I looked around and saw a massive ragged hole where the hangar doors used to be. Just outside I could see the Legacy and two blue diamonds in my HUD approaching my position. Coonts and Klutch came zooming in through the debris cloud. Coonts called out before I could say anything. “Commander we must evacuate immediately!” I blasted off through the debris cloud colliding with crazy amounts of floating junk but didn’t let it impede my progress. I finally managed to say something human to the brothers I had so coldly treated while under the spell of my killing rage. “It doesn’t take two of you to come back and keep the stupid human from killing himself!” Klutch blurted out “We had no intention of saving you, we were coming back to see if we could find more credit vouchers before you blew the outpost up!” I smiled then it was wiped from my face. “How is Tria?” Coonts countered with a voice unusually high for his normal speech pattern. “You will never know unless we get away from here to a safe distance!” We boosted hard towards the open hangar door on the Legacy. As we closed the distance, I felt the grasp of the tow beam latch on none to gently. We were pulled aboard at a frightening speed and deposited haphazardly on the flight deck as the hangar door slammed shut behind us. My HUD came alive with the view of the outpost as it fell away from us. It abruptly flared into a star and then disappeared. My view changed to the growing wreck of Eigers battleship and Justice came on over our comms.
“Commander I was able to disable three shuttles before they could escape but four transitioned to hyperspace when I turned back to evacuate you.”
Justice did not have to scold me. That statement by itself was all the punishment required. The thought Eiger might just have escaped because of my crazed behavior was a bitter pill to swallow. The very real possibility he did escape means he could have taken the DEHD core with him. This was a disastrous outcome because we may never get this close to the core again. Justice interrupted my self-incriminations.
“Commander the battle ship is attempting to use its comm buoys as weapons. They are launching them in salvos and accelerating them to maximum speed on a collision course with our present heading.”
I could feel the beast inside me start to roar. It took everything I had to quash the madness of my Oolaran blood lust. I wanted to scream out, “destroy them” but managed to smother the searing hate. Then I heard a frail raspy voice call out to me and it hit me like a thousand volts. “Nathan, I need to speak with you privately in the medical bay.” I felt Justice do a quick one two transition in and out of hyperspace and my view changed to the far side of the battle ship that was once again growing in my HUD. As we got closer, I could see small eruptions from our rail guns across the nose of the battle ship as we passed its starboard side. We made a snap turn and repeated the process then tucked in close to the gaping crater our anti-matter missiles had made.
37
My crew members headed to the ready room as I headed to the lift that would take me to the medical bay and Tria. I entered the med bay and could feel my armor releasing me even before I came to a full stop. I stepped out of the armor suit and entered the ICU, what greeted me there set my blood to boiling once more when I laid eyes on Tria. The pod was open and three of her four arms were in stasis casts. Her beautiful face was swollen and discolored to an almost black from her usual deep tanned brown. I was trembling with rage and could feel myself ready to go over the brink. Her frail voice was the calming rain that put out the fire of my hate. “You will have to come closer so I might touch you.” She held up a badly swollen hand, and I took it in mine. I felt like I would collapse as all the adrenaline and rage drained from my body. Sharp daggers of pain shot through me bringing me back to my senses. I wasn’t sure if I was momentarily feeling her pain or the repercussions of trying to bury myself alive on the outpost. We both seemed to relax. “Coonts and Klutch are worried you have been losing your humanity while I have been gone. I have no need for an Oolaran soldier but I have great need for the human being I left behind before we started our missions.”
