by CH Gideon
“Lock her signal down, so we don’t lose her if she gets there before us.”
“Aye-aye, Captain,” Geroux replied, clearly struggling to keep up with the excitement and the back and forth precision of the collective AI. A sheen of sweat glistened on her forehead.
Jiya was sure she had the same, but she wasn’t about to call attention to it by wiping it away.
“She’s at the Gate,” Navigation reported. “Shit, now she’s through.”
“Still got her on scanners,” Jiya noted. “We’re not losing these bastards.”
“Coming up on the Gate,” Helm said. “Preparing for entry. Five, four, three, two…entering.”
Once more the brilliant flash of Gate travel flooded the bridge with light, and then they were through. Jiya grunted at the oddness of the spatial shift, but she didn’t lose track of the fleeing scout ship.
“There she is,” she called out. “Starboard side.”
Helm was already on it. “Closing,” he told the crew. “Another minute and we’ll be sniffing their asshole.”
“Do we have to?” Geroux asked. “I mean, I’m all for adventure, but some things are better left un-experienced.”
Tactical chuckled. “There’s nothing like the smell of burning asshole in the morning.”
“Going to have to take your word for it, Tactical,” Jiya responded, unable to get the sordid image out of her head. “Reynolds, we’ve got `em. They’re within weapons range.”
“Tactical, put some heat on their tailfeathers,” Reynolds commanded.
“Targeting engines,” he replied.
“They’re evading,” Helm reported.
“They aren’t evading shit,” Tactical stated, and the superdreadnought’s forward guns fired.
A bolt of energy streaked through space and slammed into the scout ship’s rear shields. It was like a hammer versus an ant.
The shields flared and dispersed under duress, and the bolt scored a direct hit on the scout ship’s engines. There was a flash of light, and then the scout’s hull warped and gave way. Its engines exploded, a burst of fire and light erupting, going out as soon as it started. The ship listed and began to veer off course, spinning in a slow circle as its momentum was redirected.
“Excellent shot, Tactical,” Reynolds complimented.
Jiya watched the wounded scout ship as it slowed, the SD Reynolds drawing closer with every passing second.
The screen highlighted the wreckage of its engines, and Jiya complimented Tactical on the precision of the shot.
The ship’s hull was charred black and looked as if it had been melted, the once-round engines warped into crescent shape. Wisps of smoke trailed behind the ship, and she saw its external lights flickering, appearing ready to go out.
“Hail them again” Reynolds called.
“Same song and dance,” Geroux answered, shaking her head. “We keep sending, they keep blowing us off.”
Reynolds nodded. “Then we board to get what we need.” The android pointed at Jiya. “Assemble the crew and gather weapons and gear from the armory. I want all of you in on this.”
“Everyone?” she questioned.
“Did I stutter?” Reynolds barked. Jiya raised an eyebrow and glared at him. “I’ll go with you, but this is an experience all of you need to have, so gear up.”
“Yessir, Captain Reynolds, sir,” Jiya replied, stomping off the bridge with Geroux at her heels.
Reynolds sighed once they had left.
He glanced down the corridor in the direction the two women had gone. “Anyway, hold down the fort while we board and figure out what those squirrelly little bastards were running for.”
“Probably has nothing to do with us being a superdreadnought,” Navigation muttered, stating what might well have been obvious.
Still, Reynolds needed to know if there was more to it. Besides, they’d plotted a search vector to find Kurtherians, and since there might well be a Kurtherian aboard the scout craft, or they might know of some, it only made sense to board and scrape all the intel they could from the ship.
“Time to put my android foot up someone’s ass.”
Chapter Fourteen
The crew donned the makeshift armor left behind by the previous crew.
They looked like rejects from a first-season Doctor Who episode.
“We’re going to need to do something about our equipment, I’m thinking,” Jiya moaned. “That’s probably going to be your next job, Takal—crafting some armor that actually fits us.” She glanced at Geroux, who swam in her suit. “This is ridiculous.”
