Shadows of the Gods: Crimson Worlds Refugees II (24 page)

Cutter could hear the sounds of McCloud’s odds moving back. They took a few steps, maybe half a dozen, and then all hell broke loose. The existing enemy fire doubled in intensity…and then a volley opened up from the direction of the camp, but much closer.

One of the Marines to Cutter’s left yelled and fell hard to the ground. The other three—and Bruce and Cutter—spun around immediately and opened fire.

Cutter felt the jarring of the assault rifle, and he realized his shooting was wild, uncontrolled. He released his finger, pausing for an instant before firing again, this time concentrating, trying to target the enemy warbots. He had no idea if he was hitting anything, but his fire felt truer, better.

Suddenly, he felt Bruce’s armored hand, grabbing him hard, pulling him up and shoving him forward a few meters. Then moving lower as the Marine’s armored hand shoved him downward…and out of the direct line of fire. He tried to steady himself, repositioning to resume his own shooting, but he stumbled and fell, dropping the rifle as he did and falling hard into the stone.

He let out a yell as he slammed down hard, struggling to ignore the pain from the fall. His hands were scuffed and bloody, and his left leg throbbed where his knee had slammed into the rock floor. There was fire all around, and he could see another one of the Marines down.

Bruce was crouched down about a meter and a half away, staying low, returning fire from behind cover. “You okay, Doc?” the he yelled, his voice thick with concern.

“I’m okay,” Cutter answered. He hurt like hell, but he knew he wasn’t badly injured, just banged up a little…and he wasn’t going to complain about getting a few cuts and scrapes when two Marines were already dead…or at least critically wounded. He reached out, feeling around until his hand felt the cool metal of the rifle. His fingers clawed at the weapon, pulling it up and grabbing it with his second hand.

He looked up…and his eye caught motion, an enemy warbot, moving toward Bruce. He felt adrenalin pouring into his bloodstream, the thunderclap of his heart beating in his chest. His eyes locked on the robot, cold, focused. He wasn’t thinking, wasn’t trying to remember what to do…he just let his instincts take control, instincts he didn’t know he had. His hands moved quickly, bringing the rifle to bear, even as the First Imperium bot was turning its autocannon to fire on Bruce.

“Kyle!” he howled, screaming into the com as his finger pulled back fiercely on the trigger, firing the weapon on full auto. His eyes were locked on the target…and somehow his aim was true. Dead on. The bot was pushed back by the stream of fire, its own shots going wide, missing Bruce.

He released his finger, and the fire ceased, the weapon moving aside, angling downward as he stared out at the scene. But the enemy bot wasn’t finished, not yet. He was looking right at it, but it took him a second to realize the First Imperium warrior was still active…and that it had turned its focus to him. He felt the sound of his heart in his ears, and a wave of panic began to take him. He screamed to himself to fire, but he just stood, stunned, transfixed. It was only a second, perhaps less, but somehow he realized it was too long. It had been his mistake…he’d let up, ceased fire too soon. Of all people, he should have understood the punishment a First Imperium bot could absorb, but he hadn’t. He’d given away his victory, and now he knew he was going to die.

His eyes were fixed on the bot’s autocannon. His fire had wrecked one of the fearsome weapons, but the other was still functional, its deadly maw turning toward him. He felt the tension in his body, his instinctive effort to move away, to dive for cover. But he was too late…and there was nowhere to go.

Then he heard the shots, the sounds of automatic fire ripping through the air. He gritted his teeth, waiting for the pain, the blood and gore as the projectiles ripped through his body. But there was nothing.

The sound…that wasn’t First Imperium fire!

His head snapped around, and his eyes focused on his enemy. The bot had fallen backwards, its second autocannon torn from its body…along with a huge part of its midsection. And Kyle Bruce was standing over it, his assault rifle still firing into its savaged remains.

Cutter moved over to the side, bringing his own weapon to bear. But he could see immediately the warbot was dead. He stood still for a few seconds…then he felt the strength drain from his legs, and he stumbled, struggling to stay on his feet as the flow of adrenalin dropped away.

“It’s alright, Doc…it’s finished.” Bruce’s voice was better than Cutter’s but it was clear the Marine was a little shaken up too. They’d each just looked death in the face and lived to tell about it.

