She stepped forward into the arming room and made her way to the weapons’ wall. She chose standard armaments as well as a set of electrical grenades Pandora believed would prove effective against the automatons that served as security at the last base. With a frown of reflection on that experience, she threw a pack of the devices to each member of her boarding party.
“Let’s get to it,” Kate commanded.
“Standby, Commander,” replied Pandora. A series of metallic clangs resounded through the ship.
“Please step outside the violet line,” she instructed, and a circle filling the middle third of the room appeared. When the Marines had stepped beyond circumference, the previously seamless floor split apart into curved and pointed sections that dropped several centimeters and irised open. Below, they could see a similar hole reaching down through multiple decks to reveal the surface of the Domeki station.
“That’s a nice feature, Pandora.”
“Thank you, Commander. Traditionally the Domeki’s foot soldiers deploy through the bottom of the ship. We haven’t previously been positioned appropriately to do so.”
“Do I feel gravity?” Kate asked.
“Negative, Commander. What you sense is pressure being generated by gas pumped into the opening. It will act much like gravity and carry you smoothly down.”
“That thing’s not going to move out of the way while we’re jumping, is it?”
“The chances are minimal. However, you can attach a tether before you jump if you’re concerned.”
Kate shook her head invisibly inside her armor. The ship’s intelligence was becoming spikier as time passed. It felt like an intervention was in order, but she was completely unsure of how to accomplish such a thing with a computer-based life form. One for the neuroscientists and programmers to fight about, I guess, she thought.
“Okay Wickrens, you’re first,” she ordered. He hit the release for his tether and grapneled it to the attachment point. He pulled the rifle from his back and with a joyful shout leapt into the hole. Her crew crowded around and watched as he touched down gently and slid several steps to the side, his weapon traversing a full circle in its quest for a target.
“Clear,” he reported, and the rest of the team jumped to the base. A kilometer away, Kate could see the tiny forms of the Washington’s Marines bailing out and firing grapnel guns to bring them down to the surface of the station. The two forces moved to a spot precisely halfway between them. Their oversized steps in the absence of gravity made the approach almost comical.
As they drew near, the hatch of what appeared to be a large cargo airlock opened. Both teams jumped into it, then greeted one another with fist bumps and armored high-fives. Their suits negotiated in the background, and after several seconds the hiss of their shared communication channel was added to the helmets’ soundscape.
“Nice of you come along,” Kate said.
“As if we’d miss out on the chance to work with you again, Commander Flynn,” Saint replied.
In a conspiratorial whisper, Sinner added, “Don’t let him know I told you, Red, but I think he has a crush on you.”
Her external speakers picked up the clang as Saint backhanded the other Gunnery Sergeant in the chest, and both teams laughed. Without warning, the airlock closed above them, and the hiss of pressure equalization filled the space.
“Game faces,” Saint said. Both teams drew their weapons and turned toward the part of the room that would open into the base.
As the door retracted, a set of four sentries, each featuring a large sphere at the bottom of its torso instead of humanoid legs, careened into the corridor beyond it. Kate and Saint yelled, “Fire,” in unison, and the battle for the Domeki crescent station was on.
Chapter Twenty-Three
The battle was over before it began. The barrage of weapons flew mainly overtop the sentries as they threw themselves flat on the ground to avoid them. Or at least that was how it looked.
Pandora’s smooth voice cut in and said, “I’ve eliminated the defenders, Commander and Gunnery Sergeants. I’m now shutting down active defenses throughout the base.”
“Great work, Pandora,” Kate replied as she stood up from her defensive crouch. “How did you manage access?”
“I was able to use your suits as a bridge, Commander. Once you were inside, I discovered a path through some engineering systems that allowed me into the security controls.”
Kate shook her head. “You’re something else. Could you—”
Her request was rendered redundant as three different colored paths appeared on her heads-up display.
“The yellow path leads to the command center for the base. The blue path leads to a cargo bay with an external lock. The Washington, DC is moving to that cargo bay. The green path leads to a resupply station for Domeki vessels. I’m repositioning to lock onto the hardpoint associated with it.
Kate frowned, unable to complain about anything in particular, but feeling somehow less in control of the situation than she’d like to be. “All right, you heard the lady. Diaz and I will head to command. The rest of my crew, follow the green line and give Pandora what she wants. Saint, Sinner, you know the way.”
“Indeed,” replied St. John. “I’ll accompany you, and Sinner can oversee the loading.”
“Should we destroy these things for the sake of safety?” Wickrens asked. His rifle was still pointed at the downed robots.
Silence reigned for a moment. Kate broke it. “If Pandora says she has them, I’m sure she has them. Let’s not waste any time.” The Marine leaders didn’t contradict her, and the groups moved out to their separate objectives.
As they advanced toward the command center, Kate, Diaz, and Saint took turns investigating the chambers they passed. They cataloged supply rooms, mess halls, barracks, and other important features of everyday life. None of it looked active or recently utilized.
