Prevail (The Pike Chronicles Book 2) (13 page)

“I don’t understand how this could happen,” said Jansen, his eyes intense.

Jon studied Jansen’s face, but couldn’t get a good read from the display. He didn’t think Jansen was behind the attack. What motive could he have? There was no way it could be the Kemmar. That left Durril Tai.

“Well it happened,” said Jon. “The raiders had to be behind this, which means you have a leak.”

“Impossible. How could they have found out about the mission so fast? Or coordinate such a quick response?”

“I don’t know, but it’s the only explanation.”

“Captain, surely a man with your particular talents has many enemies.”

Jon didn’t like Jansen’s smug tone. “Even if that was the case, nobody knows I’m here.”

“It is possible, though. Someone could have tracked you here.”

Jon considered Jansen’s words. Could it be the Kemmar? Would they hire human mercenaries? Considering the isolationism in the colonies, it would be easier to use humans than Kemmar. Did they somehow manage to track his escape pod? If so, why not just capture it in space?

“I don’t think so,” said Jon. “The only answer is the raiders. Otherwise why would they come after Captain Seiben?”

“What’s he talking about?” said Darla, sitting behind Jon on the couch with her two daughters.

“Nothing dear,” said Seiben, nervously.

“You’re lying. What’s going on? What’s all this talk about raiders coming after you?”

There was a knock at the door and Seiben jumped up to answer it.

“Wait,” said Jon. “I better check it out.”

Seiben rolled his eyes. “Ok, go ahead,” he said, and went back to his chair, smacking the armrest with his hand as he sat. He watched Jon approach the door, avoiding Darla’s furious eyes.

Jon felt guilty about Captain Seiben. The mission was Jansen’s idea, and Jansen was the one forcing Seiben’s involvement, putting him in danger. Still, he felt responsible somehow.

Jon gripped the energy weapon in his right hand, pointed it at the door, and stood off to the side.

“Who is it?” said Jon.

“Kulberg. Mr. Jansen sent me.”

Jon looked back at Jansen’s face on the display. “Should we be expecting Kulberg?”

“Yes, he’ll be arriving any minute,” said Jansen.

Jon lowered his weapon and opened the door. Kulberg strode in with his two guards. Arrogance poured out of the man. From the fake smile on his face, to the way he carried himself, everything about him rubbed Jon the wrong way. But it wasn’t just that he disliked him. Something about him instinctively set him off, warning him of some hidden danger.

“I’ve come to take your prisoner,” said Kulberg, flashing Jon his PR smile.

“He’s right over there,” said Jon, pointing to the now conscious man propped up against the wall.

Kulberg looked at his guards and said, “Take him.”

The two men walked up to the man and grabbed him by the arms. That woke him up and made him scream. The guards let go, a look of confusion on their faces.

“Sorry about that,” said Jon. “I might have broken his arms.”

The guards shrugged. They hooked their hands under his armpits and picked him up that way. The man groaned as they walked him forward, his head hung low, dragging his feet.

“Kulberg looked at Jon and smiled again. “Don’t worry, Captain Pike, we’ll find out what’s going on.”

“Good luck,” said Jon.

Kulberg studied Jon for a moment, as if deciding how to respond, but said nothing. He simply turned and left, the guards following, dragging the prisoner with them.

The black vehicle lifted off the roof. Its jets swung around, propelling it forward. It sailed away from the crowded city, gliding quietly, a dark blemish in the cloudless blue sky. Beneath it the towering structures disappeared and were replaced by trees and green grass.

Inside the craft the four men were silent. The two guards were in the front, one piloting the vehicle. Kulberg sat in the back with the prisoner. He hadn’t taken his eyes off him since they left. The man was a joke, thought Kulberg.

“Explain to me again how your team of so called soldiers, high priced soldiers I might add, managed to fail so spectacularly,” said Kulberg.

“We-”

“One man,” continued Kulberg. “One man, a woman and a child. How hard could that be for a team of skilled mercenaries?”

