AMP Colossus (13 page)

Fwump! Fwump! Fwump! Fwump! Fwump!

The armored plate began to peel back from the inner skin of the ship. We soon had the breach that we were looking for. But the aliens inside were not giving up. The engines of the small warcraft sprang to life. Without thinking, I switched to my ion blaster and sent a flurry of blue bolts directly into an activated thruster nozzle.

Pzzzt! Pzzzt! Pzzzt! Pzzzt!

The engine hissed and went silent. A second and a third nozzle then shut down. The alien craft was not leaving.

Our weapons were focused back on the breach, and a hole soon began to open to the interior of the ship. I opened a comm channel to the frequency they had been using.

"This is to the ship's captain. Give up now and you will not be harmed. Shut down your weapons and come out peacefully!"

Several seconds passed before I received a response. "How do we know we can trust you?"

I replied, "You really don't have much of a choice. You either stay inside there and die once that hole becomes large enough for us to enter, or you surrender and live. Seems like an easy choice to me!"

Several seconds passed before the alien responded. "We are coming out. Weapons are offline."

Baxter held up his hand, and our assault on the alien vessel ceased. The hatch on the bottom of the ship opened, and two oversized Tribuks dropped out onto the ground.

I spoke. "I've met other Tribuk before; they were skinny. Why are you two so... robust?"

One of the Tribuks spoke. "They were of a lower class. You must be referring to the missing ore hauler. We are a fighting ship. Our meals are of a higher quality."

The second Tribuk spoke. "And quantity! We eat like..."

The first Tribuk put his hand in front of the other. "Shut up, Riffus. I will do the talking. The quantity is also generous."

I turned to Baxter. "Check them out and have two of your men stay here. Get any injured back to the port, and get these two back for interrogation."

Baxter spoke over his comm. "Sharky, you stay with me. Randall, take any in need of attention back to the port immediately. We will be along after we check out this ship."

I spoke. "On second thought, you, Mr. Quantity, you stay here, and your friend there, the bossy one, is going back with them."

The first Tribuk began to speak, and I quickly held up my hand. "Woap! You aren't in charge here. It would be better for you if you remained silent right now."

The Tribuk closed his mouth and gave a slight bow in acceptance of my statement. Corporal Randall soon had the others on their way.

I turned back to the now-shivering Tribuk. "I take it that heavy uniform is not made for hanging around out here. Let's go inside and you can show us around."

The Tribuk nodded enthusiastically and turned for the hatch. I grabbed his shivering arm and pulled him back a step.

I spoke. "Mr. Baxter, would you care to go first?"

Baxter replied, "I believe I would, Mr. Grange. Thank you for the courtesy."

I gestured, and Lieutenant Baxter moved up into the hatch to the interior of the ship beyond. The Tribuk went second, followed by myself and Private Sharky. The temperature inside was warm and comfortable.

I spoke to Riffus. "The other guy—I guess that is your captain?"

Riffus replied, "Yes. He is the captain of the
Yorm
."

I continued. "There are only the two ships here on Ponik?"

Riffus again replied, "Yes."

I sat back in the captain’s chair, which was surprisingly comfortable given its small size. "How close is the nearest base or colony? When can we expect more Colossun ships to arrive?"

Riffus hesitated. "I… I cannot be certain. I was not told of such details."

I replied, "Was this something the captain would know?"

Riffus sniffled and coughed as the remains of the cold outside air lingered. "The captain would know. He has been there, but he will not speak of it to me."

Word then came over the comm of a second column of Colossun soldiers coming from the east.

Lieutenant Baxter spoke. "I think it’s time we head back to the port, Sir. We don’t want to be caught out here by ourselves. I say we send out a team of Grell to see what they can do about moving this ship back there also."

I replied, "All good points, Lieutenant. Let’s get started back."

I looked at the still-shivering Tribuk. "Do you have any gear that will let you travel out there? The walk isn’t long, but there is no reason for you to freeze if you do not have to."

Riffus replied, "Yes, yes, thank you, Sir. I could use the captain’s dress coat. It is made of Felupe hide. I could return it to him when we arrive. He will not be pleased, but I will be warm."

I shook my head. "You get that coat, and we will tell the captain that I insisted. Grab it and let’s go."

