Rebellion in the Shadows
Chapter Thirty-one

Sleep was off and on. Every noise felt like an escape in the making, but it never came. The hours that passed without an explosion, kicked the tiny sliver of hope from my tired sore body. Kirtis still hadn’t gotten a hold of me either, and that was upsetting me more than anything else.

With only forty-five minutes until launch I would have expected some sort of urgency to my morning routine. Still, the guards kept me prisoner in my room, blocking my empty doorway. Both now carried guns and were unrecognizable to me in their nameless MP uniforms. When someone brought me some breakfast, my patience exploded.

“Why bother? Someone is just going to knife me in the back in a half hour!”

“Eat,” was the only response the short, stocky guard would give. It was the same caveman as before, I recognized his voice, but more than that, recognized the way he said that one word.

The launch was supposed to start at nine and at zero-eight-thirty both the guards at my door did a snap salute. Only one person would be ballsy enough to show up.

“Talaya! You’re up, excellent.” His crazy eyes were more relaxed today, but the twisted smirk was the more telling sign, Sidarc was thrilled.

“I went to the uniform shop and grabbed your new spacesuit for you.” An Admin behind him held up the suit for me to inspect. “Don’t bother thanking me or anything.” Sidarc said with a grunt.

“Thank you? How ’bout instead I—”

“Keep your pointless threats to yourself.” His hand flicked towards me, dismissing my insult. He walked to my window, inspecting the broken lock. My eyes followed him, narrowed to a point.

“Your little friend is dead, so that will probably wipe that disrespectful look off your face.” The effect was instant, he knew how upsetting this news was and watched in pleasure as the realization came over me. Kirtis was dead. I couldn’t believe it, it hit me so hard and so quickly I didn’t even know what to do. I was split between wanting to cry out and wanting to claw that look off his face. I ended up doing nothing except gaping at Master Guardian.

“They gave me wrong information one too many times and I knew, I knew that you had worked some sort of pathetic girl voodoo. So much for that, I have plenty of good soldiers willing to take their spot,” he said.

“Why are you here? Just to rub my face in it?”

“I thought it would be nice to be the last one to look you in the eyes before your little trip. You threatened everything I have worked so hard for. And for what? You don’t even really know what’s going on, and if you had bothered to ask or try to replace out, maybe you wouldn’t be so quick to join with Arwago and those other traitors,” he said, his hand flew out and swished towards the door, like the rebels were just outside, within his reach.

“Why keep it a secret then? Why not just be up front with us?” I asked, still trying to steady myself.

“Humans are sensitive and fickle. They don’t know what’s best, someone has to tell them. My job as leader of the world is to do just that, it could have been your job too, but somehow I knew that you were going to be a small insignificant thorn in my side just like your mother,” he said, still looking out the window. At the mention of my mother I lashed out at him, hoping to rip those sadistic eyes right out of his face. My mouth made some sort of animal noise, a mix between a scream and growl. The guards were too quick, one touched me with the shock-prod, while the other used their pistol to hit me in the back of the head. My knees slammed onto the floor. Sidarc hadn’t been phased by my failed attack at all. There was a slight chuckle as he saw me on the ground, both my guards had their guns pointed at my head, inches from touching it. Just the tiniest dot of blood came off on my hand when I touched where the caveman had hit me.

“I had hopes, but they were not well placed. So, enjoy your ride Talaya. I hope it’s everything I need it to be,” he walked out of the room. As soon as he was gone, I started to cry in slow loud sobs. It didn’t last, the guards had other plans.

“Put on the suit and we will escort you to the runway,” the taller one said. Briefly, I delayed. There had to be a way out, fighting or maybe running. But my brain came up with nothing. The suit ended up on, though the guards were the ones the pulled it over my sore body and zipped it up. It took two more shocks to get me walking and all three of us left my room. Tomma sat at the open doorway, his head tilted to the side and his two tails twitching.

“Sorry Tomma,” I said, sure it was the last time I would see him. An angry yowl was his only response before he went back into the room.

