“I hope they hurry,” said Mouse. “The damn Efreet are getting awfully close.”
“Me, too,” agreed Mongo as he continued to fire his rifle to the right.
“Back!” yelled Mouse as another blast of flame rolled down the hallway. “Fuck. I hope they didn’t just get fried.” He peered around the corner as the flame receded. “Shit!” said Mouse. “One of them is on fire!”
The burning Aesir screamed.
Chapter 30
Jotunn Jail, 14 Herculis ‘a,’ Unknown Date/Time
“So, there is someone here who can build the devices which transfer people from one universe to the other?”
“Yes,” said Bordraab. “He is being held on the level beneath us.”
K-Mart’s brows knitted. “If he can make transport devices,” he said, “why doesn’t he use one to escape?”
“Because the Jotunn have his wife and children,” replied the dragon. “He says the Jotunn would kill them before he could get them out.”
“But if I could get them out safely?” asked K-Mart, “Do you think he would help us?”
“I am sure he would,” said Bordraab. “If you could save his family, that is. They are all wasting away too. The giants say they will free him when he makes enough transport devices for their ships. The giants are working on a plan for revenge against some other race, and they need them for their attack.”
“And with that we come full circle,” said Rock. “The reason we are here is that we are looking for some members of a race called the Aesir, which is the race the Jotunn are trying to get revenge on. Their allies, the Efreet, destroyed several Aesir ships and captured some of the Aesir, including an Aesir prince. We came here to get the Aesir back.”
“Ah, I knew the Jotunn had brought in some new prisoners,” said Bordraab, “but I didn’t know where they were from. They are being held on the other side of the prison, which is, unfortunately, outside the range of my telepathy. I can smell them, but that is all.”
“You can smell them?” asked K-Mart. “All the way on the other side of the prison, a mile away?”
“Not the way you understand smell,” said the dragon. “My sense of smell is very…different. All my race have what you would call clairvoyant powers. Just like there are five senses, there are also five psychic senses. I am clairalient; I have the psychic ability associated with scent.”
“I’ve never heard of anything like that,” said K-Mart. “Umm…how does it work?”
“I have had it function a number of ways,” said Bordraab, “and I can never be sure how it is going to work from one time to the next. Sometimes I will catch a scent associated with a feeling or idea. Other times I can smell the fragrances of locations far away or tell something which happened a long time ago by the psychic smell it leaves. Others of my kind say they can associate certain smells with non-physical beings, like the entities you call ‘angels.’ For me, the sense is very vivid and can sometimes be almost overwhelming. When I concentrated on the new prisoners the giants brought in, I got a smell unlike any odor I ever sampled. Whether that is your Aesir or something else, I cannot tell.” He cocked his head and looked at the Terrans. “You wouldn’t happen to have something from one of them, would you?”
“No,” said K-Mart. “Sorry.”
“In that case, I cannot be of any further assistance.”
“Okay,” said K-Mart, “so here’s what I’ve got. The Aesir are probably in one of the wings on the other side of the prison. I know they aren’t on the first floor because I checked there. We’ve got to get them out. There is someone in the level below us who can make a device to take a large number of people, or a dragon, to the other universe. He’ll help us if we save his family. And finally, we have a dragon, who can smell things that aren’t here, who wants to get out and kill giants. Is that about it?”
“Yes,” said Bordraab.
“I think so,” said Rock.
“If that’s all there is, it shouldn’t be any problem,” said K-Mart with a smile. “Here’s what we’ll do…”
Task Force Night, Efreet Ship Incinerator, Ashur Orbit, Unknown Date/Time
“Hey Master Chief, you were looking for a diagram of the ship, right?” asked Sergeant Tomaselli. “I’ve got one.”
Master Chief and Night moved forward to look where Tomaselli was pointing. There was a schematic of the ship on the bulkhead, with a number of places labeled for the crew’s convenience. As it was labeled in Efreeti, the diagram was less helpful than it might otherwise have been. Still, they could see where the front and back of the ship were, and the diagram showed the ship sectioned into levels so they could see all the major spaces.
