RED KNIGHT
a STAR FRONTIERS Novel
by Layne K. Saltern
Voar, Zap and Katrina were standing on the boarding dock listening. Golden-orange sunlight had broken through the clouds and was showering the entire room full of waiting passengers. The air tasted delicious after all those days cooped up in the Tarkcenterr Base.
"The accident in the medical supply room had drastically affected my strength and reaction speed. What the Red Knight didn't count on is that the variation could go either direction. So, at times my physical abilities were cut to a fraction of their normal levels, but at other times they were actually multiplied to several times normal. Any fits of super-strength that I went through seemed to be triggered by exposure to radiation. This is how I dented in Katrina's door and how I smashed through the radiation seal at the end of the transport tunnel. It's also how I defeated the Red Knight in hand-to-hand combat."
"Do you think he's really gone?" asked Voar.
I drew in a generous lungful of the good air. "I don't know. After that explosion there's no way of knowing if he perished or somehow escaped."
Zap looked around. "If he is alive, then he'll surely be back."
The loudspeaker sounded. "All passengers for starliner X-309, this is the final call for boarding."
"I've got to go," I said.
Voar shook my hand. His grip was firm, but his hand was soft. "You did a lot of good, Kro'khan."
Zap shook my hand vigorously. "Thanks for pulling me out of this mess. I owe you one."
Katrina shook my hand. Her hand was cold and dry. "Good bye, Kro'khan."
"Good bye, Katrina," I said, "until our paths cross again." But I doubted they ever would.
There wasn't much time left to board.
When I entered my personal cabin, a Dralasite was sitting there waiting for me.
"Voar! How did you get on board?"
"That's not really my name," he said, after the door behind me had closed. "The interruption of the conference made it difficult to divulge what its true purpose was. The conference may be over, but the mission isn't."
"What mission?"
"Let me introduce myself again," said the Dralasite whose name was not Voar. "The Sathar know me as the Black Knight, but my loyalties are to the UPF secret division."
"You're a double agent?"
"More of a double double agent," he said with a grin. "We have an opportunity like never before the strike at the Sathar. The two of us are going to need to take a shuttle. . ."
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. All this time I thought the adventure was over, but it was only beginning!
THE-END