Taulbee’s HUD lit up with a warning. Four objects had just ejected from Mira. “Oh, shit,” he said.
“Dunn to Taulbee.”
“Aye, sir. Just got the alert. What’s the status?”
The captain paused for an excruciatingly long moment. “Four escape pods from Mira’s port-side. Three are heading in the same relative direction. One, however, is not.”
“Shit,” Taulbee muttered. “Where’s it heading?”
“Black says it’s on course for Pluto.”
Taulbee raised a brow. “Repeat that, sir?”
“Pluto,” Dunn said. “It’s headed for Pluto.”
“Any pursuit?”
“That’s the real problem,” Dunn said. “Black is going to start sending out some party favors, but we’re going to need a pickup on those three and damned fast.”
“Aye, sir. We’ll have Murdock and Wendt aboard in a moment and I’ll head straight for them.”
“Very good, Taulbee. How’s your fuel?”
He checked his HUD and groaned. Blasting through space at top speed to retrieve Gunny as well as Wendt and Murdock had greatly affected his fuel reserves. “Not good, sir.”
“Whatever happens, Taulbee, do not lose that SV-52. You’re all we have left in the pantry.”
Taulbee shook his head. Dunn was right. Kalimura’s skiff? Destroyed. Gunny’s skiff? Floating out in the Kuiper Belt somewhere, probably more radioactive than an unshielded reactor, if not completely melted into slag. There were no more support vehicles. All they had left was what he was flying. After that? They’d be down to flying with suit thrusters and nothing else.
“Understood, sir.”
“Good hunting,” Dunn said.
“Acknowledged.” He flipped over to the squad channel after adding Murdock and Wendt. “New plan, marines. Wendt? Murdock? Get your asses on my boat. Mag-lock yourselves, pull your rifles, and get ready for some fun.”
“Ah, hell,” Wendt said. “We’re hitching, sir?”
“Affirmative,” Taulbee said. “Kalimura’s squad just ejected from Mira using ancient escape pods. We need to pick them up before the creatures decide they’re on the menu.”
“Copy, sir,” Wendt said.
“And help Murdock. I’m sure he’s never done this before.”
Wendt chuckled. “First time for everything, sir.”
“Copenhaver?”
“Aye, sir?”
He grinned in spite of the stress. “You ever flown with hitchers?”
“No, sir,” she said. “I assume they’ll attach low on the hull?”
He nodded, pleased. “Correct. They shouldn’t affect your ability rotate the cannon, but you need to keep in mind they’re on the side of the SV-52. So make sure you don’t bounce any flechettes into them.”
She paused for a moment. “Sir? Are we going to net the escape pods?”
“I sure as void hope not,” Taulbee said. “If we can, we’ll break them out and add them to the hitchers.”
She groaned. “That’s a lot of bodies, sir.”
Tell me about it, he thought. “Don’t worry. Did this plenty of times during the Satellite War.”
But you didn’t do it with thousands of alien creatures attacking, did you? The voice that made that statement was both churlish and matter of fact, and it was right. It was one thing to maneuver through a debris field at relatively slow speeds while five marines stayed mag-locked to your craft. Doing that while dodging exo-solar lifeforms and having to fly fast to boot?
“Shut up and do it,” he told himself.
“We’re clear, sir,” Wendt said.
Taulbee checked the cams. Sure enough, Wendt hung on the port-side with Murdock on the starboard. Both marines had pulled their rifles and were ready. He hoped.
He rotated the SV-52 and slowly increased power to the rear thrusters. The craft decelerated before coming to a halt. He exhaled a deep breath and punched the thrusters. The SV-52 shuddered with the force of the burn and quickly accelerated. He activated the radar on his HUD and the three escape pods popped up in pulsing red. They had ejected into space traveling hundreds of meters before slowing. He assumed the three occupants had terminated the planetary program to await rescue.
