A mishmash of shuttles and fighters screamed through the Grondon atmosphere, leaving trails of black smoke in their wakes. To the untrained eye, one would have thought that a trash barge had exploded in orbit, vomiting rubbish all over the planet. To the trained eye, the exact same image applied. The Moreon fleet was many things, but pleasant it was not. However, what it lacked in aesthetic appeal, it made up for in firepower.
Back inside the Ferretian outpost, sirens roared over a frenzy of activity. Racks of rifles and munitions emptied as crews prepared for battle. The nuke shuttles had long since departed and the few remaining fighters scrambled to arm their vessels.
The tiny freighter rested on the leftmost of five landing pads. Migg stood outside in the chaos, barking instructions into the open airlock. His tentacle mustache bounced and bobbled as he gestured at the large bay doors. Henry stood just inside the ship, nodding intently at the tiny red goblin. Migg’s face flushed with mounting tension, not that anyone could tell. With a final nod and salute, Henry thumped the wall panel and the airlock door slid closed.
Inside, Lord Essien stood with her back to a vertical pipe and wrists bound behind it. She glared at anyone who dared to wander by. Henry moseyed over and double-checked the restraints. Satisfied, he stepped to her front and gave her a quick visual inspection.
Essien raised her chin and glowered at the brute. “Listen well, you loathsome beast. If you think for one second that you can—”
Henry slapped her across the cheek with zero emotion, leaving her in stunned silence. He bagged her head, honked her nose, and walked away.
Up in the cockpit, Zoey and Perra hurried through the launch prep. The console pinged and chirped under blurred hands. The hum of building power filled the ship.
“All systems online,” Perra said.
“Gravy,” Zoey said.
Henry squeezed his body through the narrow passage, creating the sound of a damp cloth on glass. He popped into the cockpit and settled into the wall seat behind Zoey. As always, his detached expression failed to match the current tone of the predicament. “When that bay door opens, ignite to full thrust and drop into the ravine. Pick a direction and hug the riverbed until we are out of danger.”
Perra snorted, then frowned in shame. “I am so sorry, I shouldn’t make fun. Your voice is sweet and pleasant, like a squeaky lamb.”
Zoey snorted.
Henry eyed them both without moving his head.
“And what about Max and the cat?” Zoey said, turning to the human and feline in the wall seat behind Perra. “Are we really taking these fools to Nifan?”
Henry nodded.
Zoey sighed and glared at Max. “So you twiddled Essien and now you’re tonguing Nifan?”
Max shrugged while wearing a cheeky grin. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Then why are you smiling like a jackass?”
“I’m just so damn happy to be here right now.”
Ross snored in her lap.
Zoey tossed Perra a wary glance, then grabbed the yoke and focused on the bay door through the viewport.
Perra folded her hands and gazed out a side window.
A fighter ship hovered atop pillars of blue flame before coming to a rest upon the adjacent platform. Landing claws pressed the surface as thrusters reduced to an idle hue. The ship resembled a jagged tuning fork, its smoky gray exterior more grimy than polished. A pair of plasma cannons poked through the nose tips, leading back to a round and opaque cockpit. Two more fighters floated to a rest on the far right pads, leaving the center platform empty. They all faced the bay doors, primed for assault. With the vessels in place, the hangar crew scurried behind makeshift barriers. One final ship hovered up from a maintenance shaft and settled upon the central pad.
The sight stole a breath from Perra’s lungs.
* * *
A dozen Moreon ships hovered inside the ravine with cannons and missiles locked onto the bay doors. The blocky troop resembled a chorus line of shipping containers armed with heavy artillery. They formed a wide arch around the hangar, cutting off any possible escape. The center ship was by far the most attractive of the bunch. As little more than a stumpy triangle with mismatched paneling, it at least made sense from a symmetrical perspective. Behind the scratched viewport, Trevor and Jai filled a pair of tattered pilot seats. Trevor studied the outpost with an erect posture, trying his best not to look like a frightened child. Jai remained a robust presence, despite the puffy eyes and drool stains.
Trevor tapped the console, requesting a comlink with the rebel base. Moments later, the hologram bust of Migg pieced itself together. A tense silence infected the cockpit as Trevor brain-fumbled through negotiation protocols. Large yellow eyes stared back at him. Migg and his wriggling mustache remained poised and silent. Trevor stammered a bit before finding a reasonable collection of words.
“Rebel General of the Ferretian Force,” he said.
“Blarga garp,” Migg said.
Trevor opened his mouth to respond, then turned to his co-pilot.
Jai stared straight ahead and grunted as a bead of drool abandoned his lip.
