by Richard Fox
“Never mind. Keep moving.” Steuben motioned forward with his gauss rifle.
“Hammer Six for Door Team, we’re almost back to you," Hoffman said into the team IR channel.
"Copy that," King answered.
By the time they arrived at the first T intersection, Hoffman was tired and discouraged. Previous experiences had conditioned him to expect bad things. He couldn't believe they hadn’t been attacked a dozen times. Staying alert was wearing him out.
“Garrison, how’re we doing?” he asked, leaning close to the breacher where the man squatted to examine the bottom of the doorframe.
“Good news or the bad news?” Garrison asked.
"Just tell me everything."
"Well, the bad news is I can't get in. The good news is I managed to run a snake inside and I can see who's in there and what they're doing. Wanna look?"
"Send it."
"The quality’s subpar. I don't know what kind of lighting they’ve got, but it's creepy. Or maybe it's because I'm running the cord through a vent near the bottom of the door. Funny angle. Makes everyone look like a giant.”
"It’ll work," Hoffman said, watching the video and counting an alarming number of Sanheel and a few Rakka warriors. The interior was huge. That was a thing with Sanheel. They liked big spaces because they were big aliens. Toward the center of the room was a dais where an Ixio crooned to a small girl child—or what he thought was a girl child.
Steuben tensed when he saw the gethaar. For a moment, it seemed he’d smash the doors down and charge in guns blazing with or without the Strike Marines. Instead, the Karigole hero took a deep breath and let it out slowly, shaking with barely restrained violence.
"That's the gethaar?" Hoffman asked.
"It is."
"Garrison, we really need to get in there."
"I have some ideas. I could use a double-wrapped denethrite charge to push a neutral substance—one of Booker’s IV bags, probably. Or I could draw a portal with det cord and set it off. Rush in there and kill everything that stands up. Just a suggestion."
"I prefer an option that didn't get the child killed," Hoffman said.
“Maybe they’ve got sewers we could crawl through,” Booker suggested.
“I’ve got one better,” Duke said, his comms scratchy. “A patrol is coming in. Maybe they’ll open the door for you. My suggestion? Hide.”
“You heard him.” Hoffman pointed to the cells nearest the door. “Don’t be seen. We may need to rush the door. The go word is ‘Bambi.’”
“‘Bambi’? Really?” Garrison said. “No offense, boss, but you should let us handle the creative stuff.”
Hoffman picked a dark cell with an open door and moved deep inside, reasonably confident he wouldn’t be seen unless they actively searched the area. Moments later, all was silent. His team was in place for whatever came next.
“One second,” Garrison said, drawing out the word in a way that made Hoffman nervous.
“What are you doing?” Hoffman asked.
“Just leaving a little something to wedge the door. They can open it but won’t be able to shut it. Once the hydraulics pull that shim inside, it’s officially a doorway rather than a void-rated blast barrier.”
“Hurry up.”
Garrison flashed across the hallway and slid into one of the cell-like barracks. “Done!”
“Ouch!” Booker grunted. “Watch where you’re going, meathead.”
A pair of Sanheel stomped through the torn side of the ship, breaking loose new sections with their bulk. They grunted, sniffed the air, and scowled. Hoffman didn’t like the gleam in their eyes or the way they sneered into the darkness.
Booker cursed. “You had to pick my cell.”
Garrison patted her on the top of her helmet. “Couldn’t see you, Doc.”
“Listen,” King said, “I’m aware of the excellent sound-dampening properties of a sealed helmet, but shut your mouths. Now.”
The Sanheel grunted at each other for a moment, then the door opened and the patrol went inside. The door slid shut.
“Good job, Garrison,” Max said. “Real nice. Where’d you go to breacher school again?”
“Patience.” Garrison approached, inserted four fingers, and pulled the door back slowly.
“Why don’t we wait for the patrol to get where they’re going before we announce our presence,” King said.
“Yes, sir. Just wanted to reassure Max. He’s fragile, as we all know.”
