by C H Gideon
He nodded, but Jiya hoped it didn’t get to the point where Takal was expected to fight. Geroux either, for that matter, although Jiya felt more comfortable that the young woman would excel at it like she did everything else.
The hum of the bot’s arrival drew her from her thoughts. It came over and stood beside them, awaiting orders.
“How do you want to do this?” Reynolds asked Jiya.
She let her breath out slowly, thinking and visualizing, and decided she knew best how to make it work.
“Well, we can’t go charging in without setting ourselves up for attack, right?” she asked, not really expecting an answer. “So, instead of making ourselves targets, we give the enemy a better one to lash out at.”
“Care to elaborate?”
“Not really,” she answered. “Just follow my lead, and be ready to hit these guys hard on my command.”
“So, I’m supposed to not only let you take charge of a battle, but I’m also supposed to sit back and wait until you want me to join in?” Reynolds wondered, one eyebrow raised in disbelief.
Jiya offered him a shallow nod. “I work best under pressure. Spontaneously.”
“Oh, goody,” Reynolds muttered, racking a round in his weapon. “Sure, let’s see what you’ve got. I’m sure Bethany Anne will forgive my complete lack of sanity in going along with this.”
“Worse comes to worst, you can always blow the scout ship up with your railguns,” Jiya told him.
“True, and then we’d lose all the intel aboard, which is why we’re doing this in the first place.” He shook his head. “You’re not exactly inspiring confidence here.”
“Well, if I screw it up, you can go in blasting. How’s that?”
“Ah, a Plan B I can get behind,” he snarked. “Let’s do this.” He moved toward the boarding tunnel, but Jiya waved him off.
“Stay to the side, but open the tube and be ready,” she told him. “The rest is on me.”
“What are you going to do?” Geroux asked.
“Play rabbit,” she replied, surprised to find herself grinning.
“I wonder if we’ve included funeral arrangements,” Reynolds mused.
“We have now,” XO replied across the comm. “Plus, in case of death by stupidity, we don’t have to pay the crew’s families or extend their benefits.”
“Excellent,” Reynolds said, rubbing his hands together.
“Again, you’re not creepy at all,” Jiya told the AI, moving to the edge of the tube. “Have the bot ready,” she said, then drew in a deep breath. “Open the far hatch.”
Reynolds complied without hesitation, reminding Jiya just how much of a machine he was in comparison to the rest of them. No matter what happened here, no matter how many times he got shot, he always had somewhere else to exist. None of the rest of them had that option.
Dead was dead.
That was why she needed to make this work.
She heard the hiss of the tube pressurizing and the far hatch popped open, leaving a clear shot to the enemy ship beyond.
“They there?” she whispered.
Comm came back. “Ten lifeforms just inside the craft on the other side of the boarding hatch.
She nodded, not even realizing she’d done it until afterward, then she lifted her pistol and steadied it in her hand. “Ignore everything I say until I call out Reynolds’s name, understand? Everything until then isn’t meant for any of you.”
The crew muttered their agreement, and Jiya jumped into the tube without another word. Geroux gasped, but it was too late do anything to calm the girl’s nerves.
Jiya raised her gun and fired down the tube, squeezing the trigger with abandon. This wasn’t about taking out the enemy singlehandedly or going out in a blaze of glory, she knew.
“Get `em!” she screamed at the top of her lungs. “Advance now! Hit `em hard!”
In actuality, it was about being bait.
She stopped a few steps inside the tube, catching sight of aliens aboard the scout ship. A knot formed in her throat. While she couldn’t get a good look at them, it was clear that their armor fit and their weapons looked deadly.
She knew the latter because there were a handful of them pointing at her.
Then they started firing.
“Motherfucking fuckity fuckball fuckers,” she screamed, dodging the blaster fire and diving out of the boarding tube.
She slammed into the hard steel of the Reynolds’ floor, knocking the wind from her lungs. Gasping to catch her breath, she rolled to the side to be out of line with the tube, scrambling to her knees.