When we reached the runway, my eyes fell on the plane I was supposed to fly. The space shuttle was on top of a brand new 4-5-2. It was the most beautiful plane I had ever seen. The long wings, the fresh paint, and the giant turbines gave me a tiny thrill. If my life had to end, at least it would be while flying that thing.

About 100 yards from the 4-5-2, the other members of my crew were waiting for me. A tiny of group of two people in their spacesuits and a half dozen guards armed to the teeth with rifles. Something was familiar about the shorter man in his space suit, and my heart did a somersault when I realized why. Kirtis was standing right there in front of me. All I wanted to do was lob myself into his arms and celebrate in the fact that he was very much alive, but the guards didn’t give me the chance. They ushered us towards the plane. Kirtis looked at me funny, he had a very large bruise under his eye.

“Everything good?” he asked. The sound of his voice put my stomach into knots.

“Yeah.” I said, my voice wavering. Clearing my throat, I caught my breath and tried to look indifferent, “Just planning my day. I think I will go to the market later for some more bare nutrient bars,” I said sarcastically.

“Sure, grab some for me would you? This asshole won’t let me go anywhere,” he nodded towards one of the guards.

“Did you break Rotowey’s nose and arm?”

“I did, but not before he gave me this shiner, pretty nice right? Maybe it distracts from my scars.”

“Your eyes do that just fine on their own,” I said, as soon as the words left my mouth, I blushed. It took him a minute to respond, thinking carefully about his next words. The middle of his eyebrows went up sadly, then he shook his head.

“That doesn’t surprise me, everything distracts someone with the attention span of a bitter bird,” he said. Even with his sarcastic reply, he had been upset at my compliment. The guards took that opportunity to shock me to get the pace moving quicker, though it didn’t penetrate my new spacesuit.

The other man in a space suit was Geokee, though he already had his helmet on with the visor down and hadn’t said a word to either of us. The guard duty had tripled since we arrived on the landing pad. Each MP was armed with rifles, pistols, and shock-prods. It kept me from trying to do anything desperate. We got to the plane and an Admin named Forchu came down the ladder. It was supposed to be Su’jee, her absence could not have been a good sign, for her at least. Sidarc must have been talking about her when he said that my friend was dead. Unfortunately for her, she had failed him one too many times and that must have convinced him that she was working for the rebels.

“Pre-scan and engine warm up have been done already by some Machinist Coordinators. All we have to do is launch,” Forchu said. His peppy mood was going to get him a punch in the throat if I had it my way. Geokee nodded. Standing this close to him, I noticed how incredibly tall he was. His space suit looked tight on his arms, and an inch too high on his legs. He still hadn’t said a word and climbed aboard the plane without so much as looking my way.

A large crowd of people had gathered off to the side of the landing pad to watch the launch. Master Guardian was among them. He was sitting in a fancy leather chair with about ten people beside him, looking as relaxed as if he was sitting by a lake getting a tan. Even from hundreds of yards away, I could see that smirk, that victorious smile that made me want to rip his face off. As I waited for my turn on the ladder, my anger grew. He was excited to be rid of me, convinced that this would fix all his problems. Another poke in the back got me moving up the ladder. Much as I hated to admit it, Master Guardian had outsmarted me and there was nothing left to try.

As soon as we were inside. Geokee left to the cargo area and Forchu stepped towards the control panel. I was left alone standing next to Kirtis.

“Doesn’t look like this will go our way,” he said.

“Nope, can’t really see a way out.” He kept shifting his glance around, only to end up back at my eyes.

“Talaya, this may sound pathetic, considering everything…” he paused, unsure of how to say what he was thinking. Before my confidence could waver, I flung myself into his arms, grabbing him around his neck and burying my face into the side of his head. It wasn’t at all what he was expecting, so I just whispered.

“Thanks for not being dead.” He held his arms out to the side, too shocked to hug me back.

“You’re welcome, I guess. Seems to be where we are headed anyways though.” Pulling back from our embrace, my arms stayed around his neck to look at him and his hands grabbed onto my waist. The purring started again in my chest as he looked at me. For a second, I thought he was going to kiss me, but a cough from a very uncomfortable Forchu made us both look up. I let go of his neck, but he grabbed my hand forcing me to stay next to him.

