BEFORE – The Ire of Mandala

Tailz stared silently at the new kid.  He knew it was a kind of hypocrisy to refer to a boy no older than himself as a “kid”, but the boy was fresh out of Selection; placed immediately into command, no less.  With the exception of the weapons exam, on which Tailz still held the highest proficiency, the kid, code-named “Cerberus,” had scored highest across the board.  The first Selection assigned specifically for command, he had been appointed specifically to replace their last Commander, who had vanished undercover deep in Fongen territory.  Tailz had been Acting Commander ever since the Union’s head leaders, the Will, gave up looking for Commander Fincher.

That was two years ago.  Tailz had hopes that his work against the rebel Fongen would allow him to keep the position in reality, instead of by default.  The only real obstacle to that was if someone came out of Selection with scores to match Tailz’, a feat he had believed impossible.  Only, that’s what this boy had done.  Tailz noted with some pride, however, that although he was a year younger than Tailz, Cerberus had spent four years longer in Selection.  Tailz was assigned to the Terra Scouts as lead tactical officer at the minimum age, thirteen standard years.  Cerberus may have been immediately assigned as the new Commander on Selection, but not until after his seventeenth nameday.

At least the boy’s first mission was simple.  The Union had been waiting for an opportunity to infiltrate a secure spaceport in the rebel Fongen’s space.  Recently, they had been able to discern the timetable of a freighter with the appropriate clearance.  The first mission was to secretly retrieve the craft’s authority codes to dock at the port, and the captain’s biometric data to confirm it.  They also needed the craft’s identification signal, so they get close to the port without alerting the rebel force nearby. 

The second task was to get to the port and dock with it.  The idea was—after broadcasting the Fongen colors—they would identify the Scouts, own craft as the freighter that had just left.  Their freighter, the Zeroth, confiscated on another smuggling raid, was an identical model craft.  The Scouts would then transfer scan data showing a power glitch that required them to return to port.

 Finally, they would infiltrate the port itself.  The Will wanted the Scouts to obtain the manifest database containing all of the crafts which docked at the port and their cargo.  With that, it would be easy enough to strangle the rebels’ supply lines.  A blockade was out of the question; the space was too great an area.  But as the Union suddenly began targeting known smugglers and confiscating cargo, it would be a bad time to be a supply runner for the Fongen.

Cerberus paced behind the communications station.  Heir, the Scout assigned to handle the station, was staring intently at the screen.  They had been waiting nearly an hour just on the outside of the Fongen’s known transmission range, so the rebels would not catch wind of the radio traffic.  Cerberus continued to pace, unwilling to abort the mission just yet.

The final member of their small crew, Blank, called out from navigation.  “Commander, the target is exiting Fongen space.” 

“Finally!” Cerberus sighed.  “Confirm it.”

Blank tabbed through several screens of information.  “It’s the right one; the Ire of Mandala.  Looks like they were just delayed getting off the planet.”

“Have they detected us yet?”

“No, Commander.  They are not running sweeps this far out.”

Cerberus nodded.  “Cut power as we discussed, make it look good.  Everyone get their helmets on.”  He turned to the comm station.  “Heir, transmit the distress signal, all Fongen channels, make it weak enough that they get it and no one else.  Don’t want a relay to accidentally pick it up.”  As Heir complied, typing into his console, Cerberus approached Tailz.  “Let’s go.”

As the pair exited the Zeroth’s bridge, the lights dimmed and went out.  They placed their masks over their faces, and connected them to the oxygen pack on their backs.  Then, they placed their helmets over their heads, hearing the click that locked them into place.  Normally life support would last several hours on a freighter this size after a complete power down, but to make their show more convincing they were going to vent all the gas into space several minutes after lights out.  Sure enough, in time they could hear the hissing of the ventilation system as it sucked out all the air.  Cerberus nodded, and led the way to the weapon locker. 

Opening the locker they had hauled on board the Zeroth, they each reached in.  Tailz, as usual, pulled out the trusty rifle he hefted with him everywhere.  He grabbed a phasic pod from the open box, and locked it in.  The clear glass of the unused pod quickly gave off a fluorescent blue as the rifle hummed to life.  Nodding to himself, Tailz attached the shoulder strap, and then heaved the big rifle over his shoulder.