“That was…interesting,” Reynolds assessed.
She flipped him off, sucked in enough air to push a few words out, and hit her comm. “Where are they, Comm?”
“Pushing down the tube. There are five coming your way,” Comm replied. “Your brilliant plan to be killed aboard the SD Reynolds rather than the alien scout ship was a rousing success.”
“Fuck off,” she muttered. “Reynolds, time to put the bot to work. Shoot him down the tube.”
Again, Reynolds didn’t hesitate. “Sorry, little guy,” he said, and the bot launched itself around the corner and charged down the boarding tube.
Blaster fire resounded, shots scorching the air and crashing into the wall just behind the umbilical and charring it black. That ended a split-second later.
Curses and screams echoed down the tube, then several loud thumps resounded loudly and the gunfire paused.
“Contact!” Comm called.
“Go, Reynolds and Ka’nak,” Jiya ordered.
To her surprise, neither questioned her.
Reynolds shot down the tube in his Jonny android body, weapon up and firing. Ka’nak ran behind him, using the android as cover.
Jiya waved Geroux and Takal after her. “Follow me in and secure the tube end once we get there,” she commanded, then she bolted after Ka’nak and Reynolds, trusting that the other two would do as ordered.
For an instant, she regretted dragging them into it, but she knew, like Reynolds had said, it was an experience they all needed. To pamper them and keep them from the violence inherent in their job was to put them at even more of a risk. They needed to do this.
Jiya sighed. That included her.
Today was one big battle orgy to show them what it was all about.
Ahead of her, the bot pushed through the end of the boarding tube, taking with it the five aliens who’d been unfortunate enough to be in its way. Their twisted bodies were wrapped around the bot in awkward positions, and those who were still alive squirmed to break free of the bot’s crushing grip.
They never got the chance.
The bot shot out the far end of the tube and slammed headlong into the wall beyond.
Jiya felt a wave of nausea roil in her gut as metal and bone collided. Great, creaking snaps resounded, bones shattering, the sound of a skull being crushed like a melon dropped from a roof.
She bit back the bile threatening to spew loose and pushed on.
Puke later, damn it!
Reynolds broke free of the tube behind the bot and cleared the way, turning to his left, his weapon up and firing. Ka’nak veered right, doing the same thing as weapons fire came back at both of them.
Jiya split the difference and jumped into the scout ship between the pair of them.
Her first instinct was to follow Reynolds and use his metal body as a shield to avoid getting shot, but she realized that was a bitch move. It left Ka’nak, who was flesh and blood—even if he was a beast—on his own.
While Reynolds could take a number of shots and walk away from it, the Melowi warrior might not be able to. She darted to Ka’nak’s side and engaged the enemy.
The aliens had retreated down the corridor, but there was nowhere for them to go that didn’t leave them exposed. Ka’nak took advantage of that and advanced, firing the entire time. Jiya marched alongside him, doing the same.
Her weapon thrummed in her hand, and one of the aliens t
ook a blast to his chest. Jiya cheered internally, biting back a grim smile as the alien stumbled back, smoke billowing from the wound, but he was far from dead.
He lined the pair up in his sights and returned fire.
Jiya hadn’t expected that, thinking getting hit with blaster fire would have dropped the guy.
Clearly, she was wrong.
Ka’nak howled as a shot slammed into his shoulder. He was whipped around and slammed into the wall. His weapon tumbled from his hand in slow motion and clattered to the floor as he dropped to a knee, one hand against the wall propping him up.
Jiya stared wide-eyed as a second shot struck him in the ribs and blasted him backward. He grunted and frothed as he fell to the deck.
On instinct, Jiya went to help him up, but he waved her away. “Keep fighting,” he shouted.
The words triggered her ire.
She knew damn well he wasn’t fine. He was hurt badly, and it was all her fault.
Not only had she dragged him into all this, but the plan to storm the scout ship the way they had was hers. Jiya snarled and bared her teeth as blaster fire sparked around her.
She’d led them all into this, and it was up to her to fix it.
