“They’re trying to eat their way in,” the pilot said.
“We’ll do our best to clear them off,” Ember said. “But you’ll have to give us time. We’re running low on ammunition.”
“Copy that,” said the pilot. “Let us know when we can evac. The cabin is beginning to fill up with smoke.”
“We’ve got to get them out of there,” Ember said.
“Dragon Teams Four and Thirteen are headed this way with captives,” Nick said.
“And we have no way off this rock until help arrives,” Gunny Tveit said. “We’ll get that platoon out of the transport and into the mining facility. But first we have to survive the flight down.”
Chapter 30
Flying came naturally to Nick. Normally, the wingsuit only allowed him to glide, but the winds swirling through the towering spires on Uni Five gave him lift and boost, allowing him to sail for as long as he cared to.
Landing was even possible without a chute because of the strong winds at ground level. Gunny Tveit tried the technique first. She glided from the plateau down toward the mining encampment, made two passes around the building where Kal, Ty, and Jules waited, then flew directly into a strong current of incoming wind. She overcorrected, stalled, and landed on her back but was unharmed by the maneuver.
Nick was next. He soared almost effortlessly and landed gracefully on the rooftop. Ember was not as practiced. She could glide with the wingsuit and was effective at parachuting into her target, but she struggled with adapting to the changing wind patterns. She lined up and flew over the building three times before finally attempting the landing maneuver. She threw out her arms and legs into the oncoming wind and stopped suddenly, as if she had hit an invisible wall. Fortunately, she was less than a meter from the rooftop and managed to fall straight down.
“You hurt?” Kal called, hurrying to her side.
“No,” she replied. “But that was scary.”
“You nailed it,” Nick said. “Perfect technique.”
“I don’t think so,” she grumbled. “I’ll stick with a parachute from now on.”
“We all will,” Gunny Tveit said. “That type of landing only works on a planet with strong crosswinds on the surface.”
“And it can’t be too strong,” Jules replied.
“Tell me about it,” Gunny Tveit said. “Where are the ammo and weapons?”
“Downstairs,” Ty said. “They have a small storage closet packed with munitions. The natives didn’t touch it when they attacked.”
“Well, that’s good for us,” Nick said.
“Nichols, Gracie, you’re with me,” Gunny Tveit said. “The rest of you, stay here and keep an eye on that transport. Once we’re geared up, we’ll call you down.”
Nick could tell the building had been invaded. There was trash everywhere, doors were knocked down, and furniture was scattered. The Isopterans had torn through everything, looking for the miners and administrators hiding in the building. The trio from Dragon Team Seven had just reached the ground floor when Staff Sergeant Blevins, Donny Calloway, and Chancy Hicks came stumbling through the door.
“Call for... help,” Blevins said, gasping for breath. “Team Four was... overrun.”
“No thanks to you,” Nick said.
“What? No,” Blevins said. “We were supposed to keep the exit clear.”
“That’s why you fled and left the rest of your team behind?” Nick said.
“You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about,” Donny Calloway snarled. He even went so far as to draw his pistol.
“Sergeant!” Gunny Tveit shouted, moving toward Calloway so fast it surprised everyone.
“Holster that pistol or I’ll break your arm,” she said in a low, menacing voice.
Donny hesitated for a second, then shoved the pistol back into his hip holster. He even took a step back from Gunny Tveit.
“I’ve had enough of this beef between the two of you,” she said. “It ends now. We have a platoon of marines who won’t last much longer on that downed transport, and we’re going to need everyone to free them.”
“Look, Gunny, I don’t know what you’ve seen on this rock,” Blevins said, “but these creatures are monsters. Our best bet is to evacuate this planet and leave it to them.”
“In case you didn’t notice,” Ember spoke up for the first time. “The troop transport was disabled by the Isopterans. Chances are, whatever rescue craft could be sent from orbit would face a similar fate.”
“She’s right,” Gunny said. “At this point in time, we are stranded here. So we rescue those marines and fortify this location. How many prisoners did your people liberate from the natives?”
