UNTAI
Dawn approached on the planet Untai. Chirps and calls announced the new day. All its wildlife bustled about, oblivious to what was about to transpire. Above the clouds circling the mountain, the sky flickered. White light flashed in Untaiâs orbit, and out of it spilled starships locked in battle: the Sacramento and a group of freighters.
As the white light faded, the horizon of the lush planet below the Sacramento came into view before Garett Soness. âPembrail, what the hell happened!?â
Jack Pembrail shook his head. âWhat I was sayingâŚisâŚwasâŚthe Pluto event left behind a signature, a footprint. One I had been misreading it. The whole scientific community had misread it. It was so obvious, but without a point of origin it was dismissed. That radiation⌠the anomaly had all the characteristics of a wormhole.â
Terik Donato flexed his fingers. âSo where the hell are we?â
âI couldnât say. Wormholes could theoretically connect to anywhere. We could be on the other side of the galaxy.â
âWhat?! Bullshit.â Terik walked up behind Hamp. âWhoâs got an ID on the planet?â
âNo match found in our database,â Hamp shifted her attention to a different screen. âBut whatever itâs called, weâre drifting towards it! Weâll enter the planetâs gravity in three minutes.â
Terik turned to Garett. âPlease tell me the whole unsalvageable engines thing is just a front. Right?â
Garett leaned over Wintersâ console. âAll hands evacuate! Get to the escape pods!â
Hampâs console started beeping. âSir! Thereâs an unidentified ship coming into range. Bigger than the Sacramento, sir.â
âClassification?â
Hamp shook her head. âUnknown, sir.â
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Jonus Kaynic stood up out of the Mareveâs captainâs chair. âSomeone, report!â
Jason Volbell kept refreshing his screen. âWeâve passed through what⌠appeared to be⌠a vortex of some sort. Charts have failed. I have no clue where we are!â
He didnât just say vortex, did he? Kaynic thought. Volbellâs just razzled again. âWeâll worry about that later. We need to take advantage of the distraction. Target the SacramentoâŚâ
âSir, a very large ship is entering the area,â Jai Wanner shouted. âAnd sheâs locking on!â
âEvasive!â
âKaynic, the unidentified ship has shot down eight of the TSAFâs fighters andâŚâ
âAnd what, Wanner?â
âThe Bipeek, the Akron and the Claremont. Weâre all thatâs left.â
âThen hit it with everything we got!â
The Mareve closed in on the alien ship while evading its barrage of lasers, but the anarchists watched as their armaments caused no damage to their opponent.
Shouldâve stole a Lubican Sapri. As Kaynic lamented, a green ray of light engulfed the freighter. âWhatâs going on?â
Volbell pounded on his console. âI think itâs a tractor beamâŚâ
âReverse engines!â
âReversing⌠no response. Theyâre bringing us in.â Volbell shook his head. âWhat should we do, sir?â
Kaynic watched though the forward aperture as his ship was swallowed by the larger vessel. Then, he unholstered his jekker pistol. âItâd be rude not to say hello.â
Kaynic and his men lowered the Mareveâs boarding ramp and slowly descended into the alien vesselâs docking bay.
Volbell leaned towards Kaynic. âI donât like this, boss.â
âWell Volbell, next time we get captured, Iâll make sure they run it by me, first.â
As the PUMA mercenaries reached the middle of the darkened bay, they could hear the faint hum of electricity. The air smelt almost of moss. And they found themselves feeling surrounded. A blast from the darkness struck the man furthest to the right but not fatally, for when he hit the deck, he groaned.
They want us alive. âStun rays!â
Kaynic and his group werenât given a chance. Several blasts later they all fell.
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Despite the relocation, the battle between the freighters and the TSAF fighters had continued until the new player showed up. The menacing vessel lit up the sky with its offense, and Melina Beetaryâs fighter collided with some stray fire. As she started to spin out of control, Melina tried popping the ejector seat, but it didnât respond.
Figures.
