The Zygan Emprise: Renegade Paladins and Abyssal Redemption (22 page)

Meanwhile, Spud was
chorizing
in
another chamber. Perfectly still, his response to the interrogation
was catatonia and escape to another plane of consciousness, where
Gary would be unable to access his neurocache and effectively
download his brain information.

Gary moved back and forth between us, trying
to scan our brains with an instrument that I didn’t recognize. It
was bright gold and shaped like an orange cut in half, a divided
sphere. Gary had placed the flat surface over my frontal lobes,
near my forehead. Then, he’d demand, “Who did you talk to?!” over
and over. When the answers didn’t come, Gary hovered next to me,
shifting his weight impatiently from one leg to the other, and
twisting a gold ring on his left middle finger back and forth as
his frustration grew.

Both of us were able to perceive Gary’s anger
rising as our efforts kept him from his goal. “These techniques are
far more advanced than Zygint’s,” he muttered. “How are these green
baby Zygint catascopes able to resist?”

As minutes turned into hours, Gary’s fury
intensified. I was convinced he knew we could hear him speak as his
pacing became ever more agitated. “Catharization is too good for
these children. Execution is what they deserve!”

* * *

Matshi’s ship

The holo showed mild dark matter flux, but
little else. If there was a ship stealthed at the target metrics,
Matshi couldn’t see it on any of the screens.

Pallas nodded at the display. “It’s there.
Look at the differential.”

Nissos agreed. He reached over Matshi’s
shoulder and manipulated the display. A faint shadow of a vessel
appeared. “There you go.”

“Zygan technology isn’t always state of the
art,” Sarion said. “And that’s no joke.”

“It’s actually an understatement,” Pallas
snorted. “Zygan bureaucracy actually stifles innovation.”

“One of these days,” Matshi admitted, “I’d
like to blow this Fed and see what I’ve been missing.”

“Count me in,” Sarion agreed. “I’ve heard the
Deltans in the Virgo Cluster are really hot!”

Lykkos snickered, “You wouldn’t believe what
we learn from some of our ‘visitors’ when they’re under the
influence of Aldebaran brandy.”

Matshi glared at them through furrowed brows.
“
I
was thinking about witnessing new spaceflight
technologies.”

“Speaking of, based on the ship outline, it
looks like a Messier Sportstar, the latest cool cruiser among
Ursans,” Nissos announced. “Seats 22.” He ran his fingers across
the holo again, and added, “I read three humans on board.”

“And two of them may be Escott and Rush,”
Sarion stated, serious. He turned to Matshi. “Orders, Cap’n?”

Matshi looked at the Megarans soberly, and
declared after a beat, “We go in.”

There was a general cheer.

“Suit up, men,” Matshi advised. “We’ll Ergal
in invisibly and scan and disperse once we’re on board.”

* * *

Eikhus’s ship

Suthsi sat quietly as Eikhus gently guided
the ship towards Matshi’s contact metrics. In the years since
they’d left Mingferplatoi, he’d not gotten a decent night’s
hibernation. Setsei had wanted to stay at the Academy. I should’ve
stayed, too.

Suthsi felt Setsei’s flagella slide over his
shoulders and smiled. “Whatever our fate,” he said quietly, “may we
share it together.”

Nephil Stratum was relaying comm data to
Eikhus. “Matshi and his team are mounting a rescue.”

“Can you see the ship?” the Kharybdian asked.
“Inside?”

“Yes,” she responded. “To both. Do we join
them, or do we wait?”

Eikhus hesitated, finally declaring, “Just
monitor for now. We’ll know when and if we have to make a
move.”

* * *

The Messier Sportstar

Matshi M-fanned invisibly into Spud’s cell,
dumbfounded by the scene before him. Spud was lying motionless on a
metal slab, his eyes closed, his aquiline features devoid of
expression. The Chidurian crept closer to see if Escott was
breathing. Barely, he realized; no more than a breath a minute, too
few for humans.

He reached a hand towards Spud’s chest. A
human hand grabbed his and twisted him towards the floor.

“Matshi!” Spud cried as he landed on top of
his rescuer, adding in a whisper, “I am actually quite pleased to
see you.”

Rolling to one side, the Chidurian slid out
from under Spud. Rubbing his sore limb, Matshi stood up to his full
height and muttered a Chidurian curse.

