"We need to cut the power," the young woman yelled behind me.
I couldn't respond as the Ophie continued to advance. Both Tabby and I were conservatively in triple-shot mode, avoiding full-auto in an attempt to reduce casualties, but they had no fear. Two dozen more Ophie closed in on us coming from nearby buildings.
"Cover me, I've got to get her outta here," I said.
Tabby stepped forward, switching to full auto and lay down a fusillade of blaster fire, the forward rank of Ophie dropping as she did.
While she was laying down fire, I slapped the rifle onto my back, spun around and grabbed the young woman. We sailed upward out of the Ophie's reach.
"I'm clear, Tabbs," I said, turning to make sure she didn't get stuck. I was relieved when she popped up from the group closing on her.
"Cap, drop her off and get back here. We've trouble brewing," Marny said.
"Copy that," I said.
"We're right behind you, Liam," Ada said.
I turned in the air and flew toward Hotspur. The sound of the old turret firing caught my attention and I spun around. It was firing into a group of lizard men trying to breach the Keep. I turned back and flew through the pressure barrier.
"Are you Captain Hoffen?" the girl asked, her voice quavering as I set her down.
I pulled my helmet off and smiled. "I am. Welcome aboard. You must be Merrie."
I heard noise behind me as Mom appeared in the small hallway that doubled as an air-lock.
"Go, Liam. I've got her," Mom said.
I pulled my helmet back on and dove from Hotspur.
BAG 'N TAG
I twisted around while falling, and oriented on Marny. A flash from the hillside told me she was taking fire.
"Marny, what's the play?"
The air above me blistered with a blast from Hotspur's top turret and the location on the hillside where the flash had initiated, exploded.
"They're amassing. We've got to stop them or we'll have to respond with Hotspur," she said.
I was still on the edge of not caring what happened to the Ophir. I knew it was the wrong feeling, but I couldn't help it. Their singled-minded focus on murdering the settlers had struck a chord with me and I wanted to respond in kind.
I pulled up next to Marny and Tabby, who were floating just above the Keep's turret. My AI counted eight hundred Ophie roiling around just past the range where the turret could fire at them.
"Have you made contact with Yishuv settlers?" I asked.
"Just the gunner," Marny said.
"What about them?" I asked, pointing to a trap door that had opened atop a narrow building next to the wall. A lithe woman with a sheathed sword on her back and a thickly muscled man holding a hammer had just emerged onto the roof.
"No, that's new," she said.
"I'll see what's up," I said. "Maybe they have some ideas."
"Aye."
I set down on the roof a couple of meters from the two and held up my hands to show that I meant no harm. Even so, the woman crouched defensively, resting her hand on the hilt of her sword. The man, however, didn't react.
I pulled my helmet off and the woman visibly relaxed. A wave of rancid smells hit my nose that was so overpowering, I choked. I breathed in slowly and stood up straight holding my hand out.
"Liam Hoffen," I said.
"Eliora… and this is Amon," she responded, reaching past my open hand to grasp my wrist.
"Are you in charge?" I asked.
"Yes," she said.
"A woman. She was outside the keep," the man said stepping forward.
"If you're asking about Merrie, she's safe," I said.
He sighed.
"Any way to run these guys off without simply killing them all?" I asked.
"You could do that?"
"We're holding back," I said.
"The Ophie have only four weaknesses, under their jaw, beneath their ribcage, their groin and their Achilles," Eliora explained. "They have a difficult time seeing long distances, which is why they continue to advance. They cannot see your ship, nor can they see your crew floating above the turret."
"But, they were shooting at us," I said.
"The rifle they have has an optical scope," she said.
"Had. Our ship returned fire on the position of that rifle and it is no longer operational," I said.
I followed Eliora's gaze up to where Hotspur was gliding past us a hundred meters up.
"They also have particularly acute hearing," Eliora said.
