StarFight 3: Battlecry

by T. Jackson King

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  Hunter One watched the perception imager as it went gray with entry into the alternate dimension. It was a welcome sight. Almost as welcome as watching the gray-topped human lead his Fighters out to place particle disruption seeds on each of the nest fragments that held live invaders. While he and his fellow Swarmers deeply wished for the opportunity to drive their stingers into the soft bodies of the invaders, knowing that more than a few would die when the seeds exploded was a future expectation that he welcomed. It was also news that the Hunter in charge of the Food Enough colony would welcome. Fewer invader flying nests meant less chance of the colony being harmed when the invaders followed the human nests to this yellow sky glow. And follow they would. Just as his Flight Servant had been able to compute the sky glow to which humans had fled, so too would these invaders see, sense and compute the direction to Food Enough. And the sky glow of Food Enough was the only yellow glow so close to that flight path. Which meant he must work with Thirteen and with the Hunter of Food Enough to send scent to the Primes with a demand for powerful flying nests to defend the colony. Losing Warmth was horrible. Losing Food Enough could not be allowed. He increased the flapping of his wings and rose up from the bench.

  “Human leader,” he scent-cast to the pheromone signaler, knowing his meaning would reach the acoustic organs of the two-legged human female who served as the temporary Hunter leader of this sky nest. “Grayness is a lifeless image. I fly to my fellow Swarmers in the Forest chamber.”

  The human swiveled her head without moving her full body, an action impossible for any Swarmer. Her meager two eyes looked his way. “Hunter One, depart as you need. You are welcome to return and observe at any time.”

  The scent words put new thoughts in his mind. “Does that mean I may fly through all the tubeways of this nest? Like you humans, we Swarmers must explore new pathways and fly through new sky, or we grow weary.”

  The female’s two golden-colored eyes were briefly covered by flaps of skin, before the flaps lifted. “Hunter One, you may fly almost anywhere on the Lepanto. But Captain Renselaer forbids your entry to our Engines room and to the room that houses our small transport, like the Darts used by our Marines.”

  She meant the strangely shaped air globes used by these humans. He had no wish to travel in such, especially when they flew through the alternate dimension. And causing problems with this nest’s propulsive devices was the last thing he might wish.

  “Your flight directions are understood. May I bring out other Swarmers to fly with me? They tire of being confined to your Forest chamber.”

  Now the female shifted her body toward him, but stayed seated rather than rising in the air as would any normal Swarmer. Her small eyes were bright. “Yes, your fellow Swarmers may fly through our hallways, except for the Engines and Dart chambers. However, you did not do this on the trip out here from Kepler 10. Why do you need to fly about now?”

  The human female was good to be suspicious. Flying through other tubeways of this flying nest was part of his plan for final vengeance against the wetskinned invaders. At least the human Soft Skins were dry beings like his Swarmers. While unable to fly, they were civilized enough, considering their ground-hugging nature.

  “On the flight path to the sky glow of Warmth I had no company. So I remained in the Forest chamber. But now that other Swarmers occupy this nest, we must follow our nature and fly together in a small swarm.” He flew past the female and turned toward the exit portal.

  “Interesting. May your flight through our hallways be rewarding,” she said through the pheromone signaler block.

  The echo of her acoustic sound against the shell of his body felt almost normal, thanks to the many rest cycles he had spent among these humans. It was something he tolerated, in the interest of furthering the needs of the Swarm. Briefly he felt sorry for the Soft Skin female, to be born without wings. Then he told himself they could not help their crippled nature. While they were able to construct flying air globes from the rocks of their world, they could not personally feel the joy and delight of air passing over one’s wings. Or the sense of unity that came from englobing an enemy with other Swarmers. These humans were ground-bound. So too was their thinking. Or so he hoped. It would not take long for him and the three other Swarmers to carry out their final vengeance against the watery invaders. All they needed were a few moments of freedom to fly the tubeways of this giant flying nest!

