by Don Viecelli
Doug asked Di over his shoulder, “How much further?”
“We will exit hyperspace in ten of your minutes.”
Doug was a little apprehensive. He hadn’t been in this type of situation since he and Di boarded the first Qumru spaceship, Solruku, in orbit around Mars a few months back to retake control of the spaceship from the rogue nanomachine infected Qumru officers.
Di could sense Doug was concerned. “Do not worry, Colonel Martin. Our ships are equipped with cloaking energy shields. The Yoyka will not be able to see us if we stay far enough away from their warships.
Doug decided to spend the remaining time questioning Randu about conditions on Qum. “How long were you on Qum before the Yoyka found you?” He didn’t bring up the fact Randu died trying to defend the Onutu scientists.
“My team was already on the surface of Qum when the Yoyka first showed up with their warships. We were taken by surprise even though we knew the Yoyka showed their true nature by attacking other defenseless worlds near their home worlds. The Qumru leaders thought the Yoyka would leave them alone since we possess advanced space technology and FTL hyperspace travel. The Holtu military leadership was concerned and we placed troops on Qum. None of us expected the Yoyka to attack using their nanomachine weapon.”
“Did they know about you; the Holtu androids?” Doug asked.
“We do not believe so, at least not until Yoyka troops appeared on the surface of Qum to establish bases and monitor the infected Qumru peoples. They appear to fear our capabilities now, but not our numbers,” Randu added.
Di interrupted the conversation. “I am preparing to exit hyperspace now.”
Doug looked up at the outside viewing monitor screens above the pilots. The silvery gray streaks of light in hyperspace vanished in an instant replaced by a dark looking dwarf planet, its rough surface completely filled with impact craters caused by meteor strikes, surrounded by blackness and the faint illumination of distant starlight.
“Where are we?” Doug asked.
“We are on the outer edge of Qum’s star system. I did not want to attract attention from any nearby Yoyka warships when we exited hyperspace.” Di studied his long range scanning systems. The two Zoltu fighters appeared a moment later flanking them at a safe distance.
“We appear to have arrived undetected by any Yoyka.” Di said after a pause.
Randu scanned the entire star system. “I have located four Yoyka warships in this system. They are all near Qum. It appears they are landing more troops on the planet.”
“Then we must hurry,” Di said. “I will take us to Mimly, the small moon farthest from Qum. From there we will contact our troops guarding the Onutu scientists. If all is clear, we will land near the facility and pick everyone up.”
That was the agreed upon plan before they started the rescue mission ten hours earlier. Doug knew with all last minute military plans luck sometimes played a major role in the outcome. Things could go as planned, or a simple screw-up could get everyone killed. Doug hoped for the best as Di entered space coordinates for Mimly.
*****
First Commander Balota was in command of the Yoyka warships orbiting Qum. His first order was to guard the planet from any Holtu warship interference. His second order was to send down more Yoyka ground troops to locate and capture alive the Qumru Onutu scientists known to be hiding on the planet. He was in constant contact with the senior leader on the surface, First Officer Cadora.
Balota watched the video feeds coming from the drones flying above the ground troops that had just landed in a large mountain region near the Western coast on Qum. “Have you found the entrance yet, First Officer Cadora?”
Cadora stiffened at the interruption on his headset. He was a no-nonsense leader of Yoyka warriors and did not like the constant monitoring of his actions while on mission. “As you can see, First Commander, we found a hidden maintenance road that disappears inside this mountain. We have verified a tube train tunnel is below the surface. Once we break through the doors I will send my troops inside the mountain.”
“Very well First Officer. Keep me informed of your progress.” Balota heard the impatience in Cadora’s voice and did not push further. He had other duties to attend to. He turned to Second Commander Rida standing nearby, “Any reports from the other warship commanders?”
“No First Commander. All is clear.”
