Omega Force 5: Return of the Archon (17 page)

“Quite certain, Captain Burke,” Meluuk said. “The wall was quickly deemed to be a mishap with aging explosives housed within the wall. In fact, there’s talk now of tearing down the rest of the wall and replacing it with something less prone to that sort of thing. The explosion seemed to be the big story and Master Fordix’s disappearance is being speculated as criminal cartel activity inside Casguard Prison. The official line is that they took advantage of the confusion in the explosion to get rid of him and were able to somehow dispose of the body.”

“That doesn’t really make any sense,” Kage said. “I had thought it a bit of misinformation being let out into the public, but every internal memo and communication I was able to get a hold of backed up the official story.”

“Why are they settling on an answer with so many obvious holes in it?” Jason asked. “Like how they got out of their cell and into Fordix’s in the first place, or how they got the body out. There are dozens of reasons that theory doesn’t hold water.”

“It’s the gelten character, Captain,” Fordix said from one of the rear seats. “They don’t
want
to know what actually happened. They don’t want an unsolvable mystery and they don’t want to admit to their superiors that they lost such a high-value prisoner without so much as an idea as to where he went.

“It’s just one more indicator of the rot at the core of this world. Millions of geltens, all consumed with their own self-interests and unwilling to sacrifice anything for the benefit of all. How is it that Restaria has managed to construct such a precise and focused society with over a million warriors but Galvetor continues to decline further and further when this place has the potential to be a model society?”

They all fell silent after Fordix’s somewhat bizarre diatribe. The only reaction was for Mazer to elbow Jason slightly in the side. He gave a slow, shallow nod to indicate that he, too, found the entire thing to be very odd. Even Crusher looked extremely uncomfortable in his seat next to his old mentor.

“Well, whatever the reason, it works in our favor,” Jason said, breaking the logjam of discomfort that had halted the conversation in the vehicle’s cab. “How much longer?”

“Only a few minutes, Captain,” Meluuk said. “You can see a departing shuttle there just above the tree line.”

“Ah,” Jason said as the ion drive of a small transfer shuttle flared and climbed into the night sky. It took another twenty minutes for them to reach the small airfield and then to drive around the perimeter in order to enter through the private, automated entry gate rather than take the risk of going in through the larger gate manned with gelten sentries.

They would be sure to send out a casual patrol when they detected the far gate had been activated, but the vehicle would be stashed long before they reached it and it was unlikely they’d bother grounding any departing shuttles to satisfy a mild curiosity. That had been the thought of everyone when they’d planned out the mission details. Jason knew that the unspoken truth was that no glorified security guard was going to stand in their way during the final moments of the operation. The loss of life so far had been, thankfully, zero … but that could change at any time.

“There’s our hangar,” Meluuk said quietly. “We’ll drive directly inside and be out of sight from any overly curious patrols.”

“Once we’re in, Lucky and I will clear the interior. You remain here with the repulsors running,” Jason said. “Under no circumstance can Crusher or Fordix be caught here on Galvetor.” Jason saw Fordix stiffen in his peripheral vision and knew he didn’t approve of his casual reference to Felex Tezakar by such an undignified pseudonym. He actually got the impression the older warrior was less than happy about Crusher consorting with what he deemed lesser species since his exile.

“Of course, Captain,” Meluuk said respectfully. He and Morakar had come to hold the human in high esteem after the prison break had gone off more smoothly than anyone could have dared hope. Crusher’s tales of Omega Force’s adventures may have helped some too. While those two were able to accept him and acknowledge his worthiness, Mazer embraced Jason as a friend with enthusiasm. For his part, Jason had to admit he enjoyed the company of the younger warrior, though he was a bit on the high-strung side. Fordix, however, seemed to view Lucky, Kage, and him as useful tools and little more. Still … it could be worse.

The airtruck pulled into the hangar without challenge and the high cargo door closed silently behind it. When the lights came up in the building, Jason was surprised to see their ride. It wasn’t one of the boxy, underpowered rock jumpers he’d seen flitting around since arriving in the Galvetic System. This was a large, powerful combat shuttle complete with shields, an impressive arsenal, and a slip-drive.

