Machine Gods (Star Crusades Nexus, Book 2) (10 page)

Teresa twisted
around in surprise. Her face contorted in anger. The conversation
had moved on from Spartan and this operation
, to one concerned with the destruction of his company and
her livelihood. She wanted to shout, but the Admiral lifted his
hand to stop her from saying anything else. Gun walked back into
the room with his hand on a guard’s throat. He must have heard
Teresa and had returned to help her.

“
Gun,
it’s okay, stand down,” she spat out, looking
back at Admiral Anderson.

“
Due to the launch
of the operation
, our resources in New
Charon will be spread thin. I’ve been given the authority to
appropriate any assets I deem necessary to secure this region. APS
Corporation has resources, people, and skills that are needed. It
will remain as a shell corporation, with your employees signing new
contracts with Alliance departments, if they so wish. If you agree
to this, it is my firm intention to look after your people and what
is left of your company’s finances. All executives will be offered
posts in the Alliance bureaucracy already being established out
here.”

Teresa knew
Anderson was a loyal friend, and there was
little, if any chance he would try to take advantage of her or of
Spartan. She could only assume this was a plan he had been working
on to ensure that APS Corporation continued to function, even after
being officially shut down.

“What if I say no?” she asked.

Anderson smiled.

“
Well, actually, I
heard a rumor that the hostile takeover is imminent. You can wait
it out, but do you really want to be part of a failing Corporation
as it is stripped apart by its new owners? This way your people
keep their jobs, and you retain at least some of your
assets.”

Teresa had half
expected something like this to happen. APS was on its knees, and
she was surprised they’d staggered on this far. Only the T’Kari
contracts had kept them in the black. The more she listened to
Anderson, the clearer it was becoming he’d planned this little
rescue for some time.

“What about our operatives and combat teams? What
about us?” she asked, pointing to herself and to Gun.

Admiral Anderson seemed to positively glow at this
question.

“
My friends, I would
like you all to reconsider your re-enlistment into the
Corps.
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs
has given me the authority to reinstate former personnel, and I
have a position for both of you and any of your crew, if you’re
interested. I cannot assign you to my command staff. That would
raise many questions. But I do have a unit that is in a shambles.
It needs people with experience to whip it into shape, and you two
are definitely in that bracket.”

Teresa looked to Gun
who appeared
equally
surprised.

“
I could do with
your leadership as well, Gun. A Jötnar commander is just what this
unit needs, and it will mean you will both be very close, if and
when I need people I can trust,” the Admiral added
mysteriously.

The hostility
towards Gun’s people was well known in the Alliance. It had led to
them being removed from the Marine Corps itself, and was one of the
main reasons Gun and the others had turned to mercenary work or
operating with the private contractors. The chance to return to the
Corps rather than stagger on with the ailing business was tempting.
Anderson beckoned to them both.

“
I suggest you get
packed for your trip. You need to get going, and fast!”

She looked a little
confused
, but he added just a few more
words.

“
I’ve
forward
ed data on the fleet and those
commanders present, Major. You might check the force disposition of
your new battalion. Your clearance levels have been restored, as
has your payment account with the Alliance.”

With that he
beckoned to the door where Gun waited patiently. Teresa was now
even more confused than before. Gun, on the other hand, looked even
happier at whatever they had just signed up for. She shook the
Admiral’s hand and finally left the room. The door shut and left
the two of them out in the corridor. Two marine guards watched but
said nothing, instead acting like statues or sentinels. Teresa
started to walk to the right side of the corridor, and once Gun
caught up started to speak.

“Did you get any of that?”

Gun burst out
laughing, and the loud roar of his powerful voice echoed down the
corridor like a mechanical hammer. His frame was massive, and next
to the slight body of Teresa he looked more like a giant. They
passed by more marines, and each of them glanced at him before
turning their eyes away. The Jötnar had been an important part of
the Alliance for years now, but the sight of one in the flesh was
always a cause for conversation. Gun had been the first of his kind
to turn on his makers and had a reputation for violence but also
fairness. He was also the leader of his entire race, and that was
something of great interest to all those aboard ANS Beagle. The
fact that the leader of the most powerful race in the Alliance
chose to work with APS Corporation was one of their greatest
assets, and a reason behind their success. They moved on further
down the corridor before he finally answered her.

“
Teresa,
you managed to miss that? You just agreed to
assist with the combined Alliance-T’Kari Helios
Expedition.”

She stopped and looked hard at him.

“
The combined Helios
what?”

Again the
leader of the Jötnar laughed and shook with
pleasure. Like all of his people, he had little time for politics
or discussion. He liked to explore, fight, and eat. Though
sometimes even the most bizarre topics seemed to amuse him, in this
case it was Teresa. Everything else to the Jötnar was a
chore.

“
It is a mission to
another part of space, a place we have never seen or heard of
before. Anderson said the T’Kari call Helios the holy place that
links the seven peoples together at a single point. They suspect
there will also be a link back to our own system. They have been
cut off from there for a century because of the wars with the enemy
and his followers, and it control access to hundreds of
worlds.”

Teresa stood in disbelief at what he’d just
said.

“Wait. We’re sending an expedition to this place?
Where is it?”

Gun actually seemed to genuinely smile at this
news.

“
We don’t know yet.
I
t is a secret. The T’Kari say they guard
it, but no ship has traveled there for a century. That is why we
will go together, one big happy family.”

He then leaned
closely as if
sharing a great
secret.

“
Somehow I think
this peaceful expedition will include a lot of warships and
marines, don’t you?”

