by James McEwan
“That would be helpful,” Horota said as he dropped another small gold bar down on the counter.
“That would be the right price! One security video coming right up,” Lars said as he swiped the two gold bars off the counter into his hand.
Before he could leave Horota grabbed his hand, “and delete the footage of our little transaction if you would please.” He dropped one more bar into Lars’s hand. Lars smiled and nodded before disappearing into the back of the shop.
While he waited, Horota looked through a few crates that were stacked around the shop. There was nothing in them that he needed or wanted. But it was better than just standing there doing nothing. It wasn’t long before Lars returned with a holochip that he dropped into Horota’s hand, “There you go my friend. Now are you sure Lars can’t interest you in a deal on a crate of Fabian stick grenades?”
“No, I have all the grenades I need. Now I was never here understood?” Horota said as he slipped one more gold bar into Lars’s hand.
Lars took the gold bar and said, “No worries my friend, old Lars never saw a thing.”
Horota left the shop and headed for his ship. He wanted to get a look at who this mystery man was.
After Horota was well out of sight Lars tapped his ear comm and waited for it to connect. There was a beep in his ear, “I need a secure channel.”
After a few seconds and a few more beeps, he heard a voice, “You are secure, stand by for Quiet Traveler.” Quiet Traveler was the code name for his contact at the former Star Guard intelligence, which was now the new Terran Alliance Intelligence.
A deeply throaty and yet sexy female voice came over the comm, “I haven’t heard from you in months and now twice in less than two days. What’s your angle Lars?”
Lars feigned a hurt tone, “Angle? I would never, not with you baby...”
She cut him off, “Cut the crap Lars, what do you have to report?”
“Well, you did ask me to call if there was any more news about the man you have been tracking,” he paused.
“Yes,” she said a little annoyed with the games that Lars liked to play, but she put up with them because he always came through with solid intel.
“I just thought you should know that the little shit bounty hunter, Horota, was here asking for information about him.”
“Horota? How do you know it was Horota?” She asked.
“A short bounty hunter wearing a custom made Eli bio suit. Who do you think sold it to him?”
“And he didn’t recognize you?”
“Nope. That was years ago on another planet under another name, Blars, I think I was using at the time, not that it matters. Anyway, Nektons seem to think that all Eli look alike.”
“So, I wonder why he would be there searching for Typhoon?” She said. Typhoon was the code name that had been issued to Thad, based on his activities over the last two months.
She continued, “The most recent intel we have is a bounty hunter had been dispatched to capture or kill The Saint” The Saint was St. Claire’s code name
“All I know is that he came in and asked about the man who blew up the slave market.”
Again, she interrupted him, “Blew up the slave market?” She asked. Lars could hear the shock in her voice.
“Oh yeah, Typhoon has been living up to his name. Not only did he blow up the market but he also attacked Tor Tran-kor’s compound. Shot the Hell out of it and killed a crap ton of his guards but didn’t get the big lizard himself. My sources tell me that he didn’t find what he was looking for and left towards the desert. That is all the info I have,” Lars explained.
“I see, and what did you tell Horota about Typhoon?” She asked.
“Nothing, but I did sell him a holochip of the security footage that I took when he was in my shop.”
“I bet you did,” the voice said. “Alright, good work, call me if you find out anything new.”
“I will and I can assume that there will be a payment for my services as always,” Lars said.
“The banking system is a little screwy right now, but I will see that you get compensated for your work, Quiet Traveler out,” and with that the comm cut out. Lars smiled thinking he liked being a spy. The money wasn’t bad either he thought as he gently patted the gold bars now safely in his pocket.
Back on Horota’s ship, he was relieved to remove the helmet. He hated wearing it and every time he did, he couldn’t help wondering if that was what his extremely distant cousins, the Earth fish, felt like every time they were tossed into a little bowl of water to sit on some human child’s shelf. He didn’t bother removing the rest of his suit as he wanted to get a look at the man who he was after.
