Stollar's Gambit

by Jason Borondy

  “It doesn’t look like it,” she said.

  He sighed. “Okay you and Porter watch over things here. This is too important not to secure. If things get too bad use this.” He handed her one of the cylindrical grenades. “Do you know how to use it?” he asked.

  She looked over it. It was light green in color with a grid pattern all over the body. It also had a handle a round pin sticking out of it. She looked up at him. “Um, no. I am a Mech driver not some sort of grunt.”

  He gave her a look like she had killed his mother or something. “I will pretend I didn’t hear that.”

  “Sorry.”

  “Okay so to work this, just pull the pin, flick the tab off the top and throw it. See this handle, it is called the spoon once it comes off you have about ten seconds before it goes boom. Obviously, you don’t want to be here when it happens. Understand?”

  Haley looked at it and replied, “Yes. Let’s just hope I don’t have to use it.”

  A couple booms rang out in the distance and the sound of weapons fire died out. Rook turned to Haley and said, “I don’t know if that is a good or bad sign.”

  25

  Tigershark Cockpit

  Grand Isle System

  David was bored. They were almost done with their escort mission. It had been a long day. They left from the Hornet early, and it took them four hours to fly to the planet. Once there, they had to meet up with the freighter Murphy’s Curse, which he thought was a weird name for a ship. It took close to another four hours to get to this point.

  On the center screen of his terminal in the cockpit, he zoomed in on the front of the Hornet. Its large nose pointed straight at him. The turrets pointed in different directions and the PDS systems were deployed. The ship itself was kilometers away, but it was still an impressive site.

  That was a stark contrast to what was off to his right, the Murphy’s Curse. It was a small freighter, with a conical font section, that he guessed was the crew section. The middle section was comprised of four large cube structures that made up the cargo containers. Aft of that was the drive section that comprised of three fusion-ion engines, and a boxy Displacement drive was attached to the top of it. It was an ugly starship.

  “Are you still awake over there?” asked Jasmine over the radio.

  David noticed that Jasmine’s Tigershark moved into view high and to the starboard of the freighter. The fighter was dwarfed in size compared to the cargo ship. He keyed into the Comms to respond. “Yes, I am. I just can’t wait to get out of this cockpit and stretch my legs. Eight hours is a little long to be stuck into a fighter.”

  “Oh really?” Jasmine began, “my longest was—”

  Her voice was drowned out by an alarm coming from David’s center console. It was reading a long-range contact. His fighter was linked to the Hornet’s sensors; this allowed him to get information long before his normal fighter sensors could pick it up. “Diamond Lead, are you receiving the same data?” he called over the radio to Jasmine’s fighter.

  “Affirmative,” she replied. “The reading seems pretty big, but it is too far out for any visual confirmation.”

  “What should we do?” David asked.

  As if on cue David got his response. “Escorts, this is Hornet actual. We are aware of the contact. Stay with the ship until it has jumped away. Alert Space Fighters are being dispatched to investigate. Hornet Out.” The line beeped indicating the transmission had ended.

  David looked up at the carrier ahead of him. He could make out four streaks shooting out from the starboard launch bay. He felt some disappointment that it wasn’t him that was chasing down this contact. Another beep came from his console and he looked down at the navigation display. It was indicating that they were at the edge of the Jump Point zone. The fighter’s computer controls were slowing the fighter down to match the freighter’s speed.

  Another voice came over the radio. “Escorts, this is Murphy’s Curse. We are getting ready to jump. Please clear the area. Out.”

  David grabbed a hold of the fighter’s controls, added some thrust and peeled away from the cargo ship. He noticed Jasmine had formed up on his starboard side. Once they were at a safe distance, they reduced their speed. He keyed into his console to pull up his rear-facing camera and watched as Murphy’s Curse winked out of existence. At the same time, the unidentified contact disappeared from sensors. Confused David cycled through his sensors. The only ships that were now displayed were the four alert fighters, the Hornet, and Jasmine’s Tigershark.

