“You might as well kill me here and now,” Canton said. “I loved my wife. It destroyed me when she died. They couldn’t take anything else from me that I loved more. To be honest, they killed me when they took her life.”
Jack nodded. “I’m finished here now,” Jack said. “You can go and sit with the others.”
Canton smiled at Jack. “It’s been good to do some work again. Thank you,” he said, then walked back to the rest of the prisoners.
Jack walked casually around the landing craft. Laidlaw stood at the forward landing strut, re-attaching a loose panel.
“Stuart,” Jack called out calmly. He tipped his head toward the boarding ramp of the landing craft.
Laidlaw immediately stopped what he was doing and stepped over to the landing ramp. Jack reached out and pulled Laidlaw on to the ramp. He took a small remote unit from his pulse pistol holster on his hip and held it in his palm. He let Laidlaw see it.
“You ready for this?” Jack asked with a smile.
Laidlaw nodded with a look of grim determination.
Jack tapped the small button on the remote.
The feedback pulse from the reactor shunt hit hard. Jack felt the pulse slam into every nerve in his body. His teeth rattled in his jaw. His hair stood on end, and he nearly fell over from the dizziness.
Laidlaw reached out and grabbed hold of Jack to steady himself.
The pulse filled the landing bay and knocked every last man to the floor. Jack and Laidlaw were protected by the landing ramp, but they still felt a thump from Jack’s improvised energy weapon.
“Go, now,” Jack said. He staggered forward. “Secure the weapons.”
The prisoners and the Marines were lying in heaps around the bay. Some were twitching but most were still, out stone cold. Jack wondered if he’d set the charge too strongly. He hoped he could get some of his Marines back to their feet. Jack began gathering pulse rifles from the prisoners and he kicked every Marine, shouting at them to get up.
Torent was groaning and climbing to his hands and knees.
“On your feet, Marines,” Jack was yelling at the Marines who were writhing on the ground, groaning, their senses having been assaulted by the pulse blast from the landing craft. Jack had no time or sympathy for their pain. They were Marines and they needed to get on their feet.
The prisoners hardly moved at all. Every one of them was out cold. An idle life had made them predisposed to lounging about. None of them made any great effort to shake off the blast. Only Butcher moved. He groaned like all the rest but was making some effort to get to his feet. Somewhere in his bewildered mind he knew he had been attacked. Jack guessed the eagerness to escape was overcoming his propensity for idleness. Jack grabbed the pulse rifle from his hands.
Laidlaw was moving amongst a group of Marines. One was sitting up and clumsily getting to his feet. He used the pulse rifle Laidlaw gave him for support before he fell again and vomited.
“On your feet, Marine,” Laidlaw said, shoving a pulse rifle into the hands of the next Marine.
The Marines were all rousing themselves. They staggered and fell as they tried to regain their feet. Most could just about manage to climb up onto their hands and knees. That was good enough for now, and every semi-conscious Marine was given a weapon.
“Jack,” Torent called out weakly.
Jack looked over to Torent. He was standing against the tunnel wall. The Marines at his feet were pulling weapons away from their prisoner guards. Then Jack saw.
The tunnel was alive, a writhing mass of advancing Chitin soldiers.
“Give fire, Sam,” Jack called out to Torent.
Torent turned and fired. It was a clumsy shot, a shot that Torent would normally be ashamed of, but Jack was proud of Torent. He was on his feet and fighting, even though he had just been blasted by a massive feedback pulse that had temporarily scrambled his nervous system.
“To arms, Marines. To arms.” Jack urged the Marines toward the tunnel. “Fire on the Chits. Hold them back.”
The Marines were all moving, some standing, many crawling, but they were all moving toward the tunnel opening. Jack opened a communication channel to the pilot in the landing craft. He hoped he was conscious.
“The landing craft is ready to go,” Jack said as he walked toward the tunnel. “Get it started.” Jack opened fire, the pulse rounds tearing into the mass of Chitins rushing along the tunnel.
Laidlaw joined Jack at the tunnel mouth. He stood next to Jack and poured rifle fire into the dark tunnel.
