Strand_Delarus

by Don Chase

  “Copy that Delarus hold one,” Morris said. “They want to know if they should launch Charlie squad.”

  “NO! Tell them not to launch any kind of assault on that ship. From what I could tell aggressive measures is what got my squad destroyed; if they’re going to launch Charlie it should be to go get help, not that they’ll be anything left to help if that ship opens up on the station.” He could see Morris nodding in his cockpit as he relayed the message.

  “Let’s get them out of their ships and over to the shuttle while they figure the rest of this out,” Morris’ wingman said to the rest of the squad.

  Jax heard and felt the small thud of the anchoring line attaching to the side of his ship. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Argun standing in the open side hatch of the shuttle as the door winch began pulling the two ships closer together. “You need to get back to the station,” he said to Morris.

  “That isn’t going to happen boss, sorry. I’ll send back two, four and six, but the rest of us are staying here to make sure that ship doesn’t come back. You said the fighters would be useless anyway.”

  “True,” Jax said. He sat quietly and thought for a minute. “The closest planet is Denbarton isn’t it?”

  “Yeah it’s a few hours away but the fighters could get there if they had to,” Morris said.

  “Oh I’m pretty sure they have to. I think that thing is heading for Delarus but if I’m wrong then Denbarton is the next closest inhabited place.” Jax pushed the emergency lever just below the sill of his cockpit and the clear windows floated up and away. He slid himself out of the cockpit and held onto the edge of it as he floated toward the poly fiber cable that attached him to the shuttle.

  “Okay it’s settled then, two four and six will head to Denbarton to give them a heads up. The rest of us will wait here and go back to the station with you,” Morris said.

  Once Jax had a hold of the life line, he undid the tether to his own ship and hooked it onto the line. He turned so he could see the shuttle out of the visor of his helmet and gave Argun a thumb up. Slowly, the older pilot worked his way hand over hand until he also was standing in the side door of the shuttle. Jax watched as Argun released the anchor line and returned to the cockpit to get the shuttle closer to Karn’s ship, or what was left of it, so that they could repeat the process.

  “Alright boys, looks like we’re going on a nice long trip. I have the coordinates for Denbarton all locked in and sent over to your navigation computers. I hope you both brought snacks,” two said as the three fighters slid away from the group and raised their thrusters to full power before disappearing into the distance.

  “You three stay at Denbarton. I’ll have the station radio you, once we get the all clear. Fly safe,” Morris said.

  “Happy hunting guys,” two replied.

  “Sir I have Commander Morris for you,” Talis said over his shoulder to Station Chief Rihn who was sitting on the dais behind him.

  Rihn tapped the control pad on the arm of his chair and spoke quickly, “I take it you found the beacon?” He slumped back in his chair as he waited for the response to the deep space transmission.

  Ten seconds later he heard Morris in his ear. “I did, amazingly enough, I found our friend Jax alive and well too.

  “Why am I not talking to him then?” Rihn asked.

  “His long range comms are out sir and the recovery team is getting him out of his ship now.”

  “But he’s okay?”

  “He and Karn are fine, both of their ships are disabled but they’re alive,” Morris said.

  “Where’s the rest of his squad?”

  “Gone sir.”

  Rihn sat in stunned silence for a moment as he tried to digest the news. “And the ship?” he asked quietly.

  “The ship is what got them sir. It plowed right through them and their ordinance from what Jax is saying.”

  “The ship isn’t destroyed?” Rihn asked.

  “No sir I still have it on scanners, it’s about fifteen minutes out,” Talis said.

  “So how are you planning on stopping it?” Rihn asked Morris.

  “I’m not planning on stopping it. It tore through one squadron killing anyone that fired on it, I highly doubt our squad would fare any better Rihn.”

  “So what’re we supposed to do?”

  “No idea, even if we wanted to intercept it, we’d never beat it to the station. You may want to put in a call to the GF or local militia before it gets there. It is possible that it turns or just bypasses you all together,” Morris said trying to sound hopeful.

  “You think so?” Rihn asked.

  “No, not really,” Morris said flatly.

  “We could evacuate the station,” Talis said.

  “There’s no way we have enough time to do that,” Rihn said shaking his head.

  “We’re heading back to the station now,” Morris said.

  “What good is that going to do?” Rihn asked.

  “Probably not much, but it seemed like a nicer thing to do than running away. I sent half my squad to Denbarton to ask them for help or warn them, whichever comes first.”

  “I don’t see that helping much either,” Rihn said with a sigh.

  “Probably not but it was all we could come up with. Get that distress call out to the militias and the GF and whatever you do don’t make any aggressive moves toward that ship, or it’ll tear you apart too. We’ll be back as soon as we can and hopefully the station is still in one piece,” Morris said before cutting transmission to Delarus station.

  Chapter 5

  Rihn sat and tapped his fingers on the arm of his chair nervously. Corgan had put out a call to both the GF and the local militia but had not actually made contact with either. He listened as Talis updated him every minute or two on the location of the incoming ship. He found that he was chewing on his bottom lip and stood. He paced as Talis continued his countdown.

  “Sir the ship is one minute out and appears to be starting to slow down,” Talis said.

