Endurance: The Complete Series Read online

  “I don’t know.”

  “The captain doesn’t understand the operation of his own ship? I also doubt that.”

  “It’s true. And how do you know who I am?”

  “The People of Tone told us everything you said to them.” The Haxozin bounced the translation box in his hand. “And your computer system is not terribly secure. We were able to access a fair amount of your data.”

  “Uh-huh. Then why question me?”

  “We were shut out of the system before we finished. Someone on your crew knows how to combat data thievery. And so far, we have been unsuccessful at opening the ship’s airlock.”

  Thomas thought back to his first time entering the Endurance. “Yeah, that happens sometimes.”

  The Haxozin hit him again. “This is not a game. I want the code that will allow us to access your ship.”

  Thomas spat blood on the floor. “I’m not giving you that. And you have nothing to gain here. You can let me and the rest of the crew leave peacefully. We really don’t have a problem with you.”

  “Anyone who challenges our power is a problem to us. Tell me how the Dirt People came to be able to travel faster than light.”

  The man was awfully interested in that particular topic. Thomas thought for a moment before replying, “Can any other species you’ve encountered travel faster than light?”

  “Very few, and their systems are primitive.”

  “Can the Haxozin?”

  “Of course. The Haxozin can do anything.”

  “Except get through an airlock, apparently.” Thomas expected the next punch and turned his head with it to soften the blow. “Look, I’m guessing you’re worried that we’re some kind of threat to you. We’re really not. We have no interest in encroaching on your territory. So why don’t you just help us fix our ship, let us go, and we’ll all pretend this didn’t happen.”

  “It is too late for that.” The man stalked out of Thomas’s view once more. “The People of Tone have seen you. They have learned that you came from far away. They know we are not the only superior race in existence. We must bring you to heel in order to stop word of this from spreading and undermining our influence.”

  Understanding dawned on Thomas, and with it a chill as he realized how much he was in danger. “You’re running an empire. You’re afraid we accidentally touched off a revolution.”

  The Haxozin growled in answer.

  Thomas’s tone hardened. “If you’re trying to conquer us to prove a point, then you’re out of luck. I’m not giving you any information about my ship, about Earth, or about our species.”

  The chair suddenly tilted out from under him. Thomas found himself falling backward, landing with a crash on the stone floor. His head smacked painfully against the ground as he hit, and he had to fight not to black out again. The Haxozin loomed over him. “There are many ways to die, Captain. Some more painful than others. Shall I enumerate the options to you, or would you like to alter your intentions now?”

  Thomas groaned in pain. “That was a really pretentious sentence. You’re doing the interrogation wrong if the subject can’t understand what you’re saying.”

  The Haxozin snarled and lifted his boot over Thomas’s head. Squeezing his eyes shut, Thomas prepared himself for a broken nose or worse.

  Something made a loud noise, and then the Haxozin toppled over, sprawling on the ground beside the fallen chair.

  Thomas opened his eyes to see Areva standing over him, one of the alien bazooka rifles in her hands. A small spark of residual energy discharged from the barrel and sputtered out in the air. “I like these,” she said. “Can I keep this one?”

  “Huh …?” Thomas managed.

  Areva set the gun down and began undoing the wires binding him to the chair. “I slipped out of sight when those soldiers showed up and started beating on you. Then I snuck up on one of them and took his gun. Then I followed another one in here. We’re in the capitol building’s basement.” Thomas sat up and began rubbing life back into his limbs as she continued. “They have Chris in another room down the hall, but I thought I should get you first. Can I keep the gun?”

  Thomas stared at the enormous hole in the Haxozin’s helmet. “Yes. Yes, you can.”

  “Can we get another one for Viktor? He’d like them. The only energy weapons in his collection are too heavy for practical use.”

  “We’ll talk about it.” He managed to stand up, though the room spun for a moment as he did. “We need to rescue Chris and get out of here.”

  “What about the chrioladium?”

  “We’ll worry about that later. Right now, we need to get away before the Haxozin learn anything else about Earth. That’s the top priority.”

