"Sure, baby, you just keep me posted on the whereabouts and doings of the bad guys and we'll be just fine."
"I think I have analyzed their new strategy. It appears that Freya has left small security detachments at all the corridors except three and five. She is massing about a third of her force at corridor three but has the remainder massing in five. My supposition is that she will have all her troops at each corridor open fire to get our attention, and then launch a heavy attack down corridor three. She hopes this feint will convince us that three is the main effort and cause us to move forces away from the others to reinforce it. She then plans to push the larger force hard down five and take the Alamo before we can react."
"You have informed Dolph?"
"Of course, Matt, what do you think? Sometimes you ask me the dumbest questions! You do understand that you and I can conduct multiple conversations simultaneously, right?"
"I thought you were talking to me, personally."
"I am. And Dolph, and the Colonel. You and Walker need to get suited up and move your group into the airlock. Colonel Wayne's people will be in position in less than fifteen minutes."
"What about Dolph?"
"He's ready."
During all this, Sanyo and Oscar skated over to the garage and picked up a newly-charged vehicle battery. With this, we would launch the missiles.
Inside the ready room were several dozen Ess-CEPS. As Walker and I got dressed, I turned to Sanyo and the other bots and asked, "Everyone know what to do?"
They all responded in the affirmative.
"Stay in the debris field," I continued, "and find a place to set up the launcher with a good, clear field of fire at the lander. Attach the wires to the launcher and get back to the side of the BSC. As soon as the colonel's team opens fire, we'll hook the wires to the battery, and that will fire our missiles. Got it? One other thing—everything depends on this. No matter what, those landers must be destroyed. Let's go."
Outside on the vast, barren, lunar surface in the glare of real sunlight, everything seemed to change. My perception of things altered. I felt small and helpless, and the sight of the massive alien-looking lander seemingly so close made this mission appear hopeless. We only had three small missiles. I had seen the effect they had on our barricades back in the Alamo so I knew that even if all three hit there was very little chance of destroying this monster. Still, there was always the chance. Perhaps one or two of the Colonel's Comets would bring down the first lander and, with their remainder, they could finish off this one. Regardless, we had to try.
With as much stealth as was possible, we moved into the debris field where lay strewn the remains of that section of Barbicane destroyed in the original attack. Gravity had brought the larger pieces down close to the base, whereas, the smaller pieces were flung farther out, for the most part.
About five hundred meters out from the airlock hatch, we discovered the spot we needed. A supporting tripod constructed for us by the CYB-tech was set up. The instant we removed it from the old duffel bag we'd been carrying it in, everyone froze. It was constructed from the bent and broken remains of bots killed in the fighting back at the Alamo.
Walker took a step toward it but Oscar stopped him. "Sergeant," he said, "there are no pieces of Pasportu here."
"You sure?" Walker asked.
"Absolutely."
I looked at Oscar, who shot me a glance. We both knew he was lying; there was no way to tell.
Popeye and Coronado, the two bots that hauled the launcher out here, set it up and aimed it. Popeye hooked up the wires and we headed back toward the BSC. Once there, we attached the leads to the detonator and I contacted the colonel's detachment.
"White Six this is Red Six, over."
"Red this is White, go."
"We are ready and awaiting your command."
Without hesitation he said, "This is White, we're going hot." From their position atop the BSC, far on the other side of the first lander, I saw a tiny, bright blue-white star appear. From its point of origin, it streaked toward the lander nearest to them and exploded in a massive orange fireball. A second tiny star appeared at the same location, resulting in another fireball on the side of the lander.
Instantly, both landers began to return fire, seemingly at random and in all directions. The side of the BSC exploded at hundreds of locations, there were impacts of missiles, bullets, and railgun bolts all over the Moon's surface. Several bullets struck very near where we were hiding.
The wounded lander began to lift off the surface. As it did, its missiles had located and targeted the two SUBs that had fired the first two Comets. The gunners on the lander fired two missiles, the result was massive overkill.
