The Ariadne

Chapter 1

Burnt

“What in the fucking hell?” Marcus thought as his uniform was transformed into his battle attire. The emergency alarms rang through the palace. Marcus, the Captain of the Mastema, his leadership team, the King’s brothers, both of the brother’s wives, General Umeran, and an informant were in King Bathezar Balazon’s office when the alarms started. Most of his crew were shocked by their own transformations into full battle gear. Senton Balazon, the King’s brother and chief engineer of the Mastema, helped his pregnant wife from the couch. He remained in his regular clothing.

Drakon, the King’s other brother was arguing with his wife. He wanted her to go with the King down to the bunker. She wasn’t having any of it, she would fight with her husband. She, along with the other earth women of the Mastema crew, were already starting to file out of the room, ready for battle. These earth women were tough. His heart was breaking, thinking is own earth wife was back at their home being invaded. He couldn’t think of that now, he had to protect the King. He heard Barbara Jean, Senton’s pregnant wife, “Dal, go get Carrie and Debbie, bring them to the underground bunker, hurry.”

Marcus took a breath, “She’s here?” A flood of emotion washed over Marcus. His wife, Debbie, was here and she would be safely in the bunker under the palace.

“Yes.” Senton said as he gently pressed Barbara Jean’s back to the hidden door in the bookcase that led to a spiral staircase.

 “Teran take Jeseray, stay with her.” Marcus ordered. Teran was one of Marcus’s best friends and now he, along with his wife Jeseray, were a part of the Mastema Crew. Teran was helping his very pregnant wife to the staircase.

Teran threw a code chip to their other best friend, Drakon Balazon, “This is to my flyer, try not to scratch it.”

Drakon caught it, and yelled with a smirk, “I make no promises.” The Mastema leadership team was already heading down the grand staircase. He heard Drakon yell at Rhonda, his wife, “Rhonda, go with them.” He pointed to the staircase.

“Like hell I will, I’m fighting with you.” She yelled back. She started down the stairs, Drakon was right behind her.

Marcus looked back at Teran who nodded, they both silently wishing each other luck. A moment later Teran and his wife, Jeseray, had disappeared down the stairs. Marcus ran from the office. He stopped at the top of the stairs wanting to see his love, Debbie. Instead, he saw Linda Hall, one of the earth women, running across the great hall with a large gun in her hands screaming, “Come on, let’s go kick some ass! COWABUNGA!” Behind him, he heard the King’s secretary urging their King to go with them down the stairs. General Umeran stood at the office door, his muscles already bulked up. He would be the last line of defense.

Marcus took a deep breath and started down the grand staircase. Over the alarms he heard his beautiful wife’s voice, “MARCUS!”

As he turned, Dal rushed by him. Dal only looked up and then continued down the stairs. “Get in the bunker.” He screamed. He saw her face flushed with fear and worry. He couldn’t think of her pain. His demon, the force that every Zandaran had that controlled their adrenalin, made their muscles bigger in battle, and made them fierce, hard to kill warriors, was already starting the process of preparing his body for battle. He turned and ran down the stairs.

“Protect our wife!” His demon screamed in his brain, “Kill the intruders before they can harm our beloved.”

Nigel ran beside him as they exited the palace through the front door. Marcus saw Drakon and Rhonda run to Teran’s flyer. The only other spacecraft on the front lawn of the palace was Lonin Paine’s ship, the Ariadne. Marcus didn’t know much about the ship, other than it didn’t show up on any scanners. Lonin docked her ship to the Mastema and guarded his crewman Jarek Johar. In the space of a few months, she had not only saved the lives of the crew of the Mastema and many other beings from the Coalition, but she and Jarek had fallen in love. Now Marcus saw Lonin yelling something to Jarek. Linda was running to the Ariadne. The pilot of the Mastema, Larend Pasco, was pulling Jarek away from Lonin. Jarek shook his head in frustration at Lonin, and then the two men ran to the Ariadne, with Julie, Larend’s wife, and Laura Bowman. The Zandaran Air defense was zooming overhead fighting the invader’s flyers.

Soon every member of their crew was joining them in the front lawn. The men had been on duty to replace the palace guard. One thousand soldiers of the Mastema stood on either side of Marcus’s leadership team. Senek, as first battalion leader, had joined his battalion to Marcus’s left. Rom, as the second battalion leader, joined his men to Marcus’s right. The adrenalin muscle enhanced men stood their ground ready for battle, each had blasters or blaster rifles in hand. A sword hung at their side and a shield was strapped to their back.

Lonin came rushing to Marcus, “Blaster pistols don’t work on Antarans, their exoskeleton won’t allow the shots to penetrate.”

“Swords, Swords.” Marcus commanded. It was echoed through the crew. The men holstered their weapons and pulled their swords and shields for hand-to-hand combat.

A carpet of the black bug-like Antarans where oozing over the three-meter tall front wall and gates of the palace grounds. The two hundred meters wide barrier was made black by the creatures’ bodies. They advanced covering every centimeter of the ground. The Mastema’s crew was outnumbered. This fight would probably be their last, but that did not deter their purpose. They would fight until the last man was taken by the Gods. He watched as the two ships lifted off the ground.

“Wait for it!” He commanded again, and again he could hear his words echo through grounds. Suddenly, Lonin Paine, was getting taller and bigger. Her skin turned to a dark grey, rough leather hide. She continued to grow. She was almost thirty-five meters tall, “Fuck me.” Marcus said in shock as he and his leadership team jumped back. Lonin had shifted into a large Gironian. They were known to be a large lizard type dinosaur species that could breathe fire.

