by S. H. Jucha
Shooting from under a car didn’t allow Jess a good overview. He crawled from under the vehicle and poked his head up. The slugs and shredded metal debris flying at their positions had slowed.
The gas had permeated the connecting ring, and the reds and grays were wavering and slumping over.
Jess, Tacnock, Sam, and Yousef slipped around their rows of vehicles, strode into the ring, and targeted the reds.
This time the squads followed and eliminated every insectoid that hadn’t been killed in the firefight. Without a word, the teams entered tunnel five and dispatched the few grays they found.
“Losses?” Jess asked Esteban, when they emerged into the ring once again.
“Four more Earthers, and three Omnians,” Esteban replied.
“Why were there so many reds in this group?” Sam asked Jess.
“I was wondering about that myself,” Jess replied. “I think tunnel five held the group that was supposed to pin us against the dome’s airlock.”
“Then what was the purpose of tunnel two’s group?” Lucia asked.
“I think they were the backup,” Jess replied. “The Colony saw Sam’s team drop down one tube. They might have calculated that we’d enter the second one too, and they didn’t want the tunnel five reds to be caught in crossfire.”
“A blocking force,” Lucia said, nodding her understanding.
“Our security forces are down from twenty-four to fifteen,” Sam warned. “That’s two-and-a-half squads left. With your defenders, is that enough to take the dome?”
“We face the same circumstances as before we entered the tunnels, Sam,” Jess replied. “We haven’t a choice. In this case, if we retreat, the Colony gets an opportunity to fill the tunnels again. Either we take the dome now, or we retreat and come up with a better plan.”
Sam regarded Lucia, who was brooding.
“What’s your call, Commodore?” Jess asked.
“Captain, let me repeat the lieutenant’s question. Can you take the dome with the numbers we have left?” Lucia replied.
“I don’t know if we could have taken the dome with the numbers we had,” Jess retorted.
“We should try,” Bortoth interjected. He was picking bits of insectoid flesh from between his black claws.
“I agree,” Tacnock added. “I wouldn’t like to see the deaths of our comrades wasted.”
“There’s always the possibility of more deaths ... namely ours,” Yousef pointed out.
All eyes focused on Lucia, and she was torn.
Patrice was on the Rêveur’s bridge with Olawale. Their voices were relayed to the moon by the ship’s controller. She said, “I lament the loss of our security forces, and I concur with Tacnock that we shouldn’t accept our people dying in vain by retreating.”
“We’ve yet to hear a definitive judgment from Captain Cinders,” Olawale said.
Jess looked at the faces of his companions. They were splattered with insectoid blood. Flying metal and slugs had torn their suits and wounded their bodies. Nerves were frayed from the fighting. Only the SADEs appeared relatively unharmed, and they stood quietly waiting.
“Can we get some food, water, and aid?” Jess asked.
“Yes, to all three,” Lucia replied. She approved of the idea. “Pair up,” she ordered. “Each of you, check the other for suit tears and patch them well.”
Kasie didn’t have a single suit perforation, but she was befuddled what to do with the number of rips and punctures in Jess’s suit. In addition, small amounts of blood leaked from his wounds onto the material and would interfere with the patches. Kasie tapped Lucia on the shoulder. When the commodore turned around, Kasie pointed at the front of Jess’s suit.
“Past the point of repair,” Lucia pronounced, after examining Jess’s suit.
When the others had repaired their suits, Lucia said, “Lieutenant, take half the security force and return to your traveler. We’ll hold the tunnels until you return. Bring back a suit for our fearless assault commander, who’s collected too many shrapnel tears to patch his suit.”
“Not one in your size,” Jess retorted, and Sam laughed.
Turning to the SADEs, Jess said, “In the meantime, I’d like to explore the dome’s airlock. Esteban and Juliette, could you come with me?”
Lucia motioned to the remainder of the team to follow Jess.
A short way into the tunnel, Jess and the SADEs faced the Messinants’ work. It was the moonside hatch of the dome’s airlock, and it was closed.
