“Are you calling for reinforcements?”
“I’ve requested reinforcements, but whether I get them or not is a different story.”
Kimberly snapped her fingers. “What if we attack the warehouse now? What if we get the jump on them before they thaw out the Krai’kesh? It’s possible they have not awoken yet, and we could still destroy them."
“Hmmm,” Isabelle said. “It’s worth a shot. But if we’re wrong and the Krai’kesh are awake, we will sustain heavy casualties.”
“With respect, ma’am, the Krai’kesh will overrun the entire station if we do not try.”
Isabelle smiled. “Always the brave one in any group. All right, let’s round up the troops.” She crossed the room to speak with the Marine commander.
Kimberly looked at Corbin and Baillidh. “You two don’t have to come if you don’t want. Lord knows I’ve put you through enough.”
“Bah, lassy, if you think ima leavin’ you to run off and fight the Krai’kesh and their minions on yer own ye be out of yer mind,” Corbin said. He poked his chest with his fist. “I’ll protect ya.”
“We owe you our lives, ma’am,” Baillidh said. “It would be my honor to continue this journey with you. Besides, I hope to see Sloane pay for his betrayal.”
Kimberly had almost forgotten about Sloane. Yes, the bastard who cost us the lives of a good agent and has endangered who knows how many other civilians. I will enjoy capturing him. “Yes, Sloane will pay for what he did, I promise you that.”
Isabelle returned to the trio. “The Marines are gearing up again. We’re taking all four squads. How many Krai’kesh were there?”
"Dozens. There were four Krai'kesh to a box, and there were several dozen boxes."
“Damn it. Okay, we’ll just have to hope they haven’t thawed them all out yet.”
“Did you call for more reinforcements?”
“Yes, I put in the request. It will take time for a fleet of any size to arrive and affect a complete blockade. Which is why we’re trying to keep things quiet, so people don’t leave in droves.”
“Don’t you want people to leave in droves if the Krai’kesh are here?” Kimberly asked.
“Not if it includes merchant guild members who may have information about the Krai’kesh,” Isabelle said. “Unfortunately, some innocent lives may be risked to keep the merchant guild members contained, but if we let those people leave they will scurry back to the Commerce Sector or the non-aligned planets and we’ll never get them again. This is our biggest chance to catch those responsible.”
She pursed her lips and nodded. “I understand,” she said. She understood, but that didn’t mean she liked or approved of endangering civilians just to get information from terrorists. It was one area she and Isabelle differed in their philosophy.
“I know you don’t approve,” Isabelle said, reading Kimberly’s expression, “but there have been many things I had to do for the good of the Federation that people would not have approved of. The fact is, the merchants and the information they have on the Cult of Rae is more valuable than the lives of a few civilians. I know that sounds callous,” she held up a hand to forestall Kimberly’s rebuttal, “but that is the hard choices which come with this job. I am the one who has to make it, not you.”
Kimberly snapped her mouth shut and nodded.
The Marine captain approached the FIA agents. “Ma’am, we’re ready.”
Isabelle nodded. “Let’s talk strategy, Captain. Bring me and the agents up to speed on what we will do."
The captain nodded. “I’ll be brief, due to the time sensitive nature.”
“Yes, yes,” Isabelle said.
The captain activated a portable holo-pad and the display came to life. "The warehouse is here," he pointed. Kimberly recognized it from her infiltration earlier. Many more guards, much more heavily armed and armored, stood out front of the large blast door. “Security has been beefed up since we arrived.” He activated the rewind function and showed the same location two hours earlier. “They do not want us to get in there.”
“Can we shift in?” Kimberly asked.
The captain looked at her with an expression which said her question had an obvious answer. “No, the warehouse is shielded from shifting, as are all merchant facilities. They do not want shifters coming in and stealing their products."
“Oh, I didn’t know that,” Kimberly squirmed.
“Trust me, I don’t like that either,” Isabelle said. “I feel naked without my ability to shift, vulnerable. Unfortunately, the only powers that can still work within a nullification field are gravitic and time magic.”