Horota sat down in his command chair and put the holochip into the chip reader on the control panel. It only took a second before a small hologram was displayed in the air before him. He watched until he got a good face shot of the man. He froze the frame at that moment. He studied the face closely. He took in every detail. Then he punched a few buttons on the comm panel. After the encryption finished he found himself looking at the pretty face of Seven’s secretary. “I need to speak to him.”
“He is in a meeting right now would you care to leave a message or shall I have him return your call?” She asked.
“I don’t care what he is doing, I need to speak to him now. Tell him it concerns the terms of the contract,” Horota said forcefully using his and Seven’s private code for information that could not wait.
“I’m sorry, but the Lord Marshall left strict instructions not to be disturbed. I can…”
He interrupted her, “Listen, you stupid human female, I don’t have the time for this. Either interrupt his damn meeting or you can explain to your Lord Marshall why vital information was delayed.”
That seemed to get her attention, “Hold please,” she said curtly before her image disappeared replaced by the NGE logo.
It was a few minutes before the image of Lord Marshall Drake or at least the hologram of his hologram appeared before him, “What is it Horota?” He had known Horota long enough that he wouldn’t have interrupted him if it wasn’t important.
“I’m close to finding the target, only the target isn’t who you think it is,” Horota said.
“Then who is this man who has been causing so many problems across the Ralnai Empire?”
“This man,” Horota said as he transmitted Thad’s hologram.
Seven’s jaw literally fell open as he looked at the hologram of Thad standing in the weapons shop. “That is impossible!”
“I take it you know this man?” Horota asked.
“Know him? You could say that. That is the face of my brother. Yet it can't be because I killed him a little over two months ago. I slit his throat and confirmed his death myself. This has to be a clone or an imposter of some sort.”
“This changes things, what are your orders?” Horota asked.
“Find him and kill him. And I want his DNA and his severed head on my desk if you want to get paid,” Seven said with a deadly tone in his voice.
“Consider it done, and the next time I contact you the job will be complete so you better come through on the pay. I have been hearing some things that are starting to worry me about this New Galactic Empire of yours.”
“Don’t worry about the lies you have been hearing. You get the job done you will get paid,” and with that the call was cut off. Seven sat in Drake’s office stunned at the thought that Thad might still be alive. “Not that you will get to spend it,” he said softly as he thought about killing him to keep him quiet. He could never let it get back to the Emperor that Thad might still be alive. He had no intention of suffering the same fate as Drake.
Chapter 22
Back on New Hope the NGE forces had beaten back the Ameron’s space defenders and had established a beachhead. They had been able to land and hold a large open space on the main continent. Most of New Hope was made of farms and small villages. The planet had few cities and that was the way they
liked it. Many of them liked to live simple lives and many of the farmers didn’t use much in the way of technology.
Nevertheless, every one of them was well armed. But because they choose to live simple lives, it was often mistaken that they were a soft and easy target. This was not the case. The Amerons were normally a peaceful people who just wanted to be left alone to worship God as they saw fit, but they were not pacifists. Every of age male and female served in the ADF (Ameron Defense Force) for a term of no less than two years and in times of emergency they could be recalled to active duty.
No one, regardless of combat readiness, got out of the call of duty. No matter what the ADF could always find a way for a person to be helpful whether they could hold a gun or a spoon. Everyone pitched in – nobody quit. As it has been in the past, it was now. Every citizen and visitor on New Hope that had not been evacuated, were now a part of the ADF whether they liked it or not.
General Ark was now the busiest man on the planet. He was overseeing the planet wide defenses which were falling fast to the NGE forces. He had ordered every person on the planet to fall back to the capital city. New Hope may have been the capital planet of the Ameron’s government conversely it was not heavily populated. The capital city could handle the influx of people, but just barely. This though, was unfortunately made easier by the fighting. The ADF was losing, and losing badly. Casualties were mounting but they didn’t give up a single inch of ground without a fight. They made the NGE pay heavily for every inch they took.
