The Ninth: Invasion

by Benjamin Schramm

  “It’s already been fifteen days?” Doug asked.

  “You’ve spent more than half of them passed out at the bar,” Marie said with a shrug.

  “Maybe, but I’m sober and ready for action now!” he said, defending himself.

  Everyone on the bridge held their breath as the Wall passed over them. Brent could sense their excitement, anxiety, and fear all mixing together as the Wall passed through the ship. The sight on the other side was truly anticlimactic. A single lifeless sphere hung silently in space. There were no massive Shard shipyards or staging points. There wasn’t even a single Citadel to be seen.

  “Well?” Cain asked expectantly.

  “I thought they were jamming us,” the tactical officer said as she scanned the area again. “I thought that was the reason we didn’t pick up anything.”

  “This is impossible!” the captain shouted. “I triple checked the data from the navigation array myself! We should be right where we should be.”

  “I’ve got nothing,” the tactical officer said with a sigh. “The scanners are clear. No planets, no moons, just that one ice cube. There isn’t even a rogue asteroid out there.”

  “Communication channels are dead.” The man at the communications terminal shook his head disapprovingly. “There isn’t even background noise.”

  “Could they have seen us coming and fled?” Dante asked.

  “Scans of the ice cube are all clean,” the tactical officer answered Dante. “It’s just a lifeless ball of ice. With its distance from the sun, I doubt it ever supported life. There aren’t even any minerals to extract. There is no reason the Shard would ever have any interest in it.”

  “Unless they wanted to make one heck of a smoothie.” Cain chuckled to himself.

  “You said the scans of the local area were clear, right?” Brent asked.

  “That’s what I said.” The tactical officer nodded.

  “Perfect,” Brent said with a widening smile. “We’ve found them.”

  “I mean no disrespect, sir, but weren’t you listening?” Dante asked.

  “Very closely; heard every word,” Brent said, still smiling.

  “Are you saying we missed something?” the captain asked, a bit miffed.

  “Not at all; you’ve done a perfect job,” he said with a growing smile. “There is nothing out there.”

  “Then what do you mean we’ve found them?” Ronald asked.

  “There is nothing out there,” Tyra said, gesturing to the empty monitors. “Absolutely nothing.”

  “Which proves we’ve found them,” Brent said with a confident nod.

  “You’ve lost me, sir,” Dante said hesitantly.

  “These are the exact coordinateness the Shard ship originated from.” Brent nodded to the captain. “I double checked myself.”

  “Could they have altered the data?” Erin asked. “Sent us on a wild goose chase?”

  “Unlikely,” Brent said thoughtfully. “However, even if that were the case we’d still find it.”

  “Find what?” Doug asked, scratching his head.

  “A sensor array,” he said with a triumphant grin.

  The tactical officer’s eyes widened, and she immediately returned to her console.

  “Don’t bother looking again; it isn’t out there.” Brent smiled.

  “I don’t get it,” Penny admitted. “What are you talking about?”

  “A jump drive is a jump drive,” Brent said matter-of-factly. “It doesn’t matter if it belongs to the Commonwealth or a Shard Citadel, it still needs two things. A tremendous amount of energy and . . .” his voice trailed.

  “And current jump coordinates,” the navigation officer finished.

  “The ship that retrieved Rita came from this system. That leaves us with only two alternatives. Either it was built here, or at some point jumped into this system. And since I don’t see any shipyards, it has to be the second.” Brent gestured to the empty monitors.

  “So then, where are the shards?” Angela asked.

  “Right below us on that icy world, most likely playing dead hoping we jump away as soon as we recharge. It is the only thing in the solar system and thus has the be what provided jump coordinates.”

  “If they are down there why not attack us?” Erin asked.

  “That’s what we are going to find out,” Brent said as he left the bridge.

  The other troopers quickly followed.

  “We’re going down there?” Humphrey mumbled.

  “That’s right,” he said without slowing his progress.

  “Why?” Kindra asked. “Shouldn’t we bombard them and take them out right now?”

