The Far Bank of the Rubicon (The Pax Imperium Wars: Volume 1) (41 page)

Gunfire echoed from the tiny cockpit.

Jonas scrambled to stand, ignoring the pain in his arm. He picked up his fletch pistol with his left hand and entered.

Jack was standing, looking down an emergency ladder descending from the floor-mounted escape hatch to the empty tarmac below. The two bodies of the Allied shuttle pilots were thrown together in the co-pilot’s seat. There was no sign of Alex, or whoever he was.

Still pointing his weapon at the tarmac, Jack said. “The s.o.b. was standing right here when I came in, and I swear to you he just looked at me and smiled, Jonas. He smiled at me and then jumped out! By the time I got here, he wasn’t even in sight down below. Fucking A! I don’t think he’s human!”

Jonas was more concerned with the open hatch that could be used to enter the vehicle than with a super-agent. “Yeah, well, it doesn’t have to be a super-agent to come on board if they just float a stun grenade in first! I think I have an idea!”

He left Jack standing in the cockpit, still pointing his gun at the escape hatch. He turned and headed into the wide, squat cabin of the shuttle just as it bucked again. Jonas was thrown against the wall of the short, narrow corridor leading to the cockpit. The door buckled in its frame, but it didn’t open.
One more hit like that, and it’s gone
, thought Jonas.
Well, maybe I can help a little
.

Recovering, he stepped into the cabin and yelled, “I need a grenade!”

One of his security team threw one his way.

Jonas yelled to the whole cabin, “Everybody hang onto something! Get yourself braced somewhere!”

Without further explanation, he turned and re-entered the cockpit. He looked at Jack and said, “Get in the back!”

Jack looked at him and said, “What are you doing?”

“That hatch is dangerous! I think I have a way to close it!”

Seeing him turning dials on the grenade, Jack didn’t argue, but instead, sprinted back into the main cabin.

Jonas jumped over the opening in the floor so he was leaning on the the back of the captain’s seat. He turned the dial on the grenade and used the laser site to set a target. Even as he let go, fletch rounds started flying near his feet, ripping apart the back of the chair. He saw a shadow move on the ground under the shuttle. Jonas jumped back over the opening and ran as fast as he could toward the main cabin, shouting, “Grenade! Gravity grenade!”

He flung himself against the wall facing into the cabin while he waited for the grenade to go off. It was just a second too late. The ram pounded again, and the door fell off its hinges as it penetrated.

Before he could react, Jonas found himself pressed hard against the wall of the craft.

He had set the device to use a combination grav and explosives package. The heavy gravity, combined with a now-slowed and contained explosive, had more force to rip apart the joint on the landing gear. For a moment, Jonas couldn’t breathe. He grunted like he had been trained to do in pilot’s school to keep himself from passing out as all his blood felt like it was pulled into his feet.

As he did so, he watched a Unity drone attempt to enter the cabin through the now open door. Even at the entrance it was having trouble staying airborne.

The squeal of bending metal and then a loud pop let him know his plan had succeeded. The artificial gravity had yet to lessen, but he felt like he was suddenly floating as the nose of the shuttle smashed onto the tarmac below with a loud crunch.

The probe on the automated battering ram, which had been protruding into the cabin, ripped into the ceiling of the vessel and then bent downward as the force of the falling craft and the pull of the artificial gravity combined to lever the ram over on its nose.

The gravity let go as suddenly as it began. Jonas raised his weapon. The drone went into level flight and knocked down two security personnel near the door. It got off two more stunning shots before Jonas and the others were able to bring it down.

He stared at the ground, realizing that the stunner drone hadn’t tried to kill anyone. He guessed it meant they were wanted alive for some reason. That didn’t comfort him. He had no desire to be tortured by Unity interrogators. Most victims begged to die before it ended.

Well, that gives me the advantage
, thought Jonas.
I don’t have any problem killing people right now
. That thought made him a little sick to his stomach, but he ignored the feeling.

With its two back skids still in place, the shuttle sat with a significant down angle to the front. The fuselage hadn’t broken, so the craft effectively rested on its nose.

