Alien Legion: Arrows of Artemis
By C.S. Hayden
Alien Legion is the trademarked and copyrighted creative property of Carl Potts as published by Epic Comics/Marvel Entertainment 1984-1993. This is a work of fiction loosely based on the characters of Alien Legion and is unauthorized by its creator Carl Potts.
Plot and additional original characters copyrighted 2002 to Christi Smith Hayden
XV. Wilderness
Warm sunlight filtered through the palm fronds of the cabana roof as they dozed lazily on the wide double-sized chaise lounge. The waves rushed upon the shore, sounding not unlike the low-pitched thrum of an engine in mid-warp. He snorted, scolding himself silently for thinking of work and turned his face to breathe in the fresh scent of ocean water drying in his lover's hair. She sighed and lightly ran her delicate hand down his chest, fingers drifting like feathers...
"Major Sarigar?" A rough, furry hand shook his shoulder, pulling him out of his dream and bringing him back to his narrow bunk on the Piecemaker. "Major! Wake up, sir!"
Squinting against the glare of the bedside lamp, Sarigar rose on one elbow. "What?" He blinked at his kangaroo-like aide. "What is it, Zeerod?" He swung his tail onto the floor, still clad in his skinsuit as was his habit on away missions.
"Urgent message from Greelbase, sir." Zeerod held out his dark green officer's jacket to put on. "General Gokk wants to speak to you personally."
What little irritation Sarigar might have felt by having his sleep disrupted slipped away by the time he entered the communications room. Lieutenant Arrick, the mantis-like night watch officer, looked up as he clicked his mandibles in concern. "Downloading mission parameters, sir," he replied in his high-pitched voice. He used one of his lesser limbs to tap the console. "General Gokk-k-k-k, Major Sarigar is here."
The ursine face of General Trillian Gokk filled the screen. "Major! We have a situation -- I need the Piecemaker to divert from its current heading. We just received a garbled communiqué from the transport ship Prometheus, time-dated from eighteen rotations ago. It reported that it was answering a distress call from a science outpost near the Pan Tel system and would be delayed in transferring Legion personnel to their assignments."
"The Prometheus, did you say?" A cold chill swept over Sarigar and he exchanged a worried look with Zeerod. He looked back up at the viewscreen sharply. "General, did the communiqué say what the distress call was about? Have you checked to see if any of those Legionnaires on the transport made it to their destinations?"
"We're forwarding the distress call to you but it's been badly damaged. Our experts are still examining it. I've already heard from the commandant at Drago IV. They were supposed to be rotating their units out and the replacement troops did not arrive as scheduled." General Gokk paused and Sarigar could tell he was choosing his words carefully. "K'thok is checking on his operatives, but they were on a deep cover assignment. It's going to take time to track them down but the field agent in charge is highly competent, as you well know." He gave Sarigar a direct look that said plainly who he was referring to.
Regulations were very strict on interpersonal relationships in the Legion; married personnel were never sent out on missions together because of the possibility that emotions might overcome military discipline. Sarigar and Jaikira were straddling a fine line since they'd become more open about their relationship and Gokk was taking a risk in giving Nomad this mission. Sarigar nodded grimly. "What information do we have?"
"Long-range scans of that area have turned up very little. They're sending a shuttle from Drago IV back along the transport's registered flight path but the Piecemaker is closer to the last known coordinates. Major, I want you to head there with all expediency and discover what has happened to the Prometheus and her crew."
"Very well, General," Sarigar snapped out. "Please keep me apprised of General K'thok's findings."
Gokk nodded. "The minute K'thok contacts me, you'll know what I know. Good hunting, old snake." The screen went black.
Sarigar flipped a switch. "Bridge? Major Sarigar here - I'm relaying a new course setting on General Gokk's orders. I'll be up momentarily to discuss it with the captain further. Sarigar out." He took a deep breath, let it out, and sagged for a moment against the console.
"Major? I'm sure Jaikira wasn't on that transport," Zeerod said sympathetically. The old warrior had his own reasons for being concerned; he and the Artemis medic Zora Ree had grown quite fond of each other over the past year. "There's a good chance Artemis transferred off at some point. If they were going undercover, they'd have to switch to civilian transport for their arrival."
"I put her on the Prometheus myself," Sarigar admitted, "but you're right -- there's the outside chance that she wasn't on it when it disappeared. Let's hope that General K'thok can locate her." He straightened up and adjusted the fit of his jacket. "Right. Go wake up Torie and have him meet me on the bridge. We'll need to review the data Gokk has sent us."
"Aye, sir!"
In the privacy of the lift, Sarigar bowed his head against the wall and said a quick and heartfelt prayer for Jaikira's safety. He was confident of her ability to think her way out of any situation but there were too many unforeseen risks in their line of work. Burying his personal feelings deep inside, he hid his anxiety behind a stony face and a professional demeanor when he stepped out onto the bridge.
By the time they had dropped out of warp, Sarigar and his second-in-command, Torie Montroc, had thoroughly reviewed all the pertinent information and was bringing Nomad up-to-date.
"--the Prometheus was carrying a full crew complement as well as two full Legion squads en route to their assignments. So far, only one of these squads has been reported as missing in action. The other is being backtracked. Satellite buoys tracked the transport as far as this system here," Sarigar said as he pointed to the holographic star chart in the center of the room. "Torie, what do you have on this system?"
"There's not a lot of it in the Legion database," Torie commented. "It's a minor system bordering the Harkilon Empire -- four planets and two major asteroid belts. The only M-class planet is Hielo, where there's a science outpost, originally set in place by the Legion science division but now staffed by civilians. According to the distress call, the outpost was being attacked by some kind of biological and they were requesting assistance."
"The last known act of the Prometheus," Sarigar continued, "was to notify Greelbase of their decision to investigate this distress call. That was eighteen rotations ago and there has been no contact since that time."
"Major?" called the ship's captain. "I think you should come and see this."
Sarigar and Torie hurried to the main viewscreen. They were just passing through the edge of the secondary asteroid field and approaching the pale blue planet of Hielo. The ship's captain pointed at a debris field caught in the weak gravity of one of the large asteroids. "Magnify that," he ordered. The image zoomed in to reveal large pieces of deck plating and clouds of metal flak.
"Is that--?" Torie asked.
The ship's captain nodded. "I had it scanned -- it's the Prometheus."
"Or what's left of it." Zeerod's eyes narrowed, his optical implant whirring as he focused. "I recommend full range scans -- perhaps there's an energy signature left behind."
"Do it," Sarigar ordered curtly. "Arrick, send some probes ahead to Hielo to search for signs of shuttle landings. The message that was sent to Greelbase said that they were going to answer the distress call. There's a chance that survivors made it to the planet."
Pacing back and forth behind the science stations, it was all Sarigar could do not to interfere but he knew that Zeerod and Arrick had the scientific expertise that he did not -- anything he might do in his haste to speed up the search might only hamper them. Instead he concentrated on learning all he could on Hielo in the Legion database. It was a sub arctic world with a short warm season, which unfortunately, was long past. The data from the science outpost for the past few cycles were unremarkable save for the increasing reports of unknown large bioforms that had been migrating out of the mountain ranges. He was reviewing the scientists' theories on the beast when he was interrupted.
"Major, I think I've got something." Zeerod's clawed hands clicked swiftly across the science station console. An image of the debris field between the Piecemaker and Hielo came up. "I've been scanning for multiple variables trying to put together what happened to the Prometheus and I've found something interesting." He tapped a few keys and an overlay diagram covered the original picture. "There's several strange things going on here. First, and I think you'll be pleased to hear this, the earliest energy signature I have is a faint emission from a Legion class shuttle. I lost track of it in the atmosphere but it clearly went down on the planet."
