Scrapyard Ship 7: Call to Battle
Page 7
The query brought a smile to the admiral’s face. “I don’t know what to tell you, Jason. I’ve offered you my position several times now. I’m getting too old for this bullshit. You should have moved up the leadership rung last year.”
“This isn’t a plea for a promotion. I’m just getting the lay of the land, seeing it the way you see it.”
“I see it the way I’ve always seen it. Only now, the stakes are much higher. I’m not prepared to make decisions that not only affect the Alliance, but Earth … hell, all human kind.” He raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. “Look at what we’re up against. Ot-Mul … his Drac-Vin forces make anything we’ve gone up against in the past look like child’s play. Think about one hundred … two hundred … hell, it might be three hundred thousand warships. Nothing gets in the way of that kind of military prowess.”
“So why bother?”
“You know why … it’s not over till the fat lady sings. And from where I’m sitting, she may be singing a different tune than Ot-Mul is counting on.” The admiral turned in his seat and looked into his son’s eyes. “Jason … I’m putting through the paperwork for your admiralship. You’re what, forty now? It’s time for you to take the next step in your career. Grow the hell up!”
“I’ll think about it … if we even survive the next few days,” Jason said, wondering how the conversation got so turned around.
“Well, don’t think about it too long. I’m getting goddamned tired of making this same offer to you.”
* * *
The four dreadnaughts coupled together made the vessel, by default, a meganaught. As the Perilous approached the massive vessel it became evident it too had been painted a brilliant white. Five miles long, over a mile high, the Craing ship looked as if it had just come off the assembly line.
“Cap, I’ve been given clearance to approach. Looks like they want us to move to the forward dreadnaught.”
“Proceed, Lieutenant. Keep your finger close to the trigger, Miller. Just in case.”
“Aye, Captain.”
Jason stood and the rest of the team stood with him. “Lock and load, boys and girls, I’m not expecting any trouble, but …” he let the words hang in the air. One by one the team triggered their SuitPacs. Jason saw that his father had one of the small devices on his belt, but hadn’t initialized it. “You going in there bareback, Admiral?”
“Show of confidence and respect. And if I’m not safe with this team surrounding me, we’re all in trouble anyway.”
“Your choice, Admiral.”
The shuttle rocked as it settled onto the Craing vessel’s flight deck.
“A-Team … move out. I want a perimeter around this ship,” Jason ordered as the ramp was deployed from the stern of the Perilous. B-Team consisted of Billy, Gunny, Rizzo, and Jackson, and, along with Jason, tasked with the security of the admiral. As the admiral moved toward the shuttle’s exit, B-Team fell in around him.
Jason brought up the rear. Halfway down the ramp he hailed Wilson.
“Go for pilot.”
“Hang tight here. I want to know if anything starts to smell fishy … keep both eyes open, Wilson.”
“Count on it, Cap. I’m already on edge.”
The size of the flight deck was par with the one on the Minian—huge. But that wasn’t what had Jason’s undivided attention. It was row upon row of Craing crewmembers standing in formation … easily one thousand of them. They were wearing what looked like U.S. issue spacer’s jumpsuits.
Jason’s father made a quick look over his shoulder and caught Jason’s eye. His expression said it all—what the fuck?
A small contingent of four Craing officers approached, marching in lockstep. When both groups converged, the four officers bowed their heads and lowered to one knee. Jason, still at the back of the pack, had to peer around Jackson’s wide back to see what was going on ahead. He moved up through the group and stood at the admiral’s side.
One by one, the four Craing officers removed medallions, all gold, from around their heads, and held them out in their hands as they lowered their heads.
The admiral looked over to Jason with an inquiring look. Jason took a step forward and took one of the medallions, held it high over his head so all could see it, and placed it back over the officer’s head. He repeated this same action three times.
All four officers stood. Jason could see the obvious relief on their faces. “I would like to introduce you to Admiral Perry Reynolds, commander of all U.S. forces in space. I am Captain Jason Reynolds.”
