Jasper growled, “Lost another one! OK, we’re coming up! Gah! They got the Morgella!”
Jasper’s image shook, the bridge behind him filled with smoke and debris.
The king of the Targarians scowled. “We’re going down, Mr. Hardy! Finish this job!”
The comm to Jasper Collins was lost.
Jenny zoomed in with a visual from the location of the last signal. The Organ Cave was trailing flames and smoke. Debris burst away as internal explosions ripped through her hull. As a last effort to survive, the ship pulled up slow, dropping several hundred meters to a splashdown in Lake Erie.
The first three decks were underwater, with the remainder jutting from the shallow lake. A weapons pass by two UF warships ripped into her upper hull. Metal shards covered with bright blue gatrellium scattered into the surrounding air. The capital ship of the once mighty Targarian fleet was finished, two thirds of the remainder of her hull in flame. Smoke billowed upward into an otherwise clear blue sky.
Mace and Jenny were waiting for the United Front ships as they came up through the atmosphere. A small fireball charged after each, incinerating their insides before they could jump back to UF space.
A comm came in from a Targarian shuttle parked at Promexa. “Mr. Hardy, the Dedrus transports are under attack! UF dreadnoughts are destroying them outright. Many are fully loaded with troops.”
Mace looked at Jenny. “Take us there. This has to stop.”
The Royal Fortune made the jump. A wormhole was opened from the surface of the Promexa star, and Mace Hardy guided the destination end sped about as a fireball, burning it through one dreadnought hull after another. Fifteen minutes after its arrival, the last of the UF ships was destroyed. A jump to the UF military colony found another five ships in orbit. All were targeted and scorched from the inside out.
They then returned to Earth.
Mace said, “Japser’s not responding to his comm. Take us down there.”
Jenny piloted the shuttle to the surface. It hovered several hundred meters above the still-burning hull of the Organ Cave.
“Take us down. I’m going aboard.”
The ramp lowered as the shuttle moved in close. Mace jumped from the ramp onto a flat portion of the hull, soon disappearing into the smoke of an open bulkhead.
Jenny opened a comm. “I’m showing two bios. Almost where you are but two decks below. That’s all we have.”
Mace found a stairwell and was quickly down two flights. Dark smoke filled much of the air in the hallway. Two Targarians were found in a nearby room, one bleeding and unconscious from traumatic wounds, the other with third degree burns on his comm arm, his comm unit melted into his battlesuit. The two were brought up through the hull and onto the shuttle.
“Take us back to Gellos. They need immediate care. We’ll come back and look for others.”
The Targarian shuttle at Promexa came over the comm. “Mr. Hardy, hundreds of wormholes opened only moments ago. There are a thousand Dedrus warships here.”
Mace asked, “Are they attacking?”
The Targarian replied, “No, they look to be assisting with the transfer of troops off the planet.”
“Thank you, Captain. Keep us informed.”
Back at Gellos, Mace assembled the others in the main conference room. “The UF attacked Jasper’s ships. Other than the shuttle at the UF colony and the one at Promexa… all ships are down. I need volunteers to come and help search for survivors. We pulled the only two bios from the Organ Cave, but others may be there. They could still be suited.”
Crawford, Hobbs, Mueller, Mallot, and Fatso Geerok immediately volunteered.
Jane caught Mace as he was heading for the door. “You know Johnny would have been here, right?”
Mace nodded. “Given how much he drank, he’s probably gonna be out for a day. He needs the rest and we have plenty of searchers.”
A jump was made back to Earth and a run down to the crash site followed. The ramp lowered and the search volunteers flooded the remaining decks of the once great ship. The forward decks, including the bridge, had burned through and collapsed. No other survivors were found in the wreckage.
A tired and dejected Mace plopped down in the copilot’s chair. “We searched everywhere that’s still together. Jasper wasn’t there. I think we lost him.”
Jenny placed her hand on his shoulder. “He went out fighting, just like he would have wanted.”
