by C H Gideon
Jora’nal growled. “I have no idea what this ‘Alamo’ you refer to is, but it is you who are staring down your defeat, you who are trapped in this place.”
He lifted a small computer so the crew could see it clearly. His finger sat heavily on a button.
“We’ve gathered enough explosives to turn a ten-block radius into a smoking crater. I’ve only to release this button, and all of us become dust,” he warned.
“Except you want something,” Reynolds told him, “or you would have already detonated your bombs and ended this farce.”
“You know nothing of what I want!” Jora’nal shrieked, shoving the device in their direction as if threatening to blow them all up.
Jiya heard the quaver in his voice, the uncertainty, and saw the shaking of his hand. They might not know what he was after, but she sure as shit knew he didn’t want to die.
“Well, here’s your chance to tell us,” Reynolds went on, ignoring the cultist’s histrionics. “What do you want, Jora’nal? Enlighten us.”
“You will let me pass and return to my ship,” he advised, then pointed at Jiya. “I will take her with us to ensure your compliance.”
“Not going to happen, fuckwad,” Reynolds snarled. “You don’t get to demand terms, and you sure as shit don’t get to walk off with one of my crew.”
“Then you put all of your crew at risk,” Jora’nal stated. “I have advised the Pillar to engage your ship, Reynolds, and I have numerous allies among the locals who will gladly join the fight.”
Reynolds stared at the cultist, wondering if he was bluffing.
A message from the SD Reynolds made it clear that he wasn’t.
“The Pillar is turning on us,” Asya reported. “It looks ready to fire, Captain.”
“The ESD still charging?” Reynolds questioned.
“We’ve been holding it stable, but it’s been on too long, and it’s drawing too much power. If we let loose with it now, we’ll be vulnerable to attack from the station and the other ships out here since half our systems will short out,” Asya told him.
“Adjust it down,” Reynolds ordered, “but keep it available. We’re going to need the SD Reynolds functional.”
“Yes, sir,” she answered.
“Stand by,” the AI told her, then turned his glare back on Jora’nal as the alien went on.
“Your time is running out, android,” Jora’nal warned. His finger trembled on the button. He looked ready to release his hold any second now. “I walk away, or we all die, here and now.”
It was clear to Jiya that he didn’t expect to make it out of this alive.
She stared back and forth between the two opponents. Reynolds didn’t want to back down, and she suspected Jora’nal simply wouldn’t. His only way out of here was if the AI let him go.
If it weren’t for the crew standing there, she figured Reynolds would force Jora’nal’s hand, but he would have to be more careful with them hovering about.
So, rather than let Reynolds do something he’d regret just so he could keep them safe, Jiya decided to act.
“Asya! Transport all of us to the ship!” she called over the comm. “Now!”
Knowing she only had a split-second before Asya complied, Jiya darted right as obviously as she could, cloaked, then changed direction, leaping to her left.
Straight at Jora’nal.
The alien stiffened, not having expected the sudden rush. He panicked, realizing he couldn’t see where she’d gone.
By then, it was too late.
She collided with the alien as his finger came loose from the device.
Jiya slammed an armored elbow into Jora’nal’s face, smashing his nose and knocking him unconscious. He slumped in her arm as she grabbed the small computer before it could tumble away.
A loud roar rattled her skull, and she felt the heat of the explosives detonating.
Then she felt nothing.
Chapter Seven
The crew appeared on the bridge of the SD Reynolds, clattering to the deck in a heap.
Reynolds scrambled to his feet and raced over to Jiya. She grinned at him, clutching both of her trophies: the computer, and a limp Jora’nal.
“Secure him,” Reynolds ordered, pointing at the cultist.
“Gladly,” Maddox replied with a grin.
The general and Ka’nak jumped to the task, clutching the cultist and dragging him off the bridge before he had a chance to regain consciousness.
Geroux helped her friend to her feet and snatched up Jora’nal’s small computer. She made sure her friend was okay before retiring to her station to examine the device.
