by Chris Fox
“At ease,” Nolan said, noting that while they dropped the salute, most still stood at attention. “I know we’re generally lax on discipline. We get the job done, whatever it takes. There’s not usually a need for the structures we had to deal with in the UFC. But today that need is there. We’re going in to do the most important thing we can for this war effort. If we succeed, we could shut down the Void Wraith fleet.
“The plan is simple. As we speak, this vessel has just departed the Forge and is now headed toward the Eye. Ladies and Gentlemen, we are going to land on the surface. We are going to find Admiral Mendez, and we are going to neutralize him.” Nolan paused, scanning their faces. They were still listening, accepting what he was saying without question or reservation. That mattered more than he’d ever be able to express.
“We’re using the sample taken from the larva in Kathryn to locate Mendez, somewhere on the Eye’s backside. Edwards will carry that Primo medbed into the cave where we think he’s hiding,” Nolan continued. He paused again, meeting Kathryn’s gaze. “If possible, we take him alive. The medbed can purge the larva in less than two minutes. If the Void Wraith fleets have been programmed to obey Mendez directly, then he might still be able to control them.”
“Meaning he could force them to stand down, or turn on each other,” Kathryn added. The others looked at her, and she raised an eyebrow at Nolan. He nodded, so she continued. “Worst case, we remove the enemy commander. Best case, we steal their fleet and use it against them.”
“Sir,” Edwards boomed, “I just gotta say, I really like your lady’s style.” He made a cocking noise, and mimed chambering a round in his assault rifle.
“We’re landing on that thing?” Annie asked, blinking. Then she reached into her pocket and withdrew her can of chew. “You’re nuts, Nolan. Have been since the first day you saved my bacon. Kathryn, if you supported this, you’re nuts too. Still, it’s good to have you back.”
Kathryn lit up, something in Annie’s words touching her deeply. “Thank you, Annie. It’s damned good to be back. What we’re doing might seem a little crazy, but it’s Nolan. He’s pulled off bigger stunts. We’ll get through this.”
“Ship, how long until we make planetfall?” Nolan asked, trying not to preen too much over the obvious flattery.
Hannan rolled her eyes, and Izzy just stood there looking confused by their behavior.
“Fourteen minutes,” Ship replied.
“Can you project a holo down here?”
“Yes, what would you like to see?” Ship said, pleasantly.
“Show us the battle,” Nolan ordered.
A hologram sprang up about half a dozen feet away, displaying the planet below. Hundreds of ships massed; above it all, the Forge cut a path toward the Eye. Their harvester had already outdistanced the Forge, wheeling silently past the combat. None of the Void Wraith reacted to their presence, suggesting that the improved cloaking worked.
“Dear god,” Nolan muttered, eyes widening as the holo gave him the first glance of the Eye.
66
Payback
Manda smiled grimly, guiding her hoverchair closer to the tactical holomap at the center of the war coliseum. All seven of her advisors were present, each relaying instructions to the repair drones throughout the ship. Those drones were both their armada and the means by which they’d keep the catastrophic damage in check. The Void Wraith weren’t much, individually, but enough of them together were a real threat.
She glanced at the cloud of vessels retreating into the Helios Sphere, confident that they’d be safe for the moment. Manda turned her attention to the course ahead, watching as the holo shifted to show the planet’s curvature. They were in low orbit, as was the Eye itself. It was using the planet to screen itself for as long as possible, of that Manda had no doubt.
The ship shuddered as something got past the cannons. Whatever the impact had been, it was close enough to the war room to be of concern. Nor was she the only one to think so. Her advisors exchanged nervous looks.
“Time until we have a clear shot on the Eye?” Manda asked, watching with satisfaction as a combination of drones and plasma fire cleared the path for them. Yet, as quickly as they destroyed them, the Void Wraith kept filling in the gap, selling themselves to buy the Eye time.
The stalling tactic was a costly one, as harvester after harvester blew up in a cloud of debris. Still, they didn’t die quietly.
