by Jeff Sims
He stepped back to the corner and looked. There was a sizeable hole blown in the door. He walked to the door and looked in. Just as Ella had described, there was an 8 meter long corridor separating the first and second doors. To the right was the glass-like walled guard booth. The blast had incinerated a portion of whatever material it was. Paul could see five stunned unarmored Hiriculans slowly getting up.
Paul grabbed his Gatling gun and tried to point it through the opening. It wouldn’t fit. He saw that one of them appeared to be about to type something on his work station. Paul tossed a grenade into the room and waved for the other two marines to do the same.
The first grenade landed in the lap of the typing Hiriculan and the blast eviscerated him. The second grenade bounced once and exploded in the air, shredding the second Hiriculan’s head. Surprisingly, a Hiriculan caught the third grenade. He didn’t have long to celebrate his athletic feat though as the grenade blew him and his two friends into several large pieces
Paul was about to approach the second door when it suddenly opened and the HAS units on the other side starting firing. Paul ducked back out of the corridor. The other two marines also leaped back and wound up on the other side of the corridor. Paul stuck his hand out and was rewarded with 5 beam weapon blasts. Ella walked over and joined Paul.
Paul looked over and shouted, “We’re pinned down and we are running out of time. Any suggestions?”
…………………..
Jake reached the archway and set down the heavy plate he was carrying. He briefly studied the arch. Ella had said she was unable to determine exactly what it was programmed to detect or whether it contained any defenses.
They would have liked to have disabled the electrolifts, but it wasn’t worth risking passing through the arch. Besides, the noise of the explosion would draw unnecessary attention to them.
Jake wrestled the plate against the archway and centered it such that it completely blocked the entryway. He leaned on it and braced it while the other marine lit the acetylene torch and welded the plate to the wall. Jake stepped back and admired their work. That certainly should hold long enough for them to make a clean escape.
Jake heard a blast in the distance. It was time to join the others.
…………………..
Ace landed in the middle of the transport area. He was double parked, but didn’t care. Ace exited the fighter and waved goodbye to it. He had grown attached to it over the last few months and was sad that he was going to have to abandon it.
Ace scanned the area and verified the hangar was empty. He walked two dozen or so steps to the Alliance shuttle. He verified that the shuttle belonged to the battleship Guardian. He double checked even though this was the only Alliance shuttle in the hangar bay.
Ace would feel stupid if he was waiting for them in the wrong transport. After obtaining a second verification that was indeed at the correct place, he entered through the back door.
He walked through the cargo / passenger area and through the interior door to the main passenger cabin. There were 2 rows of 2 seats. Ace walked past the first row and sat in one of the two pilot seats. He performed a pre-start check, started the sub-light engines, and waited.
Ace changed his mind. He obtained the electro cart from the back of the transport, activated it, and removed the shield buster missile from the transport. He dumped it next to one of the Hiriculan transports.
He walked back to his fighter, removed the gravity missile, and placed it on the cart. He pulled the cart back to the transport. Ace replaced put the gravity missile in the empty slot and double checked the rest of his ordinance. The transport could only carry 7 total offensive missiles. Ace had 6 fighter to fighter missiles and the aforementioned gravity missile. He again returned to the shuttle and waited.
…………………..
Admiral Dolen closed his communicator pad and shook his head in disbelief. On some level he was happy that the Alliance was attempting a rescue, but he was greatly concerned that humans were leading the attempt.
Dolen had taken great lengths to keep the presence of humans in the Alliance a secret. Now, Solear was flaunting them for all to see in direct violation of his orders. There would be no way to keep their presence a secret when the Hiriculans captured them.
Further, Captain Solear was sending a grand total of 5 human marines to free them. He chuckled at the ridiculousness of it. They needed a full squadron of AAU’s to have any hope of breaking through the HAS soldiers guarding them. Realistically, they needed 2-3 squadrons.
Dolen briefly considered ignoring the entire conversation, but saw Captain Arean and waved him over. Dolen said, “I just received a communication from Captain Solear. Apparently, he is in charge of a fleet that is rescuing us.”
“Solear,” Arean repeated. “I didn’t know we had a spare fleet in the area. When is he arriving?”
Dolen responded, “He’s already here. Solear said that he was a sending 5 marines to rescue us and that they will be here in less than 6 minutes.” Dolen chuckled as he was saying it.
Arean: “Did he happen to mention what exactly a marine is?”
Dolen: “He said they were elite human soldiers. He also mentioned standing away from the door.”
Arean: “Admiral, I suggest we take that piece of advice immediately. If there is a battle between armored suits, we do not want to be near it.”
Dolen sent a coded message from his com pad informing them of the imminent rescue attempt. He ordered everyone to back well away from the entryway and if possible, move to one of the adjoining rooms. He also instructed them to organize by ship. Finally, he instructed his fighter pilots to spread out among the other ships.
Arean left to organize his crew. Only Admiral Dolen, his Chief of Staff Olova, and the Guardian’s doctor / psychologist Purami remained in the main area. They casually backed behind a couch and against one of the walls.
Chief asked, “Do you really expect actual humans to barge in here and rescue us?”
