The rest of the Marines were flooding through the door. They quickly took positions to secure the room. The guards had carried two energy weapons each. Kevin and Henderson each took an energy weapon and gave the other two to Burke and Reynolds. The guards also had ion blades which were given to two more Marines. Kevin passed the bloody baton to a third.
Kevin checked his weapon and nodded to Henderson, who was doing the same.
“At least we have a fighting chance now,” said Kevin.
“Yeah, and the element of surprise,” said Henderson.
“They aren’t wearing combat suits.”
“They’re comfortable.”
“Uh-huh,” said Kevin. “That gives us an advantage. We need to move fast before they figure out what’s happened.”
At the other end of the room were more doors. He remembered the route to and from the interrogation room. That was their first stop. He stepped up to the doors and the Marines took position along both sides. He leveled his weapon. Henderson, Burke and Reynolds did the same. He pushed a button on the belt and the door slid open. There were no guards on the other side. The Marines entered the room like a quiet brook filling a pond.
“Through the next set of doors it’s gonna get busier,” said Kevin. “There’s a corridor that branches off. We stay to the right. That’ll take us to the interrogation room.”
The door opened without Kevin touching the belt. Four Kemmar appeared, two walking toward them and two walking away. The first two saw the Marines and raised their weapons, but the Marines fired first, hitting both Kemmar in the chest with multiple energy bolts. Hearing the discharges the other two Kemmar turned to face the Marines, but were hit before they could act.
The Marines raced down the corridor. The four fallen Kemmar were stripped of their weapons, and Kevin was starting to feel better about their chances now that they had some firepower. They reached the interrogation room without further incident and gathered outside the door.
“Chief Engineer Singh might be in there,” said Kevin. “Make sure you don’t kill him.”
The Marines nodded and Kevin opened the door.
Chapter 19
“I don’t think this one can be trusted,” said Lynda.
“Why?” said Singh.
“Who are you talking to,” said the Kemmar interrogator.
“He plans to use you so he can improve his position,” said Lynda. “He’ll let you rot in here. Don’t tell him anything.”
Singh looked at the interrogator and said, “I need to speak to your top engineers.”
“You can speak with me,” said the interrogator.
“No. Only an engineer will understand. It would have to be someone very advanced.”
“I think you are crazy. I do not think you have any knowledge to share.”
“That is a mistake.”
“So is not telling me everything you know. You obviously need motivation. Have you ever had needles inserted underneath your fingernails? I consider that mild persuasion.”
“Your superiors wouldn’t be happy with you if you harmed me.”
“My superiors aren’t here,” said the interrogator, showing off his teeth. “It is just you and me.”
“Don’t be afraid,” said Lynda.
But he was afraid. He was not a Marine. He hadn’t been trained for this. He knew he couldn’t withstand even the mildest torture tactics. He also knew the Kemmar saw right through him.
The interrogator looked at the two guards in the room and said, “Seize him.”
They grabbed his arms, holding him like a vice. He frantically tried to move, futilely wasting energy.
“Don’t panic,” said Lynda, her cool blue eyes reaching out to him.
He tried to borrow her strength, but he didn’t know how.
“Look at me,” said Lynda. “Focus on me. On my voice.”
“Hold his hands down on the table,” said the interrogator.
Singh tried to resist. Tried to hold his arms back, but the Kemmar were too strong. His muscles strained as he tried to pull away. A cutting pain surged up his forearms, across his triceps, right up into his shoulders. The pain was so great he thought his ligaments would tear. Yet with all that effort he couldn’t break his arms free. Each guard took a hand and steadily moved it forward, forcing it flat on the table.
Lynda stood close. So close he felt he could kiss her. How he longed to just kiss her. She said, “This is a test. That’s all. You can do this.” Her eyes were calm, soothing. He wanted to lose himself in them.
The interrogator approached with a handful of six inch long needles. He took one and held it close to Singh’s face. Touched his cheek with the sharp point. Sliding it up the side of his face and then circling his eye.
“Do you like it?” said the interrogator. “As I said, this is one of our milder techniques. But that does not mean it is not fun.” He bared his teeth again, snarling.
Dread climbed up his spine, its cold fingers filling him with terror.
“Don’t listen to him,” said Lynda. “Stay with me.”
He tried, but the cold point of the needle pressed against his cheek kept his attention. His hands trembled, even with the guards holding them in place. He wanted to cry out. To scream. But he couldn’t even draw in a breath.
The interrogator lay the rest of the needles down on the table, in between Singh’s hands. He released the pressure against his cheek and showed him the needle again. “You are going to be very surprised to see how much of this I can get in under your fingernail. I can make it go right up your finger to the knuckle. It took some practice to perfect. At first the needle kept piercing through. Your species has very thin skin. But, fear not, I have perfected the procedure. The needle will remain inside your finger the whole time.” He bared his teeth again at Singh and let out a chilling growl.
Singh couldn’t look at the creature. He turned to Lynda, trying to avoid the interrogator’s gaze.
A strong hand gripped his chin and pulled his face back so that he was looking at him again. “Are you not impressed?” said the interrogator.
Singh tried to look away, but the hand wouldn’t let go.
