Star Alliance (23 page)

“I don’t think they saw us, but we’ve got to hurry,” Etanu said.

Zack couldn’t get his feet to work right. He tried to go straight, but he kept leaning to one side. His equilibrium was off because of their freefall. Etanu glanced at him, bewildered.

“I’m fine. Let’s go,” Zack said, shaking off his dizziness.

Etanu led him toward several large mounds, but the Nershal stopped before they reached them. Etanu pulled Zack behind a small rocky formation and gestured for silence. The Nershal pointed above them, and Zack heard the whine of a sled’s engines approaching them. Zack waited while Etanu stuck his head just above the rocks to get a better view. After a few moments he sat back down and glanced at Zack as if weighing his options.

“There are three Xiiginns approaching in one of the smaller sleds,” Etanu said.

“Can we get to the slip fighter without them noticing?” Zack asked.

Etanu shook his head. He checked his weapon, and Zack’s mouth went dry. “We don’t have a lot of time. I want you to stay here while I scout to the side and try to flank them.”

“You want me to just wait here? Isn’t there something I can do to help you?”

“Calm down,” Etanu said. “Stay here and keep your head down. If they get too close, use the pulse rifle.”

Zack nodded and his stomach started to clench.

“I won’t be far. I’m going to take them out before they get close to you,” Etanu said.

The Nershal crawled along the ground away from him. There weren’t any trees nearby for cover, but the Nershal made good use of the tall grass. Zack couldn’t see Etanu after a few seconds, even with the augmentation of the implants. Zack clutched the pulse rifle to his chest and switched off the safety, then inched up the wall to get a better look. The sled was much smaller than the one they’d used. It only had room for a few people. The whine of the engines grew louder, and the sled slowed down. The three Xiiginns wore black armor. He couldn’t tell if Kandra Rene was with them. Could they be tracking them somehow? What if there was another tracker on them that they didn’t know about? The Nershal medic had scanned them and hadn’t detected anything. Zack queried the AI.

::No traces of foreign elements reported,:: the AI said.

Zack turned over so he was on his stomach and pointed the pulse rifle at the approaching sled. His hand shifted near the trigger, and a three-round burst shot forth. Zack gasped. He’d hit the front of the sled, and something had broken off. A small tendril of smoke was trailing the sled. The Xiiginns shifted position and were heading straight toward him. They fired their weapons, and Zack ducked back down. Rocks shattered above and pieces rained down on him
. Oh crap,
Zack thought. He glanced to the side, weighing his chances of running, and shook his head. If he ran, they would have a clear shot at him. The sled closed in on his position and hovered over the ground as he crawled to the edge of the rocks he was using for cover. There was a loud pop, and a small crater appeared a few feet in front of him. The shots came closer to him, and Zack shot to his feet, holding the pulse rifle up above his head in surrender.

Two of the Xiiginns dropped to the ground, leaving one in the sled.

“Throw down your weapon,” a Xiiginn soldier commanded.

As Zack dropped the pulse rifle in front of him, the sled exploded. The two Xiiginns on the ground spun around, and the one who had stayed on the sled dropped to the ground with a large hole through the chest. Zack scrambled for the pulse rifle, and one of the Xiiginn soldiers turned to shoot him. Another shot rang out, and the Xiiginn collapsed to the ground. The remaining soldier dove to the side before Etanu could take him out. The soldier positioned himself so Zack was between him and wherever Etanu was hiding. Zack grabbed the pulse rifle and fired at the Xiiginn, but his shots went wide, missing completely. The Xiiginn aimed his weapon at Zack just as a shot whipped past Zack’s head and took out the soldier.

Zack’s breaths came in gasps. The whole encounter had lasted only seconds.
 

Etanu ran over to him.

“Come on before others arrive,” Etanu said.

Zack forced himself to look away from the dead Xiiginns and follow Etanu. The Nershal brought up his wrist and entered a few commands. The mounds they’d been heading for shimmered and faded, revealing a dark metallic shape. There was an elongated midsection that had lower wings toward the front, with elevated rear wings. The engines on the wings were glowing as the power came up. There was a hiss as the front canopy opened.

“That’s how we’re going to get you back to your ship,” Etanu said.

Zack peered inside. There were two seats side by side, separated by a center console. “This is a slip fighter?”

Etanu nodded. “Highly agile and quick. A squadron of these can wreak havoc on our enemy.”

“Yeah, but there’s only one here,” Zack said.

Etanu gave him an exasperated glance. “If you’re going to persist in stating the obvious, I may just hand you over to the Xiiginns.”

“I’m just saying. I’m sure it’s fast,” Zack said, and looked up at the battle sleds trading weapons fire. “Can we help them?”

Etanu followed Zack’s gaze. “They’ll be fine,” he said.

“But—” Zack began.

“I know you’re not a soldier. The fighting here is only just beginning. Soon it will spread, and there is little difference we can make in one slip fighter,” Etanu said.

They climbed aboard, and Etanu quickly showed him how to strap in. Zack glanced at the instrument panel.

“Don’t touch anything,” Etanu said.

Zack’s hand recoiled, but he instructed the AI to connect to the ship’s systems.

::No connection possible.:: The AI’s words appeared on Zack’s internal HUD.

Zack brought up his interpreter so he could try and understand what the controls did. It didn’t help. Zack was no pilot. It might have made sense to Kaylan but not to him. There were two sticks conveniently placed in front of him.

“What are the sticks for?” Zack asked.

“They’re for the rear weapons systems. Hopefully we won’t need them—” Etanu was saying when a comms channel chimed. It was Udonzari.

“We’ve just received a notification that there is a Xiiginn warship en route to Selebus,” Udonzari said.

“Understood,” Etanu answered. “Are any of our ships out there?”

