‘We’re trying to get the door open at the top of the stairs, standby.’ Cain heard pounding as they beat on the door with the butt of their spears. According to the map, they had to cross this level to get to the stairs that led up the final three flights to the top floor. Cain hated being pinned down. Five ‘cats milled about on the stairs, seemingly oblivious to everything going on. He worked his way forward to see if there was anything he could do.
“It seems to be magnetically sealed, Major,” Pickles said out loud as Cain looked at the scorching where the lightning spear had had no effect.
“Taser,” Cain said, unsure of where he got the idea. Pickles wore a Taser at his waist, so he hit the door and it instantly popped up. Tracker was through first, drawing fire from the other end of a wide hallway. The Wolfoid ran aside and dove for cover. Cain fired short bursts through the door as ‘cats bolted through and raced down the hallway, Brutus in the lead. Lutheann stayed behind with Bull, reaching out with her senses to be sure that no one was coming from behind them.
Jo ran to the door, found a spot next to the major, and started firing. She forced the Concordians to keep their heads down. Her bonded ‘cat, N’lon, had raced ahead and was feeding her information. Cain used the break to duck through the doorway and dodge to the right, opposite where Tracker lay trying to bring his lightning staff to bear.
Cain took his last flash-bang, but the ‘cats were too close. He put the grenade back on his vest as the four Hillcats swarmed over the barricade, taking the Concordians by surprise. With the ‘cat screams, Cain was on his feet and running full speed down the hallway. Tracker followed, running on all fours and passing him to vault high over the barricade and the Concordians. The Wolfoid took one more step, kicked off the wall, and came at the enemy from behind. He stabbed one who had two hands full of angry ‘cat, ending that battle. Cain shot a man in the face as he stood to get away from Brutus. The ‘cats dispatched the last two and all in all, seven Concordians lay in their own blood, the barricade having failed to protect them.
‘Let’s go!’ Cain rallied his Marines, feeling the advantage swinging to them. Pickles passed him and headed into a closed stairwell, nowhere near as decorative or wide as the first one they climbed.
‘Report,’ he asked Stinky.
‘Flash-bangs are doing a number on them. They can’t come up the stairway. We can’t get to them, and they can’t get to us. It’s a stalemate,’ the Wolfoid lieutenant reported.
‘It’s our show, Stinky. We are proceeding to the fifth floor. I think we’re through the majority of the lackeys. We’ll see what he’s hiding behind upstairs. I wouldn’t want to be him right now,’ Cain said, not because of bravado, but if someone had just stormed through fifty or sixty of their better soldiers and was knocking at the door, he’d be stupid not to be afraid.
They covered one flight, then two, then slowed, taking great care as they approached the landing of the fifth floor. They couldn’t see down the hallway, but they could see that it had windows.
‘Ascenti, any way you can take a peek in the windows at the end of this hallway?’ Cain asked the Hawkoid. Ascenti launched himself and flapped hard to get there quickly. He slowed to a hover and looked through the windows into the well-lit area beyond. He shared his view over the mindlink.
‘Do you see the president anywhere?’ The Hawkoid went around the entire floor. Closed curtains prevented him from seeing into any of the rooms.
‘Can’t see anything besides the hallway,’ Ascenti said apologetically.
‘Jo and I shoot low, Slayer and Tracker, fire high. You saw the guards, only four of them. On my mark.’ Cain crawled into position beside Jo. ‘Mark.’
They all popped up at the same time and got off their first shots before a withering amount of fire came their way. Both Wolfoids were blown backwards down the steps. Cain and Jo picked off the human targets, but they weren’t the greatest threat. There was an automated defense system washing the area in blaster beams. Cain and Jo found refuge beneath the level of the top step while Pickles and Bull stayed farther down. Cain stopped Brutus from running forward into the fire. When the major turned around, he noticed a huge mirror on the wall behind him. He could see down the hallway where the defenses were set up and two men still aiming blasters their way.
