by Ian Woodhead
He received no reply. Not that he expected one. The Chaplain was too much of a coward for that. Cole waited for another minute before turning around. The man had left him, probably skulked back into his own room. He uncurled his fingers and straightened his back before turning around. Sure enough, the man had left him alone.
Did this mean that he’d soon be able test out Mr. Smith’s cute little theory of his ‘men’ dying for Cole after one mission? It would be funny if it wasn’t tragic as well as potentially hazardous to his and the health of the ones they’re supposed to be rescuing.
Cole paused. He had no clue if this ship was actually heading for the planet where his two companions were fighting the altered Gizanti. All his comment meant was that this ship wasn’t heading for the shipyards. He hurried towards the hatchway, intending to force the full message from the Chaplain when Cladinus blocked his path.
“Do not be concerned with the Chaplain,” he said. “You will be joining up with your companions shortly.”
“How did you…? No, don’t bother replying.” Cole looked back to the sleep-pods. “So shouldn’t we start to make preparations for sleep-suppression?”
This news gave him a cause to celebrate. It meant that he’d be able to put his real talents to use, instead of not knowing and second guessing his way through the metaphysical shit that had taken up permanent residence in his life. As for the other men, the ones who had the audacity to suggest that they spaced him a short while ago, they will soon understand what it was like to be under the command of a proper squad leader. Once they were all out of sleep-suppression, he fully intended to put those bastards through utter hell.
“We will be entering the star system very soon, Danny. I suggest you make preparations.”
“How is that possible? Surely, this ship isn’t that fast!”
The Gizanti shook his head. “No coordinates were decided right after we left the planet of your ancestors, Danny.”
“Before we even knew about the girl and the other furry alien? Why does that not even surprise me anymore? I take it that the Chaplain wasn’t aware that you had no intention of going to the Terran shipyards?”
The Gizanti shrugged. “We are just here to transport you and your fellow humans to wherever you desire,” he replied. The alien turned around.
“Wait, before you go, Cladinus, just tell me one thing.”
He looked back at Danny. “The answer is yes. We do know who is helping you, Walish Din, and Jessica.”
After the large alien dropped the bombshell which Danny had already suspected, Cladinus stepped back. He took hold of Cole’s shoulders and gently propelled him over to the other humans who had assembled in the next room.
“Cladinus, you had better see this,” said the Chaplain. “I think we have a bit of a problem.” He rushed over to the largest monitor in the drive room. “You had better be right about right about this ship’s capabilities. If you were just boasting, then we’re all dead!”
The split screen showed hundreds of small vessels in four rows fleeing the system, guarded by eight Imperial warships, two destroyers, and a dreadnought. As Cole watched, the dreadnought, both destroyers, and three warships broke off and headed towards their ship.
“We’re all dead!” said Trooper Magnus while glaring at Cole.
The other half of the monitor screen showed Cole what awaited them beyond the Imperial ships. The invading aliens had created a vast energy matrix around the planet. Hundreds of captured space vehicles anchored the pulsating beams. The technology involved in creating such a divine sight in such a short time boggles the mind. Cole wanted to join Magnus in his pathetic bleating. Their plight really did look impossible.
“Sergeant Cole, please get your men ready,” said the Chaplain quietly.
So now he had a field promotion. Why did he not feel all that honoured? Cole switched his attention to the other side of the monitor. The approaching Imperial dreadnought was almost within firing range. He suspected that this was going to be the shortest field promotion in the history of humankind.
“Have you gone blind?” screamed Magnus. “Just look at the monitor, you big orange bastard! They’re going to atomise us at any second.”
Cladinus waved his large hand across the glowing panel next to him. “They are of no concern,” he said.
The eight Imperial warships suddenly halted their course and turned until their bows now faced the alien ships. With all their weapons at the front, each warship could be taken out with the minimum of effort. Cole watched the men, each one looking as confused as each other. They must know that the Gizanti ship had done this, that this little spacecraft had the capability to render some of the most advanced pieces of human-built space vessels utterly useless. The Chaplain wasn’t confused; if anything, he appeared to be enjoying the spectacle.
Now Cladinus turned his attention to the pride of the Imperial navy. The dreadnought was the most powerful weapon of war ever built. There were only two in existence. This behemoth, larger than all the other warships put together, had purged entire planetary populations of Imperial-hating alien deviants. Nothing in the galactic expanse could match it for superior firepower.
Cole looked at the other side of the screen at the energy grid around the planet, and he just knew that if that huge ship had drifted a little closer to the planet, then it too would now be part of that matrix, and there would have been nothing in its extensive armoury that would have helped it. That dreadnought was now heading straight for the destroyer, with all its gun ports open.
“Sergeant, we do not have much time.”
Cole nodded at the Chaplain before striding over to the assembled soldiers. He stopped directly in front of Magnus. “Are you a coward, marine?”
The man glared at him. “I don’t care who you are. Nobody calls me a coward and lives to tell the tale.”
