Theogony 3: Terra Stands Alone (23 page)

Master Gunnery Sergeant didn’t have far to go after the squad split up.

“The airlock control room is the next door on the left after this corner,” said Smetlurge, stopping in the middle of the passageway. “How do you intend to capture it?”

“
I haven’t decided,” replied Master Gunnery Sergeant Kinkead. “How many Drakuls are in it?”

“Usually, there are two in the room,” answered Smetlurge. “
It is not very big...maybe a 20’ square.”

“In that case,”
Kinkead said, “I intend to apply superior firepower from a position of advantage and a condition of surprise.” She smiled. “You’re going to get them to open the door and then quickly move out of the way. After you move, we’re going to shoot them in the face.”

“Don’t miss, please,” Smetlurge said. “They will be very angry.”

“Don’t worry,” Kinkead replied. “We’re Terran Space Marines. We don’t miss.”

“Hmph,” Smetlurge said. “Everyone misses some time. I’d appreciate
it if you just didn’t do miss
now
.” He walked to the door and watched with his sonar as the five soldiers lined up behind him, with Master Gunnery Sergeant Kinkead on the left end and a little closer to get a flanking shot at the second Drakul when the door opened.

“Ready,” said Kinkead, getting a green light from all of her group.

Smetlurge reached up and pressed the button next to the door’s access panel. After a short pause, a voice said, “What do you want, minion?”

“I have a message for you,” replied Smetlurge.

“OK,” the voice said. “Give it to me.” The door didn’t open.

Oh, crap, thought Kinkead. I hope he has a Plan B.

Smetlurge shuddered. “The message was that the general was sorry you missed his presentation,” Smetlurge said, “and I was supposed to make up for it. The lieutenant that sent me said you’d know what that meant.”

The door slid open and a Drakul filled
the doorway. It was huge, nearly 10 and a half feet tall and well over 400 pounds. Saliva dripped from the two fangs that protruded from its mouth. Before Smetlurge could move, the Drakul reached out and grabbed him. It picked Smetlurge up and inspected the Hooolong, trying to figure out the best place to bite it. “Yes,” he said, “I know exactly what the general meant.”

“Hey!” said a voice from inside the room. “Save me some!”

The Drakul looked over his shoulder and said, “You can have what’s left when I’m done.”

“Help!” yelled Smetlurge
. He struggled to get away, but his struggling form only blocked the troopers’ shots as he flipped back and forth in front of them.

The Drakul looked back at Smetlurge
, and Kinkead could see the creature smile as the Drakul decided where it wanted to bite Smetlurge. She had no shot, so she did the only thing she could. She charged. Taking two running steps forward, she planted a foot on the Drakul’s knee and used it to jump up and head butt the Drakul on the chin with the top of her helmet. She wrapped her arms around the Drakul’s neck as the creature fell backward into the room, stunned.

The Drakul released Smetlurge
, who landed on one of his ends and bounced out of the way down the corridor.

The second Drakul jumped up from the control panel as
its superior fell backward into the room. “What? Did it bite you first?” the Drakul asked with a laugh. The question was cut off as the first Drakul hit the floor. With a clear line of fire, all four of the other soldiers fired. Three lasers hit the Drakul in the face, and the creature dropped. Corporal Lawrence’s shot went high and right, hitting the monitor that showed the airlock. It disintegrated in a shower of sparks.

As Kinkead and the Drakul hit the ground, she could feel
the monster regaining its senses. The Drakul couldn’t see her, but it could feel her, and it grabbed her around the waist. Face to face with the Drakul, she smashed her helmet into its face again, head butting the creature between its bug eyes. The Drakul didn’t flinch; instead, it shifted its grip and grabbed her shoulder. The monster pulled her off, made a fist with its other hand and punched her, hitting her in the facemask. A long crack appeared; it only grew worse as the Drakul hit her again.

Her head rocked back
, and she saw stars from the impact. The Drakul rolled to its side and slammed her into the floor, knocking the wind out of her. Gasping for breath and seeing two images of the creature in front of her, she drew her laser pistol as the Drakul lifted her back up to slam her again.

