by S. H. Jucha
Kasie nodded and dashed off.
Lucia prepared to ask Jess a question, but the lighting of a platform halted the words in her mouth. The merging of the blue light with the dome mesmerized her.
Five figures resolved on the platform, and Jess and Tacnock fired into their midst. Four reds dropped before anyone else pulled a trigger on their launcher.
“Stay still,” Jess warned, when he felt Sam move.
The same platform lit again, and the bodies of the reds disappeared. A few portions of the insectoids, which had hung over the edge, were left behind, and they plopped onto the deck.
Tacnock glanced at Jess. Everyone could hear the Jatouche’s high-pitched growl.
This was what the defenders knew exemplified the Colony’s mastery of the console. They could remotely activate the far side of a Q-gate, including overriding the safety protocols.
“Will they be back?” Sam whispered to Jess.
“You can bet on it,” Jess replied.
Jess was right. The Colony kept trying. After a while, grays were sent to test conditions. It seemed reds were too precious to waste.
The hours passed. Jess sent two-thirds of the squad below, including Lucia and Juliette. There wasn’t a room that didn’t hold destroyed insectoids.
Kasie was relieved, and Esteban, Juliette, and she brought paste and water to the relieved individuals. The team members on downtime chose to recuperate in the only clear spaces available — the portion of the corridor just inside the airlock and the short tunnel before the airlock.
Lucia contacted Olawale and Patrice and described the team’s needs. In turn, Olawale spoke with Tzeena and requested support. A cargo traveler overtop one of the tubes was sent to Talseseena Station, where twenty Sylians with vac suits and Loopah weapons boarded.
Olawale ordered the fleet back to the moon, and the traveler delivered the Sylians down the empty shuttle tube, where it had been stationed.
Sam met the Sylians at the tube’s blast door. “Mind your steps,” he said, when they emerged from the tunnel into the connecting ring. “The insectoid blood hasn’t fully congealed, and it’s extremely slippery.”
Sam heard the snicks of faceplates sliding into locked positions. He couldn’t blame the Sylians. The smell of death was cloying.
Before they entered the dome’s tunnel, Sam dipped a gloved finger into a blood pool. “You’ll need this to enter,” he remarked holding up the digit.
As the group walked through the tunnel to the airlock, the Sylians stepped around and over several defenders, who were asleep, with empty plates and cups beside them. The Sylians noted the patched suits smeared with insectoid fluids.
At the panel, Sam touched the blood sample to the panel to initiate the hatch. After it slid open, he paused to watch the panel absorb the smear of fluid. He shook his head in amazement at the amazing complexity of the dome’s design.
In the corridor, Sam told Jade that she was relieved, and without asking for a senior Sylian’s permission, he assigned two of the support team to the duty.
“There are grays down there,” Sam told the two new guards. “We don’t know how many, but keep them down there. We advise multi-dart loads.”
“Why didn’t you eliminate them?” a female Sylian asked.
“We started with twenty-four security personnel from my ships,” Sam said, with heat in his voice. “Now I’ve nine left. I guess you could say we got tired before we finished the job. Right now, our priority is holding the dome.” Then he whirled away, waving the others to follow.
“Listen for the sound of legs on metal,” Jade told the two Sylians, who stared at the ramp. “Tilt your weapons like this,” and she demonstrated the angle. “They’re dissuaded by two shots ricocheting off the walls, but they keep trying.”
Sam caught Jess and the SADEs at the bottom of the deck’s ramp.
“I assigned two of these individuals to relieve Jade. You have eighteen more here,” Sam reported. Turning to the Sylians, he said, “All of you probably know our assault commander, Captain Cinders.”
The Sylians greeted Jess, who asked, “Who’s in charge of this group?”
“I am, Captain. I’m Salsinona.”
Jess tipped his head to the female Sylian. Her coat of fur was as blindingly white as her eyes were blue.
“You’ll have multiple duties here, Salsinona, but first, let me acquaint you with our SADEs, Esteban and Juliette,” Jess said. “Anything you wish to communicate to your ships, to the stations, or to the planet can be accomplished through them.”
