He wanted to destroy everything at once, to just let go and unleash his full potential. He felt the bulky Harness that encompassed his chest and ran down his spine connecting to his central nervous system. He hated it. The cool metal represented everything he had been fighting against. The armour that covered the rest of his body and the same of his crew allowed them some measure of control by counteracting it. He demanded more. He lashed out with his hand obliterating six more pillars, each twice the width of himself. He continued to throw his arms out from his static position, each extension shattering a series of pillars. The armour was tough but couldn’t prevent the heat he felt as he manipulated physics to form a ball of organic plasma. It floated in the palm of his hand before he unleashed it on the next pillar. It continued through destroying one after the other. He felt the armour dampen the Harness fighting its effects.
It only enraged him more that he required the bulky exo-skeleton. The Harness was a crime against him and his people. He yelled with all the anger he had, refusing to give in to the Harness’s constraints. Every pillar left standing was decimated in his cry.
It would never be over until they were all dead, especially the anomaly. The moment Kalian Gaines had fled the system he knew he was dealing with a Terran. They were always so good at running away and hiding. That was why he had created the Eclipse in the first place. Every time they attacked a new system they would begin to evacuate and thousands would slip away, not with the Eclipse.
This Kalian Gaines had a great amount of luck on his side to have escaped and survived two supernovas with such primitive technology. As the debris was reabsorbed he looked up to see Elandar standing amidst the rubble. He knew he wasn’t really standing there, it would be a hologram.
“The system has been destroyed. Where these humans once called home is now a black hole.” Even though he was only a hologram, and far away from his rage, Elandar looked fearful. “What are your orders, brother?”
He pondered that question for a moment. What would they do next? He had hoped to end it all with the destruction of Century; of course, he had never told his crew of the plans he had after all this. Now he was aware of another terraforming project with seven thousand of the humans on it, not to mention the elusive Kalian Gaines.
They had also detected the escape of the Novaarians’ vessel and he was sure they would have intercepted Kalian by now. That being the case, there was only one place they would go; the Conclave. It was through this alien society that they had even found the humans in the first place. Having encountered the collection of strange species centuries ago, they had infiltrated their AI network and through that their individual planetary networks. Their technology was so primitive they hadn’t even detected the intrusion. It was this tactic that allowed them to continue their search while constantly monitoring the Conclave’s own exploration. It had paid off. Four hundred years ago the Novaarians discovered Earth and informed their superiors on the Highclave. With the distance between them, it took two hundred years for the data to reach them. It was still a mystery as to why they had kept it a secret from the others within their society. He cared not in the end though, the information was relayed back to them all the same, and they immediately began their two hundred year trip back to this region of the galaxy.
He reasoned that the terraforming group wouldn’t be going anywhere. But Kalian Gaines was heading into the bosom of an alien collective that might hide him away. He had seen the karyogram of this particular human, he was too close. Just the idea of him surviving made his skin crawl, he had to die.
“Set a course for the Conclave. Even if we have to wipe them all out, I will kill the last of their kind with my bare hands.” He thought about his crew as well. They had been cooped up on this ship for too long. He was sure they would all enjoy the R&R.
7
The first hit to his jaw wasn’t so bad; he’d endured far worse in his career. It was the second hit to his kidneys that pissed him off, though. These guys obviously had no intention of fighting fair, but that was their mistake. To the other patrons of the Arc-Bar, this had become a regular occurrence with Commander Roland North. From the brief conversation before the first blow, the onlookers knew the Commander had clearly offended another UDC soldier.
Through the haze of alcohol, Roland’s muscle memory miraculously reacted to the familiar scenario. Feigning more pain than had been inflicted he hunched over, fully aware of the two attackers behind and the stupid dick in front of him. Launching up with a speed they assumed the alcohol would have dulled, he brought his open palm into the attacker’s throat. He didn’t wait to see the reaction; he had seen it a thousand times before.
Flowing straight into his next move he ducked, bringing his leg up behind him. The attacker on his left immediately flew into the nearest table, collapsing it with a shattering of glass. Coming up from his second attack, the guy on his right made the expected move. Roland intercepted the swing with slightly less finesse than usual, thanks to the alcohol. Without thinking he naturally locked the arm under his own and applied an upward pressure on the elbow. The subsequent snap of bone would have been cause to scream if Roland hadn’t instantly head-butted the man into oblivion.
The lead attacker was on his knees, panting for breath while clutching at his throat. Roland dropped to one knee matching his height.
“Don’t take it so seriously, kid. We’re out here at the ass end of the galaxy. You can’t blame a girl for looking elsewhere every now and again, besides I’m pretty sure I fell asleep halfway through...”
He had been pretty drunk that night, even for him. His memory of sleeping with the soldier’s girlfriend was so blurry he couldn’t even remember what she looked like.
Taking further offence, the young lieutenant threw another swing. Thankfully for him, Roland just wanted to get back to his drink and decided to end it quickly. Grabbing the fist mid-air, he stood up to bring his knee into the man’s nose, which was the end of that. Without noticing the alarm on the faces of the other patrons, he picked up his fallen stool and resumed his drink. The automated bar flashed a holographic message across the counter in front of him: Cut Off.