"Thank Ayal!" Sarigar whispered under his breath and then continued in a normal voice, "What else did you find?"
"There's a huge cloud of photons in orbit around the upper hemisphere of the planet. It's been drifting apart for several rotations but there's a lot of ambient static."
Torie leaned in over Zeerod's shoulder and pointed to a dissipating energy stream. "What's this? It intersects with the Prometheus debris here and here." He glanced sharply at Sarigar who was also studying the image closely. "It could be a photon accelerator -- we're not far from Harkilon territory."
Sarigar nodded. "Or a particle beam gun."
"Not another one o' those bloody things!" Jugger swore loudly. "I had enough o' that on Ragallun XI!!"
"The problem is," Zeerod continued thoughtfully, "I can't tell precisely whether this was fired from a weapon on the planet or concealed somewhere in this asteroid field. The debris field of the ship drifted with impact and that makes it very difficult to pinpoint its origin. It's just as well that the captain decided to stop here where there's some cover. If we'd gone in closer to the planet, we might have shared the Prometheus' fate."
"Major Sarigar!" called Lieutenant Arrick from a console across the bridge. "I'm getting a visual from the surface!"
"Are you following the shuttle trail down?" Sarigar demanded.
"Yes, sir!" Arrick clicked his mandibles as he focused on his task. "There was some initial inference when the probe was going through the upper atmosphere, but I've c-c-compensated for it."
"Let's see what you have then," Sarigar said.
Arrick manipulated the probe deftly, circling the outpost slowly as the others stared at the devastation from monitors. The side of the mountain was gone, tons of frozen rock and snow covering over half of what used to be a well-staffed Legion compound. There was evidence that a firefight had taken place; the remaining buildings showed burn marks and impact craters. One fact soon became disturbingly clear.
"Major?" Zeerod asked slowly. "Where are the bodies?"
"More importantly, where's the shuttle?" Sarigar asked back. "Are you sure you followed the projected flight path, Arrick?"
"Yes, sir. It's possible that the avanlanc-c-ce may have obsc-c-cured trac-c-ces of the landing."
"Full sensor sweep - let's find out as much as we can before we touch down. Montroc, break out the cold weather gear. Grimrod and Tonk, see to the ordinance. Zeerod, I'll want you to take a full science kit."
"Yes, sir!!"
Satisfied that preparations were well under way, Sarigar stalked over to the communications room and set the privacy locks. "Major Sarigar to General Gokk, priority one message uplink."
Sarigar took a moment to order his thoughts while he waited for Greelbase to respond. It didn't take long before Trillian Gokk's ursine face filled the viewscreen. "Your report, major?"
"The situation on Hielo is more severe than anticipated. Prometheus has been destroyed, possibly by a particle beam weapon, but there is some evidence that a shuttle may have escaped. In addition, remote probes have revealed that the science outpost has been damaged. I'm taking a patrol down to the planet to investigate and to look for survivors."
"Energy cannons?" General Gokk scowled down at a monitor on his desk, checking something. "That area is fairly remote, but too far from any shipping lanes. It doesn't make any sense for the Harkilons to set up a gun post there."
"I'm relaying our initial findings by subspace bounce. There's some time degradation but energy signatures indicate a high density particle weapon. I'm going to have Lt. Arrick stay on board the Piecemaker with a small detail to search the asteroid field. Zeerod seems to think the Prometheus was destroyed by two guns - one in space and one on the planet."
"Yes, that would be a wise course of action," Gokk agreed. He paused and breathed deeply through his nose. "About that other matter -- there's been a complication. K'thok reports that the area that his operatives were to be dropped in has broken out into civil war. If they're there, then it's going to be impossible to contact them until the situation is controlled. There's no way of knowing if she's there or not."
Sarigar closed his eyes momentarily. "All right," he said resolutely, "I have no choice but to continue with the mission as originally specified. I'll be in contact as soon as we've reached the planet. Sarigar, out."
Hielo was a serene field of glistening white from horizon to horizon between a crystal blue sky. Herds of indigenous herbivores roamed the tundra leading up to the glacial mountain range where the Legion scientists had established their observation post. They scattered beneath the shadow of the shuttle passing overhead, frightened by the alien intrusion.
"Alter course 3.49 degrees west, captain," Zeerod murmured without taking his eyes from the scanner. "The emission trail is stronger towards that notched gap in those mountains."
"Roger that." Torie had assumed the piloting duties while the old soldier had taken over the science station. "It's like they were off-course for a time but then managed to compensate, heading towards the outpost."
They circled the remnants of the outpost but a landing there was clearly not feasible. The vibrations from their engine made the snow shift visibly on the ground. "I don't like it," Jugger commented. "We should write this one off, major. If anyone was here, th' snow's covered up the traces."
"I'd have to agree," Torie said. "The ground's too unstable to risk a landing and the signal from the outpost's shuttle pad is coming from under five meters of snow."
"Zeerod?" Sarigar turned to look directly into the old soldier's eyes. "What do you think?" What's on scanners?"
It was several minutes before Zeerod answered. "The Prometheus shuttle is definitely here. It looks to me as if the avalanche pushed it off the shuttle pad." He tapped the screen. "It's lodged here against what was one of the observation posts, here near the treeline. However," he said quickly, "there's only three bodies in it and they're all humanoid."
"Damage?"
Tapping in a series of commands, Zeerod frowned. "There's a lot of EM damage, fried circuits, and so on. I'd need to have the override codes to do a full systems check." He glanced up from his monitors. "Major, we have to go down there and do a full search. It's the only way to be sure."
"Be sure of what?" Torie asked suspiciously. "What aren't you telling us, Sarigar?"
"Artemis was on the Prometheus when it left Greelbase," Sarigar sighed. "K'thok hasn't been able to confirm whether they made it to their destination or not. According to regulations, I shouldn't have gotten personally involved but I'm not about to leave here without finding out, one way or the other." He didn't dare say Jaikira's name out loud for fearing of letting any emotion show but his level of anxiety was building. His teeth ground as he set his jaw resolutely. "I have to know."
"I'm expanding the search parameters. There's a lot biological signatures but I should be able to isolate any sapients," Zeerod said, claws clicking on the keyboard. "Major, I will go with you if you want search on foot."
"Me too," Jugger spoke up. "T' hell with th' regs."
"We'll all go," Torie said decisively. "According to the scans, the majority of that shuttle crew escaped. If they're here, we will find them, major. Nomad doesn't leave soldiers behind."
Sarigar nodded. "Then find us a stable landing area, captain." He turned and called out to the rest of Nomad squad. "All right, you footsloggers! If you're not already into your cold weather gear, get into it! Time to hit the slopes!"
"This way, major!" Zeerod called, his cybernetic eye hooked into the gear in his backpack. "I'm picking up faint heat signatures." A spate of recurrent snow flurries had reduced visibility and Nomad squad had to rely on Zeerod's enhanced vision. The old soldier had used his mechanical skills to hook his cybernetic eye into the portable scanner he'd brought along, thus freeing up his hands in the rough terrain.
"Major!" Torie's voice called over the comunit. "We've found another set of marks carved into a tree. They could be Legion code, but they're partially covered by ice."
"How far away are you?" Sarigar asked.
"Not far," came the reply. "Jugger, the Iks and I are on the edge of a grove of coniferous trees. I can see Zeerod's eye coming towards us."
Sarigar suppressed a groan of frustration. "Dammit, Zeerod, you've been tracking Torie's party!"
"With all due respect, sir, I took that into account," Zeerod said curtly. "I'm tracking an entirely different set of heat signatures."