“Damage estimates, Daughter?” She turned to Elvu, her youngest prodigy. Elvu’s parents had protested when she’d joined Manda, even more so when Elvu came to see Manda as a mother figure. It was a sentiment she heartily returned.
“We’ve lost fourteen percent of our cannons, and roughly twenty-seven percent of the surface has been damaged. A number of hangars are offline, and quite a few drone bays have been destroyed,” Elvu said, sending the metrics to Manda’s data comp. The personal computer was part of the contact she wore in her left eye, and it displayed the data in the lower corner. “As you can see, our ability to fight has not been significantly impacted, and we should reach the Eye in approximately thirty-two seconds.”
“What’s the charge on the temporal cannon?” Manda asked, turning to a bespectacled Primo with age-mottled skin. The professor was still sharp, though.
“We anticipated the rough moment we’d need the weapon, so we began charging it over a minute ago,” Professor Lanur explained. “It will be ready to fire in forty-eight seconds.”
Manda nodded, clasping her hands atop one knee as she watched the planet below. They were passing over a wide expanse of blue, a massive ocean larger than her entire home world. In the distance, the Eye became visible, hovering near the planet’s atmosphere. Its sickly blue tendrils scoured the land beneath it, and Manda had to steel herself to prevent losing her breakfast.
“By the Core,” Elvu whispered. The silence on the bridge carried the words.
“Line up your shot, Lanur,” Manda ordered, mouth firming into a tight line. “This is the last atrocity the Eye will ever commit.”
The Void Wraith had grown frantic, some actually ramming the Forge’s engines in an attempt to slow them. The ship shuddered, but continued inexorably forward. Their cannon fire never slackened, turning the defending Void Wraith into a sea of flaming wreckage. The volume of it was immense, and she’d seen what that could do to a world. It would rain down over the next several years, wreaking havoc on the world below—if there was anyone left alive to see it.
“Manda,” Elvu cried, pointing.
Manda already saw it. Perhaps the Eye had panicked, or maybe it had finished feeding. Whatever the reason, the tendrils of light began to dissipate. After several moments, the blueish glow coming from inside the Eye sputtered and went out. Then a thick membrane began to slide from the open edges of the Eye.
“Elvu, how long until that thing closes?” Manda asked. Elvu was their mathematician, and could most quickly make use of the data.
“Seventeen seconds,” Elvu replied in a somber tone. “Time to temporal cannon is nineteen seconds.”
“Lanur, you know what’s at stake. I need two seconds,” Manda demanded, turning her chair to the scientist.
“I make no promises,” the professor muttered, bending to his lap console. His fingers flew across the screen with the ease of a lifelong typist, a dying art form in her time.
67
Critters
Hannan loved horror holos; she had since she was a kid. The idea of a bunch of Marines invading a giant Eye seemed exciting…until she was the Marine doing it.
“This place has a breathable atmosphere,” Kathryn said, surprise evident in her tone. She looked up at Nolan, mostly avoiding eye contact with the rest of the squad.
Hannan couldn’t blame her. Kathryn knew they didn’t trust her, and she knew they were right not to.
Hannan was still trying to get a handle on the woman. On the one hand, there was the natural antagonism from the time when Kathryn had been an enemy. She’d screw
ed them more than once, and Nolan had usually gotten caught in the crossfire. Hannan was more than a little overprotective of the captain; she knew that. He was like the smart little brother she had to keep out of trouble now and again.
On the other hand, Kathryn was clearly competent. Not just at the field agent crap OFI operatives were supposed to know, but she was the kind of canny fighter you wanted at your back when you were in the thick of things. She took orders well, but also had the initiative to make smart calls when it made sense to do so. In short, she was officer material. And they needed officers.
“Any idea why?” Hannan asked Kathryn, more to show the woman she wasn’t being ignored than because she wanted to know the answer.
Kathryn looked up in surprise, licking her lips before she spoke. “I’m almost positive I don’t want to know the real answer. The only reason for this thing to have atmosphere is for the Eye to support some sort of life.”
“I seriously doubt it’s trying to support anything we want to meet,” the captain said, resting the barrel of his rifle against his shoulder. “Be prepared for a firefight. If I were the Eye, I’d have all sorts of nasty little minions between us and Mendez.”
