Scrapyard Ship 7: Call to Battle (26 page)

“Gunny, get all available fighters into space. Let Lieutenant Grimes know we need a buffer between incoming fire, and the vulnerable areas showing on our hull.”

“Shields down to thirty-five percent and dropping, Captain.”

It had been a long time since Jason held doubts of
The Lilly
’s
capacity to hold its own in a battle. But right now, things were not looking good. Long-range logistics showed a near endless parade of Craing warships heading their way. What he needed to do was get
The Lilly
the hell away from this area of space, but without the capacity to phase-shift they were stranded here.

“Incoming hail, Captain,” Seaman Gordon said. “It’s from a newly arrived Drac-Vin vessel … oh … it’s the
Assailant,
Captain.”

“Where’d they come from?” Orion asked, her face showing concern.

“Put it on the wrap-around,” Jason said.

Jason would know that face anywhere. The cold, beady eyes, the small tuft of black hair at the top of his Craing head, and that little smirking mouth. “Ot-Mul. Nice of you to join the party.”

“Thank you, Captain Reynolds. It is so nice to see you again, too. We have much catching up to do. Unfortunately, I am somewhat busy right now … so many battles … so little time.”

“Don’t let me keep you, Ot-Mul. Maybe later, then—”

“Before I go, I’d like to share something with you. Think of it as a special gift from me to you.”

With that, the camera feed within the
Assailant
’s bridge area changed to a different site. The new location seemed dark and … eerily familiar. Jason turned toward Gunny. “Can you get a fix on the
Assailant
?”

“No, sir … it’s like she’s close, but there again … not really
there
. I’m working on it.”

There was movement on the display. Jason saw metal bars, a familiar-looking metal railing, and the decking of a narrow catwalk. This was a Craing cruiser’s prison … where hundreds of small holding cells were stacked above the ship’s Grand Sacellum. They were watching the current feed from, Jason guessed, a weapon-mounted camera. Three Craing soldiers were walking in front of the moving camera. What Jason saw up ahead, in the dim light of the holding cells, captivated his attention. Nan was in one, several holding cells away … and Dira, too, in another, farther holding cell. Their faces looked tight and tense as the Craing soldiers approached them.

“Gunny, get a team dispatched to those coordinates. Billy, Rizzo, Traveler, and whoever else we can spare. I want them in a shuttle and en route in—”

“All shuttles are currently in use. We’ve been using them to phase-shift into enemy ships.”

“Find one! Do it now!”

“Aye, sir,” Gunny said, turning her attention back to her board.

Jason continued to watch the feed. The Craing soldiers were now standing in front of Nan’s holding cell. He now realized a second person was in her cell, too. Mollie! Jason’s heart was ready to pound out of his chest. Was he about to see a systematic execution of everyone he loved? Was this kind of vengeance Ot-Mul’s strategy all along? To rip Jason’s personal world apart before his Drac-Vin fleets decimated what remained of the Alliance?

Where was Boomer? Jason watched the feed, wishing he could manipulate the camera … see into the other adjoining cells.
Damn!
He never felt so helpless. Then he remembered, of course … Boomer had escaped; she was hiding elsewhere on that ship. Would she try to rescue them … should he even suggest such a thing? She wasn’t even ten yet … but then again, she was a little girl who could kick the ass of most full-grown men.

A loud metal
clang
brought Jason’s attention back to the here and now. Un-oiled hinges screamed as a cell door swung open.
The Lilly
’s bridge became deadly quiet. Everyone knew what was about to happen.

“Gordon, get Boomer … hail her NanoCom … wait … she’s hailing me.”

Jason heard her childlike voice. “Dad?”

“Where are you, sweetie?”

“Um … I think I’m … let me see—”

“Can you phase-shift to the upper decks, into the holding cell area?”

“I just tried to do that. I ended up in the Grand Sacellum.”

“That’s good! You’re very close … you need to get up to the …” Jason stared at the feed. Something was happening. He didn’t quite understand. The soldier with the gun-mounted camera let the muzzle of his weapon drop—all Jason could see were legs—a scuffle was taking place. Now there was angry shouting. All three—Nan, Mollie and Dira—were screaming, “Stop! God … Stop … Oh no … please don’t—”

Jason’s eyes blurred as tears welled in his eyes. Suddenly, the Craing soldier’s weapon pointed higher up again. Jason’s breath caught in his chest as that same weapon fired—bright flashes, once, twice, three times.

