System Harbinger : Legacy Earth 5, page 17
“Let this be a lesson to those thinking of testing that rule once more!” Devris shouted.
Her eyes flared orange. Pulses of light flowed throughout her skin. She turned herself toward Uata as the cameras hovered in front. Chadavia turned away. Lance’s eyes stayed locked on the spectacle before him.
Placing her fingertips on the upper right side of his forehead, Uata’s body lurched. He let out a deep roar of pain as he struggled to stay still. Smoke rose from Devris’ fingers as flesh sizzled away from the Levath’s head.
She slowly dragged her hand diagonally across his face, bringing her pinky and thumb dangerously close to either eye. The stench of searing flesh turned Lance’s stomach. Gritting his teeth, he fought the urge to put a round into Madam Devris skull. This was worse than death.
As her hand dropped off the bottom left side of Uata’s face, the Levath fell to the ground. His body trembled as labored breathing escaped his massive form. Madam Devris turned her attention back to the cameras.
“Let Uata be a living example of what happens when you break my rule!” Devris shouted.
She turned to the Galio that surrendered and beckoned him. He walked to her, his body trembling in fear, making each step uncertain. As he reached her side, Devris’ body stopped glowing. She placed the hand that had charred pieces of Uata’s flesh on her fingertips on his shoulder.
“What is your name?” the crime lord asked.
“D-D-Dar’Lan, Madam,” he stammered.
“Dar’Lan, I want to let you know that I will not take over the Sunless Blades. Despite what your organization has tried to do, your presence is good for the people of this sector,” she announced, motioning toward the crowd. “It is only them that are hurt when we have a mad dash for power. And it is because of this that I want to ask you a single question.”
She looked down at Uata. Shock started to wear off, but he refused to move. Her fingertip gouges were cauterized, but they burned all the way down to his skull.
“If given the option to stand with or against me, what would you choose?” she asked.
“I’d stand with you, Madam Devris,” Dar’Lan replied.
“Well then, I’d like to offer you a position… The new leader of the Sunless Blades!” she exclaimed. “To serve and protect the great people of Tachyon and not to deliberately put them in harm’s way with frivolous violence.”
Dar paused. He looked around nervously, in silence.
“Unless you think I should find another, better suited for the job?” she asked before taking her hand back and picking the flesh from her fingers.
“N-no, Madam, I graciously accept!” the Galio countered immediately.
Chadavia turned back around to face the unofficial coronation.
“Sunless Blades, let your former leader be a warning to you. Should you rise up against Dar’Lan or think about attacking the Crimson Dagger, putting innocents at risk again, you will suffer a worse fate!”
Chadavia scoffed as the crowed gave a tentative round of applause.
“Like she has the people’s safety at heart,” the Jarog muttered.
“She just took over two-thirds of this station by putting a puppet leader in place and playing the altruistic card… She’d do fantastic back on Earth,” Lance scoffed.
The camera lights cut off. Crimson Dagger mercenaries grabbed Uata, forced him to his feet, and walked him to one of the transports. Its door shut before flying off. Madam Devris spent several moments speaking with Dar’Lan.
With a pat on his shoulder, she walked toward another dropship. Looking at Lance, she motioned for them to follow. Reluctantly, he followed with Hrafn squad close behind. As they climbed into the ship, a projector showed a live video of a man in crimson and black armor.
“All Tachyon internal defenses are now down,” he said as Devris sat across from the image. Her ship was rather lavish inside compared to what its blocky externals looked like. “You’re clear to take whatever path you wish back.”
“Thank you, and what about the external defenses?” Devris asked.
“Our override systems indicate two minutes until they’re overtaken as well,” the engineer asked.
“Good, once down, hail the SOAT vessel on our border and direct them into my hangar,” Madam Devris ordered before locking eyes with Lance. “We’ve got a warm reception to give to the team responsible for helping us with our Uata problem.”
