The Tarantula Nebula

by David Kantrowitz

“Don’t hit the commander,” he groaned.

  “Your deal is done with, John!” shouted Aldebaran.

  Richter ducked and activated his radio. “Andrews, this is Richter, come in!”

  “Dana here,” said Dana’s voice.

  “Get the ship over to the control room and get us out of here, now!”

  “Roger that. Where’s the nearest hatch?”

  “Make one!”

  Richter resumed firing. Computer consoles and lights were blown out as each side exchanged fire desperately. John decided that his injury wasn’t bad enough to prevent him from fighting, and he pulled himself up to join his friends in the fusillade. The noise was unbelievable.

  “Where are you in relation to that large single window?” asked Dana.

  “We’re five meters to the south of it,” replied Richter.

  “Okay. Keep your heads down for a second.”

  A tremendous crash washed out all other sounds in the control room as the Faith’s unseen thirty millimeter cannon shot through the window. For a moment, all firing ceased. John, Richter, and Aldebaran looked over to see the cargo bay appear as the ramp began to open. Talvan was inside, and waved hello.

  “Take cover, you idiot!” Richter yelled.

  The Zendreen resumed firing. Talvan ran out of sight as some of them picked him as a new target. Richter noticed a small problem.

  “Dana, you’re going to have to get her closer,” he said. “The end of the ramp is still ten meters out.”

  “Get away from the window,” Dana replied. “This is going to get messy.”

  Richter fired the last few rounds from his Phalanx, dropped it, and grabbed John.

  “Get out of the way, Aldebaran!” Richter yelled.

  Aldebaran dove in the same direction that Richter and John were stumbling. The Faith’s nose crashed into the side of the station, ripping the metal supports from the walls and destroying some of the overhead glass emplacements. The cascading debris caromed off of the ship, disrupting the invisibility shield. The Zendreen were so surprised that they temporarily stopped firing.

  “Run for it!” screamed Richter, drawing his pistol.

  The friends burst toward the ramp, with all three of them firing towards the Zendreen. One by one they cleared the two foot gap and ran up the ramp.

  “We’re aboard!” Richter cried. “Get us out of here!”

  John hit the button to close the ramp as Dana backed the ship out. The three of them took pot shots at Zendreen until the ramp closed and encased them in silence. John immediately grabbed his radio.

  “Fernwyn, this is John, over.”

  “Yo,” Fernwyn’s voice replied.

  “What’s your status?”

  Talvan appeared from behind some boxes and ran over. Richter and Aldebaran looked at John’s wound.

  “We’ve disengaged the Zendreen, but they’re pursuing us. We have an Umberian leading us to an alternate exit.”

  “So you’re all right?”

  “A bit low on ammo, but yes.”

  “Roger that. We’re ready to pick you up.”

  “Okay. We’ll call you when we get outside.”

  “Don’t be long, Fernwyn. The Zendreen aren’t playing nice.”

  “My primary is out!”

  Fernwyn slung her Phalanx over her shoulder and drew her pistol. In the long, cramped hallway, the only cover were small alcoves barely large enough for the combatants. Fernwyn, Ray, and Christie were leapfrogging from alcove to alcove, an effective but ammo consuming technique. Cab had long since fled without stopping after guiding the team to the escape tunnel. Both Ray and Christie had already depleted their rifles and were rapidly following suit with their sidearms.

  The Zendreen were using the same technique to move forward, but at a high cost. Insectoid bodies were piling up, and the living were using the dead as cover. Ray was dismayed to discover that while Nathalier’s energy pistol was deadly, it didn’t penetrate a Zendreen corpse. Despite this, he was reluctant to switch to his revolver in fear of the increased reload time. Nathalier’s pistol held one hundred shots per battery pack.

  The passageway took a sharp right turn, and for a moment the firing ceased.

  “I hope Cab was right about this being an exit!” said Ray

  “I can feel fresh air,” said Fernwyn.

  “I wish we could put some sort of barrier between us and the enemy,” Christie said, changing magazines.

  Fernwyn stopped running and turned to Ray.

  “Good idea,” she said. “Ray, hand me your weapon.”

