The Garoden War. (SpaceFed StarShips Series) Book 7. An exciting, action-packed SpaceFed Series finale that also concludes the Garoden War.: ‘Military Gamble.’

by Gerry A. Saunders

  “Sergeant Smith, take your men into corridor four.”

  “Yes sir,” came a female sounding voice as four of the Marines quickly moved across the junction, then waited for further orders from Captain Gerard.

  “We can’t see anyone,” Gerard then advised the ship’s AI. “Are you sure they’re in this one?”

  “My sensors aren’t registering any of them now. We think they’re operating a very effective stealth system. However, I’m sure they’re in hallway three,” the AI replied.

  “Ask your AI to check for air turbulence, Captain. If they’re moving, so will the air,” Sergeant Burrows, suggested.

  “Tammy?”

  “One moment… Yes. There are seven separate air movements in each of the two hallways,” she confirmed.

  “Saturate corridors. Now,” Captain Gerard ordered both of his teams.

  Both hallways lit up, as energy bolts fired by the Marines flashed down them. Then flared close to the breach in the hull, as the energy bolts encountered the alien’s protective shields.

  “Damn,” Gerard cursed, seeing that his weapons were going to be useless.

  By now, both corridors had started to fog from the weapons discharges, and the vague shapes of the aliens and the forcefield glow around their armor could only just be seen.

  “Tammy, we can’t stop them,” Marine Captain Gerard warned, shouting into his comms.

  Two of the aliens in corridor four suddenly leaped forward heading towards the Marines. But, the Marines immediately reacted and released a barrage of weapons fire at them. Only for it to flare harmlessly against the alien’s protective screens.

  Seconds later, the aliens reached the first two Marines, smashing into Sergeant Smith and the Marine next to her, causing them both to crash backward to the floor.

  Seeing this, the other Marines quickly backed off, but the aliens ignored them anyway.

  Then, one of the aliens wielded a shiny stick-like object and held it momentarily against the first downed Marine’s body armor, then against the other’s, and watched as both suits of body armor glowed for a second, before crumbling to dust, leaving the Marines almost naked bodies at the aliens mercy.

  One alien touched the male body with his disruptor, and the man uttered a shriek just before his body crumbled to dust.

  The other alien studied the female as her suit’s, now severed, control sensors dropped to the floor: all Marines were practically naked when inside their body armor suits This, enabled the suit’s body contact sensors to interact with the wearer's needs while controlling the suit’s functions.

  Marine Sergeant, Angie Smith, looked up at the alien standing over her. Then calmly said, “Kill me.” Knowing full well, that, even though she couldn't tempt this particular species with her body, she wouldn’t have hesitated to give herself to this alien, if it would provide a chance for her to get what she needed.

  Nothing happened.

  ‘Okay. The alien probably didn’t understand what I said,’ Angie Smith thought to herself. Then tried to picture its brain pattern, mentally.

  The alien studied her without knowing what she had just said or thought. But knew, from images of other humans he’d been shown before the assault commenced, that this Human was different from the other being.

  Then he reduced the forcefield strength around his armor, lifted his foot and pushed what little there was of her clothing, off to one side.

  Now, he could see that this human must be the female type and that she was more rounded in places than the images he’d seen had suggested. The female’s reddish colored hair was clipped back, presumably to fit inside her helmet. While her skin seemed very pale to him and much lighter than he had expected.

  Then he looked at her eyes. They were green and staring straight back at him.

  She stiffened, as she saw him move a hand towards her. Marine Sergeant, Angie Smith, felt vulnerable. Not in a sexual way, more akin to worrying that he might hurt her as he probed her body to make sure that she wasn’t concealing any weapons. Plus, she was getting cold.

  The Alien looked at her face again, he was drawn to stare at Angie’s eyes. But her blue-green eyes kept staring steadily back at him, and that made him feel uneasy.

  ‘No,’ she mentally stabbed at his brain. ‘Take me to your ship. Now,’ she ordered, trying hard to influence him mentally.

