Dust & Iron (Adventures of the Starship Satori Book 9)

by Kevin McLaughlin

  But he was just a little too slow noticing. Charline already had the clasps undone and was flipping open the lid. She looked inside the crate, eyes wide. This wasn’t what she expected to find at all. Although it was food-stuff, after a fashion. Charline looked up at Halcomb, who flushed a furious red.

  “I hope you have a very good explanation for this,” she said, pointing at the crate.

  “Well, ma’am, it was gonna be a long trip, right?

  “Mhmm.”

  Her flat stare made him drop his gaze to avoid it; impossibly, he turned even brighter crimson. Charline was trying not to laugh out loud. She knew she was barely keeping the grin from her face, but Halcomb was too embarrassed to notice.

  “I just thought, you know, we might want a little something to keep everyone happy. Keep morale up,” Halcomb finished.

  “Ah. So this was something you brought along to share with everyone?” Charline was pretty damned sure it wasn’t. He hadn’t meant for anyone else to discover the stash. If the landing had gone as planned, he probably would have gotten away with it, too. Pretty slick.

  “Yes, ma’am,” he replied with a sheepish grin. He knew he wasn’t fooling anyone.

  “Excellent. You’re officially our new morale and wellness officer,” Charline said.

  “I’m … what?”

  “Morale and wellness. Since you took the initiative and started working on a project of that nature, I thought you were the logical candidate for the job,” Charline said. She chuckled. “Of course, there isn’t too much for you to do in that post – but sharing out some of your loot here if it becomes appropriate might be nice.”

  She reached into the bin and pulled out a bottle of aged whiskey. It wasn’t the most expensive looking thing she’d ever seen. She didn’t recognize the brand label at all: “White Lion”? But that didn’t mean it was bad stuff. Lots of little shops were selling their own small-label brands. It might be really good, for all she knew.

  Or it might be complete shit. Either way, it would be good to have the team able to kick back and celebrate a bit, once they actually had something to celebrate.

  “Come on, let’s finish the rounds of these supplies and get over to the others,” Charline said. She peered in the direction Andy had taken his scouting team. They hadn’t gone far, and judging by the way he was still poking around the same mound of rubble it looked like he’d already found them a nest. Now they just had to dig in and hold it.

  EIGHT

  The spot Andy found was better than it had looked from a distance. It was the ruined shell of a building, ceiling long since collapsed and ground into chunks of rubble. The walls were broken, as well. Gaps showed here and there between tall teeth of stone rising from the ground. The spaces between allowed her people cover from which to fire out at anything that attacked them. The space in the middle wasn’t very well sheltered, but Halcomb found a tarp and some cord from somewhere and strung them up as an overhead cover. There wasn’t any rain to keep off, but it would shelter them from the broiling heat of the sun.

  They’d hauled most of the supplies inside. Charline wanted to use the suit to help, but Halcomb had been as good as his word. As soon as he was able, he started work on the machine. She wanted to watch as he modified it, but he shooed her away. She wandered about the camp, looking for something to do, but the others seemed to be taking good care. Andy was setting up watch schedules and telling people where they would stand guard. Karl supervised the move of the wounded into the shelter of the tarp and tended them once they were there. Charline went over to say hello to Arjun and thank him for his help, but a scowl from Karl made her think twice about the idea. The medic had been clear he didn’t want his patients bothered for anything short of an emergency. Visiting a hurt friend probably didn’t constitute one, and Charline was loathe to use her rank on anything she didn’t have to.

  Instead she went back outside the camp and helped drag the last few crates inside. They had at least found some food, but there wasn’t much of it. If the Satori was longer than a couple of days they were going to start getting very hungry. Charline couldn’t imagine being hungry enough to eat a ratzard, but it could actually come to that if they were stuck here too long. Although the insects might be safer to eat. Neither proposition sounded much fun.

  “Charline! Come see!” Halcomb called out.

  She jogged over, excited. “So soon?”

  “I told you it wouldn’t take too long. Not much to do,” Halcomb said. He turned sideways and let her pass him to look at her machine. He’d done more than a few changes.

  The heavy machine gun was mounted on the suit’s left arm. Why he’d chosen left, she didn’t know. Maybe to allow her to use a crowbar in the other hand? Charline grinned at the idea. Hey, if it worked, she’d use it.

  Then her eyes took in the shoulders, which had also been altered. This time she wasn’t as happy.

  “Is that my rifle bolted in up there?” Charline asked. It had better not be, she thought. But she was pretty certain that was precisely what she was looking at.

  “Yup. Got it hooked into the controls. Shoulder mount for optimal targeting and recoil absorption. I added a few controls inside to toggle the shot intensity from the Naga gun. And to fire both weapons, of course,” Halcomb said. “Fixed those holes in your suit, too. No sense going into battle looking like swiss cheese.”

  Charline walked over to the suit. The legs looked wrong, or at least different. She ran a hand over them, noting the rough texture where it had been smooth before. He’d added something there. More thickness? Yes, that had to be it.

  “You’ve increased the thickness of the armor plating as well,” Charline said.