Letting off a small curse he downed the rest of his drink and turned to leave. It was the only bar on this side of the galaxy and he couldn’t afford to get banned. Turning to leave, his exit was quickly blocked by the two man-mountains standing behind him. They had clearly received augmentation to their bodies to make them so big, and it hadn’t escaped him that they were wearing full armour as well. He was flattered. No one wore full armour out here; after the first two years, security had lapsed when they realised they were totally alone.
“I’m going to have to ask you to come with us, sir.” Even his voice sounded augmented.
Six men with stretchers came into view and started to examine the unconscious attackers. He loved a good bar fight but he felt the feeling had passed.
No need to put these two meatheads in Medical as well.
“Fine. I think I know where we’re going.” This wasn’t the first time he had been escorted to the captain’s post on the main command bridge.
With the effects of the alcohol only being designed to last an hour, he, unfortunately, began to regain his senses on the walk. The Arclight was a massive ship, if it could be called a ship. Despite having Solar Drive capabilities it was chiefly made to work within an atmosphere, planet-side. It acted as the main hub and living space for all personnel. Like a self-contained city, it was a constant source of activity. Even though Roland hadn’t arrived with the original terraformers he had been briefed on everything that had transpired over the last five and a half years. Just with any terraforming project, they had arrived in a fleet of ships. Every ship was integral to changing the planet’s environment, though the Arclight would be considered central operations where the other ship/stations could be monitored from.
Even on his escorted walk, there were scientists and engineers making their way to the hangar bay for the day’s
work. Most personnel would shuttle out to one of the other stations that had been placed somewhere specific on the planet. Once there, they would go about their daily routines of checking atmospherics, planetary mass, gravitational shifts and potential sites for accelerated plant growth. There was one ship however that most definitely was not a station. It maintained a geostationary orbit around Alpha and constantly monitored everything. The side of its hull read; UDC HAMMER.
Roland found the name ironic as that was exactly what it was. As a class C battleship, it was close to the capabilities of the Hyperion and the Centurion and was capable of hammering down a hundred kinds of hell to slag any planet or ship. It also happened to be his destination.
He estimated that he couldn’t be in that much trouble since the beefcakes escorting him hadn’t taken away the LX 14-02 strapped to his thigh. Although, it might just be that they didn’t want to try and take it, but he wasn’t sure which idea he preferred.
Thinking about his gun he realised he hadn’t changed his uniform yet. Having finished his twelve and a half hour shift, he had immediately headed for the Arc-bar without stopping by his cabin. He was still comfortable though as the undersuit, which reminded him of a wet-suit, had a controlled environment inside keeping him at a constant perfect temperature. The tactical vest he wore over the top was light since he didn’t have the need to carry half the gear it was designed for. The heaviest thing he had, aside from his boots, was the flat square on the back of the vest which carried essential medical equipment. The polycrete armoured plates that covered the different muscle groups and kneecaps on his legs weighed less than his sidearm. He knew from basic training decades ago, that the whole suit had been made to allow for agility and speed in combat. Even if he had full armour on his torso and arms, it wouldn’t slow him down much; it just took a while to put it all on.
He soon found himself strapped into a Light Raptor that shuttled them from the Arclight up to the Hammer. The view was dull and uninteresting with a grey landscape as far as the eye could see. They still had at least another five decades before terraforming would be complete; he hoped his punishment wouldn’t last that long though. The airspace around the triangular hub was busy as the late shift took over from the day staff, but the Light Raptor avoided it all by flying vertically up towards the atmosphere.
With no real atmosphere yet the transition from planet to space could easily be missed. There was no missing the Hammer though. It was all angles and dark plating with lights dotted around the hull. He heard the pilot give the access code before they passed through the membrane into the main hangar.
The journey up to the command centre was short with the use of the executive lift in the hangar. The journey might have been more comfortable if it wasn’t so cramped with the augments he was travelling with. The door slid open to reveal a slightly larger command centre than normal, though this size was standard for this type of expedition. Pipes lined the ceiling, flowing down the walls and disappearing under the floor with a bundle of wires. There were at least a dozen crew members standing and sitting at their various posts, poring over technical readouts from around the ship and the planet below. The monitors and holograms would have been enough to light up the whole room but Roland could still feel the heat from the spotlights above. The centre chair was occupied by Captain Fey, who sat examining the image projected by the holographic emitter fixed into her armrest.
Everyone knew this was a retirement job for her. Despite looking no more than forty-five with her auburn hair tied into a bun, she had served the UDC for nearly a century, even as captain on the Centurion for a time. She would see this out for another five years and then retire to some cushy estate on Mars or one of Saturn’s moons.
He stood before her with the two muscle men taking up positions behind him. He loathed protocol but knew her wrath would be worst if he broke it; instead, he stood there and waited to be spoken to.
“Have you forgotten how to salute, Commander?” she asked, without taking her eyes off the hologram.
He sighed before giving a half-ass salute.
