Chapter 16
"Designating contacts, probable Karathi fighters, Hotel One through-" there was a slight pause from the sensor station "-Sixty."
"Arm weapons," snapped Oakes. "Activate point defense. Notify Yankee Delta squadron that weapons are free."
"Yes, sir," acknowledged Tosetti, who had joined him on the bridge. It was the middle of her sleep cycle, but her eyes were clear and bright.
"Conn, Sensors. We have additional contacts, bearing one seven three, inclination zero. Constant bearing, decreasing distance. Classifying as Klondike boarding units."
Oakes swore. "How did the Karathi get an entire starstrike unit this far behind our lines?"
"Lots of raids on the frontier, sir," said Tosetti, her hands flying over the console. "We're stripped bare right now, what with the increased raids, the Larrat, and the Terran crisis." She looked up at him. "Some of those boarding units are going to make it through our point defense, sir."
"Acknowledged," he said. He keyed the shipwide address. "Now hear this. All personnel, prepare for boarding. I say again, all personnel, prepare for counter-boarding operations. This is not a drill."
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"Yankee Delta One-six to squadron, close up on me," ordered Bonnaire.
Nick concentrated on his breathing as he had been taught in the police academy, trying to remain calm. Five seconds in, hold five seconds, five seconds out. "What do I need to do?" he said, marvelling at how calm he sounded.
Bonnaire glanced back at him. "Just hold tight, there's not much- belay that." She typed a command into her console. "I just remembered- this model has a rear mounted gun. It's pretty easy to use- the computer does most of the fine aiming."
Nick jumped as his seat rotated, until he was back-to-back with Bonnaire. A sort of yoke appeared in front of him. "What's this, now?"
"Rear mounted rapid fire rail gun," she explained distractedly. "If you see a red sensor contact on your heads-up-display- that's the screen in front of you- move the gun to point at it until you hear a tone. Then pull the trigger until the target goes bye-bye." A note of grim humor came into her voice. "I could let the AI control it, but frankly I'd prefer to have a real brain behind the trigger."
Gulping, Nick closed his paws around the yoke. "Okay. Got it."
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Judy looked up at the ceiling as a klaxon went off. "What's going on?"
Barker poked her head into Judy's quarters soon after. "Something's not right, Hopps."
"Now hear this," said the captain's voice, clear and calm above the racket. "All personnel, prepare for boarding-"
Judy and Barker looked at one another as the announcement finished. "So what do we do?" asked Judy. Her paws flew to her mouth. "Nick!"
"He'll be fine," said Barker, a trifle uncertainly. She managed to put more confidence in her voice. "He's with the top pilot on the ship."
They heard the noise of tramping boots outside, and then an incongruously polite knock at the door. "Yes?" called Judy, her voice shaken, still thinking about Nick.
"Gunnery Sergeant Sadowski, ma'am," said the voice. "We've been ordered to protect this area from attack. Please stay in your room and-"
The Marine blinked as Judy opened the door. "Ma'am?"
"Tosetti said you had a weapon that I might could use," said Judy. "An energy weapon of some kind."
"Ma'am, they won't get through us," said Sadowski. There was suddenly a loud clanging noise, and he looked up. "Get into position," he ordered two of his soldiers. They hustled down the corridor, taking cover behind a doorframe. Or hatchway, Judy reminded herself.
"Sergeant, we're cops," said Barker, behind Judy. "If you have anything we can use to protect ourselves-"
"Just get back into the room, ma'am, and-"
Judy stood in the doorway, her paws on her hips. "We'll stay in the room, Sergeant, as soon as you give us a gun."
Sadowski looked down at her, then sighed, drawing a small sidearm from his belt. "Here," he said, handing it to Judy. It was much closer to a carbine to Judy than a pistol, but it would do if she braced it against the floor. "No real recoil, and it won't penetrate armor."
"What about me?" demanded Barker. Sadowski looked at one of his men.
"Maxie! Give the wolf your sidearm!"
The Marine looked dumbfounded. "But, sir! I need gun!"
"You can't hit the broad side of a battleship with it anyway! Just give it to them so they'll do what I say!"
Grumbling, the Marine tossed Barker the energy pistol. "Here you go, gray talking dog. Please do not shoot me."
"I'm an excellent shot," said Barker, slightly miffed.
"Then aim for their heads," said Sadowski. "Though if the Karathi make it into your room, you'll want to save the last shot for yourself."
