Star Runners: Mission Wraith (#3)

by L. E. Thomas

  His patrols commenced every other day—alternating from night and day sorties—and had been fortunately non-eventful since the first. In addition to his normal threats to stay focused and maintain professionalism in and out of the cockpit, Braddock warned daily about keeping an eye out for the ship that had attacked a generational ship from a dark world in The Fringe.

  Jakara and her people from the Searcher, a generational ship from a dark world called Batral located somewhere in The Fringe, had been evacuated on board a legion medical frigate that rendezvoused with the Formidable the day after the incident. Austin had heard the previous generation of the Batral people had departed their planet in search of a new home due to overpopulation, limited resources and several environmental disasters.

  Braddock had said Jakara’s crew would be fine. They would be brought to a Legion core world, probably Oma, and treated as they prepared for their transition from refugee to a citizen of the Galactic Legion.

  A finger tapped his shoulder. “May I join you?”

  Austin pulled back his ear plugs. “Sure, Sky.”

  “Thanks,” Skylar said, pulling off her workout jacket and climbing onboard the treadmill next to his. “I haven’t run for a couple days.”

  “Yeah?”

  She started into her workout in silence.

  Austin frowned as he started into his sixth mile. Although they had been in three flight briefings together, Austin had said little to his friend since their conversation on Tarton’s Junction following her graduation. There hadn’t been anything to say. In fact, Austin hadn’t wanted to speak to anyone since Ryker made it clear she wanted nothing to do with him. She didn’t want to sacrifice her career for personal feelings. Austin had resolved to do the same and instead focused on his work.

  Or that’s what he told himself. Everyday.

  The rest of his workout passed quickly. He stopped as he hit ten miles and slowed to a jog. As he cooled down, he wiped at his face with an old, wretched towel. He needed to clean this more often.

  He stopped the treadmill and walked over to take a long drink from his water bottle. He checked his wristband: 0615. He would have time for breakfast and a shower before he went to work. Although he wouldn’t be in the cockpit until tomorrow, he still had plenty of desk work and class to deal with today before he reunited with his Trident.

  He took another drink and glanced at Skylar. Even though she said she hadn’t run recently, she glided through the motions like a marathon runner. Her feet lightly bounced across the treadmill as her hair bounced from side-to-side. Her lips pressed together, and her face remained expressionless. He started to speak but decided not to bother her during her workout.

  Taking one last drink from his water bottle, Austin walked to the hatch.

  “We’re still friends.”

  Austin blinked and turned. “What’s that?”

  Skylar glanced back at him quickly. “We’re still friends,” she said before turning back around. “We’ll always be friends.”

  He stared at the floor. “I know. I know.” He stared out into the corridor rapidly filling with the crew. “You’re my best friend, Sky.”

  Austin turned and walked out.

  *****

  “All right, settle down people,” Captain Zyan said as she settled in front of the fourteen Star Runners scheduled for sorties in the next two hours. “We’ve got a lot to cover and need to get moving.”

  Austin sat up straight in his seat, his tablet activated with today’s flight plan: another patrol along the Zahl-Legion border. On Oma during his leave, the news feeds he caught focused on the recent souring of relations between the Zahl and Legion governments. When they had first arrived on the Formidable, all Austin heard about was the growing tensions with the Zahl Empire. From the mess hall to the workout room to the flight briefings, everyone offered their theories of when and where the war would start.

  But it hadn’t happened in his first month.

  The space along the border had been quiet. Following the scavenger attack on the Searcher at the edge of Legion space bordering The Fringe, there had been nothing but patrols. With their communications limited, the crew of the Formidable had to rely on the information provided by command. Being in a sea of stars with no contact resulted in a strange feeling of isolation, resulting in plenty of rumors and gossip among the Star Runners and the rest of the crew.

  Ryker activated the hologram and took the Star Runners through their briefing. The Formidable had continued along the Zahl border for the past week, sailing through deep space with no nearby systems or Legion installations. Today, however, a green blip appeared at the edge of Trident range.

