The Fifth Reich: Beyond The Stars

by J Palliser

  Casana turned around and took 6 big steps forward before turning to her left. She took a few steps forward, and then knelt on the floor. She reached her hands out to feel the wall. Feeling the edges of the panel, her hands went to the release lever and removed the panel. Casana reached in and removed the emergency kit. She opened it a found the light inside. Turing it on, she stood and examined the dark room with the light.

  The room was a mess. Tools and instruments were scattered across the floor, including a number of now broken containers, whose contents were now in a thick puddle on the floor. Gross, she thought, wrinkling her nose, biogoo. Then she noticed an arm sticking out from behind the doorway to the next room. "Dr. Rollins!" she cried, rushing over to her. Casana rolled the doctor onto her back and examined her. She was unconscious, but still breathing, and she was bleeding from her forehead. Casana ran back to the emergency kit and retrieved the medical scanner.

  Returning to Dr. Rollins, Casana scanned the doctor, moving the sensor over her while she analyzed the readings. No fractures in the legs. No abdominal bleeding. Rib-cage and spine are intact. Broken collarbone. Oh, no. "Subdural hematoma," she said to herself, flipping open her commbadge. "Sickbay, medical emergency on deck 14, Exobiology Lab," she said. Casana waited for a response, but none came. "Hold on, Laura, I'll get help."

  Casana went back to the emergency kit and retrieved the actuators. She forced the door open and shined the light down the corridor in both directions. Seeing nothing, she ran off down the corridor.

  ***

  Deck 18, Maintenance Tube Junction Room, 0810 hours

  "Ensign Dejah! Ma'am, wake up!" Dejah felt herself being shaken.

  "Shaking is inadvisable, Petty Officer Werner," Dejah said, her eyes still closed.

  "Sorry, ma'am, I just sorta panicked," he said nervously.

  "Remain calm Mr. Werner. Have you found an emergency kit?"

  "Yes, ma'am."

  "Retrieve the medical scanner and check for neurological damage."

  "I already did, ma'am. You're fine," he said, becoming increasingly agitated. Dejah opened her eyes and sat up.

  "Then why were you shaking me?"

  "Because, ma'am, I heard something above us!" he cried.

  "Mr. Werner, we are beneath the main Astrophysics Lab."

  "But, ma'am!" "Calm yourself, Petty Officer," she ordered him as she assessed the situation. Werner had pulled her out of the maintenance tube and into a Maintenance Tube Junction Room. He had activated several light sticks, lighting the room well, and retrieved a pair of emergency kits, packing their contents into two small bags. Aside from the sticks, there were absolutely no lights in room. Main power is offline, and emergency power is at minimal. The warp core must be offline. Possibly ejected. "Mr. Werner, what is the ship's status?"

  "I don't know, ma'am. After you were struck, the lights all went off. I expected emergency lights to activate, but they never came on. Even the comm-badges aren't working." The last statement caught Dejah's attention.

  "I require the scanner," she said, opening her comm. Dejah adjusted the scanner and turned the comm on. Only static came through, and Dejah studied the scanner readings. "There is heavy interference, blocking communications."

  "Natural?" "Possibly. With main power offline, the shields will be down, allowing ionizing radiation to cause communications interference. Regardless, we should return to Main Engineering. This way, Mr. Werner," she said as she began to climb down the vertical maintenance tube.

  10

  Nine

  Deck 19, Turbo-lift Shaft, 0820 hours Sonya pumped the manual release lever on the deck 19 turbo-lift shaft doors and it slowly slid open. Once it was fully open, she slid her weight off the ladder, placing one foot inside the doorway. Pushing off from the ladder, she stepped fully onto the deck, the emergency bag slung over her shoulder. Raising her light, she peered into the darkness. "What do you see, sir?" Becker said as he stepped into the corridor behind her.

  "Nothing. It looks deserted," Sonya said, squinting into the darkness. "Come on, let's get to the Armory." "Right behind you, ma'am." Sonya walked slowly down the corridor towards the Armory. As she neared the Armory, she saw that the doors were open. They crept up to the door, and Sonya stopped beside it.

