“It’s...it’s the doorway to your left when you go back in there.”
“OK, listen to me. They killed Devon; he’s over there,” Jack said as he pointed behind him. “Take his gun and arm yourself, then get back to the IPV.”
“But, what about Don? I can help.”
“No. I’m not losing anyone else. Get back to the...” Jack stopped as he heard voices. It was a deep, harsh guttural language. Though he had no idea of the exact words, the voice’s tone told him it was a commander giving his troops orders. He looked back to Kurt and said, “Go now. That’s an order.”
Jack watched Kurt back away before he crouched down by the doorway. After surveying the scene, he pulled a pair of goggles from his vest pocket and detached a mini-drone from its brim. Though smaller than a pea, it was capable of giving him visible and infra-red images of any scene. A quick double tap on the brim of the goggles activated a voice-controlled program for the drone. “Tactical surveillance. Adjoining room,” Jack whispered. The drone gently lifted from his hand and shot through the doorway. He put the goggles on and instantly saw the drone’s view. An alien soldier stood over the bodies of Alpha’s people and pointed at the soldiers Jack had shot. Two others stood by the far door, obediently listening to the first one’s instructions. Jack slowly withdrew the grenade case from his vest and took out a single explosive. “Return,” he whispered as he tapped the grenade and tossed it into the room. The drone flew out of the room and took up a position beside him. A second later a ball of fire raced out of the room. The accompanying concussion sent the remaining aliens by the transport platform into a new panicked wave away from him.
Jack jumped to his feet and ran through the doorway into the acrid smoke that filled the room. A quick tap on the side of his goggles gave him a clear image of the scene; the enemy commander and his soldiers lay sprawled against the side walls. A moment later, two more of his troops ran in blindly, but Jack didn’t give them a chance to react. He dispatched them with two quick shots. Following Kurt’s instructions, he made his way to the doorway on the left. “Enter left, surveillance,” he whispered. The drone shot ahead as before and gave him an image of what was lying in wait: a group of soldiers were hesitatingly starting to back out of the engineering center. Without exposing himself, he reached around the doorframe with his pistol. He whispered again; “Activate, remote targeting.” His drone-eye view now included a read circle, indicating the location at which his weapon was pointing. He quickly turned his wrist until the target landed on the first of the enemy. With three short bursts of fire, he took out the remaining soldiers.
“Don!” he called out in a hushed yell. “Are you in here?”
“Over here!” was the hesitant reply. Like Kurt, Don had taken refuge behind the bodies of Alpha’s people. Don jumped up and ran to him. Before he could say anything, Jack shouted, “Get back to the ship now!”
Don took two steps but stopped when he saw Jack wasn’t following. “Come on! Let’s go,” Don shouted back.
Jack didn’t look back at the man as he said, “Go now.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll follow in a minute,” he said without any conviction. “Now go.” Jack was only barely aware of Don’s compliance as anger enveloped him again. He could only think of the fear frozen on Devon’s face; there was no turning back. The anger gave way to an intense awareness of his surroundings; an almost calm feeling of complete confidence. As he walked through the room, an injured enemy soldier rolled onto its back. Without hesitation, Jack fired a single round into its head. He stepped around the body as he reloaded his weapon, never taking his eyes off the far side of the room. Two bolts of plasma flew wildly through the door, barely missing him. Jack dove to his right and pulled out another grenade. Another shot struck the rear wall, but came nowhere near him: they were firing blindly.
Jack moved along the room’s perimeter with his back against the wall, approaching the rear door. Two more bolts flew randomly into the room; their trajectory told him they were standing near his side of the entrance. He took a running start, dove past the doorway, and lightly tossed the grenade through before rolling to the other side. He was numb to the sound of the explosion, but felt the sting of heat and small debris strike his back.
