The Cold Dead Earth (The Jolo Vargas Space Opera Series Book 3)

by J. D. Oppenheim

  This time she hit the button and instantly she felt the air change and the low hum of both engines winding up.

  “Hurley and Risa,” she yelled into the comm. “I’m hot. Stay back until I break through the ice. Target any black boat and stay on my rear ‘cause they about to get the heat.” The Argossy’s engines spun up and Katy could feel the whole ship come to life. She pulled on the stick and the nose lifted. The old boat eased up off the dirt floor and the thruster wash pushed an old ship deeper into the pile. She had to get the nose up a bit so the railguns could come into play. “Hold on!” she yelled.

  “You can’t go full thruster in this confined space!” yelled Riley.

  “You strapped in?” She glanced over and made sure the former merchant navigator was good. Then she gunned both engines full on and the nose popped up and the ship shot straight up right for the ice ceiling. “Riley, railguns, now!”

  “Nothing to target.”

  “Override the computer. Fire the guns. Now!”

  The railguns tore the ceiling and giant chunks of ice fell onto the Argossy and then down onto the junk pile below. Katy pushed the old boat harder and it screamed out of the hole and into the orange sky. She gained altitude, the scanner lighting up with red dots.

  “Holy shite, we got BG all over!” said Riley.

  “Keep your pants on.” The g-force pressed Katy deep into her seat. She knew the Argossy could never win a dog fight in atmosphere. But just then two small blue dots appeared. One right on her but the other veering off erratically.

  “I’m on you,” said Risa through the comms.

  “Hurley, where are you?” The other blue dot came in at an odd angle.

  “Gettin’ used to the controls. Something’s wrong.”

  “Stay out of the way if you’re not in control. Don’t take out our people on the ground.”

  “I kin do it!” yelled Hurley, but then he popped off the screen again.

  Katy made a hard turn and dove right back down towards the battle on the ice. There were two fighters and one big Cruiser, plus another BG ship that was down.

  “Risa, you give them hell but don’t let the big ship get a clean shot. Stay low and fast and away from the nose of the Argossy. Railguns’ll cut your boat in half.” Just then the two smaller red dots moved out of the fight on the ground to pursue the Argossy and the Greenback. Good, thought Katy, come and get us.

  The BG fighters were fast and agile and were soon all over the Argossy and the Greenback. Risa turned hard to evade and one followed her, the closest one staying with the Argossy.

  “We got a bogey in weapons range,” said Riley, fear and uncertainty in his voice.

  “Relax, that little boat ain’t gonna hurt us. Just then the Argossy lurched to one side and the rear shields dropped to 64%.

  “Katy!” Riley screamed.

  “Ain’t nothin’. We want the big one.” From the screen it looked like the Cruiser was hammering a smaller BG boat.

  “Target the fighter on our tail boat,” said Katy.

  “We got no rear guns.”

  “Just do it. He’ll be coming around in a sec. Stay strapped in. Be ready to target the big one right after that. Hit the little one with the ion cannon and then give the big one both rail guns.”

  Katy magnified the screen and suddenly saw Greeley’s green battle suit and a few others using the transport as cover. They were dug in tight, but the BG boat was all over them.

  “I’m gonna flat spin us so hold on.”

  “You can’t do that this low—” But Katy cut him off.

  “Kill the fighter when it comes in range!” She cut the port engine, engaged the forward directional thrusters and gunned the starboard all at the same time. The Argossy swung around while moving forward and suddenly the little fighter appeared on the screen. It was peppering the Argossy with it’s single light turreted ion cannon, trying to destroy the starboard railgun.

  Riley locked in and hit it with the ion cannon and the little red dot went gray, then disappeared from the screen, but there was no time to watch the burned metal bits and the fuel cell explosion.

  Katy waited until the Argossy swung around and kicked in the starboard engine. The big ship righted itself, but was nose down and off kilter so Katy hit the forward thruster just a touch.

  “We’re flying a little off center,” said Riley.

