Edge of Solace (A Star Too Far) (31 page)

A massive circular construction routed all of the piping into a pillar which disappeared into the floor. They leapt down and crouched behind it when Herringbone leaned against it and was thrown thirty meters.

“Bone!” Yamaguchi yelled. He went to sprint when he caught himself. Diagnostics showed massive electrical overload with catastrophic internal damage. Private Herringbone was dead. “Keep moving!”

“Is that you?” Captain Grace’s voice crackled.

“Lieutenant!” Yamaguchi yelled. Green icons blinked onto his display.

The infantry ran and took cover against a heavy double wall. The rest of the crew was lined up on either side of the opening. Massive nanite welds linked the two together as if both halves were constructed somewhere else and linked in space.

On the opposite side stood a single heavy strider. A rotary cannon was primed in one arm with a boarding shield in the other.

Behind it stood the focal point of all the conduit. A pair of xeno devices, like those in the case, hung in the air. Lines of energy rippled and sung from each one. Below them a reactor was cradled in a heavy alloy sling.

“So
, uh, Lieutenant. Mind clearing out that strider?” William asked as he rested his head against the bulkhead.

“That’s it?” Yamaguchi asked. He racked in a fresh slab of caseless ammo and laid out a plan of attack on the tactical overlay. “Al
l right squad, on three.”

The four suits erupted from cover and spread out. Thudding explosions sounded as the rotary cannon opened fire.

*

Archie stepped out from behind the bulkhead and hammered fire at the strider. Marines surged around him along with naval ratings. Captain Grace leapt into cover with Huron right behind.

“There it is!” Huron yelled. The Engineer stood with a hand outstretched pointing at the reactor.

Comms crackled in his ears as the energy rebounded off the walls.

“Behind us!” Private Avi said. “Striders and drones!”

Archie snapped around and took cover on the edge of the bulkhead. On the other side
, the striders bounded in, followed closely by the avian drones.

“Cover the entrance, stop the bastards here!” Archie ordered.

Marines and sailors slung weapons around the corner and opened fire. A burly Marine propped up the bolo launcher and grinned widely as he was finally able to use the hefty weapon.

“Hello
, Major,” Commandant Nefoussi said.

Archie snapped around
, weapon raised. A single suit of Sa’Ami power armor stood next to the reactor. A suit with a single red diamond. The same suit that had knocked him unconscious.

“Shit.”

“Go!” Captain Grace yelled and the pair sprinted across the open space, Huron following behind.

Archie focused his aim and let loose a burst from the heavy rifle. A
cluster of caseless shells formed into a blunt nose and passed right through the space where the Commandant no longer stood.

“Keep him occupied,” Huron
said as he slid up next to the reactor. The Engineer pulled out a tool roll and opened the side of the reactor.

Captain Grace took position next to Huron and opened fire. His stubby carbine barked burst after burst.

The Commandant moved at a speed that seemed almost beyond human. He had hardly landed when he would translate the direction and bounce into a new vector. With a flick of his wrist he launched a grenade canister towards the door. The explosion popped followed by a stream of shrapnel tearing into the Marines and sailors.

Archie gritted his teeth and continued forward. He sidestepped and waited for the next burst, waited for the Commandant to make the next shift. A split second more.

“Almost! Lock him down!” Huron yelled.

The entire space was filled with the sounds of explosions, screams and violence. The striders on the other side of the bulkhead pushed closer while the avian drones swooped in and attacked.

Archie took a single breath as he stood. He expected the Commandant to fell him with a single shot but the suit of power armor laid fire everywhere but on him.

Instead of slamming a set of rounds into the Commandant
, he found himself mentally assaulted. A white hot fury raced into his skull, pushing out any sense of control. He was an observer inside of his own head.

He turned, changed the focus of the weapon, and opened fire on Huron and Captain Grace.

Heavy rounds thumped and slammed the Engineer aside while the last rounds ricocheted off the body armor of Captain Grace.

Captain Grace dropped behind the backside of the reactor. “Major!”

Archie couldn’t respond. His body was not his to control. He loaded another slap, leveled the stubby nose of the rifle, and opened fire on his own Marines.