  “This,” Ryker highlighted the emerald square at the edge of the star chart, “is science station Ramelle. It is operated by the Legion and is charged with studying the stars and deep space. The station has a small crew and four Tridents onboard for defense. As you can see, it is very remote. We’ve made contact with their onboard systems and are currently exchanging information with their network as we were ordered to do. I also bring it up because it is currently the only contact on our board—should be straightforward patrols today. Use days like this for practice and brushing up on your fundamentals people. All right, let’s get to the assignments.”

  She pulled up a closer view of the carrier’s patrol vectors. As she cycled through the Star Runners and their assignments, a graphic of a Trident appeared on the chart and left the Formidable. The blue Trident graphic moved through the patrol as Ryker spoke.

  “Rock,” Ryker said, her tone sounding official. “I want you and Bear to take this patrol. Tarnex said they picked up some anomalies in this section right … here near the Proxima Belt, during their overnight patrol. I’d like you both to check it out and report back.”

  “Yes, Captain,” Austin said, matching her official tone. He couldn’t explain the feelings he had for her anymore. He was angry. He was angry that he allowed himself to get involved. He was angry that he cared for her, and she didn’t. He wanted to hate her. But he couldn’t.

  He glanced over at Bear who nodded with a goofy grin. Today would be the first time they had flown together since arriving on the carrier.

  Austin turned back to Ryker. She held his gaze for a brief moment.

  “Okay—moving on,” she said quickly.

  Since they ended it, Ryker spoke to him as if he were a subordinate rather than a comrade. She didn’t speak that way to the other Star Runners in the thirty-second Tizona. Whether or not it was intentional, Austin felt it was obvious she spoke to him differently during the briefings. She was harsher on him than the others. He wondered what she was thinking, but wouldn’t dare ask her.

  After she made her feelings clear that she had no intention of continuing their relationship, Austin just wanted to focus on anything else so he wouldn’t have to think about her. He poured everything into his job.

  It’s all he had.

  Ryker provided instructions to Lieutenants Tarek “Reaper” Mongo and Carlin “Star” Lively before Austin zoned out as she went through the remaining assignments. He focused on his flight plan.

  *****

  “Heading to the second point now,” Bear said, his voice popping over the gamma wave in Austin’s ear piece. “I’ll maintain the lead.”

  “Copy,” Austin said, bringing his Trident back to allow Bear to adjust on the course that would bring them parallel to the Zahl-Legion border. As instructed, Austin had his long range sensors sweeping to their maximum parameters inside Zahl space. Just as it had the past hour of their flight, nothing came back on the sensors.

  He stretched his arms over his head until they bumped the canopy. He needed a good night’s sleep. His eyes threatened to close, and his muscles ached with fatigue. The nightmares kept terrorizing him every night. He woke up with his shirt damp with sweat and his heart pounding in his ears. He wondered if it would ever go away.

  He had read about the services on board the Formidable. The carrier was
a true city in the stars with dentists, doctors, barbers and, of course, counselors. However, he was hesitant to visit with a counselor, yet. He worried they would ground him, prevent him from flying until his sleep patterns could be corrected and the nightmares could be vanquished.

  No, he thought, I can’t be grounded. This’ll fix itself—I just need time.

  He had mentioned the nightmares to only one other person. Lieutenant Darrien Brock was the veteran Lobera Star Runner he had met the first night. Brock said the counselors wouldn’t ground him for nightmares, but Austin had quickly changed the subject as he felt more uncomfortable discussing them. It made him feel weak, vulnerable.

  Settling in behind Bear’s Trident, Austin lost himself in the flight. Minutes passed with nothing more to do than watch the sensors pick up nothing in Zahl space.

  “So I’ve sorta started seeing Curly from our squadron,” Bear shattered the silence on the short range wave. “You know, Brylee Robin?”

