“She’s one heck of a ship isn’t she? not a patch on the Liberty though, you lucky old swine.”
Michael was about to tell him that luck had nothing to do with it, but decided to let the matter drop instead. “She sure is, and upgraded too I see.”
“Yeah, she got an almost complete refit after the fall of Sigma XI, where she was badly damaged by Krenaran attacks, we were lucky to get out of there in one piece. She didn’t re-enter the war for another six months after that.”
Michael remembered that incident well, the fall of foxtrot base, it was one of the opening battles of the war. The Krenarans had taken out the E.D.F’s primary intelligence hub, almost one hundred and forty two thousand people, died in an instant. It was one of the worst atrocities of the war. The massive complex had largely been rebuilt now, though there is now a giant black monolith built just outside of the new foxtrot base, as a memorial commemorating all those who had died.
“Shall we?” Michael said over the comm.
“After you, flight lead.”
The small squadron of four shuttles accelerated ahead of the comparatively giant ships of the E.D.F flotilla orbiting high above the planet, keeping in a close wedge formation the entire time.
“Okay keep close, but not too close, we still don’t know what we’ll find down there.”
“Right with ya.”
The shuttles all hit the atmosphere simultaneously, their hulls heating up rapidly until they trailed fire and super heated plasma, the small craft shuddered violently under the forces exerted upon them as they sped through the upper atmosphere like four bullets shot from a giant gun.
Michael fought hard to keep control of the small craft through the violence of atmospheric entry, and to maintain formation. Eventually the four craft punched through the upper atmosphere, and descended through the thick swirl of the methane cloud cover.
“Ready atmospheric flight systems, deploy wings and stabiliser fins.”
“Copy that, flight systems engaged.”
The shuttle’s large Delta shaped wings slid out from underneath the fuselage, its twin tails swung out from recesses within the crafts two powerful boosters. The small winglets, essential to help stabilise the small craft when in flight slid out from small panels either side of the shuttle’s cockpit, as the four craft gracefully emerged through the thick cloud cover towards the giant structure, dubbed the Eye of the Dracos.
“Ready landing gear, and descend to one hundred feet, then engage gravitic engines for touchdown.”
12. To bury a hero.
The commandoes on the surface gave out a great muted cheer, their breathing apparatus prevented the sound from travelling, as they saw the silhouettes of the four shuttles emerge through the cloud cover toward them, the four captured Dracos warriors simply groaned.
The shuttles came into land, their powerful gravitic engines kicking up a giant plume of dust, and blowing over small shrubs and plants in their force. They seemed to hover for an instant before finally touching down on the surface itself. Forward landing lights lit up the whole area as the scarlet light from the flare, fired earlier now faded. The landing legs themselves had sunk almost a full foot into the soft topsoil, as the weight of the craft bore down on the ground around it. A loud hiss of released gas from the shuttles landing legs equalised the pressure placed upon the landing gear itself.
The occupants all donned breathing gear, before emerging from the landed craft, now gently powering down with a gentle thrumming noise.
There was a small group of commandoes guarding the Dracos prisoners, one of which peeled off to approach Michael as he made his way toward them.
“I am so glad you guys are here for the extraction.”
“Any casualties?” Michael asked the rather young looking sergeant, his hand a noticeable mass of bandages, a deep crimson smear showing through, the poor guy was probably dosed up to the gills on morphine. “Nine sir, it was one helluva fight, those Dracos over there can really fight, sir.”
“I’m sure they can sergeant, are they prisoners?” He asked eyeing the bound and sitting Dracos warriors suspiciously.
“Yes sir. They surrendered during the battle.”
As they were speaking Nikolai emerged with a wounded Kathryn, she hobbled on her injured leg, now tightly wrapped in bandages also, towards her former captain, whom she hadn’t seen in almost four long years. Michael strolled over towards her, and they embraced each other closely, tears began to run down the inside of Kathryn’s breathing apparatus as she clung to him. She was finally free of the nightmare she had endured, she sobbed as she remembered all those who had died horribly down there, and the ordeal she had been put through, her body trembled with emotion.
“It’s all right Kathryn, you’re safe now.”
“Just get me out of here Michael, get me off this horrible world.” Then she seemed to stop in mid-sentence, “no, I have one last task to accomplish, I have to bury a true hero, one who fought and died to save me; I owe him that at least.”
“We can return as soon as the medics have taken a look at you,” Michael quickly realised she was badly traumatised by what she had witnessed down in the dark corridors of that place.
Michael turned his attention to Nikolai, “any survivors down there?”
“None comrade,” my men are bringing the bodies up now, he shook his head solemnly, “it’s like a slaughterhouse down there.”
Michael managed to carry the badly injured Kathryn into his shuttle, despite her objections, “Michael we can’t just leave them down there?”
“We are not going to Kathryn, we have to transfer the bodies to the ships in orbit, so they can have a proper burial.”
She noticeably calmed after hearing this, slumping exhausted into the co-pilot’s chair, and resting her leg gingerly. Michael studied her for a moment, she looked tired, drawn, he guessed after three days of going through what she had just gone through, anybody would be.