“Of course, Madam,” he replied before the line cut out.
Devris motioned to a row of seats that lined the inside of her ship. Lance sat down, as did Chadavia. Stephanie stepped in, cleaning blood from Marty as Dexter carried the corpse of the Veles over his shoulder before dropping it near the back of the ship. He sat down as well.
“We held up our end, now it’s time for you to hold up yours,” Lance said, leaning against the rifle that lay across his knees.
“Straight down to business, no foreplay? What a shame,” she mused as she leaned back and crossed her legs.
Her foot lazily kicked at the air while her long fingernails tapped the seat next to her. Biting her lip for a few moments, Devris shrugged.
“A deal is a deal,” she relented. “Three people came here several weeks ago. They looked human, were human once, maybe, but not anymore. I, nor any of my people, have never seen their kind before. But they claimed to have been sent by humans to track down a splintered group of AI your people so foolishly unleashed on this galaxy.”
“And are you aware of the splintered group?” Lance asked.
“Of course I am!” Devris replied. “Their massive station nearly tore us apart when it passed. I’ve never seen anything like it before. I had my team track them in case they decided to come back, and we plotted their trajectory to a small planet in a binary star system not far from here.”
“Were you able to skim any information from their systems as they passed?” Stephanie asked. “Anything to indicate where they were going or what they were doing?”
“You humans clearly haven’t learned the lesson yet. When artificial intelligence is near, your only chance at survival is to shut everything down, hold your breath, and pray to whatever gods you believe in that they don’t detect you. Or that they find you uninteresting enough to just keep moving,” Devris replied. “We were fortunate enough that they pressed on.”
“So, you sent the team meant to track them to this planet in the binary system?” Lance asked.
Devris nodded. With a snap of her fingers, projectors that lined the top of her craft flickered to life. Tachyon floated listlessly in the air. A blue line trailed next to the station and away before branching right. The projectors shifted to a small planet being orbited by a brown and blue dwarf star. The world held them in perfect orbit.
Lance felt a tingle run down his spine. It wasn’t his own. He glanced at Chadavia, who shifted himself from sitting forward to leaning back in his seat and crossing his arms. The captain turned his gaze back to Madam Devris.
“And this is where you lost them?” he asked.
“There’s always been interference around that planet,” Devris replied. “Go there and I’m sure that if you don’t find your people, you’ll find something that points you their way.”
Devris leaned forward and tapped Lance’s multi-tool twice. The projection shrank and entered his bracer. Flicking his thumbs, the captain sat back in his chair as the dropship came to a stop. When its door slid open, the crime lord stood to her feet and exited the ship.
Lance got up and followed with his team close behind, Dexter picking up the body before he left. Stepping out onto a platform, the SOAT shook his head. Hundreds, if not thousands of ships lined the inside of a massive hangar formed from the void carved into the side of the asteroid.
Massive doors opened slowly with a light blue film bridging the gap. The Gladius flew through with their own dropship close behind. As the main SOAT craft docked a few yards away, the smaller TATlev flew under it before ascending into the bay near the rear of their ship.
“Now, as much as I’d love to have your pretty face on my station indefinitely, it’s probably best you’re not present for what’s to come next,” Madam Devris said as she motioned toward the Gladius. “But know that you’ve proven yourself to me as Chadavia once did. The Crimson Daggers will always welcome you to Tachyon in the future.”
Madam Devris kissed her hand before gently placing it on Lance’s cheek. She waved them off as she turned and sauntered back into the depths of the station. Leading his team back toward the Gladius, they boarded the airlock, received the sterilization treatment that cleaned off the sewage, and entered the ship in earnest as it pulled away from the docks and headed back toward space.
“Bring your weapons to the security office when you get a chance; they need to be inspected before going back into rotation,” Chadavia ordered.
TWENTY-TWO
POST MISSION
Lance and Dexter made their way to the medical bay. The Veles corpse was laid on one of the tables as both men sat on some of the open ones. The ship’s doctor stood at a workstation typing away on his pad.
