Chapter 20
Tirrith, Dilgar occupied.
"Are we there yet?" Toby whined. "I don't think I've ever walked this far!"
Paul gave a glance to Jenny, she seemed to have a good idea where everything was. "Are we?"
She gave a quick nod. "Well we're on the way, the main thing is not getting found by a patrol."
"You know what works for that?" Toby piped. "Not being on the planet!"
"If we go in one direction we'll be found." She ignored him. "So we take a winding path and come in from a different angle."
"Speaking of, any luck planning a way into the city T'Koth?" Paul asked, as the only member of the crew who had visited Tirrith regularly and had contacts he hoped the Narn translator knew a secret way past the Dilgar forces most likely ringing their destination, the planets second city.
"There are some transit tunnels which run under the main population centres." He shrugged. "If they got turned off in the attack we can go through them, take us anywhere we want to go."
"And if they aren't turned off?" Jors wondered.
"Then we get four hundred tons of grav train delivering us back to the universe." The Narn smiled thinly.
"I hate this plan."
"Shut up Toby!" The entire group responded. For a few more minutes they continued walking on, the environment around them was spectacular and lush forests with a carpet of brightly coloured flowers. Despite it being early December on the human calendar this planet was in high summer and the warm glow of its sun filtered gently down through sparse clouds, on any other day Paul would be savouring this day and would be completely calm and at ease. Unfortunately he hadn't felt truly relaxed for over two months now with a near constant rush for survival and escape dominating the lives of the Space Race crew, by now they were on the edge of mental fatigue and seriously needed a break, just one chance to get home safely. Paul thought they'd earned it by now, the things they'd all seen were never ever going to leave them.
"Captain." Jors said with sudden seriousness in his voice. "Houses up ahead."
The group stopped immediately and Paul urged them into a stand of bushes beside the simple path they were following. "Get under cover and wait." He found his binoculars. "And be ready for trouble."
He brought his own rifle off his shoulder and made sure it was in working order, then with a furtive glance around he darted off through the trees.
"So we stay here?" Toby frowned.
"You heard the Captain." Jenny looked with great intensity towards the small town. "Could be trouble out there."
"I haven't seen anything." He replied.
"Exactly." Jors whispered. "Nothing, no people, no animals." He looked up. "No birds singing in the trees, no insects, not a thing. Something is very wrong."
Toby paused and listened. There had been something bothering him since they landed but he hadn't known what. His life had been spent with almost constant back ground noise from the dark streets of Beta Durani to the hum of a starship, he had never experienced pure silence before and it was suddenly an unnerving realisation.
"Just stay put," Jors whispered perhaps sensing Toby's growing apprehension. "The Captain will call for us."
"What do you think happened to everything?" he said, now also lowering his voice.
"Doesn't matter." Jors answered. "Whatever it was we're still here, and that's enough for me."
"This place is a graveyard." T'Koth said calmly. "A cemetery put here by the Dilgar."
"We don't know everyone is dead." Jenny said reasonably.
"No, I expect the Dilgar are inviting them over for tea!" Toby hissed. "Come on Jen, you've seen what we've seen."
She did not answer, just looked on forward.
"We need to get out of here." Toby repeated. "Real fast."
"That's what the Captains doing." T'Koth stated. "Can anyone see him?"
Paul Calendar was no soldier but he had good instincts, more than once they'd helped him avoid raiders and if he'd listened to them a few months ago instead of taking one last job he and the crew wouldn't have ended up in this mess. He moved swiftly through some undergrowth at the edge of the town and had a look through the binoculars.
"Nothing." He whispered to himself, scanning the glasses back and forth. "Not a soul."
Lowering the binoculars he took in the whole scene, there was no smoke or ruins to indicate a struggle nor were there any bodies. Personal ground cars were still parked in neat lines across the town and everything looked surprisingly clean in the bright sun. He didn't even notice he had company until he felt an icy cold metal cylinder gently press against his neck. His muscles instantly tightened as the primal part of his mind flicked between flight or fight responses, neither seeming particularly useful with a gun to his neck. With a sigh he raised his hands still holding the binoculars. "I know what this might look like," he began. "But I mean you no harm."
There was a slight snicker which caused him to swallow suddenly, being laughed at with a gun at his neck did not fill him with hope. Much to his surprise the barrel retreated from his neck and there was a slight rustle of leaves as the captor moved behind him.
"Take it easy." An American Brogue said with amusement. "I ain't going to shoot you."
Paul snapped around and came face to face with a grinning human dressed in camouflage uniform and safetying a PPG rifle.
"What the hell are you doing here!" he almost yelled. The Soldier quickly raised his finger to his lips as a sign to quiet down. "What are you doing here?" he repeated quieter.
"I'll let the Sarge explain," the soldier looked around. "Come on, you better come in and let him tell you what's going on."