  Austin smiled, thinking of the short Star Runner with the bouncy brunette curls, royal blue eyes, and disarming smile. “Yeah, I know Curly. How’d you manage that without scaring her off?”

  “Funny. It just sort of happened you know? We had a class together, and things are going good.”

  “That’s great, man.” He thought of the height difference since Bear was the tallest friend Austin had ever had. “Should I get her a step ladder for Christmas in case you guys want to dance?”

  Bear laughed. “You’re really cracking them left and right this morning, aren’t you?”

  “Stilts?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Platform shoes?”

  “Enough,” Bear grumbled. “I’m sorry I mentioned it.

  “Sorry.” Austin’s HUD abruptly shifted from yellow to red. “Bear, we’ve gotta transmission coming in from home.”

  “Copy,” Bear said, his voice lowering in tone.

  “All Tridents, this is Tiger,” Braddock said over the long-range gamma wave. “Break off your patrols and head for the coordinates being transmitted. This is not a drill. Report to these coordinates with your best possible speed.”

  Austin watched the coordinates download to his onboard computer. He recognized the coordinates—the science station, Ramelle, near the edge of their range. Checking his fuel, he verified he could open a curvature drive and still have enough energy to operate.

  “Tiger, Rock. Do you copy?”

  “Go ahead, Rock.”

  “Permission to curve to the location.”

  “Granted.”

  “Copy. Bear? Let's make this fast.”

  “Already making the calculations,” Bear shot back.

  Austin downloaded the coordinates into his curvature drive. Within two minutes, the drive was prepped and ready.

  “You ready, Bear?”

  “Let’s do this.”

  Austin pulled back on the curvature drive lever and space immediately wavered around him. “See you on the other side, Bear.”

  Without waiting for an answer, Austin pushed forward on the throttle. His Trident zipped through the curve in space, transporting him to within one thousand MUs of the science station. The space around his Trident normalized, fading to black. Off his port side, Bear’s Trident materialized from nothingness as the curve opened and then quickly closed.

  “Tiger, Rock,” Austin said. “We are through the curve.”

  “You’re the first to arrive,” Braddock hissed. “The other patrolling Tridents are inbound. We received a distress call from the science station that was cut off. Survey the situation and report back. Keep your eyes open. Tiger out.”

  Austin took in a slow, deliberate breath. “All right Bear, stay frosty and scan the area.”

  “Copy that, Rock. I’m right on your wing.”

  Austin glanced to the left. Bear’s Trident pulled into position one-hundred MUs from Austin’s left wing. Austin keyed for a sensor sweep of the area. Debris littered the space around the science station. Austin remembered back to the briefing Ryker had given earlier that day. The science station apparently had four Tridents on board, but they were nowhere to be found. Two pieces of steel tumbled in space above him. A plume of fuel hovered like a cloud below the steel. As another sparkling piece of debris floated by his canopy, a sick feeling crept over him.

  “I wonder if these were Tridents,” Bear whispered as if he could read Austin’s thoughts.

  “I’d rather not think about it.”

  Austin brought his Trident toward the science station. The station emerged like a spindle with two colossal, round plates near the top. The station’s running lights glowed in the darkness. Position lights blinked on the top and bottom of the facility, but no transmissions emitted from the station. As he closed on the position, he noticed the plates rotated slowly.

  “They still have gravity,” he said, running a thorough scan of the station. “Wait a minute.”

  The scans picked up the laser burns a second before he could see them. Black scorch marks peppered the surface of the science vessel.

  “What happened here?” Austin asked.

  “I’m picking up another signal,” Bear said. “It’s off to our left about three hundred MUs.”

  “Incoming ship?”

  “No,” Bear said quickly. “A beacon. Looks like a Legion escape pod.”

  Austin swallowed. “Contact Tiger. Give him the report.”

  As Bear transmitted the information, Austin thought of what had transpired around this science station. Four Tridents had fought here and lost.

