Read Online Nova by Lora E. Rasmussen - Free Book Online Page B

was not distinguishable
in the deliberately identical and plain battle–mail each wore, unusually so. Captain
Serros also found it more than a little suspicious that features were
impossible to distinguish because, despite it being the dark of night, the
entire group currently wore activated helmets with tinted visors. Most
interesting, one of the group wasn’t helmed or wearing heavy–armor. In
the center front was a Vosaia female with short silvery hair wearing a gray and
black skinsuit armed with a pistol.
    “By their armor, they could be anyone, and note the Vosaia. Lieutenant
Rygel, please record. The Quorum will want to know.”
    “Aye, Captain. Another traitor, do you think?”
    “I… I think I know the Vosaia. I believe she is Proconsul
Far’allyn Tanad.” Hadarr announced, her normally emotionless voice holding a discernable
note of surprise.
    “ Damn . There is definitely more going on than
we are aware of. What is a Vosaia Proconsul doing with soldiers attempting to
look like disguised Fosaki Elites?” Serros queried.
    “I don’t know.” Hadarr admitted.
    “I’d say the obvious answer is that they are not Fosaki.” Serros mused out loud.
    “Still no sign of Z’arr.” Lieutenant Naxos commented. Avara
could hear the Braxien’s voice hum with the suppressed tension and excitement of
the hunt.
    “Okay team, capture rather than kill just became even more
important for both Z’arr and the Vosaia Proconsul. Stay focused and stay alert;
revert to silence until the drop.” The Captain ordered quietly.
    A few minutes later, a set of four factory guards let the
group of unadorned, gray–armored unknowns pass into the inner courtyard with
only a brief nod; after the Vosaia handed several bills to the lead guard.
A prearranged bribe. They then moved into the plaza and the unidentified soldiers
efficiently positioned themselves at the top of a dais–like, broad white–stone
step–way by a leaping fountain. Huge hourglass shaped planters surrounded the fountain,
with the containers’ slender birch trees happily piercing the night sky,
pushing towards the sleeping sun.
    Tactical mind firing like mad, Avara noted that it was an
unusual move, for the position that the unknowns had chosen was anything but
secure or defensible.
    Bit of a leap of faith there. Probably part of a pre–arrangement .
    The soldiers had formed themselves into a semi–circular
pattern around the Vosaia official and another soldier, obviously the group’s commander
by the black–hash marks on his shoulder–plate, the only such of the entire
group to possess any rank insignia whatsoever. A different soldier then keyed
several commands into his or her CPA and then suddenly, there was a shower of
electric sparks in the courtyard. Extending the range of her vision, Serros was
able to spot the source of the electric flashes fairly quickly. All of the
security cameras on the premises. Though she couldn’t see Lieutenant Dane Rygel,
sensing a silent emotional snarl of frustration, Serros turned to look at the
position that the Captain knew her communications officer and technical wizard
was located.
    The unknowns had managed to disable their cameras as
well.
    The minutes kept dragging like an antiquated clock winding
down towards the end of its life–cycle until at least an hour had passed, and
still Lieutenant K’llan Z’arr had yet to arrive. Mech–like, each of the unknown
soldiers had, without a single twitch, held the exact same position the entire
time. The dearth of action was almost unnerving in the lack of humanity it
represented, giving credence to the possibility that they were indeed Fosaki.
    Though originally a fully organic species, over the last
millennium, the Fosaki had gradually yet systematically added synthetic
enhancements to their people until truly, much of what was once organic–sentience
had changed into a fusion of organic and synthetic. Culturally, the Fosaki
believed that such an amalgamation was the