The Mastema crew had seen this creature before on the planet Paktra. They had been on a rescue mission to save kidnapped children, when this very Gironian had melted the Paktran castle. “Lonin Paine was on Paktra that day and she took vengeance out on the leaders of Paktra.” Marcus thought, still in mild shock, “And now she’s going to help us, once again.” He grinned. As the first spray of flames shot from the Gironian-Lonin mouth, melting the entire Antaran force this side of the palace wall, his men now had hope. She then moved toward the wall, still spraying like a flame thrower. The men followed. She stepped on the bug creatures, leaving nothing but dust. She then stopped for a moment gathering internal strength and sent a huge burst of flames straight into the air. Hitting several of the enemy flyers and continuing up into the atmosphere. The flames reduced as she used small bursts to knock other enemy flyers out of the sky. She then turned to the left and walked into the forest. The spray started once again.

“Battalion one, go east. Battalion two, go west. Kill any Antaran you see.” Marcus ordered. His battalion leader, Senek Honlan, took his group to the left of the castle. Nigel Deardan, his second in command, went with them. Marcus went with his second battalion leader, Rom Mordren, to the right.

“Did she just turn into a Gironian?” Drakon asked Rhonda, who sat beside him in Teran’s flyer.

“That was Lonin, I assume that dinosaur there is a Gironian, then yes, she turned into one.” Rhonda looked over the controls. “How to I use this to shoot down the enemy?”

“Take the joystick and squeeze the trigger. If the button turns red, press it, and it will reload.” Drakon was evaded the ships coming from all angles, “Just be sure to hit them, not one of us. They are red, we are blue.”

Rhonda had played several video games on Earth and was pretty good at most of them, but this time, it wasn’t a game. She focused on the display and fired at the first ship marked in red on the display. She hit it directly. Then lined up the next ship and fired. She missed it at first, then recalibrated and shot again. She never looked up; her eyes were glued to the display. She continued knocking the Antaran fighters out of the sky.

“Drakon, we may need back up.” He heard Larend’s voice over the communications. Larend was piloting the Ariadne.

“Lead and we’ll follow. If we see any necessary targets, that must be taken out, we’ll catch up.” Drakon answered. Suddenly the Ariadne had zoomed past them. He could see Linda’s grin in the gunnery turret as they passed. He accelerated to keep up. “I’m switching you to the rear guns. Keep doing what you’re doing, darling! You’re doing great!” He switched the display to the rear guns. Rhonda adjusted slightly and started firing again.

“Drakon, do you have any bombs?” He heard Jarek ask.

“Yes, this flyer has twelve in the stowage and thirty missiles ready to launch.” He answered.

“We are coming up on a large area that contains eight large transport vessels. We need them knocked out. We will go on to the base and do some damage there.” Jarek answered. “Rendezvous with us near the base.”

“See you then.” Drakon stated. “Rhonda, I’m switching you back to forward guns.” 

“Okay.” Rhonda still stared her display.

Drakon brought up another display to arm the bombs and moved them to the launch bays. He heard Rhonda clicking much faster. He couldn’t see anything from the view ports. The fighters must be below them. The first target was in range. He dropped the first bomb and then quickly dropped the second for the second target. Both were direct hits.

“Dray, we’ve got a lot of company.” Rhonda warned.

“I’m sure destroying their way home has pissed them off a bit.” Drakon stated.

“You think?” Rhonda replied sarcastically.

Drakon brought the forward blasters online to his steering column. Keeping an eye on the display for the third and fourth target, he saw a swarm of Antaran fighters coming directly at them. He raised the deflecting armor and began firing. The Antarans were not good fighters, but there were a lot of them. Their flyer bounced through the weapons fire, but nothing was getting through the armor, at least not at the moment. The next two targets were in range. He dropped both bombs. One hit, one missed. “FUCK!” Drakon yelled.

“Go back and get it.” Rhonda stated. Drakon reloaded the bombs and turned the flyer around. This time he dived low seeing the transport. It looked like he was about to ram the large Antaran ship, but at the last moment he pulled up and let a bomb fly. The explosion briefly engulfed their flyer, but the armor held and they were both firing rapidly at the smaller ships.

“There’s too many of them.” Drakon sighed.

“Bullshit, they suck, keep going.” Rhonda ordered.

Suddenly a huge mass of ships that Drakon had not seen in a very long time, swooped in and started knocking out the Antaran fighters. “Brondan flyer, this is General Trimate, of the Kelosian Empire, we are here to help.”

“Thank you, General, your timing is perfect!” Drakon stated. Drakon continued rising into the atmosphere.

“Who am I speaking to?” the General asked.

“Prince Drakon Balazon. I borrowed my Brondan friend’s flyer.”

“Outstanding maneuvers, Prince Balazon. We’ve got this taken care of, go ahead to your next destination. We’ve already destroyed the other transports. They only landed in this city. The rest of the planet has not been invaded. We’ll do the clean-up. By the way, the mothership is completely destroyed, but we can’t keep it from your planet’s gravitational pull. With its current trajectory it will hit the southern continent, probably on the western coast.” The General informed.

“Thank you again, General. I hope to meet you in person, when all this is over. Balazon out.”    

“That’s Jarek’s home. We have to do something.” Rhonda stated.

“I bet that’s why Lonin sent Jarek. I’m sure they have a plan.” Drakon turned the flyer and went toward the base.

“YES! DIE MOTHER FUCKERS, DIE!” Linda was screaming from the turret. Jarek was pressing the forward blasters as fast as he could. Larend was trying to evade the Antaran fighters from any direct hits.