  “What the hell? Where did it go?”

  26

  EDS Little Rock

  System R231 Jump Point

  Jessica sat on the bridge thinking of what had transpired in the last twenty-four hours. Having to deal with Kovacs, a waste of a human being. It enraged her that he had bulldozed over her. If she had fought more, maybe the Little Rock’s crew would still be conducting the investigation. Instead they were ferrying scientists to some find on the edge of space.

  What ate at her the most was having to tell Ensign Hunter that her wife couldn’t join the crew anytime soon. She waited until they were back on the Little Rock before she gave her the bad news. As Jessica surmised, Kai didn’t take the news well. At that moment Jessica felt like she lost the trust of her ensign.

  “Captain. Displacement drive charged and standing by for final Jump,” the young helmsman said, snapping Jessica out of thought. She had given Ensign Hunter the day off to deal with the news.

  She straightened up in her chair and called out, “Stand by for Jump.” She could hear Sinclair repeat her order over the ship-wide intercom. He gave her a nod. Jessica turned towards the main view screen. “Jump.”

  The image on the screen shifted from the rocky planetary system of R231 to the view of the Planet M051. On the screen it was the size of a tennis ball.

  “Contact!” Lieutenant Wei shouted. His voice echoed throughout the bridge.

  Jessica jumped from her seat. “What? Where?”

  “Looks like high polar stationary orbit,” Wei responded, staring intently at his terminal. “Range is 6.4 million kilometers.”

  “Ops, can we zoom any closer?” she asked looking over at Chief Adkins.

  “Yes, Captain, but the image will be delayed due to the distance,” Adkins replied, fingers scurrying over his terminal.

  “I understand, Chief, just do it,” she responded. She did the calculation in her head. The image delay would be around 48 seconds.

  The screen changed to show the unidentified ship. The image struck Jessica with fear. She recognized the ship. The rectangular front end, spherical weapon emplacements, and the mechanical arms that hung underneath. She had seen pictures in school--even then it would make her uneasy. Some classes she had to walk out of to regain her composure. Now she was staring right at another one. Her father’s murderer. Then her thoughts switched to her sister and panic began to set in.

  It took Sinclair’s big hand grabbing her right shoulder to shake her out of it. “Captain orders?” He was calling out. It took her a minute to register what he was saying.

  “Um. Right. Battle stations,” she ordered fumbling a bit with her words. “I want nukes loaded in the tubes.”

  “Battle stations. Battle stations,” Sinclair repeated over the ship’s intercom. Everyone’s attention went back to their stations. McKnight tapped her on the shoulder.

  “Are you okay, Captain?” she said in a low voice so others wouldn’t hear.

  Jessica gave the Senior NCO a half smile and said, “I’ll be fine. Just some ghosts from the past coming back to haunt.”

  McKnight frowned a bit but gave her a nod indicating she understood. Jessica then turned her attention to the screen. “Tactical, what is the status of Camp Chapman? Are we still receiving the camp’s beacon?”

  Lieutenant Wei turned and gave the captain a look of confusion. “Ma’am, I am getting the camp’s Beacon, but also the beacon of the EDS Agamemnon. There is no sign of the ship, though.


  Jessica stared at the screen for a moment. “Our weapons status?” she called out.

  “Rail cannons and PDS systems are on-line and—” he paused staring intently at the terminal’s screen.

  “And?” Jessica asked leaning forward eyebrows raised.

  “Displacement signature!” Wei called out.

  “That’s impossible, they are too close the planet’s gravity well,” Jessica stated looking at the screen. On the view screen, the large alien vessel seemed to shimmer, then vanished. “Tactical?” she asked in a higher voice looking over to Wei.

  “Lieutenant Wei turned to face Jessica. The expression he gave her was of utter surprise. “Ma’am, they were at the edge of the gravity field. Another few meters south the ship would have been torn apart. That is not the worst of it.”

  “What is it, Lieutenant?” she asked growing a little impatient.

