Defender of the Empire 2: Facades (15 page)

Chapter 18 – Facades and Sirens

              Race

              Those aboard the
Hail Mary
were surprised when they were joined as they orbited Colony Lenti by not one, but two Legion Fleet ships. There had been no word that they should be expecting anybody, which was why Commander Race Quinn was somewhat annoyed, though not at the crew for calling him from his quality quiet time with a mug of caffeine. Race had been finding it difficult to sleep since they had arrived in Colony Lenti space. Lenti had always made him uneasy, but the feeling had gotten worse since one of their own had been kidnapped right off their ship. Sleep had been scarce after that, which was why quiet time with some liquid wakefulness was important.

              “So we have unannounced company, eh?” Race said upon entering the bridge.

              “Aye, Commander. The
LFH Sol’s Memory
and the
LFH Falcon,
” Lieutenant Rael answered. “They haven’t tried communicating with us yet.”

              Race frowned as he sat in the captain’s chair. “I guess we’ll be the talkative ones then. Open a channel.”

              The view screen flicked from a stunning view of Colony Lenti and the two other ships to the captain of the
Sol’s Memory.
Captain Aleric Benson was a grim-faced older man. Race had never seen or even heard of the man smiling. “Your ship’s reaction time is slow, Commander.”

              Race’s brows rose. “Hello to you too, Captain.” When Captain Benson didn’t do anything other than narrow his eyes, Race gave up trying to get him to smile. Instead he said, “It is protocol for the incoming ship to announce itself. If it doesn’t after a few minutes, then we attempt communication. If the other ship charges weapons, than we deal with it accordingly, Sir,” Race reminded the captain.

              Captain Benson glowered. “Where is Admiral Wingstar, Commander?”

              “Planet side at the moment. What can I do for you, Sir?”

              “We detected Zar’daken ships heading toward Lenti space and came to provide aid.”

              Evens went to check his console just as it beeped a warning. “I’ve got two Zar’daken warships coming in fast,” he reported.

              “Battle stations!” Race ordered. He then turned back to Captain Benson. “Thank you, Sir, for the heads up and the aid.” The captain nodded once before ending the transmission. “Rael, inform the admiral about what’s going on up here.”

              A moment later, Rael patched the admiral through, voice only. “Hold on up there. I just talked to L’Seral. The
Terrenza
is coming to help as well. But don’t tell the other ships this. Surprise always favored the
Terrenza
in the past… plus I don’t trust Captain Benson,” Admiral Wingstar added, after a pause.

              Race grunted. “I don’t think his family trusts him, but that is my own personal opinion.” Admiral Wingstar laughed and Race smiled. Braeden had a sense of humor, unlike some. Race’s smile dimmed. “Admiral, they waited for us to contact them to tell us of two Zar’dakens closing in.”

              “That is strange.”

              “I thought so as well.”

              “Neither captain tried to contact you?” Braeden asked, as if trying to understand the thoughts behind the other captain’s actions.

              “Neither,” Race confirmed, as he watched the tense crew wait for the Zar’dakens to arrive. Of the two captains, Race would have thought that Captain Simone Laric of the
Falcon
would have tried. The beautiful captain always struck him as a decent person, unlike the other one. And no, that assessment didn’t have anything to do with bias, at least none that Race was going to admit to anytime soon.

              Moments later, a hyperspace tunnel appeared in a dazzling display of color. The great mouth spat out two large Zar’daken warships. They were immense, with many protrusions that reminded Race of a porcupine—maybe a better analogy would be an anemone. The Zar’dakens had no sooner arrived than they were firing upon the
Hail Mary
.

              “Brace yourselves! It’s about to get rough!” Race warned the crew. “Our guests have arrived,” Race continued privately to the admiral, his hands clutching the arms of the captain’s chair. They had upgraded the shields since their last tangle with the Zar’dakens, but Race still remembered how the bright orange blasts the Zar’dakens lobbed at them had knocked the
Hail Mary
on her ass. Would the new shields be enough?

              The
Hail Mary
shuddered under the attack, the klaxons enough to wake the dead, but the shields held. Race let himself relax for a moment. “Shields are at eighty percent!” Evens reported.

              “It’s better than last time. Lieutenant Milo, answer in kind, if you would,” Race directed toward the weapons officer.

              “Gladly Sir.” Good as his word, the
Hail Mary
fired a volley of several dozen laser blasts of various strengths. Char missiles soon joined the fray.

              Another shiver stole through the
Hail Mary
. Race frowned. The Zar’dakens hadn’t fired as far as he could see. “What just hit us?”

              Evens stared at his console for a moment before turning to look at him, his skin pale and  sapphire eyes wide. “Those were laser blasts from… from the other Legion ships, Sir.”

              “WHAT?” Race couldn’t believe it. “Rael, get a channel open with them right now.”

              “I’m trying, Commander, but they’re not responding!” Rael said in a voice colored by shocked despair.

              “They are firing chars at us now!” Evens shouted. “Shields are down to sixty-five percent!”

              “Damn!” Race cursed, the word stretching in an attempt to capture all the implications behind its use.
The problem with assuming,
Race thought absently. He had assumed that Captain Benson had meant to aid the
Hail Mary
when he hadn’t actually said that. He had only said that he had come to aid and they had been able to get close to the
Hail Mary.
But now the facades had dropped. “Evasive maneuvers!” he shouted when he saw the orange blasts from the Zar’dakens. “And while you’re at it, get out from between them.”

