I fired the pulse rifle. It hit the alien in the chest, sending him flying away. But he appeared to have an energy shield on, and the blow merely deflected him.
“Stop!” Suma shouted.
The alien lay on the ground, and I aimed my rifle at him.
“Who are you?” Suma asked them. She was encouraging them to speak, to see if their language would translate. It was a good move.
They remained silent, and we were at an impasse. The two held tightly to Suma and Silo, and I noticed Suma’s boyfriend struggling to break free. I lifted a hand when his gaze met mine, letting him know to calm himself.
I tapped my arm console and whispered, “Bridge, come in.”
No reply.
“It doesn’t have to go like this,” Suma told them in Shimmali. The one on the ground stared up at me behind a black mask, its head tilting over at the woman. “Let us go, and our ship won’t destroy you. If you take us, they won’t stop until they find you, and they will seek vengeance on your entire race.” Suma shifted from diplomat to threatening force in the snap of a finger. She must have been reading the room.
The two holding the Shimmali looked at one another. Their shoulders shook vigorously, and I could tell they were laughing at Suma’s words.
One of them pulled a blade from a sheath on its thigh, and my eyes went wide. Suma must have noticed, because she dropped, quickly evading her captor’s grip. I shot the shielded alien on the floor. Three blasts were all it took to break through the protective barrier around it; the fourth killed it.
Suma shoved the one behind her away, and Silo tried to evade the long grasping arms around him, but he was too slow. The knife glowed with an unknown energy and penetrated his suit near the thigh, cutting it open. Silo rolled away, freeing himself, and I took the chance to fire at both of the aliens. Their shields shone red as my pulses hit them, and one fell face-down with a thunk, while the other raced away from the cargo room.
Suma was at Silo’s side and I ran past them, my boots clanking loudly on the hard floor. There was a high, narrow corridor here, leading to what I imagined would be the compact ship’s cockpit. I slowed, pressing against the wall as the hallway bent. The alien might be around the corner. We weren’t carrying weapons, because we’d only planned on analyzing the rock sample. I would have loved a concussion grenade or something similar right now.
“What would Slate do?” I asked myself quietly. He’d try to distract the alien and kill him, that was what he’d do. I searched for something to throw, anything, and my gaze settled on a small rectangular object across the hall.
“Here goes nothing,” I said, and crouched low to the floor. With efficient movements, I traversed the corridor, grabbing the box, chucking it as far past the hall as I could. If the alien was around the bend, hopefully, he’d turn to the sound.
I had no time to ponder this as I sprinted down the corridor, finding the tall being exactly as expected, facing my distraction. I fired at him three times, his shield fading with each pulse. When I knew the next shot would kill him, I stepped closer.
“Hands up!” I shouted. I repeated it in a Shimmali squawk, and it appeared to recognize the language. It made sense. Their race had been among the stars a lot longer than humans had.
One of the arms shot into the air, the other a split second behind. Its glowing knife flew from its hip, striking me in the right shoulder.
I almost dropped my gun but held on. I fired a pulse, and the alien went limp. Suma was at my side, holding a bloody knife in her gloved hand.
“You all right?” she asked, glancing at my shoulder, where the knife remained intact.
It stung fiercely, but I didn’t want to pull it out, not here. “I’ll be fine. How about Silo?”
“We need to make it to the ship. Let’s see if anyone else is here,” Suma said, taking the lead into the hall. I switched my grip on the pulse rifle to my left hand, carrying it awkwardly as we emerged into the cockpit.
It was empty. “Search for the communicator. My earpiece isn’t working. We need to let Horizon know we’re coming in,” I said, sitting on the high seat front and center. I scanned the controls, not having the slightest idea what to do with them.
Suma was at a wall console, tapping away. “I think that should work,” she said.
I assessed the pilot’s computer and found a throttle and a stick for steering. Seconds later, we were jerkily moving toward the Horizon, to a different hangar, one that wasn’t ripped apart.
