by G J Ogden
Banks shrugged. “Perhaps you’d better check it out, rather than waste time up here. We’re about to fly to a hostile planet.”
Lieutenant Commander Crow quickly scurried to the exit before stopping and turning back to Sterling. “Permission to leave the bridge, sir,” he said, straightening to attention.
“Granted,” replied Sterling. His engineer didn’t need his explicit permission to enter or leave the bridge, but he granted it anyway just to expedite Crow’s exit. The chief engineer then practically ran through the door, which swooshed shut behind him.
“I’m not detecting any variance in armor integrity,” said Lieutenant Shade, who was frowning down at her weapons console.
“That’s odd,” said Banks, who was clearly trying to suppress a smile. “I could have sworn it was there a moment ago.”
Lieutenant Shade still looked confused and even a little embarrassed, though Sterling knew why. If anyone should have picked up a problem with their armor, it was Shade. The fact she’d missed the non-existent variance was clearly bothering her.
“Relax, Lieutenant, the armor is fine,” said Sterling. “It’s probably just a sensor glitch.” Then he turned to Banks. “You should probably get that checked out, Commander,” he added, with a subtle eyebrow raise.
“I’ll get right on it, sir,” said Banks, still trying to suppress a smile.
“Coming into orbit above Colony Vega Two now, captain,” said Ensign Keller, pulling Sterling’s focus back to the viewscreen.
“Still no sign of any Sa’Nerran vessels, sir,” said Shade. “And I’m not picking up anything moving around on the surface of the colony, either, other than native animals.”
Sterling switched his own console to the planetary scans of the colony and saw that Shade was right. There appeared to be no-one moving around on the surface, though there were clear energy signatures that suggested the buildings and factories still had power and were operating as normal.
“The lights are still on down there, so either the Sa’Nerra have already cleaned the colony out and abandoned it, or everyone is indoors,” said Sterling. He found that his finger was again tapping out its usual, regular pattern on the side of his console.
“Are you thinking it’s a trap?” said Banks.
“After what happened to McQueen, it’s a strong possibility,” replied Sterling. Though like his fellow captain’s situation at Artemis, there was something about their mission that didn’t add up, and it was gnawing at him, like an itch that couldn’t be scratched. “But how would the Sa’Nerra know we were coming?” he added.
“We could just bombard the whole site from orbit, sir,” offered Lieutenant Shade. “I can program a spread of plasma fire that would level the entire area in a couple of minutes.”
Sterling pondered his weapons officer’s extreme yet practical solution, but there was still doubt in his mind.
“If the colonists aren’t down in those buildings anymore, we’d have no way to confirm the success of our mission,” Sterling eventually answered. “No matter whether they’re hiding out somewhere else on the planet, or the Sa’Nerra have already taken them away, we need to know.”
Commander Banks nodded. “Even if we blitz Vega Two from orbit, we could be leaving the Sa’Nerra potentially hundreds of brainwashed human slaves to transport to another one of their factories.”
Ensign Keller then spoke up. “I can leave a scanner buoy in orbit and land the Invictus near the colony,” the helmsman said. “That way if the Sa’Nerra do show up in the system, we’ll know straight away and have time to recover the landing party.”
Sterling weighed up the options. He didn’t like the idea of taking the Invictus down to the surface of a hostile world, but Keller’s idea was an effective safeguard. Destroying the colony and moving on was the easy option, but Sterling was never one to take the easy route.
“Okay, Ensign, launch the buoy,” he said, straightening up and pressing his hands behind his back. Then he turned to Shade. “Take us to battle stations, Lieutenant, and prepare your commandos for a surface recon.”
“Aye, Captain,” replied Shade, smartly.
“I still think this is a trap,” said Banks, though she was again speaking to Sterling privately through their neural link.
“So, do I,” Sterling answered, also in his mind. “But if it is then I want to know how the Sa’Nerra knew we were coming. Those alien bastards are ruthless, but so far, they’ve at least been predicable. If they’ve changed their tactics, we need to understand how and why.”