As the lieutenant saw escape pods from the Sacramento jettison, the centrifugal force took its toll, and everything went black.
When she came to, she opened her eyes and looked out her cockpit.
She was in a tree.
InterestingâŚÂ She tried bringing her engines online. No use. She tried communications. No good. She reached for her headrest and activated the homing beacon. With luck, the Sacramentoâs radar would pick it up⌠if the Sacramento was still there. Now the only question to be answered was:  How the hell do I get down from here?
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As the Sacramento started to pass through Untaiâs upper atmosphere its hull buckled, and its inhabitants held on to whatever they could.
â135 pods launched. Eight of those have been shot down. Five unresponsive. Twelve still loading.â
Garett gritted his teeth as he felt gravity take hold. âGuestimate for me, Hamp.â
âOne minute to impact. Iâd say time for maybe three pods more.â
âThat close it could do more harm than good!â Terik couldnât reach the porthole. âWhatâs the crash area looking like?â
âRocky⌠thereâs a mountain range⌠pretty big.â
âWhyâd I ask?
âImpact in twenty seconds.â
Garret gripped the arms of his chair. âAll hands, brace for impact!â
Terik held on to the railing. âThanks, Napoleon!â
As the Sacramentoâs underbelly scrapped a mountain peak, the whole ship shook and angled. Those on the command deck not braced were thrown about with each impact.
Terik yelled to Garett. âDo you have any control over this tub at all?!â
âIf I did, do you think weâd be crashing?!â
The port side brushed up against another mount and straightened itself out, but forward momentum was still considerable. Then Garett saw another mountain peak ahead. âThis is it!â
Within seconds, the Sacramento collided.
The last thing Terik heard before passing out was the shattering of glass. He wasnât unconscious long, because when he came to, he heard several people coughing and moaning, and didnât see any movement. He slowly rose, and when he did, so did the pain in his back. âWho gave the auto-pilot a raise?â
Garett and Terik walked to the aperture and looked out at the brave, new world in front of them. They were at least 10,000 feet above the expanding forest at the mountainâs base. âWell, agent, any crash you can walk away fromâŚâ
ââŚdidnât do its job.â
Garett paused.
âWhat? What I say?â
Garett pushed Terik aside and ran for the lift. When the doors wouldnât open, he opened the access panel and flipped the over-ride. Garett pried open the doors and climbed down the lift shaft.
Terik lost interest when he saw an indicator blinking. âIntership channel?â
Hamp depressed the corresponding control. âCommand deck.â
âComdeck, we have a reactor leak in progress. Emergency locks in place but we canât get out.â
Terik snapped his fingers repeatidly until Hamp brought up a status display.
The other two reactors are fine⌠Have to shut that one down and get them out of there. âWhereâs your engineer?â
âHe was in the main docking bay when we were attacked! We need to get out of here!â
âJust hang in there, okay? Weâre powering it down, and weâll get you out of there.â
Terik pulled Winters and Hamp aside. âListen, Iâm going to look for your engineer,â Terik whispered. âBut you cannot open those locks. If you do, the whole ship will flood.â
Wintersâ eyes widened. âYouâre notâŚWe canât let them die in there.â
âKid, we may not have a choice.â
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Terik scurried past wounded and fallen officers, trying to block out what carnage he could until he found the engineer. When he got to the main bay, he found the Ristin helping his wounded technicians. âRistin!â
âI am Engineer Teckook.â
âAgent Donato. Look,â Terik led him away from his crew. âThereâs a leak in the reactor bay. Five men trapped inside. They need you to walk them through repairs, so come on.â
âThere are no repairs.â
âExcuse me?â
âPolycore reactors are septuple layered â they are designed to withstand trauma. But if there is a leak, no adhesive or metallurgy known to us can patch a breach.â
âThose men are dying.â
âThose men are already dead.â
I said Iâd get them out of thereâŚ
Terik stared at the floor, making fists with both hands.
Damn you, Kaynic. If you and Dekler survived this, it wonât be for long.
