Battle Beyond Earth: Deception

by Thomas, Nick S.

  Lorenzo tried to get up to go back for the wounded, but Sommer held him down.

  “Don’t you dare! We have lost enough lives without losing you, too!”

  Jones was staring out into the open ground beyond the tree line at the bodies of those they had lost, his face a ghostly grey at the horror of it all.

  “Hey,” said Sommer.

  He didn’t respond.

  “Hey, Captain,” she said a little louder and tapped him on the arm. He finally took notice, but he just looked at her blankly, “What the hell do we do now?”

  For a moment he had no idea, before his survival instinct kicked in as Turan joined them.

  “We cannot stay here,” said the Krys officer.

  “We have no way out, either,” replied Sommer.

  “No, there is always a way out. If the enemy has some presence on this world, like we were led to believe, then that is our way out.”

  “What? That’s crazy! We should stay put and wait for reinforcements.”

  But Jones just sagged his head and shook it as he thought about the possibilities.

  “We stay put. Help is coming.”

  “What reinforcements, Captain? We have no idea if that distress call got out or not, and even if it did, we’d be dead before anyone reached us. The enemy knows we are here and where we are. We either stay here and wait to die, or we move and go looking for wherever they are based,” said Turan.

  Jones looked out across the field of the dead, seeing how bad their situation was. He was kicking himself inside for not pushing the Admiral to let him take the whole Regiment, and yet he knew how futile that anger was.

  “What are we doing, Captain?” Sommer asked, as if hoping that he would change his mind.

  His head bobbed back and forth as he tried to make sense of it all, but before he could reply, they heard the loud shriek of an animal nearby, and it was repeated by another on the far side of them. Jones and the rest of them raised their weapons and looked around for some sign of what had caused it, but it was a glimmer of movement out in the open that finally caught Jones’ attention. He saw something pass from one fallen structure to another, but not long enough that he could see what it was. He lifted his rifle and took aim, waiting for it to present itself.

  “Screamers,” said Sommer in horror.

  Jones wanted to tell her to be quiet and to not be so stupid, and yet the evidence before them was too great for him to speak up, and then he spotted it. A scaly creature that was almost as tall as a human, even when on four legs, crept out from cover. It stopped for just a moment as it spotted him. Its mouth opened wide, and its tongue lashed out like a whip as if threatening him. The eyes shone a vivid, bright blue like they were torches glaring in his eyes and mesmerising him.

  It reached forward and grabbed one of the bodies of the Krys who had fallen. It was dragging it across the ground to pull it into cover. At the sight of it taking one of his people, Jones snapped out of the near hypnotic state the creature had put him in. He fired two shots, and the creature slumped down dead. For a moment the scene fell silent, and all they could hear was the blowing of the branches in the wind. But another of the Screamers began their characteristic howl soon after, and it was shortly followed by another. Before they knew it a dozen had joined in.

  “What do we do? What do we do?” Sommer was hysterical with fear.

  Before he could say a word, one leapt in between them and lashed at Sommer with its sharp talons. They scraped across her armour and cut into her left arm. She let out a cry of panic. Turan put a bullet into its brain and then beat its skull flat with his rifle stock.

  “We can’t stay here,” said Jones, “They are here for the bodies. They are scavengers.”

  “We are going to leave our dead to these things?” Sommer tried to hide the pain of her injury. But even as she spoke, they could see the movement of dozens more of the creatures ahead, and screams echoing in the distance as they called more to join them.

  “We don’t have any choice. We either run, or we die along with them!” Jones yelled.

  Another leapt in amongst them, and it almost touched his muzzle before he put a round into its mouth and another as it toppled over.

  He pointed further into the forest. “Go deeper into the forest, go on!”

  He got to his feet and tried to move, but a Screamer landed on him and crushed him down onto his knees. He let out a cry of pain as he felt its claws dig in at the joint of his armour between his torso and thigh. He reached up and pulled it off over his head, firing a shot into its head.

  “Move!”

  They didn’t need any more coaxing. Gunfire rang out all around as they fended off the creatures and continued onwards. Jones saw two Krys fall as multiple Screamers set upon them, but nobody could stop and try to help. It was every man for himself. They and ran, and after a few minutes, the creatures backed off. Happy that they had their fill, but the Company didn’t stop running. They went on for several kilometres until they broke out into an opening where a river parted the forest and led to a thundering waterfall. They rushed across the water, finally slowing as they reached a large rock formation that sprung out of the water.

  Jones dropped down onto one knee as he felt the pain increasing in his thigh, and the rest of them were more than glad of the respite. At least from the rocks they could see the Screamers approach. The Krys seemed barely phased by it all. They didn’t even appear worried, or at least they didn’t show it, but the fear was very real in Sommer’s face.

  “They’re real. What kind of sick asshole would send us here knowing what inhabits this world?”

