The Devex warriors reached for their weapons, but the Mech was quicker. Its integrated weapon arm fired a blast of pulsing energy into the command deck. One Devex fell backward. A stream of tiny white energy points fired from the Devex weapons hissed along the main deck and slammed into the Mech. The gangly creature fell back. It landed at the ladder to the lower deck and quickly made its way down, head first, its gangly legs trailing behind it.
Jack tossed a pulse pistol to Ripa. “Hold them off,” he shouted.
Ripa grabbed the pistol as it flew toward her then quickly took aim and fired. The pulse round struck a Devex in the faceplate and sent it staggering backwards.
Jack dropped down the ladder to the lower deck to take some cover from the Devex on the command deck, and to check where the Mech had gone.
“Jack,” Sam’s voice was still unclear but getting stronger. “A Mech just exited the lower airlock. It’s being picked up by a Mech ship. They are withdrawing. Wow, they are fast. Gone. Is that weapons fire I hear?”
“We’ve got Devex warriors aboard. They have the command deck. Get away, Sam. If I can secure the boat, I’ll follow you. But if I can’t secure the boat, well, there’s no sense in us both dying.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Sam said. “Docking now. I’m coming over.”
“Krav it, Sam, you can hardly walk.”
“But I can fire a pulse pistol. I’m heading over. Don’t die.”
Jack poked his head above deck level to check the Devex and saw it advancing out of the command deck. Bale’s crew lay on the deck, twitching in their bonds, clearly the victims of some neural disrupter weapon. A Devex aimed at Jack with a small device. A wave ripped out from it, moving slowly. Jack let himself drop back down to the lower deck.
There was only one way to go. Jack ran to the med-bay. A Devex pressed its upper body down through the aft access and aimed its weapon at Jack. The stream of white energy raked the clear composite panels around the med-bay. The window shattered and fell in tiny fragments as Jack dove for cover. He popped up and took aim. His shot struck the Devex in the faceplate. Its head jerked backward, but it quickly recovered and fired another stream of energy that wrecked the med-bay, showering Jack in sparks of fire and fragments of broken composite.
Taking cover from the raking fire, Jack checked the status of the outer airlock hatch on his wrist-mounted control. As suspected, the Mech had fled and left it open to space. As the Devex warrior fired another burst that tore the med-bay up more, Jack braced himself and then opened the inner hatch.
The sudden blast of wind sucked the massive Devex warrior down through the access from the main deck, down to the lower deck, and toward the open hatch. The huge creature slid over the open hatch and sealed it with its huge body. One of its arms waved about frantically, the other trapped under its body. The huge Devex rifle lay at its side. Jack watched the creature struggle against the pressure from the air inside the boat, pressing it toward the empty void outside.
Jack jumped up and ran toward the forward end of the lower deck. He clambered up the ladder and came out near the command deck. A Devex warrior was looking down the ladder at the rear end of the main deck, seeing its comrade stuck fast to the open hatch. Jack rushed the massive Devex, leaping past the fallen and unconscious Bale. He activated the pulse pistol’s electron blade and thrust it into the neck area of the Devex. The massive body fell to the deck, its shoulders stopping it from falling fully through the access to the lower deck.
A wind suddenly leapt up and blew Jack down the ladder to the lower deck. He knew the Devex pinned to the open airlock had finally been blown out into space. Jack gripped the ladder and sent an instruction from his wrist panel to seal the airlock. The moment he closed it, an energy pulse slammed into him and flung him toward the drive room.
As he fell, Jack saw the two remaining Devex warriors on the command deck taking cover at either side of the destroyed doorway and giving fire. His HUD reported a system failure and warned that the armor on the left upper quarter was breached, the single blast from the Devex warrior’s massive weapon almost crippling the suit’s defensive capabilities. Jack took cover behind the massive Devex warrior dead at his feet, its head stuck down through the ladder access. He fired back at the Devex on the command deck. The pulse pistol rounds slammed into the door frame, many grazing the edge of the entrance. Several more went long, past the Devex and into the command deck, slamming into the forward bulkhead.
