She ran to Glaw and held his head in her arms. She whispered, “You didn’t tell them about the other cargo, did you?”
“What do you take me for?” Glaw said, a little too loudly.
Dax smiled. “What other cargo?” he asked.
Myf avoided Dax’s eyes.
Glaw seemed way too fascinated in the condition of his toe claws. “Should I wax my toe fur?”
The marines aimed their weapons at him.
“What?” said Glaw as he realized everyone was staring at him.
Dax walked up to Glaw. “What other cargo are you hiding?”
“I don’t know what you mean,” Glaw said and glanced at a small door in a large container.
Dax nodded. “Thank you, Glaw.” Dax said. “Valkyrie, have all marines search that adjoining cargo bay.”
Valkyrie summoned the remaining squad. They blasted the door of the container and rushed in.
Dax pushed Glaw ahead of him and in they went.
Thor laughed. “It’s like a museum to twentieth century pop culture,” he said. “Must be a fortune of stuff in there.”
He held up a twelve inch square piece of cardboard and pulled out a round plastic disk. “It’s an original Beach Boys album.”
Glaw roared. “Put that down.”
Van Cleef slammed his Night-stick into the back of Glaw’s knees. Glaw toppled over.
“Cool it, Glaw,” Myf said.
“Got to be me, Myf,” he said. “Always remember that.”
Van Cleef smashed the night stick into the back of Glaw’s head. Glaw stuck out his tongue and Dax collected the saliva on the back of his hand.
The DNA app searched the encrypted Fleet Intel database and in under a second produced a match.
“Glaw Brynmor,” Dax said. “The rebel Prince of the Ursu Arctos clan. Says here your king issued a reward for your capture. Dead or alive.”
“Suits me fine,” Van Cleef said and adjusted the setting of his night-stick to maximum. He jammed it into the back of Glaw’s neck.
Glaw roared and convulsed across the floor.
Myf screamed. “Please, stop,” she yelled as tears streamed down her face. “I’m begging you, please.”
Dax winced. He understood, the marines needed payback for their fallen comrades, but as far as he was concerned the Ursu had a right to defend his ship. The responsibility for the fallen lay with him. No one else.
“Enough, Sergeant.”
Van Cleef ignored Dax
Dax grabbed Van Cleef’s arm and yanked the night-stick away.
A look of rage consumed Van Cleef. He seemed to struggle to control it.
“Don’t make their deaths for nothing, Sergeant,” Dax whispered.
Van Cleef relented.
Dax turned to Myf. “How’d you get caught up with the fur ball?” he asked.
When he seemed close enough, she kicked out at Dax. He blocked her kick.
Van Cleef hauled her back.
“Address his highness with respect,” Myf said.
“Or what?” said Dax, smiling.
“Or I’ll cut out your eyes,” she said and spat at Dax.
Thor drew his night-stick and waved it in Myf’s face.
“You’re betraying your kind by enlisting on an Ursu ship,” Thor shouted. “After what they did to our civilians in the war, have you no self-respect?”
“Ursu are honorable warriors,” she said.
She turned to Thor and held up her wrists. She ran a long finger up her flight suit and between her breasts.
His eyes followed her finger.
“Here’s my self-respect,” she said. “Have at it.”
She slammed her knee high up between his legs. As Thor doubled over, Myf grabbed his weapon. She spun Thor around and plunged the barrel of the rifle into Thor’s visor.
“Bring Glaw over to me,” she said. “Or this hothead’s war is over.”
Valkyrie glanced at Dax. He nodded.
Glaw sat up and shook his head. He held out his wrists to Van Cleef.
“Uncuff Glaw,” Myf said.
Dax nodded.
Van Cleef watched Glaw’s eyes as he unlocked the cuffs from his wrists and ankles.
Glaw flexed his claws and let the cuffs tumble to the floor.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Glaw said and began sliding his hind legs across the floor in what seemed like a moonwalk dance all the way back to the entrance where Myf stood. “In the immortal words of legendary Michael Jackson: Ow! Happy spacewalking.”
They stepped out. The container doors slid shut behind them. Valkyrie aimed her weapon and blasted the doors.
