The Search for Gram

by Chris Kennedy

  “At some point they’re going to run out of land they can trade,” said Rock. “Then what are they going to do?”

  “I guess that’s when they will start losing,” replied Chomper. “Right now, the Jotunn are spread out enough that the caliph’s forces can kill them almost as fast as they appear. When the lines get shorter, and the giants start coming closer together, there will be so many attacking at once that the caliph’s forces will be overrun like that.” He snapped his fingers. “I think it goes without saying,” he added; “we don’t want to be recaptured by the Jotunn.”

  “If we only had one of our fighters, this war would be over instantly,” said Rock. “It wouldn’t even be close.”

  “Yeah,” agreed K-Mart; “unfortunately, the only fighter we have access to is wrecked beyond repair, and the functional one is out of gas and up in space. We can’t get up to it, and even if we could, we couldn’t do anything with it.”

  “So what are we going to do?” asked Rock.

  “We’re going to get our weapons and rescue everyone from the Jotunn jail,” said K-Mart. “What else can we do? I’m not a combat trooper and, even though I like the caliph, this isn’t my war. Our first goal is to rescue the Aesir. Then we need to stay alive long enough for Calvin to make it back here and pick us up.”

  “So you think he’s coming back?” asked Rock.

  “He’ll be back,” said K-Mart. “If he’s able.”

  Task Force Calvin, Efreet Ship Incinerator, Ashur Orbit, Unknown Date/Time

  “Look out! Shit! Sergeant Day is down!” commed Mongo from the doorway.

  Calvin looked up to see the medic running over. He didn’t need to see the fading life signs on his monitor to know the sergeant was done; he could see the three giant flechettes sticking through his face mask.

  “They just set up some sort of crew-served flechette thrower,” commed Mongo, peering around the door frame. “The projectiles are a hell of a lot bigger, and they are tipped with some sort of acid which eats a hole in whatever they hit. We need to get the hell out of here, sir; we’re not going to be able to hold much longer.” He dove back out of the way as another spray went by. “The only good thing is that they can’t come at us from both directions with that damn thing. It wipes out most of the passageway when they fire it, so the group coming from the other direction had to pull back.”

  Calvin looked down at Landslide. The Aesir’s finger now traced a groove nearly two inches deep. “How much longer?”

  “This should about do it,” Landslide said. His finger made one more circle, and a four-foot diameter section of metal detached, falling about six inches to rest on a number of pipes which ran below the deck. “Oops,” he said. “I forgot there would be things below the floor. As long as these aren’t electrical, it shouldn’t be a problem.” He reached in and grabbed one of the four-inch diameter pipes at the edge of the escape hole. His hand squeezed the pipe, and it crumpled in his grasp. Within seconds, he was through it, and water began spraying out.

  “See?” he asked. “No problem.” He grabbed the other end of the pipe and did the same thing. Once again, his hand went through the pipe, and the piece fell six inches to lie on what appeared to be the ceiling of the room below. Water began puddling as it poured from one end of the broken pipe.

  Landslide grabbed the next pipe and squeezed, severing it. This one also had fluids running through it, but they were waste fluids; an unsavory smell wafted from the hole to assail the people standing above it.

  “Oh my god!” Calvin said, fighting back the urge to vomit. “That is…the worst thing…I think I ever smelled.” He looked into the hole and could see…things…floating in the pool of fluid.

  “Better do something soon!” commed Mongo. “We’re almost at hand-to-claw.” He paused and then yelled, “Last frag out!” as he threw a grenade. They could all feel the concussion as it exploded; the Efreet were close.

  “Almost done,” said Landslide; “last one.” He grabbed the third pipe and squeezed. He got about halfway through it, then went rigid as a “zzzzzzt” was heard. Sparks flew from his hand, and his body began spasming as electrical current flowed through it. “Aaaaaaaaaah,” he cried, no longer in control of his actions.

  Without thinking, Calvin dove into him, taking a jolt before the force of his contact separated the Aesir from the electrical line.

  Calvin rolled to find the Aesir lying still on the deck. Sergeant Yankiver ran over to Calvin. “Are you okay, sir?” he asked.

