Scrapyard Ship 7: Call to Battle (20 page)

The team had formed into a V-formation, using their battle suits’ integrated propulsion thrusters to navigate them forward. But with the closure of the loop wormhole, and limited phase-shift capability, they surely would die soon. Jason brought the
Starlight
in close and waved to the team from the observation window. No one waved back.

It didn’t take long before, one by one, they phase-shifted on board—using the same procedure to enter the stern of the ship they’d used before—then each quickly getting out of the way to make room for the next. Jason stayed in the pilot’s seat and Grimes took the seat next to him. Billy and Ricket, the rest of the team behind them, stood at the entrance to the cockpit. Grimes said, “Good thing that worked out okay, Captain … because I was most definitely ready to kill you.”

But Jason wasn’t really listening. His eyes were focused on the display. All eyes moved to the display. The prison barge was entering the wormhole. It was difficult to make out, as hundreds of thousands of warships, in the process of also funneling in, were close around it.

The explosion was magnificent! A brilliant display of white, and blue, and many colors—amazing colors—some colors Jason had never seen before. A collective cheer filled the confines of the
Starlight
. Whoops and high-fives continued for several minutes before Jason stood, gesturing for Grimes to swap seats.

“Can we verify that the wormhole has indeed been shut down?”

“It’s no more, Captain … gravitational readings are completely gone; the spatial anomaly has disappeared,” Ricket replied.

“Good,” Jason said. “We’ve got to return to Allied space, Lieutenant.”

She slid into her seat and immediately went to work. “Captain, hmm … I think that last interchange wormhole stunt, which was amazing by the way, jumbled the
Starlight
’s interstellar comms. I’m not getting anything back from the interchange. Phase-shifting’s not an option right now either.”

“We have another problem,” Jason said.

“I see it,” Grimes said, now taking evasive action.

It was the last remaining battle droid. At least Jason hoped it was the last one. “Can you phase-shift us out of here?”

“Working on it,” she said.

The droid was closing in on their position and firing its energy weapon. The
Streamline
began to shake violently.

“Shields are quickly becoming overwhelmed. We’re in deep trouble, Captain,” Grimes said.

The battle droid had come to a halt thirty miles off the
Starlight
’s bow. “I’ve got a lock on it, firing plasma—”

The last words never left her lips.

The
Starlight
’s primary weapon was no longer functioning. Grimes turned toward Jason, “Shields are failing and we have no way to defend ourselves. We definitely can’t out-maneuver that thing …”

“We’ve defeated those things before, Cap,” Billy said. “I’d rather go out fighting than wait in here for it to turn us into space dust.”

Such a thought never crossed Jason’s mind.
Why not?
“Grimes, Ricket and Bristol, keep trying to get something back online … in the meantime, we’re stepping out for a few.”

Jason was the first to phase-shift to open space, approximately thirty yards in front of the battle droid. Next came Billy, then Rizzo, and then Traveler and Jackson. Gaddy was the last one to appear. They formed a semi-circle around the Caldurian droid. It had stopped firing on the
Starlight
and seemed to be assessing a new, unorthodox, situation. At such close range, Jason could see the droid’s spinning, churning, reflective blades. Its small turret-like head was turning, from one combatant to another.

Jason used an open comms channel to instruct the others to set their multi-guns to an option called
Expansion Gum
. He’d had good luck with this HUD armament setting before—and getting those razor-sharp blades disabled was an absolute necessity. In the past, he’d seen battle droids slice through battle-suit armor like butter.

“Ensure your phase-shields are set on max, as well.”

The battle droid slowly but steadily moved foreword, directly toward Jason. The droid began firing its plasma weapon—its turret head continually spinning this way and that, targeting all six of them at once. Jason’s shields were becoming depleted, almost immediately.

The crew returned fire, but this time there was no multi-gun recoil or kickback. Just as he remembered, the weapon acted more like a high-tech squirt gun. A viscous stream of brown sludge spewed forth from each multi-gun muzzle. The battle droid’s spinning razor-sharp blades, now full of viscous brown goop, suddenly seized up.

Jason’s shields were down to twenty percent and he guessed the others were in a similar position. “Let’s take this droid asshole out,” he yelled.