Paul walked out from the undergrowth, he looked back but he couldn't see his crew which meant they couldn't see him or his new friend. Finding a human soldier, probably more than one if he was going to meet a Sergeant, completely changed Paul's outlook on getting off the planet, he was suddenly far more hopeful. Moving across the town towards an unremarkable looking building he came to the conclusion that these guys must have belonged to the cruiser which was destroyed in orbit, which meant they were orphaned just like his own people.
"Just through here." His guide pointed at the door and Paul carefully opened it and entered. Inside he counted five more soldiers and quickly noted sleeping bags indicating there were more around, probably outside patrolling like this guy.
"Sarge, found two things." The man called. "First the air's clear, we can save the breathers." From the rear of the building a large figure in uniform and fully sealed helmet stepped quickly up, halting slightly when he saw Paul but hiding his expression behind the opaque visor. "You can guess the second find." He finished.
"Alright Ross, head back to your grid." The man identified now as the Sergeant said in an eastern European accent. He unlatched his visor and it retracted into the front of his helmet revealing a craggy and weather hardened face of a man Paul guessed to be in his middle forties. "My name is Sergeant Sosobowski, what's your story?"
Paul heard the door close behind him as Ross departed, a gaggle of troops had gathered at the edge of the room to get a look at him and hear his explanation for being here. There were about seven or eight men and women, most now had lifted their visors or removed their helmets and fixed him with curious stares.
"My names Paul Calendar." He said confidently, though he was anything but confident. "I own a small freighter which got caught up in the invasion."
The mention of his ship got a few murmurs. "You still have it?" Sosobowski asked in a gritty voice, his stare was incredibly focused.
"Yeah, I hid it in the asteroid belt, I doubt the Dilgar will find it." There were some sighs of relief from the troops and grins, Paul guessed they were looking for a way home. "If you guys need a lift, there's plenty of room."
"I think we'll take you up on that Mr Calendar." Sosobowski also gave in to a slight smile. "We've lost contact with our own ship, you didn't happen to see it did you?"
Paul's expression darkened, the room was looking expectantly at him for good news and in this case he couldn't offer any. "I'm sorry, but she was shot down by the Dilgar." His words seemed to physically harm some of the troops, he immediately regretted saying it but there wasn't anything else he could do. Better to know the truth then guess as to why they'd been abandoned. "She tried to hold them back and save some refugees, but there were too many ships and she couldn't hold them all. I'm sorry for you guys, really."
"How did she fight?" one of the taller soldiers asked.
"Like a cornered Tiger." Paul nodded. "She took down more of them than they managed, and she never turned her back, not even at the end."
That seemed to grimly satisfy the men, but the joy at finding a possible way out was now muted by grief. If they'd hoped the ship had escaped or was just too damaged to communicate the truth was a bitter blow to them.
"Any survivors?" Sosobowski asked.
"Not that we saw, and from what I've seen being a Dilgar prisoner is worse than death."
"What do you mean?" a massive dark soldier asked.
"All those rumours on ISN about holocaust and mass murder? They're all true." Paul's expression hardened. "I saw them use biological weapons on a whole planet, destroy ships full of refuges, all of it. And I even got to talk to some Balosians who'd made it out past the blockade of their world, the stuff that went on in there with Alacan slaves just makes you sick."
"We saw something like that, they bombed a camp and wasted our Lieutenant." One of the female soldiers said. "They didn't care about civilians."
"I'm not here alone, I've got four more crew out there waiting for me along with a spare part for my ship up there." Paul changed the subject. "If we can get to it all of us can make a dash for it."
"If?" a man with a single stripe on his arm raised his voice. "If we can get to it?"
"Yeah, you see we kinda don't have a shuttle." Paul said a little sheepishly. "A Dilgar fighter put paid to it."
"Great, that's how are luck runs." The Private scoffed.
"Knock it off Garibaldi." The Sergeant ordered. "Conner, go bring in the Captain's crew mates. I don't want them out there attracting attention."
"On it." One of the men said and skittered out a side door.
"So we're both in the same boat, we need a ride of this rock." Sosobowski looked to Calendar again. "But if we get into orbit you can get us back to Earth space?"
"That's right." He stated. "If we can get through the gate and fix the engines it'll be a straight ride home."
"That's a lot of 'ifs' Captain, you sure you can pull this off?"
"It's the only idea I've got." Paul shrugged half heartedly. "We're heading to a city not far from here, one of my guys thinks he can get us in unnoticed. Then we planned to hijack a shuttle and make a getaway."
"And if the Dilgar got in your way? Then what?"
"I guess we escape or we die." Paul answered flatly. "But we can't stay here, I'll bet New Vegas odds this whole planet is crawling with Dilgar in a couple of weeks, they're gonna hit the League harder than ever soon."
"You seem pretty sure about that." Garibaldi said again.
"I've seen them fight, there's no way the League can stop them and the Dilgar know it. Whatever they want they haven't got it yet so they'll keep on fighting."
