Star Chaser (ESS Space Marines Book 3)

by James David Victor

  Andy didn’t say anything, although she didn’t move either. She wrestled with the desire to rush to the bridge and take out the enemy, but knew that wasn’t a wise course of action.

  “Are you still there?” Shakti asked. Her tone was still languid, but Andy thought she heard an edge that hadn’t been there before. Perhaps the woman didn’t like being ignored.

  “Yes,” Andy replied.

  She knew that they couldn’t just keep standing there. The Arkana were going to take over the ship if they remained on the bridge for too long. Despite the even more concerned, even worried, expressions on the faces of her squad, she just gestured for them to keep moving on toward the armory.

  “It seems like you don’t want to talk to me,” Shakti went on as they walked.

  “I don’t usually like having chats with people who try to take over my ship,” Andy said, imagining that wasn’t the best thing to say but she could only counsel her words so far.

  Shakti actually laughed. “Your ship? That seems a little presumptuous. As far as I can tell, this ship is neither owned nor captained by you.”

  Andy bit her tongue. Why should she have to justify that it was “her” ship because it was her home. It was bait, and she wasn’t going to take it.

  “You might consider being a little more conversational,” the Arkana woman went on, “if you want to assure the health and welfare of your ship, as well as the crew that lives upon it. If you would like them to continue living upon it, I would highly recommend that you take a less icy approach. You and I have much to talk about.”

  “What do we have to talk about?” Andy asked, working to keep her voice as steady as possible.

  At least she had been granted one vital piece of information that she had not been willing to ask on her own. Assuming this Shakti person wasn’t lying, it meant that alpha squad and the bridge crew were still alive.

  “Andrea Dolan,” Shakti said, the edge gone now, “we’re going home.”

  Chapter 7

  “What do you mean, going home?” Andy asked.

  Although it tasted bad, she forced herself to sound more...open. Maybe if she could keep the woman talking for a while, they could work on some sort of plan, and maybe she could get some kind of idea about what was going on; what their purpose was. Although she had a sinking feeling she knew already.

  “Coming to us is coming home, Andrea Dolan,” Shakti continued. “We are the race of your father. We knew you were here.”

  “How?” Andy asked as the five marines rounded a corner, checking ahead but not seeing anyone there.

  Shakti laughed. From anyone else, that sound might be rich and full, but it just sent a shiver down her spine. Andy didn’t like it at all and she didn’t want to hear it again. “We know our own people. You may have been difficult to find, given your mixed heritage, but we will always find our blood eventually. And when we do, we bring them home.”

  Andy frowned even harder, her brows knitting together. “And what of those who don’t want to go?”

  Another laugh, this one with a hint of condescension. “We have yet to find out. Our people always want to come home. Why wouldn’t they? You have always felt outside, haven’t you? Like there was something different about you, something unknown, but now you can know.”

  The tension grew, muscles tightening between her shoulder blades. She gripped her rifle a little tighter, trying to bleed some of that tension out through her hands. She knew that the rifles were not their best defense, at present, against the Arkana, but it was something that they had and so she was going to hold onto it.

  “I suppose that gives me a lot to think about,” Andy said, trying to figure out how to stall without sounding like she was stalling.

  “I suppose it does,” Shakti replied, although it sounded kind of mocking. Andy grit her teeth harder, but didn’t have a chance to reply before the other continued. “I’ll tell you what. I’ll give you a little bit of time to do just that. Your ship remains in my control, but I will keep everyone alive while you think it over. I don’t want us to start off on the wrong foot, as you say.”

  Andy heard the little chirp that said the channel had closed and she spat out a string of curses to make anyone blush. She brought the group to a halt for just a moment to catch her breath after the expletives.

  “Alright, guys,” she said, about to reveal the other half of the conversation to those who hadn’t been able to hear it. “These people...are here for me.” She hated saying it, but it was the truth and it had to be told. “They have subdued Alpha Squad and taken control of the bridge.”

  “Are they...alive?” Roxanna asked slowly. The swirling of her skin increased dramatically, showing her concern and agitation.

  “She says they are,” Andy replied. “I don’t have proof, but I believe her at the moment. I think she is more interested in using them as leverage than killing anyone.”

  Dan stepped forward. “Are you...going to go with them?”

  Looking around, she could see how concerned everyone was. They did their best to keep it from showing, but it was impossible to conceal it all. She wanted to say whatever words would ease the fear and tension, but she didn’t know what those words were, and she was sure they’d be lies.

  “Only as a last resort,” she replied. “I don’t want to go with these people. I don’t care if they are my genetic heritage. This is my home. But...I’m not going to let them kill the only real family I have, either. If we can’t figure out how to liberate the bridge and our people, and get those jerks off our ship, then I will go with them, if I believe they’ll leave you all alone.”

  Dan’s brows knit. He looked like he wanted to argue, wanted to say that there would be a way to get them off the ship without it coming to that, but he knew just as well as she did that they couldn’t be sure of that.

  “I’m not giving up yet,” Andy said decisively. “She says she is giving me time to think and everyone will be kept alive in the meantime. I will hold onto hope that she’s not lying, and we’ll use that time to our advantage. The first step is getting to the armory, and then we’ve got to find out where the others are.”

