Gateway (Gateway Series Book 1) (15 page)

She slowly crawled her way to Jackson’s body.

Again sitting up on her knees, Martin put her hand on Jackson’s head. Through the pain of her wounds, the mud caked on her face, and stinging cold rain, she could feel tears flow down her cheeks. Sucking in the mucus running from her nose and wiping the tears from her face, Martin struggled with a pain more intense than any bullet could create. Placing her hand on Jackson one last time, she spoke. “They will pay, Hugh. I will make it out of here, and I will make them pay.”

***

An explosion and the force of the ship lunging to port startled Stone to consciousness. Another explosion almost knocked him to the floor.

Rolling off his bed, Stone let out a loud grunt and cursed as his injured leg bore the full weight of his body for the first time since his injury. His muscles were tight and his vision blurred from the medication and the pain, but he tried to keep his composure. Steadying himself and taking a deep breath, Stone moved toward the door of the cell to try to see what was going on.

Crewmembers ran in all directions. Another explosion rocked the ship and the lights dimmed.

‘
All power shifting to emergency sources
,’ came across the announcing circuit.

Stone felt his prison door move. The shift of power had caused Stone’s door to partially open.

He struggled to squeeze his body through the opening.

Stone was halfway through the door when another explosion ripped through the ship. He let out a yell as the blast knocked his wounded shoulder into the door. The pain was intense and Stone felt his vision start to grow hazy again. Exhaling heavily, he pushed through the door grunting and grimacing as flashes of pain washed over his body.

‘
All hands prepare to abandon ship. All hands prepare to abandon ship. Nearest safe planet is November 5. All hands prepare to abandon ship
.’

Once free of his cell, Stone leaned against the bulkhead, taking a second to recover from the pain and gain his bearings. The emergency lighting created an eerie glow as it lit the passageway in both directions. A repair crew was hard at work fighting an electrical fire and structural damage forward of Stone’s position. Their frantic efforts were partially concealed by a smoky haze slowly moving downward from the overhead. Suddenly the panel on which the crew was working exploded in a bright flash of light. Stone’s eyes burned from the brightness and his body ached as the concussion from the blast knocked him against the bulkhead.

Regaining his senses, Stone looked toward the explosion. The fire engulfed the forward passageway, consuming the repair party. His only choice was to move aft.

Pushing himself as fast as his injuries would allow him, he turned a corner of the passageway. As he did, he crashed into a Terillian Marine. The collision sent both men to the deck.

The Marine quickly recovered and reached for his sidearm but before he could draw his weapon Stone’s foot crashed into the Marines jaw, knocking him unconscious.

Stone let out a loud moan as the pain exploded from his wounded leg and raced throughout his entire body. He pounded his fist on the deck as he absorbed the pain.  “Damn it,” he mumbled to himself as he crawled to the Marine. Taking the pistol from the marine’s belt, Stone slowly rose to his feet and hobbled down the passageway.

His search for an escape pod became more frantic. The ship wouldn’t hold together much longer and Stone knew it. Turning down another corridor, Stone had only made it a few feet when he stopped. Small fires of debris that littered the passageway were starting to flitter, then die down—

hull breaches and the hunger of the fires onboard were robbing the ship of its oxygen. It wouldn’t be long until it could no longer sustain life.

Peering down the passageway Stone finally saw them—rows of escape pod compartments. Hopefully there was enough air in the passageway. Taking a deep breath, and hoping it would not be his last, he sprinted through the passageway trying his best to ignore the almost unbearable pain from his injuries. By the time he reached the pods he was breathing heavily and his head grew light; the air was getting worse.

“Empty!” he grumbled. “Damn it, this one too,” panted Stone as he limped from one empty pod to another, his breathing more labored with every moment.

Finally he found one remaining pod. As he reached up to pull the latch that would open the entrance to the pod he felt someone behind him. He quickly spun around, raising his weapon. 

“Where do you think you are going, Colonel?” asked Mori, her sword resting against Stone’s chest. He looked down the long blade into those damn green eyes. Looking closer, he also saw the red lines quickly growing darker in the white of her eyes as the remaining oxygen in the space was being consumed by fires and the vacuum of space.

“Looks like…my friends…have come for me,” huffed Stone. “You can’t escape…escape the reach of the Xen military.”

“Apparently a few of your long-range fighters made their way through our lines and got in a lucky shot. They may have destroyed this ship but our fighters are already on their tail. They…” She took a deep breath and put out an arm to balance herself against the cobwebs forming in her head. “…will not escape.”

The ship shuddered again with another explosion. Both Stone and Mori quickly regained their balance, neither one gaining an advantage. He saw Mori glance into the escape pod. Stone shifted his stance to allow him to look into the pod and still have an eye on his opponent.

“I…I am taking this pod,” stated Stone.

“Both of us are, Colonel,” replied Mori. “You’re too valuable of an intelligence asset to leave here to die.”

Another explosion. This time Stone’s weight shifted to his injured leg and he stumbled. Mori rapidly capitalized, striking his wounded shoulder with the hilt of her sword.

He recoiled in pain. As he did, she knocked the pistol from his hand and swept his wounded leg, bringing him to the ground. Attempting to prop himself up, he was stopped by the pressure of Mori’s sword against his throat.

“Just finish it,” Stone said to her as his focus began to fade and tunnel vision set in.

“You’re not getting off that easy, Colonel,” said Mori as she looked down at Stone. “Give me your arms,” she ordered.

Defeated and injured, Stone complied and Mori quickly tied Stone’s hands together. Growing weaker, it was all she could do to lift Stone from the deck.

“Get…in…the…pod,” she panted, motioning toward the open hatch with the pistol.