"Yeah maybe." Sosobowski said with finality. "But it isn't our business. My only concern is getting this platoon home, and it looks like our goals are the same."
The door opened again and Paul turned to see Jors walking in followed by the rest of his people, each of them almost family by now. They too were looking a little surprised and perhaps slightly wary. It was understandable to Paul, the crew had handled some slightly illegal cargoes when money was tight and a room full of well armed Earth Force soldiers was not something to be entered lightly, they each had some sort of criminal record major or minor and a healthy distrust of authority figures.
"Hi guys, relax." Paul said. "These troops are on our side."
His crew didn't physically appear any more relaxed but they entered the room and kept their weapons slung on their shoulders. For their part the soldiers stayed relaxed and watched the new arrivals roll in, taking special notice of T'Koth.
"You guys got food?" Sosobowski asked.
"We picked up some rations, same sort of meal packs you Gropos will use." Paul fished out an MRE. "Full of everything a growing boy needs."
There were some groans from the soldiers, if any were hoping to trade for a more palatable meal they were clearly going to be disappointed.
"They were just on the edge of town Sarge." Conner reported. "The IR picked them up as we walked them in."
"Good, did you see Ross watching the road?" Sosobowski checked.
"Ross? No sir, not a trace."
The Sergeant gave him a sideways look. "He was heading on the exact path you were."
"I didn't see him sarge." Conner replied. "Maybe he went to answer a call of nature?"
"Ross? No way." Garibaldi stepped forward. "You could set a watch by his bladder, he wouldn't take a break on a watch."
Sosonowski's face visible darkened, his lined features growing craggier in Paul's opinion. As Captain and leader of his crew he'd felt a strong sense of responsibility for them and a deep motivation to get them home no matter what. He could instantly understand the older Sergeants sudden concern for his platoon and concern for the suddenly missing man.
"Garibaldi, take two guys and check it out." Sosobowski made his decision. "Stay frosty and keep radio silence." The need for radio silence answered Paul's unasked question as to why they didn't just call up Ross on his helmet communication system. "Conner, get your section armed, no chances. Go."
It had taken about three seconds for the room to go from casual rest to battle readiness. With silent and fluid motions Garibaldi took the two nearest soldiers, grabbed their rifles and helmets, then slipped out the back door to the building while Conner ran out the front to join his section of troops stationed in a separate building. The remaining men under Sosobowski's command gathered their own gear and set up inside the room keeping back from the windows and taking cover behind walls or sturdy looking metal furniture.
"You guys head upstairs and stay down." Sosobowski addressed Captain Calendar and his crew. "If there's trouble let us handle it, keep yourselves out of our way."
"No argument here." Paul agreed. "Come on, let's find cover."
"We've got guns, we can fight!" Toby said defiantly.
"Don't argue!" Paul snapped. "This might be for real, these guys are trained for it and we so are not." He physically grabbed Toby by the arm, his adrenalin levels were beginning to soar and he was in no mood for pleasantries. "For once do as I tell you."
With a tut he followed Paul, the rest of the crew going without further comment and leaving the ground floor free for Sosobowski to set up his team. There were two rooms each with an outside door and a window made of thick stone which could happily take rifle fire without breaching. It left four possible entry points and the eight Earth force soldiers left in the building made sure they were well covered. As soon as trouble flared they would blast anything that looked in on them, then race forward and use the windows as loopholes. Sosobowski sincerely hoped that if there was an enemy patrol nearby it would just keep on going past, but if they'd found Private Ross there would almost certainly be a search of the town for accomplices.
The room was totally silent, even the breathing of the soldiers was hushed and measured so it was totally imperceptible to the Sergeants hearing. With slow deliberate actions he thumbed the safety interlock on his PPG forward and tightened his grip on the handle. In the silence he closed his eyes and put all his conscious effort into listening, waiting for the tiniest noise to signal they were close to being discovered.
One of the soldiers beside him gave a curt wave to attract Sosobowski's attention. He cupped one hand to his where his ear would be beneath the helmet signalling he had heard something, then gestured at the door. Focusing his entire efforts in the indicated direction it took Sosobowski a few moments to hear what his unit had, decades of firing old style assault rifles had made the Sergeants hearing duller than the newer troops, but eventually he heard the tell tale crunch of boots on gravel. He held his breath, listening intensely as there were unidentifiable scratching noise from the other side of the door along with a faint whisper. If the mystery guest was whispering it meant he wasn't alone. Sosobowski was fighting the urge just to open fire, to blast through the door and shoot down the hidden figure on the other side, but he forcibly restrained himself, it could be a civilian or another lost Starship Captain and not a threat to them hidden in their small house.
