The Solar Wind (21 page)

“He’s leaving the atmosphere, we’re going into space, hang on!” Ash announced.

“Stay on him!” Wesley ordered.

“He’s jamming our shields somehow!” Andre exclaimed. “We’ll have no protection if we’re hit!”

“We’re not letting him get away this time. Stay on him!”

The Draconis, now unhindered by the gravity of Kyanos, performed an about-face in space and charged the Andromeda head on. The two ships fired fiercely upon one another, each taking hits. The hits the Andromeda took were minor in comparison to the last battle from the space pirates.

“Ash, get us behind him again, we need to take out his power source or his navigation system,” Wesley ordered.

The Andromeda soared higher than the Draconis and then spiraled and flipped to give chase to its enemy from the rear. Wesley and Justin pounded the rear of the ship with their cannons. A sizeable explosion erupted from the rear of the enemy ship.  The Draconis swerved erratically in the darkness of space and began spiraling away from the Andromeda.  As the Andromeda charged forward to deliver battle ending blows to the Draconis, the enemy ship flipped and blasted the Andromeda with a few last direct hits near the flight deck and power source. Alarms sounded immediately on the Andromeda and gray smoke poured everywhere. Ash could not maintain the momentum they had been traveling at and the ship slowed its pursuit of its enemy. The Draconis flipped again and raced away from the Andromeda.

“Follow him He’s almost done for!” Wesley commanded.

“We’re pushing it, our O2 levels are dropping,” Andre commented.

Suddenly, the Draconis itself disappeared, all but for the smoke being emitted from it. Then the smoke seemed to moving faster and faster away from the Andromeda.

“He vanished! He’s using some type of invisibility technology,” Wesley announced.

“He’s not on the sensors anymore. I’ll bet he’s going to try to make the jump,” Ash proclaimed.

“Don’t lose him!” Wesley ordered.

“Kaden’s jamming our shields and our signal, we cannot track him now! We’re blind!” Andre shouted.

Ash quickly punched it, bringing the Andromeda as close to the trail of smoke as possible. In the last few moments, Wesley and Justin fired blindly upon where the smoke was coming from. Some flashes of light indicated that they had made a few successful hits and then a large blaze of light signaled that the Draconis was gone, their trajectory unknown.

The Andromeda slowed its pace to a gentle glide, the crew keeping alert in case Kaden decided to come back for another round. Nothing. The captain and crew relaxed a little, knowing that the battle was over for now. Wesley’s mind filled with frustration with the knowledge that Kaden was gone and the uncertainty of whether or not it was for good.

“Andre, how’s she holding up?” Wesley asked of the Andromeda.

“A moderate oxygen breach and a leaky power cell, but we’ll be all right if we head back to Kyanos now.”

“Affirmative. There’s no point staying out here. He’s not coming back anytime soon.”

“It looks like you took out his main power cell, that alone would take weeks to repair, even if he had the proper resources,” Ash commented.

“How did he disappear? I’ve never seen a ship do that before,” Wesley wondered aloud.

“Kaden must have figured out a way to jam signals and cloak his ship, making it appear as if his ship is invisible,” Ash responded.

“I can’t believe he was stupid enough to think we wouldn’t see the smoke wafting off of the back of his ship,” Andre laughed.

“We need to figure out how he did it. I want to know.”

“As soon as we land I’m on it. I’ve got a reading of some of the transmissions from their ship before he started jamming us. It will take some time, but I’ll figure it out eventually,” Ash replied.

The captain and crew left the flight deck to attend to the repairs as best they could until Ash brought the Andromeda carefully back down to Kyanos and into the hangar. It would take at least a week, if not more, to repair the Andromeda. Vance waited on the landing pad with a few of the other officials for the full report. They appeared pleased. Although Wesley did not believe that they were victorious, he was sure that Kaden would not be back for a long while, not at least until his ship was fully repaired. What concerned Wesley the most was the vengeance he was certain he knew would be coming from Kaden sooner or later.

Chapter 14: Reunion

Ava yawned, stretched and reached to power down her computer and grab her small backpack. She had stayed late at the clinic to finish a few charts and decided to call it a day. It was Thursday, one more day to go until the weekend. She and Elaine had plans to go to a small party one of Elaine’s other friends was having tomorrow night and Ava wanted to get as much done tonight as she could before she left. She knew she would not have time to stay late tomorrow. Ava saw only a few people remaining in the clinic as she made her way out, her shoes echoing in the silent hallway.

The avenues leading to the Square were usually pretty busy on Thursday and Friday evenings as people ran errands, preparing for the weekend. Ava picked up her pace, walking with the sense of purpose usual for her. She let her mind wander to Wesley. It had been three weeks since she last saw him and wondered if he was okay and when she would see him and her friends again. While Elaine had helped to keep her busy, Ava missed Wesley terribly. She felt so lonely without him, as if a piece of herself were missing. The clock in the Square chimed 7:00 p.m., pulling Ava out of her thoughts. She decided to stop for a quick dinner before heading home.

She selected a small café she and Wesley had eaten at few times and sat outside in the sectioned off “patio” section. Ava frequently ate alone on and off over time as Wesley and the others were usually out on an assignment during the week so it did not phase her to sit alone and order dinner. At this hour the café did not seem to be crowded and no one other than the waiter spoke to her. Ava ordered a simple dinner and watched the crowd thin out in the square as time passed. Ava vaguely sensed that she was being watched, however did not see anyone as she looked around her. She brushed it off. After about thirty-five minutes she paid her bill and walked out through the front of the café and back into the square. She did not walk far before a well dressed, brown haired and blue-eyed man casually approached her. Ava stopped suddenly and stared at him, she was not used to being approached by strangers in public. The knowledge that there were several people milling about the Square comforted her. The stranger smiled pleasantly at her as he came to a stop about two feet from her. Ava felt certain she had seen him before somewhere.

