Stars in the Sand (30 page)

 “
We’re pinned down!” she yelled, and glanced over at the shuttle, then down at her watch. Eight minutes and counting.

Chapter 29

 Cooper climbed out of the ATV, the last man through the door, hefting his rifle. The clip was full, but there would be no replacement when it ran out, so he gave up any thought of trying automatic fire, setting it to single shot. Most of the group was well ahead of him, hiding behind cover; only Cantrell was still by his side, just ahead of him.

 It looked as if there were at least fifty troopers heading for them, and as far as he knew, only four of his group was armed. He smiled, realizing that even if he managed to get one trooper with each bullet, he’d run out with a dozen left. Making each shot tell was going to be vital for him today.

 He got a good start, knocking one down who was attempting to head around behind Orlova, exposed at the head of the column. A tall, gruff figure – a very familiar one – leapt back from cover to cover, taking fire and allowing him a chance to get another clear shot. He ran forward to duck behind Forrest’s position, a large, recently disturbed boulder.

 “
I’m guessing this wasn’t part of the plan, Corporal.”

 “
I’d say not, Sarge,” he replied, passing him his pistol. “Looks like they’re moving to surround us.”

 “
Any chance of reinforcement?” Forrest asked as Cantrell fired another round, hitting one of the troopers in the shoulder.

 “
None. This is all we got.”

 The helicopters moved away, their cargo delivered, and it occurred to Cooper that they still had one thing working in their favor – they evidently had not worked out where they were going, which meant that the shuttle was still clear. The troopers were moving into clumps, now, and were staying low into cover themselves; only the occasional shot was ringing out.

 “
They’ve got all the advantage
s
,” Forrest said. “All they need to do is wait for us to run out of ammo, and we’ve had it.”

 “
Worse than that,” Cooper replied. “We’ve got seven minutes to get to the shuttle and away from this rock, or we’re s
taying
here.” He raised his communicator to his head, “Cooper to Marshall.”

 “
I’m here, Corporal.”

 “
We’re stuck here, sir. I don’t see any way of getting away with this.”

 “
Cooper, my communicator’s been damaged. I don’t think I can raise the shuttle.”

 He paused, then said, “You want me to order her back to Ouroboros.”

 Another crack flew overhead, the troopers doing their best to keep them all pinned down, and Cooper pressed further down into the ground, trying to hold on.

 “
I don’t think there’s another option, Corporal. Do you agree?”

 Looking around at the faces of the people he had rescued, their faces masks of determination, he nodded, then said, “I do, sir. Suggest we surrender after the shuttle has reached Ouroboros. No point prolonging this further.”

 “
Damn,” Forrest said. “It was so damn close. Thanks for trying, Cooper.”

 “
I just wish it had been worth it,” he replied. “Cooper to Bradley. You read me?”

 “
Loud and clear,” she said. “What’s the news.”

 “
Abort. We’re aborting the mission. Get back to Ouroboros.”

 “
Where are you? I saw the helicopters, and I’ve heard the shooting.”

 “
We’re pinned down about three-quarters of a mile south-west of you, outnumbered and out-gunned. It’s only a matter of time before they work out you are part of this, so the Captain’s
ordering you back to the freighter. Get out of here.”

 “
There has to be another option,” she replied.

 A rattle of automatic fire flew overhead, and Cooper hugged down to the ground, peeking up with his rifle and taking a couple of shots to try and pin down the target; they looked to be setting up a machine gun, but another well-aimed shot sent them running.

 “
You’re wasting time, Barbara! Launch!”

 “
I’m not giving up this easily. I’ve got a satellite map of your area, I see a flat patch maybe fifty meters away. You’d have a chance of making that.”

 “
You’ll never get down, they’ll have all the time in the world to shoot you out of the sky.” He could see some of the troopers carrying missiles on their backs, evidently just waiting for their expected pick-up to arrive, and he didn’t want to make Barbara their target.

