The Jolo Vargas Space Opera Series Box Set
Page 42
“We wouldn’t be here right now if we hadn’t been out in the fringe trying to save that insignificant orange dirt clod, Duval,” said the transport pilot. “The Fed saved your people on that vile little rock while unbeknownst to us our families were being slaughtered.” She spit on the floor in the direction of Jolo and the rest.
Jolo stood. “As we have said many times before, we thank you for saving the people of Duval. And I am very sorry the Vexus crew was lost. Four synths attacked and I tried, but could not save them.”
A marine named Crasten stood. “I read the report right before this meeting. Captain Vargas killed all four of those synth creatures in an attempt to save the crew. No marine could have done better. There were four marines there in defense of the Vexus anyhow. They were all slain. All of you shut up.”
Kray sent the transport captain out of the room, paused for a moment to give Crasten the stink eye, then continued. “We are all, understandably, tired of sitting out in space doing nothing. We are angry. Our nerves are shot. No one likes hiding.” He paused and surveyed the room. “The time for action has come.” Cheers from the officers.
“Save the core!” someone yelled. And then more joined in. Jolo worried that Kray was going to dial up a major offensive and get everyone killed.
“No,” said Kray. And Jolo breathed a sigh of relief. “We are outnumbered.” Jolo reached for Katy’s hand.
“Maybe he ain’t as dumb as we thought,” said Jolo.
“Our plan, which we are still working on,” said Kray, “will be a series of strategic moves to destroy the BG’s hold on the outer planets one by one. They cannot defend the core and the fringe, and we will cut them off one planet at a time, starting with the key water and food supply planets taken from us.”
Everyone clapped and pounded the tables. “Now we fight!”
“Or maybe he is,” said Katy.
“Details will follow but the offensive will start with Sarus. It’s lightly defended and they won’t expect it. Then we’ll hit Barc and take back our water reserves.”
“Admiral,” said one of the gunboat captains named Tarley, “Sarus is lightly defended, but I don’t know if we have the ships to defeat even one Destroyer and a handful of cruisers with the boats we have.”
“Good point, Captain. That’s why we’re going to hit them on the ground.”
“Our Vellosian friend, Merthon, has postulated that the worms are desperate. That their numbers are down and they need the core worlds because their home worlds are dying, which is why they created the synth creatures. But we have more people power than boats and our marines will not be denied.”
At that the marine, Crasten, had a worried look on his face, but said nothing.
“If this is the last of humanity, Kray’s about to wipe us out,” Katy whispered to Jolo. “Don’t they know the synth girls are gonna kill them?”
“They got no experience with the girls,” said Jolo. “I imagine the core does at this point, but not this crew. The synth girls are new. We’re the only ones who’ve seen them. The BG have cut us off from the core.”
The other marines in attendance puffed out their chests and got quiet. They reminded Jolo of Kawamoto, the marine on the Jessica long ago. He got that same look. It was satisfied and hungry and determined all at the same time. They knew they were about to go kill something. But Jolo worried they were all just going to die.
“And now for a bit of good news,” said Kray. “The listening post was damaged but we were able to get a partial vid file of fighting on one of the core worlds. We think it may be Sol.” Kray nodded to a man in the back and the lights went down and a big holo-vid image appeared in the center of the room. The video started with a big cruiser in atmosphere blowing up and the officers cheered. And then the screen was just a blur of smoke and vegetation and water. But then it jumped to another sequence on a flat plain. “We think this is Corvis on Sol.”
“Yes, Admiral. Look, there are Virginiana trees!” one of the officers shouted.
“And now pay attention,” said Kray. There was a battalion of marines in full gear with four-wheeled land cats and fixed guns, smaller support wasp ships overhead, drones, everything. Suddenly about a hundred Jaylens attacked and Jolo sat up in his seat. Why would Kray show the Jaylens killing Feds? The Feds had no chance, no matter how much support they had. The synths were too fast, had better communication, better tactics, and could not be killed by an energy rifle.
