The next door was reached. Johnny pulled on the handle and the door swung open. The Karthian guard standing just inside the door took a hard punch to the face as he looked at the mysteriously opening door, and dropped like a stone. A small atrium led to a perpendicular hallway that ran deep into the building in both directions. Johnny led, turning into the hall and reaching the first office on the right, where a Karthian was standing in front of another who was seated at a desk. Johnny held up his glove, squeezing off a round, sending the two Karthian men flying hard to a back wall.
Johnny whispered. “It’s on now.”
The team hurried out into the hall, hitting another two occupied offices before reaching the hall’s end. A trip back to the atrium saw a fourth office and seventh Karthian military officer dead as he attempted a defense against an unseen enemy. The opposite end of the hall filled with officers with their weapons drawn. As Johnny approached, two concussion pulses cleared the hall of the confused Karthians. Less than two minutes after it had begun, the building was clear.
Mace said, “Let’s go. We need to find the council if we’re gonna make this work.”
At the next building, the first door reached was open. A first guard fell hard to the floor as a second looked on in stunned silence. A hard punch to his face sent him sprawling. A third guard stepped around a corner to investigate and Johnny hammered the left side of his skull with another hard punch.
Around the corner, they came to a set of double doors.
Johnny pulled on the first handle and the door swung open to a military council meeting in full session. More than a dozen high ranking officers and other government officials looked up to see who was interrupting an important briefing.
Concussion waves emerged from Johnny’s outstretched gloves. Bodies flew along with chairs and other debris as Johnny fired the concussion weapon repeatedly into the large oval room. Fifteen seconds after entering, only two members of the Karthian Military Council remained alive, each scrambling along the floor behind a set of tables, looking for any cover that might be available. Two quick pulses slammed them into several rows of chairs that were bolted to the floor in tiered sections.
Johnny turned back, blasting another guard as he came into view in the hall. Several minutes were used to clear the remainder of the building. Four additional guards met their fate as they came through the front door, squatting and leaning against the walls as they looked for an assailant or group thereof. As Mace and Jane followed Johnny out, five soldiers emerged from the next building. As they got close, two rounds from the thunder glove blew their bodies back at least ten meters.
Jane lost her grip. “Johnny, hold up.”
Seconds later she bumped into the unseen torso of her husband.
Johnny said, “I think the two of you should go back. You’re slowing me down like an anchor. I need to be able to move fast and free.”
Mace said, “We have another two buildings to clear. If this next one goes well, you can clear the last on your own.”
All was quiet in the third building.
Johnny reached for the door handle and hesitated. “Get over here behind me. I don’t like this.”
Johnny turned the handle and flipped the door open, leaning back hard as three laser pulses shot out into the open field in front of the entryway. He held his glove around the corner and repeated concussion waves rocked the foyer just inside the door. Walls buckled, debris flew, and the guards waiting just inside were eliminated.
Johnny stepped inside the door, Jane and Mace barely clinging to his shoulder. Another pulse was fired down a hall, catching a Karthian defender as he stepped into a doorway, crushing his body against a doorframe. A hurried walk down the hall had the remaining offices cleared. As the double doors to another conference room blew open, they saw four Karthian officers hunkering down in a corner, attempting to hide. Mace grabbed in the air for Johnny’s arm, stopping a shot just before it was to emerge.
Mace whispered, “You go clear the other building. We’ll take care of these four.”
Johnny slipped away, leaving only the sound of boots hurriedly walking down a hall, attempting to move as quietly as he could.
Mace whispered to Jane. “Switch to the monster holo.”
Seconds later, two tall, hideous creatures stood before the cowering Karthians. “Your tiny civilization is about to be crushed by the… Harpoonians. We have a message for your puny leaders. Prepare for war!”
Jane reached down, grabbing one of the officers by the fins on his head and pulling him to his feet. “You will come with us.”
The singled-out officer was pushed toward the door. The three remaining continued to cower in terror, mostly looking away as to not provoke their attackers. The three walked into the hall and back to the front door.
Jane said, “Raise your hands.”
They slowly walked outside, turning in the direction of the Royal Fortune. As they reached the location of the hidden ship, Mace reached out, grabbing the Karthian by the shoulder and bringing him to a stop.
“You will tell us everything you know about your military, or you should expect what the others of your council have received.”
The Karthian suddenly returned an emboldened look. “I will tell you nothing.”
Turning quickly, he sprinted for the nearby cliff’s edge and jumped, falling several hundred meters to his death.
The ramp to the shuttle opened and Jenny’s voice rang out. “I have at least a dozen ships headed this way on the sensors. It’s time to go.”
Mace looked back toward the fourth building. Johnny was nowhere in sight.
“Crap. Jane… I want you and everyone else aboard and ready to go. I’ll go back for Johnny. He should be out by now.”
Mace turned, flipping his monster-holo back to being unseen before running toward the fourth building.
As he reached near where the other team should have been waiting, he yelled out, “Get back to the shuttle… now!”
The door to the fourth building was flipped open. Dead Karthians were strewn about, some mangled and bent, some pancaked. Mace turned the corner into a conference room where two Karthians and a Human sat facing a holo-monster.
