Metal Boxes - Trapped Outside

by Alan Black

  Stone looked down at Tuttle. Her faceplate was down, but the combat suit amplified her hearing, so he said softly, “Eleven Hyrocanians here.”

  Tuttle didn’t acknowledge his intel. She vaulted into the pen swinging her battle axe. Her first stroke beheaded two aliens and bit deeply into the chest of a third. She yanked it free and swung again and again. Her distraction allowed the moose-like creatures to break free of the circles, stomping Hyrocanians as they raced to a corner to stand side-by-side, antlers at the ready. Stone slowly and carefully put bullets into the Hyrocanians. He tried for headshots, but he wasn’t a marksman. It took three or four bullets to stop an alien when he hit them in the center of their fat flabby bodies. The TDO-960A clunked empty. He pulled out his last clip. It only had three bullets; the one from his earlier tactical reload. Holding his fire, he watched Tuttle finish off the remaining Hyrocanians.

  Glancing down into the aisle between the pens, he nodded at Spacer Dollish standing below him, trying to watch in all directions, knives at the ready. He gestured with his head, and Dollish paced him as he walked the wall to check on the next pen. There weren’t any Hyrocanians mixed in with the animals. Whatever these animals were, they weren’t a popular entrée in the Hyrocanians smorgasbord.

  He heard a drasco hissing in pain and anger. Across the bay, he could see Jay and Peebee clawing at a gate in a high walled pen. This pen had a high cage over the top, completely sealing any creature inside. “Follow me.” He shouted to Tuttle and Dollish as he jumped down to the aisle. Fixing Jay and Peebee’s location in his mind, he raced to join them. Tuttle bounced high over him, coming down to bounce again, keeping in front of him in case she needed to clear the way.

  The aisles were clear of Hyrocanians. Dozens of their bodies lay scattered around. Stone skidded to a stop at the sight of a human lying in the aisle. Dollish knelt next to the body and shook his head. Gripping his knives tighter, he gestured for Stone to continue. The human invasion had cleared most of the aisles and the marines, both armored and not, were beginning to check each pen.

  Stone turned a corner and saw Jay and Peebee jerking frantically on a pen’s gate. They were unable to get the door open.

  Peebee shouted, “Help us, Mama. They have some of us in there.”

  Stone wasn’t sure whether us meant human prisoners or drascos. Either way, he climbed up the barricade to peer through the cage bars. Inside were three female drascos. One drasco’s tail was twisted around and tied to its back. The bone spike on the end of its tail was gone, blood oozing from the jagged cuts. Its hands were bloody where the rock-strong talons were cut away, its arms were handcuffed tightly against its body. The drasco screeched in pain as a Hyrocanian waddled forward, slashing at it with a small knife. The cut wasn’t deep, but with enough such cuts, the drasco would wear down and become more docile. Two other drascos, similarly mutilated were in small cages stacked in the corner. There were three Hyrocanians in the pen, each with a knife in every hand and a pouch like the one Allie had killed by the bay hatch. Stone knew the aliens didn’t cook their meals, but some creatures like drascos would be too dangerous to attack without prior preparation. These three were part of their kitchen staff mutilating and wearing down their meals for a more important group to come and dine on.

  Stone carefully lined up his rifle. Squeezing the trigger three times, he dispatched the kitchen helpers to whatever hell their gods promised them. “Corporal Tuttle, can you get this gate open for Jay and Peebee?”

  Tuttle nodded, having bounced high enough to see inside, she said, “Wounded animals can be dangerous, Ensign. It might be best to put them out of their misery.”

  Jay said, “We can help them, Mama. They are like us.”

  Stone replied, “Jay, you can try and help them, but they are wild creatures. You be careful.”

  Stone agreed with Tuttle, but said, “Corporal, just get the gate open for Jay and Peebee. Let them go in alone.”

  Tuttle pulled a small pack of putty from a pocket in the suit’s thigh. She broke off a couple of thumbnail sized bits and jammed them next to the gate hinge. A small string dangled from the putty. She yanked the strings free and turned her back on the gate, wrapping her armored body around Dollish. Stone dropped to the aisle and flattened himself against the barricade wall. He shouted, “Jay and Peebee, get back.”

