by Jan Domagala
Zara said, “Well Kurt, if you have any ideas I think this would be a good time to try them out.”
“I’m working on it,” he replied calmly.
“Can I suggest you work faster?” she added not daring to take her eyes off the monstrosity that used to be Norsky.
Before he could reply the huge figure of Norsky rushed them and they knew it was too late.
45
On the bridge of the Pulsar the tension was palpable. The team were not happy with what Jake had said but they had to admit it made sense with everything that had happened and how this new Wildfire program had progressed. They were all professionals though and just because he had pointed out an unassailable fact they would not hold it against him. They had a job to do and no matter what their personal feelings were about the situation, they would complete the mission to the best of their abilities or die trying.
“What’s keeping them?” Vance muttered under his breath. The waiting was beginning to get to him; to all of them really it was just that he was the first to vocalise it.
“We just have to give them time to do what they have to do,” Jake said.
“I just wish they’d get on with it, this sitting around and not helping is getting on my last nerve,” Torres said more frustrated than angry.
*****
“Approaching target vector sir. We’ll be in range in five minutes,” ops said on the bridge of the Odyssey.
Captain Tyrell Biggs sat forward in the command chair and said, “Lock weapons on target and prepare to fire on my command.”
In five minutes the immense fire power of the starship would be concentrated on the facility on the lunar surface. It would completely obliterate it and any living soul left within its confines.
Kurt and Zara had less than that time to get clear or get caught by the awesome destructive forces about to be unleashed.
*****
Norsky slammed into Kurt and his momentum carried them both into a wall. Norsky’s increased strength meant that the wall didn’t stop them; they smashed right through into the next room.
Zara had been pushed out of Norsky’s path by Kurt to ensure her safety which incensed her. She gathered herself up and followed them through into the next room. Kurt was being pressed against the floor where they had both landed with Norsky on top. He was using his greater mass to pin the smaller man beneath him while he pummelled him with anvil like fists.
Zara leapt onto Norsky’s back and wrapped her right arm around his neck forgetting she had an assault rifle on a sling over her shoulder. All she could think of in that moment was that she had to help Kurt; she had to pull his attacker from him.
Norsky felt her land on him with the same annoyance as if she were a fly on his arm and he reached one hand to his neck and effortlessly tore her arm away and tossed her over his shoulder. Zara collided with the wall opposite them, her back taking the full brunt of the assault. It was when she hit the wall that she remembered the assault rifle. She got to her haunches, shrugging off the quickly receding pain and pulled the Remm M25 around and fired. The pulsed plasma bolts struck Norsky full in the chest and threw him backwards off Kurt giving the latter time to get to his feet. He went over to Zara who was still staring at where Norsky had landed.
“Thanks,” Kurt said as his face rapidly healed from the beating he had received a few seconds ago.
“Don’t ever do that again,” she said through gritted teeth not looking at him, her focus firmly on the spot Norsky fell.
“Do what?”
“That Sir Galahad crap, I’m just as strong as you and I have the powers too so don’t think of me as the weak woman here, we’re equals okay?”
“Okay,” Kurt conceded with a smile.
Norsky sprang to his feet, the effect of the gun shot almost completely healed and he stared at the two of them. He was still undergoing some kind of metamorphosis and whatever his body was going through, his already psychotic mind was returning to some kind of feral state. His psychosis made his grasp on reality even more tenuous and therefore the changes had an even greater effect. The only grasp he retained within his mind was his hatred for Kurt Stryder, even his love for Zara had now been tainted because she had helped his enemy so in his twisted mind she too was now regarded in the same light as Kurt.
His only purpose now was to kill the two of them.
“Got any ideas, or are you still working on it?” Zara asked.
“I’ve a slight problem,” he replied.
“Problem, what problem?”
“Killing Norsky would be a good idea, I’m just not sure how, is the problem,” he explained.
“Oh shit, as usual you men are useless when comes down to it. Leave it to a woman to come up with the solution,” Zara said as she released her Remm M25 letting it swing around her back on its strap as she reached inside one of the many pouches on her combat suit.
“What the fuck are you up too?” Kurt asked when he saw what she was doing.
“Saving both our asses, now cover me,” she said as she moved off to the side away from Norsky.
*****
Artie said, “Sir the Odyssey is almost in position, their weapons are all charged and they have a lock on the target area. They will commence firing in less than two minutes. I suggest we either contact Captain Stryder to update him or move to a safer distance.”
“Okay Artie, I’ll do it now,” Jake agreed. He called Kurt using a battlecom channel via his NI, “Kurt what’s the delay, you’re cutting this very close to the wire buddy,” he said.
“Hold on,” Kurt replied then the call was disconnected.
“What’s happening?” Torres asked.
“I’m not sure, but I trust he has the situation well in hand,” Jake told her.
*****
At the precise moment Jake had called him Kurt was being attacked once more by Norsky. He had watched Zara edge her way around him and his befuddled brain had not been able to comprehend her purpose but when the focus of his hatred, Kurt Stryder had shouted his name, he had quickly forgotten her and rushed toward him with renewed fury.
