by Doug Goodman
“Thank you, Mathieu,” Emily said.
“But what about the CEV?” Cole asked. “It isn’t made for atmospheric re-entry.”
“But everything here is modular. It is made to fit anywhere.”
3
The Hab, which stood on wheels, had several tiled segments under its floor. Each segment went to a different vehicle. Mathieu and Cole got the task of removing the tiled floor segment that was made to fit the CEV. They then carried it out to the CEV on their DSMUs and attached it.
Anna was given the role of dismantling the CEV to lighten it. She removed the seats and much of the ECLSS system.
C.C. and Emily had the task of figuring out what kind of fuel the Jedik-ikik used, and then transporting it back to the CEV. They decided to use the GEAR (it still worked) to carry an empty tank and all the supplies they could think of for transferring fuel. Its ECLSS system was compromised, but C.C. could manage in the AXES suit while Emily followed in her DSMU mech.
They moved quietly across the land and between the burial mounds of the fallen Rentok.
“Now, I can’t believe I thought they were mountains,” Emily said. She was looking at a specific draw that she thought was surely the leg of a Rentok.
“We all thought they were mountains. Everybody at home thought they were mountains. We were looking at it the wrong way.”
“We were looking for profit dollars, so we didn’t see what was right in front of us.”
“I’m not going to apologize for this.”
“I’m not asking you to. We all were looking for something other than what it was, so we let our charts draw the picture for us rather than use our own eyes. If we’d seen anything except a squiggly upward line on a profit margin chart, we wouldn’t have come so easily.”
“There’s been something I’ve been meaning to ask you, but I wanted to wait until we were alone.” He waited for her response. They were coming up to Ximortikrim’s battered outer walls.
“Go ahead.”
“Am I commander again yet?”
“Are we out of danger?”
They were both looking up at the three monsters, each over a 100 meters tall, but Renslot the largest of all three. K’tang was no longer covered in magma. To C.C., it seemed he was smiling down at him.
“Is he smiling at you?” Emily asked. “I think he likes you.”
One foot at a time, the three giants followed the two astronauts across the dead city. Each footstep sent a rumble that bumped the astronauts in their vehicles. Not a soul was living in the city. If they were, they were in hiding.
C.C. and Emily searched the dome for liquid fuel propellant. Unfortunately, what they discovered was that the Jedik-ikik trapped escaping gas from the magma beneath their city. While they could trap the gases and use them for fuel, the risk of danger from so greatly modifying their rockets was more than either commander could recommend. They returned to the Hab empty-handed.
“We will just need to wait for the ISRU to mine enough liquid oxygen,” Emily said.
4
Every member of the crew was a specialist in multiple fields. So while C.C. was a geologist by trade, Anna was also a very competent student of geology. While Anna was a medical doctor and accomplished surgeon, Mathieu had spent time as a medical doctor in the army. In this way, each member was as modular as their hardware.
So while the team took the evening to lament their situation, Anna decided to enter K’tang and study him. The next morning, she woke the other astronauts excitedly.
“Get up,” she said. “You must come see.”
Groggily, the team woke up. They had gone to bed sorely missing their lives. Some lamented lost possibilities, like C.C. who had company shares at Titan Space, and other missed their nephews.
“Did you go to bed at all last night, Anna?” Emily asked.
“I didn’t sleep a wink. I’ve spent the entire night exploring inside K’tang. I’ve learned so much. Come see.”
They climbed into their AXES suits and followed her outside.
“Ta-da!” she said. The three giant monsters stood over the Hab, hiding the sun. Its rays passed around the monsters.
“These are our rides.”
“Our…rides?” C.C. asked.
“Yes. They can get us off of the planet.”
“And then what?”
“Follow me.”
She took them in K’tang, who had a similar elevator passage up to a compartment in his head. She brought up a video playback on the monitor. K’tang, whose sharp, angular features appeared on the screen. The video showed the Rentok flying through outer space.
“They brought the Kroern here.”
“We know that,” Cole said.
“K’tang, show me fuel reserves.”
“Fuel reserves at 100%,” K’tang responded. He had a sharp voice, like an electric guitar thrumming out a riff.
“My book is going to outsell everybody’s,” Anna squealed.
“What kind of fuel is it?” Emily asked. “Please say liquid oxygen.”
“I’m afraid not,” Anna said. “They’re powered by the radiation that they collect during space flight. You think about it, it’s pretty ingenious.”
“But that would mean nuclear energy being blasted here?”
“I thought of that. The desert has much less life. If we lifted off from there, we’d be less likely to harm the environment.”
“They would do this for us?” Mathieu asked.
“That is one of the really interesting things I’ve learned about the Rentok. They are like hosts in a symbiotic relationship, but these three are alive and without a pilot. That is where we come in.”
“So, we use them to get off this rock. Then what? Back to Earth?” C.C. asked.
“No. Earth is too far for them. Even they must take shelter from radiation every so often if they are to survive the intensity of space.”
“So where do we go?”
Emily said, “I’ve got an idea.”
The others turned to her.
“Our expedition was to 51 Golgotha a. But there were many expeditions into these systems.”
“Maybe we can find one in the logs.”
