Star Brigade: Resurgent (Star Brigade Book 1) (43 page)

The cyborg ignored her as she rose and approached Star Brigade. Taller than Liliana, her regal stance bore a subtle womanly sway as she walked. Though she had fought Star Brigade’s enemy, Habraum shared a quick glance with Sam that asked,
Is she our enemy as well?

Without moving her swan-like neck, the woman studied the Star Brigadiers up and down. Her deep ocean-blue eyes raked the air; Tyris clearly shuddered when those orbs fell on him. Her aquiline nose matched the sharp triangular structure of her face. Her long scarlet hair was pulled back in a taut plait falling far past her shoulder. The halolights heightened the gold sheen of her skin and face, all too immaculate to be an unaltered human.

For Habraum, her silvery right arm held his attention the most, twining and flowing cybernetics running up to her shoulder where it seamlessly blended into shiny golden skin.  Her attire, some leathery metallic material, had a obsidian tint that further accentuated her lithe physique. She stopped about a metrid away from the Brigade, scrutinizing each Brigadier with a detached and slight superior gaze. Tyris warily stepped back and drew out his quarter staff. V’Korram got between Sam and the female. Her eyes finally came to rest on Habraum, boring into him like needles. The Cerc tried to speak, only for his  voice to catch in his throat. He
knew
her!

Marguliese, the Cybernarr, looking more human now than Cybernarr. How?

“
You
,” Habraum stated, hearing the shock in his own voice. Marguliese, here with Star Brigade. “You disabled that second ship’s cloak.”

“Yes, Habraum,” her voice sounded more feminine and human, yet still flavored with a cybernetic resonance like Khrome’s. “Your ship was damaged and unable to deactivate the Korvenite cloaking device.”

Sam irately elbowed past V’Korram. “
Move,
Jakadda. Look, whoever you are—.”

“Marguliese.”

“Okay then,
Marguliese
. Your help is appreciated, but who are you and why are you helping us?” Sam was always suspicious, and if Habraum didn’t know Marguliese, he would have agreed with her.

“I am an ally, Samantha D’Urso. One you can trust.” Her voice was remote and abrupt.

“Let me be the judge—wait, how do you know my name?” Sam’s anger melted into shock.

Habraum opened his mouth to explain, only to be cut off by the sound of a transmat. What now?

Khrome, his noseless face contorted by utmost loathing. Habraum’s heart stopped.
No! Not like this!

“I
KNEW
IT!” the Thulican thundered, stabbing a shiny finger at Marguliese. “A Cybernarr!”

Everyone gaped at Marguliese after that claim. She silently regarded Khrome like one would a gnat. Habraum moved quickly toward his subordinate, hand raised in warning. “Khrome—.”

“Don’t ‘
Khrome’
me!” Despite his squat height, the enraged Thulican seemed to loom over everything in the cargo bay. Since last night, Habraum still hadn’t figured out how he’d tell Khrome that a member of the race who had been his species’ sworn enemy was joining the Brigade. But seeing the Thulican this furious, and considering the raw power at his disposal, Habraum realized no approach would have worked. “Khrome. Let’s wind down and talk—.”

“The Cybernarr DIES!” The Thulican rocketed toward his rival, a breakneck, armored missile. Marguliese remained rooted in place, seemingly indifferent. The other Brigadiers stood transfixed, too shocked to react.

“
Lieutenant
, stand down!” Habraum yelled at Khrome. His words fell on deaf ears. Khrome zoomed forward, the air screamed in his wake.

He was almost upon Marguliese, who fixed on him with a pitiless stare. Khrome’s teeth were bared, both hands reaching out for the Cybernarr’s throat. Marguliese’s right eye smoldered bright blue.

“AAAAH!” Once again, the ferrotanium alloy of the floor ripped open like paper beneath Khrome, screeching in protest. A volcano of wires and thick cables erupted out from the jagged gash and spiraled upward. The coils struck Khrome square in the chest, a clanging echo dominating the cargo bay. In mere instants, the Thulican was completely ensnared in the slithering column of coils.