“They returned the message,” Suma said. “I let them know we need medical attention. Dr. Nick is waiting.”
I slowed the alien vessel, wondering who the hell they were and why they’d been so quick to attack and kidnap. With any luck, all three weren’t dead, and we could find some answers, but I doubted they’d be very forthcoming, even if that was the case.
My vision was fading as blood spilled from my arm, inside and outside my EVA. I settled the ship to the floor of the hangar, nearly clipping a lander in the process. We couldn’t hear through our earpieces until we emerged from the alien vessel, onto the hangar floor.
“There are at least twenty more ships coming in our direction. I guess we’ll have a chance to test our weapons systems after all.” I heard Magnus say through my helmet. “Loweck, prepare the rail guns and pulse cannons. Slate, prepare evasive maneuvers. Dubs, keep us from hitting any damn asteroids. We’re on their turf, everyone, and I suspect they know every inch of this space.”
We were under attack.
Twenty
Alarm sounds entered the medical bay from the corridor as a nurse entered with a tray of supplies. The door slid slut, canceling the racket. Dr. Nick refused to allow the red flashing lights and klaxons in the medical areas, and I didn’t blame him. None of it was conducive to healing or concentration.
“You’re going to be fine, Dean,” Nick said. I was in a quarantined room, and Nick was covered from head to toe with a protective suit. “We don’t know what you were exposed to on their ship after your EVA was punctured, so we’re taking precautions.”
“How’s Silo?” I asked him, peering to the room across the open wing. Suma stood outside the room, observing her boyfriend as the alien doctor Arla Exter floated near him. She was a Tukkalion, one of a gas-based race who resembled balloons. She still had arms and a face, and I watched as she ran scanners over Silo’s side.
Nick’s face fell slightly, and I knew the diagnostic wasn’t going to be wonderful. “He’s going to be okay. The blade penetrated the armor and severed too many arteries. He’s losing his leg.”
I blanched but was glad Silo was still alive to tell the tale. I wanted to find out how their glowing blades had the ability to cut through our supposedly impermeable EVA suits.
“You, on the other hand, should be released in a couple of hours. The healing will be fast,” Nick told me.
“Any word on the battle?” I asked.
“Magnus told me not to bother you with it,” Nick said.
I tried to sit up, and he rested a hand on my good shoulder. “Stay put. I’ll bring your wife and daughter.”
The room had a wall behind and to my left, and the right edge flickered, turning clear. I could hear Jules talking to Mary through built-in speakers. I was the new modern version of a patient in a bubble.
“Dean, are you okay?” Mary asked, her hands pressed against the clear wall.
“I’m fine, honey.” I tried to smile, but with everything going on outside, it wasn’t easy to do.
“Papa, what happened?” Jules asked. She was on the verge of tears; I could tell by her lower lip.
“Someone surprised us, and I have an ouchie,” I said, knowing she was a little too old for that kind of baby talk. I needed to be more truthful with her. “I mean, I was stabbed by a bad guy, honey.”
“Stabbed?” she asked, shifting closer.
I pointed to my right shoulder, where the wound was already mending. Our current technology was so amazing that something like a
non-lethal stab wound like this could heal in the span of hours, instead of days and weeks. “See, it’s nothing to worry about,” I explained, and Mary nodded.
“It seems we scared them off,” Mary told me.
“That easily?” I asked. It had been an hour, so a lot would have happened in that time. Sometimes a battle in space only needed minutes to determine a victor.
“They weren’t prepared for us. Nat doesn’t think they knew we were coming,” Mary told me from the other side of the barrier.
“What’s the plan?” I asked, and she shrugged.
“Bring you home and fly out of this asteroid field as quickly as we can,” Mary said.
“Did you hear about Silo?” I asked, lowering my voice.
“Yes. Suma’s playing the strong role, but I can see her crumbling a little bit. I’ve also heard they were concerned with a virus. You don’t think there was anything on that ship that might harm you, do you?” Mary asked, nodding to the quarantine detail around me.
