Stars & Empire: 10 Galactic Tales

by Jay Allan

  “I know,” responded Harnett, squeezing Marken’s hand. “I’ve always supported you in this and I know what you’re doing is the right thing.”

  “Tomorrow, we will know,” he replied with a sigh. His eyes looked out over the city. This would be their last night here; he just wondered what awaited them at Earth.

  -o0o—

  Marken walked through the long wide corridors of the station as if it were a normal day. His calm measured face hid the rapid beating of his heart. Behind him strolled six giants, Humans wearing their Type Three battle suits. The Humans in the suits were unarmed except for the Energy Lances hidden securely in their protective sheaths. No one gave them a second look as conscripts in battle suits were a common sight on the station. One hundred meters back, a second Kivean was leading another group of six. It was all Marken could do to keep his face straight and act as if the survival of his entire race didn’t depend on his actions over the next few minutes.

  Wade was watching his HUD closely trying to spot any conscripts in battle suits. They had passed a few, but most of them had been encased in the Type Ones, which were not a danger. Marken had assured him that only the marines in Wade’s dome had the more powerful Type Three battle suits. Wade also knew that the powerful Energy Lances they all carried would give them an advantage in close quarter combat.

  “I’m nervous,” Sergeant Stern said from her position next to Wade. “What if something goes wrong?” Looking ahead, she could see another large hatch and several humanoids stepping through it. The humanoids passed by them with scarcely a glance. Jamie felt more at ease, but she knew they were rapidly nearing their destination.

  “It won’t,” Wade assured her. “We’re almost there.” It had taken them nearly an hour to reach the Command Center located in the heart of the massive station.

  As they stepped through the last hatch, they were met by another humanoid followed by two conscripts in Type Two battle suits.

  “What are you doing here?” the man challenged as he gazed inquiringly at Marken. “No Human conscripts are allowed in this section of the station.”

  “We have been summoned by the Kleese,” Marken replied as he attempted to step around the humanoid.

  “I recall no such summons, and I just left the Command Center,” replied the humanoid, stepping in front of Marken.

  “Why else would I be here if I wasn’t summoned?” asked Marken, calmly. “If you wish you can contact the Kleese and confirm the order.”

  The humanoid turned pale at the suggestion. Every humanoid on the station went out of their way to avoid contact with any of the Kleese. “No, that’s not necessary. I’m sure they have their reasons for summoning you and the Humans; perhaps they want the Humans to be trained for guard duty at the main hatch.” With that, the humanoid stepped aside and gesturing to the two conscripts behind him, continued down the corridor.

  “That was close,” Jamie whispered as she removed her right hand from the hilt of her Energy Lance.

  “They have no reason to suspect anything,” Wade replied as he watched the two conscripts in battle suits pass through another hatch and then out of sight. “No one has ever attempted what we’re getting ready to do.”

  “That’s what worries me,” Jamie replied.

  “Let’s go,” said Marken, gesturing for the Humans to follow him. “The main hatch will be closed with two guards in front. The guards are more symbols than anything else and will be armed with light RG rifles and stunners. Once we arrive at the hatch you must take them out immediately before they can give a warning.”

  They proceeded on down the corridor and soon neared the entrance to the Command Center. Wade saw two conscripts in Type Two battle suits, one on each side of the large hatch. They turned to face Marken and Wade’s squad as soon as they detected them in the corridor.

  The plan was simple, they would act as if they were just passing through the corridor and would give no sign of stopping. Privates Dawson and Russell were bringing up the rear and as soon as they passed in front of the two conscripts, they would attack them with their Energy Lances. If everything worked as planned, the fight would be swift and deadly.

  Wade did the best he could not to glance at the two guards as they passed by them, then he heard a sudden grunting noise and the sizzling sound of Energy Lances. Whirling around, he drew his own lance only to see Private Dawson cut the second guard down. While the armor on the Type Three suits was impervious to the lances, the Type Two armor was not. The two guards were now lying on the floor with their battle suits cut completely in two.

  Marken quickly rushed to the hatch as Sergeant Perry and his squad ran up to join them. They watched as Marken entered a code on the panel at the side of the door, then the hatch slid open with scarcely a sound.

  Wade didn’t hesitate; he rushed inside followed by the rest of his marines. Scanning the room, he spotted half a dozen Kleese standing at a large communications panel with several more upon what was obviously a Command Pedestal in the center of the massive room.

  “Sergeant Perry, take the Kleese out at Communications! The rest of you are with me!”

  Wade quickly moved toward the two on the pedestal and noted that they had turned toward the disturbance at the door. Upon seeing the drawn Energy Lances, one of the Kleese raised up one of the collar activation devices, pointed it at Wade, and pressed the button. Nothing happened. Wade breathed a sigh of relief knowing he still had his head.

  “Humans, stop!” one of the Kleese spoke in a commanding voice. The other was still pointing the collar activation device at the advancing Humans and continually pressing the detonate button.

