The Search for Gram (24 page)

“Looks like there are five or six armed soldiers waiting for us,” said Doug as he looked through the airlock window. He waved. “I don’t know what they were expecting, but they seemed to relax when they saw me.”

“When they saw the ‘new’ you, anyway,” giggled Farhome. He had worked his ‘magic’ on the two Kuji again, and both looked like Efreet.

“I like being this tall,” said Bob as he looked out the window next to Doug. “Do you suppose we can stay like this when we’re done?”

“Enough chatter, knuckleheads,” said Night. “Focus.” He looked around the cargo bay. Everyone else seemed focused. “Just like we planned,” he said. “The Kuji go in, the Efreeti relax, and then we roll through and blast the shit out of them if they move. Any questions?”

There were none.

“It’s time,” said Bob as the airlock handle turned. The two Kuji filled the doorway as best they could, with the Terrans arrayed on both sides of the doorway out of sight.

The door opened into the larger ship, and Bob and Doug pressed forward, nearly knocking over the spacer who had opened the door. The Efreeti stumbled to the right and was knocked down by Night as he burst onto the destroyer. Wraith followed him to the right, with Staff Sergeant Zoromski and Gunnery Sergeant Bryant going to the left of the Kuji.

“Don’t move!” yelled Bob, who had been coached by the vizier on how to say it in Efreet. Five of the Efreet froze, but one tried to bring his weapon around to fire. Night, Wraith and Mongo all fired at the same time, and the Efreeti fell, hit numerous times. The rest of the Efreet held their positions, but the damage was already done.

“Sir, the computer reports laser fire in the shuttle docking port,” said the communicator.

“Who fired?” asked the commanding officer. “What’s going on?”

“Unknown,” replied the communicator. “I have lost communications with the team you sent to meet the shuttle.”

“Have you ever lost communications with a team while inside the ship?”

“Never, sir.”

“Intruder alert!” ordered the commanding officer. He turned to the colonel. “Protect the queen at all costs.”

“Yes, sir!”

Green lights began flashing, and an announcement crackled from a loudspeaker mounted in the upper corner of the docking port. Calvin stopped in the doorway of the shuttle to look over his shoulder. “What are they saying?” he asked.

“The voice said there are intruders in Docking Port Number Two. On-duty security forces are to converge on this area and kill them…er, us. It also said that all off-duty security people are to report to the queen’s chambers to protect her. The message then repeats.”

“They seem very protective of the queen,” said Calvin. “If we could capture her, are they likely to do what we say?”

“Yes, very much so.”

“Where would we find her?”

“She will be wherever the defense is heaviest.”

“Which makes sense,” said Calvin. “If there are guest quarters for visiting dignitaries, that is where I would look first, followed by the captain’s cabin; they will be using the best rooms for her. Night, take the Space Force and the Kuji and go get the queen. We’ll hold the docking port.”

“I’d like to go with them,” said Lieutenant Rrower.

“Go ahead,” said Calvin.

“Are you sure you want to stay here, sir?” asked Night. “They know you’re here, and you can’t move. You’re a sitting target, and you’re going to bear the brunt of their attack.”

“Someone’s got to watch out for our ride home,” said Calvin. “You go find the queen, and I’ll keep the light on for you.”

“If you say so, sir,” replied Night. “Master Chief, move ‘em out! Look for a schematic of the ship as you go and head for the bridge. The captain’s cabin will be somewhere near there. I’ll bet that’s where she is.”

“Wraith, Witch, you’ve got point,” said Master Chief. “Let’s go kill some ‘Freets. Move out!”

Night proved prophetic; it wasn’t long before the Efreet began arriving, and they arrived in force. Although the docking port only had one exit, the passageway outside extended to the left and right.

“Two on my side,” said Sergeant ‘Mouse’ Patel, firing a burst to the left.

“Movers on my side too,” called Gunnery Sergeant ‘Mongo’ Bryant, as he fired to the right. “Too many to count!”

“Back!” yelled Mouse. He grabbed Mongo and pulled him away from the doorway as a stream of fire burned past.

