by S. H. Jucha
Jess’s plan was too complicated for him to communicate directly to the shadows, and he enlisted Juliette’s help.
The SADE examined Lucia’s visuals and designed a program to coordinate the seven shadows.
Six shadows climbed the mound and waited just below the top.
The seventh shadow, the one without a laser, eased into position and peeked between the dead red’s pincers. Its sensor recorded target after target.
In turn, the six shadows shared the targets they were relayed. One at a time, laser heads popped over the pile’s top and fired.
The shooters were firing blind, which made for initial misses, but the spotter quickly corrected fire. By a laser’s second or third burst, the target was down.
The reds concentrated their fire on the first laser source, but they’d no sooner done that than their target disappeared, and a second source appeared and killed another of their members.
Juliette had programmed the shadows to pop up in a completely random sequence, which never repeated during the fight.
As the slugs flew overhead, the assault team stayed tucked against the mound of bodies.
Jess made a mental note to have engineering make the shadows capable of relaying imagery. As the moments passed, he grinned. The reds’ rate of fire dwindled, and then it ceased. He glanced above him at the six shadows. Their laser heads were below the crest of the pile. They were awaiting targets from the spotter.
Before Jess could move, Tacnock raced up the carcasses. He slowly peeked over the top of the pile and studied the cars and what he could see of the insectoids. There was no movement.
Homsaff noted that the SADE had brought down Simlan’s squad, and she silently approved of the choice.
“Time to move the bodies again?” Hessan asked, and Jess nodded.
Hessan barked a command, and the warriors leapt to obey and create the opening a second time.
Shadows three and four hurried through the gap. They were tasked with surveying the pile of cars and the reds.
Jess stuck his head around the mound. He watched, while the shadows searched the barricade.
Shadow three climbed a car for an overview. Four crept around the end of the barricade, stepping over two reds. Then it walked the barricade looking for signs of movement.
After their search was complete, three and four gazed down the tunnel to the connecting ring.
Jess saw the shadows study the far length of tunnel. He sent,
When Jess turned around, he saw Simlan’s squad studying the pile of insectoids. They appeared disappointed.
“Why not another barrier?” Sam asked.
“They used the cars in each tunnel for a barricade,” Tacnock replied. “Jess is correct. The Colony anticipated our assault, but they couldn’t know by which tunnel we’d enter.”
“Three launch tubes; three tunnels,” Lucia said. “That means there’ll be at least two times this number of reds waiting for us.” She’d swung her arms to indicate the mound and the bodies behind the barricade.
Jess grinned at Juliette’s remark and the tweet of some instrument that had followed. Having checked on the shadows, Jess leaned against the tunnel wall. Twice the number of reds, he thought.
“Simlan, Hessan, have your warriors clear away the dead from the cars. Keep the tracks clear,” Jess ordered. “Then I want the cars righted, placed on the right-side track, and pointed toward the ring.”
Jess had no idea of the weight of a tunnel car, but he was sure that two squads of Dischnya and Sam could lift one.
The shadows were sent meters forward of the barrier to stand guard, while the bodies were cleared, the cars righted, and then set on the tracks.
As soon as a car made contact, it powered, but Tacnock swiftly shut it down, lest it follow its programming and trace the tunnel’s circuit.
When the bodies were cleared, Simlan, having noticed the clean burn holes in the reds, appreciatively patted the spotter’s head.
“What’s the plan?” asked Lucia, when every car sat on the tracks.
“I was thinking to load most of us in the cars,” Jess replied. “I’ll send the shadows ahead of us along the tunnel walls. Any Dischnya who can’t fit in the cars can follow behind the shadows.”
“When we reach the ring, then what?” Sam asked.
“I don’t know,” Jess said. “It’ll depend on how many reds we face.”
“Captain, that’s not much of a plan,” Homsaff commented.
“That’s all I have,” Jess replied. “It’s too bad the Colony didn’t —” He abruptly stopped and stared overhead.
A few Dischnya glanced upward, wondering what the captain saw.
The assault team, the pilots, and the fleet’s leaders heard Jess explain his idea.
On the Freedom’s bridge, there was more than one individual who grinned admiringly.
Squad three, led by Fenero, arrived in the tunnel, and Jess divided the three squads evenly to trail the six fully operational shadows, which he’d also split.
Tacnock activated the rearward car and hurried along the line. He did the same for each car, while Jess, Lucia, Sam, and Homsaff piled into the first car. Tacnock joined them, and the line of cars set off down the tunnel.
The shadows kept pace with the lead car, and the Dischnya loped behind them.
Jess glanced at Simlan, who led his group of warriors. Gleeful anticipation was written all over his face.
Franz and Sharon executed their attack maneuvers on the other two shuttles in their launch tubes.
