Rebellion (2 page)

Rucon was not happy as he wrapped up a call to someone on his com. “They must pay for this. They could have destroyed us. Not to mention the entire planet is buzzing with the news of something leaving the atmosphere. Earth is still a dark planet. They don’t know about us.” Rucon paused, listening before he continued. “Agreed. Thank you, Torril. I’ll be in touch.”

Torril Anantha.
Ria was impressed. Not many people were on a first name basis with the head of the newly formed Galactic Trade Organization.

Rucon tapped his fingers on the tabletop. “He’s launching an investigation. Even with the current state of unrest, risking an entire planet warrants the GTO’s attention. There will also be a small battleship stationed along with our transport ships. If they attempt this again, we’ll be able to hunt them down.”

Chasing the Torogs wasn’t an option with the transport ships. Although heavily armed, they weren’t designed for pursuit.

“For now,” Rucon said standing, “we keep all bases shielded at all times.”

Rucon was taking this seriously. Full-time shielding meant full-time monitoring as well. The shields prevented anyone and anything from crossing their perimeter. From the local deliveryman to birds and animals. It wouldn’t do to have humans walking into an invisible wall.

Rucon interrupted her thoughts before she could ask how long he expected to keep the shields active. “One more thing. Assuming everything remains quiet, Mara and I have accepted an invitation to attend the Summer’s Ball on Mitah this year. An old friend of mine lives there.” He scanned the faces around the table. “We’ve all been working hard since coming to Earth. I think it’s time for a break. As long as we don’t have further complications from the Torogs, I’m extending the invitation to the whole team. We’ll make a portal back to Earth as soon as we get to Mitah.”

“Excellent,” Ria said.

The others were equally excited about the prospect.

Rucon said his goodbyes, leaving the rest to discuss plans.

Dani, who’d never been anywhere other than Earth and Sandaria, was bouncing up and down. “Anyone been to Mitah?”

“I’ve never been,” Ria said, “but I dated a guy from there for a while at the academy. It’s supposed to be beautiful.” And it would be great to have another world to go to occasionally.

“And you guys?” Dani asked.

Armond shook his head, but Ian nodded. “We’ve been to the ball a few times. You’re going to love it. It’s a three-day visual spectacle, complete with a masquerade ball. You two”—Ian nodded to Ria and Dani—“are going to need to go ahead of time for dresses.”

Dani clapped her hands like a child.

Ria nearly choked on her water. “Why? We’re an hour and a half from Milan. World class designers and all that.”

Ian crossed his arms and smiled. “Yes, but you can only get Mitan silk from Mitah, and trust me. You want Mitan silk.”

* * * *

It had been four days since the Torog’s return to Earth. There had been no further attempts. Whether that was due to the battleship now orbiting with Rucon’s transport ships or not, they had no idea. Ria and the other EPs were forty minutes into a training session in her sim room on Bellagio. They’d chosen a tropical jungle with four different types of alien life forms for variety. Distinguishing between harmless native wildlife and deadly aliens wasn’t always easy. It was a team mission, and so far, they hadn’t lost anyone. Today’s weapon of choice was a small handheld laser called a dart. It worked like a gun on one setting and like a two-and-a-half-foot sword in the other. The training models were designed to deplete rapidly over time until only the sword function remained, and that got shorter until only the casing was left. So far, everyone still had functioning guns.

It was she and Dani’s turn to hold their base. Ian and Armond flushed the surrounding area. Ian was ahead in kills, but so far, she and Dani were ahead on team saves. So as usual, the women were keeping them alive, and the guys were shooting things.

Ria wiped the sweat from her eyes. “We need to pick a desert next time. This humidity sucks.”

“You get used to it,” Dani said.

The bushes to their left rustled, and both women swung their lasers in the ready.

Ian stepped out, and Ria sparked with envy when he grabbed Dani and planted a kiss on her before he disappeared back into the foliage.

“Seriously?” Ria said. “You can’t go an hour without locking lips?”

Ian’s laughter rippled through the trees.

Dani beamed.

Ria rolled her eyes.

Another rustle, and a four-legged creature with razor sharp teeth launched itself at Ria’s chest. “Morits!” Ria called out as she sliced the critter in half.

