Prologue
The trail was cold and Terrick Crais cursed colorfully as he gazed over the ruined settlement, smoke still curling into the air. He rubbed his face in frustration as he gazed at the man beside him. "Well, unless we can find someone alive, we have to either assume Suleah is dead or she wasn't here in the first place."
"I suppose we better search the ruins."
Terrick nodded at his partner's suggestion and the two men began to pick their way through the rubble of a once bustling city. He gazed briefly at Lorac Mane, his uncle's one time wingman and one of the resistance movement's former gunrunners. The ex-Peacekeeper had followed him the night he launched from Zorosa 3 five monens ago, following Terrick to his half-sister's supposed location. Terrick was unaware that Mane had been keeping an eye on him and was secretly pleased that he did not have to undertake his self-imposed mission alone.
The settlement was the fifteenth place they had been sent to, always arriving just behind Scorpius' commandos as they moved Suleah to a new location. Terrick did not understand the scientist's fascination with the half-human, half-Sebacean child and he was starting to get extremely aggravated with the way the search was going. He followed Mane across a rubble pile, picking his way carefully through the debris as he loosened the collar of his resistance uniform.
"By Cholak, whoever did this made sure we wouldn't find anything," Mane commented as he checked a burnt out building, covering his mouth and nose with his hand at the smell of burning flesh.
Terrick looked around, the silence of the place unsettling. "Yes, but the question is, who did this?"
"Why do I have the feeling we'll never find out?" Mane remarked as they followed what was once the main thoroughfare of the city. Everything around them was destroyed, glass and steel littering the ground. Pieces of fabric that once curtained windows fluttered in the light breeze. Terrick stopped, his head canted, listening. "What? What's the matter Terrick?"
"I heard something." Both men listened intently as a soft cry wafted to them from a burnt out store front to their right. Terrick climbed through the broken window, the doorway blocked by smoking timbers. Light sifted down through the shattered ceiling and both of them coughed as they inhaled smoke and dust. They heard the pathetic cry again and moved as quickly as they could to the back. A young woman, only a few cycles older than Terrick, lay on the floor, her body twisted and broken. Mane knelt next to her, checking her pulse. "What happened?" Terrick asked softly, kneeling on the other side of her.
"We…were attacked…they took…the child," she whispered, her voice soft. Mane gently lifted her head, offering her a drink of water from his canteen.
"What child?" Mane asked, his eyes locking with Terrick's in the fading light.
"The scientist's child. Scorpius' protégé, Suleah Crais," the woman moaned. Her eyes focused on the ceiling above her, slowly clouding over.
Terrick turned her head, their eyes meeting. "Who attacked you? Can you describe them?"
The woman reached out with the last bit of strength she possessed, gripping Terrick's jacket. "This insignia…their uniforms bore this insignia…" she sighed. "The…soldiers were…dressed like you," she whispered as her life faded away.
Tauvo grabbed a hold of the console as another blast rocked the command carrier. He could see Crais' own carrier on the monitor, the blast shields covering the viewport. The small Peacekeeper group that ambushed them was no match for the two huge carriers, the largest ship engaging them a frigate. He looked at his communications officer. "Well?"
"It's almost done sir," the woman responded. They had intercepted a coded Peacekeeper transmission from Scorpius to the lead frigate, the one they were currently engaging and Tauvo's people were working frantically to decode the transmission.
Tauvo growled in frustration and he gazed at his brother on the monitor. "They're still working on it," he relayed to Crais.
"Let's finish this. We will have to regroup before returning to Scorpius' main base," Crais responded, his fists clenched at his sides. They had been away from Zorosa 3 for too long, the Peacekeeper scientist leading them on a merry chase as he moved his base from sector to sector. The brothers believed it was a ploy to keep them away from the main base they had found empty, Scorpius running a gambit to keep them preoccupied as he continued construction underground.
Tauvo looked at his weapon's officer. "Target and fire on the frigate on my mark." He waited as the frag cannons came around, Crais' carrier matching his moves from the opposite side of the small fleet. "On my mark…"
"Sir, we've decoded the message." the communications officer started.
"Fire!" Tauvo yelled. He turned to the comm console as the carrier shuddered, the frag cannons pounding out laser fire against the smaller frigate. It exploded in a cloud of gas and metal, the other ships in the convoy quickly surrendering. He quickly read the message, his face going white as he gripped the console to keep from staggering backwards. Tauvo looked up, swallowing the bile that had come up to his throat. "What…was the registry of that…frigate?" he asked quietly.
"The one we just destroyed sir?" the other comm officer asked, concern crossing his face at Tauvo's reaction to the message.
"Yes," he snapped.
"It was the Carn'atoc, sir."
Tauvo hung his head, his breath frozen in his lungs. "By Cholak, what I have done?" he whispered, standing up straight and wiping his hand across his face. He gazed at the communication officer who decoded the message, her own face as white as his own.
The helmsman, Jorin Tadace, nephew of the resistance's former leader, stared at him. "Tauvo, what did that message say?"
Tauvo swallowed hard as he gazed at Jorin. "It was asking Commander Rega of the frigate Carn'atoc to make sure that the child he was transporting arrived at Rellia unharmed." Jorin's face blanched, the crew on the command deck in shocked silence. "The child was none other than my niece, Suleah."