  "Quartermaster V'Dar? This is Ensign Mueller, are you in there?" "Yeah. I'm trying to find a goddamn light," said a strong voice from inside the room. Sonya relaxed and entered the Armory. She scanned the room with the light until she found the Quartermaster. "Get that out of my eyes, Ensign!" yelled the Antarian.

  "Sorry, Master Chief," she said. "What's going on?"

  "How should I know?" he growled. "We were stuck in a turbo-lift. Thought maybe you knew something," she grinned to herself. V'Dar reminded her or her father: gruff and sometimes abrasive, but dedicated and kind when it mattered.

  "Well, I don't. Ah, here we are," he said lifting a light. "What a mess..." V'Dar went about cleaning up the Armory. Sonya went to a utility closet and grabbed a sscanner. She adjusted the scanner for a few moments before finding what she was looking for. I was afraid of that, she thought.

  "Becker! Stock up on clips. Chief, break out the stores and arm anyone you see. Have you seen anyone else?"

  "What? No, just you two. What's going on?"

  "Do we have any heavy weapons?" she asked, ignoring his question.

  "Just some M22 energy grenades. You gonna answer my question?" he said.

  "Becker, load up on grenades," she ordered as she took some night vision equipment from her locker. "Yes, ma'am," he said. Sonya walked over to V'Dar's desk and tried to activate a control panel, forgetting that the power was down.

  "Dammit. Chief, help me with the stores." V'Dar removed a panel from the wall next to his desk while Sonya did the same to an identical panel on the other side. They grabbed the handles inside the compartments and pulled out two long racks. They racks were lined with MOD3 tracer pistols, stun taser power packs, M22 energy grenades, body armor, and communicators. Sonya took two pistols and slid them into her bag. Then, she picked up several grenades and clipped them to her belt. Crewman Becker did the same, and Sonya motioned to the door. V'Dar blocked her path.

  "Ensign, what's going on," he asked.

  "We've been boarded," she said.

  ***

  Deck 14, 0835 hours

  "Figures," Casana sighed, standing at the doors to the turbo-lift on deck 14. Guess it's the maintenance tubes for me, she thought, making her way back down the corridor to an access hatch. Forcing it open, Casana climbed inside and crawled a few meters down the tube to a small, square junction room. Several maintenance tubes converged into the room, including one going up. She entered vertical access shaft, and began to climb. She climbed past deck 13, but stopped just below an access hatch on deck 12.

  She heard voices through the hatch, and though she could not make out the words she knew the language: Drac. "Crap, crap, crappity shit-fuck," she swore under her breath, trying the think. Casana climb up a few steps until she could just see out the hatch, but ducked down when she saw a pair of Drac soldiers standing on the other side.

  Why here? she thought. What's on this deck? There were no control rooms, and no crew quarters on the deck. Weapons? Dracs like weapons. No, no weapons. Then what? She closed her eyes, trying to think. Engines! The deuterium injectors are on this deck. She now had a choice.

  She could continue towards Main Sickbay, but there were still five decks and a long walk to get there. There was no way to know how many Dracs were aboard, and she was unarmed. On the other hand, Casana could go the other direction, down to deck 19, and try to get help from the personnel stationed at the numerous critical systems on that deck. It was faster to go down, and the shaft she was in came out next to the Armory. I always wanted to do this, she smiled to herself. Gripping the ladder with her hands, she moved her feet off the rungs, and slid down the ladder, stopping at deck 14. There was one thing she had to do before going to deck 19.

  She
retraced her path, returning to the Exobiology Lab. From around the room, Casana gathered the equipment she would need. She set several lights near Dr. Rollins, providing sufficient light for what she was about to do. Opening the scanner, she placed the sensor next to the doctor's head and set the scanner down so she could see it easily. Kneeling next to Dr. Rollins, Casana moved her finger over the older woman's head, using the disturbance it caused on the scanner to find the injury. Using an energy razor, she removed the hair from a small area of her head.

  Taking a deep breath, Casana picked up the laser drill. In short bursts, she drilled through the skull, cauterizing blood vessels as she went. After each burst, she examined the hole carefully with a light. At last, she cut through the last of the bone. Looking inside, she could see the inflammation in the tissue beneath. Picking up a scalpel, she cut a small slit in the tissue, and dark blood poured from the slit. Casana quickly pressed a bandage to the injury, replacing it when the blood began to seep through.

