Forgotten Past: Chapter Twenty Five-Alta10
Carolyn sat on a rock, perched high above the landing zone inside
Jupiter’s smallest space colony. She could clearly make out The
Charmer, Ahsatan’s cruiser, and Nylorac’s cruiser from her resting
place.
Manufactured and natural sunlight streamed down upon her face as
she tilted it skyward, absorbing the warmth. Wings extended like solar
plates, Carolyn relaxed, letting the strain of the past few months roll off
her like beads of water off a duck’s back. The heat was absorbed into
the black, leathery skin of her wings and she wrapped them around her
to stay warm.
Standing to her feet easily, Carolyn began her exercises. The yoga
helped control her senses and heart beat. Her thoughts collected then
turned off. Mind emptied, Carolyn continued with the process she’d
started a week earlier when they’d landed in the space colony,
continuing with the exercises she’d done before her amnesia. Yoga had
been an every day thing and it was time to pick it up again.
Balancing precariously on the rock, Carolyn extended her black wings
to their full span, working them into her yoga routine. Today she’d see
what these wings could do for her. Today she’d see if she could fly.
Riddick stood silently in the shadow’s of the hillside, his back to the
hard rock. He watched Carolyn flow through a number of motions,
wings spread. She folded and unfolded them alternately.
As he watched, curious and protective, Carolyn stood up straight and
adjusted the position of her wings. Then she jumped up, giving a mighty
flap.
The jump and the flapping of her wings sent her soaring skyward and
Riddick jumped away from the rock, his eyes intent upon Carolyn. Her
face was set in an expression of awe.
Carolyn continued to flap her wings and felt a warm air current catch
them from beneath. She shifted them around until her body was
horizontal beneath them and began to glide, turning slow circles and
flapping when she began to dip lower.
High in the air, Carolyn quickly spotted Riddick, his face set in stone as
he watched her, arms crossed over his chest.
Panic crept in as Carolyn realized she didn’t know how to land. No
flight manual or simulation had ever prepared her for this, she thought
desperately as she began to descend rather rapidly. As she zoomed
towards Riddick, he uncrossed his arms and focused on her, muscles
tensed and jaw clenched.
Carolyn thought of a bird and stuck her wings full out, dropping her
body and sticking her legs out in front of her. She slowed down so fast
she felt jerked and her arms flew out before her. Carolyn flapped her
wings a few times and felt herself begin to slow down.
Still going to fast, she slammed into Riddick and tucked in her wings
quickly as he rolled, absorbing the fall.
Riddick let out a surprised “oof” as Carolyn slammed into him, the
breath knocked out of his lungs. He wrapped his powerful arms around
her as he rolled, protecting her from the ground. When they stopped
rolling, Carolyn was stretched out over his chest.
“Thanks,” Carolyn managed finally, regaining her breath. She ached
from the impact with Riddick’s chest, the initial slam against the
ground, and the follow up with a good roll in the dirt. Her wings felt
sore as well, and she only hoped they weren’t damaged.
Breath was slow in returning and Carolyn lay still on Riddick’s chest,
his arms still locked around her back. Not chancing major movement,
she slowly unfolded her wings and laid them out on the ground, testing
them carefully.
Riddick pressed the palms of his hands flat against Carolyn’s back,
enjoying the warmth of her body against his. He raised his eyes to her,
knowing she was looking at him even though her eyes were covered
wholly by her dark glasses. His lips curled in a wicked grin and her
mouth twitched in response.
Lifting one arm slowly out of the cover of Carolyn’s wings, Riddick
tangled one fist in the thick hair at the back of her head and pulled her
face closer to his slowly.
She came willingly, lowering her face to his ever so slowly. Carolyn’s
lids fluttered shut and then her lips were on his, feeling like the brush of
butterfly’s wings. She let out a low sigh, her breath mingling with
Riddick’s as he lifted his head, pressing his lips more firmly to hers.
