“Tarina, what’s going on?” said Wendy in her headset.
“I found the lieutenant, but he’s dead,” replied Tarina. “It looks to me like he was murdered.”
“Murdered? Are you sure?”
“Yeah. I think he was poisoned.”
“Don’t move. I’m coming to join you.”
Before she could object, Wendy was already on her feet and running to join her. Within seconds, Wendy was by her side.
“Damn. It looks like the poor bastard died in a lot of pain,” said Wendy.
“None of the ship’s sensors detected anything toxic in the air, or they would have gone off,” said Tarina. “So whatever killed the lieutenant wasn’t spread that way.”
“I wonder if it was something he ate or drank? We’ve been isolated since we arrived. Someone could have slipped something into the ship’s food or water supply, and when the time was right, activated it—killing the entire crew in a matter of seconds.”
“The lieutenant said they were concerned about saboteurs being onboard the ship. I guess they were right to be worried.”
“Isn’t this ship supposed to be the one used to bring down the shield protecting the rebel fortress?”
Tarina nodded. “Yeah, we’ve got to get to the bridge and make sure it does.”
Wendy looked over at a map on the wall. “Which way is the bridge?”
“There it is,” said Tarina pointing at a room near the front of the vessel.
Wendy pulled out her pistol and removed the safety. “Okay, let’s go.”
The hallways leading to the bridge were a ghastly sight. Dozens of Chosen techs and Kurgan officers lay on the floor. Their bodies were contorted in agony. Blood-filled eyes stared blankly at the ceiling.
“Look,” whispered Wendy as she tapped her friend on the shoulder. “The door to the bridge has been jammed open.”
Tarina looked at the floor and saw a knife stuck in front of one of the door’s sensors, forcing it to stay open. “I think our saboteur was worried about the power going out and being stuck on the bridge.”
“Ready?”
“As I’ll ever be,” replied Tarina, taking a deep breath to calm her nerves. With her pistol aimed at the door, Tarina crept forward. The sound of someone typing away on a computer workstation was the only sound coming from the bridge. Tarina stopped by the door and took a quick glance inside the room. All of the officers on the bridge were dead, slumped over their computers, or lay on the floor. The only person still alive was a Chosen technician, sitting at the navigational console.
Tarina pulled her head back and looked at Wendy. She held up one finger. “On three,” she whispered.
Both women tensed.
“One-two-three,” mouthed Tarina. Like a trap being sprung, they brought their weapons up and stepped onto the bridge.
“Freeze!” ordered Tarina in Kurgan.
The technician turned in her seat and looked back. There was no surprise or fear on the woman’s face. “Who are you?” asked the woman.
“None of your damned business,” said Tarina. “Stop what you are doing and step away from the computer.”
“I knew I’d forgotten about something,” said the woman. “You’re those two Terrans we were told not to ask questions about, aren’t you?”
“Correct,” replied Wendy. Her voice grew threatening, “Now do as my friend said, or I’ll shoot you dead.”
The woman stood and raised her hands. “Why are you helping them? The Kurgan Empire started this war. How many of your people have died because of it?”
“Why we’re here is of no concern to you,” said Tarina. “Now place your hands on your head and take two steps back from the computer.”
“You’re too late. I’ve already reprogramed this ship’s navigational computer. In less than five minutes from now, we’re going to ram into the side of Admiral Kaar’s flagship, killing him and everyone on it.”
“You’re bluffing,” said Wendy.
“I have no reason to lie. I’m going to die and so are you when this ship explodes.”
A shot rang out from behind Tarina, startling her. The bullet flew past her head, missing it by mere millimeters. She spun around and dropped to one knee. At the other end of the hallway was another female technician. In her hand was a gun. Tarina fired off a quick shot at her attacker who ducked and vanished from sight down another corridor.
Wendy heard the shot, flinched, and moved to take cover just as the woman on the bridge reached for her pistol. Without hesitating, Wendy fired off three shots into the saboteur’s chest, killing her.
