Ilox Saga 1: Eris Monroe: More Than Human

by Bruce Adams

  Saephan looked thoughtful. “We’ll shadow the battle-cruiser and attack when it stops bombardment and moves out of position.” Kizzara turned the ship away from the on-coming vessel while continuing to slow down. Within a few minutes, their speed had decreased dramatically.

  “Now we wait,” said Hasephrey. The crew of the Sparta continued to prepare for battle, putting all hatches and doors into a closed state, pre-positioning emergency hull patches for rapid deployment and making sure every crew member was fully armed and armored in case the ship was boarded. They didn't have to wait long - the Agamemnon stopped firing its main gun and began maneuvering.

  “Computer, give me trajectory and velocity of Alliance battle-cruiser,” Hasephrey ordered. An orange line appeared from the enemy ship to a distant location over the planet.

  “Alliance ship Agamemnon on trajectory to Platinum City. Estimated time of arrival set at ten minutes and fifteen seconds with projected course and velocity.” The computer’s feminine voice was soothing.

  “Kizzara let us see if we can give minefield wide berth. Bring us in close behind them before they arrive at their destination.” The Sparta was a much smaller ship than the Agamemnon, which was at least fifteen times her size and carried more armor and armament. This meant that the large ship was not nearly as nimble in her maneuvering and her speed was much slower. Moreover, the twin particle cannons Sparta carried were not normal for a ship of her class and could devastate a much larger ship with well placed shots. Shield strength at the rear of a capitol ship was weakest with the strongest shields being fore and to the sides. If they could penetrate the shields of the Agamemnon, they stood a great chance of disabling her engines which would mean a loss of power and no way to maneuver. She would become a sitting duck. Gunners mate first class Takashi Yoshida was in charge of the main guns. He sat at his station in the CIC just to the left of the captain’s chair. The six turrets were crewed by individuals located inside each weapon pod.

  “Yoshida, don’t fire until we have clear shot at main engines.” Saephan said emphatically. The holographic combat display showed the Agamemnon getting larger with each passing second. The null field generator which kept Sparta from being discovered was working flawlessly. They were undetected and closing in on the unsuspecting Alliance vessel rapidly. Hasephrey intended to close to point blank range and open fire with everything Sparta had. As the ship reduced the range between the vessels the computer kept up a running dialogue.

  “Range to enemy vessel one hundred kilometers.”

  “Range fifty kilometers.”

  “Ten kilometers.”

  “Five kilometers.” At this distance, if there had been a window visible and someone looking out, they would have seen the Alliance warship gleaming against the red curved outline of the planet below. It bristled with weapons, and its three main engines were a bright blue of hot plasma.

  “Open fire with all weapons. Target their engines!” Heard clearly by everyone on board Hasephrey thundered his commands. His face and voice carried by link to every member of the crew. Kizzara veered the ship smoothly to port as Sparta’s main particle cannons fired at the target vessel. The violet twin streams of energy impacted with tremendous force. Sparta’s smaller turret mounted heavy gauss weapons also opened up on the engines, inflicting less damage but adding to the carnage.

  “Direct hit!” exclaimed Takashi raising his fist in triumph. Flashes of white and orange tinged with red tendrils erupted from the center engine of the Agamemnon and secondary explosions began erupting on the two smaller engines. The main engine which had glowed cobalt blue now sputtered and died out as twisted and superheated metal fragments exploded outward in a display of kinetic ballet. Sparta flew by Agamemnon in a blur and was a hundred kilometers away in a few seconds. Return fire from the enemy vessel was confused and sporadic, completely missing the still cloaked Sparta. They had caught them completely by surprise.

  “Make ready for another pass. I want that ship disabled,” said Saephan gravely. He wasn’t cheering yet like the crew. He knew his enemy was like a wounded animal…still dangerous. I will not give them time to recover… Knocking out their power was the only way to make sure they could cause no harm. While Sparta sped nimbly away and angled for a return trajectory, Agamemnon was slowing and trying vainly to turn to bring her main weapons to bear on the smaller ship. Kizzara had taken manual control and was flying the ship directly back towards the aft section of the enemy vessel.

