Michael Anderle - [Heretic of the Federation 03]

by Time to Fear (epub)

  “I beg your pardon?”

  The ex-admiral gave her his most winning smile. “Please?”

  She sighed. “Color me intrigued, as my uncle would say.”

  The required chemical and dispensing equipment appeared and he grinned. “And you fitted it to a flat-pack.”

  “A reinforced flat-pack,” Roma told him.

  “I’ll call it extra armor,” he replied, slid the pack over his lower back, and secured it under the weapons harness.

  She remained silent as he chose various additions to his gear. He added grenades, another pistol, a flare gun—she couldn’t begin to imagine what he intended with that—and more magazines.

  When he was finished, he frowned, returned to the knife rack, and picked up the blade he’d admired before.

  “You never know,” he told her as he added it to his belt. “I might need it.”

  The AI shook her head. “Tell me when you’re done.”

  He looked down at himself and patted several pouches, pockets, and holsters.

  “Okay,” he said. “I’m ready.”

  The air shimmered again and Ivy pulled the safety strap over the blaster.

  “New teammate, right?” she asked Frog, and he covered his eyes with his hand.

  She hooked her thumbs over her belt and waited. Even though she expected him, the sight of a Dreth warrior so close still made her nervous.

  That feeling didn’t go away as he tilted his head to one side and studied her.

  After a long moment, she released her belt and raised one hand shoulder height to waggle her fingers in greeting. “Hi?”

  “So you aren’t planning to shoot me in the head as a way of saying hello, this time?” the Dreth asked acidly.

  Ivy’s jaw dropped. “Frog never said—” she started but couldn’t find the words to finish.

  “And you didn’t know Stephanie had a Dreth on her team?” the warrior asked as he took a step forward.

  Ivy took two steps back. Now that he mentioned it, she did remember something about that. Her face paled.

  “Uh-huh,” he said. “So, what happened? You forgot?”

  She had but she didn’t want to admit it, so she retreated a few more steps and tried frantically to think of something to say.

  “How did that happen, by the way?” she asked, and Frog snickered.

  The Dreth frowned. “Why? Do you find it hard to believe?”

  The smaller man turned away, his shoulder’s shaking. If she hadn’t known any better, she’d have thought he was crying instead of laughing hard enough to split his sides.

  Her new teammate ignored him and stepped forward again. Startled by the movement, she took two more back and tried desperately to work out how to dig herself out of this predicament.

  “I…”

  The truth was, having gone through the pirate scenario, she’d found the Regime’s propaganda easier to believe. She’d forgotten Becca telling her and John about the Dreth on Stephanie’s team and how she’d found it hard to believe despite the older woman’s assurances.

  No wonder he frowned at her like she’d insulted his mother or something. She continued her jerky retreat while Vishlog moved slowly forward. Finally, she stopped. He was a teammate, right? That had to count for something

  “I didn’t ask you your name,” she said finally and forced herself to stand still as he moved closer.

  “Vishlog,” he told her and stopped directly in front of her.

  Ivy looked at him and fought the instinct to run.

  He was waiting for a response, so she muttered, “Ivy.”

  The warrior studied her for a long moment, his expression inscrutable. “So, you want to hear how I joined Stephanie’s team?”

  “Please?”

  He turned away and moved to where Frog stood in silence and simply watched them.

  After a moment’s hesitation, she followed him

  The Dreth sat cross-legged on the floor and indicated that she should do the same. “Sit.”

  She stopped a few feet away, caught the look on Frog’s face as he sat, and moved closer to join them. Vishlog watched her, his face unreadable, and she wondered what he was thinking.

  “I was drunk,” he told her, and she stared. He smiled at her reaction and continued, “and my commanding officer thought it would be good for politics to have a Dreth on Stephanie’s team.”

  He paused, and his gaze took on a faraway look. “If I am truthful, I did not give the commander much choice, and since Stephanie had already put me down once, I was most suited for the task.”

  “Put you down?” Ivy asked.

  It was the first time she’d ever seen a Dreth blush.

  “I was very drunk,” he admitted, and Frog snickered.

  Vishlog darted him a filthy look, and the man mimed zipping his lips and indicated he should continue.

  “I challenged her to a fight.”

  She couldn’t help laughing.

  He poked her in the middle of the forehead. “It was like you shooting me in the head.”

  That stopped her amusement. She stared at him, and he continued.

  “She magicked me into the air and Jaleck had me put in chains.”

  Ivy frowned. “So how did that get you added to her team?”

  “Jaleck was the Ambassador to Meligorn,” Vishlog told her, “and I was part of her honor guard at the party where I met Stephanie.”

  Her eyes widened. “But you were drunk!”

  Vishlog shrugged. “I got drunk often when I was not in battle. It was…for the best.”

  His eyes darkened and she stared at him. She was still trying to wrap her head around getting drunk as an honor guard being for the best, but before she could say anything, he continued.

  “So when politics demanded a Dreth on Stephanie’s team, I was chosen.”

  “Why?” The question was out before she could stop it and she tried hastily to explain. “I mean, if it was such an important pos…it..ion…”

  Ivy stopped. Frog had lowered his head and had his arms folded across his stomach as he laughed. She bit her bottom lip and looked at the floor.