Sam shouted at Khrome and took to the air in a fiery burst. Tyris spun his staff in one hand and raised his other hand to fire an icy salvo at the Cybernarr. V’Korram was on all fours, ready to pounce.

Habraum moved quickly, holding out an arm to block them. “Star Brigade,
stand down
.”

The three Brigadiers gaped at their field commander. “Reign, she’s going to kill him!” Sam cried.

“If she wanted him dead, he’d already be. Trust me on this.”

Tyris and Sam looked at each other uneasily, but complied. V’Korram remained crouched but motionless. Khrome struggled and kicked with all his considerable strength, fighting against thousands of binding coils snaking all over his body. Marguliese said nothing, her cold eyes never leaving Khrome’s. He managed to free one burly arm from his restraints, clawing furiously at the air to get at Marguliese.

But the cables and wires continued binding up relentlessly. Before long, the only thing visible was Khrome’s head. Marguliese cocked her head sideways in an almost childlike manner and sighed.

Habraum shut his eyes and rubbed his temples. Not quite the introduction he had planned. He could almost taste his teammates’ apprehension. “Was that really necessary?” Habraum asked, folding his arms.

“Yes,” Marguliese said flatly, her gaze falling on him. “He attempted to dismember me, Habraum.”

“And with a big friggin’ smile on my face!” Khrome spat, still struggling. “Reign, leave NOW!”

Fear churned inside Habraum like a hurricane, but on the outside he kept a cool demeanor. For all their sakes, he
had
to. “Khrome. Calm. Down.”

“Reign, she’s a
Cybernarr.
She will kill all of you if you don’t leave! Go!”

Habraum shook his head. Only actions could get through to him. “Marguliese, let him go.”

The Cybernarr eyed Habraum incredulously, but complied and stepped to Habraum’s side. In a whipping accord, all the coils around Khrome came loose and slithered back into the ground.

Instantly the Thulican leaped into the air to renew his attack on Marguliese.

“And we proceed again,” the Cybernarr muttered dryly.

“No, we don’t.” Habraum planted himself between the two beings. “Khrome, stay back.”

Khrome hovered closer, still defiant. “WHY?”

“Because I’m
ordering
you to,” Habraum’s voice boomed with authority. That finally reached the Thulican. Khrome hesitantly flew back a half a metrid, never taking his eyes off the Cybernarr.

Habraum expelled a world-weary sigh, facing the three Brigadiers and a fuming Khrome. The Cerc hated having his hand forced like this. but now he had no choice.
If Marguliese keeps my team alive, then I’ll take whatever punishment comes next.

Marguliese turned to Habraum. She stood only four inches shorter than him. “You did not inform them of my arrival,” she stated.

“You’re early,” Habraum replied peevishly, scratching the back of his head.

“Her arrival? Reign, what is she talking about?” Sam looked completely bewildered. She glanced at V’Korram and Tyris, both equally stunned. “What the
hell
is going on?”

The Thulican’s eyes bore into the Cybernarr still as he hovered impatiently back and forth above the other Brigadiers. “Explain. And make it quick.”

Habraum ignored the Thulican’s naked threat and focused on the entire Brigade, searching for the right words. The tension had grown thicker, if possible.
Just spurt it out!

“Brigadiers, meet Marguliese. She will be Star Brigade’s temporary advisor supporting our combat training and tactical sectors…until further notice.”

Tyris’s cobalt-blue eyes widened in shock. V’Korram reared up like a viper and let out a surprised yowl. Sam looked simply furious. All that Habraum expected, but not the mechanical roar that echoed throughout the docking bay. The rage, surprise and betrayal of a thousand screams joined into one.

Such was the cry of Lt. Khromulus Threedwok.

24.

The poor Nnaxan miner kept mumbling gibberish. On and on, never stopping. Liliana found the distraction oddly welcoming. He twitched under the warm glow from the synaptic cleanser she focused at him, unscrambling the damage those Retributionaries had done. After a few moments, he went limp.

