Above the surface of a terrestrial planet, a star yacht with two fighters escorting it orbited the world. On board, the owner was conversing with someone on the planet.
"So Nastrum, " spoke the Overlord, his voice less harsh than before, but still with a menacing tone, "I understand you have made some progress in making up for," his voice turned a little harsher, "your earlier failure."
"I have, Sir." Nastrum answered through the holographic projector with an eager smile, "We have the disk back, and one of Bayle's alien cohorts."
"Good. How soon before the disk is in our actual hands?"
"The ship carrying it and the alien will arrive in our planetary space very soon, in less than an hour. Why not come down so I may personally hand both items to you myself?"
"I will arrive shortly."
"Very good, Sir. I will have everything ready for you."
The Overlord then turned off the holo-projector.
The Overlord was sitting in a large chair facing his desk in his star yacht's office, little of him visible from behind, where a human female was standing. Her figure was tall and slender, and her hair was jet black. The most notable features on her face were her peircing eyes. They were a deep shade of ice blue.
"If I may ask," she spoke with a tone suggesting irritation, "why do you put up with this incompetent Nastrum?"
"Nastrum is far from ideal," he answered, "but he has proved useful enough for me to tolerate him."
"This is not the first time he has bungled his responsibilities. And while I am no lover of aliens, his attitudes about them has cost us business from non-humans who took their deals elsewhere."
"I am aware of that." he paused, "I will deal with him in my own time."
"Of course, Sir." She paused for a moment, then told him, "I came across some information regarding the two felinoids Nastrum has been pursuing. It seems they both have interesting records."
"I have inquired about them already. They are Karmlyn Sen-Tiago and Islyne Jixsi, both mymar of Planet Absolin. Both, it appears, have a way of finding themselves in trouble, and have histories of besting their opposition or otherwise escaping."
"The one still loose, Islyne, or 'Jinx' as she is better known, is suspected of having some psionic powers. She could pose a problem."
"I am quite aware of the damage one man, or in this case, one woman can do. Unfortunately, until she reveals herself, whether on Rytal or elsewhere, there is only so much that can be done. What can be done is to analyze that disk as quickly as possible, and deal with whomever has been compromised the same."
"And the mymar prisoner?"
"Sen-Tiago, or rather, her uncle's shipping company, could be of use to us. I came across some records of suspicions that certain pilots of Sen-Tiago Shipping engaged in occasional smuggling of liquor and banned holo-videos on certain worlds. Nothing was ever proven, but I'm certain they can be persuaded to do some in, different, items for us in exchange for the safe return of the owner's niece. That is one option."
"And the other?"
"If it turns out she knows too much, we may have to dispose of her." he paused, "As her partner is of no use to us, that would be the only option available for her if we should happen to take her."
At this moment, an electronic bell sound told them there was someone at the door. The Overlord ordered, "Enter."
A man in a pilot's uniform entered the room, and looked directly at the Overlord's chair, "Sir, a minute ago, a craft entered this system. We have confirmation from below that it's our men from Rytal with the disk and the prisoner. They're on landing approach now."
"Excellent. Proceed to land, but do not touch down until after they have."
"Yes Sir." The pilot left.
"Rysla," the Overlord told the woman, "You will go in my place to meet with Nastrum and pick up the disk and prisoner."
"Sir," Rysla spoke up, "is that necessary?"
"I told you I would tolerate Nastrum, not give him the privilege of dealing with me face to face."
"Understood Sir."
The freighter approached the planet, and made a smooth descent down the atmosphere to the main base. The land for miles around was a sub-tropical forest, jungle-like in places. The base itself was in a clearing next to a river with a beach. Besides the landing pad, which already had a few spacecraft and room for several more, there were several larger buildings one to two levels in height, and about a dozen smaller ones, including a landing tower and a communications tower. There were also three sets of blaster artillery in case of hostile craft. The base itself was fairly well populated. Some of these people were in civilian clothes, some upper-class or business, and some in worker's clothes. The more obvious were those in guard uniforms. These people were all around the base.