Hoffman reassessed the situation and formed a new plan. “Nice work. Steuben, Opal, and I cleared a similar set of interior rooms on the other side of the ship. They’re short-staffed, so we should be able to establish a beachhead in the first set of rooms, then follow Garrison’s camera snake.”
“I would like the plan better if it were already done,” Steuben said.
“Agreed. Garrison, how much snake did you run? Can you tell me how far inside the child is being held? One room? Two?”
Garrison looked uncomfortable. “I ran all the line I have. Lots of twists and turns in the vents. They seriously need a new HVAC guy.”
“Fine. We go in and go slow until we can go fast,” Hoffman said. “Best-case scenario, they never realize we’re here. Grab the gethaar and get out. That’s the best case.”
“When have we ever experienced the best case?” Booker said.
“Steam room on Koensuu,” Duke said from outside.
Booker cursed. “It really annoys me that he’s here but not here. I need to ball punch him.”
“Easy,” Garrison and Max said in harmony.
“Let’s get this done,” Hoffman said. “Steuben and Opal with me. We’ll need to spread out but don’t over extend. If anyone gets lucky and secures the gethaar, we exfiltrate immediately and rally on Duke’s position.”
****
Hoffman thought he understood what was at stake for the Karigole. He'd seen Last Stand on Takeni and heard stories about the four Karigole warriors who had been the last of their kind. Without the gethaar, their species was in jeopardy.
The floor plan was a repeat of what they had cleared on the other side of the ship. Discarded meal trays, clothing, and equipment suggested it saw more use.
"Do not rush this," Steuben said. “We must not fail.”
Hoffman signaled he understood then moved into the next room. From there, they would be able to see the main chamber. He suspected that was where Garrison's camera feed had been recording the Ixio by the stasis chamber.
"When we find them, we’ll need to move quickly. We only get one chance to rescue the child," Hoffman said.
"Agreed. I want to interrogate the creature, but the gethaar’s survival and good health are most important,” Steuben said.
Hoffman called for the rest of his team. They finished their zones quickly and assembled.
"Garrison, today's your big day."
The breacher unpacked his kit, selecting a coil of denethrite cord and blasting strips. Booker produced two IV bags without having to be asked. By the time Hoffman was finalizing his plan in his head, Garrison had his breaching charge ready.
"I’m blowing the seams and that’s all. Door should fall right out of its frame. No spall or debris to endanger the hostage. We get an opening and toss in some flash bangs and—"
"No stun grenades," Steuben said. "Gethaar are too fragile. It’s not worth the risk."
"Better than getting everyone killed, including the child," King said. "I respect you, Steuben, but we know how to do this. The only way is to dominate with overwhelming speed, surprise, and violence of action."
Hoffman raised a hand to silence the argument. "No bang. We’re going to take on some extra risk in this assault. Most of the overpressure will be on our side of the wall when it explodes. The gethaar should be safe.”
As Garrison studied the door he was about to penetrate, he froze. His eyes traced a path to reinforced vents about seven feet off the ground. "Those are gun ports."
Hoffman look
ed closer and saw that several of the slots he assumed were for pressurization were reinforced and armored. Closer examination revealed blast residue around the edges.
Booker laughed nervously. "I'm glad there's no one on the other side of these. Otherwise, we’d be dead."
"Set the charge," Hoffman said then joined Steuben watching the surveillance feed. They’d located the security cameras shortly after Garrison and the others arrived and now used the Kesaht’s own surveillance equipment against them. The camera view was crystal clear, though he couldn't hear what the alien was crooning to the child.
The Ixio would probably be eight feet tall if it stood straight up. It had thin limbs that reminded Hoffman of a spider’s. The almond-shaped eyes appeared intelligent and sinister. The first one he’d seen up close had been a wounded pilot on Koen. The meeting hadn’t gone well.
Next to the alien was the stasis chamber. The child seemed to float within the power field, its clothing and hair drifting as though in water or antigravity. Cables snaked into all sides of the box.
