CAUTION... CAUTION... CAUTION... CAUTION... CAUTION...
STANDARD WARNING
This story is of an erotic nature.
I wouldn't dream of telling you what you can or can't read but if the law, in your part of the world, says you must not read this sort of fiction then please go read something that they'll let you.
Don't break the laws, change them.
CAUTION... CAUTION... CAUTION... CAUTION... CAUTION...
Rescue Mission
A Story in The Swarm Cycle Universe
by Duke of Ramus
A Piece of my Imagination
The Swarm Cycle
The Swarm Cycle is a collection of stories manufactured around a concept introduced by the Thinking Horndog positing an alien invasion and Earth's reaction. The intent is for this to be a multi-author universe similar to the popular Naked In School stories. If you're a budding author of erotica or sci-fi and see something here that strikes your fancy, pop over to the Author's Page for more info on what's going on here and how to submit a story for this collection. The rest of you are probably here to read, so...
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Disclaimer
This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author�s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental
� 2009 Duke of Ramus.
All rights reserved.
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The Swarm Cycle Universe
Copyright � 2007 The Thinking Horndog
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Thanks
Many of the Swarm author's group have provided assistance with ideas and detailing in this story and for that I thank them.
Special thanks go to Mulligan and Steve T for their editing assistance, their work ensures that this is a better story than my initial efforts.
As always, any errors that have appeared since are mine.
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Chapter 1
The sexy woman ran her hand down her exposed flank and smiled, "Justin, can we do it again?" she asked in a soft, sultry voice.
"No we can't," replied the man lying next to her, his expression changing abruptly from sated to businesslike. "I've got to get to work, Heather, and you know that."
The man, a physics professor rolled over quickly to escape the grasping arm of his concubine and came to rest on the edge of the bed. "I swear that ever since you found out that you're pregnant you've become insatiable," he growled at her.
The blond woman on the other side of the bed batted her eyes at her owner before grinning mischievously, "If you'd asked me when you picked me up, Justin, I could have told you all about it," she replied. "Barry always said he needed help after he got me up the duff."
"And that man gave you four children!" exclaimed the professor. "What was he, a raving lunatic?" he exclaimed throwing his hands skywards in mock horror.
"Professor Bennett," responded Heather seriously, "I'll have you know that my husband, God bless him, was as randy as I am and enjoyed playing with my body." She patted her growing tummy, "Especially when he got me all big and round." Heather couldn't keep a straight face and grinned across the bed.
Justin Bennett looked over the rumpled bedcovers at his big titted blond concubine and was seriously tempted to climb back into bed with her. It had been three years since his extraction and the novelty of having two gorgeous girls at his beck and call still hadn't worn off. Heather was the more blatantly sexual of the two and always seemed to be ready to drag him into bed whenever she got the chance.
His other concubine, Georgina was far more studious which was why he had Heather running the household and Georgie helping out as his assistant in the laboratory. The only thing he was missing on this assignment was the noisy presence of the half dozen children that made up the rest of his household.
Justin snorted, unlike in the stories he'd read on the old sex sites he'd never been propositioned by a student to get higher marks. That could have had something to do with his specialist subject and the complete lack of female students where he'd taught.
"Come on, Heather, I've got to get to work," he repeated rising to his feet.
Behind him Heather giggled, "Shall I start the shower?"
Justin sighed, "No, I can manage that myself" he replied and then paused as Heather started to get out of bed. "but you can go and prepare breakfast for us."
"Spoilsport," called Heather as the professor headed for the bathroom.
"Don't worry," he said from the safety of the doorway. "Even if I can't manage it later I'm sure that Keith Tucker would be willing to stand in for me."
He ducked behind the door as Heather grabbed a pillow from the bed and hurled it in his direction.
"What's the matter, dear?" he asked from his position of safety. "You know how much the illustrious professor fancies you. He's always going on about how much he'd like to get you alone."
"Me or any other woman on the base," shouted Heather. "He's a hyena, scavenging around the edges of polite society."
"True," responded Justin, "but he's also a genius."
"Then why doesn't he know how upset his own girls are at the way he totally ignores them?" asked Heather.
Justin stuck his head back around the door, "Probably because he's only interested in the chase," he said. "There were stories back on Earth about him working his way through every female in his department. Assistants, students, even the cleaners were supposed to have succumbed to his charms. I didn't believe it at the time but now? I guess it was true."
