Alien Salvation (31 page)

With another bow, he left. The door
slid shut and Lindsey slowly turned to her beaming mother. “What
did you do, Mom?”

Tara was wide eyed with innocence.
“I’ve done nothing except send a message to my youngest daughter
catching her up on all the latest.”

“You told her about Bacoj’s clan!”
Lindsey accused.

Tara had no qualms about meddling in
her daughter’s affairs. “She is your sister. When have you ever
kept secrets from her?”

Lindsey had to admit that was true.
Jessica had always been her closest confidante.

Tara tugged her towards the computer.
“Let’s listen to her message.”

A few moments later, Lindsey was
looking into her sister’s very bad-tempered face. “Hey you scurvy
swab, what’s this about leaving your clan behind? Tell those guys
to man up and stop worrying about rank. If you love them and they
love you that’s all that matters!” Jessica took a deep breath.
Lindsey could almost hear her thoughts as she mentally counted to
five.

The Empress relaxed into a concerned
smile. “Look, I’m dying to see you, but I know a thing or two about
fighting for the men you want to spend your life with. Stay with
them if it’s what you truly want.” Her eyes narrowed, but Lindsey
could tell Jessica was only pretending to be angry now. “You tell
Bacoj, Japohn and Vax they don’t want me to come out
there.”

Lindsey was amused through her sudden
attack of lightheadedness. “Now I know she’s a mom.”

A man spoke in the background, someone
Lindsey couldn’t see. The deep voice said, “Yes, those poor men
don’t want to meet their Empress in a mood.”

Jessica’s lips tightened and she
snarled, “Don’t start, Egilka. I’m still mad about this
morning.”

A long-suffering sigh answered her. “If
not this morning, it would be something else.”

As Jessica glared to her right, Lindsey
and Tara laughed. Tara shook her head. “Same old Jessica. Bless her
clan with patience, please.”

Jessica returned her focus to the
device that had recorded her message. “Anyway, I’ll see you after
your clan has completed their assignment. Tell them to keep you
safe.” She winked. “I love you, you scurvy swab.”

The vid blinked off. Lindsey blew the
air a kiss. “I love you too, matey.”

Her heart wanted to explode with joy.
The only thing that kept her together was concern for the woman at
her side. “Are you going to be all right, Mom? You’ll be without
family for nine long months.”

Tara was radiant, easing her worries.
“As long as my girls are happy, I’m fine. You know what our faith
says; loss is part of the cycle. Fortunately, this loss will be
only temporary.”

Tara wrapped her in a hug, and Lindsey
began laughing, great peals of childlike delight. She was returning
to her clan.

She was returning to her
clan!

* * * *

Japohn frowned as Bacoj stabbed a
finger at the image of the nearest Tragoom ship hovering in the sky
over the landing pad. “I’ll have to be fast and accurate. If I can
take off at an angle and hit that ship here, it will knock out a
few stabilizers and send them bouncing off one or two more of their
ships.”

Japohn studied the vid and considered.
If they’d been detected hiding in their shuttle by the Tragooms’
scanners, there was no indication yet. Tragooms weren’t likely to
destroy grounded shuttles anyway. The opportunistic race would be
enthralled to get their hands on intact Kalquorian ships. They’d
attack only if they had to. Half of the enemy force was hovering
over the landing pad now. The other half was firing on the building
where the other Kalquorians had fled for shelter.

He nodded his approval. “Your plan
might distract the Tragooms surrounding that building long enough
for some of our people who are pinned down to get out.”

“That’s the idea.”

Vax’s brows creased with worry. “Won’t
the Tragooms notice when you start the engines?”

Bacoj blew out a breath. Their Dramok
was visibly tense with worry. “That’s the trickiest part of this
whole thing. I’ll have to ascend the moment the engines fire so
they don’t have time to react. Even so there’ll be two seconds of
lag between the power up and flight.”