  “We’re fine.”

  “This thing can’t turn for shite can it.”

  “Nope. But that ain’t what’s important.”

  Meanwhile the big BG boat kept pounding away at the transport, even as Katy got within range. Finally it stopped the barrage and turned to face the Argossy.

  “No dang respect,” yelled Katy. “We’ll teach him some.”

  “What’s the plan?” said Riley.

  “Nothin’ fancy. Toe to toe. Peg him as soon as we are in range. Give him everything. Ion cannons and the rail guns.”

  Both ships locked in at about the same time. The BG boat’s ion cannons firing just before the Argossy’s railguns let loose. The Argossy was flying low with a full head of steam and pounded the black ship. The Argossy rocked and shook with the impact of the black boat’s guns, but she kept coming.

  “We’re coming in too low!” yelled Riley.

  “That’s the idea.”

  Katy got on the comm to the ground team. “Y’all get down!”

  The Argossy screamed right over the burning transport, Greeley and the ground force laying flat on the ice. Katy got a glimpse of the area right before impact. There was a body on the ground.

  “We gotta pull up,” said Riley.

  Katy adjusted course slightly and dropped down even lower, increasing speed. “Proximity alert! Proximity alert!” the computer repeated over the comm, the whole bridge blinking red. Katy tapped in the manual override and the message stopped. Riley was screaming, his head down and his arms wrapped around his knees.

  The BG boat tried to reverse, but it was too late. The Argossy clipped the top of the black boat, tearing off the big ion cannon. The black boat bottomed out on the ice and the Argossy’s computer reported damage to the lower heat shields.

  The Argossy streaked past, and started a slow turn back to the black boat, who suddenly was left with one turret to defend herself.

  “Risa, you okay?”

  “Yeah, barely. I killed the bg fighter.”

  “Great. Go kick some ass on the ground. Our people are behind the burned out transport. Buy us some time while I swing around.”

  “Roger that.”

  Katy watched Risa on the screen, her small ship streaking down towards the ice. A few minutes later Katy had the Argossy headed back for a final run. The BG boat moved towards the mall, but didn’t run.

  “What’s he waiting for?” said Katy, more to herself than Riley. The merchant crewman was still hunched over in his seat.

  Katy didn’t like it when the enemy acted stupid. It meant they knew something that she didn’t.

  “Risa, what’s the Cruiser doing?”

  “Hovering over the mall. Trying to hit me with the turret.”

  The Argossy came in fast again. This time a little higher. “Riley, target the black boat!” He moaned. So Katy went into auto-pilot mode and targeted the big boat herself. It still hadn’t moved. The Argossy zoomed over the transport for the second time and unloaded on the BG boat.

  It crashed down onto the ice in a ball of fire. Risa had Hazuki and his men on the run, pushing them back out onto the ice, away from Greeley and team.

  Katy landed the Argossy on the ice and it sunk down and tilted to one side, the one landing pad still missing. She lowered the hatch and scrambled out of the ship. Greeley was waiting. He looked like hell. Riley ran out and fell onto the ice and puked.

  “What’s his problem?” said Greeley.

  “Who’s on the ground over the mall and where’s Jolo?”

  “It’s George. He went down,” said Greeley.

  Katy had seen him there
earlier and he hadn’t moved. But she knew she couldn’t cry in front of everyone. He’d pulled through worse. “Okay,” she said, her voice a little too loud and bit too much bravado. “Let’s get him to the med bot,” said Katy.

  The rest of the ground team were still behind the burning transport. Their eyes were big and their faces were haggard, most of them limping or nursing some ailment. There were a few dead women on the ground and Mamba and Greeley carried them and laid them down near the Argossy.

  Koba showed up with two of the older kids, all of them with M-16s and grenade launchers. They walked together to where the center of the action had been, right over the mall. The ice was melted in spots from the BG boats. In the middle of it all was the body of synthetic life form George. He was still face down.

  “Koba, keep your eyes open. We don’t know where Hazuki is,” yelled Greeley.

