Torian Reclamation 2: Flash Move (16 page)

“Hey, look who it is!” Alan said. “Looks like I got my wish.”

Jumper looked closer.

“Lakor5!”

Jumper and Alan ran ahead to meet him. Lakor5 was smiling widely.

“What are you doing here?” Jumper asked.

“Coming with you,” Lakor5 said. “Can’t let you Earth kids have all the fun.”

Jumper shook Lakor5’s hand enthusiastically. “How? How did this happen? What are you even doing here, and why didn’t you mention anything about it two days ago when we told you we’d been out here?”

Lakor5 shrugged. “Who knew? When I reported to militia command after our patrol that night, I learned about the new C3 Guard alliance. As a measure of good faith, I was instructed to return the stolen vehicle.” He pointed at the cruiser next to him. “When I got here, I met the Belle-ub. He told me about the mountain expedition. Later, when I found out you two would be part of it, I insisted on joining and stayed behind. He didn’t mention anything about the female, though.” Lakor5 bowed before Kayla. “Tulros.”

Kayla smiled politely and said, “Tulros.”

Jumper cocked his head. “How did Belle-ub know we would be coming back and going on the expedition? We refused that offer. The last thing he knew, we took that cruiser and escaped from this place.”

Lakor5 shrugged again.

“Still not believe in prophets?” Alan said to Jumper.

Alan then grabbed Lakor5’s hand. “Man, am I glad to see you. A friendly face is just what this excursion needed. Don’t worry about her. She’s the best shot in the Earth colony.”

All four natives looked at Kayla and cocked their heads slightly. She didn’t notice, as she was crouching and fixing her shoe.

“Are we ready?” Totlen6 asked Lakor5.

“Yes.” Lakor5 opened the door to the back seats.

“Good. Let’s not waste any daylight.”

*

In the space above Banor, a dark shape surrounded by an intensely glowing ring of light appeared where nothing had been a moment ago. The ring of light dimmed and vanished completely, but the dark shape remained. Anyone watching would have then noticed the dark shape was in fact three different objects. The one in the middle was much larger than the two on the outside, and oblong-shaped. In another moment, it came to life with a ring of red lights around its outer circumference. The rest of it also lit up with a combination of many small red and yellow lights grouped in various patterns.

The two objects on the outside remained dark for the most part. Dull red and white lights on them could be discerned by an astute observer, revealing the outline of what could only be spacecraft. They had sleek hulls with cylindrical pods attached to their sides. The rear ends of the outside cylinders then lit up as a cigar ember being puffed on. The two spacecraft broke away from the large, ominous ellipse and began circling the planet.

The darkness of the alien spacecraft did not hide them from Banorian defense scopes. Their shapes were perfectly visible on them. Within minutes, four squadrons of fighters had launched from Banor and were on an intercept course.

The two dark alien ships retreated from Banor a ways as the Torian fighters approached, but then turned again to face the 36 oncoming Banorian craft, which spread to a wide formation and slowed.

A voice crackled across the cockpit speakers of all the Banorian ships.

“This is fleet leader Jol2. Squadron 4, break and intercept the foreign satellite.”

Nine of the fighters on the far right rolled away back towards the planet.

“Squadron 1, let’s give them a warning shot.”

The nine lead Banorian ships fired lasers all around the two alien spacecraft.

In the silence that followed, many of the stars back-dropping the two alien ships went dark. Fiery rings of light appeared around the dark spaces where the stars had formerly been, before dimming and vanishing. The many darkened stars remained missing.

“There’s more of them!” Jol2’s voice said. “A whole fleet just dagged out. Be careful! I’m calling for help.”

Lasers were suddenly in the space before the fleet, some of them connecting with the Banorian fighters.

“Engage!”

The Banorian fleet returned fire. Explosions and fireballs erupted on both sides.

Jol2’s lead ship took a laser on the top of its hull. He rolled out of it upward and behind to the left to break the beam. The ship was still responsive. As he circled back around, he saw the alien satellite firing upon Squadron 4 with much larger beams.

“Squadron 4 clear out! All squadrons, do not engage the satellite! Repeat, all squadrons stay clear of the satellite! Wait for the ITF1’s.”

