Earth Space Service Boxed Set: Books 1 - 3 (ESS Space Marines Omnibus)

by James David Victor

  “It’s not tolerable,” Andy agreed. “It shouldn’t be. If you bow to the shackles put upon you, then all of you is lost even if your body remains. We will get out of here, we will not be lost. Take in everything around you and be ready when our opportunity comes.”

  “Yes, Sergeant,” Jade said tightly, nodding a little.

  Andy’s dark eyes kept flicking up to keep a location on the guards in between her attempts to analyze her hands and what kept them bound. Their feet had not been bound, so when the time came, they would be able to move. She tried to determine if there was any way to learn where in the building they were so if they managed an escape, they would know where they were heading.

  It wouldn’t do to get free only to get lost.

  “You’re never going to get free,” a voice who had not been part of the conversation before chimed in.

  Andy blinked and looked up, spotting the slave nearest to where they were being kept. It was a woman and she looked to be human. She was in shackles and a collar, sitting on the cold stone floor with her head back against the wall. She glanced at them from time to time in between staring at the ceiling.

  “You have that look of a new slave,” she said. “You know, one who still has hope that they will get out, but it won’t happen. I’ve been sold again and again, usually get sent back for my rebelliousness, but despite all my efforts and all of my attempts... Well, I’m still here, aren’t I?”

  “Maybe today is the day that’ll change,” Andy said quietly.

  The woman laughed. It was a high-pitched, thin sound that almost hurt Andy’s ears. It was a bitter sound like what she often heard from her mother, on those rare occasions their conversations went on for longer than five minutes. It grated on her right down to her soul, but she pressed her lips together.

  “We’ll never escape,” the woman said, her vacant eyes keeping up its in-depth examination of the cold ceiling.

  “We’re going to get out of here,” Andy said to Jade and Anallin. “Oorah.”

  “Oorah,” they both echoed, very quietly.

  CHAPTER 10

  EVERYTHING HAD SETTLED down after a few minutes.

  Andy was beginning to wonder where the rest of her squad was, not to mention the rest of the Marine deployment. It couldn’t be that difficult to track them, could it? The compound was a single building, so they had to be able to find them soon. She wasn’t sure about their chances of escape, or at least didn’t have a plan yet, and she wasn’t keen to find out how things were going to go if they remained too long.

  The guards left the other slaves alone now, since they were no longer acting up. Andy felt sure that their attention would turn to them soon enough, even though they were still distracted with each other.

  Andy kept at it with her bindings, thinking that she might have identified the locking mechanism. Of course, she hadn’t yet figured out how to break it, but knowing was half the battle. It was slow-going because she had to keep checking the location and attention spans of the guards, to make sure she wasn’t found out.

  “What are you doing there?!”

  The voice was loud, angry, and demanding. Andy’s heart skipped a couple of beats when she realized that she hadn’t been as covert as she thought. She had been found out. Lifting her head, she saw the lead guard staring in her direction, but...not at her. He was staring at Jade, who looked guilty. Had she been working on her restraints as well?

  “I already know that you are useless,” he said casually, seemingly no longer angry. He lifted his hand, and Andy just knew what was coming.

  Andy didn’t stop and think. The direct and deadly threat to her squad-mate, who she was tasked to protect as much as to lead, was just too much. Instinct kicked in. She made the most of her unbound feet and propelled herself up and over, throwing herself quite literally in front of her teammate just as Jade gasped.

  To her credit and Andy’s pride, the younger woman did not scream. Whatever was going to happen, she was going to take it with stoicism and bravery.

  That was only a moment of recognition amid a rapid-fire succession of events. As Andy was pushing herself in front of Jade, the Kriori fired a lightning bolt. It wasn’t like the mythological bolts thrown by the god Zeus, it simply fired from the Kriori’s palm. She could see the orange glow of the bolt as it arced across the distance between them. Everything seemed to slow down in that moment.

  The split-second she had as the bolt shot at them gave her the time to think about the fact that she was going to die. This lightning was going to hit her, center mass, and electrocute her. She was a tough woman, but she couldn’t imagine a way for her to survive that. It seemed fairly clear that she was about to die.

  She wasn’t afraid. Andy knew that any of her squad would lay down their lives for her and she had no regrets in doing so for them. Her only regret was leaving her people without her to face their captivity, but hopefully, the 33rd would be showing up soon...

  The electricity struck her directly on the chest.

  She felt the crackling as it raced over her skin, and her heart skipped a beat. Everything felt very hot all of a sudden and time sped up again, dropping her to the floor with a heavy thud as she waited for darkness to take over her again. This time, for good.

  It never came.

  All she did was hit the ground. Everything was still hot, and she thought she could hear the crackling sound, but everything else came to a halt. It didn’t even seem like anyone was breathing, including her.

  What just happened?

  She was still alive, and she didn’t even feel injured. She felt a little strange, but perfectly healthy and intact.

  Pushing herself to her feet, she looked around and saw the Kriori who fired the bolt just standing there, bewildered. She felt everyone staring at her, and she didn’t blame them.

  “That...” the guard began, before gesturing again.