“What brings you two in here?” the doctor asked.
“We each took a pretty hard hit; need a quick check-up to make sure there’s nothing bleeding internally,” Lance replied.
“I mean, that shouldn’t be that bad! Blood’s supposed to be on the inside, so I think we’ll be all good,” Dexter jested as he took his helmet off and flashed Lance a grin.
“NO!” the doctor exclaimed before turning around and shaking his head. “No, that is not at ALL how that works. Bleeding internally can be far more dangerous than….”
Upon seeing Dexter’s facial expression, the medic trailed off and shook his head. Grabbing the bridge of his nose, he let out a sigh.
“I should’ve known. I’m aware of your rep; should’ve put two and two together when I saw your size,” the human muttered before pressing two fingers into his multi-tool. “Can I get an engineer in medical bay? I’ve got a set of SOAT armor scans, and I want to make sure I don’t accidentally shock them to death.”
Lance looked over at Dexter. Concern overtook his face for a moment before he cracked a smile.
“Ahhhh, good one, doc! Way to play the back and forth!” he exclaimed.
“No back and forth,” the doctor countered. “These SOAT armors are able to be integrated into the ship and run a complete bio-diagnostic for me to tell me what’s wrong and if you need medical attention or just some meds. The trick is the integration process. I’ve never done it before, and apparently, if done incorrectly, the power produced by the ship’s engines will feed back through the connection port and fry you.”
Dexter’s back stiffened. His eyes widened as he looked at Lance.
“But the engineers know how to do it?” the captain asked.
“They do. It’s part of their training to be on one of these ships,” the doctor replied. “I’m currently going through it, but with the urgent need of a human doctor, I’m still learning the ins and outs.”
“Sounds good to me,” Lance replied, pointing at Dexter. “But he goes first.”
“You’re the CO; aren’t you duty-bound to take the initial risk?” Dexter asked, a hint of panic in his voice.
“In the field, I’ll be first through the door. ‘Died in the Fatal Funnel’ looks a lot better in an obit than ‘Shocked to Death in the Med Bay’,” Lance countered.
The medical bay doors slid open as several engineers and Justin walked in. The pilot moved over next to Lance, grabbed a chair, and sat down.
“How’d it go in there?” Justin asked.
“Could’ve been smoother, but could’ve been a lot worse,” Lance replied as he watched the engineers grab a port attached to the wall behind Dexter and start to go over the procedure with the doctor. “But it was a successful mission and shed a little light on what the Veles are planning.”
Lance looked at the corpse a few beds away.
“And then I just slide it in like this?” the doctor asked.
“That’s what she said,” Justin muttered without skipping a beat.
“WAIT! Wait, not ready yet!” Dexter exclaimed, holding up a hand. “If this goes wrong, how badly will it hurt?”
“You’ll burst into flames and cook inside your armor like roasted meat,” the Galio engineer replied. “Which is why no Jarog are allowed in the area during this procedure.”
“And how often does it go wrong?” Dexter asked.
“Three times.”
“Three times? What does that mean? Three times a machine, three times out of ten… I need a little more clarity, or I’ll just take the armor off and get looked at normally.”
“It’s happened three times since this device was invented.”
“How long has it been around?” Lance chimed in.
“Two hundred and sixty-seven cycles… or years to your kind.”
“And I’m sure between its inception and now, it’s likely had billions of uses. I’m thinking your odds are pretty good,” Lance added.
“Hundreds of millions, but with numbers that large, it doesn’t matter,” the engineer added. “And out of those three, two were done intentionally because the one wearing the SOAT armor was an imposter trying to take over the ship.”
“There you go. One was an accident. Go ahead and hook him up, boys!” Justin exclaimed.