“I’m having trouble getting into their systems.” Laura yelled from her consol.

“Keep trying!” Julie said, “Try something different, use another language or something.” She had no idea what she was talking about, but hoped it would help Laura get into their ships systems like she was able to with the Reptarans at Beta Gamma. Laura was easily able to get into their systems and cause a load of chaos for the Reptarans. She had their ships crashing into one another, going out of control, and even ejected a few into space. “Can we, I don’t know, spray them with something? They are bugs after all.”

“I can load any compound in my forward canons.” The Ariadne said, “Spray it toward them, and their intakes will likely bring it in their cockpit.”

Julie scanned for open intakes on a few of the fighters. “She’s right! Their intakes are open.”

“What can we spray?” Laura asked.

“Bug spray! DDT those fucking bugs!” Julie answered.

“No, that could be harmful to the Zandarans. It was harmful to the animals and possibly caused cancer.” Laura said. “What else did you use to kill bugs?”

“Hair spray, the blue window cleaner, baking soda and sugar, borax and sugar.” Julie answered.

“I remember using window cleaner. It killed them instantly. Ship, can you load the canons with the window cleaner?” Laura looked up and asked.

“Her name is the Ariadne.” Jarek stated.

“Ariadne, I’m sorry. I forgot. Can you…” Laura started.

“Of course. I have that compound in my data files. Jarek, the canons are loaded.” The Ariadne informed.

“Larend, you’re going to have to get us close.” Jarek stated.

Larend took a deep breath, “Okay. It’s going to get bumpy.” He dodged and weaved between the fighters. Linda was still shooting most of them down. Jarek launched the first liquid blue bomb into a group of fighters as they flew through.

Julie watched the display of the fighters behind them. “They just crash landed. I think it kills them.”

“Thank the Gods, we’ve found something that knocks them out quickly.” Jarek said as he launched more liquid bombs.

“There’s the base. It’s crawling with Antarans.” Larend yelled.

Linda was already firing toward the ground. Jarek launched a bomb and dropped it directly into the middle of one of the squads of ground troop Antarans. They all dropped like stones. A few Zandarans also got wet, but seemed okay. “It worked, do it again.” Julie screamed. “I’m contacting the base and tell them what kills them.”

“I think a mist, instead of a bomb would be more effective.” The Ariadne suggested.

“Do it.” Another button in front of Jarek appeared. It was blue. Jarek pressed it and a spray shot from the Ariadne, “Can you get us lower, Larend?” Jarek asked.

“No problem.” Larend swooped down and Jarek let out another long spray. Antarans dropped. “Drakon, we’re doubling back. We’ve found something that kills the Antarans on contact.”

“Leave it. The Kelosians are wiping them out very quickly. The mothership is coming down. The trajectory for impact is the southern continent. The west coast. Rhonda says that Jarek’s family is there. We need to figure out a way to move the ships trajectory into the sea.” Drakon answered.

“What about a tsunami?” Julie asked.

“They have weather suppressors online. That shouldn’t be a problem.” Jarek said.

“How are we going to nudge a small moon?” Larend asked.

“We make it a smaller moon and blow it to pieces.” Jarek looked at Larend.

“Oh, FUCK. We’re going to use THE WEAPON again.” Larend shook his head. “Linda, you’re going to need to get down here.”

“Fighting’s over?” She crawled down the ladder with the large gun.

“Almost. We need to go shoot down a moon.” Larend sneered.

Linda didn’t understand, but she didn’t ask. She put the gun away in the weapons closet and took the empty seat that appeared behind Larend and Jarek.

“What are your plans?” Drakon and Rhonda were beside them in Teran’s flyer.

“We are going to pulse it into oblivion.” Larend stated.

“What do you need us to do?” Drakon asked.

“Save our asses after the weapon deploys.” Larend answered.

“We need to go faster, Larend Pasco.” The Ariadne said.

“Okay. Let’s see what you can do.” Larend said and pushed the throttle forward. The lurched ahead, Drakon pushed the flyer to its limits and still wasn’t able to keep up.

“We’ll meet you on the west coast of the southern continent.” Drakon said. He couldn’t track the Ariadne, but he knew where they were going.

“Jarek Johar to Balt Lawfry.”

“Balt here, what’s going on. We are seeing all kinds of explosions in the sky.”

“We are being invaded. They came only to the eastern continent. Lonin disabled the mothership and it’s coming down. Right towards you. We are going to attempt to blow it up. Get everyone in the cave. I don’t know what kind of shrapnel will be falling.” Jarek described.

“We’ve already had some debris falling. Everyone has taken cover, including everyone from Nortown. We’ve alerted the entire continent. Hopefully everyone has taken cover. See you when you get done. Safe journey.” Balt said.

“Stay safe, Sha Hadah.” Jarek answered. He saw Balt smile.

“Sha Hadah.” He responded and the screen went black.

“Marcus Ralgard.” Major Semar Pronkar announced as they turned the corner of the city. Each had men behind them.

“Major Pronkar. Long time, no see.” Marcus replied warily.

“Strange how a decade can turn enemies into allies, isn’t it?” the Major nodded. He motioned for his men to continue going straight down the street that they were clearing.

“What are you doing here?” Marcus asked.

“Our Grand Duchess, your Queen, sent us to assist. We picked up the mother ship on our long-range scans. We lost it when it went through the Varneeth Nebula, but were able to reestablish visual. We couldn’t get any interior scans. It wasn’t until we were in the Zandaran system that we realized who it was. We got here as soon as we could. We are helping clean up. Although we haven’t found much. Some Antaran ash and gutted dead. We estimated near a hundred thousand. Most look like they were roasted in their skin.” The major answered.

