I took a deep breath. “We are just trying to keep our distance, that’s all. There aren’t enough of us here to put up a fight. We are hoping for a rescue from that beacon.”
Frig spoke. “About that beacon, Sir. Who are you expecting a rescue from?”
I turned my arm pad towards the Gontas and snapped a pic. “These guys have been keeping us alive. We were on their ship when the Duke’s virus took control. We barely made it to the surface, and now there are only a dozen of us left.”
Frig replied. “What of the crew of the Granger, Sir?”
I took another deep breath as I continued to run. “The Granger is parked in this system, completely shut down right now. The virus took control of all systems, leaving us with no choice but to shut her off cold. The crew was in a shuttle on their way down here to the surface when their systems were overcome as well. There is no one left but York, Frost, and me, along with the Gonta captain and eight of his crewmen.”
I continued, “We escaped a siege that had been going on for three days when a storm came through and wrecked the place. We have millions of Targs that are now chasing after us, and they have been gaining on us all day. If the Gonta rescue ship doesn’t drop in here soon, we are going to be overrun. We won’t survive.
“I tell you, my friend, we could sure use some of your wizardry right now if you have any to give.”
Frig was quiet for a moment and then spoke. “Sorry, Sir. I do not have any tricks in my box at this time. What can you tell me about the Gonta?”
I replied with a slightly cocked head, “Tricks in your box? If you have been reading stuff from the archives, you have gotten yourself mixed up a bit. And as for the Gontas, I’m transferring what I have in my recordings. It should give you info on our last few days here with the good captain. I’m hoping—if we can get out of this mess—I’m hoping that we might be able to work out some kind of alliance with them. They are currently in a state of war with the Colossus Empire and the Duke. Have you heard anything further from the Grid?”
Frig spoke. “I believe the Duke to be in control of the Grid, Sir. On my last attempted communications with them, I was unable to speak with anyone; they were blocked from acknowledging my repeated requests, but the Duke’s virus continued to break down my firewalls, so I had to cease all comms. I fear he has complete control of her, Sir.”
I slowed to a walk and replied as I continued to breathe heavily, “Great. I guess I’m going to have to keep that little fact from the Gontas, or they will be laughing when I bring up my wishes for an alliance. At least we know one good thing, Frig. He doesn’t have enough hydrogen fuel to go anywhere. Unless, of course, he signals his own fleet to bring him some. If that is the case, then that makes a possible alliance with the Gontas all the more necessary. We don’t have any way to stop him from bringing fuel, but they might.”
Frig spoke. “Sir, I’ve noticed that you are bare chested. Where is your battle suit, and why are your shoulders covered in red dirt?”
I replied, “OK, you need to stop peeping at me, you freak! I have the suit around my waist, and the mud is to keep this scorching sun from frying me. Now, please do not be remotely turning on my camera feed!”
Frig sighed. “I was just curious, Sir. The more information I have about your situation, the better I may be able to assist you. And Sir, the primitive look, it suits you.”
I again began to pick up my pace. “Yeah, well, how about using some of that smart-assery to get us out of here. I left Ashley with the Duke, and I would like to know that she is OK.”
Frost dropped off the last of the Gontas and returned for me. Our scans showed the Targs to have closed to within an hour’s distance. The landscape was beginning to get the slight undulations that marked the beginning of the hills. With the aid of the power pack, we would make it into them, but the Targ hordes continued to draw closer.
Frost spoke. “OK, Chief, hop on. I’ll be running you all the way to the base of the first hill. Scans show a river about two kilometers past that. If it’s deep, we are hoping that it may be an obstacle for our little friends back there. York mentioned that we might be able to make a raft and float away. I kind of liked that idea.”
I climbed onto the back of the stocky female sergeant, and she immediately bounded away towards the others. Several minutes later, as we passed them by, I swung my arm in a high circle and let out a loud woot sound. Frost advised me to please not do that, as it made keeping her balance while on the run difficult. I complied.
I was dropped at the base of the first hill, facing a rough outcropping of rocks that rose to about thirty meters above my altitude at the peak. Frost turned and quickly headed back for the others as I began to survey the area. Each successive hill rose higher than the one before it, with the highest echelon of rock jutting up nearly five hundred meters. Most of the hills had flat plateaus and steep, rocky sides. We would have to find passes in and around the rocky cliffs the further we traveled. The final set of hills rose up to a flatland that was interrupted by the deep canyon that had been cut by the river, two kilometers beyond.
Scans out to the narrow river basin showed it to be surrounded by biologicals. I reasoned that York had come up with her idea for a raft after doing a scan of her own. I took the time available to me to climb to the top of the first mount. A strong breeze was blowing from the hills out towards the heat-soaked plains. I had to take care that the battle suit tied around my waist did not blow up over my head. I contemplated putting it back on, but the temperature remained at the extremes.
I pressed the button on my comm. “Frig, are you there?”
Several seconds passed before Frig replied. “What is it, Sir?”
I spoke. “What can you tell me about the Grid? Was there any indication of fighting or systems shutting down from the Duke’s virus?”
