“There’s plenty of fuel in her, so getting around won’t be a problem,” Hannah paced behind Irons.
“That won’t be a worry,” Syracuse told her. “She won’t be out there long enough to fly around.” He turned to Irons. “Make it a quick recon. See what there is to see then get back here. Got it?”
“I ain’t interested in more than that,” Irons told him.
Hannah opened the cockpit. “Flight works the same as any standard aircraft.”
Irons looked inside and raised an eyebrow. “Except I can’t read Catter.”
“You don’t have to. The stick is just like an Earth jet.” She pointed at a large foot pedal on the floor. “That’s your thrust. Just like a car accelerator. Above the seat is a switch for the Hard Light Projector. Whatever you do, this thing will copy.”
“Gun fire?”
“Baby steps, Captain,” Syracuse said. “No need to pull triggers if there’s no need to pull triggers.”
Irons stepped up and into the cockpit. Sitting down was a little unsettling. “These Catters are big. I can barely see over the front of this thing.”
“You want a box to sit on?” Durham asked with all seriousness.
“Shut it, Durham! I’ll manage.”
“Ok,” Hannah held the Wormhole device up. “The Wormhole Activator is already set. I got it as close as I could without putting you in the thick of things. It’s already set to come back here once you’re ready to return.” She handed him the activator. Just aim the top where you want the portal then hit the button. Once you’re through, it will close.”
“Good to know. Well, I guess I’m off.”
“You need a timer?” Syracuse asked.
“Five minutes. Any longer you continue on without me.”
“Sir?” Lindsay stepped forward.
“Worst case scenario, you find me floating in space.”
“Best case?” Durham asked.
“I’m back in five minutes.”
The crew stepped back as Irons closed the cockpit door. Short gusts of air took the modified ship up faster than anticipated. The crew ducked down at the sudden rush of air.
It took some doing but Irons finally got the ship at the altitude he wanted within the cargo bay. He took the ship toward the gangplank opening and out into the Mars air.
The crew rushed out to watch as the ship lifted several feet above the Lucky Liberty and stopped.
Irons pointed the Wormhole Activator forward and pressed the button. The purple and black portal opened directly in front of the ship, casting its glow on Irons. He took a deep breath and piloted the ship through.
As soon as he was out of sight, the portal blinked out of existence.
“Let’s make sure our girl is ready when he gets back,” Syracuse ordered.
“If he gets back,” Durham muttered.
* * *
The modified ship slowly exited the wormhole. Irons pursed his lips, annoyed that his visibility was as low as his seated position in the Catter cockpit. He took his foot off of the thrust pedal. In space, there was no reason to accelerate unless you wanted to move forward. The initial thrust through the wormhole was sufficient to keep the ship coasting in zero gravity.
Irons stood in the oversized seat only to be met by a daunting sight of what looked like the entire Ka‘traxis Brood Fleet surrounding Jupiter.
He squinted to see any sign of the rest of the Earth fleet. But it was nearly impossible with the amount of Catter tanks and LAVs flying in formations around the planet.
“They must be inside, then. I don’t need five minutes to know what’s next.” He pointed the Warmhole Activator in front of the ship as before and pushed the button.
Nothing happened.
“What?” He tried again to the same effect. “You gotta be kidding me.”
Suddenly, from below him, four LAVs rose up to surround the modified ship.
Irons dropped into the seat to avoid being seen. “You really gotta be kidding me.”
Twenty-Seven
Solo Style
James Irons was not scared. Military training and battle experience were handy bedfellows in such positions. Not to mention the numerous battles he’d been in since this mission started. No, fear was not the feeling. However, he did have a healthy respect for being surrounded by enemies. Enemies that would be more than happy to blast him into space dust.
The transmission receiver crackled with digital static but the voice that came through was definitely not human. Nor was it any known Earth language. It was just a series of guttural hisses and screeches. Irons winced at the sound.
He remained silent, not wanting to give himself away. Though the outward appearance of the Frankenstein ship was certainly a clue.
The alien voice spoke again through the receiver. This time it sounded irritated.
“And all they gotta do is rise above the windows.“ Irons looked up at the open space above the ship. “What’s it gonna be, James?” he asked himself. “Easy way or the hard way?”
The voice on the transmission yelled something. Most likely an order. But the Iron Albatross wasn’t big on being ordered. Certainly not by his enemies.
“Both it is.” He sat up in the seat, pulled the flight stick back and slammed his boot down on the accelerator.
The ship darted above the LAVs.
Irons listened to the Catters barking out more orders as they followed him. He doubted the orders were for him this time as more LAVs flew in his direction.
Irons fired at the oncoming LAVs, hitting one of them and flat out destroying another. If the Catters didn’t know what he was about before, they definitely knew now.
“So much for ID sensors,” he said as he banked the ship left, narrowly avoiding oncoming LAV fire.
* * *
“Has it been five minutes yet?” Durham asked, pacing up the gangplank then down to the dirt. He’d already started a light trench with his boots.
“Four and half,” Syracuse told him. “Where’s your watch?”
“Battery’s out.”
