Prevail (The Pike Chronicles Book 2) (11 page)

“So the Chaanisar are our allies now?” said Petrovic, his face twisted in disbelief.

“These Chaanisar,” said Kevin.

The four Chaanisar on the shuttle had retracted their helmets and were looking at Petrovic and Yao, nodding in agreement.

“I can’t believe it,” said Yao.

“It is true,” said Lieutenant Jarvi. “We are no longer Juttari slaves.”

The other Chaanisar grunted their approval.

“One day the Juttari will pay for their crimes. Sadly, that day is not today,” said Jarvi.

Petrovic and Yao looked at Jarvi with their mouths open. Kevin knew it was a tough idea to swallow. But they would have to accept it. Just as he and his Marines had.

“Tell me about the Hermes. What happened?” said Kevin.

“It was crazy, Chief,” said Petrovic. “There was some kind of interference. I don’t know if it was something the planet gave off, or if the Kemmar had some way of jamming our sensors, but we were blind up there.”

“I remember the Hermes couldn’t target the prison’s defenses, or take over the prison’s network,” said Kevin.

“The interference created problems with several systems. The shuttles tried to compensate, but they were attacked by Kemmar fighters.”

“Fighters?”

“They came out of nowhere, Chief. They started taking out our shuttles. They were too fast. The shuttles didn’t stand a chance. So the Captain ordered the Hermes to enter the atmosphere.”

“Sounds like something Captain Pike would do.”

“It was a bold decision, and it should have worked.”

“What went wrong?”

“One of the fighters got through our defenses and rammed us. That created an opening for the rest of the fighters, and they did the same.”

“A suicide attack,” said Jarvi. “These Kemmar do not fear death. That makes them formidable warriors.”

“There was a massive hull breach and propulsion was knocked out. The Hermes went down,” said Petrovic.

“Why didn’t the Captain jump away?” said Kevin.

“It would’ve been a blind jump,” said Yao. “There was no way of knowing where we would end up, and your team would’ve been stranded.”

“That’s Captain Pike for you,” said Kevin. “No man left behind.”

“Then Kemmar troops stormed the Hermes,” said Petrovic. “Hundreds of them. There must’ve been an entire battalion down there.”

“It appears the Kemmar had anticipated your rescue attempt,” said Jarvi. “Your Captain should have planned better.”

“The Captain did the best he could under the circumstances,” said Kevin. “He had no way of knowing those troops were down there.”

“Excuses are a sign of weakness,” said Jarvi.

Kevin glared at Jarvi. The Lieutenant was treading dangerously close to his last nerve. He barely managed to keep his temper under control.

“With most of the Marines gone,” said Petrovic, trying to diffuse the tension. “We didn’t have a chance of defending the ship.”

“And that was when the Captain ordered the jump,” said Kevin.

“A blind jump,” said Yao. “Unfortunately we ended up in a Kemmar system.”

“We still had the Kemmar boarders to deal with,” said Petrovic. “On top of that a Kemmar warship now raced to intercept us.”

“So the Captain destroyed the Hermes,” said Kevin.

“Yes, Sir.”

“One big cluster fuck.”

Petrovic and Yao nodded.

“What happened to your team, Chief?” said Petrovic.

“Some died in firefights. They had EMP weapons. Knocked out our combat suits and captured the rest of us.”

A look of shock spread across Petrovic and Yao’s faces. Kevin saw that they understood. For Kevin and his men being captured was a fate worse than death.

Kevin nodded and thought about Private Denney. “They’re sick, ruthless bastards. We were able to escape. We fought our way out of our cells and then the Chaanisar showed up.”

“Your Hermes had softened the Kemmar defenses,” said Jarvi. “We battled the remaining Kemmar and Chief St. Clair’s Marines successfully attacked them from the rear, ensuring their defeat.”

Did Jarvi just give him credit for something? Kevin figured he should return the favor. “We’re lucky the Chaanisar showed up when they did,” said Kevin. “Or we would probably still be on that damn planet.”

“What happens now?” said Yao.

“We find the rest of the crew,” said Kevin.

Colonel Bast monitored the landing party’s progress on his display. They had found two members of the Hermes crew, but neither of them were Doctor Ellerbeck. He couldn’t help but feel some disappointment. He knew it would take time to find the Doctor, but he also hoped for some luck. Each additional second he had to live with the Juttari chip in his brain was a second he lived in fear.

