Star Runners: Mission Wraith (#3) (28 page)

“So,” Austin said, changing the subject, “what exactly are you going to do to me? Give me a facelift or something?”

“Reconstruct part of your DNA.”

Austin stared at him. “What?”

“That’s just part of the plan. We’re also going to implant translators into your ears. After all, we can’t have you walking around with visible translators.” Tanner pointed at his ears. “No one uses translators in the Zahl Empire—especially not ones you can see. When the Empire conquers a world, they expect all intelligent native populations to convert to the ways of the Zahl Empire. That includes learning the language.”
 

“I see.” Austin shook his head. “I don’t care about the translators. Let's go back to the part about reconstructing my DNA. I’d like to know what that means.”

Tanner grinned, shifting his hands to rest on his hips. “Vakar knows all about that.”

Vakar stepped forward and gave a sharp nod. “I will be assisting with your DNA reconstruction.”

“And how are you qualified?” Austin asked, an uneasy feeling settling into his core.

“I am from the Zahl Empire, and I spent time on Claria.”

“You’re Zahlian?”
 

“Yes.”

Austin glanced at Tanner. “I thought you guys were Legion.”

“We are.” Tanner eyed his counterpart. “Vakar’s a double agent.”

Vakar looked at Austin. The man had pale, wax-like skin and nearly colorless eyes. A thin black mustache crossed like a pencil line across his lip. He could have been a mannequin in a store back on Earth. When he spoke, his voice was emotionless to the point Austin wondered if he was even human.
 

“It is a pleasure to accompany you on a part of this mission,” Vakar said with a shallow bow. “I am honored to work with a Star Runner.”

“Why are you doing this?” Austin asked. “I mean no offense, but I am curious since you’re Zahlian.”

Vakar held his gaze. “I have been doing this for years, and I continue to do so for all the worlds who have been caught behind the Zahlian lines, forced to live the way they want you to. It isn’t right. We may not be able to defeat the Zahl Empire, but I am going to do my part to weaken them.”

Austin sighed. He never considered the Zahl Empire dealt with insurgents. For some reason, he had always assumed the Zahl Empire was a solid force of unwavering power and might.
 

Austin thought of the conquered worlds and studied Vakar. “Did you lose your family on a conquered Zahlian world?”

Vakar broke eye contact and stared at the wall. “We have a lot of work to do,” he said, his voice softer than before.
 

“Okay,” Austin said, wondering if he had said too much. “How does this work?”

“People on Claria play with DNA all the time.” Vakar bowed his head. “It is a national obsession. Some do it for fashion. Others because they do not like their own appearance.”

Austin shook his head. “What kind of reconstruction?”

Vakar turned his hands upside down in front of him. “Anything. Some people give themselves spots like a leopard or stripes like a zebra. I once saw a woman who had eyes like a snake. Others change the color of their hair or skin to make themselves stand out at work.”

Austin nodded, unsure he wanted to know the answer to his next question. “And what do you plan on doing to me?”

Vakar smiled. “You are going to arrive on Claria as an outcast Originist missionary.”

“What’s that?”

“It is a cult that believes man originated from one planet in the galaxy.” Vakar waved his hand as if he brushed away a mosquito. “In addition to your implanted translators, your face will be altered to look like you were born with a skin deformity and your eyes will be changed to a bright purple. This will be enough to get you through the security on Claria. Once you arrive, the next team will have further plans for you.”

Austin swallowed, his hand touching the side of his face. “Are the alterations … reversible?”

“Of course.” Vakar glanced at Tanner. “Most of the time they are absolutely able to be reversed. Yes, of course.”

“Oh, great,” Austin mumbled, thinking about what Ryker would say if she saw his face. “‘Most of the time.’
 
What then?”

Tanner stepped forward. “We are heading toward Claria now. We are dropping into one of the standard Zahlian space lanes, flying slow under a false ID. We shouldn’t be stopped until we reach port. That’s the easy part. The hard part will be getting on the shuttle to the planet’s surface. Even when there’s not a threat of war, security on a Zahlian planet is never a joy to deal with.”

Vakar suddenly straightened. “We do not have much time. Are you ready to begin?”

“Sure,” Austin said, trying to project a feeling of confidence. He didn’t see how he had much choice at this point. “Let’s ruin my face.”

“Oh … no. Please tell me you can turn this back.”

Lieutenant Austin Stone stared at the stranger in the mirror. His cheeks sagged, forming multiple folds. His eyebrows hung low, much lower and they would have prevented his vision. His eyes glowed purple.
 

When they first mentioned it, Austin thought they would be a dull color. The eyes they had given him looked battery powered in the low light of
Taliford One
. In fact, he wondered if they would glow in the dark.
 

“I think you look wonderful,” Vakar said, his smile full of pride. “Better than I could have hoped for. No one will recognize you.”

Austin snorted. “That’s for sure.”

Vakar handed him a tablet. “This contains your travel credentials and other personal information. You are an Originist Missionary named Elipia Bakrah.”

Austin frowned. “Eli … Elipia Bakrah?”

“Yes. Missionaries travel through Claria all the time and are expected. You have been listed as mute and have been born without the ability to speak.”

