by M E Wise
Brigs and I moved to clear the downstairs and use the front door. Tekkers were searching the area. Some still looked human enough to confuse the eye. Others skimmed over the ground on treaded seats. Many had shimmering metal appendages like cybernetic enhancements. I still remember how far the Tekker captain we discovered went to modify his person; it was inhuman.
We made our way back up the stairs. “They are outside. We need to leave from above.” The Halfer girl had suited up and thrown her cloak over the entire ensemble. “What’s your name,” I asked kindly. “Faith.” She replied. “Faith, you are going to be fine and your parent’s will be fine.” She squinted her large eyes, “I’m twenty-five!” She barked. “You are still going to be fine.” I added. “Is everyone pressurized?” They all signaled good. I nodded to Brigs. We sat outside the pressurized doors we came through as he signaled a countdown then Troy unsealed the door.
Brigs fired two quick shots into an unseen target. We passed the corpse still twitching on the stairs down. He then fired several more shots dropping two more targets ahead. He was very efficient at what he does. Shots zipped by us in the rear! “Get down and stay low.” I took a clear shot on a target ahead and scored to my surprise. Some residual skills from my sparring sessions with Brigman. “They’re still human you know!” Shouted Faith muffled by her helmet. I ignored her chastising.
We pushed ahead as some of the more mobile Tekkers retreated backward. I stepped over a body, the helmet was lit from the inside revealing a fleshy skeletal face with electronic eyes. The older women behind gasped and stopped. Faith also re-evaluated her previous claim. “Keep moving please!” I insisted. They gave the body a wide birth. I could now see where we entered the city in random signs of our approach. Brigs was now circling to our rear to protect our six as he called it.
“I’m calling the transport remotely.” I tapped my COM and hit the signal command. Brigs followed suit. More lights scattered in the ghost town that was Artemis II. “There will be drones and drone ships soon.” Brigs announced. Our opal craft distorted the night sky as they came over head. “They’re so pretty!” Clamored Laine over their hums. The rear hatches both opened for our rescued. “Laine and Troy with Brigs! Dr. Drakos and Faith with me.” The Doctor looked to disagree. “No discussions! Not now!” I ordered.
They boarded and Brigs and I followed suit in the front canopies. Projectiles pinged off our shells with little effect. Larger rounds however would be a different story; missiles would bring us right back down to Mars in as many pieces as we were lucky to remain in. “Keep your suits on. We don’t know if there are any leaks. Once we are clear of danger I will relax on the pushiness!” I gave a thumbs up to my passengers. Their stares were fixed on their disappearing home.
“Bravo III?” I questioned over the open COM. “Negative. Look up.” Brigs responded. The atmosphere above held an Orbital Guard Cruiser waging a confrontation with several Tekker barges! “Got something for that?” I asked as we changed course slightly. “SHTF!” He laughed loudly. “Shit hit the fan!” He sent me a new vector straight through the fight. “A straight line is still the fastest way between two points even slightly curved for space!” He rang out crazily on the COM. “It’s not our fight.” I challenged his logic.
“They make it or they don’t.” He fired back. “We make it or they don’t.” I closed my eyes and linked with Brigs for a moment. I sent him many different strategies and exchanged his quickly. The one we decided on had to be the most insane of them all. “Let’s do this!” I said.
Reign Eternal Chapter 5
Perpetual Mind
“This is fucking nuts!” Brigs called across the COM. “You know this right?” We were in deep space on the wrong side of our craft, the outside. The four rescued from Artemis II were making a large wake to avoid the conflict and rendezvous at new coordinates with the Castor. “We can’t risk the Castor under these circumstances. By now the OG know the Tekkers want something interesting. Once we were detected on telemetry the decision was made.” Brigs nodded to everything I said. “We have no choice but to make some noise and hope Drakos and her people make it to the Castor.”
“Why wouldn’t they! We’re about to take all the attention aren’t we!” Brigs howled insanely.
