En Route

by Maksim Malik

  “That’s fine,” Bordon said and turned back to Nadani, Larina, and Dave.

  “That’s interesting,” Dave said. “Conceivably if the Royal is taken out then perhaps the others would stop whatever task they’re doing—if they’re all connected through telepathy. If they must personally receive orders from the Royal, then removing the Royal from a fight won’t do much of anything.”

  I tend to think they are connected telepathically, Adan said. The Royal would need to control what’s happening on the battlefield, and we’ve seen how quickly they can change tactics—and they can fold in unison perfectly.

  I agree, Nadani said. We need to make sure the Admiral gets this information.

  “Bordon, we need to get that information to the Admiral, or someone with similar rank. It could be pretty important,” Nadani said. It was their discovery, so Bordon, as team leader, ought to pass along the information.

  “Ah, yes, let me try to contact him,” Bordon said, sat down at his desk, and waited.

  And waited.

  “This is odd,” Bordon said. “Exanet messages aren’t going through and q-com messages are blocked.”

  “Something is going on,” Larina said.

  “Like what?” Dave asked.

  “I don’t know,” Larina said.

  Nadani’s own display showed a new message—one from Trisha. She opened it. It was short and to the point, “Squitoes are attacking. Fought my way to the ship. I’m okay.”

  “There’s an attack?” Nadani asked, shocked after reading Trisha’s message.

  “What?” Bordon replied, raising his voice higher than normal.

  “My girlfriend says she fought her way to the ship—that the aliens are attacking here,” Nadani said.

  “Oh, shit,” Bordon said loudly. All other chatter had come to an abrupt silence and his swear echoed in the large chamber.

  “Why are there no alarms?” Nadani asked, stood up, and paced with steady, slow steps.

  “The only alarms in the labs are for fires, contaminations, and that kind of stuff,” Larina said. “I guess they never expected us to be under attack since we’re one of the core worlds and there hasn’t been a proper war in ages.”

  “This is not good,” Dr. Tysgan said and stood abruptly, giving Nadani a concerned look.

  We need to get out of here, Adan said. Our task is finished.

  If we’re under attack it’s even more important to tell the Admiral about their hive minded behavior, Nadani said, feeling a sense of urgency building up within her.

  “If I get to my ship then I can try sending a q-com to the Admiral,” she said. “He might allow messages from Astromancer to go through considering recent events.”

  “Protocol says we seal the lab ASAP,” Bordon said. “So if you’re going, you should hurry.”

  “Right,” Nadani took it as her permission to leave and started to run, making certain Dr. Tysgan followed behind, toward the exit of the lab without another word spoken.

  “Thanks, and good luck!” Larina called out.

  Nadani responded with a half-hearted wave over her shoulder, her thoughts focused more on what the near-future might hold. As soon as she exited the lab she heard and felt what must be a large, heavy security door falling into place.

  I hope they don’t get trapped in there for long, Adan said.

  Yeah, let’s hope not, Nadani said. They seemed a friendly lot.

  Soon after she stepped out of the lab, she saw three men in uniform approaching her. She waited for them to come near as it became clear she was their target of attention.

  “Excuse me, miss, but we need to get you two to safety,” one of them said. He was tall, like the others, with deep ebony skin. The holographic text on his uniform read, “Marcius.”

  “We’re going to my ship,” Nadani said, her voice firm. “I have extremely important information to send to Admiral Bryer.”

  “Why not just send it from here?” another one of the men asked. He had red hair and a pale, freckled complexion. The name on his suit read, “Kress.” She glanced at the other man, named Hafeez according to his uniform.

  “It needs to be from my ship, so he recognizes where it’s coming from, and it needs to be through a q-com,” Nadani said. The longer she stood there the more antsy she felt, like she wasted too much time.

  “Exanet is being blocked, so no message from here,” Dr. Tysgan added.

  “There’s no way you’ll make it there on your own, especially unarmed,” Hafeez said. His accent had a surprising lilt to it.

  “What is this information you say you have?” Kress asked.

  What happens when the Royal is taken out? Nadani asked Adan.

