by Jo Carey
"It's time, Captain," Kyne said as he killed the intercom.
"Mr. Kyne, sound battle stations, no drill."
"Aye, aye, Captain!" Kyne said as he barked orders to the bridge crew. "Helm, drop to real-space on my mark. Mark!"
The ship shuddered as it moved from one reality to another.
"Navigator, stealth field to full power."
"Aye, sir. We read full cloak."
"Sir, weapons systems ready," the communications officer called out. "Gloria and Serena signal ready. The Marines signal ready."
"Target all non-Martok ships. Prepare to fire," Ange said.
"Aye, sir. All hostile ships are programmed into fire control."
"Sensors!" Kyne barked. "Do we have an audience?"
"Sir, my board is clear to one million clicks," the sensors officer called out from her console.
"Continue scanning. I want to know if a gnat ties its shoe."
"Aye, sir! Continuing scan."
"Kyne looked at the status readouts. Satisfied, he turned to his captain and said, "Ma'am, we’re ready."
"Thank you, Mr. Kyne. My compliments to the crew. Communications, ShipComm,"
"Aye, ma'am," he said as he flipped a switch causing a chime to sound throughout the ship.
"Crew of the Protector, this is the captain. We are about to fly to the mouth of Hell and engage in battle with the devil himself. I cannot think of any crew I would rather be with at this moment. My pride in you all knows no bounds. It has been an honor to serve with each and every one of you."
Before she could close the connection, cheers flooded the intercom system as the crew told her of their pride in her. She looked at Kyne who looked at her, his orange eyes glowing over the largest smile she had ever seen on him.
"Captain, we've picked up a signal from the recon team. They are on the move." Communications said.
"Roger that. Kyne!"
"Aye ma'am. Helm, bring us over the Arriska's dorsal bay. Shuttle Bay Three, we are moving into position. Prepare to execute on my mark."
"Aye, sir," Serena said as she activated over one hundred stunner equipped bots. She looked over at Gloria in all her Minotaur glory, her laser emitters on standby and her eyes glowing bright green.
"Team leader, prepare to jump!" Kyne called into the intercom system, his orders routed to the Shuttle Bay.
"Aye, sir. Standing by," the Team Leader said from his position on the side of the bay door opposite Serena and Gloria. He couldn't stop staring at Gloria, "Those poor bastards will never see her coming," he said.
"Oorah!" his team replied, each in awe of the mechanical myth.
"Weapons, prepare to fire."
"Ready, sir!"
"Mr. Kyne, this is the Marine Team Leader. We have visual on Dr. Taggart, an unknown individual, and two Marines engaging the enemy, sir!"
Kyne looked at Ange. "Do it," she said.
"Mark! Bots away, Gloria away, Marines away. Cloak off, weapons fire at will. Master of the Deck, I want that limpet ship off the hull now!"
"Aye, sir," he replied as he activated the tractor beam and grappled the bomb-laden vessel.
Death rained down onto the deck below.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
The team from the Cuutoh followed the Martok through the dark corridors while marveling at their superb night vision. Several times they avoided detection because the two Martok saw approaching Tralaskans well before they could see the team. They took them to a doorway that led to a storeroom across the landing bay from HS3. Wren and Relay opened the bayside door and peered out before closing it. "At least thirty guards, all well-armed."
The Marines synchronized their chronometers. "Go in ten, mark! We'll secure the students, the Bridge, and make noise. That should give those guards something more to do than stand around and look pretty. Monitor channel 23. Good luck to all of us," he said as he led the rest out of the room. On her way out, Ciara shot John a look bordering on sadness and anger, and then they left.
"Sir, promise me you won't do anything stupid." Wren said as she checked her weapon.
"Okay, I promise, but why?" John asked.
"Your girlfriend scares the shit out of me and I don't want to be the one to tell her you're dead."
"Wait a minute. You're both Venlanten, and you’re a Marine. Why would you be afraid of her?"
