by Cain Hopwood
Murdoch raised his Barrett. “Right, just show me your heads,” he muttered.
Jon centered the box in his spotting scope. “Five hundred sixteen meters.”
“Copy.”
Skip and the two men with him shot past. “We’ll have your back in a second lieutenant.”
“Who was hit? Are they okay?” Jon said, not taking his eyes off Murdoch’s target.
“Stacy took a couple of flechettes, but her harness’s shield took the sting out of them. She’ll be fine.”
“Nice that the harnesses are working for us, instead of against us for a change,” said Jon.
“I’ve got something,” Murdoch said.
One of the guards had slipped out from behind the box and was sighting his carbine towards Skip and his men.
Murdoch’s Barrett spat angry red flames in total silence.
Jon’s eyes were on the guard. Nothing had changed, except a box behind him had just started spinning. “You missed. You’re high, hard to say how much, less than a meter.”
Murdoch let out a garbled cry. Jon’s eyes snapped up from his spotting scope, and he turned to see the lanky sniper cartwheeling, arms akimbo, and drifting backwards.
“Recoil’s a bitch,” Jon said. He let the scope go, grabbed a crate with one hand, and Murdoch with the other. With a jolt he stabilized the sniper, and a moment later, they were both back on station.
“I can see now why their weapons are recoilless,” Murdoch muttered. “Now, you said I was high? That’s impossible unless…”
“No gravity!” They said in unison.
“Yep, that’s gonna throw the ballistics right out.” Murdoch adjusted the Barrett’s scope.
“What are you doing?”
“Disabling the ballistics compensation, and setting the reticle at three hundred meters.”
“Right, your zero point, clever,” Jon said. He retrieved his spotting scope, which was still floating nearby, and took a look at the guards. “He’s still out in the open, take the shot.”
Jon saw the Barrett’s muzzle flash out of the corner of his eye. This time Murdoch’s aim was true, and it was the guard’s turn to be spinning out of control.
“He’s not correcting for the spin, he’s down,” Jon said.
“Where’s the other one?”
“Can’t see him.” Jon looked up, and scanned the surroundings. Movement far off in the distance caught his eye. “He’s turned tail.”
“How far? I can take him.”
“No, he’s going the way we want him to, let’s join the others.”
Murdoch lifted his eye from the Barrett’s scope. “Killjoy. With no gravity and no air, I’d be a shoe in for the regimental distance record.”
“You already hold the regimental record.”
Murdoch shouldered the Barrett and they both moved toward Skip’s position. “Sure, but this way I’d be keeping it safe.”
They leapfrogged Skip, and once they had him covered, he pulled back in turn. They were moving fast, but still only just managing to keep the colonel in sight. All the stopping and taking cover was costing them time.
“They’re still back there,” Murdoch said after a longer than usual scan. “I count six now, and they’re spread across the full width of this tube. They’re keeping their distance. Still, they’re brazen.”
“It’s almost like they want us to see them.” Jon took a look through his own scope. “Time to report in I think.”
He opened a tac-link channel to the colonel. “Sir, we’ve got six guards back here. They’re pacing us, and being obvious about it. I think we’re being herded.”
“Funny you should say that lieutenant. Bakowski’s just hit a fork, and she’s seen a couple of guards down one arm. So she’s heading down the other. It was where we were headed anyway.”
“Smells like an ambush sir.” Jon looked at one wall of the transit tube, it was far from smooth. There were cutouts, indentations, and fat cables running along its length. “There’s probably access hatches somewhere here sir.”
“I see what you’re thinking, keep us moving fast, then pounce as we’re passing.”
“Exactly sir.”
“I’ll talk to the admiral, see what kind of options we’ve got. In the meantime we’ll stop just past this next fork.”
“Copy that, we’ll hold position just behind you.”
True to form, after another kilometer or so they reached the fork the colonel had mentioned. Jon kept a close eye down the arm they passed, but there was nothing.