  “So much for them passing us by,” Rihn mumbled.

  “They are definitely slowing down. They seem to be circling the station in a close orbit.”

  “Great they’re looking for somewhere to park,” Rihn said. “Make sure all hangars are closed and sealed.”

  “They are sir,” Talis said.

  “Looks like they’ve stopped.”

  “Stopped circling?”

  “Yes sir they are at a complete stop.”

  “Where, can you put it up on the monitor?” Rihn asked.

  “Aye sir,” Talis said. As the monitor changed view they got their first glimpse of the unknown ship. It was almost as black as the deep space it flew in and was smooth and sleek. Rihn couldn’t see any seams for where the hull was put together like on normal ships. It looked as if the ship had been grown instead of assembled. It had no distinguishing marks or running lights. From the quick look he had gotten he also hadn’t seen anything resembling a weapons array but knew that they indeed had them from Morris’ reports.

  Rihn slid back into his seat and tapped the communication key. “Morris they’re here,” he found that he was whispering like a frightened child.

  “Well you’re still alive so that’s a plus,” Morris replied.

  “How far out are you?”

  “We’re more than half way home.”

  “ETA?” Rihn asked.

  “Five minutes or so if we ride our afterburners the whole way.”

  “Hopefully we’re still here when you get back.”

  “Copy that,” Morris answered.

  “Sir whatever they were doing they’re done,” Talis said.

  “They’re leaving?” Rihn asked almost jumping out of his chair.

  “Not at all, it looks like they stopped there and extended some sort of airlock.”

  “Oh seven bloody hells,” Rihn said.

  “They seem to be initiating a hard seal,” Talis said. He paused staring at his console.

  Rihn sat at
the edge of his chair waiting for Talis to continue. “AND?” he finally asked.

  “And nothing sir, they achieved a hard seal and that’s it. I’ve checked and run scans, I don’t see any activity in the airlock nor do I have any life signs in that area at all,” Talis said shrugging.

  “So they’re just sitting they’re doing nothing?”

  “It does appear that way sir.”

  “Bloody Hells!” Rihn said pounding his fist on his command chair.

  Marcus heard a loud booming noise and felt the maintenance shaft that he was climbing down sway slightly. “What was that?” he asked out loud.

  “What was what?” Olivia asked over the comm.

  “You didn’t hear or feel that?”

  “Nope, but it could have been anything,” she said. “Don’t worry about it, you’re almost there.

  “I know, I know,” he said as he shook his head. He pulled his feet off the rung and slid down the last ten feet or so. He dropped softly onto the floor of the round room. “Lights,” he said and the room illuminated. He found the small panel marked AC 1-11 and pulled it open. Prying off the control switch he looked behind it and grunted as he saw the loose connection. Pulling the panel off more, he popped open the clamp and slid the wire in further before reconnecting the clamp to hold it firmly in place. With a smile he refitted the panel, flipped the switch and closed the panel. “Air circulator should be all set now.”

  “You are good hon,” Olivia said.

  He felt himself blush a bit and said, “It was just a loose wire.”

  “Uh huh, head over to section 36-14 they’re having a problem with the day/night regulators.”

  “I’m on it,” Marcus said as he climbed up the ladder. He reached the top and stepped across the small room, opened the door and slid out into the well lit corridor. He was across the station from where his next job was located. He jogged down the long corridor to one of the plexi steel windows and looked outside into the depth of space. “Wow,” he said as he saw the large ship sitting next to the station.

  “You left your mic on,” he heard Olivia say in his ear.

  “There is a ship outside,” he said, not caring about his mistake.

  “We are a mining station, ships do come and go,” she replied.

  “No, this isn’t a mining ship and it’s not going to the reprocessing dock.”

  “What’s it doing then?”

  “It’s just sitting next to the station right now. It must be the thud I heard.”

  “You heard a thud?” Olivia asked.

  “Yeah that’s what I asked you if you felt that.”

  “You felt it too?”

  “Yeah why?”

  “That means the ship probably isn’t sitting next to the station, it’s probably up against the station.”

  “Did it run into us?” Marcus asked.

  “Where is it?”

  “It’s down a few levels from me, but right under the windows here.”

  “Hold on a minute and lemme check something,” Olivia said. She went quiet and Marcus stared at the sleek black ship. He loved ships and studied them but he had never seen anything like this and wondered if it was a prototype GF covert operations cruiser. He had heard about them but had never seen one.

  “Hmm according to the station maps there isn’t an airlock or anything else nearby,” Olivia said.

  “So what are they doing?” Marcus asked.

  “No idea kiddo but we obviously have company.”

  “That seems weird.”

  “It does but I’m sure it’s nothing. I do know that those day/night regulators aren’t gonna fix themselves so hop to it,” Olivia said chiding him.

  “Yeah yeah I’m on it,” he said still staring the ship for almost anther minute before turning to make his way across the station.

  The door opened on the retriever shuttle and Jax and Karn were down the ramp before it finished extending. Jax jogged over to the weapons locker and quickly pulled out two assault rifles and spare ammunition that he shoved into the side pockets of his flight suit. Morris took the second rifle and slid in a magazine before checking the safety. “Let’s go,” Jax said as he walked toward the hangar door.

