Part 17 (1/2)

”And maybe cause a nice earthquake under the feet of the people standing right next to it?”

”An earthquake that could also cause the entire pier to break off and dump your s.h.i.+p a hundred feet.”

”Are you being pessimistic or realistic?”

”Yes.”

”We'll try it anyway.”

Mica sighed. ”I'll get the remote.”

She jogged through the hatchway, pus.h.i.+ng past Beck.

”Good.” Alisa thumped her fist against her thigh. She was tempted to fly away from the landing pad now that the clamps had been withdrawn, but how would they get Leonidas...o...b..ard then? Besides, she worried about someone dithering with her mind while she had them in the air, especially if she flew around in a way designed to distract the Sta.r.s.eers.

”Captain,” Alejandro said, walking into view, Mica almost bouncing off him as she pa.s.sed. ”I've a.n.a.lyzed the sample.”

”And?”

”It does appear to be Sta.r.s.eer blood.”

Alisa scowled. She'd wanted to hear that it couldn't possibly be a match for Abelardus's blood. ”Leonidas said he didn't do it, that the blood was there when he got to that spot, and that the window was already broken.”

Alejandro only spread his arms, palms up.

”Is it possible the blood was synthesized in a medical facility? I know that can be done in hospitals, and the Sta.r.s.eers don't seem rustic and remote, despite the fact that they live in an ice palace at the north pole.”

”It is possible, but it would take more sophisticated equipment than I have here to tell the difference between synthesized blood and real blood.”

A boom came from somewhere outside, and the Nomad shuddered.

Alisa gripped the console for support. ”What was that?” She did not think Mica had found time to detonate her explosives yet. ”Leonidas?”

He had disappeared from view again, and more smoke than before clouded the landing pad between the Sta.r.s.eers and the temple. Two of the warriors broke ranks and ran toward the open door. Leonidas leaned out to fire at them. Orange blazer bolts lit the smoky air, zipping toward their robed chests.

Since they did not wear armor, Alisa thought they were dead, but the bolts bounced off invisible s.h.i.+elds in front of them. A second series of bolts raced toward them, and one man spun his staff, knocking them out of the air as if that weapon were made of the strongest metal rather than the wood it appeared to be. Leonidas kept firing, forcing them to defend themselves. He also rolled out another smoke canister.

Realizing that the skirmish had nothing to do with the boom she had heard, Alisa tore her gaze from Leonidas and the Sta.r.s.eers and checked the sensors. She cursed at what was coming into view. The mists were still making it all but impossible for her sensors to detect what lay beyond, but they could detect things that were close without much trouble, especially in this clear area around the temple. Three ma.s.sive Alliance wars.h.i.+ps were closing in on the Sta.r.s.eer compound.

Even as she watched, they fired e-cannons and torpedoes. Orange and yellow bursts of energy blazed through the mists, streaking toward the temple. Alisa winced, expecting them to strike, to blow the icy walls into pieces. But the attacks halted before reaching the structure, much as Leonidas's blazer bolts had been deflected by invisible s.h.i.+elds that the Sta.r.s.eers had raised.

”Are they defending this place with their minds?” Alisa wondered.

”Might be energy s.h.i.+elds around the temple, Captain,” Beck said.

She didn't look back at him. She was still peeved that he had refused to go out and help Leonidas.

More s.h.i.+vers ran through the s.h.i.+p, emanating up from the pier below. This time, it was the artillery weapons stationed on the tower walls. The Sta.r.s.eers were firing at the descending wars.h.i.+ps, who were firing back. Small one-man Strikers and Cobras shot out of the hangar bay in the rear of one of the Alliance s.h.i.+ps. It was about to be a full-blown battle out there. And the Nomad was in the middle of all of it.

Alisa adjusted the sensors. Yes, they were reading a lot more energy around the temple than had been there previously. ”I think you're right about the s.h.i.+elds, Beck. The question is what do we do about it?”

”Hope the Sta.r.s.eers win?”

Alisa had no idea if they could. The Alliance had brought in a lot of firepower. Even as she watched, another wars.h.i.+p disgorged its fighter unit, and another two-dozen Strikers streaked into the fray. Alisa, who had flown in just such a squadron, was intimately familiar with their tactics and how effective they could be.

The comm lit up again.

Alisa smacked it. ”I'm sorry. I don't have the answers you want. I don't know anything.”

”An alarming admission from a s.h.i.+p's captain,” a male voice said.

Alisa did not recognize it. Had another Sta.r.s.eer taken over for Naidoo? She took a closer look at the comm panel and realized one of the wars.h.i.+ps had hailed her.

”I'm a special captain,” she said. ”Who is this?”

”Commander Farrow of the Star Nautilus.”

Alisa sank down into the pilot's seat. She had never met the man, but she had heard of the commander and the s.h.i.+p.

Tremors coursed through the Nomad as more weapons fired, the temple aiming at the wars.h.i.+ps swooping back and forth in the sky overhead. How had they found this place through the mists? And how were they navigating their craft so easily now?

No, not easily, she realized, glancing toward her other camera displays. One of the Strikers was going down, cras.h.i.+ng into the ice. Alisa did not think it had been struck, not by a physical weapon. Smoke spiraled up from the mangled craft. But how many could the Sta.r.s.eers drop like that before their s.h.i.+elds went down? The Alliance had brought plenty of s.h.i.+ps to play. It could survive a few casualties.

”Is there a reason you're contacting me, Commander?” Alisa asked as she fiddled with the sensors, trying to learn more about the fleet.

”Commander Fujimoto of the Final Impact pointed out that it would be polite to thank you and give you a chance to escape before we destroy the Sta.r.s.eer compound.”

”Final Impact?” Alisa mouthed. That had been the s.h.i.+p in dock at Arkadius Gamma at the same time as the Nomad had been there. It was Khazan's s.h.i.+p. ”Why do I have a feeling that's not a coincidence?” she muttered.

”What was that, Captain?”

”I was wondering why you're thanking me,” she said.

”You're the reason we were able to find this place. The Arkadians have suspected it was here all along, and they've been blaming the Sta.r.s.eer presence for many of the recent natural disasters. They'll be pleased with the Alliance, and quit blaming us for their problems, when the Sta.r.s.eers on Arkadius are no more.”

”You're attacking them because of public gossip?”

”We're attacking them because of crimes they've been committing against normal, good human beings for centuries,” Farrow said coolly. ”This is your last warning. Leave now or you'll be destroyed along with the temple.”

Leave? How were they supposed to leave with an energy s.h.i.+eld surrounding the temple? The very thing that was keeping the enemy fire out would keep the Nomad in.

Alisa looked toward the doorway of the temple again, hoping Leonidas was on the verge of pus.h.i.+ng through and joining them. She would gladly open the hatch for him. More smoke than ever covered the landing pad, making it hard to even see the door. Some of the Sta.r.s.eers had gone closer while others still blocked the way to the Nomad. Blazer fire flashed somewhere behind the smoke-filled doorway. Was he fighting inside now?

She clenched her fist, tempted to grab one of Beck's weapons and run out to help, but she could not refute his logic, that one of the Sta.r.s.eers could simply flick her off the pier with a thought.

Another volley of e-cannon fire slammed into the temple's s.h.i.+elds. The warriors out on the pier looked toward the sky, and several spoke into comms, or maybe they were yelling to each other.