Nova (56 page)

“Suffice to say, Lieutenant Z’arr and I have the inside track
on that story.” Avara added, shooting a playful “
you’ll pay for that later
”
look at K’llan. “How far are you out, Ca’rrakk?”

“About two clicks; you should see me coming north by north–west
right now.”

Serros was just able to make out the smudge of an
approaching shuttle against the morning sky as Carrack continued, “Captain, I
am overjoyed to have found you, for more reasons than the obvious.”

Feeling a shard of ice insert itself into her chest as
foreboding swept through her Synergy enhanced psychic senses, Captain Serros
asked “What’s the situation, Major?”

 * * * * *

“Capturing transponder designation now.” Lieutenant Claudius
Chopa announced into the too staid quiet of the
QS Excalibur’s
Bridge.
Every officer stared at the Holo–View as if mesmerized, watching the colossal
Karukai
Dah’hakar
Class Dreadnaught knife through space towards their
position. “She’s reading as the
TS Sh’tal
.”

Mierda!

Commander Marcus Perez didn’t need Diana’s next words to
inform him what the name of that vessel was or what it meant to the just ninety
or so souls aboard ship, but he forced himself to remain outwardly impassive,
to do his job as Adeline did hers.

“That’s… the
TS Sha’tal
is the Flagship of the
Karukai First Fleet. It is typically commanded by the Military Triarch of the
Karukai Triarchy. Current intelligence names that individual as one Admiral
Artah Vael.” Diana efficiently snapped out. And who could blame her for the
faint quiver in her voice, for the pause?

“The
TS Sha’tal
is thirty minutes from firing range,
Commander Perez.” Chopa reported a second later.

What were they supposed to do against a one–hundred gun
ship, the pride of the Karukai Fleet? What
the Hell
was
he
supposed to do against those odds?

“Commander, the dreadnaught is hailing us.” Lieutenant Rygel
inserted.

Forcing himself to speak around the papery taste in his
mouth, Marcus responded “Open the channel, Dane.”

The holo–projected view of the ship was immediately replaced
by the 3D image of a standing Karukai who was, Marcus almost absently noted,
absolutely striking. Her skin was the color of polished porcelain and her large,
almond shaped eyes were rich garnets that bespoke an aggressive, relentless
intelligence. Her features were strong yet decidedly beautiful, from a willful,
straight nose to carved chin and feathery, arching brows.

She was wearing the crimson–traced, deep black uniform of a
Karukai Senior Officer, her eight crescent Admiral’s pips gleaming in her
ship’s light.

“I am Admiral Artah Vael of the Flagship
TS Sha’tal
,
Military Triarch of the Karukai Imperium. Why have you attacked the Karukai
vessel, the
TS Watcher
,
QS Excalibur
?” Her voice was not what
Perez expected. There was no posturing, no arrogance, and her tone was quiet,
almost hard to hear; yet there was no missing the confident surety she
projected.

Choosing his words carefully, Marcus responded “I am
Commander Marcus Perez, Executive Officer of the
Excalibur
. After
proposing several times that we part ways amicably, Captain Cyan Ner’kai of the
Watcher
demanded that we surrender our vessel under threat of
destruction. Clearly, we did not choose to surrender.”

“Clearly.” Admiral Vael repeated, a note of grim humor is
her voice.

Plunging on, Marcus added, “After the engagement, we again
offered to peacefully go our separate ways, and as you can see, we ceased our
attack.”

“Yet still you remain in–system,
Excalibur
.” Vael probed,
eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “Where is your Captain, Commander Perez?”

Caught off–guard at the query, Marcus barely stopped himself
from issuing a half–stutter as he responded “Captain Serros is indisposed at
the moment, Admiral.”

“Now, now; you did not lose so famous a Shield Operative as
Captain Avara Serros, did you?” Vael asked, eyes twin spear points even though
her tone remained light.

“No, of course not.”

“Tell me, does your missing Captain have anything to do with
the explosion I am reading from the surface of Dantis?”

Shocked, before he could think better of it, Marcus answered
with a genuine response. “What? Explosion?”

Avara!

“Mm?”

Attempting to recover, Marcus added “Our sensors have
detected no explosion.”

