A Warrior's Return (19 page)

Ellanara paused for a moment and looked back
at her screens, “That is something of a mystery. When our ancestors
returned to Earth one of their primary objectives was to reclaim
possession of the bar-Seth and use it to turn the tide of the war
that they had lost in the galaxy that they had settled in after
leaving Earth. But when they got here the bar-Seth was already
gone. The log entries show that there was one link in occurrence by
a single individual several years before the main contingent of our
ancestors returned to Earth. The bar-Seth’s shield was able to
protect the ship for the majority of the flood and when it failed
the ship only received minor damage. After making minimal repairs
the bar-Seth was launched on its maiden voyage and left the
facility leaving no indication of where it went. However it did not
leave Earth, because no vortex travel beam was initiated. Over a
week later an individual reentered the facility and linked out
purposefully destroying the ability to link out of this facility
ever again.”

Talaric glanced from the empty hanger bay
and back to Ellanara. “You think it was Tadias don’t you?”

Roric nodded slightly, “It fits with what we
know of him. Not finding the bar-Seth here left our ancestors with
no chance of returning to the fight, causing them to have to seek
out another way, which is how our world came to be what it is
today.”

Talaric nodded his head seeming to agree
with what his father had just said. He glanced at his sister with a
furrowed brow.

“I have a question. I also learned that
Tadias was here before our ancestors left Earth the first time.
Then there’s how long our ancestors were in a different galaxy
before settling on our world, where he was reported to have lived
at least another two hundred years. That would make him
unbelievably old wouldn’t it?”

Ellanara’s expressive eyes flickered
downward for a moment, as if she knew something more than she
wanted to talk about.

Somewhat cautiously she volunteered, “He
wasn’t technically alive in the traditional sense for long
stretches of time, several times throughout the course of his life
through a process called stasis.”

“How is that possible?”

“It is.” Her expression said that was all
she was willing to say.

Talaric glanced from her to the empty hanger
bay beyond the control room, “So we have a huge spaceship, which is
also the weapon we need, hidden somewhere on Earth, presumably by
our great ancestor, with no perceivable way to get back to our
world or protect it from invasion. That’s a problem!”

Sparky looked, as if he was about to say
something, when he was abruptly cut off by Titus, whose out of
breath voice from the doorway behind us boomed out loudly. He had
at some point left unnoticed by the rest of us. He was sweating
profusely and clearly out of breath.

“That ain’t the only problem boss! You got a
whole mess of un-cool types descending into this place like ticks
on a hound dog!”

“How did they find us?” Katie exploded out
with.

“Doesn’t matter right now! Katie, you, Titus
and I will try to hold them off for a while. Sparky you help
Ellanara in any way you can. Ellanara we can’t let them have this
place! It still holds far too much information!” Talaric said
roughly.

“Way ahead of you brother! See this diagram
it’s the best way out of here.”

“I see it! We’ll rendezvous with you
there!”

“You won’t have much time after I start the
ball rolling!” Ellanara finished loudly, as Talaric headed for the
door.

I started to follow, but Talaric gestured me
back, “You stay here Eva and help protect my family!” And then he
was gone.

I looked at the empty doorway in utter
frustration at being left behind when I so badly wanted to help. I
choked the bitter emotion of self worthlessness down and turned to
glance at the schematics shown on one of the screens before turning
to the four men and Talaric’s parents, “This way.” I said pointing
down the long hallway different from the way we had come.

I had a picture graphic memory and I knew
the way by heart already in my mind. I’d see them safely started on
the way and then I was coming back whether macho boy liked it or
not!

Eleanor looked away from the book she was
reading for a second and listened. Nothing, but she wasn’t deceived
by the lack of auditory feedback. One didn’t always have to hear a
threat, in order to sense it. She pulled a few books together and
grabbed an item off the crate beside her and got to her feet and
hobbled outside with the use of her makeshift crutch.

