Titan Stand

by Max Jager

  "You weren't attacked at all?" He asked, "The jungle is crawling with all sorts of creatures, smart ones too, can't you hear those drums?" She listened a moment then gave him a puzzled look.

  "I don't hear any drums, what are you talking about?" He listened, but she was right, the drums had stopped.

  "What time is it? I don't have my watch." She looked at her wrist cron,

  "About two centons until dawn…Why?"

  That's when the Gw'oth's will have made up their minds to attack us or not, we've got to get back to the landing pad right now!"

  "Who are these Gw'oth's you speak of?" She asked.

  Every time she opened her mouth he couldn't believe what came out,

  "Something is very wrong here, maybe she's in shock or something? He thought to himself.

  "I'll tell you more about them later, right now, we…"

  "Everyone get your gear we're moving out right NOW! Announced Brand. Following him were two more disheveled looking Malhazars, everyone immediately formed into a group with Brand exclaiming,

  "We're leaving right now, Lieutenant, put your people in the middle, Ifwol, you and Matt in the rear, Lieutenant Sanroc will join you, do not fall behind, let's go!"

  As soon as Mangon turned off the force field they moved out at a quick pace, with Holliqua and Mangon assisting the still injured co-pilot.

  As they moved back up the trail the jungle remained ominously quiet. Once again Matt had his AR ready to fire. No one was saying a word however he began to hum that stupid Immigrant song from the Godfather II, of all the stupid… He couldn't shake it from his mind, but the damn thing sure fit.

  "I stormed the castle walls but reached too late…" Now was certainly not the time to review his feelings for her, maybe if she hadn't survived the crash?

  "No! No! Get those thoughts out of your mind, but how is it they didn't come across that first structure, and how come nobody's said anything about being attacked by these creatures?" As if they didn't have enough problems an incredible bolt of lightening had just hit somewhere just up ahead followed a millisecond later by a massive crack of thunder which signaled the arrival of another downpour. Everyone was drenched to the skin in seconds, you didn't dare look up or you would drown. Somehow they made it to the small compound scooting through the hole, as Brand and Jezang pushed the stone back in place.

  Rekton went on ahead but quickly returned with the news that a large tree had come down right on the stone bridge dropping it into the water. This must have been what the lightening had hit because the whole tree had split from the massive bolt of electricity charging through it. However there was still hope, the tree had dropped down with one smaller branch keeping it from going all the way into the water. Rekton pointed out that by using the still connected cable as a hand rail it might be possible to get across using the tree to walk on.

  "We've got no choice!" Exclaimed Brand, "But it's going to be tough getting that injured co-pilot across.

  "I think I've got enough cable to rig a "chair" said Rekton, Jezang and I can go first maybe Ifwol as well and get things secured, then when we're ready, you can start sending people across."

  "Sounds like a plan," said Brand, "That rain isn't letting up anytime soon, let's move

  And so Rekton, Jezang, Ifwol, and Lieutenant Sanroc carefully worked their way across the improvised bridge. With the two outside lamps casting an eerie greenish glow over everything the Lieutenant came back across the bridge hopping and twisting like a cat. Mangon and Brand then rigged up the new lines to the light pole and signaled the others they were ready. Securing Aneejac into the crude chair, Mangon and the Lieutenant slowly escorted the injured co-pilot across the even more swollen river.

  As they were almost to the opposite bank Lieutenant Sanroc slipped but just managed to grab a limb from the tree and pull herself up to a point where Mangon could grab her and pull her up the rest of the way. Now it was just Brand, Matt and Holliqua. After untying the extra cables, Brand pointed to Matt,

  "You two are next, get going!"

  "No sir," replied Matt, "In case you haven't noticed, that light pole is starting to lean. You're a whole lot heavier and also in command, you go next sir, we'll be all right." He tried to argue but neither would hear it. As Matt had suspected, about halfway across, at the point where he was putting the most strain on the cable, the post went over at almost a forty-five degree angle.

  Like the Lieutenant, Brand went into the water which was trying to pull him down, but like her he managed to grab a branch and pull himself up to where Jezang was waiting to grab him. As soon as he was safe Matt turned to Holliqua who was now looking like a drowned rat.

  "That lamp post is going all the way over when we cross you know that don't you?" She put her head down,

  "I don't want to loose you Matt, better we go together than I live without you."

  "No Holliqua, don't think like that, you're going next, here, I'll tie you to the hand cable with a knot that will let you slide across, and if you do slip it will hold you up."

  "But what if that pole does go over all the way and I go in?"

  "Then that cable will keep you from going down the river, now let's hurry they're calling for us." She then reached over and kissed him as hard as she could before letting him tie her up to the hand cable.

  Surprisingly, the pole didn't go completely over but the river finally pulled the tree under bringing Holliqua with it. Matt screamed her name as he prepared to crawl hand over hand along the now sagging cable which was now being pulled deeper into the water by Holliqua's weight, Suddenly her head popped up out of the water along with her arms as she tried to pull herself up the tether line.