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Nick was gradually starting to be able to read the sensor display. "Um, Bonnaire?"
"Yes, Wilde? I'm a bit busy."
"The red dots are the bad guys, right?"
"Yes."
"And the green dots are us?"
"Got it in one," she said distractedly. "Yankee Delta One-six to Yankee Delta Two-nine, close up. You're drifting."
"There are an awful lot of red dots. And not so many green dots."
"Yeah, fox. That's what we call a target-rich environment," said Bonnaire, a smug note in her voice.
"Oh." Nick gripped the gun's yoke a bit harder. "Great."
"We're in missile range," said Bonnaire to him. "Get ready."
The red dots had been converging on the big green dot that represented the Nike- and Judy- but now they abruptly started to swerve, tracing long lines as they turned towards the oncoming fighters of Yankee Delta.
"I have tone," announced Bonnaire. Sure enough, a steady hum could be heard in the cockpit. "Yankee Delta One-six, fox four!" The fighter shuddered and a missile detached from one of the wings, a slight glow at the back. It rapidly accelerated and disappeared into the black.
"Fox?" said Nick, surprised. "What's that mean?"
"I don't really have time, Nick!"
More missiles streamed from the other fighters, with the calls coming out over the radio. "Yankee Delta Three-zero, fox four!" There were more, momentarily flooding the air.
Nick blinked. "Never mind, I think I figured it out."
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"Fighters have launched on enemy fighter craft," announced Tactical. "Six of the twelve boarding ships detected have been destroyed by PD fire."
"The remainder?"
"Hull breaches reported on decks five, sixteen, twenty-four and nine."
"Deck nine?" repeated Tosetti. She looked at Oakes. "Sir, the Terrans-"
"I know," he said grimly.
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There was a burst of fire from outside. "Contact!" shouted one of the Marines. More fire.
Judy clutched her pistol in both paws. She was frightened for herself, of course, but right now all she could think of was Nick.
She and Barker had taken what little cover they could behind the bed and desk, with Judy stretched along the floor. The wolf glanced over at her. "Reminds me of the Raid," she said.
"Yeah," replied Judy. "Me too."
But at least Nick was with me then.
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"Splash my bandit!" crowed Bonnaire. "All units, prepare to break by pairs and engage on my mark!"
She watched carefully, eyes flicking between her sensors and the HUD, where the enemy ships could be picked out. She twitched the stick slightly and squeezed the trigger, blasting a missile out of space with a burst of rapid fire. "You owe me a beer, Rudaski."
"Fight's not over yet," came back the dry reply.
"Nope," said Bonnaire. "Mark, mark! Break and engage!" She triggered a burst. "Splash two," she said with satisfaction.
Nick could do little but watch as the starfield spun around them. Once or twice he saw flickers of light, but- "Are we fighting?"
"I've got two of them already," said Bonnaire. "It's space, it's big! You won't see much of them, so use your sensors!"
He remembered then what the red and green circles meant. "Right." His eyes sought out the nearest red circle- their range appeared beneath them- and pulled on the gun's yoke until it lined up. A tone hummed in his helmet. Just as he pulled the trigger, there was a burst of light and the ship lurched, throwing him to one side.
"What the hell was that?"
"A close call," said Bonnaire. "Missile detonated only a few hundred klicks away."
"A few hundred is a close call?"
"Everything's bigger in space, even the close calls. Now watch our six."
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Sadowski hunkered down by the hatchway leading to the Terrans' room. A Karathi popped out from down the corridor. Both he and Mick fired, and the alien let out a harsh bark of pain before disappearing again. "Think we got him, gunny?" asked Mick.
"I think he'll get us if you don't mind your sector and shut the hell up," snarled the sergeant.
"Contact!" Sadowski's head whipped to the side.
They were fighting at the head of a "T" intersection, with one of the horizontal bars of the T leading to the Karathi and the other two supposedly being safe. But that contact report had been from one of the Marines covering the "safe" zone.
In other words, they were flanked.
He had to fall back. He also had to protect the Terrans, which meant- he keyed open the door.
Only to throw himself to one side as he saw two energy weapons pointed at him. "Right," he muttered as he heard the snap of discharging beam weapons. "I gave them guns. Whose bright idea was that, anyway?" Careful to not expose himself, he leaned towards the open hatchway. "It's Sadowski! We need to fall back!"
More gunfire punctuated his words. The bunny's serious face eased around the door frame. "Where to?"