If the escape pods were anything like the “modern” model, as if S&R Black’s escape pods were modern in any sense of the word, their AIs would automatically target any large planetary body. This far from Earth and her colonies, Pluto was obviously the logical destination. In addition, PEO spat out radio signals that the escape pod sensors had picked up. If the marines inside the escape pods hadn’t ceased their advance, they would have been headed to Pluto too. But maybe the pods had picked up S&R Black instead and decided it was much closer than Pluto. Who knew? The only question in his mind was why the fourth escape pod hadn’t done the same.
“Because it’s 50-fucking-year-old technology,” he said aloud. “And probably damaged.”
The SV-52 passed S&R Black and headed out into the Kuiper Belt. The three escape pods were slowing even more now, which didn’t exactly help matters. Five or six starfish had detached from Mira and had begun to actively chase them. A few pinecones trailed behind, desperately attempting to keep up.
Taulbee growled low in his throat. This was going to get messy in a hurry. “Copenhaver? We still have tritium?”
“Aye, sir,” she said. “60 rounds.”
“Right,” he said, remembering their earlier conversation when they’d been fighting to make a hole for Gunny’s squad. “Don’t use them unless you have to. Wendt? Murdock? You guys have tritium?”
“Aye, sir,” Wendt said. “One full, one half.”
“I have a full mag, sir,” Murdock said.
Not good. He would have liked to have had a whole lot more firepower, but he had what he had. “You two hitchers? Make every shot count. We don’t have ammo to waste. If you need to clear a path, use explosive flechettes instead. Plus, I don’t know how radioactive that shit is. I don’t want the escape pods covered in that stuff.”
“Aye, sir,” the two marines replied.
“Copenhaver?”
“Aye, sir?”
She sounded confident and ready for payback. He knew how she felt. “Your job is to guard our people. I want explosive flechettes surrounding us like chaff. Make sure those bastards know to stay away. If they get too close, open up with the tritium.”
“Very good, sir,” she said.
He heard the grin in her voice. Thoughts about Gunny, worrying about whether or not he was going to die, faded away. He could save three of his people. And once he had them aboard S&R Black, he’d go after the last escape pod. Finally, after hours and hours of separation, he’d have his squads back again. Or what remained of them.
*****
Dunn stood over the autodoc. Gunny lay in the device, his arms and legs strapped to the table. Several tungsten arms, spread like spider legs, hovered above his flesh. They had already split through his flesh, cracked his ribcage, and started work on clearing the chips of bone that had penetrated his dermis, as well as the one that had punctured his spleen.
According to the report the autodoc had sent to his block, Gunny’s spleen was salvageable. One lung had been damaged, but after re-inflation and some nannie protocols, it would heal. All in all, Gunny got off light. Except for his brain.
Either due to the force of the beacon’s photon burst or his rapid ejection from the skiff, his brain had danced inside his skull. Multiple hematomas, multiple areas of damaged tissue, and significant damage to the Broca’s area. The autodoc estimated a 60% chance he would regain consciousness, and a 70% chance his ability to both speak and process language was permanently damaged.
Dunn lingered for a moment, his fingers sliding down the trans-aluminum canopy. He’d known Gunny a long damned time. They’d both spent time in these automated contraptions, but this was the first time he could remember a near mortal wound on the sergeant. Mira had cost his Company dearly, and the bitch was s
till hanging there, an infected hulk of metal that killed everything that got near it.
He tapped the glass. “See you later, Cartwright,” he said and left the infirmary. He should have been on the bridge minutes ago. Hell, he should have run there as soon as the escape pods launched, but he needed a moment alone. There wasn’t much he could do at the moment that wasn’t already being done. Nobel was working on the sled, Oakes was flying the ship, Taulbee and his rag-tag squad were picking up Kalimura’s squad. All he could do now was watch and wait.
“Black? Give me Taulbee’s cam feed, please.”
“Of course, Captain.”
His block HUD lit up with a stream of images and he saw through the SV-52’s forward cam as if he were sitting in the cockpit. The support vehicle had retreated further from Mira, starlight twinkling behind the flashing escape pods. It appeared as though 50 meters separated the three squat cylindrical objects from one another. Taulbee should be able to pick them up fairly quickly. He hoped.
