Traitor

by Drew Avera

  Auden wanted to say something, but she couldn't find the words until something else outside the window caught her eyes. "What's that?"

  Tara turned around and gasped as her eyes fell upon the anomaly. "That looks like a storm, but there’s something odd about it," Tara said questionably.

  "I did some research on Karnack, and with the massive storms in the southern hemisphere storms like that in this area come very seldom. One of the reasons why this region has thrived is due to the temperate weather." Tara looked up at her sister with her eyebrows raised. Auden continued, "I'm just saying that it's an unlikely time of year for a storm like that to occur in this region."

  Tara gave her attention back to the weather anomaly situated to the south. The girls watched in silence for several minutes until Tara interrupted. "Did you notice that large flash?"

  "What about it?"

  Tara looked at her watch and set the timer to zero and waited. "I want to see how much time passes before the next large flash occurs. I’ll test the one after it to see at what frequency it's noticed."

  "Some flashes are brighter than others, what’s the point in timing it?" Auden asked.

  Tara cleared her throat before answering, “Because the last two times I saw that flash it appeared in the same pattern. Lightning is never that uniform in appearance."

  "Oh," Auden replied as she cast her eyes upon the storm once more. “What if it occurs in evenly spaced increments?”

  “Then that isn’t a real storm,” Tara replied as the bright flash appeared again. Tara started the timer on her watch. Her eyes were glued to the anomaly, unblinking until the flash appeared again. She stopped the timer and glanced down. “Two minutes and three seconds," she said.

  "What now?"

  "I have to time it again to see how long between the flashes," Tara said as she reset the watch

  They waited in absolute silence, both holding their breath for long durations until the flash occurred again.

  Tara started the timer once more with grim determination etched on her face as they waited.

  Two minutes and three seconds later it happened again in the exact pattern as before. Tara stopped the watch and sighed. "That's not a real storm," she said under her breath.

  "If that's an artificial storm," Auden said. "Then that means mom and dad might be in trouble. We need to get to the ship."

  Tara nodded. "But before we do that," she said as she reached for her cloak. "We're going to need help."

  “Who would be willing to help us?” Auden asked as she rushed to put on her cloak.

  “I only know one person on this planet, and he helped us before,” Tara offered.

  “Do you think he will help us this time?” Auden asked skeptically. A tinge of fear oozed from her tongue.

  “What choice do we have but to ask?”

  Auden shrugged. She hadn’t expected something like this to happen. “Maybe you’re right, but we need to be smart about this. What are we going to do if he says no?”

  Tara pulled her cloak on and moved towards the door. “Let’s worry about that possibility when we get there. For now, let’s just do what we can before it’s too late.”

  “Agreed,’ Auden spat as she rushed out the door before Tara. “Hopefully we don’t have to come up with a Plan B.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Sarah handed Dickson a cup of coffee as he sat down in the lounge of the scout ship.

  "Thank you," Dickson said as he smiled politely for her hospitality. Given the circumstances, he was surprised at how well she was holding it together. He always recognized her for her stoic strength, and with the odds stacked against them, he only saw more of the same.

  "So, what's the story?" Kevin asked as Sarah took the seat next to him. She took his hand and he accepted, but he kept his eyes glued to Dickson.

  The captain cleared his throat before speaking, "The message traffic keeps changing which aroused my suspicion. Initially, the charges were treason with no body to the message suggesting what level of treason you were being charged with. That was last week and now there's more information which is rather suspect."

  "How so?" Kevin asked as his cheeks reddened.

  Dickson continued, "they're saying that messages were dispatched to you while you were in the Heshian sector. I checked the logs, and your orders put you in that area of operation, but in the transmission logs everything that was sent from your ship as an automatic transmission. Unless you planned this act of treason to give confidential information to the enemy, then I believe someone hacked into your ship’s communication system and used you as a relay."

