The Last Marine

by JE Gurley

Dax was flabbergasted. “You can sleep now?”

  “I can sleep anywhere, anytime. You should too. We have a busy day ahead of us.”

  Dax lay back on the ground and groaned when a rock rubbed against his burned neck. “Yeah, and we don’t have any coffee.”

  He wouldn’t bet the family jewels on the odds of their digging their way out. At least Tish and the others made it. That was his primary goal. His survival was a hoped-for secondary concern. He didn’t think he could sleep, but the relief that Tish would survive eased his troubled mind. He slept in spite of his aches and pains.

  11

  As Cici and the others reached the Atrium, the distant rumble of the collapsing ceiling reverberated through the tunnel. In a panic, Cici grabbed the walkie-talkie. “Dax, are you okay?” she yelled. She got no response. Tish looked at her with an agonized expression marring her face. “It’s the rocks,” Cici told her. “They’re blocking the signal. I’m sure they made it.”

  A tear leaked down Tish’s cheek. She swiped her hand across her face to brush it away and shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. He knew he was going to die. He did it to save us.”

  Cici grabbed Tish by the shoulders and shook her. “Don’t give up hope. If they killed the Ravers or sealed them in, they’ll find a way out.”

  Tish turned away, but Cici could see her shoulders shake as she sobbed. She felt sorry for Tish. It was obvious she cared deeply for Dax. It surprised her that she did too. She grieved for him. He was a strange man with a strange moral code, but in his own way, he was trustworthy and honorable. He blustered and roared, but he was more thunder than lightning.

  The sledge slowed.

  “Are you waiting for them?” she asked Plia. In spite of her assurances to Tish, she didn’t think Dax or Sergeant Ivers had survived the cave-in. They faced their own danger.

  Plia moved the spotlight attached to the seat Nate had welded to the end of the sledge until it outlined a Raver standing on top of a wall less than a hundred meters away, scarcely visible through the dust blowing in from the storm outside. Though they could barely see it, Cici was certain it sensed them as plainly, as if it had eyes. It immediately darted out of the light. Then, Plia swung the light to reveal a second creature on the opposite side fifty meters away. It, too, ducked for cover. Cici’s heart sank.

  “That’s why,” Plia replied. Her voice was bitter.

  She resumed driving with one hand and tracked the missile pod between the two creatures with the other. If both Ravers attacked at the same time, she would be able to fire at only one of them. Romeo and Andy had the two laser rifles. Romeo positioned the ATV he drove in front of the sledge to cover both directions ahead of them. Cici looked down at the .338 in her hand and remembered what Dax had said about its lack of effectiveness against the Ravers. She made sure the safety was off. At least she could make noise, as he suggested.

  A brief blur of motion along the right side of the sledge drew her attention to a low row of buildings. “Over there,” she said.

  As if summoned by her words, one of the Ravers appeared on top of a wall. It followed their progress with its head. Its hind claws gripped the rock wall so tightly the rock began to crumble beneath it. She heard the missile pod track toward the creature. She needed to make sure the Raver didn’t disappear again so Plia had a clear shot.

  She hopped down from the sledge and took two steps away from it toward the creature. “Hey! Over here you ugly bastard,” she yelled, waving her rifle.

  She tried not to dwell on the fact she was using herself as bait. She trusted Plia’s abilities. She fired a shot at it to get its attention. The bullet struck the wall beside the Raver. It amazed her that she got that close to it. The Raver lifted its head, chirped a series of fluid notes; then, growled and leaped from the wall. It plowed through the rubble like a bulldozer aimed directly at her as if accepting her challenge.

  “Anytime you’re ready, Plia.”

  Plia stopped the sledge and tracked the Raver’s approach with the missile pod. She waited until the Raver was less than thirty meters away before firing. At the hiss of the missile firing, the creature veered to its left, but it was too late. It lost its footing on the loose rock and skidded toward them. The missile struck it in the shoulder joint. The creature squealed in pain, as shrapnel sliced through its left forearm, cleanly amputating it. Shards of black scales flew from its chest. Shrapnel from the missile peppered the sledge. One small piece whizzed past Cici’s head and bounced off the sledge’s side.

