Lost Planet 02 - The Stolen Moon (27 page)

Vidal frowned and pointed. “She's right here.” With a start, Chase saw that Lilli had rejoined them at some point, and stood sullen in the corner of the room.

Mina stepped into the medical bay. “Prep Scada-One for departure,” Asa told her.

“You're going to want to move quickly,” said Mina. “By my revised calculations, the
Destrier
will arrive in two hours and twenty-one minutes.”

“What?” asked Maurus, shocked. “That's impossible. They were coming from the Ichis system—it should take them at least another day.”

“Looks like Asa isn't the only one whose ship defies expectations,” said Parker.

“Contact them and tell them not to attack the
Kuyddestor
,” said Chase.

Asa shook his head. “I will not bring more attention to us than I have to. We can do this before they get here.”

“You'll have to,” said Mina. “Because the
Kuyddestor
's just started its attack on Storros.”

 

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Asa led the entire group swiftly down the hall to a conference room, where he leaned over a console, tapping in commands. A 3D image of the
Kuyddestor
popped up over the top of the long table, spinning slowly around.

“Give us the current situation, Mina,” he said.

“The
Kuyddestor
is firing missiles toward the surface of Storros, targeting its major cities,” said Mina. “So far the Storrian defenses have intercepted every one, but their ships are sticking close to Storros. They won't be able to get any good shots on the
Kuyddestor
, which seems to be keeping a close orbit around Rhima.”

“What made the Werikosa start their attack?” asked Vidal.

“I think if we want to know what the Werikosa are thinking, we should ask the woman who helped orchestrate this hijacking.” Asa turned to Mina. “Have Jericho bring her to us.”

A few minutes later, Jericho entered with Ksenia, who walked freely beside him. She smoothed her dark hair back off her face and straightened her back.

“Ms. Oriolo, your Werikosa cohorts have begun their attack on Storros. Do you know what their plan is?”

Ksenia said nothing, one corner of her mouth tilting upward.

“How many Werikosa are on the ship right now?”

She shrugged. “I didn't have anything to do with that part of the planning.”

“Who hacked the ship's computers and helped the Werikosa take over?” asked Parker.

“That information wasn't shared with me.”

“Well aren't you just about useless?” snapped Vidal.

“We'll find a use for her,” said Asa. He motioned for Jericho to rejoin them. “Take her down to Scada-One and prepare for departure. Ms. Oriolo, you are coming to the
Kuyddestor
with us to negotiate the surrender of the Werikosa.”

Ksenia raised one eyebrow and turned to leave with the android.

“And Ms. Oriolo,” added Asa, speaking at her back, “I don't know what kind of reward you were expecting to get when you helped plan this sabotage, but I would suggest you begin lowering your expectations.”

After a pause, Ksenia kept walking out of the room, never looking back.

Asa turned back to everyone else, cracking his knuckles against the console. “Okay, here's the plan. Once we get access to the ship, I'll go on board with Mina and the lieutenants, while Lilli will immediately leave the ship with Jericho. You two”—he indicated Maurus and Vidal—“will try to free your trapped crew and arm them, while I go to the bridge with Mina and Ksenia to try negotiating with the rebel leader to cease the attack on Storros and surrender the ship.”

“Negotiating?” asked Maurus. “You think that's going to work?”

Asa cut him a sharp look. “I can be very persuasive.” He pointed at a spot low on the bottom of the virtual
Kuyddestor
. “We'll fold up against the hull here, clamp an airlock onto the hull, and use a plasma saw—”

Chase glanced over at Parker, who was also frowning. “What about us?”

“You?” Asa glanced up from his diagram. “You wait here for Jericho to return with Lilli.”

“No,” said Chase. “We're part of this. We're coming with you.”

Asa stabbed his thumb at the console, and the 3D image of the ship vanished. “This is warfare. I will not put the two of you at risk.”

Parker tipped his head at Chase. “He's never at risk. You know that.”