She ducked as she spun, squeezing the trigger with cruel intent. Her weapon barked searing death down the corridor. The enemy shot back with the same ferocity. They wanted her just as dead as she wanted them.
And for a second there, she thought they might succeed.
A blast struck the wall and ricocheted toward her. She lifted her free hand out of instinct and felt the blast shriek past.
Then the pain hit her.
She went to scream, then bit back on it, teeth clenched against the burning sear that engulfed her left hand.
Jiya staggered back, growling, determined not to let her injury stop her. She forced herself not to look at the wound or imagine how bad it might be. Instead, she thought of Ka’nak on the floor, helpless. He needed her to be strong; they all did.
If these aliens got past her Ka’nak would die, and Geroux and her uncle might die, too, trapped as they were in the tube.
She couldn’t have that, so she howled and pressed forward, weapon raised, determined to end what she’d started.
She was glad to note the alien who’d shot Ka’nak had clearly been wounded worse than he’d let on. He stumbled forward, wobbling down the corridor toward her, one hand holding the blasted metal at his chest as he held his pistol out in a trembling hand. He could barely keep it upright, it seemed.
The last survivor of his side, likely the one who’d wounded her, hunkered down behind him, using him as a shield like she’d contemplated using Reynolds at the start of the fight.
It seemed dirty now that she saw it in action, the one alien using his companion as cover, so he had a chance to walk away from the battle alive even if it cost his companion his life.
Jiya wasn’t going to let him get away with it.
She stood up, making a show of it, and aimed her pistol at the wounded alien’s head. He did the same in counter, but Jiya ducked, grateful her feint had worked. His weapon came up slower due to his wounds.
His shot flew over her head.
She took her shot, aiming low, squeezing the trigger fast and strafing.
Bolts of energy tore through the wounded alien’s leg and blasted the alien cowering
behind him. The first shot hit him in the shoulder, spinning him to the side. The second struck his back, and the last shot removed his head as he collapsed.
He fell to the floor, a smoking wreck.
His buddy fell to his knees beside him. Wounded and clearly in agony, he hadn’t lost his weapon. He aimed at Jiya as best he could and went to squeeze the trigger.
Reynolds got there first.
A bolt of energy flew over Jiya’s shoulder and smashed into the alien’s face. What was left of his head oozed down his back as he toppled over and fell lifeless to the steel deck alongside his partner.
“Take that, alien scum,” Reynolds told the dead guy.
Jiya exhaled hard and folded in on herself, letting her weapon drop, her hands clasping her knees to keep her standing. Pain shot up her wrist and forearm, but she still didn’t want to look at her hand; didn’t want to see how bad it was.
“You hurt?” Reynolds asked her as he went to Ka’nak’s side, examining the Melowi warrior.
She grunted something nonspecific, letting the AI deal with Ka’nak, who was hurt far worse than she could possibly be.
Who needs two hands anyway?
Ka’nak groaned as Reynolds lifted him into his arms. “Bot, get over here,” he ordered.
The bot did as it was told, and Reynolds handed Ka’nak to it gently. “Get him to Doc Reynolds immediately.”
“He going to be okay?” Jiya managed to ask, finding herself staring at the warrior’s scrunched face, his pain obvious.
“I’ve seen far worse,” Reynolds told her. “He’ll be fine. Just can’t lollygag around before getting him help.” The AI smacked the bot on the back. “Get moving.”
Ka’nak offered up a grimace, clearly doing his best to reassure Jiya as the bot carried him off. Not more than a second later the pair disappeared down the boarding tube, Geroux and Takal having vacated it to make room.
She smiled at seeing them whole, even though they appeared a tiny bit blurry.
“You did well, First Officer Lemaire,” Reynolds noted, coming over to stand beside her and setting a comforting hand on her shoulder. “First battle and your crew came out of it mostly intact, and you’ve racked up a solid body count. Good job.”