High above the surface the NGE fleet had just finished mopping up the last of the Ameron space defenders. They now encircled the planet and waited for the ground troops to finish the job. The human Commanders on the ships made the mistake of looking inward towards the planet and not out wards, towards deep space. They were caught off guard by the vast number of Alliance ships that had just dropped out of sub space and opened fire.
On the bridge of the Daniel Wesson, the ship’s Captain sat in his chair while his boss Supreme Commander Hayes stood ramrod straight in her battle armor. It had long been standard procedure for Star Guard ship crews to don pressurized battle suits and vent the atmosphere during combat to protect the ship and crew from an explosive decompression. The Alliance fleet continued that procedure. “Captain get me through to the planet. I want to talk to Ark if he is still alive.”
It took a few minutes for the comm officer to cut through all the interference and get a secure channel to the General, “Lincoln can you hear me?” she asked as the transmission was full of static and was broken.
“Hayes is that you?” Ark asked his image was fading in and out of the static.
“Can you clean that up?” She asked the comm officer, who worked his magic and the transmission became clearer. “I got your message, still need a hand?”
“Thank God, yes, hand, foot, arm, hell I will take all the help I can get. These damn NGE troops are hard to stop. They have no fear and you have to shoot them in the head or destroy them all together to stop them,” General Ark replied.
“Alright General, we are on the way. Can you hold until we punch through their line?” She asked.
“We’ll hold. By God will hold to the last man, woman and child. We will hold,” he said and she knew he meant it.
“They have a pretty good blockade around New Hope. Nothing we can’t break, but it is going to take some time before we can get boots on the ground to help,” Hayes said.
“We will do our best to hold their attention while you kick them in the ass! Ark out,” and with that the transmission ended.
Amanda looked at the tactical display in front of her, “All right boys and girls let’s do as the good general suggested and kick them in the ass!”
The Alliance ships had the element of surprise and because the NGE Commanders were so focused on keeping ships from leaving the planet they weren’t expecting to be hit from the space side. This tactical mistake cost them dearly, but they didn’t break and run. Their ships turned and welcomed the fight. The inky blackness of space lit up like a psychedelic laser light show on steroids. Lasers, missiles, and Mac gun rounds were traded back and forth as if they were pieces of paper trading on the floor of the stock market. Screens flared brightly as they tried to dissipate the laser energy. Ships were torn apart and lives were snuffed out as simply as if someone through the switch on their life.
The Daniel Wesson was by far the largest of all the ships in the area and she had more fire power than a small fleet. She was staying back and with her massive array of Mac guns, she acted like a mobile artillery base. Smaller ships would relay firing coordinates and then the Wesson would fire a barrage which only took a few seconds to travel the distance. Once the rounds arrived on target it wasn’t good for the target. The first ship hit was a troop carrier that was just moving off station after delivering its deadly cargo. One second the ship was there and then in a flash of light and fire it was gone. Nothing but floating chunks of burning metal. A couple of the NGE ships were made from a series of alloys that provided their own oxygen and when they burned the ships were able to burn in the vacuum of space.
The enemy fleet Commander quickly sized up the situation and realized that if they stood any chance of surviving this fight, let alone winning it, he needed to take the Daniel Wesson out of the fight. He didn’t have the ships to do it from his position as they were busy trying to stay alive. Most of the ship's Captains were choosing to try to run to the far side of New Hope trying to put the planet between them and the deadly fire of the Wesson’s guns. However, the NGE Commander was no fool and he had left a small portion of his fleet in reserve and out of the system. He called for help and ordered them to attack the Wesson.
On board the Wesson Amanda was busy commanding the overall fight and left the ship operations to the Captain, who seemed to be in his element. His crew was working like a well-oiled machine, given that they had only just been assembled a few weeks prior. “Captain we have new contacts,” a tactical officer relied.
