Hell's Own

by T S Weaver

  “Then there’s no problem. I want you to work with the others, take inventory. If you know where a ready-made one is kept, it’ll cut into the work we have ahead of us. I want to be out of here in the hour. We’ve no idea how much air and heat those kids have, and they can’t stay hidden for much longer, not with the way those things are acting.”

  Kids. What the hell did he want to do with a gaggle of kids? Teachers might know how to use a gun and would be able to keep the brats in line, but he wanted nothing to do with them. “Got it.”

  “When this is over if you still want to throw a punch at me, go for it.” She turned and walked away from him.

  What made her think he wanted to hit her? He didn’t hit women. Alright, most of the time, he didn’t. If there was a woman in the middle of a fight, she was treated the same as the rest of them. But throwing a punch at her without being in the middle of a brawl? Not an action he could see himself committing. Stone allowed himself a smile. Crafty female, she had him questioning himself.

  Inventory. Yeah, he knew where there should be one.

  At least if he found it, she’d leave him alone for a time.

  Muttering to himself, Stone made his way through the storage shelves in search of the data pad the original owner of the supply dump, kept hidden.

  10

  “How you holding up, Gunny?” Cora settled on her knees next to the Gunny, the older man propped up against a shelving unit. Gray, blood at the lips and nose, his breathing a loud rattle which couldn’t be ignored. Time. It was slipping through her fingers, and no matter how she grabbed for it, the moments would continue to escape her hold.

  “Well, as I can ask for.” He grimaced as he shifted his weight.

  “Have something here which should help.” She held out the bone fuser Walker had found. “Between the scanner and this, we’ll have you back on your feet.” Lies fell from her lips without hesitation.

  “Give me the scanner.” He held out one hand. “Need to see for myself.”

  She swore under her breath but handed him the unit. Once he saw the data for himself, there would be no more hiding the truth. “Might show bruising there.”

  “Yeah, around my lungs, right?” He pinned her with a stare.

  “Maybe, I didn’t have long to go over the data, not after I saw the issue with your ribs.” Not entirely a lie. How was she supposed to tell him he was dying?

  He knows.

  “Right.” He turned his attention to the unit and brought up the information. His eyes narrowed before he shot her a glare, then returned to take in the data. “Dealing with the cracks will help. The rest, shit I don’t know. I’m not a doctor. Or Corpsman. But it didn’t appear to be good news.” He let the unit drop into his lap. “No point in playing games. I’m dying, we both see it written across this damn thing.” He took a deep breath only to wince. “Alright, Sergeant, get it done. If we can buy me more time, brilliant. If not, don’t stress it.”

  “I’m not going to let you die.” A fierce determination claimed her voice. “You’re not allowed to give up on us.”

  He smiled, a light dancing within his pain-filled eyes. “You’re an experienced Marine, Lawbook, but no one is strong enough to fix what’s wrong with me, not without a medic and full suite to hand. We both know what those readings mean. At most I’ve got a day, but odds are it’s closer to an hour, maybe less. I couldn’t tell you exactly what’s wrong, what needs to be fixed, but the swelling, blood loss, internal bleeding, blood pressure dropping, then there’s this cloud thing around my lung.” He shook his head, the movement weak. “Less than an hour, and so much I want to say, to do. Should have taken the option to return to Earth three months ago. Nice sweet duty on a cushy station, but no, I opted to stay out here with this lot.” He coughed again, the sound wet. “Jones and his beer. All his fault. You tell him that when you get the chance. I stayed for his crappy beer.”

  “Gunny.” Her grip tightened on the fuzer. They all knew the basics of using one, even if they couldn’t manage anything else other than clot blocker, and synth skin patches. They weren’t trained in anything in-depth when it came to patching up bodies. Each one of them could tear a body apart with weapons, some with bare hands, depending on the situation, but healers they weren’t. “I’m sorry. I should know what to do here.”

