Authors: Linda Mooney
Maurra woke before the computer could rouse her. Stretching out the kinks, she realized her sense of time had returned. It was another sign she was getting stronger. Getting back to normal.
She headed for the cleansing chamber. Because it was made for a larger species, it gave her ample room to enjoy a long shower, as well as wash her hair. It was amazing how much more human she felt when it was over.
On the other hand, the clothing synthesizer was a bit snarky, giving her half the coverage she normally wore. At least the top and pants were clean and stain free and covered the essential parts of her body. She had no problem tossing her old things into the incinerator. Grabbing a tube of water, she ambled back to the captain’s chair. Sensing her departure from the area, the ship slid the flooring back into place over the bed.
“Lorri, ETA to Bansheer.”
“One point six clicks.”
She mouthed the answer as it was given to her by the ship and grinned when they matched. “Thank you, Lorri.”
“My duty, Captain.”
With a little more than an hour until touchdown, she needed to find out where the mines were located and start figuring out one or two hasty retreat routes, just in case. Maurra called up the ship’s maps, one of which was the Ellinod system.
So far, so good. She had the capability to get Safan out of that hellhole as long as she watched what she was doing. That left her with two other problems—coming up with a legitimate excuse to free the Ellinod and then figuring out what they were going to do once they left the mines.
One step at a time. One problem at a time.
Just like old times.
The little ship shuddered again, indicating they were leaving hyper light and reentering normal space. The rainbow of rich, jewellike colors solidified and became hard pinpoints of light. At the far left side of the viewscreen the dark brown sphere that was her target slowly focused into view.
“Lorri, steer course for Bansheer Prime.”
“Calculating orbit.”
“Unidentified spacecraft, please respond with ID,” a strange deep voice suddenly requested over the comm. She was nearing where the mines were located.
“Lorri?”
“Communications are open, Captain.”
Maurra took a deep breath. “Planet Bansheer, this is
Lorrmandi II.
I’m experiencing engine problems and need to land to affix repairs immediately.”
“Negative,
Lorrmandi II
,” said the live voice. “This is Bansheer Prime, a penal mining colony. You are not to land. Instead, use the coordinates we’re sending you now. Bansheer Four is the next inhabited moon where you can repair your craft.”
“Negative that.” She added some panic to her voice. “I think my hyper light drive has become unstable. What if I land on your back side?”
An unstable hyper light drive was dangerous to both ship’s crew and to anything else within implosion distance, a range of normally two to three thousand meters. In almost every instance, it was a universal gesture of goodwill to allow a ship fearing a hyper light backwash immediate access to land so that its crew could safely evacuate. Asking to land on the back side of the moon would not be considered an unreasonable request.
“Permission granted,
Lorrmandi II.
Please set a periphery of a minimum of ten thousand meters. Uploading a suggested target landing area. If all ends well, please send a relay back. Otherwise we will keep a signal beamed in your area in case you need help.”
“Thanks,” Maurra called back. “Closing communications.”
She shut off the main transmission and concentrated on landing at the designated spot. It was all fine and good, as far as she was concerned. Even better was the fact that they were keeping an eye on the ship. With their attention divided between the riot at the mines, and the occasional glance at the spacecraft, there was little chance they would spot a lone figure skulking about in the darkness.
And speaking of skulking…
Maurra glanced down at her simple shirt and pants. Fortunately the clothes she was wearing were dark, which would help her blend in. A tiny smile lifted the corners of her mouth.
Wonder if I’ll make it back in time for my first day of work.
At the thought, she gave a short laugh. To be brutally honest, at the moment she didn’t give a fat carzak’s ass if she ever returned there.
She landed the ship on the surface with barely a bump. Throwing off her harness, she got to her feet and took a few seconds to bounce on the balls of her feet, acclimating herself to the gravity.
“Lorri, I’m leaving the ship for an unknown amount of time. Do you have a remote device so that I can let you know my location?”
To her right, a tiny drawer slid out from the wall. Inside was a slender cylinder, no more than half the size and width of her little finger. She picked it up and stared at it for a moment.
“Where’s the best place to put this?”
“It adheres to the skin,” the ship replied.
The memory of the translation device buried inside her spine caused her to wince, when she suddenly got an idea. Lifting up her shirt, she placed the cylinder underneath her right breast. Nestled there, it didn’t feel uncomfortable, plus she wouldn’t have to worry about losing it if she stuck it in her pocket.
And it wouldn’t interfere with her powers.
“Lorri, I want you to fire your engines in a random pattern while I’m gone. Make it look like someone is working on them, got that?”
“Yes, Captain. Anything else?”
“Yeah. If they call for me, tell them I’m in the back engine compartment and will answer when I can. Keep putting them off.”
