East of the Sun, West of the Moon

by John Ringo

  "Bit of a race, huh?" Megan said, then frowned. "Hang on..." she closed her eyes for a moment and then nodded her head. "Okay."

  "You talking to me?" Herzer asked. Megan just held up a hand for silence and nodded her head again. Finally she looked up.

  "That was T," she said, avoiding referring to the head of the intelligence service as her father in the hearing of others. "He has reports from three of New Destiny's reactors. Dura has shuttles eight and one at it. Only one can dump at a time, so one of the shuttles will be late. One of the shuttles in view took on three non-fighter Changed and four orcs. The second had all Durgar. The third had six Durgar and a Ropasan orc. Each of them also boarded three scorpions."

  "Going to be crowded in there," Herzer commented. "And they're going really light on techs."

  "The Durgar and the Ropasan orc were wearing the diving suits," Megan continued, looking off at nothing. "The non-fighters were in cloth suits, not like ours, different. More bulky. No sign of Reyes or a Dark One."

  "That just means Reyes is at one of the other reactors," Herzer said, grunting. "Why did Dura get two shuttles?"

  "Very low on fuel?" Evan suggested. "There's been some indication that New Destiny has been hot-running its reactors. You can tweak them up a bit. We don't because you don't get a lot more power and your fuel consumption goes way up. It also decreases the lifespan of some parts that are hard to replace even with kenning. Not a good idea in the long-term."

  "We probably should have done it anyway," Herzer said, nodding. "We could use the power and if we don't win there won't be a long term."

  "Whups," Joie said, suddenly. "Here we go." She switched the screen to a downward external view as the ladder started to retract and the hatches closed with a beeped warning. There was no sensation of movement but as soon as the hatches closed the ground began to fall away on the screen.

  "Are we really moving?" Courtney asked. "I don't feel it."

  "Inertial compensation," Evan said, leaning his chair back and reaching up for the VR headset. "We're going to be pulling up to twenty gravities on this run. It would be a rather unpleasant experience if there wasn't inertial compensation."

  Herzer leaned back and pulled his own headset down then paused.

  "Troops? We're going to be working on minimum sleep when we get to the ship. No more than four hours on VR and then set it to sleep mode."

  "I'm going right to sleep mode," Megan said, pulling down her headset. "I've had all the waiting I can take."

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  "Nicole, talk to me," Mike said, breaking into the engineer's VR session. "Tell me there's a way to secure this hatch." He'd been looking at his tactical problem and didn't see a good ending to the trip. He'd automatically clocked out when the sleep mode hit, but he'd gone right back to nibbling at the problem when they came out. With less than twenty minutes to docking, he didn't have much time to find a way out of the trap.

  "I've been looking at it," Nicole answered, unhappily. "And I don't see a way. The power controls are on a direct bypass. If you lift the bar, they disengage. Lift from either direction of course. There's no place to tie anything down to. I've got some glue, but even if I squirt it in the armature, it's not going to hold against a full-force tug. Not for long."

  "If that's the best we can do, that's the best we can do," Mike said. "Josten, Manuel, the second we dock, you two head for the EVA hatch." The latter was at the rear of the crew compartment, a small cubicle entered by a door at the rear of the corridor. "The rest of us are going to hold the damned door. It takes two people to cycle the EVA hatch but only one can get out at a time. Josten goes first, then Manuel. Feng Fu, you'll cycle Manuel through then Rashid will fall back and cycle you through. We'll keep doing that until I'm the last here."

  "Who cycles you through, sir?" Sergeant Budak asked.

  "If we back away from the hatch, you really think any of us will make it to the lock?" Mike asked, quietly.

  "No, sir," Arje Budak said, grimly. "Stupid question."

  "What about me?" Nicole asked.

  "The second we dock, hell, before, you head for engineering." The hatch for that was at the rear of the compartment, also, set high on the rear, portside, bulkhead. It was just barely negotiable by a full sized human in a suit. Nicole wasn't small, but she'd fit, suit and all. "Pull the injector, then EVA."

  "Okay," Nicole said, quietly. "I guess crying in this thing would be a bad idea."

