by James Wisher
“How long will it take to clean the entire fleet?” Oliver asked.
Solomon shook his head. “There’s no way to know for sure. It depends on each ship’s individual computer.”
“Do we have access to any of the planetary defense system’s cameras?”
Solomon typed in another command the clicked on an image. It expanded to fill the screen. Void ships opened fire on the Earth Force destroyers. The planetary defense satellites counterattacked, but their weapon seemed to have little effect beyond drawing a huge black ships’ attention. The Void ships opened fire on the satellites, their heavy weapons reducing the satellites to scrap metal. One by one, while the Void ships’ attention focused on the satellites, the Earth Force destroyers jumped to hyperspace.
When the last destroyer had escaped Oliver thrust a fist into the air. “Yes!”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The team had escaped the basement with little trouble. The Vencar soldiers that remained above ground dealt with all the Void soldiers in the area and had the good fortune not to encounter any of the more powerful Void knights. Oliver and his group had elected to remain behind in Washington. The double-cross Marcus expected never came. Still, he didn’t regret leaving the four of them behind, though he regretted losing some of his arsenal. Now at least he didn’t feel the need to watch his allies and his enemies.
While Dra’Kor oversaw the loading of his injured and dead comrades Oliver had provided Marcus with the location of the prison Voidwalker used as his headquarters. The young old man seemed to take great pleasure in getting them to clean up his mess.
“What do you suppose we’ll find?” Solomon asked, his voice a mix of excitement and fear.
“A horror show if everything we’ve seen so far is any indication. You sure you don’t want to wait in the ship?”
“Are you kidding? I’ll never have another chance to see tech like this again.”
“I hope you’re right,” Iaka said.
An alarm sounded. “We’re coming up on it,” Solomon said.
“Shields and auto-guns. Iaka, please get Dra’Kor on the comm.”
The prison, or what used to be a prison appeared on the screen. Black masked Void soldiers marched around the grounds. The four guard towers now sported cannons of some sort. No doubt they discover what flavor of death they spat in short order.
A small window opened on the screen and Dra’Kor’s silver masked face filled it. “You seeing what I’m seeing, boss?”
“Yes. We’ll have to soften them up with the shipboard weapons before we land.”
“I figured we’d have to take out those gun towers at least. You want me to take a run at them and see what we’re dealing with?”
“All right, but be careful Marcus. We scanned the towers and those are four inch plasma cannons. Your shields can’t handle many hits from something that powerful.”
Marcus grinned. “I didn’t plan on getting hit.”
Marcus throttled up and blasted toward the prison. He streaked past the nearest tower, crimson streaks of plasma lanced out, missing the star by yards. His auto-guns returned fire, but a shield deflected their shots. He corkscrewed away from the second tower and sped out of range.
“Damn, they’ve either got a skilled gunner or an excellent targeting computer. That second tower almost cooked my left side engine.”
“I warned you to be careful,” Dra’Kor said.
“I was careful. Our guns can’t even dent that shield. Do you have something to take the towers down?”
“We have missiles, but there's a problem. If the cannons aren't engaged they’ll shoot them down before they hit.”
“I bet that means you want me to do another flyby.”
“I'm afraid it’s the only way. We'll fire the missiles half a second behind you. You'll need to make a pass on each side.”
“All right, we’ll do the left side first.” Marcus’s hand tightened on the controls. The second run would be harder since they had a feel for his speed. “Everybody hold on.”
He flew towards the towers even faster this time. The plasma cannons’ shots missed by feet instead of yards. He dove and twisted as he approached the second tower. The first couple blasts shot over them then they shot passed. Marcus gained altitude and flew back towards the Vencar shuttle. The missiles had reduced first two towers to flaming rubble. Two down two to go.
“Well done, Marcus,” Dra’Kor said. “When you dove I thought you’d lost your mind.”
“I figured weapons’ control would expect me to climb so I didn’t. Same plan for the next two towers?”
“Yes, good luck.”
