The War Across the Stars (6 page)

“I never saw Joseph Hays jump,” I answered. 

“Those who jumped are probably dead by now,” the pilot said. 

“That is unless they had parachutes.  But most of these transports don’t have parachutes.  That could ruin the whole mission,” Ryan shouted.

Then, yet another explosion irrupted beside us.  It shook our transport causing Max to fall over.  Despite all the explosions, the transport had taken minimal hull damage.

“Shields are at four percent,” Wanda yelled.  “Another blow like that and we’ll be toast.” 

“I hope you are kidding me,” Max said. 

“Not if it’s direct!” Airman Xavier replied. 

The waves of explosions were relentless.  Suddenly, the transport took a sharp turn to starboard.  An explosion popped right where our transport had been. 

“Come on…” Robert grunted. 

Once more the COM link opened.  “This is Palmer! We’re gettin' pummeled out here! Shields have been down and most weapons are offline.  The
Heart of Gold
is gone! Hull integrity is sixty-two percent!  The
East Wind
has positioned itself directly in front of us.  It’ll only last so long!” 

“Understood, sir,” Wanda responded. 

“I don’t think they are going to make it.” Ryan sighed. 

“Thirty seconds before we can land!” Wanda called out, hope in her voice. 

“Yes! Land!” Nevin said excitedly. 

“Solid ground awaits us!” Max sang. 

“Finally,” Philip said. 

We plummeted towards the ground and then began to slow down.  Soon, we were arcing into a horizontal position.  Then we were only two meters above the ground.  We were so close. The vehicle slowed to a stop and landed on the tropical shores of Sontonos. 

“We’re here! You are all free to go,” Wanda reported.

“Let’s scream it loose!” Max exclaimed.  “Sorry.”

“Right...” Ryan said as he exited the transport. 

As I looked back, I saw the Beta Squad transport coming in; by the time our entire team was out, they had landed. 

Wanda stuck her head out of the cockpit into the main compartment.  Despite the fact she was unable to see us, she still yelled out that another COM had come in from Palmer. 

“He sent a detachment of ten Marines planetside,” Wanda continued.  “He wants ya to look out for ’em.”

“Understood,” Ryan said. 

He pulled out his desert camo Marine style hat and plopped it on his head.  I then watched as he detached his SR-4 from his pack and made sure it was loaded. 

“Let’s go, team,” Ryan ordered. 

“Yes... Sir?” Nevin said, still trying to decide if Ryan’s rank dictated the honorific.

We hurried along the beach.  Philip pulled out his data pad and it projected a 3-D image of the local terrain approximately four decimeters off the pad.  Its standard blue holo light flickered as we observed the map. 

“So, if we head due east along this beach we would end up at Rigel’s base in about thirty minutes,” Philip said as he carefully examined it.

“Correct,” Ryan said observantly. 

“Maybe ol’ Korthy won’t be there,” Robert suggested playfully. 

“Korthy?” Max sputtered.  “That sounds like one of my silly nicknames. Copy Cat!” Max accused. 

“His name is Rigel Korth, and it doesn’t really matter.  Let’s just focus on the task at hand,” I interjected. 

“Stu–” Max began. 

“Max,” I quickly cut him off.  “There’s no need to say anything.”

“Ok, so we just head down the beach as quickly as possible… All right?” Ryan asked. 

“You bet!” Nevin said excitedly. 

“Sergeant?” Ryan questioned. 

“Yes... I understand the plan,” Sergeant Johnston said quietly.  “Team,” Sergeant Johnston then bellowed.  “We've been quiet so far.  Let’s go make some noise!”

“Yes sir!” his troops sounded. 

“Lets do a full charge straight there.  We’ll cut down that time.  Rangers... you better keep up,” Johnston warned us. 

“Done deal,” Ryan said. 

Chapter 5

The Danger Zone

             
We were now halfway down the trail, running at an incredible pace.  We had encountered no resistance.  At this rate, we were only a few minutes from Rigel’s complex.  We came closer and closer, still without any signs of the Marines or the Lambda Raiders. 

