Renegade

Renegade Chapter 17

Kokona was rattled. Aria was sitting in a corner of the cockpit, murmuring to herself while Dacia was talking to Aria trying to get an intelligent response. Her brother was trying his best to keep Rex alive until they could dock with one of the medical freighters that had come with the First Imperial Fleet. If asked though, she would have argued that her situation as the worst because she was the pilot of the ship, and if she did one thing wrong, it would be game over for everyone.

It was almost too much for her. The only experience she had flying ships in situations like this was simulations when she was at the Imperial Academy. Kokona had always gotten through them with flying colors, but she was out of practice having graduated last June. The only ships she had flown since then were cargo ships around the Sol system and the colony worlds. More than once she had to do some fancy maneuvering to avoid fighter ships from both sides, and more than once she felt the impact of a laser cannon impacting and jolting the Guiding Star.

Eventually, she was able to get a signal through to a medical frigate.

"Mon Dieu, you have no idea how hard it has been to get through," she said, "This is Kokona Erasmus, pilot of the Guiding Star to the Duphrane requesting permission to make an emergency landing in one of your hangers. We have wounded on board and..."

"I'm sorry ma'am, I don't recognize that ship name. I have to run it by the military registry," the communications officer on the other end interrupted.

"We don't have time for that!" Kokona yelled.

"Ma'am, it's procedure. And how do I know that you aren't being held hostage by those alien freaks and being forced to get landing clearance?"

"Listen you, imbecilé!," Kokona exploded. "I have Crown Princess Aria Allistair on board AND her almost-dead fiancé that got shot in the knee. If he doesn't get medical attention RIGHT AWAY, he'll die, I don't even wanna think about how the Princess would react, and it would all be your fault!"

A new person started to speak over the ship-to-ship radio. "Kokona, is that you?" he asked.

"Yes, uh, Mr. Emperor-Sebastian-Allistair-Aria's dad, sir! I didn't know you'd be here, sir,". Kokona's voice immediately took on a more respectful tone of voice.

"You have your landing clearance," Sebastian Allistair responded. The tone in his voice made Kokona think he was glaring at the communications officer who had first denied them. "Second port-side hangar. I'll send down a medical team to receive you. How bad is it?"

"A gunshot wound to Rex's left knee, sir."

"And I'll order a team of surgeons to get ready for action."

***

Gabriel wouldn't have said this out loud, but he was seriously scared Rex wasn't going to make it. The only things he could do to keep Rex from bleeding out was tie a tourniquet above Rex's knee and set up an I.V. of blood. He would've tried to removed the bullet from Rex's knee, but with the way Kokona was flying, he could have done more harm than good.

It was a tense fifteen minutes from when they took off from the R'Nari camp until the Guiding Star landed in the hanger of the Medical Frigate Duphrane. A couple of nurses in identical yellow scrubs came running into the Guiding Star and help Gabriel roll Rex's gurney to the operating room.

Rex wasn't responsive at all. At most, he would move his body slightly and groan, especially for when his gurney was rolled over a bump, but otherwise he was unconscious.
While one of the nurses strapped on an oxygen mask, the other started asking Gabriel questions.

"What type of gun did he get shot with?"

"Nils said it looked like a standard issue R'Nari assault rifle."

"Is there an exit wound?"

"No. The bullet is still in there. His leg wouldn't be salvageable anyways. I'd recommend amputation."

"I'll let Dr. O'Malley know. How was his health prior to the gunshot?"

"Because I was tending to the gunshot wound, I didn't have the opportunity to examine him, but Rex is severely malnourished, the contusion to the eye area is rather obvious, and cutting away his clothing, which I will be burning later, revealed multiple scars all over his body, some of which appear rather recent. I stayed on the ship when we landed on Hallion."

"Thank you, Dr. Erasmus. We'll take him from here."

***

No one could tell how the space battle around Hallion was going because no one could identify the reason behind it. The Imperial and R'Nari fleets were evenly matched, each waiting for enough damage to be created to cause the other to retreat. Emperor Sebastian Allistair observed calmly from the bridge of the Duphrane. Well, he appeared calm on the outside. Inside, he was freaking out. He hadn't anticipated Aria actually going into the camp, and he certainly hadn't expected Nathan to be a traitor.

However, no one knew where Nathan had scampered off to after retreating when he encountered Aria on Hallion. Sebastian was thinking deeply right now, which is why he jumped a little when General Vanin coughed softly to get his attention.

"Goodness, Vanin. I didn't notice you there," Sebastian said.

"Quite understandable, Your Majesty. You must have a lot on your mind at the moment. I do as well. One of my best, a traitor. I understand if you want me to resign, I-"

Sebastian pinched his nose and breathed. "General, you're rambling. Get to the point."

"Of course, your Majesty," General Vanin continued. "I've had men monitoring and translating R'Nari ship-to-ship translations since we arrived, and I think you should hear a few of them. They could very well help in locating the traitor."

"Play them for me."

General Vanin produced a palm-sized black voice recorder and pressed the play button.

The messages were all in similar computerized voices, and kept repeating the same theme: "He is there, protect the cruiser, buy them time."

"Now, see how the majority of the R'Nari fighters haven't strayed too far from their largest ship? I'd bet that is where Nathan is hiding out."

"What do you suggest we do about it?" asked the Emperor.

"Send in a strike team of agents to capture him. It won't be hard to track down one human on an alien ship. In theory at least."


"Put one together then. I trust you to get the job done. Now, I have to go check on my daughter."

"Of course, sir. She is strong, and will pull through. She has the nickname of "The Iron Rose" for a reason."

"I know, General Vanin."

***

Aria lifted her head when she heard footsteps enter the room she had been lead to after getting off the Guiding Star. It was her father, looking a bit more disheveled than normal.

"Dad," she whispered weakly, dropping her head back down again.

Sebastian quickened his pace and sat down beside his daughter. "How are you doing, Aria? Are you hurt?" he asked.

"I'm...not alright," she said after a pause still whispering. "Gabriel says I'm physically okay, though. He was here a few minutes ago."

"I never meant for you to actually go into the camp and rescue Rex," Aria's father chastised softly. "Your guards were fully capable of doing that themselves with you commanding them from the Guiding Star.

Aria lifted her head to look her father straight in the eye. "I was always taught that if I wanted something done right, I had to do it myself."

"I never want to see you hurt, Aria. You still growing and need protection."

"I know that, but somethings I have to learn through my own experience."

"Never make me worry like that again."

"I'll try not to."

Sebastian and his daughter sat in silence for a while, until an ensign popped his head in the door. "Sir, we have him," was all he said.

Aria's dad stood up to follow the young officer. "I'll have Kokona come in and keep you company," he said. "If you want me to."

Aria nodded. "I'd like that."

"I'll see you later, Aria. I love you.

"I love you too, father."