“Not sure you can,” she uttered as she worked feverishly to keep them at the proper attitude for atmospheric entry and prevent burning up on reentry as it skipped along.

  “Rachel, it is bad down there. You need your gear on, so let me try,” Tim replied, knowing full well if they had another hull breach before she was fully suited up, she would die in seconds.

  “Ship is yours,” she suddenly announced as she released her restraints and all but leaped for her survival gear.

  Taking control of the shuttle, it suddenly lurched to one side before Tim was able to recover. Working feverishly, he had no time to even glance at Rachel as it took everything he had to keep the ship from spinning violently out of control. There was a small part of him that recognized all the wild hovercycle rides he had taken with his father that aided in his ability to maintain control of the ship. He suppressed a slight smile as it entered the atmosphere like a bucking horse or a hovercycle set to follow the terrain at ten feet AGL, bouncing all over the place.

  “My ship,” he heard over the helmet communicators as Rachel took the helm from him.

  “Yours,” was all he managed before jerking his hands away from the controls.

  Now mainly along for the ride, Tim did everything he could to aid the pilot as she worked to bring them in safely.

  “I can’t get the nose up,” Rachel declared as they plummeted to earth, diving nose-first like an arrow.

  Scanning the display, Tim noted the repulsers across the front part of the ship all showed the yellow of offline and several the glowing red of nonfunctional. Hitting reset on those that shown yellow, he was able to get two of the seven to reset.

  “Better,” Rachel declared.

  “We are down almost half of our drives,” he informed her.

  “And coming in way too fast. See if you can flip the last two repulsers into manual mode and then run them in the opposite direction of travel. I don’t need the lift. I need drag,” she explained as she worked to control the buffeting ship.

  Doing as instructed, Tim locked out the last two repulsers on the shuttle, those at the very rear of the craft. Switching them to manual control, he zeroed them out, then began working against the accelerometer readings to make the drives work in the opposite direction of the ship’s course.

  “Easy!” Rachel shouted as the ship lurched and groaned, the stresses of the pull straining the vessel’s airframe as it fishtailed behind them.

  “Sorry,” Tim replied as he backed off and then tried again.

  “Better,” came the reply.

  Glancing up from his work, Tim could see she had the nose up now, and the ground was approaching far too quickly for his taste.

  “We aren’t landing. We are gonna have to slide this one in. Think controlled crash,” Rachel explained as if reading Tim’s mind.

  Still focused on creating as much drag on the ship as it could handle, Tim was jarred to the bone as the shuttle took the first of many bounces off the planet’s surface. Doing everything he could to keep the pair of repulser drives in sync so the drag was equal and the ship stayed straight, he glanced up to see the dirt and rock flying up over the shuttle bridge windows.

  With one solid jolt that had Tim straining in his harness straps, the shuttle finally stopped moving.

  “Where are we?” He asked Rachel as he worked to see what still worked in the ship.

  His console was ablaze with red and yellow indicators, all telling him they were not flying off the surface of the planet any time soon.

  “Looks like we made it to just outside one of the cities. Unfortunately, not one we have been studying, so there isn’t anyone around for hundreds of miles,” Rachel explained as she pointed to the planetary map on her console.

  “Can you reach anyone?” He asked as he checked his own communicator.

  “Comm systems are offline. I think they are being jammed,” Rachel responded as she first tried the ship systems and then her own in her helmet.

  “We might as well get out. This thing isn’t flying again on its own. Besides, we are leaking air,” Tim commented as he indicated the console lit up in red and then the multiple cracks in the bridge windows.

  Grabbing his EVA pack and the rest of his survival gear, he waited for Rachel to do the same. He watched as she passed him by and then waited as she hit the button on the bulkhead to open the bridge hatch. It took a moment for the hatch to partially slide into the pocket between the inner and outer panels, and then it stopped solid. Reaching forward, Rachel tried several times to move the metal hatch by hand but with no success.

  “Let me try,” Tim said as Rachel backed away.

  Likely a bent frame or door track inhibiting an otherwise easy operation, Tim leaned in on the panel and then reach down into his strength reserve, forcing the door into the slotted opening against its will. The groaning metal suggested some bending was taking place deep inside the pocket holding the door.

  Turning, he saw a look of surprise on Rachel’s face, but no comment escaped her lips as he stepped aside for her to pass. On a whim, he had grabbed the Loadmaster’s evac gear as well as his own, the extra EVA pack and ammunition a supplement to their individual limited supplies.

  Tim followed his superior officer out of the bridge, stopping and examining the passenger area with her.

  “Thanks for sealing the bridge,” Rachel commented as she indicated the giant gaping hole in the side of the shuttle wall.

  Had the bridge hatch been opened at the time, the escaping atmosphere would likely have killed both within seconds. Crossing over to the side of the ship, Rachel opened the portal on the upper level, and the two exited the craft and landed onto a rocky surface.

  “Wow,” Tim commented as he looked back the way they came.

  The deep furrow in the dirt and rock was a testament to the pounding the craft had taken as it skidded its way along the surface of the planet. He could see that the cargo container that made up the lower level of the ship had taken most of the beating, its shredded remains scatted and leaving a trail in the trench.