“I understand. You believe in action, not words. An admirable quality. Very well. Action it is.”
“You’re going to get through this Raj,” said Lynda. “Believe me.”
“I believe you,” said Raj.
The interrogator turned around. “Who are you talking to?”
Raj didn’t answer.
“I admit, it will be interesting breaking an already broken man,” said the interrogator, placing the tip of the needle under the nail of Singh’s index finger.
Explosions could be heard in the distance and the building shook from the power of the blasts.
“What was that?” said the interrogator.
One of the guards accessed a computer link on the table. “We are under attack, Lord.”
“Under attack?”
“Yes, Lord. There is a squadron of fighters firing on us.”
“That makes no sense. Where did they come from?”
“There is a warship in low orbit, Lord. The fighters launched from the warship.”
“How is that possible? The human ship was destroyed.”
“This is a different ship, Lord.”
“Our defenses?”
“Our fighters were destroyed in the battle with the human ship. As were our towers and batteries. Our forward units are responding with mobile ground to air weapons.”
The interrogator turned his attention back to Singh. “It appears our conversation will have to be postponed.” He snarled at Singh, showing off his teeth again.
An energy bolt hit the interrogator in the shoulder, spinning him around. A second bolt caught him in the back, in between the shoulders, sending him face first into the floor.
A barrage of energy bolts ripped through the two guards, dropping them before they had a chance to return fire. Marines surged into the room, several wea
pons now pointing at Singh.
“Don’t move, traitor, or I’ll burn a hole through your goddamn face,” said one of the Marines.
Chief St. Clair marched passed him, heading for the interrogator who was still moving, trying to reach for his weapon. St. Clair took the weapon from him, rolled him over, and pointed the weapon at his muzzle.
The interrogator growled when he saw St. Clair.
“Still hungry?” said St. Clair.
“You won’t-”
St. Clair fired the weapon, sending a crimson bolt tearing through the interrogator’s face.
“See? You made it through,” said Lynda, a bright smile on her face. “Didn’t I tell you would get through this?”
“Yes, you were right. But it’s not over yet,” said Singh.
“Stop being so negative,” said Lynda.
“Who the fuck are you talking to?” said the Marine pointing the weapon at him. “Chief, I think the traitor’s lost it.”
St. Clair turned, reached Singh in two steps and drove a heavy fist into Singh’s solar plexus. Singh collapsed. On his knees, hands on the floor, gasping for air. He couldn’t remember ever being hit that hard before. He desperately tried to suck in some air, but nothing came. He panicked, wondering if he would suffocate to death.
St. Clair pressed the muzzle of his weapon against the back of Singh’s head. “Fucking traitor. I should just execute you now and get it over with.”
Lynda knelt beside him, making eye contact. “Don’t be afraid Raj. Remember what I said. We’re going to get through this together.”
He wanted to tell her he loved her, but he couldn’t breathe, let alone speak. He believed her now.
Chief St. Clair pushed his head down with the weapon, almost to the floor, but Singh knew he wouldn’t fire.
“Chief,” said Henderson. “We’ve got to move.”
“I should kill you,” said St. Clair. “But I might need you.”
The pressure on the back of Singh’s head eased and left as St. Clair pulled his weapon away. He also felt his diaphragm filling, and relief washed over him as he was finally able to take a breath.
Chapter 20
The building shuddered, and the sounds of battle thundered in the distance.
“Who do you think they’re fighting?” said Henderson.
“I don’t know, but I’ll take what I can get,” said Kevin, his ribs aching. “How many troopers are armed now?”
“We’ve got eighteen energy weapons, and nine ion blades.”
“That’s good. Enough to take out any resistance we come up on. We can arm the rest as we go.”
“Chief? Have you got any idea how we’re going to get off this ice cube of a planet?”
“We’ll have to find a ship.”
“There’s the orbital defense grid too.”
“Yeah, that’s going to be a challenge. We’ll figure it out.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Henderson was right. Getting off Kerces was going to be tough, but getting past the Kemmar would be tougher.
“I’ve got it, Chief,” said Private Chen, looking up from the Kemmar computer link. “Building schematics. This is the route we take to get out of here.”
Kevin and Henderson walked over to look at the display. There was a floorplan of the station with an escape route already highlighted by Chen.
“Good work, Private,” said Kevin.
“Thanks, Chief.”
The rest of the Marines scanned the display and each committed the map to memory.
“Ok, we know where we’re going. Let’s move out,” said Kevin.
He strode to the door, weapon ready. The rest of the Marines followed. They formed two groups, flanking the door on both sides. They were going to make it. They had to make it. One way or another they were going to get off this rock. Kevin tried hard to believe it. But the defense grid. How do we get past the defense grid? The thought tormented him. He couldn’t answer the question, but he had to stay positive. His men couldn’t see any doubt.
Henderson touched a panel on the wall, opening the door. Burke and Daniels checked the corridor and sounded all clear. The rest of the Marines flowed out of the room. They moved steadily down the hallway in the direction of the exit. They held Singh in the middle of the group, ensuring he couldn’t escape.
