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  “Thank you,” said Ace and Nate almost simultaneously. Josh and Kyle nodded. With that, Officer Rolly turned and left.

  Josh glanced around at the serious looks on each of the pilots’ faces. “Damn,” he said.

  Chapter 2

  Later that evening, most of the 3rd squadron was sitting at a table for dinner, when Ace joined them. “Just got back from Rolly’s office,” he said.

  “What’s the word?” asked Hoss.

  “A ceasefire’s been brokered. Mercen has stated they won’t attack us again in Creston space, so long as we don’t counter strike.”

  “Well, that’s a relief,” said Nate.

  “We won the battle, that’s why,” said Kyle.

  “I’d love to kick some more Mercen ass, but large scale fighting leads to too many deaths on both sides,” said Reena

  “I say we hit their asses,” Hoss uttered. “They struck us for no reason.”

  “I think they were still pissed about Ace and me taking down those shadow fighters when we rescued Josh down south,” said Kyle.

  I had everything under control, thought Josh.

  “No, that’s not it,” said Ace. “Apparently they’re saying the attack was in retaliation for a Mercen transport ship that was blown up in their territory. They even claim to have proof of two of our strikers engaging their ships, which Commander Clint has assured is complete and utter bullshit. Creston had nothing to do with a Mercen trade ship getting taken out; they only think so because those bastards destroyed one of ours just a few days prior.”

  “Snakes will be snakes,” said Maya.

  If only they knew the truth, thought Josh. Who knows what in the hell Clint’s going to do now.

  “How long will the extra carriers and cruiser remain in this area?” asked Nate.

  “At least a few days. We’ll be off tomorrow for sure. The carriers will be doing all of the patrolling,” said Ace.

  “Good. I feel much safer with them here,” said Reena.

  “What about Smokey? Has there been any news on him?” Josh asked.

  Nate looked over and said, “He’s still missing. Rolly says the second team has recommended calling off the search, but Commander Clint won’t allow it. He already has the first team prepping to head back out there tonight.”

  Reena shook her head.

  Maya’s drooping cheeks told the whole story.

  Hoss looked hesitant to say it, but still blurted, “He’s a goner.”

  “Not old Smokey,” said Kyle, frowning.

  “Can’t believe it myself,” said Ace. “He’s been on this ship forever.”

  “I still think there’s a chance he might have survived the crash,” said Nate. “But those damn Mercens probably got him.”

  “We should go looking for him ourselves,” said Josh. “We’re off tomorrow; we might as well.”

  “If rescue teams couldn’t find him, what makes you think we’re going to magically find him?” asked Nate.

  “I dunno. I’d just feel better if we did. After all, we did promise him we’d come get him once the battle was over.”

  “Even on an off day, I doubt Rolly would allow us all to go,” said Ace.

  “Then how about just a few us go?” asked Josh. “Anyone interested?”

  “I’d go,” said Hoss.

  “Me too,” said Kyle.

  Ace turned toward the young pilot. “I don’t think that’s going to fly with Rolly, Kyle.”

  “I’ll join you. I’m good with a blaster; ask Josh,” said Maya.

  Reena glanced at Maya and then said, “Count me in.”

  “Four of you? If you go, Nate’s going to want to go. There’s no way Rolly will agree with five of us traveling to Jaken, and I’m guessing even four’s going to be a stretch.”

  “Yeah, I don’t want you going, Reena,” said Nate.

  “Ooh, relax, Nate. I’ll take care of her,” said Hoss. “We’ll all have blasters. I doubt anything’s going to happen there anyway. All of the rescuers have been okay thus far.”

  “I’ve heard some crazy stories about that odd moon,” said Nate.

  “I have too,” said Kyle.

  “We’ll be extra cautious. It’s fine, Nate,” said Reena. “Can’t be any more dangerous than my everyday job of flying strikers.”

  Nate didn’t respond, but Josh could tell the thought of Reena journeying to Jaken moon was eating at him.