The sound of Ian and Armond battling away let her know they’d found the nasty critters as well. Six more made it past the men. Dani made easy work of the two that had targeted her. Ria nearly made it unscathed but when four hit her at once from all sides, one managed to latch onto her lower arm. Those jaws had some serious force, and her hand popped off, dropping the creature to the ground with it.

“Aw, come on. Not fair. There were four of them.” Ria lifted up her wrist and studied the bloody stump. “Halt sim.”

Ian and Armond approached from opposite ends of the clearing, equally covered in sweat.

Dani came to her side and inspected her handless arm. “It would almost be easier if they were bigger. It’s hard to keep track of them when they’re so small.”

“Perhaps your relative height to the ground also contributed to your demise,” Armond said.

Ria glared at him. “Are you
seriously
going there?”

“I’m simply stating that you were closer to them than Dani.”

“Whatever,” Ria said. “Little shits. Reset sim,” she called out.

Morit bodies and Ria’s hand evaporated. The illusion of a bloody stump did, as well, and her own hand reappeared as they all caught their breath. The jungle around them melted into the floor, and they soon stood in the metal gray of the sim room.

“That wasn’t bad,” Ian said. “We made it nearly an hour, outnumbered five to one. I’m good with that.”

Ria was annoyed by the fact that she’d been the one to go out first. She had a competitive nature and hated losing.

She was still in a bad mood later that night when she sat at the kitchen table with her two Support Agents, Gina and Battista. They lived in a suite of rooms off the kitchen. Together, they cooked, cleaned, and took care of the estate. They looked like a normal, older Italian couple—a bit on the pudgy side, but sprightly enough. In truth, they were both highly trained and fully in the know about aliens. Across the table, they were giggling over a shared joke. Looking at them fawn over each other, you’d think they were psi-mates like Dani and Ian, but they weren’t. They were simply humans in love and, at the moment, irritating.

Gina finished a bite of pasta and chuckled at Ria. “Ms. Dani, she tell me you lose today. It’s not like you to lose, no?”

Ria bit the side of her cheek, still steaming. “I was being attacked by four furballs with teeth. One of them took my hand off.” She shoved a large forkful into her mouth.

Apparently sensing Ria’s chagrin, Battista jumped into the conversation. “We ran into the Mancini boy in town yesterday. He said to tell you hello and give him a call someday.”

“He likes you, all right.” Gina patted her arm. “You should call him. Maybe have dinner.”

Ria pulled a strand of hair from her pasta. “If he ever decides to grow up, maybe I will.”

Battista burst out laughing. “If he’s like his
papi,
that will never happen.”

“How about that cook in town?” Gina said. “He always makes a point of coming out and saying hello when you go to his restaurant.”

Ria appreciated their concern, but the conversation just made everything worse. She pushed her chair back and grabbed her plate.

“
Bellisima
, where are you going?” Battista asked.

“
Si,
” Gina said, frowning at the food left on her plate. “You have not finished. You don’t like it? I can make you something else.” Gina moved to get up, as well, but Ria waved her back down.

“No, no. I’m just not hungry right now.” She wasn’t usually this abrupt, but between spending the afternoon around Dani and Ian and now these two, her single status was starting to annoy her. She thought about walking into town and having a drink but didn’t think that would help. With the clan’s move to Earth, the constant construction of the compound, and flipping Torogs showing up, dating hadn’t been a priority.

At least now, she had something to look forward to. The Summer’s Ball sounded like the perfect excursion. “I’ll save the rest for later. You two enjoy dinner. I’m going to hit the sim room for awhile before I call it a night.” Normally, she wouldn’t want a workout this late, but she was feeling antsy. Her psi buzzed with too much energy. In lieu of having a decent male specimen in her life, a match or two in the sim room would have to do.

“It’s only four days. I think you’ll live.” Leaning over, Ria flipped on the tracking beacon for the tower on Mitah’s landing port.

“You could at least show a little sympathy,” Dani said from the seat next to her.

“Are all humans this sappy when they find their mate?”

“I’m afraid we have a long and sordid history of embarrassing acts and misdeeds, all committed in the name of love.” She kissed Ian’s image on her com screen.

“Ugh. Get a grip. We only have two days to find three days worth of party clothes down there. I need you focused, not pining over Ian.”