"Oh. That's interesting. Marny toss an FBD into the crowd over the wall. Eliora, don't look over the edge… and it's going to be very loud," I said.
"Aye, Cap. Fire in the hole."
I caught sight of the small disk fluttering in the breeze as it fell into the middle of the largest group of Ophie. I'd forgotten I'd pulled my helmet off, but fortunately, the mass of Ophie blocked most of the blast of light and much of the sound. Even so, I had to blink my eyes rapidly to clear the momentary blindness.
"Frak. Helmet," I said as I pulled it back on.
There were floating dots in my vision, but I didn't think I was permanently impaired.
When I looked back down, the impact on the invaders had been profound. More and more of the trampled field became visible in the area where the disc had fallen as a sea of Ophie clawed and pushed to escape the vicinity.
"What was that?" Eliora yelled, having instinctively placed her hands over her ears.
"Hold on, Eliora," I said. "Nick, did you see that?"
"Yup. We're on it. Give us three minutes and you need to get those civilians inside," he said. "This is going to be extremely annoying. Oh, Merrie said to tell Amon she's okay."
"Marny, you have it out here?" I asked. "I'd like to meet the locals."
"Aye, we're good. I'm having some trouble convincing the gunner to go inside.
"Eliora, we need to get you and your gunner inside," I said.
"What's going on?" she asked.
"Our ship, Hotspur, is going to try to drive the Ophie off and my partner requested we get you inside," I said. "Trust me, we need to comply."
"There is a lot of fear, Liam Hoffen. It will be difficult if we go inside," she said.
"Distrust of us?"
"Yes. Understand, we've lost almost half of our settlement to the Ophie this year. Now, you show up with all this technology. People are frightened," she said.
Eliora flinched as I pulled the blaster rifle from my back and handed it to her. I then pulled the pistol from my chest and handed it to the man standing beside her.
"Amon, is it?" I asked.
He looked at me with confusion, accepting the pistol and nodding his head affirmatively.
"You have my weapons and I'm going to take my helmet off," I said, doing so. With my helmet in my left arm, I released and pulled my earwig from my right ear, peeling it off my cheek bone. With a vac-suit, the earwig was redundant and I needed to gain trust as quickly as possible.
"Nick, can you get Merrie a comm setup?" I asked.
"Yup," he said.
"Amon, if you'll allow it, I'll give you a way to both see and talk with Merrie," I said.
"Okay," he said.
He flinched as I reached for his head but allowed me to mount the earwig.
"I know it feels weird at first. All you have to do is talk to Merrie and she'll hear you," I said.
He stumbled a moment and I reached out to steady him, pushing the pistol's muzzle so it wasn't pointing at my leg. "How about you take your hand off that trigger?"
"Merrie? Is that you?" he said. "I can see you, too. Yes. We'll go inside."
Amon turned and lowered himself into the open trap door. I followed him down, although I used the grav-suit to allow me to float. Between my prosthetic foot and holding my helmet, I wasn't about to negotiate the rudimentary ladder.
"What's the meaning of this?" I recognized the voice and turned toward the older woman.
"Captain Liam Hoffen. You must be C
ouncilwoman Peraf." I stuck my hand out to her and smiled.
She pursed her lips and grudgingly accepted my hand. I looked to the man standing next her. "And you must be Councilman Bedros."
He more readily accepted my proffered hand.
"What can you tell us?" he asked.
Before I could say anything, a siren started wailing outside. Even with the stone walls to separate us, the noise was almost debilitating.
Peraf and Bedros started gesticulating wilding and shouting at each other, although I couldn't make out what they were saying.
Finally, Hotspur moved off our position and the sound became almost bearable, only to return a moment later and move off again.
"WHAT IS HAPPENING?" Bedros yelled, having positioned himself in front of me.
I'd have preferred to wait for Hotspur to get further away, but the man was distraught.
"SCARES OFF OPHIR," I yelled back and waited to see if that mollified him.
"WORKING?"
