The War Across the Stars (8 page)

We burst out off the room.  Nevin waved his new rifle around frantically.  Then he brought it up to his face and peered through the scope.  The hall was desolate now. 

“I don’t see anything… We really are clear,” he said. 

“I know,” Robert stated matter-of-factually. “As I said, I distracted them.” 

“How?” I inquired. 

“Not important.  What matters is that we have a chance to get out of here in one piece,” he retorted.  “I’ll explain later.”

We quickly ran through the tunnels.  Robert seemed to know where he was going in the facility.  He also knew the code that we had attained from the Vorgian. 

“C’mon, keep moving.  We won’t be clear for much longer,” Robert said, a hint of concern splashed over his face.

We listened and hurried down the hall.  Up ahead I saw a blast door, like the one by the armory.  Rob quickly entered the code.  The blast door began to open.  I saw what appeared to be the base’s hangar. 

“Rob what are we doing?” I asked. 

“Yeah…I’m not likin’ the looks of it,” Ben moaned.

“We’re done here Butler,” Robert said, swinging around and drawing his H-81.

Four consecutive bangs rang out as Rob shot Ben in the head.  Ben fell backward onto the floor, blood splattered across the wall and doorway.

“Hey!” I called out as I pulled the L-10 to my shoulder.  “Calm…down…” I continued carefully. 

Rob turned his surprisingly steady hand toward my head. 

“Did you really think that Jenkins was killed by the Vorgians?  Did you think that I wanted to ‘get to know him?' Well, I didn’t.  I shot him and told my friends back at the base that you were there.  Friends I had served with for years, and known for even longer!  You killed them… and now it’s my turn!” Robert bellowed angrily. 

“Robert?  What are you doing?  We trusted you!  You are one of… You were one of us,” I told him. 

“I was never one of you,” Robert announced.  “From the moment that the original Rangers were killed on Konori I was ready!  Korth appointed me as his infiltrator. My goal was to capture the A-Z Gun... and yes we already knew about  your secret project.  Right now it and Francis Gonyon are on their way to Tronadan, Robert explained fiercely. 

“Are you serious?”  Nevin questioned. 

Robert turned the H-81 and pointed it at Nevin.  I held my finger tight on the trigger of the L-10. 

“Oh, and by the way, that malfunction of the original Ranger’s transport… the one that killed them all and laid the groundwork for the Senate’s pathetic shooting competition… That was no accident.  We were responsible for that as well.  Your people have underestimated us!  It was all part of our plan… Now… its time for you to die!” Robert roared. 

Then in one swift move I pointed the L-10 at his leg and pulled its trigger.  It left a large scorch on his leg and completely burned away the green and black pant leg covering his knee.  He crumpled over on to the floor and pulled the trigger of his H-81.  The bullet flew by Nevin’s shoulder.

“Let’s get out of here!” I said. 

“Shouldn’t we kill him?” 

“I can’t…” I said solemnly, knowing that I should. 

“You’re right…we’ve served with him for so long now it seems,” Nevin sighed.  “But still…”

I pointed my gun back at him again.  I paused, considering the consequences and benefits.  I had killed people already that day.  Soldiers.  But I hadn’t killed someone I knew.  Someone who despite his militant and unusual behaviors, I cared about as a friend.  I couldn’t do it.  I lowered the laser.

We turned and ran back down the hall as fast as we could.  Within minutes we burst out of the front door.  We could have crawled through the hole left by the A-Z gun, but decided to just open it.  On the ground were several dead Vorgians. 

“Where’s the rest of the team?” I asked not expecting an answer. 

“I don’t kn—” Nevin began. 

“Right here!” Sergeant Pinkip answered. 

All of the Lambda Raiders except Joseph Hays stood in front of us, walking in from either side of the doorway. 

“Hi…” I said wearily. 

“Where’s Joseph?”  Nevin asked.

“He was hit with the photon beam that burned through our transport.  He died before the transport even hit the ground.  We parachuted out of the transport.  Timms was killed by the blast,” his brother answered.

“Let's go find Beta Squad,“ Sergeant Pinkip ordered. 

