Modulus Echo

by Toby Neighbors

  “Have you got any left?” Nance asked.

  There was no emotion in her voice. Kim might have said the same thing with either fear or taunting, but Nance was like the computers she loved so much. What she cared about was data, and she had the uncanny ability to accept or relay it without emotion.

  “The Royal Imperium was dealt a heavy blow when the wormhole opened,” Pershing admitted. “But we still have a fleet. And once we’ve mobilized, we’ll be more than a match for whatever comes through the wormhole.”

  Kim didn’t know if she believed the general, but she wanted to. Her entire life she had resented the Royal Imperium, but she was starting to think that the mighty army that had conquered the galaxy might be their only hope of survival.

  Chapter 16

  “Incoming,” Corporal Dial whispered, despite the fact that his space helmet contained the sound of his voice, and in hard vacuum, no sound would carry anyway.

  “I have them,” Le Croix replied.

  Two spiderlike drones were moving toward him, having crawled in through a rent in the side of the ship. Le Croix raised his rifle and immediately an aiming reticle appeared on the HUD of his helmet’s view screen. The drones looked like spiders, but they were made of metal and had no eyes. There were tools on the legs and body of the small drones.

  “They’re repair bots,” Dial said. “Probably automated, but you can bet money that if we slag them, the bad guys will know we’re here.”

  “But they won’t know who or what we are,” Le Croix said. “And it will take them time to respond. Dial, you take the second one, I’ve got the first. On three.”

  “Roger that, Major,” Corporal Dial replied.

  “One, two, three,” Le Croix said.

  He gave the trigger on his assault rifle a gentle squeeze. The weapon fired a plasma canister that shattered as it impacted the drone’s body. The gas inside instantly blossomed into plasma, which burned quickly through the robot’s exterior and began slagging the delicate machinery inside. Without a sound, both drones crumpled and stopped moving as smoke swirled out of the gaping holes in their carapaces.

  “Nice shooting, Corporal,” Le Croix said.

  “Like fish in a barrel,” Dial responded.

  “Alright Alpha team, finish the sweep,” the major ordered. “We are out of time.”

  “Roger that,” Staff Sergeant Visher replied.

  Le Croix hurried over to the next pod. The controls showed it was occupied and fully functional. He reached down low and pulled the emergency release handles on one end, then moved around to the other.

  “Amadi, take this pod,” Le Croix ordered. “I’ll check the last one.”

  “Yes, sir, Major,” Corporal Amadi replied.

  It was easy to lift the pod in zero gravity and send it floating to where Amadi was standing. The corporal caught the pod and began moving to where Wriggles was waiting with the first pod.

  “Major, I believe the ship is turning,” Staff Sergeant Visher said. “I’m picking up some gravity.”

  “Just the centrifugal force,” Le Croix said. “They’ve spotted the Echo.”

  “Great, this whole mission’s blown,” Wriggles said.

  “You idiot,” Dial responded. “The general is drawing the aliens back from the wormhole.”

  “You wouldn’t enjoy being in hard vacuum as the ship passes through the wormhole,” Corporal Amadi said with a chuckle.

  “Everyone, brace for the turn,” Le Croix said.

  The alien ship turned slowly, but Le Croix did feel the strange sense of gravity pulling him toward the front of the transport. There were two pods left, and both showed occupants. Le Croix popped the first one free as the ship completed its turn and began accelerating toward the Echo.

  “Time to get off this ride,” Staff Sergeant Visher said. “We’ve got two survivors.”

  “Roger that,” Le Croix said. “We have four. Corporal Dial, come take this pod.”

  The major was walking down the aisle of the transport between the cradles where the pods had been sitting. Corporal Dial swung down from his overwatch position, and Le Croix pushed the pod toward him. It glided serenely through the open space like a giant egg.

  “Got it,” Dial said.

  “I’ll get the last one,” Le Croix said. “The rest of you, get off the ship. I’m right behind you.”

  “Roger that,” Wriggles said.

  “Last one on, first one off,” Amadi said. “Private Wriggles, you’re one hell of a soldier.”