*

The
Malta
was silent except for the clanging sound of maintenance drones. Abraham held a panel open as Antun guided a pipe wrench inside. The position was awkward for both men.

Abraham stared up and down the passage. The
Malta
had always felt vibrant, alive, full of energy. Now it felt as lonely as the vacuum outside. Even the comms chatter had ceased.

Antun spout
ed a string of Aramaic curses. His feet stomped on the deck and a thin stream of coolant ran between his legs.

“One second
.” Abraham pulled the panel back further.

“Abraham
.” Lebeau’s voice was loud in his ear.

“Ms. Lebeau
.” Abraham wasn’t sure if she was Captain Lebeau, or Midshipman Lebeau, or how to call her now that the Captain was off the ship.

“Get armed and head to the medbay. I can’t raise Castro.”

Abraham looked down at Antun who had a questioning look on his face. He told Antun.

The Maronite sighed and stood. Yellowish coolant dripped from his pants. Antun shook his head and shrugged. He stuck out the wrench and pushed it into Abraham’s chest.

The wrench hung heavy in his hand as the pair stalked down the passage. Antun paused at each corner and peeked around. Then the two would move again silently. The only weapon Antun could find was a long range fire extinguisher.

Abraham wanted to speak to Antun about this but his grasp of Aramaic wasn’t sufficient.

Antun stalked ahead by a step and kept the nozzle pointed in front of him. He stopped a dozen paces from the entrance and crept slowly up to the door. Abraham stepped as lightly as he could behind him.

Abraham’s heart beat faster and faster. He half expected to see a
Marine step out and explain a problem but there was no sound. A maintenance drone plodded out of one duct and regarded them with lazy eyes.

Antun peaked around the corner.

His body was blasted backwards as the shape of a woman slammed into him driving two reddish black blades into his neck. The fire extinguisher streamed out a spray of orange and white foam that splattered all over the walls.

Her face was gaunt, tight, like a skull with skin painted on. Bloodstains spread across her shirt just beneath her breasts. Her eyes burned with anger. She held one blade over her shoulder and the other before her.

Antun squirmed on the floor and gurgled.

“Ms. Lebeau!” Abraham yelled out.

Asa leapt out and planted a kick onto Abraham’s leg. He howled and flung the wrench outward, batting aside one of the blades. The second blade drove in and stuck into his thigh before she ripped it out.

Pain shot up from his leg. The leading edge of the knife was dull, it didn’t penetrate far but it burned. He looked at her in surprise and found himself unable to swing the wrench.

She glared and feinted with one hand while the other shot in and caught him on the arm. He was too slow and she was too fast. The dagger punctured a ragged hole.

“Ms. Lebeau!” he yelled again and held the wrench out.

“You’re as big as a goddamn gorilla, just grab her,” Lebeau said.

Abraham looked down at the pair of blades. They weren’t blades of steel or alloy. In each of her hands was a rib. Her ribs. Fear rose inside of him. Ribs did not just come out
—God took ribs out.

She stabbed in once more. The second rib punctured his opposite thigh. He was ready for that blow and laid out a heavy hand to slam her down. She was already gone by the time his fist passed.

He thought, just for a moment, that he might be able to handle it. Then he was proved quite wrong when she leapt out and kicked off the wall. He had just enough time to kneel and roll and avoid the blades going into his shoulder. She landed behind him with a light thud and caught him off guard.

A single gunshot rang out and Asa was off. A thin trail of blood ran down her back.

Abraham stood quickly and turned to see Lebeau holding a slender pistol.

“Get the fuck down!”

Abraham dropped to the floor. Lebeau cracked off a few more shots.

Asa was gone.

“C’mon!” Lebeau yelled.

The pair ran after
her. They caught nothing but glimpses as Asa sprinted away.

“Almost dead
, they said,” Lebeau growled.

Lebeau ran into the cargo
hold with Abraham close behind. He clutched the wrench tightly to his chest like some sort of shield. Lebeau’s pistol tracked around.

