Tranis’ mouth tightened. “Is that standard strategy for defense?”
“In a situation like this with our forces scattered the way they are, the home planet itself becomes the primary concern. The first defenders will engage here to slow down the Tragooms so Kalquor’s defense can be solidified. They’ll send orders to the colonies between here and Kalquor to evacuate. No second wave will come to defend the border.”
Tranis took a deep breath. “The home planet won’t fall, but unless we find a way to stop them here, we’re going to lose a lot of ships.”
“And men.”
Tranis thought of Degorsk. The knowledge that the Imdiko was on a destroyer where he had a good chance of being killed made his chest painfully tight. He felt sick and angry all at once.
Damn it. Lidon’s not the only one in love with that man. We’ve got to find a way to stop this invasion.
Chapter 13
They were finally half a mile from the colony. It was still out of sight when Lidon set the fighter down in a valley between two hills. The larger mountains were behind them now, but the terrain was still rolling and difficult.
Lidon checked his instruments. “Gravity within our norms. Hostile environment. No oxygen, some acids in the atmosphere. Temperature is well past the boiling point.”
“What a lovely planet to stick a farming colony on.”
Lidon grinned at him, no doubt more thrilled with the challenge of adversity than put off by it. “Joshadans can make anything work to their advantage.”
“And with little technology. They are an amazing species,” Tranis agreed. “Enabling static survival interior.”
He punched in the command and the interior of the fighter began to shift. The consoles shrank away, moving out of arm’s reach for the men. Their seats sank down to foot level then lower still until they could stand upright within the cabin. The high backrests also shifted and joined with the seats, giving each man a small surface to sleep on. Tranis tapped a wall and a shelf slid out with two spacesuits and helmets. They slipped into the suits and charged them with air pressure. Then they filled the air chambers in the suits and helmets.
Ten minutes after setting down, Tranis and Lidon opened the ship’s canopy and stepped out onto Phescxo’s hostile surface.
Tranis made sure his suit com was switched on. “The contained area is half a mile to the northwest.”
Lidon eyed the baleful glow of the setting gas giant the little moon orbited. “We’ll get there as it starts to become dark. That will help with cover.”
“Let’s move.”
The pair headed towards the colony. The stark, rocky landscape was colored a hectic rust, probably because of the swirling brownish-red aspect of the planet it roamed around. The dusty surface of the moon drifted like smoky vapor with every step they took. Tranis was more impressed than ever with those who had made a colony on this inhospitable moon.
Despite his suit’s cooling system, Tranis was sweating freely. He had no doubt that even if the air hadn’t been pure poison to breathe, the heat would have cooked his unprotected body within minutes. The going was arduous too. Rocks rolled underfoot and the landscape undulated like a rolling sea.
Only a thin crescent of the setting gas giant remained above the hilly horizon when Lidon halted before Tranis. Their surroundings had dimmed appreciably since leaving the fighter.
Lidon held his hand up to signal Tranis to stay put. The Nobek crept up to an outcropping and peered around it. He motioned to Tranis to come forward, which the Dramok did, moving quietly and carefully.
Lidon said, “Colony in view, Commander.”
He moved so Tranis could take his place in looking over the landscape from their cover. The dimming light was not an issue for his immediate surroundings, but Tranis’ eyesight encountered difficulty with the distance. He switched his visor to enhanced illumination and clarity.
The containment field arced high in the air in a shimmering dome. Beneath it, the verdant green fields were a stark difference to the dead moonscape outside the containment. There were buildings made of the natural rock and mortar concocted from the moon’s sands. It was typical of the Joshadans to take advantage of natural resources they found. Tranis admired their ingenuity and ability to make something out of what no one else might see as valid materials. In contrast, the prefabricated metallic structure that squatted near the center of the colony was an aberration. A perfect square, it was even more alien than the green fields growing around it.
After getting a good look at their target, Tranis ducked back behind the outcropping. He asked Lidon, “Best place to go in?”