  “Was wondering if you would notice. Yes, I did. Cut up one of the steel containers and welded the slices on as plates. I don’t know how much still it will take to stop those insect claws, but this will do better than what you had before,” Halcomb said.

  “Thanks. It’s gorgeous,” Charline said. She hopped up the stepping stone holds built into the suit’s side and peered into the cockpit area. It looked almost the same. Only a small console had been added. That had to be what controlled the weapon systems.

  “I think so, too. You know, we could probably make more of these,” he said.

  “What? How?”

  “We’ve got a fair number of parts and plenty of spare steel. Only the one Naga rifle, of course, but we have other weapons. If we went with one heavy gun per suit, I’m sure I could build at least one more. Maybe two or three if we’re lucky on the spare parts,” he said.

  “Sounds like a plan. Why don’t you see what we have? No using anything essential, but if it’s spare parts for something that’s still on the Satori, it’s fair game. Once you know what’s possible, come tell me,” Charline said. “No starting until I gave the OK, though.”

  “Yes, ma’am. You got it.”

  A commotion from the west side of the enclosure caught Charline’s attention. Someone was yelling over there.

  She tried to see what was going on. That side of their camp faced toward the ruined alien city. If the ratzards were going to come at them from anywhere, that was the most likely direction of travel. She started toward the shouts.

  “More over here!” came a call from the north side.

  “Here too!” someone shouted from the south. Gunshots rang out there, as well.

  Charline hung suspended between three fights for what felt like forever. She wanted to help all her people, but she could only go in one direction. And in this case, the best direction might not be toward the fighting at all. Whirling on her heel, Charline darted back toward the suit.

  She hit the side with speed and used her momentum to ascend the first few rungs. It was enough for her to grasp the lip of the pilot’s compartment so that she could haul herself inside.

  “Time to see if this actually works,” she muttered.

  She flicked the switches to power on the systems. The suit responded with a series of lou
d humming noises as it came online and did self-checks. This time she took the few seconds to carefully buckle herself into the harness. No sense taking herself out of the action with a fall. The webbing was there for a reason.

  By the time she was belted in safely, the suit was online. Charline took a step forward. She could hear gunfire from every direction except the east now. It was hard to tell which way was a feint and which the real attack. Logic said that the west was probably the largest force of ratzards. Worst case, she could easily move from there to either north or south, if she had to.

  “Clear a path! Coming through!” she called out over the loudspeakers. She had to be certain that her words were heard even over the din of combat.

  Charline took a lumbering step forward, and then a second. The feeling she remembered returned in a rush, that sense of being locked inside an invulnerable suit of armor. She grinned. If the suit worked as advertised, it was more than just armor now. It was a weapon as well.

  She reached the inside edge of the low wall of rubble and took a step up, easing her way onto the pile. It wouldn’t do to tip over in front of everyone! But she made the top without too much trouble. The screen in front of her gave her a good view of what was coming at them. She’d never seen so many ratzards! There had to be two dozen or more on this side alone. She’d assumed they lived in small packs, but it looked like they were capable of cooperation on a much grander level. They might not be able to hurt Charline within her protective armor, but if they got past her they would tear her people to shreds.

  It was up to her to make sure that didn’t happen.

  NINE

  There was no targeting system for her heavy machine gun. That was the first thing Charline noticed as she raised her right arm and clicked the button to fire. Rounds sparked off the rocks just past the ratzards. She was shooting with Kentucky windage: aiming, firing, and then adjusting to fire again. The second burst she squeezed off almost clipped a ratzard.

  Almost wasn’t good enough! They were closing fast. On either side of her, Charline could hear guns open up. Two of the creatures dropped. Her people were fighting back, but it wasn’t going to be enough. There were too many ratzards coming at them too rapidly.

  “I’ve got this. I can do this,” she whispered to herself.

  Charline’s thoughts drifted back to her days of competition shooting. The cool calm that she’d learned to cloak herself in during matches came back like a reflex. She was her weapon now. It was part of her. An extension of her arm. That there was a shell of steel in the way didn’t matter.

  The sound of her weapon firing was thunderous. Rounds ripped free from the barrel in a series of short bursts as Charline dragged her arm slowly from right to left. She hit target after target in the raking pass of fire.

  Some of them were still alive, yelping as they tried to limp away. Those she let go. They weren’t a threat anymore. Half their number hadn’t gotten the message yet, though. They were still rushing the camp.

  She took another step forward and kicked at the first as it came near. Her armored foot connected, sending the animal soaring through the air. It didn’t get back up again. Another ratzard tried to gnaw at her other leg. She aimed her left arm gun down at it and fired a short burst that tore her attacker apart.

  If she could keep all their attention on her, it would keep the rest of her people free from danger. The ratzards would have a hard time hurting her. Charline had to make sure they couldn’t figure that out, keep them thinking that she was the biggest, tastiest target they’d ever seen. Making herself more tempting ought to do the trick. She took several more long strides out into the middle of the pack, guns blazing. Several more ratzards went down. The rest gathered around her from all sides. They were cautious though, not willing to close in right away.

