by G J Ogden
“Nor do I,” Banks replied, also regarding the old ship as it prepared to leave. She then sighed and finally unfurled her arms from around her chest. “Thing is, I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.”
Chapter 12
Thrace colony in the void
Ensign Keller made another slow pass around Thrace Colony, while Commander Banks and Lieutenant Shade examined their scanner readings of the settlement. However, even from the aerial image on the viewscreen, it was clear to Sterling that the colony had been attacked. Half of the buildings were either completely or partially destroyed, and those that weren’t appeared to be without power. Windows were smashed and the walls of the intact buildings displayed the obvious scars of plasma weapons' fire.
“This place is as bleak as they come,” commented Banks as a flash of lighting streaked past the viewscreen. “It looks more like a prison gulag than a settlement.”
The desolate appearance of the settlement wasn’t helped by the fact they’d arrived in the dead of night, during a heavy thunderstorm.
“According to the meteorological readings this weather is mild by Thrace Colony standards,” Sterling replied as several more flashes lit up the horizon.
“I’m picking up readings that suggests there may be life or at least a weak source of power down there,” said Banks, glancing over to Sterling from her station. “But honestly, it looks like whatever happened here went down a long time ago. I’m not sure what we can hope to find.”
Sterling sighed and nodded. He’d come to the same conclusion as Banks had. However, Thrace Colony was their only lead to the whereabouts of James Colicos. If there was even a small chance that they could find something in the colony that might direct them to where they needed to go next, they had to take it.
“I don’t see that we have a choice,” Sterling replied, pushing himself away from his console. He looked over to Ensign Keller, who was still maneuvering the Invictus around the colony, like a hawk surveying its hunting grounds. “Land on the outskirts of the main settlement, Ensign. I’m going to take a closer look.”
“Aye, Captain,” Keller replied, immediately adjusting course and swooping down toward a section of hard ground at the edge of the ramshackle colony.
Any other helmsman would have flown further out from the settlement in order to make a more gradual approach. Keller simply turned the Marauder on a dime and began the landing cycle with a fluidity that made the ship seem organic in nature, rather than technological. Sterling likened the comfort with which Keller performed the maneuver to the way Fletcher had navigated the old destroyer, Bismarck. Despite decades separating the two pilots, Keller was easily a match for the veteran spacefarer when it came to flying a warship. Sterling felt a distant thud through the deck as the landing struts made contact with the ground. He could even detect the gradually descending whine of the engines through the vibrations in his console. In all, he knew that the Invictus had completed its landing cycle even before Keller had informed him of this fact.
“Down and secure, Captain,” said Ensign Keller, spinning his chair to face the command platform. “Shall I open the cargo bay door?”
“Not yet, Ensign,” Sterling replied. He turned to Shade at the weapons console. “Order the commandoes to set up a secure perimeter around the ship. I don’t want to be caught out again, like we were in Middle Star,” he said, remembering how easily Marshall Masterson had snuck up on them. “Then meet the commander and me outside. The three of us will check out the main settlement administration block on foot.”
“Aye, sir,” Shade answered. “I’d recommend full commando armor, Captain. It’s forty degrees outside and the storm doesn’t appear to be letting up.”
“Agreed, Lieutenant, we’ll get kitted out while you organize the perimeter,” Sterling said.
Shade nodded then hustled off the bridge, tapping her neural interface en route in order to relay her orders to the commando units.
“I hate the rain,” Banks commented, securing her station and stepping beside Sterling with her arms folded across her chest. “Why can’t this trail lead us to some tropical planets for a change? You know, azure water and long, golden beaches…”
“Where’s the fun in that?” replied Sterling, smiling. “Give me an inhospitable hellhole any day.”
Sterling invited Banks to take the lead and tapped his neural interface to connect with his chief engineer.
“Lieutenant Razor, the ship is yours while I’m gone,” Sterling said through the neural link. “But if so much as a gnat buzzes past this planet, I want to know about it.”
“Understood, Captain,” Razor replied, smartly. “I’m on my way to the bridge now.”
