Ronin (The Pike Chronicles Book 3) (18 page)

Jon woke to a pounding in his head. The sunlight hit him square in the eyes piercing into his temple. He didn’t know where he was, or what had happened. Then everything came rushing back.

“Father!” he shouted. He tried to get up but it felt like someone had driven a spike into his skull. Shielding his eyes from the sunlight he began to make sense of his surroundings. He was back at camp, in a medical tent.

“Father!” He frantically scanned the other beds. Could they have just left him in there? If he was dead, they would have.
How long was I out?
he thought. He remembered the Diakan armored fist.
I’ll kill that son of a bitch
. He struggled again to get up.

“Take it easy,” came a soft female voice from behind him. “You’ll reopen your wounds.” A face came into view. A human face. She had blond hair tied back in a loose bun, high cheekbones and light blue, almost gray, eyes. He didn’t remember seeing her before.

“Who are you? Where’s my father?” Jon said, his voice hoarse.

“I’m Tess. I’m the nurse who’s going to make sure you recover properly. I’m guessing the man brought in with you is your father. He’s okay, but was in far worse shape than you.” Tess checked Jon’s wounds. “My God. What happened in there? The two of you look like you were fighting wild animals.”

Jon let his head drop back down onto the pillow. His father had made it. He looked up at Tess and said, “Juttari. We fought a Juttari.”

“A Juttari did this to you?” said Tess.

“Yeah, with its claws.”

“Claws? I don’t think I’ve ever seen one.”

“You’d know if you did,” said Jon.

Tess studied Jon’s wounds and said, “I suppose I would.”

“When can I see my father?”

“Soon. I’ll let you know.” When Tess turned to walk away Jon grabbed her by the arm. “Was there something else?”

“Yeah. Who brought us in?”

“I don’t know their names.”

“Were they human or Diakan?”

“Human.”

Jon loosened his grip and said, “Thanks for all your help, Tess. We’re in your debt.”

“Don’t worry about it,” she said. “We’re all in this together.”

***

“That bloody Diakan hit you real hard,” said Jon’s father, laying on his medical cot. “I saw the whole thing.” His father paused, glaring at him. “And you just stood there and let that alien shit knock you out. I thought I taught you how to defend yourself.”

“I didn’t expect it,” Jon said, embarrassed. He sat in a wheelchair next to his father’s cot. Tess had insisted that he use it, even though he felt strong enough to walk. He found her strangely persuasive. And beautiful. While waiting for his father to gain consciousness, he kept making excuses to speak with her. Likely why he agreed to the wheelchair. But now it made him feel uncomfortable, especially with his father about to tear a strip out of him for getting sucker punched.

“You didn’t expect it? How does someone fight off a Juttari attack and win, then get flattened by a single punch? Can you explain that one to me? I mean, I don’t think the Diakan could’ve been any more obvious about what his intentions were.”

“I thought the Diakans were on our side. I didn’t think he would attack me, especially after I killed a Juttari.”

His father rolled his eyes. “What did you think, that the Diakan would give you a medal? I guarantee you he assumed that another Diakan killed the Juttari. There’s no way in hell he’d believe you killed that Juttari with just a couple of knives. How many times do I have to tell you-”

“The Diakans don’t give a shit about us. I know, father.”

“Clearly you don’t. Those fish heads don’t care if you and I live or die. This is all just territory to them. All we are is an insurgency to use for their own ends. For now, their ends and ours are the same, but it won’t always be that way.”

“Then what?”

“What do you mean?”

“What happens when our ends aren’t the same anymore?”

His father’s eyes narrowed and he looked around to see who was listening. “Then we’ll have to fight the bastards,” he said in a whisper.

“How the hell can we manage something like that?”

His father smiled. “The Juttari have ruled us for over five hundred years, yet that rule is slowly coming to an end. When the Juttari are gone we’ll have the Diakans. The day will come when that too will come to an end. It might take us a few hundred years more, but we will find a way.” He grabbed Jon’s hand and squeezed it like a vice, his eyes intense. “We will be free. I swear to you, one day humans will be free.” He loosened his grip on Jon’s hand and said, “I only regret that I won’t be alive to see it.”

Jon said nothing in response. He had heard his father talk like this before. He had always believed him, but it all seemed like an abstract concept. Today, however, after his experiences with both the Juttari and the Diakans, his words became powerful and prophetic.

“Don’t worry, father,” Jon said. “I’ll live to see it for you.”

“So what are we, like pirates or something?” said Sergeant Henderson, studying the chessboard.

“No, not pirates. Ronin,” said Kevin, moving a bishop into an offensive position.

“Ronin?”

“Yeah, they were Japanese warriors called samurai.”

“Samurai?”

“Samurai were expert swordsman. Trained their whole lives for war.”

“We don’t use swords, Chief. We use ion blades.”

“I know, but it’s not about the weapons.”

“True. We use energy weapons and rail guns too.”

“Are you listening to me?”

“Sure, Chief,” said Henderson, and moved out a knight to threaten Kevin’s bishop.

