Embrace the Passion: Pets in Space 3

by Smith, S. E.

  “We got passengers trying to board, Zulu1,” she heard Mike1’s voice. “Taking heavy fire.”

  “Rita, fire up the GS Alpha engines and prepare for lift off,” she ordered.

  She started toward the rear of the shuttles, checking her HUD. Alpha1 was in the furthest structure. What…

  Humanoids. Children.

  City bit back some curses she’d learned from her Sergeant. “Delta1 and 2, we could use some extra cover fire.”

  She moved forward, concentrating on an area delivering heavy fire down the passage between the prisons and the shuttles.

  On her HUD she saw Alpha4 and several birds running toward her, then bodies low to the ground. Tiger was with them, she realized with a shock.

  Some fire diverted toward him. She stepped out and caught their attention.

  The birds and the caticorn ran up the ramp.

  “Zulu2, get that shuttle in the air. Give us some cover fire.”

  “Roger that,” Kraye said. He fired on a position, then ran up the ramp. It closed on his heels.

  Bless you, Rita, City thought, as it began to lift off. She didn’t know what made her look up past the rising shuttle. It took her a minute to realize what the dropping bundles were.

  “Spiders. We’ve got spiders overhead.”

  * * *

  Kraye dropped behind the controls as he heard Caro’s warning. Rita handed over to him. He took it up to ridge height of the structures and started it moving in a slow circle, firing forward and rear guns at the dropping strands and spiders on them.

  One dropped on his forward screen, lifted a leg and stabbed it at the screen. A small star of damage grew larger when it struck again.

  It took fire from the ground and dropped away, its legs curling in.

  Suddenly the Lady was on the bridge with him.

  “Can you open the hatch enough for me to get out?” she asked.

  He hesitated, then nodded. “Don’t let anything in.”

  “I won’t.”

  Over the cries in his headgear, he had not picked up on the soft hum, but through the hatch he heard it now. Whatever it was, it seemed to be keeping the younger Harparians quiet.

  The hatch slid closed, he lowered the rear hatch as much as he dared. He heard the Lady say, “I’m clear.”

  He closed it and saw a much larger spider making a run at Caro’s position.

  * * *

  City saw the dark shadow rushing her and fired. And fired again. It slowed, but still came at her. She was aware of figures running or being herded to Golf Sierra Zulu by Bull.

  “All Mikes and Deltas, start retreating to GS Zulu and cover Alpha1.”

  Her back slammed into the side of the shuttle.

  “Rita, fire it up!”

  She raised her weapon as spiders continued to drop around them.

  A figure ahead of her fired clumsily at a spider and it pounced. The figure screamed. A female.

  Delta2.

  City turned and fired, knocking the spider off her. Delta1 ran to her and helped her. City tried to cover their retreat to the shuttle, but a spider dropped onto Delta1, trying to pierce the battle armor with fangs and pinchers.

  City fired.

  “Your six, Zulu1!” a Mike warned her.

  She whirled and fired. “Fall back to the shuttle!”

  On the HUD Alpha1 had herded all his humans aboard and now he stood at the base of the shuttle doing his robot thing.

  City didn’t know how to describe it. The Mikes contracted their perimeter as the spiders, perhaps realizing Bull was their greatest threat began to target him.

  It gave them a chance to get on board. She counted her Mikes. She was short one. Using the HUD and her eyes, she found him under attack from two spiders. He was on his back, trying to keep vicious pinchers from stabbing into his face plate.

  She fired, running toward him. Bull must have helped out because the other spider tumbled off him. She grabbed his arm, helping him up. He slung an arm around her shoulder as they staggered toward the ramp.

  “Go,” she pushed him toward another Mike and then turned back. Checking her HUD for anyone she might have missed.

  The smell of singed bug got through her face mask. Cries and shouts, incoming fire added to the chaos.

  “Take out the lights,” Alpha1 ordered.

