Gamma Raiders: Storm Squadron Alpha: Scifi Alien Romance Novel (33 page)

“A does of reality.”

“We didn’t have to go very far to see it. He led me through the streets of Kamara, and they were everywhere. The people. The suffering. Just outside the palace walls, there was hunger. There was sickness. The people cursed the Empire under their breaths. And I learned that the world I knew was a lie. That what we had wasn’t ours. What we took, we took from them. I knew something had to change.”

Lana reached her hand out to him. “That’s more than most people in your position would have done. It’s not an easy truth to see.”

“I couldn’t be part of it any longer. I couldn’t stay. I resolved to do something different. So Ja’al and I formed the Raiders to try and give something back.”

“But why? There must have been a better way.” She shook her head. “You were the heir to the Empire. You could have done so much more. Changed things from the inside. You could have led the people in a different direction.”

The pain was clear on his face. “There’s not a day that goes by when I don’t second guess that decision, Lana. But if there’s one thing I learned inside the palace walls, it’s that people who have power don’t like change. They don’t want to give up their advantages and their luxuries. If I had taken the throne and tried to change things that way, I would have been killed.”

“No, Adaar. Everyone wants change. The galaxy can’t go on like this.”

“I’m helping people in the best way I can. But I can’t single-handedly force the Empire to change. They’re too firmly entrenched. The corruption runs too deep. Even if I were in charge, I couldn’t do it alone.”

“You don’t have to do it alone, Adaar.”

Adaar shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. The Empire’s grasp is too tight.”

“You’re afraid,” said Lana. “That’s what this is about. You’ve seen the people of Kamara. Of Tarksis. Of Anara. You know that the people are ready for change.”

“You don’t understand the costs. The Empire cannot be fixed from the inside. My father…” He looked to the ground. “He saw it, too. He had his doubts, and he began to grow quite vocal about them. It made the High Council uncomfortable. They were happy with their lives. They didn’t want to give up their luxury or their power. They assassinated my father not long after. That’s when I left. And that’s why my cousin Kalaan sits on the throne now. The Empire’s tendrils have grown even thicker under his rule. But I had seen the costs of trying to change the system from the inside. I had to help the people some other way.”

“Adaar, look around you. You’re a leader. You were born to be a leader. Look at the crew of this ship. Everyone here would follow you to their deaths because they believe in what you’re doing. Because they believe in
you.
” She gripped his hand tightly.

Adaar looked at her with an intensity that cut right through her.

“Maybe the Empire can’t be changed from the inside,” said Lana. “But this? Cruising around the galaxy raiding cargo ships? It’s not enough. It’s a drop in the ocean.” She leaned into his body, resting her hand on his chest. “I never expected to fall in love, Adaar. I never expected to trust a Kamaran. Or a pirate. But you’ve already shown me what’s possible when you look beneath the surface and give someone a chance.”

“I’m doing all I can,” he said. “It has to be enough.”

Lana shook her head. “The people need you to lead them, Adaar. And if you step up and do what you know you’ve always been meant to do…the people would follow you.”

“I admire your spirit, Lana. But it could never work.”

Her face sank. “Maybe I was wrong about you. The man that I thought I knew, that brave, fearless, selfless man who rescued me from the Ratolian, who protected me when we raided the medical ship, who saved my life…and risked his own to rescue the Anaran people form a fate worse than death…the man I fell in love with…where is he now?”

“Lana…”

“The galaxy needs a prince. And so do I.”

Chapter 17

“I can’t believe you let her go,” said Ja’al. “I haven’t seen you so happy since…well, ever. And you let her walk away.”

“She made her choice. She’s not a prisoner.” He swallowed a mouthful of ormalon and slammed his glass on the table.

“I didn’t realize she would take it so hard.”

Adaar snorted. “How was she supposed to take it? We lied to her.
I
lied to her the entire time they were here. Hell, my entire life is a lie. I don’t blame her. She was smart to get out.”

“We didn’t tell her about your past, that’s true. But you kept it from her for the right reasons. We didn’t know how she was going to react. She might have been an Imperial loyalist.”

“No one from Tarksis is an Imperial loyalist.
Especially
not people who keep company with Sakaj Namat.”

“That’s true, Adaar. But we still had to make sure. We’ve worked too hard to jeopardize what we have here. We’re doing too much good to risk it.”

Adaar slammed his fist to the table. “We’re not!” Her words had pierced him, and even the thick fog of the ormalon wasn’t enough to numb the pain. Lana was right about him. He was a coward. “It doesn’t matter,” said Adaar. “None of this matters. Everything we’re doing is a waste of time.”

“You don’t believe that, Adaar. Think about all the good we’ve done. All the lives we’ve saved. The Raiders exist to make a difference. To undo the damage that the Empire has caused.”

“And a fine job we’re doing of it,” said Adaar coldly. “We haven’t done a gods damned thing that matters.”

