The Tactics of Revenge (20 page)

In a fit of anger, Lornius rushed forward, his massive arms leading the way, no fear or uncertainty in his charge. Tindal let him come, and at the last moment, slipped to his left while lashing out with his right fist. The blow caught the larger alien under the right arm pit, issuing forth a tortured cry of pain from The Hulk. Lornius twisted toward Tindal, just in time to catch another powerful blow across his chin. He blinked several times as a dull look crossed his face. And then Tindal – not wanting to delay the inevitable any longer – moved in closer and raked his right elbow across the head of the already disoriented creature.

Lornius’s eyes rolled back in his head and he tumbled over backwards, landing in a cloud of light red dust in front of the other shocked members of his crew. By the time the reality of The Hulk’s defeat had dawned on them, Tobias and his team had moved up and began to force crew back toward the recharge ship.

In a moment, they were all inside, with Kaylor and Sherri now standing guard while the SEAL’s and Riyad returned to the truck to offload the weapons and ammunition. They each took a side of the crate and pulled it off the truck, stepping around the now-still hulk of green alien lying on the ground.

“That must have felt good,” Rutledge said as he and Tindal carried the crate past the body.

“Almost better than sex, Master Chief. Almost.”

Soon both crates were on the recharge ship and Kaylor had moved to the pilothouse with Riyad right behind him.

“Any word on the assignment yet?” he asked the alien.

“I’m checking. I don’t see anything yet.” Kaylor scrolled through a number of the screens so fast that even Riyad was impressed. He stopped at one. “Excellent! Here are the instructions for approaching a Juirean ship. I was very worried about this part of the plan. I now have a guide—”

He stopped abruptly as a transmission came through on the comm channel. It was a digital transmission of considerable length. Kaylor keyed the board for the message to be displayed in Belsonian, his native language. He began to read.

“Here it is. It is a contract, and with instructions to proceed after module-loading to the Juirean battlecruiser now entering orbit. It has worked! The plan has worked!”

Riyad grinned. “Did you have any doubt, my friend?”

“Yes, of course I did. Jym even calculated the odds at less than twenty-percent for success.”

“He did? And yet you’re still here with us, as part of the Team.”

Kaylor was silent for a moment, yet his eyes glowed with a brightness Riyad had not noticed before. “You are correct. We fight alongside the Humans now, come victory or defeat.”

Riyad placed a hand on Kaylor’s shoulder. “Glad to have you along, Kaylor, and your little friend, too. Now let’s get Jym airborne and prepare for the destruction of
The Secura
. Our day is just beginning.”

Chapter 38

Jym expressed gushing relief when he received the call from Kaylor instructing him to take off and proceed to the waiting point in orbit above Zinnol. And then once all the weapons had been secured and the alien recharge crew stripped of their uniforms, tied up and locked away in the aft cargo hold, Kaylor began the liftoff sequence. They would start out on chemicals, and then transition to gravity drive once they reached an altitude of about twenty kilometers. After that, it would only be about two minutes before they would be back in space again.

Kaylor began the approach maneuvers long before the Juirean ship was even visible. The procedure called for a lineup a hundred kilometers out, and with no deviation allowed; the Juireans needed ample time to analyze the approaching vessel to determine its credentials. Once competed and verified, the Juirean sent out a transponder beam that Kaylor was to follow precisely to the docking port.

Tobias, Sherri and Riyad were now in the pilothouse of the shuttle, dressed as best they could in the Travess green and orange uniforms. The uniforms the two men wore fit fairly well; Sherri on the other hand was having trouble breathing in hers – the cut of the outfit did not allow for Human female breasts.

“It’s time, Kaylor,” Riyad said. “Let’s do it.”

Kaylor took out the small control box he carried in his utility pouch and turned it on. There was a small joystick and monitor screen on the box, and Kaylor began to operate the controls with skill.

“I’ve activated the chemical drive,” he narrated, watching the screen on the box. “Gaining altitude, now at five kilometers – as you Humans measure it. That should be sufficient. We would not want any defense utilities to have time to counter the attack. Beginning the descent.”

