Beth was the lowest person on the ladder, the last person between Dan and a very long drop. She wrapped her right arm around a rung, reached out with her left. Dan saw her as he fell past. He reached out, their fingers brushing each other.
Andy’s breath caught in his throat.
Beth’s fingers closed around Dan’s hand, locking in place with the strength of someone who worked with her hands every day. Dan swung back in toward the ladder. Beth grunted as his whole weight fell on her arm. But she held.
“Don’t you leave me again!” Beth said. Her voice cracked with emotion as she spoke. “Never again!”
“I never will,” Dan replied softly.
Twenty-Six
John eased himself from his own seat and made his way slowly to the pilot’s chair. If he needed to move the ship quickly, he’d be much more able to do so from there. So far the Naga hadn’t come after the Satori. He guessed that between the incoming missiles fired from Earth, the Marines on their outer hull, and the Satori’s crew making trouble inside that the aliens were a heavily occupied already. That didn’t mean he could sit back and relax. The enemy could be knocking on his door any time.
He took stock of the systems. The landing gear was gone. The cloaking device still didn’t work, but the wormhole drive was functioning and slowly recharging. It had enough power for a single micro-jump already, and was building up toward a second. The left wing was pretty much gone, along with the rail gun that had been mounted on it, and the right wing had been badly damaged during the final belly-down crash. From what he was seeing on the system report, it looked like the railgun there was history as well. The Satori was defenseless, except for the wormhole drive itself.
“Majel, maybe I need to take this from another angle and look at what is still working instead of what isn’t,” John said.
“You are,” Majel replied. “Your vital signs have stabilized, and it seems like the stitches Charline put in place are holding well.”
John gently ran a hand over his belly. He was sore, but the pain seemed much less intense than it had earlier. Part of that was likely the painkillers Charline had dumped into him, but it felt like she’d done a good job with her emergency care as well. He couldn’t see the wound through his space suit, but the tension of the stitches on his skin told him they were all still in place.
“How’s the team doing?” he asked.
“They’ve run into a few snags, but are back on track toward the airlock. They will make contact with the Naga there momentarily.”
“Good. If we can get the rest of those men inside, our odds improve enormously,” John said. “How is the assault force attacking the other Naga ship doing?”
“Scanning through radio communication logs,” Majel replied. She paused. “John, I’m sorry. The entire assault force was destroyed.”
“What?” John gripped the console in front of him. All those men dead? This was a nightmare! If all of the attack ships in that group had been destroyed, then no matter what this team did, the other Naga ship would still be able to drop its rock. John remembered the projections if even one of the asteroids hit. No human would survive.
This was all his fault. He’d led them to the planet, gotten the Naga interested in them all. He’d continued to lead them on more and more missions, which must have increased the aliens’ enmity. He was the one who authorized the final mission to Cyan, where Dan was captured and used a Naga fighter to escape. It had been John’s idea to deactivate the Naga fighter and tow it home. The chance to learn from the alien tech seemed too good to pass up.
But he’d never imagined the Air Force would raid them. Never considered that if it fell into other hands, the Naga fighter might be activated again and serve as a beacon for the enemy to come at them. He should have been more careful, used more caution. The Naga were the worst threat humanity had ever faced, and John had all but led them home.
“Majel, can you communicate with General Hereford?”
“Not while we are inside the Naga ship. Their systems jam my long range radio,” she replied.
There was no way to even know if Hereford was planning another attack. He had to have some other strategy in mind. The man would never simply give up. But the missiles were largely useless, and they’d launched every space-capable ship Earth had in the two assault teams. There was nothing left to send.
Earth was defenseless.
Except for the Satori, and his ship was beaten to hell. There wasn’t a lot of fight left in the bird. Or in him, for that matter.
“Not a lot. But maybe just enough,” he murmured. He had the glimmering of a plan. More like a Hail Mary pass, really. But things really were that desperate.
“Majel, how long until the other cruiser drops their rock on Earth?” he asked.
“Impact in twenty-two minutes and forty-six seconds. But the asteroid is already on a collision course with the planet. Even without the continued acceleration the Naga vessel is providing, it will strike Earth within the hour,” she said.
Twenty-two minutes to come up with a miracle. John checked the charge on the wormhole drive. He almost had a second micro-jump ready. He was going to need more than one jump to do anything at all against the Naga ship.
“You know we’re going to have to go after it,” John said. “The others won’t be back in time to make a difference.”
“I have surmised as much from your increased stress levels,” Majel said. “I should remind you that you are injured and unable to operate at peak efficiency. Nor is the ship anywhere near fully functional.”
“Doesn’t matter. We need to try. There’s no one else who can do anything,” John said.
“No,” she replied. “I cannot think of any other force which might intercept the asteroid in time. The Satori is the only vessel which might have the capability, but I do not see a way to damage the battle cruiser sufficiently in the time we have remaining. The Satori is too badly damaged. John, we have no weapons left.”