  “Where’s Jolo?” said Katy.

  Koba shrugged. “I just got here.”

  Risa flew in and landed the Greenback right next to the Argossy.

  Twenty meters or so from George the ground began to rumble. Everyone stopped. Katy looked back to Greeley and the rest. Greeley didn’t say anything, he just grabbed a grenade launcher off the ground. He motioned to Mamba to do the same.

  “Spread out,” Katy whispered into the comm. More rumbling. Katy felt it up through her boots. Everyone stepped away from each other, their guns ready. Katy pulled out her blaster even though she knew it wasn’t going to help much. Katy looked over at George. He was twenty meters away. She eased toward him.

  “Katy, stay put,” whispered Koba.

  The ground shook again and the ice on top cracked. A loud sound like a freighter at full burn came up through the ground, and with it the Queen, rising up into the air through a giant hole in the ice. Her body was bigger than the Argossy. One giant yellow eye, moving back and forth in its socket, wet and cloudy with mucous, searched the ground. Rows of teeth as long as a man’s arm, hundred of spikes pointing back into her maw. The creature screamed and wailed and everyone fell to the ground, hands over ears.

  I feel your pain, Katy, the giant beast whispered into Katy’s mind. Let me ease your burden. Your man is gone forever and the girl inside your body is mine.

  “No!” Katy yelled. She screamed it over and over.

  Jolo Vargas is dead. The child is mine, the Queen said.

  “She is mine!” Katy yelled, her hand instinctively covering the spot under her belly button where the little baby was growing inside her. “Where is Jolo?”

  You don’t know, Girl? They didn’t tell you? He has gone to a place you will never reach. Too much time and space separate you now. Let go of him. Let go. And give yourself to me.

  Anger filled Katy and she stood. One of the boys was rolling around on the ice, the M-16 and the launcher off to his side. Katy picked up the launcher and fired at the giant worm.

  The grenade hit her translucent body and exploded. It left a large brown mark on her side, but it did not penetrate. The giant worm writhed in pain, her tail slapping down on the ice near George. Then Katy fired the M-16 and small, red welts appeared, the bullets cutting through her thick skin. The creature screamed again and Katy fell to the ground, her head pounding.

  First the android. Then you. You will die, but your child will live inside of me. She will be a part of me. She will call me mother.

  “No,” said Katy. She got up again, and fought the urge to lay down on the ice and let go. Everything seemed hopeless and lost. But she would fight for the baby.

  She fired two more grenades. Then unloaded on her with the M-16. The Queen wasn’t taking George, and she wasn’t taking the baby. Two more grenades whizzed over Katy’s head. Koba was standing there, his face white. The worm slowed, but it was coming for George.

  Katy willed herself to step forward, towards the creature. She made it to George, crawling, and grabbed him by the hand and pulled back as hard as she could. But he didn’t move. Koba came and they edged him back slowly.

  Still the giant worm came on. She was wounded, her body oozing yellow fluid. It towered over Katy and Koba, casting a shadow on them like they were standing next to a building.

  Katy fell in the ice but refused to let go of George. Koba was crying.

  See. You cannot win little girl. You all are mine.

  Katy bowed her head and started to cry. “Jolo!” she screamed. But it was too late. She would die here next to George. She cried for her baby.

  Late to the Party

  Hurley knew the Maxwell V2 Stingray better than anyone in the core. Not many were old enough to remember. Made in Marxed, near Faraley, a hundred or so years before, during the expansion, back when everything was new and dangerous and space ships were overbuilt. Maybe a little too heavy by Fed standards, but it made up for it, like the Argossy, in strength and speed. The Fed killed production fifty years ago saying they were too costly and started making the standard Fed Small Fighter. That’s what they called them: Small Fighters. And they couldn’t hold a candle to the Stingrays.

  The Stingray was armed with an old-style plasma cannon and Hurley wondered if it would fire. He had to rig the fuel cell to get power and he was worried the cell would give too much juice too soon and fry the weapon.

