<>
“Where’s the second signal? You said there were two sources. Where is it?”
<>
Raleigh.
“Got it,” Jessica said. As the CASPer landed, she was already moving toward the maintenance and armament racks. Her left cannon reported only four hundred rounds of ammunition remaining. With the rocket pod successfully ejected, she could replace it with a railgun. There was no telling what Raleigh had on his command skiff. “Lucille, give me an intel report on what Raleigh has out there.”
<>
Jessica blinked. She’d almost forgotten about her orders. “Have you got an outbound channel yet? Something to the gate?”
<>
“As soon as it’s up, transmit my messages in full. Get the Peacemaker Guild moving.”
<>
“Jessica!” Tara’s voice came back over their shared frequency. “He’s still in control of me. I can’t disrupt the signal!”
Jessica didn’t look back at Mike 77. “Let me know when he gets you on your feet.”
“He’s almost there.” Tara said. There was something in her voice that almost sounded like a laugh despite her fear. “It’s harder when you’re not actually inside the suit, apparently.”
As Deathangel 25 reached the ammunition crates, Lucille displayed a bright red icon on the crates where the Mk 8-compatible railguns were packed and waiting. Jessica walked toward the crates, and Lucille’s voice came over the speakers. <>
Jessica tried not to laugh. She was a good CASPer pilot, but Lucille was right. Delving into a shipping crate and donning a railgun without maintenance crew assistance was far beyond her skills. For the moment, she was along for the ride. She touched the laser comm button. “Tara? There’s no signal disruption at all?”
“Negative.”
Jessica’s mind flashed through a half-dozen possible solutions and snapped onto one. Raleigh maintained control over Mike 77 by laser. There were two options. Either he had line of sight directly onto her vehicle, which Lucille said was impossible based on his position, or he was using a mirrored relay. “Look for the relay system, Tara. Tell me when you find it.”
Under Lucille’s control, the CASPer opened a crate, retrieved a railgun, and hefted it to her CASPer’s right shoulder effortlessly. Jessica felt two thumps as the gun and ammo can connected, and Lucille made the connections. On her heads-up display, a window opened with a litany of boot commands and synchronizations. Railgun icons appeared in bright red, angry indicators of problems in the system. One by one they turned yellow, then green.
“I’m up, Jessica!” Tara yelped.
Jessica spun and saw Mike 77 turning to face her. She heard a click on the frequency and heard Raleigh’s voice. Gone was the humor and the manic happiness he’d used before. What remained was dark, gravelly, and clearly focused on misery. “I’ve had enough of this, Peacemaker. It’s time for you to die, so you can’t tell us these aliens want to be our friends. So we can fight them off and rely on each other instead of bugs and rodents that want to be human. You’re a human, Jessica. They don’t want you! We don’t want you anymore, either. We’ll reach our place at the top of the old pyramid the sooner you’re taking a nice long dirt nap.”
Jessica mashed the transmit button down with her thumb. “Let me tell you something, Raleigh Reilly. I don’t give a damn for your politics, and I damned sure don’t agree with your xenophobia. None of that matters right now, because my job is really pretty simple. Do what’s right for all. Stand for those in need—even against my own kind. But, let’s be clear, Raleigh. You may be human, but you’re not my kind.”
Raleigh didn’t respond. Instead, Mike 77’s weapons came up. Jessica targeted both hands and squeezed off ten rounds from the railgun. The high-velocity rounds tore off Mike 77’s hands effortlessly. Almost immediately, Raleigh screamed into the radio. “You want me, Peacemaker? Come and get me. You’re going to have to leave behind a friend to get me, though. But, hey, that’s what you always do, ain’t it?”
The frequency clicked off, but Raleigh’s laughter echoed in her ears. Jessica bounded Deathangel 25 toward Mike 77, intent on yanking the cockpit door open and pulling Tara out manually. She’d made it halfway across the compound when Tara’s voice came over the laser comm.
“Forget it, Jess. He’s activated auto-destruct. Forty-five seconds.”
“Lucille?” Jessica asked.
<>
“Where’s the relay, Tara? Do you see it?”
“Negative. Get out of here, Jessica. Get away from the compound and kill that motherfucker before he does something we’re all going to regret.”
<>
Jessica spun the CASPer and ran in the direction of Raleigh’s command skiff. “Like hell there’s not, Lucille. All weapons active, target the skiff and fire the second we have a direct shot.”
<>
The CASPer closed the distance to the far wall quickly. Jessica keyed the jump jets and brought the railgun online. Facing Raleigh, she jumped into the sky. A thin wall of mist obscured Raleigh’s skiff in the distance, but every sensor suite onboard Deathangel 25 had a positive lock on the skiff.
