“What was that?” Nathan asked when he heard the hum from outside.
“She did it,” Jalea announced as she headed out the door. “She got the shield up.”
“Wait! Where the hell are you going?” Nathan watched as she ran out across the compound, stopping momentarily at the vehicle. “Is she crazy?”
Jalea sprinted the remaining distance from the vehicle to the back of Tobin’s ship.
Nathan struggled with his fear as he tried to decide what to do. He didn’t know what Jalea was up to, but he was pretty sure it was a better plan than sitting on his ass waiting to get shot. At least with the overhead shield active, the snipers couldn’t pick them off.
Nathan knew the shield might not last, and his fear of dying doing nothing quickly overcame his fear of dying doing something. “Stay here!” he instructed Deliza as he exited the shack in pursuit of Jalea-who by now had already circled around the aft end of Tobin’s ship.
Jalea peeked around the engine cowling of Tobin’s ship. His engines were still idling, and while in such close proximity the noise was almost deafening. After seeing that there were no soldiers in sight, she moved around and made her way quickly and quietly up the cargo ramp into Tobin’s small ship.
She stopped at the top of the ramp to peek inside toward the cockpit. Seeing only Tobin, she strode calmly into the ship and headed forward toward the cockpit, her weapon held down at her side.
Tobin was happily enjoying his view of the capture of Tug through the front windows of the main house when he sensed someone’s presence and spun around. “Jalea,” he said, his expression suddenly becoming anxious. “I can explain-”
“A little early, aren’t you?” Jalea asked coldly as she raised her weapon.
Tobin’s eyes widened. “Wait. We had a deal-”
Jalea fired a single shot, striking Tobin in the head, turning his skull into a mound of burnt skin, hair, and bone that slumped forward against the console as it smoldered.
Nathan came charging up the ramp a moment later, his weapon held ready. He came to a sudden stop, repulsed by the sight and smell of Tobin’s smoldering head.
“What happened?”
“He was working with for Ta’Akar,” she exclaimed.
Nathan was furious. “I thought you said we could trust him!”
“I said we had used his services many times in the past,” she corrected. “I never said I trusted him.”
“But-”
“Apparently, the Ta’Akar offered him greater payment than we did,” she explained as she turned to exit.
“How the hell are we going to fly this ship?”
“I will fly it.”
“Oh, so now you’re a pilot as well?” he asked as he followed her.
Jessica slowly opened the back door to the main house and crept inside the storm porch. As she carefully closed the door, she noticed Tug’s youngest girl hiding in a corner, huddled down low. Jessica smiled at her, and held one finger up to her pursed lips, gesturing for her to stay quiet. The little girl nodded agreement. Jessica made a goofy face at the girl to ease her tension but only got the slightest of smiles. Jessica continued on, hoping the little girl would be smart enough to stay hidden.
She continued through the next door into the kitchen, where she could hear the conversations of the soldiers who apparently had already captured Tug and his wife.
“Do you know what they will say when we bring him in? Alive no less?” the voice came from the living room.
Jessica moved across the kitchen, coming to stop against the cabinets along the living room wall just beside the door.
“We’ll all be promoted at the very least! We may even be decorated by Caius himself!”
“Sir!” another voice spoke. “One of our snipers reports that two targets have entered the ship, and they’ve lost contact with Tobin.”
“Oh no, I will not have this moment taken from me,” the squad leader cursed. “Bring him!”
Jessica peeked through the crack in the door and saw them drag Tug out the front door of the house. She pushed the door open just enough to see Ranni lying dead on the floor of the living room, with no one else in the room.
“Is anybody on comms?” Vladimir’s voice came across Jessica’s comm-set.
“Vlad, is that you?” Jessica whispered.
“Yes, Jessica, I am here. Where are you?”
“Main house, in the kitchen. Where are you?”
“In a transfer shack, to your left, just in front of the house.”
The two soldiers dragged Tug out onto the front porch, stopping just short of the front edge. Their squad leader stood directly behind Tug, holding his hand gun at the back of Tug’s head.
“You! In the ship!” the squad leader yelled. “Come out or we kill him!”
“Can you see them?” Jessica asked Vladimir.
“Yes. There are three. One of them is the squad leader, I believe. They have Tug. They are holding him in front of them, on his knees. The leader has a gun to Tug’s head.”
“Where’s Nathan?”
“He is in Tobin’s ship, with Jalea. They are standing in the cargo doorway.”
“Does he have his comm-set on?”
“Yes, surprisingly.”
“I heard that,” Nathan chimed in.
“You guys take out Tobin?” Jessica asked.
“Yeah, Jalea did the honors,” Nathan answered.
“Nice,” Jessica said. “Vlad, how good a shot are you?”
“Very good.”
“Think you can take out the guy nearest you with a head shot?”
“No problem.”
The squad leader looked around as he waited. “I said come out! Or I will kill this man here and now!”
“Nathan, how about you? Think you can take out the one on the right with a head shot?”
“My right or your right?”
“My right, your left. Can you do it?”
“Uh, I don’t know,” Nathan admitted.
“You did qualify, didn’t you?”
“Of course,” Nathan defended. “And I scored quite well, I might add. I’ve just never had to kill anyone before.”
“Well, there’s a first time for everything, skipper. You gonna step up or what?” There was no answer. “Nathan?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m in.”
“Okay. Step out slowly. And both of you keep your weapons up and your safeties off. Let’s not make this anymore difficult than we have to.”
“We’re coming out!” Jalea yelled from the ship.
The squad leader smiled, confident that his bluff would work. Jalea was the first out, her hand gun held high pointed at the soldiers. Nathan was next, his automatic close-quarters weapon held high and tight against his shoulder, aimed at his assigned target, the soldier on the left. “What’s our signal to shoot?” Nathan whispered.
“My count guys. On three, repeat, on three.”
“Much better,” the squad leader said. “Now lower your weapons?”
“One,” Jessica started calmly.
“That would be unwise on our part,” Jalea responded.
“Two.”
“Not doing so would be equally unwise,” the squad leader argued. “Lower them, or he dies now.”
“Three.”