“Rom, take the men and check the woods. Have them spread out, keep in contact. I think our Kelosian friends have the city under control.”

“Yes. Sir.” Rom said and ordered a few commands. He and the men ran back the way they came to enter the woods.

“Yes, Lonin Paine incinerated most of the Antarans at the palace.” Marcus spoke.

“We saw a Gironian, but couldn’t pick it up on our scanners.” Semar said.

“That was her. She turned into a Gironian.” Marcus said in disbelief.

Semar laughed, “No wonder our Grand Duchess chose her. We wondered why she would choose someone from another system, other than one of us. We knew she was rescued by Lonin Paine, and I heard stories about her, but a Gironian too. That’s fantastic.”

Marcus chuckled, “Let’s go tell the King that the situation is under control.”

“Lead the way.” Semar walked with Marcus, “So, you are a leader of warriors? That’s quite a crew that you have there.”

“I’m the Captain of the Mastema. It’s in drydock getting redesigned at the space port.” Marcus said proudly.

“Ummm.” Semar started.

“What’s wrong with my ship?” Marcus asked.

“I don’t think anything is wrong with your ship, but they used it as an escape vessel. The space station was destroyed.” Semar stated. Marcus’s eyes got wild. Semar continued, “I thought you knew. Your entire fleet that was in the system was damaged in one way or another. Some looked very bad. Our war cruiser has gone to help those that needed help. The Mastema went to light speed. We couldn’t track it.”

“Well, at least it’s in one piece.” Marcus sighed. “We need to get to the palace. Can you run?”

“Faster than you.” Semar took off.

“The fuck you can.” Marcus sprinted after Semar.

“It’s safe.” General Narpon Umeran, the military liaison to the King’s council messaged Ezar. The light then turned green.

“We can go back up now.” Ezar unlocked the door and immediately went up the spiral staircase to the hidden door in his bookcase. He took the bars off of the door and unlocked it. It swung open. General Umeran was standing in the middle of his office, “How bad is it?”

“Perhaps you’d like to sit, Sire.” Narpon urged. Torb Gunson came out and took out his data pad to take notes.

Senton helped Barbara Jean up the stairs. Teran was carrying Jeseray, “I’m going to need a place for Jeseray to lay down.” Teran requested.

“We’ll take you to our suite. We have room. I could use a lay down myself.” Barbara Jean stated.

“I want to come too. I can’t be alone now.” Debbie’s worry shown all over her face. Her two not-so-little puppies whined.

“Of course. You don’t even have to ask.” Barbara Jean hugged her best friend.

“Will you leave the communication open so I know what is going on?” Senton asked his brother.

“I think that would be wise.” Narpon looked serious. Ezar nodded. The group left.

“What should I do?” Darcren asked.

“You stay by me. Whatever I do, where ever I go, I want you near me. We will find you a safe place to stay.” Narpon answered. “Did you finish your deposition with Nigel Deardan?”

“Not yet, sir.” Darcren answered. “We were in the middle of everything, when the alarms sounded.

“Sire, you will need to make a speech. The people are probably scared shitless.” Torb said.

“Torb, I don’t believe you’ve ever spoken that way before.” Ezar smirked.

“I’ve never been so frightened that I almost pissed my pants either, so I think it’s appropriate.” Torb still looked rattled.

Just then, Marcus followed by an out of breath Kelosian major came bursting through the door. “I win, Kelosian. Even with you cheating.” Marcus was also breathing hard.

“I would have had you if I hadn’t slipped on the Antaran ashes.” Semar said.

“And you are?” Ezar looked from the Kelosian to Marcus with his eyebrow raised.

“I’m sorry, your highness, this is Major Semar Pronkar.” Marcus introduced.

“I am the leader of the ground forces, here on Zandara. Our Grand Duchess, your wife, sent us here after she and her children’s protectorate located an Antaran mothership.” Semar added.

They were interrupted by a knock on the door. “Enter.” Ezar ordered.

Senek opened the door, “Sire, I want to inform you that the palace is secure. All duty posts are guarded.”

“Thank you.” Ezar said. Senek nodded to his King and then to Marcus, who nodded back. Senek quietly closed the door as he exited. Ezar sat on his desk, “Who wants to go first?” He looked from the General to the Major.

“I would like to go first, so I can get back to my soldiers.” Major Pronkar stated.

“Proceed.” Ezar said.

“The large mothership is less than a two tenths the size of your small moon. Still large for a ship. We think that it carried about one hundred thousand Antaran soldiers. We tracked them to the Varneeth nebula, and lost them. By the time we were able to track them, they had several hours lead ahead of us. As we came into your system, we saw that many of your ships were disabled and your checkpoints were destroyed as well as your space port. Our war cruiser teleported all of the ground troops to the surface and sent the fighters here to help. We immediately started shooting at the Antarans, but our blasters, no matter what settings we used, were ineffective. We had to use hand to hand combat. That was until your Gironian came and fried every Antaran that we could see.”

“Gironian?” Ezar asked.

“I tell you about that.” Marcus stated and turned to Semar to continue.

“We were then going street by street trying to find any leftover Antarans. Our fighters along with your fighters took out their transports, and cleared the rest of the incursion soldiers. There is debris scattered for miles. We believe that the threat is controlled. I need to check with my general and my soldiers. I will give you an update as soon as I am aware of any other information.”

