Aurora Saga Books 1-3, page 84
‘It suddenly got warm,’ Captain Viere said. ‘Why?’
As she studied it, its face flashed many colors, before returning to black. ‘It’s active,’ she said in amazement. ‘That means the Aurora is close.’
‘Can that thing help me locate the Aurora?’ Captain Viere asked.
‘I think so, Sir,’ she replied.
‘Good,’ Captain Viere replied, but he was distracted. His expression had changed, and he turned away from her. He appeared to be deep in thought and no longer interested in Rakeal, so she went back over to Seth.
The alarm sounded. Then, the shield generators started and a shimmering curtain of static electricity appeared outside the ship, forming an impenetrable bubble around it.
The professor rushed over to a console. ‘Goody! We’ve found Kalzor. We’re going to have some fun... I know we are...’ he said, talking to himself.
They were now approaching the debris. A large section of a ship tumbled past them, while other fragments hit the energy shield, burning up in a flash of yellow light.
‘That’s part of a Balistro class cruiser,’ Rakeal said to Seth.
‘Listen up everyone,’ Captain Viere said. ‘It looks like one of Lord Migual’s cruisers was here first, but that’s all that remains of it.’
‘I don’t like this, Seth,’ Rakeal said quietly to Seth.
‘Sir, the short range scanners are picking up thousands of satellites in orbit around the planet,’ Commander Hintre reported.
‘That will be Kalrea’s defense system,’ Professor Pliblin said. ‘Can we blow them up? Please!’ he said excitedly to Captain Viere.
‘Captain, some of those satellites are turning towards us, while others are changing their position,’ Commander Hintre said.
‘We’re going to have a fight with Kalrea,’ Professor Pliblin said and then repeated it in a childish song. ‘We’re going to have a fight with Kalrea...’
‘Seth, get nearer to the door,’ Rakeal said quietly.
‘Why?’ Seth replied.
‘Do I need to say why?’ she said firmly. ‘Just look outside! Look at what Kalrea’s weapons did to that cruiser.’
‘The satellites have locked on to us. Firing!’ Commander Hintre said.
The two closest satellites to the Lusica fired.
‘I’m reading six plasma type warheads,’ Commander Hintre said.
‘Do as I say,’ Rakeal said assertively.
She moved slowly away from the window and towards the door. Seth edged away with her.
The plasma warheads impacted on the energy shield of the Lusica. The whole side lit up like a bright orange sun, before fading gracefully away in wavy and swirling lines.
‘Shields held,’ Commander Hintre reported.
‘Power loss is three percent,’ Captain Viere said pleased. ‘Time to take out those satellites.’
The Borgon chain-guns swung around towards the nearest satellite.
‘The satellites aren’t firing at us anymore. Why is that?’ Commander Hintre asked.
‘I can’t believe Kalrea has given up already,’ Professor Pliblin sounded let down. ‘I wanted some fun... Real fun. What a disappointment.’
‘Professor, I can’t get the chain-guns to fire. Something’s wrong,’ Captain Viere said.
Professor Pliblin went over to his console. He pressed a few buttons.
‘No. That’s not right. Not, right at all,’ he said.
An alarm sounded on one of the Drenite cryo-chambers. Professor Pliblin glanced over at it in puzzlement.
‘Professor, why have I lost control of the guns?’
‘I don’t know,’ he said, rushing over to the cryo-chamber. His eyes widened as he got there. ‘Oh, no! No!’
‘Professor Pliblin, now I’ve lost my connection with the Drenites. What’s happening?’ Captain Viere removed his opticon, to see where the professor was.
‘Someone’s trying to hack into the Drenites brains,’ Professor Pliblin said.
‘Kalrea!’ Rakeal said. ‘It has to be Kalrea’s defense systems. She glanced nervously into the corridor and to the escape-pods that were accessed from there.
‘Well stop whoever’s trying,’ Captain Viere replied.
‘But it’s not possible. They’re organic, not machines.’
One of the Drenites let out a high-pitched scream of pain. Their head lifted momentarily from the pillow. Then tears started to flow from the corners of their eyes.
