Theogony 1: Janissaries

by Chris Kennedy

“Cool,” Good Twin said. “Lead on.”

  Approaching the Ssselipsssiss Base, Tau Ceti ‘d1’, May 25, 2019

  The Ground Force made its way to the hangar building that dominated the landscape of the crater. The only building in sight, the way down into the base beneath the surface of the moon had to be there.

  “It’s locked,” commed Staff Sergeant Jim ‘Shuteye’ Chang, the first one to reach the hangar building.

  “You sound surprised by that,” replied Top. “Were you expecting the lizards to welcome you in with open arms?”

  “Well, it would have been nice,” said Shuteye.

  “Top, I’ve got some large covers on the ground,” reported the German soldier, Sergeant Hans Fleischer. “I can’t tell where they lead, but they might be a way in. The doors slide into recessed areas, so there is no way to open them except for cutting through them.”

  “OK,” replied Top, “I want both of you to start cutting your way through the doors. When we get them open, we’ll go through both at the same time. Hurry! We don’t have a lot of time.”

  Bridge, TSS Vella Gulf, Tau Ceti ‘d1’ Orbit, May 25, 2019

  “The base is trying to contact the battlecruiser,” said the communications officer. “They said that there is an attacking force burning their way through the doors, and they are asking for help.”

  “Good,” said Deutch, “the platoon must have reached the base. Keep jamming their transmissions.”

  Under the Ssselipsssiss Base, Tau Ceti ‘d1’, May 25, 2019

  “We found the passage leading into the base from the defensive ring,” commed Mouse. “We must be getting close to the main part of the base because we’re starting to find doors.”

  “Roger that,” commed Top. “Don’t leave any of the lizards alive to hit you from behind.”

  “Got it,” commed Mouse. “Which will work out well,” Mouse said over a private channel to Good Twin, looking at the two doors in front of them “unless we open a door, and there are about 100 of them behind it.”

  “No kidding dude,” agreed Good Twin. At ten feet wide, the corridor into the main part of the base was larger than the laser turret access tunnel had been. He looked at the two doors, one on each side of the hallway. He shouldered his trident and drew his laser. Seeing Mouse looking at him questioningly, he said, “I’d hate to blow up something important.” He looked at the doors and continued, “I’ll take the right if you want the left.”

  “Fine,” replied Mouse. “1...2...3,” and they both kicked in the door in front of them. Mouse charged in to find the room empty. Not just devoid of lizards, but completely empty from wall to wall. There was a dark spot of in the corner that might have been a blood stain, but that was all. Hearing firing behind him, he turned and charged back across the hall. Three lizards lay twitching on the ground. As he entered, he saw the one closest to Good Twin whip him with its tail, staggering him. Mouse and Good Twin fired at the same time, and it stopped moving.

  “Stupid lizards don’t know when they’re dead,” commented Good Twin, kicking the one that had tail-whipped him. “Next time, you take the right, dude.” He began walking toward the door.

  “Just a second,” said Mouse. Unlike the earlier technician, the dead lizards in the room were dressed in some sort of golden armor. It covered their arms, legs and torso. Looking around the room, he saw it was full of screens showing views of the surface of the moon, with some sort of consoles ringing the room’s outer walls. On one screen he could see what looked like the other squad of Terrans on the rim of a crater. “I think we just found the control room for the base’s defenses. I’ve got an idea.” He switched to the platoon frequency. “Top, Mouse. I think we just found the control room for the laser defenses. Would you like us to wreck them?”

  “What do you think, sir?” Top asked Calvin, who stood next to him while they waited for the troops to finish cutting a way in.

  “Go ahead and blow it,” Calvin commed.

  “No problem,” Mouse commed back. He looked at Good Twin and nodded at his trident. “What’s the normal setting for a hand grenade size explosion?”

  “Five nanograms is the same as a normal hand grenade,” said Good Twin.

  “OK, come with me.” Mouse led him to the room across the hall. “You fire a 25 nanogram shot into the other room across the hall, and I’ll slam the door once you launch it.”

