by G J Ogden
“I think they’re definitely on to us,” replied Banks, sarcastically.
Sterling scanned the surrounding area, but he was caught in a limbo between the two levels. He couldn’t go up, but he also couldn’t retreat back to level three, which was already crawling with alien warriors.
“Any ideas?” Sterling said, jogging down the stairs to join Banks on the landing below.
“Only one, but I’m not sure you’ll like it,” replied Banks.
“I’m sure I’ll like it a lot more than getting filled with holes from Sa’Nerran plasma rifles,” Sterling hit back.
“I’ll hold you to that,” said Banks. Then she turned around and threw her leg over the top of the railings that surrounded the narrow metal landing. Sterling watched with morbid interest as his first officer then swung her other leg over and balanced precariously on the outer ledge.
“I don’t think jumping to our deaths will help, Mercedes,” Sterling said, giving in to his curiosity. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Finding us an alternative route up,” replied Banks. She then leapt across the chasm between the landing and the outer wall of the maintenance space, grabbing onto the thick structural beams with her pincer-like grip.
Sterling peered up the stairwell again as sparks and molten metal began falling through the open grating of the deck plates. The Sa’Nerra were almost through.
“Well, whatever you have in mind, do it fast,” Sterling said, following Banks’ lead and stepping over the railings.
With one hand still clamped to the metal beam, Banks then dug her fingers into the seams of one of the thousands of panels that formed the outer wall. Yanking back with her formidable strength, she then tore the panel clean off. Her foot slipped in the process and for a second Banks dangled precariously over the precipice. Sterling’s heart-rate spiked, as it seemed for a moment that she would fall to the level below. However, as on many occasions before, her strength saved her.
“Jump across and climb through,” Banks called over to Sterling. “We’ll have to climb up using the structural supports in the Void between the maintenance area and the station’s inner hull.”
Sterling could already feel an icy breeze flowing out of the hole that Banks had created. However, it was the thought of having to free-climb all the way to level two that sent a chill down his spine.
“You’re right, I don’t like this idea,” said Sterling, preparing himself to jump. Then another hard thump resonated through the maintenance space and Sterling glanced up to see that the door had been smashed through. The impact of the metal slab crashing into the landing rattled the staircase and almost caused him to lose balance.
“Lucas, jump now!” Banks called out. She was also peering up, one hand clasped to the structural support and the other clinging onto the metal wall panel.
Sterling sucked in a breath of the freezing air then launched himself across the chasm. He caught the lip of the opening and felt the sharp metal bite into his hands. However, this time Banks could not use her strength to help him.
“They’re coming,” urged Banks as Sterling dragged himself up and threw his body through the opening. His feet found the edge of a horizontal support beam and he managed to inch himself away from the opening.
“I’m through,” cried Sterling, shaking the pain and numbness from his fingers.
Banks swung her body into the opening then held out the metal panel. “Take this while I climb through,” she cried.
Sterling adjusted his footing then took hold of the metal panel with one hand, holding onto a structural beam with the other for support. Banks then released her hold on the panel, suddenly exposing Sterling to the full weight of the metal slab. He was pulled forward and almost fell headfirst through the gap, but his grip just held.
“Mercedes, hurry…” Sterling gasped through gritted teeth as Banks hauled herself through the opening. She then grabbed the edge of the panel and Sterling felt her take the strain.
“Help me to fit it back in place,” said Banks, rapidly adjusting her hold on the panel so that she was gripping the moldings on the reverse side.
Using all the strength he had remaining Sterling lifted the panel so that the edges aligned with the gap. Banks pulled the metal slab hard toward her then there was a satisfying thunk as the panel locked into place. Moments later, Sterling heard the sound of heavy boots clattering down the staircase on the other side of the wall. He and Banks froze and waited. The bootsteps grew louder and were followed by a concerto of waspish hisses from the alien warriors. Sterling could only imagine what the Sa’Nerran soldiers were thinking and how they were trying to reconcile the fact their quarry had seemingly vanished into thin air.
