Clidepp Requital (5 page)

* * *

The
Babbage
left Diabolisto orbit within two hours of the Marines completing their work planet-side and transporting back to the ship. Nothing of the Clidepp military hardware remained on the planet—at least nothing still usable or salvageable. Within six months the vegetation would overgrow the rebel encampments, effectively erasing all obvious record of their stay on the planet. Dying vegetation would eventually cover the scrap on the ground, and in the annuals to come it would become buried in the subsurface layers.

~ June 10
^th
, 2285 ~

"Does everyone understand their assignment?" Klieppaso asked as he faced his five lieutenants. Each had been charged with carrying out a specific task in the upcoming operation. When all nodded, he asked, "Are your men ready?" Again all nodded. "Good. Let's take our positions. I'll give you the signal when it's time to move."

The
Babbage
had been underway to Earth from Diabolisto for seven days GST, and most of the rebels appeared happy to be aboard
.
And why wouldn't they be glad to be off a hot, humid mud-ball where insects feasted daily on their blood and the larger indigenous life forms were developing a taste for their flesh? The others seemed totally demoralized and sat in small groups most of the day. As a result, the attention of the Marine guards had grown the slightest bit lax. But when prisoners were being contained in one large common area instead of individual cells, there was no letting down of the guard.

Not being a warship, the
Babbage
didn't have a Marine contingent. And despite its enormous size, its ship's complement was small by any measure. So guarding the prisoners had fallen to the Marines from the
Perry
's crew.

Klieppaso and his rebel supporters had been closely monitoring the guards' operating procedures and schedules since first being housed in the former hold. The Marine actions and reactions were rigid and predictable. Klieppaso believed that by interjecting chaos into a tense situation, he could use the guards' momentary confusion and indecision to advantage.

The Marines became aware of a problem when one of the prisoners used the intercom mounted on the bulkhead just inside the hold. "Help!" the rebel shouted, "One of our people is unable to breathe. He's dying."

The sergeant in charge of the detail immediately reported the problem to the
Babbage's
sickbay, then used the closed-circuit vid system installed in the hold when it was designated as a prison cell. A group of about ten Clidepp prisoners were gathered around one who was lying on the deck. They seemed to be trying some sort of resuscitation.

The four Marines in his squad had begun preparing themselves as soon as the call came. They knew some kind of action was called for, and they would be ready when the sergeant decided what that would be.

"Prisoner down— emergency procedure seven," Sgt. Davidson said. "We'll collect him and bring him back out here where the medics can work on him. Look sharp, people. Let's move in."

The squad entered the hold as soon as the sergeant entered the code to raise the door. They were armed only with stun batons and stun pistols.

The Marine who would remain at the door was the least experienced member of the detail. It was his job to stand in the entranceway outside the bay and shut the wide door after the detail passed back out with the ill prisoner or to shut it immediately if something went wrong.

The two hundred three rebels were spread out all over the hold as the four Marines entered. One of the Marines moved to the right, herding prisoners there towards the ship's hull at the rear of the hold. Another Marine did that on the left, while Sgt. Davidson and Lance Cpl. Lynch slowly moved towards the Clidepp rebel who was down, clearing a path by herding the rebels ahead of them towards the back of the hold. Everything seemed to be going smoothly, but the Marines never realized that the rebels closest to them were the smallest of the band.

The guard in the corridor who had responsibility for closing the door was concentrating so intently on what was happening with the prisoners inside the hold that he never realized the medical people responding to the emergency had arrived behind him. The doctor and two orderlies were past him before he could react. He followed to stop them, leaving his post unguarded. It was then that Klieppaso gave the signal to commence the operation.

All the prisoners that Klieppaso controlled rushed the Marines and medical personnel at once. They had orders to subdue but not harm the Spaccs. The armed Marines immediately began to stun rebels who closed on them, but the men behind them grabbed the stunned rebels and carried them forward, using them as shields. The rebels in front had known they were going to be stunned, but they also knew the effect wasn't fatal. To a man they had volunteered for the duty.