  Areva shrugged and reclaimed the bazooka rifle. “Okay.”

  Thomas led the way down the hall, listening for any sound that they’d been noticed. Fortunately, the basement seemed deserted. Both sides of the hallway consisted of identical doors, presumably leading to identical stone rooms.

  At a door about halfway down the hall, he held up a fist, signaling a halt. Raised voices came from inside.

  “I’m serious. If you don’t tell me who really abducted Elvis and prove that you aren’t responsible for the 2103 Oslo incident, I’m not telling you anything!”

  That was Chris.

  Thomas placed a hand on the door and motioned for Areva to take out the Haxozin soldier once they entered. She nodded and positioned herself for a clean shot.

  He opened the door and jumped aside, pressing his back against the wall next to it.

  The Haxozin looked up and snarled at them.

  Areva didn’t move.

  Thomas waved his hand impatiently. Hurry up and shoot him.

  Areva shook her head. “Sorry, sir. I can’t. He can see me.”

  “What?”

  “He’s looking.”

  “Why would that …” Thomas was interrupted when the enormous form of the Haxozin soldier stormed out of the room and threw itself at Areva. He tackled her to the floor and began trying to wrestle the rifle away from her.

  Thomas shook himself out of his confusion and jumped on the Haxozin’s back, hoping to get an arm around the other man’s neck. Unfortunately, it seemed the Haxozin had been trained for this kind of attack. Instead of trying to pull away, he threw himself backward and pinned Thomas to the floor beneath his superior weight. Though Thomas tried to tighten a stranglehold around his throat, the armored man elbowed him in the ribs and rolled to the side.

  Then Areva shot him.

  As the Haxozin slumped back to the floor, a hole burned in the back of his helmet, Thomas pushed himself back to standing. “What … what was that?”

  “He turned around. He couldn’t see me. So then I could shoot him.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense.”

  “That’s what people keep telling me. It’s just how I work.”

  “He could have killed us!”

  “Hey!” Chris yelled from inside the room. “Can we maybe talk about this later? I’m tied up in here.”

  Thomas reminded himself that they were in the middle of an escape attempt, and that he was supposed to be in charge. “Right. I’ll get him loose. Cover my back, Lieutenant.”

  “Yes, sir,” Areva said, positioning herself in the doorway as Thomas went inside.

  Chris was bound to a chair, too. As Thomas began undoing the wire holding him there, he said, “Captain! I’ve figured it out. The interrogation gave me time to think about it. The People of Tone are the Roswell aliens. I saw the blurry surveillance video from when they came back in 2087, and these are the same guys.”

  “Not now, Sergeant.” He glanced over his shoulder at Areva. “Praphasat …”

  She was nowhere to be seen. He raised his voice as high as he dared. “Praphasat?”

  “Here, sir.” Her voice came from the hallway. “You can’t see me, right?”

  “No, I can’t, but don’t go anywhere. Do you know the way out of here?”


  “Yes, there’s a direct route to the surface. I came down through it.”

  “How well-guarded is it?”

  “Not very. There are only ten Haxozin on the planet. There are a lot of those grey people, though.”

  “The Roswell aliens!” Chris repeated as Thomas finished releasing him.

  “Ten armed enemies,” Thomas said. “How do you know that, Lieutenant?”

  “I asked Echo,” Areva said.

  “You what?” Thomas stormed out into the hallway to face his chief of defensives. “You talked to her?”

  “Sir, I’m trying to hide!”

  “I don’t care. You asked a woman who turned on us in a heartbeat about how many enemies we’re facing? Are you out of your mind?”

  Chris appeared in the door behind him. “Captain, maybe you should take a deep breath …”

  “Quiet, Sergeant.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Areva took a moment to collect her thoughts. “I found Echo back inside the building after the Haxozin took you both down here and started trying to break into the Endurance. She said the Haxozin have ruled her people since she was little, and it had never even occurred to her that anybody could challenge them. Until we showed up.”