“Jack,” Sam said over Jack’s helmet communicator. “I’m on the upper deck.”
“Can you access the command deck from where you are without coming down to the main deck?” Jack said. “The Devex have good cover. We need to get on their rear flank. Can you find a way in?”
“I don’t know. I’m a Marine, not a Fleet engineer.”
“Yes, he can,” a weak voice sounded from the crumpled form of Chief Stone.
Jack returned fire, then looked at Stone.
“Through the forward hail cannon service hatch.”
“Did you hear that, Sam?” Jack asked as he fired another burst of pulse fire.
“Already on it.”
“He needs to cut away the lower inner cover, and then he can drop into the command deck just behind the communication console.”
Jack fired and kept the Devex totally focused on him.
“Nearly there,” Sam said.
Jack saw the sparks fall into the command deck as Sam cut his way in. One of the Devex spotted it too.
The massive warrior turned and fired at the area where Sam was cutting through.
“Sam! Report, Marine. Sam!”
The second Devex also turned and fired.
The channel was quiet. Jack was up on his feet and running down the main deck. He scooped up Ripa’s fallen pulse pistol as he ran. He activated the electron blades as he came within a couple of steps of the command deck. He crossed his arms across his chest as he came to the opening. And just as the massive Devex turned and brought their huge rifles around, Jack uncrossed his arms and sliced outwards with both fizzing electron blades.
The Devex warriors crumpled as the blades sliced clean through their armor. Jack paused. He watched as the two massive bodies fell limp. Purple ooze leaked out from the armor. Jack waited a moment longer and then, satisfied the two were down, he deactivated the blades.
Jack hurried to the panel where Sam had been attempting entry. He clamped the two pistols onto the tactical suit holsters. The Devex energy blasts had peppered the panel. He accessed the suit’s scanner to look behind the panel, but the suit reported the scanner ability was offline. Jack pulled the panel away. Sam was bundled up in the small space behind the panel, blood pouring from his upper right shoulder.
“They got me,” he said. “What is it about my right arm that it keeps getting hit?”
Jack pulled Sam out and propped him up against the base of the central holostage. “What arm?” Jack said dryly.
Sam slid down to the deck as he laughed. Jack pulled an emergency med-pack from the small of his back and pressed it to the wound on Sam’s shoulder. The pack knitted in and reported a deep but cauterized impact wound. Sam would need full medical treatment and recovery time.
Jack laid Sam down on the debris-strewn deck. “We got enough med-packs, but you’ll have to wait for a full med-facility with drones and nurses for you to torment. Don’t die. Copy?”
17
After only a few hours, Jack had the command deck of the frigate looking like a functioning Fleet vessel. After a ration block and a sip of water, he felt like a functioning Marine officer again. And after applying med-packs to every surviving limb on Sam’s body, he looked almost able to stand.
“Okay, listen up.” Jack sat in the command chair looking down at Bale and his crew. “With two boats, we stand a much better chance of finding the fleet. Lieutenant Ripa, you and Bale will take the corvette. Fly in formation. With all our drones deployed at maximum range, we should pick up the fleet quickly. Ch
ief Stone. You will stay on the frigate with me and Sam. Clear?”
Stone looked up at Jack, his chin jutting forward and his fist tightening.
“Who says you are in charge?”
“I do.” Sam stood up from the side of the command chair. He looked like he had been thrown against a wall and beaten half to death. He took a faltering step forward. “You want to discuss it?”
Jack climbed down and held Sam steady.
“Sit down, Sam, before you fall.” Jack moved Sam to the footrest of the command chair and let him rest.
“I’m not discussing anything with you. This is my boat.” Stone said, striding forward.
Jack looked up and saw the flying fist. He fended the blow off with a sweeping left arm and then struck forward with thumping right jab.
Stone moved backwards, light on his feet for a big man, his fist raised in a practiced boxer’s stance.