Frig replied, “The last information I had from a comm interchange showed the comm system to be infected, and under control by other than Grid security, while the remaining systems stayed as they were. It has been four days since that data was the current set, Sir.”
As I looked back across the plains at an advancing Frost, piggybacking the Gonta captain, I spoke into my arm pad. “If we lose the Grid to the Duke, we are dead as a species—that is, both yours and mine. I’m not sure how many Gambits there are out there, but I would say their chances for a free and full life drop dramatically once we Humans are gone. This galaxy is just too overrun with hostile species.”
Frig replied, “If indeed the Grid has been taken, we will just have to take it back, Sir. We have done it before.”
I held out my hand to help the captain up to my position as I spoke into the comm. “Yeah, we will just have to figure out how we are going to do that this time. You are still months away from a full portal opening.”
Frig paused. “About that, Sir. I have been working out the calculations for exactly what it would take to open the meter-wide portal and to keep it open long enough for someone to pass through. I may be able to route power from these generators so that they each provide a peak burst in succession. I would need the timing to be precise, but I may be able to open the full portal for up to eight seconds at a time. It would require a significant settling period for the generators afterward, but it is a real possibility.”
I replied, “Well, heck! Let’s give it a shot!”
Frig grumbled. “I am not confident that this method will work as calculated. I will have more confidence once we have drawn closer by another week or two. I give my calculations a 60 percent chance of failure at this time. That will rise to a 50 percent chance of success in the coming weeks.”
I grumbled back. “There’s always a catch in there somewhere. I think we should at least prepare for it. A good test might be to do it once and toss through a satchel of power packs. If it fails, we don’t lose anything. If it works, we at least have our battle suits back. Even if it is only a single test, it should give you some better data points for your calcs.”
> Frig replied, “Indeed it would, Sir. I will work on putting a test in place. I should have an answer for you in twelve minutes.”
I looked at the captain and back at my comm. “Twelve minutes will do. I’m passing you scan data on the hills we will be going through. They level out into a plateau. Pick a spot up there so you can test this without having to worry about us. Just let us know where it opened, and we will retrieve the goods.”
Frig spoke. “I will let you know the coordinates when the testing is complete.”
As Frost continued her piggyback runs, Frig successfully conducted a battery pack delivery. I had the coordinates locked into my arm pad and had taken the initiative to continue forward on my own. The others would follow when the rest of the group had been reunited.
The test had proven successful from the battery pack delivery perspective, but the portal had only opened for four seconds. The diameter of the portal had been less than full. Two of the five battery packs, along with one-third of the satchel, had been frozen and cut apart as the satchel was tossed through. Luckily, the cuts had not severed the two power packs, leaving the remaining three intact. I looked forward to the comfort the battle suit offered as I scaled rocks and crossed ravines. I was soon climbing towards the plateau.
Chapter 12
The climb up onto the plateau took twenty minutes. I was happy to have a head start on Frost, as she would have been tempted to follow just behind me. Fifteen minutes later, I reached the damaged satchel and retrieved and installed a power pack. The suit was slipped on, and I was soon reveling in the wonder that climate control had to offer.
When the others arrived, I passed a fresh power pack to Sergeant York. “I’m sure you will appreciate this as much as I do. Frost, how’s that new cell holding up for you?”
Frost replied, “Still at 60 percent, Chief.”
I turned to the Gonta captain. “How are you and your men doing, Captain? Do you need a rest?”
Meecha replied, “We are ready to continue moving, Mr. Grange. The Gonta physiology may be of a slighter build than that of you Humans. Our stamina, however, is long running. Evolution has been kind to us in that regard.”
York clipped in her new power pack and pointed across the plateau. “Sir, I say we piggyback again until the edge of the river basin is reached. We can evaluate how to get down there once we are all there.”
I replied, “Pick up a rider and lead the way, York.”
I looked back towards the plains we had come across. “The Targs have to be getting close. Hopefully that climb will slow them down.”
Half an hour passed before I arrived with the last of the Gonta at the basin’s edge. Sheer rock walls descended four hundred meters to a flat, winding river. A million years of erosion had carved the rift into the otherwise flat landscape.
I shook my head as I talked. “That is a strange-looking place down there. All of the foliage on those plants is bright red. Not a speck of green to be seen anywhere.”
York replied, “This is an iron planet, Sir. But that does raise a good question: Why are the Fergies green in color while the Hargets are brown? You would think that they would each have colors that blended into the landscape.”
Meecha replied, “They were here when we discovered this planet hundreds of your years ago. Perhaps they are not originally from here? Perhaps they were placed here by another species or crash-landed here on their own.”
I spoke. “Could have been placed here by the Duke for some strange reason. Unless we talk to them, however, I don’t think we are going to find out. Anyone want to go back and ask?”
There were no volunteers.
We began our journey along the edge of the river canyon. The red vegetation varied from stubby shrubs and grasses to tall trees with long, slender leaves. A section of canyon wall was soon spotted that had vegetation growing nearly up to the rim.
York pointed. “That looks like a good egress point to get off of this plateau. If the plants are capable of growing all the way up there, we should be able to find a path down. What do you think, Sir?”