“Every life we’ve saved matters. Every single mouth we’ve fed matters. You remember Kamara City. You remember their faces. Every single person we’ve helped lives another day because of what we do. This entire crew owes you their lives. Hell, the entire planet of Anara has you to thank for their freedom.”

“But for how long, Ja’al? The Empire will try again. And next time, they might not try something so diplomatic and peaceful as a marriage. Anara is far too valuable for the Empire to leave them alone. They’ll be back. And they’ll bring their guns. Their warships. We can’t protect them against the Empire. We’re playing a fool’s game, Ja’al, and we’re not doing anybody any favors.”

“The life we’ve chosen isn’t easy, Adaar. But we’re doing everything we can.”

Adaar shook his head. “No, Ja’al. We’re not. I was the Prince of Kamara. I had a chance to make a difference, and I ran.”

“Inside the palace? That would’ve been suicide. And you know it.”

Adaar stared at the wall. He felt hollow. His entire life and everything he was trying to do was irrelevant. “Lana was right about me, Ja’al. Deep down, I’m a coward.”

Ja’al met his eyes. “Captain, you’re the single bravest man I know. Anyone who thinks otherwise…”

“Has seen right through the act.” Adaar pushed himself up from the table and walked slowly to the other side of the room, the heavy thud of his boots filling the room as he paced. “We’ve managed some good, Ja’al. The work we’ve done is important, and the lives we’ve touched matter. It’s the
people
that matter. You taught me that.”

The captain spun on his heels, the spark coming back to his eyes. “But someone else used to say that, too.”

“Sakaj…”

A smile spread across his golden face. “Yes.”

Ja’al shook his head. “No. No way.”

“Lana was right, Ja’al. We’ve been wasting our time. And you were right, too. I’d be a damned fool to let her walk away.”

“Look, Adaar…Captain…you’re my best friend. I want you to be happy. But it’s not time yet. They’re not ready.”

“No one is ever ready, my friend. But we start anyway. And we make the best of it. Fortune favors the bold, Ja’al, and it’s about damn time we earned her attention.”

“You’re insane. You’re completely, irredeemably mad. Sakaj has connections, but there’s no way his little contingent of malcontents can topple the Empire.”

“Of course not, Ja’al. But the weapons stash we gave them will provide more than enough firepower to take out the Tarksian government. All the soldiers there are new recruits. Untrained and untested. They won’t offer much resistance.”

“Kamara will retaliate.”

“They will. But news of the victory on Tarksis will spread, and the people will flock to our cause. It’s about damn time the Gamma Raiders grew up and became a proper rebellion, don’t you think?"

“It’s risky,” said Ja’al.

“Of course it’s risky. But we all knew this day would come sooner or later. They’ve just been waiting for spark. They’ve been waiting for someone to show them the way.”

“And you think they’ll follow you?”

Adaar nodded. “They don’t just need a leader. They need a figurehead. A symbol they can unite behind.”

He clapped Ja’al on the shoulder and smiled.

“What they need is a prince.”

***

The Endurance dropped out of hyperspace just outside the Tarksis System with the screeching groan of metal on metal as the hull contracted against itself in the gravity field.

“Home sweet home,” said Kira. She fidgeted in her chair uncomfortably. “I can’t believe we’re back here.”

“Yeah,” said Lana. “Believe me, I’m not thrilled either.”

“We could have stayed, you know. What happened up there, anyway?”

“It’s complicated,” she said. She wasn’t sure she understood it herself. Too many conflicting feelings. It didn’t matter how much she cared about him. “He’s not the man I thought he was.”

“Yeah, Riley. We covered that. But he…I’ve never seen anyone look at
me
that way. He had it
bad.
You had it pretty bad yourself. But let’s ignore for a minute how utterly, insanely gorgeous he is…”

“Please.”

“He’s a good man, Lana. He cares about his crew. And he cares about you. Hell, he devoted his life to getting food and medicine to people he doesn’t even know. Who does that?”

Lana sighed and shrugged.

“
Good people
, Riley. That’s who. Gods, he’s perfect for you. He’s everything you could ever possibly want. And not only that, he’s a prince. I mean, an actual, literal prince.”

“No, Kira. He isn’t.” Her insides knotted up, squeezing her stomach into a tight little ball. “Not anymore.” She drew a deep breath to calm herself. It would pass, like it always did. She could let it be a memory now. It would always be there, but it didn’t have to hurt her.

“I’m not trying to upset you, Riley. It’s just that…I would give anything for a man half as good as Adaar. You don’t know how lucky you are. Don’t you think you’re being a little bit hard on him?”

“Here’s what I think: I have to take care of Tanner. And we have to figure out how the hell we’re going to explain this failed delivery to the Consortium.”

“Oh, Riley! I almost forgot to tell you,” said Kira.

“Tell me what?”

Kira grinned. “Come and see for yourself.”

Lana sighed. She wasn’t in the mood for games, but at least Kira was on to another topic. Throwing the ship into autopilot for a few minutes would be a small price to pay for a moment of peace. She reached out and palmed the console. The display flashed as she punched in the coordinates that would take them into orbit around Tarksis.