“I know what that means,” Spud grumbled as he
got to his feet.

“I know you know,” Matshi responded. “Now
let’s get your arse out of here.”

* * *

When I opened my eyes and saw Sarion leaning
over me with a worried smile, I thought Gary was taunting me with a
cruel joke.

“Come on,” Sarion cried. “Hurry.”

I reached up and grabbed his muscular arm. He
lifted me off the table and spotted me until I’d regained my
balance.

“How did you find us?” I asked, grateful for
the rescue.

“No time for that now, follow me.” He pulled
out his Ergal and started entering instructions with his
fingers.

Dazed and drained, I was still wobbly on my
feet, but free of the spasms of agony with which Gary had tortured
me. “How did you stop my pain?”

Sarion looked at me, puzzled. “Here, let me
Ergal you a suit and we can X-fan back to Matshi’s ship.”

“No.”

Sarion looked even more puzzled. Could it be
he had no idea why we had been captured?

“I can’t leave,” I insisted. “I have to save
Spud. And stop Gary.”

“Matshi’s saving Spud,” the Megaran informed
me. “And, by now, Pallas and Nissos should be on the bridge of this
beauty. They should be able to handle your … uh, Gary.”

I
was now puzzled. “Who are Pallas and
Nissos?”

“My mates,” Sarion said, his eye on the door
and his tone impatient. “We better get going. Before somebody tries
to stop us.”

I nodded. “Okay. But shouldn’t we disable
Gary’s power grid first?”

“Lykkos, another mate, is on that,” Sarion
urged anxiously. “Let’s just go.”

“Ergal me a stun gun,” I ordered the Megaran.
“I’m not leaving til we arrest Gary.” I stood stone-faced, hands on
my hips. “I am still—I hope—a fully certified Zygint agent.”

“I’ll go along with the certified part,”
Sarion sighed, rolling his eyes. He Ergaled both of us stun guns
and handed one to me. Without hesitating, I blasted the portal of
my prison cell open and led Sarion carefully out into the corridor,
determined to succeed in my quest.

* * *

“The bridge on these birds is usually
astern,” Matshi whispered to Spud. “This way.”

A sudden yaw threw the two against the
bulkhead. “Go, Pallas,” Matshi said quietly.

Spud clutched his stun gun even more tightly
and crept behind the Chidurian. The ship lurched again, and the
power grid went down.

“Lykkos,” Matshi explained as he Ergaled two
torches and handed one to Spud.

“Shh.” Spud pulled Matshi back as they
rounded a corner. He gestured at his ears and turned off his torch.
Matshi followed and the two waited in the darkness, guns at the
ready.

The faintest sound of stealthy footsteps
approached from the corridor ahead. As the steps neared, Matshi and
Spud both aimed their stun guns at the source of the sound. Around
the corner, a faint light appeared, followed by two shadowy
forms.

“Freeze!” cried Matshi as he and Spud each
flew to one side of the shadows.

“Don’t shoot!”

Matshi and Spud turned on their torches to
see Sarion and me.

* * *

I really thought I’d bought it when I felt
the stun gun in my ribs. I’m so glad Matshi wasn’t quicker on the
trigger.

Spud recovered first. “Let’s get to the
bridge,” he said quietly.

I nodded, not bothering to hide my sarcasm.
“Thanks for asking.”

“We do not have the minutes to waste on…small
talk,” Spud returned, as we set off down the corridor behind Matshi
and Sarion towards the bridge. “My observation that you seem well
was adequately reassuring. As I hope the converse was for you,” he
added with a bitter edge.

Ouch. That hit straight home. “Look, I’m
sorry, Spud,” I sighed. “After what I’ve—we’ve been through…” I
struggled to articulate my distress.

“It is hardly necessary to dissect and relive
the experience again,” he finished for me, as he pulled on my arm
to encourage me to pick up my pace.

Our companions had gone down a corridor to
our right, and we jogged to catch up. After a few yards, Matshi led
us off to the in the opposite direction, and then back again to the
right. A few more turns and I felt that we had come around in a
complete circle. Matshi was an excellent navigator, but I still
kept wondering if we shouldn’t’ve ‘turned left back at the stop
sign’, you know?