Mace replied, “This has to be the work of Stark. The UF would not have attacked given their current weakness. Stark has to have been behind this.”
“We’ll find him. He can’t hide forever,” Jenny said.
Mace unlatched his helmet, letting it drop to the floor. “We were so close… our team. With all the losses around us, we almost made it out… all of us. Just a couple more days and this could all have been over.”
Jenny said, “I’m detecting a wormhole… it’s a single ship. It’s Dedrus.”
Mace asked, “No transports?”
Jenny shook her head. “Just the one ship. Wait. A wormhole is opening. The ship is leaving.”
Mace said, “Just a scout I guess. Looking to see if their troops were still here.”
A comm opened from Promexa. “Mr. Hardy, the last of the Dedrus troops are leaving now.”
“What about the warships?”
“They are forming up. One moment… it’s an attack! They are moving toward the surface!”
Mace reached for his helmet. “Take us there. Now!”
A comm was opened to the other searchers. “We have to leave. The Dedrus are attacking Promexa. Keep looking. We’ll be back when we can.”
A fireball appeared high above the lake as the Royal Fortune sped up through the atmosphere. A jump had her in Hoorka space, where she quickly engaged the Dedrus fleet.
The opposing warships rained down destruction and mayhem on the defenseless populations of the Promexa cities. As the twentieth of their ships in orbit caught fire and burned out, the order was given for another retreat. Ships raced up through the atmosphere as wormholes were opened for them to jump home. Mace continued with his carnage, destroying another seventeen before their fleet had fully departed. Columns of black smoke rose from several dozen Hoorka cities.
The Royal Fortune landed at Gellos, collecting the Hoorka leadership before returning to Promexa. Favia offered a quick thank you and goodbye as she hurried off into her palace to once again assume command of her people. The Fortune returned to Earth.
Crawford, Hobbs, and the others were brought back aboard.
Liam said, “We tried to get to the forward decks. There’s just nothing left. It’s not possible that anyone survived up there. We did notice that the shuttle bays were empty. Any chance he escaped in one of those? We found one of them. It looks to have managed to get halfway out of the bay on impact. It took a hit, split in half, and sank. The other one is nowhere around.”
Mace frowned. “I think the other is one of the scouts we have at Promexa or the UF colonies. No bio signals coming from the shuttle on the bottom?”
Liam shook his head. “Nothing. Mallot dove down. Two deceased Targarians were in what was left of the cockpit.”
Mace said, “Jenny, take us back to Gellos. We’ll figure out what we do next from there.”
A comm came in from Malcom Stark. “You have doomed us once again, Mr. Hardy.”
“How you figure that? This has your name written all over it.”
Stark scowled. “I had nothing to do with this. I don’t know what weapon you used to destroy the Dedrus, but you should have destroyed them all.”
Mace shook his head. “They were pulling out. From everywhere. This war was over. You called in the UF.”
“Stark growled. “I did no such thing. And they are still here, are they not? They are now forming up for an attack. I can give you coordinates to their main bases if you’d care to use your solar weapon against them. I ask this because, as you probably know, we have been mostly disarme
d. We’re virtually defenseless.”
Mace sighed. “Then you’ve doomed yourself, Stark. Our weapon doesn’t work in atmosphere. The wormhole won’t stay open in Earth’s gravitational field. We can fight in space but that’s it.”
Stark asked, “Do you have any weapons or any other troops?”
Jenny looked at Mace. “We have the guns we’ve been building at Gellos. I don’t like arming Stark, but we don’t want the rest of our people slaughtered. We should have tens of thousands of rifles now and plenty of ammo.”
Mace offered a sour expression. “We just can’t win, can we? Stark keeps showing up at the worst time with another new crisis that he created. When this is over… we make it a priority to be rid of him.”
Jenny nodded. “Agreed.”
Mace sighed. “Take us to Gellos. I’ll contact the other shuttles to meet us there so we can start deliveries of rifles.”