  For some reason, he knew he couldn’t kill her. And, he was sure that he had just been told that she must be taken back to his ship, right now.

  However, although he had a vague feeling that he’d felt something in his mind, he didn’t know where the order had come from. Nevertheless, he felt obliged to obey it and issued orders to the rest of his troops to carry on and purge this ship of all life.

  Then the two of them were alone, with her still laying on the floor, and still staring up at him. He adjusted his protective screen level down a couple of notches, and touched her neck with one finger, causing her body to jerk momentarily, and her eyes to close.

  Once satisfied that she was sufficiently comatose, he picked her up, slung her over his shoulder, and hurried back to his boarding craft, which then transferred him and his captive to his Star Destroyer.

  Captain Prince saw and heard the Marines warnings from their video feed. And, he saw Marine Sergeant Angie Smith as she was being taken away by a Garoden.

  “I bet she wishes she was dead,” he muttered to himself, knowing there was absolutely nothing he could do about it. Now, all they could hope to do was escape before it was too late.

  “Tammy, is the shuttle ready?” He asked his AI.

  “Yes, Captain. And everyone’s on board, except our Bridge personnel and the remaining Marines.”

  “Very well. Order the Marines to get to the shuttle now. Lieutenant Carter, you and I will set the self-destruct sequence. The rest of you, get to the shuttle, and make it snappy.”

  Then, just Carter and he were left.

  “Tammy, self-destruct in five minutes,” he ordered his AI.

  “Authorization and scan needed, Captain,” she reminded him.

  “Captain Tim Prince. Self-destruct, Alfa, Tango, eight, three, nine.”

  “Code and scan accepted.”

  “Science officer, Lieutenant Harry Carter. Self-destruct, Whiskey, Charlie, nine, Echo, zero, zero.”

  “Code and scan accepted. The countdown has commenced,” Tammy confirmed.

  “Let's go,” Captain Prince ordered, knowing that his AI, would have no hesitation in obliterating herself. Which made him wonder whether Andromeda’s self-aware AI would have been capable of doing the same.

  Three minutes later, the shuttle was packed full with personnel. Then the port shuttle’s airlock closed and the shuttle was finally ready to go.

  “Release docking clamps,” Prince ordered the onboard AI. “Then Jump immediately, taking us as far as possible towards Jefferson’s group.”

  “Captain, this shuttle’s Jump limit is only half a light-year,” Lieutenant Carter warned him.

  “It’ll be enough. Carter,” Captain Prince, replied.

  “Ensign Jarrow,” he prompted, nodding at the Ensign, who then plugged in the command communicator, and its GO indicator illuminated.

  The shuttle’s docking clamps then released. With the hissing sound, they made being heard by everyone as the shuttle moved away from the Scimitar.

  Just before their shuttle went to warp, Captain Prince thought he saw the Garoden Star Destroyer leave. And, feeling sure that the Garoden’s boarding party hadn’t managed to get back on board their own ship, smiled to himself at the alien’s losses.

  In the meantime, Jefferson’s Fleet Admiral Winton watched as Scimitar’s final data burst started to come in over their hyperlink. Then the input of data suddenly ceased, as the Scimitar self-destructed.

  “Anna, send the Caspian out to pick up the Scimitar’s crew,” Captain Garret ordered the ship’s AI.

  “On it Captain.”

  “Two more ships lost, Capta
in Garrett,” Winton commented, a deep sadness sounding in his voice.

  “It won’t be the last, Sir… The Garoden’s ships already total forty-three.”

  “I know. We’re outnumbered at least six to one. And, with the Crillon’s fleets on the back-foot, it’s not a good situation. Not good at all.”

  Chapter 2

  Inroads

  Stardate, 2313.

  Wolf 363. Garoden Star Destroyer Z231.

  Marine Sergeant Angie Smith struggled back to consciousness as the effects of the Garoden’s contact with her wore off. She forced her eyelids open, and a blurred vision of her surroundings slowly came into focus.