"Base Alpha to Terradyne Five ," the control tower radioed the freighter, "You are cleared for final approach."
"Terradyne Five beginning final approach," a male-sounding voice with a touch of hoarseness answered.
The freighter approached the base, and came down to a smooth landing on a space at the landing pad. Once down, the engines deactivated and the ship was silent.
Then the space yacht and the two fighters approached. Just as smoothly, they came down on three spaces next to the other craft at the pad.
Nastrum, with a few guards as escorts, walked up the yacht with a smile. When Rysla emerged from the ship, however, his smile briefly faded. He managed to compose himself when she approached, "Ah, Rysla, so good to see you."
"Save the false pretenses Nastrum." the woman spoke almost in a growl, "It's no secret to either of us what we think of each other. I'll take that disk and the prisoner, and be on my way while you go on yours. Perhaps stuffing your face in some heaping dessert plate."
"Wouldn't you like to know, witch!" Nastrum grumbled back, "I don't know what the Overlord sees in you, or how to managed to get his favor."
Rysla flashed a sly smile, "I doubt your crude simplistic mind could understand."
"Oh I understand all right, what a scheming, conniving minx that you are. If there was one good thing about this fiasco, it's that the little beast reminds me so much of you, which made her capture even sweeter."
"Does she?" Rysla's smile didn't flinch, "Considering on Lagos she was able to outwit you at every turn, withstood every single thing you threw at her with ease, I consider that a complement." She paused as Nastrum's face briefly took on a look of surprise, then began stepping forward towards the freighter, "Now, I will get what I came for."
Nastrum quickly turned, refusing to walk behind her, saying nothing, but his face clearly showing his bitterness.
The freighter's door opened, and two crewmen stepped out, both in full flight suits, including the gloves and helmets, with the black visors down. Both were wearing belts with blasters and what looked like a few instruments attached. One was carrying a small disk in a case. The two crewmen's suits were a somewhat loose fit, but what looked slightly odd was their feet seemed a little longer than normal.
Nastrum approached them, and the crewman with the disk held it out, "The disk, Sir." he spoke in a somewhat hoarse tone, or perhaps it was from wearing the helmet.
Nastrum took the disk, and handed it to Rysla, "No matter what you tell the Overlord, it was I who recovered it. And I will make sure no one steals the credit from me."
Rysla took the disk, "And I will make sure whose incompetence in security led to it's creation is constantly known to him."
Nastrum came close to a growl, then noticed the two crewmen were walking off to a building, "You two, where are you going?"
They stopped, and turned back, the first saying, "Sir, the restroom aboard broke. We've been 'holding it' the whole trip."
Nastrum grumbled a bit, "Is the prisoner secured and ready to go?"
"Yes Sir."
"Allright, you may go." The two crewmen then quickly trotted off and Nastrum turned back to Rysla, "Now where were we? Ah yes, that cat that we caught and caged." He saw that Rysla was looking past him, "What are you looking at?"
Rysla continued to look for a moment at the two crewman, then turned to Nastrum, "Nothing. Now, let's see this prisoner."
They went aboard with the guards escorting. They walked down a few corridors to the door to the cargo bay. When they pushed the button to open the door, however, it only opened a few inches. Nastrum swore, and ordered the guards to open it. They took a grip, and began slowly opening it.
Rysla glanced at Nastrum, "You've made her so secure, not even we can get to her."
"Laugh while you can." Nastrum responded. Finally, the door was opened, and Nastrum and the guards went in. They found the cage in the middle of the bay. Inside was someone tightly and completely wrapped in what looked like a makeshift straitjacket made out a blanket. The person inside, alerted by the sounds of the people coming in, was struggling, and trying to speak through a gag of some kind.
Nastrum, looked at the cage, "I told those idiots I wanted her stripped and collared, not straightjacketed! He fumed a bit.
"Stripped and collared?" Rysla glanced at Nastrum, "Why would you have her transported that way?"
"To reduce that cat to what her kind really is - a beast, and nothing more." Nastrum then went in, and the guards followed. Rysla, however, remained outside. Nastrum looked back, "Why aren't you coming in?"