Cutter tried to answer, but his throat was dry, the words absent. He just nodded…and looked back at the wreckage of the machine that had come half a second from killing him. Then he felt something…Bruce’s hand, heavy, strong from his powered armor.

“C’mon Doc…I know it’s a shock, but we’ve got more of these things coming, so I need you to snap out of it…focus.”

“Okay…” It was all Cutter could get out, but that was enough.

“Good…now pop that half-empty clip and put in another one.” Bruce reached behind Cutter, grabbing a cartridge from the scientist’s ammo belt and pushing it into his hand. “That’s right,” he said, as he watched Cutter snap the clip in place.

“Now stay down, Doc. Grab some cover and the second you see anything…blow it the hell away. And don’t stop shooting next time, not until you’re sure it’s dead.”

*    *    *

“Ronnie is out there! And Lieutenant Bruce and his people.” Ana Zhukov was crouched behind a shattered chunk of stone, her carbine gripped tightly in her hands. She was staring back at Frasier with a look of desperation in her eyes. “We’ve got to get to them.”

The two of them had been sitting alone talking when the enemy attack began. They were down a short corridor, one that appeared to dead end about twenty meters from the main camp. It was just about the only place there were no enemy warbots charging…at least not yet.

“I know, Ana…but you have to stay down. We’ve got bogies coming in from every direction out there.” Frasier paused for an instant then added, “They’re better off over there than we are here anyway…safer.” That was a lie. He could see on his display the others were surrounded too, completely cut off from the camp. But there was nothing Ana could do about that now. Nothing but take wild chances that could get her killed…and still not accomplish a thing to help Cutter. And he wasn’t going to let that happen…whatever he had to do to prevent it. Even lie to her.

“Stay put, Ana. Please. We’ve got to stabilize things here, and then we can go after them. It’s the best way to help, the only way.”

He peered out over the spur of rock they were using for cover. He could hear combat all around the camp. They were getting hit hard…and he realized he had to get everybody out, back up to the surface. The expedition was a failure…the enemy forces were just too numerous. Bruce and his men—and Cutter too—were as good as dead. He hated himself for thinking that, but he was too experienced a veteran not to acknowledge facts. And letting Ana—and the other scientists—throw their lives away with no hope of saving them wasn’t going to help anyone. Maybe, just maybe he could get them out of here, some of them at least…and the whole force could pull back, away from the city. With luck, the enemy wouldn’t follow up…and Barcomme’s people would have the chance to complete the food production. That would keep the expedition from being a total failure.

He looked off to his right. He could hear heavy fire down that way…both First Imperium ordnance and his own peoples’. There was fighting all around, but it was definitely heavier to the right.
But that’s also the way out of here…or at least the way we know
.

“Ana, I want you to stay right here. I want you to promise me…”

“No, Duncan…I can’t leave them. Ronnie is like my brother…”

“He wouldn’t want you to get yourself killed, Ana. Not for no reason. And if you try to get to them now, that is exactly what will happen. You’ve got no chance of getting through there. None.”

He pushed her down gently, below the lip of the outcropping. “Stay low, and keep your eyes open. I’ve got to move to the right, take command over there, but you should be okay here. Try to raise the rest of your people on the com…get as many of them here as you can.” He knew the scientists would just get picked off in the fighting if he didn’t get them out of the main combat area. “But don’t go out looking for them…they need you here coordinating.”

She looked back at him, her eyes wide with distress. He could tell she still wanted to run off, to go find Cutter and the others. But she stayed where she was. There were tears streaming from her eyes, but she had a determined look on her face…and her carbine was in her hands. “Okay, Duncan,” she said, not sounding entirely convinced, “I’ll try to get everyone organized.”

He nodded then he started to turn. But he stopped and looked back. “Please, Ana…stay here. I’ll be back as soon as I can, and then we’ll see what we can do about Hieronymus and Lieutenant Bruce.”

She nodded, wiping the tears from her face with her sleeve. “I’ll stay.”

He felt another twinge of guilt for offering her more hope than he believed existed. But right now, his biggest concern was keeping her alive. And he’d do whatever he had to do to manage that.

