Hunter Killer: Legacy Earth 7, page 15
“I’m well aware that this isn’t ideal,” Lance replied.
“Not ideal?!” Lincoln countered. “We’re chasing someone blind, and you just did the equivalent of going to a second location with them. You never go to a second location!”
“We’ve got the Gladius as backup,” Valdivia cut in.
“I’m sorry, sir, but I must agree with your brother. The Gladius doesn’t stand a chance against this thing, even with the TATlev’s antimatter shot.”
“Which burns its own fuel, might I add,” Lincoln continued. “Meaning even if we got into hot water and they had to use it, we could end with a fighter that may as well be a paperweight! You’ve let this get personal, both of you because of your connection with Amber and Chadavia. You’ve lost objectivity and are now gambling with our lives!”
“You sound like Dad,” Lance replied calmly as he cracked a smile.
“Don’t you compare me to him!” Lincoln countered.
“You’re not wrong, Lincoln. There is an emotional tie to this mission. I want to get Chadavia and Amber back alive, and every moment we delay, that reality becomes less and less likely.”
Lance scratched the back of his head. Standing up, he walked over to Valdivia, flicking his thumbs in the process. Sitting down next to her, he pointed at the bracer Stephanie helped upgrade.
“You want to pull up our escape from the monolith?” Lance asked.
Valdivia’s helmet twitched left and right for several seconds before a holographic video was projected out of her forearm. Images of the Cytes flooding toward them played on a loop for several seconds. It showed each one that got shot clamber back to its feet and keep coming. Lance pointed at the video.
“How do we know that the artifact didn’t cause that?” Lance asked.
His brother and Mattias both fell silent. The sniper adjusted himself awkwardly in his chair.
“And with what happened to the Galio before we can surmise it’s contagious,” Lance added. “No, imagine an outbreak of that nature galaxy wide. A literal techno zombie apocalypse that would wipe out all life. I haven’t dwelled on that because if I do… that’s terrifying enough to keep me up at night.”
“That doesn’t mean we have to dive headfirst into danger without backup or precautions,” Lincoln countered. “That is scary, and if your fears are correct, do you know the best way to stop it? It’s to survive long enough to face it ourselves. We can only do that if we fight smart.”
“You’re a sharp guy, Lance. Better as a leader for Hrafn squad than I ever was,” Mattias added. “But if you look at this decision objectively, would you say that it’s a smart decision given we don’t have full military backup?”
Lance bit the inside of his cheek. He looked at Valdivia. Her physical expression was contrite. The captain nodded in agreement as he sat on the floor and leaned against the back wall of the small craft.
“Well then,” he said, looking up at his brother. “How would you proceed?”
“Right now, it’s a seat of our pants mission. That needs to change,” Lincoln replied. “But we can’t plan in the micro since there are too many unknowns to make whatever we come up with effective.”
“Okay then, what about the macro?” Valdivia asked, taking the words right out of Lance’s mouth.
“We’ve got two choices, depending on how this next part of the mission goes,” Lincoln explained. “One, if we fail and are unable to get information leading to the Data Broker, or whoever sanctioned the attack, we return to Alcazar space, share the information we do know and see if they have anything we can work from.”
Which will be a step backward and let everyone know we’re alive, Lance thought to himself. Understanding he wasn’t completely in the right, he bit his tongue.
“Or, if we succeed, figure out who’s responsible and get an audience, then we reach out to humanity, since it was one of our stations, and call them in for backup,” Lincoln added. “Then we can crush them with overwhelming force, get Chadavia, Amber and the artifact back, and put a stop to whatever plan is currently in motion.”
Lance closed his eyes. He shook his head as he listened to his brother’s plan. At the very least, he couldn’t argue with the second half. He wondered if this was what everyone he’d negotiated with felt like. He looked up to Valdivia for her weigh-in; the Jarog nodded.
“So be it, that’ll be our plan moving forward,” Lance replied. “I’m sorry that I didn’t consult you earlier in this process.”
“You’re the captain; it’s your right to make unilateral decisions,” Lincoln said with a shake of his head. “I’m just glad you’re a wise enough leader to actually listen to those under your command. I wasn’t and look at me.”
“A really cool cyborg?” Mattias asked. “Not a very compelling argument.”
“A man that got all but one of his platoon killed and has lost almost all humanity,” Lincoln countered. “A man who learned the lesson the hard way.”
“Where do you think we’re headed?” Valdivia asked, looking at the ship’s cockpit.
“If I ran a ring this secretive, it’d be someplace dangerous,” Lance replied. “Not person dangerous, environmental dangerous. A place impossible to get to unless you already know how to get there. Someplace people avoid because no one ever comes back.”
“Are you thinking Dark Pillar?” Valdivia asked.
Lance shook his head.
“Not that dangerous,” he replied. “Likely a rogue planet, or something near an unstable black hole, maybe even a comet cluster.”
“How do you suppose the first person to find the place ended up there?” Mattias asked.
“Likely with a compass that doesn’t point north,” Valdivia replied. “And a whole lot of rum.”