“Thank you for informing me. Please, return to your soldiers.” Ezar slightly bowed. Semar nodded, turned and left. Ezar raised his brow and tilted his head, “Gironian?” He asked Marcus.

“Yeah, Lonin turned into a Gironian. Your wall will need to be replaced as well as most of the grass, as soon as the ashes are gone, oh and you’ll need front gates, probably new bushes, trees…” Marcus rattled.

“I get that, she became a Gironian and melted the front of my estate. What else?” Ezar became impatient.

“We have been working together to make sure every Antaran is dead. We don’t know the extent of their destruction, or how many were killed. I can tell you that we lost twelve in the second battalion, but we didn’t leave any of the Antaran alive. The second battalion are now in the woods, searching for any that may have escaped. I’d like to know where my ship is?” Marcus directed the last question to General Umeran.

“I don’t know. All of our capabilities to track your ship went away when the space port was destroyed.” General Umeran answered.

“How many have we lost, General?” Ezar’s jaw clenched and he closed his eyes.

“I don’t know yet. We lost a lot of men at the base. Most of command. It wasn’t until Lonin Paine’s ship came swooping in and spraying the stuff we use to clean view ports, that we were able to control and rid the base of the Antarans completely.”

“A window cleaner?” Ezar’s head was bowed as he pinched his nose.

“It kills them, instantly. We notified everyone and they brought out high pressure cleaners and sprayed it everywhere. They dropped dead. Soldiers came through after them and made sure that the job was finished. They seemed to have attacked the base and the palace, nowhere else.” Narpon explained.

“What about the mothership?” Ezar asked.

“It’s been disabled and is falling toward the planet. The last projection that we had, had it falling close or on the southern continent, maybe the southern sea.” Narpon answered.

“Lonin shot flames into the atmosphere, it’s possible she fried the ship.” Marcus added.

“There are people on the southern continent.” Ezar said.

“Deviants.” The general added.

“It doesn’t matter. They are people, Zandaran people. Get a transport down there and evacuate. NOW!” Ezar order.

“Yes, sir.” The general said. “The general tapped his data pad for a large transport to be brought to the palace.

“I’ll pilot.” Marcus offered. The general nodded and he, Marcus, and Darcren ran from the office.

“Ralgard to Drakon Balazon.”

“Drakon here.”

“We’re on our way with a transport to get the people of the southern continent to safety.” Marcus stated.

“I don’t think they’re going to need a transport. Jarek is using the weapon to blow the mothership into pieces.” Drakon answered.

“Even the debris from the ship can be dangerous and some debris is already falling on the western coast.” Marcus clarified. “We have located a small town and are approaching a large area that we can land on.”

“They won’t get on a military transport.” Rhonda added. “They don’t trust the military.”

“They somewhat trust me.” Darcren said.

“Why?” Marcus turned to look at Darcren.

“Nigel brought me here.” He answered.

“See, Nigel trusts the people who live here.” Rhonda added. “They aren’t going to trust you in that transport. Years ago, the military came down and completely wiped-out entire towns on the east coast.”

“How do you know this?” General Umeran asked.

“They told me. Nigel, Teran, Jeseray and I were here a few weeks ago. An eye witness said that the military used the people as target practice.” Rhonda informed.

“That’s insane. No one from our military has come down here. The deviants must be lying.” Narpon argued.

“I wouldn’t start by calling them deviants.” Rhonda said too calmly and with look of disgust. “They are people trying to survive with little electricity, no running water, no communications, and until Lonin and Jarek helped them, they were at the mercy of the weather. They don’t seem deviant to me at all. They are nice people, cautious proud people, but they helped us. They are forced into living the way that they do, by your own government. So, change the way you think about the people that live here. They aren’t as backward as you think.” Rhonda’s serious expression of rage was contained.

“The King ordered us here to help and we will help in anyway necessary.” Marcus stated, “I’m sure the general will keep an open mind.” He glanced at the emotionless general.

“Why don’t you land the transport and ask them what they want. We need to stay here and help Larend. Once Jarek fires the weapon, they won’t have power and will need help landing.” Drakon added. Rhonda still stared into the monitor.

“Is it dangerous to land with the debris falling?” Darcren asked.

“Our shielding will deflect the smaller debris, but it could be dangerous. Hopefully we can get the entire village into the transport quickly without too many injuries.” Marcus answered. “We are coming to a landing spot now.”

“Captain, just make sure that you listen to what they have to say and don’t force them. They have weapons, but they’re ancient compared to what we have.” Rhonda’s tone slightly pleaded. “Understand, that they have lived many years distrusting the rest of Zandara.”

“I promise that I will use my best ambassador training. I’ve had experience in smoothing over relationships in the past. I’ll make sure that their grievances are heard. We’ll stay in contact. Ralgard out.”

“I’ve got the Antaran mothership on the scanner.” Laura looked up from the monitor, “It’s just entering the atmosphere and is about ninety-five kilometers and falling quickly.”

“Getting into position.” Larend said. “Ready.” Harnesses appeared around them, locking them to their seats.

Jarek took a deep breath, “Brace for impact.” He pushed the button. They lurched backward.

“Sixty-four percent remaining.” The Ariadne announced.

“Charging.” Jarek announced.

“It only knocked out part of the huge ship.” Linda said amazed.

“Pulse weapon at full power.” The Ariadne stated.

“Brace for impact.” Jarek announced again. He pressed and held the button this time. They were thrust backwards very hard. This time, the Ariadne went dark and they started a free fall towards the planet.

“How do we restart, Jarek?” Laura asked.