He wanted to ask her, if she would consider re-joining the Liberty crew, but decided against it. Right now Kathryn wasn’t exactly in the best state of mind, instead he would silently watch over her, but at the same time give her the space she needed to get over these recent events.
The remainder of the commandoes were to be transported on a separate shuttle, save two who would travel with the Dracos prisoners as an escort, while they were being transported to the Eisenhower’s brig until Michael could contact E.D.F command, who could advise on what to do with them.
That left the last remaining shuttle to transfer the bodies to the E.D.F ships waiting in orbit, of the sixteen scientists and guards that were stranded on that god forsaken planet. Only Kathryn had survived, not to mention another nine commandoes who died in the rescue attempt, twenty six lives lost, plus whatever casualties the Liberty had sustained; it had proven to be a dark day for the E.D.F.
The gravitic engines thrummed into life again, kicking up another great whirl of dust, just as Michael’s wrist comm. chirped, it was commander Ruiz. “Once we’ve got all this straightened out, I’ll see you back at the ship.”
“Yeah, no problem, it will be a little while before the Liberty is space worthy again, the old girl has taken quite a beating.”
“Fantastic, I’ll see you soon. I look forward to catching up on old times.”
“Me too commander,” Michael said before ending the transmission with a press of a red stop key on his wrist communicator.
The shuttle gently lifted off as Michael increased thrust to the boosters, with a loud roar the craft raced skywards.
Nikolai and the surviving commandoes all filed into the second craft, piloted by Maddox. Who decided that he would hang back slightly from the prisoner shuttle, keeping his forward mounted gatling laser trained upon it. If those prisoners did attempt to gain control of the craft, he would blast the thing out of the sky.
Fortunately, the return trip wasn’t as eventful as Ben thought it might be, they returned to the awaiting Eisenhower and Arizo
na without incident.
The Dracos prisoners were quickly escorted under armed guard to the Eisenhower’s brig, they were strangely quiet and subdued, not making a single move or effort to break free.
Kathryn benefited from the Eisenhower’s larger, moderately more advanced, and well stocked med-lab, a female officer perused the injured leg. The razor sharp wire from the Dracos silencer had sawn its way through her flesh, sliced her calf muscle virtually in half, severed her achilles tendon, and even scored a deep gouge into the bone itself.
The young medical officer stepped quietly out of the med-bay and made her way towards a waiting Michael, who was watching over her from an on-looking waiting room.
“She’ll need surgery, the damage is extensive. If we don’t operate she may never be able to walk on that foot again.”
“Do what you must,” Michael replied gravely, he cared about her a great deal, remembering the time when he rescued her from Delta base during the Krenaran war, just a young nineteen year old ensign, barely out of medical school and out of her mind with fear. He watched as she had to endure the personal torture of operating on wounded and sometimes dead friends during the war, a part of him felt responsible in that too.
The medical officer nodded gently, and as quietly as she left, re-entered the sterile room, a team of six other surgeons gradually surrounded Kathryn, he watched as they administered an anaesthetic, and the still relatively young medical officer slowly fell into unconsciousness.
Michael felt himself wince as a tiny laser cutter made the first incision, the fold of skin around her blood soaked wound, peeled back in two halves, just like the skin of an over-ripened fruit, exposing the delicate damaged muscle tissue underneath. A suction pipe was used to clear away the excess blood, precious minutes ticked by as Michael watched the operation being performed, occasionally he would look away, the pain almost too much to bear.
He remembered Kathryn having to perform harder, more complex operations than this throughout the war. Often on her friends and people she really cared about under intense pressure. For the first time he truly experienced what she must have felt, no wonder she quit the medical profession in the end, Michael doubted that he would be able to stomach it for long either.
A small injection of protonase was injected directly into the back of her shin bone to promote bone growth and slowly re-grow the damaged parts of bone. One of the surgeons held a small sonic oscillator over the muscle tissue. It gave off a gentle thrumming noise as the tiny waves of sound worked to relax the damaged muscle tissue. Minute microscopic implants were carefully inserted around this severed tissue, working to repair the damage, as well as emit tiny, controlled bursts of electricity into the surrounding muscle fibres. It would feel very much like the sensation of pins and needles. These would cause muscle spasms, the constant contracting and relaxing of the calf muscle would help to speed up its re-growth. It was a technique only recently come into practice within the medical profession, called micro-static therapy.
Michael continued to watch the surgeons at work, both in awe and wincing as he imagined the pain Kathryn must be going through.
The severed achilles tendon was an altogether different prospect, if the surgeons could not repair the damage, Kathryn would never be able to walk with that foot again. This would require a previously experimental technique in medical science, known as servo-assistance. It involved placing a pair of tiny servos, no bigger than a pinhead, and attaching them to the tendon via degradable sutures. The servo would assist the severed tendon to move the foot, though the servo would pull ever so slightly harder on the tendon each time, in order to aid in its natural re-growth.
Michael watched as the surgeons performed the most delicate and complex of all the operations, one that had never even been attempted before. The concentration and dedication lining each and every one of their faces was plain to see. In a way, he wished he was in there with them, yet he was a ship captain, medical techniques were not his forté. He could fly a ship halfway around the galaxy, yet this tiny operation was beyond him, he felt the whole experience humbling.
