Resolute Omnibus (The War for Terra)

by James Prosser

  “Lee,” screamed Alice over his radio. “Lee, are you okay!”

  “Stop yelling in my ear,” he razed, shaking away fog from his thoughts. “What the hell happened?”

  “Your plasma bolt hit the Vulture at point five of light speed,” said Baron. “You’re lucky you weren’t vaporized.”

  “The Princess,” Lee asked. “Is she okay?”

  “We’re fine, Commander,” came the soothing voice of Kama Yu. “But the captain has asked you not to do that again … ever.”

  “So ordered,” replied Lee. “Where’s Baal?”

  Lee searched his scanner and saw the massive carrier. It had been holding station while the fighters attacked. Now, however, it was gaining speed straight towards the cruise ship. Lee saw that most of the fighters were either destroyed or floating powerless across the battlefield. There were no more Vultures anywhere.

  “Commander,” said Kama Yu. “We are showing a jump point opening near your location.”

  “Oh hell,” Lee responded, craning his neck to see if he could spot the vortex. “Now what?”

  The blue-brown swirl of the jump point was almost directly on top of Lee. He gunned his engines to move his ship away from the opening. A massive fireball stroked out of the energy swirl. It was larger than the Terran Princess and was decelerating quickly. As its corona bled away into space, Lee saw a sight that froze his blood.

  “Mars,” he said. “Hathaway called reinforcements.”

  Lee swung his ship around, trying to decide which target to go after first. Mars was still fresh and blind from exiting M-space, but Baal was advancing on the Princess. He searched his screen for any sign of Resolute and found the battleship limping towards the carrier. His squadron flew close to him and formed up on their familiar diamond pattern.

  “What do we do, Lee?” Alice said. “Who do we shoot?”

  Lee saw the cannons on Baal begin to fire at the cruise ship. He knew that Melaina and her team had improved the shielding on the passenger liner, but he didn’t know how much even those could take against two warships. His options were limited as he turned his ship towards the cruiser.

  “We’ve got to keep Mars away from the battle, Demons,” said Lee, deciding on distraction over destruction. He hoped that Resolute could get to the Princess in time.

  The cruiser began to accelerate towards the battle, ignoring the fighters streaking towards it. Lee and his squadron began firing at the big ship, but the bolts seemed to bounce off the heavy shielding. As the cruiser swept past them, Lee began to feel helpless to stop the destruction of the ship that had become his home. He saw Baal pouring plasma bolts into the shielding of the Princess and wanted to smash the immense ship with his bare hands. He continued to fire at Mars with his wing-mates as the warship approached the battle.

  The guns on Mars opened up, unleashing red-orange plasma across the gulf of space. Lee wanted to fly in front of the powerful bolts, to stop the destruction that he knew was coming, but he wasn’t fast enough. There was a bright flash of light as the first of the bolts struck their target. Lee was amazed to see the bloom of fire on the starboard launch bay of Baal. The carrier tried to turn into the onslaught een as the cruiser battered her hull. Mars continued to fire at the larger ship, tearing holes in the already-damaged ship’s hull. There was a cheer over Lee’s radio from the Demons, but Lee keyed his radio off in horror.

  “Cruiser Mars,” said the voice of Captain Chang over his radio. “This is Captain Ronald Chang of the Resolute. Stand down. There are civilians on board that ship.”

  Lee watched the cannons on the cruiser cease firing. He looked at Baal as the ship seemed to drift in space. There were great chunks of hull that appeared to have been boiled off into space. Her shields were gone and the carrier appeared totally lifeless. Lee made a decision.

  “Demons, prepare to board Baal,” he ordered. “I want to talk to Admiral Hathaway myself.”

  28

  The Demon Squadron glided their fighters through the ruined maze of Baal’s starboard launch bay. The ship had been pummeled by the cruiser; the remaining pieces of the ship seemed to be held together by sheer willpower. Lee spotted a space near the back of the bay that was still clear of most debris. He signaled to the other fighters to set their ships down there.