  "HOLLIQUA," shouted Matt, "GIVE ME YOUR HAND! GIVE ME YOUR HAND! I CAN GRAB YOU!" Except for the light from his helmet he could barely see her, as he tried everything he could to reach her. He could just hear Jezang shouting over the others for him to hold on help was coming. He couldn't risk turning his head for fear of loosing sight of where Holliqua's hand was, every ounce of his energy was now focused on grabbing her hand.

  Suddenly, he felt something, it was her hand. Squeezing it for all he was worth he improved his grip pulling her a little higher out of the water.

  "HOLLIQUA, CAN YOU SEE ME, CAN YOU HEAR ME? His helmet light just barely revealed her face which looked pale as death, but he could see her looking up at him.

  "LISTEN UP! I'M GOING TO ROLL OFF THIS CABLE…I'LL BE GOING INTO THE WATER AS WELL, BUT HOPEFULLY MY WEIGHT WILL PULL YOU UP A LITTLE, THEN WE CAN FIGURE OUT HOW TO WORK OUR WAY OVER TO THE OTHERS!" She indicated that she heard him so he released his carbiner dropping almost immediately into the cold water. His efforts did pull her up but now both were causing even more drag on the cable, which if broke both would be swept away. As he began to try and work them towards the riverbank a loud noise began to come from above. Suddenly, the whole area was lit up like day. Looking up all he could see was a brilliant light hanging over them.

  "I can't do this!" He thought, "I'm played out, maybe if I can keep our heads above water we can catch an overhanging branch on the way down the river?

  Aw fuck! Who am I fooling, this is the end."

  The loud rushing of repulsor engines came closer as Matt heard Jezang's voice directly above him.

  "Da fuck?" He thought,

  "Matt I'm here for you, just hang on, I'm hooking a cable up!" He tried looking up again but it was just too bright then he saw Jezang dangling directly over him holding a hook in her hand. It then dawned on him what she was trying to do. Pointing to where his tether cable stretched over the former hand cable she got a better idea where to place her hook. The next thing he knew they were rising up into the air. He was vaguely aware of shifting sideways and holding onto Holliqua with the last of his strength, then dropping and coming to rest on wet cold stone, after that…Nothing.

  Blurred images, voices, was someone asking him a question? He dreamed of being back in high school it was geometry class Holliqua was s
itting next to him breaking his concentration by giving him sly winks. Rekton, was sitting behind him with Brand in the first row. Was that Kaitlyn sitting up there as well. Turning around, he saw Grak, and Karlt whispering to each other and snickering. Shit! Even Slavek and his sister Tiag were here, what the fuck was going on? Suddenly a familiar voice interrupted his thoughts. It was Greg Tate but looking up he saw that he was the teacher.

  "Matt! If you don't pay attention the world is going to pass you by!" There seemed to be more too it but the next thing he remembered was sitting in Neb's Nebula eating supper with his parents and his dad asking him all sorts of technical questions .

  When he finally woke for real he was in his bunk on board Brand's ship. Pinching himself to be absolutely sure, he slowly sat up. He could feel the gentle vibration and all the internal noises he had become accustomed to. He then felt something against his side and looking down he noticed that it was Holliqua's little memo pad. Laying back he pushed the button.

  "Matt, since you're still out I thought I'd leave this message for you. Obviously we didn't drown and we're aboard your ship heading for Moriedia. Jezang plucked us from the water with the aid of those raiders but that's another story. The important thing is that we're both safe and sound. The rest of my crew is also safe, Aneejac is recovering nicely and will be up and around soon. Everybody is talking about all that you did for me. Well that's all for now, you just rest, we'll talk later."

  He then lay there wondering if this was a course he wanted to travel, but then all he could do was sigh in the realization that he could see no way to turn this ship around.

  Chapter 84

  Titan Stand Chapter 84

  Brand and Rekton were conducting an informal inquiry as to what actually happened after the Malhazar's had launched their little planet buster bomb at Bline-Aichel. Matt walked in on it just as Brand had finished explaining the potential friction between Moriedia and Ruddoria that now existed. Aneejac, Wildeta, and Mangon the engineer sat in a little group while Holliqua sat off to the side. She smiled when she saw Matt appear, and although he returned it, he wished like hell she wasn't here. Taking a seat next to Ifwol and Jezang he grimaced as he caught Holliqua staring at him out of the corner of his eye.

  "So you say your ship's flight servo's were damaged, and you were only getting half power," asked Rekton.

  "That's right," replied Mangon,

  "Originally, the plan was to make for Keltrin-7 but we were picking up too much raider chatter coming from that location, so we had no choice but to push on for Tumar-Ju."

  "Well for what it's worth," said Brand, the old mining station at Keltrin-7 has become a base for the raiders, who I might add were the ones that assisted us in rescuing you people, especially the young lady over there." Holliqua appeared to be uneasy over this revelation as Wildeta huffed,

  "I suppose we should be grateful, but that in no way diminishes our feelings toward those beings!" Matt winced at the weapon's officer's slur. He'd been out here long enough to know that calling another race "being's" was a slight of major proportions, and were any raiders present, they would have launched on the Malhazars immediately.

