Spiros cringed. “I’m sorry about your men, Major, and yes, we can go. I’m feeling much better now.”
They backtracked toward the previous intersection and took another path to the cargo bay. Soon, they arrived on the other side of the isolated and damaged portion exposed to space, where they continued for a few more minutes.
The transfer was completed, and Spiros ran the scrubber program on the source files the moment he verified the hash from the copied data was valid. There was no turning back now. The data he needed to get the full backup of his research was on board the Phoenix, and that’s where they needed to be, too.
By the time the second Zarlack destroyer was targeted, there were only three Manticore starfighters still flying, and their shields had been severely compromised. The destroyers kept their distance from the station, out of range of the tractor beams.
“Give me more power to the tractor beams,” ordered Leonidis.
“Working on it,” said the lieutenant commander.
“Work faster!”
Leonidis’ tone was harsh. The stress and pressure were getting to him. In the unlikely event they survived, he would apologize for such bursts of frustration.
“I’ve gotten the range extended by twenty percent.”
“Can we lock onto the nearest ship?”
“Affirmative. We have a lock. Firing them now.”
“Scatter torpedoes, full spread!” Leonidis opened a channel to the wing commander. “The next Zarlack destroyer is about to lose shields.”
“Understood, Commander. We’re going in. It was an honor working with you, sir.”
“Likewise, Lieutenant Commander. Your sacrifice won’t be forgotten.”
That was if Leonidis had anything to do about it; but if Damocles-3 fell today, no one would remember the pilots who gave their lives, or the men and women of Damocles-3, or even him.
The torpedoes impacted their target taking down their shields. Two of the three approaching Manticore fighters were blown out of the sky by a barrage of defensive fire from a nearby destroyer. Only the wing commander remained, and he managed to plant his fighter near the engine core to maximize secondary explosions. Upon impact, the ship ripped in two before exploding in a bright flash.
10
The remainder of the Zarlack ships backed off from the station after they lost their second destroyer. There were still five left, and that was more than enough to bring the rest of Damocles-3’s shields all the way down and rip the station to pieces. However, seeing two of their destroyers being taken out in quick succession gave the enemy pause.
“They’re backing away from the station, making sure we can’t target them with our tractor beam anymore,” said the lieutenant commander.
“Good; perhaps there’s still hope, after all,” said Leonidis.
“They’re launching fighters.”
“Have all laser batteries engage them and fire at will. What’s the status of our shields?”
“They’re down to twenty percent. We can’t take much more of this.”
Three destroyers repositioned just outside of the station’s firing range and powered their main guns.
Leonidis knew what that meant. The enemy would no longer risk a direct approach. Instead, they’d just fire from a distance. It didn’t matter that their attacks would be diminished in power at this range. All that mattered was to bring the station shields down without losing any more destroyers.
At least, that’s what he’d do if the positions were reversed: bring down the shields, try to board the station, eliminate your enemy from within.
“They’re all firing at the same location, trying to punch a hole through the shields.”
The end was near. Leonidis could feel it. He opened a channel to Spiros.
The station trembled heavily for a long time.
“Where are you on your escape?” asked Leonidis. “Have you destroyed all your data in a manner that cannot be retrieved?”
“It’s all gone,” said Spiros.
He hated having to lie, but if he told his friend and commanding officer of his deception, he would change his plans about getting him aboard the Phoenix and to safety.
“Then hurry up and board the Phoenix, ASAP. The shields will fail any second now.”
“Understood.”
“The moment the Phoenix jumps to hyperspace; I’ll blow the station.”
“Can’t you just surrender? Try and survive until reinforcements arrive?”
“I can’t risk them reverse-engineering the weapons on this station. Damocles-3 is equipped with the most advanced technology the Alliance has. Your life’s work. But I have faith that you’ll manage to rebuild similar if not better weapons and help the Star Alliance rise again. That’s why it’s so important for you to survive today.”
“But Commander—”
“I’ve said everything I have to say, Spiros. Get the hell out of here, and may the gods of Olympus shine upon you.”
The communication cut off before Spiros had time to answer. He was still processing what the destruction of the station meant, all the lives that would be lost so he could survive. He didn’t want this to happen. He didn’t want to be the reason for all this misery.
“We don’t have much time left,” said Spiros.
“What’s wrong?” asked Tassos.
“I . . . I’m not worth the lives of everyone who will perish here today so we can leave.”
“The commander clearly thinks differently, and so do I. You’re a brilliant scientist. If the Star Alliance is to survive and strike back, Leonidis is right: we need you. I’ll gladly lay down my life if it means we survive as a species. The commander will too.”
Spiros was surprised Tassos was so willing to lay down his life for him. Spiros didn’t feel his life was worth more than anyone else’s, no matter what technology he could come up with. Every life was precious, one or a thousand. No one should ever be deemed more important than the other.
“Let’s go, Spiros,” Tassos insisted, “or all this death will have been for nothing.”
“That’s already the case.”
