The Sac'a'rith (9 page)

“Well, sir, I am sure the leaders told their troops that we can stop the destruction of the station; but yeah, in the end it’s suicide.”

“Why, Commander? What is so important?” I asked.

“Honestly, I do not know. My job was to maintain civil order and none of the people who knew are still alive.”

“It does not matter at this point; what matters is getting everyone off this station. Felix, can you shield them while he gets his men from the core and to one of the escape pod bays?” asked Narcion.

“Yeah, I think so,” he said.

“Okay, here is the plan; I will take my team to get my ship, and you get your men to the escape pods. Once we are all off the station, I will pick you up and head for the nearest military outpost. All you have to do is delay the autodestruct long enough for us to get clear. Can you do that?” asked Narcion.

“Yes, sir, I can further ration power to give us a bit more time before the destruct sequence is automatically triggered, but how are we going to get past them?” the commander asked, gesturing to the screen.

“We are not going to try; we are going around them. The core is what, three levels below us?” he asked.

“Yes, sir.”

“Here, take this. It’s a thermite cutter. Don’t let its small size fool you; its superheated edge will cut just about anything. Go through the floor to the maintenance shaft. I assume you can find your way from there?”

“Yes, sir. But what about you?”

“We are going up,” said Narcion with a grin. “Zah’rak, I need a boost.”

It took me a moment to figure out he wanted me to lift him up to the ceiling. I held him up on my shoulders while he used a second thermite cutter to cut through the ceiling at the same time as Commander Elridge went to work on the floor. It was hot, tiring work for the two of them, but eventually they cut through.

“Commander, good luck,” said Narcion as he sprang off my shoulders into the ceiling.

I knew the two magi would be too short and too weak to make it up there without help. “I can lift you up.” They hesitated, but I knew we needed to move fast so I took hold of the closer of the two and hoisted him up. Narcion gripped him and pulled him up.

“Ready, Crivreen?” I asked.

“How are you going to get up?” he asked.

“I will take that as a ‘yes,’” I said, and I grabbed him and threw him up. Narcion caught him and dragged him over the edge. The commander and his team had gone down through his hole in the floor, leaving me alone.

I took a deep breath and leapt for the ceiling. Unlike the short, weak humans, my two-and-a-quarter-meter height and muscular legs made the jump possible for me. Still, I only just managed to grab the edge and hang on by digging my claws into the ceiling. I felt Narcion grip me but doubted if he, or any human, could handle my weight. It took some doing but I was able to pull myself up. “How about bringing a rope next time?”

Narcion smiled. “Not a bad idea, but now we need to move.”

“Where are we?” I asked.

“This is a maintenance passageway that runs between the levels. Between the interference from power conduits and your newfound ability to hide from the sensors, we should be able to run all the way to the shuttle bay undetected.”

“Won’t they guess what we did when they see the holes in the ceiling and floor?”

“Most likely, which is why we need to be far, far away from here before they break in. Let’s move.”

Narcion took the lead position, and I took the rear as usual. The passageway was very narrow and the ceiling was so low that I had to constantly duck pipes, conduits, and other obstacles as we ran. All I could think of was:
If we have to fight in here, I will be at a severe disadvantage.

I am unsure how much time had passed when Narcion stopped us near an airlock. “The maintenance bay where our ship is located is through that hatch.”

“Let me guess: they are waiting for us on the other side?” asked Crivreen.

“Yep,” said Narcion as he worked on his wrist computer that acted as a remote control for the cruiser. “It looks like a lot of them, too; too many for a blind rush.”

I placed my hand on the hatch and closed my eyes. I was not sure what I was doing, but it seemed right. Soon I was able to use my Sight. I looked into the bay and saw a large number of humans and those bug-like creatures, but it was strangely colorless, as if I was seeing only in black and white.

Before I could think too much about that Narcion asked, “What do you see?”

“It looks like a full squad of men and a dozen or so of those bugs. The men are not wearing much in the way of armor, but they are heavily armed. The cruiser is completely surrounded and the bay doors are barricaded. It’s odd, though,” I said.

