Stars of Blood and Glory (23 page)

“
I don’t know what
you’re—”

The man slugged him in the stomach, knocking
the wind out of him and sending him to the floor. He doubled over
in pain, gasping desperately for air.

“
You know damn well what I’m
talking about, you Hameji bastard! You know damn well!”

A steel-capped toe slammed into Abaqa’s side,
sending a bolt of pain through his arm and shoulder. He curled up
to shield himself, barely in time to prevent another blow from
striking him in his kidney.

“
Stop!” he cried out in terror.
“Please, don’t hurt me!”

“
You think we didn’t cry for
mercy?” the man screamed, his voice hoarse with rage. “When you
took our homeworld and brought your machines of death—do you think
we didn’t beg for mercy?”

He reached down and lifted Abaqa up high
enough to ram his head into the floor. Stars spun across his
vision, and for a brief terror-filled moment, he felt as if he were
floating. The man slammed a fist against his jaw, bringing tears of
pain to his eyes.

“
I didn’t do it! I didn’t do
anything!”

“
It doesn’t matter—you’re still
one of them.”

Abaqa scrambled to get away from the man, but
he grabbed him by his collar and threw him onto his back. He
covered his face with his hands, but the man straddled him like a
wrestler and shoved the blade of his wrist into his throat.

“
You Hameji bastards are all the
same. The crimes of your race are too heinous to forgive. For what
you did at New Vela, for what you did to the Gaians—for what you’ve
done to me and my people, none of you deserve to live.”

At that moment, the lights flashed on, making
Abaqa squint. The door to the cell creaked on its hinges, and the
old cyborg lifted the man to his feet.

“
Avanadze—what is meaning of
this?”

The man shrugged him off. “Just giving the
prisoner a lesson, Roman—a lesson he damn well won’t forget.”

Abaqa’s lip quivered as the old cyborg stared
down at him. He tried to blink away the tears welling up in his
eyes, but he failed to hide his weakness. Like a little boy on his
first long trip away from his mother, he broke down and silently
began to cry.

“
What sort of lesson?”

“
A history lesson, Sergeant. The
way those Hameji bastards—”

“
Then let me give you history
lesson, Lieutenant. When your mother was still virgin, those who
wore the colors of Free Tajjur did not torture small
boys.”

The man drew himself up as if to strike, but
Roman stared him down. Grumbling to himself, he turned and left the
cell, his footsteps echoing through the brig.

“
I am sorry,” said the old
cyborg. He reached down and helped Abaqa to his feet. “Come, let me
get you to doctor.”

“
I’ll be fine,” Abaqa muttered,
rubbing his eyes. He turned his face to hide his tears, even though
it was probably too late.

“
Yuri is man with long grudge,”
Roman continued. “He has not forgiven Hameji for destruction of
Tajjur V.”

“
And you have?”

He grinned bitterly. “Of course not. But what
difference does it make? When your fathers took Tajjur, you were
not even born.”

“
Why now? What’s going on out
there?”

The grin disappeared from his face. “Less
than one hour ago, we arrived at second planet of New Vela. The
Hameji had just finished slagging it.”

Abaqa frowned. “You mean with the mass
accelerators?”

“
Yes. Just like Tajjur
V.”

The news had a strange effect on Abaqa. He’d
grown up hearing about the slagging of Gaia Nova and the legendary
victory over the Empire that had made the Hameji supreme rulers of
the galaxy. But that was history—this was much more real, much more
immediate. And yet why was that so? He didn’t have anything to do
with the slagging. It wasn’t on his orders that it had happened.
And besides, it wasn’t like he actually knew any of the planetborn
who had died there.

Perhaps not,
he thought to
himself.
But
my mother—she wasn’t always Hameji.
What if he had been one of the planetborn
trapped on the surface?

“
Are you not well, Prince? Your
face is white.”

“
I’m fine,” said Abaqa.
“Just—maybe something for the bruises.”

