‘Just Jane or Jane Jane? Make up your mind, woman! Now put me down!’ he demanded.
“Keep your pants on,” she replied calmly as she carefully put Carnesto on the deck as if he was made of porcelain.
‘Blocking the ramp? How can we do that?’ he asked, even though he’d already seen in her mind a plan where she used a loader to dump cargo crates. ‘Skip the explanation, Jane Jane. Go get that loader and drop a few crates in place. I’ll meet you on the other side of the ramp.’
Carnesto turned and ran, keeping to the shadows cast by tall cargo containers. Jane hesitated for only a moment, then ran to the side toward a large piece of bright yellow equipment. She jumped aboard, started it up, and immediately headed for the nearest crate.
Kick the Tires and Light the Fires
Rand’s fingers danced across his screens as he reacquainted himself with the pilot’s controls. It didn’t take long. He had always loved flying, but this was different. He was going to squeeze the Cygnus-12 through an opening and then hold it in place without bouncing off the interior structure of Earth Two.
Jolly was still too occupied to appear in holographic form, but he was present as a disembodied voice speaking through the bridge’s sound system.
“Take us in, Rand,” Daksha ordered, hovering over the captain’s chair.
With Nathan and BJ, they were the only ones left on the bridge.
“Jolly, status of the inbound cutters, please,” Daksha asked as the main screen became too busy with statuses and information updates.
“Three have veered away. Two have come to a complete stop. One is still inbound,” Jolly reported.
“Corporal Starsgard, please prepare to defend the ship from the final inbound, starting with a focused jamming?” the Tortoid asked, wondering if Jolly would allow the course of action.
“Capital choice,” the AI replied.
“Ready to jam. Ready to fire defensive missiles if they launch anything at us,” Starsgard answered from weapons control. He wanted to shoot the ship out of the sky, but knew that Jolly would block it.
The corporal didn’t want to be fired on first, but he had no choice. If Jolly shut down, the ship would be vulnerable.
He was forced to wait, but he couldn’t. The inbound ship was turning slowly toward them. If he could kill the ship’s power with a jamming burst, the cutter’s ballistic trajectory would take it behind the Cygnus-12.
“It’s now or never, Jolly,” Starsgard said, checking the settings one last time and then activating the system.
The cutter bucked as four missiles jumped from it and accelerated toward the Cygnus-12. Starsgard broadened the jammer’s beam, then turned it off and activated the fire control system. As soon as the inbound targets were painted, he mashed the button to fire.
Four small missiles launched into space and found their targets, zeroing in as the outbound raced to meet the inbound. Starsgard activated the last four missiles, but didn’t fire. He didn’t want to drain their resources, but he didn’t want the ship to get hit either. He toggled the next four as he watched closely.
The ship’s defensive fire stayed true, intercepting each of the inbound missiles. Starsgard looked for other targets that may have been hidden within the jamming signal, but couldn’t find anything.
He immediately reactivated the jamming system, making sure it was at maximum intensity.
The inbound cutter lost attitude control and was starting to spin nose over tail as it stayed on its course toward the docking lattice.
Rand gunned the EM drive to get them headed toward the space station and away from the ballistic trajectory of the cutter that had lost its control systems. He adjusted carefully to align the ship’s approach with the central axis. He tweaked, touched, and leaned as the ship responded.
The EM thrusters were far more powerful than he was used to and he constantly over adjusted. Back and forth the ship swayed as it approached. Rand’s hands were shaking as he touched the controls, walking the ship back and forth in smaller and smaller swings until it settled into a head-in approach. The Cygnus-12 passed through the energy barrier and into the interior of Earth Two.
Once inside, Rand was surprised at the amount of space. “Radial one five zero, Jolly. Can you point me in the right direction, please?”
A line appeared on the screen. Rand touched the controls and angled that way while matching the rotation of the space station. He spiraled toward it, saw the shuttle on the landing pad, and slowed.
The ship angled overtop of the landing zone. They saw cargo containers haphazardly stacked in front of the ramp downward. A loader had backed onto the ramp and used its forks and a container to block that last of the access.
“Launch the shuttle,” Daksha ordered.
It was a tight squeeze on board, but no one volunteered to stay behind. Only Starsgard was absent and that was because he’d been ordered to stay.
The Marines had felt the missiles launch and knew that the corporal had engaged in a life and death struggle to save the ship. They knew he’d won when the large doors opened and the shuttle headed out of the bay.
Lieutenant Peekaless was by the hatch with Sergeant Night Stalker, ready to be the first ones out. A total of seven humans, two Lizard Men, and five Wolfoids were stuffed into the shuttle.
Six Hillcats accompanied the Marines and were already in touch with Carnesto. Their hackles were up, and they anxiously awaited the hatch to reopen.
The shuttle flew less than four hundred meters before settling on the ramp, horizontally, nose facing the Cygnus-12.
The hatch popped and Stalker bolted out with Pickles on her tail. The Marines poured out of the shuttle and toward the door through which Cain and the others had been taken. Shep headed twenty meters down the ramp and crouched with his lightning spear ready to greet any unwanted visitors. Tracker assumed an identical position up the ramp.
