“No, Sarge, it’s not just some other hidden location.” Knole transferred the data to the main holo-stage and showed the swirling waveforms. “This is some new signal I’ve been detecting buried in the signals linking the hidden locations. It seems to be some sort of master signal.”
“You’ve told the major about this?” Dorik asked.
“No, not yet. Like you said, it could be anything and I wanted to test my theory at least a little first. I have run my latest analysis and I was going to tell him at the end of the watch. I think this signal is being directed somehow to a location out of the system, or maybe it’s being directed into the system from outside. It’s not entirely clear just yet.” Knole narrowed the signal to a single frequency. “See, this is some sort of directional signal. If I’m right, I should be able to locate the origin. I think it could lead us to the Skarak home world. And if we find their home world, it might be the key to stopping their incursions into the system.”
“And you haven’t told the major any of this.”
“No, Sarge. He’ll be back any minute. Should I tell him right away?”
Dorik put an arm over Knole’s shoulder. “If the Union fleet gets hold of this analysis, Knole, it could blow this Skarak situation wide open. I think you’ve found something really important here. Go and meet the major at the Marine deck. Tell him right away.”
Knole looked up at Dorik and smiled. “Yes, sarge.” Knole left.
Dorik watched Knole walk down the corridor that led away from the command deck, and then he cancelled the feed to the holo-stage and returned it to showing the Resolute hanging in space above another newly-cleared Skarak location.
The Skarak were everywhere.
4
Boyd looked at the image of the incoming ships on his wrist-mounted holo-stage.
“How are you getting that feed?” she asked, watching the holo-image of the Union cruiser stopping above the main landing pad of the settlement.
“I hacked the settlement’s main surveillance. I’ve got access to the targeting systems from the defense platform too.”
“If the governor finds out you’ve hacked the system, they will think you are a spy for sure.”
Boyd watched the cruiser open its Marine deck doors. “You think nobody else in the settlement has access to the surveillance feed? Every miner and his kid will be watching this right now.”
“And what are we watching exactly?” Thresh wrapped an arm around Boyd’s waist.
Boyd pointed at the image. “She’s preparing to dispatch Marines to the settlement.”
“How many?”
Boyd shrugged. “We will know soon enough. It depends on how much of a threat they think we are.”
“We?” Thresh said. “You have spent one week in an uncharted mine facility and already you think you are Faction.” She grinned. “It’ll take a bit more than that, Will.”
Boyd laughed and shrugged. “There is a full company of Union regulars on that cruiser, probably. They might send a squad or two and take control of central command center. They might deploy the entire company and take the entire settlement. There’ll be Marines on every corner. Martial law.”
“The people won’t like that,” Thresh said. “These are Faction citizens. They won’t want the Union stomping all over the place.”
“This isn’t a Faction base or stronghold. You are probably the most Faction person they’ve ever had here—after me, that is.”
“Not so. This is a raider landing pad and resupply station. It has been purposely kept small to avoid Union attention. It’s hidden well enough to be overlooked. Raiders dock here all the time. I have been to a hundred little settlements like this with Kitzov in my time.”
The town-sized chamber clinging to the walls of the hollowed-out asteroid was strangely quiet. Only an hour ago it had been a bustling mining town getting ready for the new workday. Now the people of the settlement were holed up in their residential blocks or, like Boyd and Thresh, watching from the street. Whatever position they chose, all watched the main entrance for the arrival of the Union.
Boyd watched the Marines set foot on the asteroid, stepping out by squads. The first six drifted from the cruiser to the landing pad, followed by the next six, ten standard meters behind them. All marching and following in perfect order, and soon, sixty Marines were out and more were coming.
The fighter craft flitted between the composite tunnels that held the asteroid together and joined habitation areas to active mining areas.
“They are sending the whole company,” Boyd said, pointing to a group of a dozen Marines in a bunch and not a line like the rest. “Look, that’s the commanding officer. They plan on taking control of the settlement.”
“They can try,” Thresh said.
“They have already succeeded,” Boyd said flatly.
The marines entered the main chamber a few hundred meters away from Boyd and Thresh, spread out with their pulse rifles held across their chests. More came behind them and moved out between the buildings that covered the inner wall of the chamber.
“Let’s get out of here,” Boyd said. “Let’s get back to our residence and lie low.” Boyd grabbed Thresh by the hand.
“Sure,” she said with a wicked smile. “We can lie low for a few days. Just you and me, all alone.”
“Come on,” Boyd said, dragging Thresh behind him.
The residential block where Boyd and Thresh were staying was only a few streets away from the café. They moved swiftly, staying close to the sides of the buildings, but Boyd could clearly see more Marines drifting through the main entrance. Some had activated their suit’s anti-grav field and were floating in the center of the chamber, giving them a view to every street and building clinging to the inside walls.
Boyd moved quickly toward their residence. He opened the main door. Inside, crowding the hallway, were dozens of residents all chatting anxiously amongst themselves, glancing out at the Union Marines moving into their settlement.
