First Colony: Books 1 - 3

by Ken Lozito

  Major Shelton cleared her throat. “If we were to send in teams to storm the Vemus Alpha, they’d need to know the target depth they had to reach.”

  “We have four bombs, but the trouble isn’t with the shape of the Alpha because it’s not one big ship. It’s made up of smaller ships that have somehow been absorbed into a jumbled mass. If we think of the Alpha as a large asteroid, then perhaps getting our bombs as close to the center as possible would do the trick,” Nathan said.

  Major Roberts shook her head. “It’s not the same. Ordinarily, yes, that would work, but we’re dealing with an unknown substance. The exoskeleton grows, and it’s the real thing keeping that ship together. So while getting our bombs as far into the ship as possible is a step in the right direction, there’s no guarantee it would work.”

  “What about sending the four missiles into the seven-kilometer hole General Gates blew in there from Phoenix Station? It’s already a structural weak point,” Lieutenant LaCroix said.

  “Maybe, and that’s a big maybe because we can’t get any recon drones inside there to determine the extent of the damage,” Major Roberts said.

  “If it is a weak point, the Vemus would likely have it guarded,” Nathan said.

  He agreed with Major Roberts. They needed eyes inside the Vemus Alpha, but he doubted the Vemus would be cooperative about it. They had combat shuttles, but whoever he sent on that mission would likely never return. Nathan knew there would be no shortage of volunteers, but he’d only make that kind of sacrifice if he knew it was worth it.

  “Someone has to go take a look then,” Lieutenant LaCroix said.

  “I’m not sure that would work,” Nathan said.

  “Why not, Colonel?” Major Shelton asked.

  “If we start poking around, the Vemus will know we’re interested in that area. If we’re going to send a team in, they might as well take the bombs with them and finish the job. The rub is we don’t know if the bombs would do enough damage to destroy the ship, and given its proximity to the planet, pieces of the ship could crash into New Earth,” Nathan said.

  “What if we draw them away from the planet?” Major Roberts said.

  “To where?” Lieutenant LaCroix asked.

  “Here. If we lure them here and destroy the ship, who cares if it crashes into the moon? Their ship would just make another crater but wouldn’t do any real damage to the moon,” Major Roberts said.

  “How do we get them to come here?” Nathan asked.

  “I think you said earlier something about all or nothing. We attack them with everything we have. Reveal our presence,” Major Roberts said.

  Nathan thought about it for a moment and then nodded. “I think you’re onto something,” he said and noted the somber expressions in the room. “Look, I don’t like this situation any more than you do. Frankly, I’d prefer a solution that didn’t end with all of us dying, but if Major Roberts is right and we do this, we’ll save everyone on New Earth.”

  A comlink opened to the mission briefing room.

  “Colonel Hayes, please report to the command area,” Sergeant Martinez said over comms.

  “I’m on my way,” Nathan replied.

  The comlink closed.

  “I invite anyone to come up with a better solution, but I think Major Roberts’ idea is the best we’ve got. We don’t have time to endlessly debate this. Time is running out, so if anyone has serious doubts about our way forward, voice them right now,” Nathan said.

  The Lunar Base staff in the mission briefing room remained silent, if a little pale.

  “Alright then. Let’s get to work. We’re essentially kicking a hornet’s nest,” Nathan said and headed for the door.

  Major Shelton met him at the door. “Colonel, if it’s alright with you, I’ll stay in here and keep them on task.”

  “I’ll be back as soon as I can,” Nathan said.

  He walked down the corridor, heading toward the command area. Two CDF soldiers on duty at the door saluted him as he walked by. Nathan entered the command area and walked over to the communications workstation.

  “What have you got, Sergeant?” Nathan asked.

  “Sir, we’ve just received a message from Captain Walker,” Sergeant Martinez said.

  Nathan frowned and peered at the message. Captain Walker had left them to search for the salvage team his brother was on. “Update the encrypted channel using what Captain Walker sent us.”

