Warfare: Rise Of Mankind Book 2 (13 page)

              “Don’t stop firing until the last second,” Gray said. “We need them past the point of no return.”

              “Um, Captain?” Agatha asked. She was the only bridge crew member unaware of the plan. “Shouldn’t we be…I don’t know…getting out of the way?”

              “Don’t worry, Ensign,” Captain Atwell replied. “I think we’ve got things well in hand.”

              The enemy ship stopped firing. Its shields dropped but even firing on it wouldn’t stop the inevitable. The thing was going to explode and when it did, any vessels within twenty thousand kilometers would be vaporized. Redding poised her hand, ready to initiate the hyper jump at just the right moment.

              “Three…” Olly called out. “Two…One…Now, Redding! Go!”

              Redding slammed her hand down, initiating the hyper jump. The ship hummed and rumbled…She felt her senses go dark as the world around her vanished in a second. Time meant nothing until it raced back upon her, making her head pound as if blood rushed from all parts of her body to her brain.

              She slumped, fought the weakness and struggled to lift her arms. Muscles refused to respond at first. Her eyes fluttered, battling blurriness. As the world came into focus, she was able to move again and checked her station. All circuits read normal and she had full control of the Behemoth.

              “Where are we?” Captain Atwell called out. “Tim?”

              “We made our coordinates plus/minus
twenty
kilometers, sir! A successful jump!”

              Olly hooted, his arms over his head. “Can you guys believe it? This old girl has some serious tricks up her sleeve, I swear!”

              “Settle down, Olly.” Captain Atwell stood. “Get me a reading on the system. What happened?”

              “The enemy blew,” Olly said. “They went past the point of no return and went straight to hell!”

              “The Crystal Font?” Adam asked.

              “I’ve got them on com,” Agatha said. “They’re reading all systems normal…I wish someone would’ve told
me
we were doing that.”

              “No need to panic you,” Redding muttered.

              “Course heading, sir?” Tim asked.

              “Get us back to the planet, Collins.” Captain Atwell clasped his hands behind his back, standing near to Redding’s post. “We’ve got a lot of people to save.”

              Clea worked as quickly as she could, downloading massive amounts of data. The files went too quickly past her screen to know what she was looking at but glimpses of the weapon technology drove him the fact she was doing the right thing. They couldn’t lose all this information, not after taking so much time to develop it.

              The other technicians worked silently around her, every terminal taken up. The marines roamed the area. Every time they heard a noise outside, they poised for action, stiffening at the booms. Such sounds weren’t ending any time soon and their nerves would be put to the test for some time.

              An especially loud explosion shook the facility and Clea clung to her terminal to maintain her footing.

              “Um…what was that?” Jenks asked.

              “I’m reading a massive breach,” one of the technicians shouted. “They got through the defensive barrier! How did we not hear that? They’re on their way in!”

              Hoffner sprung into action. “Alright, people you all know what these things are capable of and how dangerous they can be. We won’t be taking them in a straight fight, not if we want to walk out of here. They’re bigger than us and these hallways are tight enough to give us a slight advantage. Clea?”

              “Yes, sir?” Clea stepped forward.

              “Are there other parts of this facility your people can download the data from?”

              “Yes,” Vora spoke up for her. “They’re deeper inside.”

              “Good.” Hoffner motioned to his men. “Get these people moving to the next terminal location. Jenks, you’re with me.”

              “What’re you going to do?” Vora demanded.

              “Destroy these terminals to deny the enemy access to the data,” Hoffner said. “While you rush down and get anything else you can.”

              “These are priceless machines!” Vora protested but Clea put a hand on her shoulder.

              “This facility was compromised anyway.” Clea tried to keep her voice gentle. “None of it was going to survive.”

              “We can’t just blow it up!”

              “That’s exactly what we’re going to do,” Hoffner replied. “And unless you want a close up view of the explosion, I suggest you fall out. Now.”

              Clea dragged Vora away, forcing the woman to hurry. They got out the door to where the marines waited and jogged down the hall. “Pig headed soldier idiots!”

              “Stop it,” Clea snapped. “They’re here to save your life! Isn’t that worth anything?”

              “They should be stopping the enemy from taking the facility, not planning to destroy it.”

