Page 28

Story: Secrecy

I couldn’t explain how I was so certain, but I knew Deklyn. I knew how he thought. I knew his tricks. This was undoubtably him.

"He's creating a diversion," I said, pulling Morgan toward the source of Ariana's screams. "We need to use it."

We moved quickly but cautiously, the environmental suits helping us move unseen in the dimly lit corridors. The Kronock were in disarray, all attention focused on whatever havoc Deklyn was wreaking elsewhere in the facility.

When we reached the door I was sure was the origin of the screams, I paused, assessing the situation. The door was sealed but unguarded. It seemed every Kronock had been called to respond to the attack or had rushed off on their own.

"Can you override the lock?" Morgan asked, eyeing the control panel beside the door.

I studied the alien interface for a moment before shaking my head. "Not without time we don't have. Stand back."

I adjusted the setting on my blaster to maximum output and fired directly at the control panel. It exploded in a shower of sparks, and the door slid open with a hydraulic hiss.

Inside, the scene was exactly as I'd feared. Ariana, Vyk, and Torq were strapped to metal tables, various wires attached to their bodies. A single guard remained, its back to us as it adjusted something on a control console. The only reason it hadn’t heard us was the continuing blasts shaking the building and the sirens shrieking.

I signaled Morgan to stay put, then moved silently across the room, my training allowing me to approach the Kronock without detection. When I was directly behind it, I pressed my blaster to the base of its skull.

"Move, and it will be the last thing you ever do," I said quietly.

The Kronock froze, the pointy tip of its tail twitching nervously.

"Release them," I commanded. "Slowly."

The creature emitted a series of defiant growls as its bionic eye blinked red. I pressed the blaster harder against the Kronock's skull to emphasize my point. After a moment's hesitation, it reached for the console, clawed fingers sliding across the controls. The restraints holding our friends retracted with a metallic clank.

Morgan rushed to Ariana's side, helping her sit up. The pilot's face was bruised, her eyes unfocused, but she was alive.

"Morgan?" Ariana whispered, disbelief coloring her voice. "How...?"

"Later," Morgan said, already moving to help Vyk, who was in slightly better condition.

I kept my weapon trained on the Kronock as I edged toward Torq. The young Blade was unconscious but breathing steadily.

"Can you stand?" I asked Vyk, who was now sitting upright, shaking his head as if to clear it.

"Get me a weapon," he growled, "and I'll do more than stand."

A third explosion, closer this time, rattled the instruments on the walls. The Kronock flinched, its tail lashing with agitation.

"That would be our cue to leave," I said, backing toward the door and keeping my blaster aimed at the guard. "Morgan, help Ariana. Vyk, can you manage Torq?"

The commander nodded grimly, hoisting the unconscious cadet over his shoulder with a grunt of exertion.

As we backed from the chamber, I made a split-second decision. "Morgan," I said, tossing her my weapon. "Keep this on our friend here."

She caught the blaster deftly, her aim steady as she trained it on the Kronock.

I moved to the console, my fingers flying over the alien interface as I initiated a complete system lockdown building floor by floor, starting at the top.

"What are you doing?" Vyk demanded.

"Creating chaos," I replied, inputting one final command sequence. "And making sure he can't follow us."

The Kronock lunged suddenly, its massive frame propelled by desperate rage. Morgan fired without hesitation, the energy bolt catching the creature mid-leap. It crashed to the floor, twitching once before lying still.

"Nice shot," I commented, genuinely impressed by her accuracy.

"Big target," she replied curtly.