Hearts Of Men (Too Old To Die Book 2), page 1
Hearts Of Men
Too Old To Die Book 2
John Walker
Copyright © 2022 John Walker
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
DISCLAIMER
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, business, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. This story contains explicit language and violence.
Blurb
A universe in turmoil. Apathetic allies. Death sweeping through the human colonies.
Gareth Weston travels with a ragtag group of criminals and soldiers, intent on exploring a secret military base. They hope to uncover something to help them with their struggle against the alien aggressors, anything to give humanity an edge in the coming weeks. What they find instead is a mausoleum with something far more horrifying than they ever imagined.
Meanwhile, Admiral Thomas Gaston works to bring together the allies of humanity in an effort to push back the enemy forces through traditional warfare. But with his one fleet, he finds himself on the run. With no prospects, few hopes, and dwindling resources, they stumble upon a survivor from Earth. One who may hold the key to their survival, or confirmation of their doom.
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Prologue
Black smoke filled the room, destroying all visibility. Sergeant Alexi Orkov struggled to breathe. His cracked helmet allowed the particulates in, filling his lungs with every cough. He crawled for the door, desperate to escape. Screams in the other room offered him hope, even as he recognized the sounds of despair.
Deep hums filled the air; a new weapon employed by the enemy. Alexi saw the guns in action, ripping security forces apart. Meaty pops made him wince even as he made it to the open door. He shuffled into the hall, slipping on a pool of blood. As he collapsed on his side, he cried out from a shock of pain in his chest.
Footsteps approached, softer though, not like the Veldon. Two people grabbed him, hoisting him to his feet.
“Sergeant!” a woman shouted, “can you hear me?” The smoke dissipated somewhat, but still obscured his vision. “Hello?”
Alexi nodded, coughing when he tried to respond verbally.
“We have to get out of here!”
“Who…” Alexi retched, bending at the waist. “Who are you?”
“Corporal Tesh. This is Private Alvarez. We’re the only ones alive from our unit, sir! Where do we go?”
“Is…” Alexi struggled through the agony in his chest. “Do we have a path to the hangar?”
“Gone,” Alvarez said, “all the ships at least. They obliterated the shuttles when they landed. Escape pods might be an option.”
Alexi frowned. “They might shoot them out of the air.” He looked around. “Where did those shots come from? I heard the vibrations.”
“A squad,” Tesh gestured, “making their way to the operations center. We picked you up on life sign sensors and came to get you. I guessed they wouldn’t bother coming down here after they caught it on fire. There’s no point when there’ll be a hull breach soon enough.”
“Ideas.” Alexi drew his sidearm. He checked the battery. It was half full. After he had exhausted his rifle, he had taken some shots with the pistol. Just before the explosion threw him into the storage room where half the supplies had caught fire. “Quickly, what do we have at our disposal? What can we do?”
“Destroy the station,” Alvarez replied. The answer came fast too. Alexi and Tesh stared at him. “We might slow them down. Before they head down to the colony. They’re trying to disrupt communications. So let’s kill these sons of bitches here. Give all those people on the surface a chance to live.”
“You want us to kill ourselves?” Tesh asked. “Just like that?”
“If we do it right,” Alvarez said, “we can get to the escape pods. Hit the surface. Rally those people to get out of here.” He turned to Alexi. “Right? I’m not wrong, am I? This is the best course of action if we want to do our duty.”
He’s got a point. Alexi weighed the risks. First, they had to get to the reactor. Second, the escape pods needed to still be in place. I have to get us out of here. I can’t let these people die. Not even for a worthy cause. They were armed with their rifles still. Their armor looked to be intact. We have a chance.
“Alright, but we have to make this fast and quiet. We don’t have the numbers to deal with those furry bastards.” Alexi started down the hall. Walking helped clear his head, made his lungs hurt less. The others hustled to keep up with him. Alvarez stood beside him, speaking quietly.
“Sir, I can’t say for certain we’re fighting the Veldon.”
“Don’t be an idiot,” Alexi replied. “They hit Earth. They’re here now. Doesn’t take a genius. Besides, I saw them. Tall, moving in the formations we saw during the war… whatever you’re thinking, it can’t be right.”
“It’s the armor. I’ve seen Veldon. Watched all the old training streams. This is black and gray, special protection around the joints. I watched one rip a door open with his bare hands. That alone suggests power assisted gear.” Alvarez gestured to Tesh. “Are you a silent partner? You saw this shit too!”
“He’s not wrong,” Tesh said. “It’s beyond the normal tech we were briefed on after the attack on Earth. Best guess, we’re dealing with a special operations unit of the Veldon army. Something designed to cut off the colonies so they can make shorter work of the human presence throughout the sector.”
Horrifying, Alexi thought, but probable. “Just keep moving. This information might be handy later. Right now…” He shook his head. “We’re closing in on the enemy position. Be ready.” Especially if those things have special armor. No wonder my shots weren’t effective. Those pricks!
