by Jan Domagala
“We’ll know the answer to that one, Captain, in about ten minutes or so,” Sinclair replied as calm as ever.
“Sir, the super destroyer has just increased her speed. She’ll now be here in less than twelve minutes,” ops said urgently.
“Captain Riley, there has been a new development. The approaching super destroyer has increased speed and will now be with us in less than twelve minutes. Our timetable has just been updated so you need to move yours accordingly,” Sinclair said, connected through his NI.
Sinclair expected a response but all he received was silence.
“Ops, check the com. connections are secure and running please,” he said, a sudden fear taking over him which he controlled with his usual aplomb.
“Copy that, sir,” replied the ops, who added after a quick check of his equipment board, “Com. links are secure and running, sir.”
“That’s not good,” Sinclair observed. He used his NI once more to call Riley, “Captain Riley, please respond,” he said and waited for a reply.
AS THE PLASMA BOLTS seared the air in the corridor Riley and the Team had thrown themselves flat on the ground to avoid being shot and killed. Kurt had pressed himself flat against the wall after pushing Matt to the ground and watched carefully as his companions brought their own pulse rifles into action. They lay on their stomachs and with their assault rifles stretched out in front of them they opened fire.
The Outlaws were caught out in the open as they had hoped to catch the intruders. The Wildfire Team made their shots count and each member shot down their counterpart on the opposing team. Within seconds the action was over and all the Outlaws lay on the ground, dead.
Riley had heard Sinclair trying to communicate with him but had instead concentrated on the task at hand. He got to his feet and said, “Sorry for the delay, sir, we’ve been a bit busy here.”
“Good to hear your voice, Captain, but I must impress on you the urgency of your task,” Sinclair replied. Riley could hear the relief in his voice as he spoke.
“Copy that, sir, will do our best. Will update you as soon as we’re done here,” Riley said. Turning to the others he said, “You heard the man, we’re out of time so let’s go and do this.”
Riley had received the call but so too had the rest of the Wildfire Team, Kurt and Matt, so they had all heard the update about the super destroyer.
Kurt pushed off the wall and helped a bemused Matt to his feet as Riley reached them and said, “That was a close call.”
“It seems that serum has had an effect on us after all. We should have been killed then but our reactions were fast enough for us to avoid it,” Riley replied a little surprised to be alive still.
“You’ll get used to it, eventually,” Kurt said.
“Have you got used to your new abilities?”
“Hell no and I probably never will,” Kurt said with a smile. “Come on, we’ve got work to do.”
45
Colonel De Boer led his men deep into the colony looking for the research data that they had been ordered to destroy.
When the update about the super destroyer reached him, he turned to Captain Mayfield and said, “Our time here has just been cut in half, any suggestions?”
Mayfield thought for a second before replying, “Well, obviously we don’t have the time to search a colony this large and destroy the data even if we could locate it in the time we now have, so that only leaves us one option, sir – we destroy the whole damn thing.”
“My thoughts exactly.”
“Do we have enough explosives with us to do the job?” asked Mayfield to one of the marines.
“It might be best if we locate the power room and set the generator to overload, that should destroy the whole colony, sir,” replied the marine.
Colonel De Boer said, “Good idea, let’s do it.”
KURT SAID, “WE NEED to get to the C and C deck and fast.”
“I agree, if I know the Colonel he’ll know we’ve virtually run out of time and he’ll be looking for a way to destroy this whole colony,” said Riley.
“Which means we have to get to the C and C deck to find any data pertaining to this project? We cannot take the chance on any survivors having the knowledge gained from their research down there. We need that data too just to keep the balance,” agreed Riley.
Torres came forward and said, “Artie says it’s just ahead, through that door.”
Riley turned and fired his assault rifle at the door blasting it open. “Let’s go,” he said.
“There’s no messing around with him is there?” Matt said as he reached Kurt.
“He’s a true Man of Action,” replied Kurt smiling.
Ignoring the banter, Riley walked towards the gaping hole where the door used to be.
INSIDE THE C AND C deck Marko turned as the door was blasted open. There was a skeleton crew with him manning various stations, ops, weps and three security men to protect the deck should the worst happen, which now seemed to be the case.
With a swift hand gesture he motioned for the security guards to deploy so they would be ready when anyone came through the hole.
RILEY THREW A STUN grenade through the gaping hole and counted down until it exploded.
The grenade, a flash bang, was filled with phosphorous so that when it went off a bright light, along with the deafening explosion, assaulted the senses of whoever was near causing disorientation and giving the attacker time to make their move.
The second the grenade went off Riley moved in. He was the first through into the C and C deck followed by Kurt, Matt and the rest of the Wildfire Team.
Riley deployed his team against the security guards. Vance, Cooper and Torres took out a security guard each and Matt made his way over to ops.
Kurt saw the huge bear of a man in the centre of the room and knew he had to be in charge. Already he was shaking off the effects of the stun grenade so Kurt knew he had to act fast.