  “Yeah, I’m fine,” Calvin answered. “Check on Landslide.”

  The Aesir wasn’t moving, and a wisp of smoke curled up from his blackened hand. Yankiver took the Aesir’s other hand and searched for a pulse. He couldn’t find one.

  “If you are looking for a pulse,” said Farhome from above Yankiver, “you’re looking in the wrong spot.”

  Sergeant Yankiver realized he had done it without thinking; he didn’t know anything about the Aesir’s physiology. The medic paused, unsure how to help Landslide.

  “If you will move,” Farhome said, “I will see what I can do.”

  Yankiver moved, and Farhome knelt next to Landslide. His eyes looked clear and focused. Farhome placed a hand on the fallen Aesir’s stomach and closed his eyes.

  “Not good,” he muttered.

  “Can you save him?” asked Calvin.

  “Yes, but it will be a minute,” replied Farhome without opening his eyes.

  “Hurry,” said Calvin. He stood and turned back to the hole. Tsunami had her hands in the hole, but wasn’t being electrocuted. Cyclone had a laser pistol and was firing continuously into the hole. She stood awkwardly, favoring one leg, but no longer had the flechette through it.

  Tsunami looked up as Calvin approached. “We’ll be out of here momentarily,” she said.

  Calvin looked into the hole and saw the liquid in the pipes had stopped flowing; the ends of both fluid pipes were frozen solid. Not only that, but a hole had also been opened through the ceiling into the room below, and he could see where the pieces of the ceiling had fallen down onto the deck, along with the water…and things…that had been pooling. Cyclone had already cut through one side of the pipe with the electrical cable in it and was halfway through the other.

  “Wha…” Calvin said. “How did you do that?”

  “Water is stronger than you know,” replied Tsunami. “It will carve rock given enough time.” She smiled. “Or the right person to help it along.”

  “Sir, it’s now or never!” commed Zoromski. “30 seconds and they’re in here!”

  The pipe dropped as Cyclone finished cutting through the second side.

  “Let’s go!” commed Calvin. “Follow me. Careful not to touch both sides of the electrical pipe at the same time!” He holstered his pistol and slid feet-first into the hole. Careful not to complete the electrical circuit, he dropped to the floor 11 feet below.

  They were free.

  Chapter 33

  Caliph’s Retreat, Wendar, Day 10 of the Second Akhet, 15th Dynasty, Year 14

  “I only need 10 of your troops,” said K-Mart.

  “That is impossible,” said Vizier Bulah, who was in charge of the caliphate’s armed forces. “Our men are already being overwhelmed. We don’t have any men to spare, much less 10. And armed with heavy slug-throwers? We need these for your Jotunn! I don’t know what you did to make them attack us, but the heavy slug-throwers are the only things which will bring them down.”

  “We did nothing to involve the Jotunn,” replied K-Mart; “you have your own traitors to blame for that.”

  “Even if that is true,” replied Vizier Bulah, “the fact remains; we don’t have enough men to give you any.”

  “You’re pulling out, right?” asked Chomper. “It seems to me that some of the men and weapons from the caliph’s retreat ought to be extra. If you are abandoning it, its defenders are no longer needed to man it.”

  “But, but, but they are the caliph’s own guards!” sputtered th
e vizier. “If you take them, who will guard the caliph?”

  “How many of our men did these Terrans bring back from the space station?” asked the caliph.

  “I believe it was eight, my caliph,” replied Vizier Bulah.

  “Then you shall find them eight soldiers for their mission,” replied the caliph. “Those were eight men whose lives were returned to us, at great risk to the Terrans’ own lives. I will risk my own life to give them those eight.” He looked over to where his personal servants stood by the door, shifting from taloned foot to taloned foot. “No more discussion; it is done,” he added. “It is time for all of us to go.”

  “Thank you, Caliph,” said K-Mart as the caliph began to leave.

  “You are welcome,” replied the caliph. He stopped and turned back to meet K-Mart’s eyes. “Those men have sworn their lives to me. Do not spend them lightly.”

  Task Force Calvin, Efreet Ship Incinerator, Ashur Orbit, Unknown Date/Time

  “We’ve got the bridge,” commed Master Chief.