  After a few minutes, she pulled the bandage back and examined the hole. The blood coming out was now bright red, and only barely seeping out of the incision. Satisfied with her work, she secured a clean bandage to Dr. Rollins' head and gave her an antibiotic. "Hang on, Laura," she said softly. Casana turned the lights off, and went back to the maintenance tube.

  ***

  Deck 19, Maintenance Tube, 0840 hours

  As Dejah neared an access hatch on deck 19, followed by Walsh, she paused. "What's wrong, ma'am?" asked Werner.

  "I hear voices ahead," she said.

  "What are they saying?"

  "I do not know. They're speaking Drac," she said casually.

  "What?" he cried, trying to remain quiet. Dejah could hear panic again begin to creep into his voice. "Crewman, they are unaware of our presence, and moving away from us. They will soon be safely away from us, and we can proceed to the Armory before going to Main Engineering."

  "Wait, we're going to fight them?" he said, continuing to panic. "Mr. Werner, we are Kriegsmarine personnel aboard a Reich vessel that has been boarded by hostile forces. It is our duty to repel them in any way possible."

  "There fucking Dracs! They're gonna kill us!" "Crewman Werner, you will perform your duties as required by regulation. We will retake the ship from the Dracs," she snapped commandingly at him, looking back, staring into his eyes.

  "Aye, ma'am," he said quietly. "They are gone. Let's get to the Armory," she said. Dejah opened the manual release box and pumped the lever, opening the hatch. She stuck her head out the hatch to look around, first with only her eyes, then with the light. Seeing nothing, they climbed out of the maintenance tube and headed for the Armory. As they neared, Dejah heard a familiar voice.

  "Chief, I am going to send everyone I find on this deck back here. Arm them, and deploy them to defend the Armory." Dejah recognized the voice. Ensign Mueller. Motioning to Werner, she continued towards the voice. "We're going to Main Engineering to assess the situation. We'll figure out where to go from there."

  "Ensign Mueller, may we approach?" Dejah called as she approached the Armory.

  "Dejah? Is that you?" Sonya responded.

  "That is correct." "Yeah, you're clear." Dejah and Werner entered the Armory. Sonya was speaking with V'Dar while Becker stood at the door. "Do you know what happened?"

  "No. We were in the maintenance tubes between decks 17 and 18 when the power failed," Dejah answered.

  "What's the ship's status?" Sonya asked. "Unknown. Main power is offline. Emergency power is at a minimum. Main computer is either offline, or the hard lines have been cut. Drac's have boarded the ship. We were" Sonya cut her off.

  "Dracs? Are you sure?"

  "No. They were speaking Drac, but I could not make visual confirmation."

  "They spoke Drac, and we are on the Drac border. I think it's safe to assume their Dracs, ma'am," Becker said. "Agreed," said Sonya. "Dejah, we are going to Main Engineering. You should come with us. We may need help making sense of what we find there."

  "Very well." Dejah said. As Dejah retrieved armor, night vision equipment, and a MOD3 pistol from the rack, Sonya turned to Werner.

  "Am... am I coming with you, ma'am?" he said in a breaking voice. Sonya raised her eyebrows.

  "I think not." She said. A few minutes later, Sonya, Becker, and Dejah left the Armory for Main Engineering. They moved quietly down the corridor with Sonya leading, followed by Dejah and Becker. Main Engineering was on the far side of the deck, forcing them to move quickly. Almost immediately after leaving the Armory, however, Becker stopped. "Ma'am, I hear something."

  Dejah and Sonya stopped. "What is it, Crewman?" Sonya asked as she moved up next to him. "It's a squeaking sound, coming from the maintenance tube," he said, pointing to the hatch. Sonya forced it open and peered inside. She could see into the junction room, and heard the squealing sound. It was getting closer. Then, a figure dropped from vertical tube, landing on the floor of the room. Sonya heard giggling. There is only one person who could giggle at a time like this.

  "Casana!" she called into the tube as she turned on a light.

  "Huh? Harry! Oh, am I glad to see you," Casana smiled, crawling through the maintenance tube towards them.