They switched back to their multi-guns’ highest-level plasma setting and fired nonstop until their muzzles turned red hot from the scorching heat.

“When your shields are cooked, get back to the ship and let them regenerate.”

Gaddy was the first to phase-shift away. Billy soon followed. Jason next phase-shifted back into the ship. He needed five minutes. He hurried to the cockpit and watched through the observation window. What he saw surprised him. Apparently Traveler had brought his heavy hammer to open space. He was using it now to beat the living daylights out of the battle droid.

Chapter 29

Traveler had a history with battle droids. He’d just barely survived his last encounter a few months back on a space platform above Terplin, and if there was one thing Jason knew about rhino-warriors, they don’t easily forget getting their ass handed back to them. The team continued to watch Traveler through the
Starlight
’s observation window.

“Should we … I don’t know … do something?” Grimes asked.

“Nah … he’s just venting a little pent-up steam. Probably best not to get in the middle of that, anyway,” Billy said with a wry grin.

Traveler’s grip on his heavy hammer was held high up on the handle, allowing him to reduce the arc of his swing. Like interstellar gladiators, the two combatants were both dishing out, and receiving, a horrific beating. There’s no audible sound in outer space, but if there were, Jason was sure he’d be cringing with each devastating blow cast.

The battle droid connected with Traveler’s jaw—spinning the rhino-beast around—and striking him on the opposite side of the head. Jason tensed and wondered if Traveler had finally met his match—was he finished? The battle droid moved in closer, proceeding to pummel Traveler’s mid-section with another ten driving blows. Again, the droid moved around Traveler until it was positioned behind him, facing his back.

Traveler spun around with unimaginable speed. With his right arm fully extended outward, the heavy hammer connected across the droid’s turret head. Stunned, the droid stood motionless. It had taken Jason a good year to read all of Traveler’s various
expressions—a subtle combination of muscular movements beneath his hide, around his eyes, beneath his horns, and along his strong jaw. Jason’s rhino-warrior friend was definitely smiling now, and thoroughly enjoying himself.

All fight had left the battered droid. Now, it was just a matter of finishing the battle. Traveler hammered away at the battle droid’s turret head, like driving the head of a nail home, and delivered the fatal blow. With nothing left of the droid’s turret head, Traveler stopped. He gave the lifeless droid a decisive kick—sending it end-over-end into deep space.

* * *

Jason kept a wary eye on what remained of Ot-Mul’s warships. Like a swarm of hiveless bees they continued to circle, as if hoping the loop wormhole would somehow miraculously reappear. For the most part, they left the
Starlight
alone. With the exception of several too-close flybys, the
Starlight
still remained in her current position—pretty much dead in space.

Both Ricket and Bristol were hard at work. Bristol’s legs protruded from an access panel at the stern of the ship, while Ricket, nowhere to be seen, had crawled through the panel opening and lay cramped beneath the deck, alongside the ship’s drive unit.

Lieutenant Grimes was asleep in the copilot seat. Jason too tried to grab a few minutes of sleep, but he couldn’t turn off his reeling mind:
How many of Ot-Mul’s Drac-Vin warships made
it through the wormhole before it was demolished? Fifty thousand? One hundred thousand?
And what about the planet most near to their relative proximity … Jhardon? What about Dira? Was she alive?

Jason got up and moved into the rear cabin. He found Billy there, sitting across from the small medical bay. Jason took the open seat next to him.

He gestured toward the right. “Traveler still in there?”

“Yeah, he’s taken quite a thrashing. Too many broken bones to count. Must’ve hurt like a son of a bitch. Not that he’d ever show it.” Jason assessed the closed sliding door to the medical bay. The bay had nowhere near the ultra-superior capabilities provided to one in a MediPod, but with its multiple articulating arms and advanced technology—including the ability to perform most surgical procedures on any number of various species—it was another example of Caldurian
other-worldly
sophistication.

“So what do you think we’ll find back in Allied space?” Billy asked.

“Right now? The battle of all battles! We should be there.”

“It’s all come down to that—one final decisive fight—hasn’t it? Winner takes all … grabs all the marbles.” Billy stared at Jason.

Jason nodded. “The odds are not in our favor … you know that, right?”

“I know. With that said, Cap … one can only hope. Speaking of hope, what would you do? I mean, if the Alliance prevails?”