  “Yes, sir,” Sergeant Martinez said. After a few moments, she added, “Relays are up. We’re bouncing the signal so the Vemus will have trouble locking on, but it won’t last that long.”

  “Understood,” Nathan said and grabbed a headset.

  A comms channel opened and he saw Captain Walker’s face appear onscreen.

  “Colonel, we tried to reach the base when we noticed three Cruiser-class ships orbiting the moon. We assumed they were Vemus, so we came up with this alternative way to communicate,” Captain Walker said.

  “What’s your status?” Nathan asked.

  Captain Walker’s gaze looked pained for a moment. “We found the salvage team but they were contaminated. All team members have been killed. We encountered Vemus soldiers in one of the large pieces of wreckage.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” Nathan said.

  “Sir, my brother was able to learn more about the Vemus, maybe even a way to stop them,” Captain Walker said.

  Nathan’s eyes widened.

  “Colonel, Vemus cruisers are closing in on our position,” Sergeant Martinez said.

  Nathan nodded to her and turned back to Captain Walker. “Can you transmit what you’ve found?”

  “We’re running out of time. We’ll work on getting the data to you—”

  The comms channel was severed.

  “What happened?” Nathan asked.

  “The comms channel was cut on their end, Colonel,” Sergeant Martinez said.

  Nathan frowned for a moment and then blew out a breath. “Keep monitoring for them.”

  “Yes, sir,” Sergeant Martinez said. “What did they find in the wreckage?”

  “Brian Walker was a scientist who wanted to get a living sample of Vemus tissue. He might have discovered something about them,” Nathan said and pressed his lips together. “See if you can get someone from R&D up here. Brian’s team. Maybe they’ll have more of an insight.”

  Sergeant Martinez said she’d get right on it and Nathan walked over to the tactical workstation where Lieutenant Johnson was on duty.

  “What can I do for you, Colonel?” Lieutenant Johnson asked.

  “We have a combat shuttle that has important information aboard and we need to get it back to base. Given that Vemus cruisers are in the area, can you think of a way we can get that crew back here safely?” Nathan asked.

  Lieutenant Johnson bit his lower lip. “I need a few minutes, sir.”

  We all need a few minutes, Nathan thought but nodded at Johnson. “The key to defeating the Vemus might be aboard that shuttle, Lieutenant.”

  “Understood, Colonel.”

  The Vemus cruisers could move faster and shoot from a far greater distance than a combat shuttle was capable of and he wasn’t sure that one lone shuttle could make it safely back to base. He racked his own brain, trying to think of a way to bring Captain Walker in. Nathan gritted his teeth. Nothing was ever easy.

  27

  Connor checked the gray bulkhead door. The repair teams had done a quick patch and then moved on to another part of the station that required attention. It appeared that the partial remains of subsection six was all that was left of Phoenix Station. It had been the centermost area of Phoenix Station where the main Command Center was located, and the reinforced superstructure was the only reason any of them were still alive. They’d been leaking atmosphere in so many places that Connor had tasked every able-bodied person not working on repairs of critical systems to pitch in with patching up the holes. That included him. The lights from his EVA suit made it possible to see what h
e was doing. He reached inside the supply case and pulled out a repair kit containing liquefied material that could be applied in a vacuum. Once the repair kit material was activated, it quickly adhered and bonded to the surface, filling in the cracks.

  Connor gave it a moment to set and then opened a comlink. “That should do it for this area. Try to pressurize the section.”

  “Copy that, General. You might want to move to the side in case the patch doesn’t work,” Captain Randle said.

  Connor stepped to the side and waited. No need to tempt fate at this point, and besides that, he knew Captain Randle could see him through the camera feed from the nearby recon drone.

  “Pressurizing now, General,” Captain Randle said.

  Connor watched the area he’d just patched and his suit sensors didn’t detect any trace of escaping atmosphere. “Looks good from out here,” Connor said.

