KARRIN: Warrior Woman (Excalibur Saga Book 4)

by Sahara Foley

  ‘Ispepyein Leader to Calen and Senod Commanders. Calen is correct. We have no position when not under contract. The dispute for ownership must be settled between the claimants. Ispepyein Leader to all Warriors. There is no official position in this conflict. If any Warriors wish to interfere, it will be for personal reasons, as permitted by law. If any Warriors do impede, and Calen fights, you are on your own. This is not our concern.’

  The last transmission read, ‘Calen Commander General Martek to Ispepyein Leader. Advise your warriors of our new Ultilears. We cannot only penetrate your fighters; we can, now, penetrate your warriors. Ispepyeins are no longer invincible. We do not wish to fight, but we will, if necessary.’

  Karrin slumped back in her chair, her stomach queasy. They’re dickering over my life like I’m a worthless piece of property with no say in the matter.

  The Senod ship interrupted her brooding thoughts. “There is one more message, Owner Karrin, sent by our secret code.”

  The screen in front of her lit up with words: ‘Senod Commander to Owner Karrin. A Calen fleet approaches your planet. Senod advises that you abandon your claim and leave at once.’

  Karrin nibbled on her lip, pondering over all the exchanges that went on while she slept. Not only was Calen underestimating her, but they were, also, threatening to take her ship. I found it, it’s mine.

  “Ship, what happens if I abandon my claim?”

  “In this circumstance, nothing will change.” The ship went on to explain, “Senod is only trying to prevent any damage to me or the cargo during the conflict. Calen does not care about the petition. They only filed the report to make it illegal for Ispepyein to interfere, and Ispepyein has agreed. If you do not wish to be harmed, you must go and hide. They will not find you unless they are on the ground.”

  Karrin stood and started pacing, trying to figure a way out of this mess. What can I do? I’m alone with no allies. Senod doesn’t care; they only want my ship. Calen wants me dead. The only people who won’t hurt me are the Ispepyeins. However, they won’t intervene because I don’t have a contract with them.

  Brownie scampered into the room and climbed up the young woman’s body until he was sitting on her shoulder. He rubbed his face against her cheek, purring.

  Karrin stroked his head. “What am I going to do, Brownie? I’m in deep shit.”

  He gently grabbed her face with both hands and stared intently into her eyes. Like he was trying to tell her something. Maybe it worked because, suddenly, an idea popped into her mind.

  She hurried back to the console and leaned against the back of the chair. “Ship, send this message. Warrior Child Karrin to Ispepyein Leader Tatum. As the only sentient life-form on this planet, I name it Switch and claim it for the Omars. There is one under my protection, now. Omars are Deseptions and under Ispepyein contract. Doesn’t that mean Ispepyein, also, protects the new Omar planet and its inhabitants?”

  The message was sent, but the answer that came back was from the Calens. ‘You must go through the proper channels for filing a claim on a planet, and the Omars are not legally able to do so. Even if the Ispepyein Leader accepts your request, it must be voted upon by the other planet Leaders. No one can save you, now, girl. And, soon, Calen will own the planet you claim.’

  Karrin growled in anger. Her hatred for the obnoxious Calen Commander grew with each message. She heard the scorn and ridicule in his words.

  ‘Ispepyein Leader to Warrior Child Karrin. Again, Calen is correct. I filed your claim for the vote. You have no legal hold until then. Tatum out.’

  “Owner Karrin, there is no further recourse. You must leave and go into hiding.”

  “No,” Karrin yelled, pounding her fist against the console. “Ispepyein fighters do not run and hide. I will finish this, here and now.” She took off, stomping up the walkway toward the hole in the side of the ship.

  “You are not Ispepyein, Owner Karrin.”

  “Bet me, Buckwheat!” she hollered into her hand-link.

  The blue rays of the sun broke over the northern horizon as Karrin dropped to her hands and knees in the cool sand and crawled inside her small hut. Not only was it made from broken crates, but whatever dead branches she found along the shoreline. The silver ore layered like a jigsaw puzzle on top of them.

  “Sixty Calen and twenty Eilsel ships,” she murmured to herself as she, once again, checked the charged rifles. “I didn’t expect such a huge force. These won’t be enough, but there aren’t any other weapons.”

  Her skin prickled with fear as the enormity of what she was about to face swept over her. One against hundreds. The battle was definitely not in her favor.

  She spoke into her hand-link, “Ship, I want all messages received relayed to me by voice. Do not send any out without my permission. Got it?”

  “Yes, Owner Karrin. I will relay messages as ordered, and I cannot send messages without your direction.”

  Karrin scrabbled back outside, dragging two of the heavy rifles with her, and sat cross-legged in front of the entrance. One of the guns she laid down, the butt next to her hip. The other, she gripped tightly in her sweaty palms as she gazed up at the sky, searching for any signs of the approaching fleet. She sat that way for minutes, hours – she didn’t care. Time had no meaning for her, now.

