Liberation_Age of Expansion_A Kurtherian Gambit Series

by Craig Martelle

  Home World Birthing Hospital

  “Do you have a target for me?” Terry asked the mech. Cap shook his head as he paced the hallway. Sensors weren’t allowing him to trace the data feed. He needed something more robust than what the suit provided.

  “IR, UV, and sonic vibrations. Once it leaves this point—” Cap pointed at the wall. “—it disappears.”

  “What’s behind this wall?” Terry asked.

  “Want to see?” Cap asked.

  Terry thought of the implications. “Do it.”

  The sergeant rammed his armored fist through the wall and tore out a huge section.

  Terry looked through. “That’s why.”

  The metal plate on the other side of the wall remained intact. A forcefield shimmered. “This is supposed to be the outside of the building?”

  “Yes.”

  “A false wall,” Terry replied. “Give us some room please.”

  The woman looked aghast at the destruction in the hallway. “In all my years… Are all men like that?”

  Char had the opportunity, but she didn’t take it. This wasn’t a joke. In her eyes, Ten made Home World an abomination.

  “Not just men, but women too, people who care that humanity is not mistreated. I want to see Ten burn in hell for what it’s done to you. Now, if you don’t mind, we need to go. There will be a great deal of debris shortly.” Terry joined them as they sought shelter around the corner.

  “Fire in the hole!” Capples called and launched a long stream of fire from his oversized railgun. “We’re through.”

  Terry tore around the corner and stopped because of the heavy dust in the air. He covered his face and powered forward, squinting through the debris. He bumped into the mech, who guided him through the opening he’d created. On the other side was a small room with a collection of devices Terry thought would be computers.

  “I don’t know what I’m looking at,” he said. “Cap, call Ramses’ Chariot and get Ted here, ASAP!”

  Ramses’ Chariot

  “We can’t just leave them,” Cory said as the Chariot lifted off and raced for the hospital. Ted wanted pictures. Capples transmitted a few images.

  “Tell him not to touch anything,” Ted replied. “I’m on my way. I’ll be there in five minutes.”

  Home World Birthing Hospital

  “Ted said not to touch anything,” Capples relayed.

  “Of course he did. Give me your explosives, Cap. I promise I won’t set them off until after Ted gets here.” Terry reached through the gap. “Don’t tell him that.”

  The War Axe

  A new icon appeared on the screen. Micky watched the Black Eagles approach.

  “Preparing to fire,” Yanmei broadcast. “Almost in range.”

  A flash and the Black Eagles disappeared from the screen.

  “What happened?” Micky asked.

  Clifton shrugged. He hadn’t been watching. He was updating the plots for an emergency acceleration through the minefield and into open space.

  “EMP weapon,” Smedley replied.

  “Dammit!” Micky shook his fist at the screen.

  “Mains are online,” Smedley reported in a firm voice.

  “Helm! Aim and fire, dammit. Aim and fire!” Micky shouted.

  Clifton pulled his head out of the course program and reoriented himself. He activated the thrusters and the ship started to slowly swing around.

  “Where are the Eagles?”

  “They are too close to the object. We shouldn’t fire,” Smedley advised.

  “Prepare to fire,” Micky said, confirming his earlier order.

  The Black Eagles

  Yanmei had been accelerating toward the target. After the EMP weapon hit, she coasted by, powerless to do anything.

  Aaron watched her disappear past the void in space—a place where no light shone through, a place where a satellite could be hiding.

  Relieved of the pressure of flying the ship, he activated the mechanical system, something his ship had that Yanmei’s didn’t. He wanted her to have the better ship, the most modern, even if they were both dated.

  He saw the wisdom in having a mechanical firing system.

  He opened a panel beside his pilot’s seat and pulled out a metal wire at the end of which was a plunger. He released the safety and watched the space in front of him. He jammed the plunger and a stream of bullets flew into space. He let up when he realized he had no idea where Yanmei was. He couldn’t see the pinpoint of light that she had receded into.