  The putty pieces were small so he expected a small sizzle and a couple of pops. He was surprised by the ear-numbing explosion. The pen gate was ripped free and thrown across the aisle to slam into the opposite barricade. Stone shook his head and rubbed his ears. Jay and Peebee disappeared into the pen. He could hear a bone spike striking metal, a sound he was more than passing familiar with. Jay and Peebee were shouting at the other drascos and at each other.

  “Break that.”

  “No.”

  “We are here to help.”

  “We are friends.”

  “Jay, hit there.”

  “Pull here, Peebee.” Their voices became muddled the more excited they became.

  Tuttle looked down at him, grinning through her faceplate. “Gods be, I love that stuff. I want—”

  Whatever Tuttle wanted would have to wait as the gate opposite them slammed open. A dozen Hyrocanians surrounded them. Stone could hear Tuttle calling for back up on her suit comms. He slapped open the comms on his dataport and shouted for help.

  Dollish threw two spinning knives, one biting deep into a Hyrocanian’s throat, the second one disappearing into second alien’s open maw. The pot washer yanked two more knives from the pouch at his waist and threw them. The Hyrocanians, now prepared for him, easily deflected the throws. Two more knives appeared from the pouch, but rather than throw them, he spun them in his hands, getting a good grip on the handles. He crouched down, sliding between Stone and the advancing aliens.

  Tuttle’s battle-axe spun through the air as her suit-amplified war cry echoed across the bay. She was huge in her suit compared to the corpulent aliens, but they advanced on her. An especially enormous Hyrocanian ducked under the axe, pushing one of its smaller compatriots into the blade. It rushed forward before she could pull the blade free. Even without the axe and one handed, she wasn’t defenseless. Her missing hand ended at her wrist. The suit had sealed her arm shut and wrapped her wrist in thick metal to protect her injury. Painful or not, she jammed her wrist into the open mouth of the attacking fat four-armed freak. Marine suits are tough, it took teeth with it as she jammed it through to the other side. She waded into the knot of aliens with far more enthusiasm than they’d shown when pulling apart Triplett for an early supper. Body parts flew as her axe, finally free, whistled through the air slicing and sliding through alien flesh.

  Stone pulled the trigger on his rifle. He was out of ammo. Reversing the rifle, he grabbed the barrel and swung it like a club. It connected against the head of an alien. The creature took a step back, shook its head, and moved forward again. Stone swung again but was too slow for the Hyrocanian. His swinging rifle butt was enough of a distraction that Dollish, crouched in front of Stone, managed to jam two of his knives into the feet of the alien.

  Dollish pulled his knives free, but had to dodge and roll to the side to avoid a knife attack by an advancing Hyrocanian. The spacer may have skills with throwing knives, but he couldn’t hold his own against a creature whirling knives at him with four arms. He backed away slowly, keeping his back to the barricade, trying to keep the Hyrocanian from cutting him.

  Stone swung his rifle again, preventing two Hyrocanians from getting close to him. One against one, he was sure he could stop them, but the pair was working together. If he concentrated on killing one, the other would kill him. He swung again and again, feeling desperation sink in. The alien on his left, pulled a long wrench from a deep pocket. Stone was amazed. It looked exactly like any one of a hundred thousand human open-ended wrenches, although this one would fit a two-inch nut. He swung the rifle again at the same time the Hyrocanian swung its wrench connecting with the rifle but
t. The resulting impact jarred the rifle from Stone’s hands.

  Before the two creatures could advance, a long bladed knife appeared out of thin air. Unguided by any hand it slipped across the neck of both creatures before disappearing into the back of the Hyrocanian threatening Dollish. Stone was about to begin believing in magic when EMIS Agent Tammie Ryte twisted the dial on her wrist and her camouflaged suit shimmered into a golden skintight suit. In the excitement of almost getting killed, he hadn’t seen the outline of her suit.

