Gateway (Gateway Series Book 1) (24 page)

“As you wish,” she pouted. “Just be at the launch station on time. He will not wait.”

“We will be there,” replied Mori. “We should get back to our room to gather our goods.”

“Okay, honey.” Bianca punched in the code to unlock the door. As they walked past her, she gave a small squeeze to each one’s behind. “Enjoy your stay, honeys.”

Stone looked at Mori and smiled once they were outside the room.

“You should probably get that thought out of your head for good, Ty,” she said with a disapproving glance.

“Come on,” he protested. “I was just—” Stone paused. A man in the background behind Mori drew his attention. The tall, thin, bearded man was looking toward them, but quickly turned away. As he turned, he appeared to be talking into a comms link attached to his wrist. “Something’s up. We should get back to the room and get ready.”

Mori slowly turned and walked with Stone. “The guy over my shoulder?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“Over by that table. There’s another one,” said Mori, slightly tilting her head in that direction.

Stone looked at the table toward the door. Two men sat with their backs to the wall, scanning the room intently. He next looked toward Hanagus. Setting with him was a man wearing a dark cloak. Stone wished it was possible to see emotion on Hanagus’s face but the Scapi’s flat features made that impossible to a human.

“Excuse me,” said a man as he bumped into Mori and Stone. “Too much alcohol, you know,” he laughed, holding a drink up to them. “Sorry.
”



“That’s okay,” replied Mori as she gently directed the man clear of them.

Stone glanced back at the man. His jovial exterior had changed. Taking a quick, determined look back toward the two, the man raised his hand toward his mouth.

He was speaking into a comms link.

Stone looked toward the man with Hanagus, who quickly placed his hand over one ear and looked toward her and Stone.

“They got us,” said Stone. As he spoke, the man that had bumped into them spun around with a pistol in his hand.

Dropping to her knees, Mori’s pistol rang out over the roar of the bar. The man fell and chaos ensued.

Stone dove over a nearby table. He quickly drew his weapon as he rolled off the table and onto the floor.

The two men at the door jumped to their feet and opened fire. Victims fell in front and behind Mori as their fire tracked her across the room. Mori hurdled a table, dropping the bounty hunter at the bar with two rapid shoots while still airborne. She took two quick steps and dove over the bar as rounds hit all around her.  

Amidst the gunfire and scores of fleeing patrons, Stone found a gap in the stampede. Peering down the sight of his pistol, he pulled the trigger. The first man by the door fell. Ducking and sidestepping as the remaining gunman returned fire, he looked for another shot. But he didn’t need one. Mori had capitalized on the distraction. Leaping on top of the bar, she ran toward the bounty hunter.

Spotting Mori out of the corner of his eye, the gunman swung his rifle toward her. The man fired but did not have time to take careful aim. Mori was still in the air when she passed the gunman. The reflection of light from her sword flashed bright as the sword passed through the man’s body.

Mori and Stone simultaneously pointed their weapons toward Hanagus’s table where the other man had been speaking with Hanagus. Although Scapi were slow, they were strong. The final gunman lay sprawled out on Hanagus’s table, his neck broken by a twist of Hanagus’s powerful hands.

Stone cast a quick glance toward Mori to make sure she was okay then surveyed the carnage. The bar was now empty of patrons, save the dead and wounded randomly strewn on the floor. Stone looked back toward Mori, who was walking toward one of the bounty hunters.

Still alive, he was crawling toward the door.

“Mori, you okay?”

“Yeah,” she replied. “This one’s still alive.”

Placing her foot under the belly of the man as he crawled across the floor, she flipped him on his back. As she looked down on him, he frantically dug through his pockets. Blood collected in his mouth as his eyes moved wildly.

“You won’t need that,” said Mori as she knelt down and pulled a medipack from the man’s bloody hands. “You’re probably too torn up anyway, but tell me who sent you and I might give it back.”

The dying man glanced away from Mori as Stone joined her. Mori increased the pressure of her boot on his wound. “Who?” she demanded.

“An open bounty,” he answered, spitting blood as he spoke, “from Senator Varus.”

“My ex-fiancée’s father,” Stone informed Mori. “I did not leave on good terms with the Varus family.”

