Alliance (Jack Forge, Lost Marine Book 5)

by James David Victor

  “We heard,” Sarah said, reaching out to Jack.

  “Move aside,” one enforcer said.

  Sarah tapped her lapel and her agent insignia. “I will speak with the major, Enforcer,” she said firmly.

  “My orders come from the admiral’s office, Agent Reyes,” the enforcer said. “Now stand aside.”

  Sam Torent stepped in front of the enforcer. He was wearing his tactical suit, but he had the helmet under his arm. He looked small next to the fully-suited enforcer, but Jack knew that look in Sam’s eye. Sam was not about to take a backwards step.

  “And I take my orders from Major Forge,” Sam said.

  Jack appreciated the support from his two oldest friends, but there was more at stake here than any of them could guess. Jack knew he had to go. He placed a hand on Sam’s shoulder.

  “It’s okay, Sam. I’ve got this.”

  Sam looked at Jack and then up at the nearest enforcer. “I’m coming with you,” he said.

  “The major will come alone,” the enforcer replied coldly.

  Noticing Sam clenching his Mech fist, Jack knew he had to calm matters.

  “Stand down, Commander,” Jack said, then in a softer tone he added, “I’ll be okay.”

  “I should come,” Sarah said. “No one is better qualified than me to help, Jack.”

  “The major will come alone. Now stand aside.” The enforcers brought up their pulse rifles in a swift movement, each one pointing at Jack’s friends.

  “It’s okay,” Jack said, hand in the air. He stepped in front of Sam and Sarah. “Put your weapons down.” He turned to Sam. “You can’t help me like this.” Then to Sarah, “Find out whatever you can.”

  One of the enforcers shoved Jack with the side of his pulse rifle. Jack turned.

  “Take it easy,” Jack said. “I’m going.”

  With a final nod to his friends, Jack marched off toward the nearest hangar deck and the waiting transport.

  The hangar was empty save for another pair of enforcers standing at the foot of the boarding ramp to a tac boat. Jack walked up and inside without breaking his stride, an enforcer a step behind. Then, once inside, the ramp began to close. In the cabin lights, Jack could see someone sitting in one of the rear seats

  “Sit down, Major.”

  Jack recognized the voice immediately. He dropped into the nearest seat.

  “Agent Mallet. Are you part of my escort?”

  Mallet leaned back in her seat as the containment fields activated. The cabin lights changed to red as the tac boat pilot called out the egress procedure.

  “Somehow I knew you’d be back on the agency’s agenda.”

  Jack felt the acceleration kick in through fluctuations on the containment field. The fluctuations on pressure across his body made him feel nauseous, or maybe it was the proximity to the agent who had so recently tried to have him executed.

  Jack sat back and tried to rest. He was used to flying these tac boats himself, but now he was a passenger. There were other things beyond his control, not just this tac boat. The near future was going to be filled with events that Jack could barely control. He was a passenger in the events of the fleet and the Devex. Whatever was happening was beyond him, and he would have to respond as best he could.

  But he was tired. He had always done his duty for the fleet and for the Marines, for those under his command and those giving him his orders. He had always faced the unknown with courage. This was no different to any other time he had faced the unknown, he lied to himself. But this was different. Now an alien power was asking for him.

  Jack felt hungry, tired. He needed a good shower, and he could use a break. But here he was hurtling across space from one fleet ship to another, on his way to the unknown. He was on his way to find an answer to the riddle. Why did the Devex want to speak to Jack Forge?

  “Anyone got anything to eat?” Jack said.

  Mallet shook her head. An enforcer handed Jack a nutrition puree pack—a small ration drink designed for field operations.

  Jack hated the nutrition puree, but he tore off the top and pressed the cold, thick, tasteless slime into his mouth. He heard Mallet laugh in single breathy grunt from the red-tinted darkness of the rear of the tac boat.

  “Thank you,” Jack said, handing the empty pack to the enforcer who took it from him. Then Jack closed his eyes. He was fed, now he needed some rest. He’d be meeting the admiral in a few minutes. Just enough time for a Marine to grab some sleep. In battle, a few minutes of sleep could keep a Marine going for hours, and Jack had no doubt that he was going into battle.

