Tundra, Megalodon City, Standard Year 404 after founding

  Tony set a fast pace, ignoring the twinge of pain in his leg as he walked down crowded, windowless corridors. The space was dimly lit by the now familiar warm orange lights, wide enough for eight to ten people to walk side by side. Alanna looked up at the darkened ceiling, quite close over her head. If she stretched out her hand and jumped up high enough, she thought she might be able to touch it. Of course, it would be easier to keep the space warm with the lower ceilings. It would have felt like a space station if it weren’t for the shops that lined both sides of the corridor, each more brightly lit than the next, drawing in passersby as they traversed the dim, windowless space.

  Alanna struggled to keep up in the unfamiliar crowd. It was her first time seeing Tundran civilians. Teenagers walked by arm in arm, laughing raucously at some inside joke. An exasperated looking woman was herding a group of children through the crowd, grabbing at a small boy who seemed determined run off. An elderly man patiently led two toddlers, likely twins, letting them set their own slow pace through the faster moving crowd. Focusing on Tony’s back to keep up, she was startled when a small body slammed into her, looking down to find a girl of perhaps five staring up at her through huge brown eyes.

  “Sorry miss.” The girl frowned, continuing to stare up. Alanna blinked when she realized that the little girl was trying to salute.

  “Sorry, lieutenant commander.” An older girl, likely the sister, said sheepishly as she grabbed the young child. She was about to turn away when she paused, giving Alanna a second glance, clearly on the verge of recognition.

  Alanna took a step back, inevitably bumping into someone behind her in the crowded space.

  “Let’s go.” Tony said sharply, slowing down to give her a chance to catch up.

  The crowd continued to flow around her as she sped her steps further to keep up, the little girl and her sister long gone. Alanna lowered her face to avoid anyone making out her features. Finally, the crowd thinned out slightly and she made out a set of elevator banks in front of them.

  Tony seemed to head for a specific one, scanning something on his wrist comm and walking through the elevator doors that opened up a moment later. The buttons went up to sixty, Alanna noted. She expected someone in the crowd to follow them in, but no one did. The doors closed, and they were suddenly alone. She took an instinctive step back, until her back was pressed against the back corner of the elevator.

  Tony looked at her glumly. “You gonna to keep doing that?” He asked.

  “Doing what?”

  He shook his head, waiting in silence until they reached the twenty third floor and walked out across the narrow hallway towards the door to his apartment. He unlocked the heavy door off the hallway and walked in. To Alanna’s surprise, there was no apartment on the other side of the door. They walked past neglected garden beds on either side of a narrow stone walkway, leading up to three sets of glass doors, beyond which a glimpse of sunlight could be seen. The garden beds were mostly soil with a few straggling green plants of unknown origin, dimly illuminated by the built in sunlamps, clearly set to low. “We’re supposed to be able to grow our own food here, but I never bother.” Tony said somewhat absentmindedly, opening the middle set of glass doors and gesturing for Alanna to come inside.

  Alanna glanced around. They entered an entryway hallway lined with deep shelves on either side. Camping equipment reminiscent of what James brought for her sat on one side, an armory of guns and knives occupied the other. Including ammo. Alanna’s eyes lit up.

  “Just take it.” Tony said with a sigh, before heading into his bedroom to pack. Captain Arden had implied she was fine with Alanna getting a loaded gun. And preventing her from getting ammo on a military vessel would be a full time job all on its own. He had other priorities.

  Alanna took the fully loaded magazine and stared momentarily into the barrel of her own gun. It was oddly anticlimactic. She couldn’t think of anyone to shoot to fix her current predicament. Her eyes fell on the knives and she barely hesitated before taking two. After all, Tony had extras. Newly armed and feeling far more cheerful, Alanna followed into the next room, automatically pressing her back against the wall as she entered. The room itself was small by Sarayan standards. A large bed occupied the bulk of the space, flanked by two nightstands. A set of closet doors stood open in front of her and the glass doors opening up to the garden stood on her left, capturing some of the light from the oversized window on the other side of the room. The window took up the entire exterior wall, maximizing the dim, gray daylight. It was snowing hard, the snow creating a steady thrum of sound as it beat against the glass. Sporadic flashes of green lightning pierced the gray gloom as echoes of thunder rumbled in the distance, shaking the walls of the oversized building. She finally got to see her first Tundran storm, and the force and violence of it was everything she had imagined and more. For some reason, it left her feeling even more alone. Perhaps on a different day she would have seen the city beyond. Today, all she could see was the storm. “I took two knives.” She announced, glancing warily at Tony as he walked around the bed towards the closet.