 “
That’s where you come in. I’ll be down on the deck in about two minutes. You’ve got to hold them up long enough for me to make my descent.”

 “
Smoke and clouds everywhere…”

 “
Then I’ll land blind, damn it! Just let me have my shot!”

 “
Damn it, Barbara, I love you. Cooper out.”

 He closed the channel before she could reply, and glanced up at the smirking Forrest. Cantrell raced up to his side, firing a trio of shots to give herself covering fire. The enemy was now switching to just pinning them down, not actually attacking them.

 “
I think they want us alive,” she said. “What’s the plan?”

 Pulling his communicator up so Marshall could hear, he said, “Shuttle’s coming in to pick us up. We’ve got to set up a detour to give her a chance to come in clean. Their missile troopers are over to the west, so that’s where we’re going.”

 
“
Give me your rifle, Cooper,” Forrest said.

 Shaking his head, he replied, “Not a chance, Sarge.”

 “
Cooper, you’ve done enough.”

 “
That’s true when you get back on the deck of Alamo, Sarge, and not until then!”

 Forrest looked at Cantrell, then said, “Fine. Spaceman?”

 “
I go where Cooper goes. Despite his professions of undying love to his girlfriend. On three, Gabe?”

 “
Cooper,” Marshall’s voice said, “Watch yourself.”

 “
You’ll be nearest to the shuttle, sir. She’ll need all the landing guidance you can give her.”

 “
I'll do that
, Corporal.”

 “
Thanks, sir.”

 “
Good luck.”

 He could hear the roar of the shuttle engines from the spaceport, make out its shape moving through the clouds of dust, and then looked over at the troopers readying their missiles. If they were going to pull this off, the time was now, and he turned to Cantrell.

 “
Three, two, one, now!”

 Throwing caution to the wind, he jumped out of cover and started to sprint towards the cluster of troopers, firing as he went, scattering them around. Cantrell, just behind him, was more accurate than he, taking two of them down with well-placed shots. She skidded short, snatching up a dropped missile, and aimed it vaguely in the right direction before pulling the trigger.

 Cooper felt the heat on his back as the warhead flew over his shoulder, and rolled down to the right just in time to protect himself from the resultant explosion, a column of smoke rising from the emplacement, a group of tangled bodies spread around the landscape. A second explosion
rocked him back to the ground, another of the warheads firing, and a brief cheer rose up as the enemy troopers began to fall back and regroup.

 Far too one side, the shuttle was landing, and Cooper realized that he was in the ideal position to provide them with covering fire as his people moved towards it, racing from cover to cover with more shots cracking all around them. A body near him yielded another clip, and he snatched it up, stuffing it into his pocket, before opening up on the troopers ahead of him.

 Cantrell was having the same idea, and she ran forward a few paces to get into cover, taking shots. Through all the haze and the smoke, it was impossible to see if they were hitting anything, but they were certainly attracting some attention, more bullets flying their way. The shuttle doors open, and the first figure – Riley, he thought, stumbled inside, hands grabbing her and snatching her in. He saw one of the fleeing troopers fall, Orlova
hi
t in the arm; Marshall picked her up, half-carrying,
half-dragging
her to safety.

 “
Time to g
et out of here
, Cantrell,” Cooper said. “Get to the shuttle. I’ll cover you.”

 “
Like hell,” she said. “If you get shot, we’re finished.”

 
“
Damn it, do was you are ordered!”

 
“
You’re forgetting, I outrank you.”

 Marshall was on board the shuttle now, and Orlova, and the rest of the Espatiers were close on their heels. More shots rang out, and Cooper stopped another attempt to get a machine gun nest set-up with a quick squeeze of the trigger on semi-automatic, pausing for a second to slam in a replacement clip.

 Another series of shots took down a pair of enemy troopers trying to flank the fleeing squad, and he spread his attentions far and wide, desperately trying to distract the enemy forces, give them something to think about other than taking down the Espatiers. First one, then three more climbed onto the shuttle, Forrest having to be dragged on board, turning to try and race back out to the battlefield.