  Ray did so. Fernwyn adjusted the power settings on the pistol.

  “Are you going to overload it?” Ray asked.

  “No, but I can fire all of the remaining energy in the battery at once. Get in front of me.”

  Christie and Ray moved up the tunnel. Fernwyn aimed at the ceiling at a forty-five degree angle and depressed the trigger. The pistol whined for a couple of seconds before a bright flash of plasma slammed into the stone. A small cascade of rock fell down, creating an eighteen inch high pile of rubble.

  “Well, it was worth a shot,” Fernwyn said, tossing the pistol to Ray.

  “I guess so,” replied Ray, reloading the weapon.

  A Zendra peeked around the corner, and Fernwyn tagged it in the head. It was followed by another soldier firing randomly around the bend. The team resumed their hurried pace as the shots flew by.

  “I see stars!” Christie yelled. “Run for it!”

  With a final burst of speed, the three friends cleared the pyramid and ran out onto the canyon floor. Their surroundings were quiet, and a warm breeze wafted around. Fernwyn turned around and examined the doorway.

  “Come on, Rylie,” said Ray.

  “There has to be some sort of door here,” said Fernwyn. “Here we go.”

  Touching a metal switch, Fernwyn activated an iron portcullis. The heavy barrier slammed into place. Fernwyn shot the switch as well as a similar panel on the other side of the bars.

  “That won’t slow them down for long,” said Christie.

  “Dana, this is Fernwyn, come in, over.”

  “Dana here,” said Dana over the radio. “Where are you?”

  “We’re on the surface, where are you?”

  “Above. I don’t see you. Give me your location.”

  “We’re on the west side of the southwest pyramid. We’re moving south. Look for us to the...”

  Fernwyn trailed off. Something down the canyon had grabbed her attention. A massive rumbling preceded the appearance of a gigantic tank, about two hundred meters away. The tracks were at least ten meters high, and a single squat turret brought the total size to about twelve. It was flanked on either side by two mechs and several dozen dismounted infantry.

  “Rylie,” began Dana, “be advised we have multiple enemy units to the south.”

  “Thanks, Dana, we see them. You wanna get down here and pick us up or what?”

  “Stay put if you can, we’ll find you.”

  The tank turret turned toward the pyramid. Fernwyn, Ray, and Christie pressed themselves up against the sloped wall.

  “Does it see us?” asked Christie, terrified.

  Before her companions could reply, the tank fired. A ball of energy appeared from the muzzle and moved forward slowly. The ball grew in size and began to pick up speed, rapidly becoming larger than the entire pyramid. The team ducked down as the energy hit them in a crashing wave. It did them no harm.

  “What the hell?” said Ray.

  “Look!” said Christie, pointing into the sky.

  The Reckless Faith was visible, passing one hundred feet above.

  “Dana, this is Ray! The invisibility shield is down!”

  “What? Are you sure?” asked Dana.

  “Yes, I’m sure, I’m looking right at the ship!”

  The tank fired again, this time a directed energy beam. A split second later, the mechs and infantry joined in, and a hellish amount of fire rocked the Faith. The shi
p pitched away and gained altitude as the main cannon and thirty millimeter returned fire. As the ship turned, the port laser banks took over. The fire had no apparent effect on the enemy.

  “Fernwyn, you’ve got to head north,” said Dana, her voice strained. “We can’t land here.”

  “Roger that,” said Fernwyn. “We’ll meet up with you somewhere else.”

  “Shit son of a bitch,” said Ray.

  The team changed direction and ran to the north. Christie looked up again and spotted several Zendreen aircraft far above.

  “This is going to get worse before it gets better,” she said.

  As the team approached the corner of the pyramid, a hovering skiff crossed their path. It was about the size of a city bus, with a semi-covered deck and two articulated guns. Fernwyn, Ray, and Christie raised their weapons but quickly noticed that Cab was at the controls.

  “Get in!” Cab yelled.

  Behind them, the portcullis exploded. Fernwyn began firing at the Zendreen that stumbled through the smoking door as Ray and Christie leapt aboard the skiff. Ray spun around and covered Fernwyn as she followed them onto the deck.

