Relentless: Book One of the Union Warship Saga

by Scott Mullins

  “Get in. No matter what happens you stay in this place. I don’t care what happens or what you hear. DO NOT OPEN THIS DOOR. Do you understand me?” she said in her most stern mother voice.

  “But what about you?” he began to protest.

  “My job is to keep you safe. Now get in. I’ll be fine,” she told him.

  He reluctantly climbed in the escape pod. She sealed the door behind him. He turned around and she placed her hand on the porthole. He put his hand on hers.

  “I love you mom,” he said.

  “I love you too son,” she said, choking back a tear.

  She closed the hidden door and pushed the crate back in front of it. She opened one of the crates nearby and from inside she produced a rifle and a tactical vest filled with magazines and other items. She donned the vest and made sure the rifle was loaded and ready just as she left it. After she was done she headed out of the storage room and towards her lab. She felt secure in the fact that her son was safe and beyond detection as long as he stayed put. Now her mind was filled with surviving and evading capture so he would continue to have a mother. She briefly considered hiding there with him but if these assailants knew who she was and where she was they probably would not be deterred and tear the ship apart until they found her hiding spot and her son. She could not risk it.

  Her lab was well appointed. It was pristine. White, glass and stainless steel decor. There was an airlock that separated it from the outside. And the glass was for all intent, bulletproof. Her best bet was to stay hidden as long as possible and hope security repelled the boarders or at least reduced their numbers. She had no way of knowing their true intentions or strength.

  She waited, hiding behind her desk for what seemed like an eternity. She heard the door to the main room open. She could not know it but a Telarian soldier peered through the large observation window that separated the rooms. She sat quietly hoping whoever it was did not have the motivation to force the airlock door. He looked through the glass peering intently. He did not see anything. He tried the airlock door but it was sealed and locked. He marked the glass with what looked like a big red crayon and left. She heard the door close. She dared to peek. She saw nothing. She breathed a sigh of relief but she knew it wasn’t over yet.

  ***

  Captain Meramax sat in his command chair. Well, sat, is not a term he would have used to describe it. A Telarian stood on either side of him holding him to his chair as Tomac questioned him.

  “I have no desire to harm you or your crew. Turn Ms. Novellas over to me.”

  He said nothing.

  “You think your silence is strong and defiant. As you sit there like a fool my men are slaughtering yours. Such a senseless loss of life over one person. A person I might add I have no desire to harm. I simply need her—,” he paused putting his finger to his lips pondering, “What is the word...ah yes, cooperation. Do not make so many die. I will find her. I will dismantle this space station one piece at a time until I find her or her body,” he grinned.

  “Even if I wanted to tell you where she was or turn her over to you I have no way to find her or track her. You so deftly disabled all of my internal sensors and destroyed my back up power. The only thing you left functioning is the emergency lighting and I suspect that’s only because you would have to smash every single light panel by hand,” Captain Meramax said through clenched teeth. Each emergency lighting fixture had its own capacitor that would last for weeks, it would be quite a chore.

  “Perhaps you should have contemplated these things beforehand. I gave you ample opportunity,” Tomac reminded him. “I tire of playing games with you. If I restore power to you, if I gave you every tool available to help find her, would you truly help me locate her?” Captain Meramax sat silently. “Your silence is very telling...I did not think so. I hope your defiance serves you in your after life.”

  With those words the soldiers on either side pulled Captain Meramax from the chair and on to his knees as Captain Tomac pulled his side arm and pointed it at his chest. He slowly, deliberately pulled the trigger. The projectile struck Captain Meramax in the center of his chest. He slumped and the Telarians on either side let him fall.

  “Farewell Captain,” Tomac said to his lifeless body. “Study the schematics and start an organized search. Find this female I seek and bring her to me.”

  Captain Tomac sat in Captain Meramax’s chair and pondered what more must he do to avenge his family. He showed a calm nonchalant exterior but really he had no taste for murder. When he had to do the really hard things he thought of his darling’s lifeless bodies floating in what was left of their quarters. Forever frozen in his mind the image of his wife holding their daughter as they struggled those last few seconds despite the fact the air was sucked from their lungs and they began to freeze in the vacuum of space. Anger began to well up in him as he thought of it again. Tears ran down his face.

  “Sergeant,” he spoke to his suit intercom.

  “Yes Captain,” was the crackling reply.

  “Kill them. Kill them all. Except mine,” he said coldly through quivering lips.

  “Yes sir.”

  ***

  Another shuttle docked next to the first and began offloading reinforcements to aid in the search. The squad leaders discussed the situation.

  “We have finished our initial sweep and are prepared to start the second sweep but we wanted to double up the groups in case we come across some buried resistance. Take your squads to cover these sections,” he said as he pointed to a location on a tablet with station schematics. “We have narrowed it down to these areas listed as labs in the schematics. They are fortified with blast protection so it would make sense any stragglers would hold up there.”