Jack moved forward. He was unsteady but determined.
Stone moved in and threw a jab. Jack avoided the blow, moving his head to the left, and then stuck a body blow with a swinging right.
Stone staggered back, holding his aching ribs. He stepped back in between Ripa and Bale.
“Take him down,” Stone said, pointing them forward.
Ripa stepped forward. She looked Jack in the eye and dropped her gaze to the deck. She turned and faced Bale, then stepped over to stand next to Jack.
“Just tell me what you want me to do, Major.”
Then Bale, head bowed, walked forward. He stood behind Jack.
“You are not in charge any more, Harry,” Bale said, a quiver in his voice.
Jack lowered and unclenched his fists.
“Set course for the fleet’s last-known location and prepare to get underway.”
Stone and Jack stood, glowering at each other. The air between them grew cold. Ripa stepped over to the navigation console. She spotted a signal on the sensor console as she walked, then rushed to check the signal.
“Incoming ships,” Ripa said, her voice quivering. “Mechs.”
The first rounds slammed into the unmanned corvette. The little ship bucked under the assault until, with its back broken, it fell apart. The rector erupted and engulfed the little boat in a billowing fireball. The shockwave struck the side of the frigate. Power fluctuated across the grid, and the lights went out.
“Intruders. We have intruders at the upper airlock.” Ripa was talking fast but clear.
Jack activated his jacket’s flashlight. He looked out of the command deck along the dark main deck. In the shadows, he saw several figures. They moved forward in an awkward gait that Jack recognized. He drew his pulse pistol and took a knee.
Sam ran alongside Jack. “Don’t shoot, Jack. They don’t want us, only Stone. They want Stone.” Sam’s tone shifted to something strangely hypnotic. “Revenge. We call it revenge.”
“Don’t let them near me,” Stone said. “Get me a weapon. Bale, do what I tell you. Get me a weapon. Kill the intruders!”
The figures in the dark tunnel of the main deck raised their weapon arms. There was a hum and a flicker of light as their weapons charged.
“We are surrounded,” Ripa said. Mech ships on all sides.
“Hurt one and you hurt all,” Sam said. “We cannot forget the pain he gave us. We must return the pain to him. Give us Stone.”
The figures came closer.
“No,” Jack said. “You can’t have him. We will deal with him under our own laws.”
The Mechs moved slowly and stepped onto the command deck.
“You have no law for us,” Sam said. “We will deliver justice for his crime.”
Jack looked at Sam. His eyes rolled back, and his head dropped to one side.
“Tell them to back off, Sam.”
“Don’t get in my way, Jack,” Sam said in that strange monotone. “Your pulse pistol will not cause us any significant damage, not enough to stop us taking Stone.”
The Mechs walked onto the command deck. Stone shuffled back until he bumped into the holostage. The Mechs moved past Jack and Sam, ignored Ripa and Bale, and closed in on Stone.
“Get them away from me,” Stone said. He raised his fists.
“What will they do with him?” Jack asked.
“Nothing pleasant. It will be long and painful. They will make him suffer for centuries to come. He may never be allowed to die. They will take his consciousness and transfer it to a more robust body where he can experience his justice for as long as the Mechs desire. They will learn about pain and teach him about suffering.”
“Get off me, you freaks!” Stone rushed forward and swung a punch at the nearest Mech. The Mech raised its arm with the ball-like fist. The fine tendrils that surrounded the hand caught Stone’s fist.
Stone collapsed to the floor. He grabbed his right wrist and the tendril spread over his fist. He yelled in pain until tears burst from his eyes. Another Mech stepped in and wrapped Stone’s left hand in a fibrous mesh. The two pulled Stone up and began to drag him.
Stone’s shouts of pain and fear sent shivers down Jack’s spine. He had heard Marines cry out in battle but never with such a piteous sound as this. The pain and fear were palpable.
“Stop them, Sam,” Jack said.
