Page 43 of Infala: Claimed By Rivals
“Not essentially,” Arkness corrected. “Itisslavery. And they are a very, very aggressive people.”
Olivia did not like the sound of that. Not one bit. “And with all your spiffy technology and firepower, you just let them? What the hell is wrong with you?”
Arkness shook his head somberly. “I wish we could intervene. I really do. But the Dohrags leave our people alone and know to stay well clear of our borders. Yes, we have the means to destroy even a relatively significant Dohrag force should they make any attempts on our lands, but we do not have the go-ahead from the Dotharian Conglomerate overseer for this sector to do anything more.”
“Hang on. The Dotharians are the big dogs in your society, right? The ones in charge of all the races?”
“Yes.”
“Then isn’t it their responsibility to deal with these assholes?”
Both Rykker and Arkness chuckled at her fire, the latter replying with an amused sparkle in his eyes.
“While that is their responsibility, as you correctly noted, they monitor many systems within the sector, and at the moment this is not a priority. You see, there is a large conflict several systems away. A war, actually. Andthatis currently occupying the majority of their attention.”
“We do not wish to allow this to happen,” Rykker added. “And if they were taking our people, you could rest assured there would be repercussions. But with the other conflict draining Dotharian resources and focus, we are left with the situation at hand. Maintaining a not-so-pleasant status quo, if you will.”
Olivia hated to admit it, but she understood their logic. Yes, it sucked, but the same sort of 3-D chess was how governments worked back home on Earth as well. Sometimes, you just didn’t have a good option.
“Fine. But it still sucks.”
“On this we are in agreement,” Arkness said, boarding the ship. “I will spool up the power system. We will be ready to launch momentarily. Come aboard and take a seat. It will be a relatively long flight compared to the one that brought you here as we will be flying to avoid notice. That requires a bit of terrain-following at lower altitude for portions, and that would be unsafe at top speeds.”
She followed him aboard, Rykker entering behind her and sealing the hatch. His hand gently cupped her ass as he passed her on his way to the copilot’s seat, sending a shiver through her body. The scent of the two of them was already strong to her heightened senses in this confined space. She could only imagine what it would be like without the environmental systems cleaning the air.
They lifted off smoothly and began their journey. They flew for a while, this ship lacking the all-around clear projections of the earlier transport she’d been shuttled back to their city in. But while it did not appear totally clear, the front portion where the pilot and copilot sat provided one-eighty visibility. As for the window projection beside her, she still got a good look at the environment from her lesser vantage point. And at these slower speeds with it not passing by in a blur, she could actually see the varying topography of the areas they flew over.
“We’re getting close,” Arkness announced a while later. “We should be at our destination in about?—”
The ship bucked hard, an explosion flashing across the window projections, bright and orange. They spun into a stomach-churning dive for a moment before he regained control.
“Evasive action!” Rykker shouted, frantically rerouting systems on his flashing display.
“One step ahead of you,” Arkness replied as they banked hard, dramatically altering course, dropping low and flying fast.
Olivia’s stomach flipped, the gravity dampening tech making their flight impervious to inertial forces either entirely offline or close to it.
“What hit us?” she called out as Arkness and Rykker tended to their stations like the professionals they were.
Arkness kept his eyes forward, flying as close to the treetops as he dared. Rykker glanced over his shoulder, albeit briefly. “Not sure. It seems to have been a lesser tech weapon.”
“Who’s attacking us?”
“We don’t know yet. First things first, we need to get clear and land so we can assess the damage. Hang on to your seat, it may get bumpy,” he replied, turning his attentions fully to dealing with the flashing lights all over his display panel.
They flew a zig-zag course, weaving this way and that before abruptly dropping straight down. Olivia nearly vomited from the sensation, a moment of weightlessness before being yanked downward by the plummeting craft. She looked out her flickering window display, adrenaline somehow running even higher. What she saw was her violent demise, and it was coming up fast.
At the last second before impact with the ground the ship lurched hard, slowing dramatically, forcing all of them deep into the cushioning of their seats before landing with a solid thud, the force field surrounding the bottom of the vessel for such instances barely keeping the ship’s hull from impacting. The landing gear was minimal, normally just an additional design feature rarely relied on. But with the failing energy field it turned out to be the one thing keeping them upright as they settled down on the surface.
“Powering down,” Arkness announced, switching the ship to minimal power.
“Scans active,” Rykker replied, staring intently at a small display showing the skies above. He watched for a long whilethen relaxed back in his seat, tension easing from his broad shoulders. “We have not been followed.”
Arkness swiveled his seat to get a look. “Perpetrators?”
“It seems to be an Ultraxian air mine,” he replied, heading for the hatch. “I’ll know better in a moment.”
A blast of fresh air flooded in as he opened the door, stepping out to examine the damage. Arkness and Olivia followed close behind.
