With the marines and ship’s patrolmen pushing the crowd back, they were able to clear a hundred foot space for a landing pad. But after going back into the truck bay to have them call the fighter to land. The Captain went back out to see a huge tent going up for carnival booths to sell things to the growing crowd going up in the open area. In horror the Captain watched the Mustang wobble down towered the tent rolled out across the open area right on top of several workers only to change course at the last second. It's thrusters blowing the workers with the half up tent into the crowd as the wobbling fighter skimmed across only feet above their heads before climbing back up as it circled the ship.
Yelling at everyone that could hear her though few listened, she finally got crews to start clearing the tent from the area but from all the noise, communications were almost impossible resulting in crossed orders with no one knowing who was supposed to do what. While half the tent was coming down the other half was being put back up. Then everyone started pointing up.
A hatch 40 foot wide, 20 foot high and some 700feet above the pit started opining as dirt rained down on the crowd. Stopping partially open then closed and then again, opening and closing several times before finely settling into the completely open position with a bang that echoed across the pit. The flight deck started sliding out to the Captain’s horror. The big number 3 clearly visible in the bright lights on the bottom of the hatch that was now forming the outer part of the ramp. While trying to use her com to order the marines to head for number 3 boat lock to stop the fool, her attention was drawn again to the fighter trying to land on the extending deck and the small opening as it wobbled toward it. “God Damn you fool. Don’t land on it half open!” Yelled the Captain. Hell. She did not want him landing on it at all and sighed with relief as it turned away to circle the ship as it climbed for altitude.
Turning she went back to trying to clear a place for him to land. But before she knew it the crowed suddenly grew quiet except for a few screams. Looking up she watched a smoking flame belching fighter falling out of the sky toward the open hatch and all but deployed ramp. In horror she watched it streak wobbling toward the hatch only to start violently rolling one way then another as it dropped toward the side to the ship. She knew that even if it hit the ramp at that speed, it would destroy itself and the pilots. And even then it could bounce off the ramp and fall the 700 feet into crowded pit without the safety equipment not yet deployed on the still opening ramp. Even if they would work after 20 years. Even if it missed the ramp which it was likely to do, it would hit the side of the ship and then fall into the pit possibly killing hundreds when it exploded. And there was nothing she could do to stop it in the time she had. She could only watch in horror.
And then the fighter suddenly righted itself and disappeared onto the ramp as flames erupted from where the fighter had to have hit. It took a fraction of a second for her to realize that the flames were directional along the access and off the ramp in a stream that meant it had not crashed and blown up.
The deck clanged into place sending another shower of debris down over the crowd as they looked up in horror waiting for the fighter to appear as it fell. The Captain let go of the man next to her as she finally realized that the fighter was not going to plunge into the crowd. Waiting for her heart to return to normal she turned away only to hear the crowd again. Looking up she watched a fighter with its four long X wings closed together into two wings with landing gear deployed below, landed on the deck outside the lock. "A strange fighter landing on the Star Queen without her permission!" She shouted to no one and then into her com. “I want every Marine up to 3 lock immediately. Hear me. Every god damn marine immediately! NOW! Intruder alert hear me. Intruder alert damn it. Get me the Chief Sgt. at Arms and Ships Patrol up there now. I want that Damn MR. COLINS arrested immediately if he is still alive. Do you hear me! Arrested now! Hell I will shoot him myself for opining that damn hatch.
---------------------
An X-wing fighter landed on number 3’s landing deck. “I was afraid your canopy would be blocked closed when I saw the damage. I will be there in a minute.” Captain Myers jumped down from his fighter and started walking into the lock. Several times he would stop and look at something with a hand light since most of the lights where out. Finely he got to the Mustang and pulled his pistol and aimed at a point where the canopy met the fuselage on Dian’s side and fired several shots. Holstering the pistol he reached up and pulled the emergency canopy release and the canopy popped open and back flying up hitting the overhead before clattering to the deck a few feet behind the fighter. “You were not joking when you said deserted. This place went through a fierce battle a long time ago and was not cleaned up after wards. Now let's get this young lady out and to some help.”
