Both of the humans looked at each other. Jack quirked a smile at Brooke. “You hear that, Brooke? You're gonna get a choice. Which option do you think you'd choose?”
With a slightly panicky expression, Brooke looked between Jack and Li'ren. This news seemed like it was quite overwhelming to her. After a few minutes, she opened her mouth. “I...I don't know...,” she said, her voice very quiet and quavery. She looked suddenly scared by the prospect of having to choose her own fate. “I...”
Suddenly, the lights in the room went out, plunging them all into darkness. Jack could hear a gasp of startled fright that sounded like it came from Sami, and there was clacking sound as someone put down a tea cup. The only light now came from the window in the room, and it was little more than dim moonlight.
“The hell?” Jack asked, frowning.
“Kas'a re lema...?”
Sami said, her voice very slightly shaky. Her eyes were shining faintly in the moonlight coming through the door, and Jack could tell that they were very wide indeed.
“Chala ze'le re kan,”
Li'ren reassured her in a calming voice. She got up from her chair, crossing the floor to the door, and she opened it and exchanged some words with one of the guards outside. Then she closed the door again and came back to her seat. “The power is out, if that wasn't obvious already. One of the guards is going to see what the problem is. We should wait here until they've gotten it all sorted out.”
Sensible,
Jack thought.
God knows with my luck I'd bust my ass down the stairs trying to figure the way back to my room...
But then a moment later he heard a faint rumbling sound, which grew steadily louder. “What's that?”
There was a pause of a few moments, and then Li'ren spoke. “It sounds like some sort of aircraft. Probably one of the shuttles coming to bring one of our official guests back to the spaceport. I hope they're careful, with all of the lights out.”
Though her tone was unconcerned, Jack suddenly felt a sense of dread which he couldn't immediately chalk up to the darkness.
******
Aria didn't feel overly nervous until she looked out of the window of the transport craft and saw that the treetop city below them was dark. In the month that she'd spent on Arbaros, she had never seen it so dark. Usually the city was alive with lights at all hours. She looked behind her, towards the rear of the slender aircraft. The thunderous roar of the engines coming through the forward open sliding doors on each side made it nearly impossible to hear anything else, but she could see the same confusion on the faces of the twenty armored Royal Guards riding with her. Frowning, Aria stood up and went to the front of the ship, sticking her head into the pilot's compartment.
-What's going on?- she shouted, jabbing a finger down towards the floor.
-Not sure,- the co-pilot yelled back. Both the pilot and co-pilot were Navy pilots, hand-picked by Aria and Lieutenant Ayalis for special operations. -Looks like the power is out to most of the city. Don't worry, though, our nav system is space-based, so we're not having any problems finding our way.-
Aria nodded, and she put a hand on the pilot's shoulder. -Have you been in contact with the guards at the governess' residence?-
The pilot shook his head. -We've been trying, but all we get is static. Power to the residence might be out as well. We'll be in visual range in five minutes. Between our forward spotlights and the light from the moon, we should have a decent view.- He flicked a few switches on the comm systems of the transport. -When we're closer, we'll probably be near enough to make contact with the guards' portable radios. The trees on this planet really interfere with the low-power signals at a distance.-
-Alright.- Aria returned to the rear of the craft. She switched on her own portable radio so that all of her soldiers could hear her clearly. -Okay, when we arrive at our destination, our priority is to make sure that the residence is secure. We'll split into two groups, with one securing the exterior and the other making a sweep of the building. Make contact with the standing guard detail and keep everything tight. Understood?- She received a chorus of responses in the affirmative.
A few more minutes passed, and apart from the occasional gust of wind the flight was going smoothly. Even so, Aria's heart was racing. It was a feeling that she hadn't felt in a long time, not since the last commando mission she had been on. Back then, she'd been working against the clock, defusing demolition charges placed aboard the ship she had been assigned to. Now she felt like she was on a time limit again, though she had no evidence to support that as of yet. If that was the case, Aria hoped that the outcome would be a little better than the last time. The scar down the front of her body ached slightly at the memory.
Her radio keyed up, and she heard the co-pilot's voice come across the airwaves. -Getting into visual range now,- he reported. -Lights are out at the governess' residence. Not seeing any movement...What the...- A split second later, Aria heard and felt a surge in the transport craft's engines. -Hold on back there!-
The transport abruptly banked hard to the left, giving Aria barely enough time to grab a handle next to the sliding door. At almost exactly the same time she heard a rapid series of metallic clangs as something struck the armored bottom of the aircraft. After the first series of sounds, a second and third burst came, and Aria realized that they were being fired upon. She looked out of the sliding door nearest to her, and at the angle they were turning she was able to make out the roof of the governess' residence in the darkness. As she tried to see additional details, Aria spotted a flickering flash coming from midair just above the roof, and the flash illuminated something else. She had seen the object, or at least one just like it, a few times before during ground missions on the border between human and Ascendancy space.
-Gunship!- Aria called over the radio. The muzzle flashes from the heavy gun on the side of the single-rotor helicopter seemed as bright as the sun compared with the darkness of the night. How the human-built craft had made it there was a mystery to her, since she knew that helicopters could not fly outside of an atmosphere. She hoped that the armor on their own aircraft would hold up to their fire.
-I see it,- the pilot responded, his voice calm. -There's another one circling the north side of the building. Captain, I'm not going to be able to get close with those gunships in the way.- He maneuvered the transport further away from the building. The incoming fire from the gunship ceased. -They're not pursuing, for now. Looks like they're flying overwatch. There's a heavy transport on the landing pad attached to the building. Not one of ours.-
-That explains how the gunships got here, at least,-
Aria thought to herself.