"I'LL CHECK."
I picked up my helmet from the table where I'd placed it and pointed at the pistol I'd handed Amon. He handed it back to me. Placing the helmet on provided instant relief from the noise and I lifted off the ground and shot up through the still open trap door in the ceiling.
My HUD showed Tabby and Marny spread out, slowly flying over the interior of the city.
"Marny, what's our sit-rep?" I asked.
"They're scattering," she said. "We still need to do a building-to-building search, but the city is mostly clear."
"What do you need from me?"
"We're good out here. Jonathan is manufacturing sirens for the residents and bots to do building inspections," she said.
"Perfect, I need good news."
I flew back to the room where I'd left the Yishuv leaders.
"Well, it's a mess out there, but there aren't any indigenous visible," I said. "We don't know how long that will last, but we're working on defenses."
"What kind of defenses?" Peraf asked.
I pulled my helmet off and once again the smells assaulted me.
"Initially, we're concentrating on clearing the buildings and restoring the fallen gate," I said. "Our ship will provide sufficient defense in the meanwhile."
"We should introduce our hero to the people," Bedros said.
The look Peraf shot Bedros could only be described as venomous, but I really didn't care about their internal politics.
"Of course," she said.
The scene I walked into was appalling, the conditions squalid. Hundreds upon hundreds of people were crammed into a great hall where there was barely enough room. Again, the smells were initially overwhelming and I longed to pull my helmet on. As I scanned the room, I saw wounded, dead and dying. It was horrific.
"People of Yishuv," Peraf called from the stairs where we stood looking out over the great hall.
A hush fell over the hall and all that could be heard was that of groaning and whimpering of the wounded.
"Our prayers have been answered. Our ancestors have sent a rescue mission to bring us home," Peraf said.
I looked over to the old woman, having no idea where she was going with the announcement.
"Standing next to me is Captain Hoffen who has brought a powerful space ship that will destroy the Ophie," she said.
A cheer erupted from the crowd below as many of them rose to their feet.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"Giving the people what they need," she said. "A hero."
I looked over the crowd who'd quieted down, obviously looking to me to say something.
"Thank you, Yishuv. The indigenous Ophir have been driven off and we are working to secure your city," I said, which caused another cheer to erupt. I held my hands up to help calm them down. "I can see that there is great need as I look out over this crowd and ask that you appoint representatives to help work with my crew."
"When can we go outside?" a man's voice from the crowd asked.
"We haven't cleared all the buildings, but there are no Ophir in the streets," I said. "Going outside would be at your own risk."
"Captain Hoffen has important work to do and must get going," Bedros stepped forward. "We will provide updates as quickly as possible. For now, rest comfortably in the understanding that Yishuv has been saved."
"You just couldn't help yourself, could you," Peraf said.
"Oh stop it," Bedros snapped back.
"We need to talk," I said, interrupting their bickering.
"Of course," Bedros said and walked back toward the small room I'd initially found them in.
"Amon, Eliora, would you excuse us?" Bedros asked.
I raised my eyebrows at the request to remove their lead security person.
"I'd think you'd want to have Eliora stay," I said. "Much of what we're discussing will have a security component to it."
"Won't you provide protection?" Peraf asked.
"For a short time, yes," I said. "You've made a number of assumptions that I'd like to clear up."
"Such as?" Peraf asked.
"Eliora, why don't you stay," Bedros said.
Eliora nodded.
"We're more than happy to have been able to push off the invasion, but we're not here to take you anywhere. I assume you're aware of the fact that your people were abandoned on this planet centuries ago by the corporation Belirand," I said.
"That is one of several legends," Bedros said. "You're saying you know this to be true?"
"I am. I'm not ready to get into all of the philosophical implications, but from my understanding, it's an indisputable fact."
"Go on," he said. He didn't look pleased to have the information.