The SD Reynolds shuddered as the Pillar opened fire, its attack sparking across the gravitic shields.
“Take that motherfucker out!” Reynolds commanded, pointing at the enemy ship.
Tactical was all too willing to comply.
Railguns rattled and peppered the Pillar’s shields as Tactical let loose with everything he had except for the ESD.
“Guess there’s not much need for the tracking rounds anymore,” Asya said.
Reynolds shrugged. “Things didn’t exactly go as planned, but better to be prepared than not,” he replied.
“The Pillar is still a tough son of a bitch,” XO said as the enemy ship was bombarded. “We still might need those tracking rounds if it survives this.”
“Make sure it doesn’t,” Reynolds advised. “We’ve got Jora’nal. He’ll lead us to his master.”
“The defense system is firing on both of us!” Ria reported as the SD Reynolds rattled, its shields deflecting the majority of the incoming fire.
“Enemy ships gearing up and turning our way,” XO called.
“Guess he did have some friends here after all,” Reynolds remarked.
“More likely just opportunists looking to score points or get a chance to scavenge the wreck of a superdreadnought,” Asya said. “Either way, we can’t have them pecking at us.”
The ship shuddered again.
“I agree,” Reynolds told her.
“The Pillar has its starboard flank to us,” Tactical announced. “If ever there was a time to use the ESD, now would be it.”
Reynolds nodded without hesitation. “Minimize all systems to keep us from blowing a fuse,” he ordered. “Ensign Alcott, get us out of range of that damn planetary defense system. That’s the biggest threat right now outside of the Pillar.”
“Yes, sir!” Ria replied, immediately maneuvering the SD Reynolds back, opening up space between the defense rig and the ship and pulling them out of orbit.
“Do it, Tactical,” Reynolds shouted.
The lights on the bridge dimmed, half of the viewscreens going dark as the SD Reynolds lowered its ship-wide energy usage to minimize the impact of firing the ESD.
Everything around him seemed to hum as the weapon was ramped up to full again, the system recovering from the long process of idling as they covered the Pillar while the crew was dirtside.
That the weapon had been prepared was both a good and bad thing, and Reynolds wasn’t completely sure how it would affect the weapon’s performance, having had it on for so long.
As it turned out, he didn’t need to worry.
The weapon reached critical mass and sent deadly beams of energy racing through the SD Reynolds’ systems. Insulated against the energy as well as possible, Reynolds still felt the drain on the ship, but what he felt more was satisfaction.
As the energy surged and spilled from the SD Reynolds, he felt the ESD’s power running true and pure.
The beam erupted and ripped through the shields of the Pillar as though they weren’t there. There was a brilliant flash as the shields gave way and the blast slammed into the vulnerable hull of the enemy superdreadnought.
“Fuck, yeah!” Tactical shouted as he angled the ESD to do as much damage as possible.
The beam trailed along the hull of the Pillar, wreaking havoc everywhere it touched and beyond.
Several sections o
f the Asparian defense rig were shredded by the weapon, great slabs of steel melting and peeling away from the whole.
The Pillar listed, appearing to split in half horizontally. Brilliant flares went off along its length, and then it exploded.
Debris erupted in all directions, shredding the dock and many of the ships berthed there, creating a chain reaction of destruction.
Since the SD Reynolds was too strained to Gate, Reynolds called for Ensign Alcott to put as much distance between them and the planet as possible.
“On it!” she replied.
Debris and enemy weapons fire pelted the gravitic shields, each blow causing the ship’s lights to flicker.
“Turn the weapons on those pirate ships,” Reynolds ordered.
“Already done,” Tactical shouted back as the SD Reynolds’ energy slowly climbed toward normal.
The viewscreens showed three of the local ships headed their way, shields up and firing.
It was a bold move given what they’d just witnessed, Reynolds felt.
“Angling shields forward to deflect their attacks,” Ria called. “All primary systems are online, and secondary are recycling, coming back up. We’ve got about sixty seconds before all systems are operational.”