“Um ...” Trevor glanced between the two, then stiffened his chin and focused on Migg. “You have our leader captive and we would like her back. You are to release Lord Essien or the mighty Moreons will ... will rain a righteous waterfall of rampage and dismay and nasty smoke destruction chaos with explosive sorrow upon thy fort.”
Jai closed his eyes and shook his head.
“Blarga koo morp.” Migg nodded and the transmission blinked away.
A restive silence filled the cockpit.
“What happened?” Trevor said. “Did we win?”
Jai responded with a sleepy-eyed groan.
The center bay door unlocked and started to open.
Trevor turned to Jai and donned a cheeky grin, basking in his newfound status as a shrewd negotiator. He exhaled a victory sigh and returned a cocky gaze to the door, only to stare into the face of a battle-ready Ripper. The nightmarish glare of its tentacle arsenal bathed the platform in a bloody sheen. The arms expanded into a burning flower of death. Inside the cockpit, Migg gripped the yoke with his tiny red hands. A sinister grin crept across his face as he jammed his thumbs into the cannon triggers.
Jai shrieked like a terror-struck toddler and snatched the yoke from Trevor’s hands. He yanked it off to the side and the ship barreled away as a hail of plasma streaks slammed into the ravine wall behind them.
Migg thrust the Ripper out of the hangar and proceeded to shred his way through the Moreon ships. Three of them exploded before he even cleared the platform. Flashes and thunder filled the ravine as the Ripper unleashed its deadly torrent. The Moreon ships scattered to engage, prompting the other doors to rise and release the rebel fighters. Trevor and Jai watched from the ravine floor as the Ripper and its winged assassins decimated their precious fleet. A fresh lot of Moreon fighters sliced through the atmo-barrier on their way to assist. Migg and his posse raced towards them as the fiery guts of the first squad showered into the ravine.
* * *
The final bay door opened.
Zoey swiped the thrusters to full power and flamed the freighter out of the hangar. It dipped over the platform edge and dove into the ravine. After a sharp descent, the vessel slowed to a hover above the riverbed, sending ripples to the shores. Zoey ignited the main engines and kicked the vessel forward, lifting an arch of water in her wake.
* * *
Trevor, fresh off a panic attack, pointed at the freighter racing into the distance. “There they are! Let’s get ‘em!”
Jai lifted an eyebrow and opened his palm, drunk-speak for you’re in the pilot seat, dumbass.
“Ah, yes.” Trevor gripped the yoke, flamed the engines, and thrust forward in pursuit. The clunky ship followed the freighter’s wake, lifting a water arch of its own.
* * *
Zoey steered the ship around craggy corners and sailed over rumbling rapids. The full burn of the twin rear engines reflected off the white walls of the ravine, creating a bright red halo that raced alongside. With the outpost long behind them, she slowed the vessel to a reasonable pace. A hailing ping echoed overhead. Perra tapped the console, lifting the hologram bust of Nifan.
“Hello, ladies,” Nifan said.
“Nifan,” Zoey said with an insolent tone, as if to greet a telemarketer.
Nifan grinned, then eyed Henry. “Package secure?”
Henry nodded.
“Yeah, about that package,” Zoey said. “You do know that having her on this ship makes us the biggest target in the Terramesh, right?”
Nifan shrugged. “Then don’t tell anyone.”
“She already informed the entire Moreon fleet.”
“And how did she do that?”
“She snatched a plasma pistol from your other package and held us up.”
Max leaned into view and waved. “Hi!”
Nifan winked at Max, then turned back to Zoey. “Well, it seems that you have the situation under control.”
“Yeah, thanks to a feline ex machina.”
“Wha—what?”
“Doesn’t matter. What does matter is that you’re using a standard comlink, which means you’re in range.”
“Correct. My ship is currently in orbit above Kurm. Exit the mesh there and await further instruction.”
“And what if—”
Nifan killed the transmission, leaving Zoey to huff and swallow the reply.
Perra tapped the console, creating a hologram rendition of the Terramesh. “Kurm.” An outer planet blinked and the rest faded away. The nav system drew a red line from the current location to the target. “Well, at least it’s nearby. We can exit along the—”
A plasma streak zipped by the viewport and slammed into the riverbed, rumbling the hull and spraying the ship with icy water. Max screamed like a skittish schoolgirl. The jostle yanked Ross from his catnap, but he grumbled some curses and fell back asleep. Zoey and Perra flinched twice, once for the blast, and once for the resulting scream. Henry maintained his too cool to care about death demeanor. Lord Essien yelped from the back and started shout-cursing in a very unsavory language.
“Hold onto something!” Zoey thumped the console.
The main engines exploded with thrust, hurling the tiny freighter down the ravine.