  ***

  Eight soldiers entered the lab. They could see the mark left on the observation window by the previous sweep. Now they would do a more detailed sweep and enter the lab itself. Most likely it would require an electronic hack to breach the airlock. A soldier went to work immediately on the lock using some sort of device he placed against the panel. It would communicate with the lock circuit without the need to dismantle the panel. It could instantly open most electronic locks. More complicated locks required time. This lock needed time as it tried different algorithms to bypass the encrypted security protocols.

  Meanwhile, inside the lab Kara could hear them at the door. She checked her rifle and her sidearm. Her heart pounded. She never wanted to have to pick up a weapon in self-defense, Bvaltari were not violent by nature. They knew little or nothing of war before the Union. She had some weapons training like all cadets at the academy but that was ages ago and she was not proficient.

  Unfortunately she knew Telarians took warcraft very serious. Their battle armor was rugged, resistant to most weapons and if that wasn’t enough it was an exoskeleton that would assist in targeting. The rifle had sensors that calibrated with the suit and a reticle appeared on the HUD to show precisely where you were pointing. The suits also boosted strength and provided atmospheric protection. The only downside is they were a little slower but usually the pluses outweighed the minuses. Thinking about that didn’t make her feel better.

  Thinking about her rifle did offer some comfort however. It was a magnetic rifle, nothing could stop the projectile. She would riddle this station with holes if she missed but hits ensured a kill as the projectile exploded inside lit by a proximity fuse before impact as to detonate 6 centimeters past the point of penetration. It would not be a good day on the other side of this table.

  She heard the click and hiss as they opened the exterior air lock door. No matter what they tried though she estimated no more than three at a time could get through the airlock system. It was designed mechanically and electronically to only allows one door to open at a time. They would have to enter, close the door and then open the other. That also made her feel a little better.

  She waited until she heard the click and hiss of the door closing. She crouched down on her feet and prepa
red to lay down a field of fire they wouldn’t soon forget. When she heard the second click and hiss she threw her rifle up on the table pointed at the airlock. She fired several rounds into the airlock. Explosions of red erupted inside. The remaining soldiers stood on the other side of the observation window peering in. There was a brilliant explosion in the room beside them as some rounds penetrated the outer airlock door and exploded in the room causing them to jump. Her confusion was evident. She had expected them to come in. Then she spotted why they had not entered. They sent a ball like drone. It rolled to the center of the room. It’s sided popped open and began to billow a blue smoke that surged with electricity. It started to fill the room quickly. She started to panic. She turned her rifle towards the observation window.

  That got the soldiers attention but the first shot didn’t do much except penetrate the observation glass. The second and third shots through the same hole took down one and injured a second and from there she laid down a line across about waist high. She wasn’t sure if she was hitting anyone as explosions and smoke on the other side clouded her view but it didn’t matter. The smoke in the room was some sort of neurotoxin. She could feel her muscles begin to seize up as she lost motor function. She fell on the floor paralyzed unable to move. Her vision started to blur and slowly the light began to fade as she lost consciousness.

  ***

  The Relentless was cruising through hyperspace. The lights flickered once and went out. Then the engines stalled and with a great lurch that tossed the crew about, she dropped out of hyperspace and drifted. Completely without power. The emergency lighting flickered to life and redundant power systems came online.

  “What the hell was that?” Dax exclaimed.

  “What I was afraid of,” Galloway replied as he picked himself up off the floor.

  ***

  Her mind swirled in that place of delirium. Kara became aware of the feeling of being upside down. She could not comprehend what upside down meant. She began to question what was right side up anyway? She was swimming in what seemed like total darkness. Her mind shifted and she felt herself spiral clockwise and fall. Now she was staring at a singularity. It grew brighter and brighter. She opened her eyes. Her head was slumped over and she was staring at her feet. Drool was spilling from the corner of her mouth. With great effort she started to move her head but it felt tremendously heavy. Way more than a head should weigh she thought, her head still swimming in delirium. Slowly she lifted it to see a porthole to her left. Outside was a gray disk in the distance. She should be worried, but why. Jacob! Her head immediately snapped up and she almost screamed his name but she came fully back to reality at the realization that she was in a shuttle full of Telarian soldiers flying away from her son. Her heart broke. Kara could feel the lump in her throat. She could feel the tears coming. She couldn’t stop them from welling up. Her eyes glazed with tears. She fought them back but the first ones fell anyway. She tried to shift her thoughts in an effort to keep from totally breaking down so she stared at the floor. She was broken more than anyone could know but she could not weep for her son.

  Shortly thereafter she found herself sitting in a chair bound to a table by handcuffs. She determined this was the equivalent of an interrogation room. The walls were not made of any material she was familiar with. They were oddly textured, dark colored, reminiscent of an insect’s exoskeleton, with no decor. A table and two chairs were the only features besides what she assumed was a surveillance node in the ceiling. Only one door and the room was just large enough for the interrogator to pace around the table comfortably.