Hoffman flinched as the Ixio reached inside and wrapped its long fingers around the gethaar girl’s throat.
"I will kill that abomination slowly," Steuben growled.
“Are you ready, Garrison?" Hoffman asked.
“I am, except I can't get the charge to stay attached. I need something to prop it against the wall. I can make just any hole, or I can make a hole we can all get through."
Max and Booker burst out in nervous laughter.
"Just any hole will do," Booker said, laughing even harder.
"Your team is very humorous," Steuben said. “Can we kill the Kesaht and save the gethaar now?”
A light blinked above one of the gun ports.
Gor’al made a clicking noise. "I think we have problems."
Each of Hoffman's Marines looked at the light, then cursed as several other port lights came on.
"We've been made!" King shouted.
Hoffman gave the go signal as thunder exploded from the gun ports. Rounds glanced off Opal's armor as he stepped in front of Hoffman.
“Protect sir! Sir, take cover!”
Seconds felt like minutes until Garrison pushed a button on his gauntlet and a section of the wall exploded inward. Confetti-like fragments sprayed inward with a section of the wall, filling the air with dust.
King and the rest of the team engaged the Sanheel defenders in a vicious firefight. The green-faced, tusked centaurs stomped the deck with alloy-shod hooves that shook the room. Surprisingly light on their feet, they danced sideways as they returned fire. King, Opal, and Max charged at them in a wedge with King taking the heaviest damage to his armor.
Steuben and Hoffman rushed toward the Ixio and the stasis chamber, stepping over Sanheel shot down in the initial moments of the assault.
Steuben growled as he closed the final distance. ”Save her. Save her!”
The Ixio grabbed the gethaar child and held her up as a shield. Steuben slid to a stop, weapon aimed but not firing. The girl remained oddly calm.
"Negotiate," Hoffman said as he moved for a better angle. He could make a shot, but it wouldn’t be an easy one. He disliked trick shooting—too much could go wrong.
Steuben moved forward, screening Hoffman with his body. "Release her and I will grant you a quick death."
The Ixio shifted sideways in an attempt to watch both adversaries, glancing at the battle that was dangerously close to spilling into this area. “My master sent me to gather a sample from this world. This little one tells me your people were once prized possessions of the Toth. You could be again. Would you like that?"
“We were not ‘possessions,’” Steuben said. “We were meat for the Toth.”
The gethaar child raised a brow in surprise.
“Service to the Toth is better than living as savages,” the Ixio said. “Let me leave with this one. I will petition Lord Bale on your behalf. No need to suffer the same fate we have planned for the human demons.”
Steuben roared, spit flying from his mouth. “I will kill you along with your murdering Toth overlord! How dare you come to my home world! You will die! I will rip you apart!”
The Ixio trembled as he retreated but clutched the gethaar even tighter to his body.
Hoffman slipped around one shattered workstation after another, always losing the shot as the Ixio ducked and dodged around the bridge. Hoffman monitored Steuben's reaction to the words, fearing the Karigole warrior would make a mistake and act on his rage.
Just what had the Toth done to the Karigole?
The volume of Steuben’s declaration decreased, but not the intensity. “I’ll kill you. Rip your brain out. Smash your spleen," Steuben said. "I don't know what kind of filthy creature you are, but we will feast on your corpse!"
"Lord Bale was right about your people," the Ixio said. “I see why the stasis cubes were necessary.”
Hoffman was now at a ninety-degree angle from Steuben and had line of sight on the child. The shot needed to be as perfect as it needed to be fast.
The Ixio twisted again, ruining Hoffman’s shot.
“No, you bastard. Turn back,” he muttered. Hoffman waggled his barrel at Steuben, hoping the Ixio would think he was signaling the enraged Karigole.
Nothing. No response from the lithe alien as he backpedaled, exposing his legs through a rent in the deck.
Hoffman shot the Ixio in the knee and then immediately put a round in the alien’s temple. Both shots happened too fast to see, calling more on instinct than skill. The luck of Saint Kallen touched him. He felt it long after he pulled the trigger.
