Starblazer- Through the Black Gate

by Reiter

  “Batter up,” Jocasta huffed as she jumped and landed on her hands as she clicked her heels together. She then mule kicked the shape-shifter into the hovering man and sent them both to the ground. As they fell, Jocasta pulled from her shoulder holster. “Level five boom,” she said as she took aim. The moment the two bodies hit the ground she fired. The first explosion made her drop to her knees to avoid the repercussive force. The resultant explosion made her roll away from the edge of the overlook. She lost count of the explosions, but when they were done, Jocasta was covered with debris. She removed the larger bits from atop her person and started laughing. “I’m not sure, Bob, but I think she got all of that one!

  “Did she ever,” Jocasta continued, altering her voice slightly. “That baby was still going up when it reached the fence!” She stood up and looked around. The side doors were still her best option, but at least her immediate area was clear. She jogged a few meters before jumping over the side. As Dungias had promised, her boots absorbed the shock of the landing, but she rolled anyway. It seemed a better play to keep in the habit.

  The doors opened while Jocasta was still a couple of meters from them. It was a member of the Gulmar Brigade, a Brick, and he charged Jocasta without hesitation. He wielded a pair of fighting sticks, called escrima, and he was very gifted in their use. Jocasta gave ground as she ducked and dodged before using her cane to make a very strong block. She jumped to her left as the man delivered a powerful turning back kick that just missed her. Jocasta made a feint for a downward swing for his head. Both escrima were lifted to block the attack she never sent. Her thrust, however, struck true to the man’s stomach, and it was quickly followed by a spinning uppercut that lifted him from the ground.

  Six more men came rushing into the door with their escrima at the ready and Jocasta heard a soft, but sharp, plucking sound. A strange arrow landed in the floor tile just in front of the charging men. It exploded, throwing each man to the ground. Jocasta turned to see Olkin lowering a bow and nodding at her.

  “Fire in the hole,” Mel warned as he fired his grenade launcher at the doors. The explosion was powerful, but barely made any noise.

  “That was a Z job!” Jocasta quickly concluded. “Definitely one of his graviton pulses!”

  “That road is way too hot,” Mel warned. “Satithe said outside cameras show another ten making their move for it right now.”

  “Give them a reason to slow it down,” Jocasta commanded.

  “You got it,” Mel replied. “Reverse yield,” he whispered, firing his chair-mounted launcher again. Another graviton pulse struck, but it pulled the frame of the door in on itself. The metal was twisted and the wall warped. The light of day was coming in, but not much else. Jocasta tossed two of her smoke bombs to block their view. She did not know what she was going to do next, but she knew very much that she did not want to share it with anyone not already with her.

  “You got a way out of here, Tank?” Jocasta asked and Mel looked to his rear.

  “He left that to me, Captain,” Silnee replied, firing her blaster into the ground. “I found the tunnels, Satithe, thanks!”

  “Cupid, get down here,” Jocasta commanded as she moved toward the hole. She drew her blaster and fired three more times, causing Silnee to jump back in fright and some confusion.

  “You got a man with a fat ass, Tolip,” she reminded the young woman. “The shaft is wider than the opening. Make a way or make him stay!”

  “Yes, Captain. Sorry, Mel.”

  “The name’s Tank,” Mel said as he jetted ahead of everyone. “And I’ve got point!”

  “I’ll take rear,” Olkin declared. “… but I’ve only got three more blast arrows.”

  “Then put something else in that bow for now,” Jocasta directed as she looked up. She smiled at the sound of it, the lander-shuttle’s engines firing up as it flew away. Her viewing ports let her know that Satithe was piloting the shuttle.

  “Holy shit… literally!” Mel cried. “It stinks down here!”

  “Everybody, get on your goggles option menu and mask up,” Jocasta ordered, turning as she heard banging on the wedged doorframe. It sounded as if there were more than ten people out there. There was not much in the way of legend or rumor mill regarding the Bricks. There was far too much video footage of actual events! The one she had faced must have been a scout… and he had been well-trained in the martial arts. Her physical speed had just been greater than his technique… this time.

  “Tolip, back Tank. I’ll be right behind you. Let’s move people, we’ve got more bad guys than we can count!

