Salvage-5: Another Mission (First Contact)

by Brian K. Larson

  “I see, well, I’d wish you good luck with that...but I know you wouldn’t believe me.”

  “...and to answer your question,” the Cassandra clone said, addressing the Sergeant, “We were able to replicate a good number of clones from the samples we took from you on your last visit. We fed your DNA information into our core. The programming was able to create and grow hundreds of clones for our Earth bound party. However, we were not able to activate them until we secured you as hosts. Once you are plugged into the system, we will activate the clones and make room in the gestation tubes to grow more...and now that we have all of you here, we’ll be ready to head to Earth very soon.”

  “Sounds like a solid plan,” Tucker nodded, and then looked around the room with hand and shoulders shrugging, “I don’t know about you all, but there is a big flaw in your plan.”

  “A flaw? Really, Colonel? What flaw would that be?”

  “You don’t see it? Really? I’m surprised. Really, I’m very surprised.”

  “Oh, please do tell, and according to you, there’s now nine minutes left. Am I right, Colonel?”

  “You’re smug too. Seriously, I can’t believe you never thought of this one little detail?”

  “Yeah, Tucker,” Sam smiled, making eye contact with Tucker, “Tell them what it is.”

  “Oh, do you know, Sam?”

  “I do know, Tucker. Samuels? How about you? Do you know?”

  “I sure do know,” Samuels turned to the Cassandra clone, “I agree with Tucker. I’m shocked that a superior being, such as yourself, didn’t see this?”

  “Now you’re all just wasting my time! Out with it!”

  “How about 20 questions?”

  The irritated Cassandra clone trained her weapon at the real Cassie’s head, “or are you talking about your botched plans on blowing the Falcon’s reactor?”

  “Oh, well, there is that...but that’s not what we’re referring to. You clearly are far more advanced, you got us,” Tucker threw his hands in the air, “I give up...you’re all just too good for us and our plans...”

  “...and,” the Cassandra clone continued, not letting Tucker interrupt, “as of this very moment, we have your team docked with the Falcon, pinned down. Don’t worry, we won’t kill them, and they won’t escape either. No, they’ll make a great addition to our little complex.”

  “You still wanna play 20 questions? Because you’ve got 19 more...”

  “Alright, smarty pants,” the Cassandra clone scoffed, growing more impatient with every passing moment, “Tell me, or I’ll plug her with new holes!”

  The real Cassie shuddered, staring at her doppelganger, “I just want to know what the hell’s going on?”

  “You won’t shoot Cassie.”

  The Cassandra clone pressed the muzzle of her weapon on the real Cassie’s temple, “I won’t?”

  “Na! You see, you need her as a host. She’s not worth anything to you, and your complex, dead.”

  “Quite right, Colonel. However, I can inflict pain!” she took a rail gun from her holster and held it against the real Cassie’s shoulder.”

  Tucker motioned with his hands, “Relax, you don’t have to shoot her...”

  The real Cassie glanced between Tucker and the clone, “Gee, thanks, lover boy. I feel so much better now!”

  “Tell me now!”

  “Fine, fine...you never chipped Captain Rothschild and Sergeant Samuels. Until that happens, they’re no good to you either.”

  “We were just about to take care of that, small detail,” the cloned Cassie nodded to more of the clones.

  One Gus and Savage clone proceeded to walk over to a counter that suddenly extended from the wall. The Gus clone lifted the lid on a box imbedded in the wall extension and removed two chip injectors. He smiled over his shoulder at Tucker and handed one of the devices to the Savage clone.

  Each walked up to Sam and Samuels and jabbed the tip of the injector to the backs of their necks.

  Samuels and Samantha both squeezed their eyes shut in anticipation of the pain.

  * * *

  Asteroid 52 Europa

  Alien Complex - Docked Salvage-6

  Earth Date: 03/31/2066 15:22

  Tracinski and Schaffer made it to the other side of the fallen beam. Dillan and Parsons fired their rail guns at the alien clones. They continued to hold their shields. Only now, they were able to fire laser blasts at the escaping men.

