Forbidden Ops.

			By. R. Bentley
			(c) Robert Bentley 1995
			12/16/95-?

			Alpha Version 0.002A


			Phantom Riders Epilogue 

			A promise, a package and sacrifice

			


	It started with the big bang.
	Well, actually it started before the big bang.
	It started before the universe began.
	Some people were there when it began, some were there when the 
universe was born. Others watched as the universe formed, star clusters 
and galaxies sparked life. Some of those people who were there in the 
beginning still watch and wait. They wait for the awakening, something 
that will signal the time when the howl in the deepest, darkest edge of 
space would return. 

	Above Excerpt from Tanya O'Hare's diary. Circa: Unknown
	
	We are, I am, you are
	by cowardice or courage
	the one who find out way
	back to this scene
	carrying a knife, a camera
	a book of myths
	in which
	Our names do not appear.

	Above exert from Diving into the Wreck by Adrienne Rich

	Darkness is life, darkness is death. Darkness surrounds all that 
pass through the stars. For which the curse placed on the immortal 
planet of the maker. Through which many will reclaim what they have 
sought. The protectors of the Keeper will strike them down as once 
before. The Keeper's reign will be restored forever one.....

	Above excerpt from a prophecy


	A small planet named Calisia sat in a popular hub of space. 
Although it was off the beaten path, the place still had style. Space 
port, the only thing on planet side, was a lawless place. With no space 
fleet protecting it, pirates, as well as traders came in, fueled their 
ships and restocked their supplies. Most of them did not ask where all 
this wealth came from. None of them really cared. None of them wanted 
to know. For all they knew it was free and they took it.
	The one place where things were not free was at the bar, 
Alizerin's Den. The refreshment was pure though and that's all that 
mattered to some. It was split level, the bar residing in the middle of 
the room. Dimly lit tables and booths lined the walls. The waist level 
smoke in the room was not pretty. All different kinds of aliens drank 
here and slept too. Their various weapons and devices of chaos rested 
in the coat room guarded by a large being with an even larger gun. The 
upper level was where one could deal if needed. A few sets of stairs 
and lifts led to the upper level. That was where she was located.
	She leaned back in her own private booth. A booth that was all 
alone at the far end, the one place where no lifts and stairs were 
built. Some regulars said she owned the place, others said she was a 
bounty hunter. The newest rumor was that she was the last of her race 
of feline aliens from a world that had died many years ago. She of 
course had no comment on the subject. She was a regular, her own little 
pet ship sat quietly out on Pad One. No one took her spot or her booth. 
At least no one that was still around to brag about it.
 	She did not even look up at the person climbing the stairs. She 
did not look up from the wanted signs she had littered out in front of 
her as the person stepped onto the floor. The person looked around 
slowly, hesitated for a moment and started to walk towards her. She 
lifted a glass of frothy liquid to her muzzle and took a slug. She 
licked off the foam and placed the glass back down onto the table. A 
bowl of coffee ice cream sat in front of her, a spoon lay next to it. 
Her right hand rested on the dart gun in front of her, next to the 
posters. She waited until the person got at least five feet away and 
decided to speak.
	"That's far enough." She started. Her golden eyes smiled at the 
newcomer. Her hair was pulled back in a braid which rested on her 
shoulder. Her black leather vest and pants could not hide her figure 
while it did hide some of the dark blue stripes in her blue fur. Her 
fuzzy thick tail swayed next to her while her boots sat next to the 
table on the floor with the rest of her weapons. "Something I can do 
for you?" She asked.
	The person in front of her hadn't stepped out of the shadows yet. 
The lighting was far from good. The person was a rather large female 
biped, she  was about six feet tall, built and looked to be very 
anxious. Her eyes looked down at the gun and then back at the owner. 
"You're Sapphire?"
	"What if I am?"
	"The Aloi Jade is your ship?"
	"What do you want?"
	"I need you to run something-"
	Sapphire shook her head. "I'm not a runner. Go ask one of those 
drunken idiots down there."
	The newcomer laughed. "Yeah right. You're the only person who 
won't ask questions and someone who won't jack up the price." She 
looked down at the drunken idiots, a faint glow in her eyes? Something 
hidden too, why couldn't Sapphire see her in the dark? "Besides, you 
have the fastest ship here, your knowledge of their tactics on par with 
mine and plus," the newcomer's eyes swept back to Sapphire and looked 
straight into her eyes. "You owe a friend a favor."
	The hair on the back of Sapphire's neck stood up, actually all 
the hair on her stood on end. She slipped off the safety on her dart 
gun and tensed up. She can't see her, why can't she see her? "Who are 
you?" She breathed.
	The newcomer smiled, eyes sparkling unusually bright. "A friend." 
She replied. "I need you to deliver something for me. Just a little hop 
and drop that's it."
	"Who's your friend?" Sapphire narrowed her eyes. "I don't owe 
anyone a favor. Now either step out where I can see you or get lost. 
I'm busy."
	The newcomer sighed. "Been home lately?"
	Sapphire had cocked the dart gun before the newcomer had gotten 
half the sentence out of her mouth. She centered it on the talking 
shadow and placed her furry finger against the trigger. She was on the 
way to pouncing this idiot before too long. She pushed all my buttons, 
why? Sapphire hesitated at shooting, something in the back of her mind 
burned. The cobwebs in her mind burned away and she remembered. A 
promise made years ago to someone who was close to her. A friend. She 
lowered the gun and placed it back onto the table. "Wilson is not one 
for asking for help. Something came up?"
	The newcomer took a step forward. "She needs to you to drop this 
package off on Earth as fast as you can." She placed it on the table. 
"No if, ands, or butts."
	"Not giving too much of a choice is she?" Sapphire ate some of 
the ice cream.
	"The people after us aren't either."
 	Sapphire hesitated. "Who's after you?"
	"It is forbidden."
	Sapphire stopped in mid-thought at those words. She looked up 
from the package to the newcomer. She gulped at the thought as more 
memories surfaced in the back of her mind. She remembered it all now. 
She knew what had to be done. "You have the coordinates?"
	"They're already in your ship's nav computer." The newcomer took 
a look at her watch. "I have to go, I'm late."
	"For what?"
	"My funeral."
	Sapphire laughed and looked up once more, but the newcomer was 
gone. She shook her head and listened, where'd she go? She thought. She 
glanced down at the package. A rectangle metal box with a seal on it. A 
royal seal. A seal from the house of Gamma. Sapphire nearly swallowed 
her tongue. Time to go, she thought and packed up. She got her boots on 
when she heard a commotion down stairs. She had one boot on when the 
squad of Secoian Imperial Guards came in the door, all of them armed to 
the teeth. One of them grabbed the bar keeper by the shirt front and 
asked where she was, the bar keeper pointed up. She hopped over to get 
her other boot as they made their way upstairs. She grabbed the box and 
activated her personal fold gate. The Guards weapons locked onto her as 
they made it to the top of the stairs. "Stay where you are!" One barked 
in Secoian.
	Sapphire got her other boot on and felt the gate open behind her. 
"Sorry boys, got a date with destiny, say hello to the Captain of the 
Guards for me." She took a step back and felt the shots hit the 
protective shielding. Looks like I won't have to field test this thing, 
she thought and stepped onto the bridge of her ship.
	She started to power up her ship. The main core hummed to life 
while the rest of the bridge controls in front of her came on-line. She 
settled into the cushioned pilot's seat, strapped in and keyed the 
engines.
	"Main Engine Start Up," beeped the computer.
	"This is the Aloi Jade requesting emergency launch!" Sapphire 
yelled into the net. She pulled a comm set onto her head, the mic 
slipped down into position. The engines roared to life, the ship's 
tanks were full, all her gear was on board and she had enough supplies 
for a month stashed away somewhere in ship's hold.
	"Negative Aloi Jade, stand down and prepare to be boarded!" An 
unfamiliar voice retorted. There was no traffic control planet side, 
other captains always requested emergency launch. Most if not all the 
ship's computers would have locked onto her ship and given her a wide 
berth. The voice on the net was the Secoian Captain of the Guard. 
Sapphire smiled slightly and slipped the engine direction selector from 
horizontal to vertical and punched it. The little ship shot straight up 
for a few hundred feet then the hover jets died. The main engines 
roared sending the ship forward and up.
	"Sorry Secoian Traffic Control, getting a lot of interference," 
Sapphire turned off that channel and switched to another. "Hope 
nobodies on final, cause Aloi Jade is coming through!" She increased 
speed and watched the rear view to her right as her ship accelerated 
skyward.
	"Negative Jade, nobodies on final except us," a familiar voice 
replied over the channel. Sapphire frowned, due to a) a rather large 
Secoian Troop Ship was starting to ascend from the surface and b) that 
voice sounded too damn familiar. "Wolf?" She swung herself around, 
looking out toward the port side. A rather large cargo ship was 
descending towards the Port. White Lighting was the name painted on the 
side of the blue and green ship. Sapphire powered up her shields and 
cold started the weapons systems. "You aren't due back for another 
three days Wolfie boy what's up?"
	"I think you mean what's down, what did you do this time?" White 
Wolf asked. "Some person called you cute?"
	At another time Sapphire would have found this very funny, but 
the Troop Ship behind her had just fired a warning shot across her bow, 
a little too close. Sapphire took the ship off auto-pilot, grabbed the 
yoke on the left arm of the pilot's seat and yanked it right. The Aloi 
Jade banked right, anything not strapped down slid right then left then 
skidded to a stop as the ship became level again. "Computer ETA to 
vacuum!"
	"One minute current speed," the computer beeped. "Weapon system 
now fifty percent warm and rising. Fold Engines currently on stand-by. 
Activate?"
	"Affirm, compute coordinates to Earth. After engines are on-line 
prep for fold on my mark." 
	