  “There is no way the Admiral would have sent us here had he known that,” replied Jones, grimacing as he checked his wound. He drew out an emergency bandage spray and doused the wound. It stung like hell, and he winced in pain, but the bleeding had stopped, and the wound sterilised.

  “No, how could he have not known? Seems like the rest of the universe does?”

  “The Screamers were a myth. Nobody in their right mind would have believed they were real.”

  “They’re real, all right. They’re fucking real enough!” she screamed hysterically.

  “Enough,” Jones said calmly.

  “How can you be so calm? We have been left here do die, to be eaten by those vultures!”

  He was breathing heavily, trying to catch his breath, and to make sense of the whole situation.

  “Captain, what do we do?”

  She was close to meltdown, and yet Jones was becoming calmer. He had accepted the situation for what it was now, however terrifying and dangerous. He was running through ideas in his head, although there seemed no good options. He looked around and estimated they had half the number they landed with. It was the worst casualties he could ever remember their unit taking since it was first founded. He wondered what Taylor would think, but then he realised Taylor wouldn’t think anything of it, beyond what was next. He looked around in every direction for some ideas. All he could see was more woodland, and the prospect of more Screamers. He could hear them howling in the distance as they celebrated their victory and made the fallen their next meal.

  “We are all going to die down here, aren’t we?” Sommer asked.

  “No chance, what would Taylor think of you for such dismissive behaviour?”

  “But he’s not here, is he? He’s not here when we need him most!”

  Jones backhanded her across the face.

  “Pull yourself together. You are an officer in the finest fighting unit in the Alliance. So start acting like one, and we may yet get out of here!”

  She tied to compose herself, knowing she was being silly, but she was still no less scared. All of their attention turned as the screams grew louder, and the trees rustled from where they had come from. The momentary let up wasn’t near as long as Jones had hoped for.

  “You think they will cross water?”

  As Sommer said it, one of them leapt from the trees and landed on a rock near
them. Two Krys marines opened fire, and it was cut down where it stood, but as its body floated towards the waterfall, the blue eyes of dozens more appeared in the tree line.

  “Do we stand, or do we run?” Sommer asked quietly.

  “It depends how many of them there are,” replied Turan.

  “Something tells me there is no shortage.”

  The first few leapt out to cross over to them, and they opened fire. Soon enough the whole Company was unloading into what seemed a never-ending horde. Jones was soon slamming in a new magazine, and yet they seemed to be having little effect. The creatures passed over their dead with a bloodthirsty hunger the likes of which they had never seen before.

  An explosion rang out behind them, and several looked back to see a flare ignite in the sky.

  “What the hell is that?” Sommer asked as she reloaded.

  Another flare went up soon after it.

  “I don’t know, but it’s as good as a target to aim for as any!”

  “How can we know they are friendly?”

  A number of the Screamers reached them and engaged them in hand-to-hand. One of the Krys let out a scream of pain as he was slashed across the face, and another had his neck torn out by a Screamer claw. Jones drew out all three of the high explosive grenades he was carrying. He primed and threw them out into the horde one after the other.

  “Come on, let’s move!” he yelled, pointing towards the flares.

  He lifted his rifle and unloaded another magazine, running on and loading as he went. He soon reached the tree line. They were running like the wind now as they fired on the move. Many threw grenades back like he had, and that put a little distance between them and the creatures. It wasn’t long before they burst out of the trees once more into what looked like a quarry, but at its base was a huge blast door. It was the last thing they expected to see, but atop the structure were two small turrets that seemed to activate as they made their way out into the open. They froze solid, but to their amazement, the cannons on the turrets opened fire on the tree line.

  Sommer couldn’t believe their luck as she ran towards the doorway. Jones wasn’t so hopeful, but he knew they couldn’t stay outside. They rushed down to the doorway as the fire kept up, and as they approached, the vast door rose to allow them entry. It looked as though it were made of metre-thick steel and would stop a battleship’s guns.

  Jones waited at the doorway as the rest covered the distance, and he fired to cover them. He was soon loading another magazine, painfully aware of how low they were running. Several lay down covering fire and kept it up. As the last few raced through, his rifle ran empty. He drew his pistol as the door began to close, shooting down two more as they tried to get inside. One Screamer slid through underneath and narrowly managed to get through, but as it slid to a halt, Turan stamped on its head and broke its neck.

  The mighty door finally sealed shut. The room they were in was lit, and there seemed to be no way out. It was about twenty metres wide and square, every side looked to be made of the same thick steel as the door.

  “What is this place?”

  “I don’t know, Sommer, but I can’t imagine for a moment that whoever owns it is friendly.”

  Just as he finished, a voice rang out over a loud hailer.

  “Lay your weapons down, all of them!”

  “No way!” Sommer screamed, “Did you not see what is out there!”

  “We are well aware of what inhabits this world. Lay down your weapons!”

  “Why should we?” Jones shouted.

  “If you do not, we will reopen that door and let the Screamers have their fill.”

