New Enemy (Jack Forge, Lost Marine Book 4)

by James David Victor

  Phisrid moved closer to the central chamber, the one the sisters had once shared.

  “You have won a great victory for me, sister.”

  Skirid sensed the hostility in her sister. Then she sensed the strong pheromones of a swarm queen.

  “But I took the ground,” Skirid said. She sensed the fear rise in her.

  Phisrid stepped in to the central chamber of the nest. The sisters faced each other for the first time in a long time. Both had changed.

  “You took the ground, but how will you hold it?” Phisrid said.

  Skirid sensed the faint pheromones of a related fighter caste, and related builders. She sensed the observer caste. They were related but not hers to control. It was her sister’s primary brood.

  Skirid had been used. Fear was forgotten under a wave of anger and hatred.

  Leaping forward, her huge mandibles cracked together. She snapped at her sister’s neck. Phisrid slapped her sister’s attack aside. Skirid saw the spawn sack, full and purple, on her sister.

  Then the fighters came rushing into the central chamber, clambering over their mother.

  “You won’t fight me yourself, sister?” Skirid spat, counting the hundreds of fighters swarming into the central chamber. “You always were a coward.”

  “No, sister,” Phisrid said, sending her fighters forward. “I was patient. You have taken the space we needed. Only one sub-queen will become swarm queen. Did you really think I was just going to let you win?”

  Skirid bit out with her huge mandibles, slicing one fighter in two, then another. She fought as she backed out of the central chamber. Her remaining fighters swarmed in and engaged Phisrid’s brood. The fight gave Skirid time to withdraw. She crawled to the outer edge of the nest asteroid. She looked at the Devex planet. She had won it. This territory was hers.

  Then Phisrid’s brood came, the blood of her remaining fighters on their mandibles. They moved in on the Skalidion who had been swarm queen for the briefest of moments. They hacked at her outer shell. Then the builders moved in, rushing inside.

  Skirid watched the planet she had won as her body was consumed, knowing her matter would provide her sister with substance to expand even further.

  As Skirid felt the builders attack her central nervous system, she had the final bitter, cruel thought that her sister had won. Her devious sister had won. She admitted to herself that Phisrid was more like their mother than she ever had been.

  It was the bitterest defeat and her dying pheromone rush would let the local swarm know she had fallen and that Phisrid was swarm queen.

  8

  Jack stood before the admiral’s image on the holostage in the officer’s lounge on the Scorpio.

  “You have been in a Devex ship, Major?” the admiral asked.

  “Yes, sir. I was captured. I escaped.”

  “No one has ever escaped a Devex warship before,” the admiral said.

  “I had help, sir,” Jack said. He shifted nervously.

  He had faced the firing squad and was still alive. He was more nervous now than he had been facing the line of enforcers ready to end his life.

  “Can you do it again?” the admiral asked.

  The thought of saying no meant Jack would surely be back on the Marine deck and in front of the squad. There was only one answer he could give.

  “Yes, sir, with the right help.”

  “This is not a mission to destroy the Devex,” the admiral said. “This is a rescue mission, you understand?”

  Jack nodded. “Yes, sir.”

  “We have the Devex ship under observation. You will have to move immediately. Are you ready to leave now, Major Forge?”

  Jack was filled with pride to hear his title being given to him by the admiral. It gave his right to the rank legitimacy. He was back in the Fleet. He was back in the Marines. He was about to head off on a dangerous mission for which he was hugely unprepared. There was no time to plan. No time to think. He had to act and act fast.

  Strangely, it felt good.

  “I need my Marine colleague, Sam Torent, sir.”

  The admiral turned to talk to someone outside the holoimage. He turned back to Jack.

  “You can choose your own team, any ships or equipment you require, but I am informed Commander Sam Torent is no longer available for active duty. He is currently assisting the Intelligence Agency Sci Division.”

  “Sir, it’s only thanks to Commander Torent that I was able to escape in the first place. He is able to interface with the Devex ships. Without him, I don’t think it’s possible.”