Tria pulled me closer, and I saw her make a small flinch from the effort. “Am I speaking to Nathan Myers or the other that resides in you?” I could barely speak and my voice came out in a whisper. “I thought I had lost you and I was on the verge of embracing my darkest fears.” She attempted a smile but I could tell she was concerned. “I will not allow you to do that Nathan Myers, I do not wish to spend the rest of my solar rotations with a psychopathic Oolaran. When I left for my mission, you introduced me to an Earth custom. I need you to do that again.” I could not help but smile and when I did the beast that once tore at my soul slipped back into its prison. I leaned down and as gently as I could I kissed her swollen lips. She smiled up at me and in a much stronger voice said “Please I need another.” I obliged her and felt the beast and its prison slipping away to some other place. “I need you to stay strong and to stay human Nathan Myers I will be here for a while because I have told Justice I wish to be weaponized as you were.” The look of shock on my face, had her add it would not involve the training downloads and imprinting that had me rampaging around the galaxy. The smile returned to my face, and I kissed her one more time for good measure and told her I was needed by the crew for a boarding exercise. She smiled as best she could. “Don’t let anything happen to my Earthman”
I turned around and met with a wide eyed and frightened Chaalt patriarch. I started to apologize to him for my rough treatment but could see by the look on his face it probably would not settle his nerves no matter what I said. He went to Tria’s side and attempted a smile. Shifting my eyes back to Tria’s battered face I couldn’t muster the will to even fake the expression. Stepping back up into my armor I headed for the ready room. Justice was being awful quiet. “Justice I need a full load out for a boarding operation.” He quickly replied.
“Your load out is prepped in the ready room and the crew is awaiting your orders Commander. Armor suit diagnostics indicate your armor is eighty two percent mission capable. The rail weapon is inoperable and will need to be replaced. Your beam weapon was degraded by your rapid fire attack on the outpost and I have taken the precaution to slow all of the weapons firing rates. The crew’s weapons systems will not experience the same overheating problem as yours did. Your beam projector was heat damaged and your weapon will only be able to discharge five consecutive times before it stops to cool and recharge. The weapon should cool enough to engage targets in approximately five minutes. I loaded your backpack magazine with HE and AP munitions. I removed the anti-matter munitions unless you order otherwise.”
“Roger that Justice, I’ll go easy on the beam weapon and for our own safety we will not require additional rounds for our launchers.” As I entered the ready room Klutch and Coonts approached me inquiring about Tria’s condition. They were relieved to hear she was recovering from her injuries. I tried to reassure them I was back to being human, but both were giving me looks that said they weren’t so sure. I thought about my actions and was having a hard time dealing with the way I had treated my crew. They were trying their best to act like nothing had happened. At some point in the near future I would sit down with them and apologize for my actions. It was something I felt in my heart I owed them. Knowing their backgrounds I doubt that anyone had ever done such a thing.
“Justice, I want you to broadcast to the pirates if they turn over Eiger I will let the rest of them live. Let them know if they do not comply we will show them no mercy.”
“I do not believe they missed the outcome of the outpost attack Commander.”
“I’m counting on it Justice.” I made it a point to give Klutch and Coonts a reassuring look, but they still had concern on their faces. Grabbing my shotgun I clipped it to my backpack and my crew followed me to the shuttle bay.
“Commander I am receiving a reply.”
“Let’s hear it Justice.” We heard a little static but then a Murlak said, “Come and get him mercenary we are ready to die are you?” “Justice, can you locate where that comm came from?”<
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“Yes Commander, scans indicate there is a large group of pirates gathered in a damaged shuttle bay. The transmission came from someone in that group.”
“Can you target the group without destroying the ship Justice?”
“Affirmative Commander, at this range it will be possible to make a surgical strike without fear of hitting what remains of the battleship’s power plant or energy transfer conduits.”
“Remove them from the negotiations Justice.”
“Acknowledged Commander.”
My HUD gave me a close up of the battleship as we moved lower and towards amidships. At this range it was easy to see the devastation our main weapon system wrought on the former Union battleship. Large portions of the ship were open to the void and we could see vast sections of the ships collapsed skeletal frameworks. Justice squared up with the target and my HUD blinked. A huge hole appeared in the belly of the pirate ship. It was weird seeing the star field and a massive amount of debris scattering out the opposite side of the ship. The white hot ragged edges of the hole went from orange to red and then darkness once more. I was going to ask what we were all wondering but Justice pinged my implants and said he was not getting any return information from his missing DEHD core. The battleship was shielded and any scan return information was coming from areas we had damaged in our initial attack. I ordered Justice to make another strike with the rail guns hoping to get better scan information. He complied by moving the Legacy and turning the bridge into a ragged hole weeping debris and bodies out into the void.
