Alien Alliance Box Set

by Chris Turner

  “Well, what about this Audra?” piped up the yellow-headed interrogator. “I’d like to meet this gal. She sounds like my type.”

  “Go right ahead, you idiot.” Miko fixed him with a searing glare. “I’m sure she’ll be here before long.

  The Sergeant shook his head in pity. “See what I mean? Arrogant and lunatic.”

  The door opened and a uniformed figure nervously poked his head in.

  The Sergeant whirled on the private with annoyance. “Get out of here, Jeakes! Can’t you see we’re busy? What is it?”

  “Transmission, sir. Urgent. Seems as if a message from a certain Colonel Zaul came through from, I don’t know, some planet I didn’t catch the name of.”

  “Zaul, never heard of him.”

  “Neither have we.”

  “Of course.” Salhan clicked his tongue. “Watch this sharper. No better yet, come with me, Buldis. I think I need you to work on this cricket fellow in the other room. I don’t like the look of the brute. A dull sod with a high tolerance for pain.”

  They left to attend to the details and Miko was left in his cuffs to ruminate on his predicament. The situation was untenable. At least he wasn’t floating out in space asphyxiating on a derelict ship. Still, he was looking at life digging ore in the mines, or a quick execution if he couldn’t talk his way out of this. Damn that Fenli! He’d strangle him if he had the chance.

  As Miko’s blood rose, he felt the familiar crackle of electricity surge around his body and ripple up his spine. The current coursed through his nerve ends.

  Bzt. He looked up, saw the red lens of the vidcam flare. So, maybe this invisibility phasing in and out was spurred by electric fields? Or maybe his stress levels? That would be recorded on camera. Nothing he could do about it.

  With anticipation, he passed out of his body, leaving cuffs behind. He slipped through the wall, eerie as a goblin.

  Supported on his astral limbs, he glided down the hall. He could get used to this newfound power. Hell, he was beginning to like it! Military and security personnel strode down the halls decked in grey and white.

  Soon he came to a hub of hallways, each lit with ceiling fluorescent panels. In a skylight overhead, a dim patch of yellow sky loomed. Strange ships hovered in the air, one of which looked similar to a Jakru light cruiser. Could they have tracked them this far so soon? Miko did a double take. He saw the Sergeant down the cross-corridor speaking animatedly into a coin-sized handheld device. Miko floated grimly over to eavesdrop.

  His interrogator was talking to Colonel Zaul, directly on his communicator.

  “Who are you? Is this some hoax, Zaul?” Salhan waved off his corporal who was gesticulating at him. “Nobody ever told me about any Empress gone missing.”

  Miko heard a crisp cold voice crackle from the communicator. “I assure you, Sergeant, the Empress is missing—95% probability she was aboard that locust vessel.”

  “Impossible! I saw this Lexia, as you call her, on public broadcast, delivering a speech two days ago about the Elefrian affair.” But the Sergeant’s expression indicated there was something familiar about the face he had missed.

  Miko heard the voice rise, “It was a cover-up, you imbecile! To not raise panic in Quandria. That was only a clever double you saw on naturalnet.”

  “A double?” The Sergeant’s lower lip quivered. For once, Salhan seemed to have nothing to say. “I’ll look into it. But I can’t promise you anything, Zaul. And I’ll remind you, that you are in violation of our airspace, ‘Colonel’. Kindly move your unauthorized attack vessel back to the free zone. Fortunately for you, we have a treaty with the Jakru, otherwise we would have blasted you out of the air long ago.”

  The voice trilled ominously over the com.

  But Salhan cut off the receiver. In a livid voice, he swore. Rubbing his temples, he paced back and forth. “Cocky sods! Strangle me and my mother if the whole lot of the cretins aren’t playing us. Some political manoeuvre. They can piss off for all I care.”

  Miko floated, stunned. No wonder the Jakru were so keen on getting the woman back. Fenli was right about her being an important person. A faint rumble shook the base. The Sergeant’s ears perked. His eyes darted upward to the Jakru vessel and he groped for his weapon. A blast of heat and a ball of translucent yellow appeared in the middle of the hall. The Sergeant stared at it dumbly. Without warning, a space opened up around it and it imploded. With a silent whoosh of energy, a massive stun wave reverberated through the halls, levelling anyone in the vicinity.

