Sounds Of The Hunt (Far From Home Book 3), page 2
“You don’t know what you’re talking about!” Sifa pressed. “We encourage trade! We help independent vessels all the time. Many of them visit this very planet! That’s one of the reasons we constructed those buildings you and your friends destroyed. Please, I’ll take you to the admin right now!”
“We already have everything we need down here. I’ll do you a favor though. Save you from the fires. The horrifying death you have waiting for you when we’re done.”
A loud pop made Sifa stiffen. The burning came a moment later, starting at the base of her spine. She whimpered, dropping forward. Her face bounced on the metal platform as pain danced up her nerves, so powerful she could not even scream. She convulsed, probably a motion that hastened her end.
“Thank me,” the man said, “for your death would’ve been far worse had I let you live.”
Sifa stiffened… she closed her eyes… then fell into darkness.
Chapter 1
Ali Nast wanted a holiday. After a lengthy delay of sitting around waiting for another ship to take their cargo and passengers, they were forced into a long trip to visit Egintal. She struggled to think of many worse fates than to be shipped off to hide away while their problems were sorted by other people.
Her partner Olgrit didn’t seem to mind. In fact, he suggested they were taking a holiday. It may have been that way for him, given his direct connection to the head of the Nivota Guild. But Ali knew better. Despite the fact they had been sent there to lay low, someone would find a way to put them to work.
Something unpleasant. Ali also knew whatever responsibilities they were given ultimately fall on her to handle. Olgrit will have to look after our final passenger. The one I wanted to get rid of the most. There was a bright side to the situation though. If she was running some errand or other, she didn’t have to deal with Reilin Bazh.
The Minister of Transportation’s daughter and his co-conspirator in trying to apply political pressure on the Nivota Guild. The two of them caused serious drama. If their plan had been successful, the way the security forces moved in they may have arrested Ali and Olgrit. Since they weren’t, it looked like the Guild abducted the girl.
Ali sat on the bridge alone as they approached their destination. They’d arrive shortly and she wanted to immediately flash her authorization codes to avoid a bureaucratic nightmare. One of her first trips to such a planet, she slept through the initial arrival. Her landing was delayed by a whole day as a result.
They wanted punctual responses and they couldn’t be straight from the computer. Which made little sense to anyone working for a living. Admins followed their rules regardless of how ridiculous they were. The form pushers didn’t seem to understand the commodity of time or how valuable it was for a trader constantly on the move.
“Hey!” Olgrit’s chipper tone made Ali sigh. “You still mad at me?”
“Why would I stop?”
“Because… everything’s working out?”
Ali’s eyes widened as she turned to him. “Do tell. I can’t wait to hear this.”
“We’re almost to Egintal. Once we get there, we relax for a few days. Reilin goes home. We get back to work. Everyone wins. No big deal, right?”
“You haven’t paid any attention at all, have you?” Ali shook her head. “Egintal isn’t a relaxing day in the sun. This is a place were they can keep us out of sight while one of your relatives negotiates Reilin’s return to her father. Also, they’ll probably use this opportunity to push them for some concessions.”
“So the point of sending Reilin will backfire.”
“I guess you could say that,” Ali replied. “If you’re hoping for some praise, we won’t get it. I’m probably taking demerits for those passengers we had to offload. And the cargo, don’t forget about that. Then you have to figure in the fact we’re traveling somewhere we didn’t intend. That’s a resource drain. More demerits.”
“They can’t hold you responsible for this,” Olgrit said, “I won’t let them. There’s no way we could’ve known it would go down like that. Or that we were being set up. I’ll be sure to speak to the appropriate people so we can smooth this over.”
“Please don’t.” Ali shook her head. “Seriously, leave it to the people already working on it. I don’t want to risk losing more over this situation. Let’s just get through this Egintal part without causing trouble or getting in any. We keep Reilin from doing anything stupid then we get back to our lives.”
“But if you’re talking demerits, won’t that set you back years?”