“No need to. I memorized them all. There was an expedition to 12 Lear scheduled for three years after our departure, and 12 Lear is five light years from Earth. At the same rate of travel that we made in the Anchor, they are scheduled to arrive there 1 year from now. So we have 1 year to travel to a planet 1 light year from here. How fast do they travel?”
Anna smiled broadly.
5
They packed everything they could take with them. That ended up including the GEAR, the DSMUs, the Hab, and all the salvageable stations, including the Animal Station. Each foot had a small hanger built between the toes of the giants. These hangers acted as storage blocks for their equipment.
Anna and Mathieu got K’tang. Emily and Cole were in Renslot. That left C.C. for the magma monster.
“Are you sure we can do this?” he asked. “I don’t see anyone with a tattoo except you, Emily. Morder of the World, remember?”
“They can still sync up with you,” Anna said.
“Guys, this is amazing,” Mathieu said. He was completely covered in K’tang’s extensions. “I can see again! I’m never leaving this place.”
In Renslot, Emily was stripping down to connect with the Renslot.
“I haven’t seen you this excited in a long time,” Cole said. “You’re ready to get out there, aren’t you?”
“I could only do this with you.”
“No, I don’t think so. But I’m okay anyway. I’ll go down there and buckle myself in.”
“Cole.” She stopped him and kissed him. “We are going home to Story. It’s just a little more sideways than we planned.”
He buckled into his seat.
“Is everybody ready?” Emily asked.
“Goodbye, 51 Golgotha,” C.C. said. “I hope I never come back.”
“Renslot, let
’s get off this rock. Commence ignition sequence.”
“Commander,” the rough, gorilla voice said. “We do not need ignition.”
“You can talk?”
“We are always improving our systems.”
“Alright, Renslot,” Emily said. “Let’s see what’s out there.”
The three giant kaiju looked at each other. They kneeled down low, gained their strength, and jumped into the stars.
Read on for a free sample of Space Marine Ajax
Glossary
51 Golgotha a. An exo-planet seven light years from Earth. The shorthand is “51 Golgotha.” It is the first planet discovered around the star 51 Golgotha. The planet has sparse jungles, long stretches of desert, dramatically tall mountains, and a few large lakes. Three moons circle 51 Golgotha a. They have been labeled S 2042 G 1, G 2, and G 3.
Anchor. See IV-104.
ARGES. Augmented Reality Global Exploration System. Allows for the DSMU pilot 360-degree viewing at all times.
CEV. Crew Escape Vehicle.
EVA. ExtraVehicular Activity.
ECLSS. Environmental Controls and Life Support Systems.
EDLS. Entry Descent Landing Shell. This is the system that transports the astronauts from the Anchor to the ground. The system comprises of the DSMU, a heat shield, and parachutes.
ESPS. Exo-Planetary Space Expedition. The Exo-Planetary Space Program (EPSP) is a NASA program for exploring exo-planets for alien life, resources, and possible colonization. The crew of ESPS 18 are on a mission to the exo-planet 51 Golgotha a.
GEAR. Golgotha Exploration Activity Rover.
ISRU. In-Situ Resource Utilization. ISRU technology harvests fuel from the ground by superheating dirt until the atoms split into gas atoms like hydrogen and oxygen. The solids are then returned into the ground, and the gas components are stored in giant tanks and pumped into the Ascent Vehicle for fuel.
IV-104. Interstellar Vehicle 104, the Anchor. Interstellar vehicles transport astronauts to earth-like exo-planets. They are robust vehicles capable of traveling between stars at near the speed of light.
JEVS. JPL EVA System. The robot custodian of the Anchor while the astronauts are on 51 Golgotha a. Also, JEVS acts as a mission control center and relays messages to Mission Data Collection in Houston.
Jedik-ikik. Homo-Insectus. The aliens who lived and died on 51 Golgotha a.
K’tang. K’t’chimigalpa-kiritikikikee k’tang. A Rentok with the ability to throw lightning.
Magma Monster. The third Rentok. Magma-breather. Has no known name, but is referred to as “Zree,” which is a curse word of the Jedak-ikik.
OGRA. Operational GRound Assist. Similar to JEVS, but maintains the stations on 51 Golgotha a, including the Hab and Lab Modules and many robots (both bipedal and drone) as well as the ISRU, Communication, and Animal Stations.
Rentok. The Jedik-ikik word for the giant kaiju who attack Ximortikrim. The Kroern pilots are called Rentok Reitritz, which can mean either Rider or Raider.
Renslot. The largest and most reviled of the three Rentok. Has the ability to unleash a wave of radiation across its body, which kills the Jedik-ikik trying to attack it. Other names for Renslot include Destructor of Worlds and Curse of the Cosmos.
Zree. A curse word of various utility. Used by the Jedik-ikik as the name of the third Rentok. This is not an official name, but just a curse word for the monster.