“Go through the door. Wide angle surveillance,” he whispered. The drone shot through the opening. His goggles gave him a view of long, broad, straight corridor. It was littered with the bodies of dozens of Alpha’s people. Their dark maroon blood formed large pools on the metallic grey floor. Not a one had any sort of weapon. The enemy soldier that had fired on him lay motionless against the wall. The drone slowly panned across the scene, when Jack suddenly said, “Freeze position.” Four enemy soldiers were retreating down the long corridor. Without hesitation, Jack jumped through the door and gave chase. He squeezed off two quick shots, sending one flailing to the side. As he took aim at another, a familiar voice spoke to him.
“Captain. They are attempting to leave.”
It was Alpha, but a quick glance around the hallway showed that he was nowhere to be seen. Jack didn’t break stride as shouted back, “You don’t allow an enemy like this to retreat.” Jack fired again as one of the soldiers spun around to return fire. Jack’s shot went wide of its target, and he felt heat of the creature’s plasma bolt buzz past his head. He paused for a split second to take aim before squeezing the trigger; this time his shot struck the soldier in the chest. Without saying a word, he sprinted forward again in pursuit.
Alpha spoke again. “You must let them go. If you keep attacking, then they’ll have no reason to negotiate.”
“The only reason they’re retreating is because they don’t realize it’s only me chasing them. I’ve got the element of surprise.”
“But we need to negotiate,” Alpha pressed.
The soldiers picked up their pace, forcing Jack to follow at a full run. Between breaths he answered, “They need a reason to negotiate. We need to show them force – scare them into understanding that they can’t just take what they want.”
The soldiers leapt through a jagged hole at the end of the corridor.
“That is where their ship is docked,” Alpha said.
“Thank you,” Jack answered as he chose his course of action. He pulled his last two grenades from the case and threw them as hard as he could at the opening. The explosives bounced into the docking tube as the soldiers turned to face him. Though he couldn’t see their faces through their helmets, their posture told all he needed to know. One backed off in shock, while the other leaned forward in anger and raised its weapon to take a shot.
Jack dove to the side as the grenades detonated. A jet of fire and debris shot from the hole, followed by the sharp shriek of fatiguing metal and the sudden whine of a high wind. Looking back, he saw a large crack open in the alien docking tube. It widened, allowing the rush of escaping air to strengthen and pull the debris and enemy corpses out into the void. The tube shook violently before finally giving way, leaving a gaping hole in the wall. Jack watched with both satisfaction and fear as the damaged enemy ship spun away, out of control.
The roar of the wind became deafening, and the sharp pain of decompression cut through his head and lungs. The escaping air dragged him across the floor. He clawed frantically at the smooth surface, but couldn’t keep from sliding toward the void. The pain became overwhelming, forcing him to shut his eyes tight in a vain attempt to stifle it. Fear, however made him open them again. Through the blur of pain and fading consciousness, he made out several large objects tumbling toward him. The nearest one suddenly unfolded several long spindly legs and leapt past him toward the opening. Despite the chaos surrounding him, Jack noticed its similarity to the spiders he’d seen at Alpha’s table. Three more followed with blinding speed. They linked their appendages in mid-flight and grabbed hold of the jagged edges, creating a make-shift web over the gap. The escaping wind strengthened further, lifting Jack from the floor, and accelerating him toward the cre
atures and the void beyond. They seemed to be expecting him, though, and caught him in an agonizingly tight tangle of legs and tentacles. Instinct made him fight against their grip, but he soon gave up. When his struggling ceased, the creatures shifted their grasp so that only the nearest one held him. It rose against the force of the wind and climbed along the bodies of the others, dragging him away from the opening. As soon as they were clear, the others tried to follow. But after only a brief struggle, they lost their battle and were carried out into space. The wall suddenly became fluid and flowed toward the opening. The wind died down faster than he imagined possible; a second later, the gap was sealed.
The spider released its grip and carefully placed him on the floor. Without a sound or gesture, it calmly exited through a door in the hallway. The corridor was silent.
