Stars & Empire: 10 Galactic Tales

by Jay Allan

  It all happened in a blur as the Ka’adekk tried to bring his weapon around and Crusher launched himself laterally, turning as he did so. With a deafening roar, Crusher drove a closed fist into the throat of the Ka’adekk. The results were instantaneous as the taller alien’s eyes bulged and he collapsed to the floor, holding his throat and convulsing violently.

  Jason burst from his hiding spot and covered the thirty meters in a few strides, his armored feet pounding the deck. He detached the heavy plasma rifle from his back and brought it around, activating the weapon’s targeting reticle so that it appeared in his field of vision.

  “Can you ever do anything quietly?” Jason asked angrily. “There could have been more right inside the hatch.”

  “That’s what you’re for in your fancy armor,” Crusher shrugged, weaving unsteadily as he bent down to grab the still-twitching guard and drag him onto the ship. Jason took a quick look around to see if they had been observed before following Crusher into the ship and closing the gangway’s outer hatch.

  Crusher had dragged the now-still body of the Ka’adekk into a shallow alcove off the side of the main hatch entrance and propped him up into a sitting position, kicking his legs out of view. Jason had been with the big warrior for some years, but the incredible strength and ferocity he possessed still amazed him most of the time. Other times it just plain frightened him.

  “Sa’aradol,” the intercom speaker crackled to life next to Jason’s head. “We’re departing in ten seta-cycles. Do not make one of us come down there and show you your duties again.” The speaker clicked off without asking for a response.

  “Guess our guy was low-man on the totem pole,” Jason said.

  “What the hell does that even mean?” Crusher asked, sitting down and holding his head. His metabolism coupled with the recent action had jump-started the first twinges of what promised to be a four-alarm hangover.

  “It means I’m sure his duties were to secure the ship for departure,” Jason said, searching around for a control panel. “Let’s seal the hatch up and decouple the gangway clamps.”

  “Go right ahead,” Crusher said disinterestedly.

  Jason navigated through a few menus on the panel before finding and executing the right commands. The Ka’adekk species didn’t build its own ships, as engineering wasn’t their strong suit. Instead, they retrofitted existing, discarded ships to suit their needs. The ship they were on looked to be an old military cruiser that was more than a few decades out of date and well past due for a depot-level overhaul. The main hatch was in the blunted prow of the vessel and it sported a set of plasma cannons and missile tubes on either side that were obviously added much later.

  “Let’s try and—” Jason was cut off by a series of loud clangs and the deck lurching under their feet. The omnipresent hum began to build from background noise to a strong, thrumming vibration that rattled the deck and bulkheads. “We’re underway.”

  “Either that or this piece of shit is coming apart in the dock,” Crusher said. “So now we have a bit of an issue … this has turned from a simple rescue to a full incursion in which we need to capture the ship.”

  “It would appear so,” Jason agreed. “I left a message on the Phoenix for the rest of the crew. If we can get to a com station, we can give them a transponder lock so they can find us. Even with the time it will take Twingo to effect repairs, she’ll have no trouble catching up with this crate.”

  “Let’s worry about one thing at a time,” Crusher said, standing up and walking over to the dead Ka’adekk to relieve him of his weapons. “Are you kidding me … a laser carbine? Who the hell uses these things?”

  “These guys are on the trailing edge of technology,” Jason shrugged. “What did you expect?”

  “Let’s just get to it,” Crusher grumbled. “Try and find out where the prisoners are being stored. We’ll secure them first and then make our way to the bridge.” Jason walked over and began scrolling through the menus until he found what looked to be a section of detention cells that were on the lowermost deck of the ship.

  “I think I’ve got it,” Jason said. “No information on guard postings or automated defense systems, though.”

  They jogged from the main hatchway to a set of four lifts, climbed in an open car, and keyed in the lowest deck. The lift lurched before taking them down to the lower decks, clanging loudly as it passed the other decks on the way down. When the lift finally came to a stop, they were unprepared for what they’d find. The smell of the detention level assaulted them before the doors had even fully opened.

