Broken Stars

by L Bowers

  “Bridget, I wouldn’t be changing the plan if it weren’t important. Titan is sending the mission details now. I’m sure once you see what I have to do you will not disagree,” I said.

  Another image popped up and I found myself looking at Francine’s face. “Tom, Foe Hammer is ready for launch.”

  “Copy that, Francine. Wait for the bridge to give you clearance before launching.”

  “Affirmative, awaiting clearance to launch,” Francine said.

  “Is this real?” Bridget asked.

  “That is what Francine told me. If it is, then we need to end this shit now. You brought me here to fight the Champions and that is exactly what I’m going to do. By taking out a pleasure house we are not just hitting them but reducing the moral of their people that are affected by the loss of this place. This is the right thing to do on so many levels, Bridget,” I said.

  “Okay, Tom. We will set course for …”

  “No! I am taking Titan and Foe Hammer. Send Titan rendezvous coordinates and we will meet you there after we’re finished.”

  “I don’t like this, Tom. We should be there to back you up.”

  “If this ship shows up in system we are going to have some serious issues. I’m going to sneak in with Titan and our tiny little ship. I need to get boots on the ground before taking out the facility. I can’t do that if the Champions send their entire armada to retake this ship. I’m assuming they still want their ship and robot back?”

  “Okay, Tom. I told you I would trust you so I am going to do just that. Stay safe out there, Tom. We need you to come back, and yes, they do want their toys back,” Bridget said as she bit her lower lip.

  “We will be back, Bridget. Please clear Titan and Foe Hammer for launch,” I said.

  “I already have.”

  The lower hanger opened and Titan dropped out into space. We moved away to get a good view of Foe Hammer as she departed. Red lights flashed on the outside of the cargo bay just before the bay doors opened. A black streak rocketed out of the ship followed by a golden light that trailed behind the streak.

  “Damn, Francine, that thing is fast,” I said calling my teammate on the comms.

  A loud laugh of pure joy came back. “This is fantastic!” Foe Hammer came back and spiraled around the ship.

  “Could you guys get going?” Bridget said over audio only. “The crew is getting nervous with all that hot-dogging.”

  “Roger that. Francine, we’re heading out.”

  “Copy that, Tom. Course locked and I am right behind you.”

  We turned away from the ship at the heading Titan fed me. Once we were clear of the gravity well generator by the ship I engaged Titan’s warp drive.

  Everything went black. Then an explosion of white filled my view which became broken up by black ethereal shapes. The forms had no recognizable forms with the exception of the occasional face or animal my brain put together. All in all it was a lot less climactic than I was expecting.

  “How long till we reach our destination, Titan?”

  “We have twelve hours before we are in system. Another three hours to get to the planet after that.”

  “Damn, that’s a long haul,” I said. “Can we talk to Francine while we travel?”

  “I am afraid not, Tom. We will be out of communications with everyone until we drop from warp. Once we do, I can establish near-instantaneous communications with Foe Hammer, and delayed communications with the Liberator.”

  “How much of a delay?”

  “Close to a week. It is thanks to my advanced systems we can communicate with the Liberator at all.”

  “I don’t doubt that,” I said while wondering if the big guy was getting short with me. His tone remained even, but something about his wording made me think he was. “One more question. How is it there were holograms of people I spoke to before, but once we left the ship, the holograms were gone?”

  “That is a bandwidth issue,” Titan replied. “When we are directly linked to the ship, we utilize a physical connection to access communications with Liberator and her personnel. Disconnected, it is possible, but takes too much of our transmitting resources to make it a feasible option. Said resources are used in conjunction with situational awareness.”

  “So, to use enough bandwidth to broadcast holograms, we would make ourselves blind or deaf to external threat,” I said. “That about sum it up?”

  “That is an adequate interpretation,” Titan replied.

  “Awesome, thanks. I’m going to catch some Zs. Unless you need me awake while we travel?”

  “Negative, Tom. We will remain on course until it is time to drop out of warp. I will wake you before then.”

  “Roger that, buddy. See you in a bit.”

  ___

  Quiet dominated the village. As our feet hit the deck, sand and rocks crunched and an irrational fear of it giving us away filled me. While it was possible, there was no way the villagers didn’t hear the rumble of the diesel engines or see miles long dust trails snaking across the desert.

  After we passed the second house Reynolds, our point man, held up a closed fist before dropping to a knee. The remaining three members of our fire team stopped moving and dropped down. While we waited for Reynolds to decide his, and ultimately our, next move we pointed our rifles in our assigned sectors of fire.

  Movement from the corner of my eye drew my gaze to Thompson. He rose to his feet following Reynolds’ lead. Being the third man it was my job to let our tail end Charlie know it was time to move. I turned and tapped Loehl on his shoulder. As the trailing Marine his job was to ensure no one snuck up on us. He looked over his shoulder and nodded his acknowledgement.

  We continued forward moving from the cover of the second house on our way to clear the third. Fire teams one and two were in the first and second house clearing them before moving on and fire team four remained behind as support and to guard our only ride home.