What if the chip started working again? They had slain the Juttari officers and destroyed the broadcasting device, but what if they missed something? The thought haunted him. He and his men were free for the first time since childhood. Human once again.

But what did that mean? Could he ever be fully human again? He didn’t know. That scared him almost as much as the thought of the Juttari controlling him. If they found the Doctor, and she was somehow able to remove the brain chips, then what? Return to Sol? To Earth?

Nobody would trust him there. He would still be Chaanisar. An abomination. They would blame him and his men for the atrocities committed while under Juttari control. Some would even suggest that they didn’t do enough to resist. Of course they could not know the power of the Juttari brain chip, but would anyone care? Would they try to understand? Or would they be consumed with hate and a thirst for vengeance? They would be called war criminals. They might even be forced to stand trial for their crimes.

What about his family? Surely he had some relations left. Would they want to meet him? Would they consider him family? Or would they hide in horror, afraid of what he might do to them in a moment of relapse?

Deep down inside he knew there would be no place for him back on Earth. He had committed horrific crimes. Even if another controlled him, the blood still stained his own hands. He could not return to Earth. After a lifetime away he could not even consider it home anymore. He had no home.

A comm request brought him back to reality. It was his science officer, Lieutenant Schade. He had tasked Schade with investigating the ship’s systems to determine if there was any hidden way to control the brain chips. Bast brought up Schade’s face on his display.

“Yes, Lieutenant.”

“Colonel, I have found something interesting.”

Dread crept up the back of Bast’s neck. “Do the Juttari have a fail-safe device?”

“No, Sir. I have not found evidence of any backup mechanism to re-initiate the broadcast.”

Relief washed over Bast. “What did you find?”

“I believe I’ve found the source of the broadcast’s malfunction,” said Schade. “It appears that the broadcast failure was not an accident.”

Bast leaned forward in his seat, closer to the display, as if Schade was about to whisper his next sentence.

“I almost missed it, Sir,” said Schaude excitedly. “It was incredibly well hidden. A brilliant piece of work.”

“Go on.”

“It attacked in slow, quiet waves. A change here, a modification there, and nobody noticed a thing. Extremely sophisticated. The question is how they inserted it.”

“How did who insert what?”

“Space Force, Sir. They managed to insert a virus into our systems. One that specifically attacked the Juttari broadcast device.”

Bast leaned back into his chair, stunned. “How can that be possible? Space Force did not know about our mission.”

“Someone did. The virus is clearly a Space Force design.”

Bast knew the Juttari had spies in Space Force. There was no reason why Space Force, or the Diakans, did not have assets in place as well. But for someone to pull this off? They would have to be very high up to know about the mission and to even have access to the ship’s systems. Unless Space Force knew there was a Juttari spy in place. The spy could have turned. Or, Space Force could have planted the virus in the Hermes systems. If they had uncovered the spy they would’ve known the Juttari ship would get infected. But why give up the jump system technology? No, they probably didn’t know who the spy was, but had suspicions that there was a spy. The virus was a Space Force fail-safe in case the jump system was compromised.

“Could the virus have been inserted in the stolen Hermes technology?”

“Yes, that is possible. They could have inserted it into the jump system code. It could have been programmed to lay dormant in stealth mode. That way it wouldn’t have been detected. Since the Juttari copied the Hermes jump system design, the virus was able to make it into our systems.”

“But why didn’t it affect the jump system?”

“That is the beauty of its design. It was programmed to be activated after a certain number of jumps. That would ensure the ship was far enough away from any backup Juttari broadcasts. Once activated, it traveled through our network, sought out and attacked the ship’s broadcast system.”

“Wouldn’t it have done the same on the Hermes?”

“Yes, but it could easily have been programmed to not do any damage if there was no broadcast system.”

“Fascinating. They assumed that the Chaanisar would mutiny once the Juttari lost control of their brain chips.”

“Yes, Sir.”

An ingenious tactic. Could Space Force have plans to liberate the rest of the Chaanisar? If the Juttari lost control, the Chaanisar would surely revolt. How many ships could be seized? It could potentially cripple the Empire.

If they had their brain chips removed, they could return with the virus and cripple the Empire themselves. Then Juttari blood would flow. Then the Juttari would know the meaning of Chaanisar justice.

“Do you possess the complete virus?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Safeguard it. It may still prove useful.”