  Romeo swung his vehicle around and drove toward the Raver firing his laser, pumping bursts of energy into the Raver’s open wound. The Raver remained on its feet and continued advancing toward the sledge in spite of its injuries. Cici aimed her rifle and fired again. She didn’t even know if she hit it.

  “The rest of you watch the other side,” Plia warned.

  The Raver, suffering from heavy blood loss, finally stopped moving. It tottered for a moment, and fell over onto its side. Its chest heaved out its last dying breath. Romeo spun the ATV around and headed back to the sledge. They had no time to rest. The Ravers were smarter than anyone had thought. While they focused their attention on the Raver attacking them, a second creature sneaked in silently from behind them.

  Cici heard Tish’s strangled, “Andy! Don’t.” She turned and saw the brash young co-pilot leap out of the ATV, yelling, “Over here!”

  The second Raver approached the sledge through the haze of dust at the edge of the light. Plia turned the missile pod toward it, but it tracked too slowly. Only Andy was in any position to shoot it. She knew it was a bad move on his part. He was either too cocksure of himself or felt the responsibility fell on his shoulders to protect them in Dax’s absence. It was a one-sided battle. The creature was too fast for Andy’s laser. It bobbed and weaved through the debris, using it as a shield instead of forcing its way through it, a change of tactics that caught Andy by surprise. It disappeared from sight for a moment; then, suddenly burst into view only five meters away. The Raver leaped high into the air, covering the intervening space in one bound.

  Andy saw it coming but too late. He backpedaled toward the ATV, but couldn’t move quickly enough. He screamed just as the creature landed on top of him, driving a claw through his chest, and crushing him beneath a ton of flesh and bone. Andy’s high-pitched scream cut off abruptly.

  Romeo stopped his ATV beside the sledge, leaped out, and using the edge of the sledge to rest his laser, fired. The Raver ignored the others and immediately focused its rage on him, as if aware only the laser he held presented any danger to it. Romeo fired once more and had the presence of mind to drop and roll beneath the sledge as the Raver rushed at him, pushing his slim body as far beneath the undercarriage as he could manage. The Raver slammed into the side of the sledge with enough force to lift it onto one set of treads. Tish held on to the base of the missile pod to keep from falling off, while Cici scrambled out of the way, fearing it would topple over on top of her.

  Romeo fired twice more at the creature’s feet, forcing it to drop the sledge back down onto the ground. As the Raver backed up, it banged into the ATV in which Myles sat. It whirled on the vehicle. Myles froze. He didn’t raise his rifle or make any effort to defend himself. He stared at the monster as if in disbelief it was real. The Raver noticed him and emitted a loud screech. Its massive jaws snapped shut over the hapless climatologist’s head, lifting him from the vehicle before decapitating him. Blood spewed from his neck as he fell to the ground, twitching in his death throes. Cici screamed and fired her rifle as quickly as she could pull back the bolt to chamber a round, but in her anger and haste, her shots went wild.

  “Damn you!” she yelled and went after the Raver using her rifle as a club. She landed one blow on the creature’s head before it swatted her away with a flick of one of its rear legs. She slammed against the edge of the sledge and hit the ground hard, knocking the air from her lungs. She felt as if a speeding semi truck had sideswiped her. Dazed b
y the blow, she struggled to draw a breath and waited to die.

  Romeo saved her. At close range, the laser was more effective. He fired from beneath the edge of the sledge. The bolt of energy struck the Raver just in front of its ear hole, one of the few spots of its body not protected by armor. The flesh around the ear smoked and burned. The Raver screamed in agony, leaped over the sledge, and disappeared back into the shadows. Plia threw herself off the sledge to avoid the creature’s sweeping claws. To Cici’s dismay, an answering call erupted from nearby.

  Plia clambered back aboard the sledge and hit the button to fire the last missile at the fleeing Raver. Nothing happened.

  “Damn!” she swore. She tried again, but still it did not fire. She looked down at a tangle of wires ripped out by the Raver’s claws. “No time to repair that. Let’s go!”