  Lee checked the seal on his facemask as he cycled his engines down. His shoulder was throbbing with pain. The launch bay doors had been bent badly and he would have to exit his ship into vacuum. As he popped his canopy and stood, he released the oxygen tank behind his seat and made sure it was flowing into his mask. His skin was kept warm by his suit, but he still felt the cold of space leaching away his body’s heat as he made his way down the wing and onto the metal deck.

  The other pilots had also exited their ships and were checking their own suits and tanks. Each had been equipped with a standard pistol that they kept in a holster at their hips. The chemical projectile was designed to withstand the vacuum and cold of space, but Lee had never tried it and wasn’t too confident in the design. The pilots gathered around the Silver Eagle to confer.

  “Alright,” asked Baron. “What’s the plan?”

  “Our first priority is to determine whether or not the civilians are safe. After that, we find Chief Moore,” Lee said, looking at his team. “Finally, we hunt down Hathaway and try to get him in custody.”

  “Custody,” Alice exclaimed. “I thought we were going to stick his head on a pike and hang it outside the bridge!”

  “We will not solve our problems by becoming as vicious as Hathaway,” Lee replied, disgusted at Alice’s bloodlust. “Now focus on your duty and stay tight. We don’t know what to expect but I suspect the remaining crew are just as crazy as the pilots we just fought.”

  The Demons looked to one another with a grim expressions. Alice looked at the deck as Lee approached. She had obviously allowed her emotions to overcome her humanity and was now ashamed of the outburst. Lee put his hand on her vacuum-suited shoulder and she looked up at his face.

  “I’m sorry, Lee,” she said. “I just … this whole thing is just so senseless.”

  “War rarely makes sense,” Lee said. “We just have to do our best not to let it get the best of us.”

  She nodded at him and stepped back. She pulled her own pistol out and checked it. Satisfied that she was ready, she put it back in its holster and signaled her readiness to Lee. The other pilots followed suit and the entire squadron turned to the airlock door. Lee stepped to the panel and tapped the airlock controls. The ruined panel flickered and he was forced to reenter the code several times. Finally, the panel glowed green and the inner door slid open.

  The six pilots crowded into the airlock and Lee closed it. It took several seconds to equalize the pressure. Lee could hear the alarm in the small room growing louder as air was pumped in. Finally, the outer door opened and the alarm shut off. The Demons stepped out into the corridor.

  The last time Lee had entered the ship, he had noticed the scorch marks on the walls and the smell of ash and fire in the air. The time they had spent before leaving to find Resolute had the engineers and the crew of the Princess pitching in to try to clean the ship and restore her to the look of a military ship. Now, however, all that work had been undone.

  The corridor lights were strobing madly, instantly causing Lee to feel like he was getting a headache. The corridor itself seemed bent. As he looked down the hall, the ceiling twisted slightly to the left, warping the walls and floor around it. The ship sounded like a dying animal. Strange squeals and deep rumbles made the ship seem like it was in pain.

  Lee pulled his pistol and started down the crooked corridor towards the door near the end. He had to watch his step to avoid the metallic debris that was littering the passage. To be safe, he activated the magnets in his boots to keep his feet from slipping out from under him. The other pilots followed suit behind him.

  As he reached the door to the transit platform, he raised his pistol and prepared to open the door.
But when he pressed the door panel, nothing happened. The twisted wall seemed to have blocked the door from opening. Aztec and Merlin stepped forward and gripped the door itself, hoping to move it by brute force. They pushed and pulled against the door, but it did not move an inch.

  “I guess we’ll have to do this the old fashioned way,” said Lee. “We walk.”

  The others groaned in a show of mock disappointment, but followed him as he started down the long corridor. Although the hallway was very long, it did not run the entire length of the ship. Lee and his squadron needed to pass through several areas of the ship that had been heavily damaged in the fighting. As the team moved along, there were signs of fighting along the walls. Lee thought of Henry and his men and hoped they were still alive.