“We’ll worry about it after this, and after I get my new body,” Reynolds said, although he too seemed distraught by what he saw among the crew. “Don’t die.”
“Reassuring,” Takal muttered, taking a hit from his flask. “I can work on both, fortunately,” he whispered to Jiya, who nodded in reply.
Ka’nak pushed past the group, moving to the front of the line near the boarding tube. He looked every bit the warrior. “Just stay behind me, everyone.” While his armor didn’t fit perfectly, it was clear he was closer to the prototype of those who’d come before.
Jiya wasn’t comfortable invading an alien ship this way, but what other option did they have? This was the mission she signed up for.
Sort of.
Who knew what the hell these particular beings were? They were going to find out far sooner than later.
“We’ve got ten lifeforms aboard,” Comm told them, pulling himself out of mothballs while Geroux was away from her station. “They are apparently wise to our tactics, so they’ll be sitting right there when you break through to their ship.”
“That seems…unfortunate,” Takal mumbled.
“Show some courage,” Reynolds replied. “The plan is straightforward: hit them hard and fast and keep pumping bolts into them until they’re all dead. What’s so difficult about that?”
“I’d say just about every bit of what you said,” Takal admitted. “These are living beings we’re talking about here. How do we even know they’re hostile?”
“Well, if they shoot at us, then we’ll know they’re hostile,” Reynolds retorted. “It’s pretty simple, really.”
Takal looked at his weapon and let out a loud sigh, his hands trembling.
Reynolds stared at Takal as the older man stood there eyeballing the floor. “Wait, haven’t you ever killed anyone before?”
Takal shook his head. “Never.”
The AI stiffened. “Oh, hell. Are you serious?” He looked at the rest of the crew in turn. “What about you, Geroux?”
“Nope,” she replied.” Can’t say that I have.”
“You, Jiya?” Reynolds asked. “At least tell me you’ve taken someone out before.”
“On dates,” she answered, shrugging. “I’ve even paid a few times.”
Reynolds deflated. “Well, this certainly changes things. I’d assumed—and yes, I know the stupid saying: ass, you, me—I thought the lot of you had some kind of combat training.” He grunted. “Looks like we have a bunch more training to prioritize if this is going to work.”
Ka’nak raised his hand. “If it makes you feel better, I’ve killed lots of people. Lots.”
“It does, actually,” Reynolds told him. He paced for a moment, clearly wondering what the hell he should do.
“We’ll make it work, Reynolds,” Jiya told the AI, although she wasn’t completely sure how. “We just need to be smarter than our enemy, right?”
Reynolds shrugged. “Usually, hitting them with so much force they don’t have a chance to hit you back is better, but sure, we can try to outwit them this time. What do you have in mind?”
She didn’t have much.
Having never been in such a situation before, her mind was one big blank. How did you go about planning to kill people?
She looked at Geroux and Takal, who were even more nervous and less prepared than she was. At least she’d spent her life training on various hand-to-hand and
martial arts techniques. Geroux was a book-learner, and Takal was… Well, Takal was Takal. He was an out-of-shape genius who didn’t have a clue about weapons, let alone how to put one to use against an enemy.
She turned her focus to Reynolds, who stood there impatiently tapping his foot, and then to Ka’nak. Here was her real army, the fighters who’d burst through the door and kick ass until there was no more ass to kick.
Then it hit her.
“Hey!” she cried out. “Can we get one of the bots down here?”
“For what?” Reynolds asked. “They’re not designed for combat.”
“Don’t need them to be,” she answered. “They can take a shot or two without blowing apart, right?”
“Yeah, they’re fairly sturdy. What are you thinking?”
“I remember something I did as a kid at my father’s compound,” she said. “It was a game. Actually, Geroux and I played it a bunch of times, too. We would set up cups at the end of a long walk, and we’d find palm-sized stones and roll them down the walk to knock the cups over.”
“Bowling?” Reynolds clarified.
