Fatal Boarding (23 page)

I called to Perk. “One burst south on zero
to stop.”

“On zero.”

“Three, two, one, zero.”

A quick tap to the south button and the
lumbering motor slowed below us, swinging Perk and I around to face
in the opposite direction as we held to the thruster fixture.

Much more confident in our ability, we moved
the motor to one side and found the best place for attachment. When
it was secured, we ejected the remote firing control, tucked it in
my satchel, and headed back for number two, taking time at the
gangway to check for the enemy.

With endearing patience, and a stop to
replenish O2, we placed the second motor without being discovered.
When it was done, we hung for a moment to gloat over our work. The
alien vessel was so obtuse and irregular that the big, dark-amber
motors looked like they belonged there. It would have been
gratifying to back away and set those candles off right then, but
the chance of the little old men regaining control of their ship
and coming back all pissed off was too great. Both motors had
destruct charges, but only in the nose cones. Solid rocket motors
use a destruct that makes them burn at both ends. They spin without
going too far, and burn out real fast. We couldn’t be sure a
destruct like that would do enough damage to save us, and we
couldn’t take the chance of damaging Electra, our island in the
emptiness. Setting them off was very tempting, but it wasn’t the
way. While the beasties went about their business in Electra, we
needed to go about ours in their ship. We needed to hurt them
inside and then send them packing, all before they realized we
weren’t the dumb bipeds they thought we were. I looked adoringly at
those huge, beautiful motor casings and laughed to myself as I
realized we had just finished the easy part.

Chapter 24

The entrance to the alien ship had been open
each time we passed by. Our chances for entry were good. We moved
along near the belly for cover, and watched cautiously for the
gangway to come into view.

Our luck held. Looking up at the gangway, we
could see Electra’s hatch still closed. It was unlikely any
invisible predators were hanging around outside. We ascended
together and came up next to the gangway on either side. The same
golden light glowed from within their ship.

But something had changed. As I carefully
maneuvered over the railing to see if the coast was clear, I felt
something pulling me down. I pushed away, and looked over at Perk.
Through his visor, I could see his questioning stare.

Guardedly, I moved in again, with the same
result. I dared a look into the ship. Deserted. With my right hand
holding firmly to the railing I swung around in front of the door
and landed down on the gangway.

It was gravity. There was now gravity coming
from within their ship. I pulled myself forward toward the door,
and felt a slight tingling sensation around my helmet. Backing off,
it cleared up. With one hand, I reached forward and got the same
effect, and this time I could see a faint silver ring form around
my glove.

A force field. I motioned at Perk and pushed
myself inside. Almost normal gravity, slightly less. We hurriedly
scanned the chamber. Everything was as it had been. We walked past
the big, dark table with its suspended anode, to the small alcove
behind the elevator and took a position where we couldn’t be
seen.

I looked at my suit readouts and called up
outside environment. To my surprise, it showed oxygen, pressure,
and temperature. The pressure was low, about half Earth standard. I
turned to Perk.

“We don’t need the suits.

“Are you sure?”

“We’d have a damn better chance without
them.”

“All we have are the suit liners, but you’re
right.”

I tapped in the shutdown command, felt the
pressure come up a bit, and heard the helmet locks pop open. I
twisted the helmet, lifted it off, and smelled the air. It was a
bit foul, like it had been re-circulated too many times. We
unstrapped the weapons and pack, and helped each other open the
suit backs. When they were off, we forced everything into a cubby
hole behind the base of the elevator. We made sure the pose
suit-liner temperature control tubing, and telemetry connectors
were secure. I started to speak when Perk suddenly looked alarmed
and held one finger against his mouth. He pushed himself in close
and pulled me down as far as we could go, then pointed one finger
toward the entrance.

Through the elevator’s semi-transparent
structure, we could see them. The hatch to Electra was now open.
White light glowed within the airlock. They weren’t bothering to be
invisible. For a split-second, it gave me a rush of satisfaction.
So confident. Please stay that way. Please think you have it all
under control.

