Enemies on All Sides (Maraukian War Book 4)

by Michael Chatfield

Ashaeed was with her, but even on the shuttle out he had to sit with his new section. They’d been split up and possibly wouldn’t see each other again. They did, after all, have different specialties, so this was expected. But it left a sour taste in her mouth. Everything and everyone was new.

  At least she could take some comfort from the fact he would still be around.

  The constant banter from the younger man came through her NIAI as they walked through the main hallway and out into the facility.

  This was one of the largest stations that built and engineered equipment for their city, and it was also the first to allow trainees inside—trainees who were much younger than most of their staff, according to Ashaeed. Pela laughed at his rendition on their private channel of the ages of all the staff now facing them.

  “Please follow your NIAI’s instructions and settle in your dorm rooms. There will be a short orientation upload, and tomorrow your first class on this facility’s health and safety.”

  Pela frowned, and heard from Ashaeed, More health stuff! When can we dig in and see how this place really works and ticks! as the people around her started to move off in different directions.

  Pela was disappointed. There were around forty new faces. Overall, probably not a lot to remember compared to the skill school, but Gondi had helped quite a bit with that.

  The bouncing ball appeared in front of her and she followed it, winding her way in and out, until eventually, they stopped at a room. This wasn’t a dorm room either.

  They glanced around at one another and stepped inside.

  This wasn’t just any room.

  “Please leave your belongings at the door, and move inside.” A woman’s voice carried through to them. “Today’s lesson for you starts here, and it starts together. I want you to look around at one another. These are going to be the people you’ll either move on with or fail with. There will be no in-between. This is your last stage. Understand?”

  There were head nods and mumbles as everyone dropped their bag and moved to the center of the room.

  Then sirens exploded around them and then amber flashing lights flickered in and out.

  Some of the students around her seemed to freeze; they weren’t sure what to do. But Pela looked around, then saw what she needed: several control stations and designated sections to the plant’s facilities.

  She looked to one of the guys next to her, and it almost seemed as if they clicked. He nodded toward them and together they sprinted for them. Three girls and two other young men were beside them. Together they seemed to connect, and Gondi started to fill her in.

  “Multiple failures across section forty-two through fifty.”

  Pela could see the issues straight away. She glanced to the young man at her side and started to key in numbers. It was as if they were just there, balancing the nature of the beast. The young man at her side saw what she was attempting, and started in with counter numbers he also designated to those around him. Every single person in the room was now working together.

  The orange lights turned red, and the sirens grew louder. This didn’t faze her; she just knew she needed to work harder.

  “Forty-two will turn critical in less than three minutes,” the boy to her side announced.

  So, with a grin, she announced, “Then I’ll have it sorted in two and a half.”

  He attempted a laugh, but continued to match her input speeds.

  It was less than one minute later and Pela typed in the last of what she knew. There was one last blip from the siren and the lights flashed from red, back to orange.

  Gondi prompted her. “It’s not over yet.”

  “I know.” Pela moved slightly to her left so she could get readings from other sides of the plant. There were several things that had happened to cause this reaction: stages of the job that someone hadn’t done, or had ignored for a reason. Had they just abandoned their posts? No, it was a test, surely.

  When finally, the light turned from amber to green and then went out altogether, she breathed in and relaxed just slightly. Her eyes burned, and exhaustion swept through her.

  “First time for everything, right?” Gondi said.

  She looked to the young man standing by. “Nice job,” she said.

  “I was just following your lead.” He took a step closer to her. “The name’s Lucus Bahr.” He grinned.

  “Pela.” She shook his hand.

  A clapping ensued around them, and they turned to see a tall, lithe, older woman walking their way. “Well done,” she said. “Together, you just saved this side of the facility.”

  Pela blushed and the woman continued. This time, she waved a hand and everyone in the room felt comfortable in moving in closer. “We wouldn’t be Victor Corp if we didn’t make sure the Tier One candidates in here were up to scratch. It’s been a long day for you, though I do expect you’re now on a high. This time, your NIAIs will show you to your rooms. What I’d like from you before the morning is for you to work with those closest to you today, talk about what you could and should have done better.”

  Pela’s stomach churned. Wasn’t what they did up to standard?

  She glanced to Lucus, and he lowered his eyes. “Shall we?” she said. And together they all followed the bouncing balls, to their real dorm.

  It was a similarly styled room to what was over at the skill school. But there was more space, and a much better bathroom facility. The first thing she did was throw her gear on a bed and then go for a shower. She wanted in before anyone else.

  Freshly washed and with wet hair, she found Lucus to be moving in across from her. Now, after all the action, she noticed he had a limp. Didn’t seem that way when he was pelting it across the room toward the computer stations.

  “You want to grab some food and go over what we did back there?” she called to him.

  Lucus glanced over at her, nodded and picked up a jacket. Groups of others were sitting about and talking; some had already left the dorms when she’d come out of the bathroom.

