Cygnus Expanding: Humanity Fights for Freedom (Cygnus Space Opera Book 2)

by Craig Martelle

  “Not at all, Commander,” Cain said, nodding significantly. “We can catch up when I get back. There’s so much to do over the next five weeks, I don’t know where to start! Congratulations to you, Commander, and to the captain and Briz on the newest upgrades. Cain out,” the major said, not giving the Tortoid a chance to reply.

  ‘Port side forward in five days, people,’ Cain passed over the mindlink, just in case he didn’t make it off the bridge. He waved Starsgard to follow him as he angled along the view screen. The captain rotated his chair, watching and wondering. Stinky leaned close to say something.

  The Androids started moving, making a clunk-clunk sound as the magnetic grips on their boots locked and released. The other Marines firmed their positions. Fickle looked focused, with one arm around a beam and a foot wedged into a handhold. Pickles floated freely as he kept both hands on his lightning spear. Cain and Doc had their blasters out as they quickened their movements, using their weightlessness to fly from handhold to handhold.

  The hatch burst open and a squad of angry Marines burst in, yelling and screaming. Four lightning spears and two blasters took aim as the newcomers floated into the bridge space.

  “Hold!” Cain yelled, not wanting to be the one to initiate the action. Stinky leaned close to the captain and the two exchanged words quickly.

  “Bridge personnel, please return to your stations,” the captain said, his voice amplified through the sound system. The Androids kept moving. Cain pulled Starsgard behind a bank of terminals. He pointed in one direction, giving the private his line of fire. Cain took a second avenue of approach. The doctor’s breathing quickened as the action neared.

  The Androids finally stopped, but they stayed where they were.

  “Captain, you are not in control of the Androids. There’s an old evil that’s infested them, bringing back the old hatred of Braden, my great-great-grandfather. This is the third attack on me by Androids. It is not a coincidence or a malfunction. If you aren’t able to get them under control, we will kill them all,” Cain bellowed around the side of the equipment that stood between him and the nearest Androids.

  The captain freed himself from his chair and pulled hand-over-hand toward a group of three Androids. He put himself between them and Cain, gesturing wildly at their refusal to obey his orders. One of the bio-mechanical constructs reached out, grabbed the front of the captain’s uniform, and threw him over its head. He spun through the air until he landed against the front view screen, uninjured but shaken.

  When an Android took a step, Cain yelled, “Fire!” The bridge became a living thing as lightning bolts flashed through the space that, once thought of as great, now became miniscule. Cain and Starsgard fired tight beams, picking off their targets one at a time. The Androids had underestimated the Marines and it was over quickly.

  “Cease fire!” Cain yelled, pushing away from his position so he could see the entirety of the bridge. “Cease fire!” he repeated after another lightning bolt arced into the floating hulk of an already-dead Android.

  The captain held his head in his hands, his eyes shot wide in shock. More than one terminal had been destroyed in the assault. A black spot marked the front screen where another bolt had missed its target.

  “Report!” Cain yelled.

  Black Leaper replied first, “Ten enemy down. No Marines injured.”

  Cain kicked off a support beam toward the captain. When they met, the captain’s mouth worked, but nothing came out.

  “This wasn’t your fault, Captain. There’s something wrong with the old model Androids. Get yourself some of the new ones to replace these. I appreciate the use of the terminal and if there’s nothing else, we’ll be on our way.” Cain pulled himself away from the captain, heading for the hatch.

  “The last time there was weapons on the bridge was your ancestor. What’s with you people? Why can’t you control yourselves? Look at my bridge!” Atwood cried.

  Cain didn’t bother looking back. The Marines entered the access corridor in front of him and formed up behind him. The group mobbed their way to the elevator. Half of the bodies squeezed themselves around Cain. Brutus was getting squashed, but he didn’t complain. He wanted to be away from zero-g, away from the Androids.