The admiral stepped forward and held out his hand. “Who am I addressing here?”
The four Craing officers exchanged quick glances. The officer closest to the admiral stepped forward and took the admiral’s hand in his own, and they shook. “I am Admiral Jo. This is Captain Pen, Captain Gee-Shi, and Captain Mar-Lee.” The three captains bowed their heads.
“I am honored by your presence on our command ship,” Captain Pen said. “We have been preparing for this event for fifty-eight days. I apologize—not all preparations are completed yet. We ran out of paint and only today were we able to redeploy our droids to start work again.”
The Craing admiral looked to be at a sudden loss for words, so Jason piped in, “You wish to join our fleet? Am I correct in this assumption, Admiral?”
Admiral Jo’s expression turned perplexed. “Have you not received our unconditional surrender?”
“Oh yes …” Admiral Reynolds replied quickly, “it’s just that we were not expecting the … um … fleet alterations and …” the admiral spread his hands out, encompassing the Craing crewmembers standing in fixed formation, “the matching uniforms.”
“It’s a fine gesture. A welcome one, indeed,” Jason added, looking at his father accusingly.
“Yes, a fine gesture,” the admiral repeated with a forced smile.
“We will adjourn to the proper meeting room, but first, nourishment and refreshments. Please follow us to the Grand Sacellum.”
Jason and his father spoke up at the same time, “Please …”
Both of them were well aware of what went on within a Craing vessel’s Grand Sacellum. Jason’s mind flashed back to a time when he saw human remains sizzling atop red hot caldron grills.
“If it’s all the same, we would prefer to get down to business right now.”
Again came more bowing. “As you wish, Admiral Reynolds.”
That reminded Jason of something else. “May I ask you a question, Admiral Jo?”
“Of course, I am here to serve.”
“I am familiar with the configuration of these vessels … dreadnaughts. What is the disposition of your holding cages? Is anyone being held … currently?”
Jason was unsure if his question would be taken as an insult, but apparently it was not.
“Oh, yes, each of the dreadnaught holding cages, as well as others within the three fleets, are fully occupied. You’re free to inspect our cages. Perhaps a special meal could be prepared for your officers?”
This needed to be nipped in the bud from the get-go, Jason figured. “Are there any humans being held?”
The Craing admiral hesitantly nodded. “Some.”
“Rhino-warriors?”
“Quite a few …”
Jason fought to keep his ire down. His father placed a hand on Jason’s shoulder and intervened. “That is not a practice we embrace, Admiral Jo. We have many cultural differences, which will take time and patience for both sides to adjust to.” He looked from Captain Pen to Jason. “I suggest we separate. I’ll continue on with Captain Pen and get the surrender formalized … have various fleet assets itemized and moved over. How about you, Billy, and Rizzo get started with the holding cages? Obviously, not all captives can be released … I’m sure there’s more than a few dangerous species being held.”
Jason continued, “We’ll need all humans, as well as the rhinos, out of their cages as soon as possible. And figure out exactly where, upon their release, they ca
n safely be taken to on board these Craing vessels—it’ll be a big job.”
Captain Mar-Lee said, “I will accompany you to this vessel’s holding cages. Come with me.”
Chapter 12
Captain Mar-Lee had been designated their chaperone. Jason, Billy and Rizzo stood with the Craing dreadnaught captain aboard a flatbed hovercraft, now speeding its way through the long corridor of holding cells that spanned the full length of the meganaught. The air was thick with soot—tasted like char.
Jason indicated the best place to start would be cage one, on deck one—they would proceed from there. The Craing pilot, the only one of them seated, brought the hovercraft down eight decks, slowed, and made a wide U-turn. The craft came to a gentle stop, twenty feet out from the first cage. Standing in the center of the cage was a human male. With long, stringy black hair, and a full beard, the man stood, arms crossed over his chest.