  “You will go without Commander Torent or you will be returned to the custody of the Fleet Intelligence Agency, Major.”

  The admiral sounded desperate.

  Jack shook his head.

  “Sam is here on board the Scorpio, Admiral. He is vital to this mission. Only he can get me inside the Devex warship.”

  “If you complete this mission, I will exonerate you of all charges,” Henson said, “But if you refuse, I’ll make this very simple,” Admiral Henson said coldly. “You will find yourself before the enforcers before the end of this watch. Is that clear?”

  “If I go without Sam, I’ll be dead anyway. Save us all a lot of time and effort and get it over with. I’ve been accused of terrible crimes I did not commit and found guilty. I can’t deny it in any more convincing terms. If you are going to kill me, do it here on the ship I love. Don’t send me to some Devex ship to get torn apart by their energy bullets, or worse still turned into one of their warriors. I’d rather die knowing who and what I am. I’m not dying as an unthinking, unfeeling Devex drone.”

  The admiral pointed at Jack.

  “Now you listen to me, Forge. You are under orders. You will go and you will rescue my daughters…”

  The admiral fell silent.

  “Daughters?” Jack said. “So, this is personal?” Now Jack understood. He had nothing but sympathy for the admiral. Now he could see the strain almost set to overwhelm the man.

  “I’m sorry for your loss, sir,” Jack said. “But if your daughters have been taken, they are probably already Devex warriors. I’m not sure I can do anything for them.”

  “You can try,” Henson shouted.

  “Then give me Sam, and I’ll do more than try. I will succeed.”

  Admiral Henson stepped aside and disappeared from the image. He returned a moment later.

  “Sam Torent is being released now. All available mission information is being sent to the Scorpio. Find my girls. Bring them home. Please, Major, they’re all I’ve got left.”

  9

  Jack waited for Sam outside the workshop, flanked by two enforcers. As the enforcers wore no insignia or markings on their black tactical suits, Jack could not be sure if these two had been in the firing squad ready to execute him only a short time ago. But with only a handful of enforcers on board the Scorpio as Special Agent Mallet’s own force, it was likely that they were.

  The workshop door opened, and Sam stepped out, an enforcer supporting the weakened commander.

  Jack reached out to offer support. Sam shrugged off the enforcer angrily and stumbled toward Jack.

  “You look awful,” Jack said, leading Sam along the corridor.

  “Well, I feel just fine,” Sam said. He stumbled slightly.

  An enforcer stepped up to help carry Sam.

  “Get off me,” Sam said, lashing out with his left arm, his human arm.

  “We have instructions,” the enforcer said, “to get Commander Torent to the Marine barracks quickly.”

  Jack slung Sam’s Mech arm over his shoulder and took his friend’s weight.

  “We know our duty. We’ll move as quickly as we can,” Jack said.

  The enforcer shoved Jack and Sam forward.

  It was a mistake.

  Jack and Sam turned on the enforcer. Together, they had no fear of any enemy, not even one in a Fleet Intelligence tactical suit.

  “Shove me one more time,” Jack said.

>   “And what?” the enforcer said, cutting Jack off mid-sentence.

  “And I’ll request you for my infiltration team. You know where we’re going, right?”

  The enforcer remained still. Jack couldn’t read any emotions from behind the helmet of the black-clad enforcer, but he suspected the threat of going on what was certain to be a suicide mission had shut the enforcer up.

  “That’s what I thought,” Sam said.

  Jack and Sam turned and headed off. The Marine barracks were a few dozen meters away on the deck below. Jack knew Sam needed some time to recover before they could head off on the mission.

  “We’ll get you cleaned up,” Jack said.

  “A few med-packs would be good too,” Sam said.

  Jack felt his friend take more of his own weight. He was standing taller, stronger, recovering quickly.

  “Are you up to this, Sam?” Jack said.

  Sam took his arm off Jack’s shoulder and attempted to stand on his own.

  “You know anyone else with an alien arm?” Sam said.