Riley had moved over to disable the weps station shooting the soldier on the move. The pulsed plasma bolt threw the hapless soldier against the console spreading his blood over it before he slid to the floor, dead.
Matt had done more or less the same with the man at the ops station so they both swiftly got to work.
Riley quickly disabled the weapons so that any retaliation from the colony would be stopped, destroying the station with a burst from his assault rifle so they couldn’t be reactivated.
Matt was searching through the colony’s computer logs for any data pertaining to any research done on the planet below and once he found what he was looking for he downloaded it to his NI.
“Got it,” he said as he turned to face Riley who had moved over to stand by him. Riley aimed his assault rifle at the station and fired.
“Good, now let’s get the hell off this place,” Riley said as he watched the ops station burn up from the salvo he had fired.
Vance, Cooper and Torres were over by the hole guarding it from anyone else trying to gain entrance. When they saw Riley gesture for them to leave they went through to guard the corridor beyond making it safe for the rest of them to follow.
Kurt had his hands full with Marko. He had approached the big man hoping to catch him unawares before he fully recovered from the effects of the stun grenade. The man’s resilience was phenomenal and by the time Kurt had got half way to him he was already looking up at him, his eyes clearing and fury blazing in them.
Suddenly a Magarov T9 pistol appeared in Marko’s hand; he must have had it on him when the stun grenade blew him off his feet. Marko brought up the powerful pistol and steadied his aim on the approaching figure before him.
Kurt saw the weapon being aimed at him and he knew he would not close the gap between them before it fired.
There was nothing he could do but watch as Marko pulled the trigger.
SINCLAIR FELT A TINGLE as a call was connected through his NI. He recognised where it came from and said, “General Tillic, what can I do for you?”
“I just thought I’d inform you of our approach,” replied the Alliance General calmly.
“You’re on the destroyer bearing down on our position?” Sinclair asked.
“I am and I must inform you that you must leave the area, now. Pull out your men immediately or suffer the consequences. I am here to take control of the Tartaran Battlefield for the Elysium Alliance. A statement has been issued about your involvement in the treaty violation and that we are here to right that wrong.”
Sinclair had linked the call through the com. system on the bridge of the Odyssey so that all those present were witnesses to it. When Tillic had finished, Sinclair turned away from the eyes of those watching him so they could not see the anger on his face.
“You seem to have covered all your bases Lokar; I’m not at all surprised. What I am surprised at is that you actually think you can get away with this,” he replied once he had got his anger under control.
“I already have, General, now I suggest that you recall all your personnel and vacate this area. You have until we reach your position to comply with my demands or we will open fire upon you and your ship,” Tillic said putting as much menace as he could in his voice.
Sinclair turned to face the bridge crew. Captain Biggs asked, “What are your orders, sir?”
With a huge uncharacteristic sigh Sinclair said, “We do the only thing we can at this moment, we comply.”
Biggs nodded his head in agreement.
“Send out the recall Captain Biggs, let’s bring our boys home,” Sinclair said with resentment.
KURT SAW MARKO PULL the trigger on the Magarov T9 pistol. The pulsed plasma bolt streaked from the muzzle of the pistol heading straight for him.
Kurt’s senses went immediately into hyperdrive. The second he saw the pistol brought up and aimed, his eyes went straight to the hand. He watched as the trigger finger tightened in readiness for firing. He estimated the trajectory and the moment it would be fired and timed his move to coincide with Marko’s actions.
When the pistol was fired, Kurt was already moving out of the way, too fast for Marko to see and adjust his aim. He moved to the side allowing the bolt to pass by but even so, it went by so close that Kurt felt the heat from it singe his hair.
Kurt was rolling and coming up onto his feet before Marko had even realised that he had missed.
He was close to the big man now and Marko’s eyes widened in surprise when he saw Kurt’s agility and speed. The man should be dead was what he was thinking just before Kurt hit him square on the jaw with a right cross.
Marko went flying off his feet from the force of the blow. Kurt had put quite a bit of his strength into the punch; he still was not sure just how strong he was so he had kept a bit back. He had not wanted to destroy the man’s face, just knock him out.
“We don’t have time for this Kurt, just finish him off and let’s get the hell off this place,” Matt shouted as he watched his friend attack Marko.
Kurt turned from the downed giant and said, “It’s okay now, he won’t bother us again we can leave.”
Kurt was looking at Matt and something in his eyes told him that what he had just said was far from the truth.
“The hell you can,” snarled Marko who was getting to his knees. He brought up the Magarov and fired.
The pulsed plasma bolt was aimed at Kurt who, from the instant he knew Marko was conscious began to move, but even so the bolt caught him high on his left arm and spun him around.
Kurt continued the spin using his momentum to move him away from the next two shots aimed at him from Marko. He hit the ground and immediately went into a roll coming up on his side and took out his Sig P996 and fired.
The pulsed plasma bolt struck Marko in the centre of his forehead blowing his head apart in an explosion of blood and gore.
The body fell over to the side like a rag doll thrown aside and the second it lay in a crumpled heap alarms went off all around the colony.
