by John Walker
“Aim at the Alliance ship,” Shelly said. “Hit your throttle then bail out.”
“Done…”
Meagan glanced over her shoulder in time to see his life pod eject from the ship as it rocketed toward its destination. Cannons took some shots at it but they missed and a moment later, it splashed against their shields. When the pulse engine ignited, the explosion made Meagan wince and look away for a moment.
Readings indicated the shields weakened, giving them a better chance to damage the drone control center. “Get a good missile lock people,” Meagan called. “We don’t want to waste that resource.”
They blanketed open space with projectiles and Meagan fired a few pulse blasts for good measure. As the last of her missiles left her craft, she spun around and dove, getting out of the firing arc of the turrets. The rest of her wing joined her, plunging away from the battleship and putting some distance between them and the explosion.
“We have to get David!” Shelly said. “He’s closest to me, I’m on it.”
“Tractor him back,” Meagan said. “We’ll cover you as best we can.”
The missiles found their target. The first few made the shield light up but the firepower overwhelmed the defenses in that one area, enough so that the surface of the ship took some serious concussion damage. Something flashed on the battleship and a moment later, Tiger One crackled over their speakers.
“The drones stopped moving! You did it!”
“For now,” Meagan said. “They can regain control so wipe them out as quickly as you can.”
She looked back toward the Behemoth and watched several small explosions dot the horizon. Tiger Wing and the rest of Panther mopped up the final drones floating there lifeless in space. Shelly joined them, David’s life pod following behind her. Meagan ran a quick scan and found a life sign and her shoulders relaxed.
“No response to hails,” Shelly said, “but he’s still alive in there.”
“Ejecting at that velocity would’ve knocked anyone out,” Mick said. “Let’s get him to medical right away.”
“Before they launch some real fighters,” Meagan replied, “though I’d be happy to take them on after this nonsense. Drone flying cowards.”
“You might get your wish,” Giant control announced. “But for now, they seem to be standing down. All pilots, begin your rearm cycle. We might be in for a long night.”
Chapter 6
Captain William Hoffner stood at the back of the drop ship as it lumbered toward the mining facility. His men, all armored up and ready for action, seemed unusually calm before this action. Normally, they got boisterous before a mission but today, they seemed almost placid. It didn’t help they’d been on standby for the last thirty minutes.
“You guys okay with this?” Hoffner called out. “You sound like you’re napping.”
They shouted in unison and stamped a foot. Hoffner grinned. “That’s better.” They went over the recent intel and knew they were up against thirty-six pirates. Twelve heavily armed marines seemed more than sufficient to take them down and no one on board displayed an ounce of concern over the numbers.
Unarmored personnel against them would have a bad day.
Their weapons were loaded with special ceramic rounds designed specifically not to penetrate the hull of the facility. They’d certainly do a number on a human body though, to the tune of blowing out organs and taking off limbs with decent aim. Alliance tended to use beam weapons but the Earth soldiers kept to their projectiles.
The security guard contact aboard the facility gave them a good place to dock in one of the subsections, a place where visual would be impossible from the upper decks. They’d get aboard as quietly as possible and may even gain the element of surprise. Attacking the pirates when they least expected it would make short work of those men who were set to guard the hostages.
Then we take the command center.
When Hoffner heard about the bombs, he found the complication annoying but not out of hand. He had plenty of demolitions experts on his team and they could easily disarm the ordinance. It did speed up their timeline though. They needed to clear up the explosives before shooting or the criminals might blow the station in desperation.
Depending on where their leaders were, he wouldn’t put it past them to sacrifice a few lackeys. Which led him to the next problem after the station: the battleship.
Another drop ship floated around out there waiting for a chance to board the cruiser. There was no way to know how many people were on that thing until Clea got into their systems properly. He didn’t know how long it would take her but after she worked with him at the research facility, he had a lot of faith.
Still, his objective remained the facility so he tried to put the ship out of his mind. When they docked, they’d be nonstop busy but for the moment, he enjoyed the peace and quiet of a final approach. The pilot announced that they were less than five minutes out. Three hundred seconds to action…Here we go.
***
Clea worked feverishly when the pilots attacked the Alliance ship. When the shields flared from the fighter crashing into the surface of the vessel, she tried to gain access during the fluctuation. She didn’t gain control but did manage to download a log file with all the system changes in the last month.
Better that than nothing, I guess. At least I can see what they did to our ship.
Someone, an actual computer specialist, had gone through and performed some heavy modifications to the programming. The safety codes, the ones Clea hoped to use to gain computer access, had not only been changed but completely abolished. There were no back doors anymore, just the front end…or at least, that’s what the programmer wanted her to believe.
During her search, she found a single line mentioning his back end login, the place where he made all his changes from. Scrutinizing what little code she managed to get, she saw that he’d basically modified the back door then masked it to suggest he closed it up. Clever…but there’s always evidence.
“Olly,” Clea approached. “This guy knew computers but he seemed to think we wouldn’t. I’ve found his backdoor. I need you to send me the Protocol Seven code.”
