Star Runners: Mission Wraith (#3)

by L. E. Thomas

  “Oh?”

  “I don’t know how you do it. Lots of the Star Runners talked about it on Tarton’s Junction.”

  Austin smiled. “Truthfully, that’s one of the benefits of being quiet.”

  “What do you mean?”

  He stared down at her and kissed her forehead. “I’m scared all the time, Ryker. All the time, except for now.”

  She leaned up and kissed him before nestling into his chest. “I’m taking you to a place I know you’ll like.”

  Austin nodded. “What is the Glistening Orb?”

  “You’ll see.”

  They traveled in silence for several minutes, passing through the watery streets of Seaside. Austin watched the otherworldly traffic, marveling at the exotic and colorful outfits of the population of the Oma people. Groups laughed onboard other gondolas as they stepped off onto neon docks and disappeared into lively establishments boasting exciting bass-filled music. The radiantly colored signs ignited the water with an electric light.

  Their gondola stopped at the base of a skyscraper stretching into the dark sky. Austin recognized this structure as the one stretching into the clouds he saw earlier in the day. Spotlights danced on the surface of the structure. Austin couldn’t see the top of it.

  “What is this?”

  Ryker slipped out of the gondola with the grace of a cat. She turned to offer her hand. It felt tender in his own. “Come with me and find out.”

  He stepped out onto the dock. Ryker slid a card on the gondola’s transaction pad and stood in silence as the gondola sailed away into the night. Other couples passed them on the dock, strolling to the base of the structure. A row of glass elevators stretched the length of the building. Couples holding hands rushed through the doors.

  “What—”

  She placed her finger over his mouth and smiled. “Just come with me.”

  Austin nodded, grabbing her hand as he followed her in the dim light coming off the structure. She led him to one of the glass elevators at the base of the structure and slid her card once again. The perfectly polished elevator door closed behind them. He stood behind her as she pressed a button. As the elevator car moved up, she turned around and stared at him.

  They kissed as the elevator picked up speed, embracing each other. She rested her head on his chest. Austin stared out the glass elevator as it accelerated to impossible heights. The city of Seaside stretched out beneath them like fluorescent lily pads on a still pond and then disappeared into the night as the elevator ascended into the heavens. They swayed as Austin pulled her closer to his chest, his fingers rubbing the back of her head. She wrapped her arms around his back and squeezed him. Clouds moved past the elevator as the ascension continued into heights Austin struggled to comprehend.

  The cloud cover broke. Austin inhaled sharply at the sight. Moonlight glowed over the white blanket of clouds as the elevator continued moving through the atmosphere. It seemed like a dream. He shook his head and peered out the glass. Instead of slowing, the elevator moved faster. His stomach dropped, and Ryker held him tighter. The blue glow of the atmosphere faded to black in the moonlight. Their feet left the floor of the elevator, gravity slipping away.

  “Oh,” he said involuntarily, gripping her tighter.

  She laughed as they floated in the elevator car. Grabbing his hands, she pushed away from him as they ascended above the elevator floor. Bringing her face to his height, she took his face into her hands. Slowly, she inched forward and kissed him as if for the first time, as if there wouldn’t be another time. They spun around, the moonlight beaming through the glass as if they stood in front of a spotlight. He placed his hands on her hips.

  Her lips slid across his cheek and rested at his ear. Her breath tickled his skin as she lingered.

  “Thank you for saving me,” she whispered.

  Before he could answer, the elevator door opened. Austin’s jaw dropped. It was like peering into a gigantic bowl suspended above the atmosphere. Vibrant colors blended in a swirl like a school of jellyfish in the depths of the ocean. A shower of radiant bubbles ricochet around inside, bouncing off one another under the twinkling stars spread across a field of blackness.

  A young attendant with closely cropped blonde hair nodded. He wore a dark suit with electric blue neon lighting running throughout the uniform. He stood affixed to a magnetic platform at the elevator’s door. He smiled pleasantly and handed batons to Ryker.

