by Randy Dyess
“I don’t know what I would have done. I still don’t know what I’ll do. I’ve been thinking about my next step all week, and I can’t keep taking advantage of your generosity. I’ll wear out my welcome,” Michael said.
“It if makes you feel any better, we have already discussed you and the others. We’d never send you back to Candus or any other corporate planet unless you want to go. I think we can find jobs for all of you,” Robert said as they entered the gym’s locker room. He could see the weight being lifted off the young man’s shoulder.
“Thank you,” Michael said.
“Let’s put that discussion aside for now and get a good workout,” Robert replied. “You’ll find equipment and workout clothes that should fit you in locker four. The mat’s through that door. I’ll see you in a few,” he said as he walked out of the locker room.
Three minutes later, the men faced each other on the practice mat. “What forms do you do?” Robert asked.
“Mostly kenjutsu, but I manage to get in a little practice with martian maga. The marines taught it to my dad and I learned some of it before he died.”
“Kenjutsu, huh? Why don’t we start with maga, first? There’s not much call out there for kenjutsu,” Robert replied.
“It was the kenjutsu that saved my life,” Michael said. “I don’t think you’ll be able to take down one of those monsters with a maga move.”
“I mainly take on pirates. I’ll leave the spiders to the marines.”
The men faced each other and bowed. Michael was hesitant to begin, but Robert moved in and pinned him in under a second. “Again?” the older man asked.
“Again,” Michael smiled, and again Robert pinned the young man.
“Took a little longer that time,” Robert said as he prepared for the next round. “Ready?”
“Ready,” Michael said as he jerked aside to bypass Robert’s move. This time, he was able to withstand the attacks for more than a minute before he was pinned.
“Let’s take a break,” Robert said. “You’re pretty good. You said your dad taught you?”
“Yes. He learned most of it while he was in the marines, and he picked up the rest as he went along. I was never an expert at hand-to-hand combat, but I keep practicing what he taught me and try to learn more. My love has always been kenjutsu, though—I love a good sword duel. How about you? You’re a lot better than anyone I have ever seen. Were you in the marines?”
“For a few years, but I moved over to Senate Intelligence,” Robert replied. “Had to learn to defend myself in every way possible. Like I said earlier, it’s a rough world out there.”
“Senate Intelligence? I think my dad talked about senate agents. He didn’t have very good things to say about them.”
“No, he wouldn’t have. Senate Intelligence and marines do not get along,” Robert said with a grin. “Professional jealousies. “Any clue on your next step, if you don’t want to join us?”
“I’m having a hard time figuring that out,” Michael replied. “I lost everything in the attack.” He spent the next few minutes telling Robert about everything that had happened on Candus during the spider attack.
“A sword, huh?” the older man interrupted at one point. “Both of you managed to kill one with a sword?”
“Yeah. They’re actually not too hard to take down.”
The two men went round after round as Robert let Michael work out his stress. After an hour of fighting, both were exhausted. “Now that I’ve gotten you fatigued, how about some kenjutsu?”
“You have swords?”
“Yes—we practice with everything we can get our hands on. You never know what’s going to come in handy during a fight. Some of those pirates love their swords. You should see the shock on their faces when we take out our swords.”
Robert went to a cabinet and removed two practice swords. “Not as good as the real thing, but good for practice.”
“I had the same model at my dojo. My students loved the way they sparked.” They faced each other and began their fight. This time, Robert didn't stand a chance. Michael was far superior in kenjutsu than anyone the older man had ever seen.
“You weren't kidding when you said you loved the sword. I’ve never seen anybody fight like you do. Have you ever thought about using your talents on a security team?
“Are you serious?” Michael asked. “I always wanted to join the marines like my dad, but once he passed away, I never got the chance.”
“You have a chance now. “This wasn’t strictly a workout—it was an interview for my security division. I would like it if you joined my team and taught us how to use a sword like you do. Do you have any problems with using one on a pirate and not just on spiders?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never actually thought about using my martial arts on anyone.”
“It’s something you’ll have to face if you join us. Those spiders may be a problem, but I think pirates will become a bigger problem as the corporations pull out of the outer-rim sectors. If you decide you can’t kill anyone, I’ll understand, but at least train us for a few months, until you can figure out what you want to do next.”
“That, I would love to do. When can I start?”
“You already have. We just need to do the paperwork,” Robert laughed. “I’ll leave that part up to you—I hate paperwork.”
They headed back to the locker room and Michael had a smile on his face. He hated the uncertainty the spider attack had created. He’d never had to worry about his future, until now, as it had been decided when his father passed away. Now, he was glad at least part of his new future had been decided.
*****
A few days later, Dakota walked through the spaceport with Sergeant Major McCoons. The two had spent several days together while he had waited for his orders and had developed a friendship. McCoons’ orders had come in the day before, and he was to report to the Marine base on Shaserus.
“Are you sure about this? With everything going on, I don’t think they’ll miss one marine. You can join up with us.”
