Annihilation: The Relissarium Wars Space Opera Series, Book 1

by Andrew C Broderick

  Cierra smirked to herself. “I figure he’s going to land, in the same cove we use. It’s the best place to use, if you’re expecting an orbital. Lots of room for both ships, and an easy way to make the transfer. Well, I have a few plans for Master Garth. We’ll touch down right on the other side of the rocks, and come in from the south side of the island. He’ll never see us. We’ll give him a greeting he’ll never forget. You remember how I showed you to shoot yesterday?”

  “I think so.” Theo was more concerned about his stomach than his trigger finger, at that moment. All he wanted to do was come out of the ride—and the upcoming encounter—alive.

  “Good, because we’ll need you as back-up. Cherish, give him your Maxlighter.”

  “I just bought that thing last month.” Cherish grumbled about her orders.

  “A lot of good it will do any of us, if Garth gets this load off planet. Just give it to him.”

  Theo found a small hand laser, similar to the one he’d trained with the day before, shoved into his face. He started to take it from Cherish, but she held onto it for a few more seconds, to get her message across. “Don’t you even scratch it.”

  Theo gulped, and shoved the laser into the empty holster on the militia uniform he was still wearing. As intimidating as she was, Cherish didn’t look half bad, for a woman who had metal arms. He closed his eyes, and reminded himself there was a woman he cared for back home.

  “Hang on! I’m almost over the rocks. About to make a hard stop.” Cierra barely gave them enough of a warning to brace themselves.

  There was a loud thump, and the carrier came to a halt on the rocks, at an angle. Theo heard metal grinding outside. The carrier was damaged. The cabin was filled with the sounds of belts unbuckling and doors whining open. Cierra wasn’t wasting any time.

  “Let’s go! I want to be over those rocks before he lands!” She tumbled out of the carrier ahead of everyone else.

  Whatever that mineral could do, she had made up her mind that it was worth the risk of losing a carrier full of guns. Theo had glanced behind him several times during the trip, and seen racks of impact and laser weapons locked into place. Those must be some pretty special rocks.

  As usual, he was the last one of the group. Cherish waited for him to catch up, while Cierra led the way. Hojae was scampering up behind her. The Josti’s extra limbs were a big help as he climbed over the rocks all around them. Theo was used to crawling up cliffs in search of lost sheep, but that was typically in the full light of day. In the dim predawn, he could barely see the others ahead of him, let alone any good footholds.

  Cherish made a point of staying close to him, and keeping an eye on the others. “Don’t over-do it. You don’t do this as much as us. Here’s a word of caution: if things don’t go as planned, keep your ass down. Let me fire first.”

  “You won’t get any argument from me. I don’t even want to be here. Where did the others go?”

  “Over the ridge. I see better than you do with my augmented eyes. Cierra and Hojae popped over the rim, a minute ago. Come on, I don’t need any whining from her about how slow we were.” Cherish helped him over the final rocks, and up to the top.

  Theo heard a crackle in his ear. He had forgotten about the earpiece. “Hey, team. Hubard here. The CRM knows where you are. Don’t ask me how. A strike team is on the way. We’re fifteen minutes from you. Try to hold out until we arrive.”

  They stood on top of the ridge, and looked at each other. Cherish seemed to have received the same message, even though Theo couldn’t see her earpiece. At that moment, he didn’t really care. “Guess we have a problem now.”

  “We have a worse one down there.” Cherish pointed to the small cove, at the bottom of the hill.

  The mineral load was stacked in front of Garth’s ship. He had arrived before any of them. That wasn’t what Cherish was referring to though. Hojae was sprawled on the ground, unconscious. Garth looked up at them, with a smug sneer smeared on his face. He held Cierra with one arm wrapped around her neck. His other arm held a short sword to her jugular.

  “Nice try, assholes. I knew you were back there hours ago. You’re not the only ones who know a fast way into this place. Now go back to your ship, or your girl gets her head removed. Don’t believe I can do it? Why don’t you ask junior? He saw me use this thing.” Garth bellowed a malicious laugh up at them.

  “He was pretty good with it.” Theo felt useless. Two members of the team he had come with were in danger, and he couldn’t think of a single thing to do.

