Barnes walked up. "Tanner, you've got a heart of ice don't you?"
"I just tell it like it is."
I held up a hand. "Look, I don't see Xurpok joining our squad. The higher-ups wouldn't have it."
Xurpok said, "I am a warrior. I was trained for such. I cannot return to civilian life. My own people would not trust me, which is why we were kept isolated until the end."
I stood. "You saved us here. My people will be impressed. We would be honored to have you fight by our side, but I don't know if something like that would be allowed. I will ask that we at least repair your ship. And we could cut a third off your journey by taking you and your ship to Earth. You'll still have about fourteen hundred light-years to get to Orion from there, but at least that is something."
"That is a generous offer."
Barnes said, "I think we might be missing something here. He now has this ship. It has a wormhole drive just like ours. We're what, sixteen days to Earth, then another two dozen out to Alday? After that another dozen to Orion. With this Maxan Warstalker, he could be to Orion in less than two months. I'm certain it has the fuel and food for such a journey. The Maxan's food tastes like crap, but it's edible."
The Fracker landed in the bay. The Lieutenant was introduced to the being who had taken us prisoner and then ravaged nearly the entire crew of a Maxan warship. He was impressed and at the same time intimidated, the same feelings I had.
The lieutenant scratched his head. "Balls? Really? Earth? I don't know if they'll go for that or not. And I know they won't allow him into our space if he's flying this rig. That would be unprecedented."
"When you go back and talk to command, push it like this; We have a new species here, and we could put ourselves on friendly terms. And this is a species that would be grateful for assistance at a time when their homeworld has just been taken. Imagine us integrating a few squads of fighters like Xurpok here. All we would have to do is build a hull that is tough enough for a shuttle to get in close for a breach and then you turn loose a squad of these... wait, what do you call your species?"
"Pronounced in your language it would be similar to Cornblow."
Tanner chuckled. "Why did I know it was something like that?"
I frowned. "Yeah. That won't do. How about the Corbo?"
"A reasonable substitution." Xurpok nodded.
"OK. A squad of these Corbo would board a Maxan warship and twenty minutes later it's ours. That is a powerful tool. In six months we could have their entire fleet defeated. After that we're on easy street."
The lieutenant pursed his lips. "I will deliver that message, but I'm doubtful command will see the merit. I'm authorizing you to take this ship and our guest as far as our outpost at 52 Cygni. And I would proceed with caution and make certain to immediately answer every hail on your approach."
Dumon turned to walk back to the Fracker before coming to a stop and looking back. "Also, keep in mind there is a reason we have no aliens in our fighting force. Command doesn't trust them."
"Just tell them Xavier Balls will vouch for him personally. If that doesn't sway a vote or two I'm not certain anything would. They all know my name."
The Fracker was soon away. The trip to the station at 52 Cygni took eleven days using wormhole hops. Much of the time along the way was spent ejecting dead Maxan bodies. After a tense few minutes with the controllers at the outpost, the Maxan Warstalker was allowed to dock. Xurpok was ordered to stay aboard the Maxan vessel as his own ship was taken in for repairs.
Two days of debate saw a Confederation command who was unwilling to admit the alien into their defense forces. But I was relieved when he was to be allowed passage through Human space to seek out his brethren.
I boarded the Warstalker with the news. Xurpok would be going to Orion... and with a Human escort. My squad and the Fracker would be joining him. Lieutenant Dumon was uneasy about losing both his ship and a squad, but he was not one to contradict orders.
Two additional days passed before the Corbo ship was ready. Together with the Fracker, a light crew, and our single squad, the trip to Orion was begun. I had hoped for an easy and uneventful ride out. But easy was never something that came my way.
~~~~~
Revenge
(THE SQUAD Novelette 3)
Chapter 1
* * *
We left the outpost station at 52 Cygni on a Wednesday. The journey through CDF space going out to Alday Port took three weeks. A special escort by two destroyers had been arranged. They were heading to the front lines to join the fight.
We arrived on the outskirts of Alday on a Thursday. Twenty-six warships were preparing for a raid on a Maxan colony. The fleet commander asked if his Marine commanders could have a look at the Warstalker we had captured. Xurpok approved.
Admiral Durban arrived in the docking bay of the Warstalker in his shuttle, along with thirty Marine officers.
I was standing at the bottom of the shuttle's ramp waiting to greet them. "Sirs. It's an honor to give you this tour. I know we have several of these in use for training back on Earth, but I would have to believe this is a newer model, seeing as how the trainers are at least two decades old."
The admiral nodded. "Perhaps it's time for an update. I'll have my team discuss making use of this for that purpose."
I cleared my throat. "Sorry, Admiral. This boat doesn't belong to us. We didn't capture it."
"What? I thought this was the ship your team recently defeated?"
"It is the same vessel, Admiral. And we were there. But it was the Corbo who captured it."
"Ah yes. I saw the brief. Are the Corbo here?"
"The Corbo is here, yes. His people were supposed to be traveling out to Orion. They knew nothing of the Maxans, sir. We've been given the duty to escort our Corbo friend out there for a search. You wouldn't happen to have any recent intel as to a strange fleet of ships would you?"