  “Well, guess we’ll have to see if Rolly will approve of this mission,” said Ace.

  ***

  The following morning, Josh found out from Ace that the trip to Jaken had been okayed by Rolly. He, Hoss, Reena and Maya flew to the moon and landed on a strip of ashen rock.

  Josh stepped down from his striker and peered around. Rather desolate-looking, he thought.

  Maya walked over to his side and said, “Not as pretty as I was expecting.”

  “Hah.”

  They were soon joined by the other two pilots.

  “Home sweet home,” said Hoss sarcastically.

  “The rescue team’s searching to the east. You guys want to try west?” asked Reena.

  “Sure,” Josh replied, turning toward a slope about a mile off.

  “Better put up this shield guard, so no creatures come messing with our ships,” said Hoss.

  “Shield guard?” asked Josh.

  “Look,” said Reena, pointing to where the rescue team had erected dome-shaped force fields.

  “Oh, that’s nice,” said Maya.

  “Come, stand over here,” said Hoss, moving west. He placed the cube onto the ground and punched a button on its top. “Stand back.” There was a ten second delay before shield energy spanned all four Creston strikers.

  “Yep, that’s definitely nifty,” Josh said. “Think Smokey had one of these on his striker to keep safe if he survived?”

  “Doubt it. You have to request these for special missions. Even so, it would’ve already burnt out by now, unless he used it sparingly,” said Reena.

  “Ah.”

  “What’s in those packs?” asked Hoss, inspecting the women’s shoulders.

  “Maya and I brought food and water, just in case.”

  Hoss smiled. “Hotshot here and I didn’t think to do that. What would we knuckleheads do without you two smart and gorgeous ladies?”

  The girls glanced at each other and grinned.

  “Shall we?” asked Josh, extending an arm to the west.

  Their group traveled toward the slope, stopping only once to observe a herd of purple buffalo-like creatures moving north over what Josh thought to be gray and black fields. What a strange place. But then again, all of the planets I’ve visited out here in deep space have been odd.

  The pilots made sure to look out for any signs of blood or belongings on the ground. Once they reached the slope, everyone stopped to peer down.

  “Wow, it’s like a labyrinth of black rock,” said Maya, looking at the vast maze of tall pathways.

  “We’re not going in there, are we?” asked Reena.

  Josh looked at Hoss. “You think Smokey would venture into something like this?”

  Hoss examined the network of passages carefully, then said, “Some of those paths are covered and would provide decent shelter. But honestly, I don’t know. If he did, I think it’s highly unlikely any of the rescue teams went in there searching for him.”

  “Then we should go,” said Josh. “Smokey might be in there injured, and needing our help.”

  “No way, Josh. It would be too easy for us to get lost in that thing,” said Maya.

  There was silence. Everyone appeared to be thinking.

  “I’ve got an idea,” said Reena. She slid the pack around to her chest and unzipped it, then pulled out a long can.

  “You brought whip cream, Reena?” said Maya, with a bit of a silly smirk.

  “What? I like eating it on my fruit. Jeez,” Reena replied. “Anyway, we can use it to mark our way through the labyrinth, so we’ll know the way back
out.”

  Hoss looked at Josh with a few wide blinks and a smirk.

  “Could work,” said Josh. “Doesn’t seem as if we have many other options.”

  Hoss shrugged. “Let’s do it.”

  “Just remembered: I have a compass on me, but we’ll use the cream too. You okay with going in there now, Maya?” Josh asked.

  She nodded. “Yeah, I guess.”

  Hoss took a few steps and then led the way into the rocky maze. They kept straight for about twenty yards until left with no options but to turn right. Reena squeezed a dollop of cream on the ground when rounding the corner. Then came an intersection, where the group had to decide on one of three ways to go.

  “Okay, this is getting a little tricky now,” said Maya.

  “It won’t matter with the cream and compass to guide us,” said Josh.

