The open hatch they headed for was near the location of Daryl’s beacon. They must slip inside without drawing attention.
“Two small cargo ships are getting ready to enter that landing bay,” said Bryan, pointing them out. “Follow them in, and we’ll see if we can find a spot to land.”
The pilot nodded and fell in behind the two ships. Bryan saw on the small tactical display that his other two shuttles were right behind them. The two cargo ships entered the bay first, followed by the shuttle Bryan was in. The bay was brightly lit, and hundreds of small shuttles and cargo ships sat on the deck. It was the largest landing bay Bryan had ever seen. “Land over there,” he ordered, seeing a location on the bay’s deck with room for all three of his shuttles.
The pilot adjusted the course of the shuttle and quickly set it down in the indicated location, shutting off the engines. The other two shuttles landed close by.
Gazing out the cockpit windows, Bryan saw no reaction to their landing. Looking around the bay, he was surprised to see over a dozen alien races loading and unloading cargo. It was obvious the Lamothians hired others to do their heavy labor.
“I don’t see any guards,” said the pilot, as he looked around the bay. “Strange this landing bay isn’t guarded.”
“Why would it be? After all, who would dare to attack one of the seven races’ main planets?”
“Rear Admiral Masters did,” pointed out the pilot.
“Yes, he did,” replied Bryan, happy to have that reminder and the glimmer of hope before walking into the lion’s den. “I imagine the Lamothians are watching for large warships. Our shuttles don’t qualify. We’ll wait a few minutes before we disembark. You know what to do if all hell breaks loose before we return.”
The pilot nodded grimly.
Bryan left the cockpit to step into the main part of the shuttle to don his combat gear. When finished, he looked at the waiting Marines. He was glad he had found so many former Marines to fill spots in the crew rosters to operate Cheryl’s three ships.
“We’re ready,” said Sergeant Bray, holding an energy rifle cradled in his arms.
Bryan drew in a deep breath. He hoped this all worked out; yet he also knew the odds were good that none of them would leave this station. “Let’s go. Signal the other shuttles.”
The hatch slid open, and Bryan and the Marines rapidly descended the ramp. Glancing over at the other two shuttles, he noted the other Marines exiting them as well. “Form up, and we’ll head toward that large hatch, where the cargo is taken.” It was the hatch closest to Daryl’s beacon.
-
Sergeant Bray took the lead, the rest falling in around him. They quickly headed toward the hatch, keeping a wary eye on their surroundings. Surprisingly the aliens in the bay paid little attention to the armed Humans, as if they didn’t care.
“Keep an eye on them,” warned Sergeant Bray. “We’re not familiar with their species.”
They quickly reached the hatch and went through it. However, the other side was guarded. Four Lamothian guards stood in the corridor, watching the hatch and those coming through it. Without hesitation, the Marines blasted them down, before the guards could react and get off a shot.
Sergeant Bray stepped forward and drew his pistol, sending an energy bolt through the heads of each of the guards to ensure they were dead. “I don’t think they got off a warning. Keep in mind though that these corridors, including that landing bay, are probably under surveillance. We must move quickly. The Lamothians should know we’re here now and are heavily armed.”
“This way,” said Bryan, glancing at the small device he held which tracked the location of Daryl’s beacon. It was only a few hundred meters from here.
As the Marines hurried down the corridor, they killed every Lamothian they came across. Most were unarmed, but occasionally they ran across a guard. So far the Marines had suffered no losses. Suddenly alarms sounded, and protective bulkheads came slamming down, trapping the Marines in one section of the corridor. In front of them a large metal bulkhead had descended, blocking their path forward. Another had descended behind them.
Sergeant Bray looked at Captain Bryan. “They definitely know we’re here.”
-
Cheryl looked up in surprise when she heard the loud alarms sounding. “What’s going on?” She saw the guards at the open hatch hurriedly shut it, sealing everyone inside.
Daryl grinned. “I would say our rescue party is on the way. We must be prepared to move fast.”
Most of the people in the compartment were talking excitedly about what was happening.
