CHAPTER FIFTEEN

-TIGELLA-

On the hill side outside, the hot raging sun couldn't calm what was going on deep beneath the alien ruins. On their escape, Anya tripped over a rock and went flying to the ground. Kymola was at the ships ramp, he saw Travis looking back to the fallen girl, "leave her, we have to get out of here Travis!"

Travis ignored him and went back and lifted her into his arms and made a run for it up the cargo carriers open ramp, behind them the ancient ruin was a vortex that was sucking into it's self.

At the flight controls, Travis managed to lift the ship off the planet. Kymola leaned back in his leather seat as Tigella disappeared from the monitors.

"We unleashed something deadly on that planet...unearthly...", he glanced at the space commander, "...you were right about one thing Travis, some things are sealed up for a good reason"

Travis switched the flight controls to auto and looked at him, "you would have had me leave Anya to her fate"

Kymola shook his head, "better her than me when death is chasing us Travis"

Before seething Travis could drag him out of that seat by the lapels, there was a hailing from the communicator sensors. Kymola homed in and checked. Travis could already see the three Federation pursuit ships on the monitors, Kymola looked up to him, "they are requesting our licence clearance code"

Travis went forward and shoved Kymola to the communicator receiver, "then you better get back to them, haven't you"

Kymola protested, "but I don't know how to activate them"

Getting really concerned, Anya came forward and tugged at Travis's arm, "we better react quickly or they are going to get mighty suspicious"

Travis agreed and shoved Kymola out of the way and tapped in a code on the display bank.

At his shoulder, Anya watched as the light turned green and smiled, "you've done it, the code has been accepted"

He looked up to her, "It's an old code, lets just hope it carry's through"

Kymola sat back in his seat, "So where now? Where do we go?"

Travis shot a glare at him and pulled him out of his seat, "'we' aren't going anywhere...the next planet we come to, I'm throwing you off!"

"But you can't! It's you two who are the wanted criminals, not me", he protested trying to keep out of Travis's way.

Travis went to belt him one but Anya got in between them, and stopped him by placing a hand on his chest, he gave her a questioning look,

"He's right Travis...he maybe our only cover"

Travis shook his head then smirked at the boy, "Then we will use him"

"And when I am of no further use?"

"Then you will be of no use..."

Travis sat back down at the flight controls. He piloted the freighter across the constellations and approached the planet Karma VII.

Kymola scrutinised it through the monitor and said, "you will not find much down there Space Commander, it's nothing more than a dust-ball frontier world with nothing going for it"

Anya disagreed, "No you're wrong...Largo had contacts there...it's somewhere we can hide out until the dust settles at least"

Travis was in agreement too and was as practical as ever, "I agree, and we need to dump this freighter too, just in case those licence codes were suspect"

Kymola swung around in his chair and laughed, "I bet you never thought that you and Blake would have something in common, running from the administration I mean"

Anya was too slow to defuse Travis this time as he leapt forward and snatched Kymola up by the lapels of his shirt, "Why don't you just shut your mouth you worm"

"Travis no", cried Anya stepping in. Travis looked at her then throw the young man back onto the seat, "It's laughable, a woman has to come to your defence every time boy, you're pathetic", he gritted.

Kymola recovered and turned in his chair to face the controls where he spotted something flashing on the dash that had gone on unnoticed by Travis or Anya, he smiled...

XXX

Trailing at a safe distance behind, the three Federation pursuit ships cruised along. Inside the lead craft, Space Commander Zain stood up and looked down to his pilot, "stay this far out...it seems to be heading to Karma VII"

"Yes sir"

"Their code entry was out of date...and now we are receiving a distress call from it", Zain brushed a hand over his mouth and sat down in his command seat behind the pilots, "these factors have aroused my interest...what is going on?"

The pilot turned around, "you still wish to pursue sir?"

Zain nodded, "Yes, as soon as we get to the bottom of this the better"

XXX

Aboard the freighter, Travis sat back in the chair and was in deep thought, Anya was at the terminal scrolling down a set of files, "This Yoshiba man was quite an academic...his position was well known on Earth"

Travis nodded not looking at her, "What good has that got him with letting one of his discoveries engulf him"

Anya had to agree with that and logged off the system. She stood and approached Travis in the chair, "So...where do we go from here?"

Travis looked up at her with a playful grin, "I can think of a few places...it's more of how to pass away the time until we get there"

Anya knew what he was thinking, "You're a married man"

Travis leapt up pulled her to him on the chair, "and ?", he teased locked in her gaze.

Anya moved and placed her lips on his and he returned the kiss.

Kymola looked around and made sure they were too busy in each other to bother about what he was up to. He went to the communications dash and fed in the information via encryption code. It read; -reporting the whereabouts of Space Commander Travis and Anya Lecrall-

XXX

Space Commander Zain received the information his end, "Anya's mugshot was appearing on his monitor, "So this is the one linked in with the Terra Nostra...the price on her head is worth a bounty I'd say"

The pilot looked at him, "And Travis?"

Zain sat back and smiled, "The administration will be very interested in his whereabouts - while Travis lays low and rots on Karma VII thinking he is safe from the authorities, he should think again, because his troubles are just about to get started..."