              “Part of being a soldier is knowing when to cut your losses,” Clea replied. “And quite honestly, we’re in that position now.”

              “It’s easy for you to say. You haven’t built anything with your life. You’re just as you always have been. Ignorant and stubborn.”

              “Unfair…” An explosion shook the facility and Clea glanced behind her. The control area was destroyed. Whatever Hoffner used in there must’ve slagged it all. He and Jenks came rushing up behind them.

              “We saw the enemy,” Hoffner shouted. “Six of them. They stopped to see what they could salvage in there so I think it bought us some time. You’d better move it!”

              “There are weapons in the lower area,” a technician said. “Some of our experimental ones. It might cut through their armor.”

              “I’m all for trying new things,” Hoffner replied. “Let’s grab some of that while the rest of you do your download thing.”

              Three marines took up the rear. Clea and the rest of the tech team were roughly fifty meters away when she heard gunshots behind them. Glancing back, her heart raced. Did the enemy catch up? Did they need to worry? She pulled her rifle off her shoulder and held it to her chest, preparing for the conflict to come.

              “We’re not making a stand here,” Hoffner said to her, patting her shoulder. “Just keep moving. Our next stop, we’ll give them a surprise.”

              “Right here!” Vora pointed. “This laboratory has enough terminals to make this worth anything.”

              “It’s also next to one of our weapon stores,” another person replied, Clea couldn’t see which.

              Hoffner nodded and took charge. “Walsh, take a guy and see what they’ve got. Jenks, you and Stebs watch the corridor and raise hell if you see anything coming down there. Hey, are there any other technicians in this facility or is it just you?”

              “We’re it,” Vora said. “The rest of the people are out there fighting.”

              Hoffner gestured to the soldiers. “You know what that means. If you see something moving, it dies. Don’t hesitate. Those things will rip your God damn spine out and none of you has time for that. Got it?”

              “Yes sir!” The marines all shouted, making Clea wince.

              “Get your shit downloaded,” Hoffner barked. “We don’t have all day!”

              Clea got on a terminal but stepped aside when there wasn’t enough room. She paced, feeling useless. A thought dawned on her, something which made her pull out her hand computer. She might not be able to help them download schematics or save any of their work but she could continue the investigation into who tipped off the enemy about their location.

              Access to their communications arrays didn’t take long and soon she downloaded every outgoing transmission in the past week. Everything from personal calls to official reports went through the satellites but one in particular caught her attention, a hastily scrubbed message with no authorization code.

             
Odd. We’re all far too particular to let such a thing go unnoticed. Who signed off?

              The ledger for that day in particular was blank.

             
Someone erased that too? They didn’t do much to cover their tracks though. Perhaps they needed to just buy a little time
.

              Whoever did it must’ve thought the enemy would take their facility much quicker than they did. The delayed assault may have given the alliance a chance to discover who sold them out, though it may count for very little. At least they didn’t send any data to them. Clea knew now it was all too large to transmit such a distance.

              “Contact!” A marine shouted, firing his weapon. They began exchanging fire with someone. This time, the enemy didn’t feel like charging into battle as they had on the Behemoth. They took caution. Perhaps there weren’t enough of them to make such a push. Either way, Clea aimed her weapon at the door, preparing for the worst of it.

              “Sir,” Walsh shouted. “Check this bitch out!”

              Clea glanced over her shoulder, noting Walsh carrying a massive firearm half her height.

              “He says it’ll vaporize any organic matter it comes in contact with, leaving the metal walls in tact.”

              “Then don’t just stand here jaw jacking with me,” Hoffner pointed, “get down there and shoot!”

              Walsh took position by his men, shouting, “fire in the hole!” before depressing the trigger. A lance of green energy danced down the hall and they heard a horrifying scream, something torn of pain and anguish. Clea winced, holding her weapon all the tighter. She took care to leave her finger off the trigger, waiting for the cries to die out before relaxing.

              “Is it dead?” One of the marines said. “Are they all dead?”

              “Someone sure as hell didn’t just ask for another,” Walsh said. Another shot rang out. “Nope, they’re not all dead!”

              “Keep them locked down,” Hoffner said. “Hey, techs, you’ve got less than five minutes. Tie off whatever downloads you’ve got and we’re blowing this room. Where’s the next?”

