Reaper Corps Read online

Countless words in Dinari script scrolled up Nix’s screen. Despite Liam’s translator, Nix was far faster at reading the strange text and scrolled through it quickly. Finally, he looked to Liam and said, “Those blasts were made from Kurazon weapons.”

  “Were there any survivors?”

  Nix shook his head. “None.”

  It was as he feared. Now there was only one thing left to do. He asked, “What about life support? Is there air to breathe?”

  “Several decks of the ship were closed off but the main deck still has breathable air. If I had to guess, I’d say it was an automatic measure to protect the bridge.”

  Liam covered his mouth with his hand and thought for a moment, absently stroking his few days’ growth of beard. There were certainly risks involved with boarding the ship, but it would be worth it if they could learn more about their attackers.

  “Let’s attach to the rear section. I’ll copy their logs and see what I can find out. A quick job.”

  “I’ll come with you,” Nix said quickly. “I’m more familiar with Ansaran technology.”

  Liam considered their Dinari guide for a moment. He was usually more reluctant to associate himself with the Ansarans in any form. Nix didn’t appear to have an ulterior motive, so Liam nodded and said, “Then it’s settled. Ju-Long and Saturn, keep a lookout for any activity within scanner range. Contact us if anything changes. This shouldn’t take long.”

  “I’m timing you,” Ju-Long replied, the sincerity in his tone peeking out despite his efforts to conceal it.

  “Be careful,” Saturn said before inserting a communication device into her ear. “I’ll be monitoring you every step of the way.”

  Something about the way she said it made Liam think she meant it more as a threat than a comforting sentiment. Liam turned his attention back to the controls. They were quickly gaining on the drifting ship. Liam fired the reverse thrusters and matched their velocity and rotational vector. He moved the ship closer until it was only feet away. Nix brought up a holographic projection of the ship below them as Liam maneuvered their vessel to match the Ansaran craft’s airlock. With a loud clunk, Liam attached The Garuda to the alien ship with numerous magnetic clamps.

  Liam took his hands off his controls and sat back in his chair. He turned to Nix and asked, “Do you want to do it?”

  Nix pressed a button on his side of the console and a metal tube a few feet wide extended out and connected with the Ansaran ship’s airlock. “It should take a moment to depressurize and then we can proceed.”

  “Let’s not take any chances.”

  Nix said eagerly, “To the armory?”

  Liam smiled and confirmed, “To the armory.”

  “Boys,” Saturn mumbled under her breath while shaking her head.

  •

  Liam holstered his crescent-shaped energy weapon and examined a circular hatch on the floor of the cargo bay. He found the red button on the side and pressed it. The hatch opened with several shards of metal retracting in an outward spiral to the edges. Beyond the hatch was a ladder lit by flashing yellow lights.

  “I’ll go first. The airlock can be fickle,” Nix said, descending down the first few rungs of the ladder.

  “Great,” Liam said under his breath. The last thing he needed was a technological breakdown.

  Liam followed Nix down the ladder and felt the gravity increasing as they entered a region covered by both ships’ gravitational fields. His body felt like it was dragging around far too much extra weight. Luckily, they didn’t have to go far. Nix stopped and pressed a yellow button on the wall. The circular hatch above them closed and they were left with the flashing lights lining the tube. Liam felt the air pressure changing to match the other side. He suddenly felt light-headed, but was just able to maintain his grip on the ladder.

  After nearly a minute, the hatch opened below them and Nix continued down into the Ansaran ship. Liam descended through the hatch, the Ansaran craft’s ladder ashen by comparison to The Garuda’s aging metal rungs. Gravity seemed to return to a normal level and Liam turned in a circle to take in his surroundings.

  The ship looked relatively intact on the inside, but for the occasional scorch along the white walls where a laser had struck. They were in a passageway on the top deck of the ship which led to the bridge at the front of the freighter. Orbs of light lined the center of the corridor, several of them shattered by lasers leaving parts of the hallway in relative darkness. Toward the front of the ship, Liam saw traces of red in contrast to the white walls next to him.