The harvester touched down lightly, and the airlock doors slid open. The energy curtain was still in place, giving the surrounding landscape a blueish tinge. It didn’t look all that different than other worlds, except that the rocks were bleached white. Lena or Atrea could probably have told her why that was, but they’d been left behind at the Helios Gate.
That part made sense, but leaving Izzy behind too had been a blow. Hannan would much rather have had Izzy with them. She was a canny fighter, and the only real replacement for Mills that the squad had ever had. She was a part of their crew, Tigris or not.
The energy curtain flickered out, and Hannan’s ears popped when the pressure equalized. She blinked away the pain, trotting down the rapidly extending ramp, and reached the bleached rock about the same time as the ramp, the others following.
Hannan gestured for Annie to take point, then for Nolan and Kathryn to flank Edwards. The big bot was struggling under the bulky weight of the Primo medbed, but if Kathryn’s plan was workable that effort would more than pay for itself. In the meantime they needed to protect Edwards, though, so Hannan took up the rear, completing the box around him.
They trotted across the landscape, following a little black device the captain was carrying. He took regular readings, the Primo device chirping more loudly as they approached a small hill not far from the ship. It was flanked by far larger mountains, with nothing to distinguish it from surrounding hills. Smart. The first line of defense was obscurity, and the Void Wraith had clearly leveraged that here.
The gravity was considerably lighter than Earth, and since they weren’t burdened with bulky EVA suits they were flying across the terrain. Their little group—especially Edwards—sent up a large cloud of chalky dust. That made Hannan nervous, and she scanned the hillsides continuously for snipers. There were a lot of good spots to hide.
They pressed on, getting closer and closer to the cave. On the ridge above her, something flashed. Hannan stopped dead, snapping her rifle up. She stared down the scope, a UFC model bolted onto the Primo chassis.
“Sir, I’ve got movement on the ridge above. Little critters, I’d guess. About three feet tall. They’re hopping through the rocks up on the ridge to the south east, about two clicks out.” Hannan dropped the rifle, sprinting after the others.
“Noted,” the captain replied, the word punctuated by the sharp exhalation of a runner at full speed. “We’ll have to chance them coming after us. I’d estimate half a click to the cave.”
“Looks like there’s something organic inside, like a hive of some kind,” Kathryn panted raggedly. Hannan glanced at the woman, but other than her breathing she was keeping pace just fine. Her stamina was probably off from being so long in the freezer.
There was silence as they closed the last few hundred meters. Hannan could see the cave now, a dark impression that would be easy to miss if you weren’t looking for it. Inside, she spotted the brown crap Kathryn had mentioned. It plastered the walls, the ceiling, and the floor, completely coating the tunnel and giving off a smell that made her want to retch.
“Edwards, as soon as you reach that door, I want you to drop that medbed and light that corridor up,” Hannan ordered, giving once last glance over her shoulder. It didn’t look like the creatures had gotten any closer. “Double-time it, Marine.”
Edwards broke into a sprint, vaulting boulders the rest of them had to run around. He made incredible time, reaching the door a good fifteen seconds before the rest of the squad. He immediately activated his plasma sword, using the weapon like a cutting torch. It sank into the membrane, and he sliced downward. The material was evidently super tough, as he’d just barely finished the first cut when they arrived.
Hannan pivoted, shifting to watch their rear and flanks while Edwards finished his work. She kept her rifle at the ready, scanning the horizon for any sign of the creatures.
“Contact,” the captain yelled, firing several shots at the rocks above. A sharp squeal of pain echoed down, then the sounds of several somethings skittering through the rocks.
Hannan walked backwards away from the membrane, scanning the rocks above. She spotted one briefly, but it took cover behind a boulder before she could get a clean shot.
“Okay, Sarge, we’re good to go,” Edwards called.
Hannan glanced briefly in his direction, seeing the flap of skin-like material crumple to the ground. In its wake, it left a hole leading into a misty tunnel. It looked like a goddamned roach nest.
