Bill did not ask if the big man had yet seen a cross-section holo that showed where the ship’s crew and the captain were located. That service was something that Star Traveler had arranged with the Collector ship AIs to do once his teams exited their pods. How much to talk to the ship AI was up to each team. Knowing where Aliens were on each ship was vital to a swift takeover. Whether a team used the magnetic disruptor boxes or some of the ball explosives to access the Command Bridge did not matter to him. Accomplishing the mission by whatever means it took was all that mattered. Which was why he had high hopes his 18 special operations folks would turn his sneak attack scheme into a rapid reversal of fortunes for the giant cockroach and his greedy ship captains.
“Bill?” called Jane over her helmet’s comlink, which now moved back to their within ship frequency. “Two ships are boarded. The other four?”
He did not move his gaze from the true space holo that showed the green dots of his boarding pods. The three eastern ones were now crossing over France on their way to the space above the Ukraine. Alicia’s pod now hovered above Hawaii. The space between it and the stationary Dark Cloud starship shrank, shrank again, then disappeared.
“Alicia’s pod has entered the radiated ship,” he called, trying not to tap his fingers on his seat armrest, the way Jane did when she was anxious over something. His training told him to always be combat alert and to be aware in all conditions and directions. A SEAL never let anyone or anything sneak up on them, no matter what part of the world they were in. UAVs were nice to help give advance views of the target compound, when they were available. Otherwise, the team made do with smartphone screen images from Google World, hand-drawn maps and eyes and ears that watched in all directions. He—
“Alicia reporting,” came the soft soprano of the Ranger woman who was also a damn fine fly-caster. “Everyone’s down on this ship. Our friend says no one is moving. Our friend’s imagery shows two bioforms in the Food Chamber and three on the Command Bridge. We’re out of the pod chamber and into the right side hallway. One moment.”
Bill and Jane and Richardson and everyone else waited as Alicia, Mark and Howard made their way along the hallway of the Dark Cloud.
“Bingo,” Alicia said over the comlink. “The two critters in the Food Chamber are definitely dead. No breathing. No movement. Have no idea where to look for a pulse on the bodies of a four-legged giraffe and a walking lion. What eyes they have are not moving. We’re tying them up as a precaution. Then we’re heading for the bridge.”
“Smart,” Bill called back to his Ranger buddy over the pod comlink frequency. “Take no chances. Taser zap anything that moves. Or seems to move.”
Alicia chuckled over the comlink. “Executive Officer, we learned that lesson very well in your Op Force training. A moment.” Two seconds passed. “We’re outside the door to this ship’s Command Bridge. Mark has put the magnetic disruptor up against the door. We’re in ambush position, no standing targets among us. Ahhh.” A second passed. “We’re in! All three Aliens are down. One is shriveled up and clearly rad-burned. The other two, who resemble praying mantises, are breathing through belly holes. Eyes are closed. We’re tying them up. Chris and Mark will transport them to the clamshell healers. I’m . . . one moment.” Seconds passed. “This ship’s AI is named Starry Lights. She has accepted me as the primary bioform of our team. I have ship control. We are moving up and out to L4!”
CHAPTER TEN
“Yeah!” called Richardson.
Bill held up a hand to forestall other reactions. “Yes, we control one, maybe two ships. There are four left to go. I’m hoping no ship captain warns any other enemy ship before they are taser zapped. Otherwise, our pod boarders—”
“We’re in!” called Jake from the East Coast ship, his tone hurried. “We’ve taser zapped two Aliens. A third is . . . now down. Bill, the captain critter is hiding behind his command pedestal the way cockroach did on your ship. He’s got a . . . shit!”
Silence lasted too long. “Takeover done,” the man said, his voice sounding upset. “Francis was laser hit in his leg. It went straight through his leg, bone and all. Alonzo is wrapping the wound. I killed the room’s gravity and bounced to the ceiling to get a shooting angle on the captain. Tasered him just as he fired on Francis. Shit on these Aliens!”
Bill understood the SEAL’s frustration. “Jake, let Alonzo carry Frank to a clamshell healer. If you cut gravity in the hallway to one-tenth Earth level, he can travel faster. You talk to the ship AI. Gain control.”