Marcus flew in slower this time and the first few shots screamed in front of them. He spun and accelerated. The ship rattled when a blast grazed their shields.
“Shields down ten percent,” Solomon said.
Damn, ten percent from a graze? He figured at that power level they could stand two direct hits before they were toast. They roared past the first tower and Marcus pulled up and gave it full throttle. The second tower didn’t fire at them. He looped around in time to see the fourth tower shoot down the missile aimed at it. It seemed they’d gotten wise to the plan.
Marcus flew back to where Dra’Kor’s shuttle hovered. “What now, boss?”
“We can’t land with that plasma cannon still operational. We only have two missiles left and I doubt they'll let them through.” Dra’Kor said.
“Did you notice if those cannons could point straight up?” Marcus had an idea, but it seemed too ridiculous .
“It looked like the best they could do was a seventy percent elevation. What did you have in mind?”
“What if we dropped something heavy on it from directly overhead?”
“That’s nuts,” Solomon said.
“Why? Their shield disperses energy; it won’t be able to stop a heavy object. We just need to approach from a sufficient height that we are out of range. How much weight can the tractor beam lift?”
Solomon frowned and did a quick calculation. “Allowing for gravity maybe a ton, ton and a half.”
“That ought to do it. Now we need to figure it out what to drop.”
“Marcus, our scanners show a park about five miles east of here,” Dra’Kor said. “There are boulders marking the border of the parking lot. One of those might work.”
“I’ve got the park on our scanners,” Iaka said. “If the Void figure out what we’re doing they might shoot us down.”
“Don’t worry,” Dra’Kor said. “If the cannon starts to track you we’ll take it out with a missile. Either way that cannon gets destroyed.”
“Roger, we’ll be back in a minute.” Marcus guided the ship to the park and spotted the boulders. They looked big. “What do you think, pal?”
Solomon frowned and worked at his console. “I think we can manage the smallest one.”
Marcus hovered over the stone Solomon indicated and activated the tractor beam. The ship lurched. Marcus fed more power to the tractor beam and antigravity generator. The ship leveled out and the boulder rose. When they had it tucked up under the ship Marcus flew higher into the atmosphere. When they reached forty-thousand feet he turned back toward the prison.
“The engines are redlining,” Solomon said. “We can’t hold this thing much longer.”
“How much further until we’re over the target?”
“Another mile to go,” Solomon said.
Marcus patted the control panel. “Just a little further.”
Thirty seconds later Solomon said, “Hover here, we need to make a few small adjustments.”
“How’s that cannon looking, boss?”
“It’s still focused on us,” Dra’Kor said.
Marcus made several micro adjustments based on Solomon’s scanner readings. When Solomon seemed satisfied Marcus sent a little prayer to the universe and killed the tractor beam. The engine gauge dropped out of the red zone. He flew them back in a wide loop to rejoin the Vencar.
&nbs
p; When they arrived Marcus grinned at the screen. The boulder had reduced the fourth tower to so much kindling. “Tell me that wasn’t one of the coolest things we’ve done.”
“Oh, yeah,” Solomon said. “If we get sent back in time we can work as a catapult replacement.”
Marcus shook his head. It seemed dropping a rock on something wasn’t a high tech enough solution for Solomon. You couldn’t argue with its effectiveness.
***
They landed outside the fences, most of which had gone down along with the towers. Marcus, Solomon, and Iaka joined Dra’Kor and the surviving Vencar soldiers outside the ship. Dra’Kor stood staring at the prison.
Marcus walked up to him and asked, “What do you suppose we’ll find inside?”
Before Dra’Kor answered Solomon said, “A giant black robot?”
Marcus’s eyes wide at the sight of the eight foot tall, shiny black robot clomping out from behind the prison. Gun barrels and missile launchers bristled all over the robot’s body. Marcus’s mouth watered, that was just what he needed.
“A Void war robot,” Dra’Kor said. “They must have brought it down from one of the battleships.”
