Price of Freedom

by Craig Martelle

  Terry stopped rocking and breathed heavily. He stared at the closed ramp for a long time before he sat back down.

  ***

  Kaeden turned around so the rockets on his lower legs could slow the suit before impact, then looked up and saw the others catching up. He hit the jets, and the others sped past. They slowed while maneuvering so they’d land in a diamond formation, everyone facing a different direction in case they came down with hostiles in range.

  Marcie gave the all-clear sign, soon followed by Shonna and Merrit. They could sense no creatures in the landing zone, the “LZ.”

  The four mechs hit almost simultaneously at a speed that would have killed an unarmored human, and the dust of the dead zone clouded outward and upward.

  The four had no need to wait for the air to clear before moving. Using a combination of infrared and other sensors to project the way ahead, Marcie took off at a run, boosting her stride as she accelerated on a beeline toward the interdimensional tear.

  As she looked into the gray mists of the Etheric a beacon pulsed. It could be nothing else, and the power from it promised to be overwhelming.

  “There’s more juice flowing from that thing than we imagined,” Marcie said over the suit’s comm system as she ran.

  “What does that mean?” Kae asked.

  “It means that we could be supercharged to the point of overloading. In that case, we’ll need your help.”

  Shonna and Merrit increased their spacing to the sides. Kae slowed until the diamond occupied more than a square kilometer.

  “Three minutes to contact. Slowing approach. Do you see the external temperature?”

  “One hundred and forty degrees. That’ll put hair on your chest,” Merrit offered.

  “Suits for the win.” Shonna started angling away from the group. “Contact at ten o’clock.”

  “I don’t see anything,” Kaeden replied.

  “It’s not on the HUD. I think we have a creature.”

  “I see it now,” Marcie replied.

  “You two check it out. Merrit and I will continue to the tear.”

  Marcie veered to the side and sprinted to Shonna’s flank, leaving enough space to keep both from falling into a trap.

  Kae sped ahead until he and Merrit were running in stride a hundred meters apart. Kaeden still couldn’t see the tear, but Merrit signaled that they were getting close. Kae checked his HUD and saw that Marcie and Shonna had slowed to a walk.

  “We’re almost on top of it,” Merrit reported, and stopped.

  Kae took a couple more steps, then dropped to a knee. He frantically checked his sensors, but couldn’t see anything.

  “Look out!” Merrit cried before he opened fire.

  ***

  Terry sat on the opposite side of the shuttle since Dokken didn’t look like he was going to move. His tongue hung out of his dog face while Char and Petricia constantly petted him.

  Jealous? Dokken asked.

  Of course! Terry replied, using his comm chip. Your plan is duct tape? We have got to get you a shipsuit.

  I figured that would help expedite the process.

  I wish I had more control over it, buddy. We’re in Nathan’s service out here, so we don’t always get to call the shots. We need armor, we need a custom shipsuit for my best buddy, and we need more people. If it’s not one thing it’s another, but for what it’s worth I’m bumping your suit to number one priority if it’s not ready by the time we get home.

  Home? Dokken asked. Do you mean the War Axe or Keeg Station?

  I think of Onyx Station as home. Weird, but good. At least I don’t think of the ship as my wife like the captain does.

  “Hey!” Mickey furrowed his brows and shook a fist at Terry.

  “Hey, yourself! Can’t a man have a private conversation with his dog?”

  I’m not your dog.

  “Don’t make me come over there.” Terry blew a kiss at the massive German Shepherd and Dokken leapt from his seat.

  Terry twisted, but the dog still crashed down on him.

  When the shuttle settled to the ground and the rear ramp opened Terry was corkscrewed, lying on the seat with Dokken straddling him and licking his exposed ear.

  Joseph stood and bowed to someone that Terry Henry couldn’t see, and Petricia and Char did the same. Micky was out of his seat and walking forward. Dokken delivered one last lick before jumping down. Terry freed himself and stood.

