by T. R. Harris
With Adam in the lead, the three Humans reached the hatch of the nearest mining ship long before the others. The door was unlocked—no surprise there. The surprise came when a barrage of flash bolts lit up the corridor just inside the doorway, sending the trio tumbling over each other and back out through the hatch.
“Would they be that determined to guard a derelict?” Sherri queried.
“I hope not,” Adam said as he picked himself up off the tarmac. “Anyone see what direction the bolts came from?”
“Aft, I think,” Riyad said.
“I thought it was from forward.”
Adam clenched his teeth. “Any reading on your ATD?” he asked Sherri.
“Oh yeah, I forget. You were right, Riyad. They came from aft. I have two power sources, and before you ask, I can’t access them, just see ‘em.”
“Okay, those looked to be like level-twos, so I’m going back in. There’s a cross corridor beyond the main one running forward and aft. I’ll light off some bolts as I fly past. That should keep their heads down. Then, Sherri, you and Riyad go in, following your direction to the shooters.”
“This,” Sherri said with a sparkle in her eye, “is what I’ve been missing.”
“What, getting shot at by flesh-eating aliens in a completely foreign universe from your own?”
Sherri smiled up at Adam. “Couldn’t have said it better myself.”
Adam shook his head…and then dove through the open doorway. In the light gravity of Kor, he literally flew through the air, twisting as he did, aiming his weapon down the aft corridor and firing. In the brilliant flashes that followed his flight, he saw two Sol-Kor duck for cover.
He hit the opposite bulkhead hard, headfirst, a cluster of stars appearing before his eyes. He was barely aware of the other flashes and the shouting taking place in the ship, not until strong arms lifted him up into a sitting position against the wall.
“You okay” Sherri asked.
“Just a little rattled. Are we in control of the ship?”
“Yep, although those weren’t level-twos. They were level-ones, and Riyad got grazed by one. He’s cursing you to high heaven on the bridge.”
Adam stood up. “Let’s go. It’s still about a thirty minute flight in the atmosphere, and I don’t think it’s safe to bounce into space for a little suborbital hop. There might already be Hal’ic forces nearby.”
********
On the bridge, Riyad sat in the pilot’s seat, his shirt off, with Arieel attending to a nasty red burn along his right side. His eyes shot daggers in Adam’s direction.
“Are you okay to pilot this thing?” Adam asked.
“Just watch me.” Riyad spun around, still shirtless, and gripped the controls. As he manipulated the stick, the skin of his right arm contacted the burnt flesh on his side. The look on his friend’s face made even Adam spasm with sympathy pain.
“Here, let me do it.”
Riyad glared once more at Adam, before moving from the seat. “Level-two my ass,” he growled. He took a seat next to Sherri.
“Okay, here we go.”
The mining ship lifted off the surface—about ten feet off—before plopping back to the tarmac. Even that short drop, without compensators active, rattled the ship and crew to their bones.”
“Dammit, what happened?” Adam asked.
Sherri was at a console. “Gravity’s not working, at least not the externals. We got a little boost from the internals is all.”
“So the ship is broken?” Arieel asked.
“I can fix that,” Lila said. “I’ve done an analysis. I will return in forty-eight seconds with the engines repaired.” She rushed out of the bridge before anyone could respond.
Forty-three seconds later her voice was heard call up the corridor. “Engines ready.”
Adam tried the lift-off again. This time, they stayed airborne.
Lila stepped back on the bridge exactly forty-eight seconds after she’d left. Sherri had kept track.
Adam would have again felt a surge of fatherly pride, if he wasn’t trying desperately to keep the small mining ship from crashing into the ugly black pyramid dead ahead.
“I thought you could fly this thing?” Riyad said.
“The weight differential is different, that’s all. Just give me a minute to get the feel.”
“We’ll have found out if Clint’s Law is true or not by then,” Sherri said.
Adam blinked. “What the hell is Clint’s Law?”
“It says two objects cannot occupy the same space at the same time, not without becoming stew.”
“Really, it says that?”
“I made up the stew part. I like stew.”
It was about that time that Adam felt pads beneath his feet. He pressed down on them and the mining ship began to corkscrew through the air and everyone got spun around like clothes in a dryer. Fortunately, after their first attempt at taking flight, everyone had buckled in.
Adam began to manipulate the foot pedals with the main stick, and regained control just as the peak of the pyramid passed less than three feet below. Then they were in clear air.
“Relax, everyone,” Adam began, “I got this now. Nothing to it. Like riding a bike.”
“Excuse me,” the Juirean Benefis Na said. “But is it safe now to leave the bridge?”
“Yeah, it should be,” Adam said with a frown. “Where are you going?”
“This is embarrassing, yet in all the excitement I seem to have had an accident.”
“Eek. Is that what that smell is?” Sherri asked, wrinkling her nose.
“I said it was an accident.”
“Go take care of yourself,” Adam said, and then just as Benefis left the bridge, the toxic odor reached him. That’s another first, he thought. And hopefully, the last.
