Nexus

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks so much, Suzie, for your review and the positive feedback. Seeing as you're the only one that reviewed this story, I figure I should dedicate this installment, the remainder of Nexus' Chapter One, to you.

Nexus
Chapter One: Escape from Home
Part Two


Ariano tilted his seat back and kicked his feet up onto the edge of the control panel. Once he was comfortable, he slipped a test tube from the left cargo pocket of his pants. He uncorked the tube and upturned it onto his palm, patting the open end against his hand until the end of a cigar poked out of the tube. He gripped the end with his teeth, unsheathed the remainder of the cigar and closed the tube, putting it back in his pocket.

He snapped his fingers in front of the cigar, chortling to himself when he managed to spark the end on the third try with the flint pads on the fingertips of his gloves. As the tip of the cigar glowed a bright red, he tilted his head back and took a long drag of the cigar, feeling his head begin to swim gently. He exhaled, a thick purple cloud hovering inches above his face, and he smiled and sighed contentedly. He closed his eyes and began to hum off-key to himself. His light humming soon turned to a powerful tenor, as if trying to imitate a symphony. He waved his hands gently in the air, pretending to be the conductor in his imaginary orchestra.

The cockpit doors opened without warning, but Ariano didn’t pay attention to the doors, or to the quick steps advancing towards him. He did pay attention when the newcomer slapped him upside the head.

“Hey, the loading’ll be ready in a couple of hours, provided there’re no more hang-ups from that Jerraki trader,” the newcomer said. He frowned and sniffed the air. “Jeezus, Ariano, is that Melody?”

Ariano nodded slowly as he blew another cloud of purple smoke into the air above and hummed the last notes of the song playing in his head as he sobered up. “The one and only, and the real stuff from Avaani itself, Tavo.” He chuckled and took another drag of the cigar, beginning to hum another tune.

Avaani Waterherb, or Melody as it was known in less formal circles, was a rare, if not the rarest, plant in the quadrant, found and grown in only thirteen planets, all inhabited by the Avaani. Known for its many medicinal, often rejuvenating, properties, as well as the euphoric, and oftentimes musical, high Humans and many other races received when smoking it, Melody was in extremely high demand and was often the cause of many a conflict against the Avaani and their outgoing merchants. The Universal Council, the galaxy’s ruling body, immediately ordered strict regulation of the plant, a complete ban on some of the less than desirable worlds, and kept very close tabs on every ounce of Waterherb leaving Avaaniite territory. Since then, Melody, and many other less-than-healthy clones, have made appearances throughout regular merchant channels as well as the black market.

“Man, how did you manage to get an entire cigar’s worth of Waterherb out of Avaani space without getting yourself shot?”

Ariano gave his younger brother a wide smile. “I made a few trade agreements with some rather…” He thought for a moment for the right word. “…Influential…Avaaniite officials…”

Tavo frowned. “There’s something else, Ariano. You’re never this underhanded.”

The older brother laughed aloud. “Relax, Tavo, everyone’s legit. I spoke to several High Officials in the Universal Council, who gave me the files on every Avaaniite official I talked to.”

Tavo narrowed his eyes. “There’s something else…”

Ariano took a deep drag of the cigar, letting its sweet taste linger in his mouth as his expression turned slightly serious. He closed his eyes and blew out a purple cloud with a sigh. “I’m engaged, Tavo. I made a promise to marry the Empress’ daughter when we returned to Avaani.”

Tavo shot to his feet. “You’re what?”

Ariano put his hands behind his head and relaxed in his chair. “You heard me,” he said with a snort. “I’m engaged to the future Empress of Avaani.”

“Ariano, need I remind you that you’re Human and she looks like part humanoid, part octopus?” Tavo frowned and adjusted his glasses. “How will that even work?”

Ariano stared at his brother for a moment and opened his mouth to explain when a red light blinked to life and buzzed angrily for attention.

“…Ri…O…” A female voice called desperately through the deafening crash of static. “…Rissa Col…Respond plea…”

Cigar clamped tightly between his teeth, Ariano straightened up in his chair and flicked a switch on the control panel. He knew that voice anywhere. “Karissa, this is Ariano Kraus. What’s wrong? Your transmission should be crystal.” He glanced at his brother. “Try to zero in on their frequency. They’re not using the proper channels."

“Ariano,” Karissa’s voice gradually rose over the static as Tavo fiddled with some controls. “Whatever it is you’re up to, drop it. Home’s been attacked and Edwyn needs medical attention.”

“What?” The purple haze hovering about Ariano was fast fading with every distressed word he heard.

“Edwyn’s been shot, dammit!”

“How? What happened?”