“This better be good,” she said as she lifted herself out of her chair.

“Oh, it’s better than good, Riley.”

As Kira bounce along in front of her, Lana found it hard not to smile. No matter what happened to them, and no matter how bleak her life was back on Tarksis, at least she would have Kira’s spirit to lift her.

When they reached the cargo bay doors, Kira raised her hand to the scanner. A flash of blue read her palm as a small beam shined into her iris, and the metal door hissed open.

“Check it out,” she said as she led Lana into the room.

The motion lights flickered on as they stepped inside. There in the cargo bay was the small, sealed box they had been tasked with delivering to Anara.

“What the hell?”

Kira shrugged. “Parting gift from the Raiders.”

“I still don’t know what’s in that thing,” said Lana. “What was so damned important that the Consortium was willing to pay us so much? And attract the Raiders’ attention in the first place?”

“I have no idea, Riley. But whatever it is, they wanted us to have it back. So…at least we won’t have to explain why it went missing. Maybe we can keep our jobs after all.”

“We didn’t make the delivery.”

“No, but we didn’t lose their cargo either. The worst thing that can happen is that they won’t pay us.”

“That’s pretty optimistic. They’ll be pissed that it didn’t get delivered.”

“Maybe. Or maybe since the wedding was called off everybody will be so panicked that no one will notice.”

“Somehow I doubt that,” said Lana.

A light flashed in Kira’s eyes.

“Oh Gods, no. I know that look. That look never means anything good.”

“Pfft. You don’t even know what I was going to say.”

“Alright, fine.”

“After everything we’ve been through in the last week, maybe it’s a good thing that we didn’t deliver this…whatever it is. I mean, think about it: The Raiders were all into helping people and doing good. They didn’t just randomly pilfer crap from rich people. They only seized things that people needed.”

“Okay…”

“So, what if we say that we
did
deliver it, but it was stolen. While you and the prince were in there being lovebirds…”

Lana glared at her. The memory stung more than she expected.

“…we managed to get quite a bit of cargo off some of the other ships. It wouldn’t be a stretch to imagine that whatever
this
is got stolen, too.”

“But why, Kira? Why would we do that?”

“Lana, I don’t know what happened between you and Adaar. Personally, I think you’re crazy, and you should go running back to him as fast as you can. But even if you don’t,” she shook her head. “I believe in what they were doing. Don’t you?”

Lana heaved a sigh. They were doing something noble. It wasn’t the way she wanted, but they were doing what they could. They were helping people. Maybe she had been too hard on him.

“Of course I do, Kira.”

“So let’s continue their work. Let’s open up the mystery package and distribute it to the people of Tarksis. It would be a fitting tribute.”

“Kira, that’s…not a bad idea at all.” Kira was crazy, but her heart was in the right place. And she was right, it would be a fitting tribute. What the Raiders were doing may be a drop in the ocean, but even the smallest drops made ripples. “Alright,” she said. “I’m in.”

She beamed. “Great. Let’s see what’s in this thing.”

Kira unclipped a small, round tool from her jumpsuit and pressed it against the locked crate, securing it in place. The device flickered to life and spun on its axis, emitting a warm red light and a high-pitched squeal.

“What the hell is that?” said Lana.

Kira flashed a playful, innocent look. “Parting gift from Ja’al. I may or may not have won it from him in our last game of Traps.”

Lana cocked her eyebrows. “Turning to a life of crime?”

“Hush, you,” she said with a grin. “It’s harmless fun.”

The device whirred to a stop, and the lock flashed green and popped open.

“Ready?” said Kira.

Lana nodded as she approached the crate. She wrapped her hands around the smooth steel edging and eased the lid open. Suspended in the center of the crate was a row of vials protected by a thick foam lining. A soft blue liquid glowed inside.

Lana’s jaw dropped. They stared at each other in disbelief.

“You don’t think that’s…” said Lana. She couldn’t bring herself to utter the words, fearing somehow that saying it out loud would cause them to suddenly vanish.

“It’s the serum,” said Kira. “Lana…”

Lana pulled a vial and shook it in her hand, swirling the liquid around. Her face fell. “It’s only half the serum. This solution isn’t active unless it’s mixed with the extract from an Anaran moonlily.”

Kira grabbed her shoulder, her eyes wide. “Lana.”

“What?”

Her face lifted into the widest smile Lana had ever seen. “I thought they were just trying to get rid of me, but…”

“What, Kira? What’s going on?”

“While you and Adaar were inside the palace, the rest of the crew went out to raid supplies.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“But I didn’t go with them. I thought they were just trying to keep me from causing trouble. Lana, they sent me off into the jungle to
pick flowers
. My feelings weren’t hurt. I mean, I would have been in their way, and I wanted to spend some time planetside anyway.”

“Sure, why not?”

“Adaar told me to keep my eyes out for a particular flower. He described them, told me they were extremely rare…that they only bloom once every five years, and we were lucky to be there when it happened. He said it made them priceless. I thought he meant that they were valued for their beauty.”