             
Then, we trotted up to the top of a hill and looked down to see the R.K. Military Complex.  The words were stamped on the side in dark red letters.  The complex was the deep gray of hardened Cecrete 7, the second strongest when it comes to Cecrete.  The strongest was Cecrete 10, which the Vorgians likely have no access to.  It was recently invented on the Elonian planet, Benbos, located on the far border of the empire.  The problem, the Vorgian Revolution, granted free rights to Sontonos, Hothonos, Vorga, and Enphuerzo, but essentially dismantled any trade between Vorgian and Elonian planets.  They formed the Vorgian Empire and since then have had very little positive contact with us.  So basically, no trade with the Vorgians, means no Cecrete 10. 

“James, Nevin… flank this complex on the right side here,” Ryan instructed. 

“Butler... Roland... you go with them to provide cover fire in case they need it,” Sergeant Johnston ordered. 

“Yes sir...” Butler muttered. 

             
We stealthily crept along the edge of the base.  We kept our distance at about twenty meters as we looked down into the round pit in which the complex was placed.  Once we were in our position, I stuck my hand up in the three-fingered OK signal to show we were ready.  I slowly popped my head over the rock that hid us.  I saw Ryan doing the same signal. 

“Nevin…” I whispered.  “Take aim.” 

We both took aim at the two guards.  My heart began to race.  When I took this shot, I would, for the first time, take the life of an enemy.  I feared it might change me, and make me someone I wasn’t.  I inhaled slowly.  The guard stood there, gun slung before him, casually talking to the other sentry.

Then four shots rang out and four guards dropped.  With the guards down, I watched as Ryan and Dylan ran across the field toward the complex.  I began to push myself off the ground, when I heard an unfamiliar voice. 

“Put your weapons down.”

We slowly turned around to see a Vorgian Officer with five guards.  Two of them looked like Vorgian SAS, or Superior Armed Soldiers.  They were the best soldiers the Vorgians had.  There were only about four hundred of them in the entire system of Jerico. 

             
“I’m Lieutenant Trevor Davis.  You will all be coming with me.” 

All of us except Steven Roland slowly put our weapons down. 

“I won’t surrender to you!” Roland proclaimed. 

“Fire…” Lt. Davis utter calmly. 

Several assault rifles opened fire.  I watched, shocked, as his body fell seemingly in slow motion.  An ally killed right beside me, mere moments after I had taken my first life.  Steven’s body hit the ground with a light thump, his final breath having been drawn.

             
“Yeah, we’ll surrender,” Nevin sighed. 

“Rise!” Lt. Davis ordered. 

We slowly stood up, carefully keeping our arms raised. 

“Remove your side arms!” 

We pulled off our side arms and carefully put them down.  I turned my head back and saw Ryan’s team crawling through a small hole in the door of the complex. 

“Let’s go,” Lt. Davis said sternly.

             
We began walking to the base with SAS and other soldiers all around us.  One of the soldiers carried our weapons.  Soon, we arrived at the door of the complex.  Lt. Davis gazed at the hole with a perplexed look.”

             
“That’s odd,” he murmured. 

“Sir, someone has probably infiltrated the base,” one of the soldiers said.

“Really?” Lt. Davis said sarcastically.  “Sound a Level Four security alert,” he ordered. 

“Yes Sir!” 

             
One of the SAS hurried to the door panel and keyed in a code.  Soon an alarm began to blare. 

“Let’s get you to the brig...” Lt. Davis told us. 

What remained of the damaged door slid upward, allowing us entry.

“Go!” he bellowed. 

We slowly walked through the doorway.  I saw dents and pockmarks in the walls.  Several Vorgian weapons were scattered on the floor.  We continued down the hall and turned, revealing a ring of black scorch around the hall about one meter long. 

             
“Looks like some grenades went off in here, “I whispered to Nevin. 

“Ours?” he asked. 

“I’d say so...” I responded. 