“Yes, Captain.”
Opening the short ramp, Maurra braced herself. As a mining moon, Bansheer Prime had been given an atmosphere rather than the usual enormous, self-sustaining domes to accommodate the inhabitants. Because it was a penal colony, there were no other cities or towns. The employees shuttled between the moon and Ellinod on a daily basis.
Bansheer Prime was nothing more than a huge, elliptical rock rich with billir crystals. One could literally pick up the gemstones from the surface. But the more prized crystals came from deep within the mines, down where the pressures created elaborate, flame-like ruptures within the brown mineral.
Before the ramp hit the packed dirt, she was out of the ship and running toward the horizon where the aboveground offices for the penitentiary were located.
The main mine entrance was ringed by an artificially created crater whose walls rose as high as fifty meters in some areas. Another ring of lights the size of small asteroids hovered nearly a hundred meters above the crater, keeping the whole area in perpetual daylight. There was only one road going in and out, and traffic was regulated by a gate of high-density plasma jets.
The landing pad for those employed by the mining companies and penal institute lay less than a half mile away. It was a safety measure, having it that far from the main entrance, to dispel escaping prisoners from making a run for it. There was nothing but flat, open surface between the mines and the pad, making the convicts easy targets.
By the same token, crystals brought up from the depths of the mine were loaded into vats containing byridic almaf acid that would eat away the residual rock, leaving only the crystals in near-pristine condition. The vats would then be trundled through a second gate where loaders would place them into specialized compartments. The compartments would subsequently be loaded onto ships heading back to Ellinod. If anyone tried to make a break for freedom that way, they were doomed before they ever started. For one thing, no one could survive the acid if they tried to hide in a vat. But if by some miracle the escaping prisoner tried via some special type of body suit, they wouldn’t make it past the plasma gates. Plasma radiation literally melted tissue from the bone.
The mines were fortified to the hilt, and to date, no one had ever managed to escape.
She used the cover of darkness to hide her advance toward the crater. It was her good fortune that this portion of the moon was hidden by the planet’s shadow, giving her the chance to first check out what all was being done to temper the riot, and who was involved. To her surprise, there was nothing evident on the outside of the crater walls, which meant the situation was either under control or being carefully watched from within. She bet on the latter.
The time had come to show herself. She had formulated a vague story about why she was here, but she had to keep it simple. The simpler the story, the easier it would be for the guards to believe her. And the easier it would be to remember.
She patted the tiny pistol she’d holstered to her thigh almost absentmindedly. It was purely for show. If she appeared at the mines sans any sort of weapon, the guards would be suspicious. They’d learn soon enough that she was a psion.
A strong beam of light caught her in its center as she trudged toward the gates. It remained locked on her until she reached the outer perimeter marked by wide crisscrossing stripes blasted into the ground. Maurra continued to walk confidently toward the gates’ threshold.
“Halt!”
She slowed and looked up at the top of the crater jutting so high overhead, she had to crane her neck to see the top.
“Halt, intruder!”
Thank the heavens for the translation chip in her arm. But the voice would have been enough to stop her in her tracks. It was filled with unmistakable threat.
Standing inside the warning perimeter, she stared up again at the tops of the crater. This time she noticed the guard boxes with their windows that blended perfectly against the natural rock.
Boy, they must be shitting their pants to see I’m a lone female. Bet they don’t get many of us out here.
Earlier communication with the moon would not have given them any sort of clue as to her gender, since the communiqués had to filter through a translator first. Everyone sounded male until personal eye contact was established.
“Halt and prepare to be received!”
Halt and… What the?
“I’m already halted, gragholes.” Nevertheless, she remained where she was until the welcoming committee exited the gates and came to accost her.
Four Ellinod, all in uniforms that vaguely reminded her of Safan’s suit the first time she’d seen him, sauntered up to her and stopped within the periphery. They eyed her up and down, noting her sweaty, disheveled appearance and the tiny squirt gun at her side. Immediately they dismissed her as unimportant, if she read their expressions correctly, and that was exactly how she’d hoped they would see her. Unimportant, and therefore nonthreatening.
The Ellinod on the right corner addressed her. “What is your business here?”
Gee. No niceties? No invite in for a drink?
“My ship developed engine trouble,” Maurra said. “I’m short on supplies and wondered if I could get a few days’ rations to help tide me over until I get her to a base where she can be decently repaired.” She gave them her best wide-eyed, helpless expression.
At the mention of her ship, they knew who she was. They even visibly relaxed their stance somewhat. Each one of them was huge and hulking, but there was no comparison to Safan’s size. She also noted the heavy-barrel sidearms they carried. Multishot phaser pistols. If these weapons were the best they carried, things were already looking up. Phaser fire was like soft gelatin against her psi powers.