  Above her, Kraye turned the hovering shuttle and targeted the encampment lights.

  At the base of the shuttle, Bull held off a circle of snarling spiders.

  “Lift off,” he ordered.

  “But…”

  “Leave the ramp down.”

  “Right.” She loosed off some shots and then turned and ran toward the bridge. “Lift off, Rita, but leave the ramp down.”

  The Mikes clustered by the open ramp, firing on anything trying to board from above.

  As City ran, she was aware of huddled figures holding crying children. As the shuttle rose, there was a thud as Bull landed on the hatch ramp.

  City hit the close button. A last spider tried to crawl in, the screams of their passengers louder than the fire that decimated the creature.

  The hatch finally closed. City sank down in her seat, possibly ready to breathe a sigh of relief.

  We have bogeys approaching our position.

  * * *

  Kraye turned the shuttle to face the incoming ships as Golf Sierra Zulu rose to take a position next to his.

  “Cloak and shield,” City’s voice came calmly over the radio. “Prepare for incoming fire.”

  “Do we return fire?” he asked.

  “Negative.” This voice was OxeroidR’s. “They will wish us to fire to reveal our position and course.”

  “What is our course?” he asked.

  “Transmitting,” City said. “This time we’re going to put some distance between us.”

  He did not like this, but he adjusted his heading. “I will cover our six.” He had a thought. “Did Alpha4 board your shuttle?”

  There was a long pause.

  “No.” City’s voice was flat. Then Kraye heard, “Alpha4, come in.” There was no answer. “Can we find her with the scanners?”

  “If she lives, she will make her way to the Emissary,” OxeroidR said. “We must focus on getting her young there.”

  He had a point. They had enough trouble following them—warning signs posted. More ships had risen from the forest—ships positioned between them and the mountains.

  “Looks like they have figured out where we’ve hidden the Emissary,” Caro said. This time she sounded resigned.

  “Can we use the phase cloak to pass through this line?” Kraye asked.

  “We can,” OxeroidR said, “but we might not have enough power to get through the mountain.”

  “So we fight our way through or take the long way back?” Caro said. “Any preference?”

  “We take the long way,” OxeroidR said.

  He’d barely said the words when Rita delivered more bad news.

  Multiple ships are arriving in Teuhhopse space.

  * * *

  “They are acting like they can see us,” City said, glancing at Bull. He’d not taken over the flying yet, which surprised her. He could fly both ships, plot their course and come up with a plan for getting out of this system. Cause he’s a robot, r-o-b—stop it, Caro, she told herself sternly.

  “The trees,” Bull said suddenly. “If there are more spiders in the trees, their webs could sense movement, perhaps track us.”

  “So they probably tracked us from the point where we overflew the trees coming in.” But they’d thought they could trap them on the ground in the encampment. She contacted Kraye and let him know they’d need to adjust course again and why. All the time, her brain was playing what if?

  Rita could bring the Emissary to them, but then the Harparian wouldn’t know where to find them.

  Another, smaller line of ships popped up on tracking.

  “They’re building a box,” City said.

  * * *
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  “And there is the last side of the box,” Kraye said. They had open comms now. Both shuttles were flying a parallel course, with Golf Sierra Zulu at a higher altitude than this ship. He had full shields and cloak engaged. Rita kept a wary eye on power usage for both shuttles. Once they were back on the Emissary their powers sources could be recharged, but they’d used considerable power both in their approach and during the battle.

  “What are they up to?” Caro murmured the question as if asking it of herself. “Oh, crap.”

  It seemed to Kraye that he felt her stiffen over the comm.

  “They must have those two doomsday weapons with the crazy names, too.” One of them negatively interacted with shields, turning them into deadly weapons right next to the hull. The other was a super charged heat seeker. Both were illegal, but apparently readily available to bad guys.

  “A Trozzerd Emitter 3DXZ and a Beugrimt Seeker 55THT.” OxeroidR’s voice did not change as he added, “That is unfortunate.”

