Theocracy: Book 1.

by Doug Dandridge

  “No,” yelled Sean, struggling with his captors.

  The man flashed a smile, then looked back down at Patrick. “You’re brothers,” said the man, the smile broadening. “Then of course he must be spared.” The big man released the hold on Patrick’s hair, then kicked him in the chest. Patrick fell over, holding back a scream as he hit the ground and lay there, looking up at his killer.

  “Take him to the ship,” said the big man, and the armored men pulled Sean away. Sean screamed and yelled and tried to fight, but they handled him like a child. The big man looked over at the two demons that were standing with him. “When we have left, kill him. And bring me his sword and shield. They are something we shouldn’t leave in the hands of children.”

  With that the big man turned away, leaving the demons to their kill. Saliva slathered down their sharp teeth and dropped to the ground. Patrick looked up at the demons, sweat beading on his brow. He hoped that they would kill him soon, before the pain completely unmanned him. He looked down at his wound, at the loops of intestines that had slipped between his hands. In his experience this was not a wound most survived. He might survive, due to his command of the Fae to rally his body’s defenses. But then again, he might not, and the demons would make sure of that. “Why don’t you just kill me,” he croaked, as the whining sounds of the ships leaving the ground filled the background.

  That must have been the signal. One of the demons brought up a large hand tipped by black claws. It reached down, a grin on its nightmarish face, moving the claws toward the Monk’s throat.

  Something black and fury came flying out of nowhere, striking the reaching forearm of the demon with its own smaller front claws. The demon swatted at it with its other hand, missing by bare inches as the animal vaulted into the air. It twisted during its leap and landed on the shoulder of the second demon, sinking its claws into a gap between torso armor and head covering. The second demon struck out, catching a claw tip in the cat’s left rear leg. Then the cat was away and heading for the ground.

  By this time the first demon had grabbed it own throat with both hands. The saliva in the mouth turned to foam, the eyes rolled up in the head, and the demon fell over to its side. There it lay, twitching as it struggled for breath. The second demon drew a weapon and tried to track the cat, which ran away in a zig zag fashion. The demon seemed to have trouble seeing. It wiped its face with one hand, then dropped the pistol to the ground, following it shortly to choke out its life like the first one.

  The cat let out a meow and wandered back over to Patrick. It gave him a couple of licks on the face while he spoke to it, and it pushed a claw into his neck. Blackness enclosed Patrick, and he hoped that he would be reborn to a high caste as consciousness fled.

  Chapter Five

  Derrick kept the Manta low and slow as he cruised toward the battlefield. Alyssa sat in the co-command chair, in constant contact with Shadow, monitoring the target. She still couldn’t believe that the Theocrat force had taken the wrong one. From what she knew of Colonel Nathan Chung, he was a very competent agent. But even the most competent agent depended on good intelligence, and on a primitive planet like Vasus that was often hard to develop.

  Unless we have the wrong target, she thought, wondering again if she should have risked a missile on the shuttle that was carrying the native into orbit. But no, the odds were with her in this one. A total of eight people at the monastery had either seen Patrick open the door to the Vault of the Ancients, or had known someone who had. Sean O’Hara had been there, but it had not been his hand that touched the door of ancient metal, the door that retracted into the wall to reveal the wonders within. And no one at the monastery, which had been built on the ruins of a wealthy citizen’s house from the time of the old Empire, knew of the other secrets that lay beneath the heavy stone structure.

  “Stay with him, boy,” she whispered as she looked through the eyes of Shadow. “You make sure he’s still there when we arrive.”

  “How is he doing?” asked Derrick, looking up from his holographic control board, where his fingers were still touching glowing boxes in the air.

  “How would you be doing with your guts spilled out?” she asked, feeling her irritation growing with each moment. “He’s hanging in there,” she said in a quieter voice, realizing that she didn’t need to take it out on her partner. “I wish we could get there a little quicker.”

  “Depends on if you want to get there at all,” said Derrick, looking straight ahead. “But I’ll see what I can do.”

  Alyssa was pushed back a little further into her chair as the pilot increased thrust. It would make them a little easier to spot, despite the stealth systems they were employing. Republic tech was a bit better than the tech of the Theocracy, the result of a free society having more thinking minds to work on any problem. But more thrust meant more noise and more heat. The noise couldn’t be picked up from space, but any ground observer with a com link could report them. The heat could be picked up, if a sensitive enough sensor was pointed their way at the right time. She was counting on it not being pointed their way.

  “They’re hitting the monastery,” she said as a pop up screen showed the take from a floating spy eye over the island containing the structure. Assault shuttles were landing, while gunships circled overhead, sending rockets or streams of pellets into the grounds below. She had to hand it to the monks. They were fighting back, not running from what to them must seem demons from the nether regions.

  And those demons, men in powered armor assault suits, and Maurids in their body armor, were tearing apart the monks and the secular guards. It was difficult to attack troops with high velocity automatic weapons, when all you have are swords, spears, bows and some antiquated firearms. The almost thousand year difference between them meant the monks died without taking even one of the invaders with them.

