Defender of the Empire 2: Facades Page 7

  Even if you knew where they were, how would that help? I asked myself. You know them. They have brains and you’ve seen them in action. They will be fine, I continued. They are doing what you are doing, whatever they can to be of help. Think only about what is going on here and now, I coached myself.

  I was set to work putting together first aid packs for when calls came in for minor assistance; bandages and antiseptic and pain medication for the minor cuts and bruises of people who could still work their stations. I would be one of the runners, should someone call. If there was anything worse than what the pack was prepared for, I was to use a stasis cube to give the actual medical staff time to get there. I prayed that I wouldn’t see anything worse than a few minor cuts and bumps.

  I had just finished checking the contents of each bag (to double-check and be busy, so I wouldn’t feel useless) when a call came for minor assistance. “Rylynn, they need first aid on D-deck, in hanger 4,” Dr. Sandren Rush, the head of medical, told me. I nodded and closed the pack I had just checked. Shouldering it, I rushed out of medical. I took the nearby hatch to access the ladder between decks. I didn’t have too far to go. D-deck was the floor right below, and hanger 4 wasn’t that far of a run away. I made it out of the hatch without incident and ran down the corridor toward hanger 4. I passed a few fellow crewmembers who were heading in the other direction. I was, for a change, grateful for my small size as I could avoid them easily without pausing in my run. It didn’t take long till I saw the plaque with ‘HANGER 4’ unmistakably written on it.

  Almost there…

  Instinct screamed a warning a moment too late. Before I could react, an arm went around my middle and pinned me to the strong body behind me. A cloth soaked in something that smelled foul was pressed over my nose and mouth. I attempted to hold my breath so I wouldn’t intake any more of the foul chemicals. I writhed, trying to escape, but I was small and he was obviously bigger and stronger than I was. Yeah, I wasn’t praising my smallness at that point. I tried to slip away again without much luck. Fine. There were other ways. I tried to kick my assailant’s shins, but I couldn’t connect. He seemed to be expecting it. I settled for stomping on an instep. At the same time, my hand attempted to pull the obviously drugged cloth away so I could breathe untainted air. My fingers also moved toward the delicate webbing between his thumb and forefinger and fingernail beds.

  I grinned when I got his instep with my heel. He grunted satisfyingly, but didn’t loosen his hold on me. If anything he held me tighter, forcing what little air I had left from my lungs. My vision was going hazy as I tried to remember why it would not be a good idea to breathe in. But then, I couldn’t see how I had much hope if I couldn’t get free soon. Passing out and breathing in the drugs would also spell a win for my assailant.

  “Greetings to you too, Ry. Do you have to be so stubborn?” he complained softly in my ear. Shock widened my eyes and caused my brain to stall. Looking back, I’m pretty sure that was the reaction he was looking for. Ace was here?! How did no one know? My shocked brain coughed. I’m not sure if that makes any sense, but that’s what it felt like at the time. And with my brain thus preoccupied, my lungs revolted. I drew in tainted air.

  Shit! I swore internally. Frantically, I tried to cough the burning chemicals out, but lack of oxygen and the drugs themselves were already working their own brand of magic. Dimly I could hear M. Kit muttering something about ‘holding on’ and ‘don’t worry I’ll clean it out.’ Hurry, I thought to her and I tried to do as she said. Call for help! I begged of her.

  “I can’t! Something is keeping me from reaching out,” M. Kit told me. If machines could sob, she sounded like she was. “I’ll keep trying as I clean out the drugs,” she vowed to me. I tried to thrash, but Ace held me still—not that it was hard for him to do, considering the fact that he cheated and drugged me.

  “Shh, Ry. It’s okay. Just go to sleep. We’ll talk later,” Ace murmured over and over in a soothing voice. There was some solace in knowing we would be talking later, which meant whatever he was giving me now would not kill me. But that didn’t mean I was going to give up… Sadly, he just had to wait me out. I kept hoping that someone would come soon and help me. But my luck saw to it that no one happened by. The pilots must already be in the hanger bay, I thought as I slumped against Ace, the fight having fled me. My awareness wasn’t too far behind.