“I sure hope not. Nick should have the scans done soon, he says. Why don’t you take Jules and distract her?” I suggested.
“I want to stay with Papa,” Jules said stubbornly.
“Sorry, honey. We need to let Daddy sleep for a while. Then he’ll come home and have dinner with us, okay?” Mary asked our daughter.
She was pouting but relented. “Okay. Don’t let any more bad guys near you,” Jules warned me, and I gave her the most authentic smile I could muster.
“I won’t,” I promised.
They left me there, and I watched as they went over to Suma’s side, Mary hugging her before whispering her support. Soon they were gone, and I drifted into sleep as the meds worked their magic.
____________
Four days later, we were still inside the asteroid field, moving as quickly as we safely could, and I watched from the rear of the bridge as Dubs swung the huge starship around, adapting as the pattern of the asteroids repositioned.
“They’re moving in unpredictable arrangements,” Dubs said.
Magnus stood, crossing the bridge to stand behind the android. “What’s that mean, unpredictable?”
Suma spoke up from her seat. “It means they’re not sticking to the flight patterns and orbits that make sense based on the system we’re in. It’s almost as if there’s an object here, disrupting their gravitational pull.”
“More invisible planets?” I asked, and Suma glanced at me, as if surprised I was on the bridge.
“I don’t think so. The asteroids are becoming closer. We’re going to have to be more careful. It’s almost like they’re forming a wall before the end of the field. As if they’re trying to prevent us from leaving,” she said.
“They? Are you personifying hunks of rock?” I asked.
“They’re more than rock. That element is quite unique. It’s almost like they have cognitive abilities. Perhaps they’re communicating with one another,” Suma suggested.
“That’s crazy,” Slate said, standing behind Suma’s station. “You’re saying the asteroids are talking to one another?”
“It’s not that far-fetched,” I said. “It’s a known fact that trees and other plants communicate with each other through fungi on their root systems, almost like a superorganism.”
“You think this asteroid field could be similar?” Magnus asked, gaze fixed on Suma, who was the bridge’s science officer.
Suma was quiet, but she tapped a finger on the helm console. “It may be possible. It would explain a lot.”
“Then how do the asteroids move? It’s not like they have thrusters,” Slate offered.
“He’s right. The rocks must have a way to do this, but off the top of my head, I don’t have any answers,” Suma admitted.
“How long until we reach the edge of the field?” Magnus asked Dubs.
“I estimate twelve hours until we reach the edge. With the current transition of trajectory on the last one hundred or so asteroids, I suspect it will be nearly impossible to pass through unhindered, Captain,” Dubs told Magnus.
Magnus rubbed his chin in thought. “Angle to bypass them, if possible. I know it’ll take longer, but we should be able to outrun some chunks of rock, right?”
“I’ll do my best,” Dubs said, and he and Suma both returned to work, trying to determine the best course to take.
“What do you think, Dean?” Magnus asked as Slate walked over with the captain.
“Me?”
“That’s who I’m asking,” Magnus said.
“I have no idea. I don’t think it was a coincidence that there are aliens in the field, in the same asteroid belt that seems to have a mind of its own. I’d have to assume the two are connected. Perhaps the aliens are controlling the rocks,” I suggested.
“That’s a good point, and one I won’t discount. Where are they? They scattered like flies, each heading in a different direction after we had our brief altercation after you returned with their ship,” Magnus said.
“Here’s an idea,” Slate said, smirking as he spoke. “These aliens only came on our ship because we brought one of their pieces of asteroid aboard.”
“Interesting,” Magnus said. “But they took Silo and Suma.”
“Silo had the core sample in his pocket. We retrieved it afterward from Dr. Exter,” Slate said. This was news to me. I’d thought the cylinder of rock was still in the device meant to read the sample’s composition. “And Silo was stabbed right near the pocket the rock was in,” he added.
“They have to be related. The aliens came when that nearly ten-foot-diameter asteroid was brought to the Horizon, then grabbed Silo when he had the sample. They perceived our actions against the asteroid field as an act of hostility?” I asked.
