by Ryk Brown
“I’ve got them,” Commander Kainan replied as he opened fire with the combat jump shuttle’s main guns.
“Bring us lower so I can get an angle!” the sergeant demanded.
“Dropping down!”
General Telles reached up to the side gun tucked into the overhead just above the side cargo hatch. One press of the release button and a slight downward pull brought the weapon from its storage position. Its automated deployment mechanism caused it to swing down into place, with its barrel well outside the port hatch.
The general stepped in behind the weapon and opened fire only a few seconds after the sergeant had done the same from his turret above. “Target the landers, Sergeant,” he instructed as he fired on the Dusahn soldiers who had already dropped to the surface and were about to shoot at the cargo shuttle being loaded just behind the Ghatazhak hangar.
Two of the landers exploded as the other two disappeared behind blue-white jump flashes. Without instruction, the sergeant immediately joined the general in targeting the troops that the landers had delivered. In less than fifteen seconds, all sixteen of them were dead.
The Ghatazhak in the back of the bouncing cargo vehicle opened fire as the eight Dusahn fighters closed on them. Plasma shots erupted on the roadway ahead, sending up massive amounts of debris as they tore the road apart. Shot by shot, the yellow balls of energy sped down the roadway toward them.
“Hang on!” Sergeant Anwar warned.
Jessica’s eyes were on the approaching fighters. Her planned had worked. Their fire had lured them away from the helpless farmhouses on the surface, toward a target of at least some military significance. The sergeant’s warning caused her to look forward. The rain of yellow fire was moving right toward them, and they had nowhere to go but directly ahead.
In a blinding flash of light and an ear-shattering thunderclap, they took a direct hit into the middle of their cargo bed. The force of the impact caused the vehicle to bounce into the air, coming down hard. The sergeant tried to maneuver the vehicle around the gaping holes in the roadway in front of them, but to no avail. He swerved around one, then another, but ended up nosing down into the third, the cargo truck coming to a sudden, violent stop as its nose slammed into the side of the crater, crushing it.
Jessica’s ears were ringing, and her senses were blurred. Her eyes were open, but she couldn’t recognize the images in front of them. Someone was yelling, but she couldn’t make out what they were saying. And something was burning…nearby. She could feel the heat, and the acrid smoke burned her nose and throat.
“Are you injured?”
She finally understood the voices. “I… I don’t know,” she replied without thought. Another voice yelled in the distance. Something about someone being dead. And someone was missing. She felt a pair of hands pulling at her, followed by a sharp pain in her right leg, causing her to scream out in anguish.
“You’re bleeding badly,” the sergeant warned. “I must remove the penetrating object. It will not be pleasant.”
“Just do it,” she begged. She wished she hadn’t. He pulled the object from her leg in a smooth, quick jerk before the last word left her lips. She screamed in pain again. A moment later, she felt cooling relief, and the pain subsided as the sergeant sprayed her leg wound with the analgesic healing compound that each of them carried.
“Two of them are breaking off and coming back around,” another voice warned.
“We must find cover,” the sergeant told her. “Can you move?”
“Try and stop me,” she replied, summoning all her strength to climb out of the wreckage.
* * *
Connor Tuplo sat in the pilot’s seat of the Seiiki, staring at the forward window as it cycled between opaque and clear with each jump in the series. A cold chill swept over him, and he turned and looked at Josh.
Josh didn’t realize his captain was looking at him at first, but a moment later, he turned. “What is it?” he asked, noticing the concerned look on Connor’s face.
“I’m not sure,” Connor admitted. “I was just thinking…”
“About what?”
“A lot of things, I guess. But all of a sudden…” Connor stopped mid-sentence, his gaze turning downward.
Josh smiled. “You wanna go back, don’t you?”
Connor looked back up at Josh. “How did you know?”
“I’ve known you for five years now, Cap’n. Nearly nine, if you count… You know.”
Connor pressed the abort button on the series jump sequencer. “I’m turning us around,” he announced, taking the flight controls.
“I’ll plot a course,” Josh added. His smile broadened. “You’re still in there, aren’t you, Nathan.”
“Shut up and plot the course, Josh.”
CHAPTER FOUR
Captain Tobas walked into the Morsiko-Tavi’s mess hall, moving to the front of the room. Inside, his crew of ten, along with his first officer and chief engineer, were waiting patiently. “I’ve spoken with Josan Donlevy. He commands a boxcar, and is in orbit here above Passellus, a few thousand kilometers ahead of us. It seems he and a few other boxcars are assisting the Ghatazhak in their relocation. He’s invited us to join them.”
“I thought the Ghatazhak disbanded years ago,” one of the crew said.
“I heard they were still on ice in the Takaran system,” another mentioned.
“Apparently not,” Captain Tobas replied.
“Where are they?”
“Donlevy wouldn’t say, at least not until we agree to join him.”
“How the hell are we supposed to decide if we don’t know where we’re hauling them?” his first officer asked.
“Donlevy assures me that the hops are well within our normal operating ranges,” the captain told them.
“What’s in it for us?” a crewman wondered.