“Don’t worry,” Boyd said. “They don’t want to start a fight. They are probably more afraid than you are.”
Boyd and Thresh took the elevator to their floor. The door opened. Boyd stayed in the elevator.
“You coming?” Thresh said with a twinkle in her eye.
“No,” Boyd said, thinking. “I am going to the roof. I want to see what they are doing.”
“I’m coming with you.” Thresh stepped back into the elevator.
The roof was only a few stories above street level. One big problem with high buildings on the inside of a hollow chamber was that all the buildings came closer together the higher they were built. From the top of the roof, Boyd could see people on the tops of roofs. More people were coming out of hiding and were walking around the streets of the inner chamber.
From the tunnel to the main landing pad came a new group. Boyd could see the shimmer of a deflection shield around them. It had to be the commanding officer.
The small group headed straight for the controller’s tower—a single tower built through the asteroid’s thick walls so part of the facility was on the outside of the asteroid and part was inside a few stories higher than any other building of the inner chamber.
“They are taking control of the settlement,” Boyd said, pointing at the group.
“What does that mean?”
“It means this is not a Faction settlement anymore. It’s Union.”
“It’s not as easy as that,” Thresh said defiantly.
“Look.” Boyd gestured around them. “Troops on the ground. The central chamber is being taken over. We’ve got a Union cruiser and a flight of Blades holding position around the asteroid. This is how the Union brings settlements under its control. Give it a few days and everything will be back to normal. The miners will go to work. The cafés will serve that black root brew you pretend to like. Nothing will change, except the Union population will grow by a few thousand people. I’ve seen it happen. People are only Faction because the Union igno
res them. As soon as the Union shows up, no one cares about the Faction anymore.”
Thresh pressed her lips together. “It is not that simple, Will,” she said. She folded her arms tightly across her chest.
Boyd smiled and put an arm around her. “Don’t worry about it. Nothing will change for us, as long as they don’t identify me. As long as I lie low, we’ll be fine.”
The settlement’s communication system signaled that a message was about to the delivered. A large holo-image of the Union emblem appeared in the center of the chamber, follow by the image of a Marine major. He was neat and tidy with a warm expression. Kind but stern.
“Greetings. I am Major Lancaster of the Union Marines. Do not be alarmed. Union Tactical Intelligence has detected a Skarak signal at this location. We are here to investigate this signal and ensure the safety of all residents. My Marines are currently sweeping the area to pinpoint the signal location. Let them carry out their searches and we will leave you as we found you—in peace.”
“They turn up on a cruiser with a pack of Blades and say ‘peace’,” Thresh snarled.
“Now I will hand this over to your settlement governor,” the major concluded.
The image flickered away, replaced by an image of the settlement leader. His collar was crumpled, and his smile was not the same assured, calm smile as the major.
“Hello, everyone. The Union Marines are just here to look for a Skarak signal. Let them do their work and then we can get back to our lives. Everyone return to your residences. Stay behind closed doors and this search will be over with before we know it.”
The image changed back to Major Lancaster.
“Thank you, Governor. Now hear this: I am taking control of the settlement for the duration of my search under Union law. If you have any questions, please direct them to your civic leaders who will relay them to me. Help me to make this search as swift as possible with minimal disruption to your busy lives. Lancaster out.”
The Union emblem returned, rotating slowly above everyone’s heads.
Boyd looked down the side of the tower and saw miners steaming out of the access tunnels.
Boyd saw a group of miners moving a piece of heavy equipment out of one tunnel, which was high up the chamber’s curve and level with Boyd’s position. The miners positioned the equipment in the mouth of the tunnel and started rushing around it.
Boyd held his wrist-mounted holo-stage toward the group and zoomed in. The equipment looked like a large black ice cutting laser. They were jacking up the emitter end and aiming it at the group of Marines hovering in the center of the chamber.
He knew in an instant that he and Thresh were right between the two groups.
“Thresh, quick! Get down!”
The blast from the mining laser sliced through the air, only a few meters away from where he and Thresh crouched. The beam slammed into one of the Marines, and the body was vaporized in an instant.
The civilians on the tower roof panicked as another beam sliced past, running for the door to the elevator down.
The Marines hovering in the center of the chamber returned fire at the miners in the mouth of the tunnel. The laser assembly lit up again, and the beam slammed into the side of Boyd’s building. The air burned with an acrid smell of vaporized composite.
The Marines’ shots fizzed overhead, some stray pulse rounds punching into the roof near the elevator door. A civilian fell, a pulse round burning in her back.
More Marines from around the chamber targeted the miners and opened fire. The rounds slammed into the tunnel and the equipment. Taking heavy fire, the laser cutter exploded, sending flashes of light bursting out between the buildings.
A moment later, another group of miners with another laser cutter emerged from an adjacent tunnel.
The beam was off target and slammed into the side of Boyd’s building, blasting chunks out of the edge and destroying the small access tower to the elevator.
Marines came sweeping in from the streets above and moved in on all sides. Their pulse rifle fire was less accurate as they moved, advancing on the second group of miners.