  “Same in here, as well. Pressure holding. Dr. Kim will be ecstatic to have his research lab back,” Captain Randle said.

  Phoenix Station had been home not only to Colonial Defense Force personnel but scientists and engineers as well. Each one of those scientists and engineers believed their work was crucial to defeating the Vemus. While Connor acknowledged the importance of their work, it didn’t supersede systems like life support and thrusters. They were still focusing on surviving, and weapons capability was beyond them at the moment.

  “That’s all the repairs in this area, General. Now please come back inside,” Captain Randle said with just a hint of exasperation.

  “Understood. On my way back, Captain,” Connor said. He packed up his repair case and headed for the nearest airlock. It had felt good to do some hands-on work for a change. The remains of Phoenix Station weren’t quite as knocking-on-death’s-door as they had been when he’d first awakened after the Vemus Alpha had nearly destroyed them.

  “What’s the status of the communications array?” Connor asked.

  “They should be finishing that up soon, sir,” Captain Randle replied.

  The airlock doors opened and Connor stepped inside. Once the airlock doors were shut, he disabled his magboots. There was a blast of air as the airlock pressurized and then the interior doors opened. Captain Randle waited nearby. Connor used his neural implants to tell the EVA suit systems to retract his helmet, which then unclasped itself in the front and collapsed into the thick holding chamber at the base of his neck. Connor breathed in the station’s air and could still detect trace amounts of smoke. The atmospheric scrubbers were working overtime to make the air breathable, but considering how many people had died, he felt lucky to be breathing at all.

  He’d caught a glimpse of all the wreckage from the other subsections of Phoenix Station. Because his EVA suit helmet had excellent optics, he’d also been able to see the wreckage that was in relatively close proximity, but they hadn’t made contact with either Bravo or Charlie stations. Connor hoped Captains Mason and Saunders and their crews were still alive.

  Connor looked at Captain Randle. “If the communication array is almost up, that means a scanner array should be up soon as well.”

  “That’s affirmative, General,” Captain Randle said.

  A short Asian man walked out of a nearby room. He looked over at them and smiled excitedly. “General Gates, thank you so much for repairing this section.”

  “You’re welcome, Dr. Kim,” Connor said.

  Dr. Young Kim regarded Connor for a moment. “You don’t realize what we have in this lab. There are samples of different viruses and bacteria we’ve gathered from New Earth that could be instrumental in our fight against the Vemus.”

  “I’m glad the redundant power systems were able to keep your samples alive,” Connor said and looked up at Captain Randle. The bear of a man chuckled.

  They’d been through this a few times. Connor knew research labs had their place, but of all the areas that could’ve survived the attack on Phoenix Station, he didn’t think the research lab rated very high.

  “You’re still not convinced,” Dr. Kim said.

  “I meant no disrespect to you or your work, Dr. Kim. It’s just that the Vemus Alpha is still out there and we need to find a way to stop them. I’m not sure how your samples of microscopic organisms are going to help us with that,” Connor said.

  Dr. Kim seemed unperturbed by Connor’s answer. “Actually, General Gates, the best chance we have of defeating them is within my lab.”

  Connor frowned curiously. “Okay, you’ve piqued my curiosity. Want to explain it to me then?”

  Dr. Kim’s eyes widened with excitement. “I’d be happy to. If you’d follow me—”

  There was an audible comms chime in the corridor they were in and Connor waited for the announcement.

  “General Gates, communications and scanning capabilities have been restored. PRADIS is starting to update, sir,” Lieutenant Daniels said.

  “Acknowledged, Lieutenant. We’re on our way,” Connor said and looked at Dr. Kim. “Hold that thought, Dr. Kim. I’ll be back down here later and you can tell me about what’s so important in your lab.”

  “Of course. I look forward to it, General Gates,” Dr. Kim said.