  “He may be good, but I’m better.” Cherish smirked, and in one quick motion, she pulled the sonic gun out of her holster, and fired it at the two below.

  Theo watched as both Garth and Cierra fell to the ground. The sword bounced away from him, missing Cierra.

  Theo blinked, then yelled at the cyborg beside him. “She could be dying from a knife to the neck right now!”

  “It was a chance I had to take. You know what the really bad thing is?”

  “No, what?”

  She holstered her weapon again. “They’ll both be out for twelve hours.”

  Four

  Cherish climbed down the rocks. Theo stumbled, and skidded down the steep embankment. The two of them picked their way over to Cierra and Garth. Theo knelt by his sister-in-law, and took her pulse. She was unconscious, but alive. Garth stirred a bit. It occurred to Theo that the sonic guns might have a different effect on people of different sizes. Cierra was on the tall side, but she wasn’t even half of Garth’s body mass.

  “Are you sure that sonic gun will knock them out for twelve hours? He doesn’t seem to have taken it as hard as she did.”

  Cherish tilted her head to the side. “Honestly, it depends on the person. Sometimes it’s more, sometimes it’s less. Garth has a nice big layer of fat around him, to take some of the force. He might come out of it a little sooner than Cierra. We’ll keep a good eye on both of them, just in case.”

  Theo looked over at the blue ship Garth used to haul the minerals. The electronic cart he’d used to remove the Relissarium was parked outside the ship. The door to the cargo hold was still open. Theo walked over to it and had a look. He couldn’t see anyone else around the ship. This model was easy enough to handle with one pilot, but it was better to fly them with two.

  Hojae seemed to stir a bit. Theo thought he heard a groan. He didn’t know enough about the body chemistry of the Josti natives to tell much, but he figured they had a similar make-up to humans. Theo found a pulse, and it seemed normal—as far as he could tell anyway. Non-human sentient anatomy was not something he needed to know back home.

  Cherish held a radio up to her ear.

  “I’m trying to raise Hubard and the others on the hovercraft. I don’t know what’s wrong. They should be able to receive us.” She shook her head in frustration. She held a radio up to her ear.

  “Do you think the CRM might be jamming their transmissions? If they’ve monitored us the way we can listen on their signals, it’s a real possibility. All of us might be playing one of these I-know-that-you-know-that-I-know-that-you-know games.”

  “That’s all we’d need right now.” Cherish grumbled, and then looked up at him sharply. “Hey, why don’t you go over to that cargo ship, and see if it’s fueled and ready to go. We’ll never make orbit in that thing, but we might need it to get the hell out of here if the militia shows up.”

  Theo nodded, and walked past the unconscious bodies to the ship. Unfortunately, he didn’t notice the security field. Again.

  Theo came to, with Cherish pouring water over his face. He blinked a few times in confusion.

  Cherish squinted at him, as if studying his molecular make-up on a deeper level. “I took care of that electrical field. It won’t zap you this time. Isn’t this the second encounter you’ve had with one of those things, in the past few days? By now, I’d thought you’d learn to respect them.”

  Theo rubbed his head and winced. “Do they always electrify the perime
ter around a cargo ship? We don’t do that back home.”

  “You do if you think you might get robbed.” Cherish helped him to his feet.

  Theo turned around, and saw several slabs of the mineral stacked next to the service cart that had been used to bring them out of the cargo ship. He remembered the way Hubard claimed it held up to a laser strike. It piqued his curiosity. “Any luck raising the others on that hovercraft?”

  “They should be here in ten minutes. Hubbard wants to try a different approach. He’s a bit worried the CRM may be tracking him. It sounded like a good plan to me.”

  Theo was startled by the sound of the transporter they’d used to fly to the island. It came down on its own, next to Garth’s ship. He immediately reached for the small laser Cherish had loaned him, but she waved him off, and tapped her head. “I can guide those things over short distances. Takes a little training, but I have the mods to do it.”

  Theo relaxed a little, and looked back at the chunks of minerals, and then to Garth’s ship. “Can you turn that electric field back on? There’s something I want to try.”