  “And I’ve got the queen’s quarters,” added Night, “but we’ve got a bit of a problem.”

  “I don’t have a lot of time for problems,” replied Calvin. “We’re on the run with a big group of Efreet chasing us. What’s the problem?”

  “I’ve secured the queen’s quarters,” repeated Night. “The problem is, she’s not here.”

  “Are you sure?” asked Calvin.

  “That she’s not here? Absolutely. There’s no place for her to hide. She’s gone.”

  “Where do you suppose she’s gone?” asked Master Chief.

  “The hell if I know,” replied Calvin. “Where would you go?”

  “Sir, you’re looking at it wrong,” said Mongo, who was alongside Calvin. “Take our leaders back home. They don’t decide where they’re going in the event of an emergency; the head of their security detachment does. You have to figure out where you would take your queen if you were in charge and under assault by a group you knew nothing about.”

  “On a spaceship?” asked Calvin. “I’d want to put all of my forces between her and the invading force. Failing that, I’d try to get her off the ship.”

  “Well, it sounds like the Space Force got through or around the security force. What does that leave?”

  “The other shuttle we followed up here,” said Calvin. “They’re going for the other shuttle,” he commed. “We’ve got to cut them off!”

  “Sir, we need to move,” said Master Gunnery Sergeant Hendrick. “Any time we stop, they start shooting at our rear guard.”

  “We’ve got to get to the other docking port,” said Calvin. “I think they’re going to try to take the queen off the ship with the other shuttle.”

  “Well, why didn’t you say so before?” asked Hendrick. He had committed the ship’s layout to memory, and he traced out a path on his in-head tactical display to the other shuttle docking port. “Yokaze, you’ve got point. Head out and take the first right. Let’s move, people! We’ve got a queen to catch.”

  Yokaze stayed to the right of the passageway as he hurried down the corridor with Staff Sergeant Zoromski close behind him. He reached the turn at the same time as a group of five Efreet, coming from the opposite direction.

  Time seemed to slow as his senses went into overdrive. Firing from the hip, he shot the closest Efreet through the throat. Dropping the rifle, he whirled to his left, drawing his katana as he turned. Yokaze completed the spin, and the katana sliced through the neck of a second Efreeti. Yokaze saw his enemies bringing their flechette throwers up, and his katana flowed gracefully back in the opposite direction, removing a third Efreeti’s left arm at the joint. He continued the spin to the left, disemboweling a fourth Efreeti, and turned back to find the fifth Efreeti already falling with a laser hole in its temple.

  “Your mom never taught you how to share, did she?” asked Zoromski, finishing off the Efreeti with one arm.

  “Hai!” replied Yokaze. “She did; I was just trying to be quiet.”

  “We’re in a hurry, gentlemen,” commed Master Gunnery Sergeant Hendrick. “Let’s move! Take the second cross corridor to the left, then there should be a set of stairs to the right. We need to go up one level to get to the docking port.”

  “On my way,” replied Yokaze. Picking up his rifle, he led the group forward and found the passage and the stairs. He paused to listen for a few seconds before flowing quietly up the stairs.

  “I hear Efreet coming from the right!” he commed after reaching the next deck. “It doesn’t sound like many. Which way is the docking port?”

  “To the left,” replied Hendrick. “Take them if you can. Quietly!”

  Two Efreet hurried past from right to left. Unlike the Efreet they had seen earlier, these were dressed in some sort of spacesuit, and were carrying helmets. Yokaze and Mongo burst from the side passage. Yokaze slammed his tekkan down on the head of the closest Efreeti. Nearly the same size as his wakizashi, it had a blunt iron blade, which was used as a club. As the other Efreeti started to turn toward the sound, Mongo slammed the butt of his rifle down onto its head like a club.

  Both Efreet went down.

  “Nice job,” said Calvin. “Put the bodies in the stairwell, and let’s keep going. We’re almost there. It’s just around the corner.”

  Yokaze started down the passageway, but turned back when he got to the corner. “The queen’s forces have already made it to the docking port and have set up a perimeter,” he said. “They will be very difficult to get past.”

