Blockade: Age of Expansion - A Kurtherian Gambit Series (The Bad Company Book 2)

by Craig Martelle

Sue knew something was wrong, but he wasn’t coming clean. She kept one eye on her mate, in case he went down.

  “Sue here. Something is up with Timmons, but he’ll be fine once we get off this cursed ship. Give us a few more minutes and we’ll be out the airlock.”

  “Roger,” Terry said. “Break, break. Marcie, report.”

  “Kelly here. We are heading toward the airlock to exfil the tin can, but Marcie is in the mech and on the deck. She’s down, and I have no idea why.”

  Terry looked at Ted. “You need to cut that thing’s balls off.”

  Ted continued his work with Plato. Ted’s color was returning, too. His suit was compromised, but it hadn’t been shredded like Terry and Char’s.

  Why am I in a hurry to leave? Only two of us can get off this ship, Terry thought. I’m in a hurry to win, before anyone dies, anyone I know, that is.

  “Keep me informed, Kelly. Break, break. Kaeden, report.”

  “My team is intact and uninjured. The four of us are trapped in the airlock working to figure out the manual override.”

  “You’ll be protected in there until we can come get you, so don’t be in a hurry to get outside.”

  “I’m not a fan of being trapped in here. We’ll get the door open so we can leave. We’ll be waiting for pickup. How’s the battle going?”

  “We are still working to shut down the alien fleet, but right now, the War Axe is fighting for her life. All hands, on order, be prepared to take over the ships you are on, secure them as a safehold, until rescue can be arranged.”

  “Ours is pretty broken,” Kae replied softly. “I expect it won’t survive the hour.”

  “Same here,” Kelly added.

  “And here,” Sue reported.

  Terry turned in a slow circle, surveying the damage. “I guess we are on borrowed time here, too,” he said aloud, before keying the mic on his comm device. “Understood. Do the best you can with what you have, just like you always do. Congratulations, Bad Company. You’ve accomplished what we set out to do—wreak havoc on the enemy. Now it’s up to Ankh and Ted to work their magic, and the War Axe to build its cache of battle streamers. Justice has arrived and it looks like us.”

  Ted looked up. “Give me that,” he said, pointing to the comm device. Ted took it from Terry’s outstretched hand.

  “Ankh, establish a digital link through this device. I have an idea…”

  Alien Ship of the Line #2

  Christina handed the device to Ankh. The Crenellian tapped a couple buttons and set it beside his pad. His whole body shook in the strange way that was his race’s laugh. He started tapping, his fingers a blur as they raced across the screen.

  She wanted to ask what was going on, but Ankh had the comm device. She pursed her lips and turned away. The explosives were in place, but Ankh had the activation unit as part of the comm device. She decided that keeping both close gave her the most options. Even though she was bored, it was time to wait.

  She took a seat on the deck next to Ankh, the device within arm’s reach. He was embroiled in whatever Ted had him doing and oblivious of her presence.

  How are you two doing? she asked using her comm chip.

  We have reached the airlock, Aaron reported.

  Yanmei, get your armor on and stand by. Ankh and Ted are collaborating on something. Once you’re inside the suit, you’ll have comm with the others. It’ll be a little less lonely out there.

  The War Axe

  “Helm?” Micky asked.

  K’Thrall had been maneuvering the War Axe into a tighter and smaller space as he engaged the darting fighters. The alien fleet maneuvered to box him in.

  “I need control, Skipper. Our escape window is shrinking.”

  “Smedley, transfer helm control from COC to Clifton’s station.”

  Micky thought he heard K’Thrall screaming from three decks below.

  “Engaging.” Helm ran the main engines to the red line, reduced the strain on the attitude thrusters, and made a beeline for the gap between the alien EMP engagement envelopes. The upgrades turned the War Axe into the sports car of warships. The starship screamed silently and raced for deep space.

  “That’s enough. Bring us around to reengage the enemy,” Micky said.

  The ship continued toward the void.

  “I GAVE AN ORDER!” Micky bellowed.

