by Jeff Kirvin
Jack turned and looked at her, and Robyn could see what passed for a sarcastic grin through Jack’s faceplate.
“Yeah, I heard,” Jack said, his voice sounding tinny through the armor’s speakers.
“And?”
Jack stepped away from the fence. “What do you want me to say, Robyn? I told him we should leave. I told him there was nothing but trouble here. Is it my fault he’s decided to run headlong into that trouble?”
Robyn held out her hands in front of her. “Hey, no, boss, I didn’t mean any of that.”
Jack stared at his lieutenant for a moment, then relaxed. “Sorry, Robyn. Didn’t mean to bite your head off.
“We’ll have enough of that tomorrow.”
Robyn walked a little closer to Jack and leaned with him against the fence. “You really think Chenzokov is that far off the mark?”
“You didn’t see those things, Robyn. Physically, they had the look of pure carnivores, predators of the highest order.”
“The same could be said of humans.”
Jack ignored her. “And their war machines, walking tanks with more firepower than a squad of armored men. I got a bad vibe from them, Robyn.”
“We’re armored and armed, too. What’s to say their intentions are any less peaceful than ours?”
Jack started to speak, then hesitated. “I don’t know. Something about the way they moved, their attitude. They’re warriors. I see the same checked aggression in them that I see in us. They are prepared to fight, and we’re about to provoke them.”
Robyn stood in silence for a moment with her friend, listening to the night sounds of the jungle mix with the human noises from camp. It was getting close to curfew, and the colonists were starting to pack up for the night.
“What’s Chenzokov allowing for defense?”
“Just me,” Jack said. “and no armor. I’m allowed to carry a sidearm, but that’s it. A handful of colonists, Chenzokov himself, and me with a pistol against heavily armed aliens.
“Robyn, I want you to get us ready tomorrow after I leave. If this thing goes south, I’m going to need you to lead the defense of the colony while they evacuate.”
“You really expect the worst, don’t you?”
“Wait until you see them, and you’ll understand.” Jack left the fence and walked back into camp, leaving Robyn alone with the jungle.
***
First light found Jack boarding one of the colony’s wheeled transports with Chenzokov and a dozen or so colonists. The transport was a huge metal box, painted stark white and held aloft on giant struts and two-meter high rubber tires. It could roll over just about anything, and the passengers would be enclosed and comfortable. Per Chenzokov’s order, Jack was dressed in fatigues and armed only with a hand pistol. He rode up front with the driver as the bulky vehicle made its bumpy and ambling way across the jungle to the alien camp.
Jack still dreaded what he was sure the day would bring. He wasn’t a xenophobe; many on Earth dreaded the very thought of meeting nonterrestrial sentients, but not Jack. He just preferred to meet them on better terms, under the guidance of scientists and diplomats, not politicians.
Chenzokov staggered over to Jack as the transport crawled over the uneven terrain. Speak of the devil and he appears, Jack mused. “Yes, Captain?” Jack asked before the Russian could get a word out.
“I wanted to talk to you before we arrived,” Chenzokov said. “I want you to know that you are present only to be in compliance with regulations. First Contact Protocol requires the presence of at least one security officer, and you’re it. However, I believe your aggressive presence to be a detriment to our mission of peace and understanding. You will therefore remain confined to the transport for the duration of the contact with the alien species. You may watch through the viewscreen, but you will not under any circumstances make your presence known to the aliens. We have to establish ourselves as a peaceful, enlightened race, and I don’t believe you capable of that.
“Do I make myself understood, Major?”
Jack stared at the Colonial Governor of New Eden until the older man dropped his eyes. “Yes sir,” Jack said. “I understand you perfectly.”
Chenzokov nodded, and moved to walk away, back to the exit where the others were preparing to disembark.
“But you understand,” Jack said to Chenzokov’s back, loud enough to be heard over the transport’s engines, “that I have the right and responsibility to act as I see fit in a state of emergency, should the XTs pose a clear and present danger to any human colonists.”