Cerberus shook his head, but said nothing, pulling out two of the smaller pistols.

“What?”  Tailz asked, brushing his hand through his fiery-red hair.

The Commander shrugged while he belted on the double holster.  “Well, you’re the weapons expert, so it’s probably different for you.”  He clicked one pistol closed, and holstered it.  He began loading the second one.  “I prefer a weapon I can put away quickly and have both my hands free.”

Tailz scoffed.  Cerberus looked up and raised an eyebrow.  Tailz held his hands wide.  “Sorry, but I don’t plan on letting anyone get that close.”

Shrugging, Cerberus holstered the second pistol and closed the locker.  “Like I said, you’re the weapons expert.  So long as we get the mission done, I don’t care how you do it.”  He turned and moved down the corridor.  Tailz adjusted his rifle’s shoulder strap and followed along behind.

A brief walk to the elevator shaft that remained active and down four decks took them to the storage bays.  Cerberus palmed open the large door that hid their cargo.  Tailz whistled, impressed: “Now that’s a classy craft.”  He cocked his head, studying it.  “It’s tiny, though.”  It was about half the size of the crafts they currently used for single- or double-man missions.

Cerberus chuckled as he popped the hatch open.  “Yeah, the guys on the Antirades said it was an over-sized sardine can.”  Cerberus pointed at various components.  “Two-man seating, and the shallow contour of the chairs allows for two rows of controls on either side.  Also helps make the craft smaller.”

Tailz tilted his head to one side.  “I don’t see any armaments.”

“There are none.  This class was built for speed.  I had them only put two circuits: one for the thrusters, and one for the computer.”

“Just two?” Tailz said, eyes wide.  “Fine, no weapons, but what about the refractors?  Auto-stabilizers? Phasic dampeners?”

Cerberus grinned.  “Well, the light refractors and phasic dampeners have their own power source: a battery that is charged while the thrusters are low.  That way, they’ll be available when they’re needed, but they weren’t designed to be used for long.  All engine output is directed to the thrusters when they’re hot.  That, combined with the fact that there are no auto-stabilizers, you have the smallest possible package, with maximum speed and maneuverability.”

Tailz choked, surprised, and had to clear his throat.  “You took off the auto-stabilizers?”

“Of course.  The reports have always shown that a Scout’s natural reflexes are more accurate, forcing us to fight the stabilizers.  We were having to purposefully aim off our headings so that the auto-stabilizers would then correct them.”

Tailz nodded his head.  He had not thought to mention that to the engineers who handcrafted the Scouts’ personal craft.  Working with the auto-stabilizers that helped regular Humans guide space-faring crafts had been just a given.  It would be faster to just hit the heading they wanted, exactly, without having to reverse calculate what the auto-stabilizer would do.

Looking up, he noticed Cerberus with a hand to his helmet.  “What’s up?”

Cerberus did not move at first, then nodded to himself and climbed into the craft.  “I’ve got the signal.  Our ‘friends’ are preparing to dock and send over a few engineers to help ‘Captain’ Heir fix his little broken craft problem.  Time to go.”  He pressed several buttons near the main display, and the cockpit lit up.

A pleasant female voice chimed over speakers.  “TERRA PRIME ACTIVIX BEGINNING.”  The craft’s engine turned the pale dankness of the storage bay into a reflective neon-blue light show.  It hummed with power, similar to their hand weapons, but only hundreds of times more so.  “DIAGNOSTICS COMPLETED.”  Cerberus waved to Tailz.  “Welcome to the Terra Prime.”

Tailz slid into his seat behind Cerberus, which was surprisingly roomy and comfortable.  “Remind me,” Tailz said with a laugh, “to ask you who you bribed on the engineering team to get such nice chairs.”

Laughing, Cerberus shook his head.  “Nah, the engineers were not very forthcoming.  The construction crew, however, well, they don’t mind letting you do the work yourself, so long as they get paid.  All strapped in?”

“That’s affirmative.”

“All right.  Let’s go.” Cerberus addressed the craft: “Terra Prime, activate the dampeners, and the light refractors.”  The computer beeped compliance.  Cerberus reached a hand up and pressed a button.  “Blank, this is Cerberus.  Why don’t you open that present I got for you?”

