by T S Weaver
One arm wrapped around the tousle-headed toddler as the ceiling continued to whine its protest against the trembling earth. She hugged the child to her chest and rolled out of the way moments before a slab hit the floor where the toddler had stood crying for her mother.
“Ursula?” A fearful voice called out from the door leading out of the chamber. “Has anyone seen Ursula?”
Cora pushed to her feet, still holding the toddler who now squirmed in her arms. The trembles eased, slowly, until she was able to find her balance without falling over.
“Mama?”
“Think I have her,” she looked down into the pale blue-green eyes of the dust-smeared child. “Ursula?”
“Want Mama.” She stuck her thumb in her mouth, eyes wide as she wriggled.
“Oh, my God. Ursula, you weren’t supposed to wander off.” The woman hurried over and snatched the child from Cora’s arms.
She didn’t object.
“Mama,” said Ursula as she wrapped her arms around the woman’s neck.
“Silly silly girl. You need to stay with me, understand? You stay with me no matter what.”
Ursula’s bottom lip curled in a pout. “Sworrie,”
“Thank you, I felt everything begin to shake, turned to grab her and she’d gone.” The mother smiled and ran one hand over Ursula’s back. “I didn’t know what to do, then I heard her cry out and--”
“It’s fine, she’s unhurt, no harm done.” Cora dusted herself off. At least the kid hadn’t thrown up on her, or one of the other less than pleasant reactions children of this age was capable of. “But we can’t stay here much longer. The way things are going the ceiling is going to crash in on us before the end of the day.” Sooner if the aliens attempted another strike,
Her mind raced. What had they attacked this time?
Had they found more survivors?
“We’ll know if they try to break in here. The sensors will trigger an alarm.” Ursula’s mother explained.
“Maybe, unless they’ve been damaged by the attacks.” How many more could the structure take before it collapsed in on itself? “We need to get out of here before it’s too late.” Which meant Stone had to make a decision. Either he was with them, or against them. “Get your things together, and I’ll get the rest of this group moving.”
Salla hurried over. “Part of the tunnel has collapsed. The one you and your people came through. We won’t be able to evacuate that way.”
Cora cursed in three different languages before she took a deep breath and brought her emotions under control. “Then we find another way.” There had to be other tunnels, and she couldn’t be sure if the direction they needed to travel remained accessible with the passageways or not. “And a map of the passages here. See what options we have for getting the hell out of here before there’s nothing left to hold up the ceiling.”
Ceiling, walls, the entire thing could collapse, caving in on the survivors and marines both.
“I’ll see what I can find.” Salla paused long enough to take in the chamber before she darted out of sight.
“You still believe you can get them all out of here?” Stone leaned in, keeping his voice pitched low. “Don’t get me wrong, I admire your strength, but in this, you’re being foolish. I could get you and your boys out easily enough. My ship’s one of the fastest, and it’s armed. The Ajax, last I heard, didn’t have weapons. Even if those kids can pilot it, they’d be outclassed.”
Hitting him would solve nothing, but damn if she didn’t want to knock him into the middle of next week. “We take what options we can.”
“Right, which means you’re still stuck on this plan of yours. Save them all. Be the goddamn hero people remember when the dust settles. About time you saw sense. You know what happens to heroes? They die. Oh, sure, it can be a glorious death, but you’re dead all the same when they start toasting your honor.”
Cora forced her face to remain a mask of calm. No matter what the man said to her, she wasn’t going to lose her temper. “Marines don’t leave people behind.”
“They don’t leave one of their own behind.” Stone leaned against the wall. “Doesn’t say the same about civilians and kids. You can walk away from them without a problem.”
“Then you don’t know how the marine’s work, do you?” An edge entered her words, and she struggled not to lose her grip on her emotions. Her gaze narrowed. Was he pushing her deliberately to reduce her ability to command both the remaining marines and the survivors?
If so, it wasn’t going to work.
