Seeing the danger coming Kyle pulled his advance and rear guard together creating a defensive screen in front of the largely unarmed main group, urging them to press on towards the waiting rescue force.
The defensive screen left it as long as possible before they halted then dived into the sand for cover. Some of the Kyandians fired in the direction of the humans so they kept their heads down, but the aliens had not spread out and Kyle waited just long enough to get a good target with the regular plasma rifle. He wished for his armour and his dominator carbine but was glad to have at least the pirate rifle and Cutters knife.
He gave the command “Fire,” and as one, the guarding screen fired into the heart of the Kyandian charge until it seemed as if nothing could survive the onslaught of the plasma deluge but when the smoke cleared there were still numerous aliens pounding forward. He then feared the worst, because although help was coming it couldn’t get to them in time.
Kyle was wrong, help was arriving and in the distance he could see the United World Marines as black dots heading their way, but even nearer and in front of them was Kang, Bambi and the Lillindians, their group were skimming the sand on the Minoxian disc. The new arrivals distracted the Kyandian leader and he split the remnants of his force to deal with attacks on two fronts.
Those aliens attacking the rescuing force did not know what had hit them, as the United Worlds force were now all battle experienced and Kang had organised his team to fire at any approaching aliens. This resulted in multiple hits which the Kyandian could not survive. Only a handful managed to close for hand to hand fighting and instead of finding the weak humans they had expected it was the mandroids who met them, armoured, powerful and wielding deadly rotating knives.
Although weakened by their wounds and exertions the Kyandians still fought like demons and it was only the strength of the mandroids CBT armour that withstood the blows of the alien blades and it took the extra strength of the mandroids to deliver fatal blows to the aliens faces, necks and vital organs. It wasn’t all one way either, as armour was chipped and scarred, Basha took an alien blade thrust straight through his helmet visor which killed him outright. As the fight was finally concluding in the mandroids favour Bambi lead the remainder of the disc fighters in a race to reach Kyle.
The last group of Kyandians were following their leader in a charge to the rear guard of the escort. Prince Morgan organised his line as best he could but it was eleven humans against fifteen fanatical aliens, bigger, stronger and totally fearless.
Kyle had anticipated the alien’s course and took six of the advance guard with him to provide reinforcement. They would not get there before the aliens but firing at a distance they managed to wound some of the enemy before they reached the humans. Bambi and the SOM crew accompanied by the Lillindians were gaining on the Kyandians very quickly but again not quickly enough.
Firing to the last minute the rear guard accounted for half of the remaining aliens at very close quarters but then it was down to hand to claw fighting, with the humans having no knives to fight back with all they could do was use the butts of their rifles as clubs. Humans were being hacked down with brutal blows and the prince along with two others were in the final group to be attacked, he took a blade blow to his arm and the severed limb fell to the ground still holding his rifle, his companions fared no better. The prince wasn’t dead yet and the alien who had slashed him now stood over the prone royal. He was about to deliver a death blow, when his body shuddered with the full force of a plasma blast at short range lifting him into the air before dumping his smouldering corpse into the sand.
Bambi with Speedy at her side had led the attack and both fired simultaneously to protect the Prince. Behind them came the other SOM crew and not to be left out the Lillindians, spoiling for a fight and firing from the hip as they charged. Now it was the aliens turn to be cut down by sheer weight of numbers.
The Kyandians fought to the last and they accounted for Ossie, two more Lillindians and the cruellest of luck saw the defeated alien leader firing his energy weapon randomly as he himself was hit and his final shot hit Bambi, covering her with purple flame from the waist down.
Bambi fell backwards and was immediately surrounded by her comrades but her armour had buckled and melted in the blast and she could not be helped on the field. The Lillindian medic provided a powerful pain killer and rigged a blood substitution kit to the prone engineers exposed wrist.
Kyle was devastated when he reached the scene and fell to his knees cradling Bambi’s head in his arms, pleading with her to hang on to life and declaring his eternal love for her, but Bambi had sunk into a coma.
Shiner tried to pull him away, “Getaway, we have got to get her back to the ship as soon as we can to give her any chance”, reluctantly he let go of his girl.
Bambi, the Prince and a number of other wounded were carefully placed on the disc, the Lillindian medic and Kyle were also on board as Speedy lived up to her name flying recklessly over the desert and back to SOM.
Doctor Hussein had been pre-warned about the casualties and he and his hu-mechy nurses triaged the incoming casualties, stabilised them as best as possible before taking the priority cases into the operating theatre.
Kyle stayed with Bambi as long as he could but mercifully she did not regain consciousness. As Bambi was floated into theatre on an air trolley, he took one last look at her and prayed that she would survive, though he knew it was unlikely that she would ever be the same.
***************************
There was no time to dwell on his thoughts, the ship comms rattled out, “Lieutenant Cassidy to the bridge, Lieutenant Cassidy to the bridge.” He was not in a good mood, comrades had suffered, died and his beloved Bambi was fighting for her life. What was so important that it could not be said over the communicator.
