Star Runners 2: Revelation Protocol

by L. E. Thomas

  He shook his head and tried to stand.

  A compression door on the far side of the dome clamped shut, closing off the water from entering the room. The crew stood from their stations. Binders and books floated in the standing water around the workstations. Austin gasped for air, struggling to take in what he saw.

  “Everyone to their stations,” Wallace said calmly over the intercom. “Red alert. I need a SITREP.”

  “Commander. OPS,” another voice, less calm, said over the intercom. “Hangar three has been destroyed.”

  “What?” Wallace barked, his voice rising. “How?”

  “Unknown. All connection with the hangar has been lost. I am attempting to get confirmation from outside Atlantis.”

  “Do it!” Wallace yelled, his composure fading. “An entire hangar can’t disappear.”

  Austin stood in the frigid water rushing around his thighs. Papers, tablets and other debris swirled around on the surface of the ocean water. He tasted the salt on his lips and wiped at his face. He reached over and helped a female officer to her feet. A bright red gash on her forehead bled down her face. He steadied her with his right hand, trying not to fall into the swirl of water.

  “The inbound freighter, Brazen Bryce, just confirmed an explosion over hangar three.”

  “Tell all incoming planetary traffic they have to reroute to Base Beta,” Carver said. “Defense, I want the point weapons manned and ready. Get—“

  An explosion ripped through the command center. Fire whipped into the air. A row of computers disintegrated. Staff burned and writhed, falling into the water. Two men flanked the door to the tube transport room, laser rifles pointing into the room. Austin recognized the scruffy man on the right from his arrival, the man who did not fit in.

  “There!” Austin yelled.

  Too late.

  The men fired into the crowd, laser bolts burning through officers and control stations. Sparks filled the air. Austin pushed the bleeding officer behind a control station for cover, his heart pounding.

  He pulled his sidearm. When the laser fire paused, he peaked over the control station. Bolts sizzled over his head. He ducked back.

  “INTRUDERS HAVE ENTERED THE BASE ON DECKS ONE, THREE, AND FIVE,” the female voice announced. “WE ARE UNDER ATTACK. I REPEAT; ATLANTIS IS UNDER ATTACK. ALL PERSONN—“

  Static screeched over the speakers. Austin looked at the officer near him.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yes.” She pressed her hand against her forehead, blood seeping through her fingers. “We can’t let them get control of this room.”

  Austin risked a glance. “There’s two of them at the door.”

  “Do you see Wallace?”

  “I can’t see anyone.”

  She nodded. “You can’t let them take this room. If they do, they have Atlantis.”

  Austin swallowed. “Right.”

  “Hey,” she said, grabbing his shoulder, “thank you.”

  Austin knelt into the cold water and peeked around the corner. The attackers fired into another area on the far side of the dome. Now was his chance.

  Austin dove into the water and moved for the next row of control stations. Laser fire continued around the dome. Men and women screamed. Austin glanced over the stations again, saw an attacker firing to his left. Austin raised his pistol. He emptied his charge. Bolts ignited the attacker’s uniform. The man spun around and disappeared into the water.

  The other attacker, now alone, backed up toward the tube transport room. He fired and disappeared out of sight.

  “I think we’re clear!” Austin yelled. He stood cautiously. “Commander?”

  “Wallace is out,” a voice said. A woman stood from behind a control station in the center of the dome. “I’m in charge for now.”

  “Who are you?” Austin asked.

  “Security Officer Brannen.”

  Austin kicked through the water, moving slowly like he was back in the swamp around the Tizona School of Excellence.

  “Officer Brannen,” he said. “What’s going on?”

  “Wait a minute.” She gestured to two soldiers on the far side of the dome. “You two, silence our guest in the transport room. Be careful.”

  Brannen turned to face Austin, her skin covered in cuts and bruises. “You were saying, Lieutenant?”

  “What’s going on?”