“
Of course. Follow me—I will take
you to doctor.”

“
Right. Thanks.”

He followed the old cyborg out of the cell,
holding his head with one hand. Neither of them said anything as
they walked down the dim, narrow corridor, but for the first time
in his life, Abaqa felt a pang of guilt for something that he had
never done.

* * * * *

“
Here’s something for your
stomach,” said Doctor Avanadze, handing Rina a packet of small
pills. “If you start to feel weak, it might be good to take some
energy boosters, too.”

“
Thanks,” said Rina. She slipped
the pills into her pocket and rose to her feet. “Is there anything
else?”

“
No, everything checks out. Just
a traumatic sight—it gets to the best of us.”

She smiled, but from the emotion in her eyes,
Rina could tell it was forced. The slagging of New Vela had been a
blow to all of them. No doubt the news had spread throughout the
ship by now. The air already felt a little thicker, the mood a
little darker. Even for a crew of mercenaries, the deaths of
billions of people couldn’t pass without having some sort of an
impact.

It wasn’t the deaths that got to her, though.
It was the memories.

“
Are we safe now?” Maia
asked.

Rina paused. “I don’t know,” she answered
truthfully. For helping her, the doctor deserved as much.

She nodded and took a deep breath. “Right.
Well, good luck, Lieutenant.”

The door behind them hissed open, and the
Hameji prince stepped in, a dark bruise covering the side of his
face. Doctor Avanadze stiffened and narrowed her lips.

“
What happened here,
Sergeant?”

“
Your husband,” said Roman.
“After slagging of New Vela II, he decided to make visit to our
prisoner.”

“
I see.”

“
Can you help him?”

She took a deep breath and turned to the boy.
“I suppose. Here, have a seat on the table.”

The boy sat down on the examination table a
bit sheepishly. Roman folded his arms and leaned against the
wall.

What’s going on?
Rina thought-spoke
to him.

Just small quarrel. It was nothing.

I mean on the bridge.

He grunted.
We are safe for now. After you
left, we made short range jump to random location in deep space.
But our supplies are getting low, and we cannot stay put
forever.

So where do we go from here?

I do not know. But if you have any ideas, I
suggest you speak with the Captain.

Rina nodded. “Thank you, Doctor,” she said,
turning back to her. “I’d better return to my post.”

Maia nodded. “Take care of yourself,
Lieutenant. Good luck.”

As Rina stepped into the doorway, an idea
occurred to her. She stopped and turned to Roman.

“
When we jumped out, did we set
the coordinates in the direction of New Rigel, or back towards the
rift?”

The natural half of Roman’s mouth turned down
in a frown. “Toward the rift, I think. Considering that was
direction from where we came, it seemed safest to return.”

She nodded. “Thank you.”

As she walked down the corridor
towards the captain’s quarters, the datalink buzzed in her
mind.
Why do
you ask?

Because I think I know of a
place we can go,
she replied.

What sort of place?

She took a deep breath as an image of Admiral
Genjiro returned unbidden to her mind. Shivers ran down her back,
and her mouth began to salivate—even after so much time, the desire
to kill was so strong that it surprised her. She shut off the
datalink before accidentally betraying herself, and her legs went
strangely weak for a moment. After stopping to lean against the
wall, though, she soon recovered.

The rogue planet,
she thought to
herself. The secret Federation base within the rift—yes, that was a
place where they could safely hide until the Hameji passed over.
And if there was one thing she knew well, it was how to disappear
into the shadows.

* * * * *

Hikaru stopped at the old metal door with
CPTN stenciled on it in large black letters. The chime sounded
twice before the door opened, and then, it wasn’t Danica who walked
out, but one of the younger officers—a black-haired girl who was
even shorter than the princess.

“
Pass the co-ordinates on to
Roman,” came Danica’s voice from further inside. “I’ll be on the
bridge shortly.”

“
Right.”

