by Jay Toney
"Leave them on board. I have a friend, back home, who will be happy to take care of them."
I opened the ship's comm system, addressing all of our crewmen and women. "Everyone this is the Captain, great job. We are nearly done with this mission. I need you to continue working hard for just a little while longer. We are about to attack an Alliance warehouse, full of stolen treasure. I plan on taking this treasure for myself. In a few short hours, we will all be very rich." I ended my transmission.
"Natasha, change our transponder codes back to the Persephone's. Enter stationary orbit above our target."
"Aye, Captain."
"Amber, start scanning the warehouse area, let's see if we can get accurate target information."
"Yes, Captain."
She began adjusting her sensors and scanning the surface of the planet. The Persephone entered orbit, maintaining its position over the spaceport. I used the ship's comms to contact Jane in engineering and asked her to come to the bridge.
I started the meeting outlining my plan. "We will use three of our Marauders to take out their weapons towers and heavy weapons." I brought up a holographic map showing the weapons emplacements and towers, outlined in red. "Next the Persephone will open up the fortification, blowing a hole in the perimeter's wall here," I said indicating another spot on the map. "After the Persephone lands our people will go in using trucks, gravsleds, and cargo loaders to liberate the treasure. When we get back to San Paulos, we will all have a good reason to celebrate."
"There is just one problem with your plan Nathaniel. There are only three of us that can fly Marauder assault shuttles effectively. Ideally, we would use at least a squadron of Marauders. Two Marauders just aren't enough for all of the targets."
"That's why I will be flying with you and Natasha. Amber will be in charge of the Persephone if anything happens."
"What about ground forces?"
"We will each be taking 20 people in powered armor. As soon as the defenses are down, we will land, drop off the troops and take off."
"That won't leave many people on board the Persephone."
"The Persephone will not need many for the short time we are on the ground."
"If there are no other questions, this meeting is adjourned."
****
"Everybody make sure you're strapped in tight. This is going to be a wild ride. Doc, power dive or controlled descent?"
"Perhaps a little of both Nathaniel."
"So be it."
I rolled the Marauder and pitched its nose down, locking onto the spaceports coordinates. Doc, Natty, and I accelerated towards the planet's surface, building speed as we dove. Plasma glowed on our heat shields, and our wingtips left fiery contrails. The ship was buffeted, as we flew through the dense atmosphere, continuing our dive.
"Any time now Nathaniel."
I eased off the throttle and extended the speed brakes slowing our descent. When we got near the ground, I pulled back hard on the controls, leveling the ship. Communications from the surface demanded our intentions. I ignored them.
"Amber, we are starting our attack run, bring the Persephone in."
"I'm on the way Captain."
I brought up the tactical display and selected two targets. The defense forces, realizing this was an attack, started firing energy weapons and 30mm cannons at us. Their weapons were designed to defend against a ground attack, so they were of little threat to us. When I came within range, I fired a missile at the first tower and banked hard to line up the second. My missile struck its target destroying the tower. I opened up with my twin 40 mm cannon. The high explosive rounds reduced the next tower to rubble, in seconds.
I pulled out of the attack and locked in the next two targets. My tactical display showed that Doc and Natasha destroyed their targets too. The Alliance forces scored a lucky hit on my shuttle. Warning lights came on, and the shuttle shook with the impact. The shields absorbed the energy from the blast and held.
"Are you alright Nathaniel?"
"Just a little shook up; I'm okay."
I lined up the next target and fired two missiles at it. I had to pull up as weapons fire targeted me. I let the shuttle stall and nose over. I accelerated in a steep dive lining up my fourth target and fired my last two missiles. Both of my missiles hit their objectives. I pulled out of my dive and circled, selecting another target. Only a few to go, then we could land and disperse our troops.
I came in low and fast, lining up on my target and fired my cannon. The high explosive rounds destroyed the gun emplacement, but not before the gunners got off a few shots. One of the projectiles shattered my cockpit windscreen. Most of the damage to the instruments was on the copilot side. The Marauder was still capable of flight, but I wasn't. Shrapnel from either the ballistic round or the shattered windscreen pierced my right shoulder and arm.
My shoulder burned; it like a red hot knife was being twisted in my shoulder. I pulled up into a steep climb pulling away from the battle.
"Doc, I've taken a hit. You will have to take out the last two towers."
"Nathaniel are you alright?"
"I'll be alright. I can barely fly. As soon as you take out the last two towers I'll have to land, make it quick."
"Amber make an entrance and land the ship as planned."
"Nathaniel, Natasha is coming in all weapons hot. She wants revenge. I can't control her. I suggest all of you get clear."
The Persephone arrived at the battle. She wasn't going to accept surrender; she wanted blood. She fired on the remaining two towers with the ships particle beam cannons, then she made an orbit around the perimeter of the compound, firing the PDC at every Alliance member she could find. Then she leveled the compound wall, creating an opening large enough for her to land inside.
"Natasha good work, I'm going to need you to bring my Marauder in by remote control. I can't land it myself."
