Jones gestured to continue onwards, and they reached the main room of engineering to find two more bodies and an alien device connected to the centre console. It appeared to be a machine, and yet was pulsating like a living thing, like a parasite on the machine. Jones pointed for one of the drones to approach, but as they lay a hand on the device, they were struck by a surge of electricity. The blast was so large that it blew the arm off the drone, disabling it instantly.
The Lieutenant raised his rifle and fired a burst into the device until it went still and dropped off of the console, but they didn’t have time to relax. They could hear the clatter of something thrashing through the storage containers up ahead and throwing them aside when the spider-like machine burst out in front of them. Jones fired, but the shots appeared to do little.
It rushed at Delta Squad as they fired back, smashing six of them to pieces with the sheer weight of its body and power of its legs. Jones took careful aim at what appeared to be a sensor array on its metallic body and fired a two-shot burst. These shots appeared to cause the creature some pain or damage, but it was still on its feet and turned its attention on him.
“Oh, come on!” he yelled in anger.
He leapt into a sprint to escape the creature and got to a blast door and slid through. One of the drones made it with him, and he hit the door locks. The creature smashed into the blast door with all of its force, and that even caused it to buckle slightly, but it held. Jones breathed a sigh of relief, but got up to see it race off in the opposite direction and on the route towards the bridge where he had come from.
“Captain, you’ve got incoming! We’ve destroyed whatever was taking control down here, but you’ve got big trouble coming your way!” he yelled into the comms.
He hit the door release and rushed on after the creature.
“What the hell are we supposed to do about that thing?” he asked, but he knew he wouldn’t get a response from the drone at his back.
Jones rushed along the corridor, finding a number of bodies and wrecked drones along the way. At last he arrived at the bridge but was stopped dead by the devastation before him.
“What the hell!” he whispered to himself.
Most of the bridge crew lay dead, and blood was strewn across the deck where limbs had been severed. The huge mechanical creature stood at the centre of the bridge and held the Commodore up before it with one of its pincers driven through his shoulder. Jones could not even bring himself to move as he tried to find some way to proceed.
They were on emergency lighting, and sparks flew from exposed cables. He looked down; Santos was hurt. He was unable to get to his feet and was sitting against one of the consoles trying to reload his sidearm, presumably in some hopeless attempt to resist their attacker. Jones was frozen in the doorway as he stared as the carnage.
Snap out of it, he told himself.
He felt something tug on the slim exoskeleton of his armoured suit and looked down. Breckinridge was bleeding from a head wound and lying in Egland’s arms. She was too terrified to move and simply sat crying.
“Are we moving?” Jones whispered.
Egland shook her head.
“What do you need?”
“Twenty seconds at that console,” she said, pointing to the flight control deck behind the huge creature that still held Laska up as if it was inspecting him. Jones desperately tried to think of a solution. As far as he could tell the creature was on a search and destroy protocol, as well as determined to stop their ship from leaving.
He realised he only had one.
“You sure you can get us out of here if I give you enough time?” he asked Egland one last time.
She nodded. “Sure, you think I want to stay here to die?”
“I’ll get this thing out of the room, then you do whatever you have to do. I don’t want to be left out here any more than you do.”
She wiped the tears from her face and nodded in agreement once again, as Santos managed to prime his pistol. He futilely fired a few badly aimed shots at the creature that could just as likely have hit the Commodore. It released its grip on Laska, drew its pincer from his shoulder as he cried out in pain, and rushed towards the Captain.
“Hey!” Jones hollered.
He raised his rifle and fired two short bursts into the monster. The higher calibre shots seemed to at least cause it to take note, even if they appeared to do no damage.
“You looking for me?”
The creature stopped for a moment and appeared to study him, recognising him from their previous encounter.
What have you done? he asked himself.
Without any more hesitation, the machine rushed towards him. He let go of his rifle, turned and ran. His suit boosted his speed, and he stormed down the corridor at a full sprint with the creature hot on his trail. He rushed for one of the life pods. It was all he could think to do. There was one up ahead at the t-junction at the end of the corridor. He looked back for just a second. The creature was closing on him, but he didn’t slow down.
The opening to the lifeboat was an open broad access door, wide enough for three people to pass, and a forty-centimetre step to get through where the blast doors closed. He drew the only two grenades he had from his suit and continued on with all the speed he could get. At the last moment, he jumped into a roll and slammed into the base of the step. It brought him to a dead stop and knocked the wind out of him.
The creature fell over the top of him and through the access door, but he felt one of its razor sharp pincers cut into his left arm just below the shoulder. It had passed through his armour like it was going through butter. He looked up for just a second to see the creature had rolled a few metres into the lifeboat and finally come to a stop. He armed the grenades and tossed them in before reaching up for control panel. He lifted the safety casing and punched the launch button, just as the creature began to rush back towards him.
The blast doors sealed shut before him as he got to his feet and looked through the tiny window. The creature was just a metre away when the launch sequence started, and the boat was thrust out from the hull of the ship at immense speed. It was only fifty metres out when the grenades clearly blew because the engines cut out, and the vessel went into a tumble as it carried on. He saw no signs of the creature.
