The Line of the Sol Empress

Chapter 27.3

"Are you afraid I might scratch the paint?"

"No. I am afraid of having my body parts scattered across a smoldering crater."

"It's not a problem." He shrugged. "How hard could it be?"

*****

"That was probably the worst landing ever," Hope fumed. "I thought you said it would be no problem."

She gazed back at the wrecked starship. The long rounded gray body listed to one side with the nose half buried in a sand dune alongside a red rock outcropping. A long trench in the rocky ground trailed behind the Corsair, littered with external pieces of the vessel. A lazy wisp of dark smoke rose from the wreckage.

Shimmering waves of heat lifted from the dry land. To the west, a vortex of dust staggered its way across the flats like a drunkard. Sparse vegetation, mainly low thorny scrubs and dry grasses, struggled to grow in the cracked russet soil. To the east, the flats gave way to rocky hills and a steep-sided dry gorge. A metal suspension bridge that crossed the deep canyon led onward to the brown earthen walls of Oran.

Gabriel threw his hands up. "Hey, we walked away from it, didn't we? How was I to know a fusion reactor would fail? I thought I did good just to keep us alive."

"Yeah, well one of my first official acts as Empress might be to ban you from ever piloting a starship again."

"You can't." Gabriel grinned. "As the Empress' brother, I have full immunity."

"It doesn't work that--" Billowing dust clouds in the distance caught Hope's eye. "Someone is coming."

"Maybe they will help us," Gabriel said, then drew his lips tight. "But seeing how this trip is going, maybe not." He turned toward his sister and handed her the pulse pistol from his holster. "Hide the gun and be ready, just in case." Hope stuffed it behind her back in the blue scarf that wrapped around her waist.

Four hover cycles skimmed side by side across the plains, suspended above the ground with four fans each, swirling dust in their wakes. When the cycles arrived, they settled to the ground in a semi-circle around the siblings. Four men dismounted, wearing tattered dusty clothes. Wrappings covered their mouths, and goggles their eyes, concealing much of their dark faces. Two black-haired women remained behind, straddling the cycle seats and wearing similar garb. Most concerning to Hope, however, were the weapons the men carried, two with old style projectile guns and two with more modern pulse rifles.

Gabriel stepped forward with one hand up in greeting. "Hello, would you help us?"

The men did not answer, instead one lifted a hand-held device and scanned Gabriel. He shook his head to a companion, who then snapped a rifle up and fired, sending a stun pulse at Gabriel's gut. Hope gasped as spasms overtook her brother and he crumpled to the ground.

"Gab!" she shouted, stepping toward him. But then she stopped as a projectile handgun appeared, pointing at her head. The man holding the weapon lowered the wrap covering his mouth, revealing a malicious smile with cracked and yellowed teeth. He came forward, his eyes regarding her.

Hope narrowed her eyes. You shall not threaten us.

In a practiced flash of motion, Hope grabbed the man's wrist, pushing up and away. The gun went off with a sharp crack, but shot above her shoulder. Spinning closer, she drove an elbow into the man's throat. Gasping for breath, he bent over. An uppercut punch sent him to the ground.

The three other men stood like statues, apparently stunned by her violent action. Hope jumped to the side while pulling the pulse pistol from behind her back. She fired, striking another man in the chest with a stun pulse. Her next shot missed as the two remaining men scurried back.

Sprinting, Hope dove behind a large red boulder just as a plasma bolt blasted against its face. Two more blasts came, pelting her with bits of shattered rock.

Hope's ears tracked the whir of fans as one of the hover cycles circled around the wrecked starship, attempting to flank her. Ducking down, she dashed behind the cover of the rock outcropping toward the sound. This is my chance.

On the hover cycle, one of the women came into view, holding up a projectile gun. Hope was ready and fired first. The pulse threw the woman off the back of the machine. Heart racing, Hope sprinted to the cycle and jumped on. Shoving the throttle forward, she spun around in circles, kicking clouds of dust into the air to cover her escape.

Speeding away, she glanced back to her brother's slumped form. I'm coming back for you, Gab. I promise!

One man rose and shouldered his pulse rifle, firing, while the other ran back to his cycle. Plasma bolts streaked by Hope, left and right, bursting against the ground in flashes of orange and dust as she raced ahead in a zig-zag path. With jagged rocks looming below the steep canyon edge, she turned sharply toward the bridge. If I can just make it across.

Hope screamed at a searing hot pain originating from her left leg. Then spinning, falling, tumbling over the canyon edge. A sharp hit took away her breath and dizzied her mind. Then another. More tumbling. Another hard hit. Pain. Then darkness.