  Suddenly, Sam toppled to the side. He reached out to the corridor walls and steadied himself. Jack reached out to help, but Sam shook his head slightly, showing Jack he was determined to stand on his own two feet.

  “You will be no good to me if you collapse on this mission. I’ll find a way to get this done if you can’t manage it.”

  “They told me you were going to be shot. They pulled and poked me, tried everything to get that arm to react. It was painful, Jack. I’d never known such pain. But when they said you were in front of a firing squad, that hurt the most, and they saw it. They used that to torment me, along with trying to pull the Mech arm off me.”

  “They twisted everything,” Jack said. “Made me sound like a criminal. I don’t know what Mallet was trying to do.”

  “She was trying to kill you. We must get these girls back or die trying. It’ll be death for us if we come back empty-handed.”

  They took the stairs down to the Marine barracks. At the bottom of the stairs stood two more enforcers. They fell in step behind Jack and Sam and followed the pair to the shower block.

  “No time,” an enforcer said, pushing Sam along toward the Marine store where they could collect their tactical suits and weapons.

  Sam turned and faced the enforcer. He reached out with his Mech arm and grabbed the enforcer by the throat. Sam picked the enforcer up, his feet twitching.

  “I’ve got time of a shower,” Sam said.

  Jack felt the hairs stand up on his neck. He had seen Sam angry before, he’d faced Sam angry before, but nothing like the fury that boiled in Sam now.

  Jack laid his hand on Sam’s wrist. The Mech tissue felt strange. Smooth, hard, cold. Synthetic yet alive.

  “Put him down, Sam,” Jack said calmly.

  Sam lowered the enforcer to the ground. He stepped into the shower block. Soon the sound of water came out followed by a billowing cloud of steam.

  Jack felt the sweat and grime on his body. He felt like a shower would sooth more than a few aches as well as the traumatic memories of facing certain death. But soon Sam stepped out of the steam in just his shorts.

  “Let’s get suited up, Jack,” Sam said.

  The water ran off Sam’s body onto pools on the floor. Jack noticed the Mech arm was completely dry, as if incapable of becoming wet.

  “Our ship is standing by,” Jack said. He walked along the corridor with Sam toward the Marine store.

  Jack stripped down to his underwear and pulled on the tactical suit. He knew he would not be taking it off and he could use the tactical suit’s onboard systems to soothe his aches.

  “Have we selected a Marine squad to come along for the trip?” Sam asked.

  Jack grabbed a pulse pistol, checking the electron blade and pulse ammunition load before slapping it to the tactical suit’s hip holster.

  “No. This is a stealth mission. Better we take care of it all ourselves.” Jack grabbed a helmet and held it under his arm. He looked at Sam.

  “Always after the glory for yourself, aren’t you, Jack,” Sam said. He slung a pulse rifle over his shoulder and grabbed a pack of blast grenades.

  “All I ever wanted was a quiet life,” Jack said. He pulled the helmet on. The enhanced data view powered up and showed him a data steam on his friend and Marine brother.

  Sam was tired and bruised. The medical data suggested a stim shot and a painkiller. Jack used his command access to authorize the treatment, which Sam’s suit delivered. The reading came back instantly that Sam was in a better condition, but barely ready for active duty.

  Sam smiled at Jack. “Better give yourself some meds too, Jack. You are probably not really fit for this mission yourself.”

  Sam pulled his helmet on.

  Jack checked his own data. The onboard medical device told Jack he was suffering from stress. Jack felt a smile tug at the corners of his mouth. There was no treatment for stress in the suit’s medical pack, at least nothing that wouldn’t reduce his combat effectiveness. There was no way he was heading into hostile enemy territory under the influence of a sedative.

  “Ready?” Jack asked.

  “Ready,” Sam replied.

  The pair marched off toward the Marine deck and their waiting craft.

  The corridor from the barracks led to one of the entrances to the Marine hangar deck, which opened around the pair. The Marine tac boats and company transports were lined up at one side, while sitting in front of the outer hangar doors was the Devex raider that had been captured during the raid on the Scorpio.