As we stepped out of the lower hatch, a bright green beam shone down a few hundred meters from our position. It was followed by a thunderous explosion of sand and frozen dirt. The Colossun ship in orbit had begun targeting its downed partner.

I raised the major over the comm. "See if you can force that ship to stop firing! I want to drag this thing back to the port if we can. Maybe we can make a few mods and get it flying!"

Several minutes passed before the particle beam blasts came to an end. The pulse cannon in the maintenance bay had been used to send a stream of pulses in the orbiting ship’s direction. It had been forced to cease firing and to pull back even farther. We made it safely back to the port ten minutes later.

The Grell were industrious and soon had a force of two thousand workers in and around the downed Colossun gunship. Any number of tracked maintenance vehicles had been taken from the port in an attempt to move the ship from its vulnerable desert position into the safety and security of the main port bay.

I joined Ashley as she was giving Chimuk Peel, the downed ship’s captain, a good working over. Once the reality of his captivity had set in, he was eager to cooperate in any way he could.

Ashley spoke. "This Colossun base you visited—how long does it take a ship to reach here from there? And, is that the closest Colossun vessel besides the one in orbit up above?"

Chimuk replied, "The Gurt system is only an outpost, but there is normally a Colossun destroyer stationed somewhere nearby. It is a six-month journey from Gurt Station to here. Six months beyond that is Helgus-4. The Colossuns maintain a moderate-sized fleet there of several hundred ships. The nearest other mining colony is Merga. Merga is an eighteen-month journey and stretches to the edge of the populated worlds. The Colossuns have not passed beyond the boundary."

Ashley replied, "The boundary? What is the boundary?"

Chimuk cleared his throat. "Do you think I might have a beverage of some sort? My throat is getting dry."

Ashley nodded to a private who was standing at the ready. He turned to find something for the Tribuk captain to drink. When he turned back, he had a grin on his face as he filled a glass with who-dat.

Ashley continued, "Tell me about the boundary."

Chimuk sipped, shivered, and then spoke. "The boundary is the edge of explored space. On this side of the Colossun home world, a gap lies between the stars. A gap of at least seventy light-years’ distance separates us from other potential worlds. With the time it takes to travel amongst the stars, the boundary makes exploration beyond these worlds impractical. No ship, in our history, has ever come from there. Are you travelers from beyond the boundary?"

Ashley replied, "We are asking the questions, Chimuk. If you sent a message to the Colossuns at Gurt Station, how long would it take before they received it?"

Chimuk thought. "It is five months as light travels. They would receive it in five months. Unless…"

Ashley pressed for completion of Chimuk’s answer. "Unless what?"

Chimuk continued, "Unless there were ships already on their way here. It is a rare occurrence. The Colossuns have not had any other ships in this system for about five years. The last was a maintenance ship with supplies for their soldiers."

Ashley spoke. "What can you tell us about the Colossuns?"

Chimuk replied, "They are a strange breed. They never make conversation and seem to only eat in private. At least I think they eat in private. I have never personally seen them eat, or sleep, for that matter."

Chimuk continued to provide us with a view of the Colossus Empire from his perspective. The Tribuk were unaware of the fact that the Colossuns, as they knew them, were only androids. The Tribuk were used to crew ships. They were one of the few species in the sector who had the temperament to live in a confined space for extended periods of time. Other than landing in a port, Chimuk had not set foot on the ground for fourteen years. He was not allowed off his ship when in port. Only when changing duty stations had he managed a short stay on Gurt Station. It was not an existence to be longed for, but all things were relative when your species was enslaved.

Our interrogation was suddenly interrupted by Major Martin. "Grange, the Colossuns are on the move on both fronts, from the east and from the south. I’m raising the pulse cannons up on the platforms we constructed. We have all four fully functioning. We won’t know how effective they are until we start using them. That should be when they reach about one kilometer out. We have plans to raise the platforms by fifteen meters, taking us out another kilometer or so for coverage, but they are only in the initial design phase."

I replied as we walked, "Do we have a count of how many are out there?"

