The Black Planet (30 page)

Chapter 66

It had been days since the human fleet had shown face.  The supreme commander had halted the city ship to wait for the attack that never came.  The humans had almost destroyed his home fleet then simply stopped coming.  They had waited for days but nothing had happened.  He was feeling very uneasy when he ordered the city ship forward again.  Still it had given him time to deploy what was left of his fleet at strategic places within the shields of the city ship.  Many had undergone emergency repairs and were now in a position where they could fire most of their weapons.  It gave him hope.  His city ship wasn’t as heavily armed as a normal city ship would have been.  There seemed little requirement for it.  Now his defences were bolstered by the fleet which would fire out through his shields.  His confidence soared.

His emperor had been on the news encouraging everyone to fight to the death.  They themselves had talked for over an hour.  They were sure that sooner or later the humans would have to attack.  Despite the human numbers even their top experts were sure there wasn’t enough of them to stop the city ship.  The fight would be slow but decisive in their favour.  If the humans did get aboard, he had measures set in place to ensure their final defeat.  It would just take one contaminated human to reach Earth for them to gain final victory.  The humans did not have the technology to stop the plague that would ensue.  That had been his idea and he was proud of it.  He would far rather have preferred to be in his comfortable office rather than the war room in the bowels of the ship.  He had studied historical defence strategies.  He knew the main control centre was always any enemy’s ultimate goal.  He had stationed most of his remaining troops in a pattern to enhance the deception while he and his staff remained anonymous and safe deep within the city itself in the auxiliary war room. 

He sat in his command chair admiring his work.  Large screens surrounded him and bands of operators sat at monitors.  The latest universal news was coming through and he listened into it.  He felt great pride when his own face appeared on screen.  The Modloch were now coming out of their shells about their relationships with the humans.  There was no mention of how first contact came about but there was plenty about the how some of them survived for a long time on the planet.  A great monument had been erected to the emperor’s brother.  It would be one of the first things he would destroy when he reached the blue planet.  The humans had documented the Modloch visit.  There was the funeral of Gairloch and the handing over of The Burning Wind by the ridiculous ambassador to Earth.  Now they were publishing documentaries on the wildlife of the planet.  He knew many races would be eyeing the great grasslands on the planet with hungry eyes.

He had watched them with interest planning what he would do in more detail.  They would eradicate most of the human cities; turn them in to grasslands.  The vast oceans would provide the fertiliser for the planet.  In the vast deserts local habitats would have to be built but that wasn’t a problem.  Not with the resources they would have available. 

The Modloch were now accusing the Albany of setting up the illegal trade in blue grass which they now said came from the planet Earth.  Of course it was true but his emperor was denying the allegations.  It was how they had funded the great invasion fleet.  He was quietly confident that by the time they reached Earth their fleet would be decimated and they would have a free hand to dispose of the humans at their own leisure. 

His eyes and ears were drawn to a screen that began to sound and flash a warning.  ‘Fifty enemy vessels inbound.’  An operator announced. 

‘What do they think they can achieve with fifty vessels?’  One of his aids asked absently.

He was ignored by all.  ‘Warn our defences,’ ordered an officer on the floor.  ‘Stand by all stations.’

‘All stations alerted sir.’

Another operator made himself known, ‘the enemy has just broadcasted a message straight at us.  Translation says, ‘stand by, ten seconds.’

The supreme commander burst out laughing, ‘how nice of them to tell us when they are going to strike.’  There was a dutiful ripple of laughter.  It was the last time he would ever laugh.  A few seconds later multiple alarms began to go off.

‘What the hell is going on?’  He shouted into the room.

‘Our shields are falling,’ someone shouted.

A split second later The Burning Wind appeared on screen her weapons already charged.  There was a bright flash of light and a great roar.  No one in the control room heard the roar; they were already dead.  The Burning Wind punched a hole clean through the city a hundred meters wide.  Automatic systems began to crank into life and the city sealed itself.  What was left of the command crew drifted off out into space along with shards of molten metal.