  "No time for tears," Mike said, just as quietly. "Just pull the injector and get the hell out. We'll be fine. Hell, it's a small opening, we'll probably just hold 'em off until reinforcements get here."

  "Docking coming up," Josten said. "It looks like two and six are already docked."

  * * *

  "Tur-uck!"

  "Yes, Great One?" the orc leader said, tapping the side of his helmet. He hated these damned suits. Walking in them was bad enough, but you couldn't see shit. And the voice in his ear was a pain as well.

  "Shuttle five is held by the enemy. When you exit, head towards the rear of the ship. Gather the forces from your shuttle and shuttle six and kill everyone in the shuttle. Is that clear?"

  "Clear, master." Some of the Durgar had disputed his ascension to, effectively, second in command of the mission. That was their right. It had been his right, and pleasure, to kill the scrawny bastards. Durgar were supposed to be a bit faster and smarter than his type of Changed. He hadn't noticed that any of them were faster or smarter than he was. And they always wanted to talk before killing. It was a bad habit.

  "Oh, if there are any pretty girls, try to capture them," Reyes added with a silky tone. "After we have the ship, it will be a long, boring, wait. I could use some company."

  "Your Will, Great One," Tur-uck replied. He clumsily switched the frequency to the team net and shook his head angrily at the muttered conversation of the Durgar in the shuttle.

  "Quiet," he snapped, the system automatically stepping over the rest. "When we exit, we are to take another shuttle. Just follow me." He looked up at the scorpion over his head and caught it's eye, making a following sign. He wasn't sure if the dim beast understood, but he'd been told it would follow him anyway. "When we get to the shuttle, we're going to get it stuck in with the best. So be prepared. Fighting Blood Lords is no joke."

  * * *

  "Lock-on," Joie said as a slight thump transmitted itself through the shuttle. "We've got pressure on the far side."

  "Time to boogie," Herzer replied, unclamping himself from the seat and kneeling to lift the hatch. A quick check of the lock beyond showed no hostiles. "Layne, check the lower."

  The sergeant climbed into the lock and opened the outer hatch, sticking his head out the opening.

  "Nothing," he said, pulling back and shaking his head. "That's weird."

  "What?" Herzer asked, climbing down and tapping him to exit.

  "Here, it's down," Layne said, climbing to the side of the hatch and then dropping through. As he cleared the hatch, his feet headed down, leaving him dangling over the side. "And on this side, to starboard is down. I hate this shit. Down should be down."

  * * *

  "Get that door open!" Tur-uck ordered one of the armor clad Durgar.

  The Durgar climbed the short ladder on the wall and cycled the lock, then started to climb through.

  "Hey!" the Durgar shouted, excitedly. "It's up now!"

  "Just get going!" Tur-uck responded. He had twelve Durgar, a goblin pilot, a kobold tech and four scorpions gathered by the shuttle hatch. The goblin and kobold would be problematic for fighting. But according to what he'd been told, there should be only three or four fighters in the shuttle. If he couldn't take the shuttle with the Durgar and scorpions against four fighters, even Blood Lords, the Great One would be welcome to his head.

  The Durgar clambered through, awkwardly, then there was a clanging.

  "It's stuck!"

  "Pull it!" Tur-uck shouted. "It can't be stuck fast!"

  "It's
moving!" the Durgar shouted, followed by a screeching sound of metal. "Got i..." There was a clang and the Durgar tumbled out of the lock.

  The scorpions were gathered to either side of the hatch and as the Durgar tumbled past, Tur-uck pointed at them and waved at the lock.

  "Go, go, go," he shouted, slapping at the Durgar with his sword. "Follow the scorpions!"

  * * *

  "Get it closed!" Mike shouted, as Budak reached for the hatch. "Close it!" He'd beaned the first Durgar head through the hatch but he knew there were more coming.

  Budak reached into the opening for the hatch to pull it up and then screamed, thrashing on the floor. He rolled back and away from the hatch, his arm gone from just above the elbow joint, as a scorpion claw emerged from the opening.

  Mike slammed his mace into the claw but the damned thing bounced. Whatever the claws were made of, it was tough. The scorpion was having a hard time making it through the hatch, though, with he and Rashid hammering on it.