“If everyone wants to get buckled in?” He was walking through the cockpit scanning everything with his calcumat.

“Forchu can you relay that to Geokee?” I asked. If he was buckled, there might be a chance to overtake him. Trying to remain calm, I let go of Kirtis’s hand to get situated at the control panel.

“Roger.” Forchu went to the back to get him. Geokee came bounding back to the front and waved at me like we were old friends. It was strange since my only other experience with him was being screamed at for the smallest of infractions.

“One quick update and then we can start to taxi.” Forchu hooked his calcumat up to the 4-5-2 control board. That wasn’t normal, we never used wires for anything, and I watched as he uploaded something.

“Forchu, what’s that for?” I asked, but he kept focused on his task. Finally yelling, “That’s it, let’s go!” a few seconds later.

All four of our wrists beeped at the same time.

’Three minutes.′

I tilted my wrist so Kirtis could see it. He shrugged his shoulders and showed me that his said the same thing. The plane was starting to move towards the runway. The speed was supposed to increase until the jets blasted us into the sky, but the plane wasn’t speeding up. In fact, it felt like it was slowing down, a quick look at the airspeed indicator showed I was right.

“What the hell is wrong with this thing?” I asked, trying a combination of throttle moves and buttons to speed it up. The plane didn’t respond.

“Now!” Arwago’s voice screamed over my comms. My heart jumped, this was it. Any second they would climb on board to take me away to their base. An alarm sounded, and I looked at the control board. The cargo door opening.

“Holy Tau is this thing broken or is this part of the thing?” I asked Kirtis in a whisper. Geokee went into the back again to check on the cargo door. The plane stopped and shouting started from somewhere behind it. Hundreds of people were running on board.

Finally, I felt the explosions. It was far off, but it still made the giant aircraft shudder. After the bombs went off, gun shots began. The plane was being peppered with laser bursts that went right through the exterior.

Geokee ran back in again but he had taken off his helmet and it wasn’t Geokee at all, it was Zarleque.

“Forchu how much time do we have? Talaya go strap down the supplies,” he said. I was too stunned to move.

“Zar!” I said.

“We will celebrate later, go strap down the supplies,” he said.

“29 seconds!” Forchu replied. It snapped me out of my trance. Jumping into motion, I ran to the back. The cargo area was full. There were ten T-550 drones and maybe four hundred people. Boxes were scattered everywhere, several not properly secured. Most of the Flying Force members were already strapped into their fold down seats along the walls of the huge plane. Working furiously with a half dozen Machinist Coordinators, I tried to get control of the chaos.

“Grab that tie down. Take that side and pull it tight. If these are loose when those jets hit, they’ll be smashed.” Almost like the jets could hear me, they blasted. It was too late. The box we had been working on was the last one left untied. It flew out of control before shattering against another large box towards the back.

People that were standing flew towards the back of the plane. The cargo door was still open a few feet, and groaned in protest. Shuddering like crazy, the plane continued almost straight up. From flying a 4-5-2 in the past, I knew the jet blast would last exactly four minutes. It would climb 30,000 feet in that time thanks to the 10,000 pounds of thrust the jets added.

The plane kept whining, the engines struggling against the open door and the heavy weight of all the drones. It had to be close, if not over the max weight limit.

My feet were swept out from under me, and my chin slammed onto the metal floor. Blood spilled out of the cut. I grabbed onto the tie down rope, hardly able to grip onto it with one hand. That was all that was between me and getting forced into the cargo door, or worse, flying out the gap. Desperately, I tried to grab on with my other hand, but I couldn’t reach it. My ribs were on fire with the effort and each second my hand slipped farther down the line, taking me closer to disaster. Someone slammed their hand onto my back and gripped on tight. Kirtis had hooked his arm around another tie down and reached to grab me by the back of my space suit just as my hand came loose.

