Refuge in the Stars

by Tim Marquitz

  “He’s a damn mechanoid, Lina,” Taj argued. “We couldn’t pick him up in the wreckage of his ship, so what makes you think we can pick him up on the scanners now?”

  Lina grinned. “Because we weren’t looking for synthetic lifeforms, which is why he disappeared even though we first picked him up. We narrowed the search too much, which caused us to lose the signal. With S’thlor’s help, I can modify the waveform and establish a reasonable link.” She waved her arms, encompassing the whole of Ovrun. “The system might struggle with the size of the city, but if we do it quickly enough, we can triangulate a general location and zero in on him.”

  Taj grunted, splitting a frustrated stare between Lina and the place where Cabe vanished.

  “We gotta do it now, Taj,” the engineer warned.

  “Then let’s do it.” She nudged Torbon toward the ship, and the three of them shot off, running as fast as they could, dodging pedestrian traffic or plowing through it. Whatever got them there faster.

  Right then, she didn’t give a gack what anyone thought.

  “Be safe, Cabe,” she said through the comm once she’d settled into her run.

  A whispered, “I will,” was the response she got, and hearing his voice was enough to reinforce her determination. They were going to make this work.

  She’d return to the Discordant and grab every weapon and Furlorian she could, then hunt down the pirates and make them pay for stealing Dent and their chance at a future.

  At least that was the idea…until they returned to find a squad of Wyyvan soldiers gathered in front of the leech ship, weapons aimed at the hatchway.

  Chapter Twelve

  “Uh, that’s not good,” Torbon muttered, scrambling to an awkward halt and seeking cover behind a nearby ship’s landing gear.

  “What the gack are they doing here so soon?” Taj asked no one in particular. She huddled up alongside Torbon, Lina right there with them, and glared out at the dozen aliens standing about the Discordant. “How the gack did they find us? They couldn’t have known where we went after traveling through the gate.”

  “I’d say the current circumstances suggest otherwise,” Torbon said, motioning toward the soldiers. “Those are Wyyvan soldiers standing there, blocking the way to our ship. Well, their ship, but you know what I mean.”

  Taj reached for her weapon and sighed as her fingers hit the empty holster, scraping leather. She’d forgotten that the pirates had taken it in her rush to get back to the ship. “Rowl,” she muttered under her breath. “Can nothing go right today?”

  Lina hissed. “Don’t tempt fate or Rowl,” she warned. “We don’t need any more challenges.”

  Taj nodded her agreement. They sure didn’t.

  What they had splayed out before them was more than enough already, but Taj knew they couldn’t let all the gack stop them.

  And then, like a sparkstorm roiling in her brain, she remembered why she’d returned to the Discordant in the first place. Just inside was an army of Furlorians and enough weapons to arm a good percentage of them.

  Taj chuckled. “Gack these lizards.”

  She tapped the comm and called Kal and Jadie.

  Only static answered.

  She did it again to the same response: nothing.

  “What’s going on?” Taj asked Lina. “I’m not getting through.”

  Lina tried her own comm and groaned, clearly not getting a better result than Taj had. “They’re blocking the signal,” she replied, waving toward the Wyyvan soldiers, their black armor absorbing the sunlight. “That’s why we haven’t heard anything from Jadie or Kal. They’ve been cut off.”

  “Still, they have to know these guys are out here, milling about,” Taj reasoned.

  “Probably, but why didn’t they engage them while we’re gone? That’s the quickest way to bring Ovrun security forces down on them, leaving us stranded and them locked up…or worse.”

  Taj growled. She hadn’t thought of that.

  Even now, with her and the crew there, to start a battle on the tarmac would only cause them all more grief. That left her with only one option, which was the very last one she wanted to enact.

  But given the circumstances, there wasn’t anything else she could do if she hoped to clear the soldiers from the ship without alerting local authorities and muddying the waters.

  At least Doran really was bluffing about the men surrounding the Discordant, she thought as she glanced about, seeing nothing but the day-to-day traffic of the port and the mass of Wyyvan soldiers. That would have mucked things up nicely if he hadn’t been.