Silence came again. “I am talking to the AI on the ship comlink frequency. Its name is Supernova. It accepts me as the primary bioform on this ship who is still conscious. We will be moving up to L4 shortly.”
Bill had a sudden thought. “Jake, hold position where you are until more ships are under our control. Don’t want Diligent to know he is losing parts of his fleet. Never know what that bastard might do when he realizes what we are doing.”
“Understood,” Jake said. “Alonzo is taking Francis to a clamshell healer. Once that is done, we will move the tasered ship crew and captain to containment cells. Let them sleep off their nine hours of electrification!”
“Right. Alicia!” Bill called. “Did you hear what I just said to Jake? Don’t leave low Earth orbit. Stay above Hawaii until we capture the rest of these ships.”
“Heard you,” she responded, her voice distracted. “We’re holding in LEO. I’m making friends with Starry Lights. Uh, she asks what her ship name will be, now that there is a new captain in charge. What say?”
Bill looked to Richardson. The Chief of Naval Operations gave a shrug even as voices spoke on the Peterson comlink line. “Up to her. Her team captured the ship. Any team that captures an enemy ship gets to rename it. That’s my CNO determination.”
“I agree,” called the voice of Poindexter, who now reappeared in the comlink holo on Bill’s right. “This is very good news!”
“Glad to hear that,” called Jake. “We’ve decided to name our ship Tangi Valley. To honor the SEALs we lost in that battle.”
Bill swallowed hard. He did know those SEALs. He’d cross-trained with some of them and had met the entire team during a tour in Kabul. Then his team had headed west to Djibouti and their rescue objective. Team Six had gone in as part of a combined Ranger/SEAL operation to retake a former U.S. base since controlled by the Taliban. RPGs had killed their Chinook’s tail rotor and all died on impact. It was still the single worst loss of SEAL lives in the history of SEALs. “I highly approve,” he said.
“Uh, we do too,” Alicia called from her captured Collector ship. “My team and I are naming our ship Pointe Du Hoc. You know that battle.”
Bill did know that World War II battle. It was something Alicia and her fellow Rangers Mark and Chris had shared with him. During the Omaha Beach landings it was Rangers from the 2nd and 5th Ranger Battalions who had scaled the beachside cliffs and taken out deadly German artillery that had been shelling the beach. From those actions had come the Ranger motto “Rangers, lead the way!”
“Outstanding choice, Alicia,” he replied. “Frank, what’s your situation?”
His helmet comlink crackled. “We’re alive. But we got ambushed by two Aliens in the hallway just outside the door to the Command Bridge. They were floating near the ceiling in a gravity-free hallway. Didn’t see them until we came around the curve of the hallway. They taser zapped Chris, who was in the lead. He’s out and shaking like a leaf. Joe and I took them both out with our tasers.” Silence sounded. “Our smart friend says there are only two bioforms inside the Command Bridge. We’re . . . placing ball demos to either side of the entry door. Our friend says it can repair the damage later.”
Bill caught Richardson’s worried look. He gestured reassurance. “They know the capabilities of each ball. I’m sure they will use the lowest yield ones. Golden balls are just ten sticks of TNT.”
On his right, Jane’s holo image showed her looking intense. She had had brief chats w
ith every special operations member during his Op Force training sessions. She knew how important his Denver buddies were to him. She gave him a thumbs-up.
“We’re in!” Frank yelled over the comlink. “Both Aliens are down and unconscious. Seems the blast force knocked them out. Joe is taser zapping them to keep them that way. That makes it five for five downed crew.” Silence filled his comlink. “I’m at the command post pedestal. It’s lowering. I’m in the seat. The ship AI has accepted me as the primary bioform in charge. One moment.” More silence lasted, although the happy looks on the faces of Richardson and Jane were good to see. “The ship AI is bringing in hover bots to transport the knocked out ship crew to containment cells. It says its name is Bright Nebula. Seems it is eager to join your buddy Star Traveler up at L4.”
“You heard what I said to Jake and Alicia,” Bill said quickly.
