“What were you two up to?” Shakti asked the final two when they appeared. She noted they wore the same color and style of shift.
“Practicing archery,” Bravi explained. “Dharma teaches without clothes.” Shakti shook her head in disbelief.
She indicated the projected image in the middle of the command center. “We have a visitor. Appears we’re under observation by a wasp scout ship. I have two options. One, hit it with the laser and not worry about it. Two, incapacitate it with the laser and find out if the scout told its base about us. We can also take it back to the war college, as they would be thrilled to get their hands on one. However, I’m told they self-destruct rather than be captured.
“So what makes you think this one will let us take it?” Chimata asked her.
“Just a hunch,” Shakti replied. “It’s not in our territory and this may be some kind of training mission for the pilot. We know so little about the wasps I can’t even venture to speculate. But it’s worth a try to capture it. This is why I’m going to attempt to take it prisoner.”
“Humans capturing wasps for a change,” Bravi spoke. “Where will we put the pilot?”
“I’ll find a place,” Shakti explained. “Chimata, you’re the best shuttle pilot we have. Take the shuttle out on the far side of the Widowmaker. When I zap the wasp scout’s engine, you can tow it back to the corvette.”
Shakti turned toward Durga. “Can you hit the propulsion system at this distance?”
“Shouldn’t be too hard,” Durga responded. “I need to bring the cannons up to power first.”
Durga made a few more passes at the screens and panels. They could see the generators which gave power to the lasers maximize. Soon, the lasers were ready to be used.
“Got it locked on,” Durga said. “Give me the word and I’ll take your scout out of the game.”
“Do it,” Shakti commanded. Durga touched a switch and the lasers fired.
“Propulsion system out,” Durga told her. “It’s drifting free right now. All we have to do is run and get it.”
“Sound easy enough,” Shakti told the other warbrides. “Okay Chimata, now you have the opportunity.” Chimata went to the lockers and put on her suit armor. Minutes later one of the shuttles was on its way to the disabled wasp scout ship.
They monitored the progress of her scout as it brought them better pictures of the wasp ship. The odd shape of the vehicle was the topic of discussion as Chimata approached it. It resembled a melted piece of candy, with the propulsion system gone where it was destroyed by the laser.
“Okay,” Chimata transmitted back, “I have it in range and I will deploy the....”
She was cut-off instantly by a flash of light. On the display inside the command center, the wasp scout turned into a big cloud made of parts drifting away. Chimata was outside the blast zone and didn’t worry, although she wanted to get back to the corvette in case any shrapnel might damage the shuttle.
“It was worth a try,” Chimata transmitted. “I’m on my way back.”
“We might as well assume they know about us,” Shakti observed. She was disappointed the wasp shuttle had detonated, but at least none of them was killed.
Three days later, the warbrides were on their way to the planet where the wasps were busy growing their latest invasion fleets. Only Chimata and Bravi stayed behind to monitor the ship. The other women were suited up and ready with their weapons inside the shuttle. When the wasp scout self-destructed rather than be captured, they realized it was only a matter of time until the wasps came looking for them. The only chance they had to get out safely was to hit the wasps first and do enough damage to their weapons program. While the wasps were busy salvaging the growth of new ships, they could escape.
“So where do we go after hitting them?” Kamala asked Shakti as the shuttle staggered its way to the dark side of the planet where the wasp ships grew. “I figure we need to find a safe place because they’ll be after us quick.”
“We get out as fast as we can,” Shakti told her. She had her helmet off and was busy with the controls to the shuttlecraft. They were all strapped into to the chairs. It had to be done in case they needed to accelerate. “It’s why Bravi is back at the Widowmaker instead of with us. When we leave, she’ll need to fire up the generator. I can guarantee you they’ll be after us as soon as this raid is over.”
“Too bad we couldn’t take out the entire operation,” Kamala commented from her seat in the shuttle. “Then we wouldn’t have to run as fast.”