Tailz closed his eyes as the refractors took effect.  Although to the outside world the craft seemed to fade away to invisibility, on the inside Tailz found the view to be most disorienting.  After several seconds, as the refractors adjusted, it would become clear, but until then it just looked out of focus, like a video feed gone bad.

“PHASIC DAMPENERS ONLINE.  LIGHT REFRACTORS ONLINE.”

“What kind of time do we have with the dampeners?”  Tailz asked, remembering they ran off a charged battery.  “How long do we have before they can trace our engines?”

“A full charge would give us an hour of continuous dampener and refractor use,” Cerberus replied, “but we’re not going full thrust here, so, the engines will be trickle-charging the battery anyway.  We’ll have unlimited time, so long as we’re not in a hurry to go somewhere.”

The bay door slowly slid open, leaving the two Scouts staring out into space.  I just opened your present, Blank’s voice spoke over the intercom.  When you come up to the bridge, I’ll thank you properly.

Cerberus replied, keeping the radio conversation innocent.  “Alright.  I’m busy down here at the moment.  I’ll give you a shout when I can come up.  Cerberus out.”  He turned and looked back at Tailz, “Wanna take her out?”

Tailz smiled, and nodded.  He punched up the thrusters and carefully maneuvered the small, invisible craft out of the storage bay.  When flying with light refractors on, there was always a slight delay as the light was refracted around the craft, was processed, and fed back to the cockpit so the pilot could see what was around him.  To Tailz’ approval, this Terra Prime was small enough that the delay was almost unnoticeable.  The delay in their current, larger crafts was slightly more discernible.  For the largest crafts, the delay made visual flight an impossibility, relying instead on sensors and other instruments. 

“Look, there they go.”  Cerberus pointed.  A long, slender tube had been extended from the Ire of Mandala and docked with the Zeroth‘s maintenance hatch.  “Let’s get around into position.  If Heir did his job right, there will be a small accident with the dock once the engineers begin investigating the power circuits.”

Tailz pushed the Terra Prime forward, making his way around the outside of the freighter.  “Don’t you worry about Heir,” Tailz snapped.  “He knows what he’s about.”  He looked down at his display, and tilted his head, perplexed.  “Hmm, looks like they’re not running sweeps at all.”

“Tsk, tsk.”  Cerberus responded.  “Lazy.  Well, keep the dampeners on, just in case.”

The Terra Prime was positioned beside the docking hatch opposite the one the Ire of Mandala was utilizing.  There, they waited for the distraction they needed.  “So,” Cerberus began, “how did Blank’s codename come about?”

Tailz frowned briefly.  Asking about how they chose their names came very close to asking about their lives before the Scouts.  But then again, Blank’s name did have a story behind it.  He wrestled himself a moment, deciding whether he should answer or not, and decided it would do no harm.  “Blank completed Selection as the best damn pilot the Union had ever seen.  He completed all the training, kept up on the endurance exams, but he was only so-so in tactics and strategy.”

“Then how did he make Selection?”

“Well, like I said, his skills and knowledge as a pilot more than made up for it.  You put him in a cockpit, and the boy became a strategic genius.  He knows his crafts to the pound, and has the reflexes and know-how to pull off the craziest stunts.  He can do things that no normal Human can pull off.  That’s what got him in.”

“But what about his name?” Cerberus asked.

“Well, the way he is, he was kind of withdrawn.  Doesn’t say much, is always studying and working on his crafts when he isn’t out flying them.  When it came time for Selection, and it came time to select a name, he just never chose one.”

“What do you mean?”

Tailz smiled.  “I mean he never picked one.  He never put too much thought into it; he was too busy.  At one point, they were prodding him to pick one already or they’d pick one for him.  He got upset and told them to leave it blank.”

Cerberus nodded his head in realization.  “So they literally did.”

“Yup.  They typed in Blank and called it a day.”

They shared a silent chuckle.  Then, Cerberus turned and looked at Tailz again.  “What about yours?”

Before Tailz could answer, a flash of light and the violent rocking of the freighter told them that their distraction had arrived.  Cerberus spun back around.  “Tailz, lock us onto their hull.”  He pressed a button on the console.  “Deactivate dampeners and refractors.”

“PHASIC DAMPENERS OFFLINE.  LIGHT REFRACTORS OFFLINE.”