  “We’re aboard!” Fernwyn cried.

  Cab nodded and steered the skiff away. He gained altitude and cleared the edge of the canyon. The terrain was high desert badlands, illuminated by the plasma and laser flashes of the battle between the Faith and several Zendreen aircraft.

  “Man those deck guns!” Cab shouted.

  Fernwyn dashed over to the rear gun while Ray took the one on the bow. Christie joined Cab at the controls.

  “We can’t outrun them, right?” she asked.

  Cab gritted his teeth. “Ha! No.”

  Despite this admonition, Cab leaned on the accelerator and pushed the skiff as fast as it could go. The warm wind whipped across the deck, making conversation difficult.

  Christie keyed her radio. “Dana, this is Christie. We’re aboard a hovercraft heading west.”

  “I see you,” replied Dana. “There’s no way we can pick you up with all of these fighters on our ass.”

  “Hurry up and nail them, then.”

  “Your friends better think of something quick,” said Cab. “As soon as those ships spot us we’re done for.”

  “What about our famous Route 93 trick?” shouted Ray.

  “This thing is too big for that!” replied Christie.

  “Yeah, but we can jump from the deck onto the ramp.”

  “Dana, at the earliest possible time we’ve got to maneuver up to the ramp.”

  “Roger that. Continue on your current course and we’ll...”

  The rest of Dana’s transmission was lost as plasma blasts began raining down on the skiff. Fernwyn returned fire on the Zendreen craft that had fired. The deck guns were also plasma, but the Zendreen ship easily avoided the shots.

  “Can’t we go any faster?” asked Christie.

  “I wish we could,” said Cab.

  The skiff was hit twice. Everyone but Cab was knocked over, and he struggled to stabilize the vehicle. Fernwyn leapt to her feet and grabbed the deck gun. Before she could fire, the Zendreen ship exploded and crashed. Fernwyn looked on in astonishment as her own ship streaked past and banked around.

  “Who the hell is flying my ship?” she said.

  “Hey Rylie,” said John over the radio.

  “Scherer? Who said you could take my ship?”

  “You’ve been holding out on me. This thing handles like a dream.”

  “You break it, you buy it.”

  “The Faith is on its way. I’ve got some more distracting to do.”

  John piloted the ship away. Ray pointed ahead.

  “Here she comes!” he shouted.

  The Faith swooped down and settled in front of the skiff. The laser banks and fifty caliber guns were blazing. Christie could barely hear her radio.

  “Get ready to board,” said Dana.

  The ramp began to lower. Dana tried to match speed with the skiff. Plasma shots streaked by as Cab indelicately jammed the bow of the skiff into the mouth of the Faith’s cargo bay. Sparks flew where metal ground against metal. When it stopped, there was no gap between the ships.

  “Go!” Cab yelled.

  The others clambered over the bow of the skiff and dropped into the cargo bay. Cab activated the autopilot and did the same. Upon reaching the ramp, he turned around and pushed against the skiff. It did not move.

  “We’re aboard,” said Christie. “We need to get rid of the hovercraft. Bank the nose down.”

  “Roger that,” said Dana.

  “Grab onto something!”

  Ray and Fernwyn grabbed onto the railing of the stairs. Christie took hold of a support rib. Cab continued to push on the skiff.

  “Cab!” yelled Ray. “Grab onto the ship!”

  “What do you think I’m doing?” Cab yelled back.

  The Faith pitched forward. The skiff immediately dislodged from the cargo bay and plummeted toward the ground. Cab almost joined it but managed to grasp the edge of the ramp. Dana righted the ship and the ramp began to close. Ray ran forward and helped Cab inside.

  “A little warning would have been nice!” Cab said, livid.

  “We did warn you,” replied Ray. “I guess you heard differently.”

  “Dana, this is Christie. Get us the hell out of here.”

  “My pleasure, Christie. John, are you ready to go?”

  John’s voice came in over the radio. “Aw, come on. I’m not done smoking bad guys.”

  “You can smoke them alone, then.”

  “Fine. Meet you spaceside?”

  “If you can keep up.”

  __________

  “Repressurization complete.”