  Good Twin set the dial on the trident appropriately. “Ready,” he said.

  “Go!” said Mouse. Good Twin fired, and the round arced through the door and into the back of the other room. Mouse slammed the door and fell against it. The antimatter grenade detonated with an earthshaking explosion. Even though the shape of the other room contained most of the blast, Mouse was pushed back six inches by the residual force of it. “Twenty nanograms might have been enough,” he said, rubbing a bruise that was already starting to form on his shoulder. The armor and physical upgrades were all nice, he thought ruefully, but they didn’t make a physical blow hurt any less.

  The two soldiers walked across the hallway and looked at the control room. “Well dude, I’d have to say it’s pretty trashed.”

  Mouse saw one console that had somehow survived unscathed. He fired his laser into it several times and was rewarded with an eruption of sparks as the console shorted out. “Now it’s trashed.” He switched to the platoon-wide frequency. “We’ve destroyed the defensive control room. It should be safe for the other squad to come to the hangar,” he commed. “Now let’s go see if we can find the rest of the platoon,” he said to Good Twin.

  * * * * *

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Bridge, Wanton Killer, Tau Ceti System, May 25, 2019

  Captain Sssseth was sitting in his captain’s chair dreaming of tasty desserts when the power came back on. Looking at the sensor technician, he ordered, “Make sure there are no more mines around us.”

  “There are none,” the technician quickly confirmed. “We have coasted clear of the minefield; they are all behind us to starboard.”

  “Very well,” said Sssseth, “Give me the best speed engineering’s got. Head directly to the research base.”

  “Aye aye, sir,” replied the helmsman, and the ship began accelerating toward the distant planet.

  “Captain Sssseth,” the sensor technician called. “Records indicate the Eldive are quite tasty and best served with a light quarnberry sauce.”

  “Sounds yummy,” replied Sssseth. “Let’s see what the prey looks like. Contact the other ship and put it on screen.”

  Bridge, TSS Vella Gulf, Tau Ceti ‘d1’ Orbit, May 25, 2019

  “The battlecruiser has restored power and is coming in this direction,” said Steropes. “It’s piling on the G’s and is now accelerating at almost 490 G’s. Within an hour, it will be traveling at over 38 million miles an hour.”

  “Captain!” called the communications officer. “I am getting a hail from the other ship.”

  “Very well,” replied Captain Deutch, “on screen.” He smiled at Bullseye, who he knew was a Star Trek fan. “I’ve been waiting to say that.”

  “Yes sir,” said the communications officer. “The lizards have the same faster-than-light communications system that we do; even though they’re over two hundred million miles away, communications will be instantaneous.”

  Within seconds, the view screen shifted from the moon they were orbiting to the face of a very large lizard. “I am Captain Sssseth of the Wanton Killer,” it hissed. “I congratulate you on the minesss. They were a nasssty surprissse, although they were successssful in ridding the galaxy of its worssst admiral. As you can sssee, we have repaired the minor damage that it caused usss, and we are now prepared to destroy you. Would you like to lower your shieldsss and be boarded, or would you like usss to come and hammer them down for you?”

  “I’ll tell you what,” answered Captain Deutch. “The Terran Space Force has never lost a battle, and we’re not going to lose our first to the likes of a belly-crawler like y
ou. Now, why don’t you run back through the stargate and go back to the little egg that you crawled out of before we destroy your ship as well? You have five minutes to decelerate and leave this system, or you will be destroyed.” Captain Deutch turned to the communications officer and said, “Terminate connection,” just as the lizard started to shriek something in outrage.

  “Better let Lieutenant Commander Hobbs know that we’re going to have company soon,” Deutch continued. “Get the shuttles down there and let them know they need to evacuate ASAP.”

  “Aye aye, sir!” said the communications officer.

  Steropes walked over to the captain’s chair. “I’m not sure that was wise to antagonize their captain,” said Steropes. “After that taunt, I do not believe that he will negotiate with us any further. The Ssselipsssiss are known for being very honor conscious. They will duel at the slightest provocation.”