A metal clunk announced the Terra Prime landing on the Ire of Mandala‘s hull.  After a moment, Tailz said, “The magnets are holding, we’re on tight.”

Cerberus nodded and pressed another series of controls.  The craft completely powered down.  They both waited for any reaction for what they were doing.  “What do you think?”  asked Cerberus into the silence.

Tailz watched outside the cockpit, through the windows into the freighter.  No one was running to where they were, no one looking out, trying to see what was out here.  Whenever a craft turned off its refractors, there was always a blinding light.  Part of the reason for their planned distraction was to draw everyone in the freighter in the other direction, and partly to keep anyone from looking out this side when the flash happened.  “I don’t think anyone saw our flash.”

Cerberus unstrapped himself and faced Tailz whilst kneeling in his seat.  “Get up, and fold your chair back.”  Tailz unstrapped as well and found the button that folded the chair forward, making it small enough to slide backwards into the rear of the craft.  Underneath where the seat had been was the docking hatch.  Tailz grasped the handles and pulled up, revealing the hatch of the freighter underneath.  “Ready?”

Cerberus nodded.

Tailz put a hand to his helmet.  “Blank, this is Tailz.  It seems I’ve locked myself out of my quarters.  Can you override the lock for me?”

The radio spoke back to him in a sarcastic tone.  Tailz, we’re kind of having a power crisis up here.  I’ll do it for you this once, but next time, you’ll wait in the hallway until we’re done.  A moment of silence, then the hatch popped open.

“Thanks, Blank.  You’re the best.”  Tailz jumped feet first into the hatch, and landed in the empty airlock aboard the Ire of Mandala.

Cerberus followed behind, a pistol in hand, and hit the control to close the hatch and pressurize the airlock.  Rushing across the room, he glanced carefully outside the door through the small window in the airlock door.  “There’s no one out there,” Cerberus said.  “No one posted.”

“Well,” Tailz said, “it is a cargo freighter, not a military craft.  They probably don’t leave someone here around the clock.  Or, they went to help over at the Zeroth.”

Cerberus nodded.  “Well, that just makes our job easier.”  The door light turned green, and Cerberus pulled open the airlock door and stepped into the corridor, aiming his gun left and right.  Seeing nothing, he looked back to Tailz.  “Let’s hurry.  They shouldn’t detect the override of the hatch, but if anyone checks, it’ll show it’s been opened.  We have a head start with no one knowing we’re here yet, I’d like to keep it that way for as long as possible.”

Tailz and Cerberus moved swiftly and soundlessly as they crept through the corridor.  They stopped at each intersection, checking the area ahead for anyone who might see them, but hallway after hallway they found no one.

At the end of the cargo deck, the pair skipped the elevators, which would surely be tracked, and instead scrambled up the maintenance ladders.  Side by side, they climbed, Tailz’ rifle hung off his back as he pulled himself up the ladder.  From time to time, he would lower a hand to steady it, keeping it from banging back against either the ladder or the smooth wall to his side.

Two decks up, Tailz noticed Cerberus was not keeping pace with him.  Stopping to look down, Cerberus had stopped, one arm hung around the ladder, the other pressed to his head.  “Cerb, what is it?”

Cerberus did not answer, frozen on the ladder; he seemed to be listening to something.  Tailz waited.  Shortly, Cerberus shook his head, and climbed to come even with Tailz.  “I’m not sure what it means, but it was Blank.”

Tailz felt a momentary panic.  Once they were inside the craft, radio silence was necessary to prevent the Ire of Mandala from realizing someone was aboard transmitting away.  For Blank to break silence meant trouble. “Why?  What did he say?”

“He said, ‘The present you gave me is too expensive for me to accept.  Please return it.’”

Tailz thought about it for a moment.  “That isn’t one of the codes we set up.”

“I know that,” Cerberus snapped, “but, it is related, and it must be urgent.”

“Do you think he’s calling us back?”

Cerberus thought carefully.  “He must have new information we don’t have.”

“How?”

“I don’t know.  But, to take the present back because it is too expensive?  I think he’s telling us this is a no go.”

Tailz nodded his head, “and we haven’t seen a single person since we boarded.  Something is weird here.  Abort?”