Master Chief looked at the diagram for a few seconds, then ran his finger from a purple dot to a space forward and two decks up.
“You speak Efreeti?” asked Night.
“No, but I’ve been on enough damn boats in my life that I can find my way around one,” said Master Chief. He tapped the diagram. “I think this is the bridge,” he said. “If we go there and then follow the trail of guards, I think we’ll find the bitch.”
“That’s Queen Bitch to you,” said Night with a grin; “where’s your respect for royalty?” The smile faded as the ship’s intercom came to life with another unintelligible message. “While we’re near the bridge,” he added, “we ought to put a stop to their command and control.”
“Amen to that, sir,” said Master Chief.
Task Force Calvin, Efreet Ship Incinerator, Ashur Orbit, Unknown Date/Time
“I’m on fire!” screamed Nightsong. “Ahhhhhhh!” Flames burst forth from him, coating his entire body. “And I love it!” He staggered, as if terminally wounded, toward a group of four Efreet firing from a cross passage. He could see their eyes get wider as he continued to draw closer without falling to the ground.
With a loud cracking noise, the head of the Efreeti on the left suddenly spun nearly all the way around. He started to drop, and Farhome appeared next to him. He scooped up the flechette thrower from the creature’s lifeless hands and fired it at the Efreeti on the right, nailing him to the bulkhead.
The two Efreet in the middle began twitching as Cyclone appeared behind them and electrocuted them. She followed them to the deck, where they continued to twitch and spasm. Looking up, her eyes widened in surprise, and she dove out of the cross passage. “Look out!” she yelled.
Flechettes covered the Efreet on the ground like pin cushions. Cyclone rose from the deck and limped toward the docking port, with a flechette in her right leg. “Let’s go!” she said to the other two Aesir.
The two male Aesir each grabbed one of Cyclone’s arms and helped her along, Nightsong extinguishing his flames before he did so. “Cover us!” called Nightsong, pointing down the passageway in front of him.
Mongo looked in the other direction and saw several Efreet watching the drama of the burning Aesir. He fired several shots and was able to hit two before the third dove out of the way.
“Thanks,” said Nightsong as the Aesir made it to safety. They laid Cyclone on the deck out of the way, and the Ground Force’s medic, Sergeant Burt Yankiver, came to look at the flechette in her leg.
“I saw the group who shot Cyclone,” said Farhome, “and you will want to hurry. There are at least 10 of them, and they look like they must be the Efreet equivalent of shipboard Marines. They are bigger and are carrying larger weapons.”
Calvin looked down at Landslide, who was running his finger along the deck in a large circle. With each pass, his finger sank a little deeper into the groove he was making. He was through almost an inch of metal already, but Calvin had no idea how much further Landslide had to go. Firing from the doorway began again in earnest. “You’re going to have to hurry,” said Calvin, “We don’t have much time.”
“I know,” said Landslide. “I’m almost through. Just hold them off another minute or two.”
“Shit!” said Corporal Lopez, falling back from the doorway with a flechette through
his shoulder. Staff Sergeant Zoromski jumped into his place and sprayed the hallway with a shower of laser bolts, driving the Efreet back.
“I don’t know if we have another minute or two,” said Calvin.
Chapter 31
Task Force Night, Efreet Ship Incinerator, Ashur Orbit, Unknown Date/Time
“Right or left at the top of the stairs?” asked Bob.
“Go right when you get to the top,” said Master Chief, consulting the diagram in his head. “Look out, though,” he added; “the queen’s room may be close by, and the passageway will probably have guards.”
“Got it,” replied Bob. He reached the passageway at the top of the stairs and cautiously looked both ways. “There’s a door to the right about five feet down the hallway and six guards about 30 feet to the left,” he commed. “Zlllpdrrrrzd blrrrgzd!” he added out loud to the Efreet looking suspiciously at him. “Don’t shoot!” he said again.
