Free Defender: A Terran Times Tale by Viola Grace Page B

of taps. Her camouflaged EVA suit was on, the ship was in full stealth broadcast and her charges were lined up.
    The atmosphere had been purged from her ship three hours ago, so there was no gas trace when she opened the door. With slow, sure movements, she set the charges, taking her time so as to not gain the attention of the ships surrounding the station.
    She wanted to whistle inside her helmet, but the only sound was her soft breathing as she placed shaped charge after shaped charge. When everything was in place, she paced slowly back to her ship and sealed the hatch.
    With the Raiders hovering around, things were going to get dicey. Connecting to the station hadn’t been a problem but getting away was going to be quite a trick.
    Using her sensors was out of the question, so she was going to have to eyeball the release to allow her access to the surface.
    She crossed her fingers and released the seals that held her to the station. She let her ship fall away from the huge structure, but her plan went awry when one of the Raider ships came toward her.
    She had a decision to make, accept the collision or avoid it. Playing chicken had never been her forte, so against her better judgement, she throttled her ship to life and made a beeline for the planet below.
    The impact of the first strike ripped a hole in her hull, but she was still wearing her suit and mask. The lack of atmosphere didn’t affect her, but her ship wobbled dangerously.
    A second strike caused a stream of numbness to her thigh, and she flicked open the coms as she let her ship identify itself. “Ikanni base command, this is the Indianapolis requesting intervention. I have unfriendlies on my tail.”
    “This is Base Command. Indianapolis, you are inside our satellites and not close enough for the guns. We will keep an eye out for you, just come on in.”
    “Acknowledged. Pick up the pieces if you can.” She grunted as another hit struck her, and her vision grew spotty.
    Scotia avoided looking at her leg, because she had the sneaking suspicion it wasn’t there anymore. The base finally appeared on her screens, but she was fading fast. A bright light came up from the planet and passed through her front screen, moving inside the cabin and hovering in front of her. Whatever it was sent her a comforting thought before it spiked into her chest a moment before a final strike shattered her ship into pieces.
    * * * *
    Bael Alder Whiccan looked up at the falling shuttle. Staring up at the stars was a hobby of his when he couldn’t sleep, and that night his eyes witnessed something amazing. A star shot up from the planet and locked into the falling ship.
    Light flared and the ship came apart in chunks. If there was anything alive in that shuttle, he doubted it had survived.
    He transported himself to the crash site as the attacking ship was blasted to bits by the guns of the base.
    He really wasn’t expecting to see a survivor, but a woman was lying naked on sheets of smoking wreckage. Her leg had a fine line on it that disappeared as he stared.
    The rest of her body was perfect, unblemished and had a pale colouration that he now knew the origin of. This woman was the same species as Bael Hislar, the Terran commander of Ikanni base.
    Her hair was pale gold and tumbled onto the wreckage behind her. Her miraculous survival would remain a mystery, because he had an obligation to get her back to her own people.
    He lifted the woman in his arms, and she weighed almost nothing. He could feel the energy inside her, and it shocked him. One of the living souls of Ikanni had made its way into her, protecting her from the blast.
    He didn’t know what to make of it, so he transported into the front court of the base. He ignored the weapons aimed at him by the warriors at the base. “Bael Hislar. I need her immediately.” A warrior lifted his head and asked, “Why?”
    Alder lifted the woman in his arms. “Because one of her own kind has fallen from the sky. I thought