Balota was not worried. There was no indication from any of his sources that the Holtu androids or anybody else were about to threaten his control over the Qumru slaves under his supervision. The Qum star system had a dozen large mining operations on several planets that orbited this sun. When the nanomachines subdued the Qumru people, all the resources of these planets fell under Yoykan Empire control. Balota’s responsibility was to make sure the Qumru slaves produced the raw materials the Yoyka needed to maintain their Empire. The only added responsibility recently thrust upon him by Imperial Leader Rahta himself was to find and capture the Qumru scientists who somehow escaped the nanomachine infection and possessed the Onutu knowledge that Rahta promised he would benefit from. If the mind and body regenerating capabilities of Onutu were true, then Balota was assured of everlasting life and untold wealth if he succeeded in his task. The Qumru were surely the most advanced alien civilization so far subjugated under Yoyka rule and he held the keys to his own success. He was confident his troops would secure the prize as soon as they broke through the doors of the mountain below him.
Fist Officer Cadora was standing behind a large rock when the large metal doors protecting the entrance to this mountain exploded with a large boom. Cadora’s second in command, Officer Ardata stormed inside the darkened tunnel with a squad of 20 troops beside him. After a few moments of silence, the all clear signal was heard over Cadora’s earpiece and he proceeded inside to confer with his troop leader.
“What do you see?”
Ardata was looking at the comtablet screen held in his hands. “The drones are checking the tunnel now, First Officer. The road looks clear so far”
“How far does it go?”
“There is another door further down this tunnel. My men are almost there.”
Cadora noticed a camera lens on the ceiling above. He immediately fired his laser gun and destroyed it. “They know we’re here, Ardata. We must move quickly.”
Cadora gave the order for the rest of his troops to follow him inside the tunnel. He had one hundred troops at his command. He knew what happened to the last commander and his troops who tried to capture these Onutu scientists. They all died in a mass explosion. Cadora had no intention of letting that happen to his troops. This time they were more prepared.
Chapter 33
Rescue
“They’re here, inside the tunnel!” Second Leader Konutu yelled to his men. He had 19 Holtu soldiers at his command. He stationed fifteen of them near the door entrance to the tunnel where the first Yoyka ground troops were attempting to enter the Kemu underground facility. He didn’t have much time to spare, but even a short delay preventing the Yoyka from gaining entrance would allow enough time for the Qumru scientists in this facility to escape. The Holtu soldiers under his command understood the importance of this fight. The chances of them surviving this battle against a greater enemy force were close to zero, yet they were willing to die than surrender. Some of them had already died once or twice before. It was not something they feared.
Konutu made a call over his comlink to Killian and Jopar. “The Yoyka are trying to gain entrance to this facility. We will hold them back as long as we can. What is your status?”
Killian and Jopar were travelling in a military vehicle at high speed down another tunnel that led to a hidden spaceport a short distance away. There was enough space for a large shuttle to land and take off without being seen on the other side of the mountain.
“We’re almost there. We can see the landing zone!” Killian responded sitting next to Jopar and several other scientists in the vehicle with them.
&n
bsp; “Good. Tell First Leader Randu it was an honor to serve him.” Konutu terminated the call before he could receive an answer.
Suddenly, a large explosion rocked the hallway Konutu and his soldiers were guarding. Several Yoyka troops in heavy combat gear charged through the doorway with dense smoke obscuring the view. Energy weapons blazed through the air at troops on both sides. Five Yoyka troops fell instantly near the doorway from heavy Holtu fire. Without warning several stun grenades were thrown into the hallway by the Yoyka troops. The blasts were meant more to cause severe concussions in normal people rather than kill. They had little effect against the Holtu androids, but another built-in effect of stun grenades was to knock out electrical equipment and some weapon controls. This did have the expected consequences. Some of the Holtu energy weapons powered down and forced them to withdraw back from the tunnel entrance.
