Starflake (T'aafhal Legacy Book 3)

by Doug Hoffman

  “Aye, aye, Lieutenant.

  Orloo Habitat

  In a nearby minor spire, a group of Orloo gathered around a viewing device. Like most of the species that inhabited the Starflake, the Orloo were not without technological skills, though these had atrophied since their ancestors first landed on the lonely outpost in space. They still possessed enough know-how to tap into the station's observation network and it allowed them to watch the ongoing battle between the hated Karf and the newcomers—the Earthlings.

  “Which species is winning?” asked one.

  “It is hard to tell, but the Earthlings are certainly killing a lot of Karf.”

  The one who had spoken first made a rude noise. “The more of those accursed vermin they kill the better. We have suffered their outrages for far to long.”

  “The Earthlings are not losing, if that is to anyone's liking. If they destroy the malignant bipeds will they simply take the Karf's place as station overlords?” said another.

  “Do you think they could be worse than the gray scum who strut around the station now? We've hated the Karf for generations.”

  This statement was greeted with twitters of agreement from the others. The Orloo predated the arrival of the Karf and remembered well the bloody takeover of the station.

  “Still, better the devil we know.”

  “You say we should be pulling for the Karf?” said one incredulous observer.

  “I'm saying that it would be best for us if they both lose.”

  “I'm not sure of that. Remember that it wasn't the Karf that took over the station, they were simply left in charge.”

  “That is true. Even if the newcomers destroy the Karf the Others may return.”

  A number of those present displayed rippling color changes, an indication of shock and fear. Though they were once aquatic creatures they now spent most of their time in dryer environments, only entering the water to hunt and breed. Like the Earthly octopuses they resembled, the Orloo retained the ability to rapidly change the pattern and color of their skin pigmentation, though not always voluntarily. The mention of the Karf's savage masters startled and silenced the group for several minutes. Then one of the older Orloo spoke.

  “You were not present when they interceded and healed the Hoon cub one of our youngsters nearly ingested. At first I thought the Earthlings would side with fellow vertebrates, but the one in charge was fair to both sides. These new creatures are not like other aggressive races.”

  “So then they are soft, which means they will probably lose, to the Others if not the Karf.”

  “I'm not so sure, from what we can tell the smaller ones that the Karf kidnapped managed to escape. And from the tremors recorded at the base of the Karf's spire, they did significant damage to Karf habitat while departing.”

  “And don't forget, the Karf lost many warriors during the kidnapping itself. I think that the ferocity of their attack in the hub is a reflection of the Karf's own desperation.”

  “Regardless, they are doing a lot of damage to the station itself. This battle will adversely impact the transport system for an eightday.”

  “Nothing we can do about that. Best to just watch and enjoy the slaughter of the gray parasites. If the newcomers win then we will have to decide on a course of action.”

  1st Squad

  Crates and rubble crossed by in all directions: from tunnels large and small; down on ramps and up off ramps; across overpasses and circling on the main roadway itself. Any large clump likely sheltering groups of armed Karf. New targets popped up constantly, much to the consternation of the Marines.

  “This is like one of those firing range exercises with the pop up targets,” Jimmy commented.

  “Except that there are no friendlies mixed in with them,” Beau added, hosing down an on ramp with a long burst of flechettes.

  “Mark your targets as they come. Ammo ain't free and we can't keep having the ship send more, they'll soon be running low too.” The Gunny was always concerned about the rate the Marines burned through their ammunition. She often thought that restricting the cyclic rate on the 5mm railguns would help—there were few situations that required a full 3600 flechettes a minute, yet the grunts loved to blast away on full rock and roll. “Short aimed bursts, you Jarheads!”

  “Aw, where's the fun in that, Gunny?”

  “Was that you DeSilva? If you run out I will shave your balls with a rusty razor and dip them in rubbing alcohol.”

  Vinny wisely chose not to reply. Inuksuk, on the other paw, had decided that it was more fun to try and kill as many of the little gray men as possible with each round. He sent a single round down range in one of the smaller tunnels and was rewarded with a wave of ejected body parts from its mouth followed by a significant ceiling collapse.