  She slipped the mask and hoodie away from her face and smiled. “I see you started the party without me.”

  Tuttle grunted as she yanked her axe blade clear of the last dead Hyrocanian. “We started early, but there are still plenty of party favors for you.”

  Ryte pointed in the general direction of an upper deck. “Major Numos has secured central command. He says there must be an auxiliary command center in engineering, because everything he tries to do is getting a manual override signal.” She pointed toward the far end of the bay. “Engineering is through those doors. We have to get there quick, and shut down their engines, or we might end up at the Hyrocanian home world and occupying one of these feeder pens.”

  The four suited Hyrocanians at the far end hadn’t abandoned their post. They may have called for reinforcements, but none had arrived. Sergeant Li’s armored marines had them cornered, but were unable to move closer because of the clear space between them and the pens. Li and his team would rush the armed and armored Hyrocanians if ordered, trusting their superior suits to protect them, however it would be a gamble. Stone noticed that one marine’s armored suit had been punctured by Hyrocanian gunfire. They could use their gilley setting, but if the Hyrocanian suits had multi-spectral vision like human suits, it would still be suicide to attack.

  Stone and company raced forward, ignoring pens between them. If Hyrocanians were still feeding, they would have to deal with them when they exited. Stone hadn’t bothered to pick up his TDO-960A. From his previous encounters with Hyrocanians he knew the ammunition didn’t have the punch to get through enemy armor, so his rifle was useless with or without ammo. He picked up the wrench. It made a better club than the light rifle.

  The group slid to a stop just before the open area between the far hatch and the last food pen. Sergeant Li nodded a greeting to them. “Lieutenant Vedrian is in the next aisle over. She said we have to get through here. Word is that the major has taken command.”

  Ryte said, “Engineering is through this hatch. It’s amazing where you can go if you are sneaking around by yourself without a bunch of heavy footed marines raising a ruckus.”

  Stone said, “How do—?” He was interrupted by Tuttle pulling the last of the explosive putty from her pocket. She pulled the strings and threw the putty at the armored defenders. She missed and it slapped into the wall behind one of the creatures. The violent explosion blew the alien off its feet. It rolled on the deck, coming back to its feet, backing into its previous defensive position.

  Tuttle shrugged, “Worth a try, anyway.”

  Li grunted. “I would’ve rather used the explosives on the engines, but I guess we do have to get there first.” He shouted, amplifying his voice and broadcasting across the network. “Armor to advance on the bounce at my count. Everyone else to follow. Whatever the cost, we have got to—”

  A wild wonking filled the air. Stone was brushed to the side as drascos raced past him. He was about to shout at Jay and Peebee to come back, but there were three drascos, smaller than his girls. Jay and Peebee hunkered down in the aisle next to him, watching their relatives attack. The three wounded and angry drascos slammed into the Hyrocanian guards. Even mutilated, their tails slapped the four-armed freaks hard enough to knock them off their feet. Bleeding drasco hands grabbed the suits, shaking the creatures inside and throwing them to the deck, trying to stomp on their captors.

  Stone was sure the injured drascos were wild, but intelligent enough to recognize which species captured them, which species had mutilated them, which species planned to eat them, and which species had just set them free. Their anger was evident, yet as strong as they were, the three drascos weren’t a match against four armed and armored aliens. Shots rang out and the drascos died one by one, but not before taking two of their enemy with them. Jay and Peebee wonked sadly and screeched in anger in discordant harmony. They raced forward bellowing rage. Stone tried to race after them, but Tuttle threw him to the deck, tossing Dollish on top of him.

  Before Stone could get to his feet, he heard Li shout, “Armor forward on the bounce now. January and al-Julier attack target Alpha.” Li raced forward right behind Jay and Peebee. All armored marines in the bay bellowed “ooo-rah” and attacked, even if their only weapons were bare hands and years of marine combat training.

