It was like a bad rerun, as Micha watched Markus approach. She still remembered the smell of him on her skin; still felt his hands on her body. Exhaling, she forced herself to relax. She was not a novice to battle and he no longer had control of her.

  Standing six feet away from her, Markus cracked his knuckles.

  “I get done with you, you are going to wish you’d let me fuck you!”

  For a moment, Micha felt herself pinned to the floor as Markus tried to force himself on her. Her skin crawled in response and her breathing hitched once. Lifting her chin, she sneered.

  Markus roared; bringing up his fist he lunged. Micha crouched down, making her a smaller target and waited. Readying for his first strike she caught the subtle shift in his position and saw him switch tactics. Bracing she took the hit. The force of his kick sent her sprawling. Rolling, she quickly got to her feet.

  “Oh, come on, Markus! Is that the best you can do?” Micha sneered. “Oh! Right! Your specialty was in back-attacks of those weaker than you.”

  Roaring Markus lunged, bringing his fist down towards her neck. Bracing once again Micha continued to guard. Blocking his punch, she swung just out of reach. Each time Markus would strike Micha would block or dodge, aiming to keep just out of reach. Seeing him close in again Micha rocked back lifting her arms and placing one palm out; the other fisted in front of her chest.

  She watched his chest heave and calculated his next move. When she tried to dodge around him Markus moved to block her. Stepping back Micha balanced her weight and moved forward. Two steps and she launched, bringing her right leg around. Seeing him brace for her attack, she decided to put everything into switching legs mid-air. Feeling her weight shift, Micha relaxed her motion and let her body crash into Markus forcing him off balance. Feeling him topple over backward, Micha let herself go with the motion. As Markus hit the ground Micha tensed forcing her weight into his chest and grunted with the impact.

  Markus had been unprepared for Micha’s direct assault. When he hit the ground, it left him disoriented. But the minute he took the full brunt of her weight on his chest he swore he would kill her. Unable to breathe he tried to force her off.

  Feeling Markus attempt to shift her off, Micha braced her weight and began slamming her fists into whatever flesh she was able to reach. She knew she had limited strikes so she was not going for finess.

  Mitah

  With the General over his shoulder, Mitah followed Ni’yell through the shadows to the center of the underground compound and watched Micha fight with Markus on the screens Holten was monitoring. He could see them struggling for control and knew the moment that Micha lost. Hissing, Ni’yell stayed where he was. He knew that she was supposed to be acting as a decoy but that did not make it any easier. It went against everything he was to allow Markus to touch her.

  Crouching down, he visualized the armory and stepping through noted Ipino had initiated a lockdown. Once he had Ipino back underground, Ni'yell double-checked Desohta’s location and went to rerieve him as well. He returned to collect Markus and Micha last. Once in place, he waited for the signal to move. In the meantime, it meant watching Markus attempt to kill his team leader.

  Micha

  Putting everything she had into getting out from under Markus, Micha managed to bring her legs in between her and him. Bracing she shoved the man above her off. Using the momentum she gained, she rolled on to her feet. Working to slow her breathing, she sneered at the man across from her, “Goodness, getting a little sloppy there Markus?”

  “Make all of the noise you want to woman. When I get my hands on you, you won’t be able to utter any sounds at all and when I am done with you, I am going to enjoy selling you to the highest bidder.”

  Even as she readied for the next assault, she found herself hoping the others would hurry up. Caught in Markus’ vice grip, Micha cursed her loss of focus and struggled to get free. Slamming the palms of her hands into his ears, she tried to disorient him.

  Barely catching the clicks that were the signal to lay Markus out, Micha braced herself. Placing her foot at the top of his thigh she lifted herself as high as she could and brought down her elbows with all the weight she could muster and drove them into his neck. Feeling him loosen his grip, she cocked her right hand back and murmured, “I told you that you would never touch me again and if you did, that I would ruin you for good.”

  Markus lifted his head and looked at her. His eyes were barely able to focus as he watched Micha’s fist drive into his neck. Chocking he let go and felt himself topple forward. Having lost feeling in his left arm and shoulder, he tried to suck in air.

  Micha pushed away freeing herself. Landing on her feet she braced for an assault and squatted down staying a smaller target. “Ni’yell, any time now!”

  “Roger.” Ni’yell continued to expand the shadow-step even as he reached through and caught hold of Markus. Pulling him through Ni’yell opened his comm. “All teams, package is secured.”

  Hesitating, Micha considered the gunner on her left. It was about to get intense. Twisting her head fractionally she monitored the crowd and hissed. If Ni’yell took any longer she was going to have a large problem on her hands. At the moment the crowd seems stunned by the sudden disappearance of Markus. She could only speculate on how long it would take for them to react. If the heavy gun pointed at her was any indication, she would not have long to wait. Twisting, she felt Ni’yell grip her waist. Exhaling, she melted into the shadows as the first bullet zinged passed her head.

