The Darri Commission: A Sci-Fi Dystopian Adventure (Dominion Rising Book 3)

by Katherine Bogle

  Rem shook his head. “What you see is what you get.”

  Selene’s eyebrows furrowed as she inspected the rendering.

  “The only way in is through the bunker doors,” Ivy said what they were all thinking.

  “It seems so,” Rem confirmed. His lips twisted in a frown.

  “We could come in at night, park up the ridge here.” Sav stood and motioned at the mountainside. “Then repel down to the bunker doors and slip inside.”

  Rem shook his head. “Can’t. Motion detectors all around the mountainside.”

  “What if we come from the side?” Darius suggested. “Fly along the edge of the mountain and go down on ropes near the doors?”

  Flik frowned. “Too many guards.”

  “We could sneak up through the forest,” Ivy said, pointing to the surrounding trees. “They might give us enough cover to get close.”

  Rem sighed. “The trees are too sparse with no leaves, and the area around the mountain has been clear cut anyway. We’d still have too much ground to cross.”

  “We could steal some guard uniforms when we got through the forest,” Steven argued. Ivy shot him a smile.

  “That could work,” Selene hummed.

  “There are hundreds of surveillance cameras in the forest alone. That’s not counting the ones in the yard, or the actual dozens of guards that could see us,” Rem explained.

  Damn. Selene bit her lip. Every way she could think of, they’d vetoed. What did that leave?

  Kayl burst with laughter, and Selene jumped at the sudden noise.

  “You’ll have to come at it straight on.” Kayl chuckled darkly. “Your pirate friends are right. This is a suicide mission.”

  Selene worked her jaw back and forth. No one said anything to Kayl’s statement, but she could feel them all reconsidering. Her hands curled into fists in her lap, and she stood, her chair scraping across the floor.

  “There are always risks on our missions,” she began, her gaze sliding to each of them in turn. “But this is different. This isn’t just saving animals, or stealing protos, or pods, or whatever. It is not an exaggeration to say the fate of the world is literally at stake here.” She raised her eyebrows meaningfully. “I don’t know about you guys, but I’d rather go down saving this stupid planet than watch it go up in flames in a hundred years when the Darri show their faces.”

  Kayl’s face twisted in confusion. He had no idea why they were doing this, and she didn’t have time to explain it to him.

  Flik nodded, and Selene was happy to see his skin had returned to its usual orange color. “You’re right.”

  Selene smiled, but her elation quickly fell. “No one is being forced to do this,” she said more quietly this time. “If you don’t want to follow, that’s fine. Stay behind with the pirates. I think we all know that there might be no coming back from this.” She looked at the schematics glowing at the center of the table. There was only one way inside that bunker—the front door—and they’d have to shoot their way in. “So if you have any second thoughts, no one will judge you if you leave here now.”

  No one moved, and Selene gave them few minutes, letting her words sink in. When no one got up to leave, she looked at them all with thinly veiled surprise.

  “So we’re all in agreement then?” Flik stood as well. “We blast our way in, fix that damn beacon, and if we can, shoot our way back out.”

  Selene nodded, and so did the others. Pride swelled inside her, threatening to cut off her airways as her throat tightened with emotion. They were all going to risk their lives to save Earth. Even at the cost of themselves.

  “What the fuck is going on?” Kayl growled.

  The emotion swelling within her instantly evaporated, and she sighed as she looked at the confused former-smuggler. “We’ll explain on the way.”

  After gearing up for the fight of their lives, Selene and the rest of the now expanding crew of smugglers flew west for the Saegon, and humanity’s last hope.

  “Damn the guns on this thing are sweet,” Rem whispered so quietly she was sure he was thinking out loud.

  Selene grinned, glancing over at the tech-whizz from her co-pilot’s chair. Erock had been kind enough to lend them another ship. Though the cruiser they’d been using might have done the job, Selene had a feeling he was still invested in the outcome of this mission, even if he didn’t want to help directly. That or he felt guilty for leaving them to do this alone.

  The inside of the hull curved around a large front window, the inside lined with dashboards full of buttons, switches, and screens in every color.