‘I’m losing them,’ Professor Pliblin said, frantically pressing buttons on the cryo-chamber nearest to him, before moving to the next. ‘They’re ignoring the logip stones.’
‘Captain, we’ve lost power,’ Commander Hintre reported with concern.
The noise from the shield generator lessened, as they powered down.
‘My shield generators. No... No!’ Professor Pliblin said in panic. ‘The Drenites are being hacked. Get out of my Drenites!’
‘Can you reverse it?’ Captain Viere asked.
‘It’s too late!’ Professor Pliblin replied.
‘Captain, the satellites! They’re firing again,’ Commander Hintre said. ‘Four plasma warheads will impact in ten seconds.’
Captain Viere put his opticon back on, in a last desperate attempt to save his ship, but as soon as he realized he had no connection, he threw the opticon to the floor. ‘Where’s the bloody control of my ship gone?’ he shouted in utter frustration at the professor.
There was a massive explosion on the port side of the ship; the Proyl shuttle containing the shield generator had taken a direct hit. There was the sound of metal striking the main hull, and one of the windows of the bridge cracked when a large piece of metal struck it with great force. At the rear of the ship the light-drives took two hits, erupting in flame, as air inside the ship ignited. An impact directly below them caused the whole bridge to shudder. One of the cryo-chambers exploded and the floor beneath it erupted upwards, killing the Drenite inside instantly.
Seth watched as the logip stone that was inside the cryo-chamber, hit the ceiling. It landed on the floor in front of him.
‘Don’t look at it!’ he heard Rakeal shout, but it was too late.
I feel happy, so happy.
Seth felt a hard slap on his face.
‘Seth! Seth! Look at me,’ Rakeal’s voice said in his head.
‘Am I dreaming?’
Seth eyes focused. Rakeal was shaking him. She slapped him again. ‘Wake up!’
He took a deep breath.
Rakeal was standing between him and the logip stone. He glanced to his left. Captain Viere was lying on the floor, staring at the logip stone.
Professor Pliblin pushed by them. ‘Get out of my way!’
‘Quick! We must get to an escape-pod,’ Rakeal said. ‘The Lusica has had it. Kalrea is tearing it apart.’
‘Wait! What about the bracelet control module. If the Lusica is destroyed, then we need it to survive,’ Seth said. ‘Captain Viere is there. We can get it.’
Another explosion rocked the bridge. Part of the ceiling collapsed and a ball of flame poured out.
Rakeal pulled Seth out of the bridge, and just in time. The door behind them slammed shut just one second before the integrity of the bridge succumbed to space.
Seth glanced at the line of doors on each side of the corridor. The remaining crew were opening the escape-pod doors and getting quickly inside.
‘Here, put this on,’ Rakeal said, passing the telementor to Seth.
‘Why?’
‘Because we don’t want to lose it, that’s why. Now do as I say!’
You could have just as easily put it on your wrist, Seth thought, but decided not to argue on such a trivial thing, so he fastened it to his wrist.
Rakeal pointed to one of the escape-pods. ‘That one! We’ll take that one.’
Just as they were about to get inside, a Frindul pushed them both out of the way. ‘That one’s mine.’
‘Oh, no you don’t,’ Rakeal said, grabbing his arm. ‘There are only two seats in these, and we’re taking this one.’ She yanked him back.
The Frindul pulled a railgun on her. She raised her hands in a submissive way.
‘It’s the only one left, and I’m taking it,’ the Frindul said determined.
Seth thought he was about to pull the trigger, and shouted, ‘No!’ He grabbed the Frindul’s arm with the railgun, pulling it upwards. A number of rounds strafed the ceiling.
‘Rakeal! Do what you do best,’ Seth said urgently.
‘What’s that?’
‘Hit him!’
Rakeal needed no invitation. She floored him with one punch.
There was a shriek of air now coming from the left of them.
‘Get in!’ Rakeal said with great urgency. ‘Now!’
Seth climbed inside. Then Rakeal followed him, closing the door behind her.