"I don't trust that door, and I detect the smell of gas in there."
"Probably had to use it to quiet that cat." Nastrum and the guards went on to the cage, and opened it. Nastrum ordered one guard to cut the ropes holding the blankets closed, and the others to be ready for anything. The selected guard cut the ropes, and the others had their hands on their blasters. The blanket was pulled back ...
And they found not the mymar female, but Gamiel, tied up and wearing a collar around his neck. He was gaged, his feet bound, and his hands tied behind his back.
Nastrum, stunned, watched as the guard got the gag out of Gamiel's mouth, "Ack! Thanks."
Nastrum finally recovered, "What the hell is this?! Where's that damn cat?"
"Cat?" Gamiel answered, "You mean cats. Her blasted partner snuck aboard."
"What happened to the rest of the crew?" Rysla asked, still just outside the doorway.
"They pulled some stunt and caught three of us. They must've gotten the other two."
Nastrum's face contorted with anger, and his fists clenched, "I had that little menace in my hands, and she got away again !! "
"Problem, Nastrum?" Rysla spoke from the doorway, her voice a mix of chastisement and mocking glee, "She is, what were those words of yours, 'a beast, nothing more?' "
It was then that there was a steady beeping sound. The guard who cut the cord holding Gamiel's wrap looked in the blankets, and picked up a small electronic device. Nastrum stepped over, and took it.
It had a screen showing a number counting down, 5 , 4 , 3, 2, ...
Nastrum swore, and spun around back to the doorway. Then there was a louder beep, and the doorway slammed shut, cutting him and his guards off. Nastrum only had a moment to take this in before there was a hissing noise. He and the guards turned, and saw gas coming in from the vents. Gamiel groaned "not again," then was overtaken by the fumes.
From outside, Rysla could hear the muffled cries of "knockout gas!" She went to a small control panel, and pressed a series of buttons. She waited a couple moments, then pressed the last one. The doors opened, and Nastrum and the guards spilled out.
"I should have left your fat stupid hide in there and switched to a different gas!" Rysla snapped at Nastrum, "But I'm going to need the guards to find those two, and I think I know where they went."
It was then that there was the sound of laser fire, not a pistol, but something ship-sized.
Rysla knew what is was, "The freighter's turret gun! It's firing at something!"
She and the guards, followed by Nastrum who was slowed down by his bulk and still catching his breath from the gas, followed the sound. They went down the corridors, and came to a turret access. A guard got in and shut it down.
"They must still be on the ship." the guard commented, "This was set for control from the cockpit."
"No," Rysla told him, "I'm sure if you check the cockpit, you'll find the computer was programed to fire it." She paused, "Do you have any vehicles here?"
"Yes, our hovercraft, bikes, sleds, and sweeps."
"Alert the others! We have intruders making a breakout ..."
Outside the freighter, the base was in panic. The two fighters had taken heavy damage in the engine areas, and were now smoking. The communications tower was no longer operational due to the damage it got. The blasters had then turned on the blaster artillery, badly damaging one, and was working on a second when the turret was finally stopped.
Around the base, guards were rushing around. Some were boarding the freighter, others taking up positions against whatever else might show up.
And unnoticed by everyone, at least for the moment, the two in flight suits were making their way to where the hovercraft were kept, their visors still down.
" Mar , (my feet are killing me!)" Karmlyn grumbled as she did her best to keep up with Jinx.
"(We didn't have a lot of time to modify those human-porportioned boots,)" Jinx told her, "(At least we could get our tails around our waists and take care of our upper undergarments.)"
"(Yeah, but all your shoes needed were a little polish.)"
"(I had spares in my duffel bag, but I did not exactly have time to bring it with me.)" They quieted as a couple guards ran past them, then Jinx spoke again, "(To change the subject, I have to congratulate you on your programing skill.)"
Karmlyn's tone brightened, "(I've picked up a few things besides gambling. Comes in handy whenever the computer's on the fritz and there's not a starport within light years.)" she paused, "(You weren't so bad yourself when it came to tweaking the codes. Not only did we give 'em one hell of a distraction, but got rid of their ability to call for help and a little anti-straffing insurance from those fighters.)"
