Lexia’s eyes flashed in understanding, then they glowed with intensity. “Damaged hypralight materializer. That might explain it. And yet, if you hadn’t landed there...and survived—”
Miko shrugged.
“I ask you again, who are you?” The Empress stared fiercely.
“My name’s Miko Almstran, first lieutenant of NAVO command, as you already know.”
“All well and good, but really, who are you?”
A rustling came from the foliage. Zaul emerged, blundering through the yielding fronds. He cast a scowl of displeasure at Miko. “Your Excellency, new information has come in. Transmission from Xalnas. We need you at once on the bridge.”
“Very well, Zaul, I will come.”
The Colonel had taken his burnished helm off, perhaps disarmed by the soothing atmosphere of the botanical gardens. He was greying at the temples, his hair receding, with many worry lines about his face. He also had a pair of stubbed horns angling back at the temples. Male Jakru, as Miko discovered, had only tiny templar horns, making them look like devils.
Zaul stared dumbly, his eyes fixed on the trampled-down grass.
“You are dismissed.” Lexia spoke maybe more curtly than necessary.
Zaul hesitated, then he pulled at his eagled helmet, as if seeing the Empress for the first time. But under her brisk gaze, he turned on his heel, ignoring Miko’s steel grey eyes, and marched off.
Miko frowned. “He seems over-protective of you.”
“Understatement of the year. Zaul is my most loyal subject. My father, who was Grand Emperor, entrusted him to be my guardian, to teach me and to monitor my progress. The Colonel has fanatically made me his prime objective since day one, as devoted to me as he was to our great leader. I can’t fault him. But it’s annoying having him hover over me like a mother hen.” Lexia grinned, a small laugh spilling from her lips. It was the first mirth Miko had witnessed. The Empress brushed back her thick golden tresses and caressed the great golden horns that curved down her back like a ram’s.
Once more, Miko was struck with her regal bearing and felt a stirring of desire. She was not the same quivering wretch who had stumbled out of the tank in B & D’s surface car only days ago. He murmured and dropped his gaze. “You would not be here, if it weren’t for him. Nor would I.”
Her eyes glinted. “Nor would he be here, if not for you.”
The alpadacus fronds parted and another figure stepped out, startling Miko. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything?” said Star, wringing her wrists, her dark eyes flashing.
“Nothing much,” said Lexia airily. “Miko was telling me all about his adventures.”
“Was he? Odd. Miko never tells me anything. He’s very closemouthed around me. You must have the magic touch, Lexia.”
Lexia chuckled, a tittery sound meant more to tease than comfort. “You just have to know what to ask. I will leave you to your leisures.” Amused by Star’s jealousy, she flashed a smile in Miko’s direction.
Star watched the woman leave, the sway of her hips all too provocative. “What was she doing here?”
“Well, it is her garden,” Miko pointed out. “Come on, let’s go, Star. I want to brief with Usk about gunning aboard the Doraxu. You should come along too, if you’re going to be part of our team—or should I say Wing Commander 2.”
A grunt of appeasement struggled forth from Star’s lips. “Then let’s do it, Lieutenant.”
* * *
The launch bay was buzzing with mechanics and technicians tending their duties. Miko, crouching by a diagnostic station, examined the nearby L-Doraxu. Its long, tapered, lead-black fuselage and macabre grasshopper semblance gave him an eerie feeling of deja-vu. He stroked its sleek hull, noting its punctures had been repaired by technicians and its polished finish shone to look like a ship fresh from the locust fleet.
Zaul strode over, acknowledged Miko with a perfunctory glance. “Here for the training sessions? We need competent gunners. I’ll have Laren fill in for you and you can act as auxiliary while the alien navigates. We’re going to need as many mock trials as possible before we reach the locust world.”
Miko shook his head. “You should let me work with Usk, Colonel. He trusts me. I can man the lasers, and learn as fast as any of your men. Fenli, likewise, can get up to speed in the other vessel with the guns. That’s what we agreed upon, right?”
Zaul’s lips curled in a frown. “Fine, but Laren goes aboard the Doraxu to oversee operations—and overstep you at any time, and I’ll be watching you with a fine eye.”
Miko smirked knowingly. He did not like Zaul. The Colonel was too imperious and had a way of rubbing everyone the wrong way with his pompous nature. As fearless a commander as he was, he had rough edges that grated.
“Where’s Fenli?” Zaul growled. “The lax dog. Training zone Alxar 1 will be reached in five minutes.” Sket and Berlast gathered with a Jakru officer for preliminary briefings and boarded the third locust vessel.
Miko turned away. “Usk, we’ll need the language translator.”
The locust’s one and only antenna drooped as he gave Miko a forlorn look. There existed between them almost a psychic link of silent understanding. Usk stirred and scratched at his side. His scored carapace was riddled with ridges and cuts, cracked diagonally from throat to ribs. The locust liquid had not been totally effective. The Mentera limped, hind legs clacking on the metal tiles, but his red eyes glared with a fierce light.
Engineers hovered about the locust crafts like ants, scurrying with welding tools and diagnostic machines to apply the final tweaks. Vessels were drilled and outfitted with secure radio and holo transcommunications and heavy artillery was concealed in the hull to inflict maximum damage. Technicians made themselves busy installing heavy duty shields with extra power