“Captain Irons will be fine,” Lindsay said with less confidence than normal.
So much was riding against them on this mission. The looming deadline alone was cause for alarm. But the thought of Irons being outgunned on such a small ship only added to everyone’s fear.
“He’s got five more minutes then we go on without him,” Syracuse ordered.
The others only looked at each other, glad that they didn’t have to make that call but worried that it might be the only choice.
* * *
Irons fired at LAVs trying to get him in a crossfire as he dodged under Catter tanks, letting them take the brunt of the pursuing LAV fire. Explosions blasted out from the tanks. It was nothing that would render them inoperative but still, if his pursuers took out any other guns, he’d be grateful.
A squadron of seven LAVs made their way straight for him.
“Better even the odds,” he said, reaching for the Hard Light Projector button behind him.
The glow of the copy appeared above him. It looked like the Wartech ship instead of the chimera they’d fashioned together. Irons shrugged. As long as it worked the same it could look like Grandma’s apple pie.
Irons pulled the trigger, firing round after round at the oncoming LAVs. The copy did the same. Both sets of guns ripped through two of the oncoming enemy ships. Only Irons’s actually destroyed one of them while the copy just took out the other’s flight controls.
The second ship careened for the copy and the two smashed into each other. LAV debris burst out in every direction. Some of it bounced off of a nearby tank and some of it hurtled into pursuing LAVs, causing even greater damage. Irons figured that was it for the copy but was surprised to see it reform itself. He smiled. “Got my own kamikaze ship.”
Unless instructed by their queen, Catters weren’t typically suicidal. Self preservation ruled over all for most species. So when Irons flew his ship directly at one of them, he knew
exactly how things would play out.
The approaching LAV darted up while Irons flew downward, sending the copy straight into the enemy ship.
A Catter shot hit one of his wings and jarred the ship. Good thing for zero gravity. There was little fear of unstable rudders in space.
Irons pulled the ship up and rolled out of the way as a Catter tank barreled toward him. Instinct took over and he pulled the trigger, getting a few shots at the hull of the tank.
“Gotta avoid those things,” he said.
More shots from the makeshift ship and its copy knocked two more LAVs out of the fight before Irons had an idea.
He turned the ship. Hard. And flew it right back toward the tank.
“Let’s see what happens to the big ones.”
Gun fire from the chimera ship and its copy pocked the hull of the tank and Irons dropped his ship just below the cruiser, keeping the copy directly in line with it.
He weaved his ship back and forth as explosions burst from within the Catter tank. He didn’t know what the hard light copy was hitting exactly. But whatever it was, it was having the desired effect. He veered low, firing at an LAV making its way up from below him. The top of his ship took a couple of hits but nothing life threatening while his bullets made their way through the cockpit window of the LAV. If the bullets didn’t kill the Catter pilot, the oxygen being sucked out of the vessel would.
The LAV smashed right into the hull of the tank as Irons pulled up, pushing the copy back inside.
Satisfied with the kamikaze destruction, he steered the copy to punch out of the hull and fly away from the giant ship.
Suddenly one final explosion from the tank sent a massive shockwave outward. The ships nearest the tank, whether they were LAVs or tanks themselves, were all affected by the blast. Some of the LAVs exploded while others were just knocked out of formation. A few light explosions happened on the tanks closest to the epicenter of the wave but nothing big enough to take them out of commission.
Irons slowed down and angled the ship just right to see out of the window. Even after that shockwave, the tank was still breaking apart from the kamikaze hard light ship. “Not bad, Stevens. Not bad,” he mused. “Doubt they ever tried that in their tests.”
A bullet struck the Hard Light Projector. Irons looked up to see the copy fade away.
“Well, there goes that,” he said.
A bullet from the rear struck the wing and Irons looked over his shoulder to see an advancing LAV. He hit the thruster, pushing forward. Three more LAVs made their way up on his port side. Irons pulled up and turned the ship, flying it straight down at the attackers. He fired on them, hitting each one significantly enough to end their threat. But he still had one on his tail. Lucky for him it was only the one. Unlucky for him, this pilot was better than the others.
Irons was a great pilot but even he had his share of difficult opponents. He tried nearly every trick he knew but this one stayed on him. Circling around didn’t work. Rolling didn’t work. Even intense one-eighty spins did little more than knock Irons around in the oversized LAV cockpit. The enemy ship managed to stay behind him, forcing Irons to do nothing more than try and stay out of its line of fire.
He frowned. “After all this, now I’m in trouble?”
* * *
“Ok, it’s been long enough,” Durham said.
“Agreed,” Syracuse added. “Time for us to move on.”
“Wait,” Lindsay chimed in. “The Captain was supposed to bring us intel. Whatever happened to him might just happen to us if we go in blind.”
Durham looked at her, surprised. “You’re scared?”
“What?” She frowned, insulted. “No. But all of us going in with no idea what’s on the other side is a bad plan.”
“We already gave him extra time. We can’t wait for Irons any longer,” Syracuse said. “He knew the risks.”
“He would have come back right away regardless of what was on the other side,” Hannah finally spoke.