Chapter 67

The men had six hours sleep and a meal.  Now they were ready for phase two of the operation.  Ribbons of light raced round the city as the explosives went off.  Most couldn’t see it but Steven and the bridge crew could.  The Burning Wind seemed to appear and fire almost at the same instant.  In that instant Babes and Ico turned on their IFF beacons so the Earth ships would not target them by mistake.  Others arrived the second The Burning Wind disappeared.  They fired on the remainder of the fleet that lay scattered around the city ships outer rings.  Without their own shields up it was a massacre.  None survived the onslaught.  With no one to tell it differently the ship slowed to a halt as emergency systems swung into action.  The devastation on the outer city rings, which were relatively unoccupied and undefended; caused the automatic systems to shed them.  Two large rings fell away together and then a third on its own.  Steven sent out an urgent warning.

The main defences were still operating automatically and as the Earth ships appeared they were greeted by orange fire lancing up from all over the city ship.  The ships would slip in, fire and slip out.  Earth fighters got in on the act as they tried to take out the guns.  Steven saw one fighter blasted into oblivion by a main gun.  Steven stood, ‘Sid instruct the Fleet to keep their fighters at bay for the moment; it is a waste of life.  The destroyers are doing well though and defeating the guns.  It may take time but we have plenty of it.’  He turned to the Bear, ‘are we ready?’

‘Ready as we will ever be,’ grinned De’ Beer.

Charlie stepped up to Steven’s side, ‘are you my personal escort Charlie?’

Charlie suddenly smiled, ‘haven’t I always been.’

Steven felt a moment’s gratitude, ‘it was the first time he had seen Charlie smile since his recovery.’

‘Let’s go then.’

He sent a silent command and men began to appear on the deck of the city ship.  Beneath the deck and hidden in the vast gulf of the city lay over a dozen hidden auxiliary control rooms.  This was their target, to make them inoperable so the inhabitants couldn’t regain control of the vast ship.  It would be a deadly race.

The stars were lit up by flashing lights as ship slipped in and out, firing their weapons.  Stevens’s party materialised beneath the great structures. 

Steven looked around, ‘there was supposed to be an access point at these coordinates.’

‘Nothing here Stevie.’  Charlie stated the obvious.

‘So where the hell is it?  The blue prints must be wrong.’

‘If the blue prints are wrong about this Stevie what about the rest of it?’

‘That my line Murison, back off,’ the Bear growled in a friendly manner.  The question however was a serious one.  If the access points weren’t where they should be, what guarantee the auxiliary control room would be where they were meant to be?  His men could end up fighting and dying for nothing.

Sealed carriages zipped overhead.  Steven shrugged helplessly, ‘I’m sorry I don’t know.’

It was Eddie that supplied the answer, ‘it’s supposed to be an access tunnel for robots to do maintenance on that railway line right.’

The Bear scowled at him but Steven took the question seriously, ‘yes that’s right.’

‘Forgive my French then but why the fuck would it be fifty feet below the bloody railway line.’

Steven hadn’t really thought about it.  He had just assumed that it would have been.  His head canted back but he couldn’t see anything. 

Charlie could though, ‘I think it’s there Stevie.  Give me a second.’  He leapt up the fifty feet.  The door was there but there was nothing to hold on too and the door was almost seamless.  ‘There’s no way we are getting in there Stevie.’  He explained the problem.  

Steven thought it over for a moment then aimed and fired at the rail above their heads.  Charlie immediately had an inkling of what he was doing and was ready.  It took a moment but the door slid open and a ball shaped robot appeared.  A rail extended from the doorway to the one above their heads and the robot slipped on to the main line.  Charlie leapt high.  He didn’t make it in time but he got a glimpse.

When he landed he reported to Steven again.  ‘No go Stevie.  The doors already closed but worse than that there seems to be a half dozen behind it.  We would have to cut our way through the door, then the robots.’

The Bear banged on the wall, ‘how thick is this?  Can we cut through here and make our way up behind them and into the ducts that way?’

Steven consulted with Babes.  ‘My ship tells me as soon as a breach is made the city will seal itself with a thin shield to help keep the atmosphere in.  It isn’t impossible to breach the shield but very difficult.’

‘We have nothing to lose by trying Stevie.’

‘That’s true Bear.’

Steven cranked up the power on his rifle and cut a big circle in the skin of the city ship.  After a few minutes kicking the slab of metal fell free.  Only Charlie was able to force himself inside through the shield.

The Bear was getting frustrated, ‘this is no bloody good.’ 

Charlie bust himself out again, ‘I have an idea.’

