Jack saw Torent climbing to his feet and repeating the order. “On your feet, Marines. Advance.”
“Move in fast and low.” Jack ran along the line, kicking reluctant Marines into action. One Marine had dug in at a shallow dip in the ground, firing his pulse rifle blindly into the chemical plant.
“On your feet, Marine,” Jack said, pulling the Marine by his collar. A plasma spear struck the ground immediately in front of Jack. “On your feet. Move up.”
Cobra Company began to move. Jack heard squad leaders urging their squads forward. The plasma spears lit up the ground and Jack saw silhouettes of the Marines moving forward, their pulse rifles giving fire to the hidden Chitin attackers.
Jack met Torent coming toward him. He dropped behind cover and waved Torent down to the ground.
Torent held his hands over his head, but his face was calm as plasma spears raced about them.
“Move up quickly. We need to engage the Chits with bayonets, Sam. We can’t risk damaging the plant.”
“Copy that.” Torent moved off toward the plant and the hidden Chitin soldiers.
Jack looked at the ground he had just covered. The dark mounds on the ground had not been there moments again. As a plasma spear raced over head, throwing its fizzing white light on the ground, Jack saw the bodies of fallen Marines.
He got to his feet and rushed forward, his pulse pistol in hand. Jack suddenly saw a plasma spear fired from an upper level race toward him. It struck the ground to his right and threw him off balance. He reached the network of pipes and tanks and the corridors between them. Jack fired his electron blade and moved into the darkness.
The dark shadows of Chitin soldiers lurking in the pipework-lined corridors were lit up by the plasma spears from the Chitins on the upper levels. Jack charged the nearest and plunged his electron blade deep into the massive, smooth head. The antennae on its head twitched in distress as its life flowed away.
A Marine appeared at Jack’s side and plunged his electron bayonet deep into the Chit, the white energy blade bursting out the other side. The Chit fell to the ground, its tentacles twitching as the last life ebbed away.
Another Marine arrived, already smeared with Chitin slime. Jack sent them ahead of him, their blades fizzing and lighting the way. He walked behind, looking at the holomap.
Another movement came up on Jack’s rear. Jack turned, the electron blade on his pulse pistol raised. A Marine’s concerned, sweaty face shimmered in the fizzing light. Jack deactivated the blade and tucked the pistol in its holster on his left hip, waving the soldier on.
A Chitin soldier rushed out of the shadows, stabbing tentacles lunging forward. The two Marines slashed away in tandem and cut the Chit down. One stepped forward and drove his blade down to finish the job.
Jack grabbed the latest Marine to arrive by the shoulder.
“Send word. Company will converge on this area.” Jack pointed at a series of stairways on his holomap. The Marine nodded and rushed off into the dark corridors.
“Okay, forward, Marines.” Jack said and walked just behind the two Marines.
The flicker of dark in the shadow to Jack’s right was all the stimulus he needed. He grabbed his pistol and activated the blade as he brought his hand around in a wide arc. The blade sliced through the smooth face of a Chitin soldier. The stabbing tentacle thrust forward, narrowly missing his chest, and snagged on his Jacket as the Chitin fell dead. The fine edge of the tentacle cut the jacket. The cold air on his damp skin and the near brush with death sent a shiver down Jack’s spine.
The two Marines were looking back at him for instruction. Jack made a signal with his pistol, waving it forward, and they resumed their cautious advance.
At an intersection between two corridors, Jack saw a number of electron blades shining in the dark. They moved forward slowly.
“Form up, Marines,” Jack said as the squad came near.
“Third squad here, sir,” the squad leader said. Jack recognized the voice. He had known Corry Allen since he had first taken over as squad leader of 6th squad in Cobra Company. There were so few squad leaders left from that time. It seemed so long ago and yet so recent.
“Good to have you with us, Corry,” Jack said. “Send a runner to find Commander Torent. Instruct him to hunt down those Chitin snipers. Rest of third squad with me.”
Jack moved off with a line of four Marines in front of him, and a squad behind. Squad Leader Corry Allen brought up the rear.
