Kalon

  Chapter Eighty-Two: Jula Nau Bipak

  Galactic Quadrant: Darna Quadrant

  Ruling Government: Talum Merchant Federation

  Solar System: D-447

  Planet: Ora

  Location: Above the planet's surface

  Krotha has disappeared from my vision now, I am glad for it, there is less uneasiness in me.

  “System begin running diagnostics of the jump system, release limiters and transfer primary control of the vessel to me,” Luna says, pulling her blue hair back into a tight bun.

  Nothing happens, Fennec does not seemed surprised though for some reason.

  “System?” she asks, moving her hand through the holo display.

  “It won’t respond to you,” Fennec explains, rolling his neck.

  “What have you done?” she asks him with flaring nostrils and widening eyes.

  “You mean besides cut the wires to the jump actuators? Nothing much, just revoked your credentials, and I may have cut off the interface for Imperium Credential overrides.” He says, picking at something in his teeth now as though unbothered by her growing anger.

  “You will doom Kalon if we do not leave,” Luna seethes, taking a step toward him, “Is your honor truly this shallow?”

  “He’s not my charge, you are.” Fennec says with an eye roll, “Besides, I already saved him once, my debt is paid.”

  “Without him, the Edict will not stay with us, our mission…”

  “Your mission, is not my mission,” Fennec interrupts, shaking his head at her, “Your father gave me another set of instructions, a simple order, keep you alive.”

  “He would not want me to fail my mission,” she protests, grabbing him by the shirt, lifting him off the ground, “Stop getting in my way.”

  There is an exchange of looks between them as Fennec's legs dangle in the air. Her eyes are fiercer than I have seen before.

  “You sent me away once, I will not let you get in my way again.”

  “Your father doesn’t care if you complete the mission,” Fennec explains, gritting his teeth, “He told me as much, Kotina said the same.”

  “Liar,” she seethes, her head turning to the rear of the shuttle after a metallic thud hits it.

  Fennec swipes from his holopad towards hers. She looks down at it for a moment, her expression shifting before she releases him. He winces as he lands on his injured leg, but he keeps his balance. Luna’s eyes flit through the display of her holopad for a few more moments, before looking up to him.

  “When did you get this?” she asks him.

  Another thud on the back of the craft pulls all of our attention.

  “Does it even matter? We have more important concerns,” Fennec says, turning toward the noise, “We’re going to let them breach and take us captive, your Noble status and my affiliation for your house will get us out and deported from this system within a day, maybe two once the Imperium is notified, and then…”

  She glances at me and then glares at him, “He is not affiliated with our house, they will…” she pauses, looking at me again for a moment, “They will peel the flesh from his body to understand his secret.”

  Fennec looks over at me with an appraising eye. It is my turn to give a glance to Luna for telling him I have a secret. If he did not already suspect, now he knows.

  “They will have no doubt seen what he did on the landing pad. It is only a matter of time before they put out a bounty on him,” she says, moving to the side of the craft and prying a metal handle bar from the wall, then testing its weight in her hand, “I will not allow that.”

  “It’s one thing to kill in self defense, what happened with you and Dallus will be brought before the Imperium tribunal, but if you start killing Talum soldiers, it will become a diplomatic problem for our Republic. Don’t overswing, girl.”

  Her face grimaces at the subtle insult and the lack of respect in his tone, a flaring of anger again. I don’t fully understand what is going on, but I can surmise that Fennec cannot be fully trusted.

  “I’m doing this with, or without you,” she says, but her tone is more like a warning as she finishes with, “If it’s without you, you’ll be exiting via the airlock.”

  Fennec looks at her for a few moments, something in his eyes tells me that he actually believes her now, making his attempt to defy her meaningless. There is a change in his stance as well. He lets out a loud and exaggerated sigh before swearing under his breath. He comes toward me now, pulling from a sheath in his boot two blades, my eyes widen as I take them in, they are my blades, the ones the twins took from me. He passes them cautiously to me with the handles forward. Taking them into my grasp, I feel a calm wave rush over me, as though I have found a part of myself again.

