by G J Ogden
“This is just a rookie training base,” she replied. “These cells are used for nothing more exciting than the occasional drunken misdemeanor.” Then the skelly blinked green and deactivated, before the lock clicked open. “Which means they don’t bother to keep the lock codes up-to-date,” she added, with another smug smile, before pocketing the skelly.
Griff cautiously pushed open the cell door. It squeaked softly, like a bicycle wheel in need of a squirt of oil. Griff winced and held his breath, all the while watching the guard for any signs he was stirring. Then he cautiously crept outside and approached the sleeping man. His ID keyfob was still attached to his belt, and his sidearm was also still holstered. However, he’d placed his nightstick on the table, along with some other bulkier items, presumably so he could get more comfortable for his regulation-breaking nap.
Picking up the nightstick, Griff crept around behind the guard, before grasping it in both hands. He met Wash’s eyes, which were staring back at him inquisitively. He knew he could stun the guard, or incapacitate him in some other way, but if he woke and raised the alarm, they’d be recaptured and moved somewhere far more secure. That would end any hopes of escape, permanently. However, he also wanted to test Wash’s resolve. He wanted to see how far the pen-pusher was really willing to go.
Maintaining eye contact with Wash, he hooked the nightstick around the guard’s neck. Then, sucking in a breath and holding it, he pulled back hard, putting all of his strength and weight into the effort of choking the man.
Wash continued to watch, impassively, as the guard struggled and croaked and spluttered. But Griff did not relax his hold. The man’s struggles soon grew weaker, and eventually stopped altogether. Griff finally released his hold on the nightstick, and breathed out, shaking his throbbing hands. His breathing was rapid and labored, as his lungs struggled to feed air to his oxygen-starved body. The guard, conversely, was no longer breathing at all.
Wash stepped forward, still watching Griff closely. Griff studied her expression and stance, hoping that his actions had shocked her in some way. If he couldn’t have her respect, he wanted her to fear him; but Wash appeared unmoved.
“You could have just knocked him out,” said Wash, while reaching down to remove the guard’s weapon. She also took a spare magazine, which she placed into her pocket.
“No half-measures, remember?” replied Griff.
Wash’s penetrating stare persisted for a second longer, then she loaded the sidearm, before adding, casually, “Make sure you get his ID fobs.”
Griff wasn’t sure whether to be annoyed or impressed with Wash’s detached composure, but since he’d been foolish enough to allow Wash to take the guard’s sidearm, he did as she asked. Keen to have some additional weapons at his disposal – as much to protect himself against Wash as against the other guards – he also removed the dead man’s stun weapon and incapacitant spray. Neither was as good as the CET issue pistol, but it was better than nothing, he considered.
“Okay, genius, so what’s the plan now?” said Griff. He’d guessed, or at least hoped, that Wash had thought further ahead than simply escaping the cell.
“The student officers have all been sent home, until this mess with the CET and RGF is ironed out,” said Wash. “Which means the base has a skeleton crew.” She walked over to the door and looked through the window, before turning back to Griff. “So, we walk out of here, commandeer a flyer, and figure out our next move.”
Griff laughed, “We just ‘walk out of here’? How do you propose pulling that off?”
Wash pointed to the dead guard. “You put on that uniform, and march me out of here as your prisoner.”
Griff looked at the guard again. He must have been three inches shorter than Griff, and twenty pounds heavier. “I’ll look like a damn idiot wearing that,” he complained.
“What else is new?” replied Wash, acidly. “And I can hardly wear it, can I?” she added, gesturing to her own slender frame. “I’m five six and one hundred and ten pounds. It would look like I’m wearing a refuse sack.”
“A sack would at least hide your bony ass,” Griff hit back, still smarting from Wash’s earlier snide remark. “But fine, I’ll wear it.” Then he sneered at Wash, remembering how she would regularly frequent the seedy establishments in the scavenger towns, and added, “So long as I get to cuff you. I know you like that kind of thing.”