With another scratch the door handle moved. It twisted slowly, quietly creaking and rolling on its bearings with inevitable monotony. It wasn't a sudden action, the door was being opened at a deliberately slow pace like the being on the other side did not want to be noticed, instantly rousing Sosobowski's suspicions. There was still a chance it was an innocent and scared civilian, but he tightened his finger on the trigger and centred his thoughts just in case.
With a sudden click that seemed deafening in the silent room the lock slid out and the door ever so slightly opened. A thin sliver of white light entered the room as it swung slowly on its hinges, opening barely an inch at a time as the being behind slowly and furtively pushed it open. The tension was unbearable and rapidly approaching breaking point, an undisciplined unit would have fired by now by miraculously the unit was holding its nerve and its fire.
The door had opened six inches when a harsh whisper was heard from the other side. The door stopped, not quite wide enough open to see in or out of and a hushed and stark conversation seemed to erupt outside. The language was completely alien and Sosobowski couldn't tell if they were talking Tirrithan, Brakiri or Dilgar. The uncertainty was beginning to strain his nerves, he wished that the figure would just stick its head around the door so he could either greet a refugee or just put a plasma ball through its skull and end this excrutiating uncertainty. The whispers grew in intensity before suddenly stopping, then came a rapid scrunching indicating someone moving quickly away. One of the soldiers began to move but Sosobowski gestured for him to stay put, there was still a second individual out there. For a few more heart stopping seconds there was nothing, then with a bang the door slammed shut and footsteps could be heard darting away.
"Stay here." Sosobowski whispered. "Let me check it out."
The burly sergeant carefully raised himself from hiding and with total silence stepped over a metal table that was providing cover. "Nobody move, and keep ready in case…"
Sosobowski's sentence was lost in a sharp clap of thunder as the doorway exploded in a shower of wood splinters and heat. The world spun as he lost all sense of orientation and balance, finally regaining it when he crunched into the wall separating the two ground floor rooms. He didn't even think about the pain of hitting the floor, two decades of training had ingrained itself so deeply in his mind he was already formulating a response to the attack. A figure dashed through the smoking doorway, human in shape moving with speed and grace over the debris and levelling a long barrelled weapon at Sosobowski. Before he could bark the order three separate bursts of fire hit the figure and reduced him to a collapsed heap in the doorway.
"Fire at will!" the Sergeant yelled, the action stabbing pain through his ribcage. "Get to the windows and doors, don't let them in!"
The room was full of smoke, but as he dropped his visor everything went into clear monochrome images as the sensors kicked in. He saw two more hostiles drop in the doorway, the helmet sensors revealing clearly that the aliens were indeed Dilgar with their distinctive feline faces. His section headed quickly to take up firing positions either side of the windows and doorways and moments later they began firing rapid bursts at targets outside, blue energy bolts flashed back as the Dilgar returned the favour. Sosobowski tried to move but his chest refused to let him, sending more pain through his body to drive home the point. He had a good view of the door from where he was, so he took up his rifle and waited for the next Dilgar to try and enter his building.
Upstairs Paul nearly had a heart attack when the door blew inwards. He didn't see what happened but knew it was far from good.
"What the hell!" Toby exclaimed swinging his rifle from his shoulder.
"Watch that thing!" Jenny dodged as Toby pointed the loaded rifle randomly around the room.
"Sit the hell down!" Paul growled. "Everyone, get down and find some cover!"
From below came the new sound of PPG fire, the distorted rumble of the rounds being fired and the hissing sound of the hot plasma interacting with moisture in the air as it travelled to its target. Paul hadn't seen a real gun battle with PPG's and despite his curiosity really didn't want to. The army seemed to be in control of the situation and he was happy to let the professionals handle the defence.
"Its an assault." T'Koth said, as the only one of the crew who'd seen fighting on the Narn homeworld of Nar'Shar Paul was inclined to believe him. "The Dilgar must have found us."
"They've found a crap load of fire power too." Toby grinned. "We should go help." He began to move for the stair well.
"I said stay put, don't make me…"
The windows exploded inwards in a glittering shower of broken shards, instinctively the five crew members shielded their faces and covered behind furniture. Unlike the room downstairs which was divided the upper floor was a single large residential area with numerous furnishings and decorations including a corner full of cooking utensils. There were two windows to the crews left and right embedded in the walls, while the front and back were solid stone where one house was divided from its neighbours along side. Ropes unfurled beyond the now shattered windows and a scraping on the roof indicated movement above them.
"They're coming through the damn windows!" Jors roared, hefting his .50cal rifle up to his shoulder.
"Get in the centre!" Paul yelled. "Hide behind these chairs and tables! Jors watch the left windows with me, T'Koth, Toby, watch right. Jenny, keep an eye on the stairs in case they get past the soldiers!"
They frantically upturned furniture and settled back to back with each other, it reminded Paul of those old western movies when settlers circled wagons to defend themselves.
"We going to actually shoot to kill?" Jenny checked.
"You shoot to stay alive." Paul answered. "Whatever it takes, we clear?"