"Nothing immediately comes to mind. How many ships are we talking?"
I again cleared my throat. "Twenty thousand."
"What? Thousand? I'm certain we haven't come across a fleet like that."
"It's a civilian fleet, sir. The Corbo were chased from their home planet. The Orion nebula area was chosen as a destination before they knew of the Maxans. Our friend, who captured this ship, was separated from his people during the journey. If we can find them, it will be an opportunity for us to establish friendly relations and perhaps trade."
"I see. So where are the Corbo who captured this ship?"
I opened a comm. "Barnes, bring out Xurpok."
The lone alien walked down the ramp from his ship. He was soon standing beside me. Two of the Marine officers stepped up close to the Admiral in an effort to protect him should things go awry.
"Admiral, this is Xurpok. He's a soldier for the Corbo. He's responsible for taking this ship."
"And the rest of his fighters?"
I shook my head. "He did it on his own, sir. He's an insanely fast and efficient killing machine. I had asked command about the possibility of him joining our squad, but that idea was rejected."
"You know the rules, Sergeant. And the reasons for the rules."
"I do, sir. But there are always exceptions."
The admiral looked the alien up and down. "Interesting armor. Are you certain that wasn't responsible for his accomplishment? Perhaps it is something we can trade for."
"The active armor on his chest, legs, and arms, as far as I can tell, is used for protection against kinetic weapons. I don't think it helps when used against a blaster. At least not that we know of. He didn't take a hit from the Maxans he fought."
"I thought the memo to be a typo. Are you telling me this one individual took down this ship?"
"Yes, sir. He did. We were here. Lost three of our own trying to protect this black ship over here. Had we stayed focused just on that we could have avoided all casualties."
"Can he speak or communicate?"
"Yes, sir. And he does so very well. Part of h
is training was linguistics. He's picked up much of our language in about two month's time. Talk to him, ask whatever you like."
The admiral scowled. "I am to believe he can take down an entire warship by himself, but his people can't defend their planet?"
Xurpok stepped forward. "I am unique, sir. I was in a special program where fifty warriors were biologically enhanced. As a result, my reactions are faster and my timing is as good as one could expect. But we were not developed in time to protect our planet. I believe there are only forty-four of us left. The others perished during our fight for an evacuation."
"I just have a hard time believing this whole scenario."
I asked, "Would you like a demonstration?"
"That would be helpful."
I turned to face Xurpok. "Do you think you could disarm these Marines without harming anyone?"
Before a reply was given, the alien in gloss-black became almost a shadow. Four Marines standing guard with their blaster rifles had the weapons snatched from their hands. Two of the officers then had blaster pistols removed from holsters before they could be drawn. The weapons were set neatly in a pile in front of the admiral.
An angry expression covered his face.
I stepped forward. "Sorry, sir. His understanding of the question might be to blame here. I was merely trying to—"
The admiral gestured to his guards. "This incident will not be spoken of further."
"Would you like a tour of the ship, sir?"
"I would like to be off this ship. Colonel, if any of your men remain interested in a tour, see to it they have one."
The unhappy admiral strode by on his way across the deck and back aboard his shuttle. I could only reason he was angry about the demonstration because he had been both intimidated and frightened.
The Marines retrieved their weapons. "Sergeant," the colonel said, "I believe it best we follow the admiral. We've seen enough of these ships in simulations and combat videos to be familiar with them. Thank you for your time." The colonel leaned in. "And as the admiral said, I wouldn't make mention of this. How others view these guys is important to fleet command. This would not be a story that would instill confidence in his leadership."
"Understood."
The officers walked back to the admiral's shuttle and were soon away.
"Did I humiliate your admiral?"
"And then some. But he'll get over it. He wanted a demonstration of your skill. You gave him one. And now that the tour is behind us we can get to work on finding your people."
We left out of Alday Port two hours later. It was a twelve-day run to the coordinates Xurpok had been given. Upon arrival, a pair of planets were detected in orbit around a nearby star that was similar in size and color to what the Corbo had previously known. Scans of the two planets were conducted with no sign of any prior visitation.
Xurpok sat with a dejected look on his face. "Where would they have gone?"
I asked, "Would the jump gate have brought them all the way out here?"
"Yes."
"Then I have to ask, why did they send you through to the location you were sent?"
"To scout before the rest of the fleet was sent though."
"So they opened a gate, you went through, what then? Does the gate stay open? Do they have to re-open it? Once through, wouldn't your report have been immediate as to whether or not the area was safe?"
"I suppose it would have. This is troubling."
"You said they feared you in the general population?"
"So we were told."
"I hate to even suggest it, but would they have sent you away to be rid of you?"
Xurpok was quiet for most of a minute. "I'm beginning to believe that to be a possibility."
I looked over at the nav display. "That second planet has an atmosphere. Gravity and temperature look to be about right. And we can see it has oceans of water. Data all says it looks habitable. Anything you see appear to be a non-starter for colonization?"
"It does not. If anything, it would appear to be almost ideal."
I turned to Barnes. "Corporal, do a scan of the area. Look for any ion trails that would suggest other ships have been here."