“Retreat to secondary position!” Konutu yelled over the comlink to his soldiers. Two fell from enemy fire as they retreated down the hallway, but the rest made it as they continued to fire weapons at the Yoyka troops now entering the facility in larger numbers.
The Yoyka troops in full combat gear were imposing looking enemies. Many of them were taller and heavier than the Holtu soldiers and they fought like warriors used to winning battles. The Holtu were more agile, possessed quicker reflexes and were unafraid. Outnumbered five to one, Konutu’s soldiers fought like they could defeat any enemy.
Twice, the Holtu retreated behind protective barriers fighting off the attacking Yoyka troops, but it was no use. There were too many of them and they had superior weapons against the energy weapons the Holtu soldiers carried. One by one, they fell until there were only two left.
“We have failed, First Leader!” the soldier beside Konutu said as he ran out of laser fire.
Konutu replied evenly. “Your actions helped save the Onutu scientists from falling into Yoyka hands, soldier! You and the others have proven to be Holtu Brave and will be rewarded highly after death.”
With nothing but the strength in their android bodies, the two Holtu soldiers stood up and fought hand-to-hand combat against the Yoyka troops overrunning their position. They used laser knives to cut open Yoyka combat armor at weak points and succeeded in killing five more troops before a senior Yoyka officer opened fired point blank into Konutu and the second soldier’s body armor. Konutu lay dead, but the second Holtu soldier lay badly wounded and unconscious, but not dead. Cadora bound up the soldier and called for assistance.
Fist Officer Cadora looked at the carnage around him. There was no other way to stop these last two Holtu warriors than to try and kill them. They were brave and stronger than any enemy soldiers he had personally fought against in his long career of warfare for the Emperor.
Cadora looked down at the last Yoyka warrior who died trying to stop these final two Holtu soldiers. Second Officer Ardata lay bleeding on the floor beneath his feet; his throat slashed ear to ear. Cadora looked at the remaining troops under his command. He asked his Third Officer to report on casualties. Over fifty dead and ten wounded. Unacceptable losses.
Cadora ordered his remaining troops to advance inside the facility, but he knew he was too late. The Qumru Onutu scientists hiding here were now long gone. The Holtu had succeeded in their mission. He felt grudging respect for the androids he had defeated. The Yoyka may have won this battle, but Cadora feared conquering this race was not going to be as easy as his commanders believed. Even worse, if what he had learned leading this mission was true; they would face these very same Holtu soldiers again on another battle field. The only thing he had accomplished was capture a single Holtu android soldier who appeared to be still alive. Maybe it would help find a way to defeat them in the battles to come.
*****
The distance from Mimly to the planet Qum was not too far, but it was going to be the most dangerous part of the rescue mission for the Holtu crew. The first obstacle was the Yoyka warship circling the planet.
“What are you going to do?” Doug asked Di as they observed the warship on their display screens.
“Our camouflage shielding is good against the naked eye, but enemy warship scanners could pick us up if they know where to look at this close distance.”
“It appears the warship is transporting enemy troop shuttles to the surface. They must have gained entrance to the Kemu underground facility by now.”
First Leader Randu interrupted the conversation. “I’m receiving a communication message from my troops on the ground.” He waited for the encrypted translation to finish. “It says the Qumru scientists have left the facility and are headed for the landing zone. They’re sending the coordinates now.”
Randu listened to the rest of the message. He appeared to hesitate at the news. “The Yoyka have overrun my troops who stayed behind to delay the attack. They are lost, but the rest are moving by military vehicles to the landing zone. They will be there shortly. We must hurry!”
Di settled on a course of action. “I will use Qum’s moon, Opura, to hide us from the warship’s scanning radar. It will put us on the other side of the planet as well. We should be able to fly low to the surface to the landing zone coordinates without being detected. It’s our best chance.”
The transport shuttle flew swiftly towards Qum. The two Holtu Zoltu fighters stayed close to their side. Di decided to hug the coastline along the sea’s edge to cover most of the distance before veering suddenly inland through a mountain pass to the specified coordinates.
