29

“Shall I ask Jelly to prepare the new shuttle for a surface landing?” X-37 asked.

I touched my fingertips in our “yes” signal, never looking away from the vice admiral or letting on that I was distracted. Something occurred to me, something I should have remembered from my conversations with Henshaw. The man had his own LAI, possibly more advanced than mine or even one of the double or quadruple LAIs rumored to exist.

I laughed, wondering how crazy I would be if I had multiple X-37 units giving me advice.

“I don’t know why I even talk to you, Reaper,” Nebs said with exaggerated tiredness. “All you do is bust my balls and make bad decisions. This can be over right now. Surrender and I’ll go easy on everyone, even you and your X unit.”

“It’s me you want. Take me and leave everyone else out of this,” I said.

“Stalling tactic detected,” X-37 said approvingly. “But please promise me you are not serious about this course of action.”

Nebs laughed at my offer as though it were the funniest thing he’d ever heard. There were actual tears in the corners of his eyes when he caught his breath.

“I need the girl more than you,” he said. “Load her up on that fancy new shuttle they gave you and bring her across to the Nightmare. Then we’ll talk,” he said.

“I need assurances,” I said.

“Need? I need you to surrender or die,” he shot back.

“Listen you son-of-a-bitch.” I moved close enough to the holo view to block his view of the rest of the Jellybird’s bridge. “One on one, you wouldn’t have a chance. Stop sending your lackies and face me like a man.”

Elise and Path quietly slipped out of the bridge and headed for the shuttle bay. X-37 kept me informed on their progress as I exchanged insults with Nebs.

“This has been fun,” I said several minutes later. “We should do it again some time. Until then, take your offer and shove it up your…”

“Connection lost,” Jelly advised as Nebs disappeared from the holo viewer.

“Jelly, activate the stealth cloak and turn around. We’re going back to Wallach.” I headed for the shuttle bay. When I got there, I found Elise wearing the stealth cloak. This told me two things: she’d graduated to a new level of pickpocketing and was thinking strategically.

I didn’t want her going head-to-head in combat. She was fierce enough, but we needed to fight smarter not harder—especially against the Union. With all of her recent training, she’d be deadly with the cloak hiding her.

“You got a problem?” she asked.

I adjusted the way the cloak fell over her tactical vest and stepped back. “Nope, I’m good with it.”

“I’m glad you approve,” she said.

“I’m glad you’re glad,” I said.

“Can I fly the shuttle?” she asked.

“Don’t press your luck, kid,” I responded, taking the pilot seat and strapping in.

Path and Elise took their places. Jelly gave me the all clear to launch. The bay doors opened, and I steered us into the void. The moment we were away from the ship, I hurled us toward the planet.

“Your descent vector is, how shall I say, rather steep,” X-37 said.

“Why don’t you do something useful like give me an update on the micro fighters pursuing us,” I said, making adjustments before we entered the planet’s atmosphere.

“How did you know we are being pursued by micro fighters?” X-37 asked. “I did not believe you had that type of sensory ability, or was that a random-ass guess?”

“It wasn’t exactly random. Of course they’re going to chase us,” I said as the atmosphere battered the shuttle, shaking us like dice in a gambler’s hand at a craps table.

“There are twelve Union micro fighters rapidly closing on our position,” X-37 said.

“X, tell me why they only sent half of their available fighters,” I ordered.

X-37’s response was immediate. “I suspect the others will approach from a different vector. It is equally likely they are being held for some type of trap that will kill all of us.”

“I knew it,” I said without much enthusiasm. The Wallach shuttle was harder to control than I had anticipated. On one hand, it was a very durable vehicle, but on the other, the controls were sluggish and hard to manage.

“What the hell are you doing?” Elise demanded. “You’re practically flying a straight line and those fighters are coming right at us.”

“You want to try?” I asked before I thought the rejoinder through.

“Yes!” Elise answered, grabbing onto control stick.

“That’s not what I meant, and you know it,” I said, then banked hard to the left. Any comment Elise was about to make was cut off by the force of the maneuver. I checked on Path and saw him struggling stoically.

“Your heart rate and blood pressure are higher than average,” X-37 said.

“Forget about that. I want you to focus on our ship and our pursuers,” I said, feeling lightheaded and seeing stars. I’d been through planetary assaults before and this wasn’t normal. Every injury I had sustained during the fight with the creature began to complain at once. Residue of the poison put my pinky finger to sleep and sent a spasm up my spine.

