Spears of the Sun (Star Sojourner Book 3) (19 page)

I felt a sickening lurch as
Sojourner
made a jump, along with the fleet, to an unfamiliar system with a Type G star, the same as our sun, and eight orbiting planets. It wasn't the jump alone that made me nauseated. I watched a great warship plow past us, escorted by fighter craft. The fleet was zeroing in on Rowdinth's small ship, whether he was still in space or had made planetfall, and there would be no quarter given if he decided to fight.

I thought of my tel probes into his sick mind and knew in my heart he would fight to the death of all his crew and himself, or commit suicide, if need be, before he would suffer the shame of surrendering to Terrans. I pressed a fist against my lips. Would he make an example of his ferocity, and his hatred for Terrans with Shannon before he died? I pictured her thrown out of his ship's airlock into space. Her body might swell, her eardrums would probably rupture. The freezing void would be an agony of cold knives cutting her skin, but after a few seconds, it would finally be the lack of oxygen in her blood that would kill her.

“What are you thinking, Doctor Rammis?” Stone came up and asked me.

“Oh, just tormenting myself with what might be.”

“Shannon?”

I nodded.

“With half of Alpha's star fleet bearing down on him,” Stone commented, “Rowdinth just might surrender, especially if he really
has
no weapon.”

I shook my head. “He'd rather go out as a martyr against the imperial forces of Alpha than give up.”

“Imperial forces?”

“It's all in the way you look at it, Doctor. Excuse me. I have to contact my tel colleagues and see what's happening on their end. It's a big star system. Lots of moons too. Rowdinth could be hiding out anywhere.”

She followed me to the tiny room with the diminutive desk and chair. “You don't believe this is a hoax, do you?”

I stopped inside the room with my hand on the doorknob. “At this point, it hardly matters.”

“Yes. As long as Alpha is willing to use deadly force against him.”

“That's the bottom line. Excuse me, Doctor.”

She put a hand on the door to hold it open. “Why don't you just tell Commander Ca Prez that your friends couldn't locate him in this vast star system? Who'd know the difference, except you?”

Why indeed?
I thought.

Because it just might not be a hoax,
my conscience answered. “That's the thing, Doctor Stone.”

“What is?”

“
I'd
know the difference.”

She shook her head, turned and strode away.

I closed the door and sat at the small desk, my head in my hands.
Spirit? Are you out there? Sye Morth? Star Speaker?

We are all here, Jules,
Star Speaker sent.
We were awaiting your contact.

Sorry, Gwis. I guess I don't really want to know where Rowdinth is. Have you tags pinpointed his location?

He's made planetfall on the fourth world out,
Morth sent,
where his scientists can set up a laboratory and test their weapon.

Do humans and Vermakts need BioSuits to leave their ships?
I asked.

No,
Morth responded.
But the air is thick and cold, Jewels, with not much oxygen, and the gravity is more than a Terran is used to. You'd better take your jacket.

Yeah. Thanks, Morth. Can you tags give me his precise location on the planet?

We can,
Spirit sent.
Am I correct in detecting an alternative plan to informing your Commander of Rowdinth's landing site?

I'm thinking I might try to rescue the Terran woman before the fleet engages Rowdinth.

Alone
? Morth sent.

Well, the pod would already be overloaded with the two of us in it. Spirit? I imagine there are life forms on such a viable planet.

There are. A lush world of many species of both flora and faunae, with seas full of life. All untouched by Terrans. Until now.

Thanks for the lecture. We ravaging Terrans will leave it alone.

You might suggest that to your leader,
he sent.
The Altairian commander intends to use whatever force necessary to send the Vermakt ship back to its separate atoms. Of course, no matter to her that a continent might go with it!

She's trying to save my homeworld. Will you guide me to Rowdinth's site?

I'm having second thoughts, as a Terran would say.

My dear Spirit,
Star Speaker sent,
while we love and respect all living creatures of all the worlds, still we must act without attachment. It is not unreasonable for Jules to want to save his homeworld.

