“More detailed sensor information will come while the shuttles’ approach. It will be twenty minutes until we’re on the ground. Use your time well,” Carson said over the inter-ship communication systems. “Shuttle one, prepare for departure.”
Andy strapped into the chair beside the pilot, while the rest of her squad took their seats behind them. Everyone was locked in by the time the shuttle lifted off the deck plates and they joined the other ships in the dark swath of space. The planet came into view moments later and the six shuttles made their way toward it.
“Does Daikon have a beach?” Dan asked after a moment. “I hope they have a beach. Who wouldn’t like a little time to relax on a beach after a hard mission?”
“Did you not get to spend any time on the beach during your downtime?” Jade asked from where she sat across from him.
Andy glanced back in time to see Dan smile a little sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah, I... No. I didn’t. I had a bunch of other stuff to do.” The sergeant knew that some of that was post-Zenith counseling, but if he didn’t want to say it, she wasn’t going to.
Jade seemed to sense that she shouldn’t push the issue either, so she bit off her retort.
“I doubt we’ll have time for the beach, Thomas,” Andy said from the front, breaking any potential for awkward silences. “If they even have one, which I honestly doubt. No part of our mission involves looking for vacation spots.”
“See, boss, you need to expand your thinking,” he said, picking right back up with his usual sarcasm. “I mean, you never know when there might be some kind of vacation emergency, and what are you going to do if you don’t know where the nearest beach is? Aren’t we supposed to be prepared for anything, any time?”
“So far, I’ve done okay,” she replied, sharing a smirk with the pilot, who generally said little but always seemed amused. Sometimes Andy wondered if they were ESS Marines or a traveling band of entertainers.
When the pilot did chime in, it was all business. “Beginning atmospheric descent,” she announced.
Space to surface travel had come a long way since its early years, but there was simply no getting away from the fact that the atmosphere was the atmosphere. The shuttle’s system compensated for the heat, but the craft still shook violently. Everyone was quiet, holding tight and waiting it out as they descended.
Andy took a deep breath, knowing that it was about to be go-time. She had to focus on the mission at hand, but warring with her readiness was a sudden...fear. She remembered what happened on Zenith, watching what happened to her team, and she was suddenly worried about just what they would face here. What surprises waited for them in the tunnels under the surface of the planet?
That emotion had its place. She was not so foolish as to believe that a person could live without fear, but she knew she couldn’t let it rule her.
Staring through the front viewport as the planet surface got closer, she pushed the fear aside with her focus on the mission. She knew what their assignment was and that was the name of the game. They had to execute their orders, and contribute to the freeing of everyone who was enslaved in the lower levels of that compound.
Oh, and try not to get hit by lightning.
CHAPTER 4
BY THE TIME the shuttle touched down, Andy had examined the sensor reports on the terrain surrounding the compound where they were going to be making their assault. They were landing in a clearing that gave them some tree cover as they approached. She’d take every advantage she could get.
The pilot landed and the hatch hissed open once the Marines were unbuckled and had their weapons ready. The shuttle’s sensors didn’t detect anyone around them, but they were still going to be prepared. Once the door was open, they shifted out like they were clearing a room, swinging in a circle around the clearing to see that there wasn’t anyone—at least no one they could see—in the area.
Once they were clear of the hatch, it hissed a second time and shut. The pilot would remain with the shuttle, keeping it on lockdown until their return. She’d take off if it seemed like she was about to be swarmed.
Once the immediate area was clear, they began moving forward through the trees, toward the compound. The trees were sparse but did provide some cover as they moved. As they approached the tree line, Andy knew there would be a broad swath of open space between them and the compound. Once they were seen, the element of surprise would be lost so they had to act quickly.
“There are two guards at the door,” Roxanna reported, picking up on them with her empathic senses. “Neither of them are very alert, or suspicious.”
“They’re going to regret that,” Andy commented blandly.
Reaching the tree line, Andy held up her hand to stop the group so they could get a visual on the situation ahead.
The side of the compound they were approaching had a smooth curve with a single point of entry in an old-fashioned stone-faced building. They could see the two guards across the stretch, and neither of them looked to be Kriori. That was something. Andy didn’t see anything else to use as cover, but indeed, those guards were not paying much attention. This was clearly a little used entrance—or exit—so they were there just as a formality. Or so they presumed.
“It looks like we are just going to have to take the direct approach,” Andy declared. “Fire as soon as you have a solid lock on the target.”
Anallin, as the company’s best shot, and Andy led the way at a controlled run. Neither guard saw them until Anallin sighted the first guard and took him out with a single well-placed shot. The other guard was suddenly very awake and wildly looking around for where the shot had come from. Before he could get his weapon up to fire, Andy took him out.
They sped up to reach the door, while never losing focus on the surrounding area. When they reached the door, Roxanna took out her handheld scanner.
“Biometric lock,” she declared about the small blue panel beside the door. “That could be a problem.”