Teresa felt so
stupid that she had managed to miss the most important part of the
briefing. By her estimate
, she must have
drifted in and out through twenty minutes of talking and
discussion. Spartan had managed to get into trouble before, but
this time it was different. Her children were away, and all but her
most distant relatives were light years away on Carthago. Even
though her old friend Gun was there, she could feel coldness in her
body; the coldness you felt when everybody else had gone and just
you were left. Not even her company remained to offer much in the
way of solace.

How the hell did I miss all the detail? Is this
dementia?

She started to
worry.
In theory, it was possible with
her in her forties, yet medical knowledge and genetic manipulation
had progressed so far that she had the body and fitness of a woman
twenty years younger. There were marines in service now that were
still passing the combat fitness tests in their sixties. These
weren’t generals either, these were low and middle-level officers
that moved and fought in the frontline with their
troops.

No, it has to be something else. It must be the
stress catching up with me.

They continued along
the corridor
with a cheery looking Gun
and a mortified looking Teresa. The more she thought, the less she
could believe the words from Gun’s mouth. She started to worry that
either her memory or mind was starting to fail her. This part of
the ship was slightly different and consisted of a much narrower
corridor, but with a long run of narrow windows running down one
side. It provided a perfect view of the Rift that would take any
ship in this system directly back to Alpha Centauri and the many
worlds of the Alliance. Sitting just in front of the Rift was the
menacing shape of the jewel of the Alliance Navy, a Crusader Class
warship. These mighty vessels were of a similar size to the older
designs of cruisers but required less crew. They were fitted out
with more advanced weapons, artificial gravity, and enough space to
carry a powerful contingent of marines. They were truly the first
universal ship design. Teresa looked at the vessel for a moment
before turning her attention back to their operation.

“Gun, how much did I miss?”

He looked to her and smiled gently.

“
Couple of
minutes,
Anderson said he’d go over the
details with the leaders of the expedition on Hades. We need to
leave quickly. The ship is on her way to Hades and leaves within
the hour.”

“Ship?”

Gun nodded slowly.

“
Yes, we’re getting
a ride on the most powerful ship in the entire fleet,
her.”

Teresa looked back
at the grey warship as a number of fighters moved past her flanks.
Another ship came through the Rift and moved slightly above the
first ship.

“Which ship is that?” she asked, though more to
herself.

“
Anderson said we
were getting ANS Crusader, and he wants us as part of this big
adventure.”

Crusader
, huh? The
flagship of the entire Navy.

She looked
a
t the vessel for a moment and back at
her friend, suddenly remembering the words from Admiral
Anderson.

“Major?” she exclaimed.

Gun simply beamed back at her.

“Don’t you remember? We’re both back in the
Corps.”

She looked at him with nothing but bewilderment on
her face.

Gun roared with
laughter and banged his fist against the window, much to the horror
of a group of passing marines. Teresa noticed he seemed more alive
and more excited than he had in years. She tilted her head
slightly, and he looked back.

“
My people are
finally managing to govern themselves. I need a
break
, and some time back in the Corps is
exactly what my muscles need! Hell, if this works out maybe we’ll
get more of my brothers into the Corps. Wictred and Hunn managed
it; maybe we can get some more in?”

With that, he tensed
his arms and clenched his fists, feeling the blood pumping through
his massive body. Teresa couldn’t but be in awe at the sight of
him, yet seeing him becoming excited at the prospect of action
returned her mind to their many battles in the past. Like him,
she’d enjoyed her service, but she never had the bloodlust or
pleasure in battle that he seemed to have.

Still. I
need to do something to help Spartan
, and taking part in this expedition is better than sitting
around and waiting for APS to die,
she
thought, while the great bulk of Gun continued to writhe about in
excitement at his prospects.

“
Gun, you are one
crazy bastard!” she laughed.

The T’Kari were as unexpected as the results of the
Helios Expedition. With different races to compete with, and new
trade routes opening up almost daily, the prospects for humanity
were simply to rise to the challenge or to fall aside. Luckily for
all of those in the Orion Nebula, humanity chose the former.

Orion – The future?

Spartan opened his
eyes and looked about the interior of the ship. As before, the
lighting was poor
, and it took a few
seconds for his eyes to adjust. His suit’s heads-up display
indicated that only a small number of his operatives remained on
the vessel. The connection to the transport had gone, as had the
connection to the shuttles.

Great, that’s a good start.

He lifted himself up
and instantly felt the pull of gravity. Either the artificial
gravity was functioning on the ship, or more likely, the engines
were still on full burn and creating a single ge
e of gravity as a side effect. He spotted the shapes of his
comrades nearby. They appeared to be unconscious though none
appeared dead; at least the information in his armored suit told
him otherwise. According to the suit’s sensors, he was now almost
completely out of oxygen and power.

Dammit, what’s it like out there?

A quick glance
inside the
armor showed both gravity and
a safe, breathable atmosphere. He didn’t hesitate and immediately
activated the seal on his helmet. The visor hissed open, and the
odd, damp smell of the ship’s interior wafted inside. Khan was
started to stir nearby, and he walked over to check on his friend.
There were bullet holes nearby but no signs of an enemy. As he
moved to Khan’s side, he tried hard to remember what had happened.
He recalled the creatures, and then finally the images of the pods
in the room returned to him. It was the sight of the unconscious
Pontus and Typhon that shocked him to his core. He almost tripped
over at seeing the face of the most hated men in the
Alliance.