  "Yes, well be that as it may," replied Rekton, what we really want to know is how you survived for so long on that planet with all those Gw'oth's crawling all over the place."

  "Perhaps because I can speak Chaake," exclaimed Aneejac. "I'd rather not say at this time how I know this language, but after we crashed these strange beasts showed up. At first, they blindly attacked us and we repeatedly drove them off until I heard one call out to another in a strange language. I know that language, I said to myself. I was pretty rusty at it but eventually it all started coming back to me. I was then able to communicate with one of them who demanded to know who we were and if we had any Khufrian's on board. As a matter -of-fact, he seemed obsessed with Khufrian's for some reason."

  "If you had seen the inside of that first stone structure you would know the answer to that," said Brand.

  "Well whatever the reason," continued Aneejac, "we weren't able to get in. I spoke with this…creature trying to convince him we were not their enemies, and were waiting for someone to come and rescue us." Well eventually the ship's power finally died, and we were forced to look for some place else to wait for help. I was hurt pretty bad as you can see from my wounds. Anyway, this creature called himself "Memik, or Mesmek," something like that. He spoke of a large tower like structure not far away and tried to indicate its general direction but unfortunately we became lost trying to find it. When you found us we had only been there slightly over two centons."

  "Did they attack you at any time after you spoke with them?" Asked Brand.

  "A small group did but then fought with the original group as they were apparently outcasts if you can believe creatures like that could be outcasts."

  "Perhaps you remember that genetic scandal involving the Khufrian's a number of yeans ago. Apparently a clan of Diyari was involved as well, and Tumar-Ju was where they brought these creatures they had been experimenting with and simply released them. We found cages in that first structure with the remains of these Gw'oth. From the scratchings on the cell walls, they had a rudimentary language."

  "Well we are off that wretched planet," injected Wildeta, "And we are ever grateful to you for rescuing us."

  "Well we will be making our first stop on Ruddoria," announced Brand, "There are some people who want to speak with you concerning the destruction of Bline-Aichel."

  "Well I'm sorry Commander," replied Wildeta, "But as senior officer of my crew I must insist you take us to Moriedia immediately." Brand gave her a hard look.

  "Lieutenant Commander Sanroc I'm in charge of this ship, and we are going to Ruddoria, there are a lot of unanswered questions concerning the destruction of Bline-Aichel that must be answered. Naturally you will be allowed to speak with your ambassador, but at the present time we have a rather tense situation between Ruddoria and Moriedia…Please, all I ask is your cooperation."

  The weapons officer sighed, but continued to glare at Brand,

  "In that case I wish to file an official writ of complaint against you for refusing to return us to our rightful home." Brand grimaced, and slowly shook his head.

  "That is your right I suppose, but as you can see I and my crew are not Ruddorian, I am only doing this as a favor to them as well as doing what I can to resolve a dangerous situation. Now, Lieutenant, if you don't mind, please bear with me and save your protests for the Ruddorians." Matt heard her mutter something under her breath as she collected her crew and stalked off to the impromptu sleeping area the Malhazar's had constructed off to one side of the cargo bay. As they left, Holliqua smiled at him as she filed out with the others.

  To no one in particular, Brand exclaimed.

  "Let them sit down there and sulk, speaking for myself, I think there's more going on here than meets the eye." Then turning to Matt he added.

  "I know you have feelings for that girl but I'd rather you didn't go down there right now Matt. I have my reasons, so just let it go at that."

  "Fine with me sir," he replied as he thought to himself,

  "Thank you captain! The last place I want to be is hanging around those people."

  Of course this thought was followed by feelings of guilt for thinking such a thing but there it was. Quickly changing the subject, he asked,

  "Captain, how did you get the raiders to help us like that?"

  Brand looked at him for a moment then replied

  "Alejac may be a raider but he's one of the few that has a head on his shoulders. He's also very pragmatic and unlike most of them is always looking at the larger picture. I think he's trying to organize a separate raider faction and is eying Tumar-Ju as a potential base. I promised him I would say nothing about him occupying the abandoned mining station."

  "This is weird," replied Matt, yet come tomorrow, or next week you will be back trying to bring him or one of his men in on a bounty." Brand merely grinned
.

  "That's true, Alejac knows this as well, but he knows that it's my job, however he knows that it's his job to avoid being caught. Perhaps coming from an entirely different galaxy as you do, our ways must seem very strange to you. However, rest assured, they work and it's just our way of life."

  "Don't get me wrong sir," replied Matt, "I'm not judging, just curious." Then Brand patted his shoulder,

  "You gave quite an account of yourself back there young fellow, any time you want to come along just let me know."

  "Thanks a lot sir," replied Matt, "Anytime you want to visit earth you let me know."

  "I will certainly do that Matt," came the reply. Matt then went over to where Jezang was sitting and sat down beside her.

  "I really want to thank you Jezang for pulling Holliqua and I out of that mess, I really owe you." Jezang smiled at him,