Lost Marine Boxed Set, page 12
part #1 of Jack Forge, Lost Marine Series
“Devex raiders approaching the outer edge of the Oort cloud,” Sam called out.
Jack had half an eye on the massive holoimage displayed over the holostage in the center of the command deck. He also had a finger hovering over the drive panel on the armrest of his chair.
“Course through the asteroids set,” Ripa said. “I’ve allowed for the motion of the asteroids. We will have a clear run through.”
“Good work, Lieutenant,” Jack said. “Stand by to activate drive. On my command.”
Jack watched the Devex raiders swoop into the asteroids. The sleek craft were totally different in shape and size than the massive Devex warships. The raiders were streamlined, making them suitable for operation within planetary atmospheres, while the massive warships were shaped like towering blocks reminiscent of a high-rise city tower. They were dark and featureless, almost invisible in the black of space.
The raiders were slightly larger than Jack’s frigate and most certainly contained more crew. The Devex were known to have captured people with the massive warships and the raiders. A massive warship was probably well-suited to the task of capturing the thousands of people aboard a civilian transport ship, but for a small ship like the frigate, the raiders were more than adequate.
Jack watched the sleek raiders swooping in and around the asteroids. They moved in closer to the mine they had positioned on the sunward side of a small asteroid.
“Stand by,” Jack said. He waited for the opportune moment, and then, judging the time to be right, he played his hand.
“Power to the drive. Go!”
Jack watched the power readout on his armrest holostage as the frigate jumped to high speed. The power from the reactor surged through the frigate’s systems. The main holostage dimmed slightly as the surge robbed power from secondary systems. However, the holostage clearly showed their sudden and rapid movement though the asteroids. And with a close eye on the location of the pursuing Devex, Jack sent the detonation order to the high-ex warhead hidden amongst the tumbling chunks of metal, rock, and ice.
The detonation created a blue and green sphere of destructive energy the size of a small moon. It grew to full size in a fraction of a second and held its shape, a shimmering and seething mass of energy that engulfed the surrounding asteroids and the Devex raiders swooping in toward Jack.
“Got them!” Bale said. He brought his fist down on the console in triumph.
Jack watched carefully as the glowing sphere began to cool. Out of the sphere came a Devex raider. It had been thrown off its axis and was tumbling forward, but it was still under power and moving in on Jack.
“Sensors,” Jack spoke on the open channel. “Report.”
“One raider on sensors here, Major,” Bale said. “It’s veering off course.”
“Entering field of fire for the starboard battery,” Sam called out. “Opening fire.”
Jack leaned forward and watched the image on the central holostage. A blast of kinetic hail from the frigate’s starboard battery slammed into the Devex raider’s lower hull as it banked and turned away from the pursuit. The debris of the other raiders came tumbling out of the now-dissipated sphere of energy from the space mine.
The fragments of kinetic hail each created small superheated spots over the raider’s hull and pushed the raider further off balance, sending it tumbling nose over tail and into an asteroid. It collided and embedded itself on the surface. A shower of rock fragments thrown up by the impact drifted away from the asteroid and joined the swirling mass of the Oort cloud.
Jack watched intently as the raider’s drive flickered and then fell dark.
The debris rippled out from the site of the detonation. Rock fragments, pushed to even higher speed and in new directions, came pouring through the narrow empty spaces between the swift-moving asteroids, racing toward the frigate as it darted away, narrowly avoiding the asteroids in its path.
With their escape masked by the detonation, Jack cut main power.
“Going dark. Reactor to standby. Keep us on course, Lieutenant.”
And then the downed Devex raider exploded. The ship vaporized, the blast pushing the asteroid slightly off its course around the parent star, which it had held for millennia. A billowing cloud of energy from the destroyed Devex raider expanded out from the explosion, smashing into nearby asteroids, boiling the surface dust off the nearest to reveal the solid rock and metal of the main asteroid body.
The blast front raced on through the asteroids, sweeping across and around more asteroids, throwing a huge cloud of dust and grit before it. It drew closer to the rear of the frigate as the craft moved away, relying on momentum alone.
Jack watched the progress on the central holostage. They were nearing the inner, sunward edge of the Oort cloud. He switched the view on the holostage to show the way ahead.
The rocks in front of the frigate thinned out and finally the way ahead was clear, revealing dark open space and the distant sun at the center of the spinning sphere of asteroids. Jack looked at the star at the center of the system. The fourth planet lay ahead of Jack’s frigate, which was now drifting, unpowered, toward the small, cold world and the downed civilian transport.
Jack sat back in his chair as a measure of relief washed over him. He resisted the feeling, knowing they were far from safe. This was only momentary.
“Check the Devex positions.”
“Devex warship is holding position,” Bale reported, his hands moving across the sensor console. “Warship is firing again. It’s drilling its way through the Oort cloud.” Bale turned and looked at Jack. “We need to get away. A group of raiders are moving in to check the debris field on the Oort cloud.” Bale looked back to his console. “It looks like a standard search pattern. They are looking for us.”