"He was that good?" asked Heather curiously.
"Lets put it this way," said Justin, "we all went into the medical pods after pickup, didn't we?"
Heather nodded.
"He's the only one who looks the same now as he did going in." Justin raised his eyebrows for a moment. "Go and make breakfast, Heather, I'm going to have my shower."
Heather looked at the closed door for a moment before turning to do her master's bidding.
"Professor Bennett, the provisional survey results are in." The speaker was a slim brunette wearing a pale grey laboratory coat.
"About time," muttered Justin as he stood up. It had been a long day and he was looking forward to getting back to his pod.
"I'm sorry," said Georgie, her face falling at her owner's apparent displeasure.
"No, Georgie, it's not your fault," said the professor reaching for the slim woman. "I should have known that it was going to take this long," he shrugged and tried to grin, "I just wanted them yesterday."
"Didn't we all," added Professor Tucker from the other side of the room. "Well don't keep us waiting," he added sharply, "What does it show?"
Georgie passed the display tablet she was carrying to Professor Bennett. "It appears that the heavy metal compound you discovered in the planet's crust is attenuating the transporter signal in some way, Sir."
"The distribution of the compound matches the signal attenuation directly?" asked Keith Tucker as he crossed to look at the display.
"These results seem to indicate that," admitted Georgie, "but the correlation is still a little tenuous around the smaller deposits we've identified. It will take a full geological survey to establish the exact location and size of each of the deposits. Once we have that we will be able to state categorically that it is this particular compound that attenuates the signal."
Keith Tucker snorted, "What else is it going to be?"
He switched his gaze from Georgie to Justin and continued, "There isn't anything else we've identified that causes anything like the problem we have with the transporters. We can call it quits now and get off this rock and back to civilisation."
"Not yet we can't," stated Justin firmly. He held up his hand to stop Keith interrupting, "I agree it is almost certain that we have found the cause of the problem but this is a scientific mission and until the I's are dotted and the T's crossed we're not finished." He smiled at Keith, "Still, I believe we should be able to wrap this up and go home in a month or so."
"What do we need to do first, then?" asked Professor Tucker.
"Get some drones up under AI control to do a full mineralogical survey of this planet," replied Justin. "We could also extract a decent amount of the compound and drag it clear of the planet and investigate how range impacts on its effect on the transporters."
"Georgie, go and work with the AI and see what you can coax out of it. We need a full survey in as many different ways as you can think of," he thought for a moment. "Begin with magnetic anomaly and a spectrographic scan. After that use your own judgement."
"Yes, Professor," responded the concubine and departed immediately to do his bidding.
As she disappeared from view Keith Tucker shook his head, "I don't know how you manage it," he said.
"Manage what?" asked Justin confused.
"Get them to obey you like that," replied Keith. "I've never heard anyone say that you've disciplined them but both of your concubines ask how high when you give them a command."
Justin shrugged, "I only ask them to do things they want to do. They've no reason to refuse." He could see that Keith Tucker still didn't understand for all his intelligence and he wasn't in the mood to enlighten him. He shrugged, "Discipline doesn't have to be physical," he concluded.
"If you say so," was all Professor Tucker could muster as a reply.
"Have you had any thoughts on how this compound is blocking the transporters?" asked Justin to change the subject.
"Not that I'd want to put before a peer review but my initial thoughts are to do with resonance," replied Professor Tucker.
"You think the field is interacting with the compound at that level?"
"Nothing else makes sense," replied Keith sharply. "There isn't enough metal to physically act as a shield and just about any other part of the electromagnetic spectrum is unaffected by the stuff. What else can it be?"
"I suppose that's true," responded Justin soothingly. "I wonder why it's only been found here?"
"Chance," declared Keith.
Justin stared for a moment and then slowly nodded, "I suppose the incidence of two of the rarer metals in one location could account for that."
"Throw in the equally weird location of this moon, or planet if you like and I think that were on to something." He paused, "One thing we haven't tried yet is replicating the stuff, I wonder if that would work?"
Justin thought for a moment before responding, "I doubt it," he said. "The replicator works at the molecular level, I doubt if it would create the right subatomic matrix to get the effects we've witnessed."
"It's something we'll need to try at some stage," said Keith.
"True, but I hope it doesn't replicate." He shuddered, "If it can be replicated and the Sa'arm find out about it, we're in deep shit."
