Beyond Mars Crimson Fleet (19 page)

"I'm sorry, Sir," the medic
apologized, "she's gone."

Richard blinked
dumbfounded. For a minute he just stared at the young woman. Her
lifeless eyes were still open wide and staring directly at
him.

With a
slow sweep of his hand, the captain of the
Crazy Horse
gently closed her eyelids.
Richard then opened her tunic slightly and found her dog tags.
Holding them so he could see the encryption on the metallic
identification, he read her name and age to himself: Corporal Emma
Groves, age 20, Martian Marine Corps.

Touching and caressing her
head, Richard wanted to offer a small prayer in tribute to the
young woman, but for a moment he winced in mental pain at the
thought at asking for Divine Mercy. His own turmoil with his faith
in God stood as a restraint, but there was no way that he would
forsake her soul to an everlasting darkness. And so Richard humbly
yielded his pride to the Creator, and leaned over and kissed her
forehead gently. “May God grant you eternal peace, Emma Groves,”
Richard whispered sadly into her ear, “daughter of
Mars.”

He then
delicately pulled her battle jacket off and placed it over her
head. A little teary-eyed and shaky, the Captain of the
Crazy Horse
then stood up
and ambled away into the shuttle bay.

Hanger Bay One was much
worse than the scene in the corridor. Not only was it magnified,
but also it was compiled with total chaos. Orderlies and medics
roamed everywhere, either tending or transporting wounded. The few
doctors and nurses that were sent from the hospital ship found
themselves glued to the hastily made operating tables, while an
assembly line of mangled bodies waited their turn for surgery. Some
of the wounds were unbelievable, as though huge claws had ripped
them apart.

Wakinyan aimlessly
meandered through the bay in search of Major Franks. He finally
found the man sitting next to a wounded marine lying on a makeshift
stretcher. As Wakinyan drew closer, the captain noticed Major
Franks just staring at the young marine next to him.

“Anything I can do to help,
Major?” Wakinyan invaded the Franks solitude.

Franks just kept staring at
the man next to him. “I don’t know, Captain? How good are you at
raising the dead?” the marine somberly stated.

Wakinyan’s eyes shot to the
man on the stretcher. Like the young woman the captain had just
left, the young marine was gone.

For a moment, Richard
dropped his head and his frown tightened. He then took the blanket
that partially wrapped the dead man and covered the young marine’s
head with it. Wakinyan then stood up silently, not knowing what to
say or do next.

“He’d still be alive right
now if you macho heroes hadn’t decided to leave Mars and hijack the
rest of us with you!” a female voice suddenly taunted Richard from
behind.

Both Wakinyan and Franks
turned to confront apparently a woman surgeon who had walked up
from behind them. Even though a bloodstained gown and surgical cap
concealed her figure, Wakinyan, immediately recognized her as
Doctor Rhianna Bryan. For a moment, there was a cold silence
between the two.

“What are you doing here?”
Richard asked somewhat angrily.

“Cleaning up the mess you made!” Rhianna replied
defiantly.

Regaining his composure, Wakinyan was quick to fire
back. “Doctor, more than two thirds of the people of Mars decided
to do this. They were sick and tired of Earth’s abuse and tyranny.
They wanted something better for themselves—and their families.
Time also was running out, and there was no other option.”

Rhianna, however, continued her
verbal assault. “I don’t buy your line,
Boy Scout
. You probably didn’t even
try to work things out with the Earthers. All this was really for
the sake of blood and glory!”

Wakinyan’s temper then began to
flare. “Doctor, may I remind you that I am the captain of this
vessel—and you will have respect for me! Unless you want to do your
operating—
in my brig
—I suggest you curve that sharp tongue of yours!”

Rhianna knew that Wakinyan
meant every word that he said, and bit her lip in
acquiescence.

Richard carefully studied Rhianna as his anger began
to subside. Even though much pain had passed between them over the
years, Wakinyan still carried tender feelings for her. There was
still a special affection for the woman in his heart, knowing that
he could never hate her.

“Doctor,
I’ve ordered half the ship’s bunks be made available for the
wounded,” the captain of the
Crazy
Horse
informed. “I also thought you might
be running out of blood. I’m having my second in command set up
donors as quickly as possible. He’ll get with you to work out the
details. Is there anything else that you
require?”

Rhianna just stood silently
while her gaze dropped to the deck in front of her. Wakinyan
frowned in return, feeling remorse for his harsh words. She made
him feel guilty so easily.

Suddenly, Wakinyan’s
transceiver beeped.

Richard quickly touched the
device to confirm reception the transmission. “Go ahead, Mr.
Randall.”

“Captain, there is a very
large altercation on deck three! Security is en-route, but I think
its going to require both you and Major Franks presence!” Randall’s
voice urged.

Wakinyan glanced at the
marine officer with a look that bore his displeasure, adding to the
awkwardness of the moment.

“They’re just blowing off
steam,” the major defended.

Wakinyan just let out a sigh. “We’re on our way, Mr.
Randall.”

The
captain of the
Crazy Horse
then turned to Doctor Rhianna Bryan. “If you’ll
excuse us, Doctor, we have other matters to attend
to.”

The two military men then
left the surgeon and the hanger bay. But as they journeyed to deck
three, Franks’ curiosity got the better of him.

“I take it you know her?”
the major pried.

Wakinyan hesitated, but
could see no harm in answering the marine’s question. “Know her? I
was once married to her!”

* * * * *

Chapter 11: Apoapsis
Three

Somewhere in the depths of
space, a forlorn solar system consisting of six planets rotated
slowly around a giant red sun. The solar system’s location was so
remote that it was abandoned for many, many years. This was the
fate of Apoapsis Three.