“Odd in what way?”

“It’s not very well defined, and there is very little color; nothing like what I saw back in the command center.”

“That is a very good sign. No wraiths, then?” he asked.

“None that I can see,” I said.

“Good, then we have a chance. I am going to activate the cruiser’s weapons and blow a large hole in the side of the shuttle bay. The sudden explosive decompression will take care of the humans, and hopefully the bugs as well. As soon as I give the word, we will all rush through the hatch and board the cruiser. Even if some survive, we should have enough time to make it before they can respond.” He looked over at the magi. “You’re wearing government-issued armor. Is it rated for working in a vacuum?”

“Yes, but we are low on air,; we have maybe five minutes left,” said Crivreen.

“If it takes longer than five minutes, we are probably all dead anyway. Okay, get ready,” he said. “Wait for me to move. I will have to depressurize the airlock first, and then fire the weapons. The depressurization of the airlock might give them a bit of warning, but we can’t risk waiting for the airlock to cycle. We have to move fast before reinforcements can make it here.”

We moved into the airlock and Narcion used his command codes to override the controls and force the airlock to begin decompression. Once everyone was ready, Narcion activated the cruiser and fired its weapons. The air departed the hangar with great speed and force, taking only an instant to empty the hangar of anything that was not anchored down. “Now!” yelled Narcion as he opened the airlock door and charged through. The two magi quickly followed him. Once they were clear, I followed them through the door.

The shuttle bay was mostly empty as we entered it. The sudden depressurization must have caught the entire force off guard. We ran towards the cruiser, and it looked as if we were going to make it until I felt the shockwave of an explosion behind me; eerily silent, due to the near-vacuum of the hangar. I was lifted off my feet and thrown against the cruiser.

I quickly regained my footing and was relieved to see Crivreen getting to his feet, but the other magus did not move. “Get into the ship; I’ve got him!” I called out. I knew it was in vain to yell in a vacuum, but I did not have time to waste thinking. I grabbed the injured magus and ran for the cruiser’s hatch.

Narcion had made it ahead of us and was using the ship’s turrets to provide cover fire. I did not know where the explosion had come from, nor did I know at whom Narcion was shooting. The total silence of a battle in a vacuum was something I had only ever heard about before; I never imagined I would actually experience it. It felt like being robbed of one of my natural abilities. It was disorientating, and all I could think of was escaping it.

Once Crivreen and I were on board, Narcion set the autopilot to launch and we pulled away from the station. I barely got the airlock door closed as we exited the bay into space. Once the airlock was secure Crivreen ripped off his helmet and went to see to his partner.

“Get him in a hyberpod. We have others to rescue,” said Narcion as he left for the bridge.

“Jammer, hold on. We’ll get you through this,” I heard Crivreen say.

It was then I noticed a gaping hole in Jammer’s armor, from which blood was flowing. Crivreen applied what first aid he could but it did not look good. “We have to get him into stasis before it is too late,” I said. I knew it was probably already too late, but we had to try.

Crivreen scooped up Jammer, a feat that I was amazed his slight frame could do, and said, “Show me.”

We quickly ran to the medical bay and got him into stasis. I was struck by the concern that Crivreen showed Jammer. “Who is he?”

“What do you mean?”

“Friend? Brother?” I asked.

“Just a fellow prisoner. We have served time together for years, and this mission was to be our big break.”

“Big break?”

“Yeah; they told us if we succeeded we would get full pardons. It’s just that he was always there. He protected me when the other prisoners tried to push me around, and he taught me how to survive in there. I couldn’t have made it without him. I begged and pleaded with him to come on this mission with us. He didn’t want to, because he was convinced it would be suicide. If he doesn’t make it, then it will be all my fault. I just wanted him to have the chance of freedom. He was serving a life sentence; this mission was his only hope.”

Before I could ask more questions, Narcion came over the speaker and said, “I have found them. Clear out Cargo Bay Two so we can put them in there.”

