Purge of Prometheus (37 page)

Keryn glanced around the darkened room.
 
Many of the lights seemed to be shut down, letting her know that someone within the room expected her team.
 
She peered into the shadowy catwalks, searching for shooters amongst the juts and twists of the metal floors as the walkways bent around the curves of the large engines.
 
Knowing someone was there made her cautious, but she was still unable to see anything threatening.
 
Looking over the railing, she saw Adam’s team come through the lower doors, spreading out quickly across the open floor.
 
On either side of the engines stood a pair of rear rail guns.
 
Though a battery of plasma missile launchers protected the ship’s flank, the explosives couldn’t be stored in such a volatile room.
 
Instead, the heavy, magnetized metal slugs were used to defend the engines from pursuing enemies.
 
From her vantage point, no Terran soldiers guarded the engines, the weapon positions, or the heavy non-metallic alloy loaders that were used to carry the heavy slugs to the awaiting rails.
 
The engine room looked deserted.

Giving directions to her team, they spread out along the catwalks, segregating her already small team into two man fire teams in order to blanket the entire upper walkways.
 
Keryn’s fear remained.
 
Even if a Terran fired at her team from within the room, the noisy engines would drown out the weapon’s report.
 
Without hearing the shot, she had no way to know if other members of her team were in danger.

She and the Avalon moved slowly across the outer catwalk, scanning the dark nooks for movement or glints off metallic rifles.
 
However, after covering nearly half the engine room, they still failed to encounter any resistance.

They’re here
, the Voice whispered.
 
I can sense them in the air.
 
Don’t get complacent.
 
Be ready for anything
.

Knowing that enemies were inside the room did not prepare her when they chose to attack.
 
As she and the Avalon approached the stairwell on the far side of the engine room, the Avalon staggered, his blood pouring from a gunshot wound in his chest.
 
Stumbling backward, his legs struck the railing and he tumbled over.
 
Lacking the strength to spread his wings to break his fall, he plummeted over sixty feet to the ground below.
 
Dropping into a crouch, Keryn scanned the room and watched in horror as Terrans flooded out from their hidden alcoves all around the room.
 
Even with the engines roaring, she could hear the sound of exchanging gunfire.

A Terran stepped onto the platform near the stairs that led down to the ground floor and opened fire on her position.
 
Already crouched, Keryn sprung from the catwalk as a round grazed her shoulder, landing gracefully on top of the machinery nearby.
 
The Terran paused, not eager to shoot at the massive engine, and Keryn used the opening to fire two shots into his chest, dropping him on the spot.
 
Turning, she sprinted across the engine, weaving between its metallic outcroppings, and fired into the Terran forces spreading across the upper catwalks.
 
Below, she could hear more gunfire and knew that Adam was similarly engaged.
 
Using a metal box on top of the engine as a spring board, Keryn vaulted over a nearby railing, slamming the butt of her pistol into the face of a Terran sniper.
 
She smiled maliciously as she felt the bones shatter under the strike.
 
As the sniper dropped his rifle and lurched backward, horrified and clutching his face, Keryn chose not to waste a bullet and, instead, kicked the Terran squarely in the chest.
 
The Terran tumbled over the railing and slammed into the curve of the second engine.
 
Bouncing, the Terran went limp halfway through his fall as he struck a metal beam.

Perusing the catwalks, Keryn fired a few more shots into the gathering Terrans.
 
Though the element of surprise had worked in their favor, she quickly realized there was only a small group of Terrans guarding the upper catwalks.
 
Nearly half of her forces lay dead, but the other five had already regrouped and were in the process of killing the last of the snipers hiding throughout the walkways.
 
Knowing that her remaining soldiers could handle the rest of the catwalks, Keryn ran to the stairs and bound, two at a time, toward the ground floor where Adam’s team was still engaged in heavy fighting.

The stairwell twisted its way through and over the massive machines, leaving her on the far side of the twin engines once she finally reached the room’s bottom level.
 
Scanning her immediate area, she didn’t notice any Terrans.
 
It wasn’t surprising to her, since she knew most would have left this side to engage Adam’s team near the far rail gun.
 
As she turned to make her way in that direction, a shadow detached itself from beneath the engine and launched itself at her.

The Terran slammed into her, his large body tacking Keryn to the ground, knocking her pistol free from her grip.
 
As she slammed into the floor, her head missing a bucket full of long metal bolts by inches, the Terran shoved his hand into her stomach, forcing the air from her lungs and throwing his weight against her already broken rib.
 
She let out a cry of pain as water filled her eyes.
 
Blinking away the tears, she looked up just in time to move her head out of the way of a descending wrench.
 
The tool struck the metal floor and sent a shower of sparks splashing against Keryn’s face.

Her hand shot forward as the Terran brought the wrench up for another swing, catching his wrist.
 
Growling in rage, the Terran punched her in her broken rib and Keryn felt her arm buckling from the pain.
 
She tried squirming out from underneath his weight, but he moved his own body to keep her trapped beneath his.
 
Fighting to keep the wrench from crashing down on top of her, Keryn brought her knee up in between their two bodies, keeping the Terran at bay.

The Terran lifted his weight momentarily before throwing himself forward again, trying to crush Keryn beneath his body.
 
She felt her knee strain from the force and bit back another yelp of pain.
 
Growling as he tried to shake her hand free of his wrist, he lifted his body again.
 
Quickly taking advantage of the situation, Keryn slid her other leg between them, catching the Terran’s mass with both of her feet.
 
