HAWK

CHAPTER FIVE: TRANSMISSION (3/5)

To Kas's amazement, Hik had managed to carry out his repairs in little over six hours. Having her own personal X1 certainly came in handy. While she knew it wouldn't be the prettiest job, she figured the Calista could do with a few more scars - she was a bounty hunter, after all. The rear thruster, which had previously been hanging on by a thread, was now firmly reattached to the hull and blasting away beautifully.

So the Calista was back to soaring through deep space on its return to Chantos. Even so, Kas took it easy on the throttle, deciding she'd rather spend an extra day in transit than risk another minute of astral abandon.

The return journey was expected to last for eight days. Worm spent much of them trying to avoid Kas, even going so far as to establish a sleeping den in the engine room behind some thick cables. Kas had insisted she have her bed, but Worm seemed hell-bent on sulking, so Kas left her to it.

It felt strange to her, having two sentient beings on board and yet none of them speaking. She certainly had no interest in talking to Hik whom she just left standing in the centre of the cargo hold. The only times she talked at all was to let Worm know it was time to eat, at which point the girl would scramble out of the engine room and hurry to the fold-out dining table. Kas had learnt that food seemed to be the way to Worm's heart, though any attempt at conversation was returned with either a shrug or nothing at all.

All that changed two days into their journey.

Kas had been struggling to sleep in her quarters when the Calista's voice startled her upright.

'Incoming transmission.'

Kas had flung the hatch open and jumped the entire length of the ladder, ignoring Hik entirely as she crossed the short distance to the cockpit. On the viewport were two words spelt out in big blue letters:

INCOMING TRANSMISSION

'Accept transmission,' Kas said. The text disappeared, turning the viewport temporarily black before an image of a man appeared. Though she could only see him from the waist up, Kas discerned that he was in his late forties, smartly dressed in a tailored grey suit with smooth, jet black hair. He looked vaguely familiar to her though she couldn't quite place him. His face was a mixture of calm, control and unease, and it was clear from his eyes that he had the weight of the universe on his shoulders. Behind him, the black, red and white colours of the Federal flag denoted him with an air of importance.

'Hello,' he began. 'My name is Jaral Mantana, and I was, until recently, the federal ambassador for Lysan. Today, however, I am speaking to everyone in the Primi system - that's every world, every country, every civilian that calls our star their home.'

Kas sunk into her seat as Worm snuck silently through the door. Both sets of eyes locked onto the man in the viewport as he continued his speech.

'As most of you will know, there have been substantial complications across the solar system in recent hours. I know there has been much speculation as to the cause, but I can tell you now that our federal space station, Selva, has been the subject of a monumental attack. It is with a heavy heart that I must inform you that Selva has been destroyed and that we believe everyone who was on board at the time has been killed.'

Kas took a deep breath and held it. Though the announcement was not news to her, it was still shocking to hear somebody else say it. The magnitude of the disaster was so huge that it had begun to feel surreal to Kas as if she'd somehow dreamed it, but the man called Jaral Mantana had now extinguished that possibility.

'This includes President Orsana, vice president Vaile and most of the presidential staff, leaving Primi without an elected leader. That is why in the past hour, I have been elected to the role of acting president, and I have made it my first duty to inform you all of this terrible tragedy. The number of lives lost has not been confirmed, but it is certain to be in excess of twelve million.

'This will be a testing time for all of us. To the people of Primi, I ask every one of you to assist by remaining calm and continuing your lives as normally as possible. We have established an emergency base that will fulfil Selva's duties for as long as it takes to construct a more permanent station, but we anticipate substantial delays for the next few weeks while we work to regain a foothold over the solar system.

'To the ships currently waiting in orbit around each planet, know that we are working extremely hard to resume normal procedure and get you down to surface. However, I am placing an embargo on all interstellar travel until the cause of the attack is known. This means Primi's IRIS will be closed until further notice.

'To anyone considering taking advantage of the Federation's momentary weakness and acting outside of the law, be advised that the Federation has transferred one-hundred thousand X1's to our system to help maintain law and order. They are on high alert and will not take kindly to being tested.

'We now need to work together to restore normality to our home and our way of life. We will not be intimidated. We will not lose strength. We are Primi, and we are united.'