“Captain, three minutes until tube lock.” Lieutenant Chopa’s voice came over the ship’s Comm.
“Acknowledged, Navigation.” Serros answered, then scanned her crew standing to the ready in the ship’s dockway. “All right; time to helm–up and clear out.”
On the other side of the dockway’s inner doors, a six–person unit of Excalibur’s marines, the Hades Corp, stood at attention for any potential boarding threat, awaiting the door seal. Behind the marines, Dr. Argos and her staff, wearing vacuum safe skinsuits and helmets, also held position. The second of the starship’s marine units, Avernus, stood closer, right next to the tube–extension doors to directly back up the Squad itself in the face of attack.
At her words, the five other members of Nova Squad who would be venturing to the TS Ardent activated their helmets and within less than thirty–seconds, each individual’s had fully snaked into place, completely sealing their suits.
Looking at her armorless Operations and Intelligence Officer, Captain Serros remarked “Okay, A. You too; it’s time.”
Nodding reluctantly, Adeline announced “I’d feel a lot better if I was boarding with the rest of Nova. Then I could directly tackle any intel issue that arises.”
Captain Serros could feel the tightly held concern roiling across the space between them, yet Adeline was too much of a professional and an officer to let her apprehension show. Knowing her as she did, Serros was distinctly aware that though her concern at such a potentially unknowable and dangerous situation would always have been present, it was now heightened by her newly increased personal attachment to Avara.
Gifting her with a somewhat roguishly crooked smile, Avara briefly placed one armored hand on the Lieutenant Commander’s arm. “We’ll be alright, Diana. You’ll be watching over us, after all.”
Offering a smile in return, Diana replied, “Count on it. See you on the other side, Avara.”
“See you on the other side.” Serros responded, then activated her own light–weight helm. Turning to speak just before Diana keyed the doors shut, Serros added, “Oh, and A; keep my ship safe!”
“Ha! You just better make it back in time for supper, if you please, Captain Serros; otherwise, she’s mine!”
The memory of Diana’s last smile stayed with Avara as she, Marcus, K’llan, Dane, Ca’rrakk, and Belgrum all took up readied positions, rifles in hand and scoped.
“Thirty seconds until lock, Captain.”
At Chopa’s announcement, Avara could hear the scuff of the six Avernus marines behind her and the rest of Nova. Senses fierce with concentration, Avara waited.
“And… lock is complete, Captain.” Chopa’s voice chimed over the open channel once again.
At the Shield’s nod, Lieutenant Naxos gripped the circular, manual lock–control, and turned it one–hundred and eighty degrees clockwise. He then punched four successive commands into the control panel.
With an audible screetch–swoosh, the Karukai ship’s dockway doors swept open.
When it was apparent that nothing and no one was stationed in the dockway, Serros nodded to Rygel. The team’s Systems and Hacking expert quickly ran a scan with his CPA and, after his nod, again Naxos moved forward and opened the second set of doors, this time to the ship’s interior.
The jittered–spark of mangled electrical and energy conduits invaded the low–dark of the Karukai ship’s interior. Steady snap–hiss sounds sourced by torn wiring and systems–cords swaying from the corridor ceiling above punctuated the eerie silence. With a thought, Avara slid her vision into thermal range, scanning for any heat signature indicative of a person, but only caught the vague whirl of heated air from damaged conduits.
After a full minute’s study and straining her Arca enhanced senses, Avara finally made a negative motion with her helmeted head, then broke silence with a whisper. “Belgrum?”
“No, nothing.” Belgrum responded in a low hiss, his head cocked just like Avara, he also applying both his Arca SP and TXL Enhancements to extend his range of sight and hearing.
“Dane?”
“Nothing on scan, Captain. Can’t be one–hundred percent sure, though.” Lieutenant Rygel answered, focusing on the projected readings pouring in from his forearm and CPA. “Confirming that a number of primary systems are down, though. Life–support’s running at sixty–one percent; atmo’s breathable but thin.”