  “And when I get my hands on you, Z,” she thought as she dropped down into the sewer tunnel. Already her mask was filtering the stench and adjusting her vision to function in zero light. “… sending a flank team… after me?! Aahhh, screw it! The way those boys were running, they knew how to fight as a group. Just one of them came close to tagging me. No telling what six could have done. That damn trick arrow might have just saved my ass!”

  “Watch that right corner, Tank,” Silnee warned as she sloshed behind Mel. “Satithe also warns that communication is about to take a serious hit. The lander is about to leave the mo-sphere and these walls are pretty thick.”

  “Get a map from her before we lose contact,” Mel directed.

  “Smart kid,” Jocasta thought. “The only reason why his trap at the den didn’t work was because of who he was going up against. Now he’s outfitted and he’s had a month of Z breathing down his neck. Good gracious, what have I done?!”

  “Trek course received,” Silnee advised. “Straight ahead for another sixty-five meters.”

  “Counting down from forty,” Mel replied. “Everybody remember the five-meter spread.”

  Jocasta smiled at the way these three worked together. She had not known so much could be done in a month. Apparently Z was good at making all sorts of things; living and mechanical. They were not Ardrian Marines by any standard; they had not yet eaten enough people for that. But they moved quickly and quietly, and after only a few strides they had established their timing of when to look forward, left, right, and to the rear. They even remembered not to make their times rhythmic.

  “Bringing you in on our sub-net, Captain,” Mel reported over her brace-com. “Welcome to the party line.”

  “Hey, just what kind of a girl do you think I am,” she asked. “Speaking of statuses, how’s that chair reading, Tank?”

  “I’m at eighty-eight percent and climbing,” Mel reported.

  “Mind if I ask how I got stuck with Cupid, Captain?”

  “Cuz that was one sweet shot with the bow, that’s how. Where did you learn to do that anyway?”

  “I spent every summer and winter going bow-hunting with my mother,” Olkin stated. “She would take all the kids that could hack the trails and the way she would walk them.”

  “All the kids?” Jocasta said. “How many kids are we talking about?”

  “I’m the fourth of seven children my parents raised. Only one of us was theirs by blood, and she was number five. I started tagging along when I was six. One of the earliest to begin and the only one to hit something my mother had missed.”

  “Your parents sound like good people, Cupid,” Jocasta remarked.

  “You would have loved them, Captain, that’s for sure.”

  “I’ll inquire into that ‘would have’ tense later,” Jocasta thought as Mel lifted his right fist to bring the group to a halt. Silnee lifted hers and Jocasta saw no need to act like a fifth wheel, so she lifted her own. “… and I’ve got to talk to Z about getting some of these classes. I’d hate to be the one who throws off their timing. Chiaro and Alfie didn’t cover the infantry basics. They threw me in at the deep end of the pool!” It was then that Jocasta noticed the trek map had changed.

  “What are you doing, Tolip?” Mel asked.

  “I’m changing course,” Silnee shared. “Something doesn’t feel right about this direction. We need to go left.”

&nbs
p; “Doesn’t feel right?!” Olkin barked.

  “Never question a woman’s intuition,” Jocasta quickly inserted. “Even when it seems wrong, there’s always something right about it.

  “And I am not going to add that just looking at the way we’re supposed to go is giving me another twitch,” Jocasta thought.

  “Let me make sure I’m reading you right,” Mel said. “Satithe gave us a trek and you’re changing it?”

  “Affirmative,” Silnee answered quickly. “You’re Ground Lead, Mel, er, I mean Tank. It’s your call.”

  “Captain says never argue the intuition; Maxworth’s math adds up when we go with the Captain’s gut.” Mel turned his chair and started toward the left.

  “Seeing as how we’re all still on the fresh side of things,” Jocasta started.

  “Roger that,” Mel quickly responded. “Double time it, people!”

  Those that were on foot all moved the same way and Jocasta realized that her First Mate had already instructed her on many of the basics. She moved the way he had taught her for when trying to move through water or materials that would slow one’s stride. Even with the way they had to move, Silnee was able to input the rest of her trek recommendation.

