by Marc Stevens
“I have no intention of capturing the outpost. I just need a small distraction so we can pull off a rescue operation without them discovering that it was me and my crew that did it.”
“Normally we only purchase our supplies on outpost 9765 at Haras. We like to keep our business within the family. But I think we could make a small exception in this case. I believe I could arrange for ten battleships to make a supply run. If I recall correctly, they used to sell intoxicants of reasonable quality at that location. Perhaps we need to determine if they still do.”
“I will reimburse you for all of your expenditures involved in the operation.”
“Nonsense! The Scrun base we have inherited more than makes up for such a trivial pursuit. We will use the purchases to celebrate the opening of our new regional headquarters. When would you like us to swing by?”
“As soon as you are able.”
Sushi looked to one side and said something is his native language. He nodded and turned back to me. “We will assemble the fleet and jump within the next four hours. You can expect us in one standard rotation.”
“Thank you. I am in your debt.”
The Sig gave me a dismissive wave with his hand and the screen went blank. I smiled at Tria. It would be a rare occasion if her ideas did not bear the sweetest of fruit. We now had a diversion that should get even the Tibor a little nervous. We needed to get back to planning our rescue. I could tell Coonts had something to say.
“Coonts, you have something on your mind?”
“Yes. The Zaens may not wish to leave with us.”
“What do you mean?”
“They will get out with their lives if we are successful but they cannot take their ship with them. If we are going to pull this off with no one knowing the better, it must appear as if the Zaens perished with the shuttle carrier. They must sacrifice their ship. You might not be aware of it, but Zaens consider their ships as they do their siblings. We may have to subdue them in order to get them to come with us willingly.”
“You have got to be kidding me! They would rather die with their ship than be rescued?”
“It is not unheard of. I can guarantee they will resist leaving it behind.”
I silently cursed. SHIT! They have to be rescued AND I will have to beg them to leave with us!
“Alright everyone, we will cross that bridge when we get to it. Let’s continue planning how to pull this off.”
Coonts and Klutch looked a little puzzled by my statement but let it pass. Klutch took the problem by the horns. I was glad he didn’t fall asleep on us like he had been known to do in the past.
“Justice, put the surveillance video of the carrier’s hangar on the screen.”
“Affirmative, Troop Master.”
“Commander, the way I see it we can easily slip into the hangar with our battle suits in stealth mode. When we enter, an alarm in the launch control room will sound, so we need to go in all at the same time. Hopefully when they do not see anything they will assume it was a false sensor reading. We will then eliminate any guards that are present and secure the launch control room so word cannot get out if we are discovered. Once that is done, we have to disable their remaining assault shuttle and secure the Zaen’s ship. If all goes well, we leave someone in the hangar to watch our escape route. The rest of us will make our way to the lifts and go up two levels to the bridge and secure those areas without anyone calling for help. We have to go in with maximum surprise and maximum force. If we get bogged down in a shootout, they will call for help and you can expect a conveyer full of scat. The next objective is to climb down the service tunnel, opening all unsecured hatches as we go. There is a brig on sublevel three which is also the engineering spaces. That is where we should find the Zaens. We take out all resistance and I will rig a charge on the coolant pumps and the power terminals. Both will overheat and start a fire. Once that happens we need to get out quickly because the atmospheric systems will suck the fire through the service tunnel. It will rapidly increase in intensity as it rises due to the oxygen being fed to it by the open hatches. We will have about fifteen minutes to clear the AO or risk serious injury when the carrier blows.”
No one else had anything to add and it was just a matter of delegating who did what and when. “OK Troop Master, your plan sounds solid and you have covered most all of the issues that face us. Xul, you will be our shuttle pilot. You will drop us close to the hangar door while Justice patrols to ensure we don’t get jumped hard if we are discovered. I want you to stay cloaked and close in case we can’t handle the pirates. If that happens, you need to pull us out and evac us back to the Legacy.”
The little Grawl looked nervous but nodded affirmative. “Once we are in the hangar we will spread out and attempt to silently kill any pirates we come across. When we have secured the hangar, Tria, you will stay behind in launch control and ensure we have a viable escape route.”
The briefest of frowns crossed her pretty face but quickly vanished. She gave me a nod and I moved on. “Coonts, you and I will follow Klutch to the bridge and eliminate anyone we find. It will be your duty to secure the comms and disable them while Klutch and I engage any stragglers. You will then secure the lifts so Klutch and I can access the service tunnel and go below. We will find the Zaens and set the charges then join up with you and head to the hangar. When we have collected Tria we will call Xul to come and get us before the carrier goes up in flames. Any questions?”
There were probably a lot of them, but no one said a word. We have done this kind of thing before and knew we would have to wing it once the scat hits the ventilator. We had our objectives and would try to accomplish them in the order we had laid out. Whether it would happen that way or not was anybody’s guess. One way or the other, we were going to get the Zaens.
“Justice, relay Felix’s message.”
“Message sent.”
