The eruptions of fire on the surface of the Devex warship shrouded it from all sensors for a moment. Then it reappeared. The surface sparkled as hundreds of tiny guns fired streams of tiny white energy pips.
The white energy raked the command carrier on its upper hull amidships.
The Overlord erupted in flames as the white fire peppered the upper hull. A brief pause, and then a second wave of fire poured onto the carrier. Jack watched in horror as the second wave burst out of the lower hull of the massive ship a moment before the Overlord broke apart.
Bale took cover behind his command chair, his pulse pistol quivering in his hands. He had never fired at an enemy face-to-face. His only action in the Chitin War had been to strafe an asteroid from thirty thousand kilometers away. Now he was going to come face-to-face with an enemy. The door to the command deck glowed as it was heated from the opposite side.
“Four of them in the main deck outside,” Ripa reported.
Bale looked back and saw the holoimage from the gun deck. The four attackers were so big, they could not stand upright in the main deck. Three knelt and one stooped. All were firing an energy beam at the command deck door, which was glowing and melting away in huge globs of molten composite. The heat on the inside of the door was becoming unbearable. Bale moved back. The air was beginning to burn, and Bale was choking on the heat.
Taking position next to Stone behind a console, Bale pointed his pistol at the door.
“Do something,” Bale said. He grabbed the chief by the shoulder and shook him. “Do something now, Chief!”
Stone shrugged Bale off and steadied his aim. “I am doing something. I’m preparing to defend the command deck. Get ready to kill the intruders, Commander.”
“They’ve stopped firing their energy beams at the door,” Ripa said. She moved around the console and took aim.
Bale stood up. “Yes.” He punched the air. “Too tough for you, eh?” Bale shouted in triumph. “Now, get off my boat.”
Stone pulled Bale down. “Take cover,” he said.
And then the door began to crumple before erupting in a shower of molten composite.
The pulse pistol rounds rang out as Stone and Ripa fired into the smoke-filled cavity that had once been the command deck door.
“Fire your weapon, Commander!” Stone shouted as he shot more pulse rounds into the smoke.
The return fire from the attackers came as a slow-moving wave of energy that sent the smoke cloud billowing inward. The shimmering wave of energy came forward slowly. It spread to fill the space around it and moved forward. It struck Bale and Stone and knocked them down as if they were puppets with their strings cut. The pair collapsed silently to the floor.
Ripa walked back as the wave of energy crept on. She fired another blast. The pulse rounds rippled through the energy wave, slowing with a flash and dissipating in the advancing, shimmering wave.
Ripa fired until the last. A moment before the energy wave connected with her body, she saw the figure of a huge armor-clad warrior moving awkwardly through the melted door that was far too small for it.
Then there was the briefest moment of extreme fear and panic as the energy wave struck and engulfed the young lieutenant.
Jack watched the replay of the battle with the Devex warships. The assault on the first warship continued. It took an assault from the entire fleet and then succumbed to the intense, focused laser barrage. The Devex warship suddenly erupted at the point where over a dozen laser beams had targeted. The warship began to rapidly break apart, destroying the civilian transport in the process.
The fire from the supporting Devex warships slammed into the nearest attacker, which was the Leo. Its forward section was smashed to pieces by the rapid streams of white energy.
The remaining Devex warships moved toward another civilian transport and clamped on with huge grappling arms. The captain of the civilian transport ship reported he had intruders.
Jack checked the image. A giant Devex warrior strode along the corridors of one of the city-sized civilian transports.
The battle continued for a few moments until the group captain of the Scepter took command of the fleet. Jack listened to the message sent to all ships.
“This is Tanaka. I am taking command of the fleet. All ships, withdraw at once. All destroyers, create a running rearguard and protect the fleet. Tanaka out. Good luck.”
Jack felt sick in his stomach. He realized it could be the effects of the stim wearing off or it could be that he had just witnessed a devastating attack on the fleet he had been trying to catch up with.
The holoimage showed the fleet moving off. The one civilian transport trapped by the massive Devex warship burned its drive to the max to escape, then the transport’s engines fell cold.
“Show me the civilian transport command deck.” Jack tapped the image of the captured transport.
The bridge was in chaos. Consoles were erupting in sparks. Some officers were dashing about, while others were lying across the deck. Some were bringing small arms from a weapons locker, pulse pistols distributed to all who would take one.
Jack watched the captain of the transport. He sat in his command chair at the center of the huge command deck. He appeared relaxed. He was tapping away at the consoles on the armrest of his chair.
“Show me the entry point for the intruders.”
The data recording showed Jack that there were multiple entry points. Devex warriors marched into the corridors through entrances that had been smashed through the civilian ship’s hull by the grappling arms. And walking against the flow of Devex warriors was a line of civilians, bound in chains and being led and dragged by Devex warriors. Captive. Enslaved.
Then the image from the corridor ended. Jack wound the data stream back and checked the last data entries from the command deck.
The civilian transport had been set to destruct.
“Was the ship lost with all passengers and crew?” Jack asked the data log.
The reply was strange and horrific. Hundreds of the passengers had been taken from the ship before it had been destroyed.