The shot ricocheted around the container walls.
“Hold your fire,” Dax shouted. “It’s magnetically sealed.”
“We’re trapped?” Valkyrie said with disbelief.
Dax felt the container jolt violently and slam him into a pile of mint condition vinyl beetles albums. He felt his feet lift off the floor.
“What’s happening?” Thor yelled as he turned upside down.
“Zero gravity,” Dax said and began to laugh. “They jettisoned the container.”
“What’s so damn funny, Commander?” Valkyrie said as she floated over to him.
“After all this,” Dax said, “I expect Glaw to head directly to his rendezvous with his buyers and offload the hot cargo.”
“Grint will string you and hang you high up for failing this mission, Commander,” Valkyrie said.
“I tagged, Glaw,” Dax said. “We can track him across the galaxy.”
“The syringe-gun?”
Dax nodded.
“You planned this, all along?”
He nodded again, feeling smug with himself.
“What if he finds the tracker-bug and tries to flush it out?” Valkyrie asked.
“Try to remove it and the nano-bots will converge in his brain and detonate. Kill him instantly,” Dax said.
“Nice,” Valkyrie said.
“The girl is clearly the brains of the outfit and so it was important to get her to make an impulsive decision.”
“I’m not following you, sir?”
“It’s like this. They could have gone to light speed, the minute they detected Valiant. But no, they needed to stay in the sector, hence that little trick of hiding in Valiant’s garbage stream. Suspicious, right?”
“They’re meeting someone in this sector?”
He watched the blip across the star map on his visor display.
“And by my readings they’re heading for Titan. By the time Valiant pick us up, we’ll be ready to scoop up Glaw and his buyers.”
“Nice one, Commander,” Valkyrie said. “More than a little unorthodox, but smart.”
She selected her comms. “Valiant, this is Dark Force 1, requesting E-vac.”
“Dark Force 2, this is Captain Grint, we see your novel mode of transportation and we’re locking on with the tractor beam.”
CHAPTER 36 - DISTRESS BEACON
The two marines on sentry saluted as Dax sprinted onto the bridge.
“Captain,” said Dax, “why are we not responding to Hermes’ distress beacon?”
“Orders.”
“From whom?”
Hannibal balled his hands into fists. “Admiral Finnean.”
“But Valiant is the only ship capable of saving Hermes’ passengers.”
Hannibal shot Dax a dark look.
“It’s a death sentence, Captain.”
“I’m well aware of the ramifications, XO.”
“What if I was to tell you saving Hermes is an Intelligence matter of utmost importance.”
“I’d say Admiral Finnean disagrees with you, XO,” Hannibal said.
“But I have field priority over Intelligence matters,” Dax said. “And I can order you to respond to the Hermes, Captain.”
Hannibal let his hand settle on his side holster.
“You can try, XO,” Hannibal said and unclipped he holster flap. “But I’d advise against
it.”
Dax glanced at the two Marines on sentry. Each of them twitched. He sensed their uncertainty if he was to issue the order of arrest.
“Captain, don’t make me do this,” Dax said.
“We’re Fleet, XO,” Hannibal growled. “We obey Command orders.”
“Not to the detriment of doing the right thing,” Dax said. “What do you owe Finnean that’s more important than ten thousand innocent lives?”
Hannibal hated that his XO had a point. He owed Finnean nothing. He recalled Finnean’s affair with Rachel. If ever there was a chance for vengeance, then this was it.
It would almost certainly mean the end of his own career. But he had feeling that sticking it to Finnean, just this once, would be worth it.
Hannibal felt a smile creep across his face for the first time since Rachel’s death. He turned to the bridge crew.
“Navigator, plot a course to intercept Hermes.”
“Aye, captain. Course locked in.”
“Pilot, proceed as fast as you dare,” Hannibal said.
CHAPTER 37 - NO GOOD DEED
“Captain, Hermes is not responding,” said bridge comms officer Taka Mori.
“Keep trying,” Hannibal said and paced up and down his bridge.
“Captain, Hermes’ orbit is degrading rapidly,” said Engineering Officer Harley Link.