  “Does it work against a phase cloak?” Caro asked.

  “I doubt anyone can answer that question until—” OxeroidR stopped.

  “Until we survive or die?” Caro put in.

  “Yes.”

  * * *

  “Did I actually volunteer for this mission?” City muttered. “Is there any way to determine which ship has those things on board?”

  “When they begin charging it, the sensors on the Najer can detect a Trozzerd Emitter 3DXZ. I am not sure this ship was programmed to detect a weapon that wasn’t available when it was built.”

  “I don’t like disclaimers,” City said.

  “Excuse me?”

  “Never mind. So what are we looking for when it powers up?” No way was she going to try to say either name. It would be like being in a campy sci-fi movie.

  “Heat.”

  Bull almost sounded thoughtful. “Rita…”

  I am on it.

  Was Rita starting to pick up City’s slang?

  “Could we fire on it before it fired on us?”

  “Once we fire, the other ships will know our general location. They can saturate the region with fire,” Bull pointed out.

  He was just full of good news today.

  “Maybe we can narrow the choices,” City suggested. “These ships aren’t all created equal. They seem cobbled together if these scans are close to accurate.”

  My scans are never close to accurate. I cross my T’s and dot my I’s.

  “Sorry, I just meant, these are unfamiliar ships to all of us.”

  “Not to me,” Bull pointed out.

  City glanced at him. He looked off balance without Rocky perched on his shoulder.

  Both he and Rita went silent, which she took to mean they were communicating at a processor level. Since Rita was busy, City started a power usage assessment without her.

  Basically, they could do one more, limited phase cloaking. Fifteen minutes tops. Longer than that and they wouldn’t have enough power to make it back to the Emissary. She asked if it had accounted for wind speed they were likely to encounter. The number went down to ten minutes.

  Something started to flash on her console.

  “What’s that?” she asked.

  They are broadcasting a surrender or die message.

  * * *

  “Could the ship broadcasting be the lead ship?” Kraye asked.

  “I am tracking the signal back to the source,” OxeroidR said. After a pause that had more to do with distance than the robot’s processors, he said, “There are indications of a heat buildup inside the broadcasting ship.”

  “It’s right in our way,” Caro complained. “I’ve got ten minutes of phase cloak. Can we make a run at it and pass through it before it can fire that thing?”

  “We cannot go full throttle. The power usage—” OxeroidR paused.

  “Would be detrimental to our ability to reach the Emissary.” Caro’s sigh was audible over the comm.

  “We should accelerate to three fourths full power,” the robot said. “There is a risk. If they fire before we reach them, it will lessen the time until the weapon impacts with our shields, but it is our best option.”

  “Might as well go down in a blaze of glory. I’m not excited about getting captured by the spiders,” Caro said.

  “I have started a countdown to optimum phase cloak deployment on both control consoles,” OxeroidR said.

  “They are sending a video broadcast,” Kraye said, as he accelerated the shuttle to the recommended speed. The other shuttle accelerated, too.

  “Can we see it without them getting a bead on us?” Caro asked.

  Suddenly his front screen was filled with a loathsome sight. Eight eyes, a row of four above a row of four, peered out of a bristle of brown and black fur. Its front legs curved forward with shiny pinchers on the ends. Fangs marked where he assumed a mouth to be. Fangs that dripped with something red. Another leg appeared, holding…Kraye inhaled sharply and heard Caro do so as well.

  It was a human leg.

  “Let’s fire on that ship,” Caro said, her voice both shaken and grim.

  “We should fire simultaneously,” OxeroidR began.

  Wait. Look.

  On the tracking screen, something sleek and fast shot out of the cover of the trees, curving in an arc that took it close to the bottom hull of the spider ship. Starlight gleamed on something as it raked along that hull. It turned sharply and made another run.

