As he watched, the Flying Fortress broke in half. Its wide and fairly flat design allowed it to carry a wider variety and larger amount of weapons than other flagships, but it also made the vessel more susceptible to structural failure if it collided with another object. The first half of the Flying Fortress became a cluster of explosions as its munitions stores became compromised. The second half of the vessel broke into a dozen smaller pieces, some of which drifted away and others that erupted in violent bursts of flame and energy as bombs, missiles, and torpedoes of every variety exploded while still in their bays.
It was clear from the rapid succession of blasts and the extent of the damage that there would be no chance of survivors. Hundreds of lives had been extinguished in a matter of seconds.
A message appeared across the inside of his visor.
General Reiser orders all flagships to remain exactly where they are until they receive further orders. All evacuated personnel and transports should rendezvous at the large asteroid, designated 001-Orl-6399 in your visor display.
Talbot looked all around him at the disarray of people in space armor and the ships that had managed to evacuate from the destroyed vessels. The visor added labels to most of the crewmembers and ships, noting who they were and which vessel they belonged to. It also labeled the asteroids within sight.
It only took a few seconds of looking for his father for Talbot to realize how useless it was. There were bodies everywhere. Even with names attached to them, there were too many to track. Not to mention that Talbot was floating in space and couldn’t easily scan behind him and to his sides as easily as he would have liked. However, if the order had been sent out, then his father must be alive somewhere. Taking comfort in that, he set about positioning himself toward the asteroid marked as 001-Orl-6399 and ignited the little bit of thrusters that his suit still had.
Along with most of the survivors, he began drifting toward the giant rock.
31
Down on the asteroid designated 001-Orl-6399, injured and evacuated Round Table forces mustered to estimate the extent of the damage, get their wounds healed, and find their commanding officers.
Through the speakers in their helmets, they could hear everything that was said, regardless of who was saying it. A filtered channel allowed each soldier to only hear the voices of other people in his or her own unit. Yet another channel filtered out everything except for the most senior officers’ communications.
Across the moon-sized asteroid’s surface, different areas were designated to serve a variety of purposes. In one part, a group of officers gathered around a communication hologram so they could speak with the brigadiers of the flagships that had been ordered to remain in position. Exeter was leading the coordination aboard his Athens Destroyer.
The transports that had managed to escape from the Solar Carrier had been turned into medical bays. Crewmembers with broken and crushed limbs lined up for their chance to receive treatment from the medical scanners, which could set and heal the broken bones in a matter of minutes. In two of the transports, people with more serious injuries—fractured skulls, lost limbs, punctured organs—were sedated, given the best treatment available, and then put into a temporary coma until they could be taken to a flagship with more extensive capabilities. The dead were loaded into the cargo bays.
Warwick, the inside of his visor covered with blood, paced back and forth, waiting for his turn to get into the medical bay. Each time junior officers offered to let the brigadier go ahead of them, he cursed at them in his pleasantly gruff manner and told to have their injuries tended first.
Talbot walked from one station to another. For the most part, he was unable to focus on anything. He stared at the asteroid’s horizon, where officers were still landing, so he could check for his father’s arrival. Bots of various makes and sizes zipped past him. Some zoomed over to the medical transports to restock much needed supplies. Others catalogued the personnel, equipment, and ships on the asteroid so the officers on the flagships could begin planning the logistics of getting them safely back.
Julian landed without fanfare. Orienting himself to his surroundings, he used the displays in his space armor to find the officer’s area where they were coordinating with Exeter. Then he went in search of Warwick. Further down the asteroid, a series of cave openings could be seen, each offering nothing more than shadows and darkness.
“Perfect chance to attack us if they were so inclined,” Warwick said on a private channel so no one else could hear. As he spoke he ground his gloved fists together with irritation.
“Our probes still haven’t found any trace of the Carthagens,” Julian replied, shaking his head. “And yet they’re obviously here somewhere.”
Warwick turned to face Julian. “Yeah, obviously.”
The unscarred half of his face was covered in blood. He would have matching scars now.
“General Reiser.”
It was Talbot, approaching from their side, addressing his father by title even though there were few times it would have been more acceptable to refer to Julian as dad or father.
Julian reached his arms out, thinking Talbot was going to hug him. Instead, Talbot stopped and held out a small, black device that projected a holographic display above it.
“We’re getting signs of life,” he said, showing the display to Julian and Warwick.
Both officers looked annoyed for a moment, thinking Talbot meant the device was working well enough to register all the wounded around them. But when they looked at the information on the device, they both turned in the direction Talbot was pointing. The signs of life weren’t crew members. They were coming from inside the caves.
“Only one thing is going to be hiding in those caves,” Warwick said.
Julian opened the universal comms channel in his helmet so everyone around him would hear.
“Weapons, everyone. Right now.”
