Rise of the Altered Moon: Altered Moon Series: Book One (The Altered Moon Series 1)
Page 6
“Roger that!” said Boss. “Okay, gear up. We lose them outside. Make for the shuttle. We need to get back to the Moon before the shit hits the fan.”
The group moved toward the door, but Gar turned around and shoved CJ backward hard.
“Where do you think you’re going, shit scrubber?” said Gar. His hand went to the Rellia K-13 pistol that was under his jacket. “You stay here.”
“Stand down, Gar,” Boss said, as he moved in between them. “He comes with us.”
“Cap’n, this guy is trouble that we don’t need.”
“He’s coming. Is that understood, Mr. Gribbons?” Boss said with direct eye contact.
“Aye, Cap’n…understood,” Gar grumbled, but backed off.
“Now, let’s go,” Boss said. “Gar, Hali, lead the way. Double-time back to the shuttle! Weapons hot and eyes up! Go!”
*~*~*
Chapter Eight
JP was unaware of the troubles that the others were having in the main terminal. He checked the status of the fuel plates in the ISE and left the current ones in place as they had over fifty percent fuel level. Lunar Mare was down to her last backup fuel pack out of the four that were normally stored.
“Okay, we need three backup packs for the shuttle,” he said to himself as he wrote the quantity down on his pad.
He moved to the crew supply locker and thumbed the door button.
“Ration packs are full. Med packs are full. Sani packs are full,” he mumbled, checking them off his supply list. He closed the supply locker and moved over to the armory.
“Seven out of ten, Rellia K-13 HP pistols, check.” He checked them off his list, keeping in mind that three of the charged hydrogen particle pistols had gone out with Boss and the others.
“Four, Rellia K-20 HP rifles…check.” He checked them off too.
He closed up the armory panel and headed to the bridge. Slipping into the pilot’s chair, he hit the ship-to-ship comms. “Altered Moon, Altered Moon, this is Lunar Mare. How do you read?”
“Loud and clear, Lunar Mare…go ahead,” answered Trigger.
“Captain wants me to resupply while we’re here,” said JP. “Can you get me a rundown on anything we need for the Moon?”
“Already done, JP, we’re two steps ahead of you. We could use a couple dozen ration packs and any fresh food that can be had. We need twelve fuel plates and Wilks wants a backup nav chip for the String Field Drive. That about does it.”
“Yeah, negative on any fresh food down here, brother,” JP joked. “I’ll try for the nav chip and secure the rest. Lunar Mare out.”
JP brought up the supply interface of the Canalar spaceport and punched in a request for the supplies. The interface displayed that the fuel plates, the nav chip, and the ration packs were in stock and available for purchase. JP hit the BUY NOW icon and entered the payment information of the West Becreth Trading Company. The payment processed through and the automated loading dock transferred the items to the landing bay.
JP loaded the supplies onto the cargo lift, stepped on and pushed the lift button, which raised the platform into the belly of the shuttle. He stowed the supplies away and made his way back to the cockpit. He started to go over the preflight checklist to pass the time, when he got an incoming comms.
“JP?” Boss called over the comms.
“I’m here, Captain.”
“No joy on sending a comms from the port. Heading to the Merilee office in Sindar,” Boss said over the headset.
“Copy that, Captain.” Ship is refueled and provisions are loaded. Lunar Mare is standing by.”
“Roger that, Lunar Mare,” Boss answered. “Comm check in two hours. Keltzer out.”
Great, JP moaned inwardly. “Because, I just love sitting in the shuttle…by myself…waiting for a callback,” he said aloud to no one.
He rubbed his temples and leaned forward to hit the ship-to-ship comms again.
“Altered Moon, this is Lunar Mare, come in please.”
“Altered Moon, G here,” was her reply.
“Ah, Gina, it’s always a pleasure to hear your voice.” “What’s the matter, Jordan, are you getting lonely down there?” she teased.
“Yeah, baby and about to get even lonelier,” he replied. “Trigger there?”