  “They’re in,” said Alyssa, her voice dispassionate even though inside she was cursing and railing at the Theocrat forces for their profligate waste of life. She watched as a figure that had to be Chung walked from a shuttle toward the stone building, the local he had commandeered following between to Maurids. Then the view went blank like a switch had been turned off.

  “They took out the spy eye,” she said, looking over at Derrick. “Last shot was them taking the local into the monastery. They’re going to know soon that they snagged the wrong man.”

  “Or the right man,” said Derrick with a grimace. “We’re coming up on the valley.”

  “Get us down fast,” said Alyssa, thinking about the spy eye they had lost. The enemy would be looking for them, and once they found out they had the wrong guy, the battlefield would be a prime target.

  * * *

  Patrick had regained consciousness when the angel walked into view. He couldn’t think of what else to call her. In his present state of mind he really couldn’t think very well at all. With that tanned skin, black eyes and a tangle of black curls on her head, he thought she was beautiful, and like nothing else he had ever seen. A man was with her, as dark as the servants of the Hyperboreans. Both wore strange clothing, and had weapons dangling in holsters from their belts.

  He had a moment of panicked thought that they might be associated with the demons. Until the large cat jumped into her arms and rumbled with a deep purr. The angel ran a hand through the animal’s coat as she looked down on Patrick, a concerned look on her face.

  “We need to get him into a tank, now,” she said, looking over at the dark skinned man.

  “On it,” he said, bending down and bringing a strange looking object to the Monk’s neck.

  Patrick tried to struggle away for a moment, but the man said some soothing words in a low voice, then pushed the device into the monk’s neck. With that the world went black again.

  * * *

  “He’s tanked,” said Derrick over the com.

  Alyssa settled into the pilot’s seat, giving Shadow another quick pet while keeping him from jumping up.

  “Set him
for full repair and augmentation,” she said, pulling the ship into the air and flying low over the rolling hills, heading for the ocean.

  “Full augmentation?”

  “He’s a little on the puny side, growing up on this light grav world,” said Alyssa, trying to get away from the optic shadow of the area. “We might have to go into space with him. I’d prefer him being able to handle gravity like a heavy worlder.”

  “It will add another twenty hours or so to the process,” said Derrick, sounding frustrated.

  She knew what he was feeling. He wanted to be on the bridge if something went down, not in the med bay where the first indication he would have of disaster was when the ship flew apart around him.

  “I don’t think we’ll be going anywhere for a couple of days once we get back under cover,” she explained, checking the sensor reads for anything unusual. “Maybe even a couple of weeks. I think we have the time. I’d hate to regret it later for not doing the augment.”

  “Ok, doing him up,” said Derrick.

  The world seemed so peaceful, away from the battlefield, with no view into the orbitals of this world where sharks prowled. So peaceful, until it suddenly wasn’t.

  Radar picked up the KE round just before it hit. Enough time, barely, for Alyssa to move the ship out of the way. The round struck the earth to the port. A fierce explosion produced a rising mushroom cloud, and a shock wave that tried to tumble the Manta out of the sky. Alyssa fought with the controls, trying to keep the ship low to the ground without hitting that surface.

  “What’s happening?” asked Derrick as he climbed into the compartment, slid into the other seat, and started pulling up his holo control board.

  “I think they spotted us,” she replied, pulling the ship over a hilltop and down the other side, just before another KE round struck the valley they had been in. “Get on the defensive systems, while I try to get us back into the water.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” called out the other agent, his hands dancing on the control surface.

  A panel to the side sparked and Alyssa moved her hands quickly, pulling the ship over into a flip and then thrusting forward, belly to the sky.

  “That was a laser,” said Derrick, firing cloud makers into the air from the ventral portion of the ship. The small cylinders flew out and exploded into vapor, causing interference with the down firing lasers of the ships in orbit.

  Alyssa applied full power, heading for a cloud bank to her left. There was no need to try and sneak now. They had been made. Nothing to do now but run and maneuver.

  A laser struck the tail of the ship, transferring heat and force into the metal. Pieces of alloy flew off under the impact. Alyssa ducked under the cloud before the laser could burn a complete hole in the hull. She kept below that cloud as she wended her way to the water, looking for the next gap to shoot to use the next bank for cover.

  “Shit,” said Derrick as an alarm started blaring in the room. Red lights began flashing on the holo display. “We have missiles coming in from the stern.”

  Shadow, who had been bouncing around the room under the changes in direction, ran for the small cubby placed there for his protection. Alyssa glanced over at the cat, which was much more than a pet, who was truly a part of her. “You hold tight, baby,” she said, looking back at the view surrounding her.

  “I will honey,” said Derrick with a laugh. “Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. Especially when I might be scattered over the landscape any second now.”

  “Not if I can help it,” said Alyssa through clenched teeth. “Now get some of these damned missiles off of me before they make me a liar.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” said Derrick with another grin, as he manipulated the controls hanging in the air in front of him. “Pleasure to oblige.” The ship shuddered for a moment as counter missiles left the stern tubes. A screen sprung into existence between their work stations, the view split between the two missiles that were shooting toward the dozen larger missiles that were following the ship.