“Well, you’ve heard that the Dusahn are demanding that all jump-capable ships surrender to them or face the consequences.”
“What consequences?”
“Use your imagination,” the captain replied. “Nothing good, I’m sure. If we surrender, we’re likely out of work.”
“But at least we’ll be alive,” one of the crew pointed out.
“Perhaps,” the captain admitted.
“What are you thinking, skipper?” the chief engineer wondered.
“Well, we can’t make port, unload, and get paid at this point. And we do have six days before the Dusahn start hunting us. So, I’m thinking we strike a deal with the Ghatazhak and help move them. They’ve got to have funds to operate, as well as propellant. After that, we decide whether to head deeper into space, or surrender to the Dusahn. Either way, at least we’ll have funds in our pockets.”
“What are we going to do with the cargo we have, Captain?” the load master wondered. “We’ve got a full load on board.”
“We sell it cheap, at either the departure or destination points. Worst case, we leave it somewhere and come back for it. It’s all raw ores anyway, so there’s going to be buyers for it no matter where we go.”
“So, you’re telling us we have a say in this?” one of the more outspoken crewmen wanted to confirm.
“In this case, yeah,” the captain replied. “You should all have a say. So, raise your hands if you want to surrender to the Dusahn now, and hope for the best.” The captain waited a minute, but not a single hand went up. They had all seen the broadcasts from the destruction of Ybara. “Very well. At least that much is unanimous. All in favor of heading out of the sector now, and hoping to find a buyer for our cargo, raise your hands.” He waited another minute, but only three hands went up.
“All in favor of assisting the Ghatazhak, and then deciding what to do next.” The remaining hands went up. Captain Tobas sighed. “Very well. I’ll call Capt
ain Donlevy. We should be under way shortly. Once we get a destination, I’m going to want all the acceleration you can give us,” he told his chief engineer. “I’m pretty sure the Ghatazhak homeworld isn’t nearby, and I want to get there with as much jump juice left over as possible, just in case.”
“We’ll use a good portion of our propellant,” his engineer warned. “We’re practically at max gross load, remember.”
“Propellant we can always get,” the captain replied. “Time can be a bit more difficult to find when you truly need it.”
* * *
Corporal Volmara and Sergeant Anwar pulled Jessica up from the crater, as the two Dusahn fighters dove toward them, opening fire. Blasts of plasma energy pounded the dirt roadway, sending debris in all directions as the explosive impacts flew toward them.
“Let’s move!” the sergeant barked as he grabbed Jessica with his left arm, nearly dragging her toward the side of the road as he raised his rifle and joined the corporal in returning fire at the incoming fighters. The impacts barely missed them, the last one lifting all three of them off their feet, tossing them to the side of the road.
Jessica cried out in pain as she rolled to her side, clutching her wounded leg. Sergeant Anwar and Corporal Volmara both scrambled back up, opening fire again as the Dusahn fighters streaked overhead, then pulled up and disappeared behind flashes of blue-white light.
“They jumped away!” the corporal announced.
“They probably decided we weren’t worth the extra effort,” the sergeant guessed.
“They’re headed for the spaceport,” Jessica said, grimacing through the pain.
“Telles, Anwar,” the sergeant called over his helmet comms. “You have the inbound fast movers?”
“We have them, Sergeant,” the general replied. “Sit rep?”
“We got our transport blown out from under us by those fighters. Lindsy and Rollins are gone…”
Two jump flashes appeared in the roadway, one above, and one below their position.
“Shit, we’ve got company,” the sergeant said, raising his rifle to fire on one of the pods.
* * *
“Two more jumps, and we’ll be in the atmosphere over Lawrence,” Josh reported.
“You’re keeping it above the transition altitude, right?” Connor asked.
“Of course,” Josh replied, “although theirs is ridiculously high.”
“They like their peace and quiet, I suppose,” Connor said, as the windows cycled opaque, and then clear again.
“Last jump in five seconds,” Josh reported. “Have you thought about what you’re going to say to her?”
“To who?”
Josh smiled. “To who… To Jessica, that’s who.”
“I don’t know,” he began, as the windows cycled again. “Maybe something like…”
The windows cycled clear again, as the ship rocked and bounced at the sudden introduction into the Burgean atmosphere. Below them was the city of Lawrence and her spaceport, but both were dotted with fires and the occasional explosion, and the atmosphere was clouded by the multiple columns of smoke rising from the city. Their sensor began screaming alerts, just as a bolt of plasma energy streaked past the starboard side from above.
“…what the hell!” Connor grabbed the flight control stick and put the Seiiki into a wild, spiraling roll, just as two Dusahn fighters appeared directly behind him and opened fire. “Raise our shields!” he ordered, as he punched the intercom button. “Everyone, hang on! We’re under attack!”
“Shields are coming up!” Josh replied.
“Jesus, there’s four of them stuck on my ass!” Connor exclaimed. The ship shook violently as several plasma shots slammed into them. “Please tell me the shields are up!”
