Bron chuckled as he switched off the intercom and simultaneously disengaged the autopilot. Glancing over at Alaria, he nodded towards the set of controls in front of her.
“You’re manning the guns,” he said firmly.
Alaria's eyes went wide but quickly filled with an air of purpose and confidence. She nodded firmly and reached out, her silk white hands grabbing hold of the controls with an air of determination.
Bron turned his attention back to the screens in front of him. He let the Curio slow, slightly, as he waited for the little red dots to catch up with them.
“Shouldn’t we be trying to outrun them?” Alaria asked.
“They’re too fast. We have to wait to warp to have any hope of getting away. Until Vinnie gets FTL online, though, we’re going to have a little fun.”
Alaria’s eyes dropped to the screen as well. The three dots that had multiplied into dozens were growing closer and closer. The warning sirens were beginning to wail loudly, their calls of caution causing her stomach to flop nervously.
“You know how to work those things?” Bron asked, tightening his hold on the controls in front of him.
“Yes,” Alaria replied. “I think.”
“Just aim and shoot,” Bron said, pointing to the screen in front of her where the view from the cannons was visible. “Right button for right cannons, left for left.”
“Right, left,” she repeated, staring at the screen.
“As soon as they get here, just keep shooting,” Bron said calmly. “They like to swarm ships, so they’ll be on top of us from all angles. I’m going to work to separate them—divide and conquer. But remember, no matter where you shoot, you won’t miss; they’ll be everywhere.”
Alaria nodded.
Just as the far off image of a large, flying insect came into view on her screen, she inhaled sharply.
“Wait,” Bron told her. “Just a little longer.”
She didn’t want to wait. The oversized vermin in her view screen was growing larger, and more were becoming visible. Their beady, green eyes were fixed on the Curio. Their massive wings beat in slow rhythm, propelling themselves forward with grace, ease, and speed. The closer they got, the better she could see them. They were all sizes, some seeming to be larger than their ship, others no bigger than Vinnie’s repair bot.
It didn’t matter. They all terrified her.
“Now!” Bron yelled, startling her.
Without thinking twice, she pushed down on the controls, releasing a pair of cannons simultaneously. She didn’t get to see if they hit anything because the second the projectiles flew, Bron pushed down on the controls and sent the Curio spiraling down.
Alaria clung to the controls, her pulse quickening with excitement as she sent another pair of cannons flying. This time, she did see them hit. She saw them hit and she saw them blow the bodies of Zel’Dar to tiny pieces that scattered through the wide-open space behind them.
Bron watched on the screen as the Zel’Dar followed him down, diving after him. Alaria’s blasts were scattering them, but not detouring them as much as he would have liked. Evening out the Curio, he began to lead them straight ahead, waiting for them to level out with him. Clusters remained overhead, but he ignored them for the moment.
Turning the ship sharply to the left, he ordered Alaria to shoot and not to stop, which she did. She seemed to bounce with excitement as she pushed down on the triggers, her eyes fixed on the screens.
The trail of Zel’Dar that had followed them into the sharp turn were all eliminated with one blast. Those that remained behind them were taken out with the second. Now, all that remained was the group that continued to hover overhead.
“Hold on,” Bron told Alaria, pushing the controls in his hands forward as far as they would go.
The Curio shuddered and sped up, reaching top non-warp speed in a matter of seconds. The ship buzzed ahead of the Zel’Dar, who began to beat their wings with more zeal, easily closing the space between them and the target of their swarmed attack.
“Flip that switch,” Bron informed Alaria, pointing to a switch at the side of her controls.
She did, and instantly the view in her screen changed.
“Those are your front cannons,” Bron informed her, pulling back on the controls in his hand suddenly.
The Curio once again shuddered, whining against the constant changes in speed and direction that her new pilot was asking of her.
“Get ready to use them,” Bron added.
As the Zel’Dar flying overhead zipped by, not expecting Bron’s sudden change in speed or direction, he brought the ship back up to their level. The second he did, Alaria let out a small, excited shriek as she pressed down on the triggers. The cannons flew, finding their home in the center of the tightly packed swarm.
“Again!” Bron encouraged her.
And again, she fired, her actions punctuated with another excited shriek.
“We’re good for FTL,” Vinnie’s voice came over the intercom.
“Sorry, Alaria, fun’s over,” Bron said, smiling at her as he sent the ship diving again. As soon as he had cleared the reach of the Zel’Dar, he evened the Curio out and sent it hurtling forward. It wasn’t more than two minutes later that they were zipping through space faster than the speed of light, with the insect swarm left somewhere far behind them.
Once he was sure they were safe, Bron leaned back in his chair triumphantly and sighed. "Like I've been doing it all along," he said, looking over at her and smiling.
“That was impressive,” Alaria agreed.
“Told you I had a few tricks up my sleeves.”
“I never doubted you,” she said, pushing herself up and resting her hand on his. “I’m glad we’re in this together, Bron.”
His cheeks flushed again and his heart rate accelerated. "Me too," he replied shyly.
Alaria giggled and took a few steps back. “I’m going to go check on Vinnie, make sure everything down in the engine room is still up and running.”
“Okay,” Bron said, his cheeks still warm.
When she turned to walk away, he relaxed back in his chair a little, turning his attention back to the controls in front of him. He didn’t hear her turn around and skip back to his side. He did feel her hand rest on his shoulder. And he did feel her lips press against his cheek—his warm, blushing cheek.
“I really am glad you’re here with me, Bron,” she said again.
He didn’t move from that spot, didn’t shift his weight or even draw in a deep breath until long after she had left the flight deck. When he did come back to life, a smile spread across his face.
“I wouldn’t be anywhere else,” he said to the wide-open space in front of him. “I wouldn’t be anywhere else but here.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
“Do you think they’re staying out of trouble?” Dario asked Kira and Thor at breakfast.
The dining hall in The Pits was crowded, as was everywhere else in Jaantu 7. The long metal tables with attached benches were packed full. The Bandurian next to Kira continued to elbow her without so much as looking in her direction. And the Vorian across from Thor was shooting them suspiciously aggressive glares. Thankfully, the Dralaxian was nowhere around. They had seen the orange-skinned monster the day before, and he made it perfectly clear that he still remembered who they were.
“Bron, Alaria, and Vinnie?” Kira replied. “There’s a chance.”
“A slight one,” Thor added.
Dario shot him a cautious look.
“Whatever trouble they find themselves in, I’m sure they’ll be able to get out of it. Bron has found himself in his fair share of trouble in his day,” Kira said.
“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” Dario asked.
Kira reached across the table and rested her hand on his. “They’re fine, Dario. Trust me. Bron won’t let anything happen to Alaria.”
“What’s the plan for today?” Aldo asked, appearing seemingly out of nowhere.
He popped up behind them and wrapped his fur-covered arms around Kira’s and Thor’s shoulders. Thor shot him a warning glare, which he ignored. Kardok hovered behind him, his arms crossed over his chest with his ever-present, child-like grin spread across his face.
“Same as the last four days,” Kira replied. “Go to the ring, pick some fights, and build some interest in the tournament.”
“I don’t think we need to pick any more fights,” Aldo said, his voice squeaky with excitement. “Everyone in The Pits is talking about Kardok and Thor.”
“Really?” Thor asked, looking back at the Rengar over his shoulder.
"Really," Aldo said with a crooked smile. "I've done a lot of work trying to get things organized. That's not a small task with a crowd like this one. But, with a lot of persistence and a little sweet-talk, I was able to get everything all set up and ready. So, you're going to want to spend the next day resting, because the day after tomorrow you're going head to head with just about everyone in here."
“Have you decided what to part with as betting chips?” Dario asked.
“I have a few ideas,” Aldo said, nodding his head quickly. “I have a few homemade weapons I think will be tempting to a few of the newer inmates.”
“New inmates won’t have much to trade for, though,” Thor remarked. “That’s what got us into this situation to begin with.”
Aldo shot him an annoyed look and continued. “I also have a few other things I’m willing to part with as long as you can guarantee me you won’t get your ass beat the first round out there.”
“Don’t worry about me,” Thor said, pushing himself up. “You just worry about your end of this.”
“Speaking of which,” Dario said, turning his attention to Aldo, “have you figured out who has what we’re looking for?”
“I have some hunches,” Aldo said, sliding down in the seat that Thor just vacated.
Thor moved behind Kira and rested his hands on her shoulders. She leaned back into him, enjoying the feeling of his touch.
“Hunches?” Dario asked, his voice high and tight. “We need more than hunches, Aldo.”
“Are you the one calling the shots now?” Aldo asked.
“Someone needs to be,” Dario replied sharply. “Up until now all we have is a high-risk situation placing all of our hopes on a gamble that one of these two turns out to really be the strongest inmate in here, which, if I’m being honest, I kind of doubt. Whatever bargaining chips we have, we’re apparently not even sure who to take them to, and all the while, you four seem to think it’s a big game!”
“Game!” Kardok said, clapping his hands together.
Dario huffed and pushed himself up.
“Dario, wait,” Kira called out to him, reaching across the table quickly and pulling him back down. “What’s going on?”
It wasn’t common for their wise, older voice of reason to react in such a volatile manner. But, a lot of what Dario had been doing lately was slightly out of character.
Letting out another huff, Dario slumped back down into his chair. “I’m sorry,” he began. “I’m just stressed, worried about Thane and Alaria, and sleep deprived. Janica talks in her sleep and keeps me up all night long.”
“Janica?” Thor asked.
“My overly friendly, extremely large Arkadian cell-mate.”
“Right,” Thor replied.
“Is she still trying to cozy up to you?” Kira asked.
“She doesn’t understand the words ‘I’m not interested’,” Dario said. “She keeps offering me things—random items she’s been collecting from around The Pit—as presents.”
“What kind of things?” Aldo asked, his nose twitching.
Dario shrugged. “I never look that closely. If I accept it, I’ll have to repay her somehow.”
Kira laughed and Thor chuckled. Dario shot them both an unamused glance and sighed.
“You should see if it’s anything good,” Aldo urged. “Something we can use to gamble in the tournament.”
“No,” Dario said firmly.
“But…”
“No.”
“But…”
“I have a feeling this could go on for a while,” Kira said, pushing herself up. “I think we’re going to go for a walk.”
She slipped her hand into Thor’s and pulled him away before anyone could object. As they moved away from the table, they could hear Dario and Aldo continue to argue about the potential value of the Dario’s admirer’s gifts.
“Where are we going?” Thor asked as she led him through the Pits.
“To practice for the tournament,” she said.
“I thought I was supposed to be taking it easy.”
“Oh, don’t worry. I’ll take it easy on you,” she replied, glancing at him over her shoulder.
He returned her smirk with a smile that reached up to his eyes. Together, they wove their way through the crowd, their hands still linked and their fingers intertwined.
Kira had started to think of the conditions of her new life—her life in The Pits—as normal. The crowded conditions didn’t bother her as much and the lack of sky—star-blanketed expanse—no longer made her feel like her lungs were running short on oxygen. The fact that it didn’t, though, was beginning to make her feel slightly light-headed.
“How long have we been in here?” she asked Thor as they entered the ring.
The sand and gravel covered arena was unusually crowded. Inmates—small and large alike—were charging at each other, some with weapons in their hands, others relying solely on their brute strength to take down their opponent.
“Five days?” Thor replied.
“Is that a question.”
“Maybe?”
“It seems like forever, doesn’t it?” she said as she reached into her pocket and pulled out the energy blade Aldo had given her.
“Are you getting homesick?” Thor asked, eyeing the weapon in her hand.
“I’m just getting too comfortable here,” she replied.
Thor took a quick step forward, his eyes still set on the sheathed blade in her hand. She took a quick step back, realizing that their one-on-one melee had already begun in his mind. She tightened her hold on the cylinder and took another step back; he followed.
“Why do you think that is?” he asked, his eyes drifting up to hers momentarily.
“Because I don’t have any other choice,” she replied.
“I don’t think so,” he said.
His eyes still fixed on hers, he took a quick step forward. He moved with speed, but not with as much speed as she knew he could. His hand reached out to grab onto her wrist, but she pulled back just before he was able to do so.
Bringing her right hand up and triggering the column of energetic matter to spill out of the cylinder, she darted back.
“What do you think then?” she asked.
His eyes sparkled as he glanced at the weapon in her hand. Before she even realized he had moved, he was standing behind her, his arms wrapped around her waist and his right hand wrapped around her right wrist.
“I think it’s because you’re a survivor, Kira,” he said, leaning in and whispering in his ear.
The feeling of his breath cascading down her neck caused a fine layer of goosebumps to ripple down her arms. He held her so close to him, that she could feel the rise and fall of his chest with each deep, calm breath he took.
“I think that you could get tossed into the middle of just about any situation—life-threatening or otherwise—and find a way to get through it.”
His words were soft, but his hold on her was strong. His fingers began to apply pressure to her wrist, trying to coax her into releasing her weapon.
“You’re trying to flatter me,” she said. “Have I ever told you how much I hate when people try to flatter me?”
Acting as quickly as possible, before he could anticipate her move, she threw her head back, landing a blow in his chin. He shuffled back a few steps, releasing his hold on her waist, but still holding tightly to her wrist.
Before he could retaliate, Kira spun around halfway and threw her left knee up into his gut. The blow hurt her more than it hurt him—his rock-hard abs deflecting any pain or discomfort she had hoped to instill.
Still, her actions surprised him enough that he stumbled back one more time, this time giving up his hold of her arm. Scooting back quickly, she held her weapon out in front of her and waited for another chance to strike.
“It’s not flattery,” Thor replied, regaining his balance and poising himself to attack. “It’s the truth.”
Kira rolled her eyes and moved her weight to the balls of her feet.
“How the hell do you think we’ve made it this far without getting killed?” Thor asked.
Pushing herself off as forcefully as she could, Kira flew at him. With a grin on his face, he stepped to the side and reached out, grabbing onto her arm.
In a blur, the ring was on its side, her head was spinning, and her cheek was pressed against the scratchy sand floor.