  Kevin leaned forward with his eyes fixed on his friend. "Do you have proof of this? I don’t know why anyone would do that. I’ve done nothing to anyone to deserve this."

  "That I don't know, and there's still a fifty-fifty chance that you can be convicted with this information. There's no way of knowing how those messages were received to be relayed through your ship to the insurgents. I wish I had better news for you, but at least you know what you're dealing with."

  Kevin shifted in his seat while still holding onto his wife's hands. "I don't know how to fight this, Will. I need help. You've known me for years, the sacrifices that I and my family have made. I wouldn’t just throw that away and deal out information to a conflict that would cast our society further into chaos."

  Will set down the coffee cup with steam still rising from the hot liquid inside. "I had my doubts that you would pull such a thing off. That's why I wanted to get to you before Admiral Hardak did."

  "He's coming?" Kevin asked skeptically.

  "Yes, and he’s coming with a large enough extraction team to cause a scene. I wanted to give you the opportunity to surrender without the dramatics. You and I both know how ugly this could get."

  "He did nothing wrong," Sarah said. "If he surrenders then how could that not be considered an admission of guilt?"

  Dickson cast his gaze towards her and could see the tears welling in her eyes. Their family had endured so much over the last week, and he saw the signs of her beginning to crumble under the weight. "I wouldn’t look at it as an admission of guilt. I would look at it as a leap of faith that we can solve this without anyone getting into more trouble. Each day that you are a fugitive it sets the possibility of your guilt deeper into their thoughts. If you're innocent, then this is the only way to put the madness behind us."

  Kevin turned and looked at his wife, his lips trembling as he forced them into a smile. "I think he's right, honey. This is the only way to restore some semblance of normalcy in our family's lives."

  "I don't like it, Kevin," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

  "Neither do I," he replied, "but what other choice do I have?" He turned his attention back to Captain Dickson with his eyes afire. "Do you see any other way, Captain?"

  Dickson sighed. "No, I do not."

  Captain Dickson led Commander Hoyt to the cargo bay of the Interceptor while Sarah followed behind. Kevin's wrists were in cuffs, but Dickson saw no need to do the same for Sarah. The truth was, he only cuffed Commander Hoyt as protocol and not because he felt threatened by the fugitive.

  "What's next?" Kevin asked as Dickson's boots clapped against the metal ramp with a dull thud.

  "I’ll take you to my ship and we’ll file the report. We’ll rendezvous with Admiral Hardak when he arrives and from there try to figure things out peacefully," Dickson said.

  His premature celebration of peacefully taking on the fugitive was cut short by the sound of assault rifles coming to the ready.

  "That’s far enough, Captain," the brusque sound of a Heshian voice boomed, followed by a guttural growl.

  Dickson stopped in his tracks and peered out to the desert, but without his helmet on he was unable to see anything. He didn't have to wait long for half a dozen troops to close in, their bodies illuminated by light from the gaping cargo bay of the Interceptor. "Despite reports from your men, I did not think that you would collude
with the enemy, Captain Dickson. I wish that I could say I was disappointed, but there's something satisfying when suspicions ring true. Wouldn’t you agree, Lieutenant Harrison?"

  The cowardly officer hid partially behind the admiral. The whites of his wide eyes matched his face as Dickson glared down at him.

  "I wasn't colluding with the enemy, sir. I came down here to initiate a peaceful resolution to take in Commander Hoyt's as per your order," he said, careful not to let his disdain for the mutinous lieutenant to paint his words to the senior officer.

  Admiral Hardak spat indignities in his native tongue as he stepped deeper into the light and glared at the captain. "My standing order was for you to await my arrival, Captain, and you have openly defied me."

  "Admiral, I can attest —" Kevin started.

  "Silence!" The admiral shouted at Commander Hoyt. "The traitor will not speak."

  "Admiral," Captain Dickson began before Hardak lifted a finger to silence him.