I was hungry because my meal was interrupted. It was time to give it another try. I said, “If you have any more questions or ideas, you can find me in the galley.” I stood to leave and Tria joined me. When I stepped into the down tube with her, she leaned in close.
“I would like to be in the forward strike team with you.”
“Your skill sets are a magnitude better than Coonts. I knew between the two of you if things go really bad, you would be the one to ensure we could get back out. I am not saying that Coonts could not get the job done — what I am saying is that I know for a fact you can.”
Tria digested my words for a moment and then nodded. I leaned in to kiss her but only got a cheek. I let it go and I hoped she would do the same. I had a feeling she was, in some way, wanting to be my protector. The more I thought about the subject, the more I realized it was what all Chaalt women did in her society. The males fulfilled another role and warrior was not one of them. She was stepping outside of normal Chaalt behavior by taking up with a race other than her own. Admittedly, I was doing the same. The alien in me was very much attracted to the alien in her and for some reason it felt perfectly natural. I did not give a crap how many arms she had. I was drawn to her from the minute I met her and I truly felt nothing would change that. She reached down and held my hand. Again, I wondered if the Chaalt could read minds. She squeezed my hand hard enough it hurt. I smiled and squeezed back till I saw her flinch. She smiled and we walked hand in hand into the galley. She would be fine.
Coonts, then Klutch both joined us in the galley. Coonts sat down next to me. “Are we bringing the Zaens back to Alpha base?”
“If we force them to leave their ship, they might want to be dropped off elsewhere. They have indirectly saved our lives more than once by selling us their armor. Now we have young Felix to thank them for as well. I know what it is like to value something like that. Back on my planet I had an old land vehicle that I would never sell, regardless of price. I threw away countless credits restoring it. I wonder what will happen when word spreads that we could have saved the ship and did nothing? I hope this will not cause t
rouble with the other clan members.”
Coonts shook his head. “I hope so too. From what I understand, the ship is owned by the entire clan and all share in the benefits it provides.”
“With the amount of credits, I have given the Zaens lately, you would think they could afford to buy a new ship. At the very least it should keep anyone from having hard feeling.”
“That would depend on how big the clan is. I suspect the funds they received were split among the entire clan. It would most assuredly raise Broza’s and Hylet’s status among all members and make them the senior providers. Losing the family starship could possibly diminish that status.”
I rolled my eyes and wondered if it would be less hassle to just leave them to their own means. I let the thought pass and would do what had to be done when the time came. Klutch got up and walked to the galley dispensers. I was momentarily relieved when he got a pitcher of water and cups for us all. He brought them back and placed them in the middle of our table but turned and went back toward the food processor. I tried to keep my face neutral, hoping he would not sit across from me when he returned. Tria was on my left and Coonts on my right; we were intently watching the Troop Master’s progress as he heaped a tray with food. When he turned to approach our table, it looked like he would sit on the opposite side facing the three of us. The rest of our meeting was about to become unpleasant.
In a stroke of genius, Tria stood up and made a show of pouring us all a glass of water and she placed Klutch’s next to hers on our side of the table. Klutch made a slight detour around the table and sat next to Tria. I hope I hid the relief on my face well enough no one noticed. When Tria sat back down, I leaned over and kissed her. Among other things, I thanked her for pouring me a glass of water. She gave me a heartwarming smile. When I looked at Coonts, I could tell he was thinking the same thing.
Klutch gave us a puzzled look. “There is nothing to worry about. There is only thirty-seven untrained pieces of scat against the four of us. If anything, you should feel sorry for those Throggs.” His comment sprinkled the table beside Tria with small bits of food. She quickly picked up her glass and took a drink then placed it next to mine, just out of range of any additional flying particles. Xul wandered into the galley and got a tray of food then turned to our table. We were trying our best to get his attention and have him sit on our side. Coonts even patted the seat next to him, but Xul was oblivious to our intentions. He sat down across from Klutch. It was a choice he was about to regret. I got up and gave the giant viewscreen showing the dust nebula one last look before I excused myself from the table. We still had the better part of a day before the Sig would arrive in the sector.
“Justice, jump us to the location where the transponder thread terminated.”
“Affirmative Commander, I have preselected a location to observe and scan the system. DEHD core transition in thirty seconds.”
I stepped out of the lift tube on the bridge deck with Tria at my side. Everything went dead still and bright white. Hot damn, Oolaran tech was crazy freakin’ cool!
When we returned to normal space time, we went to the bridge and Justice showed us the system on the view dome. It was not what I was expecting. There were massive, planet-sized chunks of debris cluttering the system in a huge band around the central star. Justice highlighted a Mars-sized planet out at the edge of the band. It had a heavy brown foggy atmosphere obscuring its surface.
“Commander, there are no signs of life anywhere in the system. After carefully studying the large rocky debris in this system I have determined that they were once planetary bodies. My estimations conclude it is what remains of at least two planets and, depending on size, possibly a third.”
That was an eye-opening statement. Something chewed up two or three planets and spit them out around the central star. “Show us the thread, Justice.”