  Liam touched his earpiece with his index finger, ensuring it was firmly lodged in place. “Saturn, do you read me?”

  “I’ve got you,” Saturn’s voice said into his ear.

  Liam nodded to Nix, pulling his energy weapon from its holster. “This way.”

  Nix retrieved his weapon and followed Liam cautiously in the direction of the bridge. The corridor was less than one hundred meters long with countless offshoots, each of them sealed behind octagonal white doors. As they approached the bridge, trails of blood were caked onto the floor lining their path. Despite the blood, Liam couldn’t see any bodies ahead. Finally, they approached the bridge, its wide door precisely cut along eight sides. Each of the dozen tracks of red led up to the massive door.

  Liam spoke to Saturn over his intercom, “We’re at the bridge. Are you getting any readings?”

  Saturn’s voice filled his ear, “Nothing. You’re all clear.”

  Liam approached the door’s controls and pressed the square button, which quickly flashed bright green. There was no response. He pressed the button again. The flashing ceased.

  “It must be locked from the inside,” Nix mused. “Stand back.”

  Liam backed away and leveled his weapon at the octagonal door. Nix charged his crescent-shaped gun and released an energy blast at the controls, the ball of lightning sending sparks back at them. The white door opened a couple of feet along its vertical seam, just enough to slide through. Nix exchanged a glance with Liam before slipping through to the other side. Liam followed him into the darkened chamber.

  The smell is what caught Liam first. More than a dozen decomposing Ansaran bodies lined the bridge in a semicircle around the door. Each was posed in different positions, held up by vicious pikes which tore through their backs and out their mouths. Liam covered his mouth in an attempt to prevent himself from vomiting. Nix’s sense of smell must have been muted because he remained focused, approaching the center of the half circle in awe. Now Liam wished the vessel’s life support had failed, allowing the cold of space to freeze the bodies and cut the smell of death.

  Saturn’s voice filled Liam’s ear, “What is it? What do you see?”

  Liam ignored her and stepped forward to see what Nix was looking at. In the center, Liam saw a very familiar face. The Ansaran’s robes were more ornate than the others, denoting his position of authority. The exiled Ansaran hadn’t made it that far after all. Ragnar, the former Caretaker of Akaru Colony, was the most mangled of all. His bowels hung from his stomach and were arranged at his feet in the shape of a symbol Liam found familiar. “What does that say?”

  Nix turned his golden eyes on Liam and whispered, “It is the Ansaran word for vengeance. But this was not the work of Ansarans.”

  “Kurazon.”

  “We need to find the logs quickly. We can’t linger here.”

  Liam nodded and followed him past the bodies to a chair which stood in the center of the circular bridge that could only have been the Captain’s chair. Nix sat down and manipulated the controls to bring up a hologram of the bridge.

  “Saturn, I’m sending the logs back to The Garuda now. Let me know when you’ve received them.”

  “Copy.”

  Liam approached the orange-hued hologram. It could have been clearer, but it was a fairly good representation of the bridge, only several workers were bustling around performing their duties while Ragnar sat in his chair snoring. The ship shook and Ragnar was thrown out
of the seat. The hologram cut to a later timeframe. Six massive Kurazon stood in the octagonal doorway to the bridge. Ragnar stood to face them and the hologram began playing back audio.

  “It’s you,” Ragnar said. “I take it Crius has been deposed.”

  A Kurazon with dark face paint approached Ragnar while his followers spread out around the bridge. He cradled his left arm, wounded but frightening nonetheless. Once they moved, Liam could see several Ansaran bodies lining the corridor behind them.

  “Crius was not fit to lead,” the Kurazon said. “You know why I have come?”

  “Yes,” Ragnar confirmed.

  A smile crept over the Kurazon’s lips. “Your death will not be quick.”

  The hologram cut out, dissolving in the air before Liam. He knew that voice, but that was impossible. The Kurazon that crashed on Surya’s surface were killed. But he’d seen it with his own eyes. The Kurazon with the blue face paint was alive and seeking revenge.

