by Drew Wagar
She continued methodically, switching from breathing to pumping his chest. There was no response. Tears began to form in her eyes and her efforts became increasingly more desperate. She tried breathing for him again and then moved back to pump his ribcage again.
Come on you stupid old man, please come back!
Cramp seized up her arms and she was forced to stop, gasping for breath herself, sobs wracking her body.
No!
She sat up, crying in despair, her hands balling into fists, fingernails digging into her palms.
‘Damn you, Coyote!’
She pounded on his chest in sheer frustration, oblivious to anything else, before collapsing with exhaustion across him.
She heard a thump, a short gasp and then a long wheezing breath. She looked up.
Coyote heaved a deep breath and then another.
‘Oh frak! Thank Randomius…’ Rebecca gasped, managing to prop herself up on her hands. ‘Can you hear me?’
Coyote’s eyes opened, looking blank for a moment before focussing in on her.
‘Not one of my better landings then,’ he managed to croak. He took in her face, smeared with the dark slimy grease and then his gaze travelled down her body in surprise.
‘Or maybe I died and went to heaven after all…’ he chuckled.
Rebecca slapped him across the face. ‘Stard!’
He glared at her. ‘I wish you’d stop doing that…’
She clambered off and he managed to crawl to his knees, favouring a wrenched neck and shoulder. Rebecca activated the sealed bridge door and managed to open it. Derik was standing behind it, looking grim but slightly comical with a tub of grease in one claw and Rebecca’s small jumpsuit in the other. His face brightened as he saw them both, showing his gleaming white teeth.
‘Frak. You did it!’ he exclaimed.
Coyote caught sight of the mess in the corridor beyond the big reptilian. Hull plates and medical supplies were scattered everywhere.
‘Look at the mess you two made of my ship!’
‘You wait till you see the mess you made of your ship,’ Derik fired back, twisting his head to one side in amusement.
‘Not counting the mess you made of me,’ Rebecca said, pawing ineffectively at the smelly sludge coating her skin.
They laughed nervously, tension easing for a moment, exchanging a meaningful look.
‘Listen,’ Coyote said softly to Rebecca, holding out his hand, his eyes locked on hers. ‘Thanks. I mean it… truce?’
She glared him for a moment, ignoring his outstretched hand.
‘Oh for frak’s sake! Shake his hand you obstinate bitch!’ Derik snapped. ‘What does he have to do? Wave a bloody white flag?’
Rebecca let out a deep sigh and smiled faintly. She took both Coyote’s hand and Derik’s claw. ‘Couldn’t have done it without muscles here. Team effort.’
‘Thank frak for that,’ Derik said. ‘What a team. I’m gonna be in therapy for years after this mission and you guys are getting the bill!’
Something about the Rus’ words had riled Jim. Thargoids were insane, attacking without warning, without provocation, ripping and destroying anything in their path. Everyone agreed on this. It was standard training for new pilots. Either run or fight. Thargoids gave no mercy. They ambushed ships in witch-space, attacked convoys and occasionally even attacked stations. The GalNavy had been defending the core systems for decades from these vicious invaders.
But why?
It seemed an obvious question. The answer was simple – that’s what Thargoids did. They attacked on sight. They had no agenda, they just wanted you dead. To ask why or to have a moments hesitation was a fast ticket to ending up spaced.
A Thargoid homeworld, a preposterous notion. How could that have been hidden all these years? Crazy conspiracy theories!
In the small cabin that had been set aside for him on the Dubious Profit, Jim accessed the core-comm system and began assessing data.
‘Give me a list of vessels reported attacked by Thargoids in the last week,’ he requested.
The holofac display showed a total of over a hundred vessels. Jim scanned the list looking for any commonalities. Nothing obvious jumped out at him.
‘Group into convoys.’
The images of the ships moved around, organising themselves.
‘Delete any convoys where all ships were destroyed and list remaining ships.’
Almost all of the ships disappeared but a handful remained. The holofac flashed up the details.
Ant Hill, Cradle, Furball, Honey Pot, Howling Moon, Lily Pond, Ocean’s Blue, Preen, Wet Lake.
Jim scanned the list again, seeing nothing immediately out of place.
‘Give me the registries of each ship, Captain and crew.’
