by Sam Schall
“Captain, we’ve got movement by the front gate!” the pilot called out. The shuttle suddenly veered to one side, sending everyone careening into the bulkhead. “Permission–“
“Lieutenant, do whatever you need to protect this shuttle!” Ashlyn snapped before he could finish his sentence. The fingers of her right hand quickly entered the command sequence to link her to Major Pawlak on the second shuttle. “Sir, we’re taking fire. We’re going in hot. I repeat, we’re going in hot. Recommend you keep your people aloft until we’ve secured the area,” she reported.
“Ready to deploy, ma’am,” Talbot reported as Tank and Hound took their positions by the hatch. Their helmets were secured in place and weapons were at the ready. She nodded and, after making sure everyone was ready to follow, secured her helmet, checked her tell-tales and then hit the control panel with a gloved fist.
“Go!” she ordered as the hatch slid open.
Tank lifted his right hand in confirmation and stepped out. She watched as he and then Hound dropped the fifty meters to the ground. The last few meters saw their suit thrusters activating to soften their landing. Small arms fire erupted from one of the small buildings outside the prison walls. Ash identified it as one of the maintenance buildings. Projectiles bounced off Tank’s and Hound’s heavy armor like annoying gnats. Without hesitation, the two turned to the building and opened fire. Their heavy assault rifles tore through the walls of the building without trouble. A moment later, flash-bangs were tossed inside, insuring that any survivors were in no condition to continue fighting.
“All clear, Cap,” Hound reported.
“Move them out, Gunny,” Ashlyn ordered and took her place at the end of the line of Devil Dogs dropping to the planet’s surface.
Chapter Eleven
Dante Coreal, commandant of the penal colony, cursed loudly as the attack shuttle opened fire on the maintenance building. A moment later, he watched as armored soldiers dropped to the surface. His guards’ weapons were useless against their heavy armor. Without pausing, the soldiers opened fire. Then they tossed several flashbangs inside. As more soldiers dropped from the shuttle, the first two held point, their weapons at the ready. Yet through it all there was no demand for surrender, no contact whatsoever.
“Who are they?” he demanded helplessly.
“Does it matter?” Gavin Haritos countered, bracing himself with a hand on the wall as another explosion wracked the area. “We’re dead no matter what.”
Coreal knew the guard captain was right. Even if the invaders should somehow decide to break off the attack, the prisoners were still there. He knew they wouldn’t hesitate to kill him if they managed to get their hands on him. He had to prevent that. But how?
“Captain, have your people make sure the prisoners are locked down. Barricade the entrances to their cell blocks as well as the underground access tunnels. We can’t worry about them right now,” he snapped. “Make sure everyone’s armed, support staff as well as your people. Then get back here. Maybe by then we’ll have a better idea who we’re dealing with.”
Assuming they haven’t already forced their way inside.
* * *
She’d already discussed it with Talbot. Not that she’d needed to. The gunny knew her well enough to understand that she would want blood if they discovered anything had happened to those they’d been sent for. But she’d needed to tell him, to make sure he understood that none of the squad was to do anything they might find themselves up on charges for later. That meant not standing by and letting her do anything foolish. From the mulish look he’d worn as she made him promise, she knew he didn’t like it. Hell, she didn’t like it, but she wasn’t going to let anyone else pay for her actions – not that she could have foreseen the circumstances of simply following orders two years earlier.
“Cap,” Talbot began, leaning in close so no one could overhear. “You are to let us secure the area before you go inside that building.”
“Gunny, we do this by the numbers. I know you want to protect me, but we have a job to do. I promise I’m not going to do anything foolish, or at least nothing too foolish.” Seeing that he didn’t quite believe her, she sighed. “The only thing I’m worried about right now is making sure the buildings out here are secure and not hiding anyone else who might try to ambush us. Once that’s done, the other shuttle can land and we can do what we came here for. We can get our people safely away from here.”
“All right. Just remember that, Cap. None of us are going to let you risk yourself.” Now he looked at her just as seriously as she had him. “Captain, we weren’t able to do anything when the shit hit the fan two years ago. We knew you’d take a dim view of us committing mutiny – or worse – in order to free you and the others, not that we weren’t tempted. So now you’ll let us do our jobs. If that means tearing this place apart, brick by brick, we’ll do it.”
“Sounds fine to me, Gunny.” She smiled and then turned her attention to the video feed from the second shuttle.
The video cleared as the shuttle broke through the clouds. Ashlyn blew out the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. It was strange looking at the feed and seeing, in the distance, the gray walls surrounding the sprawling penal colony. Walls that were less than half a kilometer from where she stood. Walls that had surrounded her home for two years.
Less than two kilometers out was nothing but sand. From her current position, she could see the heat rising from the ground. She remembered it and the grit that always seemed to be present. That heat and the lack of a water source was one of many reasons why no one had tried to escape from the penal colony in years. There was nowhere to go unless the escapee managed to could get to the spaceport and steal a shuttle. They would die of exposure within a day or two, long before reaching any of the more remote facilities or habitats.