  “Keep those rounds flying at ‘em!” Schaffer shouted, “Tracinski, make a break for the hatch. Move it!”

  “No way, Schaffer! You first! We got you covered. Get back there and get a fresh gun. We have them held at bay!”

  “Tracinski, you’re a good man! I’ll hold them off, and you go!”

  “We need to both move it, ‘cause I ain’t going first!”

  “Will you two stop arguing about it!” Dillan ordered, “I just saw three clones break off from the new squad. They’re heading to the reactor!”

  “They’re gonna try and shut it down!” Tracinski shouted.

  “They won’t have any luck!” Parsons yelled over the gun fire, “It’s too late to reverse the reaction. It’s going to blow in eight minutes!”

  “He’s right, Tracinski!” Dillan added, “This place is going to blow, and there isn’t anything anyone, human or clone, that can do anything about it! Now you two move it! We have to make our safe distance, or we’ll get caught in the shock wave!”

  Tracinski and Schaffer looked at each other, nodded, and then broke for the hatch.

  One of the aliens fired his beam weapon, hitting Schaffer square in the back. Three more blasts hit near Tracinski, missing him by inches.

  Schaffer let out a yelp and fell to the floor. Tracinski glanced back only to see a hole burned clear through his friend. He dove for the hatch and slid on his belly across the deck of the Salvage-6 cargo bay.

  The clones began quickly advancing toward the ship’s opening, Parsons reached over and slammed his fist on the emergency actuator, sealing the Salvage-6’s hatch.

  Dillan tossed his weapon to the side and made his way forward to the ship’s controls. The low gravity fought him the entire way as he climbed to the pilot house.

  Parsons stayed at the back and checked on Tracinski, ensuring he was alright.

  Tracinski moaned, “I think I’m hit!”

  “You’re fine, Tracinski! You’re not hit!” Parsons assured, as he checked the man out and then helped him to his feet. The two made their way forward. The sound of the ship’s engines winding up was a welcome sign to their ears.

  “Schaffer! We can’t leave his body here!” Tracinski complained.

  “There’s no time, Tracinski! We’ve got to get out of here!”

  “We’re takin’ off! Get yourselves strapped in!” Dillan ordered.

  He blew the hard seal to the Falcon and fired full thrusters, incinerating any clones that attempted to grab onto the ship before it undocked.

  “We’re free!” Dillan shouted.

  Schaffer cinched his harness tight and Parsons climbed into this co-pilot seat, “What’s our time looking like?”

  “Six minutes until the Falcon core blows!” Dillan answered, “I’m accelerating to 25,000 KPH. That’s our maximum speed with only half power!”

  “We’re not going to make it are we?” Parsons grimaced.

  “Time to hit full power! That’s our only chance to get enough velocity to escape the blast!”

  “Okay, will do. But I cannot guarantee she’ll hold together!” Parsons said, pressing commands at his station.

  “Everyone, make sure you remain helmets on in case that engine throws debris through our hull!”

  “You got it, Dillan!” Tracinski nodded, “I ain’t taking my helmet off for no one!”

  The ship vibrated hard as Parsons pushed the starboard engine to full power.

  “So far, so good...”

  “Come on, then,” Dillan ordered, “Run that port sucker up to match the starboa
rd’s output. We need at least 40,000 KPH.”

  “That’s pushin’ it, Dillan. The vibrations could rip the ship apart...”

  “I know! But I’d rather take my chances on the ship holding together than be incinerated by the core’s shockwave.”

  Parsons inched the port engine’s accelerator forward. The engine obeyed his command, spinning up near full power. The ship’s hard vibrations caused by the unbalanced power lessened.

  The bucking and lurching from the port engine increased.

  “Hang on, everyone!” Dillan shouted, “I’m taking her to 40,000 KPH!”

  “So far, we’re holding...” Parsons smiled. Then his face grew worried, “Wait a minute...I’m detecting a slight problem. One of the fins is coming loose...we’re going to lose it if I don’t throttle back some!”

  “Take it back a little, but not much!” Dillan shouted.

  “Cutting power by 5 percent!”

  “Approaching 37,000 KPH...not quite enough...it’s going to be a bumpy ride!”