Ant Hill – Registered : Riredi. Type : Boa 2, Captain : Ik’Arg’De, Crew : Insectoid
Cradle – Registered : Zarace. Type : Anaconda, Captain : Simoney, Crew : Feline
Furball – Registered : Zarace. Type : Cobra Rapier, Captain : Tagli, Crew : Feline
Honey Pot – Registered : Riredi. Type : Bulk Hauler, Captain : Var’Shi’Dem, Crew : Insectoid
Howling Moon – Registered : Oresri. Type : Wolf Mk2, Captain : Baskerville, Crew : Canine
Lily Pond – Registered : Teorge. Type : Moray, Captain : Gimlet, Crew : Amphibian
Ocean’s Blue – Registered : Onisqu. Type : Moray, Captain : Finfear, Crew : Cetacean
Preen – Registered : Zarace. Type : Emerald Cruiser, Captain : Fashtalli, Crew : Feline
Wet Lake – Registered : Aesbion. Type : Needle Dart, Captain : Rargerat, Crew : Amphibian
Jim looked down the list quickly, his mouth dropping open as realisation dawned.
Coyote, Derik and Rebecca found an accommodation zone just inside the main airlock from the bay. Coyote had spent an hour in the medi-bay getting a fixed up for a dislocated shoulder and the after-effects of almost suffocating. Rebecca had gone for a shower. She hadn’t been able to find any ship-style jumpsuits and had settled for pinching some of the previous occupant’s clothes. They were rather more flattering than the anonymous flight suit she had been wearing.
‘Going somewhere nice?’ Coyote asked, looking her up and down appraisingly as she emerged. She was dressed in a sleeveless black blouse and matching trousers. It flattered her, and gave her a demure, vulnerable look.
‘I was hoping you’d show me a good time.’ She twirled on the spot and batted her eyelashes at him before laughing at the raised eyebrow she got in return.
You’re too short and thin for my tastes little one. I can see you charming your way out of all sorts of trouble. But you’re not fooling me. I’m not underestimating you again, so you can quit with those games already…
Derik wrinkled his nostrils approvingly.
‘You both smell better, thank frak. For monkeys, anyway.’
‘Thanks lizard-breath,’ Rebecca replied. ‘Maybe you should get some cool mints to go with that cold blood of yours, sun-basker.’
‘I’ll have you know,’ Derik began rather haughtily. ‘I am a warm-blood.’ He turned and glared fiercely at Rebecca. ‘And there’s nothing more insulting to a Draconoid than being labelled a sun-basker.’
He bared his teeth and hissed at her.
‘I know.’ Rebecca grinned, and pouted at him.
Derik stuck out his tongue at her. Coyote chuckled.
‘I got the mechs working on your ship,’ Derik said, with a nod to Coyote. ‘Should have it patched up enough to fly soon enough but you’ll have to take it easy. The lower hull is blown, not to mention the internal equipment damage. We’ll need to stopover somewhere to get proper repairs.’
Coyote nodded. ‘She’s seen worse.’
‘Bizarre though,’ the Lizard continued. ‘This is some kind of self contained facility, it looks like its crammed full of stuff. Did you see the armour and weapons on the way in? This place is built to survive a siege.’
‘But nobody here,’ Coyote mus
ed. ‘No staff, no guards. No one.’
‘You seen Udian?’ Rebecca snapped.
‘No,’ Derik growled. ‘And when I do…’
The doors to the accommodation zone snapped open and Udian’s metal form entered.
‘You’ll what?’ Udian’s voice rumbled.
‘Ask where the frak you thought you were going!’ Derik replied, angrily.
‘I had to attend to the immediate priorities,’ Udian responded easily, completely unconcerned. ‘We need to move. Follow me.’
‘We’re not going anywhere until you explain where the frak you went!’
‘I had to attend to priorities,’ Udian repeated. ‘Now, follow…’
‘We had a man down!’ Rebecca cried out. ‘You abandoned us, you cowardly stinking pile of ‘goid!’
Udian’s optical sensors turned at her. Rebecca shivered, wondering how she appeared to the creature within that ugly metal shell.
‘My current physiology prevents me from accessing vessels in the traditional manner. With the Cobra’s cargo bay inaccessible there was nothing I could do to assist.’