"Sir, she’s a royal Venlanten, and I’m not."
"I still don't get it," John said.
"There's a hierarchy amongst my people. At the tip-top are people, royals, who are like good old Count Dracul, you know, the uber-being. About one in ten-thousands of my people falls into that category, and she's one of them."
"Are you sure?"
"Just watch if one of these hijackers takes a bead on you. I give him two seconds at most to live."
"Damn. Okay, I'll behave, I promise."
"Thank you," she said, meaning it. "Two minutes to go," she said as she looked at her chrono.
###
The next stop was the meeting room containing the hostages. Sarge pulled out a flash-bang grenade and showed it to Tobath and Arriska while explaining its function. "Will this hurt any of your people?"
"No, we are impervious to this weapon. Our eyes and ears will shut down when exposed to sudden bursts of light and/or sound.”
"Excellent. Arriska, Tenga, Ciara, and Doc, get out of sight and monitor channel twenty-three. Good luck," Sarge said as he, Keelan, Saint, and Tobath headed to the Bridge.
###
Sarge looked down the hallway at the two Tralaskans standing guard on either side of the door leading to the Bridge. He signaled Saint who told Keelan and Tobath who nodded that they understood. He pulled out a flash-bang grenade pulled the pin and tossed it as Saint said, "Go-go-go," into the radio. They ran to the secondary bridge entrance which Tobath keyed open when they heard the other door cycle. They rushed inside and fired at anything that looked Tralaskan.
###
Ciara and her people heard an explosion followed by, "Go-go-go," over the radio. Tenga, Ciara, and Doc dove into the room as Arriska keyed the lock open. As they took out hijackers, they felt the ship lurch followed by alarms sounding. "Hull breach!" Arriska yelled as the alarms went silent.
"This is Sarge. Protector has arrived and has neutralized the explosives ship on the hull. Tobath has initiated a hull seal protocol."
Ciara watched a smiling Arriska drop-kick a hijacker across the room into a bulkhead.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
John, Wren, and Relay stood in the darkened storeroom, waiting for the signal to go. Around them were stacks of boxes labeled with alien script. Wren quickly scanned one of the labels. "The computer indicates this has Erdexi origins," she said, shaking her head. "I hate blood feuds."
"Doc, think there's any way we can avoid war?" Relay asked.
"Don't know. I'm hopeful we can, but this thing’s been festering for a thousand centuries and the League is caught right in the middle. If one believes legend, the Tralaskans don't think we can since Tyens have been popping up like mushrooms after a rain."
A crackle on the radio stopped all conversation. "Go-go-go," followed.
"We're on," Wren said as they readied their weapons. She kicked the door open and dove into the bay with a scream and her weapon blazing away. Behind her John and Relay followed.
They were half-way across the room when football-sized objects started raining down through the atmospheric containment field. One of them--a vinegaroon--scuttled up to him and said, "John, its Serena. We're here to help.
"Serena, I need to get to HS3."
"Got it," she said as bots swarmed around them forming a protective ring. Meanwhile, Marines in power suits landed nearby and started engaging hostiles. One of them looked at Relay and Wren and saluted, which they returned.
"Move, people. Things are going to get nasty out here," Wren said as the other Marines let loose with their weapons.
They proceeded toward the ship when three hostiles sta
rted firing on them. The phalanx of bots reacted by letting loose a barrage of stunner fire that lit up the room. The hostile fire stopped as the smell of burnt something filled the bay. "Sorry," Serena said over several of the bots. "Turned the power up to high."
They finally made it to the ship and ducked behind several smoldering packing crates. "Damn, Doc, those bots pack a wallop."
"They're designed for urban rescue and can drill through eight-foot-thick concrete. Serena really had to detune their blasters not to vaporize the hostiles. Come on, we need to get to the controls."
They ran around a corner and found Narnn Falta in a chair, wearing a headset and very dead. Next to him was a woman. She was holding a gun, its barrel cooling.