“Assuming he didn’t get blasted first,” Syracuse told her.
“The safer assumption is that his Wormhole Activator stopped working.” Hannah ran into the cargo bay.
She rifled through the box of activators and pulled out one that was still in decent shape before running back down the gangplank and leaping up to the roof of the Lucky Liberty.
“Xuyen, what are you doing?” Syracuse asked.
The tech specialist didn’t bother answering as she disappeared on top of the ship.
* * *
Irons bobbed and weaved, avoiding the pursuing LAV’s gunfire. “Next time make these things with rotating turrets, Stevens,“ he growled, bothered that he couldn’t shoot at an enemy from behind.
A Catter tank lumbered its way into Irons’s path. He steered clear well enough in advance to not hit it. Of course not hitting it and not being hit by its turrets was another matter.
Irons had to do some pretty fancy flying to avoid being hit from the rear and the front. He only hoped that the tank might take out the LAV behind him.
Suddenly, the familiar purple light from a wormhole blinked into existence just on the opposite side of the tank. He smiled. “Gonna kiss ya soon as I see ya, Hannah,”
The pursuing LAV blasted off even faster than before, closing the gap between it and Irons.
Irons steered the ship right and checked over his shoulder. The LAV was no longer firing at him but it was gaining speed. “Now let’s test your reflexes.”
Irons darted under the tank, then looked back to see the Catter LAV still gaining. “This one’s good.”
Streams of bullets and laser fire from the tank rained down between Irons and the portal. It was too much to go around and delaying flying through was not in his best interests. Not when he was so close to the wormhole.
He pulled the ship up and held his breath as the tank fire hit.
* * *
“Come on, Captain…” Hannah muttered.
“You can’t see anything in there?” Durham asked.
“Nothing. It’s all dark!” Hannah yelled out. “It’s not like a lens or binoculars—There!” Hannah dropped to the roof of the Lucky Liberty as the chimera ship burst out of the wormhole and over her.
* * *
Irons felt the sudden weight of the ship as it went from zero gravity to the pull of Mars. Merely accelerating was not enough. He had to adjust for not passing winds and the bullet damage from the fight. He looked back to see that same LAV still on his tail. Though it was obvious the Catter pilot also had to adjust to atmospheric flight because it was just a little farther back than before.
* * *
“That thing came through, too?” Durham asked rhetorically. “Get around it, Boss!”
“He can’t,” Syracuse said. “It’s keeping up too good. Lindsay!”
“Yes, sir.” Lindsay darted into the cargo hold.
The gravity was the same inside the ship as it was outside but that didn’t stop Lindsay from triple timing through the ship. She knew the layout well enough that maneuvering through its passageways at a far faster rate than normal was fairly simple. It also helped that she was thinking three steps ahead and calculating for different variables.
The 10X DMG rifle rested just where she’d left it in the weapons store. She grabbed it and quickly looked it over. If she did everything Stevens had instructed her to, then it should work just fine.
* * *
Syracuse watched Irons trying to keep ahead of the LAV but the damage to the chimera ship was too extensive for it to last much longer. If the LAV gunfire didn’t bring Irons down, broken ship parts would.
Irons’s ship dodged a stream of gunfire before banking back around. It was clear he was out of options.
“Sir!” Lindsay dashed down the gangplank, 10X DMG in hand.
“At will!” Syracuse ordered.
Lindsay took aim at the enemy LAV.
“Lead it,” Duham said.
“I know!” Lindsay barked back.
>
“Take your time, soldier,” Syracuse said calmly.
Lindsay took a deep breath and fired three shots just in front of the enemy LAV. All three bullets hit but it was the third one that blew the Catter ship apart.
Everyone shut their eyes and shielded their heads at the intensity of the blast.
Pieces of the destroyed LAV rained down to the Martian soil, adding more to the already large amount of wreckage strewn about the area.
“What is that thing?” Durham pointed at the 10X DMG.
“That thing saved the Captain. That’s all that matters,” Syracuse said.
“Where is the Captain?” Lindsay asked, looking skyward.
“There!” Hannah pointed to the chimera ship as it trailed smoke on its hard journey toward the ground.
Twenty-Eight
Return to Command
Those under the command of James Irons looked much like super heroes running across the Martian terrain. Their Earth trained muscles worked with less effort to push them across the red planet at a speed greater than any of them could achieve on Earth. In this environment, one push equaled ten steps. No one questioned it and only Hannah really understood the math behind it but it didn’t matter. Making sure the Captain was safe was all that concerned them.
Irons stumbled to the top of the crater made by his crashed vehicle. He watched his team rushing toward him, kicking up a significant amount of red dust behind them.
“Better start slowing down, now!” he yelled.
Each team member did as instructed but it was difficult without the proper Mars training. Still they managed not to overshoot Irons’s position.
Smoke from his ship rose into the sky as he walked down the outside of the crater, irritated at what he just went through but also more hopeful than ever at victory for their mission. The Wormhole Activator worked, that was proven. All that was left was to figure out how to get the Lucky Liberty through a portal without meeting the same kind of resistance.
IRON SPEAR Page 14