  Stone caught something out of the corner of his eye. Tuttle vaulted toward the ceiling, curving and arching forward toward the guards at the door. She was half a step behind al-Julier and January. The two marines landed feet first on the Hyrocanians, knocking them to the ground seconds before Jay and Peebee crashed into them. January wrapped her arms around a Hyrocanian’s helmet and squeezed until the inferior suit collapsed. Peebee stomped on the chest of the other guard, pounding away long after Jay’s bone spike shattered the Hyrocanian’s faceplate driving deep into its brain.

  Jay and Peebee backed away, moving to sit silently with their three dead relatives. Whether or not there was any true family connection didn’t matter. The girls recognized their own species and were saddened by their death.

  Allie came up to the group gathering by the hatch, she was walking slowly and not carrying any weapon. Stone, finally free from Dollish’s weight, edged over to her and wrapped an arm around her waist. She’d obviously hurt her back again. She said, “Are we sure we have to get through there? We still have hostiles at our backs.”

  Ryte said, “Yes, Lieutenant. We have to shut engineering down now.”

  Li bent down and yanked the weapons from the hands of the dead guards. He tossed them to four suited marines and told them, “You’re the front line. As soon as we can get this hatch open, you shoot anything that moves. If nothing moves, shoot something anyway.” The four marines stood shoulder-to-shoulder waiting.

  Allie asked “Any more grenades or explosives?” No one answered. “Okay, then everyone weapon up with something. Let’s see if we can get through this hatch on grunt strength alone.” Everyone lined up. Even the walking wounded picked up something. She slipped a knife from her boot.

  Li slid between the front line and the hatch. He pushed against the hatch using his suit’s enhanced muscles. Nothing moved.

  Stone said, “Wait a second.” He could see the shimmering outline of a hidden panel. It had the same glow around the edges that a marine suit had in gilley mode. Stepping up to the wall, he let his fingers flicker over the edges. Feeling a button, he pushed it, and the panel popped open. With typical Hyrocanian technology, there was one simple button and two lights. The red light was lit. He pushed the button and the red light went out, the white light coming on.

  The hatch slid open silently.

  With a roar and a rush, the humans ran full tilt into the ship’s engineering bay. Allie was limping slowly, leaning to the side to help ease her back pain. Stone walked with her. Tuttle and Dollish with Ryte following behind them took flanking positions. In a sudden flood, they were surrounded by a minor horde of piglets. A pair stopped next to Stone and looked up at him. They all looked alike to him, but somehow this looked like the same pair that had been with him and Allie in the shuttle’s command center. Both wore bulging shoulder bags. He wondered how they got here and why they were following him.

  Stone stepped away from them, found a second panel, and closed the hatch, locking it. A piglet reached into its shoulder pack, pulling out a short piece of duct tape. It reached up and taped the button down, locking the hatch closed.

  With the weapons borrowed from the guards, the battle for eng
ineering was little more than target practice for trained marines. In short order, there were only a few Hyrocanians alive and those were wrapped up and bundled tight with duct tape. Stone nodded, this was a good time to start taking prisoners. He didn’t want prisoners. Even those aliens bundled up tried to bite and snap at any human who might get too close. However, he was in charge and didn’t want to order the mass murder of intelligent creatures though they were mass murders themselves.

  He wanted to kill them all, right down to the last egg or larvae. Genocide was far too prevalent in human history and if the Emperor ordered it, he would participate. Such a harsh tactic was a mistake in the past, nevertheless these creatures looked at everything living as nothing more than food. How was negotiation possible with a species that looked at you as if you were nothing more than lunch?

  Stone shouted, “White light means it’s off. Shut everything off.” Anyone not in armor went around pushing buttons. He wanted to smash something with his giant wrench, but there wasn’t anything he could do much damage to, so he looked for hidden panels, turning off anything he could find. A remarkably familiar vibration tickled his feet; the engines were running, although there wasn’t anyone at the controls.

  He hadn’t realized Dollish was pacing behind him, until the spacer tapped him on the shoulder and pointed to Ryte. She was waving at him. The huge engineering space was filled with dozens of banks, rows, and jumbled piles of equipment, most of which meant nothing to him. He turned a corner and saw what had excited Agent Ryte.