Shadow of the Blue Ring (45 page)

“That was too close James,” he panted, “you Ok?”

“Fine, I think,” James replied, although there was a burn mark across his shoulder that was causing him a fair amount of pain. There was no major injury though, just a surface wound. A scratch compared to what had happened to Kosare. James followed the rest of the team through the bunker doors and into the large room inside. As soon as they were all in, Morelli closed an emergency door in front of the entrance, one that would hold the enemy for a short time. They had a few minutes to catch a breath.

“Oh wow…” James noticed it after taking a few seconds to recover his strength. It looked like a giant torpedo, about nine meters in length, a bright silver colour and consisting of a very similar technology to that from which the Evening Star was built, “is this… ?”

“The Shadow Bringer? Yeah,” said Kalmar, “in all it’s glory. Looks to be all in one piece, well obviously except for the three missing parts that we have with us but it looks undamaged.”

“You think you can get it open?”

“I should be able to, I’ve seen it’s schematics before, I managed to get a look at some of the senate’s secure files once. I think I know how do do this.”

“Then you, Loca and the engineering teams get to work,” said James, “the rest of us… we’ll just have to defend this location until you’re done. I’ll contact Kaydenne on the flyer and… damn!”

Whatever had been scrambling the signals outside was even stronger inside the bunker. It must have had some kind of field surrounding it that messed with sensors and communications, making it difficult to locate. He needed to get a signal out but he could not go back out through the front doors, the Lataka and Al’cari would be all over that area. There was only one other way out…

“I need to get to the roof,” James said, noticing a set of stairs on the far side of the room that lead upwards, “I need to get a signal out of here.”

“You’ll be a sitting duck up there,” Lucy warned him, “we should stay inside while we can. This building seems secure enough.”

“I need to contact Kaydenne and I need to contact Marek up in orbit,” said James, “I’ll go up alone, you guys stay down here.”

James left the room where his crews were beginning their work to install the missing components and headed up the stairs. It was six or seven flights high but there was a hatch at the top which James was able to force open before climbing out onto the roof. The roof area was very large, easily large enough to land the flyer on which was a relief, it meant they would have a way out once the weapon was armed. He had an excellent view all around from where he stood, he could see the battle in the distance, still raging on but having become more widespread now with many alliance forces having to take cover within the base to survive. He now noticed that he had signal on his comm, just as he had hoped he would. He quickly got in contact with Melina on the flyer.

“Kaydenne, everything Ok?”

“I’m fine over here,” came Melina’s reply, “the alliance forces are struggling though, the Lataka and the Al’cari have intensified their attack. Juarez has had to send more reinforcements down just to hold the landing area.”

“Well just make sure you stay safe,” said James, “we’ve reached the bunker where they’re keeping the Shadow Bringer and we’re attempting to assemble it now. I need you on standby to pick us up as soon as we’re ready.”

“I’ll be ready to come and get you as soon as you’re done, just give the word,” said Melina, “we’ve got alliance forces starting to fall back through the base perimeter though, I think some of them may be attempting to retreat back to the ships for when we pull out.”

“Just keep me updated,” said James, “I’ll try to keep someone in radio contact with you at all times, the signal is a bit patchy over here. Stand by for orders.”

James quickly closed the link and set up a connection to Juarez and the rest of the fleet in orbit.

“What’s going on down there James?” Juarez was quick to ask, “I’m seeing a lot of movement from the Al’cari and Lataka forces. They’re pulling back and heading back into the base towards a structure near the centre. Have you found the Shadow Bringer?”

“We’ve found it and we’re putting it together now,” said James, “it’ll take us a few moments though, we’ll need as much cover as we can possibly get. The bunker we’re in is pretty secure and there only seems to be one way in or out other than off the roof.”

“I’ll do what I can to get forces in to cover you,” said Juarez, “I’ve ordered some of the men to get the wounded out and back to the ships, we’re trying to make sure we can get everyone out in time once the weapon is armed. How long until you have it ready to blow?”