Without announcement, Jess touched the entry plate. The team hurriedly snapped their Loopah weapons into firing positions.
The hatch didn’t move, and Jess glanced over his shoulder at the anxious faces. “You didn’t expect it to open, did you?” he asked.
“Whether we did or didn’t, a little warning would be nice,” Lucia replied icily.
“The Colony’s entire plan focused on us dying right where we stand. How would that plan work if we could have opened this hatch?” Jess asked rhetorically.
Esteban and Juliette examined the entry plate. Fingers rubbed the plate and discovered the material was an unknown composite. Analysis ensued, which involved Orbit. The molecular structure was visualized, but the method of creating and forming the intricate compound was yet to be perceived.
“Jess, Kasie, talk to us,” Esteban requested. “Tell us more about the Messinants.”
The twins spent time discussing what was known about the Messinants, their domes, and the uplifted races until they were relieved by Sam’s forces.
“Any instructions for me?” Sam asked Jess.
“Wait at the mouth of tunnel three, where you can return fire with some protection, if the Colony rushes you,” Jess replied. “I don’t expect them to do that, but you never know.”
“Are we supposed to hold until you return?” Sam asked. There was a hint of nervousness in his voice.
Jess’s smile was wry, and he clasped Sam’s big shoulder. “No, Sam, if you’re attacked in any number, I expect you to retreat as fast as you can move that big body of yours. What I’m expecting, if anything, are scouts checking on why their tunnel defenders haven’t returned. See if you can drop the insectoids while they’re still between hatches.”
Sam frowned at the last instruction.
“Dispatching them inside the airlock makes them recoverable by those inside the domes,” Sam explained. “Those individuals might calculate that we’ve huge numbers waiting out here because we must have defeated their defenders. That type of thinking buys us time.”
“And that will make the Colony think that they should bring more reds with weapons through from other stars to here,” Yousef added, which earned him more than a few glares from others. “I’m just saying,” he added desultorily.
Sam’s refreshed squad took up their positions.
Jess changed into an Omnian environment suit. When he closed up the suit, an icon glowed in the heads-up display.
Jess eyed the icon and said, “Activate.” Then he felt the suit tighten comfortably around his body. He offered Esteban a smile, if a weak one.
Then Jess and his beleaguered group trudged down tunnel four. They closed their faceplates to enter the tube, donned harnesses, and let the small harness motors drive the wheels up the line to the traveler’s ramp.
The pilots helped the group strip out of their harnesses and suits. Tanks were recharged. Hot food was served, and the SADEs saw to any first aid requirements.
The pilots checked the suits and replaced temporary patches on slug holes or metal punctures with permanent seals.
“Juliette and I have detected the means by which the Colony communicates locally,” Esteban said, as if he was sharing a well-known fact. Immediately, he had everyone’s attent
ion. “The hissing you hear is the lower end of their ultrasound frequencies,” he continued. “However, we question how they would have communicated to those inside the dome when their ambush was successfully completed.”
Jess paused. A utensil full of food was halfway to his mouth. “Good question,” he murmured. Quickly he finished the remainder of his plate, and the copilot replaced the empty plate with a full one.
“I didn’t see anything that resembled communication gear in tunnels two and five,” Tacnock remarked. “Did anyone else?”
The answers were negative.
“I examined both species in the ring and saw nothing on their heads,” Esteban added. “During our investigations on Sylia’s station, we didn’t discover devices implanted within the insectoids’ bodies.”
“Colony DNA,” Kasie exclaimed.
“Could it be that simple?” Bortoth asked.
“Simple is elegant,” Esteban remarked. “I find the idea has merit.”
“That’s something the insectoids might have discovered within the console,” Jess reasoned. “A query that locks the dome’s airlock except for operations initiated by the DNA of the operator’s species.”
“The species is without hands, as we know it. How would the insectoids trigger the hatch?” an Enclave security specialist asked.