Jason signaled to the pilot that he wanted him to move closer to the catwalk. As they neared Jason called to the unkempt prisoner, “Do you understand what I’m saying?”
The prisoner blankly stared at Jason, then tilted his head. “Yeah … I understand what you’re saying.”
“You’re from Earth?”
“Born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana.”
Jason gestured to his surroundings, “How long?”
The prisoner shrugged. “Hard to tell. I’d guess two years … maybe two and a half. That’s when our convoy was overtaken by the Craing, in between Solgorn and Gamia 55.”
Jason thought about that for a moment. “Allied space … you were among the admiral’s fleet en route to the—”
The prisoner cut him off, “The Drunsdin System unification talks.”
“I’m Captain Jason Reynolds. Sorry it took us so long to rescue you.”
For the first time, the man’s expression changed. Although most of his smile was hidden behind two years of beard growth, his eyes were all the indication Jason needed to see he was exuberantly happy.
“We need to get this cage open,” Jason said to the Craing captain. Several Craing guards were nearing down the corridor. Captain Mar-Lee spoke quickly in Terplin and within seconds, the cage door was clanging open. Jason and the others jumped from the hovercraft onto the catwalk. They stood by as the prisoner slowly stepped out of his cage.
Jason stepped forward with his hand out, ready to shake. With surprising speed, the prisoner darted forward, knocking Jason aside, into the railing. In a blur, the prisoner fired off a low, right cross to Mar-Lee’s left cheek. The little Craing captain, sent airborne, was transported several yards down the catwalk.
Rizzo and Billy moved in, both taking ahold of the freed prisoner’s arms. The Craing guards brought their weapons up and pointed them at the prisoner.
“Everyone hold on!” Jason yelled. Straightening up, he approached the prisoner while the two guards helped Mar-Lee to his feet.
“Are you all right, Captain?”
He rubbed at his cheekbone and stared at the prisoner. The look was one of pure hatred. “I am fine.”
Jason turned his attention to the prisoner. “I hope you’ve gotten that out of your system. We don’t want to put you in restraints.”
“Out of my system? Are you serious, Captain?” He shook his head and pointed with his chin to the empty cage next to his own. “Last week, Petty Officer Arlene Braden occupied that cell. Why don’t you ask the captain here if he enjoyed having her body dismembered and thrown onto a caldron? Ask him if he liked the taste of her grilled flesh?”
Jason nodded at Billy and Rizzo and they released his arms. “What’s your name?”
“Captain Dwain DeMille, skipper of the EOUPA ship, Tungsten.”
Jason spoke in a low tone, “We’ve all lost people to the Craing, Captain. In the years you’ve been incarcerated here there have been atrocities committed on a magnitude that’s hard to fathom. It’s touched us all … we’ve all lost people we care about. So, if you still want to take a swing at every Craing you come in contact with, I can’t really blame you. But we have a job to do here. The only question I have for you is this … do you want to spend the next six months in the brig or do you want to get back to work? Perhaps see your family again soon?”
“I’m done throwing punches for now, Captain. But it sure felt good.”
“I’m sure it did,” Jason said.
“So what are you doing here? Why are they helping you?”
“As of this morning, this meganaught, and the five thousand other Craing warships within this proximity of space, are now the property of the U.S. space command.”
“You mean EOUPA …?”
“No … the United Planetary Alliance disbanded a while back. Earth, under United States’ leadership, has taken a more aggressive role in the protection of herself and her neighbors.”
DeMille raised an eyebrow. “I like the sound of that.”
Jason turned and looked at Mar-Lee. “Again, I’m sorry you got knocked off your feet, Captain.” Looking over the Craing’s shoulder Jason took in the thousands of prison cells they still needed to explore; they’d just spent ten minutes on the first cage. This was going to take some time.
“Captain, I’m guessing you have a rough idea whether other humans are being held here?”