  “You’re going to need to take him. No telling what’s on the other side. Hate to admit it, but he’s a pretty good scrapper.” Fennec says, shooting me a look, a nod follows as he moves back to the command console of the ship.

  “I can handle it alone.” She protests.

  “I’m not doing my part unless he goes. You need a second set of hands, just in case.”

  Where are we going? I don’t understand the interaction, one moment she wants me to go with her and now she doesn’t? There is something they know that I don’t. Frustration rises again.

  “Slagging hells, fine Fennec.” She says, giving me a look now.

  The comms chime. A new voice enters the comm channel.

  “JL987-GH316 this is Talen Merchant Federation Space Command actual for this system, an escort ship will tow you to flagship Thorn’s main hanger bay. Await further directives.” The voice says.

  Fennec swears loudly, slumping into the seat in front of the ship.

  “The Governors warship, fragging hells Lunara, you’ve really fragged this,” Fennec says through gritted teeth, “I didn’t think he’d take a personal interest in this.”

  “What is the meaning of this?” I ask, all this is happening so fast, there is worry on both of their brows.

  Luna comes forward now.

  “Do you trust me?” she asks, staring deep into the abyss of my eyes.

  My teeth grind at the words, if she had asked me a few days ago, the answer would be much easier to find, but now that I know she is a Noble… I don’t know if I can find a way to trust someone that hides so much from me.

  “We don’t have time for that.” Fennec says pointing outside the ship.

  Peering out I see the larger ship is upon us now. A large metal wire begins extending from the back of it. A soldier coming into view, their grey metal suit making them blend into the grey of their ship’s. They push off the back of the craft towards us. A dull thud as they land feet first, their feet held magnetically to the side of the hull. The thick wire drags behind them. The soldier pushes the end of it into some kind of metal housing, the light flickers in our shuttle as they do. Returning through an open doorway on their larger ship once they finish, the metal door sliding closed after them. As soon as the door closes, I feel a small tug as the cord becomes taut, turning our ship until our loading bay door faces theirs.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “JL987-GH316 this is Talum Merchant Federation Space Command actual, release command of the vessel to the escort ship.”

  Fennec presses the comms panel.

  “Cannot comply Command actual, systems are malfunctioning.” Fennec replies.

  “Roger that. Our scanners from the escort ship indicate three lifeforms on board, ready to receive credentials for them.” The voice says.

  Fennec’s jaw clenches before he presses the button “Please – repeat Command – actual, comms seem to be mal – functioning.”

  He turns it off now, looking to Luna.

  “When we punch it, you’ll have less than ninety seconds to get in and get command.”

  “I know.” She says tying a scarf over her face. There is a determined look to her, even with most of her face covered now, I can feel it. She hands me another scarf, giving me a nod.

  Fennec rolls his neck again, opening and closing his uninjured arms hand.

  “Let’s do this.” She says, moving towards the loading bay door.

  She beckons I follow with a wave of her hand, and I reluctantly do. She has not shared her plan with me, I do not even know what is about to happen. It is frustrating to be kept in the dark.

  “Try not to kill them.” She says to me, sincerity written in her eyes, “They are just regular soldiers trying to do their jobs, they don’t all have a choice.”

  My teeth grind again, we go to battle I surmise now. Yet she wishes to dull my blade with sentimental thoughts. They are soldiers, they have chosen this life, chosen to oppress my people. My blade does not have mercy for them. Her words do not fall on deaf ears though, as my heart still listens for the tune her words bring.

  “Kalon, some of them…” she begins.

  “Remember, ninety seconds after the pulse.” Fennec says loudly, interrupting her.

  “Do not let go of me.” She says grasping me tightly with one arm.

  My eyes blink quickly, my heart begins to thump in my chest as I feel her arm squeeze me. Her eyes lock onto mine.