There are no weapons on the opal craft save for a massive energy pulse much like an electro-magnetic pulse. The idea was we land on a near barge and zap it! Then we fight like hell on the hull until we can secure a probe ship or two. The other opal craft carrying our packages would then have time to make it away safely with one message, “See you on Phobos!” From myself and Brigs. We had landed under fire and drew loads of attention. Two other Tekker barges that came from deeper space were drawing more fire than the one we landed on though. The Tekker drones and OG fighters were a different matter.
“Unclassified vessel visualized on the Tekker barge!” Rang out on the COM traffic we were monitoring.
“That’s our cue!” We charged our electro-magnetic boots and began the opal ship’s countdown for a full pulse purge. We took off running in the vacuum of space along the hull of a massive barge. Brigs was ecstatic! “This can go so wrong!” I chortled as we hid behind some raised material. Mars displayed huge and all-encompassing in the background, behind us the empty embrace of space, save for several Tekker barges and the presence of an Orbital Guard cruiser. The panels inside the opal craft began to illuminate brighter and brighter. “Duck!” Brigs pulled us both into cover. Light flickered profoundly behind us. The lack of sound was completely unsettling.
Panels began bursting all around us. “That did it!” I jumped to my feet. “Let’s get moving!” We ran down a sturdy main frame path. “This isn’t good! No, no, no!” Brigs looked panicked as he pointed. Our barge was drifting nose first into the OG Cruiser! “How long?” He shrugged. “Brace for it!” The two goliaths rammed into each other. Metal and debris shredded into shards and pieces and floated into the void. “This tug’s dead in space Reign.” Brigs drug me by the arm hard. “We need to make the Cruiser!”
We started running harder! Gushes of pressurized contents ruptured all around us. Brigs pointed as he ran. “Jump for the gap there!” A shorter distance between vessels was the goal. Both the Tekker barge and the OG Cruiser were mangled in the collision and the opening in the Cruiser seemed as good as any place to make landing. Brigman leaped first as his magnetic boots registered his intentions. I followed closely behind sparks and plasma lighting the way. Vacuum suits will forever be my favorite Mor’h technology! A thought I kept to myself.
The jump was a hell of a lot longer once we committed to it. “What now?” I said as we were obviously going to miss our mark. “Brace for whatever we come into contact with!” He bounced off the shell of the Cruiser and slid. I was able to gain a hold on some cable dangling from the interior of the OG Cruiser. Brigs gained a grip on some kind of panel thirty meters ahead. “Brigs! Are you good?” I dangled loosely. “Brigs!” I called again. “Yeah, yeah! Good.” He said encouragingly.
“I’m going to pull myself in on this cable, mag-lock then use it to get you.” I started pulling myself in. The one great thing about weightlessness is the ability to move freely. The one bad thing; among many, was that at any moment you could become a projectile. I was greatly relieved as my feet clinked tightly against the Cruiser’s shell. My wrist indicator registered the lock and I was free to walk on the hull. “Just hang on!” I shouted over the COM. “That’s the idea Sir.” Brigs chimed back. The motion of the Cruiser was making movement hard. The debris fought back as it drifted about. There was also the very real threat the two ships could collide again.
“Almost there!” I could see his face lit up in the geometric hood. He was fine but obviously having some issue. “My magnetic locks won’t activate!” He explained. “That makes sense.” I was less alarmed with a suit malfunction than some greater medical emergency. “We can reboot it inside.” I gave him some cable to hold. “Inside?” He questioned.
&n
bsp; “We need to get a ride. I’m not staying on board any of these vessels, much less outside!” I helped him secure his feet. He drifted and tucked the cable as I walked us to a break in the hull. “Excuse me!” I said pulling a dead crewman from the entry area. “That’s morbid Sir, very morbid!” Brigs balked. “Says the trigger happy warlord!” I scoffed back. We found steady feet in what was the remains of a cabin. The poor crewman must have been pressure locked inside. He drifted away in his physical training gear.
