by Jay Allan
CHAPTER 18
Mason was in the Control Room on Vesta staring at the main viewscreen in amazement. General Mitchell, Pamela Cairns, Drake Thomason, and Ethan Hall were all standing next to him. The screen was showing the massive Kleese space station going into orbit midway between the Earth and the Moon. The video was being broadcast live from Holbrook Station.
“How big is that damn thing?” Drake asked his eyes wide in disbelief at what he was seeing. The station seemed to fill the entire screen.
“The entire station is one hundred and twenty kilometers across and twenty four kilometers thick,” replied General Mitchell, watching the viewscreen and recalling the last time he had seen the station. “It has numerous habitation domes measuring anywhere from five to twenty kilometers in diameter.”
“How many people can we put on that station?” asked Pamela, realizing that here might be the solution to saving the survivors down on Earth as Marken had indicated earlier. She was breathing heavier as she realized that here might be their salvation.
“We can put two million just in the habitation domes,” Mitchell responded with a relaxed smile. “They are all set up for humanoid species so our people should be able to move right in. Not only that, we can grow food crops in the domes as well so sustenance should not be an issue.”
“How many people were normally on this station?” asked Mason, finding it hard to fathom how something so large could have been constructed. It must have taken the Kleese years to build something so large.
“From what Marken has told me, there normally is a crew of one to two hundred thousand on one of these stations, with an additional ten to forty thousand conscripts to carry out Kleese combat missions.”
“Where are we going to put the rest of our people?” Pamela asked her eyes still glued to the screen.
“There are barracks and training centers inside the station where we can house more people,” Mitchell replied as he continued to explain what he knew about the station. “It won’t be really comfortable, but we can easily cram ten million survivors on that station until we have the new habitats on the Moon, Mars, Vesta, and the other asteroids ready. The station also has a tremendous manufacturing capability. We can use it to build literally anything we need, including new spacecraft.”
“Are there additional assault ships on board?” Ethan asked, his eyes lighting up at the possibilities.
“Yes,” General Mitchell replied with a bigger smile. “There are close to two hundred assault ships inside the station’s flight bays. All are armed and ready for combat; they just need crews.”
“We have a fleet,” Mason stated as he realized the possibilities. Not only did they have a way to defend the solar system, they also had more than enough lifting capacity to move the survivors rapidly off the Earth. He felt as if a massive weight had just been lifted from his shoulders.
“Yes, we have a fleet,” General Mitchell responded.
“What’s the current situation on the station?” asked Mason, looking over at Mitchell. He knew from the report that Michael had turned in a few weeks back, when the Armageddon and the two assault ships had returned, that it wasn’t good.
“The station itself is intact, but the crew was killed by the Kleese. Major Nelson reports that they have encountered a few more Kleese on the station during their journey here. The ones they encountered had conscripts with them wearing Type Two battle suits. There were several pitched battles on the station over the past four weeks. We still control all the key areas.”
Mason only shook his head. He had seen the battle suits demonstrated and he could only imagine what the fighting on the station had been like.
“We need more troops on that station,” Drake said with a frown. “We can’t send any civilians up there until that threat has been dealt with.”
“We’re already in the process of sending two thousand additional troops to the station,” responded Mitchell, recalling the orders he had already issued. “We will search the entire station from end to end as well as begin the necessary cleanup operations. Give me two weeks and the station will be ready for its first occupants.”
“How soon before you’re leaving for the station?” Pamela asked. She knew that General Mitchell would be going there to take over command.
“In the next hour,” Mitchell replied, anxious to get to the station. “I have an assault ship waiting.”
Mason nodded; at last they had some good news! Staring at the viewscreen and the vast space station it was hard to believe all that had happened in the last year. Perhaps now they could finally begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
-o0o-
Captain Stevens was outside his command bunker staring in wonder at the large alien ship that had landed between his bunker and the numerous barracks that surrounded the Jornada spaceport. He was vastly relieved that these aliens were friendly. Two massive power lines had been connected to the assault ship’s fusion reactor, which had completely alleviated their growing power problem. For the first time in months, they had an excess of power and could adequately heat all the large tents and barracks that housed the Human survivors. What was also amazing was that very little snow and ash was falling. He knew that situation wouldn’t last long, but it was nice to be able to see more than just a few feet.
“That’s a big ship,” Lieutenant Griffith mumbled from next to him, shuffling his feet in the gray snow. “I’m glad they’re on our side.”
“There’s an even bigger one up in orbit,” responded Mark, glancing up at the menacing dark clouds. “They say it’s so big we can put almost all of the survivors in it.”
“I don’t know if I want to live on an alien ship,” Griffith replied hesitantly, trying his best to imagine a ship as large as Captain Stevens was describing. “I might prefer to stay right down here.”
“We won’t be evacuating Jornada completely,” Mark responded. “There’s also talk of keeping one of the military bases open as well as the labs at White Sands. There will be a lot of salvage missions that need to be coordinated and launched from here. There’s so much of our history and culture being buried under this snow and ash; we need to rescue as much of it as we can. I suspect it will take us years to save everything.”
