The Lost Voyager: A Space Opera Novel (18 page)

Mach’s lungs hurt less with each breath; the bunker’s atmosphere re-pressurized with a low hiss now that the blast doors were firmly shut. Sanchez rubbed the back of his neck and grimaced.
 

“Are you okay?” Mach asked.
 

“Yeah, just took a hit during the fight. It’s not the… well, you know.”

“You’re actually looking better than you were before the fight,” Adira added as she joined the group. Mach agreed; he did.
 

Sanchez shrugged. “Perhaps it was just the adrenalin.” Then he turned his attention to Felix, who stood there awkwardly as the conversation went on. “You, do you have any medical supplies here? Food, water?”

“Communications?” Mach added.
 

Felix stammered something before a new voice interrupted him from somewhere off in the gloom. “Felix, bring them through to the lab. We don’t have much time.” The voice was female… could it be?

“Captain Sereva?” Mach called out. “Is that you?”

The woman stepped out into the weak light. She stood half a foot shorter than Felix but had broad shoulders and close-cropped red hair. Her green eyes rivaled Adira’s for their glittering quality. She smiled with thin lips and bowed theatrically. “The one and the same. You took your fucking time, didn’t you?” she said, dropping the smile and looking Mach up and down with an unimpressed sneer. “I sent a message back to OreCorp HQ a few hours after this one here saved my ass.”

Adira looked the woman up and down and sniffed with derision.
 

“They never got the message,” Mach said. “When they waited for a week with no radio communication, they sent us. Whatever the hell those things are out there are screwing with the radio frequencies with jamming techniques.”

“You’re a smart one, aren’t you?” Sereva said. “I gathered that much, but still, it shouldn’t have taken you this long to find the beacon’s signal.”

Sanchez stepped forward. “Listen, we’re tired and pissed off. How about we cut the bullshit, and you give us something for our wounds and then we can chat about what the hell we’re going to do next. I do believe we have a bomb to discuss.”

Sereva stepped up to Sanchez and tilted her head back, looking up at the old hunter whose body dwarfed that of hers, yet she simply smiled, not in the least intimidated. “I like your attitude. Perhaps unlike the rest of my crew, you’ll be able to stay alive for more than a few minutes on this godforsaken hellhole. Follow me.”

Adira smirked at Mach as the woman led Sanchez away. Felix followed, leaving Adira and Mach to take up the rear. “She’s a feisty one,” she whispered to Mach.
 

“She is, isn’t she? I think we’re going to get on well.”

“Not too well,” Adira added with a hint of a warning in her voice.
 

Could that be a hint of jealousy? Surely not from Adira: she rarely cared about anyone being a threat to her… but the way she looked at Sereva… Mach smiled to himself and followed the group through the dark corridors of the bunker, leaving behind the bangs and screeches of the phane soldiers.
 

***

The layout was indeed similar to the outpost Mach had known before. They went through the left corridor and followed the slate-gray, featureless walls until they arrived at a junction. They went left again, going through yet more boring plain passageways until they stopped in front of the lab.
 

Back in the war, Mach had spent a lot of time in the lab, working on battle analysis with the strategists. When they stepped inside, it was like stepping back in time. He took a seat at a desk. Adira did the same, sitting to his left, and Sanchez to his right.
 

As Sereva and Felix stood at the head of the room, in front of a large holographic viewscreen, their words morphed into the voice of Officer Morgan, his superior back in the war. Orders about their next battle strategy were barked out, striking Mach in his heart, swelling him with thoughts of glory and victory—until they left the outpost and the plan went to shit as soon as they made contact with the horans. The horans didn’t much care for strategy; they just threw numbers, bullets and muscle at the problem. Mach and his company were lucky to survive the onslaught; over half of the three thousand soldiers from the outpost were butchered.
 

That was the last time Mach listened to strategists. From then on, he fought on instinct alone, reacting to the enemy’s movements rather than trying to force a strategy onto a chaotic situation. His unique fighting skills brought him and his company to the attention of the CWDF hierarchy and they were separated from the outpost.
 