“None,” Donny Calloway said. “They were overrun and killed. That’s why we came back alone.”
“Actually,” Nick spoke up, but in a less hostile tone, “I counted six captives, Sarge. Four Proxy and two humans.”
“There’s no way they outran those creatures,” Blevins said. “There were hundreds of them.”
“I managed to knock down one of the spires right on top of them,” Nick said. “They’ll make it.”
“Staff Sergeant, you hold this building and wait for the captives. The rest of us are going to rescue the hostages.”
“You’re out of your mind if you think I’m going back out there,” Donny Calloway said. “I didn’t survive five years in the PMC being stupid. Let the infantry grunts fend for themselves.”
“He’s right,” Blevins said. “It’s better if we stay here. There really isn’t anything we can do out there but get killed.”
“Fine,” Gunny said. “But you will be reported for dereliction of duty. All of you.”
“If you survive to report us,” Donny Calloway snarled.
Nick started to respond, but Ember put her hand on his arm. “Time to go,” she said. “Let’s gear up.”
“Roger that,” Nick said, using all his self-control not to launch himself at Donny Calloway.
“Get up to the roof,” Gunny Tveit told Staff Sergeant Blevins. “You can keep watch, or is that too risky?”
“Don’t get cute, Gunny. You don’t know what we’ve been through,” Blevins said.
“You’re right, I just know the meaning of duty and honor,” Tveit said, before spinning on her heel and leaving the members of Dragon Team Thirteen behind.
“I can’t believe those cowards,” Nick said.
“Let it go, Nick. They aren’t worth your time,” Ember said.
“She’s right. We have to focus all our attention on the task at hand,” Gunny Tveit said. “Grab those advanced ballistic rifles. Use the soft slug rounds, as many as you can find.”
“Most of these magazines aren’t loaded,” Ember complained.
“Get what’s ready. We can’t wait much longer,” Gunny Tveit said. “We need to rescue that transport and fortify this building.”
“Take a look at this,” Nick said, pulling out a locker full of munitions. “Concussion grenades.”
“Good,” Tveit said. “Grab all you can. I have an idea.”
Chapter 31
As soon as Ty, Jules, and Kal came down from the roof of the building, Dragon Team Seven set out across the field toward the downed transport. Smoke was rising from the aircraft, and there was movement on the ship itself.
“What is going on?” Ty said. “Are those things crawling over the ship?”
“Looks that way,” Nick said.
“Can they get in?” Kal asked.
“Maybe, but they’d be crazy to want to,” Jules said. “It’s not like the marines aren’t armed to the teeth.
“What’s the plan, Sarge?” Ember asked.
“If we can fight off the natives, we’ll do that,” Gunny Tveit said. “If not, we’ll have to blow the transport open and perform a fighting retreat back to the mining complex.”
“Has it occurred to anyone that the last platoon stationed here was overrun?” Kal said.
“Do you have a better idea?�
� Gunny Tveit asked. “If so, I’m wide open to suggestions.”
“We don’t have to defeat them,” Ember said. “Just hold them off until help arrives.”
“If it arrives,” Kal said. “The Proxy may just decide that saving us isn’t worth the hassle.”
“We have Proxy captives,” Nick said. “Surely they’ll send help. They may not care about us, but they look out for their own kind.”
“We’ll worry about getting rescued once that platoon of marines is safely in the mining facility,” Gunny Tveit said. “Alright, this is far enough. Our soft slugs should kill the Isopterans without punching through the transport’s fuselage.”
“Should?” Kal asked skeptically.
“Only one way to find out,” Gunny Tveit said, raising her rifle to her shoulder.
Nick knew his NCO was about to fire her weapon, but the shot came as a surprise to him anyway. There was a confidence to Gunny Tveit’s marksmanship. Ember may have been the best shot on their team, but Beth Tveit had the most experience. She fired the round without a second’s hesitation.