  “Sure, but let’s not go too far in,” Maya replied. “I doubt Smokey would’ve gone deep. First couple of possible shelters should tell us if Smokey’s in here or not.”

  Josh nodded.

  “Smart girl,” said Hoss, smiling and nudging her with his arm.

  Maya’s cheeks flushed a bit. She seemed to be enjoying the attention.

  “What’s that?” said Reena, pointing to a pile of rocks in a corner at the end of another corridor—one that was partly enclosed.

  They walked over to it. Josh reached down and picked up a small fire extinguisher. He looked it over. “On the bottom, it says Creston.”

  “That definitely came from Smokey’s striker,” said Hoss.

  “He was probably resting right here,” said Reena.

  “So why didn’t he stay here?” asked Maya.

  Josh shook his head, then tilted his neck. “Maybe he came here for a bit, then got lost trying to make his way back out.”

  “If that’s true, he could be anywhere in this damn maze. We’ll never find him,” said Maya.

  Josh contemplated her words before saying, “If that’s the case, you’re probably right, but it wouldn’t hurt to keep going until Reena’s can runs out. We owe him that much.”

  “Smoookeeey!” Hoss shouted. “Smoookeeey!” He waited a few seconds and then yelled again.

  Craeek! Craeek! Craeek! something cried back.

  Josh guessed the sounds to be about seventy-five yards away.

  “What the hell was that?” asked Maya.

  “I don’t know, but I sure don’t want to find out,” said Josh.

  “Should we turn back?” asked Reena.

  “No,” said Hoss. “We’ve got our blasters. We’ve come this far; we might as well see this through until we run out of cream.”

  “Aye. Just stay alert.” Josh replied. He gazed around at the black walls and heard faint scratching in the distance.

  Their group made many more rights and lefts before halting suddenly, as rocks tumbled down from the walls and crashed on the ground in front of them.

  “I’ve seen movies where stuff like this happens,” said Reena. “The walls are coming alive—and trying to kill us. This place is cursed!”

  Maya turned and laughed. “Oh my God, Reena.”

  Reena smiled and hugged Maya while pushing her gradually to the side. “We’re all going to die, Maya. The end is near.”

  Maya guffawed. The women then wrestled around on their feet in laughter.

  “Frickin’ nutcases,” said Hoss.

  Josh smiled and said, “We’d better be more careful. I wasn’t expecting any of the walls to collapse.”

  “Nor was I,” Hoss responded. “Had to be a fluke though.”

  They continued on, making lefts and rights down path after path, even stopping at another that was sheltered, before Reena said, “That’s it. I’m out.” She shook the can and tossed it to the ground.

  “If we were going to find Smokey, we would have found him by now,” said Hoss.

  “I agree,” said Josh. Those filthy snakes must’ve got him! he thought. Found him dead and ate his corpse. A vet of his stature deserved better than that. I’m going to kill thousands for him! Thousands!

  “Whoa, whoa,” said Reena, trying to pull away from Maya while peering down a corridor to her left. “What the fuck is that?”

  Maya’s sniggering came to a stop at seeing it too. A furry head was sticking out from around a corner and staring at them. “Umm, guys,” she said.

  Josh turned to look and was just as startled. He leaned forward, squinting.

  Hoss had already drawn his blaster.

  “Wait…” said Josh.

  They all stood relatively still while whatever it was continued to stare at them. Nearly a minute went by before the tall creature stood and stepped out from behind the wall.

  “It’s frickin’ huge,” said Maya, seeing the creature had at least five inches on Hoss.

  Josh inspected the furry alien and thought it to look almost exactly the same species as the green monster he’d encountered on Skurier, except this one had black fur and grey eyes.

  “It’s a Bigfoot of some kind,” said Maya.

  “But is it friendly?” asked Hoss.

  “If it’s anything like the ones I’ve seen on Skurier, I don’t think so,” said Josh.

  They watched the Bigfoot step gradually toward them, holding out an object in its hand.