  The corridor they found themselves in was dimly lit with only a few flickering lamps along the bulkheads to illuminate the passage. But the only thing Jason could concentrate on was that smell: a horrific miasma of dozens of beings from as many species living in cramped quarters in fear and without suitable sanitation. He immediately deployed his helmet and let his armor scrub out the air before reaching his nose.

  “There are a few times I can see the benefit of that contraption,” Crusher said, his voice making it obvious he was trying very hard to keep his stomach contents where they were. They swiftly moved away from the lifts and down the trash-strewn corridor that led to the cellblock. They rounded a forty-five-degree bend and followed the corridor toward the port side of the ship when they ran into their first resistance. A single Ka’adekk guard was standing near an armored sally port looking bored, so bored that his weapon was propped against the wall on the opposite side he was standing on as he peered into whatever was beyond the door.

  Jason brought his plasma rifle up, the targeting reticle automatically appearing in his field of vision, and fired a single shot from the hip. The blast took the Ka’adekk square in the chest and sent him flying against the wall, his armor breastplate singed and smoking.

  “You missed. That wasn’t a kill shot,” Crusher remarked from behind him.

  “No, I didn’t miss. I want him alive,” Jason said, covering the distance quickly to where the guard seemed to be trying to pull out a com unit of some type from a pocket in his leggings. Jason reared up and brought his armored foot down on the hand, hearing all of the bones crunch as thousands of pounds of pressure flattened the appendage. The Ka’adekk sucked in a breath, preparing to let out a scream of agony when Jason’s armored gauntlet snaked out, fast as lightning, and grabbed the taller alien by the throat and squeezed. Instead of a bellow of rage and pain, all that came out was a wheezing cry, and barely any air could escape past the armor’s grip. “Open the door,” Jason said simply, speaking in Jenovian Standard.

  “It’s not locked from this side,” the Ka’adekk struggled to get out. Jason stood and raised the alien up to prop him against the wall, his hand still on the other’s throat. He looked down at the ruined hand he’d stomped and grimaced; the wound was horrific and there was simply no way the hand would be able to be repaired. It didn’t matter … the Ka’adekk didn’t have much more in the way of life expectancy.

  “Crusher, try and open it,” Jason said, nodding toward the door.

  “This will do you no good,” the Ka’adekk hissed. “You’ll never make it off this ship alive.”

  “Door opens,” Crusher said as the heavy armored door rumbled to the side, revealing another darkened corridor beyond.

  “Looks like you won’t either,” Jason said to the alien still in his grasp. He pushed the Ka’adekk up and released his grip on the throat. Before the alien could react, Jason drew back and slammed his closed fist into the breastplate with all the force the armor could muster. The breastplate, more ceremonial than functional, collapsed under such tremendous force and the organs underneath fared no better. The Ka’adekk collapsed, ejecting a gout of blood from his mouth before his lifeless body hit the deck.

  “You couldn’t have just shot him?” Crusher asked in disgust. Jason turned and saw that his friend was wiping blood off his left arm and thigh. “I really should have just kept walking when I saw you in that passageway.” Before Jason coul
d answer, they felt the deck rumble and there was a strange, disorienting moment when it seemed the artificial gravity had gone screwy.

  “They’ve just jumped to slip-space,” Jason said. “That means they likely still don’t know we’re on board.”

  “So … have you given any thought to what we’re going to do once we free this human woman?” Crusher asked seriously. It seemed the effects of the alcohol had almost completely worn off, and now that the excitement of the initial boarding was over the big warrior was beginning to realize the precarious position they’d gotten themselves into.

  “I’m hoping that we can drop the ship out of slip-space without destroying it and then the guys can come pick us up,” Jason shrugged. “We will likely have to fight our way down to Engineering and then to a hangar bay. We could even steal one of their runabouts if worst comes to worst.”

  “In other words, this is even more poorly planned than most of our ops, which is saying a lot.”

