END of LINE: Humanities Last Stand - part 3

by John Short

  Healer Hukon called the Peace Keeper Envoy once he was sure of his test results. The Envoy was actually a top-ranking General in the service and had final say as to who would handle what jobs on what would be a lengthy mission. When the man dressed simply in a civilian business suit entered the med lab he asked, “Why have you called me down here? I'm assuming you were told that I must remain an unknown.”

  “Yes General, you're little secret is safe with me. Still, I think you should see this.” the Healer said as he handed the Envoy his tablet with Jon Connell's blood test results.

  “So? We already know he has some kind of anomaly in his genetic make up. It’s never caused a problem before.”

  “You're not looking at our Jon Connell's blood tests. Those are the ones from his ancestor who lived over two hundred cycles ago. Our Jon Connell's tests are on the next page. I remembered studying about the first Connell in medacial training. No one could ever figure out how he and some other humans could operate the ancient Umin devices. Then they found that same anomaly in every human that had the ability. Its mostly been bred out of the population of Haven now. Connell is the last one still living who has the pure human blood line. Suddenly another human has come to us with that same anomaly? We should watch him very closely for any uusal behavior.”

  The Envoy switched to the next page of the report and almost dropped the tablet. “There must be an error!” The normally calm general exclaimed.

  “I ran the test five times. There is no mistake.”

  “Does he know?”

  “That he's part Umin? No. That he is different, yes. I think he suspects. Did you happen to see that piece from Haven with him showing off those swords he carries?” Healer Hukon asked.

  “No, I don't pay attention to any of the news from that place. What's the importance of a ceremonial sword anyway?

  "He's not carrying a ceremonial sword General. I saw him throw plasma bursts from the ones he carries. IN the entire history of civilization only one kind of sword could do that. You should really watch the news from wherever your troops are from. You might learn things about them that you'd miss otherwise." The Healer told him.

  "Most of the stuff from Haven is made up and approved by the lesser Royal houses designed to twist the truth to fit their own warped view of things.” the general spit out disgustedly. “If it wasn't for our need of the blue crystals, I'd vote to have the place cut off completely.”

  “You may get your wish if the news keeps messing with Captain Connell. He owns the shipping company that brings the crystals out and he also owns most of the mining operations around the system. All of his mines are on the outer planets He really doesn't need anything on Haven. He's already one of the wealthiest people in all the known systems. He could easily avoid ever setting foot on the planet again.” the Healer informed the Envoy. “Plus, he has already shut down most of the other shippers that flew there with these Carriers of his. No one else can make the slip to Haven, or anywhere else really, as fast as his ships can. That little Engineer of his makes sure of that. If he ever buys one of the really big cargo vessels, people are going to swarm to BBITCo. to carry their cargos.”

  Don't forget Healer, the Peacekeepers own him for the next two cycles. He won't be buying any more ships until he filfulls his contract."

  They left the slipway just outside their first port of calls' system and began making their way toward the inner planets on their manifest. There were three planets that made up the small colony of single family farmers who barely produced enough to feed themselves. Their one exportable product was an intensely sweet fruit used in packaged food by the big canneries as a preservative. Mercury was bringing them much needed medical supplies and fertilizers. As they moved into orbit around the central hub of the three worlds, shuttles from the surface came up to meet them. Pallets of supplies were transferred to the shuttles and marketable crops brought onboard. Soon they were back in the slipway headed for their next delivery.

  Their second and third deliveries went off much the same as their first. They would slide into a system, identify, cruise to the colony worlds, exchange the goods in Mercury's bays for the goods brought up from the colony and be gone in a matter of hours. Then came the mind numbing dullness of slip-space were there was nothing to hear, see, or feel from outside the ship and they had only themselves to occupy their time. It all happened with quick clocklike efficiency and the military crews had started to relax at their posts thinking that they had drawn an easy ride on this trip.

  They had just come out of the slip at their fourth destination when the alarms went off throughout the ship. “Colony under attack sir.” The military COM officer informed the military commander on the bridge.

  “Prepare to launch all fighters!” the Commander shouted. “Have the shuttles lift out to assist.”

  “GRUBS! Load up!” Lt. Rik commanded and twenty troops dressed in pressure suits and full battle armor jogged up the rear ramp of Jon's attack shuttle to latch themselves into their drop rigs along each side of the shuttle. Jon and his team were already suited up and strapped in place, as was their habit when exiting slipspace. Jon began the start sequence to get his shuttle ready to leave the launch bay as soon as the outside doors opened. He and his team would be responsible for getting to any ship they found in an attack orbit above the planet. His first priority was to disable its engines with his missiles before dropping the Grubs onto its hull.

