Fall of Icarus (52 page)

           
“Negative,” she answered.
 
“All is quiet.”

           
“And that doesn’t strike you as strange?” Rombard responded.

           
“No stranger than any of you.”

           
“Keep your eyes open,” the Oterian said.
 
“Let me know the second you see something.”

           
Frustrated, both with the situation and the Avalon, Rombard turned off his microphone.
 
He turned to speak with Keeling, but saw the Uligart standing in a guarded stance.
 
Following his gaze, Rombard looked into one of the heavily shadowed alleys that separated the dirty clay buildings.
 
He saw nothing moving.

           
“What is it?”

           
Keeling shook his head slightly, his eyes never leaving the alley.
 
“I saw something in the alley.
 
Something big.”

           
Rombard strained again to see anything in the alleyway.
 
“I don’t see…”

           
He was interrupted by a loud crack, like wood splintering or a box being torn open.
 
The sound, he was certain, came from the alley.

           
The pair looked at one another.

           
“Shall we check it out?” Keeling asked, nervously.

           
Rombard nodded.
 
“Let’s go.”

           
The store was blissfully cool, but it took some time for Keryn’s eyes to fully adjust to the dimmer light.
 
Blue lights danced in her eyes; artifacts from too much time outside under the imposing, setting sun.
 
As her vision cleared, she took a look around the cluttered store.
 
A multitude of items sat on shelves and on tables placed chaotically around the room.
 
Many items she recognized, having seen similar craftsmanship in the stores in Farimas Space Station.
 
Other items were foreign to her.
 
Her fingers slid across a number of items as she walked around the room, her eyes moving to take in all the oddities within the store.

           
“We’re a border planet,” the
store owner
explained as Keryn looked at a strange electronic scanner.
 
“We get traders in from both the Alliance side and the Empire side.
 
You’re looking at some of the very best in Terran biological research equipment.”

           
Keryn dropped the scanner as though it had suddenly become hot, or that it suddenly carried an unseen contagion.
 
She could hear the Uligart hiss in displeasure behind her as the object clattered loudly onto the wooden table.

           
“You said you came for information only,” the
store owner
said impatiently.
 
“So how about you leave my wares alone and ask your questions.
 
I’d like to get this done quickly so that you can leave me in peace.”

           
Though her back was too him, Keryn still frowned in displeasure.
 
Something had the Uligart on edge.
 
Whatever it was, she intended to get the information from the
store owner
, one way or another.
 
Luckily for her, Adam’s cooler head continued to intercede before she had the opportunity to play the damning inquisitor.

           
“Have you seen anyone unusual here in town?” Adam asked, leaning heavily on the wooden table behind which the Uligart stood.

           
“Everyone here in town is unusual,” the
store owner
answered, while avoiding the question at hand.

           
“That’s not what I meant, and you know it,” Adam said, his voice taking on a threatening edge.

           
“Then perhaps you should have started by asking the question you actually wanted answered,” the
store owner
taunted.

           
Keryn snarled as she turned, drawing her pistol in one smooth motion.
 
Pulling back the hammer on the pistol, she pointed it directly at the Uligart’s face.
 
“I don’t have time for your games.
 
We’re here looking for an Oterian named Cardax.
 
Do you know where he is or don’t you?”

           
The Uligart’s posture never changed; he still stood defiantly with his arms crossing his chest and an eyebrow raised in defiance.
 
“First of all, girl, let me tell you that this is not the first time I’ve had a pistol pointed at my face, nor will it be the last.
 
Do us all a favor and put that toy away.”
 
His cold eyes stared straight through her as he spoke.
 
In the silence that ensued, Keryn realized that the Uligart had been serious.
 
Realizing the pistol had little
effect,
she holstered her pistol under her jacket.

           
“Secondly,” the
store owner
continued as soon as the pistol was away, “let me offer you a word of warning.
 
You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into.
 
You go around town, waving your guns like you have some authority here.
 
But you don’t.
 
No one has authority in this town except for the miners and the people that work here.
 
And we take care of our own.
 
This Cardax you’re looking for, he comes here often.
 
He brings good money into town.
 
If you go around thinking you can
strong arm
him into coming with you, you’re going to be sadly, sadly mistaken.
 
Do us all a favor and turn around.
 
Take your friends, get back on your ship, and fly home.
 
Leave Pteraxis and never think of it again.”

           
“Sorry,” Keryn snarled, “but I don’t take advice from cowards who hide behind closed doors every time a stranger walks into town.
 
