“Really?” Beth said, breaking into his thoughts. “You think you’re the best person to carry him back?” She made a scoffing sound, shouldered her own rifle over her back, and with a quick motion heaved Andy onto her shoulders in a fireman’s carry. “John, I’ve hauled around engine parts as heavy as him in full Earth gravity, and I’m pretty sure we’re still in two-thirds. Now go scout the hall.”
John scratched his head, a bemused smile coming to his mouth. Of course she was right. And of course he hadn’t thought about it that way. He wasn’t about to tell Beth that it had nothing to do with chauvinism, though, and everything to do with his need – the tightness he could still feel in his gut – to get Andy out of this place, and back safe aboard the Satori.
“OK. Give me the tracker again. I’ll lead us back.” He slipped the device from Beth’s wrist and returned it to his own, then led the way to the door while she carried his burden for him. Because she was right. She was the best choice. He’d never have made it, or if he had, his pace would have slowed them too much. He wasn’t that good a shot, either, but he would do what he had to. He hefted his rifle in one hand and turned the latch on the door with the other, pulling it open and peeking both ways. Miraculously, the hall was clear.
In the distance, he could hear guns thundering, and knew that the battle had to be at the Satori, the rest of her crew fighting for their lives. With the aliens’ attention on the Satori, he and Beth might pull this off yet.
“Clear!” he said, stepping out into the hall. With a grunt, Beth followed him carrying her precious burden. John stalked down the hall, rifle at the ready.
Charline had rarely felt more helpless. She’d had to hand targeting back over to Majel. No real choice, if they wanted to survive this. But that decision made her more or less a bystander now, and she hated the feeling.
It had taken time for the aliens to repressurize the hangar, but less than she would have guessed. Now the huge double doors that had snapped shut in response to the pressure loss were sliding open again. And the enemy had been busy. Two more weapon platforms like the one Majel had blasted sat just inside the hall, along with a swarm of armed aliens.
She’d no sooner seen the threat than she felt the now-familiar thrum of the railguns firing. One of the weapons exploded into incandescent fire. The other returned fire, snapping sharp bolts of energy at the Satori. Dan jinked the ship sideways, and Majel’s second volley went high, missing the second gun platform. Charline wondered briefly what those shots had hit, and hoped John and Beth were out of the line of fire.
Which made her remember Majel’s last “firing solution”. They needed air in the hangar when their friends got back!
“Majel, no more holes in the hull. John and the others don’t have space suits.”
“Understood,” the computer replied. The railguns spat fire again, ripping through the infantry pouring into the room. “Using a lower power for railguns to avoid damage to the hull.”
Dan swore under his breath, his hands moving fast over his console. “They can see the flashes from the railguns when you fire. Those shots are getting closer!”
The railguns spat again, and the second large cannon exploded. Dan slid the Satori to the left, making Charline dizzy as she watched the scene slip by. There was a loud bang, and the ship shuddered, then two more sounds like hammer blows that rattled her teeth.
“Multiple impacts on starboard wing,” Majel reported. “Railgun two is no longer responding to commands.”
“Majel, take them out! I’m running out of room to maneuver here,” Dan said.
Charline gripped her seat tightly. There was little she could do now but watch.
Beth tried to keep her gasping breaths as quiet as she could. She shifted Andy’s weight on her shoulders, and wiped sweat away from her eyes. Reduced gravity or not, Andy was heavy, and she felt like she’d do about anything to be able to put him down. For the upteenth time she considered just dropping the rifle she was still carrying slung across her front. It was more weight, and she wasn’t very good with it anyway. But to get the damned thing unslung, she’d have to put Andy down, then pick him up again, and she wasn’t sure she’d be up to the task.
She’d said she could carry Andy back, and she’d never before backed down from a job she’d said she could do. Damned if she’d start now.
They were almost back to the ship. And they’d been fortunate enough to have no more run-ins so far. Dan and Charline must be keeping the crew busy.
John reached the corner where the smaller corridor joined the big passage into the hangar. She watched him peek around the corner.
He ducked back fast. “Shit,” he said.
“What?”
“The hangar door is about twenty feet away. But there’s a bunch of aliens between us and there,” he said.
“How many?”
“Um...looks like all of them?” He gave her a half grin. Then his smile fell away in an instant, and she saw him looking past her, instead of at her. He was raising his rifle, and Beth knew without looking what was back there.
Time seemed to slow down as she turned, her hand fumbling for the grip of her gun while she struggled to keep Andy up on her shoulders. She was still trying to get a decent grip on the weapon when she turned enough to see the alien down the hall. She saw its muzzle flash, and felt fire blossom in her belly. John’s gun rattled next to her ear, and the alien went down in a splash of black fluids.
Those noises were replaced by a roaring in her ears. She held on to Andy. She couldn’t drop Andy. He was counting on her to be strong. John was saying something to her, but she couldn’t hear him over the roaring sound. She slumped against the wall. She’d just catch her breath a minute. She realized she was sliding down, slipping toward the floor, and tried to stop, but her legs had no strength left.
Twenty-Eight
John watched the alien go down. It crashed backward to the ground, and he gave a satisfied grunt. He was getting better at this shooting under duress thing.