“Commander I am detecting a shuttle launch from aft of the pirate ship.”
“Disable it if possible Justice.” The Legacy made a blindingly fast turn and dropped behind the escaping shuttle and gave it a short burst with one of the rail guns. The rear of the shuttle disintegrated into a swirling cloud of sparkling metal fragments and started a rapid tumble. Justice closed with the target and stabilized the tumble with the tow beam then brought it to an abrupt stop. Before I could ask for it, a comm channel opened to the shuttle. I hailed them. “Put your weapons in the atmosphere lock and prepare to be boarded. If you resist, I will destroy your shuttle.” Justice put us almost against the boarding hatch of the shuttle and opened the Legacy’s hangar door. Klutch stepped in front of me and Coonts had his weapon up and ready on my right side. We stepped through the Legacy’s atmospheric retention field into vacuum.
The shuttle airlock slid open with a puff of atmosphere and four hand held weapons slowly floated out. We stepped into the lock and Coonts cycled the doors. Klutch stood square in the middle of the hatch which forced Coonts and me to poke our weapons around and over his huge shoulders. When we had atmosphere, the inner door opened to find two Murlak face down on the deck and a surprise gift of three Scrun standing back against a badly warped and damaged bulkhead. The Scrun had their long gangly arms extended and their fingers splayed out pointing upwards. The one in the middle had a fair amount of trinkets hanging around his face plate showing he was senior to his less decorated crew mates. He grunted out, “We surrender and demand to be turned over to the Galactic Military!” Klutch took exception to the slaver speaking without being spoken to. He ran forward and jumped over the Murlak on the deck bringing the barrel of his weapon down sledgehammer style on top of the Scrun’s faceplate driving it to the deck. I didn’t know if the Scrun standing next to the one on the floor was lunging to help his fellow officer or lunging at Klutch. Coonts rewarded his sudden movement with explosive buck shot that made a mess out of the bulkhead.
The Scrun on the floor was making bizarre gurgling grunts my translation program could not decipher, and I struggled with myself to not kill them all. Closing my eyes I concentrated on securing my inner demons. When I opened them I saw both Klutch and Coonts looking over their shoulders at me. They were wondering if I would go Oolaran on them again. I reached down and jerked the officer off of the deck and pulled the repulsive bastard close to my visor. “I will give you one chance to answer my questions or you will suffer the same fate as Lashmos.” The gurgling grunts came to an abrupt halt and both of the Scrun stared at me in shock through their faceplates. I had their full and undivided attention now. “I have a feeling a lot of Scrun are wondering why they have not heard from Lashmos. It is because I killed all of his crew and destroyed his ship. I then turned him over to the race he was trying to enslave. They slowly beat him to death. It took more than a planetary rotation for him to die.” My speech ended all defiance from my captives. They slumped to the deck blubbering unintelligible nonsense which I didn’t have time for. I put my weapon up to the aliens face plate. “Where is Eiger? The Scrun was physically shaking now and mumbled. “He left on one of the shuttles. I do not know which one. I know you stopped some from escaping but not all. He may still be aboard a shuttle you did not destroy.”
My blood started boiling again. “Why were you on his ship?” The Scrun stuck his hands out again with his fingers splayed out pointing to the overhead. “I was the captain of his flagship” I wasn’t sure if that made sense or not but the tall Murlak on the deck cleared it up for me. “The Scrun lies to save himself!” I looked at the Murlak. “Tell me what you know of this piece of sewage and I will let you live.” The Murlak pushed himself up to his knees but stopped when Coonts stuck his weapon against his furry forehead. “This Scrun is Limbus the oldest offspring of Lashmos. If you did indeed kill Lashmos, Limbus is heir to the Scrun Throne. Lashmos had an agreement with Eiger. Eiger was training Limbus in leadership and battleship tactics. Eiger’s captain was on the bridge with his command staff. This fool decided it was time to take the one remaining shuttle and try to escape when you started destroying the rest of our ship.” I stared at the Murlak until he dropped back on the deck. I asked him why he went with the Scrun knowing they might be killed. He replied he could think of no other bargaining chip that could save him and his clan sibling’s life. He knew we would board any surviving shuttles in our search for Eiger. I thought about what he was saying and then asked him if he was present when Eiger abandoned ship. He said no but his clan sibling was in the hangar bay when they were prepping the shuttles to escape. He tried to get aboard but was turned away by Eiger’s bodyguards. “When my sibling failed to get aboard, he found me and told me Eiger was abandoning us. That’s when we decided it would be a good idea to find the Scrun and tell them we were ordered to protect them.”
