Discovery

by Jan Domagala

  “What if we damage it a little?” Riley asked changing tack.

  “If you damage the craft to bring it down it could crash and the result would be the same. We don’t have the firepower to totally vaporise that craft,” Artie said flatly.

  “Okay Artie just get us down there as quick as you can,” Riley decided.

  “Sir, I’m confused,” Artie said surprisingly.

  “Confused, how Artie? I wasn’t even aware you could get confused,” Riley stated.

  “Sir, the reports state that the Outlaws use reclaimed equipment and tec and improvised weapons,” Artie said.

  “That’s correct Artie, what’s your point?” Riley answered.

  “That attack craft is relatively new with upgraded tec and weapons systems. Sir, it’s state of the art, how is that possible?”

  “I have no idea Artie and we don’t have the time to ponder it now but I agree it does give us something to think about,” Riley said.

  “I’ll say,” exclaimed Vance. “Where the hell did a bunch of scumbags like these Outlaws get their hands on a state of the art attack craft, you know it can’t be good Cap.”

  “Sir, it’s not just the attack craft. My recent scans have given the same results from the complex too.”

  “Oh shit, that can’t be good,” Torres said.

  “What the hell have we got ourselves into here Cap, do you think Sinclair knows about all this?” Cooper asked.

  “I don’t know, look, let’s just find who we came here to find and get the hell back to the Pulsar. Once we’ve done that we can try and figure this thing out,” Riley said trying to get the team back on track.

  “I’ll keep running scans as I monitor your progress, sirs, to see if I can learn any more about what’s going on here,“ Artie said.

  “Okay people, we hit the ground running. Artie give us whatever covering fire you can,” Riley said.

  “I will do what I can, sir,” replied the AI.

  “Okay people, this could get rough but it’s what we signed up for so get your game faces on. Artie, take us in,” Riley said and the team simply nodded their heads in agreement.

  It was time to go to work.

  KURT REACHED THE CAVE entrance first then ushered Natasha and Prince Aswan inside. Standing in the entrance he watched as the attack craft swooped in to land like some huge bird of prey.

  “We’d better get ready, here they come,” he told them.

  “Are you planning to shoot it out with those guys?” Aswan asked a little fearful.

  “If we have to, yes,” Kurt replied not diverting his attention from the attack craft.

  “Wouldn’t it be better to continue inside this cave and try to lose them?” Aswan persisted.

  “We may have to stand and fight here, sir. There’s no guarantee we could lose them inside this cave, we might even find ourselves trapped in here. In my opinion, it would be better to stand and fight. We have a position here that has good cover, it’s easily defendable and we have help on its way so this is our best option,” Kurt said as he watched the attack craft touchdown.

  One by one, the Outlaws exited the attack craft. They waited until all seven of them were together then they started forward towards the cave entrance.

  “Here we go,” Kurt said as he took out his Sig and jacked the slide.

  25

  Tarkovic waited for his team to exit their attack craft. Once they had all gathered at the base of the exit ramp he said, “Remember our orders, the Prince is not to be harmed. The other two, we kill.”

  Nothing else needed to be said; they knew what they had to do so they began to advance on the cave entrance.

  Having left their makeshift weapons behind in the attack craft they were now all armed with Magarov T9 pistols strapped to their sides in holsters and Remm assault rifles which they held up to their shoulders aiming down the barrels at the cave entrance ready to fire as they moved forward.

  “When you pick a target, open fire. I want this done as fast as possible. I want the Prince captured and the other two dead before that other craft picks its landing spot, so double time it people,” Tarkovic said. The seven of them began to jog forwards, their assault rifles still aimed, unwaveringly towards the cave entrance.

  “OKAY THESE GUYS ARE on a timetable here, they obviously know about our reinforcements so they want to end this quickly,” Kurt said to Natasha who was by his side peering around the cave entrance.

  “What do we do?” she asked.

