Scrapyard Ship (26 page)

“Not sure how they managed it, but they don’t attack the Craing. In fact, they walk right by them. Captain, if we can't secure that bridge, our plan falls apart.”

Jason thought about the Serapins and saw the logic. Having grown up with stray dogs frequenting the scrapyard, vicious towards strangers and yet like family pets toward Gus and Jason most of the time, it was a system that definitely could keep the riffraff out. Jason cut the connection.

"Billy, we need to change direction. To the Dreadnaught’s bridge.” Billy nodded and several moments later the shuttle banked to the right, then rose up to the upper decks. The shuttle’s back ramp lowered as they approached the new drop off, and Jason skittered down. Another team was already there, taking cover, wherever possible, from bright plasma bolts. Four Craing hover drones were guarding access to the forward fifth deck, which was the only access to the bridge. Jason stole a quick peek around a corner while the closest drone was engaged by the other team. The drones were white, cylindrical in shape, but smaller than he'd expected, at about three feet in length.

Two rhino-warriors lay dead on the catwalk as well as a SEAL. All three had taken blasts to the head. Jason snatched up the dead SEAL's plasma pulse rifle and scrambled for cover behind a bulkhead. The weapon's charge level was still at 80%. The drones not only could hover and spin in any direction, they could target and fire from their two separate mini-pulse cannons simultaneously, making it damn near impossible to get a clear shot.

Billy was on comms: "There is no way in hell we're going to take this bridge, Cap. And even if we could, the inside corridors are teaming with those raptor things.”

Jason had already noticed their icons on his HUD, approaching on the other side of the bulkhead. A flurry of energy blasts erupted mere inches from Jason's head and all around his teammates. Ducking low, he witnessed several rhino-warriors go down. The catwalk shook with three thousand pounds of dead weight hitting the deck plates all at once. He shook his head. The rhino-warriors tended to attack straight on, relying on their size, brute force and bravery, which, unfortunately, were no match for the drones powerful mini-pulse cannons. Jason hailed Lieutenant Wilson.

“Go for Wilson.”

“I'm programming your clearance to fly the Pacesetter as we speak. Wilson, lock onto my coordinates and shift over here ASAP. We have a drone problem. Ensure your shields are up.”

“Aye, Captain, on my way,” the lieutenant replied excitedly.

Jason figured Wilson may have been sitting in the cockpit, because when he looked up the Pacesetter was already hovering nearby in the corridor and powering up its weapons.

Jason had just enough time to yell for the team to take cover before the Pacesetter’s plasma gun blasts tore through much of the forward fifth deck. Like the rest of the team, Wilson’s HUD indicators revealed where friendlies were positioned versus enemy drones. When the firing stopped, the hover drones were nothing more than smoldering scrap metal on the deck.

"Nice shooting, Wilson. OK, you're now on continual rover duty. Help out the various teams as needed and take out any hover security drones you come across."

With that Wilson was gone.

"Cap, behind this bulkhead and through that access hatch is the primary conduit to the bridge,” Billy said, as he helped his men to their feet and reassembled his battered team.

Jason looked at his HUD. "There are eight left, four other SEALs and four rhino-warriors. And what about those ten other life forms I'm seeing?"

"Yeah, those are the…? What did you call them?”

“Serapins,” Jason replied.

“Yeah, anyway those raptor creatures are extremely fast. And they definitely work in teams. We made the mistake of underestimating their strategic capabilities on Deck 2 and lost half our team."

Jason didn’t like the thought of going up against those creatures. But one thing was certain: without taking down the Battle Dreadnaught they wouldn’t stand a chance of defeating the remaining five hundred Craing warships.

“Let’s position the rhino-warriors to charge first, and we’ll bring up the rear,” Jason said. Then thinking better of it, he walked to the front of the team and looked up at each of the large beasts individually.

“This is it. The fate of our two worlds rests on this one battle. Without defeating the Serapins, without taking control of this vessel’s bridge, today will be lost. I’ve seen you in battle. You fight with honor, bravery, and you never surrender. When we blow this hatch, we will be up against ten other formidable warriors. I’m asking you to fight like you’ve never fought before, and help us win this day.”