On the synth assassins came, blonde hair, black suits and each with those damn red blades.
The Fed long range sharpshooters got into position and opened fire. And Jolo didn’t want to watch.
“What is Kray doing?” said Katy. “We don’t need to see Feds get slaughtered.
But then a funny thing happened.
The long range sharp-shooters started firing. And Jaylens fell, and then the regulars got involved, and more Jaylens fell. And the fixed position guns mowed them down. And Jolo waited for them all to pop up and start killing Feds. But it never happened. The Fed battalion won easily.
And the officers were elated. And the lights came on and Kray was smiling.
“We are going to kill those little bitches, and those mech bastards!” yelled Kray. It had been a carefully orchestrated pep rally and the crew of the Persephony and all of the other captains were ready for war.
“That was a lie,” Jolo said to Katy. “The BG want us to believe this, but it ain’t true.”
He stood up and Katy tried to pull him down. She grabbed his shirt and he moved her hand away. “Respectfully, Admiral Kray, I do not believe this plan will work,” said Jolo.
“And I suppose the leader of the pirates has a better plan?” said Kray, the Feds all smiles and grunts of approval. Jolo felt all the eyes on him again.
“I believe this vid to be a lie. This is what they want us to believe. I’ve seen the synth girls. I’ve fought them. They were made to defeat Fed marines specifically. I watched them on Faraley take down four marines, one with a long range weapon.”
“The Vexus had just crash landed. Our marines were half dead from exhaustion,” yelled Kray.
But Jolo continued. “What weapons will you use against them?”
“We’ll use the weapons we have to defend the Federation!” Which meant standard Fed-issue energy rifles, and maybe a smattering of the upgraded versions that had more short range punch, but still would not take down a Jaylen. They’ll reboot just like the ones on Faraley.
“Those weapons don’t work,” said Jolo. The Fed officers started grumbling again. Jolo eyed the big marine, Crasten, who’d remained silent. He was the only one who wasn’t smiling.
“We’ve used these weapons against the BG for years,” someone said.
“Yes, but not against the synths. Obviously no one got the message so I’ll lay it out for you. The Fed issue energy weapons won’t take down a Jaylen. They fall for a moment, then jump up and keep coming. On Faraley the last synth took three hits from an energy blaster, a rail gun shot from the Argossy that took one of her legs, and she still kept coming.”
And finally, the lead marine spoke. “How do you kill them?”
“With one of these!” yelled Greeley from the back of the room. He was holding up Betsy. “Or with a handgun like Captain Vargas got.” He pushed his way through the crowd standing at the back and plopped down in his seat. That set the Feds off again.
“The only place we could manufacture an old kinetic weapon would be in the core, and then it would take months to equip the marines,” said Kray.
Merthon stood. “I made those creatures, God help us. And I agree with Captain Vargas, the Fed needs to fight the synthetic army with kinetic weapons.”
“There are none left,” said someone from the crowd.
“How about the the manufacturing plant in Harlus 3?” said one of the older captains.
“Harlus is under BG control and even then, they haven’t made a kinetic weapon there for 200 years,” said Kray.
“Where?”
“My mother used to tell me stories of the old worlds, passed down to her from her grandmother and to her from many generations before, from the days before jump technology and the expansion.”
“This is a waste of time,” said Kray.
“Where, Boy?” said Marco.
“Earth,” said the young engineer. The room erupted in laughter.
Jolo looked at Marco. “Any truth to this?”
“Maybe, but those who’ve tried to return to Earth have never returned.”
“Everyone knows you can’t go to Earth,” said Kray. “Ships don’t return from there. There are rumors of foul things on that dead planet.”
More laughter from the officers. “The Earth is a wasteland,” said one of the older freighter captains. “Ever since we lost the Arcadia there’s been something bad going on there. Something that ain’t entirely natural, if you get my meaning.” More snickering and head shaking from the crowd.