  Suddenly the thing backed down, slightly, still blocking the hatch but back far enough that it could get its tail in the opening. The tail waved back and forth for a moment then spit something at Rashid's helmet. Which began to smoke.

  "Shit," Rashid said, slapping at his arms where some of the material had landed. "That's acid or something!"

  "Herzer," Mike said, leaning into the opening and slamming his mace towards the waving tail. "The scorpions spit acid out of their tails."

  * * *

  "Better and better," Herzer muttered. They'd just gotten out of the shuttle when he saw a New Destiny group exiting about two hundred meters away. Most of them were Durgar with one smaller tech type and two scorpions. The Durgar regarded him for a moment as if to attack but when Team Buskirk started exiting their shuttle, even closer to the Durgar, the group turned away and headed for control. "Can you hold?"

  * * *

  "I don't know," Mike admitted. "Josten, you out, yet?"

  "We're having trouble with the override, Mike," Josten Ram said in a voice of deadly calm.

  "I can't get the sequence to key right," Manuel added, desperately. "I can't get a green light. Courtney, what's the key sequence for the EVA hatches? One-three-one-five-eight? I hit that already, it's not giving me green!"

  * * *

  Nicole looked over her shoulder at Mike as she pulled down the engine access hatch. Arje was lying by the hatch in a pool of blood and Rashid had backed up, tearing at his helmet which was still smoking. Mike was bent into the opening, banging at something with Feng Fu, the last uninjured Blood Lord, standing by with his mace held over his head in two hands.

  "Mike?" she asked. "Mike?"

  "Go, Nicole!" Mike yelled, not looking back. "Get the hell out of here, girl!"

  Nicole lifted herself up on the seatback and slid into the narrow opening, squirming around to turn upside down. It was a long, fifty meter, shimmy to the engineering deck. The access hatch was an afterthought in the design; generally the shuttles were supported on the ground if they needed anything. The narrow passageway had been shoe-horned in past the massive tanks that made up the bulk of the shuttle and was only about a meter high and wide.

  Nicole wished she could reach to shut off her communicator as she shinnied down the dark, confining, passage.

  "Crap, fucking acid! Smash your fucking head in you arthro bastard! Rashid, get your helmet off or something and..."

  "Lieutenant? Son of a... Bastards! Eat steel you fucking overgrown bug!"

  "I tried that code, too! What? Seven? Are you...shit. Green light! Green light! Josten, go, go!"

  "That's right, come to poppa you asshole. Bet that gave you a headache! Rashid, hammer that Durgar bastard for me for a second, I've gotta...shit, fucking acid! Aaaaah..."

  "My nut, bastard. Squirt acid at me, will you? Got your fucking acid right..."

  "Rashid, I need a second to toggle the... Rashid! No, noooo!"

  Nicole shut her eyes and kept sliding.

  * * *

  "I hate Blood Lords," Tur-uck said, looking around the shambles of the crew compartment. He'd lost all four scorpions and five Durgar dead or seriously injured taking the compartment from a bare four fighters. It was annoying. On the other hand, they had killed everyone present. There was the question of the open hatch and maybe someone had gotten to the outside.

  "Sardak," Tur-uck said, turning to one of the smarter Durgar. "Take four of your orcs. There is an EVA hatch a hundred meters aft, by the entrance to the control room. Exit and search for a human headed aft. Kill him if you find him then go to control. Do you understand?"

  "I understand and obey, Leader Tur-uck," the Durgar said. He climbed back out the hatch to, presumably, follow his orders.

  "You," Tur-uck said, pointing to one of the remaining Durgar. The lighter orc had a badly battered helmet; it probably wasn't airworthy anymore. "Get out of your armor. Climb up in there," Tur-uck said, pointing to the engine access hatch. "Go find the human that escaped that way. If you can't kill it, don't return."

  "Yes, Leader," the Durgar said, angrily. He began the difficult process of removing the space armor, though.

  "You two," Tur-uck said to the remaining Durgar. "Help him off with his armor then exit the shuttle and head for control. Do you know where it is?"

  "Yes, Leader," one of them said, ducking in submission.