  “We have reports of attackers on several decks. Hangar three’s gone. Our alert fighters have engaged an enemy vessel on the outer perimeter, but we’re only getting fragments. Someone has fired a system-wide disruptor.”

  Austin shook his head. “I thought we had the only disruptor in the solar system.”

  “So did we, but another’s been fired. Electronics across the planet have been going haywire for the past few minutes. Right now, we’re blind.”

  Laser fire erupted from the transport room. A minute later, two soldiers came through the door and gave a thumbs up.

  “We got him, Brannen! Found the normal transport staff stuffed into four out-of-service tubes. No telling where these intruders tubed in from.”

  “Well done!” Brannen yelled.

  “What about Wallace?” Austin asked.

  “He’s over here,” she said, moving behind the control station. “He got swept up in the water and hit his head. Concussion, I believe.”

  She glanced at her tablet, typing in orders as she spoke. “Just took out another team trying to get to the life support systems. Apparently there are intruders all over Atlantis.”

  “Who are they?”

  “Phantoms.”

  “Here?” Austin shook his head. “Are you sure?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “How’d they get here?”

  Brannen grimaced. “They must have had help from the inside. Must have taken tubes over the past couple days. They have targeted Atlantis, but for what, I have no idea.”

  Austin glanced down at the dark displays. “We have no idea what’s going on out there?”

  “No, but we know our alert fighters have engaged something moving across the ocean floor at the outer perimeter.”

  “Do we have any defense cannons?” another officer asked, wading through the water.

  Brannen nodded toward the burning row of electronic wreckage. “That explosion took out the automated systems. I’ve ordered crews to the cannons, but I don’t know if the message went through.”

  “I’ll make sure of it,” the officer said.

  On his way to the door, the officer grabbed four other officers. The five went through the hatch leading to other corridors, grabbing laser rifles as they made their way through the destruction. Distance explosions rattled the stations, sending ripples across the standing water.

  “Adams, Clay,” Brannen said, pointing at two crewmembers, “I need power in here and I needed it five minutes ago. Start with the sensors. Then get the pumps operating. We can’t do our job in freezing water.”

  Austin clenched his chattering teeth and holstered his weapon. He thought of Nubern in the civilian hangar moving the six Tridents back to hangar three.

  “So much for the target being San Francisco. What about the civilian hangar?” he asked.

  Brannen lowered her gaze. “You know what I do Lieutenant.”

  “Other than what’s on alert now, we lost all our fighters.” He thought of the muscular blonde pilot he saw moments before the explosion. “And our pilots.”

  “I know.” She handed him a headset. “This’ll work anywhere in Atlantis. You run into resistance, I want to know about it.”

  Austin grabbed the headset and turned to leave. The power flickered like lightning. The hologram of Earth faded and disappeared. The displays came to life and then died. After a moment, the power kicked on full.

  “The disruptor has ceased,” Brannen said, her gaze fixed on the hologram. “Our sensors are coming back online.”

  The officers able to stand clapped. Austin slapped Brannen on the shoulder and smiled, until
he looked at the displays in front of him.

  Six large vessels surrounded Atlantis, skimming across the ocean floor from all sides and closing fast. Torpedoes moved toward the other three hangars, including the civilian hangar. Defense cannons destroyed the torps. The alert fighters had disappeared, probably destroyed by the incoming vessels.

  “If they wanted to destroy us, they could do that from a distance,” Brannen said. “They mean to board and take the Atlantis Dome.”

  “Why?” Austin asked.

  “This is the center of Legion activity in the entire system. If this falls, the system is wide open to invasion.”

  Austin frowned. “Can we hold?”

  “We are manning the cannons to deal with incoming submersibles,” Brannen said. “Inside, we’ll set up defense stations at all access points to the main station. If they board, they’ll run into a fight.”

  Explosions rumbled in the distance, followed by sporadic laser fire and screams. Brannen’s eyes darted around the room, staring at displays and holograms.

