by Ken Lozito
“The Hydra is ready,” Sean said.
“Good. Enable the sensors to fire on the targets when they’re within two meters,” Connor said.
He glanced down the corridor at the hangar beyond. The dark, colossal shapes of the Vemus forces started gathering at the corridor entrance.
Connor went toward the front and began leading his team back the way they’d come. High-pitched whistles and clicks seemed to echo all along the corridor.
Connor opened a comlink to Reisman. “Wil, what’s your status?”
Reisman grunted. “Ah, data upload is complete.”
Reisman sounded as if he were straining with something. “What’s wrong?” Connor asked.
“Captain Lee planted the bomb, but something happened to them inside Main Engineering. They’ve been cut off,” Reisman said.
Connor urged the soldiers in front of him to move faster.
“Are you hurt?” Connor asked.
“No—uh, just get back here. Watch out for that brown sludge on the walls. It’s creeping into the computing core,” Reisman said.
The CDF soldiers ahead of him checked the corners and then cleared them to proceed. Connor was about to tell Reisman to get out of there when an ear-splitting shriek sounded from behind them. The MS-Hydra had fired its payload.
Connor and the others quickened their pace. They had to make it back to the Vigilant or they were all going to pay the price.
They reached the atrium where the name Indianapolis in all its faded glory adorned the wall. Vemus forces appeared on the decks across from them. Connor and the others took turns firing their weapons to hold them off. These forces were much shorter than what they’d encountered in the main hangar bay, and they tracked from the other decks like a pack of rabid wolves. Shooting at them only seemed to ignite their ferocity. The Vemus weapons fire was a mix between the white stunner bolts and the armor-disabling blue bolts. Connor and the others made it to the corridor that would take them out of the vast atrium. He took one last glance at the Vemus forces. Some were attempting to jump across the distance to the deck he stood on. Several dark-skinned bodies missed and plunged down.
The Vemus stopped and clustered across the way.
“General, we have to go,” Sean called out to him.
Connor took a step back but couldn’t tear his eyes away. The Vemus forces were huddled together in a mass, their bodies quivering. Finally, one of them emerged and leaped onto the railing of the upper deck, stretching its arms wide. Connecting the creature’s wrist to its feet was a thick layer of leathery skin.
“General!” Sean called again.
Connor aimed his AR-71 as the Vemus soldier leaped from the upper railings. The creature glided across the atrium, flying straight toward him. Connor fired his weapon, aiming for the creature’s head, and then adjusted his aim and tore through the wings. More of the Vemus emerged from the mass that huddled together. They vaulted from the upper deck.
At last Connor turned around and ran, catching up with Sean.
“What did you see back there?” Sean asked.
“They changed forms,” Connor said.
Sean glanced behind him for a moment while they ran. “Shape-shifting?”
“No . . . well. Not quite. Only partially. It’s like they can rapidly adapt. I’ve never seen anything like it,” Connor said.
The weapons the former Banshee crew carried were depleted of ammunition. CDF soldiers from Sean’s platoon shared their spare ammunition, but it was tough going while they were on the run.
Connor glanced behind him. He could hear the Vemus, but they hadn’t come down the corridor yet. The team ahead of them stopped outside the computing core. Connor saw a webbing of hardened vines that stretched across the ceiling from Main Engineering to the computing core. He looked over at the workstations where Reisman was working and gasped. Hanging from the ceiling to the floor was a wall of the brown sludge that had hardened into an exoskeleton.
“Connor?” Reisman called out, and his voice was coming from the other side of the pillar.
Connor took a step into the room. “I’m here,” he said and circled around the workstations, careful not to get too close. Reisman’s combat suit looked as if it were partially submerged into the exoskeleton. Connor could see his friend’s face through his helmet. He took a step closer, but Sean held him back.
“Probably a good idea,” Reisman said in a mild attempt at humor.
“What the hell happened?” Connor asked and glanced around. “There were some plasma cutters around here. Go find them.”
Sean repeated the order.
“There’s no time for that. It’s inside my suit. I can feel it working its way up my legs,” Reisman said, and his face crumpled in pain.
