Star Watch

by Mark Wayne McGinnis

  Chapter 50

  Dacci System

  The Minian, Flight Bay

  _________________

  Hanna found Leon in the flight bay, beneath the forward landing strut of the SpaceRunner. The ship was beautiful, back to its former, bright mirror-like finish, with fresh gray accents. Leon stood about midway on the strut, and was reaching with both hands to the outer hull.

  “That doesn’t look so good,” Hanna said, pointing to a twenty-inch gash in the hull.

  “Temporary patch … this is the last of them. Nothing like a bunch of attacking drones to ruin a perfectly good starship.” Leon stepped down, and could see that Hanna was carrying a duffle over one shoulder. “Going somewhere?”

  “A little birdie told me you were preparing to head out … weren’t you at least going to say goodbye?”

  “Um … I’m not real good with goodbyes. Not so sure my presence would be missed here, anyway.” He caught a flash of irritation cross her face, then disappear.

  “Look … do you think I can hitch a ride?”

  “With me?”

  She smiled at that. “Yes, with you. There’s nothing for me here.”

  “Well, where do you want me to take you … back to Trom?”

  Hanna continued staring at him with attitude.

  “Okay … not Trom.”

  The shake of her head was nearly imperceptible. She shrugged and chewed the inside of her cheek. Leon, never witnessing any degree of vulnerability in her before, totally knew it was an act. “Knock off the lost puppy routine, Hanna … I’m not buying it. If you want a ride to parts unknown then just say so.”

  Her demeanor changed to one of quick indignation. “Hey … it doesn’t mean you and I …” she used her index finger to point back and forth between them.

  “Don’t be ridiculous … you’re hardly my type,” Leon replied back with a sneer.

  She tucked long strands of blond hair behind her ears and made a face, conveying fuck you without actually saying the words.

  “Seems you aren’t the only one wanting to hitch a ride with me.”

  “Yeah? Who else?” she asked, surprised.

  “The mecher … Trommy5.”

  She nodded again. “Maybe we can change its name … Trommy5 is beyond lame.”

  Leon gestured toward the gangway: “Go ahead and stow your gear. We should be ready to depart within the next few minutes.”

  * * *

  Ricket guesstimated he had about thirty-five minutes before his bodily functions completely shut down. Lungs, kidneys, and heart were failing, all showing signs of terminal distress. He wasn’t giving up yet, but forthcoming assistance from the Minian did not look promising. In that moment, time was not his friend, and there wasn’t much he could personally do to keep himself alive. Everything from his neck down was paralyzed. About all he could do was swallow, force air into his lungs, and move his eyes about. Theoretically, he could phase-shift somewhere, but where? Physics made phase-shifts possible when inside a habitat, but only within that given habitat’s perimeters—not elsewhere beyond an access portal. He brought up his HUD’s environmental settings and boosted his oxygen intake to its maximum setting.

  Ricket watched as the first stream of drones, followed closely by Sahhrain warriors, moved past him and over to the HAB 7 threshold. There was something odd about it, though. Out of his peripheral vision he could see the portal. He could see into the Minian’s Zoo. But as warriors and drones rushed past, clearing the threshold, he couldn’t actually see them within its corridor. Next came Lord Shakrim, and his twenty-five Chosen Spears—they were the only ones still within HAB 7. But they held back—apparently opting not to follow behind the other forces. Had Shakrim suspected something? Ricket, watching them, wasn’t sure. They didn’t cross over, and he didn’t know where the Sahhrain leader and his warriors went. Perhaps close by? Just out of sight of his upside-down position, at the bottom of a two-thousand-year-old wall?

  Ricket strained the muscles of his eyes, catching some movement within the Zoo. At first, he thought it might be sunlight, reflecting off the window—but then he recognized the unmistakable form of a female … it was Dira! She moved closer to the portal window and placed her open palms on it. She shouldn’t be able to do that, not with an open portal. Or was it? Then it made sense to him. The portal was a bridge to some place else … probably to another habitat. Clever. Although, apparently, it hadn’t fooled Shakrim for long.

