by G J Ogden
Sterling laughed again. “You always did talk too much, Crow,” he replied, sick of hearing the man’s voice.
“Stand up and fight then,” Crow snapped back. “You are outnumbered and outgunned. My honor guard will crush you as easily as they crushed this station’s crew.”
Crow reached down and lifted the body of a Fleet lieutenant commander into the air. The woman was limp and lifeless, and Sterling could see deep gashes across her body caused by the serrated Sa’Nerran blades. Crow tossed the body aside, reminding Sterling of the enhanced strength that the turned humans possessed.
“Let me take him,” said Banks, through a neural link to Sterling. “You and Keller lay down fire and I’ll charge at him. Once I have my hands around his neck, maybe his honor guard will back down.”
Sterling considered this, but he couldn’t believe that a Sa’Nerran warrior would back down over anything, even to save their emissary. He also couldn't ignore the fact that there were four rifles pointed in their direction.
“We have to take them together, Mercedes,” Sterling replied, making his decision. “But we likely all won’t make it. Whoever survives has to take the key and regain control of the station, even if that means taking it off my dead body.”
Sterling could see Banks’ jaw clench up as he said this, but whatever his first officer wanted to say, she kept it inside.
“Understood, Captain,” Banks replied. However, even though his first officer was speaking through her mind, it still sounded like the words had been forced through gritted teeth.
Sterling opened the link to Keller and adjusted his grip on both the Sa’Nerran rifle and his plasma pistol.
“On three, we take out the honor guard,” said Sterling, glancing across to Banks and to Keller. Both looked ready and for a moment he felt a swell of pride. Omega officers were made of sterner stuff than regular Fleet, and his crew had proved that again and again. Now, they would do so one more time.
“Three…” Sterling said, beginning the countdown in his mind. However, that was as far as his count got.
Suddenly, an intense flash of light flooded though through the windows, blinding Sterling. He halted his count and spun around. Hanging above G-COP, so close that he felt like he could reach out and touch it, was the Fleet Dreadnaught Hammer. Sterling smiled – he’d never been happier to see his former ship – but his smiled faded as he saw flashes pop off across the hull of the giant vessel. The Hammer was firing at them.
Plasma blasts lashed the hull of G-COP and the command center was rocked. The Hammer was taking matters into its own hands. More brilliant flashes flooded the level, each one accompanied by a powerful pneumatic thud. G-COP was firing back. It was a contest of epic proportions. The unstoppable force versus the immovable object. Sterling had a feeling that the universe would finally get an answer to this paradox.
Shutters thudded down across the windows of the command level as it was rocked again by blasts from the Fleet’s flagship. Consoles exploded and the ceiling partially collapsed, raining debris down onto Sterling. Glancing across to Crow and the Sa’Nerran honor guard, Sterling saw that the warriors had been knocked from their feet. Crow was clinging onto the main computer with his enhanced strength, but he too was distracted.
“Now’s our chance, go!” Sterling cried out to the others though their neural link.
Banks was up and moving first, firing from the hip with both weapons. Crow took a hit and went down, but Sterling couldn’t see if the emissary was alive or dead, and there was no time to check. Advancing toward the other warriors with Keller keeping pace at his side, Sterling opened fire. Blasts flew past him in the opposite direction, but he managed to hit and kill another of Crow’s guard with a lucky shot to the alien’s face. If the fizz of weapons fire and the hammering of his heart didn’t tell him he was in a fight for his life, the smell of burning flesh left Sterling in no doubt.
Banks was then hit by a blast from another of the honor guard, but her momentum propelled her into the alien. They both went down and Sterling lost sight of his first officer. Keller then hit the warrior, but the blast deflected off the alien’s armor. A hiss escaped the Sa’Nerran’s lips and he shot back. Keller went down, but still Sterling did not check his advance. Pulling the serrated Sa’Nerran blade from its stow on his armor, he launched himself at the warrior, blade stretched out again. The alien’s yellow eyes turned to him a moment too late and Sterling plunged the weapon into the warrior’s flesh. Landing on top of the creature, Sterling raked the blade across the warrior’s thick neck, opening its throat and putting it down permanently.