  “Thirty-fifth radial, Deck 2, please,” Cain told the elevator. It started moving, but stopped too quickly. “Weapons!” Cain yelled as the doors cracked apart, laser beams slashing through the opening. Cain couldn’t get his blaster out. He was wedged in too tightly. Beam after beam slashed into Fang’s chest, little of it covered by his protective cloak. He stopped struggling and relaxed to float free. A lightning spear appeared over their heads and thrust through the small opening. Stinky pulled the trigger and sprayed the access corridor beyond. He climbed awkwardly into a position where he could lever the spear to get the doors open.

  Smoke filled the corridor where the spear’s unleashed firepower ravaged the Androids within. The dead hulks floated freely.

  “Thirty-fifth radial, Deck 2, please,” Cain growled, one arm around the lifeless Wolfoid. The doors shut, and the major breathed a sigh of relief. The elevator slowed as it transitioned into the area of artificial spin. Their feet touched the floor as Stinky was sprawled across their shoulders. Fang held tightly in Cain’s arms, the door opened to the catwalk above their temporary camp. Cain worked his way out, holding firmly to the young Wolfoid, who was gently taken from his arms by the sentries posted there. The others followed him out.

  “Anyone else injured?” he asked. They all shook their heads.

  ‘Have your weapons ready. The Androids intercepted us on the way to Deck 2. Fang is down,’ Cain told the unit in his thought voice.

  It wasn’t long before the other squad arrived. They’d had no problems. It was only Cain. The Androids were after him alone.

  The platoon was agitated. Cain needed them focused as they still had a job to do. “Dig a grave, over there.” The major pointed to a spot at the edge of the woods.

  No one moved. “But Wolfoids are supposed to be buried with their people,” Stalker said quietly. “I’ll carry him if I have to.”

  Other shaggy heads nodded. “Is everyone’s neural implant closed? Not just minimized, but closed?” They all nodded. “Follow me,” he said as he stalked toward the lake where they’d killed the capybara. Once under the shade of the trees, away from the technology embedded in the forward bulkhead, he brought them in close.

  “You will bury Razor Fang here as I’ve told you. We have to survive five days before we find our way to the forward port-side access. Our ship will meet us there, and then we’re going into deep space. We are not returning to Vii.” Cain took a deep breath as he let that settle in. “The Wolfoids were developed on the Traveler. They, I mean you, have all come from right here. Fang is home. Dig a nice grave. We will send our friend off with honors as is appropriate for any Marine lost in battle.”

  “I’m sorry, Leaper. He was good. They all are,” Cain said sympathetically, but the Wolfoid pulled away, joining the others as they dug the grave.

  “Set up security, there and there,” Cain said, pointing. “I think the threat won’t come from the forest. They can appear anywhere on the catwalk.” They both looked up where the bulkhead extended nine hundred meters straight up to the cylinder that masqueraded as the sky. Catwalks were affixed to the entirety of the structure. Cain had no inclination to climb the catwalk, to be almost nine hundred meters off the ground with a simple metal structure under his feet. It was built by the ancients and solid, but he wasn’t going to be the one to test it out.

  Cain had no fond memories of the Traveler and couldn’t wait to get off the space station.

  When the grave was ready, he took center stage. Stinky wouldn’t look at him and that hurt almost as much as the loss of one of his Marines. The major removed one of his Shooting Stars and pinned it to Fang’s harness. For once he was at a loss for words, but this was the most important time to say something. The platoon had suffered its first l
oss. This was their graduation to what it meant to be a Marine, be in the service of others where your life was always ready to be sacrificed.

  “Courage, honor, loyalty.” Cain hesitated as his eyes teared, despite his best efforts to remain strong. “More than words. It’s what we’ve done from day one as we’ve become more than a bunch of volunteers, looking for a different way to serve the SES. Not that long ago, we went to another planet that humans had colonized. They turned out to be hostile. This unit would have made it impossible for them to impose their will on us. That is why we exist. And that’s where we’re going, back to space where we will keep our people safe. Not everyone is cut out to fight. We do it so they don’t have to. We sacrifice for them. Fang is the first of our number to fall. He’s the first of the Cygnus Marines to serve for the rest of his life. He won’t be the last, but we will remember them all and honor them by keeping the SES alive and well, by keeping our ships safe, by holding our enemies at bay.” Cain choked up and simply stopped speaking.