They found a large cargo net full of what looked like machine parts, and took up a position behind it. The metal provided plenty of mass to absorb the recoil from Murdoch’s Barrett, and it was large enough to provide cover for all five of them.
“We’ll hold up here until the colonel decides what we’re doing,” Jon said. “Murdoch, take the first clear shot you can. We want to halt their advance as far back as possible.”
Skip settled into his normal role as Murdoch’s spotter, and the rest of them took up defensive positions.
They didn’t have to wait long.
Colonel Whitfield was trying not to raise his voice. He’d moved close to the admiral to merge their clima-fields; it made conversation easier than using the com pod on his harness. Besides, he didn’t trust it. He knew his implanted regimental tac-link was heavily encrypted, and adjusted its transmission power to the bare minimum to make a connection with his men, but the Galactic com pods were a complete unknown.
“As your commanding officer I order you to continue moving, colonel.”
The colonel gritted his teeth. “Technically, we are on detachment here, and general Birkenhof is my commanding officer.”
“Regardless, we must reach the nexus as soon as possible.”
“And I am doing everything possible to ensure you get to that chamber. But, it won’t happen if we’re ambushed halfway there. So work with me. You know this place.” The colonel pointed at the nearest transit tube wall. “What’s behind that wall?”
“Space.”
Colonel Whitfield’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly. He pointed in the other direction. “How about that wall?”
“Two or three stadia of service corridors, pipes, cables and then the starboard bulkhead wall of the lower habitation chamber.”
Colonel Whitfield did the math. Five hundred meters of twisty little corridors was also a great place for an ambush. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise him if the ambushers were moving through those spaces right now.
His tac-link trilled, it was Moss. “Sir, these guards in our rear are massing, and we’ve begun taking bursts of concentrated fire.”
“Are they moving up?”
“No sir, It’s more like the posturing those contras back in Brazil used to do. I think they’re trying to give us the hurry-along.”
“Good, that means we’re not in position for whatever they’ve got planned up ahead.” The colonel pulled Bakowski into the tac-link. “Bakowski, who do we have back here with breachers?”
“Ingles in Moss’s squad would be your best bet.”
“Copy that. Prepare for a rapid withdrawal. Whitfield out.” He turned to the admiral. “Here’s what I propose, sir. We breach that wall, work our way into the habitation chamber, and use that to get the rest of the way to the nexus.”
“That chamber contains dense gal-four jungle, it will be much slower than using a transit tube.”
“It will, but we’ll be in an environment my men have the training for. It’s also much larger, so we will be a lot harder to find. Our small force can effectively disappear in a space that large.”
The admiral paused, considering. “I cannot argue against the tactical advantages the chamber offers.”
Colonel Whitfield let out a breath he didn’t even realize he’d been holding. “Good. I’ll get Ingles, and we’ll get out of this death trap.”
The admiral pointed at a large rectangular section of wall, outlined by four thin grooves. “I
f I may suggest, your man will make progress best from that access panel.”
“How does it open?”
“It only opens from the other side. But I don’t imagine that will trouble him greatly.”
The corner of the colonel’s mouth curled up. “Knowing Ingles, I don’t imagine it will.”
— 55 —
Time and again these human beings were a source of surprise, thought General Admiral Katona. They were cunning and ferocious fighters, and would have made their elders proud, had they been Ka-Li.
He’d seen it firsthand after they’d broken through the transit tube access panel. Half way to the habitation chamber bulkhead wall, they’d come across a group of guards. The humans had reacted quickly, but unfortunately not fast enough to stop the guards summoning support.
It was close and nasty corridor fighting. The humans battled with a single-minded purpose, more reminiscent of a pack of mardikes, than a fighting unit. They’d broken through the guards with minimal losses. Then fought their way into the habitation chamber. There, true to the colonel’s promise, they’d disappeared into the thick gal-four jungle and left the fumbling guards behind.
