I looked around, and found myself alone. Fighters were in the tubes. Fighters were lining up ready to launch second. And one squadron was lined up for each of the lifts, being taken up to the flight deck. Lacey wouldn’t be launching alone after all.
I ran for the drop shaft, and gave myself a solid boost, enough to shoot me quickly to the top. Swinging off on the bridge level was automatic, and I slowed to a fast stride.
On the bridge I found Generals Smith and Hobbs, both apparently talking to Colonel O'Neill. Grace was in the helm seat, but looking at me expectantly. Syrinx and Tanith were in their seats. I motioned them to take the seats on each side of Grace instead. I was going to need them both, and didn’t want them behind me.
"We won't be using a drop ship Grace. So you're choice if you want to suit up with the team."
She hesitated, and I waited for her.
"No, I'll be a liability in a combat situation. I've played around with a combat suit, but BA doesn’t think I'm ready yet. Alison still has me catching up with big ship stuff, and officer training. Will you need to leave the ship? If so, I better be here."
I nodded to her. I had no idea if I’d be needed or not, but she made a good point. Jane could fly and even fight the ship, but Grace was a combat pilot, and sometimes, you needed that more.
I looked at Tanith.
"When we arrive in-system, can you move a cloaked comnavsat to the other side of the jump point, well out of the way of the Keerah? Jane will tell you where to find it, and cloak it for you."
"No problem."
I wondered where Jane was. Very unlike her not to be on the bridge, let alone just before a combat situation. As if called, she appeared at the run, and took a seat at the XO's position.
"Good of you to join us," I said sarcastically.
"I was over on Arthur's ship."
I wasn’t sure I wanted to know why. I looked at Syrinx. She got in first.
"You want a rift from here to the vicinity of the station, and then a series of rifts to put each team in a different place?"
"That sounds about right. What do you need?"
Jane popped up the navmap, centered on the system in question, but also showing where we were. It was a fair distance. I called for my staff, and it appeared next to my chair. I threw it over to her.
"That, yes. And where to put the teams."
I looked over to Annabelle.
"Any chance we can get locations for troop concentrations before we go in?"
"That’s partly what I was doing over on Arthur's ship," said Jane. "We have full translator functions for all the local languages, and I've assimilated the computer specs needed to be able to take over the station. Arthur had them, since his ship has docked there in the past. Although from the sounds of it, the computers on there won't allow me full functionality. They are rather behind ours."
"See what you can do. If you can take over the station so we don’t need to send troops in, do it. But if all we can get is sensor readings for who is where, that will do."
"Confirmed."
She paused, and I waited.
"Fighters are ready for launch. Teams are ready to deploy."
I cast a quick look at the two generals, and both nodded.
"Let's do it!"
Forty Six
The rift appeared, and Jane goosed BigMother through.
The station was visible not far away. A screen popped up, showing a tactical view, with a single ship docked to it being highlighted red.
"I'm in," said Jane. "No access. Looks like the Keerah shut down most of the station's systems."
Another screen popped up, this one with a cross section of the station on it, with dots showing where people were clustered. A second later, the dots turned red and blue.
"Syrinx," said Jane, and the station plan started showing close ups with deck and section references.
I could see Syrinx concentrating. Hollo's of each team showed them stepping through small rifts, and as they did so, white dots started appearing on the main tactical display. Cam screens began popping up as the teams deployed.
Fighters had been launching from the moment we shifted, and as they completed forming up into squadron formations, their white dots appeared at the jump point, allowing me to see the defense fleet. I looked at Tanith, who had his eyes closed and appeared to be concentrating harder than Syrinx had, and suddenly we had the other side of the jump point visible as well.
"Can you put another comnavsat on this side of the jump point, and on the other jump point in the system?"
He nodded, and started concentrating again.
The Keerah fleet was massive. More than twice the size they'd thrown at us. On our side, my three squadrons took up positions filling in gaps in the defender's ranks. Now I understood what both Arthur and Thorn had said. The defensive fleet was simply no match for the Keerah, in any sense. Only Thorn and the threat of what Thorn could do kept the Keerah out. And for now, the Keerah were staying on their side of the jump point.
But I wondered for how long, and why they sent in troops instead. Of course, their loss to us might have made them wonder if all humans had upped their game, to the point they felt the need to test things. If so, we were about to make things worse.
The other jump point in the system suddenly displayed ships, and a long line of civilian ships could now be seen heading away from the conflict.
"Contact," said Amanda, and a screen popped up showing where team one was, on the edge of the docking area for the Keerah transport.
"Station cam?" I asked Jane, and she nodded.
The ship had a platoon protecting it, and they'd taken the time to throw up a full barricade. For now, my team were using cover, and waiting.
"Now," said Jane, coming through Amanda's coms, and Amanda, Aleesha, and BA all fired at the same spot.
A tiger head appeared above the barricade, and took three hits. The tiger went down, flopped around for a moment trying to get back on its feet, and finally sat there looking stunned.