* * *
Trevor and Jai tracked the ship from above, stalking the upper ledge. With the chase on, they plunged to the riverbed and surged forward with a burst of flame.
“We had them target locked,” Trevor said. “How in the wide world of heck did you miss that shot?”
Jai cradled the co-pilot yoke with both arms, using it for balance. His head bobbled like a tilt-a-whirl victim getting ready to vomit. “Essien inside,” he said, opting for the lean grammar of a throbbing hangover. “Warning shot. Hit when needed.”
“That makes no sense.”
Jai sighed. “Battle strat. Need support. Omen danger. No dogfight. Force mistake. Moron.”
“Moreon.”
“No misspeak.”
* * *
Zoey sailed under cliffs and hugged outcrops, hoping to lose the pursuers. Trevor managed to keep up, albeit clumsy and ungraceful. He banged and scraped the hull with every sharp turn, raining sparks and the occasional panel into the ravine. Trevor cringed with every impact, like a rookie racer misjudging the track. Jai focused on a patch of rocky nodes ahead of the freighter. He fired into them, showering the path with jagged boulders. Zoey avoided them all, dipping and diving like a dodgeball pro.
“They’re missing us on purpose,” Perra said.
“As if I would let them hit us,” Zoey said.
“Not what I meant. Watch the impact angles. All the hits are intentional and peripheral.”
Zoey dropped the throttle and steered the vessel around a tight corner, pressing everyone into their seats. “Little busy at the moment.”
“They’re not going to risk killing Essien, which gives us the upper hand.” Perra tapped the console, creating a grid of beacon activity in the immediate vicinity. A blue dot raced through the ravine outline, denoting their current position. A single red dot followed close behind. “See, just one ship. You could easily take them.”
“Not an option. Can’t risk the package on a dogfight.”
“We’re already in a dogfight. Can we not—”
“Rambo 2!” Max said.
Everyone, including Henry, turned to the human.
Max clapped like an excitable fangirl. “Let’s do a Rambo 2! Any of you see that flick?”
Zoey scrunched her brow. “What in Tim’s name are you blathering about?”
Another plasma streak zipped by and slammed into an outcrop, severing a giant sheet of rock. The monolith hit the ravine floor and started falling across the river. Zoey barrel-rolled to the opposite side, narrowly evading the crash and churning every stomach in the ship. Lord Essien resumed her cursing from the cargo bay.
Perra turned to Max. “Explain.”
“Okay, it’s really simple, but in a really hard and tricky kind of way.”
“That’s not as reassuring as you think it is.”
“First, we need to widen the gap, get as much distance as we can between us and them. Find a large open area inside the ravine system. Henry, grab your comdev. This is going to take some coordination.”
Henry offered a scant smirk and reached into his breast pocket. Zoey rounded a bend and swiped the engines to full throttle. The freighter surged forward, flashing through the canyon and escaping the target range.
* * *
“Darn it all to heck and back,” Trevor said. He thumped the console with the ferocity of a pouty infant, then frowned and folded his hands. “Pardon my violent outburst. It was distasteful and I apologize.”
Jai chose not to respond, opting to brain-sigh instead.
“Computer, re-acquire target lock.”
“Unable,” the computer said, using the monotone voice of an 80’s era robot.
“Why not?”
“Range.”
“Huh? What about range?”
“Out.”
“What about missile lock?”
“Unable.”
“Why not?”
“Terrain.”
Trevor huffed. “Okay, what else we got?”
“Stuff.”
“What kind of stuff?”
“Snacks.”
“Thank you, but I had a large lunch.”
“Drinks.”
“Um, hardly the time to tie one on. And besides, I am a Moreon. My faith forbids me from imbibing substances that alter my awareness. I need to remain crisp and clear-headed for divine worship.”
The computer paused before responding. “Cool.”
Trevor turned to Jai. “I can’t tell, was that sarcastic?”
Jai responded with a flaccid expression that sucked any and all regard from his associate. He inhaled a deep breath, slapped himself across the cheek several times, then expelled a grumbling moan. He climbed to his feet, shuffled over to Trevor, and loomed over him like a hungry yeti.
Trevor recoiled. “Um, what are you—”
Jai snatched him by the shoulders and tossed him into the other seat, having expended his daily allotment of fucks to give. Trevor yelped on impact and started to fuss, but the brute vaporized any retort with a bloodshot death stare. Jai plopped into the pilot chair, grabbed the yoke, and shook his noggin to clear some brain space.
“Computer, run a beacon scan for all vessels inside a 20 mark radius. Isolate M-class freighters and highlight vitals on the navigation grid.”
“Affirmative.”