“Torent. Laidlaw. Hold the tunnel.” Jack stepped back from the firing line. “Jarett,” Jack called out to the squad leader from Adder Company. Jarret was on one knee, a splatter of vomit at his side, but his trigger finger was under control and the bursts from his pulse rifle were well-aimed and controlled. “With me, Jarett,” Jack said.
Jack grabbed hold of a Marine crawling toward the firing line. “You, with me. On your feet.”
Jack grabbed a few Marines who hadn’t quite recovered, but they were regaining their capacities rapidly. The fight at the tunnel entrance was being managed by Torent and Laidlaw. Jack needed help with the prisoners.
The first prisoner to his feet was Butcher, the murdering gangster. Only moments ago, he’d had a pulse rifle pointed at Jack’s face. Now he was helpless and weak. Jack pushed him firmly back to the ground.
Jack barked orders at his Marines. They were still unstable on their feet but could follow orders. He had all the loose weapons collected. The Marines all had their pulse rifles back, but the pulse pistols were still lying amongst the prisoners.
Jack told Jarett to watch Butcher and his gang of lackeys while Jack went and kicked the rest of the prisoners, urging them to rise and shake off the blast that had scrambled their minds.
Then the plasma spears slammed into the landing craft’s nose.
“They are returning fire,” Torent shouted. “There are too many of them.”
The engine nodes at the rear of the landing craft began to glow with a bright white light. Jack knew there were still a few minutes until the craft could leave.
Jack looked at the tunnel. He could see the writhing mass of soldiers in the darkness. There was only one reason why they weren’t firing more of their plasma spears. That was because the Chitins were capturing humans at every opportunity. For as long as his Marines stood their ground, they could hold the Chitin’s attack back, but once the Marines began to retreat, the Chits would swarm out of the tunnel and over the landing craft. If that landing craft hull was breached, then no prisoners would make it. They would either suffocate in the vacuum of space or get captured and converted by the Chitins into brainwashed, human agents.
“We need to collapse that tunnel,” Jack said.
“What I wouldn’t give for a small antimatter charge right now,” Laidlaw said.
“We can use one of the power cells from a pulse rifle.” Jack began to dismantle his pulse rifle. “I just need to rig a detonator.” Jack shook his head. “But we haven’t got time.” He tossed the power cell in his hand. It had the power to collapse the tunnel and stop the Chitin’s advance. The landing craft would be able to get away with all prisoners and Marines safely aboard. Jack knew he was going to be able to complete his mission. He needed to bring down that tunnel.
“Sam,” Jack called out. “Hold them off for as long as you can.” Jack turned to Jarett. “Start loading the prisoners.”
Jarett nodded and called two Marines to him. He began shifting the unsteady prisoners to the landing craft and the seats that would hold them for the journey back to Eros.
“Strap them in good, and keep a guard on them,” Jack said. He walked back to the firefight at the tunnel entrance.
The flashes of the pulse rifles lit up the tunnel. The strobe effect was dizzying. Every flash showed a new view as the Chitins advanced. They climbed the walls and clung to the ceiling. Moving forward. The pulse rifles did their bloody work and smashed the Chits, their hard outer shells
fracturing and sending splatters of the thick Chitin slime flying in huge spattering globules.
Every flash showed the Chits getting closer and closer.
“Hold them for as long as you can,” Jack shouted to the Marines. “When we have the prisoners aboard, I will order a retreat. Fall back in a fighting retreat.”
The Marines shouted that they understood.
“The prisoners don’t look so keen to use a pulse rifle now, do they, sir?” Laidlaw shouted over the noise of the rifle fire.
“No, they do not.” Jack looked over the prisoners sitting on the ground and the Marines taking them in small groups to be strapped into the seats in the landing craft.
Jack knew it was taking too long.
Walking back to the landing craft, Jack played with the power cell from his pulse rifle. Someone needed to collapse that tunnel. He was not going to ask for volunteers for a suicide mission and he sure as krav wasn’t going to order anyone to do it. It was his job to do.