She rolled onto her back, ready to push herself back up to her feet again when Thor rushed in and pinned her back down. He held her hands over her head, the dagger still gripped tightly in her right, and straddled her, a fraction of his weight resting on her gut, keeping her in place.
“It wasn’t just me that’s gotten us through all of this,” she said. “It was all of us.”
He smiled and leaned in, placing one quick kiss on her lips. “And it will be all of us that get us through this mission, too. So, no matter how much you like the slop in the mess hall and the sweet scent of unwashed Vorian warriors, don’t let yourself get too comfortable here, okay? Because before you know it, we’re going to be back in the flight deck of the Curio, where you will continue to scare the shit out of me with your fearless antics and crazy fight-tactics.”
“I thought we were going to do simple,” she reminded him.
“I’m already taking bets on how long that will last,” he said with a smirk. “My money’s on two weeks.”
“Two weeks?”
He smiled and shrugged, and she felt his hold on her loosen just a bit. Before he could come back with some smart-ass remark, she took advantage of the moment and ripped her hands free. She lifted the dagger, but before she could do anything effective with it, Thor was pushing himself up to his feet, a blur of blue jumpsuit moving too quickly for her to see clearly.
What she did see clearly, though, was that blur bump into a large orange mass.
“Shit,” she said, pushing herself up and grabbing onto Thor’s wrist just before the large, four-armed Dralaxian could spin around completely.
“What the…?” the massive creature bellowed.
“Run!” Kira yelled to Thor, an amused laugh wrapped around her words.
He laced his fingers with hers and did just that—ran. They darted through the ring, running between fights and nearly getting caught up in them. A Bandurian male yelled a string of profanities at them when they interrupted his potentially perfectly placed blow. A Vorian female nearly tackled them to the ground when they bumped into her and threw her directly into the line of her opponent’s attack.
They didn’t care or notice, though. The only thing they could think about was the large orange mountain that was moving slowly through the crowds behind them. It wasn’t until they raced down the long, low-lit hall and burst out into the chaos of The Pits that they slowed their pace.
Gasping for breath and laughing in unison, they leaned back against one of the walls and slumped down.
“What are the chances?” Thor asked, his hand still holding onto her tightly. “I mean, seriously. What the hell are the chances that of all the people in there fighting, I bump into him—again?”
“Comfortable or not, one thing is for certain,” Kira said, still chuckling to herself, “I’m definitely never bored in here.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
When the day of the melee tournament finally arrived, Kira, Thor, and Dario all met at the ring early and spent a good hour pacing back and forth. They tried to talk about anything besides the fact that all of their hopes for getting out of Jaantu 7 rested on the events that would unfold in the next few hours.
“How are things going with Janica?” Thor asked playfully.
Dario let out a grunt and sighed. “Same as they have been since we got here.”
“When will we get to meet this special lady?” Kira asked.
Dario glared at her in response.
“Maybe we should introduce ourselves to her,” Thor added, continuing the banter. “She probably wants to meet your friends.”
“Oh yes, meeting the friends, that’s always a big step,” Kira said.
Together, they laughed and even Dario had to crack a smile, if nothing else, at the ridiculousness of the situation.
“Good morning, my faithful companions,” Aldo said, walking up to them with a spring in his step.
His arms were full of random items, some looked like nothing more than junk, and others looked like they might actually be worth something. He dropped his collection on the ground in front of them and stood up proudly.
Kardok, who had been following along behind him with an excited grin on his face, added a handful of items to the pile.
“Take your pick,” Aldo said, glancing between the pile and Kira.
She wrinkled her nose and looked down at the heap of metal.
“What is there to pick from?” she asked, kneeling down and rummaging through the parts.
“Oh, a little of this a little of that. What you got in your hand there is a small-scale comm device. It’s like a walkie-talkie.”
“Where is the other one?” Kira asked, turning the small black box over in her hand.
“There’s only one,” Aldo said, grabbing hold of it and tossing it back in the pile.
“Who would want just one walkie-talkie?” Thor asked.
“Someone who already has one,” Aldo replied matter-of-factly.
“Whatever,” Kira said, holding up a bracelet-like device. “What’s this?”
“That’s a hand-made-by-yours-truly current conductor,” Aldo replied.
“A what?” Kira asked.
Aldo reached out and took it from her, clicking a small button on the side of the device. He then held it out and pushed it into Thor’s arm.
“What the hell?” Thor asked, jumping back. “The little bastard shocked me!”
“That was on low,” Aldo said, turning the device off and adding it to the pile. “It’s another one of my personal self-defense items.”
Thor’s hands balled into fists and his jaw became clenched. Kira reached out and wrapped her hand around his forearm, silently urging him to calm down. Letting out a frustrated grunt, he relaxed his muscles and turned his attention back to the pile of junk Aldo had supplied.
“Anything of any real value in there?” Thor asked.
“Everything in there is of value,” Aldo snapped. “It’s just up to Kira, Dario, and myself to figure out what that is.”
He began to divide up the goods, giving each of them a variety of items to use to bet with. There would be no official bookmarkers or wagers going around. Any bets made would be decided in the moment.
“You have to get in there and just yell,” Aldo said, handing Kira and Dario each a sack full of random devices. “When the big hitters come in, I’ll let you know. But, don’t even think about trying to strike up a deal with them unless you have something worth offering.”
Kira and Dario nodded.
Before they knew it, the ring began to fill up. The stands were packed with spectators, and the ground level was filled with eager participants. Kira, Thor, and Dario remained on the sidelines, watching in awe as Aldo—small, squeaky, smart-ass Aldo—ordered everyone into place.
Their Rengar companion had called in a number of favors and had at least a half a dozen inmates working the event. It was the biggest thing anyone who had been in Jaantu 7 had ever seen inside the prison walls. The list of participants was so long, that eventually, they had to start turning some of the volunteers away.
“We’ll have to make this an annual thing,” Aldo said, patting a downtrodden Bandurian male on the shoulder as he turned him away. “You just have to get here earlier next year.”
Spinning around to face Kira and Thor, the Rengar twitched his nose and his beady black eye sparkled.
“Hey, if worse comes to worst and we don’t get out of his hell hole, at least we’ll have something to look forward to. I bet next year we could even start charging for people to participate.”
“If worse comes to worst, the entire galaxy will be blown to shit,” Thor reminded him.
“Aren’t you just a little ray of sunshine?” Aldo remarked, glaring at him before scurrying off to make sure the final arrangements were coming together.
“You ready for this?” Kira asked turning to look up at Thor.
“As ready as I’m going to be,” he replied, wrapping his arms around her waist.
“Be careful,” she said as she pushed herself up and pressed her lips to his. “But win, okay? That’s an order from your Captain.”
He chuckled and pulled back. “Yes, Captain,” he said, straightening up. “I won’t disappoint you.”
“You better not,” she said with a wink.
Just as the announcer, Aldo, reached the center of the ring and began to draw everyone's attention to the first fight, Kira and Thor split ways. He went to where the fighters had gathered. There, he would wait for his name to be called. Given that his fame had spread quickly throughout the prison—the fugitive Arcanum that everyone wanted to face off against—it wouldn't be long before he was summoned to the center of the ring.
Kira didn’t think about that, though, as she dove into the center of the crowd, her eyes darting around looking for someone to strike up a deal with. The second the first bell rang, the entire place erupted with a roar of cheers. She fell in with them, mixing in with the crowd and letting herself get swept away in the excitement that buzzed through the air around her.
Round after round the arena became more crazed. The bets were flying and the air was filled with tension. Kira had never been in a mob that worked up before. Arms were flailing in the air as shouts of frustration or cries of triumph rippled through the room. She felt as if she were being swallowed by the excitement, her head coming to the shoulders of most of the inmates around her.
Still, she called out her bets and elbowed her way around, challenging one individual after the next. The first few rounds, she didn't recognize the names of the fighters that were called. Still, she bet. She lost some, won others. Her collection grew and shrunk as she worked her way around the crowded space.
When she heard the announcement that Thor would be fighting against the current reigning champion, a Vorian warrior with a reputable nasty attitude, she inhaled nervously. Scanning the area around her, she found an empty space on a bench and hurried over. Climbing atop it, she was just able to see down to the ring.
Her heart skipped when she saw him walk out. His eyes scanned the crowd and landed on her. For a second, the sounds around her faded, the smell of sweat and blood evaporated, and the only thing she saw was him.
“Five minutes to exchange bets!” Aldo yelled out, snapping her back to the present.
Looking around, she started to shout. She dug into her bag, pulling out anything and everything she could get her hands on.
“Who are you for?” a burly Terran man asked, waddling up to her.
Even though she was standing on the bench, the man stood at eye-level with her.
“The soldier,” she said, holding out the collection of things in her hand.
The man examined them. The air was filled with shouts and wagers, but she didn’t hear them. She barely heard the man in front of her. Her eyes kept wandering around him, back to the ring. Her stomach flopped nervously.
“What do you want?” the man asked.
She glanced down at what he was willing to offer. She spotted a make-shift pulse gun and pointed at it.
“You’re going to need to offer me more than that for this,” he said.
She dropped her bag to the ground and the contents spilled out.
“All of it,” she said.
“You’re willing to put all of that on the soldier?” the man asked, looking back at the ring. “Fine. It’s a deal.”
Just as they shook, the ding of the bell starting the match rang out.
Kira held her breath, not wanting to watch, but not wanting to look away. She had never seen him fight like that before—hand-to-hand, one-on-one. Even from a distance, she could see the tension coursing through him, the way his jaw clenched tight, his eyes fixed on his target, his hands balled into fists.
The Vorian male stood at least six inches taller than Thor, his scale-covered green skin pulling tight around his eyes as they locked in on his opponent. He chose to fight unarmed, as well. Kira scoffed to herself when she noticed. It was foolish of him to think he could defeat an Arcanum bare-handed.
“He’s fighting without a weapon?” Kira asked the man standing next to her.
He didn’t look back at her but nodded in response. “He was one of the strongest warriors back on Voria Prime, or so he’s been claiming since he got locked up in here. He’s too proud to arm himself.”
Hopefully, his pride would be his downfall.
Thor made the first move, gliding across the ring with jaw-dropping speed. Before the oversized lizard could even process what was happening, Thor had him pinned down on the ground. Kira let out an excited cheer that caught in her throat when the Vorian reached up and took hold of Thor’s foot, twisting it about violently.
She winced, waiting for the crack of bones.
It never came. Thor used the forced motion to his advantage. Throwing his body around in the direction his opponent was twisting his foot, he let his other leg crash into the side of his opponent’s face.
The Vorian let out a loud, frustrated cry of pain, releasing his hold on Thor simultaneously. Thor hurried back as the Vorian rolled onto his stomach, his hands pushed up beneath him. In one surprisingly swift movement, given that the Vorian were not known for their agility but rather lack of it, the warrior leaped to his feet.
The second his feet hit the ground, he took off. He barreled in Thor’s direction, his arms outstretched. Just as he rushed up to him, Thor was gone. The Vorian spun around, a look of anger and frustration on his face that made the hairs on Kira’s neck stand on end. Thor was now standing on the opposite side of the ring, a cocky smile on his face and his arms crossed casually over his chest.
Again, the Vorian charged. And again, Thor side-stepped his attack.
“He’s going to wear himself out, damn it!” the man that had made the bet against Kira exclaimed, turning to look at her.
She smiled and shrugged.
“Son of a bitch,” the man muttered, reaching for the pulse gun she had spotted hanging in his holster. “Just take it.”
She did, dropping it down into her bag of goods before turning her attention back to the ring. As the man shuffled off, mumbling his disgust under his breath, she let out cheers of victory she knew were not preemptive. Thor had tackled the Vorian once again. She couldn't help but notice how his green, scale-covered chest rose and fell quickly as he gasped for breath.
Thor won that match and all the matches that followed. His stamina, something he had gained with his cybernetic enhancements, serving as a very noticeable advantage. Other fighters who had been through as many rounds as he had were quickly growing tired. Their movements were lazy and uncontrolled; their feet drug through the sand beneath them. Thor, though, remained at the top of his game.
Kardok even suffered from fatigue, losing a match that Kira had hoped he wouldn’t. The opponent who claimed victory over him would be the one to go up against Thor in the final. When she saw who that opponent would be, her heart sunk into her chest.
“The Dralaxian,” she muttered, elbowing her way through the crowd to meet with Dario and Aldo on the sidelines of the ring.
“I found a guy with an entire drone,” Aldo informed them. “He’s willing to put it on the line if we’re willing to bet everything we have—all of us.”
“Who does he want?” Dario asked, dropping his very full bag of acquired goods on the ground in front of them.
“The four-armed freak,” Aldo said. “He saw the two of them get into it on your first day here.”
“What do we do?” Dario asked, his eyes filled with worry. “Should we wait? Should we just hold onto what we won and try to trade it later? Maybe we can find someone…”
“No,” Kira said firmly, cutting him off. “We bet on Thor.”
“But, we’ve seen what that orange monster can do to him!” Aldo countered.
“It was different then,” Kira said. “He didn’t have room to move.”
“He can dance around all he wants, that doesn’t change the fact that if that Dralaxian gets a hold of him, he’s screwed,” Aldo argued.
“We bet on Thor,” Kira said again.
Dario and Aldo exchanged wary looks. Kira shifted her gaze over her shoulder, to where Thor was leaning against the wall on the far side of the ring. Although he had sustained some minor injuries during the fights, he was still in good condition. The Dralaxian had been fighting throughout the entire tournament, as well. He was tired, worn down.
Kira’s gaze shifted to where he was standing.
He was staring at Thor, a sort of bloodlust in his eyes.
He didn’t look as worn down as she had hoped. It seemed as if the chance at revenge had given him a second wind.
“He’ll be fine,” she said, turning back to Dario and Aldo. “We bet on Thor.”
Her word was final. Although they had their reservations about her decision, they didn’t voice them anymore. Dario and Kira remained on the sidelines as Aldo scurried off to confirm the bet. It wasn’t three minutes later that their Rengar companion was back in the center of the ring, preparing to call the last fight.
