The scans failed to penetrate into the tower past the strange outer edge, but it was clear that the signal coordinating all Skarak activity at the Scorpio system was being generated within this structure.
Skarak fighters swept across the surface of the planet at a height of only a few meters, skimming above the heads of the people that ambled about on its surface. The flickering blue crackle fire that rippled over the surface leaped up from the planet to meet the small and fast Skarak fighters as they raced along. It linked everything on the surface and beyond, and it was pulsing outward from the tower.
“We need to place charges directly onto the tower,” Boyd said standing up. He had all the information he was going to get. Waiting around wasn’t going to get the job done. He needed to make a decision of how to attack. Right or wrong, it was better than doing nothing. “We have combat drones,” he said stepping into the center of the command deck. “We can remove the warheads and carry them to the tower. It’ll minimize the risk of detection and we can place them without risk of them being intercepted or deflected.”
Boyd marked locations around the base of the tower a hundred meters above ground level and a further set of positions in a line several hundred meters up the side of the tower.
“We need to take every warhead we have, place them at these locations, and then retreat before we detonate them.”
“And what if that doesn’t work?” Thresh pushed herself away from the engineering console and walked to join Boyd in the center of the command deck.
“Then, we escalate matters,” Boyd said. “Our final throw of the dice.”
“What do you mean by that?” Thresh said.
“It means I will use every possible means at my disposal to bring that tower crashing down, and the Skarak strangle hold on our system with it. The main core on my ship would punch a hole through the crust of that planet down to a depth of two or three kilometers. If the warheads don’t work, we will bring the tower down with the Resolute herself.”
Kitzov spoke up, his image flickering on the holostage. “Suicide is never a very good battle plan.”
“Did you ever send any of your people on a one-way mission before, Kitzov?” Boyd said.
Kitzov avoided his look.
“Thresh, get down to the ordnance magazine and start stripping out warheads from every combat drone we have. Kitzov, Kessler, if either of you have any ordnance, get it ready for my Blue Stars to take away.”
“No,” Kitzov said. Then he smiled. “If you fail to bring down that tower and you insist on ramming the thing with your ship you might be glad to have a couple of well-armed Faction raiders in orbit ready to save your life.”
“No help here, either,” Kessler said. “I have a hold full of kinetic hail, never used a combat drone. I never wanted to destroy my targets. I always wanted to keep them in one piece so I could board them and take my plunder.”
“Ok, then just hold position. Maintain orbit and keep hidden. No energy flashes at all.”
Boyd turned to leave the command deck.
“Where are you going?” Hemel said.
“I am going to lead the mission against the Skarak signal tower. And you are not going to talk me out of it this time. If Major Featherstone were here, he would lead the mission. Doc, you have command of the Resolute while I am away.”
“Not a chance,” Cronin said. “If you are taking all my combat drones, I won’t have much to do up here. I’m coming too, and you will not talk me out of it either.”
“What if I order you?” Boyd said.
“We are not in the Scorpio system now, and we are standing alongside Faction enemies. I don’t think the normal rules apply anymore.” Doc folded his arms.
Boyd smiled. “It will be good to have you at my side, Doc. Hemel, you have command of the Resolute.”
Hemel spoke up, firm and strong. “Yes, sir.”
“And if we don’t make it back, I expect you to put the Resolute into the base of that tower and let a main core collapse do the work. Get to safety if you can, but we have to bring that tower down.”
“The Skarak tower will fall,” Hemel said. “Good luck, sir.”
Boyd stood in the armory with his assault team, the very best of the best, each waiting patiently to take charge of a combat drone warhead. The warheads were the size of a man and weighed about as much, but could deliver a breathtaking amount of destructive power. A single warhead could punch a hole through a Skarak warship or vaporize an entire asteroid. Boyd was sure these warheads could bring that tower down, leaving no part of it larger than an atomic nucleus.