“What’s your destination?” the head Ellinod asked.
“Farak Took Mees.” It was the first place to pop into her head. It was also a good distance away.
“What’s your mission?”
Maurra gave a one-sided shrug. “Merchant ship on the cheap. Right now I’m empty, but I’m on my way to pick up my next cargo.”
“Cargo of what?”
She gave him a tired smile. “I’ll find out when I get there. With my kind of clientele, I don’t ask a lot of questions.”
The Ellinod nodded their massive heads, obviously assuming she was a mercenary merchant. Cargo hauled, no questions asked. Hundreds of them roamed the galaxies.
Maurra shuffled from one foot to the other as she cleared her throat. “I hate to ask again, but would you happen to have a few foodstuffs you can spare? I can pay, but I don’t have much. And I really,
really
would appreciate the assistance.” She poured on the
semihelpless female caught in a situation where she could use a friendly gesture
act.
The squad looked around, looking to see if she had an accomplice somewhere. She frowned, tired of the stalling. “Go ahead and scan my ship,” she told them. “I’m alone.”
She heard something akin to a snort of amusement. The leader motioned toward her weapon. “Is that all you have to protect yourself?”
“On me? Yes. Why?”
“What if you’re accosted by pirates?”
She adjusted her stance, crossing her arms over her chest, until she gave them what she hoped would be a cocky attitude. “I’m fast, I’m damn good and I could beat your butt in under fifteen seconds. Want to try me?”
The remark made them all laugh out loud, but it was enough. She wouldn’t have to prove herself, which was good. So far, all was going as she’d hoped it would.
“If we supply you to get you to Ve Onor Targus Four, will that be enough?”
Giving them her best smile, Maurra nodded. There was a decent repair base in that system, and it was between here and her supposed destination.
Waving her in, the Ellinod closed ranks around her, and together they started for the gates.
Even without turning her head, she was able to get a good grip on the situation inside the crater. There had to be at least a dozen patrol ships docked inside. Their weapons were pointed at the mine entrance, which was nothing more than a set of immense double doors set inside a dome in the center of the crater. Apparently administration’s solution to subduing the riots was to barricade the inmates inside and either starve them back into complacency or wait until they killed each other. After all, a life sentence was a life sentence. When the sentence ended was of no concern to them.
Standing in a semicircle around the whole thing, an entire platoon of heavily armed troopers stood ready, weapons cradled in their arms. She estimated the range between the ships, the troopers and the entrance, and judged it to be too close. If a blast came from the interior of the mines, those men and vehicles would be caught up and destroyed in the outflow. What stupidity.
“Does our layout impress you?”
She stared in surprise at the Ellinod leader. He must have mistaken her reaction as awe.
Might as well play along.
“Do you always have so many people guarding the mines?”
This time the leader gave her a confused look. “What do you mean?”
They had passed the main core and were heading toward a bank of one-story buildings built into the crater’s crownlike spires. Something was off about the whole situation. If she had been at one hundred percent, she would have immediately shifted into warning mode, firing up her powers and readying herself against an attack. But this was a place filled with psychotic and heartless killers, as well as ruthless thugs, brigands and con artists who were, at the moment, fighting back and trying to escape. Of course she would be inundated with the worse kinds of vibes that would set her teeth and her nerves on edge. She tried to look ignorant.
“I’ve never seen so many weapons in one place.”
“Where are you from?” He was suspicious, and rightfully so. Who wasn’t already aware of the news regarding the riot?
“Alintarus.”
The Ellinod visibly relaxed, as did the others surrounding her. The little underdeveloped system had established a reputation of its own. And if by chance someone decided to check out her story, it would be easy enough to discover her original port of call.
A high-pitched whine speared her eardrums. She stopped and clutched her ears at the sound. The others also halted and began shaking their heads as the whine became a scream as it gradually grew louder and higher. She felt her powers kicking in as her body instinctively tried to protect itself, and she dropped to her knees, bowing her head toward the white, powdery soil to keep the blue coil roiling on her forehead from being noticed.
Tucking herself into a near-ball saved her.
The mine’s doors exploded outward in a flash of white-hot fire. Percussive waves tossed the closest vehicles backward, flipping some of them like toys in a high wind, and guards were shredded like thin fabric. Warm blood showered the interior of the crater like rain.
The bomb had deafened her, and for a few moments she was unaware of what had happened until she was picked up and thrown the remaining few meters into the side of the nearest building. Fortunately, her psion powers gave her enough cushion to prevent her from injuring herself. Slightly disoriented, she glanced around to see that the other Ellinod who had been with her hadn’t fared as well. All of them were unconscious. A couple had limbs twisted in unnatural angles. Blood was splattered everywhere.