Jack took several deep breaths and then heard Alpha ask, “Are you OK?”
“I think so,” Jack answered, his voice still trembling. “Thank you. What were those things?”
“They are independent units; part of our ship’s systems.”
“Robots?”
“No, they’re alive, at least in the sense that they are biological. But they were engineered and grown for the tasks that they perform.”
“For rescues?”
“No, but we were able to quickly instruct them to do that.”
“Including sacrificing themselves?”
“They aren’t sentient. The closest analogy that I can give you is that they are biologically based machines.” Alpha paused before continuing, “The alien ship that was docked across from you has completely decompressed. We believe all aboard were lost.”
“Good,” Jack said reflexively. “That should give us some time. Where are their other ships?”
“The ones near us are withdrawing for the moment. However, others from their fleet are still attacking our sister ship. We are trying to take advantage of their withdrawal and contact them to negotiate.”
There was an uneasy silence; Jack didn’t know what to say. There was no doubt they would regroup and attack more forcefully than before. The question was, how long before the next attack.
Alpha spoke again, this time with what seemed like surprise, “A weapon has been fired at us. Our initial estimation is that it may be an antimatter missile. Impact will be in fifteen seconds.”
“Can we try to outrun it or take evasive maneuvers?”
“No. Since we’re still in the planet’s upper atmosphere, we won’t be able to use our main propulsion system and reach a high enough speed. There are only five seconds left, please brace yourself.”
Jack looked for a handhold, but there was nothing within sight. All he could do was back up against a wall. There was a distant roll of thunder, followed by a sudden, violent shudder that knocked him to the floor. Before the vibrations subsided, Alpha said, “We’re going to try to escape through the AGC.”
“What about your other ship?”
“Their drive system has been disabled and they are being boarded in multiple locations. There is nothing we can do.”
“You can’t just leave them,” Jack protested.
“Captain,” Alpha said calmly, “The weapon that just struck us had a yield of thee-hundred megatons. We took significant damage and casualties in the lower portion of the ship, and cannot withstand another attack.” Alpha paused for a split second before continuing, “Their tactics suggest that they originally wanted to recover our technology. That’s why they attempted to board us. However, since they have succeeded with our sister ship, ours is no longer of value to them. We expect that they will fire more missiles at us in an attempt to destroy us. If we are to survive, then we must escape.” Alpha paused before saying, “Please walk back toward the engineering control room.”
Jack did as he was asked. Alpha was wrong – they had other options. However, the next move a human officer might make could be considered worse. If the enemy was really trying to salvage advanced technology and the other ship was as good as lost, then one should consider destroying the ship to prevent it from falling into enemy hands. Based on what he’d seen; the crew were essentially dead either way. “Is there anything you can do to keep them from getting your technology?” Jack asked quietly.
“No,” was the terse response. Jack wasn’t sure if Alpha knew what he was thinking, but let the matter drop. He walked into the engineering room, at which point Alpha said, “Please stand still.”
Though confused, Jack obeyed. The room disappeared and he found himself hovering above the dark, icy Jovian world in whose atmosphere they were currently hiding. He reached back and to his relief confirmed that the room’s wall was still there. The interface was astounding – he truly felt as if he were floating in space. The planet’s atmosphere became translucent, and two small silver spheres appeared in the upper cloud layer. “Ours is the nearer of the two ships,” Alpha said.
Their vessel dove deeper into the planet’s atmosphere, while dozens of bright yellow specks swarmed around the other ship, like bees circling a hive. One by one, they closed in on its surface – the yellow glow of their engines disappearing upon landing. As their own sphere dove deeper, a group of yellow specks broke away from the disabled vessel, and moved away from the planet. Jack assumed it was because they couldn’t follow them into the depths of the Jovian atmosphere. Even though the enemy ships seemed little more than bright pinpoints moving though the void, their strategy immediately became apparent; they were forming a blockade in front of the AGC.
“Where are we going?” Jack asked.