The group answered in the affirmative. They'd taken lives before, shooting down a handful of Dilgar fighters during the recent escapades their freighter had endured but each time they had never really seen who they were fighting, never seen the lives they'd ended in the course of their own survival. Now they had no choice, the first pairs of legs dangled down from the ropes and swung into the upper floor windows and into the sights of the crew.
The Dilgar plan was surprisingly good, rather than just walk through the front door they had decided to attack the house from every direction at once, sneaking into position and then coordinating their entries to pull apart the defenders and overwhelm them. Coming in on the top floor was risky but could have turned the battle if not for the presence of the Space Race crew. The first Dilgar through the window expected an empty room, instead he came face to face with a smiling Narn holding a shotgun.
"Surprise!" T'Koth said manically, then fired. The close ranged blast sent the soldier hurtling back through the window and dropping to the pavement below. In the same instant the rest of the team fired on their own targets, a chatter of automatic fire joining the fusillade of PPG rounds beneath them.
"Be careful of your ammunition!" Paul shouted. "Short bursts, keep your weapon under control!" Paul had no military training but he'd seen enough war movies to recognize that full auto firing in a house was a bad thing. The room was already full of an acrid smell of cordite and a hint of blood from the Dilgar, it was stomach turning but being sick wasn't an option right now. He gripped his rifle closer and waited for the next target.
Two orbs clinked into the room, dropping through a window and rolling across the floor.
"Grenade!" Paul made a logical guess. "Down!"
The orbs exploded, they were much lighter than human made grenades and didn't generate much shrapnel but the heat from them was like standing behind a Banshee fighter on full afterburners. The furniture took the brunt, the front surfaces bursting into sudden flame along with some light fabrics decorating the wall.
"Here they come!" Jors shouted again. Dark shapes swung in through the smoke and were met once more with rifle fire. Toby hadn't listened to Paul and fired a long burst from his weapon cutting down a Dilgar soldier but taking half a clip to do it.
"Watch your fire!" Paul yelled.
Suddenly blue energy crackled across the room, a Dilgar soldier was hanging outside one of the windows shooting inwards instead of recklessly swinging through with his comrades. The Dilgar energy rifle was far too large to use properly one handed and his fire was random, each round making a sharp crack as it was fired and then almost screaming as it flew across the room, it was a terrifying noise and no doubt designed as much for intimidation as it was destruction. Paul lined up his sights and put three rounds into the soldier's chest, the action almost automatic and instinctive. It wasn't until he watched the surprised face of the Dilgar trooper dropping away as his hand let go of the descent line that Paul realised he had taken a life, and while he hadn't been given much choice it was still a tremendously worrying act for his conscious to grasp. His nostrils stung with the foul smoke hanging in the air, his eyes were watering and the constant firing of his teams weapons in the enclosed room was deafening causing his ears to ring. Every sense he possessed was being battered down and his brain was desperately trying to keep up. Regular soldiers could rely on their training in this situations, filtering out the chaos and single-mindedly doing their jobs, but for the civilian crew it was way to much to handle.
It all reached a crescendo with another massive explosion, this time from the solid wall bracketing the upper floor room. A large section of wall was thrown inwards in a thick cloud of cloying dust and chunks of rock bouncing off the walls and floor like over sized hail stones. T'Koth yelled in sudden anger as one of the rocks crashed into his side. It fuelled the battle rage growing inside the Narn and he spun with a roar of pain and defiance to face the new threat. The blast had opened up a hole into a neighbouring house, and now through that wall Dilgar soldiers rushed forward.
"Take 'em down!" Yelled Jenny, her quiet demeanour now lost as she emptied her rifle into the dusty opening. The swift shadows of Dilgar troops came through the dust, three of them falling to Jenny's attack but more followed on, blue energy bolts slicing across the room and punching the far wall. Paul fired into the clearing cloud, by now almost completely deafened without the protective helmets the soldiers down stairs were wearing, he absently wondered if the platoon fighting beneath them even knew they were under attack from up here too.
With a loud report Jors fired his rifle, a weapon designed by Earth force to kill the biggest alien beasts with a finger sized slug hurled from a weapon infamous for dislocating shoulders when used. The big Swede barely grunted with exertion, accepting the recoil and holding the gun steady. The round punched through at least two soldiers clambering forward into the house, hurling them back and into the still lingering dust cloud. Over his shattered eardrums Paul heard them yelling briefly in agony.
"Grenade!" Jenny yelled, again seeming muffled in Paul's head. A black orb was tossed through the air, sailing gracefully almost squarely for the upturned furniture the team was sheltering behind. Paul was caught be surprise as T'Koth stood up and reversed his shot gun, swinging the stock through the air and connecting with the Dilgar grenade. The orb hit the stock with a crack and went flying back through the opening to cries of alarm from the other side, abruptly ending in a sudden flash and burst of noise.
