"Fourteen," she answered.
"Ada, you have the seat," I said. "Marny, you're with me."
"Cap? You shouldn't be leading a boarding party," Marny said. "It's an unnecessary risk. I've got this."
"Couldn't agree more," I acknowledged as she exited the bridge just behind me.
Marny paused at the door to the elevator, confused. "Where are you going then?"
"Just because I'm not leading, doesn't mean I'm not going," I said. "I'll bring a Popeye and Jonathan's remote-presence bot, but I promise to leave the heavy lifting to the pros."
"I'm not sure you're catching on to this whole top of the food chain thing," Marny said, shaking her head as the elevator dropped to Deck Three where the Flight Deck was located. Together we jogged down the passageway. Along the way we were joined by the rugged looking men and women who ordinarily provided ship-wide security or manned fire-control.
"Liam," Jonathan cut in on private comm link. "There is a repair bay which has good access to a conduit that routes secure communication on the platform. We're uploading this objective to you now."
"Thanks, Jonathan," I said. "How much time will you need?"
"If you cut into the conduit and provide a direct link, the Phentera group will perform their own, less visible boarding action," he answered. "Partial control should be achievable within four hundred nano-seconds with full control taking substantially longer, perhaps as long as sixteen hundred milliseconds. Abasi electronic security is quite advanced."
I'd been curious about the Phentera group, comprised of sixty-two sentients who seemed to enjoy a more active role in security, hacking and weapon systems. Within the fourteen hundred thirty-eight sentients that made up Jonathan, we'd never been able to identify individual identities before. The Phentera group, to my thinking, was quite a schism for the exceedingly passive sentient collective, and possibly amounted to wolves in their midst.
"Are you sure we can't do this without Phentera going local?" I asked. "We're not sure what we’ll run into. I'd hate to put them at risk."
"We accept the risk presented." An eerily-similar voice to Jonathan's spoke, slightly higher pitched and with a decidedly more mechanical sound.
"Phentera?" I asked.
"That is correct," Phentera answered. "We have transferred to our new vessel and await instruction."
I pinched at the instructions Jonathan had sent us and flicked them to Marny. "This conduit is our objective. Phentera group will accompany us and we'll get them physical access. Once in, they'll transfer control back to Abasi. For now, House of the Bold will take lead on the station and we'll transfer control back once the dust settles."
"Copy that, Cap," Marny answered. "Ada, new instructions. I need to get dangerously close to this location. Sendrei, there are weapons on that side of the station. We'll need to take them out even if they aren't directly firing on us. I don't want some enterprising Taji idiot to figure out where the guns are and start firing at us.
"We'll breach using the 75mm cannons on the position I've marked on tactical. Alpha team, you're first through the door. Bravo and Charlie will be hot on your tail, so don't dawdle. We've started broadcasting an announcement on all channels so any friendlies left behind will know to clear the area. We should have a minimum of twenty seconds before anyone shows their heads. We're to go in hard, but I want enemy casualties minimized since we have no idea how to identify good guys from the bad. I'm hoping once we have station control, we can get some help with that identification. I need all teams to check in. Ada, Sendrei, give me a thirty-second countdown.
Listening to the stream of instructions was exhausting, but I was equally amazed at how prepared the three Marine teams appeared. Hornblower's flight deck was small, thirty meters wide and twenty deep, only capable of holding a few shuttles or possibly a single cutter in a pinch. With the armored bay doors retracted, we were only separated from space by an electrically-charged pressure barrier.
A small pang of jealousy for the three groups of Marines stacked up next to the barrier as we pulled alongside the shipyard platform ran through me. Rumbling within the ship alerted us to cannon fire as an exchange between the platform and Hornblower erupted. A single, stray blaster bolt sailed through the open bay doors and I jerked in anticipation. In actuality, by the time I'd become aware of the bolt's presence, it had already done whatever damage it was going to do.
I looked around, hoping the Marines hadn't seen me jump. I knew firsthand that a stationary turret could destroy just about anything it struck that wasn't well armored. By design, the flight deck was well armored and even better, had the capacity to absorb the fire, preventing ricochets. Apparently, no one had told this to my nervous system. To compensate, I hurriedly jumped into my well-worn mechanized infantry suit, or Popeye.