  As soon as Jon had his shuttle sailing across open space between Mercury and the pirate vessel, the pirates changed course and headed out hoping to reach a slipway. Jon let his computers calculate a firing solution before firing two missiles at the retreating ship. Then he shoved his power up to full boost and took off after the criminal's ship. As he neared the rear section he fired off two more missiles at the remaining two engines so that they would hit the bigger ship's propulsion systems together with the first pair. They had practiced this move extensively during their training and it had always worked flawlessly. Now, when aiming for a real ship with real missiles, it worked exactly as planned. Four gigantic explosions ripped through the pirate ship's engines and it slowly drifted to a rolling stop in space. Jon made doubly sure that his shuttle's cameras picked up the registration numbers along the ships flanks before moving in to use the magnograple and secured the shuttle to the back of the larger vessel. Two other shuttles also photographed the ship's numbers before finally fixing themselves to its hull as well. Then three teams of grubs clambered out of the shuttles and worked their way inside. Each team entered through a different air lock and once inside they met with very little resistance before reporting that they had captured the ship's crew and were in command of the pirate vessel. Jon's team 1, lead by Prince Zeprik went straight for the command center once they had gained access to the inside of the pirate ship. The other two teams each took a section. Team 2 went to the crew's quarters and placed everyone under arrest while team 3 concentrated on the cargo holds. The last area to be cleared was the engineering sections. Jon had already disabled the engines, so the teams felt it was safe to wait to secure those areas. Once the teams reported that they were in control, shuttles were dispatched from Mercury to remove the crew for trial on the colony. Interrogators from Mercury interviewed each of the pirates and spent some considerable time asking them where their base of operations was. The pirates refused to divulge its location even when offered a chance to avoid the death penalty. Their ship's computer data was recorded for analysis, even the complete engineering logs which went all the way back to when the ship was first built for its original owner. A rich female from Lexon II had bought this one as a plaything and later sold it to a lover. From there it had been used to pay off a gambling debt and now it had ended up in the hands of the pirates. Somehow the trip logs had been erased before they could be captured, which left the Peacekeepers still searching for the pirate’s base. More shuttles came to remove the pirated cargo and return it either to the surface or out to the Mercury to be take
n to the markets on Lexon II in the hope of locating the original buyers. Then the pirate vessel, basically an armed ship the size of a Cutter with an eight member crew, was towed a safe distance away before thrusters were attached and the ship was directed toward the inner system to be disposed of in the nuclear fires of the sun. The Colonists found the entire crew guilty of multiple counts of theft, murder, and general larceny. The pirate captain was also found guilty of slavery and rape of an underage female. Life on the inner planets was much more gentile, the only crime worthy of death was a direct attack on the Royal Family, Out here where everyday survival came at a high price, these pirates paid the ultimate price for their crimes. Each of them were killed before the sun set on the same day as their capture and subsequent trials. Justice on the outer rim worlds was often quick and always brutal. Business concluded, the Mercury headed out for her next delivery.

  During their slipway periods there was not much to do except practice hand to hand combat or sword play. Due to their closeness in size, Jon and Jarrieal often worked out together. Sometimes Mopie' would join them and they always attracted a crowd of the troops who took bets on which of the three would remain on their feet at the end of each sparing round. Those who bet on Jon won when the contest was between just two, but when it was two well muscled Libirian males against one human male, the contest was far more even with Jon losing as often as he won. It was during a rest period in the workout room that Zeprik came over to talk with Jon. “Have you heard anything from Satrina?” he asked.

  “Not a word. I message her everyday, but she never returns them.” Jon sadly told his friend and the brother of his mate. “I've been watching the official news from the Palace hoping to hear your father announce our matting, but so far not even a hint that there might be an announcement coming. There hasn't even been a recent video of Rina. Only that stuff from when she came home from Sanctuary. Did you manage to speak with your father?”

  “No, I didn't. The Regent always kept me from seeing the King. I've been getting some messages, but they seem strange. I don't think she is replying herself. Its like someone else is sending them for her.” Zeprik told his friend and the chosen mate of his sister. “Perhaps father is waiting until we are both on our way home and safe before he tells the Unified Worlds that his daughter is mated to a dead hero.” he jokingly punched his much larger friend's arm “You did fly us a little close to that last pirate's guns. I saw the blistered paint on the shuttle's hull.”

  “So? Whoever heard of being in combat when you come home without even some blistered paint to show for it? These pirates aren't very good fighters. Not when I have to fly slow enough to give them a shot.” Jon joked.

  The blistered paint had come from one very close shot indeed. Their usual tactic of using the shuttle to take the engines off line before sending in the grubs had failed miserably when the last pirate ship surprised them with cannons pointed to the rear. As Jon came in for a shot, the aft plasma guns made several direct hits on his shuttle and forced him to try for a run at her side. The ship they had attacked had put up a fierce fight and had cost them four fighters and an attack shuttle before the teams had managed to board her. Even the flight crew, usually the least likely to fight, had fought like deranged maniacs, costing the lives of five troopers. In the end they had been forced to retreat from inside the ship and let the Mercury blow it apart with her cannons. Even still, the pirates got in a few good hits on the Mercury and Wrenches was busy making repairs for a week.