“I’ve seen your kind walk away from the dead and dying before.”
“Then they had a reason to walk away.” Cora turned her attention away from Stone. “Get your gear together, Mr. Stone. We leave in the next thirty minutes. You either leave with us or stay, your choice.”
“You need me,” he said. Stone pushed away from the wall and stalked toward her. “You and your people won’t get out alive without me and my ship.”
“With the Ajax, we’ll be fine.”
“You can’t all fit on the blasted Ajax. You’ll get the rest of your original group on board, but anyone else? No, you need a second ship.”
“Are you offering to take a few of the kids?” She knew the answer before voicing the question.
“Hell no, I’m offering to take you and your people.”
“No deal.” A merc and smuggler, he’d have his ship locked down so no one without the codes could pilot her, and they wouldn’t have the time needed to break into the system, not if the aliens glanced their way.
“Then get out of my way, and let me do my job.”
“You really think those boys will follow you? That the corporal will accept your decision about fighting and dying to give a bunch of kids the chance to make it out, only to be blown up or captured before they break orbit?”
And there it was, the sticking point. She hadn’t talked it through with Lackey, or any of the others. As Marines, they should follow orders, and be ready to protect the civilians until they were out of the reach of the aliens. But after all, they’d been through, she couldn’t depend on them doing the right thing. “They will.”
“Let’s test your theory. Hey, Walker!”
The marine turned from the entrance into the tunnel, the damage enough to have sent the men in from keeping watch on the corridor.
Cora frowned. What the hell was he up to now?
“Yes?”
“Come here a minute, will you? Need to talk with you and the other uniforms.”
“About?”
“About your sergeant’s ridiculous plan on getting you all killed.”
15
Stone didn’t look at Lawbook. “You knew about this, right?”
“No,” said Walker as he made his way across the room, his gaze flicking from Stone to the sergeant and back again. “Sergeant? What’s he going on about?”
“This civilian seems to think we should turn our backs on the others and leave them to die.” Lawbook shot him a glare then turned her attention on the youngest member of the team. “He’s suggested we run with him, live and let the rest of them die, be taken prisoner, and used for whatever the aliens have in mind.”
The young marine blanched, his gaze narrowed. “Is that allowed? I mean, I always believed we had a duty to civilians in situations like this.”
“No one here to tell you otherwise, except this stubborn sergeant of yours. Think she’s taking Gunny’s death to heart. Wants you all to go out in a blaze of glory.” Stone indicated Lawbook with a jerk of his head. “Me, I think we should live to fight another day. Better for all of us.”
“Except for the civies, most of which are kids who should still be in school,” Lawbook added.
“Why can’t we all get out?”
“Not enough room in my ship.”
“What he’s not telling you is there’s a second ship, Walker. One we already have both a pilot and co-pilot for. We need to split the survivors up. Most on the Ajax, the
rest on Stone’s ship. Or the fact we may not be able to leave Pluto and could be forced to find another base of operations. We don’t know if the alien ships are still in orbit, but the odds are at least one of the three vessels we know were a part of the attack.”
Walker nodded, his brow furrowed. “Sounds fair on the surface of it. I mean, I don’t want to leave a bunch of kids here. Be a douche move. And hadn’t thought about the other ships, what we’d be facing.”
“It’s why we need to have the second option. We both know there are bolt holes, supplies, and mining settlements scattered across Pluto, away from the main colony. If we can’t get any information about the fight we’d be facing if we tried to escape the planet, then we head for the outer settlements. We get away from the colony and hope the outer claims haven’t been targeted yet. If not, they’ll already be on alert with the block on communications.”
“You hope they’ll be on alert. For all, we know they’re asleep, or drunk. Miners. Can’t trust them to think of anyone but themselves.”
“You should be right at home with them, Stone,” Lawbook smirked.