“He’s in the head,” she said. “Wanna wait?”
“Ah...no, just relaying a message from Boss.” No joy on comms from spaceport. They are moving to an outside MT&T location. Comms check in two hours.”
“Copy that, JP, will relay. Is there anything else?”
“Supplies are secured and I am standing by.” “Understood,” she said. “Altered Moon out”
“What was that?” Trigger asked Gina, as he stepped back onto the bridge of the Altered Moon.
“JP relaying a message from Boss,” she answered. “They couldn’t get a comms off from the spaceport, so they’re going to an outside MT&T location. Comm check in two hours.”
“Un-frickin’-believable.” He leaned his head back with his eyes closed, clenching and unclenching his jaw. “Why is he doing this, G? He’s risking everything that we’ve built. If we get too much light thrown on us, our shady little operation here will come apart at the seams.”
“I know, Trigger. Boss just feels bad about everybody who died on that ship. He was only able to save one person out of a hundred thousand. He just wants to get CJ on his way and then we are outta here and back on our way.”
“Back on our way, G? To where? We fronted the credits to pull this heist! Now, we are out that and the score. We have to get back to a central system from here to scout out a new score. That’s more time and more money.”
“We may have to work some of it back up, yeah. But we’ll get by it and things will be fine, Trig, you’ll see. Boss hasn’t let us down yet and he’s not about to start.”
“Yeah, well I hope you’re right, G, I really do.” He turned away and walked over to the nav console to plot a course back to the central systems.
Gina sat at the star pilot station and monitored the flight system status panels. She wished Boss was already back and they were in full moon burn away from here. She didn’t need to be psychic to know that Trigger and Gar weren’t happy with Boss’ decisions. So far, they hadn’t said anything against him, but she could feel the discontent. JP and Cat seemed to be on the captain’s side. Wilks was so taken with Trigger, it was certain she would follow his lead, and Hali most likely would go with whoever was winning.
“Damn,” she swore under her breath. Why did this have to happen? She knew if things came to a pushing point there would be a fight for the ship. Maybe one last score, then she and Boss could take their splits and leave the Moon, the scores, and the grief to the others. Get off at some obscure planet and walk away into the crowd, just the two of them. I’ll talk to him when he gets back. Get while the gettin’s good.
Just under an hour later, as Gina still mused about future possibilities, a sensor blip came up that indicated an engine signature, but then it disappeared. She ran a sensor sweep and the readings showed nothing.
“Trigger,” she called out.
“Yes,” he answered and looked up from the nav console.
“Sensors read a ship for a second on the edge of the system, then went blank.” she reported.
“Any contacts now?” he asked, as he moved back to the command station.
“Negative,” she answered.
“Direct primary sensors and visual scanners to that area,” he said. “Monitor for anything unusual.”
“There!” said Gina, after a short while. “See that? A blackout of some kind…something blocking out the stars behind it.”
The shadow took shape as it cruised into orbit around Canalar. The ship’s hull reflected no light of any kind. She had no running lights, no registry numbers, no transponder signal, and no ISE signature. She was a stealth ship, designed to disperse any sensor scan and reflect nothing back.
“That’s an MT&T Predator,” said
Trigger. “This is no coincidence. G, bring the main systems up and stand by.”
“Roger that.” She brought the flight systems online.
“Cat, Wilks,” he called into the comms. “Secure the ship and take action stations. MT&T security cruiser just pulled into orbit.”
“JP!” Trigger’s voice came through the ship-to-ship comms.
“Lunar Mare here, go ahead Altered Moon,” JP joked.
“Alert one, Lunar Mare,” said Trigger. “MT&T Predator thought they’d come join our party. Any contact from Boss?”
“Understood! Negative on contact.”
“Break comm silence,” Trigger said to JP. “Contact Boss, advise him of the situation. Tell him the Altered Moon is standing by, ready to assist.”
“Copy that!” called JP. “Lunar Mare out.”