A discarded waypoint for
other stellar colonies, the system once flourished to a brisk trade
of travelers and immigrants from Earth. However, the development of
stable hyper-drives doomed its usefulness and it was eventually
forsaken. Only an inactive jump-gate, some orbiting man-made space
harbors, and deserted transit and ship tender facilities on a small
nameless rocky planet some 86,000,000 miles from the star stood as
unremembered monuments to human visitation as they slowly decayed.
Yet, although the Earth forgot about the system—someone else had
not.

Over the last two years,
Apoapsis Three hummed with new, but clandestine activity. The
spaceport and harbor were rebuilt and expanded, while the jump-gate
was repaired. Stockpiles of supplies and material were gathered in
secret and in great measure. The system was to serve one final
purpose. And this was the day it came to pass, when a fleet of
ships

Martian
ships

stopped
here on their way to their new home world.

From the
bridge of the
Mariner
, Commander Paladin surveyed his fleet as they took on
supplies, repaired themselves, and reorganized their formations. He
was, however, more concerned about the jump-gate and the timing of
its next event. As he looked at his chronometer, he hoped that an
inter-dimensional collision wasn’t about to occur. It didn’t as the
jump-gate suddenly came to life in a swirl of energy, ejecting
several transport ships.

“Free
Ride to Angel Fire. Free Ride to Angel Fire. Do you copy? Over,”
the voice of Captain Vanessa Parks challenged the
Mariner
.

“Commander, Captain Parks has arrived,”
Winslow called to Paladin.

“I know,” Paladin
confirmed, “and it’s about time. Put her on audio.”

“Aye, Sir,” Winslow
obeyed.

“Free Ride to Angel Fire.
Free Ride to Angel Fire. Do you copy? Over,” the voice of Captain
Parks repeated.

“Angel Fire to Free Ride,
we read you loud and clear. Good to see you Vanessa. Did you have
much trouble stealing the ships?” Paladin quizzed his
subordinate.

“Not too much, Commander.
We were gone before they knew what happened,” Vanessa was quick to
answer. “Where are the sub-hyper transports?”

“They’re in anchor near the
Galileo. I’ll have some tugboats guide you in. As soon as you drop
anchor, begin the transfer,” Paladin directed.

“Aye, Sir,” Vanessa
acknowledged.

Suddenly,
the jump-gate came alive again, spitting out the last of the
Martian fleet: the destroyer
Crazy
Horse
.

“That was mighty close,” Vanessa observed
the destroyer’s unexpected arrival. “It’s a good thing he didn’t
jump out a minute earlier.”

Paladin smiled tiredly. “Yes, a very good
thing.”

The
Crazy Horse
quickly moved next to the hospital ship with careful haste.
The wounded were still apparently very much on Wakinyan’s mind as
his voice beamed over the same military frequency, arranging for
the casualties’ immediate transfer. Paladin listened and viewed the
ship’s movements, but made no attempt to
interfere.

“Mister Winslow,” Paladin
spoke as he began to walk to the hatchway, “take the command. Have
a few space tugs guide Captain Parks’ ships in, and begin the
transfer of civilians from the sub-hyper transports over to hers.
Also have Captain Wakinyan report to my cabin
immediately.”

“Aye, Sir,” Winslow
replied. “Anything else, Commander?”

Paladin stopped for a
moment and turned to his junior officer. “Yes. Tell Wakinyan that
means at my convenience, not his,” the man stated almost with a
laugh.

Winslow slightly scowled as
Paladin disappeared through the hatch. Once the older man was gone,
Winslow’s face contorted from displeasure to one of controlled
anger. He then dawdled for a minute before following his
orders.

* * * * *

It was
sometime later that a shuttle from the
Crazy Horse
was guided onto a landing
pad in one of the
Mariner
’s massive bays. Once the craft
was down and powered off, Wakinyan departed the shuttle, attired in
a clean and proper combat uniform.

As Wakinyan began walking
through the bay, he beheld the ship’s crew hustling about. They
were busily performing maintenance and repairs on the ship as well
as the fighters, which each cruiser held. This reminded him of his
own lateness as he continued onward.

Richard
guessed that this was one of the reasons why the fleet commander
had summoned him. Due to a power fluctuation occurring during
flight, the
Crazy Horse
was forced to drop out of hyperspace for safety. Although the
problem was not critical, it took over two hours to find and fix,
putting him behind schedule. However, the Martian captain knew that
Paladin was not one to suffer excuses.

As Wakinyan made his way through the maze of crewmen
and crafts, the sharp eyes of a fighter pilot spotted him.
Lieutenant William Collings smirked good-naturedly as he squatted
on the ship’s deck beneath the wing of his fighter. As Captain
Wakinyan approached, Collings turned to his wingman and called out,
“Hey Boosy!”

Squadron Leader Colette Boussard looked up from her
maintenance chores to her wingman who simply nodded to the
advancing figure. Colette smiled broadly and stood up, wiping her
hands on a greasy cloth. “Be back in a few minutes,” she excused
herself.

As Wakinyan maintained a steady pace towards an
elevator, he was unaware that Colette had fallen-in directly behind
him. Suddenly, he felt a sharp, hard slap on his rump. His body
jerked around to the invasion of his privacy, only to come
face-to-face with the grinning female assailant. Colette’s auburn
hair danced in a ponytail, as she stood there and laughed at him.
Wakinyan, however, was flustered by the antics of the beautiful
woman with grease smudges on her face.

“Boosy, don’t do that,” he
reprimanded with a subdued smile.

“That’s Squadron Leader
Colette Boussard, Captain. And fighter pilots never pass up targets
of opportunity,” the impish woman chuckled.

Richard’s face broke down
into a broad grin and the two lightly kissed.

“You know, one of these
days, I’m going to put you up on charges for insubordination and
harassment,” Richard joked.