Heart still pounding and lungs heaving for air, Sterling spun around looking for Crow, but was met with a kick to the face. He spiraled backward, tumbling over the bodies of the dead warriors before hammering into the base of a workstation. Shaking the pain from his head, he looked up to see Clinton Crow advancing toward him. The emissary’s armor was melted through next to his heart, but the man showed no sign of pain or fear.
“Such a waste,” said Crow, bending down and stripping a half-moon blade from the body of the warrior Sterling had killed. “If you would only allow yourself to be re-educated, you could be a valuable asset. Another great emissary of the Sa’Nerra.” Crow tutted and shook his head. “Now, you will merely become another drone in our army of turned human servants. Such a pity.”
Still holding the blade in one hand, Crow reached to the rear of his hip and removed a Sa’Nerran neural weapon. Sterling’s eyes widened as he saw the device in Crow’s hand, knowing that he didn’t have the strength to resist his former engineer. Scrambling to his feet, he looked for another weapon, but there was nothing within reach. Instead, he forced his battered and bruised body to stand tall and raised his guard.
“Man on man, is that how it is?” Crow smiled as he continued his measured advance. The emissary then flicked a switch on the neural control device and it began to hum with energy. “Let's see how you handle yourself in a fair fight, Captain.” Crow raised both the blade and the neural weapon in readiness to attack.
“Who said anything about a fair fight?” said Sterling.
A blast of plasma then struck Crow in the chest, burning another hole in the emissary’s Sa’Nerran armor. Crow glanced right and saw Banks, draped over the top of a computer console, plasma pistol in hand. She was bleeding from a gash to the head.
Sterling then charged forward and hammered a kick into Crow’s body, sending the emissary tumbling over the main command computer and on to the deck. Sterling pursued, tossing the blade aside as he did so and collecting a Sa’Nerran rifle from one of the dead aliens. He orbited the circular computer console then aimed the rifle down at Clinton Crow.
“I think it’s time I gave you another education,” said Sterling, dialing up the power of the rifle to its maximum setting. “This time, I’m going to make sure there’s nothing left of your head for those alien bastards to patch up.”
Sterling went to squeeze the trigger, but the station was rocked by another series of powerful explosions. Thrown off his feet, he landed hard on the deck, cracking the back of his head as he did so. His eyes darkened and the sounds of crackling consoles and rumbling explosions faded in and out in his ears. The next thing he knew, he was being hauled to his feet. He could hear voices, but he wasn’t sure if they were real, in his mind or merely part of his imagination.
“Lucas!”
This time the sharp yell roused him from his dazed stupor. Mercedes Banks was staring at him, blood smeared across her face and neck.
“Lucas, the key! Banks continued. “We have to stop the reactor overload.”
Sterling shook his battered head and yanked the key out from around his neck, snapping the chain in the process. He tried and failed to stab the chip into the computer, but Banks grabbed his hand to steady his aim.
“Where’s Crow?” Sterling asked, finally slotting the authenticator chip into the computer.
“He got away,” replied Banks, spitting th
e words out in disgust. “He took our shuttle while we were all knocked down.”
Sterling glanced over to the docking hatch and saw that their combat shuttle had gone. Cursing, he turned back to the computer and brought up the main menu. The console was active and some options were available to him, but as expected he was still locked out of the command functions. He tapped his neural interface, though the act of doing so felt like needles being jabbed into his temple.
“Admiral, I’m at the command computer, give me the code,” Sterling said, reaching out to Griffin in his mind. However, this time, he could not form a link. “Admiral Griffin, are you there?” Sterling said again, but still there was no response.
“I can’t reach Griffin through the link,” Sterling said to Banks. “See if you can make contact. We need the authentication code.”