“Hello Miss,” the man said cheerfully. Ava said nothing. The man continued, “I thought you looked familiar. You probably don’t remember me, we never officially met on Capri.”

Capri! The name jogged Ava’s memory. Ava had a knack for remembering faces, and she remembered his now. “My name is Bryant,” he revealed.

“Oh yes, I do remember you,” She replied. She did not know what to say to this stranger. Naomi’s description of his relationship with Wesley had left Ava with the feeling that he and the crew did not trust this Bryant. “I’m Ava Amherst,” she divulged.

“It’s nice to meet you, Ava,” he extended his hand out politely towards her. She shook it cordially, feeling that almost imperceptible static electricity sensation she used to feel when she and Wesley touched. This surprised her.

“I’m glad to make your acquaintance,” she replied courteously.

“I remembered your face from when I saw you with Captain Robinson on Capri. I always try to say hello to familiar faces, this world we live in is so isolating at times. The Captain and crew are old friends of mine, and very good people,” he remarked cheerfully as he gazed at Ava intently but in a non-imposing way. This stranger had such a warm, agreeable, manner about him. He seemed very likeable, she thought.

“Yes they are. I am fortunate to have such nice friends.”

“Are you a crew member also?”

“No, they are just my friends. I travel with them occasionally.”

“It must be nice for you to have the opportunity to visit the other stations and see new scenery from time to time.”

“Yes it is.”

“I used to be a crewman on the Andromeda several years ago.”

“Naomi mentioned that to me.”

“What a wonderful ship it is. Captain Robinson does an impeccable job keeping it up. The work that they do is so important to the function of the stations.”

“If you don’t mind my asking, what was it that made you want to leave them?”

“We felt it was best. My wife had recently passed away and it was a difficult time for me,” he replied solemnly, looking at the floor.

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It’s all right, it was a long time ago,” he smiled and snapped out of his sadness back to his cordial manner.

“What type of work do you do now, are you working on another ship?”

“No. I went through a career change and I work for the ITO most of the time now as part of their investigations unit.”

“That sounds interesting. What kinds of things do you investigate?”

“Anything and everything. Naturally it’s all classified, and it keeps me on the move a lot from station to station. I was actually hoping to run into the Captain again here on Orionis during my time here. Not as part of my current investigation, of course,” he laughed casually. “I was disappointed to see that the Andromeda was not docked today.”

“If you’d like to leave me with an online address I would be happy to have him contact you when he returns.”

“That’s very kind of you, but I’m sure he and I will see each other again soon enough.”

“Well it was nice meeting you. I’m sorry, but it’s been kind of a long day for me and I must be going.”

“Then I won’t keep you. It was nice talking with you Ms. Amherst. Best of luck to you,” he replied graciously.

“Thank you, have a good evening.”

“Good night.”

Ava continued on through the Square without looking back. She did not worry about being followed by this stranger; she sensed that she was not. What an odd encounter she thought as she exited down the avenue leading to the lift back to Level 4 and to her quarters. Bryant watched Ava leave the square. As soon as she was out of sight he nonchalantly lifted his right hand, the hand he had shaken her hand with, to his nose and inhaled, memorizing her scent. It is so easy to hunt a human; he thought. He lowered his hand, turned and walked quickly towards the lifts to take him to the hangar, eager to leave Orionis. Bryant hated the no-nonsense military like environment that Orionis was known for. Now that he had successfully tracked Wesley’s significant other down, he immediately set out to find someone else, someone who would be much more difficult to find, a man named Xavier. Bryant smiled at the thought of this game, there was nothing he loved more than to hunt and track people down. His proficiency and skills at finding missing persons for the ITO had made him a wealthy man, but this new mission had nothing to do with the ITO. It was simply a matter between him and Wesley.

Ava left work timely on Friday night and met Elaine in the Square. Elaine’s friend Natalie lived on Level 5 and the two women wanted to pick a few things up at Infinity on Level 9 to bring to the party. Natalie had a nice sized apartment and had no problem filling it with people for her party. There were so many people, in fact, that some chose to sit on the floor while others stood against the wall. Natalie and her husband were warm and welcoming people Ava thought. From the looks of their nicely decorated quarters they seemed well to do. Ava did not know anyone other than Elaine, however the people at the party were friendly for the most part. Elaine made the punch and brought Ava a glass.

“It’s okay, I promise you,” Elaine remarked as Ava raised an eyebrow.

“Is it spiked with anything?” She asked keeping a serious face. Ava still had trust issues after the incident at the club that one night.

“Only a little alcohol. Seriously though, you’d probably have to drink a gallon to feel it I think, the price of liquor has gone up so high I couldn’t afford to put much in. It’s not like the old days,” she said as she herself took a drink out of her own glass.

“All right.” Ava took a small drink. Elaine was right, you could barely taste it, but it tasted good.

“When’s your boyfriend coming home?”

“Any time now, he said three or four weeks.”

“You must miss him a lot.”

“Yeah. We haven’t been apart for this long since right after I first met him.” She practically had to shout over the loud pounding music someone had blaring.

“My ex-boyfriend worked on one of the ships and was gone quite a bit. It’s tough.”

“So it’s officially over? You aren’t getting back together with him?” Ava inquired.

“No. It’s for the best, I’m a happier person without all of the drama. Someone will come along for me again I’m sure,” Elaine shouted, trying to be heard over the music. Finally someone changed it something slower and softer.

“This is a nice song, the artist has beautiful voice,” Ava observed after a few minutes.

“Yes, he does. I don’t think I’ve heard this group before either, they must be new. Let me find out.”