“Next time I’ll let you choose the direction, Private.” Recker pulled a face. “Or at least I will next time we need to locate the sewers, because I know you’ll get us there by the fastest route.”
Drawl didn’t have much of a response beyond muttering about the bullying of superior officers. The car arrived at its destination and the squad readied their weapons in case the incoming Lavorix troops had exceeded all expectations and waited outside.
No enemy troops were visible and the squad exited the car. Recker was busy orienting himself when he felt the Ixidar’s propulsion kickstarters give a shuddering thump.
“What are they doing?” asked Corporal Montero.
“They’re trying to start up the Ixidar again,” said Recker.
The kickstarters boomed again and the Ixidar’s propulsion came online. Recker laid his palm on the wall to sense the vibrations. For a couple of seconds the engines stayed at idle and then they rumbled, indicating they’d been placed under load.
“We’re about to lift off,” said Recker.
“Where are we going?” asked Drawl.
“How the hell am I supposed to know, Private?” Recker took a deep breath. “If I had to guess, they’re taking us straight to the repair yard. There’s no need to leave the Ixidar on the bay floor while the Ancidium’s troops perform a sweep.”
Recker’s unease from earlier had returned, though not with the same intensity. This was the standard anxiety he usually experienced when his enemies were up to something and he didn’t know what it was.
The short delay was enough for Recker to get his bearings. He pointed the way and allowed Sergeant Shadar to take the lead, while keeping himself in the middle of the pack with Lieutenant Eastwood and Corporal Montero. He didn’t expect the shooting to start, but it made sense to be careful.
The return route was indeed much shorter than the one by which the squad had originally travelled to the bridge. A short passage led to a large storage room containing sealed alloy crates. Exits went left and right, and a third led to the airlock tunnel for one of the Ixidar’s own shuttles.
Given how hard Recker, his crew and his squad had fought for every inch of ground in the war so far, he was fully expecting the Lavorix to have pulled off their usual trick of being exactly where he didn’t want them. Therefore, it came as a pleasant surprise to find only dead ones, killed by the Gorgadar’s death sphere.
The left-hand door opened to reveal a tunnel, which took the squad to the room containing the different artillery guns. Nothing had changed.
Arriving at the shuttle’s airlock without a shot being fired was almost more than Recker could believe. A few of the squad were in a state of even greater disbelief, cynical bastards that they were. Only half-listening to their comments, Recker opened the airlock door and stepped inside, making room for the others to follow.
Less than two minutes later, Recker was again in the shuttle’s cockpit and itching to warm up the vessel’s lightspeed drive. The first thing he noticed was the flashing light to indicate an inbound comms request from the Gorgadar. Corporal Montero hadn’t arrived yet, leaving Recker to accept the channel. With a feeling of inexplicable trepidation, he touched the button to link.
Chapter Fourteen
It was Lieutenant Burner on the comms and he sounded frantic.
“Sir, the Ancidium destroyed Tokladan!”
Recker hated stupid questions like What? And Why? but he struggled for something intelligent to say. “Is there any indication why they might have done that?” he asked.
Corporal Montero and Lieutenant Eastwood arrived and took their stations without a word.
“No, sir. They hit mode 3 and disappeared from the Gorgadar’s sensors. I had an idea where they’d be heading, but the first confirmation I had was when the planet exploded.” Burner was talking fast and sounded like he was right on the edge.
“Exploded? The tenixite converters don’t…”
“Whatever the hell this was, it was no tenixite converter, sir. The planet just blew up. Like the Ancidium had done something to Tokladan’s core that made it…” Burner tailed off and Recker couldn’t remember the last time he’d heard the man so affected by an event in the war.
“I think I know why they did it,” said Recker. “We fired the Ixidar’s Extractor into the Ancidium’s interior. The attack on Tokladan was retribution.”
“Damn, sir, this is screwed up.”
“Don’t I know it, Lieutenant. Have you obtained a sensor lock on the Ancidium? Is it still somewhere in DEKA-L?”