"Fire!" I shouted over Ismay, but nothing happened. "Fire dammit!" I shouted again.
"I did fire!" Coronado protested.
I looked out beyond the edge of the wall, spotted the wire and zoomed in on it, then followed it out. The launcher was on its side and the wires cut from a very close missile impact.
"Wait here!" I ordered. I was about to jump up when Walker grabbed my arm, I turned to look and him. "Walker, I am not sending you, and the bots are too slow." I jerked my arm free.
"Matt," he said, "I'm sorry, I—"
"Later!" I shouted and bolted out toward the launcher.
The first lander was now three to four hundred meters off the surface and slowly climbing. From two separate locations on the roof of the BSC the last two Comets were launched and slammed into the vehicle. The resulting explosions pushed the lander hard over, it wobbled like a top, losing speed, then it just fell from the sky and crashed into a mountain ridge that did not exist before the quake. The resulting detonation was blinding even to my eyes. The dome of flame spread out in all directions for almost a click before dissipating.
Why had the second lander waited? I asked myself as I bound toward the launcher. Well, it had to wait for the first to clear the space above it for one thing. Glancing over at it, I noted one of the elevators was down. They’d have to close that hatch before they could take off. I wonder if it’s damaged and unable to close?
My question was answered when I reached the launcher. I had no more started to set it back up when six exo-suited enemies appeared from behind a large piece of Barbicane's exterior wall laying upside down nearby. All their weapons were trained on me. I froze. One of them, with a red strip running over the top of his helmet, directed another who rushed over and jerked my weapon off my shoulder. Then they indicated I should head toward the lander.
Behind me, Walker had seen everything. Over his COMde he shouted, "Matt!" Apparently, he had attempted to rush out toward me. I heard Oscar shout, "Pete, no! Please, you'll be killed!"
Again, Walker shouted to me over his COMde, "Matt, drop and we'll kill those guys!"
My mind raced at a million miles an hour. These guys were the reason the ship delayed its departure, they were a security patrol and were on their way back after the first attack. They were the reason the elevator was down. Our three little missiles were definitely not going to stop this beast and it absolutely had to be stopped. I stood a much better chance from inside than I did down here.
I spoke to Walker knowing the enemy could not hear my transmission, “Walker, once I'm aboard, fix that thing and fire it! That's an order!"
"Matt," Ava spoke, "what the hell are you doing? Fall flat and let them save you!"
"Aw, hell, Ava, I have to do this and you know it. Listen, it's been fun."
"Oh, Matt, I have to tell you—"
I heard those clicks again followed by those familiar words, "I cannot communicate with the necessary server—communications have failed, have failed, failed—"
"Yeah, I'm gonna miss you too, honey."
"Mathew—" she said in a voice that was nearly weeping.
As the elevator lifted us up into the lander, I glanced down to where my guys were hiding. As I did, four of my six captors turned to see what I was looking at. I quickly knocked two
of them off the elevator. A third grabbed my right arm and the other my left. It felt like an effortless move on my part as I simply tossed them, one at a time, over the side. The last two had made use of the time and brought their weapons to bear. The one with the red strip pushed the muzzle of his weapon against the visor of my helmet. I could not see his face through his sun shield, just my own face reflected in the gold-mirrored surface with a rifle barrel pointing at my nose.
The elevator entered the ship and the floor closed and sealed under us. We exited the platform that had come to rest in a bay somewhat similar to one of our ready rooms. There were benches and racks of the old fashioned exo-suits. I could see the room starting to pressurize as a mist was blasted into the room under high pressure. Mister Red Strip held his weapon on me while his colleague began to remove his suit. With the muzzle of his weapon, he indicated I should do the same.
Before long, the soldier and I were out of our suits. Then, this guy leveled his weapon on me and Red Strip began to undress. First, the helmet came off. I was surprised to be looking at a blue-eyed blonde with an identifier; she was a SUB, another of the Valkyries, one we'd not seen before.
"Well, Götterdämmerung!" I said. "If it ain't Brunhilde!"
