PLANET NABERIUS, NORTHERN FOREST REGION
The crunch of leaves underfoot. The faint rustling of wind between the trees. The caws of an Aginis perched in the canopy high above. The mating call of an Oodan somewhere off in the distance.
But beyond that, nothing. Those were the only sounds to be heard. The first ten minutes passed in relative silence as Akasha and Cal Sitrius hiked through the Naberian forest. Their destination was the ruins site, about a thirty-minute walk north-northeast of their current position.
After arriving in orbit, they had scanned the planet for Cristophe Sanos’ private shuttle—and located it, as expected, in the vicinity of the former ARKS research camp. It seemed Lieutenant Arkon had been right after all. There
was a connection between General Rae’s kidnapping and their recent mission to Naberius. Though, what exactly that connection was, Akasha couldn’t say.
In any case, they decided to put their shuttle down about three kilometers from the research camp. It was safer that way. Quieter. They would approach by foot and—if they were lucky—catch the kidnappers unaware. Of course, if Sanos had his ship set to scan for incoming craft, their whole plan would be moot.
In which case they were probably walking into a trap.
Best not to worry about that too much, Akasha decided. She rubbed her exposed arms for warmth. It was chilly that far north and her combat uniform had no sleeves. Maybe one of these times, Akasha thought with a grimace, she would remember to bring a jacket.
“You okay?” asked Sitrius. “You’ve been quiet since we got here.”
Akasha sighed, then shrugged. “I’m fine. It’s just… Ivan didn’t answer my comm earlier.”
“I’m sure it’s nothing. He and Athena were probably busy talking to Dr. Gotoh, that’s all. They’re not in any danger… unlike us.”
“That pink-haired brat is plenty dangerous,” Akasha muttered under her breath. She still didn’t like the idea of Ivan and Athena being alone together. The thought of it was enough to make her stomach turn.
“Relax. That’s an order. I need your head in the game here. Things could get ugly fast, so we need to be prepared. I have a feeling this trip’s going to be even more dangerous than our last one here.”
“Don’t worry about me,” she replied. “I was born ready.”
* * * * * * * * *
As they trudged through the subdued forest, Akasha made up her mind. There was a question she wanted to ask, and no better opportunity to ask it. Stepping over a rotting log, she said, “Speaking of our last time here, let me ask you something.”
“What?”
“You didn’t call me out in your mission report. I brought Rho along without permission, then I left the group against your order. But General Rae didn’t know anything about it, which—I’m assuming—means you didn’t put it in your report. The only thing I can’t figure out is why.”
Sitrius didn’t answer right away. Maybe he was thinking it over, or maybe he just liked keeping her in suspense. “You’re not… what I expected,” he said at last.
Now she was really curious. “And what, exactly, were you expecting?”
“I… No, never mind. Forget I said anything.”
“Aw c’mon, you can’t tease me like that and then not tell me!”
“Watch me.” Sitrius mimed zipping his lips shut. He raised his eyebrows and pointed at his mouth as if to say,
See?
“What’s the big secret? It’s a simple question. No reason you can’t tell me, unless…” Akasha gasped, then grinned playfully. “Wait, I’ve got it. You’ve fallen for me, haven’t you? You’re totally into me now and couldn’t bear the thought of getting me in trouble.”
“That’s not it,” he snapped.
“Oh really? Then how come you’re blushing?”
“I am
not blushing. And that is
not the reason!”
“I don’t know, that denial doesn’t sound very convincing. I think you liiiiike me. I think you looooove me.”
“…You’re teasing me again, aren’t you?”
“Maaaaaybe.”
The blue-haired Newman grumbled something and picked up his pace.
“Yo!” she called, hustling to catch up. “You should really learn to take a joke, Lieutenant Serious!”
He put a hand in front of Akasha’s face to silence her. Which, naturally, only made her mad. “Hey! Just because you want to dodge the question doesn’t mean you can—”
“
Sshhhh.” Sitrius directed her attention past him, towards the horizon. That was when she finally noticed. They had reached the edge of the forest. Beyond the tree line, the ARKS research camp was visible in the distance. At their current range she couldn’t make out many details. It just looked like a cluster of squat gray buildings. But parked in their midst, like some sort of hibernating mechanical beast…
…was Sanos’ personal shuttle.
“Let’s go,” whispered Sitrius. Akasha nodded and followed close behind him.
One way or another, she thought,
it’s time to end this.
* * * * * * * * *
COLONY SHIP 02, UR: MARCKELL INSTITUTE
The front door of the Andrelles Building burst open and a pair of ragged figures stumbled out. They were coughing and squinting through watery eyes. The man was shuffling along with a slight limp. He had his arm around the girl’s shoulder for support. She had an arm around his waist. They looked like they’d come straight from a battlefield, which wasn’t far from the truth.