Kira remained where she was. From there, she was guaranteed the best view of the fight that the arena had to offer. She hoped that it would mean she had a front-row view of Thor’s defeat.
The fight was announced; the crowd erupted into a chorus of cheers. The second Aldo scampered back, the fight began. It started fast, the Dralaxian making the first move. He dove in Thor’s direction, his arms outstretched. Kira smiled to herself, knowing that if he intended to win the fight that way, Thor had nothing to worry about.
The orange blob of muscle and arms charged across the ring, not even coming close to tackling Thor, who moved out of the way without as much as blinking. When the Dralaxian turned around, though. He planted his feet, spread out his arms, and dared Thor to make a move.
“I’m not going to give up as easily as the others,” the Dralaxian warned. “You’re not going to wear me down. You want to defeat me, fight me like a man, not like a rat!”
“Hey!” Aldo cried out in protest.
Kira elbowed him in the side and fixed her eyes on Thor. His eyes narrowed as he absorbed his opponent’s words. Nodding slowly, he moved his weight to the balls of his feet. Pushing off in a burst of energy, he seemed to fly across the arena. Kira didn’t blink, afraid she would miss something.
Leaping into the air, Thor came down behind the Dralaxian. Before the orange giant could spin around, he leaped up again, this time coming down with his arms wrapped around his neck. The Dralaxian swung his massive arms about, trying to take hold of Thor, who had his right arm near the point of cutting off his air circulation.
With a cry of frustration, the Dralaxian threw his weight backward. Kira let out a frightened gasp as she watched his massive frame fall backward to the ground.
“Thor!” she tried to call out, to warn him.
But she was too late; or, really, Thor was too quick.
Just as the Dralaxian neared the ground, Thor pushed himself back. His opponent anticipated this, though, and reached out, taking hold of his left ankle just before he slipped out of his reach. With a triumphant grunt, the Dralaxian pulled Thor to the ground with him. Thor spun around, attempting to kick him in the face, but the Dralaxian ducked, again anticipating his move.
With a hearty, ground-shaking laugh, the orange monster grabbed onto Thor’s other foot. Pushing himself up, he spun around once, lifting Thor off the ground and tossing him to the side, like an old, unwanted child’s play thing.
Kira cringed.
Thor hit the ground with a hard thud. She could see that he was hurt. He struggled to push himself back up; she struggled to remain in place, every bone in her body wanting to rush out to help him.
It was clear that everyone around them felt that the fight was all but done, the Dralaxian included. He swaggered over to where Thor was still kneeling on the sand-covered ground. He leaned in, taking hold of Thor’s jumpsuit and lifting him up, he balled up two of his fists and prepared to deliver the blow.
When his fists flew, Kira let out a soft, wordless cry. One of them landed square in Thor’s jaw, the other in his gut.
“What the hell is he doing?” Aldo muttered. “Fight back, damn you!”
Again, the Dralaxian cocked his fists back. Again, Kira felt the cry of desperation and worry pushing at her throat.
This time, when he let them fly, Thor did react. He reached up swiftly, taking hold of the blow directed at his face. His face contorted with pain as the second blow found its home in his stomach. Still, he held tightly to the hand he had captured—the hand that was nearly the size of his head.
With one swift, unexpected movement, Thor twisted his arms around. Even amid the chaos going on around them—cheers, sneers, and shouts—Kira could hear the bones snap. The sound rippled out, cutting through the air and filling her with a spark of hope.
The Dralaxian let out a loud cry and stumbled back, cradling his injured arm. Thor didn’t let him get far. Leaping forward, he pushed the orange giant back to the ground.
It seemed like the entire arena shook.
Kneeling on his chest, Thor balled his hands into fists and let them fly with speed, fury, and stunning accuracy. His blows landed in the Dralaxian face, gut, and chest, moving in a pattern that left his opponent gasping for breath between his cries of pain.
Finally, he threw one of his large orange hands down onto the sand.
“Surrender,” he croaked.
“What’s that?” Thor asked, not getting to his feet just yet.
“Surrender,” the Dralaxian said, his eyes filled with rage and the look of blood-lust now at an all-time high.
“He surrendered!” Aldo announced, running out into the ring.
Kira ran behind him, not noticing or caring about the crowd around her. The second Thor was on his feet, she was in his arms.
“You did it,” she said, pressing her lips to his. “You did it! We got the drone! We’re going to be free! We’re going to be free!”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Alaria never thought that seeing the Galactic Bazaar would bring her so much joy. Although they had survived their encounter with the Zel’Dar, the experience left her somewhat shaken and eager to get their Captain back in the pilot’s chair.
She would never admit that to Bron, though.
The truth was, he had done well in getting them to their destination unharmed. She knew that he was proud of that fact, as well. So, she wasn’t going to take that away from him.
"So, what's the plan again?" Bron asked as he guided the Curio toward the small Artech station hovering between a handful of the Bazaar's main asteroid bases.
“Simple,” Alaria said, straightening up in her seat and folding her hands neatly in her lap. Plastering a smile on her face, she repeated the speech they had rehearsed a dozen times during their trip. “My name is Zenia and I’m looking to open a business here in the Galactic Bazaar. You are my partner Max and we are doing some investigation into security systems. Given the Bazaar’s edgy population, we want to ensure that our goods are safe at all times.”
“And what goods do you intend to sell, Zenia?” Bron asked, making his voice sound as official as possible.
“Second-hand and antique weapons,” Alaria replied. “I’m a collector, myself.”
Bron looked over at her and smiled. “And while we’re in there rambling on about this system and that one, Vinnie and his metal side-kick will sneak off and find any computer, use your old employee log-in information, hope it still works, and download the plans for Jaantu 7 onto the repair bot’s hard drive.”
“And if it doesn’t work, they take the entire hard drive out of the computer and we figure it out once we’re back on board,” Alaria said.
“Sounds like we’re as ready as we’re going to be,” Bron replied.
Alaria nodded and smiled confidently.
Their plan seemed foolproof. And, it started off well. Alaria and Bron had been greeted with the warmest of welcomes and ushered into a large, official looking room where they were seated in plush, comfortable chairs and a cheerful woman with a round face and warm smile outlined the various security systems their company offered.
The station was small. As Alaria had said, it was only an outpost. From where they were sitting, they could see the main entrance, complete with receptionist desk and waiting-room style chairs. Just past that, they could see down a long hallway that led to a handful of offices.
That was where Vinnie would be heading.
Waiting for the right time was the hardest part, trying to time it perfectly. When that time came, though, Alaria put on a nearly flawless performance.
Bron held his breath as he watched her reach for the glass of water she requested upon entering the office. She didn’t look; she simply moved. Her hand nudged the glass gently. Just enough to tip it onto its side.
“Oh dear!” Alaria exclaimed, jumping up and clasping her hand over her mouth.
Water had gone everywhere, including across the cheerful woman’s shirt and trickling down into her lap.
“It’s nothing,” the woman replied, pushing herself up quickly. She shot Alaria a fake, forced smiled and added. “I’ll just be a moment.”
Just as they expected, she hurried out of the room, sending the receptionist in to wipe down the desk and offer Alaria another glass of water.
While Alaria discussed whether it would be best for her to get another glass of water or not, Bron glanced out the large glass windows separating the office space from the reception area. He didn’t see Vinnie enter.
“I’ll just give you a moment to think,” the woman said, smiling at Alaria and turning to leave the office.
“Wait,” Bron said, drawing her back. “Maybe I would like some water.”
The receptionist let out an audibly annoyed sigh and looked down at him.
“I’m not sure though,” he said, looking past her.
When he saw Vinnie pop his head around the corner and go cartwheeling into the room, followed quickly by the gleam of a small metal dome, he relaxed back in his chair and turned his full attention up to the woman.
“I don’t know,” he said, turning to look at Alaria, who was seated across from him. “What did you decide about the water, dearest?”
Alaria’s cheeks flushed and a soft giggle escaped her. The receptionist shot her a quick glare.
“No water,” Alaria said, wiping the smile off her face.
“Then I guess no water for me either,” Bron said, turning back toward the table.
“No water,” the receptionist said between gritted teeth as she turned on her heel and marched off.
Together, Alaria and Bron shared a quick, relieved laugh.
“Dearest?” Alaria asked, wrinkling her nose.
“Sorry, did I go too far? I thought we were supposed to be partners,” Bron said, leaning in and speaking in a gruff whisper.
Alaria giggled again. “Business partners. But, that’s okay. I don’t mind the other way.”
Bron’s cheeks flushed.
When they heard the door to the office slide open, they straightened up and assumed their roles once again. And again, everything continued to work smoothly. They looked at security plans, chatted with the woman, who had changed her clothes during her short absence and even began to feign interest in purchasing one of the plans in particular.
That’s when things fell apart.
It started with an alarm—an ear-piercing alarm that echoed off the walls and hung in the air.
"What is that?" Alaria asked, putting on an air of ignorance, although the concern and surprise in her voice were very real.
"There's been a security breach," the receptionist answered Alaria's question before the woman working with them could.
They all turned to see the pale-face receptionist standing at the doorway. The look of worry on her face was concerning enough. The heavy footsteps of armed security guards only added to the tension of the situation.
"Oh, my," Alaria said, her eyes flying in Bron's direction. "Is it really that serious?"
“It’s a precaution,” the woman who had been talking them through security systems reassured them. “We are very protective of the client information we keep here.” She pushed her way around the desk separating her from Alaria and Bron and marched toward the door to her office. “I’m sure it’s nothing. I’ll be back shortly.”
They waited until she disappeared out the door and rushed down one of the hallways leading off the main reception area before they pushed themselves up out of their seats.
“We need to move fast,” Bron said, reaching out and take Alaria’s hand in his.
He tugged her forward, trying to ignore the way her hand felt in his—the way it seemed to fit perfectly in his. They emerged into the reception area, two pairs of security guards rushing about, checking each of the offices around them.
One group rushed into one room, the other into the next. Bron and Alaria waited until they were both tucked into one of the offices down the hall to bolt forward, going in the direction they saw Vinnie go roughly fifteen minutes before.
“Do you think it was him?” Alaria asked.
Bron looked back at her quickly. “I have no doubt in my mind.”
They hurried, their hands still linked, down the hall. When they heard one of the office doors open behind them, they ducked into the room they were closest to.
It was a storage closet, thankfully.
Again, they waited until they felt the coast was clear. Rushing back into the hall, they hurried from door to door, looking for any sign that their teenage partner in crime was inside.
That’s when they heard someone exclaim, “hurry up, you piece of metallic shit!”
Without needing to discuss it amongst them, they burst into the room the frustrated exclamation came from.
“What the hell are you guys doing here?” Vinnie asked. “Shouldn’t you be stalling them?”
“Do you not hear the siren?” Bron asked as he hurried into the room, reluctantly letting go of Alaria’s hand. “What the hell did you do?”
“Well, Alaria’s password didn’t work,” Vinnie said. “So, Rob figured out a way to hack the system.”
“Rob?” Alaria asked.
“Rob, the robot,” Vinnie said, pointing to his repair bot.
Alaria began to giggle at the wittiness of Vinnie’s bot’s name, but the sound of footsteps rushing down the hallway caused the laugh to catch in her throat.
“Apparently, their security is pretty good, though,” Vinnie said in a whisper. “Even though we’re in, their system still detected unusual activity and the alarms started blaring. If we really were looking for a security system, I would definitely recommend theirs.”
“We’ll keep that in mind,” Bron said, rushing over to him and setting his hand on his shoulder firmly. “We need to get out of here.”
“We can’t,” Vinnie said. “Rob’s not done downloading the plans.”
“Tell him to hurry,” Bron said.
“It doesn’t work like that,” Vinnie replied.
Alaria scooted back to the door, pressing her ear to it and listening. “They’re getting close,” she warned.
“What do we do?” Vinnie asked.
“What we do best,” Bron said, reaching around and pulling out a sidearm he had hidden beneath the loose-fitting flight gear he was wearing.
Alaria did the same as Bron hurried over to where she was standing. Vinnie, too, garnished a small weapon of his own, and he ducked down behind the desk where his repair bot continued to work to download the plans.
They all waited, holding their breath. The door to the room next to them opened. Footsteps grew closer. Alaria crouched down; Bron pressed his back to the wall behind her.
The second the door flew open, Alaria grabbed hold of one of the guard’s ankles and pulled him down to the ground. Bron wrapped his arm around the other’s throat and pulled him into the room, slamming the door shut behind him.
“What? Why didn’t we just shoot them?” Vinnie asked, popping up.
“There are two more of them out there. If they heard gunshots, they would have come running, Bron explained, throwing his prisoner down to the ground.
Alaria pointed her weapon at the man she was now standing over and motioned for him to remain silent. His eyes were fixed on her gun, but there wasn’t fear in his face. He looked determined more than anything.
It was then that she realized he was reaching for his gun, which had slipped out of his hands and landed just a few feet away from him. Putting her foot on it and kicking it away, she shot him a stern warning glare.
“Done!” the repair bot informed them, rolling out from behind the desk.
“Can we shoot them now?” Vinnie asked, his gun trained on one of the guards.
“No,” Alaria said sternly.
“Then at least let me show you what I did to Rob,” Vinnie said, nodding to the repair bot.
His small, metallic side-kick rolled over to the guard that was still lying on the ground near Alaria’s feet. A small panel lowered from his chest and out popped the barrel of a pulse gun.
“Vinnie, we’re not going to…” Alaria started, but it was too late.
A beam of energized matter flew out of the bot’s frame and hit the guard square in the gut. His eyes slipped closed and his breathing slowed almost instantly.
“He’s fine,” Vinnie explained as the bot turned its sites to the other guard. “It’s just a stun setting.”
“Oh,” Alaria said, watching the second guard slump down to the ground next to Bron.
“Let’s get moving,” Bron said, pulling open the door and poking his head out into the hall. “We don’t have long.”
Huddled together tightly, their small group emerged back into the hallway, rushing toward the exit as quickly as they could. Their focus was so honed that they didn’t hear the door down the hall fly open. They didn’t hear the shouts to stop.
They did hear the faint click of a gun action locking into place.