Sterling wasn’t a fan of wearing commando armor. He found it to be too bulky and restrictive compared to his regular uniform. However, as he and Banks stepped onto the deck of the cargo area, and heard the rain hammering down onto the lowered ramp, he was glad of the extra protection it offered. Lieutenant Shade appeared at the top of the ramp, rifle slung over her shoulder, and waited for Sterling and Banks to arrive. Rain streamed off her armor like water off a car windshield. The wetness caused the dull-grey, composite material to shimmer with a soft luster, reflecting what little light the planet’s twin moons offered.
“The commando units are in position and I’ve placed sensor beacons around the ship,” said Lieutenant Shade as all three began to step down the ramp. “If anything tries to creep up on us this time, we’ll know about it.” Shade then raised her left arm. The computer screen was showing a rough, wireframed schematic of Thrace Colony. “This appears to the be the main administrative building for the colony,” Shade went on, highlighting the building in red. She scrolled the display to the right and highlighted a larger, multi-story structure. “This appears to be a standard colony accommodation block. The energy readings we picked up from the ship are concentrated in these two areas.”
Sterling nodded then unslung his plasma rifle. “We check out the administration building first,” he said, dialing the power level of the weapon to a medium setting. “If any of the colony’s scanners were active during the time Colicos’ shuttle passed through here, we might be able to retrieve some information from their logs.”
“With power out, we might need to force entry,” Banks added. She then jogged to the side of the hangar bay and lifted a hefty-looking, reinforced backpack off the wall. “This pack includes some basic tools and equipment, along with some portable power cells,” she said, slinging the pack on as she returned.
“I didn’t have you down as a cat burglar, Commander,” teased Sterling. “I might have to check the ship’s stores to make sure there are no missing meal trays.”
“If I wanted to break into the stores, I wouldn’t need the gear in the backpack,” Banks replied, tightening the strap. “I’d just rip the door open.”
“Noted,” replied Sterling with a smile. He then looked up at the dark sky and driving rain and the smile fell away. “Okay, let’s move out,” he said, stepping out into the elements and instantly regretting it as rain hammered down on his helmet. It sounded like someone was playing a drumroll on his head.
“Let’s make this quick, before the weather takes a turn for the worse,” Banks said, appearing at Sterling’s side. She was scowling up at the swirling black clouds, blinking rainwater out of her eyes.
“Can it really get any worse than this?” Sterling replied, stepping off the ramp and into the mud. His boot sank into the ground then made a sickening organic squelch as he pulled it out again. “On second thoughts, don’t answer that,” he said, not wanting to tempt fate.
Lieutenant Shade took the lead and soon they had reached the sensor perimeter the commandoes had set up around the ship. The computer on Sterling’s left arm bleeped an alert as Shade stepped across the threshold, followed by two more alerts as he and Banks followed soon after. The mud made progress slow and laborious, but eventually the sludge retreated and gave way to the synthetic roa
d surfaces that most outer-world colonies used. Even so, some of the structures on the outskirts of the colony town had still been built on elevated footings over coarse gravel surfaces. Over time, Sterling knew that these temporary structures would have been replaced with permanent buildings as the colony developed. However, it was clear that the Sa’Nerran attack had spoiled those plans a long time ago.
“I think I preferred the mud,” said Sterling, pausing for a moment to survey the colony, which looked even bleaker up-close than it had from the air.
Wind howled through the streets, whistling through smashed windows and slamming doors that were already partly broken off their hinges against the walls. However, while Sterling counted weapons and even the odd boot amongst the litter lining the streets, the absence of one thing in particular was beginning to concern him.
“Where are all the bodies?” said Sterling, kicking one of the boots across the hard floor. “The Sa’Nerra just leave the dead to rot, but if the Sa’Nerra did this then we should be seeing some evidence of human remains.”
“And Sa’Nerran remains,” Banks added, kneeling down to pick up a satchel that was strewn across the street. “Those alien bastards don’t care about their own causalities either,” she added, unzipping the bag.
“Animals could have eaten the bodies, though I’d still expect to see sections of warrior armor scattered across the ground,” Lieutenant Shade pointed out.