She fired at the image on the right and was rewarded with a splash of
blue from its eye. The Drakul slammed her to the floor again, but not as hard as the first time. Her facemask shattered as she went face first into the floor. Her suit short-circuited, and she became visible.

The Drakul smiled as she came into
view, and its remaining eye gleamed. Holding her with one hand the creature reached out toward her face with the other. She struggled in the Drakul’s grasp and tried to push away the claw, but the creature was too strong. Firing wildly with her pistol, she swung in the monster’s grasp, kicking it where she could, but she couldn’t stop the Drakul from reaching into her helmet and palming her head.

Already concussed, Kinkead saw a white light of pain as the Drakul
squeezed her head. She fought to keep from passing out from the pain, but suddenly the squeezing stopped, and the Drakul released its grip on her. Her pistol fell from numb fingers, and she reached up and pulled the Drakul’s claw from her helmet. Rolling over, she looked at her enemy, and found that it now had a large knife from sticking out from its second eye.

Corporal Lawrence materialized next to the Drakul’s head. Stepping on
the creature’s forehead for leverage, she retrieved her kukri. Blue blood and part of its eye dripped back down onto the remains of the Drakul’s face. With a sob, she dropped the weapon back onto the creature.

Kinkead got to her feet.
She was woozy from the pain, but managed to stand. Stumbling over to Corporal Lawrence, she put a hand on her shoulder, part for comfort, part for stability. She could see tears on Corporal Lawrence’s face behind her facemask, and she realized that the Drakul was Lawrence’s first kill. “Thanks,” she said. “You had to kill it. I wouldn’t have lasted much longer if you hadn’t.”

“I know,” Corporal Lawrence said with a sniff. “Fucking bastards.” She kicked the Drakul in the head
, and her kukri fell to the floor. Kinkead bent over and picked the large knife up. She wiped it off on the Drakul and handed it back to Corporal Lawrence handle first.

“Thanks,” she said. She took a deep breath and slid the kukri into
its sheath. “I’m OK,” she said, standing a little taller. While Kinkead watched, her face transformed back to the one she had known for the last few months. Lawrence was a soldier again; determined, focused and ready to do what needed to be done. Whatever the cost. “So, what do we do now?”

“First, we shut the door so that no one knows that we’re here,” said Kinkead. “
Then we wait for the cavalry.” She paused and looked at Corporal Lawrence. “While we wait, I’d also appreciate it if you could check me out. I think I’ve got at least two broken ribs, and my suit is busted and won’t give me any pain meds. If you could come up with some, I’d even let you call me Master Guns. Once.”

“I can do that, Master Guns,” the medic said with a
chuckle as she reached into one of her pockets.

Kinkead sat down heavily
as the pain threatened to overwhelm her.

“Should I begin assembling
my people to leave?” asked Smetlurge.

“Yes,” Kinkead said through her teeth as Corporal Lawrence applied some antibiotic to
a slash down her cheek. I
am
tougher than the Drakuls, Kinkead thought...but not by much. Next time, shoot them from a distance.

“
All prisoners proceed to Airlock #1 for evacuation,
” Smetlurge transmitted. “
There is a shuttle here to take off everyone that can make it to the airlock RIGHT NOW. DROP WHAT YOU’RE DOING AND COME!”

* * * * *

“That’s odd,” said the defender. “I just picked up a transmission saying that
prisoners were going to be evacuated from an airlock to a waiting shuttle.”

“What the hell is that all about?” asked the
Butcher’s
commanding officer, Captain Frang, as he walked over to the defender’s station. “Do you show a shuttle anywhere in the area?”

“No, sir, I don’t,” said the defender. “The transmission was weak
, though...perhaps it came from somewhere else in the system?”

Captain Frang hit him in the back of the head. Hard. “Do you know of any other place in this system that might be sending out such a transmission?” the CO asked. “There is none! If there is a shuttle
anywhere around, it is stealthed. Call the operations center on the asteroid and see if they know what is going on.”

