HAB 12 (Scrapyard Ship)

by McGinnis, Mark Wayne

  This was classic Nan. Same as when they’d been married—she would get upset and Jason would back off. With her innate ability to debate just about anything, law school had been the perfect choice. And later, as a defense attorney, she rarely, if ever, lost a case. Jason also knew Nan would continue to argue aloud both sides until she came to some kind of resolution. That was her process of dealing with things. Jason smiled inwardly; he didn't mind her chatter one bit.

  She now looked at him with brows raised. "Are you even listening to me?" She shook her head in disbelief.

  "Yes. Well, actually ... no, not really. I was thinking how familiar this seems, what we're doing, to when we were married."

  She looked at him for a while. Eventually the anger or frustration fell away and she smiled.

  "Yeah, I guess it is." She pulled the towel away from around her head and let her long hair fall free. She looked into his eyes and then slowly pulled him closer. They kissed. Eventually, she pulled away and took a breath.

  "You better go before I do something I might regret." Jason kissed her cheek and reluctantly stood up. As he turned to leave, she grabbed his hand.

  "Oh, and if I ever get thrown in one of those damn cages again I will hunt you down and ... well, you don't want to know what I'll do to you."

  * * *

  Jason, aware that time was of the essence, called for an immediate emergency meeting. The captain’s ready room was filled to capacity. Those who couldn’t find a seat found an open area on the bulkhead to lean against. Jason stood and let Mollie have his seat at the head of the table, bringing smiles from around the room.

  “We’re right back where we were a month ago, with Craing warships en route to Earth. Even if we could repair the Craing vessels that are in our possession and even if we had enough trained pilots—”

  “We could still lose,” Ricket interjected.

  Jason nodded, letting the point sink in. All eyes turned towards the small alien cyborg.

  Jason continued. “We need time to ready our fleet—bolster Earth’s defenses. Hell, we need a year, maybe two.”

  “So this plan the Craing overlord is proposing, can we believe it?” Nan asked. “Sounds a little self-serving, if you ask me. I mean, I’m certainly no military tactician like you guys, but it seems like we’d be putting a lot of faith, not to mention resources, hinged on one Craing’s obscure promises.”

  “Maybe. But if what he says is true, and we can—if not bring down, at least greatly hinder—the Craing’s ability to traverse the universe, maybe we need to risk it.

  “You really think there’s a way—?” the XO started to ask.

  Chief Horris interjected: “First of all, even with The Lilly's advanced FDL drives, there's no way we could make it to the Craing worlds days or even hours before the Emperor's Guard gets under way.”

  XO Perkins shrugged. “So that still leaves the problem of getting there under seven days. And do we even know where these Craing worlds are located?”

  “We have a good idea where Terplin, their home planet, is located. Unfortunately, no one in the Alliance, perhaps other than my son, Brian, has ever been there,” the admiral replied.

  “That brings me to the second issue,” Jason said. “Somewhere along the line I’ve heard both Mollie and Jack talk about a habitat in the Zoo—something about one with Serapin-Terplins—did you bring the information I asked for?” Jason looked toward Jack, the Zoo caretaker.

  “Yes, Captain. That would be HAB 12.” Jack had handwritten some notes on several small index cards. “The Serapin-Terplins—weird, the Craing use the word Terplins a lot throughout their language—inhabit a world called Halimar. Halimar is within the Craing eight-world solar system. According to the meta-data information tied to that habitat, both the Terplin and Halimar planets are in a shared orbit around a shared sun—which is a red supergiant.”

  Jason turned his attention back towards Ricket. “Would it be possible to access Halimar via HAB 12?”

  Ricket looked uncomfortable with the question. “First of all, you need to understand that habitats, such as HAB 12, do in fact reside on other planets, such as Halimar—not here on board The Lilly. They can be hundreds of square miles in size. Also note that habitats exist in a completely different reality—one that is slightly out of phase with our perspective. For instance, if you were to travel to Halimar, you would not see the animals and terrain of HAB 12 …although they are there, occupying time and space, it’s a time and space slightly out of phase with our own.”

