Fall of Icarus

with our lives. The military isn’t conducive to long-term relationships.”

Adam spun his chair so he was facing Keryn from across the center console. “So it’s over, just like that? That seems a little harsh, don’t you think?”

“It’s not harsh, it’s realistic,” she replied, turning to face him. “Do you know how long it’s going to take for us to get back to the Revolution? Do you know if the Revolution is even going to make it through the Earth invasion? Do you know if we are going to make it through our own mission?” When Adam shook his head, Keryn continued. “That’s exactly my point. The future is too uncertain to lock myself into only one plan for my future. I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future… or who I’m going to meet.”

She left her comment hanging as she turned around and began working on the console again. Adam, to her relief, didn’t reply, but instead continued piloting the Cair Ilmun toward Pteraxis.

After the silence had stretched for a while, Keryn politely cleared her throat and spoke. “So what happened on Dunbar?”

“Excuse me?” Adam said, snapping out of his own daydream.

“What happened after you two found your informant on Dunbar?”

Adam laughed heartily into the cramped cabin. “Well, our informant’s name was Darran. You can imagine my surprise when Darran wound up being a woman. That took both Yen and me by surprise. To make matters worse, she wasn’t just any woman. She was a surgically augmented Uligart woman. And I don’t think I need to tell you which parts of her had been surgically augmented.” Adam sighed, but smiled mischievously. “She had a phenomenal set of…”

“How about we skip that part,” Keryn urged.

For hours, the pair sat in the cockpit, telling stories and laughing at one another’s growing list of misfortunes. By the time the warning light began blinking, warning the pair that they had entered into the star system, Keryn felt incredibly relaxed, regardless of the pending threat on Pteraxis. Adam stood and moved out of the way, letting Keryn slip into the pilot’s chair. Compared to Adam, she was dwarfed by the high-backed chair. Keryn angled the Cair Ilmun toward the closest planet to the sun, a dirty brown planet accentuated with only a few meager splotches of blue water.

“We’ll be hitting the atmosphere in less than ten minutes,” Keryn said, her mirth replaced by driven focus. “Go let the others know to get everything ready and get strapped in.”

Keryn didn’t look behind her as Adam left, letting the door slide closed behind him. A few minutes later, she slammed into the atmosphere of Pteraxis. Dipping the nose of the Cair Ilmun and raising the darkening heat shields around the windows of the cockpit, Keryn flew using only the console’s display as they passed quickly through the upper atmosphere and into the hot air of the desert planet. Within moments, the violent shaking of the ship subsided and she lessened the angle of their decent, directing the ship toward the coordinates they had been given for the Terran rendezvous with Cardax. Lowering the heat shields, the red sunlight flooded into the cockpit. Keryn squinted, surprised at how intense the sunlight appeared from the ship. Checking the gauges, she quickly noted that the external temperature was nearly one hundred and thirty degrees. Frowning, Keryn accelerated, eager to reach the coordinates.

Keryn’s flight through the atmosphere was indicative of her attitude toward this entire mission. She intended to make a quick entrance, take Cardax into custody whether willingly or by force, and leave Pteraxis as quickly as possible. If all went well, they’d be off the desert planet and on their way home within the hour.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

“We are approaching the launch coordinates,” Captain Hodge called over the intercom from the bridge of the Revolution. “All crews report to battle positions.”

Having been contacted ahead of time by the Captain, Yen was in the hangar bay well in advance of his pilots and ground assault teams’ arrival. As they filtered in, he directed the ground teams to their specific Cair ships. Within moments, the sounds of whining plasma engines filled the bay. The acrid fumes filled the expansive room, burning Yen’s nostrils. Regardless, he held his position near the door, letting his presence as the Squadron Commander be felt as his nervous pilots entered the hangar.

As the crowd passed by, many pausing to shake Yen’s hand, the psychic finally spotted the man he had been waiting for. Waving over the top of the throng, Yen caught the eye of the Uligart pilot and motioned him over. Pushing his way through the crowd, an Uligart wearing his full flight suit arrived at Yen’s location. Snapping to the position of attention, he reported to his Commander.

“Warrant Pelasi, reporting for duty, sir,” Pelasi said before Yen gestured for him to relax. The pilot seemed surprised when Yen extended his hand and he paused before shaking.

“You need to relax, Warrant,” Yen ordered. “You’re my pilot now, which means you need to feel comfortable around me. We’ll be spending too much time together for you to constantly be snapping to attention every time I enter the cockpit of the Cair Thewlis.”

“Permission to speak freely, sir?” Warrant Pelasi asked.

“Go ahead.”

The Uligart sighed and his shoulders dropped from their previously rigid position. “It’s just going to take some getting used to, sir. My last Squadron Commander was very strict and expected unwavering customs and courtesies whenever any of us were in his presence. It’s just a little different to be around someone telling me just the opposite.”

“Well, you have a lot to learn about how much respect you actually have to show this guy,” a female voice chided from behind Pelasi. From the taller figures, Iana forced her way through the crowd. She stopped before the pair before nodding toward Yen. “Good to see you, sir.”

“Glad to see you made it,” Yen responded.

“It wouldn’t have been a party without me,” Iana joked, nudging Pelasi with her elbow.

Yen smiled. “Are you ready for this, Iana?”

Iana shrugged. “Let’s see. We’re going to use pretty much untested warp technology to appear, hopefully, behind the Terran satellite defense grid. Then we’re going to blow up whatever fleet they manage to muster in defense while the rest of our invasion ground forces land on the home world of the Alliance’s most hated enemies. What’s there to worry about?”

“You know,” Pelasi croaked, “you have a pretty unique way of putting things in perspective.”

“Don’t you worry, Gregario,” she laughed. “I’ll keep the Terrans off you. All you have to do is land on the planet.”

Yen put a hand on her shoulder and gave her an affectionate squeeze. “I know you’re not all that worried, Iana, but be careful out there.”

“I’m always safe,” Iana said with a wink. “Speaking of being careful, I figured I had better give you a warning. Buren’s waiting for you. He looks ready for a fight.”

Yen stood up straight, his eyes scanning the crowd for the Uligart infantryman. “Where is he?”

Iana jabbed a thumb over her shoulder. “Back there, standing outside your ship. He doesn’t look all that happy about being here.”

“Isn’t Magistrate Buren one of the people on your team, sir?” Pelasi asked, looking perplexed.

Yen frowned. “Yes, he is, though not by choice.”

“Is there something I need to know about the team on board?” the Uligart pilot asked quietly. “There’s not going to be trouble, is there?”

“No,” Yen replied, shaking his head. “Buren and I pulled a mission together a year ago. It didn’t go well and quite a few good men lost their lives as a result. He was put in a hospital. I thought they would have kicked him out of the service, but instead they apparently promoted him. I don’t know what his problem is, but he obviously doesn’t like me. And now, because someone higher up doesn’t like me either, he and I will be serving together.”

“It…” Pelasi began before stopping in mid sentence.

“What is it?” Yen asked.

“Nothing, sir.”