  ***

  Colony Lenti

  Lenti-Solum System

  Spectral Empire

  Talis’talklen ses-Ky tapped his fingers on his chair’s armrest as he stared out the forward screen. Flanking his ship were other mercenary clanships and a few non-Telmick pirates. All of them formed a half circle around the coordinates where they had been told their target would re-emerge into real space. They were not to destroy the ship, only distract it long enough for an LFA transmitting a certain frequency to emerge and be picked up by his ship. Then they were to all disperse as fast as they could. They would be paid for a job well done at that point. Their payment would be ready for pick up from pre-agreed upon planets or coordinates of their choice. That was for the others. For the ses-Ky, they would have to wait until after they dropped off the passengers of the LFA on Lenti before being paid.

  Easy money… except they were up against a Legion Fleet Hasta class starship. Hastas were the Legion Fleet’s steadfast battle cruisers. Armed with enough laser cannons and Char missiles to make most adversaries think twice before engaging, they were fortresses in the stars. On top of that were the twenty flights of LFGs that would pour out of the four hangers and cause misery to the idiots who attacked. Destroying a LFH was not something a sane individual attempted, only the foolish or the desperate.

  Talis’talklen liked to believe that he was neither. And they were not supposed to destroy the Hasta. Any desperation he could be accused of would be taken care of by the pay he would be receiving upon his holding up his end of the deal. He just prayed the LFGs would be held in reserve for when the warship was annoyed enough to use them. Hopefully that wouldn’t be until after the pick-up was made.

  “Good thing they only use those LFGs as a final resort,” his second, Saffa’tauta ses-Ky, muttered, unknowingly continuing his silent thoughts, when the target ship popped into existence in front of them. She was massive and dwarfed the mercenary ships. The name of the ship was boldly inscribed on its hull: LFH Hail Mary.

  “Fire,” Talis’talklen ordered, with a slight shake of his head at the foolishness of some missions. But he was a professional and would get this job done… unlike the last one. Those strange cadets had made taking this job necessary. At least they had taken out the Zar’daken warship which made the botched job slightly more tolerable. He and his men survived when the Zar’dakens had not, only because they had made it to the shuttles in time before the Dark Claw was destroyed. Though slightly mollified, it still wasn’t something one sang about when one came home.

  The sour taste of it lingered still in his mouth. Even worse, this job was in the Lenti-Solum System, the same that those fools following the ses-KGor were in. Even the dumb and children knew that picking a planet clean of goods was never a rich move. Raiding was, in its way, just like ranching. You had to wait for the herd to replenish itself and grow fat before taking the choicest specimens. That was how one got rich, not this idiotic smash-and-grab-as-much-as-you-can tactic the ses-KGor clan and its followers were using now.

  Talis’talklen’s yellow eyes narrowed at his thoughts as he watched the other ships fire upon the Legion Fleet Hasta. Brightly hued laser blasts smattered over the great warship’s shields. Answering laser blasts flickered out at the attacking mercenaries. Experienced with the methodical military might of the Legion Fleet, Talis’talklen knew they wouldn’t be wasting heavy charges early on. They would weaken their attackers and give them a chance to yield. If that didn’t work, then they would simply blast them out of the sky. Lasers would test the enemy’s shields, then they would fire char missiles, and LFGs might then join the
fray. All the LFH would have to do then would be to bat away the opponent’s shots until their shields were sufficiently weakened. Then, the choice was given. Talis’talklen had no intention of waiting around for that to happen.

  Chars soon joined the bright laser blasts, and the mercenaries were forced to swerve and dance to avoid the shield-eating buggers. He didn’t have to tell Ai’alusa ses-Ky, his pilot, to avoid them. The man already knew, and was one of the best at avoidance flying. Apparently the commander of the ship they were attacking was annoyed, because the four bay doors were opening, letting a stream of LFGs enter the fray. Talis’talklen leaned back in his chair while his second swore viciously next to him. Honestly, Talis’talklen wasn’t surprised that the LFGs had joined the fun. The Legion Fleet seemed to be his curse lately.