Arriving at the stairway down to the lower level and the room containing the bulk synthesis equipment, Jack paused. Cobra Company was spread out throughout the chemical plant. Flashes of light through the pipework told Jack that the Marines were engaging the Chitin soldiers scattered through the facility, the fighting proceeding in darkness and silence.
A runner came out of the dark. The bayonets of 3rd squad turned toward them.
“It’s okay. At ease, Marines,” Jack said and let the panting Marine deliver his message.
“Commander Torent has cleared the Chits from the upper levels. Holding position and watching for approaching ground troops.”
Jack nodded. He checked his holomap. The upper level of the facility gave a view over the eastern approach that Jack had just traveled over. The huge facility would take an entire battalion to secure. Jack had taken this flank and it was all he needed, but he needed to hold it.
“Inform Commander Torent to hold and keep watch. Maintain cover and communication silence. Copy?”
The Marine nodded and ran off to deliver the message.
Jack turned to Allen, who was at Jack’s side.
“How’s your chemistry, Corry?”
“Better than my math, sir. I can never tell when we are outnumbered.”
“We are always outnumbered,” Jack said. “Let’s go and make this chemical cloak. Maybe we can try and balance the odds. Move your squad into the lower levels, Squad Leader.”
“Copy that, sir,” Allen said, then moved with his team down the stairs into the darkness.
12
Bevan looked at the corvette. The collapsed wall had been cut away. The upper hull of the corvette was crumpled and scarred. A long scorch mark across the upper hull suggested the ship had been in a firefight with the Chits before it had landed. The scorch marks and charred composite of the wall panels that had been cut away from the corvette showed signs of a Chitin aerial attack, presumably plasma arcs or spitz cannon fire from one of the many Hydras that stalked the skies of Eros.
The corvette was now exposed to the sky. Adder Company was in cover, hiding from the patrolling Hydras underneath the smashed civilian ships and the collapsed roof of the spaceport. The night sky above was dark and deep, the corvette a dark shape against the deeper dark of night.
“It’ll never fly,” Jarret said, looking up at the ship.
Bevan had had enough of Jarret’s complaining. The squad leader had complained about every move the company had made. Bevan rounded on him, taking him by surprise.
“If you think you are going to lose, you will find a way to make it happen. I aim to win, Squad Leader Jarret,” she spat his name. “If you can’t correct your attitude right now, I will find a Marine in this company who can lead and inspire a squad to succeed.”
Jarret scowled at Bevan. “If you put us in that ship, you will kill us all.”
“If I order you in that ship, you will go. We are at war, Marine, and you will follow my orders. Is that clear?”
Jarret nodded curtly.
“Answer the question, Marine,” Bevan said.
“Yes, sir,” Jarret said, his voice quiet but clear, and without contempt.
Bevan looked up at the corvette. “Only one way to know if it’ll fly.” Bevan took a step toward the ship. “Set a perimeter defense,” she said to Jarret. “I’m going to power it up.”
Bevan walked across to the corvette. A distant sound of approaching Hydras resonated in her guts. She took cover under a piece of debris from the collapsed roo
f.
The Hydra raced over head, the sound receding. Then the noise of the Hydra’s engines, spluttering in the atmosphere, stopped receding and returned. The engine sound grew loud. Bevan pressed herself into deeper cover, her pulse rifle ready.
The Hydra hovered over the smashed roof of the spaceport. Light burst onto the ground. Bevan could see through a narrow crack in the heavy roof composite that the Hydra was hovering and moving a search light around the vast hanger. The light fell on the corvette, a wide beam of harsh white light expelling the dark.
Bevan saw a huddle of Marines underneath a civilian ship. The civilian craft had been smashed by Chitin attacks, the cockpit was blasted open, conduits and cables hanging from the undercarriage like the guts of a machine. That craft would never fly again, but it was good cover for a squad of Marines.
One Marine pulled his feet in as the beam of light came closer, sweeping across the debris-strewn ground.