It’s bigger than I expected, Seth thought, Actually, I’m surprised there are only two seats. They could have got four in here.
Out of the windows in the front and sides, he could see escape-pods leaving the Lusica.
‘Take the front seat,’ Rakeal said.
Looking through the window he saw an eruption of metal. The Lusica had broken its back, and the whole rear of the ship started to cart-wheel upwards and over them.
Seth got quickly into his seat. Two large restraints clamped him in place.
‘Hit the blue button on the console,’ Rakeal shouted at him.
‘But, you’re not in your seat.’
‘Do it, or we’re dead!’
Seth saw the huge bulk of the rear of the Lusica bearing down on them. He pressed the button.
With great force their escape-pod was pushed away from the dying Lusica, but it clipped a piece of jagged hull moving into its path. The whole pod was wrenched sideways, snapping Seth’s head violently to the side. An alarm, on the console in front of him, sounded.
Rakeal was thrown across the pod, striking her head on a side wall of the pod.
‘Rakeal, we’re clear,’ he said, but there was no reply. ‘Rakeal?’
Seth tried to peer over his shoulder, but the restraints made it very difficult.
‘Rakeal, answer me!’
How do I get these restraints open, he thought stressed.
There was an explosion to the left of their escape-pod, then another.
Now what’s happening! he thought, checking outside. ‘Oh, no! Rakeal, Kalrea’s defenses are targeting the escape-pods.’
Seth watched on helplessly as escape-pod after escape-pod exploded before his eyes. He watched in horror as a pod directly ahead of him took a hit, shattering like an egg hitting a solid wall. Blood splattered the window and debris hit their pod.
Then a ball of plasma appeared heading straight at them.
‘This is it.’
‘Thank you for choosing a Parrel escape-pod,’ a male voice said without warning from the console in front of him.
What the-
‘The Parrel escape-pod has locked on to the nearest population center,’ the voice added. ‘Please ensure you stay within your seats at all times.’
Their escape-pod unexpectedly jerked sideways, changing its course, just as the plasma warhead was going to strike. Nevertheless, their pod was still grazed by it and started to spin. More alarms sounded.
There are no controls, nothing, Seth thought, pondering over the console in front of him. ‘Rakeal, can you hear me?’
‘Stabilizer failure,’ the male voice said from the console.
‘Great! What do you expect me to do about it?’
The escape-pod was now punching its way through the planet’s atmosphere, trailing a bright fiery line in its wake.
Seth tried to look to Rakeal again. Straining his neck, he saw her move a hand up to her head.
‘Rakeal, you need to get in your seat,’ Seth screamed at her.
‘Seat, yes... Seat,’ she replied, but she seemed to be in deep concentration.
‘Breaking thruster failure,’ the voice said from the console, grabbing Seth’s attention. He looked back to the front window, and gasped in terror as the ground was already upon them.
Seth put his hands up instinctively to protect his face, but to his surprise they were surrounded by a halo of white light. In fact, the whole of his body was surrounded by the halo. He glanced to the telementor. Its face was glowing white.
The escape-pod hit the ground violently, sending Rakeal flying over the top of him into the front window. She hit the front screen with such force, she cracked the window. Her head was split open, and blue blood poured from it for a moment.
The escape-pod bounced a few times, before rolling to a gentle stop.
Chapter Twenty-One
The face of the telementor returned to normal and the halo around Seth dispersed. His chest felt like it was going to explode. Dazed, he tried to look around.
The whole side of the escape-pod to his right had been pushed inwards by the force of the impact with the ground and his head had somehow made an indentation in the deformed hull without harming him.
He glanced to the telementor.
I don’t know how or why, but this thing has saved my life.
Rakeal was slumped on the floor next to him, motionless. The harness holding him in the seat now felt limp, and he pushed it out of his way.
‘Rakeal!’
He frantically climbed out of the seat, almost falling to the floor in the rush to get to her. Given the extent of the damage to the escape-pod, he feared the worse for Rakeal. He knew that the only thing that had saved him was the telementor and Rakeal was not wearing one.