The trail was cold and Terrick Crais cursed colorfully as he gazed over the ruined settlement, smoke still curling into the air. He rubbed his face in frustration as he gazed at the man beside him. "Well, unless we can find someone alive, we have to either assume Suleah is dead or she wasn't here in the first place."
"I suppose we better search the ruins."
Terrick nodded at his partner's suggestion and the two men began to pick their way through the rubble of a once bustling city. He gazed briefly at Lorac Mane, his uncle's one time wingman and one of the resistance movement's former gunrunners. The ex-Peacekeeper had followed him the night he launched from Zorosa 3 five monens ago, following Terrick to his half-sister's supposed location. Terrick was unaware that Mane had been keeping an eye on him and was secretly pleased that he did not have to undertake his self-imposed mission alone.
The settlement was the fifteenth place they had been sent to, always arriving just behind Scorpius' commandos as they moved Suleah to a new location. Terrick did not understand the scientist's fascination with the half-human, half-Sebacean child and he was starting to get extremely aggravated with the way the search was going. He followed Mane across a rubble pile, picking his way carefully through the debris as he loosened the collar of his resistance uniform.
"By Cholak, whoever did this made sure we wouldn't find anything," Mane commented as he checked a burnt out building, covering his mouth and nose with his hand at the smell of burning flesh.
Terrick looked around, the silence of the place unsettling. "Yes, but the question is, who did this?"
"Why do I have the feeling we'll never find out?" Mane remarked as they followed what was once the main thoroughfare of the city. Everything around them was destroyed, glass and steel littering the ground. Pieces of fabric that once curtained windows fluttered in the light breeze. Terrick stopped, his head canted, listening. "What? What's the matter Terrick?"
"I heard something." Both men listened intently as a soft cry wafted to them from a burnt out store front to their right. Terrick climbed through the broken window, the doorway blocked by smoking timbers. Light sifted down through the shattered ceiling and both of them coughed as they inhaled smoke and dust. They heard the pathetic cry again and moved as quickly as they could to the back. A young woman, only a few cycles older than Terrick, lay on the floor, her body twisted and broken. Mane knelt next to her, checking her pulse. "What happened?" Terrick asked softly, kneeling on the other side of her.
"We…were attacked…they took…the child," she whispered, her voice soft. Mane gently lifted her head, offering her a drink of water from his canteen.
"What child?" Mane asked, his eyes locking with Terrick's in the fading light.
"The scientist's child. Scorpius' protégé, Suleah Crais," the woman moaned. Her eyes focused on the ceiling above her, slowly clouding over.
Terrick turned her head, their eyes meeting. "Who attacked you? Can you describe them?"
The woman reached out with the last bit of strength she possessed, gripping Terrick's jacket. "This insignia…their uniforms bore this insignia…" she sighed. "The…soldiers were…dressed like you," she whispered as her life faded away.
Tauvo grabbed a hold of the console as another blast rocked the command carrier. He could see Crais' own carrier on the monitor, the blast shields covering the viewport. The small Peacekeeper group that ambushed them was no match for the two huge carriers, the largest ship engaging them a frigate. He looked at his communications officer. "Well?"
"It's almost done sir," the woman responded. They had intercepted a coded Peacekeeper transmission from Scorpius to the lead frigate, the one they were currently engaging and Tauvo's people were working frantically to decode the transmission.
Tauvo growled in frustration and he gazed at his brother on the monitor. "They're still working on it," he relayed to Crais.
"Let's finish this. We will have to regroup before returning to Scorpius' main base," Crais responded, his fists clenched at his sides. They had been away from Zorosa 3 for too long, the Peacekeeper scientist leading them on a merry chase as he moved his base from sector to sector. The brothers believed it was a ploy to keep them away from the main base they had found empty, Scorpius running a gambit to keep them preoccupied as he continued construction underground.
Tauvo looked at his weapon's officer. "Target and fire on the frigate on my mark." He waited as the frag cannons came around, Crais' carrier matching his moves from the opposite side of the small fleet. "On my mark…"
"Sir, we've decoded the message." the communications officer started.
"Fire!" Tauvo yelled. He turned to the comm console as the carrier shuddered, the frag cannons pounding out laser fire against the smaller frigate. It exploded in a cloud of gas and metal, the other ships in the convoy quickly surrendering. He quickly read the message, his face going white as he gripped the console to keep from staggering backwards. Tauvo looked up, swallowing the bile that had come up to his throat. "What…was the registry of that…frigate?" he asked quietly.
"The one we just destroyed sir?" the other comm officer asked, concern crossing his face at Tauvo's reaction to the message.
"Yes," he snapped.
"It was the Carn'atoc, sir."
Tauvo hung his head, his breath frozen in his lungs. "By Cholak, what I have done?" he whispered, standing up straight and wiping his hand across his face. He gazed at the communication officer who decoded the message, her own face as white as his own.
The helmsman, Jorin Tadace, nephew of the resistance's former leader, stared at him. "Tauvo, what did that message say?"
Tauvo swallowed hard as he gazed at Jorin. "It was asking Commander Rega of the frigate Carn'atoc to make sure that the child he was transporting arrived at Rellia unharmed." Jorin's face blanched, the crew on the command deck in shocked silence. "The child was none other than my niece, Suleah."