              The
Hail Mary
began a dangerous game of cat and mouse with the four attacking ships. She would appear and fire, before jumping away again. But she couldn’t leave, tethered as she was by her mission and her crew trapped on the colony world.

***

              Jason

              Meanwhile, Jason was discovering that being planet side wasn’t any better than being on the ship. In fact, he was pretty sure it was worse. The serpent was hissing and throwing its weight around inside his skin. Incessant as a sore tooth, the creature went on and on about how there was danger.
We need to protect them!
it demanded.

             
From what? Where is the danger coming from? Can you at least tell me that?

              Growling, the serpent replied,
Everywhere. The danger is everywhere.

             
Hey now, that’s specific and
very
helpful,
Jason growled back sarcastically. Just like being planet side was so very helpful. The admiral was sure that Rylynn was on Lenti, but not so sure as to where, exactly. Marius seemed to agree with him, which reminded Jason a lot of how Rylynn and Marius also seemed to be on the same page. How was it that those three always seemed to know things before the rest of them? It made him feel very left out.

             
They have help,
his other-self hinted at, ever so helpfully.

             
What do you mean?
Jason asked, rubbing his head and wondering how crazy some would think him if they only knew what was constantly going on in his head right now. Hell,
he
thought he was very much in need of an isolation room with lots of padding.

             
The Race of Light tell them things. Guide them. Tie them together.

              Jason frowned.
Race of light?
he wondered. He mentally reviewed all the races of the Spectral Empire before the realization of his own obliviousness sucker-punched him in the gut.
Of course! Spectrals!
He frowned again.
But they are supposed to be rare. And people who can see them even rarer…

              “I think it was pure insanity that inspired the first bureaucracy,” Marius suddenly whispered in his ear, jerking Jason back to the real world.

              Jason startled, and stared blankly at the other boy. Marius rolled his eyes and gestured at the table where the officials of the city had the admiral trapped. They had been going on for hours now about how it was time the Legion Fleet took an interest in their plight, and all the grievances the Telmicks had caused them. This was why Jason felt so helpless. Rylynn was out there somewhere, and these people couldn’t let them go find her. Instead, they seemed convinced that they could wave their hands and the Telmicks would magically go away or something.

              Jason turned back to Marius, and gasped softly. Sprawled lazily on the bench next to where Marius was seated was an insubstantial black panther. Starlight hazed the edges of her body and fur. Jason wasn’t sure what made him think the creature was female, but it seemed right. She shifted her great feline head, and settled it on Marius’s lap. Bright golden eyes met Jason’s gaze. They were dozy, as if she was bored. A moment later she blinked slowly, and then her eyes widened.

              “Are you all right, Jason?” Marius whispered in concern.

              Jason met his gaze and said, “She is a Spectral, isn’t she?”

              Marius’s green eyes widened in surprise. The panther sat up and tilted her head curiously at Jason, before turning to Marius. Marius’ eyes shut and he snorted softly. “I’m an idiot,” he muttered softly to himself. Jason normally wouldn’t have heard him, except that the serpent had heightened his senses. Marius leaned toward Jason. “I should have remembered,” he continued, “the gift of your family has always been able to see Spectrals. They are both creatures of energy, after all.”

              “How do you…” Jason began, but Marius shook his head.

              “This isn’t the place or time for this conversation. We can talk later,” Marius promised. Marius turned back to the conference going on a few feet away. Stunned, Jason followed his example, and couldn’t help but stare at yet
another
member of the ‘Race of Light’, as the serpent had called them. This one was a raven with feathers the same shade as his mother’s lapis lazuli dishware. Only these feathers were glowing. Its beady silver eyes didn’t miss a thing in the room.

              The raven was studying him from Admiral Wingstar’s shoulder. Jason forced himself to breathe. So, now he knew how the admiral and Marius were often on the same page. This made him wonder, what kind of Spectral did Rylynn have?

              “Excuse me, gentlemen. It is an urgent call,” Admiral Wingstar said suddenly. He rose from his seat before the mayor and the other officials of the prime city could say a word.

             
Danger,
the serpent hissed softly.

***

              Braeden

              “Admiral, we are under attack!” Lieutenant Rael said over his personal com once he’d established the link.

              “Excuse me, gentlemen. It is an urgent call,” the admiral said to the officials of the city. Rael’s words were all that he could focus on. He got up, and left the room. “What is happening up there, Rael?” he asked, once in private.

              “Two Zar’daken ships will be here soon, and we have guests. The
Sol’s Memory
and the
Falcon.
They say they are here to aid us.”

              Braeden frowned. He didn’t like the fact that his ship would be under attack while he wasn’t there to help her. He also didn’t like that the
Sol’s Memory
was there. While it was usually a good thing to have other Legion ships in a situation like this, Braeden didn’t trust Captain Benson. The captain had always rubbed him the wrong way. He’d always seemed to have different priorities than the Legion Fleet.

              However, he did trust Admiral L’Seral. A quick instruction to Gigit, and Braeden could hail L’Seral. “Francesca, the
Hail Mary
will soon be under attack by the Zar’dakens. Also, two unscheduled Legion Fleet ships are here, but I would feel better if you and the
Terrenza
could make an appearance.”