by Frank Carey
Without warning, a large glittering shape emerged from dust and placed itself between the trio and Kestrel’s group of smugglers as they fired their weapons. It was Stella’s dragon friend and the bullets bounced harmlessly off of her scales. She turned on the smugglers and sprayed the shooters with flames, turning them into human torches. Seeing that they had no chance of winning against an angry, bullet-proof, rainbow-colored, blowtorch, Kestrel and the surviving smugglers boarded their APC and took off into the dust with the alien device.
“Are you ok? Did they hurt you?” Stella said as she checked the dragon over. “Unhurt, must go, others come,” the dragon said as she gently rubbed her cheek against Stella before disappearing into the dust. As they watched, a Command scrambler appeared from the dust and skidded to a stop in front of them.
“Anna, are you ok? Anyone hurt? The scanners indicated gunfire and a very large life form,” a uniformed gentleman said as he jumped out of the scrambler and ran over to the trio.
“We’re fine, but the smugglers are getting away with an alien device.”
“Let me guess, her name is Kestrel, and she took something that she thinks belongs to the Nyla? Where did the device come from?” he asked as he scanned the area.
“Yes. The device was inside that building. We think it has something to do with maintaining the Maelstrom,” Percy said. “Who are you?”
“My name is Mark Tobin and I’m an Agent with the Research Command’s Antiquities Division. I’ve got a team coming in with equipment that can stabilize the field generators, so I can’t go after Kestrel, which means you three are deputized, so go get her. That device cannot leave this planet, understand?”
“We’re on it,” Percy said as he and his two compatriots headed to the APC.
“Anna, be careful. I know you’re more than capable of kicking Kestrel’s ass, but the family would not forgive me if you get hurt, ok?”
Anna gave Mark a thumb's-up as she entered the APC and sealed the door.
“What was that all about?” Percy asked as they strapped in and powered up.
“Mark and I are half-siblings, we share the same father,” Anna said as she brought up the navigation and defensive systems. “Mark was recently stationed on Meltor and he asked me to tell him if we heard of anything unusual. Something about screwed-up interagency communications.”
A moving red dot appeared on the map, indicating the position of the device and Kestrel’s APC. “Buckle-up people, this ride may get rough,” Percy said as he engaged the main drive and applied full power. “Anna, do my eyes deceive me or is Kestrel taking the long way out of the Maelstrom?”
“Definitely taking the long way. She’s probably unfamiliar with the other shorter routes out of here.” Anna replied.
“Set course for exit alpha-tango-bravo. That should get us out before her, but still near her. We will be there to greet her.”
In a very short time, the Ryū and its crew exited the maelstrom and placed themselves in front of Kestrel’s exit point. Moments later, Kestrel exited and found herself facing an armed APC.
“Kestrel, give it up, there’s nowhere to go.” Percy said over the radio.
Kestrel replied by driving directly at the Ryū while firing a volley of gunfire from several machine guns. The Ryū responded by moving off while firing its own guns. “Stella, aim for the tires, we need to cripple their APC,” Anna said as Percy swung the Ryū around in an attempt to block Kestrel’s escape. Halfway through the turn, one of Kestrel’s grenade rounds caught the Ryū between the two portside forward wheels and blew them off, rolling the massive vehicle on its starboard side.
The interior of the wrecked Ryū was filled with smoke, alarms, and flashing lights. “Is everyone ok?” Percy yelled as he killed the alarms and flashers while turning on the exhaust fans to clear the air.
“I’m ok,” Anna said as she unstrapped from her seat. Once clear of her station, she reached up and activated the explosive bolts on the portside doors, blowing them clear of the wreck.”
“I think I’m ok, but the harness release is jammed,” Stella said as she struggled to get out of it.
“Knock, knock,” a voice said from the starboard side aft hatch. It was Kestrel and she was holding a blaster on them. “I see that you are busy, so I won’t keep you long. I just wanted to let you know that I figured out who you are,” she said as she motioned towards Anna. “You’re related to Mark Tobin, aren’t you?”
“I’m his sister,” Anna said as she moved to grab a weapon.”
“Uh, uh, you don’t want me to shoot you with this, now do you? I don’t know if he ever mentioned that he and I were together, once. We broke up when I found out that he was a deep-cover agent. In fact, he was the one who gave me this,” she said as she rubbed her scar. “Well, got to go. Any last words?” she said as started to climb down. “No? Too bad.”
When Kestrel disappeared, Percy reached over and activated a starboard side camera and panned it around until he saw something that chilled him to the bone. As he watched, Kestrel calmly walked back to her APC, took a shoulder-mounted missile launcher from one of the smugglers, and aimed it at the Ryū.
“Anna, get out of here. She’s going to hit us with a missile.” He yelled as he grabbed her arm. He knew it was too late when Kestrel waved goodbye. Suddenly, the screen went blank as the Ryū rocked and the cabin was filled with the sound of a jet engine and the smell of something burning. Then, silence.