“I hope there aren’t any more of them on the ship,” said Wendy, moving over to see what had been inputted into the ship’s navigational computer. She shook her head and said, “She wasn’t lying. We’re on a collision course with the admiral’s ship.”
“Can you reprogram it so it takes out the rebel fortress’ shield as originally planned?” asked Tarina.
Wendy pushed the dead woman’s body aside and slid down onto her chair. “I can try, but it’s going to be close. Tarina, you have to take care of our other friend before they do any more damage to this ship or our shuttle.”
Tarina nodded. She looked into her friend’s eyes. “Promise me the second you’re done you’ll make for the shuttle. If I’m not there, don’t wait for me.”
Wendy clasped Tarina’s right arm. “I’ll see you at the shuttle. Now go.”
With a sinking feeling in her chest that she might never see Wendy again, Tarina spun about on her heel and took off running. When she came to the end of the corridor, she stopped and placed her back against the wall. Tarina gripped her pistol tight in her hands and took a lightning-fast peek around the corner. The passage was empty. She grinned when she saw a trail of blood leading down the hallway. She had hit her opponent. Tarina turned the corner and followed the red blotches on the floor tiles.
“Come on, you Kurgan piece of crap,” said Wendy to herself as she typed furiously on the keyboard, trying to cancel the commands already sent to the ship’s engines.
A computer voice came over the vessel’s speakers. “Warning, you are on a collision course with another ship. Alter your course immediately, or you will hit the other ship in ninety-five seconds from now.”
“I’m trying my best,” said Wendy. On the bridge’s view screen, Admiral Kaar’s flagship grew larger by the second.
An alarm sounded throughout the ship immediately followed by a red warning light flashing on and off on the navigator’s workstation.
“I don’t need these distractions, thank you very much,” said Wendy to herself. Sweat poured like a river off Wendy’s face. She looked up and saw Kaar’s ship filling the screen. She typed in her last command and crossed her fingers. She had done all she could. Wendy leaped from her chair and sprinted down the hallway. It was going to be close and she knew it.
The hangar was too quiet.
Tarina edged to the entrance and glanced down at the floor. The blood trail headed straight for their shuttle. Without it, they would have to take their chances in a Kurgan emergency escape lifepod. She crept forward until she reached the open side door. Tarina heard the transport ship’s alarms sound. Time was running out. She had to throw caution to the wind. Tarina stepped inside and froze. Her opponent stood barely two meters away with her pistol aimed at Tarina’s chest.
“Drop it,” said the woman.
Tarina cursed her luck and let her gun fall to the floor.
The woman’s face was deathly pale. She held a blood-stained hand over her stomach. In a weak voice, she said, “You’ve failed, Terran. We’re both going to die in a matter of seconds.”
“It doesn’t have to end like this,” said Tarina, in a calm voice. “Lower your gun and let me help you.”
The woman let out a wet cough. Blood trickled down the side of her mouth. “I’m going to meet the Lord. You’re a heretic and will spend an eternity in hell.”
“I don’t think so,” said We
ndy as she dove inside the shuttle and fired off a shot.
The woman, hit in the head, tumbled to the floor.
Tarina felt Wendy tap her leg. “Come on, we’ve got to go.”
They sprinted to the cockpit and jumped into their chairs.
“You have less than thirty seconds before impact,” warned the ship’s computer.
“I’m going to open the outer doors,” said Wendy. “Don’t get fancy with your flying. We don’t have time to depressurize the bay before we head out.”
Tarina placed her hands on the ship’s steering controls and looked out the cockpit window as Wendy opened the doors. In a flash, anything not bolted down was sucked out into space. She felt their ship begin to move. Tarina applied power to the engines and flew their ship out of the hangar. Admiral Kaar’s ship was now only a few kilometers away. Tarina pointed the nose of their ship down and dove away from the supply ship.
“Come on, come on,” begged Wendy, watching the two ships on her screen.