Then a flood of chittering insect-like creatures came swarming out. They scuttled across the ground—a foot tall, with a multitude of legs, and large stingers attached to their tails. There had to be dozens of them.
The moment the first one emerged, the creatures in the rocks above fled, scampering higher and making frightened yelps.
Great, she thought. This just keeps getting better.
“Focus your fire,” Hannan barked over the comm, aiming a controlled burst at the first bug. It went down in a spray of green ichor, the bugs around it scattering with annoyed screeches.
The captain took out another bug, then Kathryn added her fire. Annie took slow deliberate aim, then fired as well. Their combined fire wasn’t enough. The bodies of the dead disappeared under the flood of bugs behind it, dozens becoming hundreds. Their awful scuttling echoed down into the tunnel.
Then Edward stepped forward. He aimed his cannon at the bugs, and a burst of blue plasma exploded in their mist. The blast took out half a dozen, and the rock debris killed several more.
“Keep firing, Edwards,” Hannan gasped, heart pounding. She backpedaled. “Everyone else, slow walk backwards. Pick off any that get past Edwards.”
The others began backing slowly away, as Edwards fired another volley. More bugs went down, but the host had nearly reached their front line. Edwards fired again, scattering the ones around his feet. More replaced them, and began stabbing at his metal legs with their stingers. Hannan expected them to bounce off the tough metal, but to her horror the first stinger slid into Edward’s right foot. Another hit the left, and one jumped up to his arm.
“Help Edwards,” Hannan called. Shifting her aim, she picked off the bug on his arm.
The captain took another off the leg, and Kathryn got one that had reached Edwards’s shoulder. Annie kept firing at the ones making it past Edwards, trying to keep them at bay. One of the bugs dodged Annie’s shot, then bounded forward with incredible speed. It leapt at her, and Annie toppled to her back under its way. She gave a curse, trying to force the creature away.
Hannan shifted the barrel of her rifle, but she wasn’t fast enough. The stinger came down, piercing Annie’s thigh and pinning her leg to the ground. Annie gave a shriek of pain, planting her barrel against the thing’s jaw. She pulled the trigger, spraying her armor with more green ic
hor. The body twitched and flopped atop her, finally going still.
“Sarge, they’re falling back,” Edwards called, taking another potshot at the fleeing bugs. “Looks like they don’t like plasma too much.”
“It’s like they received a signal, probably from something bigger inside,” Nolan said, frowning at the bugs. He moved to Annie’s side, kneeling next to her. “Kathryn, can you take a look at this?”
Kathryn moved to Annie’s side, withdrawing a portable med kit. She set it on the rock next to her, then took a look at Annie’s leg. “I can pull it out, but there’s going to be a lot of bleeding. We’ll need to cauterize the wound, on both sides of the leg. That’s easy enough, but she won’t be able to walk for a few days.”
“That’s no big deal,” Annie said, teeth gritted in pain. She reached into her uniform, withdrawing the flask Hannan wasn’t supposed to know about, but did. She took a mouthful, grimacing as she swallowed. “Just pull it out. Just because I can’t walk don’t mean I can’t fight. You prop me up against those rocks over there, and I’ll keep those critters at bay while you’re in that damned nest. I’m happier than you know not goin’ inside.”
Kathryn yanked the stinger free. Hannan winced at Annie’s hoarse scream.
68
Temporal Cannon
“Temporal cannon ready to fire in twelve seconds,” Elvu said, eyes fixed on her lap comm.
“Lanur, open fire the instant the cannon is ready,” Manda ordered, hands still balled into fists. Her claws dug into her palms, the pain somehow grounding her.
It would come down to a single second. Lanur had found a way to pull more power from the rest of the ship, but he couldn’t promise a full two seconds. He could only promise one, and theorize that two was possible.
The Forge’s cannons continued to fire as their vessel sailed closer to the Eye. The Void Wraith were still thick in the system, most between them and the Eye. Destroying them didn’t matter, as long as they were kept at bay long enough for the main cannon to fire. It was their greatest weapon, conceived and improved within the Birthplace. They’d spent centuries making the weapon as lethal as possible.