  Salhan fell like a tree.

  Miko hovered away, feeling the effects of the blast like a brush of air against skin. His body tingled.

  Bzt. The shock waves joggled whatever strange, electrochemical transformation had come over him since the amalgamators had first whisked him across the galaxy. He saw his physical chest glimmer, fade, then glimmer again. Just in the same way as when the camera flicked on in the interrogation room.

  Bzt. Back to invisible.

  The glass smashed above his astral projection. A team of Jakru soldiers came paratrooping down through the jagged gap. Miko shimmered, struggling to recover from the crushing energy of the stun wave, his astral sight blinking in and out in a psychic blur. In seconds the militia had infiltrated the landing complex and he stared through his astral eyes, bewildered.

  Clearly, the Jakru wanted the Empress back alive, even willing to jeopardize peaceful relations with the Skullroxers. The locust aggression had driven the fires of vengeance in them. Likely turned them into take-no-prisoners savages. This Zaul, or whoever he was, was obviously a fearless leader who would risk all.

  Miko used his astral will to pull the bowie knife and keycard ring from the fallen Sergeant’s belt and he slunk out of the hot zone before the enemy troops noticed the shiny metal floating in midair. He debated whether it was better to leave the troublemaker Fenli behind, but he realized the need for allies at this point. Usk would come in handy too.

  Bzt. He was back in plain view. Why did this keep happening? The infrared scanner directly overhead—it must be the cause.

  Miko ducked out of range. Too late.

  Out in the hall, he stumbled upon two Special Forces men who managed to survive the Jakru blast.

  “There’s that wacko outlander!” cried one. “Neutralize him!”

  They aimed their stun guns at Miko. Miko’s heart pounded. As the stress rose, he felt the energy wind around his body, felt his body crackling around the edges.

  The men pushed forward, training their weapons. Their eyes widened as they saw him blinking out of existence. “What the hell—? A mutant!” The corporal opened up his weapon.

  The enemy fire passed right through Miko, searing the wall.

  “A freak—likely one of those bloody locust deviants!”

  Miko glided right past the two, fury burning his heart and bringing on another electrical crackle. Sneaking behind the foremost, he pulled the truncheon from the man’s belt and smashed him on the back of the skull.

  The other whirled and fired in dismay. His grunt of surprise did nothing, and he looked every which way for an intruder, finding none. Miko bent the weapon out of his grasp and pistol-whipped him across the skull. The soldier fell with a dull crunch.

  Miko grimaced at his handiwork. He was loath to kill them, but he couldn’t risk them shooting him down in cold blood if he suddenly turned back to bodily form.

  He took one’s knife and was about to seize the stun weapons to add to his arsenal, when a sound alerted him. He cursed inwardly. He left the weapons where they were. Too much of a liability should they be seen floating in midair. The keyring and knife were enough of a risk. Stealthily, he glided down the hall, the bowie knife in his astral hand moving magically with him through the air. If anyone appeared, he would drop it on the ground.

  He floated down a side corridor, the same where he had seen the corporal move to check on the prisoners. A series of metal doors with reinforced plates gazed back at him. He knew that
Fenli and Usk were somewhere behind those doors.

  He lay down his knife and passed through the wall. Slumped behind a table, head in his hands, was Fenli, shackled and unguarded. The Jakru stun wave did not seem to have penetrated the heavy metal that guarded the cells. Miko did not want to alert the cargo man to his astral condition so decided to wait until his invisibility wore off. Hopefully, that would not be too long.

  He passed through the nearby wall and glimpsed Usk, pacing back and forth like a dog on a short leash, hissing through his teeth. Miko stirred uncomfortably. He could free the locust but what then? His being invisible would not allow them to coordinate their efforts.

  He swiped the key ring across the panel to open the door from the inside, Then he fetched the knife in the hall with its long sharp edge. He returned to the room and swiped the door shut. The faint whirring had alerted the locust who watched in horrified fascination—a gleaming bowie knife gliding through the air toward him. Miko noticed he was referring to Usk as ‘him’ now, not ‘it’.

  Usk jerked back, voicing several menacing chitters, clawing the air with his pincers.

