Hierax: Star Guardians, Book 4 Read online

  “It is a distinct possibility, Captain,” Korta said. “At the least, their preferred materials and technologies were used in the construction of the cities down there.”

  “Then there’s hope.” Sagitta clenched a fist and met Tala’s eyes across the bridge, sharing a long look with her before turning his attention to Hierax. “If any planet in the galaxy could help us repair that gate, this is the one.”

  “Yes, sir. It sounds like it.”

  As tired as Hierax had been a few minutes ago, his weariness disappeared at the idea of exploring technology left behind by the gate builders, by a civilization far more advanced than humanity, and likely more advanced than any of the sentient aliens living in the galaxy, period. He would love to find one of their spaceships—something no archaeologist or xenoanthropologist had ever managed to do—and go over the engines with tweezers and a magnifying glass.

  “I think we are going to have to land on the planet,” Hierax added, both because he was skeptical that much could be gained by flying over it and because he couldn’t imagine anything more fascinating than a close-up look at Wanderer technology.

  “You’re probably right,” Sagitta said.

  Tala and Indi exchanged wary looks.

  “But let’s minimize our presence and time down there, since, as our guests pointed out—” Sagitta nodded respectfully toward the women, “—we haven’t yet determined what that transmission means.”

  “I am locating a suitable landing place now,” Korta said. “One that appears safe for our ship and that is also close to the energy source with the gate-like signature. The broken gate had a working energy source, so that may have little to do with the problem, but it should be a likely place to start looking.”

  “Yes,” Sagitta said. “Hierax, you’ll start there. If we could find the equivalent of a schematic…”

  “I’d make a 3-D model of it, bronze it, and sleep with it under the covers, sir,” Hierax said, practically bouncing on his toes as he anticipated going exploring. He hated leaving the comfort of engineering—and doubly hated leaving the ship—but for this, he would make an exception. This could be the greatest discovery mankind had made since flying into space and first finding the gate system. And if he could be the one to learn how the gates worked, that would be amazing. All those theoretical scientists working from the safety of their offices on planets could bow at the feet of a real engineer.

  “Sleep with a bronze model? That boy has some serious kinks,” Zakota told Killer.

  Killer said nothing, his typical glower never fading. He was tapping one of the daggers belted at his waist. If anyone had kinks, he did. Not to mention Zakota himself with the two-dozen talismans he’d made dangling all around his station.

  “Sleep later,” Sagitta told Hierax. “For now, start your team on—”

  Out of nowhere, white light blazed into the bridge. It was so bright that people threw their arms over their eyes and stumbled back, tripping over consoles and seats.

  Hierax stuffed his head into his helmet and ordered the faceplate to darken drastically. He also wanted access to the sensor stats on the display. As he immediately suspected, it wasn’t simply some error of the ship’s lighting. The sensors read low-level gamma radiation as well as an energy they weren’t able to identify. They couldn’t tell him the source of the light, either. It seemed to be coming from all around them. Was it outside the ship, as well?

  “Korta,” Sagitta said, his voice calm despite curses coming from elsewhere on the bridge. “What’s going on?”

  “We’re being scanned,” Korta said, his voice equally calm, though it still seemed a touch excited.

  “By whom?”

  “I’m trying to pinpoint the source now. There’s a low level of radiation that may be harmful to humans over prolonged exposure.”

  “I knew coming up here would be a bad idea,” Indi muttered from beside Hierax.

  Abruptly, the light grew more condensed. Instead of brightening the entire bridge, it focused on a single person. Indi.

  Confused, Hierax faced her. What could the scan—or whoever was sending it—want from her? Had it focused on her because she made a snarky comment? If that were a reason for alien interest, Hierax would be scanned all the time.

  Indi stumbled against a console, her arms flung over her face, and her eyes squinted shut. Hierax started to reach for her, but hesitated, wondering if he might be targeted if he interfered.

  Hells, he was in his armor. He reached over and gripped her arm to steady her.

