“Send word to the other flagships. Tell them to continue out of Orleans and wait for me away from the asteroid field.”
Every single person on the command deck turned and stared at him.
“Should I tell them where you’re going, sir?”
“Tell them I’m going back in.”
90
Julian and the others had no time to feel sorry for themselves. They had escaped the asteroid, but instead of being greeted by Solar Carriers and Athens Destroyers, there was nothing but asteroids and stars. A streak of laser zipped past his helmet and sailed off into the distance. It was followed by another blast, then another. The next one hit him square in the back, jolting him forward, toward the asteroid’s edge.
Turning, he saw a barrage of blasts coming from inside the tunnel. Two blasts struck Talbot in the stomach and made him stumble backwards. A miniature proton missile, the same size as a grenade but in the shape of a cylinder, hit Lieutenant Marv-Lel and sent him sliding across the rock on his back. Julian was blinded for a moment when a laser blast hit his helmet and flashed across his visor. The next pair of blasts hit his shoulder and spun him around.
“We’ve got to find cover,” he shouted.
The problem, as he was sure the others also realized, was that there weren’t many options. If they continued in the same direction they had been heading they would be out in the open, with their best options being to either step off the asteroid and go floating into space or else run and try to find another cave to take cover in. The only other options were to go back into the tunnel or use the sides of the cave’s entrance for the little bit of protection it offered. If they tried to rush the Carthagens he knew they would get slaughtered on their approach so he discounted that. The discouraging part was that if they took cover just outside the mouth of the cave, they were only delaying the inevitable.
“Come on,” he said, hoping his comms still worked after the latest blasts and that the others were following his lead.
Facing the tunnel they had just come out of, Julian took a position to the right side of the mouth, standing on the narrow ledge between the protection of the cave opening and the abyss of space beyond. Talbot and Lieutenants Alia and Marv-Lel took the left side. The three remaining ensigns, the only other officers as junior as Talbot, rushed to join Julian on the right. They were only half the way there when a solar grenade landed at their feet.
Before they could go around the blast, lasers began pelting them. Alia and Marv-Lel leaned into the cave to fire a couple of shots of their own back into the tunnels but immediately had to duck for cover. One ensign was struck in the chest with a proton rocket and went flying backward. A gravity grenade sailed past another. The third was hit in the side by a trio of laser blasts and stumbled forward.
“Hold on,” Julian shouted at them but it was too late.
The gravity grenade that had missed the three ensigns imploded twenty feet away from the asteroid. The ensigns thought they were safe after the projectile went past them, not realizing what type of weapon had erupted. All three CAB suits were sucked away from the asteroid and into the center of the blast.
To their credit, the ensigns kept calm. After the blast subsided and they were floating in space, all three used a small air burst in their suit to push them back toward the asteroid. Once on solid ground, the stabilizers in their CAB would keep them planted to the rock unless another explosion ripped them away. It was exactly what they should have done and Julian was pleased to see their training kick in.
Their efforts were for nothing, however. Dozens of Carthagen laser blasts struck all three ensigns, countering the burst of air that pushed them toward the asteroid. The blasts stopped their momentum and pushed them back out into open space. It wouldn’t be long until the CAB suits were empty of any air reserves and the ensigns had no way of getting back to the other officers. All three would eventually run out of air and suffocate within their armor as they floated away to another part of the asteroid field.
“Whoever has the most ammo needs to start firing,” Julian said, pointing to his own shoulders and the lack of cannons mounted there.
Talbot stepped past Marv-Lel and fired a pair of laser blasts into the tunnel, then followed it up with an ion grenade.
Dozens of flashes of light burst from the depths of the tunnel as the Carthagens answered their pitiful counterattack with much greater firepower of their own. Only a few of the shots came close to hitting Julian, Talbot, or the others because they were hidden to the side of the cave entrance.
Marv-Lel initiated a sequence in his suit. A red light changed to orange, then yellow. Only then did he jump out from his hiding spot and launch a pair of proton missiles into the tunnel before immediately shuffling back to the side and to safety.
The missiles exploded one after another, and their destructive might sent flames bursting from the tunnel and out of the cave’s mouth. There, the flames reached an invisible containment field, touched the void of space, and were immediately extinguished by the lack of oxygen.
“What do we do now?” Talbot asked.
Julian wanted to give them an answer. He didn’t have one, though. He couldn’t even help Talbot, Marv-Lel, and Alia because both of his shoulder cannons were gone. However, there was no way he was going to die there on that asteroid. He didn’t know how he was going to get away but he was sure he hadn’t been critically wounded and healed three separate times just to die at the hands of a lesser Carthagen warrior. He just couldn’t envision how any other outcome could possibly unfold.
Dozens and dozens of lasers poured out of the tunnel, keeping the officers pinned to either side of the cave opening. Talbot leaned forward from his hiding spot, fired two more laser blasts into the passageway, then ducked back again. Alia followed them with four blasts of his own. Julian didn’t ask but he estimated they were almost out of projectiles and grenades.
“I’ve got this,” Marv-Lel said and leaned forward to take his turn.