“It has to be locked to one or both of the guards,” Jade said. “Since they have to be able to get in and out.”
“One presumes, although you never know,” Andy countered. “Can you tell what body part we’re talking about here?”
Roxanna kept scanning and then said, “Judging by the oil marks on the pad, I’d say it’s a hand-lock.”
“Thomas, Anallin,” Andy said, nodding at one of the fallen guards. “Before he’s cold.”
“On it,” Dan said as he and Anallin slung back their rifles. Anallin, shorter but very stout and strong, picked up the body while Dan took the left hand. He looked at Roxanna, who looked at the scanner and shook her head. He dropped it and took up the right, pressing it as best he could against the panel without letting his own hand get in the way.
There was a long, nervous moment before a strange chime sounded and the door slid open. Anallin dropped the guard right where he was and they both quickly re-armed.
The space beyond the open door was dark, after coming in from the sunlight, but they didn’t turn on their gun-lights just in case someone on the other side spotted it before they had a chance to prepare for them.
Not wanting to waste any time, they moved into the building and took a quick look to either side.
They were in a long, curving corridor. There were dim lights overhead that they hadn’t been able to see from the outside. They moved to the left, hoping to follow the corridor until they reached the stairs that would lead them down to the bottom level of the compound.
As they walked, Andy glanced back to check behind them and noticed Roxanna shifting her shoulders uncomfortably. For a moment, Andy flashed back to Zenith but she stuffed it down.
“What’s wrong, Corporal?” she asked in a low voice.
“I can feel all the people being kept here,” the Selerid said tightly. Her gaze remained focused and forward. “That’s...a lot of noise, you might say, on one’s senses. They are very emotional, and those emotions are very raw.”
Andy could only imagine, although she didn’t really want to. “Do your best to block it out, Corporal. We’ll get them freed soon. In the meantime, we have a directive to achieve to help make that happen.”
The purple-skinned woman nodded. “Yes, Sergeant.”
Gamma squad had been tasked with disabling the communication systems of the lower level of the compound. They lost all hope of an easy mission if the lower fortress were put on alert so it was vital they carried out their mission quickly.
After a few tense, watchful minutes, they reached the door that would take them to that lower level. Roxanna narrowed her eyes slightly at the door and then shook her head slowly. “I don’t sense any guards,” she said, but didn’t sound very certain. “But, I’m sorry, Sergeant, it’s hard to be sure. It’s like trying to isolate signals in static, and I just can’t swear to it.”
“We’ll just have to do our best,” Andy said, nodding at the door. It didn’t have a lock on it, so they were able to just make their way down.
CHAPTER 5
DESPITE THE “STATIC,” Roxanna’s senses had been correct. Gamma squad didn’t meet any resistance on their way down the single flight of stairs. The stairs themselves were dark, but there was just enough light from the occasional overhead to show them the way without killing themselves or meeting any surprises.
When they reached the bottom, Andy led them down a corridor straight ahead. They didn’t have a blueprint on the basement level precisely, but did have a general idea of where things were; at least what they were looking for. Some of it was guesswork, but she made the best educated guesses she could and then moved that way.
“We’re approaching some captives,” Roxanna announced quietly as they walked.
Andy looked back at the corporal and saw her skin swirling in that pearlescent pattern that it did when she was agitated.
“As discussed, folks, we can’t focus on releasing anyone right now,” she reminded them as they moved along cautiously. “We’ll tag the room and come back once the compound is secure, so we can get them safely to the Star Chaser.”
She knew that no one liked the plan, herself included, but they all acknowledged the practicality of it. If they just released captives, the newly freed would be entirely on their own to find their way out of the compound to a shuttle. They would have no weapons or defenses of any kind. It was counterproductive to let them go only to have them killed or captured again.
Even so, there was enough tension in the air as they got closer that even Andy could sense it. Or maybe it was just that she was feeling it. They were there to free people, and it felt wrong to not do so.
It wasn’t long before they spotted the doors ahead. They were less proper “doors” and more just gaps in the walls. Seeing them, the group slowed what was an already slow pace, but they didn’t know what they were going to encounter in those rooms. Would there be guards, or would the groups be secured enough to not need them? The latter would obviously be more fortuitous for her and her Marines, but she wasn’t going to count on luck. Luck and hope were bad plans to bank on.
The gaps in the wall were to either side, so the squad split up—three to one wall and two to the other. They moved slowly with their backs to the walls, the ones in the lead peering carefully around the edge and into the room. Each side was a mirror image of the other.
It was a cavernous room with slave-filled cages lining the walls. Where there weren’t cages, men and women of countless races were collared and chained to them. No one was moving much, but they all appeared to be alive still. Andy ground her teeth together, but she stayed to her orders. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a small tracer and attached it to the wall to make sure they would return here. Not that it was much of a hiding place for the captives, but she wasn’t going to leave it unmarked.
It was the only thing she could do at that time.
What they didn’t see in either room were guards. Andy raised her hand and signaled for the group to keep moving. They couldn’t linger there and wallow in their own morality.
