by Lee Stephen
“Midnigh’ Lust,” he answered. “She only wore it when she was tryin’ to lure you in.”
Wow. Midnight Lust. Really, Ess?
“Yeh migh’ not want to mention the fact tha’ yeh never noticed.” For a moment, a quizzical expression came over him. “Not tha’ tha’ matters anymore, anyway. Good for her for findin’ Jay.” He smirked a bit. “Not goin’ to lie, Remmy. I thought you two migh’ have a chance. She’s kind o’ smokin’, yeh know. An’ she’s like, wearin’ a swimsuit abou’ sixty percent o’ the time.”
“Enough about Ess. Why in the world didn’t you tell me about you?”
Becan set his tablet down on the floor. “Yeh had your own life goin’ on. Wha’ was I supposed to say, ‘Sorry abou’ your fiancée, by the way, I’m havin’ a kid?’ I did tell Jay, though.”
This truly bothered him. “How is it that everyone knows all of my business, but I apparently don’t know the major events going on in peoples’ lives?”
Looking at him flatly, the Irishman answered, “I mean this in the best possible way, but yeh have pretty dramatic business. Like, exceedingly dramatic business.”
“Okay, point taken.”
“Livin’ with you is kind o’ like livin’ in a soap opera.”
Scott’s eyes narrowed. “I said point taken.”
Becan allowed himself a faint smile before he slumped back again. “Jus’ know you’re not the only one with things goin’ on.”
Never had that been more apparent than right then. “It just makes me wonder what else is going on that I don’t know about.”
“Dave got divorced.”
Scott slammed down his tablet. “Dave got divorced?” he asked matter-of-factly, glaring at his Irish companion. “Really, B?”
“Don’t say anythin’ to anyone. It’s a secret.”
His tone lowering, Scott asked, “Are you telling me the truth? Don’t mess with me about this.”
“I’m not messin’ with yeh,” answered Becan. “Sharon apparently filed for it after he got transferred here. Well, I don’t know if they’re divorced yet, but it’s in process, or somethin’.”
“And he just felt completely comfortable telling you, of all people?”
He half-smirked. “Actually, I found ou’ from Esty. She read his mail.”
Scott threw his hands up.
“Yeh got to admit, she’s pretty crafty.”
Crafty wasn’t the word Scott would have used. “So you have a kid, and Dave’s getting divorced. What the hell else don’t I know?”
“Listen, no one’s tryin’ to keep secrets from yeh. Like I said, I don’t even know if Dave has told anyone.” He sighed. “An’ as for me, it’s just…it’s hard to talk abou’ this. I only talked to people when I needed to, when I couldn’t not talk abou’ it, yeh know? I don’t feel like I’m good enough to be a da.”
Shaking his head in frustration, Scott said, “Becan, you’re going to be an incredible dad. You are an incredible dad.”
“Yeah, ’cos incredible da’s miss their kids’ births.”
“Sometimes that happens. You’re not the only man in the military to miss a childbirth. It comes with the territory.” Looking ahead, Scott sighed and picked his tablet back up. “What’s your son’s name?”
At the question, Becan smiled. “Callum.”
“That,” Scott said, “is an awesome name.” He’d never heard it before. It sounded Irish.
“Callum was me grandda’. He raised me after me parents died.”
That made the name even better. Scott offered a hand to the Irishman. “Congratulations, McCrae.”
Becan shook it. “Thanks, Remmy.”
Scott was happy, genuinely, for Becan’s news. He remembered well the Irishman’s plight about having no one to pass on the McCrae name. That wouldn’t be an issue now. Had it happened in the best way? No. Was it a mistake? If judging by the means, yes. But the end result was Callum McCrae, a four-month-old somewhere in America who was passing on Becan’s lineage. It was hard not to be excited about that.
As for what David was dealing with—that wasn’t nearly as easy to process. Scott’s friend was hurting in a way that Scott had never realized. But what affected Scott more was that David had never told him. While it was true that David technically hadn’t told anybody, Scott would have still hoped that, of all people, David would have trusted Scott with the news of his impending divorce. It left Scott with a vexing dilemma. Now that he knew, should he mention it?