They didn’t encounter much resistance. A lucky break. It was obvious that most were preoccupied with the larger battle taking place. They reached a junction where the corridor branched left and right. They needed to go left for the exit. The troopers lined up against the wall. Burke swept his weapon slowly around the corner, scanning for any opposition. He was answered with a salvo of red energy bursts, forcing him back behind the wall.
Leaning against the wall he said, “There’s at least four Kemmar back there. They’re wide open. No cover.”
Burke stuck his weapon out and fired a couple of quick bursts.
“A grenade would be nice right now,” said Burke.
Daniels crouched beside Burke and added fire. The shots coming from the Kemmar paused slightly each time Burke and Daniels fired. Patel and Johns took advantage of this and joined in. The fact that the Kemmar had no cover handicapped them. Their fire started to slow, as the Marines picked them off.
Soon there were larger gaps in the rate of return fire. With the four Marines laying down covering fire, Reynolds and Krukov ran into the corridor. Two Kemmar had already been killed and now the charging Marines took out the other two.
“All clear,” said Reynolds. The rest of the Marines came around the corner and rushed down the long corridor. They stripped the Kemmar corpses of their weapons, adding more firepower to their team.
The larger battle raged, louder now as they got closer to the exit. The pain in Kevin’s side got stronger and made him short of breath. He didn’t know who the Kemmar were fighting, but for now he decided that the enemy of his enemy was his friend. He had expected more opposition to their escape. Whoever attacked the prison did them a great favor. Most of the Kemmar they would’ve faced were surely now engaged in the larger battle.
Not surprisingly, they didn’t encounter anymore resistance to their escape. They had almost made it to the exit and Kevin knew the large atrium at the front of the building lay up ahead. The sound of battle was almost deafening. He ordered the Marines to stop their advance, unsure of what they were about to face.
He turned to his men. “Our first objective is escape. Remember that. Whatever we find out there, we take out the Kemmar first.”
All the Marines nodded.
“Daniels, Burke, you’re on recon.”
“Yes, Sir.”
The two Marines crept down the corridor while Kevin and the others waited.
Kevin looked over at Singh who was talking to himself again. What did it take for someone to snap like that? Would that be him one day? Would he see one thing too many? He’d already seen plenty, and he still held it together. Maybe that’s what made him a Marine? He looked at the rest of his men. All were pretty beat up, but none of them looked like they were going to break. He felt privileged to be fighting alongside them.
The sound of boots caught Kevin’s attention. Burke and Daniels were rushing back.
“Looks like at least a hundred Kemmar, half are wearing combat suits,” said Daniels. “They’re dug in behind some barricades. If we attacked we’d have their backs.”
“Who are they fighting?”
“Couldn’t see them, but whoever it is they’re hitting the atrium hard. The Kemmar look like they’re barely hanging on.”
Kevin knew they wouldn’t get a better opportunity. They were outnumbered, but they had the element of surprise.
“Okay, we’re going in,” said Kevin. “Fast and silent. We get behind them and put them in a crossfire.”
“Oorah,” said the Marines in unison.
“We don’t know who they’re fighting. With any luck they’ll appreciate our help. But we need to keep our guard up in case they do
n’t.”
Kevin looked around, all the men nodded their agreement.
“Hold your fire until we all get in behind them. Move out.”
They crept down the corridor and silently entered the atrium, spreading out behind the Kemmar line. The Kemmar were focused on the enemy in front of them and the roar of the firefight ensured they didn’t hear the Marines. Kevin leveled his weapon and took aim at the back of an enemy skull, held up his hand, and gave the signal to open fire.
The Marines unleashed a storm of red lightning. Almost half the enemy line collapsed under the weight of the attack. The Marines continued to fire relentlessly, their rage insatiable. They first targeted the ones not wearing combat suits, which was easy enough. Now came the hard part. The rest wore armor and the energy fire didn’t drop them as easily. They would have to weaken the suits first before their fire had any effect.
Many Kemmar turned to fire at the Marines now, and quickly picked off several troopers.
“Focus your fire on the ones facing us,” ordered Kevin.
The tactic worked. Many of the Kemmar had to stay focused on the attackers in front of them and couldn’t turn their attention to their rear. The Marines concentrated their fire on the direct threats, weakening their combat suits at an accelerated rate until finally destroying them.
Several of the Marines who didn’t have energy weapons charged towards the fallen Kemmar, seizing their weapons and attacking from the Kemmar flanks.
Confusion swept through the enemy line allowing their attackers to also advance. Moving with speed and ferocity, armored soldiers leaped over the barricade, shredding the Kemmar combat suits with railgun fire. As the line fell apart, more attackers sailed over the barricade and closed with the enemy.
Between the armored attack from the front, and the Marine attack from the rear, the Kemmar didn’t have a chance. The battle soon turned into a mop up, with the armored attackers finishing off what was left.
Kevin had been so focused on the Kemmar that he didn’t pay attention to the attacking force. He was just grateful that they advanced when they did, or he might have lost more men. That gratitude disappeared now that he had a better look at the attackers. It was the insignia on their combat suits that filled his veins with ice. One he had encountered in battle before.
The Pike Chronicles - Books 1 - 10 Page 30