Then the light was extinguished, and darkness returned to the spaceport, dark shapes in the night. As the Hydra powered away, Bevan crawled out of her position and looked up to the sky. The noise of the Hydra’s engines faded as it raced away.
Bevan walked toward the corvette. A few Marines were clambering out of their hiding places and joined her as she walked toward the ship. Jarret came to her side.
“That was lucky,” he said.
“Yeah,” Bevan agreed, “but you are only lucky when you are winning. Get that perimeter set. Go.”
“Yes, sir,” Jarret said and ran off, calling out instructions in a harsh whisper.
Bevan stopped at the base of the forward landing strut, the belly of the corvette ten meters above her head. A small access hatch was located at the top of the landing strut bay, so she began to climb.
The ten-meter climb was easy, but reaching the hatch was not. She reached out with one hand, the other holding on to the cold and slippery landing strut. She twisted the access handle and finally it opened with a sudden rush of air that nearly unbalanced her.
The hatch dropped down, and grips on the inside of the hatch let Bevan take hold. She moved both hands over to the open hatch cover, her feet still on the landing strut.
Bevan swung away from the strut and hung from the hand-holds on the hatch cover. She pulled herself up to the next, and then the next, lifting herself with her upper body strength alone as her legs dangled in the air. Once she had pulled herself up a few of the grips, she was able to lift her leg and get a toe in the bottommost hand-hold on the hatch cover. With a final surge of strength and willpower, she pulled herself into a standing position.
Moving a floor panel aside, Bevan found her head level with the corvette’s gundeck. She made her way to the ladder control panel and let the access ladder drop to the ground, extending out as it dropped away.
Bevan climbed up onto the gundeck. The composite was cold. She clambered to her feet and activated a flashlight, looking toward the cockpit. The forward view screen was unpowered but looked to be intact. The flight console also appeared undamaged.
The gundeck was dark and empty. There were no portholes. It was a sealed world. The targeting view screens of the weapons assemblies along the side of the corvette were unpowered like the rest of the ship. She hoped the boarding ramp would still have power.
In the center of the gundeck, Bevan found the boarding ramp controls. She hit the button. A hiss and a rumbling of power filled the quiet, dark ship as the landing ramp lowered.
She walked down and found a group of Marines at the base. Quietly they cheered their commander for successfully accessing the ship.
Bevan took the praise, then hushed the small group she had assembled. These were the best machine operators and engineers in her company.
“Let’s see if this ship has got any life in it,” Bevan said, smiling. “Check the drive, energy shielding, and check the weapon systems, lasers and blast cannon. Also, check the ammo store to see if we have anything to shoot, because we sure have plenty to shoot at. I’ll check the cockpit. Let’s get this boat ready to fly.”
Bevan sent her team running up the ramp, eager to check the ship. As her maintenance team ran into the corvette, Bevan looked out at the dark spaceport. In the east, a shard of light burst through a far window, a bright orange light.
It was dawn of the first day after the devastating Chitin attack on Eros, dawn of the first day following the evacuation of much of the civilian population. Dawn of the first day on Chitin-controlled Eros.
Bevan looked up at the corvette. One ship against the biggest armada ever known. Bevan stopped herself mid-thought.
“Don’t get negative on me now,” she said to herself.
Then she saw a Marine running toward her. Squad Leader Jarret. He was moving fast, his rifle in his hands as he ran. From his demeanor, Bevan knew what he was about to say.
“Report,” she said as Jarret slowed.
“Chits,” he said through heaving breaths. “Coming from the east, out of the city. Maybe a hundred of them.”
Bevan bit her lip.
“Fall back, every Marine. Take cover around the corvette and hold fire until fired upon. Copy?”
Jarret looked confused. “But we have surprise. The company could drop most of them in one hit.”
“And then the Hydras will be here to finish us. Fall back, Marine. Copy?” She fixed him with a stare and scrutinized his expression.
Jarret nodded. “Copy that, sir. Falling back.” Jarret turned and ran to take the word to the company.