“This isn’t going to work, sir,” yelled Mongo. “They’re moving up behind the cover of the flamethrowers. They’ll be in the room with us real damn soon!”

A voice sounded over the ship’s public address system. “They are directing the forces defending their ship,” said the vizier. “They are sending more troops here.”

“Damn it,” said Calvin. “I see what Night meant. Not being mobile really limits our options.” He turned to the Aesir. “Landslide, we need to get out of here. Can you cut us a hole in the bulkhead?”

Landslide put a hand on the bulkhead and the other on the deck. “I can,” said the Aesir, “although it will take a while. The deck would be faster, but it’s still going to take a little time.”

“Go through the deck,” said Calvin. “We’ll hold them off as long as we can.”

“We will buy you some time,” said Cyclone. She led Captain Nightsong and Farhome to the doorway and spoke to the Terrans firing down the corridors. “We are going to the left; please do not shoot us,” she said. Cyclone made a motion like she was throwing a double handful of something into the air. The three Aesir flickered and vanished.

“I hope they hurry,” said Mouse. “The damn Efreet are getting awfully close.”

“Me, too,” agreed Mongo as he continued to fire his rifle to the right.

“Back!” yelled Mouse as another blast of flame rolled down the hallway. “Fuck. I hope they didn’t just get fried.” He peered around the corner as the flame receded. “Shit!” said Mouse. “One of them is on fire!”

The burning Aesir screamed.

Jotunn Jail, 14 Herculis ‘a,’ Unknown Date/Time

“So, there is someone here who can build the devices which transfer people from one universe to the other?”

“Yes,” said Bordraab. “He is being held on the level beneath us.”

K-Mart’s brows knitted. “If he can make transport devices,” he said, “why doesn’t he use one to escape?”

“Because the Jotunn have his wife and children,” replied the dragon. “He says the Jotunn would kill them before he could get them out.”

“But if I could get them out safely?” asked K-Mart, “Do you think he would help us?”

“I am sure he would,” said Bordraab. “If you could save his family, that is. They are all wasting away too. The giants say they will free him when he makes enough transport devices for their ships. The giants are working on a plan for revenge against some other race, and they need them for their attack.”

“And with that we come full circle,” said Rock. “The reason we are here is that we are looking for some members of a race called the Aesir, which is the race the Jotunn are trying to get revenge on. Their allies, the Efreet, destroyed several Aesir ships and captured some of the Aesir, including an Aesir prince. We came here to get the Aesir back.”

“Ah, I knew the Jotunn had brought in some new prisoners,” said Bordraab, “but I didn’t know where they were from. They are being held on the other side of the prison, which is, unfortunately, outside the range of my telepathy. I can smell them, but that is all.”

“You can
smell
them?” asked K-Mart. “All the way on the other side of the prison, a mile away?”

“Not the way you understand smell,” said the dragon. “My sense of smell is very…different. All my race have what you would call clairvoyant powers. Just like there are five senses, there are also five psychic senses. I am clairalient; I have the psychic ability associated with scent.”

“I’ve never heard of anything like that,” said K-Mart. “Umm…how does it work?”

“I have had it function a number of ways,” said Bordraab, “and I can never be sure how it is going to work from one time to the next. Sometimes I will catch a scent associated with a feeling or idea. Other times I can smell the fragrances of locations far away or tell something which happened a long time ago by the psychic smell it leaves. Others of my kind say they can associate certain smells with non-physical beings, like the entities you call ‘angels.’ For me, the sense is very vivid and can sometimes be almost overwhelming. When I concentrated on the new prisoners the giants brought in, I got a smell unlike any odor I ever sampled. Whether that is your Aesir or something else, I cannot tell.” He cocked his head and looked at the Terrans. “You wouldn’t happen to have something from one of them, would you?”

“No,” said K-Mart. “Sorry.”

“In that case, I cannot be of any further assistance.”

