Finding Darkness

Chapter 9 Found

The Saltek moved forward, then stopped. Looks of what could have been puzzlement on the beady eyed faces. The shadow in the sky began to move, and all eyes looked up to see the huge landing craft tilt to the left, then spew smoke and fall off to port, slamming into the nearby buildings.

The impact sent shock waves up Tamar's legs, as the building trembled and swayed with multiple explosions from the disintegration ship. All six aliens turn back to Tamar so none of them saw a tiny speck burst out of the thick black smoke and streak towards them until it was too late. Malachi, in a soaring arc, sailed high above them, flared his wings to bring himself to a halt, then dropped like a stone onto the roof. His impact blew a billow of dust, cratered the roof, and left Tamar barely able to breathe. The fact that he had landed between the alien warriors and her position was not lost on Tamar, though.

"You will come no closer to her. I have no wish to kill you, but know this: you have two choices: leave now, or come closer and die." Tamar was shocked. His voice didn't sound at all human. It was like someone had erased someone's humanity and replaced it with an electronic vocabulator. It was dark and menacing, with the smooth cadence of a natural born predator.

Either the aliens didn't understand him, or ignored his warning. After a few seconds of indecision they all charged as one. Five seconds after that, they were all dead.

His shoulders rose and fell with each of his heavy breaths. Tamar stood not ten feet from him and with his back to her, he couldn't see that she was staring at him. She was incredulous. For the first time in her life she was standing almost within arm's reach of someone, yet she felt no fear, not even the faintest misgiving. He had just destroyed a Rougarian drop ship, slaughtered its entire complement of warriors, and now was standing right in front of her. He had so much power, power Tamar was only now beginning to comprehend. Truth be told, she should have been running with everything she had, yet she was standing rooted in place by the one fact she couldn't shake out of her head.

He kept his promise? He kept his promise. This man had told her he wasn't going to let anything happen to her, and he hadn't. For someone who had been treated like a piece of meat her whole life, to find someone who, even once, kept their word, was a big deal.

"We need to move now." Malachi turned and Tamar jumped back. His suit was alive, it writhed, and snaked, with a mind of its own. Then, in a blink of an eye, the apparition was gone and Malachi stood before her, the one she had grown accustom to.

"Why?" she shot back.

"Because that thing managed to get a message off before I could take it out. With everything else I was juggling, my jamming field wasn't strong enough to stop it or scramble it. It's a good bet that whoever is up in those ships knows exactly where we are." Tamar's eyes grew wide.

"You're right, we need to move now.""

My lord, we have an incoming message from one of our surveillance craft over sector one point three. It's pretty garbled, but enough got through for us to piece it back together. I'm having the communication officer put it on the main viewer." Vapade nodded his head towards the front of the bridge.

After a few seconds, a soft hum could be heard over the quiet bustle of the bridge and the front upper portion of the bridge wall shimmer, then went translucent.

"This is officer Kreck. Our craft has come under attack and our mission has failed. Our one consolation is that we've stumbled upon something of great value to our cause." The screen cut away from the Rougarian pilot and to a look from the craft to the ground. The camera steadied on a tiny figure trying to its best to hide among the debris.