Inherited War 3: Retaliation (41 page)

“Hal, we need ideas,” Split said.

“I know, I know, I need to go back Home. I need the Pures’ database. They had to have made something that cleans up radiation. We just need to find it.” Split didn’t hesitate. He turned and sent the ship rocketing off towards Home Base.

They entered in to the Home Base system and sent a quick coded burst to the base AI. Their message got there before they came within range of the sensor net, and was received, verified, and followed. Split and Hal never showed up on any scans nor would they be seen by anyone. They uploaded what had happened so far to include casualty lists from the ships. Once that was done, Hal dove into the storehouse of knowledge that was the central computer banks. Split did as well, albeit at a much slower pace.

Split had wanted to be in and out without anyone knowing they were there. Too many questions and not enough answers as far as they were concerned, and they wanted to be gone as fast as possible. It took nearly twenty-four hours of nonstop searching before they found what they needed.

Split leaned back in their seat and thought for a moment. It could be done. It wouldn’t be easy, but doable.

“Where do we get that much…what’s it called?” Split asked.

“It is called dimundium and there is only one place in the galaxy. Take a guess,” he said.

“We are not in the mood for games. We are tired and wish to be out of this cramped cockpit. Tell us now!” The last was said with some heat behind it.

“Kill joy,” Hal replied simply. “It’s on the Kin homeworld, well, more like surrounding the homeworld. It was waste product from the creation of the diamond-like shell that surrounds the planet.”

“The shell that protects the world?” Split asked.

“Yup, we just need to go there, get permission, land on the exoskeleton, separate it from the shell, and melt it down. Oh, also put a power generator in its middle.”

It was the only way they had found that could clean out enough area around the planet to make it safe for them to not only reenter the system, but to bring the shield down. They had found that the Pures used to clean up heavy radiation in space by melting down the outer shell of the Kin homeworld and sending a precise electric charge through the worked mineral. The hollow ball formed had to be a perfect circle, so zero gravity was the easiest way to ensure the perfect sphere shape. While the material was still liquid, they inserted a power generator into the core. And when the sphere hardened, it was connected to the power source.

Turn the power on, find the right setting, and bam—it attracted radioactivity like iron to a magnet. Hal calculated that they would need at least fifty spheres with a radius of ten feet. Launch them so they enter a spiral orbit at a distance of two hundred thousand miles from the planet and let them do their thing. All things being equal, it was still going to take about sixty days to clear the area around the planet. That was if they could get the stuff, melt it down, add a power source, and haul it to Nixa.

“We need the transports, don’t we?” Hal asked.

“No something bigger. Something that can melt the mineral down in zero gravity and form the spheres. We need a portable mining rig, one rated to melt tungsten,” Split replied.

“Is that all?” Hal said absently. “That’s what is used here to supply raw materials to the ship yards and manufacturing plant.”

“And it’s portable?” Split asked, amazed.

“Sure, it moves around from asteroid to asteroid, mining then refining the current metal needed by the base. Now it was never intended for deep space travel, but one of the battleships could hook up to it and drag it through warped space,” Hal said cheerily.

“Talk to the base AI and explain what we need done. Make it fast,” Split ordered, and in a millisecond, it was so.

“Now what?”

“Now we send a message to the fleet and have them come pick up the miner while we go meet with the Kin. We must impose upon them one more time.” Split vectored out of the immediate area and made the jump to warped space. Moments later, they reappeared in normal space at the edge of the Kin’s home system.

CHAPTER 21

Cole slowly regained consciousness, and instantly panicked. He was blind, restrained, and had a muzzle of some kind over his mouth. His first thoughts were that he had been captured again by the Esii and this was some new form of hell they planned to put him through. Then a cool hand touched his arm and a soothing voice began to speak.

“Calm down, Cole. It’s me Sky, and you’re in our med center.” The hand left his arm and he felt the mask. He realized now that it was an oxygen mask and it wasn’t firmly attached. “You have suffered some serious trauma and need to relax.” He let his body go limp and fought to regain control of his breathing. Once Sky saw the tension ease from his limbs, she undid the restraints holding him still.

“You were in no danger of dying, but you had broken your spine and needed to stay as still as possible so you didn’t keep causing damage for the nanites to repair.” She placed her cool fingers back on his exposed arm.

“I can’t see,” Cole forced out, working his mouth to spread some saliva around.

“You lost your eyes. They melted right out of your head. Along with a great deal of skin and hair. Fractured bones up and down your body, and internal bleeding and ruptures on just about every major organ,” she informed him. “I think I told you before that unless you lose your head, you probably won’t die.”

“What happened?” was his next question.

“Someone found you lying on the ground dazed after the first set of blasts and tried to drag you to the tunnels. The third wave of hits landed when you were right at the mouth of the tunnel. The concussive force of the explosives slammed you down the stairs and sent you sailing down the hall. The tunnel collapsed at that point, covering your lower half. The rescue teams found you, pulled you free, and brought you to me. I have spent the last two days pumping everything into you that will aid in healing so you can get back to it, but you still need to rest.” While Sky had been talking, Cole was checking with his nanites. She wasn’t lying. He should have been dead, a hundred times over, after all of that. His nanites and Sky had saved him. Again.

“I love you,” Cole said as he basked in the warm feeling of being alive. He heard a short intake of breath from Sky, and suddenly she had her arms around his neck and was softly crying into his ear.