  Wade didn’t hesitate. He reached the Command Pedestal and leaping to the top, swung the lance at the Kleese standing before him. It cut completely through the Kleese, making a sizzling sound as it passed through flesh. The look upon the Kleese was of surprised shock. Then his body toppled over and fell from the pedestal with a resounding thud. Sergeant Stern had jumped up beside Wade and already dispatched the second Kleese.

  “I enjoyed doing that,” she spoke with satisfaction in her voice.

  Looking around, Wade saw that Sergeant Perry and his squad were also standing above a group of dead Kleese. “Secure the room!” ordered Wade, seeing that many of the humanoids were making a mad dash toward the hatch to escape the consequences of this deadly attack upon their masters.

  “Let them go,” Marken spoke as he climbed up on the pedestal. Marken waited a few moments until he was satisfied that everyone except his own people and the Humans were out of the Command Center, then he pressed several buttons on a large console. Instantly, the hatch slid shut.

  “The hatch will remain closed until I open it,” Marken spoke in a calm voice. “It is now time to activate the rest of our plan.”

  There were ten other Kiveans in the room sitting in front of complicated control consoles. Marken nodded to them; it was time to begin the evacuation of the station. After the actions in the Command Center, there was no turning back. Marken gazed briefly at the dead Kleese; it was the first time he had ever seen one killed. Several of the marines were moving the Kleese large bodies to one side of the Command Center out of the way. Occasionally one of their legs would twitch. Marken shuddered and turned back toward the command console. They had a lot to do and it needed to be done quickly.

  Taalon was sitting at the main computer console and had been stunned at the brutality of the Human attack. He could feel his stomach churning, but he fought back the urge to vomit and instead pressed several icons on his computer screen. Instantly, airtight hatches throughout much of the station slammed shut, as well as the hatches upon many of the habitation domes, sealing them off.

  Wade watched the entire process knowing that teams of his marines were spreading out throughout the large station tracking down and killing as many of the Kleese as possible. All of these teams were escorted by at least two of Marken’s people.

  Now it was all up to Lieutenant Williams. It w
as her job to take out the Kleese that controlled the station’s massive flight bays and monitored the coming and going of all spacecraft. If they failed to take control of the Flight Command Center, they would have no way off the station.

  -o0o-

  Lieutenant Williams had ten marines with her. Skagern was leading them, and it did not take them long to reach the Flight Command Center. Without hesitation, Beth pushed her way past the two startled guards, hearing the sound of Energy Lances behind her as the two guards were eliminated. There were four Kleese in the large room watching scanners and communicating with inbound ships. Before they could respond to Beth’s sudden entrance, she had already cut the first one down. She heard screams and what sounded like struggling behind her. Turning, she saw that all the Kleese but one were down and it was struggling with Private Nicole Foster. Private Gonzales quickly stepped over and lopped off the Kleese’s head with his Energy Lance. A number of the humanoids in the room were screaming and running for the exit.

  “Let them go,” Beth instructed her marines. “We don’t need them.”

  A few minutes later, a group of forty Kiveans filed in and took up positions in front of the numerous consoles. They instantly began giving orders to various ships.

  “I want four guards at that hatch; don’t let anyone in without my permission,” ordered Beth. She moved over to a large viewscreen, which Skagern was adjusting to show the evacuation fleet, which would soon be leaving the station. Letting out a sharp breath, Beth knew the hardest part was now behind them. In a short matter of time, they would be on their way home.

  -o0o-

  All over the massive station, there was general panic amongst the humanoid crew, particularly when they heard that Humans were killing the Kleese. Most of them barricaded themselves in their quarters, ordering the conscripts under their control to guard their doors or the hatches to the domes. It didn’t take them long to discover that the airtight doors all over the station were now sealing many of them in, and even at the domes the hatches would no longer open. There was general panic growing about what would happen when the Kleese returned and discovered what the Humans had done.

  -o0o-

  In one of the main flight bays, General Mitchell and Colonel Bailey put in an appearance. They had brought nearly one hundred marines and soldiers with them to ensure the bay was kept under Human control. In other flight bays, the same method was being used. Humans in battle suits were fanning out, securing the bays and the corridors leading to them.

  “Major Nelson reports the Command Center is secure,” Colonel Bailey reported. “Lieutenant Williams has also secured the Flight Command Center and the Kiveans have taken over the control consoles. They are starting the evacuation.”

  “Very good,” General Mitchell replied as his eyes looked across the large flight bay. Neither he nor Colonel Bailey were in battle suits though they had several marines standing close by in case they were needed.

  In their flight bay, Mitchell could see over twenty of the versatile assault ships. The standard crew for one of the assault ships was nearly one hundred, and Mitchell knew that in order to take as many ships with them as possible the Kiveans were sending only twenty of their race to operate each vessel. There were also a number of passenger and transport ships the Kiveans were commandeering as well.

  “What’s the current status of the Kleese?” Mitchell asked as Colonel Bailey continued to get updated reports from one of the marines in a battle suit next to him.

  “Sixty-two accounted for so far,” Bailey replied. “A large number are in the sealed off sections of the station, and I have ordered our troops not to go in and get them. As long as they’re behind the sealed hatches they can’t cause us any problems.”