“It’s not going to happen,” Shakti, pointed out. “I don’t think our ship has the firepower to do it and we don’t know the full extent of what the wasps have in this system. For all we know, they could have more fleets in production. We don’t even know if there are more of them on the way to the frontier. These things travel fast, but they still don’t know how to fold space yet. We hope.”
Weapons were sheathed next to each chair. The plan was for the warbrides to land on the surface of the largest ship the wasps were growing, plant a nuke inside it, set the timer and leave. First, they wanted to get some idea of the wasp operation and relay the information back to the war college. Anything they could send would be of use in the future. The nuke they had with them should be large enough to destroy one, and perhaps more, of what the wasps built. They planned to be well outside the blast zone by the time it detonated, but this would only happen if everything went according to plan.
The shuttle mimicked a wasp scout ship by the signal it sent out. In the depths of space, it was often the only way to tell if a ship belonged to the opposition or not. They’d managed to find the signal used by the scout before it self-destructed. The warbrides hoped the rest of the wasp command didn’t know it was gone. Unless the wasps knew what happened, the warbrides should be able to get in as close as they wanted.
The production versions of the wasp destroyers loomed ahead as the scout craft moved in slowly. It wasn’t the same bustle of activity as a human construction. The ship was growing from an umbilical cord, which connected it to several other wasp installations. They could see a skeleton around the ship as it grew out to cover the frame. The insides were slowly forming as the connection fed it whatever was needed to complete the construction. There were no wasp construction crews busy at work or wasp technicians suited up who looked it over. The lack of independent activity was the strangest part of the flyover.
“The one next to it looks almost done,” Shakti, pointed out to the other warbrides. “I think we need to go for it. When the bomb goes off, it should be close enough to put the others out of operation before they’re completed.”
The shuttle moved down slowly and swung around the lower portion of the ship, next to the one they’d just passed. It was almost functional and they could see the enclosed hull was close to completion. This didn’t bother Shakti, as there were other openings to gain entrance to the ship. She planned for a quick operation, but doubted it would be so easy. So far, they had not been challenged by any of the wasps.
“What’s that?” she heard Dharma say as they began descending toward the wasp vehicle. Shakti turned and saw another, smaller ship attached to the one almost complete. This new ship appeared to be operational and she could see several lights on its side, which indicated a docking port.
“Change of plans,” Shakti announced. “I want to have a look at this new ship. Prepare for boarding maneuvers.”
“Why?” Kamala demanded. “I thought we were going to blow something up and get out.”
“I want to see what’s inside this new ship,” Shakti announced. “Why do they have it attached to the one under construction. “We need to know what they’re up to.”
“Could be some kind of engineering vessel,” Durga told her. “Check out the lines from it the ship which is almost mature. It might be the way they build them. Avoids all the problems of work crews and plans.”
It didn’t take them long to get inside, which was the first sign that there was some
thing wrong. The codes from the wasp scout allowed them to dock with the new ship. The challenges given to them were quickly answered and the warbrides were inside the new ship in minutes.
No one greeted them from the docking area when they entered. Shakti was the first inside with her sword and shield ready, but she found nothing on the other side. She took a few steps down the corridor in both directions and then motioned for her co-wives to enter the rest of the ship with her. They began to walk toward the right, as this seemed the best direction to take.
“You get the feeling this might be a trap?” Durga asked Shakti. “Think about it, we never once encountered any kind of opposition. We didn’t even get a challenge when our ship docked and it doesn’t resemble one of theirs in the least.”
“It bothers me too, “Shakti transmitted back. “Too damn quiet in here. It would be the perfect way to pick us off. Just keep your guards up and watch me. I’ll let the rest of you know if anything looks funny.” She moved ahead a few yards and continued down the passage.
Soon, they came to a door on one of the passages. Shakti kept track of where they had gone by way of the map display inside her helmet, but so far they’d stayed on the outside of the ship they’d entered. As with the rest of the entrances they’d found on the inside of wasp ships, it wasn’t built to be handled by human hands. She looked at the strange handle configuration and pushed it open.
