Warfare: Rise Of Mankind Book 2 (14 page)

             
In the end, what does any of it matter? When death takes us, what we said or did not say will not make a difference to us. We will be gone and those left will design their own stories regardless of what we left behind.

             
Gunfire erupted again, this time at the stairs. Another explosion shook the corridor followed by shouts. They didn’t seem to be in pain but rather adrenaline. They called out orders and requests, telling them to take a different position or to find cover. Each of the men out there fighting seemed to be far more prepared than the soldiers who repelled the borders on their last mission.

              Perhaps after studying the videos they designed new strategies.

              Jenks and the technician returned with two more devices, one a shoulder mounted weapon and the other a thin rod with a curved handle, like a walking stick. One of the marines took the stick, gave it a once over and shrugged. “What the hell is this for? Picking their teeth?”

              “He said it’ll tear right through armor, man,” Jenks replied.

              “Why don’t I get to try the big one?”

              “Because I had to carry it. You get the stick. Come on.”

              Clea paced over to the hall and watched as they rushed over to the stairs. Jenks aimed the shoulder device up and shouted out, “let’s hope this thing doesn’t blow up, fire in the hole!”

              White light erupted from the back and a ball of red energy discharged up the stairs. When it struck the wall, they heard a series of taps like hail on pavement. It lasted a good thirty seconds before screams accompanied the sound. Something got caught up in the scatter and paid for it.

              “Sweet Jesus, that thing is amazing!” Jenks pulled the trigger again and nothing happened. “Are you freakin’ kidding me? C’mon, there’s no more ammo?”

              “We…haven’t gotten to full testing yet…” The technician shouted, clearly embarrassed. “And the right mixture for the ammunition hadn’t been decided upon.”

              “Try the stick!” Jenks tossed the weapon. Clea noticed several of the technicians wince when it hit the ground.

              The marine stepped closer with the strange, long device and looked it over, unsure what to do. “Aim the pointy end up,” a tech said. “Then squeeze the handle and shaft at the same time.”

              “Well, that sounds dirty,” the marine muttered. “Shouldn’t I be aiming it at
someone
?”

              “No, it’ll seek them out. Trust us! This one’s revolutionary.”

              “Okay…” He aimed, squeezed…and nothing happened. “Um…did I do it wrong?”

              “Did you squeeze tight?”

              “Like I’m choking someone out.” The marine tried again. “Whoa, shit!”

              He dropped the weapon just as it began to melt, bits of it seeping into the floor and turning into a hard, flat shell. “Revolutionary?” Jenks turned to the techs. “Revolutionary crap!”

              “It shouldn’t have done that! But…wait, I think I know why…it was the biokinetic alkaloid mixed with—”

              “Dude,” Jenks interrupted. “Not the time.”

              “Alright, enough playtime.” Hoffner shouted. “How much longer for data transfer?”

              “We should have everything off the computers in another ten minutes,” Clea said. “We’re making good progress but need some uninterrupted time.”

              A marine took a grazing shot and cried out. “Well, you may not have it.” Hoffner frowned. “Get ready, we’re moving to the next station.”

              “That’s in the reactor room,” Vora said. “We can’t fight there, I just told you that.”

              “But we can die here,” Hoffner said. “So unless you want that to happen, I suggest you pack up your gear and get moving. We’ll delay them here with a little surprise. Walsh, rig this area to blow when it’s tampered with. They’ll think we left in too much of a hurry to take it out.”

              “Yes, sir.”

              “The rest of you get on escort duty. I’ll be there with you in a few minutes.”

              Clea stepped forward. “Captain?”

              “Not now.”

              “I just…don’t think you should stay behind.”

              “It’ll be find.”

              “If you die here, what happens to the rest of us?”

              “You’ll follow the plan and get the hell out of here.” Hoffner gestured. “Not get moving. We’re not debating this in a conflict zone.”

              Clea frowned but turned away. She hoped he was right and he had proven to be hard to kill. Still, a commander wasn’t supposed to risk themselves and the mission on such small tasks. Humans did things very different than she was used to…and it continued to show in every situation.

              Lieutenant Damon Johns maneuvered his shuttle between two floating pieces of debris, what he guessed must’ve been crew quarters before the ships blew apart. His scans indicated life forms in a massive chunk of metal and a low emission of energy. He carefully threaded his own craft to the top of the box, deploying powerful magnetics to secure his landing.

              Once he made contact, Damon used his thrusters to level out the debris, ensuring it didn’t list and crash into something else. By nudging it away from the rest of the damage, he ensured a moderate amount of safety, enough to be considered reasonable risk management. His crew in the back waited for his signal before sealing their docking ring and preparing to cut.

              Damon tapped his communicator, sending a tight beam to see if anyone would respond. The last five people they saved had been unconscious and he had no reason to believe these people would be awake either. However, he got an immediate ping back with one word: help.
Good God, I wonder how long they’ve been in there!

