The Lost Aria (Earth Song Book 3) Read online

  “I agree,” Minu said and glanced towards the command room, making certain that Ivan wasn't eavesdropping. “We can't just kick his ass and go through...”

  “I don't see why not,” Aaron ventured, making fists with his hands. Minu enjoyed the way his arms flexed when he did that. Aaron had obviously continued his workout regime and he'd gone from just muscular to herculean proportions. She was surprised to realize how good it was to have him along.

  “I think I know a way out of this,” Cherise said and took out her communicator. While she worked on that, Aaron also got his out and made a call of his own.

  “What are you guys up to?” Minu asked suspiciously.

  “Just getting into the whole conspiracy thing,” Aaron chuckled, and then began talking quietly into his phone. After a minute he looked up and caught Cherise' eye. The dark skinned woman nodded at him and he turned back to Minu. “Let’s go.”

  Minu almost complained, then thought better of it. They were here on their own, risking their careers, to help her. The least she owed them was some unconditional trust. She went into the jump-off room and got Var’at’s attention. “Let’s roll,” she said. The Rasa glanced at each other then all six scurried after her.

  In the control room Ivan watched the Rasa suspiciously. He knew something was going on; he just had no idea what it was. The prim and proper Minu Alma was now far above him in rank through no fault of his own, and his hatred for her burned like a blue-white star. But if he made another misstep he'd probably spend the rest of his career as a cook’s assistant in the cafeteria. Still, his instincts often proved to be his strongest asset, with one glaringly disastrous exception years ago. With a sigh, he cast the die and picked up his communicator.

  Chapter 14

  January 5th, 522 AE

  Chosen Headquarters, Steven's Pass, Bellatrix

  Minu and the Rasa followed Aaron down the hall and up the stairs, his strides full of purpose. In a minute they were back in the science wing and Minu felt her pulse quicken. Sure enough, they entered some familiar labs and there was a whole group of technicians standing around looking at an incriminating empty spot on the floor. She and Aaron slipped by them and found their friends, Bjorn and Ted, standing next to a table, sipping tea, and watching their techs. Minu knew who Aaron had called now without a doubt.

  “So what's this all about?” Ted asked, smiling broadly when he saw Minu.

  “Your missing equipment,” Aaron said.

  “We figured some idiot just moved it after hours,” spoke up Bjorn.

  “I've been called worse,” Minu said, her face burning.

  “What?” Ted stuttered. “Why would you take those prototype guns? All you had to do was ask.”

  “I would have, if I had time.” They both looked even more confused. “Pip is dying, and I think I can save him.” And for the second time that hour, she explained what was happening.

  “We wondered what you were on about during the talk we had,” Bjorn spoke, nodding his head. Minu recalled the luncheon and her discussing just such a scenario, and instantly regretted not letting them in on her plans.

  “In my defense, I didn't really want to drag you into it at that time.”

  “He's my friend, and Bjorn's nephew,” Ted scolded, and Minu blushed again.

  “Well, that's that then,” Bjorn said and got up off his stool,” we'll be back in a few minutes.” He nodded to Ted and the two went through the rear of the lab into their private offices. Minu wanted desperately to know what they were going to do. Turn her in? Make a call to Jacob and put an end to her stupid plan? Instead they emerged in black field jumpsuits, packs on their shoulders and equipment belts buckled in place. Minu had never seen Ted in a Chosen uniform and it caught her a little off guard. The cluster of five silver stars on the sleeve clashed badly with his many years.

  “You can't be serious,” both Aaron and Minu said at the same time.

  “Deadly so,” Ted assured them in his dignified voice. Bjorn nodded as he fussed with his belt, his slight paunch making it difficult to latch. Ted was in perfect shape for his advanced age and had no such difficulty.

  “How long has it been since you were last in the field?” Aaron asked, pointing at Bjorn.

  “Twenty six years,” he admitted proudly, “but not for lack of trying!”

