It was the early hours of the morning after
the crew of the Tornado discovered that Maxil Weltz and Vint Reganus, Ghambran
agents in the employ of Prefector Collis, had arrived on Soman asking about the
Tornado’s whereabouts.
They had a score to settle with them and the
very reason that had made them move to the Eikon Cluster was to evade the
Ghambran’s, but they were unanimous in their resolve not to move on again, they
had found their Shangri-La and were not going to give it up without a fight and
Merri had come up with a plan to rid them of their tormentors once and for all.
The plan was a simple one, which involved
using the recently acquired Spider Hawk Fighter, in which Merri, Lyris, Parse,
Shiyne and Malena would fly to Soman and land a safe distance away from the
Ghambran’s Scorpion Cruiser, the Ghambran’s wouldn’t think twice if they saw
the Spider Hawk, so once on Soman they would stealthily board the target vessel
and secrete the stolen Gouveian Crown Jewels aboard the Scorpion, then they
would depart with equal stealth and take off again.
Once they were back in space they would signal
the Tornado and they in turn would contact, first Commander Salmin of the
Legion Aeronautica informing him that they knew the whereabouts of the jewels
and secondly Oshwin Lemik on Soman so that he could inform the Ghambran’s of
the Tornados position, then acting as the bait the Tornado would lead the
Scorpion into the warm embrace of the Legion.
It was fitting that the Spider Hawk Fighter
that Lyris Skeet had acquired as the spoils of victory in a Legion sting
against a ruthless villain, be used to deliver the stolen booty, which
engineers Pulsat and Vanzyl had found hidden aboard, and the coup de grâce against the
Ghambran agents.
Although on the outside it still looked the
same as the Spider Hawk Fighters that Lyris flew against the Legion in the
Shaxson rebellion it was a different story inside.
As it was no longer a war machine it was now
very lightly armed so the pulsar rocket launcher which formally occupied a large
proportion of the hold was now redundant so the cabin space had been extended
so it could carry more than the two-man flight crew of its operational
days.
But it still meant they could only take a
small party with them.
Lyris as pilot, Parse as he was the only real
soldier among them, Shiyne for her telepathic skills, Malena the shapeshifter
and Merri because she was the Captain and it was her plan.
Shortly before departure, Malena was in her
quarters reassuring Zerrad that she would be perfectly safe
“I don’t like it” he said
“There’s nothing to worry about” she said
“I know Lyris remember” he pointed out “he’s
reckless, that’s why I’m worried”
“You also know Merri and she’s not reckless”
Malena said
“And she got shot the last time you tangled
with the Ghambran’s” he pointed out
“Well that’s not going to happen this time”
she reassured him “Now give me a kiss”
So Zerrad complied with her demand and then
watched her leave with a heavy heart.
There were two docking rings on the Tornado to
facilitate transfers to and from the freighter while in space, one in the belly
below the loading bay and the other was amidships above the cargo bays which
was also the mooring point for shuttles or ancillary craft, and it was the
latter where the Spider Hawk was moored.
Lyris Skeet was already in the corridor
beneath the hatch, pacing up and down, as he was very anxious, which wasn’t
normal for him, in fact it was not normal behaviour for him in any way shape or
form.
His anxiety was on several levels, firstly it
involved his piloting skills, it had been many years since his hot shot
piloting days and he needed to be on the top of his game to land the Spider
Hawk unnoticed, as close to the Scorpion as possible.
His second concern revolved around the mission
and more specifically the Gouveian Crown Jewels and a persistent nagging at the
back of his mind that they may be just handing them over to the enemy.
But the crux of his apprehension was the fear
that he would disappoint the beautiful, classy, well educated, feisty, funny
and wicked smart, Princess Asti Alegionaris who he had fallen in love with and
she with him.
So, the reformed smuggler paced up and down
until his Princess appeared and strode towards him carrying the leather bundle
that he knew contained the jewels.
“Don’t look so worried” she said and he
instantly relaxed and felt at peace and Asti stood on tiptoe and kissed him.
“You’re my knight in shining armour remember”
When the kiss was over she handed the bundle
him.
“I’ll make sure they get back to Gouveia” he
said, kissed her forehead and then climbed up through the hatch and into the
fighter.
The moment Lyris disappeared through the hatch
a tearful Princess Asti rushed down the corridor and out of sight a few seconds
before the rest of the party arrived.
Merri was in the Vanguard, her penetrating
green eyes looking straight ahead, with her head held high and the abundance of
red hair trailing behind her like a mane, and immediately behind the striking
figure of the proud Captain was the huge former Legionnaire Parse Sacrod,
almost as broad as the corridor itself and standing 6 foot 8 high, brushing the
curly burnished steel coloured hair off the ivory skin of his brow while his
mercury coloured eyes could see only the figure of his Captain and lover.
Beyond them were Shiyne and Malena who were
enjoying a final embrace with their respective partners, Sciberran Healer
Terrell and Zerrad Skeet.
The small cerise skinned Vann telepath gave
Vorton a final hug and he kissed the top of her bald head and when she turned
away and headed towards the hatch her purple eyes had tears welling up in
them.
And finally, there was Malena, tall, slim,
brunette hair, olive skin and hazel eyes, at least that was how she appeared
but of course in reality, she was an Obgaron shape shifter, but Zerrad would
have loved her in whatever form she adopted.
“I will be careful” she said, “I promise”
Then she kissed him one last time and joined
the rest of the party in the Spider Hawk and closed the hatch behind her as
Zerrad closed the one on the Tornado.
A few minutes later Lyris released the mooring
clamps and the Spider Hawk and the Tornado parted company.
“We have separation” Lyris said
“Let’s get it done then” Merri said
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