“Still working that out now,” said James, “we’re going as fast as we can but we’re going to have half the Lataka forces on the planet kicking this door down if we don’t hurry.”

“Understood,” said Juarez, “just keep me informed, we’ll keep your path off the planet covered, we’re all still holding on up here, the Adeans are really turning things in our favour.”

“Good job, I’ll be up there shortly. It’s almost over now, we just need a few minutes.”

Closing the channel, James took a look out over the base complex below him. He could clearly see dozens of Lataka and Al’cari soldiers coming from all directions towards the bunker. He knew that they wouldn’t risk using explosives or make any attempt to demolish the building, they needed the Shadow Bringer in one piece and that was James’s advantage. The enemy could only use conventional weapons or risk losing the one thing that they had spent so long trying to recover. If they damaged it, they would have nothing to trade for their freedom.

Without warning, James heard an explosion from below. Panicking, he rushed back down through the hatch and down the stairs as fast as he could move. There was the sound of weapons fire below and a lot of shouting. Reaching the ground floor he saw that his crew had used the equipment in the room to set up a barricade at the front entrance but the Lataka had broken through the emergency door on the outside and were attempting to force their way in. It was a narrow corridor leading into the bunker and neither the Al’cari or Lataka could get inside without being greatly exposed to fire from James’s team. Kristea, Saavoy, Lucy and Kyrakian were all comfortably holding down their position, picking off anything that moved outside of the bunker but they were now exposed and they needed to hurry.

“Kalmar, how long?”

“One piece is in, we’re working on the second now,” Kalmar replied, assisting several members of the crew as they tried to haul the particularly heavy piece they had found on Sharstrom into it’s berth on the back of the weapon. They were frantically doing everything they could as fast as they could but it was still going to take time to get each piece in and properly installed. James hurried over to the barricade to lend his support to the team as they held the front entrance. Every so often, a group of Lataka tried to storm the entrance but sustained fire from the team was stopping them in their tracks every time and the mass of dead Lataka on the floor of the entrance hall was making it more and more difficult for the approaching Lataka to climb over.

“We can’t keep this up forever, James,” Kristea warned, “there is only so long we can hold them back, there are just too many of them.”

“Just keep taking them down as they come, we’ll get through this,” James said confidently, despite the enemy continuing their push towards them through the bunker doorway, “just let the teams do what they need to do, we’ll get out of this.”

“If you say so,” said Kristea, “but this isn’t looking good!”

As long as they stayed behind cover and continued to pick off the enemy as they came, they could hold out. The largest piece of the Shadow Bringer was in, they only had to install one more piece, the small blue orb that they had recovered from Alatennia was being placed into an alcove near the front of the weapon and it’s many cables and tubes were being re-attached to where they needed to be. It wouldn’t be long now.

“Just keep holding them back!” James called to his team, seeing how close the weapon was to being completed, “just a little longer, we’re almost done!”

“I think we’ve got it!” Morelli called back to him, “the last piece is in, we just need to turn it on and arm it now.” Morelli rushed around the side of the weapon and opened up a panel. There was a small screen and a keypad behind it which came to life as she opened it up.

“all right…” she said, “. . . Kalmar, how do we get it armed?”

“I… erm…”

“Oh please tell me you know how to arm it!” Morelli shot at him, “if we can’t turn this thing on, all of this was for nothing!”

“Let me have a look,” Kalmar brushed her to one side, taking over at the panel, receiving a very dirty look as he did so “oh damn, it’s all in ancient Jaiytid, I’m not great when it comes to translation. Does anyone else here know how to read it?”

“Yeah, only one of us,” said Morelli, “that was Jaiden, and she’s not exactly in a position to help us right now.”

“Kalmar, can you arm it or not!” James yelled from the barricade as more Lataka tried to get through, Kyrakian stepping out and gunning them down as they approached. The way in was still clear but the pressure was intensifying from the outside.

“I can try,” said Kalmar, although he was starting to look panicked and there was sweat dripping from his brow, “but one mistake and we all go up with it. Wait… I’ve got it!”

