Supreme Leader of Anstractor: A Sci-Fantasy Space Adventure (The New Phase Book 3) (17 page)

“Raf, this is Rend. How’s it going down there in the inferno?”

“Musky, warm, and wet, my friend. But I’m in the best company that a Phaser could ask for. The 211
th
regiment of the
Aqnaqak
corps. We’ve had some dance partners but we’re still on our feet, minus a few. How are things, brother? I haven’t spoken to you in quite some time now.”

“Things are quiet, Raf, but we can catch up really soon. I wanted to hear your voice to make sure that it’s really you. See, Vallen Tracker asked me to call him if you came on board
Rendron
, and since I’ve been around Anstractor a few more times than that marine, I could read into his nonsense to know that you were in some kind of trouble.”

“I appreciate that, Rend, and I owe Val a beer. I’m stuck and couldn’t make contact since the lizards are looking to invade. If you could do me a favor and bounce my news to Val, I would need him to send Phasers here to Lerin, Cye, Geral. We’re located near the meteorite crash zone – he will know where to find it.”

“Perfect, Raf. I have my XO down there, helping out in case the lizards come at you all again.”

“Wow, Rend, you didn’t have to do that.”

“I know, but she’s like a daughter to me. Having her see the home world while helping a friend. I wouldn’t be human if I could say no to that.”

A
URORA SYN paced nervously outside of the clinic as she tried to cook up the nerve to enter. She had been out there for an hour but it was as if a barrier prevented her from entering.
Why did I have to stick my big nose into Phaser business?
she kept asking herself, but there was no answer that would make her feel better.

After another thirty minutes passed the door opened up and standing in front of her was Marika. Both women jumped at the sight of one another, Aurora being surprised at Marika’s nudity, and Marika surprised that she was standing there. “How much of what was going on inside did you hear, Aurora?” Marika asked, her hands finding her hips, where they rested below the healing line where she had been cut.

“I wasn’t eavesdropping or anything, I swear. I just came to apologize, and”—she closed her eyes to calm herself—“I just wanted you to know that I
thype
d up badly, and I am going to do whatever it takes to make things right for all of us.”

“What are you going to do, Aurora?” Marika asked. She didn’t seem to mind being nude, and Aurora couldn’t seem to stop staring at her body, which looked void of all fat, as if the woman had been carved from a crimson piece of wood. She glanced at Marika as if pleading for her not to press her on being worthless. She knew where she stood when it came to the Phaser/Geralos conflict, and there was little she could do outside of a bridge where she had the firepower of a warship at her disposal.

Marika’s features softened and she reached out and touched Aurora on her cheek. “You’re a sweet girl. A real flower, and I know you mean well. I really do. But this business with the mind-jumping lizard… it isn’t something that sweet girls should be around and that is why he was able to use you. We lost Laern. We all have to live with that. The kid was stupid but he had a massive heart and he didn’t deserve to die like that. You got me cut, which—” She stopped and put up her hands. “I don’t like scars. They are medals of weakness and let’s just say you earned me my very first medal as a Phaser.”

“I have creams that will rub that line out; it’ll come right out. You don’t have to—”

“Not the point, Aurora. Your cream cannot remove the memory of that sneaky
schtill
cutting me with a hot las-sword blade. That’s my scar. This thing”—she slid her hand below her abdomen to indicate the wound—“it will go away with enough time in there.”

Aurora said, “Do you know if Laern had any family that I can contact to inform them of his death?”

“Let’s just wait for Rafian before we start airing out the bad news. Okay, Aury? Just … just go be with your family and forget about all this. The lizard is dead, as far as we know, but just in case he took over someone else, you probably should stay away from the Phaser agency.”

Marika walked past her to get to the shower while Aurora stood frozen with her words still fresh in her mind.

“Hello,” a new voice announced from behind her, and she spun around to see a tall woman with dark hair, sad brown eyes, and freckled skin, browned as if she had grown up on one of the beaches of Vestalia. She was dressed like an officer with
Rendron
pins, but she was light on her feet and held the grace of someone that was more than a pilot.