“You want to go to Earth?” Jolo whispered to Katy.
“Let’s find out what Marco and Merthon have to say.”
Jolo looked at Greeley and he was grinning. “I’m in,” he said.
Jolo stood up. “Admiral, if you send a ship to Earth to hunt for weapons to kill the synths, the Argossy will go.”
“No. We will fight them with our weapons. That is final. And we will take Sarus,” yelled Kray.
“Then you will all die!” said Jolo. And the room went silent.
“So you’d rather turn tail and run, Pirate Vargas?” said Kray.
“If it means living another day, then, yes. All of you should hide until we figure out how to defeat the synths. None of you have fought them.”
“NO!” yelled Kray, pointing a finger at Jolo. “A Federation man ain’t afraid to die!” He quoted an old song and the officers cheered. “We are no pirates who run at the first hint of a challenge. We will meet the BG head on out here in the fringe. And your little band of pirate boats are going to fight right beside us to the bloody end.”
The officers cheered again. And Jolo sat down. Nothing good ever happened in the Great Hall of the Federation Defender Persephony.
No One Returns
The old dock master nearly tackled Jolo as soon as he stepped into the cavernous level three docking bay the day after Kray’s big announcement. “Captain Vargas, do you have an authorization chit?” he said, running up in an official rush and blocking Jolo’s path.
Jolo paused, fought back a strong urge to pull out the Colt, or to just push him out of the way, maybe tie him up and hide him in the shiny gunboat they were standing next to.
“No, sir. I ordered my crew to do a full diagnostic on the old boat there,” he motioned towards the Argossy, “to get ready for the big offensive.” Jolo smiled as the white-haired Fed man considered Jolo’s ship. It was round where the Fed gunboats were sharp, dirty where the Fed boats were clean, and generally ugly and unimpressive. “I see,” he said, his voice suddenly full of concern. “Well, I guess I could make an exception and file a backlogged auth chit on your behalf.”
“Thank you. She needs all the help she can get.”
Jolo was the first on board and went right to the mess hall and sat down. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The bot brought his coffee without even asking. It was almost like being home. Soon the rest of the crew arrived, all except Greeley.
“Does Kray have a chance against the BG in Sarus?” said Jolo.
“From what I can tell, Sarus is very lightly defended, so yes, he could take it,” said Marco.
“The problem is once you do that, you announce your location,” said Jolo.
“And then they come for you,” said Barth. “And I worry about the civilians.”
“Kray’s moving all non-military and the Duvalites to the big freighter Sugoka,” said Katy. “At least he’s only fool enough to risk the military and not the remainder of humanity. I’ll kill him myself if anything happens to Bertha and the kids.”
“We don’t know if the core has been taken,” said George. “The Duvalites may not comprise the remainder of humanity.”
“From all we’ve seen so far, and all we know about the BG, I can’t help but think the core is seriously farked. But something was off about Kray’s vid,” said Jolo. “Merthon, did that look like your girls?”
“They are not my girls. But the synthetic girls do not usually stay down. They were made to absorb a shot from an energy rifle.”
“You any closer to unlocking the secret to killing them?” said Jolo.
Merthon sighed. “I thought the facility we’d created on Duval was the worst I’d ever been in. No offense to your efforts,” the tall green humanoid said, nodding towards Marco. “But the little bathroom they’ve given me here is nothing more than a hindrance.”
“The key is beating the synths. If we were just dealing with the worms, then we’d have a chance. Add in the Jaylens, and we’re screwed. Merthon, how close are you to finding out how to kill the Jaylens? If you think you can do it then we stay put, play Kray’s little game and wait for our chance to leave.”
Merthon stared at the dark metal floor of the mess hall. “Jamis left us a way. I’m sure of it. But I am no closer right now than when Duval fell. In fact, if anything, I’m further away.” Everyone was quiet for a moment.