“I told you, Home’s been attacked,” Karissa repeated. “We managed to get into the Communications Room, but I have a feeling that we’re going to get found out sooner or later.”

“All right, baby, just try to hang tight,” Ariano said. “Do you have a plan on getting out? We could try to rendezvous somewhere.”

Ariano heard a faint male voice as her end was covered, and from Karissa’s muffled voice, she didn’t like the plan Edwyn had in mind.

“Edwyn wants to try to get to the eastern docks and steal their ship. He wanted me to tell you it’s an Espandon-class scout ship that he’ll gladly let you keep if you get us off-planet.”

Ariano’s eyes widened. “An Espandon?” He looked to Tavo briefly. “Give us half an hour. We’ll be there with guns blazing and more gauze than you can imagine.”

“Understood,” Karissa said. Her voice took on a gentle yet terrified tone. “Hurry, Ariano. I don’t think Edywn can last too long. He got punched through with a laser carbine and he’s still bleeding. Edwyn said we might have ten to fifteen assassins on our tails on top of that.”

Tavo frowned. “Punched through? And he’s still kicking?”

Ariano waved him off and switched chairs with his little brother. “Worry about Edwyn when we get him, Karissa, and that gold mine with SonicWarp Mark Sixteen afterburners.”


* * * * *


Karissa flopped down on the chair next to Edwyn’s, running one hand through her hair and cradling a laser carbine with the other. She sighed. “Well, that’s that. Now we’ve got to get to the eastern docks.”

“It’s no problem,” Edwyn said with a weak smile. His face was pale, and his breathing was slightly ragged. Blood still trailed from his wound, and Karissa was amazed he hadn’t even begun to feel faint. “I’m starting to feel slightly pissed at getting shot, and I’d like to give payback.”

“Edwyn, you need to take it easy…”

“Karissa, you have to stop worrying,” Edwyn interrupted her. “There’s no way in hell you can take on a platoon of those guys. They’re highly trained soldiers. We managed to get the drop on them earlier because of me.”

“And you nursing a wound while fighting doesn’t really help much,” she countered.

“It’s plenty,” Edwyn said. “If you recall, they’re after me, though I don’t know why. They want me wounded enough to submit, not outright dead.”

“How do you know that?”

Edwyn smiled. “I’m just assuming.”

She shook her head. “Okay, forget about that. How do you expect us to get near their ship when there are between ten to fifteen of them…”

He suddenly leaned over and put his fingertips to her mouth. “Shh. Listen.”

Karissa looked around. She never realized how silent the base seemed. She strained to hear what it was that Edwyn somehow heard, but she didn’t have to strain for long.

A metallic clunking noise resounded just outside the main doors to the Communications Room, followed immediately by the sound of shuffling overhead.

“Shit,” Edwyn whispered just barely above silence. “They know we’re here.”

Karissa stood and pointed her weapon at the doors and at the open section of the ducts. Three more metallic clunks at the doors forced her to look in that direction, and immediately Edwyn’s face went paler.

“Karissa, no!”

With a sonic boom, the doors blew off, the locked barrier to the Communications Room barreling towards her at dizzying speeds. Her face drained of color as she saw the metal doors flying towards her, howling as it advanced towards her like a banshee.

She was thrown off to the side suddenly, and she found herself sitting in the corner of the room beside the independent emergency generator, Edwyn’s body draped over her. He smiled weakly then did a double take. He threw his head to one side and coughed violently, ribbons of blood spattering the generator and floor right beside her.

“Edwyn…”

He shook his head. “Shh.”

“Well, this fox hunt has gone on long enough,” a sharp voice said as slow footfalls advanced on them. “You managed to down eight of our men, the sergeant included, but a dozen men is more than enough to take you down.”

“A dozen men?” Edwyn asked with a laugh. “I’m surprised you need a dozen men to take down a kid like me.”

The sharp voice laughed, followed immediately by the clicking of a weapon being brought to bear. “Trying to appeal to my pride won’t help you, boy. I don’t know why our superior wanted you alive. We should have just shot you down when we had the chance.”

“You should have shot me down the moment you blew the doors off,” Edwyn said as he dove to one side, Karissa already draining half the battery on her weapon by firing blindly in front of her. The lead soldier, the one he assumed had the sharp voice, dodged quickly to one side, while three of the soldiers behind him fell to the surprise assault.

Karissa realized that she was a target as soon as she fired, and she rolled to her left. The move proved to be a lifesaver as lasers scorched and melted the walls where her head and chest were not two seconds earlier.

Edwyn leaned against the wall, cradling his wound with one hand, and firing his laser rifle with the other, dropping two soldiers dead and wounding two more.