“Hey, have we met?” Aurora asked, extending her hand to clasp her forearm. The women exchanged the customary greeting and then Aurora led her away so that she wouldn’t have to witness Marika coming out of the shower.

“We haven’t met but I know who you are,” the woman said. “I didn’t know that you were a Phaser.”

“Actually, I’m not,” Aurora said with a slight chuckle. She walked to the glass overlooking the main floor of the agency while Constance came up next to her.

“Sorry. I saw you in here and assumed that you were a Phaser—”

“You knew that I wasn’t a Phaser, but I appreciate the compliment. How may I help you?”

“I’m Constance ITO. I should have introduced myself first. Oh, and you can call me Connie if you like. Pleasure to meet you, Aurora.”

“Constance ITO? As in Captain Cilas MEC’s second? What in the hell are you doing down here during all of this mess?”

“I don’t know, really. The commander sent us here to help, but by the time we made it here the Geralos were dead.”

Aurora laughed. “That sounds about right. So what can I help you with, Connie?”

“Wow, everyone’s right to the point here. I’m still not used to that. Okay, so I have an urgent message for Tayden Lark. I’ve looked all over this station and the city grounds, and no one seems to be able to get her on comm.”

Aurora looked at the time and then frowned at Connie. “Tayden is in the temple during this hour. She should be back very soon. Her comm is programmed to power off while she’s in there. Only Rafian, Camille, and other commanders can get through that block to reach her. You could always send a message for her to buzz you back when she’s available.”

“That won’t work. The message is classified. I am to give it verbally to a Phaser commander.”

Aurora thought about the Phaser power structure and which of their number was still in Zallus. “Let’s see if we can find Camille YAN or Yuth Varience,” she said, and pulled up her communications device. She spun at the virtual ball of contacts that hovered above the screen, tried a few, then rotated it again until a calm male voice answered. It was Yuth Varience, and he was in the middle of training so he told Aurora where to find the Phaser arena.

“Come with me, Connie,” she announced and then stepped away from the window to enter one of the doors. The Phaser agency was a marvel, with tall white walls and tiled floors made to look like stone but were really a soft, alien metal. The vaulted ceilings held tiny, star-like lights and Connie kept glancing up at them, wondering if they were being watched.

They passed by several Phaser recruits as they walked. They all seemed polite but Aurora noticed a sadness behind their eyes that spoke volumes to their situation. She could tell that Connie noticed it, too, so she said, “Lots of Phasers have died in the last few months, and recruits are the ones on the front lines, Connie.”

They came upon a large set of double doors that were recessed into the walls, and Aurora touched them and held her palm there until the computer recognized who she was. The doors seemed to melt away in a strange effect that reminded her of a waterfall. Inside she saw Yuth Varience fighting an android, their las-swords showering sparks everywhere as he thrust and countered masterfully.

“Now this is what I expected to see when I came to the Phaser agency,” Connie said as her hand moved up to rub her neck.

“A beautiful specimen of male Louine, sweaty and fighting with his shirt missing, Connie?”

Constance ITO began to blush and she giggled with Aurora. Yuth Varience dodged a close swing of the las-sword and kicked the android in its abdomen before bringing the blade down and splitting its head in two. He powered down his sword and sheathed it in an impressively smooth motion. He then turned to the women and waved, his bluish-white chest revealing his spectacular muscularity.

Yuth touched a panel to bring down the field that separated the arena from the entrance. He grabbed a towel, threw it over his shoulders, and then walked towards them with a warm smile on his face. “Aurora SYN. The loveliest troublemaker I know,” he said before putting his hands on her waist.

“You do know that I am married, right, Yuth?” she said, but he kept his eyes on her and leaned down to kiss her lips. Aurora was stunned and didn’t know how to take this. There were Louine customs that had remained alien to everyone due to the reclusive behavior of the planet. But kissing … on the lips? It aroused her deeply, and she was suddenly too embarrassed to look at him. “Oh,” she tried and backed away from him. “Oh, C-Connie has a m-message from
Rendron
for you.”