On the trip back from Picis, Tabby and I spent many shifts cleaning and replacing a multitude of worn and broken parts on the suits. Having lived in our Popeyes for more than three ten-days while keeping the Kroerak at bay, we had a healthy respect for their value – not to mention how disgusting they could get inside while still working. The fresh smell that greeted me was comforting. Even in the Popeye, I wouldn’t be able to take a direct hit from one of the repair yard’s cannons, but the tempo of the fight had changed. The rumblings within Hornblower had increased and I caught a glimpse of what I was certain were our 250mm cannons.
"Alpha team, go!" Marny ordered, slapping the alpha team leader on the back. I watched in both horror and exhilaration as the team rushed forward and leaned into their arc-jets, sailing through the blaster and cannon fire between Hornblower and the platform.
An armored sphere about the size of a pod-ball floated up next to me. My HUD identified the object as Phentera, something I didn't need help figuring out, even though they'd manufactured a different enclosure. With my oversized, mechanical hand, I grabbed the ball and tucked it protectively under my arm.
"Bravo, go! Charlie, go! Cap, bring the package!" Marny continued ordering as she jumped off, leading Bravo team only seconds behind Alpha.
I raced forward, pushing hard against the deck. The Popeye was heavy and its arc-jets had less power-to-weight than the Marines. I knew I had to compensate or I'd be slowly floating through no man's land. I got a good kick off the edge of the deck and watched as my delta-v arcs were drawn on my HUD. The little lines showed I was catching Bravo and Charlie teams and I was moving more quickly than all but Alpha. I laid into the arc-jets and accelerated. In response, Bravo and Charlie both hit their jets even harder and started zeroing out my advantage.
The first team cleared the opening Sendrei had punched out for us and clambered down the hall. To the untrained eye, they looked clumsy. I suppose, in truth, they were as they stumbled and fought for equilibrium. Switching from zero-g to station-oriented .75g was totally a matter of feel and many of these Marines had trained only in simulations aboard Hornblower. They were fortunate Marny never missed an opportunity to train crew.
She'd stacked Alpha team with her best. They flooded the hallway, taking advanced positions in their armored vac-suits, with heavy blaster rifles forward. Just about the time Bravo and Charlie hit the hallway, stumbling to gain their footing, a group of Felio in armored vac-suits ducked into the hallway and tossed fist-sized grenades.
Without prompting, a single Marine from Alpha stood and expertly fired an unusual looking weapon. Each round she fired struck a grenade, still in mid-air. With every shot, she manually ejected a large, spent shell by pulling back a slide and pushing it forward. It was a surprised group of Felio that raced into the hallway behind their grenades. Instead of disarray, they were met with a wall of blaster fire that took out three of their team before they were turned away.
I landed in the oversized hallway, wanting nothing more than to race down the deck with Phentera still under my arm and jump into the fire fight as soon as I planted my ball into the goal. The separation between my favorite game and a call to battle had become whisker thin.
<
br /> "Cap, we've got this. Focus on the mission," Marny said, her voice way more reasonable than I felt necessary for the situation. "Alpha, advance. Bravo, Charlie, on me."
I blew out a hot breath. I tended to get wrapped up in things and Marny's calming voice helped me back the beast off that had been free-ranging on Kroerak far too long. I fell in behind Charlie Team as we ran down the hallway, taking a turn at the end. Standing almost two meters taller than the crouching Marines, I drew fire from a thick group of defenders at the end of the hall.
"Our armor is sufficient, Liam Hoffen," Phentera stated plainly, as if anticipating my next move perfectly.
"Well, shite. Let's do this then. Make way!" I ordered and lifted my right arm with its thick-barreled, albeit relatively short, attached weapon. Blue fire erupted from my weapon as I leapt over Charlie, then Bravo and finally Alpha teams in three quick movements. With Phentera tucked under my arm, I sprayed the forward rank of Taji resistance fighters as their fire bounced off my Popeye's armor.