A scanner buoy shot out ahead of the ship then took up position in orbit. Sterling saw the data feed appear on his console. The signal was strong.
“Buoy deployed, Captain,” said Ensign Keller.
Sterling peered out at the planet, which now filled the entire viewscreen. He took one last look at the scan data from the Vega Two system, probing the readings for any hint of enemy activity, but there was none. He then exhaled slowly, gripped the sides of his console and leaned forward.
“Take us down, Ensign, smartly.”
Chapter 10
The bank vault
Vega Two was a cold, desolate world that seemed to be comprised of nothing but dull, yellow-brown rocks and thick, straw-like grasses. Sterling stepped off the cargo ramp of the Invictus and peered up into the steel grey sky, feeling a light misty rain wash over his face. Ahead of him was the main colony block, which contained the living quarters, shops, bars and other amenities that serviced the inhabitants. Doors banged in the bitter wind and rainwater dripped from broken or clogged gutters, creating sludgy bogs in the dirt surrounding most of the pre-fab buildings.
“What a dump,” Commander Banks observed, pulling her jacket tighter around her body. Sterling smiled. His second-in-command may have possessed inhuman strength, but when it came to braving the elements, she was a bit of a wimp. “We’ll be doing this place a favor by razing it to the ground,” Banks added, unkindly.
Sterling looked around the dreary complex and had to agree with his first officer’s assessment. Prior to the Earth-Sa’Nerra war, Vega Two had been supported by UG Fleet under the Outer Colonies Expansion Program. This rewarded pioneers like those who ventured to Vega Two with supplies and high-rates of compensation, in return for harvesting unique and valuable resources from the planets they settled on. As such, the colonies became prosperous and were generally well appointed. Providing you had an adventurous spirit and didn’t mind living dozens of light years from Earth, it was a good life. Then the Sa’Nerran invasion happened and the Void was established. Almost overnight, Vega Two and the hundreds of colonies like it became cut off from the Fleet and from Earth. They had to fend for themselves or die. Most died.
Sterling was then snapped back into the moment by Lieutenant Shade. She was jogging back from her position ahead of the ship, where four commando fire teams had already taken up position behind the rocks, covering the seemingly abandoned town.
“Scanners aren’t picking up any movement inside these buildings, beyond the odd local rodent, anyway,” said Shade. The rain was dripping from her nose and chin, but she seemed unfazed by it, as if the water were merely an illusion. “And the heat signatures are not organic. Just generators, lights and space heaters most likely.”
Sterling shook his head. Like Banks, he had taken an immediate dislike to Vega Two before even setting foot onto its muddy surface, but the unexplained absence of the colonists made him hate it even more.
“According to Griffin, this place should be crawling with Sa’Nerra and turned colonists, churning out torpedoes, power cells and who knows what else,” said Sterling. “So, where the hell is everyone?”
Shade became distracted and touched her fingers to her neural implant, turning back to look at her commandos as she did so. One of the unit was looking back in her direction.
“There’s a cluster of individual heat signatures about ten meters below the surface,” said Shade, still with her hand to her implant. “It lo
oks like it’s directly below the large building at the end of this main street, sir,” she continued, turning back to Sterling.
Sterling peered along the unmetalled road that ran through the center of the ramshackle town to the building Shade had indicated. “It looks like some sort of town hall. Or maybe a bank?”
Commander Banks lifted her wrist and activated the computer that was wrapped around her forearm. The screen solidified into a rectangular sheet as she did so. “I’d say bank vault is on the money, so to speak,” said Banks, scanning the building with the device. “Maybe some of the colonists are hiding down there? Though it can’t be all of them. Twenty at most.”
Sterling nodded. “There’s only one way to find out,” he said, though at the back of his mind he was still wondering where the other three-hundred-plus colonists were. “Lieutenant, move your squad up to the building and create a secure perimeter,” he then said to his weapons officer.