  With Dana’s reassurance, John unbuckled his safety harness and opened the cockpit cover. The crew of the Faith, plus one unknown Umberian, entered the cargo bay. Fernwyn ran over and helped John down from her ship. His shoulder wound had begun to bleed through the field dressing. The others spontaneously broke into applause. John looked at the crew in surprise. Aldebaran, Richter, Christie, Ray, and Fernwyn looked almost as bad as he did. Dana’s own exhaustion was clearly visible as well. Only Talvan seemed no worse for wear, but John knew he’d spent some time behind the lasers.

  “Clap for everyone, not for me,” John said.

  “That’s for successfully deploying the virus,” said Talvan. “Aldebaran told me you spit it in the Commander’s face.”

  “That’s right.”

  “Perfect. With a hit like that he should become infectious very soon. If they don’t catch on, the virus will continue to spread.”

  John walked over to Cab. “Who’s your new friend?”

  “This is Cab,” said Christie, smiling.

  “Cabrios Saribalos,” Cab said, offering his hand.

  “If not for Cab’s help we wouldn’t have gotten far.”

  “Well, Cab, thank you,” said John. “But I’m afraid it would be somewhat impractical to return you home right now.”

  “That’s quite all right,” said Cab. “I’d rather not go back just yet.”

  John nodded and turned to Dana. “What’s our status?”

  “We’re at maximum sub-light speed,” began Dana, “headed toward the Residere system. The Zendreen fleet is scrambling to pursue us, but once we hit the engines we’ll be long gone.”

  “Good. We’ll lay low somewhere and monitor the net. Hopefully word of viral problems on Umber will begin to circulate and we’ll know how we did. In the meantime, everybody get cleaned up and get some food and rest. Let Fernwyn and I worry about where we’re going to hide when we get to Residere.”

  “Your dressing needs to be changed,” said Richter.

  “Soon. First I’d like to speak to Aldebaran and Fernwyn alone on the bridge.”

  The others looked confused but did not object. John climbed the stairs as Aldebaran and Fernwyn followed him. Once on the bridge, John sat in the pilot’s chair and activated the superluminal driv
e. He stood up and began checking other stations.

  “What’s up?” asked Fernwyn.

  “I’m glad to see you’re all right,” John replied. “I didn’t like splitting up for this mission. I was worried about you.”

  “Same here. Let’s just hope it wasn’t a waste of time.”

  “Indeed.”

  “That was some impressive flying. I didn’t think I’d given you nearly enough instruction.”

  “You hadn’t. I only made it look good.”

  John continued to check the ship’s systems. Friday entered the bridge and asked John for attention. John sat down and allowed the cat to jump into his lap.

  “So why did you want to talk to us alone?” asked Aldebaran.

  John’s visage became serious. He sighed, and spoke quietly.

  “The Zendreen Commander told me something rather unbelievable. I wish I could dismiss it as nothing but the desperate lies of a cornered rat, but I can’t. He said that Ari is still alive.”

  Fernwyn gaped in shock.

  “That’s impossible,” she said.

  “That’s what I said,” John replied, nodding. “The Commander said some things that make me wonder, though. For one thing, he knew my name. I suppose it’s possible, with the sheer amount of running around we’ve done, that he could have gotten it from the Black Crest or another espionage source, but it seems unlikely. He claims they rescued Ari from the wreckage of the way station. He said the control room was a self-contained escape pod.”

  “I guess it’s possible,” said Fernwyn.

  “Did he say what they’ve done with her?” asked Aldebaran.

  “He said she’s on a ship being taken to a Zendreen research facility for anatomical study.”

  “That sounds unpleasant.”

  “Like I said, I wish I could just dismiss this story as bullshit, but there’s too much credibility to it.”

  “Why tell just us?” asked Fernwyn.

  “Because I don’t want the others to worry about this until after our current mission is complete. I don’t want them to be distracted by it or to worry about whether or not I’m distracted by it.”

  Aldebaran shrugged. “So why tell us?”

  “I want you to know because I’m going to ask for your help in researching this. We have some clues to work with but I’m going to need your best resources to find the truth.”