  He climbed into the grave and held out his arms. They passed him the body of Private Razor Fang. He struggled to lower the heavy Wolfoid to the bottom. Stinky joined him in the pit, then Stalker. Together they gently put their comrade down, and then they helped each other out. Tears ran unashamedly down Cain’s face. He stood as he’d seen Marines do in the videos and touched his right fingertips to his eyebrow in a salute from the past. The others mirrored his motion. When he dropped his arm, they dropped theirs. He grabbed a handful of dirt and threw it on top of the Marine. Stinky lifted his muzzle skyward and started howling. The other Wolfoids joined him. Cain waited until they finished to move out of the way. One by one, the Marines walked past the grave to say goodbye and drop a handful of dirt. Even Ascenti, who grabbed a small rock in his talon and let that fall into the grave.

  Stalker led a detail to finish the burial, patting the dirt tightly with the butt of her spear.

  “Set up camp inside the tree line. Fields of fire to cover the catwalks. Fifty percent stand-to. We have five days to find our way to where our ship is going to dock. I don’t suspect we’ll have a lot of time once they arrive.” Stinky put his half-hand/half-paw on Cain’s shoulder, eyes glistening and red. He nodded and walked away to ensure the major’s orders were carried out. Pickles walked away to issue the orders to his squads, leaving Cain alone with Brutus.

  ‘Well, that sucked,’ Brutus said succinctly.

  “I think the right Marine response is, how can we make it suck more? Maybe it will start raining…”

  Silent Running

  Daksha looked at the blank screen, the image of Cain’s face still fresh in his mind. He thought he saw new creases around the major’s eyes. He would be surprised if the stress hadn’t changed the young man. Cain cared, probably too much, just like Daksha, just like their ancestors.

  A knock on the hatch suggested that the captain had learned of Cain’s call. With a word, the hatch opened and Captain Rand walked in. Daksha silenced the room.

  “Does he know?” the captain asked simply.

  “As clear as I could make it. We need to dock at the forward port access in five days. I hope he’s there waiting for us. Maybe we can take on extra provisions, make the excuse that we need fresh food, because we do. We left with minimal stores. The bulk of our order isn’t coming for four more weeks, right before our original departure date. You think you can swing it? Find a reason for us to use that dock,” Master Daksha instructed.

  The captain left, deep in thought as to how he could convince the Traveler’s flight control that they had a docking preference. Maybe they’d simply dock and beg forgiveness. He liked that plan, because it would give them more time as they transferred provisions from the aft core of the ship to the forward section.

  Once on the bridge, he sat in the captain’s chair and watched the back of his new ensign. What would make someone want to be a mole, find things wrong and report them instead of doing everything in their power to help the ship?

  “Take us to the third waypoint, Lieutenant Pace,” the captain ordered. Pace nodded and reset the controls. They’d maintained minimal acceleration throughout the shakedown, but the captain’s internal calendar suggested they needed to speed up if they were make their appointment with the Traveler in only five days. “And let’s juice it to three gees, actual six.”

  “Course laid in,” Pace said. “Acceleration on your command.”

  Rand activated the internal broadcast. “Secure your work stations and into your acceleration couches. We’ll be accelerating at three gees shortly. Ensign Kalinda, inform me when the board is green."

  The captain monitored compliance and wasn’t surprised when Briz was the last one showing red. “Into your couch, Briz,” the captain told the entire ship. Jolly reported that Briz would be there momentarily. Without waiting further, Rand said, “Accelerating on my mark. Mark.”

  There was no increase in engine noise or groaning or anything besides being wedged into their chairs that would suggest the ship was accelerating. The silence was deceptive in regards to the forces being applied. The ship accelerated smoothly and quickly, hitting three gees after only a handful of seconds, then holding steady with that acceleration.

