The Covenant (14 page)

hesitation. As friend, however, I say bullshit. If there’s trouble on Rapt One,

and rumors
have
been surfacing about mantonium theft, you’d know it, Ran.

Look, I want to know how to deploy help from the nearby bases, but I need

information on how they should go in. What are they facing anyway? Come

on, help me.”

“I don’t know anything for sure.” Ran thrust his fingers through his hair,

the possible scenarios spinning out in his mind, none of them very

reassuring. “The Council is aware of a problem, but—”

“You’re going to tie my hands with that damned close-mouthed

authoritarian red tape.” A frustrated breath echoed out. “Look, fine, you

can’t say what you think is exactly going on, but tell me this, are the

explosions deliberate?”

“I’d guess they are.”

“Big casualties?”

“Probably. If not already, there might be.” Ran swung out of bed and

walked over to grab a tunic and pants. “I’m going to call an emergency

meeting of the Council, Ian. I’ll get right back in touch as soon as possible.”

He set aside the communicator and started to dress. Jerra stared at him

from across the darkened room. “You can’t tell me either what’s going on,

can you?”

“No.” He fastened his tunic and reached for his boots.

“Does this have something to do with that quotation you wanted me to

translate?”

“My love, I’m not sure. Larik is there, Larik sent the quote, and now

there is trouble. I know only a little more myself.”

Beautiful and voluptuous in the gilded light from the two moons

hanging low in the distance, visible through the long windows by the bed,

she stared at him with open concern. “Will Minoa have to become

involved?”

Ran pulled on his boots and went over to give her a swift kiss. “I’ll be

back as soon as I can.”

* * * *

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85

Larik bent over the prostrate man and both blessed and cursed the latest

technology in warfare. The cutting edge weapon of choice among the Sspecies military was a high-powered, lightweight firearm that sent a small

device containing a powerful electric charge. Upon contact, depending upon

the location of the strike, it was enough to stop a man’s heart. In the

colonel’s case, the insulation properties of his uniform was designed to

diffuse the charge. It had done its job to a certain degree, but he was still

stunned and the hit was direct enough Larik was amazed he’d survived.

“Hit?” Pearce managed to open his eyes for a second only. A faint burnt

smell lingered around him.

“Abdomen. Higher and it would have done the job.”

In the distance came the sound of yet another explosion. Trey, still

breathing hard, crouched down. “Colonel, is there a way out of here besides

going back into the tunnel?”

“Doors on the…north…side.” Pearce’s face held a gray tinge and his

lips were blue. “Damn, I feel like someone slammed a transport into me.”

“I’d cut off my left testicle for a transport right now. And believe me, I

value my balls highly, so that’s saying something.” Trey’s mouth twisted

cynically. “Look, we can’t sit here huddled in an open hatch for long. They

can wait us out, easy. Somebody have a plan?”

Aspen, who’d slammed a recharging cell into her weapon, looked a little

pale, but otherwise resolute. “There can’t be many of them. Larik said ten.

Two dead of the virus, one on Minoa somewhere, and someone is setting off

the explosions, probably more than one from the sound of it. So five at the

most, probably less. Four to five isn’t bad odds.”

Only one of them was severely injured. Larik doubted Pearce could

even stand on his own.

“Take my communicator,” Pearce gasped a little as he spoke. “Call

for…help. Tell them…we’re…trapped in Station Seven.”

Larik pulled it from his belt and even before he could touch the pad, it

flashed. “Incoming call,” he said briefly. “This is Larik Armada. Colonel

Pearce is down.”

“I know. This is Ravenot.”

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Annabel Wolfe

Larik glanced at the frequency call identification and committed it to

memory. Then he drawled sarcastically, “Nice of you to get in touch. Don’t

let me forget to thank you for that month sitting in confinement quarters.”

“At least you had Lieutenant Thorne, Armada.”

The mocking edge to the man’s tone made Larik want to do something

violent and highly illegal. “What do you want?”

“My men are waiting and I’m sure you’ve already figured out they can

pick you off within seconds. They were stationed there to prevent any

escaping high ranking officers, but lucky me, you popped out of that tunnel

instead. Weapons on the floor, please, and just walk out slowly.”

“So you can kill us with our cooperation? No, thanks, I’ll pass.”

“I actually have orders not to kill you if possible. All three of you could

be useful in your own way, especially the lovely lieutenant. There is nothing

more useful than holding the daughter of a prominent general hostage.

Having a trained pilot at the skill level of York is always an advantage, and

you could help us solve a problem or two we’re having with the mantonium

project. Some of the bombs are going off prematurely.”

“Fuck off,” Larik said with cool deliberation. “I’d never help you, the

only place Trey would ever fly you is into hell, and Aspen isn’t going to

quietly let you take her prisoner. We know all about The Covenant and

Acadien, Ravins.”

There was a brief pause and then a short laugh. “You
are
resourceful,

Armada. Once I found out you were talking to Kartel, I knew we had to

speed things up. Maybe I should make my position more clear. Rapt One is

in our hands already. In case you doubt me, I’ll let you finish this

conversation with someone else.”

That didn’t sound good and the expression on his face must have

reflected it because Trey said an obscene word and shook his dark head.

“Armada, this is Governor Halden. I’d like to encourage you to

surrender yourselves. Ravenot claims they’ve enough explosives to continue

a systematic destruction of the capital city. With what has happened so far in

just a short time, I am forced to believe—”

The bitterness in his voice came through clearly and the brutal way he

was shut off spoke more than his words. At once Ravenot was back on. “So

you see, it’s best you just cooperate. It would save lives, including yours.

Some heroic gesture on your part is not going to change things. We’ve been

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87

planning this for years. We want control, not destruction, but using the latter

won’t stop us if it becomes necessary.”