32
Lancelot stood in the cave, motionless and silent. All around him, fields of energy glowed, providing a blanket of light free of shadows. Ahead of him, the end of the tunnel offered the only glimpse of darkness. Before the invaders arrived, Lancelot knew the open stone expanse that he stood in would also become dark and filled with shadows.
They were out there. The intruders.
They were out there and Lancelot was going to kill all of them. It might be five minutes or five hours, but the invaders would make their way into the caves. When they did, the other Carthagen warriors would ensure they were channeled to the point where Lancelot stood.
“You do not have to do this,” a voice said.
Lancelot’s first instinct was to turn and find Mortimous. With no shadows, there would be no place for him to hide. Forcing himself to remain perfectly still and not give the old man any satisfaction, Lancelot instead remained focused on what could potentially come down the tunnel and envisioned his reaction to various scenarios.
There was no need to worry about the Dauphin or anyone else overhearing the visitor. Mortimous had spoken the words silently, as though they were part of the Carthagen warrior’s thoughts.
Concentrating on his breathing, Lancelot formed his own words that he spoke mentally rather than verbally, “What would you have me do instead? Allow them to come here and make us their subjects?”
For a while, there was no answer. Lancelot began to think the question had been the right one and that Mortimous had left.
Then the voice spoke from within Lancelot’s head once more, “And what then?”
“Defend the Carthagens.”
“For how long?”
“As long as I have to.”
“Your entire life?”
“If I have to.”
“You would spend your entire life in these asteroid tunnels, defending these people?”
All four of Lancelot’s hands curled into fists. He became too irritated to stay focused and continue to think his words rather than speak aloud.
Instead, he hissed in a low voice, �
��Damn you, what else should I do?”
Again, there was no immediate answer. In the silence of the cavern, Lancelot used the time, awaiting the approaching enemy, to calm himself. When Mortimous did speak again, the warrior involuntarily dug his feet into the ground.
“What would make you happy, Lancelot? If spending your entire life on these asteroids protecting the Carthagens is what would make you most happy, then by all means that is what you should do.”
A noise, incredibly faint, sounded from far down the tunnel.
Lancelot thought the words, “You’ll have to excuse me. I have work to do.”
This time, Mortimous really was gone.
33
Julian told his senior officers exactly what was going to happen next. All of the remaining flagships would remain in position with their weapons and shields systems readied, on the chance that the Carthagens attacked the vessels rather than the soldiers on the surface. They would send transports down with the supplies necessary for a ground expedition. A course had been plotted to avoid the hidden asteroids which had been identified when flagships had run into them. When the transports returned, they would take the dead and injured with them.
Julian ordered fifteen CAB suits, which would be sent down from the flagships. He also told Exeter, who would be joining them, to send down three transport barges. Unlike Llyushin transports, the barges were open to the environment, allowing soldiers to step on and off without waiting for a ramp to lower. Each allowed a small group of soldiers to travel across the ground much faster than if they were walking or running. If they came under attack, the barges would permit both a faster retreat and the ability to jump off and evacuate the craft.
Julian, Exeter, and Warwick would go into the caves. Along with them would be twelve other officers who were already on the asteroid’s surface. Each would wear a CAB. No longer did Julian worry about whether it might look like he was giving Talbot preferential treatment if he selected his son to join the expedition. There was no place he would rather have his son than right by his side. It was the one place he could watch over Talbot to personally ensure his safety.
Everyone who wasn’t going to get into a CAB and enter the cave would depart the asteroid for the flagships and await further orders from Julian. Brigadier Desttro would be in charge of the remaining vessels. Brigadier Ver-Non-Ven would be his second in command.
The plan was to find the Carthagens and convince them to join the Round Table. Then Julian would order them to stop whatever kind of distortions they were creating to hide asteroids and cause the ships’ systems to malfunction. If everything went according to plan, he would recruit the Carthagens and get his people on their way back to Edsall Dark without any more casualties.
Of course, if the Carthagens weren’t interested in peace or in considering Julian’s offer, he and the other officers going into the caves would have the full might of the CAB suits they were wearing. Each suit was a walking piece of highly armored machinery, the equivalent of a two-armed and two-legged tank. Each offered its wearer protection from fire, lasers, and small explosives. They were also equipped with at least two blasters each and one set of propelled explosives. The CAB that Julian wore also had a series of ion grenade launchers, a retractable ion knife, and a heavy shoulder cannon. Warwick’s CAB was outfitted with thermo launchers, which could emit bursts of extreme heat or cold, a set of gravity mines, and a pair of shoulder-mounted ion rockets. Between the lot of them, any unfriendly Carthagens they came across could be destroyed a dozen different ways.
“We stay together,” Julian said into the speaker of his CAB so the other officers, both the ones on his transport barge and the ones on the other two barges, could hear him.
Each of them had a display on the inside of their CAB visor that showed exactly where the signs of life had been detected. The three transport barges began toward the cave entrance, with Julian’s leading the way.