“They saw us the whole time,” Cain said to no one. He looked into the mirror to discern the layout of the landing area and hallway, studiously avoiding looking at the two dead Wolfoids at his feet. Bull stared at them, while Pickles kept a hand on his hairy shoulder.
‘We’re pinned down, Stinky. Can you send a couple people up the elevator? It looks like they’ll come out behind the people up here ruining my day.’
‘No can do, Major. Things are getting kind of hot down here. We can’t hold them with only four of us. They’re in the courtyard behind us and that’s where four of my people are right now.’ Stinky needed more help than Cain.
Cain took his kukri knife out. “Look out below,” he said, waving Pickles and Bull back a few steps. With a good hip turn, he threw his knife at the mirror, shattering it.
“We have to end this. Flash-bangs, all you have. We throw one right after another. Bull, lay down covering fire from low, that side. After the last flash-bang goes off, we fill the corridor with fire. I’m up first, then Jo, then you, Pickles. Cover us, Bull,” Cain said calmly, despite the rage simmering just below the surface. He’d lost people and Stinky was in trouble.
“Fire,” he told Bull as the injured Wolfoid flopped his lightning spear over the top step, depressing the trigger and sending lighting down the hallway. Three flash-bangs followed, almost simultaneously. The next round was more staggered. With the first echo from the last explosion, Cain ran the last couple steps, cleared the top and dodged left, ran two more steps ahead and dove.
Jo performed the same maneuver down the right side of the hallway, firing twice as she ran. Pickles came up the top step and tripped, falling face first as blaster fire filled the area above him. Cain and Jo hit the area with repeated bursts, silencing it. Pickles was up and running forward, firing his lightning spear as he approached the spot where he’d last seen the two humans. One lay dead, the other was missing. The automated system was destroyed from the focused blaster hits.
Pickles moved behind the barricade, doors on either side of him. He was unsure where the last man had gone. ‘I’m going right,’ he said as the Hawkoid flew in through the shattered window. Cain, Jo, and Bull passed two other bodies on their way to the strongpoint. The ‘cats ran down the hallway after them, sniffing the area where the man had been, then Brutus nodded at the door to the left.
“This way, Pickles.” The door was magnetically sealed as well and took an extended burst from the Taser before the electrical systems overloaded and the door popped open. Cain kicked it open and dodged out of the way. The man stood there with two blasters firing at the open space. An orange flash darted through and ran past the man. The Concordian was confused about what to do, but not for long as Brutus landed on his back and ripped out his throat before he could lift a finger to help himself.
The ‘cat rode him to the floor, jumping off at the last instant and dodging behind a chair.
Cain ran through and ducked. There were three other men in the room, but none of them were soldiers. One man sat casually behind an oversized ornate desk.
“We’ll get to you in a minute,” Cain growled, breaking eye contact with the president.
The other two men picked up chairs and approached. Cain put his blaster away and pulled his kukri. Pickles stood next to him, kukri in one hand and spear in the other. The Marines separated to give themselves more room. Cain almost felt bad as he saw the fear in the man’s face. He started whining, ordering the invaders to leave. Cain recognized the voice.
“You’re the secretary who wouldn’t let us talk with the president. See what happens when you don’t do your job?” Cain taunted.
Pickles attacked, jabbing his spear into the chair
and ripping it out of the man’s hands. The Concordian lackey threw himself at Pickles, only to land on the Lizard Man’s kukri. With a mighty heave, the man was tossed through the air. Even though Pickles was their data analyst, he was still a Lizard Man, heavily muscled and a head taller than most humans.
Cain motioned for the man to put his chair down. Terror seized the secretary and he swung his weapon. With a quick turn and clean slash, Cain’s kukri hacked through the wood and split the chair. It broke apart in the man’s hands. The major followed with an elbow to the man’s face. He dropped in a heap.
“Zip ties,” Cain ordered. Jo was there in an instant, trussing the man.