Olly sat up straight. “I see what you want to do. That’s…kinda brilliant.”
“Thank you,” Clea turned back to her tablet. “I’ll need you to do a code check when I’m done. When I’m done, we should be able to hack their system while leaving the shields up…which should then take them completely by surprise when we start shutting systems down.”
She tapped away, inserting the Protocol Seven code so that it would gently penetrate the shields, inserting her control code. Once she implanted her program, it would respond to her commands even through the defenses. It would be as if she sat behind one of their consoles with a mild delay.
Clea finished it up and sent it over to Olly, then turned to Gray. “Captain, I believe I’ll have control of the Alliance ship shortly. However, they will have the opportunity to stop my attempt if they’re very on it.”
“I suspect you’re about to ask me for something?”
“Yes…I would like you to attack the ship. A simple engagement will do. Once you hit them a few times, they should be too distracted to notice my subtle computer attack. After that, I’ll shut down their weapons and the marines can do their thing.”
“Easy enough.” Gray turned to Adam. “You heard the lady. On her mark, we attack.”
“Fighters?” Adam asked. “Or just us?”
“Just us, I think,” Gray said. “No need to risk pilots on those turrets but keep them out there in case they launch fighters. My thought is they’ll try to stop any boarding party and we’ll need our ships to run screens.”
“I just received a report from Marshall,” Adam said. “The marines are about to board.”
“Great. Have them keep us informed of their progress as they can. I’m pretty sure they’re going to be swamped once they get in there.”
Clea smiled. “At least we’re gett
ing somewhere, right?”
“Absolutely,” Gray said. “We’ll take possession of both inside the next few hours. However, I’m still worried about the pirate’s ship. Not the battlecruiser but they have to have a freighter, something they were flying around in before they commandeered that one.”
“Probably what they’ll try to escape in,” Adam said. “Olly, can you find it?”
“If it’s attached to the station, that’s going to be tough.” Olly hummed. “I’ll try some things though, sir. Give me a minute…shouldn’t take long.”
***
Jordan stood up and slapped the computer console, cursing loudly.
Rathe glanced over his shoulder, brow furrowed. “What the hell? You got a problem?”
“Yeah, we didn’t find Thantis yet but while our guys were scanning for him, we found a hot security station.” Jordan shook his head. “Some prick is down there sending messages out from the station!”
Rathe sighed, rubbing his eyes. “Please tell me you’re joking.”
“You think I’d kid around about this? God knows what kind of information he’s transmitted! We’re probably screwed!”
“Settle down,” Rathe said. “Just…get the guy and we’ll find out what he gave them. It’s no big deal, just send our guys down there. Hell, maybe he knows where Thantis is.”
“Yeah, I’m sending some people alright. They’re already on the same level so it shouldn’t take long.”
“Great,” Rathe replied. “Just don’t kill him. We need him alive, right?”
“Alive.” Jordan nodded. “But not necessarily in one piece. Don’t worry. We’ll get him.”
***
Ander watched his scanner, waiting for the Earth soldiers to get close enough for a subtle communication, something which wouldn’t get picked up by the pirates. The few minutes it took drove him crazy and sweat formed on his face and his nerves made him tap his foot. When they came into range, he sent them a hail.
The pilot replied.
“This is Crate One responding. Who is this?”
“This is Ander Yin’Dran, facility security forces! I’m the guy who’s trying to get you on board.”
“Let me patch you through to Captain Hoffner.” A moment passed and he heard a click in his ear.
“This is Captain Hoffner. You’re the local contact?”
“I am!” Ander replied. “Thank you for taking my call! I see you received my message about where to dock.”
“We should be there shortly,” Hoffner replied. “Are you going to be ready to open the airlock?”
“I’ll head out in just a moment but it’s just around the corner. I’ll have you board on the same level I’ve been hiding out. We can get just about anywhere from here…with some effort.”
“Perfect. You get us on board, show us around and we’ll treat your home as respectfully as possible. I look forward to meeting you in person.”
“You too.” Ander stood, prepared to leave. “Yin’Dran out!” He killed their connection and bolted out the door…
…very nearly running into an armed man. He wore a ratty vest, a dirty gray sweater and cargo pants tucked into low boots. Ander hesitated for only a moment as they made eye contact. The pirate took a step backward and shouted, “I found the source of the signal! He’s over here!”
Ander lashed out and grabbed the man’s gun, turning it away from him. The weapon fired, the barrel searing his hands as the energy bolt splashed harmlessly off the hull. He didn’t let go, weathering the pain as he threw a kick, connecting with the man’s groin. The pirate cried out and crumpled to the ground, letting his weapon go.
Several people began running in their direction, their boots hammering the floor. Ander turned and ran for the airlock to let the soldiers in, sprinting as fast as his legs would carry him. He heard the guy he knocked down shouting for his buddies to chase after him, crying out that they needed to hurry.