  “The beacons are now gone,” Lieutenant Wei responded.

  Sinclair, already standing, leaned forward in his station. “You mean to tell me, Lieutenant, that they were mimicking our secure EDF beacon signatures? Why?”

  “It appears so, sir. I don’t know why, though,” Wei replied.

  “To keep us from sending reinforcements or looking into this region,” Jessica interjected. “This find was apparently more important than we first thought.” She paused a moment; her mind went to Haley and wondered if she was still alive. The thought brought her pain to think of it. She suppressed the urge to react emotionally. She took a breath and continued. “Helm, standard approach to the planet ahead two-thirds. XO step us down to a modified alert status. I want our weapons ready, but I need crew to move freely.”

  “Aye, Captain,” he replied turning to his terminal to give the commands.

  Jessica turned in her to face the communications station. “Comms, I want you to try to contact Camp Chapman and keep trying in ten-minute intervals.”

  “Aye, Captain,” the young specialist said.

  Sinclair turned to Jessica and said, “Ship’s status is on a modified alert. Engines are at two-thirds speed on standard approach.”

  “Good,” she replied. She was so focused she didn’t even notice the ship’s acceleration. “Now, XO, get a hold of Major Thompson. Tell him to prepare for a drop, and he will need Centurions on this one.” She looked at the ship’s clock under the main view screen. “And tell him he has two hours to get ready.”

  27

  Camp Chapman

  Planet M051

  Haley was waiting. It had been an hour since Rook took off with his squad to investigate the sudden stop in fighting. She sat there behind cover hoping that the alien on the other side of the piece of metal would suddenly spring alive. Rook told her to stay here behind cover since they weren’t one hundred percent sure the threat was gone. She had been occasionally peeking around the corner scanning for movement. There were so many piles of armor and weapons it would make it hard to tell if any of them were moving.

  She looked over to Porter. He was watching out over the area too. The downed soldier, Haley didn’t get his name, looked like he was resting comfortably. He still hadn’t woken up yet though. Whatever they were using seemed to pack a punch.

  From Haley’s left she could hear footsteps running towards them. She and Porter spun raising their rifles.

  “Whoa! Friendlies!” Rook said coming to a stop both hands in the air.

  They both lowered their weapons. Haley let out a deep breath. More soldiers filed in behind him carrying stretchers.

  “Did you stop for some coffee on your little hike there, Sergeant? Bring any back?” Haley said sarcastically.

  “Funny. No, we had to make sure the fighting was really over before we could come back for you,” he replied.

  “And since you are here, I can assume that the threat is over?” Haley asked crossing her arms across her rifle.

  “Yes. They just suddenly stopped fighting. It was the weirdest thing.”

  “So how many did we capture?” she asked enthusiastically.

  “None,” he replied straight faced.

  Confused, Haley said, “How can that be? Did they kill them all in revenge?” Just thinking about that possibility angered her.

  He shook his head. “No, nothing like that. They just collapsed. Like a marionette with its strings cut. Then their armor began to leak out a greenish fluid. It was disgusting actually.” He walked over to the collapsed alien Haley had been watching over. “I wonder what makes this guy so unique. He hasn’t turned to green slime yet.” Rook then waved over at four soldiers holding empty stretchers. Then quickly ran over and loaded the alien’s body onto it.

  Haley watched as the groups of soldiers picked up the stretchers and began to walk back towards the operations building. She fell in line with Rook and began to walk back. As they walked, she turned to him and asked, “So, how bad was it? What are our casualties like?”

  “Except for the few people standing guard at the clinic and PFC Kelly, we’re it,” he replied solemnly. “If you hadn’t shot down that ship, it couldn’t have been worse.”

  She stopped suddenly. Rook stopped a few steps in front of her and turned around. “What is it?” he asked.

  “Master Sergeant Lamb and the people in the security tower?” she said. “Are they—”

  Rook put a hand on her shoulder and nodded. “But there was nothing you could do. It was just a result of a bad situation.”