Connor glared at the other CDF soldiers. “Damn it! Where are those cutters?” He looked back at his friend. “We’re gonna get you out of there.”
Reisman shook his head and gave him a solemn look. “Not this time, sir. You have to listen to me.”
Connor glared over at the CDF soldiers who were scrambling to find something that would help, but they couldn’t find anything.
“Fine,” Connor said and checked his AR-71.
Deep in the corridors, the high-pitched whistling sound of Vemus soldiers could be heard. Connor saw several CDF soldiers take up positions on either side of the corridor, keeping a watchful eye on the way they’d come.
Connor set his ammunition to high-heat incendiary and aimed his rifle.
“No, you can’t!” Reisman cried.
Connor paused with his finger on the trigger. If he could just cut a line on the edges of the base, Reisman could get free. “This will work,” Connor insisted.
“It won’t work. It’s in my suit,” Reisman said.
“Sir, perhaps we should listen to him,” Sean said.
Connor clenched his teeth. The sounds of the Vemus forces came steadily closer. He opened a link to Reisman’s suit computer, which quickly provided the current status of the suit. The last line of code felt like a punch in the stomach.
::CAUTION: Foreign contaminant present.::
Connor eased his hand off the trigger and lowered his rifle. “Damn it, Wil.”
Reisman winced in pain. “I know. I know. I really stepped in it this time—” He cut off, crying out in pain. “I can feel it crawling along inside me.”
Connor took a step forward. He wanted to crack open the combat suit and pull his friend out.
“You have to leave me behind,” Reisman said.
Sorrow closed Connor’s throat and he gritted his teeth. The sounds of the Vemus forces were becoming louder. The CDF soldiers called out.
“Sir,” Sean said.
Connor knew what he was going to say, and he hated him for it. Sean called out to him again.
“Take them back to the ship,” Connor said, scowling.
“Not without you, sir,” Sean replied.
“That’s an order, Captain,” Connor said.
“With all due respect, sir, if I have to knock you out and order my men to drag you, I will do it,” Sean replied stubbornly.
Reisman laughed. It sounded harsh and laden with pain, and it tapered off into a fit of coughing. “You trained him too well.”
Connor looked at Sean. “Order them to fall back. I’m right behind you.”
Sean narrowed his gaze and then turned around and began ordering them to fall back to the ship.
“You have to do something for me,” Reisman said.
Connor looked back at his friend. His face had become pasty white. The AR-71 Connor carried suddenly felt heavy in his arms.
“I’m still in their systems. There’s a signal the Vemus use. I’m still tracing it,” Reisman said.
“Never mind that,” Connor said.
“It’s important. I’ve linked our suits so the data that comes to mine will flow freely to yours. You have to get off this ship and ensure that I’m not dying for nothing. You hear me?” Reisman said.
Connor glanced at the CDF soldiers in the corridor. They were focused. They’d hold the area as long as they could, but it wouldn’t be enough.
“Hey!” Reisman called out to him.
Connor looked back at him. “I can’t leave like this. First Kasey and now you, Wil. I won’t do it.”
Reisman’s eyes softened. “Yes, you will. These people don’t stand a chance without you. It’s our time, not yours. Save as many as you can.”
An alarm appeared on Connor’s heads-up display and he looked at Reisman.
“I’ll hold out as long as I can. Remember that case of scotch we liberated from that senator’s office? What was his name?” Reisman asked.
Connor frowned. “It was bourbon.”
“You’re going to argue with me now? You . . . What was his name?”
Connor’s brows pulled together. “Senator Wellington.”
A countdown appeared on Connor’s HUD.
“You need to run. In a hundred and twenty seconds I’m going to blow this area to kingdom come,” Reisman said.
Connor knew he was right. Wil had engaged the self-destruct protocol of his combat suite. It would easily take out this entire room.
“Run!” Reisman said.
Connor clenched his teeth and took one last look at his friend. Wil gave him a firm nod. Connor turned around and called for the CDF soldiers to retreat.
