The Gates of Hell

by Chris Kennedy

  It shifted its gaze away from Colonel Hu and seemed to peer expectantly at Boudreaux and AZ.

  “Did you get it?” Peacemaker Zarikk asked, exposing a mouthful of sharp teeth.

  “AZ?” Hu said, turning to the private.

  Azeela Mopantomobogo was nearly two meters of deep ebony skin that seemed to absorb all the light around her. She had beautifully sculpted features, with high cheekbones and dark eyes full of strength and intelligence. She kept her hair cut to within a couple mills of her shining skin, and her smile was the sort of thing photographers and artists dreamed of.

  She held out a slim data chip to the Peacemaker.

  “That slicer you provided got us past the firewall and pulled all the files down.” A concerned look crossed her features. “But it’s all encrypted, so we have no idea what we’ve got.”

  “I’m running some encryption algorithms,” Boudreaux said, tapping the pinplants on his neck. He’d chosen the full modification rather than the standard pair most of the Hawks received. He wanted as much bandwidth, processing power, and multitasking as the alien system afforded him. So far he hadn’t been disappointed.

  “Excellent,” Zarikk said, slipping the data chip into his cloak. “I’ll get my people on this immediately.”

  “So, we stick with the contract?” Hu asked. “This whole thing is starting to stink. Tokarra wants us to actually capture one of those aliens.”

  “Capture?” Zarikk asked, sounding confused. “Stand by a moment.” His focus seemed to drift away for several seconds, and it looked like he was communicating via his pinplants. Moments later, he gave a sharp nod and then focused on Colonel Hu. “Yes. Proceed as we’ve discussed. Pursue this contract just as if the Peacemakers weren’t involved. It’s the only way to keep the situation in motion. We’re playing the long game and need to know not only who the players are, but what their endgame is.”

  “You know this is another setup, right?” Yeo asked.

  “Undoubtedly,” Zarikk said. “We believe Praeliet Tokarra’s interest in Hu’s Hawks is a result of your involvement in the events that took place on Reliak IV almost two years ago.”

  “We did beat out a Veetanho company on that run,” Yeo said. “Are you saying this is a vendetta of some kind?”

  “We don’t know at this point.” Zarikk shifted his attention to the lieutenant. “We do have assets looking into the situation, but our best bet right now is to proceed with the mission in the hope that we can crack the encryption on the data you’ve acquired.”

  “Do you know anything more about the Thelosi? They’re holy terrors during combat ops.”

  “No.” Zarikk sounded both dismayed and deeply troubled. “What’s important right now is you know the situation going in, and you’ve faced them before. It should give you sufficient edge to complete their task while keeping your people alive.”

  “Should?” Yeo asked sourly.

  “It’s enough.” Hu cut her off. “And if we pull this off, we get paid twice. Once by that Veetanho, and then double that from your people.”

  “Correct,” Zarikk assured him. “I don’t know how long it’ll take for our people to crack the encryption, assuming they can do it at all. However, once we do, and if there’s anything that will help your mission, we’ll do everything we can to get it to you in-system in time. However, if you don’t hear from us, simply complete the contract as safely as possible and return here. I’ll find you when you do.”

  “Then let’s get moving,” Hu said. “You still want us to cut you loose on the way to the jump point?”

  “Yes.” Zarikk moved toward the forward hatch that led to the control section of the small shuttle. “Signal me when you’re ten kilometers from Karma, and I’ll launch.” He paused at the door. “Best of luck to you all, and know that the Peacemakers appreciate your assistance in this matter. There’s something deeper going on here, and it’s vital we determine what it is.” He opened the hatch and went through without another word.

  Hu tapped his pinplant.

  “Captain Zhou, prepare for launch. We’re heading out as soon as you’re able.” He turned to his subordinates. “We’ll have our operational meeting just as soon as we make hyperspace.”

  “Sir,” Yeo and the others said, and they exited the Peacemaker’s shuttle, intent upon prepping Zhūgéliàng for the mission.