  Uh oh, Thomas thought. Maybe they did start a revolution.

  “So she thought she’d give me some information to help us escape.”

  Chris grinned. “We inspired an alien revolt! This is great!”

  Thomas studied Areva’s expression. “Do you trust what she told you?”

  “I can usually tell when someone lies, sir. I think she was telling the truth.”

  Thomas considered how much stock to put in her abilities. On the one hand, she was stationed on the Endurance, she had some strange habits, and there was a distinct possibility that she was missing a few of her marbles.

  On the other hand, she was his chief of defensives—the person in charge of keeping him, his ship, and his crew safe. He was expected to trust her.

  And he didn’t have much choice. The other option was to run without a plan—always a bad decision.

  “Okay,” he said. “Ten enemies total. And you’ve taken out two of them already.”

  “Three, sir. One on the way in.”

  “Three. So seven left. Some of them are working on finding a way into the ship, so that leaves us with four or five armed soldiers between us and the Endurance. Praphasat, did you see where the other Haxozin stashed their bazookas when they came down here?”

  “In a room down the hall. Close to the stairs to the surface.”

  “Great. Lead the way.”

  She hesitated. “If it’s all right, could you lead? So I’m not, you know …”

  Chris nudged Thomas. “She doesn’t like to be seen.”

  “I noticed. Keep your elbows to yourself, Sergeant. All right, I’ll take point. Praphasat, cover our backs and tell me when we reach the door to the armory.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “And if someone approaches from behind and sees you, hand me the gun. Don’t just stand there with it.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  That about covered the contingencies Thomas could think to prepare for, so the group set out down the hall, which proved to be rather lengthy. Most of the doors were closed, but one open door revealed a room of beds, while another led to an area of what looked like exercise equipment. “The Haxozin must have an entire barracks on this planet,” he said.

  “Then why are there only ten of them here?” Chris asked.

  “I don’t know.” Thomas could just see the bottom of the stairs up ahead when voices arose and heavy footfalls approached. “Some of them are coming. Where’s the armory, Praphasat?”

  “There, sir.” Areva pointed to the next door.

  With his back against the wall, Thomas pulled the door open and leaned around the jamb to look inside. The room was the size of a large closet, filled with racks and racks of the bazooka rifles and a few smaller weapons that looked like projectile pistols. “In, quick.”

  Areva and Chris hurried into the room, and Thomas barely managed to duck inside and pull the door closed before the voices finished descending the staircase and passed by outside the armory.

  Since Thomas wasn’t carrying a translator box, he had no idea what the guttural, hissing noises coming from the Haxozin’s mouths meant. He did know that they would notice their two dead allies within a few seconds, and their first impulse would probably be to arm themselves. He picked up one of the rifles from the rack and handed another to Chris. “We’re going to have to make a break for the ship. Praphasat, take point. Sergeant Fish, in the middle. I’ll take the flank. Everyone runs, and whoever gets there opens the airlock and alerts Ivanokoff that we need backup.”

  “Will we have time for that?” asked Chris. “The airlock takes three tries to open.”

  “That’s normal? I thought it was an error.”

  “Yeah. I’m pretty sure that someone at Dispatch rigged it that way as a part of the conspiracy to …”

  “Okay, change of plans. Fish, you run for the ship and alert Ivanokoff. Praphasat and I will cover you.”

  Before anyone else could reply, shouts arose from further down the hall. The bodies had been discovered. “Go, now!” Thomas ordered.

  The three sprinted out of the armory and up the stairs to the ground floor. Thomas inspected his new weapon on the way. The gleaming barrel flowed seamlessly into the stock of the weapon, which had a single-fire trigger and a dial that looked like it might adjust the size of the energy blast. Simple to use, point and shoot. Thomas appreciated that.