Kimberly wanted to ask about gravitic magic, for she had never heard of anyone having the power to control gravity, but now was not the time. “Can the field be disabled?”
“Yes. Just like before on Draxon II, if we destroy the generator it will drop the nullification field and I can use my shifting ability again. But that is not the number one priority.” She addressed the captain now, “the number one priority, Captain, is to prevent the merchants and any other parties colluding with the Krai’kesh from awakening those Krai’kesh creatures in there. Understood?”
“Of course, ma’am. We’ll do everything possible.”
“Wha’ kinda explosives do ya got?” Corbin asked.
The captain blinked. “Excuse me?”
“Explosives,” Corbin repeated. “You know, they go boom. Wha’ kind do ya have?”
“We have two mobile rocket launchers with eight projectiles each, while each Marine carries a handful of grenades also. Why do you want to know?”
“Ima demolition expert,” Corbin said, jabbing himself in the chest with a thumb.
“Oh.”
“Enough small talk,” Isabelle said. “Let’s move.”
The entire four squads of Marines, plus the FIA agents and Isabelle, departed the Federation embassy. Security guards in the embassy watched as they passed.
“Was the embassy surprised to see you?” Kimberly asked
“Yes, they were surprised at my arrival. Unusually surprised but I’ll investigate that further later.”
“You think they could have had something to do with it? With the Krai’kesh and the merchants?”
Isabelle shook her head. “Not with the Krai’kesh, but with the Cult. I can’t believe the leadership of the embassy remained a pillar of virtue in this hive of villainy, but it’s possible.”
The group took the lift down to the merchant sector and the squads lined up in the doorway leading to the large docking bay previously filled with workers but now filled with merchant security guards and what looked like mercenaries.
“On three, we breach and clear the room,” Isabelle said to the captain. He nodded and relayed the orders back.
Isabelle held up three fingers, then two fingers, then one finger and closed her hand into a fist. She moved out onto the balcony overseeing the docking bay, the Marines following.
The Marines took up position on the railing overlooking the docking bay. They sighted their laser rifles and prepared to fire. “Fire on my command,” Isabelle ordered.
It took several moments for the merchant guards to detect the intruders, but when they did they fired up at them.
“Fire!” Isabelle ordered.
Four squads of Marines fired down on the merchant guards and mercenaries. One Marine fell to laser fire, but more of the enemy, who had been caught out of cover, fell faster.
Kimberly had joined in with the firing, while Baillidh hung back. Corbin was at her side firing also.
Several minutes later two Marines were dead and two more wounded but the enemy had been neutralized. The doors to the warehouse were locked. The FIA agents and Marines came to stand by the door and took up positions which gave them clear lines of fire toward the balcony and other entrances into the docking bay.
Baillidh went to the door and hooked up his datapad. “This will only take a moment.” The door emitted a buzz, as if making fun of Baillidh. “Damn it, they
’ve added security protocols I didn’t expect. This may take a moment more.”
Warning alarms sounded in the docking bay. “What the hell is that?” Isabelle asked.
“Shit, ma’am,” Corbin said, “that be the outer bay door alarm. They’re gonna try ta space us! They deactivated the force field keeping the atmosphere in.”
“How much time do we have?”
“Tis’ a one minute alarm.”
“Any time now, Baillidh,” Kimberly urged him.
"I 'm trying," Baillidh said in a distracted voice. "One more…moment." An affirmative chirp came from the door panel. "Got it!"
The large doors to the merchant warehouse slid open just as the docking bay doors slid open. “Everyone in!” Isabelle shouted. The Marines and FIA agents complied, running into the merchant warehouse and then to the side to avoid being sucked out. Even as Kimberly ran in she could feel a gust of wind racing toward the open docking bay door.
“Close it, Baillidh,” Kimberly said.
“On it.” Moments later the doors to the merchant warehouse closed.
“Well, we can’t go back out that way,” Corbin observed.