Chenzokov stopped, but did not turn or say a word. After a moment, he continued to the back exit of the transport.
Jack turned and looked out the viewscreen. They were almost there. The transport was just entering the valley where Jack had found the XTs, and he could see a couple of their giant walking machines already. Jack checked the clip in his pistol, and prayed he wouldn’t have to use it.
Slowly, the transport rolled up to the edge of the XT camp. Jack watched as the aliens gathered around the front of the vehicle. He was able to study the creatures more closely now, having nothing else to do.
The males were the larger of the two types, and Jack felt the same sense of dread looking at them now as before. All the males wore armor over their yellow-striped red skin, and held mean-looking weapons in their clawed hands. They reminded Jack of Terran dinosaurs, a vicious species known as Velociraptor. Their saurian eyes stared unblinking at the transport, but they did not open fire, or seem overtly threatening.
Behind the males the smaller, red-striped on green females stood their ground. Several of them directed male warriors to new positions, but none of them were armed directly. Behind the females stood the massive war machines, gun pods tilted upwards, away from the transport.
Overall, the impression from the aliens was one of caution, but no real threat. They seemed to be deliberately trying not to threaten the transport.
Could I have been wrong? Jack wondered.
“Today will be long remembered by the human race,” Chenzokov said at the back of the transport, near the exit hatch. “Our first contact with a sentient species other than our own. I am deeply honored to lead you.”
Chenzokov opened the hatch, and extended the ramp down to the ground behind the transport, the side farthest from the aliens.
“Into history!” Chenzokov said as he and the other colonists started down the ramp.
Jack watched on the viewscreen and external camera monitors as Chenzokov and the others made their way around the massive transport. They would be in view of the XTs any second.
As he and the others stepped around the corner, Chenzokov spread his arms wide. “Greetings from Earth!” he said with a large smile.
The alien reaction was dramatic and swift. The females screamed and gestured wildly. The males opened fire.
Chenzokov was hit by the first volley and killed instantly. The other colonists dropped to the ground, some dead, some wounded, others scared out of their minds.
Jack was on his feet and bolting for the door even as Chenzokov fell. He unholstered his tiny pistol and swung around the back of the transport, firing at the closest Saurians. His bullets ricocheted off the armor of the males, but two females went down, and they pulled back.
Jack started ushering the wailing colonists back into the transport. An over-the-shoulder glance told him the giant war machines were on the move, and they didn’t have long if he was to get warning to the colony. A Saurian energy bolt grazed his left arm as he dragged a hysterical man back to the transport, the pain intense enough to knock him to his knees. As he turned around, the Saurian male warrior walked towards him warily, weapon up and ready. Human screams, Saurian screams and weapons fire filled the air.
They’re still cautious, Jack realized. They didn’t think they could beat us. He raised his pistol and shot the alien in the face, one of the few unarmored body parts he could see. The Saurian fell to the ground, screaming its parrot scream.<
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“We’re going,” Jack said to the colonist, and he got up and ran for the transport, the other man staggering after him.
***
Only Jack and five colonists made it back to the relative safety of the transport alive, but that was only a temporary measure. The Saurian war machines were moving, and preparing to fire. Jack settled behind the transport controls and fired up the engine. One of the machines already had its guns trained on the transport, and Jack didn’t want to give it a stationary target.
“Here we go!” he shouted as he threw the transport into full reverse just as the Saurian machine fired. The ground where the transport used to be exploded in a rain of rock and dirt, and the transport backed away, bouncing over the uneven terrain.
Jack keyed the radio as he spun the vehicle around. “Killian to base camp. Do you read?”
“Roger, boss,” Robyn answered. “Five by five. What’s your situation?”
Jack accelerated the transport as fast as it would go, but the Saurian walkers were having an easier time on the rough ground, and they were gaining. “The XTs attacked us on sight. Chenzokov is dead. I need you to start the evacuation immediately, and send anybody you can spare to our beacon to provide cover fire.
