Bright Horizons by Wilson Harp Page A

the guard solid in the midsection,
where the Iltia’cor’s lungs were if he remembered correctly, and the guard
collapsed right in front of the door.
    The
sounds behind the door had stopped. Kyle scrambled to his feet and pushed the
button on the panel. The door slid open and Kyle saw Alex drop the Iltia’cor
body. Alex had cuts and bruises all over his arms, neck and face. He was
missing a boot and his uniform was half torn off his body. He had a short metal
pipe in his hand that was dripping a clear, viscous liquid.
    “Colonel,
they killed Emily, they just cut her throat.” He limped over to Kyle.
    “Let’s
go Alex, we have to get to the ship,” Kyle said as he supported Alex.
    Lon
had regained his feet after the jarring hit to his head and stood looking at
the carnage inside the small room. Six Iltia’cor security guards lay dead or
seriously injured. Two more lay unconscious in the corridor outside the room
and the two humans responsible were having a calm conversation.
    “What
have we unleashed on the galaxy?” he thought.
    “Lon.
Lon!  We have to go,” Kyle said to the clearly stunned Hedali.
    “Colonel
Martin, I will go with you on the ship. There are things we need to talk
about,” said Lon.
    “Very
well, let’s go,” Kyle replied. 
    He
helped Alex past the Iltia’cor lying in the corridor and into the elevator that
took them to the docking area. Thomas had assembled the rest of the human
delegation at the Hedali scout ship.
    “Colonel,
we are ready to go,” said Thomas looking at Lon.
    “Lon
says he needs to come with us, Ambassador,” Kyle said as Alex was helped aboard
the ship by one of the human scientists. “Do the rest know what happened?”
    “Doctor
Reeling and Doctor Grant were in the lab area and saw what happened,” Thomas
whispered. “It was just like Lon said. Kiltao Bregan walked into the lab,
picked up a surgical blade, and cut Doctor Troy’s throat without a word.
Ramirez had just stepped into the lab on the other side when it happened.”
    Kyle
shut and secured the hatch behind him.
    “There
will be a reckoning over this, Ambassador, but I’m not sure what it will be.
One dead human and at least four dead Iltia’cor will not be easily overlooked
by either government. We need to find out what Lon is holding back from me and
why he needs to come with us.”
    Kyle
and the Ambassador moved deeper into the crew compartment.
    “Hey
Alex, are you ok?” Kyle asked as he nodded at K-Man who sat stunned beside
Ramirez.
    “No
Colonel, I am not. Emily is dead!  How can I be ok? I think I just started a
war. No, they started it by killing my sister!”
    “You’re
right Alex, they did. Your duty is done for now. You are on leave. I’ll come
back in a little bit and we can talk some more.” Kyle looked at Doctor Grant
who was stitching up a nasty rip in Alex’s left arm. “How is he physically?”
    “Multiple
contusions and lacerations, some pretty deep. I think he has a few cracked ribs
and his ankle may be fractured… maybe just a bad sprain. He’ll be fine, unless
there is an infection I can’t see, but he won’t be feeling well for a good
while,” Doctor Grant said.
    Kyle
saw K-Man handing Doctor Grant a syringe from the med kit. Alex would be out in
a few seconds and Kyle could fill K-Man in on what happened later.
    “Keep
me updated Doc.” Kyle motioned Thomas to follow him up to the bridge.
    As
they approached the hatch, Kyle slowed to a stop and listened. Lon was speaking
fast and soft on the communicator.
    Thomas
leaned over and whispered. “Lon is disobeying orders. Apparently the Iltia’cor
have demanded that we be turned over to them and the Hedali government agrees.
Lon has said that he is taking us to Earth and the Earth government can turn us
over if they want to.”
    Kyle
nodded. Pulling the Ambassador back with him, Kyle went back into the crew
compartment to wait for Lon.
    About
ten minutes passed before Lon headed out of the bridge. He saw the