  “Good one, Inuksuk,” said Zippy, a member of the bear's fireteam. Farther to the west, Bosco interrupted Ben-Ezra's sucking up to her team leader with more urgent business.

  “Watch the blind firing down the smaller tunnels, Davis and Walker are still missing and could be returning down any of those tunnels.”

  “Good point, Bosco,” the Gunny added. “Use beehive rounds to clear the small tunnels, they won't penetrate those two no-loads' suits.”

  “You think they are out screwing off somewhere, Gunny?”

  “Don't know.” I can't believe they have been captured and I do not want to think that they are dead.

  “Maybe they just got stuck on a roadway headed for another spire and can't get off,” offered Keti, the concern in her voice obvious. “They will show up, I would bet on it.”

  “You just say that because you are sweet on that Alabama hayseed,” said Zippy in a snarky voice.

  “How about I come over there and tie your tits in a square-knot?”

  Before Zippy could reply to the proffered physical activity the Gunny intervened. “You two shut the fuck up and watch your fields of fire.”

  “We got more on the right flank,” called Vinny, distracting Zippy from her argument with Keti. “Zippy, I could use some covering fire.”

  “Moving to you.”

  Getting up from behind the pile of crystalline rubble she had been kneeling behind, Zippy worked her way toward Vinny's position on the far eastern side of their perimeter. Fire from both the Marines and heavier Karf weapons had been blowing large chunks of station material from the walls and ceiling. Debris now littered the floor, both hindering movement and providing cover. Piles of the stuff that landed on the roundabout roadway circulated from right to left, crossing in front of the Marines, hidden Karf popping up to fire at the Earthlings at point blank range.

  From above a section of wall blew out, raining more rock-like debris on the Marines. The dust cleared revealing a pair of heavy plasma cannons that opened fire from above.

  “Inuksuk! Take those heavies out!”

  Hearing the Gunny's command the bear pirouetted gracefully and fired a three round burst of 30mm. With the addition of the detonating Karf power packs, Inuksuk's response proved to be overkill. The Karf position erupted, vaporizing the Karf and blowing crystal shards out into the chamber.

  “Incoming!” someone shouted.

  The squad went to ground as crystal boulders crashed down around them. Hunkering down, most of them did not see the huge section of wall that broke off the central pillar and fell to the deck like a calving glacier. It landed right on top of the exposed Zippy.

  Chapter 28

  Main Plaza, Shopping Mall

  JT was engaged in getting a pair of battle bots shipped down to the embattled Marines in the station hub. Each of the six wheeled vehicles mounted multi-barreled railguns in several calibers, an air defense/anti-artillery X-Ray laser, and twice the ammo load of a polar bear in heavy armor. Once set in place they acted autonomously, providing cover and area denial. The first battle bot was on its way down to 2nd Squad. As the second battle bot followed one of the sailors to the freight elevator, JT noticed more new arrivals descending the elevators to t
he main plaza.

  It was Bobby and Mizuki, and the three SEALs. They were accompanied by a pair of hover sleds carrying what looked like body bags. Stepping out of the glowing elevator shaft Bobby raised a hand in greeting.

  “Hello, Lt. Taylor. I see things here are not as exciting as when we so unexpectedly departed.”

  “But almost as hectic, Commander.” The two men clasped forearms. “Damn, you two are a sight for sore eyes.”

  “We are very happy to see you as well, JT,” said Mizuki, observing the male greeting ritual from a few steps away.

  “Why isn't anyone ever happy to see us, Chief,” Bud said sarcastically.

  JT overheard the SEAL's remark. “Trust me, everyone here was extremely happy to see you SEALs arrive, particularly with Cmdr. Danner and Dr. Ogawa.”

  “We brought you a present, JT.” Mizuki smiled and motioned to the two hover sleds.

  “A little something we picked up in the Karf habitat,” her husband added. “Something that the grays are going to miss once they find out we took it.”

  “Dead bodies?”