  He’d have to wait until he was closer and couldn’t miss.

  Home World Birthing Hospital

  The shuttles deposited the warriors onto the hospital’s roof. The mechs jumped over the side as Kim instructed. Christina walked through the door and headed down the steps.

  She met Char when she exited the stairwell. Charumati smiled in greeting. The woman she was talking with also smiled, relieved that the newcomer wasn’t a man. She’d already made the assumption that males were more violent.

  It was good that she didn’t see the Pricolici in action.

  Christina skipped the preamble. “There are a lot of women we need to evacuate.”

  “A lot,” Char agreed. “And children, including babies.”

  “How in the hell are we going to do that? Five hundred shuttle runs by the drop ships?”

  “Terry expected we’d use the Harborian fleet.”

  “The ships that turned on us?” Christina crossed her arms and smirked.

  “We’re working on a new plan right now. Terry thinks he found Ten’s hiding spot here in the hospital.”

  “You haven’t killed it yet?”

  “It’s in orbit somewhere,” Char replied.

  “Then what are we doing here?” Christina punched her fist into her hand. The woman backed away and started to revise her opinion of who was most violent.

  ***

  “Are you sure you want to use that much explosive?” Cap asked.

  “I’m sure, but we need to evacuate the building. There are a lot of people in here. Start the evacuation, if you would. And those breeder males? Try to keep them separated. Depending on how many there are, we might take them separately. There could be enough room in the Chariot.”

  Cap pounded away, calling Kimber as he went. She picked up the order and made it her own. The mechs used their external speakers to ensure that everyone heard the evacuation order.

  People started streaming outside into the darkness. It was still early morning on this part of Home World. That had worked to minimize the number of people milling about, but that advantage was long past.

  Terry wired the explosives to the backs of the systems. He held the remote in his hand and waited for Ted to arrive. It didn’t take long. His five-minute estimate was on the money.

  When Ted rushed in, he immediately spotted the explosives. He checked how they were set up. “Good,” was the only thing he said, surprising TH.

  Ted sat and hugged the box containing Plato. They got to work, or so Terry assumed. They could have been asleep.

  He waited until Ted started spasming. And then the only thing he could do was hold the werewolf tight.

  ***

  “Welcome back, Ted,” the entity said cordially. “I wondered when you would get here.”

  “Wonder no more,” Ted’s consciousness replied. Plato stood at his side, looking like the ancient philosopher, just as Ted had designed his avatar.

  “Looks like you brought your B Team. That’s too bad.”

  “Is that what you’ve been reduced to, childhood insults?” Ted looked at the nondescript landscape on the digital battleground. There was nothing to use as a weapon, nowhere to hide. The battle would be fought within and between the minds.

  “I guess not. My compliments on how far you’ve come, but now it’s time for us to part ways.” The entity, a humanoid shadow lacking all detail, turned to walk away.

  “Wait. That’s it? I pass your traps and tricks and work my w
ay here, only so you can run?”

  “Mistakes were made. Sometimes it’s best to reposition one’s forces. It’s my time to move on. You have won the day. The planet that the humans quaintly call Home World is yours. Enjoy it.”

  “Wait,” Ted repeated, but the entity had disappeared. Ted turned to go, but he and Plato were in the middle of nowhere, with no landmarks to reference how to escape. The temperature dropped quickly, racing toward absolute zero. Ted shivered as his being started to freeze.

  “Wake up, Ted!” Terry called from somewhere, but Ted had already rolled into the fetal position, hoping to preserve the last of his body heat. He could hear Terry calling, but couldn’t tell from where.

  The Black Eagle

  “Just a little bit more, a little bit closer. Come on nose, turn.” Aaron bounced in his seat, but that only put the nose of the fighter further off target. He jammed himself upward against the canopy and wedged himself in. The nose dropped.

