Dark Moon Arisen

by Chris Kennedy

  “No, it is not slavery,” Peepo said. “It’s just doing what the Mercenary Guild decides is best for you for some period of time until the galaxy is safe, and you can be allowed to rule yourselves again.”

  “You know what? You’ve obviously never been a slave before, but I have! I’ve laid in my own filth for days and weeks at a time because my jailor wouldn’t give me my arms and legs so I could clean myself. I know the difference between benevolent leadership and being someone’s slave, and what you just described is slavery. I’ve been there, and I won’t go back again. I’ve only got two words to answer your job offer, and they are, ‘Fuck you!’”

  The Human twisted something on the plasma lighter he was still holding, and lobbed it toward Peepo. Brantayl was faster, though, and she stepped in and slapped the lighter back toward the Human. It was the last thing Peepo saw as she dove beneath her desk.

  The lighter detonated with a flash and an explosion that was big enough to move the massive piece of furniture. Made of a heavy composite ceramic alloy, the explosion wasn’t big enough to crack it, though, and the fireball that swept around it was only strong enough to singe Peepo’s fur, rather than cause her any long-term damage. When she had recovered from the blast, she pulled herself out from under the desk and came around to find the other beings in the room had not been as lucky.

  Several of Brantayl’s appendages had been ripped off in the blast, and her blue blood flowed in streams from her body. She twitched once and lay still. Both of Zeke’s legs were off, but they were made to detach, and he was no worse off for their removal. He had been blown backward through an antique bookcase, though, and a large piece of one of the shelves protruded from his chest, with his red blood flowing freely from it. The three troopers had each had their rifles driven through their thoraces at various angles; they wouldn’t be getting back up again.

  Seeing movement, she walked over to look down on Zeke, and his head rolled up to look at her. “Not…dead…” he said, his voice no more than a whisper.

  “No,” Peepo said, drawing her laser pistol. “But you are.” She pulled the trigger and put a bolt through his forehead. “You should have taken the job.”

  * * *

  Deck Five, Keesius Cruiser “EG2,” Hyperspace

  “Welcome to the party,” Commander Frank Earl said as Lieutenant Colonel Walker passed through the “line” to his position. With most of the bots aft of their position, the Bees only had one trooper watching the forward portion of the ship. Obviously, that trooper had been dozing, too, because he had snapped off a shot at Walker’s point man when he dropped down into the ship through the same hole the Bees had come through. He had mumbled an embarrassed, “Sorry.”

  “I’d like to say it’s great to be here,” Walker replied.

  “Yeah. Weren’t you going to enter the ship somewhere aft?” Earl asked.

  “We tried. There’s no entrance aft of here, and we don’t have a cutter to get into the ship. We could have used our lasers, but that would have used up most of them cutting through the ship’s armor. Based on your last status report, it sounded like we’d need all the weapons we could get our hands on to breach the robots and make it to the manufactory.”

  “Probably true,” Earl allowed. “So, what did you bring us?”

  “I’ve got food, water, ammo, and fuel for your CASPers,” Walker replied. “I also have a lot of folks who’d like to see their families again and aren’t afraid to kill a bunch of bots if that’s what they’ve got to do to get back to them.”

  “Well, I’m damn glad to see you,” Earl said. “If nothing else, it would help if you could stand guard for a bit and let us get some sleep. There weren’t enough of us to hold them off and stand long enough watches to get some real sleep.”

  “We can do that,” Walker replied. “You guys get some sleep, and then we’ll figure out how we’re going to kill this damn thing before it kills us first.”

  * * *

  SOGA HQ, Sao Paulo, Brazil, Earth

  “That’s good, thank you.” Peepo nodded to the Jeha cleanup crew as they left. Unfortunately, they were becoming routine visitors to her office. She gave the Veetanho equivalent of a sigh. Losing Zeke was a waste; he had a lot of potential to help the Guild here on Earth and back on Capital Planet after Earth was brought in line. The loss of Brantayl was annoying, too; she had always performed her duties adequately. For a MinSha.