  When her stomach grumbled, it reminded her she hadn’t eaten a decent meal since the fish from two days ago. Her throat was parched, and her full bladder made her squirm in discomfort. All she wanted was for the waiting to be over.

  What I wouldn’t give to use Lurga’s silver fighter. I’d blow their sorry asses out of the sky. Karrin gave the battle sign. “Good battle, my Lurga. Good battle, Karrin Warrior Child.”

  Her hand-link went off. “A small fleet came into orbit made up of twenty small Calen ships and eleven larger Eilsel ones.”

  Karrin released the pent-up breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding and relaxed her grip on the rifle. She needed to be loose and ready. “Ship, what does an Eilsel vessel look like?”

  “They are very similar to the size, shape, and color of a Senod ship. They are distinguishable by the round bumps on their nose, which house the nullifiers and Ultilears.”

  The Eilsel’s weaponry meant nothing to Karrin, but she remembered her lessons with Lurga. He told her the Ultilears was an interesting weapon, but the Ispepyeins thought of them as toys more than a form of armament. Yet, General Martek gloated about them, saying they had an Ultilear that could kill an Ispepyein. If that were true, whatever it was, it would have no trouble piercing her tender, Earthling flesh.

  The bitter taste of fear rose in her throat. She tried swallowing the bile back, but her throat was too dry, and she ended up gagging instead. I need to calm myself. Lurga would be so disappointed in me if I didn’t fight like a true Warrior.

  The young woman took a few lungfuls of air, breathing out slowly. She released her hold on the gun and shook her hands, trying to loosen them up. She stretched out her stiff legs and touched her toes a few times. The exercising helped, and she felt calmer and more centered.

  Karrin gazed upon her surroundings, savoring the beauty around her. Though Earth was her birth planet, the young woman didn’t feel like she was an Earthling. She had grown to love Switch, and it became her home.

  I’ve survived so much hardship and heartbreak in my short life. From losing my family to finding a new one, only to have them taken from me, too. And, the loss of my Lurga. She sadly shook her head and sighed. I don’t think I’ll be walking away from this one. I think this will just be another loss.

  Karrin only had one chance of survival, slim as it might be. That was thanks to the rifles supercharged by the silver ore from Lear. The unknown properties of the mineral had enhanced Lurga’s fighter and Seeder rifle. She hoped they’d do the same for her. The problem was, there weren’t enough weapons.

  No matter. I’ll take as many of those worthless bastards with me as I can. They’ll regret the day they signed the contract for m
y death.

  The hand-link interrupted her dire thoughts. “Owner Karrin, the Calen Commander is moving at high speed toward our position and should be here within an hour. The Senod ship has stopped in space, several hours out.”

  “Sure, the Senod only wait for the outcome,” Karrin muttered to herself. “They’ll buy this hunk of junk from the Calens once they’ve killed me.”

  “There is much discussion about a single Ispepyein fighter heading this way from deep space,” the ship reported. “The Calens think it is only an observer, but they still put out a kill command if it tries to interfere.”

  There was silence for a few seconds, then the tinny voice came through the link, again. “Your ploy has worked. They are unable to locate you, or me, due to the silver ore you placed outside. They are working out girds for low-level searches. The Calens offered a generous reward for your death and are confident of quick success.”

  “Their success may not be as quick as they want, and they might be shocked at the surprise in store for them. Let the bastards come. I’ll kill everyone I can.” Karrin peered around, suddenly remembering her two-tailed friend. The last time she saw him, he’d scampered into the ship. “Um, where’s Brownie? I don’t want him out here in harm’s way. This isn’t his fight, and he doesn’t deserve to die.”

  “The Omar sits in your chair, watching the screens as if he understands what’s happening,” the ship answered with a sneer.

  Karrin shook her head at the judgmental attitude of the, supposedly, non-AI computer. “Great. That’s probably the safest place for him.”

  She stood and began pacing, keeping a watchful eye on the clear skies, ever vigilant for any glint of metal off the incoming ships.

  “Alert! Alert! The Eilsel ships dropped into the atmosphere evenly spaced around the planet. They will begin using their nullifiers, and the Calens will follow shortly to attack.”

  Karrin quickly stopped in front of the one-person, domed-shaped hut and removed a slab of silver ore from the top to see out of. She dropped to her knees and hurried inside. “Ship, will they be able to intercept our messages to one another?”

  “Unknown, Owner Karrin.”

  “Then, guess, damnit,” Karrin shouted in frustrated anger.

  After ten seconds, the ship responded, “Still unknown, Owner Karrin. I am unable to ‘guess,’ but according to estimations of known factors, they should not be able to overhear us on the hand-links.”

  Karrin peered through the hole in the roof, fuming. The worthless ship was really starting to get on her nerves. If she survived this mess, she would be more than happy to sell it back to the Senods. For a profit, of course.