  “And have you even ever been off world to the frontier?” he asked of Ted.

  “Nope!” Ted admitted easily, “but I've read every log and manual there is and believe I am quite well versed in procedures.”

  Aaron looked at Minu incredulously and Var’at shook his head but Minu just sighed. What caught her attention the most was the two gleaming silver stars on Bjorn's cuff. He'd once been on the Chosen council, head of the science branch until politics dethroned him. It wasn't as crazy a plan on the surface as it might appear.

  “I don't think we have a choice,” Minu admitted.

  “We can leave them here!” Aaron snapped, more adamant that she ever remembered seeing him. “Minu, they're old enough to be grandparents, Ted's never been on a frontier mission, what can they offer us other than their brains?”

  “This,” Bjorn said and held up his midnight black sleeve with the two shiny silver stars, echoing Minu’s thoughts exactly.

  “And this,” Ted said, pulling a Portal Control Rod from his uniform leg pouch and holding it up.

  Minu laughed. “You can't argue with flawless logic.” Aaron scowled, realizing a lost cause when he saw one.

  When they got back downstairs, another two Chosen in tow, Minu found the jump-off room disturbingly empty. There was no sign at all of Ivan or any other Chosen. “Oh, that's just great,” she mumbled.

  “Is something wrong?” Ted asked, looking around the empty room.

  “I don’t know,” Minu whispered.

  “Okay,” Aaron said as his communicator beeped loudly and he nodded towards the huge bay doors just as they began to swing open. A slight gust of cool morning air wafted in as a pair of transports floated down to level with the entrance. Neither was the older surplus model delivered earlier that evening to the warehouse, and to her surprise both were piloted by Rasa. “Our ride is here.”

  “You sneaky son of a bitch.” Minu could see behind one of the pilots Cherise was standing gesturing for them to get aboard.

  “You did not think we would all fit in that one old flyer do you?” Var’at asked.

  As Minu and her friends clambered aboard, Ivan returned to the command room and his jaw dropped down. Where had the two transports come from? What about the ancient two star who was with the damned Alma girl? And he'd yet to get a call back from the duty officer in the bunker. On his board the Portal access display came alive, telling him that an unlocked PCR was programming the Portal for a destination. He tried to stop it, but he simply lacked the access to override the system. The Portal came alive with a shimmer and the first transport lined up with the door.

  The communicator beeped and he stabbed the activation button. “Chosen Malovich,” he said quickly.

  “What's going on?” the voice on the other end said. Ivan didn't have to be told it was the First among the Chosen, everyone in the service knew his voice.

  “Alma is here, she has a large team and two transports, they are about to go through the Portal!”

  “She has an unlocked control rod?”

  “No, an old male Chosen has one, and I can't override!”

  “Ted,” snarled the voice, “what the fuck is she doing?”

  “She has a team of Rasa with her!”

  “Transfer control to my tablet, immediately!”

  As Minu jumped through the hatch she turned and caught a clawed hand to help Var'at in.

  “I hope you did not steal these transports,” Minu admonished the reptilian.

  “No,” Cherise called out from the front, “I did.”

  “With our help,” Ted told her. Bjorn grinned hugely and nodded his head.

  “We're all going to jail,” Mi
nu moaned.

  Ted took out his control rod, and like most Chosen, unnecessarily pointed it towards the Portal while entering data. The Portal flashed to life and the transport moved into position. Just as they started to move forward the Portal swirled and deactivated. “Huh?” Ted said and took the rod back up again.

  “Won't respond?” Minu asked.

  “No, I can't make it do anything!”

  “Jacob,” Minu told them. “I was hoping Ivan wouldn't have the balls to make that phone call this early in the morning. I was wrong.”

  “So what do we do now?” Aaron asked.

  “Nothing, we're screwed. By the time we can get to another Portal he'll have warned those duty officers and they'll all be shut down.”