  As he reached the top of the stairs, a blast of energy flew past his head and blew a dent in the wall. He whirled to see a pair of Haxozin crouched at the bottom of the stairs, aiming to shoot again. He fired his own bazooka rifle down at them, and a ball of energy about the size of his fist shot out of the barrel and shattered half of the bottom step. The Haxozin sprang back with yells that were probably curses, buying Thomas enough time to follow his two officers down a short, carpeted hallway.

  They finally emerged into a functionally furnished lobby, with a black ceramic tiled floor and tall windows taking up the entire wall around the front entrance. Through the windows Thomas could see the central courtyard, deserted, and the Endurance still parked on the far side of it.

  “Almost there,” he urged his team, turning to keep his eyes on the hallway behind them. “These windows were reflective from the outside, so if there’s anyone waiting out there, they can’t see us. We can sprint out the doors and hopefully make it to the ship before they spot us.”

  “Or you could stop where you are,” said someone up ahead. Thomas recognized the sound of the translation box, and the hisses and grunts of the Haxozin language. “Before I kill this hostage I have here.”

  He froze and heard the other two officers do the same. His heart rate sped up. Underground, at the lunar plaza. Pierre Callahan with a gun in his hand. Loretta Bailey’s tears.

  Thomas fought off the memory and the accompanying wave of nausea. Deep breaths, Thomas. Deep, deep breaths. That was then. This was now.

  Slowly he turned around to take in the situation.

  One of the Haxozin stood on the opposite side of the lobby. His dark red armor bore a line of silver diagonally across the chest, marking him as Somebody Important. One of the translation boxes sat on the floor at his feet. He carried another of the bazooka rifles, its muzzle pointed at the bound form of Echo, kneeling on the ground beside him. Her antennae drooped over her face, but her alien features showed the frozen terror of someone who knows they are about to die. Areva and Chris took a few steps back to stand behind Thomas, clearly expecting him to take the lead.

  The Haxozin spoke. “It seems this Tone-person has betrayed her masters. Obviously we have grown lax without anyone to challenge us. I think it’s good that you Dirt People came along. It will remind us how we need to treat those we rule.”

  “Who are you su
pposed to be?” Thomas asked.

  “My name is Nervik. I am the tribute collector for this area of our territory.”

  “Good for you.” Thomas raised his rifle to target Nervik’s chest. “Let her go.”

  “You can shoot me if you dare, Dirt-Person. But I warn you that killing a Haxozin collector who is in the middle of performing his duties will be taken as an act of sabotage against our sovereignty, and an attempt to seize what is our rightful territory. It may lead us to declare war on your people.”

  “The interrogator seemed to think you were already declaring war on us. He’s dead, by the way, so you’re a little late with your warning.”

  “He doesn’t matter. I can write that death off as a misunderstanding. And he was presumptuous in his threats. Our problem, for the moment, is not with your world, but with you. So here is what I propose. The three of you lay down your weapons and surrender. I spare this woman’s life in exchange for yours, and we let the rest of your ship return to your Dirt planet. We will tell the People of Tone that we have beaten you in battle, and that you ran. This will prevent them from doing something ridiculous and rash.”

  “I think you need more damage control than that, Nerv. It’s never that simple to stop a revolution.”

  “Perhaps not. Your choice, however, is simple. Either you die, or she dies. And then you die anyway.” He laughed—a harsh, grating sound. “Or you fire on me, and we declare war on your people. It’s your choice.”

  Obviously surrendering wasn’t an option, even if Thomas thought the Haxozin really would allow the Endurance to leave. He didn’t think he could incapacitate Nervik—a shot to the leg might not penetrate the armor, and it would leave him with plenty of opportunity to execute Echo if it failed. And something in the way these people carried themselves told him that Nervik’s threat about declaring war on Earth was not idly made.

  Of course, they could run for the ship. With Nervik’s attention on Echo, they could make it to the courtyard, and with so much open space, he probably wouldn’t be able to shoot them accurately. Once aboard, they could find an out-of-the-way area to dig up the chrioladium, or perhaps find it on one of the other planets. The strategy would cost Echo her life, but it would save the three of them, as well as keep the Haxozin away from Earth.