  “Tease all you want,” Wriggles said. “I plan to stay alive as long as possible.”

  Le Croix glanced back and saw the others jumping out of the gaping end of the transport. The long, tube-shaped vessel had been torn in two. Getting in and out, even with the bulky emergency pods, wasn’t difficult. Le Croix knew the pods would keep the occupants alive for exactly sixty minutes after being disconnected from the ship’s power and atmo reserves. They had plenty to time to get clear of the alien ship and rendezvous with the Echo, and fortunately the mission was going more smoothly than he had hoped.

  Le Croix popped the emergency releases and pulled the pod away from the cradle it sat in. A countdown timer on the controls showed fifty-nine minutes of air remaining. Le Croix pushed the pod toward the gaping end of the transport, but the alien ship was accelerating, which made his task increasingly more difficult. He was focused on the pod, which was getting heavier as the alien ship sped after the Echo and didn’t notice the movement ahead of him. By the time he looked up, four bulky aliens in heavy armor were in the open portion of the transport, blocking his escape.

  Le Croix let go of the pod to raise his assault rifle, but the increasing sense of gravity slammed the bulky device into him and knocked him off his feet. The pod turned slightly and stuck on one of the empty cradles, but Le Croix tumbled back down the aisle. Only his rifle’s harness kept him from losing his weapon.

  When he finally crashed into the attendant’s compartment between the passenger cabin and the cockpit, Le Croix was disoriented. He got hold of his rifle but had to roll to the side as a gleaming blade spun toward him, launched by one of the aliens. Le Croix didn’t hear the impact of the sharp object on the bulkhead, but he felt it. The temptation to fire back was strong, but instead he pushed himself into a small gap between components on the sidewall of the passenger cabin.

  Two more blades missed him, but just barely. Le Croix knew that even a glancing blow could rip his space suit and the sudden exposure to hard vacuum would be deadly. He raised his rifle and fired blindly. He felt the weapon chugging in his hand because of the artificial sense of gravity created by the motion of the alien ship.

  He had to glance out to check on his targets. His head bobbed out and back so quickly, all he could make out was the fact that the group of aliens had taken cover. He chanced another glance and saw that one had been hit. The plasma was burning through the thick armor. For the first time, he really took notice of the aliens. They were huge through the chest and abdomen, with strange mechanical tentacles that waved from the back of their heads. He wasn’t completely sure they weren’t drones of some kind. The aliens moved with robotic motion rather than the fluid grace of a living organism.

  He fired another burst of plasma rounds, but the aliens took cover, and for a moment they were hidden by the smoke produced from the burning metal, plastic, and synthetic materials. His survival instincts told him to run, but his military discipline told him to advance. There was no time to think. Instead he threw himself forward, fighting the growing sense of gravity that wanted to pull him back toward the cockpit. He took shelter behind the pod that had failed. Inside was the body of a member of the royal family, but Le Croix pushed that thought away. Whoever was inside the pod was lost, and if the aliens slagged the emergency shelter, the body inside would be no worse off.

  Le Croix checked his rifle. He had twelve plasma rounds left and two thermal grenades. He also had a flechette pistol, but he doubted the small metal bar
bs would be much use against the massive space armor worn by the aliens. Three of the aliens charged out of the smoke. They had handheld weapons, some type of ax. For a split second, Le Croix was shocked. The aliens were using exotic-looking but technically outdated weapons. He rose up and fired, emptying his magazine in a wide spray.

  The force of the plasma cartridges impacting the aliens wasn’t enough to even slow them down, but the burning plasma ripped through their armor. The alien in the lead was close to Le Croix. Fighting his pain, he made a clumsy swing at the major, who jumped backward and was pulled by the ship’s momentum nearly ten feet to the bulkhead separating the passenger cabin from the attendant’s area. He hit the wall hard, his head snapping back violently. Fortunately, his armored space helmet had impact-absorbing fibers in the padding and Le Croix wasn’t hurt. The aliens weren’t as lucky.