“Can we overwhelm it with ion blasts?” Marcus asked. “I don't want to damage it.”
Solomon and Iaka both started at him. “Have you lost your mind?” Iaka asked, seeming to speak for both of them.
Marcus shrugged. “Sinse the Void knight destroyed Herc I need a new load handler. That brute looks like it would be perfect for the job. If you don't think you’re up to reprogramming it I understand.”
Solomon stiffened and frowned, forcing Marcus to suppress a grin. He knew that look, Solomon was hooked. “Of course I can reprogram it. Aren’t you afraid it might scare the customers?”
“I want it to scare the thieves. What do you think, boss?”
The mask made Dra’Kor hard to read, but Markus suspected the Vencar found it amusing that he wanted to use a war robot to handle cargo. “I believe that if we all fired at the same time we can overwhelm it with minimal damage. I’ll even provide you with any spare parts you need as a thank you for all you've done.”
Marcus couldn’t suppress a smile as they all aimed at the war robot. Everyone fired, streams of crackling blue energy struck the black robot and danced over its armor plates. Marcus held his breath, waiting to see if it worked. When the robot toppled over he let out a sigh. Now if he could find some credits inside this little adventure would almost have been worthwhile.
“Let's go.” Dra’Kor and his men lead the way toward the prison.
They met no further resistance as they crossed the yard. Five feet away from the nearest door, the lead soldier blasted it off its hinges. They went through, weapons at the ready. Inside they found themselves in a reception area. The work area, situated behind a glass partition, was empty. It appeared the Void had fired the prison secretary.
Another door led deeper into the prison. A pair of Vencar soldiers approached it. One of them reached out to turn the knob. When nothing happened he pushed it open. The soldiers stood up and walked through the door. Crimson beams of plasma screamed through the door, blowing away the soldiers and most of the wall behind them.
Marcus stumbled back. “Damn it!” Looks like they had a plasma cannon inside as well.
“We can’t risk the halls,” Dra’Kor said. “Let’s get up on the roof. We can scan for life signs then make our own entry.”
They walked out the crumbling, six foot wide hole in the wall. Marcus shook his head, those two never had a chance. The Vencar adjusted the controls on their belts and leapt up onto the roof. A few seconds later one of them tossed down a rope. Marcus put his foot in the loop at the end of the rope and the soldiers pulled him up. A minute later everyone stood on the rooftop.
Solomon took out his hand scanner while the Vencar used whatever scanners they’d built in to their masks. They spent five nervous minutes going over every inch of the roof, all the while Marcus wondered what sort of trap would be waiting for them inside.
When they finally finished Dra’Kor said. “I believe we found the largest concentration of life forms. It must be their main lab.”
The soldiers formed the circle around the spot Dra’Kor indicated. With no armor to protect them, Marcus and his companions kept their distance. The soldiers fired, blowing a hole in the roof. Three of them leapt down. When no explosions or other horrible noises emerged from the hole Dra’Kor motioned Marcus and the others over. They secured the rope then followed Dra’Kor down into the prison.
***
Marcus’s foot splashed into a puddle of nasty, viscous liquid. All around him men in various states of dismemberment floated in cylinders filled with bubbling liquid. Two of the cylinders had shattered when they blasted their way through the roof. The bodies that used to be inside had slid into a shadowy corner out of sight. If the unfortunates still floating in their tubes gave any indication Marcus felt relieved not to get better view.
“Here I thought Dr. O’Hare was a monster. He had nothing on these people,” Iaka said.
“Marcus, look, a computer station.” Solomon went over and sat down. Marcus and Iaka went with him. They stood on either side of the already engrossed Solomon and kept watch. While he tapped away at the controls. “Whoever was using this computer must've left in a hurry they, didn’t logout.”
“The lab is secure.” One of the soldiers said.
“Did you find anything?” Dra’Kor came over to join Marcus.
“I found a ton of stuff. I have access to their entire system.” Solomon took a data chip out of his pocket and plugged it in. “I'll download as much as I can.”