“Oh, Maker,” Yuth said suddenly. “I completely misunderstood. From your message I assumed that you and Miss ITO were in need of a sexual partner. It is normally what happens around this time of day, so I – oh, this is embarrassing now. I didn’t mean to startle you, Aury.”

Aurora was still blushing and her body was on fire. She could still feel the kiss on her lips. “It’s quite okay, Yuth,” she managed. “Not the first time that one of you Phasers tried to make ‘tea time’ with me.” She then laughed so hard that she actually snorted, and that took her over the edge to the point where she needed to leave. “Connie, this is Yuth, the top Phaser Ace. You should be able to give him your message since he reports to Tay. I need to go.” She cleared her throat. “I really need to get some fresh air.”

She hurried out into the hallway and Connie turned to face the handsome Louine.

“Hello, Yuth,” she said. “I don’t know how Phaser ranks work, so please excuse my informal address.”

Yuth tried to hide his amusement. If there was anything that a cadet was studying in the Alliance military it was anything and everything to do with Phasers and the road to becoming a recruit in the organization. He didn’t know why Connie was playing at being ignorant, so he assumed that this was her way of flirting. He found her cute, especially the tiny freckles on her cheeks that hinted at her having a Casanian ancestor. He decided that he would play along with the ruse.

“We don’t require our allies to call us by our internal designations, Connie, but all Phaser Aces are commanders. Tayden Lark is our director, sub-commander when Rafian is present. She is the only Phaser besides Raf with a different title, but she shares the leadership with Frank OTA, myself, and Camille YAN. Now, as to your message…”

“Yes, the famous Phaser directness,” Connie said. “Captain Rend has informed me that Commander Rafian VCA is on Geral with the
Aqnaqak
marines, camped out near a major Geralos training camp. He’s in the country of Cye, in the region known as Lerin. I was told that their camp is in a large burned-out hole that was made from a meteorite. He wants someone to visit him so that he has a way home … I don’t know what that means.”

Yuth’s eyes flickered and his color seemed to change. He said, “Rafian is on Geral?” It was spoken as if he needed to hear himself say it, then he grew excited and said it again. “Thank you, Miss ITO!” he exclaimed suddenly, then bowed deeply and touched her arm. From his touch he could feel her pulse and he knew that his first assumption was right. Constance ITO was attracted to him.

“Please give me a minute, Miss—”

“Connie, please call me Connie,” she said and then walked over to a bench and took a seat. Yuth got on his comm and contacted Marian, then Tayden Lark, and finally Val. He tried to keep the conversations brief but each Phaser was too excited to let him go. Rafian VCA was on Geral, and he needed a crystal to return home.

When he was finished with his calls, Yuth walked over to where Connie sat and took a seat next to her. “You’re looking flustered. Is the room too warm?” he asked, and she kept her mouth shut and shook her head. “Haven’t seen many Louines, have you?”

“Is it that obvious? I am so sorry,” she admitted.

“Oh, don’t apologize, I am accustomed to it. We have made ourselves scarce in the Alliance and in our travels. Louines like home more than anywhere else, so I’m not surprised that you stare. Listen, Rend, your captain, he’s a very close friend of Raf’s. He’s a decorated warrior and we Louines respect him. I’d like to meet him if you don’t mind making the introduction.”

“I’d be honored, and I’m sure he won’t mind. Plus, he told me that one of you will be returning to
Rendron
with my crew. Will that be you?” she asked, and Yuth nodded affirmatively.

Aurora watched the exchange from the doorway and though she couldn’t hear Yuth’s words, Connie’s expression spoke volumes. There weren’t many women or men that could resist the Louine’s influence, and his charm and good looks were at their peak at the moment.

She walked back down the hallway, skipping a bit because of what she had overheard on his call. Yuth would be traveling with his new friend, but he would be doing it to deliver crystals to Rafian VCA.