T’arq
As the engine of his stealth ship wound down, Sub-Commander T’arq Qu’Ress sighed, fatigue washing over him in waves. He was dead on his feet. Or on his ass, considering he’d been glued in this tiny cockpit for the past twelve hours. He rolled his shoulders and stretched his arms overhead, his hands brushing the ceiling. Stealth ships were the smallest spacecraft in the Taurean fleet, and the most deadly, but they were not designed for pilots who were over seven feet tall like T’arq was. After twelve hours straight of flying he was ready to relax. At the thought, a small smile lit up his face, removing the lines of exhaustion from his bronzed skin.
The thought spurring his tired limbs into movement; he did a quick check of the various controls laid out in front of him, his hands moving fluidly as he ran the final post-flight diagnostics. T’arq had changed his stealth ship to seat one, with the controls clustered to one side of the cockpit. Usually a ship of this size would have a flight engineer and a pilot, but because of T’arq’s missions, when he was in the stealth ship, he worked alone.
If he was asked, he would say he enjoyed working alone, but lately he wasn’t so sure. He shook his head and hit the release for the cockpit’s overhead hatch, one of two exits for the small ship. The other was in the tiny cargo bay in the rear of the craft. With a hiss, the hatch to the cockpit unlocked and slid backwards to reveal one of the Starship Zataras’ hangars. There were many hangars, just like this one, on the giant battleship. The walls and floor were the same pale gray as the rest of the starship, small rows of lights showing paths between the various craft that filled the large space, each parked in a designated and numbered position.
Everything on a Taurean starship screamed order, from the color of the walls to the set meal times for each shift. Once settled into the routine it was easy to let the days just slide by, the monotony only broken up by the next battle.
He supposed that was why he had volunteered to be the second-in-command to Commander Zac Qu’Rell. He had seen how determined that warrior had been and knew that, no matter what happened, life around Zac would never be boring.
And so here he was, on a mission to eradicate the evil alien Xakul menace from the galaxy.
The Taureans had been fighting the expansion crazed Xakul for decades, ever since the insectoid aliens had pressed against the boundary of Taurean space by attacking the outer planets under Taurean protection. And now the Xakul were threatening Earth, the home world of humans.
The Zataras’ current mission, officially, was to patrol the outer borders of Taurean space, but unofficially the starship was a key part of a complex intelligence gathering network, of which T’arq was a member. A team of both Taurean warriors and humans working together to prevent a Xakul invasion of Earth. Unheard of even a few years ago, but now? Now everything had changed. The Xakul were becoming more assertive and were taking more risks. The enemy had nothing to lose, and a fanatic enemy was a dangerously unpredictable foe.
T’arq unclipped his harness and stood, rolling his neck to ease the tension that had built up over the past few hours. His blonde hair flopped over his brow and he pushed it back with one large hand. He heaved himself out of the hatch and stood on one of the ship’s short wings, stretching his arms overhead as he looked across the hangar.
It was late in the evening, or what passed as evening when on a starship and not a planet, and the hangar was mostly empty of people. The large space held tens of stealth fighter craft like his, plus many larger shuttles and even a few smaller freighters. Right now, most were still, waiting until their next mission.
“Pleasant run, T’arq?”
T’arq looked over the edge of the wing at his friend and commander, Zac Qu’Rell. The heavily scarred face pulled into a smile, one side of his mouth twisting and his bright green eyes holding a hint of a laugh. T’arq smiled in return and dropped from the wing, turning in mid-air to catch a handhold with practiced ease, before lowering himself to the ground. For a big warrior, he had a reputation for being light on his feet.
“Zac. I didn’t realize you were back from Taurus yet.” He reached out and clasped his forearm, the scarred skin under his fingers thick where the silver lines cut the deep bronze of his friend’s skin. The two warriors moved closer to touch foreheads briefly in the way of close kin. Blonde head next to blonde head. From behind they might be confused for brothers, but nobody made that mistake after seeing both of their faces. T’arq’s teasing smile and dancing lilac eyes were a striking contrast to Zac’s usually stern expression and inhumanly green gaze.
“It would have been a good run, except for the cloak,” T’arq said, releasing his friend’s arm and bending to pick up the small duffel bag that he had dropped to the hangar floor.
A raised eyebrow was the only reply.
“I’ve stopped using it.”
“Oh?” Zac turned to walk with him, the two Taureans passing under the ship’s wing and toward the rear maintenance hatch. T’arq was slightly taller than Zac, but what T’arq made up for in height, Zac countered in muscle.
“It’s meant to hide my ship from the Xakul, but it drops as soon as I receive a comm signal. It’s completely useless.” T’arq sighed and held his hand out for the tablet that Zac held. “Sorry, it was a long mission. Let me get these checks done so we can both get out of here.” Zac passed T’arq the tablet, who flicked through the pages, quickly finding the checklist he was after and working his way through the list. “A pilot is only as good—”
“—as the people who work in support.” A small smile lifted the corner of Zac’s mouth. “So where’s the package?”
T’arq’s brows drew together as he entered something into a screen. “Here.” He reached into a pocket on his flight suit and handed over a small black object. “An awfully long trip for something so insignificant.”
A grim smile pressed Zac’s lips together. “This is not insignificant. You did well.”
T’arq shrugged. “It was pretty easy, though that station AI is something else.”
Zac’s brows drew together. “It’s just an AI.”
“It’s not just anything. There’s something strange about Irith’s Moons, Zac.” In practice, Irith’s Moons was an exclusive resort that provided whatever their patrons wanted… for a price. A honeymoon destination for the newly married elite? Easy. A few days of non-stop boozing and gambling? Not a problem. A bed partner or two… or more? Certainly. None of this was news to Zac, nor to anyone who had traveled through Taurean space. Irith’s Moons’ owners had made sure of that with a carefully crafted rumor mill.
Whoever was running Irith’s Moons went to great pains to foster such a reputation. A stay on the station was highly desirable but it was nearly impossible to gain access. Although T’arq had managed it.
Zac nodded thoughtfully, standing to one side as T’arq quickly finished the checks with an efficiency that told of years of practice. “Done.” T’arq turned to Zac with a grin.
“Want to go grab a drink?” Zac clapped him on the back, wrapping an arm around his shoulder and leading him away from the ship.
“I thought you’d never ask,” T’arq said, thankful for any excuse to not go back to his lonely quarters. With one last look at the stealth ship, he let Zac lead him from the hangar.
* * *