Mark hit his harness release and sat up reaching across the center console. He started to unbuckle Dian when he heard someone pounding on the hatch from the lock into the ship with a hammer.
“Mark; leave Dian alone. She is seriously wounded now that I can see into the tub and do not have to help fly the fighter. She needs professional help. Do not move her. Go open the hatch.”
Checking to make sure Dian was alive and breathing he put his hand on her neck checking her pulse as she raised her head to look at him. "Mark, I said leave her alone, she is badly hurt and needs help. You need to get the lock hatch open now." Something banged against the hatch again.
He frowned then climbed out of the fighter. Mark told the Captain to follow him and went over to the hatch and tried to open it with the Captains help. After turning the manual lock without the hatch budging he stopped and looked around. “Shit it is welded. No wonder no one has been in here for 20 years. But why didn’t they just cut the welds off the damn thing?”
“I will bet you that whatever happened in here was so terrible that no one could face the fact and just welded it up to keep it buried.”
Mark shook his head in disbelief as he pulled his torch out and started cutting the welds off the hatch. “I don’t know Captain. These welds are shitty shallow welds done in a big hurry. See how some of the beads are not even near the crack of the hatch and worthless. Besides why weld it up on the lock side. If the ship's crew wanted to close it off from anyone getting in to the ship, you would think they would weld it from the ship side. This has got to be someone welding it shut in a hurry to keep the crew out of the lock.”
“All I know for sure is that one hell of a battle happened in here with laser marks all over the place and body shadows and flash fused body parts in the deck and bulkheads and even...”
“What do you mean flash fused body parts?" Mark looked at the Captain for a few second and then went back to cutting the welds.
“When a laser hit’s a solid metal object next to where a person is touching, laying or leaning against the metal. Sometimes the metal melts or softens and the part of the body against the metal sinks in and fuses to the metal before the body has time to burn, the metal almost instantly cools since the metal around it is still cold. The person winds up welded to the metal still alive and in excruciating pain and has to have the body part cut off if it is an appendage, otherwise you just have to wait for them to die. The screams can stay with the living for a life time and there are signs of at least thirty or more flash fussings in this lock.” Something moved in the fighter’s cockpit and Dian let out a scream.
Mark turned from the hatch for a second and started for the fighter only to have the Captain put a hand on his shoulder. "No son. Finish opening the hatch we can do nothing for her." Mark looked at the Captain then turned and finished cutting the last welds and cracked opened the hatch. He was immediately thrown across the lock as marines burst through the hatch. Two marines threw the Captain down onto the deck pinning him while the rest fanned out across the lock with reinforcements following. Picking himself up Mark turned to the marines holding the Captain. “Release that officer Corporals and follow me! Someone get the medic and a stretcher NOW!” As Mark rushed ba
ck to the fighter he continued to give orders.
Climbing onto the fighter he bent down to check on Dian. “She looks awfully white Mickey.” Looking up at him she smiled as her head slowly sank back against the center console. “Something is wrong?”
“Yes Mark her hip is stuck against the armored tub. I believe it is flash fussed as the Captain said.”
Turning to the Medic running up. “Her hip is fuzzed against the armored tub. Get the Doctor up here fast.”
“Yes Commander now get out of my way sir.” Jerking the Commander off the side of the fighter sending him flying over his head toward the deck when Mark hesitated (wanting to help). The medic jerked Mark hard as he fell past him stopping his plunge just in time to keep him from hitting the deck face first and spinning him around so his feet hit the deck and then letting him fall into a pile since he had not been expecting to be standing. The medic then climbed up onto the top of the fighter to bend down over her as he called for backup on his helmet COMM unit. "Stark here; I have a 19 year old female in shock with her hip fused to the armor. I am calling a code red." Then started an I/V in her arm after slapping an oxygen mask on her. Finding the injector lying beside her he turned to Mark still helpless on the deck. "What the hell is this?"