Wash stepped in and went to slap Griff again, but this time he caught her by the wrist. “Careful, Wash,” he growled. “Be careful.”
Wash stepped back and folded her arms, still holding the guard’s firearm. Then she raised her eyebrows, and looked at the dead body again. “I’m waiting…”
Griff sighed and began to undress. If Wash wants a peep show, I’ll give her one, he thought, while removing his shirt. “What is our next move, anyway?” he said, dumping the shirt on the desk. “Assuming we manage to just ‘walk out of here’ that is.”
Wash’s face had adopted a sort of impish smirk. Griff had always known about her various perversions, but even so, he wasn’t sure whether she was just enjoying his humiliation, or genuinely enjoying watching him undress.
“By now that impudent bore, Commodore Trent, will have frozen our accounts and revoked our IDs,” said Wash, her eyes flicking down as Griff lowered his pants. “So, there is really only one thing we can do.”
“And what’s that?” said Griff, throwing his pants at Wash in an attempt to stop her staring.
Wash caught the flying garment, but then her smile twisted into something more sinister. “We find Cutler Wendell…” she snarled. “He will think he’s safe, but he is not. We find him, and we take everything he has.” Then she met Griff’s eyes, and all traces of her prior playfulness had gone. “And then we kill him.”
CHAPTER 18
The swirling purple vortex finally snapped shut as the enormous frame of the Revocater emerged from the portal. Liberty turned the hulking vessel towards their next waypoint and immediately saw the fractured remains of a planet swing into view. It was now little more than a concentrated asteroid field of rock and ice.
“What planet was this?” Liberty asked, as the location of the next portal appeared on the screen ahead of her. She completed the turn and locked in the course, without thinking. Piloting the enormous Revocater had almost become second nature to her.
“That is the remains of the planet you called Aphrodite Four,” came the disembodied voice of Morphus. The entity’s female form then rose up out of the second seat, but remained physically embedded into it, as it had done before. “It was a member planet of the Union of Outer Portal Worlds,” it continued. “However, Goliath has already extinguished all life on all of the worlds associated with this faction.”
Liberty shook her head in disbelief. “All the OPW planets are already gone? But that’s millions of people!” she asked, still struggling to believe it. “What about the CET and MP portal worlds?”
Morphus appeared lost in thought for a moment. It was still struggling to balance the management of the prototype Revocater’s systems with its own functions.
“The latest data I intercepted from the seed drones is outdated,” Morphus eventually replied. “But if Goliath remains unaware of our presence, it will eradicate the most distant CET and MP worlds first, before methodically working its way towards System 5118208.”
Liberty frowned. “And what if it is already aware of our presence?”
Morphus’ head turned to face Liberty, while remaining part of the seat. It was a peculiar thing to see, and a little unsettling too.
“If Goliath is aware of our return, then it will already be heading for Earth,” said Morphus, with an almost human melancholy. Then its head snapped forward again and its expression became rigid, like a shop mannequin. “Stand by, I am detecting seed ships still in the system,” Morphus added, more urgently. The display at the front of the replica cockpit then updated to show multiple formations of what looked like hundreds of the arrow-shaped vess
els.
“What are they doing?” asked Liberty, watching as the ships seemed to be grouping more closely together into distinct clusters. “They look like they’re going to collide with each other.”
“Not collide,” said Morphus. “Combine.”
Liberty continued to watch as the different groups of seed ships began to attach to one another, like a giant 3D puzzle. The shape quickly began to grow, with more and more seed ships flying in, adding to the new object’s mass. Then the image pulled back, and Liberty saw not one, but three of these new diamond-shaped objects coming towards them. They were still diminutive compared to the Revocater, but in sheer volume, they were twice the size of the bigger cruisers in the MP and CET armadas.
“What the hell are they?” asked Liberty, starting to feel her pulse quicken.
“The closest translation in your language would be infiltrators,” replied Morphus. “Goliath has left them behind in case anything tried to pass through this system from the Corporeals’ homeworld.” Morphus again appeared to be lost in thought, as some other aspect of the Revocater demanded its fuller attention. “It may yet be unaware that I have located another Revocater,” Morphus resumed a few seconds later, “but at the very least, the great ship suspects something is wrong.”