She growled, her ears laying back. -You need to get us in closer so we can secure the building,- she told the pilot. -Those gunships are probably covering for troops.- She switched channels on her radio. Every channel she tried to call out on, she received nothing but silence as a response. -No comms with my guards inside.-
-My co-pilot is on the radio to command,- the Ailian pilot reported. -There are two Nuretan interceptors on combat air patrol this side of Ar'bre, and four of our fighters on the far side of the city. The Nuretans can be here in thirty seconds, and our people will be here in five minutes. Once the interceptors take those gunships, I can get in close.-
-Let me know as soon as you're moving in,- Aria ordered him. -I want you to take us in as low to the building as you can go. We'll jump to the roof.- Without waiting for the pilot's acknowledgment, Aria turned back to the Royal Guards. -Change in plans. Once our air support arrives, four of you with me, Group One, and five of you separate, Group Two. Group One will breach the building through the east side of the roof, Group Two to the west. The rest of you, Group Three, will take the landing pad and secure the enemy transport...-
-Captain Me'lia, the transport is lifting off!- the co-pilot interrupted. -Moving away from the residence now.- He looked back into the passenger compartment of their aircraft. -The gunships are still maintaining their overwatch. No change in their positions. They're not going with the transport.-
Aria thought rapidly, trying to figure out what might be going on. -They must still be covering for something,- she decided. -We'll stick to the plan. Keep the Nuretan interceptors coming, but contact our own fighters and have them divert to pursue that transport. I want it stopped.-
As her orders were affirmed by everyone, Aria did her best to remain focused on the task at hand, which was to secure the governess' residence. She tried not to think about her family being in there, or of Jack. Her main duty was to the Empress, and as much as it pained her, she couldn't consider anyone else right now. And if she did her job well, ensuring the Empress' safety would mean ensuring that of everyone in the building.
******
Back at the military spaceport, Lieutenant Ayalis was trying her hardest to divide her attention equally between the radar screens and what radio traffic was coming through from her captain. She had everyone available trying to figure out how a human transport could have made it through their defenses, as well as how the power to the city had been cut. Fortunately, the spaceport had backup generators that were isolated from the rest of the power grid. At this very moment, Naval forces were boarding the messenger ship that had apparently started off this whole mess.
-Lieutenant, what the hell is going on here?-
Lieutenant Ayalis whipped around as Admiral Te'rou came up behind her. He was accompanied by the Nuretan general, Kalma Soumaren, and also by Governess Amani. All of them seemed alarmed at the current developments, to say the least, and the lieutenant assumed that they had already been informed of everything that was going on by the way that the governess looked frantic. The Empress was her daughter, after all.
-Admiral, the governess' residence is under attack,- Lieutenant Ayalis reported. -We're also currently tracking a messenger ship in low orbit. Our troops are boarding it now, and I expect to hear from them shortly. Captain Me'lia is waiting on air support to clear the area around the governess' residence before she can breach the building.-
-I want to know how enemy forces managed to land on this planet without our knowledge!- Admiral Te'rou snarled, his tail whipping back and forth in fury. The russet-furred admiral approached the radar screens, his eyes moving back and forth over the displays. -I'll have someone's head for this.-
Lieutenant Ayalis took a deep breath. -We had to divert a lot of our resources to the messenger ship, when we were still reasonably certain it was a legitimate ship in distress,- she explained. -It is possible they were able to slip in while our attention was divided. We will know for sure soon enough, sir.-
Just as soon as she was finished saying that, one of the communications officers called up from the crew pit. -Lieutenant, the boarding party has cleared the ship,- she reported. -They're reporting that it's empty.-
-Empty?- General Soumaren repeated with a frown. Her neon-colored eyes were narrowed in concentration as she surveyed the radar screens along with Admiral Te'rou. -How can that be? A remotely-controlled ship? A decoy?-
There was another flurry of activity from the crew pit, and a second communications officer stood up and called to Admiral Te'rou with a frantic voice. -Admiral, urgent message from our patrol fighters! They're pursuing a transport ship which lifted off from the area of the governess' residence. It's heading out of the planet's gravity at full speed and is already in low orbit.-
-What!?- Governess Amani gasped. She had to steady herself against the railing overlooking the crew pit.
-Stop that ship!- Admiral Te'rou ordered quickly. -Signal the fleet and have ships move to intercept!-
Almost before the order had left his mouth, loud alarms began to ring out inside the room. Several of the radar screens began flashing red, and the screens which depicted the space surrounding the planet started filling with colored symbols, each of them representing a ship. Personnel began darting here and there in the crew pit, and more than a few cries of alarm were heard.
-Pteryd ships emerging from hyperspace!- a radar officer reported. -At least fifty heavy cruisers and an unknown number of smaller ships. They're advancing on the planet. That transport ship is vectoring for the closest of them. I don't know if our ships will be able to get near enough to the transport to stop it; the Pteryd have better weapons range than we do.-
-Visual confirmation on the enemy from our picket ships,- a communications officer said. -They're engaging them now.-
Admiral Te'rou slammed a fist on the railing, baring his teeth. -Go to full alert. All ships, engage the Pteryd fleet. Defending the planet needs to be our highest priority. If they get close enough to bombard the surface, we'll be wiped out.-
******
-Nuretan interceptors on station,- the pilot reported. -Stand by.- He was circling their transport in a tight pattern around the governess' residence, outside of the range of the gunships' weapons. Aria kept her eyes focused out of the windows, watching for the enemy helicopters. Every now and then the moonlight would glint off of them just right. -They're firing.-