  He wasn’t prepared for what greeted him.

  ***

  Kae couldn’t see what Merrit was shooting at. “What’s the target?” Kaeden maneuvered farther to the left.

  “Can’t you see it? One of those creatures is coming through the tear.”

  “I don’t see anything!” Kaeden ran at a thirty-degree angle away from Merrit’s railgun fire, and after a few steps it became clear.

  They were behind the tear. Once past the portal, he could see the creature only too clearly. Three meters tall, with red leathery skin and horns. Merrit’s rounds weren’t penetrating the tear, and the creature was unharmed. Kae jumped back as the creature roared, but with railgun aimed he remembered his own orders.

  Capture first. The creature bounded toward him and slashed with a mighty claw, but the long nails from a four-fingered hand scraped harmlessly across the armor. Kae rotated at the waist to guide the creature’s momentum past his left arm.

  Kae swung the railgun like a club, hitting the creature in the back as it passed. The power-assisted blow drove the creature face-first into the ground.

  Kae tried to pin the beast, but it was up and spinning before he could get a good hold. Kae reared back to punch the creature with an armored fist as it swung its own clawed hand, and the claws faded for a millisecond as they disappeared beneath the armor.

  The searing pain stopped Kae’s blow. The claw had materialized inside the suit and raked through his chest. Kae jumped back quickly enough to limit how deep the claws dug, then raised his railgun and fired a stream of rounds. The creature faded as the first bunch passed through, but when it solidified the rounds ripped into it.

  The creature howled and roared and Kae turned the external microphones down, but not off. The creature tried to return to a ghost-like state, but it could only maintain it for a second or two. Kae fired again, blasting the horned head apart, and the body fell to the ground and stilled.

  Kae dropped to a knee, pain still coursing through him even though the nanocytes were attacking the injury with reckless abandon.

  “Holy fuck, Merrit. Let’s blast this portal to hell and go home.” Kae grunted as he stood. “Merrit?”

  Kaeden had taken one step when horns and a red head forced their way through the tear. Kae leveled his railgun and let it rip, and he kept up the fire until the creature went back where it came from. Kae limped a couple steps before realizing the pain was already gone, and hurried around the tear to find Merrit doubled over.

  “Merrit?” Merrit was unconscious, and Kae had no idea why. He picked the werewolf up, tossed him over his shoulder, and started to run toward where he’d last seen Marcie and Shonna.

  After half a kilometer he stopped to put Merrit down and called up his rockets, which popped up from behind his shoulder. He targeted them and sent four screaming downrange. They hit the target with a massive explosion, sending a red dust cloud skyward.

  Although Kae couldn’t see the Etheric energy, he could see the void where the dust cloud wasn’t. The rockets didn’t do any damage to the tear.

  “That would have been too easy,” Kae grumbled as he lifted Merrit to his feet. The man blinked his yellow eyes. “Are you okay?”

  “Feel woozy, but that’ll fade the farther I get from that thing.”

  “The creature?”

  “The tear.”

  Kae nodded. “Let’s go see how our better halves are faring. They have to be doing better than us.”

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Terry put his hands on his hips and rolled his head. Behind the shuttle
was nothing. There was no Beniton delegation. There were no buildings.

  The others started laughing.

  “Are your missions always like this?” Micky asked, having joined the spoof at the last second.

  “Pretty much. You know what they say…paybacks are a mother.” Terry forced a scowl at the group, but couldn’t maintain it. He appreciated the quality of the practical joke.

  “At least you don’t have a stealth cat befouling your pillow every day,” Micky lamented.

  “You know Smedley is in on that,” Terry said matter-of-factly.

  Micky stopped and grabbed the colonel’s arm, looking at him in disbelief.

  “I asked him directly and he said ‘no’!”

  “He’s evolved, which means he can lie.”

  “Our EI is lying to us? I mean, our AI…” Micky scratched his chin. “That makes the most sense.”