“Shit,” Bron said, spinning around, lifting his gun up quickly.
There, the two remaining guards were barreling in their direction.
“Stop!” one of them demanded. “Stop or I’ll shoot!”
They didn’t stop; he did shoot.
The buzz of energized matter zipped past Bron’s right ear, close enough that he felt the heat of it burn against his face.
“Okay,” Alaria said, spinning around. “We can shoot them now.”
"Hell yes!" Vinnie cried, turning around, running backward, and pointing his gun back down the hall at their pursuers.
He took his shot, hitting one of them in the shin. The guard fell to the ground, but his partner continued after them. Alaria looked back to see that he held up his weapon and aimed for Bron. Just as he squeezed the trigger, she reached out and pushed against Bron’s shoulder, urging him to move out of the way.
He moved just as the bolt of energy whipped between them. Alaria, without looking back, extended her arm behind her and pulled the trigger, hoping to at least detour their pursuer long enough for them to reach the main lobby.
It didn’t work.
He not only continued after them, he was radioing for backup.
“I’ll give you backup!” Vinnie yelled, spinning around and aiming his sidearm at the guard.
With one quick pull of the trigger, the second guard was down. Alaria didn’t see where he got hit, and she didn’t care to look back to find out. Her focus was on the open room just a few yards ahead of them.
The second they reached that point, the point that meant they were only a short hallway away from their ship, the relief she had hoped to feel was nowhere to be found. There was, however, a group of guards ducking behind the receptionist’s desk, their guns aimed in their direction. The entire group skidded to a stop and stumbled back.
“I’ll go first,” Bron offered.
“No, I will,” Vinnie said.
Alaria could feel an argument coming on—an argument they didn’t have time for. She was about to intervene when the sound of an explosion caused them all to fall silent. Looking around quickly, she realized that the repair bot was nowhere to be found. She squinted and looked into the reception area, where a cloud of dark gray smoke was quickly filling the air.
“Rob!” Vinnie yelled.
Bron raised his gun and plunged into the fog. Although it was becoming impossible to see, the sounds of gunshots being fired in their direction gave him an idea of where to aim, which he did. Shooting blindly, he led the others toward the ship.
“But what about Rob?” Vinnie asked as Bron ushered him toward the hall leading to the airlock.
“What about him?” a small, metallic voice asked.
Right behind them, barely visible in the smoke, was Vinnie’s repair bot.
“You can thank me later for saving your asses,” the bot said as he rolled along at an impressive speed.
“That thing has been spending way too much time with you, Vinnie,” Bron said as they emerged into the airlock. “Way too much time.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
“You better not be lying, rat,” Thor said, stalking back and forth outside the entrance of Aldo’s cramped little hideout.
“I’m not,” Aldo replied.
To Kira's surprise, his reply didn't come with a nickname or insult built in. She could see that he was tired. His normally beady, bright, black eyes were listless and his fur was matted down around them as if he had been rubbing them a lot.
For two days straight, Aldo had been dedicating all of his energy to pulling apart the drone and using the parts to complete his comm device. The others had tried to help out when and where they could, but most of the time, they were more in the way than anything.
So, instead, they spent their time going through their other winnings, sorting them, trading them, using them in whatever way they could. Some of them turned out to be a lot more useful than they had originally assumed.
Kira took the pulse gun she had won after Thor’s first match as her own. “This will have to do,” she had said as she slipped it into her pocket. “It’s definitely nothing like my Phantom that bounty hunting freak took from me, though.”
Thor claimed a sidearm that Dario had won as a result of one of Kardok’s victories. Even though they were leaving the prison soon, it never hurt to be armed, just in case.
“It works,” Aldo continued, stepping back as Kardok moved to the front of the group and lifted the hidden panel from its place. “I tested it this morning. I sent out a preliminary message to see what happened.”
“What happened?” Kardok asked, holding the panel between his large, green hands and spinning around with a look of confused excitement on his face.
“I don’t know yet,” Aldo said, elbowing his way past his over-sized, over-zealous companion and marching straight up to the console. “That’s what we’re here to figure out. Remember, it’s an old model, made with old parts. Don’t expect any miracles.”
Kira, Thor, and Dario all held their breath as they followed him inside, their hearts pounding wildly and their hands nearly shaking with anticipation. Kardok followed them in, sliding the panel back in place and hunching down near the low doorway.
“Shit,” Aldo said, leaning back in his chair. “Shit!”
“Shit,” Thor muttered in reply, his shoulders hunching forward.
Dario remained silent, and Kira thought she could see a single tear of frustration form in the corner of his eye.
“Is there anything else we can try?” she asked, pushing past Thor and Dario and walking up behind Aldo.
As soon as she rested her hand on the back of her chair and her eyes fell on the screens in front of him, she, too, muttered a profanity, followed by an audible gasp.
There, illuminated in bright blue glory, was the feed of a conversation; a large, multifaceted conversation taking place all over the Galactic Bazaar surrounding Jaantu 7. The longer she stared, the faster the replies came in. They scrolled by faster than she could read them. She did catch glimpses of them, though.
“I’m in!”
“Four here.”
“… is the hit?”
“Do we know where…?”
“Hell yes! Count me…”
“About time… assholes!”
She stepped back and looked at Thor over her shoulder, her eyes wide. He returned her glance with one of confusion. She didn't speak but motioned for him to join her at Aldo's side.
“What did you say in your message?” Thor asked, his hand resting on Kira’s shoulder.
“I might have thrown out the idea of a massive criminally organized assault on the prison,” Aldo said.
“Just tossed it out there, huh?” Thor replied, his eyes fixed on the screen.
“What’s going on?” Dario asked.
“It would appear we are in the midst of a Revolution,” Kira muttered. “A Criminal Revolution.”
“You wanted to get out, didn’t you?” Aldo replied.
“We wanted our crew to bust us out,” Kira said. “Not the entire underground population of the Galactic Bazaar.”
“Better safe than sorry, right?” Aldo quipped.
“I don’t think any of us are safe,” Thor said. “What are they planning exactly?”
"Hold on," Aldo said, leaning forward and pulling up randomly selected sections of the still ongoing conversation. "It looks like they're not completely organized just yet," he said. "They're still working on figuring out how many of them there are nearby. They're eager, though. I'd say they'd be ready to act in…"
“Wait!” Kira said.
Aldo froze, as did the scrolling text on the screen.
“There,” Kira said, leaning in and pointing to one small section of the text. “It’s Alaria.”
“Alaria?” Dario asked, shouldering his way to the front. “My Alaria?”
The text that had caught Kira’s attention wasn’t much. Just a few lines. But, she knew right away that it was their crew out there, replying to the mass message sent out by Aldo. Alaria’s response read:
“We have the plans. We’re waiting for your orders, Captain Winter. Please reply. Please let me know that Dario is okay.”
“Alaria,” Dario said softly as he read the message.
“Aldo, can you isolate the signal that was transmitted with that message and reply only to that specific location?” Thor asked.
“On it,” Aldo replied.
His little fur-covered fingers flew over the illuminated keyboard in front of him. It took him a few moments, but soon enough, they were opening a private channel of communication with the Curio.
“Alaria?” Kira said, speaking into the small microphone.
Her words were instantly turned into text.
“Alaria, this is Kira. We’re here. All of us are here. We’re safe.”
A long pause followed. Dario grabbed onto her other shoulder, and both he and Thor squeezed her tightly. If it hadn’t been for the tension running through her, she would have noticed the extremely nervous pressure they were both applying.
“Kira?” a reply came. “Kira. We’re here. All of us.”
“You have the plans?”
“We do. Did you find Aldo or Kardo?”
“Kardok!” Kardok said, clapping his hands together happily.
“Yes,” Kira replied. “We found them both. Can you get us out?”
“We’re working on it.”
“How long?”
“Not sure. We’re considering working with the underground criminal assault.”
Kira looked at Thor and then at Dario.
“It’s dangerous,” she said to Dario, whose eyes were fixed on the screen.
“It’s going to happen either way, isn’t it?” he replied absently. “It would be better if they did. The true intentions of the raid will be covered up, they won’t be alone out there, facing off against the entire security crew of Jaantu 7.”
Kira nodded. “Alaria, do it.”
“Copy. We will radio who we can and try to figure out what’s happening. Then, we’ll send a message back to you, telling you what we figured out from the plans and how the break out will go down.”
“Good.”
“Alaria?” Dario said, pushing himself forward quickly. “Alaria, it’s Dario.”
“I’m so glad you’re okay.”
“I miss you.”
“I miss you, too.”
A long pause.
“Dario. There’s something you should know.”
“What?”
Another long silence.
“Thane sent a message.”
Dario's posture went stiff. His hand clenched down on Kira's shoulder again as he waited for her to continue.
“He’s okay, for now. He says that an attack is imminent. He has his weapon; he’s chosen a star system. Grimm wants to act as soon as possible. He knows Kira’s locked up.”
Dario sucked in a long, shaky breath. His eyes filled with tears and his hands began to shake.
“Thank you. Tell him I say thank you, and I miss him. Please.”
“I will,” Alaria replied. “I love you, Dario.”
“I love you, too, Alaria.”
“Goodbye for now.”
That was the end of the messages. An eerie silence filled the small space as Aldo switched the screens back to the group text feed. The last words Alaria sent—‘attack’, ‘imminent’, ‘he knows’—seemed to hang in the air, their unspoken sound bouncing off the walls around them.
Before anyone spoke, Aldo’s fingers began to dance across the keyboard again.
“What are you doing?” Kira asked.
“I’m organizing a damn revolution,” he said, his eyes fixed on the screen. “I’m getting us the hell out of here, so you can get to doing what you need to be—stopping that ego-inflated maniac before he destroys the whole blasted Galaxy.”
“I thought you didn’t care about stopping Grimm,” Dario replied.
Aldo’s fingers didn’t stop moving as he looked back at them over his shoulder. “I never said I didn’t care; I just didn’t understand the immediacy of the situation. You three need to work on your delivery, you know.”
“Well, you understand now, right?” Dario asked. “You understand what we’re dealing with.”
“I understand that we need to get the hell out of here,” Aldo said, turning back to the screens. “What’s your ship’s call sign?”
“The Curio,” Thor answered. “Why?”
“Because they are now officially leading the revolt,” Aldo said, leaning back in his chair with a satisfied smile spread across his face.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
“I sent the message to Thane,” Alaria said, walking into the Curio’s common area.
Bron and Vinnie sat in the plush chairs in the corner of the room. They were both leaning in, scrutinizing the plans for Jaantu 7 beaming out of Vinnie’s repair bot, searching for anything about the structure of the giant prison that they could use to their advantage.
“The entire thing is surrounded by electrical circuits,” Bron said, leaning back, not responding to her initial comment. “Anything that gets close to it will be fried instantly.”
“There has to be a weak spot,” Vinnie said, still leaning in and squinting at the plans. “There is always a weak spot.”
Alaria moved across the room and took a seat across from them. Glancing down at the plans, she reached out and set her finger down with authority.
“Here,” she said.
“Here? Here what?” Bron asked.
“Here is where we hit, after we overload the system, of course.”
Bron leaned back and stared at her, waiting for her to continue with her explanation. Her eyes, wide and filled with a glimmer of hope and excitement that he hadn’t seen in them for far too long.
"And why there?" he asked when he realized she wasn't going to finish explaining.
“Because that’s where we’ll be able to find not only a chamber of air-locked rooms—built that way as a fail-safe, obviously…”
“Obviously,” Bron said with a chuckle.
Alaria smiled at him and continued, “…but we’ll also be able to throw a few circuits as we move into the prison, as well.”
Her eyes sparkled as they ran across the plans. Bron leaned back and watched her. He had never seen her like that before—in her element. Often times he forgot that under that layer of giggles wrapped in platinum blond, was an engineer—a very intelligent, very successful engineer.
The thought only made him care for her more, admire her more.
“Can you zoom in here?” Alaria asked the repair bot, her fingers resting on a small section of the plans, the section they hoped to bust into.
The repair bot did as it was asked, and everyone leaned in. Alaria squinted for a second, and then quickly leaned back and clapped her hands together, letting out an excited giggle.
“It’s perfect!” she said. “Honestly, it’s absolutely perfect!”
Bron leaned in, still trying to figure out what she was referring to. Vinnie, too, sat kneeling over the images with a look of confusion on his face.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Vinnie asked finally.
Alaria giggled and pushed herself up to her feet. "The place I've chosen for us to bust in is an air locked room that controls the security systems," she explained. "It's air-locked and it's also only accessible with some kind of key-card or identification device. There's a whole slew of high-tech wiring around it linked to ID readers."
“Then, that’s not good,” Bron said.
“I said it’s only accessible with an ID badge, meaning you need an ID to get in,” Alaria replied matter-of-factly. “Not to get out.”
"So, we can still bust in," Vinnie said, piecing together her thought. "Or, out, really. We can get into the air-locked rooms via collision, work our way through the airlocks, since they only lock from the outside, and eventually get into the prison itself."
Alaria nodded.
"We can have Kira, Thor, and Dario meet us here, then," Bron said, pointing to the last of the air-locked rooms, "and from there we can guide them back out to the ship."
Alaria nodded again.
"But, how will we get back through the air-locks without…?" Vinnie started.
“That’s why we’re starting in the control room linked to the security systems,” Alaria said with a giggle. “We’re going to shut all that down.”
Bron and Vinnie’s eyes lit up with complete understanding and they both nodded as they leaned back in their seats.
“Now, all we have to do is figure out how to put this plan into action,” Alaria said, slumping down next to Bron.
She rested her hand on his knee. Swallowing back the nervous blush he felt rising to his cheeks, he moved his hand and rested it on top of hers. His stomach flopped as he waited to see what she would do.
“We have to figure out some way to get enough projectiles thrown at the exterior to throw the circuit,” she said, leaning back.
As she leaned back, she turned her hand, pressing her palm into his and letting their fingers lace together. His heart began to race, but the smirk on Vinnie’s face as he eyed the subtle gestures passing between him and Alaria threatened to dull the moment.