  “It’s tingling,” she yelled, though no noise came with the scan, and nobody was shouting. “I can feel it in my brain. Get it off!”

  The light vanished.

  Indi stumbled again and might have fallen if not for Hierax’s support. She didn’t seem to notice him, though. She shifted both hands to the sides of her head and stared down at the deck as she panted. Whatever she’d felt, it must have been more than intense light.

  “Korta?” Sagitta asked, blinking now in the absence of the light. Even so, he looked toward Indi. He must have been able to see it focusing on her.

  “Yes, sir,” Korta said. “I was able to pinpoint the source of the scan. It came from the city we’re flying toward.”

  “Great,” Zakota muttered from the helm.

  The way he was rubbing his eyes made Hierax a little uneasy. Hopefully, they weren’t close enough to the surface that they needed to worry about flying into things.

  “Is it near the gate-like energy source?” Sagitta asked.

  “Less than two kilometers away from it.”

  “In other words, something or someone knows we’re coming,” Zakota said, looking at Killer.

  Killer smiled and drew his knife. He produced a sharpening stone and started sliding it along the blade.

  “I really don’t think you should look so excited about this,” Zakota said.

  “Someone is likely inaccurate,” Korta said, “as the lack of an atmosphere implies that no signs of life will be found.”

  “What if they’re living underground and have artificial atmosphere?” Dr. Tala asked.

  She’d come to Indi’s side and pulled a handheld medical scanner out of some pocket, unfolded it, and started checking Indi.

  Hierax let go of Indi, sure she’d snap at him if she noticed him touching her.

  “Our sensors would give evidence of underground settlements,” Korta said. “Unless they were shielded somehow.”

  “In other words,” Indi said, sounding irritable as she rubbed the side of her head, jostling her long braids, “we don’t know shit.”

  Sagitta’s lips thinned, but he didn’t contradict her. He was still looking at her, considering her, as if weighing some options.

  “Hierax,” he said, “put together the team, as I said, and do as much study as you can on the way down. But also get your people suited up. I want to get in and out as quickly as possible.”

  “Yes, sir.” Hierax wondered if Dr. Tala had any stimulants in whatever pocket she carried medical tools around in. If he’d known this excitement was coming down the conduit, he would have taken a few naps over on the warship.

  “Doctor,” Sagitta said, “how is she?”

  “Other than elevated heart rate, respiration, and blood pressure, a normal response to being scared shitless, I don’t see anything out of the ordinary.”

  “Good. Hierax, while you’re getting ready, have one of your people fit Miss Indigo with a spacesuit.”

  Indi’s eyes flew open in surprise. Or maybe that was horror.

  “A spacesuit?” she rasped. “Why would I need a spacesuit?”

  “It’s just a hunch,” Sagitta said, “but I believe you may have been chosen.”

  “Chosen for what?”

  “We don’t know yet, but if there’s a chance that something wants to communicate with us, and that it’s chosen you as its conduit for that, we need to be prepared.”

  Indi propped her fists on her hips. “Fir
st off, I’m nobody’s conduit. Second off, if some dead aliens want to talk to me, they can reach me right here on the ship. No way in hell am I going somewhere you can die in three seconds if something happens to your spacesuit. And I’m claustrophobic. I’d probably hyperventilate just putting one on.”

  “Three seconds?” Hierax asked, thinking she was about to hyperventilate right there and needed a laugh. “Nah, you’ve got fifteen seconds, easy. Maybe up to thirty or sixty seconds.”

  The look she shot him could have withered his balls off. Fortunately, it ended quickly, and she went back to trying to wither the captain’s balls.

  “Miss Indi,” Sagitta said, his voice rather reasonable and calm for a man used to barking orders. Even if Indi was a civilian, his tactful tone surprised Hierax. “We’ll simply get you fitted in a suit and teach you how to operate it in the unlikely event that your expertise may prove necessary out there.”

  “Expertise?” Hierax asked, once again at the same time as Indi did.

  She gave him a quick glower.