             
Then, a Vorgian soldier came running down the hall. 

“Help! Help! They’re right back there,” the soldier cried. 

“Quiet,” Lt. Davis ordered. 

The soldier was unarmed and looked tired. 

             
“Grab a weapon,” Lt. Davis ordered the soldier.  “There’s plenty around here!” 

The soldier moaned, but walked over and picked up a nearby pistol from a dead body.

“Let’s go…” Davis said. 

We continued down the hall, seeing obvious signs of an engagement.  I looked ahead at Benjamin Butler.  He was short, likely from the high–gravity planet of Delacrose.  He was bald, but he had a thin mustache. 

“Where are ya takin’ us?” Butler asked. 

“I’ve already answered that!” Lt. Davis yelled.  “You’re going to the brig.” 

             
After about three more minutes of walking we heard gunfire.  It was mostly automatic assault weapons, but there were some pistol shots. 

“Stop!” Lt. Davis commanded. 

He turned and entered a code to the small door that we were standing by. 

“We mustn’t be engaged,” Davis informed us. 

We turned left and went through the door.  The entire base was made of deep gray Cecrete 7.  Only dim, flickering lights on the ceiling lighted the halls.  The hall was thin, only wide enough for two people shoulder to shoulder, to walk through at a time.  Nevin and I were beside each other.  Both of the SAS were in front of us.  The tired soldier walked behind us with another soldier to his right.  Behind them Lt. Davis was walking down the middle of the hall with two more soldiers directly following him. 

             
One of the lights behind us flickered, sparked, and while making a popping sound, went out.  The hall ahead turned both left and right, leaving me unaware of where we would go.  When we arrived at the intersection, the SAS turned right. 

“Won’t this lead us to where we heard gunfire?” Nevin asked quietly. 

“I would think that it would,” I sighed. 

I looked up to see stairs.  We slowly approached them.  It seemed quite obvious that the stairs were our destination. 
             
Within thirty seconds we had reached the stairwell.  As we walked up the stairs, it seemed that there was gunfire below us, likely the same team as before. 

“Is that Dunkelman's team?” Butler asked from in front of us. 

He walked behind the two SAS.  He was wide enough he didn’t have someone by his side. 

“Probably…” I said. 

             
Then a loud explosion roared from below us.  I then heard a voice cheer.  Anything after that was too quiet to hear through the walls.  All of the sounds had been muffled.  I listened closely, hoping to hear something to tell me who it was.  But I was unable to hear anything.  Soon, the straight path began to slant downward.  Ahead I saw a door, which we slowly approached.  One of the SAS entered a code on the door.  It slid away and we walked through the open doorway.  It was a large room with four cells on each side.  They were each about three meters tall, with energy bars connecting the ceiling to the floor.  The space between was far too small to squeeze through. 

“Open cells Epsilon, Digamma and Zeta,” Lt. Davis bellowed. 

“Yes, sir!” one of the SAS boomed. 

He hurried over to a central panel.  He punched in several buttons and the energy bars faded away on three cells.  Nevin looked back and saw the door behind us close. We all were escorted to separate cells.  Then once we were all in, the bars materialized in front of us. 
             

             
Lt. Davis turned and left with his soldiers.  As he left, one of the SAS twirled around and assumed a guard-post position.

             
We waited for nearly two hours, with no sign of a way out.  I began to think about my family.  There was a fear that I wouldn’t see them again.  I needed a way out.  I had to survive. 

I could hear Butler eating his granola bar in the cell beside me.  That gave me an idea.  I thought about it for a while then decided it likely would fail.  I wished Philip were there to tell me its chances of success.  The control panel was attached to its post by a 45-degree angle.  Despite the fact that it seemed impossible, I pondered the idea for what had to be at least thirty minutes.  In that time I came up with several alternatives, none of which seemed promising.  Surprisingly, they hadn’t noticed my battle knife.  That meant I had a granola bar, a knife, two boots, and my ID tags, which could be thrown with any effect.