Veklocks

by S. H. Jucha

  “Ugly choices,” Devon commented. “Trouble behind us, trouble here, and maybe trouble where we’d retreat.”

  “Thoughts?” Jessie asked.

  “If we return to the dome that we just left, we’ll still have a fight on our hands,” Aurelia declared. “If our reason for going there is that we want to give up, then we won’t know how to get home from the adjunct gates, if there is even a path to alliance worlds. Plus, we won’t be returning with sufficient documentation.”

  “We can’t stay here,” Jaktook added, “and beta dome isn’t an option.”

  “I say we temporarily retreat and figure out our next move,” Tracy voted, “and we take our chances the Colony isn’t there.”

  Jessie surveyed the team. Their faces said they were in agreement with Tracy. They needed a break to recoup. His eyes fell on Mangoth, who nodded solemnly and stood.

  “Collect weapons, satchels, and expended drums,” Jessie ordered. “We’re retreating through gate three. He spared a moment to ensure Mangoth collected Hangor’s pack, launcher, and drum satchel.

  “Set the console,” Devon said to Aurelia, while he continued to watch the ramp.

  “Ready,” Jessie called, when the team was in position.

  Jaktook had taken Hangor’s place on the platform. Documentation was now a secondary consideration.

  “Devon,” Aurelia said urgently, when she tapped the panel’s icon. Then the pair rushed to jump on gate three’s platform.

  “Get ready,” Jessie said, as the blue light speared the dome.

  To the team’s relief, the Colony wasn’t waiting for them.

  “Clear the platform,” Jessie ordered unnecessarily. The others had already jumped or were in the process of doing so.

  Mangoth promptly threw a net over it. Then he sat heavily on it. Harbour and Aurelia sat beside him and opened their gates to provide solace.

  Jessie walked around the platform’s perimeter to stand in front of the Crocian. “I’m truly sorry, Mangoth, for the loss of your sibling,” he said.

  “Your sentiment is appreciated, Jessie,” Mangoth said. “Hangor knew of the danger. I’d told him many times of our deadly encounters.”

  Mangoth couldn’t understand why he wasn’t more pained by the death of his clutch mate. Then he swung his snout toward Harbour and then Aurelia. He rumbled in gratitude.

  When the insectoids’ hisses were heard, launchers snapped into firing positions.

  “Sorry, sorry. It’s an audio recording,” Aurelia called out in chagrin, and the launchers were lowered.

  The dome darkened, and Aurelia displayed the range of the Colony’s intrusion. It was the same collection as before — alpha, beta, delta, with their eleven adjunct domes, and the Colony’s.

  Jessie, Jaktook, and Tracy wandered over to the console.

  “What are you two thinking?” Jessie asked Devon and Aurelia.

  -17-

  Now What?

  Before Devon and Aurelia could answer, Jaktook said, “Jessie, it’s my thought that we should return to alliance territory.”

  “We’ve only documented two domes,” Jessie objected.

  “We can show the Colony is occupying fourteen domes outside of their own star,” Aurelia interjected.

  “And the traps they’ve set for us indicate their serious intentions to claim and defend their expanding territory,” Devon pointed out.

  “What if the Tsargit doesn’t consider our meager presentation of two domes worthy of the agreement?” Jessie asked. “Pyre loses the projects, our injured aren’t repaired, and Hangor’s sacrifice is in vain.”

  “The encounters have dramatically shifted,” Jaktook argued. “We came with deadly weapons seeking to overwhelm the Colony’s numbers, strength, and venomous pincers. But look what we’ve found. They’ve weapons too, and they’ve planned insidious countermeasures.”

  “Will the expedition’s more hazardous conditions change the Tsargit’s attitude about our report?” Jessie pursued.

  “No, it won’t,” Mangoth said in his deep bass voice. He stood behind Jessie and was flanked by the empaths. “The Tsargit cares only for results. Our challenges are our problems.”

  “Stop,” Harbour ordered firmly. “Look at us! We’re covered in body fluids from reds, grays and … and Hangor! Everyone, get below and clean up. We eat, sit down, and think this through.”

