Overdrive (35 page)

◊

The Blazing
Trumpet used its Ion thrusters to match velocity with the beleaguered PDS
station 300 meters away. A hull panel facing the station slid open. Figures
surrounded by glowing blue fields flowed out of the ship and moved rapidly
towards the station with powerful beats of their wings. The wings were just for
show and had absolutely no affect on their actual movement. The same field that
protected them from the harsh vacuum of space could be focused to propel them
even in conditions lacking an atmosphere.

The battalion of
ninth order, or common Angels, were Gabriella’s shock troops. Like all Angels,
they were immune to vacuum and their weak fields were capable of deflecting
projectile weapons and low level plasma blasts, effectively making them perfect
Space assault troops. As common Angels, they were part of the 3rd and lowest
Hierarchy of Angels. Along with Hayyoth, ministering, and guardian Angels, they
formed the largest Angelic group in Areopagite and Watcher societies.

Led by Sammael
himself, the Angels quickly closed the gap between the two hulking ships,
quickly landing and taking up positions on the huge docking platform. A number
of cargo freighters were still docked, umbilical's, docking clamps and air
locks still attached. Several showed signs of the recent battle; scorch marks
and ripped hulls venting a variety of gases.

Sammael issued his
orders. Squads of Angels hacked at various air locks attached to the ships,
ensuring that no one would be able to access them without a suit. After waiting
for the immediate explosive venting of gases, the Angels forced themselves into
the airlocks and began attacking the inner doors.

In addition to
their energized swords, the assault Angels were all armed with plasma cannons.
Sammael moved into the nearest airlock and could see the tell tale glow of
plasma blasts as the Angels in front of him encountered Gitanian security
guards in full space combat armor.

He ordered his AI
to open a link with Gabriella.

“We’re in,"
he said when Gabriella’s beautiful AI generated face appeared. She appeared to
nod.

“Good. Don’t
depressurize the whole ship Sammael," she warned. “I need those hostages
alive."

“Yes Princess."

Gabriella smiled.
“Oh, and just to make it interesting, you’ve only got 40 minutes to secure them.
Even though we’ve taken out the thrusters, this station will be in range of the
next closest by then. We took this station by surprise; the next PDS we
encounter will be ready for us.”

He nodded his
accent. “What’s the status of the Watcher ship?”

“They’re still
holding station 5,000 kilometers from us. I’ll let you know if there are any
further developments.”

She cut the link
and Sammael’s eye lid flicked open. He pushed aside the floating body of a dead
Gitanian security guard and moved further into the station.

◊

A small, localized
piece of space on the planetary side of the PDS ripped open. The very fabric of
space was torn apart to allow a small and sleek looking starship to emerge. The
grey of nospace gradually disappeared as the fracture slowly closed behind it.

The PDS eyed it
with weary resignation. Its one remaining sensor on the planet’s near side
reported the spatial rift and appearance of the small warship. It was
ridiculously close, having emerged right on the 300 km minimum distance. It gave
the equivalent of a mental shrug and dismissed it as being unimportant. It had
other things to worry about. Like the battalion of assault Angels currently
forcing its way into the station and systematically decimating the defending
security squads.

The
Puritan
reactivated its infiltrator mode and disappeared off the PDS’s sensors. It used
its small thrusters to align itself with the out of control station before
moving in and settling onto a vacant docking cradle. Logan used his AI to order
the ship to extend its field out to one of the station’s nearby air lock
hatches.

He stood up and
moved through into the ship’s lounge. The other’s eyed him with expectant
expressions.

“Well?,"
queried Crystal.

“Tarquin and the
others are still holed up in a storage locker. The station is rapidly losing
pressure and their route to us is cut off by Angels assaulting the ship. We’ll
have to go and get them.”

Crystal nodded.
“I’m coming with you.”

“I’d hoped you’d
say that.”

“What about the
rest of us?” asked Felix.

“Stay with the
ship and make sure no one else gets on board. We should be back shortly.”

He headed for the
lower decks and entered the armory, ordering one of the bulky silver assault
suits to come on line and open. He was beginning to select weapons from the racks
above him when Crystal came in.

“Do you need a
hand?” she asked.

Logan shook his
head. “Help yourself to whatever you need. It could get rough in there.”

Crystal smiled and
patted the sword belted to her waist. “I’ve got all I need right here.”

Logan threw a
bundle of universal vacuum suits at her.

“Well, make
yourself useful and carry these," he said grinning. “I’m going to have my
hands full."

He backed into the
assault armor and ordered it to close, using his AI to interface with the suits
and bringing its weapon and power systems on line. He picked up a plasma cannon
and clipped on various cylinders and projectiles to the suits utility belt. The
helmet fully covered his head making it impossible for him to be heard. He
opened a link to Crystal.

“Ready?”

She nodded and the
two of them moved upstairs to where the lounge airlock was situated.

Crystal gave Felix
a kiss and then moved into the airlock with Logan. He waved as the airlock
cycled shut.

The other side of
the airlock opened, revealing the docking platform covered by a glowing blue
field. The area was fairly well lit from the planet’s glow beneath them.

Crystal activated
her field, drawing her sword as she took the lead. She tucked the vacuum suits
into her belt as they were less likely to impede her there.

With Logan right
behind her, she reached the airlock. Her AI couldn’t establish a link with the
station’s so she had to use the manual lever on the airlock door. It slowly
opened to reveal a smiling winged figure surrounded by a glowing blue field.

“Hello," said
Sammael.