Jack watched the data stream fade as the surviving fleet moved off and stopped transmitting their data to the Leo’s data core. The last Jack could see, the fleet was racing away while a Devex warship captured another civilian transport.
“So, they didn’t all perish,” Jack said, feeling sick.
“Not. Good,” Sam said with effort.
“Who, you or the battle?” Jack asked.
But the effort of speaking was too much for Sam, and he fell back into a deep sleep.
The drones reported the recovery of rations and weapons and power cells. It was a good amount of salvage, and Jack might have been excited and pleased by it had he not known the cost. The debris and the salvage were the remains of a brutal battle. These Devex warriors were a hostile enemy. The fleet had hoped to find a new home, free from conflict and danger, but it seemed they had found more of the same, if not worse.
Jack signaled for the drones to return with their salvage and began to get the corvette ready to move.
Then a bright signal lit up in the debris as a drive system powered up nearby. Jack felt his heart beat hard at his chest. If the Devex were nearby, he would stand little to no chance. His only hope was to run, or be captured, or destroy himself.
But the signal was not Devex. It was Fleet. Jack felt his spirits lift.
“Someone survived,” Jack said and scanned the target. Then Jack discovered it was, in fact, the frigate of Commander Bale, engines lighting up and racing away from the debris field.
“Bale,” Jack said. “He must have been watching us searching around, afraid to move. Now he’s running.” Jack waited while the drones brought their supplies to the service hatch and the main hatch. He waited for the drones to dock in their housings on the outer hull, then he put the corvette in pursuit.
16
Bale woke slumped against the side hull on the main deck. He was bound hand and fo
ot. Across from him was Stone, unconscious and similarly bound. Lieutenant Ripa was sitting next to the chief. She was white as a sheet, but there was a steely resolve in her reddened eyes.
Bale looked at his bound hands and wriggled to free himself. Ripa made a sharp sound to draw his attention. Bale looked up. Ripa tipped her head sideways and indicated the massive warrior sitting nearby.
Even sitting, the massive being filled the main deck. It was clad in a dark metallic-looking armor that was flexible and seemed to move freely. The weapon sitting across the giant’s knees was made of the same metal as the armor.
Bale looked back along the main deck to the command deck. Three of the giants were moving through the space that suddenly looked much smaller than ever before. The three were tapping away at the consoles. A large device sat on the command chair with cables running out from it, connecting it with the navigation and drive consoles. One of the three giants was taking the weapons control console apart, preparing the connection of the cables to the system.
“What are you doing?” Bale shouted.
Ripa shook her head. She shushed Bale and tipped her head toward Stone next to her. She whispered, barely making a sound, encouraging Bale to lipread as much as listen.
“That one zapped the chief when he tried to speak.”
Stone stirred at the sound of his name. He looked around woozily.
“What do they want with us?” Bale asked, looking around at their hopeless situation.
Stone shrugged. “Food,” he suggested with a devilish smile.
“They don’t need us to run the boat,” Ripa said. “They seem to have that under control.”
“Why do they need a boat at all?” Bale asked.
“Maybe theirs was destroyed in that battle.”
“Speaking of battle,” Ripa said. “What about the Mechs?”
“They are no longer our concern,” Stone said.
“How do you mean?” Bale asked.
“I think they are going to be more interested in Forge than us. But maybe they can actually help us.”
Bale held up his bound hands. “I’m not going to be much help to anyone sitting here.”
Ripa nodded and looked at Stone. “How?” Ripa asked.
The chief slid down the wall and lay on the deck. “The sensors run behind this panel. If I can work on it without them seeing, maybe we can create a diversion.”
“Like what?” Bale asked.
“I can create a sensor ghost. They will think a group of Mechs are out there.” Stone started pulling at a small access panel.
“And what good will that do?” Bale spoke too loudly. The Devex warrior in the corridor looked over, his face hidden behind a heavy faceplate.
Stone removed the cover. “It will give us opportunity. It’s up to us what we do with it.”
Jack moved closer to the frigate. Running silent at high speed was a challenge. Maneuvering into position to traverse between boats was even harder.
“Nearly in position. Are you sure you can handle it, Sam?” Jack looked at Sam in the co-pilot’s chair.
“You’ve done the hard work,” Sam said. He was slurring and still clearly suffering from the effects of the Mech connection. “All you have to do now is go over there and kick Commander Bale’s kravin’ ass. That’ll be the easiest thing you’ve done in weeks.”
“It’s not Bale I’m worried about,” Jack said. “Stone is the problem on that boat. He’s the one I need to stop.”
“So just shoot the scroat,” Sam said.
“Easy, Sam,” Jack said, his hand on Sam’s shoulder. “I’ve got this.”
Jack climbed out of his seat and slid down the handrail to the gun deck. Waiting for him by the main airlock was the black Fleet Intelligence tactical suit. It had been a long time since Jack had climbed into one of these. There had been a time when he had practically lived in one.
The suit went on easily. It was unused. Jack had previously set it to run all first-use checks. As he pulled the helmet on, he saw a green box on the heads-up display informing him the suit was fully operational.
