I have a lot to learn before that day comes.”
Jackal had just taken them out of orbit, and Samantha started to relax. She could almost think they had made it, if it weren’t for the royal fighter ships that had just appeared on the display screen.
“What’ya say, Sam?” Jackal asked, putting his helmet back on. “Blow ‘em out of the sky, or see who’s the better flyer among us?”
She frowned, really not liking the responsibility, but refusing to back down from it, either.
“If we fight, we might miss our opportunity,” she said. “If we can escape them, let’s do it.”
“Roger that.” Jackal moved his hands across the screen in front of him, then took the controls and guided the Noraldian into a swirling dive past the pursuing ships. The Noraldian shot forward, spinning to send off a light show of lasers, then headed toward the nearest moon.
“That’s not the one,” Carma stated, seeing the same coordinate mismatch that Samantha was reading on the screen.
“Our destination?” he laughed. “No, but it is our best bet of losing these clowns.”
The chase took over an hour, but they had the lead and were slowly pulling away from their pursuers. When they finally reached the small moon, Jackal maneuvered the ship to curve around. He changed trajectory and flew alongside the moon for a bit, then pulled straight up and blasted away from it.
Samantha gave him a curious look.
“If they stayed on the approaching side,” he explained, “it’s unlikely they would have seen which direction we went. And soon we’ll be out of view and I can cloak from their machinery. If they pursued, same story, only they’ll have even less of an idea which direction we went.”
“Couldn’t you have just gone into FTL or something?” Carma asked.
He chuckled. “First of all, we have a tight window to reach the thirteenth moon at the right time. FTL would take us way too far away, and we’d have to follow an established lane or risk hitting something out there and being obliterated. That would also let them follow us with ease, assuming they have FTL capabilities.”