She kept her eyes on me as she removed her exo-suit. When she was free of it, she retrieved her weapon, and pointed it at me, saying, "How many more SUBs are in the base?" Seeing my identifier, she recognized me for what I was.
"Thousands," I replied.
"The torture we had planned will not affect you. So, we must remove your biotronic brain and extract the information by means of a forced download. This will, of course, kill you—a fact that I'm sure you can appreciate does not concern anyone aboard this ship."
"You must think you have someone who knows something. I'm just a grunt. I don't know squat."
"Well. At least we'll learn all about you and your previous life. If nothing else, it should be entertaining. Move that way." She indicated the direction behind me where I saw a long, curved passage lined with eco-suits. There must have been an exit out of here up ahead. The ship began to vibrate. It was taking off! The gravity seemed to increase with the 'G' force of the acceleration.
I had not gone five steps when an explosion rocked the ship, then another. Walker and the boys must have gotten the missiles to launch! Then the third slammed into the hull right in front of us, creating a hole five meters in diameter. This was accompanied by an explosive decompression as the atmosphere in the room was sucked violently into space, and with it, the other guard. He tried to grab a suit, but it came out of its rack. He tumbled and struck the jagged hole our missile had ripped in the hull. A shard of metal decapitated him, which was more merciful than the death that awaited him beyond the hull.
Brunhilde and I, being stronger, managed to grab hold and hang on. She grabbed a conduit on the wall, and I, the bench attached to the floor. I saw her weapon fly past me as she released it to free her hands.
In moments, it was over. The cold of space replaced the heated air in the ready room. Brunhilde and I regained our feet. We could feel the lander struggling to recover. She began to move toward me, intent on regaining her control over me.
"Ava," I called over Ismay. "Ava, any hints on how to defeat a SUB in hand-to-hand combat?" There was no response. Being inside this ship was the only reason I could figure for my inability to communicate.
Our combat would be conducted in total silence due to the lack of air. That was fine by me, I had nothing to say, and I knew she would not listen to reason.
She pushed herself off the floor and straight at me, her strength and the low gravity gave her the ability to jump great distances, farther than I was prepared for, and she fell on me with great force, knocking me down. She came up with a claw-like hand with nails literally made of steel. She was going to blind me. I reached up and grabbed her wrist, stopping her hand only a centimeter from my face.
I pushed hard and rolled her off me. One of her hands came out of nowhere and punched into my solar plexus, she was aiming for my G-buc! I hit her hard in the mouth before I realized that, like me, she had shut down all pain receptors. She would only respond to an attack that produced serious damage. I pushed her off and rolled to my feet.
She jumped again, grabbed my throat, and pinned me to the wall. With her free right hand, she began to pummel me in the solar plexus. Her blows came fast and hard. She obviously knew what she was doing.
I tried to recall all I knew of SUB anatomy. The BCI, brain-computer interface, is located at the base of the skull on the back of the neck. I placed the palm of my right hand there and pulled the trigger on my palm taser. Her eyes popped open and she paused, but only for a second, then she resumed, hitting me harder than before.
I cranked the juice up to maximum and zapped her again. She stopped and began to shake. I watched as her eyes rolled back into her head. Her mouth fell open and smoke wafted out into the airless void around us. I could still feel her firm grip on my throat. I wasn't about to let up till she fell away from me.
As I watched her, in her death throes, I noticed an indicator in my field of vision. This defense was pulling a lot of my power!
The instant I felt her grip lessen, I shook her off me. She was struggling to recover from the effects of the shock. I grabbed her arm and drug her over to the hole in the bulkhead. Glancing out, I could see JILL below about six clicks down and thirty clicks to the southeast.
I looked at Brunhilde and waved my fingers at her then tossed her out the hole. She quickly vanished behind us as the spacecraft rocketed toward orbit.