  “Go right ahead. You’ll find that ice is just a façade covering an artificial world. We won’t be able to penetrate their armor.”

  “You sound like you’ve done this before,” Cain said with a smile.

  “During the fifth exam I fought on the side of the Shards. Their planetary armor is designed to render our weapons useless. Although, they are playing dead, so maybe this world isn’t as resistant.”

  “So what do we do, sir?” Dante asked.

  “We go down there.”

  “I think he got that part,” Ronald said.

  “Whatever is controlling the Shards uses a lot of energy, and I mean a lot. We find the reactors and set them to overload. They should be more than enough to take out the entire world and the Shard with it.”

  “How exactly are we going to do that?” Tyra asked.

  “No idea,” Brent said with a grin. “I’m sure we’ll figure out something when we get there.”

  Cain burst into laughter. The troopers quickly made their way to the docking section. A drop ship was ready and waiting for them. Tyra shot a glance at Brent who only smiled back mischievously. They quickly got into their combat suits and entered the drop ship.

  “I can’t believe we are really doing this,” Doug said over the suit’s communications link.

  “Weren’t you the one who complained about not getting enough action on Reloas?” Sanderson asked.

  “Yeah, but that was fighting people, not metal, alien things!”

  “Captain, can you hear me?” Brent asked.

  “Listening.” The captain sounded nervous.

  “I want you to order the fleet to encircle the planet. If you don’t hear from us in three hours, I want you to drop everything you’ve got on that world.”

  “But Weaver . . .”

  “No protests. We are talking about the very survival of our race. Plus, if we don’t contact you before then, we are probably dead anyway.”

  “Understood. Good luck.”

  “Don’t you think you are being a bit grim, sir?” Dante asked.

  “I just want to be prepared. The captain is a nice fellow, but he won’t fire on the planet if he thinks we are alive down there. I just made sure that thought won’t cross his mind.”

  “Okay, everyone remembers how to kill these things, right?” Ronald asked, checking his rifle. “Concentrate your fire on them one at a time. Aim for their third limb.”

  “Which one is the third limb?” Doug asked.

  “The one that isn’t a blade,” Liz said with a shudder.

  The drop ship landed softly against the icy surface without any hint of resistance. Brent knew there was barely any gravity, but each step felt exactly like it did back on the ship. The suits compensated for the minor gravity so the troopers didn’t have to readjust. Exiting the ship, the troopers were greeted by a pitch-black sky. A light powdery blue snow covered the ground completely with impossibly tall spires of ice jutting out at random angles.

  “If it wasn’t so creepy,” Cain said, trying to get a good lock at the top of one of the ice spires, “I’d make a joke about how beautiful it is.”

  “It’s like the entire world is made of glass,” Penny said, tapping the ground.

  “Stay alert,” Ronald said, scanning the horizon. “We’re not here on vacation.”

  “Tell me, sir,
was there any reason we landed in this particular spot?” Dante asked.

  “Did you notice we didn’t knock over any of those ice spires when we landed?” Brent asked, gesturing behind them. “This was an unnaturally clear spot.”

  “Can you say ‘Trap?’” Sanderson asked jokingly.

  “Trap,” Mahoney said, pointing his rifle into the distance.

  Brent and the others quickly took up firing positions next to Mahoney. His rifle was fixed on a dark cavern ahead. Brent looked at Tyra for orders.

  “Don’t even think about it,” she said with her eyes firmly locked ahead. “This is your party. I’m just a guest.”

  Brent nodded back before gesturing everyone to enter the cavern. As they descended into the cavern, the light faded completely. Turning on their suits lights, he fought a shiver that ran down his spine. The suit was keeping him at a safe temperature, but being surrounded by so much ice made him feel cold anyway. The ice was so thick the light from the distant sun couldn’t penetrate. As they marched on, Brent started to notice the walls took on a more uniform appearance. Instead of random sloping surfaces of ice, they started to smooth out, as if carved.