Ashlyn swallowed hard and forced back her memories. She needed to focus on the here and now, not on the what had been. That meant securing the landing zone and making sure the out buildings were clear of any further hostiles.
“All right, folks, it’s clear we have a situation here,” she said, doing her best not to let her fear for those she’d been forced to leave behind show. “Let’s secure these out buildings. Then we’ll signal the major that we’re ready to make entry into the compound. Dumont, be ready to blow the main gate if necessary.”
“Roger that, Cap,” their explosives expert replied.
“After we clear the buildings,” she reminded him. He really did like his job a bit too much. “We’ll knock nicely once and that’s it. Something’s going on and my gut tells me it is something bad.”
“I’ll be ready, Cap,” he assured her.
“Gunny, I want teams to clear the buildings now.”
“You heard the captain, boys and girls,” he said, scanning the area. “Tank, you take point. McKay, Gatson, you’re in after him. Signal when you have an all clear.” He waited as the three moved off in the direction of the maintenance building. “Hound, take Dumont and one other and clear the next building. Same orders.”
“Roger that, Gunny.” He motioned to Corporal Camille Winstead, their comms officer, to come with them.
“Building one secure, Cap,” Tank’s deep voice reported over the comnet a few minutes later. “We’ve got one body in here. Male and wearing prison guard uniform. ID scan confirms him as Piter Nilsson.”
Ashlyn frowned, remembering the small, dark man and his sadistic streak she’d seen the wrong side of too many times. “Give me a visual.” She activated her HUD and waited for that split-second of disorientation to pass as the scene around her disappeared, replaced by the image of the dead man. Her breath caught and she didn’t know whether to be relieved or not when she recognized him. What she did know was that it wasn’t good, not good at all, to confirm he’d been the shooter. She keyed her comm-link so she could inform Pawlak.
“This is Shaw. We have an ID on one dead so far. He’s one of the guards. A sick, sadistic bastard who Sat
an himself wouldn’t want in Hell.”
“Easy, Ash.” Pawlak’s voice was soft.
She drew a deep breath and held it for a moment. Then she exhaled, struggling for calm.
“Is Coreal foolish enough to try to keep us out of the compound?”
She opened her mouth to respond and then stopped. Her first impulse had been to say “yes”. She had no doubts the man would do almost anything to save his own skin. But she’d learned one thing during her time as an inmate there. Coreal was anything but foolish. He knew how to cover his tracks. If he actually tried to keep the Devil Dogs out of the compound, he’d have to have an air tight cover story. She just didn’t buy that he’d try to ambush them right outside the gates.
Or, if he had, he’d have used inmates to do it. He’d view them as expendable and, since the prisoners here were already considered traitors or worse, no one would think twice if they tried to stage a revolt. Coreal would use them to try to take out the Devil Dogs and then he’d not hesitate to turn his own guards against them, killing them before reinforcements could arrive.
So why had Nilsson fired on them?
“I don’t think so, sir, but it was one of the guards who attacked us.” She paused and nodded as Talbot reported that the other building had been cleared. “LZ is clear, sir.”
“All right. Go ahead and make entry into the compound. We’ll cover you from the air. Once you’ve made entry, secure the outer area of the compound and the entry to the admin building. I’ll join you there. Then we’ll decide our next move.”
“Roger that, sir. Will you make one last attempt to contact the compound before I have Dumont blow the gate?”
“Consider it done.”
She waited, listening as he instructed the pilot to attempt to contact the compound one last time. “All right, Ash. Do it by the books.”
“Understood, sir.” She ended the transmission and turned to her squad. “All right, let’s do this. The Major is making one last attempt to contact the compound. If they haven’t responded by the time you have your toys ready, Dumont, blow the gate.
“When we make entry, Tank, you have point. Hound, you’re bringing up the rear. All weapons are to be at the ready. Video feed shows the main compound is deserted but don’t take any chances.”
“You heard the captain. Get moving,” Talbot said. “Form up and be ready to move in as soon as the gates are open.”
“Gunny, you’re with me.”
“Glad you realize that, Cap.” He grinned and she shook her head. “And I hope you realize that I have my orders from the major to make sure nothing happens to you,” he added over a private channel.
“I do. But understand this, Gunny. I will not let anything happen to our people, any of our people.”
“Understood and agreed, Cap.”
“Ready here, Cap,” Dumont reported a few minutes later.
“Major?”
“We’re seeing signs of life inside, Captain, but no one is responding to our hails. Make entry. I repeat. Make entry.”
“You heard the major, Dumont. Blow the gates.”
With that, Ashlyn dropped to one knee, her battle rifle held at the ready. Dumont armed the charge he’d placed at the gate and moved back. One hand in the air, he lifted one finger. Two. Three.
The explosion blew the gates from their anchors. Dust flew, filling the air. Ashlyn’s HUD instantly adjusted, switching filters until she could see through the smoke and sand. Her lips pulled back in an almost feral grin. Finally, she might actually be able to not only free her people but get a touch of vengeance as well.
“Cap, I’m hurt. We know there are folks inside but no one seems to want to come play with us,” Tank said, amusement rippling in his tenor voice.