“They must have retreated to level three!”
The voice sent another chill down Sterling’s already freezing cold body. It was the voice of Clinton Crow.
“Follow them!” Crow yelled, somehow managing to be understood by the warriors, despite speaking English. “I want Sterling and Banks brought to me alive. I wish to present them to Emissary McQueen as a prize.”
Boots again clattered across the stairwell outside, quickly growing quieter and more distant. Then the sounds vanished and all that remained was the hum of energy flowing through the station’s conduits. Sterling tapped his neural interface and reached out to Banks, still afraid to speak out loud for fear that a warrior was hiding just beyond the wall.
“We’ll need to climb across as well as up,” Sterling said through the link. “Hopefully, we’ll get lucky and manage to punch through into the Void behind an empty office or corridor space.”
Banks nodded then answered through their link. “You take the lead,” she said, moving closer to Sterling with the ease of a champion rock climber. “That way, if you fall, I’ll have a chance to catch you.”
Sterling managed a weak smile. “If I die today, it won’t be from something as anticlimactic as falling to my death,” he answered. Then he adjusted his hand holds and took the first step on the sheer vertical climb up. “If today is my day, I’ll die with my hands around that bastard Crow’s neck.”
Sterling then pulled himself up and grabbed the next support beam. The icy-cold metal burned his hand and instinctively he let go. Banks reached over and pressed her hand to Sterling’s back, acting like a safety harness.
“You were saying?” said Banks, with a wry smile.
Sterling pulled the sleeves of his shirt through the cuffs of his tunic and over his hands, then tried again to grab the ledge. This time his grip held firm.
“Fine, I officially designate you as my safety net,” said Sterling, pulling himself up. His breath was misting in the freezing cold air, but the effort of the climb was helping to keep him warm.
“That’s just part of my job, Captain,” replied Banks, climbing up behind Sterling with enviable ease.
Sterling and Banks continued in this way for what felt like hours until finally they had scaled the wall and reached level two of G-COP. Finding a nook to rest in, Sterling released his grip on the freezing metal panels and squeezed the pain from his throbbing hands.
“If this map is right, we should be outside one of the level two meeting rooms,” said Banks, peering down at the computer wrapped around her muscular left forearm. “I could be way off though,” she added. “G-COP is throwing out a ton of EM jammer interference so I can’t get a clear reading.”
“Anywhere is better than here, Commander,” said Sterling, folding himself up into a tight ball in an attempt to ward off the cold. Banks shrugged, seemingly concurring with her captain’s assessment.
“Okay, here goes nothing,” said Banks. She then adjusted her position, grabbing onto a vertical support beam with both hands and leant back. She then leapt into the air, causing Sterling’s heart to momentarily stop beating before she swung down and hammered the heels of her boots in the metal wall panel.
“Damn, Mercedes, a little warning next time!” Sterling said, taking a firm hold of a support be
am. “I thought you were calling it quits for a moment then.”
Banks smiled. “Like you said, I’ll be damned if I’m going to die out here,” she said, leaping up and hammering another kick into the wall. This time the metal slab gave way and clattered into the inner void. Banks shuffled into the opening then gestured toward the new hole that she’d just made.
“Age before beauty,” she said, inviting Sterling to move through first.
“What the hell does that mean?” replied Sterling.
“It means you go first,” said Banks, still smiling.
Sterling frowned then shuffled into the opening. “How about, ‘captain before first officer’?” he added, dryly, hauling his weary frame through the gap and into the inner void.
Banks then pulled herself through and joined Sterling in the Void. It was like a building site, with the remains of part-used materials and old tools littered across the deck.
“Out of sight out of mind,” commented Banks, kicking some of the detritus with the toe of her boot.