  Time to give them a weakness they could exploit. Charline intentionally made her suit stagger, then topple forward onto one knee. She reached down with her right arm to stabilize herself before the entire suit fell face-first into the dirt, but that was about as clear-cut a “look, I’m hurt!” signal as she could think of offering the creatures.

  They took the bait. In a coordinated surge the lizard-like things rushed her armor. Several of them leaped up onto the suit’s back, snarling behind her. Others nipped at her legs and arm. The sound of teeth meeting steel was like nails on a chalkboard, but Charline was sure they couldn’t get through her armor. Well, she was hoping they couldn’t, anyway. There’d never been time to adequately study the ratzards, so nobody but the Naga knew their full capabilities, and…

  She shoved those thoughts away. Everything they did out here carried risk. That was fine. Keeping her people safe was worth it. Besides, the rest of the team seemed to have gotten the idea. They were blazing away with their weapons, picking off distracted ratzards. Charline felt the weight vanish from her back as the two snarling animals were shot off. Time to pick back up where she’d been before.

  Charline rose, standing with a sudden movement that startled the ratzards. They jumped away. One wasn’t fast enough, and she slammed her foot down on it. She turned the machine gun on the others, raking them with fire. The shoulder rifle was more difficult to aim, but she kept up a steady barrage with both weapons. More of the creatures went down.

  All at once, they broke. Again, it seemed like there was some unspoken signal that triggered the activity. One moment they were snarling and snapping at her; the next they all turned in unison and bolted away toward the ruined city. This fight was over, but Charline needed to make sure that they won all of the next fights, too. She needed to teach these animals fear, to show them that the price of attacking humans was terrible death.

  She gave chase, breaking the suit into a run. The ratzards were fast. The augmented limbs of her suit were almost keeping pace with them, though. They were getting ahead and would eventually escape. But Charline wasn’t planning on chasing them forever.

  Bullets from her arm-gun blew one ratzard apart. She shifted her aim and injured another one. The bullets screamed through the air, raking the creatures as they fled. Another one went down, then another.

  There were precious few ratzards left when she finally gave up the chase. The ammunition canister for her machine gun was low, and she didn’t want to be led into a trap. It was hard thinking that these animals might be smart enough to try trapping her. But they’d assumed the insects were simple creatures and learned otherwise. Charline wasn’t taking anything for granted when it came to this planet.

  A crackling in her ear broke into her concentration. It was Andy, calling over her radio. “Charline, you OK?”

  “Yeah. I’ve stopped pursuit. How’s the camp?”

  “Nobody hurt, thank god. That could have been bad. Nice work out there!” Andy said. She could feel his infectious good humor fill his voice, even over the radio.

  “Thanks! Seems like the armor is working like a dream so far,” Charline said.

  “Armor? I suppose that’s what it is,” Andy said. “I hadn’t thought about it like that before.”

  It wasn’t the first time Charline had invented something that changed the game. She’d made a career of such things. But something about this concept felt even more important than those others. It was one thing to program a new algorithm for blocking computer viruses or track visual recognition of objects. It was quite another to invent a new weapons platform that saved peoples’ lives. It was a good feeling.

  As she was turning around to return to camp, Charline caught a glimpse of something glowing in the sky. She stopped to examine the bright light. It only took her a moment to realize the light was a ship coming down from space. Atmosphere heating up against its hull created the bright aurora she was seeing. Her heart jumped, thinking they were being rescued already.

  But that wasn’t the Satori coming down from the stars. The ship was too small. The rebuilt Satori was about twice as big as this craft. Charline had never seen a ship like this before, which meant it was probably the s
hip Beth had taken off to deal with. It had either chased the Satori off or destroyed her. Either way, it was coming back to check on the planet, which was bad news. They had to get out of sight, fast!

  The only way to manage that might be as dangerous as the ship. There was only one place they might be able to remain undetected by a ship’s sensors, and that was underground. Where the monsters that made ratzards look like cute puppies lived.

  Charline tapped her microphone to send a quick alert. “Radio silence. Incoming ship. Get ready to move.”

  TEN

  By the time Charline reached the camp, Andy already had everyone up and moving. The tarp was down. People were grabbing what supplies the could while they made ready to leave. Even so, she could see far too many signs of their presence scattered about the area. The stones piled as defensive positions, cleared space where the injured had lain, and the footprints scattered all about would be dead giveaways even if they managed to carry away all their gear. That part she could help with, at least. The suit might be armed and armored now, but its original purpose was to haul cargo around. It could still perform that duty as well as it ever had.

  “Load as much stuff as you can onto the fabricator crate and strap it down. I’ll carry it with us,” Charline said.

  It was lucky they hadn’t unpacked the machine yet. Moving it after assembly would have been impossible. They would have had to take it apart and carefully repack the pieces. No time for a task that complex.

  Charline didn’t know how long they had before the ship was in range to spot them, but it couldn’t be long. That was assuming it hadn’t already detected them. If it had, running wasn’t going to do them any good.

  “Where are we going?” Andy called up to her as he loaded mere supplies onto the growing pile.

  “The only place we might not be spotted.”