I wondered how Elise felt and hoped that the physical manifestations of her father’s experiments were healing her faster than I was healing.

That made me briefly think of Path. I was pretty busy avoiding our pursuers. My thoughts were coming fast, like I was clearing space in my head.

Path had been hammering away at Elise for much of our journey, and she recovered from her bruises well. Maybe that was a good thing. That knot of dread in my stomach wouldn’t go away no matter how I assured myself Elise was ready for this.

I couldn’t just rely on my Reaper augmentations and the pain-in-the-butt runaway. I had an entire crew of uniquely skilled individuals.

“Path, do you have flight training?” I asked.

“I do not,” he replied. “Why do you ask?”

“You’re going to let him fly?” Elise shouted, amazement and betrayal giving her words the force of profanity.

“Just a thought that occurred to me. Someday, if we don’t die, we’ll all need to fly,” I said as the shift shook violently.

“Perhaps Novasdaughter could teach us,” Path said.

“What about Randolph? He’s senior and probably has more flight time,” I said, cutting hard to my left to avoid a stream of micro fighter bullets.

“I doubt he is a better pilot,” Path said, then grunted as my maneuvering slammed him sideways in his seat. “I believe he is a political creature—promoted according to who he knows rather than what he can do.”

Focusing on my tactical readouts, I put the shuttle into a spin.

We slid sideways, unable to turn all the way over. Elise scrolled through screens frantically. “There has to be a way to pull this off.”

“Incoming fire detected,” X-37 said for all of us to hear.

“All right, it’s about to get real,” I said, then increased the violence of my evasive maneuvers. The small but very powerful projectiles the micro fighters used as weaponry peppered our wing.

“That was a very ineffective maneuver,” X-37 said.

“Why don’t you stop wasting time judging me and figure out a way for the shields to work!”

“All of the shield power has to go to the front during atmospheric reentry,” Elise explained, still searching her screens for an answer to our problem. She’d learned to speak basic Wallach with continuing assistance from X-37, but reading technical instructions was different. 

Icons and diagrams helped. I started laughing. The front of our ship glowed from atmospheric friction.

“What do you find so humorous, Reaper Cain?” X-37 asked. “Perhaps I could integrate it into my rapidly growing humor algorithm.”

“We’re getting the crash course for this shuttle,” I managed to say.

“Not helpful!” Elise snapped.

“My suggestion, Reaper Cain, is to fly more effectively,” X-37 said.

“Fine,” I said, then aimed straight for the surface of the planet. We shot downward like a bullet, our shields glowing with dangerous new levels of heat. Another volley of gunfire pinged along our hull.

“Would you like the bad news or the good news?” X-37 asked.

“Just say it,” I grunted through my clenched teeth.

“The good news is that the shuttle has three main thrusters,” X-37 said, unaffected by gravity or the very real chance of our impending death. “The bad news is that two of them are now ineffective.”

“What you’re trying to tell me is that this thing isn’t going to be able to take off again,” I said, spinning the ship neatly.

“Exactly, Reaper Cain,” X-37 said. “We can, however, continue to fall toward the surface.”

“What the hell are you doing?” Elise demanded. 

“It’s better than being shot to pieces,” I argued. “And since we’re going straight down, it’s a whole different set of rules.”

I came out of the triple roll and veered to the left as hard as I could make the ship fly. The fighters came after me like a swarm of intergalactic insects with micro auto cannons blazing.

“X, find me a place to land,” I ordered.

Elise was faster, almost like she had been anticipating the exact moment I would need this information.

She read off the coordinates like a pro and I followed them.

“Brace for landing,” X-37 announced. Now wasn’t the time to resent the fact that my limited artificial intelligence didn’t sound the least bit stressed or out of breath, but I thought it anyway.

Pieces peeled away from the ship as we neared the surface. The dashboard flashed dozens of warnings. A loud buzzer tortured my hearing. A quick glance at the screen showed me a language I still couldn’t read. My best guess was that it was some sort of impact warning.

“Landing struts are deployed,” Elise advised.

I pulled back on the steering mechanism, bringing up the nose and flaring our wings at the last second. The landing struts touched the surface and we slid for hundreds of meters, plowing up dirt. The path of destruction we left was impressive, dirt flinging into the air on each side of us.

“We’re down,” X-37 said as we stopped moving. “That was a perfect landing.”

“Really?” Elise and I asked at the same time.

“No, Reaper Cain, I was attempting to boost your morale by lying to you,” X-37 said. “In reality, you nearly killed us.”