  “Of course you did.” Tony said. “Your manners are impeccable.”

  “It’s not theft if I tell you.”

  “Yes, it is.” Tony said. “It’s not theft if I give you permission.”

  “So? Can I take the knives?”

  Tony just shook his head. Dropping the duffel bag onto his bed, he opened the closet and began throwing his recently unpacked uniforms back in. “We don’t have much time.” He said. “And no one is giving you your own wrist comm. You can use mine to access your email, or you can deal with Captain Arden. Your call.”

  “I trust you more than Captain Arden.” Alanna said with some reluctance, catching the wrist comm he tossed in her general direction and reluctantly setting up her email, including access credentials.

  “Are you in?” Tonys asked, watching her from across the bed. “Or are you just going through the motions so you don’t get taken out back and shot?”

  Alanna looked up. “I took the oath.” She said.

  “You took the other oath.” He couldn’t help pointing out.

  Alanna nodded. That one wasn’t going to get old for a long time. “I told Captain Arden I would try to save Sarayan lives if I could.” She admitted.

  “At the expense of Tundran lives?” Tony asked sharply.

  “No.” Alanna shook her head, meeting Tony’s eyes. “Our lives come first. Always. I know the rules as well as you do.”

  Tony nodded. In the end, James made the call. “Is it going to bounce against Saraya’s servers?” He asked, changing the subject. “Might time out before you even log in.”

  Alanna shook her head. “Last I checked, Titan’s servers were still up. It’s what I used on D12. Saraya was already too far. Tundrans” she paused “we never destroyed them.” She waited quietly, trying to calculate how long it would take for her signal to reach Titan. “And they’re up. I just logged in.”

  “The captain will want to know what you’re writing.”

  Alanna nodded, reading her text as she typed. “Not secure. Need info. Help if you can. Proof of life before details. 500K Sarayan finder’s fee.”

  Tony frowned. “What’s with the proof of life?”

  “Need to know who I’m talking to.” Alanna said shortly.

  Tony shook his head. “I don’t like it.” He said. “Sooner or later, we’ll have to tell them what we need. And if they betray us, the Sarayans will know we’re coming.”

  “He won’t betray us.”

  “If he does, you’re dead.” Tony said bluntly.

  “I know. This is the best idea I’ve got. The only idea I’ve got. It’s an impossible mission, Tony. We both know we’re being set up to fail.”

  “We’re the Tundran military. We do the impossible.”

  “Yeah well, I’ve been in the Tundran military all of ten minutes. I’m aiming to achieve the somewhat probable, at best.”

  “Aiming low is a dangerous business.” Tony said with a slight grin in her direction.

  Alanna shrugged noncommittally. “James will be pissed if I get you all killed. I’ll do my best.”

  “Reassuring.” Tony said. “How long do you think it’ll take him to respond?”

  “What time is it in on Saraya?”

  “Around 7pm.”

  “He’ll be busy. Might take him a while.”

  “What is it exactly this guy does?” Tony asked.

  Alanna ignored the question, backing up further as he grabbed his bag and headed towards the door.

  Tony paused, staring at her across the short distance. “Nothing happened.” He said abruptly. “You do realize that?”

  Alanna took another step back, creating further distance between them. “I don’t know what happened. I passed out.”

  “You passed out from the same damn stun round that hit me.” Tony said in exasperation.

  “No.” Alanna shook her head, frowning. Her memories were vague, and it still made her head ache to think about it, but she was fairly certain… “I passed out when you slammed my head against the wall.” She said, voicing her thoughts.

  “I got shot in the back. It happened right after I hit you. Someone waited until it was a clean shot, by the book. Doing the math, Phil was the only one left. He’s not your biggest fan, but he did his job. Because rape” he paused “there aren’t any regs on rape. We look the other way. But killing prisoners without an order of execution, that’s violating all sorts of regs.” He paused again. “I fucked up. We both know it. Killing you wasn’t my mission objective. I saw the fork coming for my eye and I overreacted. That’s on me and I’m doing my best to make up for my mistake. But nothing else happened. I swear it.”