I'm familiar with the concept of non-attachment, Star Speaker,
Spirit sent.
All right, Jules. We will guide you to his hiding place when you board the pod. This time, be certain that your stingler is charged.

Thank you, Spirit. You too, Star Speaker, and you, Sye Morth
.

Speaker?
Morth sent,
will you instruct me in the ways of the ultimate reality?

Sye Morth. My student.
I felt her mental chuckle.
You will be a classroom of one.

I returned to the galley.

“Joe.” I nodded and sat at the table across from him. “I know where Rowdinth and his scientists have landed. Will you request a pod to take me to Commander Ca Prez?”

He put down the message he was composing on his personal SPS unit. Probably writing to Abby, and stared at me. “I suppose I'm not privy to the details?”

“I suppose not.”

He raised his brows. “Good enough.” He got up and went to the cabin and the radio.

Twenty minutes later the pod arrived. I sneaked the stingler past Joe and onboard, tucked through a hole inside my jacket.

“You know how to strap yourself in,” he said and turned to leave.

“Joe?”

He paused.

“I shouldn't have taken it out on you.” I bit my lip. “None of this is your fault.”

He nodded. “You think I want anything to happen to you? Every time I look at you, I see my granddaughter's face.”

“If I don't make it out of this, will you tell her that I love her?”

He smiled. “You do the same for me?”

“Sure.” I smiled back. “But you've been in the middle of Alpha's skirmishes all your life. They can't kill you with an axe.” I turned on the pod and heard it whine to life.

“Tell that to Abby.” Joe helped me to strap in.

“I'll see you later,” I said as he left, but wasn't sure that would happen.

I was about to close the canopy when Huff shuffled into the airlock.

“I brought you something, my Terran friend.” He rooted around in his pouch. “Since you will be empty for lunch.” He extracted two candy bars and handed them to me with a smile. “This is for quick human actions.”

“Thanks, Huff.” I took them and stuffed them into my jacket pocket.

He wagged his head in a Vegan version of “You're welcome.”

I reached out and squeezed his forepaw. “Take good care of yourself, OK?”

“I will care. Two eyes for dinner, Jules.”

“What? Fish eyes?” I shook my head. “Oh.
See you
for dinner?”

“That's the say I said.”

“Goodbye, my Vegan friend.” I closed the pod's canopy and locked it.

After Huff left, I activated the airlock. As it vented the air and the outer hatch sprang open to the blackness of space, I reprogrammed the pod for the fourth planet out.

* * *

I sprawled on an outcrop above a canyon. An icy wind rushed down a snow-blown pass between peaks and swirled around me. I shivered as I brushed rancid shreds of lavender plants and dirt off my face and tongue. The planet's heavy gravitational field pressed the spiky ground growth against my chest as I scanned with graphoculars I'd found in the pod.

“Not the most pleasant planet I've ever been on,” I muttered and watched Rowdinth's Elite Guards in their camp below, between the protection of sandstone cliffs. The captain wore a higher hat than the others, and golden braids across the chest of his black uniform. Their weapons were nowhere in sight, probably still aboard Rowdinth's private starship, parked beside an escarpment of eroded caves and loose shale.

The Guards had no reason to suspect an attack from the fleet, and the landscape seemed devoid of large denizens. Still, they had set up sensors around the perimeters of the camp as a precaution.

Was Rowdinth aboard the ship while the two scientists put the finishing touches on their weapon, or had it been a hoax all along? Either way, from the safety of this hideout, Rowdinth was probably in touch with Alpha, demanding the gold bullion and threatening the demise of planet Earth. Did he intend to hold off until the U.S. Fourth of July? If the weapon were ready to launch, why should he?

I bit my lip. I could return to the hidden pod and call in the coordinates for a strike on his ship. I could also get Shannon killed if she were onboard.

I rolled to my back, wiped a hand across my eyes and squinted into the cold, hazy sky. I dared not try a tel probe of the ship in my search for Shannon. Rowdinth and George, the project's mastermind, were both sensitives.