  Two steps passed the second house and Reynolds fell back as a pink mist filled the space he was in. A seconds later the crack of a supersonic round hit our ears. Thompson rushed forward and dropped next to Reynolds. It was the wrong move. Every bit of our training had taught us that, but sometimes when a Marine is in the thick of things he reacts without thinking. In that case it cost Thompson everything. He fell over and blood splattered the ground behind him with some hitting my boot. Another crack filled the air.

  “Get back!” I shouted as I spun. The house was the only cover available so I made a beeline for it.

  A round whizzed by my head then made the odd pinging sound as it ricocheted off something. My shoulder hit the door and I was in, diving to the deck. Loehl, right behind me, landed on my back and rolled off. Air rushed out of me and I felt a bruise forming in my right hamstring from a piece of gear on Loehl that jabbed into my leg.

  The sounds of bullets passing by or impacting stopped. What followed was the screams of a man afraid and in pain. This is not the manly deep roars we see in movies. High pitched caterwauling hurt my heart and drove spikes of fear into my brain.

  As much as I wanted to run out and help I knew that was a death sentence. The sniper had injured one of us and he was waiting for us to help so he could pick us off. We were left with waiting and listening to our brother die a painful death.

  “Echo seven Tango, this is Echo four Lima, we have a situation,” Loehl said into his radio. While he described our predicament I crawled to a window to see if I could get a look at our Marines and if I were lucky spot the sniper.

  The bright flash of an explosion in the distance pulled my eyes from Thompson and Reynolds. On a distant hill dirt rained down from the explosion as a Cobra attack helicopter flew over it and toward us. While I watched the sleek machine get closer Loehl joined me in the window.

  “That whirly bird just took out our sniper,” He said.

  I gave the man a look like he sprouted two dicks from his face. It took a heartbeat for his words to mean something. Then I ran outside. Reynolds w
as closest and laying on his side with his back to me. I dropped into a slide and pulled him onto his back. The contents of my stomach jumped up my throat at the sight of half of Reynolds face being a bloody hole. I turned and emptied my sick onto the ground.

  Loehl was on his knees next to Thompson by the time I finished. When I looked over he shook his head and his eyes were glistening with moisture. I sat back on my haunches and looked at my hands. Blood covered my left hand from the puddle that was still growing out of Reynolds’ wounds.

  “God damn it!” I growled.

  ___

  I jerked awake. My breathing was heavy and tears filled my eyes. I took a good look around seeing only the vast white with ghostly black shapes.

  “Tom, are you alright? Your vital signs are elevated,” Titan said. His deep voice reminding me of where I was.

  “Yeah buddy, I’m good. I just had a bad dream. How much longer till we are ready to drop out of warp?”

  “You have been asleep for six hours, twelve minutes, and thirty six seconds.”

  “Any chance of talking to Francine?” I asked as I stretched my arms.

  “Negative. Communications do not work in a warp envelope. Might I suggest you take some time to upgrade us?”

  “I can do that now?” I asked thinking the terminal in my room was the only place I could do that.

  “Through my interface you have access to an upgrade terminal that is limited to just you and I,” Titan said.

  *Upgrade Titan*

  *Upgrade Tom*

  The black shapes vanished then the white surrounding us seemed to pop. We were once more met by the black of space and the lights from the stars.

  We turned and headed for a cluster of debris orbiting the destination planet. I pulled us to a stop.

  “What the shit is that?” I asked.

  Chapter 18

  “What is it?” Francine asked through the comms.

  "Trouble," I replied. "A fleet of ships and… something, are sitting in orbit." Try as I might, I couldn’t identify the object with the ships.

  "I see them," Francine said. "What do you think we should do?"

  "If she saw it, why did she ask what it was?" Titan asked. "I am beginning to think we made a mistake entrusting Foe Hammer to her."

  "I disagree. Francine will do just fine. I'm sure she was asking about my reaction and not the fleet before us."

  "I concede that as a possibility," Titan replied. "How would you like to proceed regarding the fleet before us?"

  "Do you think they’ve spotted us?" I asked while taking stock of the motionless ships. It was another reminder of how much space stuff I still had to learn. A more experienced pilot would know what distance a ship would be detected.

  "Doubtful," Titan replied. "We dropped our warp envelope far enough away from the planet that any orbiting ships would not register the warp signature. We have another thirteen minutes before the closest ship will know a vessel dropped from Warp."

  "Can we move without being detected?"

  "Yes."

  "In that case, let's avoid danger for now," I said. "Going into battle with no training was fine against one ship. Doing it with Francine against that many ships seems foolish. A fleet of ships is madness.”

  Not wanting to be anywhere close to where we dropped into real space I chose a direction and moved us to the left. Francine followed without the need to communicate and issue orders. A couple minutes, and a few thousand kilometers later, the closest five ships turned to face the section of space we dropped into.

  The five craft shot objects into space that shone and glimmered like tiny suns. “Is that a weapon?” I asked while in my imagination I pictured those shiny little balls one-shot killing planets.

  “The objects traveling to our entrance point are probes. They shine because of the external communications arrays covering the outer hulls.”