He pointed in the only "safe" direction left. "That way!"
Judy dashed out and instinctively ducked and rolled as a burst of gunfire ricocheted off the bulkhead behind her. She slid, somehow changing course and making it to the nearest hatchway where she ducked behind cover.
Behind her, Sadowski gaped. "How did you- I barely even saw you move!"
Judy didn't hear him. She peeked down the corridor and her breath caught in her throat.
It wasn't the Marines, pouring fire down the corridor as they leap-frogged backwards that caught her gaze. It wasn't Barker, gasping as she threw herself behind the hatchway across from Judy.
It was the Karathi.
Imagine an insect, like an ant or maybe a beetle. Enlarge it to the approximate size of a human. Then replace the body with the scaly skin and musculature of a reptile. Add in a few still-insectile features, like the wicked-looking mandibles and chitinous arms which gripped oddly shaped weapons.
She realized that they were armored, but it was hard to tell where the armor was and the body began. Sadowski was falling back, now, his bullpup-style submachine gun pouring short bursts down the corridor.
A Karathi fired and the sergeant stumbled. Judy traded a look with Barker and they both leaned out to fire.
The energy weapons they had been given had no visible beam, no coherent band of visible light connecting the barrel to the target, which vaguely surprised Judy. She had half expected the laser beams of movies. Instead, there was only the visible impact at the target. The Karathi took one shot on the armor, which actually dented slightly, and the second struck it in the head. It fell, legs and arms twitching spasmodically.
"Was that your shot or mine?" asked Barker breathlessly.
Sadowski, who had recovered his feet, joined them behind cover. "I'll give you both the kill," he said generously. The shot had struck his armor. He glanced at them. "Good shooting."
They managed to make it to the next bend in the corridor, still trading fire with the aliens behind them. Sadowski hustled the two Terrans ahead of the group, with only Maxie and Mick- Judy had heard both their names as orders were given by the gunny- acting as point.
"Foxtrot company to Command," said Sadowski into his radio. "We are at Fallback One Three Niner."
"Acknowledged," said la Mancha's voice. "We have been falling back on One Three Niner as well. We shall be coming from the port corridor."
Sadowski frowned. "It must be going worse than I thought if the colonel is retreating."
They had a bit of a breathing space, with Judy and Barker safely ensconced in a conference room, the approaching corridors heavily guarded. A few minutes later, they were joined by the colonel, who- in contrast to the sweating Marines- looked fresh and confident. "Ah, Gunny Sadowski," he said cheerfully. "Don't you love it when a plan comes together?"
"Plan, sir?'
"Oh, yes. Major Krieger suggested hamburgers, but I felt- based on their attack pattern- that pierogis would be more appopriate. Don't you agree, Maksimov?" he asked the burly Marine.
Maksimov blinked. "Er, yes, sir. Pierogis are good. My babushka used to make best pierogis in Domograd."
The colonel frowned. "I don't think you quite understand my meaning. Krieger?"
A Marine officer sighed. "The colonel refers to the plan," he said, directing his comments toward Judy and Barker. "The usual method for eliminating a boarding party is what the colonel refers to a hamburger."
"Grind them up," said la Mancha cheerfully, "and then smash it together." He smacked his hands together in illustration.
"This time, the enemy landed in too many separate parties," said Krieger. "So instead, our job is to surround each party and destroy them in detail."
"Like pierogis," said la Mancha. "Surround them and wrap them up tight. Then smother them in sauce."
"Sauce?" said Sadowski, confused. "What sauce?"
In answer, la Mancha keyed his mike. "La Mancha to Bridge. Boarders are confined to decks five, nine, sixteen, seventeen, and twenty-four. Activate anti-boarding measures."
"Acknowledged," came back the reply. "Deploying nerve gas."
"Nerve gas?" said Judy and Barker simultaneously.
The Marines gave them a surprised look. "Of course," said Krieger.
"Isn't that a bit, um, drastic?"
"Miss Hopps," said la Mancha. "When you have an infestation of insects, what do you do?" He smiled. "You exterminate them." He set a timer on his watch. "The gas should take full effect in ten seconds."
"What if they want to surrender?"
"Then they should have thought of that before they boarded," said la Mancha serenely. "Besides, Karathi don't surrender."
Judy frowned. "They don't?" she said after a moment.
La Mancha's watch timer went off. "Well, not anymore."