  “And accessing those habitats could be accomplished via the same technology we utilize with our DeckPorts and phase-shift capabilities, correct?” Jason asked.

  “Theoretically, that is correct,” Ricket replied.

  “And just as we have port access to each of the habitats via The Lilly’s Zoo, it makes sense that there would be a secondary port, within the habitats themselves, to access these corresponding planets, yes?” Jason asked, now looking around the room to make sure everyone was following along.

  “Yes, each habitat has a minimum of one, often more than one, portal to their originating home world reality. This information is already provided within the accompanying habitat meta data—although not the exact locations,” Ricket explained. “The Caldurians, original designers of the Zoo and habitats system, not to mention The Lilly itself, built in security safeguards for this very reason. The habitats were never intended for subversive use, for the very same reason we wouldn’t want inhabitants of other planets infiltrating The Lilly’s Zoo.”

  “I’m sure you already know what my next question will be,” Jason said.

  “You want to know if I can bypass the safeguards,” Ricket replied flatly.

  “Yes. Jailbreak the thing—not only get us into HAB 12 but eventually onto Halimar itself.”

  “Whoa, whoa … hold your horses, everybody,” Jack exclaimed, wide-eyed and looking around the room. “HAB 12 is one of the most dangerous, if not THE most dangerous habitat. It’s an environment that makes Earth’s own Jurassic period look like a trip to Disneyland in comparison. Not just carnivores inhabit the place—we’re talking killing and eating machines. Feeding drones are never idle—meat supplies never stop. Hell, I’ve seen Serapins even try to eat the drones.”

  Fidgety, Admiral Reynolds got to his feet. He gestured for Nan to sit. “Even if Ricket can get us access to HAB 12, and we deal with the environment and wildlife situation, and, let’s suppose, we also navigate to where the alternate portals are located, and after we do all those impossible things, what then? What’s the end game?” the admiral asked, looking at Jason.

  “Simple. We locate and destroy the Craing’s ability to move about the universe. Somewhere on each of the eight planets in their solar system is a powerful laser. Those lasers work in conjunction with each other in forming a massive wormhole. They call this system the Loop—for the last two hundred years the Loop has enabled the Craing to conquer and subjugate any society they’ve come into contact with—even those thousands of light-years away.”

  “Wait a minute,” Orion said confused. “So why are we going to the Craing worlds?”

  “We need to bring down the Loop. Destroy the Craing’s ability to quickly move around the universe. But, primarily, we have less than seven days to stop the Craing from deploying those three warships—warships that may be as advanced, or even more advanced, than The Lilly. They call them the Emperor’s Guard.”

  “Why don’t we just take a ship into HAB 12?” Orion asked.

  “We thought of that. Even our fighters have a larger wingspan than the portal openings. According to Ricket, if you can’t enter directly through the portal window, there’s no way to enter the habitat. Phase-shifting into a habitat is not an option,” Jason said, looking to Ricket for confirmation.

  Billy, who’d been quiet up till that point, asked, “So we’ll also need to figure out how we’ll get from Halimar, where the HAB 12 portal opens, over to the laser fortification. I’m still
not clear on that part …”

  Jason nodded. “From what Glenn said, he has people loyal to his cause who will help us with a ship. He’s already given me the information, a way to signal them and give them our coordinates on Halimar. After that, they’ll rendezvous with us at the portal.”

  Billy nodded, taking it all in.

  Jason continued, “We’ll use multiple teams. Here’s how they break down: Admiral Reynolds maintains overall Alliance command here at the outpost. We’ll leave him the majority of our SEAL forces. If we fail, it will be up to him and what’s left of our Craing fleet to hold off this approaching Emperor’s Guard … somehow. Next, I’ll be in command of the HAB 12 team. Billy, we’ll need the best of the best—an assault team of no more than twenty. Remember what we’ll be going up against in there … we’ll need a team that will get us there in less than seven days, then get us back out again. Orion and Ricket, you’ll be in charge of equipping our team with the necessary battle suits and any technology that gives us an advantage. Put your heads together; take a look at the terrain and environmental conditions—and don’t forget about the Serapin-Terplins. Again, while our team is making its way through HAB12, The Lilly will be en route through deep space to the Craing settlement. Admiral, we’ll need to transfer Glenn and the two other overloads to The Lilly. Apparently they prefer communal living, so XO, set something up in the upper hold. Let them set up their tents there. Just no open fires. The trip shouldn’t take us more than a few days. From what I understand, they have no defenses, few weapons. A quick and easy trip! A milk run! We’ll keep a few SEALs on board, but a minimal crew.