Reports came in from the other teams as they reached their objectives and reported nominal statuses there as well. “Load quick,” Kate ordered. On a channel only to Saint and Diaz, she said, “This place is giving me the creeps.” Chills had begun to course up and down her spine when the robots dropped, and the unreality of wandering through the seemingly normal, seemingly dormant Domeki base had been afflicting her ever since.
Finally, they reached the control center, which was similar in layout to the previous one they’d encountered but much larger. Kate slapped the Pandora disk onto a nearby display, and the room lit up.
“I’m negotiating additional routes into the full system,” Pandora said. “There’s no need to remain in the control area. I’ll use your suits to bring the data outside the base, and you can retrieve the disk as you exit.”
“Good deal,” Kate replied, then addressed the two with her. “Want to go exploring? Or should we help with the transfer, so we can get the hell out of here?”
“I vote the latter,” said Diaz.
“Seems I’m outvoted, then,” replied Saint with a smile in his tone. “I, of course, would’ve chosen the bravest route, to stay here and extract every last bit of data from the aliens’ cold, dead, storage banks.”
“Right, Saint, we know.” She gave him a pat on the shoulder to emphasize her understanding. She drew a deep breath, blew it out, and said, “Let’s move.”
After a brisk run across at least half the station, Kate emerged into the resupply bay for the Pandora. She watched Saint’s back as he diverted into a large area nearby. He turned and gave her a nod before leaving her line of sight, then his voice crackled over the comm. “Excellent choice to put the ships so close together.”
“Thank you, Gunnery Sergeant,” replied the growly tones of Captain Cross. “I live for your approval.”
“Good that you finally admit it,” Saint countered.
“Focus, boys,” Kate said, and the channel fell into chatter about the logistics of loading.
She moved to where her team clustered around a series of terminals. “How’s it go
ing?”
Her engineer, Trey Winstel, replied, “This is a fantastic system. We requisition what we want on that terminal,” he pointed, “then robot arms in the storage space beyond retrieve it and put it on this conveyor.” A container appeared at that moment, floating above a gigantic yellow line on the floor.
“Repulsors in the crate?” she asked.
“Nope. Appears to be pure gravity manipulation. If you take a magnified look, you can see all the surfaces of this room have tiny circular indentations. I think those are gravitic projectors. When this war is over, we have to come back here and dig into this place. The innovations we could develop based on it are just,” his voice was filled with longing, “amazing.”
“I think Trey is in love,” joked Jaleh Keziah.
“I Married A Gigantic Alien Space Station,” announced Emilee Lachance in a theatrical tone. “The rights from the book and movie alone will bring billions.”
“Bastards, cretins,” Winstel said with a laugh. “You could never understand the purity and beauty of our true love.”
Kate frowned. Something was still chewing at the base of her brain. She could almost taste the metallic fear that came with the arrival of nasty surprises.
“Okay, lock down the nonsense. Go faster. And don’t forget to pull every schematic for advanced weapons you can find.”
She received acknowledgments from her crew and sprinted to the Marines’ loading bay.
She slid to a sudden stop, startled at the sight of the Marines acting like children. Unable to use the gravity controls, they were using suit jets to push large crates into motion and direct them on a trajectory towards the waiting cargo bay on the Washington. The Marines resembled superheroes on holiday, every so often using a magnetic grapnel gun to reel themselves in or adjust the path of an errant container. Kate shook her head and walked back toward her own team without a word.
When the warning came, it wasn’t a surprise. It was simply a confirmation of the formless fear she’d been enduring. “Commander Flynn, I’ve been contacted by a Domeki computer. The signal is originating at a 231-degree angle to the station.”
“You’re saying that there’s a Domeki presence in the system other than this one?”
“That’s the most likely explanation, Commander.”
Kate triggered the channel that included everyone. “Immediate evacuation. Whatever’s not on board gets left behind. Make your way to the ship closest. There are Domeki in the system, and they’re not on the base.”
When Pandora joined the group discussion, Kate was struck by how alarmed her voice sounded. “I now have multiple Domeki contacts. They’re attempting to breach my defenses. You don’t have time to return to the entry airlock.”
“Guess we get to be superheroes for real,” Sinner said. “All Marines, suit jets and grapnels over to the Washington’s cargo bay. Latch on to the Marine next you and go. Now, now, now.” Kate looked around the room to confirm that the only egress other than the way she’d entered was the tube leading through the bulkhead and feeding her ship.
“We’re coming through the tube, Pandora,” she yelled and raced for the opening. She pulled team members into motion as she passed, sending them out ahead of her. She was the last to leap into the gravity stream, which grabbed her and sent her hurtling out of the base.
The system hadn’t been designed to carry people, and their arrival on the Pandora was decidedly inelegant. Kate was propelled into a large pile of armor-clad figures. She rebounded as she struck and rolled away to tumble down an irregular staircase of stacked crates until she hit the floor with enough velocity to jar her brain inside its tin can. Stars swam before her eyes, and she gasped in an effort to put words together.
“Are we all here?”
“Affirmative,” Pandora said.
“Button up then. The Washington?”