Cerberus nodded in return.  “Abort.”  He suited his words by spreading his legs to wrap his feet around either side of the ladder and sliding down.  Tailz followed behind.  They had only slid down half a deck before a high pitched alarm sounded and red lights flashed on and off in the maintenance shaft.

“Damn,” Tailz said, “they must have been watching us.”  They hit the alarms once Tailz and Cerberus changed directions, which meant the Scouts knew the plan was a trap.

Cerberus stopped one deck above where they had started from.  “Then we get off here.  They’ll be waiting down there.”  Together, the two leapt across the shaft from the maintenance ladders, and rolled into a corridor that ran lengthwise above the deck.  They each came to their feet weapons in hand.  Tailz ran to an access hatch and kicked it open, downwards into the deck corridor.

Uniformed Fongen soldiers were running down the hallway, apparently called to travel down to the deck they expected to find Tailz and Cerberus on as they retreated.  Tailz was just as surprised, finding soldiers on a merchant freighter, but his hesitation lasted shorter than theirs.  Tailz aimed his rifle and opened fire, blue fire roaring from his arms as if magic.  Each shot found a chest or head, bodies piling on the floor in the midst of drawing their weapons, which many still had not unstrapped from their waists.  Some of the Fongen further down the hall had finally realized what was happening, and dove behind crossing corridors to avoid Tailz’ deadly firestorm.

“Tailz, this is going to get dangerous real fast!”  Cerberus called from behind him, creating his own smaller, faster, firestorm with his pistols.  Heads were starting to poke back out from the corridors they had dove into, and Tailz had to agree.  Return fire was imminent. 

“Back up!” Tailz said, and dropped to a knee.  In a heartbeat, Cerberus leapt onto Tailz’ back, using it as a springboard.  With Tailz propelling him upwards, Cerberus easily grasped the access hatch opening.  Using Cerberus as a human ladder, Tailz quickly climbed back up into the maintenance corridor.  Cerberus was right behind him.  Their enemies below had yet to open fire.

Tailz reached down and closed the hatch.  “Nine,” Tailz said.

Cerberus stood and dusted himself off, “fourteen.”

Tailz choked, “Gah!  Wha?  Fourteen?”

“Well, I didn’t think it fair to count the ones I shot in the back,” Cerberus said.

Tailz’ mouth dropped as Cerberus started jogging up the corridor.  He refused to follow after him.  “Now hold on!”

“What?”  Cerberus said, over his shoulder.

Tailz kicked the hatch back open and fell into it head first, using his legs to hang over the edge of the hatch.  The stupid Fongen had assumed that the pair had kept moving once disappearing into the maintenance access, and had began to flow back through the hallway over their dead comrades.  Screaming, Tailz opened fire into a neat line of Fongen men.  They scattered faster this time, but not fast enough.  Tailz was still firing as Cerberus hauled him back up.

“Are you crazy?” Cerberus yelled.

Tailz shrugged, breathing heavily, “seventeen.”

Cerberus ground his teeth, then he shook his head and sighed, “this should not be.  There should not be soldiers here.  We’ve been setup, and this was planned from the beginning.”  Cerberus growled quietly, “looks like radio silence does not matter anymore.”  He put his hand to his helmet.  “Blank, what the hell is going on?”  Tailz put his hand to his helmet radio button to listen in.

No answer.

“Blank, forget silence, we’re under open fire.”

Silence.  Then a crackle.  Open fire? We’re not detecting any fire.

Cerberus smacked his forehead; he must have realized something.  “Check the phasic read-outs from the Ire.  You’ll see they have a dampener, and it is running.”

A moment passed.  That they do.  What kind of fire?

Tailz answered, “at least three or four squads on our deck alone.  Who knows what else.  We were setup.”

“Forget that,” Cerberus said, “what was your message about?”

I’m sorry, Commander.  Too much for open comm.  Suffice it to say, we found it was a trap.  Unfortunately, too late, it seems.

Tailz and Cerberus nodded to each other.  Blank and Heir had found new information, and tried to alert them.  “How’s the Zeroth?”  Tailz asked.

Heir and I are separated, but in communication.  We sealed off the craft before they sent any troops over, but the engineers are still here, trying to gain control.  They can’t get to me on the bridge, but they can override me eventually.

“Keep it up Blank.  You guys get control, and be ready for us.  Cerberus out.”

“So,” Tailz said, “what’s the plan?”

