Descent

by Hamish Spiers

  The commander frowned. “I think so, sir, but...”

  “Yes?”

  “It’s impossible to be sure.”

  “No, it’s not,” Ardeis said. “If the equipment is manually handled, manually set up, manually controlled from our ships and orbital facilities, and never brought planetside for any reason, then our Hie’shi friend won’t be able to lay a finger on them.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Good. Now, relay that to all concerned parties. Our Hie’shi can do his worst but if he can’t touch the stinger nets, then Imraec Tarc will still maintain a formidable defense network. When the Frontier comes, and they will, we will be ready.”

  16. The Task Force Departs

  Carla smiled as Eroim came into her ready room. “Long day?”

  Eroim shrugged. “It wasn’t too bad, Captain. Kind of reminds me of some of the good old days actually.”

  “Which parts of ‘the good old days’?” Carla asked, hoping to perhaps gain a glimmer of information about the old man’s past.

  “The parts where I was on surveillance detail,” Eroim said with a sly smile. He knew what his captain was playing at.

  “I see,” Carla said, leaning back in her seat. “Those parts. Well, did you see anything interesting?”

  “I did,” Eroim said. “And you and Reece aren’t going to like it much.”

  “That would hardly be surprising, though,” Carla said, “given what you and Reece already found out. So let me guess. Kareim’s protected?”

  Eroim nodded. “Got it in one. I saw him meeting a senior planetary security official and it looked as though he was giving the guy some kind of treat. And I’ve seen enough shady dealings in my time to tell the difference between a one off bribe and a regular payment in a quiet ongoing relationship. This was the latter.”

  “I see. So Felkar is a sanctuary for him.”

  “That’s right. We’re not going to get any help from the authorities here.”

  “And they’re no friends of the Frontier either, are they?” Carla asked, her gaze cast down in thought.

  “I’m afraid not. I don’t think a request for this man’s extradition would do any good.”

  “Then I think,” Carla said, “that we’ve done all we can here.”

  “Within our legal rights, at any rate,” Eroim pointed out. “There are other options. And, if I can remind you, Captain, there isn’t much in the way of correlation between ethics and the law on this planet. This is a rogue state and it’s on no good terms with anyone but another rogue state.”

  “That is a concern,” Carla said. “Given the scale of Kareim’s operations and the fact he’s protected here, he might well be arranging a big shipment of delydrium for Imraec Tarc. But the best course of action open to us now would be to warn the United Frontier.”

  “It’s making its move soon?”

  “I’ve heard nothing official,” Carla replied. “And, just so we’re clear on this, neither have you. But I can join two and two and I think I’ve got a fair idea of the timetable.”

  “So what are your orders, Captain?” Eroim asked.

  “We’re going to push off and head for the nearest friendly communications relay point. Then we’ll take things from there.”

  “Reece will want to stay here.”

  “Reece is his own man and he’s free to do what he wants,” Carla said, although her eyes betrayed her real feelings.

  “You don’t want to leave him, Captain,” Eroim told her. “I know that. And I know you’ve got your sense of higher duty. I see it in everything you do and, love, bless you for it. But don’t forget the little things matter too. Because if we don’t care about the little things, then there isn’t any point in worrying about the big things either. Why fight for freedom, for instance, if you’re not interested in using it?”

  Smiling, Carla held up a hand to forestall him. “It’s okay, Eroim. I get it.” She then regarded him for a moment. “It’s funny. I didn’t know you were such a romantic.”

  “Oh, I’m a man of the heart,” Eroim replied.

  “And you know about me and Reece?” Carla asked.

  Eroim laughed and, again, dropped his usual form of addressing her as ‘Captain’. “Love, the whole crew knows about you two. One of them wanted to place a wager on when you and Reece would work things out, so to speak, but I told him that was disrespectful. See, I was thinking of you.”

  “How very kind,” Carla told him. “However, I think that’s quite enough about my personal life. Considering how little I know about yours.”