  Jack inspected the repairs to the outer hull where he had cut his way in with his electron blade. The hull appeared to be intact again.

  Standing in front of the boarding ramp was Captain Pretorius. Next to him was a holoimage of the admiral aboard the Scepter.

  “Good luck, Jack,” Pretorius said. “You got everything you need?”

  Jack nodded. He patted the pulse pistol on his hip and then patted Sam on the shoulder. He turned to look at the admiral.

  Henson was standing proud and apparently emotionless, but Jack knew he must have been extremely anxious.

  “Good luck, Major,” the admiral said. “Bring my daughters back.”

  Jack nodded. “We’ll do our best, sir.”

  Sam gave a short nod to the captain and then to the admiral before marching up the boarding ramp.

  “If you need any assistance, you have a channel direct to my command chair,” Pretorius said. “I’ll be on the command deck for the duration of your mission. Copy?”

  Jack nodded. “Copy that, sir.” He felt a wave of relief knowing that Pretorius had his back. He knew there was nothing that his mentor could realistically do, but it was good to know there were people on his side.

  Pretorius held out his hand.

  Jack took the captain’s hand in a friendly and respectful shake. Then he walked briskly up the boarding ramp into the Devex ship.

  He closed the ramp behind him and looked over to Sam at the flight controls.

  “Do you remember how to fly one of these?” Jack asked.

  “No, but my arm does.” Sam removed the tactical suit gauntlet and touched his Mech hand to the controls. The hand unraveled into a thousand fine strands. They found their way past the control panel cover and into the systems beneath.

  Jack felt the power systems come alive.

  “Okay, where do you want to go?” Sam asked.

  “Straight to the Devex warship, Sam.”

  Sam turned around and looked at Jack as he walked up to the flight controls, dropping into the copilot seat. Jack looked at the holoimage of the raider leaving the hangar on his wrist-mounted holostage.

  “You really want to go on a suicide mission? After all they did to me, and to you, you really want to help them? We’ve got a ship and we are free. Let’s get out of here.”

  Jack felt his smile drop as he detected the tone in Sam’s voice. He was genuinely ready to abandon his mission
, the fleet, and the two Henson girls.

  “We have our duty, Sam,” Jack said.

  “After all they did to us?” Sam protested.

  “Even then.” Jack leaned back in the seat. It was huge, designed for the three-meter-tall Devex warriors Jack had first encountered. “It was Fleet Intelligence that did this to us. Not Captain Pretorius, or Admiral Hensen, and certainly not his daughters.”

  The forward view screen activated, showing nothing but black space beyond.

  “Get us to the Devex ship, Sam. Let’s finish this mission before we think about running out on the fleet.”

  “You always were too good for your own good, Jack,” Sam said.

  “It’ll be the death of me for sure,” Jack said. He pointed forward. “Let’s get on with this.”

  The raider jumped to maximum velocity and raced away from the Scorpio, out into the dark empty space and toward the warship that had captured the admiral’s daughters.

  10

  Riya and Bren woke in each other’s arms. They were cold, stripped to their underwear. They were lost in the dark. But they were not alone. Voices cried out all around, shrieking or whimpering in fear and distress.

  “Bren,” Riya said. “You okay?” Riya squinted in the darkness, trying to make out her sister, who was sitting right alongside her.

  A sudden burst of light lit up the pair of sisters and they could see each other, half in light, half in shadow, the harsh white on one side and deep dark on the other.

  Bren had tears running down her cheeks. She was shivering but clamped her lips together with a fierce determination not to appear afraid. The strength of will from her sister gave Riya strength to deal with this situation, lost in the dark, surrounded by the cries of terrified people.

  Riya looked to the distant light. A beam lanced down into the wide, dark space. In the beam of light, Riya could see dark shapes. She realized with horror that the shapes were people, tumbling up toward the source of the light.

  The light blinked out and all was returned to darkness. Riya looked at her sister. She could make her out now in the faintest of dull lights that filled the huge space.