Shade was scouring the area like a hunter, though unlike himself and Banks the rain did not appear to faze the weapons officer in the slightest. Banks finished rummaging through the bag she’d found, pulling out a broken personal data assistant, a half-drunk plastic bottle of water and a wallet. She flipped open the wallet, the contents of which had largely perished under the continual, driving rain that afflicted Thrace Colony, and scowled down at an ID card.
“Anything useful?” asked Sterling.
Banks tossed the Satchel away then moved over to Sterling, holding the ID card up so that he could read it.
“It’s just a standard outer-colony ID card and founder’s rights claim,” she said, allowing Sterling time to scan the card before tossing it into the mud. “This place is a graveyard. If the Sa’Nerran warrior did bring Colicos here, all they would have found was a whole lot of nothing, just like we have.”
Sterling cursed and peered up into the sky again. The rain was now coming down so hard that each drop felt like a ball-bearing being shot into his face. The wind had also picked up and the distant rumble of thunder was growing less distant with each passing minute. Shade’s computer then bleeped an update and the weapons’ officer raised her arm to check it. Sterling observed a hint of quiet concern on Shade’s usually unreadable expression.
“Is there a problem, Lieutenant?” said Sterling, stepping closer to the weapons officer so he could be heard. The howling wind was stealing his voice and carrying it away into the darkness.
“I’m detecting movement, Captain,” replied Shade, getting straight to the point. “The storm is interfering with the readings, but it looks like it’s from inside the administration building up ahead.”
Sterling checked his own computer then updated the weather report. The storm was worsening and it had also changed direction. The worst of it was now going to roll straight through Thrace Colony, rather than skirt around the edge.
“Let’s give it another thirty minutes, then head back,” Sterling said, lowering his arm and raising his rifle. “If we don’t find anything by then, we’ll come back after the storm has passed.”
“We might be here a while in that case,” said Banks, who was also studying her computer. “Based on these projections, the colony is going to be hit worse over the next few days than it is now. Believe it or not, this may be the calmest spell of weather we’re going to get for some time.”
Sterling cursed again then glanced ahead to the administration building. He hated having decisions forced on him by circumstances out of his control, but even an Omega Captain couldn’t bend the elements to his will.
“Okay, let’s check out the administration building,” he said, taking the lead this time. “Everyone switch to neural communications. I can’t hear anything over the sound of rain drilling into my head.”
Sterling pushed on, reaching a narrow flight of stairs that led up to the administration building. Sections of the structure had been smashed open, allowing him into the foyer without needing to employ the equipment in Banks’ backpack. The relief from the driving rain was instant and welcome. However, the damage to the structure was so severe that water cascaded down the walls and streamed in through holes in the ceiling.
“The computer console on the reception desk looks intact,” said Banks, moving over to the machine. She tried to activate the computer, but the screen remained blank. “The power is out, I’ll try to connect an external source,” she added. Banks then unslung her pack, removed a portable power cell and a toolkit, and set to work.
Sterling left his first officer to the task at hand. Then another alert chimed out from his and Shade’s computers.
“Movement again,” said Shade, who was quicker on the draw than Sterling and had already assessed the reading.
“Where?” said Sterling, holding his rifle ready.
“West side,” said Shade, indicating the direction with her hand.
“Commander, hurry it up, we have company,” Sterling said to Banks.
“I’ve got this thing live,” Banks replied. “Give me two minutes to interface my computer with it.”
Sterling saw that Banks’ face was now illuminated by the cool glow of the administration computer’s screen. The opportunity to retrieve valuable information from the console was worth the risk, he judged.
“Two minutes, Commander, but look alive,” Sterling replied as the sound of glass smashing and heavy blocks crashing to the deck reached his ears. This was followed by a series of reverberant thuds through the building’s concrete floor. “Weapons ready, take cover,” Sterling called out, upturning a steel table then ducking behind it. Lieutenant Shade had slipped behind a support pillar; weapon also held ready. However, Banks was still exposed.