“Is this messaging or two-way communications, Captain?” Salsinona asked.
“Anything you wish it to be,” Juliette replied. “We can also record imagery for you and transmit it in a format that the receiver will recognize.”
Salsinona’s eyes widened at the comms power the SADEs could manifest. “Understood, Juliette,” she said. “Captain, what will be our duties?”
“Most important, you’ll support the fire on the deck. Assign groups of three to be with one of us on a two-hour rotation,” Jess directed. He halted when he saw surprise on the faces of the Sylians. “What?” he asked.
“We understood that you held the dome, Captain,” Salsinona said.
“We do,” Jess replied, “but that hasn’t stopped the Colony from remotely controlling a platform.”
“Only a single platform?” Salsinona inquired.
“Yes, thankfully just the one,” Jess replied.
The Sylians surprise shifted to relief. The information about a single platform was great news. It meant there was a high probability that the other gates, which connected to alliance races, hadn’t been overtaken by the Colony.
“The Colony’s attempts are slowing,” Jess continued, “but the remains of my assault team are exhausted. We need food and rest before we can work on intercepting the Colony’s control of the platforms.”
“Any other duties, Captain?” Salsinona asked.
“Oh, yes,” Lucia interjected, joining the conversation.
“Commodore Bellardo,” Salsinona politely acknowledged.
“Do you still possess tube shuttles?” Lucia asked.
“There are eight of them at Talseseena Station, Commodore. They’ve been kept in working order. Should they be brought here?” Salsinona asked.
“Two at a time,” Lucia directed. “You’ll need crew and materials.”
“Materials for what, Commodore?”
“Look around you,” Lucia replied. She pointed at the carnage that covered the ramp and the corridor. “I suggest you load the insectoid bodies into whatever you wish and send them toward your star.”
“What of your dead?” Salsinona respectfully requested, shifting her blue eyes from Lucia to Jess.
Lucia glanced at Jess, who replied, “We’ll gather our dead before you begin your operation.”
“Agreed,” Lucia said, nodding her acceptance of the suggestion.
“I need three to follow me,” Jess directed. Then he led the way up the ramp, stepping over the dead grays. He ordered the assault members, who were on duty, to go below.
Salsinona communicated through Esteban to Talseseena Station. She reached Commander Tzeena and requested shuttles, crews, and materials to clear the Colony’s remains from the dome.
“What’s the quantity of dead insectoids?” Tzeena asked.
“I don’t have a definitive count, Commander,” Salsinona replied. “There’s ongoing action to contain third-level insectoids, and I haven’t seen the deck, where I understand there are other dead. However, we walked through the connecting ring and the second-level corridor. They’re littered with bodies. In some places, they’re stacked two and three layers deep. We can only accommodate two shuttles at a time, and I estimate that we’ll need to make many landings and lifts to complete the removal.”
“How did the assault teams fair?” Tzeena asked in alarm. He thought of the information he would require for his report to Fleet Commander Soshona.
/> “Poorly, Commander,” Salsinona replied. “I’ve met some of the principals, but not all. I’ve learned from Lieutenant Fleetfoot that the visitors’ security teams lost fifteen members.”
“Then the visitors haven’t received the information that they’ve requested,” Tzeena surmised.
“I wouldn’t think so, Commander, and I doubt they will for a few more cycles. There’s still much to be done to secure the dome. The remaining assault team members look to be on the last of their energy,” Salsinona replied.
“Help is on the way, Salsinona. I’ll delegate packet ship crews to deliver the shuttles and support the retrieval of the bodies,” Tzeena replied, and Esteban closed the call.
Salsinona eyed the SADE, and asked, “How does your signal get out, Esteban? We can’t communicate through the dome.”
“For the present, neither can we,” Esteban replied. “A comm signal is bounced through the tunnels. The traveler situated over the tube picks it up, and it’s relayed to the station.”
“How many individuals are required to make this happen?” Salsinona inquired.
“Just one ... me,” Esteban replied, with a small smile.