The door opened slowly to reveal a brood chamber on the inside. The same arrangement they’d found before was before them. The warbrides clutched their weapons and carefully moved into the room where the chambers were housed and looked at the arrangement. No wasps were around, but there had to be some inside the ship since who else would’ve built it?
“Another one of these places,” Kamala transmitted. “It must be the only way they breed. You have to wonder what kind of hell planet is responsible for the evolution of these things.”
Shakti only heard a little of what she said as she stood over one of the chambers and looked down inside. Before her was a disjointed host in the advance stage of infestation. However, this time it wasn’t human. It appeared to be some kind of mammal below her, but it was not a kind she’d ever seen. The creature had fur and a face, but she couldn’t recognize anything else beyond it.
“What is it?” Durga asked as she came up behind her. She and the other warbrides looked into the chamber.
“The wasps don’t just use humans for hosts,” Shakti concluded. “I hope I can get some images from back to the war college. They’ll want to know about what we found. It makes sense. You figure with all the other life forms in the universe, why should they have decided to go after us first?”
“I’ve never see anything like this,” Kamala commented. “Don’t recognize it. Maybe they brought one of their original hosts with them from where ever they came?”
“Advanced state too,” Dharma pointed out. “They might be speeding the process, but all of them seem to be in the same condition.” She went around and looked at the other chambers. “All the same,” she called out over the transmitter.
“Shakti,” Durga said to her. “Have you noticed the pheromone detectors in the suits? I adjusted mine after we slashed it out with them the last time. Mine register excessive pheromones in the atmosphere. They began to climb as soon as we entered the room. It could mean this room is full of wasp communications.”
“Or it’s some kind of alarm!” Shakti realized. “Let’s get out. We can’t do anything for these poor creatures. Let’s get out of here while we still can.”
She turned and opened the door and walked out into the corridor. It was still calm outside with only the faint light the wasps used to illuminate the passage. The rest of the warbrides walked out with her and continued to move back down the corridor in the direction they’d come. Soon, they were at the entrance to the docking area. Shakti glance both ways, saw no movement indicated in the corridors and opened the door to the docking platform.
The door flung itself open as a horde of soldier wasps spilled out of it. They were densely packed and unorganized, but the sheer numbers pushed the warbrides back the way they’d come.
The warbrides began to slash in every direction, green fluid flying into the air as the dense mass of wasps was hacked to pieces. Dharma jumped back, loaded her crossbow and fired repeatedly into the hordes in front of her. A wasp fell every time a bolt hit it, but there were too many for her crossbow to be effective. She moved behind her co-wives and continued to fire, but she only had so many arrows, regardless of the wasps that went down every time she unleashed another shot.
Shakti had the only shield and did what she could to protect the other warbrides. Kamala and Durga jumped behind it and rained death down on the wasps with their halberds. They watched the first wave of wasp soldiers slashed to pieces as their blades descended on them. The first rank went down in a wave of green fluid, but more were behind.
“Push them back!” Shakti yelled over the helmet transmitter. “I’m picking up more of them coming down the corridor.” She knew it was possible to take out the ones in the docking area, but they had no way of knowing what was headed from the other corridors.
Shakti put her shield down and rammed into the wasps in front. One of the wasp soldiers jumped up and attempted to strike down with a thrust at her helmet, but Dharma’s last arrow ripped through it and the creature went to the floor. Shakti kicked it out of the way and cut a path to the docking platform as two women swung their axes in behind. Dharma took her crossbow and smashed a wasp soldier down with it, then tossed the weapon aside. She yanked a dagger out from its holster and began stabbing away at any wasp that came in range.