A low groan erupted from Riddick as he slid his tongue along Carolyn’s
lips until she parted them, allowing him access to the warm recesses of
her mouth. He thrust his tongue beyond her teeth and felt hers flick out
to meet it.
A loud bang echoed off the rocky cliffs and Carolyn reared back, giving
her wings a rapid flap that propelled her backwards off Riddick’s chest
and to her feet. Riddick rolled backwards to a low crouching position,
blade drawn.
Eddie’s face popped up over an outcropping of rocks, a sheepish
expression plastered on his young face. Seeing Riddick’s blade and
Carolyn’s extended claws, the youth added a sheepish grin to his face
and lifted his hands high.
“Sorry,” he called, stepping up to the plateau.
Riddick sheathed his blade out of sight while Carolyn retracted her
claws and folded her wings against her back.
Safe from attack, Eddie looked at Riddick questioningly. “Did you tell
her?” he asked.
“Tell me what?” Carolyn demanded, automatically thinking the worst
had happened, whatever the worst may be.
“That they’re done plating all the ships,” Riddick commented. The
reason he was up on the plateau having slipped his mind at finding
Carolyn airborne. The thought had escaped the second she’d slammed
into him.
Carolyn flashed a grin at the two men. “Then what are we waiting for?
Let’s get off this rock and to the battle.”
With that, Carolyn threw caution to the wind, as well as her body, and
dove head first off the cliff to the three battle cruisers below.
Riddick dove forward, reaching for Carolyn but catching nothing but
air while Eddie stood frozen to the ground, mouth open.
When Riddick peered over the edge he saw Carolyn gliding on a warm
pocket of air, wings spread. As he watched, Carolyn pulled in her wings
and allowed herself to free fall for a few seconds before extending once
more and lifting skyward.
Damn, he thought to himself, she’s picking that up quick. With another
quick glance at Carolyn’s rapid decent, Riddick spun on his heal and
sped past Eddie to the rugged path down the cliff side.
Eddie, snapped out of his shock, raced after Riddick’s rapidly
disappearing back.
~~~
Carolyn felt the air rush by her as she dove for the ground, arms at her
sides, wings folded tightly. When she’d fallen as far as she dared, she
threw her wings out to their full span and caught herself.
The effect was something like skydiving, her wings acting as a
parachute as they caught the artificially warmed air. She started to
glide in a downward spiral, occasionally catching warm air currents
that would lift her skyward once more.
Feeling like she was getting the hang of the whole flying thing, Carolyn
drew her wings in at the next air pocket and dove a few feet, then
extended again, flowing into a glide.
A few of the workers at the ships were staring at her from the ground at
this point and, feeling bold, she drew her wings in and dove sharply,
free falling for about fifty feet, then extending her wings and flapping a
few times. Carolyn shot up again, then continued her glide, enjoying the
shocked expressions on the faces of her audience.
She’d always liked to show off her piloting skills, and this was no
different.
The rocky ground loomed closer to Carolyn with every second, and
finally having some sort of idea of how to land, she lowered her feet
first, tilted her wings, and caught the wind. She immediately began to
slow down and before she knew it she was standing firmly on the
ground not far from The Charmer.
Carolyn’s crew, cool and collected as ever, didn’t react to her entrance
with so much as a flicker of an eyelash, while the crew members of the
other two space crafts were either stunned into silence or watching her
with a mixture of awe and fear. A few of the veteran members reacted
the same way as Carolyn’s crew, ignoring the abnormal entrance.
With a shrug, Carolyn turned to the cliff trail and saw Riddick
descending rapidly, Eddie trailing a ways behind, going much slower
but as fast as could be expected.
Jack was approaching and Carolyn turned away from the cliff to greet
her.
“What’s up?” she asked as she fell into step with Jack, heading for the
loading ramp of The Charmer.
Jack pushed a strand of dark hair away from her face and grinned.
“Check it out,” she answered, gesturing grandly to the cruiser.
Close up, Carolyn was able to see the changes in her battle cruiser. It
gleamed beneath the artificial sunlight, the aluthium alloy giving off its
own blue-silver glow. The eerie metallic shine was almost the same as
Carolyn’s pupils and she grinned devilishly.