“How long to critical?” Hannibal asked.
“Thirty minutes, Captain,” said Link.
Hannibal’s beard itched manically. Everything about this situation rang alarm bells for him. Boarding a vessel of Hermes’ stature without establishing communication is damn risky. Maybe Finnean was right. But what does he know that I don’t to make that judgment call? And damn it if XO knows more than he’s prepared to say. But with ten thousand passengers and crew lives in the balance...
“What do you think XO, pirates?” Hannibal asked.
“Possibly, Captain,” said Dax. “But a ship like Hermes should be able to handle an assault long enough for Fleet to respond.”
“Except Fleet doesn’t want to us to respond,” Hannibal growled.
“There’s one other thing,” XO said looking at the holographic image of Hermes listing in its orbit. “Hermes’ bulkhead shows no signs of an assault. Not a single cannon breach. Not even a scratch. It is completely undamaged.”
“Conclusion?”
“If it was pirates,” said Dax, “it must have been a Trojan horse breach.”
Hannibal nodded. “Strange, isn’t it?”
“Strategically elaborate for bandits, pirates and any other rogue element I can think of, Captain.”
“Bring us up close, Lieutenant Child,” Hannibal said.
“Aye, Captain.”
“Jackson, bring the main guns online,” Hannibal said. “Target the Hermes’ guns.”
“Captain,” said Jackson, “scans indicate the Hermes’ never got a chance to power-up its weapons.”
“Captain, every second counts,” Dax urged as all eyes rested on him. “Your orders, Captain?”
Hannibal was reminded by the Fleet maxim. No Good dead, goes unpunished. “No good deed.”
“Captain?” Dax prompted as he stared at the Hermes listing to starboard by another degree. “That’s five degrees in five minutes. It could roll in another ten. Then we’ll have God only knows how many casualties to attend. We need to act now, Captain.”
Hannibal sighed. “Proceed with docking maneuver, Lieutenant Child,” Hannibal said.
“Aye, Captain,” said Child. “Ahead, dead slow.”
Hannibal stopped abruptly and turned to Dax. “XO, board Hermes, stabilize their orbit.”
“And if I can’t, Captain?”
“Then we’re going to be taking on a lot of passengers,” Hannibal said. “Take Valkyrie, Van Cleef and a squad. Expect trouble.”
“I always do, Captain.”
Hannibal nodded. You are trouble, XO.
CHAPTER 38 - SEARCHING HERMES
A red light shone above the airlock, indicating a seal had yet to be established from Valiant’s docking tube to one of Hermes outer docking ports. Dax gripped his plasma pistol. He activated his power-armor.
Dax turned to Valkyrie, Van Cleef and Delta squad for a final check through.
“Mission Priority, making it to Hermes’ bridge and re-establishing orbit, got it?” Dax said.
They both nodded.
Everyone activated their power-armor.
“Ready?”
Valkyrie glanced at Dax’s plasma pistol and smirked. “Commander, what kind of trouble you expecting on a party ship?”
“There’s no communication with Hermes,” Dax said. “Something is blocking our scans for life-signs. Fleet command is eager to let Hermes crash into Saturn. So you tell me it’s going to be a picnic and I’ll tell you to go home.”
The red light turned green. Valkyrie swallowed hard and drew her plasma pistol from her side holster.
“Sergeant, pass the word,” Valkyrie whispered. “Expect trouble.”
“Twenty says we get on board and find out Hermes ran dry of cheap shots,” Thor said. “So their pilot and Captain decided to sleep it off.”
“Shut it, Private,” Van Cleef said.
Dax turned in the direction of running footsteps. Lieutenant Blok and Doctor Ransom sprinted over from the elevator doors. Both were wearing power-armor.
Blok shot Dax a dark look, “Believe me, Commander, I don’t want to be here either,” she said. “Captain’s orders.”
Dax chewed hard on the inside of his mouth. He considered it was just like Grint to pull a last minute stroke like this to undermine his mission command.
“Grint sent his pet spy to keep me on a leash?” he said humorlessly.
“If that were so, Commander,” she said with an inflection on his title that inferred her contempt, “it’s your own fault. But, no, my presence is essential to mission success.”