  “Not Fort Jovich,” Aaron suggested.

  “I won't do that to Gregg,” she insisted.

  “How long before they shut down the entire network?” Ted asked.

  Minu shrugged and thought. “Depends on how thorough they are. Jacob is sure to call the high use Portals first, probably finishing with Tranquility. Call it half an hour?”

  “Set course for Tranquility,” Ted told the driver.

  “Ted, there is no way this thing can go two thousand kilometers in thirty minutes!”

  “Not a normal transport,” he agreed, “but this isn't a normal transport. Better take a seat.”

  Inside there was the rest of a full squad of Rasa soldiers, bringing the total to ten. Even with all them enough seats remained for the new arrivals. As she sat down Minu noted that her supplies were loaded in the back along with quite a bit more things she didn't remember ordering. The craft spun around and began to climb. No sooner had it leveled off than the interior began to change. The roof descended and the walls widened out.

  “This is a Lancer!” Minu cried and clapped her hands. “I thought you'd only finished a few.”

  “Two, to be precise,” Bjorn told her, “these were just turned over to the Rangers. No one has had a chance to pick them up yet...” The second fighter paced them easily just to their side as powerful field generators came on, acceleration continued to build, and in moments they were shuttering through multiples of the sound barrier. “Trans-sonic is a gas,” the aged scientist cackled. Outside the front view port, the energy force field glowed blue-white as the craft rammed through the atmosphere at almost eight thousand kilometers per hour.

  The driver hissed in glee as the fighters tore through the early morning sky. “This is a fantastic craft!” she heard him say through her translator. Ten minutes after lifting into the sky they were in a stomach churning power dive towards the city of her birth, Tranquility, a transit time that would turn her souped up red aerocar hotrod green with envy. Slowing to less than the speed of sound, they did a slow circle of the sleepy town center.

  “If we're doing it this way we might not have any control of what we find when we get back,” she told them. “Have the second fighter loiter near the Temple Plaza, and set us down on the hospital emergency roof pad, the east wing.”

  “What's the plan?” Aaron asked.

  “We need to pick up a friend.”

  With less than ten minutes left in her proposed thirty minute deadline, Minu and Aaron burst through the doors back onto the roof within sight of the waiting transport. Between them they pushed a white capsule suspended on a portable hoverfield generator. Inside lay the body of their dear friend, held at the edge of death’s door by technology no one on the planet really understood. “I hope this works,” Aaron said as they effortlessly pushed the seemingly weightless capsule, “if it doesn't we're screwed.”

  “I don't care about myself,” she said grimly, “we owe it to him to try.”

  Rasa soldiers spilled out as they approached and the capsule was quickly manhandled aboard the ship. Almost as an afterthought Minu snatched up the hoverfield generator and tossed it in as well then climbed in behind it, the doors humming closed.

  The suspended animation capsule took up an inordinate amount of space and the once large interior was now quite cozy. Unable to quickly secure the load, two Rasa soldiers squatted next to it to be sure it didn't fly around as they climbed away from the roof. Minu took the co-pilots seat, Var'at just behind her and her other friends behind him. “A fine adventure,” he hissed in her ear and she shook her head. The Rasa never passed up an opportunity to do something new, even if it was not really legal.

  “Adventure, for sure. Hurry, we've only got about five minutes.”

  The craft raced the few kilometers to the center of town as Ted programmed the Portal from his PCR. Minu knew the officer in charge would be looking at his controls with a very confused look (hopefully) and likely picking up his communicator to get answers. The plan depended on him not being warned yet of what had transpired back at Steven's Pass. They had seconds at best.

  “Exterior access doors opening,” the driver confirmed and he brought them down to the deck. Minu got an excellent look at one of the city’s ubiquitous push cart vendors only a meter away as they slid along at street level. The back of the ancient Portal Temple, once home to all Chosen operations, was opening wide to reveal the Portal inside. She just got a glimpse of the duty officer standing behind the moliplas window, communicator to his ear, and a look of profound surprise on his face as the two transports shot past and through the Portal with only centimeters to spare.

