He knelt behind a small boulder and assessed the buildings. There was a light tan structure that appeared to be a house. It reminded him of some of the adobes in Arizona and New Mexico. If people stayed inside during the day and went out at night, there was a chance it would be empty. Ash didn’t see any lights on inside. Maybe some aliens didn’t need light. Except if that were true, the city would have looked dark from the mountain, wouldn’t it? So they were either not here, or they were sleeping. The row of outbuildings might have something of use inside as well. His eyes caught sight of some clothing hanging from a rope tied to a suspended line.
Item one: check, he thought with satisfaction.
Rising up, he strolled over to the line as if minding his own business. The first rays of light were beginning to brighten the sky. If the alien farmers were like the ones back home, they would be early risers – or would that be opposite here? Rising with the sunset? As if on cue, a light shone through a window of the house. They weren’t night owls then.
Ash quickly gathered several articles of clothing from the line and kept walking toward one of the outbuildings. He tested the door of the first building before he noticed a control panel next to it. Disappointment filled him when it refused to open. This wasn’t a simple lock that he could pick, and a sliding door was impossible to kick in.
He moved to each one, discovering the same thing. Slipping behind the last building, he shrugged off the backpack and started to take off the emergency coveralls he wore over his uniform. He grimaced when the sleeve caught on a piece of sharp metal. Jerking it free, he ignored the soft sound of the material. Kicking the coveralls aside, he slipped the long robe over his uniform. Next, he replaced the scrap of parachute he had used as a head scarf with the long piece he had taken from the line. He wrapped it around his head and over his face like he had seen the men in the caravan wearing it, then he bent and stuffed the coveralls and parachute material into his backpack.
Now he needed to find a weapon. He had his knife, but he would like something a little more alien – or less alien, depending on one’s perspective. Something that wouldn’t stand out here, in any case. He rose to his feet, and pressed against the side of the building when he heard voices talking in a language he couldn’t understand. Glancing around the corner, he saw a woman walk out to gather the clothes off the line.
He was about to make a run for the house when the door next to him beeped. He jerked back, and waited. It took several seconds for him to realize that the doors must be on some type of timer and were set to unlock at a specific time.
“Sweet!” Ash muttered, grinning under his face-covering.
He swept his hand over the panel and the door slid open. This shed was the furthest from the house and the door was angled toward the open fields of dry rocks. He would have to work quickly if he wanted to escape unseen.
He stepped into the dim interior, and started when the ceiling lit up. The interior walls and ceiling were curved, giving the space a wide, roomy feel. He glanced around the inside. There were several different pieces of large equipment, which looked like they were used for plowing, and various other farming implements. What they grew in the sand and rocks, Ash had no idea, but they must be able to grow something.
Cabinets and shelving lined the interior. He walked around the farm equipment and began pulling cabinets open, careful not to disturb anything if he could help it.
In the third cabinet, he discovered a pair of goggles similar to those the aliens were wearing last night. He pocketed the goggles before moving on to the next cabinet. Inside there was an assortment of large farming blades and smaller knives. He took a small one and left the others. Frustrated, he was about to give up when he glanced at the farm equipment again.
“Why is it when you are looking for something it is always either the last place you look or right in front of you?” he mumbled in exasperation.
There were two weapons on the large machine he was circling. A small pistol type weapon was on the dash and there was a long rifle in a holster behind the seat. A sense of regret pulled at him as he took both weapons. He hated taking something for nothing.
A grin curved his lips. Shrugging off the pack on his shoulder, he reached in and pulled the coveralls out. He ripped off the Project Gliese 581g patch showing the countries represented and left it on the seat. It wasn’t much, but he bet no one else on this planet would have a patch like that.
“You can bill the Project Manager,” Ash chuckled as he stuffed the coveralls back into his bag and zipped it up.
After picking up his pack again and shouldering the weapons, he strode back to the door. He paused, glancing out of it. The woman was yelling at a young boy who was staring back at her with a puzzled expression. Ash waited until the woman’s back was turned and he couldn’t see the boy before stepping out and quickly closing the door behind him. He slipped around the side of the building and took off for the group of buildings in the distance. Now he needed to find food and shelter.
3
Kella walked farther away from the burned out vineyard, her boots leaving prints in Tesla Terra’s soft soil without making a sound. She scanned the wooded area, making sure she was alone before she stopped at the edge of a large depression in the bed of leaves and debris. It was obvious that something had landed here. The deep, rectangular impression in the muck was still evident, as well as the tracks of the Legion soldiers, half covered by a new layer of leaves.
“What did they find? What could have been so dangerous that the Legion Director would hire the Turbinta to retrieve the contents when he has an entire army at his fingertips?” Kella murmured with a frown.