A formal office was before them with a massive desk. One wall was filled with books. Curtains covered the wall behind the man. Cain put his clean knife away and pulled his blaster, dialing it to a wide flame. If the president attempted anything, Cain would start the conflagration right behind him.
“I’m Major Cain of the Cygnus Marines, and I need you to tell your people to stand down,” Cain said firmly, still aiming at the man.
“Now why would I want to do anything like that?” the man said, acid dripping from his tone.
‘Brutus?’ Cain asked, wanting the ‘cat to give him insight as to what was in the man’s mind. Brutus had different ideas. He ran and jumped on the desk, scattering papers and other desk tools, before launching himself at the man’s smug face. The ‘cat pulled a claw up the man’s cheek and into one eye, ripping it open.
The man screamed. “Brutus!” Cain yelled, not wanting the man to die.
Not yet anyway.
Lutheann appeared next to Cain as he holstered his weapon and hurried to the desk. Brutus sat on there, watching the man closely as he cupped his ruined eye and howled in pain.
‘Yes, it’s him. Use that device over there. Say into it “Code 7, stand down,”’ Lutheann told Cain after pulling the information from the president’s mind.
Cain opened his neural implant so Jolly could see the device as well. ‘I’m going to use this thing to call off the Concordian forces. Does that sound right?’
Jolly said yes and showed Cain which button to push. It was the one Cain would have guessed. He pressed the button and clearly enunciated, “Code 7, stand down. Code 7, stand down,” he repeated.
‘Stinky, they should stop their attacks. Are they?’ Cain asked.
‘Not yet,’ Stinky replied simply. Cain wondered if the Wolfoid had lost anyone from his team.
“What else can he tell us?” Cain asked Lutheann, who had joined Brutus on the oversized desk.
“What do you want?” the man whistled through clenched teeth.
“We want you to not be such a tyrant,” the major prodded. “We need you to call off your campaign against your people, and adopt an attitude of peaceful freedom. That’s all we want.”
“These people need someone strong to rule them. They’d be like a ship at sea with no rudder. I give them purpose, a reason to live. Without me, they wouldn’t be where they are today.” The man found his voice. Cain punched him in the forehead, eliciting another cry of pain.
“I think they’d be much farther along without you holding them back. You took their food and then parceled it back out, making them dependent on you, when the only thing you did was take the food from its rightful owners. That’s deplorable. We came twelve hundred light years to tell you that.” Cain pulled the curtain away behind the man. It was only a blank wall.
‘They’ve stopped their attacks,’ Stinky reported in his thought voice.
‘Master Daksha, we have the president. He is alive and we’ve been able to get his troops to stand down. What’s next?’
‘Well done, Major. I would suggest you use the comm system to tell the world of Concordia what’s going on and that the government troops should return to their stations and await their orders,’ the commander suggested.
‘Stinky, can you check on our ride?’ Cain asked while trying to think of what to say.
‘Not really. It’s still dark out,’ the Wolfoid answered.
‘Any injuries?’ Cain had to know, hoping that no one else had given their life.
‘Cuts and burns only. We’re okay. We were able to hide behind stuff, so didn’t take the brunt of anything. You?’ Cain ignored the question.
‘Remain in place for now, Stinky. I have to talk to the planet, I guess, let them know what’s up.’ Cain avoided the question on injuries. They could mourn later. In the interim, he could feel his friend shaking his head at the ultimate podium on which the major would stand.
He walked to the communication device. Cain turned. “Anything you want to say, Mister President?” he asked, looking at Brutus. The ‘cat shook his head.
