Creedanth shifted about on his six legs, making clicking noises against the metal deck of the Command Pedestal. “I had hopes you Nabians wouldn’t prove to be as inferior as many of the other races in our empire.” Creedanth reached forward and picked up one of the small black control boxes lying upon the console nearest him. Looking at Gureen, he pressed the button. A sharp explosion resonated through the Command Center as Gureen’s now headless body fell to the deck. “Let that be a lesson to all of you. If you fail to carry out your assignments, death awaits.”
“We will not fail you again,” uttered Queex, trying not to look down at Gureen and the dark red blood pouring from his body. He knew the Kleese could be quite merciless.
“No, you shall not,” Creedanth answered as he set the box back down. “Now, send enough Nabians in battlesuits to retake Engineering.” Even as he spoke, he felt the exploration ship shudder.
“We’ve dropped out of Fold Space,” the Kleese at Navigation reported. “The humans in Engineering have shut down the drive.”
“Another failure on your part,” Creedanth spoke coldly as he picked up the black control box, pressing the button once more. Another sharp explosion and a headless Queex joined Gureen upon the deck.
“Clean this mess up,” ordered Creedanth to one of the other Nabians nearby. “I want these vermin out of my Command Center.”
-
“Lieutenant Nelson, get all of your people on the assault ship and get away from the exploration cruiser,” ordered Major Stevens over the command channel.
“Sir, we can come to you and together can get back to this bay,” pleaded Ryan. He didn’t want to abandon the major.
“It’s too late, Ryan,” spoke Stevens in a calm voice. “The Nabians are bringing up reinforcements and we’re completely cut off from reaching any of the flight bays containing assault ships. There are only eighteen of us left. Even if you could reach us, I doubt if any of us would still be alive when you reached Engineering.”
Ryan was silent, unsure what to say. First Colonel Stratford and now Major Stevens; it was almost more than he could bear. He knew in the last hour a lot of Marines he’d come to know over the past year had died.
“Corporal Slocum found some of our suit nuke charges,” Stevens added. “We’re rigging them up to explode at a command from my battlesuit. We’re going to take out two of the ship’s fusion generators, as well as the Fold Space Drive. The release of all that energy should destroy this vessel. I’ve spoken to the remaining Marines with me and none of us want to be captured again. We end this here and now.”
“I understand, sir,” replied Ryan, wondering if he would have the fortitude to do what Stevens was about to do if their roles were reversed. “What are your orders?”
“You’re in command now,” Stevens said. “Get our people home and tell General Mitchell and Major Winfrey what happened to us. Our people fought bravely and I can’t think of a better bunch to go out with. Contact me again when you’re ready to exit the flight bay, and Ryan, make it quick. I think the Nabians are getting ready to rush us.”
The comm channel went silent and Ryan looked over at Lieutenant Guthrie, standing next to him. She’d been listening to the entire conversation. “Get everyone in the ship and the hatches closed up, we’re leaving.”
“We can’t just leave them!” Autumn uttered, not wanting to accept the orders from Major Stevens. “We have to try to save them!”
“We can’t,” replied Ryan, shaking his head. “Major Stevens is right. There’re too many Nabians between us and him. We would just be killed trying and that’s not what he wants.”
Autumn was quiet for a long moment and then turned around, heading toward the assault ship. “You’re right,” she admitted in a somber voice. “I just can’t believe this is happening.” She switched to the general comm channel and ordered all remaining Marines to enter the assault ship.
Ryan waited until everyone was on board and then went up the ramp and through the hatch. Autumn was waiting at the top. She raised the ramp and closed the hatch behind Ryan.
A few minutes later, Ryan was in the assault ship’s Command Center. Casey, Lauren, and four other Marines were operating different consoles. He’d taken his battlesuit off in one of the small cargo bays.
“I’ve got a few people in Engineering and other essential areas,” Casey reported. “The ship’s powered up and Corporal Adams claims she can fly it out of here.”