“C’mon, just a little farther,” urged Athena. “Don’t you dare collapse on me yet.”
Ivan grinned through the pain. “But this sidewalk looks so comfy,” he joked—or tried to, but it came out as more of a choking wheeze. His face, arms, and legs were covered in an ugly patchwork of cuts and burns. The Punish Jacket he loved so much was hanging off him in tatters.
Together, the two of them hobbled down the walkway until they reached the nearest bench. Ivan dropped onto the seat with a grunt, which he immediately followed with a relieved sigh. Athena sat down a bit more gracefully next to him. They both craned their necks and looked up. High above them, a coarse plume of black smoke billowed out of a broken window on the eighth floor. The fire inside was still raging unopposed.
“So much for Dr. Gotoh’s lab,” remarked Ivan.
“So much for Dr. Gotoh,” Athena added.
Ivan looked at her, an unspoken question in his expression.
“I’ll… tell you later,” she said quietly, averting her eyes.
He didn’t press the issue. Instead he leaned back in his seat and stared up at the artificial sky. And wondered, wearily, how things had gone so wrong.
Gotoh was dead. His lab was destroyed, along with any clues it might have contained. Ivan and Athena had escaped with their lives, but only that. They hadn’t gained any knowledge into General Rae’s kidnapping, nor had they captured the mysterious masked assailant. It was hard not to feel like they had failed.
They were still sitting on the bench when the emergency response team arrived to put out the fire. Three minutes after that they were being transported to the nearest hospital for medical treatment. The last they saw of the Andrelles Building, the firefighters were still struggling to contain the blaze.
* * * * * * * * *
PLANET NABERIUS
It was right there in front of her. The invisible line that marked the edge of the forest. It was the kind of thing that only existed on a map, a way of distinguishing between two types of terrain. On such a map, one side of the line would be labeled “Northern Forest.” The other, “Northern Plains.”
Of course, the reality of the situation was a bit more complex. Because in reality there was no conveniently-marked line, no black-and-white division to rely on. That was all imaginary. In actual fact, the forest had been thinning for the past kilometer or so. And that boundary, so clear on a map, became more of a judgment call when you were standing right on top of it.
In Akasha’s case, she defined it as the point when there wasn’t enough tree cover to approach undetected. The only trees ahead of her were a few scrawny outliers, too small and widely-spaced to effectively hide behind. From here on out she and Sitrius would have to be cautious. General Rae’s kidnappers could be anywhere, most likely armed and dangerous.
Akasha peered around the tree trunk she was currently using for cover. Forty meters away was the nearest edge of the ARKS research camp. It consisted of a dozen single-story structures arranged in a crescent formation. The entire place looked dark and abandoned—which it was, or should have been, ever since the research team got wiped out by Darkers.
The only sign of recent activity was the Delta Class shuttle parked smack-dab in the center of camp. It belonged to Cristophe Sanos, one of General Rae’s kidnappers.
Alleged kidnappers, Akasha had to remind herself. They still didn’t have any concrete proof, but the evidence they had was fairly damning. And the fact that he’d come here, of all places, seemed too much of a coincidence to dismiss.
Sitrius waved to get Akasha’s attention. He was pressed against the back of a nearby tree, five paces to the left and two paces ahead of her. Akasha raised her eyebrows in response, to which he replied with several hand signs. First he pointed to Akasha, then to himself, then to the camp. After that he held up three fingers. Roughly translated:
We’re advancing on the count of three.
Akasha nodded back. She drew her twin daggers, he drew his twin machineguns. Sitrius held up one finger, then two, then three. Weapons in hand, they crept as quickly and quietly as they could towards the camp. It was mid-afternoon so they didn’t have the luxury of using darkness for cover. They were totally exposed—assuming anyone out there was watching. Akasha gritted her teeth. Nothing they could do about that, she supposed, except to remain alert.
But no one attacked them. No alarm sounded and no trap was sprung. In fact, there was no reaction at all. The area remained just as tranquil as it had been all along.
The two ARKS ducked behind the nearest pre-fab structure. It was a boxy little building about the size of a cabin or small house. Warily, Sitrius poked his head around the corner. There was still no sign of anyone nearby. They waited a full minute just to be sure, then Sitrius motioned for Akasha to follow him. Together they checked the inside of the buildings one by one.
They were all empty. The only thing left to check… was the shuttle itself. Akasha walked over to the ship and examined the outer hull. It didn’t take long to find what she was looking for: a switch that would lower the boarding ramp. She reached out to press it—
“Wait.”
Akasha’s hand froze just above the switch. “What?”
“If they set an alarm, it’ll go off if you touch that,” said Sitrius.