  It was a long walk to one of the dining facilities, and at this time of night, it was only an automated system. But she picked out some sandwiches and snacks for herself, then a hot drink. Finding a quiet spot, she waited for Lucus to join her.

  “You really think we weren’t good enough?” he asked.

  Pela frowned, remembering the sequence of events, and what they’d all been doing to stop the event from occurring. “No, I don’t think we weren’t good enough. I think we could improve, though, and that’s what this task is for, right? Talking and getting to know what you’re capable of and what those around you can do is very important. Today we just reacted. Those reactions were correct, but in looking them over, and the sequences we used, maybe we could find a better solution or a way to do it faster.”

  He started to eat and nodded. “Yeah, you’re right.”

  That made Pela smile and as they started to really dig into the codes and sequences she and they used, on the whole, they formed a better way to react, a quicker and more effective solution. By the time they’d finished talking and Lucus yawned, Pela looked up and around her. They were the only ones left. She checked the time. “I think we’d better get some sleep.”

  Lucus’s face fell. “We’ve been talking for hours. I’d no idea. Yes, we should sleep. Gotta be back up in four.”

  She noticed there were several messages from Ashaeed, but she had no heart to answer. She promised herself she would in the morning.

  Putting their trays and cups aside, they walked back. Pela fell into her bunk and slept like she’d never had before.

  Space was exhausting.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  VCF Navis

  Oort Cloud, Osdal System

  9/3556

  Captain Shauny of the VCF Navis waited for confirmation from Johnny to verify that all their goods were ready.

  Johnny had been very hard to get hold of and this was frustrating Shauny to no end. Finally, he’d managed to get a hold of one of his pe
ople. She went by the name of Carly Lawrence and he’d instantly taken a liking to her, older woman or not. She had an air of grace about her, and their banter was fun, friendly.

  “Carly,” Shauny beamed at her, “how are things?”

  Carly wasn’t usually one for messing about but today she seemed distant. “I’m all right. Are you in our system already?”

  She should have known that surely, but he backed off just a little. “Of course. We’re right on schedule. What’s got you all confused, ma’am?”

  Carly then looked at him and she focused. “I’m sorry, but there’s a lot going on around here at the moment. You might see more than you should when you dock with the cloud.”

  He was instantly on the defensive. “What do you mean? Come on, you can tell me.”

  But she didn’t divulge any more information, so that meant he would have to go digging by himself. He wasn’t the only one around here who could. His good friend Moretti would have more than enough inside info on what was going on that he would know as soon as he called him.

  “All the goods are ready and we’re just waiting for you,” she replied. “As soon as you have that ETA, we’ll get you sorted, don’t worry.”

  But he couldn’t help it. Putting that fear aside didn’t last long. By the time the VCF was in their airspace and he could see that they had his shipments ready, he could also see a hell of a lot more.

  Finding her comms once more and securing a network to Carly had been almost impossible.

  “I don’t know what you’re telling the people of Osdal, but from up here, it looks like you’re preparing to leave?”

  She let out a sigh, and looked at him with the expression of a woman who’d resigned herself to her fate. “Yes, most of us are leaving. You’re making your journey to the Emarl system with goods that they’re needing right now. Well, we’re bringing a hell of a lot more of what they need right now.”

  “The frigging refineries?”

  “Exactly.” Carly’s eyes gleamed, but he could see her exhaustion. “We’re leaving. There’s much more we can do for the Victor Corp with what we’re carrying, and they know it. This isn’t without a price. The people who are staying know the odds. They’ve one hell of a time to get their business up and running. They’ve got to get their own goods, their own fabbers and start production. It’s not down to us.”

  “But they’ll be okay, right?”

  “For the most part, yes, they will. They’ll survive because they know the trade from us. They might not have everything that we do, and it will take time, but they know how to get it, and they can. I fully believe they’ve got the best chances or I wouldn’t be going.”

  “You’re doing this because of...a lost love?” He wasn’t stupid; he could see it in her face. Then she blushed and gave it away. “Carly,” he said. “Life’s too damned short, even with us living beyond two hundred. Go get him. If he’s got your attention, he must be something else.”

  She flushed all the more, nodded and simply said, “Thank you.” Then she was gone.

  It left Captain Shauny with nothing else to do but collect his goods and move on. Though he did it knowing that he might at least see her in Emarl. That was worth every bit of his conscious mind, and eventually he left for Emarl with a smile on his face and his coffers overflowing with goods and the funds to carry them.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  VCF Hope

  Outside of Sol System

  9/3556

  Captain Archibald checked the reports.

  “Well, they should be here any minute, sir,” his navigation officer and brother-in-law Dodson said.

  “I know,” Archibald said.

  With the Victor Corporation, they were allowed to bring their families aboard their freighters. This meant that they would have been able to have an actual life together, seeing different star systems and when they were moving in between them on sub-light engines. With the Alcubierre drives, it meant that they could actually put down roots somewhere and Archibald could see his wife when they were docked in the Emarl system.

  Though they never got to the Emarl system. Once they reached Masoul, they had turned back and headed for Sol once again.