  “Going to be? Bumpy? What do you guys call this?” Tracinski screamed.

  * * *

  Chapter 21

  Asteroid 52 Europa

  Alien Complex - DNA Extraction Chamber

  Earth Date: 03/31/2066 15:20

  The two clones squeezed the trigger on their chip injectors, sending the alien tech into the skulls of Samantha and Samuels.

  The piercing tech seared into their heads, sending the two to their knees as they screamed with pain.

  The real Captain Hargrove took the opportunity to dive at his doppelganger. He plunged his fists into the clone. Samantha and Samuels looked up, their eyes turning a solid glowing green color. Tucker threw up his hands, raising a shield around his team, his eyes now a glow with that familiar color.

  The Cassandra clone opened fire on the shield with her alien weapons. The beam had no effect on the shield that Tucker had erected.

  Wires and circuit traces flowed all across Samantha and Samuels bodies, and then the traces began to change into hard-shelled casings that surrounded their body, encasing them in protective armor.

  The real Cassandra swung her feet to the floor, picked up one of the dropped rail guns and opened fire on the clones. The bullets flew through Tucker’s shield, taking out several of the clones. The clones’ rail shot bounced off Tucker’s shield and ricocheted into other clones, sending them to the ground in a heap of wires and smoke.

  “Fancy trick, lover boy,” the real Cassandra shouted over the gun fire.

  “You like that?”

  “Yeah, you’ll have to show me how you did that?”

  “You got it, sweetie!”

  Hargrove finished destroying his clone and tossed it outside the shield. He grabbed another weapon and joined in the fun. “You care to tell us how we’re getting out of here, Colonel?”

  “Sure thing,” Tucker smiled, “just as soon as I take care of the rest of these alien-clone things.”

  Tucker closed his eyes and concentrated, the adrenaline now pumping through his blood, he pulled his raised hands back some.

  Then he drove a power surge of energy through the room, and pushed the wave at the remaining clones. The Cassandra clone flew up into the air with the rest, and into the walls surrounding the extraction room.

  Tucker’s shield lowered, and the encased Samantha and Samuels stood to their feet.

  “Come on!” Tucker waved with his arm, “We’ve only got eight minutes before this place blows!”

  “And I’ll bet more clones are on their way here!” Hargrove added.

  Tucker led the way to the exit point, outside the alien complex, “It’s gonna take us a couple minutes to get to our ships! Samuels, and Samantha, you get to the dash-5. Hargrove you’re with us to the dash-7!”

  “You got it, Colonel!” Hargrove nodded, “I’m just glad to be getting outta here!”

  “We ain’t out of the woods yet!” Cassandra yelled, “More clones!” she said, pointing her weapon ahead of them.

  The group ducked around the next corner. The railgun shots from the new clones slammed into the walls behind them.

  Samuels and Sam grew weapons down their forearms and stood out in the corridor. They opened fire on the attackers. Rail shot from the clones was absorbed by their armor.

  “Tucker!” Sam ordered, continuing to send rail shot at the clones, “Reach in my side pouch!”

  Tucker smiled, knowing what Samantha was up to and removed a grenade, “Here ya go, you alien-clone thingies!”

  He pulled the pin on the device, held it for 3 seconds, and then lobbed it down the corridor.

  The resulting explosion took out the few remaining clones. The shock wave was again absorbed by Sam and Samuels’ armor.

  Tucker darted out into the hallway and held his hands up in the direction they came from, raising another shield, “More clones from the rear!”

  Cassie joined Tucker behind his shield opening fire on new clone threat.

  “Hargrove, you go with Sam and Samuels. You’ll have to all fit in the MECHs. Now go! You have to get outta here. Cassie and I will make it to the dash-7!”

  “Tucker!” Samantha began to argue, “We’re not leaving you here!”

  “Get going!”

  “Tucker!”

  “That’s an order!”

  “You’re not my commanding officer anymore!”

  “I don’t care! We’ll make it!”

  Cassie looked over at Sam, “He’s right, we’ll be fine. I have no intention of being here when this place goes up! Just do as he says for once!”