Keith looked confused for a couple of seconds and then his eyes shot open. "You're right, if they can block our transporter signals then the drop in attacks we've been using so successfully will be a thing of the past."
Justin nodded, "It'll also make this one of the most valuable moons in the galaxy."
"Or one of the biggest liabilities," concluded Professor Tucker.
The Galileo shuttle settled onto the pad and silence filled the air for a moment, that is until the rear loading ramp dropped and Keith Tucker led the two women who'd accompanied him out into the daylight. As he strode towards the remote sub-base's entrance the shuttle was grabbed by a tractor beam and carefully moved into the adjacent hanger.
The closest that this system had to a habitable planet was, like Earth, in the third orbital position but it would be a million years or more before it settled down enough to be considered for colonisation. The fifth planet was a methane-clouded gas giant and only a cursory survey had ever been attempted of its surface.
That wouldn't have caused a stir amongst the AI's who guided the survey ships or the humans that crewed them. That the ninth moon of Morgat five held an oxygen atmosphere that was barely breathable by humans, did. That is what attracted their attention but when they then had problems transporting drones to the surface to collect samples, the anomaly became a huge red flag.
The Confederacy dispatched an investigative team under Professor Justin Bennett to see what was causing the problem and if it was of any significance.
Now the sub-base, technically Morgat five niner-gamma but usually referred to as Gamma base was about to become host to Professor Tucker and his two concubines for the final couple of weeks of occupation.
The base had started as four standard pods dropped from the ship that brought the investigative team here. Over the first month on the ground three of the pods had morphed into a single entity that housed an accommodation block as well as the main science area and a storage facility. The fourth pod had expanded to form the hanger that the shuttle was now settling into.
The door opened as the professor approached and a rush of warm air greeted the rapidly chilling party. Skin suits, like those worn by the Marines were only so good at keeping a body warm in the extremes here on the moon.
"Get in here quickly," called Keith as he dropped his bags just inside the door.
Two women rushed in after him, hopping to the side as they came in to avoid the professor's bags.
"Darlene, get this stuff put away," snapped the professor before turning to the second concubine. "Veronica, you'd better get us some food whilst I see to setting up the mining operation."
Darlene nodded and reached for the nearest of the professor's bags. Veronica flashed her sister concubine a look of disgust, "I'll get that," she said reaching for the second of the professor's bags. "The replicators are in the back pod next to the bedrooms."
Keith Tucker missed the interchange between his concubines, he was already thinking of the most efficient way to mine a portion of ore so that he could get it tested.
Gamma base had been the nearest of the three human bases to a large deposit of the compound they were investigating and that had decided where this experiment was going to be conducted from.
Its sister base, called Beta, was on the equator but on the far side of the planetoid from Gamma base and was currently home to Professor Teresa Porter and her team who were running the planetary survey that Justin Bennett had deemed necessary.
He was still in the main base that, in keeping with the simple naming convention they'd adopted was known as Alpha base. This base was situated at the planetoid's North Pole and had originally consisted of six pods but now occupied twice that area.
In Alpha's control room Morgan Green, a technician with the mission, looked up from her display, "Professor, are we expecting any visitors?"
Justin turned to the speaker, "Not as far as I'm aware, Morgan. Have you checked with the AI?"
The red headed volunteer shook her head negatively, "There's nothing shown in the log but I've just had a report from Beta that they've picked up a hyperspace transit flash."
"Where was it?" asked the professor.
A holograph of the system appeared in the middle of the room, "Way over here," explained Morgan as a red light started to strobe. "If it was someone coming here I'd have expected them to come in on this side of the system."
"I see what you mean," replied the professor, frowning. "Bend a sensor over that way and see what it is."
"Yes, Sir," responded the technician returning her attention to the console she was working.
Justin paced behind the two duty technicians, his mind in a whirl. They'd been on this rock for nearly eight T-months and had had precisely two visits. In each case it had been the scheduled supply run by the Fleet Auxiliary, something like this was totally without precedence.
"Oh, shit!" exclaimed Morgan, her expletive attracting attention from everyone in the room.
"What?" snapped Justin dropping his hand on her shoulder. Neither he nor Morgan knew how he'd got there so quickly.
"According to the AI, that's a Volturnus freighter."
"What is a Volturnus freighter?"
"It's a Sa'arm ship," said Morgan twisting to look at the professor.