The Bear was scowling at him but Charlie just grinned.  He cut a hole in the floor beneath them and the metal slab fell free.  They heard it clang into a metal corridor below.  Charlie shone a torch down.  ‘Looks to be about twelve feet.’  He walked into the middle of the invisible shield, ‘this feels bloody weird.’  He laughed.  He cranked down the power setting on his rifle and fired it at the shield beneath his feet.  He disappeared.

He was still laughing when Stevie and the Bear followed him down.  ‘Shut up Murison,’ Bear growled at him.  He knew what Charlie was laughing at. 

Charlie turned away, ‘officers and bloody geniuses.’ 

It was Stevens turn to burst out laughing, ‘well done Charlie, you’re right, I at least should have thought of that.’

‘No worries Bean.  I’ll keep you right.’

The rest of the men began to fall through and the three caught them as they fell.  Bear pushed them out of the way with his customary growl.  Once they were in he transmitted a message to the whole battalion telling everyone how they managed to breach the outer skin of the city ship.  It was now up to Stevie to guide them to the auxiliary operations room.  He led them to an access door and laid a pad against the touch screen opening mechanism.  His nanobots went to work.  It took a few minutes before the door slid open into a wide bright corridor.

Charlie and Eddie went first.  Charlie checked the detector attached to his forearm. ‘The air is good to breath.’  He gave his suit permission to switch to atmosphere.

‘Clear,’ reported Eddie. 

The men filed out of the ducts and Steven knelt beside Charlie.  Charlie grasped his arm and smiled, ‘take a deep breath Stevie.  Stay behind me OK, never get in front.  Now point the way.’

‘About five hundred meters in that direction.  It leads to an emergency stairwell that will take us down to the level we need to be on.  From there it’s about half a mile to the control room.’

Charlie glanced at the Bear who nodded.  Charlie moved out and Steven followed closely behind.  The platoon spread out behind with the Bear and his HQ group in the middle.  They had almost made it to the stairwell when an enemy patrol appeared.  Charlie fell flat and fired into the group of Albany without warning and Steven threw himself down at his side.  The two of them cut down the group of a dozen soldiers between them.  Charlie finished off the odd squealing Albany with a few well aimed shots.  Eddie sent two men forward but they were all dead.

Steven’s face had gone pale.  ‘You OK Stevie?’  Charlie asked.

‘I’ll be fine Charlie, this isn’t my first time in a situation like this.’

Charlie wondered at that and filed the comments away for another day.  They made it to the stairwell without farther incident; unaware that the killing of the Albany had already alerted the enemy to their presence.    Each Albany had a medical unit strapped to their skin that updated automatically to their units aid post.  The unit’s doctor immediately informed his commander.  After trying unsuccessfully to contact the high command he decided to take action himself.  He quickly and correctly deducted the humans target and sent his troops to cut them off.

Chapter 68

A storm of fire washed down the large corridor.  The enemy were entrenched behind some kind of makeshift barricades on both sides of the stairwell and they could hear more moving down from above, and others coming up from below.  The moment Charlie had tried to open the door they had opened fire, he had been lucky.  The troops were now crowded in to a small section of the stairwell. 

Eddie didn’t think twice, he burned a hole straight through the wall beside him and kicked in the metal plate.  It fell away with a loud clanging noise to reveal a vast dark cavern.  There was another wall about fifty feet away.  Eddie cut a hole through that as well, but had no way of kicking in the plate.  He ended up cutting it into smaller and smaller sections until it finally gave under its own weight.  It revealed a bright but empty storage room of some kind.  He grabbed Charlie, only he would be able to make a standing jump of that distance.

Charlie just managed to grab the edge of the hole and haul himself up.  The store room had a simple handle and wasn’t locked.  He found himself behind the barricade which was chocked full of excited Albany.  Charlie pulled the pins from a couple of grenades and rolled them out into the corridor.  ‘No one move until I give the word.’  He ordered.

One of the Albany troops felt something bump against his boot and picked up the egg shaped green device.  They exploded with a crump and were devastating in the confined space.  Charlie burst out of the store room and finished them off.  Electric sparks hit the barricade beside him and he found more troops running to their aid.  He quickly cut them down using the still smoking remains of the Albany soldier as cover.  A quick inspection of the barricades told him that they were portable.  It didn’t take him long to realise they were locked together and could be raised by some kind of jack.  It took him ten minutes between fighting and pushing to get the barrier to the stairwell.