  “Are they slowing down?” asked Deutch.

  “No, they are not,” said Steropes. “In fact, they just added another five G’s to their acceleration.”

  “Well, maybe they’ll blow up their engines,” remarked Captain Deutch. “If so, the taunt was worth it. The way I figured it, if they turned and ran, we won. If they didn’t run, maybe they would be so mad that they would accidentally kill us before they can capture and eat us.”

  “That is an interesting analysis,” said Steropes. “In all the people and races that I’ve known, I don’t believe I’ve ever heard anyone express it like that.”

  “And I hope I never hear anyone else do it ever again,” muttered Bullseye in a loud whisper.

  The joke made everyone on the bridge chuckle. It alleviated the tension a little. A very little.

  * * * * *

  Chapter Thirty

  Ssselipsssiss Base, Tau Ceti ‘d1’, May 25, 2019

  “Nice day for a bounce,” said Master Chief O’Leary as the Space Force bounced up to the hangar. “How’s it coming sir?” he asked Calvin.

  “Good,” said Calvin, “we just got into both the hangar and the base, but we’re rapidly running out of time. The defensive screen is down, and the shuttles are inbound to get us. Night, Master Chief, I want you to take your squad and get the hangar open. As soon as the shuttles get here, get the replicator strapped onto one of them and get out of here. I’ll take the Ground Force and go into the base to get our lost sheep.”

  “You got it sir,” commed Master Chief. “You heard the man! Let’s get those doors open so we can leave this godforsaken moon!” He walk-bounced off, continuing to issue orders as he went.

  “OK, Top,” Calvin said, “let’s go find our guys in the base. If you see a computer room, let me know. I’d love to download what they were doing here.” The Ground Force entered the base at a trot.

  Bridge, TSS Vella Gulf, Tau Ceti ‘d1’ Orbit, May 25, 2019

  Steropes looked up from his sensor display, his face a shade or two paler than normal. “Umm, Captain Deutch,” he said, “I don’t know if anyone else has done the math, but if we don’t leave orbit in the next couple of minutes, we’re not going to be able to beat the lizard ship to the stargate.”

  “What do you mean?” asked Captain Deutch.

  “What I mean is that the lizard ship is coming toward us at almost 60,000,000 miles an hour. It also can out-accelerate us. If we don’t leave orbit now, the lizard ship can beat us to the stargate. They may not know where it is, but they know where we are and will be able to get into weapons’ range before we can go through the gate.”

  “We’re not leaving without the folks on the planet,” said Captain Deutch. His tone of voice didn’t leave any room for negotiation.

  “Then we will either have to do something to slow them down,” said Steropes, “or they will be able to shoot at us.”

  Captain Deutch look at Bullseye. “Get them back aboard, now!” he said.

  Under the Ssselipsssiss Base, Tau Ceti ‘d1’, May 25, 2019

  “Roger that,” commed Calvin, stopping to talk while the rest of the platoon continued down the hallway. “We’re going as fast as we can. We’ll be airborne shortly.” Calvin switched to the Space Force link, “Night, Calvin,” he commed, “How close are you to being airborne?”

  “We’re just finishing up securing the replicator to the shuttle,” Night replied. “We should be airborne in the next five minutes.”

  “Good,” said Calvin. “Don’t wait for us. As soon as you’re ready, take off. You’ll need time to get the replicator hooked up to the ship.”

  “Wilco,” answered Night. “We’ll see you back at the ranch.”

  Calvin saw a large number of laser flashes from down the corridor as he switched back to the Ground Force link. “Top, we’ve got to hurry. We’re not going to make it to the gate before the lizards catch up with us.”

  “Got it sir,” replied Top. Although Calvin was only 50 feet behind him and around a corner, the lasers firing continuously sounded even louder over the link. “We ran into what looks like a mixed force of soldiers and armed scientists who have set up a barricade across the corridor. Their laser rifles are extremely powerful, way more than anything we’ve got. I’ve already got two dead. Corporal Ball and Petty Officer Conboy took laser bolts on the first volley. Damn it! Corporal Goudie is down now too. He took one through the helmet; he’s dead.”

