The Outer Worlds: Book One of the Epherian Chronicles (11 page)

‘
I once worked as a security guard before I became a colonist,’
said Adrastus. ‘I guarded Trade Guild credit terminals on Alasdair
12. I have some basic training.’

Ajax raised an
eyebrow. ‘Have you ever fought in a battle before?’

‘
Well, no,’ said Adrastus, looking blankly down at the
table.

‘
That’s exactly my point,’ said Ajax curtly.

‘
But we want to go,’ said Aradel.

‘
This mission will be very dangerous,’ said Michael. ‘It is
unlikely that everyone will make it back to the ship alive. I see
your point, Ajax, but I think the more rifles we have on the ground
the better off we will be. If you are willing to fight then you are
welcome to be on the rescue team.’

**

The Out
Drifter lingered on the inner edge of the field.

‘
Herman Beta 3 is five minutes away at full power,’ said Sara.
‘It will take us a couple additional minutes to pass through the
atmosphere. I will try to put the ship down about two hundred
metres from the settlement’s outbuildings. Aradel said there is a
rocky hill that we can land behind; it will protect us if there are
any alien turret guns. I’m ready to make the dash to the surface.
The landing team better be ready for action.’

Michael lifted
his wrist-com. ‘Ajax, make sure everyone is ready to disembark. We
will be on the surface in less than ten minutes.’

‘…
you got it, Cap…’ he replied.

‘
All right, Sara. I’m ready when you are.’

Sara nodded
and reached forward. She pushed the acceleration lever to full
power and the engines rumbled; the ship lurched forward.

‘
We are leaving the asteroid belt,’ she said.

Michael
watched through the viewing panel as they approached. The planet
looked like a small orange dot which was steadily increasing size
in the visual field. He cleared his mind and waited. After two
minutes a warning light on the control console lit up.

Sara glanced
across at him. ‘They know we are coming,’ she said coolly.

For at least
another minute nothing changed. Herman Beta 3 now appeared like an
orange orb floating in the distance. He could make out mountain
ranges and depressions on the surface of the planet. It was a
deserted and dry world with little to offer humanity.

‘
They’re coming to intercept us,’ she said.

‘
How many?’

‘
Three alien fighters are taking off from the surface. We
should make the atmosphere before they reach us. We will have to
fight before we land.’

Michael drew a
deep breath. Engaging alien fighters in aerial combat was very
risky.

‘
Can we make it to the surface?’ he asked.

Sara glanced
at him. ‘Don’t worry, Captain. Destroying alien fighters is my
speciality,’ she said.

She reached up
for the combat visor which was latched to the ceiling. The visor
resembled a half helmet which was worn over the front of the face.
It connected into the Out Drifter’s main computer and gave Sara the
ability to control and monitor all the weapon and defence systems.
The visor also showed her a complete structural view of everything
surrounding the ship which was augmented over the normal visual
field. If an enemy ship was flying to the left or right of the Out
Drifter she would see it directly through the wall. Normally the
co-pilot would operate the weapons as the main pilot flew the ship,
but Sara preferred to do both tasks at once, and she had proven
herself in the past.

Michael waited
as a feeling of anticipation grew in his chest. A minute passed;
the alien fighters became visible in the viewing panel. The ships
were flying in an attack formation just above the atmosphere of the
planet. They were triangular in shape, with shining silver outer
hulls. He knew their main weapon systems were high-powered charged
particle cannons.

‘
They’re attempting to block our way,’ she said. She veered to
the right and flew directly at the alien formation.

‘
What are you doing?’ he yelled.

‘
Engaging the enemy, Captain,’ she said casually as she brought
the ship to full acceleration.

‘
Are you crazy?’

Suddenly the
visual field lit up as Sara unleashed a torrent of blasts from the
80mm charged particle cannon. The Out Drifter’s two laser guns
burst into operation and red beams of light shot across the
distance at the rapidly approaching enemy ships. One alien fighter
exploded, and the other two were forced to evade the onslaught.
They fired back, and Sara heaved the Out Drifter upward to avoid
the counterattack. Michael recoiled in his seat. Within a second
she sped directly past the two remaining fighters and came close to
colliding with one.