“Don’t know what bowling is, but we called the game ‘Knock `em Over.’”
Geroux grinned, clearly remembering the game.
“What the hell does that have to do with anything we’re about to do here?” Reynold asked.
“Well, that’s where the bot comes in,” she replied, offering him a sly grin.
Judging by the expression that washed over the Jonny android’s face, he realized what she intended.
“Oh, that might just work,” he muttered. “Hey, Comm, get me a bot down here. But not one of the sparkly new ones. Send an old beater that still works.”
“On its way,” Comm responded.
“Forgive me for not keeping up, but what the hell are you two talking about?” Takal asked.
“Tactics, old man,” Reynolds said with a grin. “Tactics.”
Jiya patted the old scientist on the shoulder. “Just stay at the back and shoot anything that comes toward you that isn’t one of us, okay?”
He nodded, but Jiya hoped it didn’t get to the point where Takal was expected to fight. Geroux either, for that matter, although Jiya felt more comfortable that the young woman would excel at it like she did everything else.
The hum of the bot’s arrival drew her from her thoughts. It came over and stood beside them, awaiting orders.
“How do you want to do this?” Reynolds asked Jiya.
She let her breath out slowly, thinking and visualizing, and decided she knew best how to make it work.
“Well, we can’t go charging in without setting ourselves up for attack, right?” she asked, not really expecting an answer. “So, instead of making ourselves targets, we give the enemy a better one to lash out at.”
“Care to elaborate?”
“Not really,” she answered. “Just follow my lead, and be ready to hit these guys hard on my command.”
“So, I’m supposed to not only let you take charge of a battle, but I’m also supposed to sit back and wait until you want me to join in?” Reynolds wondered, one eyebrow raised in disbelief.
Jiya offered him a shallow nod. “I work best under pressure. Spontaneously.”
“Oh, goody,” Reynolds muttered, racking a round in his weapon. “Sure, let’s see what you’ve got. I’m sure Bethany Anne will forgive my complete lack of sanity in going along with this.”
“Worse comes to worst, you can always blow the scout ship up with your railguns,” Jiya told him.
“True, and then we’d lose all the intel aboard, which is why we’re doing this in the first place.” He shook his head. “You’re not exactly inspiring confidence here.”
“Well, if I screw it up, you can go in blasting. How’s that?”
“Ah, a Plan B I can get behind,” he snarked. “Let’s do this.” He moved toward the boarding tunnel, but Jiya waved him off.
“Stay to the side, but open the tube and be ready,” she told him. “The rest is on me.”
“What are you going to do?” Geroux asked.
“Play rabbit,” she replied, surprised to find herself grinning.
“I wonder if we’ve included funeral arrangements,” Reynolds mused.
“We have now,” XO replied across the comm. “Plus, in case of death by stupidity, we don’t have to pay the crew’s families or extend their benefits.”
“Excellent,” Reynolds said, rubbing his hands together.
“Again, you’re not creepy at all,” Jiya told the AI, moving to the edge of the tube. “Have the bot ready,” she said, then drew in a deep breath. “Open the far hatch.”
Reynolds complied without hesitation, reminding Jiya just how much of a machine he was in comparison to the rest of them. No matter what happened here, no matter how many times he got shot, he always had somewhere else to exist. None of the rest of them had that option.
Dead was dead.
That was why she needed to make this work.
She heard the hiss of the tube pressurizing and the far hatch popped open, leaving a clear shot to the enemy ship beyond.
“They there?” she whispered.
Comm came back. “Ten lifeforms just inside the craft on the other side of the boarding hatch.
She nodded, not even realizing she’d done it until afterward, then she lifted her pistol and steadied it in her hand. “Ignore everything I say until I call out Reynolds’s name, understand? Everything until then isn’t meant for any of you.”
The crew muttered their agreement, and Jiya jumped into the tube without another word. Geroux gasped, but it was too late do anything to calm the girl’s nerves.