He looked up at Teckook. âLook, you should probably contain any and all remaining hazards, right? Iâll let you get to it.â
Terik walked over to the nearest wall-comlink and buzzed Peejo. âAgent Manning? Â Manning, itâs Donato, report!â
Shit.
Terik worked his way back to the detention block. Some convicts were out of their cells, some still holed up inside, but all were dead. All except the prisoner from cell 2187. His cell was empty, and the body in its doorway wasnât Francis Dekler.
It was Peejo Manningâs.
From Terikâs observation, the cause of death wasnât the crash. Contusions about the neck suggested strangulation. Deklerâs rat – Manning never saw it coming.
Terik spent almost an hour scouring the corridors, trying to pick up their trail, but it had gone cold. I shouldâve seen this coming, he thought. Dekler knows all the layouts and all the procedures, and so does Kaynic. Explains the rat. What it doesnât explain is why? If this was all staged, then Dekler had a reason to be here.
I just canât see it!
As he worked his way back towards the command deck, the ship-wide intercom came back to life. âAll medics to Admiral Scraintâs office. ASAP!â
Is that it? Was the admiral a target?
The Mako-6 agent altered his heading and made his way to A deck. When Terik walked into the office, the medical team was frantically struggling to keep Lee Scraints alive. âWhat happened?â
âConcussion and internal bleeding. Get him to sick bay, move!â
Terik stepped aside as they rushed him away. He saw Lisa Sorjid crying in the corner. He noticed her leg was bandaged, covering a cut on her thigh. Donât do it. Itâs not your place. She doesnât know you andâŚ
Fuck it.
âLieutenant, you okay?â
She turned and focused her water logged eyes on him. âNo. No, this is⌠When I took this assignment, I never expected this.â
âYou wouldnât. Wars are temporary, but bloodshed? Every time we let our guard down.â
Terik stood surprised and still as Lisa wrapped herself around him.
âItâs not just bad luck?â
âDonât fool yourself, now. Itâs plenty of bad luck.â
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Night fell on Untai, and the majority of the surviving senior crew were assembled on the Sacramentoâs command deck. If not for their circumstances, Terik wouldâve already left, but running off without all the facts was a guaranteed way to get himself killed. Dekler wonât get far, Terik thought. But I canât wait long, either.
Terik noticed Samuel Sturlex was among the survivors. When the PUMA ships struck, Terikâs former sergeant, along with Major Peter Ruwn, had reported to the barracks to prep for possible intrusion. The crash trapped them both, as well as their squad, in the armory for hours until finally they managed to clear their way out. And although PUMA seemed to be out of play for the moment, the colonel hadnât ruled out an assault by the local warship that had appeared.
âIâm not waiting on Soness,â Sturlex said. âOn the ground, the major and I are in command, and right now, I need brought up to speed.â
âOf the fifty three that were still on board, we know twenty one are dead, with another fourteen trapped by debris,â Hamp reported. âThe admiral is alive, but Doc Gibbons says heâs in a coma.â
âWeâve got minimal power,â Hamp added. âLife support, two laser turrets. Only one docking bay is presently open, though. The rest are buried under rock.â
âWhich are buried?â Ruwn asked.
âThe transport hangar and one fighter bay.â Teckook chimed in. âIt will probably be a day or two before we can clean up all the debris, and restore communications. The dorsal solar sail is not buried, however, and could be used to recharge main batteries.â
âGood. Now, what happened with the aft screens?â Sturlex demanded.
âSomeone sabotaged the aft screens by detonating an explosive in one of the maintenance rooms on level 8.â Teckook explained. âIt relayed to one of the plasma injectors.â
Sturlex looked across the room at Terik. âDo we know who did it?â
âI know the face.â Terik tossed the colonel a data pad, displaying a surveillance image of Douglas Okada changing out of uniform. âGot off the Fropic shuttle when I came on. One of Francis Deklerâs newest recruits.â
As the colonel looked it over, steps could be heard approaching. The doors opened and a silence fell over those gathered as Garett walked in. He didnât speak, instead he just leaned against the nearest console.