“That’s no man I’ve ever seen,” said the prisoner. “I’ve never seen any man move that fast. And the woman. She fights like a professional.”

“What about the little girl?” mocked Kulberg. “How many of your men did she kill?”

“The girl didn’t fight.”

“Well aren’t you lucky. Who knows what would’ve happened if they let the little girl loose on your men.”

“Sir, I’m telling you the truth. These ain’t no ordinary people.”

“You know something? I’m tired of listening to your excuses.”

“Next time we’ll-”

“There is no next time. At least not for you.”

Kulberg reached into his jacket and pulled out a small handgun. He pointed it at the man who looked back with terror. Kulberg waited while the man tried to move away, pushing with his legs until he fell off the seat onto the floor. There was nowhere for him to go.

“You want to get out?” said Kulberg. He pressed button beside him and the side door slid open. “Ok, out you go.” Kulberg pushed the man with his foot. The man kicked back, trying to protect himself. Kulberg leaned in and fired the weapon point blank into the man’s leg. Screams filled the cabin. Kulberg fired a second time, into the man’s other leg.

“Broken arms and wounded legs,” said Kulberg. “That makes you twice as useless.” He returned the gun to his jacket, reached down and seized the man’s ankles with his hands. He lifted till he had him upside down, then threw his legs out the door. The man tried to move his broken arms, but didn’t have a chance, and his body followed his legs out of the vehicle.

Kulberg closed the door and accessed a panel. A display lit up in front of him and Durril Tai’s face appeared.

“Is it done?” said Tai.

“We encountered some unforeseen resistance,” said Kulberg. “This man is more formidable than we first assumed.”

“I see,” said Tai. He paused for a moment and then said, “No matter. Move forward with the poison pill.”

“Understood. Leave it to me.”

“Picking up Space Force beacon, Sir,” said the Chaanisar officer.

“Have the Kemmar located the escape pod?” said Colonel Bast.

“Yes, Sir. Kemmar cruiser has dispatched retrieval craft. They have secured the escape pod and are returning to the cruiser.

Bast knew this would come sooner or later. “Sound battle alert.”

A klaxon sounded throughout the ship alerting of the upcoming battle.

“Helmsman, initiate jump. Get us in between the Kemmar cruiser and the escape pod.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Ready weapons. Fire on the retrieval craft the moment we land.”

Chief St. Clair stood beside him, watching the viewscreen intently.

“We will prevail, Chief,” said Bast, unwavering confidence in his voice.

“There’s not a lot of space between that cruiser and the escape pod,” said St. Clair.

“There is enough,” said Bast.

“Initiate retrieval operations the moment we land.” He looked over at Kevin and said, “We will block the Kemmar with our ship while we retrieve the escape pod.”

“Ballsy move, Colonel.”

“Ballsy?”

“Yeah, ballsy. It’s a compliment.”

Bast nodded. “Then we will endeavor to continue making ballsy moves, Chief.”

St. Clair flashed a mischievous smirk.

Bast liked Chief St. Clair. The man was a warrior. As tough as any he had seen. But he was also a good natured person. He wondered what his childhood was like. Likely a happy time. He had tried repeatedly to remember something about his own childhood, but nothing came to him. There was only the Juttari. Only the Chaanisar.

They jumped and the Kemmar warship filled the viewscreen. The Chaanisar energy weapons fired and easily disposed of the Kemmar retrieval craft.

“Target the Kemmar cruiser. All weapons. Fire at will.”

Energy weapons and missiles burst forth like merciless daggers, landing unopposed. The Kemmar warship had obviously been surprised by the attack. Explosions rocked the cruiser causing damage to its armor plating and some of its systems.

“Kemmar cruiser is returning fire.”

“Keep firing,” said Bast. “Launch countermeasures. Activate point defense system.”

Missiles streaked towards the Chaanisar ship, glowing red like celestial demons. The Chaanisar ship spit out a cluster of drones, which scattered. They burned with disproportionate heat for their size, broadcasting the Chaanisar ship’s signature. They fooled most of the missiles, making them chase the drones instead of the ship. The ones not pulled off course were destroyed by the point defense perimeter. A wall of exploding shells.