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “Fine.” Alanna shrugged. “Great. Is that what you wanted to say to me? Good to know. What more do you want?”

  “I want you to stop doing…”

  Alanna flinched as he stepped closer.

  “Stop doing that, dammit!”

  “I don’t think I can.” She admitted.

  “Fine.” Tony sighed in grim exasperation. “Fine. How long do you think it’s gonna take you to get over it? Because if we all live through this, James will notice.”

  “Um. I’d guess longer than a few days.”

  “Fine.” Tony repeated. “It is what it is. And it’s not your fault.” He added, stepping out of the bedroom and heading back out, duffel bag in hand. “Was there anything else you wanted to ask me, before we head out?”

  “Nothing from James?” Alanna asked reluctantly.

  “Nothing.” Tony shook his head.

  “Is that all?” She asked. “I mean, was this the only reason you asked me to come up?

  “Yeah, that and to tell you not to screw up. Let me watch your back. I’ll worry about the Tundrans. You watch the Sarayans. You’re wearing our uniform now, and Sarayans shoot to kill.”

  Alanna nodded. On the off chance she survived the Sarayans on this mission, she thought there was a good chance one of the Tundrans had been instructed to take her out. But Tony was right, the Sarayans were dangerous enough. If she tried to split her attention in battle, she would only die sooner.

  “Did you really almost fail hand to hand combat?” Tony asked her as they headed back towards the elevator.

  Alanna gritted her teeth. “Yes.” She said.

  “Had a problem with the teacher or something?”

  “Or something.” Alanna muttered, following Tony through the elevator doors.

  “You’re really not very good, are you?” He said as they stared at the closed elevator doors.

  “I don’t like being hit.”

  “You know how you avoid being hit?”

  “You’re going to say something really clever like ‘by getting better at hand to hand’, aren’t you?”

  “Yeah, yeah I was.”

  “Don’t do that.”

  Tony shook his head, looking down as his wrist comm buzzed softly.

  “What is it?” Alanna asked, trying to hide her nerves. There were far too many things that could go wrong with her life just then.

  Tony raised an eyebrow slightly, looking back over at her across the small elevator. “Your contact says he’s in.” He said.

  “What did he say exactly?” Alanna asked. There was always a chance someone took over Jonno’s account.

  “He said. ‘I’m in. Tell me what you need.’ ” Tony paused, a surprisingly smug grin spreading across his face as he looked back up at her. “He says he wants it in Tundran credits. Because you know how he likes to hedge his bets.’ ”

  “He said that?”

  “He did.” Tony frowned. “Where’s the proof of life?”

  “That was it.”

  “Was it?”

  “He likes to hedge his bets.” Alanna smiled. A big, broad smile that reached all the way to her eyes. Jonno was alive. And he was looking out for her. Like always.

  “And your proof of life? Sooner or later, he’ll ask.”

  Alanna shrugged. “Green is my favorite color.” She said.

  “Just how well do you know this guy?” Tony asked, new suspicion lacing his voice.

  “Well enough.”

  “Well enough that James won’t like it?” Tony asked pointedly.

  Alanna shook her head. “Well enough to trust him with our lives.” She said, heading out the opened elevator door and back towards their vehicle. She blinked away the sudden, unexpected moisture from her eyes. Jonno wanted Tundran credits. He had seen the tape. He knew she was a traitor. Her government might have thrown her away, but her family hadn’t. Her brother still loved her. She kept walking, ignoring the sharp look she knew Tony was sending her way.

  “Do I take this to mean you’re not going to run?” Tony called out after her. “Because if you are, now would be the time.”

  Alanna glanced back. So, there was at least one other reason he had invited her to come with him to pack. “Whatever am I going to do with all this rope you all keep handing me?” She said with a laugh. “It’s getting awkward.”

  Tony grinned back. “Last chance to hang yourself without taking others with you.” He said unapologetically. “Going once, going twice…”

  “I’m good.” Alanna said firmly, leading the way through the crowd back towards their vehicle.