“We shall see. I suggest you remain in system while we
review the situation and gather data. Admiral Vael out.”

“Commander, the vessel is now twenty–minutes away from
firing range.” Chopa announced.

Just as the final word left the Navigation Officer’s mouth,
there was a sudden scatter–point of light as several explosions ripped into
view just larboard of
Excalibur’s
position.

“Commander!” Rygel exclaimed, whipping his head towards
Marcus. “A single line message from the
Sha’tal
: “A fair warning, in
case you were considering departure.”

So much for accurate firing range intelligence.

“Even though we do not have the range to return fire, we’re
still quick enough to outmaneuver her and leave the system if we need to.” Lieutenant
Commander Adeline commented, her dark eyes bleak as they met Marcus’s own.

“Any word from Ca’rrakk?” He asked, feeling like his still–beating
heart was slowly being pulled outside of his chest as he asked the question.

“Not as of yet; he should have made contact by now.” Diana
answered.

“Picking up a lot of back–channel communication between
Watcher
and
Sha’tal
, Commander.” Dane Rygel noted, gray–blue eyes narrowed in
speculation. “Coded, so would take days to break of course, but they’re definitely
talking a lot.”

“Repair and systems status?” Perez inquired as he stood from
the Captain’s chair, unable to be still any longer.

“As complete as can be without a week’s fine tuning.” Adeline
answered. Minutes trickled by as Marcus watched the looming vermilion vessel
purposefully come ever closer. Minutes in which Marcus felt utterly frozen and
trapped by the situation and available options.

He couldn’t leave Avara, his sister not of blood but in
every single way that mattered; more than birth ever could.
And,
he
couldn’t hope to win out against a
Dah’hakar
Class Karukai Dreadnaught.
Any attempt would be suicide.

Hearing the measured tread of footsteps, Marcus was anything
but surprised when Diana, standing so close to him that their shoulders
brushed, quietly asked, “Marcus, what are we going to do?”

What were they going to do? Indecision was not a partner he
was used to dancing with. Yet he didn’t have any choices that he could see,
save the one he had no desire to select. Feeling like he was signing his own
execution warrant, Marcus made himself turn his head and meet Diana’s gaze,
forced himself to speak. “Diana, we have to…”

“Commander!” Lieutenant Rygel’s excited voice cut his
sentence like a machete hacking into an overgrown thicket. “We have a single
Karukai
Stinger
moving astern and closing in on
Excalibur
and
it’s… it’s being trailed by the
ES2
!”

“What?” Perez cracked out.

“The
Stinger
is about eleven minutes from our
position, Sir.” Lieutenant Chopa reported.

“
Ghost Squadron
moving to intercept. Sending the command
to hold fire until ordered.” Diana reported, having half–run, half–jumped back
to her station.

“The
Stinger
, it’s hailing us, Sir.”

“Open the channel, Dane.”

“This is Captain Avara Serros. It would be appreciated if
you
did not
blast us out of space,
Excalibur
.”

There was no way Commander Marcus Perez could
ever
mistake that voice for another’s, all humor and cool confidence, steel–wrapped
with smooth velvet in one. “Avara! It’s about
damn–well
time,
Captain
!”

“It’s good to hear your voice too, Marcus.” Avara answered,
and he could feel the warmth and love she felt for him in her tone. “You can
yell at me later, but for now, I understand we have a bit of a situation on our
hands.”

“The situation is we need you
back,
on board, and
Excalibur
out of system
now
!” He rapped.

“Yeah, I see her, and we’re at full throttle. Ca’rrakk’s
just a minute or so behind.” Avara answered.

“Captain, Commander!” Dane Rygel blurted. “The
Sha’tal
is hailing us.”

“Take the hail, Marcus. Rygel, patch audio through to the
Stinger
,
receive only.” Avara ordered.

“Yes, Captain!” As the Comm Officer answered Serros, Marcus
thought that in this moment, despite the gravity of their predicament, Dane resembled
nothing less than enthusiastic puppy.

Admiral Artah Vael’s visage appeared, once more projected in
front of the view–port. “Commander Perez. After having spoken with the
Watcher’s
Executive Officer and reviewed relevant data, it seems much of what you said
holds true,
except
,” Vael inserted, a cold light suffusing her narrowed
eyes for the first time since they had interacted, “for a few critical pieces,
not the least of which is the spy that seems to be rendezvousing with you in a
Karukai
Stinger
right now, as we speak.”

