by Brown, Ryk
“Shuttle two-four moving off,” the copilot’s voice reported.
Jessica quickly descended the ladder and made her way through the chamber at the bottom to join teams two and three. She double-tapped her visor to call up the tactical display and immediately noticed that, although team four appeared to have already entered through the aft maintenance hatch, team one no longer appeared on her display. “Where’d team one go?”
“They’re probably still trying to get through the hatch,” Lieutenant Waddell told her. “If they’re still outside the ship, we’ve got the hull between us and them.”
“Oh yeah,” Jessica remembered.
“Shuttle two-two moving in,” a voice reported over the suit comms.
“Team one! Contact! Taking fire!” another voice reported.
Jessica looked at the tactical display inside her visor. All five green dots representing team one were showing on the display again. She touched her faceplate with her thumb and forefinger and moved them apart to zoom in, sliding the map over as she did so. There were at least a dozen red dots just down the corridor from them, and team one appeared to be trapped in the entry airlock of the main forward boarding hatch. “Why was someone waiting for them and not for us?” she asked.
“Their internal sensors are probably down,” Lieutenant Waddell surmised. “Looks like they’re running on emergency battery power only, which means gravity, life support, and minimal lighting, nothing more. They didn’t know we were coming. They just surmised that the forward boarding hatch was a likely target.”
“They’re trapped,” Jessica warned. “They’ll get torn apart in seconds.”
“They know what to do,” the lieutenant stated confidently.
“Shuttle two-two docking,” a voice reported.
“Team three, head aft,” Lieutenant Waddell reported. “Team two, forward.”
“Lorentz is hit! He’s down!” one of team one’s men reported, the sound of multiple energy weapons’ blasts sounding in the background.
Nathan winced at the report. Someone he had never even met was wounded, maybe even dying, because of an order he had given less than an hour ago.
“How bad?” the team leader’s voice asked.
“I don’t know, but he’s in the open!” More weapons fire was heard. “Oh shit! They shot him again!”
“Can anyone see if they’re wearing full gear?” another voice asked as the energy weapons fire continued to sound.
“I can’t tell for sure,” the first man answered. “I don’t think so.”
“Everyone! Ear-busters! On three……two……one……NOW, NOW, NOW!”
“What’s an ear buster?” Nathan asked.
“Sonic grenades,” Tug explained. “They send out a sudden burst of high frequency sound that disrupts the inner ear. It kills your hearing for several minutes and throws you off balance for ten to twenty seconds. If you’re close enough to it when it goes off, it can completely incapacitate you for nearly a minute.”
“Is that safe to use in such close quarters?” Cameron wondered.
“Normally, no, as the metal corridors tend to create acoustic bounce-back which intensifies the effect. But our men are fully suited, so the effects will be minimal if anything. However, if the enemy is not suited, the effect will be quite severe for them.”
There were several seconds of silence as they waited to hear the results.
“Wilkie! Go right! We’re going left!” the team one leader ordered.
“Going right!” Wilkie responded, the sound of his weapon firing nearly drowning his voice out.
Ten more seconds passed without a word. Nathan literally held his breath as he waited. He knew that, right now, those men were running out into the open corridor, hoping to get the drop on what they expected were disoriented and ineffective opposing forces. But they were outnumbered three to one, and at least half of those enemy numbers were farther down the corridor and might not have been affected by the sonic grenades. If that were the case, those three men would be killed.
“I tossed another sonic farther down the corridor! Take co…” Before the man could finish his sentence, the radio transmission was overwhelmed with a blast of static as a result of the sonic grenade.
“Christ,” Nathan mumbled. Another fifteen seconds went by with no communication at all from team one. They could hear the other teams reporting their advance without resistance. Team three had encountered several men, all of which immediately gave up without resistance. As expected, only the Loranoi’s designated security forces were armed, all of which were probably Takaran citizens. That would make their job much easier.
Finally, after an agonizingly long minute, team one reported in. “Forward breach secure. Team one advancing.”
Nathan felt a wave of relief wash over him. All four teams were safely inside the enemy frigate and on the move, and the second wave of shuttles was moving into position to reinforce the entry teams and secure the breach points. Those teams would not only securely fasten the breach boxes to the Loranoi’s hull to ensure they would not break free, but they would also set up data telemetry relays so that the CIC on board the Aurora could get a real-time tactical display of the situation as it unfolded. The danger was not yet over, but the worst part, the entry, was now behind them.
Jessica followed team two as they quickly advanced down the corridor. The men moved in pairs with precision that showed their training. At each intersection, the lieutenant would toss up a small sensor that would stick to the ceiling. The sensor would send them real-time data of any movement within its range, giving them the ability to see if their escape route was cut off behind them.
Having entered the frigate from a topside hatch, they had needed to move down three levels before advancing forward. Now that they were on the main level, they avoided the main central corridor, choosing instead to take side corridors in order to avoid as much contact with the enemy as possible. Their goal was to secure the ship’s command center. They could deal with her crew later.