  “Are you coming?” Char asked from outside the drop ship.

  When Terry and Micky exited, they found that Smedley had landed the shuttle on the edge of the city with the stern facing away. When they stepped into the open, they found that they were not alone.

  “The Grays,” Terry said softly when he saw the greeting party.

  Joseph held his head as his face worked through a series of emotions. With a final wince he let go of it and bowed, and the others followed suit.

  “My name is Captain Micky San Marino, and I am pleased that you decided to meet us.” The captain walked forward but stopped more than an arm’s length from the nearest of the gray-skinned, almond-eyed aliens. They looked dainty with their thin arms and bodies, and like the Crenellians they had oversized heads.

  You gave us no choice once you defiled our space station, one of them said. Micky looked from one to the next, unsure which of the five present had spoken.

  “Aliens are coming through the tear in the Etheric dimension. We’re here to help stop them,” Micky said pleasantly.

  Who said we need help, let alone your help? the disembodied voice asked.

  “Because it’s not getting any better. They continue to come through the tear.”

  Micky looked back to Terry.

  “We had a request to come here and deal with the interdimensional tear and the hell-spawn coming through to your planet,” Terry explained.

  You didn’t get that request from us. It was probably one of the others. The Rift has brought us the Skrima, but we can shield our city from an Etheric intrusion. The shields isolate the Skrima near the equator. It is inhospitable to the point that they will eventually leave.

  “You don’t believe that,” Joseph interjected as he touched his nose. Petricia held onto Joseph’s arm.

  A telepath. The oldest of you is the most evolved, it seems.

  “Thank you.” Joseph approached one of the Grays standing to the side. “I suspect you know what we really want, which is access to the miniaturized power supply technology. We suspect it caused the Rift in the first place. And if you aren’t going to use your space station, we’d love to put a garrison aboard to help us expand into this section of space. We can limit who comes and goes so you are left in peace. If we don’t people will show up unannounced more often than you’ll like, including the Skrima.”

  Micky stepped back, shaking his head.

  “It was worth a shot, Micky,” Terry whispered as he stepped to the front. Char moved forward and stood by his side.

  Four faced five, and none spoke.

  “Okay,” the Gray in front of Joseph said aloud.

  “Okay what?” TH asked.

  The information has already been transferred to your AI, now leave us in peace as you agreed. We will make things very uncomfortable for you should you violate the agreement.

  “I believe you,” TH said. He waved, and with a quick nod turned and headed toward the back of the shuttle. Dokken barked and ran after his human.

  After the rest had climbed in, the rear deck started to close.

  “Did they send you anything, Smedley?” Terry asked.

  “Yes, Colonel Walton. In a single burst transmission they gave us the power source design and the access codes for the space station, along with instructions for how to repair the damage you caused.”

  “Damage that we caused because they weren’t very congenial! We were protecting ourselves, but we’ll fix it and then we’ll occupy it.” Terry licked his lips and grinned. “Here’s to a quick negotiation!” Terry tapped his forehead with two fingers. “Smedley, can you link us to Kaeden for an update, please?”

  “Hang on!” came the frenzied reply, but Kae left the channel open. The railgun fire in the background was unmistakable.

  “Get us there, Smedley. Fastest possible speed,” Terry ordered calmly.

  He opened the forward locker as the drop ship lifted off and accelerated. As usual they weren’t thrown backwards, because the gravitic drive prevented the transfer of gee forces to the inside of the ship.

  Terry pulled out his Jean Dukes Special and strapped it to his hip, and handed Char her pistols and a railgun. Joseph and Petricia both took railguns, although Petricia looked at hers with a certain amount of disgust.

  Micky held his hands up.

  “Stay with the shuttle. There’s a railgun in here for you just in case they get past us.”

  “Then Smedley and I will take off and go for reinforcements.”

  “They’ll probably already be on their way. Here,” Terry said as he handed ballistic vests and helmets to everyone.