I looked at the other Murlak. “Could you see what Eiger took with him?” The Murlak looked confused by the question. I was losing my patience and the thought of Eiger escaping was eating at me. I yelled at the Murlak. “What did he take with him? Did you see or hear anything about a processing core?” The Murlaks voice was a high pitched wail. “He was yelling at his siblings asking if they had all of his credits and telling them to not leave the Zaen body armor. That is all I heard before I left to find my sibling.”
Limbus surprised me by saying Eiger was trying to sell a jump drive core to his patriarch. King Lashmos did not want it because his engineers could think of no way to adapt it to his flagship. “I do not know if Eiger took it with him but I know it was in Eiger’s storage vault because I saw him put it there.” My urge to kill the slaver ebbed “Where is the storage vault?” Limbus started to get up but when Klutch took a step toward him he stopped. “If you have not destroyed it, the vault is just down the corridor from the combat information center next to Eigers cabin.”
I turned away from the Scrun before my homicidal tendencies returned. “Klutch take Limbus over to the Legacy” My statement put the other Scrun and the Murlaks into a panic. They all started shouting “You cannot leave us here!” Coonts and I backed towards the airlock with our weapons up. “I will let you live, but I did not say you could go with us.” I welcomed the silence of the airlock as it closed on their screams and begging. We jumped across to the Legacy and joined Klutch and Limbus.
Justice brought us back alongside the battleship. I turned to Limbus “Where is the combat inform
ation center.” He looked at me and said the stupidest thing. “I will tell you but you must turn me over to the Galactic military.”
Before I could even get mad at the statement Klutch jerked his fighting knife from its sheath and drove the Scrun to the deck with the butt. He leaned down to the slaver piece of crap and yelled into the faceplate. “You only need one appendage to point the way!” Klutch stomped on one of the Scrun’s hands and raised his blade. He managed to grunt out he would lead us to the vault. I nodded to Klutch, and he pulled the slaver up from the deck and turned him to the open hanger door. We had a close up view of the heavily damaged starship. Limbus pointed to the center of the ship. “It is still intact you will find the vault there.” I hailed Justice.
“Justice, can you make us a door closer to the target area?”
“Yes Commander the limited scan information I have obtained gives me the location of a reinforced cubical in the center of the battleship. I will make an entrance well forward of that location which should limit collateral damage to the large collection of power conduits terminating at the target location.”
The rail guns next to the hangar door articulated and gave off a small vibration I felt in my armored boots. Pieces of battleship hull and atmosphere blasted out into the void. It would not be a good day for any hostiles in that location. The ragged hole looked like it was between decks so Justice adjusted his aim and I felt another small vibration. We now had an entrance I could have driven my old GMC through. Before I could say anything, Klutch grabbed Limbus and boosted across to the hole. Coonts and I launched hard to catch them. There was zero gravity on the battleship so Coonts and I retro braked then mag locked to the deck just inside of the dark corridor. I could see Klutch in my HUD with his back to a bulkhead. He was using the Scrun as a shield and had his weapon poking around Limbus’s side. My HUD revealed we were standing in a large corridor that had wrecked lift tubes where we had entered. To my right about fifty yards from the large common area was a reinforced doorway I assumed was the security lock for the CIC. The power was out at our end but I could see a small red blinking light on a panel next to the big airlock. There was backup power in the CIC and I would bet a billion Galactic credits any surviving crew was holed up in the large heavily reinforced cubicle.
First of my Kind Page 53
