by Mark Wandrey
“Minu, I’m sorry.”
“I know, but you can’t make things better by running.”
“I can’t make them better by not running.”
“Yes you can, you can help save all these men on the ship. We can help save you as well. There is always a way out.”
The sensors finished resolving the other object. A blocky, somewhat cylindrical shape about one quarter the size of his remaining section of the Ibeen. It appeared Minu was wrong; there was no longer a way out. It was the T’Chillen cruiser and it was about to dock with them.
* * *
“The snakes are here,” Pip told her.
“Open the damn door so we can do something!”
“There isn’t anything you can do in here,” he told her and began to work on the systems, modifying the initial program. He wasn’t fully aware of the decision he’d made until he’d already made them. There was no escape. Even if he jettisoned the cargo modules and made a run for it, the crippled section of the Ibeen would be run down in minutes by the T’Chillen ship. And without shields, one shot of even the weakest weapon would be his end.
Minus any escape, the fear was suddenly gone. And a new plan formed.
“Get everyone into cargo module 6-A. They’re docking on the module next to the engineering bay exterior access. I can make them cut through, and that will take them a few minutes. Set up your defense just inside, make them pay for every meter; buy me at least twenty minutes.”
“Why, what are you doing?”
“The only thing I can.”
“Pip? Pip? Pip, damn you, fucking listen to me! We can work something out; we can hold them off while Lilith gets here. Come on, buddy, there has to be a way!”
There was no more reply. She knew her special codes were making him listen to her, but he was no longer replying.
A few seconds later the ship resounded with a loud thump through the hull nearby and a display came alive on the hatch adjacent to the engineering bay. “Shit, shit, shit!”
“What is it, ma’am?” the sergeant asked, “The girl with the other ship?”
“No, the snakes are here.” Instantly the Rangers all grabbed weapons and eyed the hatch with alarm. “Quickly, get most of the men into cargo module 6-A. I want your heavy weapons squad down here ASAP with all the personal shields you have left.”
They looked at each other in confusion.
“Move it, soldiers!”
As they bounced off down the hall, much more clumsily than she did in zero gravity, she made a mental note to add space training to the Ranger qualifications. Following Pip’s plan sent a jolt of white-hot rage through her being, but what choice did she have? He was either throwing them under the rampaging kloth, he or had a plan. Naturally, he wasn’t interested in sharing that plan. It was good old fashioned 100% Pip, no doubt about it.
When the Rangers were gone and she could hear the sergeant barking orders to his men, she turned a cold glare back at the speaker where Pip could see and hear her.
“This isn’t over, you little motherfucker. You hear me? If you hurt these men, I will kill you.”
The last was delivered with as much venom as she could muster before she spun in space and kicked off towards the Rangers, who were already wrestling heavy equipment out of the cargo module. The door lock was flashing blue over and over again as the T’Chillen outside tried to force it to unlock.
That done, Minu activated her link with Lilith and brought her up to speed, including how long she thought she could hold out, and that since they now knew where the cruiser was she was free to look for them. Lilith acknowledged that she was beginning her search and Minu went back to her preparations.
Meanwhile inside the engineering bay, Pip worked at the ship’s engines, frantically making changes. He’d heard what she said; he’d just decided there was no reason to say anything. She would understand soon enough.
As he worked, he fished a neural interface from a pocket on his uniform, slid the socket into the little plug on the side of his head, and then into the computer. It only took a moment to confirm that the quantum connection was available to the Kaatan. As his hands and part of his mind worked at the controls, another section of his brain created a link.
* * *
The T’Chillen boarding party abandoned the more subtle approach of using code breakers to gain entry within minutes. Their records knew that Lost technology was beyond their abilities, so they resorted to the alternative. A series of high explosive breaching charges ripped the hatchway from its supports and propelled it across the companionway, embedding the hardened steel into the padded wall like a chip into cheese.
Instantly a pair of long serpentine forms flashed through, one going high, the other low, weapons flattened against their bodies to increase the speed of their movements. They coiled their bodies like springs, rebounding off the far wall to either side of the smoking hatchway and tried to bring their weapons to bear. Four shock rifle blasts hit each one on various parts of their helmeted heads.
The beams passed through their shields as if they didn’t exist. The armor worked with varying levels of success, stopping three of the shots to one soldiers, and one for the other. The end results were the same for both of them; instant death.
The Rangers squad manning the forward breach-resisting position, were the marksman specialists of that platoon. Each double qualified in the shock rifles, for accuracy at range and practice against known types of Concordian armor technology. None had ever been in combat against the higher order species of T’Chillen and they all were wide eyed in concern.
This was the second engagement against a higher order species in only days. The adage had always been to retreat rather than face beings from these powerful species. The battle with the Mok-Tok soldiers had been brutal and expensive in lives and equipment. The prowess of the T’Chillen in combat was much more impressive than the Mok-Tok.
Minu was a few meters behind the forward squad, just at the entrance to the cargo module, her virtual battlefield projected into her left eye and letting her watch the fight as if she were up there with those ten men. She dearly wished she was up there, and not back in the rear.