I replied, “Captain? How are you and your men at steep terrain? This looks quite a bit steeper than the way we came up. And with power, our suits now have gravity assist.”
The captain spoke. “We will manage, Mr. Grange. Lead the way and we will follow. And Miss York, is your beacon still active? It will still be required when our ship arrives.”
York replied, “It is, Captain, pops off a signal every fifteen seconds or so.”
As the others began the slow climb down, I turned back towards the plateau and scanned for signs of the Targ. They were there!
I spoke with a raised voice. “OK, we have a problem! The Targ are flooding onto the plateau. I would guess we only have about twenty minutes on them now. We need to get down to that river and find ourselves a faster way to move. York, what would you say is the speed of that river?”
York replied, “I place it at twenty kilometers per hour, Sir. That is slightly faster than our pursuers. It does look like there are some nasty rapids down there, Sir. I would not recommend going straight in. We will need something sturdy to ride upon.”
I glanced down into the canyon. “Why don’t you head on down and see what you and Frost can find. I’ll stay up here as long as I can to provide status.”
For fifteen minutes I stood at the canyon’s edge, watching as the hordes of Targ moved ever closer. Their numbers on the plateau had swelled to what I could only guess was more than a million strong. I soon lost my nerve and headed down the path the others had taken. The last of the captain’s men was just reaching the canyon floor as I started.
I spoke into my comm. “York, how’s it going? Any ideas for transport?”
York replied, “We have two trees downed using the Gonta blasters. We have sectioned them into logs and are lashing them together with a variety of vine we found down here as well. We will have it in the water in another ten minutes, Sir.”
I paused to press the button on my comm. “You better try to make that five, York. Those Targ are coming quick, and if we don’t get that thing launched, they are going to be all over us.”
Frost spoke. “Just get your ass down here, Chief. We will get the raft done!”
I set the gravity assist on my suit to maximum and was soon jumping down ten and twelve meters at a time. I forced my way through the thick foliage at the base, only to be confronted by a strange, and angry, heavily fanged animal. Before I could draw my blaster, the creature sprang forward and crashed into me, knocking me to the ground. The fangs dug hard into my battle suit, but the suit did not yield.
The creature, a red lion as I would call it, had a broad head that sat upon a powerful neck and shoulders. Four strong legs propelled the muscular beast while two undersized arms with clawed hands sliced away at my torso. Again the suit held, but the large beast was tossing me about like a play toy.
Before I had regained control of the situation, the red beast exploded in front of me. After wiping the bloody red remains from my face shield, I saw Meecha standing before me with his blaster.
Meecha spoke. “Come, Mr. Grange. Hurry, the raft is waiting. Frost performed a scan; these woods are full of whatever that was that attacked you.”
I was up and sprinting along with the Gonta captain when I glanced back up at the ridge behind us. The first of the Targ pursuers had made it to the canyon rim. As I turned back, I was startled by another bolt from Meecha’s blaster as a second of the great red beasts exploded off to my left side.
As I ran, I spoke. “Leave some of those for the Targ, Meecha. Maybe it will slow them down a bit.”
The front end of the raft was pushed into the raging water, and one by one we boarded as York did her best to hold it in place with her powerful legs. With a final push, we were away from the bank. I looked back at the canyon’s edge and took note of the hundreds of caves lining the canyon walls, which were now visible to us. The entrance to each cave held at least two of the
red lions that had attacked me. Several fish jumped from the water onto our raft as we moved into the swifter currents.
The river had provided fish for the enormous pride of red lions as they lived their peaceful lives along its bank. I watched in awe as the hordes of Targ warriors began to make their way down the cliffs to the forest below. I could only believe that they had no idea what lay in wait for them. Thousands had made it to the water’s edge before the lions sprang into action.
It was chaos, pandemonium, and every other word that could be used to describe the carnage that was taking place. As we moved down the river, I became confident that the Targ would not be following us. At least not for a short while.
As the Targ threat faded, the threat from the river grew. We were entering a section where the fall of the riverbed increased. The fast currents soon became raging torrents as our hastily put-together raft careened from one partially submerged rock to another.
York spoke. “We have about two kilometers of this to go through. I would suggest everyone be prepared for this rig breaking apart at some point. If possible, get yourself behind it, as you don’t want one of these logs pinning you to a rock or bashing your head.”
Meecha replied, “We have much water on our home planet. We are capable swimmers.”
As I turned to look up the river for any signs of the Targ, the front of the raft struck a rock dead center. With my attention diverted, I was thrown forward, skidding off the front of the raft and into the raging torrents. I could hear the others yelling through my audio as I swirled, bobbed, and rolled. My face shield was down; there was no danger of drowning. At least not as long as I continued to move downstream. The danger lay in the possibility of becoming pinned between rocks or on the front of a rock while underwater. There would be no rescue that could free me.
My predicament continued for another five minutes before I had enough control to swim towards a side pool. I was never a good swimmer back on the Grid, but the gravity assist built into my suit gave me an advantage. I could move my arms and legs almost effortlessly and soon had myself out of immediate danger.
AMP Siege Page 12