Thresh worked quickly with a Blue Star technician to attach grav field generators to the warheads so the marines could carry them easily to the marine deck.
“Is this going to work?” Boyd asked Thresh as another warhead was carried away.
Thresh looked up from her work.
“It’s your plan, Will.”
Boyd nodded.
“Thresh,” he began softly. “If I don’t make it back…” he trailed off.
“I’ll probably get the blame for killing you as well as your brother,” she looked back to her work and attached another grav field generator to another warhead.
Boyd saw the last of the Blue Stars walk off toward the marine deck with their warhead and waited for Thresh to prepare his own.
“If I don’t make it back, I need you to rig the Resolute’s core to detonate on impact with the ground. Can you do it?”
“You really do want to kill me, don’t you?” Thresh said looking at her work. “And after we had been getting on so well.”
“That was before I saw the holovid of you executing my brother.” Boyd bit his lip. He didn’t want to say it, but it just came out. He was still bitter and confused. He softened his tone. “I know it wasn’t your fault. I know Kitzov made you do it.”
Thresh handed Boyd his warhead. The heavy weapon floating gently on its grav field.
“Don’t be too close when it goes off,” Thresh said. “But if you can’t make it to the safe distance outside the blast zone you would be better off being right on top of it than not far enough away.” She looked at Boyd. There was a deep sadness in her eyes. “It will be quicker if you’re close, and there would be no pain.”
Boyd took control of the warhead. He had so much he wanted to say to her, but there was no time. He simply thanked her for the warhead and walked away. He moved quickly along the corridor and stepped into the marine deck. His assault team was standing in formation, their warheads floating in front of them, pulse rifles slung across their backs. The marine deck inner door sealed once Boyd was inside and then the main outer door slid aside. It moved aside silently and rapidly, opening the side of the ship in an instant. The view was stunning. Skarak warships in orbit above a blue and red planet. Beyond the planet was the twin world, its atmosphere shimmering under the small yellow star. And below the tall tower reaching up from the Skarak planet surface, billowing clouds rolled around it.
With a wave of his hand he instructed the Blue Stars to move out. They walked to the edge of the marine deck and stepped out into the void, warheads on grav fields in front of them, moving under suit thruster power alone.
Boyd walked to the edge of the marine deck and stepped out and into the dark. Far below was the Skarak planet and the tower reaching up through the clouds. He adjusted his thrusters and set his heading. Another light thrust and he was drifting down toward his target.
12
Thresh stepped back onto the command deck. The image on the holostage showed the Skarak planet and signal tower. The locations of the Blue Star assault team could be seen moving slowly toward the tower. On one side of the holoimage, inset in the bottom corner, was Kitzov on the flight deck of the Silence. On the other side of the image was Captain Kessler aboard the Phantom Zero. Both appeared to be watching the progress of the assault team.
Thresh looked closely and saw the personal med data displayed over the tiny image of Will Boyd. She c
ould not feel more distant from him than she did now. He was slipping away from her. Maybe she had already lost him for good.
Not long ago they had been so close. Their brief time living together, free from Faction or Union, had been a dream time for her. So safe and happy. But she had always known her dark secret, her hidden shame, would be enough to destroy her happiness, their happiness. She had hid it from him for as long as she could. In hindsight, she wished she could go back and tell him from the start, come clean. She might never have become so close to him if she had done so, but maybe she would have been freed in some small part from the pain she felt at her criminal past.
Kitzov opened a private channel directly to Thresh. Even though he was talking directly to her, and only her, and no others could hear him, he still spoke as he always did; as if he were attempting to convince a crowd.
“Have you been observing the Skarak on the planet below? Who do they remind you of? Look at them, Enke, they are no different than the Union.”
Kitzov’s voice was transmitted directly to her personal communicator and he looked at her from the main holostage. She took a step forward, moving closer to him.
“They take over a world and impose their will. What is the point of freeing ourselves from the threat of the Skarak if we still have to suffer under the tyranny of the Union? We should be free to live our lives as we see fit. Free of the Union.”