  “Trust me.” She says softly.

  “Game time!” Fennec yells, an emergency door sliding closed behind us, separating the cabin from the loading bay.

  As the loading bay door opens, my eyes widen as a shimmer appears at the entrance, it is an energy shield.

  “Deep breath.” She says, her eyes meet mine for a moment. I do as she says.

  Her eyes turn towards the escort ships bay door. A massive static pulse rips through the air, traveling upon the cable that is attached to our shuttle, the lights on our craft go out. I can see the other ship’s lights have gone out as well. Then it hits me, the feeling of gravity pulling all of us towards the ground, both ships begin to fall simultaneously, the larger one tugging ours to fall faster with it until we are looking at the ground. This is madness. The wind slaps against my face.

  She pushes with her foot against the wall, grabbing me tighter by the waist, pushing off and sending us flying. We move quickly towards the other ship. As we land I try to grasp onto something, anything before we bounce off the hull.

  She slams her hand against the door control panel, grasping the edge of the curl her fist made. I find myself clutching her more firmly now as inertia tries to pull me from her. She motions for me to grab the panel and I do. She pulls from her hip the hilt of the blade of light now, grasping it in her other hand, spilling forth a bright light.

  She carves through the thick metal of the escort ships bay door like it was cloth against a sharpened blade. Dust plumes behind us as air rushes past, pushing us, my grip almost slipping. She pulls me in through the hole now, her strength is ferocious. A counter appears on her holopad’s display.

  23 seconds

  The lights on the craft begin flickering on again, a containment field slides over the breach she made. Gravity begins pulling me downwards to the floor of the escort ship. As the craft fights the pull towards the ground and lurches upwards, I feel the blood throbbing in my eyes as my vision grows dark for a few moments. Then suddenly, the feeling is gone. The gravity actuators must have come online. I follow in her shadow once I find my footing; she seems familiar with the vessels make.

  36 seconds

  We reach another door, she slices it open, then kicks the door into the space beyond. She retracts the blade of light putting it back on her hip. My jaw flexes, she said there are soldiers within, why does she retract her best weapon? She should use the blade of light. All soldiers belonging to those who oppress deserve death’s embrace.

  47 seconds

  My eyes take in the room as the dust from the blade’s cuts begin to be pulled into the air filtration ducts. Twelve soldiers stare back at us, two in suits, two at the helm, one wearing a different uniform, the same symbol the medigel cases bear is emblazed on their shoulder, on the other is the insignia of the Federation – the rest pause as they take us in. Eyes growing wide as I spin the singing blades in my hand. They now frantically try to get into their metal husks. My leg still hurts and my body still aches, but the medigel that Fennec used on my wounds has taken most of the edge off. I can fight, I will fight.

  50 seconds

  My blades glides through the dust as I move in it, letting it cloak my movements. I roll towards a soldier with one foot inside the suit and slice their other foot’s Achilles tendon as I move, they stumble backwards to the ground. Flailing about as they try to stand on their now useless leg. I move to my feet again and I crash into the next, knocking over their armor into another. My irritation rises as my blade turns at the last moment before it is about to find purchase in their throat. Her words have infected me, challenging my resolve. My blade whispers anger as I aim to maim and disable instead of kill. My blade does not betray me though as it slices tendons, scraping bones, careful to avoid the arteries it desires.

  64 seconds

  Luna slams her fist into the side of the second armored soldier, already having dealt with the first. She unleashes a fury of blows that come in quick succession, each strike denting the armor. One of the soldiers from the helm of the ship moves towards a recess in the wall, I realize too late why as they grab plasma rifles and begin throwing them out.

  “Authorize crew!” The soldier yells as he chucks them.

  My eyes follow them through the air, the red light turns yellow on the rifles. Others who have given up trying to suit up catch the weapons.