  “Dead end?” Mr. Springate asked.

  Shifting his attention from the walls, he found a large metal plate in front of them. It was the pure black of the Shard with the tiny grooves for their green energy.

  “Should we knock?” Cain asked with a chuckle.

  “I forgot to bring a gift basket,” Rhea added.

  “Forget that,” Doug snickered. “I want a bag of burning dog poop.”

  “Charming,” Marie said rolling her eyes. “Do I need to remind you fire needs oxygen to burn and that we are in space?”

  Liz chuckled and Doug grumbled to himself. Brent approached the wall and looked it over with his light.

  “What are you thinking, sir?” Dante asked, standing behind him.

  “The walls have been carved out; this isn’t a dead end. It’s some kind of access port. The only question is how do we get in.”

  A memory from the fifth exam raced to the front of his mind.

  “Everyone stand back,” he said, taking a deep breath. “Focus your weapons on the door. I don’t know if this will work.”

  The troopers complied and took their firing position. Brent took a final step forward and hesitantly placed his left hand on the metal. Through the suit he couldn’t feel any temperature or details in the metal. During the fifth exam he had been given a Shard recon unit. He had remembered controlling the seeker by placing his hand on its back and thinking his commands. He had no idea if that was limited to the training 3P or if it would work through a combat suit, but he had to at least try.

  Brent cleared his mind, closed his eyes and focused on the simple idea of opening. He heard the gasps over the communications link. Stepping back, he watched as the massive metal plate started to glow silently. Green veins of energy started to pulse through the grooves in the black metal. In the vacuum of space, the metal wall silently slid open. A few bits of ice fell from the ceiling above them as the door came to a rest. The doorway led to a small room with another similar door sealed on the other side.

  “How did . . .” Tyra’s voice trailed off.

  “Can you do it again?” Cain asked without hesitation.

  Brent walked up to the second doorway as the troopers watched in awe. Once again he placed his left hand on the metal wall and thought for it to move. Nothing happened.

  “It won’t budge,” he said, shrugging.

  “We’ve come too close to just give up,” Ronald said, joining Brent in the room.

  “I just had a thought,” Cain said, studying the room as he entered.

  “Do tell,” Angela prompted.

  “Well, Brent was worried they created an organic Shard, right? What do we know about two legged, two armed, one headed organics that like to walk and talk?”

  “They can’t live in space!” Humphrey mumbled in almost a shout. “It’s an airlock!”

  “What?” Rhea asked unbelievingly.

  “Look for yourself. One big door that leads to space, another that leads to some kind of Shard base that might have organic things inside. It’s an airlock. Brent can’t open the inner door as long as the outer door is open.”

  “What I’d like to know is how he opened the door in the first place,” Tyra asked, feeling over the door.

  “It has to do with thought,” Brent said with a shrug. “You have to think what you want it to do.”

  “If it works, don’t fix it,” Kindra said with a worried smile.

  “Captain, we are about to enter the Shard base,” Brent said before placing his hand on the wall. “If you don’t hear from us you know what to do.”

  “Understood,” the captain’s voice sound resigned.

  Brent placed his hand on the wall near the outer door and thought for it to close. Again, in its silent movement, the door slowly sealed. He could feel the nervousness in the other troopers, but Angela was already calming them down. Once the outer door was completely sealed, he walked over and placed his hand on the inner door. As soon as Brent thought for it to open, a loud hissing sound filled the room. The troopers all put their hands to their heads in a pointless effort to block the sound. A moment later the suits had automatically compensated for the sound and had reduced the hiss to a tolerable level.

  “Guess that means Cain and Humphrey were right,” Liz said with a weak smile.

  Marie patted Liz’s back reassuringly as the inner door started to open. As the door came to a rest, Brent peered into the structure. A long corridor of the black metal stretched seemingly forever in front of them. There was only some minor illumination along the ground immediately in front of them. A few paces ahead was nothing but complete and utter darkness. Even the suit lights weren’t strong enough to pierce very far into the darkness.

