by S. E. Smith
She snapped in the last cylinder and twisted it, then looked up at the map that HL-9 was displaying. A relieved laugh shook her body when she saw the signal moving rapidly away from the planet. Sergi had escaped the devastation. The laugh faded when a new, even more disconcerting thought occurred to her – what if he was in the hands of the Legion? It was possible he hadn’t escaped after all, but was a prisoner.
The thought sent a chill through her. She needed to find out. If he was in the hands of the Legion, she didn’t know what she could do.
“It wouldn’t be the first time in your life you got into something that was over your head, La’Rue. You’ll just have to figure it out. You’ve got brains – use them. Let’s just hope he was able to find his friend, and his friend had a nice spaceship. I like that scenario much better, don’t you, H?” La’Rue said, looking at her eight-legged companion with a hopeful expression.
HL-9 blinked his eyes to show he’d registered her question. La’Rue sealed the compartment, and glanced down at the silvery fuel cells with satisfaction when she saw that all of them displayed a green light. She picked up her bag and turned, almost falling again when a prolonged series of explosions rattled the ship.
“We’ve got to get out of here, H. Set a course to follow the tracking device DL980,” she instructed, exiting the engine room and heading for the bridge.
It was growing dark outside by the time the last of the explosions faded. Short-range scans showed a limited number of spaceships leaving the planet, but none arriving. Sliding into the pilot’s seat, she strapped in and engaged the engines. All systems came online.
“Well, I might starve to death if I can’t figure out how to use the old cooktop, but at least my ship works again,” she muttered, lifting off.
She swallowed and brushed a hand across her eyes as she cleared the atmosphere of Turbinta. Bright flashes of light lit up the map on the console in front of her where fires still raged in the city below. While she had no love for the Turbintans, the level of destruction hit her hard, and all the lives lost here were minimal compared to the lives lost on Jeslean – all because of Andronikos’ greed for power.
She guided the Star Runner through the debris of ships that had been trying to escape. The Legion forces had shown no mercy to anyone. La’Rue hardened herself against the fear that the Star Runner would be seen and felt only resolution.
She might be a lowly freighter captain looking for a way to make a few credits, but she knew how to fight when she had to. The reflective paint and signal distorter that she had designed had never truly been field tested until now, but her ship hadn’t been discovered yet, which meant they had proven successful against the Legion’s technology. Maybe they would be of help to the rebellion.
When she had first heard that the Knights of the Gallant were rising up again, she had thought it a joke. Everyone knew that the old Knights had died out. Talk along the trade lines had been that the rebellion was a puny attempt by a group of disgruntled citizens trying to fight against the Legion’s iron-fisted control on trade and taxes.
The attack on Jeslean had sent a shockwave of disbelief throughout the star system. Some still couldn’t believe that such widespread destruction was possible. Heck, even she hadn’t believed some of the tales that had come from those who had managed to escape. She knew once word spread about the attack on Turbinta, total terror would sweep through the various worlds.
“Oh shit, H. How could I be so stupid?” she suddenly murmured.
She had been after the pods because Andronikos was offering a bounty that was impossible to ignore. She had heard rumors before she left that the pods contained one of the Ancient Knights of the Gallant. She swallowed as all the pieces came together.
“The pods contained the Ancient Knights – Sergi….”
She shook her head in disbelief. The legend was true. The Ancient Knights of the Gallant would return when the star systems needed them most. That was why Sergi had been so insistent about finding the others of his kind.
“Have you locked on his location?” she asked, looking over at the small robot plugged into the navigation system.
A new map displayed beside the map of Turbinta. She studied the star chart. There were several planets in that region, including Tesla Terra. She would follow the signal and see where it took her.
“Whether we like it or not, H, I think we are now part of the rebellion,” she said, locking the freighter’s navigation onto the signal.