Liberty sucked in a long breath and grabbed the controls. “What do I do?”
Morphus sank back into the seat, like butter soaking into hot toast. “You must accelerate your progress to the portal,” replied Morphus, its voice again an ethereal presence in the chamber. “The infiltrators may only be a fraction of our size, but three of them together still possess the capability to damage this vessel.”
Liberty regained control of the ship and pushed the throttle forward, but the infiltrators had already positioned themselves between the Revocater and the portal. “Can you destroy them first?” she asked, hoping that was why Morphus had sunk away.
“I will try,” said Morphus, but its voice sounded tired and unconvincing.
Liberty concentrated on the infiltrators, and the image ahead pulled back. Three star-shaped chevrons highlighted the positions of the new alien attackers. Suddenly, three flashes of energy surged towards them and the Revocater was hit. The impacts sounded like the distant rumble of thunder, but Liberty somehow knew the attack had inflicted damage to the ship. However, she could not get a sense of how bad it was.
“Minor damage… initiating repairs,” came the ethereal voice of Morphus, “I am attempting to return fire. Stand by…”
Liberty waited, but nothing happened. She was about to call out to Morphus, when one of the chevrons flashed and grew larger. She checked her consoles, but she could already instinctively sense the danger. One of the infiltrators had locked in a collision course.
“Turn away,” said Morphus, its voice sounding weaker than ever. “You must evade the infiltrator. A direct collision at this velocity will penetrate the hull.”
“Can’t you shoot back?” Liberty called out, but there was no response. Fighting back the swell of panic in her gut, Liberty turned the Revocater away from the pursuing infiltrators, and the ship’s mysterious propulsion system immediately altered their trajectory. It was like the Revocater was an enormous aircraft carrier navigating the open seas.
“Morphus, it’s still gaining on us!” Liberty called out, as there were more flashes of energy, and more distant rumbles. “Morphus, shoot them!”
“I… am… unable…” said Morphus. “Try to… reach the… portal.”
A collision warning sounded, and Liberty attempted to push the Revocater’s mighty engines harder, but it seemed that the more she asked of the ship, the greater the physical toll was, both on Morphus and on her own body. Her arms were growing weak and she was now struggling to hold their course, as if the vacuum of space had suddenly turned into thick treacle.
“What’s going on?”
Liberty spun around to see Tobin standing behind her. The top half of his body was bare, but the injuries sustained when the seed drones had slashed into his flesh were gone. In their place was a skin-like covering of glowing, golden alien metal. It was like a magical vest of chainmail made from mithril, and it had clearly saved his life. Liberty anxiously checked the position of the approaching infiltrator, then turned back to Tobin, realizing that his sudden arrival could not have come at a more important time.
CHAPTER 19
Liberty sprang out of her seat and pulled Tobin into a tight embrace. “You’re alive!” she cried out, before drawing back to inspect his curious new augmentations, which went far beyond her own modest enhancements. “Are you okay?” she added, “You’re glowing a little more than usual…”
“I feel fine,” said Tobin. “In fact, I feel amazing.” Then he looked at the view on the screen, and became concerned. “Liberty, what’s happening? Where are we? Where is Morphus?”
Liberty glanced at the screen and saw that the infiltrator was still gaining. She dropped back down into the pilot’s seat and grabbed the controls, re-establishing her link to the ship. “There’s too much to explain right now, but we’re on the Revocater, and we’re under attack,” said Liberty. “There’s a new kind of alien ship, and one of them is on a collision course.”
“What can I do?” asked Tobin appearing beside Liberty and grabbing onto the empty second seat.
“I’m still working on that…” replied Liberty, as she tried to push the engines harder, but she had nothing more to give. She could also feel the impacts from the energy bolts more violently now. The infiltrator was targeting the Revocater’s engines, but in less than a minute, it would collide with them. The impact would be like a meteor strike, crippling the ship and ending any hope of stopping Goliath.
