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

by Kevin McLaughlin

  “They took the bait. All armor units, sound off ready to go,” Charline said.

  “Ready here,” Andy replied.

  “I’m good,” Tessa said.

  “Up and running,” Arjun said.

  “Good here,” Jonas said.

  “Let’s rock and roll,” Isabella said.

  This was it. The shuttle slid into some sort of docking cradle with a clanging noise and shuddered to a stop. The steady thrum of the engine shut off.

  There was no telling what they would be facing when they exited the shuttle. The assumption was they’d be up against armed combatants right away. Best chance was therefore to come out guns blazing. Halcomb set explosive charges on the shuttle’s big doors. One push of a button and Charline could blow the doors outward. The armor would follow.

  “On three,” she said. “One. Two…”

  The third word was drowned out by the roaring sound of the explosives going off. The doors all but flew off their hinges as they were hurled outward. They slammed into the sides of the shuttle with a bang that would have been ear-shattering if it wasn’t mostly buried by the booming echoes from the blast. Smoke obscured their view of whatever lay beyond, but they didn’t have time for the haze to clear. The element of surprise was theirs. It wouldn’t last.

  “Move, armor! Forward!” Charline yelled. She followed her own order, rushing toward the open hatch as quickly as her legs could take her.

  As she ran, she opened fire. The other armor was behind her, so she could blaze away with impunity. She unleashed both guns, burning fire through the smoke with abandon. That rate of fire was going to expend her ammunition far too fast, but they had to get a beach-head on the ship or they were toast.

  An armored bug reared up from Charline’s right side as she jumped from the shuttle onto the deck. She screamed and half-turned toward it, still shooting. Her shots stitched a line across its belly armor, and then a blast of plasma exploded against its head, sending it flying backward.

  “Got you covered,” Andy said.

  “Thanks,” Charline replied. Now that they were past the smoke she could see more of the bugs closing in. All of them were armored. “Looks like they were in a mood to ‘trust but verify,’ folks. Light them up!”

  All six armor units fired on the enemy. The bugs were obviously expecting trouble, but they were taken aback by the raw ferocity of the human attack. They fell back, each trying to cover the others as they retreated toward an open hatch.

  One of the bugs went down. Another reached over to drag the fallen one back. Again, Charline was struck with how human that action seemed.

  “Don’t let them reach the doors and close them!” Andy said.

  Charline saw the danger. If they made the doorway, they could shut it off. Not only would that keep her people off the rest of the ship, but this was a hangar bay. Theirs was the only shuttle in place, but the floor beneath her feet was actually a pair of massive doors. Once the bugs cleared the bay, they’d be free to open those doors and dump all their troubles out into space.

  TWENTY-SEVEN

  A full assault was the only way they were going to breach into the rest of the ship before those doors closed. Charline started her armor lumbering forward. Plasma fire from the enemy weapons splashed down around her. She was moving fast enough that most of the shots missed, but she was still reading multiple impacts on her display. The armor was tough, taking the fire and continuing on despite it.

  “Halcomb is going to kill me,” Charline muttered, imagining the havoc the enemy shots were wreaking on her suit. But she’d only be alive for him to bitch at if she kept moving. Right then, nothing mattered more than getting to that doorway.

  She was aware of the rest of the squad falling in behind her, adding their shots to her own. Fire blazed toward the portal. One alien after another fell under the withering force of their collective gunfire. But the last few kept pushing on. They were going to make it to the doorway first. Damn it! There had to be something she could do!

  The armor reacted to her body motions. It wasn’t like steering her own body, though. She didn’t have nearly as much dexterity in the suit as she had outside it. But she’d been practicing. Long hours of work with the armor had honed her ability to know how it moved. Even so, she’d never have attempted a complicated movement unless the situation was truly dire. This qualified.

  She sent the armor into a jump, pushing off against the deck with all the strength her leg motors could give her. The suit arced higher into the air than any human could have leaped, sailing toward the doors. She didn’t try to keep her feet under her for the landing. That probably wouldn’t have been possible with such an uncontrolled leap, anyway. Instead, Charline twisted in midair so that she’d land on her back.

  The impact drove all the air from her lungs, even inside the padded cockpit area. Sirens went off around her as the suit registered damages from the fall. There was a screeching sound as Charline’s suit skidded along the deck another several yards after crashing down. Momentum carried her precisely where she wanted to be – in the middle of the doorway.

  The doors started to close. Charline stuck both her arms out and jammed them open. A whining noise filled her ears. She wasn’t sure if it was the door motors, the ones in her arms, or both as the two systems strained against one another. Something was going to break soon. If it was her suit, she’d be cut in half by the doors when they slammed shut.

  “Hang on!” Andy said. Then he was standing over her, blasting fire into the space beyond the doorway.

  Two more armored suits came up on either side, yanking the doorway open. Charline felt the pressure on her suit let up as the whining intensified. She rolled her suit over, coming back to her feet more slowly than she would have liked. The armor wasn’t responding the way it should have. She’d knocked it around something fierce in the fall.

  “Andy, report. What are you seeing inside?” Charline asked. He’d stepped out of the hangar into the hall beyond.