As the tsunami of rebels attacked, the Marines were overwhelmed. A few rebels using the rebels in front of them as shields were stunned, but the size of the rebel force was too great. In seconds, the Marines and the medical personnel who had responded to the emergency were stunned as rebels got control of the weapons. The Marine who had left his post was stunned within seconds of the others. The final count was eight Spaces down and thirty-six rebels down. All would recover in a few hours. The rebel who had been 'dying' climbed to his feet and smiled at his commander.

* * *

As the rebels had begun efforts to take control of the hold, the two Marines in the security office were watching on the closed circuit vid system. Alerted to a possible problem when the sergeant notified the sickbay, they immediately swung into action. The first thing they did was have Engineering lock down the area. All bulkhead doors in that frame-section were closed and locked, preventing access to other corridors. All control gates in the ventilator systems were closed down so that escape through a ventilator shaft was impossible, and the hatches on the access tunnels that allowed emergency travel between decks were locked. The lift doors in that frame-section and deck were also locked, and lifts would no longer even stop at that level. Lastly, all monitors in the area were disconnected from the ship-wide net so they couldn't be used to secure information about the layout of the ship or information about the forces being assembled to retake that deck and frame-section. Other than shutting down the information net, it was essentially the same procedure that would be followed in the event of a fire, except neither the Alonn gas nor the fire suppression foam systems had activated.

The area where the prisoner hold was located was now isolated from the rest of the ship, although all sensors and the vid cameras in the hold and corridors continued to operate. The air supply was limited to what presently existed in the hold and corridor. Engineering could unlock and release any of the hatches or accesses only on command from a senior officer.

* * *

"Captain," Nigel Wendham said when he lifted the cover on his bedside com unit and squinted up at the chronometer on the bulkhead across from his bed. It was 0209 hours GST.

"Sir," the image of Lt. Commander Renee Sloan said, "we have a containment problem in prison hold two. The rebels have managed to overcome their Marine guard and are in control of that deck in that frame-section. The security office has isolated them by closing the emergency corridor doors and locking all access tunnels and vents."

"Weapons?'

"As far as we know, their weaponry is limited to the stun pistols and batons carried by the guards. So far, they've been unable to break into the weapons locker in the corridor outside the hold. Security believes it would be wise to assume they have a few knives and clubs fashioned from materials available in the hold."

"Has Major Burrows been alerted?"

"Yes, sir. He's on his way to the security office to evaluate the situation."

"I'll be on the bridge in five minutes."

"Yes, sir."

"Captain, out."

"Watch Commander, out."

* * *

Sydnee came awake instantly as a message received by her CT began to play in her head.

"Attention. The Captain has declared a Stage-One Emergency in Deck 22, Frame-section 224. Rebel prisoners have effected an escape from basic confinement. All Marine personnel are ordered to immediately get into their personal armor and stand by. All interdiction pilots from the
Perry
are also ordered to immediately don their personal armor and stand by. The
Babbage's
pilots are ordered to stand by in their quarters. All other personnel are ordered to stand down and remain in their quarters. That is all."

Sydnee leapt from her bed and pulled on the bodysuit worn under the armor, then began dressing in the lightweight Dakinium armor that would protect her from most danger. Once dressed, she checked her weapons to make sure the laser pistol and rifle were fully charged. She strapped one knife to her left thigh and one to her right calf.

As fully prepared as possible to respond to any emergency, Sydnee sat down to wait.

* * *

"They've managed to isolate us in this part of the ship," the rebel lieutenant said to Klieppaso. "The corridor doors are closed and we can't open them. The lift doors won't open, and even the tube accesses to other decks seem to be sealed somehow."

