“No, at least not as far as I can tell.”
“What about that fleet?” Inquired Anna.
“I am sorry,” the young woman replied, sounding strained.
“It is difficult for us to see that far with the ship in this state.”
“We'll let's not wait to find out,” said Major Clark.
“Commander,” she said, turning to Anna.
“I take it the ship will be inoperable for the foreseeable future?”
“Yes, at least not without a major overhaul,” Anna agreed.
“Then we need to get out of here, Jones is bound to either come looking for us, or just blast us from orbit.”
“So where are we going?” Asked Saskill.
“There must be some sort of space-worthy transportation on this planet,” explained Clark.
“We need to find it.”
“Yeah, all while evading Jones and his fleet,” John added.
“Not to mention, once we do get our hands on some transportation, we still need to get out of this system.”
“Not to interrupt,” said the young woman.
“But those danek are getting closer.”
“Then let's welcome our new guests,” said Major Clark.
She made her way to the bridge door.
“Everyone get ready to leave the ship,” she ordered.
“Salvage whatever you can in terms of supplies.”
She stopped in the doorway and looked at the young woman.
“I don't suppose you can tell me what the weather is like out there?”
The young woman closed her eyes for a moment.
“The temperature and atmospheric pressure are within tolerable limits for humans and shengyet. Saskill should be able to breathe the atmosphere, the rest of us however, will require breathing masks.”
“Okay then, try to scrounge up as many breathing masks as you can and any extra air tanks as well.”
“We'll also need food and medical supplies,” interjected Graham.
“Who knows how long we'll be here.”
“And weapons,” said Andrew.
Major Clark nodded in agreement.
“Sergeant, take a few people and try to get into the cargo bay. Scrounge up as many supplies as you can and see if you can locate your armor and weapons.”
“Yes Major.”
“That armor will make him more than a little conspicuous,” Anna warned.
“It would be better to try and go unnoticed.”
“I think I've got the conspicuous part covered,” said Saskill.
They spread out across the ship, Saskill, Andrew and Chief Nolan headed for the cargo bay. There was a fair amount of debris and mangled doorways that blocked their path, between Saskill and Andrew however, they were able to get there relatively quickly. The cargo bay was a mess, boxes and crates had burst open and strewn their contents everywhere. After a bit of rummaging, they were able to locate some combat rations and canteens of water.
The crate containing Andrew’s equipment had burst open and some of its contents were damaged. However, the armor and most of the weapons were still intact. Andrew sent Saskill and Nolan back to the ship's main airlock, where they had all agreed to meet. He then got busy putting on his Armor and piling any equipment or gear that Nolan and Saskill hadn't been able to carry into a mostly intact crate. Once he was done, he picked up the crate and made his way to the airlock.
When he arrived, he found the rest of the crew going over the small pile of equipment they had been able to scrounge, they looked up as he approached.
“Woha!” Exclaimed Aziz.
“Everyone make room for the living cargo transport.”
They all moved aside as he lowered the crate to the deck.
“So what'd you bring us?” Asked Graham.
“Saskill and Nolan took all the breather masks and most of the weapons we found,” said Andrew.
“I've got combat rations, spare air tanks, water and ammunition.”
“Well we've got enough breathing masks for everyone that needs them,” said Major Clark.
“This looks to be a fair amount of water and rations,” she added, peering into the crate.
She surveyed the rest of their equipment.
“How are we fixed for everything else?” She asked the room at large.
“We managed to find two med kits, mostly intact,” Anna reported.
“And we managed to get into the armory. Most of the stuff in there was damaged, but we salvaged a few things. We have; two R5 rifles, five P2 side arms, a bit of ammunition for the above and eight sets of basic combat armor.”
“Most of my gear survived,” Andrew chimed in.
“I've got an R6 rifle, four ion grenades, two explosive charges and this little guy,” he said, holding up a small triangular shaped object.
“A scouting drone,” said Graham, examining it.
“Yeah, I figured it might come in handy.”
“All right,” said Clark.
“Everyone put on your breathing masks and a set of combat armor.”
She looked at Saskill.
“I don't suppose any part of that armor would fit you?”
“No,” replied Saskill looking down at the various armor components.
“But I prefer mobility anyway,” he said picking up one of the R5 rifles and slapping in a fresh clip of ammunition.
“Everyone grab some rations, water and an extra air tank,” said Clark.
“That armor has a small equipment pack built into the back, store them in there.”
John and the young woman were eying the combat armor with dubious looks on their faces.
“So um, how do these things work?” Asked John.
“Oh, sorry I forgot you're not familiar with it,” said Major Clark.
“Lieutenant Graham, help them with the armor and make sure they know how to use the breather masks.”
Graham nodded and went over to give them a hand.
“Any word on those danek?” Asked Andrew.
“They appeared to have stopped a few dozen meters from the ship,” replied the young woman, accepting the armored chest piece Graham was handing her.
“And Jones' task force?” Anna asked.
