by Geoff North
Tor was back inside the storage compartment, retrieving his weapons. “Maybe the Pegan ground forces aren’t all that strong. I’ve seen them in person, Boss. Ugly grey bastards, but weak-looking. I doubt they’ll put up much resistance face to face.” He placed a side cannon into his belt holster and took hold of a bigger rifle with both hands. “Assemble the rescue force. Let’s go get Hadar.”
Fifty of them set out from the ships, advancing on foot through grass and flowers towards the single building set in the clearing’s center a kilometer away. Wez was right, Tor thought. It was strange. The Pegans were holding a valuable prisoner here, but there was no sign of the location being defendable. There were no security walls or fences surrounding the structure, no guard towers or automated weapons. This feels wrong.
Tor looked back over both shoulders. He was at the point of a wide arrowhead-shaped formation of soldiers that was spread out across seventy meters. If he was leading them into a trap, they would need even more distance between them. Tor paused and spoke into his helmet mic. “Let’s break into four groups, get people on every side of the building. Sky units—discontinue your grid overpasses, I want you to start circling the facility. Blast anything moving that isn’t human.”
He waited another minute for the three fighters to return and begin their kilometer-high rotation around the structure’s perimeter. Tor motioned his soldiers forward. They split off into their groupings and surrounded the building. It’s not a building, he thought to himself, aiming his rifle at the single door on his side. Buildings have windows. This one had none. Tor and twelve of his people were standing in the shadow of a massive grey block, twenty meters high and a hundred wide. It’s more like a box. He spoke into his mic again. “What are the rest of you seeing?”
Three soldiers reported in, a single door on each side. Nothing more.
Back off…forget Hadar Cen. Tor ignored the warnings ringing in his head. “We go in on three… two… one.” He pulled the rifle’s trigger and the door exploded inward. Dust settled and smoke cleared. Tor moved towards the jagged opening and slipped through into darkness.
Chapter 45
Shain Agle had been waiting in the observation deck for more than an hour. He’d watched as the last grouping of fighters departed, led by Ambition’s new General, bound for whatever glory or disaster that awaited on the surface of Pega. It didn’t much matter anymore to Agle how it went. Soon his suffering—and everyone else’s—would be over.
The observation lift door opened and closed behind him. “Thank you for meeting me with again,” Agle said.
CS Boo stood next to him. “It’s more convenient than the last place.”
“The time has come, Seginus. I need you to do something for me.”
“I’m aware, sir.”
Shain placed an arm around the smaller man’s shoulders. “I no longer have the security clearance to any of the ships… You’ll need to sign off on one for me.”
“A ship, General? You want to leave Ambition? I was under the impression that you wanted me to… that you needed someone…”
Agle looked down at the side cannon strapped to Boo’s hip. “You came to kill me?”
“Not murder!” Seginus squirmed out from under him. “Assisted suicide. I thought you wanted me to help you die.”
“We’re all going to die, CS.” He pushed a meaty forearm into Boo’s throat and forced him up against the glass. “Sulafat’s lost control of the ship. Ambition’s under the control of monsters from her past. Nothing makes sense anymore.”
“You’re… ch-choking… me,” Boo gasped.
Agle pulled his arm back some, and relieved Seginus of the weapon hanging at his side. “I’m taking the Exodus shuttle out of here, and then I’m flying it right back into the hull of this ship. You’re going to authorize it.”
Boo’s eyes bugged out, even with the pressure against his throat reduced. There were a hundred escape shuttles onboard, all non-weaponized, save one. Exodus had been reserved for Ambition’s highest-ranking command officers in the event of a mass evacuation. It was equipped with a thousand mega-ton yield nuclear warhead. If any Pegan force attempted capturing her, they would most certainly regret it. “I can’t do that, Shain… please don’t ask me to do such a thing.”
Shain Agle placed the barrel end of the side cannon against Boo’s quivering lips. “I’m not asking, Seginus.”