She reached out and ran her gloved fingers along the edge of the impression. Her head tilted to the side when a shimmer of silver caught her attention. She stood and walked over to the bush that held the foreign object. She bent and carefully pulled the branches aside. A section of reflective cloth had tangled on the thorny twigs. It took her several minutes to release the material from the bush’s avaricious grasp, but her persistence paid off when the material came free
She assessed what she knew so far. The burned out vineyard she had visited first belonged to the de Rola family; owned by none other than Jemar de Rola, a former Knight of the Gallant. His name and one other, Jesup, were on the grave markers. There were still two more members of the family missing, though: Cassa and Packu de Rola. Kella had heard tales of the Knights of the Gallant, but that was all they were as far as she was concerned – tales. It was hard to believe these ‘Knights’ had ever been capable of protecting the galaxy.
Kella discovered very little about the other two de Rola family members except that they were well respected by the merchants they traded with at the Spaceport. There was another lead that she needed to investigate – Hutu Gomerant. It was only natural to conclude that the remaining de Rola family members would seek help from the only other Knight of the Gallant still alive, even if the man did sell junk for a living now. The few inquiries she made before coming to the vineyard and forest were met with silence and suspicion. She would have to gain her information in a different way.
Several hours later, Kella had secured the land transport in her freighter docked at the spaceport. She changed into the feminine clothing of a Tesla Terra merchant. Staring at her reflection, she focused on her skin. It changed from the forest green to a sand color. She left dark spots along her forehead and down her neck. Her ability to change her appearance was one of the reasons Tallei had chosen her as a student. Satisfied that she would appear, at least at first glance, as a native of the planet, she carefully hid her laser gun and blades within easy reach.
Kella exited the freighter and activated the security system. As an added precaution, she murmured to one of the street urchins who frequented the area hoping for a handout. She showed the boy two credits.
“Guard my freighter well and inform me if anyone goes near it. I will give you one credit now and one when I return. Lie to me, boy, an
d I will slit your throat,” she instructed, holding the coin just out of his reach.
“I don’t lie,” the boy informed her with a stubborn glare.
“Make sure you don’t and you might live longer. I will return in a few hours,” Kella replied with a curt nod before dropping the coin in his outstretched hand.
She turned and strode away from the landing ports back toward the city. Her dark brown eyes missed nothing as she made her way through the thick crowd of traders. She slowed when she neared the residence of Hutu Gomerant. Slipping into the shadows, she watched from across the street.
There were at least six guards present, unusual for a junk trader. Kella’s eyes narrowed when she saw two figures step out from behind the house. Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw the face of one of the men. He was different from any she had seen before. Unusual enough to be the owner of the capsule who was of such interest to Lord Andronikos? She did not believe in coincidences. The Knight of the Gallant had led her to her quarry, just as she had suspected he would.
Hutu said something to the male and he nodded before pulling the hood over his head. She waited several precious seconds before she stepped out of the shadows and began to follow them. A short time later, the two men disappeared into a local bar. Kella wanted to follow them, but knew that in her current garb she would stand out. Instead, she was forced to find a spot where she could observe the entrance without drawing attention to herself.
Time passed slowly before the two men reappeared. Kella straightened from where she was leaning against the building and began following them. Her fingers closed around one of her knives. She would need to get closer to make sure that she had a clear area to strike at the old man. He was of no further use to her. She would need to kill him and wound the other. Picking up her pace, she veered to the left when several men fell into step behind her target, cutting off her chance to make a clean kill.
“I have a ship….”
“Legion forces….”
“Must leave soon….”
Kella stopped where she was and watched Hutu and the strange man walk back to Hutu’s residence. If they planned to leave, she needed to stop them, or at least know where they were going next.
Those who lived around the landing ports were not as closed-mouthed as those in the marketplace. For a few credits, she should be able to discover where Hutu’s ship was docked. There would be more opportunities now that she had found her target.
Close to an hour later, Kella tossed aside the metal bar she had used as a hammer. The small piece of metal she found was now wedged firmly in the locking gear securing Hutu’s spaceship. It would take time to loosen it. While they were working on it, she would strike.
She looked up quickly and glanced at the door. The sound of the lock disengaging echoed through the repair bay. Kella hurried to hide behind one of the curved stone pillars and drew her laser pistol. Switching it to stun, she leaned her head back against the pillar and listened.
Kella cursed when she heard multiple footsteps. There were more than just the two men. Peering around the stone pillar, she saw Hutu. Frustration bit at her when he hurried to the opposite side of the ship.
The strange man she was to capture and take in was behind a woman. Kella suspected she had found the two missing members of the de Rola family. She lifted her pistol and aimed. Her finger hesitated on the trigger. A silent curse escaped her.
Something didn’t feel right. She didn’t know what it was, but her gut told her now was not the time to strike. She had learned to trust those instincts. Tallei had told her that was what made her such a good assassin. All Kella knew was that those feelings had saved her life more than once during her years of training.
“You two get the supplies on board,” Hutu instructed from the shadows of the platform. “Pack, you get the locks on that side.”
Kella watched from behind the pillar. Tonight, she would observe her target and those with him. She had placed a tracker on their ship, just in case this encounter did not go according to plan, so she would have no trouble following them.