  “Avoid them. We are not leaving here until we pick up that LFA,” he said softly. Not that he looked away from the forward view screen, but he did see his bridge crew nod. They were the ses-Ky and they liked it when things got rougher—if for no other reason than Saffa’tauta got to practice his latest curses. He was a collector of such things. It wasn’t long until Kifen’alusa ses-Ky’s console picked up the special signal.

  “Let’s get this done,” Talis’talklen said. The sooner they got their pay, the sooner they could leave this wasted corner of the system.

  ***

  Rylynn

  Black, thick, cotton pressed around me. It was not a happy place. But I couldn’t seem to leave it for a time because I had no energy to get out. So, I had to wait. I really dislike waiting. Eventually, I began to notice that the cotton was letting up. I could also faintly hear M. Kit again. She was muttering about the dangers of overdosing someone and thank goodness that I had a strong immune system. I was also gaining more awareness of my body. It made me wonder…

  When I had been unconscious before, I could barely ever hear M. Kit. It was like she could only speak to me when I was more aware. She could wake me up if I were sleeping, but if I was out for some other reason (knocked out by a stun blast or a particularly hard hit to the head, or when a new Spectral showed up, though I hadn’t had one of those for a while..) she couldn’t. The only ones I could ever hear clearly were Spectrals. When it was really bad, only Kylesst could find me. It cemented a fact for me that I knew but didn’t ever really consider: Spectrals were not bound by the limits of flesh like a Medi-Comp. They were like souls, and Kylesst was connected to mine.

  Could I find Kylesst that way? I wondered. Could I find our bond and seek him, the way he can visit me? The thought gave me hope. All I had found before was a long gone ex-admiral Knight, since he had the knife that held my Spectral prisoner. I considered trying it after M. Kit managed to nullify most of the drugs so I could wake up. That thought reminded me that I couldn’t go seeking outside myself until I had my body somewhere safe, and since I was kidnapped that place was not wherever I was now.

  Where are we? I thought to M. Kit.

  “On an LFA with one other person. I could not get a facial recognition. And the name you thought before is not in the Citizen Archives and I have been unable to send a message for help because some signal is interfering,” she said in a tone both apologetic and frustrated.

  That’s troubling, I replied. But don’t worry, we’ll get through this... And I opened my eyes. Ironically, I was strapped into the back seat where I would normally sit, had I boarded of my own volition. Ace was in the pilot’s seat. My vision was still fuzzy from the drugs, and I desperately tried to blink it away. The forward view was a sparkling display of lasers and missiles splashed on a background of distant stars. Ships of various sizes and shapes zipped around. It didn’t help me much.

  I slid my eyes back to Ace. He was not looking my way. He was too preoccupied with watching the skirmish going on just outside. I looked down at the console near me, and smiled. Hopefully the signal blocking M. Kit wouldn’t block the LFA’s com, though why it wouldn’t, I’m not sure. But I figured it was worth a try to send an SOS to the Hail Mary. If that didn’t work, maybe I could find some way to disrupt Ace’s plans through the LFA’s computer. I tried to reach for it when my plans were called to a halt. I stared in dismay at the magnetic cufflinks that kept my arms pinned to the armrests.

  “I’m not sorry about the cufflinks,” Ace said from up front. I looked toward him again. He typed something into the dash before flashing a smile at me. “I figured you would know how to use the systems now, and I couldn’t have you attempting to call for help or some other such nonsense,” he said, getting up to join me in the back.

  I raised an eyebrow at him. “What the hell, Ace? Why all this?” I asked nodding toward the scene outside and the ship we were in. Moving my arms caused the cufflinks to clink, including them in my silent list of craziness.

  “You shouldn’t have left,” he replied simply in his typical oblique fashion.

  I fought hard not to roll my eyes. “I had no choice.” He raised his eyebrows at that. Sighing, I continued. “I needed to leave. Something was driving me and I couldn’t ignore it.”