“Elise, Path, it’s time to go. Now,” I said, ripping off my restraint harness and hustling to the door. Which didn’t open.

“Running a systems diagnostic now,” X-37 said. “It appears the door is nonfunctional. You’ll have to operate it manually by using the dog wheel. This will require an enormous amount of force due to the damage you have caused this ship.”

I grabbed the oversized wheel on the door and twisted with all my strength. “I’ve always wondered why they call it a dog wheel,” I grunted.

“Irrelevant!” Elise said, finding a place for her hands and then pushing up on one side of the wheel as I pulled down on the other. She drove upward with her legs, face contorted with effort.

The door slowly cranked open. Path brushed past us and drew his sword. His defensive stance was fluid and mobile as he turned to check in every direction for an attack.

I was about to step out when the micro fighters strafed our position. I ducked back and lost sight of Path.

The brief but intense assault on our position was over as soon as it began, but I knew they would be coming around for another pass, and not far behind them would be more assault shuttles with Union troops.

I’d acted fast to get here before the ground troops and hoped it was the right choice.

Grabbing Elise, I guided her toward the exit that was now full of bullet holes. “Go!”

It was night on the surface of Wallach. Local wildlife had gone silent after our crash landing. The capital city loomed over the horizon. Near it on the outskirts of its industrial zone was the power plant complex alive with the activity of hundreds of repair crews and other workers.

Elise sprinted across the clearing overgrown with waist-high flowering plants. In the moonlight, they appeared a silvery purple color. I followed, scanning the area as I went, and saw that we weren’t as close to the power plant as I had hoped.

“Could we have landed a bit farther from our objective?” I asked X-37.

“Given your rate of descent, it was the only option,” X-37 explained. “But thank you for your ill-timed sarcasm.”

“Elise, Path, check in,” I ordered as I moved.

“We’re okay,” Elise advised. “Keep coming the direction you’re heading, and you’ll find us in the tree line. Path is scouting a way to the power plant. If you hadn’t been flying like such a maniac, we could’ve landed at one of the city airports and taken a ground vehicle to the power plant.”

“I’m not arguing with you, kid,” I said. “It’s been a long day, all right?”

She didn’t respond. I began running and soon caught up to them. 

“There are animal trails that will lead us through this forest,” Path said. “We can move very fast, but it is not a direct route. If we go straight to our objective, we will be required to fight the forest and may run into additional obstacles we cannot foresee because we do not know this planet.”

“Thanks, Path” I said, visually checking the gear of my companions to make sure they were ready for what was coming. I wanted to go first and set the pace but wasn’t sure they could keep up with me at night. My optics and my general willingness to take abuse in all forms would make me much faster than either of them, even Elise in this environment.

“Check your gear and let’s go,” I ordered. 

“We already did that,” Elise said with none of her juvenile attitude. She was in her serious professional mode.

“Good. Path, take the lead. I’ll bring up the rear,” I said. 

We headed toward the power plant complex at an aggressive pace. The sound of night animals slowly returned to the forest. I could hear the city in the distance, machines and vehicles but also the almost musical sounds of a thriving city. 

“Check your comm links. We need to stay spread out and it’s too dark for hand signals,” I said.

“I read you, Cain,” Path acknowledged.

“Present,” Elise said.

“It’s not too dark for you to use hand signals,” X-37 advised.

“I’m not sure that’s helpful, X,” I said, slightly winded from running after my two friends and allies. “They’re faster than I thought they would be.”

“You’re still on the main channel,” Elise said. “And thanks for the compliment.”

We came to the perimeter fence of the power plant a short time later. The wall made it look like a fortress with guard towers and security lighting at full power. It appeared formidable, but I knew a determined Union assault, even a small one, would breach the place easily.

“I am attempting to communicate with their security supervisor now,” X-37 said.

“That won’t freak them out?” I said.

“Actually, it’s surprisingly straightforward,” X-37 said. “I was able to contact them with something called an immediate correspondence protocol, in effect, a text message directly to the duty chief’s personal account. I’m getting a response now.”

“Hold up for a second,” I instructed Path and Elise. We gathered to watch the main road leading into the power plant from the countryside.

“The security chief’s name is David Howard Barnard,” X-37 said.

I groaned.

“How is that helpful, Reaper Cain?” X-37 asked. “What is the purpose of such a distressing noise?”

“I had a bad experience with a guy who had three first names. Don’t worry about it. Tell this guy who we are and that we came to help and that they are in danger,” I said.