  Micha adjusted her balance even as Ni’yell set her on the ground.

  “Everyone is ready for the fireworks.” Ni’yell murmured as he injected a paralytic into Markus. Before lifting the man to his shoulder he proffered her helmet and spoke. “All teams, mark.”

  Micha clicked her helmet in place and eyes onNi’yell, the shadows appearing alive around them, Micha issued orders. “Mitah, let’s figure out how we are getting out of here. Remember to be good hosts; let’s make sure they’re comfortable.”

  Micha’s response was met with three thunderous explosions.

  On the ground, just out of sight general commander Kaggiris began untangling the leather thongs binding his arms and legs. Seeing an opportune moment he thought to escape. He shuffled further out of sigh than stood his back to a crate. The lycantor came around the side and smiled as he caught sight of the boy’s stiffened shoulders and knew he was in trouble. With a growl the boy alerted the Renshaw. Stepping up behind the boy with deft quick steps and keeping his riffle and visor primed, he motioned to the boy to tie Kaggiris back up.

  “We’ll be leaving soon enough.” Mitah grinned. “We’re just waiting for the rest of the team.”

  The general secured, Mitah returned to the tube holding Max. laying his hand on it, he sighed. If he went by the image being displayed it was in the process of repairing the damage to Max’s body. He knew that Alpha did not blame him for not stopping the giant bear-like beast before it slammed into Max, but Mitah felt that it was his fault that his friend had almost died. For an instant he froze. The beast seemed to come from nowhere. It must have some sort of natural camouflage. By the time Mitah reacted it was already too late. Neicha tucked his hand in Mitah’s and crooned.

  Mitah sighed then turned to lean against the device. There was a time ticking down. At least that was what he thought the weird glyphs were in between the two images. He was no doctor but he was certain that the flashing red spot on the damaged image was not a good thing. What was he going to do if Max was paralyzed? What would Micha do?

  A moment later, the rest of the team slipped out of the shadows one at a time; with Markus over Ni’yell’s shoulder and alpha last. without saying a word Mitah pointed at the timer on the medical tube. A myriad of emotion spread acrossed Micha’s eyes, but the one that mattered to Max was the joy and relief, she gave a relieved nod and stepped aside.

  “Looks like we have a bit of a wait before we leave… unless…” Micha tilted her head to the side. “Any chance that we can take the device with us?”

  Holten perked up at the idea and immediately began investigating. “Alpha, I think I found a mode that will allow us to take the whole pod with us.”

  “Do it. Now we just need to figure out how we are leaving.”

  Mitah pointed to a object under a massive tarp. “I checked. Its not a real tarp. That is one fancy secucrity measure for a shuttle. The best part is its not locked. I think I can fly it.”

  Ni’yell grinned. “Get it started and we’ll get out of here.”

  Micha propped her hand on her hip. “We tell no one about this place. When we are done we come back and assess what’s here. For now, Rennick assist the general aboard the shuttle. Ni’yell get Markus situated comfortably while Ipino and Desohta move Max aboard and secure him for take off. Holten, Neicha, you two get the cubs aboard too.”

  Shoulders squared she entered the shuttle. “What do you say we get out of here Mitah?”

  “Working on it Alpha.” with big eyes furrowed, Mitah’s finger flew over the panel in front of him. Mitah ran his hands over the alien technology and was impressed to discover that much of the system was similar to what he used every time he sat in the pilot seat. “Ready for take off when you are, Alpha.”

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  “Do it,” Micha looked at the General, not caring what he had to say. “Now then, perhaps you would be willing to explain how such a distinguished person ends up in the middle of terrorists, General?” Sitting, she removed her helmet. “After all, it is your men who gather the information that is given to teams like mine.”

  Princess Kaltia

  Princess Kaltia looked in shock at the messenger standing before her. Leaning back in her chair she composed her face. “What do you mean your commander is unable to comply with my request? He is aware of who he is refusing, is he not?”

  “Yes, you’re Highness. The commander sends his apologies but that team left nearly twelve hours ago for a suicide mission. Although a message was sent recalling them, the pilot said it was too late for a recall because the team had already dropped.” The messenger saluted, “The commander received a brief contact saying that they would soon be in position. He suspects that they will be finished by tomorrow at the earliest.”

  “Surely the Commander is able to give me better details than that. Captain Bailey has shown resilience and a high level of success. Certainly he could compare this to a similar mission and provide a more accurate timeline for her success?”

  “Permission to speak frankly, Your Highness?”

  Kaltia considered the messenger. Waving her fingers she leaned backwards.