  “Something? Or Someone?” Ace asked softly. I could hear the danger under the calm tone of his question.

  I snorted. I couldn’t help it. He was thinking one of two things had caused me to leave. First, I had been driven off by one of the gang. The second was I had met someone… but seriously? I was too young and too busy for that. “No one caused me to leave, Ace. If you have to blame anyone, blame me. It was some instinct that caused me to leave.” I shook my head. “I don’t know how else to explain it to you.”

  Ace grunted. “Well then, consider this a similar situation.” There was a beep on the console next to him and he smiled. “That would be our ride now,” he said, and I frowned at him. The next I knew our little LFA was swallowed whole by a larger ship that dropped down over us. There was a slight jostling as the LFA came to rest in the suddenly—there hanger bay. “Well, let’s go say hello,” Ace said, getting up. I managed to pull my eyes away from the familiarly tinted green metal of the inside of the larger ship to stare at him. “Oh right, my apologies,” Ace said, before touching the cuff’s controller band under his sleeve. I quickly unstrapped myself from the chair, but before I could even think to do anything to rectify the situation I found myself in, he did something else and the cuffs clinked back together. He grinned at my narrow-eyed expression, and gestured for me to stand up—an awkward endeavor with bound hands, but I did manage it. I then preceded him to the door.

  I did not like being right there when the door slid open to reveal an unknown. I would have no delay before being brought face to face with a reality I was not going to like. As my luck would have it, I was right. In more ways than one, I thought ironically, staring into the unfortunately familiar yellow eyes of Jason’s former Telmick captor.

  “Greetings!” Ace said brightly, “you have wonderful timing, Talklen.”

  Chapter 8 – The Thing with Welcoming Parties

  Rylynn

  I was two paces away from the tall gray-skinned giant that had been my enemy not that long ago. Correction—was still my enemy. His many tattoos made his narrowed yellow eyes even brighter… more feral. Of all the people in the universe to come face to face with, it would be this one. This Telmick. “You again,” he growled. Apparently, he and I were thinking along the same lines. And if that wasn’t a scary thought, I don’t know what is.

  Ace glanced between the two of us with enlightenment brightening his blue eyes. “So, I’m gathering the two of you have met? Wonderful. I don’t have to make introductions.”

  “Oh, we’ve met,” I began, turning to Ace. “But it was not a… friendly meeting.” I turned back to the Telmick glowering at me, but my words were still for Ace. “He was going to sell a friend of mine and I objected. My companions and I hunted him down, took our friend back, and then ended up saving these guys from their boss.”

  The Telmick bared his teeth at me. “That is the only reason why I am not striking you down where yo
u stand. Do not push it cadet,” he said in his deep voice, making the last word sound like a curse. “And you are also forgetting, we do not owe you a thing.”

  I tilted my head slightly. I wasn’t sure if he was insulting me further by ignoring my actual rank of crewman (the lowest rank of the active force) or if he honestly didn’t know what the single brass disc on my shirt collar meant… though he had known that I had been a cadet before… at the moment though, I didn’t think it mattered. And he was right. In exchange for the jamming signal that Jason had used against the Zar’daken darts, he had told us that if we met again the Telmicks would not be in debt to us.

  “Well, allow me then to introduce the two of you,” Ace said. “Rylynn, this is the great Talis’talklen ses-Ky. Talklen, this is Rylynn Sinclair of the Legion Fleet.”

  Talis’talklen ses-Ky (jeez, is that a mouthful) turned to Ace. “She stays bound until she is off my ship.” Ace nodded as the Telmick leader turned on his heel and left.

  I raised an eyebrow at him. “Please tell me this isn’t going to be a long trip.”

  Ace grinned and patted my shoulder. “Let’s go.”

  “You didn’t answer my question.”

  “You’ll get your answer soon enough.”

  Suppressing a groan, I followed Ace through the shuttle bay. The gray-skinned crew unashamedly watched me pass. I figured that if it wasn’t for the cuffs about my wrists, they would have detained me permanently. Their yellow eyes were cold and deadly.