by Jan Domagala
“We’d better get moving back to the Pulsar,” Jake said.
“Pulsar? What’s that?” Alex asked.
“Our ride off this station,” Mack told him as they all rushed for the exit.
“Artie, where are the other War Dogs and the visitors who came in the Genotian shuttle?” Jake asked.
“There is only one War Dog left, sir, but the Genotian visitors are all leaving Engineering. Their shuttle left just before the explosion,” Artie replied.
“Who are you talking to, have you left someone on your ship?” Alex asked, not being linked to the comm channel he could only hear one end of the conversation making it difficult to follow.
“Our ship, or rather the AI who controls our ship,” Gina informed him.
“You said who controls it, shouldn’t that be that controls it?” Alex corrected her.
“You’ll see when you meet him,” Gina said.
“Wait, there was a Genotian shuttle?” Alex said remembering part of the conversation.
“Yes, my guess is they sent some Marines to clean this mess up when they lost contact with the station. We got here first because our friend informed our boss when he couldn’t contact his friend,” Jake said.
“Well, if they sent Marines, chances are they sent Major Black, he’s been chomping at the bit to terminate the War Dogs ever since the civil war ended. He is one cold-hearted rat bastard and wouldn’t think twice about sacrificing his men to gain his objective,” Alex said.
“Let me get this right, to get to the Pulsar, we’ve got to contend with one of those monsters, no offence Major, and the stranded Marines sent up here to terminate them?” Joe said.
“That sounds about right,” Mack said which brought nods of agreement from the rest of them.
“Just wanted to get it straight in my head is all,” he said once he had it confirmed.
“Right, less chatter and more work. Back up the way we came and we could evade them all,” Jake said sternly.
“Are you going to leave those Marines here to die?” Alex asked not believing what he had heard.
“Only if their intent is on stopping us from leaving, don’t forget they probably came here to kill your friends. Also with the setting of explosives in the reactor room probably means their intention was to kill everyone on the station. The fact their own commander left them here is poetic justice in my opinion. Now if you want to get off here with us then I suggest you move now, if not then that’s your choice but you have to make your mind up fast as we’re leaving,” Jake replied angrily.
Alex nodded his head and said, “You’re right, I know, it’s just that in the Home Guard we were taught never to leave anyone behind.”
“So were we, except when they’re trying to kill you,” Joe said interrupting the conversation.
“Can we go now, we can all sing cum by yah when we get off this tub,” Mack added urgently.
Gina was already at the door to the maintenance shaft waiting for the others to catch up.
“Hurry guys, this thing will blow very soon and I for one would like to be far away from it when it does,” she said.
They started the long climb back up to the docking bays; the thought of the station exploding around them added fuel to their efforts.
They reached the deck where the docking bays were and began to work their way out from the shaft towards the outer edge of the Central Hub, retracing their steps as they went.
It didn’t take them long to extract themselves from the rooms leading towards the docking bay entrance tunnels. They remained vigilant for they knew they had two dangers: one potential and one very real and deadly.
Luckily there was no sign of the remaining War Dog, which was just as well for they could hardly waste the precious little time they had left before the station blew fighting a berserker monster.
“There’s the entrance tunnel to the Pulsar,” Gina said.
Jake saw it too through the opening in the room. He had a bad feeling about it though, it had all gone too easily, and when that happened it was usually about to go very wrong.
“Keep frosty people, we’re not home free just yet,” he said.
Just as they stepped through the opening into the corridor with the tunnel entrance just off to the side, they heard it, the sound of weapons being primed.
They all turned and saw a row of soldiers standing with their pulse rifles up to their shoulders aimed at them.
“Don’t move, or we will fire,” said a voice to their side.
III
Black sat back in the seat watching the screen before him. The view was showing the station they had left behind. He knew they had reached a safe distance and a smile crossed his thin lips as he waited.
He checked the time to see how long it would be before the reactor detonated destroying the station.
They had less than three minutes. He had already seen the sensor readings of the grenades going off so he knew it wouldn’t be long before the containment failed on the reactor blowing the station to bits.
In less than three minutes the last threat to the Movement would be destroyed, the War Dogs would be dead and when the Separatist’s rose once more there would be no one to stand in their way.
He sat back and relaxed.
I should’ve brought some popcorn, this is gonna be one hell of a show, he thought with a smile.
IV
“Who’s in command here?” Jake asked the soldiers facing them.
A young fresh-faced soldier briefly held up a hand. “Private Talbot, sir,” he said a little unsure of himself.
“Okay Talbot, listen to me very carefully. We have to get off this station and I mean now. You know what’s going to happen to the reactor, you started it all. So you know what’ll happen if we all don’t reach our ship,” Jake said as calmly as he could. Every fibre of his being was urging him to run down the tunnel, get aboard the Pulsar and get the hell away. What was stopping him was the thought of leaving these soldiers here to die.