Carnesto ran toward him, weaving back and forth to show that the human was with him.
“Hold!” Tracker yelled, pointing his spear at the woman. Her work coveralls said that she wasn’t security, but Tracker made her stop and stand still nonetheless.
‘Just do as your told, Jane Jane, and you won’t get hurt. These people are my friends,’ Carnesto told the woman before joining the group ready to yank the door open.
Stalker was the first through, with the Marines packed in tightly behind her. Pickles entered last. A pack of ‘cats followed the group in.
Two corridor turns later, they found guards in front of the door where Cain and the others were being held.
Stalker didn’t hesitate. She activated her lightning spear and fried both men. Their stun clubs sparked out of their hands as the lightning burned through their frail, unprotected human bodies. Trilok set up a blocking position on the far side, beyond the dead men.
Stalker ripped the door open and jumped through into a large room. It was reminiscent of the sickbay on the Cygnus-12.
She couldn’t use her lightning spear because of the friendlies strapped into the beds. She lowered the spear point and headed for the closest guard. He swung his club, but she dipped her spear out of the way and thrust, impaling the man. She twirled the spear to do more damage to his body while working the point free. She picked a second target, but he was already stepping back. A single blaster beam blew a hole through his head and he toppled.
Jo was braced inside the doorway and rapidly picking off the security guards. The last one crouched behind the bed where Leaper was located.
Numerous tubes ran into the Wolfoid’s body. Some of his hair had been shaved away. Electrodes of various sorts were attached to the bald spots.
Stalker snarled. A man in a white labcoat held his hands up. She pointed her spear tip a centimeter from his throat. “Unhook him,” she growled.
The man didn’t move. She forced him back with her spear. “I said unhook him. I will kill you, and then we will work our way through the rest of you until we find someone who is willing to do the ri
ght thing. Let our people go or you will die.”
The man finally decided that he was not going to die for the cause. He turned and started pulling leads from the Wolfoid’s ravaged body.
Jo casually walked around the tables, waving her blaster at the earthers to herd them into a far corner. Once she had a line of sight, she took aim at the last guard. He threw his club down and stood up with his hands on his head.
She wanted to shoot him, but honor said that she couldn’t shoot an unarmed prisoner. “Pick it up,” she ordered, but he refused, shaking his head adamantly. “Get with the others.”
He squeezed past her, a look of terror in his eyes. She wanted him to make a move as her aim was steady and her finger a hair’s breadth from sending a blaster beam into his body. He didn’t make a move and joined the medical staff, kneeling on the floor with his hands over his head.
The Marines started releasing the prisoners. Seven humans and a Wolfoid. “Numbweed!” Stalker called and a gob was slapped into her hand.
She put it on the worst of Leaper’s injuries. They took a gurney and put Leaper on it. The others would have to walk since there were no stretchers of any kind.
Cain roused, but his head rolled around on his shoulders. The Marines wrapped arms around the others and half-carried them out. Tobiah jumped on the table nearest to the earthers huddled in the corner. He snarled like a raging lion. Spence dialed his blaster to the wide, flame setting and he aimed.
“Corporal!” Lieutenant Peekaless called, making eye contact to ensure that Spence heard him. “We are leaving!”
Spence backed away as Tobiah jumped down and headed out the door. Spence made sure that he was last out, aimed his blaster at the overhead, and fired. The panels were fire resistant, but they melted nicely, sending long smoking tendrils to the floor as if creating a molten curtain. Spence ran to catch up with Tobiah as the Marines cleared the way.
The first burst through the door, looking left and right then standing aside to make room for those with the injured to pass.
Brutus appeared from down the ramp, running toward them. He looked out of breath when he passed Shep.
Ascenti looked at Penelope. “Time to rejoin our people,” he said. She stood up as he beat his wings to lift off. He caught the kitten in his claws and glided downward, flaring to land behind the shuttle.
The Marines brought the injured to the shuttle and put them in. Stalker and Fickle rode along to help those who couldn’t help themselves.
The rest of the Marines set up firing positions up and down the ramp. They would have to wait for the shuttle to return. First priority was to the wounded.
Penelope jumped aboard and then Brutus and Carnesto.
“My cat!” Jane Merriweather yelled, seeing Carnesto climb aboard.
‘Tell them she can come along on the next shuttle. She doesn’t belong here,’ the black ‘cat told Ascenti.
The shuttle hatch closed and it took off. It took longer for the shuttle to line up with the Cygnus-12’s hangar bay and enter than it did to fly the distance from the ramp to the ship.
Ascenti flew to Tracker’s side. “She is to come along if she wishes,” he told the Wolfoid through his vocalization device.
She looked at them both wide-eyed as the two creatures carried on a conversation in a language that she understood.
“Well?” Tracker asked. The woman looked at him, confused. “Are you coming or not?”
“Yes?” she replied tentatively, saying it if it were a question.