Sara laughed.
‘You see; we have a head start; they have to turn around,’ she said
as she angled the Out Drifter toward the planet’s upper
atmosphere.

Michael
watched the radar screen. The two remaining alien fighters were
looping around, but Sara’s plan had worked; they were now far out
of effective strike range.

The ship began
to vibrate as it entered the planet’s atmosphere. Michael held his
handrails; usually they would pass through the atmosphere at a much
slower rate, but they had little choice if they hoped to outrun the
alien fighters. Sara was pushing the ship to the limit, so much so
that Michael was unsure whether the outer heat shields could handle
such an entry.

‘
Easy, easy,’ she said under her breath as the Out Drifter
descended toward the orange desert below.

The alien
fighters were gaining on them.

‘
Sara, look at the radar.’

‘
I see them.’

She turned the
Out Drifter directly downward and brought the ship into a nose
dive. The artificial gravity took a moment to adjust. They were
heading for the surface at an extreme speed, and the two alien
fighters dived to follow them.

‘
What are you doing?’ he gasped.

‘
I’m preparing to fight them, Captain.’

‘
I don’t think crashing into the surface will help!’

Sara increased
the ship’s power. The ground was rapidly approaching. Michael could
clearly see rocky hills interspersed with wide sandy desert plains.
She slightly angled the ship toward the mountains. There was a deep
and lengthy canyon which wound its way through the range. A few
seconds later the Out Drifter flew directly through a gap between
two mountains. The alien fighters were in hot pursuit. They
unleashed a series of charged particle beams, but Sara rolled the
ship to the left, avoiding the attack. She then entered the canyon
and pulled up at the last possible moment. The momentum was
incredible. The Out Drifter sped along the base of the canyon as
the alien fighters pursued them.

Sara rocked
the ship from left to right to avoid the particle beams. There was
a mighty boom and the entire Out Drifter shook. Michael was nearly
knocked out of his seat.

‘
They hit us!’ he shouted.

‘
It’s not bad. The electronic shield absorbed most of the
energy.’

The ship
whirled to the right; the canyon narrowed and there was a sharp
turn ahead. Sara heaved the lateral control lever to the left and
the Out Drifter made an abrupt turn as she shut off the rear
thrusters. They were out of sight of the alien fighters for only a
moment, but it was long enough for Sara to turn fully around to
face them. The two fighters appeared an instant later. She
unleashed everything the Out Drifter had. The charged particle
cannon fired rapidly, the lasers burst into operation, and a series
of missiles rocketed away from the ship. A fighter exploded. The
second alien fighter attempted to maneuver and fire back, but three
computer guided missiles turned to follow it, and a moment later it
exploded in a blazing flash of green and orange light.

Sara lifted
the visor. ‘Now that wasn’t so bad was it?’

‘
Well done, Sara,’ he replied as he caught his
breath.

‘
Let’s hope there aren’t any others. Now for the next part of
the mission,’ she said as she accelerated and brought the ship out
of the canyon. ‘You better get back there with the others, Captain.
I’ll be landing the ship in less than a minute.’

Michael slid
out of his seat and dashed back toward the cargo bay where the crew
were waiting.

Ajax looked up
and shook his head. ‘What was all that about? I thought we were
finished.’

‘
We should thank, Sara. She dealt with the alien fighters,’
said Michael dryly. ‘Is everyone ready?’

‘
We are prepared, Captain,’ said Ivan.

