by John Walker
“Stupid, I get it!” Andrews checked his computer. Smoke came from under the screen. It was done. “Perfect! There go scans.”
“I’m afraid you’re on your own with that.” Haulda shrugged. “You wouldn’t be able to use our devices. They are not in your language. It’s on the same line but you may as well wait with us anyway. Once those defenses are up, we have the means to get in through a door that’s still intact.”
“Yeah, we’ll stay.” Andrews glared at Quilla. “Thanks for leaving me in there!”
“I helped!” Quilla spat. “Thanks for nearly getting me killed!”
“Are you hurt?” Andrews looked at his arm. A blackened patch of skin on the bicep made it clear he had been. “Ooh, you are.”
“As I said!”
“I guess we should be thankful we made it.” Andrews paced away to drop the subject. And no one’s coming through the tunnels either. He doubted the gear they set up survived. Waste of time, that. But then there were a few less soldiers to worry about. He tapped the comm, stepping away from the others.
“Quilla and I are outside the ruins, guys. We had to take off. Sorry.”
“Best you stay there,” Niva said, “I think we’re almost done. Hang tight.”
No choice. Andrews finally took a moment to look around, drawing a quick breath at the sheer number of people Haulda managed to gather. He couldn’t begin to count them… easily more than a hundred. They might have a chance after all. Wow. Good on you. The next test would be if they could fight. And survive.
***
Titus gave the order to head back into action the second their shuttle left the hangar. They bought Sylvie some time to catch up to Triss, which meant they could back one another up. Any help they could get would be a good thing. As they lined up for an attack run, he reached out to Griel.
“Come back our direction. We’ll meet you halfway and blast that bastard with you.”
“Got it,” Griel replied, “we’ve got some serious friends showing up soon. Much as I hate to admit it, we might have to take off. I’m having Triss redouble her efforts to get our people out of there right away.”
I don’t know that there’s much they can do quickly. Titus drew a deep breath.
“We’re in range,” Sam said, “ready to fire.”
“Hit ‘em.” Titus watched the beams lance out from their cannons, striking the side of Renz’s ship. The Kahl turned hard to starboard, their thrusters lighting up as they pulled away.
The Brekka pivoted to keep on their rear, nipping at them the whole way. Turrets from the Kahl ship continuously fired, tossing beams at the Triton as well. Despite hitting them exceptionally hard, Titus felt his guts twist with a sense of urgency. We do not have the time for all this.
“Damage report,” Titus said, “how bad off are they?”
“Shields holding firm,” Violet replied. “Looks like they’ve diverted power from their weapon generators to defenses. We… we haven’t even knocked them down by ten percent.”
Rhys huffed. “Should’ve done that the last time we fought them.”
“No doubt.” Titus frowned. “Percentage of shots hit versus missed?”
“I’ve got that,” Sam replied, “between us and the Brekka, we’re only getting solid blows on sixty percent of our shots. Their pilot brought their A game today.”
“I’m all over them,” Jane added, “but they are making small maneuvers to throw off our targeting. So we’re skimming them here and there. The shots look like solid hits, but they aren’t.”
“Close distance,” Titus said. “We can’t miss if we’re right on top of them.”
The ship shook violently. Titus grabbed his seat, waiting for the rumble to finish. “What the hell was that?”
“Debris?” Rhys offered. “Space junk?”
“Looks like…” Violet shook her head. “We’re flying through wreckage. Scan shows they’re basically pieces of the Flotilla.”
“Renz led us in here.” Titus smirked. “Almost like he learned from us.”
“I’ve got it on scan now,” Jane said, “but they’re pretty small… still, doesn’t take much for a collision to sound really bad.”
“How far do we have to maneuver to get above this mess?”
“Um…” Jane hesitated. “We’ll still have a good firing solution from above. Which might make it easier to score some hits.”
“Go ahead.” Titus turned to Rhys. “You’d better try to reach out to the ground folks. We’ll have to get out of here in a hurry soon. I’d like them in the air before we start a countdown to warp.”
