Empire of Bones (27 page)

“We don’t really have a choice. If that invasion comes through, we all die. We’ll do whatever we have to save this system and the billions of people who call it home now. Whether the rescue attempt succeeds or fails, we stop these bastards today. Questions?”

The men shook their heads.

“To your stations. Charlie, a moment please.”

Jared waited for the others to leave before he spoke. “You’ll be in command of
Athena
during this fight. I’m going with the marines.”

Graves looked mulish. “Sir, you’re a Fleet officer. You belong on the bridge of your ship.”

“Charlie, let’s be honest. The odds of any of us making it home are so slim that no one would ever bet on us. My oath to the Emperor means if I bring Princess Kelsey back or die trying. I can’t leave her there. She’s my sister, for God’s sake.”

His XO didn’t look happy, but he nodded. “Best of luck, Jared. Bring her back to us.”

Jared let his friend leave and pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers. It tore at him to abandon his command at a time like this, but it felt like the right move. He took one last calming breath and headed for marine country.

Reese spotted him as soon as he arrived and came over. “Captain.”

“I’m going with you. I’ll need some armor and weapons. You’ll retain tactical command, but I have overall strategic authority.”

The marine didn’t argue. “We keep several sets of spare armor for emergencies.” He called over two other marines and they efficiently stripped him to his undergarments and strapped him into the armor. It would act as a vacuum suit with superior protection against projectiles. The communicator was more complex than what he normally used, but he quickly figured it out.

The weapons they strapped onto him were a different issue. He knew how to shoot pistols. That was required Fleet training, even if they seldom used it. They took him to the range to run through a few magazines of ammunition with the combat rifle, presumably so that he didn’t accidentally shoot one of them.

They loaded him down with ammunition and grenades, and then told him he was not to use any of the latter. Apparently, he was carrying extras for the rest of them.

The call to flip came just after they finished getting him ready. It felt odd to hear Charlie’s voice in the overheads announcing the transition. It was probably his last one he’d make.

He boarded
Marine One
once everyone was ready and sat beside Reese. His communicator had access to the command channels so he listened to the countdown. The disorientation came and went. Then they waited for the engineering crew to mount the fission warhead to their pinnace.

Athena
accelerated into the system but kept her speed below the detection threshold. They’d go into freefall once they got too close to chance detection. The pinnaces would detach at that point and increase their velocity even more. Due to their smaller-sized drives, they could build more speed than a full-sized ship. Even so, it would be hours before they reached the planet. So many bad things could happen in that time.

“
Marine One
and
Marine Two
, this is
Athena
,” Zia said on the command channel. “Going ballistic. You are free to disengage. God speed.”

The pinnace broke free with a clank and intense acceleration pressed Jared back into the padding. They boosted for half an hour and then shut down their drives.

The waiting was much harder than he’d expected. The marines shared rations and traded jokes and insults. The Royal marines seemed to fit right in. If things worked out, he expected the Kingdom and the Empire would become excellent allies.

He expected the station to launch ships and weapons when they got close, but they didn’t. When the mission timer fell to just a few minutes, he had to bite his lip to keep from giving the go order.

When the counter dropped to zero, Jared keyed his communicator. “All units go. Go! Go! Go!”

The pinnace accelerated savagely. Much more power than had been used earlier. So much that it took his breath away. His pinnace turned toward the active shipyard, which was still on the other side of the planetary curve.
Marine Two
dove for the orbital.

The dot representing the fission warhead broke free and his pinnace turned abruptly to chase after
Marine Two
.

Jared split his attention between the warhead and
Marine Two
. The shipyard would meet the weapon about the same time the other pinnace breached the orbital. If the Pale One’s station had any defenses, they’d acted before the weapons could come online.

Marine Two
fired something that looked like a big net at the big hatch. It spread all across the hatch and exploded inward. Shaped charges. The hatch disintegrated and
Marine Two
screamed inside as the air and debris came shooting out.