  Dira lowered her body, becoming more visible to him. He could see her trying to talk to him. Normally, that wouldn’t be a problem; NanoCom communications worked fine into most habitats—but not this one. Too much interference. Dira was now trying something else—entering something onto her virtual notebook. He saw her pull at the virtual corners of the hovering display, turn it around, then hold it up to the portal window. Ricket read what she had typed in:

  I KNOW YOU ARE ALIVE. HANG IN THERE!

  One more bodily function was working—his tear ducts. He blinked away the blur and permitted himself to feel encouraged. But the upbeat emotion lasted only a fleeting moment. If she knew he was still alive, then perhaps Lord Shakrim did, too … he needed a way into the Minian and was waiting, perhaps, for someone to remove the bridge and open the Zoo to HAB 7.

  Ricket’s heart rate was increasing and he desperately tried to think of a way to warn her … to stop anyone from opening that portal. He looked at the timer on his HUD and realized his time was quickly running out. He had twenty-seven minutes to live.

  * * *

  Dira, Rizzo, and Bristol stood in the Zoo corridor in front of the HAB 7 portal window.

  “Can’t you leave this one alone and add a second portal into the habitat?” she said to Bristol.

  “Perhaps in time … but we don’t have a lot of that going around right now. Best to ask that guy.”

  Dira saw Granger off in the distance and waved at the tall Caldurian to hurry up—move it—as he ambled down the Zoo corridor. He picked up his pace and joined them at the portal window. Once he’d caught his breath he saw Ricket’s upside down, crumpled form within the habitat.

  “How do you know he’s not dead? He looks dead to me,” Granger said.

  “He’s not … and could you sound any more detached, Granger?” Dira asked with a furrowed brow.

  “I care about Ricket. You know I do … but look at him.”

  “I’m a doctor. You haven’t noticed what I have. Look at Ricket … these newer battle suits conform to the body. They give and take, and become almost a second skin. Though it’s almost imperceptible, if you look long enough you’ll see his chest is moving. Air is moving in and out of his lungs. That typically does not happen when you’re dead.”

  “Excellent! I can open the portal … temporarily remove the bridge over to HAB 170.”

  “No. That’s not an option. I’ve already talked to the captain. Lord Shakrim, and some of his personal guard, never crossed over into HAB 170. He may be in there, just waiting for us to provide him access.”

  “That does create a problem. I don’t see how we can help him, then. And being a doctor, you must know the poor fellow has very little time before …”

  Dira held up a hand. “Don’t say it.” Frustrated, she crossed her arms over her chest and stared into the habitat. “If only there were another way in.”

  The Caldurian, also gazing into the habitat, shrugged. “There’s always more than one way in. I mean, there’s the portal down on the planet … you know, the way they got in there in the first place. But …”

  Dira spun and looked up at Granger. “Wait … say that again!”

  * * *

  Leon filled and patched the last of the holes in the SpaceRunner’s hull—at least to the point it would hold up temporarily, until repaired by a professional. He collected his supplies—a bucket full of tools, and a satchel holding power tools—and headed up the gangway.

  “Wait! Leon, wait!”

  He turned to see the pretty violet-ski
nned doctor running into the flight bay with Bristol and Rizzo close behind.

  “Dira? What is it?”

  “You can’t leave yet.”

  “Okay … what’s going on? What’s wrong?”

  “I need your ship … I need you to take me down to the planet.”

  “No way. I’ve been on that planet. I just finished patching about twenty plasma burn craters in my ship’s hull,” he told her as he continued up the ramp.

  “It’s Ricket. He’s in HAB 7, and he’s dying.”

  Leon stopped and looked down at Dira.

  She shook her head and stopped him from asking the obvious question. “No … we can’t get to him from the Zoo … that portal is a bridge to another habitat right now and if we open it to the Zoo Lord Shakrim will be able to get aboard the Minian.”

  Bristol, looking dissatisfied, was looking up at Leon’s makeshift patchwork on the hull, while Rizzo, who had recovered from his ordeal with Lord Shakrim without a scrape, stood staring back at him with his hands on his hips.