“I appreciate the offer, but I was told to keep my mouth shut and report to Shaserus as ordered if I wanted to keep my pension. I’ve spent a lot of years as a marine—I can’t walk away now.”
“You know this is a trap, don't you? Cheyenne has analyzed the spider attack pattern and Shaserus is one of the next to be attacked.”
“I know. All I can do is try to train as many marines as I can to survive when we are attacked. We know more about them now than when we landed on Candus, and I need to share that knowledge. The marine base on Shaserus is next to a large lake. If anything goes wrong, we’ll hightail it and start swimming. It worked on Candus.”
“That’s not much of a plan,” Dakota laughed. “Can marines even swim?”
“Not many of them. That’s the first lesson I’ll give when I arrive.”
“Well, you can always come back and work for us when you finish training. I could use an experienced marine to train the security crews on our ships. Something tells me an assault squad will come in real handy in the future.”
“I'll keep that in mind, but I've spent the last thirty years as a marine and I can't leave them now. I have several buddies stationed out of Shaserus and I can’t leave them behind.”
“I understand and would feel the same way,” Dakota said as she handed him a data chip. “Here is my direct contact information. If you ever need anything from me or Sullivan Shipping, please use it and contact me.”
Sergeant Major McCoons looked at the young woman before reaching into his pocket and pulling out another small data chip. “Here's an unregistered line I set up years ago. If you need to contact me outside of official channels, send a message to this contact and the information will be routed to me.”
“I'll do that. As we find out more about the spiders or the attacks, I'll try to keep you informed. I seriously doubt the marines or the Senate will keep you up-to-date.”
“You're right about that. If I find
out anything, I'll let you know, as well.”
“Take care, Sergeant Major Alphus McCoons.”
“Take care, young Captain Dakota Sullivan,” the Sergeant Major responded as he turned and walked through the spaceport’s door to his waiting ship.
Good luck. You’re going to need it, Dakota thought as she turned to leave.
*****
No one on Chaovis said anything when the strange ship landed on top of the government building and five men and women got out and unloaded several large crates. They knew better than to investigate an agency ship or any ship they weren’t dealing directly with. On corporate planets, you minded your own business.
The few who did pay attention saw five senate intelligence agents step out of the small ship and start setting up strange-looking weapons—weapons positioned at the school across the street. Those who saw the agents wondered why they would point weapons at a school, but who were they going to complain to? They knew better than to say anything, so they made excuses to leave work and grab their kids from school. After a few days, the agents were still in place, nothing had happened, and the kids were sent back to school while their parents went back to work, feeling foolish about the whole thing.
“Okay guys, get back to work,” Agent Brown ordered. They had been on the roof for almost a week, and Agent Brown had the others train to use the new weapons while they waited. Today’s lesson was overlapping fields of fire—Brown had read an old army manual and wanted to try it out.
He was disappointed in the four agents sent with him. Agent Brown had been a senate intelligence agent for thirty years and had watched the agency go from a professional intelligence agency to one filled with Senator Williams’ thugs. The four in front of him were prime examples, only good for stomping on people’s arms and not small squad tactics. He’d had to show them multiple times how to assemble and disassemble the weapons and how to set them up properly.
“No, you have to make sure each weapon’s field of fire overlaps the next weapon’s just a little to cover them when they have to reload—don’t set them up to fire at the same thing.”
“These things are heavy. They don’t swivel as well as the smaller ones,” Agent Blue responded.
“They swivel enough. We have three of them—at least two should be set up to be able to fire on the same ship if it lands anywhere on the school grounds.”
“What about the .30 caliber ones? How should we set them up?”
“Place them between the .50 caliber guns. They might be too small against the spiders, so we’ll need both of them to be able to hit a single target.”
“Okay.”
“Get those ammunition boxes placed correctly. From what I’m reading, these will use a lot of rounds once we get into action. I don’t want to run out and have the spiders overrun us.”
“Will do,” Agent White said, wishing the spiders would attack, so they could get this over with. She hated living on top of this roof with the others—she’d already had to knock Agents White and Blue out for making advances during the night—and she just wanted to go home to her dogs.
“Did you ever find out why we are using these ancient weapons, instead of real ones?” Agent Blue asked.
“The spiders use some sort of EMP right before they attack. So far, Senate Research has not been able to protect our weapons from it. A marine assault team was practicing a drill on Candus right before that planet was attacked, and they reported all their weapons went offline and the suits they were using locked up on them. They had to pry their way out of their suits before the spiders landed.
“All the marines, except one, were killed. The one who survived used a sword to kill one of the spiders and a civilian boy killed one with a sword, as well. Nothing we have tried has worked, but both people who killed the spiders with a sword reported that they are very easy to kill. They have no armor and no weapons and just use their speed and size. We’re hoping these weapons will stand up to the EMP since they have no electronics.”
“I think I understand, but it just seems weird to use weapons that are over six-hundred and fifty years old,” Agent Blue responded.