  The explorers gazed at one another and themselves. Faces and skins, real and artificial, were smeared with the results of exploded bodies, and the smell was penetrating. Without a word, they trooped below.

  After a lengthy time in the facilities and a meal of paste, greens, and water, the team congregated in the primary room.

  “Okay,” Harbour began. “We’ve got a critical decision to make. Do we abandon the exploration and hope we’ve collected sufficient data, or do we try to document more occupied domes?”

  “Let’s start this simply,” Jessie said. “Who’s for going back?”

  No hand or claw was raised. No one spoke. The opportunity to get clean and eat had allowed the explorers to collect their wits and deal with the death of one of their own.

  “That makes it easy,” Jessie muttered.

  “I’ve been thinking,” Devon said. “We’re taking the wrong approach. I don’t mean about the domes we’ve chosen to explore … I mean about the way we’re doing it.”

  “Elaborate,” Mangoth requested.

  “In security, the toughest arrests are smugglers,” Devon explained. “They’re elusive, know all the station’s hideouts, and are often paranoid. The best way to catch them is to be aggressive, and speed is your asset.”

  “How does this translate to our predicament?” Jaktook asked.

  “When we journey, we stand and wait to discover our situation,” Devon continued. “This method makes us vulnerable. It gives the reds and the grays the advantage. They get to make the first move.”

  “You’re saying we move before we even know our circumstances?” Jessie queried. It was contrary to his training and experience from years in space.

  “Yes, and we move fast,” Devon replied.

  “I approve of Devon’s idea. It suits my temperament,” Mangoth rumbled. “However, we would need to rearrange our positions.”

  “I like the idea too,” Tracy added. “What I don’t like is standing and waiting for the reds and the grays to come after us.”

  “What about documentation?” Jaktook asked.

  “In this scenario, it would be secondary,” Harbour replied. “We’d record the aftermath.”

  “Do I understand this action correctly?” Aurelia asked. “We journey, coalesce on the platform, and immediately jump off, while firing.”

  “That’s about the sum of it,” Devon replied.

  “Okay,” Aurelia said, shrugging. “It’s as good an idea as any. What we’ve been doing certainly has been favoring the other side.”

  Jessie regarded Harbour with a questioning expression, and she nodded her acceptance of the proposal.

  “Okay, new platform order,” Jessie said, accepting the group’s decision. He rearranged his teammates, placing each member along the edge. Mangoth, Devon, and he would face the dome’s interior.

  “Which domes do we target?” asked Jaktook, when Jessie finished.

  “I see no reason to change the original plan,” Harbour said. “We arrive at delta’s gate three and exit on two or four.”

  “We rest for a few hours, and then we go,” Jessie said.

  No one sought a private room. Pallets were extended from the wall, and they lay down. The day hadn’t been that long, but energy was drained and nerves were strained.

  Jessie dozed for a while, and then he lay awake with his eyes open. He heard the restless movements of others. No one was sleeping.

  “Everyone awake?” Jessie whispered. He received quiet affirmatives from all six individuals.

  “Let’s go,” Tracy suggested.

  “Agreed,” Jaktook replied.


  The explorers rose, sent the pallets into the wall for cleaning, used the facilities, drank some water, and gathered their weapons.

  Aurelia took up her position at the console, and the others climbed on the platform.

  Devon examined the faces of his companions. They were a desultory group, who were grieving for Hangor and traumatized by their beatings.

  “This isn’t going to work,” Devon said defiantly, as he stepped off the platform. “We’ll journey to delta and be wiped out in a matter of minutes.”

  Suddenly, Devon felt a wave of determination sweep through his mind. It was fueled by a desire for revenge for Hangor. His pulse quickened, and he saw the faces of the others harden.

  Jessie turned and regarded Harbour. She winked at him.

  “Delta, here we come,” Tracy whooped.

  Devon hopped on the platform, and Aurelia triggered the console.

  “For Hangor,” Mangoth roared, as the dome’s light bathed them.

  It was evident to the explorers that their arrival was unexpected. The reds weren’t carrying their tubes. The deck had been cleared of body parts and the console and other platforms were uncovered.