“Okay, so these samurai, they all owed their lives to a lord. Everything they did was for him, and he could even make a samurai commit suicide.”

“Why the fuck would he do that?”

“I don’t know. It had something to do with honor and this code they all followed.”

“You’re not selling me on this, Chief. Just saying.”

Kevin moved his bishop safely away from the threatening knight. “So these Ronin were samurai, but they didn’t have a lord.”

“No shit. I wonder why?” Henderson said sarcastically. “But I still don’t get it.”

Kevin smiled. “The Juttari don’t control the Chaanisar anymore. Without the Juttari they’re not really Chaanisar anymore, are they?”

Henderson took Kevin’s bishop with his own bishop and said, “You’re saying the Chaanisar are like these samurai, and the Juttari were like their lords. The Juttari don’t control them anymore, so now they’re Ronin. Right?”

“That’s right,” said Kevin, moving out his queen to threaten Henderson’s attacking bishop.

“Okay, that makes sense. What about us? Why are we Ronin?”

“Can we go back home?”

“No, not after what happened on the Hermes with the Diakans.”

“If we go back the Diakans will make sure they fry our asses.”

“Like a lord making some poor bastard commit suicide,” said Henderson, moving his knight forward forking Kevin’s king and queen. “Check.”

Kevin leaned back in his chair, scratching his head and said, “Damn.”

“So we’re Ronin,” said Henderson.

“Yeah,” said Kevin, looking up at him from the chessboard. “Then there’s the Reivers.”

“Well shit, they were Ronin all along.”

Kevin laughed. “They were, weren’t they?”

“Every last one of those people is a warrior. It’s your move by the way.”

“I know,” said Kevin, looking back down at the chessboard. Shaking his head he moved his king away.

Henderson smiled, and took Kevin’s queen.

“The Captain is onto something with this,” Kevin said. “We’re three crews on one ship. None of us can go back to where we came from. Why not work together? Become one crew? The only way we can do that is if we make something new.”

“I like it, Chief.”

“Good,” said Kevin, and took Henderson’s knight with his bishop. “Speaking of the Reivers, are they ready to go?”

“Yes, Sir.”

Kevin nodded. “Well, they’re going to have to be. We’ll be jumping back to New Byzantium soon.”

“They’re ready, Chief,” said Henderson, and moved his queen across the board. “Checkmate.”

Kevin studied the board for a possible escape. When he realized there was none he knocked over his king. “Good game.”

“How are you doing?” asked Jon, over the combat suit’s comm unit.

“I’m fine,” lied Breeah, trying to hide the nervousness she felt.

As if reading her mind, her father said, “Fear not, child. We will be on the surface before you know it.”

Of that she had no doubt. She simply wondered if they would have to peel her body off the pavement. Would any part of her even make it to the planet’s surface, or would she disappear in a fireball while entering the atmosphere? Jon had explained how the suit would shield her from the intense heat. How it would create an electromagnetic field that would protect her. He said he had done this many times before, and never had a problem. None of it helped.

She was going to jump out of a spaceship in low orbit relying only on a suit of armor for protection. For all her training, nothing had prepared her for something like this. She would do it. Of that there was no question. But she couldn’t shake off her anxiety about it.

She took the few minutes they had before insertion to try and find her center. She focused on her breathing, taking deep breaths down into her diaphragm. Slowly the tension eased and her anxiety began to dissipate. She looked around the hangar bay and couldn’t help feeling impressed by the military presence assembled. The bay was practically filled with armored soldiers waiting to dive into action. There were even three monstrous looking mechs. The sight helped to settle her nerves further. She certainly wasn’t in this alone.

The message, “Prepare for insertion,” flashed across her HUD. The countdown began. In less than one minute they would jump out of the hangar bay.

“Don’t worry,” said Jon, over her comm unit. “I’ll find you on the ground.”

“Okay,” she said, feeling a little nauseous. The breathing worked for a moment, but with the countdown the anxiety returned, albeit somewhat subdued. The numbers ticked away and she felt excitement take hold. Adrenalin coursed through her body.
I’m about to jump out of a spaceship,
she thought.
This is amazing!

The numbers on her HUD ran down to the single digits.

Five. Four. Three. Two. One.

Here we go
.

The soldiers at the front, all Chaanisar, broke into a run diving through the invisible containment field protecting the hanger bay. It was an impressive sight. No less impressive were the two giant mechs that followed. She felt the floor shudder with each step as they ran toward the opening. And then they too were gone, into the void. Next was her group. The Marines would jump third, with their own mech, completing the imposing armored phalanx.

The rows of soldiers in front of her disappeared. Her turn had come. She swallowed hard and broke into a run. The speed the combat suit bestowed still surprised her, and she reached the opening faster than she anticipated. Her father had always taught her that fear was normal. That there was no shame in fear, but that it was how one reacted to it that mattered. He taught her to confront fear, and to combat the debilitating instinct to freeze, or flee. She confronted her fears now and dove head first into the empty blackness of space.