  The ghost of Miko moved harmlessly through the creature’s claw swipes and quickly sawed through the nylon binding Usk’s leg to the table.

  When the locust saw he was free, his terror subsided. He blinked and gnashed, searching about for the source of his magical release. A moment of amusement for Miko, who drifted at arm’s length watching the locust’s stunned reaction. Usk snatched up the knife in a trembling pincer and waved it about like a madman woken from a psychotic dream.

  Now a waiting game. Miko debated returning to the fallen soldiers and fetching their stun weapons, but he realized the risks outweighed the gains should he turn visible again. He observed Usk move restlessly about, analyzing every square inch of his prison. He sniffed about the air, pawing pincers at the walls, looking for any means of escape. The locust’s twin antennae twitched with suspicion and the tiny green hairs on the back of his neck rose on end. Miko had never noticed them before, nor those that laced down his hard-shelled back like a down of fur. The locust’s triangular-shaped head made him look like an aphid, with beady eyes gleaming redly like an alligator’s in the dark. Miko could open the door and let the locust walk free, but if he ran, he would never catch up with him. Better that they stick together. Yes...he needed Usk, and Fenli. Nor did he want to alert Fenli to his phantom power, so he had to wait until his invisibility wore off. If pattern was to repeat itself that would not be long in coming. He continued to study Usk. As repulsive as the creature was, he had saved his skin more than once.

  Bzt. Miko came back into his body.

  The locust almost jumped out of his carapace. Miko motioned him to silence and swiped the key card so they could sneak out in the hall.

  The locust drifted at his heels, sniffing around as suspiciously as ever, eyeing the ghost man in distrust. Without proper weapons, they were nothing more than sitting ducks to the Jakru. If the Jakru should come through that door...

  No sooner had he voiced the thought than the tramp of boots came echoing from the corridor. Miko cursed and ducked back. He crouched by the door. Usk joined him on the other side. Miko rued that it had taken so long to return to visibility. If he had escaped and taken his chances alone... He smashed down on the arm of the figure that reached through, disarming him of his stunner.

  He had a gun! He aimed and fired and his quarry fell with a hoarse groan. Usk tackled the other to the ground, stabbing out a claw. With a clacking pincer dripping in blood, he scooped up the weapon at the fallen Jakru’s waist.

  Miko and Usk scrambled through the door and sprinted down the hall. No enemy in sight. Miko swiped the tags on the black pad, as he had watched the corporal do when he had come out of Usk’s holding cell.

  The door slid open. They burst into Fenli’s chamber, panting.

  Fenli jerked back in wonder, almost rolling off his chair. The muscles knotted on his pale face and he gasped in complete bafflement. “How did you get in here?”

  Miko motioned to Usk, and the locust drew his knife. “The Jakru attacked and stunned the complex.” Fenli watched as Usk busied himself cutting his bonds.

  “How did you get free?”

  Usk chittered in wild tones. Miko shook his head as if the locust were somewhat unhinged.

  Fenli shook his head in disgust. Flexing his raw limbs, he snatched at the weapon Miko gave him. “This could come in handy.” He poked his head out in the hall. They retraced their steps, Miko leading the way down the hall where he remembered the hub lay.

  The fluorescent lights dimmed and flickered. Sounds of alien jabber echoed down the hall. Then thud of approaching footsteps, and blaster fire.

  Miko ducked back behind a crumbling corner. “Wait here!”

  The sounds faded; Miko chanced a look. He crouched on one knee. The reek of explosives and chemical vapours wisped down the hallway. They struck out cautiously, gripping their weapons. The coast was clear.

  They came to the junction where the troopers had parachuted from the skies. The Jakru ship was nowhere in sight, perhaps moved elsewhere to avoid enemy fire. Broken glass lay on the concrete; the smell of discharged weapons hung thick in the air, but no Jakru enemies walked the hall.

  The Sergeant lay up ahead in a dazed sprawl. His eyes were open, a sinister sight, with a ghastly curl to his lip. Fenli stooped to regard him with distaste. He searched him and held up the blue disc that Salhan had used to produce the Jakru woman. “Well, well, I spy with my little eye...”