Asa propelled herself from behind a container and tackled Lebeau in the waist. The two women dropped to the ground and both scrambled. The pistol was trapped between the pair.

Abraham stood and felt absolutely and totally useless. He had a flash back to when Reed was killed. He’d done nothing. Nothing. The wrench felt heavy. Heavy enough to smash something.

Not now. Not again.

The wrench crashed down onto Asa’s shoulder with a crunching sound like broken wood. Abraham stood with his legs wide and brought the wrench back up for another blow.

He stepped forward, closer, and prepared to strike once more.

Asa thrust the pistol out. Her eyes dark, detached, burning with intensity. Sweat poured down her face. A tint of fear and sadness ran on her cheeks.

She pulled the trigger and a dull beep sounded.

“Get her!” Lebeau yelled.

Abraham rushed forward and latched both hands onto Asa. She had dropped the ribs while wrestling with Lebeau. Each of his heavy hands gripped like vises and tossed her into an open panel.

A high pitched crackling sound blasted out. The smell of burnt meat and torched hair filled the air. Abraham rushed forward and stared into the cabinet.

Asa’s broken body lay crumbled on the floor. Three burnt patches on her back matched three breaker terminals on an electrical panel.

Abe looked down to his hands and felt an intense urge to vomit.

“Quit fucking off, I’ve been stabbed for fuck
’s sake,” Lebeau yelled.

Abraham shook the sense of dread and ran back to Lebeau.

William tucked behind the reactor and felt it hum gently against his back. It was warm
, even through the panels of his armor. The sounds of the violence around him was deafening.

Huron moaned. A pair of nanite patches were clad to his neck. Blood stained the maintenance suit an odd shade of orange.

Major Theodore stood on the opposite side of the reactor with his weapon slung over the top. Behind him the powered suit of the Commandant shot at the Marines and sailors taking cover in the bulkhead.

The cover was light. On one side a pack of striders dove in with avian drones pecking away. On the other side the combined fire from the Commandant and the Major added to the chaos.

“Gooch! We could use some help here,” William called over the comms.

“It’s going to be a few,” Yamaguchi replied quickly.

“Major! What the hell are you doing?” William shouted.

Major Theodore answered with a three round burst.

“He shouldn’t have come,” Commandant Nefoussi said.

The sounds of violence dropped a tone and everything seemed to shift. Light flowed differently and sounds ebbed and flowed. It was like listening underwater.

The alien devices shuddered and sang. A single point opened between the pair. In the midst a gem of light and plasma swirled and circled before cementing into a point of intense energy. Each of the alien devices locked onto it and slung the energy aside.

“And it is done,” the Commandant said. He stepped behind the reactor, just a corner away from William.

“Peace is now at hand, Captain, peace like we’ve never known.” His voice was almost pleading.

William tucked close to Huron and kept his weapon pointed at the corner where the Commandant would emerge. “Hold on
, Huron.”

The reactor shuddered as the plasma streams heading to the
xeno devices expanded and contracted.

“Would you like a truce Captain? We both go our separate ways? Nothing more either of us can do here.”

William looked down to Huron and across the room to where his crew was withering under horrible attack. Marines and sailors were using tattered bodies as cover from the assault. Another blast came from Major Theodore.

He tried to figure out what had happened. A sleeper agent? The stalwart Major seemed like the last person he’d ever expect to turn.

A guttural roar echoed out from the Commandant. He staggered back and clutched his armored hands to his skull. Interference and feedback shuddered through his suit speakers. He fell to one knee and braced himself on the floor.

William snapped the weapon up and stood. He’d blast the Commandant and hope that the Major didn’t notice. He popped up and turned.

On the other side of the reactor, Major Theodore stood, legs wide apart, with the bulky mass of his heavy assault rifle. Instead of pointing at the Marines it was boring down on the Commandant.

The Major took three quick steps, braced the barrel against the Commandants face shield, and fired. The three round burst puckered the armored shield before the expanding nanite gases pushed through the shield. The Commandant’s body fell backward and was still.

Major Theodore dropped the weapon and fell to his knees. Tears streamed down his face as he turned and looked to William. “I’m sorry,” he repeated over and over.