The report of the rifle rolled across the empty space, and after one of the insectoid creatures dropped from the transport, a slight ping came echoing back.
“Looks like she was right,” Ty said.
“I’ll warn the marines onboard,” Gunny Tveit said. “ABRs only. Your plasma cannons will burn through the weak spots on the transport’s hull.”
“Roger that,” Kal said. “We’ll focus on the ones coming this way.”
Gunny Tveit switched her com-link back to the command channel. “Transport 2257B,” she said, “this is Dragon Team Seven. Do you read?”
“Loud and clear,” came a man’s gruff voice. “Tell me that was you pinging our ship?”
“Affirmative,” Gunny continued. “We’ve got soft slugs incoming to clear the hull. What’s the best way out?”
“Rear hatch,” the marine onboard the transport informed her. “The side doors are too close to the engines, which are on fire. I’d say we have five more minutes, and then we’ll just have to fight our way out no matter the consequences.”
“Give us four minutes to move around to your rear,” Gunny Tveit said. “The transport is crawling with natives. They die easily enough, but we need as many of you as we can get.”
“Things aren’t better on the ground, then?”
“No,” Gunny Tveit said. “But we have structures to take cover in. And hostages recovered from the Isopterans that should ensure we get aide from the Proxy.”
“That’s the first good news I’ve heard today. Give the word and we’ll come out fighting.”
“Roger that,” Gunny Tveit said. “Stand by.”
They were already running, circling wide around the transport. When they came level with the rear of the ship three minutes later, they stopped.
“Alright,” Gunny Tveit said. “Follow your training and make clean shots. Once the marines are out, watch your fire. We don’t need casualties because we got careless.”
“Yes, Sergeant,” they all said together.
Nick went down on one knee, but Tveit and Ember fired standing up. They had a good angle for removing the aliens at the rear of the ship, although it seemed like a Herculean task as the Isopterans kept appearing out of thin air.
“They can make it out,” Kal said. “But you’re drawing a crowd.”
A thick line of the insectoid creatures was marching toward the team of warriors.
“Let them get close,” Jules said. “Then we’ll blast them.”
“Transport, you are cleared for egress,” Gunny Tveit said.
“Roger that, Whiskey Platoon is coming out hot,” the Marine NCO said.
There was an explosion as the rear hatch was blown off the transport by the emergency charges. The infantry platoon came running out, rifles held ready. A few even took shots at the enemy. Smoke was pouring out of the aircraft too, and Nick saw the Proxy pilots running in the center of the platoon.
“More Proxy, that will help,” Ember said.
“Why? They aren’t fighters,” Kal said.
“But they’ll give our superiors reason to send help,” Gunny Tveit said.
“Alright, boys,” Jules said. “Light it up.”
“With pleasure,” Ty replied.
The trident plasma cannons chugged three-round bursts at full auto speed. The Isopterans charging at Dragon Team Seven died in a wave of superheated gas and fire. It was both horrific and exciting. The sight sent chills down Nick’s back as he watched the aliens die.
“Convenient of them to bunch up like that,” Kal said.
“Man, it’s like a bad dream,” Nick said. “How can they just keep coming?”
“What else do they have to live for?” Ember said. She and Gunny Tveit were still targeting the aliens that were pursuing the infantry platoon. “All their resources are gone. We might be the only food source on the planet.”
“Yeah, better to die fighting than to slowly starve to death,” Ty said.
“This is coming from the guy who’s never full,” Jules said.
“Nichols, make sure we can get back to the compound,” Gunny Tveit said. “I don’t want these creatures getting smart and cutting off our line of retreat.”
“Roger that,” Nick said.
He circled around his friends, who were continuing to blaze away at the creatures rushing toward them. He suddenly had a feeling that something was wrong. He looked across the open expanse, but there was nothing to concern him. The aliens seemed to be coming from the far side of the transport, but that made no sense the more he thought about it. When they had approached the vessel from the front, they could clearly see both sides, and there was no sign of the enemy amassing. So where, he thought, were the creatures coming from?
