Mason took out a mini-grappling hook launcher from his weapons belt, aimed and fired it at the hull handle nearest the large engineering access hatch, on the main hub high above him. The small hook found its mark. Mason retracted the grappling hook slowly until it lodged inside the handle, wound the launcher through his weapons belt loops, and used the line to steady his long climb up the multi-storied hub. A laser blast pinged off the hull handle right in front of his hand; a near miss, startling him. Mason climbed as fast as he could.
His hand found the last hull handle before the engineering air lock hatch. Had they detected him? He would find out soon enough. Using both hands, he turned the hatch wheel, opening the air lock. Mason raised the hatch cover, threw the small duffle and backpack inside, and then dove inside the air lock, and retracted his grappling line. Pulling the hatch cover closed, he tightened the wheel until the light came on, and he punched it, feeling the pressurization begin. He kept his helmet on, but raised his visor when the air lock was fully pressurized.
Mason checked for signs of any traitors as he opened the side airlock slowly. No traitors, no security droids; all clear. He removed his bulky space suit gloves, pulled his scanner out of his weapons belt and swept the hall. All clear. He carefully proceeded down the hall towards engineering, and swept both ends of the intersecting corridors; all clear, again. He removed his space suit at this point, and tucked it into a recessed wall area. He put his weapons belt and side arm around his waist, and listened carefully. No noise whatsoever; very strange. There should be twenty engineers working on the other side of that wall, but it was quiet; too quiet.
After he was out of the bulky space suit and re-armed in full combat gear, Mason put on the backpack. He removed the short-nosed laser rifle from the duffle and swung it over his left shoulder. He continued down the hall, and scanned the engineering deck prior to entering; only six men inside, clustered around the central computer control, watching the battle.
Mason put on his thin gas mask, took out four stun gas canisters, pulled their seals and hurled them inside, quickly running along the wall crouched. The men began choking and were easy pickings. He stunned them with his laser rifle, and locked the main engineering door. Too easy. Way too easy. He cuffed and restrained the engineering officers, and removed his mask.
Taking over the main computer was no problem. He began shutting down the SS4 defensive weapons arrays. The hair on the back of his neck went straight up, as a ship-wide announcement blasted, “Notice to all fighters and invaders. We hold your Inspector General, his team, and three members of your High Council. Abort this attack immediately, or they will die!” The announcement was ship-wide. Mason heard it on his comm link, so the fighter squadrons could hear, too. He requested back-up from Earth Command, without response.
How did they get three High Councilmen? Was Li Yun one of them? While he waited for his orders, he meditated, and centered himself again. As if hit by a bolt of lightning, he saw the path he must take with clarity.
“Mason to Colonel Swenson. Vector E accomplished. Lone Wolf requesting back-up. Did you hear the announcement, Colonel?”
“Yes. We have backed off the attack and are holding for further orders, Mason,” she said quietly. “What is your position?”
“I have disabled SS4’s defensive weapons array. I am now disabling their escape pods jettison system, and locking down all shuttle controls on my command codes. I know where the High Councilmen are being held, and the Inspectors General. Requesting permission to proceed with their rescue.” Mason spoke calmly and confidently to her.
“Do you have engineering control, Mason?” She was nearly whispering to him.
“Affirmative. Six engineers, and they are stunned, cuffed, and restrained,” he answered.
“Gas them again, and proceed with your rescue attempt. We are holding here. Swenson out.” She again requested to send in assistance for Mason; her repeated requests were denied.
Mason did as she ordered, tossing two more canisters into engineering as he left. How the path was so clear in his mind was something he would question later. Why was no one sent to assist him? He ran to the lift, and rode one floor below the bridge. His intuition told him to turn right, but he scanned first; all clear.
Running down the corridor as lightly as he could, he stopped at the first voices he heard; heavy arguing over what steps to take next. The element of surprise had to be his best weapon now. He glanced at the corridor walls, and found an access panel. He crouched low, and moved to the panel, opened it quietly, and killed all the lighting on the floor. More voices, shouting, scurrying about. Mason stood up, took four flasher sets, and tiptoed towards the voices. It was the general assembly. His bionic eyes saw the carnage. Row upon row of nurse droids, delivering the DNA altering drugs to dozens of men and women, sedated and restrained on their tables; the SS4 officers and crewmen.