After helping take out the drone, Jonas ran back into the cockpit. There was now only a small gap between the fuselage and the tarmac, maybe a couple of feet—too small for anyone or anything threatening to get in the vessel.

It was only after all of this that Jonas recognized that with the battering ram stuck in the main door and the cockpit entrance blocked, they only had one option for getting out of the vehicle. He raced through the cabin to the back. As he ran down the aisle at a crouch, he thought he got a look at a couple of black-fatigued troops near an armored vehicle.

With the main hatch open, his security team took up positions near the disabled battering ram, occasionally exchanging fire with Unity troops outside. Jack joined them.

Anna and some of the intelligence staff had positioned themselves by the back door, ready to handle any disturbance there. Sophia crouched in a corner nearby, awkwardly holding a pistol someone had given her. She looked terrified. Jonas wished he had time to help, but it would have to wait.

Jonas put a hand on Anna’s shoulder. “Anything back here?”

“Not yet.”

For a couple of minutes, things seemed to settle down. There were occasional exchanges of small arms fire around the main door of the cabin, but mostly that was a stalemate. The calm sent Jonas’ nerves jangling. Come on, Brennen. Get someone here.

In a moment of quiet, Jonas thought he heard a small machine, almost like an electric motor. It sounded like it was coming from the back of the fuselage near him but on the opposite side from the main cabin door. Jonas strained to get a look out of the small window in the rear compartment of the shuttle next to the galley. With the back end of the shuttle sitting up high, he couldn’t see much, but he could just make out the tire and the side of a vehicle back there.

He was about to say something when somebody up front yelled, “Fire! The ship’s on fire!”

Jonas glanced forward to see flames in the small panel where he had been working. One of the team guarding the door had just moved to get a fire extinguisher when there was a large ‘whoomp’ sound as the whole corridor between the cockpit and the main cabin erupted in flames. Acrid smoke started to fill the air, rising toward the back of the shuttle.

The soldier futilely emptied a fire extinguisher on the fast-spreading flames.

An alarm started to blare in the cabin.

Jonas looked between Anna and the fire. He tapped her on the shoulder again. Still crouching and pointing her weapon at the closed escape hatch, she turned her head to look at him over her shoulder.

“Get that hatch open! We have to have a way out. We’re going to have to leave a little early! Also…”

Jonas never got to finish his sentence. As that moment, there was a small crack at the back of the cabin, as a neat and nearly perfect oval opening appeared in the side of the fuselage. Even before Jonas could turn, commandos dressed in black started to flood the shuttle between his security team at the main door and the remains of the intelligence staff at the back.

“Get out! Everybody get out!” Jonas’ voice bellowed as he tried to fire at the oncoming Unity troops. He got one shot off before somebody kicked the gun out of his hand. From there it was a melee of flying bodies and grasping arms. Jonas lashed out with his elbows, hitting someone behind him in the sternum. Then he charged into the soldier in front of him, who stumbled. Jonas kicked him in the thigh as hard as he could. Then he stomped on his chest, hearing a sickening crunch as the man screamed in pain.

When he looked up, he was facing someone wearing Alex Beauregard’s uniform, but the almond-eyed, brown-skinned man didn’t look anything like him. Jonas grabbed the knife in his own belt with his right hand and led with a swing of his left. Neither hit their mark as the man in front of him knew just exactly how far he had to move to avoid them.

Around him, the aisle became crowded as the rest of his team tried to force their way past the Unity soldiers. However, Jonas’ consciousness barely registered them, as the mingled noises of stunners, fletch pistols, and the wounded disappeared. All that mattered was the killer in front of him.

Jonas concentrated and barely dodged the first counterattack. He didn’t avoid the second. He took a hit under his ribs from a firm set of fingers. He roared in pain, and even as he did, he lashed out with his feet, kicking upwards. It was enough of a surprise that, while it didn’t find its mark, the kick at least forced his opponent back.

Jonas turned and bowled over a Unity soldier behind him who was trying to subdue Jack. Most of the rest of the staff had already left.