Cerberus pondered.  Their plan had been compromised and the Fongen knew where they were headed, where the Terra Prime was docked, everything.  Now, the Fongen were just waiting for them to come out of hiding.  “The danger is the same either direction,” Cerberus said carefully.  “We might as well get what we came for before we leave.”

Tailz laughed, and smacked his leg.  “They’ll never see that coming.”

 

* * * * *

 

Heir crept down the dark corridor, hearing only his own breathing into the mask on his face.  “I don’t understand it,” he whispered.  “They could have gone for the engines, the bridge, anything.  But they’re not in any of those places.  What are they up to?”

A voice answered him over his helmet radio.  I’m not sure, Heir.  But from here, I’m not showing anything not functioning that we did not turn off ourselves.

Heir sighed, leaning against a crossing corridor, checking for the presence of anyone other than himself.  “Well, I’m moving up to the next deck, the sensors and generators are there.”

Should I come out there and help you?

“No,” Heir answered.  “Blank, you stay there and keep the bridge sealed off.  It would be near impossible to stop them without damaging the craft ourselves if they got in there.”

Suddenly, without warning, the lights came back on.  Heir could hear the ventilation start pushing air in the corridor, and he could feel the craft shake as the generators came online.  “Blank?  What’s going on?”

Blank sounded panicked.  “Everything just came back online.  They were in the generator room, and powered everything on.”

Heir was confused.  Why, out of all the things to sabotage and control, power the generator?  You could not control the craft from the generators, only power the sensors.  The engines and bridge were separately powered and controlled.  Heir ran while he thought, leapt up the ladders to the next deck, and sprinted through the corridors.  He kept the mask on, as poisoning the ventilation was the only thing Heir could think of for the engineers to do, so he played it safe.

Turning the corner, he drew the phasic lance off his back and powered it on.  Its long tip glowed blue, and crackled with electricity.  He could wield it like a shocklance of old, but with the burns phasic energy left behind, or he could pull a trigger and emit electrical blasts in a wide arc.  He preferred the lance as his weapon of choice, because Heir enjoyed fighting in close quarters.

Brandishing the lance, Heir entered the generator room, ready for a fight.

The four engineers, however, were definitely not ready, not for a fight, anyway.  They stood quietly around the main generator console, looking at him calmly.

“What is this?” Heir asked.

The front-most man, carrying a small metallic box, nodded at him.  “My apologies.  But as long as the Ire‘s sensors could detect us, and hear us, we could not stop and talk.  We needed to get a jammer online, and needed the generators to do it.”

Heir raised an eyebrow.  What could they want to speak of?

“We surrender to you, sir, if you will turn this craft around and take us straight back to Union space.”

Heir spun the lance and shook his head.  “We don’t negotiate with rebels.”

“We are not rebels,” said the man.  “Your previous commander sent us into Fongen hands to retrieve this.”  He tapped the small box he was holding.  “We need to get this back to the Will as soon as possible.”

“How could I possibly believe you?” Heir asked, studying the man intently.

The engineer thought about this for a moment, then set the metallic box down on the console.  “Take a look for yourself.”

The other engineers gasped.  “He’s a Scout!” one said.  “We can’t show it to anyone!” said another.

The first man turned to face the others.  “They’re all Scouts, and currently our ticket out of here.  Unless one of you have had extensive Scout training I’m not aware of, we could not hope to best them in the long run.”  He turned back around to look at Heir.  “This is our top mission.  But you, sir, I hope you would keep this to yourself, as I’m sure our circumstances would probably not be considered for the penalty the Will would enforce, on us and yourself.”

Heir slowly walked forward, holding his lance out in front of him, forcing the others to step back.  Seeing that the others were not threatening, he used his free hand to open the box.

A small spherical gem, deep cerulean in color, gleamed back at him.

Heir dropped his lance, and it crackled as it struck the ground.

“This is what Fincher was tasked to find.  He found its location, but could not retrieve it himself.  He required some additional …assistance.”  The engineer held his hands open wide.  “We’re in your hands now.  Will you keep this to yourself, and assist us?”

Heir nodded.

 

* * * * *

 

The lean admiral growled under his breath.  The exhalation blew out the white mustache covering both sides of his mouth, further marking his exasperation.  He had not had such bumbling fools under his command since Fongen cut communications with the Union and been declared in rebellion.  Everything that could be screwed up had been, on a mission that everything was riding on.