  “Nan, I’m guessing you and Mollie will want to stay onboard The Lilly. It’s probably still your safest bet. But it’s up to you. We’ll be leaving orbit first thing tomorrow morning. That’s it, people. We have a lot of work to do before then, so let’s get cracking.”

  Chapter 7

  The team was nearly assembled when Jason made his way into the Zoo. His meeting with Gunny Orion ran longer than expected—one he’d originally scheduled for the previous afternoon.

  The assault team assembled in front of the ten-foot-wide portal to HAB 12. Everyone, including Jason, was outfitted with a new custom-designed camouflaged combat suit. Orion and Ricket had been busy most of the previous evening on sub-Deck 4B at the large, building-sized phase-synthesizer unit. They’d designed the new suits with a combination of solid and flex armor made from composite materials derived from various alternate planes of existence.

  “Who are we missing?” Jason asked, as he approached the group. Everyone came to attention, including Billy, a soggy unlit cigar protruding from his lips.

  “A few more stragglers,” Billy humorously replied.

  “As you were,” Jason said. Billy went back to inspecting his team of four SEALs. Petty Officer Rizzo nodded towards Jason and smiled.

  “Good to see you’re on the team, Rizzo. If anyone knows how to fight Serapins, you do.”

  “Yes, sir—looking forward to it.”

  Team members were looking out through the portal window. The baron desert landscape looked uninviting, harsh. A small wind cyclone of dust and small rocks twirled across the sand. Seeing Lieutenant Morgan on the team was no surprise. Not one of Jason’s favorite people, but a competent SEAL just the same. It was the person standing next to him who was a surprise. Dira was laughing at something Morgan had said and responded by punching his shoulder. But then, it made sense she’d be on the team. They’d need a medic. Ricket, wearing his own small customized combat suit, had his back to everyone and was busy typing something into a keypad at the wall—no doubt in the process of trying to jail-break its security protocols. From what Jason understood, habitats had a range of security levels from one to ten. Some, like HAB 4, where Raja the elephant lived, were security level one. The most dangerous, like HAB 12, were not supposed to be accessible at all—by anyone—and held the highest security level of ten. Ricket continued inputting information at the virtual keypad. He was getting a beep beep response from the portal interface. Not a positive sign. Jason had come to realize that if Ricket couldn’t bypass the security protocols, no one could. Then the floor began to shake.

  Everyone stopped and turned towards the opposite end of the corridor. A procession of ten seven-foot-tall rhino warriors approached. Each was a thousand pounds of muscle beneath thick grey hide, with legs and arms like tree trunks, and bodies strong and ripped without an ounce of fat. Built more hulk-like than human, and with the heads of rhinoceroses—horns and all—the ten beasts moved forward with heavy grace and determination. They carried the rhino warrior weapons of choice: a heavy hammer in one hand and an energy weapon strapped onto the wrist of their other arm.

  The beasts halted in unison several paces in front of Jason. His friend, Traveler, battle worn and missing an ear, stood before him. Then, to Jason’s surprise, they saluted him. He returned their salute and brought his attention back to Ricket.

  Beep beep. Access still denied—but he wasn’t giving up.

  Orion was positioning a hover cart, stacked high with equipment, over to the center of the group. Billy rushed to help her and was rewarded with a glare—a glare that spoke volumes: don’t you even come near me. Obviously, they’d yet to clear up their tiff. Jason only hoped it wouldn’t interfere with the mission.