After a moment’s hesitation, Mace flipped on his monster-holo and said, “You, stand. Get over here.”
As the Human moved out of the way, Mace continued, “See to it these two don’t talk, then we have to go. Ships are coming fast.”
Johnny wasted no time. The concussion wave from his thunder glove crushed the two Karthian men as it jammed their bodies back into the fold of a corner wall.
Mace yelled as he shoved the Human toward the door. “Move it if you want to live!”
The three exited the building at a run and were met with an opening shuttle ramp. As they raced up, the ramp closed. Two Karthian guard ships rose up the cliff face. The Royal Fortune lifted upward as the two ships moved over the buildings. Jenny flipped her controls hard one way and then the other, barely avoiding a collision that would have ended the mission.
As the shuttle moved ever higher through the atmosphere, the dozen approaching ships quickly turned into thirty. Seven had reached the complex by the time the sky above the shuttle began to darken. Mace pushed the Human into a chair. The man had a large round face with a shaved head. He sat sporting a scowl.
Chapter 12
*
Mace asked, “Who are you, and what are you doing here with the Karthians?”
The man replied, “You know who I am. And under that B-movie monstrosity you’re projecting, I know who you are. I recognize your voice.”
Johnny flipped off his holo-projector, offering a sarcastic scowl of his own. “Malcom Stark��� consorting with the enemy. Now who would ever have guessed that?”
“Obviously not you.”
Mace pushed: “What are you doing here?”
Stark sighed. “Well, up until a few minutes ago, I was negotiating a stronger position for our people. I was on the verge of having
the Karthians give me the resources necessary to subdue the Consortium. From there, we would have taken the first step toward becoming the military wing of their empire, which, you know, would have placed us only a step or two away from controlling their empire.”
“Your plan wouldn’t have worked,” said Mace. “The Karthians want the Consortium factories so they can to churn out android soldiers they can reproduce at will. Once we had given them their victory, they were planning to annihilate us because they consider us too dangerous.”
“Yes. That was their original plan. I, however, had them convinced of an alternative. It was an idea they had quickly warmed to. Humans were to become their assault force, only to be used for conquest. We were to otherwise be left to largely govern ourselves���with supervision of course. Anyway, I had the council convinced that we would be a superior force to any they could build with the Consortium. All we asked in return was a little self governance with matters pertaining to our personal issues, enough so we would retain at least a modicum of self respect. In return, when conquest called, we would be at the ready to meet their needs.”
Johnny shook his head as the Royal Fortune sped out into free space. “Always scheming. Well, your schemes never seem to work out, do they?”
“No, they don’t. It seems a certain team of Humans are always there at the last minute to wreck them. I could have postponed the Consortium invasion for months, allowing my teams time to plan a proper assault, minimizing our losses while still achieving the Karthian goals. And in doing so I would have gained the trust of that council back there, enabling me to plan for its eventual overthrow.”
Jane said, “You are maniacal with all this scheming.”
Stark smiled. “I believe the word you are looking for is diabolical. Maniacal would imply I have a psychological instability.”
Jane scowled. “I said what I meant. Your every effort is geared toward how you gain complete control of everything.”
Stark nodded. “And I could have done so repeatedly had it not been for your interference. We could have saved most of the Galactic Union, and had peace with the Karthians. With a few years of my guidance, we would have owned the Karthians, bringing them into the service of Humans as a member of the Stark Kingdom.”
Mace sat. “Well, we finally get to see your face. Not what I expected. Your head is big and round, but your eyes are close together. Gives you a seedy appearance. Sinister almost.”
“Yes, well, if you are done with your insults… what is it you are going to do with me now?”
Johnny grinned. “Space him!”
Jane nodded. “I’d have no issue with that.”
Stark held up a hand. “Whatever you decide… I cannot be sent back to Earth. You’ve seen to it they will suspect me of leading up this incident. I would be expecting reprisals against our people at home at any time. The Karthians are a spiteful people, so I do not expect this to end well.”
“Only a few problems with that scenario,” said Mace. “The Karthians are not going to think this was done by Humans. There’s no evidence to support that conclusion. They will think it’s a new species that looks like those monsters we were projecting, the Harpoonians.”
Stark shook his head. “Harpoonians? That’s the name you gave to your fictitious invaders?”
Jane smirked. “Same thing I thought when he said it.”
Mace turned. “Hey, it was spur of the moment. That’s what popped into my head. Anyway, we’ve made a few pirate raids in their shipping lanes and the Harpoonians were conveniently shown as the culprits. From the information they will now have, they could be invaded by this horrific species at any time.”
Stark sighed. “Only a simpleton would fall for that story. Why would a species that has only managed to conduct a handful of pirate raids suddenly show up on their capital planet to kill off their military council? While your explanation is inventive, it’s not well thought out. The Karthians have a practiced and well run intelligence corps. They will see through your poorly planned ruse.”
Johnny crossed his arms. “So, wise one, what would suggest we do given the circumstance?”