  She pulled her crew back into the shadows of the landing gear a little further and turned them to face her. “Here’s what we’re gonna do,” she said, meeting each of their eyes in turn. “You two are gonna sneak around over there,” she told them, pointing to a small refueling station where they’d be out of sight of the Wyyvan soldiers. “Once you’re behind cover, I’m gonna draw the soldiers off. Then—”

  “What do you mean you’re gonna draw them off?” Lina asked. “Alone? Like you snapped at Cabe for doing?”

  “I’m allowed to be hypocritical sometimes,” Taj told her. “Anyway, I need you two to get onto the ship and prepare the crew once the soldiers are out of the way,” she said. “I’ll lead the Wyyvans through the city and circle back toward the landing pad, then you guys can get the drop on them and—”

  “Blast the green off their scaly lizard hides,” Torbon finished, smashing his fist into his palm.

  Taj shook her head. “No, we can’t do that unless we absolutely have to,” she told him.

  “What do you mean?” he argued. “Isn’t that your plan?”

  “It can’t be,” she replied. “We start shooting people here on the tarmac or in the city proper and there’ll be an army of security forces doing the same to us a few seconds later, just like Lina said earlier,” she explained, trying to get through to Torbon like Lina had her earlier. “That’s not something we’re prepared to deal with. Not until we have Dent and Cabe back, and we’re ready to get off this rock.”

  Torbon grunted, throwing his hands in the air. “Then what do we do?” His tail fwapped back and forth, slapping his legs. “You two are confusing me. It’s like the spirits of Mama and Beaux are right here with us, squashing all the fun.”

  Taj chuckled despite herself.

  “We take the Wyyvans hostage, tie them up, and stash them aboard the Discordant until we’re ready to leave. Then we dump them and run and let Ovrun security sort it all out once we’re off planet.”

  “So, we’re gonna capture a bunch of hostile aliens and add them to the collection we already have, in a ship that can barely fit the people in it now?”

  Taj sighed. It was never good when Torbon was the voice of reason.

  Still, with Cabe running who knew where after the pirates and all the weapons and reinforcements on the Discordant, this was the best plan Taj could come up with.

  They were running out of time, and they needed to act.

  “Just do it, Torbon,” she told him, forcing the last out as a growl, making sure he understood it was an order not a request. “There’s nothing else we can—”

  Her sentence was cut short by the mechanical hiss of the leech ship’s gangplank swinging down. It landed with a muffled thump.

  Taj stiffened, her gaze snapping to the ship. “What the gack are they doing?” No, stay in the ship! she screamed inside her head as the ship’s door opened. She started toward the craft, then froze as a familiar voice struck her, catching her completely off guard.

  “Gentlemen, it’s clear there’s been some form of mistake here,” Captain Vort said as he strolled down the gangplank toward the mass of Wyyvan soldiers as calmly as though he were out for a stroll.

  They stiffened like Taj had, staring up at the Wyyvan captain through their darkened visors, heads tilted. If Taj could see their faces, she knew their expressions would be ones of serious what the gack?

  “Captain Vort sir?
” one of the soldiers managed to ask. “Uh, why are you here?”

  “I was wondering the exact same thing,” Taj mumbled from their hiding spot, glaring at the unexpected arrival of the captain. “Kal and I are gonna have to have a talk about appropriate prisoner behavior and boundaries.”

  “As opposed to being blown to tiny pieces on the surface of Krawlas, you mean?” Vort asked, shaking his head and letting out a weary sigh. “I know the decision wasn’t yours, of course, that being well above your pay grade, but I still find myself disconcerted that my own people would rather see me dead among the local rodents than to send a rescue team down to the surface. How difficult would that have been?” He raised a finger, demanding silence. “I’ll answer that for you. Not remotely difficult at all. A tiny concession on behalf of Grand Admiral Galforin and a few moments of a shuttle crew’s time and we wouldn’t be in the current situation we find ourselves in, now would we?”