  “They must have taken key areas,” Anallin said strategically. “Or groups are fighting back throughout the ship. If they have keen minds, they will have gone for the Thirty-Third first.”

  “I imagine you’re right,” Andy said. “I’m sure our marines are making them work for it, and we’re going to find them and help out. The group we encountered...frankly wasn’t that hard to take out, but we don’t know how many there are or if that group was a fluke. And we can’t use the communication systems, because we know they’re listening.”

  Jade let out a little laugh that sounded more like hysteria than mirth. “Why make things easy, right?”

  Andy managed a small smile for her youngest squad-mate. She knew that of all of them, she would be the most nervous. But she knew they all would be. They had all grown very close as a squad, especially over the past few months. “If it were easy, they wouldn’t need us, right?”

  “Right, Sergeant.” She nodded, then added, “Oorah.”

  “Oorah,” the others echoed.

  Andy took a moment to look around at the four faces looking back at her. Dan, tall and broad-shouldered, with the near-constant stream of sarcasm and humor but who could be counted on when the chips were down. She thought about how his mother was still under the impression that they were dating, rather than squad-mates. Roxanna, pretty and slender and purple, her Selerid empathic abilities as much help as hindrance to her, especially in her line of work, but she never shirked either. She put herself out there as much as anyone to help her squad and her ship, and Andy trusted her to lead them if anything happened to her...

  Anallin. Short and stout and blue. Those eye-clicks had taken a while to get used to, as well as the lack of inflection that attended the Hanaran race. As did the race’s lack of gender, humans being as attached to their pronouns as they were. But Anallin was loy
al and strong, ready to step in whenever needed, and a crack shot. Then Jade. The youngest of them, and their technology specialist. Her green eyes were large, and looked to be in a permanent state of wide-eyed amazement, but she did what needed to be done. She was growing into a great marine.

  Andy didn’t want to leave any of them.

  “Let’s go,” she said resolutely.

  Chapter 8

  They reached the armory without incident, and Andy used her security code as a squad leader to open it. They moved for the weapons locker with the “old-fashioned” weaponry, opening it and distributing projectile-firing side arms and rifles. They doubled up on weapons so they could provide them to any fellow marines they found as they went.

  As she was locking the armory, they heard thudding footsteps coming down the corridor.

  Everyone spun toward the source of the sound, but held their fire. It was a good thing they did since the footsteps belonged to Corporal Lewis, from Delta Squad. Andy watched as he ran forward, then skidded to a halt in front of them once he realized who they were.

  “Sergeant Dolan,” Lewis said, slightly out of breath but not too much. They were conditioned, after all. She had the feeling this was a hint of emotion in addition to physical exertion; adrenaline could be quite a thing. “The enemy has trapped Delta in the shuttle bay. We couldn’t keep them from entering, but we’re holding them at bay. I got away and came to find help. I don’t think they know I got out.”

  Andy listened intently, nodding as she processed the information. She thought through the list of intruder alerts that she had heard from the ship. The shuttle bay had been one of those sections, and it was the closest to where they presently were.

  She handed Lewis a gun. “We’re going to go get them out of there.”

  He nodded, but eyed the weapon as he took it. “Sergeant?”

  “I’m sure you’ve discovered that standard weapons aren’t very effective,” she explained quickly. He nodded. “Hand to hand combat was more effective. I’m betting bullets will be too.” She gave him an extra magazine of ammunition.

  He smiled a little with understanding.

  With Corporal Lewis falling into formation with Gamma Squad, Andy and Roxanna led the way through the corridors. What seemed clear, from getting to the armory and then moving away from it, was that the intruders were not roaming the corridors, or at least that there weren’t enough of them to be everywhere. Hopefully, that was a good sign, but she knew that at least some of them were forces to be reckoned with, if they had the bridge.

  Were the other squads heading to the bridge? Did they know what was going on? It was possible that they didn’t. She had called into the bridge, and they likely only answered because it was her.

  As the group of six came around the corner, they finally saw some of their enemy. They were camped out in front of the doors to the shuttle bay, as expected. They pulled back into the corridor and leaned back against the wall.

  “Are there any inside?” Andy asked in a low voice.

  Lewis nodded. “They had us pinned down in a back corner. Adams is pretty badly injured. Everyone else is just holed up while they keep us in place. When I managed to sneak out, they weren’t advancing but they weren’t letting up either. We got fired on every time they saw one of us, and their blasts were doing far more damage than ours.”

  Andy exchanged a brief confused look with the other Gamma Squad members. When they had been fired at, the damage had been minimal; absorbed by armor. What was different with this group?

  It suddenly made sense. Gamma Squad had Andy. They had been pulling their punches. It added another layer to her already unsettled, vaguely guilty spirit, but she ignored it. Maybe they could use this to their advantage. She could just run ahead of everyone else and act as a human shield...

  “We’re going to take out the ones at the doors fast,” Andy said. “I don’t want to give them any chance to get a call out and warn anyone.” She looked at Lewis. “You said they’re behind some sort of barricade?”