  Setting his stuff aside, Tim offered to assist Rachel in mounting the EVA pack and then turned for her to repeat the process. Small as they were, they were still best located on the user's back, in this case, to allow for unencumbered free movement if they expected to be face down at any point.

  “We should get away from this ship until we know who is around,” Tim commented as he scanned the area.

  “Don’t you think it’s better for us to stay here and wait for a rescue ship?” Rachel asked in return.

  “We really don’t have any idea what’s going on up there right now, and if there was more than one Phaser ship in the attack, we might be here for a while and in hostile territory. Also, remember we are being jammed, which means we are near someone who doesn’t want us talking to anyone. Better we find a place where we can stay hidden until we know for sure who won, maybe a cave or even that city you mentioned,” Tim replied.

  “Where do you get all this?” Rachel asked in surprise at the tactical analysis he provided of their situation.

  “My dad takes me out hunting raiders for fun, and my Aunt Patti runs the military strategy teams, so I get to see a lot of Intel,” he replied with a shrug.

  “I don’t have a reply to that. Which way?” Rachel asked in astonishment.

  Pointing in the direction the planetary map had indicated, Tim took a moment to reorganize his gear.

  “Really?” Rachel commented as she pointed to the two guns and extra EVA pack mounted to Tim’s belt.

  Apparently, she hadn’t noticed him grab the great earlier. In an effort to distribute the load, he had removed the extra belt and placed the additional handgun opposite his own and the twin ammunition pouches together in the small of his back. He attached the extra EVA pack to the unused belt and slung it over one shoulder for carrying, keeping one hand free.

  “Dad says you can never have too much breathable air or ammo,” Tim replied with a shrug.

  Making their way through the sizable rocks and boulders that stood between them and the city, he fell in behind. With Rachel in the lead, Tim got a ping on his display and grabbed her from behind. Waving her down, he squatted behind a cluster of rock and waited.

  “What?” Rachel finally asked in confusion.

  Holding up one finger, Tim worked his helmet display until he located what had set off the proximity sensor he set after exiting the shuttle. Waving Rachel over to one side, he peered around the rocks, pointing to the nearby open ground. There, three Phaser troops were walking slowly, scanning the area and with weapons at the ready, as they headed directly toward the shuttle the pair had recently exited.

  Pulling first one and then the other of his handguns from their holsters, Tim checked to be sure each was loaded and ready for use before re-holstering both of them. He noted the look of surprise that crossed Rachel’s face as she realized his intentions. Following suit, she checked her own before returning her attention to the Midshipman.

  “Aunt Patti’s Intel says they always move in groups of three, so if there are any more around, they are not part of this group. You ever shot someone before?” Tim asked as the pair watched the patrol close the distance.

  “Only targets and just to qualify, I’m a pilot,” came her reply.

  “All Marines are rifleman first,” Tim muttered more to himself than to her as he considered the situation.

  “What was that?” Rachael asked in confusion.

  “Oh, nothing. It's something my Dad always says,” he answered before coming to a decision.

  “Look, you back me up. If I miss, you need to take down the third one before he can get a fix on us and report in. Oh, and aim for the helmet. It’s their weakest point, Okay?” He explained as he pulled both handguns out once more.

  “Are you kidding me?” Came the reply.

  ----*----

  On the surface of Reaper’s World

  Rachel was having a hard time determining if this kid was for real. She had to admit that up until this point, he had been giving her the best advice, and had they stayed with the ship as she wanted, they would have been trapped there when this patrol arrived. How he managed to open the bridge door was beyond her, she had almost popped a gut trying to move the thing herself.

  However, taking on an armed ground patrol with a pilot and a midshipman as aggressors seemed insane. Tim squatted before her, one gun in each hand as the two of them watched the alien patrol close to within about thirty yards. Suddenly and without warning, the boy popped up from his position and fired off three shots that she could barely count. Almost as one, the three aliens dropped in place.

  “Stay here and cover me,” he commented as he started to leave, holstering one of the two firearms.

  “Wait, where are you going?” Rachel asked in confusion.

  “To get their rifles,” he said with a smile.

  Before she could register the explanation, she watched the boy dart across the open ground and check each of the bodies before collecting two of their weapons and what she perceived to be extra charges for each. Setting the weapons to one side, he then dragged all three bodies into the rocks where they would not easily be discovered before returning to Rachel and handing her one of the two rifles.

  “Works a lot like ours but no buttstock. You aim by sighting along its length and push this button on the side here to fire it,” he explained as he held the weapon up for her to see.

  “Aunt Patti again?” Rachel asked in sarcasm.

  “Na, I have friends in the armory. We keep an inventory of all the alien weapons we come across,” Tim explained after a moment’s confusion.

  “We need to go wide to get to the city before they notice that patrol is missing. They came from that direction so let’s go this way,” Tim commented as he led Rachel away from their hide.

  “Stay low and follow my trail as closely as you can so we can try and keep our numbers hidden,” he added as they moved along.