“Kill them both!” the lead soldier ordered.

Edwyn paled, and realized he didn’t see where Karissa was hiding. A hail of laser fire barely missed his face as he dodged, and he rolled again to his right, snapping off two quick shots and hitting the legs of another soldier.

Sparks flew in his vision as he felt something swift and heavy connect with his cheek. He fought unconsciousness, but his body was slow to follow as he slumped against the wall.

“A valiant effort,” the lead soldier said, holding the barrel of his laser rifle like a club. “But ultimately futile.”

Edwyn smiled evilly. “Not quite.” He looked past the soldier looming over him. “Karissa, duck and cover!” He saw a lithe form duck beneath the main communications console, and he pointed his rifle towards the corner where he and Karissa dodged the doors. Draining his rifle of its energy, he fired mercilessly at the emergency generator. All eyes turned to where he fired before the entire room went white.


* * * * *


The Communications Room was in shambles. The smell of ozone and seared flesh flooded Karissa’s nostrils as she opened her eyes and crawled out from underneath the main communications console. The walls were scorched from the explosion. She looked around her and saw charred, unrecognizable piles of what used to be soldiers scattered about the room.

“Edwyn?” she called out softly.

She heard someone groaning, and she whirled around, the laser carbine’s barrel following her gaze. A coal-black mass quite literally splattered against the wall fell away, and Edwyn unsteadily got to his feet.

He smiled. “Good to see you’re…” He stumbled and fell. “…You’re okay.”

Karissa ran and caught him.

“Edwyn!” She sat him down against the wall and propped him up, gently patting his cheeks. “Come on, Edwyn, stay with me.”

He stirred slightly and opened his eyes.

“Karissa…”

“Are you okay?” She looked down at his blood-soaked hand covering his wound. “Has it at least stopped bleeding?”

He smiled. “I don’t think I’ll make it.”

“Come on, Edwyn. Ariano and Tavo should be here soon. Just hold out for a little longer, and we’ll have you patched up in no time.” She helped him up. “Let’s get the main power back on. Maybe we’ll be able to get in touch with Ariano after that.”

He smiled. “Sounds like an idea.”

She put his arm around her shoulders and helped him up. They managed to hobble out of the Communications Room.

“That was dangerous, you know,” she said carefully. “You could have incinerated the entire south wing.”

He nodded. “Yeah, but I didn’t.” He looked at her. “What else was I supposed to do? That guy hit me in the face with the butt of his rifle, and I didn’t trust myself to move. One of those guys was in front of me, so I figured he’d make an okay shield.”

She stared at him wide-eyed.

“What? It was the best choice we could make under the circumstances.”

She sighed and nodded. “No. You did what you had to do. I just wonder how you can think so quickly and so clearly with so many people bearing down on you like that.”

He shrugged and winced as pain stabbed at him from his wound. “Some people can, some can’t, I guess.”

The sound of rushed footfalls echoed around them.

“Oh, fuck,” Karissa cursed.

Edwyn closed his eyes resignedly. “Great.” He armed his rifle, glancing quickly at the battery. “I’m dry as a bone.” He tossed it aside with a loud clatter and unsheathed his laser pistol. “It’s not much, but if I’m going down, I’m going to take down whoever it is with me.” He suddenly stiffened and fell to his knees, Karissa straining to keep him up.

“Edwyn…”

“Karissa!” The voice struck her numb, and she looked as Ariano and Tavo rounded the corner, the older brother cradling two laser pistols and the younger with a laser rifle. “Jeezus, Karissa, let me give you a hand there.” Ariano wrapped Edwyn’s other arm around his shoulders. “How’re you holding up, Ed?”

Edwyn groaned as he shook his head. “Ariano…” His head fell forward as he drifted into unconsciousness.

“He’s lost too much blood,” Karissa interrupted. “He hasn’t stopped bleeding since he got shot.”

Tavo did a double take. “How long ago was that?”

Karissa shrugged. “I don’t know. I lost track of time.”

Ariano cut them off. “Tavo, you and Karissa get on the ship and get her back to the Jerraki trader. Tell him we’ll deliver his cargo for express at no charge provided he can get everything loaded in half an hour.”

Tavo frowned. “What about you?”

The older brother looked at Edwyn’s prone body with a grim smile. “I hate to sound like a heartless bastard, but he promised me an Espandon-class scout ship if we got him out safely. Being a merchant, and soon a really powerful one, I like to make sure my customers hold up their end of the bargain.”

=[ End of Chapter One: Escape From Home ]=

A/N: Again, Suzie a.k.a. born_to_do_it, thanks for your support. For you and anyone else reading, don't forget to leave a review, please.