“I’ll think of something.” Ali rubbed her eyes. “What’s our guest doing anyway?”
“Oh, she’s still asleep, I think. After she had a meal, she crashed out.”
“Good.” Ali yawned. “I wish I had the capacity to rest the way she does. Even in a stressful situation, that child conked out. I’m impressed.”
“She’s adaptive. I think you’d like her if you got to know her.”
“That girl is why we’re in limbo,” Ali said. “Don’t hold your breath on me taking a shine to her. I’d just as soon throw her out of an airlock after all this. If she wasn’t so important, I might’ve already done it.”
“You can be unnecessarily cruel sometimes.”
Ali sighed. “It’s not that. I just… this is my life we’re treading on. I’ve worked hard for what I have and this one girl could wreck it all. If I don’t find a way to spin this, if we can’t fix it, then I’ll be standing in a broken airlock. All because she wanted to get some evidence of us messing with slaves.”
“She understands we don’t deal in those now.”
“Yeah, she needed to go after Dalona. Those idiots sell people from all kinds of uncivilized worlds. But we were the ones available to mess with so here we are. I’m most offended by the fact we happened to be her opportunity. It wasn’t even personal. They didn’t have specific evidence at all.”
Olgrit tapped the console. “What if…” He lowered his voice. “What if her father wanted her to be abducted?”
“Don’t be stupid.” Ali waved her hand. “There’s no way.”
“He’s not a fool, is he? He would’ve known we’d scan for the bug.”
“Maybe, maybe not. It depends on how deep in the weeds he’s gotten with our procedures. But I’m guessing not very far. Anyway, we’ll find out if he wants her back when our people start the negotiations.” And they’d better be doing that right now. I’ll lose my mind if I find out they dragged their feet.
“Are we there yet?” Reilin asked. Ali hadn’t heard her approach. The girl had a light footstep. “I didn’t sleep through landing, did I?”
“No,” Ali snapped, “we’re not even out of warp yet. What’re you doing up here? Didn’t someone tell you to stay in your room?”
“You didn’t,” Reilin replied, “and Olgrit certainly wouldn’t have.”
“Of course.” Ali glared at her partner. He wouldn’t look her in the eye. “You’re both annoying. Why do you even want to be up here? You’re not welcome.”
“Because I’m lonely,” Reilin said. “I figured if we’re about to be on some creepy Guild world, I should be hanging out with you both to get ready for it. How should I act? Do we have a change of clothes? I’ve been wearing these for a while. Oh! Should I have a weapon? Is it dangerous?”
Ali pointed at Olgrit. “Did you fill her head with some kind of notion that she’d be leaving the ship?”
“I didn’t talk about it.” Olgrit shrugged. “But she can’t just sit around here all day. They’re going to sweep the vessel when we get there. You know that.” He smiled. “Besides, would you want to sit around in here all alone? It would get boring really fast.”
“And lonely,” Reilin added.
“Yes, that too.” Olgrit patted Ali on the hand. She gave him a death stare. “Wow, you really do need to relax for a while. Maybe you should’ve let me communicate with command. Your stress levels—”
“Are not something you want to talk about,” Ali interrupted, “okay, look. Both of you should just be quiet for a minute. We’re coming out of warp. I’ll talk to our people, make arrangements to land, then you can show this outsider all around our hidden base. Maybe you can give her some secrets too. Just to be sure we’ve done everything wrong.”
“I just don’t want to be alone,” Reilin replied, “I don’t need any special treatment. I’ll even carry my weight. You can give me a job. I’ll do it. No matter what it is. Trust me, I’m a hard worker.”
“I sincerely doubt it,” Ali muttered. “She’s one hundred percent your responsibility, Olgrit. I will not take credit for any nonsense that happens because of her.” The ship dropped out of warp. Thank the spirits. I can focus on something besides these two morons. She diverted power to comms.
But there didn’t seem to be any receivers. No connections with the surface, no satellites letting her know their beacon had been tapped. Nothing. She frowned, switching on the viewscreen. Egintal was there. Nothing looked odd. She even got a scan of the various bits of technology orbiting the planet.