“All right,” Captain Serros confirmed, then thumbed on her rifle’s flashlight. “Maintain helmets on and suits sealed; better safe than sorry. Standard formation and keep it quiet.”
Leaving the marines of Avernus Corp behind to guard the docking tube, the six members of Nova Squad quietly began moving forward in a staggered half–fan. Serros was in the lead, Z’arr two steps behind and at her right, then Rygel and Ca’rrakk followed by Perez and Naxos bringing up the rear.
The freighter’s interior was iron and dull red in tone, the narrow floor–ways grated durexium. As they moved down the hallway, it became apparent that the damage and silence remained consistent. The only sounds accompanying the Squad were electrical hisses, the occasional groan caused by the ship’s uncontrolled listing, and the echoes of their own booted footsteps.
It was strange to find no sign of any living person on a ship of this relatively small size, whereby necessity, every yard of space had to be utilized. Having spent the majority of her last twenty–five years in space, Avara found the unnatural emptiness to be disquieting and as they stalked forward, she couldn’t quite disburse the leaden feeling of foreboding tickling her mind.
Nova had traveled perhaps forty paces before they came across something that knifed the eerie quiet. Already flaking from age, a rust colored smear trailed a three–foot slash down the right wall of the deck’s central corridor. A foot or so further, a beat up pistol of some design that Avara didn’t recognize lay on the grating.
“It is approximately nine–days old, Captain.” Major Ca’rrakk reported a moment later, the Senior Science Officer having performed a quick scan with his CPA.
With a grim nod, the Squad continued their trek forward until they reached the Ardent’s life–pod galley. Outside of the sixth pod was the source of the blood smear they’d spied earlier: a young Human male with auburn colored hair and pale skin. His torso had been ripped apart by a spray of bullet–fire that jarred his body with such force, that his teeth had cracked with the impact. He lay in a pool of his own blood, gummy with the passage of time, yet still thickly fluid. His plain brown jumper was soaked through and his clothing was crusted at all points which did not lie directly in the puddle.
Taking in the young man’s pale skin and glassy, light brown eyes, Avara figured he couldn’t have been more than fourteen years of age.
Not even a man, but a boy.
“He has been deceased for approximately nine–days, Captain.” Ca’rrakk reported in a subdued voice.
With the rest of Nova remaining readied and alert and her review complete, K’llan added a minute later, “Out of twelve or so life–pods, it appears two were ejected. However, the remaining ten were deliberately disabled.”
“How, exactly?” Belgrum asked, methodically and deductively piecing together every scrap of evidence.
“With a simple slice to the power–leads. It was hastily done, and potentially easy to repair.” The Vosaia answered.
“Which means that those remaining didn’t have the time or the capability to make the repair.” Belgrum commented thoughtfully, his aquamarine eyes pinioning behind his clear visor.
“Would’ve been the crew’s only way out; ship’s not large enough to have a shuttle bay.” Marcus observed, crouching with a grace that belied his bulky form.
“Let’s proceed.” Serros directed, and she could hear the grim resolve in her own voice, knowing that the likelihood of finding anyone alive had just significantly dropped.
Avara’s precognition was soon realized as the signs of battle and death became more and more prevalent and they came across body
after body. Most were Human, though not all, and each wore a light brown one–piece suit, center–zipped, just as the dead boy had.
Passing unsecured doors and entryways that led to Recycling, several storage rooms and the freighter’s elevator–lift, at the end of Deck 2’s main corridor the team came across a large central door.
After a cautious moment of study, they opened the portal to what could only be the Ardent’s Galley and Mess. Two hefty trestle–tables, bolted to the flooring as is standard on all ships, were the room’s dominant features. An open galley, cooking–panes and twin inset refrigeration units as well as a large double–sink were visible at the back of the Mess Hall. Beyond was another open door to what Avara assumed was the Galley Storage. Ahead of the tables was one more open doorway to what appeared to be the ship’s Lounge.
The very normative sight of a dining and food preparation area was distinctly at odds with the current state of the Mess Hall.
