“That is illogical. Facts are truth,” he said with a frown.
“On the contrary, facts are often lies,” she retorted.
Green laser blasts streaked overhead and ended their conversation for the moment. The Exarch shuddered as two of the blasts struck the rear shields. He spun the craft to the left and the other blasts glided just over the shields, leaving glittering trails in their wake, but not much damage. He increased speed. The Khul did as well.
More blasts, more spins, but he kept the fighter going as fast as he could until he abruptly pulled back on the throttle. The Khul ships blew past him. He turned off all shields and put all the extra energy into the front lasers. It reduced the time for an overdrive shot. He sent three. Thammah fired the secondary shots without being asked, reading his intentions perfectly. Three more Khul ships were destroyed, but that still left seven.
Those seven flew back towards them. Laser blasts cutting through the void of space. Khoth barely had time to reignite his shields even as he dove again. The shields on his left wing gave way as a dozen shots hit him. The Exarch veered wildly and alarms sounded like panicked children in his ears.
“We need to drop down into the atmosphere,” she said calmly.
“What good will that do?” he asked as his hands danced over the controls, which steadied the injured wing and put out the fires inside of it.
“The humans have managed to attach Alteath weapon technology to certain military planes,” she answered simply. “They haven’t been able to bring them up into orbit yet--”
“What?!” he barked, shocked, even as he was already heading towards Earth as Thammah sent returning fire to the Khul. “They are not to have weapons technology--”
Thammah’s laughter silenced him. “Have you ever tried to stop a human, Commander? Specifically, have you ever tried to stop Major General Diane Parker?”
“I do not know who that is,” he admitted. He had not yet familiarized himself with the human personnel he would be working with.
Another wild laugh. “Oh, you’ll get to know who she is very well unless you die here. You’ll also learn that she is not to be stopped.”
“Why did you not report this to High Command?” he demanded to know even as he entered the top of Earth’s atmosphere.
“Who says I didn’t?” Thammah asked back.
He opened his mouth and shut it. His sister couldn’t have been coming here for the human’s stolen weapons technology, would she? No. Even though it was a violation of Alliance law, she would have sent a lower officer to deal with it. But still, it was unnerving that the humans were already adapting weaponry for their own uses.
“Besides, they have the right to defend themselves as any other race,” Thammah told him. “Now move. I can’t keep them at bay for long. Follow the signal. The humans there.”
He did as she requested even as the Khul fighters were hot on their tails. Even with the injured wing, the Exarch responded to his commands to avoid the blasts that came his way, if a little sluggishly.
He heard Thammah on the comms as she spoke to what must have been a human, “Jack, we’ve brought some company for dinner. Would you mind giving us a hand?”
“You need a hand, Thammah?” This human’s voice was threaded through with conflicting emotions: warmth and worry. “I was hoping you could help us. We’re overrun here with dinner guests. There might be enough food to go around.”
“Stop using euphemisms,” Khoth barked. “We will assist you in clearing the ground troops after these fighters are handled.”
“Who is that?” Jack asked.
“Oh, he’s the newest alien pain in your ass, Jack,” Thammah was still all smiles.
He heard an explosion and saw in the corner of his screen that Thammah had taken out two more of the Khul. No wonder she was in a good mood. Another Khul fighter was seemingly suction-cupped to the Exarch. He abruptly pulled the controls up and the Exarch flew over the top of the pursuing fighter.
It tried to follow but he cranked the controls to the left and pulled back on the throttle. The Khul fighter was in his sights. Five regular blasts took out its forcefield in the back. But it was now facing him again. Thammah, however, was behind it now. It exploded in short order.
“We’ve narrowed it down to four, Jack. You don’t want to miss out using those illegal weapons you’ve got strapped to your underside, now do you?” Thammah asked as the two of them once more headed towards the signal.
Jack let out a hiss. “I am not confirming or denying--”
“Jack,” Thammah sounded amused. “We’re all friends here and we’ll be better friends if you kill some Khul for us.”
“Bring them to us, Thammah,” Jack said and there was a smile in his voice. “We better be best friends after this.”
“It’s not my friendship you want, Jack, but good old Commander Voor’s here. He is the son of the High Councillor,” Thammah said.
Khoth did not hear if Jack answered as a stab of pain went through him at the mention of his mother.
