Bombardier - The Complete Trilogy

by SD Tanner

  With his changed vision, he could no longer see the color of her eyes and he felt a moment of regret. She had intriguing eyes that told him her mood, only now he would never see them again. Still blocking the corridor so that the Navigator couldn’t fire at her, he trained his gun on him. The stairwell to the next level was behind the man and he needed him to move.

  He flicked his gun at the door. “Get in that room.”

  The Navigator lifted his gun, pointing it at his head. “Frack off.”

  In a matter-of-fact tone, Tank said, “You won’t win against two Boms. I will rip your limbs off and smack you around the head with them.”

  Despite the interference from the medical equipment, he could see the flash of weapons fire near the entrance to the building. Command had dispatched several Navigator squads and they were already fighting with the Bombardiers he’d left guarding the main door. It was already time to go and he didn’t have Luki yet. Hesitating, he wondered whether he should just take Mariana and leave.

  With his gun still aimed at the Navigator’s head, Tank said sharply, “Call it now.”

  He wanted time to think, to contemplate his options, but everyone was starting to yell at him.

  “Ark, we’re taking fire. We need to move. What are your orders?” Cardiff asked.

  Overlapping her question were stern words from Command. “Ark Three, stand down.”

  “Ark, battleship at the ready. Do you need extraction?” Bombardier One-Zero-One asked.

  The pressure was mounting to a fever pitch inside of his head and then his mind went ice cold. “Get inside of that room or die.”

  “Frack off.”

  “Fire.”

  He needn’t have said a word. Tank was already pumping laser pulses at the Navigator, tearing through his armor. Staggering backwards, the man’s weapons fire went wild, but he felt a searing burn across his arm. The laser cut through his armor, but was stopped by his exoskeleton.

  “Dammit,” Tank muttered as he stepped forward, continuing to fire directly into the Navigator’s gut.

  Toppling over, the man crashed to the ground. With his armor torn open, blood and organs were spilling out of him. Thanks to his sensor layer, Command could see his injuries. “Ten squads to the medical center. Eight feral Boms. Four at the main entrance. Four on ground level minus one. Attack in progress. One nav down. Go! Go! Go!”

  Pushing past the downed Navigator, he shouted, “I want Luki.”

  Although he was wearing a headset, the sound of screaming reached him. Medical personnel were diving for cover, securing themselves inside of the rooms around them. The bright lights in the corridor flicked off and on again, only now they were red. The medical center had been placed into a state of emergency, meaning the doors would be locked. A Bombardier or even a Navigator could open them, but they were one more obstacle in his way.

  Leaping down the stairs to the next level, he punched at the lock on the door with his fist until it sprang open. Entering the corridor with his gun ready, a Navigator was already running along it, firing directly at him. With Tank hard on his heels, he opened fire with his Bomhammer.

  Launching into a sprint, he shouted, “Get Luki!”

  He and the Navigator collided into one another with a combined speed approaching forty miles per hour. Barely feeling the impact, he slammed the man backwards. Using his bodyweight of over three hundred pounds, he heaved his armored shoulder into his gut, forcing him to the ground.

  When he dropped his bent knee onto the man’s armored chest, he was pinned to the ground by his full body weight. “Stand down.”

  The man’s hydraulics hummed noisily as he strained to dislodge him. Despite the bent knee against his chest, he slowly eased himself into a sitting position. “Get off me.”

  His hardened fingers were encased inside of heavy gloves, and he pushed them under the rim on the man’s helmet, tearing it open. The face underneath it was that of a young man around his own age. “I will kill you.”

  “Don’t do it, Ark.”

  “Stand down.”

  “You know I can’t.”

  That much was true. Any Navigator that surrendered would face treason charges. Whether by his hand or the Guild’s, the young man was dead. “It shouldn’t be this way.”

  “You started it.”