His pinnace followed just a few seconds later. It clamped to the deck and waited for the compartment to depressurize fully. Then both pinnaces started disgorging marines.

Jared waited for a moment and saw the fission warhead expand on his tactical display. The data said it had detected a missile launch and detonated. While too far away to destroy the shipyard completely, it would undoubtedly cause tremendous damage. They’d met one mission objective. There would be no massive invasion before Pentagar was ready.

He followed Reese out the hatch. The marine officer snapped out orders. “Find a main hatch into the station. Avoid lifts. Shoot anything that moves. Except the prisoners, of course.”

“Team Five has a lift and what looks like a corridor hatch beside it. There are signs that something was dragged through here recently.”

“Set the boarding lock and go in, Team Five.”

The marines pointed their weapons in every direction while they waited. The medical and engineering teams joined him. They weren’t wearing armored suits, but they were armed. Even the doctor. Stone knelt beside him. “The clock is ticking. Will we have pressure?”

“They’ll patch the ruined hatch once we’re gone, but leave enough space so the chamber can’t be pressurized. That should keep the enemy from rushing them. The pinnaces’ guns will deal with any intrusions. Once we’re on the way back they’ll pressurize the landing bay. Hopefully, we’ll be gone before the Pale Ones get inside here in force.”

He didn’t hear the breaching charges the marines used to open the hatch, but he felt the deck shake a little. The first team of marines entered the boarding lock and reported the other side clear. The marine strike teams cycled through quickly. They found the emergency stairs before Jared came through with the support teams.

“Team Five has Princess Kelsey’s communicator on scanner,” one of the marines said. “She’s somewhere ahead of and above us.”

“Up,” Reese ordered.

Some of the marines poured into the stairwell while the rest set up a defensive perimeter. They’d hold the landing bay while the strike teams found the prisoners.

He followed Reese and tried Kelsey’s communicator just as someone started shooting upstairs. An unknown voice came on the tactical net. “Enemy contact. Engaging.”

The fight was on.

Kelsey awoke to indescribable agony. It felt as though they’d filleted her like a fish. Lines of horrible pain seemed to cover her entire body. Her headache from earlier was a fond memory.

The tank slid open and the Pale Ones pulled her out. They dragged her toward the third piece of equipment in the room. Unlike the previous two, it looked like someone had assembled it from other equipment with no thought about how it looked.

Her eyes wouldn’t focus right. Things went from blurry to unnaturally sharp, but not simultaneously in each eye. She tried to resist the Pale Ones holding her, but her arms wouldn’t move right either. She had no coordination at all.

Her captors stiffened when a distant thump shook the deck.

They dropped her and ran for the door. The fall bloodied her nose and she flopped around as she tried to sit up. The prisoners took advantage of the distraction to attack. It took all of them to pin one of the Pale Ones.

Talbot struggled with the other one. The beast grunted and dragged the marine to the tank that had just gutted Kelsey. Having only one captor gave the marine some advantage though. He planted his feet against the tank and shoved.

The tank moved away from them, knocking over some kind of bin behind it. The Pale One staggered backward and tripped over Kelsey. She forced her hand to reach out and grabbed the bastard’s throat. Something crunched under her hand and the thing turned his attention to her.

He smashed his fist across her face. It hurt, but not nearly as much as what they’d already done to her. In fact, an intense wave of something passed through her. It took her a moment to realize the pain had faded to almost nothing. The world seemed to slow a little and sound echoed in her head oddly. She wondered if she was about to pass out.

Surprisingly, the Pale One failed to tear free of her grip. Her hand seemed to have locked in the closed position like a vice. He struggled to breathe, but finally collapsed on top of her.

Talbot staggered to his feet and came to her side. A cut over his eye bled freely and he looked almost dazed. “We need to be gone before they come back. Can you walk?”

“I can’t even make my fingers open.” In fact, they’d dug deeply into the Pale Ones’ throat. His blood ran down her arm. The iron tang of it in the air made her nauseous.

