Page 56 of Star Mates

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Raiden had known something bad had happened when the Kexian Sentinels were pulled from guard duty on the hub. He had wrestled with the decision to continue on the mission or discover what emergency drove them away.

Being captain, he had pressed on. The hub was a huge satellite, its curving dish so large that the ends, almost touched each other. The way it worked was through mathematical calculations that took in the position of the stars and then gave a formula for the Merloni ship to follow as it entered and exited normal space. The technical aspects went over his head, but Emmarie’s observation had made one thing crystal clear. The hub calculations weren’t working at one hundred percent.

He docked against the side of the hub while Elliot lined up his arsenal of homemade weapons. Parker, who worked with computers, managed to override the security and that’s when they found themselves inside the satellite. The enclosed area was little more than a series of small hallways, and the men had to haunch over while walking. Clearly, the station had been built for the smaller framed Merloni technicians.

“This is just fucked,” Elliot whispered.

“Focus,” Raiden ordered.

“The mainframe should be just up ahead,” Parker said.

“Upload that virus quickly and then let’s get out of here,” Raiden replied. Seconds later, they turned a corner and the heart of the hub lay before them. Dozens of computer screens, all displaying various graphs and informational readouts. Lights blinked, the sounds of fans whirled, and cold air fell directly over the hard drives. Parker hurried forward and kneeled in front of one frame. He attached a small device and then stood up to push a few buttons.

“Okay, let’s go,” Parker said.

“That’s it?” Raiden asked, clearly surprised.

“Yeah. The new coordinates have already been sent into the mainframe on Merloni Prime. Now, whenever the Merloni access the Slip Gate, it’ll open in the Outlaw Rings.”

“So, we can blow it now?”

“Yep. Even if they build a new one, all their calculations are going to be off.”

Raiden grinned. “Excellent. Time to set the charges.”

As they made their way back to their ship docked against the side of the hub, they planted all the bombs they had managed to either get their hands on or build themselves. Then they slid back through the opened hatch into their ship. Suddenly, as they prepped to disengage, their sensors lit up.

“Fuck!” Raiden yelled. “We’ve…they’ve…what the hell?”

He stared at the images scrolling over his screen.

“What?” Elliot asked anxiously.

“They’ve pulled into formation in front of the Rings. We won’t be able to slip back across.”

“What should we do?” Parker asked.

“I guess we need to hide until it all dies down.”

“What do you think happened?”

Raiden shrugged. “Maybe the Durians finally declared human citizenship.”

Elliot snorted, clearly not believing that statement.

“Well, in any case, it doesn’t matter,” Raiden said. “Let’s get out of here.”

The Sunray took off and when they were far enough away, Raiden pushed the detonator and took great delight in watching the thing explode into hundreds of pieces. In the vacuum of space there wasn’t fire, but Raiden didn’t need a fiery inferno to appreciate knowing his parents had been avenged.

A tremendous weight lifted off his shoulders, although he’d never fully realized until then that it had been there. Now, all he wanted to do, was return and pull Emmarie into his arms.

But he’d have to wait until the Kexian armada moved away from the asteroid belt. Even though Elliot may be a good navigator, he was no Pikon Brandt, and Raiden didn’t feel like taking such a risk now that his burden had been lifted.

****

A mini war played out in front of him on the viewscreen. By the stray communications that Parker was able to hack into, they discovered Sparta had been hit and hit bad. So many emotions crashed through him that he wasn’t quite sure how to handle them. His mind went in all directions. His blood ran cold as he thought of Emmarie. If the Unarian’s had taken her, if the one who’d purchased her found her, she could be lost to him forever. Raiden made a silent vow that he wouldn’t rest until he’d found her again, freed her one way or another, or die trying.

---