  "That goes double for you, Captain," Hardak said with a spiteful vengeance on the edge of his tongue. "In fact, I don’t have the room on my ship for two traitors, so perhaps I should dispatch one of them to save the space." He looked over to the chief in charge of the extraction team and nodded his head.

  Captain Dickson’s heart sank as he realized what the silent order was and what was coming next. The shooter stepped forward and lifted the face of his helmet. Pale, blue eyes stared back at him, coupled with a wicked grin of elation. “Don’t worry, Captain Dickson. I’m not afraid to follow orders,” Chief Nesbitt said.

  Dickson groaned as he realized why Harrison looked so afraid. The report didn’t come from the lieutenant, but the trigger-happy chief. “You don’t—"

  Chief Nesbitt spat at his commanding officer, stopping him midsentence before the shot rang out.

  "No!" Sarah screamed from behind her husband, but it did nothing to stop the bullet from striking its target.

  Dickson fell, a disgraced Consulate officer.

  Admiral Hardak stepped over to watch the captain gasp for air as he bled out from an abdominal wound. Blood painted the glassy, desert sand and he saw by the light protruding from the cargo bay that Dickson’s face was ten shades paler than it had been moments before. "Perhaps you can use what's left of your wasted life to contemplate all the ways you have failed the Consulate," Admiral Hardak seethed.

  He turned on his heels and pointed for the extraction team to do their job and seize the prisoners.

  Four troops marched up the cargo ramp, past Captain Dickson's dying body and took hold of the fugitives. The troops jerked them down the ramp and led them towards the admiral's ship, the Tempest, as Hardak stood outside the secured perimeter of the Interceptor with a smug, gloating expression.

  “This isn’t necessary, sir,” Kevin said through his teeth as the cuffs dug into his wrists while the team dragged him along before stopping in front of Hardak.

  The admiral lowered his face to within inches of Commander Hoyt and spoke, "Don't get too comfortable, Commander. Your time is yet to come." He turned to march away but held short as something caught his eye. He reached down and picked up a Consulate patch half-buried in the hardened sand. He lifted it curiously before canting his head towards Hoyt. A smirk curled his lips before he spoke again, “Your time is coming indeed, traitor.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Auden led Tara down a series of dark alleys with nothing more than pale streetlights interspersed throughout their path. She prided herself in having a keen sense of direction, but this foreign world was laid out much differently than Valara and the rampant destruction only made it more confusing.

  "Are you sure that you know where we are going?" Tara asked.

  Auden frowned and tried to avoid the question as it merely echoed her thoughts.

  "I'm only saying that all of this looks the same and we have walked much longer now than when dad escorted us to the hotel."

  Auden stopped abruptly and Tara bumped into her as she turned and glared down at her younger sister. "Actually, no I don't know where I'm going. It's dark and I'm distracted by a mass of confusing thoughts about what's happening. I could use some support right now instead of your whining questions,” she snapped.

  Tara stepped back with a forlorn expression on her face. Auden regretted the outburst, but there was only so much that she could handle given the circumstances.

  "Look, I'm sorry for snapping at you, I’m doing the best I can."

  "I'm sorry, too," Tara replied sheepishly. "I just want us to get there so we can get help for mom and dad."

  Auden nodded as she sucked in a deep breath and fought to maintain her composure. The stress of the ordeal was coming to a head and without the strength of her family being together, she didn’t know how much more she could take. "Same. Now, come on." She reached down and grabbed her sister's hand and led her the rest the way down the long, narrow alley into an opening which thankfully looked familiar. A giant, metal arch rose above them and a flicker of hope sparked in Auden's heart. "I think we made it," she said under her breath.

  "I certainly hope so."

  They walked through the arch, their eyes fighting to adjust to the dimness inside the structure as they looked for the only person on the planet they thought might be willing to help.

  "Back so soon?" Chuck asked from somewhere in the shadows.

  They stopped and squeezed one another's hands tightly before Auden spoke, "We need help."