Justin blinked a couple of times, "A Sa'arm freighter, what on Earth is that doing here?"
"Off the top of my head, professor, I've no idea," replied Morgan, "but we sure as hell don't want to attract their attention."
"No we don't," agreed the professor. "Tell the other bases to keep communications to a minimum and not to do anything that is likely to attract their attention," he ordered.
"Yes, Sir."
Justin took a deep breath and looked to the ceiling, "AI, what are our options?"
"This base has no offensive or defensive capabilities at this time. There are two Galileo class shuttles available, both of which carry minimal armament. However, they are deployed to the two satellite bases and would not be up to the task of taking on a ship. It is suggested that you request assistance from the nearest Confederacy forces."
"Thank you," replied the professor softly. "I'll prepare a message for dispatch."
He turned and headed for his office space, his shoulders slumped and his feet shuffling along slowly. Anyone watching him would believe he had the weight of the world on his shoulders and although this was only a small world. It's woes were definitely on Professor Bennett's shoulders.
Chapter 2
The well-built man twisted his body around, checking as he did so that the bright yellow projectile was no longer heading directly for his head. A short swing with his right arm and the gladius he was wielding slashed the ball in two.
"Yes!" he hissed exuberantly as the two halves of the sphere flew harmlessly either side of his body.
"Session complete, prepare for the resumption of gravity." As the AI's voice reverberated off the metal walls the man calmly flipped over so that he was correctly orientated and as the gravity was slowly returned he allowed his body to drift downwards, the floor once more became the floor rather than just another flat surface.
Albert Murray really enjoyed reflex training in free fall and working with the AI was faster than using a human opponent. Not as tricky, the Marine Commander was willing to admit but much, much faster, even with the enhanced reflexes and musculature that his fellow Marines possessed these days.
As his feet hit the deck Bert, as he was known by his peers made his way to the cage that held his kit and pulled out a towel. Behind him the AI began using various beams and transporter nodes to collect together the remains of the balls it had been using as projectiles, recycling them for the next training session.
Bert headed for the shower room, dropping the gladius he'd been using to slice up those balls into the recycling bin as he passed it by. One of the big advantages of the replicators was that you didn't have to clutter the place up with items that you didn't use all the time. As long as you had sufficient raw material and power you could replicate things as you needed them. The likes of knives, forks and spoons no longer filled drawers, even the sports equipment he had just been using was produced as it was required and recycled after use.
There was very little that actually belonged to anyone any more, which seemed to have solved the problem of petty theft overnight. Nobody needed stolen property when they could replicate anything they might want without risk or resulting to skulduggery.
That wasn't strictly true he knew; original artwork was very much in demand, whether it was a picture, sculpture or a sound track of some sort. Copies of anything, classical or otherwise were available straight out of the machine but something original still required some input from a sentient being.
Many of the houses in the colonies were like miniature art galleries, decorated with the efforts of both citizens and concubines alike. Bert knew of at least one guy in his regiment who led an extremely varied sex life because he traded the pictures his concubine created for time with other owners' slaves.
Not that Bert was artistic, unless you considered killing the dickheads to be an art form.
He tossed his towel onto the bench and hopped into the running shower, one the AI had already set to his own preferences of pressure and temperature and relaxed after the strenuous workout.
The AIs had tried to convince people to use the ultrasonic showers they had but like many others he preferred the feel of water cascading over his skin. Bert chuckled to himself, as he personally believed that the AI's considered humans to be little more than their Neanderthal forebears at heart because of their insistence on sticking with so many outdated ideas.
Bert didn't really care, he enjoyed bringing his women into the shower and washing them down by hand, something that neither of his concubines objected to in the slightest.
Life certainly was different after extraction and even now, three years after his pickup, Bert wouldn't say that he was entirely acclimatised to the way things were. He wouldn't say he was suffering because of the changes, but the way some things were still didn't seem right.
He refrained from singing as he scrubbed the sweat off his technologically enhanced body and tried to decide what he was going to do next. Being a passenger on a freight run was boring and he'd already used most of the limited facilities on the Aurora class freighter that was carrying him.
The gym, available with or without gravity could only take up so much of his time and keeping fit wasn't the chore it used to be. The medical facilities and the nanites that infested his body saw to that.