Jessica was relieved to see on her tactical map displayed inside her helmet visor that team one had managed to defeat the security forces defending the forward boarding hatch and were advancing toward the command center from their end of the ship. She made a mental note to find out more about those ear-busters they had used to overwhelm a force numbering three times their own. I am going to have start writing this stuff down, she thought.
She glanced at her tactical map again. The sensors that the lieutenant had been deploying as they advanced were also linked into her display. She could see the other teams as well. Team one was moving toward the command center from the forward end of the ship. The command center would undoubtedly be guarded as well. Team seven had already moved into the forward boarding area to hold that position, and soon another shuttle would be docking with the forward breaching box to transfer another ten men into that area of the frigate. Teams five and six were already through the same breach box they had used at the midship EVA hatch, and team five was moving into position to reinforce teams two and three. Soon, more teams would be entering through the aft breaching box situated over the maintenance hatch and would move to reinforce team four as they attempted to capture the engineering section.
“One leader, two leader,” Lieutenant Waddell called over the comms as they continued their advance.
“Go for one,” the team one leader responded.
“Status?”
“Lorentz is dead. Wilkie is wounded but still in play. Two minutes from target.”
“Copy that,” Lieutenant Waddell answered. “Two is also two out.”
“Two leader, three leader,” the team three leader called.
“Go for two leader,” the lieutenant answered.
“We just passed medical, Sarge. You’d better tell command to get the med teams ready,” team three’s leader reported solemnly.
“Bad?”
“Very bad.”
The lieutenant paused a moment. “Anybody se
e you?”
“Doubtful, and if they did, I’m sure they didn’t care.”
“Copy that,” Lieutenant Waddell responded. “Continue advancing.”
“All three breaching boxes have been secured, and the last of the tactical data relays are coming online now,” Cameron reported. Green dots with numbers floating next to them began showing up in the hovering holographic display in front of them. Immediately after that, the sensors the teams had been planting throughout the frigate began transmitting the location of any warm bodies within a 10 meter range of the sensor that were not members of the boarding parties. Most of the Loranoi’s decks were still not visible to their sensors, but most of the areas around each of the boarding teams, as well as their routes of ingress, were clearly displayed.
“That’s a lot of red dots,” Nathan commented. “Hell, they’re everywhere.”
“Yeah, but we don’t know how many of them are actually combatants,” Tug explained. “The sensors will mark any warm body that isn’t sending a friendly ID signal as a red dot, but that doesn’t mean that dot is armed or interested in defending their ship.”
“It looks to me like most of them have taken shelter in whatever safe corner they could find,” Cameron observed.
“Control, two leader,” Lieutenant Waddell called over the comms.
“Go for control,” the communications technician answered.
“Three leader reports enemy medical is overflowing with wounded.”
“Tell them that as soon as they secure their primary objectives to secure the hangar deck. We’ll send medical teams over as soon as they have a safe place to land,” Nathan told the comm-tech.
“Yes, sir.”
“Captain, our medical is pretty busy right now as well,” Cameron warned.
“They’ll have to do what they can,” Nathan told her. “Don’t forget: most of her crew are not there by choice, Commander.”
“Two leader, four leader,” the comms sounded.
“Go for two leader,” Lieutenant Waddell responded.
“Engineering is secured, no resistance, fifteen prisoners.”
“No resistance at all?”
“None. Not that there is much left to protect. This place is wrecked.”
“Copy that,” Waddell answered. “We’ll be on station in fifteen seconds. Hold fast.”
The point man on team two came to a squatting position just before the next intersection, holding up his left hand in a fist to signal the others to stop their advance. Jessica and the rest of the team immediately dropped to one knee. She watched as the point man peeked carefully around the corner, then ducked back, turning and moving back toward them. “Four guards,” the point man reported. “Two on either side of the door, two on the side access corridors.”
“Shots?” Lieutenant Waddell asked.
“The two on our side are easy enough. Team one will have to take the other two on their side.”
“You’re sure there’s only four?”
“That’s all I saw, Lieutenant.”
Lieutenant Waddell checked his tactical map. It showed just what his point man had reported, four red dots. But there were several others in nearby compartments. Although they could have been unarmed crew taking shelter, they could just as easily have been armed security forces waiting in ambush, using the four visible guards as bait for their trap. “Alright, you two take the shots. You two watch for an ambush from the opposite end of the main corridor. I’ll let team one know.”
While Lieutenant Waddell informed team one of his plan, Jessica took a moment to zoom in each of the groups of red dots clustered inside some of the neighboring compartments. Most of them were back as far away from the door as possible, just like they would be if they were sheltering in place. But one group was standing just behind the door, as if they expected to leave the room in a hurry.
“Lieutenant,” Jessica called over the comms, “check the guys to the right, just inside the door.” The lieutenant tapped his face shield sliding his fingers about as he moved his own tactical map and zoomed in. “Odd position for someone sheltering in place, don’t you think?”
