‘I find this interminable waiting…distasteful,’ murmured Secretary Rontane from where he stood, staring out into space through the viewport of Servalan’s office.
Seated at her desk, Servalan formulated a suitable reply, which she thought better of. She breathed in and out evenly, trying to dispel the discomfort that Rontane’s continued presence in her office was causing her.
‘As I have said, Secretary, I will inform you the very second that I have further word from Travis. I have every confidence that it will be imminent.’
‘Do you?’ snapped Rontane, the pitch of his voice rising sharply.
Servalan turned gracefully in her chair and met the Secretary’s watery gaze. ‘Yes,’ she said firmly. ‘I do.’
‘I admire your faith, Supreme Commander. But as Travis’s fleet has strayed into a potentially sensitive sector of space that could have serious ramifications—’
‘Space Commander Travis has the full backing of this office.’
‘As you keep saying.’
Servalan smiled. ‘I appear to be in a position where I need to make myself heard. The President…’
She broke off as the comm-unit on her desk chimed. ‘Supreme Commander,’ crackled her aide, ‘priority transmission coming through from the fleet.’
‘There,’ she said to Rontane, a triumphant note in her voice as she turned to press a button on the desk. ‘Put it through.’
‘Priority One transmission, repeat Priority One transmission. This is Sub-Commander Dean Signa. Fleet standing off from unknown spacial body in sector 14-2. Liberator sighted emerging from nebula, running at speed. Whereabouts of Space Commander Travis unknown. Request orders.’
Rontane moved back into the centre of the office, facing Servalan with his arms arranged behind his back. ‘I hope you have a very good explanation for this.’
Servalan ignored him, rising to her feet to lean over her desk as she spoke into the comm-unit. ‘Priority transmission to Sub Commander Signa,’ she said, a note of steel entering her voice. ‘Engage them, you fools, engage them!’
*
‘She’s coming round.’
Cally’s eyes fluttered as the world swam back into existence. At first she didn’t know where she was. The lights that shone down at her were like hot needles into her eyes.
‘I’m just finishing. The wound is closing.’
Jenna? What were they talking about? Who had been injured? Images flooded in from the edge of her mind. The flight deck. The flash of a revolver. A searing pain ripping through her. Someone shouting her name.
She sat up on the bed as the realisation hit. Lant. He’d shot her. She’d been shot. She’d been…
‘Easy, Cally.’
A hand on her shoulder. Another on her arm. She turned and looked into concerned brown eyes. Vila’s eyes.
‘We’ve only just patched you up. You don’t want to undo all our good work, do you?’
Cally’s hands ran over her stomach, over the patch of plastic that covered her torso.
‘Hold on,’ said Jenna, putting down the tissue regenerator that she had just used on Cally and picking up a sonic manipulator. The small box hummed as she ran it over Cally’s abdomen. The bandage immediately loosened, peeling away to reveal smooth, pink skin beneath. ‘You’re lucky. No scar.’
Cally glanced down at the bloody tools on the side table. ‘Jenna, did you…’
Jenna raised the sonic manipulator slightly. ‘None of the equipment was working. We had to go old-school.’
‘But the lights, the manipulator—we’re out of the nebula?’
‘So it would seem,’ Vila said, sheepishly handing Cally a surgical gown to replace the tunic they’d cut away to get to the wound. ‘God knows where we’re heading.’
Cally slipped an arm into the white shirt, looking around the surgical bay. ‘Where’s Avon?’
‘Cosying up to Lant on the flight deck,’ Vila said, crossing his arms petulantly across his chest and plonking himself on a stool. ‘His new best friend.’
‘His what?’
‘He’s gone over to Lant’s side,’ Jenna explained, tidying the devices away, desperate for anything to do rather than sit down and have the same argument she’d been having with Vila for the last hour. ‘He’s betrayed us.’
‘Oh, come on,’ Vila threw his hands in the air. ‘I’m not Avon’s biggest fan, but betrayed is a bit strong. If it wasn’t for Avon, Cally would still be bleeding all over the flight-deck floor.’
‘You’re honestly asking us to believe he did it for our benefit? This is Avon we’re talking about. He’ll back whoever’s winning and you know it.’
‘And what’s wrong with that?’ Vila asked. ‘Don’t you get it, Jenna? Blake’s gone.’
‘So you’re ready to throw in your lot with the likes of Lant?’
‘At the moment, if it keeps me alive and preferably not under armed guard, yes.’
‘And why exactly are we under armed guard?’ The voice came from behind, stopping the argument dead. Cally twisted on the bed, feeling the slightest of pulls where the bullet had been removed.