  “Did you get that?” Nix asked Saturn through his intercom.

  “Got it. What do you think this means?”

  Liam crossed his arms and looked out the bridge’s windows to the blackness of space. “Regardless of whether the Reapers exist or not, the Kurazon are out for revenge. We need to get off this ship.”

  “No argument here,” Nix said, standing from the Captain’s chair.

  When he did, the few orbs of light overhead clouded over with a red film, bathing them in crimson. The deep voice of a Kurazon rang out overhead.

  “Those who seek to disrupt this shrine will die a coward’s death.”

  Shortly after, a hologram of a clock appeared over the Captain’s chair. It began counting down from two minutes.

  “Is that what I think it is?” Liam asked.

  Nix and Liam gazed at each other in horror.

  “Run!” Nix yelled.

  The two of them scrambled to the octagonal door, squeezing through just before it clamped shut. The lights in the long hallway had turned red as well, making it harder to make out where they needed to go. They sprinted down the corridor, slipping on partially coagulated blood.

  “Saturn, prep the ship for takeoff,” Liam huffed into his intercom. “When I give the signal, detach us from the other ship and get us the hell out of here.”

  “What’s happening down there?”

  “Just do it!” Liam screamed.

  Liam reached the ladder first and tore up the rungs, opening the hatch when he reached the top. The two of them climbed up into the tube and Nix closed the hatch behind them. He continued to climb up to The Garuda’s airlock and pressed the button on the console when he reached the top. Nothing.

  “What’s wrong?” Nix asked.

  “It’s stuck,” Liam said frantically.

  “What do you mean it’s stuck?”

  Nix climbed up beside him and began hitting the console with his clawed fist. It wasn’t very scientific, but it was effective. The circular hatch spiraled open and Liam scrambled out into the cargo bay followed by Nix, who quickly closed the airlock.

  “Now, Saturn,” Liam yelled into his intercom while lying on his back, huffing air.

  Liam heard a clank as they detached, followed by the rumble of their engines. He got to his feet and dragged Nix up from his knees to a standing position. Together they ran through the curving passageway to the cockpit. Saturn sat in the pilot’s seat with her arm through the copper circle, maneuvering the ship. When they approached, she turned her head and asked, “What the hell happened down there?”

  The Garuda shook violently, toppling Liam and Nix to the floor. Saturn brought up the rear cameras and watched the Ansaran vessel explode, the fire being eaten by the vacuum of space as fast as it was being produced. Still, countless metal fragments were shot in all directions, some of them glancing off The Garuda’s hull.

  Ju-Long stared at the image on his console, clearly excited by the blast.

  “What’s so funny?” Saturn asked him.

  “I was starting to think this mission would be boring.”

  “So, it was worth the trip after all?” Liam asked.

  Ju-Long’s smile faded and he brought up a star chart, setting their course once again for Narra. He said insolently, “It depends on what we find on Narra. If that’s all the excitement I get I’d have been better off on Surya.”

  10

  Two Hours Later – The Garuda’s Galley

  “I thought the Ansarans killed all of the Kurazon on the surface,” Saturn said before taking a sip of her tea made from Nerva plant.

  Liam swirled his finger through his bowl of broth, waiting for it to cool down enough to drink. Nix had been hard at work on some new recipes and Liam was still gun-shy from his strange concoctions. Most of the time they smelled far worse than they tasted, but his cooking ability outside of making Leguma was questionable.

  He raised his head and regarded Saturn, who was immediately calmer after drinking her tea. She let out her signature black ponytail and her hair fell just past her shoulders. She ran her fingers through to take out the tangles. Her dark brown eyes were warm for once and a small smile crept up her lips like she just came out of a snowstorm and into the warmth of a fire.

  Liam affirmed, “I don’t think we can trust anything the Ansarans tell us. I remember the face of that Kurazon warlord anywhere. He took control after Crius; he calls the shots now.”

  Nix crossed the room from the cabinets along the far wall with a metal mug in tow. When he sat down on his stool he reached to the center of the table and pulled the pot of Nerva tea off the heating element, filling his cup to the brim. “The question is, what are his plans?”