  “Uh, sir, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the soldier told Vort. “My orders are to follow the tra—”

  “Of course it is, and of course you don’t,” he replied, cutting the soldier off before he could finish whatever he was saying. “We must all do what we must do, such is our lot in life. As such…” he waved behind him, “I truly hope you understand that this is what I must do.”

  Vort stepped off the side of the gangplank, clearing the way to the Discordant’s door. Commander Dard appeared from the gloom, carrying a massive-barreled weapon Taj had never seen before. He aimed it at the cluster of soldiers and pulled the trigger without even a hint of hesitation.

  A great, burst of electricity shot forth, searing a blinding streak across Taj’s retinas. It ripped through the cluster of surprised soldiers. The men stiffened as their armor lit up, glowing white against the blackness. Bolts of lightning shot between the men, current tearing through one Wyyvan only to do the same to next.

  Not more than a split-second later, all of the soldiers were caught in what looked like a ferion spider web of licking blue-white current. They thrashed in place, the current leading the dance.

  Backlit by the electricity, Taj could see the faces of the Wyyvans beneath their visors, agony distorting them as their skin charred and smoked. The scent of char grew thick in the air.

  A moment later, it was all over.

  The squad of Wyyvan soldiers collapsed without a shout or a pistol drawn, armor smoldering in the creases as Dard eased his finger from the trigger. The commander grinned, holding the weapon aloft.

  The Wyyvan soldiers dead, Taj shot off toward the commander. She only had a moment before he or Vort spied her and the rest of the crew outside.

  Then she didn’t even have that.

  Dard turned toward her, a sly grin on his face. He shifted the barrel in her direction.

  “Not a chance, lizard,” Kal said with a growl, appearing from inside the Discordant and pressing his bolt pistol to the back of the commander’s head. “Put it down slowly, like we agreed.”

  Dard sighed and lowered the weapon. Jadie came up behind him and snatched it away, sneering the entire time. A half-dozen more Furlorians spilled from the doorway, each carrying a pistol aimed at the two captive Wyyvan.

  “Valiant effort, Commander,” Vort told him with a shrug. “Perhaps next time.” He chuckled, shifting his gaze to Taj. “It might be easier to say thank you if you closed your jaw.”

  Taj snapped her mouth shut and glared up at Kal. “Are you crazy?” she asked. “Letting these monsters have a weapon?” She turned her attention to the cannon-like gun Jadie now clutched to her chest. “What the gack is that thing, anyway? Where did it come from?”

  “It’s a charge rifle,” Vort answered, “and it, along with many other weapons, are stored aboard the leech craft.” His grin grew wider. It was clear the alien loved an audience. “And had you listened to me during our little chat in the closet you so kindly stuffed Dard and I into, you would have realized I truly do know far more than you do. About pretty much everything, if we’re being honest. It’s embarrassing, really.”

  Taj growled and started toward the captain, baring her teeth.

  “An example of such,” he said, ignoring her threatening advance, “you might want to clean up the mess before the locals spy a bunch of dead soldiers littering their tarmac. The charge rifle won’t trigger their security protocols, seeing how its discharge is so very much like a ship testing its shields according to their automated scanners.” He chuckled. “Such a lazy system here. However, while they might not sense the weapon, a pile of corpses can’t be explained away should it be seen by someone.” Vort shrugged. “Of course, you could leave them there if your plan is to be captured and held until Wyyvan Command is contacted and you are delivered to them for murder and piracy of a leech craft. I certainly wouldn’t be offended if that were your choice.”

  Taj glared at Captain Vort a moment, finally managing to bring her temper under control. Still, her ears were warm, pinned against her head, as she waved to Kal.

  “Get these bodies inside and keep the weapons and armor away from Vort and Dard,” she said, offering the pair a dirty look in turn. “And I want them in their cell until I say otherwise, is that clear, Kal?”

  Kal’s shoulders slumped, and he nodded, knowing he’d crossed a line even though it had saved them all.