  Romeo crawled from beneath the sledge and leaped into the ATV with Rathiri in the back. Cici took the driver’s seat of Andy’s ATV with Tish in the passenger seat. Neither of them looked at the wet blood staining the seat and floorboard. Cici slammed it into gear and shot forward. Plia dropped from the sledge into the passenger seat of Romeo’s moving vehicle.

  Outside in the open, the storm had intensified. The wind whipped the dust into a raging frenzy. The sharp sand particles bit into Cici’s exposed flesh like a rasp drawn across her tender skin. Through the swirling dust, she saw Fortune’s Luck and felt a small glimmer of hope. Then, she noticed the long gash in the hull near the engine room, and her heart sank. The Ravers had gotten there first. She didn’t know if the ship could fly, but at least it offered the protection of a steel hull between them and the Ravers.

  Tish hit the remote control to open the cargo hatch. The first ATV bearing Plia, Romeo, and Rathiri shot through the door and spun to a stop. Cici steered her ATV toward the door, as Tish started the hatch cycling closed. She swerved to avoid the other ATV, hit the brakes, and slid to a halt just centimeters from a bulkhead. With the hatch sealed, she should have heard silence. Instead, he heard an ominous whistling from the engine room compartment, as the wind whipped in through the rent hull.

  Plia leaped from her ATV and barked, “Tish, prep her for flight. I’ll check the engines.”

  Tish stood and stared at her, still stunned by the deaths of Myles and Andy and Dax’s decision to leave them. Her lips trembled on the verge of tears.

  “Now’s not the time to grieve,” Plia snapped. “Doctor Adar! Secure the ATVs. Romeo, take the co-pilot’s seat.” She looked Doctor Rathiri. She noticed his haggard and confused face. Her voice became gentler. “Please find a seat and strap in.”

  “Yes, yes, I will,” he replied.

  Plia raced to the engine room. Cici worked frantically to lash the ATVs securely to the deck using straps and tie downs. Rathiri ambled around the cargo bay lost. Cici worried the ordeal had been too much for him. He looked ten years older than when she had last seen him ten days earlier. She was helping Rathiri to the wardroom when Plia emerged from the engine room. Her expression was grim. Cici’s stomach sank.

  “Just as I feared, the Raver attack was not random. The rip in the hull severed the controls to the Skip Drive. Without Nate, I don’t know if I have the skill to get it back online. The rip passed through two compartments behind a section of hull impossible to reach from the inside. Given time, I could repair the hull from the outside, but the creatures will not be that accommodating.”

  “So, what does all that mean?” Cici asked, fearing she knew the answer.

  “It means we’re not going into orbit. I’m not sure we can even lift off. If I missed something, some damage behind a bulkhead, we might explode instead.”

  “So, we’re stuck here?”

  “For now until I can run an engine analysis on the computer.”

  All the tension and fear that had been keeping Cici going instantly evaporated, replaced by a lethargy that sapped her will and numbed her legs. She leaned against the wall to keep from falling. “They can get to us, can’t they?”

  Plia nodded. “Eventually, yes.”

  Cici saw the blank expression on Director Rathiri’s face. She sighed and pushed from the wall. “I had better make Ambrose comfortable.”

  Plia headed for the bridge. “I’ll inform the others of the situation, and then see what I can do about the engines.”

  Cici took Rathiri by the hand. “Come with me, Director.”

  “Yes, yes, Doctor Adar. I will. Thank you. There is something about the creatures I must tell you, perhaps Captain Wyldd as well.” He frowned. “It was important, but I seem to have let it slip my mind. It’s about the Huresh and the Ravers –”

  “Later, Director. You need rest. You’ll be fine.”

  He sagged into her arms. “Yes, yes. So tired.”

  Cici’s grief threatened to overwhelm her. Facing the creatures, she had not had time to dwell on Myles’ death. Now, it didn’t seem real. She kept expecting him to walk into the wardroom and ask her if she wanted a cup of tea. All she could think of was the times she had berated him for his conviction that tea was a panacea for all ills. That his death was her fault cut her to the quick. In her naiveté, she had refused to consider the dangers in attempting to rescue her missing colleagues. She had refused to listen to Dax, thinking him a simple coward. Even when faced with the carnage at the station, she still held out hope for the others. Her insistence on going into the Catacombs had killed her friend, as well as one of Fortune’s Luck’s crew, maybe Dax and Ivers as well.