  Snatching the man’s weapon, he threw it down the corridor. Not wanting to kill him, he tore open his armored jacket and then sharply punched him in the gut. It was enough disable him, but he would live.

  When the Navigator grunted in pain, he said sternly, “Stay down.”

  Behind him, Tank emerged from a room carrying the long body of the bird over his shoulder. Without bothering to speak, he turned and ran along the corridor towards the exit at the other end. No gunfire followed him so he assumed the young Navigator had taken his advice to stay low.

  Leaping up the stairs, he found Mariana, Lace and Samson already making their way to the next level. “Go! Go! Go!”

  Outside of the main entrance, the four Bombardiers were surrounded. Pinned behind the walls at the entrance, they were returning firing at the Navigators heading towards their position. Running and crouching next to them, he fired at the ones trying to get closer to the medical center.

  “Now what?” Tank asked.

  He was saved answering by the sight of their battleship looming above them. It was firing its railguns and lasers at the Navigators, driving them away from the door. A spaceship wasn’t designed to fire inside of the atmosphere, meaning it was more destructive than he wanted it to be. The usually peaceful grounds of CaliTech were bursting in eruptions of dirt and dust, while the trees around them vaporized to ash.

  Hovering only ten feet from the main entrance, the docking bay gaped open, forcing their attack ships to grip the platform so they wouldn’t tip through the hole. “Go! Go! Go!”

  Dust was flying and Mariana was using her long fingered hands to cover her eyes. Holding her under the arms, he leapt aboard pulling her with him. Tank jumped into the docking bay, shoving the bird towards the slit that led into the main body of the ship. He didn’t have time to take care of Mariana and pointed at Tank for her to follow him.

  While she clawed her way across the unsteady platform, he climbed aboard the attack ship, ordering it to fly low across the grounds. The battleship was still using suppression fire to hold back the Navigators around the medical center.

  “Battleship, cease fire. Extract complete.”

  Three more attack ships joined him and they flew in formation towards the Navigator barracks. “Open fire at the barracks. Suppression only.”

  Tank was still aboard the battleship, but on hearing his order, he said, “Ark…”

  His voice was thick with worry and he didn’t need to say anything else to make his point. Knowing Tank wouldn’t be happy with him, he ordered, “Battleship withdraw. We’ll catch you in space.”

  Weaving in an uneven way, the attack ships fired on the barracks, avoiding a direct hit against the rows of buildings. Other ships were already taking to the air and he could only hope the renegades had time to escape. With his mission complete, he ordered, “Time to go.”

  Tipping upwards, the attack ships zipped higher, pulling away from the ground at speed. The Bombardiers were their space fleet, so there weren’t that many spaceships or trained crews stationed at CaliTech. The Navigator airships couldn’t reliably travel into space, so once they left the atmosphere they would be safe enough.

  As Earth fell away behind him, he knew nothing would ever be the same again. He’d successfully completed his first rebel mission and it would be one of many to come.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE:

  Missing Link

  (Ark Three)

  “What do you mean it’s not on the radar?”

  Seated in the command chair on the Battle Command Pod, Tank turned to face him. “The virus pod’s not out there so I’m guessing it hit the target.”

  Sighing worriedly, he realized he’
d miscalculated. They’d followed the most direct path to Mariana’s home planet, Aria, and there’d been no sign of the virus pod. Now only a day from the destination, they could only assume it had landed, meaning everyone on the planet was probably dead. With a heavy mind and heart, he left Tank’s side, making his way into the Bombardier quarters next to the Battle Command Pod.

  Mariana was sitting on the edge of the lumpy bed, watching him as he walked into the room. Sitting next to her, he took one of her long fingered hands into his. “We missed the pod. It means they’re probably dead.”

  She didn’t react, but he wasn’t surprised. Mariana never said much and what little she did say was mostly only to him. The bird-like creature known as Luki wasn’t as shy, usually scampering around them, curious about everything. It was smarter than a chimp, but not by much.