Japohn grinned, his heart totally in
the fight. He hoped they’d be able to take at least one ship’s
worth of the enemy with them. “Since they haven’t sent down a party
to slaughter us, I’m pretty sure the Tragooms don’t know we’re in
here.”

“It’s the one thing that might make
this work.”

Vax considered. “Fire the engines,
ascend immediately, and at the correct angle to drive one Tragoom
ship into another. You don’t expect enough of yourself,
Bacoj.”

The three men managed to laugh. The
odds he could carry off the plan were not quite impossible, but
close enough. Still, any chance was better than none. Japohn
clapped a meaty paw on Bacoj’s shoulder. “You’re a brilliant pilot.
You’ll make it work.”

The humor disappeared from Vax’s face.
“What if we live through this?”

Japohn was matter-of-fact. “It won’t be
for long. The Tragooms will sniff us out.”

“That’s the thing that scares me. Being
eaten alive.”

“Give me your knife, Vax.”

Vax drew his knife from his belt and
handed it to Japohn, who looked it over. It was a good blade,
sharp, serrated, plain. A weapon, not a kitchen tool or ceremonial
piece. He handed it back to Vax. “Don’t be a hero and try to take
any with you.” He grasped Vax’s hands over the knife’s handle and
touched the tip of it just below the Imdiko’s breastbone tilted
upwards. “Like this at this angle. Shove as hard as you can as fast
as you can. It’ll be quick. I’ll help you if I’m able.” He pulled
the dagger away from Vax’s body, turning the handle towards the
Imdiko before letting go.

Vax’s face relaxed with relief. “Thanks
Japohn. I feel a lot better now.” He put the knife in his waist
belt, keeping one hand on it as if for reassurance.

“I’m ready too.” Bacoj patted his own
blade, slung on his belt. It too was utilitarian, not showy, with a
plain black handle and sharp edge. It would do the job
nicely.

Now that Vax’s worst fears had been
addressed, he and Bacoj looked steady. Resolute. Ready to die
killing mortal enemies. Japohn felt a rush of pride for his
clanmates.

It was a good way to go out.

* * * *

The shuttle Sarod used to take Lindsey
back to Earth was very small. There wasn’t even a passenger cabin;
just the cockpit and a small storage compartment. Lindsey sat next
to the sober-faced Kalquorian, watching the blue-marble planet grow
larger on the vid screen. She also admired the steady hand of her
pilot, who apparently preferred to manually steer rather than
letting the ship’s system do the work.

His silence wore on her a little. Sarod
had spoken little except for polite pleasantries. His expression
was careful, not allowing her to guess if he disapproved of her
returning to such a low-ranking clan.

“You make piloting this thing look
easy,” she commented. Miss Friendly Conversationalist, that’s
me.

He glanced at her, a pleased look
warming his face. “It is for the most part, as long as you’re not
doing any fancy maneuvers. This is the simplest vehicle we have
that is space worthy. So simple that the pilot can usually work the
weapons while evading fire.”

“This has weapons?”

“The bare minimum and very primitive.
You never know when you’ll run into a hostile situation. Just
enough to discourage attack while making an escape.” He spoke in
his own language and a small vid appeared before Lindsey’s face.
“Here’s the viewer vid for targeting. You move the stick for
aiming, and push the button to fire.”

He demonstrated, moving the lever with
a button positioned on its tip. When he let go, Lindsey grasped it
and maneuvered it so the vid showed her what she was targeting. It
was a simple system.

She told Sarod, “Just like a video
game. So easy even an Earther can do it.”

He grinned at her and sobered again,
studying her face. “I hope your clan knows how lucky they
are.”

Lindsey was tempted to pat his muscled
shoulder, so wistful was his rumbling baritone. “I know how lucky I
am. They’re wonderful men.”

“They’d better be.” At Lindsey’s frown
he rushed to explain. “Forgive the protectiveness. Mataras are
precious to us.”

Lindsey did pat his shoulder then.
“You’re going to make some girl very happy.”

