CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
On the bridge of the Troy, Josh paced nervously, this mission had fast gone from bad to worse. Already they had two Marines down, struck down by some unseen force and now another barricade. He glanced up at the tactical display, the drop ship was already nearly back and medical teams were standing by. He shifted his attention to the more pressing matter, this temporary barrier.
The door to the bridge slid open and Jasmine entered.
“About time,” Josh threw his hands up in simulated exclamation.
“Sorry sir,” she replied with a cocked grin, “Took far longer to get everything ready.”
“Have you been following events?”
She held up portable display unit, “Yes sir, I have the medical teams waiting in the docking bay now.”
“I didn’t like this mission before and now I really don’t like it,” once again he stood on the blackened bridge of the Waterloo, around him medics fought to save the lives of the injured, their screams and pleading hung heavy in the air. Most had begged for their mothers, a universal desire when you’re in pain, some others for a lover and some to God himself. He wasn’t about to let more people die, not again. He already had too much blood on his hands, “How long before you can get another drop ship over there?”
Jasmines face shifted, her surprise clear, “Another drop ship sir?”
“Yes!”
“One could be prepped in about ten minutes, are you thinking of pulling the team from the Eclipse One?” she tried to mask the tone in her voice but he could read it.
“I am,” he retorted as he studied the tactical board again.
Peter this time, his sneer wide, as the contempt literally dripped from his voice, “Sir we have our orders.”
Josh spun round and faced his second in command, his own visage flush with anger, “Do you believe peter for one moment that I would have forgotten our orders?”
“Of course not Commander it was merely a suggestion,” Peter exclaimed, his fists clenched.
“You look mad Peter, is there something wrong?” Josh fixed his gaze on his second in command and held it.
Peter stood for a moment and Josh could see his hand moving towards his side arm, “Think very carefully before you move your hand any further,” Josh smiled his own hand edged towards his firearm, as he looked at Peter, it was as if a curtain had been lifted and everything fell into place, “How long have you been working for Sci-corp?”
Peter beamed, broad and clear this time. Before he could answer though, Josh felt the cold steel of a weapon against the back of his head.
“Not at long as I have commander,” Jasmine whispered.
Josh felt rage and confusion vent through his body. “So both of you,” his fingers hovered over his pistol, around them officers began to notice what was happening and shouts for Marines and weapons could be heard. “Do you think you can really shoot me in front of my entire crew and just get away with it?”
Peter stepped forward, until Josh could feel his warm, wet breath upon his face, “She could indeed if I was the one to give the order,” he tilted his head to one side, “You don’t know how long I have waited for this moment.”
Before Peter could continue, Josh lashed out, he grabbed hold of his second in commands shoulders and head-butted him squarely in that smug face. Josh heard bones break and leaned back to see Peter stumble away, viscous, red fluid pouring down his face. Josh reached down for his pistol, yet before he could, he felt the frigid steel once again.
“Enough!” Jasmine snapped, “As crazy as this sounds I genuinely like you commander and don’t really want to have to blow your head off, but I will, if you don’t do exactly what I say,” her voice steady now.
Peter came up on his knees, rage clear in his eyes, blood flowed like a river down over his mouth, “Just fucking shoot him,” he shouted, spitting a mouthful of coagulating liquid onto the floor.
“No!” Jasmine replied coldly, “We have what we want.”
“That’s not part of the deal I had, I want to see him die, I was promised that,” Peter squirmed, trying to pull out his own weapon.
Serenely Jasmine pulled another gun from a holster on her hip and pointed it squarely at Peter, “You two really don’t play well together.”
“It’s best if you let him shoot me,” Josh exclaimed, his fingers still hovering over his own pistol, if he could find one clear moment, that would be all he would need. “If you don’t when this is all sorted out I’m going to see him put before a firing squad and I’ll be the first to fire.”
Jasmine pushed the barrel closer to Josh’s head so that it dimpled the skin, “Enough please commander I am trying to be polite,” She turned her head, “Guards!” she bellowed, “Arrest the commander and put him in with the Marines from the Eclipse One when they arrive.”
“What’s the charge?” Josh enquired,
“Why striking another officer,” she shouted and then lowering her voice to a whisper so only Josh could hear, “Thank you for that by the way, it did make it a lot easier.”
Peter sat up his face a mask of primal fury, “I’ll be the one to watch you die Commander.”
Three marines arrived, Josh peered at them, he didn’t know the individual names but he knew each by sight, he could still draw his weapon, still go out in a blaze of glory. He fought to control himself, he had more things to worry about right now, like how he was going to get his ship back.
“Commander,” the first Marine said snapping a clean salute, “I’ll need to take your sidearm?”
Josh nodded his head slowly, resigned to what was going to happen at least for now, “Very well Sergeant.” Already a plot was beginning to take shape, he wasn’t about to let the damn Sci-corp take his ship and his crew.
“Thank you sir,” The marine replied as he removed the pistol from its holster.
“Put him in cuffs damn it,” Peter spat, as he scrambled to find a med kit.
The sergeant stared at Peter with open disdain, “I don’t think that will be necessary will it Commander.”
Josh smirked, “Certainly not Sergeant.”