He tossed the four flasher sets inside towards the arguing traitors, kneeled in firing position, and activated the flashers. The bright flashes temporarily blinded the security gunmen inside. They fired their laser rifles in all directions in the dark, and one blast hit Mason on his head; but Mason quickly took out the four traitors. Thank God for his helmet. He ran up and down the rows of tables, and found the three High Councilmen. Their nurse droids were disabled by Mason, and their IV’s pulled out. At the back were four men in class A’s, not the usual utility uniforms the ship’s officers wore. They must be the Inspectors General. He disabled their nurse droids, and unhooked their IV’s. How was he going to get seven sedated people out of there?
Seven sedated people. How to… he saw an empty cargo locker in the back of the room, marked for nurse droids storage. He ran to get it, and put each uniformed officer and the two male High Councilmen inside it standing up, along with his duffle bag. He put High Councilwoman Li Yun over his shoulder, and wheeled the locker out quickly. The docking stations were several floors down, forcing him to take the lift.
Rounding the corner toward the lifts, Mason stopped; a nauseating smell was emanating from the right. He scanned the right corridor, but no life forms registered. He quietly opened the door marked “Storage Room B13,” and immediately put his hand to his mouth. Full body bags were stacked floor to ceiling, and more thrown haphazardly on the floor. The putrid puddle of fluids pooled on the floor meant some of the bags were leaking. Mason tried to count the number of body bags, but the disgusting smell overwhelmed his bionic nose, and he vomited violently. Those bodies must be the officers and crew whose bodies rejected the alien DNA altering drugs. He closed the door and pushed the cargo locker to the lifts.
He quickly got everyone inside the lift and punched the button for the docking station. Mason put breathers in each man’s mouth inside the cargo locker, and shut the door. He could keep them inside only so long, even with the breathers; they would need more air. But the hair on his neck told him he was about to find the traitors at the main docking station, and he was right. His scanner showed fifty or more armed traitors in position, weapons aimed at the docking airlocks. He whispered that intelligence to Colonel Swenson, and carefully laid Li Yun on the floor next to the cargo locker. It was time for him to go it alone.
Mason rummaged through the duffle bag and smiled. Poison gas. In delayed-deployment canisters, no less. He put a disposable gas mask on Li Yun, then himself. He put on the plasma cloak, swirling the tricky, long garment over himself and his gear, crouched, and slowly moved inside. He stationed himself along the wall behind a workstation, blending into the workstation like paint. The traitors were holding in firing position, awaiting the invading forces. Mason pulled the pins on all twenty-four poison gas canisters, shook off the cloak and hurled them as fast as he could, staggering the throwing pattern to catch those running. Then he tossed in a few incendiaries, just for fun. A laser fire battle erupted, traitors firing at the workstation and the entry way, and he was hit several times, but not severely. One by one, the traitors fell, their hands around their noses and mou
ths; but it was too late. Mason fired his laser rifle into the choking crowd until all were silent.
As the yellow smoke cleared, he put Li Yun on his shoulder and pushed the cargo locker as fast as he could through the fallen traitors in the docking area. Mason stopped at #7 where his fighter was docked. He stormed the airlock and got them all inside, pressurizing the adjacent chamber. He extended the walkway towards the side hatch and called to his ship from his wrist comm link, giving his command codes. He ran inside, sat Li Yun in the co-pilot’s seat, cabled the cargo locker, and pulled it up the hatch. He lifted off, and called Colonel Swenson.
“Major Mason here, Colonel Swenson, with three High Councilmen, and four senior officers in class A’s. Not certain if they are the Inspectors General. Lifting off now.”
“Well, who else would wear class A’s on a damned space station, Mason? Go to the rendezvous point, and hold,” Swenson bellowed. It was a miracle he survived.
Mason quickly flew to the rendezvous point, and hovered. He unbuckled, and removed each man from the cargo locker, took out their breather, and buckled them into seats. He put High Councilman Arepas next to him in the jump seat. No further instructions had been issued from Earth Command. He returned to the pilot’s seat and waited. Li Yun began to roll her head. Mason gave her water, told her where she was, and how she was brought there.