Cheryl suddenly felt very guilty. “What will happen to all these people?” She was greatly worried about the families in this compartment.
Shaking his head, Daryl replied, “There’s nothing we can do. We don’t have any extra room on the Princess Haven. Besides, how would you choose who to take with us?”
-
Sergeant Bray eyed the thick metal bulkhead that barred their way forward. “Corporal Cobb, front and center!”
The corporal came forward, lugging a massive energy rifle, easily twice the size of the rifles everyone else carried.
“This bulkhead is in our way.”
The corporal grinned. “Not for long.” Without hesitation, he aimed the large rifle at the metal barrier and fired. An intense beam of energy struck the bulkhead and immediately melted through it. The corporal slowly controlled the beam until he had cut out a section large enough for them to pass through.
“Good job, Corporal,” said Bray approvingly. “Now let’s get moving.”
They had to burn their way through two more protective bulkheads before they reached the hatch where the beacon signal was coming from.
“I suspect quite a few Lamothian guards are on the other side of that hatch,” said Captain Bryan.
Sergeant Bray spent a moment examining the door and then turned to Corporal Cobb. “Can you blow this hatch?”
Cobb nodded, as he handed his heavy energy rifle to another Marine. “No problem.”
Cobb quickly attached some plastic explosives to the large metal hinges on the hatch and then stepped back. Everyone else stepped back as well.
“When it blows, we charge in and shoot every Lamothian in sight,” ordered Sergeant Bray. “Expect heavy return fire, as they must know we’re coming.” Bray turned toward Corporal Cobb and nodded.
Suddenly a loud explosion and smoke filled the corridor as the hatch was blown off its hinges and fell inward. Instantly the Marines charged through, their weapons firing as they saw the waiting Lamothians. Several Marines fell to the deck when hit by return fire.
-
Cheryl flinched when a loud explosion blew the hatch inward, crushing several Lamothians as the hatch fell on them. The rest turned their weapons toward the now-open hatch and fired. A large number of Marines in heavy combat armor poured through, firing into the waiting Lamothians. Several of the Marines were hit and fell to the deck.
The firefight lasted for nearly a minute, and, when the smoke cleared, all the Lamothians were down, as well as four of the Marines.
“Come on,” said Daryl, grabbing Cheryl by the hand and pulling her up. Both had flung themselves to the deck when the fighting had begun.
The two hurried to the hatch, where Captain Bryan waited. He looked over the large crowd of people, now staring at him with hope. “If any of you know how to pilot a spacecraft, a large number of small cargo ships are in the landing bay we came in through. I’ll leave it up to you how to board them and how to get out of here. I’m sorry we can’t be of any further help. We just don’t have the room.”
Bryan looked at Cheryl and Daryl. “I’m glad to see the two of you made it. Where’s Mark?”
Daryl shook his head. “He didn’t make it.”
Bryan nodded. “Let’s get out of here. The Lamothians are bound to be rushing reinforcements to this part of their station.”
Cheryl was placed in the center of the Marines, and D
aryl was handed an energy pistol. The group quickly went back the way they had come, leaving four dead Marines behind. No way they could take the bodies with them and still make good time.
They were way down the corridor when the other people in the compartment began to follow them. Captain Bryan hoped some of them knew how to fly a ship.
-
Bryan’s group was nearly to the large hatch that led to the landing bay when they found their way blocked by a large contingent of heavily armed Lamothians. A brief firefight broke out, energy beams striking everywhere. Several Marines cried out in pain, and one fell to the deck with a burned hole in his chest. Several others were wounded, but all the Lamothians were cut down. Once more Sergeant Bray stepped forward and used his energy pistol to make sure all were dead.
“To the shuttles!” shouted Captain Bryan. “More Lamothians will be coming shortly.”
The remaining Marines hurried through the hatch and noted a few aliens, just standing around watching. All stayed away from the heavily armed Humans.
Cheryl kept looking around, hoping they made it to the shuttles without any more trouble. Already a number of Marines had died in her rescue. In moments they were at the shuttles and quickly boarded.
