“Shuttle launching,” the squadron duty officer, Lieutenant Mike ‘Retro’ Burke, confirmed.
“The destroyer has been…well, it’s been destroyed,” the OSO announced after several more volleys. “Should I slag the shuttle that’s down on the surface of the planet?”
“No, we want what they’re collecting,” the CO replied. “Destroying the shuttle might defeat the whole purpose of the assault. Stealth us up and take us back to our universe.”
“Stealth coming…now,” the duty engineer replied.
“Back to our universe, aye,” the helmsman added. “Here we go!”
Bridge, TSS Vella Gulf, Kepler-186 System, December 18, 2021
“System entry back into the Kepler-186 system,” Steropes announced.
“Contact!” the defensive systems officer (DSO) called. “I’ve got a cluster of ships on the far side of the planet.”
“Can you tell what they’re doing?” Captain Sheppard asked.
“Not from here,” the DSO replied. “There is a large amount of activity, though. Both the Jotunn and the Shaitan seem to be dropping orbital bombardment rounds on the planet, but they don’t seem to be taking any fire in return. There are a number of shuttles active as well.”
“Helm, take us away from the planet and then around to the other side so we can see what’s going on. Not too close to any of the Jotunn ships.”
“Aye aye, sir!” the helmsman replied. “Further out and then around to the other side, aye!”
“Sir, we’re already in range of almost all of their weapons,” the DSO said. “If they see us, I won’t be able to stop everything they can send our way. Even their light stuff can hit us here. If we get even closer to them…”
“Then the duty engineer better not let the stealth module fail,” Captain Sheppard replied. “And the helmsman had better keep us out of the flight paths of any of their shuttles, too.”
The color drained from the faces of both junior officers seated at the front table.
“And just in case,” Captain Sheppard added, “Solomon, please be ready to jump us back to the other universe at a moment’s notice if either of those things looks likely to happen.”
Ducting, Jotunn Ship Falcon, Kepler-186, December 18, 2021
The Shaitan officers became silent as the Jotunn captain returned to the room.
“I have instructed my crew to watch for the Vella Gulf,” Captain Magnusson said. “I am, however, somewhat concerned about what its presence portends; a Terran attack may be imminent. We are having problems with our shields, and I do not want to go into battle without them. They are operational at the moment, but have failed twice. We appear to have something in our ducting chewing on the wires. We need to withdraw temporarily to have the ducts cleaned and the shields repaired.”
“That is unacceptable,” Captain Tectamus replied. “You must remain here and help us destroy the Vella Gulf.”
“I’m not sure what you intend for us to do,” Captain Magnusson said. “We cannot locate them any more than you can; in fact, you can probably do it better. If they have gone to your universe, they are beyond our reach. We can’t jump into your universe. Even if we did find the ship, it is unlikely they would fight us; we are much larger and would annihilate them easily. They have to know this.”
“If you allow the Vella Gulf to escape, the high lord will be angry. Trust me, you do not want the high lord angry at you. He always has his revenge.”
“Our Odin has promised our aid to you, but we will be handicapped in an assault if our shields don’t work. You can always jump back to your universe and escape. We cannot. We will come back and fight at your side; however, we need to get our shields fixed. We will also return with more ships in case there is an assault. It is only a few days to our home world; we will be back in eight or nine days, and we can finish destroying the Ssselipsssiss then.”
“We’re screwed,” Calvin said, sliding back from the grating.
“Why’s that?” Farhome asked.
“We’re going further behind enemy lines. The Jotunn are returning to their home world to clean out the ducting. Apparently the plan worked…too well.”
“I’ve never been to Jotunheimr.”
“Yeah,” Calvin replied, “neither have I. But this isn’t how I wanted to get there.”
Cockpit, Shuttle 01, Anti-Kepler-186 System, December 18, 2021
“You seeing that?” asked the shuttle’s pilot, Lieutenant Tom ‘Harv’ Walsh.
“If you’re asking if I see that parts of the city are burning, yeah, I see it,” Lieutenant Daniel ‘Admiral’ Walker replied. “It’d be pretty hard to miss; half the freaking city’s on fire.”