Chapter Thirteen
Sergi walked down the passage. Up ahead of him, he could see Ash checking on several panels outside of the bridge. When he got closer, he leaned against the wall, silently watching for several minutes until Ash was finished. Ash closed the panels and turned to look at him with a wry grin.
“One of the modules was burnt out,” he replied.
“It is always something,” Sergi commented. “I’ve patched up Kella. She said she heals quickly.”
“Yeah, she does. It’s part of her genetics and another reason Tallei wanted her,” Ash quietly replied.
Sergi nodded in understanding. He had heard enough in the bar to piece together what Kella’s life must have been like. She had shared a little more while he was administrating first aid to her injury.
There hadn’t been much time for talking before. They had transferred from the Legion shuttle that they had used to escape Turbinta to Kella’s more agile – and vastly more weaponized – spaceship near one of Turbinta’s more distant moons. Sergi had been extremely impressed with what he saw and couldn’t wait until he had a chance to explore what Kella had added to the spaceship.
Overall, he was still trying to process that Ash had fallen for the Turbintan assassin. “She’s real quiet,” Sergi said with concern.
Ash glanced down the passage to where Kella was resting before he turned to look back at Sergi. Ash gave him a brief nod of agreement.
“She’s been through a lot. Thanks for staying with her and doctoring her up,” Ash replied.
“Thank you for getting us off the planet without getting us blown up,” Sergi murmured, his mind turning to La’Rue.
Ash leaned forward and looked intently at him. Sergi grimaced, knowing that he had let his guard down and his thoughts must have been reflected on his face. He folded his arms across his chest and waited.
“What is it? You’ve been distracted since we took off,” Ash commented.
“I met a woman. She saved my life,” he admitted with a shrug of his shoulders.
Ash raised an eyebrow. “And you left her behind?” he asked in an incredulous tone.
Sergi frowned. “She returned to her spaceship. The vessel was several kilometers from the city. La’Rue’s freighter needed repairs. We were in the city so she could get the parts she needed when I saw you,” he said.
“Damn, Sergi. The Legion…. There isn’t much left of Tribute,” Ash said with a shake of his head.
“I know,” he quietly replied.
“I’m sorry, man. If I had known, maybe we could have done something,” Ash murmured.
Sergi didn’t reply. Instead, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the video camera that he had taken from Mei’s pod. He held it out to Ash.
“What’s this?” Ash inquired, reaching for the camera.
“It is the camera from Mei’s emergency pod. She is alive – or she was at the time of the recording,” he said.
“Mei! What about Julia?” Ash questioned.
Sergi shook his head. “I don’t know. I was hoping either you or Josh might,” he admitted with a tired sigh.
Ash turned the camera over in his hand. “We heard about your capsule and another one, which I now know must have been Mei’s, that landed on Turbinta. Shit was hitting the fan. Turbinta isn’t a planet that I wanted to get lost on, and Kella came up with the plan that she and I would go after you since she knows the planet and – well, I know you and Mei,” Ash explained.
“I am thankful you came, my friend,” S
ergi responded.
“Have you watched this?” Ash inquired, leaning against the wall.
“Yes. She is – was – on a spaceship. The name of the ship was the Cryon II. The last known location of the ship was a place called Torrian,” Sergi said.
Ash’s eyes widened and he grinned. “Well, on a positive note, I know where that planet is. On a negative note, so does the Legion. They are crawling all over it like fleas on a hairy dog,” he replied.
“We have to search for her,” Sergi insisted, his jaw tightening.
Ash held up his hand. “I never said we wouldn’t. There are a few things you don’t know, Sergi. Things are bad. How much do you know about the Legion?” he asked.
Sergi was quiet for a moment before he shook his head. “Not much. La’Rue said the Legion had placed a large bounty on our heads,” he answered.