“That’s good cause I can barely pronounce the name.”

“Your translators will help you understand what is being said, but you shouldn’t have a need to converse with anyone. Should that happen, use your tablet to type and the words will instantly be transferred to Zahlian.”

“Surprised you guys didn’t want me to learn the language first.”

“That was part of the early plan, in fact. But it changed as these things often do.”

“Changed?” Austin asked, still poking at his face. His finger sunk into the loose skin. “Why?”

“Timetable was moved up.” Vakar shook his head.
 

“Why?”

“We have not been given that information.” He frowned. “The mission timetable has been shortened significantly.”

“Should I be worried?”

“No more than necessary.”

“I understand.” Austin poked his finger into the fold of skin on his cheek. “Are you sure I can touch this?”

“Of course,” Vakar said, still grinning. “It is your face.”

“This is crazy.” Austin turned toward Tanner. “How do I look?”

“Terrible,” Tanner said, slapping his hands together. “Wonderful! Next step, I need you to wear these purple and gold robes.”
 

Tanner pointed to the table. Austin looked at the bright colored clothing.
 

“Won’t I stand out even more with this stuff?”

“Not on this planet,” Tanner said, shaking his head. “Claria is a major port with missionaries, businessmen, refugees—you name it—coming through all the time. Baron Industries just had a summit here last year for that very reason.”

“What’s Baron Industries?” Austin asked.
 

“Doesn’t matter.” Tanner looked at Vakar. “Translator working?”

“Yes.” Vakar looked at Austin, his colorless eyes unblinking. “Do you understand this? I am speaking Zahlian.”

His voice had suddenly transitioned to the robotic tone Austin had become accustomed to hearing on the translator he wore on Tarton’s Junction. Emotionless, the translator still got the point across. Unless he was listening to Ryker. Then, all he wanted to do was listen to her speak Lianese, even if he didn’t completely understand what she was saying.
 

Ryker.
 

He missed her, missed everything about her. He tried to understand her reason for ending their relationship, but it didn’t make it hurt any less. If only she had given him a chance, allowed him to prove he could be trusted to keep their relationship quiet, maybe they would have made it.
 

It didn’t matter now. He agreed to this mission so he wouldn’t feel the agony of being near her.
 

“Lieutenant?”

“Yeah, I gotcha.” Austin looked at Tanner. “We almost there?”

“Yes. We will dock with the port in orbit above Claria. You will have to take a shuttle to the surface. Vakar will be on board, sitting several rows behind you. Once on the planet’s surface, Vakar will transfer you to the next team, and we will leave.”

“I see.”
 

Tanner offered his hand. “Best of luck to you, Lieutenant.”

“Thank you, Major.”

*****

The spaceport in Claria’s low orbit took up an enormous section of the sky. With its transparent walls revealing the blue oceans of Claria on one side and the black of space on the other, being onboard the space station felt like floating in a giant glass box. The slow rotation of the station meant the planet was on a different side than when Austin first started waiting in the massive security line snaking through the atrium.
 

According to the plan, Major Vakar would depart from the
Taliford One
long after Austin. Wearing a black cloak and hood that covered his altered face, Austin had rushed to the nearest bathroom of the spaceport. Once in the stall, he dropped the cloak and revealed his bright purple outfit. He stared in the mirror for a brief moment, trying to get used to his appearance, and rushed out into the security line full of those waiting for passage down to the surface.
 

He didn’t realize there would be little point in rushing. Thirty minutes went by, and the line hardly moved. Forty-five minutes. Sixty.
 

Austin leaned his head back and stared through the clear ceiling to the stars beyond. A Zahlian warship loomed over the station a few thousand MUs away. Interceptors flew patrols, their horseshoe crab shapes flashing in the light of Claria’s star. Not many active Star Runners had been this close to the might of the Zahlian navy. He stared in awe, wondering what the Zahlian pilots were like up close. Were they as evil as he had heard? Did all Zahlian officers dream of gunning down civilian vessels? Or did they all dream of conquering the helpless planets of the universe? Perhaps Regent Tulin had convinced them all the Empire had to expand.
 

He shook his head. Stay frosty, he thought. But that was easier said than done when waiting in an endless security check.
 

Toward the end of the line, Vakar stepped into the mass of humanity waiting for passage to the planet. The Major did not look at him. He glanced down at a tablet and acted frustrated by the delay.
 

Austin noticed the dozens of security cameras hanging a few inches from the transparent ceiling as the line slowly moved toward the checkpoints. A floating camera, looking like a drone, soared over the security line. It paused at points, descending and rising, before continuing its path. The line was worse than the airports back home.
 

After nearly two hours, he reached the security checkpoint. Earlier, a man and woman were pulled out of line and forced into a small room next to the security check. The elderly man in front of him had no trouble and passed through after a security guard searched through his bag. Austin carried nothing, so he hoped this would be easy.
 

The guard, a woman with bright red hair and piercing yellow eyes, motioned him forward. Her eyes widened as she looked at his face, but she quickly maintained her professionalism. Austin glanced at her dark red uniform with shiny silver buttons, wondering if she was Claria’s version of a police officer.

“Identification,” she said, the robotic voice of his implanted translator doing its job.