Without other Marines to talk to, Bert was getting stuck for ideas of how to pass the time, at least he only had another week to go before they arrived at Demeter and he could disembark. He'd tried talking to the crew and they were pleasant enough, but they were Fleet Auxiliary, not even real Navy and they tended to keep themselves to themselves.
Toweling his body down he figured he'd go back to his bunk and have another look at what was available in the AI's library section. You never know, there might be a history text that he'd find interesting.
"How are things?" asked Alice Freeman as she stepped onto the bridge.
"Fine," replied Jon Wells, the First Officer, from his position leaning against the command chair.
Alice raised an eyebrow at the Lieutenant who was first officer of the ship and he shrugged in response.
"How else would you describe hyperspace?" he asked philosophically. "There's nothing to look at and 'Eddie' is performing as normal. The load hasn't budged an inch and I'm bored almost to death."
Alice couldn't help grinning at the look her First Officer gave her, "Come on, Jon," she said, "If you wanted excitement you should have joined the Navy." She gave him a sly look, "You could always ask for a transfer if you want, you know? I'd be glad to endorse it."
"Do I look brain-dead," he replied in mock indignation. "I've got brain cells that work, thank you very much."
"So, other than being bored, is there anything else that I, as the Captain of this wonderful ship, should be aware of before you go off duty?" she asked.
Jon brought himself up to a close approximation of attention and responded, "No, Ma'am." The grin he had plastered across his face gave a lie to the formality of his posture.
"Then I have the bridge," Alice replied just as formally. "Now get your ass off my bridge and go see if that woman of yours can get you interested in life again."
"See you, Alice," called Jon as he left the bridge a happy smile on his face.
Alice took a slow walk around the bridge before settling into the command chair. Ships these days didn't really need a crew when they were travelling in hyperspace, there was nothing to see and not a lot to do.
But this was her ship and the bridge would be manned at all times whether in hyperspace or docked, just in case something untoward happened. To minimise any moaning she took her turn. Not for her was the claim that rank hath its privileges, besides it was something she enjoyed.
She flicked through the log to see if anything had occurred since she had last been on the bridge and was un-surprised to find nothing out of the ordinary.
She stretched, the muscles in her body complaining momentarily before she relaxed. Her new body was beautiful and she always enjoyed the feel of it but the mind that was driving it had been around for nearly fifty years and only genetic luck had allowed her a high enough CAP score to be extracted.
Being given command of this freighter had been the highlight of her new life, even more so than being commissioned into the Coast Guard back on Earth.
She continued to peruse the log, going back until she reached the section detailing the manifest for this voyage. It was typical of the sort of things that she and her ship had been asked to do. Forty-two of the old Leopard assault shuttles were bolted to the standard pod mounts at the rear of the ship. Getting them there had been a bit of a chore and the ship's workshop had had to manufacture the adapters that made it possible. She didn't understand why she was taking them back to Demeter, believing that it would have been simpler to recycle them for their raw material where they were. But that wasn't the way the Navy did things and they had decreed that the shuttles needed moving and her ship had been given the task.
The forward section was carrying forty-eight pods, over half of them empty. The remainder were filled with processed Uranium ore, commonly called Yellowcake. Alice wasn't aware of any use for this material other than weapons production, not that it bothered her if the nuclear fallout created was going to land on the Swarm.
The only other item on the manifest was Albert Murray, a Marine Commander on route to Demeter for onward shipment to the Staff College. She'd spoken to him briefly when he'd arrived on board and Bert, as he had insisted on being called, had seemed nice enough, for a Marine.
Alice sighed and darkened the screen, now she could relax until she was relieved. Another day or so of travel and they'd drop out of hyperspace to see if there were any messages and re-orientate themselves for the final jump to Demeter.
The bridge of the Eddie Stobart was fully manned as the time to drop out of hyperspace approached. Whilst not a particularly dangerous manoeuvre, according to the AIs, it was a stressful time for the humans involved. Ships did go missing for no apparent reason and the gut feeling was that it happened during transition.
"Prepare for transition," announced the AI loudly and Jon Wells looked up from the screen he'd been studying and glanced around the bridge. The place that had been practically deserted twenty-four hours earlier was now a hive of activity, activity that paused for a second at the AI's announcement.
"Five, four, three, two, one," came the countdown. "Transition..."
No one needed the AI's declaration to let them know when the ship dropped out of hyperspace and back into the 'real' universe. The feeling of nausea varied from person to person but was always there. Experience enabled a crewman to deal with the discomfort faster but it never went away.