“For the moment deeper into the planet. It will provide a measure of safety until we make our next move.”
A series of white bolts leapt from the blockade. Their trajectories slowly diverged, creating a fan-like pattern.
“We are quite certain they can’t target us,” Alpha said. “However, their missiles when detonated in the atmosphere will send potentially damaging shockwaves toward us.”
Jack didn’t need Alpha’s explanation; he knew what they were doing. It harkened back to the anti-submarine tactics used on Earth in the twentieth century. They were effectively deploying depth charges.
“Can you move to the far-side of the planet? You know, put most of its mass between you and them?”
“That is what we’re doing right now.”
Jack’s satisfaction with Alpha’s answer quickly dissipated: several of the enemy ships suddenly left the blockade to take up equally spaced positions around the planet. Moments later, they too launched a spread of missiles.
“Thirty seconds until impact,” Alpha said.
“Is there anything we can do?”
“We will try to out run them.”
Jack studied the scene in front of him. Their sphere changed course sharply, and headed toward the planet’s north pole – the only gap in the enemy’s coverage. The missiles detonated a second later. Bright white pulses of energy radiated outward, gaining on them as if they were barely moving. Jack stared helplessly as the shockwaves propagated through the clouds. It would take less than a minute for the pulses to catch them. A glimmer of hope crept into his mind: the waves were dimming as they progressed, they would be weaker by the time they reached the ship. The question that remained was, would they be weak enough?
The sphere suddenly accelerated, and pulled away from the approaching wave of energy. Its leading edge, however, began glowing crimson red.
“I thought you said we couldn’t out run the shockwave?” Jack asked.
“Not without taking damage to the ship. We’ve calculated that the damage incurred by increasing speed would be less than that from their weapons.”
Their sphere erupted from the planet’s upper cloud layer into space. It banked hard to the right, adjusting course to head directly for the nearest AGC. The enemy fighters surrounding the planet turned just as quickly in pursuit, while the ships in the blockade moved to close ranks. The sphere, however, accelerated directly for the blockade with unreal speed,
catching them off guard. There was no time for them to react – they burst into orange fireballs as their large vessel tore through them. The floor shuddered from the impacts, but Jack was able to maintain his footing and keep his eyes on the unfolding scene. It was only a matter of seconds though, before the pursuing fighters launched a barrage of weapons in their direction. Every muscle in Jack’s body tensed as the missiles closed on them. The silver rings of the AGC lay ahead, but the missiles were closing much too quickly.
“We will reach the AGC in one minute,” Alpha said.
The sphere continued to accelerate, giving them a little more time. “Are we going to make it?” Jack asked.
“It will be, as you say, close.”
“Don’t you have any countermeasures you could launch?”
“As I’ve mentioned, we are just a scientific expedition. We don’t have weapons. We’ve never needed weapons before.”
“You don’t need weapons,” Jack said with obvious irritation. “Hell, you could just toss debris out the back of your ship. At least some of the missiles would be destroyed by colliding with it.”
“An interesting idea,” Alpha said. After the briefest of pauses, he continued, “Unfortunately, we cannot open any exterior hatches with the gravitational drive system engaged.”
Jack stared again at the unfolding scene. The enemy ships lagged far behind, but a cluster of their missiles was still slowly gaining on them.
“Twenty seconds until transit,” Alpha said without emotion.
One by one, though, the leading missiles expended their fuel and fell behind as the sphere continued its relentless acceleration. They reached the AGC with only three of the weapons keeping pace. In an instant, the planet and pursuing ships were gone. The room was pitch black. A second later, a deep blue, earth-like globe dominated his view. Jack’s eye quickly found their ship, a relatively small silver ball pulling away from the AGC. Two missiles emerged from it, and maintained their pursuit. The sphere quickly changed course, moving rapidly away from the planet toward a small, grey moon. The missiles matched their course and continued to close on them.
Prelude to Extinction Page 36
