Machine Gods (Star Crusades Nexus, Book 2) (24 page)

Gods, I
can’t take much more of this
,
she thought.

Ar
ina stood up and felt as if she was twice as old as she
actually was. She covered the short distance to the block and
stepped inside, moving up to the furthest showerhead from the
entrance. They were short, metal stalls, and each one partially
shielded to offer a modicum of privacy from the others that were
busy washing. Arina moved past the other marines and stood in front
of the showerhead, rubbing her bruised body gently as the scolding
hot water ran over her. The bruises weren’t so much the problem
though; it was the dull aching in her muscles that she just
couldn’t shake off.

What the
hell is up with the Major? She’s been riding my ass for weeks now.
I know she wants us ready
,
but is all of this necessary?

Arina had
woken in the middle of the night to find her arm
and leg muscles throbbing with pain every night for the last week
and was determined to try and sear away the ache before she left
for her quarters. She’d tried all manner of remedies, yet the pain
from each day’s trials was taking its toll on every single one of
them. She would have complained to Major Morato, apart from the
fact that the officer joined in with the physical training. It
wasn’t something she’d seen before, and though the pain was
uncomfortable, the sight of her commanders doing the same grinding
work at least made her feel it wasn’t just her.

The large open plan
bloc
k was gently lit with a dull orange
glow that cast hazy shadows anywhere the steam and mist was allowed
to settle. The light itself bore down from the ceiling-mounted
lamps fitted behind secure transparent panels. Arina put her hands
to the outer wall and felt the cold metal as the water ran down her
back. It was relaxing to just stand there, but she knew she
couldn’t stay there all night. There was always tomorrow and yet
another exercise.

“
Sergeant,
yo
u okay?” asked a familiar voice
nearby.

Arina
turned her head, the water continuing to strike
her face and run down through her long, red hair. It was Corporal
Kata Hiko, the mechanic and tech specialist for 1st Platoon. Like
Arina, she was stripped naked and stood just inside her stall.
Arina looked about, checking she hadn’t drawn attention to
herself.

“
I’ll live, Kata.
It’s just the last combat-drone scenario against 3rd Company. The
Major wanted us to compete with the company, even though we were
only a third their number. My body is in pieces.”

She waited, letting
the water run down her. The sound of the water dripping down
blotted out all but the noisiest of sounds. The next moment Kata’s
hands were running down her back and kneading her spine with
surprising skill. Arina stayed still for a moment, enjoying the
sensation before turning to face Kata. The other marines continued
washing, each in their own worlds as the hot water washed away the
day’s work.

“
No, not now,”
s
he started before looking about the
place, “and definitely not here,” she said, though a little colder
than she intended. Kata looked taken aback. Arina tried to smile,
but the pain in her muscles turned it into something that closely
resembled a grimace.

“
We can’t. This
isn’t the time or place, and we are getting close to the Helios
Gateway. I need to get some rest, or I’ll be dead in the morning.
We’re up in two hours, and we have EVA assault practice…and
Commander Gun will be running the drill. You know how patient he
is!”

Kata moved her
han
ds away from Arina’s smooth skin and
nodded politely. She stepped back and moved to the stall directly
opposite Arina. She continued facing Arina so that she could look
on at her nakedness as she washed.

“
Don’t you think
this Major Morato is pushing us a little too hard? I heard two more
were put in sickbay today because of the training
drills.”

Arina shook her head
violently, shaking the water from her hair. It was the one thing
she had retained from her previous life before the Corps. Though in
combat she was obliged to tie it back, she liked to let it flow
long and loose, as frequently as she could get away with. She moved
to the end of the shower block and stepped out to grab one of the
many towels clipped to the wall.

“
No. You know what
the 17th was like before they arrived. Most of our officers were
gone and our units a shambles. If you ask me, we were just going to
be used as a reserve battalion to replace losses on the other four
Crusaders.”

Kata looked
surprised at her response, but before she could speak, a group of
three men in their twenties arrived and moved inside. They all
glanced at Arina as they passed, each ogling her naked form and
long, bright red hair.

“
Keep your eyes on
the shower, gentlemen,” she said firmly and to their
surprise.

Arina had only been
a Sergeant for just over a week now, and already she was settling
into the position quite well. She wiped her face, and after a quick
rub down moved to her locker where her underwear and black Marine
Corps fatigues waited. She made no sound as she moved to the
locker; the only noise being the water from the others now
showering. The most recent group of marines started to wash and
discuss the events of the previous day. It was mainly the aches and
pains of training, with the odd reference to gossip they’d heard
throughout the ship. It was nothing Arina hadn’t already heard. As
she listened carefully, Kata stepped out, her small-framed body
looking out of place next to the three men that had recently
arrived.

“
She is pretty hot
though,
for a major, don’t you think?”
asked Kata.

Arina looked at her
with amusement. It didn’t really matter what she thought about
their commander, because one way or the other, as a marine, and an
NCO at that, she had to remain professional. This wasn’t the kind
of conversation she could have with any of her fellow marines. She
had responsibilities now and turned away from her friend, back to
the cold wall. At the same time, she did her best to hide her
smile.

Yes,
Major Morato is something else
, she
thought, imagining the last time she’d seen Major Morato bellowing
orders at the marines. She shuddered slightly and shook her head,
surprised at her own thoughts.

For
God’s sake
, woman, keep your
mind on the job, and off her ass!

