She did her best to translate and Hans slowly lowered himself to the ground. He tapped his reply. “He understands and will do his best to stop any aggression toward the Cabal. He asked what you plan on doing.”
“Tell him we’re still looking into a plan. I’m really not sure what our next step should be, it all depends on what you and the Cabal do. I’d like to head back home with the Cabal and have our system deal with them. I’d also like to take with me some hope that we can have a peace with the Handler’s.”
When she was finished translating she sat back and waited. Hans lifted himself up again, this time slowly and without agitation. He walked up to the Captain. His black eye orb looked deep into the Captain and he tapped his feet a few times. “He said he would like to make another proposal for trust. He asks if you would like to escort him and his ship to the Home world so you can scan it and gather as much data as you need. He can promise that you will be undetectable for a time.”
“And what does he want from us?” She asked.
“He wants you to lead him and his group back to Earth so they can talk to your leaders.”
“He should know I’d never do that,” Captain Cook replied. The chance to scan the planet was tempting, they had no information on the Handler’s home world, but taking any Handler back to Earth would be viewed as insane at best, treasonous at worst. “I can, however, arrange to have our leaders meet you and your group at a secure location.”
Hans tapped a few times and lowered himself to the ground. “He said that is acceptable and he will still take you to the home world for you scans. They can only protect you from detection for a few hours so you’ll need to use that time wisely.”
“I understand,” Captain Cook replied.
Without warning all the lights on the bridge turned red and the klaxon blared. Juliet ran over to her station. “Captain, we’re being bored. The Cabal opened wormholes all over the ship. I detect at least five, no six.”
Should have guessed this would happen, Captain Cook thought. “All stations get ready to repel the intruders. Juliet, go down to the Particle Accelerator room and defend it with your life. That’s what they’re after, they want one of the bullets. If it seems they’ll get one, destroy the ship. Do you understand?”
Juliet swallowed hard, her face turning stone hard and she nodded in agreement.
Chapter fifty- three
Juliet, breathless after her run from the elevator to the Particle Accelerator room, was tossed a rifle by Chief McFerren. “Welcome to the party,” he said with a strange smile.
“What’s our situation?” She asked.
“I have men stationed up and down the corridor and men inside the room. If they want to get a bullet they’ll have to fight their way in here.”
The gun felt odd in Juliet’s hand. She’s had the proper training and she was relying fully on that training as she waited. She had always thought of herself as a pacifist and would only take up arms and fight when all other options had failed. This was one of those times yet she didn’t feel reassured by it.
She felt a tingle in her mind, the nanobots reacting to another set of nanobots nearby. They were getting closer, they would be there shortly. Her heart rate quickened and she found it hard to breathe normally. Then, in front of her and the Chief, a small wormhole started to grow.
“Get inside,” Chief McFerren said. “Tell the crew to get ready for a fight. I’ll alert the others to come down this way.”
Juliet nodded, opened the door and ran into the room. She was met by several dozen rifles pointing at her. She paused and said, “Get ready, they’ll be here very soon. Seal this door, I want it welded shut.”
She wasn’t sure if sealing the door would do any good when an enemy could open a wormhole anywhere on the ship. Unless they didn’t have precise control of where the wormholes would open, that would explain why they needed to open so many of them all over the ship.
When the door closed two men ran up to it and set their rifles for touch. Soon sparks were flying form the door as metal fused with metal. The Chief and his men would be out there alone in the open but he had a bigger group than she did and she needed to delay them entering the room.
From the other side of the door she heard the firefight begin. Energy rifles fired in rapid succession hitting the door with enough energy to rattle it. If it hadn’t been welded the door might have very well fallen off. She heard the Chief give orders, yelling at his men to get down, to watch their backs, to fight even when hurt. She heard him scream, then curse, then she heard nothing from him again.
The fight continued and Juliet knelt down, the rifle pointing toward the door. She closed one eye and looked down the guns sites. Whatever came through she was going to hit. The first shot would be dead on the ones after that, she could only hope her aim would be true.
****
Captain Cook leaned forward in her chair listening to the reports as they blared through her speakers. The Cabal had enough troops onboard to capture the Arwen. She was ready to give the order to destroy the ship but hesitated. They still had a chance, they could still defeat the intruders.
“I don’t get it,” Captain Cook said and looked down at Karla and Hans. “How will destroying the home world accomplish anything?”
“The home world means everything to the Handlers,” Karla replied. “It’s where they’re born, it’s where they go to mate, and it’s where they go to eat. Without the Home world they’ll die.”
“Does the Home world give them their long lives?”
Karla looked at Hans and tapped the floor gently. He tapped back and she looked up. “There is a grub on the Home World which, when the Handler’s eat it, keeps them from aging. They can each store dozens of these grubs inside their shell and they feed off them until they’re gone. It could take thousands of years to digest the grubs. This is also the only place where they can give birth. Any Handler born outside of the Home World has died.”