  The two views filled very quickly with oncoming offensive missiles streaming fire. Both views then went dead.

  “Two down,” said Derrick as the ship shook again. “Targeting missiles on the outer edge with lasers.”

  The twin screens popped into existence again. They again zeroed in on the oncoming missiles and disappeared.

  “Shit. Only got one of them.”

  “So we got nine more coming after us,” said Alyssa, juking the ship over on its side to slide quickly under the next bank of clouds. Some heat registered on the port side from a laser touch. Not enough to worry her, but letting her know they were still trying to take her out with light amp. “We’ve got a gap to get through coming up. I could use some mist cover.”

  “You got it,” said Derrick, fingers dancing in air. The ship shook as the mist dispensers rocketed into the air. They exploded overhead, just before the ship was again in the clear. Laser light shown through the water droplets, dispersed enough to minimize their effect on the Manta. A moment later another pair of counter missiles left the stern. “Got two with that one. Seven left to go.” A moment later the ship shook as the shock wave of the destroyed missiles reached it. “Got one more in sympathetic. Half gone.”

  The Mantis dove into a valley, then back up a slope. The missiles were faster and more maneuverable, but their AIs were limited.

  “The lasers got another,” said Derrick, a scowl on his face. “These last are a holy bitch.”

  “Can you take them out before they get to us?”

  “I don’t think so,” said Derrick. “They’ll be on us in less than thirty seconds, and they’re too close for counter-missiles to acquire.”

  “Just one thing to do then,” said Alyssa, reaching a hand toward her holo board. “Hang on.”

  The Manta shot forward as she hit the throttle. Gee forces pushed them back into their seats. Shadow howled for a moment, but dug his paws into the fabric of his cubby and hung on. Within seconds the Manta was hypersonic. Still not fast enough to outrun the missiles. But within seconds she was over the water.

  “Here goes everything,” said Alyssa as she pushed the nose of the craft down toward the water.

  “Are you crazy?” said Derrick through what voice he could get out over the gee forces.

  “Maybe,” she replied as she activated the emergency crash system. She looked over just before the foam engulfed her to see that Shadow’s cubby was already full. Then her vision was obscured as foam formed around her and hardened to a jell.

  The Manta hit the water hard. She had been built as a multipurpose vessel, to ply space, air and water. And she was advanced enough that she did everything well. She sliced into the liquid of the ocean like the sea creature she resembled. As soon as the sea closed around her the scramjet motors cut off and the water jet drive engaged. On autopilot she dove for the deep water, planes angled and ballast tanks filling.

  Alyssa waited for a moment trapped in the jell. There were vibrations coming through the hull that she was sure were the missiles exploding as they hit the water. There were weapons that could follow them into the water, but those missiles weren’t of that type, and she thanked God that they weren’t.

  She still felt like hell, despite the jell having absorbed most of the force of the impact. Most, but not all, and a throbbing arm told her she probably had a broken bone. Her throbbing head might have told of more serious damage, as did the heavy feeling in her chest.

  “Derrick,” she whispered as the foam dissolved away. She looked over at the cubby where Shadow lay, to see the still form of the cat in the dissolving foam. She breathed a sigh of relief when the side of the cat rose and fell. Not that she couldn’t have revived him if it came to that, but she was relieved of the decision concerning Derrick.

  The man sat in the chair, his eyes closed, his chest rising and falling in an arhythmical pattern. Flail chest, she thought at first glance. Ribs must have broken off and pierced one of his lungs. Without treatment he would die, a
nd she didn’t know how she would get him into a tank with a broken arm.

  First things first, she thought, reaching the wall of the bridge and opening the aid kit set in it. She pulled out an inflatable cast, thanking her God that the nanites were already controlling her pain. They would also heal the arm, given some time. Time that her other crewmates, with more serious injuries, might not have.

  She shrugged into the cast and hit its inflation button, waiting for a moment as the cast hardened around her arm. She tested her fingers, glad to see that they still worked. A cough tugged at her lips, then erupted, and with it a thin splash of blood. Then she knew that she would also have to get in the tanks, but still hoped that she had the time to help the others..

  First she scooped up Shadow and carried the cat from the bridge, down the short corridor to the med bay. The floor was slanted, an indication that the Manta was still diving. She had set it for automatic evasive, and the ship would dive as deep as it could go before looking for a hiding place. The reactor should have already throttled back, so the ship would release the minimum of heat into the water. When they had a thousand meters overhead, well within the limits of the ship, she would feel secure. Until then, there was nothing she could do about that problem.

  The med bay looked like someone had ransacked it, the result of the impact with the water. There were open cabinets and lockers and stuff scattered all over the place. That could be seen to later, if the maintenance robots didn’t get to it first. There were three of the large tanks lined against one wall, and a much smaller version built into the wall. She headed for that one first, her vision zoning in and out on her. Her head ached and she was sure she had some brain damage, that soft organ having hit against her skull when the ship slowed on water entry. She coughed again and felt some blood in her throat. She coughed it out and headed for the small tank, noting with satisfaction that the one their guest was in had all green lights on its panel, and indication that he was stable.