  “What about the other humanoid conscripts in battle suits?” Mitchell asked, concerned about additional fighting on the station. He knew that the domes most of the other conscripts were in had been sealed shut.

  “Only a few have resisted,” Bailey replied. “Most seem to be staying out of our way.”

  “All right, let’s get everyone loaded on board these ships. We have two hours and then anyone not aboard will get left behind.” Mitchell watched as his orders were carried out. His biggest regret were the people they were leaving behind in the stasis chambers. He let out a heavy sigh, wishing there was something he could do but knowing there was not.

  -o0o—

  Major Nelson was standing on the Command Pedestal along with Marken watching the large viewscreens on the front wall of the Command Center. Already several assault ships had launched and taken up positions outside of the station.

  “We have twelve passenger liners and sixteen transport ships as well,” Marken explained as a rather large and bulky looking ship moved into position between the assault ships. “They will be carrying people as well as some special supplies we managed to acquire. Their crews have all been replaced by Kiveans.”

  “All FTL communications have been disabled,” Kalarn reported as he walked up to the pedestal. “It will take several hours before the surviving Kleese can reestablish communication with any of their ships.”

  “That should do,” Marken commented with a nod. “What about the information concerning Earth’s location?”

  “Also eliminated,” Taalon replied. “I erased it from the computers of the exploratory ship that went to Earth originally as well as from the follow up ship that abducted the Humans. The computers on the station have now also been purged of any references to Earth.”

  “So the Kleese can’t find Earth?” asked Wade, glancing over at Marken.

  “Not easily,” Marken replied as he looked back across the room at one of the large viewscreens. “They will know the general area the planet is located in, but they will have to search for it. They may have to search hundreds of stars before they find the right one. Hopefully, we will have our new particle beam weapons installed on our ships by then.”

  “Will they destroy one of the large disk ships?” Wade asked. He knew if they couldn’t defend themselves all of this would have been for nothing.

  “We think so,” answered Marken, trying to sound confident. “Of course, for a ship the size of one of those it will take numerous hits to destroy it.”

  “At least we will have a chance,” responded Wade, letting out a deep breath. It was just so hard to believe that they were actually going home. Wade wondered what his family would think when he told them about where he had been. His younger brother would have a thousand questions.

  -o0o—

  For the next two hours, the fleet outside continued to grow. Large passenger liners and transport ships containing nearly five thousand Kiveans continued to assemble outside the station. The transport ships also held the Human support personnel as well as the military research scientists and engineers. Assault ships containing Kiveans and Human military personnel were intermixed to provide both protection and an escort for the vulnerable civilian ships.

  “We may have a problem,” Taalon spoke from his console where he was frantically entering commands. “I think several of the Kleese have made it to one of the flight bays we have sealed off and are trying to gain entry.”

  “What happens if they get inside?” Wade asked concerned, as his eyes focused on Taalon.

  “If they can activate one of the assault ships and get it outside they can use its FTL transmitter to contact one of their ships. We can’t take on one of their disk ships without heavy losses,” replied Marken, worriedly.

  “We have maybe thirty minutes before they can override the codes I have set up and get a ship out of the flight bay,” Taalon informed them.

  The flight bays had always been a problem, Wade knew. They circled the station, and there was no way they could seize all of them. The bays they were not going to use had been sealed off instead.

  “How soon before we can leave?” asked Wade, knowing time was growing short.

  Marken made some quick calls on the com system and then turned to Wade. “
We can leave now; the last ship has just finished loading. There is one assault ship waiting for us. Even if the Kleese can get an assault ship out of the flight bay and use its FTL communicator it will take at least two hours or more for one of the disk ships to return.”

  “It’s time to go,” Wade ordered over his com to his marines. Then, turning to Marken, “Is there a shorter way to the flight bay than the way we came?”

  “Yes,” replied Marken, nodding his head. “Follow me. We will take one of the faster transit tunnels.”

  With that, all of the Kiveans shut down their consoles and Taalon entered a final command into the station’s computer system. Instantly, the lights dimmed and the consoles went silent.

  “What did you do?” demanded Wade, feeling concerned that Taalon might have just shut off the life support to the entire station, which would doom all of the humanoids that were sealed up in the domes.

  “Don’t worry,” Taalon replied with a wolfish grin. “I shut down the station’s main fusion reactors. The station is operating on emergency power and will continue to do so until the reactors are reinitialized. That process alone will take several hours. The transit tunnel is still operating as well as the flight bay we will be using.”

  Wade nodded. Now they needed to get to the assault ship and off the station.

  -o0o—

  Twenty minutes later, Wade breathed a sigh of relief as the assault ship exited the flight bay and took its position in front of the assembled fleet. At last count, they had twelve passenger liners, sixteen transport ships, and forty assault ships. The Humans had been crowded together on the assault ships with some on the transport ships as well. It wouldn’t be a comfortable trip, but Marken had assured him they had enough supplies to get them through.

  “We’re going home,” Beth spoke from his side with an excited smile upon her face.

  “Yes, we are,” responded Wade, with a nod. “You might be able to get married after all.”