Nick turned and looked back at his friends. They were lined up in a row, firing at the creatures ambling across the dusty prairie. Beyond them, the infantry platoon was jogging toward their position. Everything seemed normal, but Nick had a feeling that something was wrong, something he couldn’t explain.
“Gunny, the way home is clear,” Nick said. “But I’ve got a bad feeling—”
He never got a chance to finish his warning. At that exact moment, the ground dropped away beneath him, and Nick fell into a writhing group of aliens. Their pincers couldn’t penetrate his armor, but his rifle was snatched away, and he was hit repeatedly with heavy blows by large creatures until he was knocked unconscious.
Chapter 32
“Nick! Nick!” Ember shouted.
“What the hell?” Kal said angrily.
“I saw him go down,” Ty said. “Something got him underground.
“Move!” Gunny Tveit said. “Don’t stand in one place.”
“What’s happening?” It was the master sergeant of the infantry platoon. The same waffling NCO, whom they had shared a berth with on the Proxy interstellar ship. He was clearly frightened and trying to hide his fear with false bravado.
“Looks like these creatures weren’t the only threat,” Gunny Tveit said. “They’re tunneling beneath us.”
“Then we have to get to the mining complex,” the master sergeant demanded. “What are you waiting for?”
“We can’t go straight back,” she said.
A scream from the edge of the infantry platoon members, who were jumbled close together, interrupted the discussion. One marine was seen down to his waist in the rocky soil, his arms clinging desperately to his friends. They pulled him up and brought up three aliens with him.
Gunny Tveit and Ember fired at almost the same time. Two of the aliens were killed by their bullets, the third let go and tried to scramble back into the hole.
“Move your people,” Gunny Tveit said. “That way,” she pointed toward the spires to the west of the mining facility.
“But the buildings are that way,” the master sergeant insisted.
“Go that way if you want,” Gunny Tveit said. “But you’ll never make it. W
e need solid bedrock beneath our feet. This prairie is no man’s land.”
As if to punctuate her conclusion, a geyser of dirt shot up near the transport, and one end of the big vessel dropped down four meters into the ground.
“Move!” Gunny Tveit shouted.
“What about Nick?” Ember said.
“He’s gone, Gracie,” Gunny Tveit said. “You can die with him, or start moving.”
Kal, Ty, and Jules were stumbling along, their weapons forgotten. Gunny Tveit could only imagine their pain. She was sick over Nick being dragged down. It was her order that had sent him to his death, but her need to get the rest of her team back to safety kept her going. She could, and would, break down later.
Ember wasn’t moving, and Gunny Tveit could see the indecision on her face. Part of her wanted to die with Nick Nichols. Beth grabbed the younger woman and pulled her back. Ember didn’t fight, but she didn’t cooperate either. It was as if she had forgotten how to walk.
“Come on, Ember! No one else is dying today,” Gunny Tveit snarled.
Kal fell back and took Ember’s other arm. He pulled her toward the spires.
“Come on, Em. You can’t save him,” Kal said, a sob choking him. “He’s gone.”
“No,” Ember said. “He can’t be.”
They weren’t far from the spires, and once on the more solid footing, they paused. The master sergeant led his platoon around the towering spires in a looping course back toward the mining complex, but Dragon Team Seven had seen such a harsh and unexpected blow that none of them could continue. Beth Tveit couldn’t see their tears, but she heard their sobs.
“He warned us,” she said. “Nick saved us all more than once. He was a hero, and he wouldn’t want us to die here with him.”
“He can’t be gone,” Ember said.
“You saw him go down, Em,” Ty said. “There’s no way he survived.”
“But they don’t kill you,” Ember said. “They held the others hostage.”
“Some,” Jules said. “But we can’t follow him.”
“There’s no telling where they’ll take him either,” Kal said. “Oh God, how is this happening?”
“No,” Ember said. “No, not Nick.”
Uncommon Loyalty Page 19