"Holy crap man!" Toby laughed. "You should sign for the dodgers!" he was almost laughing insanely, where Paul had been shocked by the battle Toby could have been enjoying it, the adrenalin touching them in different ways. Two more Dilgar charged through the smoke, roaring with a piercing war cry but barely made it past the opening before being hit, not by any of the Race crew but by red energy bolts fired from the stairway. Paul swung his rifle around in surprised, none of them had been watching that entrance but found only two Earth force soldiers.
"Hold your fire!" one yelled over his speakers, the visor sealing him into his suit. He quickly unhooked his mask and slid it up allowing Paul to recognize him as Private Garibaldi. "Its cool, its over. Just let the weapon down." He spoke very calmly and gestured with his hand. "We got 'em, just relax man, you guys did real good."
Paul just collapsed down, his legs giving way beneath him as all the energy drained from his limbs. It had been the greatest ordeal of his live, even more shattering than the escape from Utriel. He lolled his head back and closed his eyes, savouring life and trying to avoid the enormity of his actions these last minutes. He had killed living beings, and while he didn't hate himself for pulling the trigger he did hate himself for putting his crew in this nightmare. Looking around his crew seemed equally breathless, Jenny was already fishing out a first aid kit to help T'Koth while Jors sat down and regulated his breath. He still looked eminently calm but behind his eyes Paul knew Jors' conscious was just as torn as his was, but it was Toby who had the most surprising reaction. He sat grinning and rocking in pure excitement clutching his rifle, it seemed the events had affected them all differently. The whole world had gone to hell and it had taken just two minutes and forty seconds.
"Take a minute, then come downstairs." Garibaldi stated bluntly. "This is a long way from over."
Capital City
Jha'dur ran her hands under the tap in her bathroom, the warm water diluting the thick red blood on her hands and carrying it away down the plughole. Her work was progressing nicely and the samples of native life she had been experimenting on had given her a few new insights into Neuro chemistry. Despite evolving on different planets there were certain evolutionary features common to all life she had dissected in her career. From certain social and cultural similarities down to the specific makeup of nerves and neurones in the brains of sentient creatures it was frankly remarkable that such distant and otherwise unrelated creatures had such similar brains. She did not believe in coincidence, there had to be a linking factor to explain this mystery.
A trill computerized voice beeped on and made an announcement from the neighbouring room. "Connection established."
She tried her hands, the blood vanishing away down the sink without leaving a trace on the metal fittings or her conscience. Then she moved into the main living room and pressed a few buttons on the wall mounted communications panel. Her apartment had belonged to one of the administrators of the hospital she had assumed command of for her work, and while not up to her preferred standards it was as good as Tirrithan accommodation got.
"Open a channel." She ordered the machine. "Raise the Abbai blockade force."
A few seconds later the screen changed to show the person she was trying to contact. "Hello Brother."
"Warmaster Jha'dur." He said formally. "What can I do for you?"
She was a little taken aback by the cold reception, a slight shadow passing over her face. "What's wrong? Don't you want to just talk like we used to?"
He stared hard at her across the vast distance. "Things have changed, like while you lead the assault on the League I am sat here babysitting the Abbai."
"You weren't ready for an operational command." She said bluntly. "You proved that with your flawed plans."
"Those plans were given to me by the other War leaders!" he blurted. "I just followed them!" he quickly looked away, acutely aware he had spoken out of turn.
"What do you mean?" Jha'dur's suspicions were suddenly heightened. "Where did the battle plans come from? Answer me!"
"Warmaster Len'char." He sighed. "I wasn't ready sister, I had no idea how to lead a fleet! So he gave me some basic plans and told me to follow them no matter what and let my courage carry me through."
She said nothing for a long moment. Len'char was her political enemy in the council of Warmasters, as head of military intelligence he had more schemes and plots going on than anyone dared to dream and each one was aimed at putting him firmly in the Supreme Warmasters seat when Gar'shan died, a post Jha'dur was destined for. He had been humiliated at Tithalis when Jha'dur's fleet had rescued him from annihilation by the Drazi and it seemed he was trying to strike back by eliminating her brother. There was no way in hell she was going to stand for that.
"You tell me the second he contacts you again, is that clear?" she said flatly.
"Yes sister." Sha'dur answered.
"Our forces are gathering, in a few weeks we will begin again with our great offensive." Jha'dur stepped back and visualized the galaxy in her mind. "We have secured the Drazi front, Tithalis is ours, Latig is a wasteland and Fendamir is under siege, our border there is safe." The Drazi were recognized as the most dangerous foe to fight, but they were bitterly divided and had no strong central command which made their frequent counter attacks bold but disjointed and easy prey for the Dilgar navy. So far the Drazi had lost half their pre war fleet for no appreciable gains. "The Abbai are contained and the minor powers to our rimward border are falling. The Jump routes into our homeland are firmly in our hands, nothing can threaten Dilgar territory which means we can now focus on expansion. Our homes are safe, now we can begin the task of saving our people."