I moved toward the airlock hatch and examined it. There was an access panel to the right that read ‘Darurat,’ and over that were Chinese characters which also meant, Emergency. I pulled the panel open and there was a large, red button. I was about to punch it when I noticed above it a sensor package that contained, among other things, a camera. I grabbed it with my left hand and crushed it. Then, I pushed the button.
My guess was that this sent a signal to the command deck, or someplace where it was being monitored, and indicated that people were trapped in the airlock. The sensor package would allow the guy on the other end to see the trapped people as well as indicate the remaining pressure inside the room. Whoever my guy was got the signal, but no image or information on the state of the airlock. Knowing the lander was damaged in this area, and that a crew had come aboard in this airlock he must have decided to open the door. It opened on powerful jaw-like hinges outward. The rush of atmosphere out from the hall beyond was horrendous.
Anticipating this, whoever was on the other end of the emergency button had closed airtight doors in the hallway on either side of this hatch. As soon as I cleared the door, even before it had opened all the way, I noticed a camera on the wall. I acted as if I were starving for air and indicated he should shut to hatch and open the doors in the hallway. He did just as I indicated.
Gasping, I fell against the wall under the camera and before he could lower it to see me I reached up and crushed it. No doubt, he'd have security and medics rush here, so I took off down the hallway to the left. The first door I encountered, I pushed open and darted in. It was a bathroom! Okay. I went into a stall and sat down. Now what?
My best chance was the propulsion system. I knew it was below me in what I had described as the stem of the mushroom. I figured I had to get center of the dish that would be a good place to start looking for a way down.
I stood and was about to leave when I heard someone enter.
This guy stepped up to the zero 'G' urinal and asked, "Siapa yang ada, Abbas?" He wanted to know if I was someone named Abbas.
I responded with, "Tidak, di sini adalah Darjee." Telling him I was Darjee.
"Beberapa jaha crat, ya?" He thought we'd been through some shit.
"Memang!" I agreed.
"Tapi kami akan membuatnya, apakah Anda tidak berpikir?" He wanted to know if I thought we'd make it.
"Tentu saia kami akan." I
said, of course. He grunted and left. If I'd been a gas pumper I'd have sighed in relief.
I peeked out into the passage. The coast was clear, so I ran in the same direction I had been running when I ducked into the can. I was looking for a passage into the center of the ship. Then, over the PA system came a voice with an announcement. In a nutshell, it alerted everyone that we were about to execute our lunar orbital burn and that the rescue and security teams should return to their stations and secure themselves into their seats. This same message was given in Indonesian, Malaysian, Thai, and Chinese.
Good, this made it less likely that I would encounter anyone else.
I found a passage headed in the right direction and it seemed rather straight. I hurried past an open door and from the other side heard in Chinese, "Nĭ gèng hăo de jìnrù nĭ de yĭzi!" A warning I had better get to my seat.
"Pagi Bergegas!" I shouted over my shoulder in Malaysian.
I'd run another several dozen meters when I felt the engines kick in, and suddenly, my weight began to increase as the ship accelerated. I managed to maintain my feet and keep moving, despite the increased gravity. Ahead, painted on the bulkhead a sign that in all the languages spoken on this ship read, "Escape pods, sixty-one through seventy-nine", with an arrow showing the direction.
"Mental note to self," I said aloud.
Just then, the engines stopped and I was weightless. There were handrails along all the passages I'd not noticed before. I saw them now and knew exactly what they were for. I grabbed hold and started to move, hand-over-hand, down the passage, drifting for long stretches. A few meters farther, and I encountered a set of elevators, but an illuminated sign indicated they were not operable in zero gravity. Next to them, however, was a set of tubes, one marked up, and the other down. These were for zero 'G' access to the various decks. I headed down.
I was now entering what I thought of as the stem of the mushroom, and still descending, though I now felt as though I were floating up. With no gravity, there is no up or down.
I emerged onto a floor that, for a moment, looked upside down when I noticed the sign on the door across from the tubes. It had a large trefoil, or radiation-warning symbol on it. This must be the nuclear reactor.
The Battle of Broken Moon Page 18