  Of course, Peepo had done her research, and she knew that Humans had a distressing history of not doing what they were told, and that they often fought on after most rational species would have given up. Still, even she hadn’t believed things like the Battle of Masada had actually happened. Until she came to Earth, she had thought those were cautionary tales. What rational species killed itself to avoid being captured? Where was the survival instinct in that? How had Humans, who thought like that as a species, survived as long as they had?

  While she was beginning to accept that it happened, from her most detached perspective, it still didn’t make sense.

  At least the Guild was beginning to see some successes. Although she hadn’t wanted the people to riot when she arrived—you can’t rule a mob, after all—what she’d told Zeke had been essentially true. Once people lost their free entertainment, they became willing to do whatever it took to get it back. If turning in their malcontent neighbors got them credits and a free Tri-V, they were willing to do it. What a weird species.

  She wished there was more time to experiment with them, but there had been another…event, and she knew time was quickly running out. She wanted the Humans—no, she needed them, she knew, if she were being perfectly honest—but it was better to move forward without them if they couldn’t be brought to heel. If the Humans didn’t bow to Merc Guild rule, and soon, they would have to be destroyed.

  * * * * *

  Chapter Twenty

  EMS Pegasus, Hyperspace

  “All hands, prepare for transition to 2nd Level Hyperspace.” Alexis look up at her command crew and winced. She was sure none of them were looking forward to this; she knew she wasn’t. The seldom-used observers’ stations were manned by Sansar Enkh, Jim Cartwright, and Nigel Shirazi. Of the three, only Jim looked concerned. He was breathing faster than normal, with the look of someone about to have a tooth pulled. Sansar was calm and patient, while Nigel looked mildly amused at everyone’s concern.

  Someone didn’t read the briefing, she thought as she looked at Nigel. Well, he was about to get the lesson of his life. “At your discretion,” she sent to Ghost.

  and the normal world, along with everyone in it, was torn apart.

  The soul-rending evisceration was over with in a second. Those who’d been through it, like Jim Cartwright, knew what to expect. He was still ashen and gasping afterward.

  Sansar’s eyes were wide, and she shook her head several times. “Blue Skies, that sucked!” she said when she could talk again. “It reset all my pinplants, too!”

  “Yeah,” Alexis said, steadier only because it was her third trip. “Those members of my crew who have large numbers of plants have noted that as well.”

  “Son of a sheep raper!” Nigel exclaimed. “Did we die?!”

  “No,” Jim said, wiping away pooled sweat from his face, “but it sure feels like it for a second.”

  “A second? It felt more like a year,” Nigel said, visibly struggling to get control of himself. He looked at Jim’s relatively calm demeanor and shook his head slightly. Alexis suspected Jim had just gone up another notch in the Asbaran commander’s book.

  Everyone in the CIC was affected to one degree or another, just like the previous times. Then Alexis realized that wasn’t quite true. The huge blue-on-blue eyes of Jim’s Fae regarded her coolly, looking completely unaffected. Alexis made a mental note to have Dr. Rodriguez send a survey to all the crews who’d gone through the transition to see if any others were unaffected. For the time being, though, it was back to work.

  “Flipper
, status?”

  “Sweeping,” the Selroth said. “It will take a minute for the program to run.” Sato had continued to modify their systems to operate more effectively in 2nd Level Hyperspace. Nothing seemed to follow the normal laws of physics here, even the energy emissions of sensors. He’d been the most disturbed by that, of all things.

  “Long, ETA to be ready for transition back to normal space?”

  “Fifteen minutes, Captain,” the Jeha engineer replied. His long body and a preponderance of his arms were wrapped around his bridge workstation, since combat wasn’t expected. They’d run into trouble the last time they’d come here, but they also had no intention of spending more than a few minutes this time, unlike the days they’d spent on the previous trip.