Talbot tried to pry her fingers open and failed. “Damn. That’s some grip. Let me find something.”

He staggered to his feet and ran to the bin with their equipment. He grabbed a pistol and shot the pinned Pale One in the head. Three times.

One of the marines took the pistol and ducked his head out the hatch. “Clear. I think I hear weapons fire. Could it be a rescue?”

Talbot dug into the bin and found a knife. The rest of the men began arming themselves as he began cutting Kelsey free. It only took a few grisly seconds for him to open the thing’s neck. With all the slick blood, he managed to tear her free. This day was just going to be full of horrible memories. If they lived.

The chime of an incoming communication request sounded from the bin. Talbot sprinted back and found the communicator. “Talbot here.”

“Thank God,” she heard Jared say. “We’re on our way up. What is your status?”

The marine looked at her. “The Princess is alive, but they implanted her. However, she seems to be outside their control. Should we come to you?”

“We’re meeting resistance, but expect us in a few minutes. If you feel secure, stay there. Doctor Stone said she needed whatever equipment they used. Can any of it be taken down stairs?”

“There are three units. Two look like they’re possibly old Empire machines. One isn’t. They all look semi-portable. I think enough people can carry them down the stairs. At least they’ll fit through the hatches I’ve seen.”

“Hold your position. Mertz out.”

Two marines kept watch while Talbot knelt by her side. She smiled up at him. “Next time I suggest something idiotic, you have my permission to lock me up.”

“I’ll hold you to that.”

One of the marines raised his pistol and fired. “Incoming hostiles.”

The marines took turns shooting at the trickle of Pale Ones coming their way. It didn’t seem like an attack. Not an organized one in any way. Maybe these were headed for the other, progressively louder fight.

Gunfire and explosions came closer until the marines pulled back from the door. Talbot moved her toward the back of the compartment. “Cavalry’s here.”

Automatic weapons fire sent a storm of bullets down the hall and she saw men in body armor moving past while firing. It seemed like dozens of them. More than the total marine complement on
Athena
.

Jared and Doctor Stone ducked into the room with some non-combatants. Stone rushed to Kelsey’s side as Jared started directing the removal of the equipment.

“Hey, Princess,” Stone said. “How are you feeling?”

“Like someone cut me open.”

The diminutive physician took out a portable scanner and ran it up her body. “Without looking closely, it seems like they installed a set of marine enhancements. Are you in control or is someone else?”

“Me, I think. They didn’t get me in the third machine.”

“Then it probably overrides the default programming. You might just be the luckiest person I know. The brains weren’t looking forward to trying to change your programming.”

Jared turned to them. “The Pale Ones are massing ahead of our men. We’re withdrawing. Take her to the pinnaces while we bring the equipment. Kelsey, it’s good to see you again.”

“Thank you for coming for us.” She’d never meant anything so strongly.

“Thank me once we make it out of here. Everyone move.”

Talbot threw her over his shoulder and quickly took off down the corridor. Undignified but necessary. All Kelsey could see was Doctor Stone running behind them, but she could hear others cursing as they moved the bulky equipment.

The trip back to the landing bay was a confusing blur. Her head bounced all over the place and her eyes kept losing focus. They passed another marine force shooting at Pale Ones down another corridor. This marine unit wasn’t shy about using grenades to keep them back, either. Her head rang as the fireballs exploded and then the noise grew curiously soft.

They ran through an open lock and into the same landing bay where the Pale Ones’ had arrived. The two marine pinnaces never looked so welcoming. A group of men off to the side was working on an unfamiliar piece of equipment.

The medical team rushed Talbot into one of the pinnaces and directed him to strap her to a mobile med unit. He laid her down, but didn’t strap her in. “No straps. Never again.”

“God no,” she agreed.

“Trust me,” Stone said. “You’ll want to be strapped down for takeoff.” She threw a sheet over Kelsey’s body and ran two straps across her torso, but left the Princess’ hands free.