“Lunar Mare to Captain Keltzer,” JP switched the comms to ship to surface. “Alert one, repeat, alert one! Lunar Mare to Captain Keltzer, come in, please.”
“Keltze
“Alert one message from Trigger, Captain,” JP raised his voice to be heard through the comms. “MT&T Predator now in orbit over Canalar. Altered Moon is standing by, ready to assist.”
“Copy and understoo
“Copy that! Immediate liftoff on your arrival. Aye, sir!” he said.
JP took the little time necessary to strap on a K-13 and pull out two of the K-20 plasma rifles, got them locked and loaded, and set by the outer hatch. He also stuck two remote flash bang grenades on each side of the landing bay entry door, just in case they needed a little more time. Party favors in place, JP got back to the Mare and powered up her systems.
“All right” he said to himself. “We’re ready to shit and get!”
*~*~*
Chapter Nine
Boss, Gar, Hali, and CJ wove their way through the streets and alleyways of Sindar as they headed back to the spaceport. They made it out of the MT&T office before the security team arrived and had seen no sign of pursuit since they left. Is it because they’re already at the spaceport waiting for us, Boss wondered silently. We’re making good time so far. I should call JP and warn him. Just as he was thinking it a call came over the comms.
“Lunar Ma
“Keltzer here, go ahead Lunar Mare.”
“Alert one messa
“Copy and understood,” Boss said. “Be ready for immediate liftoff upon our arrival. ETA thirty minutes out!”
“Copy that! Immediate liftoff on you
Boss signaled to the others to gather up in a narrow alley that was somewhat out of the wind.
“MT&T Predator just entered orbit,” Boss told them through the headset.
Gar turned his head sharply to look at Boss; fear grew in his eyes at the realization. “They’re after us. Shit!” he stamped his foot for emphasis.
“Wait a minute. Maybe they’re here to check out the call,” said CJ.
“They wouldn’t send a Predator to deal with some back-world con man, you ass!” scolded Gar angrily. “They want you gone! They want us all gone! If that company guy back there isn’t dead yet, he will be soon. Then they’re gonna be on us! If they aren’t already.”
“What we do, Captain?” asked Hali.
“We hustle our asses to the shuttle, get back to the Moon, and get the hell out of here,” said Boss. “Hali, take us by the shortest route. We hold at the closest cover and check the area. If it’s clear, we go through the port. If not, then we go to plan B.”
“Plan B?” Hali asked.
“Yeah, we do what we need to, to get out of this alive. All right, let’s go!”
They jogged through the streets of Sindar with Hali in the lead, checking their progress whenever they came to open areas they needed to cross. The group would stop to take quick cover and scan for opposition. Street after street, block after block they ran, took cover, scanned, and ran again. Run, get down, check, get up, run, get down, check, get up, run…it seemed to go on forever.
Moving in between the buildings made it hard to judge any progress, but they eventually made it to the last line of buildings before the spaceport. They took cover behind a building that was built along a small gulley south of the main entrance. The scene was quiet, no one was in sight, and the way to the outer door was clear.
“Gar, you take point,” said Boss. “Hali, cover the rear. Keep close to the wall. When we get to the door, I’ll take front cover. Gar, Hali, you two take the sides. CJ, you handle the door. We back in and cover the outer door until it’s closed. We move to the landing bay quick and quiet. Copy? Good. Let’s move!”
Gar shot out from their cover and moved quickly to the wall of the spaceport. CJ moved out to join Gar up ahead. Boss went next, then was followed by Hali when the others took up cover positions. Boss’ breathing became labored, as he worked hard to suck enough oxygen through the filter mask. Damn, I need to exercise more. Okay, MOVE, MOVE, MOVE, he told himself and tried to get his big frame to move faster. He was almost to the wall when his foot unexpectedly wasn’t where it was supposed to be. He went down hard and face-planted into a small wall of plascrete. The impact shattered his goggles, scraped the skin from his nose, and peeled the eyebrow up halfway over his left eye.