 “
Cooper, this is Marshall. We’re on board, now it’s your turn. Get to the shuttle, we’ve only got a couple of minutes!”

 He looked around, and saw the last of his friends, his comrades, getting through. Turning to Cantrell, he said, “Now, time to go. You go half-way, I’ll cover, then we’ll swap. Ready?”

 “
As I’ll ever be,” she said, sprinting desperately for the shuttle as gunfire cracked all around her. She didn’t get twenty yards before having to take cover again, the weight of gunfire too much for her, and Cooper braced himself to take a run, only to see another machine gun over to the right, turning towards the shuttle.

 Instead of running towards safety, he ran to the machine gun, gambling that he could get to it before they could set it up; behind him, another trooper was getting a missile set up, and he had to stop it if they were going to have a chance. A voice echoed over his communicator, but he ignored it, filtering it out. Someone was trying to give him orders that, for all their sakes, he couldn’t afford to obey.

 His feet ate up the ground, and he got close enough to take a desperate pair of shots at the duo manning the gun, both of whom fell down to the ground, blood spilling from their chests. Ignoring them, he settled in behind the gun, just about ready to fire, and started to take shots, bursts of flame erupting from the barrel, bullets racing across the battlefield to rip the missile trooper to shreds.

 “
Get out of there!” the communicator yelled. “We’ve got thirty seconds!”

 He felt sorriest for Cantrell. She was still pinned down in the middle of the battlefield, no way to reach the shuttle, and he wasn’t going to be able to get her out. He reached down for his communicator, pulling at the trigger with his hand, and held it calmly to his mouth.

 “
Shuttle, launch. I can’t get to you without being full of holes, and neither can Cantrell. I think this is as far as we go.”

 “
Cooper!” Marshall yelled. “I’ll wait. Get moving.”

 “
You’re already close to missing the window,” he replied, “so get out of here.”

 “
Damn it, Cooper. Good luck.”

 Pulling herself to her feet, Cantrell sprinted across to join Cooper, watching as the shuttle airlock slammed shut, and the vertical jets fired. He watched as the clouds of dust rose again, a thin smile on his face as his comrades began their long journey home.
T
hat he wouldn’t be joining them didn’t seem to matter.

 “
We’ve got to get moving,” Cantrell said. “We need to clear the battlefield. As soon as they realize what happened, they’ll move in on us.”

 “
I was planning to surrender,” Cooper replied.

 “
You might have given up on getting home, but I haven’t! Never say die. Now let’s get moving.”

 “
Where?”

 “
We’ll worry about that later. Come on.”

 Firing another burst from the machine gun as a parting present, Cooper followed Cantrell as she sprinted up the slopes towards the mountain, heading for the ravines and outcrops. From somewhere, she’d found a grenade, and she tossed it behind them, sending another cloud of smoke into the air to add to the confusion. There was a loud bang from above, a sonic boom as the shuttle headed back for Ouroboros, and a smile crossed his face.

 Then he felt a stabbing pain in the back, the crack at the same time, and he staggered to the ground, trying for one last pace, Cantrell running towards him.

 “
Cooper! Cooper!” she yelled, as everything faded to darkness.

Chapter 30

 Marshall had banished Barbara to the rear compartment, and was taking the shuttle up through the atmosphere himself, Orlova sitting in the co-pilot’s seat by his side with a bandage around her arm, shaking her head as she looked at the course plot. They flew through a cloud, well clear of the enemy to their rear, but coming up on the network of orbital defense satellites far too slowly for comfort.

 “
It’s as bad as I thought,” Orlova said. “We were nine seconds late on the burn.”

 “
I’m having trouble building up speed,” he replied. “Too much weight, and the boosters aren’t doing enough. I can’t get those seconds back.”

 “
We’ve lost a few,” she said. “Those satellites are going to get a nice series of shots at Ouroboros as it breaks orbit.”