  Fenli felt for a pulse. “Not dead yet. Well, too bad. This will be painless for him.” With callous disregard, he snatched at the long bowie knife at Miko’s side and proceeded to saw off the Sergeant’s forefinger, perhaps remembering the bruises delivered upon his face. He wiped his blade on the Sergeant’s pant leg, strapped the knife at his side, and plunged the disc into his pocket.

  “You crazy idiot!” cried Miko. “You’re going to let him bleed out here?”

  “He would have tortured us anyways, thrown us to the dogs. I don’t owe him anything.”

  “You surely don’t.” As much as he had resented the Sergeant’s bullying, he could not condone this punishment and tore a strip off his uniform and fastened it around the stump.

  The hub radiated to a dozen hallways branching in different directions. Miko’s eyes flitted from one to the next, wondering which one they should take.

  It seemed the blast was widespread and had taken out security. Military personnel lay slumped everywhere. This would make it easy to pass unhindered by checkpoints at least. But the Jakru were another matter entirely.

  Fenli sized up the situation. “There’s no time to lose. We have to get out of here.”

  “Sure, but how?”

  “Down this hall. Look, those signs. The tube-tram.”

  They clambered down one of the main halls, paying no heed to stealth, jumping over limp, fallen bodies and searching every cross-corridor for enemies.

  Shouts echoed down the hall. Red beams of death rained at their backs, tearing out streaks of fibreglass from the walls. One beam singed Usk, and he loosed a chitter, stumbling along after Miko as smoke filled the hall and smoke curled from his blackened ribs. He struggled to keep up with Miko.

  Angry footfall pounded behind them. The hallway ended in a fan of smashed up lights where blasters had levelled the exit. Fallen debris, metal and plaster littered the floor. Miko snatched a look back. Vengeful Jakru with horned skull caps, black boots and violet anti-laser vests, came charging after them, weapons lifted. Ahead, the foyer opened up into a large depot. Frantically, they stumbled through, Miko helping Usk. Unconscious bodies lay slumped everywhere. At the far end loomed a long, low, black capsule of four tram-cars, humming, waiting, parked by the station. It did not help that they had a locust-mutant in their midst. Glowing lights flickered on the top front of the foremost car. A private conveyance?

  They raced in and piled past the open door and F
enli and Miko pushed aside limp passengers and took seats. Usk stood painfully, gazing suspiciously at the inert forms.

  The capsule’s doors closed before Jakru blasters could ruin it. Off they whisked through the tunnels somewhere toward Skullrox, the rage of enemy fire fading to dull hums as the magno-rail retreated from the complex.

  “Been a long time since I’ve been in these parts,” mused Fenli.

  Miko turned toward him with a sneer. “Don’t you think it’s better to head away from the city, rather than toward it?”

  Fenli smiled sweetly. “We’ve got to keep moving. Plus, we’ve got this.” He flaunted the blue disc. “The Jakru don’t know where the woman is cached. We’ve got surprise on our side, and speed.”

  “If you think they’re going to let us walk out of here—”

  The tram halted with a whoosh of pressurized air. The door popped open.

  “This is our stop.” Fenli jumped out; on impulse, he beetled toward a sign of flashing lights to the left. Miko signalled Usk and they were hard on his heels, gaining the street and a wash of pale light. The air was slightly yellowed, as if sparkling dust particles floated suspended.

  “There,” gestured Fenli.

  Miko turned. A depot ranged up ahead. They scrambled up a short flight of steps; Miko could not help but see blood dripping from Fenli’s side pocket where the Sergeant’s finger was cached.

  The tram station had come out in an echoing stone pavilion with a high dome. The place was teeming with people; from the look of them, traders and civilians of many races. The bright lights pained their eyes. Some sort of public place, Miko concluded. Tall screens of data blasted information at them—ads, announcements, excerpts from videos. These were the Skullroxers’ electronic-holo billboards.

  Fenli hustled toward a cargo storage outlet and queued up before a tall machine that looked similar to the one in the detention bay. Miko and Usk trailed warily behind him.

  Miko’s eyes blinked in amazement at the sights. Colours and smells assaulted his senses. A wall of raw sound hit his ears. He was dumbfounded that they had not been apprehended by Skullrox security. But then again, how would they know they were here? If anything, they should expect a Jakru assault.