“That is…”

“You will surrender your ship and the occupants of that
Stinger
and shuttle on course to you,” Vael interrupted, “or I shall be forced to
destroy your ship and all aboard.” Gaze never wavering, the Karukai Admiral
added, “I guarantee fair treatment. You have ten–minutes to decide.”

“Well, I see you’ve been making friends too, Marcus.” Avara remarked
lightly over the channel, breaking the heavy dread that held the crew in thrall
after the Karukai Admiral had cut communication.

“I thought she liked me.” Marcus replied, playing off his best
friend’s tension–easing ploy.

“You
always
think that when it comes to women.”
Serros joked. “Now,” she began, switching to pure business, “recall
Ghost
Squadron
and prepare for an instant deployment of all remaining Drones,
Combat and Decoy alike, as well as shuttles
ES1
and
ES3
on auto–pilot.
Position the lot directly between the
Excalibur
and the
Sha’tal
.
Have
Excalibur
ready for an immediate launch of a Q–Net and prepared for
a QGST Jump at Q6, 100K miles out.”

“Yes, Captain.” A silly, probably ridiculously optimistic
thread of hope grabbing hold as he listened to her orders.

Well, it
was
Avara, after all.

“Also, have a fresh full–dress uniform and some water and
towels readied for me in the Shuttle Bay.”

“You got it, Captain.”

With that, Avara closed the channel. Looking towards Diana, Marcus
saw that she was somehow holding it all together and already moving with the
speed of the devil to follow Avara’s directives.

Now there was nothing left to do but wait.

 * * * * *

“Welcome home, Avara.”

Marcus’s voice, gleaming brown eyes and the completely
against regs, brief but bone–crushing hug he yanked her into the minute she
stepped onto the
Excalibur’s
Bridge, signified that she truly was
home
.

A more reserved but no less happy Diana Adeline had stepped near
and gripped her shoulders in a close, almost painful hold of relief and
affection before stepping away a heartbeat after Marcus did.

“Marcus, Diana, I missed both of you, too.” Briefly turning
her head around the Bridge, Serros added, “
All
of you.”

Watching the faces that she knew and loved so well, seeing
Marcus place a welcoming arm around K’llan’s shoulder, Avara could hear how
husky her voice sounded even to her own ears. In desperate search of balance,
she shook her head and pulled for the adamantine self–discipline that had
served her so well throughout her life. Deliberately, she blotted out the
almost overwhelming surge of emotion within herself and exuded from her crew, to
deal with the very real crisis that faced them all.

“Captain,” Rygel began, half–bouncing up and down in his
seat from suppressed excitement and anxiety, “Admiral Vael is asking us to
surrender; she says the allotted ten minutes are up.”

“Is she?” Avara murmured, brow twitching at the presumption.

Moving forward to stand directly where her image and her
image alone would be projected to the
TS Sha’tal
, Avara carefully tugged
her hastily donned, crisp uniform into place, preparing for the confrontation
to come. With a slight sigh of irritation, she pushed back a too long curl of
black hair brushing her forehead, and then, taking a deep breath, stood ram–rod
straight with folded hands behind her back.

Deliberately letting a sense of calm certitude pour from her
being, Serros tranquilly ordered “Dane, patch the Admiral through, if you please.”

When the Karukai Admiral appeared, the first thing Serros
noted was her strong physical relation to her…
daughter? Cousin? Niece?

Whomever she’d just so recently battled in the cloning warehouse
of Outpost J2, the resemblance was unmistakable. To Avara’s satisfaction, the
second thing she observed was the slight shimmer of surprise that flitted in
the Karukai’s sultry–red eyes, though the Admiral quickly submerged the tell.

“Greetings, Admiral Artah Vael. I am Captain Avara Serros,
Strategic High Risk, Intelligence, and Enforcement Operative of the Quorum
Aligned Systems.”

“Captain Serros,” Vael hailed, her full lips upturned into a
slight smile, “I am so pleased to see that you’ve not been lost after all, and
that it is
you
who is going to place the
Excalibur
into my
custody.”