Chapter 1: Star Demon

Har-Hi watched as the Kartanian transport climbed into the sky and disappeared moments later. Then he activated atmospheric flight modus on his battle suit and flew south. He checked on his tactical readout and saw five marines, Shea, Hans, Krabbel and TheOther doing the same thing.

He didn’t know exactly where to go, as the NAVINT officer who was posing as the First Magistrates pilot chauffeur had not yet transmitted any coordinates or directions.

Shea came on and said. “It is nice to be on a mission and not stuck in the ship all the time, but I wish we could have gone together.”

Har-Hi responded. “Don’t worry, the Captain can take care of herself. The Karthanian slave lords have no chance.”

He could hear breathing for a moment and then she said. “I know, I am still worried, Erica is changing and I don’t mean how she gets more comfortable being female.”

He said. “I just think she is growing up. We are all growing up. We were just kids when we met.”

But while he said that he knew what she meant. He had very briefly seen what was sleeping inside his best friend. There were no words he could describe it, but he who rarely feared anything still could feel the sheer terror he had felt as he noticed the black flames in the eyes of Erica.

The chirping sound of a Comm-request interrupted his thoughts. The Computronic of his suit identified it as a NAVINT short burst scramble. It was just a set of coordinates, not a voice transmission.

He blinked the received data onto a global map and microseconds later changed his course and increased his speed to ten times the speed of sound.

The coordinates were almost on the other side of the planet and belonged to a mountainous island that stuck out from the only open water body the planet had an immense salt lake.

About hundred kilometers out they dropped to subsonic speeds, as their cloaking shield could not hide the streak of glowing air molecules their high-speed flight generated.

Shea, always the scientist cooed over the immense salt lake and said. “According to my readings, the lake water has a salinity level of over 48 percent, no wonder it is still liquid despite the freezing temperatures out here.”

One of the Marines reported almost simultaneously. “ Sir, there are no life sign readings within 200 miles, except at the target zone.”

Har-Hi acknowledged both and told them to reduce their speed further and to approach with the greatest stealth possible. He sends two marines three miles up and right over the island, so they could give sniper cover.

The island was no bigger than maybe ten acres and had a collection of surface buildings. A single scaffold-like tower stood over a concrete rimmed hole. It was part of an elevator system or hoist mechanism. Har-Hi’s optic sensors had no problem zooming in on the black flyer limousine that parked next to the collection of buildings. There were dozens of well-concealed pillboxes all around the compound and each of them registered two life forms and a high energy signature, most likely a blaster weapon.

Whatever the Drak were hiding there, they did not want to share it with anyone else.

Har-Hi felt confident in the Atlas suit technology and the cloaking and flew closer. Shea was now floating right next to him. “Whatever it is they are hiding, I guess we have to go down there and check it out, my suit sensors are unable to pick anything, they must be quite deep under the surface.”

Har-Hi agreed and said. “Hans you and the Marines stay out here and form a perimeter guard. Shea, Krabbel, and TheOther go down and check what they are hiding. If you do not hear from us after two hours, you come after us.”

Har-Hi could almost hear the frown in the face of his friend as Hans responded. “Yes Sir, but you could simply send me down first.”

“Sorry Hans, I am sure I need Shea’s scientific expertise and I need you out here to make sure whatever they are brewing or launching is stopped, in case we don’t make it in time.”

Har-Hi then took the lead and dove head first into the concrete-lined shaft.

The concrete was replaced by natural rock as they descended. Har-Hi could see lights far down and his suit sensors told him that the shaft floor was almost 2456 meters below him.

Shea said. “That rock is heavily laced with magnetite and other minerals, no wonder our sensors are not really penetrating deeper.”

Har-Hi slowed down and signaled the others to do the same, then he asked. “Will it interfere with our communications?”

“No, it is simple three dimensional this side of normal space interference. I think we should still be able to reach Erica unless she is already past GalNet reach.”

Har-Hi kept his eyes on the elevator cage he could see sitting all the way on the bottom and said. “Let’s not worry the Captain. If we call she will be concerned and turn around.”

Shea agreed. “Yes, we should be able to solve a little mystery on our own.”

They reached the bottom of the shaft. There was no one, the elevator cage was empty and so was the cavernous hall that could be accessed from the elevator shaft. The light came from elements that had been attached to the reddish rock in regular intervals. The floor was smooth. A set of metal begun right by the elevator cage extended into the cavern and after about twenty meters it split into two and each track disappeared into a tunnel. Both tunnels looked identical.

Har-Hi grunted. “That is just great, it appeared they had some sort of tracked vehicle and went down one of those tunnels. Question is, which one?”

Krabbel said. “We are four, two of us for each tunnel and whoever finds something first, calls the others. Come on we are wearing Atlas Battlesuits and we are armed to the fangs, there is nothing the Karthanians or the Drak have that could seriously harm us, besides we have Hans and Marines for back up.”

Shea said. “You are a Dai Warrior, Union trained. I am not just a pretty door stopper in the science lab, I can hold my own. I even brought along my sword.”

Krabbel added. “Come on, Erica would already be done down here.”

Somehow it was that statement that made Har-Hi decide. “Alright you two go down the left tunnel and Shea and I take the right one. Remember if you come across old-fashioned atomic weapons, they can be very powerful, especially in a confined space like this. While our shields should be able to handle the heat and radiation for a while. We are far below the ground and if the bombs are big enough they can overwhelm even our shields. Krabbel held up an egg-shaped device. “We got plenty of EMP grenades.”

Har-Hi said. “As soon as you come across something you call us, you stay cloaked and let Shea have a look.”

They were eager and confident. Krabbel and the towering Y’All hovered away and disappeared into the left passageway.

There was nothing else for him to do but go lead Shea into the other. He had never been afraid of the unknown and his warrior nature wanted to charge ahead and find hundreds of opponents he could fight, but now he was a leader. His best friend and his Captain had put her confidence in him to solve the mystery and bring back everyone. Har-Hi was in charge before when they won the Reagan Trophy and he was the XO of the Tigershark. He knew every soul on board that ship would follow him without question and without hesitation. Yet even a relatively small, primitive Atomic warhead would be a serious challenge to the shields and the armor. He did not believe it was anything small since the Drak hoped to defeat the rebellion and the approaching Oghr warriors. The Drak were light-years behind Union technology and no old-fashioned atomic weapon could do much damage to modern equipped Oghr troops in the open. He was certain it was something more sinister.

His Suit systems told him where Shea was, but he could not see her not even with the advanced sensor optics of the suit he was wearing. She was right behind him.

They both hovered just a few inches off the ground and progressed down the featureless winding rock corridor at about the same speed as a running Attikan. He didn’t dare to fly faster, even invisible the suits displaced air and thus created sounds, besides flying much faster would mean to rely on the suits computronic for steering and he simply wanted to stay in full control.

He checked on Krabbel and TheOther, they both made similar uneventful progress but were now over 12 kilometers apart. He also got a clear connection to Hans who told him, that the actual compound the buildings apart from the concealed pillboxes were completely empty.

Shea said. “We are now far below the salt lake and progressed 8.5 kilometers from the entrance area. Krabbel and TheOther are now progressing steadily into a northeastern direction while we more or less going south now and I think we are following a natural lava flow that has been smoothened into a passage. This would explain the winding nature.”

Har-Hi could not really explain his anticipation and nervousness as he checked his weapon systems for the tenth time and made sure his main TKU was fully charged and set to the highest discharge rate. He acknowledged the ever curious Shea with a short grunt.