"I don't mean to doubt you but we need to be sure," Sarigar sighed. "We're going to have to turn back soon or else find someplace to set up camp for the night."
They came out into a clearing surrounded by evergreens and Torie waved at them as a swirl of snow passed between them. "Jugger managed to chip away some of the ice," he reported. "It's directions to a cave shelter." He checked the compass in his gauntlet and pointed. "One-point-eight clicks in that direction, if I'm reading this right."
"Major?" Zeerod had his back to them, his head turning slowly to scan the clearing. "Major!" He reached back and took his hel-gun from his pack and cocked it.
"Legionnaires! To arms!"
The snow drift beneath the coniferous trees began to shift and shake. At Sarigar's hand signal, Torie's section fanned out to cover this new potential danger but before they could fire, three more drifts on the perimeter shook off their icy cover and pointed weapons at them. The two groups of soldiers stared at each other. The camouflaged group wore a ragtag collection of scavenged armor covered by animal skins. The person that emerged from the largest drift shook off the excess snow from the thick white fur covering her like a cape and moved with a sinuous grace into the circle of their helguns. A two-fingered hand pushed back the fluffy hood that shrouded her azure face.
"Hey, heroes," Jaikira said a hollow voice. "Welcome to Hielo." F'marrl stepped out from the shelter of the trees to stand besides her.
Sarigar came forward. "Captain," he managed to say without sounding too anxious. "We've come in response to your distress call. Where's the rest of your troops?"
Turning her head like it was mounted on a swivel, F'marrl stared up into the fog-shrouded sky and held up her hand in a Legion 'full alert' gesture. The members of their hunting party froze. Jaikira grimaced and pulled a plasma rifle from under her fur cape. "Where is it?" she hissed at F'marrl.
Her avian second-in-command cocked her head. "Close," F'marrl hissed back. "It's circling."
Jaikira swore under her breath. She called out in a stage whisper. "Major! Get your men back to the trees!" She cocked the rifle and put it up to her shoulder, looking up into the sky. "Jez, Kataki -- get ready."
It was the urgent tone of her voice that made the Legionnaires react more than the words themselves. "Save your ammo, Nomad," Jaikira hissed as she covered herself up with the white fur, practically disappearing under its camouflage as she sank to the ground. "Wait for it."
Jugger raised his head and sniffed. He nodded at the questioning looks of his teammates. "Yeah," he murmured hoarsely. "Whatever it is, it's comin.'"
"Come and get it." A sudden flurry of snow obscured the clearing and the only way to tell where Jaikira was by the faint sound of her subvocal chanting. "Come-and-get-it-come-and-get-it-come-and-get-it-come-and-get-it ..."
A raucous screech split the still air. Incredibly, F'marrl threw her head back and answered it with a ringing cry of defiance, while gesturing a 'hold fire' command. As a large shape soared down towards them through the mists, several things happened all at once. Two logs suspended on cable swung out of the trees, the first missing but causing the flying beast to stray into the path of the second which looped around its lower body and snared its feet. Jaikira rose from her position and fired at it, but only managed to wing it as it fought against its tether. Several other members of the hunting party rose up to fire but before they could, a tiny figure came down on the first cable and landed on the creature back between its wings. A serrated knife rose and fell in savage succession, severing its spine and sending it pummeling to the ground. The attacker was thrown free and disappeared into a sinkhole beneath the snow.
"Jez!!" Jaikira shouted and slid over the snow to reach her. She whipped her tail around a tree trunk before vanishing from view.
F'marrl took over. "Sgt. Buruke!" she called out. "You're in charge of dressing it out. We've got only a few minutes before those canine scavengers pick up the scent."
"Nomad!" Torie barked out. "Secure the perimeter!"
Sarigar paid little attention to this as he loped towards the sinkhole. Jaikira's tail was winding up around the tree trunk and she and Jez were nearly to the top by the time he reached them. "Really, Jez," Jaikira was saying as she was pulling them both free with Jez in her arms, "I'd rather starve than lose you. Are you insane?"
"Captain?" Sarigar reached down and helped her the rest of the way out. Other hands reached past him to take Jez. "Jaikira, are you all right?"
"No," Jaikira replied, "but that doesn't matter, major. We need to get back to base camp. Night's falling and we're going to attract predators here." Breathing heavily, she took a moment to center herself and she gave Sarigar a tired smile. "Shall we get a move on?"
"Kira..." He started to pull her to him.
Her hands smacked into his chest. "Not yet, Gar," she said, her voice a fragile imitation of itself. "Not here, not now. I'll go to pieces." She bit her lip but her eyes told him how desperately she wanted to do otherwise.
Nodding grimly, Sarigar merely asked, "Where's your shelter, captain? You can fill me in on your situation on the way."
The shipwrecked Legionnaires from the Prometheus had chosen to bivouac in the shelter of the nearby foothills where they had discovered a series of caves. Their sentries met the rescue party just as thicker snow had begun to fall and served to guide them in. Torie took charge of getting Nomad settled while Sarigar continued to listen to Jaikira's report.
"We were halfway to our assignment when our transport received the distress call," Jaikira said urgently as she led the way into the cave system. "An emergency staff meeting was called and the ship's captain decided that we would divert to Hielo to deal with the situation. We tried to confer with headquarters but we never got a response before reaching the planet."
"General Gokk said that a garbled message came through subspace but very little of it could be deciphered." Sarigar glanced at Jaikira worriedly. Dark purple shadows were smudged under her eyes and she seemed to be running on adrenaline alone. "Were you dropped without any proper gear at all?"
"We were issued cold weather gear but regs state to wait until planetfall to don it." She shook her head. "Just after we passed into the ionosphere, some sort of energy pulse hit us and fried half the systems in the shuttle. The pilots barely managed to control our fall for a decent landing and when we touched down, the impact set off that avalanche that took out the base. We barely got out before the shuttle was buried."
"Casualties?"
"I lost a few people but I wound up taking in the rest of Hecate squad. Their command staff didn't make it." Jaikira sighed bitterly. "They were the last off the shuttle behind me. I got lucky and rode the wake out on my tail."
Sarigar stopped in his tracks; the thought that she had come that close to death stunned him. Jaikira continued on for a few paces before turning back to look at him with impossibly tired eyes. The bulk of their squads were occupied with their own needs so Sarigar opened his arms and waited. Jaikira closed her eyes for a moment, dropped her rifle, and fled into the comfort of his embrace. She made a small stifled sound that made him think this was the only time that she'd allowed herself to express the hopelessness of their situation.
"It's all right, darling," Sarigar whispered to her with his cheek on the top of her head. "You did everything you could."
"I didn't do enough," she answered back. "I should have insisted on putting on the cold weather gear before getting on the shuttle. I should have removed Major Kelso by force instead of letting him stay behind." Her teeth chattered in the cold. "We had to salvage what we could from the wreckage and from what little that was left on the base. That whole area is unstable. We set off several minor snow slides before having to abandon the site."
"You ensured the survival of your squad," Sarigar said firmly, "and you survived, and that's what's important." He tilted her head up for a kiss.
Jaikira stopped him. "Gar, no... I know what my teeth taste like."
"I don't care," he said and kissed her anyway.
Tears glistened in her eyes. "Why, major!" she murmured, "You love me."
"I certainly must." Sarigar allowed himself the luxury of holding her a few seconds longer. "And now, captain, we need to have a staff meeting. Go gather your officers."
Drawing herself up, Jaikira snapped off a smart salute. "Yes, sir!" She smiled impishly and disappeared into one of the side caves, her tail curling and uncurling.
