Eternal Horizon: The Chronicle of Vincent Saturn (Eternal Horizon: A Star Saga Book 1) (12 page)

Damocles cleared his throat. “Continue,” he said, breaking the silence.

“There’s no possible way we can fly our ship inside without being detected,” Exander resumed. “They’ll hit the magnetic beam, and we’ll share the same fate as Duell. We must not fail, or else we can say goodbye to this movement of ours. Therefore, we must leave the
Serpent
on the planet and sneak inside the carrier through the loading zone.” As he spoke, he moved his index finger across the image, and it zoomed onto the back of the ship. “Na’ar’s quarters and the control room are not so far from the docks. That’s undoubtedly where they’re keeping the prisoner. Damocles, Saturn, and I will go in there and intercept him. Spaide, you will go here, to the location of the beam in that portion.” He moved his finger again and brought up a different section. “Set up time detonators in that area and some in the bays along the way. By the time you’re done, they should raise the alarm. Then, find your way down to the main bay and get one of their smaller fighter ships, one big enough to fit us all. If all goes according to plan, we shall rendezvous with you there at the precise time.”

The room fell quiet with everyone staring at Exander as if he were crazy.

“Wait a minute,” Spaide said, raising his hand, “wait a minute. How do I actually
get
one of the ships?” He winced. “What are they, cruiser dealers? Should I also make sure the ship has Lorinthian leather seats?”

“You know as well as I do that you’ve hacked into these types of fighters before!” Exander raised his voice.

“Yeah, like six years ago,
before
they modified ’em! They produce a new batch every year!”

Exander brought up his hand and rubbed his eyes with his forefinger and thumb, calmly stating, “This is serious, Spaide. We’ve no other choice. We
must
do this.”

“Okay, okay,” Spaide argued, beginning to pace. “You don’t think I know that? But you make it sound so easy, Ex, just like Duell. Do you think they’ll let us just waltz in there and get him?”

“No, we sneak in. Contact your affiliate on Heradonn and formulate a plan.”

“Right,” Spaide agreed and reached for the electronic device on his belt, but stopped at the last second. “What about the legion of troops on that ship, hundreds of Centurion commandos, and I’m not even talkin’ about the two Tel Kasar? Plus, it’s well over a mile from Na’ar’s quarters to the
dockin
’ bay. What do you plan to do, run there
carryin
’ Duell along?”

“We’ll have to hurry then, won’t we?” Exander grated. “We must do all of this in a matter of minutes before they enter hyperspace. Once we’re outside, you’ll blow up the detonators. It should give us enough time to come back to the planet where we switch ships and head to Urtan.”

“That sounds like a good plan,” Damocles concurred.

“Sounds like suicide to me,” Vincent said, fully aware that nobody cared about his opinion.

“It doesn’t calculate!” Spaide insisted. “There won’t be enough time! We can certainly sneak in, but
gettin
’
out’ll
be the tough part! They’ll blast off before you reach the docks!”

“And where am I through all of this?” Gaia spoke. “Remaining on the ship?”

“We must ensure your safe delivery to Urtan,” Exander said. “We cannot risk you getting caught.”

“My
safe
delivery
? And what then? Await Urtan’s doom? Is it because I’m a woman? I cannot believe this bigotry! We must work together!”

“Well, what do you have in mind, your highness?” Spaide asked sarcastically. “Please enlighten us.”

Gaia straightened and said, “Hover bikes”.

“Hover bikes?”

“Every Imperial carrier is loaded with them,” Exander added. “What do you propose?”

“One can activate those bikes to follow the leader on autopilot,” she continued. “Three bikes should suffice. Let me come with you, and I’ll make sure they’ll be there in time for us to get Duell. Then we can meet Spaide at the docks.”

“Hmph,” Spaide scoffed, crossing his arms and leaning on the table. “And how do you suppose you’ll do all of this without
breakin
’ a nail?”

With a sudden movement, Gaia pulled out a small pistol and pushed the barrel into Spaide's chest. It was completed with such swiftness that not one of them could see from where she produced the weapon.

“I’m like my father in
every
way,” she said coldly. “Don’t be fooled by my formal attire, Dirsalian—I’ve killed men smarter and funnier than you.”

“You’ve lost your damn mind,” Spaide muttered as the fingers on his right hand began nervously twitching. At first, his eyes were filled with bewilderment, then with anger, and then with denial. How could a noble brat draw a weapon so fast? On
him
of all people?

“Stow your weapon, Princess,” Exander said. “Spaide has underestimated you. He has underestimated you a great deal.”

“I'm coming with you,” Gaia said, lowering her gun. “Whether you like it or not,” she added, looking at Spaide.

“I’ve heard of your heroic deeds.” The blonde Xenian eased. “I believe you can help.”

“So, you’ll take me with you?”

Exander nodded. “Yes, but you must not be seen.”

“
Are you crazy?
” Spaide exclaimed. “She'll get us all killed!”

“Do you have any better suggestions?”

“Damn it, kid!” Spaide turned around. He walked to the slit window and stared outside. “This is too much for me, I swear,” he muttered, clasping his forehead. He paced around for a few seconds more and then turned to Gaia. “We rescued you once. Do
not
get caught again.”