There were two of them. They were busy
setting something up in the airlock. We couldn’t make it out. They
were in the same dark, close-fitting suits the dead one had been
wearing. Their movements seemed almost casual.

We waited and watched, squeezing ourselves
into the best possible position to hide. After a few minutes,
things began to happen. One of them backed out onto the gangway,
holding to the handrail, pulling at something. As he emerged, it
only took a second to recognize the object. It was a gelatin ball
with an Electra crewman within. A second human ball was attached
and followed after, then another, and another. It was a train of
encased humans, with one alien leading, and a second holding to the
end-piece, guiding it along.

They crossed the gangway like parcel
delivery men who were bored with their job. They had the
disposition of people just going through the paces, not paying
attention, perhaps deciding what they’d do for fun when quitting
time came around. As they approached, the one in the lead looked up
and pushed himself though the force field, dragging the first
encased human on the floor as it sunk in gravity. He dragged at his
cargo and had to make an extra effort to bring the other balls
along.

His partner entered and together they worked
on the first victim, detaching it from the train, and lifting it
like a medicine ball. Stunned, we watched the two of them coax it
over to the big black table, and dump it into the tabletop void.
They worked methodically, one human ball at a time, until all had
been deposited. With that, one headed back out the hatchway toward
Electra, and the other toward us.

We shrank down still further. The little man
stepped into the lift, hit a button, and disappeared downward.
Through the elevator tube, we watched the second one enter
Electra’s airlock, leaving the outer door open. A minute or so
later the elevator popped back up, and the partner headed back out.
We watched Electra’s airlock door pulled shut and sealed.

I stood up and massaged my aching left knee.
“I only see one way out of this room.”

Perk looked around. “Down.”

“We’ll have to chance using the elevator.
There’s no way around it, but we know there’s some doors on the
next level. We need to find the right place, like the propulsion
core, or a critical engineering point.”

“Yeah, it’d be a bitch if we came all this
way and blew up their kitchen.”

We went to the elevator. I knew the correct
button. I had seen the little man use it. He wasn’t away long
enough to have gone far.

“We jump off at the next level if it doesn’t
stop.”

Perk held his weapon to his chest.
“Cool.”

I tapped the button and down it went. Lucky
again, we stopped at the next level. Perk was already off and to
one side with his gun raised as it settled. “Nobody home.”

The room looked the same as it had on the
first trip, except there was power. Strange, colored lights were
moving around the room, reflecting off the silver walls and
equipment. A low hum filled the air, punctuated by a tinny wine
that rose and fell. The six triangular doors were still open and
accessible, but within each, unidentifiable sounds came and went,
along with the cycling of amber light and dark. The feeling of doom
was worse than ever.

I peered into the center door we had looked
in before. The dark walls of bio-like matter now had a steady
yellow glow from within. They seemed to pulsate and move. I backed
out and went to the next door It was another corridor that went a
short distance and broke off into a Y. Perk had a look of
bewilderment, as though he couldn’t understand the morbid
atmosphere of the place. He came up beside me, looked inside and
gave me the hand signal for one of us to go left, and one to go
right. Five minutes in, then return to the Y.

We entered and I branched off to the right.
The floor turned to grating. I kept thinking someone might be
behind me. Dim light came from a room ahead. I reached it, looked
cautiously inside, and entered. A counter top in the center had
equipment stacked on it, cabinets and shelves lined the walls. One
very big cable conduit ran along the wall near the low ceiling. I
reached up and put my hand on it. It was warm and vibrating, and
looked important.

It was a good place for a charge. Nervously,
I set my weapon on a shelf nearby, and placed the satchel on the
floor. I pulled out one of the small destruct charges, sticking the
remote control in my suit’s only pocket. With the charge in my left
hand I straightened up, turned, and found myself standing a foot
away from one of the little ugly men.