  * * *

  Kuason

  Hawk’s Orbital Insertion

  LAHV-1

  The air screamed by the hull of Jian-1 as it sliced through Kuason’s thickening atmosphere. The deployment bay of the descending LAHV shuddered and rattled with the thunder of bleeding Gs as Lieutenant Yeo, Fireteam Cooper, and a half-dozen Hawk support technicians did their best to endure re-entry. The Mk 8, recon-modified CASPers and their occupants were securely locked into receiver cradles along the sides, while the others were merely strapped into couches at the front of the bay, feeling every shake. The fireteam’s Dragonflies, quad-rotary vehicles that looked like a cross between a motorcycle and a drone, were anchored along the middle of the bay, along with several large crates of equipment. The stasis chamber, on the other hand, was secured within an armored crate at the front, where it would remain until they had their captive.

  “Any luck on the decryption?” Yeo’s question came in through Boudreaux’s pinplants.

  “Still running in the background,” he replied. “I’ll say it again: there are no guarantees. These pinplants you gave us are fantastic, but I may not have the cycles to crack something like this…the algorithm keeps shifting. I’ve restarted the damn thing three times since we left Karma. At this point, I’m not hopeful.”

  “Just let it run. We should still be able to get this done, even without that missing piece, whatever it is.”

  “I intend to,” Boudreaux replied.

  Soong Ha Yoon’s voice came in on the comms. “Prep for high-Gs…we’re about to pull out of our dive and level out.” Soong had been a pilot for the Hawks for years, and of the six who flew missions for the recon company, she was by far Boudreaux’s favorite. She had a natural talent for flying and always seemed to make the insertions at least a bit gentler than the other pilots.

  “Copy that,” Yeo replied. “Hang on, everyone.”

  Moments later, the nose of the long, narrow-bodied craft pulled up as the wings extended slowly with a whine of servos. The turbines kicked in, and reverse thrust jerked everyone aboard. One gravity after another piled upon their already tortured bodies, and Boudreaux felt his vision swim. He grunted over and over again, struggling to keep the blood from draining out of his skull.

  The maneuver took only thirty seconds, but it felt like an eternity to Boudreaux. Drops were his least favorite part of any mission, but there was no avoiding them. When the pressure finally lessened, and the LAHV leveled out, Boudreaux let out a sigh of relief.

  “That’s it.” Soong’s voice was as even and calm as ever. “We’re 1000 meters off the deck and losing altitude slowly. Thirty klicks out from the landing zone. Jian-2 is in our wake and tracking. Jians 3 and 4 are north of their landing zone and right where they’re supposed to be.”

  “Copy that,” Yeo acknowledged. “I want us to get offloaded as quickly as possible.” The lieutenant disconnected her CASPer from the receiving unit and rose to her feet. Gripping a steel rail that ran the length of the deployment bay, she turned to the members of Fireteam Cooper. “Alright, folks, you know the drill and what we intend to accomplish here. The new drones should give us the edge we need.”

  “I hope to hell this works,” Boudreaux said. He thought about Yeo’s prosthetic leg. Close quarters and blind corners with an enemy that didn’t show up on sensors was just asking for trouble.

  “Cut the whining, Boudreaux,” Yeo ordered, “or I’ll give Killian’s call-sign to you,” she said sternly.

  “Yes, Lieutenant,” Boudreaux said and then shut his mouth. His fireteam leader, Corporal “Bitchy” Hank Killian, had received his call-sign not long befo
re the first engagement with the Thelosi, and it had stuck. Boudreaux and his entire fireteam had been brought into the ranks because of the losses taken on that mission. “Bitchy” was a running joke for the entire company, although Killian seemed to wear it with pride.

  “I agree,” Yeo said, “separating the squads into two forces is risky, but you heard Hu in the planning meeting; there really isn’t much choice. That fucking Veetanho set us up, and this is our best chance to find out why and get some payback. This will all depend upon whether or not the mods on our drones work the way we expect them to.”

  They better, Boudreaux thought.

  * * *

  The landscape was mostly forest-covered rolling hills and low mountains of partially exposed granite. Rivers and creeks cut through most of the valleys, indicating that the area, like most of the planet, got an inordinate amount of rain. A turquoise sky spotted with clouds made it feel like they were all on a hike through the woods back on Earth, but there was no mistaking the tension everyone felt as they drew nearer to their objective.

