Welcome To The Wolfpack

by Toby Neighbors

  “Alright, lets go,” VA Duncan said. “Get ready people, there’s no telling what we’re going to find. We’re flying right into the teeth of the dragon, this should be fun.”

  Dean stood up and nodded to the Vice Admiral then left the bridge. An exploratory mission was exactly what his platoon was created for. He wanted to inform them and make sure everyone was ready. Twelve hours wasn’t very long to prepare for a mission with unknown parameters, but Dean couldn’t help but be excited. He was getting off the ship soon, and while he appreciated the Charlemagne and he knew he could be facing untold dangers in the Alrakis system, he simply couldn’t wait to get back into action.

  Chapter 35

  “What’s up, Captain?” Ghost asked in a raspy voice that hadn’t yet healed from his injuries on Rome Three.

  “Our pleasure cruise has been interrupted,” Dean began.

  His platoon was gathered in their Ready Room, which on the small ship doubled as a meeting space. Everyone was present except for Cat who was still in the med bay, and Chancy who was locked in his quarters.

  “Apparently we’ve lost contact with the Alrakis Ship Yards,” Dean explained.

  “They aren’t responding?” Chavez asked.

  “No, and the comms beacons have disappeared,” Dean went on.

  “Damn!” Pimrey said, drawing out the word. “Never heard of that before.”

  “What could be interfering with the communications beacons?” Harper asked.

  “That’s what we’re going to find out. We’ve already left the Aleut system. We’ll be in FTL for just over twelve hours. Harper, Tallgrass, you’ll both be running solo on this mission, make sure you have everything you need.”

  “Yes sir,” they both said in unison.

  “Carter, are you back to fighting shape?”

  “I am, Captain,” the big HA Specialist proclaimed.

  “Good, I need everyone suited up and ready for action before we arrive in the Alrakis system. It could be nothing, just a glitch in programing, but if we’re needed I want to be ready to go at a moment’s notice. That means weapons, ammo, battle armor, this isn’t a drill. No more non-lethal bullshit. We gear up and go in hot.”

  “Force Recon!” Chavez shouted.

  “First in the fight! Tip of the spear!” the platoon chanted in response.

  “Don’t forget to eat,” Dean said. “Staff Sergeant, get everything ready and then meet me in my quarters, if you please.”

  “Absolutely, Captain.”

  Dean left the ready room. He knew his armor was ready, his weapons cleaned, his ammunition restocked. His adrenaline was pumping and the last thing he wanted to do was to file another report, but he needed to record his orders to his platoon. When he got to his room he just couldn’t sit down. Instead he dropped to the deck and did push-ups until he collapsed. After resting for a minute he got up and jumped for the chin-up bar that was built into the wall of his sleeping room. He did as many pull-ups as he could, then he rested again. He repeated the cycle of push up and pull-ups three more times, then drank a protein shake that tasted like watery chocolate milk. He had worked up a decent sweat and purged the adrenaline from his system.

  Dictating a report wasn’t difficult work, but he had been trained to take his time and give a detailed explanation of his orders. He watched the words appear on the screen as he spoke, and once he had finished he read back through the report and then filed it with the ship’s communications system where it would stay until they left FTL and it could be sent back to EsDef headquarters via the communication beacon network.

  The chime on his door sounded and Dean called to Chavez who came in and settled his massive body into one of the uncomfortable chair across from Dean’s desk. He was still moving slowly, taking care not to hurt himself. Dean knew his ribs were still healing. In fact, Dean’s stitches had yet to be removed. They were far from one hundred percent platoon strength, but Force Recon wasn’t the type of job that offered sick leave.

  “You wanted to see me?” Chavez said.

  “I can do this one without you,” Dean said simply.

  “What? Why? I’m fit and ready, Captain.”

  “No you’re not,” Dean said. “Come on, Chavez. You can’t pretend you’re combat ready.”

  “I can do my job with a few busted ribs,” he declared. “I’ve done it plenty of times before.”