Sarigar shook his head and turned back to the entrance of the main cave. Torie Montroc was giving orders to the men. "Major," he called out as Sarigar approached, "I've set up a guard rotation. It's getting too dark to send out a patrol."
"Agreed, captain." Sarigar looked out at the landscape in the fading daylight. "I've called a staff meeting. We need to set up a chain of command and divide up into sections to spread out the personnel we have. Nasty situation - the shuttle crashlanded and the command staff for Hecate was killed."
"How's Jaikira?" Torie asked softly. "She looked exhausted -- all of them do."
"Knowing her, she hasn't slept since they got here." He frowned back into the caves. "There's more going on here than what we've seen so far. Kira said that their shuttle was disabled by an energy pulse. Didn't scanners pick up excess photonic emissions in the upper atmosphere?"
"Yes, I believe so. Zeerod should have a copy of the scans - he brought along a shielded field computer just in case we needed it."
F'marrl came towards them, one of the few members of Artemis in cold weather gear. "Major, Captain," she called in her fluting voice. "Captain Jaikira is setting up the staff meeting in the corner of our sickroom. Hecate's only surviving officer, a junior grade lieutenant, is there with multiple fractures. The captain feels involving her will show solidarity between the various squads."
"It's a good diplomatic solution," Torie agreed. "Major?"
"Yes, I concur but we will have to clear the room if possible. Some hard choices will have to be made and the less rumors flying around the better." Sarigar nodded to F'marrl. "Let's go, lieutenant."
"I believe Zora was already moving some of the more ambulatory patients into the sleeping quarters," F'marrl commented. "This cave system is riddled with natural chimneys and we've set up fire pits to warm some of the smaller caves. The larger caves are too drafty to keep a fire going for very long."
The avian female led them down a smoke darkened corridor to a smaller cavern. Zora was settling a patient on a pallet and nodded to them as they entered. Only a handful of patients remained and it was clear from the extent of their injuries that moving them had not been an option. Jaikira was down at the far end of the cave, coiled by the bedside of a grey-skinned humanoid that had both legs bound in rough splints. Two more legionnaires were nearby as well as Jez Shivblade, who was wearing an oversized jacket and had her head swathed in a smoke-stained scarf. Noting their arrival, Jaikira rose to greet them, draped in a silvery thermal blanket in place of the fur cape.
"Major Sarigar and Captain Montroc," she began formally by way of introductions, "may I present 2nd Lieutenant Moraine, acting command of Hecate and her aides, Sergeant Canno Buruke and Corporal Kyros? I have assumed temporary field command of Hecate due to Lt. Moraine's injuries." She indicated her people standing at her side. "You know my SIC, Lieutenant F'marrl and my aide, Sergeant Jez Shivblade. Our medic, Zora Ree, will be listening in and contributing on medical concerns."
Sarigar returned the salutes and said, "Thank you, captain. At ease, everyone." He scrutinized each of them in turn. The injured officer from Hecate looked as if she were fresh out of officer's school. "Lt. Moraine, what was Hecate's original mission assignment?"
The grey-skinned woman struggled to sit up with her sergeant's help. "We were headed to join the garrison at Draga IV. It was to be a standard troop rotation."
"And Artemis, captain?"
"We had a classified mission in the outer Orphides system," Jaikira replied. "I'm not authorized to say anything more than that we were to be dropped into a level five security zone."
Sarigar blinked and stared hard at her for a few sectons. For Artemis to be placed in a high risk situation like that, their status would have been upgraded from a covert to a combat intelligence unit. "Right," he said slowly, implying that he and Jaikira would be talking about that later. "What was the nature of the emergency that caused the transport to divert to Hielo?"
"The ship's captain received an emergency distress call from the science outpost. They reported that they were under attack by some unknown biological that had somehow eluded previous ecological surveys. High orbit scans of the planet did not reveal any evidence to support this; the captain, however, wished to send a shuttle down to investigate. Major Kelso of Hecate and I expressed some concerns over jeopardizing our own missions and requested a subspace bounce link to confer with Central Command."
"General Gokk relayed the message back to us," Sarigar commented. "It was very garbled."
"There was static on the communication relays when we attempted to send," F'marrl commented. "We have since speculated that it might have been due to the energy weapon that disabled the shuttle. A weapon of that size would have given off a tremendous amount of ambient radiation. It is my thought that this might have also caused the unusual activity of the hostile wildlife reported by the outpost."
Zora spoke up. "Close proximity to that kind of rrradiation could have affected theirrr brrrain chemistry. I have examined several specimens of the local fauna and prrreliminarrry dissections have shown some evidence of prrrolonged rrradioactive exposurrre."
"Zeerod brought along a shielded field computer," Sarigar said. "Lt. F'marrl, I'd like you to work with him and add your data to ours. We have the scans that we took from the Piecemaker when we approached this planet. It's clear that this planet is being used to test some new form of photon accelerated weaponry and we need to determine where it is and what its limits are."
"I have a background in science," Lt. Moraine offered. "Perhaps I could assist F'marrl and Zeerod in compiling the data. That would free them up to do the field work since I'm stuck here."
Sarigar glanced at Zora, who had been hovering on the edge of the meeting. The felinoid medic nodded. "Yes," she said thoughtfully, "that would not be too strrrenuous. I was also wonderrring if Meico would be agrrreeable to sharrring the patient carrre -- this climate is not unlike that of my home worrrld so I am betterrr adapted to this weatherrr. I would like to take my turrrn on patrrrol."
"Captain?" Sarigar turned to Jaikira.
The Jentekian nodded her head wearily. "I have no objections," she agreed. "Zora's been instrumental in setting up this shelter. Her survival skills are largely what's kept us alive thus far."
He turned back to Zora. "I agree but you'll need to coordinate with Meico. We have a shuttle available to evac these patients but we'll have to find a closer landing spot."
"Getting a shuttle in or out is going to be difficult," Jaikira interjected. "When our squads met up tonight, we had just come down the mountain. Canno," she indicated the dark-skinned human male from Hecate, "has spent the past week triangulating where the energy beams have been coming from."
"Sergeant?"
Canno snapped to attention smartly in spite of his fatigue. "We've been observing random firings of a possible particle beam weapon since we made planetfall. I was stationed as security chief at a weapons development lab and what I've observed is consistent with that. We've pinpointed what appears to be the nearest source - a caldera farther west down the mountain range. There seems to be other installations as well but without orbital scans, I couldn't hazard a guess as to their locations."
"I managed to take some new readings from a higher elevation," F'marrl added. "An analysis should confirm our theory."
"I'll get Zeerod to set up his equipment in here immediately," Torie said curtly. "We can work on that tonight and coordinate operations for tomorrow."
"Agreed," Sarigar nodded. "Get some rest, people. We'll move at first light." At his words, the staff meeting broke up. Torie and F'marrl were only gone a brief time to return with Zeerod and his science kit. Kataki followed them in and murmured something quietly to Zora.
"Speaking of light," Zora murmured as she dug through her medkit, "it has just been brrrought to my attention that we need to starrrt a couple of new firrres. Captain, if you would?"
Pushing the hood of her skinsuit back from her face, Jaikira looked up at him ruefully. "I wouldn't watch this if I were you."
Unfortunately, Sarigar was too shocked to look away. What was once a glorious mane of ebon curls was now tattered layers of dull, lifeless locks. As he watched, Zora took a pair of surgical shears and neatly sheared off several more inches.
"Medic Ree!" he exclaimed, finally finding his voice. "What in the hell do you think you're doing?"
"Believe or not, major," Jaikira answered, "this is the only way to get a fire started. The wood here doesn't have enough natural resin to catch fire easily so F'marrl and Zora experimented and found that certain types of hair work well as tinder."