Jon swallowed hard once and turned his attention back to the screen, concentrating helped him deal with his own queasy stomach. The ship's AI was unaffected by the transition and had been busy generating a position fix for the 'Eddie'. Inside ten seconds the display confirmed that the local stars matched the expected positions and spectral classes for the way-point, ergo they were in the correct location.
"Position confirmed, Ma'am," he reported.
"Thank you, Jon," replied Alice from her position in the middle of the bridge.
"Captain, we have an incoming message," announced Jon.
"We have?" responded the captain in surprise.
"Yes, Ma'am. I'm decoding it now," reported the First Officer.
Alice allowed her gaze to flick around the bridge and she saw the tension in the posture of her people. It was standard procedure to drop out of hyperspace at specific way-points; officially it gave the astrogators a chance to correct any errors in their navigation. It was also a time when the high-speed message drones could be used to pass messages to ships, which was what appeared to be happening now. The surprise was that it was happening at all, in all the time that Alice had commanded a starship she'd never received a message at a waypoint.
Alice gripped the arms of her command chair firmly. Was it a general message? Or was it something specific for the 'Eddie'?
Whatever it was it wasn't going to be something good, of that she was certain.
Jon Wells stood up from his console and grasped the display tablet in his hand; his eyes found his Captain's and transmitted his shock at whatever the message contained.
Alice squared her shoulders and held out her hand, "Give it here, Jon," she commanded.
Silently he took two steps across the bridge and handed over the decoded message.
Alice took a deep breath and looked at the tablet.
'Base GHU-069 on Morgat V-niner is under threat from the Sa'arm. You are to evacuate all personnel and AI's from that base. Under NO repeat NO circumstances are personnel or AI's from that base to fall into Sa'arm hands. Any and all options are acceptable to achieve this, including the destruction of your vessel.'
The order was signed by the Commander of the Fleet Auxilliary and confirmed by the Commander of the Navy. Those two names left no doubt as to the level that this order had originated at, nor how serious the matter was being taken.
Alice read the message twice and considered her options, not that she appeared to have many.
"Jon, get us moving in the direction of this Morgat and then I'll have a heads of sheds meeting in my ready room."
Jon Wells nodded and Alice rose from her command chair and walked towards the door of her ready room. She paused as the door slid open, "Jon, you had better invite Commander Murray to join us. I think we are going to be needing his help before this is over."
"Yes, Ma'am."
Chapter 3
Bert Murray looked at the copy of the message he'd been handed as he entered the room and frowned, "Does anyone have any idea what this base has been doing?"
He'd only had a moment to peruse the contents and that was the first thing he'd thought of. Around him people seemed to be dazed as they stood around the Captain's ready room waiting for the meeting to begin. He wasn't particularly surprised when no one responded immediately to his question. There were so many things going on throughout the galaxy that he didn't have hope of keeping track of all of them.
The fact that these REMFs didn't have a clue either wasn't really that surprising. Base GHU-069 was on someone's secret list and could have been doing anything. Personally he didn't even know what the acronym GHU stood for though some of his colleagues reckoned it stood for God Help Us.
"No, Commander, we don't," said the Captain from behind him. "It is the same with these orders, we weren't expecting them and the whole thing has come as something of a surprise."
Bert felt his cheeks turn pink as the Captain spoke, "I'm sorry, Ma'am, I meant no disrespect."
"And none was taken, Commander," replied the Captain as she moved around him and headed for the conference table in the centre of the room. "Now if everyone could find a seat we can discuss what we are going to do and see what preparations we need to make."
The ship's officers took seats on either side of the rectangular table, Jon Wells took a moment to point towards the end of the table away from the Captain, "Grab that seat, Commander," he instructed.
Bert nodded and moved around to the designated seat, he didn't rush, taking the time to look at those sat around the table. The Captain and First Officer he'd already met and whilst he hadn't really rated them, he didn't have anything against them either. His perusal of the ship's manning list earlier enabled him to identify the others at the table.
Terry Webb was the ship's engineer and sitting next to her was Julie Simpson, the deck officer. Opposite that pair was Gerry Stevens, the ship's systems officer. The five people present made up the command staff of the ship and were the only volunteers on the crew. All of the other people on the vessel, those who did the actual work were the concubines of these people.
