Kalon

  Chapter Eighty-Four: Juni Pek Ularak

  Galactic Quadrant: Darna Quadrant

  Ruling Government: Talum Merchant Federation

  Solar System: D-447

  Planet: Ora

  Location: Above the planet's surface

  The comm panel buzzes with noise, our eyes all finding its blinking lights.

  “I repeat for the last time this is Talum Space Command actual, respond with the condition of my soldiers. I have your location on lock, and I have three ships in-bound. I don’t care who your father is, Lunara of Noble House Raven, If you do not respond in the next three minutes, I will be forced to bring the full weight of my command down upon you, regardless of your heritage.”

  Luna flashes me a look, one filled with shame almost. House Raven? She is a Noble then, I can’t even deny it anymore. There is a hole forming in my chest as I grow more hollow to her. It stings like betrayal. She turns from me and nods to Fennec.

  “Space Command actual this is – well just call me The Stylish Bandit.” He turns to Luna who rolls her eyes before he finishes with “Your soldiers are alive and well. Stand down, there is no need to be so hostile, we are simply borrowing your ship.”

  The comm is silent for a moment, the only sound I can hear is the hum of the gravity actuators and a soldier that snores loudly.

  “Stylish Bandit – Send proof of life and we can discuss the terms of your peaceful surrender.”

  Luna moves her hand through the holo display on the main panel.

  “Data of their real time vital monitors has been sent to you.” Fennec says, then suddenly an alarm sounds in the ship, his eyes go wide as he says “Space Command actual, we have sent the proof of life, stand down, I repeat stand down.”

  “Flagship Thorn, this is Talum Merchant Federation Space Command actual, I have Command in this system, you will stand the frag down.” The voice says sternly.

  There is a pause over the comms as Luna pulls up a schematic of the ship we are on.

  “I don’t like this.” Fennec says moving through another display.

  The communications panel lights up once more.

  “Flagship Thorn, I am the authority of military action in this system, Adonius is an interim Governor, he does not…” the voice trails off as though receiving comms from somewhere we can’t hear.

  My fingers twiddle idly, I don’t know how to help, I barely know what’s going on. The woman’s words about the Cursed Edict and Luna ring in my mind. Am I a fool to have followed her? What happened to the previous users, are all Edicts like this? Sekat… there is so much I don’t understand. The frustration is building in me. My neck twitches as I hear Krotha’s laughter in my ear. I wonder if this is what they all experienced, she is vile. This demon. Have I already become mad? Would I even know? My head shakes the thought away. I would know. I am in control.

  Luna moves rapidly now, leaving behind the panel. Lights still flashing red. Dragging the soldiers one in each hand like an empty sack of scraps through the ship, into a pod that opens from the wall. Stacking them in twos. Unable to squeeze more in without injury.

  “How can I help?” I ask, not wanting to sit idle anymore. My hands need something to do to distract my mind.

  “Get them to the escape pods. Two in each.” She says, her pace increases as she throws one over each shoulder, then drags two more behind. Her walk now a fast shuffle.

  I drag the soldiers, only able to pull two at a time across the floor. Sekat, she is strong. I stand the first upright slowly, but they fall back onto me. How did she do this? I hear her boots on the floor behind me. She pushes past me, grabbing the soldier and pressing a button on the wall. A seatbelt unspools and wraps itself around them.

  “Get it?” she asks, turning and running to grab the next ones before I can even nod.

  I stuff the other one in, grunting as I press the button. The seatbelt fastens around them, pulling them snugly into place. There are hundreds of buttons inside the pods. Labels with abbreviations I don’t know. Symbols on some of the buttons I haven’t seen before. Some look like pictures of an action, like a fire being put out.

  “Flagship Thorn I am ordering you to stand down. You do not have authority in this system, regardless of your rank, I am in Command. I repeat stand down; I have twelve soldiers on that vessel." the voice says.

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  “Ship’s ready to jump!” Fennec yells back to Lunara “If we are going to do it, it needs to be now!”

  “Not until they are all loaded up!” She yells back to him.

  “Sekating bleeding heart.” Fennec grumbles as he scrambles to us “You get prepped, me and him can get them.”

  She looks at the four soldiers left on the ground, one of which is the woman who insulted her. She nods, turning to the control panel and running towards it. As she swipes her hand through the controls, the ship begins to chime.

  “Command accepted – Accessing navigational data – Recommending change in command – Warning – Warning – Incoming projectiles – Command Safety Override accepted – Loading manual interface.” It says.

  I feel gravity shift, the actuators squeal loudly under the pressure. My eyes look to Luna at the helm whose hands move rapidly giving commands, my eyes try to follow what she is doing on the interface, trying to glean some information, but it is so fast. Large plasma shots rip past the side of the ship, she narrowly dodges them.

  “That’s the last one. Start the sequence.” Fennec says as he moves to a command chair next to her, sitting down. Moving his hand through a smaller interface, much slower than her.

  The pod doors slam closed, I turn and look, seeing them eject from a porthole. Moving towards the porthole, my eyes widen as I see the pods begin to take up an encircling motion around us with their thrusters. She’s using them to protect us I think. Clever.