He thought he’d missed, which seemed impossible at the close quarters. They were less than fifty yards away in a wide hallway. Alexi had kept up with his marksmanship, maintained his skill at the range. Panic and adrenaline may have put him off his aim. He doubted it. And now, he had to wonder if they had simply absorbed his shots.
If that’s the case, we have to avoid a fight.
They crept toward a door where some kind of commotion had taken place. Alexi glanced inside, fading back with a wince. Three Veldon worked inside, planting some kind of device. They’re going to blow the place up themselves! Of course, they intend to get to their ship before it detonates. Which buys us some time.
Alexi waved his hand for the others to move. They crossed by the door. He took up the rear. The corridor ahead cut hard to the left. A set of spiral stairs attached at the end of that, leading down five stories to the Engineering section. They’d have the capacity to annihilate the station from there.
And at least five escape pods provided potential exits.
“Keep moving,” Alexi waved at them as he moved. “Hurry!” Tesh reached the stairs, starting down first. Alvarez opened fire. “Whoa!”
A Veldon stood at the end of the hall, returning fire without so much as twitching or trying to take cover. Two rifle blasts directly to the chest did nothing at all. The low hum of its odd weapon made the walls appear to tremble. Two prongs made up the barrel of the gun with a glowing center between them.
When they pulled the trigger, sparks of electricity danced between the bits of metal before the air warbled with the shot.
“Go!” Alexi yelled. “Alvarez!”
“I’m covering you!” Alvarez replied. “Get down there!”
Alexi cursed under his breath, starting down the stairs. He turned to wave at the private… wincing as one of the Veldon shots struck him directly in the face. The mask rattled, exploding into fragments as the young man dropped to the floor in a heap. His head turned toward the stairs.
None of his face remained. Just a chunky pulp revealing shiny bits of skull and ruined brains.
“Sir!” Tesh called from two stories down. “What’s the holdup? Let’s go, guys!”
Heavy footsteps approached. The new armor wasn’t quite as bulky on the Veldon as their normal equipment, but the thing would still have a hard time pursuing them without using the elevator. Alexi hurried to catch up to the corporal, taking the stairs two at a time. Every time he blinked, he saw Alvarez… what was left of him.
They reached the bottom. Tesh grabbed his arm as she turned to the stairs. “Where is—”
“Gone,” Alexi interrupted. “He didn’t make it. We have to hurry.”
“What? How?”
“He covered our escape!” Alexi yanked his arm free. He shoved her toward the reactor room. “Move your ass, Corporal. If you don’t want his death to be pointless, we need to pick up the p
Such a horrible way to go. These weapons… I want to know where they got them. All the confrontations with the Veldon before had involved conventional beam weapons. Armor provided some defense against those. They might as well have been wearing hazard suits after what he’d seen. We need to warn everyone still fighting.
Tesh stormed into the reactor room ahead of Alexi. She stopped abruptly. When he joined her, he saw why. The levels were already critical. Containment protocols had been initiated automatically. Station AI kept the place from detonating on the spot. But he’d never seen one of them so close to exploding before.
A clear cylinder took up the center of the room where the chemical reaction of the fuel glowed orange. Normally, it was a dim light, one that barely lit up the space. When too much pumped in and the proper methods for regulating the process failed, it brightened until they could barely look at the thing.
Heat poured off it, strong enough for Alexi to feel it through his armor. He instantly began to sweat.
“Do you know what to do?” Alexi asked. “How to make this thing… do whatever it is we’re about to make it do?”
“I do.” Tesh snapped out of her moment. She rushed to the nearest terminal. “Find the escape pods, please.”
“I’m on it.” Alexi left the room, checking the perimeter. Two of the pods had been jettisoned. The other three appeared in place though one was offline. Damn! What is going on there? He passed by the elevator, pausing when he noticed it was on the way down. “Hey! You’d better hurry! We’ll have company soon!”
A weapon went off four times in the reactor, each shot making Alexi jump. Tesh joined him. “I destroyed the consoles. They can’t stop the process now. We have sixty seconds.”
“Cutting it a little close, aren’t we?”
“It was already going to blow up,” Tesh replied, “I shut down the containment. Can we talk about this later?”
Alexi popped the hatch on the nearest escape pod. He urged Tesh to crawl in. As he started after her, the elevator doors opened. Two Veldon stepped off. They didn’t see him immediately. He slipped inside just as the telltale hum filled the air. The vibrations struck the wall near the hatch, at least three of them.
Tesh closed off the hatch. She initiated the launch sequence. The computer counted down to one… and nothing happened.
“What the hell?” Alexi called. “What’s going on?”