Following the Chidurian, we clambered up a
flight of stairs, walked down a short corridor, and finally reached
a titanium door at its end. Our attempts to open the door with
laser blasts from our stun guns failed. We’d need to use one of our
rescuers’ Ergals to M-fan into what we expected would be the bridge
on the other side. We all held hands, and, on my whispered count of
three, Matshi activated his Ergal and we all X-fanned through the
door together.

Yay, Matshi. Success! We looked around
hastily, bewildered to see that the surprisingly roomy bridge was
dark and quiet. There was no sign of Gary, nor of Sarion’s buddies.
The emptiness and silence were very worrisome. I hoped the
Megaran’s friends were okay. I hoped Gary wasn’t. Our Chief
obviously had some tricks up his sleeve that we didn’t learn about
through Zygint and he didn’t seem to hesitate to use them.

Stun guns out and charged, we peered into the
darkness, trying to listen for sounds of life. I heard someone
sniffing. Matshi. Chidurians did have large nostrils and triple our
sense of smell. And then I smelled it, too. Something was burning.
We’d better find out what. Following Matshi’s lead, we crept behind
the large nav and comm panels so we could hide before attempting to
turn on the lights with an Ergal.

That effort was unnecessary. A split second
later, the entire circumference of the bridge around us became
brilliantly lit as it burst into flames. In the center of the
chamber, holding a vibrating machine about the size of a large
shoebox under one arm, stood Gary. To Sarion’s alarm, there was no
sign of either Pallas or Nissos.

“Don’t bother looking for your friends,” Gary
announced. “They’re on their way to Level Three as heroes.”

“No!” Sarion lunged forward, and was barely
held back by Matshi and Spud.

“Their … transition was instantaneous, I’d
say,” Gary chuckled. “I guess their mother never told them to put
on their suits before they go outside.” He waved his free hand at
the darkness of space beyond the bridge’s windscreens.

Sarion’s face was contorted with rage.
Red-faced, he sputtered a string of Megaran oaths.

Spud’s eyes had remained focused on Gary’s
box. “What is that?” he interjected.

“That, Escott,” Gary said coldly, “is my key
to Level Three.”

The blazing fire was moving rapidly towards
our panels. We inched forward to avoid the flames, closer and
closer to Gary, guns still aimed at our adversary. Soon we were
standing only a few feet away, surrounding him. As Matshi shot out
a free appendage to grab Gary’s box, Gary waved a hand and all our
stun-guns instantly dissolved. Matshi and Sarion instinctively
reached for their Ergals.

“Really, children, you don’t honestly believe
that the extent of Zygan knowledge is limited to Catascope 101 at
Mingferplatoi?” A second wave of Gary’s hand, and their Ergals had
similarly dissolved. Matshi patted his pockets and, looking at
Sarion then us, shook his head. “Benedict learned so much more
during his exile.”

“And don’t expect Rescue 911,” Gary
continued. “I’ve activated E-shields. No one else can get in to
save you.”

The toasty flames were now licking our feet.
We had no other option. With a shout from Matshi, we all leaped
forward intending to grab Gary with our bare hands, and take away
his Ergal or whatever it was that was the source of his power.
Without an Ergal, or a
super
Ergal, Gary wouldn’t be able to
take down the E-shield and escape. He would perish in the inferno
along with us, an option that we estimated he wouldn’t tolerate.
He’d attempt to save himself, and thereby open the door for us to
get out, too.

Unfortunately, Gary had once again
anticipated our move, and, still holding the shoebox, which had now
started to emit a high pitched whine and shake violently, he
avoided us easily by levving beyond our reach to the ceiling of the
bridge, comfortably above the flames.

“Nice try, children, but there’s no escape
for you,” Gary mocked from his smoky height as the blaze rapidly
engulfed us and our suits and clothes began to burn. We scattered
to all corners of the bridge, futilely trying to find an exit and
flee the flames, but the entire bridge deck had become a fiery
inferno with no egress.

Gary waved from his perch above, his gold
ring reflecting the glow of the fire below. “See you in Level
Three,” he shouted callously over our cries, and pressed a button
on the side of the shoebox he continued to tightly clutch.

Faced with certain death, I started my ka’vyr
techniques once again to stave off the burning agony. The end would
come quickly enough for us all. I did not want to suffer in my last
moments alive.

Through the distance of my trance, I heard a
blood-curdling scream, like none that I had ever heard before, come
from above my head. I looked up as Gary screamed again, and
collapsed onto the ground, dead.