  Connor and Randle started making their way toward the Command Center. A direct path from the section they were in was no longer possible, so they had to circle toward the outer fringes of the wreckage. Connor had to prioritize certain areas, and though they were intact, they had to conserve their power consumption. The overhead lighting had been so badly damaged during the Vemus Alpha attack that there were entire corridors without lighting, but there was limited power available. Repair teams had set up temporary lighting in those corridors.

  Connor checked the reports from Engineering as they walked. “Doesn’t look like we’ll get much beyond emergency power.”

  “The main reactor is gone, so we’re basically running on reserves and the backup reactor,” Captain Randle said.

  “Looks like one of the hangar decks isn’t damaged,” Connor said while still reading the high-level reports. “Even if we crammed everyone into the shuttles we have, it still wouldn’t be enough to get everyone off the station. We could use the remaining escape pods, but that wouldn’t get us back to New Earth.”

  “One thing at a time,” Captain Randle said. “We’ve got comms and scanners back up.”

  Connor nodded and hastened toward the command area. When they arrived, they saw that the medics had moved the wounded to another location, but there was blood in some areas that hadn’t been cleaned up yet. The main holoscreen was still only showing a partial window, so Connor went to his workstation and brought up his own screen.

  “Comms, what’s our status?” Connor asked.

  “There are still limited broadcast signals from New Earth. But the Vemus attack has begun and these broadcasts are several hours old, sir,” Lieutenant Daniels said.

  “Ops, what’s our current position?” Connor asked.

  “We have limited thruster capability, but we’ve stabilized our position so we’re not simply spinning through space anymore. At twenty million kilometers, we’re still a long way from New Earth, but we’re heading in the right direction, sir,” Lieutenant Rawn said.

  Connor nodded. “Comms, are there enough communications satellites still up to get a message to Lunar Base?” he asked.

  “Yes, there are, General,” Lieutenant Daniels said.

  “Good. Send an encrypted message to Lunar Base letting them know our current position,” Connor said.

  If Colonel Hayes was able to, he’d open a direct comlink to their position, which should minimize the risk of the Vemus detecting the signal. He checked PRADIS, but it was still gathering data.

  “General, I’ve received a reply from Lunar Base. They’ve sent us the coordinates to a specific comms satellite using a nonregulation encrypted channel,” Lieutenant Daniels said.

  Connor frowned. “Nonregulation?”

  “It’s not CDF-specific, but it’s not NA Alliance military e
ither, sir,” Lieutenant Daniels said.

  “Alright, connect us using that channel, then. Directly to my screen, Lieutenant,” Connor said.

  Connor waited a few seconds for the connection to establish and then saw Colonel Hayes on his screen.

  “It’s great to see you alive, General,” Colonel Hayes said.

  “You too,” Connor replied.

  “Before I bring you up to speed, I need you to know that this comms channel will only be secure for a short period of time,” Colonel Hayes said and proceeded to inform Connor of what had happened.

  “I didn’t think the Vemus Alpha was going to attempt a landing on New Earth. The Alliance military couldn’t even do something like that with their larger ships, and we all know how big that Alpha is. I think you did the right thing, Colonel,” Connor said.

  “General, you’re pretty banged up. I’d really like to send out a few shuttles to resupply you until we can get a rescue mission organized,” Colonel Hayes said.

  “We could use those supplies, but we need to focus our efforts on stopping the Vemus,” Connor said.

  Colonel Hayes’s eyebrows wrinkled in grim acknowledgment. “We do have one of our shuttles that was in the debris field when the Vemus attacked. With the Vemus cruisers in the area, we’ve been trying to find a way to bring it in without alerting the Vemus to our location. The crew was sent to investigate a salvage and recon mission to attempt to learn more about the Vemus.”

  “What did they learn?” Connor asked.

  “We’re not exactly sure. The salvage team was lost, but the rescue team was able to retrieve the data and the Vemus samples that were gathered. The lead scientist believed he’d discovered crucial information that would help us defeat the Vemus,” Colonel Hayes said.