  “Don’t get so worked up,” Dean said. “It’s probably nothing more than a communications error. I didn’t tell the platoon, but the Roosevelt was also tasked to check this out. They’re probably there already, sweeping up whatever issues are keeping the comms system down. Help the platoon get ready, but sit this one out.”

  “No sir, with all due respect, I won’t. You once told me I could do anything I wanted. After our last tour, I realized that this is what I want to do. I’ve got another decade of service as an NCO, if I’m lucky. Don’t take it away from me, Captain.”

  “Look, when it’s just you and me, call me Dean. Rank isn’t everything and I certainly don’t know it all.”

  “It’s one of the things I respect about you, Dean,” he said, the name sounding strange in his mouth. He chuckled when he said it, his hand going to his ribs instinctively.

  “See,” Dean pointed out. “You’re not ready.”

  “It’s just a habit I’ve picked up,” Chavez said. “You know I can do this.”

  “Alright, I’ll allow it but I expect every order to be obeyed. Ghost and Carter aren’t one hundred percent and if we have to go into the the station at Alrakis, the three of you will be held in reserve.”

  “I don’t like it, but I understand it,” Chavez said.

  “Good, now let’s find out everything we can about the Ship Yards.”

  They spent the next two hours studying the layout of the space station that housed the workers in the Alrakis system. It was a large facility, built in a similar fashion to the Charlemagne. It had a long central hub, and six spinning wheels. On one end of the central shaft was a large zero-gravity hanger, the other was a coupling device that would connect to the newly constructed space station pods to allow the workers to access and test each one.

  The two wheels on each end of the row of six were personnel housing and storage. There was enough material to rebuild the space station twice, and ninety-six crew stationed at the ship yard. One wheel in the center of the row was the control space for the various workers. Most of the building at the ship yard was done using drones, but there was also a command center for the space station itself, and office space for the designers and engineers who problem solved any issues that presented themselves once the new space station pods were constructed and tested.

  The final wheel was dinning and recreation space. There were corridors connecting the wheels, so that the crew could move through the entire station without going to the long central shaft which had no simulated gravity.

  Dean and Chavez spent another hour studying the E.S.D.F. Roosevelt. It was a large double helix ship, much like the Valkyrie where Dean had served his first tour. Both the Roosevlet and the Charlemagne were dwarfed by the Alrakis ship yard, but Dean felt confident they could help if his platoon was called on.

  When Chavez left, Dean tried to take a nap. He managed to doze a little while, but he was too keyed up to really sleep. He checked his wrist link and saw that there was still six hours before the Charlemagne dropped out of FTL in the Alrakis system. He went to the wardroom and had a sandwich. Then he checked his armor and weapons again. He forced himself to go and sit with Cat for nearly an hour. He didn’t mind visiting with the recovering Fast Attack Specialist, but his nerves were on edge and waiting to find out if they might see action was like a special kind of torture.

  Finally, with only an hour left before they arrived, Dean forced himself to eat again. The protein cake was spongy and flavored to taste like roast beef. He forced himself to eat a bowl of noodles as well, hoping the carbohydrates would give him energy. Then he went to the ready room a
nd suited up. His TCU came online, syncing with the Charlemagne’s systems. Dean brought up the timer that was counting down their travel time. Less than twenty minutes remained before they dropped out of light speed.

  “Platoon is suited up and ready,” Chavez announced.

  Dean looked around at this platoon and smiled. Everyone’s battle armor was connected through their local wireless network to his TCU. He could see their vital signs, view the vid feed from their own battle helmets, and issue orders en mass, or to individuals.

  “Excellent. Let’s keep weapons slung, platoon. I will update you on our progress from the Bridge.”

  “Yes sir,” they all said in unison.

  Dean left the wardroom and made his way to the Bridge. His armor wasn’t bulky or restrictive, yet compared to the black, pajama like utility fatigues he normally wore on the ship, he felt out of place. His boots thumped on the metal gangways, and his TCU was constantly running new information across his face shield.