  “I’m sorry, that was… It didn’t…” she began, but Vishlog answered anyway.

  “As I said, I was the best candidate because Stephanie had put me down once. It meant I would be more respectful.”

  She raised her head. “It did?”

  He nodded. “Have you seen Stephanie?”

  The girl shook her head.

  “She is tiny,” he told her. “Only a little taller than you. Not much to look at or for a warrior to respect.”

  When she drew herself up and glared at him, he smiled.

  “I learned appearances can be deceiving, but politics aside, I could not understand why I should be accepted by her team—or by Stephanie—or why Dreth made her one of their Talons.”

  “A Talon?” Ivy asked and Frog shifted restlessly.

  “That’s a story for another day,” he interrupted and stood quickly. “In the meantime, we have training, and trust me, she’s as bad as you were when you first joined.”

  Vishlog looked at her and raised an eyebrow. “As I said, appearances can be deceiving.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Ivy asked, but the world began to shift.

  The passenger compartment of a shuttle formed around them and the warrior added, “It was an honor to be chosen, and it is more of an honor to have been allowed to remain.”

  The shuttle shuddered and dropped.

  “The landing will be rough!” Frog warned and the shuttle hit hard and skidded as if to prove his point.

  Vishlog caught hold of Ivy and held her upright as the tail hatch opened and they looked into the shuttle bay of a Dreth pirate ship.

  Large forms moved on the upper gantry, and the human guard grasped her arm and dragged her toward cover.

  “First wave!” he shouted. “And you’re not allowed to die!”

  “It’s easy for you to say,” she replied a
few minutes later when she scrambled from the floor of the white room.

  Her hands moved over the front of her armor, where several rounds from a turret gun had caught her. Finding no damage, she breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Where’s Vishlog?” she asked, and the Dreth appeared as though he’d been summoned.

  “Rocket launcher,” he explained succinctly. “These pirates are cheating."

  His words acted as a signal and they reappeared on board the shuttle again.

  This time, they made it out and across the hangar. Ivy destroyed the auto-turret with a well-thrown grenade and shot the Dreth with the rocket launcher while Vishlog eliminated any who got too close and Frog swept their other flank clear.

  They flattened themselves against the wall near the airlock leading into the ship and delayed a little longer to annihilate another team of Dreth that came over the gantry.

  “These guys seriously like to drop in on you,” Ivy noted and delivered a well-placed shot into another pirate as he appeared.

  The defender landed on the decking and immediately rolled to all fours.

  “Oh no, you don’t,” she told him and shot him through the face-plate.

  “Door,” Frog ordered, and she turned reluctantly away from the hangar.

  It wasn’t easy, but she had to trust her teammates to have her back while she hacked the door open. Frog had been very clear about needing her to get the electronics.

  She forced herself to concentrate but flinched every time they fired and fought the urge to turn and take care of the threat herself.

  “You’re not on your own anymore,” she reminded herself. “Not alone.”

  If Frog or Vishlog heard her, they gave no sign. The airlock gave, and they followed her through and closed the open door as she worked the inner seal.

  “Done!” she called as the warrior stepped past her, firing as he moved.

  The pirates were waiting, and his body jerked before his shield went live and sparked blue.

  “Vishlog?” Ivy asked but he didn’t reply, and Frog moved up beside him.

  Between the two of them, they cleared the corridor and ran to the next junction. Ivy raced behind them but glanced over her shoulder as a ceiling hatch gave way with a loud clang.

  “Behind you!” she called, and they stopped and turned as she threw another grenade and opened fire.

  As if the first team’s discovery was a signal, more warriors dropped through the ceiling and reinforcements arrived via the corridors.

  “What is this?” she complained. “Dreth Central?”

  Vishlog chuckled. “Funny you should mention that.”

  He grunted, and she felt the shudder from the impact beneath her boots as he landed heavily. Frog cursed, and she looked around. The closest pirate took advantage of her distraction and powered forward with sufficient force to disrupt her shield.

  The blade that slid through her armor was inevitable.

  Ivy woke in the white room, choking on her own blood, then remembered where she was and coughed the memory away. The Dreth had already regained his feet and now leaned against the wall. They both jumped when Frog coalesced a foot above the floor and dropped beside them.

  “What happened to you?” she asked, and he gave her a sick grin.

  “I stole one of your grenades.”

  The white room vanished and they reappeared in the airlock.

  “Again?” she grumbled. “How many more—”

  A grenade bounced through the open door and her question remained unfinished.

  With the testing over, the Tempestarii’s crew returned to work. They moved quickly to their sections and looked around. The ship was well-maintained and clean, but the section commanders decided it needed to be cleaner.

  Most of them had seen action in the last battle with the Telorans. They knew what kinds of things could break, if not when.

  Chief Technician Piedmont brought a small team onto the bridge and came to a halt before Emil’s console.

  “Permission for close inspection, sir,” he snapped and hurried to explain when the captain glanced up. “I’d like to make sure nothing’s likely to break when the hunt starts, sir.”