Gun
fire ceased at the bulkhead. Confused cries were followed by an all clear. Even the sounds of the heavy strider died away.

Marines ran forward with weapons raised.

“Hold, hold!” William cried out. “Someone grab Huron.” He pointed behind the reactor. He stood next to Major Theodore and helped him up.

Major Theodore’s eyes were ringed with tears. Sobs racked his chest. He shook his head from side to side
, pleading.

“We need to move!” Corporal Ishmael shouted.

Further down the passage the plasma was eroding the structure rapidly. Groans pulsed through the hull. The temporary nature of the structure became obvious as fittings shook loose. The stress added as the harmonics focused and hummed.

An enormous beam broke loose. It passed through one line of the singularity beam only to fall in shards.

“That’s enough for me,” Yamaguchi yelled as three suits of power armor ran up. “Damn thing just stopped.”

“C’mon, back to the entrance, we’ll raise the
Malta
there,” William said.

William grabbed Major Theodore by the arm and hauled him away. The Major kept his gaze focused on the body of the Commandant until they were out of sight.

The remaining crew followed the path of destruction back up to the vast hall. Vacuum alarms sounded on the suits. The entire structure was being torn apart from the inside.

William raced to the nanite sheath entrance. “
Malta!
Bring ‘er in!”

More
Marines came up with the naval ratings close behind. The last line of Marines followed with weapons still at ready. Major Theodore stood without aim.

“What the hell happened” Yamaguchi asked.

William shook his head. “I have no idea.”

Major Theodore wiped his eyes. “He controlled them all. I could feel it, see it, taste it. The big one, the little ones, the wispy fliers. Even Asa.”

“Asa? Captain Asa?” William cried. “
Malta!
Report!”

“Uh Captain, this is the, uh,
Malta
. Am I saying that right? Well you don’t have to swear at me,” a voice crackled over the comms.

William looked to Yamaguchi with questioning glance. “
Malta,
we need a pick up. Who is this?”

“This is Abraham. Lebeau says she’ll bring it in.”

“Make it quick!”

“She says we have company,” Abraham said over the diminishing comms.

“I don’t care! Pick us up!”

Behind them the plasma crawl
ed off the pillars before lapping against the ceiling and walls. Far off in the distance the floor began to glow. Static electricity crackled closer.

“Faster!” William didn’t know why Lebeau wasn’t talking
, but he wanted the urgency to be felt.

The umbilical crossed the gap and slapped clumsily against the outer wall. It retracted before coming closer and finally sealing. The nanite sheath bounced back and the dimpling disappeared.

“Move it in!” William ordered.

Wounded
Marines, sailors and soldiers streamed past and propelled themselves through the zero-gravity tunnel. Only Major Theodore stood with his back to the opening. He stared out at the incoming plasma creeping closer.

“Major, I’m not leaving without you,” William said.

Major Theodore turned. His eyes were red with a frown framed across his face. One foot moved, then the next, and he was into the tunnel.

*

The adrenaline had dropped to nothing but flooded back in when Yamaguchi saw the body laying on the floor of the hold. The woman was laid out gently with cargo fabric pulled over her face. He squinted at a reddish object on the floor and looked to Sergeant Hoffman. “The fuck is that?”

“Looks like a rib,” Sergeant Hoffman said.

Behind them the hatch sealed and the crew scattered away to duty stations. In a few short moments, only the soldiers were left.

He keyed the release and felt the suit drop away in chunks and pieces. Scarred armor peeled off and the chill air of the hold blasted against his sweat
drenched shirt. He stepped out and felt the floor cold on his feet.

“Well
, Lieutenant,” Sergeant Hoffman said. He sat on the edge of his suit and lay his head in his hands.

Yamaguchi didn’t have any words to offer support. The moment was beyond it. He stared down at the suit and nodded at it. You done well, he thought. Damn well.

*

Archie ran after the corpsman and kept his eyes locked on Huron. The
Engineer smiled back weakly with a pale face. A body lay in the hallway at the entrance to the medbay. He slowed the run and entered behind the medics.