“Yes, Sir.”

Bast switched back to view the landing team’s progress. Their shuttle was almost aboard. He opened a comm with the bridge. “As soon as the landing team is on board, jump to the next search vector.”

There would be no rest until the Doctor was found.

Singh stared at the Chaanisar guard watching him on the other side of the bars. There was cold malice in the guard’s eyes. Why? He hadn’t done anything to the Chaanisar. He shuddered. He wasn’t built for this. He figured out puzzles, like starship reactors and jump systems. He was an engineer, not a soldier.

“Forget him,” said Lynda. “He doesn’t exist.”

He looked away from the guard, and focused on Lynda. She was more beautiful than ever. Radiant. “Of course he exists. He’s right there. Armed. Looking right at us.

She leaned closer and whispered in his ear, “There is only us. Only our love is real. Forget the guard. Forget this ship. Focus on me.”

“The guard is real. So is this ship. Those are Chaanisar. They’re going to kill us.”

“No they will not.”

“Why not?”

“They need you. They have a jump system don’t they?”

“Yes.”

“And your jump system expertise is second to none.”

“Yes, that’s true.”

“So use it. Offer your services.”

“They’ll never trust me.”

“Maybe not right away, but the time will come.”

“How do you know?”

“They are in hostile space. Sooner or later they will find themselves in a battle. Jump systems often become damaged in warfare.”

“Surely their own engineer can fix it.”

“Do you think so? This is revolutionary technology. The Juttari wouldn’t trust it to a Chaanisar.”

“The Chaanisar killed all the Juttari. They have no engineer capable of repairing their jump system.”

Lynda smiled, her blue eyes sparkling like precious gems. “Sooner or later, they will need you.”

Jon thought about Jansen’s mission. How was it that he was thousands of light years away from home and back to doing black ops? Only now he was taking Breeah and Anki along for the ride. He had really lost his mind. There was no other explanation. Not only would he be putting Breeah and Anki in danger, but they would also hamper his effectiveness.

His success at these missions was always directly related to his mindset. He truly believed he could succeed. He also resolutely accepted death. Even if he performed perfectly there was always the possibility of being killed. If he feared death he wouldn’t function properly. Instead he embraced death. He laughed at the reaper. Defied him to come.

He looked over at Breeah and Anki. How could he be effective with the two of them coming along? He would constantly fear for their safety. That fear would make him second guess his actions. Make him hesitate. That could lead to mistakes. It was a bizarre irony that his fear for their safety could get them all killed in the end.

He couldn’t allow that. He would have to leave them behind. Captain Seiben was a good man. He would leave them on the freighter with Seiben and he would complete his mission alone. Breeah would be angry with him, but she would understand.

A sound caught his attention. A feint sound that any other human wouldn’t hear, but Jon’s enhanced hearing picked it up. It was a common sound in the station. The faint whisper of forced air jets. What was out of place, however, was its location. The sound was directly outside their building. Above them now, but descending quickly. From what he had seen the station vehicles primarily used the rooftops, and didn’t often descend down to the street.

His instincts warned him of the threat before his mind could register it. He knew from experience to obey his instincts. Breeah and Anki were getting their things ready and hadn’t realized anything was wrong. The craft had almost reached their floor. Seconds away.

“Get down!” said Jon.

Breeah gave him a confused glance, but thankfully she trusted him enough to grab Anki and drop to the floor. Jon dropped as well, just as the vehicle came into view outside their window. It was similar to the craft that had brought them into the city, except for one difference. This one was armed.

Two Gatling guns jutted out from its sides. The craft stopped its descent in front of their apartment’s windows and opened fire. Orange flashes spewed bullets at the windows. Anki screamed as the glass shattered and bullets ripped through the walls and furniture, shredding everything in their path. Breeah lay on top of Anki, using her body to protect her. The craft turned from left to right, flooding the room in a metal torrent. The pilot hadn’t seen them on the floor and fired high, targeting someone who would be standing or sitting on a chair. Soon he would find their heat signatures and spray the floor.

Jon regretted leaving his railgun behind on the freighter. Now he was completely unarmed. They had to move.

“Breeah, I’m going to draw its fire. When I do you and Anki run in the opposite direction and get out of the apartment.”

Breeah looked at him, concern on her face, and nodded.