I lifted the graphoculars and scanned the hull in close-up mode. Emblazoned across the flank was an overblown image of General Rowdinth's rat face, his arm extended in a salute, against a backdrop of Fartherland's flag with its home solar system. The Earth-built private starship was a luxury long-voyage class. Rowdinth was not above buying the best, even if it were from his avowed enemies.

I lowered the graphoculars and wished I could probe inside the ship.

Shannon…

He wouldn't kill a hostage before he had the gold, would he, in a fit of rage if Alpha didn't agree to his terms? Even the lunatic tyrant of Fartherland wouldn't sacrifice a pawn that could block the Worlds Government. I thought of Shelley's body lying abandoned in the sand and shook my head. Nothing would block Alpha from giving Commander Ca Prez the nod to destroy his ship.

The sky was darkening above the eastern hills. I lifted my collar against the icy wind as the waning sun drained color from the sandstone cliffs. How long until nightfall on this hazy world?

When it came, I'd make my way inside the ship, destroy the weapon, hoax or no, along with the Vermakt leader of the pack. I just had to get past the sensors, the ten Guards, then make my escape with Shannon, if she were alive and onboard, and back to where I'd hidden the pod, then off to rendezvous with Commander Ca Prez to tell her what I'd discovered.

That's all.

I eased my stingler out of the hole in my jacket, checked that it was fully charged, on hot, and stuffed it behind the waistband of my pants. It's a short-range weapon with a solar-backed battery life between frequent charges, but it was all I had.

Spirit? Star Speaker? Sye Morth? Anybody out there?

From this point on
, Spirit sent,
expect only
our
considered advice on your decisions and actions. I will not damage this world, and Star Speaker and Val Tir Sye Morth will not kill for your cause.

Yes, Spirit. It's all branded in my brain. Just stay with me until this is over, OK? Gwis? I'm afraid to probe the ship. There are two sensitives onboard. But…

You are hopeful that the Terran woman still lives,
she answered.

Yeah.
I held my breath.

Fear not,
she sent.
Shannon remains in her current lifebind.

“Oh, God!” I breathed again and laid back on the ground cover.
Thank you, Star Speaker! Is she onboard the ship?

She's inside the ship,
Sye Morth sent,
and very scared, Jewels.
General Rowdinth means to use her as a shield when he meets with Alpha to collect the gold bullion. I have probed his mind, my friend, and withdrew quickly. I am sorry, but this Vermakt who holds the Terran hostage is mad.

As in insane
? I sent.

As in all ways. Something long ago assailed his brain and left him as devoid of the higher sensibilities as the mind of a bottom feeder, but with the power to destroy.

That's what I found too
, I sent.
Power without conscience
.

A shell devoid of substance,
he added,
in the manner of Sye Kor.

I mean to destroy the shell, Morth.

Jules, my reluctant student,
Star Speaker sent, referring to her intrusions into my mind back on Halcyon,
before this night is over
,
with all you mean to do, you may well reside with the Vermakt leader in geth state.

I've always been a great believer, Gwis, in playing the hand that's dealt to me, and letting the cards fall where they may.

And tonight they will fall, Sojourner.

* * *

Night arrived on cat paws, a black hunter with a fat orange moon as a familiar over its shoulder. The wind died. The frigid night air formed sparkles of ice crystals. The voices of nocturnal denizens rose in howls and cries and squawks from all around the desert landscape. Spirit was right. The planet must be teeming with life. But I was out to exterminate an intruder. A large rat.

I shivered and rubbed my arms as I made my way quietly down a path of loose shale, and threaded along the base of the escarpment, avoiding rocks in the moonlight, toward the black hulk of the starship.

The Guards had finished their suppers. They sat in the flickering lights of wood fires, singing. Some danced to amuse their laughing captain and comrades. Perhaps their mood reflected their belief that soon they would be rich.

Have fun,
I thought.
There's no gold at the end of this rainbow.

I stepped over the sensor's trip wire and approached the ship, my stingler drawn, when the alarm sounded and lights flashed on.

Dammit!

I plastered myself against the hull. A long, green scaly creature had tripped the wire. He ran in circles, probably confused by the sudden lights and the blaring alarm.