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Nick yanked the rear gun around and triggered off another burst at the trailing enemy ship. The shots went wide, with even the correction of the computer's aiming mechanism unable to get a proper firing solution. "Bonnaire!"
"I know, I know!" She spun the ship around and poured on more thrust, glancing at the accelerometer. "I've only been keeping him off us by high-gee maneuvers, and we can't keep up this kind of thrust for long."
The enemy fighter was now in front of them, though they were still moving away- Newton's law in action. Bonnaire swept her crosshairs over the enemy ship and fired, but the Karathi fighter dodged the guns and swept past them. "Nick! Your sector!"
Nick twisted the guns around and squeezed the triggers.
The guns missed, then corrected.
The Karathi had made a mistake. Possibly realizing that the rear gunner was a novice, he had started to cancel his relative velocity too soon. For a brief moment, he was almost dead in space relative to the space fighter.
It was all Nick had needed.
The glittering lines of fire abruptly changed their flight path, intersecting with the red sensor dot on Nick's HUD.
A bright flash announced his kill.
"I got him!" exulted Nick. "I got him!"
"Don't get cocky, kid!" shouted Bonnaire. She checked her readout, noting the last of the Karathi fighters turning to flee. "Never mind, get cocky. Looks like we're done."
"We won?" said Nick, disbelievingly. "What about the ship? Is everyone okay?"
"Yankee Delta One-six to Nike," she said. "My passenger wants to verify the Terran delegation is unharmed." She grinned. "And be advised he has one confirmed kill."
There was a long pause, Nick's heart in his throat, when finally there came the answer. "This is Nike Actual," said Oakes dryly. "They're fine. All boarders have been neutralized."
Nick let out a deep breath and sagged into his seat.
Oakes continued, "Yankee Delta One-six, Romeo Tango Bravo and prepare to explain the following: who your 'passenger' is and why he was getting kills, confirmed or otherwise."
Bonnaire gave Nick a sheepish grin. "Oops."
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Shepherd needed no further urging from Hunter. Silently, the tank whipped around and shot towards Pandora.
Pandora crouched and leapt, completely over the on-rushing tank, then spun around and grabbed his rear armor. Dodging the swipe of one of his manipulator arms, the wolf ripped open a panel and shoved her paw inside.
Shepherd shuddered and one of the tank's two engines cut out, dropping one side to the floor. The hovertank continued moving, digging a furrow through the carpeted floor as it swung in a wide circle around the auditorium.
Hunter dashed forward, picking up a thick piece of splintered wood from the remains of one of the pews. He brought it up like a baseball player at bat, judging his moment carefully as Shepherd circled around towards him.
The wolf looked up just in time to catch Hunter's swing right between the eyes. She was thrown off the tank, rolling until brought up short against the wall.
Hunter charged after her, but in the split second before he got to Pandora she leapt up, swinging a clawed paw at his face. He threw himself backwards, tripped over a pew and fell sprawling.
Tavi, helpless in the fight of the two larger mammals, was talking frantically on her radio. "Hunter!" she shouted. "We've got back-up incoming."
It was a measure of the effect Bogo had on Hunter that his first thought was Oh, no, now I'm in trouble. He rolled as Pandora pounced towards him, dodging her grip. "The sooner the better!" he shouted back.
"One minute!" said Tavi.
Pandora hesitated, looking at Tavi, and Shepherd came back to the fray, swinging a manipulator arm with bone-crushing force into the wolf's midsection. It should have torn her apart.
Instead, it threw her through the window. Panting, Hunter pulled himself up to see the wolf roll to a stop, then jump up and snarl wordlessly.
"No way," he breathed. "Nobody would be standing after that."
Except the Drex, he remembered. Drex were notoriously difficult to kill. The way she moved- but she was a wolf.
Pandora watched him, unblinking, then cocked her head, listening. Hunter heard the sound of sirens.
With one final glance at Hunter, the wolf disappeared into the night.
Hunter coughed, looking at Tavi. "Are you okay?"
"I wasn't the one fighting," she said, running up to him. She examined him critically. "You're bleeding."
He noticed that there were some cuts where Pandora had pinned him down. "Yeah," he said slowly. "I am." He carefully picked something from near the wound, and smiled tightly.
"What's that?" asked Tavi, craning her neck to see.
"A hair," said Hunter with satisfaction. "DNA. Maybe this wasn't a total loss, after all."
He paused and looked around at the destroyed church. "At least not for us," he added.