  “Oh, my life’s an open book,” Eroim said.

  “Yes,” Carla agreed. “With half the pages missing.” She frowned. “However, you’re right that Reece isn’t going to leave here without getting his hands on Kareim. Ah, damn it. I can’t let him. We’ll take off when he’s sleeping or something.”

  Eroim sighed. “Then he’ll come back here on his own. That boy’s been hurt, Captain.”

  “Well, whatever my personal feelings for him, I can’t assist him in arranging an illegal extradition. If he comes back here on his own, then that’s that.”

  Eroim’s expression took on a melancholy aesthetic. “Are you sure I can’t change your mind about this, Captain? Kareim’s a killer. This planet that’s sheltering him is a rogue nation. And working with Kareim, there’s a strong likelihood that they’re going to supply Imraec Tarc with some things that those people really shouldn’t have in their possession. Is it a guilty conscience you’re afraid of? Because, when you think about it logically, there’s nothing to feel guilty about here. And remember, you were in the resistance movement against Corinthe. That wasn’t strictly a legal organization.”

  Carla sighed. “Not according to the Federation. No, you’re right. It’s just that I’m scared, Eroim.”

  Eroim smiled and held out a pad. “Don’t be, Captain. Here.”

  Carla frowned as she took it. “What’s this?”

  “It’s set up to receive ongoing transmissions from tracking beacons I put on Kareim’s ships. I followed him to the landing bays today. He had a busy day too, it seemed.”

  Carla didn’t say anything.

  “We don’t have to extract him here if you don’t want to, Captain,” Eroim told her. “That’s what I’m saying. Sooner or later, he’s going to want to move his delydrium and then he’s going to have to go offplanet. Then you can intercept him.”

  Carla smiled. “Or I can find someone else who can.”

  “Would you look at this?” Selina asked, placing her hand on a long thick vine that seemed to be anchored in the ground at one end and disappearing at an angle into the jungle canopy at the other.

  Asten inspected it. “Hard as cable. You could walk on this.”

  Selina smiled. “Maybe later. Come on. This little area looks quite pretty. I’d like to check out those flowers over there. Either I’ve got no depth perception and they’re closer than I think or they’re huge.”

  Asten looked at the flowers in question. Great folded petals spread out over the undergrowth from short stalks, concealed by their golden and crimson crowns.

  “Did you read about these in that book of yours, Asten?” Selina asked him.

  “I remember something about giant flowers early on,” Asten said. “And crisscrossing vines too. But that seemed to be in some kind of overview section.”

  “They’re very pretty,” Selina murmured.

  Asten shrugged. “I guess. They look a little bit creepy though. It’s like they’re too big.”

  Selina gazed at the flowers in silence for a moment and, also in silence, she conceded that Asten had a point. The thickness of the petals, the weight that caused them to fold in their center and the cavernous openings between them almost looked grotesque when studied in a certain light.

  Still however, she couldn’t help being drawn closer to them - now as though against her will. And Asten, despite his lack of vocal enthusiasm, was walking towards them too with a glazed-over
expression in his eyes.

  Then, reaching the nearest one, Selina stepped onto the outer edge of one of its great petals. For a moment, she stood still as though on the edge of a precipice contemplating the great fall below her - and then the petal heaved, throwing her forward and stumbling towards the gaping center. It was then that she noticed the odor of decaying flesh, the stench of death.

  Repulsed, she broke her fall with her hands gripping the edge of the petal that was now closing along with its brethren, and she rolled out of the jaws of the beautiful monster.

  “Asten!”

  Asten blinked, the trance he had entered into broken as immediately as it had begun. He screwed his face up as he realized the horror of what had nearly happened... or rather, what was still happening.

  As Selina ran towards him, the flower lurched after her with its stalk coiling behind as the body of a snake trails behind the head.

  Spinning around, Asten grabbed his wife and flung her ahead of him, putting himself between her and the strange lifeform they had awakened.