Ander arrived at the airlock and peered out. Two windows, one on each door, provided a good view of the outside. He saw the drop ship approaching, closing in to link up with the facility. He turned his attention to the hallway and fired several shots at where the men were about to be. The energy blasts splashed into the walls, letting his pursuers know he meant business.
Someone returned fire and Ander ducked, pressing himself against the wall as tightly as possible. Making himself a smaller target helped but the criminals had more firepower. He counted at least four weapons firing at him. How did they find me? Damn it!
The floor trembled, just a vibration as the drop ship connected with the facility. Ander risked a look at the control panel and saw that the seal was firming up. It needed twenty seconds to be ready for the doors to open. That’s a lifetime! If they decide to charge me, this is over!
“Someone’s docking!” A pirate shouted. “Is he at an airlock?”
“Stay back!” Ander shouted. “If you come around the corner, you’re dead! I swear to the Fates, I’ll blast you down one at a time if I have to!”
“He’s bluffing! Let’s rush him!” One of the pirates bolted out and Ander fired, hitting him square in the chest. The man screamed, flopped on the ground and expired a moment later, a couple twitches heralding the end of his life.
“Want to test me again?” The timer counted down to five. Almost there!
“There has to be a way around him,” someone else shouted. “Get over there and flank him!”
The airlock chimed, indicating the seal was complete. Ander reached up and slapped the button to open it up another countdown started. This one started at ten but it still made him groan. He heard footsteps off to his right. If he remembered the area correctly, they needed to sprint to get to the other side in less than two minutes.
Regardless, he’d be cutting it close and he had no way to warn the soldiers what they were walking into. Worse, he had to survive the next several minutes. There were too many little things the men needed to know before they started their campaign to free the station. Ander aimed his weapon the opposite direction of where he shot the first man.
“We’re in position!” Someone yelled.
“Give it up, security man!” The first guy called out. “We’ve got you surrounded and you don’t have to die today!”
“If you want me, come get me!” The doors began to open. Fates, I’m really hoping you’re on my side here.
Pirates advanced.
Ander took aim and silently said a prayer.
A criminal poked his head around the corner. Just as Ander planned to fire, another blast went off and struck his weapon, tossing it from his hands. He scrambled to draw his pistol when three people shouted at the same time, something to the tune of don’t do it! He instead lifted his hands over his head…
And chaos broke loose.
Quick bursts of gunfire barked from the airlock and two of the pirates danced like fish out of water them dropped to the ground. A major firefight broke out with Ander ducking low and making himself small. People started shouting and screaming but though it seemed to go on forever, the entire situation must’ve lasted less than thirty seconds.
Someone started running off and a couple of the soldiers pursued. Ander looked up into the barrels of multiple guns, the armored carriers each wearing the same faceless helmet.
“I’m Ander Yin’Dran,” he said quickly. “Please don’t shoot!”
“Stand down,” another man stepped forward, tapping his helmet so the face rose. He was definitely human, a rugged looking sort. He offered Ander a hand. “I’m Captain Hoffner. Looks like we showed up just in time.”
“I have no idea how they found me,” Ander replied as he stood. “But they were hellbent on taking me alive.”
“Probably to find out what you’ve seen and who you’ve talked to.” Hoffner turned as the men returned dragging two bodies. “They didn’t get far.”
“They were nearly at the elevator when we got a good shot.”
“Looks like we’re down to thirty-o
ne.” Hoffner glanced at Ander. “So what’s our top priority?”
“I don’t know,” Ander replied. “On one hand, I’d say clearing out the rest of the pirates and rescuing the hostages. However, we’ve got another problem too. Those bombs…they’ve been planted and I have no idea how long we’ve got to take care of them. Interestingly enough, they haven’t been loading Ulem onto their ship.”
“Why not?”
“The automatic loaders are down. Our people sabotaged them.”
Hoffner grinned. “Detaining them here. Good thinking…for the product at least. But these bombs, they must be planning to cover their tracks though I’m surprised they’d want to kill their cash cow.”
“If they got away with enough Ulem,” Ander replied, “they wouldn’t need a cash cow for a long time. Even the most extravagant spender would probably be good for life.”
Hoffner nodded. “I see. Okay, so we have to preserve the station by taking care of those bombs. How many are there?”
Ander sighed. “I don’t know…I couldn’t get into the room. It’s the reactor area and though there are access tunnels, they’re pretty small. The main doors are huge to allow for parts and such to get in but those are sealed.”
“Do you think they can be opened from the command center?”
“Absolutely.” Ander nodded emphatically. “If we took that back, we’d have control of all the doors. Even the little security centers throughout the station don’t have as much control.”
“Okay, so we’ll have to come back to those and hope they don’t detonate until we can get in.” Hoffner turned to the other marines. “We’re going to need to clear this place along the way so be ready. I’m thinking the elevator is probably off limits so get ready for ladders.” He turned to Ander. “Assuming access points are ladders?”
“Yes, I can get us to the promenade which has a direct connection to the command center.” Ander gestured. “Just follow me but um…be warned. It’s a longer climb than I anticipated the last time.”