  Emil refrained from telling him that the hunt had already started. Instead, he nodded.

  “Granted.” He looked at the others in the command center. “All cooperation will be given.”

  His gaze rested on Alain Docherty and his co-pilot and quelled the rebellion in his chief pilot’s face with a single look. The man gave an exasperated sigh and swung out of his seat.

  “You can start here,” he informed the chief and clapped his co-pilot on the shoulder. “Call me when they’re done.”

  The woman sighed. “Make mine white and four, boss, and jam, not sprinkles.”

  Docherty had taken two strides. Now, he turned to her with his eyebrows raised. Sri Malagar gave him large eyes. “Please…”

  The pilot snorted in disgust. “Only the one?” he asked, and she beamed.

  “Two,” she said decisively. “Raspberry and apricot.”

  He scowled, but he gave her a brisk nod before he left.

  “Two,” he reiterated, “and I won’t lick either of them before I get back.”

  Sri pulled a face but managed a swift, “Thank you,” before he was through the door.

  Piedmont looked at her. “With your permission?”

  She nodded and pushed away from the console.

  “Tempe, you have the con.”

  “Agreed,” the ship replied and addressed the technicians. “No tickling.”

  One of the newer techs gave her boss a startled glance.

  He chuckled. “We’ll do our best, Tempe, but no promises. Some of those components are delicate.”

  The ship sniffed disdainfully. “All my components are delicate.”

  One of the weapons technicians had a sudden coughing fit.

  “Care to share, Officer Ingram?” the ship asked, and the woman shook her head.

  “Dust… Only dust…” she explained hastily.

  The technicians went to work, and Piedmont methodically pulled every component from inside the console and passed them to his team.

  “Make sure they’re clean,” he told them. “And I mean they need to sparkle.”

  The new tech took the component she’d been given and inspected it carefully. Apart from a minute smudge on one end, there appeared to be nothing wrong with it.

  She wiped the smudge away, then looked around. The other techs were studying their respective pieces with the equivalent of a fine-toothed comb. Shrugging, she polished the piece again and gently wiped the rest of it down as though it needed the attention.

  Setting it on the tray beside the chief tech and picking up the next, almost immaculate item, she said, “I don’t understand.”

  One of the others looked up from where they were wiping out the inside of the console housing. The surface already looked like a mirror, but the older tech was buffing it like it was tarnished.

  “What’s not to understand, Livvie?” he asked.

  “All this.” She gestured at the team.

  They had removed the cover off the pilot’s console first but had divided the team to cover two installations at once.

  “I mean,” she continued, “I get ship’s maintenance and all that, but this? It doesn’t look like it needs maintaining. No offense. I simply…don’t get it.”

  “She’s back,” Piedmont said from under the console.

  “Who?” Livvie asked, focused on her next component. “Who’s back?”

  “The Morgana.” The older tech set aside the piece of housing he’d been working on and started on the next.

  He gestured to where Emil was studying his boards, seemingly oblivious to the conversation.

  “The captain wouldn’t have brought out the testing bar otherwise.”

  Livvie noted his gesture and lowered voice and moved closer as she whispered, “But she can’t be. She hasn’t been seen in…”
>
  She finished the piece she was working on and started on the next.

  Piedmont finished what he was doing inside the console and began to replace the cleaned parts, inspecting each one with a critical eye.

  “Trust me, she’s coming back.” The old-timer chuckled. He jerked a thumb at Piedmont. “Why don’t you ask him where he was the time one of the admirals failed the test?”

  The chief chuckled, poked Livvie with one finger, and gestured to the part she held. She checked it again, gave it one final wipe, and passed it to him.

  He took it, and she looked around for what to do next. She’d just decided to join the older man in cleaning the outside of the console when Piedmont began to speak.

  “I was right here…except on the Knight. Wattlebird had done something to the controls—don’t ask me what. That man…” He sighed with exasperation. “Well, he was crazier than than now, and I had to fix whatever it was he’d broke…”

  Sri stifled a giggle and listened as avidly as any of the others in earshot. Stories of Jonathan before she’d met him? Golden!

  Oblivious to her delight, Piedmont continued, “Anyway, this wave of cold swept over us, and I pulled my head out from under the console to see what it was. Up until then, the Witch had been standing on the command deck.”

  Tools rattled, and he pulled himself out from under the console and began to replace the panels. Livvie stepped out of his way as he continued.

  “When I looked at where she’d been standing, she was gone and everyone was looking at the forward screen.”

  He paused as though the memory of what he’d seen was playing in front of his eyes. Livvie waited.

  “It had been on, so we kinda knew some big-wig had stopped at the entry to the Knight’s dock. Next thing we know, the ship calls, ‘Admiral on deck’ and starts sassing the guy already there and an even bigger wig rolls up.”

  The command center stilled but Piedmont didn’t seem to notice. He finished with the console.

  “She’s all yours,” he told Sri before he moved to the Defense station and began the process all over again. Livvie and the old-timer moved with him while the other team shifted to Weapons.

  Once he had the covers off and began to remove the parts, Piedmont continued with his tale.