“Shit!” Jack added as one of the Saurian blasts came a little too close.
“Roger, sir,” Robyn said. “Will comply. Over and out.”
***
Robyn was stunned but she didn’t let that get in her way. No sooner did she break communication with Jack than she was on the colony PA system.
“Attention, please. This is Lieutenant Robyn O’Reilly of the security team. We are evacuating the colony. I repeat: we are evacuating the colony. Please drop what you are doing and report to the shuttles immediately.”
After programming the PA system to repeat her announcement in a loop, Robyn ran out of the communications building, switching to her armor’s tacnet. “O’Reilly to team. Shimura, Ahiga and Bersi are to supervise the evacuation. Everyone else, with me.”
As Robyn’s armored strides sped her to the northeast gate, the armored forms of Jabari and Girish formed up at her side. “The boss is in trouble,” Robyn explained as they ran. “The XTs attacked on sight, and now they’re in pursuit. We need to home in on the transport beacon and provide cover fire for the transport. Questions?” she asked.
“No ma’am!”
Robyn checked the radar on her HUD. The transport wasn’t far, but there were five huge signatures practically on top of it. Jack had to be doing a helluva job of driving to keep away from them, but he couldn’t last much longer. The alien machines were trying to outflank him and cut him off.
“O’Reilly to Killian,” Robyn broadcast over the base radio. “We are en route to your position. What’s your situation? Over.”
“Agh!” Robyn heard Jack answer, along with what sounded like an explosion way too close to the transport. “Transport is heavily damaged. The XTs are trying to outflank me.”
“Roger that,” Robyn said. “ETA thirty seconds. Over.”
As Robyn and the men crested the next rise, they saw the transport and its pursuers. “Oh my God,” Robyn said.
Surrounding the transport were five alien war machines, each a bipedal, metal monster a dozen meters tall and weighing tens of tons, judging by the depth of their footprints. They were built around a bulky, horizontal fuselage, not unlike the snout of a dropship. Underneath the fuselage were two birdlike reverse articulated legs, ending in splayed metal feet three meters across. The machines also sported a wide variety of weaponry attached as “arms”, missile racks, autocannons and energy weapons that made Robyn’s plasma rifle seem like a kid’s water pistol.
In short, the machines were exactly as Jack had described them, the weapons of a race that knew how to fight. Wait until you see them, and you’ll understand, Jack had said. Robyn understood.
“O’Reilly to team,” she said over the tac net. “Fire at will. Fire at will. Protect that transport!”
Running down a slight grade and on an intercept course with the transport, Robyn opened fire.
Exiting Eden
Volume 4
The Story So Far: Major Jack Killian and the crew of the Envoy discovered humanity’s first extrasolar planet, which they named New Eden. Shortly after landing, they found evidence of another sentient life form on the planet. Jack accompanied the captain of the Envoy to meet the aliens, an avian race resembling a large-brained cross between a velociraptor and a turkey. The aliens attacked as soon as they saw the humans.
***
Jack noted the arrival of the Marines, but he was too busy not getting killed to acknowledge them. Another explosion rocked the transport, and Jack could see two Saurian machines closing in from the sides. If Robyn and the others couldn’t slow those behemoths down, Jack knew he would never make it back to the colony.
Robyn had started the evacuation, but TRHQ had to know what they’d be facing if they sent any more colony ships out. If Jack didn’t make it back, someone who had faced these things in combat would have to.
Jack vaulted the transport over the crater of another near miss as Robyn and others moved in on the Saurian machines and engaged.
Humanity had a new enemy, and somebody had to live to tell them about it.
***
Robyn and her Marines did their best against the aliens, but their best wasn’t doing much good. They’d each managed to distract one of the alien machines who didn’t seem to care what they attacked but that still left two following the transport. She couldn’t take down her machine quickly enough to attack the ones following the transport, assuming she could kill it at all.