“The designs are over six hundred and fifty years old, but the weapons were printed last week. We’ve tested them and they work. What we need to find out is if they work after the EMP. We don't know how the spider weapon actually works, so we can’t tell you what is safe or not. We’re the testers,” Agent Brown said as the five agents continued their practice. The Senate Security Committee would make them wait for weeks, if necessary; they were not going anywhere, so they might as well use the time to practice.
It didn't take weeks, though. Two days later, Agent Black shouted out a warning. “Our probe is reporting a fleet coming into orbit over Chaovis! It looks like they’re here.”
“Okay guys, everybody in position. There will be a pulse, followed by a round of bombing with plasma balls. After that, we'll see their landing ships enter the atmosphere. They’ll look like the plasma balls at first, but you will be able to tell the difference as they get closer. We should be safe from the bombing since they only blast landing zones.”
“Understood,” the four junior agents responded as they ran to their positions. Agent Brown went into the small tent they had set up and started a series of electronic scanners while the others stared into the sky. They couldn’t see the spider fleet, but the sky had turned a darker shade of blue.
“That was the EMP,” Agent Brown commented.
“Plasma balls are starting to fall.”
“Here we go. Let's hope these things work. Double-check your weapons.”
“Ships coming down,” Agent White reported a few minutes later. The five agents watched as meteor streaks appeared in the sky. It didn’t take long before they could see two or three landing ships heading toward them.
“Wait for my command,” Agent Brown told the group. Two potato-shaped ships landed near the school. The agents tensed as the hatches opened. “Open fire!” Agent Brown shouted as spiders came out of the ships.
The agents pulled the triggers and sprayed the spiders on the ground with hundreds of rounds of ammunition. One by one, the monsters were torn apart by the .50 caliber rounds, and it took no more than ninety seconds before all twenty-four spiders were dead. The team watched as the two ships rocketed back into the sky, leaving the dead spiders where they lay.
“Cease fire,” Agent Brown shouted. The weapons had worked a little too well. All of the spiders were dead, but they had been ordered to capture a few live ones for further study. “Next time, only use the .30 caliber on the spiders and aim at the legs. Use the .50 calibers against the ships; let’s see if we can damage one enough to keep it on the ground. Only use the .50 calibers on spiders that come this way or are about to enter the school. Let’s take a few alive, this time.”
Agent Brown watched as three more landing ships made their way to the open area around the school. They landed beside the pile of spider corpses, and the hatches opened and dozens of spiders poured out.
“Open fire!” This time, things went differently. Agents Green and Black were able to pinpoint their shots with the .30 caliber guns and cripple at least five spiders. Agent Brown and the two others finished off the rest of the spiders with the larger weapons as they scurried toward the school.
“Get one of those ships,” Brown shouted as he pointed his .50 caliber into an open hatch. The others followed suit. He couldn't tell if he was doing any damage to the ship, as no smoke came out of it. After a short time, the four other ships lifted off and left, and the one they had been firing at remained on the ground.
“I think that worked. We’ll stay here and wait for the attack to finish. Keep an eye out on the spiders and ship. If any try to make off with them, shoot them and we’ll add them to our pile.”
“Agent Brown,” White shouted, “no luck with the scanners or the new comm unit. They’re fried.”
“Our probe will know when the spiders leave orbit; it’ll contact our
ships and let them know it’s time to pick us up. A small freighter should land to get the spider corpses. I don’t know what they’ll do about the ship, though—it’s too big to lift. Everybody, stand down for now. Agent Blue, take first watch and make sure nothing happens those bodies.”
The agents had just settled down when one of them happened to look up. “Incoming plasma balls!”
They’ve never bombed more than once, Brown thought as he saw the plasma ball streaking for them. “Everyone, get ready! I don’t know if that bomb is meant for us, but it’s coming this way.”
The plasma ball came in on the same trajectory as the ships. The five agents watched as it impacted the damaged landing ship, destroying it and more than half of the spider corpses between the ship and the school. All of the live spiders were also destroyed in the blast.
“Damn!” Agent Brown shouted. “Now they’ll want us to try again on the next planet.”
“At least we have some dead ones for the lab,” Agent Blue replied. “It’ll give them something to work with.”
The agents watched for the next two days as the spiders landed and captured the inhabitants of the planet. Twice, they thought landing ships were going to come their way, and Agent Brown hoped at least one group of spiders would attack the school again, so they could capture one or two alive, but none did.
A landing ship flew over them once and he had the others fire on the ship, but he didn’t think they damaged it in any way. In fact, it had looked like their rounds just bounced off the ship’s exterior. No spiders attempted to attack them or enter the building they were on. Brown had expected them to at least try to bomb them out, but none were sent their way after the one used to destroy the damaged ship. That tells us something, Agent Brown thought as he watched the last spider ship leave the sky over Chaovis.
Chapter 6
Senator Williams’ small group sat around the large conference table in front of him. Events were starting to escalate, and he needed a few more members of the Senate Security Committee to be included in the final decisions. “I’m sorry I had to reschedule this meeting on such short notice, but something has come up that needs the approval of the group,” he said. “I know not everyone is here, but there’s enough present for a quorum.”