Nikolai eventually found his way inside the viewing booth to join him, “how is she doing comrade?”
“The operation is almost over, the techniques used, the way they work, it’s incredible to watch.”
“I know, one of ours; Razor, is having an augmented hand attached on the Arizona.”
“I’m sorry about the losses you took Nikolai, I know the men in your unit are close to you.”
“It goes with the territory, every single commando knows the risk when he enlists, they have no regrets.”
“So what will happen now?”
“Well,” Nikolai gave off a gentle sigh, “once we are all finished here, it will be off to Alpha-centauri for de-briefing.” The Russian gave off a deep growl of a yawn, “But, I’ll tell you something comrade. I never want to have to come up against those Dracos again. They give me the creeps, can come out of absolutely anywhere, and are so well trained, so fast and acrobatic. You could be patrolling happily one second, and you’ve just lost a squad member the next. As night fighters, I don’t think I’ve ever seen better.”
“Let’s just hope we don’t have to fight them again.”
The surgeons had finished their work on Kathryn’s leg, and wheeled her bed around to a small side ward for her to recuperate.
“Kathryn belongs with you comrade, with the Liberty, where you can keep watch over her, and take care of her when she falls down. She needs you, and you need her.”
Michael knew within himself that Nikolai was right, for five long years, ever since his wife and son had died, the caring side of him, the tender side, had died along with them. People had suffered because of that, people like Kathryn. “I know Nikolai, in the time she has been gone, I’ve come to realise that.” Michael looked out across the med-bay to the small side ward in which she was sleeping, “the question is; has she?”
“Give her time, she’s been through a heck of an ordeal.”
“I intend to.”
The group of six surgeons all entered the booth and faced the two men. One of them, a middle aged man, still wearing his surgical scrubs said. “The operation has been a success, she will have to be very careful over the next few weeks; if she aggravates the wound even a little, she could tear out the sutures securing the servo’s to her tendon, and would need a further operation to re-attach them.”
“When can we expect her to be back at full health doctor?” Michael asked.
“I would say with this type of injury, not for another six weeks. Then she would have to come for a check up before she returns to active duty.”
“Thanks.”
“She’s currently sleeping off the effects of the anaesthetic, and should be awake again in a couple of hours. She’ll be a little sore, and the twinges from the micro-static implants will take some getting used to; but she should make a full recovery.”
“Thanks for all you have done, doctor.”
“Just doing our job captain,” the surgeon replied, before he and his entourage of medics left the two men alone again.
“Now to find out just what to do with our captured Dracos friends,” Michael said with a smile as he turned to leave the booth.
“You have a plan, don’t you?”
“I always have a plan, Nikolai.”
“That’s what worries me.”
***
Michael made his way through the thirty four decks of the Eisenhower, to the tiny hatch that connected it to the Liberty which floated alongside.
After a few minutes of walking through his old ship again, he stepped out onto the battered command deck of the Liberty once more.
“Hello there stranger, just where the bloody hell ‘ave you been, I thought I would ‘ave to promote me’self as new cap’n while you were gone, so I was.” Kinraid said with a mocking wink.
“You know where I’ve been Quinn,” Michael smiled at his first officer. “If you need me,
I’ll be in my quarters, I have some important business I must attend to.”
“Understood, sir. Logameier’s been making temporary repairs, he tinks we should be able to make the jump into plasma drive soon, without fallin’ to bits.”
“Good work, we may need to.”
He stepped through the doors and into his quarters, it was a mess from various objects fallen from tables and shelves during the battle, now lying broken on the floor. Luckily the food synthesiser was still intact, with a sigh, he keyed in the control for a latté, double sugar. Taking the cup, he slumped down at his desk. The deep beige colour of Auriga III was plainly visible through his window, a bereft backwater planet, god it even looked ugly from space, he thought. He hoped he would not have to set eyes on this fateful planet again.
He needed to contact Admiral Montrose at alpha base and inform him of what had happened here, that the E.D.F had encountered a new hostile alien force in the Dracos, though first he had other ideas.
Punching in a few controls on his personal terminal, he attempted to contact Solaria, eventually getting through to an official acting for the Solarian government.
“I’d like to speak to ambassador Kerulithar please, it’s a matter of some urgency.”
“I’m afraid no ambassador by that name exists.” The softly spoken echoic voiced Solarian replied.
Michael’s brow furrowed in thought, that’s odd. “He must do, five years ago he was instrumental in the Solarian involvement in the Krenaran war, I have personally worked with him.”
“You must mean governor Kerulithar of Celtris III, I’ll transfer you to his office.”
Huh, governor now, Michael thought. Raising an eyebrow in the process, the plucky ambassador has done well for himself over the years.”
Gradually the familiar blue tinged face of Kerulithar appeared on the screen, “Michael Alexander my old friend. This is a surprise, how are you doing, and how are Nikolai and the Liberty?”
“We are good actually, the Liberty has had a few more upgrades since last we spoke, you have done well for yourself, a governor now I hear.”
E.D.F Chronicles : Eye of the Dracos Page 18