  She gripped them and turned to Austin. “Come on.”

  They drifted into the crowd. The planet revealed itself below, the deep blue of the dark side of the planet slowly turning past. Vibrant bubbles surrounded the orb, morphing together to form larger formations. Hundreds of couples floated around the room, propelling through the zero-gravity dance floor with the batons expelling the multi-colored liquid. Ryker held his arm, using the baton with her free hand. They drifted into the open space above. Another couple giggled as they floated by, propelled by a luminescent green liquid. Purple and green bubbles materialized together near his face like Austin had somehow fallen into a massive birthday cake.

  Ryker outstretched the baton and squeezed. A striking plum-colored liquid shot from the baton, forcing them into the open. They floated in space, together. She pulled him close as they spun through the room. In the midst of this impossible scene, Austin couldn’t tear himself from her. He stared into her eyes.

  “Float with me,” she said.

  “This is weird.”

  “I know.” She cocked her head to the side, gesturing with her hands. “Come with me.”

  They floated high above the flawless blue surface of Oma, looking like a cobalt marble miles below them. She held him in the comforting freedom of no gravity.

  “I’ve never felt like this before,” she whispered, resting her head on his chest.

  “Me, neither.”

  “I’m scared.”

  “Me, too.” He wrapped his arms around her shoulders. “I’ve got you.”

  She released a long, slow sigh. “I know you do.”

  “I’ll give you everything,” he whispered, watching the scene tumble around them. “Always.”

  “I know. You always have.”

  He didn’t want it to end, losing track of how long they had been suspended within the Glistening Orb atop the space elevator.

  “Should we go?” she finally whispered.

  Austin stared at her, framing her face in his hands. He kissed her softly, felt her moist lips on his own. “Do you want me to stay with you?”

  She nodded, taking in a deep breath. “You should probably go to your quarters,” she said in his ear before gazing at him, “but I want you home with me.”

  He swallowed. “Okay.”

  They drifted in space, watching as the light crept over the planet’s surface in the distance.

  *****

  The daylight warmed his face.

  He closed his eyes tighter, leaning back in the arched black chair on Ryker’s porch adjacent to the calm water off Seaside. A line of identical apartments stretched as far as he could see, other tenants lounging on their porches in the early morning.

  She strolled out from her apartment, wearing a translucent white shirt over her blue swimsuit and carrying a cup of coffee.

  “Here you go,” she said softly, handing the cup to Austin. “Is this how you like it? Did I get it right?”

  “This is great,” Austin said, sitting up and taking the hot mug. He blew across the top, sending steam into the air. “Thank you.”

  “Of course.” She sat next to him, sipping on her cup of coffee. “This has been wonderful.”

  Austin thought of the past two weeks full of days doing nothing but swimming in the warm waters and visiting restaurants at night. They had returned to the glass space elevator to visit the Glistening Orb six times—Austin couldn’t get enough of the zero gravity dance club in low orbit of Oma. His skin had browned during the two weeks. The wounds received during the firefight with the Phantoms and h
is fatigue as a result of the Battle of Atlantis had faded. But the memories remained, burned into his mind—especially in his dreams. He awoke several times during each night. The image of the burning forest and the sound of laser fire sizzling by his head was fresh in his mind as if it happened yesterday.

  When he was awake, he focused on the beauty of Oma. He knew this experience had been made possible by his role as a Star Runner, but he didn’t want to go back. He wanted to stay on this planet forever.

  But that ended today.

  He closed his eyes and allowed the light to wash over his body.

  “I’ve never done this before,” he said, leaving his eyes closed. He grinned, remembering their similar conversation from his first night on Oma.

  “What? Sit out on the porch?”

  “No.” He pointed between the two of them. “Done this.”

  “Oh.” She rested her chin on her tanned bare shoulder and smiled. “Me, neither.”

  Austin blinked. “Never?”