He and Morgan, along with the rest of the company, were assigned black ops status and were given carte blanch to attack the enemy at will based on whichever intelligence they wished to use. Mach suspected they’d have to use that same level of cunning to complete this mission.
 

Sereva brought up a 3D image of a mining system. It ran for hundreds of miles in all directions, through dozens of different shafts and tunnels.
 

“Where is that?” Mach asked.
 

“About five miles west of here beneath a mountain range,” Sereva said. She indicated a flashing red circle three-quarters of the way into the mine. “This is the bomb.”

“What happened?” Sanchez said. “I mean, you were attacked; how’d it get down there?”

“The phane,” Felix said. “We attempted to detonate it ourselves after I had rescued Captain Sereva from a group of the soldiers, but we were set upon, forcing us to flee. The soldiers took it and carried it, along with the bodies of almost all of the crew, down into the mineshafts.”

“We can get a ping from it,” Sereva added, “when we’re not jammed, but it’s unresponsive to the arming procedure.”

“Tell us more about the phane,” Mach asked. “What kind of numbers are we talking about here? What are they like, these other forms you mentioned?” Mach leaned forward as Felix sat down opposite them at the round table. Sereva joined him, placing a carafe of steaming coffee and five cups onto the surface. They helped themselves as Felix brought them up to speed on their enemy.
 

“They’re highly virulent,” the old security officer said. “Those soldiers outside, they swarm in packs. There’s seemingly no end to them. Smaller versions of them carry eggs out from the mines, thousands of them at a time. They hatch within minutes of being in the open air.”

Sereva swallowed half the mug of her coffee in one go, slamming the cup down. “The bastards grow at a rate that I’ve never seen before. They grow to full maturity within days.”

Adira added, “Is that natural? Perhaps these things are biological weapons of some other race with gene-modification technology?”

Felix shook his head. “I don’t think so. I think we’re just looking at a very different kind of life form with a complicated breeding structure. During one of my sorties I saw a different kind, much larger than the soldiers and not at all spiderlike. The thing was like a colossal grub, all puffy and off-white with things moving inside it. They’re the breeders. It seems they only have three of them, but they’re responsible for the eggs. They lay thousands at once.”

Sanchez looked deep in thought as Felix was talking. Mach turned to his friend, who by now was actually looking surprisingly healthy. “What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking that these things are obviously what attacked the mining facility on Beta, but also, that there’s no predators here. During our race back to this outpost, I saw not a single animal track, nor heard any call whatsoever. There’s no fauna here at all.”

“You’re right,” Felix said. “Within days of the phane arriving, the population of animals on this planet plummeted. It’s how they breed. The grubs constantly feed on anything and everything, turning the genetic matter into eggs. When they first arrived, there were just a few thousand of the soldiers, but now… it’s possible there are hundreds of thousands. They’re literally eating this planet alive, turning it into a barren husk.”

“Like the bodies,” Sereva said, sneering her lips. “The bastards left a dozen of my crew behind, sucked their bones and insides clean, leaving nothing but a dried husk.”

“And they arrived by ship?” Adira said. “They don’t exactly look capable of space travel.”

“That’s where the other form comes in. We call them the controllers. As far as we can make out, they don’t stray too far from their mothership—the source of the frequency jamming. The thing’s huge. I’ve never seen a ship as big as it before.”

“Where is it?” Adira asked.
 

“West of the mountain range,” Felix added. “The last look I got of it, they were loading it up with the hatched soldiers. It’s like an ark. I think they’re preparing to leave.”

“It wouldn’t surprise me,” Sereva said. “There’s very little left on this planet to sustain them. Or us, for that matter. We’re down to emergency rations and recycled water.”

Mach processed all the new information, thinking of what to do next. “We need to communicate with our ship, let them know what you’ve told us.”

“We’ve got a radio working, but the reception is bad and sometimes doesn’t work at all; it depends on the strength and direction of the phane’s jamming process. But follow me; I’ll take you to it.”