Bert knew it hadn't always been this way. When the Fleet Auxiliary had been formed the deckhands and the like had been volunteers as well but it was felt that training them as officers or transferring them to the Navy as crewmen was a better use of manpower. Using the concubines for the simple tasks around the ship allowed the crew's families to stay together and freed up volunteers for more important tasks.
"Ladies and Gentlemen," began Alice and then paused until she had everyone's attention. "You've all seen our new orders and now we need to decide what we are going to do about it. The 'Eddie' is heading towards the Morgat system and will be arriving in two and a half days time. When we get there we need to be ready to extract the people who are there and accommodate them. We also need, if necessary to destroy the base." She glanced around the table, "I'm open to suggestions as to what we need to do to accomplish those tasks."
She sat back and waited to see what ideas would be forthcoming.
Julie Simpson was the first to speak, "Both of our interface craft are serviceable and we have pilots for both. Lifting the people there shouldn't be too much of a problem." She glanced around the table and when no one said anything she continued, "We can put people up in the central areas for now but I'm sure we could put some of the empty pods into service if we need to."
"How many people are there on the base?" asked Jon Wells.
"According to the data dump that came with the orders there are ten plus their concubines. I wish they'd given us the total but we'll assume there are about thirty-five or so," replied the Captain.
"We can get that many in one trip," said Julie, "and there's more than enough room in the ship's core to accommodate them once they're here."
Alice nodded and looked towards her First Officer, "What do you think, Jon?"
"That's fine provided the Sa'arm aren't anywhere near the base when we get there," he said. "If they are then we could have a whole host of problems. We have no weapons either here or on the interface craft and on top of all that the thing handles like a barge in the atmosphere."
"That's true," admitted Julie.
"Do we have any drones on board?" asked Gerry Stevens. "If we do we could simply drop a transporter terminus down to them and bring them up that way."
"We've got the drones but I don't think the terminus will be big enough to recover the AI, for that we're going to need to land," said Alice. "If we can't get down to them then we'll have to do that to get the people out which brings us nicely on to the second problem. How do we destroy the base?"
"We could throw pods at it like that Civil Service guy did on Neptune," offered Terry Webb.
Alice cocked her head to one side and looked puzzled.
When no one else offered to enlighten her, Bert spoke up, "Tribune ap Rhys was in charge of a ship similar to this one and was evacuating concubines from the colony world of Neptune during a Sa'arm invasion. In a bid to assist the defenders he tossed eleven habitat pods at the grounded hive ship. It worked and the hive ship was destroyed, which allowed sufficient time for us to mount a counter attack."
"Uhmm," hummed Alice her eyes looking off into the distance. "Just how effective was that" she asked. "Did it totally destroy the ship, or just disable it?"
"It was the same as dropping a small megaton yield bomb on the thing," replied the ship's engineer, "without the fallout."
"It would have been even more effective if he'd been able to fill the pods," added Bert.
"What with?" asked Alice.
"Just about anything," said Bert, "It was a kinetic strike so the greater the mass involved the bigger the bang."
"Velocity would have helped as well," added Gerry.
"And that could have been achieved?" asked Alice.
"Not in that scenario," said Gerry. "It was pretty much a snap shot, but if he'd had time he could have accelerated the pods for a few hours before releasing them."
Alice's look said why didn't he, so Bert supplied the answer. "From the moment ap Rhys decided to throw the pods to the first one being detached from the ship was fifteen minutes, tops." He nodded towards the ship's engineer, "He's right though, if the pods could have been made more aerodynamic the terminal velocity would have been higher and the yield greater."
Alice thought for a couple of minutes and everyone sat and waited.
"So if we reconfigure the pods we're carrying and fill them with whatever we have available we should be able to destroy the base from orbit?" she asked eventually.
"Yes, ma'am," responded Gerry.
Jon Wells raised his hand from the table and Alice nodded for him to continue.
"Some of the pods we're carrying are filled with that refined uranium ore," he said. "Would it be better to reconfigure some of those pods as bombs rather than trying to fill the empty ones?"
"Would it make a nuclear bomb?"
Gerry shook his head negatively, "I very much doubt it," he said. "It'll be more like the depleted uranium rounds that tanks used to use."
Alice nodded once in understand. "Do it," she ordered. "Get together with the AI and see what would be the optimum number of pods to take out this base and see that we have the pods ready in two days time."