“So what use are you to me?”
“I qualified top of my course in flight academy,” she said. “If there’s anyone amongst Valiant’s crew can correct Hermes’ orbit, I can.”
He forced himself not to smile. Not shy about your talents are you, Blok?
I can tolerate your shortcomings,” she said, “if you’re willing to respect my abilities, Commander.”
He looked her up and down and realized that just maybe he should give her a second chance to prove she was more than a political career animal.
“We’ll test your modesty soon enough, Blok,” he said and noted how she flushed red as if reading more into what he had meant.
“I’m sure you’d like to,” she said with quiet defiance, “but I’m out of your league, hotshot.”
For Dax, standing here, too close to Blok felt like being back in the war. Downtime being so rare and precious that often officers and crew weren’t even aware they were flirting with each other. And when they were aware, it was always a brief, intense experience.
No one knew if they’d all survive to the end of the duty shift. In wartime, feelings would often be condensed into a few brief words, bundled with overly familiar looks and unrequited meaning.
He swallowed hard and forced himself to break free of her powerful gaze.
Dax was about to tell her and the doc to stick close and don’t wander off, when the airlock slid open with a loud hiss. Beyond, darkness gripped the interior of Hermes. His eyes adjusted to a long, gloomy, empty corridor ahead.
It listed at an acute angle. Even worse than the one he’d observed from Valiant’s bridge. Only a faint emergency light system of a pale blue and putrid green emanated from the floor and faded off into the distance.
Dax admired the detail of the ship’s nineteenth century marble and wood walls. Clearly, no expense spared. He wondered what it would be like to die in the lap of such luxury.
He took a deep breath and leapt into Hermes.
He kept low, leaning against the sharply angled wall. A sweeping arc of weapon lights mo
ved up the wide corridor.
Dax felt a stabbing recollection of the last time he boarded a spacecraft. He sniffed at the air. His Visor display detected no scent of dinosaur. Not today. Not unless cruise ships have a strange idea of in-flight entertainment.
He shook his head, sighed and pressed on.
A map of Hermes popped up on Dax’s visor display. They took the direct route to the bridge.
Valkyrie kept pace with Dax. “Not a single soul in five minutes,” she whispered. “What do you make of it, Commander?”
He glanced at his visor and the life-signs scanner. Still no readings. “Nothing good.”
They took the elevators to the bridge. They disembarked on an observation deck under a glass dome. The doors to the bridge were at the far side of the observation deck.
Dax glanced through the dome at Valiant. A haunched shadow leapt up behind Valiant. Its port and starboard flanks seemed fashioned into claws. He’d recognize that shadow anywhere. He felt his breath catch in his chest.
“We got company,” Dax said.
Valkyrie glanced where he was pointing out into space.
“What is it?” she asked.
“Lupos,” Dax said and sprinted to the bridge. “Prepare to be boarded.”
He rushed through the doors, expecting the bridge to be empty. Instead, the shadows of three figures jolted and spun around at him.
He shone the flashlight clipped to his plasma pistol and aimed it in the face of a beautiful blue woman. A Vanguard.
Dax felt his eyes pop wide. “You!”
CHAPTER 39 - SALVAGE RIGHTS
Location: the bridge of Valiant.
“Captain, the Lupos ship is hailing us,” said Comm officer Taka Mori.
“Open holograph channel,” Hannibal said.
“Aye, sir,” Hannibal stood at his command console as a ball of red static hovered before him, increasing its size and form until it fully resolved into a life-size holograph of a Lupos. It towered over Hannibal.
He glanced at Mori and the Comm officer reduced the size of the holograph so Hannibal wouldn’t have to strain his neck. Eye to eye, Hannibal and the Lupos stared at each other. Even without the added height, the Lupos was a fearsome creature.
It stood like a man on powerful legs. Wearing black and gold armor emblazoned with a crimson wolf head on the chest, it seemed almost humanoid. Except for the head. Hannibal always considered the Lupos had an uncanny similar facial appearance to Earth wolves.
Valiant (Jurassic War Universe Book 1) Page 22