The cockpit display window framed the planet as it grew larger with their approach. Mitah was a double-mooned planet in a single star system very similar to Earth. They would return in a little over a month for the Summer’s Ball.

“So, you gonna pick out Ian’s outfits?” Ria asked.

“He didn’t want anything new. Just a mask for the masquerade ball on the second night. Apparently, there’s not a lot of call for luminescent suits, other than here during the ball.” Dani reached for her com, stopped herself, and started tapping her fingers on her knee. “You’d think you could get the material on other worlds.”

“Only knock-offs. For the real thing, you have to go to Mitah. It’s actually tourism genius if you ask me.”

“I suppose.”

The silkworms on Mitah produced bioluminescent thread. The fabric was unnaturally strong, lightweight, and never faded. The government limited the amount tourists could buy and guarded the production secrets.

“From what I’ve heard,” Ria said, “every attempt to smuggle the worms off-planet has ended with the poor critter’s demise. So, we go to Mitah, get fitted, and everything’s ready when we return.”

Ria adjusted their descent to match the port guidance signal. “How’s Ian doing with Armond?”

Armond and the rogue Portal Masters on Earth were trying to teach Ian how to make a portal using the device the EPs captured from the Torogs shortly before the fall of the empire.

“He thinks he’s nearly there. It’s a good thing, too, because he’s really getting fed up with Armond’s arrogance.”

“Gods, I bet,” Ria said.

“Ian said the other Portal Masters being there helps.” Dani let out a small groan. “I’m next you know. Not looking forward to spending hours with Armond.”

Ria laughed. “I know. Good luck with that. Still, if you and Ian can learn to make portals as well as Armond, we’ll all feel a lot better.”

“Yeah, having that condescending ass in charge of all our portals is seriously unnerving. I wonder if Mordo and Durgan are having any luck.”

“Me, too. I don’t think Rucon’s heard any news yet.”

Ian’s uncle, Mordo, and a Portal Master named Durgan were searching distant worlds for others like Armond, Ian, and Dani, who possessed an alternate form of psi. Marco, their last EP, was with them for protection.

“Do you think they’ll make it back in time for the ball?” Dani asked.

“Doubtful,” Ria said. “It’s a shame, really. Can you imagine Marco at the ball?”

Dani laughed. “He’d have women lined up in a row.” She slipped her com out and pulled up a photo. “I miss Ian.”

Ria sighed. Another hour and a half and they’d be on the surface. Hopefully, shopping would be a distraction. It was a day and a half from Earth to the interstellar jump point, and another two to Mitah’s spaceport. They planned on two days to purchase their gowns, masks, and anything else they could find, and then it was back home until they returned for the ball itself.

“We’ll get some shopping done, then we’re having lunch with Laric Jara and his folks. Hopefully that will take your mind off Ian.”

“I wouldn’t bet on it,” Dani said, sliding the com back into her pocket. “I do need to think about something else, though.” She turned her gaze to the planet below. “What is that?”

A large object rose from the far side of Mitah. Ria smiled. “It’s the second moon. I can’t wait to get a look at them at night.”

“Sweet,” Dani said, resting her arms on the console. “Mitah’s beautiful. Lots of water.”

“It is pretty. Smaller than Earth and has only about three-quarters the amount of land.”

Ria adjusted their course and took a moment to admire the vehicle. The Cavacent clan spared no expense on their fleet of transport ships. They brought to the vessels a level of opulence rarely seen in transports of this class. Even their terrestrial shuttles, like the one they were in now, were over the top. The best Sandarian leather and control panels inlaid with exotic woods gave the shuttle the feel of a luxury liner rather than a transport ship. “We’ll be landing at the capital of Starfall on the southern continent of Mooriac.” Ria pointed to the upper right of the planet. “Laric will meet us at the port and take us to Watersedge where we can do some shopping.” She sang the last word and winked at Dani.

Ria had never been to Mitah before, but she’d heard a lot about it. “Laric used to tell me stories about the wild beasts that live in the Trillian forests. I forget what they’re called, but people come from all over to hunt them. It’s a dangerous sport with a couple of deaths every year. Never understood why someone would risk their life to hunt a wild animal.”