The Squadron 4 fighters cleared away. The alien satellite then began firing at Banor with long projectiles of red light. The projectiles didn’t act like any missiles Jol2 had ever seen. They were much larger, and much faster. Almost as soon as they were fired, they vanished as they streaked into the Banorian atmosphere.

*

“Park here.” Jumper motioned towards a depression in a small sand dune along the foothills.

“This isn’t the same spot where your 2-seater was found,” Lakor5 said.

“I know, but the trailhead we located is closer here, almost straight ahead.” Jumper pointed to a clearing in the woods at the base of the mountain in front of them.

“All right,” Lakor5 said to the driver, a dull-skinned Amulite who Jumper had already forgotten the name of. “Do as he says.”

The driver took the cruiser over the dune Jumper pointed to, came down the other side of it, found a low spot, hovered, and set down. The vehicle wasn’t as hidden as Jumper liked, but at least it wasn’t directly visible from most of the immediate flatlands.

Jumper waited impatiently while everyone else gathered their gear and got themselves together. He finally led them all to the trailhead and began the ascent into the Sinlo Mountains. The path was lightly used; most would probably not use the word “trail” in referring to it. It was heavily overgrown in some areas, but passable. It didn’t become steep immediately. Everyone followed Jumper as they hiked up several switchbacks.

Alan and Kayla stayed up with Jumper. Lakor5 was right on their heels. Jumper was happy about that. It wasn’t as though he and Alan were bona fide friends with Lakor5—in fact, on several occasions they had gotten into altercations with his patrol. But Jumper knew the combativeness between them was more friendly banter than serious contention. Lakor5 always ended up letting them pass wherever they were heading—even into heavily patrolled Midlands areas. Jumper figured him for someone thirsty for stories and information, and his way of getting it was by pretending to act tough. Ultimately, Jumper and Alan were glad he—and not someone else—was the eastern patrol captain.

The other three natives followed a short distance behind. Mulb9 brought up the rear. The route Jumper led them on circled behind an outcrop of boulders through a thicket of bushes. When they came out of it, they found themselves on a plateau above the big rocks. A sizable crevice full of dry brush separated the mountainside from the boulders. Some of the brush was broken up in places, and a bad smell permeated in the area.

“Nice view from here,” Kayla said when they stopped to wait for the others. She was gazing out over the valley. They had climbed high enough to see the swamps on the far northern horizon.

Jumper noticed Alan wasn’t looking out to appreciate the view. He was staring into the rock crevice and grimacing.

“What’s wrong?”

Alan pointed at the broken bushes. “Isn’t this where your opponent landed?”

A look of horror came over Kayla.

Jumper pushed Alan on the shoulder. “No. We were farther north. An animal or rock must have fallen there. Enough about that. What’s wrong with you?”

The three natives cleared the bushes and came up on to the plateau.

Jumper waved ahead. “Let’s move.”

But before they could continue, the sound of three small explosions echoed from high above, separated by evenly-timed pauses. It was a signal.

Totlen6 turned to Mulb9. “Answer them.”

Mulb9 unhitched a black cylindrical object from his belt and held it skyward, his arm fully stretched. Two sparks emitted from it and shot high into the air. They detonated in two timed explosions.

Jumper and his six companions remained standing in the open and waited. After a few minutes, the series of three overhead explosions repeated.

“They’re telling us not to come,” Totlen6 said.

“Well, at least they know we’re coming now,” Lakor5 said.

When Mulb9 stowed his device, Jumper led them up into the next batch of woods to continue the ascent.

“More importantly,” Kayla said, “they now know that we know they know we are coming. So we won’t appear as hostile—hopefully.”

Jumper saw Lakor5 glance at her and nod in obvious appreciation of her logic. He seemed impressed by her. But then, Torian females didn’t play a prominent role in their society, especially native females. Encountering an Earth woman as brave, agile, and smart as Kayla had to be a new cultural experience for these natives.

Jumper suspected Kayla wasn’t quite as brave as she acted, though. As they made their way through thick woods and brush, sometimes having to improvise a new section of trail to get back to Jumper’s intended path, rustling noises could be heard in the wilderness around them. Birds and small game, no doubt. Once in a while, Kayla’s hand would find its way to grasping Jumper’s arm right after one of those noises occurred nearby. Jumper kept looking at her when that happened, but she always appeared to be steadying herself from stumbling, sometimes apologizing as she reached for her ankle or foot, as if to blame some vine on the ground for the incident.