“Yes, sir, it’s still in DEKA-L. The Lavorix activated a second mode 3 out to the sixth planet. I don’t know how long they’ll stay there.”
Neither did Recker, but he doubted the enemy would stick around. They’d come here for the Ixidar and that was now tucked safely in one of the Ancidium’s bays. With Tokladan reduced to rubble, there was nothing keeping the Lavorix here. They’d head off to their next destination and do whatever they planned to do.
“The enemy will leave soon, Lieutenant. You’ll need to follow them. It’s the only way our fleets will have a chance to intercept.”
“We can’t beat that thing, sir. It’s like all the Laws of Ancidium rolled into one and then magnified tenfold.”
“There’ll be a way, Lieutenant,” said Recker, his anger displacing doubt. “There’s always a way.”
He leaned back, clinging to his anger, as if the force of it would somehow allow him to twist reality into the image he wanted it to be.
“Sir, we should load up our ternium drive for departure,” said Eastwood. “We’ve done what we can and it’s time to lightspeed out of here.”
Recker didn’t like it. Although he’d used the Ixidar to good effect against the Lavorix fleet in the Ancidium’s bay, it didn’t seem like nearly enough. Not with what happened to Tokladan and maybe what would happen to the next planet the enemy showed up at.
“Let’s go,” said Recker.
“I’ve picked some random coordinates as our destination, sir,” said Eastwood. “The ternium drive has a twelve-minute warm up.”
The shuttle’s propulsion grumbled, producing a metallic buzzing from the control console. Filled with unhealthy energy, Recker climbed from his seat and returned to the lower bay where the squad waited nervously.
“We’re leaving soon,” said Recker. He pointed at the two mobile gauss guns. “I don’t anticipate we’ll need them, but try and figure out how those work. If the Lavorix force an entry through the airlock while our ternium drive is loading up, I’d prefer it if we had a surprise waiting for them.”
“Yes, sir,” said Vance, pushing himself from his crouch. “You know what’ll happen if we fire one of those into the airlock.”
“Destruction on a massive scale, Sergeant, that’s what’ll happen. If the Lavorix break in, we’re going to need it.”
Vance gave a rare half-smile. “Right you are, sir.”
Recker headed back to the cockpit, where the timer had fallen to ten minutes. He couldn’t settle and his brain kept turning and turning, like it was on the brink of an idea. No matter how hard Recker tried to grasp that idea, it floated teasingly and infuriatingly away, leaving him wondering if there was even an idea coming at all.
“What’s on your mind, sir?” asked Eastwood.
“I don’t know, Lieutenant. It feels like we’re missing something, but perhaps I just hate running with my tail between my legs.”
“That’s not what we’re doing, sir.”
“It feels like we are.”
The timer fell and Recker spoke to Lieutenant Burner again. “We’ve got five minutes left on the lightspeed countdown,” he said. “If the Ancidium departs before we do, I’m going to let the warmup complete.”
“You can’t open a lightspeed tunnel from a vessel already travelling at lightspeed, sir.”
“I know that, Lieutenant.”
“If the Ancidium uses a Gateway, I don’t know if we can follow. Lieutenant Eas
twood figured out how to read the lightspeed tunnels, but he’s over there with you and maybe his method doesn’t pick up Gateways anyway. I’m hoping something shows up automatically on the sensors after the enemy is gone.”
“Damn, we’re fighting from the corner here,” said Recker.
He worked through the possibilities. If the Ancidium opened a Gateway to a new place, the shuttle would go with it and then enter lightspeed from this unknown location. The transport would end up somewhere unintended, but that wouldn’t be a big problem.
The worst possible outcome would be for the Ancidium to enter lightspeed for an extended period, which would prevent the shuttle from departing and give the Lavorix troops a better opportunity to hunt down the squad.
“Three minutes,” said Eastwood.
“How’re you getting on with those mobile gauss turrets, Sergeant Vance?” asked Recker on the squad channel.
“Point and shoot, sir. Easy.”