“Already moving,” answered Lieutenant Commander Lynda Peterson from her post on the bridge.
“Do we have an unopposed exit vector?”
“Yes, Commander,” Pandora answered.
“Great. Protect the DC and get us out of here once she’s safe. If anything changes, if there’s any danger, summon me. Otherwise, I’m going to sort out my people and head to medical.”
“Affirmative, Commander,” Pandora and Peterson replied together, or at least that’s what Kate thought she heard as her brain tunneled down into darkness.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Kraada walked with purpose through the hewn rock of the tunnel that connected the palace and the Planetary Defense Center. Once again, his trusted pair of attendants trailed him, Chanii on his right and Variin on his left, each a half pace behind. With each step, it felt as if he was drawing closer to an inevitable end. The confluences in play at this moment were unprecedented. The result of this war would change the Xroeshyn culture for all time.
He would go down in the annals of the Xroeshyn as the leader who’d delivered them to paradise. He knew it, knew it with every fiber of his being.
They came to the first guard post, and the seneschal led the way. Several overprotective minutes later, they’d reached the primary level of the defense center. He regarded it with new eyes. Uniformed personnel moved throughout the space intent on their tasks, unaware of or unconcerned with any larger issues at play. The perfect cogs in the perfect machine. The frosted windows of the main room in the middle kept it secret, and he always pictured it in his mind as it had been on the day this all began. The day the trespassers invaded the reliquary and destroyed the shrine of Vasoi.
The greatest transgression in history had led to the greatest opportunity in history. Unprecedented moments, indeed.
Kraada followed Chanii into the heart of the center and regarded the hologram hanging over the planning table. The room fell silent, doubtless awaiting his orders. The sight of the defenders circling Xroesha captivated him. Never before, during his time among the elite, anyway, had so much of the fleet been gathered in one place. Historical records suggested that a similar mobilization occurred near the end of the war with the Domeki, but despite the evocative descriptions recorded for posterity, the image was too unreal to resolve in his mind.
The present reality was more rewarding than his imagination could have ever been.
A discrete throat clearing from an officer brought him back to the moment with a frown. “Report,” he said in a level tone.
“All is proceeding according to your plan, Emperor,” replied High Commander Maalis Fadl, his subordinate in charge of the defense of the home system. “Our ships are arriving within acceptable tolerances of their projected times. Upon arrival they’re resupplied, rearmed, and set into position.
“Rearmed with everything?” Kraada interrupted.
The slender woman nodded, the long braid of light blue feathers that ran down over her left shoulder bouncing with the motion. “Yes, Emperor, again according to your orders. We’ve unearthed all the weapons that were used against the Domeki and then set aside.” He heard the confusion in her voice. His own research after replacing Marshal Drovaa revealed internal politicking had been responsible for the loss of these technologies from their working arsenal. He said a small prayer of thanks to the gods for again investing religious, military, and political power in one being, to avoid such nonsense.
“Very good. Continue.”
“The delay provided by the attacks on the colonies will permit an additional set of ships to arrive in time to take part in the battle if the enemy acts as expected.”
“And if they do not?” asked Chanii.
Without turning from the emperor’s eyes, Maalis responded, “Then even more may be able to participate. As instructed by the emperor, we are erring on the side of conservativism at all times.”
The woman looked uncomfortable to Kraada. It was in the rigidity of her stance and in the slight trickle of sweat that slipped down the tiny scales on her neck. “You have something else to tell me. Do so.”
“We’ve been forced
to modify one of the traps that you ordered, Your Grace.” She stepped away and turned to the holotable. She used a combination of gestures to trigger the projectors in her gloves and interacted with the display. The image zoomed in to the rocks that sheltered the home system.
“Your initial surprise for the enemy is ready, Emperor.” The display showed the modifications he’d ordered to the asteroid field surrounding the system were in place. The attackers would now be forced either to blast their way through the barrier, during which his own forces would wash in behind them to attack or take the seemingly easier route through the weakened funnel he’d created. To their sensors, he hoped, it would appear a natural phenomenon.
“Continue.”
A sweep of the high commander’s arms shifted the view to their home planet. He could see in exquisite detail his ships arrayed around it. “The second trap is also prepared, with the additional forces set to arrive here.” A section of the image sparkled to indicate the arrival zone.
“The third, however, has proven to be unworkable.” Several vessels received outlines and then moved into position. “Our assessment of the enemy’s likely deployment means we cannot achieve the cascade we hoped for. We project they’ll be too spread out, and we don’t have enough ships outfitted to make it happen.” She stood tall and spun to face him.
Kraada folded his arms and flicked his wings out in annoyance. He took a deep breath and settled them back into place before he replied, “No plan, however good, can anticipate every enemy move. I presume you’ve created an alternate option for this eventuality?”
His subordinate nodded and adjusted the image again. In this version of the future battle, the marked ships spread out in a wider dispersion against the wireframe projections of the human vessels. Kraada tapped his chin, then let her off the hook. “Acceptable.”
He turned to his trusted two. “Variin, Chanii, any suggestions?”
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