             
He sent the confirmation back to his team, then another communication to those inside
steer clear, we have to cut our way in. We’ll get you out in a moment. Do you have injured?

              The reply came right away
many hurt, stabilized but oxygen levels are running low.

              “ETA on getting that open?” Damn called back.

              “Less than two minutes,” Lieutenant Sandra Alton called back. “This stuff’s less dense than the others.”

              “Good, those people in there are awake and running low on oxygen so let’s make it as fast as possible. Medical, prep up. They do have wounded.”

              “What’re we going to do with them?” Sandra asked. “It’s not like we can just pop back to the Behemoth.”

              Damon checked the scanners. “They’re on their way back, actually. With this lot, we’re full up anyway. We’ll grab our escort and fly home.”

              “You make it sound so easy.”

              “The flying part’s easy,” Damon replied. “The making it home…that’s up in the air.”

              “Good to know,” Sandra grumbled. “One minute.”

              Damon kept an eye on their position to compensate for any drift. His computer kept the thrusters going in whatever manner was necessary to avoid collision but a few smaller pieces tapped against his shields. They’d already encountered some potential survivors dead because fast moving debris went right through their life pods.

              The shields failed on those things and the passengers were completely helpless. Damon shuddered to think about such a fate, drifting in blackness only to be torn apart by unfeeling metal. Sometimes, the dangers of space really bothered him. Much as he loved serving and flying for the military, he had to fight to keep a positive perspective.

              “We’re through,” Sandra announced. “Going in.”

              “Be gentle,” Damon called back. “Those people have been through enough.”

              “That’s our job, Johns,” Sandra replied. “Just keep us from blowing up and we’ll take care of the rest.”

              Damon rolled his eyes but patched into his team’s com link to listen in. The medical crew called out that they were there to help and not to fire.
Probably a good idea considering
. He figured the enemy wouldn’t bother to board the debris and would’ve destroyed it but caution couldn’t hurt.

              He’d never heard of the bad guys taking prisoners.

              “We’re here to help,” Sandra’s voice piped through his speaker. “We heard you have wounded.”

              “One’s particularly bad,” someone replied. “The rest of us have minor scrapes, bruises and cuts. All stabilized but to ensure survival, we need a real medical bay. Can you help us?”

              “Yes,” Sandra replied. “Let’s make sure your critical is okay to move then we’ll board our ship and get out of here. The longer we stay, the better chance this debris will be damaged or worse.”

              “He’s right here,” the man replied. “Gil Va’Criz is his name.”

              “Hi there, Gil,” Sandra said. “I need to take a look at your injuries so we can get you out of here. Can you tell me what hurts?”

              “Everything…” the weak reply must’ve been from Gil. “My…my back…my leg…”

              “You look like you were in a firefight,” Sandra said. “Did you guys have borders?”

              “He came from the planet,” someone replied. “He claimed to have valuable information to share and was ordered to rendezvous with our battleship…to warn us about a traitor.”

              “Traitor!” Gil shouted but he paid for it. A coughing fit overtook him and Damon winced. “There’s a traitor…in the facility…one of our own…”

              “Relax, Mister Va’Criz,” Sandra said. “That doesn’t matter right now. What’s important is we get you somewhere safe.” She paused. “Looks like you guys have the blood loss under control. We can move him, carefully, back to the ship.”

              “I need to tell you…” Gil muttered. “Who…the…betrayer…”

             
C’mon then, just say it,
Damon thought.
I’ll pass it on to command
.

              “He’s passed out,” Sandra said. “Probably mercifully. Let’s drop the gravity and we’ll be able to bring him up easier. You hear that Damon?”

              “Yes,” Damon tapped at his controls. “Ours is off.”

              “Can you do the same?” Sandra asked someone Damon couldn’t see. “Also, we need to message command. They need a trauma crew on the hangar deck stat. This guy might not make it too much longer after we get him out of here without immediate attention.”

              “Understood.” Damon sent a coded message to the Behemoth, letting them know they not only had a critically injured patient but that the man may know the identity of the traitor. Considering their situation, discovering the backstabber might make it possible to avoid further enemy surprises. He knew they needed a little luck for a change.

              God knows the enemy abused their share.

***

              Adam turned to Gray. “Captain, I’m receiving a report from medical. One of our search and rescue shuttles is returning with a critically injured man from the surface.”

              “Okay?” Gray glanced at him. “What’s the significance?”

              “He claims to know who betrayed the alliance.”

              Gray stood up, scowling. “Good. That should certainly help our cause. I wonder what else this guy knows…” He motioned toward Agatha. “Get us a coded frequency to the Crystal Font. Tell them what we’ve got incoming. They’ll definitely want to know which of their people sold them out…and quickly.”

              “What’re we going to do with the knowledge now?” Adam asked. “It’s a little late to defend against it.”