Learning that a commander was not always allowed to be at the front was hard for her. But since she was the only officer here, she didn’t dare risk being taken out in the fight and leaving the much less experienced sergeant in charge.
A container was flung through the breached hatch where it slammed against the opposite wall. One of the sharpshooters tagged it with a shock rifle. Panic fire, Minu understood while wishing for better fire discipline. The case blew open and released a small swarm of bots that instantly found the walls and began racing towards the humans.
Minu grinned. If anything, the various militaristic species of the Concordia were predictable. This was right out of their ‘rules for warfare’ book, such as it were. If you met heavy opposition, best to send in bots. While they often could not neutralize said opposition, it provided distractions that made a breach possible to gain a beachhead.
The sergeant turned to glance at her, and Minu held up a hand to hold off the order. The bots raced towards the sharpshooters, who held their fire just like they’d been trained. When the bots were only a meter from her men, Minu barked “Now!”
The sergeant tapped a Ranger on the shoulder and he activated his PUFF. The little backpack device came alive and every bot in the companionway stopped in its tracks. A pair of crab-bots were even snagged from the air as they floated by and Ranger techs quickly rendered them inert before beginning to reprogram them.
“Nail them,” Minu ordered with a deathly grin. As the bots had advanced, six more T’Chillen soldiers slithered from their ship.
Four carried cases between them while two were maneuvering heavy beamcasters. All stopped and stared in surprise as their force of bots came to a sudden inexplicable stop. Completely free from distractions, the sharpshooters went to work with deadly accuracy on the second breaching team.
>
One of the two beamcaster wielders went down instantly, but the second one had enough presence of mind to take note of how the initial breaching team had met its doom and began to roll sideways along the companionway while also firing randomly at the humans. Two of the other T’Chillen carrying the cases went down as the last two worked furiously.
“The pair on the case,” Minu hissed as most of the sharpshooter team instead poured fire at the wildly dodging enemy with his beamcaster. “Get the case!” she yelled a second time, and finally two of the sharpshooters redirected their fire.
One of those two Rangers caught a stray beamcaster bolt; his personal shield and special armor dissipated enough energy to save his life, but he was knocked out of action. The other shot one of the T’Chillen with the case, while the other finished activating the forcefield.
Damn, Minu silently cursed. She’d hoped to at least force them to come at her en masse. The forcefield generators didn’t allow for movement in the constricted spaces between the ships. Allowing them to take the companionway was regrettable, but at the same time necessary. Still, if she’d been able to keep them from activating a shield inside their ship…
“Sorry ma’am,” the sergeant apologized for his men.
“Couldn’t be helped,” she replied, “get your injured man to the rear, pull back the sharpshooters and move up the heavy weapons team right away.
“Yes sir!”
Safe inside their forcefield, the T’Chillen cleared out their casualties and quickly set up the second generator to create an almost impregnable defensive barrier. Minu didn’t bother wasting energy against it. The shimmering wall between her and the armored snakes was all the testament to their technological prowess she needed.
More snakes came slithering in, floating to positions around the circular companionway, including one in much more ornate armor and a helmet sporting additional technology.
There’s my adversary, she thought, and wondered if it was the cruiser’s captain, or perhaps the commander of their detachment of soldiers. She considered if one day humanity had more ships if they would need to train marines to defend those ships. She took a moment to tap a note into her tablet as she regarded the enemy.
After it regarded the troops setting up, the T’Chillen commander moved all the way to the edge of their defensive field and began examining its opposition. Minu thumbed the enhancement of her open optics and stared back. Its face shield was up and she could clearly see its eye stalks pivoting independently this way and that. It seemed surprised, if that was possible for a snake. Hadn’t it known it was facing humans?
One of its tentacle-like arms moved to a tablet and tapped. To her surprise, a laser swept down the hall and found her, gently moving back and forth in a spread beam. Minu looked at her display. “Incoming transmission.” She clicked the receive icon.
“Who am I addressing,” she spoke formally, knowing the other commander’s translator would render her English into its own native language. Hisses returned immediately which her own translator made understandable.
“I am Asa-Oto Saala, swarm commander for the cruiser Baashta. Who is this?”
“Honorable T’Chillen, I am Minu Groves, Chosen of the Tog, and commander of the soldiers defending this vessel.”
“You are the human followers of the Tog.”
“We are.”
“Where are the Rasa masters of this vessel?”
Minu paused, unsure exactly how to respond to that. She knew the status of the Rasa was a mystery at that time. After the T’Chillen had destroyed their home leasehold and other colonies, they were largely considered extinct.
While a few here and there were probably spotted as they moved with the humans, she was certain news of their colony near Bellatrix was a complete secret. Why would they think the Ibeen was a Rasa ship? Did they think the Kaatan was theirs as well?
“There are no Rasa on this vessel,” Minu replied, going with the vaguest option.
“You humans have been making a nuisance of yourselves as mercenaries for the lower species for a few years now,” hissed the reply, making Minu’s face turn red in answer. She was glad the alien couldn’t read her body language. “If you are working for the Rasa, this is a mistake. They are forsaken and to be hunted anywhere they are found without repercussion.”