  The door to the Bridge swished open and Dean saw that once again every console was manned. Dean crossed over to his customary station, which was really just an observation desk. He was getting all the same information on his TCU, so he spent the last few minutes of their voyage watching the other officers. They were tense. Going into dangerous systems was what they were trained for, but the Charlemagne’s crew had grown accustomed to mundane assignments like transporting the delegation from Aleut Seven back to Earth. Even the fighting on Rome Three had been distant, the presence of a fleet of EsDef ships gave them a sense of security. But none of them knew what they would find when they dropped out of light speed in the Alrakis system.

  “Captain, is your platoon ready?” Vice Admiral Duncan asked Dean.

  “Yes, sir, we’re suited up and ready for deployment.”

  “Outstanding. Lieutenant Owens, how are we looking on drone deployment?”

  “Everything is ready, Admiral,” Owens said. “We have surveillance drones on standby, and the transport shuttle is charged and ready if we need to get the Recon platoon into action.”

  “Alright, we’re three minutes to transition. All stations report.”

  “Communications standing by.”

  “Engineering shows all systems green, Captain.”

  “Life Support is standing by.”

  “Navigation is standing by.”

  “All personnel are in their designated areas, Captain,” Lieutenant Crendel said. “We are ready to transition to regular space.”

  “Alright people, we’re here to help. Let’s be sure that’s what we do.”

  The transition into normal speed was seamless and once again Dean brought up the feed from the external cameras, only this time he viewed everything on his TCU. Dean guessed that everyone on the Bridge was doing the same, because there was a collective intake of breath as soon as they dropped out of light speed. The question of whether his platoon would being into action was answered decisively by what Dean saw. It was the most incredible, and frighting thing he’d ever witnessed, and he knew in an instant that no one on the Charlemagne would ever be the same again.

  Chapter 36

  “What in the hell is that?” Vice Admiral Duncan said.

  No one answered. They were all staring at the monstrosity that looked as though it were eating the space station. The space ship, if that was actually what Dean was seeing, was a massive vessel that looked like the beak of a giant avian predator. The beak was clamped down onto the space station, the coupling end and two of the wheel sections were held fast by the alien ship.

  “Enhance view, zoom in,” Duncan ordered, his hands flying across the controls on his command chair. Dean watched in awe as the picture on his TCU zoomed in. The high definition vid feed was crystal clear in the light from the Binary Stars that made up a point in the Draco constellation as seen from Earth. The alien ship was completely different from any earth vessels, or even the ships of the other known alien races. It wasn’t sleek or even designed, but rather cobbled together.

  “Admiral Duncan, is that what I think it is?” Lieutenant Crendel asked, pointing to section of the screen.

  “Highlight,” Duncan said. “Enhance.”

  The picture lost quality as the image zoomed in even further. What Dean saw made his stomach twist into a knot. The vid feed showed a double helix ship being attached to the giant, alien vessel. There was movement around the sleek looking EsDef ship, but the most telling detail to Dean was that she wasn’t rotating.

  “That’s the Roosevelt,” Duncan said. “What the hell are they doing to her?”

  “Sir! We have incoming vessels,” the officer at the radar announced.

  “Red alert!” Duncan said. “Everyone prepare for attack. This is not a drill. We have incoming vessels. Get me eyes on those ships!”

  Dean activated his comlink.

  “Platoon, prepare for combat. Form up outside the Bridge, defensive posture. And make damn sure you’ve got plenty of ammunition.”

  “Sir,” the navigation officer said. “I have a plot set for earth. We can transition out of the system.”

  “Not to earth,” the engineer said. “We didn’t take on supplies at the Aluet system. We don’t have the power to stay in FTL that long.”

  “Navigation, plot us course back to Aleut,” Duncan said.

  “Sir,” Dean spoke up. “We can’t just leave the Alrakis Ship Yards under attack without doing something.”

  “The best thing we can do is return to the Sol system with this information,” Lieutenant Crendel said. “We’re not a battleship. We couldn’t do anything to stop that alien vessel.”