  She sat Rathiri in a flight seat in the wardroom and harnessed him in. “I’ll get you something to drink, Director.”

  He smiled through parched lips. “Oh, that would be nice, Doctor Adar. I am so very thirsty. Perhaps some tea?”

  She almost burst into tears at the mention of tea. “Yes, Director. Some tea would be nice.”

  As she went into the galley and searched through the cabinets for tea, she felt a tear roll down her cheek. She brushed it away, but more followed. Finally, she could not hold them back. She sat on the deck, leaned her back against the cabinets, and wept for Myles, for her friends, and for herself. She did not think she would be leaving Loki. The Ravers would see to that

  12

  Dax awoke to the sound of hammering. When he moved to get up, the aches of his bruised muscles and battered flesh hit him first; then, as the blistered skin cracked with movement, those pains ripped through him like a buzz saw. He almost decided to remain where he was, but he noticed Ivers standing in a pool of light from his flashlight, attempting to pry a large boulder from the daunting pile of rocks blocking the tunnel with the butt of the disruptor. He sighed. He couldn’t allow Ivers to hoard all the glory of getting them out.

  “Move over, John Henry. Let a real coal miner take over.” He eyed the small cavity Ivers’ efforts had produced. “At this rate, we’ll be here until we’re old and gray.”

  “I just started,” Ivers replied. “Go back and get your beauty rest.”

  “No, I insist, unless, of course, this is still a military operation.”

  “You don’t like the Navy, do you?”

  “I have no good reason to. I worked the Tanis Sector on a cargo ship when I was younger. Because of the U.N. blockade, we had to deal with some unsavory types. The Navy didn’t bother to distinguish blockade-runners from free traders. I lost some friends in an unarmed freighter when the Navy didn’t bother boarding our ship. They just stood off and lobbed missiles at us. Six us of managed to reach escape pods. Eight didn’t.”

  “I lost friends at Tanis too. The blockade-runners, as you call them, had a nasty habit of blowing their Skip Drives and taking out a Navy vessel with them when cornered, especially if they had just transferred a cargo of weapons for the secessionists.”

  Dax glared at him. He hadn’t known about the suicide ships and wasn’t sure he believed Ivers. “We delivered food and medical supplies – no weapons. I know because I was the cargo handler.”

  “I’m sorry for your friends, but
you helped turn what would have been a short siege into an eight-month campaign. Thousands died in a useless fight for no good reason. None of the planets in Tanis Sector was self-sufficient. They could not have survived without outside help. It was never about independence from Earth. The whole thing was an attempt by the Ducati clan on Bene Prime and the Wingate family of Archimedes to take control of the Vanadium mines on Tanis III and set their own prices.”

  “People were starving.”

  “Not the miner barons. They raided two planets for their personal storehouses with no thought to the people they left without food. In the end, they retained the mines under U.N. treaty and got a hefty price increase for their ore. They didn’t even bother to petition the U.N. for relief for the beleaguered worlds they used as pawns. A couple of religious groups did what they could, but hundreds more died before the relief effort reached the outlying provinces.”

  “That was never in the news.”

  “No, I guess not. The U.N. wasn’t proud of caving in, but the new fleet they were building needed the vanadium.”

  Dax lifted a large rock from the pile and tossed it aside. “Why didn’t the U.N. Human Rights Council do something?”

  “The Wingate family controls six of the largest news organizations on Earth. The press heralded them as poor rebels fighting for a noble cause and the big bad Navy as the aggressor.” He looked at Dax. “Sound familiar?”

  Dax winced. “I didn’t know.”

  “Few did. The Navy didn’t want to open old wounds, and the U.N. Secretary General was happy to let things die down.”

  “Were you at Tanis?”

  He paused. “I was on the ship that blew up the Tigress, your freighter.”

  Dax glared at him and balled his fists. Ivers noticed Dax’s reaction. “I wasn’t a sergeant then. I was just a corporal. I didn’t like what we did, but no one asked my opinion. Too many sailors had died for anyone to care about a blockade runner.”