"In a campaign to expand humanity's reach into the universe," I said. "Belirand, funded by four cooperating nations on Earth sent a colonizing mission to this planet. What the colonists didn't know was that continued contact with Earth was contingent on a number of factors, one of which was no sentient life being discovered."
"You're saying the Ophie are why we were abandoned?" Peraf asked.
"Yes. I can't speak directly to the reasoning behind that, but we believe this is essentially the truth."
"Why did they send you now?" Peraf asked.
"They didn't. Thomas Anino, the inventor of the fold-space technology did. We are fugitives from Belirand, much like you and that's not the end of it."
"This is where he tells us what he wants for having saved us," Peraf interrupted.
"Quiet, old woman," Bedros said.
"While cynical, you're not entirely incorrect," I said. "Belirand has abandoned a ship with forty-five crewmembers under similar circumstances to your own and they need a place to live."
"You're not taking us back to Earth?" Bedros asked.
"No. If we did, Belirand would kill each of you," I said.
"You don't know that!" she snapped. "I'd just as soon take my chances."
"I do know that. They killed my father in cold blood to keep us from rescuing that crew. Finding your settlement was just a happy coincidence," I said. "Currently, you are safer on Ophir than you would be on Earth."
"That's a load of bull crap," Peraf said.
"Be that as it may," I said. "My ship is leaving in thirty-one hours to pick up that crew and bring them back to Ophir. If you don't want to welcome them, that is your decision and we will find an alternative location on the planet for them to live out their lives."
"And you'll take your supplies with you?"
"Many of them, yes. But it's not like that. We'll do the best we can for you in any circumstance. What I need is a decision within the next few hours on whether or not you'll welcome this crew."
"They will be welcomed," Bedros said. "Your news isn't as good as we'd hoped, but we won't forget that without your efforts we would have perished."
Peraf looked angrily at him but didn't otherwise correct him.
"Good. My crew is constructing small flying robots to search building-to-building and make
sure they're clear. After that, I believe the priorities will be removing bodies and tending to your wounded. If you'll provide a location, we could get started right away digging graves," I said.
"Those all sound like sensible things to do. Eliora, how many protectors remain?" Bedros asked.
"Six," she said. "Do you have the capability to repair our main defensive guns?"
"You have more than one?"
"Three in total. One broke just recently, the other hasn't worked for fifty stans or longer," she said. "If they were repaired and the south gate rebuilt, we'd be able to defend ourselves."
"I'll ask my partner to look at them. He's pretty handy, so the odds are good. I'd like to get you and one more of your choosing set up with armored suits similar to what I'm wearing. You won't be able to fly, but they'll insulate you from most physical damage."
"In exchange for what?" Peraf asked.
"My ship is leaving in thirty hours, give or take. We can stand around being suspicious of each other or we can get to work," I said, giving her a hard look. "Either way, I'm done being polite. Eliora, do you want a suit or not?"
"Yes. Of course," she said.
"Then hang on," I said. I placed my helmet back on, stepped in close and wrapped my arms around her small body and lifted up, flying through the open trap door. I oriented on Hotspur, two kilometers away, and flew in its direction.
"Ada, hold on a moment. I have another passenger," I said.
"Understood."
"What are you doing over here?"
"They had a camp set up. We're dismantling it," she said.
Once through the entry hatch, I set Eliora down.
"Let's see what's going on," I said and led her through to the berth deck, requesting that she put the blaster rifle I'd surrendered to her back into the armory. "I'll give that back when we disembark, but I'm not crazy about visitors having weapons inside the ship."
"It's all so clean," she said in wonder.
"Hold on." I took her arm to steady her as we stepped on the lift. To her credit she only wobbled a little as we popped up to the bridge deck.
"Eliora!" Merrie greeted us as we arrived. "The Ophie are running up the mountain; they're retreating!"
"Nick. What's your timing look like?" I asked. "There are a lot of wounded back at the settlement."
A Matter of Honor (Privateer Tales Book 9) Page 29