“Where?”
“Five hundred meters off port Sir,” was his reply.
“How the Hell did they jump so close?” The Captain wondered out loud. He wondered this because most ships have safety measures that prevent a ship from dropping out of subspace with in two thousand meters.
“I have no idea Sir, they must have disabled their proximity safeties Sir,” the tactical officer stated the obvious.
Normally the Captain would have pointed out that he didn’t need to be told what he already knew but this time he was more concerned with dealing with the new threat. He was about to issue an order to fire when the ship rocked as several Mac rounds slammed into the Wesson. They punched some good-sized holes in the outer decks. The damage was minor as the ship was already decompressed and all major systems were located deep within the ship. “Return fire!” The Captain barked out.
The Wesson let loose with everything she had and the first wave of ships were destroyed within seconds. However, the second wave was showing no signs of slowing down or stopping. They charged into the Wesson's guns as if there was an unseen master driving them forward.
Amanda’s instinct was to take command, but she couldn’t. She had to let the Captain do his job and she had to keep her focus on the larger battle at hand and leave the ship’s fate in the Captain’s hands for now anyway. Amanda was issuing orders commanding the battle as calmly as if she was running a simulation. Her calm demeanor started to crack when she noticed the man in the hardened powered armor suit that had just entered the bridge. “Damn it Jim, what in the Hell are you doing here?” She directed the question at James Grunt.
The Marine Corp Commandant smiled at her, “I couldn’t let you have all the fun, now could I?” he said flippantly.
“Conall gave you a direct order to stay on Earth,” Amanda said upset that he had disobeyed the order.
“Oh that, I convinced him of his error and besides I told him if he didn’t let me come I would resign and stow away if I h
ad to,” Grunt said.
For the first time since they had left Earth Amanda cracked a little bit of a smile, “I wish I could have seen the look on his face when you told him that.”
Grunt was about to say something when the ship rocked again and everyone who was standing had to grab onto something to stay upright. Then a voice blared over their helmet speakers, “We are being boarded, all crew prepare to repel boarders. All noncombatant personnel to your stations for lock down.”
When the ship was boarded the non-security crew, mainly the fleet guys, would lock down their stations and stay out of the way of the Marines. They were the last line of defense. They would hold the ships vial stations and if the Marines failed to stop the boarders they would fight to the death to protect those systems.
Bulkhead doors slammed shut and locked. Marines ran down the open corridors and took up positions around the areas that the breaches had occurred. On the bridge Grunt looked at Amanda, “Time to get to work.” He turned and dashed off the bridge.
“Give them Hell Jim,” Amanda called after him and then she turned back to the battle in front of her. Her ship may be under attack, but she needed to continue to coordinate the fight.
The enemy had breached the hull in four places on three different decks. The areas around the breaches had been locked down and were now guarded by combat hardened Marines in full powered armor. They waited for the fight that was about to come. Grunt issued orders as he made his way to the closest breach. “Let’s see how smart these NGE shit heads are, shall we? Cut the power to the gravity plating in all combat zones as soon as they break through.”
The order was acknowledged. They were ready and now there was nothing left to do but wait. They didn’t have to wait long. The Marines watched as white hot sparks rained down on the floor. The enemy was cutting through the bulkhead doors. As soon as the cutting was done the doors were pushed inward towards the Marines. Grunt watched as the door in front of his position fell to the deck. What followed was a hell storm of weapons fire. The Marines returned fire and then Grunt yelled, “Now!” The artificial gravity shut off and the NGE troops who were all Necromorphs and had no need of pressure suits as they were already dead and being in a vacuum didn’t bother them at all. However, this also meant they were not equipped to fight in space. The Marines however, were equipped and every one of their armored suits had magnetic boots that were charged. The Necromorph troops floated off the deck and every time they discharged their weapons it would push them in the opposite direction.