The major looked as his arm pad and spoke. "We count twenty-two hundred to the south and thirty-four hundred to the east. We can move along at about 55 kmh if we hustle. I would expect them to be able to equal that, if not do better. That puts them possibly ten to twelve minutes out."

I headed for the cannon in the maintenance bay while the major climbed onto the platform of the gun aimed in the eastern direction. I climbed up the platform where Sergeant Hicks was working over the console.

I spoke. "What do we have, Hicks?"

Hicks replied, "One moment, Mr. Grange; let me send this intel to the major. This port’s array of sensors includes a radar that detects motion. When the Colossuns began to move, it looked like one giant wall coming our way. I’ve just tuned the frequency to bring out more detail. Tell me what you see, Mr. Grange."

I replied, "They are tethered together… great, we just lost our jammers. Tell me some more good news."

Hicks flipped to another view. "It looks like they are tethered in groups of twenty, Sir. Each twenty are tied to a tracked vehicle that is following them. I would guess that would be their comm brain. And those tracked vehicles appear to have one of these cannons on top. We can blast away and do severe damage, but we have little defense against their return fire. These guns are not heavily shielded, Sir."

I replied, "So, what you are saying is that those Colossuns are probably going to take out our guns and then march right up here. I’m not liking where this is going, Hicks."

Hicks replied as he continued to monitor the advance, "Me either, Sir. Trouble is heading our way. And you may want to notify the Grell out at that downed ship, Sir. Several hundred of the Colossuns from the south are heading in their direction."

I climbed down off the platform and headed towards the command table. Huff Gervel was nowhere to be found. I then had the sudden realization that there were no Grell anywhere in the main bay, or in the surrounding areas of the port. I ran to the gun platform the major stood atop of.

I spoke. "Major Martin. You may want to come down here. I think the Grell may have cut and run on us. If they are just heading below until this is over, that is one thing; I just don’t want them to come charging at us from behind if they have changed their minds!"

The major replied as he climbed down, "Just what we needed. Sergeant Carlson! Take a squad and watch those elevators! If they start to move up with anyone on board, try to hold them off until we can get you some help!"

The sergeant turned and sprinted for the elevators while calling out to his squad.

After a short discussion, the major pointed back towards the air locks. "Here comes your wife, Grange. And she’s packing."

I turned as Ashley stopped behind me. "Thought you might want your AK. And I had Huff get a couple of his mechanical techs to make you more ammo. They had the chemicals readily available; had to hand make the casings. They found the AK and how it was used fascinating. I’m sure they will attempt to manufacture a few of their own. Anyway, Huff dropped off several cases of ammo yesterday. Where are they all, by the way?"

I replied, "They all went below as soon as the Colossuns began to move. We aren’t sure if they were just scared or if they have something planned that we don’t know about. We have a squad watching the elevators."

Ashley spoke. "Well, don’t we have anyone below who can tell us what is going on?"

I replied, "The major and I were discussing that blunder just before you came over. We have a handful of men in the hospital down there, but they aren’t in contact, as they don’t have comms on. We will keep an eye on the elevators in the meantime."

The major’s aide then spoke. "Sir, it looks like the Grell out at the downed ship are moving away. They are not coming back here, but are instead heading west."

I replied, "It’s just as well; they aren’t armed anyway. What’s the status on those androids?"

The aide punched the keys on his arm pad. "They are now at ten kilometers and closing. They are in a line formation. The estimate is that the lines from the two groups will join to make one continuous line at about three kilometers. They are moving at a fast jog. We have approximately twenty-seven minutes before they arrive."

I turned to the major. "How many of those pulse rifles do we have?"

The major replied, "We have thirty-eight. We lost five of the originals from the arsenal when you took that ship, but we were able to piece together twenty-three from that train wreck down below. I have orders out to everyone else to make every attempt to break those tethers that allow the Colossuns to communicate. We have every sniper positioned where they should have clean shots. The shielding those androids have may protect their electronics; we are hoping that doesn’t extend to those tethers."

I spoke. "So, I guess we now just wait and see what happens. I wish we had an edge, Major, something that would instill confidence."

The major replied, "We are alive and kicking, Mr. Grange. That is all the edge we need!"

I put my arm around Ashley’s shoulder and spoke. "When you married me, is this the life you had dreamed of?"