Expecting something to happen was one thing; actually having it happen is quite another.
Dolen was about to answer when he heard a large explosion on the other side of the corridor. He felt the shockwave travel through the floor and leaned back against the wall for support. This was followed by three smaller explosions.
Dolen replied, “It appears your question has been answered.”
Dolen watched as the Hiriculans crowded the door and started firing their beam weapons. Clearly there was somebody on the other side. It was great that the humans had made it this far, but there was little chance that they could get past 6 HAS units before reinforcements arrived.
…………………..
Boid’la was off-duty. He was relaxing in the soldier’s entertainment complex when his commander hailed him and all of the other off-duty HAS soldiers.
The commander said, “All personnel, at least three full squadrons of Alliance soldiers just landed on the station. They have killed all of the guards in the exterior corridor, but the interior ones are keeping them at bay for the moment. Time is of the essence. Suit up and go stop them before they escape.”
Vlag’la was sitting beside him. He jumped up and took two steps to leave the room, but suddenly stopped and turned back when he noticed Boid’la wasn’t beside him.
Boid’la slipped his com pad down his shirt before Vlad’la turned back. He said, “I seem to have misplaced my communication pad. You go on ahead. I will search for it and join you when I find it.”
Vlag’la did a few mental calculations, arrived at an answer he didn’t like, and responded, “No, we’re a team. I cannot leave you in your time of need. I will help you search for it no matter how long it takes.”
……………………
Jake raced up the corridor and stood next to Ella. He really wanted to get closer to talk to Paul, but he couldn’t without exposing himself. Paul waved in his direction and Jake gave a thumb’s up. Jake waited another few seconds and gent
ly eased around both Ella and Paul and risked a quick peek into the corridor. He was welcomed with multiple beam blasts.
Jake said, “I thought they were supposed to keep the door closed until we blew it up.”
Paul said, “Yes. That was our plan. Apparently, they had a different one. We need to do something quickly.”
Jake said, “Sealing the archway will give us 5 minutes tops. We need to go now.”
Ella stepped out and yelled, “Follow me.”
Ella put her shields on maximum power and started walking down the corridor as quickly as possible. She imagined herself trotting, but in reality it looked more like a waddle. The 6 HAS units started firing at her the moment she stepped into the corridor.
Paul couldn’t believe her act of sheer bravery. He waved at his team and the 5 marines raced down the corridor behind her. The marines reached the end of corridor in four long strides and each separated in a different direction and attacked the HAS unit facing them.
Paul raced directly ahead and used his sword like a lance. He thrust the sword directly through the Hiriculan’s chest, killing him immediately. Paul spun away to see if anyone needed help and spotted the sixth HAS unit.
This Hiriculan had been standing back and was spared from the initial thrust. He fired a final blast at Ella in the AAU and turned toward Paul. He aimed and fired his beam weapon.
Paul dropped to one knee, quick drew his Dillion M134D Gatling gun, and fired a full clip into directly into the Hiriculan’s chest.
…………………..
Dolen watched in stunned horror as 5 suits of strange looking armor jumped out of the corridor. These must be the marines. He looked at their strange armored suits. Well, not really armored. They looked small and useless compared to the HAS units. Dolen wondered how they had even made it this far.
Dolen watched as the closest one plunged a giant sword straight through a HAS unit and out the back side. Blood started dripping down the outside of the HAS armor and the unit collapsed.
Then, the thing turned impossibly fast and fired a strange weapon. The sound was horrific. Dolen put his hands over his ears, but the sound was still deafening. Dolen watched as the barrel of the weird weapon started spinning and turned red hot.
Dolen switched his eyes’ focus to the HAS unit and watched as the weapon tore a hole through the front of the armor. Then it contacted the Hiriculan’s body and shredded it. Finally, the projectiles tore a hole through the back of the HAS unit and blood and guts sprayed out of the back of the hole.
The HAS unit’s legs buckled and it sat down on the floor. Then the top half slowly bent over and fell flat on the bottom half. The Hiriculan inside was torn in half. Dolen felt like he was going to puke.
Dolen scanned the carnage. All six HAS soldiers were dead. The battle hadn’t lasted more than few seconds. If one could call it a battle. It looked more like an execution. Dolen now realized why Captain Solear had only sent 5 of them. Clearly, 6 would have been overkill. He couldn’t believe how efficiently they had just killed the HAS soldiers.
Chief of Staff Olova summarized it with, “Well, that was easier than I expected.”
Dolen now wondered whether the humans would stop or if they would continue their killing spree. He hoped that the Captain Solear had trained them to recognize Alliance members. If not, he would die next. He briefly considered ducking down behind the couch.
Dolen noted that the AAU had fallen down and wasn’t moving. The 5 marines were surrounding her and arguing. They weren’t searching for anyone else to kill and certainly weren’t eating anyone. I guess Victor Bullpeep was right about humans not eating other beings, Dolen thought.
Dolen finally worked up the courage to walk over there. Olova and Purami stayed tucked safely behind the couch. They were content with letting Dolen take the lead and remain a safe distance away.