Ash nodded. “There’s a reason the Legion’s Director wants us. I don’t understand the whole thing, but the Director of the Legion, a guy named Andri Andronikos, has been slowly taking over the Gallant Order. It was once ruled and protected by an elite group of men and women known as the Knights of the Gallant Order. Andronikos was elected Director of the Gallant Order more than ten years ago. Anyway, over time, the other Knights and members of their families began to die in mysterious accidents. They were replaced, mostly by supporters of Andronikos and his half-brother. Now, I’ll fast forward to today. While the Knights were all but extinct, there were still a few members of the council who opposed Andronikos and the growing influence he had over the Legion. They felt it was not in keeping with the ancient laws passed to protect the different worlds – laws that promised freedom and protection in return for a commitment to democracy and a united agreement to follow the rules set forth by the Gallant Order. Andronikos has been aggressively violating the laws instituted to prevent invasion or a military rule. Things shifted several weeks ago.”
“What happened?” Sergi asked with a frown.
Ash looked back at Sergi. “We happened. Word is getting around and people think we are the Ancient Knights of the Gallant, the mythical Knights who left long ago vowing to return when the people needed them the most,” he dryly replied.
“Have you or Josh thought about explaining that we are just lost astronauts from another galaxy?” Sergi suggested with a bemused expression.
“Oh, we tried…. Then, we kicked some Legion ass, and after that, no one believed us,” Ash chuckled.
Sergi shook his head. “And Mei thought I would be the troublemaker of the group,” he groaned and ran a hand through his hair. “Where are we going and what are we going to do about Mei?”
Ash’s expression turned serious. “We are headed to a secret rebel base on a cold ass moon near Tesla Terra. Once we are there, I know someone on Torrian who can help us search for Mei,” he explained before he released a sigh. “I need to check on Kella.”
Sergi grinned. “You teach me how to fly one of these and I’ll be happy to take over. I’ll go sit up front. If I see any bad guys, I’ll play with some of the weapons your girlfriend loaded on this thing,” he joked, gleefully rubbing his hands together as he turned and headed for the bridge.
“Just don’t blow anything up!” Ash called in a distracted voice behind him.
Sergi chuckled and paused in the doorway to the bridge. He turned and strode back down the passage. He decided it would probably be best to find out exactly which buttons controlled the ship’s weapons system before he touched anything. He stopped at the doorway to the cabin when he heard Ash and Kella quietly talking. He glanced into the room. His expression softened when he saw them embracing.
Turning, he retraced his steps back to the cockpit, stopping briefly to pick up one of the bottles of wine he had taken from Tallei’s bar. He decided there would be plenty of time to ask questions about the weapons systems later. Stepping into the cockpit, he sank into the pilot’s seat and opened the bottle of wine.
He murmured a soft toast to Mei and Julia before he lifted the bottle to his lips and took a long swig. Lowering it, he leaned back. He stared out into the blackness of space as the modified freighter sped to a distant moon at a speed the engineers back on Earth could only dream about.
He leaned his head back and thought of La’Rue. He wondered where she was and if she had made it safely off of Turbinta. Most of all, he wondered whether they would ever meet again.
“Ah, dusha moya, if only you knew how much I hope our paths do cross again,” he murmured.
With a sigh, he shoved one hand into the pocket of his jacket as he raised the bottle of wine to his lips again. A frown creased his brow when his fingers touched a small, round disk. He slowly lowered the bottle of wine to rest on his thigh as he pulled the disk free.
Turning it over in his hand, he noticed a small flashing red light and a set of symbols on the disk – DL980. His mind flashed back to the alley where La’Rue had pressed a hard kiss to his lips. Her hands had slipped under the shawl to his jacket.
“You are a very sneaky woman, La’Rue Gant,” Sergi murmured with a grin. “But… I am an Ancient Knight of the Gallant, my greedy little freighter captain, who happens to know a thing or two about spy devices.”
Thirty minutes later, Sergi was watching the dot on the map in front of him that was shadowing their course. A soft chuckle escaped him and he took another drink from the nearly empty bottle of wine. His woman was as smart as she was beautiful.