Without the Home world they’ll die, they won’t be able to reproduce. “How is that possible? They’re so advanced I figured they’d have worked this out.”
“It has something to do with the sun. The sun is old, older than the Handler’s by a few billion years. It’s a very stable sun, one that will not burn out for another billion years. The radiation from the sun, mixed with the air and the soil, is impossible for the Handler’s to duplicate on the Sphere’s. This is the only place where the grubs grow and where the Handlers can give birth. Without both they will become extinct within a few millions year. That’s a long time for you but for them it’ll only be a generation or two.”
I have to protect the Handler’s from extinction. How am I supposed to do that?
From the speakers a familiar voice crackled into existence. “Captain Cook?”
“Arwen?”
“Yes, I have voice! I figured out how to tap into the speaker system, I can talk again!”
“That’s all great but do you have anything to report?”
“Yes, according to my sensors Juliet and her team are trapped inside the Particle accelerator room. The Cabal is outside in full force trying to get in. I’m afraid they’ve killed the Chief and all the crew at his disposal. All in all I found fifteen dead.”
“How long can Juliet hold out?”
“Not much longer.”
“Okay, send more troops down to help. Tell Juliet to hold out as long as she can.”
*****
Juliet watched as the door bend inward, as if a large fist had punched it. The welds barely held and other blow like that would cause them to fail completely. She looked around at the crew holding position. This was an impossible situation and one that was spiraling out of control with each passing second.
The bullets that housed the Strangelets were locked tight. It would take a while for anyone to force the door open. Ships like the Arwen were built with this situation in mind. But, it wasn’t impenetrable and eventually they would find a way to get to them.
&nbs
p; There was another blow to the door and, to her surprise, it held. The next one for sure, she thought. Then they would have a firefight. She looked behind her again, then at the control center, then back to the bullet storage area. She had an idea. To the nearest person she said, “Do you know how to disarm the bullets?”
“Yes,” he replied. He was a young engineer and he looked frightened beyond belief.
“How long before you can disarm them all?”
“Um, could take about an hour by myself, quicker if we have more people. We need to go to each bullet and release the magnetic field which holds the Strangelet. When the field is gone the Strangelet will just evaporate into nothing. Well, not nothing, it actually changes states-“
“Don’t have time for a science lesson. Go, get as many people as you need and get those bullets disabled.”
The door was hit again splitting it in half. It was still too small for anyone to go through.
“What about the Particle accelerator?” The young man asked. “It can still produce Strangelets.”
“Don’t worry about that, just go and follow my order.” She yelled, her eyes moving back to the door. She knew it would take at least four hours to get the Particle Accelerator up and running from a cold start. Probably longer now they were short some engineers.
The door finally exploded inward, pealing the metal back as if it were tinfoil. Aliens of all kinds ran through the opening and Juliet gave the order to fire. She needed to hold them off long enough to get the bullets disabled.
Invisible energy beams sliced all they hit leaving large gashes into the floors, ceiling, walls or anyone unlucky enough to be in the way. People fell all around her but she kept her poise as best as she could. Her mind was screaming to take cover, to get out of the fire but she held her ground.
Body parts from fallen Cabal littered the entrance as more of the aliens came through. Juliet felt them in her mind, felt them communicating with each other through the nanobots. She tried to read the messages but found herself blocked at every turn. She might not have been able to hear what they were saying but she could sense their feelings. Shock and surprise at the fact they were using deadly force now when they weren’t before. It slowed the assault but only by a little.
Juliet saw the energy beam slice the floor directly in front of her. She moved as fast as she could but even with the extra boost from the nanobots she was unable to avoid it. The beam sliced through her left leg three inches above the knee. Juliet could hear the sizzle of her skin, smell the burnt muscle and bone but she could barely hear the scream that left her mouth. She fell to the floor and looked down, horrified that her leg was now ten feet from her body. She held onto her remaining stump and screamed again. The Nanobots reacted right away and rushed to the open wound sealing it as quickly as they could.
She felt herself being dragged away toward the control booth. This was where they would make their last stand.
*****
“Captain,” Arwen said, “Juliet has been seriously hurt.”
“How badly?” Captain Cook asked.
“She’s still alive thanks to her nanobots but she’s lost her leg. The Cabal managed to infiltrate the Particle Accelerator room. It appears that Juliet gave an order to disarm the bullets, they’re about half way finished.”
Good idea, Captain Cook thought. “When will the reinforcements arrive?”
“They’re meeting stiff resistance, it’s hard to give an ETA.”
“I’ve had enough of this. Communication officer, get me the Cabal ship now.”
She waited while the communication officer tried to reach the Cabal ship. On her screen she watched the firefights play out. She knew little about the Cabal ship and wondered if the firepower of the Arwen could destroy it. They were so strange, willing to give up their technology yet still keeping their motives a secret. They had played the entire Corps, waiting for the right moment when they could exact their revenge on the Handler’s.
“Captain, they’re willing to talk,” her communication officer said.
