by John Walker
“We’re on it.” Clea nodded. “Come on, Vora.”
“You don’t have to give me orders,” Vora scowled. “The first one’s over here. We have five to take down. When we get to the last one, we should ensure your transport is on the way and everyone knows to fall back or we won’t have enough time. I trust your ship is close enough to get here when we emerge?”
Clea nodded. “It’ll be a hot extract but we’ll make it. I have faith in these people.”
“That’s where you and I differ.” Vora scowled over her shoulder. “They’re little more than primates.”
“Where does your prejudice come from?” Clea gave her an incredulous look. “I truly don’t understand. Our parents did not raise us this way. What’s happened? How were you wronged or does it go deeper than all that?”
“I have researched these people and many other races besides,” Vora replied. She approached a terminal and started entering a sequence of numbers. “I’ve seen which are superior and which have failed, which deserve to survive and which should never have raised their heads and looked at the stars. Humanity, your so called assignment, are one such species which we should not have intervened on the behalf of.”
“You’re so wrong…” Clea shook her head. “I wish you had seen them the way I have but even if I hadn’t, I would never condemn an entire species to death. No group has ever warranted every one of them to perish. Every teacher we’ve ever shared agrees with me so what’s your excuse?”
“Our people live and die helping inferior beings.” Vora scowled as she moved to the next terminal. “If you saw how they lived, understood their history better and watched their social growth, you’d agree.”
“I’ve lived with them, Vora! Up close and personal on a daily basis. They are flawed, but so are we. Surely, you don’t think we’re perfect? I can’t believe you’d be so foolish or vain.” Clea gripped her arm. “Tell me what happened.”
Vora shook free. “Nothing happened, little sister.” She initiated the next code. “Understanding breeds contempt sometimes and I have developed plenty. Do you think I’m happy to have been stationed in the middle of nowhere researching weapons to fight an enemy we cannot defeat? Do you think this pleases me to see my potential wasted?”
“Wasted?” Clea couldn’t believe her ears. “But…Vora…you’re a genius. You’ve done so much with the time you’ve been given and these developments may save many lives. How could you think, even for a moment, that you have not been useful? Sincerely, I don’t understand. I’ve always looked up to you…admired you despite your sour ways.”
“That’s not my fault that you have false expectations.” Vora finished the next code and turned to the other technicians. “Hold off on the last one of those. We have to arrange our escape after all.” She motioned at Clea. “If you wouldn’t mind.”
“We’ll talk about this again.” Clea pointed at her. “While we’re en route to safe space, you’re going to explain to me why you’re like this and if I don’t like the answer, we’re going to keep at it.”
“Time’s running out, sister.” Vora walked away.
“Captain,” Clea called to Hoffner, shaking off her frustration. “May I contact the shuttle to come get us?”
Hoffner nodded. “Make it happen. Once they’re in the air, get an ETA…we’ll throw the switch to give ourselves plenty of time to get to the surface.”
“Got it.” Clea tapped into the com signal for the shuttle. “Shuttlecraft, this is strike team, do you read?”
“We read, strike team,” the pilot replied. “You ready for a ride?”
“Quite. How long before you can get here?”
“ETA of fifteen minutes. Can you hold out?”
“Yes, but we’re going to have to make it a hot extraction. This facility is going to explode.”
“Understood. Shuttlecraft out.”
“They’re on their way,” Clea shouted. “We need to sound a retreat for the me on the ground, to pick up the other soldiers.”
“I’m on it!” A tech replied, smacking a button on his communicator.
Two marines approached, huffing. “We found the ramp leading out. It’s a steep incline and running it’s going to be a real bitch.”
“Okay,” Hoffner said. “How long to get to the surface?”
“Ten minutes at a fast pace…but these people, I’d say they’re not going to make it in less than fifteen.”
“That’s cutting it damn close.” Hoffner contacted the shuttle and put it on speaker. “Once you get us, how long to break atmo?”
“No more than five minutes, sir.”
“Shit.” Hoffner took a deep breath. “Once we hit that button, we’ll have thirty minutes to get off this rock. That’s fifteen to get to the surface, say five to board and another five to get out of here…that is if we don’t have a lot of slow pokes. We’ll be off the surface with less than five minutes to spare. Pretty damn close.”
“We’ll make it,” Clea said. “I think everyone here’s motivated to cut that fifteen minute time frame down.”
“Fair enough.” Hoffner turned to the rest of the assembled people. “I’m sure you just heard what we’re talking about. We’ve got a real finite window to get out of here alive. If you want to make it and live, you gotta push yourself harder than you ever have before. Getting up that ramp and to the surface is literally the only hope we have. Are you all with me?”
Everyone cheered but Clea felt more fear than excitement. Each person standing around them faced the end of their lives. One false move, one mistake and their time would run out. And that was if the reactor behaved. Overloading devices didn’t always follow mathematical protocols. Instability meant unpredictable.
She took a moment to check the long range scans, using the surviving satellites to see what was happening above them. The Behemoth and Crystal Font were quite a ways off and there were only two enemy ships left. Fighters carried on massive battles as they roved the area, taking on threats in every sector of the system’s space.