Looking back over his shoulder, he took a final glance at the rendezvous area and at the Round Table forces gathered there. Soon, they would depart the asteroid and return to the flagships, leaving Julian and his group alone on the rock. When he looked forward again, he was enveloped by the darkness of the cave.
Immediately, the transport barge’s sensors turned on a pair of automatic high-powered lights. In front of them, as far as the floodlights shone, was more and more tunnel, stretching for miles.
“I’m glad we’re not walking,” Exeter said.
Julian had considered telling everyone to maintain radio silence, but it was an unnecessary precaution as far as he was concerned. Between the lights on the barges and the noise the engines generated, they weren’t exactly sneaking into the Carthagen’s lair. Allowing everyone to feel a little more at ease by talking among themselves wouldn’t bring them any additional attention.
They were only a mile into the caves when Exeter said what everyone else had noticed on the display in their visors, “Uh, boss, I’m not seeing any signs of life anymore.”
“Same here,” another officer said.
“Same here.”
Julian turned to Talbot, whom he had picked to ride on the same transport barge. “You too?”
“Yes, sir.”
Almost everyone in the group gave a startled gasp. The displays returned to showing signs of life again, but now they were saying the Carthagens were to the left and right of the transports rather than further ahead.
“Boss, you seeing this?” Exeter asked.
“Full stop, everyone.”
All three barges slowed and then came to a rest.
“What do you make of—” Exeter started to say, but then the displays in each of their helmets once again showed no signs of life. A moment later, dots inside each visor were redisplayed, but now they showed that the Carthagens were directly ahead of them again. Exeter finished, “—of that?”
“They’re playing games with us,” Warwick growled. “And I’m not in the mood.”
His cut had been healed by the medical bots, but he hadn’t cleaned the blood off his face. Saying he wasn’t in the mood to be toyed with was the equivalent of saying that androids would never make good comedians. It was Warwick’s nature to never be in a good mood, but after having lost his Athens Destroyer and much of his crew, he wouldn’t hesitate to blast anything he saw hiding in the shadows.
“Forward at half speed,” Julian said, and the transport barges began taking them further into the tunnels again.
Periodically, their sensors would show a Carthagen presence somewhere ahead of them, then it would switch and show aliens were to either side. To finish the cycle, their sensors would then say there were no life forms in the caves at all.
“They’re interfering with our sensors because they’re afraid of us,” Julian told the others, more to set their nerves at ease than because he believed it.
Exeter’s laugh was audible through the speaker. “Sounds like the Terror of the Cartha Sector is impatient to strike again.”
“Terror of the Cartha Sector?” a voice boomed from all around them.
Before Julian or the others had time to wonder how someone else could hear what was being said through their private channel, a creature, large and heavy, dropped out of the cave ceiling and landed on the front of Julian’s barge. The creature weighed enough to make the front of the barge hit the ground, causing the five officers on it to sail through the air before crashing against the ground.
Only then, as Julian stumbled back to his feet, in between the thing that had dropped out of the ceiling and the other two barges, did he realize the alien was encased in thick armor. It was standing on four legs and had just as many arms. A Carthagen.
“The Terror of the Cartha Sector?” the Carthagen roared again, then threw a pair of tiny electronic capsules on the ground toward the other two transports. The capsules exploded on the ground and formed into a wall of swirling energy. Everything that Warwick and the others shot at the Carthagen was either absorbed into the field o
r deflected off of it. Julian, familiar with the barrier type, knew the energy shield was complete in the protection it provided, but it would evaporate within seconds. Exeter and the others paused in their shooting to wait it out.
Looking to his side, Julian found Talbot and helped him back up to his feet. Closer to the Carthagen, the other three officers who had been on the same transport also got to their feet. With the Carthagen’s attention on the other ten officers, Julian pushed Talbot through the tunnel, using his own armor to shield his son from the enemy.
Just as the energy shield began to fade, the Carthagen said, “Now,” and more aliens appeared diagonally behind the other two barges, three from either side of the tunnel wall where there had seemingly been solid stone and another two from the direction they had just come.
“Fall back,” Julian yelled. “Everyone fall back.”
The other three officers beside Julian tried to rejoin the rest of the group but were cut down by varying types of vibro weapons at the hands of Carthagens who jumped from one side of the cavern to the other and disappeared into the darkness. Julian pushed Talbot forward. Only a few feet away from the rest of the squad, he felt something push him slightly forward.
It was an absurd thing to think at that moment, but the first thought that crossed his mind in the blur of combat was that he would have to thank whomever was trying to save him. Then he noticed he wasn’t moving forward anymore even though the legs of his CAB were still working. Talbot continued ahead, but Julian seemed to be stuck in place.
He tried to take a breath and consider the possibilities, then realized his stomach was on fire and he couldn’t breathe. Looking down, he saw a metal spike coming out of his belly and the front of his CAB. When he tried to turn to see where it was coming from, he noticed he was frozen in place. Then a course of energy ignited and the lance that had impaled him came to life with electricity. His teeth clattered and his muscles seized.
Lancelot Page 11