“According to the Earther crew we intercepted, the southern part is nothing but fields. Tragooms don’t eat plant life, so it’s likely they won’t be anywhere near that.”
“Sounds good.”
Lidon again took the lead as they picked their way carefully to the containment bubble that housed the colony. They were forced to cross a large open area to get right up to the colony. Lidon ran across it first, refusing to let his bad leg hold him to less than a black blur on the darkening landscape. He resumed clarity, crouching close to the ground right next to the containment border.
Tranis raced over to him, going as fast as his legs would take him across the dusty ground. It took only two seconds to reach Lidon’s side.
“No sign we’ve been detected,” the Nobek said.
“In we go,” Tranis answered.
Lidon crept to the shimmery field. He slipped through and was on the other side. He peered into the growing darkness and motioned for Tranis to follow.
The Dramok pressed against the containment bubble. It offered a slight resistance, then formed around his body. Then it pushed him, helping Tranis breach it to enter the colony border.
As Lidon continued to keep watch, Tranis checked his environmental readouts. “Breathable air. Let’s ditch these suits and hide them here.”
They quickly stripped down to their formsuits. Lidon was as soaked with sweat as Tranis. The containment’s cool air was delightful, if fragrant with natural fertilizer.
Lidon looked at the sliver of illuminating planet sinking below the horizon. “I think we should wait for the planet to get all the way down before we try to get to the habitations. Those fields will leave us much too exposed, even for the Tragooms’ bad eyesight.”
“Agreed.”
They didn’t have long before full night was upon them. They crept carefully across the fields, heading for the rock-hewn buildings. Tranis was very quiet, but Lidon’s passage was utterly silent despite his limp. The Dramok envied his companion’s ability to walk noiselessly. Tragooms had very good hearing, but Lidon could have followed only inches behind one without alerting it to his presence.
They reached the first buildings. The flickering of firelight now played in the gloom, and they slunk towards the closest source. They were downwind, and the rank sewage odor of Tragoom rolled over Tranis.
His stomach lurched in response, but he swallowed the burning puke rising up his throat. From the shadows, he and Lidon peered at the thick, blocky bodies squatting around their bright bonfires.
Tragooms were not pleasant to look at. They had snouted faces with tusks that erupted from their lower jaws. Their tiny, nearly blind eyes were set in bark-like flesh. There were intermittent squalling sounds as the creatures argued amongst themselves. The armored hides of the Tragooms were gray, and Tranis knew the skin was almost as hard as rock. Tragooms had very few areas on their bodies susceptible to blades. They were little more than killing machines, always looking for something to scavenge, something to eat, something to fuck.
Right now they were eating bloody chunks of meat. Some still had patches of brightly colored fur. Some had skin like Tranis’, but with varying shades from pinkish-pale to deep ebony.
Tranis’ stomach rolled again. The Tragooms were eating the colonists. He wondered if any still survived, and if so, where they were being kept. Hatred burned bright
in his heart. He had heard animals lowing and calling in the distance, so he knew beasts were available for food. Yet the murdering monsters were eating other sentients.
Lidon motioned to him and they headed away from the group. They skirted the circle of stone buildings. At one point, the pair passed a field that had become a landing pad for a myriad of shuttles. What had Georgehuberts said? Two or three hundred short-range shuttles? Tranis could well believe it, looking over the acres of vessels. Many were Kalquorian-based, which pissed the Dramok off even worse.
Lidon halted before him again and motioned for Tranis to flank him. The first officer moved to the Nobek’s side. A few yards before them stood the metallic building that had stuck out so obviously from a distance. It was the largest structure, and Tragooms were milling in and out of its entrance.
Tranis nodded. From the amount of traffic, this was obviously the place the enemy was using as its headquarters. They needed to get in.
Lidon looked over the situation. Tranis did as well, but he knew the Nobek’s experience far outweighed his. He waited for Lidon to move towards the building, letting the security head take point as he was supposed to.