Then Liberty had an idea. It was crazy, but in a world where she was able to pilot a space ship that was almost two hundred city blocks long, crazy had become the new normal.
“Get into the second seat,” she called back to Tobin. “I’ve had a brainwave.”
Tobin immediately jumped into the seat and sat there staring at Liberty, expectantly awaiting more instructions. “Okay, now what?” he said, throwing his arms out.
“Remember how Morphus programmed your brain and made you a skilled marksman?” said Liberty, smiling. Then she concentrated her thoughts onto Morphus, trying desperately to reach the entity, as if through telepathy. “Morphus, hand over weapons control to Tobin,” she said out loud. There was no answer, and now the infiltrator was less than thirty seconds away. “Morphus! Give Tobin weapons control in the second seat, now!”
Suddenly the second seat reconfigured around Tobin and a new set of controls grew out of the alien metal. Liberty watched on in astonishment as the new configuration took shape, resembling a Sperry ball turret from an old B17 Flying Fortress. Tobin grabbed the gun controls and the alien metal – which now comprised a significant portion of his torso – began to glow brightly. Liberty again glanced at the scanner, and saw that there were only a few seconds remaining until the infiltrator collided with them.
“Tobin, shoot the damn ship already!” Liberty cried out.
With the ease and skill of a veteran World War Two gunner, Tobin turned the turret-like weapon towards the infiltrator and pulled the trigger. An image of the space outside the ship stayed with him as he turned, suspended in mid-air like a floating projection screen. Bolts of energy then rippled out towards the diamond-shaped ship, peppering it like shotgun pellets tearing through paper. The infiltrator exploded, sending seed ship fragments in all directions.
“Great shot!” cried Liberty, before checking on the location of the other two infiltrators. They were also still in pursuit, but much further behind. She smiled again and tightened her grip on the controls. “I’m done running from these spiky little assholes,” she said, before throttling back and turning the Revocater to face the oncoming enemy ships. “There you go,” Liberty said, cheerfully, “Target practice…”
Tobin still looked completely shell-shocked. “I’d like to
say I don’t know what to do, but somehow, I do!” he said. Glancing up at the image in front of him, the view zoomed in on the next nearest infiltrator. Tobin spun the turret and fired, destroying it as effortlessly as he had the first.
The last infiltrator then began to slow, and veer away. Whatever intelligence the ship possessed was enough to know it was facing a losing battle, but with the tables turned, Liberty now pressed the pursuit.
“Oh no you don’t…” said Liberty, setting an intercept course, before again turning to Tobin. However, this time their new gunner needed no prompting. He aimed the turret and annihilated the infiltrator with a swarm of precisely-aimed energy bolts.
Tobin let out an excited whoop, and released the turret controls. The alien metal grafted into his body dimmed to a duller luster, and the turret sank away into the ship, leaving Tobin back in the second seat, as if nothing had happened. However, Liberty then noted that the consoles in front of Tobin altered to mimic the design of his own personal shuttle, rather than the second seat of the Orion.
“That was amazing!” said Tobin, leaping up and rushing over to Liberty.
“I’m moderately impressed,” replied Liberty, though she couldn’t hide the grin on her face. “What’s with that old-fashioned gun turret, though? Did that come from your head, or from Morphus?”
Tobin shrugged, “Hey, I like ancient Second World War fighter and bomber aircraft,” he said, sounding a little embarrassed. “It’s a hobby…”
“You and I are going to get along just fine,” said Liberty, smiling and looking down at the Royal Air Force cap badge that she’d fashioned into a belt buckle. She then resumed course to the portal, but kept their velocity at a steadier pace, now the immediate threat was gone. However, the engines still felt strained, and it still required more effort than normal to hold the ship on course.
“Don’t we already get along?” replied Tobin, still buzzing from the experience, but then he frowned and looked around the chamber. “Hey, speaking of Morphus, where is she?”