He was out of B-Level proton missiles, so he set his CAB to launch the last of his proximity explosives—a pair of gravity mines. The first launched deep into the tunnel and exploded. But before the second one could be launched, three laser blasts hit him, one in the faceplate, one in the chest, and the last at his hip. Marv-Lel stumbled to regain his balance, but the second gravity mine, instead of disappearing into the darkness of the Carthagen’s home, hit the side of the tunnel only twenty feet into the tunnel entrance. Five more laser blasts hit the lieutenant, sending him to his knees. Alia grabbed hold of Marv-Lel’s shoulder, but before he could pull the other officer to safety, another three blasts struck the lieutenant’s helmet and shattered his visor.
When the first gravity mine had exploded deep in the tunnel, Julian thought he could hear a Carthagen scream. The second gravity mine exploded a half second later. Even with Alia holding onto him, Marv-Lel had no chance. The wave of energy erupted in a translucent sphere of distorted plasma. Just as fast, the energy pulled back in on itself, sucking everything toward it. Not even the weight of Marv-Lel’s CAB or the strength of Alia’s grip could save him. Marv-lel was picked up and dragged into the explosion’s core. Talbot had to grab ahold of Alia to keep him from being dragged away as well.
When the blast subsided, the tunnel was perfectly silent. Marv-Lel, in what remained of his CAB, was motionless twenty feet into the tunnel.
“Dad?”
Julian looked back over at Talbot on the other side of the cave. Alia remained at the edge of the cave’s mouth, waiting for what the Carthagens might do next.
“Yeah?”
In terms of bringing other civilizations into the Round Table, Julian knew the rest of the campaign had been a great success. However, none of it had gone according to plan when it came to his son. They were supposed to have bonded as father and son as they crossed the galaxy together. Instead, he doubted if Talbot would ever forgive him for the mess he had created.
At least they could have a moment of true und
erstanding at the end, he thought.
“How is mom going to get by if neither of us returns home?” said Talbot.
It was spoken with such honesty that it actually made Julian groan. There was no accusation or blame in the question, no self-pity. Alia turned away from the cave and looked behind him at Talbot and then across the cave entrance at Julian, then shook his head.
The lieutenant’s attention turned back to the tunnel just in time to see a proton grenade explode against the edge of the cave’s mouth. Rock exploded into Alia’s helmet and he stumbled backward. A chunk of stone was missing, making the cave opening a foot larger than it had been. The Carthagens fired dozens of lasers at Alia, making him stumble further and further backward.
“Just fall down,” Julian yelled, knowing that Alia would be a smaller target that way.
Alia either wasn’t listening, though, or else thought he had the situation under control. Instead of following the general’s command, he tried to plant his feet and turn to the side.
The laser blasts were followed by four grenades that exploded all around Alia. A square section of stone floor, ten feet in both directions, crumbled away. Before Alia’s CAB could reattach itself to the rock beneath him, a series of laser blasts sent him drifting backward into space. Knocked unconscious by the blasts, he drifted off into space. By the time he regained his senses, he would be too far away to make it back, and there was nothing Talbot or Julian could do to help him.
After a minute of quiet, more streaks of laser began to appear from the tunnel. There were only one or two blasts at first, but with each passing moment, the volume kept increasing.
Julian wanted to say something to his son. He needed to provide some kind of answer for why they were there, for why he had thought it a good idea to bring his son on the campaign. There were no words, though.
“I thought this would bring us together,” he muttered, shaking his head. The only thing he could focus on was the idea of rushing into the cave once again and attracting all of the Carthagens’ attention. “When I die, you’ll avenge my death?”
“Dad, what are you talking about?” Talbot shouted, moments from cursing his father. “If you haven’t noticed, we’re both about to die.” He could see hopelessness on his father’s face in the narrow slit of the CAB’s visor—the first time in his entire life he had seen it—and hated the way it made him feel. “Sure, dad,” he added. “Whatever you like. If someone kills you, I’ll make sure they pay for it.”
“Okay.”
Julian gripped and regripped the sword in his hands. He thought about Lancelot’s weapons tearing him apart, of her boot crushing his helmet. He thought of the voices talking to him in his dreams, willing him to do something that he couldn’t quite remember.
“Okay,” he said again. “Stay here. Don’t go back into the cave. Tell your mother I love her.”
Talbot’s eyes widened and he almost crossed the entrance without thinking about the possibility of being blasted away. “What are you talking about, dad?”
Julian took a deep breath, then exhaled. All he had to do was start running toward the Carthagens and whatever his destiny was meant to be would indeed happen. Just as he switched his sword into his other glove, a light caught his attention, drawing his eyes away from the cave’s opening and out into space. His first instinct was to close his eyes and accept the death that the regrouped Carthagens were bringing to him and to his son. They already had no hope of defeating the warriors inside the tunnel. They especially didn’t have a chance of fighting a starship.
What he saw, however, wasn’t death, but salvation.
A Llyushin transport was taking a tight corner around the closest asteroid and was changing course to head right for them.
A transmission came through Julian’s earpiece. “General Reiser, prepare to come aboard.”