“Justice has begun,” Sam said.
“Revenge is not justice.” Jack stood up and aimed his pulse pistol at a Mech holding Stone. Instantly, the Mechs in the corridor of the main deck and the two Mechs on the command deck activated their right arm weapons.
Sam stood and placed himself in front of Jack. “Don’t shoot,” Sam said.
Jack slowly lowered the pistol. He watched the pistol move away from the Mech body and down to Stone, hanging, yelling, his eyes wild and afraid.
Three rounds were fired. Jack was lost in silence as he pulled the trigger. The pulse rounds struck Stone in the chest. A round each for heart and lungs. The yelling stopped. Jack lowered his pistol to his side.
The Mechs dropped Stone to the deck. One took a stride toward Jack and grabbed him around the throat with its secondary right arm, the flesh-like tentacles tightening. Jack felt his windpipe close. He gasped for air. Sam grabbed the Mech’s arm and pulled it.
The Mech turned its wide, gray head toward Sam and released Jack. Jack clutched his throat, gasping for air. The Mech took hold of Sam’s right upper arm and wrapped it in the tendrils from its ball-like fist. The tendrils surrounded the end-cap over his stump. Sam flinched and struggled, then fell away. He collapsed on to the deck next to Jack.
Jack touched his neck and heaved for air, every breath hard and welcome. The Mechs drifted off the command deck, out onto the dark main deck. Their shadows moved away and up the access to the upper deck.
“Activity on the upper airlock,” Ripa said. “Airlock sealed.”
Bale rushed over to a console, slipping on the blood flowing out of Stone’s chest. He grabbed the console edge and tapped the controls. The holostage lit up and showed the frigate surrounded by Mech ships. The Mech ships raced away in various directions, leaving the frigate and the burning hull of the corvette alone in the deep, dark cold of space.
Jack sat in the command chair and looked down at the holostage, which showed the frigate in the massive black void of open space. He called out to Ripa.
“Lieutenant. Deploy all drones at a three hundred thousand kilometers perimeter about the boat.”
“Copy that, sir,” Ripa said.
“Sensors at maximum range,” Bale said from the sensors console.
Jack looked at Sam at the drive console. “Do we have power, Sam?”
“You got it. Ready to go, Jack.”
Jack looked down at the command deck. It still showed signs of damage. It was a tough boat. He just hoped it would get them to safety before it fell apart.
Jack tapped the armrest of his command chair and sent his coordinates to the navigational console. Sam activated the drive. The frigate moved off, reaching full speed. He opened a communication channel
and sent a message out to anyone who might be listening for them.
“This is Frigate M-9 to the fleet. If you receive this, send rendezvous coordinates. For now, we’ll do our best to find you. Forge out.”
Thank You For Reading
So, Jack and Sam have found themselves in another pickle. Separated from the Fleet and surrounded by hostile aliens, yet again, their only option is to keep moving forward. Can they find the fleet or will they be lost in the black of space forever? The next book will be available soon so keep an eye out for it on Amazon.
If you could take a minute and leave a review for me on Amazon, that would be awesome.
And if you would like to know about the events that led to Jack and Sam being stranded in space, check out the Jack Forge, Fleet Marine series where Jack goes from unwilling Marine to savior of humanity.
Get Recruit, Book 1 in the series:
amazon.com/dp/B07695FRGG
Or get the whole Jack Forge, Fleet Marine series:
amazon.com/dp/B07MNQSKCN
Lastly, if you would like to be notified whenever I release a new book plus learn about all kinds of special offers, you should consider signing up for our Science Fiction Newsletter. The details are on the next page. You will get a free story when you sign up.
Thanks again. Now, turn the page and check out the Science Fiction Newsletter!
Sign up for our Science Fiction Newsletter
and get a FREE short story
Canis Borg: Alien Control Agent
Half human. Half Alien. All Attitude!
fairfieldpublishing.com/sci-fi-newsletter/
Sign up today!
Lost Marine Page 10