“We’ll never all fit inside your ship, so we’re going to take it. I’m sorry, sir, but it’s you or us and I already have wounded men, I have to get them to safety.”
“First off we can all fit inside, it’s big enough to carry more than you have here and then some and secondly, what makes you think we’d let you?” Jake said standing a little straighter and looking the young soldier in the eye. He could see the fear there and if he played his hand wrong then this would turn into a bloodbath.
“With respect, sir, we’re the ones holding the guns on you,” Talbot said.
All the while he had been talking to the soldier Jake had moved slowly forward. Little by little he had inched closer followed by the rest of the team so that his movements weren’t noticed as much, so that when he made his move it was a total surprise.
He reached forward with lightning speed and grabbed the muzzle of the rifle Talbot had been holding and in one deft motion had it turned around and aimed at the young soldier’s face.
“Are you sure about that?” Jake said.
Talbot took a step back in shock at how quickly and easily he had been disarmed. Now he was the one with the gun in the face.
“Okay, let’s not do anything hasty here. This was just a demonstration to show you if you did try to take us it wouldn’t go like you planned,” Jake said then handed the weapon back to the young man.
In complete confidence he walked up to Talbot and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Come on, let’s get you home.”
Talbot nodded to his men and they all ran down the tunnel into the docking bay. From there it was still a long run to the hatch and Jake urged them all on. Joe, Mack and Gina all did the same urging the young Marines to go faster than they thought possible and they helped those wounded, who couldn’t make it themselves.
They reached the hatch and Artie opened it to let them all in.
“Artie get us the hell away from here before it blows,” Jake said when the hatch was closed behind them.
Jake steadied Talbot as the Pulsar left the docking area and the AI boosted power to the main engines getting as much thrust into getting them as far away as possible before the station blew.
Suddenly they all felt the ship shoved sideways as if by a gigantic hand and they knew the station had gone.
“Artie get the shields up,” Jake shouted.
“Shields are up, sir,” Artie said, the AI’s synthetic voice travelling all around the bridge where they all bounced around in the sway of the massive shockwave from the blast.
The AI took control of the ship compensating for the push from the blast by diverting thrust to other sections of the drive. Pretty soon the ship’s engines had pushed them further than the reaches of the blast radius and their flight smoothed out.
“Well done buddy,” Mack said as he let out a long breath he hadn’t realised he’d been holding.
Jake saw Alex looking hard at the viewscreen showing the sight of what was left of the station with sad eyes.
“You alright, Major?” he asked as he went to stand by him.
“I was just thinking about my friends and the last one we left to die on that station,” he said.
“There was nothing we could’ve done. When that experiment went wrong, it sealed all their fates.”
“Don’t you see though, this should never have happened; Garrison was trying to reverse the effects of the serum, but instead it did just the opposite and then some. What are the odds that someone with his knowledge would make such a bad mistake?”
“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” Jake said in surprise.
“Damn right I am. This was no accident, this was intentional and Garrison did it against his will and I can prove it,” Alex said.
“In that case I know exactly where we have to go, the one place where we can do something about it,” Jake said. He turned away from the Major and said, “Artie take us home and fast.”
Part Two
Sector for the Independent Worlds
12
I
Talipso
“What do you mean, we’ve lost contact with the station?” Mace Fallon shouted, spittle flying from his thick lips. This sector belonged to the Orion Cartel and he was in charge and he was furious. Forty-odd years of living this life had given him a hard, lean body and an even harder outlook on life on his planet.
“I’m sorry Mace but we can’t raise it,” replied Walker Smith who looked down dejectedly at his feet.
Mace turned away from Walker as he tried to calm his anger. This plan of his had its risks, he had known that from the get go, but it had all hinged on one person. They had taken measures to ensure that person’s co-operation.
“How much of the sample did he give us?” he asked turning around to look at his friend.
“Enough for say twenty doses, but that’s not gonna be enough.”
“Keep trying to raise the station they might be having trouble with their comms, these things go down on a regular basis, you know that.”
“Copy that,” Walker said then turned and marched off leaving Fallon to ruminate over what was happening.
When Fallon had learned of the Genotian civil war he was interested. Anything to do with wars interested him; conflict was his stock in trade. He preyed on weaker planets and submissive civilisations; it was how he made his living. It had been documented in the media how Garrison had come up with a serum that had altered normal soldiers into super soldiers giving them the opportunity to win the war. He’d kept an eye on the situation and learned of the after effects of the serum and how the War Dogs had been hunted down for being too violent. Later he learned through a contact he had in the Genotian government that Garrison was working on a refined serum that would make the War Dogs controllable, in an effort to negate the negative aspects of the original. That was when an idea began to form. If he could get Garrison to tailor this new serum, make the subjects more controllable and yet keep the aggression, he could turn himself and his men into superhuman warriors and he could move out from the Independent Worlds sector and conquer more of space.
