"Apparitions" Time: Twenty-five cycles after Fractures

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Part Fifteen: Avenging Angel

"That's the situation, Crais."

From where he stood in the center of Talyn's bridge, John watched Crais pace. He had managed to keep his anger under control during the long trip from Tries'tall, but he could feel it boiling just behind his eyes. Next to him, John could see his own barely controlled rage reflected on Aeryn's face. Behind them at the door, anger and blame were playing across Tashina's face.

Crais stopped in front of John and Aeryn. "It's been at least a day since you left Tries'tall. You have considered that both Vanessa and Mattis could be dead."

"Considered and rejected," Aeryn said. "Both of them will be put through the Aurora Chair for interrogation. We'll have a few days before the Peacekeepers do anything else to them." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "We have time to act."

Crais considered. The look on his face told John what he thought of the proposal. "There was a Vigilante? Any other craft?"

"Not that we saw. It's possible they've brought in reinforcements after we left."

Crais nodded slowly. "What about the outpost itself?"

"It's a standard Ilanic outpost," Tashina said, her voice a threatening hiss. "There are four pulse cannon emplacements for defensive purposes only. Nothing that could harm Talyn."

"We could always take them out with the Prowlers," Aeryn added. She glanced up as a series of beeps and chirps came from all around them. "Talyn?"

Crais closed his eyes and shook his head. "Talyn has a question. He wants to know if you truly believe Vanessa is still alive."

"Without a doubt." John glanced at Aeryn the looked at Crais. "So, what do you say, Bialar?"

The muscles along Crais's jaw flexed. "It would appear that I have no choice in this matter. It would seem that like his mother, Talyn has developed a certain.affection for Vanessa."

Both John and Aeryn looked pleased. "I knew I liked this boy," he said. "All right. Here's the plan."

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Mattis wasn't sure how long he and Vanessa had been held captive. Time seemed to be divided into time spent in the Aurora Chair and time spent lying on the floor of the cell, recovering from the interrogation.

Maybe I'd feel better if there was at least a window, he thought. Moya's probably.hopefully.gone back to Bia'thera, which means we're on our own. He glanced at the sleeve of his jacket and began to form plans.

What seemed like arns later, the cell door swung open and a single guard entered. Mattis watched him with half-open eyes and sighed. "Time for another go?"

"On your feet," the guard said, his pulse rifle never wavering. "On your feet, deserter!"

Mattis sighed again. "Get caught in an escape pod with a malfunctioning locator beacon, get left for dead by your command carrier and you're branded a deserter. Vanessa's right; life isn't fair." He stood and started for the door.

Be quick, Tech, he thought.

Mattis stopped just inside the door and glanced back at the guard. "Just an observation for you. When you pat down a prisoner for weapons, make sure you do a thorough job of it and check everywhere." He smiled at the confused look on the guard's face and moved.

Mattis swung his right arm out, his hand open and waiting. The slender, reinforced blade that had been concealed in a sheath strapped to his forearm snapped out. As he closed his hand around the hilt, he spun toward the guard. The guard started to bring up his rifle, but Mattis was moving faster. The blade plunged into the guard's side.

As he lowered the guard's body to the floor of the cell, Mattis felt his knees buckle. "Okay, none of that now," he muttered. "You can collapse on the transport pod. But since Vanessa's in about the same condition I am, who'll fly the pod if we both collapse?"

He blinked several times and collected the guard's rifle and pistol. Mattis heard footsteps at the door, but a wave of nausea kept him from reacting. He managed to relax a little when he heard a voice he recognized.

"Mattis? What are you doing?" Rea Ayani stepped into the cell and looked down at the guard. A microt later, she realized the guard was dead. "You killed him?"

"I'm not going back to the Chair, Rea. I have to get Vanessa out of it. Now, are you going to help me or are you going to sound the alarm?" Rea's mouth opened and closed several times, but she remained silent. "Fine," Mattis growled. "Just give me a few microts before you sound the alarm." He started for the door.

"Mattis, wait!" Rea closed her eyes and seemed confused. "I'll.I'll help you, but you have to take me with you."

"Rea."

"I'll just say that I was taken hostage."

"It won't matter, Rea. You'll still be declared irrevocably contaminated. If you come with us, it'll be permanent."

The confused look on Rea's face deepened, but cleared a microt later. "I always did feel out of place. Let's get to the hanger."

"No. We have to get Vanessa." Mattis checked the corridor outside the cell. "My head's still frelled up, Rea. You'll have to lead us to the interrogation room." He handed Rea the guard's pulse pistol and followed her down the corridor.

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The tech looked up as Ci'amon and Scotala stepped up behind him. "Sensors are picking up a vessel at extreme range, sir."

Ci'amon leaned close to the screen and frowned. "What kind of vessel?"

"That's the confusion, sir. It's reading as a Leviathan, but it's moving much faster than any Leviathan I've ever seen. And I'm reading weaponry." He glanced at Ci'amon. "Leviathans aren't armed."

"One Leviathan is." Ci'amon exchanged a worried look with Scotala.

The aide turned to another technician. "Anything from the Vigilante?"

"Nothing, sir."

"If this is the Leviathan gunship, they must have come in on a stealth trajectory designed to avoid the Vigilante." Ci'amon stared at the screen a microt longer then shook his head. "Get Lieutenant Katsur."