  ---

  Without another word, Tony walked up to their ground vehicle, grabbed Alanna’s bag along with his own and threw both in the back before settling into his seat. He didn’t bother glancing back, clearly assuming Alanna would follow on her own.

  “And then you asked for proof of his life?” Captain Arden asked a few minutes later, following Tony’s update.

  “Yes, captain.” Alanna confirmed.

  “And you believe that his response is adequate.” Captain Arden stated flatly.

  “I do.”

  “If we make our request and this information gets leaked to the Sarayan government, Captain Bernhard will know we are coming.” The captain pointed out the obvious, quite calmly.

  “Yes.” Alanna nodded. They all knew that risk was unavoidable if they chose to follow the plan Alanna laid out.

  “And what is your recommendation?” Captain Arden asked politely.

  More rope, Alanna thought with a slight smile. She glanced over at Tony and saw him grinning back. “I recommend we ask.” She said firmly.

  “Then go ahead.” Captain Arden nodded to Tony before settling back in her seat.

  “We need the names of Captain Bernard Bernhard’s crew.” Alanna said, turning towards Tony. “Personal emails if you can get them.”

  “That’s it?” Tony asked, typing it out as he spoke.

  “That’s it.” Alanna said, turning her eyes back to the window.

  Silence descended over the car as they all looked out, thinking their own thoughts and sending out final messages before heading on towards the ship.

  “Well.” Sean spoke into the silence. “I’m gonna ask what I know we’re all thinking.”

  “Please don’t.” Tony said, looking up.

  “Just how good is James Hawk in the sack? Take your time Alanna, I wouldn’t want you to leave anything out.”

  “I heard he’s good.” Gregory spoke up helpfully, a crooked grin spreading across his face.

  “I hope he’s good.” Sean called out cheerfully from the driver’s seat. “You do realize, our lives may depend on…”

  “Maybe his friend has some insight.” Alanna said sourly, glaring over at Tony.

  Tony glanced out the window. In his mind, he suddenly found himself on the shuttle transport about to board a Sarayan military base, knowing with perfect clarity that if Alanna betrayed them, an ambush would be waiting. “Hell Alanna, I’m just sitting here hoping he’s the best we’ve got.”

  Alanna looked over at Captain Arden, but the captain’s face was as unreadable as ever.

  “He responded.” Tony said suddenly, interrupting whatever else might have been said. “Alanna, your contact says he’ll have the names for us by tomorrow.”

  Alanna breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Even with the best of intentions, there was no guarantee Jonno would have what they were asking. His latest message meant he thought there was at least a way to get the information. It was one small step in the right direction.

  Captain Arden nodded, her face expressionless as she turned back towards the road.

  Once again, the ice tunnel curved, and Alanna thought she recognized the shape of the road surrounding the spaceport. It was the same road they had taken after landing on Tundra, not so many days ago. Back then, she had seen the towers rising up towards the sky as they circled the spaceport. Deeper into the winter, there was only the tunnel road, interspersed with exits of dark concrete. The tunnel exits led to the towers, Alanna realized. Everything she had seen on the way in was now covered by snow and ice. In the winter, the towers must be the only way to get to the surface. They passed through a security checkpoint. Sean flashed his ID, but the guards didn’t check who else was in the car. Alanna breathed out quietly. Uniform or not, she certainly had no ID to evidence her recent promotion.

  A few moments later, Sean pulled into a marked parking spot with perfect precision. “Let’s go.” He said, jumping out of the vehicle and heading towards the back to get his bag.

  Alanna hesitated just for a second before following everyone out. As she had expected, even in the enclosed underground space, the cold hit her like a wall. She picked up her suitcase with stiff fingers and followed them out, speeding up her steps to keep up. The fast pace helped, keeping her warm against the chill. She stood up slightly straighter in her uniform. It was just cold, after all. She could handle cold. She raised an eyebrow in response to the suspicious glare Sean was shooting her way. “Lovely weather you all are having this time of year.” She said.

  “We all.” Sean corrected her.