The sound of Brigadier Desttro’s voice wasn’t as much a relief as it was an answer. Moments earlier, Julian had known he was going to be saved in one way or another, whether through the salvation of death or some other means. He just hadn’t known how.
Now he did.
“Consider yourself promoted,” Julian said. Then to Talbot, he shouted, “Go!”
He let his son run toward the ship first so Julian could follow and be the one to get hit by any laser bursts coming out of the darkness of the tunnel. The Llyushin transport remained five feet off the surface. Its rear ramp lowered and both Talbot and Julian jumped aboard while the ship hovered above the rock.
“Would you like us to send a couple proton torpedoes into the cave?” Desttro asked.
“Just get us out of here.”
They lifted away from the asteroid, laser streaks sailing from the mouth of the cave, and began to head back to the fleet.
Art 7
Leaving the Asteroid Field, by Ken V, digital art
91
The next Round Table session began with order and decorum, as most did. A representative spoke about the threat Arc-Mi-Die presented and how she thought the warlord should be dealt with. The next representative spoke about the Round Table campaign in the Cartha sector and what might have happened to the fleet. Side conversations began throughout the room. They started as whispers before growing louder. Bickering ensued. It wasn’t long before the Great Hall was filed with he clamor of representatives disagreeing with one another with no sense of a formal proceeding.
A slender gray alien without any hair and with bulbous black eyes said, “I represent the people on Murk-Major. There are six different colonies there that could be targets for Arc-Mi-Die. We must agree to his terms.”
A human, an old woman with wrinkles covering every part of her face, said, “Two of my friends were killed when he destroyed the colony on Tertiary-Omega. I’ll die before I agree to negotiate with that thug.”
With each comment, a hundred other representatives wanted to offer their opinion and wasted no time in doing so. The entire room was filled with the echoes of voices clamoring to disagree with something else that had been said.
It was becoming difficult for Hector to force himself to attend the sessions. For this latest one, Portia had needed to get behind him and push with all of her strength to get him moving out the door and on his way to the Great Hall. While Hector shook his head and put a hand over his face, Cimber and Cash had the opposite reaction. Each time representatives interrupted each other or began to shout, Hector’s two friends became more enraged, holding their breath, clenching their fists, and gritting their teeth. Each time Hector looked at them, both men had veins bulging in their necks and temples.
On the other side of the room, Octo received a communication, read it, and then stood and cleared his throat. The unruly room full of representatives only quieted down because they could tell he had something of the utmost importance to announce.
“I have an update on Julian’s fleet.” There was utter silence in the room. “They have safely left the Orleans asteroid field.”
Safely? thought Hector. How many had to die for the rest to escape? He remained silent, however, waiting for Octo to finish.
“The fleet is returning to Edsall Dark.”
Hundreds of representatives shouted questions, many of them asking about General Reiser’s well-being.
Octo looked up and down at the room of representatives and said, “He is alive and returning with his ships.”
The room erupted in applause.
92
Following the escape by the few remaining invaders, Swordnew made his way back toward the Dauphin’s chamber. Lancelot was gone. Curveddeath was dead. So was Bowcast. All of the warriors were gone except for him. It was a solemn walk back to where the elders would be waiting for an update. Everywhere he looked, he saw scorch marks from where lasers had impacted rock. Dead bodies were scattered from the cave entrance to the grand cavern.
The holographic projections of tunnels were no longer active, and all of the passageways the Carthagens had been using were plainly visible arou
nd the main cavern. All around was explosive residue and the remnants of destroyed armor. The wreckage of transport barges lay toward one corner. A dead invader, missing his head, was in the middle of the cavern.
Past that room, Swordnew turned and continued down a narrow corridor. The stone door to the Dauphin’s chamber slid aside and Swordnew entered.
“Swordnew, what news do you have to report?”
The Dauphin asked this even though an array of holographic displays behind them showed everything he could possibly have to say.
“Two invaders were rescued and are gone. The rest perished.”
He cast his gaze down toward the floor, sure that a reprimand would follow. No other warriors stood at the wall behind him because there were none, and this was Swordnew’s biggest failure. Without Lancelot around to lead, he had been given the task of coordinating the attack and it had unfolded with disastrous consequences.
All three elders stared at the warrior in front of them. Swordnew could feel their eyes on him, and yet he was so ashamed that he couldn’t raise his eyes to meet them.
“You have done well, Swordnew. You have made the Dauphin proud.”
Swordnew squinted with confusion. Unable to help himself, his eyes rose to see if the Dauphin were testing him or simply being cruel.
“Thank you, my lords.”
The middle elder said, “Tell us, what of Lancelot?”
“He left, my lords.”
Surely, they knew this as well, and Swordnew couldn’t figure out why they would bother to ask.
The Dauphin to the right said, “Hmm, and did he say anything of the other Carthagens or of where he was going?”
“No, my lords.”
There was silence in the room. The elders did not turn and have a private discussion but their throats did constantly bubble in and out while still facing Swordnew.
Finally, the first elder said, “The Dauphin have decided you have earned the title of grand Carthagen warrior.”
Lancelot Page 27