  The team leapt off the platform pumping darts in all directions. Early shots missed until they could sight on their targets.

  Devon and Aurelia cleared a path to the console, while the others took over gate two. With a few keystrokes, Aurelia set the panel. Then she initiated the journey, and Devon and she joined the team.

  The second adjunct dome was a duplicate of the first one. The Colony had been patiently waiting for the explorers’ incursion. However, the action didn’t bear any similarity to the first encounter.

  The moment the explorers appeared, they leapt off the platform. The net slid harmlessly across its lanyards, and the four grays were immediately dispatched.

  “Drive them to the ramp,” Jessie ordered.

  Six more grays and a red were eliminated before the remainder of the Colony got the point and retreated down the ramp.

  Harbour looked for Jaktook. The Jatouche advisor was already atop Mangoth and recording the carnage.

  Aurelia grinned at Devon and kissed him on the cheek.

  “One more dome to go,” Devon whispered, “but that means we pass through delta two more times.”

  “We good?” Jessie asked Jaktook, when Mangoth stood at the top of the ramp, with Tracy and Harbour flanking him.

  “Satisfactory,” Jaktook replied. He jumped lightly off Mangoth, stored his recorder, and grabbed his launcher.

  The team assembled for the return, and it was Devon who sent them on their return to delta.

  This time the Colony was prepared for the explorers. Reds held their tubes, and grays crowded near the platform, eager to sink their pincers into the intruders.

  The explorers couldn’t jump free of the platform. They fought, while standing prominently in view of the reds. Drums were emptied in quick fashion, and rounds from the reds’ weapons flew at them. The words “down” and “hit the deck” were frequently yelled, when tubes were seen to bear on them.

  Mangoth, Jessie, and Devon’s combined firepower opened a small space in front of them. Mangoth roared in defiance, hopped from the platform, and swatted the nearest grays. His powerful arms and heavy claws decapitated or broke the spines of those he struck.

  Jessie and Devon tried valiantly to protect Mangoth by taking down the reds who targeted the Crocian.

  Tracy, who was near Jessie, saw a red align its tube on him. She aimed her launcher, squeezed the trigger mechanism, but her drum had run dry. She whispered her brother’s name and stepped into the path of the red’s shot.

  Jessie was knocked sideways, but he managed to retain his footing. He felt warm blood running down the side of his face and neck. Glancing to his left, he saw Tracy’s crumpled body. A significant portion of her upper chest was missing. He spotted a red reloading its single shot tube, and he cut it down.

  When the team finished eliminating the reds, the grays retreated.

  “Document?” Jaktook queried.

  “Yes,” Harbour demanded. “The Tsargit must know what we’ve faced, and what we’ve lost.” She bent, stroked Tracy’s short spacer-styled hair, and closed the young woman’s eyes. She uncoupled the medallion chain and pulled it free. It was her thought to request Tacticnok make a medallion for Dillon, Tracy’s brother. She intended the medals of the dead would receive places of honor to remind Pyreans of what the explorers had sacrificed for their society.

  While Jaktook and Mangoth recorded the fight’s aftermath, Jessie and Harbour slid Tracy’s body off the platform. An arm and a leg had been hanging over the edge, which would have prevented the gate from activating, if the explorers had needed to use it.

  “Finished,” Jaktook yelled, before he leapt from Mangoth.

  “Gate four,” Jessie ordered. “I expect the same ambush in this third adjunct dome,” he continued, as the team assembled. “Mangoth, you attack. Devon and I will jump and cover you. Aurelia and Jaktook, leap off and tag the grays who’ll try to operate the net. Harbour, focus on the two grays we can expect to be on the net’s receiving end.

  Harbour could hear the commanding tones of the spacer captain in Jessie’s voice, as he directed his crew in an emergency. There was no need for her emotional support. She could sense the white-hot anger pouring off her companions.

  Aurelia did the honors at the console, while Devon watched her back. Then they leapt aboard for the journey to delta’s adjunct dome number three.

  Third time was a charm for the team. The dome’s transfer light had barely dimmed, when the team leapt into action.