“Think we ought to tell the guys in back?”
“Yeah, probably.” Lieutenant Walker switched to his comm. “It looks like the Shaitans aren’t making any friends on the surface. About half of the nearby city appears to be on fire.”
“Anything going on near our landing zone?” Night asked.
“Not that we can see from here,” Lieutenant Walker replied. “Looks like there may be some fighting to the east, though. One minute ‘til touchdown.”
“Understood,” Night replied. “Land at the shuttle. We’ll take it from there.”
Cargo Bay, Shuttle 01, Anti-Kepler-186 System, December 18, 2021
“Looks like things are hot on the surface,” Night commed on the platoon frequency. “The flight crew said the city to the east of our landing zone is on fire. Expect the situation to be fluid; neither side will recognize us, so you can expect both of them to shoot first and ask questions later.”
“The locals are fighting back?” Lieutenant Contreras asked.
“I don’t know for sure, but I can tell you that if some damned cow-looking creatures landed on my planet, stole my shit and then burned my town, they would be on the receiving end of some laser fire.”
“Only if my trident ran out of antimatter first,” Lieutenant O’Leary added.
“I don’t want anyone to take chances,” Night warned. “The locals may or may not be friendly to us, but they’re probably going to be primed to kill anyone who doesn’t look like them. While I’d rather not kill them if we didn’t have to, I’d rather kill them than lose any of our folks.”
Night paused to let the guidance sink in, then continued, “Here’s what we’re going to do. Lieutenant Contreras, I want you to take the Space Force and seize the Shaitan shuttle. If you can capture any Shaitans, do so, but do not take any casualties. Put them down if they resist.”
“It would be my pleasure!”
“Once the shuttle is secure, see if they have anything we can use. If so, transport it back to our shuttle.”
“Yes sir!”
“Lieutenant O’Leary, I want you to take the Ground Force and secure the area to the east of the shuttle. I want to be ready for when the Shaitans return; prepare positions and wipe them out.”
“Yes sir. Nothing would make me happier.”
“Ten seconds!” Lieutenant Walker interrupted from the flight deck. The cargo ramp started down.
“Any questions?” Night asked as the ground rushed up to meet them. Silence ruled the net.
The shuttle slammed into the ground in a combat touchdown. The struts absorbed some, but not all, of the controlled crash.
“Go! Go! Go!” Lieutenant O’Leary yelled as the troops punched their quick release buttons, stood up and charged down the ramp.
Night watched from the shuttle ramp as the Space Force sprinted toward the alien shuttle. It was red and looked like a 200-foot long brick sitting on skids in the forest clearing. The only distinguishing features were some sort of glass-like canopy for the cockpit and a large ramp that extended from its starboard side. They had either caught the Shaitans napping or unaware; four of his soldiers made it onto the ramp before it began closing.
Night could no longer see the Ground Force; they had disappeared into the forest almost immediately. The shuttles rested in a forest clearing
little larger than the two shuttles, and Night could almost touch the foliage from the cargo ramp. The trees looked like the vegetation artists drew in dinosaur pictures; huge, frond-like leaves effectively blocked all vision into the forest beyond a few meters. He could still track the troops on his in-head display, though, and they appeared to be maintaining good formation. Everything appeared to be going so well, he wasn’t surprised when the comm system came to life.
“Captain Train, we’ve got a problem.”
Chapter Seventeen
Shaitan Shuttle, Anti-Kepler-186 ‘e’, December 18, 2021
“Follow me!” Staff Sergeant Alan ‘Arty’ Isom commed as he raced toward the boarding ramp. Last to load on the Terran shuttle, his fire team was the first out, and the first to reach the alien vessel. Built for Shaitans, the shuttle’s boarding ramp was 15 feet wide and less steep than a similar Terran one would have been. And it was still down; maybe they didn’t know the Terrans were coming. “Quickly! Before they raise the ramp!”