“I see,” replied Mori as she looked back toward the man, who was now lying motionless on the floor. A quick nudge from her foot then a check of his pulse confirmed his fate. “He’s dead,” reported Mori.

“Friends of yours?” Hanagus’s voice translator carried across the room.

“No, but I am sure they are the first of many,” replied Mori. “We need to get out of here tonight.”

Stone was distracted. Looking over the bodies of the bounty hunters, his brow furrowed.

“What is it, Ty?” inquired Mori.

“Sorry. I just had an idea about how to find the information you need about Navato.”

“How?” asked Mori.

“Hanagus,” said Stone, turning toward the Scapi, “how much will it cost to get us passage to Alpha Humana?”

Chapter 16

“I hope this works,” Mori said to Stone as they stood in the landing bay.

“It has to, especially since it pretty much took the rest of our Humani to get this ship and crew,” replied Stone.

“Hopefully we get our money’s worth.”

“Bianca assured me the crew was top-notch.”

“I’m sure she did, Ty,” scowled Mori as she looked at the antique spacecraft in front of them. The outer hull was pock-marked with welding discolorations, showing dozens of repairs, and rust was visible in a few spots.  On the exterior near the control station was a painting of a multi-headed serpent with the word
Hydra
underneath and on the outer blast deflectors read the words ‘Haulin’Ass’. “But look at this old falcon,” she continued. “I think its 3rd generation, your grandfather would have thought this was a piece of junk.”

“It’s got character at least,” laughed Stone.

“I guess,” said Mori.

“Over there—” said Stone as he was distracted by a noise behind them. Four figures were approaching. “I wonder if that’s our crew.”

“Or more bounty hunters.” Mori drew her weapon and brought it to the ready as Stone followed suit.

As they came closer, Mori could make out their features. “It’s your new friend Bianca,” she said as she lowered her weapon.

“Come on,” said Stone as he holstered his pistol.

“Captain. General. Pleased to see you again,” said Bianca as she moved closer, much closer to Stone. “Very pleased.”

“Thanks,” said Stone uncomfortably. “It’s not ‘General’ anymore—just Tyler.”

A seductive smile came to Bianca’s face. “Very well, Ty.”

“It’s Tyler,” corrected Mori, irritated that Bianca had used her nickname for Stone. “Is this the crew?” she continued.

“Oh, yes,” replied Bianca. “Let me introduce you to the crew.”

“Yes, let’s do that,” demanded Mori as she stepped between Bianca and Stone.

Bianca continued. “This is your pilot, Cassandra Orion. She was a highly decorated Terillian fighter pilot.”

“Was?” asked Mori questioning Orion.

“And a damned good one,” replied Orion, “but I chose retirement over a boring desk job that promotion would have brought. Besides, going into private business has been pretty…well, profitable. So you two are the crazy S.O.B.s?” she continued.

“I wouldn’t call us crazy,” said Stone. “Besides you’re taking this little trip too.”

“I am, but I’m doing it because I’m greedy, not crazy. Big difference. We’ll have time to discuss philosophies on the trip. Meanwhile let me introduce you to the crew. This is my engineer, Rickover Fermi.”

“Good evening. Rest assured you will have no engineering problems on your trip.”

“That’s good to hear—”

“Damn it!” Stone was cut short by the engineer’s explosion. “That freakin’ exhaust panel is loose. It looks like the maintenance crew has dropped the ball again. I had better get to work. Excuse me.”

As Rickover pushed past Stone and Mori and stormed into the ship, Orion continued.

“My navigator is slightly less…uh…high strung. His name is Cavanos Cavanarus Canora, but we call him TC for short; you know, three Cs.”

“Greetings,” said the Scapi following a series of clicks and squeaks translated by communicator on his ear. He presented his massive hand to Stone.

“Nice to meet you, TC,” said Stone as his hand was encompassed by the Scapi’s.

“The trip should take a few days, as long as we don’t have any jump interruptions. I have just updated the navigation system to GEN4 so hopefully we won’t have too many,” said TC.