Garrison was easy to control, he simply got his contact to kidnap his family and bring them here. He then contacted Garrison and told him if he didn’t pass over the serum, altered to his specifications, they would die a horrible death. Garrison was supposed to manufacture more of this refined serum on the station to transfer to them in exchange for his family. The sample he had given was a sign of goodwill to show that the serum still existed and he could make the alterations needed and that more would follow.
He hoped that his worst fears had not come to pass, that something had happened to prevent Garrison from completing his side of the bargain. He would hate to have to kill his family; he had become quite fond of the wife. He even toyed with the idea of taking her for his own once the good doctor had done what he promised. He would have to kill him anyway to ensure he didn’t make an antidote for his competitors, so taking his wife seemed the natural thing to do, that was until he got bored of her then he’d kill her too.
He would wait until tomorrow then make a decision.
II
Earth
The Pulsar came out of the hyperspace jump close to Earth, or as close as the gravitational fields would allow.
“Take us down, Artie. Is General Sinclair expecting us?” Jake asked the AI controlling the huge ship.
“Copy that, sir. I informed the General of our arrival as soon we left Genotia, sir. Our arrival has been detected on the planetary scanners,” replied the AI.
“Okay Artie, let the others know we’re here.”
“Copy that, sir.”
The Pulsar’s front section detached from the main section of the huge starship when it arrived in a parking orbit around Earth.
Jake, Joe, Mack, Gina, Alex and the Marines were all on the bridge as the craft made re-entry through Earth’s atmosphere.
“This ship is very impressive,” observed Alex as he looked around the bridge. The Marines all stood in a group at the back, rather subdued by the betrayal of their commander.
“You don’t know the half of it,” agreed Joe. The pain from his ribs had eased so that he was beginning to feel normal once more.
“And it’s all classified so don’t get any ideas, Major,” Jake told him with a stern look.
Alex held up his hands in compliance, “Don’t worry Jake, your secret is safe with me,” Alex replied.
“We’ll be landing in a few,” Gina said from the front. She was watching the forward viewscreen showing the craft’s flight through the atmosphere. They were approaching Nellis Base in Southern Nevada the new home of Col Sec.
Within a few moments the Pulsar landed on a landing pad on the outskirts of the base. Jake led them all out into the sunlight as they strode down the ramp to the ground.
Two armed Marines greeted them at the base of the ramp.
“Escort our passengers to a holding area until we can debrief them, and get the medics to see to their wounds,” Jake told the Marines who saluted and stood in front of the Genotians.
Jake looked at Alex and the others and said, “It’s okay, go with them, you’re not prisoners. I’ll make sure my boss comes to see you so we can figure out what to do next.”
Alex nodded his compliance and Jake saw him look at the other Marines. He wondered how they would react to him taking control and giving them orders but he needn’t have worried, they fell into the chain of command protocols like the well-oiled machine they were.
As the two groups separated, Jake and his team made their way to the Command and Control centre on the base.
As they entered the large room festooned with computer monitors General Sinclair turned from the large main screen to greet them.
“Ah, nice to see you made it back in one piece,” Sinclair said. As usual he was dressed immaculately in a suit. Sinclair was slim but in exceptionally good health considering he was in his late fifties. His dark hair was brushed back from a high forehea
d into a widow’s peak. Dark eyes flashed with an intense intelligence but a stoic expression hid any emotion.
“I take it your mission was a success,” Sinclair said as they approached him.
Jake said, “You could say that, sir, but there have been some developments I think you should be aware of.”
“Right,” Sinclair said, his expression giving nothing of his sudden interest away, “my Ready Room now for the debrief.”
Without another word Jake watched him turn and head towards the door.
Inside the Ready Room was a long mahogany table with monitor screens arranged at every seat. They all entered and waited for Sinclair to take his seat first at the head of the table. Jake went to sit on his right followed by the other members of his team.
“Go ahead, give me the short version first,” Sinclair started.
“We arrived at the station and were greeted by Major Alex Thorn, commander of the War Dogs. He informed us of what happened there. Doctor Garrison had altered the other War Dogs at a molecular level it seems, mutating them into hideous monsters. While we were there we encountered one of them and managed to kill it but not until it almost killed us. Major Thorn believes that Garrison altered the soldiers purposely and we think we know why. Before we could find the proof we were joined by a squad of Marines from Genotia’s Home Guard. It seems they were there to destroy the War Dogs. After an encounter with one of the mutated soldiers their leader panicked and set the reactor to blow. He left his men there to die; however, we managed to reach safety in time. I dread to think of the lies he’s spinning on his Homeworld.”
“What proof were you looking for?” Sinclair asked.
“A log in the computer that told what a ship from the Orion Cartels was doing on the station.”
“The Orion Cartels you say? If they are involved I can think of a good reason why they would want Garrison to alter soldiers. From the little we know of them they are mercenaries who prey on weaker civilisations, but our intel on them is scarce to say the least so we can’t be sure of anything yet until we learn more.”