Tassos shot him a cold look while they were walking toward the bay. “Don’t second-guess yourself now. This is war. We didn’t choose any of this. We’re just trying to survive it. War brings the worst out of all sentient beings, but I believe it sometimes brings out the best.”
“I never wanted to build weapons, Tassos! I don’t want to be remembered as the scientist who developed the best mass-destruction weapons.”
“Then why didn’t you just obey your orders? Why didn’t you erase your research?”
Spiros looked down.
“I . . . I just couldn’t do it. I’m an old man. I have so many implants in my body just so I can still walk, breathe properly and even stay focused. I’m too old to start from scratch now. My memory isn’t what it used to be.”
“Then let’s hurry and get the hell out of this place.”
Spiros nodded, and they picked up their pace as much as they could. Their security detail matched their speed, with men both in front and behind.
A minute later, they heard a deafening sound from a nearby explosion, and the entire station rocked. Most men braced themselves against the walls to prevent themselves from falling, but a couple of soldiers, those with laser rifles drawn, weren’t so lucky and crashed unceremoniously.
The moment they were back on their feet, with their weapons pointing forward, a high-pitched sound rang out for three seconds. Something pierced the intersection between the top right side of the corridor and the ceiling.
The lights flickered repeatedly, sparks flew all around the pointy object, and wiring dangled on all sides.
A metallic spike, the tip of which had stopped a few feet from the floor, opened like a blooming flower, accompanied by metallic grinding as it deformed the walls and ceiling structure around it, sending sparks flying.
When the spike had morphed open into a straight cylinder, it rotated an
d grew in size. Soon, a red force field could be seen inside it.
“You two, step back. Get to cover,” shouted the major.
He and the rest of his men kneeled and hoisted their rifle blasters toward the breaching pod.
Spiros and Tassos did as they were told and ran toward the previous intersection to hide behind the wall of a perpendicular corridor.
“What’s happening?” asked Tassos.
“This looks like a boarding apparatus. I think the enemy is getting inside the station.”
“What about the force field? Why was there one?”
“My guess is to not let the air escape into space and prevent explosive decompression. It could also be a one-way-only field, letting things pass from one side, but preventing them from going through the other.”
“What’s coming through it?”
“Soldiers, a bomb, a deadly gas. Your guess is as good as mine.”
Tassos peeked around the corner and heard a sliding noise. “I think we’re about to find out.”
11
“Open fire on anything that gets through this thing,” screamed the major.
The soldiers all aimed toward the inside of the large cylindrical opening, now big enough to allow men to slide through.
An apple-sized metallic sphere was the first thing to emerge from the force field. It immediately defied the laws of gravity and shot upward. The soldiers opened fire but the laser shots were deflected away from the sphere, and it exploded a split second later, releasing a large smoke cloud inside the corridor, reducing visibility.
The major redeployed his men back about twenty yards before loud thumping noises were heard.
“Light them up!” said the major.
The air filled with blue laser fire that penetrated the smoky cloud, but the platoon had near-zero visibility. The men were shooting blindly.
Tassos was still looking at the scene, and Spiros struggled to his knees and crawled over to peek as well. Then he saw them.
Massive lizards emerged from the smoke and returned fire.
“This is not good,” said Spiros.
“You think? We’re screwed!”
The lizards were almost twice as tall as them, with large muscles, long, waving tails and a thick layer of scales acting as body armor. They wore red-colored glasses that Spiros assumed improved their vision through the smoke, perhaps via thermal enhancement. The lasers from their security detail bounced off the Zarlacks’ thick, scaly armor without causing the slightest damage.
It all went very quickly. Within seconds, half the platoon had been destroyed by the Zarlacks’ powerful blasters. Each hit was like a mini shockwave that sent the men flying backward for yards, with missing body parts or large holes. They crashed not far from the two scientists.
“We’ve got to get the hell out of here,” said Tassos.
Spiros was paralyzed by what he saw. The men, charged to protect and accompany them to the Phoenix, stood no chance. Only a handful of Zarlacks wielded weapons, while the rest finished off the soldiers with large claws that erupted from their fists. Those without weapons ran against the walls, jumping from one wall to the other, displaying surprising agility and speed for such massive creatures.
“Let’s go!” insisted Tassos.
Spiros got back up, and they both started running the other way. Spiros’ heart beat so hard in his chest he thought it might escape his ribcage.
“We’re being boarded,” said the lieutenant commander. “Multiple boarding parties throughout the station, Commander. On decks two, six, five and one, just outside the command center.”
For once Leonidis wished he hadn’t seen that tactic coming and hated being right.
“What do we do?” insisted his second-in-command.
“Send all troops to the insertion points. Defend these positions. We can’t let them advance.”
“We’re getting reports from the major. They’re under attack. Our blasters are not stopping the enemy.”
Leonidis took a deep breath.
“Computer, set destruct sequence, silent countdown, and activate immediately. Command code Alpha Zeta Three Three Seven Omega. Confirm?”
“Destruct sequence initiated; twenty minutes and counting,” answered the female computer voice.