Boo’s entire body had begun to shake uncontrollably. He grabbed onto the barrel and tried forcing it away. Agle pulled down, and the weapon discharged. A blue flash of plasma smacked into the observation window, inches from Seginus’s face. He yelped and pushed Agle back. The side cannon fell to the floor as the two men grappled. It was a short struggle. Agle was almost twice his weight, and the drugs flowing throughout his system were only fueling his already frenzied state. He threw Seginus down and landed on top of him, cracking three of the smaller man’s ribs along the way.
“You’re going to sit in front of the flight requisitions computer,” Agle rasped, his face touching Boo’s, “and you’re going to authorize me use of Exodus, or so Sol help me, I’ll break your neck.” Seginus nodded frantically beneath him. “Good.”
Agle hauled him back up and dragged him to the nearest control console. Boo groaned and sank into the chair. “It hurts, Shain… I can’t breathe.”
“You won’t be in pain much longer.” He grabbed onto the back of Boo’s neck and pushed his face into a computer screen. “Open your goddamned eyes, let the machine complete its retinal scan.”
Seginus drove an elbow into Agle’s crotch. Agle fell to his knees, but kept a solid grip on Boo’s neck. He pounded the man’s forehead into the console once, twice, three times. Boo let out a final throaty gasp and fell still.
“Seginus?” Agle got back up and looked into the man’s lifeless eyes. “Well shit, Boo… it didn’t have to end like this.” He wiped blood away from the cracked monitor and held his dead CS’s head in place, six inches from the screen. “Computer… recognize command officer.”
Nothing happened. Agle took two fat fingers and forced one of Boo’s eyes open wider. The screen lit up, and the computer spoke.
“Military Command Second, Seginus Boo recognized.”
Agle let Boo’s body drop to the floor. He slipped into the chair. “Computer, open shuttle storage bay one and bring Exodus to the floor.”
He could hear the rumble of metal plating sliding open beyond the observation window. Agle stood, cradling his sore genitals. He leaned against the window and tried catching his breath. Exodus had risen from its hidden bay and was waiting for him on the garage floor, three levels below. Shain Agle opened his little bottle and popped the last five pills into his mouth. He stepped over the body of his friend and headed for the lift.
Seginus groaned.
Agle spun around. “Seg?” The CS began to writhe slowly. “Tough little bastard, aren’t you?” He staggered back and hoisted the man up over one shoulder. “And too good of a friend to leave behind.”
Chapter 46
Rastaban shook the Admiral’s hand and wondered if his ancestor was as repulsed at the sight of his distant descendant as he was of him. They were of a similar-looking age, but the man’s white hair and dark eyes seemed to belay a sense of ancient authority that even outgrew the centuries already separating them. Neil Lennix was from a different time, born on a different world. The pictures Rastaban had grown up with couldn’t compare to what it was actually like standing before him. He let off an air of confidence—a powerful, almost menacing presence. Lennix was good-looking, as Rastaban had once been, but a handsome face couldn’t mask the overall feeling of cold control that accompanied it. Vin was right, he was terrifying.
“It’s good to meet you, son,” Lennix said as the other recently revived members of Ambition’s original command structure began clearing out of the room. They all had that cool, self-privileged look to them. The Admiral sat back down at the head of the conference table and motioned Rast
aban to do the same. “I hope you don’t mind me calling you son. A great number of generations may set us apart, but we are still family.”
“You can call me Rastaban, sir, or just Ras if you prefer. That’s what my friends call me.”
“And is this one of your friends, Rastaban?” He nodded once at the young woman still standing.
“My name’s Vin Vir, Admiral. I’m—I was Captain Sulafat’s assistant.”
“Aah, yes… Vin Vir. From sciences. Chort Leo told me about you.” He pointed to the chair next to Rastaban. “Please, sit.” Vin sat. “I’m afraid I have no need for a personal assistant. That position no longer exists. I will expect you to report back to sciences as soon as we’ve finished here.”