  A few minutes later, they walked into one of the towers. As Alanna had suspected, the towers housed more elevators. Feeling slightly less blasé about her position, she glanced back at Tony as the temperature in the elevator continued to drop. They headed upwards, towards what she had to assume was the exposed surface of the planet. Her information was admittedly imperfect but based on what she had read back on Saraya, she was quite certain that unprotected exposure to the surface of Tundra during the winter season, in the midst of a Tundran storm, would kill her nearly immediately. Maybe all they had to do to get rid of her, was give her a push out the elevator. Oops, the stupid Sarayan fell into the snow and died. Honest mistake. Tony raised an eyebrow in response to the semi panicked look she was shooting his way. If there was danger here, he didn’t seem aware of it. Alanna pressed her teeth together to keep them from chattering as she started to shiver. The elevator doors opened.

  To her relief, it was a blast of warmer air that greeted her, and they walked directly into the somewhat familiar interior of a Tundran military air shuttle. The shuttle was already about halfway full and she heard the tail end of quiet chatter, fading into silence as she walked in. Alanna followed Tony’s lead, placing her bag into an overhead compartment next to his. She was about to sit down next to him when Captain Arden walked up behind her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

  “It’s my honor to introduce you all to our new lieutenant commander, Alanna Summers.” Captain Arden’s voice rang out, not exactly loud but spoken with perfect clarity that carried to every corner of the shuttle. “Alanna.” She said more softly into her ear. “Once everyone is here, you should say a few words to the crew.”

  Alanna sat ramrod straight in her seat next to Tony, sensing the captain’s presence one seat behind her. The shuttle swayed under them as the brutal winds of the Tundran storm hit from all sides. The sound of snow and ice hitting the exterior drowned out some of the chatter but she sensed the change in tone, as the voices around her grew quieter yet more intense, just outside of her hearing range. She didn’t actually hear anyone say the words Sarayan traitor. But then, she didn’t need to hear them to know what was being said.

  “You need their trust, if you can get it.” Tony said softly into her ear. “The captain will give you a chance but the rest you’ll need to do on your own.”

  “I don’t even have your trust.” Alanna hissed back under her breath.

  “You have some.” Tony said with a shrug. “Do your best.”

  Alanna nodded. Everything about this damn mission was impossible. But she was going to do her best. To win. James said ‘win’. Of course, he may have been limited to three letter words to keep signal length to a minimum. And what else was he going to say? ‘You’re screwed’? That was more than three letters. Alanna turned around at the sound of Captain Arden’s soft voice behind her.

  “They’re all here.” Captain Arden said.

  Right. Alanna stood up. She couldn’t emulate the sound of Captain Arden’s voice and she didn’t try. She simply spoke loudly enough to be heard. “Hi.” She said. “You all know me. I’m the Sarayan traitor.” She paused. “I took the Tundran military oath. But then, I took the Sarayan one, too. So why trust me? Well, two reasons. First, I want to live.” Alanna paused, hearing the words and suddenly feeling renewed conviction in what she was saying. “I want to live.” She repeated, louder. “And you’re all going to kill me if I screw up. So there’s that. And second.” She paused, standing up straighter. Because there was a right answer here, for the people who admired President Hawk, in spite of his selfishness, corruption, and history of insubordination. For the people who admired victory and strength, above all else. There was a right answer, and she was going to give it. “Second, I want to win.” She smiled brighter now, her voice sounding more confident in her own ears. “You want to hate me for Titan? Go ahead. I was there. I was one of the forty three. I told them to take the ship. And the Sarayans won. You want to question what I did on D12? Go ahead. I surrendered. But what I wanted, above all else, was to send the civilian crew home alive. And we did. And you know what I want most of all today?” She ignored the mutters echoing in the background, trying not to notice a few stray mentions of James Hawk amidst barks of laughter “What I want.” She said, raising her voice to drown them out. “Is Captain Bernard Bernhard’s head on a pike!”

  “Win.” Tony said from his seat next to her, letting his voice carry across the shuttle.

  Alanna sat back down, taken aback as Tony’s call was echoed by others across the shuttle.

  “Win. Win. Win!”

  “Pike!” Someone else called out. Someone else picked up the rallying cry, until the words echoed all through the shuttle. “Pike! Pike! Pike!”

  “Oh god.” Alanna muttered under her breath.

  “Do we need to requisition a pike?” Gregory asked, turning back towards Alanna from his seat one row in front of her.

  “Oh, I’m sure we’ll figure something out.” Captain Arden responded, her tone as neutral as ever.

  “Well done, lieutenant commander.” Tony said quietly next to her.