  “Personally, your highness, I don’t think the uppers…the one who do not fight but make the rules…expect her to succeed. They sent her because statistically, she has a better chance of success than any of the other teams. Even then her mission parameters give her a less than five percent chance for success.” The messenger frowned and continued, “Plus the information her team was given couldn’t even be called shoddy. All they had to go on were some planet coordinates and speculation of the most likely target location. It was a bad mission even for a suicide. In my opinion, the commander would be surprised to hear from her any time soon; much less at all if it were any other team. She has a way of digging in until she completes the mission.”

  “Do you think she was intentionally given no information?”

  “Not sure Ma’am. Just that it stunk. The commander has a strong reputation for outfitting any team leaving properly. Even suicides get the equipment they need, but no one knew quite how to outfit them. They were given drop-suits,” the messenger shrugged. “Information is just as vital to success. That information comes from higher up; it would make no sense to falsely lead any team. But something is definitely wrong,” the messenger grunted.

  Seeing the worried look on the princess’ face, the messenger smiled. Winking, he saluted once more. “Cheer up, you’re Highness. Ol’ man Roddy keeps the bids in the barracks and makes a tidy sum he does, his odds always pay off. He put his bid on the Captain being back by the end of the week. If he’s wrong, I’ll eat my shorts.” Nodding smartly he spoke once more, “Permission to be dismissed?”

  Caught off guard for the second time Kaltia stood, “What’s your name?”

  “Ensign Emily Elhayzar, Your Highness. Emily was my grand-dame’s name and she was a hero. My parents were hoping I’d be a girl so they could honor her. I changed my name before I joined. Figured my dame was right, a war hero should be remembered.”

  “Dismissed Ensign Emily Elhayzar. Tell your commander to keep me posted.”

  Saluting, Elhayzar pivoted in place and proceeded to leave the platform; ending the call. The moment the call ended Kaltia touched a button on her desk. “Get me Commander Asta now!”

  Kaltia considered the situation and snarled. She intended to find out who was in charge of the information that left a team with barely a chance of success. She did not care what time it was. Losing resources when there was a more effective way was simply insulting. It would seem that it was time for the council to reassess each of their departments. And she knew just which department to start with. Hearing the soft chime that warned of an incoming message Kaltia composed her face. Taking her seat she smiled at Commander Asta’s image.

  Seated also, he nodded to her in greeting. “To what do I owe this honor, Princess?”

  “Commander, I have received some baffling information, which I would like to look further into. I am told that your network of informants is impeccable, so I’m hoping that you would be willing to tap your many sources to help me discover the source of an information failure.”

  “Of course, Princess.” Asta nodded again, “Tell me what you need and I will see what I can uncover for you.”

  “One of my sources informed me that information is not being directed accurately. It would seem that certain teams are not receiving the full intel needed in their mission brief. If someone within the tactics and information division is intentionally withholding intel, I want to know who and why.”

  “Consider it done.” Asta sat up with cautious curiosity, “Was there anything else you needed, Your Highness?”

  “No, that will be all.”

  “Then I shall take my leave. I will contact you as soon as I have any information.” Asta watched as the Princess’ image fade from his office and leaned back. Crossing his legs, he considered what she had said. It was a dangerous line the princess was walking. She clearly intended to set the cat among the dragons. If she was not careful, she might find she had more enemies then allies. Yet, he drew the line at poorly prepared teams. If the military was not receiving the proper information the consequences were too staggering to consider. Whoever was responsible they were dangerous. Knowing who they were was valuable to decision making. Frowning he paged his assistant. “Get me the codebooks for mission protocol as well as the legislation on military informatics and national security.”

  Hanging up Asta opened a drawer on his left. Slipping his hand to the underside of the drawer he withdrew a sheaf of paper. Setting it on his desk he quickly scrawled a note and stood up. Moving to the window he withdrew a match and set the paper on fire; watching the ashes disappear on the breeze. Turning away he returned to his desk and proceeded to sort through the files that were waiting for him.

  General Commander Ha’hatema Kaggiris

  General Kagiris sat in silence. Eyes closed, he calculated the quickest way to get out of the mess he was in without ruining all his hard work for the last several years. Keeping his breath even he sorted through ideas. He knew he needed to come up with a believable excuse for having been there. Just as he was aware that captain Micha Bailey had a knack for detecting lies. He could go with the assumption that she had a reason for risking everything by going against the galactic empire. Bribes had been offered in the past and fallen on deaf ears. She was sure to believe he was responsible for everything she had gone through. Opening his eyes he looked right at her.

  “I am responsible for this outpost. Its purpose is classified. I was there because I had suspicions regarding the leaders I had chosen for the outpost. Since my division is responsible for the collection and verification of the information that gets provided to the military as well as other select groups, I have access to data no one else sees,” he spread his hands dismissively. “It is only reasonable to find me searching for answers. Had I known that there was a mission slated for that planet I would have stayed out of the way.”

