“I can hear you! Come out and show yourself!” A male voice yelled. A male human voice. Jackson barreled through the fog, his sidearm in front of him, ready to fire. Ka’thak backed away quickly and I jumped in front of him as to not alarm Jackson.
“David, it’s us! It’s just us. Ka’thak is behind me. It’s all right. Do me a favor and put the gun down, all right?” I held out my hands and motioned downwards.
His eyes were wild and I could see bruises and cuts dotting his face and arms. He had clearly been in a fight, but with who? Poor guy couldn’t catch a break. I wondered if I would ever see him without wounds. He certainly didn’t seem to feel the worse for them. Adrenaline from whatever battle he had fought.
He ran and caught me in a fierce hug. When he let me go he ran to hug Ka’thak, the knives on his belt clanging against the metal of the captain’s armor. “Fucking ‘engineers’.” He panted, catching his breath. “The delegation that Wright sent up weren’t here to learn a damn thing. This was their mission. They set Gods knows how many of these canisters through the ship and they all went off on a timer. I’m so sorry sir. I should have figured it out sooner.”
Ka’thak patted him awkwardly. The armor restricted his movement and what was meant to be a comforting pat on the shoulder landed as more of a thump that sent Jackson pitching forward slightly. “It’s all right. There was no way you could have known.”
But wasn’t there? I thought back to the brief exchange Jackson and I had before pairing the teams off with their alien mentors. He had dismissed the presence of military engineers as standard operating protocol and because of his history, I had believed him. Ka’thak was right, of course, but I couldn’t help but feel that I should have been more vigilant. More suspicious. I dismissed the concern. There was no point to it now. Right now we had more important things to do.
“It looks like the gas just paralyzed everyone, sir,” Jackson reported. “I ran into two of the men and they let it slip that they’re planning on capturing everyone aboard. More ships are coming and they’ll dump everyone Earthside to die—including the two of us, I expect. I didn’t run into any more of them on my way to you which means that we’ve got six or eight still on the loose.” An unknown number of enemies, and more on the way? Not good.
Ka’thak swore in his tongue. It was obvious that he agreed.
“It looks like we’ve got a decent enough force here.” Jackson counted off on his fingers to make a point. “Six against probably dozens of humans who are on their way here right now. We’ve got to see if anyone else is awake, and we have to take control of the ship now, before more soldiers come aboard. If it’s just us, well, we’ll do our best. The ship that brought them originally is still in our hangar. That will no doubt be the key to letting the reinforcements in.”
“And then what?” I asked. “We’ll be trapped on the bridge with no weapons of our own. We won’t be able to do anything outside of this room.”
“Then we’ll just have to get creative, little sister.” Jackson leaned in and started discussing his plan.
12
Captain Dalton
Captain Jacob Dalton stood with his arms locked behind his back at the front of one of the troop transports heading for the alien ship. He was grateful that President Wright had seen fit to provide his company of soldiers with everything they could possibly need to fight those disgusting abominations. They had even been issued special armor, newly designed suits based on AstroTech designs. He had never been a fan of Jesse Proctor but he had to admit the man was an innovator. Their equipment could even keep them alive in space if need be. He was taking in over a hundred soldiers but he had seen footage of these things fight before. A hundred soldiers were only as good as their weaponry when it came to these aliens and their claws.
“Ensign Banks, come in.”
“Got you loud and clear, Captain,” the ensign replied.
“You ready for us there?” the Captain asked.
“You got it, sir. We are free of any wildlife here. No scales to be found. The lizards are taking a nice long nap and most of our crews are on their way back to the shuttle.”
“Most?” Were some of the aliens still awake?
“Two of our men haven’t contacted the shuttle or been in any kind of contact yet. I imagine they are on their way. They might have just lost their radios. Nothing to worry about.”
Dawson clicked his teeth together. If two were missing, it was not likely to be a case of missing radios or failed communications. They could have been captured, or killed. If it happened before they were able to plant their gas canisters that could mean the mission was open to sabotage.
“Secure the area, now,” he ordered. “Some of the aliens might still be awake.” “Secure the area, now.”
The Ensign seemed unfazed. “If there are, sir, I doubt there are too many.”
Captain Dawson shook his head. The naïveté of youth and the foolishness of inexperience. When all this was said and done he would have to take a long walk with her superior officer and have him educate his subordinate on following orders. He signaled one of the cruisers to land ahead of him and watched as it slipped into the hangar without incident. He radioed for the men to leave the shuttle and set up security. He saw the uniformed men file out and set a perimeter, the lights from the hangar glinting off their armor. He was about to send the other ship in when the hangar door began closing. He clenched his fist and swore.
“Get to the hangar control room and stop that door!” he shouted into the radio. He ordered both ships still in space, full engines forward but they weren’t going to make it in time. Someone was indeed still awake. Whether they were human or alien he had no idea.
“Captain, we can’t move. Repeat, we cannot enter the hangar control room. The aliens have put blast doors down! We can’t open the outer doors even if we could get in there, sir. The hangar controls have already cycled. The hangar is pressurized.”