As we headed back toward our transport we explained what we learned, including Robert.  We traveled much slower this time than the first time.  Sergeant Pinkip was more relaxed than the strict Sergeant Johnston.

After about thirty minutes of walking down the sandy beach we began to hear small bursts of gunfire. 

“Hurry! They may need help,” I said. 

I had been leading the group since the Raiders hadn’t been to the transport yet.  But then Nevin, who was faster, zoomed ahead.  I held my trigger tightly, ready to fire at the first sign of the enemy.  We started up a hill.  Our transport was parked nearby.  I reach the top, right after Nevin.  We looked down in the small valley we saw the transport and the rest of the Rangers.  Scott Keys was the only member of the Beta squad in sight.  Then I saw the Vorgians had surrounded half of the round valley.  I sat down my L-10, pulled out my SR-4 and took aim.  Nevin followed my lead and did the same.  The Lambda Raiders hurried down to the battlefield before shooting, to avoid giving away our position.  My first shot hit an SAS.  My second hit sand.  My third hit a tree.  But then I hit a Vorgian in the head and he fell over. 

Philip appeared to be working on the transport’s engine.  Ryan was shooting his H-81 into the waves of Vorgians.  Max occasionally stuck his pistol out of the transport and fired a couple of shots.  Then he would pull back his hand and head and hide.  The battle raged for another minute, then the Vorgian’s stopped coming.  My SR-4 only had five of the thirty rounds that I had taken to Sontonos.  I clipped it back on my small backpack and scooped up my stolen L-10.  Nevin and I charged down toward the transport at full speed. 

“James! Nev!” Ryan shouted.  “’Bout time, we were worried about you.” 

“We were in prison,” I told him. 

“We have bad news,” Ryan said. 

“So do we,” I said. 

“Robert’s a Vorgian”, we said together. 

“We’ll discuss it later, I have a feeling the Vorgians aren’t giving up,” Ryan announced as he tightened his sweaty grip on the H-81. 

No sooner had he said that, the Vorgians began to come over the hill once more.  We opened fire, but they were pushing us back.  Suddenly, we heard a long burst of assault weapons fire.  A hole was torn through the Vorgian line and seven Marines rushed through.  They continued to spray the Vorgian line with bullets. 

“It’s Staff Sergeant Lawrence,” Ryan called. 

“Yes it is!” one of the soldiers announced as he released another burst of rounds. 

Several Vorgians began to tumble down the gently sloping hill.  Staff Sergeant Lawrence hurried down to the transport.

“How much longer, Phil?” Max yelled down from within the transport. 

“About four minutes!” Phil answered. 

We continued to fight for nearly two minutes, bullets pounding the ground around us, as well as several dinging off of the transport.  That is when I noticed a deep, but faint rumbling in the distance. 

“What’s that?” I asked Lawrence. 

I looked over at him.  He was a mid-sized man with a thin, wispy mustache.  His hair came down to his glasses, though it was mostly covered by his desert camo hat,which was much like Ryan’s.  He didn’t respond to my question. 

Nearly thirty Vorgians lay dead on the ground. 

“Almost done!” Phil called. 

“Good!” Ryan returned.  “Keep it up!” 

We fired several more shots into the line. 

“Done!”  Philip yelled excitedly.  “At least I believe it is now functional!”

“Get in!” Ryan ordered. 

Everyone started to dash toward the two transports.  I managed to get on behind Nevin.  Ryan was right behind me.  I heard an explosion and looked back out of the transport.  A Vorgian Preston-Class Tank was rolling over the mound.  Then, an SAS threw a grenade toward our transport.  The Marine who had earlier announced their arrival caught it and tried to get it away from the transport.  He pulled back his arm and was midway through throwing it when it exploded.  He flew forward from the impact and landed in the sand. 

Staff Sergeant Lawrence was the last person who was still outside the transport.  As he was getting on he turned and saw his second in command, sprawled out and bloodied, in the sand. 

“No!  Zihark!” he screamed. 