"We have portable heating elements! That was totally unnecessary!"
"Save 'em," Jaikira said curtly as she rose back up. "I'd rather use their power cells to re-charge our weapons. Until we are back on Greelbase, major, we need to conserve all our resources." She turned and left the make-shift sickbay.
Sarigar stared after her for a few moments. This wasn't the Jaikira he knew and loved. He had a feeling that this emergency had stretched her well beyond her limits. The tired look in her eyes spoke more of her mental and emotional exhaustion than mere physical hardships. He frowned and glanced around the room, glowering briefly at the Artemis medic. A thought occurred to him.
"Zora? A word with you, please..."
In the course of tracking down his errant lover, Sarigar made a thorough inspection of the troops sheltered in the cave system. As Torie had observed earlier, the survivors of Hecate and Artemis had held up well enough under these circumstances but even the strongest of them were showing the strain. Nomad had taken over guard duties and it was at the mouth of the cave that he found Jugger Grimrod having a spirited if one-sided conversation with Jez Shivblade.
"I still say that was a bloody fool thing you did, jumpin' out of a tree on that bird thing." He glared at his diminutive companion who merely shrugged with her hands buried deep within her pockets. "Damned ballsy of you but I coulda shot you. We were all aimin' at it!"
A howl rose up out in the snowy night that was answered all over the valley. Jugger flipped up his visor and put a pair of binoculars to his eyes. "Can't see nuthin' in this mess," he complained.
"Adjust it to infrared," Jez suggested in her metallic-sounding voice. "Read the heat signatures." Her willingness to use her hated synthbox suggested that she found it too cold to use sign language.
"Gotcha." He stood perfectly still for a moment and then swore. "Those friggin' things are bigger than a Thracian targ! Are those th' scavengers F'marrl was talkin' about earlier?"
Curious, Sarigar came up behind them. "Jugger," he commanded, "let me see."
"Sure thing, major, but you ain't gonna like it."
He took the proffered binoculars and scanned the frigid landscape, adjusting the settings for Jentekian vision. "Where are they?"
"Treeline," Jez offered. "Canno had the bright idea to mark our territory out there."
Jugger snorted. "Does that mean what I think it means?" When Jez nodded, he made a face. "In this cold? Sounds like one tough rammer."
Ignoring their banter, Sarigar focused on the trees lining the narrow valley. There were flitting images, glowing eerily in the infrared setting. He zoomed in and re-focused on a pack of four-legged hunters, large and muscular as they wove in and out of the trees, casting about for scents and covering them with their own territorial markings. Sarigar grimaced and handed the viewers back to Grimrod. "Formidable creatures," he concluded. "Have they given you much trouble?"
Jez shrugged. "So-so. They did at first but when we killed a few of them, they backed off. That's where Jaikira got that fur cape from."
"Speaking of which, do you know where she's gotten off to?"
Sharing a smirk with Jugger, Jez replied, "Probably gone off to have a wash, major. There's a cavern with a stream running through it, just behind Zora's sickbay." As he moved off, she added, "And major? She needs you."
He heard Jaikira long before he found her. She was kneeling by a clear pool, splashing water on her face. Someone had left a freshly opened field pack and it appeared that more than one person had made use of the hygienic products. She sighed as she looked at her reflection in the water and raked her fingers through her hair in a futile effort to make it more presentable.
"Don't worry about it, darling," Sarigar said as he came further into the cave. "You always look beautiful to me."
"I look like the morning after a weekend bender," Jaikira grumbled. She pulled the thermal blanket back around her shoulders and rose up slowly, slithering carefully around the pool's edge. "Everyone tucked in for the night?"
"Everyone but us." Leading her over to the cave wall, Sarigar lowered himself in a series of loose ovals. "One lap, no waiting," he said with the faintest of smiles. "It's an offer Naja wouldn't pass up."
"Naja has better sense than to be here," Jaikira retorted but she wound her saurian tail along the inner loops of his coils and arranged her blanket to cover them both.
"Have you eaten?" he inquired solicitously as he unzipped his parka. "I have some ration bars. I know how little you like to eat meat."
Jaikira shook her head. "If I eat, I'll get sleepy. If I sleep, who'll take care of things? Besides, we need to conserve our supplies."
"It's a little alarming to hear my words coming out of your mouth." Sarigar took out a ration bar and opened it. "You've done an admirable job, darling, but even I know when to stop and rest. You need to let me take care of you now."
"Gar..." Her tone of voice was resentful but she was so drained emotionally and physically that her eyes had no spark left in them.
"Kira..." Sarigar said reproachfully, breaking the ration bar in half, "I will not have you wasting away on me." He pinched off a bite-sized bit and offered it to her. "Open up or I'm going to pull rank on you."
Sighing, Jaikira opened her mouth dutifully and let him feed her. She chewed thoughtfully for a full minute, savoring the taste, before holding out her hand for the rest. "You know," she commented between bites, "I used to think these things were nasty."
"'Hunger makes the best sauce,'" Sarigar quoted as he watched her devour the field ration. He fingered her uneven hair regretfully and sighed.
"It'll grow back."
"I know."
She laughed. "You should have seen your face, Gar. I don't think you knew whether to cry or to shoot Zora."
He made a disgruntled noise and scowled. "I've been worried about you ever since Gokk sent us after the Prometheus. We had no idea if you were on the ship or not because K'thok couldn't confirm if Artemis had made it to its assignment. You're missing a civil war wherever it was that you were going."
"Damn, and we had front row seats for that too."
"That's another thing we have to talk about," Sarigar said severely. "When did Artemis get approved for combat missions? I thought you were strictly covert intelligence."
"We've been approved for combat for ages, dear, you know that." Jaikira yawned, turning her head away from him and covering her mouth delicately. "K'thok wanted us to have the battle experience and frankly I need it if I want to be promoted. Intelligence operatives have to be able to function in any situation and it doesn't look good if I keep getting pigeonholed into the same assignments all the time."
"Hmmph." He bit back his opinion on that because Jaikira had taken that moment to lay her head on his left shoulder. She half-sighed, half-yawned as she relaxed in his arms.
"I'm so glad you're here, Gar." Her eyelids seemed heavy.
Sweeping the wayward wisps of hair away, he kissed her forehead. "I will always be there when you need me, Kira -- never doubt that."
"I love you." She gave a wan smile. "I don't ever seem to say that enough." Her voice was faint and child-like.
"You don't have to, darling. I know." He waited as her breathing slowed and her body sank into the nest of their looped coils. Zora crept in on silent feet and carefully did a quick scan. Sarigar asked quietly, "Is she all right? She went down awfully fast."
"She'll be fine," the Artemis medic whispered back. "She's rrrefused to rrrest since we made planetfall."
"Well, she'll rest now," Sarigar said firmly. "How long will the sedative last?"
"I only injected that ration barrr with a small dose -- six to eight hourrrs maybe." Zora tucked the thermal blanket snugly around Jaikira. "That was good thinking. I doubt anyone else would have gotten herrr to rrrelax enough for it to worrrk."
Sarigar nodded. "I'll stay with her for a while. Find someone to take my place -- no point wasting a warm spot. I'll want to take a patrol out to check that gun embankment before sunup." He shifted her around to a more comfortable position after Zora left and leaned back against the wall.
The weight of her body leaning against him made the object in his inside pocket grate against his chestplate. Smiling to himself, Sarigar took the soft pouch out of his jacket and carefully placed the ornament on Jaikira's left wrist.