Shit. That meant there was breathable air in the hangar. Opening the hangar doors again would cause an explosive depressurization and decompression. Anyone inside the hangar would be thrown into space. His men were stuck. “Stay in your suits and be careful that nothing sparks. It’s a powder keg.”
“Yes, sir. We’re bringing out tools to break the doors down but it’s going to take a while.”
Dalton ordered the second ship to position themselves near the door and had his pilot move their ship to take the position opposite. If and when they were able to get the doors open and depressurize the hangar they had to be ready to land as quickly as possible. He told his soldiers to make ready for enemy combat. They climbed into their suits and checked their weapons. The fact that the operation was not going as planned made him nervous. He wasn’t sure what to expect and that made the situation worse. It’s not as if he was trained to fight space aliens.
As Dalton donned his suit he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. “Weapons!” he called. Crewmen leapt to their battle stations but they weren’t being fired on. The problem was much worse than that. Captain Dalton looked on in horror as the hangar doors shook and a crack of light shone through. There was no time to warn his men. He could only watch as the doors opened fully and the two ships and their crews were jettisoned into space. They still had their suits but the explosive decompression would have injured them badly or killed them instantly. This was confirmed as he heard the men’s screams and their alarmed cries over the radio.
He ordered one of the remaining two shuttles to peel away and go after the men while he piloted his ship into the hangar. He said nothing to his soldiers about the ‘rescue’ attempt. Both he and they knew damn well that there wasn’t enough time to rescue the entire platoon lost out there. They simply didn’t have enough air. On top of that, any injuries suffered in their expulsion into space would likely kill them faster than the suffocation would.
Dalton knew that he could easily have turned back toward the human ship for reinforcements. He also knew that whate
ver aliens were awake were probably working furiously to cure more of their comrades of the gas. Reinforcements would only mean more dead. Time to make do with what he had. Those reptiles would pay for this.
13
Jackson
“Ha ha, take that motherfuckers!” I shouted as we watched the two shuttles and the group of soldiers be jettisoned into space. Alex was quiet behind me. For a moment I thought she was waiting for the other shoe to drop—that she couldn’t believe it had been that easy. When I turned, however, I saw that she was pale and her hands were shaking. I stepped toward her slowly and held my hands out, palms facing her.
“Hey,” I asked softly. “Hey, you all right?” She didn’t respond, staring ahead of her. I touched her arm and she jerked back. “Hey, hey! It’s okay. What’s going on?”
“It’s too much,” she exclaimed. “It’s just too damn much.”
“What is?” I asked.
“Too much death, Jackson!” she snarled. “I just watched men and women get sucked into space. They’re floating out there in suits with just enough oxygen to keep them alive long enough to know they’re dying. I know damn well that no shuttle can reach them in time, you idiot. They’re going to suffocate.” She paused. “It was never supposed to be like this.”
“I know, but—“
“But nothing, Jackson. We should be working together. We could be surviving this as well as we could but instead, we’re doing nothing but fighting.”
“You know that those men came here to kill us, right?”
She scowled at me. “Yes, you moron. That doesn’t make it any less fucked up.”
I held up my hands and backed up. “Fine, fine, you win, all right? Look, we can talk about this later, yeah? You can tell me what a shit-head soldier I am for saving our lives.” I turned to Ka’thak. “They won’t be stopped so easily now, sir. They will bring reinforcements and we just played our hand.”
“On the plus side, we’ve taken out something like two-thirds of the enemy force that managed to land aboard our ship.” Ka’thak managed a lopsided grin behind his helmet. “That leaves the seven of us against how many troops?”
The four soldiers in their EVA suits stepped forward, ready for whatever was next.
“Right, so we’ve got six. Better than three, but based on how many I saw coming out of those shuttles, probably thirty men for every ship that gets here. Plus any ‘engineers’ who didn’t make it back to their shuttle before we spaced those idiots. So I’d say possibly forty, maybe fifty are going to hit us as a first wave.”
Alex’s eyes got big and she ran from the bridge. I started to run after her, but Ka’thak reached out an arm and pulled me back.
“I know where she’s going,” he replied softly. “She’ll be just fine. Stay with us. We need to plan. The best thing I can think of is that we have to find a way to engage the ship’s interstellar drive. We need to leave, now, before they can capture the ship.”
“But Alex—“
Ka’thak held up a hand to cut me off. “I know. I’m so sorry, David. I have no other choice.”
Alex ran back into the command center, panting. “I can’t get anyone to wake up. They’re out, and I have no idea when—or if—they’ll get up again.” She looked from me to Ka’thak. “What? Have you two come up with a plan already?”
“Alex...” I said.
“Whatever it is, I’m on board. What are we doing?”
“Alex, we have to leave.” I found myself afraid to move. I was about to tell her that the last time she had set foot on Earth was her final moment on our home-world. I wished one of the aliens would speak up and say it for me, but everyone was silent.