“I can help,” said Autumn, as she entered the Command Center. “I took two years of advanced training at flight school, and I even piloted an assault ship out of Centerpoint a couple of times.”
“Thank God,” Lauren said, standing up and gesturing for Autumn to take her place. Lauren hadn’t been absolutely certain she could fly the ship. She had done it a few times on simulators but never for real.
Autumn sat down and quickly scanned the controls. She made several adjustments and the ship suddenly seemed to vibrate slightly. A thrumming noise could be heard coming from Engineering. “I’m lowering the atmosphere in the bay to vacuum and opening the flight bay door.”
“Door is opening,” Lauren confirmed from the console she had moved to.
“Take us out,” ordered Ryan as he sat down in the command chair. It was a little large, as it had been designed for a Nabian.
“Exiting the bay,” Autumn replied as she activated the ship’s thrusters.
Ryan looked up at a viewscreen Casey had activated and watched as they slowly exited the flight bay. “Put some distance between us and the exploration ship.”
Casey looked around and then looked at Ryan in confusion. “Where’s Major Stevens?”
“He’s not coming,” answered Ryan, as he removed a small communications device from where it was clipped to his waist. “Major Stevens, we’re clear of the ship.”
“Good luck, Ryan,” Stevens replied. “If you ever see Lieutenant Griffith, tell him I wish him the best and to take care of his family.”
“I will, sir,” Ryan said softly.
-
In Engineering, Mark looked toward the main hatch. The Nabians were making their move and heavy weapons fire had broken out again. Walking over to the main control panel, he activated the comm channel, which linked Engineering with the ship’s Command Center.
“Minor Overlord Creedanth,” Mark said in an even voice. “This is the human commander who has control of your Engineering deck.”
For a few moments there was no reply, and then a cold and hard voice answered back. “Human vermin, surrender and I will spare your life.”
“I don’t think so,” Mark replied. “I have a question for you. If we’re vermin and you’re so superior, how did we manage to escape, fight our way through your ship, and take over Engineering? We also killed the four Kleese in command here.”
“You shall die,” Creedanth replied. “No inferior species is allowed to harm a Kleese.”
“As shall you,” Mark replied as he pressed the red button on the detonator he was holding in his hand. He closed his eyes and thought about Earth and how it once was.
-
On the viewscreen in the assault ship, Ryan watched as the exploration cruiser suddenly began shaking violently and then blew apart in a massive explosion. The released energy coursed through the ship vaporizing major parts of it, leaving a gaseous glowing debris cloud in its wake.
“They’re gone,” choked out Casey, as she gazed at the viewscreen with tears in her eyes. “They’re all gone.”
Ryan felt the awesome weight of command now fall upon his shoulders. He had three platoons of Marines he needed to get back home. They were thousands of light years from Alliance space and he wasn’t even sure where they were in the Kleese Empire. He knew somehow they had to find their way back and tell General Mitchell and Major Winfrey about Major Stevens’ last act. In the past, Ryan had heard people talk about heroes; he now understood what that meant.
Chapter Fifteen
Ryan and the rest of
the Marines in the Command Center of the assault ship were gazing at the large viewscreen in shock. The Kleese exploration cruiser had just exploded from the nuclear charges Major Stevens set. There was nothing left but a glowing field of debris.
“We need to get away from here, Ryan,” spoke up Casey as she wiped the tears away from her eyes. “I’m sure Minor Overlord Creedanth notified the Zaltule battlecruisers what was happening. They’ll be searching for us shortly.”
‘You’re right,” Ryan said, shaking his head trying to get over the shock. “Lieutenant Guthrie, Corporal Adams, find us a nearby star we can go to. We’re in open space here and will be easy to spot.”
“Calling up the ship’s astrogation tables,” replied Lauren as her delicate hands moved swiftly over the data screen in front of her. Several minutes passed as the assault ship’s computers scanned the stellar neighborhood to determine their exact location.