The Bear took the scene in at a glance.  ‘I want that other barrier.  We can sandwich ourselves in-between and advance forward.’ 

The Albany troops were taken by surprise when the humans advanced towards them.  Grenades thrown at them began to thin out their numbers.  They replied in kind with a type of grenade that was less lethal and more of a flash bang type more suitable to stun than kill.  It was also more suitable for combat in deep space where a puncture could cause a blow out and kill yourself as well as the enemy. 

This deep inside the ship the human grenades were safe enough to use, but ricochets could always harm the user and the men were constantly ducking.

Charlie was staring at the stairwell.  Eddie spotted him and slapped him on the shoulder, ‘we took care of it Charlie, we cut away the staircase above and below us.  They can’t reach us.’

‘Not unless they get a rope Eddie, but no sign of it yet.’

They both fired as a man to the right of them fell silently and a fresh wave of Albany appeared behind them.  The Bear noticed the Albany hiding behind a barrier in front of them trying to retreat and drag the barrier with them and ordered a fresh wave of grenades.  When they went off the humans charged the barrier which was only a few meters away now.  It took the Albany by surprise and the humans wiped them out.  The Bear organised the turning of the barrier and soon everyone was safe between the portable walls.  Steven attached silver badges to the dead or wounded and they disappeared.  Bear took stock of the situation.  He was now down seven men but their grenade stock was running low.  He informed Steven and a few seconds later a large crate of them appeared.  The jocks filled their pockets and pouches until they were all gone.

‘OK listen in, I want half a dozen men pushing and pulling.  The rest fighting.  Any wounded pulled into the middle for evacuation.  Let’s get to that bloody control room men.’  With a roar they set to with will.

It was a half mile to the control, room and the Albany fought them all the way; their casualties were huge and every now and then the build-up of bodies stopped them and had to be cleared.  The barriers were opened and the dead Albany allowed inside.  Steven tagged them and the bodies were beamed out into space by Babes and Ico.  The Bear changed the men pushing and pulling regularly.  Eventually they reached the control room.  Charlie’s eyes sought through the metal walls.  He pulled Stevie and the Bear aside and told them what was waiting for them.

‘There must be fifty of the buggers behind that door.’

‘That’s no good, if we destroy the controls with grenades we won’t be able to do anything.’  Stevie grunted with distain.

The Bear thought it over, ‘couldn’t your ship just beam them up Stevie,’ he suggested.

‘She could I suppose but she will have to scan the area to pinpoint them.  That means the Albany will be able to see her.’

The Bear grunted, ‘that’s no bloody good. If she gets taken out we are all stuffed.’

‘I might be able to help,’ Charlie admitted.  ‘I can talk to her with my mind.  If I can show her where they are she might be able to lock onto them that way.’  

Steven warned her and she listened carefully for Charlie’s voice.  It took a while for them to connect properly given the distance and a sever amount of concentrating on Charlie’s part until she could see what he was seeing.  Once the connection was made though it didn’t take her long to clear the room.  They pulled the barriers round the door and most of the men stayed outside and defended while Steven, Charlie and Bear with the command element went inside.

De’ Beer, found a spot for himself and got in contact with his units while Steven and Charlie inspected the control room.  Under Babes tuition it didn’t take Steven long to realise that the enemy were still in disarray.  No one had taken control as yet and most of the control rooms were still unoccupied.  Steven fired up the computers and the displays began to come to life.  Access to the systems was a big problem but nanaobots injected onto the system began to rewrite code and give Babes access.

De’ Beer approached Steven, ‘it isn’t going well.  Only a third of my units have reached their objective, the rest have been held up like we were, some have been so badly mauled they had to be evacuated.  The worst areas are those in the residential areas.  The Albany are attacking in vast numbers; civilians as well as soldiers.  Not a single Albany has surrendered so far.’

‘That is not good.  Howe and Tapper are on their third control room now, but they had no resistance for the first two.’

De’ Beer was surprised, ‘have they reached their third one yet?’

‘No they have also became bogged down.  The enemy were waiting for them at the third.’

De’ Beer was seriously impressed.  ‘Excellent work.  So what are you doing now?’

‘Trying to stop the enemy guns from firing.  Seemingly all hell has broken loose outside.  The enemy fighters haven’t put in an appearance as yet and high command is worried they are waiting for the arrival of the troopships and landing craft.’  Stevens hand hesitated and then he turned and walked away to another console.  Charlie stepped in behind him.  The buzzing of alarms had Steven run back to the console.