Outside alarm signals pierced even the walls of the station, the

intermittent sounds punctuated by the occasional rumble of another small

explosion.

“If you don’t want to kill us, why hit the military quarters first?”

“It was already planned. Your release precipitated the action. If you

died, you died.” His voice held a figurative shrug. “Since you didn’t, let’s

negotiate.”

They weren’t in much of a position to negotiate. Larik didn’t trust Rapt

One’s former Chief Engineer in the least, but he had an injured man and a

pregnant female to protect. Aspen may not appreciate his way of thinking,

but in his mind, his own child could be at risk also, not to mention his

feelings for her were deeply involved.

“Contact me again in a few minutes.”

Aspen stared at Larik as he disengaged the exchange. “No,” she

protested vehemently, her training obviously asserting itself. “Our military

expressly forbids cooperation with anti-federation forces of any kind.”

“Have I ever mentioned you’re even more beautiful when you’re

spouting regulations at me, Lieutenant?” He grinned, trying to portray a

nonchalance he didn’t really feel. “But we need to be realistic right now.

Colonel Pearce is wounded and needs attention. And let’s not forget we’re

cornered.”

Only half-conscious on the floor, the colonel gave a weak cough. “She’s

right. Don’t do anything for me.”

It was Trey who said slowly, “I’ve seen that look on your face before.

What do you have in mind, Armada?”

“That was a very enlightening conversation in some ways. I need access

to a communication center anyway and this makes it more urgent. Any

thoughts, Colonel?”

“There’s one in this building…of course, but…”

“Yeah, but,” Trey said with emphasis. “Trying to get to it without being

exterminated could be tricky. I can’t believe we were able to drag the

colonel back in here without getting hit. If Aspen hadn’t been returning fire,

we wouldn’t have.”

Larik frowned, thinking furiously. “Where is it?”

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Annabel Wolfe

“Near the exit.” The colonel was ashen now, his eyelids fluttering. “It

controls security safeguards.”

“But I bet it’s directly tapped into the main system, isn’t it? That’ll save

time.” Larik really didn’t need an answer, he was just musing aloud. “I

really, really need to access it.”

“Couldn’t…coded…” Clearly Pearce was losing consciousness.

“Wait a minute.” Larik had a sudden flash, trying to remember the exact

configuration of the way the tunnel had been set up. “Colonel, stay with me

please.” He knelt by the fallen man and touched his shoulder. “You said you

are in charge of security in the tunnel during maintenance, right? Is there a

separate communications system down there?”

“Panel…near hatches. Also…coded, but just for…” Pearce lost the

battle, his body going limp.

“I bet he meant it’s like the one in quarantine, only set for simple access

and other basic functions. That’s all right. Time-consuming, but I know a

few shortcuts after navigating the Rapt One database these past weeks.”

Larik nodded at Aspen who stood by the control panel. “Let’s go.”

“Shit,” Trey muttered bitterly, “I swear I knew I was going to get stuck

going back down there.”

* * * *

With the city blowing up all around them, it seemed like a terrible idea

to go underground in case they ended up stuck there, but Aspen trusted

Larik’s confidence, and the last time she checked, their options limited.

Surrender was
not
an option. If they thought holding her hostage would

sway her father, they were wrong. If she was captured, she knew he’d be

worried and intensely involved as much as possible in any rescue attempt,

but he would never budge on negotiations. It wasn’t done, and he followed

protocol to the letter of the regulation.

The hatch plummeted downward and came to a halt, and thankfully, the

door opened. Once their opponents realized they went back down, there was

nothing to prevent them from blocking the energy source needed for them to

go back up.

She shivered, not liking the idea of the dark tunnel and the very idea of

being trapped…

The Covenant: The Starlight Chronicles 2

89

Kneeling, she checked Colonel Pearce’s pulse, finding it both weak and

irregular. “Larik, hurry. The faster we get him out of here, the better.”

“The faster we
all
get out of here the happier I’ll be.” Trey held his

weapon with business-like competence and looked strained. “Hurry,

Armada. I’m begging you.”

“I need only a few minutes.” Larik pushed the panel button and it slid

up smoothly, to their mutual relief. The sound of his fingers clicking away

was like some strange echoing, but welcome, music in the confines of the

tunnel exit.

“How come no one else used this exit?” Aspen peered into the darkness,

only a hint of luminous blue in the distance.

“Blocked at the other end would be my guess.” Trey stared down at her.

“By the time they realized how serious the situation is, it was too late.

Ravenot…Ravins, or whatever the hell his name is, isn’t an idiot. As Chief

Engineer, he knows pretty much everything about Rapt One.”

“That’s unfortunately right.” Standing by the open panel, somehow

Larik was able to listen to their exchange and still work on whatever he

insisted was so important they risk getting locked away. “But you know,

there’s one thing he’s completely unaware of. Or I hope so.”

“What’s that?” She watched him work, amazed at how effortless it

looked. He didn’t even hesitate as he typed in passwords and whatever other

wizardry needed to infiltrate what should be an impenetrable system.

In answer he smiled, a slow curve of his mouth visible in the dim

illumination. “I’m in, and if I set it up properly, all I need to do is…this.”

He clicked a key.

The lights came on.

Aspen felt her mouth part in surprise.

Trey murmured, “That’s better, thanks. Now, what are you doing?”

“Restoring power, blocking the subversive communication grid, sending

out distress signals to the Federation.”

“Is that all?” Trey’s crystalline blue eyes glimmered in relief and

amusement. “With one touch of a key?”

“I noticed them setting up a failure a few days ago. I thought it might be

prudent to make sure I could negate it if we needed to. I installed an