Ashley smiled. "And then some. Now get me up on that platform. I don’t want to miss out on all the fun!"

After helping Ashley up onto the platform, we had time to think. I asked myself the same question I had just asked her: was this the life I had always dreamed of?

My thoughts were that it was. On one hand, I was terrified of the approaching army. On the other, I was giddy with excitement. Action was coming my way. A fight, a struggle, with near-impossible odds, was heading across the plains towards me, and here I was, on this platform on an alien world, with my wife ready to fight beside me. The only way to improve upon that dream was to have a positive outcome to the coming battle. For that, we would have to wait and see.

The blue Ponik sun was beginning to set. The temperature was dropping. We were in for a night of bitter cold. Other than slowed mechanical response, the temperature would have no effect—unless you were unlucky enough to have the secure environment of your battle suit violated. A significant breach in the suit could mean death within minutes.

Corporal Jeffords was assigned the task of keeping everyone informed over the comm. "Four kilometers now. They should be joining ranks any minute. The count is 5,612 soldiers and 144 vehicles. Of the vehicles, 122 have pulser weapons mounted on them. The orbiting ship has changed position. We should expect a strike once the hostilities have begun. The pulse cannons will need to keep an eye out for that on their consoles."

At three kilometers, the Colossuns joined into one continuous semicircular assault line. At two, they began to slow their pace forward. At one kilometer, just beyond the sight range of our cannons, they came to a stop.

Corporal Jeffords spoke. "The orbital ship is moving. Heading southwest. It will be over the horizon in three… two… one, mark. Over the horizon; motion radar has the ship nearing the surface. It is turning this way. ETA twenty-four seconds."

When the count reached fifteen, we began to fire the pulse cannons in the direction the ship was approaching from. It was flying low, hugging the ground at a high rate of speed.

The major barked out a command. "Blast that ground just in its path! Maybe we can make it a little harder on them by obscuring their view!"

Dust clouds soon rose from the ground as the gravity pulses lifted debris into the air. The ship came rocketing through the cloud with its particle beam aiming down and active, knocking up a dust cloud of its own.

The beam weapon cut a path across the ground as it approached and caught the edge of the massive port door, crippling the mechanism that would allow that side to close. The pulse cannons swung around and continued to fire as the ship roared past, and then turned back towards the sky. A final shot clipped a section of the tail, causing the rightmost engine to shut down. The ship had been damaged, but not destroyed.

Our focus returned to the incoming Colossun soldiers. As each pulse round impacted the approaching line of androids, small groups would be thrown into the air, thereby breaking their tethered comm connections. Those that were not destroyed stood in silence, as the comm jammer kept them from receiving new commands.

The assault soon slowed to a halt as the Colossun casualties mounted. At just over half of a kilometer, the Colossuns opened up with their pulse rifles. Our men were well shielded by the edge of the port bay, but casualties were soon beginning to rise.

The major yelled out a command. "Wells! Grab the rifles of those men who are down and pass them to someone who can manage them. We need those pulsers producing kills!"

As with most of the ground assaults I had previously been involved with, it was nothing more than controlled chaos. That random good shot could change your fortune in an instant. For many, it did.

At the moment when I felt we were gaining an upper hand, two new vehicles appeared behind the others. Mortar rounds were soon heading in our direction. I cringed at the thought of getting blown off the platform as Ashley lay beside me firing. When the round reached two hundred meters above our position, it exploded. Millions of tiny pieces of aluminum chaff began to slowly drift down towards us.

Ashley spoke. "Aw, crap. That’s going to put an end to our jamming."

I replied, "What? Why?"

Ashley fired another shot and replied, "Our jammers are broadcasting a signal out that interferes with their comm frequencies. That aluminum chaff is going to dampen our signal. Look, those androids that were just standing around are now rejoining the fight."

Before I could respond, a cannon round struck the mount of the cannon in front of us. I was blown into the air and was only able to grab the edge of the platform before falling back to the floor. Ashley reached over her hand to pull me back up. Our cannon was out of commission. Sergeant Hicks was dead. The Colossuns continued their new advance.

As the fighting intensified, the second of our pulse cannons was taken offline, followed by the third. We were losing men right and left as the distance between our positions closed.