  The group came to a cross hallway and stopped. Lee thought he heard noise down the adjoining passage. He motioned for the other pilots to stay against the wall. He crept down the corridor carefully until he came to the intersection. He peeked around the corner as silently as he could, hoping that he wouldn’t get shot before he could see what it was.

  About fifteen feet down the hallway, a group of bedraggled soldiers were crowded around another door. There were several bodies lying on the floor near the door and the men seemed to be focusing their attention on the room beyond. Lee tried to think of the interior layout of the ship. There had been so much damage that he wasn’t sure exactly where they were in the massive carrier. He made up his mind, though, that if the soldiers from Baal were trying to get into that room, then whatever was in there was important enough for him to see.

  He pulled himself back around the corner and motioned for the other plots to approach. Using hand signals, he related his plan to the team. Aztec and Baron placed their backs to the wall and pulled their pistols. Jackal and Alice quietly leapt across the corridor and placed themselves against the far wall. The soldiers down the hall were far too intent on the door to see them. Lee and Merlin readied their own side arms and prepared themselves.

  Both men ran into the corridor, leveling their guns at the soldiers who were caught totally unprepared. The nearest soldier swung around and pointed a rifle at the attacking pilots. Merlin fired off a shot and the man dropped to the deck, a hole through his forehead. The other soldiers tried to turn to face the two pilots, but a slew of sharp cracks from behind took each of the soldiers out. When Lee turned, he saw the other four members of his team in the narrow hall, each with a smoking pistol in their hands. He turned back to the doorway that the soldiers had been crowded around.

  The door looked warped, as if the heat of battle had begun to melt the opening. There were scorch marks on the wall opposite the door, indicating that whoever was in the room had plasma rifles and were not afraid to use them. Once again, three of the Demons took up a position on the far side of the door and the others took the near side. Lee pressed his hand to the panel and waited as the door opened.

  Red fire flared through the doorway and into the hall. Lee could feel the heat as the bolts passed by him and burst on the wall opposite. Despite the fire, though, Lee kept his hand on the door panel.

  “Cease fire,” he yelled, trying to be heard above the din of plasma fire. “We are not your enemy!”

  The plasma fire ceased for a moment and Lee had a hope that the people inside had decided to trust him. Baron picked up a piece of metal decking that had come loose from the wall and tossed it into the doorway. Red plasma fire erupted again from inside the room. Lee pressed himself against the wall and waited until the shooting seemed to slow.

  “This is Commander Pearce from the Terran Princess,” he announced again. “We are not here to hurt you. Stop shooting at us you dumb son of a bitch!”

  The shooting from inside the room stopped. Lee could hear the sound of the metal on the far wall cracking as it cooled. He held his breath as the moments ticked by.

  “Lee?” a familiar voice asked from inside the room. “Lee? It’s Henry.”

  Lee stepped cautiously around the door and looked inside the room. Henry Moore stood behind an upturned table in the middle of the floor. The table was blackened with plasma burns and looked ready to dissolve. Henry didn’t look much better than the table. He was bleeding from a deep cut over his right eye and his security uniform was blackened and burned through in places. The man appeared ready to collapse.

  “Henry!” Lee exclaimed. “What the hell have you been doing?’

  “Just entertaining the troops,” the man said, staggering around the melting table. “Where have you been? I called you hours ago.”

  “It’s a hell of a long walk,” responded Alice.

  Lee and Henry exchanged glances and smiled as the pilots entered the room. There were several more of the security guards from the Princess in the room. Most were injured, but still capable of standing. There were two bodies that had been pulled behind the table. Lee looked over the group, wondering what kind of hell they had been through.

  “Henry, I need to ask you about the civilians,” Lee said. “Are they still on board?”

  “No, Lee,” replied the security chief. “Hathaway moved them over to Austerlitz before we jumped to M-space. When I found out, I tried to get to the man, but they attacked us.