  Nix and Saturn sat silently sipping their tea while Liam decided to test his broth. Liam raised the piping-hot bowl to his lips and took a small slurp. The citrusy flavor was less repellent than the other dishes Nix had made in the last week, but was still far too strong to fully enjoy. He felt the roof of his mouth with his tongue. A small flap of skin hung down where the broth had burned him. Liam hated that feeling.

  Liam gasped for cool air to fill his mouth, and then asked Nix, “Are the stories of the Reapers consistent with what we saw on the Ansaran vessel?”

  Nix nodded in silence. He’d been fairly quiet since they returned to the ship. What they’d seen proved the stories were right and Zega had his head in Surya’s coarse sand. Now that he’d seen the truth for himself, there was no denying the implications. The Kurazon were growing stronger.

  Liam thought out loud, “So this new Kurazon lord finds his way off Surya, rallies his troops, kills Ragnar, and then rigs the ship to explode. What’s his next move?”

  Saturn set her mug down on the table and used it to warm her hands. “He clearly wants revenge, but there’s a lot of ways he could go about exacting it.”

  Nix raised his eyes from his cup and said, “I might have an idea.”

  Liam and Saturn looked to Nix expectantly, to which he responded by finishing his mug of tea and staring off into space.

  “During the war,” Nix continued, “The Kurazon sought revenge for their race. They felt they’d been wronged millennia ago and wanted to take back Ansara. Obviously, their plan failed. Still, they managed to kill millions of Ansarans and Dinari alike in the process. The Kurazon with the blue war paint seemed stronger than Crius, physically and from a leadership standpoint. The Kurazon follow those who project power. It’s all they know or respect.”

  Liam pushed his bowl of broth away. It would take a while for it to cool anyway. He looked to Nix and said, “Two months ago they attacked Surya, now they’ve killed its former Caretaker. They don’t strike me as stupid.”

  Nix shook his head. “Far from it. During the war the Reapers were a small sect within the Kurazon fleet, known especially for their viciousness and willingness to play by a different set of rules than the whole. The Reapers are the vanguard of a much larger force. There’s been silence from the Kurazon for generations, so there’s no way to know just how p
owerful they’ve become. It seems the Kurazon want a war but this time they’re going about it differently.”

  “How so?” Saturn asked.

  “Crius was brazen like the Kurazon of old. He rallied some ships and attacked Akaru Colony without much forethought. This new Kurazon lord is different. He acts with caution, carefully planning his next move. Like a ghost, he’ll be hard to track.”

  “It’s guerrilla warfare,” Liam said.

  “I do not know this phrase,” Nix replied.

  “It means he’ll focus on small strikes, ones he knows he can win. Taking out a lone ship here and there might not sound like much, but the impact could be large in the long term. If I’m right and he’s playing the long game, it means we’re already several steps behind.”

  Nix filled his mug with more tea and poured a bit into his mouth. “The Ansarans aren’t preparing for a war and most of the Dinari have lost their warrior spirit. The tournament is the last remnant of the old ways. The people need to know what’s coming. If we don’t do something, the Kurazon could whittle away at the Alliance before they even know what’s happening.”

  Liam nodded and said, “Narra is still our objective. The research facility might provide us with the answers we need. If there’s anywhere we can find out more about the Reapers, I think this facility might be it.”

  “I hope you’re right,” Nix said. “For all of our sakes.”

  •

  Two Days Later

  Liam walked toward the cargo bay from the living quarters, growing more frustrated by the minute. The Garuda wasn’t a very large ship, but even so, Ju-Long had managed to find a few hiding places. When Liam reached the cargo bay he stood with his hands on his hips, scanning the room. Nix came out from the corridor to the cockpit and cocked his head to the side, his clawed hands peeking out of his robes and clasping one another.

  “Is everything alright?” he asked.

  “Have you seen Ju-Long?”

  Nix shook his head. “No, but you might check the engine room.”

  “Engine room?”