by T. R. Harris
The huge, circular room at the base of the stairway was also decorated with a variety of statues, settees, credenzas and the like, so the soldiers were able to find ample cover, including two of the electric carts that were closer to their position. Quint and I couldn’t get very few clear shots. I began to get worried, because the longer it took us to clear this force and make it up the stairway, the more likely other troops would arrive, both from down here and also from the surface.
And then to top it all off, Bill was coming to.
Miranda and Vol’ox had pulled Bill up to the cart next to where Quint and I were finding cover, but I could hear his grumbling even over the sound of the random flash bolt whizzing by. I looked over and saw that Miranda had planted a knee in Bill’s chest and stuck the MK just under his chin. Even then, the groggy look of Bill’s eyes showed that he wasn’t even aware of either. That would change, and then Miranda would have a heluva mess on her hands.
I took one of my crunchy caramel balls from my pocket. Quint saw me do it. “Hungry, or are you planning on throwing that thing?”
“Throwing it,” I said. “We can’t get a good shot on any of them, but this thing can arch over.”
“Like a hand grenade, but without the explosion?”
“That’s right.”
“Without the boom-boom and you expect it to work?”
“Oh ye of little faith….” And then I tossed the ball. The ceiling in the huge room was well over a hundred feet high, and was part of the mound on the surface. So I was able to get some pretty good height on the throw. But the ball landed short of my target.
Quint looked at me with disgust, shaking his head.
“Hey, it takes a while to gauge the weight and distance. The next one will be better.”
And it was. This time the ball made it over the barricade formed when a couple of statue tables had been pushed together. I heard a yelp – and then a Zorphin suddenly sprang up from behind the barrier, clearing it by a good two feet. He landed awkwardly on the tables and fell forward, losing his weapon in the process.
Quint and I both opened up, and soon another alien was dead.
“Well I’ll, be damned – it worked,” Miranda cried out from twelve feet away.
“Get ready,” I said to Quint. “I’ll throw, you shoot.”
Quint took aim toward the barricade and nodded. “Ready.”
I heaved another of the balls; another answering ‘yelp,’ and another jumping alien. Quint didn’t even let this one land before shooting him. It was a like playing a life-size game of Whack-A-Mole, but this time with bug-like aliens.
Since I had the stronger arm and better aim, I did the throwing while Quint did the shooting. Soon another five Zorphins were dead.
**********
“I need more balls!” I shouted to Miranda.
“I knew that already,” she called back with a smile. But then she rolled the ones she had over to me.
Quint slapped another power pack into his S-33, and we set about shooting skeet with the jumping Zorphins.
There were shouts coming from all over the enemy position, as officers pleaded with their troops not to jump when the balls approach. I spotted one of the officers exposed slightly as he yelled out. I took aim and let loose with one of my tasty treats.
He didn’t see it coming, so I yelled out as loud as I could, “Hey!”
This got his attention, just as the ball closed on his face. Seeing the ball, the officer instinctively jumped, and Quint nailed him just as he cleared his cover.
There were still ten or so of the soldiers remaining and I knew more would be showing up behind us soon. But now the survivors were beginning to break rank and panic. A couple broke for the stairway, where Miranda cut them down with two accurate blasts from her MK-17.
Let’s see: two running/hopping targets at a distance of about forty yards. Now that was some impressive shooting, especially for a person with no military experience.
But I didn’t have time to dwell on that for long, because the remaining troops were now retreating down the corridor at the other side of the lobby chamber.
“Put Bill in the back of that cart and then you and Vol’ox get over to the stairs. We’ll cover you!” I ordered Miranda. But she was already a step ahead of me, and the cart pulled away even before I finished my sentence.
“Quint, break right as I cover you. In three, two, one, break!”
I laid down suppressing fire at the retreating aliens as the rest of my party reached the wide stairway. Quint helped the other two carry Bill up the stairs. The alien was more aware of things now and his huge head wobbled around, trying to focus on what was going on around him. He was still groggy enough that they reached the top of the stairs without him protesting too much.
At the top, Quint took a knee and sighted his weapon along his cheek. I took off in a sprint for the stairs as Quint laid down covering fire; even as series of bolt splashes struck the marble floor around me as I ran.
I took the stairs three steps at a time – and was panting like a horse after a ten furlong race by the time I reached the top.
I slid in next to Quint and took aim. “I need to work out more,” I managed to say.
“I’ve been telling you that for years,” Quint replied, “and more than just your silly softball games.”
“Hey, my softball skills just saved our asses.”
“More like your culinary skills, dickhead.”
“There’s more coming from outside!” Miranda screamed.
I patted Quint on the shoulder and then took off toward the huge opening leading outside. The sun was low in the sky by now, so the light streaming through wasn’t too much of an adjustment for my eyes. Miranda and Vol’ox had Bill over at the right side of the opening, and now she was standing on his chest, pinning him to the floor. I saw the recognition in Bill’s eyes as I ran over to the trio. He knew me, but there was no animosity in this gaze, so he was still out in la-la-land somewhere.