Only the blackness wasn’t all that empty. Directly in front of her New Byzantium filled her field of vision. She hung in space briefly, awed by the immense beauty of the planet. Below her, dozens of asteroids streaked down to the surface. In reality, they were soldiers entering the atmosphere. Her own suit surged forward, and she herself raced toward the atmosphere.

Her suit had been modified for orbital entry, and that modification included jets, which began to fire. She moved at dizzying speed, and hit the atmosphere in seconds. She squeeze her eyes shut, but realized that her HUD had gone black, protecting her from the blinding fireball that must be enveloping her. Her HUD displayed statistics regarding her suit’s integrity, but the stat that fascinated her was the one relaying the external temperature the electromagnetic field endured. She morbidly wondered at what temperature the field would fail, incinerating her.

It didn’t happen. She pierced the atmosphere without incident and continued to streak down toward the planet surface. Her HUD came to life, revealing her surroundings. She wished it hadn’t. The shock of seeing the surface rushing up was so overwhelming that she barely kept from vomiting in her suit. Her jets pivoted on her back and fired short bursts to reorient her body. She now fell feet first, rather than head first, still at mind boggling speeds.

It’s not going to stop in time
, she thought, as the ground rushed up at her.
I’m going to die
. Her heart pounded. She wanted to close her eyes. She saw Anki’s face and wished she could be with her one more time. Breeah trusted Darla to look after her and knew Anki was in good hands. But what would life be like for her? Would she be happy? Would she have children of her own?

When her jets fired again she didn’t believe they would be enough. The ground was too close. Surely they had passed the point where the jets could slow her descent enough to land safely. But their power stunned her. The force made her stomach lurch and her vision blurred. She knew she would vomit this time. Nothing she could do would stop it. Her combat suit surprised her again. Recognizing her physiological distress, it instantly injected her with an anti-nauseant. It worked. She regained herself and her vision cleared up enough to see herself land safely on the surface.

Though she survived the landing, it didn’t take long for her to realize that the situation wasn’t safe. She recognized the sound of weapon fire and dropped to a crouch. She shouldered her weapon and scanned her surroundings. Confusion arose as soldiers continued to land and everyone scrambled to get their bearings. Following the sound of the weapon fire, she spotted the two giant mechs. They blazed brilliantly as their weapon systems unleashed a frightening firestorm at the unseen enemy. Missiles flew from one of them. Breeah looked up into the sky to see the missiles home in on an enemy fighter, obliterating it.

She was awestruck at the number of soldiers racing out of the sky toward the surface. She realized with growing horror that they were taking fire. She’d been lucky. She now understood the reason for the nauseating speed of descent. It made them harder to hit. They were already very small targets. Their velocity made anything other than a lucky shot unlikely.

Another fighter appeared in the sky. This was the real danger. A fighter could easily pick off the falling soldiers. A volley of missiles from the two mechs ensured that it didn’t have a chance, turning the fighter into a white hot aerial fireball.

“Breeah,” her father’s voice came in over her comm unit.

“Yes, father.”

“To your left.”

She saw soldiers positioned there. Her HUD identified them. Reivers. “I see you,” she said, breaking into a run. She cleared the distance without incident, quickly found her father and took cover beside him.

“Did you enjoy your flight down?”

“Yes, father. I laughed the whole way.”

She heard an uncharacteristic chuckle from her father. “I’m glad you enjoyed yourself,” he said. “Now it’s time to get some work done.”

“Yes, father. Of course.”

“The Chaanisar have done an excellent job of securing the landing zone, but as you can see we still face resistance. We will advance on the enemy and secure the left flank.”

“I understand,” said Breeah.

“Good,” he said, and then addressed the rest of the Reivers. “Advance.”

Several Reivers broke into a run while the rest provided covering fire. When they found cover, more Reivers followed. They continued these steps, steadily leapfrogging ahead. Breeah ran for a bullet ridden vehicle. Fragments of pavement flew up in front of her. Someone was shooting at her. She ran faster than she thought possible and stayed a step ahead of the gunfire.

Crouched behind the vehicle she could hear the pinging of bullets hitting the other side. The pings stopped. Had the shooter moved on to an easier target? She raised her weapon to see if anyone would shoot at it. Nothing. She poked her head up, shouldered her weapon, aimed in the direction of the enemy and pulled the trigger. Bolts of blue burst forth, mingling with the fire from the others. No return fire. The next wave of Reivers advanced. That drew a response.

Enemy fire ripped into one of the Reivers as he ran. His suit absorbed the hits but their impact slowed the Reiver down, making him a more prominent target. Breeah saw on her HUD that his suit’s integrity was dropping. She struggled to find the shooter, and located the source of the fire. It came from one of the buildings. The shooter fired through a window, but was positioned well inside the room, not providing much of a target.

She fired into the window without success. The fire continued and the Reiver fell. Breeah watched in horror as the bullets strafed the fallen man, and his life signs hit critical levels. The shooter targeted another soldier, likely assuming the fallen Reiver was dead. She had to move now. Bolting from her position, she ran toward the shooter’s building. She’d made it halfway before the shooter realized what she was trying. When he did, he targeted Breeah.