  “Very good. Glick, monitor the situation. Paka, you have the con. Maintain Situation One throughout the ship.” Paka nodded as Alexis unhooked her safety belt and started floating toward her ready room. She came to an almost immediate stop, then remembered the rules and started pulling herself that way instead.

  “Why are we staying at battle stations?” Nigel asked. “Nothing can attack you in hyperspace.”

  He’s cute, but he needs to learn to read briefings, she thought, then gave a mental lurch. Cute?! Stop thinking like a girl, she chided herself. “Colonel Shirazi, would you care to see?”

  “See what?”

  Jim Cartwright had already released his harness and was hand-over-handing after Alexis. Sansar, who’d read the briefing, was copying Jim’s movements. Nigel shrugged, and, having obviously not read the briefing or seen Alexis come to a halt, jumped toward the wardroom, only to stop after just a few feet, out of reach of any handholds.

  “What the hell?” he asked.

  “Here, let me help you,” Alexis said. She hooked a foot in a hold and stretched out her arm to snag his boot and pull him back. “You really should read the briefings,” she said and gave him an almost imperceptible wink. His cheeks turned red, and she smiled as she headed for her wardroom.

  Once there, she waited for the other three to get inside, then closed the connecting door. Alexis touched the controls on her desk, and the defensive cover slid aside from the synthetic ruby window, revealing what was outside.

  “We’re back in normal space,” Nigel said.

  “Look closer,” Jim replied. He’d seen it before and didn’t like how it made him feel. He glanced out into the eternal nothing, then looked away. Sansar and Nigel pulled themselves closer and looked outside.

  After a long moment, Sansar pulled herself away with considerable effort. “Oh, ow,” she said, rubbing her temples. “It gets into your head.”

  “Doesn’t it?” Alexis asked.

  Nigel took the longest to pull his gaze away from the nothingness. “It’s like the worst hangover ever,” he said, massaging his head. “What is it, anyway?”

  “Another dimension,” Jim suggested.

  “Sato thinks that’s close,” Alexis said. “He believes hyperspace is a different dimension of our universe, and thinks there should be at least nine more, each with different rules. Regular hyperspace is pretty close to our world; this one is a little further.”

  “The deeper you go, the worse it gets,” Jim said.

  Alexis nodded. “He’s been getting gradually better at adapting our instruments and such, but he spends a lot of time complaining about the Science Guild.”

  “What about it?” Jim asked.

  “He won’t say what, just that he hates them.” Alexis snorted. “If they’re as bad as the Mercenary Guild, he’s probably got a point.” She glanced out the window, then touched the control, closing the cover.

  “Captain?” a voice asked over the intercom.

  “Go ahead, Flipper.”

  “Sensor sweeps established out to one light second, according to the scale established by Sato.”

  “Anything?” Alexis asked.

  “I have three contacts. Two are steady, one is closing.”

  “Glick, prepare for incoming.”

  * * *

  EMS Pegasus, 2nd Level Hyperspace

  “Any verification of the target type?” Alexis asked as she pulled herself back into the CIC.

  “That level of information isn’t available yet,” Paka said.

  “I have the con,” Alexis said as she reached her command station. “How long to get out of here?”

  “Five minutes,” Long said.

  “Can I have shields?”

  “Yes,” the engineer said. “If you need weapons other than missiles, it will take longer.”

  “Missiles don’t work right,” Alexis said to her fellow colonels. “Think of how you float here.” She turned to Long. “Understood on power. Glick, shields?”

  “Shields coming up, maximum power,” Glick said.

  “Target is close enough for visual,” Flipper informed.

  Alexis pointed to the big CIC Tri-V. One of Pegasus’ optical telescopes focused, and the shape resolved to something like a lumpy stick. Several of the CIC personnel exchanged looks.