The two ships faced each other broadside, pounding one another like two ancient wooden ships of the line. Red and blue energy bursts lit up the void, pulverizing the hulls on both sides.

“Maintain position between them and the escape pod,” said Bast. “What is the status of the retrieval operation?”

“Grappling drones are underway, Sir.”

On the other side of the Chaanisar battle cruiser several drones raced toward the escape pod. Once within range they fired their grapplers, long arms with magnetic claws on the ends. The claws seized the escape pod, and the drones overpowered it, forcing it to follow them back to their ship.

“Kemmar cruiser is changing course,” said the Helmsman. “They’re turning toward us. They’re trying to ram us, Sir.”

“Ballsy move,” said Bast.

“They’re playing chicken,” said Kevin.

“Chicken?”

“A game played on Earth. Whoever gets scared first loses.”

The thought provoked Bast and a spark of defiance overtook him. “Let’s play chicken then.” He turned to the helmsman and said, “Hold position. Do not move until the escape pod is safely on board.”

The Kemmar cruiser continued its slow turn towards the Chaanisar ship. Both vessels maintained constant fire on each other without pause.

“Reading hull breaches on Kemmar cruiser.”

“Keep firing,” said Bast.

“Colonel,” said the Tactician. “The Kemmar vessel has passed the point where it can safely stop its turn. Collision is now imminent.”

“Is the escape pod on board yet?”

“Negative, Sir.”

“Time till impact?”

“Three minutes.”

“Hold position.”

Bast had developed some measure of respect for the Kemmar’s willingness to sacrifice themselves in order to win a battle. They didn’t fear death. That ship was going to ram them. Nonetheless, he would not run from them. They were not the superior warriors, and his crew would accept death just as readily as any Kemmar. If they wanted to test his will to win they would be sorely disappointed with the outcome.

As it turned the cruiser lost use of some of its batteries, reducing its rate of fire. The Chaanisar ship didn’t budge. It stood toe to toe with the Kemmar ship and threw everything it had at it, like an exhausted heavyweight.

“Hull breach level three. Emergency field is in place.”

The retrieval drones slowly approached the Chaanisar ship, hampered by the weight of the Space Force escape pod.

“Two minutes until impact.”

“They’re calling your bluff, Colonel.”

“I am learning a lot today. What is a bluff?”

“A bluff is when you’re pretending to do something you don’t really intend to do.”

“I see. You don’t think I intend to let them ram my ship?” Bast locked eyes with the Chief, letting him see the resolve in his eyes.

The Chief seemed to turn cautious. “It doesn’t seem like a desirable outcome.”

Bast smiled. “Perhaps not. We can jump away to safety, but what if the Doctor is on board that escape pod? We would lose her to the Kemmar.”

Kevin nodded. Understanding in his eyes.

“One minute till impact.”

“The difference between success and failure often comes down to commitment. The Kemmar have shown they are worthy opponents, committed to victory. Are we less than the Kemmar?”

The question triggered a defiant posture from the Chief. He squared his shoulders and said “Hell no.”

“Hell no,” said Bast. “We will prevail, Chief.”

“Thirty seconds till impact.”

On the viewscreen the Kemmar ship seemed to already be on top of them. Energy bursts continued to criss cross the sky, ravaging the hulls of both vessels. They had each suffered heavy damage. Bast wasn’t sure either ship would survive the coming collision. He had to admire the Kemmar resolve. They were a worthy foe.

“Ten seconds till impact.”

“Escape pod is on board, Sir.”

“Initiate jump,” said Bast, calmly.

The Chaanisar ship jumped away, narrowly denying the Kemmar its suicide mission. The Chaanisar battle cruiser landed in a quiet region of space.

“Report,” said Bast.

“Reading no threats present, Sir, Kemmar or otherwise.”

“Undertake repairs immediately.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Shall we go and greet our guests, Chief?” said Bast.

Chief St. Clair exhaled sharply, clearly relieved. “Let’s go,” he said.