"I wish you could see how good this looks on you, darling," he murmured into her hair. "When we get out of here, I'll do it right, you'll see." He sighed. "Until then, I'll guard your dreams."
An insistent hand on his shoulder shook Sarigar awake. He hadn't been aware of dozing off but apparently he had with Jaikira curled up in his arms. Jez Shivblade was kneeling besides him, her jet black eyes nearly invisible in the dim torchlight. She gestured, using simple Legion sign language.
"It's only been a few hours," she commented, "but the computer's turned up some new data. They want you to see it."
"All right," Sarigar answered softly. "Are you taking my place?" When she nodded, he began the arduous process of unwinding himself from Jaikira and lifting her up so Jez could slip into the warm spot he'd left behind. The tiny Thracian nodded at him before closing her eyes and burrowing deep within her over-sized coat, Jaikira's head cradled in her lap.
There was a small crowd huddled around Zeerod's field computer. Lt. Morraine had control of the keyboard and was conferring with F'marrl and Zeerod. Torie Montroc noticed Sarigar's arrival and saluted.
"Major, we've got something," Torie said in a quiet yet urgent voice. "Zeerod had Sgt. Buruke and his men set up a satellite dish and we managed to uplink to the computers on the Piecemaker."
"What do you have?" Sarigar asked briskly.
"As near as we can ascertain," F'marrl said didactically, "what we've discovered appears to be a new kind of weapon -- a pulse cannon battery working in tandem from more than one location. There are actually three guns on the planet -- but they are not yet all functional."
"Can the Piecemaker confirm this?"
"Yes," Torie answered. "Arrick has more -- his group encountered a Harkilon shuttle in the asteroid field. He chose to track them and they led him to a hidden satellite. It's perfectly positioned to receive the photonic emissions from the planetary guns and re-focus them. The Harks can re-direct the beams in any direction."
"The Legion weapons division has been working on something like this for a while," Zeerod said in soft, serious tones. "I had a word with Sgt. Buruke and he agrees. If these guns can be focused on that satellite concealed in the asteroid belt, all the guns will form one big mega planet killer capable of reaching the space lanes and destroying everything in its path."
Sarigar was silent for a moment as he absorbed the information. "Where's the Piecemaker now?"
"It's keeping a geosynchronous orbit over the planet," Torie answered, "and staying out of targeting range. The ship's captain doesn't want to end up like the Prometheus."
"Lt. Morraine has been running a computer simulation," F'marrl commented, "and we've determined that we'll need to do take out at least two of the components of the weapons array, preferably the satellite and at least one of the gun placements."
"How's the weather?"
"Still snowing," Torie reported, "but orbital scans show a more severe storm system approaching from the west. We'll have a few hours before it gets here but after that, the shuttles will be grounded. If we're going to act on this, we'll need to do it as soon as possible."
"I agree," Sarigar nodded as he consulted the chronounit on his gauntlet. "Put together an assault group. F'marrl, you work with Torie. Nomad will spearhead the assault but I'll want those members of Artemis and Hecate that have had the most experience in these mountains to go with us. Torie, have the Piecemaker send down a transport to start evacuations. We'll leave Meico in charge of the base camp."
"Arrick says that he has enough personnel to tackle the satellite," Torie added. "I'll have him move into position now."
"Do it."
"Major." F'marrl unfurled her crest and looked at him sternly. "Will Captain Jaikira be going with us?"
"No, Jaikira is currently incapacitated. You will take field command of Artemis during the assault."
She clicked her beak disapprovingly. "Is that wise? When she awakens and finds you've left her behind-"
"That will be a matter between her and me, F'marrl," Sarigar snapped back. He took a deep breath and moderated his tone. "You know as well as I do that Kira's mentally and physically exhausted. I won't take her or any other officer into combat in that condition."
Giving him a long, unblinking stare, F'marrl finally said, "Then I will consider that a command decision, major." She saluted and disappeared into the caves.
"You'd better hope that Jaikira thinks that as well," Zeerod muttered under his breath, "but I'd do the same if I were in your place."
Sarigar didn't waste time agreeing with him. "Leave the computer here, Zeerod. I'll need to you to pilot the shuttle. Lt. Morraine," he said sharply to the Hecate officer, "I want you maintain contact between the attack groups. Timing will be critical. Can you do it?"
The grey-skinned woman nodded eagerly, anxious to be useful in spite of her injuries. "Yes, sir!"
"Zeerod, make sure she has everything she needs." Sarigar turned to find Meico entering the makeshift sick bay. "Has Torie filled you in?" he asked the pink-skinned medic.
"Indeed he has," Meico replied blandly. "Preparations for evacuations immediately I will begin. To Zora Ree, I have spoken." He lowered his voice. "Orders for Captain Jaikira do you have? In a few hours her sedation will wear off."
"Have her assist you in the evacuation," Sarigar said curtly. "On no terms is she to follow us up to the gun embankments. She stays here, that's an order."
Meico raised his eyelids skeptically but merely replied, "Your orders I will convey, major. Good hunting."
She had this dream before. It was the night before they'd left Greelbase and she was wrapped up in his arms. They had ended up in her quarters after a lovely evening out, tangled together beneath the sheets. So warm, so deliciously warm - she wanted to bask in his coils forever. He was being unusually affectionate so she knew she'd passed another test in their courtship, not that they ever intentionally set challenges for each other.
"So," she said softly, "wasn't it convenient that the university would send your sister to present the findings on Warworld?"
"Quite ironic," he answered smugly, kissing the top of her head. "She likes you, I can tell."
"Gar," she said reproachfully, "what are you up to?"
"Me? I'm not up to anything." He lifted the sheet and peeked under, flicking his eyes back to hers in a show of dry wit. "You took care of that, darling."
She sighed dramatically, but inwardly she knew he was plotting some grand romantic gesture. Smiling, she set her head against his chest and let his heartbeat lull her to sleep.
Sharp footsteps in the corridor finally pierced the dull fog that filled her head. Jaikira groaned and fought her way out of the pile of furs and blankets that surrounded her. Her elbow hit something in the pile that grunted in pain. A disgruntled green face surfaced.
"What a mess," Jez grumbled, her synthbox whining slightly. "I told Sanna that they could pile the dry furs in here, not to bury us in them."
"When did that happen?" Jaikira looked around. "Where's Gar?"
"Don't know," her aide answered truthfully. "F'marrl and the geek squad had some data to show him. He had me take his spot."
"Why wasn't I in on that?" Jaikira muttered indignantly. "How long have I been out?" She began the arduous task of freeing herself from their furry nest. A flash of red caught her eye and she froze, staring at the intricately carved bracelet on her left wrist. The clear red stone was offset in antique gold, awaiting the finishing touch of the wedding band to complete the setting. The inscription was in the old form, sinuous pictographs recording Sarigar's family lineage and praising their achievements. The meticulous craftsmanship and the sheer age of it took her breath away.
"Why would he leave this?" she asked herself in a small voice. In the same instance, her eyes widened with realization and she snapped out, "Where's the major?"
Nomad's pink-skinned medic stuck his head out of the sick bay. "Captain Jaikira?" Meico called out. "Awake at last, you are? Feeling better, you are?"
"Meico, where is he?"
"Major Sarigar?" Meico took out his scanner and began to run it over her. "Orders for you he left, captain. Just a moment, please, your condition I must check." He sat her down firmly on the top of a crate and checked his readings. "Most insistent Zora Ree was that this should be done."
Irritably, Jaikira forced herself to sit still while Meico examined her. She glanced around the room and noted that most of the wounded had been moved out. Fresh-looking storage crates dotted the room. A crude desk had been constructed for Lt. Morraine who was sitting up at a field computer and listening intently to a comset on her head. She flicked her eyes back to Meico.