  For the second time, she watched as that lightning bolt streaked from his open palm. The antenna on the top of his head sparked and waved, and the spines in his hand seemed to pulse with the red-orange light that leapt forward. Just like it had before, it crested the space between them.

  She didn’t even try to move out of the way. Was it shock? Or was it some new found confidence?

  In fact, the moment she saw it leave his hand, she didn’t even watch it like she had the first time. She looked at the guard, who seemed...disconcerted by her reaction. He expected her to jump or scream or something. She almost expected herself to do it. But she didn’t. She just held his gaze as his lightning hit her straight on for the second time.

  Like before, she didn’t die. She wasn’t electrocuted. The force of it pushed her back, but she kept her feet.

  Heat. She felt a lot of heat now, but it wasn’t burning her. There was that charged feeling to the air around her, but it didn’t hurt. She glanced down at herself and thought she could even see the tiny dancing bits of electricity playing on her skin, yet there was no pain.

  Still, there was that sense of everything standing still. There was no breathing. Her heartbeat was quiet. There was just the sound of the lingering lightning and all of the questions floating in her head. How had this happened?

  How was she not dead?

  Andy flexed her fingers, even though they were still bound before her, and looked up to see the Kriori guard now well past dumbfounded into outright shock. His small mouth was open with an as of yet silent question and those intense eyes pierced her. She just stared right back at him. Although she hadn’t been willing to show any fear toward him before, now she felt even less of any fear she might have had before.

  “What are you?” he asked, shaking his head slowly. “You cannot possibly be human.”

  “You know, I’m hearing that a lot,” Andy replied with a faint smile.

  Of course, now she knew that she had just painted a target on herself.

  She was a threat.

  CHAPTER 11

  FORTUNE FAVORS THE BOLD.

&nb
sp; Andy knew that she couldn’t be either smart or cautious now. She was, somehow, immune to their primary power and their primary source of threat. It had also been made obvious that she wasn’t afraid of them and was willing to get in their way. Every tactical brain cell that she had knew this meant they would want her taken out fast.

  She did the first thing that came to mind, which was a direct charge.

  Even though her hands were bound, they were bound in front of her allowing her to use them, and her feet were free. Since he couldn’t use his lightning on her, she just ran straight for him in the hopes that he wouldn’t be able to do much else.

  The space between them hadn’t been very great and she crossed it quickly. As soon as she was in reach, she planted her feet and laced her fingers together, swinging her clasped hands like a warhammer for the Kriori’s head. He recovered from his shock only just in time to jump back and avoid her strike.

  He swung wide and she ducked under his fist, not coming back up immediately. Instead, she drove forward and put her shoulder into his midsection. They went down together, but she was on top and she pinned him. Using her club-like hands, she swung hard and caught him in the side of the head before he could do anything to stop her.

  The first hit stunned him, while the second and third rendered him unconscious—or dead. There wasn’t time to check.

  Another guard came for her, shooting more lightning. It hit her like a fist, but it didn’t knock her over. She threw herself to her feet and off the Kriori beneath her, spinning to find the offender. There were now four guards and all of them were coming for her, but Andy was no longer alone. Jade and Anallin were also on their feet.

  Part of her wanted to tell them not to, because she knew they wouldn’t be immune to lightning, but she was also aware of the fact that she wasn’t likely to do well in a four against one fight, especially when she didn’t have full use of her hands. Of course, she wasn’t going to let that slow her down. Not now.

  Anallin charged the closest Kriori guard, fists swinging wildly, catching the guard in the head. It happened so fast, the guard couldn’t even raise a defense and the power behind the Hanaran’s swing brought that guard down instantly.

  As Andy swung at the non-Kriori, she was peripherally aware of Jade getting her arms around the next guard’s neck, using her own bound hands like a rope and pulling against his throat until he fell forward with her on his back. She used that leverage to pull harder until she was sure he was down.

  Andy’s first strike was blocked, but she quickly shifted her weight onto her back leg and used the forward foot to snap out and catch the other in a leg joint. She heard the cracking of the bone and knew another guard was out of the fight.

  One guard left.

  Andy felt like her heart was about to beat right out of her chest from the adrenaline coursing through her, made stronger by the lingering static she could still feel. She had to face down the last Kriori before Anallin or Jade took a lightning bolt that would do far more damage to them then they had to her. Ignoring the downed guards, she spun to seek out the last guard.

  And she found him already engaging Anallin. This guard did a better job of blocking the strikes, but the Hanaran did a good job of keeping the Kriori from being able to bring his lightning power fully to bear. Andy didn’t know how long that would last, though.

  While Anallin kept the guard busy from the front, Andy hurried around behind. By now, the rest of the captives were noisy. They shouted encouragement for the Marines and abuse for the guards. Andy had to drown out any attempt to understand the words, but she appreciated the noise itself because it kept the guard from knowing she was coming.

  Lifting her hands, she brought her fist down on the back of his neck. Given he was considerably taller than her, this was the best angle of attack. Once that had stupefied him somewhat and his upper half lowered, she caught him again on the back of the head and drove him to the ground.