  I move to look out the front viewport now and my eyes grow even wider as I see a large structure blossoming with light moving into low orbit above us. It is massive, larger than the masters’ floating cities, it is a monstrosity of metal and marvel. This must be Flagship Thorn of House Helenius, the house which Adonius the interim Governor belongs to. The man who holds the chains of my people, the one who crushes their necks under his boot. If I had the power, I would blast it from existence.

  "Space Command – This is The Stylish Bandit, your soldiers are safe and sound inside of the escape pods which currently orbit our stolen vessel. Now, if you would like them safely returned, I suggest you back the frag off and stop firing upon us.”

  A short pause follows.

  “Bandit this is Federation Space Command actual. We will comply. Release hostages at point of transfer.”

  “Understood.” Fennec says turning off the comm, now looking to Luna “Not trying to break your concentration as you juggle those pods manually but it’s almost time.”

  “I know.” She says with a tone of irritation as she swipes through the display. There is tension around her eyes as they flit across the screen.

  With nothing to do to distract me, my thoughts return to the Cursed Edict. Did she really know and not tell me? Maybe the woman was wrong. I haven’t heard the demon in some time. My gut tells me the woman is right and my days are numbered. It is strange, I have faced death many times before, looking it right in the eyes, not showing it any fear, telling it that it must earn me. Somehow knowing it comes, knowing it is unavoidable makes me feel…

  My head smacks the walls sharply as a thunderous explosion smashes against the ship, shards of metal scrape against the hull. Fennec’s eyes are wide as he grips the wall with one hand and slams the other on the comms panel.

  “Federation Space Command, cease fire, you have fired upon your own soldiers, and you are firing upon the Heir Apparent of House Raven!” He yells frantically, he moves to speak again but the craft rocks. The red lights flash faster now.

  “Warning – Warning – Warning.” The system repeats.

  “What is wrong with them?” Luna asks, her eyes blinking fast. She flicks her wrist, one of the pods moving out of the way of a massive ball of plasma which then grazes into the side of the ship, rocking us, sending molten metal spewing onto the floor.

  “Containment field activated – Warning – Warning.”

  “Put the pods in front of the shots!” Fennec yells at her, there is fear on his face, his Kuwathi eyes glow brightly now, the bioluminescence swirling in them.

  “No… I will not be the reason more die.” She says through clenched teeth, extending her hands outwards, flicking the pods into different directions, towards the Arasha city.

  “You’ve killed us all!” Fennec yells, slamming his hand on one of the clear panels, cracking it before he spouts in the old tongue “Juni Pek Ularak!”

  “Sit down and shut up!” She yells issuing a new set of commands as another plasma shot grazes us and melts a section of the hull off.

  “Warning – Hull integrity failing – Containment field… Command Override accepted – Limiters Removed – Full manual control enabled.” The system chimes off now, going silent.

  “You’re out of your mind, you can’t manually fly into the right vector and do a jump while dodging plasma. This is suicide, we don’t have a shield anymore, the containment field is barely plugging the holes. One more and this ship’s fragged. Turn the ship around and burn hard for the city. Use it as a way to get them to stop firing at us. Tell them we surrender.” Fennec pleads, she does not reply so he stands, “Fine, if you won’t listen.”

  Fennec moves towards her panel trying to input commands. She pushes him back, he tries again, the ship veers, turning us upside down, the gravity actuators squeal again as we fall back down. She punches Fennec square in the jaw, sending him flying backwards knocking him out cold.

  “Put him in an escape pod.” She says.

  I blink at her.

  “Put him in an escape pod!” she yells.

  Her eyes speak of her seriousness. I grab him, slinging him over my shoulder, the craft lurching back and forth, from the holes in the side I see her dodging bolts of plasma. I slam into a wall, Fennec with me, as she rolls the ship. I move now towards the second to last escape pod. Slamming Fennec into it. The belt slides over him snugly. Moving back towards her, I turn as the door slams shut and his pod is ejected far away from us, back toward the city in the distance. Sekat, has she gone mad?

  My eyes blink twice, has she abandoned him or given him mercy? I do not know. Moving back to the helm I take a seat on the side wall closest to her, strapping in quickly. I can feel my heartbeat in my head. We are going to die, I should have gotten in with Fennec… No, I can’t leave her… I push internal conflict away as I focus on the present.

  Looking back at Luna, I see she has closed her eyes and is taking a deep breath. When she opens them, I can feel the focus as her hands glide like she is painting a portrait of a world without sorrow, it is beautiful and terrifying to watch. The gravity whips back and forth as she moves into the space near the other ships that have now spilled from Thorn’s belly which move to intercept us. Vek… we are going to die.

  She begins to spin the ship, I feel a tug as the other ship we breached them from snaps forward, still attached by the metal cable, it jostles us roughly. I can’t even tell our relative speed anymore, everything is a blur. As we spin and turn faster and faster, I feel the actuators give out and the gravity slaps me in the face, it hurts all over, my eyes can’t stay open, I try to cling to the realm of the waking, but I cannot. My last thought before darkness finds me in its embrace is Fennec’s words, Juni Pek Ularak… Promises success, but brings death.

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