  “No.” She turned back to the sky. “There has never been time. Came close once or twice, but never like this. What about you?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You and other girls.” She lowered her gaze, a playful expression on her face. “Why didn’t you have a girl on Earth preventing you from coming here and getting involved with someone like me?”

  Austin laughed. “Someone like you? You mean an alien?”

  She punched him playfully on the shoulder. “Watch it.”

  Austin deflected her hit softly and exhaled. He forced his mind back to his high school experience. “No, there was no one. I dated a little, I guess—if you could call it that. But that was before Dad …”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “After that,” he said, clearing his throat, “I didn’t have an interest in giving my heart away when nothing lasts. What was the point? At least that’s how I used to think.”

  She looked at him for a moment. “You don’t feel that way anymore?”

  “No.” He held her hand and stared into the sky. “Not anymore. Time has gone by too fast. I don’t think I want to go back.”

  She set her coffee down and slipped on a pair of red sunglasses. “I always think that when I get my leave.” She sighed, tilting her head back to bask in the direct daylight. “This time has been a little worse, though. It’ll be a lot different when we receive our orders.”

  Austin took a sip of coffee. “Different? How?”

  She peered at him over the rim of her sunglasses. “I’ve never been on tour and had … this.”

  He smiled. “How many times have you been on leave?”

  “Once following my flight training and then after my first tour in the Carmicha sector.”

  He smiled, nodding toward the black and red tattoo of a Tizona Sword crossing a shield on her forearm. “When you got that?”

  “Yeah, that’s when.” A touch of red warmed her face. “Anyway, then I was transferred to Tarton’s Junction to monitor Earth’s servers and train the next wave of Star Runners. Only twice on leave, I guess, but it’s pretty amazing. Being out there on a carrier is tougher than just the job.”

  “How so?”

  She looked up. “The light rays, for one. You miss it more than you’d expect.”

  He snorted. “You mean, sunlight? I missed it on Tarton’s Junction.”

  “And that was a year. The carriers keep you in the dark for much longer, sometimes for years at a time. And there’s also little time for … a social life.”

  Austin’s stomach turned. “Fun. You really think that’s where we’re going? A carrier?”

  “A carrier? Sure. We get stationed planet side, and I’d be surprised. With what’s going on there with Regent Tulin rousing the war faction for expansion and blaming the Legion for wanting a war, yeah, we’ll be on a carrier on the border.” She settled her head back into the seat. “I just hope we’re stationed together.”

  Austin stared at her, marveling at the perfection of her almond skin. “I hope so, too.”

  He thought of the message he read from Legion command they had both received yesterday. The message ordered them to report to a shuttle bound for the Tizona. Over the past months, he had heard of the legendary core vessel comprising the nucleus of the Legion Navy. Four such home vessels existed for each squadron, and he would see the Tizona very soon.

  “So we report to this home vessel and then leave from there?”

  Ryker smiled. “You’ll see. You won’t believe it. Tradition calls for us to report to the Tizona for our assignments. We’ll board the shuttle in the morning. This time tomorrow, we’ll have our assignments and be on our way. Tizona officers from all over the Legion will be there for the ceremony. It’s been done this way for generations.” She leaned over and peered at him over her sunglasses. “But let’s not worry about that now. Today’s our last day. I want to enjoy it.”

  *****

  “It’s up ahead.”

  Austin twisted his neck for a better view. Thousands of micro units away loomed the moon of Mackaron orbiting the Legion core world of Tania. “I just see the moon.”

  “Give it a moment,” Ryker said, her voice playful as she gripped Austin’s hand on the seat. She kept the action low enough to avoid being seen by the other officers in the transport.

  “What am I looking for?”

  Ryker giggled. “I don’t want to ruin it.”

  Austin squeezed her hand and peered into the blackness of space. The position lights of two escort Tridents glimmered past his window, but he knew Ryker didn’t want him to see two standard fighters. Her tone of voice had suggested something much more grand since they curved into the system two minutes ago. He lost himself in the dark view, remembering back to the days when seeing a Trident outside his window would have been grand enough to amaze him.