Banks tapped her interface and a look of intense concentration gripped her face. Sterling waited impatiently for a response, but then noticed Ensign Keller. His helmsman was lying face down on the deck, not moving. He felt his gut tighten into a knot and his instincts told him to run to the officer’s aid, but he knew he couldn’t.
“I can’t reach her either,” said Banks, slamming her palms down on the console. Then her eyes fixed onto another section of the computer and she cursed.
Sterling frowned and followed the line of his first officer’s gaze. Then a curse escaped his own lips as he realized what she had seen. The authenticator chip had been hit by debris that had fallen from the ceiling during the attacks on the station. It was now smashed and useless.
“What the hell do we do now?” said Banks, looking and sounding more despondent that Sterling had ever seen her.
More explosions rocked the station, forcing Sterling to grip the console tightly to steady himself. However, compared to the earlier barrages, Sterling judged these latest attacks to be less severe. The thud of G-COP’s plasma turrets had also diminished. Sterling accessed the status screen on the computer, which was one of the few functions available to him. He could see that the Hammer had abandoned its attack on G-COP and was now heading toward the aperture to assist the rest of the fleet. He could also see that five of the fourteen Fleet vessels docked to the station had been compromised. The seals around their docking tunnels were flashing red, showing that they had been breached by Sa’Nerran boarding parties.
“Lucas, what the hell do we do?” Banks asked again, after Sterling’s answer had been conspicuous by its absence.
“We abandon the station,” Sterling said, meeting his first officer’s eyes. “It’s over, Mercedes. Crow wins this round.” Banks growled and thumped the command computer, smashing one of the screens into a thousand pieces. “We take the ambassador ship, and get clear. Maybe we can still help in the battle out there,” he added, staring out toward the aperture.
Sterling then felt a link form in his mind. His pulse quickened in the hope that Griffin was reaching out to him, but when the voice spoke it was Lieutenant Razor.
“Captain, the mag locks are free and I have control of the Invictus,” Razor said. “Lieutenant Shade has repelled the Sa’Nerran forces. We’re sealed up and ready to go. What are you orders?”
Sterling glanced down at the command computer and again scanned the list of ships docked to the station.
“Lieutenant, this station is going to blow at any moment,” Sterling began. “Detach immediately then I want you to blow the docking clamps of every other ship still locked to the station, with the exception of the following.” Sterling highlighted the five ships that had been compromised. He had no way to know for sure that those crews had all been turned, but he couldn’t take that chance. “Do not free the ships at docks six alpha, six delta, five echo, five bravo and five charlie. Is that clear?”
“Aye Captain,” replied Razor, though Sterling could sense her unease. “There are over two thousand crew split between those ships, sir. If we leave them, they’ll be killed when the station blows.”
“I know that, Lieutenant,” replied Sterling, flatly. “The Omega Directive is in effect.”
“I understand, Captain,” replied Razor. Sterling could sense that she had accepted his order, but he could also sense that she did not like it. He didn’t like it himself. “What about you, Captain? How will you get off the station?”
Sterling turned to the second docking hatch at the other side of the command deck. “Don’t worry about us, Lieutenant,” he replied. “I have my own ride out of here.”
Sterling tapped his neural interface to close the link. His eyes then fell onto the body of Ensign Keller.
“We should at least take him back with us,” said Banks.
“Griffin would call that sentimental nonsense,” Sterling replied. “Dead is dead. Now, he’s just a hunk of meat, like the rest of these corpses.”
“I don’t care,” replied Banks. “He was one of us.”
Sterling sighed and nodded, and together he and Banks moved over to Keller.
“He did his duty,” said Sterling, kneeling at his helmsman’s side. “He was a good officer.”
“And one hell of a pilot,” Banks chipped in.
Sterling flipped Keller onto his back and grabbed his wrist, ready to haul the man up and onto his shoulders. He knew that Banks could carry the ensign with far greater ease, but this was something he had to do himself. However, as his fingers tightened around the man’s flesh, he felt something push back against his skin.