  Still holding her hand, he said, “You don’t have to go down there. We’ll check it out first.”

  Tilting her head, she gave him a sidelong look. “Why save me?”

  The AI unit did its best, but it wasn’t good at conveying complex messages. Struggling to find a simple explanation, he replied, “The Guild, the ones who rule us, are not good people.”

  Mariana surprised him when she replied using words he understood. “We know.”

  “You’ve learned our language.”

  Inwardly cringing, he realized his observation was a stupid one. She’d been with them for several months so he should have known she was learning. Attempting to recover from his statement of the obvious, he asked, “How do you know about the Guild?”

  “I saw.”

  Another obvious answer to a stupid question. Perhaps he was imagining it, but he always felt she was trying to tell him something, but every attempt to draw her out was only met with simple replies. Now she was learning to speak their language perhaps her answers would be more helpful.

  “Do you care if the virus has killed your people?”

  Without answering him, she turned her face away, indicating that their conversation was over. Unsatisfied, he stood and turned to face her. “I’ve gone to a lot of trouble to save you.”

  Tilting her face and looking up at him, he couldn’t read her expression and her tone gave nothing away. “I know.” Feeling irritable with her reply, he turned to leave and felt her hand on his. “Sorry.”

  Turning to face her again, he asked, “For what?”

  When she looked away again, he sighed to himself. Not for the first time, he was left wondering what she was trying to tell him. Leaving the room, he returned to the Battle Command Pod.

  Not wanting to spend another night on the ship, he said, “Tank, let’s saddle up.”

  Leaving two of the attack ships on the battleship, they took the other pair to Aria. Drawing closer to the planet, it shone brilliantly into space, still giving off the strange energy they’d seen during their first visit. Unlike the last time, he expected to find only the dead and the dying, so he wasn’t excited at the thought of landing. He’d tried to save them, but Mariana was probably the last of her kind.

  Tank landed the attack ship on the clearing next to the blue river. Just as before, everything appeared tranquil, only this time the broken parts of the pod were scattered across it. Dunk Two’s engineers had sent the device to the exact coordinates where they’d landed during their first visit. Serving just one purpose, it contained only thrusters and a tube with the airborne virus. There was so little left of the pod the virus was definitely in the air.

  “Do you think being underground would have saved them?”

  Tank kicked at the remains of the pod. “Not if they have to eat and drink.” Flicking his head at the river next to them, he added, “The virus would have gotten into the water.”

  He was about to suggest that they find the entrance to the underground city, when the wall of green next to them parted, and one of the elongated aliens walked out.

  To his surprise the man spoke. “You are back.”

  His AI unit hadn’t needed to translate his words meaning, like Mariana, he’d also learnt their language. “Why aren’t you dead?”

  “Strange question.”

  “How did you learn our language?”

  “Stupid question.”

  Waving his hand at them indicating they should follow, the man led them to bank of the river and dropped into the blue water. He gave Tank a quizzical look and then followed the man. Just as before, the underground city was filled with people moving along the brown pathways between the buildings. None of them paid any more attention to them than they had during their first visit. The tall alien led them along a path to the same building where they’d met with the elder. Sitting in one of the eight chairs in the circle, he noted the reliefs on the walls still had one empty panel, waiting to be filled with the picture that would finish their story. When the elder walked into the room, a feeling of dread and déjà vu passed through him, but he couldn’t explain why.

  “You return.”

  Everyone now spoke their language, making him wonder if they were telepathic. “How did you learn to speak to us?”

  “Mariana seeks, we learn.”

  “Do you know about the virus?”

  “Yes.”

  “It’s designed to target the DNA that Mariana has. Is her DNA unique?”

  “No.”

  “Then why didn’t it kill you?”

  “Evolution.”

  He didn’t know what answer he’d expected to hear, but that wasn’t it. “I don’t understand.”

  “You evolved.”