              “The next floor down,” Vora said. “Nearer the reactor.”

              Hoffner grinned. “The reactor, huh? Sounds like a good way to cover our escape and bring this place down in the process.”

              “That’s—” Vora started but Clea cut her off.

              “It’ll be fine, sir but we need to find a way back to the surface.”

              “There’s an access tunnel,” one of the techs said. “Leads straight up to the surface on the northwest side opposite the assault.”

              “Perfect.” Hoffner turned to the marines. “Get ready to fall out, men! Hold that corridor at all costs!”

              “Shit, I’m hit!” One of the marines flopped on the ground hard and shuffled backward, shoving the ground with his feet. He got three meters before one of his comrades grabbed him by the armor and dragged him to safety. “Armor blow. I think I’m good.”

              Clea hurried over, running her scanner on him. “It’s true. The protective layer stopped the worst of it but there’s a hairline fracture on one of his ribs.”

              “I can handle it.”

              “Then get back on your feet,” Hoffner said, “and move the hell out. Jenks, toss some grenades down there. Make them hesitate to charge.”

              “Fire in the hole!” Jenks shouted, throwing three grenades down the hall. When they popped, Clea winced and her ears instantly began ringing. The narrow corridor amplified the sound and even with her noise suppression helmet, the volume threatened to deafen her. Hoffner grabbed her and shoved her down the hall.

              “Get moving! Now!”

              Other technicians ran alongside her and another explosion shook the facility.

              “Your thugs destroyed more of our terminals,” Vora spoke near her, seeming to appear suddenly. “You’ve made quite the friends, Clea.”

              “Do shut up, Vora! These people are saving your life!” Clea glared, her fist clenching involuntarily. “I can’t believe you don’t see that!”

              “You’ll never understand anything but your military life, will you?” Vora shook her head. “Perhaps if you’d stop to think for a moment, you’d realize we can lock them down, save them for when the rest of our military shows up and saves us.”

              “I hate to tarnish your enthusiasm but
our
military failed to defend this base. They’re floating debris up there hoping the Earth ship and
one
alliance vessel can drive back whatever remains of our enemies.” They slowed to take the stairs, moving down swiftly to the next level. Vora directed them to the left.

              “You know they’ll send more. They won’t let this facility fall.”

              “It’ll be a little late if they try now.” Clea shook her head. “Anyway, you need to focus on your job so we can survive. I may not understand your world, but you certainly don’t get mine and that’s precisely where you’re at now.”

              Hoffner pointed at two men. “You two, watch the stairs. Make it a nightmare to get down here. The rest of you provide backup.” He turned to one of the techs. “Anymore tricks down here?”

              “That rifle should still have some shots left…”

              Walsh shrugged. “Hate to say it, but it fried. Didn’t you guys have a chance to test it?”

              The tech looked perplexed. “We put it through theoretical testing…but that was the prototype.”

              “It was also heavy as hell,” Walsh said. “You know, keep that in mind for the next iteration.”

              “Next store?” Jenks interrupted. “While we’re young.”

              “This way, sir.” A tech motioned and they hustled down the hall.

              “Let’s hope this works out better,” Walsh muttered. “Cause that last one, all mouth, no trousers.”

              “It fried something,” Hoffner said. “Now stay focused and shut it, Walsh. Hey, lead researcher.”

              “My name is
Vora
An’Tufal.”

              “Anyway,” Hoffner dragged her aside and Clea felt ashamed at just how much satisfaction she took in her sister’s indignant expression. “Why were you freaking out about the reactor? You started to say something.”

              “Just that if you discharge those weapons down there, you might prematurely detonate something. If it goes off before you want it to, we’re all dead. And might I just state, for the record, I protest—”

              Hoffner interrupted by raising his hand. “You can put anything you want on the record when someone’s got a device recording your concerns. Right now, my only goal is to get you and the data out of here while not leaving anything for the enemy. Retrieve and deny, those are my orders. For the record.”

              He stepped away and Vora fumed for several moments before returning to a terminal and tapping away. Clea wanted to speak to her again, to try even though they were hip deep in the most dangerous situation of her career. Some piece of her mind, a part warning her about their chances for survival, wanted her to say something in case neither of them made it.