Captain Myers spoke up. "It is a Cocktail to keep wounded, including Flash welded pilots alive and partially sedated. The contents are on the side of the injector. Should be a green module on her someplace that is supposed to keep her body from going into shock. Has a label on it as well. Don’t take it off of her."
The medic read the side and frowned as he stuffed it in his pocket and started reciting the contents into his comm as he cut away her suit and placed sensors on her chest and head. Another Medic climbed up beside him and started checking the rest of her body out while the first talked to someone over his Comm adding shots to her IV.
“Commander Collins.” Captain Myers helped Mark up off the deck. “Flash fussed wounds are nasty and when on the main torso are usually lethal. I have a special medical unit that has a lot of experience with these things and may be able to save her life. I can have them here in minutes. Let me call them.”
Mark climbed up the pilot’s side ladder to look over across the cockpit at Dian and the medics hovering over her. Mark’s natural reservation against outside help forced him to ask as he realized he could not even get close enough to hold her hand. “How is she Corporal?”
Leaning over to whisper to Mark so Dian could not hear him. “I have her on I/V sedatives and plasma and cut enough away to see that her whole hip is definitely fuzzed right down to the bone. I am afraid that it does not look good. There is not much we can do for her sir. Fact is, I am surprised she is still alive." Keying his com. "Sickbay; you better get the padre up here as well and be quick about it."
Dian looked up at Mark crying. "You murdered all those men. Then you forced me to kill all those people."
The medic turned to Mark suddenly wide eyed. “You killed a bunch of people?” With a frown. "Sorry Sir. All we can pretty much do is make her comfortable until she passes." Pushing him away. "Now get out of the Cockpit Commander you are in the way." Placing is body between Mark and Dian forcing him away.
Mark dropped back down off the fighter tight lipped as he crossed back under it. Looking up at all the damage running down Dian's side of the fighter. Shaking his head amazed at all the damage on that side of the fuselage and the large gouge just outside of the cockpit and the crater blasted into the tub next to Dian as a tear came to his eye.
Mark turned to the Captain. “Ok, Captain get them here fast.”
One of the Marines came up to the fighter looking at Mark. “Commander you have got to see this.”
Following the marine reluctantly, he was taken to a spot a quarter of the way down the lock where the marine shone a light onto the bulkhead. An entire mummified body looking more skeleton than body laid welded half out of the bulkhead with rags that were once cloths still attached hanging down, the body fuzzed to the metal. Spread eagle with an arm up as if to shield itself. Blaster pits stitching the metal up the bulkhead next to the body without touching it.
The Sgt.’s comm came to life “Sgt. this is Cummings; we are finding a lot more partial skeletons and mummified bodies. Every pile of cloths or junk seems to have mummies or bones in them.”
The Sgt. turned to Mark. “Commander what the hell happened here and what do you want us to do?
“First get off the damn coms. No sense in advertising this. Send runners down to get all the marines you can as well as the Sgt at Arms, the Coroner and a hundred body bags and boxes to put them in and the hull tech engineers with torches to cut them out if needed.” Turning to the Captain. “Any suggestions on how to get bones and bodies of Flashweld victims out of metal decks and bulkheads?”
“Just cut the plate out and patch the hole. We always buried the plate with the body. You should mark and catalog everybody with photos, place found, condition and content for future reference. Excuse me, I have got to go meet the medical unit. They are on finale approach.”
The Sgt. started giving orders and sending runners off then turned back to Mark. “Commander. Should I send a runner for the Captain Sir?”
Mark started to say sure but then caught himself. The Captain probably already knew what happened here. It was about time for someone else to know. “No Sergeant. Not wright now. I will take care of letting the Captain know when it is appropriate. And keep the news media off this deck entirely for now.”
Mark took out his torch and set it to a million candle power lantern and started looking around the lock trying to figure out what happened 21 years ago. The Million candle power light left nothing to the imagination while answering little. Mark recognized what had to be an Armored Assault Carrier some 12 feet across and 40 feet long with big red crosses on its sides come sliding up to the lock trying to get through the hatch filled with marines. The medical APC’s sirens blaring to clear the way making marines run for their lives across lock and the ramp, some still in shock from the sight of all the skeletons and bodies.