“You are now my Prime Marine. You will take us to Mars Colony III at once, Major Mason,” she said weakly.
“Aye-aye, Chief High Councilwoman,” Mason acknowledged. “Major Mason to Colonel Swenson. We are proceeding to Mars Colony III at once.”
“Like hell you are, Mason. You will hold!” Swenson barked.
“We will proceed to Mars Colony III on my authority,” Li Yun said to Colonel Swenson.
“Affirmative, Chief High Councilwoman. Proceed to Colony III, Mason. I’m sending Captain Stone as your wingman. Hyper-space 6,” she ordered. Colonel Swenson was formerly a High Council Chief Prime Marine, and recognized Li Yun’s face in the vid comm link.
Mason flew straight to Mars. The four senior officers in class A’s were indeed the Inspectors General sent from the Joint Chiefs. The three High Councilmen accompanied them, expecting the traitors to surrender to them, and the two fighters. They did not know Sukesh and the ONE as Mason did. Sukesh respected only great power, advanced knowledge, and vast sums of wealth. The High Councilmen’s capture made Sukesh more worthy to the ONE.
Colonel Swenson informed Earth Command of Mason’s amazing rescue of the General Inspection Team and three High Councilmen. The Prime Marine squadron was then ordered to dock and board SS4. Upon their arrival, they discovered Mason had singlehandedly either killed or sedated all traitors on the station, all very young officers and crewmen. The remaining 73 officers and crew were unconscious and undergoing DNA alteration in the general assembly hall. Another 80 or so body bags lie in Storage Room B13. Swenson was in awe of Mason’s skill and proficiency, and reported her findings directly to Commandant Richardson. He was unaware of Mason’s 'Vector E, Lone Wolf' orders to climb the outer hull and take engineering, and was flabbergasted she had been repeatedly ordered to send no support to Mason. Colonel Swenson wondered who was really giving the orders at Earth Command.
Mason’s head wound finally stopped bleeding. The helmet saved his life, but he still had a deep gash needing tending to sooner rather than later. All he could do was douse the wound with antibacterial gel. He tried to wrap it, but gave up. He gave his passengers all the water and emergency food pouches he carried on board, saving nothing but a bottle of water and a few Cokes for himself.
Mason landed his fighter on Colony III base, with Captain Stone landing on the adjacent site. He thought about the clear path to the general assembly. How did he see it? Can’t think about that now; concentrate, he ordered himself.
XXX
The Inspectors General and High Councilmen were taken away in unmarked ambulances at the Mars Colony III base. Mason was hustled into a debriefing room, where a corpsman hurriedly slapped a big bandage on his head wound. He sat in the room alone, waiting for the third degree. He thought again about the clear, brightly-lit path.
The path only made sense if you believed in telecommunication, telepathy, and intuition, Mason realized. Whether or not Li Yun consciously knew he was her rescuer before he arrived, he tapped into her call for help and followed the call directly to her. Mason knew the de-briefers would roll their eyes at his explanation. But it was the honest truth.
His de-briefer was Colonel Tyrone. “A clear path, you say, Mason?” The Colonel asked.
“I felt them, and saw the path in my mind. I know what it sounds like, Colonel. But it’s the truth, and it led me to their general assembly hall where the SS4 officers and crew were being altered, along with the Inspectors General and three High Councilmen,” Mason explained.
“There will be more inquiries about this, Mason, as I’m sure you know,” Tyrone offered.
Mason nodded. “The truth is the truth, sir. Has SS4 been secured?”
“Yes. The battle cruiser is mopping up now, taking all the credit, as usual,” he said.
“May I now contact Admiral Mason, sir? I have not been able to speak with her at all,” Mason pleaded.
“She is already on her way, Mason. So is Admiral Hanson. Let’s get that head wound properly treated before your Admirals show up and chew my ass,” he laughed. His comm link beeped. “Tyrone here. Yes. Understood. As you order, Madame Chief High Councilwoman.” He looked at Mason. “She wants to see you—right now. Let’s go, Mason.”