"My calculations showed the sun will begin destabilising by around 2235." Sha'dur said. "Its magnetic field will decay rapidly after that and it will begin releasing dangerous radiation into our home system, probably in a steady stream but there is a possibility of a cataclysmic explosion."
"If it's a gradual process over years we can evacuate most of our people." Jha'dur said. "The government is building underground shelters capable of holding tens of thousands around each major city which will keep the radiation out until we can transport them, but we still need to find a suitable planet."
"The science council is conducting surveys." Sha'dur said. "It won't take long to find one."
"We must act fast to secure it." Jha'dur stated. "We need to roll up the Brakiri, the Hyach, the Yolu, the Vree and the Markab before the end of next year, then concentrate our forces and finish the Drazi in the first few months of the year after before we can begin mass evacuation. We do not tell the people of the sun's fate until after the war ends."
"Avoid a panic?" her brother asked.
"And avoid the aliens finding out about it." She nodded. "If they realise what we are fighting for, if they figure they don't need to defeat us just buy time while the universe kills us for them, then it will make our job much harder."
"Our job?" Sha'dur cocked his head. "My job is to watch the Abbai. Far from hard work."
"Actually I am transferring you to my command." She fought to keep a straight face, hopefully her brother had learned some humility and sense on his less than glamorous assignment. It was a pleasure to bring him back into the action. "You will follow my orders, you will watch how I fight and you will learn. Is that clear?"
"Yes, yes of course!" he beamed. "You want me to lead forces in battle?"
"I have responsibility for the rimward front, we will be hitting the Brakiri and Hyach almost simultaneously which will require a great deal of timing and coordination. I need commanders I can trust to handle different assaults, ones who will obey me without question. I would like you to be one of them."
"It would be an honour."
"No, it will be hard and brutal and get a lot of people killed. This is not an easy assignment and if you fail the consequences will be unimaginable. It is not a honour, it is a fast track to immortality or damnation. You don't have to accept, but if you are at Tirrith in two weeks we will begin. If not I will not think less of you."
The door to the room burst open and her personal guard skidded to a halt in the doorway.
"How dare you!" She yelled. "What is the meaning of this!"
"Forgive me Warmaster, you said you wanted to know immediately." The guard was panting as if he had run a marathon. "One of our patrols called in, they've captured a human."
"What?" she exclaimed.
"They are bringing him straight here for you, the rest of the unit is searching for others a few miles to the south."
She turned to the screen. "I will wait for you here Brother, but not forever. I trust you will make the right choice."
"I will, go on sister, take care of this." He smiled and ended the transmission.
"Get my lab ready." She turned and grabbed her audio diary where she kept her notes. "First we interrogate the prisoner, then we'll see what makes them tick on the inside. Go, and get more forces out to where he was found. If there are more I want them here by the end of the day!"
The guard sprinted out as Jha'dur gathered her scientific tools, an assortment of scanners, knives and saws. The chance to examine a human was like a gift for her, something she had been obsessing about for days. With great enthusiasm she headed down stairs to meet the incoming transport.
South of the Capital city.
"They took us by surprise." Garibaldi explained to Paul as they stomped down stairs. "They were damn sneaky and their uniforms act like ours, suppressing their IR signature so we didn't see them in time to act." Paul still looked stunned and more than a little hollow behind the eyes. "If we had our proper IR detectors set up on the perimeter they'd have been sensitive enough to track them, but all that gear went up when our shuttle got toasted."
The ground floor was a mess with scorch marks from energy weapons everywhere but it was still active with plenty of green clad soldiers walking around and guarding the exits. Beyond the doorway Paul saw dark uniformed bodies piled up outside, the same unit of Dilgar troops who had tried to storm through the upper windows.
"When we heard the firing we ran back to support the platoon." Garibaldi began to explain. "The Sarge split the platoon into two sections, one here and one across the street a few houses down. The Dilgar hit here but didn't spot our other guys so while they were pinned by defensive fire Conner and I linked up and hit them from the back with the rest of the unit. Like shooting fish in a barrel."
"Freddy, got a minute." Tucker waved him over.
"What's the situation?" Garibaldi asked seriously, he'd noticed a few wounded people but hadn't had time to check who they were.
"Private Reiner took a round in the arm, it'll hurt but he's okay." Tucker was the platoon medic with full combat first aid training., unlike some medics though he was also an excellent rifleman. "Private Manilow wasn't so lucky. He got it in the neck, missed his helmet and chest armour by a quarter inch, a freak shot, just real bad luck."
Garibaldi looked across to a corner of the room, a body was hidden by a blanket the hidden shape almost unnoticed among the broken furniture.
"Hell." He cursed quietly. "I don't think I knew him."