“Okay,” said K-Mart, “so here’s what I’ve got. The Aesir are probably in one of the wings on the other side of the prison. I know they aren’t on the first floor because I checked there. We’ve got to get them out. There is someone in the level below us who can make a device to take a large number of people, or a dragon, to the other universe. He’ll help us if we save his family. And finally, we have a dragon, who can smell things that aren’t here, who wants to get out and kill giants. Is that about it?”

“Yes,” said Bordraab.

“I think so,” said Rock.

“If that’s all there is, it shouldn’t be any problem,” said K-Mart with a smile. “Here’s what we’ll do…”

“
Hey Master Chief, you were looking for a diagram of the ship, right?
” asked Sergeant Tomaselli. “
I’ve got one.
”

Master Chief and Night moved forward to look where Tomaselli was pointing. There was a schematic of the ship on the bulkhead, with a number of places labeled for the crew’s convenience. As it was labeled in Efreeti, the diagram was less helpful than it might otherwise have been. Still, they could see where the front and back of the ship were, and the diagram showed the ship sectioned into levels so they could see all the major spaces.

Master Chief looked at the diagram for a few seconds, then ran his finger from a purple dot to a space forward and two decks up.

“You speak Efreeti?” asked Night.

“No, but I’ve been on enough damn boats in my life that I can find my way around one,” said Master Chief. He tapped the diagram. “I think this is the bridge,” he said. “If we go there and then follow the trail of guards, I think we’ll find the bitch.”

“That’s Queen Bitch to you,” said Night with a grin; “where’s your respect for royalty?” The smile faded as the ship’s intercom came to life with another unintelligible message. “While we’re near the bridge,” he added, “we ought to put a stop to their command and control.”

“Amen to that, sir,” said Master Chief.

“I’m on fire!” screamed Nightsong. “Ahhhhhhh!” Flames burst forth from him, coating his entire body. “And I love it!” He staggered, as if terminally wounded, toward a group of four Efreet firing from a cross passage. He could see their eyes get wider as he continued to draw closer without falling to the ground.

With a loud cracking noise, the head of the Efreeti on the left suddenly spun nearly all the way around. He started to drop, and Farhome appeared next to him. He scooped up the flechette thrower from the creature’s lifeless hands and fired it at the Efreeti on the right, nailing him to the bulkhead.

The two Efreet in the middle began twitching as Cyclone appeared behind them and electrocuted them. She followed them to the deck, where they continued to twitch and spasm. Looking up, her eyes widened in surprise, and she dove out of the cross passage. “Look out!” she yelled.

Flechettes covered the Efreet on the ground like pin cushions. Cyclone rose from the deck and limped toward the docking port, with a flechette in her right leg. “Let’s go!” she said to the other two Aesir.

The two male Aesir each grabbed one of Cyclone’s arms and helped her along, Nightsong extinguishing his flames before he did so. “Cover us!” called Nightsong, pointing down the passageway in front of him.

Mongo looked in the other direction and saw several Efreet watching the drama of the burning Aesir. He fired several shots and was able to hit two before the third dove out of the way.

“Thanks,” said Nightsong as the Aesir made it to safety. They laid Cyclone on the deck out of the way, and the Ground Force’s medic, Sergeant Burt Yankiver, came to look at the flechette in her leg.

“I saw the group who shot Cyclone,” said Farhome, “and you will want to hurry. There are at least 10 of them, and they look like they must be the Efreet equivalent of shipboard Marines. They are bigger and are carrying larger weapons.”

Calvin looked down at Landslide, who was running his finger along the deck in a large circle. With each pass, his finger sank a little deeper into the groove he was making. He was through almost an inch of metal already, but Calvin had no idea how much further Landslide had to go. Firing from the doorway began again in earnest. “You’re going to have to hurry,” said Calvin, “We don’t have much time.”

“I know,” said Landslide. “I’m almost through. Just hold them off another minute or two.”

“Shit!” said Corporal Lopez, falling back from the doorway with a flechette through his shoulder. Staff Sergeant Zoromski jumped into his place and sprayed the hallway with a shower of laser bolts, driving the Efreet back.

“I don’t know if we have another minute or two,” said Calvin.