Riyad peered over Kaylor’s shoulder at the tiny screen. All he could see was a representation of the surface of the planet and a tiny white dot above it. The dot moved abruptly, angling back toward the ground. It was over in a second.

“Impact. On target,” was all Kaylor said.

“Good,” said Lt. Tobias. “Now they have a lot more to deal with down on the surface than just a hijacked supply truck. Let’s get ready to rumble.”

Kaylor looked back at him; Tobias stopped the line of questioning with his raised hand. “Let it go, Kaylor. Just let it go.”

Chapter 39

All five Human team members were now suited up for the coming assault. Since they would be going up against energy weapons, they chose not to wear the normal military tactical gear, including flak jackets. Instead, they began with Adam’s single-shot diffusion shield outfit. This was a tunic that had been fitted with dozens of wires forming a mesh. If struck by even a level one bolt, the charge would dissipate along the wires, greatly reducing the effect. However, if hit, the wires would heat up and melt, making the suit good for only one shot.

Over the tunics, they dressed in the Travess recharge uniforms, which they had learned were a basic protection against the radiation leaking out from the various modules and generators.

The team had taken several of the extra uniforms and cut them into capes. The colors and fabric matched the uniforms, so they were hoping the crew of the Juirean ship wouldn’t think anything about the unusual garb. Under the capes they would carry their weapons.

The five Humans carried HK MP7A1 submachine guns. They were lightweight weapons designed for Close Quarter Battle. They were fitted with a 40-round magazines, and members of the extraction team carried four extra magazines each. The barrels had suppressors attached to them, extending the normal 7.1-inch long barrel by six inches. This would negate some of the CQB effectiveness of the weapon, but it would also muffle some of the sound of fire as well.

They each also carried four slide grenades, which they were hoping not to have to use. Setting off explosions inside spaceships was always a touchy affair; breaching a hull would cause a whole new set of problems for the team.

Once Kaylor followed the homing beacon to the docking port, he slowly positioned the shuttle until its long snout was inserted into the port, in an almost sexual maneuver. The snout had a long, articulated conveyor belt running through its length where the energy modules would travel, and was it wide enough for two technicians to move along each side. Sherri and Chief Rutledge would enter the Juirean ship through the snout.

The rest of the team would enter through the main hatchway above the docking port. Kaylor would lead the way, adding credibility to the team’s identity with his easily-recognized alien pedigree. There was a good possibility that the crew of the Class-3 would recognize Humans if they looked close enough. After all, their prize cargo was the Human terrorist Adam Cain. Many of the crew may have taken the time to get a look at him, simply to put a face to the enemy.

Luckily, the recharge uniforms consisted of full-head hoods, as well as respirators and goggles. These would hide the Human’s identity from casual scrutiny. What the team didn’t know, however, was how involved the ship’s crew would be in the recharge operation. It was a large ship, and the normal recharge crew compliment from the surface was nine technicians. There were only six of them. This could raise some questions if there were a lot of the ship’s crew hanging around.

They now all stood before the gaping entrance to the shuttle’s snout as Lieutenant Andy Tobias surveyed the eyes of his team. Except for the look of sheer terror he found in Kaylor’s, the rest of the team met his gaze with firm determination. This is what they had come all this way to accomplish. It was time to get to work.

Tobias nodded at each of them in turn. “Maintain radio communications throughout. Okay, let’s move out. Let’s go find Captain Cain.”

Sherri and Chief Rutledge tucked their weapons under their capes and moved into the snout. They had loaded some actual energy modules onto the conveyor belt, just for effect. The journey through the hatchway into the Juirean ship only took about ten seconds. At the end of the snout were the controls for the conveyor; Sherri turned it on while Rutledge opened the hatch.

The view inside the generator room was very impressive. It was cavernous, towering fifty meters high, and snaking along the floor was a complicated array of conveyor belts on runners – like one would find in an airport baggage handling room back on Earth. None of the belts were moving at the time, and as Rutledge stepped inside the room, he was relieved to see that no aliens were present. The Chief slipped his arm under the cape and felt the reassuring coldness of the MP7.