  “Look, we’re already here,” Jason said, heading off the argument. “Let’s just get in there, spring the woman, and figure out how to get off this thing.”

  As soon as they walked through the security gate their mood darkened. Lining both sides of the filthy walkway beyond were cages that stretched well past what they could see in the dim light. Moaning, cries of anguish, and desperate pleas assaulted their ears once the occupants of the cells detected someone coming through the gate.

  “Prop that door open,” Jason said. “As a matter of fact, stay here and hold this position. I’ll search the cages.” He handed Crusher the heavy plasma rifle, drew his sidearm, and began his trip down the walkway. He switched his helmet’s sensors to low-light amplification with a false-color overlay so he could peer all the way into the backs of the cells. Not all of them were occupied, but in every single one that was, at least several forlorn faces peered out at him. They were too fearful to address him directly, but each pleaded silently with their eyes as he passed.

  Jason’s blood began to boil the deeper into the ship he went. This was straight out of his worst nightmares. He struggled to maintain his focus and keep searching for the human woman. Years of living in space as a mercenary, but really more a vigilante, had taught him a hard lesson: he could not save the galaxy by himself. He could try his best to save as many as possible, but he had to prioritize.

  He found her alone in a cell that was isolated by empty cells on either side of it. She was lying on the floor, motionless. Instead of wasting time trying to key open the door, he commanded the actuators in his armor to full power and ripped the sliding cage door from its track. The moment he did, red strobes lit up along the corridor and a strident klaxon began wailing an alarm. Ignoring the commotion, he rushed into the cell and retracted his helmet. When he rolled her over, he saw she was lying in an expanding pool of blood.

  “It’s you,” she said in heavily accented English. “I thought I imagined you.” She reached up and brushed his cheek, leaving a bloody streak from her fingers. She smiled faintly before the spark faded from her eyes and her head drooped to the side. Jason knew she was dead even without his armor’s sensors letting him know her vitals had flat-lined.

  He twisted and popped off his right gauntlet so he could gently reach over and close her eyes. As he reattached the bit of armor, he looked around and saw a piece of the cell bracing had been broken and bent inward. It also had blood on it. She had decided to end her life on her own terms rather than let the Ka’adekk sell her, or worse.

  “I didn’t even know your name,” he said softly before standing up. A blast from up near the security gateway, accompanied by a challenging roar from Crusher, shook him out of his reverie. He deployed his helmet and turned to race back along the walkway.

  Crusher was ducked down behind the thick bulkhead of the main gateway, reaching around with the plasma rifle and keeping an unknown number of Ka’adekks at bay. Every few shots Jason would hear the howl of one of them as Crusher got in a lucky shot. As they’d noticed before, the Ka’adekks were using relatively primitive laser rifles that couldn’t do any real damage to someone wearing armor unless they maintained contact for more than a second. But Crusher wasn’t wearing armor and the lasers would cut his flesh away like a scalpel.

  Ignoring his friend’s shout, Jason dove through the sally port at a full sprint, rolling in midair and landing with a thud in the middle of half a dozen shocked Ka’adekks. He wasted no time, coming to his feet and lashing out with an overhand blow at the nearest Ka’adekk. His armored fist slammed into the alien’s forehead with enough force to break bone and render him unconscious, if not dead. Warnings lit up on his displays as sporadic laser fire began to rake across his armor, heating it in places. But he wouldn’t stay still long enough for them to focus their fire. He launched himself into a group of three and brought his sidearm around, killing two before the third was able to loop his weapon around Jason’s neck in an improvised chokehold in order to subdue him so the others could get a clear shot.

  It was a futile gesture since the armor’s neck was in no risk of giving. Instead of trying to pull the Ka’adekk over his head to dislodge the hold, Jason slammed his armored boot down on his tormentor’s foot, crushing it flat. An earsplitting shriek filled the small space and the hold around his neck disappeared. The remaining two combat-capable Ka’adekks began to concentrate laser fire on Jason’s right hip, intent on disabling him. His armor began to discolor and he could feel the heat through the many layers as alarms squawked in his helmet.