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Crais studied the readout and nodded in response to Talyn's anxious beeping. "Yes, Talyn, I see it. They've detected us. Crichton, what is your status?"

"We're away, Crais. We'll contact you when we're ready for extraction."

"Understood. We'll return to orbit and await your signal. Aeryn, did you hear that?"

"We heard it, Crais." He could hear Aeryn shift position in one of the Prowler's ejection seats. "Tashina and I will be ready."

"Good. Stand by." Crais looked out through the forward windows and watched the blue sky darken as Talyn returned to space.

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Katsur felt anger and annoyance twist inside her as she listened to Ci'amon's report. "Where's the gunship now?"

"It's returned to space, Lieutenant. It's possible this was just a preliminary reconnaissance probe."

"Probable, but unlikely. If the records are to be believed, stealth is not the gunship's strong suit. The gunship will return, and when it does, it'll be an attack run."

Ci'amon sounded almost dismissive. "It's just a Leviathan with a cannon mount. Our pulse cannons will blow so many holes in its hull."

Katsur bit the inside of her mouth and kept herself from saying something insulting. "Ci'amon," she finally said with forced civility, "that Leviathan survived going to starburst while inside a command carrier."

"Inside.? That's impossible! Without a way for the energy to dissipate."

"It took about half an arn, actually. Get your people ready, Ci'amon. When that Leviathan returns, it'll be on an attack run." Katsur switched off the comm and turned back to the Aurora Chair. Vanessa was breathing heavily, trying to fight back the pain the Chair caused. "So, what do you think, Vanessa? Is it Talyn?"

Vanessa opened one eye. "Prob..ly."

"Will they come back?"

"Yyyy." Vanessa tried not to answer. "Yessss.they'll be back.yessss." Her voice broke down into half-crazed laughter.

Katsur inhaled deeply and nodded. She was turning to the guards at the door when she saw two people walking into the interrogation room. A microt later, she recognized Mattis and a Tech she didn't recognize.

"How did you." She saw the newcomers raise weapons and started to back toward the room's side door. Katsur started running as gunfire erupted.

The firefight didn't last long. As the officer manning the Chair's control console went down, Rea ran forward to deactivate it. Mattis climbed onto the platform and began releasing the restraints.

"Vanessa!"

For a microt, there was no response. But then, Vanessa moaned and opened her eyes. "What took you so long?" Mattis smiled and helped Vanessa from the Chair.

Rea studied the readouts and frowned. "Mattis, guards are on the way."

As he half-lead, half-carried Vanessa to the console, Mattis said, "We could use a diversion, Rea."

"What did you have in mind?"

"I don't know. Any." Mattis looked quickly at the door. "I heard something! Rea, stay with Vanessa."

Mattis went to the door and waited, his body tense. When he saw someone step into the interrogation room, he threw a punch that caught the man by surprise. As he dropped to the floor, Mattis realized who it was.

"Ummm.sorry, John."

John rubbed his jaw and nodded. "No problem. Nice tag." He saw Vanessa leaning against the console, climbed to his feet and went to her.

Mattis watched him then turned to the soldier that stood in the doorway. There was something not right about the figure. "Aren't you a little short to be a guard?" He reached out and raised the guard's visor. When he saw a face he recognized, Mattis smiled. "Hello there, Chi."

Chiana took off the helmet and looked around. "Need a hand?" She looked at Rea and frowned. "Who's this?"

"Rea Ayani, a former comrade of mine. She's helping me. We were trying to come up with a diversion to cover our escape."

"Got that covered," John said. "Pip, how long did it take us to get here from the pod?"

"About thirty microts."

John reached into a pocket and took out what looked like a larger, bulkier comm. In response to Mattis's questioning look, he said, "It's been modified with an encoder to secure the comm. Aeryn, Crais, you there?"

"I'm here, John." Aeryn sounded anxious. "Vanessa?"

"I'm okay, Mom," Vanessa said quietly. "But I have a headache."

Though she tried not to show it, Aeryn sounded relieved. "Good. Time?"

"In twenty-five microts, you and Tashina begin your attack run. Crais, five microts after that, you and Talyn level this base. Pilot?"

"Yes, Commander."

"Have Moya follow Talyn in. We'll rendezvous with you then."

"Understood, Commander."

John glanced at Rea. "Is she coming with us?"

"Yes."

"Great," Vanessa whispered. "Another mouth to feed." She straightened, massaged her eyes and shook her head. "Let's get the frell out of here."

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It hadn't taken long for Talyn and the two Prowlers to reduce the outpost to rubble. As the transport pod that had been concealed outside the base rendezvoused with Moya, a small group of people made their way through the wreckage.

Ci'amon looked around and sighed. "Well, this was a good posting." He glanced at Katsur. "At least the radioactives storage facility is still secured. We were lucky."

Katsur looked at him, drew her pulse pistol and fired into Ci'amon's chest. "What do you mean, we? Officer Brannin, take some men to the hanger. With luck, there'll be an undamaged transport."

"And if there isn't, Lieutenant?"

"Then get a comm working and contact the Vigilante. Now move!"

As the soldiers started away, Katsur looked up into the sky. "Vanessa Sun," she said quietly. "I'll certainly remember that name." She reached into a pocket and took out a data chip. "I wonder what this will reveal." Katsur turned the chip over in her hand, sighed and started for the hanger.

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TO BE CONTINUED