  “Yes I can, but I have to ask why. Wasn’t one fry job today enough for you?”

  He rolled his eyes, and faked a laugh. “Ha-ha. Very funny. There’s something I want to test.”

  “Okay, but walk towards me ten feet, unless you want to get zonked again. That’s good. You can stand there. Let me get this thing back up and running.” Cherish raised one hand in the air. Theo could feel the static charge on his clothes from the field. He was close, but not close enough to ground the charge.

  Walking over to the slabs of mineral, Theo picked one up. It was a three-foot square, and only five inches thick. It was light, and he couldn’t believe how easy it was to pick up. Theo walked back over to the field and, when he could feel the crackle on his arms, hurled the Relissarium back into the electric barricade.

  The rock seemed to partially enter the field, but then it stopped. Theo gazed in fascination as the mineral slab hung in the air. Dark smoke curled around the edges. As he watched the suspended rock, it shot back in the direction it came. It was almost as if it had been attached to a rubber band. Theo watched the Relissarium sample soar overhead. It hit the ground, spun, deflected, and struck one of the infintium sword blades that had been abandoned. Theo walked over, and looked at the slab.

  “What the hell just happened?” Cherish yelled at him, as she tossed her radio down.

  “The security field knocked back the Relissarium! Didn’t you see what happened? That was amazing!”

  “I missed it. I was on the line with Hubard. They should be here in a couple of minutes.” She walked over to have a look at what was on the ground.

  The slab had landed on the sword Hojae must have dropped in his brief exchange with Garth. Theo and Cherish stood in awe over what they saw. The Relissarium slab had broken the infintium blade, when it landed on it.

  Theo bent down, and picked up the shards of the shattered blade. He held them close, and examined the fracture line. “I didn’t think that was supposed to happen. Nothing is supposed to be stronger than infintium. I don’t think that slab hit it that hard, either.”

  Cherish took one piece of the broken sword. “It’s a clean break, too. Now I can see why Hubard was so interested in it.” She turned the piece over a few more times, before dropping it to the ground.

  “We’ll have to tell him about this.” Theo realized he was beginning to think like one of them—almost.

  There was a groan behind them, and they turned to see Hojae sit up from the ground. It wasn’t the sudden recovery of the Josti that startled them, so much as the absence of Garth. The large man was nowhere to be seen. They hadn’t even heard him leave.

  “Where did he go? I thought you said it would be twelve hours, before any of them woke?” Theo yelled at Cherish in exasperation, while he looked around wildly for their missing prisoner.

  “It usually is! I also mentioned the effects of the sonic gun were highly subjective. As you can see, it didn’t last as long on Hojae either. The gun’s probably defective.” She walked over to the four-armed figure, and helped him off the ground.

  The frustration in Theo’s voice was clear. “Where the hell is he? I don’t see him, or that sword he carried anywhere. We need to find him, before the militia shows up.”

  A booming voice was amplified over the island they were on. “Do not attempt to move! This is the Carristoux Regional Militia! You are under arrest for theft of government property, and high treason! Stand where you are, or we will open fire!”

  Over the hills, they could see the shields and black uniforms of the CRM. This was far worse than the last time. The only fully functioning people on the island were Cherish and Theo. Cierra was still knocked out, and Hojae was still recovering from the blast. The CRM appeared to have thirty or more men at their disposal.

  Theo tried not to move, or draw any extra attention to himself. He didn’t want to give them an excuse to shoot. Still, it was odd. They could have just taken the few of them out. Why were they even still alive? “I wonder why they didn’t just shoot us. They have the high ground. Not much we could’ve done, if they caught us out in the open.”

  Cierra watched, as the militia approached them. “Interrogation. They want information. Don’t worry. We’ll end up dead just the same.”

  “Oh. Great.”

  Before Theo could suggest a move, the air filled with the roar of an incoming machine. Both Theo and Cherish turned around to see the hovercraft emerge from the ocean. The spray from the rear propellers swelled around them in a small cyclone, as its pilot piled on the thrust to arrest the craft’s motion.

  Cherish wasted no time yelling above the din. “Security field is off! Make for the back of Garth’s cargo ship.”