“I did,” Frank growled. “We’re staying in LEO above Maryland until you advise us to join you.”
“Exactly right,” Bill said. “Congratulations. Have you and Joe figured out a name for your ship?”
The man chuckled, his laughter loud over the comlink. “Chris, Joe and I talked about this while we were playing Wait And Hover in the pod. They agreed to name it Chapultepec Castle, at this Marine’s insistence.”
To Bill, that made sense. While Chris was a Ranger and Joe was from the Coast Guard, they all knew how the Marine fighting song “From the halls of Montezuma” had come out of that battle during the conquest of Mexico in 1847. “I like it.” Richardson gave him a thumbs-up from his Liaison station. “So does the Chief of Naval Operations. And likely so will General McAuley once he hears the news from General Poindexter.” Commemorating the famous battle that was sung by every Marine while marching, drinking or fighting was bound to please the imperious chairman of the JCS. “You three work on learning ship controls while I talk to your brethren.”
“We will,” Frank growled, joined by similar words from Alicia and Jake. “Uh, wow. The two holes in the bridge wall are already closing up. This flexmetal skin of these ships is amazing!”
Bill agreed. It was good to hear the blast damage could be so quickly repaired by that ship’s AI. He scanned his true space holo. The green dots of his three other boarding pods were in the western part of Ukraine and moving up to orbit. Above them, the three Collector ships were arranged in a triangle, perhaps due to the dozens of ground to surface ASAT missiles fired at them by the Chinese and Russians as the Aliens crossed over those nations. Those ASAT launching sites were now smoking ruins. And the three Collector ships had dispersed 70 collector pods as they passed over eastern Asia. According to his control pillar data counter, 31 had been shot down by fighters and SAMs. Twenty had returned home while the rest were grabbing people all over Eurasia. Which made the arrival of his three pods a normal part of the traffic pattern.
“Stefano, Janice and Mack, your pods are within a minute of reaching their assigned ships,” Bill said as Jane and Richardson watched and listened. “Stefano, I’ve assigned your pod to the ship captained by my cockroach friend! Be careful! The bastard used laser-shooting robots against me and Jane, as you saw in the vidcam holo of our takeover. Once he becomes aware of you boarders, no telling what he might do to get rid of you!”
“Understood,” Stefano said, his tone sounding eager. “Bob and Cassandra are debating possible ship names. I’m ignoring them.”
“Exactly right!” Bill said hurriedly. “Do not allow anything to distract you from mission focus. You’re the SEAL there. Shut them up and fight until you win!”
Neither member of Stefano’s team chose to argue over a comlink line they knew was being heard live by members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and by everyone on board the Blue Sky. It pleased him. Chattering during travel was one thing. Allowing mental distraction during field operations was quite another.
“Weapons Chief,” called Janice from her pod. “Me and my team are armed and ready to taser zap anything that meets our pod!”
“Same for us,” Mack the SEAL said from his pod. “My team is ready and eager to get the hell out of this pod!”
On his true space holo, all three pods now converged on their target Collector ships. The green dots vanished as the pods entered the three ships. “You’re in now! Fight!”
No response came from any of the three. Nor did he expect any reply. One or more of them might give him a call once they zapped the Alien coming to pull an unconscious human from their pod. Or they might not. Like him, the three SEALs running those teams knew they were arriving after the takeover of three other Collectors. No ship mind on the three targeted ships had alerted Star Traveler to any change in Alien crew behavior. Still, his sneak attacks would not long remain a surprise. Surely Diligent Taskmaster chatted now and then with the captains on the other ships. Which gave him an idea.
“Alicia, Jake and Frank, you may get a comlink call from the giant cockroach asking about how many human captives you have on your ship,” he said hurriedly over the pod comlink frequency. “If such a call comes in, answer it. But have your ship AI put the holo image of the Alien ship captain in place of you. Maybe we can keep this charade going until the last three ships are captured.”
“Will do,” Jake said. “Will advise you of any such contact. Tangi Valley out.”
“Understood,” said Alicia, her soprano sounding eager. “Pointe Du Hoc will advise. Though surely that giant insect knows this ship’s crew and captain are down and out.”
