Extinction (26 page)

“I’m strong enough but it’s just too big
for me to use effectively”, Scan said, looking like a child with an adult’s
rifle in his arms.

“All right, Fang, take the one you’ve
got and we’ll deposit the rest in the last room on the right. Doc, let’s try to
wake our friend here. Bloom, you’re with us.”

Every one followed the three into the
room with the slumbering giant. His hands were tied in plassteel cords that
even he couldn’t break. Or at least that’s what they all hoped.

Daria pulled a reversal drug from her
pouch and injected it in small amounts until the alien began coming around.

“Mumfra da jutida aht inop kuj! Tur mak
goy rhe nas op inja”, he spat.

Everyone looked at Bloom. “Like I’m
supposed to understand that.”

“Mumfra da jutida aht inop kuj! Tur mak
goy rhe nas op inja”, the alien said again.

“It sounds almost like Detrill but not
exactly. Maybe even a little Nortes, too. Put the two together along with a bag
of marbles in your mouth, and you have whatever this guy is speaking”, Bloom
said thoughtfully.

“Can you understand it or not?” Wilks
was obviously getting frustrated.

“Look, Sarge, he could be telling me his
name, rank, and serial number for all I know. Hell, the way he’s looking at me
he might be telling me that my eyes are beautiful. Maybe even asking me out on
a date.” That got a small slap in the back of the head from Wilks as a
response. “Hey, don’t get jealous. You know you’re still the only one for me”, Bloom
said defensively. This got an even harder slap from Wilks.

“C’mon, boys. Let’s stay professional
here.” Emily knew that it was just male bonding but she didn’t feel that she
had the time for it just now. She pulled her pistol out of its holster and put
it to the alien’s head. “If we can’t understand him, he’s just a liability. We
can’t take him with us so we’ll just have to kill him.” She shrugged towards
Daria, who was standing shell shocked, looking at Emily. Apparently everyone
else was surprised as well at their lieutenant’s sudden change of character. They
couldn’t tell whether she was bluffing or not. All except Fang, of course, who
stood there smiling, waiting to see blue blood and whatever color brain spread
out on the floor before him.

The alien just laughed. “You bastard”, Bloom
said. “You understand everything we’re saying.” He grabbed him by the back of
the head and chin; he pulled back the alien’s head. “You better start talkin’
English, buddy, or she’ll do it.” He pointed towards Emily.

“Go ahead, you slugs”, the alien said
with disgust. “If you don’t kill me, my commander will for failing him. My life
is already over. End it now or leave me to die. It makes no difference.”
Another laugh sounded but was cut short.

His head split open as a hollow point
round burst through his skull. Emily looked at her weapon. She hadn’t pulled
the trigger—what happened? Everyone looked at Wilks, who had his weapon still
pointed at the now destroyed head. “That was for Snyder, you piece of shit.”

Fang looked closer; the brain was
actually a darker shade blue than the blood. It looked good on the floor,
though. Blood for blood, as it should be.

“Now let’s open this treasure chest and
see what we’ve got.” Wilks looked at Emily. “Unless the lieutenant has
something else in mind.”

“No, I think you’re right. Bloom, let’s
see if you can get that lift to work.”

“Am I gettin’ overtime for this or what?
Bloom this and Bloom that. What’s he saying, Bloom? Open this door and find out
if it’s booby-trapped, Bloom.” He looked at Emily’s non-smiling face. “Sorry, Lieutenant,
just trying to get a laugh. It’s good for you to laugh in the face of danger.
Don’t you think?” he added meekly.

With a single finger, she pointed
towards the lift. The two walked over together as Wilks laid out a new
formation plan to the rest of the team. On the floor near the assembled
soldiers, Snyder’s red blood began mixing with the blue blood of one of his
killers. No one noticed what happened next as the two fluids intertwined. This was
unfortunate.

The
Vanguard
- Deep
Inside Enemy Territory

Seth and Surgeon stood on the bridge as
the ship prepared to land on an asteroid that was within their target system.
The rock was almost the size of Earth’s only natural satellite. This would be
the fifth sensor array they had deployed. Seth was hopeful that any one of the
other four would start sending back useful information. So far the sensors
hadn’t picked up any intelligence concerning their enemy.

“Touch down on my mark”, the helmsman
said to the bridge crew. “Firing landing thrusters now. Three, two, one, mark.
Planetfall complete, sir.”

“All stations reporting condition green”,
the officer at the conn station reported. “Landing pistons have been deployed.
We are reading all-stop and are anchored in.”

The captain thumbed his chair’s comlink.
“General, we have completed the landing cycle at the coordinates you requested.”

“Thank you for the ride, Captain. We are
almost ready to deploy our first sensor array”, the general’s voice came back
over the speaker.

“I will be in my ready room if you need
me.” The captain turned to the two commandos still standing on his bridge. “Don’t
you two have a job to do? I don’t care to be a sitting duck any longer than
necessary.”

“Aye, aye, sir!” the two men said in
unison as they came to attention. They performed an about-face and entered the
lift. Surgeon pushed the button for the main cargo bay. Seth looked at him and
raised an eyebrow.

“You can’t blame the old man.” Surgeon
came to the captain’s defense. “We are in unknown territory and sitting pretty
for anyone who would want to take a shot at us. I’d want to get out of here as
fast as possible, too, if I were him. In fact, I want to get out of here as
fast as possible and I’m not him.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. I’m gettin’
pretty anxious, too.” Seth returned his gaze to the lift doors. When they
opened, he found himself stepping out into what could have been compared to a
nest of angry bees.