  Gas and fluid that Le Croix could only guess was blood came spewing from the gaping holes burned through the armor. The aliens fell to their knees, weakened by their wounds, but continuing to fight. One raised an arm and launched a bladed projectile, but his aim was off. The blade spun through the air and stuck fast into the metal wall behind Le Croix.

  The major slid sideways, ejected his spent magazine and rammed his only spare into place. A flick of his thumb cycled the firing chamber, and he used his helmet’s facial controls to set the rifle to semiautomatic mode. Then he fired three more shots, one each to the heads of the aliens blocking the transport’s central aisle. They stopped moving, and the tentacles on their helmets went limp.

  Le Croix breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Major?” Staff Sergeant Visher’s voice was laced with static. “Come in, sir.”

  “I’m here,” Le Croix said. “The aliens came out to investigate, but I neutralized them.”

  “The ship is way out of position, sir,” Visher said. “They’ve chased the Echo down.”

  Le Croix brought up his space suit’s internal positioning system. The signal could be traced, but it was too late for secrecy. On his helmet’s HUD, he saw himself as a blue dot near a red V that was the alien ship. The Modulus Echo was a green T much smaller than the alien ship. He had to zoom out to get the scale. It looked as if the ships had traveled hundreds of kilometers away from the wormhole and rendezvous point where his squad of commandos was moving the emergency pods. As he watched, the Echo shifted course and the bigger alien ship struggled to follow them. Gravity, or at least the illusion of gravity, shifted as the ship began a wide turn.

  “Looks like we’re coming back,” Le Croix said. “I’ll let this tub get turned around and then make my exit. The Echo can pick me up after it gets the rest of you.”

  “Roger that, Major. Watch your six,” Visher said, his voice cutting in and out.

  Their space suits had short-range com-links. He could turn on his emergency beacon as soon as he was clear of the alien ship. He moved past the dead bodies, resisting the urge to investigate his new enemy. He might have found a way to pull off a helmet, but their bodies were exposed to hard vacuum and wouldn’t give him an accurate estimate of who the aliens were. They weren’t human, that much was certain. No one in their right mind would attack with blades, especially in space where getting close to your enemy was too risky. Whoever was manning the alien ship had a very different concept of warfare than humans had.

  He got to the emergency pod and managed to shift it around and push it toward the gaping hole in the transport’s fuselage. He caught a glimpse of the planet Gershwin in the distance, then he shoved the pod out into space. It tumbled away, and with one last look at the four dead aliens, Major Le Croix jumped out after it.

  Chapter 17

  “I’ve got rescue beacons,” Ben said. “Seven of them at the rendezvous coordinates.”

  “Only seven?” Nance asked.

  “That’s all we’re picking up,” Ben said.

  “Each one is specific,” Pershing said. “Perhaps one of the privates failed to get his turned on. Who’s missing from the list.”

  Ben looked at his screen, reading through the list of names and ranks. After a moment he looked up. “It’s Major Le Croix.”

  If General Pershing had a response, she hid it well. There was no sign that the information made any difference to her at all.

  “The alien ship has completed its turn,” Nance announced. “It’s on an intercept course now.”

  “Take us up,” Pershing ordered. “I want to be a hundred kilometers over the rendezvous point before we break that direction.”

  “Catch me if you can,” Kim said, adjusting their course.

  “The alien vessel is tracking,” Nance announced.

  “How long until intercept?” Pershing asked.

  “Calculating,” Nance said.

  “We’ll have to drop the shields to pick up the commandos,” Ben said. “We’ll be vulnerable.”

  “That can’t be helped,” Pershing said.

  “No, but the risk can be negated,” Ben continued.

  “What are you thinking?” Kim asked.

  “Well, when the aliens attacked us on the other side of the wormhole, our shields destroyed their grappling arms,” Ben explained.

  “You want to let them catch up to us?” Kim asked.

  “If they can’t grab onto us, they might just leave,” Ben said. “The shields should hold. We’ll have to rest the system to let the commandos back on board. I think it’s worth a shot.”

  “Fine,” Pershing said. “Let’s test this gravity shield of yours.”