DeMille looked down the misty corridor and slowly nodded. “We have ways of communicating between one another. There’s quite a few of us … humans. More than a few are from Earth. My guess … close to three or four hundred humans are held in this meganaught alone.”
“You good to lend a hand in setting them free?”
Again, his eyes came alive. “It would be an honor, Captain.” He made no attempt to wipe away the moisture from his eyes.
Jason brought two fingers up to his ear and hailed his XO.
“Go for XO.”
“Perkins, we’re going to need your logistical expertise.”
“I’m ready to help, sir.”
“Good … here’s what we’re going to need. Get all our shuttles, those on board the Minian, as well as those on board The Lilly, fired up. Then get our hotshot pilots off their butts. We’ll also need a five-man SEAL team assigned to each shuttle.”
“Understood.”
“Good. Let’s see … we’re going to need temporary barracks set up for the freed prisoners. Hold on a sec, XO,” Jason said, bringing his attention over to Captain Mar-Lee.
“Captain, you do understand you’re taking your orders from me now, correct?”
The small Craing officer reluctantly nodded his head.
“You have one hour to move your chief personnel off this meganaught. Also, you will assign one hundred crewmembers to assist us with the transitioning.”
“Transitioning?”
“The humans, those who are healthy enough, will be taking over the crew and officer quarters on this ship. Have them cleaned and ready for habitation at once. I want you to assign another one hundred crew to assist us with other duties that we deem necessary as we begin clearing out these cages.”
The captain looked agitated. “Not all prisoner species are … suitable for crew quarters. Some are wild … very dangerous.”
Jason had already spotted several Serapins moving along the catwalk on the other side of the open, wide corridor. He was well aware how dangerous some species were. “We’ll make that determination as we go. Obviously, we’re not going to open every cage door without checking first. You understand your orders, so please get started.”
Jason returned to his conversation with Perkins: “You got all that, XO?”
“Yes, Captain. Are you sure the Craing admiral will go along with having one of his dreadnaughts’ entire quarters re-appropriated for prisoner use?”
“I don’t particularly care what he wants to go along with. It’s happening. Move on this now, got that?”
“Yes, Captain.”
“One more thing. Send someone into HAB 17. Locate Traveler and ask him to join me here.”
Jason cut the connection. “Captain DiMille, how about you show us where we can find other human prisoners?”
They all boarded the hovercraft and moved on down the corridor. Jason figured about half of the cells were empty. There were a wide assortment of alien species; one looked liked a giant ameba; another looked like a fish with legs. It occurred to Jason that only prisoners who could breathe oxygenated air were kept in these cells.
“Captain Mar-Lee. Are there other … special-environment cages? Ones that can support a different world’s atmosphere?”
“We only take on those that are compatible to our own environment.”
Rizzo looked surprised at that. “So what do you do if they’re not compatible?”
The Craing captain didn’t answer. Up ahead, the first group of shuttles phase-shifted into the corridor. Jason watched as the captain spoke into a headset device. Good. He was making preparations for the released prisoners. Jason continued to look at the thousands of cages and dread washed over him like a shroud. He needed to get to Ricket—he needed to save his friend.
Chapter 13
It took an hour for Traveler to actually arrive within the corridor. Jason spotted him on the same flatbed hovercraft he and his team had arrived on earlier. As the little craft approached, Traveler, the lone passenger, stood in the middle of the deck. Big and foreboding—like some mythical creature … Jason was glad he was his friend and not his enemy.
The hovercraft U-turned and moved alongside the catwalk. Traveler eyed the metal banister. He was too large to jump across and straddle the outside of the railing as Jason and the others had earlier. The rhino-warrior threw his substantial weight into a swift forward kick. The metal railing pulled away from its anchor bolts and clanged loudly against the bars of the cages behind it. Traveler, heavy hammer in hand, leisurely stepped onto the catwalk and approached Jason.