  He nodded.

  “Then let’s hope they stay down.” Hope wasn’t ever a great plan, but sometimes, it was the only one they had. “Remember to be cautious with the guns. We’d rather not put holes in the bulkheads.”

  Once they had all nodded their acknowledgement of the plan and the relevant advice, Andy nodded to Anallin. The Hanaran switched places with Roxanna, next to Andy. Anallin was the best shot among them, but Andy was close thanks to countless hours of training.

  Exchanging another nod, Andy took a breath and counted to three. Then they both came around the corner with their projectile-firing rifles up.

  Four Arkana guarded the door. Anallin and Andy took two out with their first shots, which brought the other two around. One fired back, but it was rushed and haphazard. She heard the other one shout something that didn’t translate. She didn’t think the tone sounded like anything happy, though. Neither of them would have much longer to be unhappy, she figured, as the two marines took their next shots.

  When all four enemy bodies were on the ground, Andy paused for a moment to make sure there weren’t any hidden surprises, then gestured the rest of the squad.

  “Check them,” she ordered, wanting to be sure that they wouldn’t pose another threat.

  As they walked among the sprawl of limbs, Jade was leaning over to check one of the bodies when Roxanna gasped and spun around. “Jade—“

  She wasn’t able to get the rest of her warning out before the Arkana woman, with blood streaming from what must have been a glancing head wound, reached up and got both pale hands around Jade’s neck. The private grunted, but her training kicked in. She brought her right arm up and around with a punch, loosening the grip more than doing any damage then reversed direction, driving her elbow into the woman’s face, snapping her head back and sending her back to the ground.

  “That one was still conscious, Sergeant,” Jade said with a weak smile, pushing herself back to her feet and training her pistol on the now unconscious Arkana.

  “Bind that one,” Andy ordered as they checked the others. One other remained alive, and was also bound.

  “By the time I left, my squad was in the back right of the bay,” Lewis said as they gathered in front of the doors. “The Arkana were holding them from back left and center.”

  Andy nodded her acknowledgement. That would give them some time to see her and her team coming, which could be good if her theory regarding their intentions to take her alive were true. If she was wrong, though, they would be in serious trouble.

  Either way, they had to go in.

  Chapter 9

  They lined up three on each side of the doors. With their weapons up and ready, Andy reached out and pressed the panel to open the door. Normally, the doors would have opened upon approach, but those sensors were disabled when intruder alert protocols went into place. It wasn’t foolproof, but at least made it harder.

  A moment later, the doors slid open. Andy took a moment to assess the situation, but since there was no weapons fire coming their way, she motioned them into the room.

  Once they were inside, they realized why the Arkana hadn’t noticed the door opening and even the entry of Gamma Squad. Delta squad was keeping them busy. They were no longer pinned down in the corner and had tried to outflank the Arkana who had responded by splitting up. The shuttle bay was now filled by a deadly cross fire from half a dozen different locations.

  Andy quickly dispatched her squad in a true flanking maneuver and quickly put a quick end to matters. She could see what Lewis had been talking about, though, because there was significant damage to the shuttles and other equipment from the Arkana weapon’s blasts. Two of the shuttles looked like they had holes blown through them, which was a frightening thought for getting hit by non-muted enemy fire.

  “Good to see you guys,” Krall, Delta Squad’s leader, said, as he restrained a wounded, but still potentially dangerous Arkana intruder. “I’m not sure what would have happened if
you hadn’t shown up.”

  “We’ve brought you better guns,” Andy said with a half-smile. “We found that old-fashioned bullets work better against these guys than our energy weapons.”

  Krall nodded as he took the pistol that Andy handed to him. “Good call.”

  “Anallin, Martin,” Andy called to them on impulse. “Check their weapons, see if we can use them.” She paused and looked around. “One shot at shuttle three. It’s already beat to hell, so a couple more shots won’t make much difference. If we can use those guns, it might give us more of an advantage.”

  With a nod, the two marines took a couple weapons from the pile they had collected and examined them carefully. The setup seemed relatively close to their own weapons, so it only took a moment to figure them out. It was amazing how similar weapons were throughout the galaxy.

  Arkana weapons in hand, they both turned toward shuttle three and took aim, pulling the triggers.

  Jade’s blasted out a beam that left a smoking mark on the shuttle, but Anallin’s didn’t do anything. The Hanaran clicked rapidly for a moment, examining it more closely.

  “Try swapping weapons,” Andy suggested, which they did.

  They aimed and fired again, to the same result and confused expressions all around.

  Andy knew that time was short, but she wanted to try one more thing. An idea had popped into her head and she wanted to try it out before they continued on. “Thomas and Roxanna. You try.”

  They looked at her uncertainly, but none of them argued. They traded weapons with Anallin and Jade, then took aim and fired.

  It came as no surprise to Andy that Dan’s fired, but Roxanna’s didn’t.

  “Do you want us to swap, Sergeant?” Dan asked.

  “It won’t be necessary,” she said with a shake of her head. “It’s a theory and I don’t understand why, but I think these things will only fire for humans. So, take up the Arkana guns for the human marines and the conventional ones to the non-humans.”