  "Meet me there," Tur-uck said, sliding down the hatch ladder. "Great One Reyes, I have the honor to report..."

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  "One team down, Tragack," Reyes said, propping his feet on a control console and looking around. "And they didn't even bother fighting us for the control room. Silly of them."

  "Yes, Great One," the Dark One replied, soberly. The Changed elf was armed with a long sword and dressed in articulated space armor, much more maneuverable than the suits the orcs used.

  Reyes was wearing a similar suit but his was highly patterned in red, blue, orange and green. He'd taken his helmet off and wore only the headpiece for the quantum communicator.

  "Reefic," Reyes said, looking over at the primary goblin pilot. "When are you going to get started?"

  "Right away, Great One!" the goblin chorused cheerfully. "I fly it! Going home we are!"

  "That's right," Reyes said, chuckling as the ship began to vibrate. "Going home."

  * * *

  "Nicole?" Herzer asked, trotting down the corridor towards Maintenance.

  "I'm headed for the engine room," the girl answered, breathlessly. Her voice was right on the edge of a sob. "They're all gone."

  "I know," Herzer said. "You have to pull the injectors then get out the engineering EVA hatch."

  There was a pause and then the girl did sob.

  "Just one problem," she said, half hysterically. "There's an orc in the passage behind me!"

  "In that case, just get the hell out," Herzer said. "We'll come back and pull the damned injector."

  "Herzer?" Nicole said. "Shut the hell up and let me work."

  "You go, girl," Herzer said, pausing by the hatch to Shuttle Seven. "Van Krief?"

  "Richard's just about to the engine room," Van Krief said, popping open the outer lock and dropping through. "He's going to EVA and meet us at Lock Fourteen."

  "Okay," Herzer said as the rest of the team piled through the hatch. "Let's go. I'll leave you and your security detachment at Fourteen. Meet us in Maintenance."

  * * *

  Nicole finally reached the end of the long, dark, tunnel and undogged the hatch at the engineering end. There was a grab bar over the tunnel which she used to swing out and down to the floor.

  She quickly crossed to the fusion generator and pulled out a hydrospanner, popping the four hot points on the fusion generator's top and lifting the twenty kilo plate off. After that she had to remove the primary computer interface, the injection cover, and last the injector. She'd done the job when bone tired, underwater and upside down. Doing it with an orc closing in was nothing.

  As soon as she
pulled the forearm sized injector she walked carefully but steadily to the airlock and considered her options. Turning in place she could see the access hatch and so far, no orc.

  She considered the EVA door controls carefully. There was a code that had to be punched to activate the inner door, a security procedure. Back when, people would occasionally go buggy in space. Situational stress disorder. Making sure that only certain people could open hatches was important. Certain hatches, like the EVA hatch in the crew section, required two people to open them. Others, like this one, simply required a code.

  She carefully punched in the code and was rewarded with a green light.

  "Hello, human," she faintly heard from behind her. "It's time to die!"

  She stepped into the airlock, set the injector on the deck and grabbed a handhold. Firmly.

  Engineering occasionally had situations where it was necessary to move bulky materials through the hatch, such as fusion plants, that were too large to fit in the airlock. Ergo, it could be opened to vacuum. The fusion plant and the reactionless drive system were both vacuum rated, so there was no problem there. The orc, on the other hand, didn't have on a suit. She hadn't thought they could get one of those bulky suits into the access tunnel.

  "Yes, it is," she said, quietly, typing in the code to override the safety protocols and open the outer door.

  Whatever the orc was going to say was cut off in a squawk as air blasted out the airlock. There was more air, much more air, in the shuttle's crew spaces and most especially in the, now vented, personnel corridors. The air rushed down the access tunnel in hurricane force, spinning the orc across the room to slam on the far wall. It also blasted the injector out into the deeps of space and beyond New Destiny's ability to recover it.

  Despite the power of the wind, one look at the atmosphere readouts showed that there was hardly any oxygen in the room. IN fact, the room was at damned near vacuum pressure, low enough to have caused catastrophic decompression in her erstwhile foe. So Nicole, her boots firmly planted and locked and one hand in a death grip on the hand-hold, carefully hit the controls to close the outer doors, cutting off the rushing wind.