"(Indeed.)"
They fell silent again as they moved past another group of guards, then entered a building. The inside was a garage with a few blaster rifles, a few crates, and about a dozen hovercraft of three kinds. The hoversleds were built mainly to haul loads or a have dozen people, and were not very fast. There were hoverbikes, roughly the shape of a long triangle with two repulsor engines in the back, underneath a couple small "wings," and a smaller third one under the nose for stability. They were fast and fairly stable. Also here sweeps, which were much like the hoverbikes, but shorter and lacked the bikes' wingtips. They were a little faster than hoverbikes, and able to rise up to about thirty meters, but were not exactly the most stable things in the air. Many considered those who rode them reckless and foolhardy, and not always the cleanest sort of folk as some street gangs favored sweeps.
Once in the building, Karmlyn yanked off the boots and began putting her own shoes on, "Whew! (Glad to have those things off.)"
Jinx raised her visor, "(I wasn't sure how long our uniforms would be convincing, so I tried mentally distracting everyone who was near. I doubt it affected those who saw us at a distance, so we should leave quickly.)" she looked over the various craft, "(We should take two in case one happens to fail. We also need a way to disable the rest.)" She took three of the rifles, and began removing the ammo packs from the rest.
Karmlyn finished putting on her second shoe and raised her visor, "(And then it's on to that abandoned military outpost.)" She got her datapad out, and the screen showed a map, (Like I showed you before, it's roughly southwest of here, but we'll have to bypass some areas to avoid rocky areas and thick jungle. And even with these hovercraft, it's a two-day trip.)"
"(Provided things go as planned, which may I remind you, may not.)" Jinx handed Karmlyn one of the blaster rifles.
"(Tell me about it.)" The two women began looking around the place. It was Karmlyn who noticed some metallic cylinders tucked behind a crate in one corner, "(Hey Jinx, look over here.)" She pointed to the labels on them.
Jinx went over, and looked at the cylinders, "(Why would they store liquid hydrogen here?)"
"(I dunno, but it's obvious what'll happen if a blaster bolt hits it. Give me a hand. ...)"
Nastrum, followed by his guards, stormed off the freighter. Behind them, Rysla was the last to emerge, "You indeed have a lot to answer for, Nastrum. The scenery around us reveals your incompetence all too clearly."
"For the third time already, shut up! The guards will soon find those cats, and when they do-"
"I believe you have stated that repeated times, and failed to deliver." she paused momentarily, "Not only those two, but I doubt they would have handed you the real data disk."
Nastrum stared at the disk that had been given to him, "Then what could this be?" He got a datapad, and put the disk in.
It was then that Nastrum's comm went off, and he answered in an irritated tone, "What?!"
"Sir," spoke a voice, "We have some conflicting information regarding the two pilots from the freighter. A man from a distance away saw them heading in the direction of the hovercraft garage, but none of the guards they would have inevitably passed noticed them."
"What?! They were told to detain anyone in a pilot's suit headed there! Why didn't they get them?"
"Her psionic powers." Rysla realized aloud, "I knew there was something strange about those two pilots, but I was unable to figure it out. She must have used them to distract us from noticing their long boots."
Nastrum gave her a look, "You actually believe that mumbo-jumbo? Now who's being incompetent, not to mention delusional."
Rysla glared at him, "Obviously, she doesn't need mental powers to cloud your judgment. Did you even bother looking up records on her?"
Nastrum's eyes narrowed, "I don't need a bunch of tall tales spun up by drunken spacers, nor someone dumb enough to believe them." Nastrum turned his attention back to the comm, "Send some guards to check the hovercraft storage out."
The two mymar maneuvered the last of several liquid hydrogen cylinders into place, in the middle of the group of hovercraft. It was soon in position.