“I know. But what else can we do? We don’t know if they’re inside, so we have to check.”
“Not necessarily. Try applying the detective skills you showed off at Parmwood Tower. Think critically. Search for clues. Maybe we can solve this without putting ourselves at risk.”
“Sitrius, we don’t have time to play around here. Rae could be in danger—”
“Yes, and we might endanger her further by losing the element of surprise. Just… come with me.”
Akasha followed Sitrius around to the rear of the shuttle until they were standing just below the auxiliary thrusters. The lieutenant raised an arm up high and held it there. “Here, put your arm up and tell me what you feel.”
She didn’t know what he was getting at but decided to humor him anyway. “I don’t feel anything,” she replied skeptically.
“Exactly. If the engines were still warm, the thrusters would be putting out heat. But they’re not. That means the shuttle has been here a while. An hour, at least. Now, follow me.”
He led her back to where they were standing before. “Look down,” he said. “What do you see?”
Akasha looked down. There was a wide, straight groove carved into the dirt at her feet. “It’s an indentation,” she said.
“From the boarding ramp. And look here—footprints. Two sets, large enough to be male. They’re both leading away from the shuttle. There are no return prints. Which means…”
“They haven’t come back yet,” Akasha finished. She shook her head in amazement. “You were right. The clues were right in front of me. I just didn’t look hard enough.”
“You were focused on saving the general. Nothing wrong with that. Just remember to keep your eyes open next time. Otherwise, you never know what you might miss.”
“Right. I’ll, uh, keep that in mind. You know, you have a real knack for this detective stuff. Maybe you should consider a career change. What do you think of ‘Cal Sitrius, Private Eye’?”
Sitrius scoffed at the idea. “I don’t know… The ARKS still need me. After all, someone has to keep an eye on
you.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Akasha rolled her eyes. Then she straightened up and said, “Alright, Detective Serious. Let’s go catch a couple of bad guys.”
* * * * * * * * *
The trail of footprints led them away from the shuttle. Through the ARKS camp, then past it. Across a grassy field, up a gentle slope, towards the massive snow-capped mountains looming on the horizon. Only they didn’t get that far, because half a kilometer away was the ruins site. The tracks led right to the edge of the site and then stopped cold. Footprints wouldn’t be visible on hard stone, which meant the kidnappers could be anywhere.
Akasha glanced at Sitrius. He nodded back. Together they advanced slowly and cautiously, wary of a possible ambush. An attack could have come from any angle. There was a ton of hiding spots in the ruins. Too many, really. They passed the remains of a once-majestic fountain. Broken, toppled columns wider than they were tall. Half-collapsed archways and abstract sculptures. Any one of them could have a hidden attacker lying in wait.
The entire place was constructed from black stone, but it was so old that the black was fading to gray. Nature had begun to claim it as well. In several places, vegetation and tree roots were creeping in from cracks in the stone. A sprinkling of flowers provided a smattering of color to an otherwise-subdued palette.
Akasha and Sitrius kept to the main path. Whether by intuition or instinct, they were drawn to the focal point of the ruins: its impressive, four-sided obelisk. Fifteen meters tall and covered in alien glyphs, it loomed over the rest of the site like a sentry tower. The pointy monolith stood atop a raised stone dais. Wide, curved steps connected the dais with the ground level, while a pair of concentric archways towered over the entrance.
As the ARKS got closer, they spotted something propped against the base of the obelisk. No, not something.
Someone. It was General Rae!
“Sitrius, look!” Akasha shouted, and took off running.
“Wait, don’t—,” he replied, but it was too late. There was no stopping her.
Akasha passed beneath the first stone archway leading to the obelisk. Just before she reached the second, a voice called out to her from above.
“Well, well. What do we have here?”
Akasha stopped dead in her tracks, quietly cursing her own stupidity. After all that sneaking around, she hadn’t thought to look
up. Slowly, reluctantly, she craned her neck towards the source of the voice.
Standing atop the second arch, almost directly above her, were the silhouettes of two human figures. Akasha squinted her eyes against the afternoon sunlight. After a moment the silhouettes resolved into actual people. They were both men. Both tall and broad-shouldered. One had light skin and fair hair, the other had dark skin and dark hair. Akasha recognized them from their ARKS file: Cristophe Sanos and Belletrum Yardrai.
And she had walked right into their trap.
TO BE CONTINUED
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Remember that my first story was structured as eight stand-alone episodes, so I had to wrap up each story quickly. My second story was an ongoing one, which is why the villains stuck around much longer than before. My current story is sort of a mix between the two. I've got ongoing story threads but I jump back and forth between them, and I try to wrap up each individual story within that chapter. So you'll definitely see some recurring characters, both good and bad, new and old.
. Should be interesting to see what happens to the hospital duo.
Connect With Us