But there wasn’t.
A thick red mist sprayed the air between the three men, and Masterson’s hard steel eyes went abruptly round.
“What the—” Danny traded stunned looks with Lee.
Masterson shuddered, his pale, skeletal face suddenly wracked with anguish and disbelief. He gulped, shuddered again, then slowly peered down.
The ceremonial saber protruding from the chancellor’s sternum was among the most impressive Lee had ever seen. Elegantly forged and boasting a level of craftsmanship that had to have been honed over several generations, the blade was utterly devoid of blemish save for the thick runs of crimson dripping from its edges.
Lee had seen it before, in the gut of an imperial on the CIC.
“How…?” Masterson blinked, blood pooling at his lips. “How did…?”
“For my people,” the ceda wheezed. Then, giving a hard twist of the hilt in Masterson’s back, he keeled over dead next to the chancellor’s impaled corpse.
The maintenance hatch in back of the bay dangled open.
Well, I’ll be humped. Lee’s focus jolted downward when the Scorpion’s Tail started to chirp.
* * * * *
Chapter 40: No Way Out
Seated at science station on the bridge of the Kamuir, Mac fought to keep a level head as chaos reigned supreme around her. All told, the human forces were down almost thirty percent since the battle started—the ASC taking the brunt of that. Though, to their credit, the grays, particularly the hybrids, had stepped up big-time to assist where they could.
A data counter pinged orange in Mac’s screen.
Aw geez, what now? Mac’s brows shot up when she opened the details tab. “Captain?”
Briggs showed her a hand from the command chair down front. “Helm. One of those warbirds just dropped in low on the Praetorian’s portside-aft section. Swing us around thirty-three degrees to starboard, mark two, and let’s throw her a block if we can.”
“Coming about now.” Zier corrected the course on his terminal, and the stars beyond the viewport shifted accordingly.
Briggs returned to Mac. “What is it, Commander?”
Mac pointed to her screen. “Sir, we’ve got a massive emergency spike coming from the Vanxus.”
“Source?” Briggs asked.
“No idea,” Mac said. “But whatever it is, it’s definitely—”
“Mayday, Mayday, Mayday!” a frantic voice shouted through the bridge speakers overhead. “This is Captain Lee Summerston on the Vanxus calling Nathan Briggs of the Kamuir.”
Briggs finger rocketed to his chair’s comm button. “Lee, it’s Briggs. What the hell is going on over there?”
“No time to explain. I need Mac on comm right now.”
Mac jumped to her mic. “Just so you know, I’m kicking your ass later for boarding that ship. For now, though, what do you got?”
“Something bad,” Lee said. “Something real bad.”
Cryptic? Now? Really? Mac growled. “Details, Lee. Details.”
“Access your data core for anything it’s got on the Auran doomsday weapon that Tomys Rayner detonated on the Kurgorian homeworld.”
Mac did a double take at her station as a collective gasp filled the bridge. “Are you frickin’ kidding me?”
“Ain’t got time for this, Mac. Just do it!”
Mac’s fingers raced at her terminal.
“You got it?” Lee said.
“I’m working on it; I’m working on it!” she shot back.
A myriad of panels passed in rapid-fire succession over Mac’s screen. “Access denied,” they all said.
Mac tried something else.
“Access denied.”
C’mon. Work with me here.
A second voice hit the line. “Mac, it’s Danny. Whatever we’re doing, we need to do it now. By my count, we’ve got about ten minutes until this thing goes active.”
Mac rerouted her approach through a secondary uplink portal then reinforced that with a punch-through slice and her personnel IDC.
“Access denied.”
Damn it! Mac slammed the dash with her fist. “I’m sorry, guys, but I just can’t do anything from over here. I’m accessing an Auran network from an imperial ship, and the system’s blocking me at every turn.”
“Can you route in from the Praetorian?” Lee asked.
“No time,” Mac said. “Even if a bypass were possible, there’s no guarantee I’d find what we’re looking for. And even then, I’d need way more than ten mikes to dig out a disarmament protocol.”