              Gray nodded. “True, but that doesn’t matter. They can still do damage and we don’t necessarily know where they are or if they have any co-conspirators. If there’s a whole faction within the alliance siding with the enemy, then we have a much bigger problem than their fleet heading this way.”

              “That’s how it begins, huh?” Adam shook his head. “We have to start suspecting everyone and everything.”

              “I’m afraid so.” Gray sighed. “Treason tends to be most effective when you can only find one indication of it. After that, you start seeing suspicion in every shadow. Like Othello, everyone’s against you and no one can be trusted. It rots an organization to the core.”

              Adam turned to his tablet for a moment. “They’ll rendezvous with us in less than half an hour. Less if we meet them half way.”

              “Tim, set a course to pick that shuttle up,” Gray said. “Redding, engage when ready. We’re going to have to move that way anyway to take on the other two ships in the system. I doubt they’ll let us pick our people up in peace.”

              “Probably won’t be necessary,” Olly said. “If our folks get what they need, they can hop up here and we can jump out without another engagement. So long as we don’t look like we’re trying to grab the plans, the enemy seems content to let their ground forces do the work…and their pilots. Our fighters are still heavily engaged throughout the system.”

              “And in need of resupply,” Adam added.

              “Let’s get back to being their mobile base then,” Gray said. “And I like your recommendation, Olly. We’ll push them when we have to. Right now, we’ll hang back and see what happens…and help that poor soul recover from his injuries.”

***

              Doctor Laura Brand’s medical bays were filled with injured from four different vessels. There were so many people, they took over one of the mess halls and a full barracks to offer additional triage units. Anyone who passed a first aid certification helped them stabilize and comfort the afflicted.

              Commander Everly sent her a private message. “Doctor, you’ve got a high value patient about to arrive in desperate need of attention. Can you and a team meet them in the hangar?”

              “I’m a little busy, Commander,” Laura replied. “We’ve got a
lot
of high value patients.”

              “Not like this,” he replied. “He has information we need…it
may
help with our current efforts.”

              Laura sighed. “Yes, Max and I will go down there. We’re all I can spare at the moment.”

              “That’ll do, Doctor. Thank you.”

             
Priggish military bastard
. Laura tapped her tablet hard and found her assistant, Max. “We have to head to the hangar for a high value injured person. Grab your kit and diagnostics. We’ll be triaging as we move him to a better location.”

              “What happened to him?”

              “I wasn’t told but assume the worst.” Laura shook her head. “At least we’re doing disaster relief instead of patching up our own soldiers. Better than that last fight, right?”

              “I guess we have a better idea of how to take these guys on. The captain learns from his mistakes plus, we’ve got one of the alliance ships to help. The last time, our backup involved some tech crew and a ship no knew how to fly.”

              “I didn’t think about that,” Laura replied. They boarded the elevator and took it down to the hangar level then hurried down the hall. “I wonder how long we’ll have to wait.”

              A voice blared over the speakers, “incoming search and rescue vessel. ETA, five minutes.”

              “Oh…well, there you go I suppose.”

              Max smirked. “They read your mind.”

              “I really hate coming down here.” Laura motioned to the energy field protecting them from deep space. She looked out at the stars and shivered. “The fact a quarter inch thick atomized field just isn’t enough safety in my opinion.”

              “Hey, works better than metal,” Max replied. “No debris can get through it so you know…no one just dies because we get too close to some rocks.”

              “You have such a way with words, Max. Thanks…” Laura shook her head. “Just um…try not to cheer me up in the future, okay? I don’t think I can handle it.”

              They saw the ship some distance off, the burners offering it a backlight glow. Men and women moved about the deck, repairing ships and carrying equipment here and there. They’d been far enough away from the action to give the techs a breather to catch up. Now that the Behemoth charged back toward danger, everyone would find themselves busier.

              “Search and rescue craft landing in twenty seconds,” The tower called out. “Please clear the landing area.”

              People moved casually out of the way but Laura didn’t get it. They were too lax in her opinion. A massive space vessel was about to put down in the middle of their area and they didn’t seem to even notice. Sure, they got out of the way but none of them watched as the ship pierced the energy field and began landing procedures.

              “This makes me nervous…” Laura muttered.

              “Relax, Doc.” Max patted her shoulder. “They do this all the time.”

              “When should we…you know…get closer to it?”

              Max motioned with his head. “We can make our way there now. Come on.”

              They approached as the ship finished it’s docking procedures, the landing gear hissing as the hydraulics accepted the weight. A platform dropped, slapping the ground hard enough to make Laura jump. Her ears rang from the clamor of metal striking metal and she frowned.
No wonder so many people complain of hearing problems
.

              “This place is out of control!”

              “It’s not a petting zoo, doc.” Max stopped her from advancing as the medical crew brought down a floating gurney. They saw someone writhing on it, their head moving back and forth as they approached. “I guess that’s who we’re here for.”