“Well, Kira and the others are apparently organizing a mass criminal assault on the prison. I’m sure we could get them to work with us,” Bron offered.
“The criminals!” Vinnie’s repair bot exclaimed. “You’ve gotten messages regarding the assault.”
“When?” Alaria asked.
“I don’t know. I’m not your personal secretary,” the bot replied angrily.
“You sort of are,” Vinnie snapped back at his rolling metal sidekick. “That’s why I connected your systems to the comm systems on the ship, so you could tell us if anything comes in that we need to know about.”
“I’m telling you now, aren’t I?” the bot shot back.
“What are the messages?” Bron asked, his patience growing slim.
Alaria gave his hand a slight squeeze and his heart fluttered.
“First, I’m a projector, now I’m damned answering machine,” the repair bot muttered, pulling up the string of messages Aldo had initiated with his call to action. “This is the first stream that you have new messages from,” the bot explained. “There are others.”
The messages flew by as the bot searched for the newest. When he did, and the rolling text stopped, Alaria, Bron, and Vinnie all sat up straight and rigid as their eyes flitted over the words.
“Us?” Vinnie asked.
Moving his weight to the balls of his feet, he bounced excitedly a few times, still kneeling down in front of the text that was proclaiming them the leaders of the revolution.
“We’re in charge of this? Hell yes!” Vinnie continued.
Bron and Alaria remained silent for a moment. Alaria read the text once, twice, three times, leaning in to get a better view of it each time. When she slipped her hand from Bron’s in an effort to get closer to the projection, his heart fell slightly.
“We’re going to be in charge of a revolution?” Alaria asked, turning to look back at Bron.
“Looks like we already are,” Bron said.
“Should I pull up the other messages?” the repair bot asked.
“Sure,” Alaria said, letting out a soft sigh as she leaned back again.
This time, she nestled herself in close to him. His arm found its way around her, and before he knew it, her head was resting on his shoulder. They sat like that, the feeling of being so close slowly becoming more familiar and more natural with each passing second, and read through the text in silence.
Vinnie, as he read, continued to bounce up and down excitedly. Bron even felt a slight hint of excitement at reading the influx of messages, coming from all over the Galactic Bazaar. They originated from individuals, groups, organizations, all showing their interest in their cause and their willingness to participate in it.
“Our cause,” Bron said with a chuckle. “Do they really think there’s a cause behind all of this?”
Alaria shifted slightly and looked up at him.
“Perhaps,” she said softly. “You know, a lot of the people in there are in there unjustly. Thor was heading there when he met Kira. I’m sure there are just as many people who don’t belong in there as there are that do. And there are probably just as many people still here on the outside with bounties on their heads placed there by Grimm trying to clean up his own mess.”
Their faces were close, and Bron couldn’t pull his eyes away from hers—her bright blue eyes that had the power to burn into his.
“You…” he started his voice cracking nervously. “You have a point.”
“Ugh,” Vinnie grumbled, drawing their attention toward him. “Can we get back to planning a revolution here?”
"Right," Alaria said, pushing herself up. "We need to send a message back, letting everyone know of our plan. We need to make sure they're outfitted and equipped for something like this. If not, they're going to need to act fast, because I say we move in twenty-four hours."
“That soon?” Bron asked.
“We have to get them out of there,” Kira insisted. “Grimm is going to act soon, and we don’t have any time to lose. Rob, get ready to send a message.”
“Ready,” the repair bot replied.
“This is Alaria Starfire, and I am honored to be your leader in this crusade. This is an official call to action. We strike tomorrow; I repeat, we strike tomorrow.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Waking up on the morning of the planned break-out, Kira felt as if she were buzzing with excitement and adrenaline. She had barely slept at all the night before, her mind bouncing wildly with scenarios, preparing for everything and anything that could go wrong.
The only time she was able to sleep was when Thor woke up to find her eyes wide open and her pulse racing with anticipation and pulled her back down next to him, holding her tight.
“You need to rest. You have to be prepared for tomorrow,” he said, kissing the top of her head softly.
She knew he was right. She rested her head on his chest, she listened to his breathing, the sound of his heartbeat—slow, steady, and calm. She focused on the feeling of his arms wrapped around her, the way their bodies seemed to fit perfectly together, the way that being near him made her feel relaxed, safe, and sure. And eventually, she drifted off to sleep.
The second her eyes opened the next morning, though, she was completely awake. Thor still lay next to her, his chest rising and falling slowly. She slid out of the bunk carefully, holding her breath as she hoped she didn’t wake him up.
But, the second her foot touched the ground, he rolled onto his side. Looking back at him, she saw him staring at her, his hair a mess and his eyes heavy with sleep. The fine amount of scruff he always wore around his jaw had grown during their time in Jaantu 7. At first, she wasn’t fond of the new, even-more-unkempt look on him. But now, as she stared at him in the low, early morning prison light, she found herself more attracted to him than she had been before.
“Happy Break-Out Day,” he said to her, his words low.
“We’re not celebrating just yet,” she said, leaning in and pressing her lips to his. “We have to actually break out first.”
Pulling back she pushed herself up to her feet and padded her way across the small, cramped space. The cell doors hadn’t been opened yet. It was still too early. She leaned against the bars and looked out. From there, she could see most of The Pits. It was strange to think that she would finally be free of that place, of that view.
One week had come to feel like an eternity.
“There’s still a lot that can go wrong,” she continued, thinking out loud. “We still have to make it all the way to…”
Her words were cut short when she felt his hands wrap around her waist. Quickly, he spun her around and leaned into her. His jumpsuit was half unzipped, and hung down around his waist, exposing his bare chest. Her hands found his shoulders and pulled him down to her even more.
Resting his forehead on hers, he said, “You’ll have my back, right?”
She nodded and smiled.
“And I’ll have yours. And together, I’m sure we can keep Dario out of trouble. We’ll be fine, Kira. We didn’t come this far to get stopped now.”
“I wish I had some of your optimism,” she replied.
“Captain Winter, the optimist,” he said leaning in and pressing his lips to her cheek. “If that ever happened, though, who would be our team’s pessimist?”
“I’m not a complete pessimist,” she tried to object.
“I couldn’t imagine Alaria taking on that role,” he continued playfully. “And we all know there’s no way in hell Vinnie could fill your worry-filled shoes.”
"I'm not that bad," she tried to object again, but now his lips were drifting down to her neck and a rush of goosebumps was slithering up her arms.
Reaching up and running her fingers through his hair, she lifted his face to hers and let her lips find his. There was a passion that spread between them, a mutual zeal. She knew that beneath his cool, confident exterior, he did worry about the events that would be unfolding soon. He worried for her safety; he worried for the mission. He worried about everything other than himself.
The moment they shared was cut short when the bars supporting her weight behind her, suddenly disappeared, being sucked down into the ground beneath their feet. She nearly stumbled backward, but Thor's hold on her prevented her from doing so.
“That’s our cue,” she said, spinning around to look down at The Pits one last time.
Thor moved back to their bunk, digging around for a second before pulling out the pilfered weapons they had won during the melee. Walking up behind her, he placed his hand on her hip. She spun around, her hand finding her weapons quickly. Unzipping her blue jumpsuit just a little, she slid the weapon down into the hidden inside pocket she had sewn in there.
“Wait,” Thor said playfully as he stopped her hand before she could tug her zipper all the way up again.
“Wish I could, but we don’t really have time for that right now,” she said, brushing his hand to the side.
He glared at her as he shrugged his jumpsuit up over his shoulders, placing his own weapon in the inside pocket he had sewn into his, and zipping it shut.
Taking Thor’s hand in hers, Kira lead him out onto the landing, where they waited for Dario to emerge from his cell. He did so with zeal and force, nearly tripping over his own feet as he scurried out into the open excitedly.
“I know I should be excited about saving the Galaxy and all that,” he said, straightening himself out, “but I genuinely think the thing I’m most looking forward to about getting out of here is having my own room again.”
Kira and Thor laughed as the three of them made their way toward the prison’s common area. The Pits filled up fast every morning, and today was no exception. The crowded conditions didn’t disturb Kira at all that morning, not just because she had gotten used to them, but mainly because she didn’t even notice. Her mind was far away, focused on the future, not the present. Her eyes were scanning the upper levels of the prison, where the guards were beginning their morning shifts. She watched them move, timed their passes, and looked for the weakest among them.
“Are you ready for this?” Aldo asked, walking up behind them, a grin on his face. “I sure as hell know I am.”
“Ready!” Kardok exclaimed.
“I think we’re as ready as we’re going to get,” Thor replied.
“We’re all clear on the plan?” Kira asked, not paying attention to their conversation, her mind still focusing on other things.
Everyone nodded.
“Aldo, are you sure we can access the upper levels through the old boiler room?” she asked for the tenth time since they laid out their escape route.
Aldo’s nose twitched. “I’m positive,” he replied. “The doors in there are locked, but not manned. As long as your people on the outside can disarm the security system we’ll be able to get into the crew’s section of the prison without any problem.”
“They’ll do it,” Dario said firmly.
“And how will we know when they do?” Aldo asked.
Kira leaned back and thought. “I guess we’re just going to have to wait and see. Knowing Alaria, Bron, and Vinnie, they’ll make it pretty obvious for us.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
The number of ships that had gathered to stage the assault on Jaantu 7 amazed them. When they started planning, they were hoping for at least a dozen. They never expected that the number that actually showed up would make their hoped-for dozen seem like a drop in the bucket.
“Seventy-eight!” Vinnie exclaimed, running into the flight deck. “There are 78 ships linked into the intercom system waiting for your orders.”
The Curio drifted weightlessly, tucked behind a small asteroid belt and safely out of view of any of the security cameras that were constantly scanning Jaantu 7’s surroundings. It was from that location that they would start the assault. They would be the first to move, and the other ships—the other 78 ships—would swarm in from their chosen hiding spots. They were all under strict orders not to move until the order was given.
“Good,” Alaria said, “and they’re all clear on the instructions.”
“Let’s hope,” Bron replied. “Because 78 ships acting on their own free-will could mean a whole lot of chaos.”
“Chaos is what we want, right?” Vinnie asked.
“After we gain access,” Alaria explained. “Once we get into the prison and get the security systems turned off, they can do whatever they want.”
“That’s a scary thing to think about—hundreds of criminals doing whatever they want,” Bron said. “Not to mention the thousands locked up inside Jaantu 7.”
“If everything goes as planned, we won’t be around to have to worry about it,” Alaria replied. “We’ll be in and out and on our way back to Artanis.”
“Well, what are we waiting for?” Vinnie asked, jumping up and down. “Let’s do this!”
Alaria nodded. “Okay,” she said, her voice suddenly shaky. “Get to the engine room. Be sure everything is online. We’ll move in five.”
“Hell yes!” Vinnie exclaimed, spinning around and running out of the flight deck.
As soon as the door slid shut behind him, Alaria pushed herself up out of the co-pilot’s seat and began pacing around the flight deck nervously. Her mind was racing with thoughts, fears, concerns, doubts.
“What’s wrong?” Bron asked, getting to his feet and walking over to her.
“I’m just really nervous, you know. This is a big deal—a lot of responsibility. It’s them; it’s Dario and Kira and Thor. And, it’s not just them, it’s the entire Galaxy.”
As she spoke, she continued to pace back and forth in front of him.
“I’ve never really been in charge of anything before, you know,” she continued. “I’m an engineer. I like machines and structure and working alone in engine rooms…”
Bron reached out and rested his hands on her shoulders, stopping her in her tracks.
“Feel better?” he asked, looking down at her.
Her eyes flitted up to his. They continued to dance with nervous tension as she took a deep breath and attempted to calm herself. Looking at him helped to calm her, somewhat. It also made her more nervous in a way.
“It’s normal to feel like this, you know,” he said. “It’s good, even. You take it seriously. Which you should. It’s important.”
Now he was rambling. But, the way her eyes were fixed on his made his heart begin to race. He felt himself leaning in. She was leaning in, too.
Pinching his eyes shut and pushing through the ball of nerves forming in his stomach, he pressed his lips to hers. It was messy and sloppy and embarrassing.
She didn’t care.
She kissed him back.
It was quick and over all too fast. It was nothing like he had planned it, or hoped it would be. His cheeks flushed and a weight formed on his chest.
“I’m sorry,” he said, pulling back and shrugging. “It’s just with everything going on, and everything we’re about to do… I was just… I mean, I wanted to…”
She smiled up at him, wrapped her arms around his neck, and pulled him down to her again. This time when their lips met, it was perfect—soft and tender, but laced with excitement and passion.
“I’ve wanted to do that for a long time, too,” she said, pulling back.
“We’re ready to go!” Vinnie called up through the intercom.
Alaria jumped, and Bron took three quick, shaky steps back, his heart still pounding wildly in his chest.
“You ready for this?” she asked.
He nodded, working on bringing his thoughts back to the matter at hand.
“Good,” she said.
She hurried back to her seat, her hands shaking slightly as she reached for the intercom. Bron sunk down in the captain’s chair and looked over at her. With one quick nod, he brought the engines back online.
“We’re moving out,” Alaria announced to the other 78 ships hiding out around them. “Be prepared to move. I repeat; be prepared to move.”
Bron led the Curio out from behind the asteroid belt and set their sights directly on the hovering mass of Jaantu 7. The closer they got, the more Alaria's stomach filled with nervous knots. Her hands fumbled to engage the cannons, her sweaty palms refusing to grip at the controls in front of her.
In the viewscreen in front of them, the ominous view of the prison, shrouded in darkness, grew larger. The sound of the intercom crackling to life caused Alaria to jump slightly.
“You are entering private space,” a voice warned. “Turn back now, or we will be forced to take action.”
Bron’s jaw tightened as he shifted his weight in his chair. He kept the Curio on course.
“This is your last warning,” the voice said again. “You will be fired on in five… four…”
“Now!” Alaria yelled, sending her cry through the shared intercom.
With that, the sky in front of them filled with missiles, all hitting the advanced shield system with force. Explosions filled the dark expanse, filling the black backdrop with bursts of orange, yellow, and red.
Alaria let her own missiles fly, aiming at nothing but the prison in front of them.
When the sound of the alarm began to ring out, her eyes darted across the viewscreen. She didn’t see the missile until it was on them. Bron, though, did. He quickly took the ship down, just out of the line of fire of the projectile that seemed to materialize out of nowhere.
“Keep going!” Alaria ordered, turning her attention back to the screen in front of her.
Firing cannon after cannon, she continued to scan the sky. The other ships were visible now. They made an impressive sight, their mismatched fleet working in almost perfectly timed unison. The blasts they were throwing crashed into the invisible shield, sending a rain of sparks flying back into space. There was a myriad of missiles flying back at them, lost in the multi-colored assault they were instilling on the prison. Still, they persisted.
Her plan was working. The prison was already overwhelmed. They didn’t have enough missiles, enough man power, even, to constantly take shots at the 78 ships that were swarming in on them from all direction. Their shots were sporadic and poorly placed. They were completely rattled by the attack.
Another siren began to ring.
“Go up this time,” Alaria said, not taking her eyes from her own screen. “The shields will be down soon.”
Bron did as she said, lifting the ship out of the line of fire with ease. Alaria fired another volley from the cannon, then another.
Suddenly, the viewscreen in front of them surged with light, a bright, white light that seemed to consume it completely. And then, dark—complete, pitch-black darkness.
“Now!” Alaria yelled. “The system is down. Move now!”
Of the 78 ships, she had selected ten with the highest quality torpedoes. Together with the Curio, those ten ships zipped forward as quickly as they could and all honed their attention in on one spot. The others continued their assault from outside the electrified shield’s force field, ready to overload it again if need be.
The second they arrived, they began to fire. They had to act fast, before the prison workers were able to override the blown circuit. One by one and all at once, they let their weapons fly. Jaantu 7’s hull was thick and would require their combined efforts to weaken.
“They will be back online soon,” Alaria said, letting another cannon fly.
She watched it explode off the side of the massive prison’s hull, followed quickly by a pair of torpedoes that left behind a much bigger dent.
“We should go now,” she said.
Bron looked over at her a nodded. Reaching into the pocket of his pants, he pulled out the small cube he had been carrying there since they left the Arbiter. Compressing the button, he smiled to himself as the battering ram he installed shuddered to life.
“I knew this thing would come in handy,” he said.
“I never doubted you,” she replied.
He looked over at her quickly.
“Okay, maybe I did a little. But, there’s no time for revisiting the past right now.”
He nodded and turned his attention back to the screen. “Call them off.”
“Pull back,” Alaria said, sending her message to the ten selected ships around them.
Before she received any sort of confirmation from their fellow ambushers, a warning siren began to whine.
“Their shields are powering up,” Alaria said.
Bron didn't answer. His eyes were glued to the screen in front of him. Inhaling sharply, he threw his set of controls forward, propelling the Curio directly into the side of the presumably impenetrable prison.
A crash; a whine; a crack.
“Again!” Alaria urged.
Pulling back on the controls, Bron didn’t wait for the ship to adjust to the sudden movements. He threw them forward again, this time, the contact that was made between the battering ram and the prison’s hull gave more results. The crack in the side grew.
Still, the sirens blared around them.
Alaria bit down on her lip, wanting to scream for him to move faster, to strike again, but her words catching nervously in her throat.
He did, though. He pulled the ship back and pushed it forward. Alaria leaned back in her chair and pinched her eyes shut. The sirens continued to cry out, and her chest was tight with nerves.
“Let’s go!” Bron exclaimed all of the sudden.
When she opened her eyes, she saw that they were not surrounded by wide open space anymore. They were surrounded by white, industrial steel walls.
“We’re in?” Alaria asked, sitting up quickly.
“We’re in,” Bron said, jumping to his feet and grabbing onto her hand.
He pulled her up out of her seat and together they raced toward the door. Vinnie was already waiting for them by the airlock, spacesuits already in hand.
“You guys ready to bust the others out of prison?” he exclaimed. “Because I sure as hell am!”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
The sound of distant explosions pinging off the prison’s hull was their first clue. The zip of the electric shields could be heard even from deep inside The Pits. Kira, Thor, Dario, Aldo, and Kardok moved quickly to the long-abandoned boiler room the second they heard the far-off sounds of combat. The inmates they raced past looked around, confused and hyper-aware. Everyone was waiting to see what was happening.
As they exited The Pits and ran down the hallway leading toward the musty, less-frequented section of the prison, Kira craned her head around to look at the guards stationed overhead. They were still there, but their pacing seemed more sporadic, quicker. Their faces were no longer set with disinterest and boredom. Their foreheads were creased with concern and their hands gripped at their weapons as if they were their most valuable possessions.
“Something is definitely happening,” she yelled to the group.
“Is she always this observant?” Aldo quipped. “It’s almost like she knew it was planned all along or something.”
Kira resisted the urge to stretch her leg out and trip him.
Thor chuckled as he ran alongside her. “Bet you regret holding me back from decking him all those times now, don’t you?” he said.
“To be fair, I was all for it when we first met him,” Kira reminded him.
“Are you forgetting how integral of a part I’ve played in this whole thing?” Aldo said.
“It’s hard to remember when you’re always so damn annoying,” Thor replied.
“Less talking, more running,” Dario said over his shoulder. “You can talk when we’re on the ship.”
“And you can thank me when we’re on the ship,” Aldo shouted back at them. “And then maybe I’ll accept your apologies for calling me annoying.”
“Do you think he didn’t know he was annoying before now?” Kira asked, looking up at Thor.
They exchanged a quick smile and laugh, which was cut short the instant they burst into the boiler room. As usual, there were only a handful of other inmates in there. They were all as curious about what was going on as the others back in The Pits.
“Which way?” Kira asked, ignoring the curious glances being shot in their direction.
“Over here,” Aldo replied, leading them toward a corner of the room that was almost completely hidden in shadows.
As they followed closely behind him, the ground beneath their feet began to shake, slowly at first, and then with more force. Kira nearly fell backward but caught herself before she did. Dario did go tumbling, but Thor was there to catch him before he hit the ground.
“What the hell is that?” Aldo asked. “It’s like they’re trying to blow up the whole damn prison.”
A loud siren started to ring, and a mechanical voice came over the intercom proclaiming, “External Security Breach; External Security Breach.”
“They’re in!” Dario said, his face lighting up.
“Then we need to hurry,” Kira urged.
Moving as quickly as they could despite the continuous shaking that now seemed to be moving the entire prison, they hurried toward the door that would lead them to freedom. Once they reached it, though, they froze.
“How will we know when it’s safe to try?” Dario asked, staring at the warning flashing on the door in front of them.
“High Voltage,” Thor muttered, reading the sign aloud. “What are the chances that they just put that there to scare people and the door isn’t actually electrified?”
“Not too good,” Aldo chimed in. “Some smart ass had that same thought a few months back; he’s dead now.”
“Really?” Thor asked.
“Go ahead and try if you don’t believe me,” Aldo said with a shrug. “Not like the galaxy couldn’t afford to lose another smart ass.”
Thor’s fist instantly balled up tight and his hand cocked back. Just as Aldo shied back and Kardok stepped between them, the lights went out.
Not just in the boiler room.
The entire ship was suddenly clouded in darkness.
“I think that’s a pretty good sign that the door is safe to open now,” Thor said, rushing forward.
Still, Kira watched nervously as he reached barreled into the side of it, leading with his shoulder. When he came into contact with the metal, and his entire body didn’t surge with an onslaught of electricity, she let herself relax.
The door dented inward slightly but seemed to refuse to budge. Thor stepped back, and charged at it again, again leaving nothing more than a bigger dent.
When he pulled back to charge it for the third time, Kardok reached out and rested his hand on his shoulder, grinning down at him excitedly.
“I try,” Kardok said, not waiting for an answer.
With one slower-paced but room-shaking crash into the door, the thick metal crumbled. Kardok stumbled back, almost surprised that he accomplished his task on the first try.
“I loosened it for him,” Thor muttered.
“We know,” Kira said, smiling at him over her shoulder.
Quickly, the group of five rushed through the doorway, Aldo leading the way. They groped in the darkness, dragging their hands along the cool metal walls on either side of them. The space was small, and the air was stuffy and stale.
With the lights out, it was impossible to know where they were going, or what was in front of them.
The sound of something crashing down and slapping against metal, sending echoes flying back at all of them, made Kira jump slightly.
“I found the stairs,” Aldo said.
Kira and Thor stifled a laugh as they blindly kicked their feet out in front of them.
The stairs were rickety, and they shook under their weight. Kira clung to the handrails, although that did no good. They were shaking right along with the rest of the staircase under her feet.
The higher they climbed, the clearer the darkness in front of them became. There were spots of red—emergency lights—lining a small landing. As their eyes adjusted to the low light being provided by the soft red spots, they were able to take in their surroundings better.
The door they had gone through had taken them to a single staircase—there was nothing else below them. Above, though, was a system of grated metal platforms, each leading to its own set of rusted staircases, at the top of which were rusted metal doors and more platforms leading to more doors.
“Which way do we go?” Kira asked.
Aldo, who was leading the group, stopped the second he reached the platform at the top of the staircase. Everyone behind him stopped, as well, the staircase shaking violently from the sudden pressure of four bodies changing direction.
Aldo rubbed his hands together in front of him and peered around. The red lights reflected in his eyes, and Kira could see a look of strained concentration.
“This way,” he said after a long pause.
“Are you sure?” Dario asked.
“You have a better guess?” Aldo shot back.
No one replied as they followed their Rengar leader across one platform then another, up one staircase, then the next. The sound of aged metal straining under their weight was the only thing they heard. Until they heard something that made all of them freeze in their tracks—metal banging against metal.
“Door,” Kira whispered over her shoulder at Thor.
Everyone in their group began to search the platforms above and below them, their eyes struggling to make out anything in the low lighting.
“There,” Thor said, reaching into his jumpsuit and pulling out the small, homemade pulse gun from the hidden pocket.
His eyes drifted from the location of the noise to Kira’s. She nodded and reached into her suit for her pieced-together weapon. Everyone moved back together, pressing their backs into the cool metal wall behind them, kneeling down in unison.
Kira and Thor scooted forward, their weapons in hand.
“Who is it?” Dario whispered.
“Prison security,” Thor replied.
Kira's eyes had finally landed on the group of three Jaantu 7 guards. They had entered about two levels below them and were simply standing on the platform nearest the door they had come through.
“Do you really think any of those inmates would be smart enough to try to go through that door?” one of them asked. “I’m willing to bet most of them don’t even know it exists.”
“It’s the boss’s orders,” came the reply. “We’re supposed to man this section of the ship until the power comes back on.”
“I’d rather be here than anywhere else right now,” the third replied. “The inmates are going to form a revolt as soon as they realize we’ve lost power.”
“Damn,” Thor sighed.
They all remained still, hidden in the heavily looming shadows, waiting for someone among them to decide whether they should attempt to escape or fight. When Kardok shifted his weight—his very heavy weight—around just slightly and the platform under them let out a loud, long whine, the decision was made for them.
“Up there!” one of the guards shouted.
But, before he could move his hand in their direction, it was blown off by a surge of energy that flew out of Thor's handgun. The man fell to the ground instantly. His companions armed themselves and turned, with their guns ready, to face off in the direction of Thor's shot.
Kira raised her gun, holding in the frustrated grunt she felt at realizing it wasn’t her Phantom, and shot off into the distance, hitting the side of one of the many doors around them, causing the guards to nervously spin around, and searching for a second source of gunfire. Moving her gun down now, she aimed for the back of the guard on the right. Thor aimed for the one on the left.
Kira took her shot, the bolt of energy crashing into his left shoulder. The guard fell to the ground instantly. The platform under his feet shook, causing his partner to lose his balance. He fell back just as the blaze from Thor’s gun went flying in his direction, zipping just over his head.
Without hesitation, two of the guards fired back in their direction. Their shots collided into the metal rails in front of them, causing a flurry of sparks to fly into the air. Thor tried to take another shot, but the gunfire from the guards was coming in constant streams now.
“Do we just wait here until they’re out of ammunition?” Kira asked, pressing her back against the wall.
“They won’t,” Aldo informed them. “Those weapons they have generate their own, constant stream of energy—they’ll never run out.”
“Shit,” Thor said.
Just then, the sound of metal hitting metal caused everything around them to fall silent.
“There’s another one!” one of the guards yelled.
A cool, familiar laugh bounced up the metal walls and hovered in the air.
“The Dralaxian,” Thor groaned. “He must have followed us.”
“Someone needs to learn how to let go of a grudge,” Kira said.
She leaned forward and gazed down to the ground level. There, the orange, four-armed monster was slowly, steadily climbing the stairs, a simple, homemade rail gun in his hands, much like the weapons Thor and Kira were dealing with.
Kira reached out quickly and shot down in his direction. This caused him to pull back, lift his weapon, and fired a quick burst of response shots into the darkness. The guards jumped into action, as she hoped they would, and turned their attention toward the source of the new round of shots.
“Now,” she urged, pushing into Dario’s back, causing him to push into Kardok, and Kardok into Aldo’s.
Keeping their heads low and staying close to the wall, they hurried forward, the sound of shots echoing off the walls behind and around them. The last thing they heard before exiting through the door Aldo had chosen was the sound of one of the guards letting out a long, excruciating scream.
CHAPTER THIRTY
“They’re not here,” Alaria said once she, Bron, and Vinnie reached the spot they had agreed to meet Kira and the others. “Where are they?”
The lights were low, and the only thing that illuminated the hallway around them was a single strip of red dots lining the wall. Shouts could be heard coming from all around the prison as the inmates revolted, taking advantage of their newfound chance at freedom.
In the distance, the sound of ships barreling into the side of the now nearly defenseless prison, rang out, punctuating the air with brutal force. Alaria continued to pace back and forth, staring down the hall.
“They’ll be here,” Bron said encouragingly.
“We can go look for them,” Vinnie offered.
“Hell no, kid,” Bron said firmly.
Just getting through the handful of airlocks they had been enough of a challenge. The number of guards they had manning those things was a surprise to all of them. Thankfully, they prepared for a surprise. Their combat gear had provided them with more than enough protection from their blasts, while the weapons they had carried with them had ensured that they were able to either kill or disperse the frightened, confused prison crew.
“We’ve had enough adventure for one day,” Bron added.
Vinnie rolled his eyes and leaned back against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Wait,” Alaria said, stopping in her tracks and turning to look down the hallway. “Someone’s coming; I hear them.”
A combination of excitement and worry filled her. She reached for her gun, as did Bron and Vinnie. Together, they lifted their weapons and aimed them in the direction of the now very loud footsteps.
“Here!” a high-pitched, squeaky voice called out. “It’s down here. I told you I could find it.”
When a Rengar turned the corner, Alaria held her position. The dark black eyes in the fur-covered face went wide. His little feet scampered back, and his hands flew out in front of him.
“Hold your fire,” he said, running back behind the corner.
“Show yourself!” Alaria ordered, her gun still raised.
“Alaria?” Dario’s voice called out from around the corner. “Alaria, is that you?”
“Dario?” she replied, tears instantly springing to her eyes.
“Alaria?”
Without a moment’s hesitation, Dario ran out from around the corner, his arms outstretched. The embrace he shared with his daughter was long. Kira, Thor, and the others followed him out.
Thor walked instantly up to Bron. The two men embraced, patting each other on the back. Kira walked up to where Dario and Alaria were. Without bothering to wait her turn she wrapped her arms around Alaria, who giggled at the feeling of being embraced by two of the people she had spent the last two weeks worrying madly about.
Kardok followed Thor over to Bron and taking from Kira's example, wrapped his arms around them both, letting out a string of happy laughter as he did so. Bron pulled back as much as he could, but Kardok's tight embrace forced him to remain close.
“Cute,” Aldo muttered. “But, in case you didn’t notice yet, we’re still stuck in this hell hole.”
Everyone pulled apart quickly, the smiles still on their faces. Kardok continued to chuckle softly to himself.
“Everyone,” Kira explained quickly, “the grumpy one here is Aldo and the friendly one there is Kardok—the prisoners we came to break-out.”
“So, let’s get back to the breaking out part of this,” Aldo urged.
Quickly, Alaria and Bron distributed the extra combat gear they had carried off the ship with them. Not having time to worry about shame or decency, the five almost fugitives changed into the suits as quickly as they could.
“The helmets will provide you with oxygen,” Alaria explained, “and the gear itself will deflect any plasma or energy blasts.”
Just as the last of them slipped into their sleek black suit, the sound of very heavy, very slow footsteps vibrated through the air. A deep, ominous laugh accompanied them, causing the hair on Kira’s neck to stand up.
“Do you think he killed all three of those guards on his own?” she asked Thor.
“I don’t care what he did to them, I’m worried about what he’ll do to us,” Thor replied.
“Alaria, let’s get those doors open, okay?” Kira said.
Alaria nodded and turned her attention back toward the airlock door behind her. Fumbling with the door, she let out a frustrated grunt. The sound of her frustration was muffled, though, by the sound of the Dralaxian’s footsteps rounding the corner. He lifted his large, muscular orange arms up over his head, all four hands balled into tight fists—even the one Kira swore Thor had broken just a few days before.
“I thought you said the doors would open,” Kira said, looking back at Alaria over her shoulder.
“They should,” Alaria replied. “They just jammed or something.”
“Well, unjam them,” Thor said, stepping forward, preparing to fight his self-proclaimed prison enemy.
“We’re working on it,” Bron shouted back.
The Dralaxian was charging now. His tree-trunk thick legs carrying him at a surprising speed. His heavy footsteps shook the floor. Kira stepped up beside Thor, the make-shift railgun in her hand.
When the orange mountain barreling toward them let out a blood-curdling shriek, everyone in their group shrunk back instinctively. Thor moved his weight to the balls of his feet, ready to strike. Kira lifted her weapon a little higher, waiting for her moment to act.
It never came.
The four-armed monster took two more steps, shakier and slower, before collapsing, face down, on the ground right in front of them. He fell with a crash that rippled through the hall, shaking loose the door.
“It’s open!” Alaria squealed, spinning around.
No one replied. They were all in shock, staring at the woman who had come to their rescue. She moved up to the orange, lifeless body slowly, and bent down to pull out the metal blade she had placed there.
“Janica,” Dario whispered.
“Who’s that?” Alaria asked, eyeing the large green Arkadian female suspiciously.
“Your dad’s girlfriend,” Aldo answered.
“Girlfriend!” Kardok exclaimed with a giddy laugh.
“His what?” Alaria asked, her eyes going wide.
“Stop it,” Dario ordered. “It’s not funny anymore.”
“It still is a little funny,” Kira said.
Dario let out a huff and walked up to where his not-so-secret admirer stood, her shoulders heaving from the exertion of taking down the Dralaxian, in her hand the bloodied blade she had used in the process.
“Janica,” he said softly. “Thank you so much for doing that, for saving me and my friends.”
She looked at him and smiled.
“But, you know that I can’t repay you for that, right? You know I can’t offer you anything in return.”
Her smile didn’t falter. “It’s okay,” she replied. “I understand.”
“We would offer you a ride,” Alaria chimed in, “but we don’t have enough suits to get you to the ship.”
Janica nodded in her direction and shrugged.
“There are more ships coming, though,” Alaria continued. “A lot more ships. I’m sure you’ll find a way to freedom.”
“I truly hope you do,” Dario said, reaching out and taking her hand in his.
“Thank you,” she replied.
“We have to go now,” Daria said, pulling his hand back.
Janica continued to look down at him with a calm smile.
“I think she deserves more thanks than that,” Thor said.
Dario turned and shot him a dirty look. Kira laughed, and Thor shrugged.
Janica leaned forward. With the same look of annoyed anger on his face, Dario glared at Thor as he leaned in and pressed his lips quickly to her cheek. Her face flushed red and Kira couldn’t help but stifle a laugh.
“Take care of yourself, Dario,” she said, patting him on the shoulder.
And with that, she turned and walked away. Dario stood motionless for a second, watching her go. When he turned around, the angered look on his face had faded and a somewhat endearing expression had replaced it.
“She really wasn’t all that bad,” he confessed as he followed the group through the airlock.
“Does Thane have some competition?” Bron asked.
Dario didn’t honor his question with a response.
Kira smiled to herself. “Damn, it’s good to be back together again,” she said.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Sliding down into the Captain’s chair felt amazing. Kira’s entire body reacted to the feeling. Her fingers tingled as she reached for the controls; her heart raced as she initiated the engines; every nerve in her body buzzed as she felt the Curio come to life.
Leaving behind Jaantu 7 was almost as sweet.
The structure they were quickly flying away from was nothing like the ominous metal fortress that they had originally arrived at. Surrounded by ships, still raining their terror down on it from all angles, the impenetrable prison looked more like a long-forgotten space station on the brink of falling apart completely.
“We did it,” she said, turning to face Thor.
He sat in his usual spot, at her side. His eyes were fixed on the viewscreen filled with infinite space, dotted with infinite specks of light. There was a relaxed smile on his face and a look of triumph on his face.
“I never doubted that we would,” he replied.
“Me neither,” she said.
He shot her a look and she smiled in response. An easy, comfortable feeling fell between them, and for a split second, she was certain that everything going forward would be fine. She was sure that if they could face that, they could face anything.
Then, that moment was ruptured by the sound of the intercom crackling to life.
“We know you are harboring fugitives,” a thick, heavy voice filled the flight deck. “You have three seconds to change course and return them to BanCor authorities.”
“Three seconds?” Kira replied. “That’s not enough time to change course. Do you know how hard it is to get these old ships to turn around? I’ll need at least five.”
The voice on the other end of the intercom did not find her observation amusing. The only response she got was a simple, “you’ve been warned.”
The second the intercom connection dropped, the rear viewscreen filled with a ball of orange and yellow. Kira threw the controls forward, her body reacting instinctively. The feeling was familiar and warm and comfortable.
The ship dove just as the ball of flame went soaring past.
“Try the new cannons,” Bron’s voice came over the intercom.
“Copy,” Thor replied, reaching for his controls quickly.
Another explosion rang out behind them; the sirens wailed, and Kira’s entire body surged with adrenaline.
“No,” she said, pulling up on the controls this time. “We won’t shoot at them.”
“They’re shooting at us!” Thor replied emphatically.
“We just helped stage a criminally organized assault on the galaxy’s largest prison,” she reminded him. “We’re in enough shit as it is. I can already hear the lecture Artanis has prepared for us. The last thing we need is to be accused of firing on BanCor officials during our escape.”
Thor crossed his arms over his chest and slumped back in his chair. “You’re right,” he admitted.
“Alaria,” Kira said, speaking into the ship-wide intercom. “When can we reach FTL?”
“Soon,” Alaria replied. “Give me a few minutes.”
“I’ll give you one,” Kira replied.
The sirens continued to cry out.
She scanned the screens around her. There were four ships behind them, all of them gaining on them, all of them brandishing torpedo launchers and turret guns.
“Are you sure I can’t fire just one little cannon in their direction?” Thor asked, eyeing the screens as well.
“Not yet,” Kira said, urging the Curio to gain as much speed as possible.
The four ships behind her all fired at them simultaneously. The second she saw the streams of light blazing through the sky behind them, she pulled up on the controls. The Curio rose, and the projectiles skirted along the bottom of the ship.
The sound of metal grating against metal filled the air and the entire ship shuddered against the slight impact.
“Watch it!” Bron’s voice came over the intercom again. “We just repaired the hull and shields!”
“And aren’t you glad we did?” Alaria’s voice bounced in the background. “There’s no way the ship would have withstood a grazing like that before.”
Kira ignored them. She continued to urge the ship forward. The four ships following behind them now closing the gap at an alarming speed. When they split into two groups, Kira knew exactly what they were planning to do.
Two flew to her left; two flew to her right.
Their turret guns swiveled around, pointed directly at the Curio.
“Hold on,” Kira warned, throwing the controls forward before the four BanCor ships were even locked in on their position.
The Curio dove, and a string of shots zipped by overhead. Two of the ships were hit by their own group’s fire. Their shields were good, though, and the blasts seemed to have little to no effect on them.
They dove right along behind her.
Kira leveled out the Curio quickly; her eyes drifting over to the FTL gage. It was at ninety percent. Again, the ships behind her dropped their torpedoes into position.
“Fine,” she mumbled, looking over at Thor. “Shoot, but only the torpedoes. Don’t hit the ships.”
His eyes lit up excitedly as he reached for his controls. “I make no promises,” he replied.
His hands clutched the controls as his eyes fixed on the rear-camera screens. The sirens around them began to wail with more zeal as balls of flame ignited below the ships. The projectiles flew in their direction at a surprising speed.
Thor squeezed the release trigger just as the torpedoes reached the half-way mark between the Curio and BanCor police.
“Dive!” he ordered.
But, Kira was already doing so. The BanCor police behind them pulled up as they dove down, a ball of explosive fire rippling out between them. Leveling out the Curio quickly, Kira threw the controls forward again, using the force of the blast to propel them along.
“You’re good to go, Captain,” Alaria informed her. “FTL is online.”
“Just in time,” Kira replied, initiating the ship’s Faster Than Light capabilities.
The ship lurched forward, jolting a little at first, and then sliding smoothly into the high-speed jump through space. Kira’s hands remained on the controls until she was certain that the BanCor police didn’t follow them.
“How did that feel?” Thor asked, turning to face her.
“Amazing,” she replied, turning to face him with a genuine smile. “I didn’t realize how much I missed that.”
“Want to renegotiate our bet?” he asked.
She wrinkled her nose. “Our bet?”
“About how long you would survive a simple life. I’m still holding strong at two weeks.”
She rolled her eyes and programmed in the ship’s autopilot. “I could go longer than two weeks,” she replied.
“I doubt it,” he said. “You don’t see what I see from over here.”
She looked at him and raised an eyebrow.
“The look on your face when you settle into that chair, it’s like you’re a little kid. Your eyes dance and a smile crosses your face that’s different than any smile you wear in any other situation. It’s like you’re completely you when you’re sitting there.”
“You know, you’re supposed to be watching the screens, not me. Some co-pilot you are.”
Another smile exchanged between them brought that feeling of security bubbling back up inside her, although it was a little less forceful this time.
“Holy hell!” Aldo exclaimed, bursting into the flight deck.
Again, the feeling evaporated.
“You can fly, Captain,” he said.
“Fly!” Kardok exclaimed, following him inside.
Kira shrugged. “That was nothing,” she said.
Aldo walked up behind them, his eyes fixed on the screen in front of them. “It was impressive to me,” he said.
“It’s because you haven’t seen her actually fly this thing,” Thor said, shooting her a grin. “She’ll scare the pants right off you if you give her the chance.”
Aldo’s nose twitched as he chuckled absently.
“I never thought I’d see this again,” he said listlessly. “Space—wide open space. I really do owe you all a lot for getting me out of there.”
“I thought you were expecting us to be the ones thanking you,” Thor reminded him.
“We all contributed to that break-out,” Kira said.
“We’ll call it even, then,” Aldo said, smiling down at them.
The air in the flight deck was peaceful. They all wanted to enjoy it; they all wanted to embrace their freedom. Their differences were in the past; they had left them behind in the prison, and that's where they would stay.
“Okay,” Thor agreed.
“Oh, how sweet. We’re all finally starting to get along,” Kira said. “Just in time to save the Galaxy.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Walking into Artanis’ office never felt so good. Even with the disgruntled look on his face and the familiar tense posture he always seemed to have when she was coming back from a mission, Kira was glad to see her former Commanding Officer.
“Admiral,” she said, walking up to the desk slowly. “I’m happy to report that we were successful in our mission.”
He looked at her, his eyes tired but a hint of a smile on his face.
“I’m glad you’re back, Captain,” he replied. “Even though, I will say I had expected you to return in a more discreet fashion.”
She winced back, expecting the lecture.