Jason contemplated on that for a moment.

“I know what I’d do,” Billy continued. “I’d return to Earth … at least for a while.”

“What would you do there?” Jason asked, surprised by Billy’s admission.

“Hunt zombies … or whatever those things are called.”

“Weevil people; the kids coined the term
peovils
.”

“Dira said a good number of them can be brought back … made human again. Well, the president needs qualified leaders,” Billy said, “so I’d get a team together and hunt peovils. Maybe even Orion would join me. Be nice, too, to be on solid ground again.”

Jason could see Billy immediately regretted mentioning Dira’s name. “Sorry, buddy … I know that’s—”

Jason smiled and held up a palm. “Hey, no worries, Billy. And since we’re talking rainbows and unicorns and what ifs … first, I’d give each of my kids a bone-crushing hug and a kiss. Then, I’d figure out how to get Dira back into my life. Hell … maybe Jhardon needs a royal jester, or someone to prune her majesty’s royal shrubbery.”

Billy and Jason burst out laughing at the multiple connotations that duty might entail. But soon, the tightness around Jason’s heart returned. Once again, he found himself putting up a wall—shutting down his emotions.
Is Dira still alive?

Bristol and Ricket made their way down the aisle. They stopped at Jason’s side, both looking very tired. Ricket was covered from head to toe in dark dirty grime.

“Status?”

“Things are pretty fried,” Bristol said. “We had to make some choices.”

“What kind of choices?”

“Like either shields, or the ability to phase-shift.”

“You chose phase-shifting?”

Both Bristol and Ricket nodded.

“Interstellar comms?” Jason asked.

“Comms should be operational. We won’t know if calling up an interchange wormhole is in the cards, though, until we try it.”

Jason felt encouraged. “You’re awful quiet back there, Ricket … you have anything to add?”

“One of the other choices we had to make is where our limited power resources are to be allocated.”

Jason raised his eyebrows and waited.

“The primary plasma weapon had to be disabled.”

Jason let that sink in. He noticed Grimes had joined their impromptu meeting and was rubbing the sleep from her eyes. “So we’re unsure if we can call up an interchange wormhole … but if we can, we’ll be exiting it totally defenseless. Is that the gist of it?” Grimes asked, looking irritated.

“No shields, no weapons,” Bristol said flatly.

“That’s terrific. Good job, boys. Remind me never to let you work on my car,” Grimes huffed.

“They had some tough choices to make. I can’t say I’d make different ones. We’ll just have to think things through very thoroughly before we return to Allied space,” Jason told her.

Grimes crossed her arms over her chest and continued to stare at Bristol and Ricket. She was clearly fuming. The stress of the whole situation was taking its toll on her.

“The good news,” Billy said, “is we probably won’t need shields or weapons … we’ll show up in Allied space to a blaze of plasma fire, rail munitions, and exploding nuclear missiles. We’ll never know what hit us first.”

All eyes were on Billy and no one said anything. Bristol was the first to laugh. After that, laughter filled the cabin. Grimes, her arms now unfolded, stood with her hands on hips, looking at them with contempt. But, eventually, a smile found its way onto her lips and she just shook her head.

The door opened to the medical bay and Traveler emerged. He stretched out his gargantuan arms and breathed in a monumental breath, then exhaled. “I am ready for battle. I am ready for the battle of a lifetime.” He looked at his fellow combatants, holding each of their eyes, one at a time. “We are warriors and I am honored to fight at your side.”

Jason held Grimes’ stare and shrugged, “In for a dollar …”

She smiled and put a hand on Traveler’s arm. “We’re honored to be at your side, too, Traveler. If this is going to be the end … there’s no one I’d rather have fighting next to me than you … than all of you.”

Chapter 30

The request for an interchange wormhole was granted and it was time to return to Allied space. Their main problem lay in setting up the outpoint coordinates. The last thing they could afford to do was show up in the middle of an interstellar battle without the benefit of functioning shields or weapons. Unfortunately, exactly where that battle would occur was not something they could accurately pinpoint on their own. In the end, Jason contacted
The Lilly
and determined that yes, an immense space battle was indeed going on, and received from them a set of coordinates that would put the
Starlight
close enough, yet not too close, to the action.