Once he had provided them with their destination in the chamber, they’d moved with purpose. In the dense forested low gravity environment, they were fast. They moved over and above the vegetation like the arboreal Pakmai. It was only through judicious use of his harness’s impulse controls, that the admiral could keep up with them.
But now they had stopped. The colonel was in conference with his lieutenants. They’d been speaking for several parsai in the low rumbly human tongue.
“If you speak in Galingua, I may be able to assist. What is the problem? Or are we just resting?”
“Of course,” the colonel said. “No, we’re not resting. But we have run into a problem. The exit we’re headed towards is under guard, heavy guard.”
“There are other exits.”
“Yes, we’re scouting them now. But I’d imagine they’ll also be covered.”
“Possibly by not such a large force?”
The human’s face made several contortions. “Maybe, but even if we could break through at a lightly guarded exit, then they’ll know exactly where we are. They’ve got the transit tubes. In a parsai or two they’d have hundreds of guards on us.”
The colonel had a valid point, Katona thought. It was exactly what he’d do if he were the guard captain. “We will see what the scouting reports. This is the optimum exit to get to the centarch quickly, so it would make tactical sense to slow us down, make us use another.”
“Do you know of any other exits?”
“Many, but none that the guards would not also know. They live on the starship, whereas I do not. I spend most of my time on warships, or on planet.”
“We haven’t got the men to storm a guarded exit.”
“Sir, there might be another option,” said one of the colonel’s lieutenants. “It wouldn’t surprise me if that Chonai remanent is shadowing us. If there’s a covert way in and out of this chamber, surely he would know it.”
The colonel looked up into the foliage. “Good point Moss. If he’s here though, he’ll be hard to find.”
“If anyone can find him, Murdoch can.”
“Do it, we’ll be here for a while anyway until the scouts report in.”
Admiral Katona panted momentarily in confusion. There were no Chonai anymore, and certainly not here. The lieutenant summoned one of his men, the one they called a sharp shooter. After a short conversation he swapped his ridiculously long weapon for a Ka-Li carbine, dropped his pack and launched into the air. He caught a low branch, and then vanished into the foliage with barely a sound.
“I wouldn’t have thought dense jungle like this, was his kind of terrain,” the colonel said.
“Me neither,” replied his lieutenant. “I guess he picked up a few tricks from those Wapishana we were working with a couple of years ago.”
“Let’s see where he’s going.” After a moment, the human colonel’s eye fur tufts scrunched together. “That’s odd, he’s disappeared from tactical.”
“Yeah, he does that,” the lieutenant shook his head.
“I’ll warn the sentries, we don’t want them picking him off by accident when he returns.”
“Don’t bother,” said the lieutenant. “When he returns, they won’t see him.”
It was quite some time later that Murdoch resumed contact. Jon was on watch, perched high on a thick bough. Murdoch’s voice seemed to come from just beside him. Murdoch had, once again, hacked his tac-net location.
“I got this lizard fella lieutenant,” Murdoch’s voice whispered. “He’s a slippery bugger. He’s keeping an eye on you lot. And he’s got a couple of mates shadowing the scouts.”
“You’ll have to tell me one day, how you do that disappearing trick.”
“Old bushman’s skills, you city boys wouldn’t get it.”
“Not that trick,” Jon said. “The one with tac-net.”
“Ah that one.” Murdoch gave a low chuckle. “That doctor lady didn’t tell me what she put in my head, but it’s good gear. Almost better than the tech back home. Took me a little while to crack even.”
“Well, I won’t tell her if you don’t.”
“I didn’t break it, she’ll never know. Now, what do you want me to do with your scaly mate?”
“Is it the same Ka-Li we encountered before?”
“Yep.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’d recognize that knife of his anywhere, it’s him.”
“Okay, I figure you can guide me to him like before. If I’m obvious enough about it, he’ll figure what I’m doing.”