‘Can you hear me, Rakeal?’ he said, checking desperately for any sign of life. ‘We’re now on Kalzor.’
She doesn’t appear to be breathing. What do I do?
Her face was very pale and her eyes closed. There was a four-centimeter long gash in her forehead, which was smeared with blood.
She has blue blood. But Xangols have red blood.
Seth felt her chest.
There’s no heart beat.
Panicking, he slapped her on the face a number of times. ‘Rakeal, don’t you die on me. Please come back.’
Rakeal suddenly drew a breath and opened her eyes. She wearily put her hand up to stop him slapping her again.
‘Stop hitting me,’ she said, with a slight annoyance in her voice.
‘Thank God, you’re alive.’
‘I think I should have taken a seat, don’t you.’ She grimaced, as she moved a bit. ‘That really hurts.’
‘Stay still. You may have broken something.’
‘I’m fine, Seth. I need a while to recover, that’s all.’
‘You need help.’
‘No! I’ll be all right. Give me a few minutes, please!’
Seth peered outside through the cracked window. A bright star, known as the Zor sun, was directly overhead and the blue sky was almost cloud-free; just an occasional puffy white cloud in the distance. The pod had crashed in a grassy meadow which was surrounded by a wooden picket fence. He could see small rolling hills predominately covered with trees and bushes, but no structures of any kind.
Three vehicles, which levitated above the ground, had stopped about fifty meters from the escape-pod. They lowered gently to the ground. Two appeared to be private transports, but the other had markings on its side, which made it look like it belonged to an official organization.
The sides of the two private transports opened outwards like wings of a beetle, and some people got out.
‘Help’s here. I’ll go and get them,’ Seth said, moving to the rear of the escape-pod. He pushed a blue button in the center of the door. Its edge ignited and the door flew away from the pod.
He was immediately hit by a rush of warm air carrying the scent of wild flowers.
Wow, it’s going to be hot out there.
‘Seth, stay here,’ Rakeal said with concern. ‘Don’t go out there without me.’
‘Don’t worry, I’ll be back in a minute with help,’ he said, stepping out onto a wild meadow of grass and wild flowers.
Yellowy-green grass and vegetation. How weird, Seth thought. I was expecting blue like on Onliv.
He stared towards the group of people, and waved his arms in the air to attract their attention.
‘Hello!’ he shouted, and then jogged towards the Agonians, but stopped immediately when he noticed they were pointing their weapons at him. He raised his arms.
‘Please, I’m unarmed. I need your help. My friend has been hurt and she needs urgent help. Please, you must help her.’
A woman in her late thirties who appeared to be a civilian, moved out from the group towards him. In fact, as Seth glanced around at the others, he saw no uniforms, just people who were wearing casual clothes.
At least their military hasn’t arrived yet.
Seth observed the woman as she approach him.
So that’s how I would look if I had no hair on my head. And that bump on the crown of her head must be where her backbone begins.
Seth expected her to greet him, but instead she asked him with authority, ‘How did you get past the planetary defense shield?’
‘I don’t know. We were lucky.’
‘Lucky!’ the woman answered with much skepticism.
‘We’re wasting time. Look, I need a medic. My friend is injured and she’s still in the escape-pod. Please!’
The woman signaled to the official-looking vehicle to her left with her finger, and pointed to the escape-pod.
Good, that vehicle must have medical staff on board, Seth thought with relief.
A turret rose out of its roof and turned towards the escape-pod. It instantly fired two plasma rounds and the pod exploded in a ball of flame.
That didn’t happen. Tell me, that didn’t happen.
Seth was in total shock. His mouth felt dry and he became light headed. He slumped to his knees.
It was a military vehicle. What have they done? I should have gotten Rakeal out of there.
The woman now pointed her gun at his head.
‘I’m sorry, but we cannot allow any of you to live,’ she said to him.
They killed her.
Seth had tears in his eyes as he looked up with hate into hers. She had pity in her eyes, and it was obvious to him that she had never had to do this before. He could have pleaded with her, and maybe she would have let him live, but he knew Rakeal could not have survived the escape-pod and decided he wanted to be with her.