In the tunnel, the assault team could feel the detonations.
As the lead car reached the ring, it stopped to await passengers. Tacnock overrode its programming. He drove the first half of the cars toward the shuttle tube, until he had two rows of five cars each. If Jess’s plan failed, this configuration would offer the team some protection.
Jess knew of the warriors’ penchant to utter yelps and barks when excited, and he ordered their faceplates closed for the attack. He glanced to either side of the cars. The shadows were poised, with their heads turned his way. In comic imitation, the warriors’ heads were cocked toward him at the same angles as the shadows.
Having preset the shadows’ directions, Jess selected the links to the shadows and the assault team. Then he sent one word, “Attack.” His order sent each of three shadows scurrying into a separate t
unnel. The warriors ran silently behind them.
Jess, Lucia, and Tacnock darted into one tunnel, and Homsaff and Sam took the other one.
The assault teams caught the insectoids unaware. The detonations of the Colony’s remaining two shuttles had warned the reds of impending attacks. They faced the airlocks, ready to repel the invaders.
The shadows killed silently with their lasers. They’d targeted the rear ranks of the insectoids. Reds behind the barrier fell dead before others recognized the direction of the attack. Then they quickly died before being able to return more than a few shots.
The shadows and veterans raced for the barrier, and from that relative position of safety, they poured fire into the reds facing the airlock.
Jess’s plan had its merits, but the reds in the tunnel heavily outnumbered the assault teams. Moreover, the insectoids targeted the shadows, soon eliminating them. Then, as their number was cut down, they turned their weapons on the Dischnya and the veterans.
Slugs tore into the barriers and the dead insectoids that the assault team members hid behind. Fortunately, any slugs that penetrated the bodies had reduced velocity before they struck the veterans.
During the firefight, Jess saw Lucia go down, and he panicked and crawled to her side.
Lucia was unresponsive to Jess’s attentions, and his heart hammered in his chest.
Finally, Lucia’s eyes opened. She smiled weakly at Jess. “I’m all right,” she managed to whisper. “The slug hit my helmet and knocked me hard.”
“Stay down,” Jess said urgently, and he returned to the fight. Exposing his position for better aim, Jess pumped round after round at the nearest reds.
Tacnock popped up beside Jess, and he snarled his rage at the reds. Their actions emboldened the Dischnya. They popped their faceplates and yipped and barked, as they eliminated the last of the insectoids.
Jess could hear explosive rounds from the other tunnel. He glanced briefly at Lucia, who’d propped herself against a car. Then he took off at a run. Unsurprising to him, the warriors swiftly overtook him. By the time, Jess arrived to support Homsaff’s team, the fight was over.
“Homsaff, Sam, you have this tunnel,” Jess said hurriedly. “Those who were with me, we return to the other tunnel.”
Jess ran the entire way to Lucia. This time, the Dischnya loped casually around him. He eyed Simlan, who ran beside him. “Oh, for the love of Pyre,” he muttered, when he saw how easily the aging warrior kept pace with him.
“It was a good fight, Captain,” Simlan said, baring his muzzle full of teeth.
When Jess and his team arrived at the barrier, he said, “Simlan, evacuate our wounded and our dead.” Then he knelt beside Lucia. She hadn’t moved from her place against a car. Her helmet was off, and she was staring at it.
“How do you feel?” Jess asked, with concern.
“I’m good,” Lucia replied softly.
It was the too casual way in which Lucia spoke that worried Jess. He checked her eyes and saw that her pupils were blown.
Realizing that Lucia’s helmet was cracked, and the suit’s integrity lost, Jess removed his helmet and slipped it over her head. Locking it into place, he said, “You’re out of here.”
“I’m fine,” Lucia objected, but there was no strength in her voice.
The SADEs from shuttle one, which had launched the shadows, poured through the airlock and tossed insectoid bodies aside to reach Jess’s assault team. The five wounded and two dead Dischnya on Jess’s team were swiftly lifted into their arms and carried out.
A SADE easily rode the line to the shuttle with a warrior in his or her arms.
“Captain?” a SADE inquired, kneeling beside Jess. He’d seen the cracked helmet in Jess’s hands and was concerned for the assault commander’s status.
“It’s the commodore’s,” Jess replied. “She requires medical care.”
“I’ll see to it, Captain,” the SADE replied. He scooped Lucia into his arms and hurried away.
The last thing Jess received from Lucia via his implant was a weak cry of
Jess felt a hand grip his arm. He turned to see his friend, Tacnock, who gazed at him with sympathetic eyes.
“The SADEs have her, Jess,” Tacnock said. “She couldn’t be in better hands.”
Jess nodded. Then he noticed that the SADEs had disappeared, and the Dischnya were waiting for orders. “To the ring,” he said.