He gave me that sick, pointed, yellow-tooth
smile. He was a large one, about five feet. He wore a dark,
form-fitting body suit that seemed intended to show off his bony,
but muscular form. I guessed he was the weight-lifter version of
the ugly little men. On the turtle neck of his suit, was a small
round silver button, a communicator or panic button. His right hand
moved to reach for it, but I was quicker. I grabbed it, tore it
loose and slammed in on the floor where it bounced and skidded
across the room.

He looked taken back, but then gave me that
sick smile again. I wondered why I wasn’t kicking his little ass. I
had doubts. I wasn’t sure it was the right thing to do. I could be
hurt in the exchange. What if he was much more powerful that
expected. It might be better to run away. Surrender, that was it.
No one would get hurt then. I wouldn’t have to do anything. They
could be in charge. That might not be so bad.

Mind control. Somewhere in the back of my
panic-filled thoughts I realized he was using mind control. Just as
quickly I felt power well up from my chest and fill my mind. Along
with it, came that same feeling I had when visiting the Emissary. I
looked back at little man, shook my head, and thought, “Bad
boy.”

He became startled. He stepped back two
steps and reached behind, pulling out a cone-shaped weapon. As he
attempted to raise it, I slapped it out of his hand. It ticked and
spun across the metallic floor bouncing off the side wall and
coming to rest behind me.

Before he could react, I let him have it,
one good, old-fashioned, straight punch to the solar plexus,
followed by a quick faked left, and a hook to his sick little
smile. He went head over heals backwards, crashing to the floor
face down. He looked up at me and appeared only slightly dazed. He
also looked displeased. He rose to his feet, and as I approached
for another round, grabbed another cone-shaped weapon from
somewhere I hadn’t noticed.

I spun and dove across the floor for the
weapon nearest me, the other cone-shaped device still lying on the
floor. I grabbed it, rolled, aimed, and hit the little trigger on
the device. Nothing happened. I hit it again, then again.
Nothing.

The little man relaxed and again gave me his
trademark ugly smile. He held his weapon well aimed, and savored
the moment. I raised my hands in surrender. He approached me
guardedly, and reached out for my weapon. I sheepishly handed it
over, and looked at him pleadingly. He stepped back away, several
steps this time, having decided that a brain-stem human could be
more of a threat than first thought. He smiled at me still again,
and held up his stun weapon to shoot. I nodded, gave him my best
imitation of his smile, and held up the remote control detonator
just retrieved from my breast pocket.

Perplexed, he paused for a moment and looked
down at the weapon he had taken from me, only to find it included a
small explosive charge. As he stiffened, I hit the button.

Those little charges are very special. They
don’t make the trademark bang that you get with high velocity
explosives. They make a more ‘piff’ kind of sound with a thud
behind it. It blew off his right arm while he was still looking at
it.

Whatever force was keeping these creatures
alive, I had apparently found its limit. He stood motionless for a
second, absent a good portion of himself, and then ever so slowly
fell forward onto what was left of his face.

I sat swaying on the floor, having been
slammed back into the wall, my ears ringing loudly, my cranial
functions stalled from concussion. By all rights, I should have
passed out, but my psyche, aware that end-of-life conditions might
be in play, refused to allow that.

A second later, Perk’s face was staring into
my consciousness. “Holy shit, Adrian! Are you in there?”

“Mr. Tarn can’t come to the phone right now.
Please try again when the bells stop ringing.”

“We got to get out of here. That was a
pretty big boom. They’re bound to be coming. Where’s your pack? Oh,
I see it. Come on, get up. Man, you got alien shit all over
you.”

Perk pulled me to my feet, at which point
the world began a slow spin to the left. I wanted to kick in
opposite rudder, but that’s hard to do when you’re standing.

“Let me hang your weapon back on you. I got
the satchel. Let’s go.” Come on. We’ll try this way.”