Paul looked down at Ella. The suit was completely dead and Ella’s life-sign monitor was beeping red. They pushed her out of the doorway. Paul activated the manual release and pried her helmet apart. He could see the back of her head. It looked fine. Paul couldn’t tell exactly what had killed her.
Paul started trying to pull her out, but stopped when an Advranki approached.
Dolen said, “I am Admiral Dolen. I presume you are the marines?”
Paul said, “Yes. Tell everyone we need to leave now.” Paul bent down again and tugged off her helmet.
Admiral Dolen sent the all clear signal on his com pad. He looked down and said, “I knew her personally. Her death is a true loss.”
Paul replied, “Yes. We have to take her body back for a proper burial.”
Dolen answered, “Leave her. The AAU shell is too heavy to carry and it will take too long for you to free her. I imagine the Hiriculan reinforcements will be here momentarily.”
Paul gave another tug and moved her out a couple of inches (5 cm).
Dolen said, “Don’t worry. The Hiriculans respect the dead of other races. They will make arrangements for her to be shipped back to Solaria.” Somehow, he felt a little safer around the humans knowing that they too respect the dead of other races.
Paul didn’t like response, but acquiesced.
All of the prisoners were jogging towards the door. It was time to leave.
*A comparable taste is unsweetened green tea with orange spice creamer and lime juice in it.
Chapter 21
Lexxi announced, “We have a problem.”
Solear turned toward her. They had just struck a major blow to the command carrier and weren’t being targeted by any enemy missiles. Further all system were operating properly. Even the solenoids in the emergency pressure system were holding air pressure and not leaking.
He asked, “What’s wrong?”
Lexxi responded, “Math. We have a math problem.”
Solear said, “Please elaborate.” It appeared to Solear that they had enough time to factor a trinomial equation if they had so chosen. Heck, they even had time to solve for x, find the vertex, and graph the corresponding parabola.
Oddly enough, Ella had programmed their path through the system to follow a parabola with the Spindle Station at their vertex or midpoint. They had now been in the system for 10 minutes and were just about to circle the station, meaning they were nearly halfway. If everything went as planned, the Alliance warships should start leaving within minutes.
Lexxi responded, “We have now been in the system for 10 minutes. We have fired 160 offensive missiles and 30 defensive missiles. According to our plan, we have 14 minutes left in the system.”
Solear now understood the math problem. They had initially planned on firing an equal amount of offensive and defensive missiles. However, with their tactical advantage, they had fired an inordinate amount of offensive missiles. They had started with 280 offensive missiles and now they only had 120 remaining. If they kept firing, they would exhaust their offensive capability in the next 6 minutes.
They were at the point farthest away from the carrier and at the most difficult angle because the station was in the way. However, if they didn’t fire offensive missiles, they would give the command carrier a respite and allow it to switch to the offensive. Solear thought, it is much better to give than to receive.
Solear stalled for time by asking, “What is the status of the 36 missiles that the carrier fired at us?”
Putat was monitoring this. He replied, “Our 30 defensive missiles stopped 35 of the enemy’s offensive missiles. The remaining missile and will impact in the next two minutes. Based on the angle of approach, our defensive lasers should be able to stop it. However, to be certain that it is not a problem we should fire more defensive missiles or evade it.”
Solear made a quick decision. He said, “Fire 10 defensive missiles.” Now, what could he do to solve the math problem?
Clowy said, “I heard somewhere that the best defense is a good offense.”
Solear looked at her strangely, then had a sudden realization. He shouted, “Clowy,
you’re a genius.” He paused for a breath and continued, “Lexxi, continue firing defensive missiles for the next 16 volleys, or 80 total defensive missiles.”
Lexxi gave Solear a really strange look, but nodded affirmatively and sent the order.
Solear continued, “Fire the first 10 as standard defensive missiles. Then reprogram the defensive missiles to fly directly to the command cruiser.”
Lexxi said, “Are you senile? They will have no effect.”
Solear smiled at the insult and responded, “They may not blow up, but they will have the desired effect.”
Solear stopped the sentence, but Putat continued, “Of forcing the command carrier to continue to fire defensive missiles. They will have to fire their next volley before they realize that we have effectively just fired empty shells at them.”
That will take them to the 14 minute mark. At the 20 minute mark they should have an entire fleet behind them, so Solear said, “Then fire all remaining offensive missiles.”
………………..
Colin saw the missile change. He said, “One defensive missile, really?”
Becky swung the hoist over and grabbed it in the carrier. She swung it over and they loaded it into the missile launcher. Colin pressed the button – 26 seconds.
Colin saw the second change. He said, “They need to make up their minds.”
Becky replied, “That’s 80 total defensive missiles. They must be firing at us. Maybe we should activate our helmets.”
Colin said, “Computer, contact Lexxi and ask her if we are under imminent threat of missile bombardment.”
…Message sent and received. The answer is no…
………………..
Admiral Dolen waited in the room until the rest of his bridge crew joined him. They were among the last to leave. As he walked out of the corridor, he noticed that all 5 marines were standing side by side on the left side of the 8 meter corridor.