Tactical blew one of the alien ships away and turned the railguns on another. Flashes of light peppered their shields as the enemy ship careened toward them.
A few seconds later, the second ship lost its shields. The entire forward section wasn’t far behind as Tactical lit it up, tearing it open as if it were a tin can. Atmosphere vented in a rush, and the ship tumbled end over end into the bleakness of space.
The SD Reynolds’ guns were turned on the last of the ships brave enough to come after them, and that seemed to be enough of a deterrent for it to call off its attack.
Its shields flared as it retreated, Tactical not letting them off the hook that easily. He fired on it until it reached the cover of the Asparian dock.
Ria turned the SD Reynolds about and shot off into space as the ship recovered from the use of the ESD.
Once they were clear and it was determined that no other ships from the planet were approaching to challenge them, Reynolds turned to the crew.
He was proud of them.
“Excellent work, people,” he said, smiling. “Part of our objective is complete. We blew the fuck out of that piece of shit superdreadnought—”
“And by we, he means me,” Tactical clarified with a chuckle.
“And we captured Jora’nal,” the AI went on, ignoring Tactical. “Now, all we need to do is get that weaselly scumbag to tell us where Phraim-’Eh is, and we’ve completed our mission.”
“You think he’ll talk to us?” XO wondered.
“Maybe,” Reynolds replied, although he had his doubts. “The guy wants to live, that much is clear. If we can assure him that we’re going to take out his master, and Jora’nal won’t have to answer for being a disloyal piece of shit, I think there’s a good chance we can get him to spill his master’s location.”
“We might not need him to,” Geroux said, interrupting.
The AI spun to her, eyes narrow as he considered what she meant.
She held up the small computer Jiya had taken from Jora’nal.
“This is a multipurpose device,” she started to explain. “It’s got a ton of stuff in its memory, and it looks well-used. I’m betting everything we need is hidden inside.”
“Can you access it?” Jiya asked.
“It’s encrypted,” Geroux admitted, “but it’s hardly on the level of the Gulg coding. I’ll be able to break it,” she assured them.
“How long?” Reynolds asked.
Geroux shrugged. “Already working on breaking the encryption, but you never know with this kind of thing. There are no self-destructs on it, so unless the defenses become more difficult as I go along, I should have this whole drive mapped out in a day or two at most.”
Reynolds nodded. “Okay, you focus on that. Take it to the lab and get Takal to help, if you need it. I want to know everything that computer holds.”
“Yes, sir,” Geroux replied, hopping up and leaving the bridge, whistling. The doors hissed shut behind her.
“Jiya, come with me,” Reynolds told her. “We’re going to go have a talk with Jora’nal now that we have him locked up. Can’t hurt to work both angles, the computer and the asshole.”
“That sounds a bit perverse.” Jiya chuckled.
“What do you want the rest of us to do?” XO asked.
“Ensign Alcott, set a course for Grindlevik 3,” he answered. “Comm, let Gorad know we’re stopping in for a visit and not to shoot us.”
“We’re going to see that old AI?” Tactical muttered.
“It’s as good a place as any to bide our time while we ready our next move,” Reynolds replied. “Besides, we can look in and see how things have progressed since we were there last.”
“I guess.” Reynolds could almost hear Tactical shrug.
“You think Phraim-’Eh is going to come looking for Jora’nal?” XO wondered.
“Doesn’t seem like the type of thing a god would do,” Reynolds replied, shrugging, “but who the fuck knows with this guy? He hasn’t exactly shown himself to be sane so far.”
“I’ll drop a cloaked probe to monitor the activity in the system and to scan for Kurtherian energy signatures,” XO said. “Doubt we’ll be able to assess much if one or two ships show up, but I’m thinking Phraim-’Eh’s going to bring an army with him if he nuts up enough to come at us in person.”