SADEs relayed Jess’s request to Homsaff, and he met the queen, Sam, and the other warriors at the ring.
“How many?” Jess asked Homsaff.
“Three dead, including Fenero, and four wounded,” Homsaff replied.
“Two dead and six wounded, including the commodore,” Jess said. “I’m sorry for your losses, Queen Homsaff,” he added gravely.
“Warriors live to fight. They prefer to die in combat rather than in old age,” Homsaff replied.
Despite the queen’s acceptance of the fight’s outcome, Jess could see that she was angered by the five dead.
“Do we take the dome, Captain?” Homsaff asked. She had a fierce gleam in her eyes.
“Yes, we do,” Jess replied, with determination.
The remainder of the assault team marched across the ring and into the tunnel leading to the dome’s airlock.
At the outer hatch, Jess pulled a vial of insectoid blood. He glanced around him. Launchers were readied, and breeches snicked, as they were checked. Then Jess used the tube’s applicator to smear some blood on the access panel.
The hatch slid aside. It was empty, and half the assault team crowded inside. Jess handed the tube off to Hessan, who would be next through the airlock. When Jess’s group rotated into the corridor, they found that deserted too.
Sam motioned Homsaff aside, and he touched a glyph. When the door opened, he swung his launcher into the room. It wasn’t necessary. There were no insectoids present.
Jess and Tacnock checked a dorm room across the corridor with the same result.
In the meantime, Hessan’s group had made the corridor.
“Sam, take Homsaff and half the warriors below. Check the lower level. Tacnock, the others, and I will clear this level,” Jess directed.
“Wait for us at the ramp,” Sam said, in a warning voice, and Jess touched two fingers to his brow in agreement.
Minutes later, the teams were assembled at the ramp. Not a single insectoid had been found.
Tacnock kicked the release plate to lower the ramp. Then the Dischnya and he raced up the ramp before Jess and Sam could move.
Jess regarded Homsaff, who had stayed behind, and she bared her formidable rows of teeth in a grin.
Not hearing the pop-pops of launcher fire, Jess trudged up the ramp. He was weary from the fighting, the running, and thoughts of more veteran dead.
“Captain,” Simlan said, when Jess made the dome’s deck.
Jess looked where Simlan pointed. Hovering just outside the dome was shuttle two. Its ramp was down, and Juliette sat on the edge. Her legs dangled over the edge.
Juliette’s fingers flew, as she signed, “Saw reds flee through gate two. Spoke to Esteban. Pims say two connects to non-alliance system.”
“All clear below,” Jess signed. “Need you here to lockout gate.”
“Coming,” Juliette replied, and the traveler reversed toward a shuttle tube.
Juliette arrived in the dome, and she shut down access to the gate that the Colony used to evacuate.
Esteban informed the Pims of the successful taking of the dome,
and they were overjoyed.
After the SADEs transferred the wounded and dead Dischnya to the Freedom, the shuttles returned to gather the remainder of the assault team and the shadows.
Jess sat near his traveler’s hatch. The pilot noticed where Jess sat and was pleased to learn from Sam that the captain was unable to trigger the hatch. He’d been worried that Jess might prematurely open it before the bay fully pressurized.
As it was, Jess could connect to the controller. He knew when the ship set down, and he stood at the hatch, waiting for it to drop. When it did, he jumped through it and ran to the bay’s airlock.
The team took their time exiting the traveler. They had no intention of asking their assault commander to wait for them, while he hurried to the commodore’s side.
28: Deliverance
“Confirmed, Admiral. It’s the federacy fleet,” the captain of the Trident Deliverance relayed to Deirdre.
“Detonation on the planet’s surface, Captain,” the telemetry officer reported “It was powerful but localized to a landing pad. We exited our transit too late to record imagery of what existed previously at the explosion’s site.”
“Survey the planet,” Deirdre ordered. “Look for anomalies among the visuals. I want to know if the battleships have shuttles in orbit or on the surface.”
The captain directed the Trident’s pilot to close on the planet, and telemetry scanned for signs of the federacy fleet’s landing.
“No shuttles in evidence, Admiral,” the captain reported.
“The fleet is underway,” the telemetry officer announced.
“Follow it,” Deirdre ordered. “I want to see those ships exit the system, and I want their vector recorded.”
When the Packeoes exited the Usaana system, the Deliverance’s controller recorded the vector.
“Broadcast our star coordinates and that vector to every ship in my command and the scouts,” Deirdre directed. She intended the ships to use the data to redirect their search fields.
Deirdre turned to a SADE. “Celsius, I’d like an analysis combining the sightings of this rogue fleet, this vector, and the next possible alliance systems that the fleet might encounter,” Deirdre requested.