The emotion in him said yes. He needed to talk to David, to comfort him—to tell him his unit had his back, regardless of what happened and in spite of the global firestorm enveloping the outlaws and presumably their families. It was probably fortunate that the Fourteenth and Falcon Platoon had been relatively isolated from the media there in Northern Forge. They’d missed the interviews with their family members, the tears, the pleas for them to turn themselves in—all of which Scott knew had to be out there in bushels. David needed to know he had support.
But emotion wasn’t the end-all. David hadn’t told anyone about this. For all David knew, no one else even had an inkling that he and Sharon had been having problems. If Scott suddenly brought it up to David, it might embarrass him. Scott was sure that avoiding embarrassment was probably a motivation for David to have kept his mouth shut. He was the Fourteenth’s father figure. How would it reflect on him if the Fourteenth’s father figure was fighting a divorce? Though Scott didn’t believe the Fourteenth would be bothered aside from hurting for the man, it was still not Scott’s place to open that can of worms himself. This issue was David’s to mention or keep a lid on. And so despite the yes that his heart screamed, his mind kept his emotions in check.
Scott would say nothing.
As the evening grew later, and Scott and Becan’s scant preplanning came to a close, Scott simply bid his Irish friend farewell and prepared to go to sleep—this time, for real. Tomorrow was huge. Tomorrow, the core of operatives behind this operation would meet to discuss their plan of attack. Having gathered as much information as possible over the course of the past week—about the weather, about radar ranges, about bullet trains—it was time to put that newfound knowledge to good use. Falling quickly to sleep, Scott found momentary peace in the realm of dreams.
30
Location: Unknown
Time: Unknown
SVETLANA BOLTED upright from her slumber as the metal door to the pen whisked open. Gabralthaar and Ka`vesh stood in its archway. The titan marched toward the medic to yank her to her feet. “Come and behold, Earthae!” Grabbing her by her blond roots, Gabralthaar jerked her upright before she could stand fully on her own. Yelping in pain, Svetlana was forcefully shoved out of the room with Mishka. “Our time for tribute has come!”
While Gabralthaar addressed her, oblivious that she understood every word he was saying, Ka`vesh hurried to the back of the pen to cover the trough of slop. That meant the Bakma were going back into microgravity. They must have found what they were looking for, Svetlana thought. Ed had informed her that Nagogg’s intention was to locate a new species to bring back to Khuldaris as a boon for Uladek and the Khuladi. Based on the exuberance of the two Bakma henchmen, there was no doubt that that’s what they’d found. Svetlana stumbled awkwardly down the hall and into the bridge.
For the briefest of moments as she was being thrust toward Nagogg’s chair, Svetlana caught sight of the view screen. It was in a constant state of flashing and changing. Stars were appearing, then course information, then engine status reports. So many things were happening at once—it was impossible to fully absorb all of it.
Gabralthaar shoved Svetlana onto the floor next to Nagogg’s chair while Ka`vesh prepared to slap on the magnetic clamps. Before the deed could be done, Nagogg intervened. “Make her face the front!” Ka`vesh looked up at him. “I want her to witness this.” The warrior acknowledged, turned Svetlana around to face the front of the bridge, then activated the magnetic clamps. For the first time, Svet
lana was able to lift her head and fully see what was going on.
“Connect us!” Nagogg rasped to Ed. Moments later, the click came to her mind.
For the faintest of moments, a panic struck her. What if Nagogg found out what she knew through the connection? Before the fear could fully consume her, an assurance came from the Ithini. The depths of your mind are hidden from him. He is only using this to communicate. Relieved and ready to play ignorant human, Svetlana listened as Nagogg spoke.
“Behold the gifts Uladek gives to those who seek him!”
Her eyes on the view screen, Svetlana watched as Bakmanese text appeared—and again, she was able to decipher all of it. Galactic coordinates were at the top corner of the screen, which was zoomed in on a star. Beneath the star were the words, “Communication signal detected.” As the Bakma crew worked furiously at their respective stations, jump coordinates appeared.
Behind Nagogg, Ka`vesh shouted, “We are ready, lord!”