Stone shot a glance at Lawbook. What the hell was going on with these people? Didn’t they understand the danger they were in? Mining settlements? Had she ever dealt with the bastards running those things? They cared about one thing, themselves. No strangers allowed. Not unless you had the right trade goods to offer them. Items like the ones he had stored away in the belly of his ship. “You telling me you’d give up your life for them?” He gestured at the nearest group of civilians. “For a bunch of whining men, women, and children who’ll do nothing for you in the long term, and could get you killed?”
“It’s what we agreed to do when we joined up.” The young marine explained. “We all know there is a risk. Not like they hide anything from us. Okay, fine we all know they lie to get you to sign up, but the majority of what they tell you these days is the truth.”
“Glory hound,” Stone grunted.
“Hell no, I want to serve my time and maybe go into one of the private security firms out on the other colonies. I can do it if I serve for ten years.” Walker grinned, his eyes bright. “I’ll jump the ladder if I have service under my belt. Maybe more so now there are aliens involved.” A shadow passed across his eyes. “If I make it back. But if I don’t, I knew this when I joined up.”
He pounced on the moment of doubt. “You could get out of here with me. You and the others. Then you’d be able to apply for those jobs when the time comes.”
“Yeah, but I don’t think I’d be able to live with myself if I walked out. I’d be a coward. I mean, how could I talk to anyone, claim to be a Marine if I acted like a coward? What if I met a relative of one the people I’d left behind?”
“You know the odds of that happening are slim.”
“But it could still happen. Doesn’t matter, I’d know what I’d done. No, it’s not cool, man. Not cool at all. Don’t know why you’d think of doing it. It’s not like you’re a coward or something, You’re a merc, you have to have been in tough situations before now?”
“Yeah, but I was paid, and I didn’t take on a job guaranteed to get me killed. Not my idea of a sane work environment.” Why couldn’t the man see the issue? It was one thing to sign up, another to agree to die for strangers. Even if they recognized some of the men and women among the survivors, they weren’t family or friends. Not going by what he’d seen. No one had reacted to them as if they were related, or close.
Idiots.
If things continued this way, he’d be the only survivor, then questions would be asked. Like how he, out of everyone, survived and escaped the attack. No, he didn’t like where that line of reasoning took him.
“You’re either with us, Stone. Or against us. It’s time to make a choice.”
“And if I choose to walk away?”
“We won’t stop you. But try to steal anything, and I’ll kill you,” said Lawbook.
She was right, though he wasn’t about to tell her. Getting out of here wasn’t going to be easy, not with the dangers waiting for them. No matter how he wanted to run, leaving the kids behind wasn’t an option. “What can you offer me to work with this lot? I’m a businessman, better place a decent offer on the table, or I’ll walk away.”
Salla, still close enough to hear them, laughed. “Dad always said a merc will want payment. Fine, the Marine’s don’t have the funds. I do. I’ll give you ten percent of my father’s business.”
“Deal.” The look of pure shock on Lawbook’s face was worth more than any money Salla could offer him. If he’d wanted to rub Lawbook’s nose in the offer, he didn’t get the chance as an alarm rang out, piercing and undeniable.
“They’re coming. Masks in place, seal your suits. We just ran out of time.”
“Get the civilians moving, we can’t stay here.” The Sergeant called out.
Jakob turned, grabbing Salla by one arm as he half hurried, half dragged Salla to one side. “We have to find a way to get everyone out of here. Is there anything, a memory, a conversation with your father, which might help?” A fresh set of violent shudders worked their way through the ceiling, forcing a wide crack into existence even as the vibrations moved down the walls and into the floor. “Much more of this and we’ll have a full cave in. We can’t stay here and wait for those things to show up.”
Salla half closed her eyes, the orbs moving beneath the lids. “I think -- yes, a minute.” She grabbed the data pad she wore and tapped instructions in. “Yes, here. We can escape this way. It connects to one of the passageways leading to the edge of the colony and where Dad put the Ajax.”