Asa's hard blue eyes looked Chase up and down, analyzing him with a mercilessly analytical stare. “Fine. Chase, you're in charge of making sure your sister comes with us. Parker, you stay here.”

In truth, Chase didn't want Parker to come along either. It would be too dangerous for him. But this was just like the argument with Captain Lennard, when Parker fought for the right to come with the expeditionary squad to Lumos. He'd lost that battle but gone anyway, and what would Chase have done without him? “Parker should come. We'll need him.”

“This is not up for negotiation,” said Asa harshly.

“Yes it is.” Chase glanced at Parker, and then at Lilli. “We don't trust you.”

Parker continued. “What's to make us think you'll really do what you promised and not just grab Lilli and run?”

Asa glared at them. “My word.”

Parker scoffed. “You run a weapons syndicate selling particle dispersers to slum lords. Your word isn't enough. Besides, I know that mainframe like the back of my hand. I've been skimming through it for months. Maybe you know a thing or two about computers, but I know exactly where to look for this thing.”

“A thing or two about—?” Asa stared at him, flabbergasted. “I don't think you understand everything that I'm capable of.”

Lilli crossed her arms. “Either they come with you to keep you honest, or you'll never find me.”

“You can't keep using that threat,” growled Asa.

“I can and I will,” she responded.

Asa looked like he wanted to strangle someone. He looked to Vidal and Maurus for backup, but although Vidal appeared uncertain, she didn't say anything. Maurus just shrugged. “We can keep the Werikosa away from them.”

Asa stepped back from the table. “Fine. Mina, you will guard Parker at all times on this mission. Never leave his side. I'll handle Ksenia and the Werikosa by myself.”

Mina nodded. “The Storrian defense Fleet appears to be moving in on the
Kuyddestor
now, Asa. We should leave immediately.”

They rushed through the hallways, skipping the elevator but somehow ending up at the docking bay in less than a minute. They had been in a different part of the ship than where they first met Asa, but after the long walk to get there, it had seemed to Chase like they must still be far from the docking bay. He looked at the walls, wondering if it were possible to build a ship with shifting hallways.

The vehicle they boarded was different than the transport vessel that Chase, Parker, and Lilli had arrived on. This one was open from the piloting console all the way through to the back, with seats lining the walls on either side of the long midsection, and an impressive array of blaster rifles, armored vests, and other advanced battle gear hanging overhead. Ksenia sat in the passenger seat closest to the controls, watching everyone else with her enigmatic eyes.

Chase, Parker, and Lilli chose three seats together near the middle of the vehicle, while Asa headed to sit at the controls with Jericho. Mina took the seat beside Parker. “Starting your watch already, are you?” he asked her sarcastically. She didn't answer, and he shifted in his seat toward Chase and began to whisper. “So I've been thinking about the whole thing with my parents. Why Asa kept me hidden away all those years. He's acting weird, right?”

Chase frowned and shrugged. “When is he not weird?”

“Well, it made me wonder … what if he's my dad? Maybe something happened to my mom, so he hid me away and fed me this lie about being an orphan. I mean, where else would I get this kind of smarts? I'm the best hacker on an entire Fleet ship. You think maybe I'm the son of a genetically engineered soldier, too?”

Chase hesitated before answering. He had to admit, it kind of made sense. But he could also think of a million reasons why Parker couldn't possibly be Asa's offspring, starting with the fact that Asa had seemed to be against any of the soldiers having children. And suddenly he thought he understood why Parker didn't fight the idea of staying with Asa. “You could be right…” he said cautiously.

“I think I am.” Parker paused and nodded. “I feel it.” Beside him, Mina said nothing.

Maurus and Vidal were scanning the armory affixed to the vehicle's interior, talking quietly with each other. “Take a seat,” Asa called to them, as the vehicle's engine powered up, rising a few feet off the docking bay floor. As the outer doors of the docking bay rolled open, he slid screens around on the console, speaking in a low voice with Jericho about their route.

“What kind of blasters are these?” asked Maurus. “I don't recognize any of them. Are they your creation?”