“I don’t think there are many dangerous animals in these mountains,” Jumper said to her after the fourth such occasion.

“Good,” she replied. “That’s one less thing I have to rescue you from.”

“Actually,” Lakor5 said, “a small population of large felidors lives up here. Plenty of birds and small game for them, although they’re partial to wild dogs and zaboar.”

“Felidors,” Alan said from behind them. “My dad calls those saber-tooth tigers. Says they went extinct on Earth thousands of years ago.”

No sooner had Alan said that then the bush next to them exploded with sound—much too loudly for a small animal. All ten of Kayla’s fingers dug themselves deep into Jumper’s right arm. The bush then emitted a spine-chilling growl and a blurry object sprang from it.

Jumper wrapped Kayla backward with his arm and pushed her to the ground, falling on top of her and knocking Alan down as a domino. Jumper rolled off her and reached for the hand laser on his belt—but it wasn’t there.

A felidor had ambushed them. Jumper’s quick reaction moved him and Kayla out of its path, but the big cat landed on Lakor5 and now had him pinned on the ground. Lakor5’s forearms were extended to the felidor’s thick neck. He was managing to hold the cat’s large fangs a few inches away from his throat. But the felidor was winning the struggle and Jumper could see Lakor5’s strength beginning to give way. Jumper turned behind him and yelled.

“I lost my weapon! Help!”

Kayla had crawled back behind a fallen tree and her head could be seen thrashing about behind it. Jumper heard her cursing in what sounded like a crying voice. Alan was trying to stand but might have been knocked senseless from the fall. Jumper crouched at his side and grabbed the rifle still strapped to his back, trying to pull it off his arm. But Alan rolled to that side, probably as an instinctive reaction. The rifle ended up beneath him.

Jumper looked behind him in desperation. Totlen6 was there, thank Erob, and had his rifle up. But wait—the butt end was wedged between two tree trunks behind him and the front was stuck in a hole in a tree in front of him. He was struggling to free it.

The great beast let loose with a ground-shaking growl. Jumper looked back to Lakor5. The cat was leaning ever-closer to its intended victim. Lakor5 then managed to roll slightly to his right, freed his left arm, brought it to the opposite side of the felidor’s neck, and pushed it sideways away from him to his left. The cat jumped off, but crouched and pounced right back on him. Lakor5 was back in the same position, even weaker now, trying to hold the cat’s jaws off his throat.

That’s when a laser fired from behind. The beam connected on the felidor behind its shoulder, causing the beast to howl horribly and jump off of Lakor5 again. It landed on the path in front of him, where it turned and crouched in a pouncing position. Jumper looked back down the trail.

Totlen6 was still struggling to free his wedged rifle. Lying on the ground beneath him was Mulb9. He had just set his hand laser on the ground and was extending his other arm forward, which held a long, thin device. He aimed the device and fired. A long red segment of light shot out of it and struck the felidor in the chest, resulting in another loud shriek from the cat. It changed positions again, but was still on its feet.

Quickly, Mulb9 stood and charged. The felidor saw him coming and crouched lower, preparing to spring with whatever strength it had left. But Mulb9 fired again first. This time, the red light could be seen sinking deep into its neck. The felidor dropped stiff.

Lakor5 managed to sit up and get his rifle positioned at his shoulder. Too late.

Jumper looked behind him again. Totlen6 cursed and slowly dislodged his rifle from the trees, a much easier task when not panicking. The driver was finally coming into view on the trail. He had a confused look on his face, obviously unaware of what was happening.

Alan stood up and surveyed the scene in front of him. He looked as confused as the driver. Kayla also reappeared from behind the big log. Her hair was a mess. She was holding her hand laser, but her hand was shaking a little.

Jumper moved forward on the trail, disgusted at the humans’ performance under pressure. Lakor5 stood and reached his hand out towards Jumper.

“Is this yours?”

Jumper looked at his hand. He was holding Jumper’s laser. It must have dropped when he pushed Kayla backwards.