“In any number of ways,” Juliette replied, “including the blood of a fallen member or a tiny piece of skin.”
The group finished eating, visited the facilities, donned their suits with recharged tanks, gathered their weapons and fresh drums, and made the long return trip to the connecting ring.
Lucia noticed that the time aboard the travelers had done everyone some good. They looked a lot less dejected, despite their losses. Only the SADEs had no need for what biologicals required.
“What’s the plan?” asked Sam, when reinforcements arrived. “We used our entire stock of gas, didn’t we?”
“I’m afraid we did,” Tacnock said. “It would take Velsana’s lab some time to create more. It’s a unique process. Can we afford fourteen cycles?”
Jess knew the answer. Every defender knew the answer. If the Colony was given time, they would eliminate what the teams had achieved.
“It looks like we take the dome the hard way. We fight our way to the deck,” Jess said.
“How do we gain entry?” Sam asked.
“We believe we have an answer,” Kasie spoke up, and Juliette held up a finger smeared with blood.
“Insectoid blood?” Sam asked. He chuckled and added, “That’s ironic.”
“We’re down to two-and-a-half squads, as Sam pointed out earlier,” Jess said. “When we enter the second level, there’ll be three assignments. Kasie, identify the portal to the third level for Yousef and open it.”
Turning to Yousef, Jess said, “I expect grays will be below. Don’t expose yourself in the doorway. When you hear legs on metal, send a couple of multi-dart shots down the ramp. That should dissuade them.”
Jess eyed Tacnock. His heart ached. He was handing his friend the most dangerous assignments.
Tacnock flashed his teeth in an attempt to bolster Jess’s courage for what he must do, and Kasie could sense the overwhelming emotions emanating from the two friends. It saddened her, but she refused to dampen her gates.
“You take Sam’s squad, Tacnock, and race down the corridor,” Jess finally said. “Eliminate any Colony members that stand in your way. You must reach the ramp quickly. Don’t ascend. Stay to the sides and prevent any insectoids from descending.”
“That leaves little more than a single squad to clear the dorms, if I understand the jobs correctly,” Sam said.
“You do,” Jess replied. “Borthar, Daktora, and you will join my squad in clearing the dorm rooms.”
“That leaves me and the SADEs unassigned,” Lucia pointed out.
“The three of you will be with Kasie and Yousef,” Jess replied. “If we’re overrun, you’re to retreat, Commodore. Yousef is your rear guard until you make the traveler.”
Lucia regarded Jess. She hid her disappointment and nodded her acceptance.
“Who goes through first?” Yousef asked, indicating the airlock with a tip of his head.
“I don’t expect the Colony to be waiting in the airlock or in the corridor,” Jess replied. “They’re expecting us to have been wiped out. More important, they think only one of their own can open the hatch.”
“Or so we believe,” Kasie added in a warning voice.
Jess flashed his twin a grin. “Tacnock and his squad will lead,” he said. “Sam, we’ll go next and start with the dorm room nearest the airlock. Yousef, Kasie, the commodore, and the SADEs will make entry last.”
“How do we clear the rooms?” Sam asked.
“Bortoth and Daktora hold each side of the doorway in case we’re rushed,” Jess explained. “We pair up, fire multi-dart loads into the room, and swivel aside. No one stands in an open doorway for the initial operation.”
“I’d like to rehearse that,” Sam requested.
When Jess saw the nodding heads of his squad, he acquiesced, and the group cleared a space in the connecting ring.
The SADEs stood apart, approximating the doorway’s width, as detailed by Jess. The Crocians stood in front of the SADEs, preparing to take on insectoids that burst from the room.
“The glyph to open any door is located about here,” Bortoth said, and he touched a dark claw to the breast of Juliette’s avatar.
“How touching,” Juliette quipped. “The way to my heart, if I had one, is also the key to the dorm rooms.”
Tacnock chittered, and Juliette remarked, “At least, I have one fan.”
Jess positioned Sam on the opposite side of the doorway from him. Then he assigned two more security to each side.