"Keep trying. We didn't break free of a small prison only to remain trapped in a slightly larger one." Klieppaso smashed his closed fist down into his open hand as he turned to survey the situation in the hold. He'd known there were vid units in the hold, but he couldn't disable them in advance without tipping his hand. The Spaccs had responded far faster than he'd expected. They must have begun locking down the deck accesses even before his men completed overpowering the small Marine guard detail.

Klieppaso's job as a cargo foreman had earned him a senior place in the rebel military hierarchy because his civilian job had required he successfully maintain discipline among rough men in difficult and sometimes dangerous situations. But he had no formal military training and so couldn't predict how senior military people would prepare for different scenarios and respond to changing conditions. What he'd seen as 'rigid and predictable' behavior was viewed as 'disciplined and dependable' in the eyes of the military.

* * *

Sydnee sat up straighter as a faint chime in her left ear indicated that she was about to receive a CT message.

"All Marine enlisted personnel on standby report to 18-223-21-Q in full personal body armor on the double. All Marine officers and all Space Command interdiction pilots on standby report to 18-223-23-Q in full personal body armor on the double."

Sydnee jumped up from her bed, strapped on her pistol belt, clipped her rifle to her chest armor and grabbed her helmet before heading for the door. As the doors slid open, she paused to avoid running into the other pilots from the
Perry
, all of whom had been billeted in the same visitor quarters area.

Jerry Weems noticed Sydnee's doors opening, slowed, and then stopped to allow her to enter the corridor ahead of him. She smiled and stepped out, then turned to her left and double-timed it with the others toward a transport car station.

The nearest transport car station was two frame-sections away, and upon arriving Sydnee and Weems got into line to await an available car. As they waited, Weems asked, "What do you think?"

"About what?"

"This emergency."

"Um. It's not a drill."

"Is that all?"

Before Syd could answer, an empty transport car arrived and she was able to squeeze in with Weems and the other pilots. The car would whisk them swiftly towards the stern of the gargantuan ship, delivering them to frame-section 220.

"What more do you expect?" Sydnee asked. "I've never participated in a drill like this. We're guests on a strange ship, and I have no idea how we can help resolve this problem. We'll probably just sit on our hands while the regular crew handles this, and then we can go back to our quarters."

"Want to have dinner with me?"

"Thinking of your stomach again?" she said with a smile.

"What else is there to do? As you said, we'll probably just sit around with nothing to do until the problem is resolved."

"Okay, let's have
breakfast
when it's over."

When the transport car stopped at frame-section 220, the pilots stepped out. This frame-section didn't have a lift, so they used the lift in 222 to reach deck 18.

After double-timing it to frame-section 223, they followed the corridor signs to reach room 23-Q.

Marine First Lieutenant Kelly MacDonald was the only one in the small conference room when the group of pilots arrived.

"Hi, Kel," Sydnee said, as she entered the room and took a seat next to her friend. Weems took a seat on her other side.

"Hi, Syd."

"How bad is it?"

"I haven't heard any more than you. I was asleep until I received the message to put on my body armor and report here."

"Same here."

"Attention on deck," someone said as Captain Wendham and his Exec Officer, Commander Phoste, Captain Lidden of the
Perry
, and Major Burrows, the senior Marine on board, entered.

"As you were," Captain Wendham said while everyone was in the process of rising, and the Marine officers and pilots dropped back into their chairs.

"As you've heard," Captain Wendham said, "some of the rebel prisoners have broken out of confinement. They've overcome their Marine guard and spread out from the hold into the frame-section corridor. Major Burrows will now brief you."

"The rebels we rescued from Diabolisto have broken out of their initial containment," Burrows began, "and are holding their Marine guards and three of the
Babbage's
medical people as hostages. Of the two hundred three rebels rescued from the planet, twenty-six have apparently chosen not to participate in this escape attempt. They have remained separate and apart in the prison hold and have been observed conversing with Currulla, the original leader of the band. The active group seems to be following the orders of a Clidepp insurgent named Klieppaso.