This time though Kurt decided to meet that rush, head on. He ran at Norsky hoping to keep his attention on him so that their fight would give Zara the time she needed to complete whatever she had in mind.
The two of them collided with a bone crunching impact that sounded like a thunderclap. Norsky’s greater mass and strength quickly overpowered Kurt’s resistance and the latter found him, once more being forced back across the room. As he felt his back impact the wall Kurt tried to push Norsky away from him to give himself room to move. He saw a huge fist come straight for his face and managed to move his head to the side just enough so that it missed. The punch went through the wall mere inches from his head and would have caved it in had it connected. Norsky pulled his had free from the hole in the wall and brought it back to strike once more. The balled up fist loomed high in the air above Kurt’s face and because Norsky had changed his grip with his other hand to Kurt’s throat there was no way that he would miss this next time.
The look of triumph in Norsky’s face was quickly turned to one of disbelief as from somewhere behind him a razor sharp blade severed his raised arm sending a bloody fist flying through the air.
Zara had approached from behind unknown to the giant Norsky and as he raised his fist to strike she used her KA-BAR knife to slice through the arm with all her prodigious strength. As the bloody appendage was sent spinning through the air she leapt upon Norsky’s back once more and as he howled in pain and frustration she pushed the item she had plucked from her combat suit deep into the giant’s mouth.
“Fire in the hole,” she screamed as she hurled herself from Norsky as he thrashed around spraying blood over the room from his severed stump of an arm.
The incendiary grenade she had slammed down Norsky’s throat was about to explode and the two of them huddled behind whatever cover they could find.
Norsky’s head was suddenly engulfed in
a white hot fire as the grenade exploded inside his throat. The room was suddenly lit by the phosphorescent heat that was destroying the giant from the inside, heat so intense it burned like a mini sun engulfing the flesh that attempted to contain it.
Norsky fell to the ground a mound of charred flesh unrecognisable as a human being.
Zara looked at her handiwork and said, “That aught to do it.”
Kurt said, “Time to go.”
*****
“Come on Kurt,” Jake said under his breath and as the words escaped his lips a bright light exploded in the middle of the Pulsar’s bridge. Kurt and Zara stepped through the light as it faded and Kurt said, “Well, what’re you waiting for, get us out of here.”
Jake, a broad grin on his face said, “You heard the man Artie, take us home.”
*****
“Open fire,” Captain Tyrell Biggs said on the bridge of the Odyssey as they moved into position. They were completely unaware of the Pulsar as she moved out of range of the weapons fire of the larger craft. Their part of the mission had been completed so they moved off allowing Biggs and his men to finish things off.
The Odyssey opened fire with all her pulse cannons and missiles. The destruction to the facility on the lunar surface was immediate and total. Too much attention had gone into the stealth properties of the base and not enough into her defences. Over confidence in them not being detected had been their ultimate downfall and when the cannon fire and missiles struck there was nothing except the basic shields to stand against the onslaught. To say it was ineffective would have been a massive understatement and within moments the base was reduced to rubble.
Unknown to the crew of the Odyssey, one small shuttle had escaped before the attack had commenced. Apollo had foreseen what was about to happen and he had used the same shuttle that had arrived with Norsky’s remains to escape to freedom. The shuttle was equipped with both FTL and stealth capabilities so his departure went undetected.
The last thing that Apollo did before leaving was to initiate the self destruct program. It was a small but powerful nuclear device positioned beneath the reactor core so that any residual radiation would go undetected with it being so close to the reactor. The countdown had begun the moment the attack started and could not be stopped, even with a total shut down of power to the base because the device had its own backup power source. The countdown gave Apollo just enough time to get to a safe distance before it would explode.
“Sir I’m reading a massive build up of radiation somewhere deep in that facility,” ops said. Biggs went over to the ops station to examine the readings. When he saw them he turned to the helm and shouted, “Get us out of here, now!”
The massive engines fired and the huge starship began to move away as the device wound up to critical mass before exploding.
“Engines to maximum thrust, put as much distance between us and that base as you can,” Biggs said as he ran to the command chair and activated the harness that would strap him securely into it.
The startled expressions of those on the bridge asked questions that they would have the answer to very shortly.
As the Odyssey moved away as fast as her engines could push her through space the bridge crew’s eye were glued to the viewscreen that displayed a rear view image of the base on the lunar surface as it receded into the distance. Suddenly a bright light filled the screen as the device exploded returning it and everything it contained to their base atoms. A massive shockwave flew through space chasing the Odyssey as she tried to escape.
“Here she comes, brace for impact,” Biggs said calmly. The Odyssey was already facing away from the wave so she was in the best possible position to ride it out. Her deflector shields were strained to the max as they attempted to deflect the massive energy away from the ship but along with the distance they had managed to put between them and the base was enough for them to survive, just.