  She waited a few more moments while her mind cleared, and her cognitive thought processes sharpened. Then looked around, and saw that she was in a small, sparsely furnished and freezing cell. Off to one side of the bed like object that she was laying on was a basic toilet facility. With this and the bed, taking up most of the space in the room.

  Angie Smith lay there slowly recovering her energy, then realized that she could feel a vague but steady vibration through the bed, and sighed with relief, knowing that she was indeed on the Garoden’s Star Destroyer, and the cell she was in had in all probability been designed for a low-ranking crew member.

  Angie started thinking about what she needed to do next. Luckily, when she had mentally ordered the Garoden trooper to take her to his ship, she had already managed to roughly map his mind. So, she felt confident that he was the correct target and she would be able to find him again.

  When she had focused on his mind, she had also managed to extract the name Breba, or something very similar. As well as several Command-like words that he had used.

  Angie attempted to sit up and was pleased to find that she wasn’t restrained in any way. Even so, a sharp pain shot through her stomach as she swung her legs off the bed and cautiously stood up.

  Looking around, she fixed her attention on the one plain wall in the cell, thought for a second, then focused her mind.

  ‘Reflect,’ she mentally stabbed at the wall. Hoping that she could mimic a Garoden companion's thought pattern close enough to get the desired response.

  Then, somewhat to her surprise, the wall started to change its structure, and she smiled to herself, feeling pleased that it had worked.

  But, when she saw her reflection in the wall she was shocked. Her naked body was covered with bruises, especially across her stomach area. These bruises were no doubt caused by the Garoden, who must have carried her slung across his armor-suited shoulder she decided.

  ‘You might have given me food and clothing, she mentally stabbed again. I’m cold and hungry, damn it.’

  At which observation, an opening appeared in the narrow end of the cell wall, surprising her. Then a Garoden trooper stepped inside. Angie was sure that he was Breba. Even though he was no longer dressed in body armor.

  She ignored the trooper for the moment, and reached out mentally, trying to isolate the captain’s mind from the others on the ship’s bridge.

  ‘Ah, success,’ she thought and planted a quick instruction in the Garoden captain’s mind.

  Then turned her attention back to the trooper, noting that he was now smartly dressed in what appeared to be a short sleeved, light-weight, dark blue uniform, with a single gold chevron on one sleeve.

  His smooth grey-pink skin had a metallic look to it. Even so, he looked almost human to Angie, but seemed shorter than some of the other Garoden species she’d seen before. Angie studied him more carefully and noted that, as far as Garodens went, he appeared to be quite well muscled. And, surprisingly handsome, in a strange sort of way.

  Then, Angie realized that he’d been furtively looking her over as well, and appeared anxious.

  Perhaps it’s my blue-green eyes and red hair that seem to unsettle him, she thought to herself. Or, maybe it’s my naked body?

  Once again, Angie felt vulnerable, as she saw that he was trembling again. She stiffened as he stepped forward and placed food and a single garment on the bed.

  Then she cringed as he lingered and moved his hand up to touch her hair, and she felt him pull the clip off, letting her red hair cascade down over her shoulders.

  Did you probe my body while I was unconscious? Angie wondered. On reflection, she was sure that he must have. Even so, her body didn’t feel sore, as it surely would have if it had been violated. Then she noticed that his trembling had increased.

  Why is he trembling? She wondered. Bloody hell, he’s going to screw me, she decided.

  ‘Leave. Now,’ Angie mentally ordered, stabbing the command at the Garoden male in desperation, as she visualized him trying to mate with her.

  From the briefings, she had been given, she knew that the Garoden’s mated in a similar way to humans. And, having seen the size of his muscles, she was sure of one thing. It would be painful. Very painful indeed.

  He stared at her for what seemed like ages while she waited for him to try some sort of move on her. Even though, she knew that there was nothing physically that she would be able to do to stop him.