When the weapons commander ran towards the back of the structure, Tranis followed on his heels. Moving faster than the eye could follow, the men reached the shadow of the low building.
Once they knew they could not be easily seen, Tranis took the lead, searching for an avenue of entry into the building. Lidon went into watchful protector mode, keeping an eye out for hostiles as Tranis looked over the box-like structure.
The amount of large ductwork that the pre-fab construction possessed made him hopeful for a way in. He wished he could decipher the thin lettering he stenciled here and there, because it might tell him something of help.
Tranis walked along the side of the building, his sharp eyes taking in every inch of its surface. The multitude of pipes, openings, and seams told him the Earthers’ technology was well behind Kalquorian. It would be easy to dismiss the other race as a potential threat, except for their huge numbers. Had they really overwhelmed their home planet to the point of needing another one? The thought of such fertility, of such an immense population, was stunning.
Tranis couldn’t hear Lidon following him but knew the Nobek was right there. Despite the numbers of Tragooms in the vicinity, the first officer felt ridiculously safe with Lidon watching his back. Damn it, he was going to have to clan earlier than he’d anticipated. Still, Tranis couldn’t help but smile a little at the thought. Fate had thrown the Nobek and Degorsk in his path for a reason. Far be it for him to resist destiny.
A sight along the structure’s wall brought him back to his mission. Slightly higher than his head was a large rectangular vent, covering what might be an air intake or service ductwork. Tranis paused beneath the access and listened. The hum of machinery was apparent. It was ridiculously inefficient to use such a large air intake, but he reasoned if all the venting ducts were so large, he and Lidon would fit inside.
He shot the Nobek a glance. The other man nodded and knelt beneath the vent. Tranis hesitated to step on the crippled Lidon’s shoulders. They were the same height, but the Dramok had greater heft with his wider frame. He didn’t like the idea of stressing Lidon’s injured leg with the added weight. Maybe they should find something else he could step up on?
Lidon arched a brow at him, no doubt wondering why Tranis wasn’t getting to work. The younger man cast a quick look around, but there was nothing nearby that he could see to give him a boost. He scowled. They didn’t have time to waste. The enemy could come upon them at any time.
He placed a booted foot on Lidon’s left shoulder, the side opposite his damaged leg. Then he stepped up on the other, trying to keep most of his weight off the right. Lidon grabbed his calves to help steady him. If he felt any pain, he didn’t remark on it.
Fortunately, the vent cover was a fitted piece, not requiring bolts or anything to lock it in place. Tranis easily slid it out and stooped to let it drop quietly to the ground next to Lidon. He straightened to stick his head into the opening.
It didn’t go far before splitting into a T-shaped junction. What he could see would accommodate him easily. Tranis boosted himself in and crawled down the duct. When he reached the junction he was pleased to see the vent didn’t narrow in either direction. He and Lidon would be able to explore the building through the network easily.
Turning around wasn’t so easily accomplished however. Tranis did so in the middle of the connecting ducts and went back to the opening. He poked his head out and nodded to the waiting Lidon.
The Nobek was able to spring up using his good leg. It was just enough to get his head and shoulders into the venting. Tranis grabbed his arms and crawled backwards, dragging Lidon until he was able to wriggle his way in. Then Tranis crept backwards to get to the T-junction. They paused there.
Lidon whispered, “I hope no one notices that ductwork gaping wide open or the cover on the ground. The thought of a welcoming party waiting for us outside is not one I’m fond of.”
Tranis nodded. “It would definitely put a bad spin on things. Which way do you think?”
They both sat a moment, listening. To Tranis’ right, the sound of the air exchange was louder. That way was where the machinery to run this facility would lie, the instruments that ensured power, atmosphere, the guts of the building. Logic said go the other way.
He and Lidon both nodded towards the left at the same time.
“Too cramped to trade spaces,” Tranis grinned. “I get to lead.”