  “Stop them, of course,” he replied. “Pick your target and open fire. You start at the left and I’ll start at the right and work your way towards the centre,” he added as he took aim.

  “Are you serious, shoot them in cold blood?” she snapped not believing what she was hearing.

  “Did you see what those bastards did to the passengers on that cruise ship? Unarmed civilians, who didn’t stand a chance, hacked to death like so much meat. Of course I mean kill them before they kill us,” Kurt replied angrily. They didn’t have the time for a philosophical debate on the merits of self-defence against a violent enemy; they needed to stop the advancing Outlaws.

  Kurt turned back to the cave entrance, took aim once again and fired.

  TARKOVIC AND THE TEAM saw the muzzle flash of the gunshot but they were too slow to react. The pulsed plasma bolt struck the Outlaw on the extreme left of the line up in the centre of his head blowing it to pieces as it dropped him to the ground, dead.

  “Return fire!” shouted Tarkovic as they all dropped down on their stomachs, their rifles still aimed at their target. They began firing small controlled bursts, to conserve ammo, at their target.

  A barrage of pulsed plasma bolts battered the cave entrance pulverising rock, blasting it to nothing as the Outlaws fired.

  “Keep firing and advance in pattern Alpha,” Tarkovic said, communicating via a battle com. channel so that only his team could hear his hushed words.

  Immediately the two outside men on the line got up and sprinted a few metres closer to their target as the rest of the team continued to give them covering fire. The two runners dropped to the ground, started to give cover fire as the rest of the team got to their feet and ran to join them. Once they arrived, the whole manoeuvre would begin again, repeating like this until they had reached their objective.

  FROM INSIDE THE CAVE where Kurt had pulled Natasha back to prevent her from getting shot, he said, “Their pattern of firing has altered. They’re advancing on us, probably giving cover fire while two or more of them advance who then give cover fire while the rest catch up.”

  “You can tell that just by listening?” Natasha asked in disbelief.

  “Comes with experience,” he lied. His enhanced hearing helped him pick out the changing rhythm of gunshots. “The important thing is we’re pinned down in here now so we have no choice but to go further into the cave,” he added.

  “That’s not what you’d expect from Outlaws though, is it?” Aswan said pointing out the other aspect of the tactic that had bothered Kurt.

  “No, it isn’t, which means we’re up against trained soldiers which also means there’s something else going on here other than what we’re led to believe,” agreed Kurt.

  “Looks like your theory about this place holding a secret is gathering momentum,” Natasha said.

  “Unfortunately, yes, believe me I’d much rather it wasn’t,” Kurt agreed. “We can debate this later though, right now we need to move,” he added with some urgency.

  THE PULSAR’S FORWARD section came in to land, hovered ten yards above the ground close to the attack craft, whilst Riley and the team abseiled down from lines attached to an open hatch.

  “Artie see if you can persuade those Outlaws from firing at our people,” Riley said as he hit the ground and released his line.

  “Will do my best, sir,” Artie replied, targeting the Outlaws lying on the ground with the forward pulse cannons. Firing on fully automatic the AI sent out a salvo of pulsed plasma bolts that stitch
ed a line across the path of the four Outlaws prone forms. The two outermost Outlaws turned around and returned fire at the hovering craft almost immediately.

  “Everyone down,” ordered Riley as he saw the Outlaws turn to fire. All four members of the Wildfire Team dived to the floor, arms outstretched before them with their Remm assault rifles aimed at the Outlaws.

  INSIDE THE CAVE, KURT was leading Natasha and Aswan deeper into the labyrinth of tunnels they found once they moved beyond the entrance.

  “Sounds like our back up has arrived,” Kurt said after hearing the pulse cannons firing.

  “Should we go back and help them out?” Natasha asked as they cautiously advanced deeper into the caves.

  The light from the entrance seemed to recede as they progressed further into the cave. Kurt lit one of the torches they’d taken from the wrecked lifeboat to light their way.