“Wait…” said Sterling, adjusting the position of his fingers on Keller’s wrist. He then let go and pressed them to the ensign’s neck instead. “He’s not dead.”
Banks scowled. “He took a blast directly to the chest, without armor. How the hell can he still be alive?”
Sterling shook his head and stood up. “I don’t know and I don’t care,” he replied. “Thousands will die today, but I’ll be damned if Keller is one of them.”
Banks nodded then picked up the ensign as easily as if he were a newborn baby. Sterling set off at a sprint in the direction of the docking port.
“Do you still know how to fly a light cruiser?” said Banks, following at his side.
“Not as well as the guy you’re carrying,” replied Sterling, reaching the dock and activating the hatch mechanism. Then he turned and met Banks’ eyes. “We’ll figure something out,” he added, with more assurance than he had any right to display at that moment. “We always do.”
Banks nodded then moved inside the ambassador ship, with Ensign Keller still draped across her powerful arms.
Sterling sucked in a deep breath of the air on the command level, tasting burned flesh and electronics, then turned to enter the docking hatch.
“Captain Sterling…”
Sterling froze and closed his eyes, concentrating on the voice. He felt the link strengthen.
“Captain, are you in position?” said Admiral Griffin. Her voice was weaker than ever, and it took every last ounce of concentration Sterling had to maintain the link.
“Captain, I’m…” Griffin continued, but then her voice trailed off, and the link was severed.
Sterling cursed again. He had another choice to make, though in actuality he realized he’d already made it. Griffin would not approve, but he didn’t care. If the Admiral was still alive then he was going to get her back, because in the dark days that lay ahead, Fleet and the United Governments were going to need her.
Chapter 30
An order and a directive
Sterling and Banks made their way through the deserted corridors of the ambassador ship, Fleet Light Cruiser Franklin. For a ship that usually had a crew of two hundred, the empty spaces were eerily quiet. A ship without a crew is like a body without a mind, Sterling thought, as he and his first officer made their way to the bridge. Banks was still carrying Ensign Keller in her arms. The helmsman’s pulse was weakening, but the young officer was still alive, if only barely. If Keller can cling to life, then an old battle-axe like Griffin can, Sterling told himself, glancing at his
helmsman, limp in Banks’ arms.
Stepping onto the command platform of the Franklin, Sterling entered his emergency command override codes to take control of the vessel. The captain’s console, along with the other consoles on the bridge flickered back into life. Then the viewscreen turned on, displaying a view of the battle raging out close to the aperture. Sterling didn’t need a sensor analysis to know that it was going badly for the fleet warships. The Hammer was still caught in a no-man’s land between the bulk of the engagements and G-COP. The dreadnaught may have been the only ship in the Fleet that could stand toe-to-toe with a heavily armed and armored command outpost, but in doing so it had not escaped unscathed. Its engines had been damaged and it was now limping toward the battle.
“See if you can stabilize Keller then take the weapons console,” Sterling called over to Banks while he ran through a hasty pre-launch checklist. He bypassed every check possible then powered up the engines.
Banks rested Keller on the deck then grabbed an emergency medical kit and cracked it open. She tore open Keller’s tunic, revealing the plasma burn to his chest. Sterling could see that it was bad and had gone through the bone, with charred flesh giving way to blackened ribs.
“How the hell that kid is still alive, I don’t know,” said Sterling, hopping over to the weapons console to arm the Franklin’s plasma rail guns. He then moved to the helm controls and prepared to detach from G-COP.
“He won’t be for much longer, unless we can get him to Graves soon,” replied Banks.
She applied a field dressing designed specifically for plasma burns to the wounds. Then she hit Keller with a cocktail of drugs designed to numb any pain the ensign was feeling and keep him alive for as long as possible.
A distant thud resonated through the deck and Sterling checked the helm control console. “We’re clear,” he said, while maneuvering the light cruiser away from the docking pylon. Then another thud, louder and harder than the first rumbled through the bridge, followed by the sound of grinding metal.