Jones breathed a sigh of relief, lifting his hand to activate comms.
“This is Jones. How long until we jump?”
The response came from Egland, “In five, four, three, two, one…”
He felt the shift in gravity as they passed through the gateway and knew they were finally safe. He slumped back down against the blast doors and realised there was a pool of blood gathering beneath him. He reached around to find the source and instantly felt a soaring pain in his abdomen where he had been stabbed and not even felt the impact. He tried to get to his feet and call for a medic, but he couldn’t carry on any further. He slowly lay down on the deck and hoped somebody would be coming for him.
Chapter 2
Seventy-two hours later.
Lieutenant Jones awoke and quickly reached down for the wound he remembered in his abdomen, but only found scar tissue. For a moment, he was dazed and confused. He thought he was still on the floor where he had collapsed but looked around and discovered he was lying in a hospital bed, and only covered up to the waist. A female doctor was approaching.
“Where are we?”
“Welcome back, Lieutenant,” the doctor replied in a calm and polite fashion, “You are aboard UCN Ares 4.”
“Where we shipped out of?”
“That’s right,” she said, checking some readings on a display at the side of his bed.
“How long have I been here?”
“You arrived fifty-four hours ago.”
“I can’t have been unconscious that long?”
“Your injuries and blood loss were severe, Lieutenant. We could not operate on you without using EPR.”
Jones looked confused. ”Which is?”
&nbs
p; “Emergency, Preservation, and Resuscitation.”
“Oh, come on, suspended animation?”
She smiled and nodded slowly.
“You drained by blood and put me on ice?”
She laughed a little. “I assure you that EPR is a common and successful method of treatment for those patients who have suffered fatal physical injury.”
He shook his head. “You know how many horror stories there are about it? Don’t you ever watch the news?”
“I like to rely on facts and evidence, not mass hysteria, Lieutenant. You were going to die. We ensured your survival. I am sure your wife would not be bothered by a treatment that saved your life.”
He groaned in approval, but then his mind returned to the events that led him to being so badly wounded.
“Did anything come through the gateway with us? How about the crew of the Bulwark? What about Commodore Laska? Did he make it?”
The doctor smiled in response, and it was clear to him that she wasn’t going to give him any answers to his questions.
“You’ve been through a great trauma, Lieutenant. Your superiors have been notified of your condition, and somebody will be along for you shortly.”
He sighed at the lack of a response he had achieved. Once again he looked down to the scar in his abdomen. The skin felt tight, and he knew something had happened, and yet he felt no pain at all, just a slight irritation.
“So that’s it. I was at death’s door, and now I just go back to work?”
She nodded in response. “You’re all fixed up, Lieutenant.”
“And I don’t have to do anything?”
“I’d try not getting impaled again,” she replied with a smile.
He’d heard of such miraculous medical treatment, but he’d never seen it with his own eyes. Nobody he knew had served in a war or anything close to one, so injuries were nothing more than what they encountered in training.
“You know I’ve never so much as broken a bone?”
The doctor laughed. “Well you certainly have a story to tell now.”
The doors to his room slid open, and two officers approached. One was a UCN Captain, the other an Army Intelligence officer of the UCA. He wore chrome Union flag dog collars and bore the rank of Major, but Jones had never seen either of them before. He could just make out two Navy guards at the door outside, both carrying sidearms.
“I’m in some kind of trouble, Sir?” he asked the Major.
The Major took his cap off and reached out his hand in friendship. Jones took it but was surprised at his informal approach.
“Good to see you awake and recovered, Lieutenant. I am Major Redford, and this is Captain Keegan. I am here to get to the bottom of what went on in Kepler-186. But before that can happen, I am here to escort you to an emergency conference where you will give your account first hand to military and civilian leaders of the four races.”
Jones was speechless and could only stare at the Major, with his mouth hanging open and his eyes wide.
“I appreciate it’s a lot to ask, and I know you have been badly injured, Lieutenant, but as I am sure you are well aware, your experiences and knowledge of an imminent threat to life are of vital important to us.”
“How long have a I got?”
“No time at all,” replied Redford and pointed to the fresh uniform hung behind Jones. He got up and pulled on the fatigues that he instantly recognised were his own. It was a deep, dark green uniform that was minimalist and well cut to his body. His rank was displayed in chrome on his right shoulder, and his name printed in the sky blue text of his Regiment on his left chest. He pulled the shirt over his head, and it fitted like a glove. There were no buttons at all, but the collar rose high with a clasp that he fixed. He slipped into his black shoes and rolled his sleeves up into short sleeve order. Lastly, he took his maroon beret from the rack above the hanger. It was antiquated and a treasured item that was a symbol of his elite heritage.
“Can’t believe you’re still wearing those things,” joked the doctor.
Jones smiled. “You have to earn this,” he replied with a smile.
He nodded to Redford to say he was ready, and they led him out of the room. The two armed guards waited for the three of them to pass before continuing on at their rear.