Engines are online, Ali thought. Radiation levels appear to be normal. So what happened? Why would they have their equipment offline? She scanned the communication satellite. The connection popped up, asking her if she wanted to login or reboot it. Maybe it dropped. They might not have access from the surface.
Ali initiated the procedure.
“What’s going on?” Olgrit asked. “I don’t have any sort of activity from any of the tech in orbit.”
“Just needs a reboot,” Ali muttered. I hope that’s the case. Her gut tingled. Something’s wrong. I hope everyone’s okay. All her frustration faded. Places like Egintal operated with peak efficiency. Those who chose to live in such conditions loved their jobs. Few things remained broken for long.
“I’m running a surface scan,” Olgrit said. “Can we get closer? Be easier for a penetration of the reactors and underground infrastructure.”
“Problem is,” Ali replied, “we’d have to deal with the automated defenses when my reboot finishes. Give that a minute. When it’s done, you can bounce from the satellite to get your data.” She turned to Reilin. “You really want to help?”
Reilin nodded. “Whatever you need.”
“Go back to your room. I’m switching on the computer there. I want you to monitor any and all signals from the surface. If there’s any activity, let us know.”
“Can’t I do that here?”
Ali shook her head. “You’re staying in one of the personal rooms. The connections are closed. I’m concerned that if there’s trouble down there, someone might use a personal comm to reach out for help. You’ll be on that channel right away. Strap into your seat as well. Just as a precaution.”
“I’m on it.” Reilin rushed off the bridge.
When she was out of earshot, Olgrit asked, “Why’d you send her away?”
“Because if something’s wrong down there…” Ali gestured, “then it might be seriously bad news. I don’t want her to panic. Frankly, I need you to keep it together too. So whatever we discover, stay focused, huh?”
“Got it.” Olgrit gestured to his terminal. “Looks like the satellite’s back online. Wow! The last entry in the log was more than sixteen hours ago!”
“They let it go that long?” Ali sighed. “This is why I worried. Something must be going on down there if they haven’t gotten around to fixing the orbital defense array. Get your scan done. We should be seeing comm traffic soon.” She flipped over to internal communications. “Reilin, are you logged in?”
“I am! I’m ready and observing traffic. There is some on the surface.”
That’s good news, Ali thought, means they’re not all dead.
“Thank you. If they go public, let us know right away.” Ali muted the line. “What do you have?”
“Some damage to a few structures. A couple buildings have been burned to the ground. I don’t see any indication they were attacked from orbit. My guess is this assault took place from someone who landed then went crazy. I’m scanning for ships now. Maybe we can find out who pulled this off.”
“Good idea.” Ali tried to reach out to Egintal control. The satellite accepted her command codes so when the weapons came online, she wouldn’t have to worry about being shot at.
“Who is this?” A man’s voice blared through the speakers. “I got your command codes but… wait, Ali? It’s Maldan!”
“What?” Ali clapped her hands. “I’m glad to hear your voice, but what are you doing here? I didn’t know you’d been moved to Egintal. What happened to that sweet run you had? I thought you’d retire on that route!”
“No, but we’ll have to chat about that later. We’re in a bad way down here, I don’t mind saying. What’re you doing here?”
“Bolger sent us to lay low. We’ve got trouble too, but we can help with whatever’s going on. Just tell me what you need.”
“One of the trade ships came in with stowaways. They attacked during late shift, hammered our infrastructure, killed quite a few sentries.”
“How many?” Ali asked.
“Fifteen,” Maldan replied. “Three confirmed dead from the fighting. Leaving twelve still running around causing trouble in the lower sections of the plant.”
Olgrit spoke up, “Hey, do they have demands? Or are they just causing havoc? What’s their damage?”
“We believe,” Maldan said, “they intend to destroy our reactors. If they get there, if they pull that off, then this colony’s done. What’s worse is we don’t have the ships to evacuate right now. Their initial strike caused severe damage to our shuttles. The main transport vessel is undergoing a major overhaul. Frankly, I’m glad you’re here.”