"Stunners don’t work," said BA. "Jane, if we need to stun Keerah, we're going to need a higher setting."
The coms changed slightly, and BA could be heard through all the active cams.
"Forget stunners, unless you can hit with six or more at the same time. Go to pulse rifles."
The coms switched back, and the first pulses started hitting the barricade.
"Shit," said Amanda, when it was apparent the pulses had very little impact at all, and where the hits had occurred looked like it began to regenerate.
The coms changed again.
"Forget trying to blast through their barricades," said BA. "Give me a moment."
The other teams stood waiting behind whatever cover they'd managed. Team six was by the main administration offices, now sealed off. The others were scattered around the station, with several in the power generation levels, hoping to stop a mad Keerah from detonating the station. Team seven, the SAS team, were by the biggest group of unmoving blue dots, presumably being held prisoner.
BA stepped back out of her combat suit. I opened my mouth to tell her not to, but figured we did need to know. She deliberately walked out of cover, as if not knowing she was in danger, and allowed herself to be shot.
Five pulses came from the barricade, but she was ready for them, and dived for cover behind a large pot plant.
"Ten percent a pulse," she said. "The eleventh hit will take you out. Recommend we use belt suits over combat suits, and rush them."
"So ordered," said Jack O'Neill.
Coms went back to normal, and the team leaders started giving orders. BA broke cover again, and made it back with only three more hits on her. She vanished back into her combat suit.
George shifted his combat suit into a gorilla shape, and roared his challenge to the tigers.
"Bloody good idea," said Amanda, and the rest of team one shifted into the same gorilla mode.
"Team one is using gorilla mode," said Annabelle. "Recommend all t
eams choose a shape which challenges the tigers visually."
Jane, who was with team two trying to break into the main computer room, shifted into her lizard shape, the rest of the team did the same.
"All teams go on my command," said Jack. "Go."
On seven different monitors, I watched combat suits charge at the tigers. They all got off a pulse before getting up close, without doing much damage, and everything went hand to hand from there. The tigers without armour went down quickly to suit covered metal fists. Those with armour lasted longer, but even tiger paw fists couldn’t dent suit augmented combat armour.
In a matter of minutes, the only area not taken was the main administration area. Team one continued into the ship, and made quick work of the crew. Prisoners were released, and unconscious tigers were pulled by groups of people into the station's cells. My people made sure nothing went in with them which could be used for escape.
Jane reported accessing the station's computers directly hadn't given her any more access. Her combat suit ran to the detention area, and disabled the links to the administration area, so the Keerah there couldn’t release any of their people.
"Jon," said Jack, Jane popping up a head and shoulder hollo taken from his wife's cam feed. "I think we need you. We can't get through. Whatever they have on their side of the doors and windows here, it can take multiple meson streamer hits, and no sign of any real damage happening. We've also tried turning off life support, but this area has its own."
"On my way."
I'd need to cut our way in by the look of it. I'd hardly taken a step away from my chair, when Jeeves came rushing in. Before I could ask what he was about, he had another belt suit attached around my left arm. Its activation pop up appeared, and I gave it my default setup.
Syrinx had a rift in an empty spot for me, but instead of going to it, I stepped over to her.
"I'm going to need that."
She frowned, but waited for me to take hold of the staff. Power raced through me, and I shivered. In my mind's eye, I could now see out of the other end of the rift, as if I was looking through a window.
Syrinx took her hand away, and the rift vanished.
"I was afraid of that," she said. "I was using the staff. Wait a second while I do another one."
"Why not let Jon try?" asked Tanith.
"Try what?" I asked.
"Try doing a rift yourself."
"I'm not a magician."
"May not matter. That staff is acting like a magician's power source, and what I've seen you do with it is nothing short of serious magic being wielded by a master magician."
"I'm not a magician!"
He shrugged.
"Try anyway. Now seems to be as good a time as any to see if you can do any of what we do. After all, if you can do rifts yourself, you don’t need to give the staff to either of us anymore."
"You don’t want the staff to help you in the future?"
"Seriously, yes. If I could go green seeing Syrinx getting to use it, I would. But I also know that sort of power for people like us would be addictive."
He looked at Syrinx, and she nodded. I frowned at her.
"How do I do this?"
"Picture where you want the rift on this end. Define it by size, and give it any attribute you want it to have, such as closing after you step through, waiting for a time, or being permanent. Choose a place for it to go, give it the same attributes, and will it to exist."
"You're saying this is the same sort of intent as creating a sword or a staff, only projecting it in another way?"
"Yes," said Tanith. "Magic is the focus of intent, using power the magician can draw on. Non-magicians can still use their intent, but without natural power, what they achieve is limited, and defined by their karma and use of the law of attraction."
Syrinx nodded. This was the first I knew they had the same spiritual concepts I did. Note to self, need to discuss all this with them sometime.