  “Two bugs. Both retreated when I went past you. Not sure where they’re going.”

  “Understood. We’re coming in,” she said.

  The doors gave a final sharp cry as their motors died out. The two armor units holding them back let go and followed Charline as she went in after Andy. A quick tally said they were missing two people. Charline checked her squad network. Arjun and XXX were both back in the hangar bay.

  “You two all right?” she radioed to them.

  “Isabella took a bad hit. Her armor is frozen. I stayed back to cover her until you had the zone cleared. I’m moving to follow you now,” Arjun said.

  Charline pursed her lips, saving the comments she wanted to tell him for later. If there was a later, they could discuss proper procedures at length. Arjun should have kept on going. The best way to save a downed squad member was to finish the fight as quickly as possible. But there was no point going into it now. It would just distract Arjun. Still, a good reminder that most of her squad were novices to combat. They had much to learn if they wanted to stay alive.

  “Andy, situation?” Charline asked.

  “Covering the hall. No movement.”

  “Form up on Andy. All units advance as soon as Arjun is with us. Let’s go,” Charline said.

  She stepped up beside Andy. The halls were large, but there was only room for three of them to stand abreast. Tessa took the place to Andy’s left. The others fell in behind.

  “If we take fire, front row go to a knee so the rear row can shoot,” Charline said.

  The front row were their most experienced fighters. They’d have the best chance of dipping down and still being able to fire effectively. It also put them into harm’s way, but there wasn’t much to be done about that. They were all at risk out there. Which reminded her…

  “Shuttle, what’s your situation?” Charline asked.

  “We’re seeing to XXX. He’s fine, just a little shook up. Armor is out until it gets repairs,” Halcomb said. “Want us to grab
some rifles and join you?”

  Charline considered it for a moment. Having the extra firepower might help, but in a battle with so much plasma flying around it was more likely they’d get burned to a toast before they could do any real good. She was willing to risk her peoples’ lives, but not to throw them away.

  “Negative. It’s too hot out here for unarmored combatants. Maintain the bay as a safe spot. We’ll rally back there if we run into anything we can’t handle,” Charline said.

  “Understood,” Halcomb replied.

  Charline returned her full focus to the hall ahead. They were moving toward the nose of the ship. That was the direction the bugs had retreated. She could tell by the blood trail dotting the deck. At least one of the aliens was wounded. The enemy had to be planning some sort of counterattack or setting up a defensive station. She’d taken them by surprise with the attack, but that was sure to be wearing off by now. They’d be coming up with something to rid themselves of the sudden infestation of humans aboard their ship. But what?

  They came to a pair of massive doors that slid open at their approach and found the answer. A squad of bugs waited at the far end of the hallway. They stood on the ceiling, walls, and floor, like a circle of clawed heads all aimed at them.

  This was the defense they’d been preparing. All six of the bugs could fire freely without hitting each other. Their claws allowed them to move on the ceiling and walls as easily as the floor, too. She wondered why they used artificial gravity at all.

  “Knee!” Charline called out. She willed her armor to drop to one knee and raised both arms. Bullets rained from her guns down the hall, cutting through deck and alien bug alike. The other armors all fired, but so did the bugs. The hall became a hell of plasma and bullet fire. Deck plates began glowing from the shed heat discharged in the exchange. Charline’s armor took multiple hits. Behind her she heard a scream and a crashing noise as one of her people went down.

  This wasn’t working. Several of the bugs were wounded or dead as well, but the human armor couldn’t keep this up. She was almost out of bullets, overheating, and damage was showing all over the armored plating. They needed to do something else. Should they withdraw? It might save their lives for a while, but it would hand initiative over to the enemy.

  Charline remembered something she’d once read about ambushes, how the best way to survive one was usually to push through it. She gritted her teeth together. It took every ounce of her courage to issue the order to charge into the face of those guns.

  “Rush them! All together – charge!” Charline said. She rose from the kneeling position and drove forward. Blasts of plasma splashed off her armor, tearing at the metal plates. The heat rose inside her cockpit, making the burns that were just beginning to heal feel painful all over again.

  She ignored the injuries and the sizzling sounds of steel melting that was audible through the armor. Her guns had only a little ammunition left. Spending all of it with wild abandon, she sprinted directly toward the enemy line, extending the blade from her arm as she rushed them.

  TWENTY-EIGHT

  A quick slash cut down the first armored bug to rise against her. Charline wasn’t sure if it was out of the fight for good or not, but she didn’t have time for another blow.

  Two more bugs came at her. The quarters were too close for gunfire. It was down to claws and blade. She swung at the nearest, but it caught the blow on a pair of forelimbs. The limbs snapped off but absorbed too much of the impact. Her sword skittered off the bug’s armor rather than cutting through.

  The other one flanked her. It grabbed hold of her left arm with the metal jaws protruding from its head and began pulling. Wildly off balance, it was all Charline could do to keep herself upright. She leaned forward, struggling to recover. The arm motors screamed with the effort of fighting the bug pulling at her.