  A tall obviously well-muscled Telarian entered the room. He was wearing a more customary ship bound armor suit. It was still quite a stout suit but with much more comfort and flexibility for daily use. She judged by his insignia and colors that he was of a higher rank and he carried himself as such.

  “Good evening Ms. Novellas. I trust you have been treated well while onboard,” he spoke in a friendly tone. She raised her bound hands from the table showing him how she was being treated. He reached down with a wand he withdrew from his side and waved it across the cuffs and they released. She shook them off and rubbed her wrist as she drew her arms back to her. “I mean you no harm Ms. Novellas. I do apologize to you for the methods I employed to obtain your presence but I assure you I have found no other way to accomplish my goals. You see Ms. Novellas, I need you so I can trade for someone else. This individual I’m sure will gladly surrender his freedom for yours.”

  “My father?” she asked.

  He was the only person who cared about her well-being and was important enough to warrant such measures. He was a powerful senator in the Union now. He had used his clout to keep her at more than arm’s length from the war. He was also responsible for the separation of her and Sean Connor, her fiancé for a day. He had made arrangements contrary to her and her husband to be’s plans. He had them assigned separately because of his prejudice and racist beliefs. No daughter of his was going to be with a human. She didn’t find out for years but it slipped from him during a conversation some years later and that escalated into an argument since which she had had no contact with her father. It shocked her to hear the Telarian laugh.

  “No Ms. Novellas. This isn’t about a petty political struggle or ransom. I mean to trade you for one Captain Sean Connor,” was his response.

  That name being spoken in front of her like this catapulted her back in time. The sight of him, his voice, his smell. A wave of nausea came over her and she began to sweat. Then came the shakes for he was a drug she could never rehabilitate from. Bvaltari imprinted with a mate for life and without them one would be as any hard core drug addict. To overcome this dilemma medicines had been created to ease the symptoms. A spouse that died would leave the surviving member of the pair unbearably sick. She had not had her daily dose of perithricine today and the sound of his name hit her hard.

  “Ah...I see you have imprinted on this human. The signs of mate withdrawal are evident to me for Telarians imprint as well. For that I am truly sorry Ms. Novellas for he will surely die by my hand. You might think I’m cruel or evil for I killed one hundred twenty one members of your crew to acquire you, but I assure you, he deserves to die. He killed my mate and offspring and for that he must pay suffrage.” Tomac told her. His voice rising from his typical calm to an angry growl the more he spoke.

  All she could do was stare at him with a stunned expression. She was emotionally overloaded. Her son missing. Sean a murderer. Her, a prisoner. She could not control it she swooned and collapsed under the weight of her burden.

  ***

  The Relentless dropped out of hyperspace. Looming between it and the planet was the lifeless hulk of the Nacuru.

  “Preliminary sensor sweeps show no other ships in the vicinity. The research station appears to have taken serious damage. The jump drive was destroyed, its singularity is uncontained. It’s not a danger at the present time. Faint power signatures and a few pockets of life support, no life signs,” Lieutenant Lokae informed the captain.

  “Brice. Assemble your team. Take a portable VEGA with you. Secure the ship, restore power and life support.”

  “Aye, aye, captain,” was his response as he made his way to the door motioning to one of the security detail to follow him.

  A short while later the shuttle left the Relentless and made its way to the Nacuru. Captain Connor watched from the bridge as the shuttle closed the gap between them.

  “Continuous active sweeps. I don’t want to get caught with our pants down,” the captain told his bridge crew.

  The shuttle and ASD’s made several passes around the hull of the space station examining the damage.

  “He took several shots with precision weapons. Took out the power core, life support and several distribution nodes for power and communication. Looks like they breached the hull with some sort of reusable airlock. There are two of them side by side. We are going to dock at the airlock on deck five and proceed from there
,” Brice’s voice came over the bridge speakers. A couple of minutes later his voice came over the speakers again, “We have hard seal, pressure has equalized. It’s a vacuum, no life support. We are moving inside the Nacuru now.”

  “Put the helmet cams on the viewscreen Mr. Lokae.”

  The video feed from the four man team appeared on the forward viewscreen. They made their way to the engineering section of the station with the portable VEGA in tow. The helmet lights from the boarding party shined every which way down the corridor. They came across several dead crew members floating in the passageways because the artificial gravity was inoperable as well. Their magnetic boots held them to the deck plates.

  The captain watched intently from his chair as they entered the control room and began the process of plugging the VEGA in to the main power distribution node. There were floating corpses here as well and they tried to work around them without disturbing them as much as possible.

  Chaz removed a panel from the distribution node to reveal a round coupling. He held up the VEGA and pushed it on at a forty-five degree angle and rotated it clockwise. He touched the interface screen on the VEGA and it sprang to life with a blue glow.

  It resembled the much larger device in the Relentless’ engineering control room. It had the spherical structure with the cylinders and an external metal frame to prevent damage. It had carry handles on both ends and one in the front of the sphere. On top of the sphere was the control pad and on the back was the power conduit plug.