Cain pressed the transmit button. “People of Concordia. I am Major Cain of the Cygnus Marines. We came here months ago from a planet called Cygnus VII. At that time, your president attacked us without provocation. We’ve returned so I can tell you who we are, who I am. I’m a descendent of the human colonists, just like you. Our people settled on a fertile, new planet, then we tried to destroy it in a civil war, but we survived in spite of ourselves. We vowed that we would never fight each other again, and we put in place the rules of free trade, self-determination, mutual respect. Our scientists discovered ways to travel through space, great distances in short amounts of time. So here we are, trying to save you from the same fate we suffered some five hundred years ago. As you discovered, your government was oppressing you to remain in power by taking all your food and then doling it back out. Your government produced nothing, but controlled everything. That has now changed. The president is in our custody. We will turn him over to proper authority when new leadership is in place. If Albert from Fairsky can hear this message, please contact us, contact me. We need you here in the city.”
Cain unkeyed the microphone and looked at it. He had no way of knowing if his message went through. It was still early in the morning, so he expected no one was listening. He asked Jolly if Graham could repeat the message through the day, which Jolly confirmed he could.
The major grabbed the back of the president’s shirt and hauled him roughly to his feet. Jo suggested they zip tie his hands, which they did, but they also put a bandage over his eye. On their way off the fifth floor, they stopped to pick up Tracker and Slayer. Bull carried one with his good arm and Pickles carried the other. Jo and N’lon took point and led them down the stairs to the wide hallway, through that and down the long, wide stairway to where they entered. In the courtyard, the Concordian troops were standing, holding their weapons but not pointing them at the Marines. Cain waved them away, but they stood their ground.
Three older men walked toward him confidently, stopping a few paces away. Brutus started hissing, back up, hackles raised.
“The president has failed us, surely, but not as you suggest,” the man in front said calmly, before nodding toward the darkness. A single blaster beam reached out, hitting the president in the chest and ending his pitiful whining.
The Ship is under Attack
After Cain’s declaration that they’d seized the president and stopped hostilities, for the moment anyway, the crew of The Olive Branch erupted in cheers. Corporal Starsgard was relieved. He’d been sitting in the weapons space, studying the console and working with Jolly on the crash course of how to operate the ship’s new system. He rose from the chair and stretched, happy to have that burden off his shoulders.
When he reached the corridor, the alarm klaxons sounded, confusing him. They stopped as the captain made a ship-wide announcement. “A spaceship is breaking orbit and heading straight for us. Secure the ship. We are under attack.” The klaxons continued after his message.
With his heart in his throat, Starsgard ran back to the console and strapped himself in. “Sensors! More information, what’s coming at us?” he asked.
“Sensor operators are pinging the vehicle now. It appears to be smaller than a shuttle, unmanned,” Jolly reported over the shi
p-wide broadcast.
“Into your couches. Briz, max acceleration! Pace, ninety degree heading from the inbound!” Rand ordered over the ship-wide comm. Everyone heard the order at the same time. Heaven help those who didn’t make it into a couch in time.
The EM drive prevented lurching and jerking, but buffeting aside, the acceleration sent anything flying that wasn’t tied down. It started with the thrusters changing the ship’s alignment, immediately followed by the ship hitting seven gees that the crew felt, fourteen gees actual acceleration. The unmanned vehicle continued approaching at a high rate of speed.
“What is that, Jolly?” Starsgard managed to ask through gritted teeth as he was compressed into the back of the weapons console chair.
“All my data suggests that it is a weapon of some kind.”
“Missile effectiveness?”
“No effect at this range. At the speed it’s traveling, if one of our missiles hit it, it might turn it into a broad front of shrapnel that could do significant damage to the ship,” Jolly stated calmly.
“Jamming system?” Starsgard tried to calm himself by performing his duties. He found it strangely comforting to have something to do.
“Unknown,” Jolly replied. The corporal’s fingers danced across the displays as he brought up the system and activated it, sending a wall of false signals between his spaceship and the inbound.
“We just lost sensors!” Chirit called over the broadcast.
Without sensors, Starsgard couldn’t fire his missiles.
Cygnus Expanding: Humanity Fights for Freedom (Cygnus Space Opera Book 2) Page 32