“I would suggest you take me back to Earth in secret. I will have to remain in hiding. And we should prepare for retribution. The Karthians will want a pound of flesh, even if they only suspect we might have been involved. I also fear you may have tipped the balance of power away from the military council and to their political factions���who are much less reasonable I might add. At this point, I am uncertain of how to mitigate the damage you have done here. Perhaps there is a solution as yet unseen. I will need to consult with my staff as soon as possible.”
Johnny pulled Mace up to the cockpit. “Tell me you aren’t thinking of taking him back.”
Mace let out a long breath. “At this point I’m not sure what to do. His being there, and now being the only one missing, changes everything.”
Johnny gestured toward the rear of the ship. “We can always take him back.”
Mace shook his head. “No we can’t, he’s seen us. He knows how we did what we did, and that we could do it again. We take him back and they’ll get the truth out of him.”
Johnny said, “Then we take him back and maybe drop him in from a thousand meters up. That would at least tell the Karthians that it wasn’t Humans doing this.”
Mace removed his helmet, setting it aside as he rubbed his fingers through his hair. “Not gonna work. That place will be swarming with ships. We crack that door and we’re toast. I hate to say it, but I think our best option is to sneak him back to Earth. At least there we can be assured that he isn’t making any more deals with the Karthians. And until or unless the Karthians are out of the picture completely, he can’t let anyone outside his inner circle even know he’s alive.”
Johnny frowned. “That’s it, then? He goes home?”
Mace nodded. “I think so.”
Johnny returned a half frown while in thought. “If we take him back we’ll have to do that before talking to Jasper. He won’t be happy with your solution.”
“Jasper will have to live with it. For now, we try to do what’s best for our people. If the Karthians do decide on retribution, we will need his ideas to keep the damage to a minimum.”
Johnny looked back at the cabin. “I look forward to the day when I can blast him out of an airlock, or at least be there to watch.”
Mace turned to Jenny. “When you get to a safe distance, open a wormhole back to Earth. We’ll be dropping Stark back with his people.”
Jenny frowned. “I heard your conversation. We should be able to drop him wherever he likes. You know, he’s kind of an intimidating fella. Almost as big as Johnny, but Johnny doesn’t look mean the way he does. He just looks like he’s up to no good.”
Mace glanced back. “He looks familiar. Could be I’ve just seen too many faces being in the bar biz.”
Jenny scowled. “He could play the villain in just about any movie I’ve ever seen. Just looks like a creep.”
Mace walked back into the cabin. “If we drop you back on Earth, where would you want it to be?”
“The south side of D.C. would be appropriate. Alexandria. From there I can get to where I need to go.”
Mace yelled up to the cockpit. “Alexandria, just outside D.C.”
Jenny held up a hand to acknowledge. A wormhole was opened and the Royal Fortune passed through. An hour later, Malcom Stark was deposited in the ruins of Alexandria. The hour was getting late and he quickly disappeared into the blackness of the night. Jenny piloted the shuttle back into free space and a jump was made to the Alpha site.
Jasper Collins was livid. “There he was again, selling us out. When are you people gonna see it?”
Mace replied, “We’re not fans, but you have to look at the big picture. His actions have kept most of us Humans alive. He’s got a case to make. Until we rid ourselves of others who want to dominate us, we need someone strong to be in charge. At the moment, he’s all we have.”
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Jasper scowled. “I ran an entire empire. Put me in charge and I’ll see to it we’re protected. And I’ll be fair to everyone.”
Mace nodded. “I have no doubt you’d be good at it. And fair. But it’s not up to us. It’s up to the people. And at the moment, you have no relationship with the people. No one is going to rally behind you or help support your agenda. Right now, you’re somewhat of a pariah. Many would blame you for the Karthians coming in here the first place. Stark had his deal cut. You interfered. Now we���re conscripts of the Karthian Empire.”
Jasper growled. He banged his fist on a rock in frustration before turning back to face Mace.
Johnny laughed. “Careful. You got the geezer all spun up. He’s likely to explode on us.”
Jasper shook his head. “I’m frustrated because I know he’s right. We’re stuck with that fool until such time as we’re out of danger.”
Jane said, “So what do we do now? What are our options?”
“I think we have to wait and see what the Karthian reaction is,” said Mace. “Might be they call off the whole attack until their council gets reseated. I think that’s the best we can hope for.”
Jasper gestured toward his shuttle. “If we’re all done here then, I’d like to get back to my pirate duties. There’s cargoes that my people are in dire need of.”
Mace asked, “Have you figured out how to get rid of the freighters you’ve been stealing? I know you’ve been stripping them to the frame. What do you do from there?”
Jasper pulled up a holo-image above his arm pad. “We just completed this giant, underground hangar. We bring a ship down into this crevasse and then up into the hangar. From there we empty the cargo, strip down the hull of useful parts, then chop up the rest to be melted down and re-cast. Starting in about a week we’ll be making use of 100 percent of what we bring back.”
Jasper zoomed in on the image. “We’re also in the process of digging out the area around the hangar. Over the next six months we’ll be building a complete underground city. The centers topside will be dismantled and the entire shindig will be coated in the gatrellium copper paint and monitored for any signal leakage. When we’re done, you won’t even know we’re there.”
HADRON Havoc Page 11