Bob and Doug turned away from the guards and began walking to the door. “ZzzzLLprd Brrrlffffd!” shouted one of the Efreet from behind him.
“The Efreet are saying something to us,” commed Doug. “They sound angry.”
“ZzzzLLprd Brrrlffffd!” yelled the voice more insistently.
“Keep going,” repeated Master Chief. “We’re at the top of the stairs. We’ve got your back.”
“Okay,” said Bob, not sounding the least bit convinced. He grabbed the door handle. It felt funny in his new talons. “The door is locked,” he reported.
“Really? They locked the door during General Quarters for an intruder alert?” asked Master Chief. “Were you expecting a welcoming committee? Knock on the fucking door, you moron!”
“Oh,” said Bob. He knocked on the door but his claw barely made a sound. He knocked again with the butt of the flechette thrower he had liberated from an Efreeti at the docking port. Much louder.
The Efreet behind them yelled at them again. It was also much louder. “We don’t have much time,” commed Doug. “The guards are moving toward us and aiming their weapons at us.”
An Efreeti looked through a small window in the door. Bob waved at him. Bob hoped he didn’t look as nervous as he felt.
The door started opening. “We’re in,” Bob commed.
“Go! Go! Go!” ordered Master Chief, pounding up the last few stairs with Night at his side. They burst forth from the stairwell, nearly knocking over the approaching Efreet, laser rifles firing at close range as they cleared the stairwell. The rest of the Space Force poured into the passageway close behind.
The Efreeti opening the door jumped backward in surprise, pointing a talon down the passageway to warn Bob and Doug. It opened its mouth to yell a warning, but Bob shoved the laser pistol he had been hiding into the Efreeti’s mouth and pulled the trigger. The creature fell backward, twitching in its death throes.
“ZzzbrrrrllFFd; llrrrgzzd!” said Bob. “Don’t move; claws up!” He realized as he said it the two orders were contradictory, but he had to go with it; that was what he had been taught to say.
There were seven Efreet on the bridge. A large chair sat in the center of the 20-foot by 35-foot space, with other positions around the periphery. All the Efreet were dressed in black leather uniforms, but two stood out because of the extra silver piping and braid they wore. The Efreeti in the central chair had with large purple bands up both arms; the Efreeti standing next to him had a similar uniform, except his bands were blue.
Bob could see the Efreet were weighing their chances of success if they rushed the two Efreet who had just stormed onto the bridge; all of them seemed armed, and their claws strayed toward their weapons. The Efreet in the central chair barked out an order as Master Chief and four other troopers poured through the door, and all the Efreet at the peripheral stations dove for cover, reaching for their weapons as they went.
Bob shot the unmoving Efreeti in the central chair, striking him several times, while Doug shot the equally immobile Efreet with the blue bands on his uniform. Both collapsed.
“Shoot the armed ones, you morons!” yelled Master Chief, firing at one of the Efreet who had gone for cover behind a console. “Try to capture some of them alive if you can.”
The Efreet returned fire, and the Terran Federation troops were forced to dive for cover. All except for Sergeant Adeline Graham, who strode across the bridge, firing a burst into the Efreet as they showed themselves. The smaller flechette pistols of the bridge crew weren’t built to take on cyborgs and didn’t have enough power to penetrate anything vital.
She reached the last console, which was being used as cover by the final two Efreet. She realized these Efreet had some training, due to the speed at which they reloaded, and how they covered each other. She wasn’t worried, as they were still only armed with the little flechette pistols. She rounded the console and took five shots in rapid succession to her torso, then a sixth to her face, which put out her left eye.
“Dammit!” Okay, maybe she wasn’t impervious to fire after all. She aimed her rifle and killed the Efreeti who had put out her eye, leaving only one alive. Chopping down, she knocked the pistol out of his hand and grabbed him by his tunic collar.