  “That seems like a good way to get your probe blown to bits,” I said. “Is there a stealthier option?” It was something I would have to look at my upgrade menu for. Last time I hadn’t thought them worth looking into when upgrading. But the ability to gather information from great distances could come in handy.

  “There are a variety of probes capable of performing many functions,” Titan replied. “We are receiving a tight-beam communication from Foe Hammer.”

  “Are we going to fight?” Francine asked through Titan’s cockpit speakers.

  “I think it's best we don’t.”

  “Do you have a plan?” Her voice carried more than a little worry.

  “Not really,” I replied. “I was just thinking…” An idea hit me as I was telling her there was no plan. “Follow me.”

  I pushed a little more juice through our thrusters while being careful not to make a long trail of exhaust. Slowly, we built speed with Francine matching our pace. The first part of the plan was simple. Circle wide to remain unseen and come in at a different angle. That would allow us to see how widespread the fleet was and determine where to enter the atmosphere. The shitty part was the amount of time it took.

  Four hours passed with my attention fixed on our course and the fleet in the distance. “I can’t keep this up. I need a break from watching those damn ships and worrying they are going to see us.” I blinked several times then rubbed the bridge of my nose. “What do you have for entertainment?” The answer came to me before Titan spoke. “Are you serious?” I asked as a crackle of sound came from the big guy. “No entertainment whatsoever?”

  “I am afraid not. I recommend we download appropriate material when we get back to the Liberator.”

  “I won’t have to be told twice,” I said. “Can you do that tight beam thing to Francine?”

  “No.”

  “What? Only Foe Hammer is capable of doing that?”

  “I am more than capable of sending a tight beam transmission,” Titan said. Again his tone was neutral, but I thought I picked up a hint of frustration.

  “Then why did you tell me no?” My frustration was easy to hear.

  “You requested I send a transmission to Francine. As she is a biological lifeform, it is impossible for me to send a message to her directly. However…”

  “If I would have said, Foe Hammer, you would have done it right away. That it?”

  “Affirmative.”

  “Are you capable of inferring intent from me without me having to be literal?” I asked, still sounding frustrated.

  “Yes, but it will take time for me to catalogue enough of our interactions for the database to contain enough data to begin extrapolating the intent behind your words.”

  I’ll keep that in mind. Please connect me to Francine.”

  “Hello, Tom.”

  “Hi Francine, how are you holding up?”

  “I’m fine. I’ve had to endure many hours of isolation and darkness as part of my training. This has been pleasant in comparison.”

  “I’m glad to hear it. That you’re okay, not the torturous training.” I cleared my throat. “Anyway, I’m getting bored and burned out from remaining in a high state of readiness. I need a break and there is no entertainment in this thing. Care to chat?”

  “That would be wonderful,” Francine replied. “You should know, however, that the planet is broadcasting entertainment vids and audio. I’ve been watching a program about a dysfunctional family that is attempting to fit in with the upper tier of society. It’s very humorous.”

  “Really? You’re picking up a sitcom while Titan is telling me there is nothing to entertain myself with?”

  “You did not ask if there were external sources of entertainment,” Titan said.

  “You will have to ask direct questions to your AI for a long time before it begins to intuit your needs and desires,” Francine said.

  “I’m starting to pick up on that,” I said. “Were you allowed anything besides training, Francine?”

  “Not really, just my sister for a time. Even then, we were both training to become elite warriors. I prove
d to be a little better than her, so I was chosen and she was taken.”

  The conversation was going places I wanted to avoid for now. We both needed our heads in the game if we were going to make it to the planet in one piece. What did you talk about with someone that had such a limited world view, and their most intimate experiences would put them in the wrong frame of mind?

  “Space shit,” I said out loud, not meaning too.

  “I’m sorry,” Francine said.

  “I was just thinking about how amazing this is,” I said. “For the people of earth, space travel is a very expensive and slow process. Not to mention we are probably hundreds of years away from being able to travel long distances as fast as we just did. Assuming all the alien abduction stories were bullshit, I'm the first human to experience this."

  "That's fascinating, but you're not the only humans. Definitely not the first to travel in warp," Francine said.

  "She is correct," Titan added. "My records indicate there are several human worlds. It seems like a statistical impossibility, but the images I have access to verify that they are almost identical to you. One planet's inhabitants have orange skin, but still human. It's interesting that…"

  "I think the intergalactic geography lesson can wait for another time," I interrupted. "I'm curious to find out how there are other humans though. That seems impossible like you say. Francine, do you know anything about the how?"

  "I wish I could say I did," She replied. "My training didn't delve that deep. It was enough for me to be able to recognize the various species and know how to kill them."

  "That makes sense," I said. "A mystery for another time, I guess. Titan, how do I access this planet's entertainment programs?"

  "I can…" An alarm blared, cutting off Titan's words. The sound stopped just as suddenly as it started. "I have muted the klaxon so we may converse."

  "Great," I said. "Now maybe you can explain to me what it…" As before, the answer popped into my head before I could get it from Titan.

  "Francine, Power down," I said while willing Titan's thrusters to shut down. "We're heading right for a cloud of probes."