“What the hell just happened?” Anna asked as Percy released her arm.
“I don’t know, but we need to get out. Here, help me cut Stella loose.
Together, they freed Stella and exited the APC. When they emerged they found a large winged dragon lifting the alien device from the charred debris of Kestrel’s vehicle. Next to it was the dragon that had befriended Stella. As for Kestrel and the smugglers, only their shadows remained, etched into the ground on which they had stood.
As the trio slid to the ground, the small dragon ran up to Stella, sniffed her, and then ran around her as if checking for injuries. “I’m okay. Thank you, and thank your friend for saving us.” Her friend turned and said something to the winged one, who snorted puffs of smoke before taking off with the alien device in its teeth, heading back into the maelstrom. On it its way through it passed Mark’s scrambler, causing him to swerve and almost crash. Seeing Mark coming, the small dragon gently nuzzled Stella before returning to the Maelstrom.
“Did you see that?” he yelled as got out of his scrambler.
“Yes we did, and you better warn your team. I think the big one is bringing the device back to the fortress,” Percy said as he climbed back into the Ryū. Moments later he returned with a cooler of beer which he shared with the rest of them. “Wow, I thought we were toast.”
“About that,” Anna said as she looked carefully at her partner. “You try to throw me to safety while you were going to stay and try to save Stella, knowing that we were about to get a missile shoved up our behinds. Really?”
“What can I say? I’m not really good at this working-under-pressure thing,” he said as he took a deep drink from his beer. Everyone laughed and shook their heads before taking drinks themselves.
Several months later, Percy and Anna found themselves again sitting around a table at the Outpost and drinking beers while waiting for a late client. Behind them the dust of Hanson’s Maelstrom swirled and churned behind its containment field. At the base of the “wall” one could see APCs exiting and entering the Maelstrom escorted by flightless dragons while older winged ones flew in and out overhead. There was a great deal more activity at the outpost since the treaty between the dragons and the humans had been signed. Now, dragons and humans were working together to explore not only the Maelstrom, but other worlds as well.
“Hard to imagine that the dragons are highly advanced, sentient beings, who retired to this planet millennia ago.” Percy said as he watched the APCs and their dragon escorts.
“I know. We had it all wrong when we first
met the dragons. Luckily, we didn’t do anything too stupid,” Anna said.
As they spoke, their clients arrived.
“Welcome to the Planet Meltor, home of Hanson’s Maelstrom. My name is Percy, this is Anna, my co-driver, and this is Rodney, our dragon escort,” Percy said as he pointed to Rodney, who was curled around the Ryū II, fast asleep. “We will get you loaded and be on our way just as soon as we can rouse Rodney,” he said as he and Anna led them to the APC. In front of them, the windblown dust churned as dragon calls filled the air.
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About Frank Carey
Frank Carey was born in Detroit, Michigan, over a half century ago, but the writing bug didn't bite him until two years ago. By day, he works as a Research Engineer at a small firm located in the Desert Southwest region of the United States. By night, he writes stories about other worlds and the beings who call them home. He feels blessed to be able to share his stories with the rest of humanity through the miracle of electronic self-publishing, something that was the stuff of science fiction only a few short years ago.
“I write for the sheer joy of writing. I publish because I can.”
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Frank’s Amazon Author page: http://amazon.com/author/frankcarey
Frank’s Blog: http://elvenindustriespress.com
Books set in the League of Planetary Systems:
The League of Planetary Systems, is a universe created by Frank and Jo Carey as the setting for many of their books.
Marauder Omnibus: Nebulon, Taggart, Tobath and Arriska by Frank Carey
Elves, Vampires, and Olympians by Frank Carey
Progression by Jo Carey
Bug Hunters in Space Series by Jo Carey
Lab 42: Bunta Juice
Lab 42: Aquapillar
Smuggler Elf Chronicles by Frank Carey
Smuggler Elf
Smuggler’s Daughter
Smuggler’sWife
Snapdragon Ladies Series by Jo Carey
Book 1: Ciara
Book 2: Nebulon
Galactic Cruise Lines by Jo Carey
Book 1: Ballroom
Book 2: Acapella
Other books by Frank Carey:
Pulse: A Collection of Short and Flash Fiction
Table of Contents
Copyright
Table of Contents
Snake Eyes
RT357
Report from the Front
Gwen
Fitz
Dolphin Talk
Camping Trip
Bookworm
AI
The Artifact
Wallpaper War
Ramses
Debts
But Wait! There’s More
Dig Site
Hero
Exodus
Earl Grey
Room at the Inn
Monkey Wrench
Hot Cocoa
Starter
Book Lover
Table for One
The World is Your Stage
Gate 47
First, You Must Die
Cold Time
Printer
Side Trip
Observer
Juxtaposition
Sanctuary
Zombots
The Tomb
Starsa
Maelstrom