Ashlyn grinned and shook her head. Despite the seriousness of the situation, the heavy weapons specialist always found a way to make her smile. “All right. Guess we’ll just have to go find the fun, boys and girls.” She stood and motioned for them to enter the compound.
* * *
“Commandant, we have to do something.”
Dante Coreal glared at the guard captain. He knew they had to do something, damn it. The only problem was he didn’t know what. It had been bad enough when that damned carrier ship had arrived to transport Shaw back to the capital. Who knew what lies that bitch had been telling since then. Of course, it was quite possible she hadn’t said anything. One thing he’d learned about her during her time at the penal colony was that she knew how to keep her mouth shut, especially if she thought by opening it her squadmates might be harmed.
But why had they come for her and could he count on her to keep silent?
Damned bitch.
He hadn’t done anything wrong. Not really. The regs were fuzzy enough to let him get by with most of his corrective measures. Still, there had been times when the guards may have gone a bit too far. But who could blame them? The prisoners here would just as soon slit the guards’ throats as anything else.
None of which answered his questions about why there was suddenly a cruiser in orbit around the planet and why they wanted to take possession of the rest of Shaw’s squad.
Making matters worse, he hadn’t been able to get any answers from his usual sources. He didn’t know if FleetCom was simply having them transported back to the capital to handle new appeals of their cases or if new charges were being filed against them or what. But that meant he also didn’t know if there was an investigation going on into the daily workings of the penal colony and he was damned if he would let his career be ruined by a bunch of cowards.
But that wasn’t the worst of it. The day had gone from bad to worse in very short order. He’d awakened to the sound of the alarms going off. The last time that had happened, some of the prisoners had tried to escape, tried being the operative word. They hadn’t gotten far before being cut down by perimeter defense turrets. So he hadn’t been all that worried as he dressed and waited for a report.
Only he’d never heard the sounds of the defense turrets firing. Then he realized he wasn’t hearing any of the usual shouts or gunfire from the guards. That was enough to cut through the complacency five years as commandant of the most secure penal colony in allied space had built into him.
He’d listened in growing disbelief a few minutes later as Haritos reported that not only were groundside defenses off-line but so were the orbital defense platforms. No, he didn’t know why. Yes, the techs were working on discovering the problem and correcting it. No, he hadn’t been able to make contact with the other facilities on the planet. No, they didn’t have any idea what was going on.
“Commandant, they’ve dropped a squad of Marines outside the gate,” Haritos reported, paling as he listened to the report coming in through his earbud. “At least two are in heavy armor. You have to do something now or we’re going to have real trouble on our hands.”
“Are the prisoners secured?”
“Of course,” Haritos replied, contempt reflected on his expression. “Neither my men nor I are foolish enough to leave them loose.”
“Make sure of it. Until we know exactly who these newcomers are, I don’t want to take any chances.” Damn it, there was no way out of this mess. Not now. Not unless he figured out a way to kill the Marines who waited to be admitted into the compound and then somehow managed to destroy the ship that had brought them. All he could do was try to buy enough time to cover at least the worst of his tracks. “Get your men in position. I want all guns focused on the gate. Then get your ass down there and get eyes on them. Do not let them anywhere near the prisoners until I say so. If they give you any trouble, deal with them.”
“What?” Haritos’ voice rose at least an octave.
“You heard me. Remember, your neck is as much on the block as mine is. Now do as I said.”
God, some days it just didn’t pay to get out of bed.
* * *
Doing her best not to relive the last time she’d arrived at the penal colony, Ashlyn moved t
hrough the gates into the compound. Her hands tightened their grip on her battle rifle and she forced her finger off the trigger. Breathing deeply, she told herself to relax. She didn’t need her demons returning to plague her right now. They did enough of that when she slept. Now she needed to keep a cool head. Otherwise, she’d be opening fire on the first guard she came across. Much as she’d love to be able to do just that, she couldn’t.
At least not without sufficient provocation and that, she knew, wouldn’t happen. They were basically cowards who got off on abusing prisoners who couldn’t fight back.
Bastards.
She called the schematics for the penal colony up on her HUD and carefully studied them. They weren’t complete, not that she’d expected them to be. The admin support buildings were clearly mapped but the buildings housing the cells were little more than blips on the schematic. No definition and no explanation for what each floor, much less each room, was used for.
“All clear, Captain,” Tank reported a few moments later after the initial sweep of the yard turned up no unwanted surprises.
“Gunny, choose three to hold station here until the major arrives with reinforcements. The rest of us will continue on to the admin building. Let’s move out.”
She started forward, her assault rifle ready, Talbot at her side. As the rest of the unit spread out, sweeping through the open area before the administration building, she scanned the buildings surrounding them. The squad was in the open, easy targets for snipers. Yet no shots rang out. None of her people fell. Had she overreacted after all?
No. There could be no denying the fact Nilsson had attacked them. He’d never have acted without orders. Whether those orders had come from Coreal or Haritos, she didn’t know and didn’t really care. The fact that any member of the guard staff was foolish enough to attack the Devil Dogs meant they could take nothing for granted.
“Take cover!” she ordered as the doors to the administration building opened.