When the Stars Fade (The Gray Wars) (107 page)

             
Dax fell back on routine, snapping to attention. He did
n’
t salute, as they were on the battlefield and such a gesture simply invited sniper fire. He must have looked like a Greek god in his armor, a mountain at nearly seven feet tall. The captain did
n’
t seem fazed. Dax figured the man had survived this long against monsters, so a giant armored grunt was merely ho hum.

             
“Who the hell are you guys
?”
Grahams asked.

             
“Special Forces, with Hercules 7
,”
Cho said quickly
.“
How many are you
?
”

             
Grahams nodded, but Dax could tell he did
n’
t buy the Hercules line
.“
Three tanks still operational. We managed to get the main gun up on one of our sister compan
y’
s Shivas, but she ca
n’
t move
.
”

             
“W
e’
re working some repairs now, should be airborne in ten minutes or less
.
”

             
The captain shook his head
.“
That wo
n’
t help. Yo
u’
ll be shot down before you get a hundred feet up. You need to clear out their armor before trying an evac
.
”

             
“Our Va
l’
s pretty well armored
,”
Dax said.

             
“Yo
u’
ve never seen their anti-air, have you
?”
Grahams sighed
.“
Like the hand of God, just swats you right down. Their weapons are super-powered. W
e’
ve been able to hold them off, but just barely. One direct hit from their armor and we lose a tank. The odds are stacked pretty heavily against us
.
”

             
Cho nodded
.“
I
t’
s been that kind of day for us too
.
”

             
“Really just the last few hours
,”
Pierre said
.“
Up until then I was feeling pretty good. Kind of bored, actually
.
”

             
A young sergeant ran over, sweat pouring down his chubby face
.“
Captain
.”
Grahams turned to acknowledge the soldier
.“
The
y’
re here. ETA five minutes to engagement area
.
”

             
The captain turned to the Archangels, his face bleak
.“
I found an APC full of shoulder-mounted rockets a few days back, but they were more of a last-ditch thing. We do
n’
t have a great plan, but with your help we can make them pay for every inch they take
.
”

             
Dax pounded an armored fist into his hand
.“
With our help, they do
n’
t stand a chance
.
”

-                           
IX                            -

              Captain DeHart woke on the floor of his ship. His head ached something awful, and the air stank of blood and burning metal. All around, the cries of wounded melted into the general roar of flames and groans of the fractured hull. Hands grabbed at his body, pulling and pinching until finally he was standing. The room spun, whipping in front of his face with dizzying speed.

             
“Wha
t’
s happening
?”
he asked groggily.

             
A warm voice spoke from his left
.“
We got bit. Bulkhead nearly took your head off
.
”

             
DeHar
t’
s vision slowly cleared, and he found himself being carried down a smoke-filled corridor in the middle of
Valley Forge
. Bodies filled the hall, covered in blankets or jackets or not at all. The sickly sweet smell of scorched flesh filled his nostrils as they turned each corner, closing in on the infirmary. DeHart snapped out a hand and grabbed a door frame, halting the procession.

             
“Sir
,”
the voice said
.“
We need to get you to the doctor
.
”

             
DeHart growled
.“I’
m fine. Get me to the bridge. I need to be on the bridge. W
e’
ve got to stop that monster
.
”

             
Hands gently but firmly unlatched his fingers from the door and continued moving him toward the medical bay. The air cleared immediately when they passed the hermetically-sealed lock. DeHart could see he was being manhandled by a group of junior officers; they were young and covered in dirt and blood. The ensigns and lieutenants put the commander on a bed and held him in place until the doctor arrived.

             
“Christ, Hawthorne
,”
DeHart said
.“I’
m fine. A little roughed up, but nothing to fret over
.
”

             
Doc Hawthorne, a gritty old physician with a voice like wet gravel, hobbled over to the exam table. His weathered face was warped in a permanent frown, curtesy of a mild stroke years before. Not that h
e’
d ever smiled much, to DeHar
t’
s knowledge. The old doctor pulled a penlight from his coat pocket and shone it in the commande
r’
s eyes.