Vin could feel the blood rushing into her cheeks. She nodded at Lennix and kept her lips sealed. Nothing pleasant would come out of her mouth if she said another word. Rastaban was the one that needed to do the talking. She prodded him in the ribs with a knuckle.
“Admiral… sir… We’re here on behalf of the Captain. I think there’s been some kind of misunderstanding. Ly Sulafat is a good man, an honorable man.” Rastaban fidgeted nervously in his chair. “He’s been serving as Ambition’s leader since as long as I can remember.”
“And I was its leader centuries before he was born. Get to the point.”
“I don’t think it’s fair—I mean it doesn’t seem right that—,” Rastaban looked up at the lights over his head trying to find the right words. “I… I don’t how to say this—”
“He shouldn’t have been thrown in the goddamned brig!” Vin finished. She could contain herself no longer. “He’s the Captain of this ship, and you’re treating him like a criminal. We’re not asking you to relinquish command, but at least show him some respect and let him free.”
Ambition’s original commander leaned forward, pressing his hands down on the table. “I’m actually surprised this ship has made it this far after so long. We had major concerns at the very beginning that the seventy-year voyage would tax this vessel’s capabilities too far—that the generation or two of following crew members wouldn’t be able to keep their shit together for another six decades. But you did make it to Pega. Somehow you’ve all held it together—we’ve all held it together—for seven centuries. That’s an astounding achievement.”
Vin crossed her arms defiantly over her chest. “What does any of that have to do with the Captain?”
“It has everything to do with him. The military ranking structure on Ambition is almost unrecognizable—Captain now outranks Colonel and Major. Miluns—what the hell is a milun? We called them privates and sergeants back in my day. People have lived so long traveling through the stars they started naming their children after them. Without contact from Earth, change was inevitable, I suppose… militarily, culturally.” Lennix lifted his hand and indicated a one-inch gap between forefinger and thumb. “Ly Sulafat was this close to finally accomplishing what we were sent out here to do—after all those years, all of our struggles—and then the old fool begins peace negotiations with the Pegans.”
“He was trying to secure the release of one of our people,” Vin shot back. “He’d practically won your war for you already.”
“It’s more than a war, young lady, it’s an extermination. I’m here again to see it carried out. Sulafat’s execution may seem extreme, but we have to set an example… We need to remind everyone living onboard Ambition now why we were sent out here in the first place.”
Vin and Rastaban stared at the Admiral in stunned silence. He was joking, he had to be. They waited a few more moments, expecting—hoping—the man to break out into laughter. Lennix didn’t crack a smile. “You’re having Sulafat put to death?” Rastaban asked.
A whistle sounded before Lennix could answer Drac’s question. The Admiral clicked a button on the on the table’s comm-pad. “What is it?”
“The Exodus shuttle, sir,” Weston’s steady voice replied. “It’s just launched into space.”
“Stand by, Major. I’ll be with you shortly.” He ended the communication and stared back at his two visitors. “This is what happens if you don’t have order… Yes, I’m having Ly Sulafat put to death. I’ll have anyone blown out of an airlock if they jeopardize this mission.” He stood and motioned them to the bridge stairway. “Now if you don’t mind,” he placed a hand on Rastaban’s back, “the family reunion will have to wait a little while longer, son. Report to your quarters and remain there, both of you… I have a stolen shuttle to bring back, and after that, a planet to conquer.”
Chapter 47
Agle swung the shuttle around and pointed its nose at Ambition. He’d piloted Exodus more than a hundred kilometers away from the massive vessel, but it was still too close for his liking. “Even this far out isn’t enough,” he muttered to the unconscious form of his CS propped up in the co-pilot’s seat. “Remember what I told you about my father, Seg?” Seginus didn’t reply. “I used to dream about moments like this. Those late nights when I hid in Ambition’s ass-end, I’d imagine I was flying a fighter all by myself to some distant star. It didn’t have to be Pega… it could’ve been any point of light in the sky. So long as I was flying away from him it didn’t matter.”