  “I think I saw this in a 3P once,” Humphrey mumbled.

  “What happened in the 3P?” Rhea asked.

  “Don’t know,” he mumbled. “As soon as I saw the dark corridor I quit. Never been a fan of horror.”

  Taking the lead, Brent started down the dark hallway. The lights along the floor followed them, maintaining a small distance in front and behind them.

  “I can’t see the airlock anymore,” Dante said after a short while.

  “I can’t either,” Marie said with a minor quiver in her voice.

  With her gaze locked on the distance behind her, Marie stumbled and fell. With a mild surprise Brent realized he had heard her fall. There had to be some kind of atmosphere in here for the sound to have reached him. He paused and checked his suit’s limited sensors.

  “We’ve got breathable air,” Brent said in astonishment.

  “Guess your theory about organic Shards wasn’t too far off,” Ronald said.

  “I’m not sure if that should make me feel happy or . . .”

  Brent froze solid as a familiar clacking sound hit his ear. The other troopers tensed. Apparently he wasn’t the only one to hear it.

  “Please tell me I did not just hear something,” Humphrey mumbled, shaking slightly. “Tell me I’m hearing things, please.”

  “Unless we all started hearing things . . . at the same time,” Ronald said, readying his rifle.

  A sharp grating sound could be heard in the distance. Brent pulled out his rifle and steadied it on his knee. He’d been practicing using his rifle with his left hand in several 3Ps. While he could still use it somewhat, he wasn’t about to ace any marksmanship competitions. The grating sound sounded again, slightly louder. Brent tensed as an inkling of realization hit him. Coinciding with the third grating sound was a faint spark of light in the distance. The other troopers were in formation pointing their rifles at the source of the sound. Again, the spark of light flashed along the floor in the distance. Brent waited but the sound didn’t sound again; the sparks stopped.

  A dim point of light appeared in the distance. With an inhuman roar the point of li
ght expanded into a full green orb. It looked like a single eyeball floating in the distance. Suddenly, the eye started to bob. The sparks and the screeching metal sounds returned. The pause between sparks shortened as Brent pulled the trigger. The pulse of light zipped down the darkened corridors, lighting up the walls as it went. When it reached the glowing orb, his heart stopped for an instant.

  For a fraction of a second the light had completely illuminated the figure. Lunging toward them at full speed was a Slasher. The other troopers opened fire on the advancing Shard. Their pulses of light lit up the Shard as their shots impacted against its resilient body. Finally, the tripod collapsed under the sustained damage. Brent was suddenly thankful the corridor was pitch black. As the Slasher ground to a halt, its blades sent sparks flying from the metal walls, dimly illuminating the area around it. In the dull light Brent could make out countless moving forms, each shredding over their fallen comrade. The troopers opened fire wildly on the horde of approaching Slashers. A terrified shout grabbed his attention.

  “They are behind us, too!” Sanderson shouted as he swung his rifle to face the other way.

  “Divide the ranks! Half forward, half back,” Tyra shouted her orders.

  The troopers complied, and a moment later pulses of energy were hurtling in both directions. As they focused their fire the Slashers started falling. However, while they were destroying the leads, the horde behind them pushed ever closer. Brent realized they were done for. Maybe if they could all concentrate on one facing they might have had a chance, but divided like this they didn’t have the firepower to defeat the surge of death. Brent tried to judge the distance of the approaching Slashers. In the pitch black it was nearly impossible, so he just made a guess. At best they all had another five minutes left to live. Over the communications link he could hear sniffling and scornful mumbling. They all knew they were dead.

  Chapter 15: The Gamble

  Brent focused on the squad’s emotions. Using what Angela had taught him and his previous experience, he wrapped his mind around the entirety of their emotions. He knew he’d only have one chance so he had to make it count. Readying himself, he strained his mind to put as much fear into the others as he could. Silence fell over the troopers. He made a mad dash for the approaching Slasher. He heard one of the others try to shout, but against the fear he was forcing on them they couldn’t speak.