Shade replied with a brisk acknowledgement then ran back to her commandos, heavy boots splattering the backs of her combat pants with yellow-brown mud as she went. Sterling then tapped his own neural interface and connected to Lieutenant Commander Crow, who had temporary command on the bridge.
“Lieutenant Commander Crow, we’re advancing to the building at the end of the street,” he said in his mind. “Commander Banks will send you the exact location. Keep our defense turrets active. If you see so much as a possum approach that structure while we’re inside, I want you to vaporize it, understood?”
“Aye, Captain,” replied Crow, though Sterling knew instinctively that there was a “but” coming. “But if possible, sir, I’d rather not kill the local critters. One of the large rodent species on this planet is an excellent bioreactor. I would like to study it and…”
“Lieutenant Commander, I don’t care if you see Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer walking down the street,” Sterling cut in, again annoyed by his engineer’s skewed priorities. “If anything looks like its stalking us, you blast it, is that understood?”
“Yes, Captain, fully understood,” replied Crow, sounding very much like a scolded child.
Sterling tapped his neural interface then shook his head. “Is being weird a requisite qualification for being an Omega officer?” he asked Banks.
“Don’t look at me, I’m not weird,” replied Banks, while examining one of the planet’s yellow-brown rocks in her hand. She then crushed it like it was an egg and brushed the dust from her palms.
“You were saying?” said Sterling.
Banks scowled at him. “Freakish strength doesn’t make me a freak,” she hit back. “Doing fifty push-ups every morning, even when there’s a general alert sounding, however…”
This time it was Sterling that frowned. “I wish I’d never told you about that,” he said, setting off down the road in pursuit of the commandos. One of the plasma turrets on the port bow of the Invictus steadily tracked them as they moved.
“The building is clear, sir,” came the voice of Lieutenant Shade though a neural link. “There’s a vault in the basement level. The door is sealed.”
“Continue to secure the perimeter, Lieutenant, we’re on our way,” replied Sterling. He tapped to close the link then glanced over at Banks. “How are you at tearing open bank vault doors?” he asked.
“Depends on the size of the vault,” replied Banks, casually. She then drew her plasma pistol and dialed the power level up to maximum. “There are other ways to break into a bank, though.”
Sterling stepped off the road and underneath the welcome shelter of the bank’s veranda, closely watched by two of Shade’s commandos. The rain had started to come down harder during the time they had been walking through the main street of the settlement and he was glad to be under cover again. Smoothing the water off his close-cropped number three-cut hair, Sterling then opened the door and stepped inside.
“This place looks like time forgot it centuries ago,” said Banks, stepping in beside Sterling and shaking the water off her jacket.
“The people here had to rebuild almost from scratch once the United Governments abandoned them,” said Sterling, looking around the wooden interior of the bank. “Between the Sa’Nerra and the Void pirates that prey on these non-affiliated colony worlds, they’ve had to fight to survive almost every day of their lives.”
Banks cocked her head and shot a sideways glance at Sterling. “You admire them?”
“They’re strong,” said Sterling, as they made their way toward the staircase leading down to the vault room. “Life out here is hard, so these colonists are survivors. We could use more like them in the Fleet.”
Banks gave a noncommittal shrug. “Maybe. But what we really need is more people like us.”
Sterling descended the stairs toward the vault, the heels of his boots making a satisfying clack against the polished hardwood floor. This was a material that was rarely used or even seen in the twenty-fourth century, outside of colonies like Vega Two. However, despite the pleasing, hollow note his bootsteps produced, Sterling preferred the clean, clinicality of a starship’s interior to the dark, irregular look of the wooden structure.
“The vault is sealed up tight, but there are definitely people inside,” said Lieutenant Shade, straightening almost to attention as Sterling approached. “It’s an old locking system, though. We’ve already almost cracked it.”