  “Ten seconds and we’ll be at point blank range again,” said Kizzara succinctly.

  “They know we’re here…out in the darkness of space…though I doubt their computer tracking mechanisms can lock in on us. Our stealth field stops them cold. That is why they must fire manually with their anti-fighter defense weapons,” said the Chief Engineer. Hasephrey leaned on the railing as the display showed Sparta closing in with breakneck speed.

  “Open fire! All weapons target engine compartment of enemy!” He shouted his commands in the heat of the moment baring his four rows of sharpened teeth in a feral snarl. Once again violet lances of pure energy leapt from the Sparta like twin spears, vaporizing metal hull and propulsion systems alike. This time, all the engines of the enemy ship went dead, the blue glow flickering and finally sputtering to an end. Damage to the Alliance vessel was severe. Sparta shuddered as impact from one of the anti-fighter guns scored a passing hit as she sped by the wounded battle-cruiser.

  “Shields holding!” shouted Alyssa Cavalcanti, the damage control specialist seated just to the left of Takashi Yoshida. “Kinetic shields down thirty-seven percent…one minute and twelve seconds to regenerate!” Sparta continued to maneuver even as she sped swiftly away from the encounter. They were not out of range of the enemy just yet, but had inflicted maximum and precise damage on the Agamemnon’s engines and power generators.

  “Tactical! Tell me what Alliance is doing,” Hasephrey looked directly at specialist Thomas Silayev seated to the right of Yoshida. Silayev peered into his panel display which indicated what damage had been done to the battle-cruiser. His station was important for assessing what systems were destroyed and what remains to be targeted.

  “Sir! The Agamemnon has had her engines completely knocked offline. She is drifting through space without power…” Thomas adjusted the display and noted more information streaming through. “Their aft shields have buckled completely…major structural damage to their main engine thruster and secondary thrusters…they appear to running on auxiliary power only.” Kizzara swiveled her chair sideways to see Hasephrey directly.

  “Should I prepare for a third fly-by?” Hasephrey could detect the blood-lust in her voice. “We should completely destroy them!”

  “No! Move Sparta to other side of Furnace,” ordered Hasephrey with finality. He crossed his arms in front of his chest. “We have given Captain Monroe time to finish her mission. I will let her decide what fate befalls Alliance battle-cruiser.”

  “What if she can’t finish her mission?” Kizzara didn’t believe what she had just blurted out. The Evene turned back to her piloting controls before hearing what the Chief Engineer had to say.

  “Nothing has stopped her yet…” Hasephrey was tired. The stress of combat had frayed his nerves. He was used to the hum and rattle of engines and fixing mechanical problems – not making life or death decisions. Monroe must succeed he thought wearily.

  CHAPTER 23

  Eris ordered everyone in her squad to put their weapons away as they entered the underground outpost of Platinum City. Even from where they were standing they could tell the area was over-crowded and bustling with activity. Located at least fifty meters beneath the surface of the planet a broad avenue beckoned to them. There were people everywhere moving about including aliens such as K’Tosk, Orvod and others though they were a minority of the species gathered – humans dominated on Furnace. The smell hit them first…a mixture of sweat, various body odors and the rank stench of fear. There were thousands of miners and suppor
t staff located here – some workers had brought their wives and children to live with them, it wasn’t just field workers and repair techs milling around. It appeared though as if the inhabitants of at least two or three outposts had moved into Platinum City. Her squad was in good spirits – the two groups of guards they had bluffed their way through had not been a serious threat but it felt good they had gotten past them so easily. Alteration of our armor to appear as FMM uniforms was a good idea. Now if we can find out where the Initiator is located…

  “Eli, find a data link – search for the information we’re looking for,” Eris said warily, eyeing the dozens of people that were within ten meters of their position. Clearly there were more people in this outpost than normal. “Lia, are you picking anything up on your med-scanner?”