“Not…going to be…easy,” stammered Stone as he looked into pod. The last explosion had sent a massive metal shard into one of the seats of the two-man escape pod.

“Damn it!” grumbled Mori as she looked around the compartment at the expended escape pods. Stone could feel her start to stumble, then regain her balance as she held his arm.

After a slight pause and a heavy sigh, she spoke.

“I said g…get in the p…pod,” she repeated.

“Where?” asked Stone, now leaning against the pod. “…only holds…one now.”

“Both fit in the starboard…” Mori closed her eyes for a second to concentrate. “You can either pledge to remain my prisoner until we reach November 5 or die here.”

“I…choose…death…” He was starting to fade.

“Sorry, Colonel,” replied Mori. “Not…today.”

Summoning what strength she had left, she brought the butt of her sword against the back of Stone’s head, knocking him unconscious.

Stone was just coming to as Mori closed the hatch.

“What the hell are you doing?” he demanded as he tried in vain to free himself. Mori had secured Stone in the undamaged hatch and was sitting on top of him.

“Shut up and hold on,” she said as she reached for the ejection button. 

They were thrown forward and then back into the seat as the thrusters launched the pod away from the crumbling spacecraft. The pod was only a few seconds free from the spacecraft when it finally exploded, showering the pod with shrapnel and causing it to tumble through space. The blast threw Mori’s body against Stone’s shoulder. As the pain shot through his body he felt his head grow heavy. His vision blurred and he lost consciousness again.

His shoulder was still throbbing when he again opened his eyes.

He started to move but felt Mori’s weight on him in the confined space. She was fidgeting about and almost yelling. “Any Terillian ship, this is escape pod 245 from sloop
Lodgehouse
authentication code Golf-Delta-Romeo-3, any Terillian ship respond,” pleaded Mori over the long-range communicator. “My navigation computer is damaged. Current trajectory indicates landing on planet November 14. Any Terillian ship, this is escape pod 245 from ….”

Stone contemplated resistance but he did not have the advantage. He was injured and weakened. He determined it better to bide his time and try to lull his enemy into complacency. “The navigation system is damaged?” asked Stone.

“Yes and the damn impulse engine is damaged as well. It lasted long enough to set us on a trajectory to the closest inhabitable planet. Hopefully there will be enough left to control the landing.”

“November 14?”

“Yes, I don’t know anything about it other than the data logs say it’s populated only by a few isolated settlements.”

As Mori spoke, Stone began to feel the pressure of her body on his. She was thin and muscular, but proportioned in just the right places. Her bottom squirming around in his lap did not help either. He tried to control himself, but his body reacted. “Could you stop moving around so much? It’s bothering my leg,” said a frustrated and embarrassed Stone, trying to recover and hoping she hadn’t noticed his arousal. 

“Sorry. I’ll try to be more careful but in these close quarters we both may have to deal with your leg until we can land and get out of here,” she quipped.

***

After a few awkward and uncomfortable hours, November 14 came into sight. A tiny planet in a forgotten sector, it had no strategic importance nor did it offer much in the way of resources.

“Let’s just hope there’s enough juice left in this S.O.B to put her down safely,” said Mori as she concentrated on the controls.

“Watch your horizon,” warned Stone as they entered the atmosphere.

“Don’t need any backseat driving,” grumbled Mori as she worked to control the damaged pod as it sped through the sky.

Mori peered out the viewing window as the pod rocketed over the terrain. Massive evergreens covered the mountainous land below. The terrain seemed to continue forever, the forest and mountains only broken occasionally by a raging valley river and small openings where the blanket of trees gave way to fields of wildflowers and a few cultivated fields.

Mori worked feverishly at the controls as the pod began to steady itself.

Stone could not help but be impressed with her skill.

“The thrusters seem to be holding out,” she reported. “That looks like a decent spot to put her down over there,” said Mori as she brought the pod to a hover just above a clearing in a patch of evergreen trees. “I guess this will do,” she said, as she set the pod down as if she was returning home from an afternoon drive.

As soon as the pod settled gently to the ground, Mori quickly jumped from the module. In her haste she forgot about Stone’s injuries.

“Son of a bitch!” shouted Stone.

“Sorry,” she replied as she quickly turned back toward him, her pistol at her side. “Can you get out?”

Taking a deep breath, Stone placed his bound hands on the lip of the hatch and tried to pull himself out. “Damn it,” Stone cried.

Seeing him struggle, Mori reached into the pod to help him out. “A little help,” she grunted as they both struggled to hoist him from the pod.

Finally, Stone was on his feet. As soon as he had his footing, he quickly landed his elbow against her neck and reached for her sword. The sword slid out of its sheath as she fell to the ground. Stone quickly grabbed the sword and stepped toward her placing the sword to her cheek.

“You bastard!” she yelled.

“I believe circumstances have changed,” he said, clearly proud of his victory.

“Not really,” replied Mori. “Put the sword down or I’ll fire.” With a smile, Mori pressed the barrel of her pistol into Stone’s groin. “Since you apparently have trouble controlling it, perhaps I should just remove it for you,” she added.

Checkmate.

Stone stared intently at Mori as he contemplated his next move.

“You can put down the sword in your hand and keep the one…”

“If you did fire, I am still close enough to plunge this sword into your throat,” he replied.

“It seems like we’re going to have to come to some agreement. We can kill each other or can both survive.”

“I’m listening,” grunted Stone, the pain becoming more intense.

“There is no use in us waging war with each other as we’re the only two combatants on this planet. I suggest we work together to survive until we’re found. At that point either one will become the other’s prisoner or die.”

“As soon as we find a way off this rock, then all bets are off?” asked Stone.

“Agreed, we will try to kill each other then,” replied Mori.