  They jogged up the slope they had come down, stumbling slightly over the undergrowth and the moist ground. Then, when they’d gained a measure of distance, they turned back and looked at their peculiar assailant. Lunging and coiling, presumably as simple reflexes, it could no longer reach them. But there was another problem.

  “These things are between us and our Elise,” Selina said. “We can’t follow the stream without going past them.”

  Asten shook his head. “Those things are too close together. We’d never get between them. And I think they’ve got some intoxicating effect. Maybe airborne pollen or something like that... but we nearly walked right down their gullets.”

  “I practically did,” Selina said, scowling. She looked behind and saw that they’d come right back to that vine she’d discovered.

  She put her hand on it again. “Asten. You say you read about crisscrossing vines. I think I remember reading something about them in that book of yours too. Something about them being a kind of highway for the fauna around here.”

  Asten nodded as he got it. “So we may be able to follow their example.” He looked around and smiled, pointing. “Yeah. This might be the ticket. See, this vine meets with another one over there.”

  “And there are more to either side,” Selina said. “This might well be our way to the network. Come on.” She straddled the vine and started pulling herself one hand over the other along it.

  Asten shrugged and climbed after her. “So much for no heights.”

  “We’re not that high,” Selina admonished him.

  “Not yet,” Asten said. “But we will be. You might want to keep your eyes off the ground.”

  In fact, it wasn’t long before the drop below had gone from a meter or so to thirty and they found themselves nearing the forest canopy. However, as they reached this point, there were many vines intertwined below them; and they were so dense that they formed a virtual floor under the canopy on which they could walk with perfect safety.

  It was then that they began to see the first signs of animal life since they had begun their trek. For the most part, the fauna consisted of colorful birds and small mammals that scurried away when they came near. At one point, a large lizard came crawling straight towards them, a fearsome looking thing around two meters in length.

  Asten had held onto his machete, ready to use it to defend Selina and himself if the lizard attacked them. However, when it reached them, it just kept crawling, passing them by and disappearing.

  When night fell, they were still high above the forest floor on their net of vines. They made camp as usual and, this night, they found they ate well. They had become so accustomed to their circumstances that they actually looked forward to their field rations. “I guess hunger has a way of making everything taste better,” Asten suggested by way of explanation.

  After dinner, he told Selina to sleep while he kept watch. Selina argued that he needed sleep as well but he was adamant. They couldn’t be sure there weren’t any nocturnal predators around and, being up in the vines, they could hardly keep a fire going to scare them off without bringing their safety net crashing down. To assuage her concerns, Asten told his wife that he’d get a few hours sleep in the morning before they set off again. With a little reluctance, but no energy to argue the point any further, Selina acquiesced and slept in her cradle under the canopy.

  “We’re on our final approach now, ma’am.”

  “Thank you,” Maia replied to the pilot. She looked at the viewscreen and smiled at the great ships on display. Her squadron of Phalamkian Battle Titans fanned out before her in ready formation, while straight ahead she saw the three massive Freedom Class Dreadnoughts of the Phalamkian and Felariam Defense Forces. The Determined. The Just. And the flagship that would carry her and Zak to Katara and then Imraec Tarc, the Liberator. Aptly named as it now turned out. First constructed by warlike Levarc over three centuries earlier, the three Dreadnoughts were then abandoned under mysterious circumstances in deep space. Later, they were salvaged and refitted by Minstrahn criminals for the purposes of an attempted political coup, only to be captured in an attack against Felarias, where they came into joint Felariam-Phalamkian custody. Following that, they underwent further restoration, a period of concealment and now, at long last, they were about to enter active service.

  “This is going to be something,” Maia murmured.

  Zak shook his head and sighed. “It’s a far cry from a Raptor-7.” He patted the pilot on the shoulder. “Take us in, Lieutenant.”