  Andy looked at his prone form and then to Anallin and Jade. She saw Jade staggering slightly, but on her feet and not showing any obvious sign of injury. The sergeant checked over Anallin as well, just to make sure there were no signs of injury. As the adrenaline started to fade, Andy marveled at the fact they had taken down four armed guards—while bound.

  Oorah!

  “I’ll be damned,” she said with a soft laugh and a shake of her head, although her words were drowned out in the noise of the captives all around them. She finally tuned into what they were saying a little better and realized she could pick out a couple of words, although there was no harmony to any of it.

  “Behind—”

  “—you.”

  She blinked and turned just in time to see a weapon in the hand of the guard whose knee she had broken. She cursed inwardly and tried to move out of the way, but this time, she just couldn’t. The lightning had made her feel invincible; given her a false sense of security. And that’s how good Marines got killed.

  The guard managed to get a shot off and the projectile caught her in a gap in the armor plating. The durable material of her fatigues made it stab resistant, but it couldn’t stand up to a high-speed projectile. It tore through her suit and embedded itself into the flesh of her side.

  Grunting with pain, she clutched her hand to her side as Anallin and Jade rushed to take the remaining enemy out. As she collapsed to the ground, she could see Roxanna and Dan leading the way for a contingent of Marines. They swarmed in with their guns at the ready, but there were no more enemies to defeat. The only ones remaining were the Marines, and the captives waiting for the freedom that the 33rd had come there to grant them.

  “You’re late,” Andy said with a smirk as Roxanna rushed over to her, shouting for a medic. The adrenaline faded from her system in a rush, and she finally got the darkness she had been waiting for...

  CHAPTER 12

  ANDY WOKE UP WITH A GROAN.

  It took her a moment to realize that she was in the Star Chaser’s sickbay...again. She had gone on another mission and ended up in this place, although this time it wasn’t precautionary. She had been shot, which was just plain obnoxious. The lights were too bright, but she preferred it to the dimness of that bloody compound’s basement.

  “How are we feeling, Sergeant?” Doctor Martin asked as he walked up to her, his purple skin placid as he smiled. Like Roxanna, the Selerid went with a Standard approximation of his native name that no one else could pronounce. He joked at times that even Roxanna wouldn’t be able to say it, since they spoke different dialects of the Selerid language.

  “I imagine that you’re feeling alright,” she said with a small half-smile, “but I feel like I’ve been shot. Since I’m awake, I assume that there wasn’t any major damage.” Of course, the Star Chaser did have top of the line medical facilities, so there could’ve been noteworthy damage that had been fixed. She didn’t really want to think about that, though.

  Doctor Martin chuckled. “It was more than a flesh wound, but it could have been a lot worse. They were able to do a little battlefield medicine, as your people would call it, to stop the damage long enough to get you up here for surgery. From there, it was my top notch medical skill that put you back together in one piece so you can continue...doing whatever it is you Marines do that end you up in my care so often.”

  Andy chuckled again, then inhaled deeply to check his work. It was tender and a little sore, but it didn’t hurt too much. Top notch, indeed.

  After a moment, she realized that he wasn’t going anywhere. He had stopped by, asked how she was, and then delivered his pithy way of announcing what had happened...so why was he still hanging around? She let her dark gaze settle on him and lifted her brows by way of asking him to continue.

  “There is something else,” he said. He didn’t need those empathic senses to tell that. “I am seeing something...different about your biology since the last time you were here.” Pausing, he pulled a chair closer and sat beside her. She was tense and didn’t like where this was going. �
��I’m not sure exactly what it is that I’m seeing, though. It’s unlike anything that we’ve ever seen before, and the only thing I can think of is that what happened to you down there somehow triggered it.”

  “Triggered it?” she replied, feeling kind of dumb.

  He nodded slowly. “It isn’t unheard of for there to be a sort of sleeper code in the genetic structure of some races, which an event can trigger, or awaken. It hides until that point, almost like a virus and you’re the host. In your case, we are still reading plenty of human DNA, accounting for your human mother, but there is something else there now that I can only assume came from your father.”

  Andy stifled a sigh. “The father that I know nothing about,” she said. “Is it... I mean, is it dangerous? Will this hurt me?”

  Martin shook his head. “As far as I can tell, no. However, I’ve never seen anything like it myself so I can’t say for sure. All I can tell you is that I am not seeing any damage being done to you—for now.” He paused. “They told me what happened while you were being held, about resisting the bio-electric shock from the Kriori. First of all, I think it’s a theme. You were able to resist the innate ability of the Colirnoid, and now you’ve been able to resist the ability of the Kriori. I think something about this time, though, awakened that biological coding.”

  “What happens now?” she asked warily.

  “We will have to do some more tests and try to figure it out. I’m afraid this will mean going to a specialized facility, and seeing doctors who have more experience than even I do,” he told her sympathetically.

  She leaned back and stared up at the ceiling. “Thanks, Mom.”

  BY THAT EVENING, Andy was released to her quarters. She was restricted from duty or training for a week, but they didn’t require her presence in sick bay. She was definitely okay with being in her room instead of the sick bay.