Griffith pulled his parka tighter around his neck. It was still freaking cold out. The temperature for the last week had been hovering just below zero. “Sounds as if we still have a lot to do. I’ll just be glad when we can start moving the people out of tent city. Even with the added heat, we’re still losing a few every day.”
Mark turned around and looked across the fence. Tent city was ablaze with numerous lights as power was now sufficient to keep them on. For the first time in months, Mark actually felt there was a ray of hope for the future.
-o0o—
Major Nelson was leading five squads of marines down a wide corridor in the station. “Are you in position, Beth?” he asked over his com.
They were about to break into a sealed section of the station that comprised the main living quarters of the Kleese. They had been avoiding this action until they arrived at Earth since they had no idea what was behind the locked hatches.
“Yes,” Beth replied. “We’re in front of two hatches and are ready to blow them on your signal.”
“Private Foster, how are you coming with the explosives?” asked Wade, turning his head to look at her. Foster was busy setting charges on the large hatch, which led into the interior section. It was strange watching the ten-foot tall battle suit hunched over placing the explosives.
“Just about ready, Sir,” Nicole replied as she placed the last two blasting caps in place. “This hatch is thicker than most of the others, so I am having to use several additional explosive charges.”
“All right, people; these are the Kleese living quarters,” Wade announced over the com so all of his marines could hear, including those with Lieutenant Williams. “Several thousand reinforcing troops are in the process of boarding the station, and now we
can take the risk of seeing what’s behind these hatches. If any conscripts in battle suits are waiting for us and attempt to surrender, we will honor it. However, I don’t expect to see any living Kleese after we finish sweeping this section.”
“Are you ready, Private Foster?” asked Wade, glancing at the private who was moving away from the large hatch holding a remote detonator in her armored right hand.
“Ready, Sir,” she replied, nodding her head.
“Blow it!” ordered Wade, drawing his Energy Lance. Wade could feel the slight vibration in his metal hand from the energy flowing into the lance.
Half a dozen large explosions suddenly echoed down the corridor as the hatch was blown inwards. Instantly, Sergeant Stern led her squad through the smoking entrance into the large corridor on the other side. Weapons fire filled the corridor and Wade saw several marines fall.
“We’ve got several dozen conscripts in battle suits,” Sergeant Stern reported breathlessly. “We’re taking casualties.”
Sergeant Perry, move your squad in; use of deadly force is authorized. Take those conscripts out!”
Instantly, the next squad charged through the door and then Wade followed with the other three squads close behind. Stepping through the hatch, Wade saw Sergeants Stern and Perry advancing steadily down the corridor. Their squads were firing their RG rifles at a large group of battle suit encased conscripts. Occasionally one of the conscripts would fall to the deck as an RG armor-piercing round penetrated their suit.
The corridor was becoming full of smoke and suddenly Sergeant Stern called out, “Firing explosive rounds!”
Instantly, four rounds fell among the opposing conscripts and the force of the blasts nearly drove everyone to the deck. It was all Wade could do to remain standing as he was pelted with shards of metal from the blasts. He saw a number of his marines, who had been bowled over from the explosive rounds, stagger back to their feet gripping their weapons. The Type Three battle suits were very resilient, but the blasts had been powerful and in an enclosed space. Looking down the corridor, Wade saw all the conscripts were down, though a few were still moving.
“Give them a chance to surrender. If they refuse, cut their suits open with your Energy Lances and pull them out. We can set up a holding center for them later.”
“We lost four marines and another three injured,” reported Sergeant Stern, sounding aggravated. “I should have used the explosive rounds earlier.”
“We need to be careful,” Wade cautioned as he stepped up close to Jamie. “All we have had to face so far on the station have been Type Two battle suits; it’s possible the Kleese may have equipped some of their personal guards with Type Threes.”
Wade switched his com frequency to speak to Beth. “Lieutenant Williams, what’s your situation?”
“They were waiting for us,” she replied, sounding out of breath. “We’ve lost six marines and taken out sixteen conscripts. We also have four prisoners. We’re advancing slowly down the corridor.”
“We’re going to need more marines,” Wade said as he called a halt to their advance. “Lieutenant Jeffries, I want four more squads to join Lieutenant Williams and four more to my position. We’ll place one squad to secure the hatches and then we’ll move farther in.”
“Marines are on the way,” Lieutenant Jeffries reported. He had been waiting at a safe distance with ten more squads. He hoped that Major Nelson didn’t need any more.
Wade held up the advance for nearly thirty minutes until the reinforcing marines arrived then; after positioning a squad just outside the entry hatch, he signaled for the advance to begin once more.
Marken had furnished him with an electronic map of the Kleese living quarters, which he had up on his HUD. After moving Privates Russell and Dawson to point, they continued to move deeper toward what Wade hoped was their eventual target area, where the Kleese actually lived.
After another twenty minutes of cautiously advancing through the corridors, they reached another large hatch. Wade called a halt and contacted Beth again. “Lieutenant Williams, we have reached the main hatch to the Kleese living quarters, what’s your position?