“Nothing as far as we can tell.”
Major Clark looked up from putting on her own armor.
“That reminds me,” she said, looking at the young woman.
“When we leave, what happens to that other member of your species inhabiting the ship?”
“It will have to stay here,” the young woman replied.
“It?” Asked John.
“Yes,” she explained.
“The concept of gender only exists in our species as a physical part of the form we take. Since your ship has no gender, neither does this member of my species.”
“But why does it have to stay?” Asked John.
“When it merged with your ship, it became part of it. Changing form is not something we can simply do at will. It requires certain circumstances and a lot of time. This particular member of my species was able to become part of your ship because it was already in a form that had inhabited another ship. Therefore, no change was necessary.”
“So it can only move from ship to ship?” Asked John.
“No,” replied the young woman.
“Theoretically it could move between any two pieces of technology capable of holding it.”
Sergeant Williams picked up the tiny scout drone.
“What about this?” He asked.
“I don't know, may I?” said the young woman, holding out her hand.
Williams handed her the drone. She cupped it in both hands and closed her eyes.
“Perhaps,” she said finally.
“I suppose we can try.”
She held the drone up to the nearest bulkhead.
“What do you think?”
A low, timid noise rang through the ship.
“I know,” she replied gently.
&nbs
p; “But it will only be temporary.”
“I take it there's some reluctance,” said Anna.
“Well how would you feel if you had to move from a whole spaceship to some tiny scout drone?” Asked John.
A patch of gleaming white light appeared around the drone the young woman was still holding to the bulkhead. The light grew in intensity, until it became almost too bright to look at. Then, with a brilliant flash, it was gone. The young woman held out the tiny drone in her had. It beeped and engaged its thrusters, hovering in the air. It stayed there for a moment, then started buzzing around their heads, finally coming to rest on Andrew’s armored shoulder. Williams gave it a cautious look, then held out his hand. The drone buzzed and flew onto it.
“Ok, that's kind of unsettling,” said Graham.
The drone flew into the air and straight at Graham's head, who ducked out of its path.
“Hey!”
“I think you offended it,” said Anna, grinning.
“Well I'm sorry,” said Graham, still eying the drone wearily.
“We need to get going, now,” interrupted Major Clark.
“Every second we stay here, is another second Jones might send in ground forces or just blast us.”
“You heard the Major,” said Anna.
“Grab your gear and get off this ship.”
The Twilight's outer airlock doors slid open, Andrew and Saskill clambered out onto the wreckage strewn ground surrounding the ship. There was no way to fit everyone in the airlock chamber at once, so they had to do it in stages. Andrew and Saskill had gone out first, to secure the immediate area. The little scout drone had once again settled itself onto the Sergeant's shoulder. Andrew handed a throat microphone and a small ear-piece to Saskill.
“What's this?” Asked Saskill, looking at them.
“I tore it out of one of the helmets,” Andrew explained.
“They should self adhere to you. This way, you'll be able to keep in touch with the rest of us.”
Saskill nodded and put them on.
The little drone left Andrew’s shoulder and hovered a few meters above them. Then it suddenly took off into the sky.
“Hey, where's it going?” said Andrew, surprised.
Saskill finished putting on the equipment and switched it on.
“No idea,” his voice came over the group's com network.
The next instant, Andrew saw a new bit of data being streamed to the HUD of his armor's visor.
“I'm getting sensor readings from that drone,” he announced.
“Six danek, spread out in a rough semicircle, behind what's left of that tower we hit coming in,” he said pointing at a pile of debris.
The airlock door opened again and the rest of the crew exited.
“Report Sergeant,” said Major Clark.
“Six danek Major, stationary targets behind that pile of debris, unarmed.”
“How?” Began John.
“Scouting drone,” said Andrew.
“Putting that member of your species in it seems to have improved it a fair bit,” he added, turning to the young woman.
“These sensor scans are superb.”
“Fascinating as this all is,” interrupted Dolohov.
“Shouldn't we be going?”
“The Lieutenant's right,” said Major Clark.
“But where exactly?” Asked Anna.
“Let's ask some of the locals,” replied Clark.
They started to move towards the debris pile, Andrew and Saskill in the lead, weapons drawn.
“They're not moving,” Andrew announced over the com.
He held up a fist and the group came to a halt.
“What is it?” Asked Anna.
“The danek are pulling back,” he reported.
“Look out!” said John, pointing as six figures dashed out from behind the debris pile and headed off towards the refinery building in the distance.
“I guess we spooked them,” said Nolan.
“I don't think it's us that spooked them,” Andrew corrected him.
“The drone's reading new sensor contacts in the atmosphere, descending rapidly. Major, they're troop transports.”
“Move!” Clark snapped.
“That refinery should give us some cover.”
They sprinted after the fleeing danek. Andrew glanced up at the sky, just in time to see three troop shuttles break the cloud cover.