  I hope it’ll at least confuse the others long enough for Bryer and the ground forces to mop up, Adan said.

  “A plan to get this engagement to finish quickly, and a way to fight these things in the future,” she said. She didn’t have time to explain everything in detail.

  “All right, we’ll escort you to your ship,” Marcius said after a silent pause.

  “You can’t be serious, Otto! We’ve got orders!” Kress protested.

  “We’ve got orders to protect civilians, and that’s what we’re going to do. We’re not allowed to drag them around by force, so we aren’t going to let a civilian traverse the area unguarded. Got it, Kress?” The last he delivered with serious authority.

  “Yes, sir!” Kress said, standing at attention as he spoke.

  “Now, tell me where we are going,” Marcius said as he turned to Nadani.

  “To the main port, docking pad B-62,” Nadani said.

  “You heard the woman,” he said to the other two. “Let’s move out!”

  They moved in formation with Nadani and Dr. Tysgan in the center, protected as best as possible. The dimmed lights in all the hallways made Nadani wonder if the building ran on emergency power. The white lights running along the bottom of the walls still worked but cast odd shadows on everything and everyone.

  I believe the building is on auxiliary power, Adan said. I can’t imagine a reason why the AI would disable the lights otherwise.

  Such thoughts fled Nadani’s mind as the way ahead suddenly filled with Squitoes. They popped in from each side of the corner room, filling the hall at once and firing almost instant speed. She heard a grunt from Marcius and he cursed, but her team fired on sight, throwing most of the Squito shots wide, flashes from each shot lighting the corridor in a strobe-like manner. Through trained military precision, her team cut the enemy down before they could do much else.

  “I’m hit,” Marcius said. His voice sounded weak and breathy. “I can keep going though,” he added.

  “Shit,” Kress said still facing forward, keeping watch.

  Hafeez turned around and moved to check on Marcius. Dr. Tysgan approached as well.

  “I’m fine,” Marcius said, withdrawing from their attention. “Let’s get going before they send more to find out what happened to these.”

  “There’s a MediScan on my ship,” Nadani said. “He’s welcome to use it when we get there.”

  “All right, let’s go, damn it,” Kress said.

  And so, they went.

  The rest of the way they met one to two aliens at a time, once three Squitoes, but they were not taken by surprise again, and certainly showed themselves capable. Nadani, glad of their company, knew without their help there would be no way she could reach her ship without a weapon of her own. The small blaster she owned was safely secured on the ship; she was not in the habit of carrying it around.

  They wouldn’t let you bring one into the labs anyway, Adan said.

  You’re probably right, she responded.

  When they were partially through the starport, Marcius collapsed.

  Hafeez knelt to check on him, laying his weapon on the ground.

  “Marcius! Marcius, wake up!” Hafeez exclaimed as he searched for Marcius’ wound. “Otto, come on, man, don’t do this!” Dr. Tysgan knelt beside Marcius a
nd helped Hafeez.

  “This is not a good spot for this,” Kress said. “We’re too exposed.”

  “I don’t think he decided where the best place to pass out would be,” Nadani replied a little snappishly. Kress didn’t even seem to care Marcius was in trouble, and it bothered Nadani a great deal.

  “Shit,” Hafeez said, his tone of voice betraying something terrible.

  “What is it?” Nadani asked, turning to Hafeez. Marcius’ skin glistened with sweat even though he laid there unconscious. From her angle she couldn’t see what Hafeez focused upon.

  “The wound is right over his heart,” Dr. Tysgan said quietly. “He’s dead.”

  “What?” Kress yelled loudly and Nadani winced, knowing he could give away their position to the insect-like aliens.

  “Keep your voice down!” hissed Hafeez. “We’re still in the red zone.”

  “What do we do now?” Kress asked, much quieter.

  “The same as before,” Hafeez said. “We get her to her ship.”

  “It’s her fault we’re out here,” Kress said. “Her fault Otto died!”

  “We all knew the risks,” Hafeez said. “Now keep your voice down before I take one of your socks and fuckin’ gag you with it.”

