Starliner: Freedom

Station

He had already laid out the weapons in a neat row. Next to them a set of armor, one for each person on the raiding team. The Tri walked over, each carrying a pack. They placed the packs next to the armor and ran to get two more. The Tri that didn't go for more packs, the boy, looked up at Marnok.

"We almost ready." He spoke quietly, smiling.

"Yes we are. Good work." Marnok returned the smile. The boy Tri walked quickly over to his sisters. Marnok turned back to what he was doing. Just a little … more … there! Picking up his creation, Marnok turned the small device over in his hand.

"What's that?" Tiy-sola asked, looking at the device in his hand.

"This? Why this is a flasher." He handed the thing over to her. "It will create a really big flash of light. If you don't know its coming, you could get blinded."

"How many do you have?"

"That one makes four. I needed to take apart one rifle for each flasher I made." His smile faded a bit. "I didn't think we would need all those blaster rifles, but these little things could come in handy."

"These are great." Tiy-sola said with a smile. "I think that they will come in handy." Marnok gave a weak smile.

"Which is mine?" She asked as she watched the Tri helping each other don the armor. Marnok brought her over to a pile of armor and belt. The belt had both blaster and blade. A blaster rifle lay next to the armor. Thanking him, she picked up the belt and started to put it on. Marnok walked over to his own set and did the same. The room quickly filled as the rest of the raiding party slowly filtered in. Fay-ru helped Marnok put on his pack. Then they were ready. Waiting in the pale lighting, no one said a word. A low hum from the engines, a slight hiss emanated out of the air cleaner and the rattling of deck plates were the only sounds. The creak of armor, the shuffling of feet, sent an unnatural noise echoing through the room. Tension was so thick it was palatable. Time crawled by. Then suddenly the room jarred sideways. The clank and bang of the hatch as it secured itself to the station. Popping the hatch, the little group was bathed in air from the station. It was a lot cleaner. The smell of old metal and rust was not present. Looking at the others, Tiy-sola gave a quick nod. She jumped through the hatch. Fay-ru was on her heels. The rest soon followed. His first look at the station, Marnok glanced quickly over everything. Clean, gray walls lined the corridor. Stark, bright light shone from the ceiling. The air had the odor of medical cleaner mixed with sterilizer. This place is too clean. No one could live like this. This place smells like the medical center. He hurriedly caught up to the others as they went around a corner. They went down one corridor, turning onto the next. Left, right, left and left again. Tiy-sola and Fay-ru walked in front, Ko'lar right behind them giving directions. The gray walls just kept going on and on. They passed many doors, but still they plunged on. Was that two rights and then a left … or three rights? Marnok was quite lost, so he just followed the others. Ko'lar had them stop at the end of one corridor. The word 'Infirmary' was engraved into the wall. There was an arrow pointing to the left. Below the arrow was another word, 'Supplies.' Another arrow pointed to the right.

"Okay, I think we need to split up." Ko'lar announced. "I think Linro, Fay-ru, Marnok and I go to the infirmary. The rest of you go to supplies." She glared at Tiy-sola as she said this.

"Good plan." Tiy-sola admitted.

"Now why do you have to always come up … with …" Ko'lar stumbled to a stop. "What did you say?"

"I said 'Good plan.' And I meant it."

"Oh. Well … okay then." Ko'lar looked puzzled. "Let's get going then."

"Let's." With that, the group went two different directions. Following the arrows, they were at the infirmary in moments. The double doors opened onto an appalling sight. The walls were caked in blood. The bodies were strewn about as if tossed there by some sort of giant. Ko'lar gasped and looked away. Linro and Fay-ru walked cautiously into the room. Marnok slowly followed them in. Not saying a word, Linro picked up a few bottles and placed them into his pack. He checked on each body he passed, but could find no life in any of them. He motioned to Marnok to go along with him into the storage space. They quickly filled their packs with bottles and instruments. Entering the main room, Linro pointed at a large piece of equipment. Marnok heaved it up, and with a little help from the other two, strapped it to his pack. The little man hunched over, maneuvering the weight of the thing around until he was comfortable with the feel of it on his back. Linro stuffed a few big jars into his pack and nodded to Fay-ru. They walked out into the hall. Ko'lar was sitting on the floor. Her face was paler then it use to be. She almost was the same shade of gray as the walls. Breathing slowly, she looked up at the others.

"I … it was … I don't …" She stammered. Linro bent down to look her in the eyes.

"You wouldn't be right, up here I mean," he tapped his head, "if you didn't feel the way you do when you see something like that."