I focused my intent on making a rift in the doorway to my ready room, which was open, gave it the attribute to close after I'd stepped through, looked at the vid of the area my troops were, selected a doorway nearby, and willed a rift to form. One appeared exactly where I’d chosen, at both ends. I paused, wondering how I’d do this if I couldn’t see the other end. Maybe if instead of the rift being grey, it was like a framed window? The rift turned clear, and I could see straight out into the room beyond.
"How did you do that," asked Syrinx.
"Willed it," I grinned at her.
At the doorway, I hesitated, and shifted the armband suit to full protection mode, leaving only my face clear. Now protected by two suits, I looked a little chubbier than normal. I changed my staff into a sword, and sheathed it on my back.
"Be back shortly sweetie," I said to Angel, who was sitting up wondering where I was going.
I stepped through.
Forty Seven
The rift closed behind me, and I stood there with almost everyone looking at me.
"Nice to see you, boss," said George. "Little cutting job for you it seems."
He was grinning. I could hear it in his voice, and see it on the gorilla's face.
"You putting on weight?" asked Aline in a serious tone, which she spoiled by sniggering immediately after.
I ignored them both, and walked over to where Jack was standing, the only one not in a combat suit. He indicated the main doors into the admin section. The doors themselves were toast, and the remains were lying in a heap along the nearest wall. I was about to ask if they'd tried the wall, when I noticed the hole above the pile of door fragments. Apparently they did. The other side looked like hull material.
"Any idea how they did that?" I asked, pointing at the hole.
"Could be a spray on," suggested Jane.
"Is that what that equipment was for," said Amanda.
"Looked like a paint spray," added Aleesha.
I thought about it for a moment. It made a weird kind of sense. Whatever they had for filling small holes between primary and interior hulls, could be adapted to use to fortify anywhere they needed to make difficult to enter. It could also have been used to make the barricades we'd been unable to penetrate. Grab what was handy, spray it, and suddenly you had somewhere impenetrable to conventional weapons to hide behind.
"We want that," I subvocalized to Jane.
Her combat suit took off like a rocket, in the direction of the ship. A moment later, team two took off after her.
"Form up on me," I said.
Talk about surreal. Here was me looking pudgy, about to cut a hole in a wall, with twenty one gorillas behind me, all pointing pulse rifles and meson streamers around me.
I drew my sword, and started with the floor end of where the door was supposed to be. The sword went through easily, and cut with no problems. At the side, I turned it, and cut upwards, then across, and down. A light kick, and nothing happened. A solid kick, and the whole plate of hull material fell inwards, ending up an angle which suggested a few tigers were underneath it.
The press of gorillas behind me pushed me into the room. My suits went full mode to protect my face, and I had to use my PC to see with. I felt hits across my upper body, but ignored them.
Ahead I could see several dozen tigers, led by a white with black stripes. He wasn’t in armour, where most of his troops were.
"BA, stun the white."
All the gorillas suddenly had stunners on their arms, and the white took so many hits, he went down. The others were firing back at us, seemingly with impunity. I raced forward, sword raised.
The first tiger stood there with a snarl on his face, firing straight into me. He was unafraid, and didn’t have time to register surprise before his head fell off. The body went down, blood pumping everywhere. I turned for the next nearest, but BA's armoured fist smashed into its face, and it went down heavily. By the time a second tiger was missing a major part of its body, the rest of them were showing signs of disbelief. This turned into fear when I sl
iced the next one in half across his chest armour.
None of them surrendered though, and the team felled the last of them the old fashioned way.
I turned to walk back out, sheathing my sword as I went, slipped on the blood slick floor, and went down.
"Shit!"
"Don’t step in it," suggested George.
"He already did," laughed Alison.
BA hauled me up off the floor, and as she did so, the outer suit shredded. She almost dropped me back into the blood, but managed to set me down on my feet where I wouldn’t slip again. I stood there for a moment. Jeeves needed a raise. It had been a long time since I’d shredded a suit, and that time, I’d actually died.
I looked back at the mess. At a guess, more than half of the tigers were dead. Even a punch to the head could be fatal, when delivered by solid metal. The rest were injured one way or another. Alison stepped out the back of her combat suit, and went to the white. Feeling around for a pulse took her a minute, but she looked at me and nodded. It was alive still.
I walked out, and found Jack waiting on the other side.
"Get the wounded to whatever medical facilities they have here, and see if someone wants to save them or not. The white should only be stunned, so straight into a cell. Collect everything they had with them, including what they used to create this wall with. And the wall if you can. Jane's securing their ship, so you may as well take it all there. The tool men back on Haven will want their guns, so we can duplicate them somehow."
"Sir."
"You saved a white?" interrupted Hobbes, who was standing out of the way with Roo.
I hadn't known they'd gone in with the troops, but they hadn't been on the bridge either. Jack assumed he was dismissed, and started giving orders. I walked closer to Hobbes.
"Not so much. It took about a dozen stunners all at once, and went down. Alison found a pulse, but there is no telling what the damage is. I wanted it alive if possible."
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