  “No Captain, readout is still negative,” Lia said softly. The chatter from the throngs of people almost drowned out her voice. “I will immediately inform you if anything is detected that could harm our team.” Eli had trotted over to a public data access terminal and was doing his thing with it. Eris didn’t know how he interfaced with computers or electronic devices, but she had seen him work his magic before and it only took a few seconds for him to access all kinds of information.

  “Uh…Captain. There is a general broadcast alert from the Alliance warning everyone to stay well away from Long Junction and other outposts.” His nose crinkled up as if he smelled something awful. “The Alliance has a virtual lock on all the other mining outposts. It’s as bad as you feared…” The rest of Alpha squad had gathered around him. Sev Tariv was watching the crowd walk by, looking for anything out of the ordinary. Lia and Eris were paying rapt attention to what Eli was saying. T’sell T’savri frowned at the huge crowds as if she could make them disappear through will power alone.

  “Is Platinum City the only outpost free of Alliance and Vortex control?” asked Eris directly of Eli. She was serious and wanted quick answers.

  “It seems that way,” Eli said. “That’s why this place is so crowded; they’re refugees from all across the planet.” He stared off into space. “Wait a minute…the computer here has a link to restricted data on the mines and Vortex activity.” His brows furrowed as he concentrated. “Give me a few seconds…ah…got it!” He grinned triumphantly. “Vortex mercenaries were last seen heading down into the deep mines below the city five days ago. Nothing has been heard from them since then.” He looked at Eris expectantly. “If I can get a look at their data comms I can sift through them and find out what they knew about the Valdren artifact they’re looking for.”

  “Find out exactly what route they took and let’s see if we can find them. We don’t want to go near them unless we have to. It would be ironic if the Initiator was under Platinum City the whole time and the Alliance was looking all over the rest of the planet.” Eris did not want any surprises. I need more information. The tools were right here, she just had to use them.

  “I’ve got it,” Eli tapped one forefinger to his temple. “Right here.”

  T’sell spoke to Eris with a haughty tone. “If Bowman knows the way then we should leave. I do not like this situation. There are far too many sentients moving about and too many avenues to attack us from cover. Alliance spies could easily have infiltrated into this outpost. In fact, I would be surprised if there weren’t any agents here at all. We must move swiftly, Captain.” T’sell T’savri’s headache was steadily getting worse, but she didn’t want to alarm any of her companions. She would wait and see if it was an allergic reaction to something in the atmosphere. Eli looked up into the air, as if he was staring at the cavernous ceiling twenty meters overhead. “There’s a maintenance shaft about a klick to the west. The elevator there can take us down into the old mine tunnels. That’s the way the Vortex went and we can go the same route.”

  “Good, let’s get moving now,” Eris ordered her squad to move out. Before the team set off from the data kiosk, Eli put his hands to his head and doubled over in pain.

  “Aaaaggghhh!” Eli screamed in pain. “My head!” He looked worried and sick. “It feels like it’s going to explode!” Lia Xinhao quickly took her portable med-scanner and ran the sensor over his head and upper chest. She frowned at the result.

  “The pain is real. However, a quick scan doesn’t show what is causing it.” She took out a laser hypodermic and took hold of Eli’s arm. “Be still. You’re acting like a baby…” She then jabbed him in the neck to take a sample of his blood.

  “Ow!” Eli rubbed the spot where she had drawn blood.

  “Is this the sickness the miners were talking about?” Eris was alarmed. She didn’t think it would have affected any member of her team so quickly, if in fact Eli was infected, it was serious. Perhaps I should have kept our helmets on and suits sealed. Doctor Xinhao took another portable device from her backpack and inserted the blood sample into a compartment in the side.

  “Captain, I’m running more thorough tests. In a minute, I’ll know if Eli has anything serious going on with his blood chemistry. It would help tremendously if we could get a blood sample of someone that has been infected…”

  “Yeah…being infected would be a great help…” Eli stated sarcastically while still rubbing his neck. The squad continued moving west albeit at a slower pace than before. Buildings lined the avenue – most were shops and businesses selling items that miners would want and need. Eris stopped in front of a barber shop. It was busy and crowded with people sitting in chairs waiting for their turn. There weren’t enough chairs available for all the customers to sit – some were standing. Fragments of conversation drifted to her ears.