For a second it looked as if the two ships were going to collide and then ever so slowly, the supply ship began to drop down and flew underneath of Kaar’s vessel.
“Yes,” yelled out Wendy, pumping her fist in the air.
“My God, that was close,” said Tarina, letting out a held breath.
“Let’s not do that again.”
“You know, I think we’ll just wait out here rather than land on another Kurgan ship. We’ve got plenty of fuel, and I’m in no rush to run into any more saboteurs.”
Wendy nodded. “Amen to that.”
Tarina sat back in her seat. “What I don’t understand is why we weren’t blasted from the stars the instant we turned and headed straight for Kaar’s ship.”
“I think I might have the answer,” said Wendy.
“What is it?”
“According to my scans of the admiral’s ship, all of their defensive systems are currently offline. They must have pro-insurgent sympathizers over there as well. This fleet is infested with saboteurs. I agree; let’s float around out here for a while.”
Tarina pressed the comms button on her console. “I’m going to try to reach the Admiral’s staff and let them know what happened.”
“Good idea. We don’t want them thinking we’re insurgents as well.”
For a moment, Tarina watched the supply ship drop lower toward the planet’s atmosphere. She placed a hand on the cockpit glass and said, “Good luck, Michael. I’ll see you soon.”
Chapter 26
“Okay, it’s inbound,” announced Sheridan.
“What is?” asked Kabar.
“A ship packed full of explosives.”
“What do we do after it hits the shield?” said Kabar.
“Pray that it worked. If it doesn’t, this mission is doomed to end in failure. However, if it does, standby for the best pyrotechnics show you’ve ever seen in your life.”
“I’m hoping for the latter,” said Cole. “I didn’t come here not to say goodbye to Mister Williams.”
The sound of ship’s engines somewhere above the clouds made everyone stop talking and look skyward. The rain had let up a few minutes ago, but dark gray clouds still covered the sky. The supply ship dipped down slowly below the clouds and raced over the top of the men trapped in the open. A loud cheer erupted when the soldiers realized what was about to happen.
Sheridan turned his head and brought up his binoculars to his eyes. He looked over at the fortress and tried to imagine the invisible shield protecting it. Designed to explode incoming ordinance, Sheridan prayed that it would be helpless to stop a ship weighing more than three-quarters of a million tons and traveling three times faster than the speed of sound.
The supply ship struck the shield and exploded in a brilliant fireball. The sheer power of the explosion weakened the shield allowing the force of the blast to shoot down on the fortress like a superheated blowtorch. Anyone outside of the city walls was vaporized. The shield generator emitter melted in the blink of an eye.
Sheridan saw the flash and ducked down. The blast wave raced over the top of the Chosen soldiers lying in the mud. Battlefield debris flew through the air like leaves in a storm. Sheridan felt the heat on his face. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a tire from a demolished APC fly past him and land in a hole spraying water all over a couple of startled Chosen engineers.
Sheridan lifted his head and looked at the fort. The entire outer structure was covered in flames. It was like a painting of hell. The suffering wasn’t going to end there. From the clouds dropped several squadrons of distinctive triangular-shaped Kurgan fighter-bombers. They fired off their missiles at the fort before banking away back up into the clouds. The missiles took out several large gun positions and anything left still standing from the blast.
“I wouldn’t want to be them right about now,” said Cole.
“The pain isn’t over,” said Sheridan as a volley of missiles fired by ships in orbit above the planet struck the outer walls, tearing massive holes in them.
“Praise the Lord,” said Kabar, looking skyward. “Do you think they’ll be able to repair their shield generator before the Old Guard lands?”
Sheridan shook his head. “Not a chance. But they still have close to sixty thousand people in that fortress. Some of them died in the blast, but most are probably below ground and itching to get into the fight.”
“So now what do we do?”
“We let the fleet and any artillery from the first and second waves that is still operational pound the fort until your land forces are ready to begin their attack.”