  “You didn’t cause the injury. You’re not a healer, or you’d be in a different unit. All dressed in white and green. No, our unwanted visitors are responsible. Bury the pain. Use it to deal with Stone.” He gestured upward and coughed. “Shit, this is getting worse.” He pressed against his ribs. “Should tell you to save the fuser for another time. Someone with a chance.”

  “Like hell. You’re the Gunny. You’ve got this. A little rest and you’ll be kicking the rest of us to get moving, and calling us out for dragging heels. When this is over with, I’ll buy you all the beer you can drink, from Jones I mean. Not wasting money on the crap they serve in the Sergeants Mess.”

  “I wish.” He met her gaze and shifted to sit upright, away from the wall, his face a mask of pain. “Arguing wastes energy. Let’s get this done, see if it buys me an hour. Or at least ease the discomfort.”

  “Discomfort my ass. You’re allowed to say if you’re hurting, Gunny.”

  “What, and ruin my rep. Not going to happen.”

  Cora lifted his shirt out of the way, grateful Gunny was in civies instead of uniform and body armor, an activated the fuser. Would body armor have protected Gunny enough to have saved his life? The idea danced through her mind, stripping away all other thoughts until it spun, naked, through her mind. Her jaw set. No changing what had happened, not unless she stumbled across a means to step back in time, and have them all in fighting gear when the attack had struck.

  She turned the fuser over in her hand as it hummed to life in her hand as she ran it over the area she’d seen indicated by the scanner. The urge to move quickly niggled away in the back of her mind, but she forced herself to keep the movement slow and steady. Rushing wouldn’t help with either the injury or pain.

  Gunny hissed but kept an eye on the medical scanner. “Move left, around closer to the spine.”

  “On it.” Under the Gunny’s guidance, she moved the fuser where it needed to be, letting him tell her where to move it to next and what needed longer or shorter attention to heal. Sweat beaded over his skin, muscles trembling from the effort of remaining in position. “Almost done here, a minute more.” She moved around to his other side and worked the fuser along the ribs. It had to be enough, even with the swelling, bruising, and potentially other problems the injury had caused. “I’ll be heading out soon, thinking it will be best to leave you here, don’t want to strain those ribs.”

  “You won’t be coming back for me.” The Gunny smiled.

  “Say’s you. I’ll be back, then we find a way off world.” She kept her gaze on the fuser. “Once we’ve found the rest of the navy, we’ll kick these bastards off our world.” The lie tried to stick in her throat, but she forced it into life. “Then we’re going to ask for time off, and if you’ve nothing better to do, I’ll drag you to this place in Scotland. Best damn beer and single malts you’ve ever tasted.”

  Gunny rested one hand on her arm. “Listen to me, Lawbook. You get out, get those kids, and find a way to keep them safe. If you can get off-world, fantastic. If not, head for one of the bunkers outside the dome. Find Jones, he’ll know if there are other tunnels heading away from the colony. Stone might know, but...”

  “She bossing you around now?” Stone stepped into view, found the one clear spot where he could lean against a wall, and claimed it. “And yeah, I know about the tunnels.”

  “Bossing people around goes with the stripes.” He didn’t turn to look at the man. He didn’t need to. “You have a problem with the sergeant here?”

  “More like she has a problem with me, but we’ll sort it out, smooth out the rough spots.” He lifted the datapad. “Information you wanted is here, Lawbook.”


  “I’ll take it, and you can go help the others.” She held out one hand for the list. Sooner he was out her line of sight, the better. “We need to get a few things sorted before we head out and get the kids.”

  “She’s enjoying the power too much.” Stone didn’t move, didn’t hand her the tablet.

  “Not from where I’m sitting.”

  Cora closed her eyes and took a deep breath. No matter what the man said, she wasn’t going to rise to the bait. “Do I have to take the list from you, or are you going to hand it over?”

  Zac pressed his back against the wall. They were out there, shadows lacking human shape. Beasts on four legs, ones with wings. Monstrous features and limbs. His heart raced as he remained hidden. What did they want with him? With the colony? Why hadn’t they answered the hail? Questions clouded his mind. No real information. He couldn’t act without details. Data. Pieces of the puzzle.