  ‘Leave,’ Angie mentally stabbed at him, again. While thinking to herself that this wasn’t supposed to be happening. He didn’t react.

  “Leave. Leave, now,” Angie forcefully repeated, out loud.

  Then her mind sensed the desire in him rise, and Angie panicked as she saw something swelling outward under his dark blue uniform pants. Panicking, she looked around, and seeing the loose-fitting garment he’d put on the bed, grabbed it, and as quickly as she could, slipped it over her head. Half expecting him to make a move on her while she did so.

  But to her relief, the garment dropping down over her body somehow seemed to dispel his unmistakable urge.

  She waited, anxious to know what was going to happen next.

  Suddenly, moving his head closer to hers, he muttered something that he must have deemed to be important to her. Then, turned and left, with the opening in the wall closing behind him.

  Angie sagged back onto the bed, relieved to still be unharmed while holding back the urge to cry.

  Once she’d gathered herself, mentally and physically, she took a segment of the food he’d left and cautiously gnawed at it. Then continued eating it, thankful to find that it was edible.

  She thought about the Garoden’s words. Yes, she was sure of her translation of Garoden trooper Breba’s parting statement.

  “We are going straight to Garoden Command,” he had told her.

  She couldn’t help smiling at how easy it had been to get onto the Garoden’s Star Destroyer. While acknowledging there had, of course, been a few risky moments.

  However, even though she was ready to commence the mission she had been given. She knew that, for it to succeed, it was vital that she first instilled a belief in all the Garoden minds close to her that she was not a threat, and that they should ignore her conspicuously different form.

  While she sat eating, she thought about the man she was destined to be with. It had been unfortunate that he had caught a glimpse of something he was not meant to see. But, she already knew that that hadn’t changed their destiny. Or, the future of the children that they would have.

  She smiled to herself. Yes, our children will one day rule the Galaxy, she decided.

  Suddenly, Angie felt the Star Destroyer’s Warp field engage. Then, sensed the folding of space-time, and a feeling of pure evil as the wormhole burst angrily into life. Everything seemed to elongate for a second as the ship surged forward into the wormhole. And she knew, with absolute certainty, that the ship had just gone to Warp.

  Marine Sergeant, Angie Smith, smiled to herself. Her plan had succeeded, and she was now on a Garoden Star Destroyer. And, more importantly, at precisely the correct point in time.

  Hopefully, the Garoden Star Destroyer was going in the right direction.

  From this moment on, however, Marine Sergeant Angie Smith also knew her assumed name would no longer be relevant.

  Ch
apter 3

  Regroup

  Stardate, 2313.

  Location: Sol 2, in the HD 75289 system. 94.4 light-years from Sol.

  The HD 75289 Star system, had been renamed Sol 2 by the Earth Space Navy, purely to keep the Garoden Fleets away from the human’s home planet, Earth.

  Even though Sol 2 was a yellow-orange main sequence dwarf star, with a spectral and luminosity type of G0 V. It had nevertheless been picked by the humans because it had a terrestrial planet orbiting within its calculated habitable zone.

  So, although Sol 2 was uninhabitable, the Humans had disguised the terrestrial planet, in the hope of making it appear to the Garoden’s long range sensors as the most likely planet to be the human’s homeworld.

  The Earth’s Space Navy, and their Marines had gone to great lengths in creating mock habitation centers on this planet. Including a simulated spaceport. This was huge and equipped with a fleet of finely detailed, albeit inflatable, imitation spaceships, and ancillary equipment.

  With the final touch being realistically created robotic terrestrial communication complexes, and information and media entertainment system centers. These had been set to automatically operate round-the-clock, creating a continuous chatter of sound that would, hopefully, be picked up by the Garodens.

  All of which was intended to create an illusion that this was indeed the human’s home planet. Unless, of course, the Garodens got close enough to see through their subterfuge.

  Fleet Admiral Winton hadn’t wasted time since Andromeda and Neutron had forced the Garodens to leave the area of space around Delta Pavonis, in 2309.