  Selene understood Rem’s growing enthusiasm all too well. Their new cruiser had huge turrets that could drop from the bottom of the hull at a moment’s notice, not to mention the front facing cannons, lasers and tractor beam. Frankly, she was surprised Erock let them borrow it seeing as they might never be able to return it.

  Her smile dropped. Even with all the new guns, stealth tech, and other goodies, she couldn’t forget how important this mission was. This was the mission, the one that would determine whether Earth had a fighting chance against the Darri, or if they had to think of another plan—one that might very well end up being to evacuate Earth.

  She twisted her lower lip between her teeth, her eyebrows furrowing as she looked out the front window.

  Once they’d passed the seemingly never-ending desert, they passed a few more former cities, one actual city constructed by the Dominion, and then they arrived at a forest, or what might have once been one. Blackened trees jutted from the earth, no leaves on their branches, only twisted gnarly things sticking from their thick trunks.

  Selene wrinkled her nose. She’d never come this far west. She hadn’t realized there was anything but sand beyond the Dominion cities. Somehow it made the destruction hundreds of years ago more real—like there had once been life on this planet, not just ruin.

  “We’re almost there,” Rem announced.

  Her fingers tightened around the armrests.

  “You’re all fucking crazy,” Kayl grumbled from the back of the control room.

  She turned in her seat to look at him. The control room was in two layers with a small ramp on either side of the room, and a captain’s chair in the center, a curved control panel around it. Rikkard at the ship’s helm with Kayl tied up in a chair behind him.

  Selene shook her head.

  “I mean… he’s not wrong.” Darius rumbled a laugh.

  “I’d like to think we’re good crazy.” Selene flashed a grin, and Darius laughed harder. Selene faced forward, her gaze roaming the interior once more before she faced the dead forest below.

  “Entering stealth mode,” Rem said. He sat a few feet from her at what appeared to be some sort of surveillance module. He watched four screens like a hawk, his gaze flicking between them.

  “Good,” Rikkard said. “How long until arrival?”

  Selene looked out the front window. The mountains cleared the top of the trees, rising higher the closer they came. Rem flew as close to the trees as possible, the bottom of the hull skimming a few of the treetops.

  “Five minutes,” Rem said.

  Her heartbeat sped, and she adjusted her utility belt nervously. Her rifle lay across her lap, and her pistols were holstered on her hips. A sheath of throwing knives was wrapped around her left forearm, and Kayl’s serrated blade was hidden in her boot. The rest of the team was outfitted with a similar array of weapons. Ivy opted for more knives than guns, bringing only a single pistol, and a deadly look in her eye. The other Icarus toted laser rifles like the rest of them, but kept blades in their boots, and even a couple grenades on their belts.

  “Is everyone clear on the plan?” Rikkard asked.

  Selene snorted. “Or you mean, the lack thereof?”

  Rikkard shook his head. “Pretty much.”

  “Fly in, guns blazing and blast the shit out of every Dominion soldier we see.” Darius flashed his teeth. “This is my kind of party.”

  R
em rolled his eyes. “There’s a bit more to it than that!”

  “Not much,” Darius grunted.

  Selene grinned as she brought up the weapons menu on the screen in front of her, flicking over to front facing cannons. Her seat locked into place, no longer allowing her to swivel, and a set of handles flipped out of the dashboard and folded up onto the edge of the console before locking into place. Her screen widened until it was all she could see, a front facing view from the tip of the ship. She was just able to make out the tips of her cannons on either side.

  Anticipation made her heart race, and slicked her hands with sweat. She wiped them on her thighs before clasping the ribbed handles. They were cool to the touch, but fit her grip like they were made for her.

  “Ready, Selene?” Rikkard asked.

  “Yes, sir.” She couldn’t help her cheeky smile, especially at Rikkard’s chuckle.

  “Flik? Sav?” Rikkard continued.

  “Ready,” they both said in unison.