Shakti was almost convinced they would make it to the shuttle intact when two wasp soldiers did a rare thing and acted in concert. One grabbed Durga’s halberd while the other stabbed through an opening in her armor with a jagged attachment on its forearm. Shakti looked in horror as the inside of Durga’s helmet coated with blood. She fell down to the floor. Durga’s vitals transmitting to Shakti’s helmet display suddenly went silent.
It didn’t make any difference that Kamala sliced the heads off both wasp soldiers a second later with one swing of her halberd. Shakti froze and pushed Dharma ahead of her, away from the remaining wasp soldiers inside the docking platform. She turned in horror as the corridor behind her filled with wasps.
“Get in the shuttle!” she cried out. “Now!” Shakti took down the remainder of the wasps in the docking platform as she rushed toward the entrance of the shuttle with Dharma.
“That’s for Durga!” Shakti cried out as she cut down the first wasp soldier who launched it at her. “And that’s for Mangi! And for Salina! And Tara!” She became a one-woman death machine and sliced through every wasp that attacked. Dharma ran to pull Shakti back, but was sent flying into the platform.
Shakti turned into a war goddess. She destroyed every wasp that attacked her. She cut through the hordes right and left. Three soldier wasps attacked her from the rear; she crouched down, struck them with her shield, and sent them airborne. Two more came at her from opposite angles, she turned, killed one, then the other. The wasps could have killed her had they all attacked at the same time, but it seemed outside their range of ability. They would advance two or three at once and she would cut them down as they walked into sword range.
Dharma and Kamala stood at the entrance of the shuttle, not knowing if they should help her. She spun around at inhuman speeds, killing the insectoid attackers every time they approached her. Body parts of wasps were flung across the corridors. It was the dance of death perfected.
Then there were no more wasps. Shakti stood exhausted holding her sword and shield. She turned, surveyed the empty corridor and looked at the green fluid, which covered her suit armor. Finally, she placed the sword in the scabbard by her side and reached down to Durga’s limp body. She began to drag her toward the shuttle, careful that Durga would leave with them.
Kamala and Dharma wat
ched as she entered the shuttle and lowered Durga’s body on the floor. She sat down at her chair. Strapped her body into it and, green fluid dripping off her, closed the shuttle door from her control panel once Dharma and Kamala were back in the shuttle.
“Get us back,” she said to Kamala. “Quick. They know we are here.”
“The nuke?” Kamala asked her.
“Drop it next to the ship. Get us out of the blast zone and detonate it. It should slow them down.”
Kamala took over the controls to the shuttle as Shakti was too far gone to do it. She wasn’t injured; none of the wasps managed to get through her defense or pierce her armor. She was suffering advanced exhaustion from three minutes of fighting at a rate so intense it defied human ability. Kamala had witnessed much in her many years, but never had she seen anyone do what Shakti did.
She jettisoned the warhead when as they were leaving the vicinity of the small ship. As she expected, the nuke would stay near the larger mass. Once Kamala was assured she was safely away from the warhead, she turned up the power on the shuttle’s thrusters pulled away from the wasp constructions. She noticed two wasp ships in pursuit an hour later, just as the shuttle was free from the blast zone.
However, the wasp pursuit ships were still in range of the nuke. Kamala warned everyone in the shuttle the moment she detonated it.
The shuttle faced the opposite direction of the warhead when it blew. Still, they noticed the bright flash from the thermonuclear explosion as a new star briefly came into being behind them. This was the last nuclear bombs the Widowmaker possessed. As the flash died down, Kamala examined the former construction area where the wasps grew their ships. Very little remained after the warhead detonated. There were no traces of the pursuit ships after them.
Chapter 15
The Widowmaker floated around the orbit of the latest star. They’d folded space days ago to reach it. This time there was no wasp presence anywhere in the range of their reconnaissance. The war college either was in error or had simply found the wrong place for them to attack this time. They waited for another communication from the commanders before moving on, it could be a mistake on someone’s part, but Shakti doubted it.
Angels of Eternity: The Complete Novel Page 20