‘Coyote could have died!’ Rebecca screeched.
‘Which would have been regrettable, I’m relieved to see he’s intact,’ Udian acknowledged with a brief inclination of his torso in Coyote’s direction. ‘That does not change the facts. If Coyote was to be saved, Derik and you would have to have performed a rescue without me.’
‘We should be working as team!’ Derik growled back.
‘We were,’ Udian returned. ‘To apply more people to a task than is necessary, purely due to misguided sentiment, is both inefficient and dangerous.’
‘No it frakkin’ isn’t!’ Rebecca snapped.
Coyote stepped into the fray. ‘Perhaps if you explain what this place is and what you were doing…?’
‘There isn’t time,’ Udian’s voice grew in volume. ‘We need to move.’
‘You need to fill us in,’ Derik said. ‘I’m not working in a vacuum. Bad for the skin.’
Udian looked at him for a moment. ‘If we can discuss without the hysterics, perhaps I can quickly explain… ’
‘Why you…’ Rebecca began. Coyote caught hold of her arm.
‘Easy…’
Rebecca contented herself with a glare. Udian was unaffected.
‘As you’ve doubtless surmised this is a heavily armed and defended research station,’ Udian explained. ‘This is my base of operations, home if you wish. I call it Catechism. A purpose built and self contained platform. I found my research required secrecy and this was the result. The Ermasians allowed me to position it out here around Ermaso 2 for a consideration.’
‘You mean you bribed them and they turned a blind eye,’ Derik said.
‘Whatever you say. Catechism held over a hundred scientists dedicated to the task of researching bio-weapons to eradicate the Thargoid menace.’
‘Held?’ Coyote said. ‘Past tense?’
‘My reason for alacrity,’ Udian replied. ‘Catechism is normally in a high orbit, not hidden in the depths of the atmosphere like this. This position is reserved for extreme situations. A defensive posture.’
‘It’s been attacked?’ Derik asked.
‘And boarded,’ Udian confirmed. ‘Enough reason for grave concern. I considered Catechism impregnable. It appears I was wrong.’
‘By who…?’ Rebecca asked before realising. ‘Thargoids?’
‘All staff aboard have been slaughtered, quite brutally,’ Udian reported emotionlessly. ‘I managed to get to the control deck. The logs indicate an attack only a few hours ago. A large number of Thargoid vessels were destroyed but some penetrated the defences, cut into the outer hull and boarded Catechism. Given this knowledge, my first priority was to establish whether the bio-weapons had been appropriated.’
‘And have they?’ Coyote asked.
‘No. The lab in which they reside is still secure. Fortunately Catechism also has internal defences which proved sufficient. The Thargoids weren’t able to access the lab, so they’ve retreated.’
‘Retreated?’ Derik cried in alarm. ‘They’re still alive?’
‘They could be,’ Udian acknowledged calmly. ‘There are no ships in the vicinity but unfortunately the internal sensors are inoperative, so there is no way to tell for certain if any of them remain aboard.’
‘Frak!’
‘So…’ Udian enjoyed the dismayed expression on their faces. ‘We don’t have much time and your requirement for tedious explanation has wasted much of it. We need to get the bio-weapons aboard our ships and get out of here before they notice we’re here. I assume you’re ready to follow me now?’
‘There are enough samples for sixteen weapons,’ Udian said, as they cautiously turned a junction and walked down the corridors within the Catechism. ‘We need to retrieve them and retrofit them into the naval missiles aboard our ships.’
‘Sounds straight forward enough,’ Derik growled, feeling constrained by the dimly lit corridors. His head was only a few centimetres short of the ceiling.
‘That’s the easy part,’ Udian replied. ‘Getting the samples back to the ships will be more interesting.’
‘How so?’ Rebecca asked.
‘The Thargs couldn’t get into the lab,’ Coyote answered for her. ‘So if they’re still about they’ll wait until we’ve retrieved the samples and then pounce.’
Udian stopped by a door and one of his metal appendages interfaced with a control panel.
‘Wait a minute then!’ Rebecca said in alarm. ‘Let’s have a plan before we go in for frak’s sake!’
‘This is the plan,’ Udian replied. The door slid open, revealing a room crammed with firearms. There were racks upon racks of rifles, shotguns and portable, projectile weapons. Most were unsavoury, all were illegal.