  He motioned for the other Furlorians to do as they were told, and Taj’s people raced down the gangplank, quickly scooping up limp Wyyvan soldiers and hauling them into the bowels of the Discordant. A few moments later, there was no evidence anything had happened on the tarmac save for a few scorched spots, for which Taj was grateful.

  Not grateful enough, however, to forget how furious she was with Vort. She spun on him, jabbing a finger in his face. “How did your people find us so quickly, Vort?”

  The captain didn’t so much as blink. “I have no idea, Furlorian,” he answered, shrugging, “but I’d be worried there are more coming soon after. I can hardly see Grand Admiral Galforin only sending one pathetic little squad after the Discordant and the unfortunate souls who stole it.” He cast a glance toward each of the crew in turn before turning his focus back to Taj. His smile brightened. “Were I you, I’d pack up and run before anyone notices the empty Wyyvan craft and its missing crew. It won’t be long before they do, I assure you.”

  Taj growled, realizing he was right. How long would it take before someone noticed a Wyyvan ship parked unattended in port and called the authorities? Or had the soldiers already been there on planet when Taj and her people had arrived? Were there more of them waiting for the first group to check in?

  There was no way to know if Vort was telling the truth or feeding her misinformation in order to take advantage of the situation. Either was likely because both stood to confuse her, and both benefited him.

  “Bloody Rowl,” she muttered. “Get these two out of my face before I—”

  A raspy voice cut through the reinstated comm right then, cutting her off. Though it was clear the message had been whispered, the words barely audible above all the noise on the tarmac, Taj knew immediately who it was: Cabe!

  “Uh…bit of a problem,” he said. “Help!”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Taj and Torbon raced to where Cabe last contacted them from, having left Lina behind to work with S’thlor and Gran Verren to better coordinate Dent’s location should they not be able to find either of them.

  Kal and Jadie came with Taj, as well as about twenty of the younger Furlorians. Each of them carried bolt pistols or stolen Wyyvan blasters hidden beneath their clothing to keep from looking conspicuous, though Taj didn’t figure it mattered much now.

  Torbon carried the charge rifle they’d taken from Captain Vort, and there was no way to hide its bulk. He held it out in the open, grinning at it the entire time they walked.

  “Where is he?” Taj asked, breathless, slipping down an alley in a huff. She surveyed the area, eyes darting back and forth. “Where is he? I don’t see
him.”

  “He’s not here, Taj,” Torbon answered, catching up to her and leaning against the wall to relax, the heavy rifle hanging loosely in his hands.

  “No gack, Torbon,” she growled. “I can see that. We need to find him.” She tapped her comm hard, sending a ringing thrum through her skull. “Lina, can you pinpoint Cabe?”

  “Uh, I wasn’t looking,” she answered. “He’s not where he told you he would be?”

  “No,” Taj replied, only barely managing not to bite the engineer’s head off. “He’s not here.”

  “Been focused on Dent,” Lina said, deflecting Taj’s anger. “I can maybe target Cabe’s comm and see if he’s nearby…” There was a pause, and Taj read the question in Lina’s voice. She was asking if that’s what Taj wanted her to focus on rather than tracking down the mechanoid.

  “Gack it,” she moaned. “No, stick to confirming where Dent is. We’ll find Cabe if they aren’t together.”

  She stomped down the alley and peeked around the corner at the other end. Her heart sputtered at what she saw, and she darted back behind the cover of the wall. She had a bad feeling she knew exactly where Cabe was.

  “What is it?” Jadie asked, coming up alongside Taj.

  “We’re in the right place,” she replied, nodding toward the corner.

  Jadie eased forward and snuck a glance. She hissed and pulled back, much like Taj had. “You think he’s in there?”

  “What are you talking about?” Torbon asked, leaning on the charge rifle, unable to get around Taj and Jadie to take a look.

  “The pirates,” Jadie answered. “They’re guarding a building across the street. Quite a few of them.”

  Lina came across the comm. “Looks like Dent is right near you,” she said. “I’d say less than twenty meters by my determination.”