“Time to detonation, five minutes,” a voice said through the integral speakers in the equipment, the sound seemingly coming from everywhere at once.
“What the fuck just happened?” asked Torres a little worried.
Kurt got to his feet and looked around the room. “He must’ve had a bio monitor fitted that was connected to some sort of self destruct. This place has less than five minutes before it blows to hell and back.”
“You’re joking right?” Riley said.
“Nope,” Kurt said then he stood stock still for a second, his mind accessing whatever computer controls his NI could latch onto. He turned to Riley, his face bleached of all colour as he said, “It gets even worse. Several Thermobaric missiles have just been launched from somewhere on this colony also tied in to this self destruct system.”
“What’s the target?” Riley asked afraid that he already knew the answer.
“The planet below,” Kurt replied.
“WHAT HAS JUST HAPPENED?” Sinclair asked as he watched the salvo of Thermobaric missiles leave the colony. The entire bridge crew was watching the forward viewscreen and the events as they unfolded. They all gasped in surprise as they saw what had just taken place.
Sinclair contacted Kurt via his NI, “Kurt give me a sit rep now,” he said curtly.
“There was a doomsday device attached to the commander over here, sir, which activated on his death. Apparently we have little less than five minutes before this whole place detonates. There’s a further complication, sir, Thermobaric missiles have been launched towards the planet below. I can only imagine they are primed to ignite the atmosphere and destroy all life down there,” Kurt replied swiftly.
“A scorched earth policy, I see. Evacuate the colony as fast as possible; we will attempt to target the missiles before they detonate.”
“I have an idea about that, sir. We may have a better chance aboard the Pulsar, using the nose section,” Riley said interrupting the conversation.
“Do it,” Sinclair said not needing to mull the idea over; he knew it was their best chance to avert a catastrophe.
Kurt said, “Right we’ve gotta move.”
Riley said, “I’ll come with you.”
“Okay, but you’ll have to keep up,” Kurt replied and he was off and running. Riley took off after him and he knew after the first few steps that he would struggle to match his speed.
Over his shoulder Riley shouted, “Hurry and get to the Pulsar, we’ll take the nose section, get aboard the main body and take her to the Odyssey.”
GENERAL LOKAR TILLIC also saw the Thermobaric missiles launched from the colony. He knew what had happened; he knew the Col Sec forces had gained a foothold on the colony and that Marko had been killed. Marko had been fitted with the fail-safe device as soon as his post as colony commander had been confirmed. It was, as Sinclair had pointed out, a scorched earth policy; if the Alliance could not get control of Tartaran then they would make sure that the Confederation would not benefit either.
That did not help matters now though; they had come all that way to have it snatched away from them at the last gasp and by their own fail-safe device. The irony was not lost on him and he allowed a wry smile to cross his thin lips.
“Increase speed to flank, we need to get there as fast as we can,” he said. They had to do something to at least try to prevent this travesty from happening. He did not know if there was anything they could do, but they had to try.
46
Kurt arrived at the docking bay a few feet ahead of Riley.
“You don’t mess about do you?” Riley said when he finally caught up with Kurt. “I never thought I’d keep up with you,” he added breathlessly, he had run faster than he thought possible just to keep Kurt in sight.
“I was going slow so you could keep up, but enough chat, get us on board your ship,” Kurt replied a little too curtly for Riley’s taste but he let it go.
Riley opened the door to the Pulsar. The hatch was coded to the Wildfire Team’s NIs only, so Kurt had had to wait for him
anyway. Once through the hatch they went through to the forward section. “Artie disengage your forward section, we’ve a job to do. Leave the rest of you here for the rest of the Team and Colonel De Boer and C Platoon,” Riley said as they entered the bridge on the forward section.
“You talk to this ship’s AI like it’s human,” Kurt observed.
“When you get to know him a bit better, you’ll know why. He’s as much a part of this team as any of us so it’s not too much of a stretch to consider him like one of us,” replied Riley, adding, “Artie we have to stop those missiles from detonating, so get us within firing range as fast as you can please.”
“I’ll do my best Jake,” the AI replied and immediately steered the forward section away from the docking hatch on the colony.
The AI boosted power to the engines and put the craft into pursuit mode as it locked the sensors onto the Thermobaric missiles.
COLONEL DE BOER HAD heard the warning sirens and alert from the colony’s computer about the self-destruct as had the rest of the Platoon. He turned to Captain Mayfield and said, “It seems our work has been done for us, I suggest we find our way back to the Pulsar as fast as we can.”
“Copy that, Colonel,” replied the captain and the two of them turned their men around and double-timed it back to the docking hatch.
When they arrived they found Cooper, Vance, Torres and Matt already waiting for them.
“Where’s Riley and Kurt?” asked De Boer.
“They’ve gone ahead in the Pulsar’s nose section to try and stop the Thermobaric missiles before they reach the planet and detonate,” replied Matt. “We have to leave now Colonel we have less than four minutes before this place blows to hell and back.”