“David is very excited and asks you to show yourself so that he can admit us into the facility,” X-37 advised. “You’re welcome.”

“That’s it? Never mind. Thanks, X.” I strode forward with my hands up. The nighttime security guards probably didn’t know this was a meaningless gesture. I could snatch my HDK Dominator or my pistol from my tactical gear before they realized what was happening.

“We see you, Mr. Cain,” a guard shouted enthusiastically. “I’m David Howard Barnard, supervisor tonight. I have to admit, I wasn’t expecting to meet you and your friends. Was that your ship that got shot down?”

“Yeah, but I was actually evading their attacks and landed that way on purpose,” I said, moving forward and motioning for Elise and Path to follow.

“Ouch,” David said over his loudspeaker.

“It’s the precursor of a Union attack,” I said. “We need to hurry. They’re targeting the power plant. They know it’s vulnerable.”

“I’m alerting command now,” David said. “Once you’re inside, I’ll give you a tour of the defenses.”

His promise didn’t hold up. By the time we were inside the power plant, one of the security teams was scrambling for all available personnel. Soldiers with sturdy rifles climbed up the guard towers, which were inside the walls rather than on the walls. There were no heavy guns or reinforced positions set up to maintain interlocking fields of fire against a determined foe.

The gate was sturdy, but made to handle heavy equipment basic security, not repel invaders. At best, the place was designed to keep out thieves, spies, or possibly terrorists. I doubted anyone had considered an attack like I knew was coming.

Vice Admiral Nebs didn’t have the numbers to overwhelm the place. Unfortunately, he didn’t have to hold anything he took. All he had to do was get below the surface and damage any part of the cooling system. Already on the brink, it wouldn’t take much to cause a meltdown.

“I think I see the dropships,” Elise said, pointing toward the trees. We had been to that area on our track from our landing zone. There were several good places to put down ships. I’d made my hasty selection under fire.

“I see them. I’m zooming in with my optics for a better look,” I said.

Elise and Path stood on either side of me, nervous but ready.

Some of the Wallach soldiers had seen them as well. I heard hopeful arguments. They didn’t think there were enough ships to be a threat.

“They could drop inside the walls once they realize how light our defenses are,” I said, “so be ready for that. It’s more likely to happen than not.”

“I will go to the maintenance yard,” Path said. “It is the largest open area within the power plant complex.”

A Wallach soldier rushed toward me, then stood at attention. “I’m Corporal Beale. Duty Chief David Howard Barnard sent me. I’m to get you whatever you need and lead you to the power plant complex or anywhere else you need to go.”

“Get down, Corporal,” I said, taking my own advice as the micro fighters returned for a strafing run. There were more of them this time.

“It seems that the vice admiral has sent all twenty-four of the Nightmare’s ships micro fighters on this mission,” X-37 advised. “I would expect the other carriers and their assault teams to join the fight sooner rather than later.”

Bullets zipped through concrete and steel, sometimes ricocheting, depending on the angle. Most Union chain guns utilized a tracer every tenth round. Wallach’s atmosphere provided oxygen for the pyrotechnics that hadn’t existed when they attacked us in the void. The rate of fire was so fast that their attack looked like some sort of energy weapon stitching the night with death.

What came next was worse.

“I don’t like that,” Elise said.

With Elise and Path by my side, I watched the tree line as several squads of Union shock troopers ran toward our position.

Shouts rose up from the Wallach defensive positions. Some were almost giddy with excitement, but others cursed.

“I’m going to take a wild bet that these are the Archangels our captured pilots warned us about,” I said. “Two seven-man squads, definitely commandos in heavy armor.”

“And we are about to see another surprise,” X-37 said, urging me to look toward the sky. “I have been operating on the assumption they have twenty-four micro fighters, but it appears that all three carriers have launched against us and that each must support thirty-six of the small atmospheric capable attack ships.”

I turned toward the wall of defenders and shouted, “Concentrate your fire on the ground troops. The ships will be too hard to hit. And use cover. We’re about to get strafed by several waves of micro fighters!”

The first wave of fighters blasted our position moments before the heavily armored Archangels reached us. Crouching behind the edge of the wall, I kept my eyes on the ground assaulters.

Each Archangel had a different weapons load out on their upgraded heavy armor. There were variations with shotguns mounted to their left forearms and shock batons that crackled with electricity on their right arms. Others had adorable little chain guns on shoulder mounts. Some were ready for close fighting, others for long-range combat, and some for specialized tasks like cutting holes in our walls.

These jerkoffs were ready for anything.

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