  *****

  The other patrolling Tridents arrived ten minutes after Austin and Bear. The Formidable arrived after the grave situation had relayed to Commander Horace. The Tridents patrolled one thousand MUs around the station while Kardas transported Marines over to the science station to verify what everyone already guessed: the science station had been attacked, and all crew had been killed.

  Another Karda retrieved the escape pod and brought the surviving Legion Star Runner to sick bay on the Formidable. Command ordered Austin and Bear to land once their fuel status required their replacement.

  As the Trident settled down on the landing pad in the carrier’s retrieval bay, Austin tilted his head back into the seat and sighed. He unhooked his flight suit from the onboard life support. Not a good day, he thought.

  The retrieval bay outer door closed and red lights shifted to white, signaling the atmosphere had normalized. The space maintenance division rushed out to the Tridents, swarming the fighters like concerned mother hens. Austin’s canopy opened, and he quickly descended to the deck.

  Bear rushed toward him, his helmet already detached and in hand. “What do you think happened out there?”

  Austin shook his head and took off the helmet. “No idea. Let’s go find out.”

  They ran through the sea of mechanics moving the Tridents from the retrieval bay back to the hangar.

  “Where are we going?” Bear asked as they dodged a pair of crewmen pushing a floating cart across the hangar deck.

  “Sick bay.”

  “Why? You feeling crappy?”

  “I want to see that Star Runner they rescued.”

  Bear nodded and stepped into line behind Austin as they entered the narrow corridor. Enlisted crew backed up against walls as they approached.

  They entered sick bay still wearing their flight suits, carrying their helmets. A nurse wearing a gray suit covering everything but her eyes approached with her gloved hands raised.

  “You can’t come in here,” she said calmly. “I’m sorry, but you’ll have to wait outside.”

  Austin frowned. “Is there any way we can observe the patient brought in from the escape pod?”

  She pointed to the left. “Down that hall. Observation Room three.”

  “Thank you,” Austin said, nodding to Bear.

  They rushed down the tight corridor and entered through a small hatch leading to a room with benches in front of a window. On the other
side of the glass, a man lay in a hospital bed surrounded by two nurses. His skin had been blackened and wrinkled from burns. A wicked-looking gash split the skin on his forehead. A mask covered his mouth, and he appeared to be resting. Although torn in several places and completely shredded across his chest, Austin saw the man wore a faded Tizona flight suit.

  Austin pressed against the glass, watching the nurses do their work. He remembered the nurses at Base Prime taking care of him after he survived the attack in the mountains and suffered from burns and wounds. If it hadn’t been for Nubern, Austin would have died that day. Every moment since then had been a gift. For some reason he couldn’t explain, this memory made him feel connected to the unfortunate pilot on the hospital bed in front of him. If the Formidable hadn’t been around today, this pilot might have died in space.

  Bear sat on one of the benches with his helmet in his lap. He stared with his mouth hanging open. He looked at Austin, shook his head slightly, and stared back at the Star Runner on the other side of the glass.

  “What are you two doing here?” Ryker asked as she burst into the room.

  Austin turned. She also wore her flight suit and carried her helmet. Bear stood at attention as he faced her.

  “We discovered the escape pod, Captain,” Austin said without standing. “We wanted to see if he would survive.”

  “I see.” She held his gaze, her eyes darting between Austin and Bear. She moved to the glass. When she spoke again in a whisper, she sounded like Ryker—not Captain Zyan. “Has he said anything?”

  He looked at her for a long moment, thinking about all the things he wanted to tell her, but glanced back at Bear. He cleared his throat. “We just got here. He hasn’t said anything, yet.”

  They stood in silence for several minutes, watching the patient as the nurses did their work around him.

  The wounded Star Runner suddenly coughed and writhed on the bed, his arms reaching high above his chest and curling back. With his blackened hands, he ripped the mask off his face.