The ship’s crew were running themselves
ragged, trying to help the commandos load their sensor gear into the skiffs.
The soldiers were yelling at the crew, giving orders, and just being pains in
the ass for the most part. Tensions were definitely running high right at that
moment.

Surgeon approached the general. “Sir,
I’ve checked with the loading chief and we’ll be ready for deployment in less
than five minutes.”

“Good. I want to try something different
this time to see if we can deploy the grid faster. There will be two skiffs per
unit. One will carry the sensor equipment and two men, while the other will
carry four men and provide cover fire and ground support should the need arise.”
The general was still looking at his men preparing for their mission. “Two
craft will perform perimeter guard duty around the ship and immediate area with
three men per craft. You and Cadet will be in the lead skiff upon deployment.”

“Yes, sir”, Seth answered for Surgeon. “Thank
you, sir.”

“Thank me when this is all over.” The general
cast a glance at Seth. “If you’re still alive. If any of us are.”

Surgeon gave a small nod towards the general
and started towards his craft with Seth in tow. Each skiff was eight meters
long and four meters wide. When the entry hatches were closed, there were no
visible seams or entrances. The crew wore helmets that transmitted real-time
data of the space surrounding the craft in every direction that the wearer
turned his head; this made physical windows on the craft unnecessary. The craft
looked like a dull black cigar made for a giant.

The hull was designed with millions of
fiber-optic relays built into every square centimeter covering the ship. When
the ship was being scanned, the energy entered the fiber-optic relay and passed
through it to exit at the exact same point on the opposite side of the hull.
Unless the ship was moving too quickly for the relays to transmit the energy to
the other side or the hull was somehow damaged, the ship could avoid detection
by even the most sophisticated scanners. Or more precisely, all the ones that
had been encountered so far. Who knows what kind of scanners these aliens might
have? Seth didn’t even want to think about it.

“Take the co-pilot’s seat.” Surgeon
gestured to Seth as they boarded the craft.

Both men took their seats and put on
their helmets. Once in flight, it would be the closest experience to flying,
without mechanical aid, that they could get. With the helmets sealed at the
neck, the visuals put before the wearer were so clear and precise, it was as
though they weren’t wearing a helmet at all. Everywhere they looked, they saw
what was going on around the ship without actually seeing the ship. It was as
though they were just floating on air.

The central computer used light that
entered the fiber-optic relays and translated it into a picture that was
projected onto the pilot’s visor. The image could be changed to a variety of
different displays such as infrared, acoustic sonar readings, or a combination
of any of the other many settings the helmet had.

Seth winked once with his right eye to
activate the comlink in his helmet. “All crews report in.” After receiving
confirmation from the units, he began to lift his skiff and head for the open
bay doors. “Team five will patrol the area in a five-click radius from the
ship. I will take team one directly aft of the ship to set up our sensor
arrays. Team two will go directly to port, team three to the bow, and team four
to starboard.

“Remember to check in every twenty
minutes. We’ll be thirty clicks from the ship so if anyone gets into trouble,
it’ll be a few minutes before help can arrive. The sooner the warning, the
better. Don’t anyone be a hero.”

“With how much we get paid?” Joker said
from team three. “I don’t think you have to remind us.”

“Yeah, well, I get your tapioca pudding
if you don’t come home tonight”, Blaze said as he started his patrol route in
team five.

“Let’s get it done, people.” The general’s
voice was distinctive, even over a comlink channel. All chatter ceased
immediately and the ships started out on their first official task of the
mission.

Dig Site One – Now We’re
Getting Somewhere

“Son of a bitch!” Bloom yelped as blue
sparks jumped from the wiring he had pulled from the wall. They were unable to
find another access plate like the one outside the main door. The only thing
they did find was a display panel to the left of the lift. It was in pieces now
as Bloom attempted to hotwire it. “I figure that whoever was the last one down
this thing locked it somehow from the bottom. I can’t get the right combination
of wires to bring it up.”

“Maybe there isn’t a combination of
wires. Maybe those don’t even control this thing”, Davies said from his
makeshift cot in the hallway.

“How much rope do we have left?” Emily
asked over her shoulder.

“Not enough to get down to the bottom.
Especially because we don’t even know how deep it is.” Daria was just finishing
up making an inventory of the supplies. Luckily not much had been damaged in
the recent firefight.

“Motherfucker!” This time it was closer
to a scream from Bloom. He turned to look towards the laughter coming from
behind him. “What the hell is so damned funny!” he demanded.

Wilks pointed to Bloom’s head and tried
to speak but ended up rolling on the floor and laughing hysterically. Tears
were streaming down his face.

What Bloom couldn’t see was that the
last shock had stood his hair on end. All his hair. His arms, head, eyebrows,
everything. It was just too funny not to laugh.

Finally gaining her composure, Emily
said through slight chuckles, “Here’s what we’re gonna do. Bloom, have Daria
take a look at your burns. We’re going to camp here for the night. In the
morning, we’ll use what rope we have to get down the lift shaft.

“We’ll go down one at a time and anchor
ourselves to the wall at the end of the rope. When we all get to that point,
we’ll slide the doubled-up rope through the top anchor and reattach it at our
new anchor point and start over. We’ll do this until we reach the bottom. Any
questions?”

“Where’d you get balls so damned big?”
Scan asked from the rear.

“Wouldn’t you like to know”, Emily said,
turning towards Davies. “You think that eight hours will give you enough time
before we try this thing?”

“You bet, el-tee. I just need a little
rest.” Davies allowed his ever heavier eyelids to close. He was asleep before
his eyes vanished behind the lids.

“I’m gonna wrap this burn for tonight
and then I’ll give you a topical anesthetic tomorrow before we start our descent.”
Daria was almost finished applying the dressing.