  Over the course of the next few months the crew of the Mercury was tested several more times as the pirates began to catch on to their tactics. So far they had won every battle, but they paid a heavy price in lives lost. Mercury was at a disadvantage when it came to a ground assaults thanks to the pirates having had plenty of time to build up defenses and prepare for an attack from space. The losses had dwindled down their supply of shuttles to the point where Jon and his team were now taking apart in ground missions as well as attacking the pirate ships in space.

  Jon wrote to his mate everyday but never received a reply from her, nor was their mating ever made public on the news. While he continued to write to her, he stopped talking about her. He even refused to speak her name to her brother, the Crown Prince, despite the two of them becoming close friends. The members of his flight team and everyone onboard the Mercury noticed a change slowly take place in him. He was less and less the happy pilot that they all knew and liked. Each day that passed without word from Satrina brought with it a deeper darkening of his soul until one day the Prince came to him and said,

  “Jon, I have to believe that something is wrong back home for her not to write back. I know my sister and even the messages I'm getting don't sound like her at all.” Jon only offered up a small smile and looked away, ending the conversation quickly before he allowed his feelings to overwhelm him. He had a job to do and that job demanded his full concentration. Too many had already lost their lives for him to allow anyone to die because he was feeling lonely without his mate.

  Mercury exited the slip behind a gas giant in the next system on their list. This one had a mining colony working from an orbiting station that drifted among an asteroid field. One of the elements needed in the production of the metal used to make prosthetic limbs that functioned like the real body parts they replaced was being mined on those asteroids. Officially, they were here to pick up a load of the ore and drop off supplies for the kitchens that fed the miners. After so many successful attacks against the pirates, word that Mercury was actually on a mission for the Peacekeepers was spreading around the rim. As they came around and headed toward the inner colonies, her coms officer picked up the frantic emergency calls coming from one of the inner most of the orbiting stations near an asteroid belt close in towards the system's sun. “I say again, we need help! We've been boarded by hostile forces and are under attack! The enemy seems to be after our mineral stores! Come on guys! Help us!”

  “Get us in there!” the Commander ordered the helmsman sitting at the controls of the Mercury. “Launch all fighters and shuttles now!” he screamed over the ship wide coms.

  Zeprik and his team of grubs stampeded up the ramp and arranged themselves on the drop hooks onboard Jon's shuttle. The sudden vibrations of the troops taking their combat positions woke Jon from his nap where he had earlier fallen asleep behind the controls of their attack shuttle and he immediately began the procedure for rapid engine start. The rest of Jon's crew fumbled their way into the cockpit and took their positions. This one had taken them all by surprise! There had been no reports of activity when they exited the slip and despite the standing orders for all attack crews to be at their ready positions during exit, the crews had become lax about having everyone onboard and ready to lift out. Jon's team wasn't the only one with essential members out of place. Even with the delay in getting everyone in place and jacked into the small ship's systems, by the time the main bay doors were opened, Jon's flight team and everyone of the grubs were ready to go. “Here we go again Butcher” Lt. Rik commed him.

  “I haven't gotten any target info yet Rik. The outer doors are opening though so we're spooling up to go. We may have to play hide and seek on this run.”

  “You'll figure something out. My guys need something to do. We've been pretty bored just riding around back here or watching you and Jarrieal beat the stuffing out of each other in the exercise room.”

  “That's what happens when a bunch of ground pounders are assigned to space duty.” Jon kidded with his friend, “Not a whole lot of ground that needs pounding out here in the vast beyond. So we pound on each other. You should join us sometime. We'll play easy with you.”

  Jarrieal, Jon's Libirian copilot and right hand man joined in, “You should have joined the Space Cadets like us Rik. At least we get to drive around and have some fun. That is when we ain't otherwise occupied.”

  “Sure. Then I could have gotten those fancy brain implants all you flight jocks get and been able to fly this thing in my
sleep. No thanks. I don't need anyone poking around in my brain.” Zeprik joked with him. “They might own my ass, but I still have my head.”

  “Alright team, here we go, lifting out now.” Jon told them all and everyone went back into mission mode. Only those comments that were needed to complete their mission, find the enemy's ship, board it, take control of it and come back safely, were heard over the coms.

  “Butcher, I have her!” Legs commed. “She's a big one too. Easily Destroyer class. Parked behind the sun from our current position, she's sending shuttles to the station. I'm transmitting my findings to Mercury now. Do you want to go for it?”

  “Rik? It’s your guy’s butts. Tell me what you want, the station or the ship?” Jon asked.

  “Our mission has always been their ships Butcher. Notify the other shuttle Captains that we're going after that big girl.” Zeprik told him.

  “Legs, plot me a course that gets us to that ship without showing our hand too soon. Maybe find a path around so we come up under her. I'll need a clear shot at her engines,” Jon commed to his Navigator.

  “Coming in from below will mean taking a wide turn to get behind her. She'll see us coming for sure.” Pabki told Jon. “We might be better off putting the team on her hull first, then going after her engines.”

  “Do it Butcher. Put my people on her first. That way we can be working to take her down while you get her off line. Who knows, maybe we can capture her intact. BBITCo could always use another fighting rim hauler.” Zeprik joked with Jon.