  The laser fire began in earnest, from the hills at the militia ships. Theo dodged one of the blasts, and glanced back at the others. “What about Cierra and Hojae?”

  Cherish funneled her hands around her mouth, to magnify her voice. “Hojae, you think you can haul Cierra into the cargo hold?”

  “Yeah! Bit light in the head, but I can do it.” He grabbed Cierra off the ground, and ran with her inside the open cargo hold. “What happened to Garth?”

  “He came out of stun faster than you. I don’t know where he went, but we need to find him.” Cherish flipped open her radio. “Hubard! What’s your situation? Can you hold off those guys?”

  Hubard answered in their earpieces, so that everyone could hear. “We’ve got Makram and the others trading shots with them outside the bulkhead of the transporter you flew in. Don’t know how long they’ll stay back, but we need to keep them there, until the orbital drop shuttle arrives. I talked to them a few minutes ago. It just made reentry, and will be here in five minutes.”

  “Let me know if you need some back-up. Did you tell that shuttle pilot this is a hot zone?”

  “He knows.”

  “Good. I hope he comes down between the both of us. Anywhere else, and it’ll be an easy target for the CRM.”

  There was a little static, and then Hubard came back on. “What happened to Garth? Did you take that bastard out? Please tell me he’s dead.”

  Cherish made a face that let Theo know she was getting tired of answering that question. “I hit him with the sonic. Had to get him and Cierra at the same time because he tried to take her as a hostage. Guess the twelve-hour rule doesn’t apply to men of his girth. He came to before we noticed, and took off.”

  “So we still have to deal with him.”

  “That’s right. Hojae took a sonic hit too, but he came around a few minutes ago. Cierra may be out for the full count.” She let out an impressed whistle, as she watched the fighting. “Wow, was that Makram that took out that CRM guy? Good shooting!”

  Theo stood with Hojae, who had placed the silent form of Cierra down on a couch in the crew area of the cargo ship. He could hear the bullets ricochet from the impact guns, and the hiss of laser beam co
ntact.

  Worry slipped into Cherish’s voice, as she turned to Hojae. “Can you carry Cierra out to the drop shuttle when it arrives? Don’t be afraid to ask Theo here for help, if you need it.”

  “I can handle her myself. It wasn’t the first time I took a hit from a sonic.” He puffed out his chest. It was clear that the Josti was too proud to ask for any help, especially from someone as green as Theo.

  Cherish’s eyes widened. “Holy Mother. We’ve got to get out there! They’re trying to flank!”

  Theo stared outside, and saw five militiamen scamper down the hills from the side. It was a perfect maneuver, as the fire from the carrier was directed out of the front. The approaching troops were invisible to the gunners. Cherish slapped the radio into her belt, and grabbed Theo.

  “Hojae, stay put! You’ll be a hindrance out there. Come on, junior, time to earn your pay!” She slapped another laser in his hand, and pulled him along with her out through the cargo hold.

  Cherish jumped into the misty cove, and began to fire controlled bursts with her hand laser at the squad of militiamen. They ran from the rocks in the direction of Hubard’s hovercraft. Before Theo could start firing, she’d already taken down two of the militiamen. They never even had a chance to see where the fire had come from.

  Theo fired off two shots, and missed each time. Both times, the beam went wild, and burnt the ground instead of his intended targets. Theo swore under his breath. He watched as the remaining three militiamen beat a quick retreat to their rocks, shooting at them as they went.

  Cherish grabbed him by the shoulder, and glared into his face. “Do you think you could hit something with that thing, for a change?”

  Theo saw her face change, just in time to spin around. Garth was charging with his sword blade out. Theo had just enough time to pull his infintium blade out, and parry Garth’s thrust. The power behind Garth’s move surprised him, and Theo was knocked to one side. Cherish jumped out of Garth’s way, as he swung in her direction. The momentum of the blade sent Garth off in a different direction. He staggered off balance. Theo watched as Garth tripped on the rubble, and fell to the ground. His infintium blade went wild, and struck the Relissarium slabs in front of him. There was a bright display of sparks, and Garth jolted upward. Then he fell to the ground, and didn’t move anymore.