  The one Phalamkian in the cockpit of this Phalamkian vessel smiled. “With pleasure.”

  Once the shuttle touched down in the hangar, Maia and Zak made their way to a lift car that took them straight to the corridor behind the bridge.

  Maia led the way, with Zak adjusting the cuffs of his uniform and following right behind. The doors slid open for them as they approached and the bridge crew rose to their feet.

  “At ease, everyone,” Maia said, smiling. “Let’s take our positions.”

  She and Zak sat down in their command seats in the middle of the bridge.

  “Navigation,” Maia said. “Are our coordinates set?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Communications. Are all ships in the squadron ready for immediate departure?”

  “All ships report ready, ma’am.”

  “Communications, flag to all vessels. Prepare to engage main drives. One minute countdown on my mark.”

  “All ships read.”

  “Mark,” Maia said. “Helm. Take us out.”

  As one, the three Dreadnoughts and the Battle Titans that accompanied them moved forward and engaged their main drives.

  At their next rendezvous, they would be joined by a division of vessels from the Laonist navy, along with contributions from the Narvashae forces, Kordan, Koratav, the Heg-shur and several others. A few of these navies were also sending ships with the Hie’shi led task force, while other worlds were contributing their vessels to just one task force or the other, depending on either their past loyalties or which task force’s approach they considered to make the most strategic sense.

  And, beyond the next rendezvous point, somewhere ahead, the little known world of Katara lay waiting for them, with Imraec Tarc close by.

  Maia and Zak had no way of knowing how quickly Admiral Seirvek had been able to mobilize his forces and the other ships and vessels that were accompanying his group, and so no way of knowing where his forces were at present. They could only hope they reached Katara before the Hie’shi admiral’s group reached Imraec Tarc.

  17. The Stinger Nets

  Alia pulled back the lever and the Albatross returned to sublight speed for another rendezvous in the dead of space, Drackson’s preferred locations for meetings such as this.

  The other ship was right ahead, a medium sized freighter.

  “Transmission coming through,” Alia called out.

  Behind her, Dracks
on nodded. “Put it on the speaker.”

  “Hello my friends,” came a feminine voice. “If you remain where you are, I’ll bring my ship alongside yours.”

  “Right,” Drackson said, climbing up. “We’ll see you shortly.”

  Several minutes later, the main hatch opened and along with Naima and Alia, he welcomed their guest aboard the ship. A Calae woman.

  “Lady Calayra,” Drackson greeted her. ‘Lady’ was an honorary title used by the people of her organization, however, rather than an official Calae title.

  “Drackson,” the woman replied, her doe-like eyes lighting up with pleasure at the meeting. “It is good to see you yet again.”

  Drackson smiled and waved his hand towards the others. “Lady Calayra. My crew. Naima and Alia.”

  The Calae bowed her head. “A privilege. Where, may I ask, is Jiang?”

  “She’s currently waiting for us on Imraec Tarc itself at Port Alema,” Drackson said. “She’s stranded there actually and this is the reason we’re heading there now.”

  Lady Calayra nodded. “I see.”

  Drackson led her to the mess. “Come. We can talk more comfortably sitting down.”

  Once there, they all arranged themselves around the table in the center of the room and Drackson began the proceedings. “So, I take it if you didn’t know anything about Jiang being on the planet, there’s no sense in asking whether you’ve heard any news about her.”

  The Calae woman shook her head. “I’m afraid not. Are you telling me you haven’t had any contact with her since she arrived there?”

  “We’ve had contact,” Alia said, joining in the discussion. “It’s just been brief. Necessarily brief, for security reasons.”

  “Sensible enough,” Lady Calayra said, looking her way and then turning back to Drackson. “And that brings me to my own report. As far as I’m aware, no one’s brought in Merec Derairc to claim that bounty yet so your pretence for traveling out this way still holds weight on that front. However, from what I can gather, and what the others I’ve spoken to have told me, the Imraehi agents don’t buy that story.”