Two men burst out of the door that led to the medical laboratory. Jo and Grace blasted the two back inside. For good measure, Grace sent lightning arcing into the hallway. She held her finger on the activator longer than necessary, but a message needed to be sent.
The shuttle returned and the remaining Marines climbed aboard. Pickles was the last one in, surveying the ramp both up and down before entering and watching the hatch close.
He took his seat on the end, squeezed tightly against the new female, and looked at her with his big amphibian eyes. She stared back, mouth agape. “I’m Lieutenant Peekaless,” he introduced himself.
“Lieutenant Pickles? I’m Jane, Jane Merriweather,” she replied.
“Pickles, Jane Jane? What is with you humans?” Pickles shook his head.
“It’s just Jane,” she tried to explain as the shuttle lifted into the air using the power of its thrusters only.
“You just said it was Jane Jane. Now it’s Just Jane?” Pickles asked flatly as he returned to his normal stoic self. “We shall wait until we’re aboard the Cygnus-12. I expect it will be a rough ride out of your solar system, and you will want to find a good place to brace yourself.”
The shuttle lined up and pulled itself into the hangar bay, where the other shuttle was there waiting. Pickles wondered, until he remembered that Jolly and Briz were in control of Earth Two’s systems. Unlashing the shuttle and flying it back would have been easy for them.
The shuttle’s hatch opened before the hangar bay doors closed. Pickles looked at the sight as he’d never seen the doors open while inside the bay, since the ship never operated within a breathable atmosphere.
The others disembarked. “Make sure the survivors get to sickbay,” he ordered.
“Here, kitty, kitty, kitty!” Jane Merriweather called out.
“You’ll find him with his human near sickbay. I suggest you go straight to the garden deck. You will find more Hillcats there,” Pickles advised. She nodded and stood there.
“Garden deck?” she asked.
“Private Ascenti! Please take Jane Jane to the garden. If you’ll excuse me, ma’am, my presence is required on the bridge.” The Lizard Man loped away.
The Hawkoid flew close and hovered in front of her. She shied away.
“If you hold out your arm, you can give me a ride,” he said.
She did as directed and he landed, taking care not to dig his claws in too deeply.
Together they left the hangar bay, heading for the stairs up.
Trapped
“The earthers are starting to disconnect systems operated by the AI, most significant is the entrance to the landing zone. They’ve erected a physical barrier and there’s nothing we can do about it,” Briz explained excitedly.
He was afraid they would fail and be trapped. He saw what the earthers did to Leaper. He knew that they’d do the same thing to him and the rest of the crew.
The view on the bridge’s main screen showed a web of heavy cables crisscrossing the entrance through which they’d passed to get inside the space station.
“Corporal Starsgard, what kind of firepower can you bring to bear? A better question is, can you blast us a way through there?” Rand asked from the pilot’s chair.
Fickle and Pickles had returned. The Lizard Man ran his claws over the navigator’s screen and was running course and speed calculations.
“Briz!” Commander Daksha yelled through his vocalization device. “Options!”
The commander didn’t accuse Briz of setting them up to fail, but that’s how the Rabbit felt. He had been confident that he and Jolly owned the station, but the earthers had worked around the digital controls that Briz and Jolly had put in place.
They did something that Briz hadn’t contemplated and hadn’t planned for.
And now the ship was trapped.
“I don’t know what to do,” the Rabbit shared over the ship-wide communication system.
“I do,” Jolly interjected without further explanation.
Briz looked around, wondering what he’d missed that Jolly did not.
“We’re all ears,” Commander Daksha replied. He didn’t have ears in the traditional sense, not like the Rabbits’ huge floppy ears.
“We activate the ISE and jump directly to EL475.”
No one spoke. No one moved.
Jolly felt the need to explain further. “With our new calculations, we can jump from within the gravity well. Intervening objects are irrelevant, such as a s
pace station or cables or planets or even suns. None of that matters.”
Jolly was quite pleased with his pun, but disappointed that no one got it.
“Briz? You’re the chief engineer,” Daksha suggested the call was Briz’s to make.
“It should work,” Briz answered tentatively.
“Is that the best you can give me?” Daksha retorted.
“Commander, we have visitors.” Rand pointed to the screens showing views surrounding the ship. Security guards carrying rifles were taking aim and firing. “Can they hurt the ship?”
“I don’t know, but I’m sure that projectiles and energy weapons won’t do us any favors. Briz?” The commander blinked rapidly with his agitation.
“The projectiles shouldn’t be any problem, but the energy weapons could cause our sensors some issues, not to mention the dark matter banking system. That is tucked away, but if they hit it, things could go badly,” Briz advised.
“I was talking about the ISE, Briz,” Daksha clarified impatiently.
“Yes. It’ll work,” Briz stated softly.
“Captain Rand, are coordinates locked?” Daksha asked quickly.
Rand’s hands tapped controls as he closed out the EM main drive screen and brought up the ISE. “EL475 is locked. Target is zero point one AU beyond Heimdall’s heliosphere.”
Cygnus Arrives: Humanity Returns Home (Cygnus Space Opera Book 3) Page 27