"But you went in … and you didn't … like me."

"Yes, we do feel the same way you do. It's just that we know what we have to do. There are a lot of people on the ship that need this stuff. There's nothing we can do for those people in there." He let his words hang in the air. After a little while Ko'lar got up looking a bit better. Fay-ru led them back the way they came. Marnok noticed that Linro whispered a few words and kissed a pendent he wore before he turned to follow them. As they neared the place where they had split up, the sound of blaster fire could be heard. A quick look at each other and then they ran down the corridor that the other group had taken. Marnok, with his load, fell behind the others. The sound of battle grew louder. Rounding the corner, he came upon the fight. Tiy-sola was firing from a door halfway down the corridor. Fay-ru was crouched in a nearby archway. Between them there was a group of soldiers. The soldiers had Tiy-sola and her group pinned down. Ducking back around the corner, Marnok quickly reached into a pocket. He pulled out a small device. Glancing back down the hall, he took a breath.

"Flasher!" He yelled as he depressed the button on the device. Whipping it around the corner, he tossed it into the group of soldiers. Even though he covered his eyes, the flash was so bright that he could see his fingers through his eyelids. Blinking a few times, he staggered into the hall. Fuzzy shapes slowly resolved into soldiers. Blinded by the light, the soldiers were stumbling around in a daze. Tiy-sola led the charge across the battlefield. The two groups merged, and with spots still in their eyes, they made their way down the corridor to the hanger bay. The angry shouts from the soldiers echoed off the walls. Soon the voices were far behind them. Rounding one corner, at a dead run, they barely slowed when they hit the stairs. Bounding two or three steps at a time, the group ran on. The hanger bay quickly appeared in front of them. They were through the doors and before they knew it, they were in the midst of a group of soldiers. The soldiers looked at the students in shock. Unprepared for the meeting, neither group moved. Marnok, coming through the doors last, realized whom they had run into. He lowered his shoulder, ramming the large metal instrument strapped to his back into the nearest soldier. The man was taken completely off his feet. Marnok continued on. The next soldier was tossed aside. The third was thrown into a forth. By this time the rest of the soldiers as well as the students recognized the other. Fay-ru was first to fire her blaster rifle. Then chaos erupted. Marnok could only ram, the weight on his back preventing him from fighting any other way. The Tri had teamed up to take out one soldier. Tiy-sola was going blade-to-blade with two soldiers, their rifles lay scattered on the floor. Ramming into another soldier, Marnok saw two more advancing upon Ko'lar. Holding her blaster unsteadily, Ko'lar back away from the men. Marnok ran as fast as the weight would allow him. I'm not going to get to her in time. Seeing the men taking aim at the frighten girl, Marnok ran harder. Suddenly, Ko'lar fired her blaster. She fired not at the men but at the lighting above them. A quick flash of light flared brightly before washing the corner in shadows. Glass rained down on the men as they fired. They hit air and nothing else. What the … where's Ko'lar? Marnok had reached the men and smashed full speed into the first. The man clung to the equipment on Marnok's back. Not stopping, he went on to hit the second, throwing both soldiers to the floor. From his place on the ground, one of the soldiers turned to fire at the little fellow when a burst of blaster blots rained out of the now darken corner. As the man laid smoking on the floor, Ko'lar stepped out of the shadows. Her night-black skin had hidden her in the dark of the lightless space. Marnok came to a halt in front of her. He was about to thank her when the other soldier he just plowed through got up. Unable to turn fast, or even to move out of the way, Marnok grimaced. This is it. It ends here. The soldier did not fire. Instead he collapsed back down to the ground. Taking in the sight, Marnok saw several blades protruding from the soldier and three grinning faces. The Tri nodded as one before they turned to see if there were any more soldiers. The battle was ended. Linro was tending a nasty gash on Tiy-sola's back. Fay-ru was walking through the scattering of bodies, picking up the odd weapon. The Tri quickly joined her in rummaging through the remains of the battle. Having run quite a bit in a short time, Marnok took the time to rest his weary legs. After Linro was done patching up Tiy-sola and the Tri had found every useful piece of equipment, the group huddled. Looking at open space where shuttles use to be, a cold shiver ran down Marnok's back. Where are the shuttles? Where's our ride?

"As you may have noticed, there are no shuttles here." Tiy-sola spoke quietly. A moment of silence fell onto the group. Exchanging worried looks, the little group seemed lost. Another moment crawled by without a sound.

Breaking the mood, Ko'lar said, "okay. Well this isn't good. But this is only the first hanger bay." The others looked at her with hope.