Raffi was attempting to read a book,
probably because he’d seen her doing it during a lot of her spare
time. A smile touched her lips. She knew the little boy idolized
her and it felt nice to be held in such high regard by someone,
even if he was only five. She approached him and arched one
expressive eyebrow high and gave him a conspiratorial wink,

“So tell me young man, have you ever been to
the seaside?”

“Just when you picked us up with the
plane.”

“Well then, since you weren’t there very
long you probably didn’t get a chance to build a sand castle or go
snorkeling did you?”

The little boy just shook his head, his eyes
big.

“Well then, it’s time to rectify the
situation. As you can see we have plenty of sand for castle
construction. Now where do you think we can collect the briny old
salt water from? Oh well, we’ll have to do a bit of make-believe on
that one. Well, come along then, I have a game for you to play and
if you win it, I can guarantee that it will go a very long way into
making you an exemplary flight pilot such as myself one day.
Naturally that won’t be easy, but I think you’re just the man to
give it his best shot!”

Rafael practically bounced up and down in
excitement at the game she was offering.

“Oh Raffi would you drag that crate along?
There’s a good chap, should be just the right size.”

Titus hadn’t been kidding Talaric had to
admit. There were hard cases dropping down all over the place from
the surface. Talaric threw a grenade around a corner and waited a
second for it to go off, with its accompanying screams of
death.

Darting around the corner he searched the
dead bodies for any sign of who was behind this. He found some
papers, to only moments later have to throw himself over backward
with them clutched in his hand, as automatic gunfire riddled the
place he’d just been. He ducked back around the corner to deliver
several short bursts from his assault rifle.

He had the satisfaction of seeing several of
the enemy drop. He ducked back around the corner and headed down an
interconnecting hallway just as a grenade landed in front of his
old position.

Titus didn’t know small. He wasn’t small and
the guns he used weren’t small. The custom-made cartridge wheel
shotgun he carried in his arms would have served just as well as
the gun mount of an armored personnel carrier and if that wasn’t
enough the high caliber custom fifty machine gun slung to his back,
which came equipped with the strung out cartridge belts on demand,
would.

If he aimed it right he could take out a
tank with the explosive tipped rounds, but he rarely aimed as the
general mass effect of his weapons was usually enough to get the
job done.

“By gum, where do you spider monkeys keep
popping up from?” He exclaimed, as he blew several more to kingdom
come with blasts from the canon in his hands.

Coming to an overlook he saw where a group
of thirty or more of the enemy were repelling down from a crack in
the ceiling above.

“Oh no they ain’t!” Titus said
emphatically.

He set the shotgun canon down to lean
against a railing. Small caliber bullets sprayed all around him
from those in the act of repelling downward and from some who had
already reached the ground plain. Reaching behind him Titus
unsnapped the fifty caliber and let it swing around in front of
him.

“You want to make something of it spider
boys, well you got it! Martha’s gonna sing now!” And that was all
that could be heard for several loud percussion filled seconds.

Nothing moved in the space beyond when his
finger relaxed off the trigger.

“That’ll teach’em!”

Two double doors burst open on the far side
of the space and fifteen more black clad fighters spilled out with
guns blazing.

“Lord have mercy they was born plum ignorant
they was!” Titus said, as the big fifty named Martha began to sing
again.

Ellanara’s voice was calm, as she instructed
Sparky what to do, even as she typed on two separate keypads and
glanced between her two screens over to Sparky’s repeatedly.

Beads of sweat broke out on Sparky’s brow,
as he played catch-up both technologically and linguistically
speaking.

“My dear allow me to say that I have never
in all my years met someone whose skill level proficiency makes me
appear, as if I was a bumbling schoolboy still unable to spell my
own name!”

A smile ghosted across Ellanara’s face
briefly, “Don’t feel bad about it, this is all I ever do.”

“Blow stuff up?”

“No, learn.”

“Learning? I daresay you have more to teach
than you have left to learn my dear!”