He held up a single finger. “This is the number of marines in the whole Imperial Navy who answered yes to that question.” Cole then clasped the marine’s shoulders. “You are outspoken. You are not afraid to voice your opinion.” He looked over at the monitor. “Even if your opinion does transpire to be wrong. You are not a coward, Magnus, just a hot-headed idiot.”
The other marines chuckled under their breath.
Cole turned his attention to them. “In my opinion, you are all idiots. None of you are worth the uniform you wear. I don’t believe that any of you would last more than a few minutes under real battlefield conditions.” Cole pointed at the planet. “That is what we are about to face. The enemy has weapons which make anything we possess look like children’s toys.” He then took two steps back. “Are any of you prepared to die for a cause which for once in our lives is worth dying for?” He took a deep breath. “Are you prepared to show that I’m wrong about your abilities?”
“Follow me, please,” said the Chaplain.
When the drive room was clear of everyone but Cole and the Gizanti, the huge alien approached him. “This will be a simple rescue mission,” he said. “The Battle Sister knows the coordinates to the two other chosen ones and will attempt to place you and your men nearby.”
“Wait, okay, you’ve shown that this ship has outmatched anything the Empire has in their arsenal, but exactly how are you going to get us to the surface? Surely you’re not thinking of ramming this ship into that energy grid?”
“No. Even this mighty Battle Sister could not penetrate that. No ship could.”
“So how do you intend to get us down?”
“In the same manner as the invading aliens. The grid stops solid matter from reaching the surface; nothing else. Otherwise, how would they release the devices growing inside those incubators?”
It took him a moment for Cole to grasp that concept. “Are you telling me that your species has the ability to displace matter?”
Cladinus nodded.
“I don’t believe it. Once again, you have managed to shock me. I take it that the Empire is not aware of this?”
“If
you shared the Galactic Expanse with an aggressive, xenophobic, territorial alien, would you not keep quiet?” Cladinus smiled. “I wish you all good luck.”
“Are you not coming?”
He shook his head. “No, I cannot leave the Battle Sister. It will not take the humans commanding those Imperial ships to realise the sleights we cast over their controls. You had best attend to your men. It could take you some time to persuade the other humans to pick up the Gizanti weapons which the Battle Sister has graciously allowed you to operate.”
“Will that not be dangerous for you, Cladinus? You said that the weapons will deplete your energy.”
The large alien gave the best approximation to a human shrug.
“I believe that the Battle Sister should be able to protect me, my friend.” He released a long sigh. “I am hoping that the guns will steal the life-energy from the alerted Gizanti, which should help you and your men put them out of their torment.”
Cole couldn’t imagine Cladinus’ own torment at giving aliens a cache of weapons in order to kill members of his own race.
“You should pray that this is the case; otherwise, our weapons will be useless and you already know that human-made weapons will not stop them.”
Cole took his hand. “I will do everything in my power to ensure the safety of the two we’re here to extract.”
Chapter Fourteen
Walish Din opened the tiny Hessian sack and peered inside. There didn’t appear to be any change in its appearance. He took that as a good sign, considering he didn’t even know what they did. He wrapped his fingers around the top of the sack before joining the girl by the front of the burnt-out shop. For some reason, the sight of the thing in the sack totally freaked her out. In his view, her behaviour was so unjustified. If it hadn’t been for his innovative quick thinking, both of them would still be back on that sandy plain, fused with what was left of the girl’s cargo ship.
“Why don’t you leave that thing here?” said the girl. She shivered violently. “I still can’t believe you did that, Walish Din.”
He couldn’t quite believe it either. “It saved our lives. They dared not fire, even when we cleared the incubators. That thing is the reason why we are still breathing.”
“Yeah, well. That situation will soon change if we do not keep moving. The monsters won’t be far behind us.”
Walish Din silently agreed with her yet kept hold of his prize while staying close to the girl as she threaded her way through the settlement’s narrow streets. He hoped she knew where to go as the Diannin could not tell one street from the next one. They all looked the same; just a single rectangle hole cut into each pale-blue, featureless dwelling. He slowed down and peered inside one of the darkened buildings to discover three pairs of oval yellow eyes staring back at him.
He caught up with the girl while listening to the occasional weapon blasts in the distance. They were becoming less often now. He figured that there couldn’t be much resistance left. It also meant that they wouldn’t be that much life left either. The orange dragons were not exactly a forgiving bunch.
“These dwellings are occupied.”
“I know that,” she replied. The girl stopped walking and turned to face him. She looked at the bag and grimaced before staring at him. “When was the last time you happened to glance into the sky?”
“What’s the point? All there is up there is whatever the aliens are building.”
“I thought you would have felt it by now, Walish Din.”
“Felt what?”
She sighed. “It must be because of that vile thing you refuse to leave behind. He’s coming, the last one, the third member is already in this system!”
Her eyes were shining with excitement. Walish Din hadn’t felt anything but terror, and yet he could not doubt her conviction. “We’re being rescued?”
“I’m sure of it,” she replied. “We just need to make sure we’re as far away from the altered Gizanti as possible. Which is why you need to get rid of that right now.”