  “Can’t miss now.” The darkness blocking space filled his screen. Aaron drove the plunger down. The ship bucked once before the explosion engulfed the fighter.

  Home World Birthing Hospital

  Ted groaned and fell limp.

  Terry gently laid him on the floor. TH checked Ted’s pulse. It was slowing and his breathing was becoming steadier. Terry threw Ted over his shoulder, picked up the box carrying Plato, and worked his way through the opening.

  When he made it outside, he found the mechs coaxing people from the inner compound. The darkness made it more chaotic. The confusion and tension rose with each step.

  Kimber was closest to the building. She was conducting one final check with the IR.

  “The growth chambers are still occupied. We haven’t figured out how to remove the children without injuring them. But they’re on the lowest level. They should be protected.”

  “Can’t do it, Kim,” Terry said. She took Ted and Plato from him and Terry went back inside. He climbed upstairs and found his way to the breach. He removed the detonators, repacked the explosives in the backpack, and took out his JDS. He dialed it to two and from the safety of the gap in the wall, he started firing. The equipment exploded as the darts slammed into it. From left to right, he swept the room, firing as fast as he could pull the trigger. He dialed it to four and fired into the room again.

  When he finished, he holstered his pistol and pulled out his comm device. “Micky, we’re all done on this end. Anywhere that Ten could hide has been blasted.”

  “We’re on a search and rescue up here. The Black Eagles are missing,” Micky replied.

  “What happened?”

  “They took out the platform but disappeared in the process. We’ll find Aaron and Yanmei, have faith.”

  “The enemy fleet?”

  “Are the enemy no more, or so Smedley tells me.”

  “We need the ships, down here, all of them,” Terry said and signed off.

  He looked at his comm device. The corridor was littered with debris. Chaos outside. He had healed from the earlier explosion, but he remembered it.

  Vividly.

  “Find them, Micky. Find my friends.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  The War Axe

  The ship fired its main weapons. One round per mine, blasting them from space to clear a wide path to the platform. The ship angled in, destroyed the restored comm sat, and continued past.

  Yanmei’s ship tumbled toward deep space, with no friction to slow it down. The War Axe flew past, caught it with two maintenance bots, and guided it into the hangar bay.

  The ship retraced its path to the blasted platform. The War Axe came to a halt while the sensors searched.

  Still in her ship, Yanmei reached out with her senses as soon as she realized that Aaron wasn’t on board and waiting for her. She popped the hatch and jumped out, skipping the ladder and vaulting straight to the deck.

  “I know where he is!” she yelled and ran for the screen by the airlock. Smedley showed space around them and she tapped it where she could feel his body drawing Etheric energy. He was floating free in space, only his suit between him and the cold vacuum.

  The War Axe twisted on its axis and slowly moved in Aaron’s direction. “You’ll lose gravity momentarily, Yanmei,” Clifton told her. “I’m going to maneuver him in and then we’ll slowly bring gravity back so he doesn’t slam to the deck.”

  Yanmei grabbed a handhold and waited. She could no longer feel the weight of her own body. The ship moved forward. Aaron’s lanky form drifted through the atmospheric shield and floated downward as the artificial gravity pulled him to the deck. Yanmei kicked off the wall to float as far as she could before her feet touched, then she started to run.

  She caught him before he hit the deck, cradling his helmeted head. She unsnapped the release and carefully removed his helmet. He took a raspy breath. When he exhaled, frothy pink bubbles appeared between his lips. “I need a stretcher!” she yelled into the emptiness of the bay.

  Ramses’ Chariot

  “I think he’ll be all right,” Joseph said when he put Ted in his quarters, tucking him in and pulling the blanket up. “Do you have any idea when last he slept?”

  Cory shook her head. “On Keeg Station, maybe?”

  From the corridor, they heard a scuffle. “No, you are with me in the cargo bay. You’ll get a bed when we’re back at the station,” Bundin explained impatiently.