Hard thuds continued to hammer through the floor, then suddenly stopped. Sterling concentrated, trying to filter out the near constant white noise of running water. Then a deep bass rumble cascaded through the floor, like the sound of percussionist beating a timpani drum. However, this time it was not thunder that had rattled Sterling’s chest. This was something else, and it was coming closer.
Chapter 13
Uninvited guests
Suddenly a section of the west wall exploded as if a bomb had gone off, sending breeze blocks and rubble soaring across the room. Shade narrowly missed being struck by one of the missiles and was then consumed by dust and smoke. Sterling instinctively ducked behind the table, which was then peppered with flying debris and glass. Coughing dust from his mouth and lungs, Sterling recovered then aimed his rifle over the top of the table, looking for the source of the blast. What he saw was enough to chill the bones of even the coldest killer. Red eyes the size of tennis balls stared back at Sterling from what remained of the west wall. The creature had rough grey skin with a head like a rhinoceros, but a body that more closely resembled a gorilla. It rested forward on claw-tipped knuckles, attached to arms that looked like they could have supported the weight of a combat shuttle. The creature roared and the rumble of its voice almost bowled Sterling over. It then hammered its fist into the deck, cracking the concrete, and charged directly at him.
Sterling opened fire with his rifle, striking the creature three times before it bundled through the table like a bulldozer. The blow sent him crashing against the far wall and left him in a heap on the floor. He was dazed and winded; the protection of his commando armor saved him from what otherwise would have been a fatal impact. Plasma blasts then cut through the clouds of dust, striking the massive animal in the chest. Sterling saw Shade advancing on the creature until she was bl
asting it at near point-blank range. The beast’s skin was now blackened and burned in places, but incredibly it was still alive. Shade’s onslaught would have been enough to kill a whole squad of Sa’Nerran warriors, but the creature refused to die.
There was another roar from the beast then a swipe of the animal’s claw hammered Shade across the room. She skidded over the smooth concrete like a hockey puck then Sterling lost her in a cloud of dust and rubble. Pushing himself up, Sterling saw his rifle on the ground and threw himself at it. The creature spotted him and advanced, but was then hit by more plasma blasts, this time from Commander Banks. One of the beast’s enormous claw-tipped arms now hung limp at its side, burned in a dozen places. The animal roared again then raised its good arm to shield its face before charging at Banks. Due to the injuries it had sustained, the creature’s movements were less explosive than before, but the impact of its charge was still like a grenade detonating at close range. Sterling saw Banks’ dive over the counter moments before the beast piled through it, wrecking it and the computer system that she had been working on. Sterling’s first officer was back on her feet in a flash, but the creature reacted just as swiftly, stabbing at her with its claw. Banks managed to deflect the attack with her rifle, but the impact smashed the weapon in half. The creature then drew back its claw and thrust it at her again, but Banks caught the beast’s talon and pushed back with all her strength. The sheer mass of the creature was too much for Banks to overcome and she was driven back against the wall. Sterling saw the claw begin to penetrate through the chest armor of his first officer. It was only because of her inhuman strength that she was able to resist the beast at all.
Knowing he had mere seconds to act, Sterling grabbed his rifle, turned the power setting to maximum, then ran at the creature. The beast’s red eyes saw him approach and the creature tried to kick out at him with its shorter, but still stocky rear legs. Sterling evaded the kick then ducked under the beast’s massive arm, which was still crushing Banks hard against the wall. With its other arm still limp and useless, the creature was unable to intervene as Sterling thrust the barrel of the plasma rifle underneath the beast’s head and fired. Even at point-blank range the creature’s impossibly tough shell repelled the blast, but Sterling fired again and again and again. Finally, the creature’s head exploded, splattering Sterling with chunks of hot flesh that were harder than lumps of coal. He fell back and slid down against the wall alongside his first officer, who had prized the dead creature’s claw away from her body. Turning to her, Sterling held the back of Banks head and peered into her eyes. She was breathless and too exhausted to speak, either with spoken words or through their neural link. Then she raised her own hand, grasped Sterling’s wrist and nodded to him. This was all the reassurance Sterling needed to know that she was okay.