“When will that be?”
Sheridan glanced at his watch. “I’d say in about three to four hours from now.”
“So what do we do until then?”
“Have some nosh and try to relax,” said Cole, opening a ration pack.
Kabar’s guts gurgled. “Not again,” he moaned.
“What’s wrong?” asked Sheridan.
“My stomach has been off ever since we landed.” A split second later he placed a hand on his midsection and ran for the nearest empty hole to relieve himself.
“How the hell do they go to the bathroom?” said Cole. “I mean with all that armor on it can’t be easy.”
Sheridan shrugged. “Beats me. I’d rather not think about it right now.”
“Well here’s something to think about. A few months ago, we were fighting the Kurgan Empire. Then Komada comes along, and we decide to help his side wage an insurrection against the empire. Now we’re in a waterlogged shell hole helping the Kurgan armed forces to crush Komada’s revolt. Makes you wonder just what the hell we’re doing.”
“I prefer to think that we’re not on anyone’s side anymore. The Kurgan military is simply a means to an end. We have to stop Harry from unleashing the virus, and we can’t do that without the Kurgans’ help.”
“You know, with talk like that, after you’re done in the military, you’ve got a promising career ahead of you in politics.”
“Bite your tongue, First Sergeant.”
Cole set his half-eaten ration pack down and looked at his friend. “I mean it. You’ve got more integrity than any man I’ve ever met. You’d do well on the Federation Council.”
Sheridan chuckled. “Let’s just get through this war first.”
The rumbling sound from dozens of armored vehicles announced the arrival of the first group of fresh combat engineers. A Kurgan major jumped down from the first vehicle and looked around at the men huddled on the ground around the wreckage of the first wave.
“Who’s in charge here?” called out the Kurgan, trying to be heard over the artillery barrage hitting the fortress’ outer walls.
Sheridan nudged Kabar. “You had best say you are.”
Kabar got to his feet and said, “I guess I am.”
The Kurgan major walked over. Kabar greeted him with a bow. The major asked, “How far is it to the anti-armor breach?”
Kabar pointed past the turned-over b
ulldozer. “It’s about thirty meters from here.”
“Show me.”
Kabar hesitated and looked over at Sheridan, who nodded. “This way,” said Kabar. They walked around the wreck and stood in the open while the major studied the ground. Kabar felt naked and vulnerable standing out in no man’s land with the engineer officer.
“I’ve seen enough, let’s go,” said the major.
Kabar nodded and turned to leave when the major’s head exploded in a mist of blood and bone. He threw himself to the ground. The only thought going through his mind was that he never heard the shot that killed the engineer officer. Kabar crawled as fast as he could back to the bulldozer and safety. He slid back into the hole Sheridan and Cole were taking cover in.
“What the hell happened to you?” said Cole. “You’re covered in blood.”
Kabar struggled to find his voice. “A sniper shot the major. He blew his head right off his shoulders.”
“Well, at least we know they’re still in the fight,” said Sheridan.
“What do we do now?”
“You’ve got to find the major’s second-in-command and tell him what’s happened. They need to find a way across that ditch, or the Old Guard won’t be able to get to grips with the enemy.”
Kabar tried to swallow but found his mouth had turned dry with fear. “Okay, I’ll do that. But what about that sniper?”
“Trust me, there’ll be more than one of them out there. Get them to lay a thermal smoke screen to mask their movements and then pound the open ground on the far side of the ditch with artillery.”
“Artillery . . . right.”
“Make sure you say it word for word like I did, or we’re going to stall out in the open and be shot to pieces by the rebels.”
Kabar’s head was reeling. He nodded and ran back toward the line of armored vehicles.
Sheridan shook his head. “Relying on Kabar as a middleman to pass on information is proving to be quite stressful.”
“Perhaps Admiral Kaar should have selected a line officer instead of a spook to be our LO,” said Cole.
Insurrection (The Kurgan War Book 6) Page 14