Salsinona couldn’t help but smile in return. Then she turned to the remaining fourteen members of her group. “Start with tunnels three and four and clear meter-wide paths from the tubes through the connecting ring and all the way to the dome’s deck,” she ordered. “We can’t remove these bodies, if we’re breaking our necks tripping over them.” Then she picked her way up the ramp to join Jess, whom she found at the console.
Jess had chosen to place the console between him and the platform the Colony continually accessed. Salsinona squeezed beside him. She spied the three Sylians, who were on duty, lying on the deck and hiding behind three different platforms.
Salsinona noted the contrast between Jess and her. She was tense and held her launcher at the ready. Whereas, Jess had laid his weapon on the console, leaned against it, and dozed.
The two-hour shift was nearly over, when the platform lit. In an instant, Jess was awake and snatching his weapon. He was the first to fire, when the grays coalesced on the platform.
Five grays had appeared. Later, Salsinona discovered that Jess had eliminated three, and the three Sylians and she had only accounted for two. It was a lesson for Salsinona about attitude and preparedness.
When Jess ended his shift, a weary Tacnock replaced him.
Salsinona, who chose to serve another stint with three replacement Sylians, watched the Jatouche curl up on the deck to sleep. His launcher was cradled in his arms.
Olawale and Patrice organized the recovery of Omnian and Earther bodies.
Patrice chose to follow the Omnian tradition, and she ordered Sol’s deceased sent with the Omnians toward Sylia’s star. Olawale performed the star services for the dead.
When the Talseseena shuttles arrived at the moon, the traveler pilots, who had delivered the assault teams, recovered their lines, closed their ramps, and retreated to make space for the incoming ships.
Over the next two cycles, the dome was inundated with various crews.
Hundreds of Sylians scoured the tunnels and dome. They initiated the tunnel vehicle systems and used the cars to transfer the bags of insectoid body parts to the waiting shuttles. The remains were transferred to the station and then loaded onboard a mining freighter. The vessel would feed its shipment of dead to the star.
Removing the bodies proved to be the easy part of the Sylians’ operation. Afterwards, they were challenged to scrub clean the walls, floors, and overheads of the tunnels, corridors, dorm rooms, and ramps.
Jess waited until the most recent intrusion by the Colony was repelled. Then he requested a cleaning team do the same for the deck. The Sylians worked quickly, glancing frequently at the suspect platform, as if the Colony might appear unexpectedly and they’d be trapped on the deck with the deadly insectoids.
Lucia stood beside Jess on the deck, watching the Sylians work. They were rapidly returning the deck to its pristine state.
The Colony hadn’t attempted an intrusion in over six hours, and Kasie had repeatedly requested access to the console, but Jess had refused her each time.
“What about the grays on the third level?” Lucia asked. When Jess didn’t reply, she prompted, “We can’t leave then down there forever.”
“I’m tired of killing,” Jess replied. “I’m thinking of escorting them up here and letting Kasie send them on a journey.”
“Jess, you’ve done a tremendous job taking this dome,” Lucia said. “If I’d known what we would have been up against, I’d have told you it couldn’t be done with the numbers we intended to bring. Nonetheless, you overcame the challenges ... surprise attacks and all. But escorting the grays from the third level to the deck is inviting a catastrophe.”
Jess thought it through and decided to follow his instincts. The grays’ actions on the planet’s station had convinced him he could communicate with them, albeit in a rudimentary way. Jess requested Kasie stand by the console and asked Juliette to follow him. He left Lucia, Tacnock, and a few armed Sylians on the deck, and then he descended the ramp.
As Juliette and Jess walked the corridor to the third-level doorway, Jess ordered the available assault members and Sylians to line both sides of the corridor.
At the door to the third level, Jess said quietly to Juliette, “Now.”
Juliette sent a warbling tone in ultrasound frequencies down the ramp to the third level. It had no meaning, but Jess and she thought it might prod the gray’s curiosity. She continued sending until she detected the sound of legs on the ramp.
“They’re coming,” Juliette said, and the two of them retreated until their backsides met the far wall.