“We make three pairs that rotate our shots,” Jess said.
When the group nodded that they were ready, Bortoth pretended to touch Juliette’s chest. “Now,” he said.
Jess and Sam tipped their Loopah weapons through the mock doorway, fired, and stepped out of line. The next two pairs did the same.
“After the three pairs have fired, you and I end up at the doorway again,” Jess explained. “Then I go through the door and work left just like my position in the pairing. Then you follow.”
“And I go right,” Sam finished, pleased to have the details laid out.
“The other two pairs follow us,” Jess continued.
“The palettes extend from the walls,” Tacnock interjected. “That means they float off the floor. Look under them.”
“Facilities are located at the rear of the room, Sam,” Jess said. “You and I will clear that room.”
“What about us?” one of the unassigned Earthers asked.
“You’re our rear guard,” Jess replied. “We’ll be focused on the room and its occupants. You watch our backs. Stay out of alignment of the doorway. As we work, I expect insectoids to leave the rooms that we haven’t cleared.”
“Use single shot, and aim carefully,” Tacnock cautioned the three individuals. “You’ll be firing in our direction.”
“Understood,” the Earthers replied in unison.
“Everyone ready?” Jess asked. He received affirmatives, some determined and some reluctant. Then he led the remains of the assault teams into the dome’s access tunnel.
-13-
Juliette
At the airlock hatch, Juliette swiped the bloody fingertip across the panel. As the hatch slid aside, she smiled and winked at Jess. As Jess had reasoned, the Colony wasn’t waiting for them in the airlock.
Tacnock and his squad quickly loaded and cycled through. They met several grays in the corridor and eliminated them in their sprint to the ramp at the corridor’s far end. Two grays were caught descending the ramp, and they were swiftly dispatched. That raised the alarm to the Colony occupying the deck.
Juliette triggered the hatch for Jess and his group. When they exited into the corridor, Jess led them to
the first dorm room. By the time they had readied themselves, Lucia and the others were coming through.
“Three, two, one,” Bortoth counted down, and then he touched the door’s glyph.
The multiple shots sent into the room were overkill. There were only two grays in the room, and they’d been curled asleep on the pallets.
“If the rooms’ occupancies are this low, we can move faster if we divide up,” Sam suggested. “Maybe most of the Colony was in the tunnels.”
Jess thought the idea had merits and risks. He heard the pop, pop, pop of the defenders at the ramp. He felt an urgent desire to move quicker to assist his friend.
“Bortoth, you’re with Sam’s group,” Jess ordered. “Take the right side. Daktora, you’re with me.” He sent three security members with Sam and kept three for his team. That left one of the Earther lookouts unassigned.
“What’s your name?” Jess asked the last lookout.
“Kendris, sir, Jade Kendris,” the young woman replied.
“Jade, our lives are going to depend on you,” Jess said, his eyes boring into hers. “Stay sharp. Single shots.”
“On it, sir,” Jade replied crisply.
Jess liked the determined expression on Jade’s face. His eyes widened in surprise, when Jade’s launcher snapped up, and she fired a dart. He spun around in time to see a gray falling to the floor in two pieces. When he turned around to regard Jade, she repeated, “I’m on it, sir.” There was a fierce grin on her face, but her eyes never left the corridor.
“Sam, clear that room,” Jess ordered, pointing toward the doorway where the gray fell.
Near the dome’s airlock, Kasie had opened the door to the third level. Yousef’s back was to the wall, and he clenched and unclenched his launcher. His ears strained to hear the sounds of insectoid legs over the noise in the corridor.
“Rest easy, Sergeant,” Esteban said. “Our hearing is acute. We’ll warn you when those below ascend the ramp. Like now.”
“What?” Yousef asked in confusion.
“They’re coming, Sergeant,” Esteban clarified.
Yousef tipped his weapon through the doorway and loosed a multi-dart round.
“Your shot was high, Sergeant,” Esteban said. “Try about thirty degrees downward.”