“It doesn’t sound like you’ll get a chance to test them out, Sergeant. Less than three minutes and we’re gone.”
Recker closed out of the channel and watched the Lavorix symbols – indicating units of time – change on his screen. The hint of an idea was still nagging at him and he stopped pursuing it, in the hope that pretending indifference would bring it to the fore.
“We’ve got an access light on the outer airlock, sir,” said Montero. “The Ixidar has priority control, so I can’t lock the doors.”
“Damnit!” Recker jumped back into the squad channel. “The outer airlock opened. Be ready for whatever comes through.”
“Yes, sir, we saw the light change,” said Vance. He cursed. “We should have left the inner door open – that would put a block on the outer one.”
“Only until the Lavorix entered an override code, Sergeant. Keep your fingers crossed we don’t need those extra few seconds.”
“One minute on the ternium drive, sir,” said Eastwood.
Recker listened carefully for the sound of gauss discharges. The rifles – both human and Daklan – had a distinctive note, but they weren’t too loud. He heard nothing, though Vance and Shadar began shouting commands on the squad channel.
“What happens if we enter lightspeed with the airlock door open?” asked Montero.
“Nothing much,” said Eastwood. “What’s in the shuttle will stay in the shuttle and if you looked through the doorway, you’d see darkness.”
“Huh,” said Montero, her disappointment tangible.
“Were you expecting a view of the universe’s secrets, Corporal?” asked Eastwood.
“Not exactly, Lieutenant. Just something more than the same darkness I see every time I close my eyes.”
“Twenty seconds,” said Eastwood.
“How’re things going back there, Sergeant Vance?”
“We killed the Lavorix in the airlock, sir. I don’t think they were expecting us to be waiting for them.”
“The outer door opened again,” said Montero in the same channel. “Another attack.”
“I reckon these ones will put up more of a fight,” said Vance.
“Five seconds.”
“Inner door opened,” said Montero.
This time Recker heard the distant whining of gauss coils. Then, the timer in front of him changed to the Lavorix equivalent of a zero and the ternium drive activated with a thump.
“That’s us out of here,” said Eastwood. “Uh, no, we haven’t moved.”
“Why not? Tell me what’s wrong!” said Recker.
“I’m finding out, sir,” said Eastwood. “The drive activated and there’re no failure warnings, but we’re still in the Ixidar’s docking bay.”
Recker’s mind cast about for an explanation. “Is it possible the walls of the Ancidium prevent the formation of a lightspeed tunnel?” he asked. “No, that can’t be right. We’re receiving FTL comms from the Gorgadar.”
“Not so fast, sir,” said Eastwood. “Both could be right. It’s possible the Ancidium has lightspeed receivers on its hull which channel any inbound comms through the hull and on to their destination, while anything that doesn’t go through those receivers – like this shuttle – is blocked.”
“Does that mean the enemy are listening to our comms?” asked Recker. “Corporal Montero?”
“I don’t know, sir.”
Eastwood had been around technology far longer than Montero and he’d worked with Lieutenant Burner for many years. He made a guess.
“If I had to put money down, I’d say the Lavorix could listen to our comms, but only if they knew what was happening and actively went looking for the traffic.”
“We’ve killed those Lavorix, sir,” said Vance on the comms. “Are we expecting any more?”
“Almost certainly, Sergeant.” Recker gestured at Montero indicating she should take over the squad updates. She nodded in response.
“Without knowing how the Lavorix are blocking lightspeed transits through the Ancidium’s walls, I can’t tell you how to get around the issue, sir,” said Eastwood.
“When we first saw the Ancidium, I thought it looked strange,” said Recker. “Like it was vibrating or something. I put it down to the propulsion and didn’t think about it again until now.”
“You might have noticed a visible effect of whatever’s preventing us from escaping, sir,” said Eastwood. “It doesn’t help us much.”
“Then we’re stuck here,” said Recker.