  Captain Browning of Mars tried to block the jump but Hathaway opened fire on the ship. The man has gone completely crazy, Lee. He has to be stopped.”

  “We know, Henry,” replied Lee. “He’s sick. We’ve come to take him into custody.”

  “You won’t get that chance,” said Henry. “He’s surrounded himself with guards on the bridge.”

  “Then that is where we need to go,” said Lee, a determined look on his face. “Can you make it to the landing bay?”

  “We’re coming with you,” Henry said. “We need to see this through to the end.”

  Lee nodded and turned to the other pilots. They all nodded and started to round up the injured guards. Henry checked his rifle and followed the group back out into the hallway, passing the bodies of his former attackers without a glance.

  The group moved quickly thought the ruined carrier, not seeing any other soldiers as they went. Lee began to get an eerie feeling in the pit of his stomach. Hathaway had said that there were seven hundred people on this ship when they had first spoken, but the ship now seemed deserted. They climbed the access stairs to the command deck and entered the corridor cautiously.

  The hallway was dark again, just as it had been when they had first boarded the ship. Lee prepared himself for the same bright flash that had preceded an attack last time. He stepped down the corridor slowly, trying to feel his way through the debris in the way. His foot struck a soft object lying in his path. He tried to see where his boot was, but could not in the darkness. A flash from behind illuminated his leg. Henry had turned on the light attached to his rifle and was pointing it down at him. The light revealed a grisly sight.

  Littered along the hall were bodies. The soldiers appeared to have fallen while holding their weapons towards the end of the hall where the group had entered. Lee pushed the body by his feet and it turned over. The man’s skin was gray and loose. His eyes were still open but the life had drained out of them. Thick black fluid leaked from his nostrils and down his ruined face.

  Lee motioned to Henry and the others to move forward despite the grim debris. It looked like Hathaway had stationed these men outside the bridge as protection, but the radiation that had been killing the admiral had finished the men outside first. Lee hoped the admiral had fared better than his men.

  Lee pressed the panel by the command deck door and waited as the portal opened slowly. The bridge lighting was dim but still stable. Lee stepped onto the bridge and looked around. There was no motion on the command pit and the consoles were all dark. He signaled to the others to follow and he started up the ramp, holding his gun up and sweeping the room as he went. As he came to the top of the ramp he saw Hathaway.

  The man was seated in his command chair, slumped down and small on his ru
ined bridge. His skin was sagging on his bones and his dark skin had become ash gray. Lee stepped closer to the man, trying to see in the dim light.

  Hathaway blinked, startling Lee. The admiral turned his head to look at Lee, but it was obvious that he could not see. His eyes were black; blood ran from his nose and down his mouth to his chin. His lips were cracked and he slipped a black tongue over them, failing to spread any moisture.

  “All I ever wanted to do was defend the Confederacy,” he rasped in a whisper. “I wanted to save the human race.”

  “The Confederacy is gone, Admiral,” Lee said, coming closer to Hathaway. “The human race will survive.”

  A deep dry cough sounded in the man’s sunken chest. His body seemed on the verge of flying apart as he bent double, riding the fit to its end. When he looked back at Lee, he had a gruesome smile on his broken lips.

  “Pearce,” he said, “I should have known it would be you.”

  “Yes, Admiral,” Lee replied. “It’s me.”

  “Have you come to take my ship away?” the man asked. “I won’t let you have it, you know. I will fight you to the end.”

  Lee looked at the man as he tried to raise himself from the chair. He noticed the admiral was clutching a sheet of printout in his hand. The paper was smeared with fluid, but he could see Confederacy letterhead peeking from between the man’s fingers. Hathaway stood to his full imposing height and tried to straighten his stained uniform. He raised an arm, still clutching the paper, to his forehead in a weak salute. Lee returned the gesture, even now retaining his respect for military protocol.

  “Admiral Hathaway,” Lee said, dropping the salute. “This is the end.”