  “Perhaps but you don’t know that for sure,” Dean argued. “Send my platoon, Admiral. That’s what you have us for. Let us at least try to save the people on board the space station.”

  “I’m not staying Captain,” VA Duncan said. “If you take your platoon to the space station, you’ll be on your own until EsDef sends more ships.”

  Dean felt a sinking feeling in his gut. The last thing he wanted was to be left behind with a giant, alien ship that was destroying the space station. Yet he couldn’t leave the system without trying to help.

  “I won’t force my platoon to join me,” he said. “But if you can get me to the space station I’ll go.” Dean said.

  “Engineering. How much time until you’re ready to transition to FTL?”

  “An hour, Admiral. Everything is pretty hot. We’ve made two jumps in a row. I don’t want to take any chances before we transition again.”

  “I understand,” VA Duncan said. “An hour isn’t enough time to get you to the Ship Yards I’m afraid, Captain.”

  “No, but I can go with them,” Owens spoke up. “The shuttle we got from the Alaska in the Rome system has onboard controls.”

  “If you go, take all the provisions you cram into the shuttle,” VA Duncan said. “And be careful.”

  “Yes, sir,” Dean agreed, standing and saluting.

  “We’ll get help here as quickly as possible.”

  “Thank you Admiral. It’s been a pleasure serving with you.”

  “And with you, Captain Blaze.”

  Dean left the Bridge with Owens in tow. The Recon platoon was formed up blocking the corridor in both directions just outside the entrance to the Bridge.

  “What’s going on Captain?” Chavez asked.

  Dean sent the platoon images of the alien ship.

  “Holy God,” Adkins said.

  “What is that thing?” Pimrey asked.

  “Is it eating the space station?” Tallgrass added.

  “We don’t know,” Dean replied. “What you can’t see from these images is that the E.S.D.F. Roosevelt has been capture and is being assimilated by the larger vessel.”

  “Oh, shit,” Chavez said. “That’s why the comms beacons aren’t returning?”

  “Looks that way, Staff Sergeant. Whatever race that is out there, they’re stealing every bit of tech they can get their hands on.”
r />   “If they have hands,” Adkins said.

  “Is it the Kroll?” D’Vris asked.

  “It’s no one we’ve come across before. And, to make matters worse, there are vessels inbound. Vice Admiral Duncan is preparing to leave the system.”

  “Without even trying to help?” Chavez said.

  “His first priority is ensure EsDef Brass sees the images I’ve shown you. Someone has to know what is happening here.”

  “Are there survivors on the space station?” Tallgrass asked.

  “We don’t know,” Dean admitted. “But I’m going to find out. Lieutenant Owens will be piloting the shuttle. The Charlemagne will exit the system before we can travel to the space station. For that reason, this is a volunteer mission.”

  “I’m in,” Chavez said without a second’s hesitation.

  “Me too,” Adkins said.

  “I will come,” Tallgrass said.

  “Mon Dieu!” D’Vris said. “You are all crazy, but I am crazy too, no? I will come.”

  “We’re in,” Carter said for himself and the other two HA Privates.

  “It’s a damn fine day to die, Captain. Count me in,” Ghost rasped.

  That left Harper, who looked uncertain. Dean didn’t want to rush her, but he needed to get weapons, ammunition, and food into the shuttle before the Charlemagne left the system.

  “Sergeant Harper,” he said. “No one would blame you for staying with the ship.”

  “No!” she said adamantly. “I’m coming. Of course I’m coming.”

  “Good,” Dean said. “We need to move as much ordinance to the shuttle as possible. Ghost, Chavez, Harper, and Tallgrass, get as much food as you can carry. We have no idea how long it will take for someone to come to our aid. Make sure your armor is fully hydrated. The smallest detail could be the difference between life and death.”

  “How much time we got, Captain?” Chavez asked.

  “Half an hour. Make every minute count.”

  “You heard the man. Move like your asses depend on it, ‘cuz they do!” Chavez shouted at the platoon.