King Caparri’s face looked distorted from agonizing pain. His upper torso showed three charred, smoldering plasma strikes. His eyes, glazing over, fluttered, and shut. His body crumpled and fell out of view. Dira’s screams continued—the camera found the now-prone body of the dead king, lying on the grimy deck. Dira’s screams had turned into desperate sobbing.

The soldier’s attached camera pointed toward Dira’s cell. She sat huddled on the deck, her face in her hands. Another sound. One of pain. Jason recognized Nan’s voice.

“Oh God … Oh my God.”

The camera jerked around and found Nan. She looked scared—her face white—eyes wide and full of fear. “He’s coming!”

Both Mollie and Dira began talking to her, asking her what was wrong. Dira was back on her feet and reaching through the bars. “Nan … you need to sit. Get down on the deck and listen to me.”

Nan screamed, “I’m having the baby … I’m having the baby—”

The video feed disappeared. On the overhead display was only Ot-Mul’s contemptuous face.

“Put it back! I need to see it! You fuck … put it back!” Jason screamed toward the overhead display. “I am going to kill you. Know that … I’m going to rip your ugly Craing head from your neck and—”

“Now now, Captain Reynolds. Please. Let’s maintain some level of professionalism.” Ot-Mul took a sip of something from a cup, licked his lips, and set the cup back down, out of view. “I must say … that was about the most exciting bit of … what do you humans call it? TV? I, for one, was riveted. Weren’t you?”

“I’m going to kill you.” Jason was having a hard time staying on his feet. He was well aware he was about to come completely unglued.

“I know you want to get back to the show. Truth is, I do, too.” Ot-Mul smiled with excitement. “Who will be next? Huh … perhaps your pretty ex-wife and her little infant cub. They can join the recently departed King Caparri … or maybe it will be Dira? A beautiful specimen … I must say, I’ve had certain … thoughts … about her myself. Or should it be your child, Mollie? That is her name, yes? Well, stay tuned … we’ll talk again in a few minutes.”

The feed went black.

Chapter 39

Boomer’s next attempt to phase-shift to a higher deck was more successful this time. She’d accomplished a phase-shift—but it was only as high as deck two, and she was now standing within a holding cell there. There was screaming coming from above. She heard her mother’s voice.
Something is coming.
What was coming? Whatever it was, Boomer knew she needed to get up there—fast. She had a pretty good idea now how to move—how to set her phase-shift coordinates to a higher access plane via the virtual representation of the ship on her HUD. She needed to avoid phase-shifting right on top of someone; her shift coordinates would need to be some distance away from where she saw the life icons were—where they were all bunched together. She double-checked to see where, exactly, she needed to go—it was deck eight. The screams from above had dissipated somewhat. The Craing soldiers there had moved away, were now descending on the lift.
Good
. Boomer phase-shifted.

Again, Boomer found she’d phase-shifted into a holding cell. She was directly across from the four-sided, expansive open space, just opposite her mother and Mollie.
But why’s Mom lying on the deck with her clothes off?
She squinted her eyes, then used the HUD’s zoom capability.
Oh my God!

“That is the most disgusting thing I’ve ever seen!” Boomer wasn’t aware she’d spoken the words out loud. Both Mollie and Dira looked across the open quad-space in her direction.

“Boomer?” they said in unison.

“I’m coming,” she replied. She picked a location directly across the catwalk, just outside their holding cells, and phase-shifted.

She appeared on the catwalk in a flash and looked down into the holding cell. Sure enough, a small head protruded between her mother’s legs. Boomer involuntarily cringed.

“She’s having a baby … don’t make that face!” Mollie said, reprimanding her.

Her mother screamed.

“Keep breathing … in and out … in and out,” Dira said.

Boomer knew what having a baby was all about. She also knew Dira was a doctor and needed to be in there, next to her mother. She set her sights on the far side of Dira’s cell and phase-shifted inside. Dira quickly glanced at her but another scream from her mother pulled her attention away. Boomer rushed forward, put both arms around Dira’s shoulders, and phase-shifted again.

They were now within the same cell as Mollie and her mother. Dira rushed to Nan’s side and began to help support the emerging baby from her mother’s body. Boomer looked at Mollie. “That’s so gross.”

