by Ryk Brown
Cameron leaned back in her chair, frustrated.
“What is it?” Commander Kaplan asked.
“We’re running ourselves ragged out here, and we haven’t spotted a single Jung ship in days. Not even an unconfirmed FTL trail.”
“You’d prefer that we did find more Jung ships?” the commander wondered.
“At least it would justify all the hysteria,” Cameron replied. “Have you watched any of the news broadcasts from Earth lately?”
“I try not to.”
“Galiardi has the entire planet whipped into a frenzy. People are marching in the streets, demanding that we put an end to the Jung threat once and for all, before it’s too late.”
“What do you mean, too late?”
“The so-called experts are saying that if the Jung do have jump drive technology, then they obviously have just gotten it and haven’t outfitted their entire fleet yet, because if they had, they would have launched an all-out attack, instead of sending a few ships in to test our response.”
“Why the hell would they reveal they even had jump drives in the first place?” the commander wondered. “Surely they would expect us to take action.
“That’s what they’re saying,” Cameron continued. “That the Jung wanted us to launch a KKV strike, so they could get the support of their own people.”
“None of this makes any sense,” Commander Kaplan said, throwing up her hands in frustration.
“No, it doesn’t, and that’s what bothers me the most,” Cameron said. “You don’t send ships out to be detected and destroyed, just to stir up a war. Not if you’re the Jung.” Cameron shook her head. “There is something else going on here. Someone doesn’t want us to send ships to the Pentaurus sector. That much is obvious. Yet no one in command, from Galiardi on down, is saying that. Hell, the media isn’t even saying that! It should be obvious to anyone with half a brain!”
“People believe what they want to believe, Cameron.”
“Unfortunately, they want to believe the time for revenge has come.”
* * *
“How long are we gonna keep this up?” Dalen wondered as he jogged up the Seiiki’s cargo ramp.
“Until the Dusahn return, or there’s no one left to evacuate,” Marcus replied as he activated the ramp.
“You’re kidding, right?”
“Nope.”
“There’s, like, a few hundred thousand people on this world, Marcus.”
“You’re just figuring that out now?” Marcus turned toward the people packed into the Seiiki’s cargo bay behind him. “This here’s a fast ride, not necessarily a smooth one. So, everyone grab hold of something. A rail, your neighbor, whatever.”
“How long is the trip,” a nervous evacuee wondered.
“About five minutes,” Marcus answered as the ramp closed and locked. “We’re good back here,” he reported over his headset.
“Good forward, as well,” Neli reported over comms.
“Jump to orbit is loaded and ready,” Loki reported.
“Lawrence Control, Seiiki. Ready for takeoff, north side of Ghatazhak hangar.” Josh turned toward Loki. “Or, what’s left of it.”
“Must’ve been one hell of a battle,” Loki commented as he checked the ship’s systems again.
“Lawrence Control, Seiiki. Ready for takeoff,” Josh repeated. He looked at Loki, puzzled. “Lawrence Control, Seiiki?” Still nothing. “Lawrence Control, anybody there?”
“I guess they have better things to do,” Loki said.
“Yeah, like get in line to get off this rock, while the gettin’ is good,” Josh replied. “Lawrence traffic, Seiiki is taking off from the north side of the Ghatazhak hangar. Cover your ears, we’re jumping out low.”
Ground crew and soldiers near the Seiiki moved quickly to the sides as the ship’s main thrust nozzles swung downward, and, along with her forward lift fan, began spinning up to takeoff power. The wash of thrust swept over the tarmac, as the ship lifted quickly off the ground. It did not execute the usual, leisurely climb and turnout that most ships did when leaving the Lawrence Spaceport. Instead, it tipped slightly left as it rotated to port, while still only a few meters off the surface. It began sliding in the direction of its turn, pitching up and accelerating as it came onto its departure heading. Then, less than thirty seconds after it had taken off, it disappeared behind a blinding flash of blue-white light that lit the spaceport up for a split second. It rocked the nearby buildings with the screech from the jump and the sound of air rushing to fill the void that the ship’s departure had created in the atmosphere.
Without missing a beat, those on the ground assisting with the loading and departure of the Seiiki, immediately ran to nearby ships to help them, as well, while two boxcars appeared in the sky above them from behind their own flashes of light.
“Jump complete,” Loki reported.
“Seriously, Loki… We’ve talked about this so many times.”
“Sorry, old habit,” Loki apologized as he switched frequencies on the Seiiki’s primary comms. “Glendanon, Seiiki. Inbound for docking, in three.”
“We’ll be docking with the Glendanon in a few minutes!” Marcus barked from the forward catwalk. “Everyone needs to disembark in a quick and orderly fashion! If you see someone having a hard time negotiating the ladder, help them out. If you are unable to negotiate the ladder, step aside and let others out first! We will help you once the other passengers have passed! You will have to wait for the passengers in the forward section, and those standing in the corridors, to move off the ship before you will be able to follow! Anyone causing problems will be knocked the fuck out and dragged off the ship in an unconscious state! Please, everyone work together, so that I do not have to knock anyone the fuck out! Once on board the Glendanon, follow the instructions of her crew so that they do not have to knock you the fuck out!”
