Shades of Gray (99 page)

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Authors: Lisanne Norman

BOOK: Shades of Gray
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A flash in the sky near them, and suddenly the
Couana
showed up on Chy’tu’s nav screen.
“You some wild pilot! Good shooting too,” said Toueesut’s voice over the Bridge comm. “We get the others and fly aggravation for you to drop site, keep your path clear. Slow down, though, be giving us time to do this for you.”
“Aye, Captain Toueesut,” said Schiya, throttling back a little and lifting the
Aggressor
higher above the rocky landscape.
“Captain Kusac,” said Chy’tu over the ship’s comm, “the
Couana
has arrived and is escorting us to your drop site. Please make ready for your jump.”
“Acknowledged,” said Kusac. “Good flying, Schiya. We’ll have to take you to Stronghold and the mountains there. You’d enjoy it. Good teamwork, all of you.”
“Thank you, sir,” said Chy’tu, glancing at the others with a wide grin on his face.
“We still gotta drop them yet,” said Schiya. “It isn’t over till that’s done and the
Couana
has us locked on. I want the course to that drop point now, Nav!”
“Yessir!” said her brother turning rapidly back to his board and calling up the chart. “Sending to your station now,” he said, punching it through.
A shadow fell over them as the
Couana
overtook them and then shot forward as their advance wave.
They saw a blossom of flame as one of its guns fired at a blip on their screens. Moments later there was an almighty explosion ahead of them.
“It’s got some range,” said Chy’tu, awe in his voice. “That ship had only just appeared on my screens.”
“Coming up on drop point, Captain,” said Schiya. “Hold tight. Opening bay doors now.”
 