All the while Kata
watched her
, trying to work out what
could possibly be keeping Arina so occupied. She’d known Arina
since they’d met at boot camp, and the two of them had been in an
on/off relationship ever since. As she looked at her, she realized
she was feeling envious, perhaps even a little jealous, and it was
a feeling she didn’t enjoy.

ANS Devastation was the first to be built of the
second tranche of Crusader class ships. Lessons learned from the
first models in her class were incorporated into the design, as
well as additional technology discovered and adapted by Alliance
scientists during the Uprising. The most significant change of all
was the addition of bow-mounted particle beams that replaced the
powerful railguns. Many criticized the sudden change of armament,
but the improvements did allow the Crusader class to tackle larger
and more powerful ships. Even more importantly, engagements could
now be decided in minutes and sometimes even in seconds. The
memories of Admiral Jarvis and her hours long duel over the Titan
Naval Station would hopefully never have to be repeated.

Ships of the Alliance

Major Teresa Morato,
Commander Gun
, and Captain Llewellyn
stood to the side of the observation point off the starboard bow.
Normally, they would have observed a phenomenon such as the Helios
Gateway from the safety of video screens inside the ship, but this
was an occasion for which transparent metal and their own eyes were
required. A number of other Marine and Navy officers were present.
Teresa looked at each of them and back to her two comrades. Over
the last weeks, Teresa had been forced to lean upon the young
Captain more and more, due to both his knowledge of the eight
companies of marines under her and Gun’s command, as well as his
surprising skill at motivating and training them. Her first
impressions of him couldn’t have been more wrong. She beckoned to
the odd distortion in front of them.

“Have you ever seen one like this before?”

Gun seemed less than
excited at the sight of the massive distortion in space. It looked
like a reflective sphere but the size of a small moon. Around the
Rift were a small number of
T’Kari ships.
She counted three of them, and was about to turn her head away,
when she spotted a fourth moving past one of the Alliance military
ships. Teresa suspected these were the much vaunted T’Kari scouts,
or Exiles as they called themselves. She recalled the briefing and
the report she’d read afterward that outlined their exploits in
this sector. Apparently, they watched for signs of the enemy’s
agents as well as keeping the Helios Gateway secure.

“
Why try and hide
it, when you can easily see the thing?” said Gun.

“
Just look at it.
Are you trying to tell me our enemy, you know, the one that created
Biomechs, war machines
, and started wars
is incapable of finding a distortion like that with generations to
look for it?”

Captain Llewellyn
smiled at her
words.

“
Commander,
according to the report, the Rift is invisible until activated. The
only way to find it is to get hold of a T’Kari that knows the
location and force them to activate it. Apparently, not even Ayndir
has the location. It is a secret entrusted to the Exiles only. At
least, that’s what the report says. Even so, the T’Kari threw the
switch for us about an hour ago. Once we’re through, they will
close it again.”

“
And then they will
know where it is.”

Captain Llewellyn nodded, “Perhaps. But is there any
other way?”

Gun didn’t seem to
have an answer for that. Instead, he looked back at the
Rift.

“
So if it works, and
they close it behind us, how will we get back?” he
muttered.

The Captain pointed
at a black
color T’Kari ship. It was
small, no larger than an Alliance cruiser, yet the way it moved
suggested power and agility. As they watched, it twisted along its
length and then moved into position between two Crusader class
ships.

“
Two of the scouts
are coming with us. They can activate the Spacebridge to bring us
back.”

Gun shrugged.
“Yeah, heard that before. Is there a backup
plan?”

Teresa looked up at
Gun’s face. H
e looked grumpy, and
something was clearly bothering him. She thought about asking but
decided against it. Gun was a proud warrior, and being asked such a
question in front of the other marines would be problematic. She’d
never seen him embarrassed but could quite imagine it would be
noisy, angry, and potentially violent. Captain Llewellyn sensed the
mood and decided to move the conversation elsewhere.

“
What I’m more
interested in is what we are going to find on the other
side.”

The sound of the
ship’s
public address system sounded
throughout every deck onboard the warship. As usual, the audio was
tinny and thin sounding, as though the speaker units themselves
were faulty or broken in some way.

“
Now hear this,”
started the voice. Teresa instantly recognized it as the sound of
the ship’s XO.

“
Entry to the Helios
Gateway begins in fifty minutes. I repeat; we will enter the Rift
in fifty minutes. All naval crewmembers are to report to their
stations. Marine commanders will prep their ground forces. Good
hunting.”

Teresa almost smiled
to herself. They were supposed to be on a mixed political,
scientific, and exploration expedition, and yet the order for their
forces was ‘good hunting’. It hardly seemed right for what should
be a peaceful trip. The Captain saluted to them both before making
to leave.

“Well, I had better get back to my unit. Are there
any changes I need to know about?”

Gun said nothing,
leaving it to Teresa.

“
No, the plan is the
same as before. All marines will be prepped ready for ship-to-ship
operations. Make sure the shuttles and landing craft are ready, and
go through the kit checks. Oh, there is one thing.”

The Captain raised
an eyebrow in question.

“
1st Platoon has
been consistently scoring the highest in all drills and scenarios
in your company. Is that correct?”

He nodded
without a moment’s hesitation.

“
Good. I want a
squad from 1st Platoon to meet me on the landing platform in twenty
minutes. They’ve already been drilled on close escort and security
operations. I understand Sergeant Arina Nova has proven her worth
on multiple occasions?”

Again the Captain nodded.