  “Hey, Dad,” Kaeden said into the silence. “These things are real bastards to kill.”

  “Are you okay?” Terry asked. The others listened intently as they watched Char strap a flak jacket on Dokken.

  “I am now. These creatures ghost in and out. Even after coming through to our dimension they can disappear back into the Etheric, but only for a few moments. And they can use that ability to penetrate our armor—one went claws-deep into my rib cage. But they splatter just like any meat bag when they reappear.”

  “We’re on our way in. Are you ready for extract?”

  “Sounds good. Home on our beacon. We dropped a few rockets on the tear, but that didn’t do anything except kick up some dust. Three demons down, but I have no idea how many are on the planet. They are problematic to locate. We’ll debrief when we’re back on the ship.”

  “Understood.” Terry picked at his fingernails as he leaned forward in his seat with his head bowed.

  Char put her hand on the back of his neck. She had also felt that sudden pang at hearing that Kaeden had been injured. Even though they’d been at it for a long time, parents would always worry about their kids.

  “ETA, Smedley?” Terry asked.

  “Descending toward their beacon now. I’ll drop the ramp in three minutes.” Smedley waited before adding, “Ted is quite pleased with the information you acquired. He told me to thank you.”

  “He did not say that,” Terry countered. “Since we have you on the hook, tell the captain how you’ve been helping Wenceslaus.”

  “I don’t believe I will. Prepare to recover the mech recon team.” A buzz sounded over the speakers.

  “That’s all I need to know.” Micky gave the hairy eyeball to the speakers in the ceiling. “How to pay you back…that’s the question.”

  The drop ship hit the ground harder than normal, then the rear deck descended and four mechs walked aboard.

  “We fired a shitload of ammo to kill three of them. We may have to rethink our strategy.”

  ***

  Ted looked over the information Smedley had forwarded on behalf of the Benitons. “Not only can we start building these right away, we can start integrating them into our systems because we have the energy parameters. It’s been a good day, Ankh.”

  Ankh shivered with excitement, then they raised their holo screens and went to work.

  “First order of business is building an Etheric power supply assembly line. Break down the components, Plato, and see how we can line them
up…”

  Ted and Ankh disappeared into their technology, as happy as two men could be.

  ***

  Kimber was relentless. They started training the second the drop ship left for the surface, and they were still training when the ship returned six hours later.

  From weights to running to hand-to-hand, they rolled from one session to the next without taking a break.

  “Ma’am,” Sergeant Fitzroy panted. “Is there any way…the boys can call it a day? If we have to…go into combat tomorrow…we might be a little dogged.”

  “Boys?”

  “I’m having…a hard time speaking…being out of breath and all…so ‘boys’ was much easier…than men and women. I apologize…for being overly pithy.” Fitzroy took deep breaths between every few words. His short hair was matted to his head, and sweat streamed down his face.

  Kimber was sweating, but not much. She’d trained harder than anyone else her whole life. Well, anyone except Marcie. They both had nothing to prove and yet everything to prove.

  TH never let gender dictate any of his decisions. He put the best person into the position that needed to be filled or the job that had to be done. Nanocytes had been the great equalizer, giving people with a smaller stature like Kim and Kae the advantage of oversized strength without being genetically gifted with size.

  Like Gene the werebear. He had been a man-mountain.

  Kim turned away as she thought of her old friend and mentor. How was he holding up? What about the others?

  “Training’s done for the day! Hit the showers, and be ready for a mission brief at a moment’s notice. We don’t know when we’ll go planetside, but it’ll be soon.” Kim hurried toward Ted’s lab. She wanted to find out when the IICS was going to be ready. She had a pain in her heart that needed to be filled by friendly voices from the next galaxy.

  She started to run, as if not finding out would crush her. Her chest tightened and her legs became heavier with each step.

  Kim passed Kaeden, Marcie, and her parents on the way, but she barely spared them a glance. They followed her as she ran through the corridors with the ease of familiarity.