“Yeah, kind of.” He tapped one of the men that he had assigned to watch for an ambush. “That hatch over there, that’s where they’ll come from.”
“One leader, two leader. Ambush coming from opposite side. We’ve got it covered. You call the go.”
“One copies. Stand by.”
Lieutenant Waddell crouched down next to his other two men, going to one knee as he raised his weapon and took aim.
“Go, go, go!” team one’s leader called out over the comms.
Two shooters from each team stepped out into the open from their positions on either side of the main corridor, opening up on the guards and instantly taking down all four of them. Immediately afterward, the four shooters advanced on the entrance to the command center. As expected, the hatch at the other end of the central corridor flew open, and several armed Ta’Akar security troops came charging out, but Lieutenant Waddell and his men were ready for them, unleashing a hail of energy weapon blasts as they cut down the attempted ambush with ease. “Check them out!” the lieutenant ordered his men as he rose to follow his first two shooters who were headed for the command center entrance.
Jessica paused momentarily at the edge of the intersection, watching as the lieutenant, his first two shooters, and three men from team one charged forward into the entrances to the command center. The fourth man from team one, Wilkie, waited at the opposing intersection, tasked with holding the outer position secure.
Flashes of light and the screech of energy weapons fire erupted from the entrance to the command center. Jessica charged off across the corridor, running headlong for the entrance, but before she could get there, the exchange of weapons fire had stopped. She paused at the entrance just long enough to pull up her close-quarters automatic weapon into firing position and flick off the safety before she swung herself into the room.
The command center was smaller than she had expected, but slightly larger than the Aurora’s bridge. There were at least three enemies dead, one of which appeared to be a technician and not a combatant. There were also two dead Corinari, and Lieutenant Waddell was wincing in pain due to a still smoldering wound to his left thigh.
On the far side of the command center stood the captain of the ship along with four of his command staff, all of them presumably nobles. A wall of shimmering light that was only visible because of the slight haze it caused separated the four Ta’Akar officers from their Corinari aggressors.
“Surrender yourselves, now!” Lieutenant Waddell ordered using the loudspeaker built into his helmet, his weapon still held ready despite the severe pain he was experiencing.
“I think not,” the captain of the Loranoi responded.
Jessica noticed an open hatch behind them. Beyond it was a tunnel that led into another room. Her tactical map was still actively displaying information on the inside of her helmet visor. At the other end of that short tunnel was the command lifeboat, the one that was FTL equipped.
“Surrender or you will die,” Lieutenant Waddell insisted.
“Doubtful,” the captain sneered. “You see, this energy shield was designed to absorb all energy weapons. It will prevent you from harming us, at least until we make our escape.”
Jessica let loose a round from her weapon, the bullet tearing through the thigh of the officer standing next to the captain and sending him screaming to the deck. The captain jumped, stunned at what had just happened, the smug look suddenly disappearing from his face.
“I’m guessing it doesn’t work so well against projectile weapons,” Jessica called out over her helmet’s loudspeaker. Two of the officers started to make a move for the escape hatch, but found several more rounds from Jessica’s weapon ricocheting off the hatch itself. “Turn off the shield, drop your weapons, and put your hands on your heads,” she instructed them calmly. “Do it now.”
Lieutenant Waddell turned
and looked at Jessica. Somehow, through the pain, he managed to smile.
* * *
Jessica led the detail escorting the Loranoi’s captain and command staff from the transport shuttle and across the hangar bay on their way to the detention block on the Aurora’s lower decks. Although two Corinari had died and several more had been injured, the capture of the Takaran frigate had gone better than she had expected.
“Lieutenant Commander,” Mister Dumar called as he and Tug approached, “a moment if you will?”
Jessica turned to the guard next to her as they walked. “Take them to detention and secure them. I’ll be there shortly.”
“Yes, sir,” the guard promised as she fell out of step and stopped to speak with Mister Dumar and Tug.
“What is it?”
“I believe it would be best if I interrogated the prisoners,” he stated without hesitation.
Jessica was a bit surprised by his statement. “And why is that?”
“You don’t speak their language, for one,” Tug stated.
“I’d be willing to bet at least a few of them speak Angla,” she stated with a hint of sarcasm. “In fact, I’m quite sure the captain does.”
“You may be right,” Mister Dumar agreed, “but there are nuances to any language, and such nuances can reveal important information, or give clues to the interrogator as to which direction to go with his questioning. As Angla is not their first language, these nuances will not be present. Besides, I have been among them for decades now. I know how they think. I know their politics, their society, and their ambitions, and I know their fears.”
‘Their fears’ was the part that got her attention. She looked him in the eyes. “How do you plan to play it?” she asked. She did not want another fiasco like the one they’d experienced when Jalea took control of an interrogation. After the protestations she had hurled at her captain over that incident, the last thing she wanted to do was to give him a chance to hurl them back.