"Don't worry; I've got you."
I addressed my troops, "We have a slight change of plans. As soon as we land, take any gravsled, cargo loader, or truck, and get to that warehouse to help Doc."
Natasha took control of the assault shuttle. She slowed its speed and flew it in a wide circle, lining it up for landing. The landing gear lowered as the ship passed over the Persephone's upper deck. The braking thrusters fired, and the Marauder made a slow, gentle made landing in the dorsal shuttle bay. The rear hatch opened, and the troops exited, hurrying to their assigned tasks.
I remained sitting in the pilot's seat. The pain and blood loss made me too weak to get up. Amber and Jane entered the shuttle through the open hatch. Amber retrieved an emergency first aid kit from the shuttle's storage compartment, and they made their way to the damaged cockpit.
"Nathaniel, you're a mess," Amber started crying.
Jane took a knife from her belt and gently cut away my shirt revealing the wounds. She selected three hypos. She gave me the first. "This will ease the pain." The next one she gave me was to help with the blood loss. The final injection was an adrenaline boost. Next, she sprayed the area with an antiseptic; then she sprayed on a dermal patch to control the bleeding and keep the wounds sanitary.
"Nathaniel, can you get up?"
"Get up nothing; I feel great. I'm ready to get back with my troops."
"Nathaniel, the medications I gave you are for keeping wounded soldiers in combat. You need to take it easy while we get you to sickbay."
"Okay, but I don't see why. My shoulder and arm feel great; in fact, I feel better than ever."
Nathaniel unfastened his harness and got out of the pilot's seat, staggered and nearly fell.
"Nathaniel, take it
slow and easy. You may feel good, but you are far from it," Jane chided me.
Amber slipped my uninjured arm around her shoulders to help support me. The three of us made our way to sickbay.
"Is Nathaniel going to be alright?"
"He will be fine. You and I will get him patched up like new."
"What about Doc?"
"He's busy. Even if I called him back, he wouldn't get here in time. Nathaniel has lost a lot of blood. He will continue to bleed internally until he bleeds himself out if I don't remove the shrapnel."
"But you're not a medic."
"I've assisted Doc several times, patching up folks. It isn't much different than working on starships, only smaller."
"What about your last patient, I heard he died."
"The operation was a success. Doc and I learned plenty from it. The fool would have lived if he didn't self-medicate himself. It was the drugs he took that reacted with the anesthesia and killed him. It didn't matter, Doc and I didn't like the fellow much anyhow. Don't worry about Nathaniel; he is family."
Jane led the two of us into the operating room. Everything was clean and sterile. A small bed was in the center of the room, lowered for easy accessibility.
"Jane, the bed, is a little small but we can try. I'm ready for a good time."
"Just lay down on the bed, and before you know it, it will be party time."
I took off my clothes and laid on the bed, ready for some fun. "Why haven't we hooked up before now?" I reached for her and pulled her to me.
"You couldn't handle me before and you still can't now." She injected me with an anesthetic, and I fell asleep looking up at her.
"Most of that was the drugs talking," Jane told Amber. "The rest is from his being a horndog. He won't remember any of it when he wakes up." They both slipped on sterile gowns, scrubbed up, and put on gloves. Jane selected another hypo injecting the fluid into the damaged shoulder and arm.
"What is that for?"
"It's a radioactive dye marker that will attach itself to any foreign material in Nathaniel's body. It will make the shrapnel visible under ultraviolet light."
"Aren't you going to use the autodoc?"
"No. I don't know how to use it; the autodocs are new to me. If I don't program them correctly, they can do far more damage than the shrapnel in Nathaniel's arm and shoulder."
After a few minutes, she turned on a medical scanner and used it to scan Nathaniel's body. A three-dimensional image appeared above him. Jane made some adjustments to the controls, and the hologram focused on the damaged areas. She rotated the image viewing the wounds from different angles. The radioactive dye showed several varying sized pieces of shrapnel embedded in his shoulder and arm.
"This is worse than I thought. I hope you didn't have any plans for this afternoon; we are going to be here for quite a while. Fortunately, I don't see any major damage to Nathaniel's blood vessels and nerves. After I make an incision, your job will be to open the incision with the retractors. After I remove the shrapnel, cauterize any bleeders then remove the retractor. We will have to do this piece by piece until we remove every piece of shrapnel." She turned on an overhead UV lamp and began probing Nathaniel's wounds.
****
Doc landed his shuttle alongside the Persephone and opened his rear hatch so the raiding party could exit the Marauder. He exited the shuttle and led the raiders to the warehouse. There was no resistance from the Alliance after Natasha's retaliation for Nathaniel's injuries. Natasha's avatar landed her Marauder nearby, dispersing her assault team. Then she took off, heading back to the Persephone.
The conscripts inside the warehouse were eager to cooperate with Doc. All of them had been forced by the Alliance to work as free labor. The warehouse workers hadn't seen their families since their abduction. They were told by the Alliance commander that any disobedience would result in the death of their wives and children. A few hours of work helping their saviors was a good deal for their guaranteed freedom and their ability to return to their loved ones.
