Page 133 of Stars on Fire

‘Sounds like a good man.’ She turned back to her sister, filled with curiosity. ‘Sheba, how did you get free?’

‘Long story. I think Massimo specifically targeted The Haven Mercy, looking for me. To get to you.’

‘Targeted?

‘Massimo knew I was your sister. He ID’d me possibly by going through the Haven Mercy’s ship manifest. He and a few crats questioned me. They threw me about. They asked questions about you. When the crats left, they sent Ki’Remi to clean me up and tend to my wounds. He stayed by my side, and the next day, he just started speaking to me telepathically. I knew him to be one of the relief doctors onboard but he’d never spoken to me before, neither verbally or aphonically, so it shocked the hell out of me. I didn’t know I was telepathic myself. I’m still not sure how he did it. He came up with the plan to send the SOS message. First, he insisted I fake the extent of my injuries. Then he instructed me to tell the crats he had to come with me onto this ship from The Haven Mercy. So that he could keep administering medical aid to me because the med labs on The Haven Mercy had been destroyed. Once transferred here, he sent the message. When we got the reply and instructions for the metanoid-virus, he was able to use them to take over some systems and command the crat watching over us to open the door to our prison cell. Soon after, he fell to the floor, and Ki’Remi told me it was because of the metanoid attack you’d set off. We couldn’t use his weapon because it was coded for crats only. But we managed to get out. We hid, not knowing where to go until Ki’Remi got the exact coordinates. While we were making it to the rendezvous point that Ki’Remi had received in his neural node, Massimo ambushed us. And here we are.’

‘But how did the Haven Mercy get captured?’

‘How else does a dreadnought overcome a relief ship, Sel? They threatened to destroy us. We surrendered. As simple as that.’

‘And everyone else on the Haven Mercy?’

‘Still on board as far as I know. They were locked in the brigs. Hopefully, they’re all still alive.’

Selene sucked in air, dreading what she was about to say. ‘Speaking of alive, there is one thing you’ll never forgive me for if I don’t tell you about it now. It’s about father. He’s-.’

Sheba’s face fell. ‘I know. That demon Massimo told me. With great pleasure.’

The two sisters quietly held hands, trying to wrap their heads around the terror of the last few weeks.

‘Bastard,’ Selene said presently, shuddering as she glanced at the prostrate traitor’s body that had slid down a wall onto the floor. ‘And good riddance. Can I say I’m somewhat OK with seeing him lying there in his own blood? He almost destroyed Du-.’

Selene was interrupted by the sound of grating, shrieking squealing. Two doors on the lower section of the dreadnought’s bridge were sliding open.

Kainan gestured, and the boarding party whipped their helmets back on and got their weapons ready.

‘Remember those signatures,khosi?’ Mirage said into their headsets. ‘They’re now at your position.’

The Sable Riders, Selene and Sheba, stared as three dozen crats stalked into the strange bridge. The six leading the group sported the gold cloaks of the high crats, while the rest were mid-level guard crats in silver cloaks, each brandishing raised weapons.

A voice rose from amongst them, metallic and strangely grating.

‘Our esteemed guests. Welcome. What a surprise. For you, I mean. You thought we were all gone and that your clever metanoids infiltrated and destroyed us all. You were wrong.’

‘You’re the Eminences of this ship,’ Kainan ground out, his voice emanating through his helmet’s speakers.

‘A winning observation,’ the metallic voice continued. ‘We are high crats with maximum level shielding built into us. In addition, we and our guard crats have inbuilt antimatter batteries under our cloaks, each running at a near-100% efficiency. This means we can run individual shields that prevent any attack from reaching our forms.’

Kainan scoffed. ‘Regardless, we’ve distributed our metanoids and hacks throughout your fleet. Which is probably why your full armada hasn’t shown up yet.’

One of the high crats stepped forward. He then ripped off his head covering to reveal a pair of auric eyes floating within the strange transparent carapace face.

‘Well, well,’ it stated. ‘I remember that voice. If it isn’t my protege? Meeting you here is an even better outcome than we could have imagined. A reunion with my favourite experiment of all.’

There was a pause as the creature’s words echoed in the tomb-like space. Selene saw and felt the Riders bristle, their level of menace ratcheting up exponentially. Their reaction was deeply personal, raw and chilling to the core.

‘Fokk,’ Kainan stepped back, spitting his words between clenched teeth. ‘478Q1.’

‘The one and only. And it seems that my work on you had outstanding results. We’ve heard of your exploits in technology, armaments and ship drives. Most impressive. Better still, your metanoid research is exceptional. We just experienced a little of what you are fully capable of. We believe there is more you can share with us. Your knowledge will be a great boon to The Technocracy in our war against The Imperium.’

Kainan chuckled, a laugh imbued with an edge of menace. ‘You want more of what we have? Haven’t your numbers been decimated enough?’

‘You forget that all you’ve done is kill off the base crats—easily the most replaceable soldiers in our armies. Arriving in just a few moments is the might of The Technocracy. Fifty ships that are, contrary to what you believe, still operational. Albeit with fewer base crats. You see, us higher crats are immune to your metanoids. This means that the high crats on those ships were not affected by your metanoid storm. But the technology is intriguing. We will retrieve it and use it for ourselves. Maybe even use it to replicate stronger and more versatile base crats. You owe it to us.’

‘Owe? The Sable Group never makes promises to the poor and never owes a debt,’ Kainan drawled.

‘You owe us. You stole our tech, our AI and our ship. Unthinkable!’

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