Former secretary Canton was on his feet and being taken to the landing craft boarding ramp. He caught Jack’s eye. He shouted over the sounds of pulse rifle fire.
“I served before I went into politics, Commander.” Canton shrugged off the Marine who was moving him to the landing craft. “I can see what you’re thinking.”
The Marine grabbed Canton and walked him to the ramp.
“Let him speak,” Jack said.
The Marine let Canton approach Jack.
“Keep boarding those prisoners,” Jack ordered.
“I know what you’re thinking, Commander, because it’s the same thing that I would have thought.”
Jack looked suspiciously as Canton. “What am I thinking?”
“You are going to detonate that power unit in the tunnel.” Canton held out his hand. “Let me do it.”
Jack held the power unit out of Canton’s reach. “It’s my duty to get you back to Eros, sir.”
“Hurry up back there,” Torent shouted from the firing line at the tunnel’s mouth. “They are getting close.”
“If you take me back, they are going to hang me for a crime I didn’t commit because they said I was a traitor and a coward for opposing this kravin war. If I collapse that tunnel then maybe I can restore some honor to my name. Maybe the name Secretary Canton will mean hero and not traitor.”
Canton kept his hand out.
Jack thought about what it would mean to Canton to restore his name back on Eros. Jack thought about how many of his Marines would be able to return to active duty if they survived the landing bay battle and returned to the fleet.
Another plasma spear that came blasting out of the tunnel hit the landing craft on the nose. Jack ducked for cover as the landing craft’s composite hull fizzed under the energy from the plasma spear. Another spear sliced through the air and hit the far wall of the bay.
“They’re coming, and they’ve had enough of taking damage,” Torent was shouting. “They are returning fire. I don’t think they’re looking for captives anymore.”
Another plasma spear slammed into the ground next to Jack’s leg. The ground exploded in a shower of dust and rocky fragments. The fragments hit Jack’s ankle like a shotgun blast and knocked him to the ground. He went down on all fours. The power cell fell from his hand.
Jack reached for it, but it was snatched from him. Jack looked up at Canton.
“Looks like fate will give me a chance to prove myself. Good luck, Commander.”
Jack watched as Canton ran toward the firing line. Jack saw Laidlaw move into position to stop Canton.
“Let him go,” Jack called out.
Laidlaw stepped aside and Canton ran into the darkness.
“Covering fire,” Laidlaw shouted. The Marines gave a burst of sustained fire.
“Fall back,” Jack shouted.
The blast in the tunnel sent dust billowing into the landing bay. Jack coughed on the thick dust. The sound of falling rubble was deafening and Jack knew that the tunnel was sealed.
“Get these last few prisoners aboard and let’s get out of here,” Jack said, coughing.
Jack felt the strong arm grab him from behind, the forearm on his wind pipe, and the pulse pistol at the side of Jack’s head.
“Thank you for getting us ready to go, soldier boy,” Butcher said. He walked backward up the landing ramp, dragging Jack with him. “Looks like I’m still the one in control.”
“Sorry to tell you this, Butcher,” Jack said, “but you were never in control of this situation.”
“I had the guns, and I’ve got one again. I think you know who is in control here.”
Jack saw Laidlaw slowly raise his rifle. Jack shook his head.
Butcher snarled. “Tell your Marines to back off or I’ll blow your brains out.” He walked further up the ramp.
“They will do what I order them to, Butcher,” Jack said. “But my orders are to get you back to Eros, and that’s what I’m going to do.”
Jack saw Torent raise his rifle. The muzzle flash from Torent’s pulse rifle seemed to happen in slow motion. The pulse round struck Butcher in the eye and he fell like a puppet with its strings cut.
Jack stepped away from the fallen prisoner. He took the pulse pistol out of his dead hand and clipped it to his hip holster.
“I told you not to fire,” Jack said angrily.
Torent and Laidlaw came toward the landing craft. The Marines ran past Jack and took their positions in the passenger hold.
“Actually, Commander, you told Laidlaw not to fire,” Torent said.