  Looking down at his transformed body, he hadn’t seen it that way. CaliTech created Bombardiers by mutating their genes, not by accelerating evolution. “Are you saying that we’re the next generation of humans?”

  “One type.”

  “Are there more types?”

  When the elder smiled at him, he thought he understood. The Bombardiers weren’t a different species, only one of the ways humans could evolve. Mariana’s people were just another evolution of the human race. Although they’d both evolved from similar genes, each had taken a very different path.

  “Is that what we are, the next generations of humans?”

  Smiling enigmatically, the elder waved his long fingered hand at the reliefs around the room. “One species.”

  CaliTech had developed the virus based on the assumption that the critter’s DNA was alien, only it wasn’t, so why had the birds died? “But the virus killed another species.”

  Raising his hands, the elder cupped the left one. “You.” Cupping his other hand, he said, “Other.” Then he placed his left hand well above his right. “You.”

  “So, are you saying that they were behind human evolution and we’re ahead of it?” The elder didn’t reply and he turned to Tank who was standing behind him. “What does this mean?”

  “It means the Guild are well behind the eight ball.”

  “Are we the next dominant version of the human race?”

  “It makes sense if we are. We’re built to withstand anything.”

  “But you said we’re like the critters. Does that mean they’re also the next evolution of our species?”

  Tank shrugged. “Nah, I think they’re like our ships. They don’t have much of a brain so they’re just tools.”

  If the virus had failed then there was nothing the Guild could do to Aria other than to send a fleet of Navigators to attack them, and he couldn’t see how or why they would do that. Turning back to the elder, he asked, “Mariana is with us, do you want me to return her to you?”

  “No.”

  Feeling relieved that Mariana would stay by his side, he realized she’d become part of his life as a feral Bombardier. He supposed if she stayed with him then they would know everything she learned, but he couldn’t see any reason for them not to. If anything, he needed allies, making him wonder if they had any military capability. “Can you fight?”

  “No.”

  It wasn’t the answer he’d hoped for
, but he supposed his argument with the Guild wasn’t theirs to have. If they didn’t want to be allies, at least they weren’t enemies. It wasn’t a satisfactory end to their meeting, but he’d expected them to be dead. At least he wasn’t responsible for destroying another species. The visit was helpful in that he’d learned they all came from the same DNA. If the Bombardiers and the Arians were the next evolution of the human race then they had as much right to the universe as the Guild.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX:

  Lost in Space

  (Ark Three)

  Tank had set a course for deep space, which meant he had no destination in mind. They were rebels, roaming the universe with no fixed address. He’d taken a stand, rescued the aliens, and even tried to stop a virus pod, but he didn’t know what to do next. Not for the first time since they’d left Aria a month earlier, he found himself listening to the squad squabbling about what they should do now.

  “Blow CaliTech from orbit,” Cardiff said decisively.

  “We don’t have the weapons for that, plus I’m sure they’ll be patrolling their orbit,” Samson countered.

  “What we should do is call the other Bombardier ships,” Lace suggested.

  “How are we supposed to do that? We can’t use the grid,” Cardiff argued.

  “Poison the water,” Mex said.

  Cardiff looked at him in disgust. “That’d wreck the whole planet, plus we don’t have any poison.”

  He knew the argument well and it would end with no plan he could agree to. Attacking the Guild from space was impossible. They didn’t have the firepower, plus the Navigators were no small army to deal with. Finding the other Bombardier ships was virtually impossible. They were too far from Ark Command to use the grid and there was no long distance ship-to-ship communications without it. The best he could hope was that they might run across another ship by chance, but in the vastness of space, it was unlikely they would. There were only four hundred battleships in the fleet, and although that sounded like a lot, it wasn’t when they were spread in all directions across deep space.

  Dunk’s plan to keep Earth safe from the Bombardiers had been a good one and it was stopping him from pulling together even a small army. Frustrated, he was about to leave when Tank said, “We have boo coo movement ahead.”