But one lone Marine stood fast over a lump of bones to one side of the cleared strip just inside the lock with her weapon up preventing the APC form entering the lock where she was. With the Captain’s fighter on the other side of the ramp just outside the hatch leaving no room for the big APC to get into the lock. The APC sat down just outside on the platform with its stern to the lock. A military medical team ran from the back of the APC and around the Marine and across a pile on the deck sending bones clattering across the deck. Other marines suddenly started taking up positions over other piles to prevent the rushing teams from running over them. With equipment in hand more Medical staff made a beeline for the Mustang. First running into marines that suddenly refused to move out of their way before they started going around the solid barriers that started pointing weapons at them if they refused to change direction. Captain Myers shook his head as he talked to an officer at the APC and then started walking back towered Mark as that officer started yelling at the medical personnel to go around any marines or piles of trash.
"That was fast Captain." Mark said as he approached.
"I called them in on standby as soon as I found out your ensigns condition Commander, I have ordered cutting teams down from the battle station with some new equipment that can slice the remains out of the armored plate without taking the whole plate out. It uses a carbon filament loop to burn around the corps going only deep enough to clear the body part. The metal can be easily patched with a carbon epoxy that is as strong as the original foam steel or if you want with foam metal later in orbit. That is with your permission Commander. But the loops cannot be used on the living though, it is way too hot and slow. They will use assault reentry profiles and should be here in a half hour at most.”
“Thanks Captain. Might as well.” Looking around him with his bright torch. “I would like your opinion on what happened here since you seem to know a lot about
things like this.”
Taking a breath as he looked around the lock before turning to Mark. “I don’t think this was a battle Commander. I think this was a slaughter of the helpless.” Pointing out across the lock. “Have you noticed that all the bodies are along the sides of the lock with a 20 foot gap extending a good hundred feet down the center? And Commander, one more important fact. All the laser gouges in the metal are from twin barreled 20mm cannons. You can tell by the zig zag spacing of the hits and the size of the craters. Does that ring a bell?”
Mark closed his eyes getting a sick green look on his face. “Our armed shuttles are 20 feet wide and originally had twin barreled 20mm door cannons and nose turret.” Mark closed his eyes not wanting to believe what he knew had to have happened.
"Mickey! That can't be right. Who could be such a monster? No. The Captain has to be mistaken or lying."
"No Mark I did not light him up. He is telling the truth and I do not believe he is mistaken. All the evidence points to that fact. My sensors tell me that this was done by five twin 20mm laser gun mounts. I can place where each mount was firing from and which mount killed which victims. Vacuum Dried Decomposition and rough preliminary carbon dating puts this at 21 years ago. The exact time the hatch was welded and the lock out of bounds order was given."
-------------------------------
The Admiral’s shuttle had landed at the Defense Command’s Base hours before. In addition to the 6 fighters escorting the Mustang, he had called out every flyable fighter in the area (wasn’t that many with most gone with the fleet), to look for the boat that had gotten away. But with no success. They did find the tail section of it just short of the truck skyway 100 some miles closer to the city which explained why it disappeared so easily but then they were expecting that from the record down loaded from the Mustang. He still could not believe that the boy without fighter pilot training of any kind except simulators, could pull off what he did. Even after watching the recording several times with both Captain Summers, his aid the Vice Admiral and several other officers on the trip to the base. No one could explain how the boy managed to do everything perfectly at the perfect time to defeat the trap especially with a weapons officer that was a medical ensign and not a trained weapons officer. They could not believe either the pilot or medical officer had ever been near a real fighter before that day. And then there is that third voice on the recording. Just who was this Mickey and where was she in a two seat fighter? And how come she knew so much about everything that needed to be done to keep them alive.
Tramp Wars: The Enemy Page 87