“He was enjoying humiliating me too much to want to kill me.” Jack pushed Torent past him up the boarding ramp. Jack slammed the hatch controls and the ramp began to close. He pressed the communication panel and spoke to the pilot. “We’re all clear, pilot. Let’s go.”
The landing craft lifted off the deck and up toward the landing bay’s upper door. The door slid aside and the landing craft blasted off into the dark of space.
21
Jack stood in front of Griff’s desk. Major Griff was reviewing a holofile in front of him.
“Sit down, Jack,” he said, offering Jack the seat opposite him. “Excellent mission, Jack. You only lost two prisoners. If it was up to me, I might have been tempted to let the bastards rot where they were.”
“I was under orders to bring them back, sir,” Jack said, settling into the seat. His ankle was in a therapeutic boot as his bones healed from the near-miss with the Chitin plasma spear.
“You were lucky not to lose more men than you did, and you were lucky not to lose your foot.” Griff pulled a bottle and two large tumblers from a desk drawer. He poured two drinks.
“Guess I’m lucky to have good people around me.”
“Speaking of that, have you made any decision about who you would recommend for company commander?”
Jack took a sip of his drink. It was harsh and dried his mouth. He didn’t like the flavor of the amber liquor, but he drank it anyway. Jack had made a decision.
“Only one, Sir.” Jack drank the rest of the liquor and put the tumbler back on Griff’s desk. “Stuart Laidlaw.”
Griff nodded. “Laidlaw. Good. Why?” Griff took a sip of his drink and looked at Jack over the rim of the glass.
“He’s intelligent, he’s determined, he has the respect of the men, and he’s brave. A good leader needs to be able to fight at the front, sir.”
Griff nodded. “But a good company commander needs to be able to assess a situation in all its complexity and make a decision based on a lot of information. It can be easier to rush to the front. It’s harder to step back and make a cool assessment.”
Jack nodded.
“And that is exactly what you did, Jack,” Griff said, pouring another slug of amber liquor into Jack’s tumbler. “You did exceptionally well, Jack. I might think you were after my job.”
Jack picked up his drink and took a sip.
“I heard Trace Matavesi was lost.” Jack said, turning the glass in
his hand.
Griff nodded. “The Taurus went down. All hands lost. A real blow to the Fleet.” Griff raised his glass. “To Trace. She was a true Marine.”
Jack tapped his tumbler against Griff’s and joined his toast to a fallen colleague and friend.
“Sometimes it’s not so good to have friends in the service, Jack,” Griff said. He sat back in his chair. “Is that why you didn’t suggest your friend Sam Torent for company commander?”
Jack took a drink. “Sam’s good,” Jack said. “He’s brave. He’s strong. He’s a good combat leader.”
“Would you trust him to command a company?”
Jack thought. He rolled the idea around in his head. Did he trust Sam Torent to command a company? Jack didn’t know. Even after all they had been through together, Jack wasn’t sure if he trusted Torent at all.
“But Stuart Laidlaw is an excellent suggestion, Jack,” Griff said. “And you ran an excellent mission. A real success. You are a good leader, and we are lucky to have you here.”
Jack knew he had made mistakes. He wondered if he’d made the right decisions, wondered if he could have saved the two prisoners who had died. But through it all, Jack knew he could lead a company of Marines. He had been an officer for some time but now he was a leader, a leader whose skills had been forged in battle.
Forged Under Siege
Prologue
Admiral Henson leaned heavily on the holostage. The small points of light on the holoimage represented every ship—military and civilian—merged into a single blurred mass. The entire fleet was in full retreat. Henson rubbed his eyes as the image drifted out of focus.
“What a mess,” Henson muttered. “What a kravin mess.”
Rear Admiral Tel Jackson and Rear Admiral Victor Orlov stood in silence. There was nothing they could do now but watch the retreat. All plans had been made for the defense of the two home worlds. The orbital defenses on the asteroids in orbit round Eras were ready to defend the planet. The two moons around Eros were even better equipped. The Chitins would never break through the final defensive perimeter.
Jack Forge, Fleet Marine Boxed Set (Books 1 - 9) Page 46