He started hitting some of the keys on the pad. James was too focused on holding back the Lataka to see what he was doing but he was onto something and he hadn’t blown them up yet. James just hoped he could find the solution before they were overrun, there were Al’cari soldiers showing up at the entrance to the bunker and they took considerably more firepower to take down.

“I’ve found the arming sequence,” Kalmar said, stepping back from the weapon, “we just need the remote detonator and then we can use it to activate the countdown sequence from pretty much anywhere.”

“So where is the detonator?”

“It’s… Oh…” Kalmar swung around, scanning the room, looking very anxious as he did so, “there’s no detonator! It must be here somewhere, search the room!”

James felt like banging his head on the barricade, although he had to keep his focus on the battle before him. As his expert on the Shadow Bringer, James had expected Kalmar to know what he was doing when the time came but he had not thought it through properly. Maybe he really didn’t know what was needed and was playing on instinct, much like James often did, but it would have been nice to have had certainty having come so far and having now assembled the weapon.

“They’ve stopped coming!” Ansare quickly drew everyone’s attention back to the bunker entrance, “are they just gonna give up?”

“Not likely,” said Saavoy, “they know that if they can’t get in, we can set off the weapon and blow this place. They wont give up, we should be careful, there might be more than one way to get in here.”

“Everyone look sharp,” James warned the group, “you see anything alien, you hit it first and ask questions later.”

James kept a watchful eye over the room as his engineering crews continued the search for the detonator. There was a large amount of salvage being stored at the back of the room, the purpose of which was unknown but it was likely the detonator was thrown in with the rest of it. They could really do with finding it quickly…

“Got it!” Connolly called to them from the salvage pile, recovering a small silver device that was very much in keeping the the Shadow Bringer itself.

“Yes, that’s it!” Kalmar exclaimed, “bring it here, I’ll get it working.”

Connolly had been about to hand the device to Kalmar when a massive explosion tore through one side of the bunker wall, throwing debris across the room and throwing the whole group off their feet. Once more, James found himself dazed but seemingly unharmed. He had been wrong about the Al’cari and their use of conventional weapons, they had taken a great risk by blowing open one side of the room, any damage to the Shadow Bringer could have either set it off or damaged it beyond repair and made it useless to their masters. The side of the room where the entrance had been was now a mountain of rubble and there was a considerable hole in the side of the building through which an Al’cari captain was now forcing it’s way.

“All of you, back away from the weapon!” it exclaimed, “do it now!”

It held it’s weapon up in their direction, ready to fire if any of them made any kind of aggressive move towards it. Most of the crew were still struggling to get to their feet and none of them could make a move to attack fast enough. James wanted to go for his weapon but the Al’cari captain was prepared for any move he might have made, he had to hold back or he would have been shot before he could get within a meter of his gun.

“It does not have to end this way,” the Al’cari said to them, “all of you leave, now, and we will let you live. The weapon, the Shadow Bringer, must go to our masters in order to save my people. There is no other choice.”

“There is always a choice,” James contested, “you don’t have to do this. Call off your people, call off the Lataka and we can take this weapon out of here instead and make sure no one can ever use it on an inhabited system. No one else has to die over it.”

“No!” The Al’cari said aggressively, “you do not know the torment the survivors of my race will face at the hands of our masters when we return if we do not deliver the weapon. Do not force this pain upon us, we have suffered enough over the years.”

“You forced this on us right from the start!” Kalmar shouted at it, “thirty five years my people have been suffering under attacks from your kind. Thousands of us have died at your hands and at the hands of the Lataka. If we destroy this weapon now, it all stops.”

“We never wished a war with your people, Adean,” said the Al’cari, “to save our race we are to deliver the weapon at all costs, even if we had to take over the dig site from which you recovered this weapon and kill your people who were stationed there. Two hundred lives to save an entire civilisation from extinction was seen as an acceptable sacrifice. Your people chose to make war on us, we defended ourselves. All we did was make an acceptable sacrifice to save our people.”