Chaos rages all around us and we’re about to make it even louder.
On the surface, she watched her scanner depict another major battle. The alliance forces were being routed and the enemy must’ve been flooding the front doors already. Something began hammering the door to the reactor chamber, something strong or very angry. Hoffner shouted for the marines to follow him.
“It’s time to flip the switch,” he called. “We’ll make it up by the time the shuttle’s here then we’re out. Let’s move it, people! This is the run of your very lives! Make it count.”
Clea took a deep breath and steadied herself for the exertion to come. She already suffered from extreme exhaustion, this particular situation just threatened to make it worse. Pushing her body way past its breaking point hadn’t been on her list of activities for the day but now that she was in the thick of it, she summed up a little more energy for the final push.
Whatever it takes, I have to survive. For my family, for the Behemoth and for the alliance. Let’s do this, Clea. You can make it.
***
Clea and Hoffner stood together by the entrance to the tunnel leading to the surface. She slung her rifle so it wouldn’t encumber her run, but it left her hands empty. Clenching and unclenching, her fists, she battled nerves in her head, struggling with her throbbing heart and the tension forming in her muscles.
“It’s just another run,” Hoffner said.
“Excuse me?” Clea asked.
“Don’t let too much ride on this. It’s just a run up an incline. Think about getting through it but not the implications. They don’t matter. The only thing you should be worrying about is making it to the surface. Everything else, just put out of your mind. None of it matters.”
“Is that how you do your job? How you saved the man from the plant?”
Hoffner shrugged. “I don’t know how I do what I do. I just do things and hope for the best. It’s not how I advise my soldiers though. As you know, everyo
ne’s different. What motivates us or gives us hope, everything is different. The key to surviving in the military, especially on the ground, is discovering what you care about and holding on to it.”
Clea smiled. “Thanks…I’ll keep that in mind.”
Hoffner turned and Clea followed his gaze, looking at the others who gathered around them. Vora continued to wear a sour expression but the rest of her techs appeared relieved. They were getting out of there after all. She believed they cared more about surviving than they did the data.
She wondered if her sister truly wasn’t worried about dying. Would she have sacrificed herself to try and keep the facility intact? It made no sense. Whatever conversation they had on their way back to alliance space would be difficult but it had to happen. If they didn’t work together, then they’d lose any bond they possessed as sisters.
Not that there was much of one to begin with.
Their relationship, fragile as it may’ve been, seemed to have taken quite the licking since they parted years before.
“The final failsafe is disengaged!” A young man with blue hair rushed up, panting. “We need to go!”
A loud hum emitted from the reactor as the metal shields began to rise. “Also,” Vora added, “We don’t want to be in this room when the core is exposed. The radiation is enough to kill.”
“Well, we’re not staying,” Hoffner motioned to the tunnel. “Get moving, guys. Jenks and Walsh, point again.”
“Jesus, we’re always on point.” Walsh jogged into the tunnel with Jenks close behind.
“Everyone else, get on their six and do not stop.” Hoffner took a deep breath. “I’ll take up the rear and make sure no one falls behind.”
“I’ll stick with you,” Clea said. “You’ve steered me right so far. I’d rather make sure I don’t mess up now.”
“Fair enough.” The techs filed into the tunnel, moving around them quickly. He glanced at the reactor and gestured. “I don’t really want to see that thing in all its glory so let’s go.”
They started off at a brisk pace, moving onto a heavy incline. One of the techs shouted, “I’m closing the blast door!” which essentially meant they wouldn’t be fried as they traveled. Clea tapped at her scanner to bring up a timer based on the energy build up. She frowned at the twenty seven minutes that appeared.
“This might fluctuate,” Clea said into her com. “But right now, I’m seeing only twenty seven minutes before detonation.”
“Not exactly thirty,” Hoffner said. “Let’s hope it’s like every other time I install software and it jumps up to forty.”
“Um…I don’t think it works like that, sir.”
Hoffner chuckled. “I know, Clea. Stay focused, everyone. The shuttle’s incoming and will be here in plenty of time.”
Five minutes into the run, Clea’s legs began to ache. When she did her run on the treadmill, it adjusted to give her inclines but this seemed entirely different. Carrying equipment, and the weight of impending death, changed the scenario. Plus, and she hadn’t thought of it before, the gravity on the planet may be somewhat different than she was used to.
Of course, living on a ship meant planetary gravity always felt a little odd. Earth’s in particular made her feel a little on the light side. Another five minutes and her lungs burned. She did her best to ignore it, to concentrate on motion instead of the pain it caused. Those around her, the technicians who were not used to this kind of exertion, seemed to be suffering the most.
They would definitely be pushed to their limits.
Perhaps hustling would cut some of the time down. The fifteen minutes might’ve been walking. She didn’t think to ask and now that they were in motion, it was too late to ask. Of course, how often did they really clock their time? Maybe they were wrong…A chill took the sweat on her neck.
Maybe they were wrong about it only taking fifteen minutes.
That kind of thinking is exactly what Captain Hoffner warned me against.