If Cardax is here, we’re going to find him, and the Gods can damn any man who stands in our way.”

           
As they stared at one another, Keryn’s transmitter in her ear crackled to life.
 
“Talon Six, this is Talon One.
 
We’ve spotted the target.
 
He’s moving through an alleyway, heading your direction.”

           
Keryn keyed her microphone.
 
“Talon Three, can you confirm?”

           
“Roger,” Cerise replied.
 
“Talon One is in pursuit.”

           
“Any other movement?” Keryn asked, her eyes never leaving the Uligart.

           
“Negative, it is still a ghost town.”

           
“Roger that.
 
Talon One, stay in pursuit.
 
We’ll corner the target in the middle of the street, where he has the least chance of running.”

           
Keryn turned off her microphone and sneered at the Uligart.
 
“I guess we won’t need your services after all.
 
And you can take all your advice and shove it!”

           
Turning away, Keryn opened the front door to the store and she and Adam stepped out into the glaring Pteraxis sun.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

           
The
Cair Thewlis
fell through the sky like a comet, hurtling toward Earth’s surface.
 
Their escape from the Terran defensive fleet had bought them enough time to enter the atmosphere over one of the planet’s many oceans.

           
Yen careened his head in an attempt to look at the world below as Pelasi angled the ship in a steep dive, but the world below was obscured.
 
The innocuous clouds that Yen had seen from orbit had turned dark before his eyes.
 
They boiled with an inner anger, punctuated by sharp flashes of lightning arcing from one swollen cloud to another.
 
Thunder crashed loudly, jarring the
ship
as they grew closer to the storm clouds.
 
Yen frowned at the sight.
 
Earth was gone, replaced by a swirling mass of black clouds which roared out in challenge, daring the
Cair Thewlis
to pass into their bellies.
 
The landing on Earth would be difficult with nature herself seeming to rise up in protest to the Alliance invasion.

           
Their ship seemed infinitesimally small as it was swallowed by the storm.
 
Slipping beneath the clouds’ surface, Yen could hear the gentle patter of rain start almost immediately, though it was hard to see anything beyond the windows of the ship.
 
Droplets of water pelted the window before rolling toward the rear of the descending transport.
 
The deeper they flew toward the heart of Earth, the denser the rain became until it was pouring in sheets that coated the front viewports.

           
Yen tried to block out the storm brewing outside the ship and, instead, focused on the storm brewing within him.
 
The storm clouds were indicative of their entire mission.
 
Innocent mechanisms, like the warp technology, became deathtraps when placed in the hands of the Alliance.
 
Yen had lost so much during the conflicts, beginning with his time in covert operations and continuing as he took his position aboard the
Revolution
.
 
It seemed that every fiber of the universe itself rallied against him and now that he had finally reached Earth, even the planet itself staged a violent protest.
 
Sneering at the dark clouds around him, Yen knew that the planet would have to rupture and vaporize him where he sat before he would stop.
 
He had the opportunity to lead the Alliance to the greatest victory ever recorded.
 
More importantly, Yen was quickly becoming the figurehead who would be ushering in a new era of peace.
 
Soon, Yen would be king among the Alliance.
 
No,
he corrected himself
,
he would be a God
!

           
A brilliant flash of lightning wrenched Yen from his musings.
 
He blinked away the spots of light that danced in his vision.
 
The lightning strike had passed dangerously close to the ship and Yen was suddenly reminded of how much the
Cair Thewlis
was acting like a giant lightning rod, passing through the heart of a storm.

           
“Is that lightning going to be a problem?” Yen asked as he turned toward Warrant Pelasi.

           
The Uligart looked strained.
 
His eyes darted back and forth between the controls and the radar, since Pelasi was flying completely on sensors as they passed through the blinding storm.
 
“Gods, I hope not,” he whispered.

           
“Anything I can do?”

           
Pelasi shook his head.
 
“Not unless you can part the clouds and give me a tunnel to fly through.
 
We’re pretty much running blind right now.
 
I’ve got some sensor telemetry, but the ionized air is bouncing back a lot of false signals.
 
I can’t tell if we’re one mile or a hundred above the surface.
 
I’m just hoping I can figure it out before we hit the water.”

           
Yen shivered at the thought of crashing into one of Earth’s oceans.
 
As much as he felt helpless, Pelasi had touched on something that Yen might just be able to help with.
 
Shrugging, Yen turned to his Uligart pilot.
 
“I can’t help with the sensors, but I might be able to do something about the weather.”