  “The defenses have to hold,” she said, staring at him with her eyes wide. “We will not allow Atlantis to fall. I may need you to help coordinate the defense on the northern corridor.”

  “I’ll do what I can to help.” Austin nodded and touched her shoulder.

  He looked up at the flickering Earth hologram. A clump of red spots appeared in high orbit.

  “Wait. Zoom in on that,” Austin said, barely above a whisper.

  Brannen ordered a crewmember to enhance the area. The hologram illuminated the red grouping and zoomed.

  “Oh, my,” Brannen said, her mouth hanging open.

  “What? What is it?”

  “Looks like fifty fighters grouping in high orbit. They are descending in attack formation.”

  “Fighters?” Austin asked, thinking of Mom and Kadyn in San Francisco. “What fighters? Whose?”

  She leaned over a nearby display. “Unknown, they have no transponders, but the vessel type matches the hybrid vessels of modified Tridents used by the Tyral Pirates. They’re entering the atmosphere now and are coming fast.”

  Austin swallowed. “To where?”

  “Here. They’re coming here. San Francisco was never the target.” Brannen shook her head. “Atlantis is the target.”

  Austin shook his head, his jaw dropping. After all this time and their preparations assuming San Francisco would be targeted, Atlantis was under attack.

  A wail like the alarm on a clock radio sounded in the room.

  “What is that?” Austin asked, his eyes wide.

  Brannen stared at her control board. “There’s a transmission coming in.”

  “From where? Earth?”

  Brannen keyed for a gamma wave trace. “It’s originating from orbit.”

  “Orbit? From the incoming fighters?”

  She nodded slowly, and pressed a button. An electronic screech filled the air, echoing throughout the water-filled command center.

  “Atlantis.”

  The voice boomed. Austin winced, the realization falling over him like a shroud. Dax Rodon.

  “Atlantis,” Rodon sneered, “I am thrilled to speak to you at last.”

  Brannen stared at Austin.

  “Atlantis is surrounded with several of my submersibles. I am giving you this chance to surrender.”

  Clearing her throat, Brannen grabbed a headset. “You will never get away with this Rodon. We have reinforcements—“

  “Spare me,” Rodon barked. “We both know there are no Legion reinforcements on the way. You are spread out across the quadrant in a vain effort to stop us. We will board and take Atlantis. And you will let us.”

  “Never,” Brannen whispered, the strength fading from her voice.

  “You will regret this,” Rodon said. “Remember, as you lay dying, I gave you this chance.”

  The transmission ceased.

  Brannen stared at her control station for a moment. When she looked at Austin, her bloodshot eyes filled with worry. She shook her head, her lips pressing together.

  Austin touched her shoulder. “Don’t worry,” he said. “I’ll get to the civie hangar, see what I can do.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  The flames reached two hundred feet into the air. The winds whipped the fiery inferno until it looked like a twister from hell. Josh adjusted course, the change in temperature causing the fighter to vibrate like a jackhammer. He tightened the harness and banked into a long, slow turn encircling the farm.

  The fire had reached the crops. Prisoners scurried in all directions. A large group of men sprinted toward the hills. Others moved toward the compound. Just outside the barn, standing like a statue in the middle of the chaos, stood a large man brandishing a laser rifle. He fired twice at an angle. The bolts sizzled into the air and dissipated in the distance. Prisoners who got too close to the compound ran away from the laser fire.

  Waylon.

  Descending through the flames, Josh lowered the landing gear. The fires hadn’t caught onto the barn, yet, but the flames reached when a gust of wind shot across the landscape. He dropped the fighter near the barn, hoping the fires wouldn’t hit the spacecraft. He opened the canopy and leaned over the side, staring at Waylon standing in the flames.

  “Come on!” he yelled.

  Screaming toward the mass of prisoners, Waylon fired twice more into the crowd and sprinted for the fighter. A surge of three prisoners emerged from the field fires, their faces wide with fury and holding farming tools over their heads.