“If it were me, I’d choose a planet in transition,” Lincoln chimed in. “Something unstable enough to keep people away, but solid enough to not destroy the entire base.”
“That’s very elusive, man,” Mattias added. “What about orbiting a neutron star?”
Lincoln shook his head as he stood back.
“Too obvious. That’d be the first place just about anyone would look.”
“It has been done to death in your pop culture,” Valdivia chimed in. “It seems like every time there’s a big bad, he’s in a station overlooking a neutron star.”
“Wherever we’re headed, we’ve got a direct link to a corvette that can outmaneuver just about anything,” Lance said, pointing toward Lincoln. “If things go sideways and we can’t get back to the Whisper, we call them in, blow this ship to smithereens on our way out and retreat to Alcazar space.”
Lance pulled his rifle and pistol from their holsters. He inspected each of them, cleaning the sand buildup from their previous mission. Checking his shield generator, he found it was down to half its charge.
He placed it on a charging deck as the other members of his team cleaned their weapons as well. Lincoln adjusted the Jarog armor he’d stolen to better fit his frame. Its helmet made his head look a little bulbous.
After prepping their gear, each of the team members nodded off one by one. Lance held out as long as he could. His head bobbed back and forth as he struggled to stay awake, eventually losing that fight.
It felt like the second his eyes closed, a siren rang throughout their carrier. He snapped back awake, as did the rest of Hrafn squad. Quickly, he moved to the front of the ship. He noticed the other crafts were warming up their engines. He did the same. As the ship hummed while everything returned to life, their radio automatically opened to a connected frequency.
“We thank you for your patience. You are currently being sent landing coordinates to your destination as well as a required flight path. We insist that you don’t deviate from the path that you’re given. Doing so will disqualify you from the selection process.”
A folder appeared, floating in front of him from the ship’s holographic interface. He pressed on the folder, opening it. A white line projected itself onto his windscreen. The front of their transport opened as a message blinked next to the line.
‘Please proceed to your destination,’ it read.
Lance strapped himself in, as did the rest of Hrafn squad. Lifting the ship off the ground, he turned it around and flew out of their escort. Following the line perfectly, it wrapped around the side of the larger craft before ending in a solid, horizontal line.
As Lance slowed his ship to a stop, he paused in awe of the sight before him. A planet sat before them nearly twice the size of Earth. It orbited a main-sequence yellow star. Lance’s brow furrowed as his mind went back to the countless pages of Michael’s books he’d read.
“No way,” he whispered.
“What?” Lincoln called up.
“I think we’re at Kepler-1, which would make this planet… TrES-2b.”
22
2B
The other ships lined up with the Whisper. After several seconds, a spherical craft began its approach to the planet. Another ship on the line inched forward. KOOM! A blinding flash of light shot from the carrier into the round vessel. Lance squinted as its detonation sent a blinding light in all directions followed by the sound of soft impacts of debris on their hull.
“You were ordered to follow instructions,” the announcer’s voice rumbled through over their radio. “Failure to obey commands will result in your disqualification in the selection process.”
“What was that?” Valdivia shouted from the back of the ship.
“Someone didn’t wait their turn,” Lance replied. “And now there’s one less competitor. Don’t worry; we’re all good.”
Lance looked at the disintegrated ship. He swallowed hard as his stomach knotted. Another ship started its approach. It made several strange dips and turns through the darkness between them and the coal-black planet.
A red light appeared out of nowhere in the blackness. It flew toward the ship. Upon contact, it detonated, sending debris in all directions. The metallic shards left over bounced off invisible surfaces.
“Once again, failure to obey commands will result in disqualification in the selection process,” the voice chimed back in.
“What happened now?” Mattias asked.
“Someone deviated from their instructed path,” Lance called back.
His white line was the next to extend. It spun and wound throughout the space between them and the planet. At least he knew why now. Starting the approach slowly, he kept the nose of their ship perfectly in line.
Twisting and turning, he caught glimpses of the expansive mine field that stretched around them like a cloud. He took a deep breath, fighting the nerves that attempted to cause panic.
Although thankful for the simulation Justin put him through countless times, he regretted not bringing Scott along. His line shifted into a barrel roll as they reached the cloud’s edge. Maneuvering slowly, he cleared the mine cloud and began his approach along the northernmost pole of the planet.
Looking at the ship’s sensors, they noted the planet was tidally locked with its star. Something he wouldn’t have been able to visually tell due to the lack of light reflecting from the world.
Hitting the atmosphere, Lance’s hands tightened around the controls in response to a violent shake of their craft. Initiating reverse thrusters, he slowed their descent against the planet’s higher gravitational pull.
Eyeing his instruments, Lance was careful to ensure there was no overheating, shear stress or hull damage outside of allowable limits. Everything looked good. Breaking through the upper atmosphere, they were slammed into by a tail wind so ferocious, it nearly flipped their ship.