  “Maintain course and acceleration for one hour. I estimate we’ll coast through waypoint three after two and a half hours. Then I’d like to accelerate at five gees for ten minutes toward waypoint four, Lieutenant Pace.” Pace gave the captain a thumbs up without turning. His chair was gimballed and doubled as his acceleration couch. His work station had rotated to the optimal angle, accounting for ship’s spin and forward acceleration. He still felt heavy, but enjoyed the challenge of moving his arms. He was proud of being able to do a thumbs up under three gees of acceleration.

  After an hour, Pace cut the EM drive back to five percent power, which still provided acceleration, but minimally. It was mainly to help the ship stave off the effects of the gravity well.

  “I’m touring the ship, see how our baby is holding together. Ensign, why don’t you join me,” Rand added. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, he’d heard. But he didn’t have any enemies. He thought he might be able to win her over, make her a loyal and valued member of the crew. He’d already seen that she was competent, but he needed to be able to trust her and trust seemed to be in short supply within the SES.

  The first stop was to see Lieutenant Chirit in sensors. He was pleased with how everything was operating, implying that none of the new systems were interfering with his sensor suites.

  They waved to Tandry as they passed her on their circumnavigation of the command deck. They descended to the garden deck, where they found Allard limping around, his leg in a cast. Beauchene was doing the heavy lifting, running to and fro. Kalinda warmly greeted each of the Rabbits, who instantly liked her since she took care not to step on any of the plants.

  Rand and Kalinda made small talk and he had a hard time keeping his guard up. She seemed like good people, intelligent, engaging, curious. The next deck down was a multi-purpose space, containing billeting, the med lab, life support, stores, and most importantly, the galley. Kalinda knew the deck well. Between there and the bridge, she’d been nowhere else on the ship. She continued to express her appreciation of the tour and her desire to learn more.

  They stopped by the galley where the captain carefully drew a cup of steaming hot coffee with just a touch of artificial cream. He sniffed it reverently, before sipping it and smiling.

  “When we lost the spin and the fabricators and had to survive for four months on minimal rations, coffee was the first thing I missed,” he told her.

  The fourth deck down was engineering and one of the ship’s power generation systems. Briz and Ellie were nowhere to be seen when the captain entered the main engineering space. “Jolly, where are our engineers?” Before the AI could answer, Briz ran in from behind him, turning sharply and disappearing behind a series of containment tanks, reengineered to avoid the problem that cost Lieu
tenant Strider his life.

  “Up here, Captain!” Ellie yelled and waved. “I’ll be right down.” She finished with the measurement tool, verifying that nothing had escaped the upper pressure seals, and descended a ladder in the back. She approached, offering her hand to the other ensign.

  “I’d heard you were on board. We women need to stick together, otherwise, the next thing you know, you’ll be married to the guy in the sewage treatment plant!” Ellie said with smirk and a laugh. The captain turned and coughed into his hand to keep from spitting coffee out his nose.

  “But we don’t have anyone in sewage treatment and fluid control at present. It’s one of the uncovered positions,” Kalinda said, furling her brow.

  “You just don’t see him, yet. He’ll be here, have no fear,” Ellie said confidently, while the captain was shaking his head and trying to get her attention. Ellie caught the last bit of the captain’s gestures and thought she understood. “Anyway, I’ve got to get back to work. Briz is the genius. He built this ship from scratch, all by himself, while walking barefoot through the snow, using nothing but a dull pocket knife and a flint. Enjoy!”

  Ellie strolled toward her station where she picked something else from her toolbox and disappeared behind a stand of transformers.

  “She’s high energy!” Kalinda quipped. “I like her. What was that about the guy in wastewater? That went right over my head.”

  “In my defense,” the captain started, “they were married before they came aboard. They have a very complex relationship, or so I’ve heard. You’ll have to ask Ellie about that. I’m not much for gossip. I like both of them as contributing members of this crew. Cain and Ellie saved Commander Daksha’s life, Tandry saved mine, and Briz saved the ship.”