Jon sprang to his feet and ran toward the bedroom, adrenaline coursing through his veins. Just as he anticipated, the guns followed. His speed gave him an edge and the guns missed him, but not by much. The guns changed direction as the pilot realized Breeah and Anki were escaping, and fired to block their escape. Breeah turned just in time and took Anki back to the floor, the little girl crying in fear.

Jon jumped up and ran straight toward the  attack craft, giving it something more threatening to worry about. That caught its attention and it shifted toward Jon again. Breeah seized the opportunity, jumped up and rushed Anki out the door.

Jon moved to evade the gunfire. He dove, the fire retargeted, he leaped, the craft moved with him, he rolled, bullets followed. Jon bounced around the room like a rubber ball, changing directions with inhuman speed. His assailants expected an easy kill, but his abilities caught them off guard. How long could he keep this up? He couldn’t run for the door without getting hit. Sooner or later the gunfire would catch him. He needed to change tactics.

He spotted a round sculpture that had decorated the apartment. An odd looking thing. He had noticed it when they first arrived. More importantly, he knew it had some weight to it. He dove near it, evading another strafing attack, and snatched it as he rolled by.

Coming out of his roll he jumped up and threw the heavy object at the hovercraft. His strength and accuracy sent the orb smashing though the hovercraft’s window and hammering the pilot in the chest. The craft’s front end tilted up and its guns fired harmlessly away from the apartment. It lurched backward at the same time, moving further away.

Jon had hurt the pilot. If lucky he killed him. But there was a second passenger. He might be able to gain control of the craft and resume the attack. Confirmation came when he saw the pilot’s body pushed out of the craft and fall to the ground below.

He had mere seconds now, and he had to reach Breeah and Anki. He bolted for the door and made it out just as a fresh salvo exploded behind him. The bullets ripped through the wall like it wasn’t there, spraying debris in all directions.

Jon turned and ran down the hallway, but the bullets didn’t follow. Maybe his attackers weren’t willing to fire on other apartments. Or, the hovercraft was repositioning itself. Anticipating their next move.

Jon turned a corner and saw Breeah and Anki. Breeah had taken off her lariat belt and whipped it around at a black clad attacker. That was why the guns didn’t follow him, they were afraid of hitting their men in the hallway. The man ducked and the weighted ball on the end of the rope belt just missed connecting with his head.

On the floor lay a second assailant, who had apparently underestimated Breeah’s skill. The man standing held a long blade in his hand. A gun lay at his feet. Breeah had managed to dispose of one attacker and disarm the second. She always found ways to impress him.

He almost wanted to just hang back and watch, confident in her abilities. But they weren’t safe yet. He ran toward her just as the attacker lunged, thrusting his blade at Breeah’s chest. She deftly sidestepped the strike and at the same time swung her lariat around striking the man in the temple with the heavy ball. The blow dropped him instantly.

She turned, still swinging the lariat, as Jon approached, almost striking him as well, but changed the ball’s direction once she recognized who it was.

“Easy. I’m one of the good guys,” said Jon.

“Sorry,” said Breeah, a wry smile forming on her lips, her eyes softening just slightly.

Jon reached down and grabbed the two energy weapons on the floor, tossing one to Breeah. She took the weapon and slung the lariat belt back around her waist. Even the simplest things could be deadly weapons in the right hands.

He looked back at the assailants. They were dressed in black military garb, but had no patches or insignias. Whoever was after them didn’t want to be identified.

“Who are they?” said Breeah.

“I don’t know,” said Jon.

“Are they raiders?”

“They don’t look like the raiders we encountered on the freighter. They could be mercenaries.”

“You think this Durril Tai hired them?”

“Maybe. I don’t think the Kemmar would use human mercenaries, but anything’s possible. Still, how would the Kemmar know we were here?”

“You could ask the same thing of the raiders. How would Durril Tai know about us already?”

“Good question. Someone is talking. We’ll have to worry about who that might be later. Right now, we have to get out of here.”

He reached down and picked up Anki. She put her arms around his neck and gripped his torso with her legs.

“How are you doing, kid?”

She smiled. “I’m okay. Did you see my mom fight?”

“I did.”

“Isn’t she amazing?”

“She sure is,” said Jon. “She’s my hero.”

“Mine too,” said Anki.

Breeah rolled her eyes and gestured to Jon to hurry up.