My HUD blinked, tracing the outline of a heavy, shoulder-mounted weapon I suspected would do considerably more than chip my suit’s paint. At almost the same moment, Phentera highlighted a thin section of bulkhead to my right, on a diagonal from the rocket being readied. Without hesitation, I lunged into the bulkhead, bringing my arm up protectively as I smashed through the steel partition. The contrail of the rocket-propelled munition streaked through the open space I'd created and exploded only a few meters past where I’d sheltered, shaking me, but doing no real damage.
"Nice call, Big P," I said, casually grabbing the multipurpose tool from my leg and swinging it through another partition so I could step back into the hallway.
My re-appearance must have surprised the Taji soldiers and I took full advantage of it, throwing my tool into their midst. Three more steps and I was upon them, sweeping my arm across the scrambling group as they tried to flee. Whether dead, knocked unconscious, or no longer willing to fight someone in a Popeye, I soon found myself standing alone.
Sensing a lull, a single Taji fighter lurched up and ran down the passageway. I marveled at her grace and hated the idea of possibly having to kill these Felio. "Really sorry about this," I said, as I transferred the armored ball from my left hand to my right and tossed it, hard, down the hallway. As a pod-ball player, my aim had always been dead on, but hitting a Felio on the run was a pretty good trick. To be completely honest, I hadn't planned to hit the wall next to her, but it all worked out anyway. The force of my throw was sufficient that it ricocheted perfectly, knocking her over.
Feeling guilty for using the Phentera vessel as a weapon, I ran forward and quickly retrieved it. Thankfully, I found the Taji soldier alive, but most likely in need of medical attention for broken bones.
"Cap!" Marny exclaimed, catching up with me as her team secured the enemy combatants. "What in the frak! You can't just take off like that in combat. What if they'd had another RPG loaded up?"
"You all good, Phentera?" I asked, inspecting the armored ball. I could see a scratch where hallway paint had transferred on one side and embedded hair on the other.
"Given our hardened shell, no danger was presented. Our analysis is that your maneuver was a tactical, if not slightly unorthodox, mechanism for disabling the Felio," they answered.
"Cap?" Marny pushed, banging on my face shield.
"Sorry, Marny," I said. "I just saw all those squishies firing at me and kind of saw red."
"Cap, I know it feels like you did the right thing, but you need some down-time," she said. "Our Marines had this. We need to work as a team. Do you copy?"
I sighed. I wasn't completely sure why she was so excited, but I trusted her instincts. If she felt I was on tilt, I had to at least listen to her. "I had it," I defended weakly.
"You did, Cap," Marny answered. "That's not really the point. I need to know you can be part of a team and not go solo on me. I won't be able to trust you otherwise."
I nodded, picking up my multitool and extending it into the powerful prybar configuration. We'd reached our objective, a bulkhead next to the conduit Jonathan had identified. I jammed the bar into the wall and peeled off the panel, opening it up wide enough for Phentera to float through. Six seconds later, a new platform status flooded my HUD and the constant thumping of blaster fire ceased.
"We can talk about it," I said. "Some things are hard to unlearn, though, and those instincts kept Tabbs and me alive on Picis."
"Some combat vets never recover from war like you saw on Picis, Cap," Marny said. "Some do. No rhyme or reason to it either. Combat gets in there and messes with your head. You need to be strong, Cap. We all need you. You have to be in control."
With House of the Bold in charge of the station, Marny and her Marines secured the massive structure within a few hours. We offloaded the engineers and their families, allowing them to return home. As we worked, I considered Marny's words. I could see how she might have felt my actions were over enthusiastic and reckless, but I was more than comfortable in my Popeye. I hadn't once questioned if I would be successful at taking down the Taji soldiers. Her point about predictability, though, weighed on my thoughts. It was something we were going to need to work through. The war on Picis had changed me, there was no doubt about it. I also knew there would be no going back.
Chapter 4
Rage Fires
"You sent me on a rescue mission while you went on a boarding mission?" Tabby asked, pulling up short in the hallway on our way to the wardroom. "Not cool, Hoffen."