“If the drive’s back,” Rhys replied. “I’ll ask Huxley about that too.”
Too many problems at once. Titus checked how long they had before the incoming ships would arrive. They were down to minutes. Oh, this isn’t going to be close. We’re definitely going to be struggling with these bastards. He brought Griel on the line again. “Hey, how’re you doing with the debris?”
“It’s not fun,” Griel said. “Something wrong?”
“Yes, what’re we going to do about these incoming ships? Any plan?”
“When our people are in the air, you go to the planet to get them. We’ll offer a distraction. Once you’ve got them, get out. We’ll follow.”
“That leaves you here with who knows how many enemy ships.”
“Sometimes, fortune hates us.” Griel chuckled. “Anyway, all we can do is push through. Don’t worry. I’ll make it through this. You just get those people out of there. Though, if you don’t mind me saying, I particularly need you to save Niva. Or I might end up in prison before too much longer.”
Titus shook his head. “Nice priorities. Okay, when they’re ready, we’ll break.” You’d better be right about getting out of here. He had no idea if the Brekka had the fortitude to withstand a fight against so many ships. I’m deferring to him. Griel knows what he’s doing. Though admittedly, it didn’t feel like he did for once.
Regardless, we’re on a rescue mission. Might as well focus on that.
They climbed above the debris, laying into Renz’s ship again. Now they had a good vantage to blast them directly on the top of the vessel, giving the defenses a good punch. Combined with the Brekka’s efforts, they finally saw a drop in their target’s defenses. Maybe we’ll knock him out after all.
With the new ships incoming, they didn’t have long to level the playing field.
***
Lysa led the way down the stairs. She cast her light all around the darkened space. Ancient consoles occupied the walls, but at the far end—opposite the entrance—a tremendous screen occupied the wall. Below it, a wide table seemed to be built directly into the stone wall. Thick dust filled the air, coloring the beam of her light.
“That’s it,” Lysa gestured. “That table thing is probably a computer.”
“Low energy reading,” Kyle said, “and look at the antiquity of the room. Do you see the grooves in the walls? I think that’s writing. This was likely one of the temples. But not one we needed for the pilgrimage.”
“The key sure got us in here,” Lysa replied. “The problem we’ve got is I’ll have to calibrate the key for this bench.”
“You can do that?” Kyle asked.
Lysa sighed. “You didn’t pay much attention when Essa told us what was going on. Yes, of course I can! Come on.” She rushed to the surface, swiping it a few times with her arm. Smeared dust still occupied the center but just touching made the screen throb with a dim glow. “Look at that!”
“Um… I’m not sure I’m thrilled.” Kyle glanced back. “Better hurry regardless.”
Lysa drew the key from her bag, setting it on the surface of the table. It’s not like I’m going to take my damn time. She launched the app on her computer to control the key, making a quick connection. Once established, she set it to try every available frequency, much as she had with the door above.
A timer appeared, showing how long it would take to get through all of them. Two mi
nutes, twenty-five seconds.
“Um…” Lysa turned to Kyle with a smile. “It will… not be too long? Couple minutes?”
“I’m sure you could be more specific,” Kyle said, “but I’ll take it.” He tapped his comm. “Everyone, we have two minutes and some odd number of seconds before we know if this thing is going to work or not. You have to hold them for that long.” He cast his light on the wall. “Check those out. Writing or scratches?”
Lysa had to admit, they looked more like symbols, but she didn’t see any recurring patterns. No two were the same. “Maybe artwork,” she said. “I don’t think it was natural but…” She walked the perimeter of the room. “I’d have to scan it to tell… but if this is an alphabet, they have a lot of characters.”
“I’ll take photos.” Kyle documented the area while Lysa returned to the table. The light on the surface turned brighter and dimmed slower each time. I must be getting close. The side of the key fell into sync, glowing red in time to the surface illumination. She checked her device. They still had over ninety seconds.