The remainder of the twenty-minute flight was made in agony. No one could find a way to vent the room, not even Lila. Adam took that to mean there was no way to do it, short of opening up an exterior hatch somewhere. But they were flying at twelve thousand feet through a thin atmosphere. They would just have to wait until they reached M-1.
Chapter 27
It didn’t take longer than the first face-to-face engagement between the Sol-Kor and the Hal’ic for the forces from Kor to realize their suppressor beams had no effect on the enemy. Beamships, however, were also equipped with four banks of short-to medium-range flash weapons, along with a supply of gravity-drive torpedoes.
The leading edge of both warring parties meshed, appearing on the screens back at command as having collided. In fact, each ship was separated by thousands of miles, but at these speeds that was equivalent to mere feet when measured in time.
Another thing became quickly obvious: both sides carried about the same firepower and defensive capabilities. Ships were struck, others weren’t, with luck often being the deciding factor.
Within the first forty minutes of the battle, the Sol-Kor had lost twenty-two hundred of their twelve-thousand-ship fleet. The Hal’ic, under the command of Andy Tobias, had lost just over nineteen hundred. That was close enough to label these first engagements as draws. And yet each side kept pouring more and more assets into the fight.
At first, the Sol-Kor, in typical Sol-Kor fashion, didn’t care about the number of ships or personnel they lost, just as long as one more Sol-Kor ship than the enemy remained when the battle reached a conclusion. Seeing that this strange, unnamed enemy could be destroyed at almost a one-to-one basis, they keep coming forward, assuming that at some point the enemy would run out of ships.
Yet after four hours of even more intense combat, the Sol-Kor had lost four-fifths of their fleet, and still the enemy kept coming. None of the Sol-Kor scanners could pick up any vast reserve fleet that was being drawn from, hidden as it was beneath the surface of J’nae.
It was someone back on Kor who finally gave the order to break off the attack and pull back to open space between Kor and J’nae. When the name of the enemy planet was revealed, the news f
iltered throughout the fleet in a matter of minutes. Most of the lower-ranking drone types paid it no attention, yet the higher officers and commanders saw the odd circumstances and began talking amongst themselves.
Eventually, it was reported to J’nae—the Queen—with the suggestion that she make a Colony-wide address to explain this strange dichotomy.
However, the Queen of the Sol-Kor didn’t have time. Reports were coming in that the Human ship that had landed at the M-1 spaceport was empty…and that the cargo bay door had been open during landing, possibly even before.
And something had struck the building, something ballistic, with such force that it could have only come from space.
It didn’t take a genius of J’nae’s caliber to put two and two together. Panur, her Creator—and possibly even her superior—was loose in the building.
And now this news from the battlefront…
The reports were consistent. As fast as the enemy ships were lost, they were being replaced. At first, J’nae had sent what ships she had available, believing that the Hal’ic—as Panur’s ancient ancestors were called—could not possibly stand against the vast numbers of the Sol-Kor. They were of a single location, with limited resources. Surely their meager numbers would soon be overwhelmed by those from Kor.
Yet that was not the case. Her forces had only recently withdrawn, leaving only eighteen hundred out of twelve thousand intact.
Could she have been deliberately lured into sacrificing such large numbers, knowing full well that…?
In these times of turmoil, a High Noslead was always hovering nearby, ready to relay what orders she would issue. “Recall the ships, all of them,” she cried out. “Ready the planetary defenses. Inventory all remaining vessels with offensive capabilities.”
“The bulk of our local forces have already been dispatched, my Queen.”
“That I know. They are to return. Kor is about to come under massive assault.”
“From where…from whom?”
“From space, you idiot, and does it matter by whom? They will be enemy ships out to destroy all settlements on Kor, starting with this one. Now go! There isn’t much time.”
Once the Noslead was gone, J’nae went to a computer screen and pulled up a diagram of M-1. She located the nearest emergency response station to the point of the impact and opened a link.
“This is your Queen,” she announced to the startled Minlead who came on the screen. Before giving him time to respond, she was speaking. “Was there a creature—a non-Sol-Kor—at the impact site?”
“Yes, my Queen. It was reported that Panur was present. I was not aware he was within the structure.”
“He is now.” She cut the link and opened another one to the main security center. A High-Noslead answered this link. Behind him on the screen was a beehive of activity. They were not only responsible for internal security within the building, but planetary security, as well.
“My Queen, we are responding to your orders. All units have been withdrawn, yet they are fourteen hours away. Remaining defensive units number two thousand, eight hundred nine.”
“Station them at the system outskirts. Have them act as harassing units for any incoming forces. Do not waste them. Slow down the invaders when they arrive.”
“We have no reports of massive movements of ships in our direction.”
“You will. Now on to other matters. Place a shield around my chambers.”
“A shield?”
“Yes, of defenders and of weapons. Allow no one but the most senior Leads and Council members to enter, and only after specific approval from me.”
“Yes, my Queen. But I do not understand?”