Michael
scanned the rescue team. Aradel and Adrastus were both wearing body
armour and holding standard plasma rifles. Ajax was decked out with
his usual assortment of heavy weapons. Cynthia had two automatic
plasma pistols, one attached to each side of her belt. Her main
armament was a mini rocket launcher, which required both hands to
carry and was able to fire target seeking rockets at a rapid rate.
Ivan had his standard plasma rifle. He was also carrying the
medical kit. Ethan had a large backpack loaded with all sorts of
miscellaneous gear including the quantum code breaker. He was also
carrying an advanced and modified plasma rifle which had a grenade
launcher attached below the main barrel. Dog-Two was sitting by the
exit door and ready for action.

Michael
grabbed his charged particle rifle, which had been hanging on a
hook beside the door.

‘…
We are approaching the landing site, Captain. The colonist
settlement is swarming with aliens…’ said Sara over the
com.

‘
Swarming?’ questioned Michael with a strained
expression.

‘…
There are thirty to forty aliens in the open. They are taking
defensive positions around the settlement. The good news is I can’t
see any turret guns at the moment…’

‘
Forty aliens,’ said Ajax, shaking his head. ‘This will get
really nasty.’

‘…
Captain, we are landing in ten seconds; be ready to
disembark…’

‘
Thank you, Sara.’

‘…
Good luck, Captain…’

‘
We’re going to need all the luck we can get,’ grumbled
Ajax.

‘
All right, this is it,’ said Michael.

They moved
toward the exit door. The Out Drifter jolted as it landed on the
rocky ground. The exit door slid open, and Michael was the first to
step out into the dry orange haze of Herman Beta 3. Directly to the
right of the ship was a small hill, which was made up of red rock.
The colonist settlement was directly on the other side of the hill.
The heat was stifling and the air tasted bitter, dry and thin. The
oxygen content was low and only just within safety range for
humans. Air that was safe to breathe was not always nice to
breathe. Furthermore, the planet’s gravity was higher than
standard, being rated at 1.07.

‘
Let’s go! Follow me!’ commanded Michael as he headed for the
cover of the rocks. They followed him across the uneven ground and
huddled close to a massive boulder. He glanced back at Adrastus.
‘You know this area better than anyone. Where to from
here?’

Adrastus
stepped forward to stand beside him. ‘There are various crevices
and gaps through these rocks. If we can make it to the other side
there is an entrance to a tunnel that follows the underground water
generation system. The tunnel was built to be used by service
droids. It will take us directly into the subterranean levels
beneath the settlement. If we can get to the tunnel we will be able
to avoid the alien defences above ground.’

‘
The aliens won’t let us in without a fight, with or without a
secret tunnel,’ said Ajax.

‘
Even so, it may help us enter the settlement,’ said Michael.
‘Adrastus, lead the way.’

Adrastus and
Aradel led them into a narrow crevice which cut directly into the
hill. The crew followed closely behind as the two colonists pushed
forward as quickly as they could. The way was only just wide enough
for them to pass through. Within two minutes the crevice widened
and opened out on the opposite side of the hill. They gathered
behind a jagged rock which hid them from view. Michael peeked over
the edge of the rock and he could see the settlement across an arid
field of sand. About twenty yards ahead was a metal cylindrical
hatch cover. It was the entrance to the water generation
system.

Ajax lifted
his military binoculars and then let out a groan. ‘This looks bad,
Cap. They’ve got some seriously tough defensive positions. If we
come out in the open they will fry us.’

‘
How many can you see?’

‘
The binoculars are saying there are thirty four targets. They
are preparing some heavy-duty mobile artillery guns. They know
we’re coming, Cap. They’re just waiting for us to walk into their
trap.’

‘
Do you think we can make it to the hatch?’

‘
Not likely. Their scanners will see us as soon as we break
cover,’ said Ajax, shaking his head.

His wrist-com
beeped. ‘…Captain. There are two squads of aliens approaching the
Out Drifter. They’re taking cover in the rocks and firing on the
ship. I can’t effectively target them with the ship’s guns. I have
to take off before they damage the ship. Captain, they are going to
flank your position…’ Sara’s voice sounded strained.

‘
Sara, take off and fire the rockets at the alien defensive
positions. Then get out of here and wait for me to give you a
position to extract us.’