A gray slithered into view. It paused in the doorway and focused its faceted eyes on Jess and Juliette.
Jess pointed down the corridor with his weapon, but the gray didn’t move. Repeating the action didn’t change anything. Finally, Jess stepped into the corridor, keeping the gray at a respectable distance. He slung his launcher over his shoulder and beckoned to the gray with both hands. He heard the Sylians’ warning growls, but he ignored them.
Walking backward, Jess continued to encourage the gray, who slowly slithered from the doorway and into the corridor. At no time did the insectoid hiss or rise up.
Behind the first gray came a second and then a third.
Bortoth eyed the nervous fingers of the Sylians next to him. They twitched on their launchers’ triggers. “Touch off those weapons without good reason, and we’ll send you with the grays to the next dome,” he rumbled. Immediately, fingers were placed in safe positions.
Jess flashed Bortoth a grin, as he passed him. He reached the ramp and walked the line of grays up it.
“Oh, for the love of Pyre,” Kasie uttered in a rush of breath, when Jess appeared on the deck leading a gray.
Jess wove his way to the platform, stepped on it, crossed to the far side, and jumped down. He spread out his arms, and the first five grays crowded onto the gate.
“Kasie,” Jess called out, and she activated the panel menu that sent the grays on their journey.
The insectoids continued to file onto the platform, and Kasie triggered the gate for each five. When the advance of insectoids seemed unending, Jess and Lucia exchanged astonished glances. A final three grays ascended the platform, and Kasie sent them on their way.
“Sixty-three grays,” Kasie said, announcing the final tally.
“So far,” Jess growled. His tone halted the words of congratulations in everyone’s throats. He unslung his launcher, marched across the deck, and headed down the ramp.
“Guard her carefully,” Lucia warned the Sylians, as she pointed at Kasie. Then she hurried after Jess.
Kasie glanced questioningly at Tacnock.
The little Jatouche replied, “Jess suspects stragglers on the third level. If the platform glows, don’t move away from the console and don’t touch the panels
.” He waited for Kasie’s affirmation. Then he directed the Sylians to take positions behind other platforms.
“Return to your places against the walls,” Jess ordered loudly. On the second level, he’d found the forces mingling in groups.
While individuals reformed the lines along the wall, Jess walked by Sam and said, “Follow me.”
“Black space,” Sam muttered, when he realized where Jess was headed.
At the third-level doorway, Jess paused to listen. He heard Sam’s heavy steps behind him. When he heard lighter footsteps, he turned, saw Lucia, and chose not to comment. She wore a determined face.
Hearing nothing, Jess eased down the ramp. The third level was a copy of the second. It appeared to be a smooth-walled corridor. Only a few of the glyphs of the many that covered the walls would access the dorm rooms.
Jess gestured Sam and Lucia to points along one wall. Then he touched a glyph. A door recessed and slid aside.
Lucia ducked her head into the doorway and jerked it back. She shook her head at Jess, who dropped his launcher into a firing position and ducked into the room. Lucia and Sam hurried to follow. The room proved to be empty.
Sam thought to ask if they needed to bother checking all the rooms, but he’d have been wrong about many aspects of the assault and decided it was best to remain quiet.
Every room that was checked turned out to be empty. Jess poised his hand over the final dorm symbol, and then he froze. He hand signed to Lucia to lie on the floor. Then he lay down, with his head barely protruding into where the opening would appear.
A pantomime by Jess to Lucia and Sam communicated to use multi-dart rounds. Finally, he directed Sam to the glyph he wanted touched.
Sam crossed to Jess’s side. He waited until he saw his companions were ready. Then he whispered, “Three, two, one.”
As the opening appeared for Jess, he swung his launcher through the doorway and loosed a round. He hurriedly loaded a second round, while Lucia imitated him and fired into the room.
Slugs stitched the wall opposite the team, and Jess and Lucia rolled upright, placing their backs against the wall.
Sam delivered his own round into the room from his standing position. Then Jess and Lucia took turns adding their shots, varying the angles each time.