  Shit, thought Calvin. Corporal John ‘Oh!’ Goudie had joined the platoon just a couple of weeks before they left. He seemed like a really good guy, too. “That’s it, dammit. I’m less worried about breaking things than I am about getting out of here,” said Calvin. “Clear them out with trident rounds!”

  “WAIT! WAIT! WAIT!” yelled Mouse before anyone could fire. “We’ve got this.”

  Several seconds later five or six explosions could be seen rippling through the barricade in front of them, and the force of the explosions could be felt at the other end of the corridor accompanied by an “Eat that, dude!” over the link. The sounds of lasers firing disappeared. Calvin jogged up to find the Mouse and Good Twin standing over the pieces of about ten dead lizards behind the barricade.

  “You picked a good time to put in an appearance,” he said with a smile.

  “We heard the shooting,” replied Mouse, “so we hurried. There’s a big room about 50 feet up the corridor. I think it’s the computer server room.”

  “Great,” said Calvin. “Mr. Jones! Ms. Rozhkov! Front and center! Let’s get that data and get the hell out of here!”

  * * * * *

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Bridge, TSS Vella Gulf, Tau Ceti ‘d1’ Orbit, May 25, 2019

  “OK, Steropes,” said Captain Deutch as the first shuttle could be seen on the viewer towing the replicator. What are our options for outrunning the lizards?”

  “Our options for outrunning them?” repeated Steropes. “None. They are faster than we are and already have a tremendous velocity built up. We can’t beat them to the stargate home.”

  “No, we can’t,” said Deutch, “but what about the stargate into the other system?”

  “What? Why would we want to do that?” asked Steropes.

  “We might want to do that, because it uses their momentum against them,” said Deutch.

  “Oh yeah!” said Bullseye, looking at the plot. “I get it. They’re coming at us here, going really fast. But the star is in between us, and they have to aim just a little bit to the side of the star in order to get here. Once they’re committed to going around on one side of the star, we accelerate as hard as we can to go around the other side of it. They will have to kill off all of their momentum before they can begin accelerating back the way they came. We use their momentum to their disadvantage.” He got more excited the longer he looked at it. “If we plan it right, they won’t be able to shoot at us through the star either. We can probably make it through the gate that they came through...and they’ll have to get through the minefield to get back out again!”

  “Ah, I see what you mean now,” said Steropes. “Actually,
that is an excellent tactical maneuver. If they had more ships, they probably would have come through already. The lizards will have to transit the minefield again, giving us time to either run further or plant another minefield on the other side.

  “We don’t have many more mines,” warned Bullseye, “however, we know which way they’ll be coming, so we can put them where they’ll do the most good. Besides, we need to get them off the ship before we go into battle. I don’t think we want a lucky hit to set off a bunch of 215 megaton mines inside our ship.”

  “I like it,” said Captain Deutch, “Figure out when we need to leave. If the rest of the troops aren’t on board by then, they’ll have to catch up to us in the shuttle.” He sat back in his chair contemplating. As he looked forward, he saw the replicator approaching the side of the ship where a small army of space suited soldiers and sailors were waiting to tie it down.

  “Steropes,” he asked, “what is having the replicator tied to the side of our ship going to do our acceleration?”

  “It is going to decrease how quickly we’ll be able to accelerate,” admitted Steropes. “I will go outside and see to tying it down so that it will best handle the acceleration.”

  Under the Ssselipsssiss Base, Tau Ceti ‘d1’, May 25, 2019

  “Are you done yet?” commed Calvin. He had tried as hard as he could not to look over their shoulders, but they had to leave. RIGHT NOW!

  “Yeah, we’re done,” said Mr. Jones, disconnecting a cable. “It is a good thing we brought Irina. She figured out one of the protocols that I was having a problem with.” Calvin made a mental note that it was now ‘Irina’ and not ‘Ms. Rozhkov.’ Interesting, but not the time to pursue it.