The clamshell doors began to rumble and fold outward as they all held onto the moorings fixed to the sides of the hold.
“Turn on the magnetics in your boots,” ordered Kusac from the front by the open bay doors. “Keep them on till you jump. Remember, count to three, then jets on. Off at ten feet, then shields on! Remember to throw out the crates!”
“Coming up on jump site in five seconds from my mark,” said Schiya. “Five, four, three, two, one. Mark!”
Kusac flicked his magnetics off and ran forward, leaping into the open space. He fell like a brick for the count of three, and then turned on his jets. The gyros on them forced him into an upright position, and he began a controlled descent.
Carrie, I’ll be waiting for you on the ground,
he sent, seeing her telltale appear on his HUD as she jumped.
I’m okay,
she replied.
Within ten minutes, they’d gathered under the nearby trees, their three crates in their antigrav cradles recovered. Kusac had sent a party out with broken branches to sweep away every trace of their passage.
“Move out,” Kaid said, calling up the map on his HUD when they returned. “We need to be well away from here before they send out ships looking for survivors.”
CHAPTER 19
SCHIYA hailed the
Couana
. “Cargo deployed,” she said.
“Returning to you now,” said Toueesut.
Through the front viewscreen they could see the
Couana
approaching, slowing as it came closer. Its shadow fell over them and stayed.
“Deploying traction beam.”
The
Aggressor
seemed to shudder slightly.
“Please be keeping speed steady as we pull you up,” said Toueesut. “We will tell you when to cut engines.”
“Acknowledged,
Couana
,” said Schiya.
“Incoming vessels,” said Chy’tu suddenly. “Ten fighters, closing fast!”
“Hold your fire. We will deal with them,” said Toueesut.
A sound like a boom of thunder came from overhead and they saw a pulse of plasma shoot out toward the approaching fighters. It was swiftly followed by four more shots and a cloud of particles as the
Couana
fired off her sandcasters to interrupt the enemy tracking system.
The tug on the
Aggressor
increased and they saw the outline of the
Couana
begin to appear above them in their viewscreen.
Explosive flares showed in the distance, and four of the fighters winked out of existence on Schiya’s board.
“Incoming!” said Shirzak seconds before their ship was jolted as a missile hit her wing.
“Shields holding,” said Chy’tu.
The next missile exploded above them, making the
Aggressor
shudder as the
Couana’s
shields took the damage. Once again, the plasma cannon sent off a volley of shots at the fighters.
“Standby to cut engines,” said Toueesut as another, larger, shudder ran through their ship.
“Deploying shield around you—now. Cut engine!” said the Touiban Captain.
“Engines off,” said Schiya, cutting the power.
They heard a series of loud clangs, then silence.
“
Aggressor
locked on. Please secure for rapid leaving of M’zull,” said Toueesut.
“Acknowledged,” said Schiya. “Relay the message to the sick bay, Chy’tu.”
“Aye.”
The
Couana
swung around and accelerated rapidly, the force of it pushing them hard against their seats. Schiya gripped the arms of her chair tightly and stared at her screen, watching the remaining fighters disappear.
“Engaging stealth mode,” said Toueesut. “We be off M’zull in a few minutes,” he reassured her.
Suddenly the pressure on them lifted, and the sky around them was the welcoming black of space.
“Please be transferring all personnel to
Couana
,” said Toueesut. “Your emergency hatch in roof of cargo hold is below our empty pinnace bay. Our hatch is open. Ladders we will drop for you to secure and climb up.”
“Understood,
Couana
. Closing down the Bridge now. You can reach us on Channel 8 on our suit comms. Kho’ikk, return to the Bridge,” she said to her brother up in the turret.
“Acknowledged,
Aggressor
.”
Schiya relayed Toueesut’s commands to the sick bay, then closed down all ship systems except for the emergency ones. Turning on the magnetics in her boots, she released herself from the command chair’s restraints, grabbed her helmet, and gestured to the others to leave, following them out into the dimly lit corridor.
They met Na’qui, Zhalmo, and Jurrel in the corridor by the sick bay. Zhalmo was now dressed in black fatigues, but she still looked dazed and ill.
Schiya took her by the arm. “We need to get you into a space suit, Zhalmo. We have to transfer to the
Couana
.”
“The
Couana?
Where are we?” she asked.
“Leaving M’zull,” said Schiya, drawing her sister down the corridor, silently thanking Na’qui for putting magnetic boots on her. “You were a prisoner. We came to rescue you,” she said, sticking to what Kusac had told her to tell Zhalmo.
“I was?” she asked, her free hand going up to rub her eyes. “I think I remember. Everything’s a bit hazy right now.”
“Don’t worry about it. You were drugged in the prison, but it’s wearing off now.”
They had almost reached the morgue.
“Shirzak, get up to that hatch and wait for us,” Schiya said as Jurrel opened the morgue door.
It was like dressing a doll as they pushed and pulled her into a suit, then sealed her inside, and it made Schiya’s heart ache to see her sister, usually so vibrant, like this.
Zhalmo seen to, she donned her own helmet, and after checking that everyone else was ready, she gave Shirzak the order to open the hatch. Sealing the morgue door behind them, they made their way to the hold.
The ladder had already been lowered, and Schiya sent Shirzak and Na’qui up first, and then helped her sister up. A pair of giant Sumaan hands reached down and lifted Zhalmo gently up the last few rungs. When she reached the top, Ashay had already taken her sister off into the cargo bay.
She waited for Jurrel to exit then watched as two suited Touibans swarmed over the
Aggressor’s
hull, fixing a temporary hatch in place before retracting the ladder completely. That done, they all exited to the
Couana’s
hold.
Their armor left near the elevator, Schiya headed for the sick bay while the rest of her small crew were escorted upstairs to their cabins.
Na’qui had been running tests on Zhalmo and was almost finished.
“She can bunk with me,” said Na’qui, looking up at her as she entered.
“No, I want to be with my sister,” said Zhalmo, surprising them both.
“That’s fine by me,” said Schiya. “You can be next door, can’t you, Na’qui?”
“Of course. Well, there’s no reason for you to stay here, Zhalmo. I can do what I need to do up in your cabin.”
Zhalmo nodded slowly and got off the examination bed. “I’m very tired,” she said, staggering slightly until Na’qui supported her. “I’d like to sleep now.”
Na’qui let Schiya take her and stepped back. “A good idea. Lots of rest and plenty of good food and you’ll be better in no time.”
There was a knock at the door, and she turned around to see Zsurtul standing there.
“I came to see how Zhalmo is,” he said.
“Prince Zsurtul?” Zhalmo said, blinking at him. “I thought you were on K’oish’ik.”
“No, I came with the rescue mission,” he said, keeping his face carefully neutral as he obviously saw how thin and ill she looked.
“Oh.” She fell silent, her eyes almost closing. “I remember you were injured,” she said. “I tried to save you, but . . .” Her voice trailed off again.
“You got captured when I was shot,” Zsurtul finished for her.
“Ah. That’s why you came to rescue me?”
“Part of the reason,” he said, coming into the room and over to her.
“I’m so tired,” she said, smiling slightly at him. “They were going to show me up to my cabin.”
“Let me take you,” he said, holding out his hand to her.
Almost hesitantly, she reached out and took it. “That’s kind of you.”
“She’s weak, and still drugged,” said Na’qui quietly.
“Then, if she permits it, I’ll carry her up,” said Zsurtul, drawing her slowly closer.
Schiya looked away, unable to bear seeing the naked emotion in his eyes.
When Zhalmo nodded, he swung her up into his arms, holding her close for a moment. “Shall we go upstairs?” he asked her gently as she relaxed against him.
“Please,” she murmured, closing her eyes. “You know, I have a feeling I should be looking after you.”
“It’s my turn to look after you, Zhalmo,” said Zsurtul gently as they walked away.
“It’s going to be all right,” murmured Schiya to herself, feeling her heart begin to lighten. “It’s going to be all right.”
“There’s been a lot of changes at the Palace since you were captured,” Zsurtul said.
“Mm?”
“A lot of the main facade was destroyed in the fighting. That’s all being repaired. And the Temple has been completely redone. It’s been dedicated to La’shol now.”
“No Emperor worship?” she asked as he stepped onto the elevator.
“No Emperor now, only a King,” he said
“King Zsurtul,” she said as the elevator began to move upward. “It has a nice sound to it.”
M’zull
Kusac had gladly handed command of this part of the mission to Kaid, who had far more experience than he in hostile conditions. Their current heading would take them, under cover of the trees, into the next ravine, where they’d detected a cave system on their way in. The plan was to make their base in there.
The
Aggressor’s
wild flight had actually returned them to the mountain range that backed onto the capital city, as this would be an ideal point from which to mount various missions of insurrection. The aim was to increase the paranoia of not only the upper echelon of command but of the ordinary soldiers as well.
While he’d been busy scoping out the city mentally, Schiya had been electronically scanning the area surrounding the capital for them and had downloaded the map files to his and Kaid’s suits. It was these they were using now.

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