Chapter Ten

On the bridge of
the class 1 Trireme, The
Sweet Bejesus
, Asel watched the events
unfolding in Gitane’s orbit with some interest. Since orchestrating the
destruction of Knights Captain Tynan ship, he’d done nothing but watch. There
was nothing else to do. If he involved himself and his ship now then he’d have
nothing up his sleeve for later. Even a class 1 Trireme was no match for either
Gabriella’s Valkyrie or a fully armed PDS station. He knew the outcome of this
encounter would be decided by those who kept something in reserve.

He examined the
screens before him. One gave him an AI tactical analysis; ships and stations
represented by various icons with vector lines with annotated notes attached. A
countdown in the bottom of the screen gave Gabriella 30 minutes until she was
in range of another PDS. He smiled bleakly. With any luck, they would wipe each
other out.

The other screen
displayed a real time image of the current battle between the Valkyrie and the
huge PDS station. Close ups from sensors on the ships hull revealed armed
Angels infiltrating the station. Not without loss he noted. He’d already seen a
few charred bodies of Angels float away from the besieged station, injuries
consistent with those caused by heavy plasma cannons.

Despite these
losses, the end result was not in doubt. The Areopagites would take the station
and with that, the Overdrive. Of that Asel was sure. He was just hoping that
Gabriella and her Valkyrie would be significantly weakened afterwards, enabling
him to take her ship just as easily as she’d taken the PDS.

The odds still
weren’t stacked in his favor though. He ordered his AI to open a channel with
Gitane’s security network. They might be ignorant about what was happening in
orbit now but he could soon remedy that.

◊

Tarquin, Bruce and
Walter huddled in a storage locker, listening to the sounds of combat just
outside. Walter flinched every time a nearby plasma cannon let off its tell
tale roar. Bruce squatted on the floor, the Overdrive gripped tightly in one
huge paw. Occasionally he’d grimace and rub his charred arm. Tarquin felt sorry
for anyone who barged in here uninvited – the Transplanter was not in a good
mood. All three were breathing heavily, a result of the station’s slow pressure
loss.

The lack of air
was becoming a problem. He was still confident that the air would last for a
while yet; they just had to be careful not to exert themselves. That in itself
wasn’t a problem; he was doing anything but exerting himself.

He tried to find
himself a more comfortable position on the floor, inadvertently nudging the
Gorilla and receiving a low, threatening growl for his trouble. He’d spoken to
Logan a few minutes previously who had assured them that he and Crystal were
only a few minutes away. Knowing Logan, that was probably a tad optimistic. He
remembered the former military intelligence man turning up 2 days late on one
occasion after initially saying that he’d meet Tarquin and some friends in half
an hour. From that day on, both Tarquin and Felix got into the habit of telling
Logan that a scheduled event was actually an hour before it really was. Even
then he was usually late.

Hardly life and
death situations though – unlike now - although he did recall a situation
involving too many mind altering substances, a realskin mech pleasure doll and
a transplanter dog named Sarge. Thankfully, Logan had turned up on time then.

He smiled to
himself at the memory, and then bored, contemplated another look out into the
corridor. When the fighting had first broken out, Tarquin had risked a peek.
He’d seen two Angels, blue nimbus’s aglow, charge a squad of heavily armed
Gitanians. The resulting conflict had seen both parties annihilate each other,
dropping the ceiling down on top of them and effectively blocking the corridor.

Tarquin had
accessed the PDS floor plan, realizing that their escape route to the docking
platforms was now blocked by debris. Their only hope now was for Logan and
Crystal to clear a path for them.

Tarquin had snuck
out and liberated one of the plasma cannons from the dead grasp of one of the
Gitanians. That at least was something. They could defend themselves if anyone
else chanced upon the storage locker. With a sigh, he settled himself more
comfortably on the floor of the locker.

“Anyone for
cards?” suggested Walter hopefully.

◊

Sammael brought
his sword up just in time to block the blow from the other weapon, barely
avoiding losing his nose in the process. His sword broke with a loud metallic
twang, despite being made of a reported unbreakable composite, the fragments
flying away to shatter against the airlock wall. Crystal expanded her field,
flinging him into the massed bodies of Angels behind him. The whole group
collapsed, forming a chaotic sprawl of limbs on the airlock floor.

“Anyone else?,"
Crystal inquired mildly, raising her eyebrows playfully.

From his position
on the ground, Sammael gave her a frightened glance. A faint whimper issued
from his slack jaw. With a yelp, he threw the other Angels aside and fled.
Somewhat bewildered, the rest of the Angels followed suit.

Crystal turned and
gave Logan a wink.

“Nice one,"
said Logan through his AI. “Scratch the surface and beneath every bully lies a
complete wimp."

“Not a problem,"
replied Crystal.

As a matter of
fact it hadn’t been. Crystal had known exactly who she was facing when
confronted by Sammael at the airlock. The Church of the Holy Lamb had built up
extensive files on Areopagite Angels with any influence thanks to spies
inserted into the religious hierarchical structure. The files included
information about various Angel’s rank, strength, peccadilloes and even their
current bed chums.

Sammael was known
as Gabriella’s sometimes bedmate and chief enforcer with a strong sadistic
streak and a cunning, opportunist mind. Even though he was only a sixth order
Angel and as such, hopelessly outmatched by Crystal, the Areopagite hierarchy
saw great things for Sammael. He’d been earmarked (presumably by Gabriella
herself) for advancement although his current status and abilities were far
less than what his ego demanded. She hadn’t even exerted herself. Only an Afer
or a heavy plasma cannon emplacement (such as those employed by starships)
could affect her and both were unlikely to be encountered within the PDS
station.

She hoped.

“Which way now?,"
asked Crystal.