  “You kind of already did in the Torrent system,” Kim remarked.

  “Don’t remind me,” the general said. “But there’s a difference being on this side of things. Break for the planet pilot.”

  “Roger that,” Kim said, turning the ship again.

  “Make it look like a desperate run,” Pershing said. Ben could tell that she was studying the plot on her console’s built-in screens. They may have been old tech, but he knew they all worked perfectly well.

  “We’re headed straight across their trajectory,” Nance said.

  “Will they reach us at this speed?” Pershing asked.

  “Barely,” Nance said.

  “Ben, shut down the starboard wing engine,” Pershing said.

  “That’s really more of a maneuvering engine,” Ben said. “It won’t affect our speed much.”

  “I don’t need it to,” Pershing said. “What I need is a reason to slow down and to look vulnerable at the same time. We’re trying to draw them in, remember?”

  “She’s got you there,” Kim said. “I’m good. Shut it down.”

  “Fine,” Ben said, a little embarrassed that he hadn’t seen the ruse for what it was. He pressed a few keys on his console controls and the starboard engine suddenly went cold. The ship wobbled, but the crew couldn’t feel it. The artificial gravity was working perfectly well, but Ben saw Kim wrestling with the controls. He knew her well enough to know she was putting on a show. She was too good a pilot to respond in such a jerky way.

  “Is there any indication that they’ve picked up the signal from Alpha team?” Pershing asked.

  “No,” Nance said. “If they’re onto the commandos, they seem more interested in us.”

  “Make sure you have room to outmaneuver that alien ship once we’ve ruined their grappling lines,” Pershing ordered. “They may resort to weapons after that.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Kim said. “Ben will need to bring the starboard engine back online, though.”

  “That shouldn’t be a problem,” Ben said. “Just say the word.”

  “Oh, I like having a man waiting on me hand and foot. You might want to pour me a drink while you’re at it, and make sure my quarters gets turn-down service tonight.”

  “Enough chatter,” the general warned. “This is a military operation. Let’s stay focused.”

  Ben couldn’t believe his ears. He was running a military operation for the Royal Imperium. Never in his wildest dreams did he ever
imagine himself or his beloved ship in the scenario he found himself in.

  “I just got the last beacon,” Ben said loudly. “Looks like Major Le Croix didn’t get off the alien ship with the others. He’s farther out, closer to where we led them away from the wormhole.”

  “Good, we can pick him on the way out of the system,” Pershing said. “Let’s calculate our jump point somewhere near the major’s beacon.”

  “I can do that,” Nance said. “Time to intercept is four minutes.”

  “They’re hauling ass,” Kim said.

  “Your wounded-bird ploy is working,” Magnum said.

  Ben looked over at the big man, who was normally very quiet. He looked even bigger and strangely bulky in his space suit that hid the fighter’s muscles.

  “I wish we could hit the alien ship with some real firepower,” Pershing said in a rare display of her feelings. “I’d love to see them disappear in a ball of fire.”

  “Oh, yeah, I’d pay money to see that,” Kim said.

  “We can’t fire without dropping the flux shield,” Ben said. “And our deflector screens burn through our power too quickly to be effective.”

  “That’s alright,” Pershing said. “We’re not here to fight. We can’t risk destroying the enemy if any of the royal family might still be on board.”

  “What if they’re all dead?” Nance asked. “Is there a Royal Imperium without the royal family?”

  “She has a point,” Kim said.

  “The Royal Imperium is much more than just the royal family,” Pershing said. “But this isn’t the time to have a political debate. Let’s survive this mission, then we can worry about how to govern the galaxy.”

  “Enemy ship is almost in range,” Nance said.

  “Why haven’t they extended their grappling arms?” Ben asked.

  “They probably don’t want to scare us away,” Pershing said. “Hold this course. Let’s see what they do.”

  Ben was switching between camera feeds. He could see the alien vessel, like a fat insect moving toward them. The hull of the ship was covered with captured vessels, most of which were greatly damaged. Ben guessed the grappling arms were powerful tools, maybe even weapons grade.