The feed disappeared and Dunn started with the change. “Black? What the—?”
“Captain. Other KBOs have arrived within our space. Collision course with Mira in two minutes.”
“Shit,” he said. Dunn sat down in the command chair, activated the holo display, and brought up the spherical representation of everything within 2km of the ship.
Sure enough, several large shapes glowed on the screens. There was no logic to their approach trajectories. It was as if they’d traveled from all over the Kuiper Belt, each heading from a different portion of the massive belt. For all he knew, some of them had been traveling for weeks, perhaps ever since Mira entered the Oort Cloud.
The objects were decelerating. He blinked. How the hell was that even possible? When the insectile creatures had arrived, they’d moved as though z-g were nothing more than water. They had also entered the area looking like a buzzing, flittering, imperfect sphere. The creatures had banded together to move themselves as one, and they could move fast.
But how fast? How far had they traveled to approach the ship? Did some of them come from the inner Kuiper Belt, from as far away as Neptune? Surely not. That would mean they’d been traveling nearly as fast as S&R Black had on her way to Pluto. That had to be impossible. Didn’t it?
Haven’t you seen enough impossible shit today? a voice said in his mind. Do you really think you know anything anymore?
Good question. Even Black seemed at a loss to explain how the creatures did what they did, let alone how they’d survived in deep space for so long. Black had theories, but without a scientific station aboard the ship, let alone an actual specimen, none of them would be confirmed.
Not that he gave a shit about that. The scientists could come out here and try and capture one. Hell, he’d pay for the damned trip at this point, but he wasn’t risking another of his marines to figure it out. Instead, he wanted to destroy all of them. Every single one.
He connected to the AI. Black? You sure they’re headed for Mira and not us?
Yes, Captain, she said. We can confirm this by moving out of the area.
He nodded. They needed to move anyway. Taulbee had already passed by them on his way to pick up the escape pods. If S&R Black followed, hopefully they could get Kalimura’s squad on board without issue and then follow the escape pod heading for Pluto.
“Oakes,” he said.
The lieutenant disconnected from his block and turned. “Aye, sir?”
“Get us in position to help Taulbee. I want to make sure we get them all aboard ASAP.”
“Aye, sir,” the pilot said. “I suggest we face Mira with our starboard-side so we can fire cannons if necessary.”
Dunn grinned. “I knew there was a reason I kept you around. Do it.”
“Aye, aye, Captain,” Oakes said with a grin.
Dunn reconnected to Black. You have a fix on the beacon?
No, the AI said. I do, however, have a fix on the skiff.
Dunn raised his eyebrows. How is that possible?
Latent radiation, Black said. The skiff is not responding to my commands, therefore it’s likely the electronics have been completely destroyed. I’m not even certain how much is left of the vehicle. However, there does appear to be at least one piece of debris that soaked up a high dose of radiation. My assumption is that this is the skiff, and not the beacon.
“Not the beacon,” he echoed. He activated his block and the spherical map of the area appeared before his eyes. Mark it, please. A yellow pulsing shape appeared at the far edge of the map. It was quickly moving out of the area. What’s its speed?
70m/s, Black said. Barring a collision with an obstacle, the object will continue its journey deeper into the Kuiper Belt.
He grunted. I imagine you’re going to tell me that’s a bad thing.
The AI paused. He hated when she did that. Yes, Captain. May I remind you that Mira is still on course for Pluto. If the creatures are more interested in the ship than they are with the beacon, they will ultimately make their way further into Sol System. Once they reach it, they will have access to more light from Sol. This may change their course en route to the center of Sol System. My forecasts predict they will reach Saturn’s colonies in 4-6 months at present speed.
However, Black continued, some of the creatures have demonstrated the ability to travel much faster than should be possible.
Dunn sighed. We need the beacon.
Yes, Captain. I believe it’s best if we recapture the beacon before destroying Mira.
Thank you, Black.
You’re welcome, Captain.
He terminated the connection. “Nobel?”
After a few heartbeats, the engineer answered. “Aye, sir?”