  “Anyone who recognized the Tioclenian Ordering in some garbled quasi music forced over our comm system has expertise,” Sagitta said, holding her gaze. “Whether Hierax thinks so or not, I believe he will find you an asset to his team. And it behooves you to help us in any way you can. I’m sure you want to see your home world again.”

  Hierax was tempted to say once again that he didn’t need her, especially if he was taking a team down to the surface—she wouldn’t have any experience with spacesuits or know what to do in an emergency out there—but Indi looked so horrified—terrified—at the captain’s words, that Hierax took pity on her. He also found himself slightly intrigued by the idea of the Tioclenian Ordering in music—why hadn’t anyone filled him in on that conversation—and vowed to go over a recording of what he’d missed by being on the Zi’i ship. The ancient Wanderers serenading the Falcon 8. Imagine.

  Indi licked her lips. “I don’t mind helping to figure things out. Of course I want to go home. If I can just stay back here and watch a video feed of what they’re doing…”

  Sagitta looked at Hierax.

  “Sure, we can send a feed back to her,” he said. “To everyone. I assume Korta would prefer to stay at his science station rather than suiting up.”

  “Indeed so,” Korta said. “Alabaster spacesuits are most uncomfortable. My people are not explorers, you know. We’ve never made our own spacesuits. While I appreciate that the Confederation government had something fashioned that would work for me, should an emergency evacuation be required, the entire ensemble is rather unappealing.”

  Hierax thought about pointing out that spacesuits for humans weren’t that appealing, either.

  “Very well,” Sagitta said. “I still want a suit fitted for Miss Indigo, while there’s time to teach her how to use it. Zakota, how long until we can land?”

  “Approximately two hours to the structure with the energy signature, sir. And, uhm, also two hours to whatever scanned us.”

  Indi grimaced.

  “You’ve got plenty of time.” Sagitta nodded to Hierax.

  Not for the nap Hierax had wanted to take. But that had been before he’d learned they were visiting a Wanderer planet. Maybe the Wanderer planet. What if this was the system that their species had originally evolved in? What if it had been next door to the Scyllans for eons, and they had never known? No one had? Did the Zi’i have any idea about what was in this system? Hierax could barely wait to explore.

  Judging by the wide-eyed, horrified expression Indi still wore, she did not feel the same way.

  3

  “My expertise? I’m a database programmer. How could I possibly have expertise that could help with alien planets?” It wasn’t Indi’s first time asking the question, but nobody nearby was listening.

  She lingered by the doorway in engineering while holographic maps floated in the air and young Star Guardians jabbered and pointed at them. They managed to sound extremely nerdy despite being built like linebackers.

  Indi hadn’t spoken directly to the captain before today, and she certainly hadn’t said anything intelligent to him in the words they had exchanged on the bridge. Why was he convinced that she would be useful on some exploratory mission on an alien planet? Because some weird funky light had surrounded her and made her body tingle all over? That seemed like a good reason not to set foot on the planet.

  Maybe she wouldn’t have to. The captain had seemed open to the idea of her watching a video feed from the ship. But he’d also been insistent that she receive a spacesuit.

  Didn’t people have to take classes to learn how to use spacesuits before they were qualified to leave their spaceships? Hell, shouldn’t there have been a class before she even got on a spaceship? Inconsiderate of those slavers not to give them some kind of Red Cross emergency space training before kidnapping them.

  “This big city where we’re heading,” one of the men said, his back to Indi, “is looking very promising. The energy source we’re veering toward looks to be held inside of a large structure. And sensors show several other places that are producing substantial readings. A couple look to be underground, but others are in structures in the city and should be accessible to an away team. If the first spot doesn’t turn into anything useful, we have others to check out.”

  “Korta has shared some possible coordinates,” the other engineer said. “Everything’s built up down there, so it might be a tricky landing. These people must not have believed in arenas or parks. Zakota gets to set down on the equivalent of a warehouse.”