He had called the Ire of Mandala‘s captain to his office, and eyed him with disgust.  “You told me your men could handle this, Captain Travis.”

Travis swallowed slightly.  “Sir, the intel we were given did not make mention of the task force being made up of Union Scouts.”

The admiral slapped his hand down on the desk.  “Frank!  They saw they were kids when they went over to the Zeroth!  Why would they have not said anything?”

It was Travis’ turn to growl.  “They would not have disobeyed their orders.  Plus, I trust my lieutenants’ judgement.  They would have noticed it, and adapted.  Their goal was to take control of the craft, or at least sabotage it so the Union task force could not escape.”  Travis took a step forward.  “And with all due respect, sir, they are still in there right now trying to accomplish that.”

“Well, they seem to be doing better than us.”  The admiral hmphed.  “We’re reporting casualties all over the craft, and no definite sign of the two who came on board.  Just where are they?”

“Sir,” Travis began, “this is a freighter.  There are many service corridors that are not monitored by the craft’s sensors, and we cannot track their phasic emissions without lowering the field that is preventing the Zeroth from doing the same.”

“Excuses!”

Travis shook his head.  “We’re scouring the entire craft, and their way out is blocked.  They’ll turn up eventually.”

As if to prove him true, phasefire sounded outside in the corridor.  Both Travis and the admiral froze in place.  Pitched voices yelled from outside the door as the admiral’s guards returned fire.  The admiral drew his sidearm, and motioned to Travis to do the same.  The admiral aimed his weapon at the door.  Travis merely held his in his hands, pointed at the floor.

Several more phasic blasts roared, followed by grunts and soft thuds.  Then silence.

Neither man moved. 

The door splintered as it exploded into the room.  The admiral fired several shots into the debris, but Travis could not see anything.  He waited, and stood absolutely still, pistol still lowered at his side.  The admiral advanced towards the door, firing.

Two screaming flares of blue caught the admiral mid-stride, and burned into his well-pressed uniform.  Dropping to his knees, the admiral continued to fire at the still unseen threat outside the office door.  A third, larger blast whizzed into the room, striking the admiral square in the nose.  The force toppled the large man, and he fell with a crash onto his back.

Two young men—no, children—cautiously entered the room.  The first was tall, his gaze as fierce as his eyes were dark.  His straight, deep brown, almost black, hair slicked forward with sweat, he was the first to notice Travis standing still in the midst of the broken door debris.  The boy poised both of his hand-pistols at him.  Travis was careful to not move.

The other waltzed in, a rifle leaned over his shoulder.  He looked at Travis and chuckled, shaking his head.  His flame-colored hair flicked to and fro as he moved.  Still, the gleam in his lighter eyes was just as dark as the other’s.  Travis had never been in the same room as the famed Union Terra Scouts, but despite their age, they seemed just as dangerous as the stories said.

“Well, Tailz,” the dark-haired one said.  “We’re here.” 

The fiery-haired Scout nodded and hefted his rifle.  “Alright Captain…” he squinted at the nametag on Travis’ chest, “Travis.  You’re just the man we’re looking for, and smart, not to put up a fight.  Go to the terminal, and transmit your authorization and biometrics to the Zeroth.”

Travis nodded, and, with one hand raised, slowly lowered the other to the ground to place his weapon on the floor.  He did not want to accidentally anger these two soldiers.  Then, Travis reached over the desk to the console, and turned it so the Scouts could clearly see he was cooperating.  Several keystrokes later, the computer beeped confirmation of the sent data.  He turned to the Scouts, hands wide indicating he had completed their request.

“We can’t leave him alive to tell what we took,” the dark-haired Scout said.

Travis’ eyes widened.

The Scout called Tailz shrugged.  “Whatever, Cerberus; kill him. We got what we came for.”  He started to leave.

Travis immediately started stuttering, trying to explain, but could not form words, unsure how to say what he needed to say. 

Cerberus raised his pistols.

Travis’ mind raced.  Please do not kill me, lest my work be in vain!

“Wait!” Tailz said, running back to the man. 

Cerberus lowered his pistols.  “What?”