  His jaw clenched as he forced himself out of the mental spiral. This wasn’t the comm room, with it’s cooling cups of coffee, laid back manner, and the knowledge they were on the edge of the system, with little or nothing to disturb them. Only a handful of vessels approached Pluto each month. Mostly navy, smugglers and private vessels. All moving in and out with no trouble. His life could never have changed and he’d have been fine with that.

  First contact.

  God, this was so not the way he’d imagined it would be. It should have been peaceful, not an introduction to hell. The human race hadn’t been faced with a hostile nation in over three hundred years. He didn’t know enough to recall the exact time and reasons for the last conflict, but the point remained. Earth and its colonies had known peace, and they had no one experienced in the arts of war to call upon.

  Had anyone been prepared for first contact? The Unified Terran Government? Had they known of the risks? Picked up signals and not shared the information with the colony? Or maybe they had passed it along, and he was too low on the totem pole to be included? Laura didn’t like him. Hadn’t liked him. Whatever. Had she pushed him out of the information loop?

  Don’t think ill of the dead.

  Dead. They were all dead. Laura. Haden. Others. But the only bodies he’d seen belonged to the two in the comm room. Signs of violence, sure, he’d seen those. Marks on the walls. A smudge of dried liquid. Blood? He didn’t know. Had no handheld to scan the mark.

  The ground trembled beneath his feet. Not the shakes he’d experienced earlier, but smaller, closer to him.

  The big alien. Had to be the beast pulling things. Boxes.

  People. Prisoners.

  He groaned and slid down onto his haunches. They’d find him. Kill him. Eat him.

  No where to hide. No one to protect him.

  With hands pressed over his mask covered face, Zac whimpered and rocked on his heels.

  Energy struck the wall to the left. Sharp shards tore through the air as he flattened himself to the ground. Another rumble, followed by an explosion of dust and debris in front of him. He shook, arms over his head, as he curled into ball.

  A marine or pilot would know what to do. They’d fight back. Save the day. Not him. His bladder threatened to lose control as he whimpered.

  Not here. I’m not here. Leave me alone.

  The vibrations jarred his body, finding each bruise and scrape marked across his body. His teeth clenched. Pain. Shame. It didn’t matter, as long as the aliens left him alone. He didn’t have anything for them. He was only a comm tech. No one important.

  It didn’t matter. They were coming for him and there was no where left to hide.

  Shivers tore through his body as he clenched his jaw in an attempt to remain silent. Would they hear him? These shadows turned into living nightmares? He swallowed but didn’t move from the ground. They didn’t need him. He couldn’t tell them anything and--

  A hand grabbed him by the arm and yanked him up, the new arrival touching his helmet to Zac’s, the voice a shock after only his own thoughts since waking amid the rubble. “Get up. You stay here, you’re caught. Or dead. Get the hell up.”

  He didn’t resist as the man pulled him to his feet. “Who are you?” Had he managed to speak, or was it nothing more than the echo of a mental cry?

  “Run now. Talk later.” Cold blue eyes met his gaze.

  Violent vibrations rolled through him. A sound he felt more than heard before a bolt of energy struck the remains of the wall Zac had hidden behind. The wall exploded, shards sliced at him. Thumps which threatened to knock him to the ground. If the other man hadn’t held him in place, he would have been flattened, left whimpering in terror.

  “They’re coming.”

  He wanted to demand information. To turn and look at the invaders. Find a way of putting the pieces together, gather date and file it away for when he had the time to deal with it. His throat dried out. Heart raced. This wasn’t happening to him. He couldn’t be caught in a mess like this. No, his job was supposed to be safe. A desk jocky, not a pilot who would risk his life to explore the outer rim.

  The stranger kept a tight hold of Zac’s arm as they ran.They didn’t look back, didn’t pause to check how close the enemy might be. Nothing mattered except putting one foot in front of the other as they ran until his ribs hurt and each breath scraped its way into his lungs. They were going to do it, would escape, find a safe place and then he’d be able to ask his questions.