The workers formed a team with the Persephone's crew. They used loaders, lifts, and gravsleds to transfer the warehouse's contents to the Persephone. There were at least 100 pallets of gold and platinum bars, and at least twice as much silver. Along with the precious metal, we also acquired several chests containing diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and many other gemstones. There were also crates full of jewelry that the Alliance confiscated from the citizens
Doc saw to it that all the smuggling holds were filled with the most valuable booty. The remaining cargo was strapped down in the starboard shuttle bay. The nacelle was sealed and guarded. Before the workers were allowed to leave, Doc paid each of them with a silver bar and a small pouch of assorted gemstones. It was more than they earned in a years time, but Nathaniel was generous and would want them compensated for what the Alliance had done to them. They all left eager to reunite with their families. They thanked Doc for their freedom and his generosity.
****
Jane and Amber worked as a team removing the shrapnel piece by piece. Often Jane was able to locate the small fragments of metal or crystal from the shattered windscreen; sometimes she had to watch the holographic image, while she probed the wound deeply until she found the shrapnel. They worked like this for hours, until Jane was satisfied that they had removed every piece. She sprayed plastiskin over the wounds to seal them, then injected nanobots programmed to repair damage to human flesh, into Nathaniel's wounded shoulder and arm.
Jane got a blanket and covered Nathaniel. She selected three more hypos. The first one was a painkiller. The next was used to counteract the anesthesia and wake him. After Nathaniel stirred and woke, she gave him the third hypo. "This will help you sleep."
"Why did you put him back to sleep?"
"He may not need to sleep right now, but you do. Besides, it will spare him the lecture Doc will have ready for him."
After the surgery was over, Doc entered the operating room. "You didn't kill the patient again, did you?"
"I don't kill everyone I work on, only the ones I don't like."
"I should have been here to do the surgery myself. Hopefully you two didn't do too much damage to Nathaniel."
"He didn't have time to wait for you. He was bleeding out."
Doc examined the wounds. "It looks like you're improving," he said, dismissing Jane and Amber. He started reviewing the data on the medical scanner and analyzing Jane and Amber's surgical technique.
"That's the closest he has ever come to giving me a compliment," Jane told Amber.
"How's Nathaniel?" Tanya asked.
"Nathaniel will survive. Doc is with him scrutinizing our work. When Nathaniel wakes, he will probably wish he had died and gone to hell before Doc gets done with him. He is mad about not being there to do the surgery himself. I'm afraid Doc is going to vent his anger on Nathaniel. I gave Nathaniel something to help him sleep so he will sleep through most of the yelling."
"Jane, I need to go to the bridge and get us out of here."
"I'll accompany you."
Jane and I left Tanya and Natasha in sickbay, heading to the bridge. If we stayed in this system too long we could be caught by another Alliance patrol ship.
"Everybody, prepare for takeoff," Natasha announced over the ship's comms.
"All hatches are secure; power level is stabilized at 80%, repulsorlift engines are on standby," Kim reported.
Natasha lifted the ship using the repulsorlift engines. She switched to the main engines as soon the Persephone reached a safe altitude. The ship climbed gaining speed and altitude. Natasha adjusted her course to rendezvous with the Valley Forge.
"Natasha,
what is the best route to take home?"
"The Sarania star system would be the safest and fastest system to jump through if we didn't have to accompany the Valley Forge. If we jumped to that system, we would lose the freighter. Its engines are not powerful enough to pull away from the sun's gravity well. The next fastest route home would take us through the Bonifer system. There is a good chance we will run into an Alliance Patrol in either the Bonifer system or in Nueva Zelanda, after our attack on the Thanatos moon base. The Imdali system is inside Iniguar territory. Normally I would say that this system would provide the safest passage. With the Persephone painted to look like the Ajax I can guarantee that our allies would attack us."
"It looks like we are left with only one choice. Turn off our transponder and set course for the Bonifer system. We will just have to take our chances and hope the ruse will continue to work for us."
We joined up with the Valley Forge and made our way out system, and entered hyperspace.
Homeward Bound
Bonifer's star was the brightest star on our main viewscreen's forward view. Our rear view showed the Valley Forge struggling to maintain to maintain our speed. When we got back to San Paulos the first thing Nathaniel and I would have to do is have the freighter's engines upgraded. The ship was at least 200 years old. It didn't look it; there was no corrosion in the vacuum of space to make the freighter look its age. The technology used for its propulsion system gave away the ships age. It went out of date a long time ago. Newer power plants of the same size were more powerful and more efficient. The Alliance had superior technology to the rest of humanity but reserved its use for their military and the wealthy elite, which explained why the freighter was never updated.
While Nathaniel was recovering from his injuries in sickbay, I was in charge. It was up to me to get all of us safely back home. I didn't have any experience captaining a ship as large as the Persephone, not to mention a warship. The only starship I ever was the captain and owner of was a freighter, the Lucy. I needed Adam's help, but my brother was back home. Somehow I would have to manage.