“Beautiful,” she murmured quietly, eyeing the ship. One of her guys
was painting the ship’s name on its hull in dark, blood red letters.
Each letter looked to be dripping with blood, painted over a
background of black, bat like wings and a pair of silvery eyes glowed
from above.
Seeing the change in the writing, Carolyn turned to Jack, ready to ask
for an answer.
“It was my idea,” Jack said before Carolyn could comment. “I thought
the wings, the eyes, and the lettering would seem more appropriate. I
hope you don’t mind?”
Carolyn turned and examined the name again, the last “r” in The
Charmer just being finished up. She did like it. “I love it. It’s perfect.
The other side done?”
Jack grinned, relieved, and nodded. “Yup. Completed it a couple hours
ago. It’s great, isn’t it?”
Carolyn nodded then turned back towards the cliffs as she recognized
Riddick’s light tread on the rocky ground. He was approaching her
quickly, Eddie jogging along behind him. Jack zipped by Carolyn and
Eddie reached out, pulling her to his side.
Riddick admired the ship and then set his gaze on Carolyn. “Fitting,”
he rumbled and Carolyn smirked.
“Yes. Very,” Carolyn replied.
Swinging his gaze away from Carolyn, Riddick turned back to The
Charmer, eyeing its new paint job and the gleaming, metallic surface.
He was going to comment on it again, but when he turned to face
Carolyn, she was gone.
~~~
Carolyn’s fingers flew over the keyboard on the advanced radar
system.
Star charts flickered across the view screen and Carolyn absorbed the
information like a sponge.
Pushing away from the consul, she rolled her chair across the deck to
another set of keys and punched in a search for any news on the battle
at Alta10.
A list of news reports, articles, and footage of the battle flickered onto
the screen and Carolyn drew them all up, a few at a time. They flicked
on the holovision screens behind her and she watched the footage roll
by.
It was brutal. Resistance and Company cruisers alike littered the space
field like so many broken toys. They fired at each other ruthlessly.
Massacre, and in favor of the resistance.
The news reports and articles told the same bloody story. There hadn’t
been any news on the whole thing for three weeks, which was
surprising.
Bruce entered the deck and Carolyn glanced up at him curiously.
“Yes?” she queried.
“Everyone’s ready to go,” he answered, and as if on cue, her flight crew
began to enter the main deck, taking their places at the many different
consuls.
“I see,” she murmured, standing and wrapping the cape like wings
about her shoulders.
Bruce stepped aside as she left the main deck, allowing her crew to take
care of the take off procedures. They knew what to do.
~~~
Three Weeks Later
*
General Zach Munroe clenched his jaw and his fists. The knuckles
turned white as he stared, unblinking, at the view screen before him.
A transmission from the incapacitated Alta10 was being sent through.
Bits of the space station were floating aimlessly through space, and the
occasional piece of a battle cruiser or personnel transport could be seen.
A speeder zipped by the screen, the call name “Charmer of Eden”
boldly scrawled across the little ship’s side and a serpent painted in
deep shades of emerald and red started with its head at the top and
wrapped around the hull of the ship several times. The speeder came
back around and hovered mockingly before the screen before zipping
off again.
The speeder was plated in the strangely radiant aluthium alloy, and this
only caused Munroe to clench both his jaw and his fists tighter, muscles
tensed.
“Sir?” a young male voice called tentatively from behind Munroe, and
he turned towards its speaker slowly.
“Yes?” he demanded, his patience thin and his voice betraying the
irritation of having been interrupted.
The young Ranger shifted uncomfortably beneath the General’s hard
blue gaze, lowering his eyes.
“Ah, yes, sir,” the young man continued finally. “We’ve tracked the
Rorrim battle cruiser, sir. The flight crew awaits your orders.”
Munroe turned back to the view screen, catching another glimpse of the
irritating speeder that taunted him. It seemed to be examining pieces of
the space station.