Lance’s muscles tensed. He shoved himself back into his seat instinctively as he pulled at the yoke to pull their nose up. Violent rattles overtook the craft as they were consumed in pitch blackness, led only by the white line he struggled to stay on.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the flashing guide lights of another ship as it attempted to pass them on their descent. The other craft shook violently before being thrown tail over nose and tumbling into the darkness.
“How you doing up there?” Lincoln asked.
“Shut up!” Lance argued, giving one hundred percent of his concentration to their approach.
After fighting the controls for nearly ten minutes, they broke through the violent cloud cover. The turbulence lessened significantly as he was able to relax his grip, evening out the ship. Lance’s forearms burned, his hands were cramped, and his fingers refused to open, accepting their clamped shut position.
Breathing a sigh of relief, the captain continued to follow their white line. In the distance, where the line terminated, was a landing platform lit up for them to see. The first ship allowed to go was already safely on the ground. Several miles to its right were the glow of a nuclear engine breached from an uncontrolled crash.
“Looks like we’re through the hard part,” Lance called back.
“Good to hear,” Valdivia replied.
“Sorry for the snap,” the captain said as he came in for their approach. “Needed all my concentration.”
“No need to apologize, I get it,” Lincoln replied. “I’d rather a snap than a crash.”
As the ship’s artificial gravity disengaged, Lance let out an involuntary groan. His body felt as if it’d grown three times heavier.
“You all feel that?” he called back, bringing the ship to a hover over the landing platform.
“Feel what?” Valdivia asked.
“I just got a little heavier,” Mattias replied.
“It appears your assessment of which planet this is was correct,” Lincoln added. “Gravity is almost exactly three times that of Earth.”
“That’s TrESsy for you,” Lance said as he gently landed their ship.
Unstrapping, the captain moved to the side of his cockpit window. He saw a line of ship navigation lights descending toward them. One by one, they landed on the platform. Most were graceful; the last ship wasn’t.
Failing to compensate for the higher gravity, its landing gear snapped violently, slamming the craft into the ground. Being slightly hunched caused pain to radiate through the captain’s back. He stretched some before returning to his seat. His movements significantly slowed as he felt like he was standing in liquid concrete.
“Welcome to the interview facility,” a feminine voice came over their radio. “Please wait to exit your ships until ordered to do so.”
The landing platform slowly descended. They passed through a shield that kept the harsh weather out and into yet another hangar bay. As the platform stopped, the hole above them was sealed shut with thick steel doors.
“Please exit your ships and line up in front of them,” the voice on the other end of their radio instructed.
Lance opened the ship’s door, stood up and led his team outside. The air was stale with hallmarks of being artificially generated, leaving a faint metallic taste in the soldier’s mouth. Each step he took was slow and careful. With his body feeling like it weighed just over a quarter of a ton, the slightest misalignment could be devastating.
Reaching the hangar floor, the captain looked around to see only half the ships made it to the surface. Another alien ship with a human crew drew his attention two ships down. The third person to exit that ship mis-stepped. He hit the ground with so much force, Lance heard at least half a dozen bones snap from over twenty meters away.
Screams rose from the man as his crew attempted to help him back up. It took three of them to lift him and carry him back into the ship. Lance caught a glimpse of a shattered radius bone protruding from the middle of his forearm.
“Note to self, don’t fall over,” Lance said as he looked at his brother and Mattias. “Are you two going to be good?”
“If a fall like that can put me out of commission, then the Reeves have no right to build anything,” Lincoln replied.
“You know the enhancements can,” Mattias added.
He looked at Valdivia as she stepped down. Her armor clanged significantly louder than usual. She gave him a thumbs-up.
“Compensators are at one hundred percent,” she said.
“Please line up and prepare for inspection,” an altered voice sounded over a PA system.
Hrafn squad lined up to Lance’s right. The other mix-matched crews did the same. A series of soft beeps echoed through the giant metal void. A handful of floating robots painted black and in the shape of an eye approached each team and scanned them.
“Tardig, identified,” one announced.
“Levath, identified,” another added on.
Galio, Thalagran, Malkine—that one put Lance on edge. Half a dozen other species were named before the probes approached. A light was emitted from the glassy lens, scanning each member from head to foot.
“Human identified, human, enhanced, identified, human, cyborg in Jarog armor, identified, Jarog, armored, identified,” the probes said before returning where they’d come from.
“These are not the people you’re looking for,” Lincoln muttered with a wave of his hand as they left.
“You are all precisely who we’re looking for to add to our ranks,” the voice called out once more. “First, we must see who’s resourceful enough to merit a position.”
A wall slid open. Several large, metallic rectangles hovered out, flying in front of each crew before dropping. As one set down in front of them, its side slid open. There were three suits in human shape placed firmly within foam casing.
“The Jarog armor is too ill-fitting to provide adequate protection,” the box in front of them announced in a robotic tone. “Human, cyborg, you are required to use the gear provided.”
“What about the Jarog on my crew?” Lance asked.
Another light scanned Valdivia a second time.
“No suit needs to be provided. Current protective gear is suitable for upcoming tests,” the robot replied.