“So are we nuts for even considering Earth?” said Jolo.
“An army of humans with kinetic weapons could stand against the mechs and the synth girls on the ground,” said George.
“Computer, what do we have on Earth,” said Jolo.
The vid screen on the wall turned on and showed an image of a blue-green ball. The computer spit out everything in the database concerning humanity’s ancient home planet.
It was a sobering tale. The Final War in 2156 destroyed the planet’s fragile ecosystem. Nuclear fallout blotted out the sun and the people not killed in the war died of famine and drought soon after. Most scientists believe that it was not one single catastrophe but a cascade of events starting long before the war. Overpopulation had stretched resources to the breaking limit years before the first missiles were launched. Global warming had ravaged the bio-diversity. In the end wildlife amounted to nothing more than a few species of pine trees, small rodents, and tiny fish that no one could identify. It got harder and harder to grow vegetables, corn being the exception. The delicate balance of life on Earth: air, water, sun—teetered on the brink. The nuclear bombs just pushed a bad situation to worse. It took the better part of a hundred years after the war to completely kill the Earth, but by 2250, all life, even the small pockets of resilient humans still clinging to a meager existence, were gone. The sky was black and so was the earth. Nothing could grow there.
“The choices just keep getting better: the BG or a dead planet,” said Katy. She waved off the mess hall bot, went to the kitchen and refilled her cup of coffee by herself.
“The choice is simple,” said Jolo. “We choose the best way we can to fight.”
“Can we breathe the air there?” said Katy.
“We don’t know,” said George. “But there is hope that 200 years after the devastation, the air quality is better.”
“So we get there somehow, find the weapons, and come home.”
“Listen to all of you,” said Hurley. “None of y’all got sense God gave a crag squealer. Least they know enough to git out when death comes around. And ain’t none of them gone be on Earth. You cain’t go to that dead, God-forsaken rock.” Hurley was standing, waving around his empty cup for emphasis.
“No one really knows what awaits us there,” said George, standing still as stone.
“I do.”
“You’ve been to Earth?” said Katy.
“60 some-odd years ago. Aboard the Federation Explorer Arcadia.”
“The A
rcadia,” said Barthelme, suddenly sitting upright, his brow furrowed. “That was the ship that…”
“Yeah,” said Hurley. “The ship that went in search of the Exeter.”
“That ain’t what I was going to say, but…”
And Hurley continued with his story. “This was before the BG came, back when the core was still trying to figure things out. Back when they still cared if a ship got lost.” Hurley waved the bot over and got a refill. “One of the first long-range hauler companies, Falstaff Corp on Lareter, launched a brand new ship called the Exeter, that could, in its day, carry more core world supplies to the outer realms than anything. It was a fine boat made by shipwrights who took pride in their work. Not today’s shite, tin-can boats the Fed pass off as military grade. Naw, these men had old-world skills and I ain’t seen a ship as fine and well-made since the day Marco showed me this one.” Katy choked on her coffee and George started patting her on the back. “Yeah,” said Hurley, “this boat ain’t much to look at from the outside, but she’s got improvements and small refinements the builders learned making the Exeter.
I was a boy and had heard tales of the Exeter, how it had made it out to the far reaches to deliver food and supplies to the green planets. Back then the core worlds launched exploration after exploration to the bloody edge and beyond in search of oxygen rich planets, metal, minerals and anything else it needed.
Which brings us to the shite part of the tale.
Right around that time some of the outer planets started finding alacyte. And the first big strike was on Canasus VI. There was a small colony there that had hit a deep vein and the core pushed them to stay and get all they could. But they were running out of food and water. They were near a huge salt water lake but the desalination equipment broke down and both engineers had died in the mines. They didn’t have as many listening posts as we do now so the communication was spotty and every time the core got a message it was worse than the last: children dying of thirst, fights to the death over sembei crumbs, and there were even whispers of people eatin’ people.