  Part III

  In all our quest of greatness, like wanton boys, whose pastime is their care, we follow after bubbles, blown in the air.

  John Webster

  Chapter 1

  January 6th, 522 AE

  Planet Green Able Three, Galactic Frontier

  The two multi-role fighters rested on the ground a few meters from where Minu held conference with her new ad hoc team. The world where they'd stopped was two jumps after first leaving Bellatrix, to be sure no scouts tried to follow them. This planet was known only as Green Able Three, a nondescript world of rolling hills covered with vines and occasional brackish pools of water. The air was breathable, and the orange tinted sun gave them sufficient warmth so that didn't have to power the heaters in their field uniforms. The gravity was a little more than normal, but not enough to be uncomfortable.

  Everyone stood around listening to Minu describe the mission in detail and why they were risking their careers, and in the case of Var'at and his personnel, their freedom. She worried a little about the Rasa and their role in the rescue she'd planned. Pip still rested in the fighter, his suspension pod safely stowed, suffering from wounds inflicted by one of Var'at's own soldiers. She believed that this was the biggest reason her alien friend jumped at the opportunity when Aaron secretly called him a few hours ago.

  “So that's it in a nutshell,” she finished her spiel. Except for part of the Rasa contingent, which was on guard duty, all eyes were on her. Minu saw mostly interest, some excitement, and in the case of Ted, concern. She'd been over most of it with them before leaving, but it felt good to lay down all the details.

  “Hard decision you made,” he said with a nod.

  “I'm sure Pip would be grateful,” Bjorn added. Aaron nodded.

  “We do not really care what or why you are doing this,” Var'at told her, “I promised when you made us safe on your world that if you ever called, we would answer.”

  “And I thank you,” Minu said, “I just wanted you to have all the facts.”

  “Our species is not as unique as yours, so we have had a biological codex since we were clients. I cannot imagine how difficult it must be not being able to take advantage of all the Concordia technology. It is a noble quest.”

  “Well,” Bjorn rubbed his hands together, “where to?”

  “I've named the system 'Enigma',” she explained, careful not to give details on the private log from her father and its corroboration of details of that world’s existence. “The Squeen didn't provide any hard details, little more than the world’s location actually.”

  “Have we ever had scouts there?
” Aaron asked.

  Minu swallowed and took a breath before speaking. “Yes and no.” They all looked confused and she was forced to continue. “My father was there, once, but never reported it to the Chosen council.”

  “So you are following in his footsteps,” Ted laughed. It broke the tension Minu was feeling and she smiled. “We all knew he was doing a lot of things off the books. He never told anyone what he'd been up to, or why. It now seems he shared at least some secrets with you.” Minu nodded. “Will you share some of this with those who can use it best?”

  “When the time comes.”

  “And when will that be.”

  “You'll have to trust me to make that call.”

  Ted and Bjorn exchanged looks and for the first time Minu fully realized that she'd dragged two men many times her age halfway across the galaxy on a hunch. But after a moment they both nodded to her. “Okay,” Ted said simply. “What's our next step?”

  Minu smiled at him and picked up her tablet from where she'd sat it on a clump of vines. “Enigma is in a backwards area of the frontier and it won't be easy getting there.” She explained one detail that her father learned many years ago and passed on to her through his logs; that many Portals were dedicated to only one other destination and thus could not be called up from any other Portal.

  “So he confirmed the theory of local and long distance Portals!” Bjorn crowed, slapping his knee with his hand.

  “Yes he did,” Minu nodded. “And what’s more, some Portals are actually long distance, but still only dedicated to one or two destinations. So that is how this system of Enigma was kept a secret. At some point, an old Concordian species cut it off from the rest of the galaxy and left it hidden.”

  “Must be quite a treasure trove,” Aaron commented.