  But that was the least of his problems. The moment the little boat broke through the ice it veered off course and even though it stayed above the ice, he couldn’t get control of exactly where he was going. He was in a gentle, lazy turn to the right. He’d checked everything in the hole before they left. It had to be one of the ailerons stuck, forcing him in a wide circle to God knows where. He went so far out he noticed there was black earth out beyond the ice, but that fact would mean little if he finally got back to the mall and everyone was dead.

  After he’d checked everything ten times and cussed and banged on the canopy for good measure, he checked the dumb little computer. The older boat didn’t rely so much on computer controls and that suited him just fine. He was an engineer and his mind immediately thought of mechanical and structural issues first. But there, three screens deep, he noticed one of the manual flight controls was selected: hover pattern.

  He hit the button to deselect it, and instantly he had control. He turned left and it felt good, like scratching an itch. Now he could fly this thing.

  He turned back towards the ice patch and engaged the single engine full out. It whined and the whole boat just hummed along. The last time he’d been in one was when he was in his twenties, flying support for merch boats going into uncharted space.

  The Argossy came onto the screen a few minutes later, the Greenback right next to it. Both on the ice. And no red. That must be good news, he thought. Then he pulled up the heat source scan and spotted ten or so humans on the ground. But there was something else: a large heat sig that he couldn’t make out. Huge. It was moving towards two of the humans. It suddenly flashed hot on the screen, maybe explosions. They were still fighting. And the thing as big as a ship didn’t really move like a ship.

  The Queen was on the ice.

  He pointed the little ship at the big heat sig and armed the plasma guns.

  Soon he was just within range. He lifted the safety off the plasma guns and pulled the trigger just to see if they worked.

  Nothing.

  He was almost there. Close enough to use the forward camera. He magnified the screen and there, filling the screen was the giant worm. The hideous creature had giant dark spots on its side and appeared to be wounded, but it was still coming for the two humans on the ground.

  “Not today,” said Hurley. He retracted the plasma gun back into the recess on the side of the little boat and pushed the stick all the way forward. He decreased altitude to about three meters off the ground. The ice was a gray blur. There were several dead BG boats on the ground. But his eyes focused on the giant thing he could now see clearly on the screen. He aimed the little boat dead at the center of the it. He smiled. No dumb proximity warnings on this little ship. He ti
ghtened the harness and edged a few degrees to his right. He wanted to be dead center and at max thrust when he got there. The old boat was full out and had started to shake. The thrusters were at 104%.

  “Real close, now, Baby,” said Hurley. “Let’s show ‘em what you’re made of.”

  Goodnight, Georgia

  Katy didn’t hear the ship until it was on them. It came in fast, like a bullet shot from a gun. The giant worm above her was at full height, rows of long white teeth exposed. Katy couldn’t run. Couldn’t move. There was a tearing noise right above her and she could see the underside of Hurley’s old boat for a split second and then it sunk into the flesh of the worm like a knife, nearly ripping her in half.

  The boat broke through and spun out of control, end over end. It hit the ice upside down, flipped over several times, one of the short wings and other bits breaking off, and finally came to a stop a hundred meters away.

  Suddenly Katy could stand and she grabbed Koba’s hand and they started pulling George back again. The Queen was nearly sliced in half. Her insides oozing down onto the ice in a thick yellow mucous. It melted the ice as it slowly spread out like lava all over the ice on top of the mall.

  Greeley came up and they carried George back to the Argossy. They found Hurley still strapped in, a bloody spot on the inside where his head had hit the canopy. Risa got the canopy up and checked him. She looked down and shook her head. He was gone. They placed him alongside the other fallen humans.

  Koba and Greeley stayed close to Katy, everyone helping with the wounded or getting food from the hotel or making sure there were no more of Hazuki’s men around. They should have been happy, but it was like a bad dream to Katy, and the worst part was to come.

  Greeley took off his battle suit and walked with Katy to the Argossy. George was there, along with two of the women and one of the boys.