  It was while they were en route that they were given new orders. They were no longer told to keep trading with the Sol system. Instead, they were to carry out a rescue mission.

  All of their families were still aboard, which was nerve-racking, and why they had been working with the class-one fabber that they had so much. They’d created two class-two fabbers and started manufacturing missiles and launchers.

  The VCF Hope already had some hidden security measures in her hull, but they didn’t know what they would be dealing with once they moved into Sol system.

  There were two inter-system freighters positioning themselves so that they were ready to react and assist. They were much more maneuverable and they had a lot more firepower hiding underneath their coverings.

  “We have incoming transit,” Dodson said as Archibald’s eyes snapped to the main screen.

  Out from the nothingness, another VCF appeared. VCF Novum had turned around before reaching Masoul to assist in the evacuation.

  “Hail them,” Archibald said.

  “Archibald, yah old kook, what you up to?” Lela said with a great big smile on her face.

  “Just waiting around for you. How are you looking? You ready for this?” Archibald asked.

  “Ready as I’ll ever be. We’re just charging up the batteries again. That should take a few days and then we’ll be set to go.”

  “Good. I’m sending you information on our combat capabilities and lift abilities.”

  “Doing the same right back at you. You want to run lead?” Lela asked.

  “I’m good for it, if you’re okay with it?”

  “You’ve got more experience than me, Commander.” Lela smiled.

  “You’re not too bad yourself.” Archibald smiled. He had been a flight commander in the EMF while Lela had only commanded a wing.

  Lela snorted and shook her head, happy to get the awkward part out of the way.

  “We’ll rest up for a week and then move to Sol. I’ll get in contact with higher up,” Archibald said.

  “Understood. Time we took our people home.”

  “Amen to that, sister,” Archibald agreed.

  Chapter Thirty

  Westerly Complex Three Crew Headquarters

  Earth, Sol System

  9/3556

  “Dominguez!” Mark’s voice rang in her ears.

  “Come on, dude! I’m busy here. Can you stop just forcing a damn connection in the back of my head?” Dominguez growled.

  “Calm down there, fireplug. I have good news. News in the shape of two VCF mega freighters. Hope and Novum have just linked up. They’ve been busy getting their freighters ready to deal with threats, but it’s going to be on you and your people to get up to them. I’m giving control over them and the other inter-system freighters over to you,” Mark said.

  “Never one with the easy requests,” Dominguez muttered even as she started to send off messages to her people.

  “How are things?” Mark asked.

  Dominguez knew he had been up to date with the reports, but she also knew that hearing it from the person on the ground was much better than some bland report.

  “Trina, get our people ready to move. We’ve got a two-week deadline. Start pooling together the gear and I want everyone with Defender Armor ready to move. Artillery packs ready if they’re needed and combat shuttles ready to move. We will only tell the greenhouses what’s going on when the ships are entering orbit,” Dominguez said to her second-in-command.

  “Ma’am.” Trina smacked her fist to her chest and started sending messages through her NIAI.

  “All right, people, let’s get moving. We have one shot—let’s not fuck it up. I want us ready on those charges to hit the mega towers The embeds better get those gangs all kinds of riled up.” Dominguez’s words stru
ck hard and fast. The room fell into silence, all of them looking at their commander, their general with grim looks.

  “Move it, troopers!” she barked.

  They rushed to their new tasks.

  “Right...you still there?” Dominguez asked, as if she had forgotten the big lunk on the other side of the call.

  “Yes.” Mark sighed, used to the abuse.

  “Right, good. Things on the ground. We’ve got more weapons and armor than we can shake our fists at. I’ve concentrated on drop-ships, artillery, and Defender Armor. Half of the force has the Defender Armor and all of the combat shuttles have been replaced by drop-ships. Got some artillery if we need it, but I hope to hell we don’t. I think that this is mostly going to be a fight in who owns the skies if the corporations put their nose into it.

  “All other materials, instead of turning them into anything, we’ve been stockpiling and storing them in crates, something that we can use later. We’ve been buying up all of the items that you sent us. We’ve pulled in all of the families of the people who are part of the Westerly Three Complex Crew and we’ve contacted the greenhouses.

  “Ever since I died—” Dominguez wasn’t able to keep all of the heat out of her voice. Good men and women had actually died in order to keep her alive. She didn’t miss how Phillips, by her side, gritted his teeth together. “The other gangs have been trying to push in on our territory, talking to the greenhouses and then also hitting our different fronts and businesses. We let them talk and watched to see which greenhouses were loyal and who were looking to move away.

  “The loyal ones that Moretti vetted, we’ve been getting them ready to move. As well as some of the people who work for us. After I died, we didn’t show the Defender Armor again. It doesn’t seem that much information got back to the Luyten Conglomerate. It looks like they suspect that it was just a unit that was nearby and that there was a company strength instead of a platoon strength group of them nearby. Going to be a nasty surprise if someone actually tries to take over a compound and finds companies of Defender Armor waiting underneath.