Close to a dozen bodies lay strewn about the room, each utterly lifeless. Three were behind an overturned L–couch, ripped from the flooring with deliberate force to provide cover, a reality that was clearly testified to by the riddled state of the couch’s synthetic covering. One body, a Braxien male, lay slumped into a half–sitting position in the entryway to the Galley’s Storage. In continuity of the trend, the cold–corpses of two Zirgesh women were splayed atop the Galley’s prep area like blood–offerings to some god, long forgotten in the dark ethers of primordial history.
It was here that Nova Squad also came across their first example of a cadaver that did not wear the tan one–piece of the motley assortment of individuals that they’d identified so far. Laying one atop the other upon the farthermost trestle table were two bodies. One was a Human female with long dark hair; the other, a like–sized humanoid form accoutered in blood–red plating.
“Karukai heavy–armor.” Avara announced into the stillness, moving forward.
A rifle lay on the ground, obviously fallen free from the lifeless grip of the armored individual’s listing arm. A sizeable hole in the armored waist was congealed with still–drying blood.
“Note the black markings on the crimson armor; she’s an officer.” Lieutenant Z’arr announced quietly as Captain Serros shifted the body over to a face–up position, cradling the corpse as it slid to the iron–colored flooring.
Removing the helmet with the pressing of the manual release located at the base of the neck, the headwear completely retracted within moments to reveal that the dead individual was indeed both Karukai and unsurprisingly, female. As all Karukai, she was completely hairless except for her brows, which in this case were a thin, silvery–white that in hue was barely differentiable from the paper–white of her skin. Whirling marks dotted her forehead, upper cheeks and even her bald head, similar to a Vosaia’s yet instead of pale blue or purple, the Karukai’s markings were a muted rose–red in color. The tone was accentuated by the two, rich–crimson eyes that sightlessly stared through long silver lashes. Her mouth was small, with full lips slack in death.
“Looks like the Human took the Karukai out before she died.” Perez remarked, grim satisfaction in his voice.
“It’s obvious some sort of slave break–out occurred here; based on the distress call, probably recent captives. Question is, are there any survivors?” Serros asked.
“The odds seem to be dropping.” Dane replied, a dreary cast to his normally up–beat, jitter–tone.
“There are two more Karukai over here; unarmored.” Naxos announced a moment later, having entered the Lounge.
“Dane?”
“Scans and recordings are complete, Captain. We should have enough for identification later, as well as useful intel.”
“Very well. We’ll gather the deceased for proper burial before we leave. For now, it’s time to continue.”
It took only minutes for the Squad to mobilize and retrace their steps to the ship’s lift, which they discovered was currently off–line.
“Dane, I want you and Ca’rrakk to bring systems, and if you can manage it, engines back on–line. Based on our scans, Engineering and Systems should be located on Deck 4.”
“Aye, Captain.”
“Marcus, I want you and Belgrum to investigate the Bridge. See what you can find out about the Ardent; her purpose, mission log, etc. Also, see what you can do about locking in control.”
“Got it, Serros.” Marcus responded, his ruggedly handsome features set into a professional mask to temper the anger Avara could feel spinning inside of her friend.
“K’llan and I will explore Deck 6, see who we can locate.” Avara said, deliberately not using the word survivors in the face of the evidence they’d gathered so far. “After, we will work our way up to Deck 5. If you’re still busy on the Bridge, we’ll move on to Deck 3.” Casting a quick scan, Avara ordered, “Stay in Comm contact at all times, and play it safe; no risks, people.”
At the affirmative chorus that greeted her command, the Squad made for the standard maintenance shaft located to the left of the ship’s lift, cracking open the panel it hid behind. Serros and Z’arr slipped into the shaft first, climbing down the durexium ladder to the lowermost deck of the ship. The two were followed closely by Rygel and Ca’rrakk and finally, Perez and Naxos moving into the duct to ascend towards the Bridge.
CHAPTER 16
Avara and K’llan completed the journey at a fairly rapid pace, with the echo of their armored feet and fingers moving from rung to rung sounding eerily in the relative noiselessness of the ship, reverberating throughout the maintenance shaft like a mischievous child copying their actions but never showing himself.