“Subtle,” he said.

“We felt that it would be best to be ready for anything at this stage in the operation, Captain,” Morakar said.

“I don’t disagree,” Jason said. “But you may have gone too far the other way. That’s an Eshquarian combat shuttle, and a fairly new model used by their intelligence service, if I’m not mistaken. This beast lifting off from here won’t arouse any suspicion?”

“We’ve taken that into account,” Morakar said. “It will draw no more attention than any other light craft capable of interstellar flight.”

“If you say so,” Jason shrugged. “Lucky, let’s get to it.” The pair quickly exited the airtruck and each began to sweep the interior of the hangar in opposite directions, Lucky with his sensors at maximum acuity and Jason now armed with a powerful plasma rifle.

It took less than five minutes to verify the hangar was empty and another five to climb over the shuttle and ensure it hadn’t been tampered with. Jason boarded the fierce-looking craft and began the pre-flight sequence while Lucky went back to retrieve their charges. At his signal, Meluuk, Kage, and the four Galvetic warriors hurried from the airtruck to the shuttle, quickly finding their seats.

Jason revised his opinion of the craft as he continued down his checklist. It wasn’t just an impressively powerful bit of military hardware; the damn thing was practically brand new. The elapsed time indicated on the powerplant and the engines was negligible, and the slip-drive had only performed six jumps. He knew at least two of those would have been done by the manufacturer. The ship had to be incredibly expensive and didn’t fit into the ragtag image the Order had tried to present when Jason first arrived.

“The airtruck will be picked up by someone else,” Meluuk told him. “The person has no knowledge of who we are or what we’re doing and there is nothing to connect us to the incident at Casguard.”

“Very good,” Jason said. “Well done, Meluuk. Could you send Mazer up to the flightdeck when you go back there?’’

“At once, Captain,” the gelten said before walking back down the short flight of steps off the flightdeck and into the main cargo area. It was a few moments before the young warrior’s head leaned forward over the center pedestal between the two flightcrew seats.

“You summoned me, my Captain?” Mazer said with a grin.

“Funny,” Jason said. “Let me ask you something … does this seem like a piece of equipment your guys could afford? And if you had a brand new combat shuttle, why were you, your brother, and Connimon skulking around Colton Hub and bumming rides from pirates? You could have easily tracked us down with this thing if you knew where to look.”

Mazer’s expression grew serious and he looked over his shoulder back towards the cargo area. “These are questions I’m asking myself, Jason,” he said quietly. “Things are making less and less sense the further we go.”

“Could you ask Morakar?” Jason could see the warrior squirm slightly before answering.

“It’s not likely he’d know anything, but that’s not the issue,” Mazer said. “He’s a true believer. He would never question the motivations or methods of the Praetores, and if he caught wind that things aren’t what they appear, he may question those things aggressively. I don’t think any of Morakar’s normal reactions will help us here.”

“I’ll trust your judgment on that,” Jason said. “Let’s just all keep our eyes open.”

“Who do you want made aware of your suspicions?” Mazer asked.

“You, me, and Kage will be it for now. Suspicions may be too strong a term anyway, let’s just say we’ve been around enough to know when something doesn’t pass the smell test,” Jason said.

“Thanks for including me, Captain,” Kage said from the copilot’s seat.

“I didn’t have much of a choice. You’re sitting right here.”

“Your words hurt sometimes,” Kage said.

Mazer laughed and straightened up to leave. “I’ll let everyone know we’re preparing to depart,” he said before walking back off the flightdeck.

“In all seriousness, Kage,” Jason said once he’d gone, “let’s keep an ear to the ground. Also, let’s not mention any of this around Crusher just yet.”

“Ooo, I love the intrigue,” Kage said, rubbing his two smaller hands together as the other two continued readying the shuttle’s systems. “Now we’re a secret circle within a secret circle.”

“Just keep me up to speed on anything you might pick up,” Jason said wearily. “But keep your killer instincts in check. Let’s not invite trouble by having you slice into any private networks until we’re sure there’s something there to find.”