  “Dad, teach you that too?” Rachel asked as she did as directed.

  “No, my older sister is one of the top scout/snipers. She is eighteen and never loses at hide and seek,” Tim replied with a smile.

  All Rachel could do was shake her head in amazement. With a family like that, how did this kid grow up so seemingly well-adjusted?

  Chapter 16

  Kola Bridge

  Where the hell did that ship come from?” Isabella shouted as she watched the Phaser ship launch its attack on the far transport.

  “Backside of the sun Ma’am,” came the reply as they watched helplessly while the two patrol ships maneuvered to engage the target.

  Isabella knew that celestial dynamics being what it was, the best thing the Kola could do to protect the ships and people on Reaper’s World was to move with the rotation of the planet around its sun. In that way, they would always be in the closest position to the planet in its orbit.

  “The Lanai transport shields are holding, but the smaller craft around her are taking a beating. We have several ships down or inoperable and in need of rescue,” tactical reported.

  A sudden flair from the Phaser ship indicated the patrol ships had found a shooting position.

  “Ma’am, they aren’t phasing?” The Tactical Officer observed.

  “No, they aren’t, are they,” Isabella confirmed as they witnessed several more direct hits on the alien craft from the patrol craft batteries.

  About that time, the second patrol ship gained an opening and began adding to the firepower of the first. With both spacecraft fully engaged with the Phaser ship, it was just a matter of seconds before the flare filled their bridge windows, and the ship evaporated in a flash.

  “I did not expect that,” came the comment from the tactical officer.

  “Status,” Isabella called out to get her bridge crew back in focus.

  “I think there might be another Phaser ship behind the planet, working on getting confirmation now,” came the tactical response.

  “All Lanai transport and Patrol craft report only minor damage, still assessing small craft status,” came the air and space operations reply.

  “Ma’am, we have reports of Phaser ground troops harassing our people on the planet’s surface. All science teams have pulled back to the transport for protection, and our security forces are engaging,” came the word from the Communications Officer.

  “Isabella, I have word shuttle T-217 is missing and is presumed down. Tim is on that ship,” Kola declared.

  ----*----

  On surface, Reaper’s World

  “Still no word,” Rachel commented as she tried a communications scan of the area.

  The pair had taken the long way around the city perimeter to enter from a location not typical for someone traveling from their ship. If they were, and Phaser troops were in the city, they would most likely be congregating near where their comrades were last known to be and on the watch for any signs of life in that part of the countryside.

  On their way in, there had been a bright flash in the sky, one implying a spaceship explosion in orbit, but without communications, they had no idea whose ship it might be. Upon entering the city, the two had carefully worked their way forward into the buildings until they reached a spot that gave them a commanding view of the area.

  High in one of the central structures, the pair had been surprised to learn these aliens didn’t use stairs. There was an internal ramp system that allowed them to gain access to the upper levels of the building. Locating a floor that had views in all four points of the compass, they set in for a long wait.

  “How long do you think our EVA units are going to last?” Tim asked Rachel as they did an inventory of their resources.

  “At this rate, we are good for a few days yet, and you were wise to grab the spare, so I am not too worried just yet,” she replied.

  “Our suits seem to be making water okay,” Tim observed as he checked his own supply.

  “I still hate peeing in mine,” Rachel commented casually.

  “You get used to it,” Tim answered without realizing it.

  “Dad again?” Rachel asked with a smirk.

  “Yeah, we spent a week in our suits out in the field one time just to prove it's capable of doing it,” Tim said with some frustration.

  “Sounds to me like your dad has been preparing you for this very circumstance your whole life?” Rachel said after some consideration.

  “You are better prepared than I am,” she added honestly.

  “I guess so. I mean, so far, it’s not like I haven’t seen any of this before. Except for the crashing and killing parts, that is,” he said with a smile.

  “Thanks a lot,” Rachel countered with a smile.

  “No, I mean, you did a great job getting us down safely. It’s not like that’s something you could ever practice,” Tim said, trying to recover from his faux pas.

  “No offense taken, and thank you for the compliment.”

  The two fell silent at that point as they continued to shuffle through their go bags.

  “We have plenty to eat, and I’m sure we can slip the seal on our helmets to take a bite, but I don’t want to deal with the after-effects,” Tim explained slowly.

  “Upset stomach?” Rachel asked, curious at the comment.

  “Remember I said we lived in our suits for a week? Well, we NEVER took them off, not even once,” he added.

  Rachel paused as she tried to determine the issue, then the realization came to her.

  “Ewww,” she added.

  “Yeah, it’s not pleasant, and these flight suits don’t have the trap door the field BDUs have,” Tim confirmed.

  “That’s because spaceships are civilized and have lavatories,” Rachel answered.

  “Then let us pray for a speedy rescue,” he confirmed as the two settled in to wait.

  ----*----

  Kola Bridge

  “Why did the Phasers come back?” Isabella asked as she worked her way back to the bridge.

  The trip to the medical section of the ship had been a difficult but necessary journey as explaining to her Chief Medical Officer that they had lost her son was not something one did over the comm system, nor did you summon her to you.

 

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