Then he caught a glimpse of Beth’s ashen face, and realized he’d been a fool. Too slow, too old, too many bad decisions. She fell back against the wall and slid down, leaving a red smear behind her as she slumped to the floor.
“Beth!” She didn’t respond, not even when he pulled Andy from her shoulders and laid him on the deck next to her. It wasn’t hard to find her injury – the bloody stain blossoming across the front of her shirt was a dead giveaway. He leaned his rifle against the wall beside her. There was a hole in the front of her suit, right at the belly. He gripped the material at the hole and tore, opening it to reveal the wound underneath. It was deceptively small, but she was losing a lot of blood.
Beth needed Charline here, not him. Hell, she needed to be back in his medical facilities on Luna. He had a decent trauma unit there, in case of accidents on the site. Had to get her there first, though. He glanced to his left and right. No sign of more aliens, but they might show up any second, and he felt terribly exposed.
They’d kept radio silence, to avoid giving away their position. He figured that cat was pretty much out of the bag. He keyed his microphone.
“Satori, we’re in trouble.”
“Dan here. Where are you, John?”
“In a little hall just off the main one. Not far.”
“John, they might be able to trace your transmissions...”
John looked around for some sort of cover. Nothing obvious presented itself.
“Andy is down and Beth...was just hit, Dan. She’s bleeding badly. I got the one that shot her, but they’ll find us any minute now.”
As if he’d summoned them with his words, three of the aliens came around the corner from the main hallway. He dropped to the deck, grabbing his rifle. Alien gunfire sang by just over his head.
Wake! Danger!
The thoughts slammed into Andy’s mind like a slap in the face. He woke charged with adrenaline, his body already in overdrive. His eyes popped open and took in everything a
round him with crystal clarity.
The hallway.
John, dropping to the floor next to him and scrabbling for a rifle.
Another rifle, leaning against the wall next to him.
Three Naga coming around the corner.
Andy picked up the rifle next to him and aimed it down the hall in a fluid motion. He fired three times, three aimed shots. The first two Naga he aimed at didn’t even have a chance to react. They dropped, his rounds smacking them in the face. The third saw the danger in time and ducked back around the corner.
“Shit!” He’d hoped to get all three.
And then everything he’d been through came crashing back down on him. Every muscle in his body was in pain. He had to lean on his rifle to get shakily back to his feet.
“Andrew! Thank god.” John was rising as well. “Beth’s hit. We have to get her to the Satori.”
“You came back for me.” Andy was having a hard time trusting his voice. He’d figured his friends were long gone. But they’d come back. John had come back for him.
“Not quite the rescue I was hoping it would be.” John said, smiling. “But it’s not over yet!”
“They’re going to be coming for us. Come on.” Andy brought his rifle up to his shoulder with an effort, and started down the corridor toward the main hall.
“What about Beth?”
“Can’t help her if we’re dead.”
Andy almost made it to the corner before he saw more Naga. They came around as a group, and he had to drop to the floor to make himself a harder target. “Down!” he yelled, warning John. He was already shooting back, and heard John’s rifle snarling behind him. He crawled a few feet forward to the body of one of the Naga he’d shot. Its armor ought to provide some cover for him, at least.
Their steady shots drove the aliens back again. He’d killed one, and saw another being dragged off by its crewmates. Then his weapon clicked empty. He reached instinctively for another magazine, and realized he didn’t have his gear.
But there was one of the Naga rifles still gripped in the claws of the body he’d been using for cover. Getting the weapon free took a little doing, but the weapon seemed straightforward enough once he had it in his hands. Muzzle, trigger, sights. He aimed the weapon and fired a shot down the hall. There was no kick, but a burst of something shot from the gun and left a hole in the wall where he was aiming.
Yup. That would do.
Andy glanced back over his shoulder. John had returned to Beth’s side, trying to patch her up enough to move. Andy brought his full attention back toward the main passage, watching for more of the enemy, and got to his feet. Carefully, he peeked around the corner.
A large group of Naga were marching down the hall, weapons at the ready. He ducked back just in time. Their shots smashed into the metal around where his head had been.
There were just too many. The Naga were going to come around the corner, and there’d be no way to protect John and Beth this time.
He sprinted back down the hall toward John, looking for some sort of cover. There were two inset doorways which might help some.
“Trouble coming fast,” he said, pulling Beth toward one of the doorways. John picked up her feet, and they set her down. The first of the Naga were just coming into sight. Blasts from their guns spattered against deck plates and walls.
“Cover me!” Andy said. He dove across the hall, firing blindly at the enemy. Behind him he could hear the steady fire coming from John’s rifle. Somehow – he wasn’t sure just how – he made it across unscathed. With a little bit of cover, his body jammed behind the narrow door frame, he might last a little while.
Then he laughed.
“I know this scene! It ends badly, with a guy in a huge black cape and breathing issues stalking down the hall to an epic soundtrack.”
John grinned back. “There are worse ways to go,” he said.
More Naga troops were pouring into the hall, firing steadily enough that Andy could barely poke his weapon out to fire back.