Sturlex set down the datapad. âOkay, Teck. Letâs hear it. Will she fly again?â
Teckook shook his head. âThe Sacramento was already several years past its prime. If the full resources of the TSAF were present, there would be a 17% chance it could be salvaged. Do you desire to hear our chances without said resources?â
âNo, I do not. Ruwn, Soness, I want to assemble a few teams with who we got. One offensive, one defensive.â
Ruwn nodded. âYes, sir.â
âI want this ship as armed to the teeth and as fortified as possible. Thatâs you, Ruwn. Soness, you and your crew work on locating survivors on board. Those who made it out in escape pods, we need something to pick them up in. Teckook, with the transport hangar unreachable we need a ship strong enough to go up against whatever gets thrown at us while weâre here. Youâre chief engineer.â
âWith the available materials, I project a week at best.â
âYou got two days. Get it done.â
âYes, sir.â
Sturlex straightened his posture. âWeâre down, but weâre not out. Understand? Doesnât matter where we are, it only matters that weâre on our feet. This enemy willfully attacked and crippled us and no doubt will continue their assault. This is a crisis of survival and Iâm going after the sons of bitches. Now move.â
As everyone dispersed, Garett approached Terik. âWhoâs Kaynic?â
âNone of your business, Soness, thatâs who.â
âLike hell! His ship is responsible for killing innocent lives Iâve sworn to protect! Now, I donât give a damn who you are, tell me what you know!â
Terik noticed the bags under Garettâs eyes, which themselves were reddened. He lost someone. Judgementâs clouded. Damnit, I donât have time for this. âThe colonel gave you your orders, captain.â Terik turned his back to Garett.
âOh, I forgot. Weâre all collateral to you. Just like Askalid and Morris.â
Terik was about to descend the stairs when he stopped. Askalid⌠MorrisâŚHeâs talking about NustoyâŚ
Garett chuckled. âI had a feeling you didnât recognize me.â
Terik glanced back, memories resurfacing. âNot at first. Now I do. You were the one who stepped down.â
âThatâs right, and if I could, I wouldâve convinced the others to have done the same.â
I wish you had, kid. Terik crossed back to the console. âMorris ignored my orderâŚâ
âHe shouldnât have been out there with you! None of them! I donât care what sway being in Mako division gave you, that mission never shouldâve been sanctioned.â
No, it shouldnât have.
âIf this is the same asshole you went after then, then all this is on you, and so help me, when this is over, I donât care what friends you have, no one will stop me from seeing your ass pay!â
âSoness!â Sturlex stepped between them. âStand down, captain.â
Garett stepped back. âThis man knows something, colonel.â
Sturlex steered Garett further away. âLook, Pembrail told us about-â
Garett pointed at Terik. âYou owe every one of us an answer, you bastard!â
âGarett! Enough! Now report to engineering, captain. Thatâs an order.â
Garett shook Sturlexâs hands off and stormed out, and although Sturlexâs intervention belayed Garett, Terik knew this hadnât yet been put to bed.
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This is like a hangover tripled. Kaynic thought as he came to, laid out on a metal slab. He was engulfed in darkness until one single, overhead light turned on, illuminating Kaynic and his crew. To say I shouldâve known better is an understatement. He could feel a presence around, but failed to see it. âWhen I can see straight again, you better run.â
A chuckle broke the silence. âSuch arrogance. Much like the ChostâŚbut with less repute. Humans⌠I remember your kind wellâŚ.â
Between Mako 6, PUMA and his father, Kaynic had spent years hardening his demeanor, gaining advantage by never showing fear. There was nothing to help him save face on this occasion, however. This time, there was nothing but fear.
âWhy are you here?â
Kaynic provided no answer. This eb already knows what we are, Iâll be damned if I give him anything else.
âAnswer, insect!â
Kaynic remained silent, although one of his weaker willed men did not, his whimpering anxiety growing louder. Shut up, man!