Then, a Vorgian sniper shot him through the stomach and he fell.  Scott Keys reached out and pulled Lawrence’s limp body inside.  The doors of the two transports closed.  Then, the two ships began to rise off the ground.  I heard a terrible whistling as a high-explosive tank shell whooshed by our transport. 

“That ’un woulda hurt!” Wanda called from up front. 

We continued out ascent and were soon out of the effective range of the Preston Tank.

“So James? What happened down there?” Ryan asked. 

I told him about our capture, Lt Davis, the prison, our escape, the armory, and finally Robert. 

“You did good…very good” Ryan said.  “Due to the fact I’m Sergeant and I need an X.O. I’m promoting you to Corporal for your efforts and successful escape.” 

“Thank you,” I accepted, feeling honored that he would pick me.

“Thank
you
,” Ryan said back to me. “For performing well down there.”

“Where’s Beta Squad Sir?” I asked respectfully. 

“I’ll explain…” Ryan offered.  “We sniped the guards and pushed forward.  Gonyon used the A-Z Gun to put a hole in their door.  We went in and continued the process.  In fact, he even shot a Vorgian’s head with the A-Z Gun.  It was interesting… Then it took a turn for the worse.  The alarms started and those SAS started showing up everywhere.  Thanks to the A-Z Gun we managed to infiltrate his command center.  That’s when Robert went sinister.  I had my gun pointed at Korth's head.  Johnston had his pointed at the guards.  Robert turned off the lights and activated the fire valves and put some water in the room.  In the darkness, Robert, Rigel Korth, and the SAS all escaped.  By the time the lights came back on, they were gone, and Johnston was soaked.  He wasn’t very happy. Then we hurried out to try and find them.  We made it to the front door and turned.  He had escaped through it.  We all ran outside and then Robert ran right back in, pushing through us before we realized it was him,” Ryan explained. 

“Wow…” I replied. 

“We tried to shoot,” Ryan said.  “But only took out some SAS.  When we went back inside the building, Robert stood there, just down the hall, with his H-81 pointed at us.  He fired once, hit Johnston’s arm, and slipped behind the corner.  Dylan did some serious screaming and then barreled down the hall.  About then, more Vorgians than I took the time to count, came out in place of Robert.  That made us run.  As we scrambled back up the hill, Francis Gonyon was shot in the leg and fell over.  Plus, I have no idea what happened to Johnston,” Ryan concluded. 

I began pondering where Francis was. 

“What about the A-Z?” I asked. 

“Probably in Vorgian hands…” Ryan sighed.  “Oh yeah… probably right were it doesn’t belong.”

We began to leave the atmosphere of Sontonos. 

“Fella’s… we have a major problem!” Wanda informed us in her Elpheran accent. 

“What might that be?” Ryan asked. 

“Only rubble remains... Sensors show there is quite a bit.” 

Once again I climbed up the central ladder.  In the distance I could see the Vorgian Fleet.  Several Frigates, Cruisers, Destroyers, and the two Avenger Class Battleships representing all that was left of the Vorgian defense. However, that was far more than enough to destroy our transport.  I slid back down the ladder and heard the COM crackle on. 

“This is Captain Palmer… Are you there?” 

“Yessir!” Airman Xavier said happily. 

“We warped back to the fleet at Enphuerzo, which by the way, is mostly controlled by us.  The Marines are doing their job.  On a grimmer note, the Sontonos warp beacon was destroyed during the battle.  That means the only way to get back is via Ultradrive.  Your orders are to warp here ASAP,” Palmer ordered.

Then, an unfamiliar voice came over the COM. 

“We are under fire from the laser satellites!  Shields are terribly low!  We have…” the COM produced a string of static.  “…Drive,” The COM suddenly spat out. 

“Wah?  Repeat last transmission,” Wanda requested. 

“Warp…down… need to… quickly!” the voice said in between static. 

“Sir?” Wanda said as she resumed communication with Captain Palmer.  

“Yes?” Palmer asked. “Our warp drive is out and I think that the Raiders just lost theirs.”

“Curses…” Palmer answered.  “Attempt landing on Tronadan.  Wait there for rescue.” 

“Understood sir!”  Wanda exclaimed, as she pulled hard on the controls.