Pushing off, she used her legs to shove the Terran from her.
 
Stumbling backward in surprise, the Terran staggered toward the rail gun.
 
Though still over twenty feet away, the magnetic pull from the rails ripped the metal wrench from his hand, sending the Terran spinning before he collapsed onto the ground near the gun mount.
 
The wrench flew through the air as the Terran spun, clanging loudly onto one of the rails.
 
As the Terran began to stand, Keryn quickly looked around.
 
Her pistol lay far out of reach, coming to rest far away from where the two struggled against each other.
 
Looking to her left, searching now for any improvised weapon, she saw the bucket, bolts spilling over its brim.
 
Smiling impishly, she grabbed the bucket and flung it toward the man.
 
As it spun, the heavy metal bolts spilled free of the bucket before being caught in the rail gun’s magnetic field.
 
Standing, the Terran watched in horror as dozens of deadly metallic projectiles flashed toward him.
 
His body being between Keryn and the rail gun, the blunt bolts slammed into him one after another, tearing through his flesh and gouging strips from his arms and legs.
 
When the bolts struck his chest and abdomen, they bored through his soft flesh, pulled unavoidably toward the rail gun by insanely strong magnetic forces.
 
The bolts dug through organs and muscle, leaving tepid waste to fill their holes in their wake.
 
As the last of the bolts finished its gruesome trek through his body, the bucket slammed into his skull.
 
His neck twisting at an unnatural angle, the Terran collapsed to the ground.

Keryn stood slowly, wincing as she put weight on her injured knee and breathing through hitched breaths as the pain spread through her ribs.
 
Retrieving her pistol, she moved around the engines, using the massive machines for support.
 
By the time she made it to the far side, Adam and his three remaining soldiers stood among the slaughtered Terrans, nursing their own wounds.
 
The tissue on Adam’s right thigh was torn, as though from shrapnel.
 
Her own team slowly descended the stairs to the ground floor.
 
Together, eight of the original twenty troops in Keryn’s team had survived the invasion of the engine room.
 
Limping, everyone wounded, the team made its way to the exit, dreading the painful climb back up the stairs.
 
As they exited the room and the metal doors slid shut behind them, Keryn heard the exhilarated calls over the radio.
 
One by one, teams reported in that their missions were completed.
 
Above all the others, Keryn could hear Alcent calling enthusiastically that the bridge had been taken with no shots fired.
 
The Captain and her crew had surrendered without a fight.
 
As Alcent finished his announcement over their radios, the intercom leapt to life above Keryn’s head.

“Attention to all Terrans still on board,” Alcent’s voice called out.
 
“The Revolutionaries of Othus,” Keryn could hear the capitalized words in his speech, “have taken control of the
Ballistae
.
 
The Captain has unconditionally surrendered to our forces and now requests that you do the same to avoid further bloodshed.”

The speaker went dead momentarily, before coming to life again with a woman’s voice reading a clearly rehearsed script.
 
“This is Captain Wajitri,” the female announced, “Captain…”
 

Her words cut short by a growling voice.
 
“Stick to the script,” the voice called from a distance.

The Captain began again.
 
“…former Captain of the
Ballistae
.
 
I have surrendered to the Revolutionaries of Othus and request that all those loyal to the Empire lay down their arms and surrender.
 
Those surrendering to the Revolutionaries will be treated humanely under the Interstellar Alliance Code of Ethics.
 
Any found resisting will be killed slowly by patrolling guards.”

The intercom went dead again and Keryn’s radio crackled on her private channel.
 
“Keryn, this is Alcent,” the Uligart’s voice said quietly into her earpiece.

Keryn depressed the talk button.
 
“This is Keryn.
 
Congratulations on your bloodless victory.
 
Wish I could say it was that easy down here at the engine room.”

“It’s at least good to hear that you’re still alive,” Alcent said, continuing his nearly whispering tone.
 
“Adam still with you as well?”

“Yes,” Keryn replied, wincing again as a sharp pain shot through her side.
 
“Yes, he’s still very much alive.”
 
She couldn’t quite tell if she could hear disappointment in Alcent’s responding sigh.

“I’ve got reports coming in from around the ship.
 
It sounds like the few remaining Terran loyalists are surrendering in waves.
 
I…” he paused, seemingly embarrassed.
 
“I didn’t really plan this out.
 
We got them to surrender but I’m not really sure what to do with them now.”

“Take all the captives, gather them together, and jettison them out of the closest airlock,” she said harshly.

“What about the Code of Ethics?” Alcent asked, surprised.

“I’ve never read it,” she replied.
 
“Have you?”

Keryn could virtually see the smile spread across his lips.
 
“No, I can’t say that I have.
 
Not a lot of use for the Code of Ethics in the smuggling business.”

“Then find the closest airlock and send them on their merry way.
 
I’ll be on my way up to the bridge, but it’s going to take me a while.
 
In the meantime, set a course for the Falitan Galaxy.
 
We’re heading to a planet called Beracus.
 
I’ll join you on the bridge once you’ve finished with our prisoners.”

She turned to Adam, who already looked crestfallen.
 
Following his gaze, she peered up the tall flights of stairs ahead of them.
 
Her shoulders sagged as she started counting the metal stairs, stopping when the number became too depressing.
 
Feeling the pain in her knee and seeing Adam’s wounded leg, she frowned.

“This is going to take a while.”

CHAPTER 28: