Chapter Nine
The first thing I noticed when I entered Tanith’s solar system was the death satellites. Talk about overkill. There were literally thousands of them. Black, malevolent balls bristling with weapons. Kinda freaky NO TRESPASSING signs, but an effective deterrence. Anyone with a lick of common sense would avoid this system.
My question was: how had Lilkee and her wannabes gotten by the satellites without being blown to smithereens? Was there was a traitor in the Overlord’s ranks?
Speaking of the devil, the image of the Overlord popped on my view screen, and in an extremely menacing tone, he babbled something.
Gotta say, he had intimidation down to an art form. I pushed the Communications icon. “Hello?”
The Overlord’s response was to pull his sword, point it at the camera, and spout more nasty gibberish.
Like I had a freakin’ clue what any of it meant. I pressed the Communications icon again. “I’m from Earth and I don’t speak Coletti. Please don’t blow me up. I’m Sarah Jones, Kaylee’s cousin. You know Kaylee, the woman mated to your son, Talree? I just escaped from the Lilkee’s Legionnaires, and I’m supposed to land on Tanith.”
The Overlord vanished and was replaced by a grim-faced Coletti warrior in full battle gear. His harsh voice filled my head. “You are approaching Coletti territory. This is restricted space. Without the proper code, you will be destroyed.”
“Okay. Okay. Give me a second.” I hastily entered the password Tihar had given me and prayed they hadn’t changed it.
“You are cleared to proceed.” The screen went black.
“Wait. Where do I land this baby?” Silence was my only answer. I knew they were in battle status, but really. I hit the Communications icon. “Hello?”
A voice jabbered something.
“What part of I don’t speak your language don’t you get?”
“Planetary air command will contact you. Stay off this frequency,” the warrior practically bellowed.
“Sorry, but I don’t know your protocols.”
“I suggest you learn them quickly.” He broke our psychic link.
What a dickhead. I threaded my way through the satellites. I’d make a run for Earth, but I didn’t know the coordinates, and I wasn’t sure how spaceworthy the Marauder was.
KeeKee’s legs twitched. “Are we there yet?”
“Almost.”
“Me hungry.”
“Me too. Let’s hope there are some chips and salsa left.”
“Want bug.”
“I’ll have Aunt Tess summon some sand flies for you.”
“’Kay.”
I watched Tanith grow larger and larger in the view screen. The bright orange glow was a legacy from General Tigres’s lethal Gall bombs. I zoomed in on the charred metal superstructures of a once-bustling city. Billions of people had died in a single night. For a moment, the wails of the dying filled my head and the need for vengeance churned in my gut. I knew I would protect Tanith and her people with my life.
What had made Lilkee and her sick-ass brother, Malik, decide to wipe out half of the Tanith’s population again? Bigotry, greed, the quest for power? Or all of the above?
A flicker of movement caught my attention. I focused the screens on what had been a heavily forested countryside. Something was running among the flash-burned trees. A shudder shook me. It was a pack of naugers chasing a smaller critter. Their bulbous bodies and long snakelike necks were hideous.
Tihar popped into my head with, “My father has been advised of your arrival. He needs to do another blood test.”
“Did you blow up the destroyer?”
“We did.”
“Was Lilkee captured or killed?”
“She escaped.”
“Bet that made Talree happy.”
“The hunt continues.”
“You’re okay?”
“I am Askole.”
Guess that meant his ship was intact and he wasn’t hurt. “Where do I land?”
“Tanith air command will contact you.”
“Okay. Be careful. Lilkee might be a ditz, but Malik sounds like a badass dude.”
“Askole fear no one.”
My internal radar went on alert. About the same time, red blips appeared on my ship’s battle display. “This can’t be good.” I reached out with my mind. Damn. The sneaky bitch Lilkee had been on Tanith the entire time.
A note of concern in his voice, Tihar asked, “What’s wrong?”
“I know where Lilkee and her wannabes are.”
“Where?”
“They’re heading right for me.”
“Contact air command for help,” Tihar instructed.
Like they would listen to a mere female. On the view screen, I watched as eight bright-red fighters released a relentless rain of laser bolts at my borrowed ship.
The Marauder shook violently. “Too late.” I let loose with an answering salvo and put my ship into a radical vertical descent.
I scored two direct hits, and the enemy spacecrafts vanished from my tracking scanner.
Two hundred feet from the surface, I pulled my ship up and skimmed over the devastated landscape.
The lead Legionnaire ship slammed into the ground. A fireball rose high into the sky.
KeeKee quivered in my hair. “We crash?”
“Not today.” I had made her a promise, and I was damn well going to keep it. “Be very quiet. Momma Sarah needs to concentrate.”
“’Kay.”
Tihar interjected, “I have notified air command. They are sending a squadron to intercept the Legionnaires. If your hull is breached, the radiation will kill you within twenty minutes.”
“Good to know.” I increased my speed and made a run for the shattered city.
The Legionnaires’ ships were right on my tail, blasting away at my shields.
The readout screens were feeding me combat information at a high rate of speed. Too bad I couldn’t read Tai-Kok or Rodan. Wrapping my right hand around the laser cannon’s controls, I started shooting.
The view screen lit up like the Fourth of July. Hopefully, I had gotten every one of the bastards. One look at the tracking scanner and I groaned. There were still three bogies in pursuit.
“The Coletti squadron is five minutes out,” Tihar said.
“The fight will be over by then.” I hit the city limits, rolled the ship on its axis, and shot under a badly damaged bridge. “Yee haw!”
A Legionnaire craft hit the bottom of the dangling metal span. Boom! It disintegrated into a searing inferno.
One down. Two to go.
“A daring maneuver.” Tihar seemed inordinately proud of me.
“Let’s find out how good they are.” I tipped the Marauder to one side and zipped down a wide debris-laden street at Mach 1.
The Legionnaires’ ships followed. One pilot let his wingtip clip an exposed girder. The ship spun wildly and crashed into the remains of a building. Blinding explosions ripped through the structure. Kaboom! Kaboom! Kaboom!
A warning light flared to life on my control console.
Tihar stated a little too calmly, “Your starboard deflector shield has failed.”
“No shit, Sherlock.” Exchanging laser fire with the remaining Legionnaire ship, I shot out of the street and climbed for altitude.
Bang! My Marauder pitched radically as it took a direct hit. Warning lights danced across the command console. On the rear screen, I could see a trail of thick black smoke. Stressed metal shrieked and groaned. The cold fist of reality hit me in the stomach. We were going down.
What did Aunt Tess say when all hell broke loose? Oh yeah. “As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil. For I’m the baddest motherfucker in the valley.”
“My father is positioning his ship to transport you.”
“He is?” Color me surprised.
“You are my chosen.”
“No like glitter light,” KeeKee whined.
“The alternative is dying of radiation poisoning.”
“Glitter light good.”
“Land your ship and surrender,” Lilkee suddenly snapped in my head.
“How about you surrender instead?” I switched to my psychic link with Talree. “This bitch has a death wish.”
“Air command has been notified. They want her taken alive.”
“What?”
Lilkee literally hissed like an enraged cat. “You cannot refuse me. I am a Coletti princess.”
“With the brain power of a gnat.”
“Obey me now, or I will destroy your mind.”
“Fat chance.”
A slight stinging sensation hit my mind. “Now you die.”
“No. Now you die.” I had one missile left, and I was putting it to good use. Screw Coletti air command. Centering the crosshairs on the Lilkee’s ship, I launched it.
Whoosh! It streaked toward the Legionnaire’s ship. Kablooey! Flames and smoke belched from the ruined vessel as it spiraled down to crash dramatically into an archway. “Bye-bye, bitch.”
“Lilkee teleported off the ship before it was destroyed,” Tihar commented.
“Damn. She’s got more lives than a cat.”
“Your hull has been breached.”
And I had developed a severe left yaw. Before I could look for a landing site, a glittering blue light engulfed me. It felt like my molecules were being taken apart.