  “No, we continue,” he told her.

  The torch beam illuminated the walls and it picked out a fork in the tunnel. “This way,” Kurt said as he led them towards the left.

  Natasha followed by Aswan was close behind him as he took the tunnel on the left.

  “Holy shit!” exclaimed Kurt as he pulled up short. What he saw astounded him.

  26

  Jared Saladar was on the bridge of his starship when it re-entered normal space through the hyperspace window.

  “How do you want to play this Boss?” asked Mikal Danovic, the second in command of Saladar’s team. Danovic was half a head taller than his boss and, at almost six feet eight, he had slightly more muscle mass but other than that, he could be mistaken for his older brother. They both had dark hair, dark eyes and the same swarthy good looks that endeared them to the women who they met when not on a mission.

  “We go in, we rescue the Prince and as many of his entourage that are still alive then we get the hell out, simple really,” Saladar replied.

  “That’s a bit sketchy on the details. Mind filling me in on any, say, like how you intend on going in?” Danovic asked.

  This was a process they usually went through when starting a mission. Saladar was a gifted tactician and would have an outline of his plan but would wait to get a feel for the situation before setting off and making any moves. He often referred to his missions as being organic because quite often they would evolve as they progressed through it. One could never plan for every contingency for there would always be that unexpected element, a reaction to a certain action that no one saw coming and that was why Saladar seemed to make his plans up as he went along. He was actually reacting and adjusting to a situation that was fluid and if he tried to remain solid and stick rigidly to a game plan, he knew he would get people killed.

  “Soon as I figure it out, I’ll let you know,” Saladar replied.

  “Jared!” Danovic admonished.

  “What?” Saladar asked turning to face his closest friend. He recognised that tone in his voice and smiled. “You know how I work Mikal, as soon as I get some idea of what’s going on here I’ll know the best way to proceed,” he said which seemed to appease the other man. “In the meantime it’s best we stay hidden from any prying eyes. I’d rather do this as a ‘sneak in and go’ type op, rather than a full blown assault,” he added.

  “Understood, let’s start with some scans to see what we’re up against here,” Danovic offered.

  “Make them low level scans at first, I don’t want to alert them to our presence just yet, not until we have to.”

  “Yes, Boss.”

  “That might be a bit of a problem, Boss, we’ve just been scanned by that complex,” said Alexei Janovic who was piloting the starship and operating the ops station which incorporated sensors and comms.

  “Right take us behind the nearest moon, anything that’s large enough to hide behind and do it fast before they realise who we are,” Saladar said.

  The image on the forward viewscreen showed the Outlaws complex of reconstructed starships. As they watched, two attack craft left the outer docking area and turned towards them.

  “Well guys, it looks like my idea of a ‘sneak and go’ op just went out the airlock. Get ready for a fight everyone,” Saladar said as he watched the attack craft come closer on full burn.

  KURT WAS STANDING HOLDING the torch looking where the beam played down the tunnel illuminating everything it touched.

  Natasha and Aswan came to stand by his side and when they saw what he was looking at they froze on the spot.

  “What the hell are they?” asked Natasha quietly, almost in a whisper.

  Ahead of them, caught in the torch’s beam, were several creatures that seemed to be large rodents. Like the huge octo feline that had chased them earlier, all these rodents had four forelegs and the same number of hind legs. As large as the African Lion back on Earth each of these rodents posed a real threat.

  Caught in the blinding light of the torch beam their eyes glowed red with a feral glare. The nearest one opened its mouth showing a wicked set of razor sharp teeth and roared its disapproval at being disturbed, alerting the rest of the pack to the intruders.

  “Quick, back the other way,” Kurt said as he back stepped away from the angry residents of the tunnel. Not daring to take the torch beam off the rodents completely, Kurt diverted it towards the floor in front of them as he took tentative steps away from them. He could still see them in the periphery of the light from the beam but they weren’t caught in the glare of it and he hoped not startled by it enough to attack.