None of the captives seemed to notice—or care about—the passing Marines, which was sad and a relief all at the same time. Moving further down the corridor, they didn’t pass any other sorts of doors. They eventually did reach a T-junction. Andy brought them to a halt and double-checked the information in her scanner, then she sent them to the right.
As they turned into another corridor, a pair of guards appeared at the other end, revealing themselves just a handful of heartbeats too late for the Marines to retreat without being seen.
Andy swore internally, but lifted her rifle and got off the first shot. The energy pulse launched between them and took out one guard. The other guard brought her weapon up and returned fire, sending the Marines scrambling for cover. The woman fired at them with one hand, reaching up for something at her shoulder with the other.
Something told Andy that she was about to sound an alarm.
“Fast!” was all the sergeant said and Jade got off a successful shot just a second ahead of Anallin. Two energy beams slammed into the guard before she was able to complete her call of alarm.
Andy blew out a breath and regrouped her Marines.
“That was too close. If one of the guards sound the alarm, we’ll have a firefight on our hands,” Andy said. “Shoot to kill. No hesitations.” It wasn’t the most necessary of orders, considering they would be quick no matter what, but it still seemed like a good idea to say it. It never hurt to be too prepared. “Hide the bodies as best you can.”
Anallin and Jade moved forward with a nod, slinging back their rifles over their shoulders to kneel down and pull the communication devices free of the enemy guards’ uniforms. Jade managed to do it with a bit more finesse than Anallin’s simply tearing it off, but both had the same results: the devices were no longer attached to the bodies. Both Marines put them in pockets on the chest piece of their gear, then propped the bodies up in a corner, as much out of sight as possible.
“We’ll ditch those at a better spot,” Andy ordered, “just in case they have some fail-safe that’ll bite us in the ass. For the moment, though, keep moving.”
Moving out, they paid special attention to semi-hidden corridors that branched into their corridor, lest they get caught by surprise again.
As they moved, steadily and surely, Andy reflected on the fact that they were finding themselves in a lot of corridors lately. What she wouldn’t have given right then for a nice open field, or even crawling around in some mud as long as it was outside and in the open. All these curves and corners and turns and windowless hallways were getting obnoxious.
It was one more turn and one more corridor, along with one more pair of disabled guards, before they arrived at the communications room that had been their destination.
Now, they had a specific job to do and not much time to get it done so Andy led the squad into the communications hub. Still no windows, but at least they were out of the corridor.
CHAPTER 6
“MARTIN, CAN YOU GET INTO IT?”
Jade had slung back her rifle and pulled off her gloves, taking a seat at the computer console after they had rendered the previous occupant...redundant. Dan and Anallin had moved that body out of the way so Martin could take the seat.
“I think so, yes,” Jade said, biting her bottom lip as she looked at the screen and began to hit buttons. “This isn’t the most complex setup I’ve seen. I think my little brother’s gaming system is more difficult.” She wasn’t boasting, simply speaking conversationally. Computers and technology were her specialty, and she was tasked with breaking into the communications system and shutting it down.
Of course, they all knew what plan B was: they simply destroyed it. However, their orders were to preserve it if possible so that when the compound was secured, they could delve into its data more deeply and try to trace it to other locations and players in the game.
The communications room looked like what Andy might have assumed was some s
ort of guard station, had she not known otherwise. It had a window behind the console with open doors to either side. How the person originally at the controls hadn’t seen them coming, she would never know.
Andy and Anallin took one door, while Roxanna and Dan covered the other. The room was small so there was little to no chance of surprise entrances, meaning they just had to cover the outer corridor. Although they’d had to subdue some guards on their way in, there hadn’t been very many of them. At least, there had been fewer than Andy would have expected there to be, which suggested to her that they expected little trouble here.
With rooms full of chained slaves, the over-confidence was perhaps to be expected. They would think the corporations had them covered above and no one even knew about their trafficking hub down in the basement. Why bother with the expense and providing for of extra guards?
Then even the ones they had would start getting complacent. Which, to Andy, was exactly what had happened. It made their jobs a lot easier, but she wasn’t going to let her Marines get just as complacent because of it.
The sound of Jade’s fingers hitting the keys filled the small room, along with her quiet stream of subconscious murmuring. Although it was so low that you couldn’t pick up on all of the words, it was audible enough to suggest she was basically narrating everything that she was doing to herself, along with the occasional argument with her hands or eyes or the system itself.
“There is some encryption,” Jade suddenly explained loud enough for everyone to hear. “That’s what’s taking so long. I think it’s the basic log-in system for whoever uses this console whenever they need it to go active again, but since I don’t know the information that will unlock it their way—and I don’t see any other biometric locks—I have to find a backdoor.”
“Can you?” Andy asked, looking over her shoulder at the younger woman.
Earth Space Service Boxed Set: Books 1 - 3 (ESS Space Marines Omnibus) Page 7