The girl gave Hikaru one brief look before
slipping past her and hurrying silently down the corridor. For a
second, Hikaru hesitated, unsure whether to go inside or try
another time.

“
Ah, Princess. How can I help
you?”

“
Hello, Captain. I’m not
interrupting anything, am I?”

“
Of course not,” said Danica, but
she stood in the doorway without inviting her in.

Hikaru gave her a short bow. “I’m sorry to
take your time,” she said. “I was just wondering—what is going
on?”

Captain Danica’s lips narrowed, and she took
a deep breath through her nose. “You haven’t heard the news, have
you?”

“
News? What news?”

“
A little over an hour ago, we
arrived at New Vela. The Hameji had gotten there before us, though.
When we jumped in, they had just finished slagging the second
planet.”

Hikaru frowned. “Slag? What do you mean?”

Danica put an arm around her shoulder her and
walked with her out into the corridor. The door to her quarters
hissed shut behind them.

“
When the Hameji conquer a
heavily populated world, they bombard it with asteroids until
everyone on the surface is dead. That’s what they did when they
took Gaia Nova, and what they did to our homeworld at Tajjur almost
sixteen standard years ago.”

“
Wait—you mean they did that at
New Vela?”

“
I’m afraid so,” said Danica, her
expression grim. “This whole region of space is swarming with them
now. The way things currently stand, it isn’t safe to push on to
New Rigel.”

“
It isn’t safe?” said Hikaru,
blood draining from her cheeks. “What do you mean? Where else can
we go?”

“
Until the sector quiets down,
our safest course of action is to find a place to hide and wait for
the Hameji to pass over.”

“
But—but what about my brother?
Is he still alive? And the people back home—what are they going to
do?” Her hands shook, and her voice was starting to sound
frantic.

“
I’m sorry, Princess. I don’t
know what to tell you.”

“
The Hameji—are they going to
slag Shinihon the way they slagged Gaia Nova?”

Danica said nothing. That was answer
enough.

“
Stars of Earth,” Hikaru cried,
leaning against the wall for support. “This—this can’t be
happening!”

“
I’m afraid it is, Princess. Now,
if you’ll excuse me, I’m needed on the bridge.”

As the captain walked away, Hikaru covered
her mouth with her hands and slid down until she was practically
sitting on her ankles. Her head spun, and her legs felt weak and
non-responsive. All she had wanted was to get away from the palace
for a bit—just a few days, maybe a week at most. She had never
thought that she might not have a home to go back to.

* * * * *

Roman rose to his feet as Danica returned to
the bridge. Yuri and Mikhail both glanced up from their posts,
while Al-Najmi kept her eyes focused on her work.

“
Captain,” he said, giving her a
quick salute. “Al-Najmi and I have entered coordinates of secret
Federation base. It is small outpost, probably abandoned, at rogue
planet not far from here. Our scanners have picked up faint signal,
too weak to be certain, but we think that is it.”

“
Good work,” said Danica, taking
her seat in the command chair. “Are we ready to go?”

“
Sorry, Captain,” said Lieutenant
Yuri, “but could you fill us in on what the hell is going
on?”

Danica looked at him and narrowed her eyes.
Roman noticed with some satisfaction that he actually flinched.
Tensions were high for all of them, but the last thing they needed
right now was for anyone to let it out.

“
I understand you had a little
run-in with our prisoner,” she said, her voice low and even. “Is
there anything you care to say about that, Lieutenant?”

Yuri’s cheeks turned bright red. “I’m sorry,
Captain. It won’t happen again.”

“
Good. We’re not in a position to
take disciplinary action at the moment, but if I hear of anything
like this again, you will no longer be welcome on my ship. Is that
clear?”

“
Yes, Captain. Perfectly
clear.”

She took a deep breath and surveyed the room.
Only Zura was absent; everyone else watched her with expectant
eyes, their expressions dark and somber. Roman didn’t know if he’d
ever seen morale so low.