“They’re up!” Josh assured him. “We’re good!” Josh glanced at the sensor display in the Seiiki’s center console. “You need to split-s to port, then twist it down to shake them!”
“Split what?”
“Let me!”
“I’ve got it,” Connor insisted.
“Captain! Let me!” Josh urged. “It’s what I do!”
“Take it!” Connor finally agreed, releasing the controls.
Josh grabbed his flight control stick and the throttles, then began his maneuvers. Their nose came right, then left, as they rolled over in ways that Connor didn’t know his ship could. Finally, he put them into a spiraling dive. As they dove, each revolution became wider, and the spaceport below drew closer.
“Josh! You need to pull up!” Connor warned.
“Not yet!” Josh refused.
“If this doesn’t work…”
“I know, I’m fired! Relax, Cap’n! I got this!”
“Shit, we’ve got company,” Sergeant Anwar reported over the general’s comm-set. The general could hear the sound of his men’s weapons firing in rapid succession.
“Fucking landers!” the sergeant added angrily.
“How many?”
“Two! No, three!” the sergeant reported. “Above and below us. We’re going to get caught in a crossfire!”
“Can you get to cover?” the general asked.
“Not a lot of options, Sir! And Nash is injured!”
“New contacts!” Lieutenant Latfee announced as Combat One turned hard left to avoid incoming fire from the Dusahn fighters.
“How many?” General Telles asked, continuing to fire at any Dusahn soldiers on the ground who came into his field of vision.
“Five! Four more fast movers! But they’re ours!” the lieutenant exclaimed. “From the Avendahl! They’re engaging the Dusahn fighters!”
“Cargo One is lifting off,” the pilot of the cargo jump shuttle reported.
“What about the fifth one?” the general wondered as he continued firing at enemy troops below.
“Too big and slow to be a fighter,” the lieutenant reported. “Wait, four more contacts just came out from behind… Christ! What the hell?”
General Telles stopped firing, turning toward the cockpit. “What is it?”
“They’re diving! They’re in a spiraling dive right for us!”
“For us?”
“For the spaceport, I mean! Jesus, General. I think the other four are attacking…”
The combat shuttle suddenly banked a hard right, as a larger ship streaked over them, heading off low, toward the city.
“It’s the Seiiki!” Sergeant Torwell exclaimed from his turret at the top of the combat shuttle.
“What?”
“He’s right!” Lieutenant Latfee agreed. “I’m picking up her ID codes!”
“Any idea what frequency the Ghatazhak use?” Connor asked as the Seiiki cleared the city and headed into the low hills to the west.
“It’s in the database,” Josh told him. “Under Lawrence SP Ground Two.”
Connor looked at Josh, as he scrolled through the frequency data base. “Got it.”
“How bad is she hit?” the comms crackled, the voice nearly drowned out by the sound of plasma cannon fire.
“Leg wound!” another voice replied. “Bleeding controlled, but she can’t move well.”
“Leave me here and get my family out!”
“That’s Jess,” Josh realized in horror.
“I think we can hold, as long as no more… Damn it! Two more landers!” More weapons fire was heard over the comms.
“I’ve got two flashes dead ahead, in the hills,” Josh said. “That’s gotta be them, Cap’n.”
“God damn it, Telles! You order them to leave me here and get my family off this fucking rock!” Jessica demanded.
“Jess! This is Josh! We’re five clicks out, skimming the treetops. We’ll be there in thirty seconds! Keep your heads down!”
>
“What are you doing, Josh?” Connor asked, not sure he wanted to hear the answer.
“Nothing I haven’t done before, Cap’n.”
“Josh? Is that…”
“Yes, it’s us!” Connor answered. “Just do as he says!”
“There!” Josh declared, pointing forward. He rolled the Seiiki over on her port side at a forty-five-degree angle, then slipped the ship sideways into the narrow valley through which the roadway ran.
“Oh, shit,” Connor declared, as Josh moved them down even lower. He looked forward at the troops advancing toward Jessica and the two Ghatazhak soldiers, their weapons firing. The closest group didn’t even turn to look, unaware of the Seiiki’s approach. Connor looked out his side window and slightly aft at the port nacelle, which was now only two meters above the road. “Oh, my God!” he said, turning back to look forward briefly. The far group of Dusahn soldiers stopped firing at Jessica and her men, and instead, targeted the Seiiki. “You’re insane!”
“Hang on!” Josh yelled.
There was a whoosh of displaced air and several sickening thuds, followed by a blast of heat and the earsplitting scream of the Seiiki’s main engines as she climbed into the sky, twisting and rolling, still pursued by two Dusahn fighters.
Jessica raised her head again, just in time to see the lifeless bodies of two Dusahn soldiers, their heads and shoulders ripped from their torsos, tumbling down the roadway toward them.
Sergeant Anwar and Corporal Volmara jumped up and opened fire on the remaining Dusahn soldiers, charging toward them as they fired.
“Jesus, Josh!” she exclaimed over her helmet comms. “You took their fucking heads off!”
Josh rolled the Seiiki to starboard, as he looked over at Connor, smiling. “Heh, heh, heh,” he giggled maniacally.