  A tense moment passed as the two men stared at each other, but it ended when Kress turned away.

  He should have let someone know how bad it was, Adan said. Perhaps preliminary treatment could’ve kept him alive long enough to get to the ship.

  Yeah, Nadani replied. She didn’t know what else to say about it. Kress’ accusation rang true in her head. None of them would be here without her trying to get to her ship.

  Don’t think like that, Adan said. It’s not your fault. It’s not their fault. It’s the fault of the Royal in charge of attacking this place.

  Saying that brought Nadani swiftly back to her task and its importance. She walked to Marcius’ body, bent down, and retrieved his rapid-fire blaster rifle, primed it, and stood, ready to continue on her own if she must.

  “Where’d you learn how to use one of those?” Hafeez asked. “Never mind, no time for questions. We better get moving.”

  “And leave Otto behind?” Kress asked, his voice perilously close to becoming too loud.

  “Look, Marcius was a good guy. You know I respected him,” Hafeez said. “But we don’t have the time to worry about bodies. If we take him with us, then it’ll slow us down and lower our efficiency. You know that, Kress. He’d want us to press on. Besides, command would know of his life signs status and location; they can send a team in or deal with him when it’s safer.”

  “Fine,” Kress said emphatically. “Fine,” he repeated more calmly, wiping his face with one hand and then readying his blaster—the same type Nadani picked up. It was longer than the blaster Nadani kept on her ship, fired in rapid bursts, and best used with both hands.

  Good, the longer we are out here, the more chance we’ll be found, Adan said.

  Agreed. I do feel bad about Marcius still, she admitted.

  Worry about your feelings later when we’re safe, Adan said gently. Right now, we need everyone to focus.

  I’ll try, Nadani replied.

  Kress took the lead and motioned Hafeez and Nadani to join him as he continued forward. Nadani took his left while Hafeez covered their rear. Dr. Tysgan stuck close behind Nadani, muttering and fretting to himself.

  In the spaceport the wide corridor offered little cover apart from pillars on either side of the corridor at about forty paces apart, continuing in such fashion down the rest of the corridor. The eerie quiet made goosebumps on Nadani’s skin, and probably would have raised the hair on the back of her neck had she any hair at all.

  They reached the correct gate for Astromancer without any resistance. Nadani’s heart thudded loud in her ears as she saw her ship. Her two loves were there: Trisha and Astromancer. Presumably Trisha hadn’t left the safety of the ship. At the end of the gateway Nadani stopped.

  Adan, can you set the shields of the ship to focus only to the top of the ship? she asked. That way we can all get in safely since Trisha has enabled shields.

  Easily. Done, Adan said.

  “The shields are set to focus straight up so you can get in from the side. There have been some random ship bombing runs so we don’t want to bring them down all the way. We should take it fast because of those. I assume you’re coming aboard, that is?” Nadani said to Hafeez and Kress, looking at one and then the other as she spoke.

  “Yes, ma’am, until we’ve brought you to safety,” Hafeez said. Kress nodded.

  “Oh, all right then,” Nadani said, taken aback. She didn’t think herself important enough for them to worry about her.

  It seems clear right now, Adan said.

  “All right, let’s get across!” Nadani waited long enough to take a quick breath before exiting the building and running toward the ship. Dr. Tysgan ran next to her. She didn’t glance back to see if the other two followed, but heard their booted feet hitting the ground close behind her. Squito ships soared above them and over the spaceport, causing her heart to leap, but in a few more paces the door to the ship opened and she entered. The two men followed her closely, making the end of the corridor rather crowded.

  Trisha dashed down the hallway and straight into Nadani’s arms. Nadani ached to kiss Trisha deeply, but pressed her lips softly on Trisha’s forehead for a moment instead. Then she spied another soldier—a woman—in the hallway behind Trisha.

  “I suppose introductions are in order,” Trisha said as she pulled away from Nadani. Nadani regretted her absence. The woman behind Trisha drew nearer. Taller than Trisha with dark brown hair, Nadani noted she still carried a weapon, ready to use at a moment’s notice, and eyed the two men with subtle suspicion. “This is Jana. Jana, this is Nadani Jagi, Dr. Tysgan, and her companions…” she trailed off.