	The remaining Guards on the ground watched in fury as the little 
ship blazed off into space. Most of them watched the little flight from 
the law through scanner locks or in English a magnifying lens.

	"There goes your rep," Wolf said over the net. "Need any help?"
	"Just need to get into orbit to fold, then I'm outta here."
	"Where you off to?"
	"I'll tell you later. When I get back," Sapphire watched as the 
blue sky started to turn darker and darker. The gravity around her 
shifted slightly, she felt herself lift up in the seat and then back 
down as the internal gravity pods came on-line. She turned from her 
work to see the Troop Ship as it dropped further away from her, she 
frowned. "What the hell?"
	"Can't blame me for helping," Wolf's laugh made her smile. She 
eyed the sensor readings from his ship. His ship had suddenly lost all 
power and he had sent out an SOS. "You owe me, kiddo."
	"Don't call me kiddo," Sapphire replied. "Thanks for your help."
	"Any time, now if you will excuse me, there's a rather ticked off 
Captain of the Guard waiting for me. Have fun!"
	She turned off the channel and looked ahead towards the stars. 
"Computer: on my mark fold."
	"Affirmative."
	She looked at the box that was sitting on the floor next to her 
then back at the planet, somewhere down there White Wolf was being 
"helped" down to the surface and thanking the Troops a lot for their 
remarkable help. She sighed and remembered the promise she had made to 
Wilson those many years ago, it almost felt like a life time ago. She 
watched her home disappear from the rear sensor grid and readied 
herself for a fold jump.
	"Computer: Fold!"
	The Aloi Jade folded into nothingness and into time......


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