Tailz grasped Travis’ chin and, pulling his face close, looked into his eyes.  The Scout stared at the man for a full minute, wordless.

“Tailz?  What is the matter?”  Cerberus asked.

“I…I recognize him.”  Tailz said.  “He’s one of ours.”

Travis sank to his knees, tears in his eyes.

“What do you mean recognize him?  He’s Fongen.”  Cerberus motioned to the uniform Travis was wearing.

Tailz shook his head.  “I was with him once, a while back.  He was supposed to infiltrate the Fongen, and he’s done a rather good job.  We’ll lose a valuable asset if he gets killed, and the Will won’t appreciate it one bit.”

Cerberus nodded and holstered his pistols.  “Well, at the least he can honestly say he gave over the information at gunpoint.”

“Not if he says nothing at all.”  Tailz looked again into Travis’ eyes.  “Not. A. Word.”

Travis still said nothing as the two Scouts left the room.  He was dumbfounded.

Recognize me?  But… I’ve never met you before in my life…

The console beeped.  Blindly, he made his way to the desk, and looked at the message.  He sighed and nodded.  At least the other mission was a complete success.  He tapped a button and opened the craft-wide comm.  “This is Captain Travis.  The intruders have made it to the executive offices.  All men report to the main offices on the double.”  Turning off the comm, he nodded to himself.  That should clear the path back for the two Scouts.

Thinking, Travis sighed.  He had bugged the admiral’s room before he came on board.  The admiral had supposedly been placed by the Union as well, but was suspected as doubling for the Fongen.  Since the admiral had not known of Travis, Travis was going to expose the admiral to the Fongen, and they would punish him just as bad for treason as the Union would.

So by now, Travis’ own conversation with the Scouts had been recorded and communicated to the Fongen’s intelligence. 

The first men arrived at his office.  He pointed to the admiral.  “Check him out,” Travis said.  “I’m going to look for the others.”  He holstered his pistol and jogged into the corridor, not looking back.

 

* * * * *

 

The Terra Prime has landed in the loading bay.  Heir waited outside the bay.  The bay doors closed, and the room pressurized.  Heir hit the button, and strode into the bay, the engineers at his heels.  The Terra Prime’s cockpit opened, and Tailz and Cerberus stood upright.  When a third man rose as well, Heir froze, instinct drawing his phase lance.

Cerberus put up his hands.  “It’s okay, Heir.  This is one of the Fongen infiltrators, who was compromised during this whole mission.  Meet Lieutenant Franklin Travis, with Union Intel.”

Heir frowned.  “Are you sure he is one of ours?”

Travis folded his arms.  “Beta-Alpha-Seven-Six-Beta.”

Cerberus blinked in confusion.  “What’s that?”

Heir lowered his weapon.  “That’s the security code of the message we got stating that this was all a setup.  It was you who alerted us.”

Travis shrugged.  “Much good it did anyone.  You accomplished your mission anyway.”

“And you accomplished yours,” Heir said, pointing at the engineers.

Tailz spoke up.  “What are you talking about?” 

“Mr. Travis’ plan depended on us foiling the setup, so that we would capture their engineers and take them to Union space.  It would be the only innocent way to get them transported without note.  They are Travis’ men.”

Travis frowned at the engineers.  “What does he know?”

The lead engineer bowed his head.   “We told him only what we needed him to know, we assure you,” he said.  “He was not exactly in the mood for taking prisoners.”

Travis nodded, assuming he knew what that meant.  “Please forgive me, but I need to keep this top secret from everyone but the Will.” 

All the Scouts nodded.  Except for Heir.

Travis nodded to himself.  “Well, let’s get a move on.  I gave a number of conflicting orders to keep everyone over there confused, but I’d like to be gone by the time they realize that not only is the admiral dead, but their captain is missing too.”

Cerberus placed a hand to his helmet.  “Blank, did you get that?”

Yes, Commander.  Waiting on your word.

“We’re aborting the infiltration mission for now.  Travis’ info will not work, since he’ll soon be branded a traitor of the Fongen.  We’ll take him and his men back to Intel for debriefing.  Then we’ll report to the Will.  Blank, take us out.”

The Zeroth slowly pivoted away from the Ire, and aimed into space.  The engines thrusted, and the Ire of Mandala quickly became a small speck in space, before blending into the stars.