  “Thank God the forest is thinner here than the last time we dropped onto this rock,” Yeo said. “You newbies have no idea how bad an LZ can be until you hit Kuason in those mid-latitudes. That jungle was hairier than a macaque’s armpit.”

  “You said it, Lieutenant.” Corporal Killian’s voice came through the comms loud and clear. He was at the center of Fireteam Cooper’s line, with Boudreaux and AZ on his right. Privates Fujimoto Yoshiko and Keith Keenes were on his left.

  The Mk 8 CASPers of Fireteam Cooper marched up the forested hillside in a wide line, with about ten meters separating each armored unit. Each of them carried a heavy case in both hands, making them at least a little vulnerable if there was an ambush. Fireteam Cooper, tasked with entering the caves from the north end, would be going in with only their rifles and sidearms. They all had the snap-out arm blades on their right arms and standard laser shields on their left arms. Their shoulder-mount MACs, unfortunately, had been removed because of the expected close quarters.

  The CASPers of Fireteam Shikra, who had been aboard Jian-2, paced ahead about thirty meters, spread out along an even wider line as they ran point and scanned for any sign of movement. They did have their MACs and would provide suppressing fire if Fireteam Cooper had to fall back.

  There was an identical formation two kilometers to the south, on the other side of the ridge, made up of Fireteams Fiji and Gabar. Fiji would be entering the caves, while Gabar supported. Heavy Fireteam Doria, with assault-equipped Mk 8 CASPers, was moving in toward the lake where the Thelosi drop ships were supposed to be. Their orders were to prevent any escape and bring down the dropships if they launched.

  The forest surrounding them was light enough to allow daylight from Kuason’s G-Type star to illuminate the blanket of meter-tall shrubbery that covered the area for a hundred kilometers in every direction. Although the CASPers had no trouble forging through the underbrush, the support staff had to trail behind, making their way in the paths made by the large, heavy CASPers.

  As they cleared a thicker swath of forest, the rocky mountain ahead came into view. At the base, where undergrowth met stone, they spotted a cave entrance about three meters across that looked like it had been cut into the rock with mining equipment. It was far too neat to be a natural formation.

  “We’re just about in position.” It was Staff Sergeant Kun Hsiu, who was leading the operation on the other side of the ridge. “Still no enemy contact. It looks like they’re all underground.”

  “Copy that, Kun,” Yeo said. “Fireteam Doria, are you in position?”

  “Affirmative.” Corporal Gan Gamyagiin was the best heavy CASPer pilot they had, and she had a rock-solid group of pilots under her command. “We’re set up on the west side of the lake, with clear lines of fire to the far shoreline, and we’re unobstructed for missile barrages on all five designated targets. Targeting solutions are locked in. We’ve had no enemy contact either. It’s quiet over here, almost peaceful.”

  “Well, it’s about to get a lot louder,” Yeo said. “Fireteam Shikra, give me a defensive perimeter while we get set up here.”

  “Copy that,” Corporal Wei replied. Moments, later the lead CASPers moved into positions that gave them clear lines of fire at the cave entrance, as well as along both sides of the mountainside.

  “Corporal Killian,” Yeo said, “Get ready to deploy the drones.”

  “Yes, Lieutenant.”

  “Alright, folks,” Killian’s voice came in on the fireteam channel. “Drop those cases and open them up. We’ve got sixty seconds.”

  Boudreaux and the others dropped their cases with loud thuds and quickly hit release levers on the top of each. With a whine of servos, the tops folded back to reveal small racks that rose up and exposed dozens and dozens of small drones that looked like a cross between dragonflies and wasps. It had taken the entire week in hyperspace to modify them to Hu’s exacting specifications, but they were the secret weapon that, hopefully, would give the Hawks an edge over an enemy that had defied their sensors during the last encounter.

  “I hope to Christ this works,” Killian said. “I’m betting we’ll have to run dark down there.”