  Her sword arm was fouled when the other bug wrapped itself around her arm, twisting like a constrictor snake. It sank six-inch fangs into her torso armor. Charline gasped, half-expecting to see the tips of those enormous teeth protruding into her cockpit. But Halcomb designed his protection well. The fangs chewed on metal but couldn’t quite reach her.

  It still left both Charline’s arms pinned. A third bug – the one she’d knocked down at the beginning of her rush – rose up in front of her. It said something. She could hear it talking, even though she didn’t understand a word it was saying. Rearing like a cobra about to strike, it hissed unintelligible phrases at her.

  Charline struggled against the two bugs holding her. She had to get loose!

  “Drop!” Andy called over the radio.

  She knew him well enough to do as he said without question. Charline’s armor was still bent forward at the waist as she struggled to stay upright. She reversed the motion, throwing all the power the suit could provide into flipping backward. The insects had been trying to pull her that way all along. Her sudden shift from struggling against them to moving in the same direction they were pulling sent her armor and both of the bugs attached to her down to the deck plates. The impact rattled her teeth.

  Directly overhead, gunfire blazed from the rest of her squad. The bug about to finish her off blew to shrapnel under the combined assault.

  Hands arrived on either side of her, grabbing the insects and smashing at their head armor. It didn’t take many blows to finish them off. They writhed against the human armor, but it was four against two, even with Charline out of commission. They didn’t have a chance.

  “You OK in there?” Andy asked.

  “Yes. That was close,” Charline replied.

  “Good call on the rush. But damn, that could have gone badly,” Andy said.

  He was too right. The attack had been reckless. But it had also worked! Charline felt a need to hurry pressing at her. They weren’t out of the woods yet. Something was wrong. Then she realized what it had to be.

  “Andy, these bugs were placed here to delay us. They were out in the open when they could have set up a better defense someplace else. They’re stalling us,” Charline said.

  “Why?” Tessa asked.

  “I don’t know, but I think we need to hurry,” Charline replied. She hauled herself back to her feet and took stock of the armor. A fang stuck out of her right side. Her main guns were both empty, but she still had the Naga rifle handy. The sword was a great weapon in its own right, too. She just needed to get better at using the thing.

  The armor’s damage readout was showing stressed and weak plating all over. The thing had taken a ton of abuse. That it was still moving around was a minor miracle. The exoskeleton they’d built the armor around was designed for industrial use. It was supposed to handle rough situations, but Charline doubted the designers had ever considered hand-to-hand combat with armored aliens when they’d written the specs for the thing!

  “Let’s get through that door,” Charline said. She took a step forward before recalling that she had no ammunition left to burn. The other armor units still had their plasma cannon, though. That should do the trick. “Tessa, Andy – burn through that thing!”

  The pair stepped forward, training their guns on the sealed door. Both unloaded on it at the same time. The blasts splashed over their target. It heated to a cherry red, then began glowing orange as they continued their barrage. Finally the door came apart, melting into slag that poured down and ran in rivulets across the deck.

  “Cease fire,” Charline said. The hole was big enough for one armor to get through. She’d have preferred to get them into the next area two at a time, but the longer they were stuck in this hall, the more Charline felt like they were running out of time. This sort of entry wasn’t her thing, though. It was outside her expertise. “Andy, suggestions?”

  “Stack on the door. Everyone behind me. Once I start moving, follow close behind. Fan out as we get in and shoot anything moving,” Andy said.

  The others all piled into a short row behind him. There was no question any enemy waiting on the other side knew they
were coming. Andy was going through the door first. He’d be the primary target. Hopefully he could move fast enough to avoid whatever nasty surprises were waiting for them in there. Charline wanted to tell him to be careful, or wish him good luck. It didn’t seem professional to do it over an open radio channel, though. She kept her mouth shut and prepared for the next fight.

  Andy moved. He dashed forward as fast as his armor could take him. The hole in the door was still hot. Charline watched a few drips of molten metal drop onto Andy’s suit as he ran by. Their armor would keep them safe from the temperature. Tessa all but flew through the door right behind Andy. Then it was Charline’s turn.

  She dove forward, legs pumping to accelerate as quickly as she was able. Plasma fire lashed over her. She stumbled and almost fell over something on the floor just past the door. Someone was down. Bug or human? Charline couldn’t tell for certain and couldn’t spare a moment to check. There were more of the armored bugs in the room, moving in fast. She turned to her left and saw one directly ahead of her. Without slowing a step, she closed with the thing.

  One quick shot with the Naga rifle was all she had time for before they were too near. The shot went wide, smashing into some sort of machinery directly behind the bug.

  She swung her sword, trying to cleave the bug’s head from the rest of its body. It dodged sideways and then came in at her low. Charline had put too much force into the swing. She was overextended and off balance. The bug took advantage of the few seconds during her recovery to lash out with its claws. They raked over her chest armor with a sharp squealing noise.

  Then she had her balance back again. She swore loud enough she was sure the bugs could hear her outside the armor and backhanded the bug with her left hand.

  The swing connected with an echoing clang. Using the momentum of the swing to pivot, Charline lashed out with her sword. This time, the blow connected solidly. It didn’t cut through the bug’s armor, but it left a massive dent in the side.