"There's another hanger bay?" Fay-ru asked.

"Well … yes and no. There is another shuttle here and it has its own bay. But …" Ko'lar drifted off.

"But what?" Tiy-sola looked at Ko'lar expectantly.

"But the thing is … well …" Ko'lar shifted her eyes from one person to the next nervously. "It's just that the shuttle hasn't … that is … it has never …"

"Never what?" Tiy-sola nearly yelled her question.

"It's never been tested yet."

"Tested?" Linro was puzzled. "What do you mean, 'never been tested?'"

"My father told me of this new shuttle they were making. It has some sort of new type of engine in it. He said it was a big deal and that the new engine would make traveling from planet to planet a lot faster." Ko'lar paused to check if she had their attention. "He said that they would be taking it out for the first time soon. Like in the next few rotations. I think he was trying to get it so that I would be up here for its first flight. I would have come up here on the school break. That’s only four rotations from now. Or it would have been if all this hadn't happened." She indicated the bodies littering the floor with a sweep of her arm.

"Shuttle, here, still?" The Tri asked in their unusual way.

"Is should be." Ko'lar sighed. "We just need to get to it. We'll need an access card to get into its hanger bay. My father has one. Where he is in all this I don't know."

"This, what, need?" The boy Tri pulled out a small card from one of his pockets and handed it to Ko'lar.

"This is … this belongs to father's assistant. Where did you find it?"

"We found some of the station staff." Tiy-sola placed her hand on Ko'lar's arm. "We looked for your father, but he wasn't there. He might have left on one of the missing shuttles, or he could have taken an escape pod." A single tear ran down Ko'lar face.

"Okay then, we can get into the hanger bay." She said wiping the tear away. "The door is over there." The group turned to see where she was pointing. Large, oversized door was set into the far wall. They made their way over. Reaching the door first, Ko'lar moved to the card slot. The card slid through the slot and the big door grumbled to life. Unlike every other door they knew of, this door did not slide to one side. It proceeded to slowly swing outwards. It was thicker then most people were tall. In its slow pace, it took a long time to open. Finally they saw the other side of the door. Very little light came through the growing crack between the door and the wall. When it came to a grounding stop, the crack had become a space the width of a person. Cautiously they walked into the dim room beyond. Several shapes loomed around them. Finding the lighting switch, Marnok turned it up. Brightness bathed them for a moment. When they got use to the setting, they look about more eagerly. Three large tanks of fuel sat near them. Behind the tanks, there were stacks of crates. Sitting in the middle of the large bay was the shuttle. It was at lest twice the size of a normal shuttle. The wings stretched out and away from the body of the thing. They could see one fuel pod sitting in a catch on one wing. Another pod was raised on a platform, waiting to be attached to its own catch. The slim nose and long body made it look like a sliver bird. The group quickly boarded the shuttle. The spacious interior took their breath away. The Tri dropped their packs and ran back out to rummage through the crates. Marnok was helped out of his pack by Linro. The rest quickly dumped their packs. After a brief rest, Marnok went out to see what the Tri were up to. The three of them were trying to move the fuel pod so it would activate its catch. He went over to them and with one good shove the clink of the catch was heard. With that done, the Tri split up to open several crates at once. As the four of them were busy loading the shuttle with what ever they could find useful, Ko’lar came back out. She went back to the big door and placed the card in the slot on this side of it. Grumbling all the way, the door swung shut. She then took out her blaster and shot the slot, sending a million little bits flying everywhere. Turning back, Ko’lar saw the look on Marnok’s face.

“So they can’t get in,” was all she said. Nodding, Marnok went back to rummaging. It was quite some time before they had taken all that looked of use and placed it in the shuttle. When that was done, Marnok walked over to Tiy-sola, who was gazing up at the large fuel tanks.

“Wish we could take these with us.”

“But we have no more room in the shuttle.” Marnok pointed out.

“Yes.” She looked thoughtful for a moment. “No more room inside … but what about outside?”

“Outside? We have the pods. What more can go outside?” Marnok scratched his head, trying to figured out what Tiy-sola was getting at. But before he could get any more from her, she turned and walked quickly away. Puzzled, he followed. Across the hanger, she stopped next to the Tri. A short animated conversation later, and the Tri ran to the tanks.

“Just asked them if they could help out.” Tiy-sola said upon seeing the puzzled look he was giving her. Before he could voice any of his hundreds of questions, the boy Tri came back.