Ellanara’s fast-moving fingers never stopped
as she glanced briefly at Sparky, he caught her glimpse at him and
looked into her eyes as she said, “If you only knew Sparky!”

Sparky swallowed slightly and quickly
refocused on his work, as he couldn’t redirect attention from the
focus of his work like she could and still be productive.

I pointed down the last hallway.

“There is an entrance to the surface at the
end of the hall. Wait there for us. I turned to go, but Talaric’s
father’s fingers closed firmly around my upper arm halting any
movement on my part.

“Krista go along with the men. I’ll join you
there in a bit!”

Talaric’s mother leaned up and very
possessively kissed him on the lips before heading down the hall
with her bodyguards. Roric’s eyes came back to me, after lingering
worriedly on the departing woman for a long moment.

We could both hear the sound of distant
heavy gunfire echoing up the long hallway we had just come
through.

A glint of humor returned to Roric’s eyes,
“You didn’t think I was going to let you go back alone did you?
What would I do without someone to protect me?”

I couldn’t help the grin that popped onto my
face at the absurdity that someone like him would ever need
protecting by the likes of me.

“Eva’s the name isn’t it I believe?” He
asked enquiringly.

I nodded, wondering what he’d ask next.

“Pleased to meet you Eva.”

He pointed to the shotgun in my hand, “Do
you mind if I borrow that?”

I tossed it to him and the cartridge belt
that went along with it and then we were both running back down the
way we had just come. I rather liked what I had seen of Talaric’s
parents so far. Would they like me?

Titus was bent over his shotgun trying to
spring the jammed up mechanism free, when he felt the barrel of a
heavy pistol touch the skin of the back of his neck. There was a
heavy burst of automatic fire and the pistol fell to the ground, as
did its owner. Titus looked up to see Katie step out from around a
corner.

“The good Lord sure does work in mysterious
ways! If it ain’t sure enough Miss Katie this time. Yuh done saved
my hide this time Miss Katie!”

“Save it big man companies coming!” The
short blonde spit out curtly, as she opened up on a bunch of black
clad fighters stepping through a door behind and to the left of the
still kneeling Titus.

Titus snatched up the fallen pistol and put
three into a shooter taking aim at Katie from behind her.

Katie turned to look at the fallen back
shooter and then back to Titus and the pistol swallowed up in his
hand, “I thought you didn’t shoot anything that didn’t come in a
shoe size 13?”

“Size 17.”

“Oh whatever!” Katie said in
exasperation.

“Well it’s like this Miss Katie, there comes
a time for everything, but it just ain’t time for Miss Katie to
go.” Titus said philosophically.

Katie oddly touched inside by the big man’s
words followed along closely after him, as Titus moved on down the
gallery they were in.

“Especially not when you got so much
repenting yet to do.” Titus finished on a rumbling chuckle.

“Hey!” Exclaimed Katie.

She stopped and kicked Titus in the shin,
but it had about as much of an impact on him, as a lion cub
swatting at a water buffalo.

There were several balconies above the
walkway they traveled. The overlying floors ran above and to the
side of the gallery they were walking down. A group of eleven or
more black clad gunmen were making their way along the walkway
directly above theirs.

Both Titus and Katie ducked behind some
pillars. Titus looked at the small pistol in his hand and looked
like he wanted to swear.

Katie hoarsely whispered out, “Martha?”

“Out of juice.”

“Bruno?”

“Dang thing done busted on me Miss
Katie.”

Titus looked away from the pistol and turned
speculative eyes on Katie letting them run over her diminutive
form.

“What?” Katie asked looking down at herself
expecting to see something wrong or out of place.

“How much you weigh Miss Katie?” Titus asked
speculatively.

Affronted, Katie drew herself up another
inch and shot back indignantly, “I don’t see what business that is
of yours!”

Titus slipped two fingers under the top of
Katie’s gun harness and picked her completely off the floor up to
his eye level.

Chuckling softly he said, “Why you don’t
weigh more than a bag of sugar Miss Katie.”