It only took another fifteen minutes to get the shuttle prepped to roll out. Impressive since it was completely cold when they had first boarded and a testament to how new and modern the ship was. Kage remotely accessed the hangar door control and commanded the massive sliding doors to part while keeping the landing pad lights darkened. Jason brought the repulsors online and lifted the shuttle off its landing skids to an altitude of one meter, then nudged it out of the building with the main drive. Raindrops began to splatter against the steeply raked canopy as the ship emerged fully into the gloomy night and the growing storm.

“We’re cleared to lift at our discretion,” Kage reported as the main drive began to spool to full power. “They seemed fairly uninterested in our flight plan. The only thing they said was to fly south away from Cessell City before we break for orbit.”

“What about once we hit orbit? Do they care where we’re going?” Jason asked, somewhat surprised.

“The flight plan stated we were making a courier run to Restaria,” Kage shrugged. “Again … I don’t think they care. Things on this planet are so boring and routine I’m not sure they have any suspicions even when things are slightly out of the ordinary.”

“I’m just surprised that a ship like this doesn’t raise a few questions,” Jason said. “Here we go.” He smoothly brought the throttle up, letting the gravimetric drive absorb the weight of the ship, and swung them around south in an easy, spiraling climb. Once the main drive was fully engaged, the repulsor system put itself into standby. “Prepare the hull for exoatmospheric flight,” he ordered.

“It’s already done it by itself,” Kage said. “This isn’t your standard shuttle, apparently. A lot of the systems are similar to what we have on the
Phoenix
.”

“Well, if we can’t have the old girl for an escape run I guess this is the next best thing,” Jason said. “Let’s get out of here.”

“Fifteen minutes to the landing site,” Kage said as the combat shuttle tore through the upper atmosphere of Restaria. “No issues to report, but there is something odd.”

“And that is?” Jason asked.

“I can’t get a response from the
Phoenix’s
status beacon,” Kage said, frowning. “We should be close enough, but there isn’t a very well-developed public nexus on this planet. That could be the reason.”

“We stashed her pretty far out from Ker,” Jason said. “I’m sure it’s nothing.”

“Probably not,” Kage agreed. “Anyway, your landing zone is going to be the unused portion of a vehicle maintenance yard to the southwest and on the outskirts of Ker. It’s going to be a tight drop. You’ll have to come to a full stop and drop us in nearly forty meters between the buildings that flank either side.”

“No sweat,” Jason said. “Let’s hope our pick-up is on time.”

He flew a slow, standard pattern down into the city so as not to attract the unwanted attention of flying in too hard and risk someone taking too close of a look at the vessel. The sparse traffic over Ker was a blessing when it came time to bring them to a stop in midair and quickly lower the shuttle into its cramped parking spot.

“Secure from flight ops,” Jason said to Kage, “but after that I have a special little thing I need you to do.”

“What’s that?”

“Here’s what I want…” Jason began, explaining to Kage what he needed done before they disembarked.

*****

“Master Fordix,” Fostel greeted them as they came down the ramp, “welcome home.”

“Thank you, Praetore,” Fordix said with a bow of his head. “While I will be forever grateful for the Order getting me out of that pit, I am disappointed that you risked the life of Lord Felex on such a mission.”

“He insisted on going,” Zetarix spoke up. “He said his team was more suited for this sort of mission.”

“And you agreed?”

“I do not tell the Guardian Archon what he may, or may not, do,” Zetarix said stiffly.

“The decision was mine,” Crusher said, ending the argument. “This was a tactical decision, my friend. You have information we need and we were the best suited to get you out.”

“We should continue this discussion in a more discreet place,” Mutabor, the third Praetore, said. “While the escape was a success, it would be a shame to be caught now as we loiter near the ramp of the escape vehicle.”

“Indeed,” Crusher said. “Kage, lock the ship up and we’ll get moving.” Kage gave him a mocking salute and went over to the external access panel and set the locking protocols on the shuttle before running to climb into yet another ground vehicle with no windows that would whisk them away to some undisclosed location.

“Have you been able to raise the ship yet?” Jason whispered to Kage as they drove through the heart of Ker.

“No,” Kage said, “and Twingo isn’t answering his com unit either.”