“Tactical display coming online,” reported Private Jasmine Hopper, who was sitting in front of the sensor console. “No contacts as of yet.”
“That won’t last much longer,” Casey warned, looking with deep concern at Ryan. “I’m sure by now the Kleese know something’s wrong.”
“The Zaltule may not know we’ve escaped,” Ryan said, as his eyes focused worriedly on the tactical display. They needed to be gone before a Zaltule battlecruiser arrived. “We don’t know what the commander of the exploration cruiser told them.”
“It won’t matter if we’re still sitting here when they show up,” Casey said. She was deeply concerned their escape might be short lived. If a Zaltule battlecruiser arrived before they could escape into Fold Space, it would over.
The minutes continued to pass until the assault ship’s astrogation computers finally found their current location.
“We’re 6,500 light years from the solar system,” Lauren announced. “There’s a small white dwarf system six point two light years from our current position.”
“Lay in a course for it,” Ryan ordered, anxious to get underway. “Activate our subspace drive and let’s get the hell out of here.”
“Activating subspace drive,” Autumn answered as she worked the console in front of her. “Ten minutes until we can enter Fold Space.”
On the viewscreen, the glowing debris field began to grow smaller as the assault ship quickly accelerated away from it. In Engineering, the Fold Space Drive began to charge. Several Marines with a little technical experience were watching. They hoped nothing went wrong because if it did, they had no idea how to go about fixing it.
“Fold Space insertion in five minutes,” reported Autumn, as she checked the data on the twin information screens in front of her. “All systems seem to be normal.”
“Contact!” called out Private Hopper. “Range two million kilometers and closing.”
“Have they spotted us?” asked Ryan, standing up and looking intently at the tactical screen.
“I don’t believe so,” Jasmine replied. “I think they’re concentrating on the wreckage of the exploration cruiser.”
Ryan sat back down, his eyes now focused on the glaring red threat icon on the tactical display. It was plain to see the vessel was heading directly toward the site of the debris field.
“It’s a Zaltule battlecruiser,” Jasmine informed Ryan as the information came over her sensor panel. She felt her heart skip a beat upon seeing confirmation of the arrival of their enemy.
“One minute to Fold Space insertion,” added Autumn.
“Will they be able to detect us when we enter Fold Space?” Ryan asked, looking over at Casey.
“Maybe,” replied Casey, trying to remember everything she’d learned in her brief stint at flight school. “There will be a large energy signature when the drive is activated. There’s a good chance it’ll show up on their sensors if they’re watching.”
“They’ll know someone got off the ship,” Ryan said grimly. “Corporal Adams, once we exit Fold Space in the white dwarf system, we need to find a new destination quickly. I want to put some distance between us and that Zaltule battlecruiser.”
“I’m working on it,” Lauren replied as she called up additional astrogation charts of the surrounding space.
“Fold Space Drive activation,” Lieutenant Guthrie commented as the ship rapidly accelerated past the speed of light.
-
Behind them, more Zaltule battlecruisers began dropping out of Fold Space around the debris field of the destroyed exploration ship.
“What happened?” demanded Military Overlord Harmock as the Warrior’s Fire scanned the scattering debris. This was the ship that had held his human captives. His cold eyes gazed sharply at the primary viewscreen showing the shattered remains of the ship. It was obvious no one could have survived.
“It’s definitely the exploration cruiser,” confirmed Jalridd as his sensors scanned the debris.
“How was it destroyed?”
“Unknown,” answered Gareth, sensing the growing anger of the Military Overlord.
“The humans are gone,” Harmock said in a cold and unyielding voice. “How could this have happened?”
“Minor Overlord Creedanth reported a revolt by the humans,” Dalock answered from where he was standing in front of the main Communications panel. “It was the last message we received from the ship.”
“The humans had their obedience collars on,” Harmock stated, feeling growing anger and wondering what had happened on that ship. “How could Creedanth not bring them back under control?” Harmock knew Creedanth owed his allegiance to Supreme Overlord Xatul.