“What is your best guess on what’s behind the door?” I asked jokingly.
“Some pissed off people! Most likely armed.” Brigs answered.
“Did we screw up?” I leaned up to see in the porthole.
“A little.” He replied. “Do you think they made it?” He asked.
“The Tekkers are happy little scavengers right now!” I replied as drones blinked in an out of the debris.
“And the OG are trying to keep their boat afloat.” Brigs added.
“Yes, I think what we did worked.” I sighed and collected myself. “Where’s the flight deck on one of these?” I asked.
“Persistent aren’t we!” Brigs laughed. “About one hundred meters that way and several decks up.” He motioned lazily.
“On three I am going to open this door.” I stood firm against the tightening arm. “Whatever happens after that happens.”
Brigs too clinched the handle. “Got a plan?” He asked with a little hesitation. “I’m always thinking.” I cranked on the pressure lock and we were tugged against twice, by pressure inside giving way and the pressure outside then taking. Brigs pulled himself in and used his might to tether us to the wall across from us. I sprawled in the door frame slamming the door behind and falling against the wall. “That went well.” I teased.
Brigs stood and pulled out his sidearm. I gathered close quarters was not the area for rifles. “If we can make the service tubes we can follow them with random breaks and not meet much opposition.” Brigs seemed newly invigorated. There was no irony lost on the OG pistol in his hand and the once proud Sergeant Major of the Orbital Guard was now twice an outlaw. He made no mention of it though. The other problem with our situation was the more obvious, an alien and a heavily modified SPEAR soldier, former or not were like a red flower against white blossoms. In this garden we were odd, very odd.
We slinked further down the hall. I couldn’t sense anyone close but the design of the vessel had overlapping levels confusing height and placement so I couldn’t be sure. “I can’t scan too long or they may notice the invading feeling of the link.” I said aloud. Brigs nodded.
“There’s a maintenance hatch there.” Brigs signaled a set of small doors about twenty feet away. “I have an idea.” I searched about for a small group of people together. I stunned one and felt dizzy from the event. The soldiers nearest us went to investigate. “Good thinking Reign. But no more hero crap. We need our wits to make it out of here.” Brigs scolded.
Brigs barely fit through the panels but once inside we had plenty of room. “I escaped the Flagship Stonewall once just like this.” I said humorously. “I know. It caused me to join the SPEAR. It’s amazing how things come full circle.” Brigs added. There wasn’t any tension but I certainly felt the need to scan Brigs. He felt me there. “Reign, no need.” He looked back as we moved forward. “It’s like the woman back there said. You’re the future.”
Brigs looked ahead at the darkness. “So many parts of the ship are wrecked. Most of the maintenance crew are seeing to sealing decks to keep people from suffocating.” He continued. “Not much further until we have to climb up.” We found the tube up and climbed fast in the dark crawl space and flashing emergency lights. “Here!” He said after some ways. The door opened to a storage area much like it did on the Stonewall. “Another Aries?” He laughed to himself. “Why not?” I smiled.
We boarded the Aries of nearly identical styling as Ben’s Baby! The flight deck was empty save for tower guards. Brigs used an emergency sequence still in use to grant us use of the craft. “Some things never change!” He grinned. We proceeded to a side exit. “Take the wheel a second will you.” He left the cockpit and opened the side door. He pulled the Mor’h rifle from his back and fired one shot into the locking panel. The yellow alarm lights began circling and the first door of the airlock opened. “They’re too busy to notice.” He laughed. We entered the lock and as the door sealed behind us the outer door released us into space.
Every person currently in the sky had more than enough to deal with without pursuing one lone vessel. The Tekkers and the OG were having to sort out their issues alone. I dug for the friend or foe tracker and tore it out as Ben had before. I loaded it into the airlock and released it. “No one will ever believe this.” Brigs sat exhausted. “Oh but they will!” I tapped my head. He grinned as big as I have ever seen him do it. We laughed loudly and made for Phobos.