“Chapultepec Castle hears and obeys,” Frank said bluntly. “Chris is in the clamshell healer. Bright Nebula has promised to tell me when his healing is complete.”
“Good news,” Bill said, feeling anxious as the silence aboard the bridge stretched out. Everyone was waiting to hear some report from the boarding of the three enemy ships above the Ukraine. His helmet comlink crackled.
“We zapped our greeter Alien,” came the voice of Mack. “Apsara got in the first shot. Took down something like a Komodo dragon lizard. Damn that woman is a fine shot!” Silence came. “We’re into the chamber’s airlock. Out of it. Andre is laser sealing the Weapons door. Holo says the other four ship crew are in Command. We’re on the run now!”
“Us too!” came excited words from Janice. “Uh, Larry took down a walking octopus. Got its red cube. But it had a white tube taser! Does that mean anything?”
Before Bill could respond his third team leader called in.
“Greeter Alien is down and twitching,” called Stefano, his voice calm and matter of fact. “Greeter also had a taser tube in its hands. Or pincers. We’re going to opposed entry mode here at the door to the airlock.”
Bill took a deep breath. The fact that two of the three boarding teams had been met by Aliens bearing taser tubes was not good. The ship AIs would be telling them if there was knowledge of their takeovers above Maryland. Maybe the frequent ASAT and fighter jet attacks over Eurasia had caused Diligent to send armed crew to meet the returning pods. But the automated systems of each pod always taser zapped any captive. Something had changed.
“Janice, be extra careful!” he called. “Treat any closed hatch in the hallway as a likely opposed entry! Assume the enemy knows you are aboard and are armed. Mack, you do the same!”
“Moving to opposed entry mode,” Janice said quickly. “George has his laser out, as do I and Larry. We are . . . through the airlock chamber and into the hallway. Larry is sealing the Weapons door. Andre and I are covering both ends of the hallway. Uh, our holo says one crew is in the Food Chamber, one is in a Habitat room ahead and two are on the Command Bridge. Heading out!”
“Weapons Chief,” called Stefano, his voice still calm. “Airlock was empty. We’re in the hallway. The Weapons door is sealed. But holo shows two crew in the left side hallway moving past the Med Hall toward the Engines, two crew are ahead of us just outside the Food Chamber, one bioform is on the Command Bridge.”
Bill did not like what Stefano was reporting. “Stefano, I smell some kind of
—”
“Captain!” called Poindexter from her Peterson desk. “The news is out about our takeover of three Collector ships! Someone on President Hartman’s staff leaked it to CNN World. Damn!”
Damn indeed. “Stefano, Janice and Mack, there’s just been a broadcast by CNN that we’ve taken over three Collector ships. Expect deadly resistance! And move fast! Maybe you can still surprise them while they are figuring out what to do.”
“Bill!” called Mack. “We’re outside the Command Bridge of this ship. We heard. We’re placing demo balls at three spots. Captain and crew are inside the bridge. We’re pulling back . . .” Three loud booms came over the comlink audio. Which he expected as every vacsuit had an external speaker and pickup per emergency regulations. “Two Aliens down from the blast. Laser fire!”
Too much now happened.
“They’re fighting us!” called Janice. “The two crew up front are out in the hallway and shooting lasers at us from behind an open hatch. Gravity is out! We’re tossing a demo ball their way.”
“Laser fire,” called Stefano. “From the two outside the Food Chamber. We’re at the hatch by the Water Pool room. We’re returning fire with tasers. Gravity is out here too.”
“Damn!” yelled Mack. “We’re in control of the Command Bridge. It cost us. The captain lasered Andre in his chest plate while the other crewman hit Apsara with a taser. She’s out and shaking like a leaf. Andre moved sideways before the laser penetrated, but his left arm was slashed badly. His vacsuit is melted on that arm. I’m wrapping his wound. Will take ship control in a moment. And the bridge wall holes are starting to close up. That flexmetal is amazing!”
“Stefano!” Bill called. “Holo track those two out by the Med Hall. They may be moving to hit you from behind by way of the Engine cross hallway.”
Escape 2: Fight the Aliens Page 14