“We’d better do something,” Danny said, stress mounting in his voice. “Otherwise, we’re all gonna be one with the cosmos here in real short order.”
Mac closed her eyes and wracked her brain for alternatives. There’s gotta be something else I can do. Ultimately, only one idea came.
Mac sat up in her seat and ran a palm over her forehead. “There might be another way.”
There was a pause.
“Okay,” Lee said. “That’s what I like to hear. What is it?”
Here goes nothing. Mac shot up a prayer. “I want you to let the weapon launch.”
“What?” both men blurted in unison.
Mac glanced around the bridge to find every pair of eyes in the room, Briggs’ and Zier’s included, looking aghast at her.
“Mac, are you sure about this?” Danny asked. “Maybe there’s a way to tweak the interlock system somehow to jam this thing in the breach before it hits the muzzle.”
Mac threw up her hands. “And which one of you geniuses wants to tackle that needle in a haystack?”
Neither man answered.
“That’s what I thought.” Mac rose from her seat. “Just let the thing launch, guys. Once the bird’s in flight, I’ll handle it from there.”
“Mac, wait.”
“Can’t talk now, Lee. Gotta go.” She kissed her fingers and touched them to the screen. “I love you. See you back with the fleet.”
The channel disconnected, and Briggs stepped forward. “Not to sound like Tucker, but are you sure about this?”
Mac snatched up a comm piece, plugged it into her ear, and turned for the exit. “Not even in the slightest, but it’s the only play I’ve got. Do me a favor.”
“Name it,” Briggs said.
“Hail the Praetorian, and tell Hastings I need a Mako on the Kamuir’s flight deck now. Then have Reegan and Shotz meet me on runway three.”
Zier swiveled his helm chair to face them, his face fraught with concern. “What do you plan to do, Commander?”
Mac turned for the door, her expression falling. “The only thing I can, Chancellor. So wish me luck.”
Darting off the bridge, Mac sprinted down the corridor through a cascade of paperwork as two grays lunged aside to let her pass. She skidded to a halt in the lift and punched in the code for the flight deck.
Come on, man. Be there. Mac waited for the doors to close then keyed her comm to a private channel. “Link, it’s Mac. Where are you?”
* * * * *
Chapter 41: Spaced
Danny watched Lee’s expression turn to stone as the channel with Mac disconnected. He felt for his friend—he really did. But now wasn’t the time to freeze up. “Hey, bro?”
Lee just stood there, Masterson’s comm piece still dangling from his ear.
“Lee?” Danny snapped his fingers. “Yo, Lee. Bust out of it, man. I need you here!”
“Huh, what?” Lee blinked alert.
Another cacophony rocked the Vanxus’ hull, hurling both men to the deck amid a shower of sparks and instrument debris.
“Lee?” Danny rolled over and brushed the glass from his scalp. “You with me?”
A groan answered. “Man, this really ain’t our day is it?”
“I’ve definitely had better.” Hydraulics and servos clamored behind them, and Danny snapped his head in that direction. Oh, crap.
The breach loader retracted into position then slid forward into the launch tu
be. A hiss of pressurization followed when the chamber sealed shut around the bomb.
“Nothin’ about that strikes me as good.”
“Ya think?” Danny got to his feet and ran to the tube’s control panel to check the time.
“How we doin’?” Lee asked.
“About eight minutes to go,” Danny said. “We need to get off this ship, and now.”
Lee weighed their options. “Think we could make it to my Mako?”
“Not even on our best day.” Danny shook his head. “My virus may’ve put the centurions out of commission, but there’s still tons of crew out there who’d love a crack at us before jumping ship.”
“Fancy that.” Lee grumbled something else and wiped the grime from his face.
Danny, meanwhile, studied the bay floor around them for anything they could use to escape. There wasn’t much. It was mostly weapons, ordnance, and parts—nothing to get them off the ship.
C’mon, gimme something to work with here. The overhead lighting in a nearby alcove flickered and something black flashed in the corner of Danny’s eye. He ran to investigate.