"There's something else. It's the sarge." Tucker sighed. "He got hit hard, there's internal bleeding and a lot of broken bones. If we still had the facilities on the Persephone or a field surgery we could try something."
"Wait, what are you saying?" Garibaldi fixed Tuckers eyes with an intense stare.
"I'm saying he isn't going to make it."
Garibaldi blinked for a minute, then without a word went to find Sosobowski. The old Sergeant was slumped by a wall opposite the door, he'd been stabilised but he looked lethargic and confused, nothing like the forceful character of just half an hour earlier.
"Hey Sarge, how is it?"
He looked up and saw Garibaldi, he knelt down and looked with concern at his commander. "Garibaldi, what's the situation?"
"We beat back the enemy, none of them got away or had a chance to radio for help."
"The Dilgar will come looking for this patrol, how many were there?"
"Thirty five to forty." Garibaldi answered. "We're still counting."
"The Platoon did good." Sosobowski smiled weakly. "How did we do?"
"Manilow bought it." Garibaldi admitted. "But those space jockeys we ran into held off an attack."
"Really?" Sosobowski chuckled, but the action must have been deeply painful and he winced despite the morphine. "Guess they were good for something." His face grew serious. "Like I said, they'll come looking for their patrol."
"We're getting ready to move now, I'll have the guys make you a stretcher."
"Don't be an idiot Private." Sosobowski scorned. "I can't even raise my arm, we both know what's going on here."
"I don't know what you mean Sarge," he lied. "We'll carry you outta here and off planet, then we can have the fleet fix you up."
"Don't talk crap." The Polish NCO said bluntly. "Follow the plan, take those fly boys, hijack a shuttle and get gone. You've got seniority on Conner, that means you are in charge."
"Whoa, wait a minute." Garibaldi frowned. "You're still ranking man in the unit. We'll take your orders."
"Garibaldi, you are a smart soldier, don't think I don't know it was you who totalled the Colonels car." Sosobowski smiled again. "If you can get out of that avoiding the Dilgar will be child's play."
"Look, we're almost ready. We'll take you out…"
"Haven't you listened?" Sosobowski growled.
"I heard, I'm just ignoring you." Garibaldi said firmly. "We all make it out together."
"Not all of us." The Sergeant sighed quietly. "Its your job now Garibaldi, get them out of here, get them home."
"Sarge." Garibaldi leaned in closer, the grizzled soldier closed his eyes and exhaled one more time. "Dammit Sarge!" he snapped and in frustration punched the wall. For a moment he was lost in sadness and anger but realised he couldn't give in to those emotions, like the Sergeant had said he had a responsibility now. He stood, composed himself, and then headed back towards the rest of the platoon.
"What happened with the Sarge?" Private Bugs asked, evidently quite worried.
"He's gone." Garibaldi stated flatly. "Grab his weapons and gear, same for Manilow. Destroy his helmet data systems so the Dilgar can't use them then grab your gear, the Dilgar will be here soon."
"We just leave the body?" Bugs wondered.
"We don't have time to bury either of them." Garibaldi answered. "We need to move fast."
"What about Ross, he hasn't checked in." Tucker pointed out.
"He's gone. If he was still around he'd have doubled back when the fighting started."
"You think he's a prisoner?" Bugs put in, none of them liked that idea. Better dead than a prisoner of the Dilgar.
"We can't do anything about it. Just grab your gear." Garibaldi wanted to send search parties and call out on wide band radio but he couldn't, they had to get clear before enemy reinforcements showed up. "You guys." He addressed the Space Race crew. "Ready to go?"
"We're ready." Paul nodded, he still looked ashen but at least his mind was working again. "But we still need to haul this spare part for the engine." He pointed to a trolley with a piece of fashioned metal on.
"Gonna leave a hell of a track hauling that." Garibaldi said. "You really need it?"
"More than anything." Jors answered.
"How much does it weigh?"
"About three hundred pounds." Jors said. "Too heavy to carry far."
"Maybe for one guy." Garibaldi thought. "Turnbow, over here."
A soldier came from the corner, a massive man equal to Jors in height and build but with African American features. "Yeah Freddy?"
"The stretcher for the Sarge, let's put this thing on it and the two of you can walk with it, then we can move cross country."
"Gonna be awkward." Jors shrugged. "But we can do it."
"If that's the plan." Turnbow added.
"That's the plan." Garibaldi confirmed. "We follow the Sarge's plan. Cut across country, get into the city with our friends here and take a shuttle to their freighter. We're neck deep in it now people, the Dilgar know we're here but we've still got some tricks to play. We move quick, we move quiet, we get out of here together." Garibaldi stated with confidence. "No one else gets left behind, we clear on that?"
The group agreed, including Paul's crew.
"Alright then, it's a promise. Lets go home and make sure the folks back home know what we did here and that the Sarge's family know he died with honour. Now lets get the hell off this rock."