The machine in question brought its foot down hard, nearly stomping Robyn flat. With a thought, Robyn activated her jumpjets and rocketed over the Saurian mech. From above, the avian shape was more obvious, and the dorsal side seemed to have less armor than the front. She fired her plasma rifle as she arced down with gravity, drawing only a scorched black scar on the back of the machine.
Robyn rolled as she landed, coming up in a crouch and shooting at the knee joint of the mech. She saw a satisfying burst of sparks, then had to roll to her side to avoid a stream of autocannon fire from the mech.
She saw another blast of fire hit the mech in the “arm,” just above the autocannon. Private Girish bounded into her line of view, dodging the attacks of the mech with effortless grace.
“I got mine, Lieutenant,” she heard his voice over the tacnet. “Let’s finish these assholes and get back to camp!”
She jumped up and ran around the thing’s legs, firing as she went. She was doing damage, but not enough. The only thing she had going for her was that with Girish jumping around, bouncing off cockpit, back, autocannon like an armored gnat, the mech’s pilot wasn’t working too hard at shooting at her.
She dodged a giant metal talon as the mech nearly stepped on her, then saw her opening. Lying supine, she raised her plasma rifle and fired at the underside of the mech, where the legs met the torso. She heard a loud crack as something weakened and snapped, then the mech began to topple.
As the cockpit of the mech smashed into the dirt, Girish bound up again to jump on its back.
He never landed.
Girish was ripped to shreds by autocannon fire. He didn’t have time to scream. Robyn peeked around the fallen mech to see another running her way. The legs didn’t move that fast, but with a stride that long, they didn’t have to. She could see the small armored form of Sergeant Jabari trailing after it.
“Get under it!” Robyn shouted to Jabari. “Hit the hip joint!” She used the crippled mech as cover and opened fire on the newcomer.
Instead of attacking the new threat, the mech spun and opened fire on Jabari. She leapt out of the way, but it tracked her.
Robyn wasn’t about to lose two of her people. Not like this. She bounded over the fallen mech and landed on top of the new one. She pointed her plasma rifle straight down and opened fire on the cockpi
t, trying to drill down into it.
The pilot lurched, trying to shake her off. Then she heard a familiar crack, and the mech began to fall backwards. Robyn jumped away, staying well clear of the mech’s still firing autocannon.
“Come on,” she told Jabari. “We’re outta here. Let’s just hope the boss made it back to camp.”
***
Jack made it back to the colony, but that wasn’t the end of his problems.
He drove the huge transport over the perimeter fence, and headed straight for the landing pad. The two Saurian machines slowed somewhat inside the fence, pausing occasionally to turn their weapons on buildings.
Go ahead, boys, Jack thought. We’re never coming back here.
The colony was deserted, and when Jack arrived at the landing pad he confirmed why. Other than the security team’s dropship, only one shuttle stood on the pad, prepped and ready to go. One of the few security concessions the optimistic and naïve designers of the Envoy had made was to include enough shuttles to evacuate the entire colony in one trip. Nearly a thousand people were already safe aboard the Envoy, and they would leave within the hour with or without him.
If Jack didn’t find a way to distract them, the two Saurian machines could make easy work out of him and the remaining colonists as they tried to transfer to the shuttle. He had to get them off his back.
He turned to one of the colonists huddling in the back of the transport. “You! You know how to drive?”
The man, a balding scientist in his late forties, shook his head. He was terrified, and nearly incoherent. Still, he was only one back there that wasn’t either injured or in shock.
“Time to learn,” Jack said. “Get up here.” The man stumbled to the cockpit.
“What’s your name?” Jack asked.
“Mike,” the man stammered.
“It’s real simple, Mike,” Jack said, pointing with one hand as he talked, driving in narrow avoidance of the Saurians with the other. “The long skinny pedal on the right makes you go, the short stubby one on the left makes you stop. You control your direction with this wheel. Got that, Mike?”