“Stark… we have weapons. Send me a prioritized list of locations and amounts of how many you want dropped. We can start deliveries in maybe… a half hour.”
Stark replied, “I’ll have that for you by the time you return. And, Mr. Hardy… I can only hope this will bring us both back to the same side.”
Mace scowled. “Don’t get your hopes up.”
Again the Royal Fortune rocketed skyward. A fireball zipped up through the atmosphere and out into space. Minutes later a micro-wormhole was opened and the shuttle slipped through. Sixty-seven thousand AR-15 clones had been manufactured, tested, and crated. The crates were loaded on each of the three shuttles that now made up the Human-Targarian fleet. Five million rounds of ammunition was readied as well.
Each shuttle trip saw two thousand guns and a hundred thousand rounds of ammo delivered. The community center at Washington, D.C., was the first to receive a load. The New York, Boston, Chicago, Atlanta, Denver and Los Angeles centers followed. The two Targarian shuttles were diverted to the major international cities of London, Paris, Berlin, and Sydney, Australia. The Royal Fortune remained in North America, arming community centers from Toronto down to Miami.
On the sixteenth trip for the Human-piloted shuttle, she settled in a field near San Diego.
Mace said, “That leaves us ten thousand guns. We’re keeping those on Gellos for the time being… for defense there.”
Stark came over the comm. “Is there any way to bring more ammunition? The supply is short. The Dedrus troops are almost to Alexandria. We’ve evacuated the community center and have taken position across the river at the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials.”
“We have ammo. Are there any other locations you would like dropped to as priority?”
Stark nodded. “D.C. first. I’ll provide you with a list for after.”
Ammo supply runs were made. The Dedrus troop advance stopped just short of the community center building in D.C. Similar stops were made at the other cities where the Dedrus had advanced. The Royal Fortune collected the others from Jasper’s downed ship and returned to Gellos.
As more ammo was brought aboard, Mace turned to Jenny. “I’ve been thinking. We still have Frado Knuttin captive here. What if we returned him to his people? Maybe in exchange for some hand weapons?”
Jenny returned a confused look. “They just attacked us. Why would they make that trade?”
Mace replied, “For peace?”
Jenny said, “I guess our secrets no longer matter with them. The UF can detect us, even if they no longer have any ships to attack us with. If we can turn that relationship around, maybe they would trade us a few blaster rifles.”
Mace was soon standing before his former business associate. “I have a proposal for you.”
Frado shrugged. “I’m here. All I can do is listen.”
“How would you like to be returned to your colonies?”
Frado nodded. “I would like that very much.”
“There are strings attached…”
Frado nodded. “As would be expected. What is it you desire from me?”
Mace sat in a chair beside him. “A lot has happened since we grabbed you. Malcom Stark had made a deal with you. He then stabbed you in the back by making a new deal with the Hoorka. They overran your colonies… had your fleet down to a few hundred ships. Your leadership was just at the point of surrender. Your capital planet was overrun and your military command colony was on the verge of the same. That’s when the deal came apart.
“The Hoorka had previously been at war with the Dedrus. A treaty had recently been signed after centuries of war. Stark’s deal with the Hoorka left their territories open for an invasion by the Dedrus. They took the Hoorka colonies, the Karthian colonies, your United Front colonies, and the old Galactic Union colonies, including Earth. We were all beaten. The Dedrus had complete control.”
Frado offered a confused look. “This all happened since I’ve been here?”
Mace nodded. “Yes. And there’s more. A weapon was developed. This weapon was used to drive the Dedrus from this region of space. Your colonies are free. As are the Hoorka and Karthian colonies.
“Unfortunately, the Dedrus were still engaged with the withdrawal of their ground troops when Stark made another deal with your people. Your remaining ships were used to attack the Dedrus withdrawal before it was complete. Those ships have since been destroyed by the weapon, but not before the Dedrus had withdrawn all troops except for those on Earth. Those troops are now threatening our population. We need weapons. I need you to provide those weapons. Not ships. Just hand weapons. If you are willing to do this, I will take you home right now.”