“Didn’t disengage,” Tesh replied. She tapped at the monitor then grabbed a lever above them. “Switching to manual. Hold on tight.” Charges exploded not even five feet from Alexi, the manual override destroying the latches. A secondary burst sent them hurling away from the station, spinning wildly.
“Holy Jesus!” Alexi grabbed the nearest bar, squeezing until his knuckles ached. “Level us out!”
“What do you think I’m trying to do?” Tesh grunted. “Just keep holding on!” She worked the controls, likely struggling to move considering the force pressing on them. The viewscreen flickered on, turning instantly orange as they entered the planet’s atmosphere. “Doesn’t… look like the Veldon… landed… yet.”
“Good!” Alexi strained against the force shoving him against the wall. “If you don’t level this thing out—”
“Yes, I know, we’ll burn up! I’m working on it! Manual release… offers less control!”
The spinning slowed, right as they started rattling. Entry through the atmosphere tossed them into heavy turbulence. Alexi struggled to breathe. Life support must’ve been offline, or maybe it only barely worked. The oxygen they had from the station started to run out. It’ll only be another few moments.
Before they landed or crashed. Live or die, we’ll find out which we get in a few moments. Alexi let out a breath as Tesh got their nose pointed in the right direction. That relieved some of the g-force. He leaned forward, taking shallow breaths while taking a look at their speed and altitude.
He couldn’t make out the digits, but it seemed they were going way too fast.
“You need to fire… the retro rockets!”
“There’s a point,” Tesh said, “when that will be a good idea. But we only have three bursts before they’re expended. So I have to do this at the right time.” One of the systems began to beep. “The Veldon might be… oh shit!” She tapped something so the viewscreen changed, showing them a view behind them.
An explosion lit up the sky. The station detonating, turning to an orange glow. Streaks of debris instantly entered the atmosphere, rushing past them as they plunged toward the surface. Tesh got them the forward view again. They seemed to be racing directly toward a forest with a vast lake in the middle of the trees.
“Where are we going to land?” Alexi asked.
“Maybe the water,” Tesh said, “I haven’t calculated it out yet. Probably save our lives if we do with all this debris coming down. It’ll catch the trees on fire.” She flipped some manual switches. “Maneuvering thrusters are totally down. We’ve only got the forward thrust to keep us from hitting the ground at full speed.”
“Do we have sensors of any ships in orbit? Veldon?”
“No. This thing is barely working at all.” Tesh hit the first thruster boost. It slowed them considerably. “Two to go,” she said, “I’ll save the last one for when we’re particularly close. Why is this so shoddy? Don’t they perform maintenance on these things? For something meant to save lives, it sure as hell feels like a piece of shit.”
“Just land us without exploding,” Alexi said, “it’ll have done its job.” Of course, we’ll have the Veldon to deal with then. But at least we’re on the ground. Not in the confined space of the bloody station. “We need to find the nearest settlement before the power goes out on this thing. Do you have any idea?”
“No, but my suit computer is still functional. We’ll have to rely on that.” Tesh fired the next thruster burst. “One more at a few hundred feet. We’re going to feel this impact though. Brace yourself. Here it comes!”
The thruster went off one more time a few moments before they struck the surface of the lake. Water exploded all around them as they began to sink. The pod remained sealed, at least granting them a reprieve from the thing flooding. But they didn’t have much time to get out before it reached the bottom.
“Your helmet,” Tesh said. She let out a sigh. “This isn’t going to be pleasant for you. Pop the hatch. I’ll get the emergency kit. You start toward the surface. Take a deep breath before you go.”
“Are you sure?” Alexi asked. “I can—”
“Go!” Tesh interrupted. “Before we’re too deep!”
Alexi cursed, grabbing the level beside the door. He had to put his weight into it, but when it finally engaged, more charges tossed the panel clear. Water rushed in, pinning him against Tesh. He had to wait for it to fill before he could get out. A quick breath didn’t feel like enough. Especially considering how dark it seemed outside the pod.
How deep are we? Alexi’s computer stopped working. He had to go on faith. Shoving away with his feet, he started swimming straight up. Above him, red-orange lights warbled above the water’s surface. Debris striking the ground all around the area. He didn’t slow down, pushing himself even as his lungs began to burn.
They hadn’t recovered from the smoke, and now he taxed them with this. Water rushed through the cracks in his mask, filling the helmet. He wished he’d taken it off before leaving the pod. It felt dangerous to have shards so near him, weathering the pressure of the lake as he made his way up.
His lungs went from burning to outright screaming in pain. Alexi fought back the instinct to take a breath. Water covered his mouth, filling the mask completely. He couldn’t be far from the surface, but his mind played tricks on him, telling him he had miles to go. Cool liquid got in his mouth. He blew out his breath, bubbles tickling his cheeks.
A hand wrapped around his back. Tesh grabbed him, dragging him to the surface. He started to cough. Water got in his lungs. He panicked, struggling to remove the helmet. It came free just as they broke the surface.