  He passed through the exit portal, then angled to the right, his wings whirring. While he did not need to hurry in view of the two rest cycles it would take to reach Food Enough, still, he felt the anticipation of vengeance fulfilled. He needed the sense that he had exacted the final price for the attack on the larvae and Servants who had gone down to colonize Warmth. Their extermination using particle disruption seeds meant new Swarmers would have to travel back to the sky glow they had just left. That would happen. But first came vengeance. Then next came creation of an agreement with humans to fly together to englobe the wet ones when they arrived at the edge of the Food Enough system. Hopefully there would be other Swarmer flying nests to join the four human nests. Best of all would be a giant nest with Pull-Down plates! Such a nest would be invulnerable to the flying black balls of nothingness. And the reach of its Pull-Down skin would tear apart any invader nest that came too close!

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  “Acting Captain Renselaer requests admission to the quarters of Executive Officer Stewart,” Daisy heard as she finished dressing. Standing in the relaxation part of her suite, she turned and faced the slidedoor.

  “Door, admit Acting Captain Renselaer,” she said, feeling glad that Jacob was early. His warm baritone voice was just one element of his nature that she loved.

  The door moved sideways into the wall. Standing in parade rest mode with hands behind his back was Jacob.

  Her date was dressed in his Service Dress Blue coat, white shirt, four-in-hand necktie and pants, with four gold stripes sewn onto the end of each coat sleeve, while similar boards adorned each shoulder. His captain’s eagle was on the upper left chest of his coat, with the single ribbon of the Lepanto’s Operation StarFight mission showing. Below it was another ribbon that came from the battle to defend Valhalla. That ribbon had been commissioned by the admiral weeks before they left Kepler 10. While she knew Jacob did not like the white combo hat that went with this uniform, it was a requirement for dress wear. And Jacob well knew all the Star Navy regs, thanks to his father’s constant training. At least he was not wearing the white gloves and sword that went with a Full Dress Blue uniform!

  “You look great!”

  He smiled and stepped inside. “So do you. Damn, but I love that outfit. It’s the one you wore for our first dance night.”

  Of course it was. That was why she had pulled out the green Spring dress filled with flower images. It hung from her right shoulder, with a slanting neckline that went down and under her left arm. The bodice clung tightly from her waist up. The lower folds of the dress flared out from her hips, stopping just at her knees. She wore pale green hose that ended in black leather loafers. To comply with Star Navy rules, her two silver-bar lieutenant rank was clipped to her right shoulder.

  While Dance Night dress rules emphasized casual, civilian wear, it was required that all officers, CPOs and CWOs, and Spacers wear their rank or rating insignia on some part of their clothing. That was in case of an emergency while in space. So they both wore their rank insignia. At least she was able to avoid the tight pants and stiff jacket normally worn by a female officer at formal occasions. And she had chosen her Spring dress for a serious reason. She recalled well the intimacy they had enjoyed after that first dance night. Being on combat alert since their arrival had left zero time for intimate loving. Well, tonight would be different.

  She grinned. “Thanks. You look great too! You ready to go dancing?”

  He turned and held out his left arm. “May I escort you to the Dance Night?”

  “For sure.
” She walked up, put her right arm through the loop of his elbow and they both headed for the closed slidedoor. “Door, open.”

  They stepped out into the hallway of Command Deck. A hiss made them look toward the end of the hall and the opposite side of the hallway. Carlos had stepped out. The nav geek looked left and saw them.

  “Wow! What a couple. I’m jealous,” Carlos said loudly.

  “Thank you, Carlos,” she said, noticing how attractive he looked in his own Service Dress Blue outfit. The man wore the two service ribbons on his left chest, along with the single silver bar of a lieutenant jg. His black shoes were shined so perfectly they almost glowed in the hallway lighting.