“You do realize that all I can promise is that I will try, correct?”
Mace nodded. “I know. And what I need you to also relay to your people is that the weapon that took down their remaining ships is still out there. Any attempt at rearming and any aggression will be met with swift action. Pitch this as a chance for the UF and Humans to get back on a peaceful footing. We need your help. If you can deliver, past transgressions can be forgotten.”
Frado held out a hand for a shake. “I will promise to do my best, Mr. Hardy. Thank you for coming to me with this opportunity.”
The Kohamian businessman was delivered. An hour passed in high orbit before word came back. The United Front would not be getting involved. They were tired of dealing with Humans and the problems they brought with them. They wished to be left alone to rebuild their defenses.
Mace relayed a message. Any warships built and deployed by the UF would immediately be destroyed upon their discovery. And for each infraction, some additional punishment would be rendered.
The Royal Fortune jumped back to Gellos without her deal.
Chapter 13
*
Jeff found Mace resting in the lounge. “I’ve done an evaluation of your latest logs. The circuit in that weapon is on the verge of failing. Your last outing ran the temperature in the red for nearly its entire use. It may last for one more use or maybe a hundred, but it will fail. And when it does there is no guarantee of a repair.”
Mace replied, “Well, there’s no guarantee of a repair right now either is there? Didn’t you say you risk damaging the delicate balance that circuit provides just by removing it?”
Jeff sighed. “Yes. But the risk of loss from allowing it to continue to degrade may be much worse. That identical circuit in our test rig does not function the same. I can’t guarantee that a fix will repair it, but I can guarantee that it will fail and that failure will be soon.”
Mace stared at the floor for several seconds in thought before looking up. “Let’s put it to a vote. If the others say yes, you can have your way with it.”
The surviving senior members of the Human rebels were assembled. A vote was cast and the repair ordered. Jeff and Gnaga opened the affected unit for an inspection.
Gnaga looked over the circuit in question with a magnifier. “Traces of heat damage. I’m surprised it hasn’t already failed.”
Jeff turned to Zax, who was standing on his tiptoes b
ehind him. “Mr. Tretcher, I would like you to return to the lab for me. Pull the circuit board from the unit in the lab and bring it here.”
Zax spun and was quickly out the door.
Mace said, “He doesn’t waste any time, does he?”
Jeff smiled. “He makes an excellent assistant. Always paying attention and always quiet unless asked for his opinion.”
“What are you going to do with the other board?”
Jeff replied, “We’re going to replace this one and you are going to take it out for a test. If it works, you are good to go. If not, we’ll evaluate the log data before touching anything on this board. I’m going to attempt every evaluation I can to determine exactly why this board works the way it does. If a fix can be found for the other before disassembly, we won’t have to risk damaging this one.”
Mace gave an easy nod. “I do like your approach, Doc.”
Jeff carefully pulled the working board from the unit. “Let’s hope this simple act doesn’t prove fruitless.”
A comm came in from Stark. “Mr. Hardy, the assaults have begun. The Chicago center is partly in flames. The Dedrus weapons are handheld lasers. They are highly focused, meaning our battlesuits fair poorly against them.”
“And our rifles against their suits?”
Stark replied. “They aren’t wearing suits of any sort. They have uniforms. And they march around in ordered columns. We’re severally outnumbered and their weapons are superior. However, their tactics seem to come from the Middle Ages. Let’s hope they’re not fast learners. Oh, and we will be needing more ammunition.”
Mace said, “You better have your men use it sparingly. We’re currently producing that on demand, and our production lines aren’t yet fully up to speed. I can deliver ten thousand rounds a day for the next few weeks, but that’s all. We should be able to double that number for each week after.”
Stark was silent for several seconds. “We could blast through what you’ve given us in a day. We have to have more.”
Mace shook his head. “Sorry, this is all we have. I tried to cut a deal with the UF for more hand weapons, but they didn’t bite.”
HADRON Emergent Page 13