  The ship instantly slowed and started a tight turn. “Sorry, I didn’t hear. The blood is still pounding in my ears,” Clifton replied sheepishly.

  “K’Thrall, prepare to reengage. Let’s pick them off one by one.”

  Clifton leaned back. “Moments of sheer terror interspersed by eternities of boredom,” he told Dokken. “It’s the life of a pilot.”

  The German Shepherd twisted his head back and forth as he looked at the man. If you say so.

  “Mac, how are we doing on our shields?” Micky asked, even though he could see the status. They were showing green with minimal damage.

  “I think they’ve modified their weapon. All the damage came from that last attack, where we grazed the EMP envelope. I’m afraid another one or two of those and the shields will be down.”

  “Very well. Suresha, engine status.”

  “Engines are green and available at one hundred percent capacity,” the commander answered. “Damaged thrusters have been repaired.”

  Micky knew that they’d come close to overtaxing the engines, but the upgrades had reduced the cooling time. The captain smiled to himself. The War Axe had become the ship he’d dreamed of.

  “Blagun?”

  “No structural issues. Damage control teams remain in place and green.”

  “Oscar, how are we doing on ammunition?”

  “We’ve expended a great deal already. One more run like that and we’ll be out of missiles and almost out of primary railgun projectiles. Secondary load outs are yellow and plasma is green.”

  “Bracket the enemy using the mains, then turn the ship and we’ll attack with a broadside of secondaries as we depart the engagement zone,” Micky said, looking at the alien formation’s picket ship, the one that they’d chosen to cull from the herd. “Let’s go kick some ass.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Alien Ship of the Line #1

  “Woohoo!” Ted hollered before jumping up and starting to dance. Char grinned broadly. Terry smiled too, waiting patiently for Ted’s report.

  Ted stopped dancing, steeled his expression, and returned to hugging the box that contained Plato, interfacing via his chip.

  “What the fuck?” Terry complained.

  “We’re winning?” Char ventured.

  “I suspect, but I’d like to know in what way we’re winning.”

  Cory moaned softly as her eyes slowly opened.

  “You’re next, Dad,” she mumbled.

  “No. I’m not. Things are happening so we’re hanging on for the ride. You recover to where you can walk. I expect our way ahead will appear shortly.”

  “What your father is trying to say is we’ll do whatever Ted tells us.” Char nodded. Terry sighed heavily, turned back to Ted, and waited.

  Alien Battleship #1

  Kim and Auburn sprinted through the corridors, using their enhanced abilities to send them careening ahead, widening the distance between them and the impending explosion. They reached the place where they’d stashed their suits.

  Auburn grabbed the hatch activator when the ship rocked and screamed in agony. As one, they pulled their hoods on. The lights went out.

  Auburn struggled to remain upright, hanging on tightly to the wheel on the hatch. Kimber fell to her knees, but jumped back up and balanced as if she was surfing. The ship’s undulations stopped, and Kim tapped Auburn as she worked her way through the hatch. She found the remaining suit and fumbled into it.

  Her enhanced vision wasn’t helping since the ship was pitch black inside. Not even the emergency lights were on. The suit’s internal systems came to life, bathing her face in a soft electronic glow. She ran throug
h the diagnostics in mere moments, then turned.

  “Cover your eyes, lover, I’m hitting the high beams.” She gave him a second to look away before activating the suit’s lights. She ducked and squeezed through the doorway. Once in the corridor, she headed for the airlock with Auburn close behind.

  The War Axe

  “The Battleship with Joseph’s team on board has experienced a catastrophic explosion in its engine room. The ship is dead and drifting,” Smedley reported.

  “That’s a total of nine ships down. Seven remain along with sixty fighters.”

  “Fifty-six fighters,” Smedley updated. “But the fighter spacecraft are consolidating for a mass attack, instead of the solo hit and run tactics they were using earlier.”

  “Is that a threat to us?” Micky asked.