In the weeks since his last encounter with the Devex, Jack had managed to avoid them. He cursed his luck running into them again, but at least he had given them the slip for now. With the pursuing Devex raiders destroyed, Jack hoped they could avoid them, at least until he could make some running repairs on the battered frigate, but it was not likely. The civilian transport ship was surely attracting the attention of the Devex. He wished he could ignore it, but duty demanded he at least attempt to offer assistance.
“Maintain silent running. Hold course for the fourth planet. Ripa, set down next to that civilian ship. We can organize repairs for the frigate, and I’ll board the transport and check the situation.”
The civilian ships were vast, city-sized vessels that had been used to evacuate the population from the now-distant world of Eros. Jack put the image of the civilian craft up on the main holostage. He leaned forward and looked at it.
“No power readings from the ship,” Jack said.
“Did they crash?” Bale asked.
“It doesn’t look like it.” Jack scanned the vessel. “Its hull appears to be intact. Maybe they are hiding, just like us.”
“Maybe they’re all dead,” Bale said.
Jack ignored Bale. “Linking to the transport’s internal sensors. Checking the internal environment.”
The readings that came back were unusual. The atmosphere was present and at a standard pressure, but the mix of gases contained a trace substance that the sensors recorded as Dox vapor.
“There is something in the air.” Jack ran a thermal image scan. The bodies of the passengers and crew were all identified, alive and scattered about the ship.
“They are all in there,” Bale said. “Looks like the ship is full.”
“Slowing for orbital insertion,” Ripa said as she worked at the flight console. “Thrusters only. I’ll try and put us down gently.”
Jack watched the holoimage of the planet surface growing closer.
“Fifty meters,” Ripa called out. “Deploying landing struts. Twenty meters. We’re landing now. Civilian transport off our starboard side.”
The frigate hit the planet surface hard. A power conduit along the main deck ruptured. The squeal of stressed hull composite filled the command deck.
Jack flinched and waited for the hull to collapse. Then the squealing in the hull composite died away, replaced by the gentle beep and chirp of warnings and the heavy beating of Jack’s heart.
“There is a rupture in landing strut system,” Bale said. “Minor damage only. I’m isolating the system and shutting it down.”
“I’ve put the frigate down as close to the transport as I can,” Ripa said as she powered down the thrusters.
Jack climbed down from his chair. “I’ll prepare to board the ship and assess the situation over there. Commander Bale, I want you to take charge here. Run a full damage assessment. Patch the frigate as best you can and get her ready to fly. We might need to get out of here in a hurry.”
Sam stepped away from his console.
“You can’t go alone,” Sam said. “It could be dangerous over there.”
Jack nodded. “Sam, you’re with me. Let’s get suited up.” Jack marched off the command deck and headed to the equipment store on the upper deck.
They wasted no time climbing into their extreme environment tactical suits. These suits were so familiar to Jack and Sam that they were able to pull them on and have them sealed, powered, and ready to go in moments. The procedure was a distant memory, but both acted almost on autopilot. Jack checked Sam’s suit and then turned for Sam to check his. Jack felt the pat on his shoulder from Sam telling him he was ready for action. They were both prepared for the extreme environment of the planet surface and whatever danger they may face on the civilian transport.
Jack reached into the storage locker and pulled out two pulse pistols. He handed one to Sam and slapped the other against his thigh, where it was wrapped instantly in the suit’s sidearm holster.
“Follow me,” Jack said, then slid down the first ladder to the main deck and down the second to the lower deck, where he opened the inner hatch of the lower airlock.
A moment later, Jack dropped down from airlock onto the planet surface. Sam landed a moment later. The wind was light, but it brought a flurry of snow and ice in billowing gusts. Visibility was practically zero. The dark shape of the frigate stood out from the blizzard, and next to the frigate was the outer hull of the civilian craft. It towered into the dark, snow-filled sky and stretched away to Jack’s left and right, disappearing into the darkness.
“Right behind you, Jack,” Sam said.
Jack walked carefully through the snow, which nearly blinded him. The fine snow slid over his suit and faceplate, though it was thin on the hard ground and barely came up over Jack’s boots.
The image enhancer on his helmet display showed him the outline of a massive landing strut and an access point to the civilian craft.
He approached the strut and Jack sent a Fleet entry request to the transport. A control panel lit up the instant Jack sent the request. He tapped the control and a light came on from above and lit the ground around Jack in a bright white light. The sound of a motor told Jack that a ramp was being deployed. The steep ramp with steps came down to ground next to him.
Just as Jack took hold of the handrail, he saw a dark shape in the snow. The shape was large and moving fast. It was silhouetted by the landing lights from the frigate only a few meters away. Jack felt his heart in his throat. His hand went to his pulse pistol on his hip.
Then the helmet visor identified Sam running toward him. The data overlay displayed his name and rank. Jack relaxed. He waited for Sam to join him.
“Slow down, Sam,” Jack said on their channel.
“I don’t want to be out here any longer than necessary,” Sam replied. “I can’t see a thing. There could be anything out here.”