  While Selene took out the bunker doors, Flik and Sav would have the pleasure of manning the turrets at the base of the hull. They’d take out anything and everything they saw in the yard, and once the doors were decimated and the outside of the bunker in the clear, they’d land and head inside.

  Selene took a steadying breath, trying to calm the slight tremor in her hands. A lot was riding on this mission—a lot more than just a few protos, or pods, or even animals. Though her heart ached at the idea that they weren’t as important as this, it was true. If they didn’t get their message to the real Zahkx, humans, and the aliens that weren’t part of the Dominion, would face the Darri alone. From what Flik had told them of the violent species, that was not a desirable outcome.

  Grinding her teeth, Selene pulled all of her focus back into watching her screen. From her viewpoint, it was almost like a first person video game, flying through the trees, mountains growing in the distance.

  “Clearing the trees in three… two… one,” Rem counted down.

  Her grip tightened on the handles.

  The tips of the blackened trees disappeared, revealing a large open stretch of land with a couple trailers on one side, and speeders and cruisers lined up on the other. Guards patrolled the yard, marching in groups of six, their faces masked and rifles held to their chests.

  “Take them out!” Rikkard commanded.

  Lasers shot from the base of the hull and tore through the ground, taking with them half a dozen soldiers. Men and women twisted in surprise, looking up at their ship. As long as they had weapons engaged, the smugglers couldn’t stay in stealth mode, but this was all the surprise they needed.

  Rem drove the ship down hard, and the laser fire from the turrets tore the ground apart, sending dirt and rock in every direction. Guards launched themselves behind speeders, cruisers, and the trailers, but Sav and Flik turned the deadly beams on their hiding spots.

  Speeders exploded in a blaze of fire as their weapons came into contact, lighting the night with flames.

  “Selene, the door is coming up!” Rikkard called.

  “Got it!” Selene pulled up on the handles, aiming her cannons directly at the sealed bunker doors, like two large metal slabs sealed together.

  “Fire!”

  Selene smirked as she slammed her thumbs down on the triggers, and the entire ship rumbled as two cannons shot out from either side, flying through the air with blinding speed before the bunker doors were obliterated.

  Metal shards rained down, ticking across the glass of the front window. Her heart raced as the ship spun, and more lasers tore across the ground, taking apart the trailers and the rest of the still ships.

  “Time to land,” Rikkard said.

  “Aye, aye, captain!” Rem flashed a grin as he lowered the ship to the ground outside the decimated bunker doors.

  The entire yard was aglow with warm light cast from the fiery trailers and burning remains of speeders. Nothing but fire moved in the still yard, and Selene heaved a sigh of relief.

  “Phase one complete.” Rikkard echoed her sigh like he was surprised things had gone so well.

  “Now comes the hard part,” Sav grumbled.

  “So dramatic.” Selene rolled her eyes, shut down her weapons screen, unbuckled herself and stood, rifle at her shoulder. “Let’s move.”

  The others gathered their things and together they moved down the back hall before descending in silence down a slope to a shaft at the side of the large craft. It wasn’t as large as the pirate ship’s by any means, but it was twice the size of their cruiser, with double the weaponry and tech.

  Selene looked back at the massive ship as they stepped outside onto the rough dirt. The ship looked far too clean—far too perfectly futuristic—to sit where it did, nestled between flames and dead forest.

  “We’ve got about an hour before backup arrives,” Rem announced. He looked at the small screen in hand, the size of a holopad, but with a flip out keyboard.

  “Roger,” Rikkard said. He led the way across the yard to the blown in bunker doors.

  Sparks rained from exposed wires in the ceiling, and the remaining metal trembled like it might collapse at any moment.

  “Stay close together,” Rikkard demanded. “No one gets separated.”

  Darius shoved Kayl forward. “Not even you.”

  Kayl grumbled something she couldn’t hear, and flashed a dangerous look at his former comrades.

  Rikkard quieted them all with a look, and they fell in line behind him as they stepped over the twisted metal frame into a hangar bigger than she’d ever seen—even larger than the one on Targen.

  Her heart thrummed faster, and she swallowed the lump in her throat, straining her ears for any sign of Dominion guards.