Adira joined Mach as they passed through another bland passage into room crammed with radio equipment, none of which was being used. They were stuck in their respective boxes and stacked on metal shelves. Sereva took them through a maze of shelves until they arrived at a workbench with a radio circuit board laying on the surface, a multitude of wires and parts attached to it.
 

“You made this yourself?” Mach said.
 

“Electronics was my hobby,” Sereva said, taking a seat and switching on the radio. Mach gave her the frequency and protocols for the
Intrepid
’s radio system. They managed to contact Squid Two and used him to relay a secure message to the bridge. Over the next ten minutes, Mach and Adira informed the others of what had happened and what they had learned.
 

Mach gave Lassea her next orders, “I want you to fly to the bunker and stay in a low hover behind it, out of reach and sight of the gun platforms. Felix says they patrol the open plain in front of the mountain. If you come down here, you’ll be hidden by the trees.”

“Roger that, Captain,” Lassea replied.
 

“And one more thing,” Mach said, “we need Babcock down here to help with the analysis. Lower him down via a winch; there’s an escape hatch on the top of the outpost. He’ll be safe from the phane soldiers there and we need his expertise.”

“I’m on it,” Lassea said, her voice full of determination and not a hint of fear.
 

After another fifteen or so minutes, they managed to get Babcock and Squid Two down into the outpost without too much bother. It seemed the soldiers had gotten bored of attacking the unrelenting blast doors and retreated to the rest of their swarm to carry out whatever other orders their controllers issued.
 

The group retired to the strategy room once more and made their plans.
 

Mach stretched his arms and yawned. He downed another cup of Sereva’s ration coffee and looked at the flashing red dot that represented the bomb on the holomap.
 

“They don’t even realize what it is,” Felix said.

“We’re going to need to go and arm it ourselves,” Sanchez said, summing up the only realistic option now that they had gone through half a dozen plans. Even Squid Two couldn’t help with this one.
 

Adira and Babcock agreed with Sanchez.
 

That just left Mach.
 

“Felix, how far is it to the mine shaft that enters this complex?”

“About five klicks west of here. We can take the scimitar; it’ll attract less attention than your
Intrepid
and give us the chance to stay low, out of the way of the gun platforms.”

“What about the soldiers?”

Felix grinned. “The scimitar is no ordinary APC. Since I’ve been here, let’s just say it’s been a project of mine. I’ve upgraded the armor and weaponry, as well as the engine. I’m sure we’ll be able to withstand the swarm long enough to get you into the mine shafts.”

“And then what?” Babcock asked. “It’s not like you can just park up and wait around.”

“No,” Felix said. “It’ll likely be a one-way journey.”

Mach knew this was likely the case. Hell, he had the feeling from the moment he took the job. This changed nothing. “Babs, you’re staying here. I need you and Sereva to help guide us. We’ll take your modified laser transceivers to send a feed back.” Mach regarded Adira and Sanchez. “You’re my away team, but if you would rather stay, I understand. I’ll go alone.”

Both Adira and Sanchez said, “No,” at the same time. Adira added, “It kinda looks fun anyway. It’s not fair you get to have it all yourself. What’s not to love about this, eh? A dungeon crawl, big monsters, and a super weapon… This is the kind of adventure I’ve always wanted. So what if we might not get back? We could get killed by interplanetary bandits or run over by a hover bus. If I’m to bite the dust, I’d rather it be for a good cause.”

“Besides,” Sanchez added, “we can’t afford to let these damned things leave the planet. Look what they’ve done in this system. The next system from here is in the Salus Sphere. We can’t allow a threat like this to take hold. You’ve seen what they’ve done.”

“And,” Babcock interrupted, “by my calculations of their breeding rate and estimated numbers, if allowed to breed and take another planet, they’ll have enough numbers to overwhelm the entire Salus Sphere within two months. The CWDF wouldn’t have a chance at stopping them.”

“It’s settled, then. Adira, Sanchez, and I will go. Felix, you’ll take us there in the scimitar. Babs, you liaise with Lassea and Sereva to make sure the
Intrepid
’s safe and ready to take you out of here. We’ve got ourselves an enemy territory to infiltrate.”

Chapter Eighteen