Sterling saw that one of the commandos was kneeling in front of the vault door. He considered that he should spend some time to get to know these soldiers by name, especially considering the small crew complement of the Invictus. However, the fact he expected some or all of them to die in the near future always held him back. In the year he’d spent as captain of the Invictus, he’d already lost fifty-two commandoes, either due to injury or death. In many ways, it was simply easier to see them as faceless soldiers.
“The tech in here must be ancient if he’s having to use a cable,” said Banks. She was running her hand along the surface of the steel door, apparently gauging whether she thought she could force it open.
Sterling frowned then spotted the wire snaking from the computer attached to the commando’s wrist into the vault’s locking mechanism. Like the rest of Vega Two, it was a relic from a time before he was even born. Suddenly there came a series of heavy thuds and the commando backed away, jerking the cable free then aiming his rifle at the door. The three other commandos in the vault room also jolted into action, covering the steel slab with their plasma rifles. Shade, however, remained cool and simply walked up to the door and placed her hand on the release lever.
“With your permission, Captain,” said Shade, poised and ready to open the door.
Sterling backed up behind the commandos, but slightly off to the side of the door and held his own weapon ready. “Go ahead, Lieutenant.”
Shade pulled the lever then hauled back on the steel slab. There was a hiss of air as the door began to swing outward, but it had barely opened by a crack before it slammed shut again.
“Damn it, they’re pulling it closed again from the inside,” said Shade, trying but failing to overwhelm whoever was holding the door shut on the other side. She then waved one of the commandos over and together they tried again, but still they could barely open the vault door by more than a crack.
“This is Captain Lucas Sterling of the Fleet Marauder Invictus,” Sterling called out, edging closer to the door and trying to peek through the narrow opening. “You can come out. The Sa’Nerra have gone.”
Everyone stayed silent, waiting for a response, which came a few seconds later.
“It’s a trick!” a voice called out. “We’ve seen how the Sa’Nerra twist people’s minds. We’re not coming out, so piss off!”
Sterling’s brow scrunched into a frown and he raised an eyebrow at Banks. “I’m already bored of this,” he said, waving her over.
Commander Banks holstered her plasma pistol then moved up to the vault door. “Everyone, get back,” she said, flexing her arms and shoulders as
if limbering up for fight. Banks then tested a few handholds on the door, like a rock-climber scouting a route up a mountain, before she finally indicated she was ready. Sterling, Shade and the commandos took several steps back, while keeping their weapons trained on the edge of the door. Banks then sucked in a deep breath, dug her heels into the wooden floor and took up the strain.
“On three…” said Banks.
Sterling started the silent countdown in his head then watched as Commander Banks heaved back on the door. The massive slab of metal creaked opened and this time the colonists were unable to slam it shut again. Sterling could see the heels of Banks’ boots practically chiseling grooves into the wooden floor as she stepped back, pulling the door, and five colonists, along with her.
“Hold it right there,” yelled one of the commandos. “On your knees. Show me your hands!”
The colonists immediately dropped to the floor and thrust their hands toward the ceiling. Sterling peered through the now open vault door and saw six more inside.
“You, inside the vault. Step outside. Slowly!” Lieutenant Shade ordered, moving into the center of the door with her pistol aimed at the hiding colonists.
“Check their implants,” commanded Sterling, grabbing the colonist closest to him and tilting the man’s head back so he could scrutinize the neural implant. However, there was no visible corruption. The implant appeared normal.
“We haven’t been turned, if that’s what you’re worried about,” the colonist snapped, yanking his head out of Sterling’s grasp. “We just thought you were pirates. They often claim to be members of Fleet, like you did.”
Sterling hauled the man to his feet and pressed his pistol underneath the colonist’s chin. So far, the man’s story seemed to check out, but he wasn’t taking any chances, and he also wasn’t taking any crap. “Where are all the other colonists from Vega Two?” Sterling demanded, as the commandos lined up the other eleven people who were hiding in the vault against the wall.