“And you are mine, La’Rue. I will not be letting you go again,” he vowed, sitting back in his seat.
Chapter Fourteen
Turbinta: Ruins of Tribute
Zoak pushed aside the drunkenly hanging door to the bar. The interior of the bar lay in ruins like the rest of the city. His eyes quickly adjusted to the dim lighting. He climbed over a thick ceiling beam, and looked around the devastation.
Rain fell through large gaping holes in the ceiling. Shattered tables and chairs mixed with those that had miraculously survived undamaged. He wormed his way through the maze of debris, searching for Tallei.
He found her body near one corner. Pushing aside the table that had partially collapsed on her, he saw the evidence he’d been seeking – she had not died in the destruction of the city, but by a shot from a blaster. The death of his master did not free him from his assignment; he simply had an additional objective: hunt down and kill whoever had killed his master. Whichever student accomplished that, would then become the Master to Tallei’s protégés and have the right to collect and train more students.
Zoak knew the Legion had been searching for the alien pod. It was possible that Tallei had been killed by the Legion General, but Zoak doubted that was the case. His gaze turned back to Tallei. She was tangled in an unfamiliar cloak. He knelt, and touched the material. It was thick, but soft. The material was made from a Torrian plant fiber.
His eyes narrowed when he noticed a basket under a chair. He stood and stepped over Tallei’s body. Grasping the leg of the chair, he tossed the broken piece of furniture over his right shoulder.
He lifted the basket, which pulled another long section of material with it that was caught on some of the straw. He was about to discard the material when he noticed the splotches of blood staining it. With a strong tug, he pulled the rest of the material free from where it had been stuck under some fallen debris.
Lifting the fabric to the two slits that comprised his nose, he drew in a deep breath. The remembered scent of Kella’s blood filled his nostrils. His eyes glittered with outrage. If Kella had killed Tallei, that meant Kella would be his new Master, which was unacceptable to him.
He growled as he sniffed the material again.
There was a second fainter scent clinging to the fabric. He shook the fabric out, noticing that it was a woman’s skirt. He lifted a section of the waistline to his nose this time. This part of the skirt would have made the most direct contact with the person wearing it. Memorizing the new scent, he lowered the skirt and carefully studied it.
<
br /> There was something familiar about it. He looked at the basket – and beyond it to a chair that sat undisturbed in the corner. Dropping the skirt, he reached between the debris and pulled a gray shawl from the chair. This one had a large amount of blood staining it. He held it to his nose. The scent of Kella’s blood was strong on the coarse material.
The mental image of the old woman he had bumped into on the sidewalk suddenly hit him. The old woman had worn this shawl draped over her bowed head. In her hand she had carried a long branch, still covered with mud. Her hand….
“Fingers… Pale fingers… Young, thick fingers with light hair on his knuckles,” Zoak murmured, his own fingers tightening around the shawl.
Turning, he looked back down at the cloak covering Tallei. He bent over and pulled up a section to his nose. A third scent washed through his senses. Three – there had been three assassins here. To find the unknown two, he would first need to locate Kella.
He released the material and straightened. His mind began to plot how he would complete his mission of locating the missing person from the pod. Before Zoak had killed the Legion Commander, the man had told him that Tallei had the pod they had been searching for but not the contents. The destruction of the city had begun before he had returned, preventing him from reaching Tallei in time – though he suspected she had died before the city’s destruction now that he knew Kella was involved.
A cruel smile curved Zoak’s thin lips. “I will find you, assassin, and I will find the ones you protect,” he said, bending to pick up one last memento – Tallei’s laser whip.
Zoak turned and retraced his steps out of the building. He mounted his hover glide and pushed it to its limits. He would need a plan to track Kella before he returned to the secluded area several hundred clicks from the city where his spaceship was docked. Fortunately, with the right persuasion, people talked in his experience.