"(Got it!)" Karmlyn then went to a hoverbike at the front of the collection of craft, climbed on, and pressed the button on the controls turning it on. The machine began to whine slightly, though not loudly enough to alert anyone who wasn't next to the building. She pointed to the controls next to the large main garage door, "(That big red button opens up the door.)" She got a helmet lying on the bike next to her, "(This'll open it.)"
"(I can take care of that.)" Jinx got a helmet from one craft, then boarded a sweep slightly behind Karmlyn.
Karmlyn looked at her, "(You know, those sweeps can be unsteady as hell. You better get one of the hoverbikes.)"
"(I know how to handle these.)" She turned it on, and it started to hum at a slightly higher but no louder pitch than the bike.
"Huh? (When did you ever fly one?)"
"(Back on Absolin. For a few months, I would ride a friend's sweep almost every weekend.)"
Karmlyn gave her a look, "(You, Jinx, of all people, a sweep rider?)"
"(I found it an interesting experience.)"
Karmlyn was silent for a moment, then grinned, "(You'll have to tell me about that later. You never cease to surprise me.)"
It was this point there was a beep from the door they came in from, then a couple more, then a voice from outside spoke, "You, in there, open this door, or we'll blast you!"
Karmlyn glanced back, "(Looks like we timed it just right.)" The women then got their rifles ready, and Karmlyn got a device from her belt, grinning, "(And now, one more surprise for Nastrum.)"
Jinx threw her second helmet at the door control's main button, and guided by her telekinetics, it hit. The main garage door immediately began going up. Karmlyn then activated the device she had.
Almost immediately, a shrill, high pitched wine came from the freighter, and it rose a few feet in the air. Then there were loud sounds of popping, sizzling, and shorting, and it fell back down. Smoke began pouring from the engines and a few access panels that came open. One near Nastrum had coolant hose break, and fluid leaked all over the ground.
The attention of everyone, including the guards was momentarily fixed on it.
This was the break that Karmlyn and Jinx needed. Very fortunate not to have any guards in front of them for some distance, they took off in their bike and sweep. Karmlyn fired at those guards in front, stunbolt fire, and those who weren't hit dodged and hit ground. Jinx did the same. The surprise was only momentarily as other guards noticed what was happening, and began firing their way.
When they had gotten some distance from the garage, Jinx turned, aimed her rifle at the cluster of cylinders in the middle of the remaining hovercraft, concentrated momentarily, then pulled the trigger.
The garage went up in a huge explosion that shook the ground, a fireball erupting, destroying the garage and everything in it. Pieces went up in the air, then began raining down.
Karmlyn couldn't help but look back and grin, then noticed the freighter. There were several people near it, a few guards, some strange woman, and -
"Nastrum." Her grin vanished, and her eyes narrowed. She swung her rifle in his direction, set the rifle off the stun setting, did her best to take aim, slowing her hoverbike some, and began firing.
Her first shots were obvious misses. The only result was Nastrum jumping a foot in the air. Karmlyn had to wait a second as her still moving bike put the woman in her line of sight, then when the view to Nastrum was clear, she fired again, multiple shots hoping that at least one would hit him. The mobster began to run, then he fell. Karmlyn briefly thought she had hit him, then realized he had tripped.
"Karmlyn!" Jinx yelled, "(What are you doing?!)"
"(It's Nastrum!)" Karmlyn yelled back, "(I want that bastard!)"
"(We don't have time! We have to get out of here!)"
The number of blaster shots fired at them by the guards then began growing from just a few, then more and more, becoming a flurry. They were also coming closer to their mark. One flew inches away from Karmlyn.
"Rrrrrr!" Karmlyn scowled. She wanted to get Nastrum badly after all he had put her through ... but she realized Jinx was right.
She faced forward again, and hit full throttle. Jinx followed. There were only a few guards now in their front, and a few stunshots sent them either dodging to the ground, or just simply to the ground after getting hit.
Clearing the perimeter of the base, they sped away.
Nastrum tried to get up, but his hand slipped, and he fell back into the puddle of coolant, now mixed with mud from a few stray shots that had churned up the ground. He tried again a little slower, and was able to sit up, wet and a bit muddy.