“What about other traps?” Dra’Kor asked.
“Already deactivated. You don’t need to worry about running into anymore cannons. I'll see if I can find any internal security cameras.”
While Solomon worked Dra’Kor said, “We need to find Voidwalker. If you spot him on the cameras let me know.”
Dra’Kor and the Vencar soldiers marched out of the lab to search, leaving Marcus and the others behind. The computer beeped and Solomon removed the data chip.
“Finished already?” Marcus asked.
“Not even close.” Solomon popped another data chip in the port. “I hope I brought enough chips to get everything.”
He returned to typing and after a few minutes a grid of numbered images filled the screen. One of the screens showed movement. “Enlarge number six,” Marcus said.
The grid vanished and the feed from camera six replaced it. It showed a black masked figure running down a hall past empty cells. Voidwalker, they had him now. “Where is that?”
Solomon tapped a couple keys. “East wing cell block.”
Marcus activated his comm. “Boss, he’s in the east wing cell block running like he’s got an appointment.”
“Got it. We’re on our way.”
Marcus switched off his comm. “I’ll go see if I can help. Iaka, please stay and keep an eye on Solomon.”
Marcus left his friends behind in the lab and jogged toward the east wing. He felt like an idiot, thinking he could do anything the Vencar soldiers couldn’t, but sitting in the lab watching the action on camera didn’t suit him either. He resolved to keep his distance and if the opportunity came to make a difference he’d take it.
Blaster fire crackled somewhere in front of him. Marcus crept down a dark stone and metal hall, he had to be getting close. He poked his head out the door at the end of the hall and found a war underway in the prison mess hall. The Vencar soldiers blasted away at a dozen Void killers led by a Void knight. Dra’Kor and Voidwalker faced off a short distance away, energy blasts streaming from the tips of their fingers. Marcus stepped back from the door. What had he been thinking? If he went down there he wouldn’t last a second. He should have taken the time to put his armor on.
A Vencar soldier went down when a blast from the Void knight’s plasma cannon took him in the chest. Marcus missed the attack, b
ut something Dra’Kor did sent Voidwalker flying. He slammed in the wall and slid down behind the chow line. Marcus pumped his fist. Served the bastard right. Now if Dra’Kor could finish him off before he recovered maybe they could get out of here.
Marcus caught movement out of the corner of his eye. He looked up and spotted a legless man floating along the catwalk above the dining hall. He carried a blaster half as big as his whole body. The odd man pointed his weapon at Dra’Kor’s back. Marcus drew his ion pistol and fired. The legless man crashed to the floor of the catwalk, his weapon clattered away. Dra’Kor glanced his way and Marcus threw him a little salute.
Dra’kor looked back in time to catch Voidwalker’s fist in his mask. Marcus winced in sympathy as the Vencar staggered away. The battle raged back and forth between the two leaders, while the soldiers blasted away at each other a short distance away.
Voidwalker caught Dra’Kor with a heavy blow that sent the Vencar staggering to his knees. At last Marcus had a clear shot. He took it, hitting Voidwalker full on with an ion blast. Sparks danced over the surface of his black armor, but he didn’t go down. He looked up at Marcus.
I’m dead.
Dra’Kor’s hand burst through Voidwalker’s chest, almost black ichor dripped from his gauntlet. Sparks shot out of the Void knight and its troops then they all collapsed. The Vencar soldiers kept a nervous eye on their collapsed enemies. Dra’Kor ripped his hand out of Voidwalker’s chest.
Marcus ran over and helped his boss up. “You okay?”
Dra’Kor nodded. “His mask, remove it please.”
Marcus pulled his knife out of his boot and crouched beside the dead man. A couple quick slices and he pulled the mask off. He tossed the bloody thing aside, cleaned his knife, and put it away. The face behind the mask looked nearly human and to Marcus’s surprise handsome. Its only alien features were a vertical pupils and pointed ears.