  Just as the engine began to hum, the platform that had lifted them from bellow ground halted; a thud on the entrance was heard.

  “Alpha? We have a request to board and a conditional surrender.”

  Micha sat still as a statue. If not for the necessity for air there would have been no motion at all. Exhaling she closed her eyes and chewed over the words hanging in the air. She remembered learning how similar the galactic empire was to Earth. Each species she encountered meant deciphering the different signs of an honest conversation and had taken time, that seemed like a whole different lifetime ago, to learn. It had taken patience for her to decode the different signals of the different behavioural responses, but all that time had worked in her favor as a reputation for having no room for bullshit was built. She had quickly realized that patience was the key to unlocking the heart of any sentient being. Lifting her chin a fraction, she opened her eyes and examined the ceiling. She needed to be sure of her suspicions. Looking the General in the eyes, she relaxed.

  “Open the door. Let’s see who is waiting for us.”

  As the shuttle door opened, Micha stood stunned. The shuttle was surrounded by warriors on their knees. One stood waiting for Micha to stand in front of him. His age made it impossible to kneel, but he kept his eyes to the ground. It broke her heart to know the tremendous strength it took to admit their defeat. Stepping off the ramp she approached the warriors. “You said your surrender is conditional. On what?”

  “Protection. All of us were imperial soldiers or servants were told that we were setting up a new military outpost. So, we came,” haggard eyes dared to glimpse hers. “Once we were here the truth became evident. Now we are outlaws in the galaxy. All we ask is your protection.”

  Considering their surrendered state, Micha gave a slow nod. “I have a few conditions then I will return Markus and the good general to the emperor. Give me reason to suspect deceit…”

  The weathered face nodded.

  Stepping back aboard the shuttle several hours later, Micha said nothing as she took her seat. detailed information had been laid at her feet and had left her with a difficult burden. She intended to honour the dishonoured warriors. Part of that meant that the general needed to be held complicit of the cruelty and the planning of the coup d’etat against the emperor. Deciding to say nothing regarding the truth she murmured.

  “We both know that the moment Markus wakes up he is going to squeal like a stuck pig. Maybe you offer me a better choice than tossing you to the wolves’ right along with him, maybe he does. Then again maybe I don’t give a shit, whether either of you tells me the truth.” Micha closed her eyes and gave the order to take off, “But in the end, I always get the truth and I promise it never ends well for the one who lied to me.”

  Looking, with contempt, on the unconscious man, Micha continued. “Markus is a rabid dog, which means he is only dangerous when he turns to face you. I, however,” Turning a fraction she looked at the General. “Am worse than rabies or any other disease you can imagine. See, conventional methods don’t work for me; the standard line won’t even keep me at bay. I have something to protect and nothing I fear losing. That alone makes me far more dangerous than Markus can dream of. I won’t be lied to.

  “So the question becomes, is it you who is lying, or will it be Markus? It is alright general, I don’t intend to kill you and as we are in space now and using a rifle with penetrator rounds would be stupid.

  “You see, my team was sent on a mission with less than substandard information. To search out a target, I am betting was expecting us. As I am sure you would understand it’s not difficult for me to say it all smells of a setup. See we are told that the rest of the information we need was left for us dirt side. We get there only to discover two visible teams practically standing on the box. Are you a betting man, general? Cause I can give up sure odds that there were at least two more teams hidden who would have loved for us to dash into their little setup. Then we arrive to discover, that an esteemed member of the good emperor’s inner court is having tea with our target.”

  The general tensed.

  “Relax general; I won’t be the one to make you suffer. Ni’yell, is there another chamber we can put Markus in?”

  Ni’yell nodded.

  “Take Markus to there and get him comfortable. I will be along shortly,” turning, Micha looked fully at the general. “Boys, if the good general so much as scratches his ass, kill him.”

  Ipino gave a feral smile as she turned to follow Ni’yell.

  “You will pay for this embarrassment, Captain. I promise the emperor will hear about this disgraceful behavior.”

  “General, I promise to deliver you to the emperor myself.” Stepping through the door, she finished as it closed, “We can both tell him all about your embarrassment.”

  On her way to where Markus had been stashed, she paused in the doorway where Desohta was monitoring Max. “How is he?”

  Desohta sighed. “Hard to say for sure. A couple times it prompted for confirmation. Now the device has him floating in there and is doing something to his back and legs. What if…”

  “Max is family. We don’t abandon family; ever. We will get through this whatever happens.”

  Desohta nodded.

  Micha saw Desohta’s shoulders relax. Turning away she moved to the next room where a groggy Markus was sprawled on the floor. “Now then, let’s talk about what you were doing down there.”

  The door swung shut behind Ni’yell; silently.