“This is Warrant Officer Brown.” The voice fought static to come through their comms. “I’m less than five minutes from breaking atmosphere. Two of us. We’ll be taking a sweep around from the west to come at the rear of your area. Please stay in touch to give us status updates on your current activities.”
“What do they expect us to do?” Lysa asked. “Surely, they don’t want us to run out of here as soon as the defenses are up?”
“Pretty sure that’s the plan,” Kyle replied. He returned to her side. “The place has been documented.”
“That’s not okay! These people… what about them?”
“They have an army,” Kyle said. “They don’t need us for anything other than getting this hunk of crap working again. Besides, do you really want to jump into that mess? Get in a shooting war with a bunch of Kahl over… what? An ancient religion that was likely implanted in these people by missionaries hundreds of years ago?”
“Does it strike you as odd about that? The Prophet mythos?”
“I figured we could talk to Essa about it.” Kyle shrugged. “But no, not particularly. And good topic shift. I like it.”
“I’m just thinking… if they win the battle, if they kill all the Kahl forces, what then? There’s no Prophet to come sweeping in to save them.”
“There is,” Jok interjected. “And I’ll tell our forces about this place. We can always use fighters as brave as these people.”
Lysa’s cheeks burned. “Sorry, everyone. I didn’t realize I was speaking over the open line.”
“The resistance works directly with the Prophet,” Jok replied, “we’ll definitely help these people when the time comes. And I’ve got bad news everyone. The Kahl are coming. No more inching. They’re breaching the outer wall right now. I’m opening fire to give them something to think about.”
“Me too,” Milna said, “Vesper, the rest of you, find a good position of cover because they will make your position shortly.”
Come on! Lysa turned to the key, tapping her foot. “Hurry!”
Shuttle engines roared overhead. Their blasters competed with the noise as they leveled at least one building in their flyby. They continued on to the east, but the rumble seemed to loop to the north. Lysa estimated they’d return in under thirty seconds—probably less.
“That’s why they need these defenses,” Kyle muttered, “but they won’t matter much if the damn walls come down first.” He tapped her arm. “We should probably get the hell out of this area, hon. Grab the key. This isn’t going to happen.”
“It’s almost done!” Lysa shook free. “Give it a moment.” Not that they haven’t. She bounced on the balls of her feet, staring intently at the flashing lights as if she might will them to finish faster.
“Haulda,” Niva’s voice came through next, “do your people have cover? They are sweeping us with shuttles.”
“We are unseen at the moment,” Haulda said, “they would have to tear through the rocks and know where to look. How much longer? It seems likely you’re about to be overrun.”
God, these people are waiting to help us based on this damn thing! Lysa kicked it. Come on, dammit! The computer showed it nearly exhausted all the possible frequencies. Shouts outside indicated the Kahls were getting ever closer. The forces they had above wouldn’t hold them off. We’re done. This is it!
The table light turned blue. All the grooves in the wall, the notches they thought of as some kind of letters burst to life, each one glowing, illuminating the room. A deep hum underground vibrated the floor and walls, cascading dust over the area. As it crumbled down from the ceiling, Lysa tapped at her device, sending a signal straight to the Triton.
“What’re you doing now?” Kyle asked. “Did that work?”
“I’m uploading the key data we grabbed from the Flotilla,” Lysa said, “using this thing to broadcast it back to Essa. You’ve got it on your device too.”
“How long is that going to take?” Kyle’s shoulders slumped. “You realize we need to go, right?”
“Only a few seconds! This thing is fast!” Lysa glared at him. “Don’t give me that. You know this is the right thing to do. What if we… what if something happens?”
“Always with the sunshine.” Kyle shook his head.
Lysa watched the percentage meter fly from ten percent to eighty percent. It slowed then picked up again, tapping one hundred percent a few seconds later. I can’t even believe that. It should’ve taken longer. “Um… I think we’re good?” She thrust the key back in her bag. “Yeah, everything’s done!”
“Come on!” Kyle grabbed her arm, dragging her toward the stairs. “I suggest we get outside fast!” Kyle shouted. “This place may not tolerate whatever she turned on!”