  “No, Lieutenant. Live mossy-backed flatworms.” Bobby and Mizuki both grinned at JT's confusion.

  Bobby took pity on his friend and explained. “While we were roaming around the gray's warren, looking for a way out, Mizuki and I came across a vault, and in that vault was the darnedest thing.”

  Mizuki picked up the story as though they had rehearsed telling it. “We found a pond filled with large flatworms. On the backs of the flatworms was moss, a very deep and pretty shade of green. And as it turned out the moss was intelligent. It spoke to us and explained that it was part of a single consciousness called the Tcist.”

  “What's more,” Bobby finished, “the Tcist claimed to control the Starflake's infrastructure. We offered to take them with us and, with the help of Rick and the boys, here they are.”

  JT looked from one to the other. “Well, that's not the craziest stuff you've ever come up with.”

  The Danners both smiled from ear to ear.

  “So what are we supposed to do with them, or it, or whatever?”

  “When we found them they were in a crystal lined pond that kept the flatworms, the Gloam, alive and allowed this part of the Tcist to communicate with the rest of its... brain, for lack of a better word.”

  “That might explain some other weird goings on around this place.” JT changed comm channels. “Jacobs, Ice Castle. Could you come out to the main plaza? We have some guests who need a guide. Over.”

  “Coming to you, Ice Castle.”

  “See?” Bobby said to his wife. “JT gets a cool call sign like 'Ice Castle' and I get 'Daffy'. Beth is doing that on purpose.”

  “Now Bobby, you know how Beth likes to tease you.”

  JT made a throat clearing noise. Mizuki and Bobby looked at the lieutenant.

  “While I wouldn't put it past the XO to give you a crappy call sign on purpose, I don't think you quite understand who Daffy Duck is.”

  “Why do you say that, JT?”

  “I was an astronomer at one time, and one of the favorite cartoons we star watchers had was Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century. It stared Daffy Duck as Duck Dodgers.”

  “Really?”

  “Yep, it was voted the 4th best of the Greatest 50 Cartoons of all time by a poll of 1,000 animation industry experts. It was also nominated for a Hugo, if I recall correctly.”

  “See Bobby? Beth wasn't being mean to you. I bet she thought you would know all about Duck Dodgers.”

  “Yeah. Right.”

  “I'm glad I could help straightened that out, Commander. Here comes Chief Jacobs...”

  * * * * *

  “So here is what the little yellow guys have been working on,” Matt said, leading the Danners, the SEALs, and their baggage into the room where the last few whooboo were finishing up.

  “Well don't that look familiar?” asked Rick.

  “It is very much like the pond in the Karf vault,” Mizuki agreed. “Look, the workers have lined the whole pool with crystal material, and connected it to the outer wall.”

  “Yeah, that's all great, but where do we get water for the pool? There is some in the bags but not nearly enough to fill the pond.”

  Evidently satisfied with the job, the last whooboo in the empty pool grabbed the sidewall and vaulted out onto the floor. His only other companion, seeing his coworker was out of the pool, tweaked something on the thick crystalline junction attached to the room's transparent outer wall. From the built-up abutment a thick crystal artery ran across the floor to the side of the pool. After a few spurts and pops, water began to gurgle into the pool, evidently flowing from the fire-hydrant sized attachment next to the wall.

  “Well I'll be dipped,” said Phil. “They built a pond for the worm things.”

  “Yeah, it was almost like they knew we were coming,” added Bud.

  “Am I safe in assuming that all this is making sense to you officers?” queried Matt, who along with Kashi had watched the entire construction process.

  “As much sense as anything on this station, Chief. I think we should get the Tcist and their pet flatworms into the tank.”

  “Aye, aye, Dr. Ogawa. Kashi, give us a hand emptying the body bags into the pool.”

  Together, the sailors and SEALs quickly released the flatworms. As they swam around their new abode the last of the bright yellow trolls exited the room and vanished down the hall from whence they came. Mizuki and Bobby leaned on the transparent sidewalls of the pool, waiting for the Tcist to recover, hoping to reestablish communication.