<>
“Lucille? Fire and adjust. Critical systems and weapons pylons. The gun is yours.”
Lucille’s voice came back with a response that brought a smile to Jessica’s face. <>
* * * * *
Chapter Thirty-One
Weqq
Aboard the Satisfaction
The Satisfaction’s internal passageways were barely wide enough for Kurrang to move through with all of the boxes, crates, and tools scattered all over the place. For all their aptitude with complex systems, human beings were inordinately disorganized. Kurrang didn’t mind, though. The assorted detritus on the floor became improvised weapons. His staff was too long and cumbersome to swing in the passageway, and he’d used up the battery in his laser pistol in the first section beyond the entrance point. From there, he realized beamed or projectile weapons would be equally worthless in such an environment. There was no concealment available, and whatever cover there was still allowed for space around it. The humans hadn’t prepared for an all-out assault in the bowels of their ship, and it showed. With large spanner wrenches in each hand, Kurrang pushed up the main passageway.
A trio of humans huddled behind a large machine-gun mounted atop a metal container not twenty meters ahead. The bright lights of the passageway snapped off in a heartbeat, and Kurrang snorted at the sound of one of the humans yelping in fright. Unlike them, he could see perfectly well in the darkness. The humans would squint and try to use the red, emergency lighting along the floors and walls to see him. Kurrang wasn’t going to give them any chance at all.
The machine gun fired a short burst that brightly lit the passageway for a brief second. They used the muzzle flashes from the gun to try and spot him, like navigating while holding a match—seeing what they could see in the briefest of instances. Kurrang wondered how long would pass until the next three-r
ound burst. He counted slowly and stopped at six when another burst lit the passageway. Kurrang waited behind a container and counted again. At six, the humans fired again.
Before the echoing reports of the gunfire ceased, Kurrang vaulted up and over his container shield and moved toward the machine gun’s position.
One.
Two.
Sprinting in the darkness, he stepped onto a spilled crate of petroleum products and lunged forward.
Three.
Four.
He calculated his short flight to impact the humans at their gun position, as they readied to fire again.
Five.
Arms open wide, Kurrang roared into the darkness and saw the three humans face him with terror etched into their features. He fell upon them, swinging the wrenches in four quick swipes that nearly tore their heads off and covered both him and the nearby wall in fresh blood. He shuffled forward around the containers to the next bulkhead hatch. It was locked like the ones before it, but it hardly mattered. Kurrang set the spanners down and grabbed the exposed hinges of the hatch. Pulling down and away, the metal gave easily. As soon as he could slip his massive fingers inside the tear, he pulled the hatch from the wall.
A scream came from the far side of the hatch as he discarded the door and picked up the spanner wrenches. Humans ran down the passageway toward the bridge. None of them stopped to fire at him. Sensing opportunity, Kurrang roared and charged down the passageway, swiping the wrenches in huge arcs at containers and whatever else he could destroy. The dozen or so humans ahead of him crowded against a hatchway at the far end. When it wouldn’t open, they panicked. Some ran back toward him, and others moved toward the bays. Kurrang didn’t follow them. He stayed in the passageway and kept moving forward. The bays used for firing artillery on the surface were two spaces further forward and remained his primary target. He tore through the hatchway into a large, nearly empty space. In the far corners of the hold were triangular stacks of containers. Around them, a slew of human heads popped up with rifles.
“Fire!” he heard a woman scream. A half-second later the air filled with the crackle of laser fire. Kurrang snarled and moved forward. The laser bolts stung his flesh with little more effect than any of the small jungle insects that fed on him and every other species they could find. The position on his left seemed better armed and focused than the one on the right, so he charged full speed at the lesser position. Seeing their weapons had little effect, most of the humans fled toward the open hatchway. A few fled into the open bay immediately to the right, and Kurrang let them go. They could huddle in relative safety. Their fear had already decided the battle in his favor.
He felt the artillery pieces firing on the far side of the bulkhead. His people, and the MinSha who’d come to their aid, were going to die under fire if he didn’t silence the guns. The hatchway slammed shut behind him. He turned and almost dropped the wrenches before stopping himself. The humans had seen him tear through the hatch, and, presumably, they’d have the presence of mind to better protect them with direct fire. Kurrang turned and raced through the open bay. Five humans scattered to the far corners of the bay, but Kurrang paid them no attention. He moved to the open exterior door and saw that the ship had assumed a circular pattern and was attriting the forces below with intense fire. The cannons in the bay to his left roared again, and Kurrang sprang to action.
Gripping the side of the exterior door with his left hand, Kurrang swung outside the ship and stretched his right arm out to catch the side of the next bay. The distance was much smaller than he thought, and he very nearly slipped off the door, but his right hand found a grip point. He pulled himself into the active firing bay, and the human gun crews froze.