‘Oh,’ said Vila, trying his hardest to hide the grin that had erupted over his face at the sound of his friend’s voice, ‘you’ve decided to join the land of the living again.’
Gan rubbed his forehead with his hands as he swung his legs over the side of his own bed.
‘Well, by the look of things you haven’t been doing very well without me. Where’s Blake?’
*
‘INFORMATION: PURSUIT SHIPS APPROACHING ON INTERCEPT VECTOR.’
They took their time, Avon thought, looking up from his controls. ‘Distance, Zen?’
‘6,000 SPACIALS AND CLOSING.’
‘How many?’ Lant snapped from the command position.
‘THREE. STANDARD FORMATION.’
‘You don’t stand a chance,’ Travis sneered. ‘I trained every one of those men myself. If you surrender now, you may still get away from here with your lives.’
‘Surrender?’ Halla yelled, incensed by the very suggestion. ‘We never surrender!’
Lant raised a hand to quieten his lieutenant. ‘The prospect of engaging crack Federation forces so soon was daunting…’
‘Boss?’
‘…until Travis informed me that he trained them.’
The smile on Travis’s face dropped.
‘Zen, keep me informed of their position. We’ll be ready for them. Or, should I say, Space Commander Travis will be ready for them.’
*
‘Vila, you can’t do this.’
The thief was already halfway across the surgical bay.
‘I don’t know, Gan,’ Jenna commented, her arms crossed. ‘I’m just surprised it’s taken him this long.’
Cally stepped between Vila and the bay door.
‘Think about what you’re doing, Vila,’ she pleaded, dark eyes searching his face. ‘Think about what Blake would do.’
‘That’s the thing, Cally,’ Vila said quietly. ‘I’m not Blake. Now, please can you let me pass?’
‘Let him go,’ Jenna said, turning her back and making a show of running a medical scanner over Gan’s head. ‘We’re wasting our breath.’
‘You could come with me?’
Cally didn’t reply. She didn’t have to. She just stepped out of Vila’s way and walked quietly to join the others.
Vila paused, summoning up the courage to knock on the door. The fact that he could almost feel Gan’s eyes burning a hole into the back of his head didn’t help. He took a deep breath, stepped forward and rapped loudly on the door.
‘Hello? Anybody out there? I need to talk to you.’
There was a moment’s silence before Vila tried again. This time, he heard the door unlock. It swung open to reveal Vyse, gun at the ready.
‘Hello, comrade,’ Vila said brightly, raising an open palm in greeting. ‘Take me to our leader.’
*
‘So, what’s the plan? Raid the nearest outpost? A spot of plundering? Maybe a few explosions. We’re very good at explosions.’
Blake tensed, coming to a halt.
‘That’s Vila,’ he whispered.
‘Of course, you’re bound to need some doors opened. That’s where I come in. There’s not a door in the galaxy I can’t open.’
Who was he talking to? Blake felt his heart sink as he gestured for Alexa to step back into a doorway and closed the door behind them, leaving just a crack.
Sure enough, there was Vila, walking hurriedly behind a thunderous-looking Vyse.
‘Not that I’m a one trick pony, of course, no matter what Avon says. Which he does. A lot. But you know Avon. Probably jealous.’
Vyse still didn’t respond. He just kept on, Vila at his heels.
‘So anyway, tell me what’s the new boss like?’
Blake’s gut turned to ice. Lant. The new boss. He watched the two of them disappear down the corridor, Vila babbling all the way. Blake leant against the wall, the world suddenly heavier on his shoulders.
‘This is what happens, Blake,’ Alexa said, as if reading his thoughts. ‘Lant takes over. Turns friend against friend.’ Her eyes shifted, losing focus for a moment. ‘Gets under your skin.’
Blake wanted to argue. He wanted to say it was a ploy. Vila was play-acting, pretending that he was joining Lant’s crew. There had to be a plan.
Why then did his gut instinct tell him otherwise?
*
Nash Rinney wasn’t happy. Is this what she had waited 20 years for? Left playing bodyguard while the real action was on the flight deck. Leylana would never let her hear the last of this. Bitch. She was always there, always near Lant, always getting the gun when Rinney was left with a bloody catapult.
What the hell did it matter? Rinney had plans. As soon as they made their first planet fall, she’d be out of here. Call in some old favours. Disappear.
Perhaps playing guard wasn’t so bad after all. Out of the way. Out of danger. Just keep your head down and get out at the first opportunity.
Something crashed against the door of the surgical bay. Something loud. Something heavy. Damn! What were they doing in there? There was more noise, furniture being turned upside down, shouting, a scream.