  They covered three kilometers underground and made so many turns that Jocasta referenced the compass in her mask more than once. When they reached the access port, Silnee moved passed Mel and dropped to one knee about fifteen meters beyond the cap. Jocasta looked back to see that Olkin had done the same, facing the opposite direction.

  “Looks like it’s just you and me, Tank,” Jocasta said as she looked at the port. It had been made to accommodate a man with the full use of all of his limbs. “What say I climb up and undo the cap while you cover me?”

  “Negative, Captain,” Mel stated confidently, releasing the straps holding him to his chair. “I would love to take your advice, but I’d also wager you’re the better shot. I need you to cover me.” Reaching to the side of his chair, Mel took out what appeared to be a crowbar. He took hold of the metal tubing that was the ladder and used the crowbar to hook on the far side of the cylinder. He started up the shaft with surprising speed.

  “Nimble little minx, isn’t he?” Jocasta remarked, drawing her blaster.

  “Not bad,” Olkin replied. “He’s lost a little of his time since Z started regrowing his legs.”

  “Well yeah,” Jocasta managed to respond, veiling her amazement at the statement and what it meant. “That would account for the slower time.”

  “Cap’s locked,” Mel reported as he tucked the crowbar into the front of his belt where it locked. The hook was hung on the rung of the ladder and Mel was free to use both hands. “I’m going to run a bypass!”

  “What the hell would Z have done with two months?!” Jocasta whispered, forgetting her channel was open.

  “Not to worry, Captain,” Silnee said softly. “Tank was already into that sort of thing. He was a Tech at a maintenance shop. The owner ran black market repairs out of the back where he kept Mel buried. Shop owner gets a wild hair one day, charges too much to a Shootist. Next thing you know, Mel is unemployed and homeless. He tried to keep the business going, but after seeing his chair, no one would take him seriously. He tried showing off what he could do and blew up a Constable. He didn’t kill the man, but when they brought him in–”

  “He didn’t have the credits to pay a fine,” Jocasta surmised. “Instant indentured status! So you guys didn’t know each other prior to becoming slaves?”

  “We met at a processing center,” Silnee explained. “Maxworth was one of the foremen, and he would ferry out as many as he could through the cracks in the system. I guess you could say he went to the well one time too many.”

  “Got it!” Mel reported and Jocasta heard the locks release. The cover was lifted up and away from the mouth of the shaft. Jocasta looked up to see six Bricks, three with energy rifles and three with drawn swords. Two of the riflemen drew a quick bead on Mel and Jocasta knew she could not risk firing while he was so vulnerable.

  “Dammit!” she thought as she lowered her blaster.

  “Good girl,” one of the Bricks commented.

  “About that intuition,” Olkin said softly, seeing through Mel’s viewports.

  “Central,” one of the men radioed in. A soft, blue pulse of light interrupted the communication and all six men were lifted up and off their feet. Jocasta could feel a slight pull on her body, but it did not last long and Mel flew up and out of the shaft.

  “Z!” she said, watching him land on the ground and hold out his hand to receive his stick. Her First Mate backhanded one of the men who had kicked up to his feet, and the power of the blow sent the man out of her field of vision. “Yeah, about that intuition!”

  She came up to the top of the shaft to see Dungias block a sword thrust meant for his chest. Her First Mate lunged forward, avoiding a rifle shot, and took a grasp of the swordsman’s neck. She cringed at the look of pain and horror on the man’s face as he choked. Dungias then spun around the man, allowing him to receive the rifleman’s next shot. The would-be sniper was then shot in the chest and Jocasta looked over to see a prone Mel with a smoking blaster.

  Dungias quickly moved to the man who had been speaking. Scanning lasers shot from the engineer’s goggles, surveying the downed man’s neck and chest.

  “Go ahead Team Three, this is Central.”

  “Central, this is Team Three,” Dungias spoke, sounding exactly like the unconscious Brick. “I thought we had something, but it was just another sewer rat!”

  “Team Three, I’m going to need your vector pass.”

  “Roger that, Central. Plumber’s wine.”

  “Okay Team Three, that sweep clears your grid. Report immediately to the ambush point. We still have no joy at the course we intercepted on the trans-comm. Command thinks our rats are taking their time.”