  Hargrove took Sam by the arm, and followed Samuels down the corridor, “He’s right! Let’s go! They’ll be fine!”

  “You better be right, Hargrove,” Sam protested, “or I’ll have to kick your ass!”

  The three made their way to the alien exit, which had grown back over.

  Samuels extended his hand, and with a wave, melted an opening for them to cross.

  “That’s a pretty fancy trick,” Hargrove smiled.

  “Yeah, I kind of like this chip enhancement that Buster programmed.”

  “Buster did this? Where is that little guy so I can personally thank him?”

  “Buster’s not with us, he’s back on Earth,” Sam answered.

  “He helped Tucker plan this entire rescue,” Samuels added.

  “Did he now?”

  “Yep,” Sam smiled, seeing the MECHs ahead, “He sure did!”

  “Hargrove,” Samuels pointed, “You take a MECH. Our exoskeleton armor is air tight, and pressurized. We’ll be fine; the two of us will enter the port MECH housing. You take the starboard side.”

  “Once inside,” Sam gave Hargrove a lift with her hand up the side of one right MECH, “I’ll head to the controls and fly us off this rock!”

  Hargrove high tailed it into the MECH and quickly closed the diamond reinforced bubble lid. He flipped the unit on, causing the units servos to activate.

  “Move your MECH into position, and I’ll activate the hatch!” Samuels instructed.

  “How you gonna do that?” Hargrove quizzed, moving his powered MECH into position. The MECH clomped forward, and then stopped.

  Samuels looked up at the hatch and answered Hargrove through his wireless, “Another one of Buster’s enhancements.”

  Samuels closed his eyes and a moment later the hatch popped open, exposing them to the vacuum of space. Samuels jumped with Sam toward the Salvage-5’s MECH housing port, while Hargrove fired the MECH’s power thruster.

  The three exited the crashed CSMO tread section and, rocketed toward the ship.

  “What about the others?” Hargrove asked.

  Samuels nodded as he approached the MECH housing, “I’ll close the hatch!”

  The hatch on the tread section once more popped closed as the three entered the Salvage-5 ship.

  Sam sealed the ship and opened the MECH housing hatch. She floated out into the main cargo bay, “I don’t know! All I know
is we HAVE to get moving NOW!”

  She floated with Samuels to the pilot house, as Hargrove closed his MECH hatch. Then he depressurized the unit and began following the other two.

  Sam bounced off of a bulkhead as she retracted her alien tech armor. Climbing into her pilot seat, she wasted no time in releasing the ship’s autopilot. The engines still hot and ready, she slammed the throttle control to its hilt.

  She looked out her port window down at the crashed Falcon and CSMO tread section as they began moving away from the asteroid, “The dash-7’s still down there!” They’re not gonna make it!”

  “They’ll make it!” Samuels argued, as he climbed into his seat and strapped in. His armor now fully retracted into his computer traces on his skin.

  “We’ve got to make sure they get out!” Samuels protested.

  “Negative!” Hargrove said, “I’m picking up another ship on our scope!”

  “Another ship?! What...or...who?” Samantha asked, guiding the Salvage-5 away from the imminent detonation.

  “We’ve only got a couple more minutes!” Samuels reported, “But that’s the Salvage-6. They’re trying to make their getaway.”

  Samantha flipped on her comm link and made a course correction toward the flailing ship, “SSV-6, SSV-5, come in!”

  The radio crackled static for a moment before Dillan’s voice was heard, “SSV-5, SSV-6, we read you! Requesting assistance! Our engines are damaged. We won’t make escape velocity!”

  “Hold your current course and extend your landing skids to full. We’re gonna piggy back with ya!”

  “Roger that, SSV-5! You can thank Tucker for me, we set the reactor to overload as per his instructions.”

  “Tucker’s not with us!”

  “Say again?”

  “You heard me!” Sam monitored her scanner and then went back to concentrating on landing piggy back with the dash-6, “They didn’t make it. The dash-7 is still docked to the tread section.”

  * * *

  Tucker continued to hold the force shield until Cassie emptied her gun into the clones, taking them down one by one.