“Can do,” he simply said. Then he ran back to his sisters. Still confused Marnok turned back to his friend. Tiy-sola took him by the arm and walked him back inside the shuttle. The once spacious interior was now jam-packed with everything from bags and boxes to little jars and foil-wrapped packages. The tall blue girl maneuvered the little man over to one of the few empty seats left and sat him down.

“Just sit there and relax. You’ve done quite a bit of running and a lot of heavy lifting. Why don’t you rest for a bit?” She asked him. After a quick thought about complaining, he agreed. He was feeling tired and could use a long rest. He really didn’t intend to sleep, but it took only a brief reprieve from all that has happened for him to fall fast asleep. Waking upon the jarring of the shuttle, he glanced about. Everyone was seated and strapped in. He noticed that someone had strapped him in as well. The cockpit door was open and he could see Ko’lar fiddling with the controls. Outside his window he could nothing but the black of space. Soon the planet came into view. From where they were, the little planet looked peaceful. Then a hulking ship replaced the planet. He had never before seen such a ship. The thing was massive. It bristled with weaponry at every crevice, at every conceivable nook and cranny. Everywhere he looked there was a weapon. It advanced on them slowly, growing bigger with every breath. When it was almost on top of them, it fired. An oversized blaster bolt flashed past his window. The big ship spat at them again and again. Ko’lar’s hands were moving so fast he could barely see them. She was keeping them one step ahead of the deadly blasts. He felt rather then heard a snap, like someone had pulled a string too tight. He pushed his face against the window and peered outside. The massive ship was still spitting fire at them. It was quite evident that Ko’lar’s fingers were still dancing over the controls. The planet shifted from being under them to above them, before it vanished from view only to return again in front of them. Then Marnok caught sight of something that should not have been in the black of space. One of the fuel tanks floated peacefully in the middle of nowhere. A length of heavy metal cable was attached to one end of the tank. The other end of the cable was frayed. Did the Tri tie the tank to the ship? Marnok could only watch as the tank flirted in and out of his view. It seemed to be, that the tank was drifting into the massive ship’s line of fire. A few breaths longer and then an oversized blaster bolt connected with the tank. For the second time that day, Marnok had to cover his eyes from a bright flash of light. For the second time that day, he could see his fingers through his eyelids. Then it was over. As his vision cleared, he tried to find the massive ship. Instead of the black of space the sight of clouds greeted his eyes. Clouds? What … How? It took his brain a few moments to puzzle it out. Ko’lar must have dipped us back into the planet after the tank exploded. As the rest of the passengers came to realize what had happened, a wave of relief passed over them. With an air of ‘exhausted but happy,’ the little group started to converse with each other. They relived the one-sided space battle and more then a few praises were said about Ko’lar’s piloting. A few praises were even given up to the Gods and Goddesses. Their little break was short lived as three of the smaller ships came up from the planet’s surface. Ko’lar dipped the ship into the clouds to avoid the smaller ships. Marnok and the others pressed their faces to the windows trying to catch sight of the enemy. A glint of metal was all the warring they had before the little ships opened fire on them. Ko’lar’s hands were once again moving quickly over her console, keeping them one step ahead of the ships and their deadly weapons. Suddenly the ship pitched upwards and shot through the air and back into space.

“Hang on!” Ko’lar’s warring came a little late. Still they grabbed on to the seats in front of them and held on for dear life. The big ship zipped passed them, turning too slowly to bring any of its weapons on the little sliver craft. They were quickly away from danger.

A voice box crackled with static on one side of Ko’lar. “Ko’lar? Tiy-sola? Anyone?” Brik’s voice came out of the static. Tiy-sola had gotten out of her seat and was leaning over Ko’lar’s shoulder. She pushed a button under the voice box.

“We’re here.” Tiy-sola said to the voice box.

“Thank the stars!” The voice box answered back in Brik’s voice.

“We’ll come around to the far side of the planet and meet you there.”

“No don’t.” Brik said over the voice box. “We had to leave the planet all together. We’re in the asteroid field.”

Ko’lar spoke up, “We’ll be there before you can say ‘Zaa Zaa Zook!’” With that she tapped a button and they were all pressed into their seats by the force of acceleration. Tiy-sola, having not been in her seat, was thrown to the back of the shuttle. Slamming hard into a box, the clink and clatter of metal hitting metal echoed throughout the crowded space.

“You could have given me a chance to sit down first!” Tiy-sola angrily shouted towards the cockpit. Ko’lar pushed the button again and they slid towards the front of the little ship as they came to a quick stop. Almost everything else in the shuttle went flying forward, including Tiy-sola. The boxes, thankfully, muffled her cursing. Marnok unbuckled himself and started to clear the boxes that had buried his friend.