“In addition,” she continued, ignoring the Noslead. “Report all sighting of the mutant Panur to me immediately. Do not attempt to confront him. Station crews with containers of liquid nitrogen with the defenders of my quarters. I have prepared and trained such crews for just such an occasion. See to it that High-Noslead Gorvus is located and placed in command of these units. He will know what to do.”
“Gorvus—yes, my Queen.”
“On last thing. There is an alien ship at the spaceport, plot seven-eight-eight. Have it flown to the eastern base pad, and then clear a path between my chambers and the ship. Keep the path clear at all times, even if we come under attack.”
“My Queen, this is all so unexpected.”
“Shall I find another High-Noslead who will follow my orders without becoming confused?”
“There is no need. I will follow your orders.”
“Good…now do so.”
A chime came from the main door to her chambers. She switched the computer view to outside in the hallway. Six armored guards had taken up position outside. One was pressing the chime.
“What do you want?”
“A delivery…of security equipment.”
Upset and impatient, J’nae marched to the door and activated the controls.
The door slid open, allowing two dead guards to tumble forward into the room. J’nae took a step back, momentarily confused. Then a small figure climbed on top of the pile of bodies. He smiled up at the towering figure of the Sol-Kor Queen.
“I’m back!”
Chapter 28
There was a tremendous amount of radio chatter on the comm line of the mining ship. Translation devices helped to sort out the mass of orders being issued. Every ship, whether military or not, was being summoned to M-1, either to be assigned planetary defensive duties or to bolt into space to form a skirmish line half a light-year away.
If the mining ship had been reported stolen, it wasn’t being broadcast over open lines, or was lost in all the chaos taking place on Kor. As a result, Adam was able to mesh with all the other vessels streaming into the area without being challenged.
Although thousands of ships had already departed the M-1 spaceport for the assault on J’nae—the planet—it was rapidly filling up again with craft from all across the planet. Adam set his crew to work at trying to spot the Star Panther from the air, but there was just too much traffic in the air and on the surface.
“I don’t see it,” Sherri said. “You would think it would stand out.”
“It should, if it’s still there. Look around in the air. It may be in flight.”
“The place is thick with ships,” Riyad said.
“Then I’m heading over to the pyramid.”
“Are there landing areas up there?” Riyad asked. “I didn’t see any before.”
“Either she’s moved it up there, or off planet. If it’s left Kor, then we’re shit out of luck.”
“Watch out!” Benefis cried out.
Adam reacted a split second later, just in time to avoid a collision with a huge beam platform rising up from below.
“This is crazy,” Adam said. “I’m going to gain some altitude.”
He steered the ship toward the pyramid, which was now about five thousand feet below him.
“There!” Arieel cried out. “On the other side, in the shadows.”
Indeed the sun of Kor was beginning to set, casting the east side of the huge structure into deep shadows. The Najmah-whatever was black with a solitary silver strip running along each side, so it was miracle Arieel had even spotted it.
“Great job, Arieel! It looks like J’nae is setting the ship up as her emergency escape plan if things go bad.”
“Does this piece of junk even have any weapons?” Sherri asked. She couldn’t read Sol-Kor, and there was nothing graphically that would indicate a weapons console.
“I do not believe there are any weapons,” Lila said. “I have studied the operations manuals and there is nothing to indicate weapons capabilities.”
Adam racked his brain for an idea, anything short of crashing the mining ship into the Mark IV. To do that, he’d have to drop off the crew and then leave one person aboard to make the ultimate sacrifice. And of course that person would be him.
Then it hit him. “This is a mining ship!”
<
br /> “And your point is?” Sherri asked.
“Lila, how do they do the mining? Is it with lasers, explosives, what?”
“Primarily with gravity drills.”
“What are gravity drills?”
“They are microscopic black holes operating in pairs that are used to break apart large asteroids. From there, huge collection ships pass through the region clearing the debris.”
“Where are the controls for the gravity drills?”
“Sherri is sitting at them.”
“Do you mind taking over for her?”
“Of course not.”
Sherri grinned at Adam’s mutant daughter as they traded seats.
“I must warn you, the gravity drills are not meant for such small targets.”
“They’re not? So what would happen if we sent one down to the Mark IV?”
“Besides causing a massive shockwave that would reach us, there is a chance half of the pyramid would shatter.”
Adam looked around at the rest of the people on the bridge and smiled broadly. “I’m okay with that. Hell, why don’t we take out—”
The mining ship suddenly lurched to port, before turning on its side and plunging toward the top of the mountain ridgeline.
Sherri and Lila went flying across the bridge, not having had time to buckle in when they switched positions. All Adam could see out of the forward viewport was the darkening sky of Kor. They were dropping like a rock, and tail first.
“What happened?” he cried out.
Lila had somehow managed to grab hold of bulkhead support and was pulling herself towards a console. That’s when Adam noticed that she also had Sherri firmly in the grip of her other hand—and that her arm holding Sherri was about ten feet long, growing shorter as she drew them both towards seats with restraints.
Sherri’s head was wobbling, and there was blood on the side of her face. But her eyes were open and her hands were reaching out for one of the attached console seats.