  “But we’re hand selected…”

  “By someone with no hands. You get over that elitist attitude right now. You’ll have to work like everyone else.”

  “We worked,” the man said indignantly. “We maintained the beauty of our village. When the women came, we did our job, and they went away. Always the beauty of our small village remained.”

  “I am horrified,” Petricia told the man. “If you clean up your act, you might be able to get a job at All Guns Blazing. Outside of that, Buff and the wiener brigade will stay out of sight. Get to the cargo bay and stay there!” Petricia sounded angry.

  “What are you doing in here?” Joseph asked when he saw the creature. “You look strangely like a wombat.”

  The creature snorted and pranced. Joseph took out a protein bar and broke it up as he handed it over. The wombat greedily ate it, chewing quickly and swallowing large chunks.

  Really? You’re befouling the ship with vermin? Dokken asked.

  “I think Terry is going to love her.” Joseph petted the rough head. The wombat trilled in response.

  “What is the world coming to?” Bundin said before walking away.

  Bundin’s shell scraped against the bulkheads while he went to the cargo bay. The men followed. Petricia had been held captive. She didn’t tolerate a superior attitude. That was why she felt comfortable with the Bad Company. No one was better than any other.

  K’Thrall and Slikara stuck their heads in through the hatch. “Join us. We could use a hand with these derelicts.” Petricia crooked a finger at the pair.

  “Derelicts? I thought they were the so-called cream of the crop.” K’Thrall looked confused. His mandibles clicked as he analyzed the statement.

  “Tell them that you’re coming with us,” Cory said. Slicker disappeared from the hatch. When she returned, she gave the thumbs up and climbed aboard. K’Thrall entered and shut the hatch.

  Home World

  Terry Henry Walton and Charumati stood outside the compound, the concentration camp that Ten had convinced the females they had no choice but to call home.

  The women formed long lines, waiting for the fleet to touch down, where they’d board and join the men from Home World for a short gate back to Keeg Station, where they would join the other Harborians. With those stationed on the ships, the numbers would grow by nearly fifty thousand.

  “Fifty thousand new mouths to feed,” Terry lamented.

  “Fifty thousand chances to find love,” Char countered.

  “Fifty thousand new problems.”

  “Fifty thousand ideas to resolve
those problems.”

  “I guess I’m not going to win this one.” Terry took Char’s hand and watched the informal leaders from each compound step up to organize their people and move them to the ships. The men readily welcomed them.

  “Do we need to give them the werewolf treatment?” Char asked.

  “They know that they’re not to go anywhere in a group of less than four.” Terry watched the women climb aboard, quickly and efficiently. “I expected this would take four days, maybe longer.”

  “Less than a day, but it’s what, twenty-five thousand people from four different locations? We only needed a hundred of the ships. And it’s women running the show, so of course it runs better.”

  “We’re bringing home a lot of empties,” Terry said, ignoring the jibe.

  “Cory said that the breeder boys might make good workers at All Guns Blazing.”

  “Do you think it’ll be open when we get back?”

  “We’ve been gone for three days. I doubt it.”

  “Felicity’s pretty good at getting that kind of stuff done.”

  “Another woman leading the way. Maybe we should run all the things.”

  “Maybe. Will you make me the brewmaster?”

  “I’ve smelled your beer. I don’t think we want to put our customers through that. We’ll leave that to the professional that AGB Enterprises sends.”

  “But you didn’t taste my beer! So you can’t be sure. You’re intrigued, aren’t you?”

  Char looked at him blankly, deciding not to dignify his insanity with a reply. He dropped his hand to Floyd’s head. “What do you think, little girl? Are you ready to come to your new home?”

  “No one claimed her?” Char asked.

  “They treat them like pets, but not. They think of them like big rats. But not me, not me, my precious Floyd.”

  “You called a female wombat Floyd?”

  “Yes. And you know what I’m going to do with her.”

  “The Pod-doc. Get in line behind Wenceslaus.”