“Necessary he struck me,” Peter fumed.
“Enough!” Jasmine roared as she holstered her weapons, “Just take him away Sergeant.”
“Yes mame,” the marine replied and began to lead Josh away.
“I will be seeing you soon,” Josh said as he strode past Jasmine, his head still held high, he was still unbowed.
“I count on it Commander, you still owe me one hundred credits,” her grin, sardonic and yet genuine.
Josh followed the Marines off the bridge and into captivity. Once he had thought he would never get a chance to redeem himself, to finally be able to wash the blood from his hands and yet fate it seemed had smiled on him. He would get back his ship and see Sci-corp burn for this and once and for all remove that threat from this universe.
Jasmine beamed as she watched the Commander walk away, even now he was coming up with some way to retake the ship, she could see it in his eyes and that was just one of the reasons why she liked him. She was not a Sci-corp fanatic, just simply a realist, they were going to win this war and she wanted to live through it. She glanced over at Peter still on his knees rummaging through a med kit like a child fumbling with a jar of sweets. Well at least she thought, he wouldn’t have to live that much longer.
“Peter get up,” She sneered.
“That’s commander now,” he hissed angrily. “Just remember your place Marine, I am the Sci-corp representative here and my words are like Gods.”
“Enough grandstanding Commander, we have a job to do,” she turned towards the tactical display, “Order the team to continue.”
Peter was next to her, blood still gushing from his clearly broken nose, he wiped his hand haphazardly over the wound, “I don’t think you’re treating me with the proper respect.”
Jasmine held his gaze, bitter, lifeless eyes stared back at her, she felt a shiver rise up her back, �
�I am sorry commander,” she said attempting to defuse the situation.
“Better,” he countered with contempt, “Remember your place Marine and when the war is over perhaps there will be a place for you.”
Jasmine felt a sick feeling crawl along her intestines, as Peter marched over and sat in the command chair, “get me a medic!” he declared irately.
For the first time since she had betrayed Earth. Force, she doubted her decision, then she saw her brother’s face, his boyish smile and mop of straw coloured hair. The way his distorted limbs would drag slightly as he shuffled and the hours he would spend buckled over coughing up handfuls of bloody gore. Sci-corp had treated his condition, something that she would have never been able to afford and had saved his life. She had owed the memory of her Mother at least that much and now it was time to pay the price.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
“Alpha one, this is Troy actual, continue on, deployment of Raider is authorized.” The voice crackled over his rudimentary implant, the further they traversed into the bowels of this leviathan the worse it was getting.
Daniel thought the speaker sounded different, but he didn’t have time to worry about stuff like that. He arched to Kelly and nodded his head. “We go, heat up the Raider.”
He could see her smile. “I love this part,” she whispered, as she knelt down and began to activate the diminutive mechanoid. It was about the size of a football and was basically a cube with four small hydraulic legs. The two flashing blue lights mounted to the front of the robot, gave it the impression of having eyes, which certainly made it appear more like a mechanized pet, than a very expensive piece of military tech. All you would need now was some fake fur, perhaps some antennas for ears and you would be set. Kelly tapped a code into a numeric keypad on top of the machine and held up her tracker to allow it to synch.
“All good here Captain,” she exclaimed. As she stepped back, she glanced down almost proudly at the diminutive machine and she took on the role of a proud mother.
The Raider began to waddle forward, its tiny legs seemed like they would be incapable of bearing the weight of the robot, but somehow they did.
Kelly peered down at her tracker, and began to input the command sequence. “The signals getting bounced off something,” She spat, “No, wait I’ve got it again, it’s all good.”
Although the Raider itself could be used for almost any task, its main function was usually to scout dangerous or toxic environments, searching for either trapped or injured civilians or in some cases enemy targets. Today however, it would have another task, one with a more finite conclusion.
“How we looking?” Daniel asked, his stare shifted to the wolf, who was circling the robot, its flanks raised and seemingly unsure of this new mechanical arrival. It leaned forward and sniffed the machine cautiously, then backed off quickly and let out a low rumbling growl, as if still unsure of this mechanized beings true intentions. Abruptly the beast became aware of its own tail and its interest in the robot ceased, as it began to chase it. Daniel found himself smiling as he watched the animal’s desperate attempts, to quite literally chase its own tail.
Kelly finished her commands and looked up. “All set,” she pivoted to the Raider, and offered a crisp salute. “Off you go little guy,” she hit a button on her tracker and the machine set off on its final journey.
“Right everyone back.” Daniel bawled, as he raced around the corner seeking to gain a safe distance from where the point of the blast would be. He turned to the wolf, who was still preoccupied by his own errant appendage. “Here boy!” he exclaimed, clapping his hands together. The animal shifted its attention to him, dark eyes opened wide and its head tilted quizzically. Then without pause it meandered over to him lazily.
“I hope you programmed that thing right?” Hollis enquired uneasily.
“Well if I didn’t we’ll soon find out, when the blast causes a hull breach and we get sucked out into space,” Kelly retorted.
“Well look on the bright side, at least we would be off this goddamn ship, even space sounds good right about now,” Denzel added.