“We don’t.” His voice sounded ominous. The interior of the Ariadne seemed like it was melting. They were slowly being lowered to a rough concaved surface. Items that were in storage cabinets fell to the floor. The viewport disappeared, a space where the door normally was opened. Cold air from the outside rushed in the cabin. Larend saw some bottles of portable oxygen rolling on the floor and gave one to Linda and Laura, one to Jarek, and took one to share with himself and Julie. They each took a breath and the wind from the open doorway pushed items toward the back of the ship. The entire interior of Ariadne went grey.

“You drain my Ariadne. You fuckface! You kill us all! Why you do that to us? MY ARIADNE! She no live!” Jack screamed in Jarek’s head. He was visibly shaking.

“JAREK! Snap out of it, what do we do?” Julie yelled.

“Larend to Drakon.” Larend tapped on his data pad, “We are in real trouble here.”

“We are on our way.” Drakon replied.

Jarek sat on the floor, wide-eyed with his knees pulled up to his chin. “JAREK!” Julie yelled again.

“I’ve killed her. I’ve killed the Ariadne.” Jarek managed to say.

Marcus, Darcren, and Narpon got out of the transport. Almost immediately a large chunk of debris fell on the engine section of the large transport. “Fuck, now what are we to do?” Marcus asked.

“Come on, let’s get to the cave.” Darcren answered. He pulled out a scanner. He knew about the location of their fortified cave from talking to Naween, but he didn’t know it’s exact location. He led the two men into Portrum and followed the life signs of about three hundred Zandaran.

As they approached the cave. Yogar Porcher stood guard. “Darcren, we didn’t expect you back so soon, and you’ve brought friends. Where’s Nigel?” He looked suspiciously at Marcus and the general as he lowered the shielding at the entrance to the cave.

“He’s in the capital fighting off Antarans, the debris that’s falling is from their mothership. It’s going to get worse.” Darcren stated. Suddenly several men and women came to the mouth of the cave as they entered and Yogar put the shielding back in place.

“Why are you here?” Magarta Mernic asked, “Where’s my nephew, Jarek Johar?”

“Jarek is in the Ariadne. He’s blowing the mothership into smaller pieces so that it doesn’t come crashing down on you.” Marcus said a little surprised by the nephew comment.

Chaum Rentrod raised an old-style rifle, “You are from the military.” He pointed the gun at the general.

“Yes, we brought a transport to take you to safety.” He answered, “That was until a piece of debris damaged the engines.” Laughter rang in the small area.

“It looks like you are the ones that need safety.” Lariana Morstrod giggled. “Why did you bring them here, Darcren?”

“The king sent us here to evacuate the people here to safety.” Marcus explained.

“Bullshit. The king couldn’t give a fuck about us.” Bromere Candana stated.

“Why them, Darcren?” Lariana repeated.

“I’m under their protection. I have to stay with them, just like I had to stay with Nigel.” Darcren tried to explain.

“You shouldn’t have come back, and you definitely shouldn’t have brought the military. Tie them up.” Buynen Mokter ordered. “You are not using us as disposable pawns in your military games.”

“But…” Darcren started.

“I don’t want to hear it. You said you couldn’t put us in danger and you lead the very people that want to destroy us, right to our village. You have put us all in danger.” Buynen spoke harshly.

Darcren saw Naween looking at him, she had tears in her eyes. Mersa Dannols wrapped an arm around Naween and took her away from outsiders. As they were being restrained, he heard her start crying. His face became full of sadness. Monara walked up to him and slapped Darcren across the face, “If you have brought these military men to harm us, I will kill you myself.” She looked directly into his eyes. Magar shook his head and took his wife into the cave.

“Put gags on them. I don’t want them communicating in anyway. Take their data pads.” Buynen stated. Yogar took a couple of sweat rags and tied them around each of the men’s mouths. “Take the other two and sit them on opposite sides of the cave. Leave Darcren out here. We’ll decide what to do with them once Jarek lands.”

Two men took Marcus to the right of the cave and sat him on a large boulder. Narpon was taken to the opposite wall and was seated facing the wall on the dirt floor of the cave. Marcus looked around the large cavern. He saw men and women teaching children to read and take care of each other. He saw women and men cooking together. He saw boys and girls playing together. He then remembered his own childhood, where the boys and girls would segregate themselves when they played. As he got older and young men would do everything for the young women. Here they seemed to be equals. It reminded him of the Mateco family. He and his wife, Debbie, had gone to their restaurant in Southcity. Two of his crewmen did a fire show on the Mastema and at the restaurant, they did the show with more of their family members. The family would serve, cook, clean, and entertain their patrons. Everyone working together. This was just like the working class.. He asked himself, “If the working class doesn’t have female preferential treatment, then why does the elite?” He remembered his own working-class parents, at home, they worked together, but in public his father did everything for his mother. The people in front of him didn’t hide who they were. “Why are they called deviants?” He asked himself.

“Stop staring at our people.” A man came up to Marcus. “Turn around, you are making the children uncomfortable. Know this, outsider, if you try and harm any of my people, we can make it so you are never found. Do you understand?” Marcus nodded slowly and turned to face the wall. He hoped that Jarek would come to the town soon and straighten the confusion.

“We need to get these weapons moved or we are going to be shish kabob.” Linda said as she got up, trying to find her balance in the free-falling ship, so far it remained upright. It was rocking from side to side and front to back. She started moving the mountain of weapons toward the back of the ship. “There are some blankets, let’s at least wrap the bigger ones in them. COME ON!” 