“Aren’t you bright,” Isabelle said. “But we have bigger fish to fry. Let’s go.”
The group moved further into the warehouse. “We were in warehouse five, in the center,” Kimberly said. “That’s where the Krai’kesh were.”
Isabelle nodded. “The nullification field is over the entire warehouse.”
“It wasn’t enabled earlier,” Kimberly said. “The mage among our group used shields of air when they attacked us.”
“Perhaps they disabled the field in warehouse five,” Isabelle said, “or they had other reasons. But that is odd, and against their protocol.”
The rest of the warehouse was quiet, and they encountered no more resistance on their way to the door to warehouse five. The door they came to was locked. “Can we get a view inside?” Isabelle asked.
"Yes, ma'am," Baillidh said. "I have just the thing." He withdrew a drone from within his backpack as he had when they were in the tunnel escaping their safe house and put it under the door. It slid under the door and unfurled. The video came back showing the vast warehouse five filled with the same crates as before.
“Zoom in on one crate,” Kimberly said. “They’re all open.”
Baillidh complied, zooming in on one crate which was wide open.
“The pods are empty!” Kimberly exclaimed.
“Shit,” Isabelle said. “I was afraid of that. But I see no sign of the Krai’kesh.”
The feed from the drone cut out. “What happened?” Kimberly asked.
“I don’t know,” Baillidh said. “The feed just died.”
The door to warehouse five clicked and opened. “Uh, that isn’t me,” Baillidh said. “It’s from the inside.”
“Take cover, weapons free!” Isabelle ordered.
The Marines all took cover behind racks and crates in the warehouse, weapons facing the door which opened. Kimberly, Corbin and Baillidh followed.
At first nothing came through the door, but then half a dozen Krai’kesh skitterers rushed out, searching for prey.
“Fire!” Isabelle ordered.
The Marines opened fire. A dozen laser beams struck the lead Krai’kesh skitterer, burning a hole through its carapace and killing it. Half a dozen struck the second skitterer and burned through its carapace but didn’t quite pierce it.
Five skitterers raced toward the Marines. One Krai’kesh leaped through the air, landing atop a crate behind which three Marines stood. It lashed out with its mandibles and crushed the skull of the first Marine, then slashed out with one of its claws and batted the rifle out of the hands of a second Marine before jumping on the Marine and piercing it with its feet.
The third Marine stepped back, unperturbed by seeing his comrades killed, and fired point blank at the creature.
A single laser would not pierce the carapace, however, and the Krai’kesh approached. Kimberly leapt into action, firing at the Krai’kesh from behind, trying to catch its attention. “Hey you big bully, over here!”
The skitterer turned toward her, its eyes assessing her. It skittered toward her and she continued to fire, trying to hit its head. One shot hit its eyes, causing it to howl with anger and pick up its pace. Before it could get to her, however, three beams of energy from laser rifles slammed into it from nearby Marines. The combined brunt of the new burst combined with the previous laser fire from Kimberly and the other Marine finally pierced its carapace. At last it crumbled to the ground.
Kimberly walked up to the dying Krai'kesh and aimed point blank at its head. She spoke no words, the Krai'kesh likely wouldn't understand them but fired a shot which burned a hole in its skull and killed it.
The remaining Marines were engaged in a heated melee with the Krai’kesh. Laser rifles are not good for fighting these monsters. She looked for a new target to fire upon. She spotted Isabelle riding on the back of a Krai’kesh. She had her swords out and stabbed into its brain. The creature dropped and Isabelle jumped off, disappearing into a cloud of mist, only to reappear behind another Krai’kesh which was facing off against three other Marines. She stabbed the creature in the back of the neck.
We need our troops to be equipped with swords or something bladed. Four of the Krai’kesh were dead, but two remained. She fired on one of the remaining Krai’kesh but a sudden roar from within warehouse five caused her to whip her head around in that direction.
Two dozen Krai’kesh emerged from warehouse five. They stood there for a moment, as if picking their targets, then spread out, heading for the remaining Marines.