"He told me it was the only way," she said, her voice breaking.
"What's your name?" John asked as the other two took aim at her.
"Jenna."
"Jenna. A very pretty name. Jenna, how about you put the gun away and we can talk."
"No," she said as she raised the weapon. She was dead before she could complete the motion.
John ran over and checked the control console, oblivious to the two dead bodies. "They've destroyed the input stage. Countdown is at three minutes. Target is Government World. Parasite System is on-line. At tee minus thirty seconds it will take over the Arriska with those tendrils over there," he said as he pointed to what looked like a bundle of metallic snakes, "and fly this ship, its crew, passengers, and enough nerve agent to kill a thousand planets into Government World."
"Why? He has to know the League is aware of his plan." Wren asked.
"Revenge." John spun around to find Gloria standing there in all her Minotaur glory; her palm guns and horn lasers still smoking. "John, the ship is secure."
"Not quite. I have to go in and stop Narnn."
"Wait a minute, he's dead," Wren said as she poked his lifeless body with the barrel of her gun.
"No, he's in there. Somehow, he transferred his anima," John said as he looked at the console. It showed two active entities within the system. "I have to go in and stop him."
"Can't you sequester him?" Gloria asked.
John picked up a charred piece of equipment. "Sequester circuit is gone. Gloria, you need to be my eyes and ears. I may have to fight off both him and the thing that attacked the Torsans."
"John..."
It was too late. He grabbed the head set and put it on while grabbing Narnn's body and throwing it unceremoniously to the ground. Without further word, he sat down and activated the headset, sending his mind into the ship. Ciara ran up just as his body went limp.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
John found himself inside the empty control room of a ship. Outside was blackness, but around him flashing lights and bleeping consoles told him the ship was preparing to deliver its cargo of death. He keyed his headset and said, "Gloria, where are they?"
"Both are outside the control room. Energy readings show a fight. Get moving. I'm going to try to lock them out," John said as he ran over to the control board and input his identity codes. Thankfully, they had never been removed, so the controls activated for him.
"Computer, eject interface pod," he said as he watched the countdown timer near one minute.
"Pod away,"
Outside, the pod with the metal tentacles dropped to the ground and writhed like a ball of earthworms. Gloria vaporized it with a horn laser.
"One down, John. Now reprogram that thing and get out."
"I'm working on it," he said as he accessed the auto pilot. He was halfway through inputting the new flight plan when Gloria screamed a warning over the headset, but it was too late. He heard someone behind him. He turned and saw Narnn standing there, his gun aimed at John.
"John, so good to see you. You know, you never call or write, not even a card."
"Narnn. I have to be honest, you've looked better."
Narnn stood there, clothes torn, bleeding from various gashes. "I just had a wonderful time with the other you. It seemed to take offense at my being here. I have taken care of it."
Outside in the real world, panic erupted. "Evacuate this bay, now!" Gloria yelled, as HS3 started its engines. She looked up and watched Protector move into firing position. There was nothing any of them could do.
Back in the control room, John thought furiously about what to do next. He just needed time to input the last entry of the course change and press the "Enter" button, but he knew Narnn would never let him.
"Narnn, listen to reason. There is no need to kill millions of people, then start a war and kill millions, if not billions more. Why are you doing this?" he said as he tried to manifest a weapon. He was never good at that part of being a telepresence jockey. All the professionals form tools by the sheer power of their will. Hammers, wrenches, screwdrivers, or any other tool could be formed in this virtual world just by thinking about it. More advanced jockeys were so good they manifested vehicles or even computers. John, unfortunately, had never gotten anything more complex than a leadless pencil to form.
"John, give it up. I know what you're trying to do, but it won't work," Narnn said as a pistol formed in his hand. "Say goodbye, old friend," he said as he pulled the trigger.
"John, behind Narnn," Gloria said from the speaker in John's ear. "Look!"