  She grunted. Who am I kidding? The only ones going to profit from this fiasco are the Calens.

  “Message incoming. It says, ‘This is General Martek. Indeed, we can overhear you, foolish girl. Give up, now, and we promise to take you alive, as a prisoner to Calen. If we must hunt you down, we will destroy you. You cannot hide from us, and we will easily locate you. So, Warrior Child, (haha) surrender. There is no one to help you.’”

  Infuriated, Karrin gritted her teeth. The insufferable, pompous ass would pay. “Ship, send this message: ‘Genera Martek, you are indeed brave from up in space, hunting down one defenseless girl with your massive fleet. Are you afraid to meet me, face-to-face, General? Come down here, you bastard, and I promise I’ll pull your guts out, throw them over a tree limb, and hang you from them.’” Karrin wanted to growl, but it wouldn’t give the same impact as in person

  “‘General Martek. Brave, General Martek,’” she continued, goading him. “‘Do you know why Ispepyein’s Greatest Warrior named me the Warrior Child? Because I was told by a Shalit I am of their blood, and their power flows through my veins. The old Ispepyein Leader, Kargan, and his mate, found out what happens when I get upset. Did you know I can release the energy beasts? There are a few of them contained here. What’s to stop me from releasing them? They can’t harm me, but they would destroy your fleet.’”

  A response came back immediately. ‘You are as ignorant as we imagined, child. Do you take us for fools? The coward Lurga Pukani only made up those wild tales to cover his failure to fulfill the contract. If even half of what he implied were true, you would not be stuck, alone, on a deserted planet. You would not be attempting to talk your way out of your death. You would’ve already destroyed us. Just as you couldn’t save the coward Pukani, you cannot save yourself. Surrender, now, or die, foolish girl.’

  As the ship relayed the message through the hand-link, Karrin felt like she did when she first came to Switch with Lurga. She was gasping for air, suffocating. This must be the effects of the nullifier. I can overcome it. I did it before, I can do it, again. She took several deep breaths, to calm her rapidly beating heart, knowing that panicking wouldn’t help.

  A small piece of Lear silver poked out through the interlaced branches and crates. If Lurga’s pills helped me breath better, maybe the silver will help overcome the effects of the nullifier. She took the small piece and threw it in her mouth. Almost instantly, she could breathe better and smiled in relief.

  When she looked back through the hole in the roof, she froze. An immense black ship was moving across the sky, about a mile up. Karrin laid on her back and squirmed out of the hut. She lifted the Quatak rifle up and aimed at the moving target. Then, she pushed the energizer button, and the rifle screamed and smoked.

  When the noise settled down, Karrin pushed the fire button, just as her ship screamed, “NO.”

  Once again, the beam was invisible, and Karrin thought she missed, or the ore didn’t work. All at once, the giant ship disappeared in a massive explosion. When the yellow fire turned into a bright silver angry ball of destruction, she threw up her arm to shield her eyes. Within minutes, debris rained to the ground.

  Over the pattering of small chunks of Eilsel vessel falling on her hideaway, the ship said, “You should’ve let it pass unharmed. Now, they know where you are hiding.”

  “I am not hiding,” Karrin admonished, more confident after seeing the effects the silver-enhanced rifle had against her enemy. “I am here to fight, to the death, if need be. Just as any Ispepyein Warrior would.”

  Her hand-link conveyed a message from the Calens. ‘You are a foolish child. We pinpointed your location.’ The voice relayed the order given to the others: ‘All ships converge on ROS-06. Let us see how brave she is against a sky full of ships. You will not be able to destroy us all. And, silly child, you are not an Ispepyein Warrior.’

  “We’ll see about that,” she growled into her hand-link.

  Peering out through the hole, the sky wasn’t black with ships, but there were enough to make her mouth go dry with fear. There’s no way I can defeat them all. There are too many.

  Gazing past the Eilsel ships, Karrin spied the smaller Calen ships. So many white, domed craft filled the sky they had to be careful maneuvering. Otherwise, they would slam into each other.

  Grinning to herself as she crawled back outside, and energized both rifles. Looks just like a shooting gallery to me.

  Holding a rifle butt against each shoulder, she aimed at the sky. With all that traffic up there, she knew something would get hit when she pressed the fire buttons, over and over. Pretty soon, the heavens were filled with exploding Eilsel and Calen ships. The lake in front of her filled with hundreds of ripples from the falling debris.

  As Karrin watched another Calen ship explode into a glorious white ball of fire, the sensation of a heavy weight pressing down on her body overcame her. She fell back against the hut, her arms useless, and the rifles falling from her grasp. She struggled to breathe as her chest wouldn’t expand with the pressure.

  They must’ve turned all their remaining nullifiers on me, she realized in horror.

  Gasping for air, she crawled, inch-by-inch, back into her hut. With little strength remaining, Karrin flopped on her back and stared up at a sky completely dotted with the ships of her enemy. For every
one I took down, ten more showed up.