Jason noticed then that Traveler was among the rhino-warriors. As Jason spoke, the others became more and more fidgety, shifting their weight side-to-side, anxious for combat to begin.

“Blow the hatch,” Jason commanded.

The massive eight-foot high by ten foot-wide hatch exploded inward, fortunately decapitating the closest of the eight awaiting raptors. The rhinos-warriors rushed forward without hesitation. Under normal conditions, a ten-foot wide corridor would be a decent size for a confined space battle. The rhino-warriors and Serapins were close in height and mass. They went for each other. Traveler’s heavy hammer was already in the air and making its downward trajectory within seconds of entering the corridor. With the combined weight of the heavy hammer and the unbridled strength behind the blow, thousands of pounds of momentum crashed down on the closest Serapin’s skull, first shattering the cranial bones, then flattening the creature’s brain matter to the size of a standard pancake.

Another Serapin had its wide jaws tightly secured around a rhino-warrior’s forearm. Bones cracked and the arm tore away with simplistic ease. But without loosing a beat, the injured rhino-warrior let loose his hammer, much in the same way Traveler had done previously. Jason, Billy, and the other SEALs had their plasma pulse rifles aimed and ready. No one fired. Maybe it was instinctual, but Jason knew they needed to let the rhino-warrior play out his battle. Win or lose, they would fight to the death.

Two Serapins were attacking a single rhino-warrior; both had their jaws around its head. The rhino fought tirelessly, but in the end, his head came off in one of their mouths. Jason heard the sound of heavy hammers striking flesh further down the corridor. Two rhino-warriors were bludgeoning the last of the Serapins. The rhino-warriors had been victorious while never using their pulse weapons, ensuring an honorable and fair fight.

Standing amongst the carnage, Jason hailed the bridge for a status report.

“Go for XO.”

“What’s the status of The Lilly and our fighters?”

“Two of the fighters have returned to The Lilly for repairs. They are taking a beating, Cap. The Craing are now laying in wait for them with plasma cannons. The good news is we’ve disabled forty-two Craing warships.”

“What about The Lilly?”

“They discovered us in their hold about ten minutes ago. They brought in numerous mobile plasma cannons and even a massive rail gun, but they couldn’t penetrate our shields. And in return, we turned their guns to slag. So we’re OK here for now. We’ve been watching your helmet cams. Looks like you’re ready to breech the bridge?”

“Yeah, I’ll keep you posted,” Jason replied.

“Wait a minute, Captain,” the XO said, excitedly. “Something’s happening out there in the hold. It’s being depressurized and we’re hearing something. Captain, Ricket tells me those are the hold retaining clamps being released. They’re going to jettison the hold…”

The XO was cut off in mid-sentence. Jason noticed on his HUD, The Lilly was no longer aboard the Battle Dreadnaught. He changed the display to an outside virtual representation of the Battle Dreadnaught and its surrounding vessels. Then he noticed the small rectangular hold floating in open space. With the exception of the forty-two disabled Craing vessels and those that did not have a clear firing solution, the entire Craing fleet opened fire on the hold. Bright bolts of energy shot from hundreds of Craing warships. In mere seconds, the hold container flashed bright white and then disintegrated.

Chapter 21

He didn’t really care if he died at that point. What he did care about was saving Earth and killing as many Craing as humanly possible. For now, his focus would remain on the mission. He couldn’t allow himself to linger on the horrific thoughts pulling at his subconscious. They’d still be there later, waiting for him. Jason, Billy, three SEALs, and the two rhino-warriors continued down the corridor in silence. Another large hatch blocked their advancement to the bridge.

“Let’s blow the hatch,” Jason commanded, and watched as two SEALs placed the explosive charges. They all egressed back down the corridor. The hatch exploded and blew inward with a thunderous shockwave. Eleven hybrid combatants were waiting by the inside entrance to the bridge. The rhino-warriors stood aside. This time the SEALs would have the honor of engaging the enemy.

To Jason, the hybrids looked as human as his own SEAL team, even wearing their own version of hardened combat suits. They were already so close that this was going to be a hand-to-hand confrontation. Then he noticed that Billy and his four SEALs had slapped a long protruding rectangular patch right below their hipbones on their hardened combat suits. A thirteen-inch Ka-Bar knife snapped forward from a hidden, quick-release mechanism. Jason followed suit and accessed his own knife.