John looked and saw something no sentient being should ever see: his missing piece. It was large, misshapen, with writhing snakes for hair and huge fangs. It dripped menace. More horrible, though, was its face. It was John's face, but distorted with anger and hatred. John observed several large holes in the thing's chest, probably where Narnn had shot it. The thing reached down and ripped the pistol from Narnn's hand and crushed it into shards of plastic and metal. It spun him around and grabbed him by the neck, squeezing until it snapped. The creature shook the body once, twice, and then dropped it to the ground where it disappeared. One of the first things they teach you in TP Jockey School: if you die virtually, you die for real, so Narnn was officially and totally dead.
Without hesitating, John turned to the console and finished inputting the flight. Once entered, he slapped the activate button. The virtual deck shuddered under his feet as the HS3 started to lift-off. He turned and watched the creature smile and nod before it turned and leapt, disappearing into the very air. John reached up and tapped his head, deactivating the headset and returning to the real world.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
"Get him out of here!" Ciara screamed as HS3 came to life, its engines activating as various hatches and openings in its hull sealed shut.
"We'll kill him if we move him," Gloria yelled over the roar of the motors.
"Where the hell am I?" John said as he got to his feet. He looked around and remembered. "Serena, activate bot force shields and cover our retreat!"
The tiny bots flashed as a force bubble formed over everyone's heads, a cue for them to make a hasty retreat. Seconds later, Hell Spawn Three lifted off for one last time, its landing gear retracting into its sleek hull as its FTL engines spun up in preparation for its journey to oblivion. Once off the deck, it stopped rising and rotated to face John, hovering as if looking at him one last time before lifting-off and exiting the ship before heading toward the planet. Seconds later a massive flash of light could be seen through the open hangar door as HS3 crashed into the planet at a sizeable fraction of light-speed.
John stood there, amazed that he was still alive, when Ciara ran up and gave him a rib-crushing hug. He looked down at her and saw tears in her eyes.
"You're damn lucky you made it out alive, mister," was all she could say.
He looked around and observed Wren looking at him, mouthing a silent "Thank you" in his direction. Then he saw Gloria standing there in her Minotaur form, her fists on her hips as she smiled at him while thanking the gods he and everyone else was safe. Around her feet probebots scuttled about, keeping wary electronic eyes out for any Tralaskan stragglers.
"I'm fine," was all he could say as he surveyed the smok
ing wreckage strewn about the deck, the dead Tralaskans bothering him the most. It could have been far worse, he thought to himself.
"What the hell happened in there?" Ciara asked as she regained composure. "Your signal merged with Narnn's and something else.
"It was the missing piece of my soul and I think it merged with an alien anima, the same creature I drew when I came out of the coma. Whatever it was, it killed Narnn and saved my life in the process. I'm positive it left the ship after killing him, the person who put it in there in the first place."
Arriska, Tobath, and the rest of the Martok ran up and thanked their rescuers. Many marveled at the bots still running around while others chatted with the Marines and Gloria. Arriska, Tobath, and Laeren pulled John and Ciara aside.
"What's up? You two should be happy, yet your body language says otherwise."
"It's Tobath. My mother, the Queen has found out about his deception."
"What deception? What are you talking about?" Ciara asked, growing concerned about where the conversation was going.
Arriska explained with background provided by Tobath. When they finished, Arriska said, "Touching me and deceiving my mother is reason enough for execution. Her anger is in full bloom."
"But he saved everyone, you both did," John exclaimed.
"It doesn't matter. We are talking about thousands of years of a caste structure that Tobath has violated," Arriska said as tears welled-up in her huge eyes. The others looked at Laeren.
"She's right. Our good Queen is an unfortunate slave to conventional wisdom.
"Sirs? Ma'am? Sorry for eavesdropping, but I have a possible solution." They turned and saw Relay standing off to one side.
"Shoot," John said. "Anything is better than execution."