  “Did it look like the shuttle was leaving?” asked Master Gunnery Sergeant Hendrick.

  “They did not appear to be loading it,” the Japanese man replied. “They were stationary, as if they were waiting for something.”

  “Like what?” asked Hendrick.

  “I do not know,” replied Yokaze.

  “I do,” said Calvin. “The two Efreet we killed must be the shuttle’s flight crew. The shuttle isn’t going anywhere without pilots.”

  “So what’s your plan, sir?” asked Hendrick.

  “I intend to give them some.”

  Chapter 34

  Wendar, Day 13 of the Second Akhet, 15th Dynasty, Year 14

  “Wait for us here,” said K-Mart. “We will be back shortly.”

  “We will wait,” said the sergeant, “but do not make us wait too long, or you will come back to find us overrun. The enemy is not far off; they will shortly be upon us.”

  “Understood,” said K-Mart; “I just need to set up a couple of things first.” He looked at the other Terrans and asked, “Ready to go?”

  Both aviators nodded and reached out to make contact. K-Mart pressed the button and, with a flash, the Terrans appeared in their former cell.

  “This is your plan?” asked Chomper. “Put us in jail?”

  “No, this is just a defensible position to bring folks,” said K-Mart. “Since we were the only ones on this wing, I’m hoping the guards won’t come by here often. If they do, you can shoot them while they are unlocking the door.”

  The other two Terrans readied their laser rifles and K-Mart nodded. “Be right back,” he said.

  He vanished and returned with two of the soldiers. Both promptly threw up.

  “Lovely,” said Chomper. “That’s going to make staying here even more sucky. Want to trade jobs?”

  “No thanks,” said K-Mart. He brought the rest of the troopers in, and they began assembling their crew-serviced weapons…after they stopped throwing up. K-Mart disappeared again and reappeared a few minutes later with a woman and two children. He disappeared again and came back with a second woman and a child.

  “That’s all of them,” said K-Mart.

  “I thought you said there were about 20,” said Rock.

  “There were,” said K-Mart. “They must have moved them.” He shrugged. “I can’t do anything about it now. On to Stage Two, where things get tough.” He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Wish me luck.” He vanished.
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br />   Jotunn Jail, 14 Herculis ‘a,’ Unknown Date/Time

  “I don’t know why K-Mart thinks he has it so tough,” Rock said after a few minutes of waiting. “He’s out running around while we’re here stuck here.”

  “No kidding,” agreed Chomper. “He’d—”

  “Fee, fie, foe, fum,” rumbled a deep voice from down the cell block.

  “I didn’t really just hear that, did I?” asked Rock as two Jotunn came into view.

  “Yeah, you did,” said Chomper. “Don’t let them say it again,” he added as he sighted down his rifle. “Fire!” He fired his laser rifle, hitting the lead giant twice in the chest. He might as well have been shooting an avalanche; the giant kept coming.

  That changed when both Sila slug-throwers opened up. The weapons fired rounds slightly larger than .50-caliber bullets, but that’s where the comparison to a Terran machine gun ended. The bullets were fed into the weapon from the top by a loader in 40-round clips; the gunner then charged the weapon and fired off the entire clip. As the metal piece the bullets were attached to popped out of the bottom with a ‘ping,’ a second loader on the opposite side of the slug-thrower dropped in the next clip.

  It wasn’t the most efficient machine gun Chomper had ever seen, but with two loaders feeding it, the weapon put a respectable amount of ordnance downrange. It had a fairly rapid firing rate, and the oversize bullets were effective against the Jotunn. Mounted on a tripod, the gunners were able to direct most of their fire into their targets, blasting huge chunks out of the giants with accompanying geysers of green blood.

  Combat veterans, the crew manning the slug-thrower on the right focused on the Jotunn on the right, while the other crew fired at the Jotunn on the left. Hit by over 50 rounds each, as well as a couple of laser bolts, both giants were quickly dispatched.

  As the sounds of gunfire died away, a metallic voice could be heard coming from the vicinity of the felled giants. It kept saying, “Report,” over and over in the Jotunn language.