It was all like an interstellar circus to Vincent. The companions were in altercations over the forthcoming mission and continued screaming at one another while he just stood there enjoying the show. Spaide was the eldest of the group. Although he was a carefree daredevil, he seemed to be worried about his younger subordinates. There was a prudent warrior beneath the Dirsalian’s mask of frivolity: he wanted to make sure everything would go according to plan and that every safety precaution had been carefully thought of. Damocles was silent as ever, standing behind his brother who calmly staged the task as if it were a mere walk in the park. Gaia looked her most beautiful—defiant, tall and proud, with the fierce look of a fighter in her eyes. Her crazy antics surprised everyone—she was a combination of beauty and deadliness.

Vincent didn’t realize he was once again staring at this alien woman when she turned and met his gaze. It was as if she felt that someone was looking at her. Their eyes connected for a fraction of a second and a thin smile appeared on her lips. Vincent was struck. He couldn’t turn away, so he just smiled in return. A feeling of seizure gripped his stomach as she looked away to continue her argument. He sighed in relief. If she hadn’t looked away right then, he would have helplessly continued gawking at her like some adolescent fool.

“Saturn, do you have guns?” Exander woke him up from his daydreaming.

“What?”

“
Guns
… do you have
guns
on your planet?”

“Yes,” Vincent replied. “Guns galore. We’ve a larger selection of weapons than I can possibly think of.”

“Good. It’ll definitely spare me the time. Just make sure you shoot.”

“Oh, I’ll shoot,” Vincent said with confidence. They were going to arm him. After all, they began to trust him. But they wanted him to kill, aliens maybe, but to kill nevertheless. He then realized he’d
have
to kill, perhaps even someone who’s just doing their job—a guard at the wrong place at the wrong time.
But pity and hesitation seemed like symbols of weakness at such moments.
He had to rid himself of these emotions and get back home no matter the odds.

While Spaide went to the cockpit, the twins led Vincent to the vault door at the right side of the cabin. Damocles pressed certain keypads on the monitor in its middle, and the door opened with a hiss.

There was a small room behind, its walls flanked with weapons: guns, grenades, rocket launchers, armor, and many other bizarre gadgets. Two large chests—probably filled with ammunition—were stacked in the corner.

Damocles grabbed one of the rifles from the wall and approached Vincent. “Here.” The big man extended the weapon, handle first.

Vincent reached for the gun, seeing from the corner of his eye that Exander was in a stance, ready to slice him in half if he made a wrong move. The gun was huge but weighed less than five pounds due to the weightless metal it was made of. It was in the shape of a machine gun with one support handle protruding from the side and the other with the trigger from the bottom. A scope was atop along with a tiny screen displaying hundreds of blue blocks—the weapon’s capacity.

“The SW500,” Exander described the weapon. “This model is one of the best rifles in the universe. It holds five hundred rounds in its plasma pack, can be set to automatic or semi-, and can be also switched from a regular blaster to a mega-blaster, in which case it eats up more energy.”

“How accurate is it?” Vincent asked.

“More accurate than your primitive weapons. It’ll do its job. Just make sure to
fire
at the target if we do get company. God help you if you falter.”

Vincent ignored the Xenian and continued to admire the gun.

Spaide approached them. “We shall enter the system within an hour or so,” he stated, smiling as he saw Vincent's childish behavior. “
Everythin’s
been taken care of. Na’ar’s ship should be
dockin
’ at the Heradonn Spaceport. Once we land, a friend of the Revolution awaits to help us infiltrate it.”

“The Revolution?” Vincent whispered to Gaia.

“There are thousands of systems that secretly rebel against the Republic,” she explained. “Our movement is known as the ‘Revolution.’ Some of us even serve on the Galactic Council. But we’ve limited ways of communicating with each other in order to adjoin a massive strike and overthrow the dictators in charge.”

“Even with all this technology?”

“The Republic possesses weapons capable of wiping out entire systems,” she said with a sigh. “Zeth, the sadistic generalissimo, hunts down members of the Revolution and kills them. We live in fear and hide, and whenever one of us strikes, the other systems know they’re not alone in this cause.” Her voice was full of pain and sorrow, even though she continually tried to hide her emotions. Instead, she spoke with a deep devotion to her goal.

“How long has this been going on?” Vincent was still trying to comprehend the idea of an empire that had a galaxy in a vise grip.

“Prior to the formation of the Republic, there were series of conflicts. Over forty years ago, when the Federation was falling apart, the Intergalactic War began… the great war that lasted for decades...” She looked into the corner, recalling the tragic events from her early childhood that made her who she is today. “Billions of lives perished during that war.” She glanced at him again. “After years of fighting, this regime was formed. The greedy Imperial Vassals quickly divided the galaxy into sections and installed their dictators. For the past twenty years, we’ve been fighting out of the shadows, hoping that more will take action and support our cause.”

Vincent didn’t notice how the twins and Spaide had left the deck, for Gaia was actually providing him with some answers.

She squinted, staring away again, her mind somewhere else. “A dangerous game I involved myself in…”

He placed the gun on one of the cabinets before he accidentally shot it.

“Why do you fight?” he finally asked the question that had been on his mind for some time.

“I…” She paused, making Vincent regret his inquiry. She tightened her lips, suppressing the disturbing memory, then faced him and said, “Because of my father, who was the King of the Xenian Baltean nations and one of the first founders of this… Republic. He was deceived by a lie. Because of his insubordination towards colonizing and slavery, he was accused of being a traitor…” She paused again.