Laura, Julie, and Larend got up staggering a few steps. “Lieutenant, get it together. We have an emergency. Get up now.” Larend ordered. Jarek nodded, shook off the worry and Jack cussing him out. He helped move the weapons.

Suddenly the Ariadne lurched slightly. “We’ve got you in a netting, but the ship is too heavy. We can slow you down, but not stop you. We’ll get you as close to land as we can.” Drakon was heard on Larend’s data pad.

Jarek picked up an armful of unsheathed daggers not caring if the blades cut his arms. He dumped them on a blanket that Laura and Julie had spread out. Linda was crawling, unable to stay upright. Larend and Jarek were balancing much easier on the shifting floor. They quickly tied a large portion of Lonin’s weapons in four blankets. “We have nothing to tie it to.” Laura yelled. The walls were now smooth.

“There’s nothing else we can do.” Larend managed walk to the doorway. He saw the netting and Teran’s flyer struggling to slow their decent. “It looks like Drakon is going to land us close to shore in the water. That’ll help reduce our injuries. Everyone, lie flat on your back on the floor. This will spread the point of impact across your body.” All of them got down on the floor and stretched out.

Suddenly the ship was spun around and it skipped on the water. The motion made the Ariadne spin. Laura and Linda went flying out of the open doorway and through the netting one right after the other. Larend’s body moved toward the door, but he was able to hold onto the door opening. Julie kicked the bundle of weapons away from her and cut her foot on one of the blades now poking through the blanket. Jarek was sliding up and down the bottom of the opposite wall where the table used to be.

The Ariadne ground to a halt and tipped up on the front end, as all three of them slid up the front wall where the controls used to be. Then the ship came splashing back down in about a meter of water, they slid back down the wall. Waves of water were entering the ship. A few moments later, they felt a jolt as the Ariadne was dragged closer to shore by the netting.

“Are you alright?” Larend asked Julie.

“My foot is cut, but I’ll live.” She groaned.

“Jarek?” Larend asked.

“I think I dislocated my shoulder. I’ll be fine.” His voice full of grief.

Drakon was at the doorway. “Where’s Linda and Laura?”

“They fell out.” Larend answered.

“We’re here.” Linda shouted back. They were swimming back to the shore slowly. Rhonda dove into the water to help. Drakon followed her. A moment later. Rhonda was helping Linda out of the water. Her arm looked broken. Drakon carried Laura to the beach, both legs were broken. She was coughing. Larend hopped out of the Ariadne and went to help.

“Larend, go get a scanner from Teran’s flyer.” Drakon directed. Larend nodded and ran to the flyer.

“Does anything else hurt?” He asked Laura who seemed to be having trouble breathing.

“My chest hurts and my head hurts.” She coughed, “I think Linda and I knocked our heads together…” She took a labored breath, “as we landed in the water.” She coughed.

“Linda, what about you?” Drakon set Laura down on the beach.

“My arm hurts, and my head hurts, but other than that, I’m okay.” Linda answered.

“Drakon to Marcus Ralgard.” Nothing. “Drakon Balazon to Marcus Ralgard.” Nothing. “Damn. Either his data pad isn’t working or there is something wrong. Teran’s flyer isn’t big enough to carry everyone across the ocean. We might be able to get to the town. Hopefully, Marcus can take us with the refugees, if they haven’t left already.”

“What about the debris?” Larend asked.

“Teran’s flyer has very strong shielding. If we find somewhere to park under the cover of trees, with that and the shielding we should be fine.” Drakon asked.

“LOOK!” Rhonda pointed. A large section of the mothership came down about a kilometer from the shoreline. Jarek had made it to the opening as he watched the chunk of the ship fall.

“There’s another piece falling further out. I think we did it.” Larend said.

“We need to move. There will be a tsunami here. The suppressors don’t go down this far.” Jarek winced in pain holding his arm.

“I’ll try and secure Lonin’s ship, so it won’t get taken out to sea.” Drakon said.

“How are you going to do that?” Larend asked.

“I’m going to drive a line into the cliff face. That should anchor it enough to keep it from going under. Rhonda get an anti-grav belt from the flyer and help get everyone aboard. We only have a few minutes.” Drakon picked up Laura and took her in the flyer and set her down on the floor. He then ran back out and set anchor lines to the netting still around the Ariadne. He fed the lines into the launcher and attached the other end of the lines to anchor spears. Jarek was the last one to get into the flyer. It was an extremely tight fit with the five of them sitting on the floor and Rhonda and Drakon seated at the controls. Drakon shut the doors and raised the flyer. He looked at Larend when they both heard the ship struggle to lift off. They slowly raised, Drakon fired the four anchor spears into the cliff face just as the water rushed out from the shoreline exposing the seabed.

Rhonda saw the water rush back in and the Ariadne bang against the cliff face. The anchor lines were holding with each wash of waves pressing the ship higher up the cliff face. “Jarek, the lines are holding.” He only nodded slightly. “Drakon follow the shore. I know where we are going.” She stated and pointed north.

“Sir, we haven’t found anything and our scans are negative.” Lieutenant Loutan Ammeran, the A night crew communications officer said to Rom. “The men are starting to convene back at the palace.”

“That would be fine. I want to check the river. Sometimes water masks the scans.” Rom stated.

“Ocane, Broch, and I will go with you.” Ugar Samton offered. He was the B night crew security officer, Ocane and Broch worked the A night crew. Ocane was a science officer and Broch was a security officer.

“Yes. Thank you for volunteering. Lieutenant Ammeran, meet up with Commander Lucor and Commander Kordam. Find out the status of the second battalion and message me.” Rom ordered.