  The sleep was brief, and then Jack was back on his feet. The escorting enforcers fell in behind Jack while Agent Mallet walked alongside. The corridors of the Scepter where clear all the way to the transport loop that waited, doors open, and another pair of enforcers guarding the entrance.

  Jack walked into the transport pod without a word. Mallet kept pace with him. He turned and faced the doorway as the doors slid shut.

  The slightest feeling of movement was all Jack could detect as the transport pod moved along the loop. The carrier was far too large for Jack to be expected to walk from the hangar to the command deck, where he assumed he was going.

  The transport pod doors slid open a few silent moments later, and another pair of enforcers were waiting. Jack knew the admiral was taking no chance in bringing Jack swiftly to him. At the entrance to the command deck, Mallet grabbed Jack’s arm. Her fingers gripped tightly and held him for a fraction, long enough for her to whisper, “If I get the slightest hint that you are in league with the Devex, there will be no trial, no interview, just a hanger deck and a line of enforcers waiting for you.”

  The memory of the firing squad had disturbed Jack’s sleep ever since, but he’d had so little of it lately that he felt he could sleep soundly even knowing Mallet was still clearly out to get him.

  The Scepter’s command deck was similar to the Scorpio’s. The central holostage was the same size, and it currently displayed the image of the fleet hidden in the nebula and the single raider that had approached. The range finder showed that the raider was within weapons range. A single blast from the Scepter’s forward laser assembly, even from one single emitter, would vaporize the Raider in an instant.

  Sitting in the command chair facing the holostage was Group Captain Tanaka. She looked down as Jack walked in and then climbed down from her chair.

  “This way,” she said and walked toward a small side entrance behind a bank of consoles and the officers standing there. They all looked at Jack as he walked by—some nervous, some excited, all curious to why he alone had been identified by the Devex.

  Through the small side opening, Jack stepped into a conference room. A long table filled the room with a smaller holostage at its center. It too displayed the fleet and the Devex messenger.

  At the head of the table sat Admiral Henson. Next to him was General Wallace. Jack recognized them as much for their uniforms as their features. He had only ever seen them on a few occasions.

  Alongside the general was a person Jack had only met once briefly. Jack recognized the uniform first. It marked him as Colonel Snipe, Commanding Officer of the Scepter Battalion. He wore a Fleet Marine Platinum Star, the same gallantry award Jack himself had received. Snipe looked up at Jack with a half-smile and a nod.

  Group Captain Tanaka took a seat opposite the admiral and invited Jack to sit at her side.

  The admiral tapped the control panel on the tabletop before him, and the holoimage on the changed to the Chief of Fleet Intelligence..

  As agent Mallet took a seat at the table, the admiral sat back and began talking.

  “The Devex have asked for you, Jack Forge. Why?”

  Jack looked at the admiral in shock. Why would they think he knew? He looked at the general, who was fixing Jack with a stare. The colonel was smiling at Jack, perhaps enjoying the young, infamous officer’s discomfort.

  All around the table, all eyes were on him.
<
br />   “I don’t know,” Jack said at last.

  “In all our encounters with the Devex,” Agent Mallet said, almost spitting venom with each word, “we have had conflict. Now they want to speak with you, after you have been aboard one of their ships.” Mallet looked sideways at Jack, fixing him with a stare. “What did you agree with them? Do you intend to turn us all over to them?”

  Jack rolled his eyes. Mallet had a habit of making everything he had ever done sound like treason.

  “I have had no communications with the Devex. I’ve only ever fought them, and they have only ever fought me. I don’t know why they would ask for me. Unless…” Jack trailed off and looked around the table.

  “Unless what, Major?” General Wallace leaned forward. He was softly spoken for a big man.

  “If they asked for me, maybe they knew we’d have a high-level meeting like this. Now you have the leaders from across the fleet, all in one place. Maybe they want to kill the leaders.”

  The holoimage of Chief Agent Pound laughed out loud. His image flickered as he rocked back and forth.