Bevan watched him go. She looked to a few Marines taking cover nearby, all looking at her. The Chitins were coming. If she hid, she might keep them off her for a while, long enough to see if the corvette was ready for action, but sooner or later she was going to have to fight them.
“It’s going to be a tough day,” she said to herself and walked into the corvette.
13
The bulk synthesizer looked to Jack like a series of silver cylinders and pipes, no different than the rest of the plant. A small holodisplay was the only indication that he was standing before the correct apparatus.
Reading the instructions left by Reyes on a file projected by his wrist holostage, Jack began the process. He hesitantly tapped keys on the display and activated the synthesizer.
“How much of this stuff is it going to make?” Torent asked.
Jack shrugged and tapped in the last few numbers. “I have no idea. I hope it’s enough.” He began inputting the instructions. A series of chemical equations, process codes, and a series of numbers that Jack struggled to understand in detail. Now he needed time to produce the cloak in quantities sufficient to hide an entire planet.
Tapping the final key, a red holographic button appeared for Jack to press.
Jack looked at Torent. “Guess this is it,” he said, then touched the button.
The holodisplay began to show streams of data, numbers flashing past at speeds too fast for Jack to read.
“What’s any of it mean?” Torent asked.
“I hope it mean’s its working,” Jack said.
Then, at one side of the data stream, a file appeared. It showed a canister of chemicals with a filling graphic. The canister was not even filled by a single percentage point.
“Is that it?” Torent asked, pointing at a canister just behind a series of pipes and cylinders.
Jack shrugged. “Looks like it.”
Jack looked back through the files Reyes had sent. There was no indication of how much time he needed. Jack thought back to the time when he’d watched the fighter craft being prepared for its first test flight using the chemical cloak. A canister of the cloak had been on the landing pad and the chemical had been sprayed over the hull in huge quantities. Jack couldn’t be sure if the entire canister had been used or a small part, but he knew this was their only real defense against the Chitins currently roaming freely over the surface of Eros and dominating the orbital space above the planet.
Sam Torent crawled in through the
pipework along a conveyor and gave the canister a shake.
“It’s filling up quickly,” he said. “We could be out of here real soon.”
Then the bulk synthesizer let out a short series of beeps. The process was complete. The canister slid out on a small conveyor, bringing Torent with it.
“Now all we need is a ship,” Torent said.
“A ship that won’t get blown out of the sky,” Jack added.
Torent looked at Jack and the canister of chemical cloak. He gave it an experimental shove.
“This is too heavy to move, Jack,” Torent said. “If Bevan has found a ship, she’s going to have to bring it here.”
“And how do we get it here without bringing the entire Hydra fleet after it?” Jack looked at the controls for the bulk synthesizer, then set it to produce a canister of the inverted chemical cloak.
“Sam, I need a pump for this canister,” Jack said, and he began tapping away at the holodisplay for the synthesizer. “We’re going to cloak some runners and get messages out to Adder and Boa. Find me some volunteers,” Jack said. “The fastest Marines you can find.”
The second canister of cloak was finished by the time Torent had assembled a group of four runners. The fastest Marines in the company. A third canister was nearly completed.
Jack stood with a spray gun attached to the canister of the chemical cloak. He handed the gun over to Torent.
“Brace yourselves, Marines,” Jack said. “I’ve done this myself, and it is going to sting.” He knew only too well just how badly it would sting, but he also knew how well it would work. The Marines, coated in the chemical cloak, would be able to approach a Chitin soldier without being detected. It was perfect camouflage.
“Cover your eyes,” Torent said with a cruel smile, and he began to spray.
The Marines squirmed and gasped in shock as the spray began to burn.
“You’ll live,” Jack assured them. “Spray them good, Sam.”
While Torent sprayed his volunteers, Jack carefully filled several flasks of inverted cloak, taking care not to spill any of the chemical solution. Then, with a dozen small flasks filled with the inverted cloak and set carefully on the top of the canister, Jack turned to the runners.
Forged by War (Jack Forge, Fleet Marine Book 9) Page 6