“You guys suck!” Dexter snapped as he took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
The doctor connected his suit. A soft hum filled the bay as a projection of the soldier’s musculature was shown in front of him. Dexter shifted; the hologram moved in unison. The doctor inspected the muscle before reaching up, making a grabbing motion then pulling away. Muscle vanished, leaving bone and organs visible.
“If that’s not a Halloween set dressing, I don’t know what is,” Dexter mused as he wiggled some, causing the projection to do the same.
“Will you please stop moving?” the doctor asked. “I’m trying to see if you sustained any injuries.”
“You may want to look on this side, doc,” Justin called out as he pointed to a series of blackened ribs opposite of the medical professional.
The doctor moved around his patient’s scan and continued to inspect it closely. Letting out several ‘hmms’ and nodding, he grabbed the skeleton and pulled it away. Delving into the organs, he inspected them closely before walking behind Dexter and unplugging the suit.
“Good news is no internal bleeding; you should be fine, if not sore for a few days,” the doctor said. “I can prescribe you some pain medication if you’re in too much discomfort.”
“I’m good, doc,” Dexter replied. “Now what about the bad news?”
“You’re grounded from missions for the foreseeable future. You have four cracked ribs; a substantial enough blow could break them entirely and puncture an organ. So, until they heal up, which for you should only be a week or so, you’ll need to avoid combat, or even the kick of a weapon.”
“Hook me up with a Yamanaka Drip, I’ll be fine,” Dexter countered.
“Your body can heal your injury by itself in a reasonable amount of time,” the doctor countered. “Not only do you not need a Yamanaka Drip, but our supply this far out is limited. If I use it on you and we have a mass casualty situation, then someone later on could die because we ran out.”
“Cap, come on, I’m still good in a fight!” Dexter pleaded.
“Sorry.” Lance shrugged. “When health is on the line, the ship’s medical officer outranks even me. Looks like you’re benched.”
The doctor unplugged Dexter, who slid off his bed. Shaking his head, he walked toward the door.
“Not cool, guys,” he grumbled before disappearing into the corridor.
“Now for you, how hard did you get hit?” the doctor asked.
“Enough to ring my bell,” Lance replied as he leaned forward.
The engineers assisted in plugging Lance in. A hologram just like Dexter’s appeared in front of him. The doctor examined it closely, removing layers before unplugging the captain. Turning to his multi-tool, he started to write several notes.
“Thank you for your assistance,” the doctor said to the engineers as they left. “You’ve got some bruising on your ribs, but nothing that’ll compromise your ability to work in the field. I’d say two, maybe three days rest and you should be back to one hundred percent.”
“Thank you, doc, and with this guy,” Lance said, sliding off the table and walking over to the corpse. “I need you to do an autopsy on him. Cause of death is sniper round to the head, but if they’re already this far out and meddling, I want to know every bit of information I can about them. Also, I’ll be sending Stephanie down to assist in extraction of the multi-tool just in case it’s boobytrapped.”
“Yes, sir, I’ll get started with tox screens and radiation readings before getting into any of the slicing,” the doctor said.
Walking over to a desk, he started assembling several pieces of medical instruments. Lance exited the medical bay with Justin by his side.
“How was everything out here?” the captain asked, summoning the elevator.
“From an enemy standpoint, quiet,” Justin replied.
“What do you mean by ‘from an enemy standpoint’?”
“Mattias, he was pacing around like an abandoned puppy, complaining that he got left behind.”
“He didn’t cause any trouble, did he?”
The elevator dinged, its doors opened, both men stepped in, and selected to go to the command deck.
“No real trouble, just a little annoying. I do expect that next away mission will be much worse with Dexter staying on board.”
“You’re not wrong… I can always request the doctor to administer a sedative before we leave.”
“I may just take you up on that,” Justin replied as the doors slid open. “Val’s escorting Kolar at the moment to get some exercise. I’ll let her know you’re back.”
“Thank you. I’m going to submit my report to my father; should only be a few minutes.”