“Tell them I’ll be around shortly to give my orders and to prep the ship
for battle,” he commanded finally. The speeder was making him
nervous. That name... Charmer. It was eerily familiar to the name of
another ship that had haunted him, and The Company, for some time.
But it was impossible. Creed Xander was dead or so close to it, it no
longer mattered.
A sudden image flashed across his memory and Munroe froze in his
orders, the young Ranger still standing rigidly by the entry way,
awaiting dismissal.
The search for Sleke’s sister had been uneventful, showing that the
young pilot, Carolyn Fry, was dead. But that couldn’t be, because
Carolyn Fry and Creed Xander were one in the same. They had to go
back to Earth.
General Munroe had to find Creed Xander. The thorn in his side.
The General whipped around with sudden speed and pinned the young
man with his cobalt eyes. “Tell the captain to set a course for Earth.
New Orleans, Louisiana. We have business to attend to there.”
“But, sir,” the youth protested. “Earth is four months from here, and
the battle is raging on, closer to Company headquarters every hour.”
Munroe’s brows drew together in a thunderous frown. “Are you
disregarding my orders, young man? I will not stand for insubo-”
The Ranger stepped forward, hands raised. “No, sir!” he interrupted.
“I’m sorry, sir. I just thought...” He ducked his head, toeing at a
suddenly interesting piece of floor sheeting with his boot. He raised his
head. “Again, I meant no disrespect, sir. I wasn’t thinking,” he finished
lamely.
General Munroe nodded curtly. “Then deliver my orders immediately.
I have no time for fools.” And he turned back to the view screen,
searching dismally for the Charmer of Eden. Searching for Creed.
“She’s out there,” he whispered to himself, listening to the retreating
steps of the young Ranger. “You’re out there... And I’m going to find
you.”
~~~
“Find anything?” Carolyn questioned, lounging in an overstuffed chair.
Jack shook her head and sat down across from Carolyn, gratefully
accepting the glass of fine cognac from Carolyn’s outstretched hand.
“Just debris. That musta been one messy battle.” She shuddered
slightly to think about it.
All of Carolyn’s ships had been plaited with the aluthium now, though,
and were therefore indestructible. Virtually. Even the relatively
diminutive Charmer of Eden would be tough to shoot down now.
Carolyn shrugged. “I didn’t think so,” she said quietly, spinning the
contents of her own glass. “What about that personnel carrier? What
was its call sign?” she questioned.
Jack tipped to the side to reach her back pocket, pulling out a few shots
of the ship she’d taken from inside the Charmer of Eden. She handed
the one with the carrier’s call sign on it to Carolyn, taking a sip of the
burning liquid in her glass.
Carolyn examined the photograph then hit the call button next to her
chair. “Gabriel?” she said into the speaker.
A low voice came over the intercom. “What’s up, Creed?” the voice
questioned.
“Great. Gabriel, I need you to look up a personnel cruiser for the
Company.”
“Sure, hon. What’s the numbers?” Gabriel asked, and there was a
rustling of paper as if he was looking for something to write on.
Carolyn held up the photograph and read off the numbers.
“GZMPTC-10211979.”
“Yikes,” Gabriel commented. “That’s a doozy. Must be the carrier for
someone impressive over there.”
Carolyn nodded, then realized that Gabriel couldn’t see her. “Right,”
she agreed. “Hunt me down when you find out anything. I want plans,
personnel lists... Everything you can get on this carrier. Got me?”
“Got ya, Creed. I’ll be talkin’ to you soon, then. This is West. Out.”
The com beeped its out signal and Carolyn leaned back in her seat,
eyeing the warm liquid in her glass. “Shall we solve a mystery?” she
asked Jack absently.
“What’s the mystery?” Jack questioned, curiosity piqued.
Carolyn continued to swirl her drink slowly, her eyes hazy as she sank
into her own memories. She lifted her gaze slowly to Jack’s. “The
mystery,” she began slowly, “of what The Company has done with my
sister.”
***