  “Let’s hope they drag ass long enough for us to join the fun!” Dungias replied. “Team Three out.”

  Dungias stood up from the Brick and turned to look at a very astonished Mel. The young man’s faceplate folded from in front of his eyes as the Traveler approached “I appreciate the assist,” he said softly.

  “Just returning the favor,” Mel said as he rolled over. “Captain, I need you to clear the shaft.”

  “You got it, Tank,” she replied and Dungias noticed the use of the new name.

  “Panzer, fold and follow!” At Mel’s command, Jocasta looked at her First Mate and they both heard the hoverchair reform and engage its engine. It came out of the shaft and flew directly to Mel where it resumed its normal format.

  “Panzer,” Dungias repeated as he walked over to the shaft. “If memory serves, that is the name given to Ardrian tanks, is it not?”

  “Yeah, but before that it was the name of German tanks on Old Earth,” Mel advised.

  “Were they not on the losing side of their wars?”

  “Oh yeah, they lost all right,” Mel replied as he took hold of the chair and swung his body up into his seat. “… but not because the tank was inferior.”

  “I concur with your assessment,” Dungias said as he looked into the shaft and brought Silnee and Olkin up quickly.

  “Hey,” Silnee said after her brief flight. “… that never gets old!”

  “Now this one you have to explain, Z,” Jocasta said as she looked around. “The shuttle flew off and that was Sati’s send point. We were in those ‘closed off from reality tunnels’ where Sati could not communicate with us, which turns out to be a good thing, seeing as how her line got hacked. But still, just how the hell did you find us?!”

  “Simple, Captain. I did not.” Dungias turned to look at a body that was propped up against a light pole. Jocasta approached and saw that it was the wounded Gallant. “In all the commotion that was your reunion with Falco Sylgarr, he was forgotten… by everyone.” Dungias looked at his three students, none of whom could hold his glare.

  “Hey, they had their hands full wa
tching my back,” Jocasta defended and Dungias relented immediately. “Far as I’m concerned, these aren’t hopefuls anymore. You’ve got crew names… that means you’re crew!

  “The next question is: now what?”

  “That is your cue, Cutter,” Dungias said into his brace-com. A long, six-wheeled ground-car came over a sidewalk and drove through the grass to pull up to Dungias. The driver-side door opened and Dungias looked up to see the young woman who had thrown knives at him. “An acquisition, Cutter?”

  “It seemed to be the thing to do, Mr. Z,” Annsura answered as she and the others hopped down from the vehicle. “Me and Llaz stole the vehicle, but she knows the city.”

  “Fine acquisition then,” Dungias remarked.

  “Yeah, I’d second that,” Jocasta added. “You got a name, acquisition?”

  “Thomasine,” the young woman replied. “Most of my friends just call me Thom.”

  “Appreciate the help-out, Thom. Give us a hand there, Pristacia. We’ve got a downed man with an ugly chest wound… that’s nearly sealed.” Jocasta looked up at Dungias and smiled, shaking her head. “Right! We carry med kits now. Nice bandaging, Z.”

  “I was pressed for time,” Dungias explained.

  “Say what you want, he’s still breathing… and not complaining.” In truth, Jocasta had seen worse in her time. The boy was pale, but there was an unmistakable fire in his eyes. He was weak, but it looked as if he would be able to pull through, given ample opportunity to rest. But he had helped Dungias, and by extension he had also served Jocasta and her crew. Jocasta would return the favor. “What’s your name, kid?”

  “Adleon, milady,” the former Gallant replied, remembering to keep pressure on the spray bandage that kept his chest together. “Adleon Veej.”

  “Well, Adleon Veej, I presume that it was you giving my girl a serious case of the female intuitions?”

  “Best I could do with your masks in place, Captain.”

  “Speaking of, everyone back to goggles,” Jocasta commanded. “Wearing a mask right about now is not what I would call a smart move.

  “Let me get in the middle with our wounded,” Jocasta directed. “I’ll hunker down with Adleon while the rest of you just look young and dumb. From what I’ve seen today, that’ll be a stretch.” The hopefuls looked at each other and allowed themselves a smile before Annsura ordered everyone into the vehicle.