“Yes, sir.” Loutan responded and took the rest of the squadron of twenty-five men back towards the palace.

The other three men followed Rom to the river. When they got to the river, a large area was burnt. Ashen bodies of Antarans littered the ground and in the shallow flowing water. A transport was still smoldering on the other side. “This is the first we’ve seen of the Antarans since we came into the forest.” Ocane stated.

“I don’t think they made it very far. You can still see the burnt carcasses that were exiting the transport.” Broch noticed.

“I’ll send this information to Maren, so they can get a clean up crew out here.” Ugar tapped on his data pad.

“Keep your eyes out for any Antarans that may have survived or any signs that any escaped.” Rom started. “Ugar, you and Broch go south, Ocane and I will go north. Notify us if you see anything and we’ll do the same.” Ugar and Broch nodded and went south.

“You think anything could have survived this?” Ocane asked.

“No, not really, but I want to make sure.” Rom said as he scanned for any life signs. They walked over the bodies of the charred Antarans looking for signs that any of them went up the banks of the river. Ocane scanned the far side, Rom scanned the side they were walking on. The only tracks that they could see were from the Gironian-Lonin creature walking the same direction they were going.

They walked about a kilometer when Rom’s data pad chimed, it was Broch, “We haven’t seen anything else going south. We are now at the edge of the park. The Kelosian military are scanning the park. Do you want us to go to the palace or come back to your location?”

“Go ahead and go back to the palace. The only thing we are seeing now is Lonin’s footprints as a Gironian.” Rom stated. “We haven’t seen any more Antarans and we are almost at the headspring of the river.”

“Yes, sir. Curning out.” Broch stated and the screen went black.

“I’m still not getting anything on the scans.” Ocane said. “Do you want to head back?”

“Let’s at least go to the head springs, it’s just around this next bend.” Rom said. Ocane nodded and continued to scan. The water here was shallow and was only about a meter and a half wide. They rounded the bend and Rom said, “Wait, there’s something in the water.”

“I don’t see anything.” Ocane looked.

“It’s under that bush.” Rom rushed. Ocane pulled out his sword. “You can replace that sword it’s not Antaran.” Rom got in the water and waded in the knee-deep water to the other side of the overhanging bush.

“I still don’t see anything.” Ocane looked again.

“Oh gods, it’s Lonin.” Rom’s voice rang in panic. He picked her up. She was completely naked. Her lips and part of her face was burnt. He carried her wet, cool body out of the water and laid her down on the mossy ground.

“I can’t get anything on the scanner.” Ocane said.

“Yeah, scanners can’t pick her up. I don’t know why.” Rom said as he checked her pulse.

“Is she alive?” Ocane asked.

“Her pulse is slow, but she is alive. We need to get her back to the palace. It’s closer than the medical center.” Rom answered.

“Should we call for a medical transport?” Ocane got out his data pad.

“Yes, send them to the other side of the river. There is a big enough clearing over there.” Rom picked up Lonin again and carried her across.

“Medical transport is on its way. Doctor Zondran is at the palace and he will be ready for her. She doesn’t look too good. Did they shoot her in the face?” Ocane observed.

Rom put her back down on the other side of the river, “I think the flames burnt her mouth.” Rom pulled her jaw down, careful not to put strain on the burnt flesh and shined his lightstick in the opening. “The whole inside of her mouth is burnt back to her throat and down her throat as far as I can see. Her breathing is shallow.”

“What’s that mark on her chest?” Ocane asked.

“I don’t know, but Jarek Johar has the same mark. I noticed when he was unconscious in the medbay after Paktra.” Rom answered.

A moment later the medical transport was landing. Two medtechs, that Rom didn’t recognize came out and placed Lonin on a portable anti-grav med bed. “We can give you both a lift back to the palace.” The pilot stated. Rom nodded and they entered the medical transport behind Lonin’s body. The pilot shut the doors and lifted off. The medtechs established an intravenous line and placed scanners on her body.

“I don’t know if the scanners will work.” Rom stated.

The medtech looked up at the monitor and shook his head, “Your right. I see her breathing, but the monitors say that she’s not even there.” He took the scanners back off her body. He pulled out a listening device and listened for a heartbeat. “Heartbeats slow, but steady. Eyes reactive and equal. Let’s get her covered with a heating blanket. Her body temperature is low. Do you have any idea how long she was in the water?”

“No, but judging by the wrinkles on her skin, I bet it was a while, maybe an hour.” Rom guessed. They covered Lonin and a few minutes later they were landing in the practice arena behind the palace.

Ocane hopped out, “I’m going to find Maren and Karn. I’ll let you know what’s going on.”

“Thanks, I’ll be in the infirmary with Lonin.” Rom stated. “Let me know if either of the commanders need me.” Rom helped the medtechs push Lonin’s medbed into the back door of the infirmary.

“Set her over here.” Doctor Bondra Zondran motioned to the medtechs. “Where did you find her?” He asked. Carrie was checking for any wounds.

“In the river. Her mouth and throat looked burnt.” Rom answered.

Doctor Zondran took a scope and Rom opened her mouth again. “Yes, her airway is burnt down into her lungs. Carrie get some pictures of her chest and neck, will you?”

Carrie set up the imager and internal pictures came up on the monitors. “Well at least the bottom of her lungs are functioning.” Rom looked at the images. “Wait, what is that?” he pointed to the base of her skull. “It can’t be, can it?”

“What is it?” Carrie asked.

“That’s a symhealer.” Doctor Zondran answered.