“We’ll land,” Ali replied, “you can board our ship for evacuation at the very least. As far as your invaders go, what’re the chances we can stop them? Do we have the force to do so? Or do we have to write Egintal off? I’m willing to do whatever it takes, but naturally I can’t risk Olgrit on a crazy offensive we can’t win.”
“I don’t know.” Maldan seemed on the verge of tears. His voice broke. “I just… we’ve been dealing with them for almost eight hours. They have yet to breach the reactor area, but it’s only a matter of time. I don’t think you have enough room for everyone. If they blow things up, it may impact the ecosystem of the entire planet.”
“Understood.” Ali sat up straight. “Start figuring out who evacuates on this ship. We’ll see about reaching out for some help. Maybe another Guild vessel can divert course to join us. In the meantime, don’t take any unnecessary risks. We’ve got your back, Maldan. We’ll get through this together.”
“Thank you,” Maldan said. “So much. We’ll talk again soon.” The line went quiet.
“This is insane!” Olgrit slapped his knee. “What’re we going to do? We have to stop those scum from destroying our property! How do we do it?”
“With force of arms,” Ali replied, “which we don’t seem to have down there. But I’m not sure why. They should have plenty of weapons. Maldan’s always been a hard hitter. I’ve been with him on a few jobs that went bad. He never backed down from a fight personally. Something else must be happening.”
“Any clues?”
Ali shook her head. “It’s all academic right now anyway.” She engaged the thrusters. “We have to get down there to evacuate as many people as possible.”
“Ma’am?” Reilin’s voice sounded high-pitched and thin through the speaker. “I’ve got some private comms on the surface. They… took some work to break into, but they’re talking about some dreadful things. I’m not sure they’re civilians.”
Ali frowned. “What do you mean?”
“They mentioned killing some sentries? One of them talked about killing a child, and he didn’t sound all that broken up over it either.”
“You have the invaders?” Ali found herself at a loss for words though she certainly had some questions. “Olgrit, find out what she’s got. Make sure you patch it through to Maldan. That should help them coordinate their attacks. Maybe we can pinpoint where those bastards are hiding out.”
“On it,” Olgrit said. He got up to leave.
“Uh… Reilin?” Ali cleared her throat. “Well done. You may have saved a lot of lives with that discovery. We’ll talk about how you did it later because I’m curious. For now, Olgrit’s on his way. Keep monitoring those communications. We’ll need what you discover when we reach the surface.”
“I’m on it, ma’am! Reilin out!”
Maybe she’s not the total waste I thought. Ali would give her a lot of credit if her actions saved Guild lives. She might really want to make up for the trouble she caused us. Or perhaps she’d like to mend the bridge her father decided to burn. If Maldan’s people couldn’t do what she pulled off, that’ll go a long way toward the negotiations on her side.
Maldan sent a signal to follow to the surface, granting her docking rights to a landing pad roughly in the center of the settlement. The region they settled in proved temperate with lots of forests and fresh water. Only minor adjustments had to be made to make the planet easily habitable.
Ali never ventured far outside the confines of the main area though some of her friends toured the desert area as well as a tundra far to the north. They had just about every ecosystem to explore or experience for those required to take some downtime. Olgrit was right that it could have been a holiday.
If not for the fact it felt like exile.
Then some kind of violence took place. Ali clung to the notion they might’ve been meant to go. She rarely fell into any sort esoteric contemplation, though this situation felt like more than a coincidence. Those people needed a way off, the women and children stuck in the middle of nowhere.
Even if they didn’t stop the criminals attacking them, they’d save some lives. If that wasn’t what religion pushed people to do, then Ali had no idea what the point was. She’d leave that place with as many souls aboard as possible. And if they could save the planet as well, so much the better.
Bolger will have to let me back on the job after that. One the Guild’s values came to mind. Opportunity out of disaster. This certainly qualified.