Nagogg activated the ship’s comm to the engine room. “Prepare to shift us, Wuteel! It is time.”
Svetlana watched as the bridge crew slid harnesses across their bodies in their respective chairs. Moments later, the sensation of gravity—as natural as it had felt all this time—faded away. They were in microgravity again. Why now?
“Shift!” said Nagogg.
The Noboat’s lights shifted to dark blue as the air in the bridge crackled like lightning. The Noboat was going invisible. The static-sounding pops lasted for several seconds before they subsided. The shift—as much as Svetlana understood it—was done.
“Jump!”
The chieftain’s order was followed, as the view from the screen shifted to a true front view, as if they were looking out of a massive cockpit window. There was a shudder indicative of a jump, then the center of the screen was taken up by a spacecraft. The moment it appeared, Nagogg’s opaque eyes widened in awe.
It was exactly what Nagogg had been searching for—something none of them had ever seen before. Something from a species unknown. The spacecraft was shaped like an arrow and of considerably larger size than the Noboat, painted in vibrant colors that made it look more a piece of art than a spacefaring vessel. Its wings, indicative of an aerospace design, were fanned out like the wings of a bird. Surrounding the ship was a giant centrifugal ring that was clearly an attachment rather than a part of the vessel.
The view screen split, with the camera taking up one half while the other showed an overlay of the star system, complete with both the Noboat and the unknown alien spaceship’s location. They were along the star system’s outer rim, somewhere between the orbit of what looked like two gas giants. The star system realigned itself on the screen to show each of the planets, of which Svetlana counted seven. On four of the planets, all of which were in the system’s inner zone, pulsing green indicators blinked.
Radio signals. Over half of the star system was colonized. Goosebumps erupted on Svetlana’s skin as the ramifications of this came to her.
Nagogg’s attention, however, was on the spacecraft. The camera side of the split screen expanded until it once again took up the entire view. The chieftain pointed. “Leave the Zone and activate the wheel! Place them in the updraft and prepare for attack.”
The wheel? Place them in the updraft? Svetlana didn’t know what any of that meant. Wuteel acknowledged through the speaker system as the Noboat’s cabin lights shifted from dark blue, to red, then to white. Svetlana remembered that sequence well: they’d just materialized.
“The wheel, the wheel!” Nagogg said, rasping loudly into the comm. “Activate now!”
There was a shimmy, then the familiar pull of gravity kicked in. Svetlana’s hair fell in front of her face as she looked up at the view screen. What was happening?
“They are in the updraft!” said Nik-nish.
Nagogg shot a look to Gabralthaar. “Aim for the thrusters, but only fire a single shot—I do not want to risk the spacecraft being destroyed.” His eyes narrowed.
Acknowledging, Gabralthaar engaged the Noboat’s tactical computer. A target reticule appeared on the camera, sliding across the screen until it appeared near the spacecraft’s thrusters. As soon as it was in position, it pulsed red.
“I am prepared to fire, lord,” said the titan.
“Nik-nish,” said Nagogg, “prepare docking clamps.”
Docking clamps? Svetlana wasn’t aware that Noboats even had such a thing. The chieftain continued.
“Perform a scan of the spacecraft.”
Turning back to his controls, Nik-nish’s fingers tapped on his chair’s side panel. Moments later, an overlay of the ship appeared. “The crew is congregated around the center of the vessel, lord.”
“Bring us atop that location.”
Nik-nish acknowledged. “Yes, lord.”
“Prepare to fire and dock!” Raising his hand into the air, Nagogg signaled to the screen. “Fire.”
Svetlana watched as the Noboat’s forward plasma cannon erupted, a single shot flying toward the unidentified spacecraft and smashing against its hull right ahead of its thrusters. The spacecraft was rocked to the side, the glow of its thrusters fading as it began a flat spin. Immediately, Nagogg rose from his chair.
“Materialize and dock! Ka`vesh, Gabralthaar, prepare to board! Use the Earthaes’ weaponry to take as many as you can, then return.”
At the mention of Earthae weaponry, Svetlana raised an eyebrow. It could only have been a reference to pistols or assault rifles. Glancing behind her at the sound of weapons behind handled, her assumption was affirmed. Each henchman was now holding an E-35.