  1st Squad

  “Anyone wounded? Inuksuk, Bosco?” The Gunny checked the telemetry status readouts on her suit display. Two ominously gray, but no red and only one was blinking a yellow warning—Zippy.

  “Zippy got buried by an avalanche,” Vinny reported, having had eyes on when she got hit. “She's underneath tons of that crystal shit.”

  Quickly taking stock of the situation, Rosey decided on a course of action. “Bosco and Tseriteli, find some high ground where you can cover this place, suppressing fire. Inuksuk and Carter, shut down any major tunnel that has hostiles coming out of it.”

  “Shut down, Gunny?” Inuksuk asked.

  “Blow 'em the fuck up, I've had it with these little gray dipshits. The rest of you help dig Ben-Ezra out.”

  “Aye, aye, Gunny.”

  “Ben-Ezra, are you OK?”

  The only reply was indecipherable grunting sounds.

  The Gunny changed channels. “Doc, Squad One, you have readings on Ben-Ezra?”

  Dr. de Bruin responded from his monitoring position back in the shopping mall. “She is alive but is in some distress. It appears that she is struggling to free herself and is experiencing growing panic. If this continues she may well hurt herself.”

  “Can you calm her down Doc? I don't want her injuring herself or one of the guys trying to pull her out.”

  “I can give her a sedative that should calm her down, though it will render her unfit for combat for a half hour or more.”

  “Do it Doc.”

  “I copy. Administering sedative.” Inside Zippy's suit the medical unit activated and injected her with several CCs of a benzodiazepine cocktail. Soon her struggles ceased and her respiration became more regular. Meanwhile Inuksuk was proceeding with blasting incoming tunnels, starting with the one from the North.

  A burst of 30mm rounds flew far down the tunnel leading from the Karf spire. Their detonations could be felt in the roundabout, the tunnel acting as a waveguide for the explosive shock-waves.

  “That didn't close it,” Jimmy commented.

  “Wait for it.” Inside his armored helmet the bear was grinning in anticipation.

  A plume of dust wooshed from the mouth of the Northern tunnel as a sizable section of its roof collapsed. Inside the tunnel debris lay unmoving—evidently the damage was great enough to stop the moving roadway from flowing.

  “Sweet!” Jimmy exclai
med. “How about the Northwest one next, there's still hostiles firing from inside it.”

  “Coming right up.”

  While Inuksuk and Jimmy were happily destroying station infrastructure, Bosco and Keti scaled the half demolished central pillar wall. Reaching perches with decent cover, the two began clearing the area of living Karf, Keti with precise burst of 5mm and Bosco with slashes of laser light. By the time Zippy emerged from the rubble the Karf had been eliminated, at least in the northern half of the roundabout.

  Pulling the drugged Marine's inert body from the crystal debris, Vinny and Beau held her up like a 400 kilo rag-doll.

  “What do we do with her, Gunny? She ain't moving on her own.”

  “Set her down somewhere out of the line of fire. Then you two take a walk around the perimeter behind us heading east. Singh and Takala, circle around from the other direction and meet up with them on the backside. Make sure any remaining hostiles are ex-hostiles”

  “Aye, aye.”

  “Squad Two, Squad One, what's your status?”

  “Our objective is secure and we have a battle-bot setup to keep it that way. How are things down your way?”

  “Under control. Two MIA and one temporarily combat ineffective but the grays are dead and we aren't. Break. Ice Castle, where is that battle-bot you promised me?”

  “On its way now, Squad One. Finish securing the area and I'll check upstairs to see what they want us to do next.”

  “Roger that, Ice Castle. Standing by.”

  Karf Habitat

  The Karf were finishing off the remains of their most recent leader, squabbling over the last few morsels. The Karf really do eat their own. Indeed, a Karf leader's last act is to serve his followers, literally.

  “So now what do we do, fellow warriors?” asked one prominent survivor of the disastrous attack on the alien interlopers. Zhe was obviously angling for the top leadership position, despite graphic evidence of what happens to leaders who disappoint the mob.