Scooping a weapon off the floor, which turned out to be his own, Jonas took two steps and jumped onto the emergency slide which served as the back exit. He didn’t really have time to see much before he was at the bottom. Standing up, he nearly ran into the back of the remnants of his team, which had deployed in a semicircle around the slide. There were perhaps a dozen of them left standing, including Jack, who came down the slide after Jonas. He was the last one to exit that way.

Sophia was there, near the back, nervously pointing the pistol she had been given at the ground. She had been near the door, so she must have been one of the first to exit. As Jonas stepped by her, he gave her what he hoped would be a little reassuring squeeze on the shoulder. He wasn’t sure if it helped.

Facing them were a group of fifty to sixty Unity forces, with their weapons leveled at his team. They also had two vehicles nearby, several others further off, plus the ram still buried in the shuttle and some other type of assault craft, which Jonas had never seen before. It had a back end which levitated, allowing them to enter the shuttle without a door.

Jonas recognized his troops were hopelessly outgunned.

After the chaos of mere seconds ago in the hot, smoky shuttle, the quiet on the tarmac seemed startling. Jonas noticed the slight breeze on his face. It was a gray, cool day on Pontus. It fit with the gray and black of the tarmac surrounding him. The low clouds promised rain. The gravity felt lighter than he was used to, more like Earth norm.

At most spaceports, the terminals were underground, so they didn’t get damaged during launches. Jonas noted the gaping mouth of an entrance perhaps thirty yards from where he stood. He wondered how many of the Athenians could get to it in time and decided none.

He was finding it difficult to get a deep breath. The punch to his diaphragm had at least bruised him, or worse.

The assault vehicle moved away from the shuttle. As it did, the back end glided silently down, lowering those inside.

Jonas turned with three others to face them. Now his team created an almost complete circle. The deep cover agent was the first to exit the assault truck. He carried on his back one of the Allied troops who hadn’t been so lucky. He was at least unconscious. Others were escorted out, hands in the air. When he got nearer to Jonas, the agent gently laid the unconscious man down on the tarmac.

Jonas tried not to think about how many had been left behind in the now burning wreck. Not that any of them were completely out of danger. They were all going to need to move quickly, or they would be incinerated by the shuttle’s hydrogen reserves.

The agent came forward and, pointing a weapon directly at Jonas, said, “Tell your troops to surrender.”

Jonas tightened his grip on the pistol. He thought for a second. He was about to put down his weapon and give in, when a low rumble like thunder gave him pause.

Behind him, the clouds started to boil. Even before anything else could be seen, a single streak of flame flew from the cloud, as a chemically-propelled missile streaked by and hit the group of armored vehicles sitting further away on the tarmac.

For a moment, all eyes turned upward.

There, dressed in her reflective ceramic covering, a full-sized fast boat of the Athenian naval forces descended through the cloud deck and opened fire on the Unity troops with all of its point defense weapons. Half a klick long, the fast boat dominated the sky above the wrecked shuttle. The sight of the Athenian Navy had never been so welcome.

Jonas glanced back down and, in a split second, saw the end of his life before it came. The agent’s weapon was still lowered on him as he started to run. He kept the weapon steady and on target. Before Jonas had time to react, the agent’s arm jerked sideways, and the shot never came. He grasped his shoulder with his free hand, even as he continued to move.

Jonas turned to see Jack still firing at the agent as he ran with almost supernatural speed under the shuttle, out of sight, and toward the opening to the terminal beneath them. Like the guns on the boat above, Jack seemed to be just a half-step behind.

Jonas headed across the tarmac toward the unconscious man.

Many of the other commandos simply dropped their weapons and ran. Most of them didn’t get far, as the AI on the fast boat appeared to have a bead on each one individually.

Lifting his team member off the ground, he threw him over his shoulder and yelled for his troops to follow him as he waved his free hand. The remaining Athenians took off at a run, leaving behind their wrecked and burning shuttle as the fast boat thundered.

A couple of minutes later, they boarded a transport which had descended from their salvation above.

As they lifted off, Jonas found himself next to Sophia, his mind buried far beneath the trauma of the day. Around them, medics tended the wounded. Noises buzzed and blended together. Jonas couldn’t seem to focus on any of it.