Chapter 38
Harbid, Katie and Administrator Suun, rode the elevator in silence. Harbid couldn't shake the feeling that this was all going too easy. At any moment he expected Suun to betray them in some way. Although he really couldn't think of anything Suun would have to gain by doing so. The elevator doors opened and they stepped into an enormous room lined with rows of cargo crates. Overhead cranes ran along the ceiling. At the far end, there was an equally huge air-lock.
Administrator Suun turned to face them.
“This is one of our cargo bays,” he explained.
“I made sure it was cleared of personnel for the time being.”
“So what now?” Asked Harbid.
“Follow me.”
“But what-” Katie began.
She was cut off by a noise coming from behind a cargo container to their left. They spun round just in time to see a hooded figure in a cloak, leveling a pistol at them.
“Move!” Shouted Harbid and shoved the others towards the nearest row of crates.
The pistol went off, just as they dove for cover. Harbid sprang to his feet and glanced around the side of the crate. The hooded figure had removed the cloak, to reveal what Harbid guessed to be a human. It was hard to tell, they were wearing a suit of black armor, with a helmet and full visor. The figure was of average height and had a slim build. If it was a human, she was most likely a woman, thought Harbid. Her face was completely covered by the visor, which looked to be one solid piece of metal. There were no eye-holes, or parts covered by any transparent material for her to see through. It was obvious however, that she could see, the pistol she was aiming at him made that abundantly clear.
The figure moved a few paces towards the crate they were hiding behind.
“Administrator Suun,” she said in a completely toneless voice, it sounded oddly artificial.
“All I want are the two fugitives, you can just walk away.”
“I very much doubt that,” Suun replied.
“I promise you,” said the woman.
“All I want are the fugitives, I have no interest in you.”
“And I should believe you, why?” Asked Suun scornfully.
The woman cocked her head to one side and sighted down the length of her pistol.
“Because I have you trapped in here,” she replied calmly.
“Because this place has been cleared of personnel on your orders, which means no one is coming to help you and because I don't mind shooting you to get what I want.”
Harbid turned to look at Suun, it was then that he noticed Katie leaning against the crate, clutching her side. Harbid reached out to help steady her, as he did so, he saw the blood oozing from underneath the hand she was using to try and stem the flow.
He placed his hand on top of hers and pressed gently, Katie winced in pain.
“Sorry,” he whispered.
“But we have to slow the bleeding.”
“Who are you?” Harbid heard Suun ask.
“That hardly matters,” replied the woman.
“But you can call me Visha.”
“Who sent you?”
Visha laughed.
“Enough stalling Administrator, it would make my job easier if I didn't have to shoot you, but this is your last chance.”
Suun turned to Harbid, handing him a data-stick.
“Here, take this,” he said.
“It will override the security systems on my personal ship, it's docked at the far end of the cargo bay. I'll stall her, try to buy you some time. Don't argue with me, just go!” He said, seeing Harbid about to spea
k.
“Hurry!”
Harbid took the data-stick and slung Katie's arm over his shoulder.
“Thank you,” said Katie weakly.
“Don't mention it, now go!”
Harbid and Katie made their way along the row of cargo crates, towards the airlock.
“All right,” said Suun.
“I'm coming out now, I didn't sign up to get killed over this.”
Slowly, Suun stepped out from behind the crate. Visha's pistol tracked him as he walked.
“Good,” Harbid heard her say.
“Now stand over there and don't move. Lieutenant Harbid, Ensign Smith,” she called.
“Don't make this hard on yourselves, believe me when I say, you won't escape.”
Harbid glanced over his shoulder, just in time to see Visha come around the corner of the crate they had been hiding behind. She spotted them and raised her pistol. At that instant, Suun tackled her from behind, or at least he tried to. Visha stepped to the side at the last second and flung up an arm, striking Suun in the throat. He gasped for air, clutching at his neck. Visha spun and brought up a foot that struck the Administrator on the side of the head. Suun crumpled to the floor in a heap.
Harbid tightened his grip on Katie and ran. A slug sped past him, so close he could feel his hair move. He pulled Katie into the gap between two crates in the row they were running along, Visha laughed again.
“Give it up Lieutenant,” she said.
“I can see from here that your companion is hurt. Even if you were both uninjured, you wouldn't be able to get away.”
There was a slight whooshing sound and a clatter that emanated from somewhere above.
“I think she's on top of the crates,” said Katie, faintly.
Harbid looked over at her, her face had gone ghostly pale.
“Those crates are at least three meters high,” said Harbid.
“How could she possibly get up there?”
A slight thud sounded from further down the row of crates.
“I don't know how, but she is,” replied Katie.
Harbid looked around, they were wedged between two enormous cargo crates. There were more rows running to the left and right of them. He adjusted his grip on Katie and peered around the left side of the crate, no one there.
“Come on,” he whispered.
He and Katie made their way across to another row. They had gotten about halfway there, when a slug hit the ground right in front of them.
Imperium: Contact Page 29