“On a fully-fledged warship I could make a few tweaks to the hardware to see if we could circumvent the block, sir. They probably wouldn’t work, but at least I’d be able to try. Here on the shuttle, I enter the coordinates and wait for the ternium drive to fire, with no way to modify the process.”
The idea which had eluded Recker for so long hit him like a punch to the temple and he sat bolt upright. He didn’t know if it was going to work, but it gave him a purpose, and he re-opened the channel to the Gorgadar, where he informed Lieutenant Burner what was required.
“Will it work, sir?”
“It has to work, Lieutenant.”
With the arrangements made, Recker cut the channel again. Eastwood and Montero knew something was up and they stared at him questioningly.
“Pick up your guns – we’re leaving.”
“Back onto the Ixidar?” asked Eastwood. “What for?”
“I’ll tell you on the way. Now move!”
The pent-up anger, frustration, and everything else which Recker had stored up inside found an outlet and he sprinted for the cockpit door.
Chapter Fifteen
“Sergeant Vance, is the bay clear?” Recker asked as he descended the steps outside the door.
“For about the next ten seconds, sir. The outer airlock opened again.”
“We’re moving out.”
“Where to?”
“The Ixidar’s bridge. We’ve got ten minutes.”
Vance didn’t ask questions, though he surely had plenty. When Recker entered the holding bay, the soldiers were positioned at the flank walls, their guns trained on the entrance, while Private Gantry was standing at one of the artillery guns. The mobile turret was aimed directly at the airlock.
“We’ve got another batch of Lavorix about to come inside, sir,” said Drawl. “That’s the collective noun for them in case you were wondering.”
“Any moment,” said Vance.
The inner door slid aside and Recker spotted numerous Lavorix in the airlock. He fired his rifle at the same time as the other members of the squad. A fraction of a second later, the coils of the artillery gun produced a much louder whine and the barrel jumped back into its housing. The projectile travelled too fast for the eye to follow, but it produced an explosion of blood in the airlock. Then, several grenades detonated amongst the carnage. Recker’s squad hadn’t thrown them, so he assumed the Lavorix had been holding them in preparation.
“Move!” shouted Recker, before the torn limbs and burned guts had even hit the ground.
Van
ce dashed into the airlock, along with Zivor and Reklin, while the rest of the squad watched the outer door.
“Let’s hope the enemy haven’t flooded this area of the Ixidar,” said Eastwood. He’d never been a foot soldier, but he appeared calm enough.
“Private Gantry, are you ready?” asked Vance.
“Yes, sir.”
“Outer door opening,” said Vance, activating the panel from one side.
Fifteen or twenty Lavorix soldiers clustered in the loading tunnel outside. They were ready and fired their guns at once. None of Recker’s squad was in sight, and the enemy slugs pinged off the deflective plating of Gantry’s artillery piece.
“Try this, you bastards,” he said.
The gun was designed to knock out light tanks and other armoured vehicles, and the projectile tore a path through the enemy soldiers, before striking the end door with a reverberating clank.
“Fire again,” said Shadar, when it was clear a handful of the enemy had evaded the first shot.
“Reload complete,” said Gantry. “Firing.”
The Lavorix were quick, but they couldn’t get out of the way of a gauss slug, and the remaining troops were reduced to a glistening smear of pale pink flesh.
“Heading for the far door,” said Vance, sprinting into the passage. His feet skidded on the gore but he caught himself and made it to the end.
This was the deciding moment, Recker was sure. If the enemy had established themselves in the room beyond – worse, if they’d activated some of the stored mobile repeaters held there – then it would be impossible to get by without terrible casualties. Assuming it was possible at all.
“Ready,” said Vance, calm under pressure as ever.
He crouched low and opened the door, while the squad members watched anxiously. No hail of bullets came to reduce Sergeant Vance to a pulp and he waved for the next soldiers to advance.
“Want me to bring this gun, Sergeant?” asked Gantry.
“Leave it there, soldier.”
Recker joined the advance and the squad entered the room with the various mobile artillery guns. The only Lavorix were the dead ones from earlier – those killed by the Gorgadar’s death sphere.
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