“We’ll wait a few minutes,” said Captain Bryan, as a large number of Human captives entered the bay and made their way toward a number of small cargo ships.
“Why are we waiting?” asked Cheryl. She wanted to get away from this station as soon as possible.
“This station is heavily armed. As soon as we exit the bay, we may be fired upon. I want to wait until some of those cargo ships leave, and then we’ll try to mix in with them, and I hope we can avoid the weapons fire.”
Cheryl frowned. “You’re sacrificing them so we can escape?”
Bryan shook his head. “No, they’ll have a chance to escape as well. It just depends on how good their pilots are.”
Looking out the cockpit window, Bryan watched as several hundred Human captives crowded themselves into six small cargo ships. A few moments later the first rose from the deck and darted toward the open bay hatch. Then two more rose and followed.
“Let’s go,” ordered Bryan. “Accelerate to maximum, and fly an evasive course. Expect weapons fire as soon as we exit the bay.”
The pilot nodded, and the shuttle lifted off. It quickly exited the bay, followed by the other two shuttles. In front of them they saw energy weapons fire targeting the cargo ships that had fled a few moments earlier. In a sudden blast of light one of the cargo ships exploded, throwing glowing debris across space. “They’re flying too straight, making themselves easy targets.”
A second cargo ship exploded as it was struck by two energy beams.
Behind the three shuttles, three more small cargo ships exited the bay and quickly accelerated. One flew evasively, while the other two went in a straight line.
Suddenly a bright light lit up the cockpit window. “We just lost one of our shuttles,” reported the pilot, as he put his shuttle into a sharp turn.
“Will we make it?” asked Captain Bryan.
“Yeah, we’re nearly out of range of the station’s weapons.”
They watched the tactical display, seeing two more of the cargo ships destroyed. By this time, Bryan’s shuttle was out of range of the station’s weapons.
“We must land as quickly as we can,” said Captain Bryan. “We’ll have battlecruisers coming after us shortly.”
“What about those two cargo ships?” asked Cheryl, pointing to the tactical display. “Can we take them with us?”
“Maybe,” replied the pilot, “if we can contact them.”
A few minutes later the small shuttle was back onboard the Princess Haven. Already Bryan had given the orders for the yacht and the two escorts to move away from the asteroid and to prepare to enter hyperspace. Both of the cargo ships had been contacted and were joining the small fleet.
As Bryan entered the Command Center of the yacht, the tactical display showed an alarming view. Seven battlecruisers and two battleships were headed toward the small fleet. “Set a course for the Empire and transmit it to all ships. We enter hyperspace in thirty seconds, and anyone not ready will be left behind.” Bryan knew that sounded harsh, but, once those Lamothian warships were in range, the game would be over.
-
Cheryl waited tensely as the seconds passed, and then the Princess Haven made the transition into the safety of hyperspace. On the tactical display, the two escorts were on the yacht’s flanks, the two cargo ships following close behind. Suddenly, on the very edge of the tactical display, nine red threat icons appeared.
“Damn!” uttered Captain Bryan, frowning. “I had hoped we would get far enough away so they couldn’t track us.”
“They can’t harm us, can they?” asked Cheryl worriedly.
“No,” replied Bryan, shaking his head. “As long as we stay in hyperspace, they can do nothing.”
“How long before we make it back to the Empire?”
“Five days,” answered Bryan. “Six before we reach a system safe enough for us to drop out of hyperspace.”
“Can those small cargo ships make it that far?” Cheryl was concerned they might have a problem, being so small. They were barely larger than her two escorts.
“I don’t know. I’ll talk to whoever is in charge of those two vessels. We can offer them some technical advice, but those are alien spacecraft, and we may not have much to offer.”
“So, what now?”
“I suggest you get some rest. We’re safe for now, so take advantage of it.”
Cheryl nodded. Her quarters onboard the Princess Haven were still quite luxurious. A good night’s sleep and getting into her own clothes sounded wonderful. “Can we contact the Empire with a hyperlight transmission?”