  “Ownership accepted.” The first to catch one says, placing their bare finger over the yellow light, it flashes green now. Sections of the rifle becoming illuminated as it hums to life. The others follow suit.

  Sekat.

  The armored soldier is sent flying by Luna, smashing into the one who throws weapons. It is pandemonium as the plasma begins to rip through the air, sparks flying everywhere, molten metal falling to the floor. The shots hitting other soldiers who cry out in pain. I move into the remnants of the dust cloud, towards the shots.

  71 seconds

  Luna pushes off the wall towards those with weapons, she smashes into them with a speed that defies logic. Shattering the bones in their arms as they try to block her. She grabs the rifle from one and smacks another across the head, sending them to the ground in a slump. She steps towards the helm, punching another soldier so hard in the face that his jaw unhinges as it breaks and dislocates at the same time. The shield she wears on her waist shimmers as the two who still have weapons focus their fire on her.

  Taking advantage of her distraction I move towards them, kicking the back of one’s knees, his shots firing into the ceiling above, molten metal dripping onto his chest. The other whirls around, I punch them in the throat, then knee them in the groin, to my surprise I hit a guard of some kind. They try to swing the butt of the rifle at me, I spin, slapping them in the side of the head with the hilt of my blade, sending them to the floor.

  83 seconds

  There are two more, desperately trying to get into their suits still. Luna is busy at the helm fiddling with something, there is not much time left, I have been keeping count in my head. I move towards them, one a man and one a woman. There is fear in their eyes, more so than the other soldiers who lie on the ground moaning or unconscious. Their fear irritates me, how can they be the ones to step on my people’s necks? How can they be the ones to dole out the masters will? They try to square up with me now, one pulling a knife, their hand trembles as it holds it weakly. They must be fresh recruits. His and her eyes… illuminate with bioluminescence… they are Kuwathi.

  My blade wants them even more ferociously now, traitors to their own kind. Yet my heart has already heard the serenade of Luna’s words and been tempered mercy into it. When I lunge forward, the man drops the knife covering his head. The young woman steps in front of the young man, with her arms raised. My nerves fray as I see it, flooded with a memory of my childhood. A memory I thought I had buried deep in the recesses of my soul.

  “Surrender.” I say after a small pause. My will to strike them is fading as I try to push the memory back down now. My own hand wants to tremble, I feel it.

  Luna glances back at me, a strange look in her eye. The ships lights flicker. She looks back to the panel swiping something on a holo projection.

  88 seconds

  “Command Key accepted.” A voice says, sounding similar to the system voices.

  “System erase all other command keys, enact quarantine protocol 117.” Luna says, breathing a sigh of relief.

  “Command accepted.”

  The communications panel goes dark then turns back on, less buttons lit up this time. Next the other panels do the same. The soldier with the patch on their shoulder, the one that looks like a medigel symbol stands now from behind a knocked over metal armor, in her arms she carries supplies of some kind. I move towards her as she kneels down, injecting medigel and something else into one of the wounded.

  “Either kill me, or let me work.” She says, not turning to look at me, instead focusing on her patient. There is less fear in her than the others.

  Luna moves between us, stopping me in my path.

  “Sedate them, and you may continue.” She says.

  “Already doing that. Don’t tell me how to do my job… Noble.” The woman sneers. She is older than I first noticed, wrinkles around her eyes, a few shoots of grey in her hair.

  This is the first time I have seen someone besides Fennec treat a master like this. It is strange to see, are there more like her I wonder? Thinking back to what Luna said about them having no choice, questions begin to fill my mind.

  The woman looks up at me now, staring at my eyes. Her jaw slides back and forth as though debating whether to speak.

  “Jula Nau Bipak.” She says finally in the old tongue of my people. Pointing to the soldier on the ground with burns on his chest, blood seeps from him.

  My eyes blink at her for a moment, her pronunciation is not like someone raised by the Kuwathi, but her words meaning make sense. In the old tongue she said roughly – Do not stare when you can help.

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