Beyond the Shroud of the Universe (33 page)

“
There may be a ramp behind the door,
” Lieutenant O’Leary commed on the squad’s network. “
Be ready; the skipper said there was a welcoming party behind their door.
” Several troopers adjusted their weapons. “
Okay, Chaos, open ‘er up.”

“
You got it, LT,
” Sergeant Jacob ‘Chaos’ Braig said. The cyborg cycled both of his shotguns to full auto, then said, “
Here we go.
” He leaned back and kicked the door open. Already weakened with a plasma torch, the door crashed backward onto a circular ramp with a resounding ‘
boom!’
” The ramp turned counterclockwise as it descended, and the door slid a quarter turn down the ramp.

The area was empty.

Keeping the shotguns ready for close quarters work, the cyborg walked onto the ramp and looked into the center of the well. “
Looks like an opening halfway around,
” he commed.

“
Roger, that,
” Lieutenant O’Leary said. “
You’ve got point. Let’s find out where this goes.
”

Chaos worked his way around the ramp with the rest of the squad close behind. He reached the opening and pulled a small mirror from a pocket.

“
Big, tough cyborg’s afraid to look around the corner himself?
” Corporal Jonny ‘Dark’ Minion asked.

“
Big, tough cyborg was a biological once,
” replied Chaos, “
and he remembers what it was like to get shot to shit. If you’d rather look, go ahead.
”

“
Nah, that’s all right. Go ahead and use your mirror.
”

“
If you insist,
” Chaos replied. He attached it to the end of his middle finger and eased it into the passageway. Before he could turn it to see down the hall, a blast of plasma took off the mirror and the last inch of his finger. “
Bitch!
”

“
Spud, throw some grenades in there and soften them up,
” Lieutenant O’Leary ordered.

“
Sure thing,
” Sergeant Marcus ‘Spud’ Murphy said. He adjusted his trident and fired a string of double strength grenades into the opening.

“
That ought to do it,
” Chaos said. He jumped forward into the opening.

“Ziiiiiip-
PEW!
Ziiiiiip-
PEW!
Ziiiiiip-
PEW!
” Plasma bursts struck him in the head and chest, and he fell backward onto the ramp, the hole in his head still smoking.

“Bastards!” Corporal Calvin ‘Bossman’ Davis shouted. He dove into the opening, firing before he hit the floor. He continued firing down the passageway as several plasma bolts went over his head. “
Ro—
” he commed, as two plasma bolts went through his head. A third struck his rifle, shattering it.

Sergeant Anne ‘Fox’ Stasik dove across the gap, several plasma rounds narrowly missing her as she crashed to the ground on the other side. “
There are three of their robots side-by-side in the passageway,
” she commed as she came to rest. “
They look bigger than the ones we fought in the Jinn Universe.
”

“
Understood,
” Lieutenant O’Leary said. He switched to the command network. “
We’ve got several robots blocking our path. They’re armed with plasma weapons and have already killed two of my squad.
”

“
Is there any way to get around them?
” Calvin asked.

“
We may be able to get by them, but they may also be guarding where we need to go. Also, if we bypass them, they could pin us down somewhere. Their weapons are extremely powerful; I don’t want them behind me.
”

“
Roger that. We haven’t run into any of them yet. Why don’t you hold your position and maybe we can find a way to take them from behind.
”

“
Okay, I will hold here. O’Leary out.
” He switched to the squad’s network. “
Everyone just sit tight. The CO is going to try to hit them from behind.
”

“
Lieutenant!
” Corporal ‘Bill’ Obillossilllolis screamed. “
I have movement from behind us. Cowtaurs behind us!
” O’Leary could hear the Kuji firing his rifle faster than what it was rated for.

“
I’m on it,
” Gunnery Sergeant Dantone commed. “
Fire Team Two with me! Jones, you’re on the left. Rozhkov, you’re right. I’ve got the middle.
”

Lieutenant O’Leary could hear antimatter blasts and lasers firing from above him, then the distinctive sound of a Hooolong pulse rifle on full automatic.

“
We may need to do something about the robots,
” Gunny Dantone commed 30 seconds later. “
We’ve got an ass load of cowtaurs coming from behind us. Looks like they’ve gone outside the ship and are coming in through the entrance we made.
” There was a pause, then he added, “
Fuck. These have some sort of combat suit on, and they are taking even more firepower to bring down. Look out!
” Another blast of pulse rife. “
Lieutenant, we’ll need to bypass the robots; we’re not going to be able to hold them here for long.
”

“
I’ve got an idea,
” Spud said.

“
Have I ever told you I hate it when you have ideas?
” Lieutenant O’Leary asked. “
Is this something likely to get you killed?
”

“
I hope not,
” Spud commed, dialing up the setting on his trident. “
I’m going to try to bounce some antimatter grenades off the wall behind the robots so that it hits them in their softer spots. Wish me luck.
”

He dove into the passageway with his trident at the ready, coming to rest against Corporal Davis. He was able to fire three time before one of the plasma rounds struck him in the face.