  “We need to save Ricket … He’s one of our own.”

  “So Shakrim’s a part of this mix? Now it’s definitely no thanks. Have you seen what that maniac can do with that little shield weapon of his? Well I have, so I think I’ll pass.”

  “Please. Please, Leon … Ricket’s dying.”

  He again hesitated and appraised Dira, then Rizzo, then Bristol, who were standing at the bottom of the gangway. Dira’s eyes were pleading.

  “Shit … shit, shit, shit! Get in … and hurry up!”

  Chapter 51

  Dacci System

  The SpaceRunner, Minian Flight Bay

  _________________

  Boomer tried not to move in the total darkness, but something was jabbing her in the back. She reached around and felt the long handle of a broom. She had disengaged her battle suit once she’d phase-shifted into the small space. Perhaps doing so was a bad idea? She felt the spaceship moving and the familiar, elevator-drop feeling in the pit of her stomach—they were off the ground.

  Earlier, she had looked for Dira in Medical, as her father had suggested, and learned from a med-tech she and Rizzo were down at the Zoo. She found Dira, Rizzo and Granger in front of HAB 7, and listened to their conversation about Ricket’s dire situation. They were planning to go down to the planet and enter the habitat from another side.

  “I want to go,” Boomer had said.

  “That’s not an option,” Dira told her. “Your father would skin me alive.”

  Rizzo nodded in agreement.

  “Look … you want to be useful, go tell Bristol he has to meet us in the flight bay. I’ve already talked to him on comms, but he needs more convincing. Can you do that?”

  She’d had just enough time to get to Bristol’s quarters and guilt him into helping Dira with her plan to rescue Ricket. Then she needed to get back to her own quarters, grab her enhancement shield, and phase-shift into the SpaceRunner’s hidden compartment. She knew she’d probably catch hell for phase-shifting within the Minian, but this was too important. She tried to remember the saying her father used on numerous occasions. Oh yeah … sometimes the end justifies the means.

  * * *

  Jason couldn’t help thinking about his father and how—once again—the admiral would be disappointed by his son’s recent actions. He looked around the embattled habitat. There were thousands, on both sides, now engaged in battle. Instead of finding a way to manage the situation, following the set directives of Star Watch, he’d done just the opposite: incurring more fighting … more dying … more war.

  He was standing shoulder to shoulder with Billy and Traveler, waiting for the first of the Sahhrain warriors to reach them.

  “Damn, they’re fast,” Billy said, spitting out his cigar stub and closing his visor.

  Now that they were close enough to clearly see, Jason realized the warriors weren’t actually riding waves of violet light. They were running at incredible speeds—through the assistance of distortion waves. Abruptly, Traveler rushed forward, meeting head on the first of the six approaching warriors. Like a battering ram, his outstretched heavy hammer plowed into the Sahhrain warrior’s face. One down. The warriors abruptly changed course, circling around them. Jason and Billy simultaneously fired their multi-guns at the remaining five. Two immediately sank to the ground and didn’t get back up. The other three, using their enhancement shields to block the shots, sent three violet waves spiraling back at them. Jason found himself catapulted off his feet onto his back. Although his battle suit took the brunt of the blow, his chest hurt all the same. Billy, too, lay sprawled on the ground, while Traveler remained solidly on his feet. He’d resorted to using his multi-gun too and was fending off the three warriors on his own. Jason and Billy quickly scrambled to their feet and rejoined the fight. It took less than a minute before all six Sahhrain warriors lay dead on the ground.

  Billy gestured toward Traveler’s battle suit, noting countless blackened streaks. “That’s coming out of your paycheck, soldier.”

  Traveler didn’t get Billy’s humor, but he was used to it enough to know when to ignore him. Jason watched his HUD readouts and realized their Sharks weren’t faring well against the Sahhrain.

  “Let’s split up, guys,” Jason said. He ran over to a cluster of rocks to gain higher ground. He looked for a reflective breastplate, across the battlefield, and finally spotted it, seventy-five yards away, close to the portal window. He set his phase-shift coordinates and flashed away.