  “It’s the same as the one we first encountered,” Flipper said. A section of the Tri-V captured the image and put it side by side with an extremely similar ship, only from a different angle.

  “Wonder what its weapons range is?” Xander asked. She hadn’t been part of the Pegasus’ command crew when they’d encountered the ship.

  “Chug,” Alexis said, “sound maneuvering stations. Fire RCS starboard and down.”

  “Roger that,” the Bakulu helmsman said. A horn sounded twice, all the combat crew checked their restraints—the visitors more than everyone else—and the great ship moved laterally.

  An alarm sounded on the TacCom’s station. “Weapons hit,” Xander called. “Grazed shield Number 3 forward.” She put a hand to her head and scrunched up her face.

  Ghost said.

  “Great,” Alexis replied. “Can you compensate?”

 

  Big fucking help, she thought, then spoke to Glick. “The weapons can likely penetrate our shields. Evade, evade, evade!”

  “No more than five Gs, or you’ll slow the charging,” Long warned.

  “You heard the Jeha,” Alexis said.

  “Maneuvering!” Chug yelled.

  This time the horn sounded three times, warning of high-G maneuvers. Even as the last horn was sounding, Pegasus’ powerful fusion torch roared to life and, in combination with her oversized reaction thrusters, the ship spun. Another alarm sounded.

  “Hit,” Xander said, “Shield 2 this time, amidships.”

  “We have an internal explosion on Deck Five,” Afeeko, their DCC, yelled. A Tri-V of the ship’s schematic in high detail floated just in front of the elSha damage control coordinator’s independently controllable eyes. “Forward laser battery #2 is off line.”

  “Chug, damn it!” Alexis exclaimed.

  “I’m trying,” the Bakulu replied, not taking his eyes away from his task.

  “We need a few more minutes,” Long said.

  “Another hit,” Xander said. “Shield 6.”

  “Deck Fifteen,” Afeeko said. “Water storage. Some damage to tankage, minor leakage.”

  “Xander, pitch a missile at it?” The TacCom looked back at Alexis questioningly. “I know what Sato said, but do it.”

  “Roger that,” she replied, using pinplants and hands quickly. “Missile in the black!” There was a bump as the missile was ejected from the ship, and they watched on camera as it flashed away. Xander shook her head as she monitored the missile. “It doesn’t know what to make of the environment.”

  “Who does?” Nigel muttered.

  The missile streaked across the intervening space. The enemy ship took no notice of it, until the missile detonated.

  “Hit,” Xander said. The telescope showed the explosion as a bright flash of nuclear fire that grew, and grew, and
grew. “Uhm…” Xander said, “that looks like an atmospheric shockwave!”

  Ghost noted.

  “Brace for impact!” Paka snapped. Everyone stared at the spectacle. “Brace for impact!” she repeated, louder. Glick snapped out of it and repeated the order. The collision alarm blared, and a second later the shockwave hit Pegasus. Everyone in the CIC was slammed to the side by several Gs of acceleration.

  “No serious damage,” Afeeko said. “We tripped a few stress alarms, but I don’t show any structural failures.”

  “Any sign of the bogie?” Glick asked.

  “Screens are clear,” Flipper said. On the Tri-V, the camera continued to show the shockwave moving outward until it was lost.

  “What is the yield on that weapon?” Jim asked.

  “A nominal 1.5 kilotons,” Xander replied.

  “I think you may have found the perfect weapon for here,” Jim said.

  “You think so?” Alexis asked. “Flipper, how far away was the target at detonation?”

  “Approximately 90,000 kilometers.”

  Paka had a slate out and was finishing calculations. “Based on this, if the straight-line scale holds up, a 10-kiloton detonation would have killed us.”

  “Great weapons,” Xander said, glancing at Jim Cartwright, “if you don’t mind dying when you use them.”

  “There’s more,” Paka said. “I can’t be sure from visual observations, but it looked to me like the further from the blast, the more powerful the shockwave became.”