Thresh had always hung on Kitzov’s every word. She had grown up listening to his speeches. The crowds at Faction mines and asteroid settlements cheering him had always made her feel so proud of him. She had been under his spell like so many others. It was comforting to hear him speak now.
Thresh swallowed hard, remembering what it was like to a prisoner of the Sharak. “The Skarak do not seem capable of communicating with us. I have been under their control and they just want to turn us into slaves. Look at those people down there. What are they doing? Where are they going?”
“They are feeding the system,” Kitzov said. He highlighted a point at the tower where the humans were entering. “Food. The people mean nothing to the Skarak. The Skarak seem to move from one world to the next, consuming everything in their path. They are spread across the sector, controlling hundreds of star systems. They use the star and any inhabitants to grow their civilization, if you can call it that. Then they move on to the next. They are infiltrating and taking over, converting host species to Skarak slaves. They infiltrate a system. Take over the system. Turn the inhabitants against themselves. Then the Skarak move on and start again. The Union will do the same once they have complete control of the Scorpio system. To be under the control of the Union or the Skarak makes no difference if your body is just going to be ground down to feed the oppressor.”
Thresh had heard this mantra from Kitzov so many times, that the Union just wanted to manipulate and exploit the hardworking people of the system. It was comforting in its familiarity.
“Where have they come from?” she asked. She looked up at Kitzov’s image on the holostage.
“They have come from far away, a different region of the galaxy altogether.” Kitzov said.
“Just like us,” Thresh said. “Our ancestors came to the Scorpio system from another world. Maybe life just wants to spread, to push into new territory.”
“Yes,” Kitzov said with enthusiasm. His tone was congratulatory, as if to tell Thresh that she had hit upon a truth that he had known for so long. “And we should go too.” Kitzov lowered his voice and talked quietly, taking Thresh into his confidence. He looked Thresh in the eye. “We have two good Faction ships here with us. This is the Union’s fight, not ours. We should go.”
Thresh looked at Kitzov. “We can’t leave the Blue Stars out there.”
Kitzov nodded, seeming to agree with her. He spoke with an understanding and compassionate tone even though his words were of treachery. “Every moment we wait here is another chance for the Skarak to locate us and capture us and turn us into those hopeless flesh drones down there, walking in circles until we enter that tower and meet our end. You do not want to suffer at the hands of the Skarak again, do you, little one? No, we must go, little Enke. I cannot bear to see you captured by the Skarak. And even if we survive this, the Union will hang us both if we ever try and go back to the Scorpio system. Do you really think the Union commanders will thank us for our help? Everything tells me we will be killed. At best they will lock us up and throw away the key. Do you think they will share the Scorpio system with us once the Skarak are defeated, even if they can be defeated?”
“I don’t know,” Thresh said. She looked at the images of Boyd and his assault team crossing to the Skarak planet. She felt so lost and alone. She looked up at Kitzov for help.
“You do know,” Kitzov said softly. “In all the dealings you have had with the Union you have been locked up and faced with execution. You have been lucky to escape. Your luck is fast running out. Even when you were on your boyfriend’s ship you were still a prisoner, kept alive at the pleasure of the Union. Do you think a lowly grunt like Boyd can really save your skin? They will hang you, little one, and your death will only be a side show to the hanging of me. They will kill us both and care nothing for who we are. Trust me, Enke, I’ve always done the right thing for you. I turned you into the Faction warrior you are, one of the best. You will be my most important ally when we leave and set up the new Faction world.”
Thresh looked around the command deck of the Resolute. This was a Union ship, just the sort of ship that had hunted and killed so many of her Faction friends. The pilot, Hemel, was watching the progress of the Blue Star marines to the Skarak tower. He had no care for her, only for his Union friends.
Kitzov smiled at her. She felt the safe and comforting memory of her time with Kitzov in the Faction settlement, where he had trained her, nurtured her, groomed her for the fight.