  The blow came without warning. Something struck him in the small of his back. He cried out, pain and shock tumbling him to the ground. The grip holding him to the stranger, lost as he rolled. Bruises. Sore muscles. Damage he needed time to heal before he’d be able to return to work.

  Zac rolled onto his back, blinking as he tried to force his body to adjust to the blow.

  A shadow, taller than any human, crept across his chest, forcing him to turn and search for the owner, only to regret his choice a moment later. Fear tightened a band around his heart, cold terror seized his mind as he stared up into the grotesque features of the winged alien with three eyes, and a large weapon carried in both hands. A weapon the creature shifted in his grip until the butt of the rifle like implement slammed down toward his head, sending him spinning into the darkness.

  Stone grinned, the pad in hand. Oh, she didn’t like this, did she? “I think I’ll keep hold of it for a time, not as if there’s any hurry.”

  Her eyes flashed, cold and hard. “Fine.”

  And there it was, one of the most dangerous words in a woman’s vocabulary.

  “Until I’m back on my feet, Lawbook’s in charge.”

  “He already knows this.” Cora’s clipped cold response did nothing to change his decision. “I believe he has an issue with me, on a personal level, but it won’t damage my ability to lead the group.”

  “What did you do?”

  “Pinned him against the racks with my hand.” She put the medical reader away. “Around his throat. He decided he didn’t have to follow my orders. We discussed the matter and came to an understanding.” A small shrug.

  He studied her features. No hint of being ashamed of what she’d done, or the desire to apologize. Strong. Determined. If the Sergeant ever wanted to leave the military, she’d do well as security for hire. “She threatened to kill me.”

  “A promise, not a threat, if I know Lawbook.” The Gunny leaned back against the shelving. “Best if you follow her orders, she’s going to be busy, but she’s a woman of her word.”

  “I suggest you rein your girl in before someone decides to teach her a lesson.” Stone straightened. “She’s going to be in a lot of trouble if she doesn’t watch her back.” He glanced at Lawbook. “No offense, but you’re fighting out of your league. Maybe if you learn to smile, you’d get better responses.”

  Small lines tightened around her eyes, her jaw clenched, but she didn’t explode. Didn’t give in to the anger he poked at.

  “What would you do with a new recruit who pulled this crap, Lawbook?”

  “A quick lesson. Wit
h five points.” Her gaze never moved from his.

  Stone flipped the datapad in his hand, catching it with ease before he flipped it again. “I’m supposed to be impressed by this? Doesn’t work. She held me by my throat.” He’d deal with the sergeant when time allowed. The idea didn’t sit well with him. She was doing her job. Damn the woman. Did he want something else from her? Sex? No, his body didn’t react to her presence, not in a sexual way.

  “Then, why are you waiting?” Gunny asked as he tried to prop himself up. He coughed, violently then wiped the blood away with the back of his hand.

  “She’s all bluster, like most.” He offered the data pad out, then snatched it back before Lawbook could grab it. “I’ve no doubt she’s a strong fighter, one of the troops, but anything else?” When would she explode, go into the rant and rave, with tears, he was used to when he challenged a woman. It didn’t matter how professional they were, they caved. Emotions got the better of them.

  Never work with women, children, or animals. Shit, better off working on my own whenever I get the chance.

  “Gunny?” She flicked a glance at the older man. Her gaze lingered on the Gunny.

  Did she see his health was failing? The blood on his lips, the lack of focus in his gaze. It wouldn’t be long now, and he’d be able to deal with Lawbook without the Gunny getting in the way.

  “Your choice, Sergeant. I believe I know what I’d do.” His voice faint.

  Stone took a step toward the Gunny. “Look, I know you’re a decent man, and we both know you’re not going to make it out of here. Your lungs are screwed, who knows what else is damaged and--”

  She moved without warning. Her right hand fisted and she lashed out, her punch landed with bruising force against his cheek. He stumbled, lights dancing in front of his eyes, balance shifting as his vision spun. Stone struggled to find his balance, one hand reaching out for the racks, shelves, wall, anything to stop him from hitting the floor. “What the hell?” He spat, blood frothing across his lips.