  “Yes. If they were to employ a suicide attack, they could expedite the demise of the gravitic shields. Their weapons aren’t the threat, but their exploding engines would cause significant damage.”

  “Way to rain on my parade, Smedley. Just when I thought we were doing well, too.” Micky stroked his chin as he worked through their current attack plan. Speed was his friend. “Stay the course, K’Thrall.”

  Alien Ship of the Line #2

  Christina started breathing faster. She didn’t like waiting. The strain of doing nothing while a battle raged outside was driving her stress level through the roof. She wanted to change into Pricolici form and tear things apart, just to feel like she was doing something.

  But the more she learned about military tactics, the more she embraced finding the enemy’s weaknesses, and then exploiting them with the maximum amount of violence at the right time. If that meant waiting, then she would continue to wait.

  Even though she hated it.

  Ankh tapped away. Every now and then, his small body would shiver, as if getting ready to go into convulsions, and then he’d go back to what he was doing.

  “Ankh, what’s the status?” she asked. She couldn’t talk with anyone. She couldn’t see a map showing the battle. All she could see was the bottom of a terminal, a Crenellian’s big head, and a swirling blue mass contained within a forcefield.

  “ANKH!” she blurted, before slapping a hand over her mouth.

  “Yes?” the small humanoid asked innocently.

  “What’s the status?”

  “We are in the final stage of putting the entity known as Ten behind a separate barrier. It is trying to run, find a way to escape, but Plato is most impressive. We are staying ahead. Standby.”

  Ankh went back to tapping, rhythmically, followed by a furious dash of fingers, then back to a slower rhythm. This cycle continued for another five minutes. The ship rocked and shuddered twice during that time.

  “Ankh. It doesn’t feel like you’re making progress,” Christina said in as soft a tone as she could manage. The ship screeched as if the metal was being twisted. “Ankh? I feel like we should be running away, as fast as we can.”

  “Hush,” Ankh said. Christina’s yellow eyes flared for a moment, and she glared at him as her hands itched for the claws needed to shred the Crenellian.

  “Okay. We can go now,” Ankh said, standing abruptly and bumping his head. He stumbled to one knee, handed Christina the comm device, and wiggled from under the console to stand up anew. He unhooked the wires, letting them lay where they fell, and stuffed his pad into his backpack.

  “That’s it? What’s going on? Is there anything we need to do?” Christina said in a rush. She thumbed the comm device to ask Terry for further instructions when Ankh started to speak.

  “We are in control and standing down the alien ships one at a time. They will all be disabled shortly. We have control of the fighters, but we don’t. They have a failsafe attack mode. Someone must fly them. And most importantly, we have captured Ten and acquired much of its archives.”

  Christina breathed a sigh of relief. Her stress dissipated. She looked at the bundles of explosives. The countdown had not begun and wouldn’t be needed.

  “I can fly a fighter,” a voice came over the comm device.

  The War Axe

  “Give control to Clifton!” Terry Henry’s voice resonated through the bridge’s comm system. Micky looked at his helm. Clifton shook his head as he tapped at his screen. “Just do it, Ted!”

  Clifton nodded as he leaned forward. He brought up the holo screens and took on a new role—squadron commander of the fighters.

  The War Axe continued to fire. Micky watched as the alien ships’ icons changed status from active to inactive. The War Axe started to turn away from its attack run, having destroyed a frigate, but two alien destroyers continued to reach out with their EMP weapons.

  “Gravitic shields are down,” Mac reported.

  “Engines are offline,” Suresha reported.

  Micky’s mouth dropped. The ship was racing toward two of the disabled alien vessels.

  “Fire all weapons!” Micky shouted.

  “Weapons control is offline,” K’Thrall said from his console in the COC.

  ***

  Clodagh ran from her workstation into the next space where the manual controls were protected behind a mass of metal and a separately powered shield. She mashed buttons and flipped switches as she tried to establish a manual firing sequence for the thrusters.

  The good king Wenceslaus rubbed against her leg, purring.

