
Subj : New Beginnings(43)
To   : All
From : SkyHawk #1
Date : Mon Sep 11 1995 08:32:22 PST

                          New Beginnings(43)
                          By Daniel C. Harrison(Skyhawk)

     "Candar, I can't reach Search One. They've been out of touch for an hour
now."
     She felt her stomach lurch again. This was bad. Very bad. "Kev, have Kerry
boost the signal to max, maybe they're in a canyon or something."
     "She did. Can you fly over there and look for them? We are preparing here.
What the hell is the matter?"
     
     "One word, Kev. Delazar."
     The silence that followed was sickening as she pushed for more speed from
the G-6. "That's not possible." his voice came back faintly. It's light years
away in the opposite direction! It can't be."
     "They appear to be the same type of creatures that wiped out Glory Virgin,
Kev. I saw no difference. Of course I didn't exactly go down and talk to them.
Last time I got that close, I got hurt."
     "Understood. We're preparing our defenses now babe. God, I can't believe
this! We've been through enough."
     "Just get ready. If you don't, we're dead. I'm proceeding to trace Search
One's path. You've got maybe six hours. There was a pack moving eastward
directly toward you at high speed."
     She cut the link and climbed higher, the clouds buffetting her small
craft. Gritting her teeth, she fought back the memories. What the hell were
they to do now? 
     "Why do you run?"
     She jerked suddenly feeling a voice in her head. It was familiar as if it
had been from a dream. She thought harder trying to recall it. In cryo! She
winced. This same voice had spoken to her in a darkness while she was in cryo.
She had thought she was dead.
     "Who...what are you?" she whispered. "Can you help save us from these
attackers?"
     "Attackers? It is you who attacked us, so many years ago. I have been
waiting for you to return and talk to me. I tried once but, you panicked and,
your friends retaliated."
     "What?" Candar jerked. "Are you..are you one of the things that destroyed
my passengers back on Delazar?"
     There was a moment of silence. "We did not relaize you were so little a
threat at the time, otherwise, we would have forgiven you more freely, Candar."
     She almost fainted. "You..you know my name! Who the hell are you?"
     "I am one who's name you cannot pronounce in your language. I am the
daughter of HE who rules here. Please come back and talk with us."
     "Bullshit! You'll kill me too. We're arming our defenses against you
monsters! We'll kill you if you approach!"
     There was silence excepr for the low hum of ther G-6's engines. She looked
downward. Where the hell was Will?
     "You have nowhere to go." the voice said in her head again. "You cannot
leave this time. You have a choice. Trust me or, if you attack us, you may die.
My father will never allow us to be slaughtered and not return it. That's what
happened last time. We are sending a group of us to your camp."
     "No shit!" she said. "We'll be ready! We'll blast every last one of you
before you kill us the way you did on Delazar! I'm not losing another passenger
to you bastards!"
     "Candar...trust me."
     "Screw you!" She concentrated trying to break the link. At last, it faded.
Wiping sweat from her brow, she soared over the encampment. She could see a hub
of activity going on as men prepared for the imminent attack. She flew onward
in the direction Will's ground team had taken. She could see the tracks in the
snow. At last, she saw it. The vehicle was parked near a rock face. There was
no sign of the men. But, there were blood stains in the snow. Her heart sank
even more. "Bastards! I knew I couldn't trust you!" She flipped her mike on.
"Kev, I'm coming in. Search One has been wiped out. No survivors. Prepare for
imminent attack. And, have Dr. Grayson meet me when I land. I need to talk to
him."
     "Will do. We've managed to mount some good defensive lasers. I've got one
engine at 1/4 on Outlander to augment a shield wall around the colony. But it
wont last forever. Are you sure about this, babe?"
     "Damn straight! I'm coming in." She sighted the encampment and brought the
G-6 in for final approach. Her mind was racing as she brought the lithe craft
in smoothly. "Kev, do we have a laser we can mount on this?"
     "Sure babe. Are you planning an air attack?"
     She landed and looked over at the ship where she knew he would be. She
could see a blue shimmering open in front of her and, she brought the craft to
a stop. The shimmering closed behind her. "Yes I am. Have anyone with any
demolitions experience start making bombs. I'll go on a little bombing run
before they get here."
     She opened the door to the shuttle and climbed out. Kevin was running out
to meet her and, they fell together. Her tears started to come again. "God, I
don't need this shit, Kev! This was supposed to be our home! Haven't we been
through enough?"
     "I know, babe," he stroked her hair. "We'll get through this. We'll wipe
out every one of em."
      She nodded. "What a way to begin a new world..by wiping out the
inhabitants."
     Kevin put his arm around her as they watched the activity continue.
Several laser cannons had been mounted on the top of Outlander. Two small
ground vehicles were being set up. They walked past a group of men carrying a
large bag. Kevin stopped one of them. "Are those the bombs?"
     "Yeah, nitro-glycerine. Highly volatile, don't shake it up too much."
     Candar sighed. "Load it up. I'd rather die in the air then eaten         
alive by one of those things..."