“We are aware of that.” Vague was working so far.
“You risk being included in that vendetta.”
“I am aware of Concordian law, noble T’Chillen, and know of no such risk.” Silence was her answer for several moments. She knew the snake was pumping her for information and simultaneously stalling while its troops set up. She was willing to play that game. “Are you going to offer terms?”
“If you wish. Surrender the remains of this vessel. Your soldiers are sacrificed, of course. Yourself as a Chosen, and any other official Chosen will be offered to your patron to pay bounty if they wish.”
Sacrificed, Minu translated as either spaced, simply executed, or a serpentine snack. She was the only Chosen on board.
If they’d offered for all of them, she might have entered negotiations as her own delaying tactic. In this case, she knew the alien commander had no intention of letting anyone out of this alive. It knew Minu was outgunned, outmanned, and had no means of retreat, and meant to press that advantage to the fullest. The snakes’ tactics were usually straightforward, and brutally efficient.
“I don’t think so.”
“Humans are a strange species, if insignificant.” Minu seethed. “Some of your technology shows prowess though,” it admitted as it glanced at two technicians towing one of the dead soldiers away. “Perhaps were you to supply us with examples of this energy weapon.”
“Perhaps you will stop wasting my time.”
It turned around and regarded her with both eyestalks, memorizing her every detail. Minu remembered how the kloth had looked at her during the Trials, right before it tried to eat her, and suppressed a shiver.
“As you will, Chosen. Farewell.” And with no further ado, it spoke orders to other soldiers, turned, and expertly bounced in zero gravity down then up and out of the Ibeen, leaving its soldiers to finish the task.
She secretly longed to nail it right then and there…but a battle was all timing. Sacrifice that timing and you could lose the battle, so she waited.
A minute later, the enemy was finishing their setup and she saw no more reason to wait. “Sergeant, commence your firing.”
Chapter 54
May 12th, 534 AE
Unidentified Star System, Contested Territory, Galactic Frontier
The platoon deployed with a heavy weapons squad, six large beamcasters operated by a twelve-man fire team. Four of those weapons survived, with enough experienced Rangers to operate them. On command, all four began pumping burst after burst into the enemy forcefield.
Unlike energy shields, forcefields were not transparent to the shock rifles. Though the newer weapons could overload one, it would take many more shots of the more efficient laser/plasma hybrids. The beamcasters’ brute force particle accelerator beams just poured out megajoules of energy over and over again.
Each blast from the big guns delivered the equivalent of twenty shock rifles’ beams. When Minu had developed the shock rifles, she compared them to a scalpel, while the beamcasters were more like an ax. But sometimes you needed an ax.
The only way to defeat a forcefield was by overpowering it. Its series of tiny projectors sent out areas of strong force to repel any attack except some frequencies of light. The heavy beamcaster teams were trained to concentrate power on one of those projections, striving to overload the emitter and thus breach the shield.
The sharpshooters, redeployed now by the doorway to the cargo module, stood ready to instantly spring into action should the field be breached.
Of course it was a hopeless attack, and Minu was well aware of that. She’d seen the second field activated. Even if her weapons breached the first (possible if they gave he
r enough time), they’d then have to breach the second overlapping field.
The snakes could just deactivate the first shield, replace the burned out emitter, and bring it back up inside the first field. Her attack would appear to show either ignorance, or desperation. Minu would be happy with the results of either assumption. The T’Chillen didn’t cooperate.
“They’re not preparing to advance,” the sergeant surmised at the same time as she did. Minu could see a pair of T’Chillen technicians had entered the companionway, and were examining the engineering bay door that she’d been blocked from opening by Pip.
“Damn them,” she cursed and slapped the bulkhead. They were willing to ignore the human soldiers and breach into Pip’s area first. They probably figured they could just vent the rest of the ship to space once inside, thereby dealing with Minu and her men without a single additional lost soldier.
This was likely a correct assumption, and it was not typical behavior for the aggressive reptiles, as she’d studied their tactics and history. She’d guessed they were boarding to salvage technology, and that was why the cruiser hadn’t simply shot them full of beam weapons at range.
Minu needed to make them deal with her first. “We have to breach that shield, sergeant.” The man looked at her tactical control tablet but she shook her head. Not yet.
“We’ll see what we can do, ma’am. All Rangers, weapons hot!” he barked and immediately every soldier brought up whatever gun they were armed with. “Heavy weapons lead fire, commence when ready!”
Following the timing of the heavy beamcasters, every other weapon began firing as fast as they could between the bigger guns’ bursts. Minu brought up her own shock rifle and joined in. The screaming zaps and whines of the guns were almost deafening, and surprisingly effective. The first forcefield failed in seconds.
“Keep it up men!” the sergeant yelled his encouragement as the first continued. Inside the enemies shield, the operators looked up in alarm as the second defensive field began taking fire. They were forced to immediately drop the first field and begin to frantically isolate and replace the burned out emitter. The T’Chillen soldiers were looking at each other and eyeing the furiously glowing forcefield generators with trepidation.