“Kraash-nagun,” Nagogg said, “prepare the brig for the arrival of new subjects.”
Hesitating for a moment, Kraash-nagun dipped his head. “Uladek speaks.” The blinded elite walked out of the door.
All at once, the reality of the situation came to her. She was about to lay witness to the ambush of an unsuspecting alien species. These beings, whoever or whatever they were, knew nothing of the Bakma—at least not judging by Nagogg’s claim of the Akaarist Quadrant being unexplored. Her heart rate increasing, she watched the view screen as the Noboat drew closer.
The angle of their approach changed. The alien spacecraft drifted out of view as the Noboat’s nose pitched to the starboard. The view screen shifted, a camera view from the side of the spacecraft taking up the screen. The alien spacecraft appeared again, drawing closer and closer as the Noboat neared it. Over the screen, a rapidly shrinking reticule appeared, growing smaller with each meter the Noboat drew near. They were lining up to dock.
A torrent of new knowledge poured into her mind, her connection with Ed pulsing as the specifics of what was happening were relayed. Seconds later, Svetlana knew exactly what was going on.
This was how the Bakma ambushed their prey. The same antechamber door that EDEN operatives stormed countless times in Bakma Noboats was the same one the Bakma warriors would storm the alien vessel through. A part of the hull would extend and attach itself to the spacecraft, then it would bore a hole through the hull. The end result would be a walkable bridge. When the operation was finished, the bridge would close and retract, leaving the hull of their victims’ ships compromised. At that stage, though, it didn’t matter—at least not to the Bakma. They’d have whatever prize it was that they sought.
Turning her head, Svetlana watched as Gabralthaar, Ka`vesh, and Uguul prepared to disembark. Marching toward the bridge exit, the three warriors disappeared from view. Svetlana watched the bridge view screen shift from a view of the alien spacecraft to one of the antechamber itself as the three Bakma drifted into it. Readying themselves against the antechamber wall, they waited for the external bridge to expand.
Again, the camera split, one half of it showing the bridge as it drew steadily nearer to the alien spacecraft’s hull. Nik-nish appeared to be guiding it from his pilot’s seat, his gnarled fingers manipulating a tiny joystick built into the console. With each subtle twitch, the angle of th
e extending bridge changed ever so slightly. At long last, it impacted the hull, resulting in the faintest of vibrations in the Noboat. “We are attached, lord,” he said to Nagogg. “Cracking the hull.”
Nagogg rasped through the Noboat’s speaker system. “If there are discernable males and females, take at least one of each!”
That was exactly what the Khuladi would want—a male and a female to control breeding. With just one pair of whatever this alien species was, they’d be able to begin breeding servants. Why Nagogg was so hell-bent on capturing these specimens was becoming clearer and clearer. This wouldn’t just be a boon to offer to Uladek—this would be something that could fundamentally change the Khuladi family of slave species.
“Hull opened!” said Nik-nish.
Rising from his chair, Nagogg walked forward until he was floating just behind the pilot, his bulbous eyes locked onto the screen view of the antechamber, which shifted to take up the whole monitor again. “May Chaos guide you, brethren,” he said.
Svetlana fidgeted in her clasps. If there was ever a moment where escape would be feasible, it would be now. Three of the warriors were out of the bridge, and Nagogg’s attention was somewhere else. If only she could budge, even to the faintest degree. But it was no use. The clasps held her firmly to the floor.
The magnetic key. If she could get her hands on that—if someone like Ed or Kraash-nagun could bring it to her—a jailbreak could happen. Glancing behind her as far as her neck was able to turn, she locked eyes with the Ithini. Ed, bring me the key! Now is our chance to escape. Where is it?
They key was in the possession of Ka`vesh. Its current location is unknown to me.
Then get in Ka`vesh’s mind and locate it. You must do this, Ed. This is our chance.
The Ithini’s eyes widened with focus. Ka`vesh is strong-minded. He will detect the siphon.
At this stage, it didn’t matter. There was no chance the warrior would abandon their “ordained” assault on the alien spacecraft to investigate a siphon. This was go time. Do it now, Ed. If he detects it, so be it.