Leonidis tried opening a channel to Spiros but couldn’t. He sent a text message instead. “You have twenty minutes. After that, the station will blow. Make sure you reach the Phoenix before then.”
Spiros saw a message flash on his neuronal HUD. Leonidis was telling him he had less than twenty minutes to leave the station before it self-destructed. With their direct path to cargo bay six cut off, the pair of scientists had to take yet another detour and approach the cargo bay from an adjacent corridor.
“We’re almost there,” said Tassos. “One more left.”
We’re going to make it, Spiros thought.
The station rocked heavily and threw both of them to the floor. A series of nearby explosions shook them again.
Spiros wondered if his thought had jinxed them. The station could still be obliterated by the armada outside, though he didn’t see the logic in them doing that while there were boarding parties deployed. Surely they wanted to get their hands on the station without destroying it, or they wouldn’t have sent in troops.
Tassos was the first to try to get back up but screamed the instant he put weight on his left foot. He fell back to the floor. Spiros came to him.
“What’s wrong?”
“I think I’ve broken my ankle. You go. Prepare the Phoenix. I’ll try to make it, but if I’m not there by the time you’re ready to fly the ship, you get the hell out of here!”
“Not a chance. You’re coming with me.”
“Look, you know me. I’m not trying to be a hero, but you must get out. I’ll only slow you down.”
Spiros put his shoulder under Tassos’ arm and helped him walk. “Stop this nonsense. We’re both getting out of here.”
Less than a minute later, they arrived in front of cargo bay six.
Spiros rested Tassos against the wall and opened the blast doors.
He knew something was wrong the second the doors split open and a large cloud of black smoke filled the corridor and plunged them into darkness.
“Stay here. I’ll check it out.”
“Be careful,” said Tassos with a nod as he winced with pain.
Spiros blindly walked through the thick smoke, covering his mouth and nose with his sweater, until he finally recovered some of his sight. What he saw made his heart sink.
Half of the Phoenix was gone. Part of the ship was still on fire, but the entire tail section had been obliterated. The exposed metal still glowed orange where the blast had burned through the ship’s armor. The damage was fresh.
“Is everything okay?” shouted Tassos from just outside the cargo bay.
“The ship is toast. We’re not going anywhere.”
“Then let’s try our luck with a shuttle craft. There’s at least one in each cargo bay.”
“Except this one,” said Spiros to himself.
The Phoenix had its own dedicated cargo bay. Spiros had requested that no other ship or cargo be put in here, so he had sufficient space to conduct his tests. A decision he deeply regretted now.
An emergency force field surrounded the hole where the blast had taken out the Phoenix, but it was flickering heavily. It wouldn’t last much longer.
What the hell are we going to do now?
12
“What’s taking you so long?” asked Tassos as he painfully limped inside the cargo bay after Spiros.
Spiros ran a scan of the ship with his brain implant to locate the memory banks. The ship had lost power, but the data transfer had been completed. If the hardware holding the data was still there, he could recover it.
His overlay displayed the memory banks inside the remainder of the Phoenix. He sprinted toward what was left of the ship and arrived in front of the panel that held the memory banks.<
br />
He tried opening the metallic cover protecting the electronics behind it. Since the ship had lost power, he couldn’t open it using the touch control panel.
“Spiros?” he heard in the distance.
“Stay where you are. I’m getting the memory banks and will be there in a minute.”
“Okay, but hurry. We shouldn’t stay here too long. That force field doesn’t look like it’s going to hold.”
Spiros looked around and saw a sharp piece of metal shrapnel. He grabbed it and immediately regretted it. It was still burning hot. He released the metal shard but not before suffering serious burns to his fingers. He covered his hands with the sleeves of his sweater and grabbed the shard again. It was still too hot, but he had no choice but to continue. He inserted the sharp edge between the seal of the memory banks’ compartment and pried it open.
There were five memory chips inserted into the computer core. Having no idea about which one contained his data, he unlocked and removed all five chips and put them in his pants pockets.
He emerged from the Phoenix and ran back toward the still-foggy blast doors.
“I’ve got them. Where are you?” he shouted.
But there was no answer.
When Spiros burst through the blast doors back into the corridor, he stopped in horror.
A large Zarlack lizard was holding Tassos by the throat five feet from the ground. Adrenaline flooded Spiros’ body, and he instinctively charged toward the beast, leading with his shoulder and putting his entire weight into the move.
It did not go as he thought it would. He crashed into the beast and was thrown to the floor, an unbearable pain radiating from where his shoulder had impacted with the Zarlack’s scaly, metallic-looking skin.
The Zarlack hadn’t moved at all as a result of Spiros’ failed rescue attempt. It looked down at Spiros and snarled before opening its mouth to display a row of ugly and sharp teeth.
Spiros looked at Tassos. His face was deformed by pain and fear, his eyes filled with dread and helplessness; he knew he was about to die.
Universe in Flames – Ultimate 10 Book Box Set: An Epic Space Opera Adventure Page 47