He had no more said it, and the ramp started up, forcing him to grab hold of the side to regain his balance. He checked his in-head display as he continued up the 30-foot ramp; Sergeant Margaret ‘Witch’ Andrews and Sergeant Austin ‘Good Twin’ Gordon were right behind, along with Sergeant Steph ‘Valkyrie’ Taylor from the third fire team. The fire team’s cyborg, Sergeant Ken ‘Boom’ Weinert, hadn’t made it to the ramp. Stupid cyborgs were just too darn slow.
He slowed when he reached the top of the ramp and Witch ran into him from behind as the ramp continued to rise behind him.
“Go, mon!” the Jamaican commed on the fire team’s net. “We not be havin’ much time.”
Arty looked left and saw the cargo bay, stuffed nearly deck to ceiling with crates and containers. “To the right!” he commed. He sprinted up the passage, narrowly avoiding Good Twin and Valkyrie as they were forced to run down the ramp and into the vessel.
The passage turned to the left and Arty scarcely slowed as he negotiated the corner. The natural light was quickly dimming as the ramp shut behind him, and he barely had time to see the Shaitan before he ran into it at full speed.
Although Arty had seen pictures of Shaitans, they didn’t do justice to just how enormous the aliens actually were. Especially if you ran into one at full speed. Bigger than a full-grown Hereford bull, the creature massed over 2,000 pounds, and the force of the collision threw Arty sideways to the deck; the alien hardly shuddered.
Witch drew up short, barely avoiding running into the Shaitan. She tried to bring her rifle into line with the enemy, but the Shaitan was just as fast and grabbed the barrel of the rifle with its upper pair of arms. The lower pair of arms reached toward a pair of pistols attached to the harness it was wearing.
Witch screamed as the alien twisted the rifle from her hands. Taller than the Terran by almost two feet, the creature used its leverage to bend her over backward as it twisted, and she could feel herself losing her footing.
The Shaitan’s pistols came clear of their holsters.
“Move, damn it!” Good Twin yelled.
Without looking, Witch released the rifle and threw herself to the side. Good Twin fired his rifle at the Shaitan’s head, but the creature ducked, and the laser bolt only succeeded in severing one of the alien’s eye stalks.
The creature emitted a high-pitched scream, and Good Twin’s second shot caught it in the chest as it bucked up off its front legs. If the shot fazed the beast, it wasn’t apparent. The Shaitan’s front legs landed on the deck and its pistols turned toward its tormentor.
Arty crashed into the creature’s arms from the side, and the shots went wide. One shot hit the bulkhead next to Good Twin’s head, and the metal sizzled from the plasma’s impact.
Good Twin aimed and shot the alien in the head with a long blast. The creature’s legs went out from under it, and the Shaitan collapsed onto the deck, its torso coming to rest on top of Arty.
“Let’s go, mon,” Witch said, taking hold of one of Arty’s arms and pulling him out from under the creature.
“I think I’m…done,” Arty said. The hole in his chest still smoked from where the plasma burst from the second pistol had hit him. His head rolled to the side.
“He saved my life,” Good Twin said, looking down at Arty’s body.
The ship vibrated as one of its motors came to life.
“You can thank him later, mon,” Witch replied. “Right now, we need to be finding the pilots before they take us to space in ‘dis piece of shit.”
Bridge, TSS Vella Gulf, Kepler-186 System, December 18, 2021
“Oh my,” Steropes gasped.
“What is it?” Captain Sheppard asked.
“I think I know what the Shaitans are doing, sir. I believe they are systematically exterminating the Ssselipsssiss.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, they’ve been dropping a large number of bombardment rounds…”
“Yes,” Captain Sheppard replied. “We know that. What makes you think they’re exterminating the Ssselipsssiss?”
Steropes pushed a button on his console, and the front screen illuminated to show a picture of the surface of the planet. A dark spot on the planet flashed, and was replaced with a large mushroom cloud. “That was their last bombardment round.”
“So?” Captain Sheppard asked.
“Here’s the target, under greater magnification.” He pushed a button, and the picture on the screen zoomed in on the dark stain. Thousands of Ssselipsssiss milled about inside a pen about 1,500 feet in diameter. Shaitan robots could periodically be seen around the edge of the pen. Not many, but enough to prevent the unarmed lizards from escaping.