“Okay,” I responded. Crivreen and I moved to the cargo bay and worked as quickly as we could. While we moved Narcion’s goods to the other cargo bay, I asked, “What about Felix?”

“He is our chaperone, I suppose. His job is to make sure we do not escape. We had another guard with us, but he was not a magus. He died on the station, leaving Felix in charge. The court felt that they needed a magus along in case we tried to escape. His was told that if Jammer or I escaped, both of our sentences would be added to his. Since this mission has failed, he’ll have to take us back to prison now.”

“Maybe, but maybe not … ” I started.

“Zah’rak, are you almost ready?” interrupted Narcion.

“Yes, it will do well enough.”

“Good. Seal the airlock. I will open the exterior doors from here and let them fly in that way. This is important, Zah’rak: do not let them out of the bay, but make sure they have ample food and water. They will stay in there until we find a place to drop them off.”

“Understood,” I said. I did not really understand why we were going to lock them inside the bay, but I knew that it was not the right time for questions.

I sealed the airlock and watched through the window as the station’s peacekeeping forces flew into the cargo bay. Their escape pods appeared to be nothing more than propulsion packs. “That looks like all of them,” I said.

Once the door was closed Narcion said, “Zah’rak, go in there and get Felix. Tell the commander that I will head to the closest military outpost to drop them off once it is confirmed that the station has been destroyed. Then you three guard that door.”

“Narcion, sir, remember that they have one magus with them. He will be able to teleport sooner or later when he recovers,” said Crivreen.

“Good point. Cover the windows so that he does not have line-of-sight to teleport,” said Narcion.

I handed Crivreen my assault rifle and said, “Be ready to cover me,” and I entered the bay.

The commander walked up to me and said, “We are very grateful for the rescue. Please let your pilot know he has about five minutes to get clear before the station blows up
.”

“I will,” I said. “Where is Felix?”

“Here,” came Felix’s voice.

“Commander, I have to ask you to stay in here for the present. Once we have confirmed the destruction of the station, we will take you to the nearest outpost; until then, make yourselves comfortable. Felix, come with me; Narcion wants to see you.”

“Will Narcion be in contact?” asked the commander.

“You can reach him on that communications terminal over there, but let’s get clear of the exploding station first,” I said as I took hold of Felix and pushed him into the airlock. Once we were through, I turned to him and said, “The three of us have to guard this door and keep them in there for now.”

“Why?” asked Felix.

“I am sure we will find out in time. Right now we need to cover that window before their magus thinks of teleporting through.”

Felix took off part of his armor and used it to cover the window. “Where is Jammer?”

“In a hyberpod. He will have to stay there until we can get help,” I said. Then over the intercom I said, “Narcion, the station will blow up in about three minutes.”

“Understood. We are far enough out by now, but be ready for a jump just in case,” he said.

While we waited I went to a nearby terminal and brought up an external view. It seemed like ages, but only minutes later we watched as explosions began to rip through the station.

“There,” said Crivreen. “That was the core that just went.”

“Excellent. Then let’s get moving,” said Narcion over the intercom. He must have been monitoring our conversation all along to respond on cue like that.

Felix, what did you get yourself into this time?
I asked myself.

It had been several days since Narcion and Zah’rak had rescued us from the station, and we had settled into a routine. It would be my turn to guard the airlock soon, but first I wanted to see how Crivreen was holding up. I knew I would find him in the sick bay, near Jammer’s hyberpod. He spent every waking hour that he could in there.

As I walked towards sick bay I wondered what my next move should be. We were at most a day from the military outpost, and at that point I would have to make a decision. At present, Narcion seemed to be showing Crivreen and myself preferential treatment. I had spent too much time behind bars to trust anyone that seemed too nice. There was always an ulterior motive; sometimes that motive was acceptable and sometimes not. Perhaps he just needed assistance in guarding the door, or perhaps he wanted something more.

“Hi, Felix,” Crivreen said as I approached.

“Hey, any change?” I asked. I knew that there would not be, but it seemed like the right thing to say.

“No. He is not going to make it, is he?” asked Crivreen.