They ran down the corridor, away from the approaching Vemus forces. Connor glanced at the data connection to Reisman on his heads-up display. As long as it was active, his friend was still alive. As Connor ran he felt a weariness take him, making his feet feel weighed down. Part of him just wanted to stop. Stop fighting. Stop trying. A primal part of him seemed to take control and he wanted to strike out at his enemies, make one last stand right here in the corridor, but he knew it was foolish. He’d be struck down and then it would fall to someone else to lead the Colonial Defense Force against the Vemus.
Blue bolts struck the wall near him, and Connor scrambled out of the way. The Vemus had caught up with them. Connor spun around and returned fire, as did several of the CDF soldiers near him. A loud pop sounded and the corridor that had been filled with Vemus became engulfed in flames. The data connection to Reisman’s combat suite severed and Connor knew his friend was dead.
Connor cried out a rage-filled scream. Sean grabbed him and pulled him around while urging the others to run. They made it back to the Banshee, and a comlink opened to him from Major Hayes.
“We’re the last ones aboard. Do you have the detonation signal from Captain Lee?” Connor asked.
“We have it but have been unable to reach Captain Lee for some time now, sir,” Major Hayes said.
They ran through the CDF destroyer. Emergency lighting was still on. Connor could still hear the Vemus following behind them. Some of them must have survived the blast or had been out of proximity.
There was a cluster of soldiers waiting to get through the emergency docking tube to the Vigilant. There was nothing they could do but wait for everyone else to get aboard.
“Major, once we’re all aboard, we need to get out of here quickly,” Connor said.
“Understood, General. We’ll be ready,” Major Hayes said.
Connor kept his weapon pointed back the way they’d come. The Vemus were likely on the Banshee by now. Sean didn’t say anything as he came to stand by Connor’s side and readied his own weapon.
They heard the Vemus, faint at first but quickly becoming louder.
“Here they come,” Connor said grimly.
He and Sean drew steadily backward, closer to the emergency dock. Connor kept his gaze fixed on the darkened corridor, waiting, anticipating the enemy’s approach.
“I have an idea,” Sean said.
Connor kept his attention on the end of the narrow ship corridor. “What?”
The emergency lighting cut out, plunging the already dimly lit corridor into darkness. The heads-up display in his helmet had already compensated for the lack of lighting.
“I don’t think they’re afraid of the dark,” Connor said.
“No, but if they can see in the dark, they can be blinded by the light,” Sean said.
Connor gave a mental nod to Sean. The young man was a fighter. He’d fight with everything he had.
Several Vemus soldiers came into the corridor and Connor and Sean engaged their helmets’ lights. Bright searchlights cut a swath through the darkness, blinding the Vemus soldiers. Then they opened fire on them, catching the Vemus completely by surprise, and their bodies started littering the corridor. Connor had no idea whether they’d done enough damage to put them down permanently or not.
Major Cross called out to them, and Connor and Sean beat a hasty retreat to the emergency docking tube. They went inside and Connor closed the airlock doors. As they headed toward the Vigilant, Connor saw several white energy bolts hit the door. They had to move. The docking tube was pressurized, and if the Vemus weapons pierced the walls, they’d be sucked out into space.
“Go. Go!” Connor shouted.
First Major Cross made it onto the Vigilant and then Sean. Connor grabbed the handle and pulled himself over the threshold. He turned around and saw Vemus soldiers stepping into the tube. Connor pushed the doors closed and disengaged the tube.
“Get us out of here!” Connor shouted.
The Vigilant engaged its maneuvering thrusters and lurched away from the ship. Connor watched through the airlock windows as the Vemus soldiers were sucked into the vacuum of space. Their dark bodies still moved, even in the frigid temperatures.
The Vigilant moved away from the former battleship cruiser Indianapolis. Connor seized the detonation signal with his implants and sent it to the waiting nukes aboard the ship.
Nothing happened.
Connor tried again but the ship was still there. He slammed his fist against the wall, then opened a comlink to the bridge.
“Major, send the detonation signal,” Connor said.