Colonel Tyrone led Mason to the base hospital’s secured, private floors, and ripped off the flopping bandage on his head prior to entering the room. Chief High Councilwoman Li Yun was sitting in the chair next to an unused hospital bed. Mason entered and saluted her, “Madam Chief High Councilwoman.”
“You may call me Madam Li Yun, Prime Marine Mason. I have instructed the Admirals to be brought here, to expedite matters. We shall wait for them.” She looked exhausted. Mason stood at attention, and waited.
Colonel Tyrone returned with Admiral Mason and Admiral Hanson, both women excited to see him. Admiral Mason smiled broadly at him; the excitement of seeing her husband alive showed in her eyes.
Li Yun spoke, “Please enter. I apologize for the lack of formality in these surroundings, but necessity dictates it. Major Mason has rescued the High Councilmen from the control of the ONE; Sukesh, in fact. We have begun transformation. Admiral Mason: you will personally oversee our re-engineering to 100% human genome, beginning tomorrow.”
“I am honored, Chief High Councilwoman Li Yun,” she answered, bowing her head.
“Admiral Hanson: you will not like what I am to say to you, but I assure you, it is necessary. You will discharge Major Mason from his assignment as Mars X Executive Officer, and release him from his sworn oath to you as your Prime Marine.” She leaned back. “I have accelerated his promotion as Special Liaison to the High Council. He carried me through Space Station 4, while also moving six others, the two other High Councilmen and four Inspectors General. He carried me to safety, and brought me here, as he also carried you to escape and safety, not so long ago. He did so under his own volition, while the Joint Chiefs deliberated our fates,” she said bitterly. “Mason is now ours. I have already appointed him as my Prime Marine. I will swear him to his oath, upon your release.”
“I understand, Chief High Councilwoman. I now release you from your sworn oath to me, Prime Marine Mason,” Admiral Hanson said reluctantly, looking directly at Mason.
“Thank you, Admiral Hanson. Prime Marine Major John Mason, as is your custom, please kneel.” Mason knelt before her. “Do you swear to protect us from all harm, from within and without, at all costs, even with your own life?”
“I so swear, Madam Li Yun,” Mason swore, his head fully bowed.
She touched his head. “Then rise, Prime Marine Major John Mason. You are to report to me tomorrow with Admiral Mason. Your eve
ning is your own.”
Colonel Tyrone led Mason and the Admirals out of the highly secure private area of the base hospital. “Maybe you’re off the hook for those inquiries after all, Mason,” Colonel Tyrone said with a belly laugh. “Remember to upgrade your uniform. You’ll need class A Special Duty, the whole nine yards, aglets and all. Order a mess dress Special Duty, as well. You’ll have to have both with you at all times, wherever you are,” Colonel Tyrone ordered.
The Colonel looked at Admiral Hanson and offered, “May I buy everyone a drink? I think we could all use one right about now.”
They got into his shuttle, Mason and Admiral Mason in the back, and left. He was dying to hold his wife, but dare not touch her. “Did you swear your oath to both Captains on the Hesperia, John?” Admiral Mason quietly asked.
“Yes, both to Captain Kouras and Captain Baines, but the ship oath includes the command officers and command medical officers, too. I also swore my oath to Admiral Hanson twice; on the Esmeralda, and on Mars X.” He noticed Admiral Hanson staring out the right window, looking dejected.
“I have not witnessed that oath before,” she commented, looking at her husband.
“It’s usually private, Admiral Mason. Madam Li Yun was making a statement for all present to hear,” he answered, looking straight ahead.
They arrived at the Officers’ Club, where the four of them went in for drinks. “I’m starving. Let’s eat. Losing my Prime Marine has upset my stomach,” Admiral Hanson admitted, not looking at Mason.
Colonel Tyrone ordered drinks for everyone, and menus. “Bourbon all around, I think,” he said to the waiter.
“Woodford for me, please,” Admiral Mason asked.
“Me too,” Mason added.
“Just bring a new bottle to the table, dammit,” Admiral Hanson said, “and four glasses with ice.” She was pouting. The waiter placed a brand new bottle of Woodford Reserve on the table, with four glasses filled with ice. Admiral Hanson filled her glass full, and passed the bottle to Admiral Mason.
Vengeance of Sukesh: John Mason (Legend of John Mason) Page 38