Jiya raised her gun and fired down the tube, squeezing the trigger with abandon. This wasn’t about taking out the enemy singlehandedly or going out in a blaze of glory, she knew.
“Get `em!” she screamed at the top of her lungs. “Advance now! Hit `em hard!”
In actuality, it was about being bait.
She stopped a few steps inside the tube, catching sight of aliens aboard the scout ship. A knot formed in her throat. While she couldn’t get a good look at them, it was clear that their armor fit and their weapons looked deadly.
She knew the latter because there were a handful of them pointing at her.
Then they started firing.
“Motherfucking fuckity fuckball fuckers,” she screamed, dodging the blaster fire and diving out of the boarding tube.
She slammed into the hard steel of the Reynolds’ floor, knocking the wind from her lungs. Gasping to catch her breath, she rolled to the side to be out of line with the tube, scrambling to her knees.
“That was…interesting,” Reynolds assessed.
She flipped him off, sucked in enough air to push a few words out, and hit her comm. “Where are they, Comm?”
“Pushing down the tube. There are five coming your way,” Comm replied. “Your brilliant plan to be killed aboard the SD Reynolds rather than the alien scout ship was a rousing success.”
“Fuck off,” she muttered. “Reynolds, time to put the bot to work. Shoot him down the tube.”
Again, Reynolds didn’t hesitate. “Sorry, little guy,” he said, and the bot launched itself around the corner and charged down the boarding tube.
Blaster fire resounded, shots scorching the air and crashing into the wall just behind the umbilical and charring it black. That ended a split-second later.
Curses and screams echoed down the tube, then several loud thumps resounded loudly and the gunfire paused.
“Contact!” Comm called.
“Go, Reynolds and Ka’nak,” Jiya ordered.
To her surprise, neither questioned her.
Reynolds shot down the tube in his Jonny android body, weapon up and firing. Ka’nak ran behind him, using the android as cover.
Jiya waved Geroux and Takal after her. “Follow me in and secure the tube end once we get there,” she commanded, then she bolted after Ka’nak and Reynolds, t
rusting that the other two would do as ordered.
For an instant, she regretted dragging them into it, but she knew, like Reynolds had said, it was an experience they all needed. To pamper them and keep them from the violence inherent in their job was to put them at even more of a risk. They needed to do this.
Jiya sighed. That included her.
Today was one big battle orgy to show them what it was all about.
Ahead of her, the bot pushed through the end of the boarding tube, taking with it the five aliens who’d been unfortunate enough to be in its way. Their twisted bodies were wrapped around the bot in awkward positions, and those who were still alive squirmed to break free of the bot’s crushing grip.
They never got the chance.
The bot shot out the far end of the tube and slammed headlong into the wall beyond.
Jiya felt a wave of nausea roil in her gut as metal and bone collided. Great, creaking snaps resounded, bones shattering, the sound of a skull being crushed like a melon dropped from a roof.
She bit back the bile threatening to spew loose and pushed on.
Puke later, damn it!
Reynolds broke free of the tube behind the bot and cleared the way, turning to his left, his weapon up and firing. Ka’nak veered right, doing the same thing as weapons fire came back at both of them.
Jiya split the difference and jumped into the scout ship between the pair of them.
Her first instinct was to follow Reynolds and use his metal body as a shield to avoid getting shot, but she realized that was a bitch move. It left Ka’nak, who was flesh and blood—even if he was a beast—on his own.
While Reynolds could take a number of shots and walk away from it, the Melowi warrior might not be able to. She darted to Ka’nak’s side and engaged the enemy.
The aliens had retreated down the corridor, but there was nowhere for them to go that didn’t leave them exposed. Ka’nak took advantage of that and advanced, firing the entire time. Jiya marched alongside him, doing the same.
Her weapon thrummed in her hand, and one of the aliens took a blast to his chest. Jiya cheered internally, biting back a grim smile as the alien stumbled back, smoke billowing from the wound, but he was far from dead.