“Sir, the
Butcher
is asking if everything is under control here,” said the communicator. “They said they just picked up a transmission that mentioned taking the prisoners off in a shuttle.”

“What?” asked Commander Shrang, the officer in charge of the operations center. “No, no one is taking anything off of this asteroid. There are no scheduled flights. Call primary flight control and
see if they know anything. No shuttles get in or out.”

“Sir, the
Butcher
made it sound like there was some kind of waiting shuttle,” added the communicator. “It didn’t sound like the shuttle was one of ours.”

Commander Shrang looked confused. “Have any of you detected any sort of shuttle or enemy ship?” All of the weapons systems’ lead officers replied in the negative. Commander Shrang shook his head. “Well, the transmission they intercepted didn’t send itself. Call down to all of your subordinate commands and see if any of them noticed anything
out of the ordinary. If there is an enemy ship out there, it is obviously stealthed. Tell them to report any spurious indications that they get.” He paused thinking. “Oh,” he added, “and put all of the radars to high power. We’ll see if we can’t burn through whatever cloaking they have.”

“
Calvin, Foxy,
” the shuttle’s WSO commed. Calvin had told them to stay off the radio; he knew this wouldn’t be good. “
Go ahead,
” he replied.

“They just lit off every radar they’ve got on high power,
” replied Lieutenant Fox. “
We were down in between the radar platforms, so I don’t think they saw us, but when we come to get you, they probably
will
see us.
”

Damn it, thought Calvin. As if I don’t have enough problems right now
. He was so close to the Drakul auditorium that he could hear their screaming and hissing. They sounded like demons. “
Understood,
” he replied. “
We’ll see what we can do.
” He paused. “
Night, Calvin,
” he called.

“
I heard,
” said Night. “
We’ll adapt the plan and work something out. Five minutes ‘til the fireworks start.
”

“
Got it,
” replied Calvin. “
Five minutes. Thanks. Calvin out.
”

“They are here,” said Bzzzeedlezzzzz from the master console. His legs continued to manipulate the keyboard on the side away from Staff Sergeant Burke.

“How many are there?” asked Burke.

“There are three,” replied the alien.

“All right,” said Burke, turning toward where the men were hiding, “let them get into the room and then blast them. MacKenzie, you’ve got the first one through the door, Corporal Hall, you kill the second, and Doc Jones, you’ve got the third. I’ve got any leakers or additional enemies that show up.”

The door opened
, and three Drakuls entered the control room. Seeing Bzzzeedlezzzzz sitting in the master console, the first Drakul in the group, its officer, drew up short. “What are you doing in the controller’s seat?” the Drakul asked, confused. “Where is the duty officer?” The Drakul didn’t seem angry or worried; secure in its position atop the hierarchy, the creature was more curious than mad. The third Drakul walked through the door.

“Now!” called Staff Sergeant Burke
, and two rifles fired. All three Drakuls fell to the floor, the officer crashing through a table next to the staff sergeant. The first and third Drakuls were head-shot by lasers; as the second Drakul hit the ground and rolled, Staff Sergeant Burke could see a bowie knife protruding from its right eye.

“Too good to use your rifle, Hall?”
Burke asked, sarcasm heavy in his voice. “It was too easy a shot, and you needed something to make it a little more challenging?”

Corporal Hall became visible and walked over to the Drakul. “You said to kill it,” he said with a shrug, “so I did. You’ve seen me on the range,
Staff Sergeant. You were on the other side; did you want me to shoot in your general direction?”

“No, you’re right,” said Burke. “Good call on the knife.”

Bzzzeedlezzzzz gave off a high pitched “Tweep!” and jumped back from the keyboard. “Staff Sergeant Burke, the operations center is asking for a status update from all stations and just used a security code that is not in the computer system. What do you want me to tell them?”

“Tell them what General McAuliffe said at the Battle of the Bulge when
the Germans asked him to surrender,” replied Burke.

“What is that?” asked Bzzzeedlezzzzz.

“Nuts,” said Burke.