  “Don’t leave us here!” the closest prisoner yelled.

  “Look out!” Josh screamed.

  Waylon spun around. He dropped to one knee and fired. Two prisoners fell into the dirt. The survivor slowed. He tossed the tool to the dirt, shaking his head.

  “You will just leave us here then?” the man said.

  “Here, you’ll have a chance to live,” Waylon said. “Take another step forward and I’ll end it.”

  The prisoner fell to his knees, his arms falling limp at his side. “Do what you will.”

  Waylon held the rifle at his side, apparently ready for another surge of prisoners to rush the fighter. The fire’s heat surged into the cockpit. Josh checked his fighter’s sensors. The hull’s temperature climbed as if he passed through the atmosphere. He couldn’t activate the shields with his canopy open.

  “Let’s go! Waylon! We have to go!”

  Walking backwards, Waylon kept his weapon trained on the fields. The prisoner on the landing pad remained on his knees. Waylon reached the fighter. Josh stood to allow the man to climb into the back.

  Waylon paused. “That’s a small seat,” he said.

  “It’s a small fighter.” Josh jerked his head. “Get in! We don’t have much time.”

  Waylon folded his massive frame into the back seat usually meant for small personal items. After trying to jam the rifle inside, he tossed it into the dirt. Josh lifted off the ground before he shut the canopy. A rush of heat moved the fighter to the left, the landing gear bumping against the barn. Josh looked down, saw the prisoner staring up at the fire and surrounding him as winds howled in from the plains.

  Josh righted the fighter and shut the canopy. He activated the shields, effectively creating an atmosphere around the ship. He pulled back on the stick and eased the throttle forward. Glancing back, the fires reached the compound. The inferno engulfed the barn in a ball of flame. Prisoners ran around in a frenzy. Dax Rodon would have no food supply to return to now. When he returned, he would find dirt and ash.

  Josh smiled. Facing forward, he took a deep breath and settled into the seat. Waylon smelled of sweat and fire as he breathed heavily from the backseat. Josh pushed the throttle and pulled back on the stick until he shot at a ninety-degree angle with the land. The blue morning sky transitioned slowly to the black of space. Stars poked through the atmosphere like sparkling beacons in the distance. Earth was among them, somewhere.

  In everything he had experience
d in recent years, he marveled at the fact Earth had been untouched by galactic events. Pure luck, he thought. Hundreds of dark worlds had the same fate. The powers of the known universe moved around them like a river bypassed rocks. Somehow, they remained untouched.

  But now, the Tyral Pirates had their way station. They had the ability to strike at a dark world, and Josh had been unable to stop it.

  “I need the coordinates to your base,” Josh said.

  “Right.” The man reached, leaning forward and pressing against Josh’s back. “Where’s navigation?”

  Josh snorted. “You still don’t trust me?”

  “You get me home and we’ll talk.”

  Shaking his head, Josh pointed at the navigation computer. Reaching over Josh’s shoulder, Waylon punched the keys. The keyboard shook with each keystroke from his heavy fingers. Josh held his breath, the man’s body odor hitting him in waves. When Waylon pulled back, Josh worked on starting the curvature drive. They had enough power for one curve. Waylon had better know his coordinates or they might have an interesting trip. Josh decided to keep his opinion to himself.

  While he waited for the curvature drive to warm, he activated the air vents to circulate the stench. After all, he knew he didn’t smell too good, either. He brought the fighter into a high orbit and enjoyed the moment of peace.

  “Be about two minutes,” Josh said, closing his eyes.

  Waylon exhaled. “Take your time. Just glad to be off that stinking toilet bowl of a planet.” He shivered. “Freezing though.”

  “Space is cold.”

  “Don’t I know this,” Waylon grumbled, rubbing his arms. “Spent more time in space than you have, boy.”

  Josh sighed. “True.”

  “I grew up in space. Got used to that planet. I feel more at home in the cold.”