“Leave and go where?” she demanded, knitting her brows.
“...leave,” I replied weakly. “The only option we have is to run. Otherwise, human troops will overtake this place and kill us all. I’m so sorry, Alex.”
She froze and was silent for what felt like an eternity. Then she shut her eyes and exhaled. “It’s not like I was heading home to sit by the fire anyway. Not like I had anything left. I will miss it, but this has to end.”
Ka’thak stepped forward in his armor and placed a hand on her shoulder. “We will be honored for your presence, Doctor.” One of the warriors handed him a belt with the two knives given to every warrior. “Please take these, and count yourself as one of our people. You are not yet a warrior, but we need you to be now.” She took the belt and fastened it around her waist, the knives tinging against each other as it settled on her hips.
“Thank you, sir.” Fiddling with the handle of the ceremonial knife. “I will do my utmost and am truly honored. You and your people have acted with bravery and trust. I am sorry that you were only repaid with treachery and treason. Now, what do you need from me?”
He nodded and turned his attention back to the assembled group. “Four of you, get to the entrance of the bridge. Close the blast doors and guard the entrance. Jackson, you and I will engage the interstellar drive. Alex, if there’s anyone you want to call...now is the time.”
She paused a moment. “There’s no one sir.”
“Then say a prayer that this works,” Ka’thak requested. “Let’s go, Jackson.” The two of us took our places behind the commander’s station and keyed in instructions to activate the interstellar drive. I watched as a bar on the screens started to slowly fill. Very slowly. It would take around half an hour before it would be ready. “Now the only problem is getting to the engine room.”
“Why?” Alex asked.
“It’s just like a human ship,” I explained. “The captain gives the orders and the engine room has to execute them. That way someone can keep an eye on the engine status while the captain runs the rest of the vessel.”
An alarm started blaring. “Shit,” I muttered.
“What is it?” Alex asked.
“Proximity alarm,” Ka’thak growled. “They’re coming. How long do we have?”
“Around an hour?” one of the soldiers guessed.
“That isn’t much time. All right, Jackson, you’re with me. We’ll take two others and get to the engine room as quickly as possible. Two of you will stay here with Alex. Set positions near the door. Don’t let anyone in unless you hear either of our voices.” The two warriors nodded and stepped forward.
“How long do you think it’s going to take to charge the engines?” Alex inquired.
“An hour, maybe a little less,” I stated, gathering and checking my weapons. Low on ammunition, but I still had a beam weapon and my knives. I wouldn’t be able to take down an army on my own but it would be something. “Hey, Doc, you gonna make it?”
“Are you kidding me? I feel like a badass!” Alex took the smaller of the two knives from her belt and flipped the handle, narrowly avoiding clipping her hand with the blade. She laughed nervously and put the knife back. “Okay, maybe I shouldn’t quite play warrior just yet. Go. We’ve got you. Hurry up and let’s get the hell out of here.”
I snapped to a mock salute. “Yes, general. We’ll be back as soon as we can. Try not to blow up the ship with us down near the engines, all right?”
She stuck her tongue out at me. Ka’thak and I left to make our way to the engine room.
14
Jackson
We passed more unconscious alien bodies on our way to the engine room but didn’t find any humans. I stopped on the way to check on them, pressing my fingers against their necks. Still no movement, but their pulses were steady and their breathing regular. Ka’thak looked back at me and I motioned him forward, letting him know that I’d catch up momentarily. He continued down the hall and I heard the whoosh of the engine room door sliding open. He commanded the two soldiers who had accompanied us to take positions outside the door and let no one through. I took one last look at the aliens lying before me and joined Ka’thak. Once inside we took care to shut the blast doors behind us. It felt cruel to the soldiers who remained outside, but they understood the importance of the mission. D
efend their commander, and the engines at all costs. If we couldn’t get the engines fired up properly we needed as much time as we could get.
Thankfully the engines hadn’t been damaged, by the humans or the debris from the decompression. I could see the same charging screen progressing steadily as I had on the bridge. Half an hour felt like a short time but now that we had arrived in the engine room the seconds crawled by. If any of those reinforcement ships arrived sooner than anticipated we were in deep shit. The human colony ship wasn’t that far away, either. I wondered if the hour that I had given us was too generous. Surely it would take less time than that to load a group of soldiers into a shuttle and send it over to attack us? It didn’t matter now. We were in it, for better or for worse. As Ka’thak ran through pre-flight checks he spoke.
“David, I know you’ve told me this before, but I feel compelled to ask again. Are you sure that you’re really committed to this plan? There are escape pods and shuttles. You’d be able to take Alex and get off the ship. I only ask because this really is your last chance.”
I busied myself running full-system checks and was silent for a couple of minutes. I was unsure if Ka’thak still doubted my loyalty or what, but I was getting a little tired of my allegiance being questioned. Of my resolve coming into doubt. Honor had dictated my life for my entire adult years. It was the only thing that mattered to me. I took a deep breath and continued typing in the commands for diagnostics.
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