Kang had been the recipient of Kyle’s foul mood and the two of them glared at each other for seconds which seemed like minutes, finally the mandroid decided his news was too important to waste time on this game.
“There is an alien fleet heading this way and they’re going to blow the planet!”
“Is this true, how do you know?”
“Boots has received a coded message from Apek, he and his people have been picked up by the Minoxian resistance, who have contacts in the alien fleet. Their admiral is a Lord Burzot, a particularly nasty Kyandian, which is the race we fought today and it was his troops who mounted the diversionary attack. Burzot is the enforcer for the empire in this sector and his signature punishment is to destroy worlds that fight back, he fully intends to make Chamtofi an example for the frontier worlds.”
Kyle now realized the enormity of the situation, there were over half a million people living on Chamtofi and they together with their planet were about to be reduced to radioactive waste.
“Kang, sorry about my behaviour, it’s just well you know. Look we are going to have to get things moving how is the boarding going on our three ships?”
We are nearly there, all the rescued crews are being loaded onto the Pretender, so she is now full, I have moved Esther and her force to the Canary where she has immediately taken command, Boots isn’t happy and has asked for a transfer to Seeker of Moons for himself and his protégé.”
“That’s fine by me but it must mean that the Canary is also full?”
“You’ve got it Getaway and with the other two ships at capacity it’s only SOM that can take on board the women from Kurko’s escaping ships, if that is still the plan?”
“The plan is a little open ended at the moment but I have to weigh up whether we save seventy people here and give up on the women for now or save the seventy or so berths and find we cannot use them, any ideas, what would you do Kang?”
“I would probably ask you Getaway.”
“Then we take refugees now, get the Pretender and the Canary into orbit as soon as you can and I’ll have Boots and Trilby as replacements for Bambi and Pixie, I now need to use the ship to land communicator.”
Kyle needed to present his information to the President of Chamtofi as rationally as possible and quickly got changed into his uniform, so that he would be taken seriously.
“……………so that’s it Mr President within 36 hours there will be no more Chamtofi, the intelligence is first rate and I can only urge you to evacuate as many of your population as possible.”
“I hear what you are telling me Lieutenant Cassidy, but with every starship at the spaceport and recalling our orbital squadron from chasing Kurko, we may be able to take off 10,000 people. What do we do about the rest?”
“I cannot offer any solution but the longer you leave it the fewer people will be saved. We have room for seventy and I am on my way to the spaceport now.”
Kyle took the captain’s chair on the bridge and it felt good to be back.
Although it wasn’t Pixie operating the comms, Trilby was no slouch having learned and practised with Boots on the Canary. When she was asked to arrange clearance to land at the city’s spaceport it was organised it in a flash and she had obtained the priority for boarding that Kyle demanded.
Speedy for the moment was piloting the ship on her own and probably preferred it that way but Shiner was primed to support her if necessary. Seeker of Moons touched down as quickly as possible and Kyle noticed that already a human chain was stretching out from the buildings, awaiting evacuation by the arriving space craft.
Kang had been tasked with loading the new arrivals but when he saw what was waiting for them he got straight on the ships communicator, asking Kyle to join him at the personnel access door. When he arrived he saw a large group of well-dressed men, carrying suitcases, briefcases and various expensive possessions waiting at the bottom of the steps.
Kyle did not expect this and was infuriated that these people were not representative of the population. “Who the hell are you lot?” He bellowed at the waiting throng.
“We are members of the government and senior officials, please allow us to board without delay,” came the curt reply.
“No my friends we go by women and children first on this ship and if you are the government you will be needed here to organise the evacuation.”
This was not well received by the crowd who pressed forward and started climbing the ships steps, some of them even drew hand guns. Kang nodded to two of his waiting mandroids and they moved to the open hatch, fully armoured and with dominators raised. One of those seeking to get on the ship made the mistake of firing his pistol at Troll, the shot had little effect on the CBF armour but it resulted in the perpetrator being consumed in a ball of fire from Trolls rifle.
The waiting crowd of bureaucrats got the message, they backed off, swearing and gesticulating as they went, promising revenge in the future.
Kyle leant out of the doorway and found what he was looking for, a group of women and children newly arrived at the port were running up and down the bays seeking refuge on any of the ships. He shouted over, “This way, this way” and the group were coaxed towards and onto the ship.”
The new arrivals were just over fifty junior school children with ten of their teachers, they had no luggage but some carried their toys and lunch boxes.
That was enough for Kyle, they had been there too long and more ships were waiting to load, the new arrivals were shepherded to the rear of the ship and strapped into their launch seats which did not need a lot of adjustment as they had previously been used by the Lillindian party.
Speedy received the all clear from Kang and without reference to the control tower launched Seeker of Moons upwards towards the waiting stars.
Freeman came onto the communicator and spoke to Kyle directly dispensing with formality, “Hi Getaway I heard you had it rough down there.”
“Others had it worse than me but we have done a job and it is a good time to get out of here. I had half a mind to go after Kurko but I am guessing that it’s probably too late.”