  “What’s the Alliance doing on Furnace anyway? Are they taking over for good?” Eris overheard a conversation between a man wearing stained and worn overalls seated next to a plain looking woman with two small bickering children seated beside her. “Have you heard about all those missing miners down in the Remont Mine, they sent a few MEKS to search and only one returned? It was all damaged…” The woman absolutely would not shut up and kept asking questions in between trying to keep her kids from fighting each other.

  “Who knows…there’s nothing but rumors... But I’ll tell ya this – I came from Epsilon Outpost and those Vortex mercenary guys ordered everyone to leave. Just drop all the equipment…weapons…whatever we had and get out. They only kept a few guys that knew how to run the big digging rigs…” He took off a cap and scratched his head. “They weren’t fooling around. One miner tried to take a shot at them and they blew his freakin’ head off like it was nothing. After that no one said anything and followed their orders.” The woman looked stricken.

  “They killed that poor man? That’s horrible! I’ve heard other stories about those mercenaries. I think they’re no more than pirates! Just savages!”

  “Yeah…well. Shit happens. That guy shouldn’t have fired at them. He was stupid…” The MEK at the front desk called out. “Gene? Are you ready to get your hair cut?”

  “Well that’s me. See ya later and stay safe.” He stood up, chuckled at the two quarrelling children while another MEK met him with a warm smile. All of the hair cutters were MEK’s who appeared to be human females wearing tight outfits - all had meticulously coiffed and styled hair.

  Eris tugged on Lia’s arm and whispered, “Found anything?” Lia was fixated on a holographic readout in front of her showing biological data from Eli’s blood sample. She finally looked up at Eris with a worried expression on her face.

  “Hmmm. This is not good. There is a genetic abnormality showing up in his blood platelets. I need to get back to the Sparta and into my lab. These portable devices are powerful but limited in performing tests. The equipment on the Sparta will help me isolate what exactly is happening to him. I should take Eli back to the Sparta at once.” Her tone was insistent.

  “Negative. I need Bowman on this mission. And I need you as well Doctor.” Eris was looking at the crowd of sentients passing by for signs of interest in her group. So far no one had paid much at
tention to them. They were just another group of miners. “We need to get moving again. We’re losing time. Is this the disease they were talking about?”

  “Hey! I’m standing right here! Stop talking like I’m some lab rat…” Lia put a hand on Eli’s shoulder to soothe him.

  “Eli, calm down. Here, I’m going to give you something for the headache,” she cooed at him, while jabbing him again in the neck.

  “Ow! Do you have to do that to my neck?” Eli rubbed the spot and complained half-heartedly while jerking his head away from Doctor Xinhao.

  “Well, if you want to take the time to remove the armor on your left or right arm…by all means – I’ll take the blood I need from your median cubital vein.” Her sarcasm was not lost on Eli who shut up but continued to make small noises of discontentment. T’sell T’savri had been staring intently at Sev Tariv never taking her eyes from him.

  “Captain, let’s get to that elevator. If we can get there in ten minutes or less I’ll be satisfied,” T’sell stated quickly. She was in a stony mood and wanted to get on with the mission. There have been too many delays – I could have done this already if I were alone… She was agitated that her headache was getting worse. I will not let anyone see this weakness. Eris nodded and motioned for the squad to move out. After five minutes of heading further west, they turned south and found their way to the rough hewn wall of the cavern. Gone were the strident sounds of sentients going about their daily business. The passage they travelled through was well worn and old…no one took this passage behind the façade of the buildings on the main avenue. Seeing no other people in the vicinity, Eris halted the squad at a massive portal set into the worked stone. In front of the portal was a heavy assault MEK. The security had opted against using sentients and resorted to machinery as a defense.