  “What the hell, what kind of sicko would do that?”

  “One who follows Bolormaa,” said Turan.

  She looked around to finally spot Lorenzo. She was relieved that he had made it, but he was cradling several wounds, and hurt badly. There was silence for a few moments until the door opened just a few centimetres. It wasn’t enough for the Screamers to get in, but they could hear their howling and scratching at the door.

  “Lay down your weapons!” the voice yelled once more.

  “Please, we aren’t here to harm you!” Jones called out.

  But the door opened just a few centimetres more, and the noise grew louder.

  “This is your last chance.”

  Turan unclipped his rifle.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Sommer, we cannot survive out there, and anything is better than being fed to those things. Taylor has long shown us that living to fight another day is better than to die for nothing.”

  He put his weapon down and then followed it with the rest. Jones looked around the room to see in amazement that they were all doing the same. He couldn’t believe they would have gone for it, but seeing they had no choice, he did the same.

  “Put them down,” he said to Sommer.

  He didn’t have to tell her a second time, as the screams of the creatures grew louder. They lay down everything they had, and Jones took of his helmet, relieved to have it off his brow.

  “That’s it, we did as you asked! Now shut the door!”

  For a moment he wasn’t sure if they’d keep their end of the bargain, and it was an anxious and tension filled few seconds. They could smell the stench of the Screamers outside. They smelt like death. Like a mix of a skunk and a rotting dead body all at once.

  “Come on, we did what you said!” Sommer pleaded.

  The door slowly cranked into operation and slammed shut behind them. Sommer collapsed at having escaped from the clutches of death. She dropped to her knees as the emotion overcame her, but then looked back up, the realisation of what had happened beginning to set in.

  “What does all this mean? Who are they, and what are they doing here?”

  “I wish I knew, but I guess we are about to find out. Don’t do anything sudden. Don’t give whoever it is any reason to kill us. I want to make it off this damned world alive.”

  “That is what it is, a damned world. We should never have come,” said Turan.

  “You’re damn right about that.”

  “Sometimes the warnings of history are there for a reason.”

  “And I wished to hell we had listened to them, but here we are. Let’s make the best of it. Stick together and stay strong. Someone will come for us. I know they will.”

  Chapter 9

  “Taylor, you’d better get in here!” Rogers shouted across the room.

  Mitch had no idea what it was about, but he knew it was the newly established communications room. He rushed inside to find a recording being played, but he didn’t recognise the voice.

  “What is it?”

  “A distress signal, Sir,” said the operator.

  Taylor shrugged as if surprised that anyone would expect him to know anything about it.

  “From where?”

  “A ship called the Attila. I am not familiar with it, but they have gotten into some serious trouble at Hajander,” said Rogers.

  “Never heard of it.”

  “I only have in passing. It’s a screw up the Alliance would rather was best left forgotten. In all honesty, I thought the place was a myth until I saw the results of a scouting party sent there a century ago. It was a bloodbath.”

  “Why are you telling me this? Aren’t there more than enough ships that can go to their aid?”

  “Maybe not. The signal was weak. The fact our drones picked it up was sheer luck, I’d say. Their transponder was destroyed soon after it was launched. I can’t imagine the signal got far. But it’s not just that which concerns you, it is the list of personnel. All distress signals are now imprinted with a list of all crewmembers, along with any and all recorded personnel that were traveling aboard that ship.”

  “Okay?”

  “I think you need to see the list,” he said, pointing to the comms operator, and he displayed the list on screen.

  The first few dozen names meant nothing to him until he came across a Captain Willia
m Jones. He told himself it had to be a coincidence, but Turan and Sommer soon followed.

  “Ah, shit,” he muttered.

  He looked to Rogers as if expecting him to do something about it.

  “What is it?” Rivers appeared in the doorway.

  Taylor said nothing and waited for Rogers to do the explaining.

  “A distress signal sent out by an Alliance ship.”

  “What of it?”

  “It’s a weak signal, and not that likely anyone but us received it.”

  “All right, well then forward it on to the Alliance like all other intel we receive here.”

  “Do you know how long it will take for them to respond, if they even can or will?”

  “I am sorry, Colonel, but I don’t see what the issue is here. There are distress calls sent out every day. This is a war and there are casualties.”

  Taylor wasn’t happy with that, but he didn’t say anything.

  “It’s is the Colonel’s people, Captain Jones and others.”

  Rivers said nothing, but he knew he was in shallow water.

  “You know I am going after them. I don’t care whether you like it or not, or who knows about it,” declared Taylor.

  “Yes, this is one side of you, Colonel, that Captain Rogers has explained to me in no uncertain terms. That you will go to any lengths, and break any rules to look after those you care about.”

  “That about sums it up, yeah.”

  “All I can say is that I hope if I end up in a fix one day, you’ll do the same for me,” he said. He clearly wasn’t going to buck against whatever Taylor had in mind.

  “You have my word on it.”