Chapter 20 #3
“We are,” I agreed, and halted. “We need to say goodbye to Taktak and his males. Any closer to the landing strip, and the Kertinal will start getting antsy. We don’t want them to come to any harm.
” I had to assume the landing strip’s protective measures had already detected our approach, including our unusual escort.
They would assume Taktak’s group was a scouting party in preparation for an attack on the strip.
After all, Taktak’s people were supposedly still rebelling against being forcibly annexed into the Kertinal Empire.
Dani knew as well as I did that, even if the Kertinal Empire was not all bad, they were warmongers, expansionists.
Set on claiming this planet, they would be, and no amount of rebellion would stop them.
The only question was how many casualties they would cause before all was said and done…
I did not want Taktak and his people to be casualties of this claim, but I did not know how to warn them, either—not with a language barrier between us that we didn’t know how to breach.
“Okay,” she said with a decisive nod, and she called out to Taktak.
I left the communicating with hands and expressions to her, focusing instead on keeping a sharp eye on our surroundings.
With a little fuss, she managed to convey that we needed to travel the last bit alone, and then it was time for goodbyes.
Or rather, farewell, because I doubted we’d ever see any of these giants again after this.
That did not bother me, but I could tell that Dani was feeling sad about saying goodbye to Taktak.
He’d been a shadow in her mind, his feelings out in the open for her gift, for several days now.
I wasn’t quite sure what that did to someone, but I imagined she might feel like she knew him well.
Taktak seemed less sentimental about it, his sharp tail waving at us as he and his friends melted back into the jungle.
It didn’t take them very long to vanish from sight, despite their massive sizes.
“Gone or watching?” I asked Dani, and she grinned, which meant she was pleased I trusted her abilities on this.
“Watching, definitely watching. I wonder how they do it, hide so well…” Not a puzzle I was going to spend any time on, but one she could think about to her heart’s content as we trekked the final two miles to the strip and our extraction point.
I was very happy to return to the Varakartoom at last, to get Dani behind metal walls no Crimelord would be able to penetrate.
Into my domain—perhaps into my sleeping tank—so I could show her what mating in the water was like with a Rummicaron.
The jungle ended in a clean line, a swath cut from it several miles wide in every direction.
At the center, the landing strip lay on a flat hillside for a little elevation, surrounded by fences and watchtowers at intervals.
Several smaller military vessels and supplies had landed, and one was just about to take off.
I scanned the area for a shuttle from the Varakartoom, black and distinct, it should have been easily recognizable.
“Our ride isn’t there,” I had to conclude after a moment.
That was, with impeccable timing, when Mitnick chose to call my comm.
“Jaxin, I see you’re almost there. Good.
” He spoke without any greeting, rushing to explain the situation.
“We got clearance to pick you up, but they’re not allowing our shuttle to land for some reason.
Aramon is pissed, as you can imagine. They’re going to ferry you guys up themselves.
Got that? There should be an escort waiting for you at the gate. ”
That… wasn’t ideal. I didn’t like having to trust someone other than my own crew with our extraction from the planet.
It still bothered me that Dani’s entire Kertinal protection detail at her research facility had been replaced by mercenaries hired by a crimelord to get her.
How did I know we could trust this new escort?
Then again, what was the likelihood of that kind of corruption at an actual military base?
The security here would be much stricter, even if this base seemed fairly low-staffed to my trained eye.
“Listen, Mitnick, are there any strange ships in orbit? Dani thinks it’s the Crimelord Koratalin that’s after her research.
Any sign of more hostiles? Did you manage to track the mercenaries that chased us the other day?
” I wouldn’t feel easy unless I knew where they were.
They could be lying in wait right now, knowing we were headed for this location, the one place where we could leave the planet.
This could all be one big trap, and the possibility made me extremely uneasy.
Mitnick didn’t get a chance to answer. Asmoded took control of the conversation smoothly, his cool, confident tone laying my worries to rest. “Mitnick tracked them to the landing strip, but they were escorted by a Kertinal vessel off-planet, and then out of the solar system. You should be in the clear. They’re very anxious to get us out of their horns, too, so you better hurry.
” I checked the landing strip visually, as if that could confirm the captain’s story.
It was a fairly empty base, with only a handful of vessels and not many places to hide.
“Right, yeah, hurry, Jaxin. They’re about to stage some kind of massive attack they don’t want us to witness—probably brutally smash any resistance from the locals.
Harper has been begging me to plant drones to film it all so she can expose any atrocities…
” Mitnick cut in like he had every right to interrupt the captain, and I could hear Asmoded’s impatient hiss.
If not for the gloomy words the hacker had spoken, I might have slapped him down, verbally, for it myself.
Dani’s shocked gasp was much more pressing, though, her eyes wide and anxious.
“We’re on our way, one mile out.” The call ended, and I hurried to tuck my mate under my arm.
“Sorry, little one. There’s nothing we can do about that.
Let’s hope Taktak and his people have nothing to do with this uprising and are safely hiding out in their hidden city.
I think that perhaps the Kertinal don’t know about its location, or they wouldn’t have built this strip so close to it.
” It was a cold comfort, but the only one I could offer.
After all, we both knew that Taktak was a warrior through and through, and a leader to his people.
There was no telling if they were part of a rebellion against the Kertinal Empire or not.
Standing at the edge of the cleared area, we had been noticed by the watchtowers.
A gate was opened, and a small glider was headed our way—not your typical civilian model, but one with an open cargo bed and a mounted laser cannon, manned by one determined Kertinal soldier.
Bex would make short work of the vehicle, but I didn’t think we’d make any friends doing that.
I slung her to my back instead, assuring the approaching vehicle that we were no threat. “Come, let’s greet our ride home.”