“It almost makes sense. And if the aliens are controlling the rocks’ trajectory, attempting to blockade us, we can expect a fight in the next twelve hours,” Magnus said. He waved Loweck over, and she listened as the captain relayed the message; her orange skin paled as he spoke of the aliens utilizing the field to their advantage.
“How do we prevent this battle?” Slate asked her.
Loweck waited a moment, and I saw the gears grinding in her intelligent mind. “If we move or turn around, they’ll likely do the same thing in all directions. No matter where we go, we’ll be funneled into a war with them. That’s my estimation,” she said.
“But there’s no guarantee of anything,” I said. “We should at least test the theory. This looming wall forming a few hours’ travel from our position could be completely random, having nothing to do with us. But I doubt it.” I stretched my shoulder out, amazed at how normal it already felt.
“Dean’s right. Dubs will work around it, and if the field blockade moves to match our trajectory, we know what we’re up against,” Magnus said.
“Or at least we’ll have an idea,” Slate said. “I have a feeling we haven’t seen the last of those round black ships. Dean, will you come with me?”
“Where are we going?” I asked him.
“We have less than half a day to figure this out, and we’re going to need all the help we can get.” He tapped the controls strapped to his right forearm and waited until we heard Rivo’s voice. “Rivo, can you meet us at the alien vessel in Hangar Five?”
“I’m on my way, Commander,” the Molariun princess said.
“What are you thinking?” I asked Slate as we exited the bridge.
“We’re going to need a surprise weapon,” he said with a wink.
____________
As expected, the planetoids did adjust their pathways, moving to intercept our departure from the field. We were an hour from approaching them, and Magnus had Dubs slow the starship, moving to the in-system thrusters at quarter speed.
“You think they’ll show?” Suma asked. The viewer was huge, taking up the entire front wall of the bridge. It acted like a window, but was in fact a wide screen, showing us feeds from zoomed-in cameras around our starship. We all observed with interest as the wal
l of asteroids loomed in the distance like a chain-link fence.
“There are a few spots we’d fit through, Captain, but there’s no guarantee we can emerge unscathed on the other side,” Dubs said.
“Then we wait, because I fully expect our friends are on the other side.” Magnus crossed his arms patiently.
“I’m going with Rivo,” I told them, surprising myself. It was too important to leave her alone. She needed someone to help with communications, and Magnus had vetoed my suggestion after Rivo agreed she could do it all alone.
Magnus nodded. “Your wife is going to kill me. Fine, go help her. It’s time to see what’s behind the wall.”
Slate frowned at me, and I tried to give him a sign that said “everything’s going to be okay,” but apparently, failed miserably. I ran from the bridge, heading for Hangar Five. I reached out to Rivo and told her to wait for me.
“Dean, you have to be kidding,” Rivo said through my earpiece as I folded it in place.
“Nope. Two heads are better than one.” I nodded to the guards outside the hangar, and they let me through without comment.
The alien ship sat fully functional near where I’d left it, and Rivo had spent the last few hours test-flying it outside the ship in cloaked mode. Clare had altered the ship over several days of intense calculations, and she’d added a translation code into it so we could understand how to operate it. Any communications between their ships would work in English or Molariun, if so desired. Ensign Tran had attempted numerous transmissions with them over the last seventy-two hours, but so far, there had been no reply.
Rivo lowered the ramp as I approached, and I grabbed a jumpsuit from a supply cart beside a Kraski ship one bay over. “Hope you don’t mind me tagging along,” I told her. Mary was going to kill me.
“Are you kidding? Dean Parker never gets hurt too badly. You’re a good luck charm,” she told me, smiling up at me as I entered the ship. She was only up to my chest in height, and her dark blue skin contrasted against her white jumpsuit. Clare had modified the life support to be compatible with ours, so we only brought EVAs on board in case of an emergency.
New Horizon (The Survivors Book Nine) Page 17