  She and Jacob walked toward Carlos. A second hiss sounded and beyond his friend there emerged Lori, wearing a Russian peasant’s dress. Lori turned, looked their way and smiled easily. Her pale brown face held Slavic cheekbones that framed wonderfully attractive blue eyes. Or so Jacob had told her, the day after their Dance night rendezvous. A fact he was repeating right now, staring at the expanse of light brown skin exposed by Lori’s dress.

  “Hey!” she said, jerking on his left arm. “You’ve seen the other belle of the ball before. You’re escorting me, you know!”

  Jacob and Carlos both laughed. Then their friend from East LA walked toward Lori, holding out his left arm. “May I escort my lovely devotcka?”

  “Da,” she said in the Novgorod dialect of Russian. “Did you bring the Stolichnaya?”

  Carlos laughed. “Yes! It’s inside this hideous formal jacket!”

  As Daisy and Jacob joined the couple, she felt happy that the two had found each other. Carlos was a great chess player and soccer enthusiast, while Lori worked gravitational algorithms in her head, much the way Carlos computed nav track coordinates. And both loved riding horses, something they shared with Jacob. Horses she was happy to leave with those three. Piloting a ground-to-orbit shuttle was the thing that lifted her spirits. She looked around but did not see Quincy or Kenji. She guessed they must have gone early to the Dance Night on Habitation Deck. Which lay one deck down. They stopped in front of the between decks gravlift,

  A big slidedoor opened. She followed her friends into the gray metal box. “Melody, deliver us to Habitation Deck,” she said, beating the guys and Lori.

  “Moving your compartment,” the AI replied as it told the metal box’s gravity plates to reduce their repulsion so they moved down to Habitation Deck.

  The gravlift box stopped moving. The big slidedoor opened. They walked out into the main hallway of Habitation, where there were clusters of people all heading toward the Exercise Chamber that doubled once a week as Dance Night hangout. They followed after the other singles, couples and groups. As she walked, Daisy hoped the crews on the other ships of the battle group were enjoying their own Dance Nights. When you mixed up both genders, multiple sex orientations, and different ranks and ratings inside a big metal tube for a long time, chances for relaxation and escape from the normal rigidity of military service became vital. Jacob squeezed her hand.

  “Daisy, what are you thinking?”

  “Do you think the other crews are having fun?”

  “Are we?” he said, turning his strong face to her. His black eyebrows lifted.

  “Very definitely!” she said, pulling him a bit closer as they followed after their friends and other people making their way through the wide opening that gave access to Exercise.

  The place resembled an old style high school gymnasium. It had fake wood parquet flooring, with bench seating along the four walls of the long rectangle that made up the chamber. Overhead, real drop lights hung from the high ceiling, their yellow glow filling every corner of the room. On the left side, up against the wall, were three long tables filled with food platters, soft and hard drinks and tasty sweets from twenty nations. On the right side were the alcoves that gave admission to the restrooms. In front of them, standing on an elevated platform, was a band of violins, drums, electric guitars, a few cellos, some brass horn players and two flute players. Live music that sounded like Country and Western came from them.

  Carlos looked to his date. “Lori, you want to swing?”

  “Oh yes!” she said, pulling him out to the open floor where other couples danced.

  Briefly she wondered if Jacob would join the band and take over the coronet that lay beside a horn player. But he turned to face her. “May I have this dance?”

  “Yes, my dear captain!” She put her left arm out to hold onto his right hand, then put her right hand on Jacob’s left shoulder. He leaned close to her, gave her a wink and moved them into slow dancing.

  It all felt very very good. She liked his Blue Oasis aftershave lotion. It smelled delightful. And for once she was happy the music was slow and suitable to a waltz type step. Daisy matched every step Jacob took. He pulled her closer. “You enjoying this?”

  “Very much so.” She moved closer and laid her chin on his left shoulder.

  They moved together, having had many Dance Nights for practice. Putting aside old memories, she looked outward as other couples moved to the rhythm of the band.