‘Hmmmm,’ Derik mumbled, looking around appraisingly. ‘Nice hobby you’ve got here.’
‘Choose wisely,’ Udian said. ‘Your life may depend upon it.’
‘Do we really need these?’ Rebecca asked, lifting a large-bore assault rifle from one of the racks and finding it rather heavier than she expected.
‘Have you ever encountered a Thargoid in the flesh?’ Udian replied, moving further into the armoury.
‘No,’ she replied, putting the rifle back and finding another, lighter version. ‘Been in plenty of dust-ups with other bugs though, not much to them. Couple of punches, squish. Easy.’
‘Think of a seven foot praying mantis,’ Udian replied easily. ‘Bio-mechanical armour, speed and agility like a feline. They have a semi-redundant nervous system which allows them to act in concert with their companions even if you destroy the higher brain functions. We also think they have a degree of telepathy, though that’s never been proved.’
‘So you blow their heads off and they keep coming,’ Derik sighed. ‘Great.’
‘Add to that a complete lack of fear, no instinct for self-preservation coupled with strength about three times that of the average human and you’ve got them pegged. Their blood can be corrosive too, if you don’t have the proper enhancements or natural resistance, of course.’ Udian tapped his metallic chest with a manipulator. ‘Humanoid flesh is particularly susceptible I’m afraid.’
Coyote and Rebecca exchanged a worried look. Rebecca put back the smaller weapon and grabbed the original assault rifle.
‘Thargoids tend to eschew hand-held weaponry too,’ Udian commented, offhand. ‘They seem to prefer things up close and personal. They attack on sight. They have naturally barbed limbs and each hand contains a claw honed for both slicing and stabbing. I’ve seen many antagonists die watching a Thargoid ripping their intestines out.’
‘Frak.’ Rebecca’s face had gone ashen.
I bet he’s grinning inside there, the metal bastard! He’s enjoying this.
‘Did I mention some of them spit acid?’ Udian added lightly. ‘They don’t care for oxygen, ammonia is their natural atmosphere, so they might be a little impeded here. It wo
n’t make a great deal of difference.’
Derik was looking at the various items in the armoury.
‘Too low tech for me,’ he grumbled. ‘This lot belongs in a museum. I’ll stick with my Mk4 if it’s all the same to you.’ The big lizard patted the bulky looking weapon strapped to his side.
Udian turned momentarily. ‘Ah, yes. The Lance and Fermann Widowmaker. And you have the audacity to call my choice of weapons antique…’
‘She’s old but she packs a serious punch…’ Derik fired back.
‘I’ll enjoy the expression on your face when you use it on a Thargoid,’ Udian replied. ‘Briefly that is… ’
‘What you talking about, metal butt?’ Derik roared.
‘Thargoid armour is almost impervious to energy or plasma based weapons. That’s why they walk all over Galcop forces during invasions. I recommend low-tech kinetic weapons. Messy but effective… and aim for the thorax, not the head.’
Now Derik and Rebecca exchanged a worried look.
‘No school like the old school,’ Derik said, smoothly re-arranging his features into a grin, grabbing the biggest twin-bore high calibre repeating rifle he could find and slinging an ammunition belt over his shoulder.
‘So what’s the plan?’ Rebecca demanded, changing the subject.
‘Coyote and Derik will return to guard the ships,’ Udian replied quickly. ‘You and I are going into the lab to retrieve the samples.’
‘Why her?’ Coyote said immediately, who’d been helping himself to a shotgun.
‘Yeah, why me?’ Rebecca asked, looking alarmed. ‘Not that I’m scared or anything…’
‘You’re best equipped for this,’ Udian replied.
Derik growled. ‘Whilst I have growing respect for the little lady, she’s not exactly a commando. Better I go with you. I’ve done this before.’
Udian turned his attention to the lizard. ‘Unless I’m much mistaken you don’t have a personal shield generator. She does. She’ll also be able to get in and out of the lab quicker than anyone else. The access is deliberately very restrictive.’
Rebecca’s hand instinctively went to the small device she had strapped to her belt.
Coyote shook his head. ‘The Thargoids are trying to hunt her down. We still don’t know why. Better we stick together.’