             
“You look worse than I do, Captain
.”
The docto
r’
s breath smelled like cigarettes as he leaned in toward DeHar
t’
s face. He turned toward the young officers
.“
Where did you find him
?
”

             
A tall ensign stepped forward. DeHart swore he could
n’
t be older than nineteen
.“
That last shot took out block one-eight. We found him on the far side of the hall, underneath most of the ceiling
.
”

             
“Captain, you know better than to catch a bulkhead with your skull
.”
The doctor reached over to a nearby tray and picked up a syringe filled with pink liquid. He uncapped the needled and tapped the sides, bringing the bubbles to the top
.“
This will help with the pain. You should be safe to evac
.
”

             
Now DeHart was angry. It was one thing for his officers to worry about his health. It was another to talk about shipping him off his own boat. He pushed the hands off of his chest, grunting with pain as he sat up straight. Something hot and sharp pinched his gut, and his hip felt wet. He gritted his teeth and ignored the fire in his belly
.“
Goddammit, I am still commander of this ship. We are
n’
t out of this fight yet
.
”

             
Hawthorne sighed, grumbling as he set the syringe back down on the tray
.“
Captain, do you remember what happened before you came here
?
”

             
DeHart nearly snapped, but a nagging thought stopped him. How had he ended up buried in metal and wires? It was all a blur. His head hurt as he struggled to remember. An ensign brought a cup of water to his lips and DeHart drank eagerly. The memories came rushing in like a tide.

             
The juggernaut had finished opening its dozen arms just as the order to attack came down. Admiral Walker, already wary of the Boxt
i’
s tactics, devoted every heavy assault craft to the fight.
Valley Forge
led the way, PACs firing as fast as they could be loaded. DeHart felt bile rise in his throat. It had been short skirmish, and completely one-sided. The massive alien ship was armed to the teeth, and each weapon system was a technological marvel. Frigates were cut in half by some sort of ion beam, while cannons punched holes in the Terran battleships and cruisers. It took less than a minute for the Boxti warship to wreck ten destroyers. This was
n’
t a war between equals, just lambs to the slaughter.

             
DeHart remembered running out of the bridge, the heat on his back unbearable. Then there was a terrible bang and he woke up on the floor, a group of young men and women gingerly digging him out from the rubble. There was something else, he remembered. His second-in-command, Fuller, had been beside him the whole time. Looking around the infirmary, DeHart realized he did
n’
t recognize any faces from the bridge.

             
“Wher
e’
s John
?”
he asked warily.

             
The officers all looked away, their faces masked with pain or guilt or shame. Only Doc Hawthorne maintained composed, sighing with characteristic impatience
.“
Captain, the bridge was hit by a penetrating round. You and John barely made it out in time. When the hull collapsed from the breach, John strapped you to a tether before trying to connect his own
.”
His brown eyes betrayed a hint of emotion
.“
He was lost, sir
.
”

             
The young lieutenant stepped closer to the commander, placing a hand on DeHar
t’
s shoulder
.“
He saved your life. He saved all of us, sir. Before the bridge went, he turned the engines to full reverse and brought us out of the fight. The juggernau
t’
s leaving us alone for now
.
”

             
DeHart could
n’
t hear any of it. In his mind he replayed his last seconds of consciousness. Something large had knocked him flat, forcing the wind out of him. In the brief moments before he passed out, he had felt someone connect his belt to a line, then a horrific rushing of wind. The last thing he could remember, or maybe his imagination was pretending he remembered, was Joh
n’
s bright blue eyes fading into the endless black.

             
“God save us
,”
he whispered
.“
God save us all
.
”

-                           
X                            -

              Cameron breathed a sigh of relief. Kaileen had survived her trip to the Valkyrie, and better yet, sh
e’
d found some backup. It was good to know Jos
h’
s team had made it through the war thus far. There had been something in Kailee
n’
s voice that put Cameron on edge, but he did
n’
t have time to badger her with questions. H
e’
d talk to Josh once they had that shuttle back in the air and were headed to Primus.

             
The Boxti squadron had all but vanished; the
y’
d left a few Wasps while the rest ran up to the fight in space. Ground forces continued to fire harassing shots, but without the help of their Hornets they were sitting ducks. Torch group bore down on the Scorpions and Pills, peppering the armored vehicles with Gauss fire. After the sortie an hour before, most of the Phoenixes were completely spent for missiles. It was a problem Cameron did
n’
t need at the moment.

             
“I want another run on that armor
,”
Cameron called out
.“
Who still has some teeth
?
”

             
A gruff voice came back on the radio
.“
This is Torch five.
I’
m fangs out, on approach to your ten
.
”

             
Cameron look to his left, spotting his wingman closing in low over the terrain. As it neared the enemy formation, the pilot opened up with his Krakens. Each round tore a chunk off the Scorpion tanks, but did
n’
t score a kill. Cameron was about to order another run when he saw a rocket shoot up from a small crop of trees. Before he could react, the warhead found the attacking Phoenix and connected, tearing the wings off the craft and sending it into a hillside. It was all over in a matter of seconds.