  The laser fire disappeared as two plasma bolts roared from the sally port and dropped both remaining Ka’adekks. Crusher strolled into the room as Jason turned and grabbed the Ka’adekk with the flattened foot.

  “How many more of your scumbags are on this ship?”

  “Kill me!” the Ka’adekk wailed, obviously in immense pain. Jason looked down and saw he’d also taken some friendly fire from his mates. The laser fire had crisscrossed over his breastplate and left smoking, smoldering wreckage behind.

  “Maybe,” Jason said. “How many?”

  “Thirteen! Please!”

  “Not exactly warriors, are they?” Jason remarked.

  “Warriors wouldn’t have a cargo hold full of slaves they’d abducted off poor worlds,” Crusher snorted. “Just kill him … I grow tired of his cowardly whining.” Jason shrugged and fired his blaster into the Ka’adekk’s face at close range.

  “Let’s take the bridge and try to get a hold of the guys,” Jason said.

  “I’ve been thinking—” Crusher began.

  “Uh oh.”

  “—if we can find a light freighter in the hangar bay we might be able to put all the prisoners on it and send them on their way back to Deshja. At that point, they’d be refugees and the local government would see about either housing them or getting them back home.”

  “There is a certain symmetry to it,” Jason said, thinking back to the time, many years ago, when they’d freed a ship full of prisoners and sent them on their way. “Let’s secure the ship first, then worry about that.”

  The fighting through the rest of the ship was fierce, but inevitable. Ka’adekks were thugs and bullies; they picked weak targets and, despite their blustering, never picked a fight with someone who could hit back. As such, they were completely unprepared for the level of violence a fully armored, enraged human and a mildly hungover Galvetic warrior were able to bring to bear.

  They were able to capture the bridge with one final surge and went about trying to figure the controls out. Thankfully, Jason’s neural implant was able to translate nearly all of the control nomenclature since it wasn’t actually a Ka’adekk ship and they’d never bothered to re-label everything. From what he could tell, the ship was operated almost exclusively using the automation. The Ka’adekk crew simply punched a course in and let the computer do everything.

  They brought the ship out of slip-space and Jason began trying to reach the Phoenix on the slip-space com system while Crusher w
ent back down to the prison deck to begin releasing the prisoners and to see if they had any pilots in the group. For as big as the ship was, there weren’t all that many of them in the lower hold. From what Jason could tell, it was no more than sixty-two, minus one suicide. He gritted his teeth and put the human woman out of his head, concentrating on what he was doing and pulling as much information as he could out of the ship’s computer: destination, expected arrival time, anything that would help him out. He intended to exact some measure of revenge for what these Ka’adekks had done, and would continue to do unless stopped.

  -o0o-

  “That’s the last of them,” Twingo said as the transport cleared the electrostatic shield. “Three micro freighters loaded with slaves-turned-political-refugees.” The Phoenix was now the only ship sitting in the hangar bay.

  “You guys made good time getting here,” Jason remarked.

  “Not especially,” the blue-skinned engineer said. “This hulk isn’t all that fast. We caught you in less than five hours without even pushing the engines too hard. So … you’re sure you want to see this all the way through?”

  “Wouldn’t you?”

  “I’m a bit more pragmatic than you are, Captain,” Twingo answered. “I’ve never thought to declare war on an entire species over a single transgression, despite how horrific it was.”

  “Not the whole species,” Jason said. “These were independent operators. I’m not attacking the Ka’adekk homeworld, just the base of operations for this particular group.”

  “Which would be where?”

  “Kessmet.”

  -o0o-

  Seven hours later the Phoenix burst into real-space at the edge of the Kessmet System. Jason steered the ship toward the only habitable planet that orbited Kessmet Prime and throttled up to high-subluminal speeds, wanting to be in place and waiting when the party kicked off.