“There,” Miranda said, pointing to a grouping of Zorphin soldiers near a supply truck and a small armored vehicle. There were a dozen of them, and then to the left three more vehicles were approaching, all loaded down with armed aliens.
Across the vast field I could see the Enterprise on the landing pad about two hundred yards away. That was too far to run, especially having to carry Billork.
“Hurry up,” Quint yelled from the top of the stairs. “Another dozen or so have turned up and they’re all moving this way.”
Shit! We were boxed in by overwhelming superior numbers and firepower. I looked down at Bill. His expression was changing; he was becoming angrier.
I got him to his feet. “You know who I am?” I asked, pressing the S-33 into his chin.
“Yes I do, and you should know you will not get out of here alive. You have no option but to release me and surrender.”
“Sorry, Bill, but you gave me no option when you sentenced us all to death. Now if I die, so do you.”
I hauled him out in front of me and into the open. The troops outside, now estimated to be about forty, saw that I had a Zorphin with me. I was hoping that even at this distance, someone would recognize Bill and hold their fire.
But no such luck. A barrage of flash bolts came flying my way, and it was all I could do to get us both back behind cover without getting either of us killed.
“That was a foolish move, Jason. There are easier ways of killing yourself than like that.” Bill said.
I ignored him. Instead I moved to the edge of the opening. “I have Billork Gon-Mok with me,” I yelled at the top of my lungs. “He’s your leader if you weren’t aware of that. Call a superior to verify. But we are all going to be moving toward the launch pad, and if you don’t want your leader to die, then you will hold your fire.”
“Is that you, Billork?” A strong voice called out from the cluster of troops now facing us.
“Yes, I am here!”
“Careful, my friend,” I whispered to Bill
. “Don’t say or do anything foolish.” And for emphasis, I stabbed Bill’s rib cage with the barrel of the S-33. He grimaced and then looked down at me with a frown.
“Was that really necessary?”
“Damn you, Bill, we’ve known each other for a long time. I still can’t believe you’re the mastermind behind this whole thing, and that you would do this to me.”
“My name is Billork! It is not Bill, or Billy, or even Billy-Bob. And actually the decision to involve you was an easy one.”
I was genuinely hurt. Even though I had spent the past seven years on Sylox, I didn’t associate with many aliens. I had Human customers, I shopped at Human stores, and I even ordered most of my major items from Amazon – which by the way had just opened a major warehouse in Sylox City. So I had really considered Bill – Billork – a friend, and certainly my closest alien friend. And now my friend was glaring down at me with open hatred.
But right now I needed him to save our lives.
“Answer him, or I’ll kill you now. You’re just dead weight otherwise.”
“Hornus, it is Billork. The Humans have me hostage. I believe they want to get to their ship in safety.”
I nodded.
“Of course, Billork. We do not want you to come to any harm. Proceed. You will be safe.”
“That went well,” I said. I turned to the rest of my crew. “Let’s get ready to move out. Quint, get over here!”
“No! We cannot go out there,” Billork said.
“Why not? You heard what he said.”
“It will not be safe, for you – or for me.”
I smiled. “You don’t trust your own troops? I thought you were their messiah, the Zorphin who would free your people from bondage and lead them to the promise land?”
“I do not understand what you are saying, Jason King, but Hornus Rul may see this as an opportunity to advance within our organization.”
“Well, like I said, we live or die together. Let’s go and see what Hornus does. Everyone get behind us and stay close. There’s cover about twenty yards away, behind those power units. If the shooting starts head for them.” I then looked up at Billork and smiled. “You first, Billy-Bob.”
Fortunately it was easy to find cover behind the huge alien, although staying close became problematic because his reverse knee joints kept getting in the way. We moved out into the open.
“If they’re going to try anything, they’ll wait until we’re in no-man’s-land, between the opening and the power units. Be ready. It’s about ten yards away.”
Chapter 35
I hate always being right, but when the first bolt struck Bill in the left shoulder I was already halfway to the power units before he hit the ground. The kangaroo-like Vol’ox was there in three hops, while Miranda beat Quint by half a step. Shit! I had been the most-prepared and got the first step, yet I still came in a distant fourth.
There were bolts splashing all around us now, and it was all the four of us could do to keep our arms and hands inside the ride at all times. We were behind a metal box about three feet high by five wide that was some kind of power substation. There was another one just like it about six feet away, but with all the bolts hitting around us, we had to stay put.
Off to my left I could see Bill. He was alive but injured, writhing in pain while clutching his bloody shoulder. He was lucky the bolt just grazed him, because even a shoulder shot could have sent an overload of electricity into his system, killing him.
I knew his time was up, because even if we got away, Bill’s friend and associate Hornus would finish him off once the fighting stopped.
So how does it feel to be betrayed by a friend, I thought.
“Movement on the right, Jason,” Quint cried out over the loud screams of the flash bolts. I knew they weren’t real screams, but rather superheated air reacting to the passage of the extremely dense concentrations of plasma energy. They still made a racket that it was hard to hear over the sheer number of bolts zipping by.