“Sir, we’ve tried . . .” Major Hayes replied.
“They’re blocking the signal. We can’t get through the interference,” Sean said.
Connor clenched his teeth and then a message appeared on his internal heads-up display.
::Vemus signal analysis complete.::
Connor frowned. This signal was the one Wil had found. The price he’d paid had better be worth it.
Major Hayes had sectioned off the ship so they could follow decontamination protocols. Connor made his way through the waiting line of CDF soldiers, who stepped aside so he could pass. His Nexstar combat suit would need to be checked for breaches and decontaminated. Then Connor would need to be checked. The surviving members of the Banshee crew without combat suits were cordoned off to isolation and observation since they posed the greatest risk, having been directly exposed to the Vemus ship.
“General,” Major Cross called out behind him.
“Yes,” Connor said.
“If it’s alright with you, sir, I need to see to my people,” Major Cross said.
“Of course,” Connor replied. “And Savannah, you did everything you could for them. The fact that you’re still here is a testament to what kind of commanding officer you are.”
Major Cross’s eyes became hard. “The only reason we’re still alive is because you and your team came looking for us. The combat shuttles were our last-ditch effort. We even brought improvised nukes of our own, adapted from a HADES IV warhead. The soldiers carrying them were among the first to die.”
“Major,” Connor said sternly, “you kept your people alive. Making a run to the hangar was a good decision. I would have done the same thing if I’d been in your shoes. Remember that.”
Savannah Cross lifted her steady gaze up toward his. “Yes, sir.”
She turned around and headed toward her crew. Though she was wearing combat armor, Connor doubted she’d leave her crew to their fate. She’d wait until they were all cleared through decontamination protocols.
<
br /> An image of Wil Reisman trapped in a Vemus exoskeleton came to mind and he felt an ache in his chest. First Kasey and now Wil. How many more of them were going to have to die? A flash of Lenora Bishop’s blue eyes blazed through his thoughts. The last time they’d spoken she’d been furious with him. He wished he could change that. He wanted to hear the sound of her voice, even if she just yelled at him. He glanced around at all the soldiers waiting to be processed through decontamination, but all he saw were the missing faces. So few of them had made it back. There were hardly any wounded. The Vemus had tried to take them alive until they’d realized they fought CDF soldiers in combat armor. Then their tactics had changed, becoming deadlier.
“Sir, they need you on the bridge,” Sean said.
Connor glanced over at the young captain. He’d done a job that far exceeded what was required of his rank. Connor would need to rectify that.
“We’re not done yet,” Connor said.
“No, we’re not, sir. Not until all the Vemus have been stopped,” Sean replied.
As they headed toward the front of the decontamination processing area, Connor looked at the CDF men and women who’d gone into the belly of the beast and survived to tell the tale. There was no loathing or betrayal in their gazes, which was what Connor felt he deserved despite all they’d learned about the enemy. The fact that so many had died weighed heavily on him, the responsibility resting firmly on his shoulders. Going onto that ship had been the right call, but it was one he’d have to learn to live with. How long would it be before he could stop seeing one of his closest friends give his all so they had a fighting chance? Wil, Kasey, and so many other CDF soldiers had died to protect the colony. Connor promised himself that their sacrifices wouldn’t be for nothing. He’d keep going. He’d keep fighting because that was who he was. Quitting wasn’t something he’d ever thought about in his entire military career. There had always been the mission. He was weary, but he needed to be strong for his fallen comrades, to fight so the colony on New Earth could survive. They were all that was left of humanity. A few hundred thousand souls were a mere flicker in comparison to the billions of people they’d left behind on Earth and the colonies throughout the solar system. Those billions must be dead, fallen to an enemy they were still trying to understand. Their recent skirmish was just a taste of what they’d face if the remains of the Vemus fleet reached New Earth, and Connor would do everything in his power to prevent that. No matter the cost, it was his duty. For a brief moment, he saw Lenora’s beautiful face in his mind. He made another promise to himself knowing the odds were stacked against his keeping such a promise, but he had to make it.