Like the last time he met with the Chonai remnant, Murdoch directed Jon through the jungle towards Ahm-Wat’s location. Jon didn’t make any effort whatsoever to keep quiet. He half expected the Chonai to disappear, but instead he broke cover, and was standing out in the open in the middle of a small clearing as Jon approached.
“Jon-Moss, again your tracker has led you to me, and again he allows me to live. Thank you.”
Jon recognized the formal Ka-Li greeting. “You found us first, and allowed us to live. Thank you.”
“This time you travel in force.” Ahm-Wat lifted his head and drew a deep breath through his eye slits. “And accompanied by a Stetlak Ka-Li of rank. Yet you seek me out.”
“Yes, the admiral has a proposal for you. He offers a hunt with much honor.”
Again Ahm-Wat sniffed. “I sense no trace of deception from you, though your kind smell strangely hollow.”
Jon didn’t know what to say in response. “I can assure you that we mean you no harm. Frankly, we have bigger problems.”
“The centarch’s guards are hunting you.”
“Yes. Which is why we need your help.”
“Your group, large as it is, is evading them well. This chamber is big, they are few.”
Jon clenched his teeth. He was supposed to bring the Chonai remnant to the admiral, who was sure the rogue Ka-Li could be convinced to help. Still, Ahm-Wat wasn’t stupid. He would know the group of humans were headed toward the nexus. And with a high ranking Ka-Li in tow, it didn’t require much of an imagination to figure what they intended to do once they got there.
Given the situation the centarch’s guards had put them in, the colonel had given Jon carte blanche if he thought Ahm-Wat could help. Maybe a little truth would help convince the skittish remnant to trust them
“We don’t just want to evade them, we need to get to the nexus.”
Ahm-Wat gave a small bow. “And they hold all the exits.”
“Do you know another? One they don’t know about.”
“Yes.”
“Then let me take you to the admiral, he will discuss terms.” Jon held out a hand toward the others.
The Ka-Li started walking. “A hunt with honor is all we require.”
Jon shrugged. “I’m just a lieutenant who wants to get h
ome. Honor is the colonel’s department.”
Ahm-Wat paused. “Strange, I taste a hint of truth in the air. Maybe your kind are not as inscrutable as you seem.”
— 56 —
Colonel Whitfield looked down at his feet. The ‘branch’ he was standing on was at least three meters across. It was also a dizzying height above the jungle floor, and it was only by keeping a hand on his harness impulse controls that he felt safe.
Still, it didn’t seem to bother Ahm-Wat’s Ka-Li brethren. As soon as the rogue Ka-Li had come to an agreement with the admiral, several others had appeared out of thin air like that top end ghost in Moss’s squad. Now they were leaping from branch to branch like monkeys, leading the squad high into the jungle canopy.
And high it was. The trees intertwined together, more like a tangle of vines than traditional terrestrial trees. And, unlike the trees he was used to, the branches here didn’t taper off with height.
They’d been warned by Ahm-Wat not to use their harness grav-compensators, unless they couldn’t avoid it. Apparently it induced perturbations in the chambers grav-plates that allowed the guards to track them. So, they’d had to climb up into the jungle canopy the traditional way.
Moss and Bakowski had come up with a novel disposition of troops for this rather unusual, three dimensional, tactical situation. They had an outer globe of swallow drones, acting as an early warning system, and then four small squads led by Moss, Bakowski, Gowlett and Sale, arranged in a tetrahedron formation.
“You’re falling back Sale, move up and fill the gap.” Moss said over the tac-link.
“Copy sir, we’ve just hit a big mess of vines. Give us thirty seconds to get around them.”
“All squads, halt for thirty seconds. Sale has hit some slow going.”
The colonel held up a hand just as the admiral joined him on the branch. “Wait a moment sir, the squads covering us need to rearrange themselves.”
“Again I am impressed by you humans and your adaptability,” said Admiral Katona, who seemed to be laboring with the climb. “They are thriving in this rather chaotic environment.”