“I see it breaks your heart. Let’s go, Commander,” Lidon said, giving in gracefully.
They crawled down the vent. Tranis was getting the idea that it served as both a ventilation system and a service conduit for repairs and maintenance. It had low lighting that allowed them to see quite well. Not so inefficient after all, he supposed.
He approached an opening with a screened cover. Tranis slowed and silently crept forward, letting the room beyond come into view in increments. It was small and obviously the sleeping quarters for someone. A tiny raised bunk and a table with a handheld, an identity card, and a cup half full of dark brown liquid on its surface were all the furnishings the room could hold. No one was inside.
Tranis turned his head to murmur to Lidon. “I wish I knew the layout of this thing.”
Lidon whispered back, “It’s small. If it was used for colony headquarters, it can’t take us any more than twenty minutes to find the main control room. They’d have to have one for any shuttle traffic.”
Heartened by Lidon’s assurance that it wouldn’t take too long to find the braincenter of the colony, Tranis moved on. They found it in half the time estimated.
After crawling past more small sleeping rooms, they were suddenly there. After a quick glance inside, Tranis kept going to the nearby junction, where he and Lidon could get turned around so they might retrace their path back to their exit from the building. They did so, and now it was Lidon leading the way. They stopped and sat at the edges of the vent opening that gave them a full view of the colony’s command center.
A quick look revealed it wasn’t much more than a glorified com station with weather indicators. It possessed only the most basic of navigational surveys that would allow the ground crew to bring in shuttles destined for the landing area. A large vid showed the hundreds of vessels crowding that and the field beyond.
There wasn’t even an orbital vid that showed the Tragoom fleet stationed over the moon. Two Tragooms were in the room, each hunkered in separate corners and snuffling thickly in their sleep.
Lidon’s face was brutal with angry disappointment. “I don’t see one damned thing in here that will help us disable that fleet.”
Tranis finally saw one useful item. “No, but that looks like a remote console for the security grid over there. Of course it had to be planet-based and not on board one of the ships.”
Lidon brightened just a hair as he spied the black
slate with blinking lights that was typical for Bi’isil control panels. “So it is. We can take it down at the right time at least.”
“And hurry the first wave of our defenders’ destruction.” Tranis thought about the huge number of Tragoom ships in orbit. “We need our entire fleet now. Or Earth’s.”
“Not going to happen. This is a no-win situation. But we will fight them and die well.” The stoic expression on his face was that of a Nobek ready to go out in glory.
Tranis was not a Nobek, and his brain scrambled for a way to stop the Tragooms. To cripple their huge fleet.
He couldn’t repeat his performance from Wetor. The Bi’isil security grid wasn’t one he was familiar with. He certainly couldn’t patch a shuttle into it to arm for backlash fire against their enemies. It didn’t matter that there were plenty Kalquorian craft he knew inside and out here on the colony’s grounds. He looked at the many vessels on the landing pad vid. Not only were there some intact Kalquorian shuttles, there were ships that had been cobbled together from various species’ machinery … including Kalquorian.
Tragooms didn’t develop their own technology. They preferred to take what they felt were the best parts of other species’ equipment and putting them together in haphazard-appearing but very deadly weapons. The nasty bastards highly prized Kalquorian-based navigation and arms in particular.
Tranis’ lips curled to see many craft sporting Kalquorian hulls patched into monstrous hybrid vessels. The shuttles were only a small example of what Tragooms could do, given enough parts to play with. Beyond the near-quarter of Kalquorian destroyers that made up the Tragoom armada orbiting the planet right now, there was little doubt many of the other ships possessed the Empire’s technology.
Their own weapons turned against Kalquor. It made Tranis furious to know there wasn’t a damned thing they could do about it either. No doubt all the codes that linked those pieces of the fleet had been overwritten. The weapons codes were an isolated entity anyway, programmed individually by ship and not tied into the fleet like the navigational systems were.
To Clan and Conquer (Clan Beginnings) Page 22