The datapad was on the ground. Rysla, now wearing a head-mounted comlink, bent down and got it, and pressed the button to play the disk inside.
"Hi Nastrum," spoke the recording Karmlyn in a jovial, mocking tone, "No this isn't the disk you were looking for." There were a few girlish giggles, then, "Now don't you wish you had just left well enough alone instead of being such a sore loser. It sure would have been a heckuva lot cheaper for you, judging by the size of what your repair bill's going to be." the recording of Karmlyn then laughed and laughed.
Nastrum's clenched his fists and shook them. His face took on a shade of purple. He spoke nothing, but his lips trembled with anger.
Rysla's attention then was directed to her comlink, "Yes, Sir?" The comlink was turned on "listener only" mode, so only she could hear the response, "Yes, of course. I'll be right on." there was a brief pause, then, "Yes, I'll give him a message." She listened to whatever she was told, at one point turning to Nastrum, and giving a big smirk, "With pleasure, Sir. I'll tell him. Anything else?" She listened again, then "Very well, I'll return to the ship with the others after this. End of line." She pressed a button on the comlink.
By now, Nastrum had managed to get up, still a bit purple and his fists still shaking a bit. Rysla then looked at him with a smile, "The Overlord has heard the contents of the disk that you were so certain was the one you had lost." She paused as she watched his cheeks turn a deeper shade of color, then, "In his generosity, he will give you another chance at capturing them."
Nastrum looked surprised, then breathed a sigh of relief, "Yes, yes," he spoke in a hopefully sounding tone, "I'll get right to it. I just need to send a message to Lagos for some reinforcements and equipment to make double certain we get these two little-"
"Send a message?" Rysla smiled, "Then you had better hope the communication systems were left untouched by your so-called 'prisoner,' and I doubt it was. The one for this base is damaged, hopefully not beyond control. And as for the ships of the Vyrian people not under you here, as we speak the Overlord is comming them, ordering them to depart immediately."
" What?! "
Rysla's smile continued, "Oh don't worry, maybe not all those hovercraft were destroyed in the explosion. And there's that group you sent out earlier to dispatch your earlier, 'guest,' a few hours ago. Oh," her smile got bigger, "they'll be out of comm range for a while since you insisted on taking him so deep into the jungle, so you'll just have to wait before you can give them new orders.
"And one other thing," Rysla's grin took on a look of triumph, "Until you accomplish your task, the Overlord will be setting up someone else in your place on Lagos. Unless you demonstrate better competence than you have so far in dealing with these two aliens." she turned, "Can't say I blame him, from what I hear went on in that casino, you could have used more subtle means to get that disk back." She looked back with a grin, "Then again, as a certain alien pointed out, you always were a sore loser."
Rysla headed back to the Vyrian Overlord's ship. A few other people were also heading to the functional ships on the landing pad. Starting with the Overlord's ship, one by one, they began taking off.
Nastrum stared blankly in the direction Rysla walked off for some moments, expressionless. Then he clenched his fists again, "Those cats, those little stinkin' - AAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGHHHH!! " He fell onto the ground, beating the dirt with his fists, " Damn those flea-bitten furballs! " He then collapsed, whimpering, as the rest of the operational ships took off.
Leaving him with a ruined base, his quarry getting away, and for now there was nothing he could do about it.
A guard went up to Nastrum, "Sir, we can try to contact the team we sent earlier every few minutes. I'm certain it won't be long."
"Do it!" Nastrum got up. "And I want a repair team on the comm tower immediately! I want men on that thing twenty-six hours a day, until it's operational. Once we have contact with the orbital satellite, we can track them down, no matter where they are."
"Yes Sir."
"One more thing," Nastrum glanced in the direction of where the mymar left, "When those cats are found, no prisoners. I want them shot on sight!"
"Got it." the guard then turned to leave.
"Wait!"
The guard turned back, "Sir?"
"Change that last order. Have them crippled instead, break their legs, shoot them in the lower spine, and whatever else they can think of. I'm certain the creatures in the jungle will make short work of them," he grinned wickedly, "but hopefully not too short."