Still in Star Brigade field outfit, Liliana Cortes shuffled through her medical tools and pulled out two more items; a bio-cleanser and then a dermogenerator. She cleaned the gashes on the miner’s craniowhisks and then regenerated his dermis layers with a swift, practiced grace. The Nnaxan’s head tentacles now looked smooth and supple, as if untouched.

Liliana sighed and stood up, surveying the motionless miners sprawled around her. The
Phaeton’s
resources were enough to mend some of their injuries, but she silently prayed that Hollus’ medical facilities would be of greater use. Also, no blubbering gibberish came from any of her patients for the first time in an orv, leaving Liliana alone with her thoughts.

Liliana stepped gingerly over her patients and slid down against the wall near the cargo bay exit. She ran a shaky hand through her cropped hair and closed her eyes. Liliana could usually lose herself in treating others. Not today.

The hum of the stellar drive wasn’t to blame. The fight with the Korvenites—her first field skirmish—occupied every corner of her mind. It started with that dog-fight with the Korvenite ships. Liliana cringed away from that memory of all-consuming terror. It was as if her mind had shut down. Even worse, Liliana remembered screaming like a frightened child.

“Dios Mío,” Liliana swore. The screaming might have been funny had it been her only loss of nerves today. Liliana rubbed her throat tenderly and winced, remembering the VanoTech mines skirmish…and that iron-clad grip choking the life out of her. The Korvenite’s chest weapon had been so hot, coming so close to ending her.

But Liliana had defended herself, using the sonic powers that were her birthright. She had killed that that
blekdritt
who would’ve had no problem killing her. In the eyes of her CT-1 teammates, Liliana’s actions changed the course of the battle.

A lie.
The doctor’s newfound bravery was false, filling her with shame. She was still a coward.

When death stared her in the face, Liliana Cortes had been petrified. A voice had inexplicably spoken in Liliana’s ear—a female—through Khrome’s psychic damper. “Use your powers, Liliana,” she demanded frostily. “Hit the Korvenite or you will die.”

You will die.
Those last three words had jolted Liliana into action, not any ‘battle instinct’. She was still a coward who should have died. After the battle she’d fallen into character—stoic Dr. Cortes, aiding Honaa and the miners—putting on her bravest face in front of her teammates. But alone with her thoughts, Liliana could no longer hide from her self-disgust. She rested her head in her knees, rocking back and forth.

And that happened after she had already embarrassed herself, when the
Phaeton
’ was spinning out of control, shields failing, about to collide with a massive asteroid. In the near-death spiral, the doctor was twelve-years old again, cringing at the chaos and fury that had knocked her family’s shuttle off course. Her ears rang anew with the shrieks of older brother, Tomas, her father and mother, the Cortes family spiraling wildly above Terra Sollus. In her mind-numbing panic, Liliana’s gaze had found purchase on the shuttle’s viewscreen, a window into pitch-black nothing…and starry everything.

Everything and nothing. Overwhelming. Nauseatingly scary.

Even after her father had regained control of their shuttle, any notion of space travel sent stabs of fear and queasiness through Liliana since that fateful day.

The coalescing memories almost made Liliana vomit. She squeezed her eyes shut. Then the doctor saw Captain Nwosu back on
Phaeton
visibly disgusted at her weakness. His penetrating, hazel-gold eyes had spoken volumes.
You don’t belong in Star Brigade.

A rumble disrupted her pity party. Liliana looked up and around. Since the others had returned to the
Phaeton,
whenever any of the others moved through the cargo bay, Honaa, Sam, V’Korram, of course, and most surprisingly Khrome, she heard nothing but fury and bickering. Liliana had no clue what they were yelling about, but something must have happened after she transmatted back up to
Phaeton
.

“Liddell to Cortes,” the other Ensign’s voice in the comm system caught her off-guard, as did a screaming match raging on the bridge in the background.

“Go ahead, Liddell.”

“We’re prepping for dock at Hollus. Should I communicate anything to the Medcenter?”

“Yes, Ensign.” Liliana jumped to her feet, having forgot about that. “Tell Dr. Simony we have a Level 3 emergency.” Level 3, the medical term for a surplus of incoming patients.