Standish

by Donald B McFarlane

  Righting herself, she looked over to the room where she had expected Cryne to emerge from with the rest of the team, but the door was still shut. Suspecting something was wrong, she got back on the net.

  “Cryne. Two Sentinels down.” She reported.

  “Well done.” He replied. “Now get over here.”

  She didn’t waste any time, and quickly jogged over to the room and opened the hatch to reveal a large office that was charred and in a state of near-total destruction. There were five Light Sentinels in various conditions of ruin littering the ground, along with some destroyed Rigel Axion robots scattered about, and in the far corner of the room were six motionless operators.

  Reaching the closest body, Standish flipped up the blast shield on the helmet to reveal the team leader, Jun. Checking his vitals, Standish was able to confirm he was alive but severely wounded. Out of the corner of her field of vision, she saw an arm wave at her. Moving to the body, she flipped up the faceplate to reveal a bloodied Cryne.

  “The team?” She asked.

  “All alive. In medically induced sleep.” Cryne ran his tongue over his lips. “Once the battle was over, Jun ordered everyone into a med-sleep.” He glanced over at the closest suit of armour. “Everyone is pretty banged up.” He looked down at his own armour.

  Standish followed his gaze and saw that his left hand was gone. The armour had been cauterised at the end of the wrist.

  Bad day, she thought to herself.

  51

  The Past

  AB 79 System

  After the shooting had ended, and the mine was declared secure, that’s when the adrenaline and pump that had been surging through Standish’s veins stopped, and a cold sweat came over her. She knew things had been close to the edge. Things could have quickly gone the other way, and that would have been curtains for her and the rest of the team. Now it was a question of what steps needed to be taken next, because as far as Standish could tell, standing in the middle of the operations centre on the long-ship, they were in a bit of trouble.

  “So, you killed the freighter.” Cryne said, shaking his head. “You’re lucky K survived.” He rested his good hand on the consul he was next to. “And you killed this ship, too.” Cryne pointed at the damaged control screens.

  Standish shrugged her shoulders. Cryne was the least injured member of the team. The other six members were going to stay in a medically induced sleep until proper medical facilities could be made available.

  Cryne looked at the consul. “Well, this ships communications array is useless inside the mine. No reception.”

  “What about the fourth shuttle on the freighter?” She asked.

  Cryne shook his head. “No good. The shuttles have minimal range comms systems. Not even enough to reach this system's star, let alone another system.” He walked over to another consul and ran his fingers along it. “I would bet that the owner of this ship has some kind of high-frequency transmitter or some kind of distress beacon.” Cryne looked over at Standish. “What species is he?”

  Standish shook her head. “No idea. Never seen anything like him before.” She brought up her hands and ran them over her face. “He’s a disgusting freak.”

  Cryne nodded. “I can assure you that he’s going to die painfully.” He walked up to Standish and put his arm around her. “Now let’s go torture him for information.” A wicked smile on his face.

  Standish looked at Cryne, then started walking with him down the corridor towards the large chamber that served as the centre for all things disgustingly savage on the ship. “I’m not sure I can torture someone.” She said, her voice low.

  “Oh, don’t worry.” Cryne said. “I intend to get one of his prisoners to do it.”

  When they reached the room, Standish almost gagged at the smell that was coming out of it. She didn’t have the pleasure of her helmet to keep her senses immune to the realities of this chamber of terrors. The room was left like Standish had first found it: dead bodies here, limbs and body parts there. The prisoners were still in the cage, and the disgusting figure was still sat on his throne.

  Cryne walked up to the figure on the throne, leaned in close, and examined the creatures face, shook his head, and stood up. “I don’t recognise this species either.” He said.

  Standish stayed close to the door while Cryne walked over the cage. The gaunt figures inside remained silent, their hands wrapped around the bars of their cell, their eyes looking out at the two strangers.

  Stopping in front of the cage, Cryne looked at the wrecked figures inside, then finally addressed them. “Do any of you speak Universal?”

  The question stirred some activity inside the cage, and eventually, one of the captives spoke up. “Yes.”

  Cryne stepped closer to the cage. “Do you know who this individual is?” He asked, pointing at the figure on the throne.

  The captive shook her head.

  “How did you come to be here?” Cryne asked.

  “He bought us.”

  “From slavers?” Cryne asked.

  The figure nodded.

  “Where?”

  “Bunga-Bat.” The frail-looking female replied.

  Cryne nodded, then turned to face Standish. “Looks like our friend here,” Cryne walked over to the throne and the unconscious figure. “Is doing business in the Core.” He shook his head. “I don’t think we’re looking at something big here.” He shook his head. “He’s stealing from here, probably supplying factions inside the Core.” Cryne scratched his forehead with his one good hand. “Buying slaves.” Cryne walked over to Standish.

  “Why do you think it’s not bigger than that?” She asked.

  Cryne looked at her and smiled. “Because anyone with connections in the Etelainen or the Pohjois wouldn’t be doing business in the Core. Have you been there lately?”