Kurrang roared and leapt into action. Weaponless, his bare fists worked equally well against the frail human opponents, and he threw two of them overboard before they could react. Several came up with weapons, but he was too close and too fast for them. The far gun fired again, then its crew grabbed automatic rifles. The first one to fire drew blood as it took a chunk out of his upper left arm. The high-velocity rounds snapped through the air near his head as Kurrang dove for cover behind the now silent gun. Head immediately behind the weapon’s breech, he glanced at it and saw the gun was ready to fire. Kurrang crawled backward a meter and spun his body around under cover. He squatted with his back against the gun and pushed, but the gun wouldn’t move.
Kurrang looked at the bay floor and saw the gun platform was mounted to the deck, but its base was circular and appeared to have gears, allowing the cannon to swivel. Kurrang adjusted his position to push against the upper part of the platform. He leaned into the push, and the gun’s barrel started to swing toward the other gun ten meters away. Rifle fire pinged off the barrel by his head, but he kept pushing.
SNAP!
The gun’s barrel swung almost perpendicular to the other gun as the restraining brakes gave way. Kurrang staggered a step forward, reached for the firing cord, and fell forward. As he fell, he yanked the firing cord, and the gun roared again.
WHAMM! KA-WHAMM!
The entire bay lurched with a tremendous secondary explosion. Stunned, Kurrang got to his feet slowly and looked into the smoky ruins of the other gun platform. The bay was silent and still. On the far wall, he could see where the round had passed through the adjacent firing bays and destroyed two more gun platforms.
Under his feet, the floor slanted suddenly to the left as the Satisfaction listed hard to port. Kurrang ran back to the main passageway and found all the hatchways open and emergency klaxons buzzing. Had he destroyed something vital with the round he’d fired? Something had happened, and the Satisfaction was going down with him on it.
His eyes ran over the panel for a moment. Perhaps there was a way to stop the loss of control? A communications icon blinked red and urgent. He tapped it with a finger and snorted in surprise.
<>
“I know you,” Kurrang said. “You were with the Peacemaker’s friend.”
<>
He grunted and stomped back into the bay he’d demolished with the cannon round. The gun he’d successfully moved was still anchored to the deck. With a couple of cargo straps, he fashioned a harness for himself and wove it around the bolts. As he sat down, the Satisfaction descended rapidly. He looked out the open bay door as the jungle canopy reached up toward them.
Too fast.
We are coming down too—
* * *
<> Lucille said in Jessica’s ears. Her eyes and weapons were forward to engage Raleigh’s command skiff.
“Can’t be helped now.” Jessica replied. “Railgun on the communications relays. Shut it down, Lucille.”
<> A targeting icon appeared on the CASPers heads-up display, overlaid on the rear of Raleigh’s massive command skiff. Fifteen rounds from the railgun tore through the complex system and the rear weapons pylon. The skiff shuddered from the explosion and returned fire. Jessica landed the CASPer and ran to her right, putting two large trees between her and the skiff.
“Report!”
<>
Thank gods.
Jessica pressed the back of the CASPer against a tree and checked her weapons stores. “Lucille, you’ve got the railgun. Take out the pylons first. I’ll lay down covering fire with the machine guns.”
<>
Jessica spun the CASPer around and popped out from behind the tree. She sighted on the skiff and brought her left machine gun up and fired. She watched the other reticle center on the forward pylons, the
deadliest weapons aboard the skiff, and Lucille fired a stream of projectiles that tore through the command skiff’s forward weapons pylons, left then right.
She started back to cover when the CASPer rocked from an impact on the upper left shoulder joint. She stumbled backward, and another round tore the lower part of the left arm away completely, narrowly missing her hand.
“Shit!”
<>
Lucille fired the railgun again as the CASPer fell backward and landed on the stump of the left arm. Jessica watched the caution and warning system light up like a Christmas tree. Hydraulics and pneumatic systems were shot. She’d be unable to jump. Raleigh had managed to pin her down.
<>
“That’s good news,” Jessica got the CASPer’s feet back under it and stood behind cover. “Is he moving or staying put?”
<>
Wonderful.
“What if we—”
The ground shook violently, and Jessica stumbled. She looked at her sensor displays. There was nothing in the immediate area. “Lucille?”
<>
Jessica pushed everything aside. Without a ship, Raleigh wasn’t going to surrender. He wanted to go out in a blaze of glory, and she was willing to give him the opportunity. “What if we take out his engines first? Leave him in one position?”
<>
“Roger, standby to fire.”
<>
Jessica pushed out from cover with the right arm raised, its cannon aimed at the weapons pylons. She started to fire, then froze as a white blur jumped atop the skiff’s central platform and tore at the weapons pylons located there. “Hold fire!”
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