“That’s the sign!” Haulda screamed, like a man possessed. His voice broke as he continued to wail. “You have done it! This is it! You were the heralds! Faith be praised and that of the Prophet as well! Charge, my warriors! Brothers and sisters! Take arms to the invaders and kill them all!”
Not exactly a positive war cry, Lysa thought. She started up the stairs after Kyle, coughing from the dust she sucked in. Wow, that was disgusting. They made it to the top. The others stood just inside the front door, using it for cover. They hurried over. Vesper and Tiller took shots outside. Alon and Niva stacked up behind each of them.
***
“Well, that’s done,” Kyle said, “are they like… swarming?”
“Yep.” Vesper nodded. “Don’t take a look, but there are some forty people out there taking cover. Only reason they haven’t swarmed this place is they have to get through the door. And I guess none of them feels like being the first guy to get his ass blown away.”
“Don’t blame them,” Kyle moved Lysa further away from the door. “Jok, might be time for your ship, huh?”
“Can’t do much with those shuttles,” Jok said. “They are… oh my.”
An explosion shook the ground. The Doppler effect brought something down off to the west. It impacted the ground with another boom. A second followed closely after the first. This one on the east side.
“What was that?” Niva asked.
“The shuttles,” Jok replied, “your building… it… basically, it shot them.”
“Tell Triss!” Alon shouted. “And Sylvie! They can’t come straight down here! Have them avoid this place at all cost! We can meet them elsewhere.”
“I’m thinking a mile away,” Niva replied. “I’ll put a waypoint. Should be safe.”
It shoots too, Kyle thought. But there’s no friend or foe. Ouch. And now we’re going to have a run on our hands to get out of here. Perfect. At least they were almost done. Some small comfort. Providing we can get out of this place.
A war cry rose from behind the building. Kyle risked a glance outside. The shooting stopped. The Kahl soldiers stood from their cover, looking at one another. They began to withdraw, falling back to the buildings near them. Half
a moment later, Haulda’s people rushed out into the courtyard, firing their weapons into the crowd.
The major battle between the two forces began, and it was every bit as vicious as Kyle had expected. Perhaps more so since Haulda’s side seemed to be possessed by religious fervor. The sounds they made didn’t register as sentient beings. Their zeal pushed them forward to press the enemy without thought to their safety, without hesitation.
Even as the Kahl returned fire, cutting into their ranks. A few dead bodies didn’t slow them down. They crashed through the avenues between the buildings like an ocean tide, freeing up the courtyard of hostiles.
Niva waved at them to follow her. “Now’s our chance! Come on, we have to get out of here!”
“Follow my signal!” Andrews shouted. “We’re by the door leading into that place.”
Kyle looked Lysa in the eyes. “Stay close to me. We can’t get separated.”
Lysa smirked. “I’ve got this. We’ve done it before.”
This feels different. Kyle nodded, following Niva outside. They started running for the back wall, breaking into a sprint. Tension made the air electric. The action going on behind them felt surreal, like it couldn’t possibly be happening. Hundreds of men and women tore through their opponents, dying as swiftly as they killed.
And they aren’t that far behind us. Kyle wondered if the bloodlust of their hosts would be satiated by the Kahl assailants or if they’d look for others to take it out on. Will they remember what we did for them? I have this strange feeling we’re a liability. And that goal seemed particularly simple.
Without a key that thing never would’ve fired up. As they passed around the building, a purple aura gripped the stone. Kyle looked to the ceiling, slowing his pace. A spire rose from the center, a forty-foot metal cone. The tip sported a purple sparkle, a flickering orb. That’s… new technology.
“Hey!” Niva shouted, “what’re you doing? Hurry up!”
Kyle shook off the awe, hurrying to catch up. The others stood near the wall. Stray shots came his way, attacks from the battle raging behind them. The sounds were near deafening, to the point he couldn’t distinguish between cries of pain and victory. He cut hard to the left, sprinting for the door.