John leaned back, thinking out his plan a little more in his mind. He had a little time left, and he wanted to consider all of the angles. He’d been out-thought too often lately, and there was no margin for error here. If he screwed this up, billions would die. Their deaths would be on his soul. He wasn’t willing to live with that.
“We’re not going to use our weapons,” John said. He ran his fingers over the console, bringing the engines online and starting to work up the coordinates for a micro-jump. “You’re right. The Satori doesn’t have the firepower to take down that ship. But I know where we can go get precisely what we need.”
Twenty-Seven
Charline peeked around the corner, then darted back. She made brief eye contact with Andy, flashing four fingers. Four Naga were waiting in the hallways ahead. Four enemy to take down, and then according to the map Majel had uploaded to them they’d be at the intersection where the airlock stood, where their Marines were pinned down.
The aliens hadn’t pursued them through the shaft. Whatever Majel had done to the lock seemed to have done the trick for long enough that the team made it to the bottom without incident. They exited on the outer level of the cruiser, not far from their destination. She knew the Naga would be hunting for them, seeking them out. But so far they’d managed to avoid any further contact.
Until now, anyway. This was the moment of truth. They needed to initiate contact, take the enemy down as swiftly as possible, and then move on against the rest.
“On three,” Andy’s voice whispered in her earpiece. His spoken words were so soft they barely carried over the radio, and were inaudible otherwise. She felt him move up directly behind her, his shoulder pressed against her back. Dan and Beth would be behind him, Linda bringing up the rear to guard against attack from behind.
“One.”
She gritted her teeth together. Her rifle was aimed low, the butt of the weapon tucked tightly into her shoulder.
“Two.”
Charline took a deep breath and let it out. They�
�d trained for this. She knew what needed to be done. She could do this. A moment of panic struck her, leaving her wondering if she would stumble around the corner, forgetting everything Andy had taught her in the moment of truth. Too much was riding on this one assault. There were so many lives counting on her nailing each target flawlessly. She couldn’t possibly live up to such expectations.
“Three,” Andy said.
His body nudged forward, but Charline was already moving. She rounded the corner, hugging the left wall. Her rifle’s barrel rose as she stepped up. She lined up her sights on the back of a Naga head and gently squeezed the trigger. A short burst spat from her rifle, blowing the target apart. Her rifle moved, almost of its own volition, tracking to a new target.
Beside her Andy was stepping up as well, crossing the hall to the right side of the corridor. Like her, he was firing as he walked. Little short bursts of gunfire assaulted her ears. Dan was behind her, the muzzle of his weapon near her shoulder. Charline could hear the bullets he fired whistle past her head.
“All four targets down!” Andy called out. “Keep moving. Watch your lanes.”
Charline stepped over fallen Naga. The hallway turned another corner ahead, bending to the right this time. The space there should be full of enemy. She halted just out of sight of anyone waiting around the corner and took a knee, rifle aimed at where anyone would appear if they came to investigate the shots.
Andy flowed smoothly up to the corner, dropping his rifle to let it hang from its sling. From his belt he produced a pair of grenades, popping the fuses from both. He threw them around the corner, then pressed his body up against the cover of the wall.
Charline turned her head, ducking away from the detonations. Light and sound blasted down the hall as the concussive force of the grenade explosions did their job. She was on her feet again as the explosions died out, moving forward. Always forward. There was no time to withdraw now, no time for retreat. Either they won here, or everyone on Earth was dead.
Naga gunfire flashed around her as she stepped into their line of sight. Some of the enemy were stunned or wounded by the grenades, but not all of them. She shifted her rifle a little to the left and fired a burst, taking one down. Andy rounded the corner beside her, firing as well. Then Beth and Dan were there, blazing away with their own rifles.
Side by side, the four went down the hall, unleashing death. There were dozens of Naga packed into the intersection. The aliens had been focused on the airlock shaft, though. The professional soldiers outside had been working to clear their own path in, with good effect judging by the number of already dead lizard bodies laying about on the deck.
But they were completely unprepared for an assault from their flank. The Satori’s crew tore into them, ripping them apart one after another.
Charline felt something slam into her chest. She kept firing, ignoring the pain. With luck the armor she wore had absorbed at least most of the impact. If not, then every round she could fire would still be one step closer to victory, if not survival.
Finally the fire ahead of them diminished, then stopped. The Naga forces remaining pulled back, a shooting withdrawal as they backed away from the deadly human weapons. Charline sagged against the wall. Her ribs were on fire just under her right breast. She reached down. There didn’t seem to be a hole in her, so the armor had taken some of the impact. Her best medical guess was that she’d cracked or broken a couple of ribs. Breathing hurt, and her breath was already coming in ragged gasps. How had just a few minutes of movement, just walking two score steps, been such exertion?
“Everyone all right? Anyone hit?” Andy asked.
Charline raised her hand. “Took a shot. Armor soaked most of it.”
“Sit down,” Andy said. “Beth, get the Marines in here. We need some backup fast or the Naga will just rush us as soon as they realize how few we are.”
Charline let herself slide down the wall to the floor. It was a relief to sit, but Andy was right. The Naga would be back in force. The team had surprised them, pushed them back. But they were nowhere near beaten yet.