  The roar from the angry rodents still made their blood run cold as the trio of intruders to the rodents’ domain reached the fork in the tunnel. Kurt was still worried they might give chase.

  “Where to now, the other tunnel?” asked Aswan pedantically.

  “We have no other choice,” Kurt replied. He was about to take the torch beam away from the rodents and use it to illuminate the other tunnel when he saw the rodents rise up from their haunches in preparation to pounce. He shone the beam full in their faces and saw their lips curled back to expose wickedly long, sharp teeth in a feral snarl. They were more than angry; they were ready to attack.

  “Move now!” Kurt said as he pushed the other two towards the remaining tunnel. As they moved out of the rodent-filled tunnel into the other one, they heard the angry roar from the previous tunnel’s occupants as they moved after them.

  Kurt aimed his Sig at the first rodent as it came round the fork into their tunnel and fired. The pulsed plasma bolt hit the rodent right between the eyes blowing apart its broad head in a spray of gore that covered those behind it.

  The animal was dropped in its tracks and the others in the pack stopped. They each sniffed the body, looking from it to where Kurt and the others receded down the other tunnel as if they were trying to assess what had just happened. It was clear from the way they looked at Kurt they knew somehow he was to blame and that he and those with him were a threat.

  “Right that bought us some time but I don’t know how much so keep moving,” Kurt said as he followed Natasha and Aswan down the tunnel. Natasha had taken out the other torch they found in the wreckage of the lifeboat and was using it to light their way.

  “Okay, they got over the shock, run,” Kurt said as a glance over his shoulder revealed the threat from behind.

  The three of them ran full tilt down the tunnel regardless of what may be ahead; their only thought was the pack of angry, lion-sized rodents chasing them.

  Natasha was leading the way; half a step in front of Aswan who was closely followed by Kurt so when the tunnel suddenly dropped away from them there was no way any of them could prevent what happened next.

  All three of them went tumbling down the sharp decline, falling head over heels in a forward motion so fast there was no chance for any of them to grab hold of anything.

  At first they thought they had fallen off a cliff face similar to the one they had climbed down earlier, but as they bounced down the insanely steep decline they realised that was not the case.

&
nbsp; Unfortunately the huge rodents who were more used to the terrain inside the tunnels didn’t have that disadvantage which became evident when they bounded after the trio down the tunnel unhindered by the slope.

  As the trio bounced and tumbled down the slope picking up speed with each bone-jarring impact, they suddenly found themselves airborne.

  “Oh Shit!” exclaimed Kurt as he left the ground. With a sudden impact they all struck a body of water and went under.

  Disoriented for a moment Kurt had no idea where he was or even which way was up. The water was ice cold and it took all his resolve not to breathe in from the shock.

  There was no light to speak of at first, but then he noticed a faint glow. For a second he wondered if it could be from one of the torches but then he realised the light was too widespread for it to be from one small light source.

  His lungs were okay for a while yet; since the serum enhanced all his natural abilities his lung capacity had increased enough for him to be able to remain under water for at least ten minutes. If he did that though, it would raise suspicions if the others had already made it to the surface. If they had not, then he needed to find and help them.

  Kicking out with his powerful legs, Kurt headed for the light. He saw it get brighter with every stroke and soon his head broke the surface of the water. Looking around he saw a huge cavern with sloping walls that arched up to where a hole at the very top allowed light to stream through.

  Not far from where he broke through the surface of the water he saw Natasha and Aswan treading water.

  “Are you alright?” he asked.

  “I’ve been better,” replied Natasha.

  “What’s that?” asked the Prince as he turned to look behind him for something he had heard.

  A huge fin sliced through the water several metres away.

  Judging from the size of the fin, Kurt estimated the size of the creature to be around twenty to thirty yards long. Behind it he saw another fin break the surface followed by yet another, three huge predators of the deep and all heading their way.