“Organizing a criminal assault on Jaantu 7 was not what I had in mind at all. Although, I don’t know why I expected anything else from you, Kira,” Artanis continued. “The prison was almost completely destroyed and many of the criminals housed there escaped. BanCor is going crazy trying to round them all up, but once they do, they have no idea where they will put them.”
“To be fair,” Aldo said, stepping forward, “the criminal assault was my idea.”
“Aldo Firax,” Artanis said, shifting his gaze toward the Rengar fugitive. “Now, somehow that doesn’t surprise me. From what I’ve heard, you have a long history of getting yourself into trouble.”
“And surprisingly, it wasn’t my background that got me thrown into Jaantu 7,” Aldo replied. “It was Grimm, who actually hired me because of that colorful background.”
“Colorful!” Kardok exclaimed.
“And this must be Kardok,” Artanis said, shifting his gaze to the large green Arkadian clapping his hands together happily.
“Kardok!” Kardok yelled.
“As I was saying,” Aldo continued. “It was me that sent out the call to action.”
“That doesn’t change the fact that it was Kira’s crew that took up the role as leaders of the criminal revolution.”
“I also did that,” Aldo admitted.
Artanis shook his head and rubbed his eyes gently with his hands. Letting out a soft sigh, he looked around the room at the eight faces surrounding him.
“You all make quite a team, you know that,” he said, pushing himself up. “And I’m sure I’ll end up with a bald spot from all the stress you will cause me working together. But, I know this is what is best for the Galaxy. Aldo Firax and Kardok, you are both officially granted immunity. Your charges will be dropped and you will be brought on as mercenaries for hire, working with the T.A.F. to stop Grimm and his coup. You will work alongside Captain Winter and her crew. Your ship will be returned to you, and you will be rewarded for your service, once everything is said and done.
“All I ask from the eight of you is that you attempt to keep the destruction down to a minimal. Although, I’m afraid I may be asking too much.”
“As long as you know that,” Kira said with a grin.
Aldo and Kardok exchanged excited glances, the thought of their freedom bringing an instant smile to both of their faces.
“This is all under one condition,” Artanis added quickly. “The whole reason we staged this mission was that we were under the impression that you both could provide us with information on Grimm’s location.”
“As long as he’s still holed up in the same place he was a few years back, it won’t be a problem,” Aldo said.
“Good,” Artanis said, reaching for the tablet sitting on the table between them.
Just as his fingers brushed it, the device came to life. Out of it spilled an image that made Kira’s blood run cold. Artanis took a quick step back, his eyes going wide. Thor stepped forward, taking hold of Kira’s shoulders. Everyone else in the room stood frozen.
“Greetings, fools,” Grimm’s voice filled the room.
His dark, dead stare peered out at them from the holographic image. His face filled the screen, making his presence feel almost real and very powerful.
“I have given you warnings; I have given you time. I have given you my patience. Well, today, that patience is up. I told you what would happen if you didn’t surrender the remaining T.A.F. forces to me.”
Grimm took a step back and the image hovering in the room became one of a station, or a ship, or a laboratory. What it was wasn’t important, though. What mattered were the screens Grimm was now directing his obliged audience’s attention toward.
“Just remember,” he said as he lifted up a small black device, “you had the chance to prevent this.”
And with that, his finger gently compressed a small red button on the device in his hand.
Kira wanted to look away, but she couldn’t. Her eyes were glued to the image; her breath was caught in her throat.
The screens behind Grimm remained unchanged for a second—a long, seemingly endless second that passed slowly and then all at once. It started with a small dot that began to grow on the center screen. The light expanded out, growing brighter and brighter until it filled the screen-covered wall behind the coup leader.
And then, darkness.
Kira gasped.
Thor tightened his hold on her.
The darkness seemed infinite and unyielding at first. But then it did yield. A ripple of orange, red, white, and yellow spilled out of the dot in the center. Kira had never seen the blackness of space pushed back with such force before.
“That,” Grimm said, stepping back in front of the screen, “was not a test; that was not a simulation. That was a star going supernova. And if you try to stop me, dear T.A.F. officials, Admiral Artanis, Captain Winter…”
The second her name slid past his lips, Kira felt her heart leap up into her throat and her skin turned to waves of goosebumps.
“… the next star to endure the power of my Divarium fueled weapon will be a little closer to home. The Sun, perhaps. Perhaps, not. Go ahead and test me if you dare. Just remember, you can stop all of this anytime you wish. With one simple word: surrender!”
With that, Grimm’s message ended, leaving a heavy silence in the room. No one moved; no one breathed. Even Kardok didn’t have his usual grin on his face. Instead, a look of terror replaced his usually pleasant countenance.
“Well,” Aldo said, breaking the silence. “Working with you just keeps getting more and more interesting.”
Kira looked back at him. There was no amusement in her expression. Her eyes flitted around the room, landing on each of her crew members individually. When they landed on Thor, she stopped. Their gazes met, and a shiver of fear raced down her spine.
“You all heard what he said,” she said, stepping back and looking at all of them again. “He knows that I am working to stop him. By working with me, you are aligning yourself against him; you are assuming this burden—this massive burden—he’s placed on all of us.”
Everyone remained silent.
"We have no choice but to continue to fight him. No matter what he said, we have to do what we can to stop him," Kira continued. "But, I understand if you don't want to be associated with me right now. I understand that clearly, my name carries with it a sort of hype when it comes to Grimm. If you prefer to stay off his radar…"
Dario stepped forward, a kind, almost fatherly smile on his face. “Kira,” he said, taking her hands in his. “You leading this is the only reason I’m in it. I chose to team up with you because I know you can put that power-crazed extremist in his place. Besides, I’m already on his radar.”
Kira smiled and nodded.
“I started this whole thing as a bystander,” Bron spoke up. “Someone who got drug along into it. But, now, I’m invested. I’m ready and willing to fight. But, I’ll only fight if you’re the one leading the way.”
“To be honest, it doesn’t matter to me who’s leading this whole thing, I just want to fight!” Vinnie exclaimed.
Alaria smiled and stepped up next to her father. "We're not going anywhere, Kira. We're here because of you. We're going to see this thing through."
“And you already know you’re stuck with me,” Thor said.
Kira smiled at the people around her, her heart filling with both joy and purpose.
“Good,” she replied, after taking a moment to absorb their words. “Because I was completely bluffing. I couldn’t do this without each and every one of you.”
Smiles spread around the room, despite the ominous weight that sat on everyone’s shoulders. Going forward, none of them knew what to expect. The only thing they knew for sure was that they would all figure it out together. And that was all they could ask for.
CONTACT – FAR HOPE SERIES – BOOK #4
PROLOGUE
The air tasted of metal. He liked it. There was something invigorating about metal—cool and strong, yet governable and malleable. Being around metal made him feel strong and in control.
He could do anything he wanted with it. He could create cities and weapons and armies.
He could rule the Galaxy with metal.
“This is your fault, you know,” a voice—as tinged with metal as the air around them—broke into his peace.
Colonel Baron Grimm lifted his head slowly. The shadows covering his office seemed to darken even more whenever his colleague appeared. Perhaps it was the innate secrecy that he represented that made everything seem more mysterious.
“There is no fault to be assigned. Everything is going as planned,” Baron replied calmly.
“You trained her.”
“She brought me to you.”
“You didn’t need her.”
Baron sighed and leaned back in his chair. The figure of his companion still hovered by the door. There were no windows in his office—no external light would have gotten in even if there were. They were deep underground. It used to be a lab—a lab designed to create weapons. The smell of those weapons still hung in the air. The smell of new weapons was there as well.
He inhaled sharply. “She’s just one person.”
“She’s made friends.”
Baron smiled to himself. “I warned her about that.”
“Well, she didn’t listen. And she’s on our trail, Grimm. She’s coming for us.”
“We’ll stop her. I’ve already prepared for this. I’ve been preparing for this from the beginning. I knew she had potential, you know. I always did. If only she had used that potential for good. Now, she’s just another faceless cog in the Terran Alliance Force’s broken-down machine.”
A laugh seemed to come from nowhere. But Baron knew it came from him. “Interesting choice of words.”
“Colonel Grimm, sir?” another voice rippled through the darkness.
“Come in, Thane.”
He watched as the slender figure of his personal assistant scooted around the figure still hovering by the door. He was afraid of him. Thane was afraid of everything, it would seem. That’s what made him so valuable—spineless and weak, he would do anything to assure his place in Grimm’s eternal kingdom one day.
“What do you have for me?” Grimm asked.
“An update from Mordecai,” Thane said, slipping further into the room.
“Let’s see it.”
Thane, with shaking hands, placed a small metal disk down on his desk. Light poured out of it—the only light in the small space.
It took a few seconds for the signal to pick up. Their location wasn't the best for intergalactic communication. Service wasn't good down in the tunnels. It presented its own brand of frustration, but Baron appreciated the anonymity it afforded him. Signals struggled to get in, and even fewer made it out unless they were meant to.
Radars, infrared scanners, and whatever else the T.A.F was using to search for his area of operation wouldn’t find him. The only transmissions that left his safe-haven were twisted and contorted, stretched out so that the particles were nearly untraceable.
“Grimm,” Mordecai’s dark green face finally flowed out of the device. “We are prepared to move. Everything is in place. My men have installed the weapon and dispersed. I have remained, with only one ship. They will never know the extent of my forces. I will be waiting for your signal.”
“Good,” Baron said, nudging the device back in Thane’s direction.
“Will you be wanting to reply, sir?” Thane asked.
“Soon. But, not yet. I am waiting for a report from my internal source. I need to know if they were successful in their crazed plot to break out of Jaantu 7.”
“If anyone can do it, it’s her,” his colleague said.
The tone of judgment in his voice was hard to miss.
“You trained her too well.”
In the low light, Baron could see the shimmer of light dancing off metal. He waited for his companion to step further into the room. He didn’t.
“Come in, already, Victor,” Grimm said firmly. “You’re making Thane nervous.”
“I think my coming in will make him even more nervous,” Victor replied.
Still, he took a slow, purposeful step inside. Everything he did was purposeful. Each nut and bolt that made up his external frame was driven by purpose. Each implant, each enhancement was installed to perfection.
“You’re dismissed,” Grimm said, waving his hand in the air.
Thane immediately knew he was speaking to him. He suppressed the sigh of relief that pushed at his throat. He turned to leave, flinched, turned back, grabbed the disk off Grimm’s desk and scurried away, disappearing into the darkness.
He knew the tunnels like the back of his hand. He had been there for too long—far too long. Where was he, though? Where were they located in the great expanse of the Galaxy? He had yet to gain that information from Grimm. He had tried; he had begged.
His begging seemed to only amuse his tyrannical leader.
“They are in Jaantu 7? What are they doing there? Grimm knows…”
He muttered to himself as he hurried down one dark hall then the next. Up ahead, he could see a single ray of light streaming out from under a door.
“They were talking about ‘her’,” he continued. “Who is ‘her’? Is it Kira? Are they afraid of her?”
The second he reached his room, he pulled out the device he kept hidden below a floorboard, six inches of sparkling dirt, and a boulder that weighed so much that it was a struggle to remove it each time.
“Dario,” he began, recording his message. “It’s getting serious… He knows your Captain is in Jaantu 7…”
----
“How long have we been working together?” Baron asked, leaning back in his chair.
“Since you found me, so about eleven years,” Victor answered.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Grimm continued. “I had always hoped you were still alive. I had always known you were out there somewhere.”
“I simply needed to find my place—a place where I could fulfill my destiny.”
“Destiny?” Baron replied with a chuckle. “It seems to me you have been avoiding destiny all these years, Modessi. Attaining immortality, turning yourself into a machine…”
“My destiny is to see the Terran Race rise to its rightful place in the Galaxy. They weren’t ready for it in my day. Now, they are—you are.”
“And when we accomplish this? When we rise to power—what will become of you?”
“I will remain; I will always remain. They will need a leader, Grimm.”
“I will be their leader.”
“You will leave them one day. Why is it that you refuse to let me work on you? I can give you everything I have.”
Grimm closed his eyes tightly, thinking for a second. When he opened them again, his eyes now more adjusted to the darkness, he looked into the face of the man that had been at the forefront of everything—the man who had begun the enhancement program, the man who had dreamed of the all-powerful Terran being long before Grimm even had the notion of his place in the Galaxy.
His face was no longer that of a man. His eyes were nothing more than orbs—empty, all-seeing orbs. His face was draped in a substance meant to resemble flesh, but the years had begun to show its faults.
“I am human,” Grimm said firmly. “I must remain so. If not, what is it that I am claiming? How can I lead the Terran revolution if I am not Terran? You are our eternal leader, Modessi. I am nothing more than the sword with which our victory will be won. And once it is, I will die in peace, knowing that the Galaxy has been purified of all that is evil—only the good will remain, only the selected few; only the Terrans.”
“And the Arkadians you’ve recruited.”
“You were the first to work with them,” Grimm reminded him.
“It was my plan to steal their technology,” Modessi replied. “I planned to learn from them, absorb their ways, and use them to bring glory to our people.”
“Who’s to say that will not still happen?”
“You have one of them working for you right now—doing your bidding.”
“Exactly,” Grimm said with a proud smile. “Their faith believes that the Galaxy must be purified. I do not disagree with them. I have yet to tell them that it is them that the Galaxy needs purifying from.”
“And this woman? What of her?”
“Why must you always bring up Kira?”
“You have a soft spot for her.”
“No,” Grimm said, shaking his head. “She will be one of the first to die. I have made sure of it.”
“And if she’s successful in freeing the rat and the moron? If they find out the location of our hideout?”
“Don’t worry so much, Modessi. We will always be one step ahead of them.”
CHAPTER ONE
Kira felt like she could have slept for days. The beds in Jaantu 7 couldn’t actually be called beds; they were planks—horribly uncomfortable planks with mushed down fuzz thrown on top. Before her time in prison, she had found the beds aboard the Curio to be less than ideal. Now, though, she loathed having to peel herself up off her mattress.
As she moved, Thor stirred.
“Do we really have to go?” he asked, rolling onto his back. “It’s so nice here.”