“What you see on the outside always hides a darker truth, once you scratch through the veneer,” said Sterling, stepping up to the wall that would lead them back inside the station. “Take this uniform, for example,” Sterling added, turning back to Banks and brushing his still throbbing hands across his scuffed body armor. “We might look like we’re just part of Fleet, but inside we’re not. We’re different. Dark, cold and a little bit grubby, just like this void.”
Banks eyes widened. “Wow, that’s very poetic, Captain,” she said, more than a little sarcastically. Then she kicked another broken piece of pipe and gave an acquiescent shrug. “But I guess you’re not wrong.”
Sterling gently rapped his knuckles against the wall of the inner void. “Come on, let’s get out of here, before I freeze my ass off,” he said.
Banks and Sterling began to inspect the wall panel, looking for a way to force it open. However, it quickly became apparent to Sterling that it was considerably more robust than the relatively rudimentary panel in the engineering space.
“I’ll see if I can find some tools to help prize it open,” said Sterling, doubling back and scouring the floor.
However, the work crews that had built the station had obviously been diligent enough to remove any tools of value. All he could find were some rusted old crowbars and off-cuts of metal beams and conduits.
“Here, these will have to do,” said Sterling, returning to the wall and handing Banks a hefty metal bar that had been shorn off at the end, like a pike.
Together, Sterling and Banks dug the crude tools into the seams of the wall panel. Then, with the aid of Banks’ strength, they began to break the panel open.
“It’s moving,” said Sterling, again gasping the words through gritted teeth.
Suddenly, Sterling detected the familiar hiss of the Sa’Nerra’s indecipherable alien language and he froze. Glancing across to Banks, it was clear from her wide-eyed expression that she’d heard it too. Neither moved, hoping that the sound had just been in their imagination. Then a plasma blast thudded into the other side of the panel, punching through the wall inches from Sterling’s head. He cursed and pushed himself clear.
“Kick it down!” Sterling yelled, still gripping the metal bar in his hand.
Banks nodded then took several paces back as another blast punctured the wall and slipped past them into the freezing darkness of the void. A second later, Banks charged at the wall and slammed the heel of her boot into the dead center of the panel. The power of the kick dislodged the wall and sent the slab of metal smashing into the body of the alien warrior on the other side. Sterling moved through first as Banks recovered from the shock of the impact. A second alien warrior was inside. Its egg-shaped, yellow eyes turned to Sterling and it raised its weapon. Reacting on pure instinct, Sterling slapped the weapon out of the creature’s leathery hand then kicked the warrior in the gut. The alien reeled back then pulled a serrated, half-moon blade from its belt and came at Sterling again. He caught the warrior’s wrist and wrestled the weapon away. The pain and weariness in Sterling’s body was suddenly gone, erased by a rush of adrenaline. However, in addition to the cascade of hormones, enzymes and proteins that were flooding through his body, Sterling was also gripped by rage.
I’ve not come this far to be stopped now… he told himself, gritting his teeth and tearing the blade from the Sa’Nerran’s grasp. The alien stepped back, stunned by Sterling’s visceral display of aggression. However, before the warrior could react further, Sterling had swung his arm and opened the alien’s throat with its own weapon. The warrior clasped its long fingers around its neck, but the cut was deep and the crimson alien blood flowed like water from a faucet.
Banks appeared at Sterling’s side and together they stood in silence, watching the alien bleed out and die at their feet. Sterling could still feel Banks through their neural link, which neither of them had severed after first moving into the void beyond the station’s walls. Like her, Sterling felt no pity for the alien, nor a need to grant it mercy and a swifter death. The alien warrior deserved neither, and like the warriors they would still have to face, it would get shown no quarter. The Omega Directive was in effect, and Sterling would stop at nothing to ensure the Sa’Nerran invaders failed in their attempt to seize the station. Even if that meant reducing G-COP to atoms along with all souls on board.