“I love you too, you reckless human. Don’t ever do that again.” Cole chuckled.

“What is going on topside?” he asked when she regained her composure.

“We are topside. I knew you wouldn’t want to be underground with troops in the field, so I brought you to the field hospital.” She grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. “Your friend Eric West took command, reluctantly, when he heard you were out of commission.”

“Did we buy any time?” Cole asked with hope in his voice.

“An hour at the most. They had to abandon a lot of the ammunition for the heavy weapons and some other nonessential supplies, but they got all the generators and shield units pulled out and the traps rigged. The Roche will find nothing but rubble and death out there now,” she said.

“How long is the estimate on this shield lasting?” Cole said.

“Max, four days. Asshole,” West said from a few feet away.

“Why am I an asshole this time?”

“You left me in charge again,” West replied.

“Sorry, I will avoid all indirect fire next time,” Cole replied.

“Good, now go back to sleep and heal up. I got things for a little bit, but we need you back in the saddle,” West said as he walked closer to his friend.

“West,” Cole said.

“Yeah?” he answered.

“Have them pull everything back to the last block before the government buildings. Pile it all in the open space and make that our next fall back position.”

“What? Why? Are we going to give up?”

“No, never. I have seen what lies beyond our walls,” Cole said cryptically.

“Shit sandwich?” West responded.

“Yes, and we all may have to take a bite. We will only waste lives and supplies trying to hold the city block by block.”

“Okay, I’m on it. We won’t sleep till everything is out.” West popped him on the shoulder and Cole heard him walk out.

“That bad?” Sky asked.

“Yes, there are too many of them and too few of us. They can bring in countless weapons from around the world to wear our shields down. But he was right about one thing,” Cole said.

“You need sleep,” she replied.

“I need sleep,” he said at the same time. She leaned forward, gave him a deep kiss on the lips, and whispered sweet dreams. Cole smiled back before the nanites in his body shut down his consciousness one more time.

Two days later, Cole was looking at the 3D map of the city in the new command center located in the grand entrance to the governmental building. Not only was he joined by members of the military, but by the civilian government as well. It was as quiet as it was going to get with the hustle and bustle of aides running errands and soldiers coming and going. Cole rubbed his chin and thought about the answer to the questions he just been asked. Why had he pulled everyone back to this point? Why had he abandoned the city wholesale? Why, when the shield fell again, would they not be there to greet the Roche as in battles past? What was his plan? He mulled it over. He had been thinking about it yesterday when he had woken up marginally better than the day before. Sure, his nanites reported his physical health was up a third from the day before, but he still felt like a bug stuck to a windshield.

“For one simple reason. We lose men and equipment every time we defend a block of the city.” No one seemed to be taking offense to his use of the human word to describe the soldiers, so Cole stuck with it.

“Yes, but we hurt them as well,” Sky’s father interjected.

“Not enough to justify the cost. I learned that the hard way. How many of us went out that day? To slow them down? All told, nearly twelve thousand Worlders and one human misguidedly took the battle to them.  How many came back? Less than one hundred, the rest left to rot on the field. Do you know what I saw out there?” Heads were shaking no.

“I saw Roche, piling on top of their dead, slavering at the mouths to have their shot at us. I saw one go down and hundreds waiting to take his place. I saw their heavy weapons set up and firing with more in crates behind them. I saw beings who know that to survive they must conquer this planet quickly and enslave the survivors if they want to live. So I ordered the wall abandoned and everything from this final spot back to the wall booby-trapped—wired to explode, catch fire, fall over, blow up, and whatever else could be done between now and when the shield falls. Because eventually we will be fighting them in the tunnels and I want all the men and guns we can down there fighting.” Shocked looks were on everyone’s faces. Cole felt like he was looking at a fishbowl full of goldfish. Eyes wide and mouths opening and closing with no sound coming out.

“No, that can’t be. You came here to save us,” someone in the back shouted in fear.

“I believe I have failed,” Cole said and watched as it sunk into their minds. “Now all we can do is hope I’m wrong. Hold them here for as long as we can then lure them into the tunnels where their numbers are meaningless. Fight until they are all dead or we run out of ammo. Fight and never stop. I promise you this, I will be at the front as long as I have breath in my body. And who knows? Maybe we will get lucky and the fleet will be able to enter the system soon and do our job for us.

“Can we retreat what’s left of the topside population underground and turn off the shield around the planet?” Sky’s father asked with a grave voice.

“That of course, is up to you. I believe the fleet has not returned simply because it can’t. The radiation around the planet must be enormous and is keeping them out. If you drop the shields, yes it would kill them all, but it also may doom our chances of getting off the planet as well. The planet would die almost instantly and become poisonous to all life forever. How long could we last down here in these tunnels? A few months? A year? With no way off, we would end up just as dead as the Roche.” Cole looked around the room. “We have two days until the last shield fails, and I am hoping to get at least a month out of the final one. If anyone comes up with a brilliant idea, you have some time.” The politicians slowly dispersed in small groups, quietly talking, while Cole and his military aides remained behind.

Split and Hal headed straight out to the Kin homeworld, called Chrysalis by the rest of the galaxy. They made no attempt to communicate with the ships and stations in orbit around the planet, but made straight for the hidden cave that led to the interior and the planet’s surface. Hal had gotten the location for the entrance from the Home AI that had gotten it from the ship Thalo and Sky had used to come get the Kin initially.