  The sound of footsteps crunching against shards of molten sand turned to glass drew closer until a small glow of light illuminated the old, Grotan man. "What kind of help is that?" His voice oozed with concern as his eyes danced between the two of them curiously.

  "We think our parents are in danger," Auden replied.

  Chuck cleared his throat and took another step forward. "You're right, kid. Your father told me he was on the run from the Consulate. It sounded serious to me."

  "That's not all," Tara shot back. "We think the Consulate are here."

  Chuck glanced skyward before turning his attention back to the human girls. "I've been monitoring the sky every night for years. Your father’s ship was the only one that's entered our airspace during that time. Are you sure, do you have any proof that the Consulate is here?"

  Auden released her sister's hand and pointed towards the storm with a shaky finger. "Did you notice the storm?”

  Chuck nodded in agreement. "I noticed it."

  "Did you also notice there's a repeating pattern that starts over every two minutes?"

  Chuck grunted indignantly as he turned to face the anomaly. Auden could hear him counting to himself under his breath as they waited in silence. A few minutes later, he turned his attention back to them. "I hadn’t noticed that until you mentioned it," he said regretfully.

  "That's why we think the Consulate is already here," Auden said. "They use artificial weather patterns as a form of stealth technology. We need to help our parents, but we can’t go alone. Would you be willing to help us, again?"

  Chuck's shoulders drooped as a look of despair crept upon his face like a shadow smothering the light. "Hold on," he said as he stepped out of view. The sound of metal scraping against steel sounded and then he returned. "It is not a good idea to go out there unarmed. I just hope that I have enough ammo."

  "Thank you for helping us," Auden said.

  "Don't thank me yet, kid. We have to save your parents first. Otherwise, I'm just an unfortunate spectator to the worst day in your life." He chambered a round in his rifle and took a step towards them. "Please, lead the way."

  They arrived at the Interceptor and viewed it with a dark, star-spangled backdrop in the middle of the desert. Auden stopped walking and tried to determine if it was safe to approach. Tara settled next to her while Chuck continued walking towards the craft.

  "It's too quiet," he said under his breath, a forebodingness to his voice that made Auden's skin crawl.

  She knew what that meant, that her pare
nts weren’t here, that they had been taken. "What do we do now?" Her voice shuddered as she choked back a sob.

  Chuck approached the aft section of the ship and shone his light up the cargo ramp and into the open space. The ship was completely shut down, without even battery power to operate the overhead lighting. He trained his weapon into the open void, intent not to be taken off guard if it was a setup. He marched in a semicircle, purely focused on the gaping void before him when something below caught his foot and sent him falling backward.

  He landed with a thud, his weapon clattering to the ground next to him and he scurried away from the dense object that he hadn’t noticed until he could recognize what it was.

  "Are you all right, Chuck?" Auden asked as she jogged towards him.

  "Stay back," he ordered as he reached for his gun and trained it on the dark mass at his feet. The light affixed to the barrel of his rifle revealed a Consulate naval uniform and Chuck’s heart sank as his first thought drifted to having to be the one who had to tell those girls that their father was dead.

  But there was something about the body which lay on the ground that was unfamiliar and that was when he shifted the light up towards the head and saw the dark, wavy hair of another human and not the short, cropped, salt-and-pepper hair of Commander Hoyt.

  "Who is that?" He asked as he rose to his feet. Auden stepped up next to the man, peering down at him before she knelt next to the body. "This is Captain Dickson," she answered with a tinge of uncertainty to her voice. "I don't understand what could've happened to him."

  Chuck shifted the light down the dead man's body and stopped when he saw the gaping abdominal wound. Blood still pooled on the surface leading Chuck to conclude that the man was dead for no more than an hour. "This is the kind of wound you get from a high-velocity weapon. A rifle, definitely not a handgun. I know your father was packing a concealed handgun and not a weapon he would need to do this."