Weaponless and unable to escape, the Efreeti pulled a thin knife from one of his sleeves and stabbed himself in the stomach. Sergeant Graham grabbed his hand so he couldn’t do it again, but it was too late. He had punctured something vital and died quickly, glaring all the while at her.
“Sorry, Master Chief,” said Sergeant Graham, dropping the dead body to the deck. “I was trying not to kill this one.”
“I saw,” said Master Chief. “There’s nothing you could have done about it.” He switched to his comm. “It was messy, but we’ve got the bridge,” he reported.
“And I’ve got the queen’s quarters,” replied Night, “but we’ve got a problem.”
Chapter 32
Bridge, TSS Terra, In Orbit Around Keppler-22 ‘b,’ July 17, 2021
“The Captain is on the bridge,” said the quartermaster of the watch as Captain Lorena Griffin walked through the door.
“Have we heard anything from the other side yet?” she asked.
“No, ma’am,” replied the operations officer. “Still no word.”
“Damn it,” said Captain Griffin. “We should have heard something by now. Next time, we’re bringing more Marines. First a planetary assault and then combat in space? We need more troops!”
“Stargate emergence!” said Steropes and the defensive systems officer simultaneously.
“Get me an ID, ASAP,” said Captain Griffin. “Communications officer, see if you can get them on the radio.”
“The emergence was not from a gate we knew about,” said Steropes; “there is a new gate much further out-system.”
“How come we didn’t know about this gate?” asked Captain Griffin.
“We must have missed it,” said Steropes. “Things got exciting when we found life on the planet, and we might not have ever finished the survey. It is my fault.”
“We can assign blame later,” said Captain Griffin. “I’m still waiting on the identification of the ship.”
“Long range scans indicate it is…” said Steropes.
“It’s what?” asked Captain Griffin.
“I don’t know what it is,” Steropes admitted. “The ship that just came through the gate isn’t in the database.”
“Launch the fighters,” said Captain Griffin. “Have them go take a look.”
“Launch the fighters, aye,” said the operations officer.
“Um…the ship is gone,” said Steropes.
“What do you mean by ‘gone’?” asked Captain Griffin.
“I mean, it just disappeared,” said Steropes. “It appears to have jumped to the other universe.”
Caliph’s Retreat, Wendar, Day 10 of the Second Akhet, 15th Dynasty, Year 14
“You’re just in time!” said Chomper, running out to meet K-Mart and Rock as they approached the retreat. “We’re pulling out.”
“When I exposed Grand Vizier Nefermaat’s plot, the caliphate to the south, the Bargah Caliphate, attacked,” replied Chomper. “Apparently, they had other spies besides Nefermaat and that slime Hori, and they passed the word to Bargah that their operatives’ covers were blown. I never got a chance to ‘talk’ with Hori, either. Unfortunately, he heard I was back before I could find him, and he was shot while trying to escape. None of that matters any more. What does matter is we have to leave right now before we get overrun by the Bargah forces. They are already within 10 miles of here.”
“If we leave, how are we going to go back and rescue the Aesir?” asked Rock.
“I don’t know,” replied Chomper. “I guess we’re not…not now anyway. Maybe Calvin will get back with some air power so we can win the war and go get them. It doesn’t matter; we can’t stay here even if we wanted to. The reason Hori was going to the other side of the boundary was to put together some sort of treaty with the Jotunn to help the Bargah Caliphate; there have been reports of “enormously tall men” fighting for Bargah who keep breaking through the front lines. The caliph’s troops are at about the same technology level as we had back in the late 1950s, so taking down one of the Jotunn is tough for them, especially since they don’t have any air power. It’s possible, but you have to hit them so many times they’re already upon you before you can kill them. And, because it takes so long to bring the giants down, the rest of the normal troopers have reached your lines by the time you do.”
“So, the caliph’s forces are losing?” asked K-Mart.
“He calls it, ‘trading land for time,’” replied Chomper. “I call it losing.”
The Search for Gram Page 22