Without looking back at Maurus, he said, “Annihilation radiation is an outdated technology for blasters. These are based on xenon particles, and they are lighter, charge faster, and have a much more accurate firing radius.”

“I'll bet the warlords just love them,” Maurus muttered.

“Please sit down, Lieutenant,” came Jericho's mild voice. “We're about to make the first fold.”

As the galaxy collapsed around them, Chase closed his eyes and tried to prepare himself for what they were about to attempt. Everything would be determined in the next few hours—whether they were able to stop the attack on Storros, prevent the
Destrier
from blowing up the
Kuyddestor
, and save the crew. If they didn't all die trying.

But even if they did succeed, the price would be leaving the
Kuyddestor
behind and going with Asa. With a deep, pulling sadness Chase realized that his brief time aboard the starship had come to an end. All the hours spent laughing with the crew in the officers' lounge, the confessions he'd shared with Dr. Bishallany and the safety he'd felt in the presence of Captain Lennard, not to mention his budding new friendship with Analora—it was all over. He thought he'd been unhappy aboard the
Kuyddestor
, but the unhappiness was his alone, and around that the ship had become his home. And now he had to leave it all and start over fresh once again. Chase watched the back of Asa's head, the way he interacted with Jericho in short, clipped phrases. Nika was right that he acted more like an android than a human most of the time, except for those moments when a glimmer of his deep capacity for anger came briefly to the surface.

Everything on Asa's ship had happened so quickly, Chase had barely even begun to process all he'd learned about the seven genetically engineered soldiers—now down to three. His parents had once been part of that team. Now that they were gone, it was no surprise that Asa felt responsible for Chase and Lilli. But did he want them to come with him because he felt linked by their shared background and wanted to protect them, or because he was fascinated on a purely analytical level by what had happened when his teammates had mixed their enhanced DNA? Lilli was right—they didn't know Asa at all. She sat beside Chase, arms crossed and eyes far away in thought. He noted how the tension in her face seemed to lessen the closer they got to the
Kuyddestor
. He wished he could ask his parents what they thought of Asa, and why they'd chosen to keep their distance from him while making Captain Lennard a member of the family.

“Alright, there's the ship,” said Asa. “It looks like the Storrians have begun their offensive.”

“I don't see anything,” said Parker, leaning forward in his seat and craning his neck toward the front.

“Jericho, put the zoom up on the front screen.”

The
Kuyddestor
came into crisp view in the window. Regular pinprick bursts of fire from its sides showed where the Werikosa were releasing its missiles, but the screen wasn't wide enough to show if the missiles were still being intercepted over Storros. Fiery bursts from the Storrian defense squad's counterattack exploded along the hull, leaving blackened stretches of metal that made Chase's heart stop.

“This is going to be harder than I thought,” said Asa.

“It isn't going to work,” said Vidal. “Pull back.”

“No,” said Asa. “This just means we won't have time to cut through the
Kuyddestor
's hull. We need a faster point of access.”

While Asa pulled up schematics on the control panel, Maurus and Vidal conferred quickly in the back of the cabin. Maurus raised his head. “One of the thruster access hatches is probably your best bet, but trying to open one from the outside would probably be as difficult as cutting the hull.”

Asa looked back and found Lilli seated along the back wall. He gestured for her to come join him, and Chase got up and nosed in.

“Can you open an access hatch from inside the ship?” he asked quietly.

“I don't even know where to find it—it'll take me too long.”

“Can you find someone who can help you?”

“Everyone from the crew is locked up.”

But there was one person who wasn't locked up, and she knew the ship as well as any engineer. “What about Analora?” asked Chase. “You said she's hiding in the walls. She knows the ship as well as anyone. How quickly can you find her?”

Without a word, Lilli dropped her head. Chase imagined the real Lilli, climbing down out of her hiding place and running inside the walls of the ship. But more quickly than he expected, Lilli raised her head again and nodded. “Okay. She doesn't know exactly where they are, but if you tell her which quadrant of the ship, she said it won't be hard to figure out.”