Jiya went to respond and stumbled. She grunted and leaned against the wall for support. Reynolds clasped her shoulder harder to keep her upright. He leaned in close, and Jiya saw him swimming before her eyes.
“Damn it!” Reynolds grumbled. “You’re wounded, too.”
Jiya unconsciously raised her injured hand to show it to the AI. “I’m all right,” she told him. “Just a tiny bit woozy.”
She was glad to note that all her fingers were still there, although her armored glove had been mostly torn away. The skin on her hand was blackened and charred, raised bubbles of pus covering the majority of the back. It gleamed silvery in the gloom of the alien ship.
Her pain grew the longer she stared at her hand, and her nausea wasn’t far behind. She felt bile hitting the back of her throat, the tears blurring her vision even more.
Then she was swept off her feet and cradled to Reynolds’ chest.
The world swayed around her, and she saw the concerned faces of Geroux and Takal swim past as the AI ran with her, carting her through the tube and back onto the SD Reynolds.
“You’re gonna be all right,” the AI told her as he ran. “You’re just in shock, which makes it all seem worse than it is.”
“Yeah?” she muttered, finding she had little strength to say more.
“`Tis but a scratch. Just a flesh wound,” he told her. Oddly enough, he chuckled at his own comment, but Jiya didn’t have the wherewithal to understand or ask him why.
She went limp in his arms, letting herself be carried toward what she presumed was sickbay, where Ka’nak had been taken.
I hope he’s okay, she thought as her head lolled to the side.
Her face pressed against Reynold’s android chest, and she stared up at him through the corner of her eye.
“You know,” she slurred, “you really do need a makeover, Jonny.”
Reynolds muttered something she couldn’t understand, for which she was probably grateful, and then they arrived in what she recognized as sickbay.
Then she didn’t see anything, the darkness claiming her.
Chapter Fifteen
Jiya awoke with a start, a strange sense of déjà vu coming over her.
She realized she was lying down, a plastic-sheeted cot beneath her. Her brain swirled inside her head, her thoughts dancing, and then it struck her.
It was the same room she’d wo
ken up in when she’d first met Reynolds.
She groaned and relaxed, then bolted upright.
My hand!
Her gaze snapped to her injury only to find there was nothing there. She lifted her hand, which was unmarred by the char that had engulfed it, and wiggled her fingers. To her surprise, they moved without hesitation or pain.
“The miracle of the Pod-docs,” Ka’nak said, coming into the room and offering her a broad grin.
“Hey! You’re okay!” she shouted, her voice echoing in the small room.
“More than okay,” he told her, walking over to her bedside.
Android Reynolds entered the room behind him. “You’re both fine,” he said, coming over to stand beside her bed on the other side. “Ka’nak insisted on coming to see you.”
“Had to make sure you were recovering,” he told her.
Reynolds grunted. “Even though I already told him you were.”
“Some things you just have to see with your own eyes.” Ka’nak patted Jiya on her healed hand, and she was happy to notice it felt normal, not even a hint of the wound remaining. “And now that I have, I’m off to find food. I’m famished.” He waved a quick goodbye and left the room, whistling.
Jiya watched him leave, then turned back to face Reynolds. “What’s up with him?” she asked. “He seems a bit…weird.”
Reynolds chuckled. “It’s the drugs,” he answered with a goofy smile. “He was hurt pretty bad, so the Pod-doc pumped him full of painkillers and mood enhancers. He’s flying high right now.”
Jiya smiled and laid back, resting her head on the pillow there. “They must not have shot me up with the same meds, because all I feel is tired.”
“You weren’t as bad off,” Reynolds confirmed. “It was serious, no doubt, but nothing life-threatening, given our technology. You got the standard bandaging and cure-all, which means you missed out on the fun drugs. Sorry.”
She shrugged. “It’s cool. I have booze to make up the difference.”
Reynolds grunted. “That’ll have to wait a bit, though. While you and Ka’nak were unconscious, and after we swept the alien ship, we returned to Lariest space to recoup.”
“The look on your face tells me things didn’t go exactly as planned,” she ventured.