  "Stop calling me that, Casana. What are you doing?" "I was in the lab when we lost power. Dr. Rollins is still there. She needs medical attention," she said as she crawled out of the hatch. "Hey, Jacob! I'm so glad you're okay," she cried, throwing her arms around Becker.

  "I was worried about you, too, Cassie," he hugged her back.

  "Oh, I can take care of myself," she said. "So, where are you guys going?"

  "Main Engineering," Dejah answered. "Hey, I didn't see you there! Main Engineering, huh? Well, I'm coming, too." Casana ran into the Armory, emerging a few minutes later with security armor, night vision, a pistol, and two straps of grenades across her chest, one over each shoulder.

  "Holy shit, Casana, you look like a fucking pirate," Sonya laughed. Casana looked at her in confusion. "Never mind. Let's get going."

  11

  Ten

  Deck 19, 0910 hours They moved quickly through the ship, trying to reach Main Engineering as quickly as possible. Sonya led the group, followed by Dejah and Casana, with Becker behind them. Having the night vision visors greatly improved their ability to move quickly, but Sonya was still concerned about ambushes.

  As they closed in on Main Engineering, Sonya could hear voices down the corridor. Motioning for the group to stop, she called for Casana. "Do you know any Drac?" Sonya whispered.

  "A little." "Okay, come with me." Sonya crept forward on her hands and knees and Casana followed. They came to a corner, and Sonya peaked around the corner. She could see the door to Main Engineering, and almost a dozen Dracs. She ducked back behind the corner and turned to Casana. Sonya brought one hand to her ear, pointing around the corner with the other. Casana nodded and removed her helmet. She slid up to the corner as Sonya moved back.

  "They're arguing," she said. "They can't get through the door. The leader has called for a cutting laser. More arguing. Very foul language. They're threatening each other. They're coming this way."

  "Let's go," Sonya whispered as she pulled Casana back. They hurried back down the corridor to Becker and Dejah. Sonya moved them around a corner just as a pair of lights lit the corridor. The four of them waited silently, holding their breath as the lights drew closer. A pair of grumbling Dracs passed by, not noticing them. Once they disappeared down the corridor, Sonya turned to the others.

  "What's the deal, ma'am?" Becker asked. "Just under a dozen Dracs are trying to get into Main Engineering. We're going to take them down," she said, looking at Becker.

  "I will assist you," Dejah said.

  "I'm coming, too!" Casana added.

  "No, this is not your job. You two-"

  "Actually, Ensign," Dejah interrupted, "according to Kriegsmarine regulation-"

  "Please don't quote regulations again. Fine you can come along, just do
as I say," Sonya relented.

  "Plan of attack?" Becker asked. "Hit them with grenades, then finish them off, two man sweep," Sonya said. "You two watch our backs," she told Casana and Dejah.

  "Got it," Becker said. "Alright, let's go." Sonya led them down the corridor. At the corner, the four of them lined up, backs to the wall. First was Sonya, then Becker, Dejah, and lastly Casana. Sonya glanced around the corner, getting one more look at the Dracs. She turned to Becker and he nodded, pulling a grenade from his belt. She did the same, and held her hand up. Sonya silently counted down with her hand from five. On three, they both clicked a button on their grenade, and when Sonya reached zero, they tossed the grenades around the corner.

  There was a deafening blast, and a blue light lit the corridor for an instant. Sonya turned the corner, raising her plasma pistols. Becker followed immediately behind her, placing his left hand on her right shoulder. As she came around the corner, Sonya found herself face to face with a Drac soldier. She fired at point blank range, sending him down. Becker fired over her shoulder, hitting another Drac a few meters away. He staggered, but raised his pistol. Sonya fired first, striking him in the forehead, and the Drac slumped to the ground as well. The rest of the corridor was filled with smoke, obscuring Sonya's vision.

  "Sweep!" she yelled, and Becker moved out from behind her. Sonya moved slowly down the corridor, her left shoulder against the wall. Becker did the same on the far wall, and they advanced down the corridor. Sonya's heart raced, and her breathing was rapid. Smoke filled her eyes, and the corridor was silent. She carefully stepped over the bodies of several Dracs, not looking down.