  “I told you he was a clever one,” Pound said. “And I’m happy I am not on that huge target of a ship.”

  Jack sensed the tension increase a notch. He looked at the admiral, who was looking a little uncomfortable at the head of the table. Across from him, Colonel Snipe was smiling broadly.

  “The Devex have asked you to speak with them,” Chief Agent Pound said, looking out from the holoimage directly at Jack. “We don’t know what they are going to say, but they won’t say it to anyone else. Whatever you did on their ship, you made an impact.”

  “I just did my duty.”

  “We’ll expect you to do so again,” the admiral said.

  Jack could do little but nod his agreement.

  The holoimage of Chief Pound shrank away to the side of the stage, and the image of the Devex raider took over the center of the display. Jack felt all eyes on him.

  “Are you ready?” the admiral asked.

  Jack was tired, hungry, and in need of a shower and a run to clear his head. He was not ready to talk to the Devex, but he didn’t think he ever would be.

  “Ready,” he agreed.

  Group Captain Tanaka tapped her wrist-mounted device and spoke into it.

  “Open communication with the Devex raider.”

  The image flickered, and an image of a Devex warrior appeared, a head and shoulders image showing the dull silver helmet with the dark horizontal line at what Jack presumed was eye level.

  “I am Jack Forge,” Jack said. He felt foolish saying it sitting here amongst the highest-ranked officers on the fleet.

  The reply was mechanical and stilted, but in plain language that all could understand.

  “The Devex Empire requests alliance with Jack Forge. Do you agree or do we engage in battle now?”

  A claxon alarm sounded from the command deck just outside the conference room. Group Captain Tanaka got up from the table and dashed out. The admiral sat back, his fist pressed to his lips. Then the holostage changed to show the fleet at the center of the image and the Devex warship moving in closer, then out of the thick gas of the nebula came more Devex warships, moving in on all sides.

  Looking up at the colonel, Jack saw Snipe seemingly relaxed and still smiling. He nodded at Jack, inviting him to answer the Devex.

  “Yes?” Jack said uncertainly. “We agree to an alliance.”

  “Why do you want an alliance with our fleet?” the admiral said.

  The Devex did not reply.

  Snipe laughed out loud and then pointed Jack toward the holoimage of the Devex, instructing him to repeat the admiral’s words.

  Feeling like he was acting way above his rank, Jack shifted uncomfortably and repeated the question.

  “Why do you want an alliance with our fleet?”

  “Not fleet. Jack Forge. We have the numbers to defeat the Skalidion. Jack Forge has the skill. We need an alliance with Jack Forge.”

  Snipe smiled at Jack. “Looks like you got their attention when you kicked their asses last time, Major.”

  Jack looked to the admiral. Henson was nodding and mouthing the word ‘yes.’

  “I need assurances,” Jack said.

  “Tell us.”

  “The fleet must be allowed passage through your space.”

  “Agreed.”

  The answer came quickly, almost without thought.

  “I need time to make an assessment of the Skalidion threat.”

  “No. No time. We act now. We defeat Skalidion forces now.”

  “No,” Jack said.

  The tension around the table rose again, except for Colonel Snipe, who was beaming a smile from ear to ear, enjoying the exchange. Mallet was glowering at Jack. General Wallace stood up, fists on the table.

  “Don’t tell them no, Major, or I’ll bust you back to grunt right here and now.”

  Snipe waved dismissively at Wallace. “General. Don’t interrupt the major. He knows what he’s doing.”

  Turning to the image of the Devex warrior, Jack repeated himself. “No. We will lose if we don’t first study the Skalidions.”

  “Know your enemy?” the Devex said. “Is that how you beat us?”

  Jack felt a flush of embarrassment. He had fought the Devex and beaten them on several occasions, but only by the narrowest of margins and not with any convincing final victory.

  “No. I beat you because you did not know us.” Jack said.

  “The Skalidion move closer. You will be discovered and destroyed too. Act now. Act fast.”