Reaching the bottom–most section of the chute, the Quorum Shield Operative stood poised with pistol trained as Z’arr pulled the manual hatch–release. Yet once more, no sign of a living person or attack occurred. Stepping into the dimly–lit corridor, the two women were faced with an entry–way immediately to their left at the hall’s end.
The alternate choice was taking a right and traveling down the main thoroughfare to explore a series of doors on both sides. Deciding to investigate the closest area first, they made for the center–doorway and with Avara standing at the ready, K’llan activated the open–control.
The Human and the Vosaia found themselves in a fairly open, stark room that in function was primarily a shower area. The floor consisted of plain white tiling with inset drains placed at fixed intervals. At the leftmost portion of the room were several large inset drawers, undoubtedly intended to hold supplies. The use was exemplified by one jutting, open drawer, brushed with muted color by a haphazard spill of tan one–piece suits hanging over its edge.
Only too quickly, the Captain realized that the jumble of clothing escaping the confines of storage to fall in a shapeless heap on the slick–tile floor, was both foreshadow and symbol for the casual horror that knifed through any sense of normalcy that such a domestic setting typified.
No matter which direction she turned her head, Avara’s eyes were assaulted by a scene of brutality and unforgiving death.
On the far right were two Human and one Irdoi bodies, all slumped together under the still running, sporadic spray of the tilted shower–head above. It was hard to say where each individual ended and another began, so mangled were torsos and limbs, with the slick–white of bone bursting through viscous crimson, and melding with mud–colored blood and water soaked cloth.
Just a foot and a half or so away lay a Vosaia, face down in the sweep of shallow water, her skull a concave of pale skin, delicate bone, and oozing salmon–colored soft–tissue. With one arm draped over the Vosaia in what resembled a cruel–parody of a lover’s embrace, was a red–uniformed Karukai. The bent and bloodied rifle–haft that had caused the Vosaia’s skull–crushing injury still in the Karukai’s fingers despite her riddled left collarbone and death’s grip.
To the left and towards the drawers was a young Gorath, damp chocolate–brown fur matted, right leg so shot up that only
a ropy train of sticky sinew still attached limb to body. Given the state of decay, Captain Serros was immensely grateful for the helmets that the two Nova members wore. Gear that provided contained air and protection from the smell of putrefying death that she knew surrounded them like a persistent cancer, waiting to bleed into senses and soul alike.
For a moment, Avara felt her vision go hazy with wrath and grief for the fallen. She had witnessed similar atrocities before, during the Battle of Arden Secundus and especially during the Margrom War. Entire colonies attacked and sacked, Humans of all ages, from newborns still nursing to elders in their twilight years, ripped from their homes and placed into labor and Feeding Camps. Distributed to Karukai slave–contractors for sale to citizens within the Eternal Imperium as the rightful spoils of war.
Left or right, neither escape nor succor could be found from the grizzly tableau. Captain Serros and Lieutenant Z’arr’s pistol–lights created illuminated snap–shots of images frozen in place, vignettes of desperate horror and unforgiving death that Avara knew would forever haunt them both.
“Over here; look.” K’llan called a moment later, and Avara could hear the choked repulsion in her voice.
Moving to where she was pointing, Serros caught sight of two final corpses, these dressed in crimson–accented, ash gray uniforms. Moving forward and bending over the still forms, the Captain caught a flash of hairless gray skin and black–pooled, lifeless eyes. In form, they resembled Karukai, thought slightly shorter than the race’s average height. Yet no muted red swirls or patterns graced their delicate, stone–colored skin.
After a minute’s study, the Shield Operative verbally confirmed what both women knew to be true. “Karukai clones.”
Also pejoratively termed “Greys,” Karukai clones represented yet another social and cultural practice that most within the Quorum Systems found to be repugnant. Greys were mass–bred primarily from Karukai DNA, though with Vosaia and Human as well on occasion, Irdoi and Mymren genetic codes also utilized. All to create sturdier genetic variation and strains.
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