  Mangoth roared and hopped his bulk off the platform. He used the butt of his launcher to smack the head of a gray. It dropped to the deck. Its head was at an odd angle.

  Aurelia, Jaktook, and Harbour cleared the platform and eliminated their four assigned targets.

  Two grays anchored their pincers on Mangoth’s short heavily scaled legs. With his forward momentum and tremendous bulk, he was tipped off balance and smacked face down on the deck. His launcher flew out of his hands.

  Two reds with weapons were in sight, and Devon and Jessie were forced to concentrate on them. By the time the reds were dispatched, two more grays had attached themselves to Mangoth’s arms. The combined weight of the four Colony entities successfully pinned the Crocian in place.

  A fifth gray slid along the deck, intent on sinking its dangerous pincers into Mangoth’s eyes. It was one of the few vulnerable points of a Crocian.

  Mangoth snapped his formidable maw at the approaching gray, but it rose to attack from on high. Mangoth struggled to free himself in the few moments he had left to live.

  Suddenly, the head of the fifth gray disappeared in a cloud of red mist. In short order, Mangoth felt relief from the weight of the other grays. He struggled to his feet, pried loose the heads of the grays that dangled from his arms, unslung his spare launcher, and snapped on a drum.

  After Devon and Jessie freed Mangoth, they advanced on a group of grays, and the Crocian waddled to join their fight.

  Aurelia, Harbour, and Jaktook circled from the far side of the platform and joined the males. Together, the explorers forced the grays to retreat, driving them toward the ramp. Any who resisted were destroyed.

  The moment the team had control of the situation, Jaktook dug out his recorder and Mangoth snatched him up.

  “I admire your decorations, Mangoth,” Jaktook quipped, as he settled atop the Crocian’s shoulders. He dropped a hand in front of Mangoth’s face, pointing a finger down, in case the subject of his humor was missed.

  Mangoth glanced at his legs. The heads of the last two grays clung to a calf and an ankle. He smacked one leg against a platform’s base and then the other, freeing him of the heads.

  Together, the Crocian and the Jatouche wandered the deck recording the carnage.

  “That’s four domes documenting the Colony’s intrusion,” Jaktook announced from hi
s perch. “With Aurelia and Devon’s console discoveries, we should have ample evidence for the Tsargit.”

  “And if we don’t, it will be the Tsargit’s loss,” Harbour said harshly.

  The other team members didn’t understand Harbour’s remark, but there wasn’t time to query her.

  “Delta is the dangerous dome,” Jessie said, “and we have to pass through it to take our path home.”

  “It’s the reds with their weapons,” Devon added. “We can’t eliminate them quickly enough before they’re a danger to us.”

  “We can trust that to be truer now than before, Devon,” Jaktook commented. “The Colony is sure to have called on reserves because of our multiple passages through delta. We’ve set up a pattern. There’s also the possibility they’re anticipating that our next journey will be toward beta after we arrive in delta.”

  “Why not just trap us here or in any one of the adjunct domes?” Aurelia asked.

  “It’s the nature of the Colony,” Mangoth said. “They don’t want to see us escape again only to see us return. They’ll have identified that we appear to be the same individuals in both intrusions, and they seem to be more satisfied with vanquishing us.”

  “That attitude seems absurd,” Harbour objected. “They’re losing so many members to our small number.”

  “Over time, the Colony has proven it cares nothing for their individuals,” Jaktook interjected. “It’s the growth and spread of their race that consumes them.”

  “There’s always the option of exiting from here toward home instead of through delta,” Devon offered.

  Eyes turned toward Aurelia, who said, “It’s a possibility, but we’d be in the same situation we would have found ourselves in either of the first two adjunct domes. It would be trial and error to find our way to alliance space.”

  “Months,” Jessie commented, reminding the others of the time it took.

  “Who’s to say we won’t find the Colony in domes farther out?” Mangoth proposed.

  Aurelia started to object, but she stopped to consider the Crocian’s point.

  “You see the conundrum, Aurelia,” Jaktook said. “What did the console actually tell us? Did it display where the Colony was heard at the moment of your query, or did it report where the Colony had been heard at any time?”