At 25’000 miles an hour we nursed our aches and split duty at the helm. “The Captain’s finest!” Brigs handed me a very old Earth brandy. “There are several bottles of many different kinds of the smoothest toxicity man can offer.” He pulled the cork on a bottle of his own. “To the future!” He winked. After traveling for nearly five hours a drink isn’t a bad idea. “To the future!” We clinked bottles and took healthy drinks. The sky distorted ahead around Phobos. “Try the COM or link or whatever.” Brigs shifted his attention.
“Attention: Castor: Open channel requested. Attention: Sal’Din: Star-child inbound. Repeat:”
My message went unanswered. I closed my eyes and focused on the link as the COM on my vacuum suit chimed out. “Reign! Where the hell have you been bro?” It was Ben. “Is that my Baby? A new Baby!” His voice broke with excitement. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you but you will when I show you!” Brigs and myself started laughing. “Do you have the package? I mean, do we have confirmation on Bravo III.” Brigs socked me in the shoulder for the correction. “Yes sir!” Ben answered quickly. “The eagle has landed!” We all laughed at the age old reference. “Pick us up and let’s head home.”
Dae wasn’t at all happy with the way we achieved our goal but the news of our rescued guests took the heat out of the moment. An observation deck in the fin of the Castor was my favorite spot on the ship. There wasn’t much space so we called it the crow’s-nest, a relic of description from maritime sailing ships. The way we have been going about our business lately could suggest we were privateers. Or worse pirates! The perspective would certainly change based on how we have traded paths.
We have phase jumped twice and were now in our layover point in the binary system of the Carnimor’h. The system held a marvelous duality, one star dominated the gravity of the other, leaving the smaller star leashed in a slow orbit around it. There were at least ten planetesimal bodies. The primordial world the Carnimor’h ruled over was fourth from the largest star. Several belts circled the planet giving it an ominous barrier of rocky debris. We had started naming some less identifiable areas like this. Dr. Drakos suggested the ancient word Kyrios for the system; meaning lord, Lord and master, the two lords of different stature being the stars and the apt identified Carnimor’h as the master of their domain.
“You do remain elusive don’t you Reign.” Came the youthful voice of an older woman. “I have known you a little over 60 hours and you whisk me away from home like Robin Hood with a prized wagon. Only to hide away in your tree-house.” Dr. Drakos stood beside me and I noticed her stature; long, thin and of average height. Her presence though was prolifically larger. “You don’t mind the company do you?” I made some space. “Not at all.”
“What is it you see when you gaze out into nowhere?” She asked deep questions frequently. “I don’t see emptiness or some other readable response. I see what is there, colored with potential.” I continued to stare forward. She waited for more so I elaborated. “I think on my place in the greater picture and how infinitesimal that role is. But I see the effec
t small changes like myself have on the greater whole, for better or worse.”
“That’s a lot to think about! I’ve always thought big. Many of my colleagues saw this as arrogance. I guess I didn’t share your own, or their, internal piety.” She often had the knack for backhanded compliments. If Q’ua Z were a human woman I could see him as her. “But I digress; you were alone and I intruded.”
“It’s no infringement. Please stay and talk a while.” I reluctantly felt this was necessary.
“Are you sure you don’t want to just…” she wiggled her hands and fingers around her temples and ears, “exchange our mental links! Share minds with an old woman of a contradictory history!” She amused herself. “Oh come now! The good doctor is only trying to rattle your cage. Take notes on the reactions I get.” I ignored the antagonizing. “I am grateful for you saving our lives Reign. That miserable rock was feeling like a tomb.”
“We are happy to save your lives.” I answered quickly. We paused uncomfortably. “Tombs and cages vary on whether one is alive or dead don’t they!”