Boyd looked over the side of the tower. It was a long way down. He pulled an electron blade from his boot and began to cut away at the roof, the composite coming away in slabs. He dropped into the cavity he’d created and began to cut into the ceiling of the topmost residence.
Pulse rounds continued to slam into the building. He reached out for Thresh. Overhead, he could see a small group of troopers aiming at the Marines that were moving over the top of Boyd’s roof.
A mounted spitz gun opened fire and poured hundreds of pulse rounds into the Marine squad moving in on the miners. The rounds ripped through the squad and slammed into the rooftop around Boyd.
“Quick, Thresh.” He grabbed her and pulled her into the cavity, and then down into the residence below. A family was cowering in a corner of the small room. The mother of two small children looked at them, eyes wide with fear.
“It’s okay,” Thresh said. “Move down the tower. Come with us.”
She grabbed a child with one hand and the frightened mother with the other.
Boyd dashed to the door just as a stream of pulse rounds smashed open the clear composite of the window. Loose white fabric curtains billowed as the rounds tore through them. One curtain began to smolder and was soon alight.
Boyd pulled the door open and stepped out of the apartment. Pulse rounds and laser beams flew from all directions and hammered the outer tower walls.
“So much for peace,” Thresh said.
Boyd bit his lip. If the Faction civilians hadn’t opened fire, the Union marines would have conducted their search and been on their way. It was only the Faction bloody-mindedness that had led them to attack. The Union had no interest in this small settlement, Faction or not. They were after the Skarak signal. Boyd knew the Skarak were a serious threat to all people of the system, Faction or Union.
“Let’s get out of here before the building collapses.”
They ran to the emergency stairway as a laser cutting beam erupted through the building blasting a hole clean through. Rubble fell around Boyd as he dragged Thresh down the stairs. The stairway was filled with thick smoke and the screams of frightened civilians.
Boyd felt the building take another hit, and the lights went out.
5
The building shook as weapons fire slammed into it from all sides, Marines high above pouring fire into a number of minor access tunnels running off the central chamber where miners and Faction troopers were giving fire with mine equipment and small pulse weapons.
Boyd ran out into the street, shards of composite raining around them. Boyd ran to get out of the crossfire, Thresh on his heels.
The streets curving up and around the chamber were filled with civilians running from one crossfire or another, while the center space was dominated by Marines giving concentrated bursts of fire to any Faction group foolish or brave enough to break cover.
A Blade landed on the main landing pad. Although a small fighter, it looked vast in the confines of the chamber. It gave fire from its spitz guns, and one short blast brought down the rock around one of the tunnel entrances.
“They are going to tear the settlement apart if they keep that up,” Thresh said.
Boyd pulled her along a street and into cover of a low building. Overhead, he saw movement from one tunnel that led away to the main mine. A large high-powered laser appeared on a truck used to move minerals and metals from the heart of the asteroid to the landing pad. Now it was refitted as a mobile laser platform, and aimed directly at the fighter.
The laser beam erupted, and the Blade lurched under the strike. The deflection shield was barely able to dissipate the energy. As it turned to present its spitz guns, it was struck again.
The Marines concentrated their fire on the high-powered laser. The tunnel entrance erupted with debris and dust as pulse rounds pulverized the area.
“There,” Boyd said. He spotted
a small tunnel nearby—access to a transport loop that ran around the outside of the asteroid. “We can get out of danger there.”
Thresh was distracted, looking up at the Blade. It was backing toward the entrance from the main landing pad.
“Yeah,” she yelled, punching the air in triumph. “They are backing away. They can’t take it.”
“There are still five more out there,” Boyd said, pulling Thresh along. “They could incinerate this entire chamber if they wanted to. I don’t think the Faction has frightened them off just yet.”
The steps into the tunnel were shallow, but they were soon underground, safe from the gunfight raging overhead.
Bellini punched the bulkhead of the old junker as it shook violently once again. The battered old tug was useless. The drive was running at less than forty-five percent. The hull stability field was intermittent and caused the hull to judder and vibrate violently every few minutes. It felt like it was getting worse. He might have escaped the shipyard in one piece, but he didn’t know how far he would make it.
“I’ve got something here,” Perov said.
“What? Is it the Faction settlement?” Bellini leaned over the pilot’s seat into the small cockpit. The space was little more than a console and viewscreen
“Yes. I think so. I can’t get it on the surveillance net, the junker’s sensor array is not functioning, but it is on the Faction database. A small asteroid settlement. Minerals and metal mine. Too small for the Union to pay it any attention. We can land and fix up this old tug a bit.”
“Fix?” Bellini scoffed. “I’ll throw it into the heart of the Scorpio star and let it burn up in her blue fire before I try and fix this piece of junk.” Bellini patted Perov heavily on the shoulder. “Get us there. I’ll get us a new ship, a raider, and a crew too.”
“The professor here is doing a great job, Captain,” Perov said. “What do you say, professor?” Perov nudged the young trooper. “You want to join the best-paid raider crew in the system?”
Blue Star Marine Boxed Set Page 52