Chapter 26
The east viewing gallery
A series of bright flashes lit up the office, each one popping off in rapid succession like camera bulbs at a red-carpet movie premiere. Sterling turned to the window, attaching the blood-stained half-moon blade to his belt as he did so before drawing his plasma pistol. Far out in the distance he could see shapes moving against the starry backdrop of space. Two more flashes then forced him to squint and shield his eyes.
“That’s the fourteenth Sa’Nerran warship that’s surged in,” said Banks, as another three flashes of light appeared at the mouth of the aperture. “Make that seventeen. It’s hardly an invasion fleet, though.”
“It’s not an invasion fleet,” Sterling replied, glancing back at Banks. “If it was, we’d be staring down the nose of the super-weapon we discovered at Omega Four.”
“What is it then?” said Banks, moving to Sterling’s side and folding her powerful arms.
Sterling shrugged. “I think they’re just testing us, and testing their new army of turned drone fighters to see how they perform,” he suggested. “But if they can hold or destroy G-COP in the process, it makes it a whole lot easier to push into Fleet space.”
The sound of plasma weapons filtered into the office, but it was distant and muted. Sterling moved away from the external window and cautiously glanced into the corridor outside. It was still clear. Remarkably, their sudden and violent arrival onto level two had so far gone unnoticed by the other Sa’Nerra on the station, which gave him and Banks a brief moment of respite. Then another series of flashes lit up the room, though this time they were much more intense. Sterling felt a vibration thrum through the deck plates and realized that these new surges were much closer and from a different aperture.
“It’s the Praetor,” said Banks, who had remained by the window, looking out into space. Sterling re-joined his first officer and saw the third-generation Fleet Heavy Cruiser moving slowly toward the station. “And it looks like the Prince Regent and the Hawthorn too. The others I can’t make out.”
Sterling then heard the familiar whir of powerful gears and motors resonating through the structure of the station. It was the sound of G-COP’s plasma rail guns moving into position.
“Damn it, get clear you fools…” Sterling said, urging the new Fleet arrivals to increase their distance from G-COP and its devastating arsenal of weapons. However, he already knew it was too late for the Praetor. Its captain had surged into the system too close to G-COP, sealing its fate in a matter of milliseconds.
Moments later the station shook again and a dozen plasma blasts rippled
through space, striking the Praetor across its belly. Sterling cursed as the blasts pulverized the two-kilometer-long battleship. Electrical energy crackled and fizzed along its hull and the ship listed out of control, thrusters firing chaotically. It remained intact, but Sterling had been in enough battles to know that the Praetor was already out of the fight. Banks spat out a curse and thumped her fist onto the window ledge, cracking the smooth, artificial material. Sterling, however, didn’t react. He was saving his anger for later, bottling it up ready to explode at Clinton Crow when they finally caught up with him.
“The other Fleet ships are moving clear and advancing toward the approaching Sa’Nerran battlegroup,” said Banks, having regained her composure. She was again gazing out at the advancing fleet of alien vessels. “Without reinforcements, they won’t be able to hold them off for long.”
“They’ll last long enough for the Hammer and others to arrive,” said Sterling, turning away from the window. “But if we can’t retake G-COP, we’ll be forced to destroy it. And that will leave this sector ripe for the picking.”
“Then we have to hurry,” said Banks, failing to contain her anger as Sterling had done. “If the Hammer surges in too close to G-COP, it will also get pulverized. We could not only lose the sector, but some of our most powerful warships too.”
Sterling nodded while glancing out toward the Praetor, which was still on fire and listing further away from the battle. However, they could stand the loss of several heavy cruisers. G-COP was a far more important military asset, and the Hammer was arguably even more vital. The dreadnaught was essential to the defense of the outer sectors. If the Hammer was lost then Fleet wouldn’t stand a chance against a full-scale alien invasion. It would put even more pressure on the United Governments to capitulate and surrender.
“Come on, let’s move out,” said Sterling, slapping Banks on the shoulder. She was right. There was no time to lose.