“I think it’s cool,” Mollie said.

The little body was out and now in Dira’s arms. “It’s a boy!” she said, but her excitement was short-lived. The baby wasn’t making any sounds. Nan was crying. She said, “He’s too young … he’s too young to be born … oh my god …”

Tears were running down Dira’s face. Using two fingers, she started gentle chest compressions on the baby’s tiny upper torso. She shook her head.

“I have an idea,” Boomer said. She immediately initiated the steps necessary to retract her battle suit. As the last of the suit segments compressed back into the little SuitPac, she moved over to Dira’s side. “Can we put the baby in the suit?”

Dira looked at Boomer, her brow furrowed; then, as realization took hold, a smile spread across her lips. “Give it to me!” She took the small SuitPac device and placed it on the infant’s chest. Carefully, she placed the baby on the pile of Nan’s discarded clothing. She compressed the two activation sensors, quickly taking her hand away.

The SuitPac quickly began to transform. A tiny version of the battle suit took shape around the infant’s little body. Within seconds, Boomer was looking into the tiny helmet’s visor. The baby still wasn’t moving. His eyes were closed.

Nan said, “Give him to me.” She held the suit-clad baby in her arms and stared into the small visor. “Breathe … oh god ... please breathe, little one.”

The baby made a noise. Not exactly a cry, more like a gulp or gasp. Boomer looked to Dira with a hopeful expression. “Will he be okay?”

Dira moved to Nan’s side and stared at the baby’s face. “I think so. I think you’ve just created a preemie’s incubator, Boomer. The battle suits have all kinds of life support functions … even limited MediPod capabilities. You saved the baby’s life, Boomer.”

Nan reached for Boomer with her free arm and pulled her close. Her tears fell and splashed onto the baby’s small visor.

Mollie giggled, “Look, his little fingers are grabbing my fingers.”

Boomer watched as the tiny fingers wrapped around Mollie’s pinkie. She turned to see Dira looking toward the adjacent cell. The body of a large man, dressed in fancy clothes, lay inside. It was the king … Dira’s father.

Boomer moved closer to Dira and put her arms around her, holding her tight.

“I’m sorry, Dira. I wish I had two SuitPacs with me.”

Dira placed a comforting hand on top of Boomer’s arm. “It wouldn’t have helped … he was beyond saving. He died bravely, though. He was a brave and wonderful father. A magnificent leader … the people’s king.”

The sound of lift motors engaging eight decks below brought them back to the reality of their situation.

Dira looked around the small cell. “Nan, you need to get your clothes back on … we need to hide the baby. Damn! I’m not supposed to be in this cell.” She looked at Boomer and shook her head. “You’re not even supposed to be here.”

The sound of the lift’s rise within the open shaft spurred them to move quickly. Nan handed the baby to Dira and pulled on her dressy slacks. She swayed on her feet and looked as if she was going to topple over. While Nan finished buttoning her blouse, Dira looked about the cramped holding cell for a place to hide the baby. “There, in the corner.” Dira placed the small shape in the SuitPac down on the deck. “Boomer, sit here, right in front of him, and try not to move. Block their view of him, okay?”

Boomer nodded and did as she was told. She watched her mother finger-brush her hair, so as not to look like she’d just delivered a baby. Mollie stood in front of her mother, while Dira stepped back, close to her own cell, and leaned against the bars.

The lift reached deck eight. As the metal gate clanged open, Boomer closed her eyes and settled her breathing—willing her pounding heart to slow down. A sense of calmness returned to her entire being, just as Chief Petty Officer Woodrow had taught her months earlier. She’d need to be a warrior now … not a helpless girl. She closed her eyes and listened. There were four of them. Short steps … all were Craing. She waited for them to come into view down the catwalk.

Three soldiers were in front, the fourth following behind them. All were armed with energy weapons—the one in the rear had his weapon held high—something mounted atop the muzzle. Boomer guessed it was a camera. The Craing soldier was videoing this … recording them being killed?

The four soldiers halt in front of their holding cells and become uneasy. They look back and forth in the cell Dira occupied before. They yammer between themselves. Boomer listened, her internal nano-devices translating their Terplin. They’re certain the one with violet skin had occupied a different cell. What they’re not sure of—had another soldier moved her into this other cell? Were new orders issued they’re not privy to?