As the wave passed them by, dissipating with every inch it travelled they were relieved to still be in one piece.
“Damage report,” Biggs said and was answered by reports coming through from every area on the ship. Apart from some shield failure and a few buckled hull plates they were remarkably unscathed. Repairs would go ahead as they returned to Earth and the ship would not need to be dry docked.
When all the reports were in and assessed Biggs contacted Sinclair on Earth. His message was short and to the point.
“Mission completed sir, we’re coming home,” was all he said.
46
The Pulsar’s forward section returned to Nellis Base while the main body remained in geo stationary orbit above.
Kurt, Zara and the Wildfire Team went into waiting patiently for their arrival.
“Welcome back, I’m glad to see you all made it back safely,” Sinclair said.
“Did you ever doubt it?” Cooper asked with a smile.
Sinclair ignored the quip and continued with, “We can consider this mission a total success and I must commend you all on your exemplary service.”
“Does that mean we get extra R and R for all the shit we just went through, sir?” Cooper asked pushing his point.
Sinclair looked at Cooper, then at every member of the team, and then with an uncharacteristic smile said, “I suppose we could arrange that, it’s the least we could do.”
Cooper turned to Kurt and said, “See, that’s how you do it.”
Kurt laughed as he remembered the roasting he had received after not requesting concessions from Sinclair the last time.
“I bow to your expertise,” he said with a mock bow.
“What happened to the lunar base sir? We saw a massive explosion after we got away, was that the result of the Odyssey’s attack?” Jake asked.
“That is something we will have to investigate but initial readings taken by the Odyssey have revealed a larger than normal amount of radiation in the area.”
“What about our base on the Moon sir, is that safe?” enquired Zara.
“I suspect so; I have been assured they were beyond the range of the blast.”
“What happens now then sir?” Kurt asked looking intently at the General.
“You all get debriefed and then take some well earned rest, a holiday perhaps,” Sinclair said returning Kurt’s gaze but giving nothing away.
“You know what I mean General, what happens next to us?” Kurt said again this time more forcefully.
“Well I have some suggestions on that score. Firstly if you would agree to allow the Med-lab access to your blood then I am sure we can learn an awful lot from it and put it to good use. We have already used some of it to manufacture the serum that your friends beside you had taken and to great effect, I might add. If you are in agreement then I can see no reason why you cannot continue your duties with the Wildfire Team.”
“And what if I refuse?”
“Then you would leave me no choice but to return you to Recon Delta normal duties but at the farthest outpost I can find where the Alliance would not be able to find you. It would be for your own good but I still think you would be an enormous asset to this group and I’m sure they would agree with me.”
“So what you’re saying is that if I refuse to allow you to take samples of my blood then you would honour my decision?”
“Did I not say you would have to trust me?”
“You did, but I never thought that given the opportunity I offer that you would allow it to slip through your fingers without at least trying to prevent it.”
“I have always been a man of my word Kurt so that when I say to trust me I mean every word.”
“Then I agree sir.” Kurt said finally.
“Then it’s agreed, you are now an official member of the Wildfire Initiative.”
“What’s that sir?” Jake asked a little bewildered.
“It is the new group formed from Recon Delta with special abilities such as yourselves. You Jake, will spearhead this new group with your team and Kurt and Zara here will be roving assets. We
will recruit new members as and when we feel the need but for the time being you are it people. You will have an open ended budget as discussed with President Takagi earlier who was very impressed with how you handled the attack on the Defence Council.”
“That sounds like a plan,” commented Vance.
“Does this mean we get a raise sir?” Cooper queried, which brought a harsh glance from Jake. “What?, I’m just asking, you don’t get if you don’t ask,” Copper added.
“Sir is there any news on the sudden reappearance of Jonas Wilde’s daughter?” Kurt asked hoping to deflect any argument the two men might have.
“To address Cooper’s question, the budget does include an increase in pay for you all, whether you will live long enough to spend it is anyone’s guess. As to Miss Wilde’s sudden reappearance I am afraid we have no news on the matter but we are monitoring the situation with avid interest I can assure you.”
“Oh she’ll turn up sooner or later, a bad penny always does,” Torres said.
Epilogue
Tanya Wilde stormed into her father’s office her long hair flowing behind like a cape in the wind. She was dressed in a white blouse and tight fitting pants. Over her blouse she wore a pink jacket that was fastened at her waist.
She was furious and she was not afraid to let it show. She walked up to her father’s desk at the far end of the large room and stopped in front, her fists bunched and resting on her slim hips.
“What the hell went wrong?” she asked, her voice rising to illustrate her anger.
“Calm down dear, it’s only a minor setback,” Jonas said waving her to sit down in the chair opposite.
“I won’t calm down and what you call a minor setback I call a debacle of epic proportions,” she screamed as she paced across the front of the desk.
Jonas couldn’t help but be pleased at his daughter’s reaction to recent events; this daughter was the daughter he had always wanted. She was just like him, he thought as he watched her pace across the width of his office her anger almost too powerful to contain.