“There were two Nerva-class battle cruisers already here, but they might not realize what the Xiiginns are doing down there,” Udonzari said.

The canopy sealed shut and Zack heard the whine of the engines. A screen switched on in front of him. There were several flashing dots heading directly for them. Zack was about to ask what they were when the slip fighter lifted off the ground and rocketed into the air. The ground passed by in a blur and then fell away as Etanu took them higher into the air.

“How are we going to find the Athena?” Zack asked.

“I was hoping the AI you’re so proud of would help out with that,” Etanu said.

“I’m sure it would, but it’s not able to gain access to your ship’s systems,” Zack said.

Etanu grinned. “That’s by design. Just enter the communications protocol into the console in front of you and then send a signal to your ship.”

The color drained from Zack’s face, and Etanu glanced over at him.

“You do know the communication protocols?” Etanu asked.

Zack frowned. “Of course I do. I just don’t know how to feed that information into your ship’s computer,” he said.

The slip fighter passed through the atmosphere, entering outer space. Zack glanced at his PDA, which looked like it was barely holding together.

“Zack,” Etanu called.

“Just give me a minute. I’ll come up with something,” Zack said.

“We’ve got incoming. Hang on,” Etanu said.

Zack couldn’t see anything but the HUD overlay that showed approaching vessels.

Oh crap,
Zack thought.

C
HAPTER
S
EVENTEEN

M
AR
A
RDEN
PACED
on the bridge of the warship, and the commander of the ship glanced over at him. A Xiiginn of Mar Arden’s stature should never show anything but unwavering leadership, and his pacing could be interpreted as weakness that would invite others to challenge his authority. Mar Arden came to a halt near the communications console. The comms specialist hardly turned to look and kept working, as was expected of her.

“What’s the status from Nerva Space Command?” Mar Arden asked.

“We’re still waiting on clearance to leave,” Hoan Berend said from the commander’s chair and gave Mar Arden a meaningful look.

Mar Arden moved away from the comms specialist and returned to stand near Hoan Berend. As first ambassador, he outranked the commander, but Mar Arden saw no reason for him to give up his seat just because the first ambassador happened to be on the bridge.

“First Ambassador, there’s a priority alpha message for you. I’ve transmitted the challenge authentication key to your comms channel,” the comms specialist said.

 
Mar Arden stepped over to a vacant console and used his implants to authenticate. Tetran protocols had been in effect since the incident with the research station. If his authentication failed, the alpha priority message would be deleted from the system. Anyone who failed to authenticate properly was immediately pulled from the duty roster and questioned. Unlike the cruiser that had been destroyed, this warship had only Xiiginns operating within it. There were no Nershal soldiers to complicate matters.
 

Mar Arden’s inbox appeared on his internal HUD. There were two alpha priority messages waiting. He glanced at the comms specialist, but her back was to him. She had already gone on to her other duties.
 

He opened the first message, and Kandra Rene’s face appeared. She had several wounds on her head and neck. Evidence of quick healing was already evident, and Mar Arden wondered how extensive the wounds had been before she’d received healing.

“The Human has escaped and is in the hands of the Nershal terrorists on Selebus. I’ve dispatched all available resources to pursue and bring him back. In the event that recovery is not possible, they’ve been instructed to take out the target. Awaiting your orders.” Kandra Rene’s message finished.

Mar Arden clenched his teeth. Questions tumbled through his mind, and he immediately categorized them in order of importance. His protégé had reported the facts and what she was doing to solve the problem. A lesser commander would be consumed with laying blame and bringing the guilty parties under his wrath. Kandra Rene knew she had failed him, and however brief her existence might now be, she was working to rectify her failure. Mar Arden knew there were other Humans here. No species sent just one of their number out into the void—at least none that they had encountered so far.

The second message was an alert that contained the spectral analysis of a suspected Mardoxian signal coming from Nerva. Mar Arden frowned. If he accepted the intelligence analyst’s report, that would mean there was a Mardoxian chamber somewhere on the Nershal home world. His mind raced with the implications of that. What would compel the Boxans to risk returning to Nerva to use the Mardoxian chamber? The Xiiginns hadn’t been able to detect the Boxan stealth ship, and he very much doubted that a battle commander such as Kladomaor was hiding on the surface of the planet. The Boxan relished his freedom too much for that. There was a connection between the Boxans and Humans, but he didn’t understand it fully at the moment. Mar Arden put the Human element of the problem to the side and focused on why the Boxans had returned to the Nershal star system in the first place. They were trying to get the Nershals to rebel against the Xiiginns, which was a marked change in their tactics. And it was working. The Nershals were becoming increasingly more difficult to control. It might be time for them to reevaluate their alliance with the Nershals.
 

Why would the Boxans bring the Humans here? There was little doubt that the Mardoxian priestess was in Kladomaor’s hands, but why would they need to use the chamber? He brought the intelligence analyst’s report to the forefront and took a closer look at the readings. If it had been a deep-space communication, the signal detected didn’t match the known vectors.

Mar Arden glanced at the commander. They were still awaiting clearance to leave the planet. Mar Arden suppressed his urge to order Hoan Berend to take them out of there at once, regardless of their clearance status. He didn’t want to press the Nershals any more than necessary. He knew the Boxans were still in the system, and he had three warships hunting for them in the outer system. If only Kandra Rene hadn’t let that Human slip through her fingers.
 

A thought blazed like lightning through his mind. Humans! The answer to the question was Humans. They were the reason the Boxans were still here. They were trying to find their missing crew member. The Xiiginns had taken steps to prevent the Mardoxian priestess from determining where the Human was being kept, but the use of a Mardoxian chamber changed things. The priestess could have used the Mardoxian chamber to find the missing Human.