“The sled ready?”
Nobel chuckled. “About as ready as it can be, sir. It’ll get the payload to Pluto. Assuming we have a payload.”
“We’ll have a payload,” Dunn said. “Just make sure that sled is fast enough to outrun those big KBOs.”
Nobel paused. “Sir? You think that’s going to be a problem?”
“Doesn’t matter what I think,” Dunn said. “I never thought we’d be in this situation in the first place.”
Nobel took a deep breath before replying. “Copy that, sir. I can’t put much armor on it. And we’re damned near out of materials. I can’t make another.”
“How fast can it go?”
“Fast enough, sir. Once we get it up to speed, it should travel around 600m/s.”
Two days to Pluto, Dunn thought. That wasn’t going to be fast enough. Not in the least. “How do we get it to go faster?”
Nobel said nothing for a moment. “Sir? I can’t attach any more engines to it. There’s no room. I’d have to slag it and start over with the design.”
Fuck that, Dunn said to himself. “So that’s as fast as it’s going.” It wasn’t a question, just a dead voice stating a shitty situation.
“Unless,” Nobel said and trailed off. When he spoke again, Dunn heard the smile in his voice. “We could give it a bit of a push, sir.”
Dunn cocked an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
“I mean we wait until S&R Black reaches acceleration and we launch it then. There’s not much out here to impede its speed, so if it’s already traveling at near S&R Black’s top speed—”
Dunn grinned. “Then it will be able to get up to a higher top speed.”
“Aye, sir,” Nobel said.
“Good job, Nobel. Saved me some worry.”
“What worry is that, sir?”
Dunn clenched his fists. “That once we destroy Mira, those things are going to make a beeline for it. And we want them to be chasing the beacon, not us.”
“Copy that, sir,” Nobel said. “Get me the beacon and we’ll make it happen.”
“Dunn, out,” the captain said and terminated the link. “Get the beacon,” he said aloud. “Sounds so easy.”
“Sir?” Oakes called out. “We’re ready to move.”
“Do it,” Dunn said.
“And start plotting a course with Black. We need to know where that skiff is.”
Oakes blinked at him. Dunn narrowed his eyes. “Aye, sir,” Oakes said and turned to look at his holo display.
The captain placed Taulbee’s feed on his personal console and watched. The first of the escape pods was coming up. Very soon, they’d finally find out if anyone had made it out alive.
Chapter Fifty-Nine
The escape pod had practically ground to a halt. The trans-aluminum window had offered a lovely view of Mira as the escape pod ejected, but it was short-lived. A few seconds later, Mira had slid away until only the very faint edge of its bow was visible. It had all but disappeared.
Kalimura sighed. She’d hailed S&R Black on every SFMC channel she knew. Nothing. Her suit comms were a scrambled mess and something was wrong with her block. Even when she tried to initiate a block connection with her squad, let alone Black herself, it was as if the thoughts had been swallowed by a black hole.
At least the escape pod had air. She’d been able to turn off her O2 and use the pod’s supply instead. Luckily, Mira’s pods were a bit larger than she’d ever seen, and they carried a hell of a lot of O2. The fact they’d been designed to carry a survivor in deep space no doubt had something to do with that as well.
But now she was confused. The pod had accelerated quickly, pushing her back into the couch and momentarily locking her in place. A few seconds later, the engine had not only stopped, but the attitude thrusters had fired. The pod executed a turn before the engine puffed a few times and died again.
She wasn’t certain, but she thought the pods were supposed to disable themselves if a “friendly” ship was nearby. If that was true, then S&R Black was somewhere relatively close by. However, it could also be due to a malfunction. When she’d looked for the ship, it hadn’t been there. It hadn’t been anywhere. The last order she’d had from the captain was to use the port-side. So where was the ship? The escape pods should have nearly rammed into her.
That was the most hellish part of this. She couldn’t imagine the captain, let alone Taulbee, would leave his marines stranded if he knew there was a chance. Which meant they’d either been forced to leave the area, or they’d been destroyed.
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