"Will take a few hours to run the whole system through."
I nodded. "Make it happen. Xurpok, if your people came here, we will know."
"We were in stasis for one hundred sixteen years, Sergeant. Would any residual evidence remain for that long?"
"Barnes?"
"It's possible, Sarge, but not very likely."
I let out a long slow breath. "Take your few hours, Corporal. If there's a possibility this helps then we should do it."
Chapter 2
* * *
Tanner came into the room with a beer in his hand. Collins shook his head.
"What? I'm allotted one per day. Rules don't say when I have to drink it. What'd I miss? You look like you all just lost a puppy."
I replied, "No sign of Xurpok's people. It's possible he has been abandoned. We're working to find out."
"You want to find his people you go back to the last place they were seen and work from there. You've said before you used a jump gate to travel. What happens to the gate after you come through?"
"The gate is destroyed so that no others might follow."
Tanner smiled. "Well there we have it. If this place is a bust we go back to his original jump and check it for debris."
Collins said, "One problem with that, the jump, if it happened, took place one hundred sixteen years ago."
Tanner smirked. "This is space, moron. A hundred sixteen years is nothing. Pieces – parts from an explosion would still be in the vicinity of that explosion. If fact, a single scan should find it all."
Collins tilted his head to one side. "True. It wouldn't travel far in regards to actual distance."
I turned to face Xurpok. "Here's what we'll do. If the scans come back negative, we'll make a hop to each of the star systems in this vicinity and we'll do the same scans again. If we come up dry, we'll trek all the way across to the gate origin where we'll see what evidence we can find."
Collins asked, "And after that?"
I winced. "After that we have nothing to go on."
Tanner patted Xurpok on the shoulder. "After that he joins the premier squad of the Confederation Defense Force. With both of us on the same CDF team we couldn't lose."
Xurpok gave a single nod. "Thank you, Herbert. You are a true friend."
Tanner scowled. "I'll be your friend. Just don't call me Herbert."
The scans came back with no evidence of ion trails. A jump was made to the next nearest star system where the process was repeated. Again the results were negative. Upon arrival to the fifth such system an alert came up on the nav display.
Barnes said, "We have two ships, Sarge. One is a definite Maxan. The other is unknown."
Xurpok stood. "It is not unknown to me. That is one of our personnel carriers. Take us closer."
Barnes said, "I'm picking up a previously unregistered colony on the fourth planet. Looks like the Maxans are expanding this way."
Tanner said, "We're being hailed."
I replied, "Don't answer that. That ship is only a Warmonger. Half our size. They won't fire on us. Take us in closer. If those are Corbos we need to know. This would be a first time for the Maxans peacefully taking on another species."
The captured Maxan warship was taken to within close proximity of the pair of ships they had detected.
Barnes performed a scan. Seconds later the results came in. "I have maybe fifty bio-signatures on the carrier. One-fifty on the Warmonger. Give me a minute and I'll scan that colony down there."
Xurpok said, "I need to get aboard that carrier."
I looked over. "Mr. Collins, you feel confident enough to use this ship's weapons?"
"I do."
"Mr. Barnes, take us in close and open up on that Warmonger. Take it down and we'll use the Fracker to check out the carrier."
"Surface resu
lts are coming in, Sarge. I'm showing about fifteen hundred down there and they all appear to have Maxan signatures. Sorry, Xurpok. Not seeing any of your people here."
Tanner stood over Collins's shoulder as the Maxan warship came within range. "Let her have it, Big Boy!"
"I'll give her everything we've got, but only if you never call me Big Boy again."
"Suit yourself, Little Man. Take her out."
The forward cannons of the captured ship all fired at once. The intended target was the bridge of the Warmonger. All hits were direct, and a gaping hole opened in her hull where the targeted bridge once was. A second volley took out half the opposing cannons while a third took out the ship's drives.
The outer hull of the Warstalker rumbled as the remaining plasma cannons of the Maxan warship returned fire. A fourth volley saw to their end with a fifth and sixth nearly cutting the opposing vessel in half. As the engines of the carrier began to ramp up, a pair of bolts fired from the captured Warstalker saw them crippled.
I said, "Barnes, you and Collins are in charge here. Xurpok, you and Tanner come with me."
Collins asked, "Would it be OK if I had some fun with the surface dwellers down there?"
"Are we 100 percent certain there are no Corbos?"
Barnes nodded. "We are 100 percent, Sarge."
I gave a single nod. "Have your fun, but keep an eye out for any other ships coming in."
Collins grinned. "Good stuff. Barnes, give me a maximum zoom from that camera. We're going Maxan hunting."
The Fracker was boarded and launched. Several minutes later a breech tube was extended and a hatch quickly set. An automated cutting torch had a circular hole cut through the hull and a kick from Xurpok saw an opening.
I grabbed Xurpok by the shoulder. "Try to leave us a few officers alive for questioning. They don't usually talk, but on the rare occasion they will."
Tanner came up behind me. "Let's go get us some Maxans, Sarge."
I shook my head. "Sorry, Mr. Tanner. You'll be right here guarding this hatch."
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