“Is that really necessary?” a woman complained.
“Watch it, lady,” Marcus warned. “I’ve been known to punch women, too.” Marcus looked at Dalen, who was smiling on the other side of the cargo bay.
“Five meters,” Loki reported as the Seiiki translated slowly to port toward the Glendanon’s extended docking arm. “Four……three…”
Josh pushed the base of his flight control stick gently to the right for a split second, causing the port thrusters to fire briefly, slowing their closure rate.
“Two meters…” Loki glanced at the displays. “All greens on alignments. One meter.”
Josh fired the docking thrusters again. A split second later, there was a metallic thud, and the ship rocked gently.
“Contact,” Loki reported. “Docking thrusters safe. Mains safe. Mag locks active. Glendanon, Seiiki has contact.”
“Positive locks. Positive seals,” the Glendanon replied. “Seiiki, you’re go to pop the hatch.”
“Copy that,” Loki replied.
“Open up and get’em off,” Josh instructed over his comm-set.
“Popping the hatch,” Neli replied over her comm-set. “Alright, people! Don’t start moving until I call your group. When I do, move quickly toward the exit, and help each other out. Work together so we can get everyone moved off quickly. Anyone gives us any problems…”
“We heard,” someone called from the back of the port corridor. “The guy in the back will knock us the fuck out!”
“Exactly!” Neli agreed. “Port side corridor! You’re first! Let’s go!”
The people lined up in front of her in the port corridor began moving forward single file, stepping through the boarding hatch and into the tunnel that connected the Seiiki to the Glendanon.
“Good that you can keep your sense of humor at a time like this,” Neli told the man who had yelled back as he passed her on his way out.
“W
hat else can you do?” the man replied with a shrug as he helped the young lady in front of him step through the hatch.
“What’s that? Twenty or thirty trips, so far?” Josh wondered, as he leaned back and stretched.
“More like fourteen, Josh.”
“Really? Damn, this is going to take forever.”
“Think of how the people still on the planet feel.”
* * *
“Ghatazhak! This is the Glendanon! Three Dusahn ships have just jumped into orbit over Burgess!”
The building suddenly shook violently, and the few windows still intact in the Ghatazhak’s flight operations office blew out from the shock wave.
The sudden nearby explosion nearly knocked Connor off his feet.
“We must leave, now!” General Telles shouted.
“Are we done here?” Connor asked.
“Yes! Telles to all Ghatazhak! Evac protocol Zeta One!”
“What the hell is Zeta One?” Connor wondered as another bomb impacted on the far side of the spaceport.
“You do not want to know,” the general replied.
“Telles, Combat One! We’ll be there in two minutes to pick you up, General!”
“One, Telles! Orbit until I signal!”
“Understood!”
“Captain, I must see to the evacuation of my men. Go to medical and get Jessica, Sato, and Megel ready to depart. I will send the other combat jumper to pick you up in a few minutes.”
Another bomb struck nearby, rattling the building again. “Are we still going to be here in a few minutes?” Connor exclaimed nervously as the bombs continued to fall.
“They are testing us; checking for retaliatory defenses,” the general warned. “Once they have determined that there are none, they will move their larger ships into position and begin dropping nukes. If we are not gone by then, it will be too late,” the general said as the headed for the exit.
“One, Telles! Orbit until I signal!”
“Understood,” Lieutenant Latfee acknowledged. He glanced at the sensor display. “Based on their initial firing pattern, if we circle west, then come south and across, we should be able to avoid the incoming…for now.”
“This is going to get a lot worse,” Commander Kainan said, as he pulled the combat jumper into a tight left turn.
“Hey, at least they haven’t launched any fighters,” Sergeant Torwell commented.
“Yet,” the commander said as he steered his shuttle away from the stream of energy bolts raining down from orbit.
“Jesus!” Lieutenant Latfee exclaimed, looking out the side window. “Boxcars on the ground! That stream of fire is marching directly toward you! You need to launch now!”
In the distance, streams of bright yellow plasma rained down, one after another, marching toward a row of three boxcars that were still loading evacuees. Dust rose as all three boxcars heeded the lieutenant’s warnings and began spinning up their engines for takeoff. Beneath the boxcars, the hanging loading ramps into the cargo pods retracted upwards, people still scrambling to get inside. Those who were unable to get onto the ramps before they rose went running in all directions to escape the destruction that was coming rapidly toward them.
The line of energy bolts slammed into the ground, one by one, sending chunks of concrete, dirt, and rock flying in all directions. Finally, the line of destruction reached the first boxcar as it was lifting off the ground, its boarding ramp only half raised. The bolt of energy slammed into the top of the boxcar, barely missing its flight deck, but finding one of its externally mounted propellant tanks. The tank exploded, the force tearing into the cargo pod directly below. The next two tanks to either side went a split second later, followed by the fourth on the far side. The boxcar, and its cargo pod below, fractured into half a dozen chunks, falling to the ground and breaking apart. Bodies were tossed in all directions; some of them whole, some dismembered, most at least partially ablaze.
