Majesty's Offspring (Books 1 & 2)

  Chapter 43: Buoyant Sea Rats

  They went inside the transport, Julius taking them directly up to the pilot cabin. He laid Haylek’s body in the copilot seat, then powered up the engines.

  Julius opened a conference link to Wolf Squadron as the transport became airborne. Reece’s voice came on.

  “Hey, Captain,” he said. “Seems like you ran out of luck, so I decided to bring some along for you.”

  “I guess promoting you wasn’t a mistake after all,” Julius said. “Glad you’re alive—and I see you’re not the only one.”

  “Aye,” Reece said. “Thought we lost Taffy at first, but his com was just out.”

  “Bah,” Mac said, “I wish his com was always out.”

  “We stopped trying to attack Chin,” Reece said. “It was getting too smoky down there and was afraid we’d hit Chorus instead.”

  “I think we’ve done all we can here,” Julius said. “It’s up to Chorus now. Let’s get out of here.”

  The transport soon reached space, with Wolf Squadron beside it.

  “What about Chorus?” he heard Haylek ask.

  Julius turned to him, he was still pale, but his breathing was better.

  “We have to help her,” Haylek said.

  “I think we did all we could to help her,” Julius said. “How are you feeling? Are you injured?”

  “Better, I think,” he said, wiping his mouth. “Thank you for saving me.”

  Julius opened a compartment underneath and pulled out a ration pack, tossing it on Haylek’s lap.

  “Eat and drink something, you need your strength.”

  Haylek began to rummage through the pack.

  “What you did back there,” Julius began, “was that Chorus’ plan?”

  Haylek shook his head slowly. “No,” he said, “I was just supposed to stay in the transport and destroy the jewel, give Wolf Squadron the coordinates, and fly out.”

  Julius looked at the little man—he had judged him unfairly.

  “That was brave—not something I’d expect from a hacker. Thank you.”

  Haylek shrugged.

  “I don’t know if I’m a hacker anymore after all of this. And I’m probably going to be arrested the minute we land.”

  “No, Haylek,” Julius said, putting a hand on his shoulder. “You are part of the crew of the Sea Wolf, you and the other hackers. You will get amnesty. A new life, like the rest of us. I’ll make sure of it.”

  Haylek nodded and looked out the window of space.

  “A new life. Without Chorus …” His voice trailed off.

  The transport and fighters reached space. Julius looked at his tactical. To his relief, the Sea Wolf was still there.

  “We need to hurry, it’s going to blow up,” Haylek said.

  Julius ignored him and opened a conference channel to it.

  “Sea Wolf—this is the captain, how are you holding up?”

  He waited for a reply—but there was none.

  “Captain,” Reece said, “they abandoned ship a while ago. Don’t worry, coalition forces picked them up.”

  Julius nodded, sad in the knowledge that his ship was gone—or soon would be. He changed his course toward the Xanthus’ battlecruiser, then opened a channel to it.

  “Xanthus, this is Julius. Thank you for rescuing my crew.”

  “Of course, but what happened down there? Did you complete the mission? The marines that returned were in such shock that they had to be sedated.”

  “Death happened down there, Xanthus—those men should be in shock. We freed Chorus—and we left the two of them fighting each other. I don’t know if we succeeded or not, to tell you the truth.”

  “Julius,” Haylek tried to interrupt.

  Julius motioned for him to be quiet.

  “What is Laina’s and Daryl’s condition?” Julius asked.

  “Daryl—yes, your brother,” he said. “That officer of yours, Ramey, was adamant that we treat him. Daryl’s condition is the same: unconscious, no better or worse than before I’m afraid.”

  Xanthus paused.

  “We don’t know what happened to Laina—she is not accounted for. We’re still trying to find her.”

  Julius felt cold—could she be lost in a lifepod. He looked at the tactical—trying to scan for any lifepods that may have been overlooked, but there was nothing.

  “Julius,” Haylek said, “we have to go to the Sea Wolf!”

  Julius turned to him.

  “Why? What’s going on?”

  “Laina’s still there! She’s going to blow up the conduit—it was part of Chorus’ plan, but we have to save her!”

  Julius changed his course back to the Sea Wolf, putting the transport into full acceleration.

  “Julius,” Reece’s voice said, “the ship is going to blow—and I think this moon is too.”

  “I’m riding the luck, Reece. You get out of here—you can’t help me in this. You and the boys enjoy your freedom; you earned it. Maybe I’ll see you later.”

  “All right, Captain,” Reece said. “Good luck and Godspeed to you.”

  Julius looked at the battered and bleeding ship as he approached the landing deck—once his pride and joy, and now quite possibly his floating tomb.

  Please hold together a little longer. I promise I’ll patch you up later, Julius lied.