“Maybe,” replied Bryan. “We’ll try shortly. Now go get some rest.”
Cheryl turned toward her quarters. She could hardly believe her ordeal was over. She also felt guilty, knowing a number of good men and women had died in her rescue, something she must learn to live with.
Chapter Two
Dylan was in his quarters when his comm unit went off. “This is Admiral Cleemorl.”
“Admiral, I have some great news. The Princess Haven has just sent a hyperlight transmission, saying they have rescued Cheryl and are on their way back to the Empire.”
Dylan felt a massive flood of relief pass over him. “How did they manage that?” He was curious how the small yacht had gotten Cheryl back from the Lamothians. It seemed almost impossible to even conceive.
“They didn’t say. Two small civilian cargo ships with Humans onboard are with them. However, there is a problem.”
“What’s that?” Dylan let out a deep sigh. There always seemed to be a problem.
“Nine Lamothian warships are in close pursuit. Captain Bryan says there’s no way to lose them.”
“Set up some rendezvous coordinates. Make sure we can get there first. We’ll lay a little trap for the pursuing Lamothians. I’ll be in the Command Center shortly.” Dylan had to sit down for a minute, as he processed Cheryl’s rescue. His biggest fear had been abated. Now he needed to take care of those Lamothian warships.
-
It didn’t take long for Dylan to reach the Command Center. “What’s the current status?”
“We’re in contact with the Princess Haven and have set up coordinates for a rendezvous,” reported Captain Fulmar. “We used the emergency hyperlight frequency, so the Lamothians could not intercept our messages. We’ll be at the rendezvous coordinates in thirty hours. The Princess Haven should be there two hours later, if they maintain their current course and speed.”
“Once we reach the rendezvous coordinates, we’ll drop out of hyperspace and then cut our power usage to a minimum,” said Dylan. “With a little luck the Lamothian warships will never know we’re there, waiting for them. I also want to hold our communications to a minimum. We don’t want the Lamothians to realize the
Princess Haven is meeting a fleet of Human warships.”
Even though Dylan wanted to hear Cheryl’s voice, he dared not risk endangering them further. In a little over thirty hours he would have her back in his arms. He also planned on giving her one hell of a lecture for disobeying his orders and for scaring him half to death.
-
Cheryl woke up feeling much better. She sat up, stretched, and yawned. Time for her to return to the Command Center to see if anything had changed in the last twelve hours. She could not believe how long she had slept.
After taking a quick shower and getting out a fresh change of clothes, she examined herself in her full-length mirror. She posed, turned sideways, and put her hands on her stomach, which was still relatively flat, and nodded in satisfaction. She then put on her clothes and left her quarters.
Reaching the Command Center, she noted everyone was busy. Captain Bryan was not here, probably resting in his quarters.
“The captain’s asleep,” said Trisha Greer, second in command and the tactical officer. “It will be a few hours before he’s back.”
“Anything happen while I was gone?” Cheryl saw her two support ships and was relieved to see the two cargo vessels were still with the Princess Haven.
Trisha grinned. “We contacted Admiral Cleemorl on the Themis. It seems he was on his way with a rescue fleet. We’ll be rendezvousing with him in about twenty hours.”
Cheryl had to sit down. What would she say to Dylan when she saw him? She suspected she would have a lot of apologizing to do. “How many ships does he have with him?”
“We don’t know. He didn’t want to risk the Lamothians finding out. I would guess he has a sizable number but not his entire fleet.”
Cheryl nodded. It was a relief knowing they would all be safe soon. She did have one concern. They had left an awful lot of Humans back in the Lamothian system. People who were doomed to become food in some obscene ritual on the planet. She wondered if Dylan could do anything about that. “How are the cargo ships doing?”
“They’ve had a few problems,” replied Trisha. “We’ve had our engineers and the support ships’ engineers helping them. They should make it to the rendezvous.”
The Forgotten Empire: The Battle For Earth: Book three Page 2