By this point many Marines were dead or wounded. Kimberly estimated only two squads remained in fighting strength, a whole twelve Marines. They stood no chance under the circumstances.
Isabelle seemed to recognize this. “Everyone to me," she shouted as she parried a blow from another skitterer, showed their claws back and stabbed them in the face.
The Marines fell back to Isabelle’s position. “Grenades and rockets,” Corbin called. “Use everything you’ve got!”
Four of the Marines lifted a missile tube and launched missiles toward the swarm of Krai’kesh. One missile hit two enemies, while a second missile hit three. The third missile flew wide and hit the wall, during the fourth hit only one enemy.
Where were the other two missile launchers? She looked around and spotted them by the corpses of two Marines, but the corpses were already overrun by Krai’kesh.
Grenades came next, with each of the twelve Marines hurling two grenades each toward the Krai’kesh. The explosions killed a few of the Krai’kesh and made the rest stay back for a moment. A moment was all Isabelle needed.
"We're shifting," Isabelle said, and again Kimberly felt the odd sensation as her body became translucent, and the environment faded to the dark of the shadow realm. Directed by Isabelle's consciousness, the group moved back to the Federation embassy and re-appeared there.
“Damage report,” Isabelle said.
“Four Marines wounded, ma’am, eight dead, twelve unharmed,” the captain reported.
“All FIA agents are alive,” Kimberly reported. She eyed Corbin and Baillidh. They both looked unharmed. She looked down at herself, her clothing spattered with blood - how had that gotten there? She consulted her implant – no injuries. The blood wasn’t hers.
“We have to evacuate the station,” Isabelle said as she exited the staging room they had been in earlier. “With that many Krai’kesh on the loose and the merchants in bed with them there’s no way the security forces on the station can hold them back.”
“But I thought you wanted a quarantine of the station,” Kimberly said.
“The ships leaving the station can be quarantined. Most are not equipped with shadow drives and we can activate a gravity well projector with the interdictor cruiser I requested to stop them from shifting. We’ll wait until the interdictor cruiser and reinforcements arr
ive then sound the general…” she paused as alarms sounded, “alarm. It seems the station administrators beat us to it.”
“Perhaps they suspect what you have planned?” Kimberly asked. “They know you’ll try to stop them, so they’re trying to evacuate before we have the forces to stop them.”
“More than likely. Damn it! All right, we must evacuate the embassy. Let’s go talk with the Ambassador.”
“What about the commander of the station? They’re appointed by the Federation.”
"We can't trust the command structure of the station. I have doubts even about the Ambassador, but we have to try at least try to save as many Federation citizens as possible.”
Kimberly followed Isabelle and they entered the Ambassador’s suite. Two guards outside the door held up hands to halt them. “The Ambassador is not to be disturbed,” one guard said.
“Tell the Ambassador the Deputy Director of the FIA is at his door and if he doesn’t open up in the next thirty seconds, I will come into him."
The guards shifted and eyed the Marines at Isabelle's back. "One moment," the guard said. He entered the Ambassador's suite and shut the door. A minute had passed before the guard returned. "The Ambassador will see you now, Deputy Director."
Isabelle swept past the guards and into the suite. Kimberly looked at Corbin and Baillidh. “Stay out here.” She looked at the captain of the Marines. “You and your men also.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Corbin and Baillidh said. The captain nodded.
Kimberly passed into the suite and caught up with Isabelle. She was standing in the audience chamber of the Ambassador. He sat behind a large metal desk.
“…apologize for the misunderstanding, Deputy Director,” the Ambassador was saying, “my guards did not know it was you.”
“We have a situation, Ambassador,” Isabelle said, ignoring his apology. “While you were…doing whatever it was you were doing,” she said, eyeing a scantily clad woman seated on a couch along one side of the room, “the Krai’kesh emerged from hibernation in the belly of this station, down in the merchant district. There are hundreds of them.”
“The Krai’kesh,” the Ambassador said. “Are you certain?”
Eclipse: Book Two of the Dark Tide Trilogy Page 10