“Another five minutes and we should be there,” she replied. “We haven’t encountered any additional conscripts.”
“Same here,” Wade responded. “It’s been quiet, but I expect that to change shortly.” Wade hoped that by attacking from two directions it would prevent the Kleese from mounting an adequate defense.
“Private Foster, put your explosives on the hatch; we’ll be going in shortly.”
Nicole moved forward and with the help of another marine, began placing explosive charges all around the hatch.
“Privates Dawson and Russell, as soon as the hatch is blown I want you to fire half a dozen explosive rounds down the corridor.”
Minutes passed by and then Beth reported back in. “We’re ready, Major; just give the word.”
“We’re going to fire some explosive rounds down the corridor after we blow the hatch,” Wade informed her. “You may want to do the same.”
Moments later, they were ready. The explosives blew the hatch inwards and immediately Dawson and Russell lowered their RG rifles and fired three explosive rounds each through the hatch. They went off, and Wade was certain he could hear screams and yells from inside.
“Move out!” Wade ordered as Sergeant Stern and Perry led their marines through the smoking hatch. Wade followed closely behind and was knocked to the floor as several armor piercing RG rounds struck the chest of his battle suit.
Wade felt a sharp pain in his chest and saw a worried Nicole Foster bending over him.
“Sir, are you okay?” she asked, her voice sounding panicky.
Wade quickly checked the status display for his suit and saw that the rounds had not penetrated. Since he wore a command suit, the armor was thicker than a normal Type Three battle suit. “I’m fine, Private,” he replied, taking her hand as she helped him to stand. “The rounds didn’t penetrate.”
“We’ve cleared the corridor, Sir,” Sergeant Stern reported as she walked up to him visually checking his suit for damage. “Looks like you’ve got a couple of good sized dents in your suit.”
“Sir, I think there are some Kleese up ahead,” Private Dawson called out from where he was standing at the junction of several corridors.
“That leads to their main communal area,” responded Wade, checking his HUD. “That’s where Marken thought they would be.”
Wade quickly led his marines down the indicated corridor and came to an open hatch. Taking a deep breath, he stepped inside the room. The room was full of Kleese as well as about thirty conscripts in battle suits. Without surprise, Wade noticed that a good dozen of them wore the more modern and dangerous Type Three suits.
“Halt, Human!” one of the Kleese ordered, stepping forward. The large tarantula-like being took one of the collar detonation devices and pointed it at Wade, pressing the activate button. Nothing happened. “So it is true; the Kiveans have discovered a way to deactivate the collars.”
“We are no longer under your control,” Wade said in an even voice. Lieutenant Williams had just notified him that they were nearly to his position. This was the first time he had ever spoken to a Kleese.
“Surrender,” the Kleese demanded in a cold and commanding voice. “If you do so we will allow a few of your people to live and serve the Kleese Empire. If you refuse, you will die. Our servants here will destroy you.”
“I think not,” replied Wade, drawing his Energy Lance. “Fire!”
Instantly, RG rifle fire rang out as his marines stormed into the room and attacked the conscripts in battle suits. There were screams and yells of pain in the air as the two sides met. The conscripts were doing everything in their power to stop Wade’s marines from reaching the Kleese.
The conscripts in the Type Three suits were now wielding Energy Lances and the more advanced RG rifles, advancing toward the marines. The fighting grew intense as shots rang out, and W
ade saw a number of his people go down. Then Lieutenant Williams arrived, bursting into the room at the head of her marines.
Wade swung his Energy Lance, cutting an opposing conscript in two. Then another one holding an Energy Lance stepped forward and swung it at Wade. Instinctively, Wade parried the thrust as bright blue sparks flew forth from both lances where they touched. Then the conscript collapsed as several RG rounds stitched him across the chest. Turning, Wade saw Beth standing there holding her smoking rifle.
“You owe me one,” she said as she turned and fired at another battle suit encased conscript.
The fighting continued for another few minutes and then Wade reached the first of the Kleese. He swung his Energy Lance, hearing the sizzling sound as it cut through the alien’s neck. The Kleese was instantly decapitated, and its body fell to the side, twitching. Other marines had now reached the Kleese and were using their own Energy Lances. No one used their rifles, only the lances. In a matter of a few short minutes, the battle was over.
Wade looked down at his battle suit, seeing that it was covered in thick dark blood. Kleese blood! Turning off his Energy Lance, he placed it back in its protective scabbard. Glancing around the room, he saw a large number of marines were down, but so too were all of the conscripts as well as the Kleese.
“I think this is all of them,” Beth commented as she walked up cradling her rifle in her suit’s arms.
Wade nodded. He sure hoped so. This fight, while brief, had been savage.
“The conscripts fought until the end,” Sergeant Stern reported as she finished checking the status of the marines in the large room. “We have seven dead and eight more injured. We also lost Privates Coleman and Gonzales.”
Wade winced at hearing the names. Coleman and Gonzales had been part of his original squad abducted in the very beginning. It was hard to imagine not seeing their friendly faces anymore. “Let’s get this room policed up.”