The first module reached the end of the snout’s conveyor and was transferred to the mating belt in the room. Sherri and Rutledge tensed as the entire elaborate system of conveyors in the room suddenly came to life, and began to funnel the first few modules on the belts, sending a clacking noise echoing throughout the room.

Suddenly, an alien stepped into view, standing on a catwalk along the opposite side of the room and two stories up. The creature – a non-Juirean – was wearing a brown uniform, similar in design as their own, just a different color. The creature appeared to have a small datapad in his hands.

Rutledge raised his hand to the alien, acknowledging its presence. The alien looked up from the pad and stared at the Human for a long moment before slowly returning the gesture. The creature then went back to the datapad. Sherri and Rutledge looked at each other without saying a word.

Tobias and the rest of team had moved up the long umbilical and entered the ship two stories above the ground floor of the generator room. They were in a large airlock; the door cycled through and then opened. Two aliens were there to greet them.

Kaylor stepped up carrying a datapad. He stood silent as the two aliens stared at him, an awkward uneasiness filling the room.

“We are here for the recharge,” Kaylor finally said.

The two aliens looked at each other. Then the taller of the two looked back at Kaylor. “Of course you are. Why else would you be here? I need to see your manifest.” The tone of the creature’s voice suddenly grew suspicious.

Tobias had seen enough. They were in an enclosed room, unseen by others, so he stepped forward quickly and swung his HK up from under his cape, striking the taller alien under the chin with the stock of the weapon. The creature’s head snapped back, while its body remained still. The SEAL could see how the head had broken completely loose from the neck, held in place only by the skin of the alien. Even before the body of the taller creature had collapsed to the floor, Tindal moved forward and used his hands to grasp the head of the other alien, twisting it quickly to the right. He released his grip and the two aliens fell to the floor in unison.

“So much for trying to talk our way through this,” Riyad said, placing his hand on Kaylor’s shoulder. “You tried.”

“I am sorry,” said Kaylor, his voice an octave higher than normal. “I didn’t know what else to say.”

Tobias turned back to the alien. “No problem. See if you can find a computer terminal that you can tap into. You might be able to find out where they’re keeping Adam. Let us know your progress as soon as possible.” The Lieutenant then turned to Riyad and Tindal. “Move out.”

Tobias slid open the door and stepped into a long hallway. He was relieved to find no other aliens there. Down the hallway about twenty meters would be the exit into the one of the two main corridors running the length of ship. The plan was for them to move into the hallway and then up two levels of stairs to the medical center. Located next to Medical were the two quarantine cells where they hoped to find Adam. If Adam wasn’t there, then they would be truly fucked.

The corridor they entered was now open on their left to the large expanse of the generator room below. They could see the maze of conveyors, now all running, with a clanking din rising up from the floor. Several modules were moving out of the snout and onto the conveyor system. Sherri and Chief Rutledge were standing at the docking hatch.

Tobias and Rutledge made eye contact and the Chief nodded across the room. Tobias followed his motion and saw the other alien standing on the catwalk. The creature noticed the gesture as well and looked over at the railed corridor where the other three Humans stood. The creature looked confused.

Not waiting to figure out what they were doing wrong, Tobias swung his MP7 from under his cape, raised it to his cheek and depressed the trigger. The shot was true, striking the alien in the chest. Tobias looked down at Rutledge and motioned with his hand in a chopping motion, indicating for the two of them to move out toward the central corridor on the opposite side of the room. Sherri and Rutledge took off, as the trio of Humans above them stood guard.

There was a stairway across the room and the two of them scaled it easily, placing them now on the same level as the other three. Together Tobias and Rutledge opened their respective doors to the main corridor. They stood back, and then did a quick look inside. What they found were four aliens in the hallway, moving as a group between the two doors. They were walking toward Tobias’s location and they spotted the Lieutenant as he poked his head into the corridor, but didn’t seem to comprehend the movement. Rutledge stepped into the corridor behind them and opened up with his MP7. The muted puff-puff of the weapon still echoed on the metal sides of the corridor more than he liked, but the four aliens were soon lying on the floor, all dead.