  “Where to?” Karn asked.

  “Up to see Rihn. It’s far too quiet and I wanna know why.”

  The elevator doors were closing as they heard Morris yelling for them to hold up. He had slung a rifle over his shoulder and was hopping along trying to shove a pistol into the small of his back. Jax held the door open as the pilot scurried in next to him. “You’re not gonna leave me here to sit and wonder,” Morris said as the lift started to move.

  “Wouldn’t dream of it,” Jax said with a grin.

  The elevator stopped a couple times on their way up to the command center and the three men received some curious looks from the civilians who rarely ever saw armed men wandering around the sleepy station. “They have no idea do they?” Karn asked as they stepped out into the hallway of the upper level of the station.

  “Not yet,” Morris answered.

  “They will if whoever is on that ship decides to kick open a hole,” Jax said as he stepped in front of the door to the command center, it slid open with a soft hiss.

  “Talis why is my security chief not up here yet and why do I not see half a dozen men standing outside that airlock?” Station Chief Rihn asked as he stood at the railing of the command dais.

  “No idea sir, I’m checking on it now,” Talis said.

  “Thank you,” Rihn said before he gave a heavy sigh and turned to see the three pilots coming toward him. “Good you’re back and safe.” He held out a hand and gave Jax a firm handshake.

  “I wasn’t sure we were going to have anything to come back to,” Jax said as he folded his arms across his chest. “What’s it look like?”

  “It looks like they haven’t done a thing since they got a hard seal on that airlock they attached to the hull,” Rihn said.

  “So they’re just sitting there?” Karn asked.

  “It looks that way. Security chief Graunt is on his way up now… hopefully.”

  “He is sir,” Talis interjected after hearing his boss’ angry tone.

  “Has he sent down a security team yet?” Jax asked.

  “I have,” Jax heard from behind him. “Sorry I’m late. I was making sure they had all the gear they could need.” Graunt was a tall man with wide shoulders. He was sporting a goatee that was flecked with grey and his usually jovial feature looked abnormally worried today.

  “I’m just glad you’re here,” Rihn said.

  “Sir I have activity in the airlock attached to the station,” Talis said.

  “What are they doing?”

  “I’m not sure sir, but the heat signatures just spiked.”

  “How long before my team is there?” Graunt asked.

  “They just got on the elevator so maybe two minutes or so,” Talis replied.

  “You only sent the one team?” Jax asked the security chief.

  “The other two are on standby.”

  “You may wanna bring them up as well.”

  “Do I tell you how to fly your fighter?”

  “If what is inside that ship is as destructive as the ship was, you’re gonna want to send up the other two teams,” Jax said trying to stay calm.

  “True,” Graunt spoke quietly into his headset before returning his attention to the screen.

  “Sir we have smoke coming from the hallway,” Talis said.

  “We have a fire?” Rihn asked.

  “No sir just smoke. I’d guess they’re trying to burn their way through the hull. It would explain the huge heat signature.”

  “How long before that security team gets there?” Rihn asked his eyes wide with worry.

  “I’m not sure it seems the lift has stopped a couple times.”

  “I don’t think they’re going to make it,” Morris said quietly as he stared at the monitor. The smoke was increasing and there was a circular patter
n beginning to emerge on the wall of the hull.

  They watched as the large circle was completed. There was an extended moment when everything was still. They all stared at the monitor in the control room waiting, dreading what happened next.

  The makeshift hatch that had been cut out of the hull of the ship blasted across the hall and crumpled as it hit the wall across from it. Before they could even finish jumping in surprise, a dozen men flooded out of the airlock and into the hall.

  Men may not have been the appropriate term. As Rihn and the others watched in fear, they noticed that whatever was coming off the ship were larger than normal humans, hulking and covered in rags and piecemeal armor. There was no cohesion to their exodus, some went left and others turned right.

  Security chief Graunt was the first to act. He shoved past Rihn and slid into the command chair on the dais. He tapped frantically at the control pad and finally slapped his open palm down on it. There was a keen wailing sound and red lights began to strobe in the command center. He had set off the station wide alarm. “Where’s my teams?” he yelled over the noise.

  “Coming off the lift now,” Talis answered.

  Rihn nudged Graunt and the tall man gave up the chair. Rihn sat down and tapped at the control pad again and the sirens stopped blaring in the control center. They could be heard out in the hall through the metal doors. “That’s better,” he said.

  “Red team you have clearance to open fire on contact. I say again you have the ‘all clear’ to open fire on contact. We have been breached and there are many unfriendlies in your immediate vicinity.”

  “We should go,” Morris said quietly to Jax.

  “No one is going anywhere,” Rihn said, overhearing his pilots comment.

  “He’s right, we should be down in the hangar getting our squad together,” Jax said.

  “To do what, they’re already inside,” Rihn said.

  “To arm them and oversee an evacuation if we need to.”

  Rihn thought about it for a moment before nodding. “You’re right, keep me updated and be careful. We have no idea where they are at the moment.”

  “Will do,” Jax said with a nod as the three pilots jogged out of the command center.