She flicked her eyes to the corner of the image and the emitter closed down the hologram. “Three fractured ribs, two fractured noses and one fractured arm...” The captain let her words hang in the air for a moment.
He didn’t care. Medical would have had all three of them back to full health before he had even reached the bridge. She dismissed the two guards with a look before continuing. With the activity around them, it was unlikely anyone was listening.
“What am I to do you with you, Commander North? You’re lucky I don’t involve the Commodore in our weekly encounters. We limited your bar activity to once a week and now instead of five or six incidents a week I get one, like clockwork.” She surveyed the attention of her bridge crew for a moment. “I’ve seen your file Commander, and I know this type of work isn’t what you were trained for.”
Roland knew she was lying, just throwing her weight around. In reality, he knew Fey was nowhere near the required clearance level to see his file, she was just going off a hunch. No doubt when he had been transferred with the new batch of security personnel, the Commodore and Captain Fey had received orders from the top. He imagined the orders were vague about his reason for being sent here and his record must have looked downright bizarre. It would indicate that he went from nothing to Commander overnight, with no record of previous achievements or rank. But this was his punishment.
“I was hoping that after six months with us you might have acclimatised to a new form of security work. But you seem determined to make trouble.”
He could tell she was trying to worm some detail out of him regarding his past work in the UDC and the reason he had been exiled to Alpha. Since she hadn’t asked a question yet, that wasn’t rhetorical, he remained silent, trying not to yawn.
“I would confine you to the brig if I thought it would teach you anything. Instead, I’m going to make use of you, Commander.”
That didn’t sound promising, but what punishment could be worse than being sent here in the first place?
She stepped down from the podium and moved to stand by one of the forward bridge crew. “Are we still offline, Lieutenant?” Captain Fey asked the young cadet behind Roland.
“Affirmative, Captain. But we still can’t tell which relay is down. It could be the closest - it’s unlikely to be all of them.”
“I want you to take a shuttle with a team of technicians to the nearest relay and see what the problem is.”
He was wrong, his punishment could get worse. “What’s wrong with the relays?”
Roland looked at the monitor with little interested as he stroked the stubble he hadn’t bothered to shave in a week.
“We’ve lost contact with Central Parliament and The Hub. The relays have worked perfectly for six years and now... nothing. I don’t like being out of contact. The initial feedback from the Hammer’s sensors shows no discernible faults, but that clearly isn’t the case.”
Roland had been briefed on the relays on his original journey out here. They were deployed from the Hammer at predetermined points on the first flight to Alpha. The ship would have dropped out of subspace to set them up, but once all of them were active they had a straight line of communication to Earth.
“What if it’s a problem on their side?” He didn’t much fancy the idea of visiting every relay between here and Earth. It had taken them nearly two weeks in subspace just to get here.
“Then we have to hope they’re investigating it as well, dismissed,” she replied.
The captain obviously didn’t care that he had just come off shift and hadn’t slept yet. With the shuttle being almost entirely automated, he really wouldn’t have much to do anyway. He was already planning on picking up the eggheads and finding a comfy chair in the cockpit to fall asleep.
With another half-hearted salute, he turned to leave the bridge and head straight to the hangar.
“One more thing, Commander North.”
Roland felt an idle threat coming his way.
“If you break any more bones I’ll give you a vac suit and a mop and you can clean the Hammer’s hull for a month.”
He indulged in a quick fantasy in which he took one of the Heavy Raptors in the hangar and just flew back to Earth. He could make more money freelancing in a year than he would in half his career with the UDC.
“Yes, Captain.”
The hangar was busy with crew and hover-bots working on various Raptors and shuttles. It was quite a cluttered hangar, with multiple workstations running down the centre of the bay. Most of the engineers he passed looked like they had spent a week inside one of the Raptor’s engines with grease smeared over their faces. The data on his wrist touchpad directed him to the correct bay. The eggheads stood out in their stark white lab suits and bulky equipment.
Before he could go over and ignore them, the general alarm broke out across the hangar. Red and yellow lights flashed along the walls as different crew ran to their posts. Captain Fey’s voice broke over the alarm.
“Attention all crew, this is not a drill. I repeat this is not a drill. An unidentified ship has dropped out of Solar Drive on the port side, man your posts and standby for orders.”
He ran over to the hangar membrane with other curious crew. He wasn’t really sure what he was looking at. In his time he had seen every kind of ship, whether it was UDC, separatist or commercial. But he had never seen this.
The distance made it hard to judge but he guessed it was at least twice the size of the Hammer. Blue ice crystals were ejected from the four large engines on either side of the ship. Every ship produced the crystals after Solar Drive; it was a by-product of igniting the Solarcite. If they were indeed the engines they were bigger than most UDC vessels. The main body was long but chunky looking. He did recognise one similar design though; the scorpion-like tail that arced over the rear section of the ship. He had seen that design on only one other ship; hell everyone had seen that design. That particular ship had been found on Pluto’s moon Charon four hundred and twenty-one years ago.
The Terran Cycle Boxset Page 19