Doug spotted the landing zone on his monitoring screen and pointed it out to Di and Randu. The shuttle immediately slowed down for a vertical landing. The landing pad was well hidden by trees and high mountain ridges on all sides. Unless someone flew directly overhead they would have missed it.
The shuttle silently landed on the ground. Within minutes a large door opened in the mountain side and several military vehicles raced up to the shuttle. Di stayed at the controls while Randu and Doug followed the ten Holtu soldiers outside. The soldiers formed a protective perimeter around the shuttle while Qumru scientists and others raced to board the shuttle. Doug helped direct Qumru up the steps until the last person was on board. The soldiers quickly retreated back to the shuttle and prepared to take off.
Randu sat back down in his pilot seat as Di powered up the engines and they lifted straight up off the surface into the air. Suddenly, alarms went off in the cabin.
“We’ve been detected!” Randu said.
Di checked his camouflage shield. It was on. He checked his radar scanner and saw the problem. “Yoyka Spitkas have detected us. We must hurry.”
Doug looked at the passengers in back of him. They looked afraid as they should. He counted 48 people. All seats were taken. Some of the Holtu soldiers were standing holding onto straps above them. The shuttle was filled to maximum capacity, but it would not affect their flight. The biggest problem was the shuttle carried only defensive weapon systems. They could not engage in any space battle. The two Zoltu fighters would have to defend them against the Yoyka Spitka fighters heading their way.
“The Yoyka must have figured out there was a landing zone nearby and sent Spitkas,” Randu commented to Di.
Di looked at his radar screen. Ten Spitka fighters were closing fast. “We should be on their radar screens by now, but for some reason the Yoyka have not fired any missiles. They must want to capture us without killing us. They want the Onutu scientists alive!”
Di increased speed as fast as he could in atmospheric conditions. There was no way they could reach light speed to enter hyperspace without clearing Qum’s gravity well first. Their only hope lay in the two Zoltu fighters and their three member Holtu crews.
The two Zoltu fighters turned toward the ten Spitkas fighters and fired all their missiles. That caused the Spitka fighters to fire back. The Zoltu fighters headed directly into the flight path of the Spitka fighters. The Yoyka had no choice but to separate to avoid impact. This gave Di time to clear Qum’s air space and head
for the protection of the moon.
“The Yoyka warship is heading our way. They are sending more fighters,” Randu said.
The space battle behind them ended as suddenly as it started. Four Yoyka Spitkas were destroyed by Zoltu missiles before they in turn were destroyed by Spitka missiles. Six large explosions erupted behind them as fire and smoke blocked their vision on the monitoring screens.
The moon Opura filled their screens before Di flew around it and used it to block any attempt by the Yoyka warship to fire on them. Di watched his speed climb quickly until he neared the crossover point for hyperspace travel. Once the shuttle reached 186,282.0 miles per second Earth light speed, the FTL hyperdrive kicked in and they entered hyperspace and were safely on their way to Mars.
Chapter 34
Emperor Rahta
Once again, Emperor Rahta of the Yoykan Empire received news from Qum he did not like. He flew into a rage and flung his comdisplay to the floor shattering it into several pieces. He could be heard swearing loudly outside his palace office doors. The two security guards inside the hallway looked at each other in fear. Fortunately, Rahta did not call for them.
Instead, Rahta placed a call on his communicator and waited impatiently at his desk for High Commander Anahta to appear in person a few minutes later.
Anahta already heard the news Emperor Rahta was so upset about. He prepared himself for the worse. “You summoned me, Imperial Leader?”
“Of course I summoned you, Commander! I thought you told me everything was under control on Qum—that we would have no problems capturing those Onutu scientists!”
“I’m sorry, Imperial Leader. I believe I said we have located the scientists and our best warriors would attempt to take them alive. I did not mean to give the impression it was a certainty.”