âI will make you suffer for your disregard. No one ignores Favan!â
The light went out, and the only sound in the chamber was the whimpering manâs last screams.
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As Jack soldered the last circuit and closed the plating, SAR-9 came back to life. âGood morning, doctor.â
Jack set down his iron. âActually, itâs late in the afternoon, Sarnine.â
âOh. Good afternoon, doctor.â
âThanks, Sarnine.â Jack stretched his arms and chuckled. âGlad to hear your voice again.â
âI detect elation. What is the shipâs current situation?â
âYou donât even wanna know.â
âForgive me, Dr. Pembrail, but if I did not want to know, then why did I ask?â
Jackâs relief faded as he stood up. âWe were too slow, Sarnine. A lot of people died. A lot of people that didnât need to.â He reached for the garb hanging off his chair. âYou and I? We need to make up for it, any way we can. We need to think outside the box. But firstâŚâ The doctor snapped on his body armor. âBetter safe than sorry.â
âPardon me, doctor, but it appears your body armor is two sizes too small.â
âKeep it up and Iâll turn you back off.â
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While most would avoid it, Terik sought solitude at every opportunity. He found its benefits to overshadow its faults tenfold. It afforded him clarity of mind, to stay focused on goals, his work – void of distractions. Distractions ultimately led to someone getting hurt, and Terik didnât need that on his mind. But Terik couldnât deny Garettâs words were now ever present.
âWeâre all collateral to you.â
Terik had ventured some distance away from the Sacramentoâs mountaintop crash. He had to pull out his winter gear to endure the cold air, but he needed it. He had to pull himself together and figure out a course of action. Whatâs your play now, Dekler? Cross your fingers Kaynic didnât bite it? The more Terik tried to anticipate Deklerâs moves, the more his mind drifted instead to Kaynic, and the day his former partner threw in with the man they both loathedâŚ
It was several years earlier, not long after their mission on Pluto. The second Lubic-Ristin war was winding down while Terikâs father awaited trial. Terik remembered their scout ship had set down on Trappist V, in the woods outside Deklerâs chalet. They were both armed with Lyto series 2 sniper rifles and found themselves a perch to setup. Two guards on the north wing, two on the east. The South looked unguarded, all while Dekler was in the east penthouse. Terik and Kaynic waited for a second team of Mako 6 agents to create a diversion, an explosion that was set off in the south wing.
Through his scope, Terik saw Dekler come out onto the balcony to see what happened. But then, a shot went off, and it wasnât Terikâs. Someone elseâs, and it whizzed by Terikâs ear. âWeâve been made,â Kaynic had said. âThe missionâs aborted.â
Donato and Kaynic hauled ass through the woods, back towards their ship. But when they got there, three of Deklerâs mercenaries stood waiting. Terik thought he and Kaynic had beat them to the draw, but one got off a shot. Kaynic was down. Terik scrambled to help his friend, but stray fire was everywhere. The ship wasnât going to wait, and if Terik stayed behind heâd likely fall as well, being no good to Kaynic. âIâll come back for you.â Terik had said. He made a choice, a choice he struggled to live with until the day he learned the truth. That it was a hoax – Jonus Kaynic had defected, and that he intended to make Terikâs life a living hell.
Terikâs solitude ended when he heard laser fire. And not just a stray blast or two. An assault.
Thatâs not Dekler.
He jumped to his feet and headed back towards the Sacramento. He still had some distance to close, but as Terik got closer to the ship, he saw several small alien craft attacking the Sacramento.
This is Chapter 1 of Book 1: Detriment of the series The Dawn Cluster.
Edited by Marie Ginga
Community leader. Particle physicist. International Assassin. Mark J Schultis is none of these. He wrote his first story in elementary school and has spent a lifetime keeping that childhood passion of storytelling alive, studying theater and film making before eventually earning his writing degree from the University of Pittsburgh. A perpetual night owl and pizza connoisseur, Mark was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where he lives with his wife and their two children. You can follow Mark on Twitter @schultisscribe