  Jason guesstimated there were fifteen Sharks lying dead around the Sahhrain commander; he was the only human wearing an enhancement shield. Currently fighting four Sharks, he easily blocked incoming plasma fire by redirecting their own fire against them via strategically placed ricochets. Ridert spun and leapt and flipped with the ease of a gymnast on steroids.

  Jason joined the Star Watch Sharks, watching mutely as they fell to the ground, one by one, as Ridert expertly maneuvered his enhancement shield, both as a defensive aid and as a weapon. Jason watched his movements—looking for an opening—a weakness in the man’s technique. With the four Sharks now out of play, it was now Jason against Ridert. He felt the heat of his multi-gun in his hands as it continued to spew bolts of plasma fire toward his opponent’s head, chest, and legs, then back to his head again. Ridert locked out each shot and was smiling. Jason returned his smile, remembering in that instant that he, too, had an unconventional weapon, no less effective. Actually, it was Rizzo who’d showed him that not-so-easily-found HUD menu setting: where, as long as it was initialized ON, the HUD would track your eye movements. Stare at any one location, with eyes exaggeratedly widened, and you’d automatically be phase-shifted to that location in an instant. Because the locations were all close range, one could phase-shift one hundred times or more before the battle suit’s power would need regenerating. Jason, locking on the HUD’s rapid-eye phase-shift mode, was behind Ridert in a blink. He fired and caught Ridert on his buttock’s left cheek, then phase-shifted away, before Ridert could react, and fired again. This time, Ridert held his shield in position and blocked Jason’s fire, but he was hurt … his movements less fluid. Jason phase-shifted again, this time right into him. Ridert’s mass was transported to the left, but he landed on his feet anyway. He leveled his enhancement shield at Jason and fired off a seemingly endless stream of distortion waves. Jason didn’t have time to contemplate his next phase-shift point before being blasted in his visor. He tried to spin with the force, but once again landed on his back. He waited for the next assault—perhaps for life-ending violet waves to strike his body. But they didn’t come. Ridert was gone.

  Within the last thirty seconds, Jason heard multiple hail requests coming in. He also heard the open comms channel become more and more congested—voices of desperate Shark command personnel were flooding in. As he got to his feet he took in the battlefield. One thing stuck out more than anything else—they were losing the battle. The dead were strewn across the landscape to th
e far ridgeline. Shark bodies outnumbered Sahhrain five to one.

  Jason answered Billy’s incoming hail. “Status?”

  “Cap … we’re down to four hundred … not sure how the rhinos are faring. We need to fall back.”

  Jason was shocked by the sheer number of men and women lost in one day … well over a thousand Allied forces had perished; their situation was quickly becoming dire.

  “I agree … have our forces phase-shift at least one hundred miles farther out into the habitat … convey the coordinates to Shark team leaders. Get everyone the hell out of here!”

  Jason saw the new phase-shift coordinates projected onto his HUD. In a flurry of white flashes, remaining Star Watch forces phase-shifted away from the battlefield.

  * * *

  One hundred miles away in an open, flat expanse of nondescript desert, Jason, Billy and Traveler kneeled before Jason’s virtual notebook, looking at the 3D holographic representation of HAB 7.

  “We’ll definitely need to phase-shift again; perhaps to the foothills over there, at the far end of the habitat. There are trees for cover and somewhat higher ground within the rocks there,” Billy said, pointing.

  Jason looked to see if there were other, better, options. “It’s not enough; we’ll only be forestalling the inevitable. They’ll cut us down there just as easily as they did back at the portal. No … what we need are reinforcements.”

  “I suggest we bring in our own attack drones from the Minian … and the little ship, the Charm … she was designed to pass within a habitat’s portal, and she’s got excellent firepower,” Billy said.

  “Agreed … with the added airpower we’d be in better shape. Perhaps pull in another hundred Sharks from the Minian as well,” Jason added.

  Traveler grunted, “There are more warriors on the nearby Allied vessels … yes?”