He gripped the sack even tighter. There’s no way he could get rid of this; it was the only thing that kept them alive. Walish Din just couldn’t understand why she didn’t see this. They would not have made it through the human incubators with this. Walish Din had done something which totally went against every Diannin instinct. He had stopped running, stood directly in front of the closest human, and punched his fist into the human’s stomach cavity. His hand easily passed through the thin wall. He had wanted to scream, pull his arm out of there, and find a very dark corner to hide, but he persevered, pushing his fist through all that freezing jelly-like substance until his probing fingers finally located one of the small pods growing inside there.
“They won’t fire at us while I carry this.”
“Look around you, Walish Din! It’s true, they won’t fire at us, but it won’t stop them from attacking all these poor people. Thanks to your short-sightedness, you’ve put all these innocent people in terrible danger. You need to…”
Her voice died away at the sound of another alien weapon blast. This wasn’t a distant sound; it came from where they had just been. It originated from just a few metres behind them. They were here already!
Walish Din felt sick. She was right. The orange dragons would kill everybody in this settlement to get to them. They had to find some way of leading the monsters out of here! He turned around and started to walk towards the sound of the alien staff weapon blast.
“Come back, Walish Din. They’ll kill you!”
That was a possibility, but he didn’t think that would happen while he still held the sack. Besides, the Diannin hadn’t forgotten that he’d been able to move them out of the way when he first met the girl. Perhaps they’ll do the same?
He ground his teeth in annoyance when he heard her running after him. Three orange dragons had already seen him approach and were already thundering towards him. Walish Din held up the bag and willed them to stand aside, just like before.
Nothing happened; the monsters kept running at Walish Din.
“You should have stayed away,” he muttered. “Now we’re both going to die!”
“No, we’re not,” she said, reaching up and snatching the sack out of his hand.
She threw it to the side of them. Two of the dragons immediately turned towards the sack, leaving the last one staring straight at them. The girl grabbed his arm before running straight towards the dragon. Just as it reached out to grab them, the girl threw something in its face.
For the first time since encountering these hateful creatures, Walish Din heard one of them make a sound. He glanced over his head and saw the dragon rolling about on the floor, shrieking.
“I still had my worm samples left,” she said.
Just before she pulled him out of sight, he saw dozens of blue natives rushing out of their dwellings, diving onto the orange dragon. They no longer looked like the harmless, fearful creatures. They were literally ripping open the creature’s face in a desperate attempt to reach those few worms.
The girl pulled him inside one of the empty dwellings and dropped him onto the floor. “Stay there and don’t make a noise.” She then crawled on her knees over to the entrance way. The Diannin leaned against the wall and gazed into the darkness, studying the vague shapes of what he guessed was furniture. He heard a couple more energy blasts before the only sound he could hear was his own heavy breathing.
He looked over at the girl and wished she would come over here and sit with him, perhaps even hold him tight. That would be nice. It might even help combat the dreadful feeling of imminent death that had now returned.
The girl was right about sensing the closeness of the remaining person. Now that the sack containing that alien device was no longer with him, he too felt his presence. He knew that this must mean that whatever path that the deity had dropped him on must now be reaching the end, and yet Walish Din couldn’t help but feel that they had abandoned both him and the girl. How else could he account for
the fact that right when he needed them, the bastards took away the one thing that could have saved them?
What about the girl? Had she lost her power too? He sighed. It’s not like they would be able to check until it was too late. If he found himself wandering across the Plains of Gopin the next time one of those orange dragons aimed and fired at them, he would know he was right.
This did not exactly help to console him.
“Are you okay, Walish Din?”
He nodded, then realised that it was too dark in here for her to see that. “Yes,” he whispered. “I am unharmed.”
“I can feel him, Walish Din. He’s here. He is on the planet.”
He noticed the change too, but unlike her, the Diannin wasn’t as confident about voicing his feelings. “How can that be possible?” He didn’t immediately answer him. “Are you okay?”
“No, I don’t think I am.”
“It is them out there? Please tell me that they have gone.”
“No. Three more monsters have just arrived.” She yelped. “Oh no! Make that four.”
The girl turned around. Even in the dim light, he saw the terror etched on her face. She scrambled away from the opening and wrapped her arms around his body. Through three layers of clothing, the girl’s heart still thudded against his chest. Walish Din then pressed his mouth hard against her shoulder to stop the scream when an orange dragon’s huge head pushed through the opening.
****
His four men seemed to be adapting to this situation far better than Cole had anticipated. Perhaps they might actually survive the unknown challenges facing them on this unknown planet. He found himself unconsciously stroking the Gizanti gun stock again. He would have to stop doing that. To think that he thought that persuading his men to accept the guns without protest would be his greatest challenge. Obviously not so; not by the way they were holding them. Did the men even realise they were all holding their new weapons like they would a new lover? Was there something insidious within the weapon which forced the holder to bond with it? From what he had already seen and learned from the Gizanti, that possibility was very real. Still, did it really matter as long as the revolting-looking guns performed their allotted tasks?