“You got somethin’?” Lee called out.
Three sets of centurion battle armor were docked on power stations in the corner.
“Jackpot!” Danny shouted.
Lee skidded to a halt beside him then withdrew in disbelief. “Whoa, you can’t be serious.”
“Centurion armor is airtight, bro. If we space this compartment, we can use these suits as lifeboats until somebody picks us up.” Danny turned before Lee could object and began inspecting the armor. No sign of structural damage; good. Air supply’s intact; right on. “I think these’ll do.”
“What about your virus?” Lee asked.
“These suits are dark, which means they’re not connected to the battle network. As long as I kill the uplink before they come online, they should stay clean.”
“Great for me, but what about you?” Lee tapped Danny’s arm. “Your armor doesn’t need the network to get infected. It’s got the carrier.”
Danny sighed. “Once I initiate a bridge sync, I should have a good sixty seconds before the system fails. After that, it’s on you to get us where we need to go outside.”
Lee rolled his eyes. “Great, no pressure with the war outside or anything. What about air? Ain’t this stuff toxic to us?”
“Yeah, but symptoms won’t hit for a good half hour, and nothing’s permanent for at least three.” Danny pointed to Lee’s clothes. “Now, ditch the duds, and stop stalling. No hick jeans allowed for this ride.”
Lee shot him a look then complied and climbed up to the operator’s cocoon. He froze stiff when four dozen needles retracted into the wall liner to welcome him.
“I won’t even lie to you, bro,” Danny said. “The first fifteen seconds of this are gonna hurt like a mother. But after that, you shouldn’t feel much of anything.”
Lee took a few breaths to psych himself up then put his back to the cocoon.
“Attaboy.” Danny applauded. “You ready?”
“Hell no, so hurry up and do this before I chicken out.”
Danny pressed the release, and the cavity sealed around his friend. A blood-curdling scream of agony ricocheted around the bay like a pinball. Dude, I am so sorry. Danny recalled his first time joining with Mr. Black on the Axius. He’d done it raw then, too, and boy, had it sucked.
Eventually, the screaming subsided.
“Lee, you good?”
There was a pause. “Y-yeah.” Lee coughed. “What the hell am I breathing here? Smells like toilet cleanser mixed with litter box.”
“That’s their air.” Danny frowned.
“I thought that stuff was toxic to humans.”
“Oh, it’ll kill you,” Danny announced. “Don’t sweat it, though. That takes hours of hard exposure, and we’ll be long dead by then if this doesn’t work.”
Lee grunted behind his faceplate. “Ain’t you just a barrel of good news today?”
Danny grinned. “I do what I can, amigo. Now, hang out here while I key the decompression sequence and suit up myself.”
Danny ran back to the launch controls, stopping just long enough to grab Masterson’s corpse by the arm and drag it with him. From there, he keyed in a series of commands then picked up the chancellor’s palm and slapped it to the display.
The lights overhead went red as another klaxon sounded, this one higher in both pitch and repetition.
“That’s our song.” Danny sprinted back to the second suit and began stripping off his clothes. “Cross your fingers we don’t end up like windshield bugs for a passing destroyer once we’re out.”
Fists pounded at the door of the launch bay, but neither man paid them any mind.
“What about the bomb?” Lee asked.
“What about it?”
“Any worries it’ll blow out with the oxygen?”
Danny jumped into his operator’s cocoon. “Breach door’s already sealed, plus these things have an interlock system like you wouldn’t believe. We could pop a nuke in here, and that thing would sleep like a baby.”
Fifteen seconds later, Danny was up and operational as the klaxon sounded its final warning. “Hold onto this.” Danny tossed Lee a pulse rifle.
“For what?”
“Propulsion. It kicks like a mule, and you’ll need the momentum to get free of the ship once you’re away.”
“Honestly?” Lee crowed. “Can this plan get any thinner?”
Both men ducked when a loud crash sent the door to the bay entrance flying from its hinges.
What the…?
A wash of green sprayed the chamber as three Kurgorians, all armed with pulse rifles and protective gear, stormed into the bay.