“The platoon is on their way in,” Beth said. The airlock was already beginning to cycle. Charline could see the first space-suited troops inside. The doors snapped open, and the men spilled out into the hall, taking up overwatch positions on each corridor, standing guard while more men prepared to enter the airlock. Their support had arrived at last. Maybe they could rest now, pass the job along to someone else.
“Who’s in charge of your platoon?” Andy asked one of the men. From the sound of his voice, he seemed about as ready as she was to hand this all over to someone else.
“Platoon leader and gunny both got hit by their last fighter sortie, sir,” the Marine replied. “I’m Sergeant Thompson. I’m senior man here. What’s our mission?”
Charline watched Andy’s shoulders sag a little as the weight of command dropped back onto him. He’d done so damned much already. Why this too? She struggled back to her feet, ready to protest, to tell the troops to do their damned jobs and let the civilians alone.
Dan beat her to it. He placed a gentle hand on Andy’s shoulder. The other man turned. They locked gazes for just a moment. Dan gave him a little nod, and Charline held her breath, seeing how her dear friend would respond. Andy gave him a small, wry smile, and shrugged.
“I’m Major Wynn,” Dan said. “I’ll be taking command. I’ll give you a quick brief on the enemy and their tactics. Then we need to move against them quickly. Here’s what we need to do…”
There was a brief burst of static over their comm links. Dan stopped speaking in mid-sentence to listen.
“Satori team, we are preparing to wormhole jump out,” Majel said. “We’ll be engaging the other Naga ship. The other assault team was destroyed before they were able to approach their objective.”
Charline sucked in a breath. John was alone back there, just he and the AI in a ruined vessel against the undamaged Naga cruiser? It seemed hopeless. There had to be something they could do to help!
“I calculate you do not have time to return to the ship if we are to be effective in our mission. Continue to your target. We’ll deal with the other ship,” Majel said. “John says to tell you ‘Godspeed’.”
Then she broke contact, leaving the rest of the team staring at each other. The Marines around them shifted a little, confused. They hadn’t been privy to the message. Dan straightened his back. “We’ve got a job to finish here. Let’s get on it.”
Twenty-Eight
The Satori flashed into the universe a good hundred kilometers from the main battle. It was a good destination, carefully picked to be distant enough that they would be less likely to attract fighter attention or fire from the battle cruisers themselves. If fighters did come their way, they had some time before the enemy would be in range to make contact. Assuming everything went to plan, John hoped they would be long gone before any fighters came swooping in to blast them apart.
John still felt incredibly exposed. Some of that feeling was because the cloaking device was no longer operational. He’d never realized just how much of a sense of security that invisible shield had given him before. Being able to slip around undetected was a power that he’d taken for granted until it wasn’t there anymore.
But the other reason he felt exposed was that he was standing in the airlock, staring out into the void of space through an open door.
He’d never gone outside before, he realized. Oh, he’d walked on the surface of the moon before. Twice, in fact. But that was nothing compared to this. On Luna there was always soil beneath your feet. One had the sense of ground, even if you also felt light as a feather. There was an up and a down on the moon. Not this endless fall into night which lay before him.
“Are you all right, John?” Majel asked into his radio. “Your vital signs are spiking.”
“I’ll be fine. Are we close?”
“Maneuvering alongside the target now. I’ll tell you once we are close enough to acquire
it,” she replied.
Many of the others on the team had been out and about in space before. John knew Dan had done it many times. Charline had space-walked. Beth and Andy, too. He’d never gone outside the ship himself, though. Never taken those few extra steps into the void. His heart hammered in his chest. John could feel sweat streaking his forehead, threatening to drip across his eyes. He struggled to keep his breathing under control.
There it was, the glint of metal shining in the darkness. A small reflection of sunlight glancing from a curved surface. He steadied himself, checking the safety line one more time. This would be a very bad time to have it fail, and he was about to put the line under far more stress than it had been designed to withstand.
“Target is two hundred meters to port,” Majel said. “Moving closer. You are clear to jump in three…”
John steeled himself for the plunge into the abyss.
“Two.”
“One.”
He launched himself out of the airlock, pushing away from the Satori with all of the force he could manage. As soon as he left the ship’s gravitational field microgravity re-asserted itself and he felt like he was falling instead of sailing through the air. He was dropping like a stone, plummeting forever away from the ship. Behind him the safety line uncoiled in a steady string, that rope the only thing connecting him to the relative safety of the Satori.
His aim had been true. The missile he shot toward was dead ahead. One of the shots fired from Earth, this one’s engines had run out of fuel long before it came near enough to be a real threat to the Naga ships. The aliens had ignored any of the missiles which were no longer an immediate threat to them, concentrating their fire on taking out the ones which were. It made sense, but that still meant there were dozens of rockets with dead engines sailing off into space, each of them tipped with a nuclear warhead.
It was the warhead John wanted.
Adventures of the Starship Satori: Book 1-6 Complete Library Page 66