"We're evacuating, aren't we?"
"Overseeing evac I am," Meico answered. "The first shuttleload to the Piecemaker being loaded it is. Your orders from the major are to assist me in this endeavor."
"Where is he?" Jaikira ground out. "Don't make me ask again."
"If you mean Major Sarigar," Morraine said helpfully, "he's downrange at the gun embankment."
"What?" Jaikira batted away three of Meico's hands and went across the room. "Why'd he leave without me?"
"I'm not sure," Morraine answered slowly, "but you were unconscious when the assault teams left." She paused and lifted a hand to her earpiece, listening intently. "I copy that, Nomad. Piecemaker confirms that Lt. Arrick's section has taken over the satellite. They're setting demolition charges now."
"The extra evac shuttles," Meico interrupted, "Left the ship, have they?"
Morraine relayed his request and shook her head. "Not yet. One of the other guns took at a pot shot at the Piecemaker. They're moving out of range until the assault teams take out the ground placements."
Jaikira came around so she could look at the monitor. "What's Nomad's status?"
"They're spearheading the attack here on the summit," Morraine said, pointing to the screen. "F'marrl and Canno are flanking them with Artemis and Hecate."
"What's this?" Jaikira asked, tapping a cluster of lights coming in from the east.
"I don't know." Morraine frowned and tapped in a set of commands. A separate window dropped down with a high altitude scan. "That's not one of ours -- the trajectory suggests an incoming party from one of the other gun placements."
"Hail the assault force," Jaikira snapped out. "Give 'em the heads up."
"Base to Nomad, base to Nomad, come in?" Morraine listened for a minute and then repeated. She shook her head. "I'm getting static, captain. They're not receiving. I'm starting to pick up active photonic emissions." Her hands flew over the keyboard. "I think they must be charging the gun."
"Meico, how many able-bodied Legionnaires are still here in camp?"
"Captain, your orders clear they were," Meico began warningly, "Most specific Major Sarigar was." He gave her a stern look, turning his bulbous eyes into foreboding slits.
"Not many," Morraine answered, unaware of Jaikira's personal situation. "They took two full squads. We've got mostly walking wounded and sentries here. If we're lucky, we might scrape together a section, but not enough for a full squad."
"Right." Jaikira turned on her tail and headed out into the corridor. "Jez! Sanna! Commandeer that shuttle and scramble a team to go with me. We need ordinance, armor, anything you can scrounge."
"Captain!" Meico hurried after her, raising his voice more forcefully. "Our orders we have! Disobey them you must not!"
"Things change," Jaikira said grimly as she picked up a plasma rifle and did a fast systems check. "I'll be damned if I let my fiancé get killed before he has a chance to propose to me."
"Major!" Torie's voice crackled over the comunit. "There's an increase of enemy activity on the southern rim of the facility!"
"Hostile?" Sarigar snapped out as he fired a volley of shots into a crowd of oncoming Harkilons. They had caught the gun embankments unaware at dawn but the Harkilons were proving to be more numerous than they had anticipated.
"There's warriors providing cover fire but I'm guessing that the core group is primarily technicians and scientists. They appear to be trying to get into that bunker at the foot of the photon accelerator."
"Have you set your demolition charges?"
"Grimrod and the Iks are setting the last of them now," Torie replied. "Give us ten microns to clear the area and we can blow the supports on this side."
"You have five, captain." Sarigar ducked back down behind the shattered wall that they were using for cover and glanced at Zeerod. "Anything from Artemis and Hecate?"
"F'marrl's team planted their charges and has gone up to reinforce Hecate. Sgt. Buruke ran into some opposition in what appears to be a supply depot." Zeerod frowned as he fiddled with the device in his hand. "Major, I've lost contact with the camp -- some sort of atmospheric disturbance perhaps. Odd -- I'll try to boost the signal."
"Belay that." Sarigar grimaced as he lay down a spray of cover fire for his demolition team. "They may be trying to power the gun up again. We need to blow this thing now!"
Taking up a hel-gun in both hands, Zeerod joined him. "Right, major!! C'mon, lads," he bellowed at the other Legionnaires nearby. "Let's show these cold-hearted bastards what we're made of!"
"Major!!" F'marrl's high, fluting voice pierced through the static on the comunits. "We have a visual on Hark gunships coming from the east! Repeat, enemy is airborne!"
"Damn!" Sarigar swore under his breath. "Demolition squads, we need to blow the supports now! Report!"
"We're set here," Torie called in. "Pulling the troops back now!"
"Visual on Hark gunships here," Canno Buruke barked out, his words punctuated with rapid pulse bursts. "They'll be within long distance firing range within two microns."
F'marrl burst in. "We're pinned down in the northeast quadrant. The energy readings are rising. Major, set off the charges! We'll take our chances!"
"Not if I can help it," Jaikira's voice came over the comlink. "Jez, intercept course. Sanna, aft guns! Artemis two, get ready!"
Soaring down from a high-altitude flight path, a Legion shuttle slingshot around the area of engagement, strafing the enemy that was keeping Artemis and Hecate pinned down. It pivoted on a wingtip for a second attack and shot away to the east at breakneck speed.
"Kira..." Sarigar muttered under his breath. "She must have woken up before Meico could get her on the transport." He shook off his irritation and raised his voice. "F'marrl! Get your people clear! Detonation in one micron from now... mark!"
A series of explosions over the eastern horizon caught their attention. Zeerod whistled through his teeth as he checked his long-range scanner. "Artemis one has engaged the enemy. They just took out two of the Harkilon's lead ships."
Sarigar forced himself to concentrate on the task at hand, his eyes firmly on his chronounit. He couldn't afford to divert any of his attention from the mission, not even out of love for Jaikira.
"All clear, major!" F'marrl called. "We've pulled back with Hecate!"
"All teams, detonate!" Sarigar snapped. "Blow it now!"
For a few sectons, the ice-covered mountainside became an inferno of light and heat and sound. Snow and smoke swirled around them, obscuring their vision but not Zeerod's cybernetic eye. "Like rats leaving a sinking ship!" the old warrior crowed, drawing his weapon and firing into the mists. "Harks coming at us, major!"
"Legionnaires, form up! Let's clean up this mess so we can get off this planet!" Sarigar stood up shoulder-to-shoulder with Zeerod and fired with him until he could see the Harkilons for himself. "Contact the Prometheus," he ordered, "and tell them it's safe to destroy the other gun sites from orbit."
"Right you are, major!"
"Artemis one to Artemis two," Jaikira called over the open com-line. "Status?"
F'marrl answered less than a secton later. "All accounted for, captain. Standing by."
"We've got four --" There was a thudding boom over the comunit. "--Make that three Harkie gunships on our tail. Can you give them a warm reception?"
Canno Buruke came on the line. "Hecate here," he said briskly. "I liberated some plasma mortars out of the supply dump. Run 'em back this way, captain, and we'll take care of it."
"Get ready," Jaikira said urgently, "because we'll be there in two. Jez! Evasive maneuvers!" Her voice rose in a frantic crescendo accented by the high-pitched whine of an engine under stress.
"Bloody hell!" Zeerod swore as he stood at Sarigar's side. His cybernetic eye whirred as it focused in on the fight overhead. "I sometimes wonder if all Thracians are inherently reckless. Just look at the way Shivblade is piloting that ship!"
"I'll take your word for it," Sarigar said gruffly as he mowed down a number of Harks coming out of the blast field. "Montroc, status?"
"Southern perimeter secured, sir. We have some Harkilon technicians in custody."