“
The good news is we’re past the robots,
” Lieutenant O’Leary commed. “
The bad news is there are Shaitans coming in from behind us in large numbers. Watch your back, sir!
”

“
Yeah, we’ve got them here too,
” Calvin said. “
Keep pushing on, and we’re bound to get somewhere important. We’re going to start at the bottom of the ramp and work our way up. Try to find out whatever it is that the robots were guarding.
”

“
Wilco, sir; we’re on it.
”

Calvin switched to the squad’s network. “
Let’s go down to the bottom and start there. The other squad is going to start on the top.
”

“
Sir, Gunner’s down with a plasma bolt through the chest.
” Calvin watched as Sergeant Milan Vranjesevic’s life signs went to zero. Ironic, Calvin thought. The Serb had survived NATO bombings early in his Army career, only to be killed by a cowtaur in a system he had probably never heard of.

“
Leave him,
” Calvin commed. “
If we don’t hurry up and find a way to stop this ship from jumping back and forth, we’re not getting off it.
”

“
Sir, I’m at the bottom of the ramp, five turns down,
” commed Staff Sergeant Alka Zoromski. “
Looks like we got robots in the passageway here too. Sal’s dead.
” It had to happen sometime, Calvin thought. Corporal ‘Sal’ Sallissollosiss was the unit’s first Kuji fatality.

“
Is there any way to get some antimatter behind them?
” Calvin asked. “
That was how the other squad got past their robots.
”

“
It’s going to be difficult, sir,
” replied Staff Sergeant Gurney. “
The ramp ends in the passageway where the robots are, and it’s going to be darned difficult to fire anything down the corridor without giving them the chance to shoot back at us. Let me see what I can do.
”

“
Hang on, Staff Sergeant,
” Calvin commed. “
Wait until I get there.
” He hurried around the last two turns of the ramp. “
Oh, crap,
” he said, arriving at the Big Gurn’s position. “
That sucks.
” There was no way to get an angle on the robots without the robots being able to shoot first.

“
I’ve got an idea,
” said Sergeant Declan ‘Ducky’ Jones. “
What if I drop down the center of the ramp well. They’ll be focused on the ramp, and I may be able to get off a few shots before they reorient on me. Gurn can come down the ramp right after, and while they’re shooting at me, he can fire off a few rounds too.
”

“
You’re going to be pretty exposed there,
” noted Calvin.

“
Not really,
” said Ducky. “
I think I can fire, then dive under the ramp. As long as they aren’t too fast, it could work.
”

“
Whatever you’re doing sir, you’re going to need to do it faster,
” said Wolf, who was rear guard. “
They must have emptied the ship to get this many cowtaurs behind us, but there’s a whole pile of them back here.
”

Calvin looked into Ducky’s eyes. “
Yes sir. I can do it.
”

“
It’s a good plan,
” said the Big Gurn. “
We can do this.
”

“
Okay,
” Calvin said. “
Do it.
”

“
Let me know when you’re ready,
” said Ducky. The cyborg put a leg over the railing, his mortar at the ready.

The Big Gurn moved to where he was just out of sight. “
Ready.
”

“
Here we go,
” said Ducky. He jumped.

“
There only be one door on the left side of the passageway,
” Sergeant Margaret ‘Witch’ Andrews said, “
but there be five doors on the right side.
”

“
Any idea what’s behind them?
” Lieutenant O’Leary asked.

“
No mon, I mean, no sir,
” Witch said, “
but whatever’s behind the single door must be pretty big. I vote for that one.
”

“
All right, Dantone, get up here and cut through the single door,
” Lieutenant O’Leary ordered. “
Wraith, you’ve got rear guard.
”

“
I’m on it, Lieutenant,
” Staff Sergeant Park Ji-woo replied.

Ducky hit the ground and stood up. Knowing he didn’t have time for his brace to extend, he leaned into the shot and fired a high explosive round. The force of the launch drove him back several feet; the force of the blast pushed him back even further as the mortar reloaded. He leaned into the shot and fired again. Silver thermite.

The pyrotechnics of the round detonating was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. The silver sprayed everywhere in the passageway, reacting with everything it touched, turning it into radioactive slag.

It was also the last thing he ever saw, as the remaining robot reoriented on the cyborg and fired, the plasma bolt going completely through his head, killing him instantly.

The Big Gurn ran down the ramp as Ducky fired his first round. As he aimed his trident, the world exploded in yellows and silvers as Ducky’s second round detonated, and he was hurtled backward off his feet to slam into the unyielding surface of the ramp. Stunned, he watched in horror as the robot on the right turned to fire at Ducky. Having miraculously avoided the spray of silver thermite, the robot shot Ducky in the face with the first shot and then twice more as the cyborg collapsed.

Having finished with the cyborg, the robot turned back toward the Big Gurn. Gurney threw himself to the side as it fired, and its first shot missed. Up against the ramp, the Big Gurn had nowhere else to go, so he aimed his trident and fired. The round struck behind the robot and detonated, destroying the robot…just milliseconds after it killed the Big Gurn.