“It’s time to go now,” Jon said to Anki. “I want you to hold on tight, okay? No matter what happens you hold on to me.”

Anki’s face went serious and she nodded. “I know how to hold on.”

“Good.” Jon looked at Breeah and said, “Ready?”

“Ready.”

“Let’s go.”

They moved cautiously down the hallway.

“We can’t take the elevators,” said Jon. “That attack craft might still be out there, and those glass elevators are too exposed. We have to take the stairs.”

They found the stairwell and headed down. The buildings on DLC station were extremely tall. The apartment was on the forty-fifth floor. A lot of stairs. Breeah was fit. In better shape than most people he knew. Hopefully she wouldn’t be too winded by the time they got to the bottom.

Unfortunately they wouldn’t find out right away. They descended several floors, heard a door swing open, and feet charging down the stairs from above. It sounded like five men altogether. They would have found the men Breeah disposed of. They would’ve seen that their weapons were missing and know that Jon and Breeah were armed. They would be more careful now.

Jon approached the door to the forty-second floor. He opened it and they ran into the hallway with Breeah close behind. He didn’t want to fight in the stairway. He feared the possibility that more men would appear from the floor below. He didn’t know how many there were, but knew that they were all on alert now. They had likely assumed that the attack craft would succeed in killing them. The rest of the men would have been intended to act as mop up, or back up. None of them would have dreamed that the attack craft would have failed. But now they knew different.

They rounded a corner just as the attackers entered the hallway. Jon swung his arm out from behind the wall and fired on the men, hitting one in the shoulder before they returned fire.

He had to get Breeah and Anki to safety. He could hold these men off while they escaped. “There should be another stairwell on the other side of the building,” said Jon. “Take Anki and head that way. I’ll catch up.”

“No, we fight together,” said Breeah, crouching down against the wall, swinging her weapon our and firing at their assailants.

“Can you not just listen to me for once?”

She pulled back behind the wall as a fresh round of energy bolts sailed by her. She looked up and fixed Jon with a threatening stare. “We fight together. We do not separate.”

Jon cursed. He knew she was right, but again, he was worried that they would get hurt. Anki wisely stayed well back. Jon motioned with his hand for her to crouch down. She did. At least she listened. Breeah resumed firing and he swung his arm around to join her in the attack. The tactic took out another attacker, and seemed to take them by surprise.

Breeah shook her head. “They are used to attacking helpless victims, not people who can actually fight back,” she said, disdain in her voice.

“Three left,” said Jon. “Now it’s more of a fair fight.”

“It’s still unfair,” said Breeah, letting loose another volley. “For them.”

Jon smiled and joined Breeah in firing back. He worried about her because he loved her, but he had to admit she was a hell of a fighter. He looked back to check on Anki. She was still crouched low and had a serious look on her face, but when she saw Jon looking at her she cocked her head and flashed him a smile. It was as if she was trying to reassure him. That kid was one tough cookie.

Their assailants had opened the door to the stairwell and were using it for cover. They fired haphazardly, with no real pattern. Jon and Breeah started taking turns, Jon firing, then Breeah. It was predictable. He knew the attackers would try to use it against them. Jon fired and made a mental note of an attacker’s exposed leg. He put a hand on Breeah’s shoulder telling her to wait.

Just as he expected, weapon fire came in low, anticipating that Breeah would jump out. Instead Jon fired again and picked off the exposed thigh. Ducking back behind the wall he heard the man screaming from the other end of the hallway, a fresh hole burned into his quads.

Jon yelled at the remaining men, “You hear that? Death is coming.” A little psychological warfare never hurt. But he wasn’t just playing head games. Death was coming for them. Right now.

He tapped Breeah again and she sprang out, firing on the last two. He surged forward and charged them. They had ducked behind the door to evade Breeah’s shots, but when they realized what was happening one came out trying to fire on Jon. Jon was faster. He picked the man off before he could shoot. The door closed as the last attacker jumped back into the stairwell.

Breeah held her fire as Jon made it to the door. He stood back and opened it in case the man waited in ambush, but there were no shots. He entered and listened for footsteps. He heard them. The man ran down the stairs, trying to escape the reaper. It wasn’t going to happen. Jon raced down the stairway, clearing five steps at a time, closing on his prey. As he gained ground on his quarry, he was greeted by panicked firing. He could still hear the man’s footsteps and knew he was firing backwards blindly while running.