Corpsman Castro lay against the edge of his medical console
. Raw stab wounds peppered his back. A Marine was facedown nearby. Asa was nowhere to be seen.

The body he passed in the hold came back to him.

Asa.

The medical staff rushed Huron into the surgical room and more men and women streamed in.

He rushed out and ran back down to the hold.

She still lay near an open electrical access with the gray cargo fabric draped over. He peeled it back and saw a body beaten and bruised. One edge of her gown was pulled up and horrible black lines ran where her lower rib was.

Sobs came again. In her he saw a common horror. His brain was a fog of transmitted memories. When the Commandant had him, he saw other things. The displays of the heavy strider. The eyes of Asa stabbing a man. The technical readout of a device. A device just like the one on the
Malta.

“Captain!” Archie called out hoarsely. He stood quickly and ran to the entrance of the lifepod.

“Major, can it wait?” Captain Grace replied in a quick voice.

“I know what the device does.” He licked his lips and squatted. The case fell open. The device was just like the pair hovering above the reactor. The device channeling the singularity away.

“Major…”

“You need to trust me
, Captain. Please, I saw what it was doing.” His hands traced the edge until he felt a click. A hum. Then a small screen popped out. His fingers danced along it in a way he didn’t quite understand.

He stopped and looked down. Was he really doing this? Was this him? The Commandant was dead and he knew it.

“There isn’t time, but you need to trust me.” Archie finished sliding the guide and stepped out. The sound of footsteps rushing closer echoed through the hold.

“Please
, Captain,” he pleaded again. “Launch it, we can punch a hole through the singularity wall.”

He moved one foot forward. Inside the lifepod was a manual release. He could put a quick end to the war. To hell with the Commandant’s wall.

The door snapped shut before he could step inside. In a burst of frost, the lifepod was gone.

The
Marines ran, tension on their faces, but with weapons lowered.

“I need you to come with me
, sir,” Private Avinash said.

*

William rushed onto the bridge and found Lebeau slumped over her chair. A nanite patch was plastered onto the side of her neck.

“Captain,” she said in a drowsy voice. “We’ve got company.”

The display showed a horrible chaos of changing gravitational fields. Most stunning of all was the zero velocity of the binary stars. The pair was no longer orbiting but instead locked together. An enormous stream of plasma writhed like a yellow snake to the station.

Panels disintegrated as the heat and gravity pulled the station. The energy was overwhelming the local scan. Sensors on the hull shut down and slid away from the blistering heat.

The
Malta
burned away. The course was away and towards UC space. The main problem was the rapidly growing list of Sa’Ami ships coming in near the inky blue planet.

“Shit,” William whispered. He grasped Lebeau and slid her onto the floor. He keyed open comms, “I need a medic or corpsman on the bridge.”

“I shouldn’t have doubted you,” Lebeau whispered.

William looked away from the console and paused his course correction for a second. “I didn’t know you did
.”

Lebeau smiled weakly.

A bandaged and patched Abraham stepped onto the bridge and scooped up Lebeau. “I’ve got her, Captain.”

William nodded and focused on the task at hand. The lifepod spun away and blinked loudly on the display. He trusted his gut and hoped he wasn’t wrong. If not
, he was in for one helluva court martial. He let the first sign of a new race out of his ship, on the word of a man who was under the control of the enemy minutes before. He felt a touch lightheaded.

Crew filed onto the bridge and took stations. Weary looks and despair draped heav
ily on their faces.

The lifepod stopped blinking the fierce alarms and then everything changed again. A third axis erupted through the singularity and bored away, straight between the binary stars, directly towards Sa’Ami space. A clear lane of black space tunneled through the chaos of the binary pair.

“Look at that…” Engineer Mate Howard whispered.

The bridge was silent as the visual display was buffeted by turbulence and the violence of space.

“Hold on now,” William said to the crew around him. “We’re almost clear.”

Course projections filled his screen. Anomalous readings pulsed back and forth. Range tolerances spiked far from the normal. The computer pushed back a question mark. The line where the Haydn drive would engage wavered and shook.