helmet. From across the dark room, Lucience could see the green glowing lights from the facemask.
“What is the purpose of this intrusion?” Lucience asked venomously. His nerves were shot from this ordeal and he had no time for petty interruptions. He held up a hand and the two guards behind him lowered their weapons as well.
“A thousand apologies, my Lord,” the soldier said, breathlessly. “I’m here to warn you that the insurgents have nearly reached this location. Your shuttle is ready, but we have to hurry.” The soldier stepped further inside, eager to be away from the sounds of battle that seeped from beneath the front doors.
Lucience turned to his bodyguards, motioning them forward. “We’re leaving. Get the equipment and hurry.” He stepped from the raised dais that had once held a bar and walked passed the exhausted soldier without so much as a nod of recognition for his warning. His cape trailing behind him, Lucience advanced on the front door, eager to be gone from Othus once and for all.
Behind him, the Commander heard one of his guards reprimand the weary soldier. “You will remove your helmet when addressing his Eminence.” Lucience didn’t break stride as he approached the front door.
“Who the hell are you?” his guard asked in surprise before two gunshots rang out from behind him. Stopping in his tracks, he turned quickly toward the back of the bar, pulling his weapon. As he spun, he stared at the shaggy-haired blond Terran who stood, pointing his weapon at Lucience.
“I’d drop the gun if I were you,” Adam ordered as the two bodyguards slid slowly to the ground, clutching wounds that poured blood onto the already slick wooden floor.
Lucience growled in angry defiance. “I will kill you, Pilgrim.” Spittle flew from his lips as he spoke, his rage causing his barrel to bounce wildly.
Behind him, the front door crashed open once more. Lucience spun, ready to fire on the person coming through the door regardless of whether or not he was one of his own soldiers or a revolutionary. As he turned, Lucience raised his weapon toward the new target far too slowly. Adam fired his shot first, the round tearing into the Commander’s exposed abdomen. Lucience staggered backward and tried to bring his own pistol to bear on the Pilgrim, but Adam had already fired again. His second bullet tore into Lucience’s chest. The air knocked from his body and his strength quickly failing him, the Commander slumped against the wall and slid slowly to the ground.
The Terran who had just walked through the door kicked aside Lucience’s pistol, letting it slide across the smooth floor. The Commander raised his eyes weakly, his breath already failing as his lungs filled with blood, and stared into the face of the second shooter. Raising his gun, Siros, the former bodyguard to the Uligart Alcent, fired round after round into the inert Commander’s body, continuing to fire until the bolt on his pistol locked to the rear and smoke rolled from his barrel. Lowering his pistol, Siros turned to Adam, a sneer painted on his face.
“I warned him,” Adam said with a shrug.
As Adam stripped out of the Terran Empire uniform, Siros retrieved one of the hand-held displays and began accessing the files. Nodding in appreciation as he heard Siros’ fingers fly across the keyboard, Adam removed the heavy armor and helmet. By the time he was pulling his own coat from the pack on his back, Siros looked up from the display with a smile.
“Got them,” he said, the excitement apparent.
“Both codes?” Adam asked.
“I can get us into the hangar and send the correct codes to get into the hangar bay on the
The pair of Terrans grabbed the discarded rifles from the bodyguards and ran back out the front door without so much as a glance of disdain of the slain Commander.
The gunfight continued even as Keryn and Alcent approached the warehouses. The Terran forces had been slaughtered, leaving only pocket resistance. However, many had the same plan that she and her forces did: escape from the planet. Even with their defenses, though, they were quickly overcome as Adam and the rest of the Saboteurs approached from different angles, trapping the Terrans in a crossfire.
Siros entered the code into the first warehouse and, with a rumble, the large bay doors slid open. As the shafts of light from the revolutionaries’ flashlights danced into the large bay, a stifled cheer erupted from the remaining. Docked within the bay, two large Terran transports sat like solemn metal giants, dwarfing the survivors as they ran inside. Keryn flipped the light switch once the group entered, bathing the ships in warm halogen light. She had waited until everyone was inside not just to ensure the doors were sealed behind them, but to find out how many remained in her force. Her estimates said that there were nearly two thousand Othus survivors when Penchant killed the first Terran earlier that morning. Less than two hundred revolutionaries passed through the large warehouse doors in order to board the Terran transports. Keryn knew that many more remained in the rubble fields, either wounded or unwilling to advance across the ruins out of fear. For those that didn’t make it to the warehouses, they would surely die. Again, she felt the weight of responsibility rest heavily on her shoulders.
Turning away from the door, Keryn ran toward the nearest ship, whose personnel hatch was now opened. Adam stood by the entrance, smiling broadly. As she approached, he engulfed her in a powerful hug. She let herself melt into his embrace, but pushed away as he squeezed too hard on her broken rib. Sucking in wind, he stared at her, concerned.
“Don’t worry about it,” she said, waving her hand in dismissal. “Go get the overhead doors open and let’s get off this planet.”
Adam ran off, finding the controls and engaging the retractable ceiling. As the two halves of the roof retracted, snow cascaded into the lit bay. Keryn watched it fall, magically sparkling in the halogen light. She hoped that once they were off Othus, she never, ever saw snow again.
As Adam climbed aboard, Keryn gave the thumbs up to Alcent, who piloted the second transport. Feeling the engines rumbling underneath, Keryn settled into the pilot’s chair, feeling at home as her hands slid across the console and control panel. Activating the displays, Keryn watched as Alcent’s ship vanished through the roof. Igniting her own engines, her transport lifted off from the concrete floor, flying gracefully through the retracted ceiling and quickly gaining altitude.
“Entering the atmosphere,” the radio called as Alcent’s craft passed beyond the gloomy clouds that encircled the planet.
“Prepare for atmosphere burn,” Keryn called to her own bridge crew, which included Adam and a couple of Avalons she didn’t know.
The ship shook as the forward displays turned red from friction. The blockish transports caused such heavy gravities as they passed through the atmosphere that even the inhibitors couldn’t compensate. Keryn groaned as she felt the pressure on her chest as the weight pushed downward on her broken rib. Shortly after, however, the transport broke through the atmosphere and the starlit void of space dominated the view screen. Keryn couldn’t hide her smile as she looked upon the view. She had almost forgotten how much she loved the freedom of space travel. Glancing to her right, she saw the same exhilaration mirrored on Adam’s face.
As Keryn turned the transport and began following Alcent, another view dominated the screen: the Terran Destroyer. The smile quickly faded from Keryn’s face as she saw the countless missile ports and rail guns bristling along the elongated ship.
“Sending access codes,” the radio said. Almost as an afterthought, Alcent added, “Wish us luck.” He left the communications channel open as he sent the codes, and Siros’ voice rang over the radio. “
The crews of both ships held their combined breath as the seconds ticked by and the Destroyer grew ever closer. She was close enough to see the dark black letters of the word
As the two ships entered the side of the Terran Destroyer, Keryn turned to Adam. “Let’s go claim our prize.”