“They must have found a way to neutralize the collars,” Gareth suggested.
Harmock was silent for a long moment. Once more, the humans had demonstrated their ingenuity. He was growing more certain with every passing day that the humans were not an inferior species.
“There was an energy spike just as we emerged from Fold Space,” Jalridd added. “The type that’s associated with an assault ship activating its drive.”
“They escaped,” Harmock said in a hard voice. “The humans managed to destroy the exploration cruiser and then escaped in an assault ship.”
“I’m not so certain of that,” responded Gareth doubtfully. “That would indicate they have the same resourcefulness as a Kleese.”
“We must not underestimate these humans,” warned Harmock, his multifaceted eyes focusing on his second in command. “I want all of our ships to rendezvous here and we’ll begin a search for the missing assault ship. It must be found!”
“I’ll pass on the order,” Gareth replied. He knew the message would have to be sent quickly as ships in Fold Space could not be contacted unless they were close by. It might already be too late to contact many of the ships in the fleet.
Harmock’s eyes shifted back to the large viewscreen focused on the glowing debris field. This final act of the humans only intensified his need to take firm control of the Council of Overlords. If these humans succeeded in bringing even more nonaligned worlds into their Alliance, they could become a threat far greater than the Strell had ever been.
-
Ryan breathed a sigh of relief as the assault ship dropped out of Fold Space in the white dwarf system. Lieutenant Guthrie was doing an excellent job piloting the vessel. They were fortunate to have gotten away as the Marines on the assault ship had little previous experience operating a spacecraft.
“There’s a blue giant twelve light years away,” Lauren informed Ryan. “Its radiation would serve to mask our presence.”
“Let’s stay away from really large stars for now,” Ryan responded. He didn’t want to put any more stress on the assault ship and its makeshift crew than he needed to.
“There’s a brown dwarf fourteen light years distant,” Lauren amended.
“Make that our next target,” Ryan ordered.
They needed to put some distance between them and where the exploration cruiser had been destroyed. Once that was done, it would be wise for them to s
ee what type of experience the Marines on the ship had as far as flight training went. There were a lot of stations in the Command Center, which were vacant.
-
Admiral Rivers gazed at the tactical screen as the fleet dropped out of Fold Space for routine maintenance. They were two weeks out from Lanolth and deep into Kleese space. Two hundred and twenty-one friendly green icons floated on the screen.
“All ships present and no unknown contacts,” reported Commander Greerman. He was a former carrier commander and was hoping to make admiral some day. He stepped away from the console, leaving Lieutenant Mandy Hertz to keep an eye on the sensors.
“This is a planned six-hour maintenance stop,” Rivers said, leaning back in his command chair. They were in a small uninhabited K2 star system.
“I still wish we had some space fighters,” spoke Greerman as he stepped over beside the admiral. “It would be nice to put a CSP out around the fleet.”
“A Combat Space Patrol,” grinned Rivers. He liked the idea but knew any type of space fighter was far in the future.
“Sometimes I miss the old carrier days; at least then the only enemy we had to worry about were human.”
Rivers nodded. The galaxy wasn’t nearly as empty of life as many on Earth had once believed. There were thousands of intelligent races spread across the stars. Unfortunately, many of those races were under Kleese control.
“The assault ships seem to be holding up well,” Greerman added as he gazed down at some data flowing across one of the screens on the command console.
“They’re two hundred meters across,” Rivers answered. “We’ve done everything we can to ensure they can make this trip. Extra supplies, spare parts, and experienced crews.”
“Admiral, Colonel Nelson is requesting we send a few of the assault ships to scout several nearby systems,” reported Ensign Entz at Communications. “There are two Kleese controlled worlds nearby and he’s asking if the ships can drop in just to listen to their communications and take sensor scans.”
Galactic Empire Wars: The Alliance (The Galactic Empire Wars Book 4) Page 22