  From what Rem had learned of their security protocols, there wasn’t as much security in the bunker as there was outside, at least not on the lower levels. In the several floors closest to the surface—where they were headed—there’d be a decent number, but nothing like outside, and nothing like on Targen.

  They could do this. As long as they stuck together, they’d get in and out alive—she was sure of it. As long as Kayl did his job and got that beacon fixed in under an hour, they’d get out in one piece.

  Rikkard led them out onto the catwalk surrounding the highest floor of the hangar. It wrapped all the way around as far as she could see, grated sets of stairs descending to the many levels below. In the depths of the hangar, a ship maybe half the size of Targen sat on the cement floor, dark, nearly black metal with strange curves and orange and green lights breaking up the smooth surface.

  Selene inspected the ship as they circled the hangar before descending a set of stairs to the next floor. The hangar was even bigger than she’d thought after inspecting the schematics. Instead of four or five stories high, it had to be eight, maybe even more. With long sets of stairs, it was hard to tell how high the actual “floors” were, and if they were of typical height or not.

  “Selene!” Ivy’s voice cut through her thoughts. Hands slammed against her shoulders, pushing her down in time for a red laser to shoot directly where her head had been. The beam darkened the concrete wall, and Selene looked gratefully over her shoulder at Ivy, who had been the one to push her down.

  “Thanks,” Selene said, a little breathless.

  “Get out of your damn head,” Ivy snapped, scowling.

  “Come on!” Rikkard shouted, and next thing she knew they were all racing across the catwalk, red lasers blasting around them from across the hangar.

  “They’re too far to aim properly,” Selene realized aloud.

  “That’s not going to stop them from trying!” Ivy gritted her teeth. “They could get lucky again!”

  Selene smiled sheepishly and ploughed forward after the others. The catwalk clanged beneath their feet. There was no use being stealthy now. Shouts echoed through the hangar, but the laser fire stopped. They descended another set of stairs, right into a pack of guards turning the corner.

&n
bsp; “Get down!” Selene snapped.

  Every head in front of her lowered as she raised her rifle, the whine of its charge echoing off the walls. Blue light burst from the tip of her gun and burned through the skull of the first guard around the corner. She took the second in the chest. Ivy fired over her shoulder at the third, and fifth, while Steven or Jared must have taken out the fourth.

  They all took a moment to catch their breath, and Selene exchanged a look with the Icarus. They really were in this with them; whether it was out of loyalty for their team, or guilt for what they’d done to not only Selene, but other Icarus too. Whatever motivated them, as long as Ivy was helping, Selene didn’t really care.

  “We’ve got to keep moving,” Rikkard said from the head of the pack. He met Selene’s gaze over the heads of the others, and she gave him a quick nod.

  “This is stupid,” Kayl hissed. “You’re going to get us all killed.” He shot a look over his shoulder at Selene.

  Darius jabbed him with his elbow. “Shut up.”

  Kayl stepped away from his guardian, and into the railing, but Darius grabbed his arm and yanked him back to his side.

  Selene twisted her jaw. They had to hurry and get to the beacon before Kayl caused trouble.

  Rikkard turned to lead again, and soon they’d reached the bottom floor of the hangar, having taken out a few guards on their way, and avoided another couple of groups.

  “We’re almost there!” Rem panted beside her. He’d fallen back, not quite as fit as the rest of them, and was struggling to keep up with Rikkard’s breakneck pace.

  “Hold on a little longer,” she said.

  Rem nodded. Sweat poured down his face, and dampened the edges of his scruffy white hair.

  Selene shook her head, and scanned the cement floor the Saegon perched upon. Lights streamed from every edge of the room, lighting up its dark surface. Alien symbols were written across the side of it, and Selene had to assume that’s how Saegon was spelt in the Zahkx’s language.

  Shouts came from above, spurring them across the open concrete.

  She couldn’t believe there were no guards on the bottom floor, but from what she remembered of the schematics, there were rooms off the hangar, and floors of barracks below them. The elevators came out a floor above so it made sense any backup would come from above and not below.