  The Tizona School of Excellence—and his computer with the Star Runners game loaded on its hard drive—was a long way from these Legion core worlds.

  The transport’s course adjusted, moving directly for Mackaron. Austin started to turn to Ryker, ask her what he was supposed to see but decided to be patient as she slid her soft fingertips across the top of his hand.

  He inhaled deeply. He belonged here. He belonged as a Star Runner. Never in wildest dreams had he thought he would be reporting for duty as a full-on Star Runner. On top of that, he was traveling with the first woman he had ever loved.

  The thought shot through him like an electric current.

  Loved.

  Out of the corner of his eye, he looked at her as she rubbed her hand across her chin. Her resolve had thawed during their leave, and he no longer saw her as an attractive flight instructor or officer. She was much more than that. She had become everything to him.

  “Officers,” the transport pilot announced, “we’re now in our traditional approach pattern. For all of you new officers, your initiation ceremony has now begun. Fellow Star Runners have carried out this tradition for generations. I would direct your attention to starboard to behold your home vessel, the revered Tizona. May she sail the stars for all time.”

  The transport banked slightly. Mackaron, much larger now, filled the lower half of his small, circular viewport. The brownish surface passed the transport. A glint of steel reflected starlight in the top left corner of Austin’s view. A hulking piece of metal crept in front of the viewport. The steel came to a point. The incoming vessel dwarfed the escort Tridents as they shot toward the behemoth, becoming nothing more than faint specks of light.

  “My God,” he breathed.

  Ryker leaned over his shoulder and squeezed his arm. “What do you think, Rock?”

  “I don’t know what to say.” He watched the Tizona come into view. The sword-shaped vessel appeared large enough to hold thousands of Tridents—perhaps more. Countless running lights twinkled brightly as a steady meteor shower while the mass of the Tizona passed the transport. The blade section of the vessel stretched to the crossguard before be
coming more narrow at the hilt. Freighters, cruisers and carriers docked and departed from the Tizona in well-orchestrated flight patterns.

  “Is that going to be our ship?” Austin asked.

  “It’s the home of every member of the Tizona Squadron,” Ryker whispered, her gaze fixated on the Tizona. “Our one true home. We must be prepared at all times to sacrifice everything we have, everything we are, for the Tizona.”

  Austin’s mouth dropped open as he took in the sight. He thought of the other squadrons he had seen on Tarton’s Junction: Lobera, Excalibur and Tarnex. “So all squadrons have a home vessel—one like that?”

  “Yes. The first four Legion core worlds each created their primary vessel to defend against the Zahl invasion generations ago. Excalibur and Tarnex were first, followed years later by Tizona and Lobera. The home vessels have since become the first stop for all Star Runners after accepting their orders or starting a new tour. The Tizona no longer tours on a regular basis, but she’s here if needed. The carrier you will most likely serve on is much smaller and leaner to fit the needs of the Legion.”

  “Why did they build such a big ship? It must hold thousands of crew.”

  “It does. Our forefathers wanted a large ship to curve to hot spots as the Zahl tried to invade. Due to our technology and ability to effectively respond, the four original home vessels helped the Legion become the only planets in history to hold off a Zahlian invasion.”

  Austin shook his head. “It’s beautiful.” The transport passed under the crossguard of the Tizona. “I don’t believe it.”

  “Wait till you see inside.”

  Lieutenant Austin Stone heard the roar of a thousand conservations booming down the hall, punctuated by bursts of laughter and hundreds of footfalls on the polished black deck. Sconces held flickering blue flames, providing the only light in the grand hallway. The walls arched up forty feet above their heads. The ceiling nearly disappeared in the shadows. Up ahead, the entrance hallway culminated in an archway.

  The Tizona officers marched toward the sound. Ryker Zyan fell into line next to Austin as they departed the transport. More officers joined from adjoining passageways until Austin and Ryker walked in a sea of Tizona blue. All officers wore their dress uniforms with polished buttons and shoes.