Jack smiled to himself. He had enjoyed the short walk to the transport. The feeling of solid ground and natural gravity was a welcome relief. The air was breathable but extremely cold. Jack could have been at a ski resort. He enjoyed the snow. He had grown up in wide prairies with constant year-round warm weather, and a blast of cold had always been a welcome change. For a moment, Jack missed home, but it wasn’t his home anymore. Most of humanity was searching for a new planet to call home now. Jack knew if he ever caught up with the fleet and made it to their new home, he would probably choose a warm climate like the one he had known as a boy.
Sam stepped up to the base of the stairway into the transport.
“Do you want me to go first?” Sam said.
“No, Sam. I’ll take point. Stay close on my six. Copy?”
“Copy that, Major,” Sam said, then chuckled. “Guess we’re still Marines, even if we are the last ones.”
Jack smiled to himself. He had never wanted to be a Marine, but after being pressed to the service, it had quickly taken over his life. Now it was the only way he knew how to act. And in an uncertain situation like his current one, it made sense to proceed in the manner he’d come to know so well.
“Okay, Commander,” Jack said with a smile. “Follow me.”
Jack walked up the stairway to the access port on the side of the massive ship. The door slid open, causing a dusting of snow to fall off the side of the ship. Jack stepped inside, his visor display showing him the way through the dark.
Once inside, Jack found an internal transit channel and a pod that would take him up from the secondary access to the main body of the transport. Jack stepped inside. Sam joined him.
“There should be lights in this entrance,” Sam said. “Something’s not right.”
“Agreed. We proceed with caution. Okay?”
Sam nodded and replied, “Okay.”
The transit pod door closed and then opened a moment later, having taken Jack and Sam up to a large lobby area. Low lighting filled the lobby, which was several stories high. Huge walkways ran around the side of the room on several floors. It was all transparent composite walls and smooth floors.
And, scattered over every square meter of floor, on every level, Jack could see the fallen, slumped bodies of the passengers.
3
“Are they dead?” Sam asked.
Jack stepped over to a young woman holding an infant boy. Jack scanned them. The result showed they were in a deep sleep.
“Not dead.” Jack stepped over to the next body, a fallen old man. He ran the scan again. “They are all asleep, kind of.”
“How…” Sam was looking around the lobby, his head turning this way and that as he tried to take in the entire scene.
Jack ran an environmental scan. His environment suit captured a sample of the air and tested it.
“The air,” Jack said. “It’s laced with Dox vapor. It’s a powerful soporific of some kind. Everyone here is in a chemically-induced coma.”
Jack walked over to a pillar at the center of the lobby, pulling the cover off a panel there. He tapped into the main data stream. The ship was reporting itself to be fully powered. Only environmental controls were offline.
Jack stepped away from the panel. He spotted a uniformed person nearby and scanned for a Fleet identification. The reading came back that the young man was a civilian and merchant fleet junior deck officer. Jack scanned other bodies lying nearby. Most were civilian, their personal histories coming back with job titles from across the spectrum, all now without jobs until they landed at their new home planet. A person lying nearby was a multichannel entertainment designer. She lay next to an agricultural equipment engineer. The entertainment designer’s clothes suggested she had previously held a respected and glamorous position, while the young man laying not two meters from her wore the rough clothes of a land machine worker. Jack guessed which one would be the first to find a job on the new home world, and which would be more important for establishing a new civilization.
“Can you find a way to return the air to the correct levels? Can you filter out this Dox vapor?” Sam asked, looking over Jack’s shoulder at the young officer on the ground.
“Not from here,” Jack replied. He picked up the cover panel and carefully replaced it over the exposed circuits. “We need to get to an environmental control panel. There are small sub-units throughout a ship this size, but the main controls will be on the command deck,” Jack said. “We can restore environmental norms from there.”
Jack sent a request for access to the ship’s systems. The request was granted, his Fleet Marine command codes still letting him bypass several layers of security. He called up a map of the ship, and it was released to his enhanced data view. The route to the command deck was laid out.
As a serving Fleet Marine major, he still had clearance codes that gave him access to many ship systems. He hoped he could gain access to the command deck.
“Okay, Sam. Follow me.”
They walked to the internal transit pod, stepping over sleeping passengers. The pod took Jack and Sam to the upper forward section of the massive ship in moments, moving swiftly and silently. The doors slid open to a bright, white corridor with smooth walls.
The walk along the gently curving corridor to the command deck took Jack and Sam past more fallen, sleeping passengers and Fleet officers.
Jack stepped up to the command deck doors and ran his security codes. The door slid open.
The command deck was large, but no more than a destroyer’s command deck, which Jack knew well. The layout was virtually the same, a raised command chair overlooking banks of consoles all arranged around a central holostage.
The lights on the walls were at a low level and filled the space with a sickly glow. The consoles were all powered down. The captain was slumped in his command chair. Various command deck officers were either lying at the foot of a console or slumped over them.
Jack looked up at the captain.
“See if you can adjust the environmental controls,” Jack said. He checked the captain’s vitals. Captain Jez Morton, a former bulk haulage transport captain, no doubt more used to transporting inert lumps of rock and metal around than passengers.