The screen flashed again, and a mushroom cloud took the place of the pen.
“That was the second such target I observed,” Steropes noted. “I didn’t believe it the first time. How can a race be so…unfeeling? It’s not like they’re harvesting the Ssselipsssiss for some reason…they just seem to be systematically exterminating them. We have counted over 70 bombardment round strikes since we arrived. So many dead…I think I may need a few moments...”
“Damn,” Captain Sheppard said under his breath as the screen turned off. “Go ahead and take a break. We’ll fill in for you.” Captain Sheppard understood Steropes’ discomfort. He felt like he was going to throw up. Louder, he added, “Well, if nothing else, that makes the decision of whether or not to destroy their planet a little easier. Suddenly, I don’t feel quite so badly about it.”
The bridge was silent as the crew tried to rid their minds of what they had just seen.
Captain Sheppard thought for a moment then had a disturbing idea. “I may have made a mistake leaving the platoon in the other universe,” he announced. “We need to find out if Lieutenant Commander Hobbs is still alive down there. If so, we’re going to have to go back and get Captain Train to put together an assault.” He shook his head. What a dumb idea it had been to leave the platoon in the other universe.
“Comms officer, trail a line outside the cloaking field,” Captain Sheppard ordered. “I want to transmit a pulse and find out if Lieutenant Commander Hobbs is still alive.”
“Streaming a line, sir,” the communications officer replied. “When we transmit, there will be a risk of the pulse being intercepted. They may even be able to triangulate where the pulse originated.”
“I understand that,” the CO replied, “but we have to know. We can’t leave him down there to be on the receiving end of one of those rounds.”
“Transmitting…now.”
Overhead the Bridge, Jotunn Ship Falcon, Kepler-186, December 18, 2021
Calvin jumped like he had received an electric shock as his comm set came to life. “Lieutenant Commander Hobbs, this is the Vella Gulf. We are in-system for recovery. Please transmit your location if able.”
One of the Jotunn below him jumped like he had received the same shock. “Sir! I just received an unknown transmission.”
“Did you get a g
ood fix on it?” Captain Magnusson asked. “Pass the coordinates to the weapons operator and fire on it before the ship moves!”
“I’m sorry sir, but it was a burst transmission. Without some other ships to help triangulate it, I won’t be able to narrow it down on just the one pulse.”
“Watch that frequency then,” Captain Magnusson ordered. “If the signal comes back, try to locate its source so we can fire on them. Maybe we’ll get lucky and kill their stealth generator. And if the gods really favor us, we’ll disable their ability to jump to the other universe to get away from us.” He smiled, savoring the chance to kill the untouchable ship…and maybe get a look at whatever machine helped the other races jump between the universes.
“All I got was just that one pulse,” the technician replied. “There hasn’t been anything else since.”
“It is possible they were signaling another ship,” the CO mused, “which may indicate a possible counterattack by the Terrans or the Ssselipsssiss.” He paused as he considered, then he added, “Hel take the damn Shaitans. I am not going to sit here and let the Ssselipsssiss catch us unprepared. Navigator, set a course for Jotunheimr. Best speed. We’re going to go get our shields fixed and come back with additional forces.”
Calvin rolled away from the gate, trying to think. He was screwed. The Gulf had come back, and it was so close…and yet, so very far away. There was no way they could hope to get close enough to get a shuttle over to him. The Falcon would blast it as soon as it became visible. Worse, the Gulf wouldn’t have any idea he was still alive, and they would go on their way to look for the Dark Star, leaving Calvin to return to the home world of the Jotunn. Where he would be killed by whatever process the giants used to de-louse the ducting.
He was going to die like a roach caught in a bug bomb.
If he only had a way to let the crew of the Gulf know he was okay…but he didn’t. As soon as he commed back in reply, the Jotunn would realize there was an enemy in the ducting. What they currently saw as a “Get rid of when convenient” problem would become a “Get rid of now” problem, and the Jotunn and their robots would come up into the ducting looking for them. They might be able to hide and escape detection…but probably not.
The Dark Star War (Codex Regius Book 3) Page 12