“Dammit…shit!” Boss exclaimed, as he pushed himself up and ran to the wall. Dust and sand instantly mixed with the flowing blood, which turned into a matted mess, making it painful to even open his eyes. He felt a hand on his shoulder telling him that Hali was in position behind him. He reached up to tap CJ’s shoulder and missed him by a foot. CJ saw that Boss was hurt, so he took his arm and then tapped Gar to move ahead. The group reached the edge of the entryway and took up cover positions. The wind picked up speed, turning the sand into tiny silicon missiles. Boss pulled the edge of his jacket up to shield the open wounds on his face.
“CJ, go!” Boss bellowed to be heard over the wind.
CJ moved to the door and reached up to tap the control panel. A small explosion and the green blast of a plasma bolt just inches from his hand made him jump backward and duck down.
“Whoa!” he screamed and scurried back to better cover.
“Cover fire!” Boss yelled back. “CJ, here.” He handed his K-13 to CJ. “I can’t see a damned thing. Give ‘em hell, kid!”
“Strike squad!” Gar yelled, as the blue sizzle of his K-13 streaked off toward the attackers.
CJ moved over slightly, apparently for a better view. He flipped off the safety and fired at the shadowy figures that advanced on them through the blowing sands. Bolts of crackling blue energy from the crew’s Rellia K-13s streaked across the small courtyard past the green beams of the security squad’s YAG laser pistols as the two groups fired on each other. They managed to hold off the strike squad for a short time when the outer door beeped three times and began to open. Gar could see the black-and-red uniforms of MT&T security on the other side.
“Trap!” he cried while he turned to fire through the door, which backed off the security team for a moment.
“Fall back,” bellowed Boss. “Fall back to our last position!”
CJ grabbed Boss’ arm and together they ran-stumbled back along the wall, while Gar and Hali covered their retreat. They made it back to the small gulley just as the winds kicked up into a full-blown dust storm. The group hunkered down to stay under cover and out of the winds.
“Hali, how many are there?” asked Boss.
Hali
pulled out her scanner and studied it for a second. “I can’t get a reading, Captain, too much static interference.”
“Shit! Let’s hope it’s doing the same thing to them,” he said. “JP!” he called in to the comms. “JP! Come in Lunar Mare!”
“
“We are under fire!” Boss told him. “Hostiles have cut us off from the main entrance. We need to find another way in. Give a ping on the locator—our scanners can’t read anything in this storm.”
“Rog
“Hali, scan for his position” Boss called out.
Hali checked her scanner screen. “Got him, Captain, he’s close, two hundred meters…eighty-eight degrees to the west.”
“We read you, Lunar Mare,” Boss called into the comms. “We are heading directly to you. Power up flight systems, extend the ramp, and open landing bay doors. We’ll have to load on the fly.”
“Understood, Captai
“Shit!” Boss exclaimed as his entire upper torso shook in frustration. “JP’s got company! Hali, straight line for his position. Let’s move!”
The four of them moved together in cluster formation in an attempt to stay in visual contact with each other in the dust storm. They moved in a hurry, while CJ kept a tight grip on the upper sleeve of Boss’ jacket. Alarm sirens blared out a warning and emergency lights flashed as the domed doors of the landing bay began to recede. The smoke cloud and residual sparks of the flash bang grenades surrounded the landing bay hatchway. JP managed to spin Lunar Mare one eighty degrees in place as green streaks of plasma bolts shot out of the smoky cloud. A blast of blue fire flared out from Lunar Mare’s ISE, cooking anything within meters of the hatchway.
Boss and the others ran onto the landing pad as Lunar Mare hovered at ground level with the entry ramp extended. Gar and Hali covered the blasted hatchway as CJ helped Boss up the ramp. Hali jumped on the ramp, followed by Gar, and the two of them ran into the ship. Gar pounded the ramp control panel and sealed the shuttle door. Blue fire and a thunderous roar erupted from Lunar Mare’s engines as JP went to full burn from a dead stop. The shuttle climbed up in a steep arc to leave Canalar’s atmosphere as soon as possible.