“Do that,” Reynolds told him. “And use the Gulg system to keep us linked to it, so we’re not showing our hand and giving off Federation energy signals showing that we’re monitoring the system.”
“Roger that,” XO replied.
Reynolds turned to Jiya and ushered her toward the doors, which opened at his gesture.
“Let’s go chat up our new friend.”
The pair left the bridge and made their way to the brig, which was where Maddox and Ka’nak had taken Jora’nal. They were waiting outside his cell.
The alien sulked in the corner, crusted blood covering his nose and mouth and coloring his chin red.
“We had Dr. Reynolds check him out,” Maddox reported as they arrived. “Other than a shattered nose and a busted ego, he’s uninjured. Doc wouldn’t even bother to clean him up.”
Reynolds laughed at his other personality. He would have done the same.
Jora’nal looked up at the sound of Reynolds’ amusement. He sneered, which started his nose bleeding again. He let it drip on his chest without so much as a glance.
“So, you have me,” he said with a shrug. “It’s hardly a victory, especially since you claim you are unwilling to torture a combatant. Surely you don’t expect me to hand over the location of my master simply because you ask nicely, do you?” He chuckled, bits of crusty blood falling to the ground before him.
“You’re right, I don’t intend to torture you,” Reynolds agreed.
He dismissed Maddox and Ka’nak with a wave. The two left the brig, heading back to the bridge.
“The truth is, if you know anything, you’ll gladly tell us without us ever having to harm so much as an ass-hair on you,” Reynolds continued after he and Jiya were alone with the alien.
Jora’nal’s eyes narrowed as he stared at the AI. “Unlike those fools on Muultar, I will not turn on my master. I am a loyal servant to my lord, Phraim—”
“Blah, blah, Phraim-’Eh, fucking blah,” Reynolds said, interrupting his pledge of fealty to his would-be god. “Phraim-’Eh isn’t here, and I can’t imagine he would be all that happy with you if he were. I’m fairly certain this failure to take us out has burned the last bridge between you and your master. Am I right?”
Jora’nal stiffened in his seat, but he was unwilling to admit to anything.
Reynolds hadn’t really expected him to, though.
“Not only did you fail to kill us, but you also got yo
ur ship, the Pillar, destroyed,” Jiya said with a grin. “That leaves you zero for two, not even counting letting us off the hook the first time we tangled. Your boss is going to be seriously pissed with you.”
“He understands—”
“That you’re an idiot?” Reynolds asked.
“A moron?” Jiya added.
“A total fucking abject failure?” Reynolds went on.
“Utterly worthless?” Jiya said with a smile. “Pathetic?” she added.
Jora’nal leapt to his feet, growling. “I am Jora’nal, disciple of Phraim-’Eh, and I will not—”
“You won’t survive this,” Reynolds told him bluntly, cutting him off. “You know you won’t.”
“We kill you, or your master does,” Jiya explained. “Either way, your part in all of this is done. You’re done.”
They let that sink in for a moment.
Jora’nal stood his ground, glaring at the pair for several quiet minutes, then he slumped onto the hard, metal bench, the only luxury provided him in the cell.
“Unless…” Reynolds teased.
“Unless I turn on my master and tell you where he is?” Jora’nal scoffed. “Do you think I would do that?”
“I think you’re a survivor,” Reynolds countered. “I think you’d do almost anything to survive, or you wouldn’t be in the position you’re in now.”
“You don’t know anything about me,” Jora’nal argued.
Reynolds shrugged. “Maybe not, but I’ve met a ton of assholes like you,” he explained. “You brag and you bluster and threaten, but at the end of the day, all you want to do is get out in one piece.”
“We can make that happen,” Jiya pressed.
“And all I need to do is betray my god and all my convictions,” he replied, shaking his head.
“Convictions don’t mean shit when you’re dead,” Jiya shot back.
“Besides, it’s not as if you’re our only option,” Reynolds told him.
Jora’nal straightened in his seat, pressing his back against the wall, eyes wide. “What do you mean?”