The next boxcar was slightly higher above the ground when it was struck. First, by sections of the first boxcar as it came apart nearby, then by two plasma salvos from above. It too exploded in a series of near-simultaneous flashes of orange, yellow, and red, sending debris and bodies flying.
The captain of the third boxcar had been smarter, and managed to jump away before being struck. The ground below where the third boxcar had been a split second earlier erupted in a cloud of smoke and debris, the bodies of those who had not gotten clear igniting along with it.
“My God!” the lieutenant exclaimed in disbelief. “The boxcars…”
“Did you see that?” Sergeant Torwell asked.
“Did any of them get away?” the commander asked as he rolled the shuttle out of its turn.
“One, maybe,” the lieutenant replied, as he watched the bolts of energy continue their path of destruction toward the Ghatazhak base on the far side of the flight apron.
“We can at least try to slow them down!” Commander Jarso insisted, as he swung his fighter around the Glendanon and turned back in the direction of the enemy ships.
“Negative,” General Telles ordered over comms. “We’ve already lost too many of you, and you are the only offensive spaceborne weapons we have! Your orders are to protect the Glendanon! Without her, we are doomed! Is that understood?”
“Yes, sir,” the commander replied. “Raker leader to all Rakers. Anyone who still has jump power and propellant, form up on me. The rest, return to the Glendanon, before she is forced to jump away.”
“What about you guys?” Lieutenant Commander Sistone asked.
“We’ll stay up until the last ship escapes. If we don’t make it back before the Glendanon jumps, we’ll jump to the rendezvous point on the outskirts of the system and go cold. With any luck, you can send someone to pick us up later.”
“Assuming the Dusahn don’t find us first,” Ensign Viorol commented.
“You worry too much, Shooter,” Commander Jarso joked.
“That’s because I’ve got Stringbean as my wingman,” Ensign Viorol replied.
“The way you fly, I’m the one who should be worried,” Ensign Sanko muttered.
Commander Jarso glanced at his tactical screen, counting the number of fighters joining up on him as ordered. “You low, Sissy?” he called out, noticing that Lieutenant Commander Sistone was not among them.
“Sorry,” Sissy replied. “Chasing after the children is tiring work.”
“If we don’t make it back, you’re the new wing commander.”
“Just make it back, Rubber,” Sissy replied. “I’m not fond of responsibility.”
“Disperse and withdraw! Or, we will use deadly force!” the Ghatazhak sergeant warned the desperate crowds of civilians trying to get past the barricades and fences in order to board the last boxcar.
Blasts of energy continued to rain down on the spaceport, the city of Lawrence, and the surrounding areas. The landscape danced in the flickering yellow light of the descending bolts of plasma, only to mix with the reds and oranges of the explosions and fires that erupted with nearly every impact. Smoke filled the air, burning nostrils and obscuring the horizon.
The sergeant’s warning fell on deaf ears. The citizens of Lawrence wanted off their doomed world, and nothing would keep them from the boxcar that had just landed and was now lowering its ramp to take on the small group of passengers waiting nearby.
A section of fence finally gave way to the force of the crowd pushing against it. One of its poles pushed up the soil around it, coming loose and leaning inward. Desperate men and women began climbing up the leaning fence, their weight pushing it over even further.
Seeing the breach, the crowd pushed toward it. Bodies climbed over one another, crushing those below. An apocalypse was upon them, and it was every man and woman for themself.
&
nbsp; The Ghatazhak sergeant heard the sudden roar of the mob and turned to his left to see the fence come toppling over and the crowd rushing into the spaceport. “To the left!” he barked. “Open fire!”
A dozen Ghatazhak soldiers responded, opening fire with their energy rifles as they moved toward the advancing crowd. In a wave of energy weapons fire, they mowed down more than one hundred civilians in the first few seconds.
But the crowd kept coming.
More Ghatazhak ran over to join them, adding their firepower. Hundreds more innocent men and women, all wanting to escape unjust annihilation, were quickly added to the pile of dead bodies.
While a single frigate maintained position over Lawrence, showering it with plasma weapons fire, two larger cruisers moved into position on either side of the planet’s equator, in order to provide even coverage. As they moved into attack position, one of the cruisers launched a wave of fighters that quickly jumped away after clearing their host ship.
Connor ran across the spaceport as bolts of plasma pounded the Ghatazhak base ahead of him. He could see people carrying the wounded out of the medical building, trying to get those who had a fighting chance to survive to the cargo shuttle that was waiting only fifty meters away. As he drew closer, he could see Doctor Megel and Doctor Sato helping Jessica down the steps.
Then it happened. A series of plasma shots slammed into the ground to the right of the waiting cargo shuttle. One by one, the shots smashed into the ground, throwing up dust and debris behind each fiery explosion, inching their way toward the cargo shuttle and…
One of the shots struck the cargo shuttle as the wounded were being carried up the back ramp. The shuttle exploded, throwing bodies and torn metal in all directions. The explosion rocked the ground, causing Connor to stumble and fall. He could feel the heat wash over him, and the concussion made his ears feel as if someone had stabbed knives in them.