Acknowledgements
As I become more and more public a writer, and more comfortable admitting to people that I write, I’ve been blessed with the help and support of many friends and family. I would like to thank my father, Doug Goodman, who is my first reader and my litmus test on everything I write. I hope you enjoyed this adventure, Dad. I’d also like to thank three good friends of mine who either read through Kaijunaut or shared a lunch discussing human performance risks due to interstellar travel, radiation shielding, and the effects of gravity on astronauts. For a book about astronauts encountering giant monsters on a distant planet, they helped me keep the story grounded in some form of reality. Where this book goes off the rails is the author’s fault. Don’t blame them. That said, many thanks to Abe Gutierrez, Chip Shepherd, and Dave Brown. I’d also like to thank everyone at Severed Press for helping make this book possible when it seemed impossible. Finally, I’d like to thank my family for their support, but especially my son, who could not play Minecraft while Daddy was writing. The computer is all yours now (at least until I start working on a sequel).
Thanks for Reading
I really had a great time researching and writing Kaijunaut. If you enjoyed the book, please leave a review on Amazon. These reviews not only help others pick books, but also help authors to be seen.
Doug Goodman is also the author of the Severed Press books Dominion and Kaiju Fall, as well as the Cadaver Dog series.
His books can be found at:
http://www.amazon.com/Doug-Goodman/e/B00IHF1I8S/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_ebooks_1
As always, his website is www.douggoodman.net.
FAREWELL PROUD MEN
“Each day in Valhalla they don their war-gear and go down to battle; then do rise again whole in the night to drink mead and eat their fill of meat. Of these einherjar there are many, and yet there will seem too few when the wolf comes.” – Prose Edda of Snorri Sturlson circa 1220.
The Garm, as they came to be called, emerged from the deepest parts of uncharted space, devouring all that lay before them, a great swarm that scoured entire star systems of all organic life. This space borne hive, this extinction fleet, made no attempts to communicate and offered no mercy. Such was the ferocity of their assault upon the civilization of humanity that our own wars and schemes were made petty in comparison.
Humanity has always been a deadly organism, and we would not so easily be made the prey. Unified against a common enemy, we fought back, meeting the swarm with soldiers upon every front.
We were resplendent in our fury, and yet, despite the terrible slaughter we visited upon the enemy, world after world still fell beneath ravenous tooth and wicked claw. For every beast slain in the field, another was swiftly hatched to take its place and humanity was faced with a grim war of attrition.
After a decade of bitter galactic conflict, it was all humanity could to do slow the advance of the swarm and with each passing year we came closer to extinction.
The grinding cost of war mounted. The realization set in that without a radical shift in tactics and technology the forces of humanity would run out of soldiers before it ran out of bullets.
In desperate response to the real threat of total annihilation, humanity created the Einherjar. Fearless new warriors with frightening new weapons who were sent to fight the wolves at the gate.
TRENCH 16
The recon scouts had not returned and the defenders were instead met with an enemy force.
“Spores incoming!” bellowed the Watchman from his elevated vantage point on the hill just behind the earthen network of trenches. “Swarm advancing!”
Ajax cranked the knob of his respirator to maximum filtration the moment he heard the call, the training of countless artillery drills and endless hours of combat had made the action second nature to him. He then ejected the carbon magazine from his pulse rifle and tapped it against his helmet, settling the inert ammunition firmly in the casing, though functionally, it was more of a pre-battle ritual than a necessary action.
The marine thumbed the activator on the rifle and the weapon snarled to life in his hands, the unique sound of it echoing through the trench as dozens of other marines engaged in similar rituals.
After so many years of war, each soldier on the field had developed their own little ways of preparing for impending combat, each of their individual practices ending in the activation of their rifles.
The combined sound of so many weapons coming online was thrilling. Every soldier in Trench 16 felt the adrenaline pounding through their systems as they heard it. It was the sound of strength, of the
power to take life, a burning fire in their hands to keep away the darkness that surged towards them.
With it ringing in his ears, Ajax found that he was not afraid. The marines were strong in their numbers, their weapons deadly in effect, and they held the high ground. In the back of his mind he knew that the horrific beasts that the marines had taken to calling ridgebacks were out there in the night, along with many other terrors, all of which wanted nothing more than to kill and consume every scrap of organic material on this pitiful forgotten planet. Ajax flexed his armored fingers around the grip of the rifle and took a slow, deep breath, knowing it would be the last easy one he’d have for a long while.
The other marines of Hydra Company that defended Trench 16 were taking up their fighting positions throughout the network. Most of them were rifles, like Ajax, though of the two hundred and fifty soldiers in the unit, there were several grenadiers as well.
One of the grenadiers, a man named Boone, stood next to Ajax on the right, his back against the reinforced dirt wall, tapping his fingers against the revolving cylinder of his ordinance launcher.
Rama, another rifle, climbed up from the bottom of the trench to join the other marines on the firing step near the top of the position.
“The Watchman has a keen eye tonight, usually we don’t have this much warning before impact,” observed Rama as he planted his feet and held his rifle to his shoulder, setting the wide-barrel on the shooting rest at the top of the trench so that he could crank the knob of his helmet’s filter. “We might get out of this brawl without any ragmen coming back to haunt us.”
“Your optimism is astounding, Rama,” snorted Boone. “There are always ragmen, but the warning did go up well in advance of impact, maybe there’ll just be a few this time.”