The shuttle sent a ping to the group and it appeared on her head’s up display. They were less than eight minutes out and making good time. Reports indicated the fighting stopped on the surface. Alliance troops fell back and granted the enemy access to the facility. The mainstay of the enemy forces were attacking the front doors, or at least filed inside there.
Clea found some grim satisfaction of what they’d find in there. If they figured it out, they’d likely not be able to get away in time. Yes, the alliance was about to use a valuable asset but the sheer number of victims on the opposing side, the losses they’d endure there…it may not make up for it all but it might make it easier to stomach.
Chapter 15
The Behemoth and Crystal Font prepared to reengage the enemy. As they moved toward the enemy position, Olly kept an eye on various readings throughout the system. He noticed a particularly large surge on the planet, something which made him sit forward suddenly and whack his knee on the console.
“Ouch…”
“What’s wrong?” Tim asked, “This too much for you?”
“Shut up, man. I just hit my knee.” Olly cleared his throat. “Captain, I’ve got a strange reading from the surface. If I understand what I’m seeing, it’s only going to get worse. Right now, I’d say it’s strong enough to wipe out a house but if it keeps going, and I don’t see an end to its increase, it might be able to destroy a chunk of the continent.”
“Do you have an origin?” Adam asked.
“The facility…” Olly hummed. “It must be their reactor. The Font shared some of their technology with me before we left Earth and it’s very possible. They use a renewable energy source but if it’s not contained, it’s pretty destructive.”
“Like our pulse drives.” Gray scowled. “Agatha, can you get a message to Hoffner and Clea?”
“I’ll try, sir. The interference is pretty intense.”
“Get on it. I’m patching into the Crystal Font.”
Kale appeared on the screen. “Have your people picked up that energy reading from the planet’s surface?” Gray asked. “It looks pretty intense.”
“We have.” Kale frowned. “Either the reactor of our facility has been damaged or someone has intentionally set it to overload. Regardless, the damage will be catastrophic. We need to get our people off immediately.”
“We’re trying to reach our people right now,” Gray said, “ but a more pressing problem is presenting itself. Those two ships have to come down. If they see us going for the surface, they’ll be trouble.”
“More importantly, I’m sure they have picked up the readings as well.” Kale turned away for a moment and nodded. “Yes, they are charging forward…probably not to get their people but in a vain attempt to stop the process. They want that data, they can’t afford for it to be destroyed.”
“Chances of success?”
“None. That reactor is going to explode.” Kale shrugged. “It’s just a matter of when that happens.”
Gray nodded. “Understood. I’ve got an idea. How are your planetary satellites powered?”
“Small pulse engines,” Kale replied. “Someone from the surface can make course corrections to keep their orbit steady.”
Gray smiled.
“What’s your thought, Captain?”
“Olly, give me a count of artificial satellites orbiting the world?”
“I’m picking up thirty-three sir. Six were destroyed when the enemy ship committed suicide near the four alliance cruisers.”
“That’s thirty-three bombs floating around the planet,” Gray said. “If we have our pilots grab them, they can hurl them toward the enemy. Meanwhile, our bombers will unleash their own ordinance. All combined, even if we don’t take someone down, we’ll definitely harass the hell out of them while we put some pulse cannons behind the attack.”
“An excellent strategy,” Kale agreed. “I will have our people start rounding them up.”
“Hold on,” Olly said. “I’ve tapped into the satellite control and am bring
ing them back around to this side of the planet. That’ll make it easier for the pilots…they won’t have to fly all the way around to get the back ones. ETA…oh, crap…it’ll only be practical to grab around thirteen of them. The rest are too far away. They’d take nearly a half hour even with help from our fastest fighters.”
“Can you make them fall?” Adam asked. “Drop them on the enemy forces around the base?”
“Not with any accuracy,” Olly said. “Their thrusters are only meant to keep them in orbit and from colliding, not navigating to a specific location on the surface.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Gray said, “it would’ve been a nice opportunity but we have bigger fish to fry. Get Revente on the line and put our bombers with those satellites. Coordinate with Crystal Font ships to send enough ordinance to distract our enemies. Redding, put us on an attack course. We’ve got to make something happen now or a lot of people are going to die.”
***
Rudy’s team had been on standby for the majority of the engagement. When his wing got clearance to launch, he knew they were nearing an endgame. They didn’t like to deploy the expensive, larger ships without knowing they’d be able to accomplish their mission. Whatever the captain had planned must be good.
“Rudy,” Revente got him on a private channel. “We’re trying something a little crazy but it shouldn’t be too dangerous for you. Command is sending the planet’s artificial satellites against the enemy, using their pulse cores as bombs. You guys are going to send your own ordinance along with them.”
“Two for one,” Rudy said. “I get it. They can’t possibly stop them all, right?”
“Exactly. They might shoot a few down but if you guys unleash everything, we’re hoping to see their shields drop.”
“Then?”
“Then the Behemoth and Crystal Font swoop in and unload pulse cannons on them.” Revente paused. “Just keep back from all the blasts. I want you guys to fire and get out. No heroics. Deploy and run, got it?”