Sarod looked so delighted she almost
laughed out loud. “Thank you, Matara Lindsey.” He was much more
relaxed after that.

* * * *

“Here we go,” Bacoj told his clanmates.
He tapped in the command and the shuttle’s engines hummed into
life.

The two seconds it took for the ship to
cycle up into full ignition were the longest he’d ever endured. He
knew the Tragoom ships’ sensors alerted the enemy the instant the
Kalquorian shuttle came to life. He was counting on surprise to
keep them from reacting in time.

Then the shuttle jerked into the air.
It wasn’t a pretty takeoff, but Bacoj was looking for quickness,
not grace. The shuttle careened straight for the nearest Tragoom
attacker.

With a deafening boom, the shuttle
shook violently, throwing Vax backwards from where he’d been
kneeling between Bacoj and Japohn’s seats. The dim lights failed,
and the scream of gravity dampers and ship stabilizers filled the
young Dramok’s ears. The sense of vertigo was overwhelming, and
since the computers miraculously remained online, he was able to
see the enemy vessel he’d plowed into was flying erratically,
taking his shuttle with it.

“We’re hooked onto the Tragoom ship. I
can’t break free,” he shouted to his clanmates.

His eyes widened as he saw the path the
fused ships were taking. Before he could warn the other two to
brace for impact, the Tragoom ship ricocheted off another of the
attackers and smashed into a second ship. Then there was the sense
of extreme vertigo again, and the sensation of lifting out of his
chair as the still locked-together ships fell.

They hit the ground with force, and
Bacoj had only an instant to register crushing pain on his legs
before all stopped and a sightless, soundless void fell over
him.

* * * *

Sarod frowned at a vid that looked to
Lindsey like nothing more than neon blobs on a background of light
blue. He punched commands into the control panel, changing the
pictures faster than her eyes could register.

He said, “I’m getting some strange heat
signatures and power readings from the base. Everyone should have
cleared the area by now.” More quick commands. More blurring
pictures. Suddenly he growled, “Tragooms!”

Lindsey’s heart lurched. “Are any of
our people still down there?”

Sarod brought up another vid, and
Lindsey gasped to see many strange ships that looked haphazardly
cobbled together hovering over the parking lot that had served as
the Kalquorian landing pad. More Tragoom ships crowded the air over
a three-story office building, but they were moving away from it,
joining the other group. A few dots of life blurred from the
building towards the dubious cover of trees. Only Kalquorians moved
like that. There was no way to tell if her clan was among
them.

Sarod’s fangs were fully extended,
giving his speech a lisping quality. “About a dozen of our shuttles
are on the ground. The gurlucks waited until they outnumbered us to
attack.” He thumbed the com and shouted in staccato bursts of
Kalquorian.

“Is help coming?” Her fists were
white-knuckled. Tragoom ships had again reversed their course, now
chasing the running Kalquorians.

Sarod’s fingers flew up and down the
panel in a blur, bringing up readouts, most of which she couldn’t
make sense of. “It will take about ten of your minutes for our
forces to arrive. At least someone was able to put up a fight.
Three Tragoom ships are disabled and on the ground.” He grinned
savagely.

“Those five ships are chasing down the
men on foot. Can we do anything?”

He nodded. “If you’re up to distracting
them.”

Lindsey looked at the weapons stick and
the small vid before her. Like a video game. Except my clan is at
stake if they’re still alive. “This is my targeting monitor
right?”

Sarod nodded and concentrated on his
own instruments. “That’s it Matara. We’re within range now. Fire
whenever you have a shot.”

Lindsey got the rearmost Tragoom ship
in her sights, taking careful aim. Her Buddhist upbringing made her
uneasy to fire, but damn it, the men she loved were in danger. She
pressed the button. An explosion bloomed on the ship she fired at,
and it lurched, dropping down like a stone before it managed to
catch itself, pulling back up with a drunken list.

She’d fired on other living creatures.
It was surreal, especially because there was no sound of the fight
in the shuttle’s cockpit.