*    *    *

Hieronymus was slouched down behind the rock wall, his hands wrapped tightly around his rifle. He’d been fighting alongside Bruce’s people—and holding his own if he did say so himself—but now he was down to his last clip. The nuclear-powered weapons of the armored Marines carried five hundred round cartridges, over five times the ordnance his own assault rifle mounted. And he wasn’t the shot his new friends were, which meant he’d burnt through what he had that much quicker.

Bruce had told him to stay low, and to save his last shots for an emergency…though if the current situation wasn’t already an emergency, he didn’t know what would be. They had six Marines down, three of them dead, and the rest had been driven back into a shrinking perimeter.

As far as he could see, they were surrounded…and completely cut off from the camp. The intensity of the battle right around him had drowned out the sounds of combat from farther away, but he could tell there was still fighting going on back there. If anything, it had grown even more intense.

He had begun to realize there wasn’t much hope of help working its way to them. Indeed, he was on the verge of giving up, of hoping Ana and Duncan and the others would manage to find a way out of the trap and not die here with him. He was scared to death, but the last thing he wanted was for Ana to get trapped down here to die with him.
Maybe Duncan can get her out of here…

“Doc, c’mon…we gotta fall back.” Duff McCloud reached down and grabbed Cutter, pulling him hard from the ground. “We got bogies coming down here. The lieutenant wants us back down the side hallway.”

Cutter grunted as he stumbled across the stone floor, trying to keep his balance under McCloud’s ungentle grip. As soon as he realized where they were going, he knew the fight was almost over. They were trapped, with no way out…and surrounded on every other side.

“Duck behind me, Doc.” McCloud shoved Cutter hard, pulling him around, shielding him from the direction of enemy fire as they dashed across the open corridor…and into the last refuge. He wasn’t gentle, but then he was shoving himself between the scientist and the incoming projectiles, so Cutter wasn’t about to take a few bruises personally.

McCloud stopped just inside the corridor, pushing Cutter in farther then whipping around his rifle and opening fire. The ground in front was littered with shattered bots, the remains of the enemy’s attempts to rush the position. And Cutter knew it was only a matter of time before they broke through.

“You okay, Hieronymus?” Bruce came running back from the other side. He’d been opposite McCloud’s position, covering enemy’s advance from that side.

“I’m fine, Kyle…but we’re pretty fucked, aren’t we?”

Bruce sighed softly. He sounded like he was going to argue, to offer some kind of explanation about how they were going to make it out. But then he just nodded and said, “Yeah. We’re fucked.”

Hieronymus turned and looked back toward McCloud. The gargantuan Marine was firing away like a machine, and Cutter had no doubt he would fight to the bitter end. But there were just too many of the enemy, and no way to…

His head snapped around…and then he put his hands over his ears and let out a cry. The sound was deafening, and he slipped down to his knees. Bruce leapt back too, but only for a second. Clearly, his AI had cut off the audio from his external microphones.

Then the explosions began…one after the other, down the corridor in both directions. Toward the enemy. Cutter’s first thought was it was a new First Imperium weapon, but then he realized it was directed outward…at the attackers, not at them. He staggered back deeper into the corridor, stumbling against the wall and desperately trying to cover his ears.

The noise continued for another thirty seconds or so…and then it faded away. He could hear a few of the Marines still firing, but the sound of the First Imperium fire was gone.

“Cease fire.”

Cutter could barely hear Bruce’s voice on the com. His ears were ringing, and he had a splitting headache. But he realized almost immediately they weren’t under attack anymore.

“What the hell was that?” It was McCloud on the com now. His voice was louder than Bruce’s, gruffer. Which made it easier for Cutter to hear.

“Quiet, McCloud,” Bruce snapped back. “Look around, and make sure there are no enemies left in the area.

“Yes, Lieutenant.”

“Hieronymus?”

“Lieutenant?” Cutter suspected he was screaming, but he didn’t have a good feel for his volume. His ears were recovering, a little. But Bruce’s voice still sounded faint and far away.

“You alright?” He came trotting over toward the scientist.

“Yeah…that sound was loud. But I think I’m okay.”