  “Kris Hafeez,” said Hafeez, giving a quick half-bow.

  “Hamilton Kress,” Kress said, nodding his head.

  “Trisha, I need to send a message to the Admiral,” Nadani said. “It’s important.”

  Hive-mind

  “So they’re hive-minded,” Trisha repeated, mulling over the thought. “And the leader—what did you call them?—the Royal, is probably on the larger ship staying out of the combat.”

  “Yeah,” Nadani nodded.

  “How do the Royals keep the rest under control when they’re in different ships?” Trisha wondered.

  “Perhaps using telepathy, or technological means,” Dr. Tysgan replied. “If by sound, then quite easy to make certain every unit had contact with Royal.”

  “Why would they attack stations and kidnap people?” she asked.

  “They need resources we have perhaps,” Dr. Tysgan said. “Why take people? I do not know. To learn about us. Experimentation for selective weaponry. Many possibilities.”

  “I don’t think the Admiral is responding,” Nadani said. “We have three hours left unless we get reinforcements.”

  “How do you know that?” Trisha asked and then wished she kept her mouth closed. Nadani’s two men—Kress and Hafeez—probably didn’t know about Adan.

  “What do we do about it?” Jana said. She spoke out more often than the two men. “The Royal is on the biggest ship, right? We aren’t even engaging that one.”

  “We’re going to deal with it ourselves,” Nadani said with firmness.

  Trisha’s stomach dropped, and she felt the color drain from her face. Nadani gave her a concerned look which turned to apologetic.

  “I believe we have enough numbers to do a strike from within the ship itself,” Nadani said.

  “An interesting idea,” Dr. Tysgan said.

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Kress said. “How are we supposed to get close to that thing? The skies are full of enemy ships.”

  “We’ve analyzed the ships and found all resonate with same shield frequency. We think this is how they identify each other,” Dr. Tysgan said, looking between Kress, Hafe
ez, and Jana. They were the ones she had to convince. Trisha knew she would follow Nadani if the plan seemed sound.

  “So we effectively hide right next to them,” Jana said. “I hope it works.”

  “Hang on,” Kress said. Trisha started to dislike him. “Why should we agree to do this?”

  “I’ve already gotten permission from my superiors. Our local radio coms are working fine,” Jana said. “I’m to stay with Nakamara until this entire ordeal is over no matter where she goes.”

  “And we’re supposed to stay with Commander Jagi,” Hafeez said. “If we stay behind then we’re disobeying orders,” he added with a smirk. “This ship’s tech looked good from the outside. And we already know it tangled with one of the enemies before and survived.”

  “Shit,” Kress said under his breath, but loud enough for everyone to hear. “Fine,” he spoke in a normal tone. “I’ll do it to watch your back when you land. We’ll be weaker on foot.”

  “If we’re under fire on the way in then I’ll take out the defensive turrets. The two beam weapons Astromancer has don’t have to aim at the same target. Once we’ve docked with the ship, we’ll hack its systems to find the location of the Royal,” Nadani said.

  “You can do that too?” Kress asked, sounding genuinely surprised.

  “Yes,” Nadani said. “We are the ones who hacked one of their ships mid-combat and later decoded some of the data,” she added with a smile.

  Kress didn’t reply but stood there and nodded his head.

  “Okay, let’s get started,” Nadani said. “Sorry the lounge isn’t bigger, but there are extra seats in the bridge for when we set up and get going.”

  “Trisha, you must modify the shield generator physically,” Dr. Tysgan said. “It is small tweak, but necessary to change frequency through ship computer. I can have instructions sent—”

  “Not necessary—I know how to do that already,” Trisha said, excited she could help with something that fell within her primary skill-set. I’ll get it sorted straightaway,” she said. Nadani gave her a ginger smile. She had to shuffle through the men standing in the middle of the corridor but made her way as fast as possible. While she worked the shields would be offline, so she needed to work fast. She nearly made it to the engineering room when she noticed Jana followed her.