“Hang on, Lee!” Danny shouted.
Lee nodded and ripped loose his trigger. Then, in a sudden gust of head-snapping momentum, the violent scene of the bay turned to soundless stars as the right side of Danny’s torso exploded.
* * * * *
Chapter 42: Valkyrie
Lee hammered the trigger of his pulse rifle as the weird infrared scene around him ignited in weapon fire. His attackers dove for cover though not before one of them fired, and a flood of color erupted from Danny’s midsection. “Danny!”
That was all he got out.
The invisible claws of the void gripped Lee tight and snatched him from the bay as if he were a trash bag in a hurricane. A breath later, he was cartwheeling through open space as ship after ship and squadron after squadron blew past him into the sea of escape pods ahead. There was no sound outside, only flashes of red, blue, and green weapon fire mixed with the yellow and orange poofs of exploding ships extinguished in the black.
Inside the armor, however, Lee’s rapid-fire breathing and heart rate pounded like jackhammers in his ears. Gotta get control; gotta get control. His mind raced to process what was happening—blood, juice, and adrenaline coursing through his system in the perfect storm of panic. Never in all of Lee’s life had he been that scared, that vulnerable. And yet somehow he had to get a grip before he and Danny became permanent fixtures in the ever-growing debris field around them.
Oh, crap. Danny! Lee snapped alert. As best as he could tell, in relation to the tumbling ship before him, he was clear to discharge his rifle. He fired up then down, then side to side before eventually halting his spin. He caught a modicum of breath and searched the field for his friend. Come on, brother, where are you?
Four rainbow-colored figures hovered motionless between Lee and the Vanxus. Three of them were small—clearly the officers—while the other was a large, hulking shape. The former appeared in darkened, muted hues, and while the latter’s color looked markedly stronger, that was changing fast.
Hang on, partner. Lee aimed his rifle backward and pulled the trigger. Slowly, the figure grew larger in Lee’s HUD. He careened into it, sending both sets of armor tumbling into the black.
“Aw, come on!” Lee snarled in frustration. He fired his rifle to
stabilize them as two Makos and a Phantom ripped by overhead. “Talk to me, Danny. What’s wrong?” He cursed. He can’t hear you out here, idiot. Lee tapped an index finger to Danny’s faceplate to get his friend’s attention.
With labored movements, Danny managed to raise his left arm and point to his own helmet.
What do you mean? I am usin’ my…Lee’s eyes widened. Please let this work. Armor, activate comm.
There was a churn of static followed by severe panting. “Lee, can you hear me?”
“Yeah, Danny. I’ve gotcha.”
They began to spin again.
Lee raised his weapon to stop it but hit Danny’s side in the process.
“Watch it, bro!” Pain registered in Danny’s tone.
Lee keyed the zoom feature in his HUD and focused on Danny’s torso. Much of the armor shielding that area had been sheered away by pulse fire on their way off of the Vanxus. What remained was a mess of mangled plating and a seared hole the size of a golf ball near the base of the ribcage. Even worse, the hole was misting something.
Lee did a double take. “Is that?”
“My air?” Danny coughed. It was a wet, soppy sound. “Pretty much.”
Clueless about what to do, Lee cupped an armored hand over the wound and pressed. “How much do you have left?”
Both men ducked when two squadrons of fighters blasted by them. Unlike the others, however, which had kept their distance, this group came within a kilometer of clipping their armor at what had to be three-quarters burn.
They were gone in a blur of silver, leaving both men lost in a wake of drive wash.
“We’ve gotta get outta here,” Lee said.
“Gee, ya think?” Danny coughed again.
Lee searched around for Danny’s weapon but didn’t see it.
Another wave of ships was inbound.
Man, I’d give a kidney for a flare gun right about now. What Lee did have was a pulse rifle, and he aimed it at the Vanxus then fired. Never mind the fighters. Per the counter in his HUD, they had less than two minutes until that torpedo fired, and Lee for one wanted nothing to do with its flight path.
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