"Take the prisoners to the shuttle with a security detail," Sarigar ordered, "and send the rest out in three man sweeps to take out any pockets of resistance. I'll want to evac out of here as soon as the site's secure." A boom from above caught his attention and he looked without thinking. As nimbly as a goshawk, Jez Shivblade was threading their shuttle through the explosions and leading the Harkilon gunships hot on their tail directly into the mortar barrage. One enemy ship was spiraling away, leaving a dark smoke trail from its port engines.
"Artemis one!" F'marrl called out. "Crossfire on your right!"
The avian officer was correct - the Harkilons had decided to make the best of a hopeless situation and were trying to trap Jaikira's ship between them. Jez was using all her tricks to evade them but the enemy was gaining on them.
"Tonk!" Sarigar barked out. "Are those Hark gunships in firing range of your cannon?"
"I god it, major!" Tonk exclaimed in his guttural voice and put action to words as he fired his light cannon at one of the Harks ships as it swooped low beneath the Legion shuttle. The massive gun took out the starboard nacelle and sent it crashing into the mountainside. The remaining ship turned tail and ran, heading skyward.
"Piecemaker, you've got a Harkilon gunship coming your way," Sarigar called. "Don't let it get away!"
"Lt. Arrick's shuttle is moving to intercept it now, sir!"
Sarigar took a deep breath as he watched Jaikira's shuttle circling the battle zone. "Artemis one," he began sternly, "you will return to base camp and begin evacuating as originally ordered. We will mop up here and wait for retrieval."
"Major!" Zeerod chided softly, shaking his head disapprovingly at Sarigar's behavior.
"Jaikira?" Sarigar continued in a softer tone. "We'll talk about this later. You help Meico pack up and I'll see you on the ship."
A heavy sigh came over the comunit. "Very well, major. Jaikira out." The shuttle swung back to the east and headed back the way they had come.
"I know she meant well," he said without looking at Zeerod, "but damn it, her instincts make her too reckless. I can't have her distracting me like that!"
"Well, ordinarily Artemis and Nomad wouldn't be in combat together," Zeerod observed. "There was nothing you could do about this situation, sir, but I think her intentions were admirable. If she hadn't been airborne, Artemis and Hecate would have been mowed down."
"Maybe," Sarigar replied, "but there is something I can do to keep it from happening again."
With a face black as thunder, Sarigar stormed through the corridors of the ship, flicking his tail irritably. Jaikira had gone in with the first evac shuttle, beating him to the Piecemaker but fortunately she couldn't evade medical protocol. The computer located her in the communal showers just outside sick bay where the members of the shipwrecked squads were finishing up their decontam procedures. He passed by some of the towel clad legionnaires from Artemis, barely noting their startled looks.
F'marrl was just outside the showers, ticking names off her compupad as people filed by her. Her feathered crest rose alarmingly as he approached. "Major!" she called. "It will be just a few microns yet, sir, if you're looking for Jaikira. She was the last in and she's not quite finished yet."
"Good," he answered curtly and brushed by her.
"Major! You can't go--"
Clouds of steam billowed around him as Sarigar slipped and slid on the damp tiles. He paused for a moment to slow down and to center himself. He had been absolutely livid with the risks Jaikira had taken and her audacity to ignore his orders when all he had wanted was to insure her safety. The long shuttle ride back to the ship had done nothing to improve his temper. He cast his eyes around discreetly to find and locate her but typically it was her voice that led him to her.
She was near the back of the room, crooning softly as she often did while bathing, with her eyes closed and her head tilted back in the spray to rinse her hair. It was evident that she'd lost weight by the sharp definition of her rib cage and the sunken shadows of her torso as she stretched back -- too much, in Sarigar's estimation. Jaikira had always had a toned, athletic body and now she was almost too thin. He frowned sternly at the distraction and reminded himself to stick to his original purpose.
"Captain Jaikira."
Jaikira ran her hands over her face before opening her eyes. "Major Sarigar," she responded, returning his frown crossly. "This is supposed to be a females only shower. What the hell are you doing in here?"
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't put you on report," he began. "I just finished speaking with Meico. You deliberately defied my orders and commandeered that shuttle when you should have been evacuating the wounded to the Piecemaker. What were you thinking?"
She crossed her arms over her chest, covering her breasts. "Command decision. Morraine spotted those gunships on long range scans and we couldn't raise you on the comlink. There was no way to contact you. We had to act." Sticking out her chin defiantly, she continued. "Besides, you deliberately left me behind!"
"Protocol, captain."
"Ram that, major! Protocol had nothing to do with it and you know it!" Jaikira said hotly. "You could have been killed! If I hadn't backed you up with air support, there's no telling what could have happened."
"If I hadn't had you sedated, you wouldn't have recovered your strength to even do that." Sarigar's nostrils flared. "I couldn't take you into battle, Kira, not in that condition!"
"What did it matter? You were pinned down and outgunned!" Her mouth twisted. "Damn it, Gar, I could have lost you!"
"And I could have lost you!"
They stood there motionless for a few moments, just glaring at each other. Sarigar knew that rules said he had to put her on report for disobeying orders, insubordination, and any of a number of violations. His heart was torn between being proud at her daring to come to his aid and furious that she'd defied him to put herself in danger. The old fire was back in her eyes and in spite of everything, he couldn't help loving her.
"Oh, why do I bother arguing with you? I suppose you want this thing back now." Jaikira sighed bitterly as she fumbled with the clasp of the bracelet she was still wearing. "Let's face it, Gar. I'm nothing but trouble." His hand covered hers and she looked up, startled to see him standing in the shower with her.
"Trouble doesn't scare me," Sarigar replied, "but living without you does. I hated leaving you at the base camp because I had to do it. I needed to know that you were safe." He turned her hand over. "When I learned the Prometheus was missing, I thought I'd never get to put this betrothal bracelet on your wrist."
Biting her lip, Jaikira observed, "Gar, do you know how ridiculous this looks? You're still wearing your armor and all I've got on is this bracelet." The corners of her mouth quirked up.
"Which has been worn ten generations of brides in my family," Sarigar continued, seemingly oblivious to their surroundings. "Say you'll marry me, Kira. Be my bride." He blew a wet strand of hair out of his face and began to smile ruefully at her. "Only you could make me do something like this."
"Are you sure?"
"I'll be up for early retirement in five more cycles and for the first time, I've been thinking about a life beyond the Legion." He folded her hands against his chestplate. "Share that life with me, Kira. Marry me."
Jaikira reached out and popped the side closures on his chest plate. "This has definitely got to go," she said softly.
"Why?" he asked while unconsciously aiding her in her task by pulling his armor off and tossing it out in the aisle between the showers with a clatter. She answered him by seizing his face in her hands and pulling him to her for a kiss. Her body was warm and wet and well worth gathering into his arms.
"I won't promise to obey you," she murmured with a hint of a smile as she unbuckled his weapons belt. "But I'll back you up in any firefight."
"And I will always come to your rescue," he answered. Her hands were tugging at the fasteners on the back of his skinsuit. "Is this a yes?" He undid his gauntlets and tossed them aside with his elbow pads.
"You know very well if I answer, we have to stay celibate until the wedding," Jaikira said mischievously as she helped him remove his skinsuit and wound her coils around him. "Gar, I really, really need this more right now." She writhed against him sensuously, leaving no doubt as to her intentions.
"Yes," he said simply, understanding her need to reaffirm her own mortality in spontaneous passion. It was an urge that he was feeling strongly himself and it superseded any other trivial concerns. "This is insane," he murmured into her mouth. "We should go to my quarters."
"Maybe later," she whispered back, "after I've given you my answer."
To be continued in Part XVI: "The Wedding"