  Indi stuck her hands in her pockets, feeling ignored and lost. Maybe that was for the best. If nobody paid attention to her or found her a spacesuit, she couldn’t leave the ship. Which sounded like an excellent idea. Maybe she should hide in the lavatory until the Star Guardians found what they needed and fixed the gate. Hell, maybe she should stay in the lavatory until the ship got them back to Earth.

  “Indi, right?” came a voice from behind her.

  She turned to face Chief Hierax as he walked up with a big, clunky black suit and helmet in his arms. It matched the suit he still wore.

  “Tell me that’s not for me,” Indi said.

  “I borrowed it from Ensign Thangi. You two look like you’re about the same size, though she’s more—” He flexed his biceps, or at least it appeared that he did. The bulky armor hid his physique.

  “Normally, I would be insulted that you just called me flabby and un-athletic, but right now, I’m mostly hoping that doesn’t fit so I can’t leave the ship.” A few weeks ago, Indi would have been certain she’d be too large to fit into the armor, but she’d lost weight on the Star Guardians’ ridiculous all-meat diet. Still, her breasts, butt, and hips hadn’t gone anywhere. Maybe there was hope.

  He grinned. “I understand completely.”

  She almost fell over. “You do?”

  “Engineers aren’t supposed to leave engineering. I don’t know why the captain doesn’t understand this, but he frequently makes me go on away missions. Do I look like the kind of person who wants to storm a Zi’i warship and fight man-eating aliens in hand-to-hand combat?”

  “Well… you seem as sturdy as the other Star Guardians.”

  Indi didn’t think she had seen him sparring shirtless in the rec room with the other men, but she’d seen him without his armor on before, and he was muscular and fit. Neater and trimmer than a lot of the others, too, those who favored beard scruff, mohawks, pony tails, and those awful man buns. Her ex had worn his long hair back in a bun. She now considered it a perfectly loathsome hairstyle. Hierax was clean-shaven with short black hair that looked like it would curl if he let it grow longer.

  “Thank you for that, but the only reason I don’t wet myself when I have to help board enemy ships is that I’ve blazed up my armor so that it’s amazing. It’s like walking around in a tank.”

  She wasn’t sure if his bluntness was refreshing or a clear example of TMI.

  �
�Which is why I brought you Thangi’s armor instead of a flimsy old spacesuit.” Hierax hefted the suit in his arms. “It’s not as blazed up as mine, of course—nobody else can make and install mods like I can—but it’ll be better than a spacesuit.”

  “You’re not modest, are you?”

  “About what?” He looked blankly at her.

  “Never mind.”

  He set the pieces of armor at her feet. “Do you want help dressing?”

  “I’ve never had a man ask me that before.”

  “Space travel offers new and exciting experiences.”

  “So I’ve seen. I don’t really need to put it on, right? You’re going to go out and send a video feed back for me to sit here and watch, right?”

  “That’s the plan, but you better see if the armor fits, in case you need it. If alien robots invade the ship, it’ll help protect you.”

  Indi eyed the suit. “Is that likely to happen?”

  “I don’t know. It’s my first Wanderer planet.” He patted her on the shoulder. “Holler if you need help.”

  He walked over to say something to the younger engineers, then continued past them to a big workshop area. Tools and handheld devices scattered a table, and he picked one up and bent over something that appeared half-built. He tapped a button, and the alien transmission started playing on the speakers in engineering.

  Indi listened to it while she picked up the suit, which, aside from the helmet, turned out to be a one-piece affair, kind of like a jumpsuit with a bunch of plating attached to the outside. Computerized plating. Several times, she touched spots, and they lit up or beeped. She had no idea what the beeps meant. Probably that she was putting something on backward.

  The armor seemed loose as she stepped into the boots and leggings, but as soon as she settled her feet in, the parts tightened around her. She paused, claustrophobia rearing its head. It wasn’t so tight that she worried about her circulation being cut off, but it snugged up to her like long underwear, and she didn’t care for the sensation.

  “It’s true,” someone blurted from the doorway. “You get to go outside the ship?”