“TC is a hell of a navigator,” added Orion. “The only problem is his side of the cockpit is always damp,” she paused, hoping for a laugh. None came.“Well, anyway,” Orion continued. “It looks like we’re ready to get going. Welcome aboard the
Hydra
. TC can help you stow any gear and show you to your bunkroom.”

TC led the two into the crew entrance and past the open door to the reactor bay. Rickover’s curses echoed through the passageway as they moved aft. The Scapi stopped outside a small stateroom.

“I hope these quarters will do. If not…well, it’s all there is so it will have to do.”

“It’s fine,” said Mori. “Thank you.”

“I will let you two get settled while we make preparations for takeoff.”

As the massive Scapi ducked to leave the room and closed the door to the stateroom, Mori turned toward Stone. “At least he didn’t say, Enjoy your stay.”

“It’s good to be getting out of here, but we’ve got a long way to go.”

“Do you really think it will work, Ty?” asked Mori.

“I hope so. If anyone knows what is going on in the Navato system, it’s Dominotra Varus. If we can capture him, or at least get him to talk, we won’t have to go into Navato blindfolded.”

“And we can get rid of the bounty hunters too,” added Mori.

“Hopefully. If we can make it to his estate we will have to take out his communication center and deal with his security team. Luckily, I know my way around his estate.”

“The prodigal son returns, eh.”

“Not quite,” laughed Stone. “We should get some sleep. We will need the energy when we get to Alpha Humana.”

***

The gut-wrenching, nauseating deceleration threw Stone and Mori onto the deck from their slumber. Following them to the ground was everything in the room not tied down.

“What the hell was that?” asked Mori as she struggled to catch her breath and push herself off the ground to her hands and knees. “It-it’s too early to come out of a jump.”

“I don’t know,” huffed Stone. “We sh-should check it out.” He tried to stand but was too dizzy and fell back to his knees. “As s-soon as I can…” He exhaled heavily. “…stand.”

In a few seconds he was able to rise to his feet. Taking a deep breath, he turned to help Mori but she was already on her way out the door.

They sprinted down the passageway to the cockpit.

“Captain Orion, what happ…” Stone had to take another breath as his stomach was still settling. “What happened?”

“We had a rapid deceleration. Not sure why, yet. It happens sometimes. We’ll check our position and reset our course for another jump. Engineering, this is the captain, report status of engineering systems.”

Rickover’s angry voice came over the intercom. ‘
It wasn’t my fault. There is nothing wrong with the reactor or—damn it! Wait a minute. I have a small fire...let me…
’ There was a short pause. ‘
It’s out,”
he continued.
“Like I said, it’s not engineering. What did that big blue bastard do
?’

The squeaks from TC almost conveyed his annoyance before the translator echoed his sentiment. “There’s nothing wrong with my NAVSYS, jackass.”

“What caused the deceleration, TC?” asked Orion.

“Checking.”

TC disconnected his translator. High-pitched squawks filled the cockpit as he worked the navigation system.

Orion looked back toward Mori and Stone. Their faces were pale and they were breathing heavily. “It must be your first de-cell,” said Orion. “Don’t worry, it gets better after about a hundred of them.”

“I think one will be enough,” replied Mori, exhaling heavily.

After a few moments of squeaks and manipulations of the navigation systems, TC activated the translator again. “It looks like we’re in the Sierra system, about halfway there. Magnetic fields pulled us out of the jump. That’s odd,” said TC after a slight pause. “The new upgrade should have helped with that. Let me check. These fields are huge and there are a lot of them. There are some neutrino fields too, but weak. Just a minute and we should be in visual range.”

“Engineering, make sure we’re ready to jump again,” said Orion.

“I’ve been ready the whole time,” came back over the intercom.

“I have plotted a quick jump course out of the system if we need to get out of here fast,” reported TC.

Outside the cockpit window small specks appeared, then more. A few more seconds and distant objects began to become identifiable. “That’s a Humani battle cruiser,” exclaimed Orion. “TC, get ready to jump.”

TC reached toward the navigation controls, but Mori stopped him.

“Wait,” she said as she placed her hand on his massive shoulder.

“What do you mean wait?” said Orion, as she looked toward the ship. “Oh,” she added.