  Standish shook her head.

  “It’s fucked.” Cryne looked back to the figure he had been speaking within the cage. “Does he ever leave that chair?”

  The figure looked at the creature on the throne, then back to Cryne, then shook her head.

  Cryne looked at the creature, then over to Standish. “I don’t think that creature is very active in much of the day to day goings.” Cryne started sauntering towards the creature. “He probably relies on the ship’s AI to do all the work for him. Once he had the Sentinels, he was free to relax.” Cryne looked over the dead and dismembered bodies. “In whatever way he saw fit.”

  Standish walked behind Cryne towards the foul looking beast.

  “I’d put a wager down that that chair has some form of communications systems.” He reached the chair and ran his hand over the smooth surface of the left armrest, but stopped just before the end. “Here.” He looked down and applied pressure with his finger. Immediately the front of the armrest flipped open, and out extended a large data-screen.

  Taking hold of the screen, Cryne attached an advanced AI disk to the back of it and waited until the systems had been penetrated. After a few minutes of waiting, a large seal of the Alliance fleet came up on the screen.

  “We’re in.” Cryne said, releasing the screen, he handed it to Standish. “Get in there and look for any communications systems or mayday call devices.”

  Standish took the screen and manoeuvred it until she could read and access it. She quickly scrolled through a variety of menus, then paused. “There is an emergency beacon.”

  “Can you program a destination for the signal?” Cryne asked.

  Standish continued to move her fingers about the screen. “Yes. It’s currently set for Bunga-Bat.”

  “Well, we don’t want them to come to our assistance. Probably friends of his.” He jerked his thumb towards the still motionless body.

  “I can send an emergency burst to Killious.” She said.

  “How long to program the beacon?”

  “Once I’ve given the correct destination, the beacon will launch to a position where it can send the signal. Shouldn’t take more than five
minutes.”

  Cryne smiled. “Good. Send our team codes and request immediate medical extract.” He started walking over to the cage and unlocked the hatch. “You.” He pointed at the female that had supplied him with information earlier. She emerged from the cage slowly, wearing nothing more than rags, she looked in a terrible state. “Come with me.” Cryne ordered and walked back to the creature still sitting on the throne.

  “Ready to launch the beacon.” Standish said.

  “Good. Did you record the original location the signal was being sent on Bunga-Bat?”

  “Yes.” She replied.

  “Good. I want to go there and kill everyone I find.” He looked down at his wrist that was no longer attached to his hand. “Once I fix this.” He looked over to the young slave, a look of focus on his face. Turning to the young female, Cryne took out his fighting knife and handed it to her. “Here.”

  The female backed away, her hands up in protest.

  Cryne looked at Standish. “Take this knife, and put it in her hands.” He instructed.

  Doing as she was told, she walked around the frail female, taking the females hands in hers, forcing them to grasp the razor-sharp knife.

  “Now put the knife to this freaks head.”

  Standish’s eyes shot over to meet Cryne’s. She could tell there was almost no emotion behind them.

  Cryne took a step closer to the two females and looked down at the former captive. “This thing was probably going to rape you, then eat you.” He looked at the creature in the chair. “Now place the point of the knife here.” He put his finger just in front of the creature's forehead.

  “But.” The weak protest of the captive was of no use.

  “Standish, would you please assist.” Cryne instructed.

  Standish gave Cryne another look, and then glanced over to the blood-soaked bed with the two naked bodies on it, then for some reason, perhaps in search of motivation enough to execute someone, she looked down at the bucket of discarded body parts, and that’s when she tightened her grip on the knife in the woman’s hands and guided it to the forehead of the creature that was still in some state of unconscious, drugged delight.

  Once the knife was in place, she didn’t wait for or need encouragement from Cryne. She slowly started to push the blade through the soft flesh of the forehead. Blood was slow to drip out at first, but once the knife got past the surface of the skin, it started to flow more freely. It wasn’t until the blade reached bone that any real pressure had to be applied.

  “This is for everyone that died before you.” Cryne said in a near whisper, his face just inches from the frail prisoner. He looked at the creatures face, and what he saw put a smile on his face. “Looks like he’s coming around.” He looked at Standish. “Deeper.”

  Standish’s eyes were now wild. Her blood was racing through her veins again, and the deeper she ploughed the knife into the creatures face, the better she felt. When the blade had hit the bone, the creature's eyes opened wide in fear, and a horrific scream rang out.

  “End it!” Cryne ordered.

  Her eyes locked with the creature’s, Standish released her right hand from the female’s hand she was guiding, pulled it back a few centimetres, then slammed it into the butt of the knife, plunging it through the thick skull of the monstrous creature, and into its soft brain tissue. The creature’s eyes went wide as his body jerked and flopped around in the chair, its limbs flailing wildly, and once the knife was sunk all the way to the hilt, Standish twisted the knife hard to the side, then jerked it out of the beasts head, dragging with it a gushing mess of blood and brain matter.