Jack grabbed two pulse pistols and clipped them to the hip holsters. The frigate would be too cramped for him to use a pulse rifle, so wielding a pair of pistols was the better choice.
Jack connected the helmet communicator to the corvette’s flight console for Sam to keep tabs on the operation.
“As soon as I have control of the boat, you activate the hard dock and connect the tunnel. We won’t need to run dark once I have command.”
Jack slid down the ladder and landed on the outer hatch. He closed the inner hatch behind him and activated the release.
Black space opened underneath him, and he quickly spotted the frigate. Jack dropped toward the hull. He activated the suit’s maneuvering thrusters and gently lowered himself to it.
The best way to enter the frigate was via a secondary service hatch on the underside. Jack began to walk around the hull, moving quietly so as not to alert the crew inside. As he walked down the starboard side, he saw the large scorch mark on the hull. It appeared as if the hull had been peeled away and then replaced. Torn and then resealed. He accessed the suit’s material analysis sensors and scanned the section, then moved on and let the suit run its analysis. He thought the frigate had taken a hit from the Mechs in the latest attack and assumed that was the resulting damage.
Moving down to the lower hull, Jack found the secondary service hatch. The Fleet Intelligence tactical suit had Fleet vessel security overrides. Jack sent the codes to the hatch and it popped open. Dust and grit flew outward, blown into the vacuum of space. Jack slipped inside the service hatch, which barely had enough room for him to move in. Once inside, cramped in the bulky tactical suit, he closed the hatch behind him.
Jack scanned through the inner hatch for signs of movement. The inner hatch came out at the rear store of the lower deck, just next to the med-bay.
He came to the rear access ladder that would take him up to the main deck. Jack would be visible to anyone looking out of the command deck once he came up to the main level. He moved up cautiously, scanning the deck. The images that came back were fuzzy but showed four people on the main deck, sitting on the deck about halfway along. And one of those bodies was much larger than the others.
Jack ran a second scan—a Fleet identity code scan. Three of the bodies were identified by the scan. Commander Gerat Bale. Chief Harry Stone. Lieutenant Ellen Ripa. Their service records were available. He made a mental note to go through their records when he had the chance. The more pressing concern, however, was who was flying the boat and what was the unidentified huge body sitting on the main deck.
He instinctively knew it had to be a Devex warrior. The dimensions were similar to those reported in the Fleet records.
Jack made a second, boat-wide scan. He wasn’t going to reveal himself until he had a fuller picture. He needed to know if there were any more of these Devex warriors on board.
He drew a pulse pistol with his right hand and climbed up the last steps.
As Jack peered over the top of the ladder, he could see along the deck. A seated Devex was filling the middle of the main deck. Around the sides, Jack could see Bale’s crew sitting and tied up.
Ripa noticed Jack’s head peeking up from the lower deck. She looked stunned for a moment, not knowing what was coming next. Jack lifted his pistol and held it up to show he was not going to shoot her. He pointed at the Devex and aimed the pistol.
Then Jack heard Sam’s voice over his helmet communicator, slurred and exhausted.
“Jack. We’ve got company. Mechs.”
And then the first rounds struck the frigate.
The prisoners in the main deck tumbled about as the Mech blasts struck the upper hull. The Devex guarding the frigate’s crew stood up, stooping to fit under the ceiling of the main deck. The warrior walked to the command deck. Jack saw the three other Devex warriors moving awkwardly about the command deck. They staggered as another Mech rou
nd hit.
Jack took his chance in the confusion and ran back to the drive room hatch. He tapped the controls. Stone hadn’t locked it down this time, clearly not expecting visitors. The hatch opened, and Jack stepped in.
Jack immediately saw the Mech. It was strapped to a bench. Cables were running from an auxiliary power supply to the Mech. Jack glanced at the readout on the auxiliary supply. It was maintaining a low power within the Mech, keeping the creature sedated so Stone could perform his work.
It might have been bloody work, but the only organic fluids present here was the white pus covering the Mech’s central body mass and the weaponized arm.
A selection of tools and equipment lay on a second bench next to the Mech. The sight was a cruel cross between a mechanic’s workshop and a butcher’s block. Jack stepped forward cautiously.
“I’m here to free you,” Jack said. He noted the damage to the weapon arm. Perhaps Stone had been trying to understand the system but had given no regard to the being it was attached to. He grabbed a cable attached via a strange metallic-looking gel to the Mech’s neck area.
Jack pulled and the cable came away with a spurt of white pus.
Instantly, the gray head flashed bright orange and red. The waves shimmered over its surface and deep within. The Mech stood up in one swift, smooth movement. It ripped the remaining cables free and took a lurching step forward. It aimed at Jack with its weapon arm.
Jack reached up and grabbed the weapon, pointing it away from him. The Mech lashed out with its left arm and caught Jack with a stinging blow to the side of the head. Jack fell away, and he watched the Mech burst out of the drive room, moving in a strange, awkward gait.
Outside the drive room, Jack could see Bale’s crew scurry along the deck at the sudden appearance of the Mech. And further along the main deck, the Devex in the command deck paused, staring back at it, seemingly stunned and rooted to the spot.
Lost Marine Page 9