“I think it’s time to tell Dan to make a run for it. We’re not getting out of this one,” John said.
“Sorry you got into this mess trying to help me,” Andy said between shots.
John looked across the hall at him. “I’m not sorry.” Then he keyed his radio, speaking to their friends on the Satori. “We’re stuck, Dan. We’re pinned down, and we’re not going to be able to reach you. Get the ship out of here.”
Dan fumed in silence a moment. John’s orders were clear. Get the ship and themselves home.
Leave their friends behind.
Leave Beth behind.
“Like hell I will,” Dan growled.
He could feel the clock ticking. She was bleeding to death out there. John and Andy were trapped. He and Charline could probably still get away right now. And his console was showing that the wormhole drive was back to full strength, so getting away wouldn’t be difficult. Pop a wormhole for home – they’d already figured out the coordinates to get back, thanks to the micro-jump to Jupiter.
“What are you thinking?” Charline asked.
Dan couldn’t get the image of Beth, injured and needing him, out of his head.
“Not sure yet,” he said. “Majel, how wide is that big hangar doorway?” Beth and the others were just a short ways down that hall.
“Ten point two meters,” replied the computer.
“How wide is the Satori?”
“Variable. Widest point is ten point five meters. The Satori is too large to fit through the doorway.”
“Got to use your imagination, Majel,” Dan said. “Hang on, Charline – this is gonna get bumpy!”
He bared his teeth, fingers tight. If he was wrong, he’d wreck the ship and probably kill both Charline and himself. But he wasn’t wrong. He could feel it in his gut. And he trusted how well Beth built things. The Satori was a sound ship.
“Majel, fire railguns down the corridor,” Dan said. The guns spat their balls of iron, shredding the troops lined up and firing at them, sending others diving for cover.
Dan sent the ship dashing forward. The hole loomed in front of him, and then the cockpit area was inside the hallway. He felt thuds as the hull smacked into some of the alien troops who’d survived the railguns. And then the shriek of tearing metal as the already damaged right wing hit the edge of the door.
The Satori was too narrow to fit, with both her wings. But he didn’t need the wings to fly her in space, or to land her back at the moon base.
Dan heard Charline gasp behind him. The Satori bucked, hard, as metal was put under enormous stress for an instant. He was thrown forward against his safety harness, and fought to keep the course straight, to keep the ship from caroming off the walls.
And then with a last tearing sound, they were through. Dan heaved out the breath he’d been holding. The sheering had been almost instant, but it had felt like much longer, and his shoulders sagged with relief.
No time for that now. “Charline, get the ramp down and cover them.” She was already up and moving.
“Starboard railguns have ceased functioning,” Majel said.
That’s because the starboard railguns aren’t there anymore, Dan wanted to say. Instead, he tapped the radio button to broadcast. “John, your ride is here. But we’re expecting company. Move fast.”
He kept his eyes locked on the view in front of the ship. The less time they spent here like a sitting duck, the better.
Charline’s ankle screamed as she set weight down on it, and she bit her lip hard. No time for pain. She crouched low and rode the ramp down as it lowered from the ship, rifle already up against her shoulder and her medical bag slung over her back. The Satori was hovering a bit above the deck, and everything around was a confused haze of smoke and flames. Bodies and parts of bodies were scattered about, and she felt her gorge rise in her throat.
She swallowed hard, and swept the rifle across her field of vision, scanning for movement. Two of the aliens were trying to sta
gger to their feet. She sent slugs from her rifle into each, and they stopped moving.
She didn’t see any more obvious targets, but she kept her eyes open.
“John! Let’s move!” she called out.
She spotted movement, down a side passage, and snapped her weapon up. Something was coming through the smoke toward her. Her finger tightened on the trigger.
“We’re coming!” John’s voice. The movement was John and Andy, carrying Beth between them. Charline exhaled hard and moved her rifle away.
She shifted her vision to the main corridor. If there was another assault, that’s where it would come from. “Hurry!” she said. “I’m covering you.”
She could hear her friends’ feet crossing the deck to her position. They couldn’t see the Satori through the cloak, but they could see her, and the bottom of the ramp, sitting outside the field. She started firing blindly into the smoke down the hall ahead. Single shots, one after another. She couldn’t see far ahead, but if any aliens were coming at them, she wanted their heads down.
“We’re in,” said Andy behind her. They’d gotten Beth up the ramp. Charline scrambled backwards and slapped the button to close the ramp.
“Dan, we’re all aboard. Get us out of here!” she said.
Charline looked at Beth’s still form on the floor near the ramp. She was pale, her clothes stained with blood. But Charline could see by the rise and fall of her chest that she was still breathing. Relief made her want to sag to the deck, but Beth still needed her help. She cracked open the medical kit, grabbing the machine to track vitals and placing it on Beth’s chest. The machine would also shock her patient if her heart stopped. Charline was hoping that wouldn’t be required, but she wasn’t sure. Beth had lost so much blood! She prepped an IV for insertion and grabbed a coagulant to slow the bleeding. Too damned much to do, and too little time.
Adventures of the Starship Satori: Book 1-6 Complete Library Page 24
