Evan Currie - Heirs of Empire

It had taken the teens almost the entire passing shadow of the Great Island, but they’d finally loaded a condenser and as many emergency rations as they could pack onto the Mule. Lydia and Brennan were worn out, and their new friends were in even worse shape.

Lydia was impressed, though. Neither Mik nor Dusk had given up or begged off. Despite almost collapsing twice, Dusk had even managed to continue working through the shade time as much as could be expected. Given the shape she’d been in when they’d found her, even the light help she provided was more than they’d have asked, and Lydia was growing more and more satisfied with her off-the-cuff decision to include the duo.

She herself had spent more time watching for guard patrols than handling the heavy work, something she felt a little guilty about, but Mik and Dusk wouldn’t have known what to look for, and Brennan was far better than she was at running the gear they were using.

She couldn’t help but smirk as her brother shot another longing look at the Fire Naga parked across the storage hangar. She resisted the impulse to roll her eyes at him.

“If we get out clean,” she said softly, “we can come back for it.”

Brennan shot her a look, a mix of pleasure and concern. “Are you sure, Lyd?”

“They won’t be able to check the inventory the way things are. It’ll be months before anyone notices it’s missing.”

Brennan scowled. “Not if someone notices a legion-issued condenser in the refugee camp.”

Lydia nodded, admitting that was an issue.

“We can scrub the serial number off and beat up the plating a little,” she offered. “It’ll look like an old rebuild unless someone looks really close. Should buy us time.”

Brennan grinned. “All right. Let’s get moving, then.”

Boys. Lydia rolled her eyes and exchanged a looked with Dusk, who smiled weakly back at her. Lydia walked over. “Are you OK?”

“I’ll be fine,” Dusk said firmly, only a little shake in her voice. She glanced at the Mule as Brennan hopped into the seat behind the controls. “We’re really bringing all this back to the camp?”

Lydia nodded firmly. “It should have been issued to them already. Everything’s in such a mess. Things never should have gotten this bad.”

“Good,” Dusk said with surprising firmness. “It’s horrible for people there.”

“We saw.”

Dusk shook her head. “No. No, you didn’t.”

Lydia thought to ask what she meant, but something in the girl’s expression made her reconsider. Maybe later, if she wants to talk.

“All right,” Lydia finally said, tapping Mik on the shoulder. “Grab that bag of tools. We’ll work on the road.”

“Right.” He nodded, grabbing the satchel she’d pointed to before hopping into the back of the Mule.

Lydia helped Dusk get in first, then climbed in beside Bren. “Let’s go.”

The Mule barely groaned as it began to pull out of the hangar through the crack they’d made between the big doors. The electric drive whined just barely as they started to move, lights pouring out into the still shadowed dark.

“OK, just a few more minutes and we’ll be clear,” Lydia said, motioning Brennan to stop so they could close the doors to the hangar.

The twins hopped out, motioning the other two to remain in place, and were halfway to the doors when a sudden barrage of blaster fire sent them diving to the ground.

“What the hell was that?” Brennan demanded, his arms covering his head.

“Forget the door,” Lydia said. “Sorry, Bren, but you’d better forget the Naga too. Come on!”

She tugged at his jacket, pulling him around as they scrambled back to the Mule.

“Crank it,” she ordered as they both pulled themselves into the vehicle, and she drew out the concealed blaster she’d been carrying since Kayle … well, since Kayle …

“It’s a Mule , Lydia,” Brennan growled as he shoved the accelerator forward. “It doesn’t crank. It barely creaks!”

Nonetheless the old hauler was doing its job, doggedly taking both cargo and passengers to the gate as quickly as could be expected. They could see lase blasts lighting up the dark skies.

Unlike true lasers, the light lased from a blaster had a great deal of particulate from the minibomb that pumped the blast to lethal levels. The particulate was hot and glowing plasma and also reflected off some of the laser light from the blasts. They cast traces of light along the blast path and threw shadows all around as the fight progressed.

Lydia and Brennan didn’t know who was fighting, but it didn’t seem to be aimed at them, so the siblings were happy enough to use the distraction to get the hell out of the area.

About halfway to the gate a new shadow was cast over the Mule, and they looked up to see a large skimmer settle into a controlled hover over them and the base. One part of Brennan’s mind admired the control it took to steady a ship that size with nothing but light sails and the winds far above them, but the more urgent part of his brain was cursing the situation as assault ribbons were cast from the skimmer and men began to drop around them.

In seconds they were surrounded. The four teens slowly lifted their hands in surrender.

Mira Delsol casually stepped off the plank, dropping a few feet to the ground, and waved off the Andros . The ship tightened up its sails and was pulled up into the sky, out of sight for the moment, as she looked around.

The head of her assault team, a former legion captain named Kennick, headed in her direction as soon as she landed.

“Site secured, my lady,” he reported. “You were right, the local guard was nothing but a token patrol.”

Mira nodded. “Casualties?”

“Minor injuries, no fatalities,” he said, adding as an afterthought, “on either side.”

“Excellent.”

You didn’t make Cadre if you couldn’t compartmentalize your morals. While she was far from squeamish about killing, Mira was more than happy not to dispatch Imperial soldiers. Even those who answered to Corian probably thought they were doing their duty.

“What about the Mule?” she asked, eyeing the ancient vehicle and the four teens standing beside it under guard.

“Thieves, my lady,” Kennick said with an ironic smile. “They were almost out when we hit the gate.”

“Unlucky for them …” Mira chuckled lightly. “What were they stealing?”

Kennick’s expression grew a little more somber. “Food and a water condenser.”

Mira glanced at him, surprised. “Oh?”

He nodded. “There’s a refugee camp not far from here. According to them, conditions have gotten rough.”

Mira considered that. “All right. Make sure they’re fully loaded and let them go.”

“My lady?”

“You heard me.”

Kennick nodded, smiling slightly. “Yes, my lady. Oh, one other thing.”

Mira paused, having half started walking toward where she knew the target cache was. “Yes?”

“One of the girls had this on her,” he said, handing her a blaster.

Mira took it, surprised that he’d mention it. A blaster wasn’t legal for most people, certainly, but it wasn’t uncommon. And if they were stealing from a military depot … She paused as she turned the weapon over in her hand and noticed that it had been inlaid with precious metals and had an Imperial seal on the pommel grip.

She looked over to the teens. “I’ll have a word with her.”

“Yes, my lady,” Kennick answered, waving a hand to the guards. “Bring the girl!”

The guard holding her pushed the girl forward, not particularly gently but hardly overly roughly either. He said something as well, but Mira couldn’t make it out. Whatever it was, one of the boys took offense. Mira saw the sudden decision in his eyes and body and knew with a sinking feeling that he was readying to do violence.