“Hang on!” he shouted. Another minute passed and his face showed every second of the strain. It couldn’t be much longer, but he was close to letting go. Both eyes were closed hard, each wrinkle near them showed the pain holding onto to me was causing. His grip slipped and I flew away from his hand, backwards hitting several boxes. Everything went dark when my head banged against the landing strut of a drone.

My head hurt. The pounding started in my ears but spread over my entire body as I sat up. The commotion had died down. It came back to me and I touched at my head. I was sitting near the cargo door which was now closed. Movement was painful. I had broken something in the fall, many somethings, by the feel of it.

“Hey dummy,” I looked forward and tried to focus, doubles of everything swam before me. Kirtis was standing near me snapping his fingers with one eyebrow arched

“She’s all right. Strap in, fun’s not over yet.” Kirtis yelled at the Corpsman that was trying to help. He roughly yanked me up and I followed behind him towards the cock pit with blood dripping down my chin. The same Corpsman ran over with a cloth and pressed it to my face.

“Just give that to me,” I said taking the cloth and waving her off.

“Tesser, tell me we got them all,” Zarleque said over voice comms.

“Not really, I had ten go off and destroy a multitude of drones. But there’s a few condor’s left and it looks like maybe two T-550’s we missed,” she said over comms. I stood next to the control panel, desperate to do something.

“What do we need to do?” My voice was groggy, and I cleared my throat, “Can I help?”

“I don’t know. The bombs should have gotten them all, but we can’t go back, I don’t know,” Tesser said.

“Give us a minute,” Arwago added.

“Forget it, Master Guardian isn’t going to wait, Zar, Kirtis let’s go!” I banged my hand on the control board and stood up to leave.

“Someone needs to drive the plane,” Forchu said. He was manic with all the chaos around him.

“We have a plane full of Reconists, just pick someone!” I stomped into the cargo area, not waiting for his approval.

“Talaya, what are we doing?” Zarleque asked.

“It won’t do any good if he can come replace us, we need a clean break.”

“He won’t be able to catch us in the 4-5-2, its too fast and he doesn’t have another one ready.”

“You think that will stop him? Get your head out of your ass Zar,” Kirtis said. He was trying to shed his space suit as we walked, “Can I get some help with this?” he asked me. I started to unclasp the many different connections on his back. Then he unzipped and unsnapped everything on me in a manner of seconds. When he got to the one at my hip, I blushed. It was the second inappropriate reaction to him I’d had in less than an hour.

“What are we going to do?” he asked. Kirtis and I looked at each other.

“Take one of those and finish the job,” I said with a nod to a drone. Kirtis yelled out for flight suits and a Coordinator brought them over along with three helmets. When I finished putting them on, I smiled. It felt good to be back in the tan jumper, like laying down on my mattress after a long day.

The drone closest to the door was the only one we could use; All the others wouldn’t be able to maneuver through the clutter. Where there had been attachment clips along the back, there were weapons. It looked terrifying with the large rockets, and a huge laser rifle under the bottom.

Kirtis jumped into the co-pilots seat and Zarleque got into the back.

“Does anyone know how to run this thing?” I asked over comms. Forchu came over the line.

“The weapons run through an application on the tablet. Use the targeting feature to lock on. There are only four missiles. The laser rifle is controlled by a pair of VR gloves that should be in the pilots supply kit,” he said. I opened the supply kit a found two thick black gloves with metallic fingertips. I tossed them into the back with Zarleque. Kirtis had the tablet out, working through the different features. Machinist Coordinators started to remove the straps that held the drone in place. The engine started up, the hum from the motors sending a shiver down my spine.

“Open the cargo door,” I said over the comms. An alarm started blaring but the giant door opened. Several small boxes flew passed our windshield as I tapped the cyclic and the drone lifted a few inches off the plane floor. My eyes looked out the side window to see how far up we’d come, when Kirtis hit my shoulder. I jerked my head.

“What?” I asked looking at him. His face was hardened into an expression I didn’t understand.

“Look,” he said and pointed out the back of the plane.

I followed his finger and understood his face; fear. Two weaponized T-550 drones were coming up on us from behind, and fast. Much faster than should have been possible.