A muted roar drew her attention to the mine’s opening as prisoners began to exit, screeching in victory as they ran every which way, brandishing mining tools as makeshift weapons. Many of them stopped to retrieve the guards’ weapons as they headed for the pulsar gates.
The few guards who had escaped the initial force of the blast began firing at the oncoming horde, but there were too many prisoners. It took every ounce of willpower for her to remain still and not lend her aid to the guards as she watched the escapees quickly take control of the prison crater.
One Ellinod climbed on top of an overturned speeder and roared at the others. With her ears continuing to ring, Maurra was unable to make out what he was saying, but from his posturing it was clear he was definitely the leader. The others turned away from the gates and began to gather around the vehicle, she guessed to wait for their orders. She never saw or sensed the Ellinod come up from behind her until she was grabbed by the arm and thrown forward. She landed face-first in the dirt, jarred but unhurt.
This wasn’t like her. At least, this wasn’t the old her, back when she was a JoJo. Had she been wearing the uniform, she would have had no compunction about leaping to her feet and making short shrift of every breathing creature inside the crater. It would have taken her mere seconds to knock them out, but her instincts kept telling her to hold back, to keep her powers hidden until it was the right time, the perfect moment.
Pretend weakness. Pretend helplessness. The time will come soon enough when you can reveal yourself.
“Got another live one!”
He was answered by a shot from overhead. The phaser covered him with a pale pink glow before it vanished and the Ellinod slumped to the ground unconscious.
The leader growled fiercely and gave an order. Immediately, more than a dozen prisoners disappeared inside various doorways that would lead them up to the guards still stationed in the towers. Maurra barely had time to comprehend everything when another hand grabbed her by the back of the shirt and threw her onto her feet.
“Move it!”
A shove at the small of her back was enough to start her stumbling toward the small group of prisoners still gathered around the overturned vehicle that the leader was using as a dais. One of the guards who had greeted her was pushed next to her. He hissed in pain as his bloody, twisted arm swung uselessly out of its socket, held only in place by the sleeve. Blood poured down his arms. The creature would soon bleed to death if he wasn’t tended to.
They halted next to the damaged patrol skid. Everyone stared up at the Ellinod, who stared back down at them. He was covered in blood and filth. Huge claw tracks ran down the side of his neck and shoulder, and his left horn bore a large crack. Knowing how sensitive an Ellinod’s horns were, she winced to think of the agony he must have endured—or could still be enduring.
She gave a quick glance around, noting that the rest of the prisoners appeared to have gouged their way up the sides of the mine to escape the horrors below. Their blood-and sweat-soaked clothing was nothing more than rags. They were gaunt, some almost skeletal, and all were covered in sores. It was clear they were suffering from dehydration and near starvation, making her wonder how they had found the strength to fight.
A group of Ellinod exited a doorway leading up into the towers, drawing everyone’s attention. “It’s clear,” one yelled, “but the guard may have notified the landing pad.”
The leader disagreed. “Communications were cut prior to blowing the doors.”
“Won’t the guards at the pad become suspicious when they don’t hear from main command?” someone in the crowd asked.
Another Ellinod stepped forward. Maurra got the impression he was the second in command.
“That’s what we’re hoping. We need someone to open the gates. If we can lure them here and get them to do that, we can get to the landing pad and make our escape.”
Several prisoners raised their tool weapons overhead and cheered. She bit her lower lip. Although she was appalled by the treatment these creatures had suffered, in many cases it was a lot more humane than what many of them had put their victims through. She had to keep reminding herself that the majority of those condemned to be here deserved it.
She looked around to see if she could spot Safan, but he was not among the group. If he was, he was swallowed up by the masses.
There was no way she could allow these aliens to escape the mines, but she couldn’t take them down with her psi powers. Not yet. Not until she found out what had happened to Safan.
What if he was still down in the mines?
What if…
Her throat suddenly closed up, and her skin grew cold and tight.
What if Safan was already dead?
A sense of helplessness spread through her. She clenched her teeth. If these creatures had killed Safan, she would have no compunction about blasting them the same way she’d attacked the Kronners. But until someone with the ability to open the pulse gates arrived, she was trapped in here with everyone else. If she took them down now, they could regain consciousness before reinforcements showed up.
No. First she had to find Safan. After that, she could neutralize the prisoners.
If
she could find Safan.
“What do we do with them?”
She was jostled and made to move forward slightly, along with the injured guard. A few feet away, the inmates pressed two more injured guards closer to the makeshift dais.
The leader’s reply was curt and not surprising. “They’re our hostages, just in case.”
Just in case.
In case the prisoners’ plans were foiled when someone came to investigate, she and the others would be used to barter for the escapees’ freedom. But there was no doubt in her mind she and the other three guards were totally expendable.