On her screen the same face she had talked to before appeared. “Get your people off my ship.”
“Give us a Strangelet bullet and we will.”
“You know I won’t do that.”
“Then we have nothing to talk about.”
“I think we do.” Captain Cook replied leaning toward the screen, “I’ve been reluctant to open fire on you but the more crew you kill the less reluctant I am.”
“We can destroy your ship, we have superior firepower.”
“True, but I bet you don’t want to. This is too good a chance for you. If you destroy us you won’t have any chance of using a Strangelet to destroy the world.”
“And if you destroy us you will make several species extinct. Don’t try to threaten me, Captain, I know how you humans think.”
“I don’t think you do,” She shut the communications down. “Weapons, aim at the Cabal ship and open fire. Full missile spread, full laser bombardment.”
*****
Nanobots, it was the miracle of the nanobot which saved Juliet’s life. They sealed the wound quickly and helped her body reproduce the blood she had lost. They pumped painkillers into her body making her more focused and alert, while also taking away any pain she might have felt. Juliet wondered if they could regrow her leg, she had a feeling they couldn’t but wouldn’t be surprised if she woke up with a new leg one morning.
After regaining her thoughts she was able to hear the yelling of the people around her. She looked up and saw she was surrounded by the remaining engineers inside the control room. They were leaning out the window and firing at the ground. The control room sat above the floor which made it a perfect position to mount a defense.
She sat up on her elbow and found her rifle next to her. She grabbed it and used it a crutch to lift herself off the ground. She felt as if she still had two legs and nearly fell over when she tried to place her missing one on the ground.
“You shouldn’t be standing,” one of the engineers said.
“I know. Give me a report.”
“We’re holding them off and we have about half the bullets disarmed.”
“How long was I out?”
“Only a few minutes.”
“Thanks keep fighting.” Juliet hobbled over to the window and squeezed between two people who were firing. She leaned forward, made sure she had good balance, and grabbed her gun. She didn’t feel as if she were going to fall over so she took the rifle, aimed and started blasting any Cabal aliens she spotted.
******
The full firepower of the Arwen was unleashed on the Cabal ship. Thousands of missiles fired by various silos from every section and flew across the gulf of space. Within seconds they were exploding on the shields of the ship. Energy cannons zipped across at the speed of light and vaporized the rest of the force field.
Captain Cook watched all this. Grimm determination passed across her face. “Hold off on the second attack,” she said and thought, they would either contact us, attack us, or do something else.
“Captain, they want to talk.” The communication officer said.
“Send them through.” Captain Cook replied trying to hide the smile which she felt forming on her lips. When her alien counterpart appeared she didn’t give him a chance to say anything. “Get your people off my ship or I will destroy you. I don’t want to but peace between us and the Handler’s is more important right now.”
“You would be executed if you killed us all.”
“No, I don’t think I will. Probably dismissed of duty but that’s okay, I was going to retire anyway.” She cut the communications off, sat back in her chair and waited.
*****
Juliet watched in surprise as the remaining invaders simply stopped fighting and laid their weapons down. They raised their various appendages into the air in surrender. She was even more shocked since it seemed the Cabal forces were actually winning.
She slowly slide down the wall
using the butt of her gun and her good leg to gently sit on the ground. Juliet wondered if they could reattach her leg. She wondered if the nanobots could repair the damage if she placed the two ends together. She was relaxed now listening around her as her men ran toward the surrendering Cabal. It was nice to rest, nice to let the events she had just survive wash over her. Her life was going to change after today. She’d killed a lot of aliens, lost her leg and had several dozen men die under her leadership. Yet, through all that she was determined to see this mission completed.
An army of medical personal ran into the control booth. One of the doctors saw her and knelt down next to her. “I guess that’s your leg we found by door,” he said trying to make it sound less ghoulish than it was.
“Yeah, I guess so.” She replied and was suddenly aware of the sweat forming on her brow. She hadn’t sweated in a very long time, a sign of her nanobots working overtime. “Can we save it? I’d like to keep it as a trophy.”
“I wouldn’t worry about it too much. We’ll put it into hibernation and reattach it when we return to Earth.” He pulled out a needle and was about the stab her with it.
She stopped him. “No, don’t, I need to get back to the bridge to help the Captain. I don’t need to be drugged right now. Help me up.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“I know it’s not a good idea,” she replied placing her hand on his shoulder almost forcing him to help her. “But it’s what’s going to happen. Now, get me to the bridge.”
*****
“We have surrendered our forces,” The alien said. “What would you like from us now?”
“Go back to Earth and wait. When we return we’ll tell everyone what happened here. I have all the proof, all the recordings, everything that we need. I don’t know what they’ll do to you, don’t know how they’ll deal with it but I don’t care at this point. Go, leave us alone.”
“What of our soldiers?”
“They’re our prisoners now. Don’t worry, we’ll take good care of them.” She shut the communications off and let the display change to that of the Cabal ship.
The Arwen Book two: Manifest Destiny Page 41