  Once the screaming and body flailing had stopped, Cryne moved forward and took his knife off of Standish, and looked her in the eyes. “He did worse to his victims.” He said in a cold voice. He then looked at the young female. “You and the rest of the prisoners will come with us. We will give you medical attention, food, and shelter, and when you are ready, we can resettle you in the Etelainen.”

  The young female nodded.

  Cryne shifted his attention back to Standish. “Well?”

  “No trial? No law?” Standish asked.

  Cryne smiled. “You’re new to this. This isn’t the age of the Empire. This is a new era, an era of chaos and violence, and out here, on the frontier, we are the law.” He cleaned the blade of his knife off. “So, what did you learn here?”

  “Punishment for those that deserve it.” She replied.

  Cryne nodded. “That works.”

  The beacon worked. Less than an hour after Standish had launched it, a medical ship and an escort jumped into the system and recovered the team, along with all the ore from the long-ship, and the slaves. The data from the long-ships AI was downloaded, and then it, and the wrecked Darjk freighter, was removed from the mine tunnel and left to drift towards the system’s star. Just as the two rescue ships were about to jump back to Killious, a sizeable automated mining ship dropped into the system only in front of the Alliance ships.

  Standish and Cryne were on the bridge of the medical frigate and shook their heads simultaneously when a massive shadow was cast over the ship, blocking out the system's star.

  Cryne looked over to Standish with a smile on his face. “Looks like it’s back to business as usual.”

  Standish turned away from the viewing screen and started walking to the rear of the bridge. “I’ve got some wounded teammates to see.”

  “It’s just a game, Standish.” Cryne shouted.

  Standish stopped, and turned around and looked at the second in command of her team and put her hands on her hips. “What the hell does that mean?” She demanded in a thunderous voice. The bridge crew of fleet personnel appeared shocked by this outburst and stopped what they were doing and looked at the blue and white-skinned alien.

  Cryne looked down at the deck and then nodded to himself a few times, then walked towards Standish, his head still looking down as he took slow, deliberate steps. Once he was half a metre away, he stopped and looked up. His hazel coloured eyes met her blue eyes, and for a moment, there was silence. He then raised his arm that was missing its hand, examined it for a moment, then dropped it back down to his side.

  “Why do you think we do this?” He asked, in a very dry, almost fatigued voice.

  Standish righted herself, then shot her eyes around the bridge, spending a brief moment to look at all the faces staring back at her, then finally back to Cryne. She knew what he wanted to hear. It almost pained her to say it, but she knew that he had no interest in being told that they were out fighting for the greater good, or the Etelainen or the Alliance or to save lives. That could be done in any other branch of the service, but people didn’t join Dynamic Operations for those reasons. They joined because of the unique challenge that it presented. And that helped give her the answer she knew he wanted.

  “To win.” She replied.

  “And that means what?”

  “Testing ourselves.”

  Cryne smiled. “It means playing against the best.”

  When they returned to Killious Cryne went straight to Admiral Zalenious and convinced him to launch a trans-jump missile strike on the coordinates on Bunga-Bat that the team had recovered from the Floxian long-ship. And while the team would never have the satisfaction of knowing what the missile had struck, there was no doubt that vengeance had been given to the prisoners that Standish had found. Most importantly, the mission to the AB 79 System also bought them points with the Admiral, and that always helped.

  52

  The Present

  Fury System

  They hadn’t taken much. Just a music system that was wired into the ships sleeping quarters. Not something she cared about. They hadn’t found her armour or weapons. That was good.

  The inhabited world in the system was called 161. During the years of the Empire, it had one the largest shipyards in the galaxy. Now there was just an artificial ring of debris circling the planet to remind visitors of its once great industry.
>
  The goons from the freighter hadn’t given Standish much. Just the name of the figure that ruled the system in the name of the Melcore Combine, Ju-Tana Fu. She would be Standish’s first port of call on the surface.

  53

  The Past

  Killious

  It took two months for the entire team to get re-certified. The wounds that had been suffered in the AB 79 system were healed, but scars still remained. In addition to the physical injuries that needed to mend, the mental trauma of what had happened affected them all differently. Standish had seen the atrocities of war while in the service of Rescue Tech, but the level of depravity she saw in the chamber of horrors on the long-ship stayed with her. The disgusting scene of mutilated and dismembered bodies was almost too much to bear, and then the brutal way in which Cryne had ordered the creature killed was also nearly too intense for her mind.

  Luckily there were ways to handle these horrors. In addition to the exceptional medical services on Killious that could treat the body, supplements were available to dull the senses, and if needs persisted, more permanent solutions were also on offer, something she wasn’t willing to entertain, unlike Cryne, who had his emotional centre extracted, allowing him to be a more clinical and ruthless combatant. Standish optioned for something in the middle.

  The medical droid that was in the hospital offered her a metal tube with six blue tablets in it. She was told that she needed to take one pill every morning, and then after Standish took the last pill, she would be free from the dark dreams that were haunting her nights.