There would be a better opportunity at another time. She watched as the young man worked to free the lock she had jammed while the other two carried supplies onto the spacecraft. Her attention snapped to the main doors when she heard shouting. On the other side of the doors, loud yells to ‘open up’ and thumping alerted Kella to the presence of the Legion forces.
“Pack, I need you to help me get the engines going. It is time to go,” Hutu ordered above the sounds of the Legion troopers.
“This lock is stuck,” Pack yelled back as he worked to free the gears of the lock.
“Go help Hutu. I’ve got this,” the strange man said with a jerk of his head.
Kella watched the man look around. He spied the same metal pipe she had used as a hammer a short while ago. Her gaze narrowed on him when he stood up and hurried closer to her. Now was her chance. Her finger hovered on the trigger of her laser pistol, but once again, something stopped her. Perhaps it was the expression on the woman’s face, or the look in the man’s eyes when he turned to Cassa de Rola. She watched him return to the locking device.
“Let me help,” Cassa de Rola said, hurrying to help him.
Kella watched the two working together. For a moment, she saw a different man staring at a woman with a dark green face – a face that she could barely remember. The man was smiling at the woman who bent to pick up a basket filled with food. The images were so clear, she felt as if she could reach out and touch them.
She flinched, coming back to the present when a loud boom echoed through the repair bay. The door exploded inward. Kella didn’t stop to think. When the man and the woman began firing at the Legion troopers, she did as well, cutting the soldiers down as fast as they entered. She barely had time to escape before Hutu’s spacecraft lifted off.
Exiting through the hole she had created on the back side of the building, she turned and watched the spaceship disappear. A moment of confusion swept through her before she pushed it aside. She had hesitated – unfamiliar feelings and memories were interfering with her mission. It was imperative that she resist such weakness. Tallei would beat her within a breath of her life if she knew about Kella’s failure – if she was feeling lenient. Failure in the field was supposed to result in death.
Shaking her head in self-disgust, Kella pursed her lips and turned to head back to her freighter. The Legion would lock down the Spaceport and Kella needed to be long gone before that happened. She was not worried about finding out where Hutu and his passengers were headed. The tracking device she planted on the spacecraft would guide her right to them.
Tossing a credit to the young boy watching the freighter, Kella boarded and prepared for departure. From the communications filtering through, she had been right. The new Legion commander was issuing an order to lock down the Spaceport. Like Kella, dozens of ships were doing a mass evacuation.
Once she was far enough from Tesla Terra that she did not have to worry about a Legion boarding party, she activated the tracking device. It took several minutes to register, the delay confirming the other ship had gone to light speed. The moment their trajectory came through, Kella input the likely destinations. A smile curved her lips when she saw the edge of the Torrian home world as a possible location.
“Where do you go when you are running and looking for a place to hide? Home…,” Kella murmured, quickly programming the same position into her computer.
“I will not fail this time, Tallei,” Kella whispered, taking the freighter into light speed.
4
Ash sank back into the shadows of the alley and stretched his legs out. Today had been a good day overall, he thought. He had collected enough food to last him and his new friend Kubo a couple of days if they were careful. It also gave him a chance to scope out more of the area.
“The Legion looks for someone,” the old man sitting next to him muttered.
Ash glanced at the clouded eyes of the m
an in surprise before he shook his head. He didn’t know why Kubo could still shock him. He had become acquainted with Kubo almost two weeks ago. He knew from the cloudiness in his eyes the man was blind, but Kubo didn’t miss anything – including the fact that Ash had pilfered a few pieces of fruit from a stand near where Kubo had been standing. The next thing he knew, Kubo had followed him back to the alley where he proceeded to knock Ash on his ass – both figuratively and literally. Ash absently glanced toward the end of the alley.
“Who is the Legion?” Ash asked, watching two soldiers walk by.
“They follow the orders of a crazy man,” Kubo stated, holding out a withered red hand and wiggling his fingers in the direction of Ash’s brow.
Ash grunted and handed Kubo a piece of fruit he had taken from a stand several streets over.
“I hope you paid the merchant for this,” Kubo muttered, accepting the treat.
Ash grinned. “Of course,” he lied.
The late afternoon snack had become a routine for them. He was still amazed that the two of them could understand each other. He had heard Kubo talk to others, but he spoke a different language when he did that. Kubo was teaching him the Torrian language, but it was slow going because Ash had a hard time wrapping his tongue around some of the sounds.
Ash remembered the muttered curses that had escaped him when he hit the ground during their first meeting and his shock when Kubo answered him. One of the first questions Ash had for Kubo was how the hell was Kubo able to understand him. It seemed incredible that they spoke the same language.
Kubo had touched his ear. “I listened to you talk under your breath. You talk a lot. Every species are taught the universal language spoken by the ancients. Some are more adept at using it than others. You speak it differently from any I have heard before. I am Kubo. What are you called?” Kubo had asked with a humorous chuckle.