  “Listen up, everybody,” Gunny Orion announced, while holding up a new kind of rifle. “This is a multi-gun. Do not try to reload it—as long as you are aboard The Lilly, or within the confines of HAB 12, it utilizes the JIT munitions. They’re automatically phase-shifted to the weapon’s micro port.” Orion pointed to a round expanded casing at the mid-section of the rifle. “This weapon interfaces with your HUD. Review your menu settings, folks. Three separate plasma bolt configurations, four separate mini-rail gun configurations, two separate micro- missiles with integrated tracking capabilities … Get to know your weapon. There’s also radical changes made to the helmet and HUD systems, as well as to your battle suit configurations. We’ll be reviewing these changes once we get going.”

  “Dad!” Jason turned to see Mollie running down the corridor.

  “Hey, kiddo.” He gave his daughter a hug. Nan, back to wearing her spacer’s jumpsuit, was close behind. Jason noticed Nan and Dira exchanging cordial nods, but something was going on there.

  “Mollie wanted to say goodbye before you headed out,” she said. Jason saw Nan had applied lipstick and makeup to her bruised face and was smiling. A good sign.

  Nan said, “We’re staying aboard The Lilly this time. I can continue working and communicate via FDL linkups to the outpost. And the safest place for Mollie, if that alien fleet arrives, will be here on board, don’t you think?”

  “I do, and she feels more at home here than anywhere else right now,” Jason said, liking the direction their talk was going. “Do me a favor, though—when you check in with the outpost, see how my father’s doing, okay? I’m leaving one of the shuttles behind for him. If things go badly, he’ll be able to move underground until we get back. I mentioned this to him, but he may need reminding.”

  “I’ll tell him, I promise. One more thing, and I hope you’ll agree to it. While I’m on board, I’d like to go through that procedure, you know—to be nanotized and have that NanoCom thing installed in my head? I never remember what hand signals to use on those damn DeckPorts and it would be nice to be able to keep in contact with Mollie. I’d just feel safer considering what we’ve been through. Can you authorize that before you go?”

  Jason smiled and brought up his virtual tablet. “With both Dira and Ricket being gone, you’ll need to work out the schedule with the remaining medical staff. I’ve gone ahead and authorized the procedure. Also, remember that communications into HAB 12 will be spotty at best.” Jason closed down his tablet and looked up to see that Nan was worried looking. “You okay?”

  “Watch yourself out there, Jason. If what I’ve heard is true, you’ll be—you’ll all be in constant dang
er.”

  “We’ll be fine. And I’m hoping that things here onboard, while in FTL, will be fairly non-eventful. It’ll take a few days for the ship to reach the rendezvous point, so maybe you can use that time to relax a bit, hang out with Mollie, even have some fun.”

  “I’d like that.” She gave Jason a hug and a kiss on the lips, and stood back. Jason got another hug from Mollie; they stood back and watched as Jason and the rest prepared to enter HAB 12.

  Impatient, Jason glanced at his HUD’s mission countdown timer:

  Dys: 06 Hrs: 13 Mins: 22

  They’d already burned too much time getting started. There was too much at stake. The last time the Craing had sent warships to Earth, they’d been lucky. Few knew how close the Earth had come to being totally annihilated. With this new threat, these three Caldarium warships—the Emperor’s Guard—Earth again might very well be at the precipice of destruction. Truth was, nothing was more important than this mission, not The Lilly, not even his own family.

  Beep beep beep. Three beeps instead of two. Ricket turned and nodded toward Jason. “We’re in; we have sixty seconds before the portal closes, sir,” Ricket said.

  Jason turned to his team. “Let’s move out, everyone.”

  Chapter 8

  The assault team of twenty entered HAB 12. Once inside, three of them, including Jason, fell flat on their faces.

  Ricket said, “Gravity here is slightly denser than that of Earth’s, Captain.”

  “Thank you Ricket. That would have been nice to know ahead of time,” Jason replied, getting back on his feet. He dusted himself off and looked back through the portal window where he received smiles and waves from inside The Lilly. The window itself had a glowing blue frame around it. At the portal’s side was a metal sign on a pole that was a combination of strange symbols, something that represented HAB 12—below it was a hinged metal box, which he assumed contained the access keypad.