Daniel glanced around the corner and watched the Raider scuttling off. Its miniature legs edging slowly over the grilled floor, after several minutes it reached the temporary wall and paused. In his mind he almost saw the robot, sniff the air, like some kind of animated character and then it appeared to simply sit down.
Kelly shifted her gaze to the tracker. “Raider in position, clear for detonation?”
“Clear!” Daniel pronounced, as he took one final look at the machine, a part of him felt sorry for the tiny mechanoid, yet this was its purpose and who was he to deny such a thing. He saw a red light begin to flash on its side and a high pitch beeping began.
“Five, four,” Kelly began to count down, “Three.”
“Get ready!” Daniel shouted.
“Two, one, here we go,” Kelly yelled. The Raider let out one final, almost defiant beep before it detonated.
The light came first, then the sound of the explosion and finally the shockwave. Daniel was buffeted but managed to keep his feet. Thick billows of acrid, black smoke began to swirl majestically around the corner.
“We all good?” Daniel asked.
“Good,” the disjointed replies came.
Without another word, Daniel stepped into the haze, the veil was so thick that even the torch light had trouble penetrating it. So for a moment he simply stood alone in the smog.
“Any movement geek?” he shouted.
“Nothing,” the disembodied reply came. It made him feel like he was listening to the voices of the ghosts, which haunted this vessel.
After several minutes the smoke began to clear, and for the first time he could see the destruction clearly. Kelly had programmed the Raider almost perfectly, he could glimpse where the blast had been directed correctly, and a gaping hole now allowed access through the barricade. As he approached, he was even more impressed by its construction, even with the high explosive detonation, only a small section of the blockade had been damaged, while most of the rest seemed to have withstood the force of the discharge.
Slowly he edged towards the breach, suddenly aware of a presence, his eyes shot down and he saw the wolf at his side. Its nostrils flared angrily and once again it flashed sharpened fangs aggressively.
“What do you see boy?” he asked.
The animal glanced up at him and growled loudly. It approached the rupture and gingerly began to sniff the air. Then it backed away, and returned to his side.
“That can’t be a good sign,” Denzel said as he lumbered up behind Daniel.
“Think our new friend knows something that we don’t Sir?” Kelly asked as she traipsed next to the wolf and gently patted his head with her padded glove. The animal looked up at her, its tongue hanging from its mouth, as it panted and its tail swinging joyously.
Daniel couldn’t say what he wanted to, which was that they should all just get the hell off this ship. They still had a job to do and the code stood. They were Recon Marines and they never left anyone behind.
“We move,” His voice steady and his tone sure. “I’m lead, Kelly I want you following, you’re my eyes, then Snowman and finally Killer.” Perhaps he could have said more, but this wasn’t the time and once more the words themselves escaped him.
He didn’t wait for a reply, he simply set off to the fissure. He peered behind and saw the animal remain still. That’s right he thought, you stay here boy. He had to get down on one knee and crawl through the opening. His weapon held out in front of him, its beam lighting up the shadows. He paused as he neared the far side of the barricade, fear choked him and his breath caught in his lungs. He could already see the bodies. They had been right, this ship had been to Hell and it had brought back death with it.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
For Daniel it was like the worst nightmare you could ever imagine given shape, and he had first-hand experience with that. As he stepped through the barricade, t
he gruesome scene played out before his eyes, and he came face to face with death. At first his torch light only irradiated small snapshots of the horror. Frozen bodies that were piled on top of each other, like carcasses in some kind of abattoir. Most had huge chunks of flesh or limbs missing, while others still appeared to have been quite literally ripped to pieces. It was only when the rest of his team joined him though that the added light was able to show the true carnage, in all its grisly glory and it made the breath catch in his throat.
They stood in a vast hanger, its doomed roof only just visible above them. The corpses were arranged in vast pyres, as if they were waiting for some kind of ritual burning. These mounds of flesh and bone stretched back as far as the torch beams could reach.
“Jesus Christ, it must be thousands of people!” Kelly exclaimed, her voice laced with emotion.
“How is that even possible, wasn’t the crew like only around four hundred?” Hollis asked.
“I told you something bad happened here,” Denzel spat, as he eased towards one of the piles. Hollis waddled over to him, his finger nervously rubbing the trigger of his chain gun.
Daniel tried to speak, yet the words simply caught in his throat, his conscious mind was still trying to comprehend and process what he was seeing. It was clear someone, or something, had dragged all the bodies into this chamber and arranged them in this way. For what reason, he had no way of knowing. From the numbers it seemed that Kelly was right, it was certainly more than the original compliment of the crew. The cadavers themselves were packed from floor to ceiling and once again the slaughterhouse, flashed into his consciousness. He edged closer to one of the heaps, he could see the corpses had frozen, probably when the reactors began to power down and the temperature within the hulk plummeted to well below zero. Yet now some of the solid fluids were beginning to melt, and large puddles of watery murk was forming around them. It appeared to him, like they were forming some kind of ancient moat around the remains. In some places he could see lumps of necrotic flesh, literally falling off the dead and onto the wet ground.
The First Dawn (The Sci-Corp War Saga Book 1) Page 19