The helio-ion sign flickered and shed soft light on the dirty street. The blast doors were all down at this time of night and the dual moons of Tor reflected off puddles of unknown liquid, offering just enough light for Kalen to see as he hurtled down the street. Gripping the device as he ran, his breath came in gasps and he could hear his heart pounding.
His grip tightening as he slipped and almost fell, the sound of a hover in the haze somewhere behind him made him put on more speed. Just a few more blocks and he’d be home free. Something crackled close to his ear. He smelled the bitter ions as they impacted with the air around him. He was being shot at.
He chanced a look and wished he’d never turned his head. The Hover was closing, blasters bright green from firing, and a hum could be heard as they were powering back up for the next volley.
Kalen ducked and turned a corner, darting into a small alley so dark he couldn’t see a damn thing. Luckily he’d been there before and pushed a big plexi-bin to the side and knelt hitting the keypad fast. With a soft whoosh a small panel slid open and he squirmed in.
Inside he hit the soft glowing button and the panel closed and disappeared. Above, the plexi-bin moved back in place and the alley was again dark and empty.
Kalen looked at the device and slid out a gar crystal from a recess in his cubby. He inserted the crystal into the lower part of the device and quickly entered the coordinates. He felt an odd chill run through his body and a tingling in his head. His ears rang and all went black.
*
Soft light and focus.
His one room flat was its usual mess of tech trash and synth food packages lying in little piles. He stepped over to his workbench and pushed some junk into the small round plexi-bin and set down the device with a smile. He’d made it.
The Govies had transporters and they controlled them more than anything else in the galaxy. A brilliant Gurd named Rentox developed the transporter eight years ago when the Republic was still free. The Govs were quick to snatch it and make it non-public. “Just think,” they said. “A criminal with this tech, never. Not to mention what the Reb’s would do with it!” So they squashed Rentox and wiped the patent from history. Very few, except for those in the scientific community even knew the transporter existed. Many wondered though, because the Patrollers could get from A to B just too damned fast.
Now the tables had turned.
**On another planet a few parsecs away, Jewel paced nervously in her small flat overlooking the busy weigh-station of Kelker. Leaning on the sill she looked out into the gritty haze deep in thought. Jewel stared right through the hovers as they zipped in all directions transporting diverse payloads. She heard a soft tone and turned fast. Running to her vid-com, she secretly prayed for good news.
The lean handsome features of Mairi appeared on the hub. A big beaming smile plastered on his face.
“We’ve got it Jewel, and it’s functional.” “Yes,” she screamed and felt the warm glow of success envelop her. She moved her hand quickly signing off. The vid-com was no place for the conversation she needed to have with Mairi.
Exiting her flat, the door closed behind her with a soft hiss. Her hover was in the thirty-two segment, she couldn’t afford direct parking. The state shuttle was covered with phero-graffiti that changed color and message as it approached. She boarded and ignored the tired passengers and let it carry her away to thirty-two.
*
The eightieth floor of the Republic’s headquarters on planet Tor was brightly lit and heavily populated with rows of cubicles and vid-coms. The floor was a-buzz with activity and there was an obvious tenor of urgency.
In a large corner office with subdued private separators Consul Meer was furious. “You have got to be joking,” he said, almost screaming. “Transporters don’t go missing - never ever go missing.” The shaken cleric said nothing. He’d said it all already and was wishfully looking toward the exit of Consul Meer’s office. It beckoned him as if was the gateway to heaven its self.
“Get out, just, get OUT,” barked Meer and stepped behind his desk hearing the cleric exhale loudly and quietly disappear. Taking a moment to recover his composure, Meer activated his vid-com and called the Commander.
*
Cilian needed to go deep fast. He opened a call on his encrypted vid-com with three of his rebel contacts. The hub fuzzed and broke in to three separate images. One was Kyala, a beautiful Gurd with a serious face. She looked tired, small lines of worry showing on her soft purple skin. She’d obviously missed some sleep.
The second hub bristled to life and came into focus, Kendal. His rugged face looked tired too. The plan and its activation had obviously taken its toll on him. The lack of sleep and stress showed in the thick creases on his forehead. Kendal had a sloppy smile now and was anxious to get on with the call.
The third was Giwan, and he just looked furry and angry as usual, his huge fangs in a permanent predatory grin. He growled on the com and Cilian started to speak.
*
The purifiers hissed softly as Jewel entered the bunker like living towers of the Kelker management. Mairi was a Senior Shift Leader and enjoyed the living quarters attached to his status. The mover shot her up so fast she felt a slight vertigo as she looked out over the weigh station. Mairi lived on ninety-five and the mover stopped with a ping and a jerk. The dura-plast floor shined and the soft lighting was perfect, coming from nowhere. Jewel walked up to the portal and hit the com.
Mairi showed Jewel to a small office, it was neat and nicely decorated. As they entered the scanner started a full three-wave scan that ended with a soft digital female, “clear.” The voice was sexy and sounded vaguely familiar. Jewel gave Mairi a glare, expressing her frustration with his distrust. “Jewel, we’re where we are because we’re careful. Who knows, someone could have attached a transmitter or worse to you on the shuttle? Come, sit down, and let’s go over the details.” Mairi hit a pad on his desk and an opaque privacy door shut with a soft sound.
Jewel sat down in the soft chair and smiled as it immediately adapted to her weight and body temp, comfort she wasn’t used to. Mairi began to talk and hit his leadership cadence at the third word. He had a low commanding voice that Jewel could listen to for hours.
“As you know, we started this project at the university on Tor. We recruited a couple of academics, but we all agreed the key players would have to be ex-Mil and or ex-Govie toughs. This is where Kalen came in. He’s ex-special forces, a commander, and a smart and able man. He’s our link. He took over where you left off and organized the academics and Gurds into a movement. He planned and trained the team into a platoon-like force. Jewel, what you did to raise the funds was brilliant, but Kalen, he was able to get a group of diverse players and turn them into a team. He did this on a short budget and with surprising speed. ” Mairi had begun to pace, two steps, stop and turn and two more steps.
“Kalen’s team, together with your funds, and our oversight organized the perfect operation. The tactical parts of this operation were so important that Kalen left a ‘black-out clause’ on two critical steps. These steps, we all agreed at his insistence, had to be done by Kalen and Kalen alone.”
Mairi stopped pacing, and with a severe look explained further.
“We received the signal this morning. We’ll begin to transport the key players for the pickup. Let’s just hope Kalen holds up his end of the bargain.”
-