The Ixio collapsed as deep-purple brain matter clotted against the bulkheads.
Steuben exploded forward, catching the gethaar with one hand before she could fall out of the dead Ixio’s grasp.
Workstations exploded into sparks and flames, filling the bridge with smoke. Steuben rushed past Hoffman before he could stop the Karigole.
“Room’s clear!” King shouted.
“Fall back. We have the hostage!” Out of training and instinct, Hoffman waved a hand forward through the smoke; he was certain no one could see him in the fire.
“Steuben, where are you? Steuben?"
He repeated the call over and over, but there was no answer.
Chapter 8
Hoffman adjusted his helmet filters, then rushed the hallway. Filters pumped air quickly but were inefficient due to the damage the ship had sustained from the lightning blast. In the void, this slow correction of the environment would have been fatal to everyone aboard.
He couldn't find Steuben or his team. Static crackled in his earpiece. Choosing a route through the outside corridor, he risked going it alone.
“…why is there so much smoke?” King asked someone, his voice suddenly too loud in Hoffman’s ear.
“Fire retardant,” Max said. “I’m not sure it’s calibrated to this planet’s atmosphere. Death is in the details.”
Hoffman didn’t stop to respond. When he found his team near the rally point, Steuben had the gethaar child in his arms. Hoffman moved past his Marines and led them out of the ship and into the canyon. The gethaar stared at Opal’s helmet, her eyes wide. The doughboy was taller and more massive than even Steuben.
“Keep security, there may be some stragglers,” the lieutenant said. "Opal, the child is our principal. Understood?"
"Opal guard not-human child."
The team moved a few hundred yards away from the crash site as the ship went up in a column of flames and smoke, stopping behind a rock outcrop, and Steuben set the child down. She had a stoic demeanor that belied her size, which was of a human girl around eight or nine years old.
Booker knelt by the girl and held up a sensor wand. “I need to do a quick check on you. This won’t hurt. OK?”
“I am unharmed. The Ixio was under orders to deliver pristine samples to the Toth,” she said.
“You speak English.” Booker did a quick swipe of the wand down the chi
ld’s body. “Very good English.”
“The one you call Steuben taught me. Contact with the Terran Union was inevitable.”
“No obvious trauma.” Booker nodded to Hoffman and stepped away.
Steuben approached her, slinging his rifle as he knelt and bowed his head.
"Honored one, I failed you," Steuben said.
"What took so long?”
"You were not believed to be alive," Steuben said. “The humans told us much about your captors. That they would—”
"The Toth. Yes." The Karigole child spat on the ground. “Some live.”
“How do you know this?” Steuben asked.
“The Ixio liked to talk. He spoke at length about the glorious Bale, the last Toth overlord, and how he saved the Kesaht from a civil war and united them against the threat of human monsters.” She gave the Strike Marines a sidelong glance, then frowned at Gor’al.
“What did you all do?” the Dotari asked. “You’re true allies to my species. Even if you don’t share your chewing tobacco.”
Duke slapped his sniper rifle bag and swore softly.
The child held up a finger, one not tipped with a claw like Steuben’s.
“One Toth ship survived. A dreadnought full of their warriors and Bale. They are all on the Kesaht home world. I don’t know where it is. The Ixio promised to take me to Bale personally.”
“The Toth live…my oath remains,” Steuben said. “You know what I must do.”
“You have no choice.” The girl shuffled her bare feet in the dirt and pouted. “I am cold, tired, and hungry. One of you. Carry me.”
Max reached for the girl, but Steuben pushed him roughly aside. The Karigole picked her up and she flung her arms around his neck.
“Back to the landing pad,” Steuben said. “Call down your ship.”
Hoffman glanced at King, who shrugged.
****
The Strike Marines formed a loose perimeter around Steuben and the gethaar child at the edge of the landing pad. Duke pointed to the horizon, where a line of fire in the sky marked the Scipio’s approach. The gethaar sat on Steuben’s knee, stoic, and with her head held high.