“I’m not a threat, you know?”
“We know that, just like we know there is no fifth race alive today, or alien life in the Kepler-186 System. What we think we know might just have been blown out of the sky. I hope you can answer some of the many questions we have. Until that time, you will understand if we are a little cautious of everything that came back with you?”
“Yes, Sir.”
He was led to an elevator and taken up several levels to a conference room where they found six bodyguards waiting. Only two of them were Human. Two were Krys, the hulking and strong adversaries who had once tried to hard to conquer Earth. They stood half a metre taller than the tallest Humans and wore ornately decorated armour. It was hard to not be intimidated by their presence, and the two-metre long poles they carried for self-defence that were both projectile and close quarter weapons; the only skin on show on their heads where their helmets were folded back. Their skin was a dark blue. Each of them looked as strong as an ox.
“There are Cholan representatives here as well?” Jones asked, surprised.
“Of course, the four races, as I said.”
“We know a people for a few years and we’re all buddy, buddy? How do you know we can trust them with this?”
“It’s been almost fifteen years, Lieutenant. They have just as much right to be here as anyone. They have shown nothing but friendship and cooperation towards us.”
The Cholans averaged just one and a half metres tall, more than a head height shorter than even the average Human. Their bodies appeared weak and fragile. They were humanoid in shape, but their shoulders were barely any wider than their heads, and their arms dropped down to their knees, more like an ape than a Human. They were an intelligent race, but Jones like many Humans, were still suspicious of their arrival and niceties.
“Don’t cause an incident, Lieutenant. You’re here just to help us understand what you experienced,” said the Major.
“Don’t worry. I wouldn’t pick a fight here. It would be a choice between fighting a child or a giant,” he joked.
Redford stood up beside the eye scanner next to the doors. They soon slid open, and Jones was led inside. A Krys Lord was there to greet him. He had never met the alien before, but he knew his face and his attire well enough.
“Lord Jafar,” he said in surprise, “It is an honour to finally meet you.”
Redford looked surprised at how he had gone from such hostility to an alien to such respect, and Jafar was equally surprised.
“You served with my ancestor. Captain Charlie Jones of the 2nd Inter-Allied Regiment, one of the Immortals who fought with you and Colonel Mitch Taylor.”
Jafar nodded in agreement. He moved like an old distinguished King and wore the highly decorated armour to match. Blackened armour with gold and silver inscriptions on every surface so that it almost appeared as some form of bizarre camouflage pattern. His face was paler than any Krys he had ever met.
“Great days, and a very long time ago,” said Jafar.
“I’d love a few moments of your time to talk about my relative.”
“Jones was a great man, one who wanted to have me dead more than a few times. I wish I could tell you more, but there are pressing matters at hand. The past can wait.”
Jones could not believe his eyes. He was before one of the main leaders of the Krys people without any warning. An alien he had dreamed of meeting and talking with for as long as he could remember. But the history he had been brought up on was of no interest to those in the room. Redford ushered him forward to take a seat amongst a semi-circular table. Twenty-one sat at the table, all facing inwards, and more than fifty screens lay before them with other representatives of the four races. Presi
dent Isaacs was at their centre, an American and the current leader of the Alliance. Jones had only ever seen him on television.
Isaacs was a Chinese American, a short, but fit man for his advancing years. He always looked so friendly and approachable on the news, but not anymore. He looked ready to put Jones in the ground.
“Lieutenant Jones, I believe?” Isaacs asked.
“Yes, Sir,” he replied, though he wasn’t sure of the protocol for talking to the President of the Alliance.
“Glad you could join us. Over the past forty-eight hours we have been trying to piece together what happened in this far away system, Kepler-186. So far, we have heard from a few members of the crew, but those who survived experienced very little that could assist us. You, on the other hand, were conscious throughout and engaged with this Unidentified Object first hand. You know how long it’s been since we encountered a UO that could not be explained in forty-eight hours, Lieutenant?”
“Probably first contact with the Cholan, Sir?”
He shook his head in amazement. “We knew who they were within twelve hours of contact. They made themselves clear from the beginning, and neither of us fired a shot in anger. So I want you to explain to me how this potential first contact situation ended in such disaster? We could have a war on our hands, Lieutenant, and I want to know why.”
Jones turned from humbled and confused to defensive.
“Sir, Commodore Laska did everything in his power to approach whatever it was we found out there in a peaceful fashion. Not once did we present a threat, and never did we engage a target until we had ourselves been fired upon. We defended ourselves when we had no choice, and I will not apologise for that.”
The President looked shocked, but it was Jafar who intervened.
“Lieutenant Jones,” he stated.
All attention turned to the Krys Lord.
“The Bulwark’s systems were heavily damaged during the events in Kepler-186, and most of the video recordings via the drones were destroyed also. The footage recorded by the feed on your armour is one of the only sources of information we have on what attacked the Bulwark. It has taken your technical experts almost this long to restore the footage from your damaged camera, can you explain to us what it was that attacked you?”
Battle Beyond Earth - Box Set (Books 1-5) Page 3