“I’m afraid so, our scanners show them closer to the alien fleet than us, so it’s not possible with the resources we’ve got but one piece of good news, the government picket ship couldn’t intercept Kurko’s fleet, but did manage to place an impulse tag on his own ship and that could well help in the future. Like you I want to get after them and the women hostages but right now I think we should look to our own passengers. What are your thoughts?”
“Much the same old friend, I feel we should form up with the Chamtofi ships to avoid being picked off one at a time and offer mutual protection.”
Esther asked to join the comms and Kyle gave permission but was already anticipating a quarrel.
“Do I get a say in this gentlemen?” Before Kyle could respond Esther forcibly stated, “It is going to take a minimum of three hours to get Chamotfi ships off the ground we could be long gone!”
“Yes Esther we could, but their thirty or so space worthy craft include just seven serviceable combat craft and all of those combined have less firepower than the Pretender and Seeker of Moons.”
“Getaway they are not our problem, they turned a blind eye to the pirates for years, those 'Chamtoffees' deserve all they get”.
“Esther you are right, in as far as their government are scheming at the very least but they are still part of humankind and we will give them the best chance we can, is that clear?”
“Yes Sir,” Esther’s face seemed to contort with rage before disappearing from the split comms screen.
“If it’s any comfort Getaway I would have made the same decision as you” confided Freeman.
“Thanks for that but I guess only time will tell whose right.”
As Esther forecast it took a full three hours for the evacuation fleet to lumber into the void. It was heart breaking for the crews on all of the ships to turn their ground comms off as they were bombarded with the pleas of those stranded, and were powerless to help.
Down on the planet itself in the streets of the ruined city lawlessness was rife, most of the troops who had survived the brief war with Kurko now crewed the Chamtofi escape fleet. Government members and their families were amongst the first to board the planets own craft having been rejected by Kyle’s group, so the last few hours of civilization were spent in pointless looting, rape and murder.
The most honourable behaviour belonged to the pilots of the three remaining land based fighter planes, who all declined berths on the outbound ships in a vain attempt to defend their world should the alien fleet attempt to land.
Chapter 14
Exodus
It took Kang, Buzz and Trilby their combined efforts to co-ordinate the mass of fleeing ships, placing the armed and armoured ships on the outside of the fleet. Pretender and Seeker of Moons lead the way towards the Pillinger Cloud Gate, not the first back to the United Worlds system but further away from the enemy fleet and Kyle’s executive team hoped that it might be less well protected by the alien empire.
The escape fleet was travelling far slower than Kyle had hoped but at least there was no contact with the aliens as yet. There were still three important tasks which Kyle needed to complete.
Firstly he visited the sick bay, where he received a progress report on the casualties, Bambi being the first person he asked about. Dr Hussein looked grim, “There is not much more we can do for her on this ship, she needs complex major surgery and quickly if we are to save her. Mercifully she will not be feeling pain as she has been placed in stasis, induced chemically and hypnotically. Prince Morgan is doing very well and there was enough of his upper arm left to allow the cell generator to begin re-growing the rest of his arm. Your uncle is responding to the nutrients we are pumping in and would like you to call on him when you are able. One of the Lillindians has sadly passed away but another two will recover in the fullness of time. We are also treating the evacuated passengers for normal human conditions.”
“Thanks Doc, you and your staff deserve great praise for what you are doing, please let me know if there are any changes.”
Kyle’s second port
of call was the dormitory area where the refugees had been placed, except for the trauma of the situation the children had settled well but Kyle explained to the teachers that they should be ready to strap their pupils into the blast seats if and when ‘battle stations’ was broadcast.
Thirdly, he called on Boots and Patches in the engine room and found the pair of them sat at a bench with cups of home brewed Kaffoo which smelled really good. “Any chance of a brew?” Kyle asked hopefully.
“You bet Getaway and this time we won’t even charge, it’s good to see your ugly mug again,” laughed Boots.
“No offence taken and I hope you have been on your best behaviour with Patches.”
Patches answered for herself; “He has tried his sense of humour on me and failed miserably, so I hope he has learned his lesson lieutenant.”
When Boots had conjured up the requested drink the trio got down to business. Patches confirmed that the ionic motor and superchargers were working well and both repellent screens and force field tested at 100% of their prescribed performance levels.
Boots then brought up the subject of the time and space accelerator which had been reinstalled in Seeker of Moons. “The system should be working fine but due to our need to stay with the fleet we haven’t tested it. We have found that it provides an interesting extra facility, when linked to the ship’s computer it should give an early warning if other ships in close proximity are using this type of accelerator.”
“If we operate the accelerator do we know where we might reappear, I mean do we have any control over our destination?”
“Yes it is controllable from a few feet to a tenth of one light year and if you look at the visi-screen attached to the device it has a grid. This green dot in the centre is us. You touch the panel where you want to appear, then hit the red button with the alien script and off you go, well that’s how Apek explained it to me.”
Seeker of Moons (Cassidy's Command Book 1) Page 25