I chuckled. Tabby was annoyed but would get over it. In all, the Taji soldiers had been relatively easy to defeat once Phentera gained control of the computer systems. Originally hosting almost nine thousand workers and their families, the Naval repair platform’s population had been cut by a third after the Kroerak attack and the takeover by the Taji fighters. Hardest hit, of course, were the Perasti security force, who had been executed during the Taji incursion.
"I needed a fast pilot and someone who could operate independently," I defended. "Seriously, I was in a Popeye. My biggest problem was not getting stuck in the hallways."
"So, what? We just sail around the platform and make sure no bad guys come sniffing?" she asked. "What about your mom?"
I nodded at the hatch that would take us into the wardroom. Marny, Nick, Ada and Sendrei had already gathered inside. "That's what we need to talk about."
Tabby turned and entered the wardroom, but wasn't ready to stop her interrogation. "We haven't heard from York, either. Zuri is supposedly protected by Abasi and since we're Abasi, is that our job too?"
"I picked up a communique from York," Nick said. "They got hit pretty bad."
"How bad?" I asked. "Anything about Mom? What about Hog and Patty and Bish? Did they say anything about Petersburg?" The list of people I was concerned for on Zuri was long. With Petersburg station in geosync orbit over York, we'd become a tight-knit community, even though we were separated by space.
"None of that was in the message," Nick said. "Well, aside from it coming from Hog. They were asking for help. Kroerak took out Zuri's comm satellites so they were lucky to get the message out. Apparently, they're having trouble with roaming bands of Kroerak warriors."
"Frak," I said. "We head there now!"
"That might be difficult," Nick answered. "Same sort of thing we found at the Naval repair yard is happening on Abasi Prime. We may need to help House Mshindi resume control. The Taji resistance is taking advantage of the chaos caused by the Kroerak invasion. Instead of fighting against the bugs, they're attacking Abasi positions."
"That strategy won't work much longer. Taji don’t have many resources of their own and I’ll bet they were unpleasantly surprised to see the Abasi fleet return," Tabby said. "As for the remaining bugs, they no longer have support from space. It’s not as if Abasi Prime doesn’t have mechanized infantry. First question I have, though, is why haven’t we heard of the Taji before?"
"Second question first,"
Nick said. "We've known about the Taji, just like we know about Beiki. They're fringe Felio who don't agree with Abasi rule. If you paid attention to the Felio newsfeeds, you’d find references to these groups. I'll let Marny cover what we know about Abasi's mechanized infantry and the response to Kroerak on Abasi Prime."
"Ever get tired of knowing everything?" Tabby asked him, obviously still annoyed.
"You're trying to pick a fight, Tabby," Nick said.
I put my hand on Tabby's arm when she started to respond. Turns out, that was the wrong thing to do. She pulled her arm back and stood up abruptly. "Frak off," she snapped, sending me a glare as she stalked out of the room.
"I'll go," Ada said, standing up and following her out.
"You should stay and hear this," I said. "She's mad at me for leaving her out of the boarding party."
"Rings of Venus, but you're dense, Hoffen," Ada answered, shaking her head as she jogged to catch up with Tabby.
"What did I miss?" I asked.
"If I were to guess, I'd say we're dredging up a lot of bad feelings," Marny said. "Honestly, I don't know how you're keeping it together, Cap. With your Mom missing, you've gotta be a mess right now. Are you getting any sleep at all?"
I sighed. She'd hit pay-dirt. I hadn't heard from Mom for more than thirty days.
"Frak," Nick said, his voice thick with emotion as he gestured in the air, frenetically directing the AI to organize the information on the HUD only he could see. He wasn't generally an overly expressive type, so his concern sent a shock-wave of adrenaline into my stomach.
"What?" I asked, waving away a plate of food brought out by steward Bear.
"I'm sorry, Liam," he said as he flicked a data-stream from his HUD to mine. "This was just sent in by a freighter that passed through the Santaloo-Tamu gate."
I'd stood when Tabby left the wardroom. Now, I sagged back into my chair. Images filled my HUD – floating pieces of Petersburg station. The Kroerak had completely destroyed the asteroid that was home to the station named after my deceased father, Big Pete.
Judgment of the Bold Page 4