“There’s a Terillian battleship right beside it…or part of one,” said Mori.

“Son of a bitch,” said Stone as the scene became clearer. “There has been a fight here—a big one.”

“Great,” said Orion. “We have decelerated in the middle of a battlefield.”

At first a few, then dozens of abandoned and wrecked ships came into view. A Humani battle cruiser with several hull breaches was visible in the distance. Dozens of massive fires created an orange pulsating glow in the hangar as they burned up any oxygen left onboard. As they passed through the wreckage, each new sight was more shocking than the last.

“Over there,” said TC as he pointed toward the forward end of a Terillian battleship that lay behind the Humani battle cruiser hulk. “It has been split in half. And there’s a Terillian corvette embedded in its forward end.”

“It must have either lost control during the battle and collided with the battleship or drifted into her afterwards,” said Orion.

As they moved deeper into the wreckage, more carnage unfolded. Capital ships wasted, Terillian Foxtrots and Alphas drifted past them as did Condor fighters and Eagle bombers. Then there were the bodies—the vacuum of space had horribly distorted the already torn remains.

“The Terillians must have tried to take back the Sierra system,” said Stone, his eyes glued to the devastation outside their small ship.

“We won’t be able to accelerate for a jump until we get clear of this mess,” said Orion. “I have never seen anything like this before. So many dead.”

“It looks like at least two grand fleets fought it out here,” added Mori. “That’s tens of thousands of naval personnel and perhaps a corps of infantry on each side.”

“It looks like both sides suffered heavy losses,” said Stone in a low voice as his heart sank. “All of these people have died for a lie. On the whim of a few powerful Humani and their Xen masters, an entire generation of two civilizations will be sacrificed.”

Mori placed her hand on Stone’s arm. “We will find a way to stop this.”

As Orion skillfully piloted her way through the minefield of wreckage, Mori pointed out more wreckage to Orion. “Over there, that orbital destroyer,” she said.

In the distance an orbital destroyer, its hull weakened by internal fires, exploded in a brilliant flash of orange and red. The wave of debris from the blast was visible as it radiated outward from the explosion.

“Look at that,” Mori continued.

“Crap,” exclaimed Orion. “Engineering—I need full power now!”

“What’s wrong?” asked Stone.

“That explosion just released enough force to accelerate everything out here.” As she spoke a body flew past the cockpit. “TC, keep your eyes open.”

The tail section of a condor fighter passed over the ship. A dull but piercing screeching sound could be heard as it grinded over the top of their ship. Another body slammed into the cockpit, disintegrating in a puff of red mist.

“Son of a bitch,” said Stone as he and Mori buckled themselves into the chairs behind Orion and TC.

“Damn it!” yelled Orion. “TC, give me a hand with the controls.”

As Stone looked up from the clasp on his harness he saw the hulk of Terillian corvette tumbling bow over stern toward them.

“Look out!” he shouted.

Orion and TC pulled hard on the controls to take the ship vertical. Stone felt Mori’s hand grip his wrist. They could hear metallic clangs as small pieces of debris whacked against the hull of the ship and the occasional sickening thud as non-metal objects slammed into
Hydra
.

“Did we clear it?” asked Stone.

“I don’t…” Orion’s response was interrupted by a massive jolt and the deafening sound of metal crunching. Stone felt his stomach do somersaults as the
Hydra
flipped over and spun violently to port.

“Give me thrusters to the port,” ordered Orion.

“Not responding,” reported TC.

“I’m taking starboard thruster to one-third. Initiating reverse pulse. Stabilizer to full.” Orion was not a good pilot—she was a great one. Before long the ship was leveled and righted.

“Navigation, report status.”

“Navigation system ready. Jump computer online, still recalculating jump coordinated to Alpha Humani. Short jump programmed for 500,000 kilometers.”

“Roger. Engineering, report status.”

“Online. Small fire in auxiliary propulsion room. Automatic organic halide flooding system has extinguished Charlie fire. Delta under control. Port thrusters inoperable. No known hull damage. Intermittent warning lights on aft stabilizer and O2 scrubber stations. Recommend putting down for hull inspection. I’m sure something else is f’ed up.”