  On the video, the spider’s mouth opened in a scream of rage. The ships with it tried to fire on it—on her. It was the Harparian. She moved in a complicated series of moves that led the fire back on the ships. One of the ships closest to the spider ship exploded, ripping a hole in its side. It exploded, taking out the ship next to it and down the line.

  “Sympathetic detonation,” Caro said, admiringly. “Gotta love it.”

  8

  Both shuttles rendezvoused with the Emissary at the same time as the Lady. Caro climbed stiffly out of her chair and rubbed her face. She vaguely remembered what tired felt like. She missed it. Didn’t know how good she’d had it before she slid into total exhaustion zone. She didn’t have the energy for a deep breath, so she took a regular one—it almost wiped her out—and opened the hatch.

  At first look, she thought everyone in the passenger section was dead. Then she realized they were asleep—or they had been. Her guys stirred first. They’d removed their headgear and looked as weary as she felt, though they started to come to attention. She waved that nonsense off. A couple of first aid boxes were open, the contents tumbled about the deck. St. Danniels was slumped in her seat, held there by the restraint straps.

  Their other passengers were huddled into three small groups of adults strapped in with children because there weren’t enough seats. The children appeared to be asleep as well, or in shock. The adults, well, they looked pretty shell-shocked. Faxton was seated near them, his eyes closed when she entered. One arm was in a sling, she noticed. His eyes opened, and he straightened. He looked like he wanted to ask her something, but couldn’t remember what.

  “We’re back on the Emissary,” she told him. She looked at her Mikes with apology. “Let’s get these people to the infirmary or into quarters and then take turns getting some rest.” Her gaze moved back to Faxton. “Have you been able to talk to them?” Were they real prisoners or kidnappers after all them was the question she wanted to ask?

  Before he could answer her, a woman at the end of a short row stirred, her hand smoothing the hair of the child she held. The child shifted in her hold and straightened, knuckling his eyes.

  His hands lowered, and she sucked in a shocked breath.

  He was a mini Kraye.

  * * *

  The Mikes relocated the humans before she gave the order to lower the hatch on the shuttle Kraye had flown. The Lady had been pretty patient and stayed out of sight of the humans until the flight hanger was quiet.

  City wasn’t sure what she expected. Actually,
she was trying not to expect anything. But still…

  The birds weren’t strapped in. Instead, they had used their talons to cling to the arms of the seats, their bodies in what she’d call the brood position. For some reason, this position made their eyes appear more hooded and ominous than upright. In the heart of this small flock was her caticorn. His horn pulsed with a light. She frowned and put a finger to her ear as if to clear it. Was that a hum?

  “Tiger?” she asked.

  “Actually, my name is Glurone, but I prefer Tiger.”

  She’d known that caticorn could talk. She cleared her throat of annoyance and asked, “So you’re a Harparian whisperer?”

  At her elbow, the Lady laughed.

  City turned to face her. “So now what?”

  The Lady hesitated.

  “There aren’t any of your kind left here, are there? You’re the last?”

  “Yes.” She looked away, her feathers ruffling in what could be a raptor sigh. “Could your Rita find that planet in the picture?”

  “The one in my ready room?” Man, that sounded so Picard. The Lady nodded. “Rita?”

  I can find anything.

  City arched her brows, then resolved not to waste energy on that until she’d had a nap.

  “We would like to go there.”

  “All right.” She was not going to argue with a bird that could take down a spider ship. All they had to do was get by the twenty or so ships that had arrived in system while they were dodging spiders. Easy.

  Kraye appeared in the hatch to the bridge. Oh right. She needed to tell him about—

  More ships have entered Teuhhopse space.

  She was not sorry that disclosure would have to wait.

  9

  City had had a drink of something that Bull claimed would help with the tired. It was not a shock it worked. And she did not ask what was in it. She, Bull, and Kraye were back on the bridge of the Emissary studying the bogeys arrayed against them. More ships kept arriving, allowing them to build a pretty decent net around the planet.