  “I could have aimed in a different location or...” she cut off trying to fight back tears.

  “Or you could have missed, or you could have made things worse. You can’t think of it that way or you will go nuts. Once we get back, I want you to go to the clinic and talk to PFC Kelly. Maybe she can do something for you. Alright?”

  Haley nodded.

  Haley plopped down on the cot. The anti-depressant Kelley gave her helped her relax a little. She was still trying to wrap her head around what had happened over the last few days. She lost her Mech, got a new one, lost that one, had to engage in ground combat, and now was trying to sort out the fact she killed some of their own people. Even if it was an accident. There was a knock at the door.

  “Come in,” she said.

  The door opened and PFC Kelly’s face peered around the side, her brown ponytail hanging to one side. “How’s it going. Are the meds working?”

  “Which one? The one for the concussion, the one for the pain, or the one for my mood?” she asked with a half-smile.

  “I guess all of them,” Kelly replied closing the door behind her.

  “I am good for now. If I could just stop my mind from racing, I would be good,” she said.

  PFC Kelly sat down on the cot across from Haley. She leaned her rifle against the cot. Then she slung the backpack she was wearing off and placed in on the ground between her legs. She unzipped the top while looking at Haley. “Have you had any food recently?” she asked.

  “No. Not since breakfast,” Haley replied.

  Kelly pulled out two ration packages from her bag. She squinted to look at the writing on the plastic. The only light in the room came from a battery-powered lantern. “Well we have ham, and--” she paused to looked at the other package, “ham!” she said, then tossed one of the packages to Haley. Not expecting the package, she fumbled with it before finally getting a hold of it.

  “Thanks,” Haley replied as she attempted to tear the bag open and the notch in the plastic.

  Kelly held up her hand. “But wait, there is more!” She pulled out two bottles of water and looked at one. “We have some vintage water. Circa 2180. I think. Give or take a few years.” She smiled and handed a bottle to Haley.

  “Breaking out the good stuff I see.” Haley chuckled. She placed the bottle next to her. Then continued to open the ration bag. It took some effort, but it opened to reveal some smaller bags inside. The contents included a vacuum-sealed package of crackers, a small pouch of some sort of water flavoring, a bag of various condiments, a sealed bag of ham
and a large spork. She tore across the top of the bag of ham and opened it. This wasn’t ham, at least not real ham—instead it was a symmetrical block of processed ham. She frowned as she grabbed the spork and began to pick at it out of the bag.

  “You’re not going to heat that up?” Kelly asked.

  Haley took a bite. Yeah, it tasted as bad as it looked, and her face showed it. “I don’t think it will help,” she said as she struggled to swallow it. “But I think I know what might add some flavor.” She placed the spork in the bag, picked up the condiment bag, and looked for the obligatory tiny bottle of hot sauce that every ration pack had in it. She found it and tore open the bag. She grabbed the tiny bottle, twisted the top off, and then grabbed the bag of faux ham. She sprinkled the contents of the bottle in the bag. Then she took the spork cut off a piece and placed it in her mouth. Now it tasted like a piece of spicy crap instead of bland crap. She swallowed the piece and fought off the urge to puke.

  “I can’t wait to get out of here and eat some real food,” she said, choking a bit.

  “That would be nice,” Kelly started. “I do miss my husband’s cooking,” she said, her face lighting up with the thought.

  “I didn’t know you were married,” Haley said.

  “Oh yes. We met in tech school. He is stationed on Primus Three. Actually my orders came in for a transfer a few days ago.”

  Haley almost spit out her water in response to what Kelly had said. “A tech school marriage? Let me tell you from firsthand knowledge those have a low chance of success. Trust me. I hope you didn’t change your name yet,” taking another sip.

  BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The room rattled before Kelly could respond. Both women sprung from their cots. They grabbed their rifles and rushed outside. Once out, they ran towards the operations building. Haley was scanning the skies as they ran. “That sounded like atmospheric reentry of at least two vehicles,” she said, coming to a complete stop.