  “Send me all maps of local space and all known Skalidion positions,” Jack said, standing up. “I need to assemble a team. Do you agree?”

  “The Devex agree,” the warrior said, and the channel closed.

  Standing at the table with all eyes on him, Jack felt more nervous than when facing the most vicious enemy. He controlled his fear of the top ranks and spoke up.

  “Do I have the admiral’s permission?” Jack looked at Henson.

  Henson nodded.

  Looking at the general, Jack repeated the request for permission to proceed. The general nodded too.

  Colonel Snipe stood up and walked around the table. “I’ll see the major has what he needs,” Snipe said.

  “And I’ll be right alongside you both,” Agent Mallet said, rising from her seat.

  Colonel Snipe held Mallet back with a hand. “I don’t think so, Agent. The surveillance mission is a Marine operation.”

  The image of Chief Pound, fully restored to the holoimage, spoke up.

  “Major Forge can operate alone, but all information is to be directed through intelligence channels back to all other departments.”

  The admiral and the general both nodded their agreement.

  Snipe put an arm around Jack and led him away. “Let’s find you a ship. And I can recommend some great officers on my staff who’d be willing to assist you, Jack.”

  Jack shook his head. “Thank you, Colonel. I’ll need a few tac boats, but I think I know who I want for my team. Can you get word to Commander Torent aboard the Scorpio? I’ll join him there as soon as possible.”

  Snipe spoke into his wrist-mounted device to inform the Scorpio of the request, then he stopped Jack.

  “And I’d be happy to assist you in any way I can. We’ve all heard of Jack Forge. To be honest, I thought you’d have been killed long ago. You are either very lucky or very clever. I hope it’s the latter.” Snipe grinned.

  “After all the action I’ve had to go through, I wouldn’t say I was very lucky. If I could have a bath and a few hours’ sleep at this point, I’d call that lucky.”

  Snipe laughed. “I never expected you to be so funny.”

  Jack had been called many things, from hero to traitor, but he had never been called funny before. He suspected that Snipe found a lot of things funny.

  Snipe led Jack into the Scepter’s battalion offices. Here, the management of the carrier group’
s battalions was managed. Snipe had been colonel for the Scepter group for as long as Jack had been a Marine. The office was where he managed the Marines under his command.

  Snipe led Jack to a large desk and showed him to the seat. The Devex data was already displayed on the small holostage. A holoimage showed a large number of star systems and a stack of holofiles. A group of clerical staff were already at work.

  “Work fast, Jack,” Snipe said.

  Looking at the stack of data made Jack feel even more tired, but he had a job to do. He began by looking at the locations of the Skalidions. This was as close as he wanted to get to them, but he knew he would have to get closer. Much, much closer.

  7

  The nest was crowded with all the nurse drones scurrying about taking the soldier larvae to their pods. Phisrid watched through the eyes of her observer caste where her forces had encountered the Devex. A star system in the center of her front against the Devex.

  Her forces massed for the final push into the Devex lines. Hundreds of enemy warships formed a defensive line with a planet at its center. The planet was orbited by several moons no bigger than asteroids, but large enough for a sizable defensive installation.

  The Skalidion fighters hung in formation, a huge teardrop with the builders forming the tapered end pointing away from the Devex.

  The observers moved in closer, scanning the formation and searching for a weakness. The Devex ships held close, reluctant to move from their supporting neighbors or move too far from the defensive installations on the asteroid surface.

  Phisrid knew a frontal assault would be costly. It was the sort of tactic her sister had favored, and it had been her downfall. Too aggressive. It was better to move carefully, cautiously. Better to pick a vulnerable spot and then strike. Either way, Phisrid knew this attack would be costly. She was creating her own soldiers now. She was the swarm queen. Soon she would be providing soldiers for her sub-queen daughters, when she began to spawn them. But for now, she was going to expand and grow, and that would come at the expense of her soldiers’ lives.

  The Devex ships held formation as the planet moved slowly about its orbit, maneuvering to keep the widest front facing the Skalidion. If Phisrid were to attack, she would come under fire from all ships in the formation. The front of her formation would take terrible damage.