‘What have you done Charlie?’

‘Switched off all the oxygen in the area’s where our boys have been bogged down.’

‘You can’t do that Charlie, how did you know how to do it?’

‘I overheard Babes tell you what it was and how to do it.’

Stevens hand reached out but Charlie caught it; his eyes were cold.  ‘I’m sorry Stevie, my friends are fighting and dying out there right now.  These people just aren’t giving up.’

A short struggle ensued but Steven quickly realised it was futile struggling with a man whose arms were bionic.   Steven tried to appeal to his humanity as he watched the oxygen levels drop.  ‘For God’s sake Charlie; there are females out there, children.’

‘I can hear then in my head Steven.  They have no wish or desire to stop fighting.  They are more than willing to fight themselves.  Their only thought and desire is to capture one of us alive so they can go on living.  They are organising groups to rush our men.  Overwhelm them with numbers.  Did you know, right now there is a group of technicians who are getting the processing plant ready?  I received flashes, pictures of these things, do you know what they look like Steven, what they are?’  Steven took a step back and Charlie saw it clearly.   ‘You do don’t you?  Bloody great blenders Steven and they put men women and children into them alive back on their home world.  I saw it in the mind of a technician.  They are planning genocide, this is a lot less.’

Steven took another step back his head dropping, ‘I can’t do it Charlie.’

‘I can Stevie.  Just keep out of my way.’

Stevens head came back up and he looked Charlie straight in the eye, ‘that isn’t fair on you.’

‘Maybe one day I will stand in a dock and tell the Universe that it was my duty to do so.’

‘Only if you were ordered to do so Charlie.’

‘I know.’  Charlie glanced at the readouts and turned to De ‘Beer, ‘Bear!’

His commanding officer looked up from the map he was studying, ‘what is it Charlie?’

‘Tell the men in sector 21 that the oxygen levels are dropping fast.  If anyone has a damaged suit or helmet they may want to consider linking up or doing repairs.’

‘Right,’ De’ Beer gave the orders to his signal man and went back to his map.

Charlie went back to his task switching off alarms and overriding safety procedures while Steven stood helplessly by.

Ten minutes later the radio operator called out, ‘sir the men in sector 21 says the enemy have been incapacitated and they are heading for their objective.’

De’ Beer barely glanced round, ‘right, tell them good work.’

Ten minutes later the operator shouted again, ‘sir sector 21 reports all the Albany in that sector seem to be dead.’

‘What!’ he looked up, ‘Charlie, what the hell happened there?’

Charlie turned, ‘I switched off their oxygen supply.’

The De’ Beer was silent for a moment, ‘how the hell did you know how to do that?’

‘Long story, not the time for it.  Anymore sectors we are having problems with?’

De’ Beer thought it over for a while, ’17, 28, 91,’ he glanced down at his map, ’72 and 61.’

‘I can access 17 and 28 from here but we will have to move to access the others.’

‘Why?’

‘Some kind of safety protocol.  You can’t shut down the whole damn ship from one place.’

De’ Beer was having a war with his conscious.  ‘OK shut down what you can from here and we will move on.’  Charlie set back too it.  Within half an hour sections 17 and 28 had also been cleared.  What he never told anyone was that he had also cut the oxygen to the residential areas in those sectors.

Eddie appeared, ‘Bear, there are thousands of the buggers out there.’

De ‘Beer looked over, ‘Charlie, can you help from there?’

‘No the oxygen flow to this part of the ship is in auxiliary control room 52.’

‘There’s no bloody way we will be able to fight our way out from here.’  Eddie added, ‘they have some of those barriers and are getting closer.’

De’ Beer turned to Steven, ‘can you beam us all out of here?’

‘Could do yes.’

‘That’s what we will do then.  Hand out those discs to all my men will you and put us to our next objective.’  Steven went over and studied the map.

Charlie went out to help Eddie while some of them planted explosives.  Fifteen minutes later they were back on the upper deck of the city ship.  Charlie had just cut a hole in the deck and punched in the metal plate.  Steven stepped onto the hole with him.  He managed a wry smile and shrugged, ‘here we go again Charlie.’

‘Aye Stevie, once more into the breach.’  He fired his rifle and both men dropped through the hole.