  “It’s got something. Looks like it’s trying to offer it to us,” said Josh, gazing at the creature’s big, round, barely blinking eyes. Aside from that, he thought the monster’s expression rather vague and difficult to read.

  “Maybe it’s the cookie monster and wants to offer us a cookie,” said Maya.

  Reena smiled briefly and said, “That’s not funny, Maya,” even though she thought it was.

  “Maybe we should just kill it, and find out what it’s holding afterward,” said Josh.

  “Yeah,” said Hoss, nodding, then raising his gun higher.

  The Bigfoot crouched down some as if pleading with pilots, and extended its arm out farther.

  “We can’t just shoot the damn thing. It’s not even hostile,” said Reena.

  Maya screwed up her face. She looked at the creature and felt confused by its huge size but somewhat innocent-looking face. “She’s right, we can’t.”

  Josh and Hoss exchanged glances.

  “How about we go see what it’s got while you girls stay here?” said Josh.

  Hoss glanced at the women and then Josh. “Yeah, we’ll go check it out. Come on.”

  The men walked cautiously toward the monster with their blasters still in hand. The ladies drew theirs too.

  “Careful now,” said Josh. “I’ve never met a friendly one of these. Their temperament can change quite suddenly.”

  They kept moving forward slowly until they and the Bigfoot stopped at arm’s length of each other. Josh reached out to take what the creature was offering. He felt the soft fabric and saw right away that it was a pouch. He opened it up and found seeds inside. Hoss took a peek too.

  “This is Smokey’s pouch,” said Josh.

  Hoss grabbed it to have a closer inspection. “Yep, this is his.”

  Both looked up at the monster. “Where did you get this?” asked Hoss, slow and clearly.

  The creature jerked back some and tilted its neck as if confused. It scratched the top of its head with a finger.

  Josh pointed at the pouch, then moved his arms back and forth at his sides to simulate someone walking. “Smokey… Man,” he said.

  The creature blew out its mouth, flapping its lips like a horse. After that it turned halfway and made sloppy hand motions.

  “He wants us to follow him,” said Josh.

  “Maybe it’ll take us to Smokey” Hoss replied.

  Josh nodded.

  Hoss twisted and signaled for the women to join them, which they did. After that, the group accompanied the Bigfoot down the path they’d seen it peek out from, plus many more.

  “Do you have anything to write on, or with, in that bag, Maya?” asked Josh.

  �
��I can’t remember,” she replied, sliding it around to her front. “Reena, do you?”

  “Here you go,” said Reena, holding out a small stick-it pad and a pen.

  “What do you need that for?” asked Hoss.

  “We don’t have any more cream, remember? I have to record the route we’re taking or we might never make it back to our other markings.”

  “That’s right,” Hoss responded.

  “Good thinking, Josh,” said Reena. “That never crossed my mind.”

  “Guess the women aren’t the only smarties around here,” said Hoss.

  Not long after, they’d arrived at a cave, which Josh figured had to be along the perimeter of the maze. It had a few holes in front that were sort of like windows and a slit for an entrance barely wide enough for the Bigfoot to slide through.

  The pilots stopped just as the creature had gone halfway inside.

  “I don’t know if we should go in there. It could be a trap,” said Maya.

  Reena nodded.

  Josh peeked inside the dim-lit cave and saw where there was a hole in the ceiling that allowed light to enter the rear of the cavern. But there was no sign of Smokey. “I don’t see him in there,” he said.

  “Seems to be a hall toward the back. Maybe he’s injured and in a separate room,” said Hoss.

  I don’t know if I’m buying that, thought Josh.

  The creature stuck its head back out and motioned a hand for the pilots to follow. It then reached out and pinched Smokey’s pouch in Hoss’ hands, shook it a little, and signaled again for the group to come inside.

  “We’ve come this far. We have to check it out,” said Hoss. “There’s four of us with blasters and one of him.”