“Alright.” He lifted his head and searched for Bloodlaw. “Sergeant, we’ve got a way out here.”
“Harvard, you go with them,” the woman said as she strode across the chamber, ushering survivors in their direction. “Don’t look back. Don’t stop, no matter what you hear. Harvard, use secure nine to get a message to me. Salla, I need a copy of the route.” She offered her datapad to Salla.
“On it.” The girl grabbed the pad and got to work, her fingers scurrying over the screen.
“Grab what you need, what you can, and go with Salla and Jakob.” Sergeant Bloodlaw announced, her voice carrying easily through the cavern. “Harvard is in charge and will be keeping you safe. If something happens to him, you listen to Jakob and Salla. No arguments. Stone, you’re with me, same with the rest of the Marines. All civilians with Harvard.”
Jakob didn’t think, he reacted. He refused to let his mind wander, knowing it would allow him the chance to dwell on the dangers, the problems facing them, and the monsters out there. Creatures who’d destroyed his home perhaps killed his friends and family. He’d seen the things if only glimpses. They weren’t human. Could never be regarded as human. And they were here to hurt them, to take what humanity had built, laid claim to and created. “Salla?”
“Ready.” She snagged a bag and slipped it on his back.
Men, women, children, chaos in the making.
Cora Bloodlaw gathered her people and gestured for them to take position. The crack widened and the shadows moving across the opening confirmed they were coming. “Keep it covered, and don’t let them get past you. Doesn’t matter how you do it, we aren’t going to let these things get to the kids.” More than kids now. Adults. But they were civilians, men, and women who didn’t know how to fight. Except for the two of the three who’d chosen to travel with her from the bar.
Liam and Virgil. The third civilian she’d sent with Harvard. She needed fighting men, people who wouldn’t flinch at the first round of fire. Not men who would freeze and get not only themselves but others killed in the process.
“I said all civilians go with Harvard.”
Liam gestured to the small group. “Don’t see any civies here, do you, Virgil?”
“Only fighters,” Virgil replied.
Not Marines, but fighters.
“Besides, if you’d meant all civies, you’d have s
ent me with them,” Stone added a rifle in hand, one he’d taken from Duncan’s storage.
“How are you going to get paid if you don’t go with them?” Lackey grinned at the Merc.
“Oh, I’ll get paid. Unlike you lot, I’m going to make it out of this mess in one piece.”
Strange, the man joked as if he were one of her Marines. He is, for now. She could accept the situation, his change in how he handled things. When they were safe, he’d revert to the asshole she’d become used to dealing with, but until then they were all on the same side. She could deal with this, handle the man fighting alongside her people, same as she would with Liam and Virgil.
“Incoming,” Ready called out.
She lifted her gaze, eyes narrowed as she searched for the sign Ready must have spotted, rifle shouldered. Her breathing and heart rate remained calm, steady. No matter what she faced, she wouldn’t give into panic. It might not work, she could die here, but disgracing her fellow Marines wasn’t a part of the plan. “Don’t shoot until you have a clear shot and make each one count.”
No one responded they didn’t need to. Not when they all understood what they needed to do, who they were here to protect, and the dangers presented by the invaders.
The first shape appeared, not distinct from the mass behind it. Too far away to make out a clean target. She relaxed, refusing to give into the fear niggling away in the back of her mind. Fear kept you sharp unless you allowed it to take control.
Limbs. The shapes she’d come to expect from the handful of sightings she’d had of the invaders. Wings. Beings with four limbs, ones with six. But no sign of beasts of burden. She allowed her gaze to focus on the first of the creatures before she squeezed the trigger. A firm caress but not the jerk pull which might damage her aim. She didn’t wait to see if she’d hit her target, but did as she’d been trained, fired a second shot at the same mass of alien life, then move to the next outline.
Harvard tapped Jakob’s shoulder. “Let me take point.”