  “I know, I know. Everything will be okay,” she muttered as she tried to remember the sequence. She hesitated toward the end. The panel lights were still red.

  Alien Ship of the Line #1

  “That’s it?” Terry said.

  Ted stood up, cradling the black box that contained the AI called Plato. “That was the most intense battle I’ve ever fought,” Ted said, surprised at Terry’s lack of gratitude.

  “I expect it was,” Terry admitted.

  Char raised an eyebrow and tipped her head toward Ted. “You are a genius, Ted. Thank you.”

  “It’s about time,” Ted replied.

  “What about the fighters?” Terry asked.

  “Plato, bring up the holo image of the battle.”

  Nothing happened.

  “The projectors must have been damaged in your ill-advised attack upon the ship’s engine that almost got us all killed,” Ted said accusingly. “Standby.”

  Terry threw his hands up in frustration, but then started to laugh.

  The image flickered to life above their heads. Terry leaned close, studying it. A number of the alien vessels were still green. The War Axe remained on a ballistic trajectory into the alien fleet.

  “What’s going on here?” Terry asked, pointing to the War Axe.

  Ted communed with Plato for a moment. “The War Axe has lost systems control. The EMP weapons overpowered it. It is following the last course before suffering failure.”

  Terry thumbed his comm device. “Micky, is there anything we can do?”

  “Terry! If you could move those two alien tin cans out of the way, we can coast until we can get our systems back online.”

  Ted shook his head. “Disabling is far easier than enabling. There isn’t enough time.”

  “I’m sorry, Micky,” Terry said into his device. He didn’t expect an answer.

  He didn’t get one.

  The War Axe

  “Brace for impact!” Micky yelled over the ship-wide comm system.

  ***

  Clodagh went back two steps, reversed a switch, and pressed forward. The lights flashed twice and burned green.

  “GO!” she yelled at the board. The port-side thrusters activated in unison. Wenceslaus bolted out from under her feet.

  His tail was fluffed in a big orange bush and his eyes darted back and forth as he tried to figure out what had scared him.

  ***

  “Thrusters are online,” K’Thrall reported. Micky gritted his teeth and winced, expecting an impact with the alien vessel. The War Axe lumbered sideways, the thrusters pushing the passing ship away as the Axe
slid by.

  “YES!” Micky shouted, standing. He pulled his hood back and took a deep breath of the bridge’s air.

  “Helm?” he asked.

  Clifton was driving the fighters at the remaining active alien ships. The intense battle was ripping the fighters out of space. Clifton jerked each time one of his ships died.

  “Engines, run the forward thrusters until we slow down,” Micky ordered over the ship-wide broadcast.

  The captain waited, but nothing happened. Helm was engaged. The ship continued toward deep space at a high rate of speed.

  Suddenly, the thrusters kicked in. The ship jerked slightly until antigrav compensated. Micky’s board flashed red. “What now?” he said, rolling his head as he looked for the source of his new problem.

  “Engines coming back online,” Suresha reported. As they cycled through their diagnostics, they flashed red until they passed. It was standard procedure.

  “Cargo fleet, this is the War Axe. The blockade has ended. Please expedite your transit to Alchon Prime. I expect we have some hungry people over there.” Micky sent the message on a narrow beam toward the dots of light beyond the heliosphere.

  Is my human coming home? Dokken asked.

  Alien Destroyer #2

  “Sounds like the battle’s over,” Kae said into his comm device.

  “It is. The War Axe will send a drop ship to pick us up. Make sure you can get outside.”

  “There’s the rub,” Kae said slowly. “Manual control is jammed. I think we twisted the ship sideways when we blew it up. We are stuck in the airlock.”

  “I hope you have a deck of cards with you,” Terry replied. Kae looked from face to face. His team shook their heads.

  “Looking grim on that front.”

  “Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone,” Terry said, broadcasting to anyone with a comm device.

  “I printed some pages from this cool game they played when you were growing up. Role-playing mutants and humans on a massive colony ship. We'll game a bit to pass the time,” Kae said.