“Come over to the Silence,” Kitzov said. It did not sound like a request, it sounded like an order. “You will command the Silence at my side. Let the Resolute stay here and wait for Boyd.”
“Boyd,” Thresh said. She felt her heart leap and sink at the thought of him. “We can’t leave Boyd.”
“He’s a Union soldier. They are selfish and proud and don’t care for us. He will never accept you. You will always be a pirate to him.”
Thresh nodded. Boyd had been cold and distant since he’d seen the holovid of his brother’s death, since he had seen that she had pulled the trigger.
She looked up at Kitzov, a tear on her pale cheek.
The rugged old Faction leader smiled. It was a comforting, warm smile. It reminded her of her innocence, of feeling safe in the heart of the Faction.
“Go, take a suit and traverse over to the Silence. We are leaving this Skarak hell hole as soon as possible.”
She nodded as the tear fell from her cheek to the Resolute’s command deck. Thresh moved slowly so as not to alert Hemel. She stepped out of the command deck and soon was running. She entered the engineering stores and took an environment suit designed for ship maintenance work. She stepped into the small airlock in the maintenance bay and left the Resolute.
As she drifted across to the Silence, she felt Boyd slipping away from her. She had hoped they could have been together, but that was never going to happen. The closer she came to the Silence the safer she felt. As she landed on the hull of the Faction ship, she finally felt at home. Finally she felt safe.
Kitzov drifted toward the open marine deck of the Resolute with a squad of Faction troopers. Their pulse pistols were drawn and ready for action. A pair of marine guards standing at the inner entrance fell to a sudden burst of pulse pistol rounds as Kitzov and his troopers touched down.
Kitzov closed the outer doors, and as soon as the pressure was restored he opened the inner hatch.
“Hold here and wait for my signal. Kill anyone who challenges you.” Kitzov left the marine deck and stepped out into the corridors of the Resolute.
As he walked to the comman
d deck, Kitzov couldn’t help but admire the ship. He was alert to every noise. A gentle tap from around one corner and he knew a member of the Resolute’s crew was there. He launched a micro drone and sent it skimming along the deck. The drone feed let him see around the corner. A pair of Blue Star technicians were working at an open control panel. Kitzov stepped around the corner and shot both with a rapid flurry of pulse pistol blasts. They fell to the deck, red spilling out across to composite deck.
She was a beautiful warship, a fitting flagship for the new Faction. She was more modern and more powerful than the Silence. He was excited that it would be his in a matter of moments.
The micro drone skimmed along a few centimeters above the deck. The command deck corridor was empty, and the way to the command deck was clear. Kitzov felt his self-importance growing with every step along the corridor.
Walking into the command deck with a confident stride, he aimed his pistol at the pilot, Hemel. With his finger on the trigger, a warning signal sounded from one of the consoles to Hemel’s left. As he turned, he caught a glimpse of the pistol aimed at him.
Hemel ducked down into his seat the same instant that Kitzov fired the pulse round. The round fizzed over Hemel’s chair headrest and slammed into the outer ring of the holostage.
Hemel slid under the flight console and drew his side arm. He aimed blind around his flight chair and loosed off a few pulse rounds that slammed into the command chair, missing Kitzov completely.
Hemel scurried backward to the holostage. He jumped up onto it and rolled over to the far side, the holoimage of the Skarak planet and the Blue Stars advancing on their target shimmering over him as he rolled.
He dropped off the far side and crouched in cover, risking a glance to find his attacker. The command deck was empty. The pulse round blast sites on the command chair and his pilot’s seat headrest were still glowing and smoldering.
A movement on one side of the holostage had Hemel taking aim. A small micro drone darted back and forth, in and out of cover. Hemel knew his attacker was looking at him. He fired a shot at the micro drone, but the tiny drone, no bigger than a pulse round, evaded the shot by darting neatly to the side.
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