Seginus made a choking sound, started to cough. Agle reached over and guided the man’s battered head to the side so he could spit blood out. “But I guess we can never run far enough away from our troubles,” Agle continued. “Sooner or later it all catches up and you have to face it like a man.”
The yellow comm light started blinking again. Ambition had been trying to talk to him for the last six minutes, and Agle had ignored the calls. “They’re going to fire on us in another minute or two, Seg. Time to give them our little going away present.”
He slid a depressed console cover open on the shuttle’s main control board and pressed down on the lone button hidden beneath. “Computer, lock nuclear guidance system onto the bridge of Ambition.”
“Target acquired,” the shuttle computer announced.
Agle called out six numbers. “Seven, three, zero, four, seven, zero.” He leaned over and rested his hand on Boo’s arm. “Launch nuke.”
“Unable to comply.”
“What?” Agle straightened up in the pilot’s seat. “Why the hell can’t you comply?”
“Exodus nuclear launch code is incorrect.”
“Incorrect? Those are the right numbers, computer. I update the codes twice a year!”
“Exodus nuclear launch code was updated by Military Command Second Seginus Boo on the order of General Shain Agle. Please enter the correct six-digit code to continue.”
Agle stared uncomprehendingly at his CS. And then he remembered. Standard protocol aboard Ambition required the launch codes of all nuclear weapons be changed every six months, even the one resting in the belly of Exodus. It was the Military General’s responsibility to see it done—a duty he’d handed off occasionally to Seginus. Unfortunately, the latest update had been left for his CS to complete.
He grabbed at Boo’s sleeve and shook him violently. “Wake up! I need the code! Give me the goddamned numbers!”
Seginus’s body slumped sideways and came to a final rest against the arm of the chair. Agle slid his fingers down to the narrow wrist and felt for a pulse. There was none.
An alarm sounded from the control console. The computer spoke again. “Ambition starboard-aft torpedo bays have opened. Missiles in shafts twelve through fifteen charged and trained on Exodus. Evasive maneuvers recommended.”
Agle leaned forward and set the emergency fold drive jump to maximum.
“Try contacting him one more time,” Lennix commanded.
Argus Cor spoke into her mic. “Ambition to Exodus, come in Exodus. You are ordered to power down and return to garage 2 immediately… Exodus, please respond.”
“We can’t let this go on, Admiral,” Major Weston warned from the base of the command dais.
“Are you positive he had final access to the codes?”
“Yes. According to the weapons logs, he updated the codes three and a half weeks ago. We have to destroy that shuttle before he releases the nuke.”
Lennix was just about to give the command when Exodus suddenly vanished from the view screen. The officer at helm-nav called out. “He’s jumped away at fold speed, sir. I’ve locked the shuttle’s coordinates in… preparing to pursue.”
“Don’t bother,” the Admiral sighed. “When we’re finished with the Pegans, we’ll find CS Seginus Boo. There’s nowhere for him to run to out there.”
Chapter 48
The excavation vehicle rumbled to a halt in the tunnel half way to their destination. Hail and Kella settled down further into the broken rocks and waited. Bright lights powered on through the settling dust over their heads. A voice called out, issuing commands in an alien language. The sound of boots running on the ground followed the voice. The vehicle was being surrounded.
“I have a feeling they might know we’re back here,” Kella whispered.
The tailgate dropped, sending them to the ground in a mini avalanche of shattered rock and dirt. Six men stood around the two dressed in filthy coveralls and heavy work boots—the same kinds of clothes Hail and Kella had stolen from the storage lockers.
One of the men poked the brim of his helmet up with a finger and studied them disdainfully. He shook his head and muttered something. The others started to laugh.
“What the hell’s going on?” Hail whispered.
“They don’t know who we really are,” Kella muttered under her breath as the men continued laughing. “Probably think we’re just a couple of lazy workers trying to sleep off a shift.”
“So what do they find so funny about that?” Another thought suddenly occurred to Hail. “Oh. I believe they think we might’ve been up to something else besides sleeping.”