A hologram grid of the ravine system spread across the viewport. The system zoomed out to an aerial view of the requested radius with the current area highlighted. Several icons appeared, along with panels of class and distance info. One of them morphed into a red X, denoting the freighter’s position inside an outlying basin.
Jai slogged his gaze over to Trevor.
“You’re so good at this,” Trevor said, adding the peppy grin of a camp counselor.
Jai shook his head like a disillusioned parent. He blazed the engines and yanked the yoke off to the side. The ship cut hard into a narrow channel, pressing them to the seats. The navigation grid guided them through a rocky maze of twists and turns. Trevor squirmed at the aggressive flying, adding the occasional yelp as the ship carved around tight corners.
With a final turn and burn, the ship sailed by the upper ridge of a broad basin. The river spread into a shallow lake before flowing into the next canyon in the distance. Dense shrubs and round boulders lined the shore, all dusted with snow. Towering cliffs encircled the valley, creating a grand bowl inside the white landscape. Near the center, the tiny freighter rested atop a rocky reef, facing the oncoming ship. The engines emitted thin lines of smoke, as if overheated or disabled.
Jai slowed the vessel to a cautious hover above the lake, putting them a stone’s throw away. Hull thrusters pushed waves to the shores as clouds of steam swirled around the ship. Jai studied the peculiar sight through narrowed eyes, unable to make sense of the situation. Panel data showed no armed weapons or target locks. He tried to establish coms, but the freighter failed to respond. A heavy sigh escaped his lungs as he crossed his arms and grunted with confusion.
“Maybe Lord Essien retook the ship,” Trevor said.
“Against The Omen and a Boobybork?”
Trevor snorted, then immediately deflated. “Forgive me. My faith forbids me from public displays of amusement.”
Jai huffed. “You are bondage incarnate.”
“We prefer the term enlightened.”
“Hmph. One day you will have to explain to me how regression equals wisdom.”
A dull hum hooked both of their attentions. Jai glanced around the cockpit as Trevor gazed out the viewport. The hum grew louder and louder, but the freighter out in front remained still and unresponsive.
Trevor scratched one of his chin lumps. “Where is that coming fr—”
Jai raised a hand, motioning for silence. He studied the ceiling with mouth agape. “I know that sound.”
The hum morphed into a damp roar.
Jai ruffled his brow, but then his eyes popped open with a horrifying realization. “Fuck!”
SLUNK! The ear-splitting sound of a giant sword swipe jostled the hull. The vessel whined for a moment, then split in two and splashed into the lake, tossing Jai and Trevor to the floor. The nose and tail sections thumped the lakebed a few meters down, flooding the interior with icy water.
Jai grabbed Trevor and scrambled out of the cockpit as Migg and his Ripper circled around for another attack. He sloshed into a swamped cargo hold, now cleaved down the center with surgical precision. Jai and Trevor dove into the churning water and swam for their lives. As they neared the shore, Migg rained hellfire onto the wrecked vessel, which exploded into a ball of flame.
* * *
Zoey and Perra wore stunned expressions as columns of black smoke raised from the flaming wreckage.
Max pumped her fists and cheered. “Yeah! Take that you dirty Russian!”
Henry glanced at Max and raised a fist.
Max bumped it, adding a finger explosion.
Henry lowered his unexploded fist.
Perra nodded slowly. “That was ... oddly effective. Why have we never heard of the Rambo maneuver?”
“Covert ops, I imagine.” Zoey turned to Max. “Did the Veiled Traders teach you that?”
“No. Cinemax.”
Zoey nodded, then established a comlink to Migg.
The hologram bust of a red goblin pieced together above the console. “Blarga boom boom.”
Henry nodded his thanks.
“Blarga nym bogin,” Migg said, then offered a Ferretian salute and killed the feed.
The Ripper retracted its arsenal and soared into the sky upon a pillar of red flame. Henry nudged Zoey and pointed to the departing ship, instructing her to follow. She nodded and ignited the thrusters. The freighter lifted from a rocky patch and hovered above the lake, curling clouds of steam around the frame. The main engines blazed to life and the freighter surged skyward.
* * *
Jai and Trevor crawled out of the icy water and onto an equally icy shoreline. A hard shiver set in as they climbed to their feet and glanced around the snowy basin. Biting winds needled their skins through sodden clothes. A flaming pile of wreckage poked through the lake, creating a tiny island of sadness and regret. Trevor held out his open palms, as if to siphon heat from the distant flames.
“Well, I guess we could huddle together for warmth or something,” Trevor said through chattering teeth. “Unless, of course, you have a better idea.”
Jai paused for thought, then unsheathed a large dagger and turned to Trevor.