“Got any more caramel balls to throw at them, Jason?” Miranda asked. She was huddled next to me, holding her MK-17 close to her face and winching at every close strike of energy bolts.
I was about to make some snide remark when Quint’s shout got my attention. “They’re going to flank us.”
Behind the power modules and the troops firing on us was a grove of low-branched trees. They had been groomed, so there was still a lot of space between the ground and the branches, but at least the trunks were all about five feet in diameter.
“We’re going to have to get to the woods. Miranda and Quint go first. Vol’ox and I will follow as the two of you lay down cover fire.”
“Cover fire against a force of forty to fifty – from just two of us?” Miranda yelled, ducking from a bolt that hit a mere eight inches from her head. “That’s not going to suppress too many of the bastards.”
“If you have a better idea, I’m all ears.”
“I say we wait for that spaceship to land and then see what happens.”
I turned my head to her and then followed her gaze into the darkening sky. There was indeed a ship up there, making an approach. It was still a mile or so off, but even then I could see that it was a Marine L-16 landing craft.
My heart leapt, but then I thought: L-16’s only carried nine assault troops, and there were now over fifty aliens lining the barricades across the field and working their way to our right through the trees.
The aliens had seen the approaching spacecraft as well, and now their rate of fire was cut down considerably. Orders were being barked out across the field, and I chanced a glance around the power module in time to see about half the aliens load into two transport trucks and head off toward the anticipated LZ of the L-16.
The troops in the woods had also stopped their advance as they awaited orders. A minute later they were back on the march, and now only about fifty yards away.
Our S-33’s only had a maximum range out to about a hundred yards – far less than traditional projectile weapons – and even at fifty yards, their accuracy wasn’t guaranteed. And our power packs were also running low. Why anyone would use these damn flash weapons was beyond me? Yet the customers had flocked to Battlefield Vegas just to try them. We also had a mini-gun at BV, a multi-barreled Gatling gun that could shoot a hundred rounds a second. What I wouldn’t give to have one of those right now, mounted in front of me so I could hear the wiz of the gun and then the intimidating whirling down of the barrels after a firing.
My fantasy was cut short by the resumption of flash bolts exploding the ground close to my feet. I tucked in closer to the power box. We’d waited too long now to make a break for the trees. So Quint and I popped the last power packs we had into our S-33’s and then spread out on our bellies on the cold ground and took aim at the aliens in the woods.
Miranda actually shot first, taking out a Zorphin on the left.
“So what’s your score now, Miranda?”
“Closing in on Level Five. How ’bout you?”
“I’m sure I’m all the way to L-9 by now. Quint’s probably already earned some bonus games.”
Vol’ox had been vomiting for some time now – you know that putrid, acid-laced alien puke similar to the blood in the Alien movies. “Why do you jest at a time like this?” he blabbered between heaves. “We are all going to die.”
“So what’s your point?” Quint asked.
We continued to rain fire into the woods, which the fifteen or so aliens returned without pause. The gray night of Sylox had fallen around us, but the constant barrage of flash weapons effectively lit the scene like midday. And the sounds were deafening, from the mini-explosions around us, plus the popping of the S-33’s.
**********
But then I heard another sound, something out of sync with the others, yet familiar.
It was automatic arms fire – that of M27 infantry assault rifles – undoubtedly coming from the hapless L-16 and its overmatched nine-man assault team. I could tell th
e Marines were putting up a valiant fight, but unless there were more of them….
Just then the sound of the M27’s turned into stereo and the volume increased. There was a second front, and this one was coming from across the field.
I rolled over a couple of times and twisted my body so I could see across the field. There was a surge of aliens all moving to my right, and even as they hopped away I could see them looking back over their shoulders in a panic. The Zorphin were extremely fast creatures, able to hop not only about four feet into the air while running, but also another twelve feet down range with each jump. And now they were running/hopping away at close to fifty miles per hour.
But that still wasn’t enough.
The Zorphin are bug-like creatures, with a hard carapace on their backs and a near solid breast plate. But now their bodies were literally exploding as 5.56 mm NATO rounds tore into their bodies. In fact, I watched as what appeared to be a single round from an M27 ripped through three aliens in a row and still managed to blast a splinted hole in a tree trunk another thirty feet down range.
Miranda dove into the ground next to me and came up with a face full of dirt. She coughed, spit and blinked her eyes several times before she was able to speak. “Hey, I don’t do this for a living, so cut me some slack.”
“You don’t, huh? I would have never guessed it from what I’ve seen today.”
“Don’t jump to any silly conclusions just because a girl’s had a few self-defense classes. But on another subject, it looks like your girlfriend’s come through. Wilma, was it? That’s her name, right?”
“Jealous much?” I asked, actually with more sincerely than my eyes conveyed.
“You wish.”
“Dammit, you two, they’re still coming on this side.” I swear Quint looked like he was ready to shoot the both of us himself. I rolled back over next to him and proceeded to send another grasshopper to the happy hopping-grounds in the sky.