  “It’s all we’ve got, short of a blind man’s bug hunt.” Boudreaux eyed the dark cavern mouth ahead and then hit the activation panel on the case. “Fight bugs with bugs, I always say.” He turned and gave the support technicians the thumbs-up. All six of them had just finished setting up several pieces of equipment that were the heart of a system that was supposed to keep Fireteams Cooper and Fiji alive in the tunnels. “As long as the Thelosians don’t see the UV frequency we’re using, we should be fine.”

  “It’s too bad we don’t know that for sure,” Private Keenes added. He wore the heavy Mk 8 CASPer in Fireteam Cooper. It was actually a standard Mk 8, unmodified by Hu’s requirements for the scouting rigs, with heavier armor, a bigger power plant, and stouter weapons systems.

  “Looks like the drones are all online,” Yeo said. She glanced at the lead technician, and he gave her a thumbs-up. “Everyone, activate the new interface and prep for action.”

  With a command through his pinplants, Boudreaux activated the modified sensor grid that appeared as an overlay in his HUD. The grid they normally used spread out in front of him, wrapping itself to the contours of the landscape. “System active,” he said. “No anomalies indicated.”

  The other members of both fireteams responded in kind.

  “All units, lock and load.” Yeo said. All the CASPer pilots grabbed their rifles in a smooth motion, pulling them from cradles on their backs. “Cooper, move up.” Yeo’s voice was calm as she called out the orders, and Boudreaux knew Staff Sergeant Kun would be doing the same thing on the other side of the ridge. “Fireteam Gabar, fire at will. Fire for effect.”

  Boudreaux felt his pulse quicken as he and the rest of his fireteam strode forward with the thunk of armored feet hitting the turf. He glanced toward where he knew the lake lay and watched as a swarm of missiles rose out of the forest a kilometer away. Several seconds later, he heard the swoosh of them and watched as the incoming munitions separated into five separate clusters that arced overhead a thousand meters, and then came down in a rush. The cave entrance loomed before him, only twenty meters away.

  “Boudreaux on point, with Killian behind,” Yeo said. “Once you’re inside, Killian has operational control.”

  “Copy that,” Killian replied as he closed in behind Boudreaux.

  “Prepare for impact.” There was tension in Yeo’s voice as everyone watched the incoming missiles streaking toward the earth. They were all aware of the risks…the numbers they’d crunched said there was a ten-percent chance some or all of the cave structure might collapse. Nobody wanted to get caught in it, but more importantly, they didn’t want to just wipe out the Thelosi. Combat was one thing, but the Thelosi weren’t an enemy, per se, they were a contract…and a recon-capture contract at that. Killing was somet
hing Hu and his Hawks didn’t take lightly.

  The ground shook with the impacts as the missiles did their job, sealing the other cave entrances.

  “Launch the drones,” Yeo ordered.

  Boudreaux was only meters away from the entrance as rocks tumbled down the hillside above. More broke loose from the ceiling just inside the cave. For just a moment, he wondered if the whole system would cave in once they were inside. His legs wanted to stop, but his will—his sense of duty—kept him going. He was a Hawk, and there was a job to do, so he pressed on.

  The darkness folded around him, carrying with it a sense of foreboding. Just as the swarm of drones flew past him in a cloud of hundreds, the comms lit up with a high-pitched screech across the entire bandwidth, making Boudreaux wince. He reflexively shut down the standard comm system, and the world went silent.

  They’re jamming, he thought, just as expected. He smiled and swapped over to the laser-based comm net they’d prepared.

  * * *

  Kuason

  Thelosi Cave System Insertion

  “Into the lion’s den,” Boudreaux said.

  “What was that?” Corporal Killian asked.

  “Never mind,” Boudreaux muttered, and, with a thought, he activated the IR sensors of his CASPer. The interior of the cave brightened around him, the rough surfaces illuminated with a green tint. The small, insect-looking drones, only four centimeters long, zipped around his CASPer like water around a stone and sailed into the darkness, disappearing quickly from view. Like the Thelosi, the small machines gave off no heat, so as their frames adjusted to the cooler temperature of the cave, they faded from his IR imaging. He saw several rise toward the ceiling as their bodies cooled, and then they too disappeared, fading into the rough, rocky surface of the cave and nestling into any nook or cranny where they could find purchase.