A green thread leaped out from the Legacy and made contact with the only remaining planetary body in the system. “Let’s get a closer look and then jump back to the outpost.”
Justice made an inner system jump and the small planet filled the view dome. “Commander, the radiation levels I am recording on the planet are six-thousand times the fatal dose for all species I have records on. If I was to venture a guess I would say the planet was purposely sterilized. There is the possibility the planet’s current condition is permanent.”
“Can we safely take the Legacy down to look where the thread terminates?”
“Yes. As a safety precaution, I will enter the atmosphere with our shields at maximum output.”
Coonts and Klutch showed up and took their seats. I had to stifle a laugh when Xul walked in with a frown, wiping his face. Justice, took us down through the dusty brown atmosphere of the planet. We were shocked at the devastation. There were craters miles across and impossibly deep. The dusty conditions were the results of one-hundred sixty mile per hour winds blowing the pulverized surface into a sand blaster of a hurricane. We could see in small sections here and there what used to be parts and pieces of a civilization. What used to be roads and building structures were now nothing more than rock covered debris fields. The green thread attached itself to the side a massive crater. Justice took us down below its rim and we got a close up look at what might have been some sort of tunnel or perhaps a complex similar to Alpha Base. It seemed impossible that the radiation could have been any higher, but Justice informed us it was. The planet and all who lived here had been murdered. HELL! The whole star system was murdered! I could only think of one foe on record that would do such a thing: the Prule! I now wondered how the planet escaped the fate the others had succumbed to. The only reasonable answer was they put a fight and help arrived much too late. I hoped that, whoever they were, some managed to escape this hell. The Legacy would not fit in the tunnel entrance, but our shuttle could. At some point in time I wanted to return and investigate the tunnel, but we were running out of time.
“Justice, you can jump us back when you are ready.”
“Affirmative, I will have sufficient charge to transition in eleven minutes.”
I was shaken by what I had seen. If the races in this galaxy could not pull together for the good of all, then all will perish if the Prule return. I was relieved when everything went quiet and the bright glow of transition whited out the reality of the devastated world. When my awareness returned, we were just outside of the dust nebula. Justice cloaked the Legacy and dove into the murky light-year wide cloud. Nothing had changed and we took up station where we could surveil the outpost and the pirate ships. My crew seemed like they were just as shocked by what we had seen a I was. We knew what death up close looked like and in most cases were the cause of it, but none of us could easily come to grips with what we had just witnessed.
“Commander, I am detecting large distortion waves emanating from the edge of this star system. I can now confirm ten Sig battleships have transitioned into the sector and have aligned with a course that will take them close by the outpost.”
I was glad I had something to take my mind off the devastated star system. “Let’s gear up and get aboard the shuttle”
As I exited the down tube with Tria, Justice called to us. “Commander, the Sig fleet has taken up station close to the outpost and has launched ten shuttles. I have intercepted their communications stating they are not a threat and wish to purchase supplies. I have twenty-two spacecrafts of various designs, leaving the outpost on vectors that will take them away from the Sig fleet and out of the system.”
I smiled thinking the pirate crews were shitting themselves. I bet a great many of them would be demanding a raise when the Sig departed. Coonts, Klutch and Xul were already geared up and wasted no time boarding the shuttle. Tria and I stripped off our uniforms and put on our suit liners. My dark mood changed for the better when I leaned down to stow my boots. Tria slapped me on the ass none too gently and stepped up into her armor before I could return the favor. The lighthearted stunt did manage to keep the beast at bay and put a sma
ll smile on my face. We joined the rest of the crew in the back of the shuttle. We took a jump seat and I gave everyone a thumbs-up. They nodded to me and we closed our helmets.
“Xul, we are ready when you are.”
38
I felt the shuttle’s gear thump up into the hull and Justice pushed us out the hanger door into the void. Justice put a view of the surrounding area up in our visors. He had the Legacy facing away from the target so the open hangar door would not be detected. Once it closed, there was no indication that the Legacy was even behind us. Xul nosed us over on a course that took us directly to the carrier. I finally got a glimpse of the target as we closed with it. Xul pulled up sharply and made sure the hold was pointed away from the carrier. The ramp opened and we jumped as a group. I looked back at the shuttle, and when the hatch closed, it seemed to disappear. Turning back to the target, Justice put an outline of my cloaked crewmembers in my HUD. We took up our customary positions with Klutch in the lead. As we got closer to the target, Klutch started slowing down. He sent me a clipped message on my Backscatter transmitter. I guess he thought our regular comms might be detected.
“I have movement in the hangar and guards next to the entrances.”
I sent back a quick reply. “We will follow your lead, Troop Master.”
We dropped below the rim of the carrier deck and Klutch had us hold there until he could assess the situation. After what seemed like an excessive amount of time that in reality was only a couple of minutes, Klutch returned and we huddled.
“There is a single sentry by each entrance and two standing next to the Zaens’ ship. There are lights inside the assault shuttle sitting on the flight line. I am not sure if it is occupied or not. There are a number of engineering hatches open, so it may be undergoing maintenance.”