With pulse weapons held high, it became obvious the hybrids were not expecting close- quarters fighting; they were able to get off several bursts before they had to drop their weapons all together and defend themselves.

Both Billy and Jason engaged their respective hybrid combatants with the exact same move at the exact same time—ducking low, while simultaneously spinning 180 degrees, and
bringing their Ka-Bar knives up and under the hybrid’s breast plates and into their hearts. But neither hybrid went down. Fleetingly, Jason remembered hybrid General Bickerdike from the Pentagon and his two hearts. Billy must have remembered the same thing, because he and Jason double- thrusted their weapons, also at the same time.

The other two SEALs began battling hybrids before the fallen two hit the deck. A sudden jolt of pain in Jason’s upper left shoulder made the use of his left arm less effective. At least with energy weapons, if you survive the hit, the wound is cauterized and you won’t bleed to death. The hybrids, even with better than two to one odds, didn’t have the training or skills necessary to repel the SEAL onslaught. As with Jason’s shoulder, others too suffered wounds, but none were fatal.

The bridge was large, but Jason had assumed it would be much grander or more impressive in some way, especially based on the total size of the Battle Dreadnaught. Craing crewmembers were situated in ten rows at flight control and other system consoles. They stopped what they were doing. Wide-eyed, they first looked from Jason’s SEAL team, to the rhino-warriors, and then toward the aft section of the bridge where their officer’s section was located.

The reflection from the gold medallion across the room made it easy. Jason pulled his plasma pulse sidearm and held it at his side as he strode across the bridge. All eyes followed his progress. Jason knew his men would be taking up parameter posts around the room. And it didn’t really matter where the rhino-warriors went; it was no secret they had just defeated a pack of raptors. No one was going to screw with them. The four officers watched Jason approach. Their bronze, copper, silver and gold medallions hung from thick metal chains around their necks. He raised his side arm and pointed point blank to the forehead of the small Craing officer wearing the gold medallion.

“Do you understand what I’m saying?” The officers nodded their heads.

The Craing captain flinched when Jason reached over and snatched the medallion from around his head and placed it around his own. “Do you know what this means?” Jason asked. The small alien nodded resignedly. “Do what I ask, and you will all live.” The remaining officers said nothing. “You have ten seconds to start firing on your fleet. If I don’t see Craing warships blowing apart soon after that, you will all die. It’s you’re choice.”

Jason watched the captain’s expression and realized he may have misjudged him. The captain was one of the few Craing he’d come across who seemed to have a backbone. His eyes were unwavering, almost calm. But the first officer, silver medallioned, moved his eyes back and forth and he was taking short quick breaths. Jason took a step back and looked around the bridge for Traveler. He was pacing at the far end of the bridge. Jason signaled him to come forward and they spoke in low tones until the large warrior nodded his massive head and headed back down the corridor. Less than a minute later, Traveler was back dragging a Serapin carcass leaving a smeared trail of red blood. Traveler unceremoniously dropped the carcass at the Craing captain’s feet. It was the carcass Traveler had used his heavy hammer on to flatten its head.

“If you have any doubts as to what will happen to you, look on the floor in front of you,” Jason said, in a flat steely voice.

“I can not do as you ask,” the Craing captain said, still showing not the slightest fear.

He shot the captain where he stood, between the eyes.

“Please do not harm us,” the Craing first officer said, to his fellow officers’ obvious relief.

“What is your name?”

“I am First Officer Calter.”

“Okay, First Officer Calter, you now have five seconds,” Jason responded, raising his gun again.

The officer yelled something in Terplin directly to the crewmembers at the closest consoles. All heads turned in his direction and there was an audible intake of breath and shock on their faces. But there was no movement. Jason walked over to the Craing sitting at the end of the console, raised his weapon and held it to his temple.

“Tell them they will follow my orders or end up on the floor with the others.”

But there was no need; the crew was now busy doing what was asked of them. Several large overhead monitors displayed fleet logistics. One of the nearby Craing cruisers flashed white and disappeared.