It sounded like they were ripping chunks out of each other. So much for keeping her head down. They could tear each other to bits for all she cared, but Halla would go crazy. ‘Lant wants them alive, Rinney. They’re too valuable, Rinney. Why have you screwed up again Rinney?’
Sucking on her teeth, Rinney reached over and slammed the punch card into its slot, opening the lock. Taking a deep breath, she yanked open the door to reveal the chaos within the surgical bay. The brunette was still on the gurney, completely out of it. The other one, the haughty blonde, was on the floor. The massive bloke who had been unconscious, wasn’t on a bed any more. He was throttling the life out of Blondie, eyes burning with madness.
Blondie noticed Rinney and threw out a hand towards her, bulging eyes pleading, begging.
Damn, damn, damn!
Rinney fumbled for a bolt from her satchel, tried to slip it into her slingshot. It clattered to the floor even as Blondie’s hands clawed desperately at the giant’s wrists. Rinney grabbed another bolt, managed to get it in the slingshot’s cradle. The rubber strips creaked as she pulled them back, aiming straight at the giant’s head.
‘Back away,’ she commanded, taking a few hesitant steps forward. The crazed man didn’t respond. Blondie’s arms had flopped down now, the tip of her tongue lolling over her lips. ‘I said drop her!’
The man’s head snapped up, wide eyes focusing on Rinney. He finally let go of Blondie’s neck, the woman gasping for air at his feet, and roared—literally roared—at Rinney.
‘Step back,’ Rinney warned, stepping even closer, ‘or I will fire. And at this range it won’t be pretty.’
The big man didn’t seem to care. He just grinned and Rinney noticed those wild eyes flick to her left, his gaze shifting behind her. What was he…
She heard the rustle of a surgical tunic, felt the cold nozzle of an injector against her neck and heard the hiss of air.
Then the world turned warm, fuzzy and very, very dark.
*
‘PURSUIT SHIPS IN RANGE. STANDARD ATTACK FORMATION.’
‘Zen, are the neutron blasters operational?’ Avon asked, his eyes never leaving the tactical display on the viewscreen. The pursuit ships were coming straight at them. Why hadn’t Lant ordered evasive manoeuveres?
‘NEUTRON BLASTERS ARE AT FULL CAPACITY.’
‘Then clear them for firing.’
Avon began to walk down to the weapons console, before Lant stopped him.
‘Stay by your station, Avon.’
‘But the weapons…’
‘The blasters aren’t required.’
‘We need to do something. They’re right on us.’
‘Don’t worry. They won’t fire on us. Not while we have our secret weapon.’
‘Which is?’
Lant turned to the bound Travis.
‘Sitting right beside me.’
*
‘You were very convincing,’ Jenna said, rubbing her sore neck. ‘A little too convincing for my liking.’
‘Sorry,’ Gan apologised, keeping pace with her down the corridor, ‘I just threw myself into the role. Where now?’
‘We need weapons,’ Cally said from the front, Rinney’s slingshot in her hand. The guard had been left happily dreaming on the floor of the locked surgical bay. ‘One catapult isn’t going to help us take the flight deck.’
‘Where our own weapons actually are,’ Jenna pointed out. ‘I doubt we can rely on Avon or Vila to just hand them over.’
‘We don’t need them to. Lant’s men brought over a supply of their own guns. They’re not exactly energy weapons…’
‘But they’re better than nothing.’
‘Exactly.’
The corridor suddenly sloped away from them. Gan slammed against the wall, struggling to stay on his feet.
‘That wasn’t a course change. We were hit.’
The deck shifted again, the rumble of a distant explosion shuddering through the hull.
‘It’s an attack,’ Jenna said, steadying herself.
‘Pursuit ships?’
‘They must have been waiting for us.’
Another impact. Another distant explosion.
‘Let’s keep going,’ Cally shouted over the noise, ‘The sooner we get armed, they sooner we can take the—’
The scream lanced through Cally’s mind. The slingshot clattered to the floor as she grabbed her head in her hands and fell to her knees. Waves of panic washed over her, confusion, terror. She saw a room, furniture being thrown through the air as the floor tipped beneath her, felt her arms hugging her knees, tears on her cheeks, sobs wracking her chest.
No, not her chest.
Gan’s gentle hands were on her arms, pulling her back to her feet, silent words forming on his lips. All she could hear was the sound of a boy crying.
‘Mikel,’ she managed to say, as the vision faded. She looked at the others. ‘He’s alone and scared. I must find him.’