  She saw Quincy dancing with a slightly shorter man close to his age. They had been together since Earth departure, a fact that gave her hope for her friend. Looking past them, she saw Kenji dancing with his Korean girlfriend. They too had been together since the long Alcubierre flight from Earth to Kepler 22. Beyond them she caught sight of red-haired Louise dancing with swarthy Oliver. Louise was married to a mining engineer. Oliver was standard hetero and single. But it seemed they were enjoying each other’s company as long-time friends. Then she saw Maggie dancing with Akira. She hoped they found time to continue the relationship they had begun on the trip outward. Jacob swung her about and Daisy caught sight of Alicia dancing with Leonard Schwartz, chief of Habitation Deck. Elsewhere other deck chiefs talked, danced or drank. Drinking was what the four Marines who were Dart pilots were doing. And moving their hands in sweeping gestures that she knew were reflective of combat maneuvers in space. But Richard was missing. Where could he be? Surely not asleep. The man made do with fewer rest hours than anyone she knew, and yet he was old enough to be her father. Her left ear combud buzzed. Not far away Quincy, Lori and Carlos also stopped dancing. Jacob stopped moving, which meant his combud had also buzzed.

  “Speak!” Jacob said, his voice coming to her over the shared command comlink.

  “We’re under attack!” yelled Richard. “In the Park Room. Send troops!”

  Jacob turned and rushed for the room entry. “Melody, link me to all Marines.”

  “Linked,” said the AI.

  “Marines! Head for the Park Room with weapons! And hard shells if you are in one. The chief is under attack!”

  She followed Jacob through the entry and then left as he ran toward the rear of the deck where Park Room was located. Crew scattered before them, his expression and his urgency clear for all to see. A glance back told her Quincy was following, an angry look on his black face. Lori and Carlos signed to her they were heading to the Bridge as backup.

  But what could they do? She had no weapon on her. Did Jacob? Did Quincy?

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Richard stood just inside the slidedoor that gave access to the Park Room. To his left stood Martha and Auggie, both wearing Shinshonis that were identical to the one he wore, except for scrapes and abrasions from prior boardings. It was nearly the end of the guard shift for these two. Since he hated dancing and preferred drinking alone or in the field, it had seemed worthwhile to come and hang with his troops. These two were fine team leaders and damned good Marines. He was pleased with the new troops provided by the admiral. Mattis, Hawker and Hideyoshi had done well in the frag boardings. Most vital, the rest of the troops liked them. Both groups had earned the trust of each other.

  “Any weird behavior by the seals?” he called over his helmet comlink.

  “We call them shark-heads now,” Martha said bluntly. “The way they move in the pond
is weird.” She pointed her right flamethrower arm at the four aliens, who were now leaving the water and moving as a group across the meadow. “Whatever one of them does in the water is immediately copied by the other three. Just as they are now doing in the meadow. It’s as if they share a single mind.”

  “Hmm. Kind of what we saw in the movement of their ships.”

  “Yes, chief,” grumbled Auggie, who had his left shotgun arm aimed outward. “And I don’t feel good about aliens that move as if they have a single mind. Let alone shark-like aliens that walk on land and have carnivore mouths.”

  Richard agreed. But these aliens were what they were. He focused on his troops. Normally the arms of these two would be tired after hours of aiming in combat ready posture. But that was the value of exoskeleton motors. All they had to do was tell their suit AI to engage a locking strut and their bio arms could rest easy inside the flexible armor of their hard shells. Looking away from the troops, he scanned the rest of the Park Room. The room was fifty meters wide and seventy long, which made for a lot of room in which to play soccer, have a picnic or do whatever. In the room middle was the twenty meter wide pond. Beyond it stood a forest of maple trees, aspens, elms, pinyon pines and low shrubs. Between the pond and his troops was the meadow area meant for picnicking and sports. The green grass was now shin high, having recovered from volleyball and soccer visits. The place was an ideal location to wander through the trees in solitude. He came here often for just that, solitude. Having given up on marriage, feeling linked to other living things like the trees and the small finches that flew through the branches was vital. It was his way of centering his inner self.