As the ship's officer rose to depart Alice called out, "Commander, if you could give the matter some thought I'd be most appreciative. Anything you can offer would be helpful."
"I'll do that, Ma'am," replied Bert before turning and following the other officers out of the room.
Bert grabbed a coffee from the replicator and headed over to the table currently occupied by Terry Webb and Julie Simpson. They were concentrating on a holographic projection that hovered above the cup-strewn table.
"Mind if I join you?" he asked, sitting down without waiting for an answer.
"Sure," muttered Julie without taking her eyes off the hologram.
"That's about the best we can do," announced Terry when a green light flickered over the display.
"What are you trying to do?" asked Bert, studying the display of what appeared to be a large bomb.
"It's a pod," replied Julie. "We asked the AI to display the best configuration it could manage in the time available for atmospheric re-entry."
Bert turned his eyes back to the display and smiled, it was a bomb, just a bigger bomb than he was used to seeing. "How effective will it be?"
"AI?" said Terry.
"Energy dissipated at the point of impact will be in the region of eight point one times ten to the sixteen Joules, subject to the actual atmospheric conditions encountered. That is nearly two megatons of TNT in your terms."
Bert nodded, "That should take out the base."
"The effects will penetrate over five hundred metres," said the AI. "The base AI is only buried to a depth of two hundred and fifty metres. It will be destroyed."
"That'll only be necessary if they haven't managed to get it ready to leave," said Julie.
"True, but it is better to be prepared for a worst case scenario," said Bert. "Which brings me to another point. Why don't we use the assault shuttles rather than the ship's interface craft. They're designed for this sort of job and flying them is the same as the interface craft?"
Terry looked at Bert before switching her gaze to Julie.
Julie blinked a couple of times and then snorted, "You're right, we should use them."
Terry cocked her head to one side and Julie waved a hand, almost casually. "I didn't think of them," she said. "They're cargo, not part of the ship's equipment."
"Could we crew them?" asked Terry.
"For a basic in and out job we should be able to," replied Julie. "The flight controls on all shuttles are pretty much the same. We just wouldn't be able to fight them the way Marines would."
Both of the women looked at Bert.
"Don't look at me," he said, "I'm a ground-pounder, not a fly-boy." He took a sip of his coffee, "But I'm willing to bet that you'll be able to use the energy weapons they have without too much in the way of training."
"What else can they do?" asked Terry.
"Drop bombs," declared Bert, "If you have any."
"We don't," said Julie frowning. "AI, can we reproduce bombs for the shuttles?"
"Yes."
Terry looked at Julie, who was still frowning, "What's the problem?"
"I'm not sure if it would be a good idea?" she replied.
"Why ever not?"
"A bomb in the wrong place, or at the wrong time could do us more harm than good," she replied. "It'll also give my pilots something else to worry about whilst flying an unfamiliar craft."
Bert was nodding, "You're right, of course. In these sorts of situations it's better to apply the KISS principle." He grinned, "It gives less chance for Murphy to get involved."
The three of them paused, the hologram slowly rotating in front of them.
"How many are you going to make?" asked Bert.
"A couple should be enough to take out the base," said Julie, "and I don't want to lose all of our cargo."
"Spoken like a true deck officer," replied Terry.
"Hey, if I had it my way I'd only use a single pod but you engineering types get things wrong so often it's better to have a spare."
Before Terry could reply the AI interrupted, "It may be necessary to reduce the two out stations as well as the main base."
The three officers stopped as they processed the statement. Bert was the first to react.
"What out stations?"
"GHU-069 has two smaller stations established on the surface. They are detailed in the plans for the base," replied the AI.
"Are they in use?"
"Their status is unknown at this time."
Terry turned to Julie, "You had better let the Captain know," she said. "I'll get started on these things." She nodded towards the spinning hologram, "I'll get six pods converted, just in case."
Julie nodded once, "I'm on it."
Bert managed to get time with one of the industrial class replicators the Eddie had.
He was glad to find that it already had the images it needed to produce a Marine skinsuit for him along with a full set of battle harness and the standard Marine assault rifle. If he was going to be in on this operation he wanted to be using equipment he was familiar with.
Happy that that task was underway he went looking for Jon Webb, the First Officer.
"Have you got a minute?" he called when he spotted the officer in question.
Jon was looking harried but he stopped his fast walk in the direction of the bridge and waited for the Marine to catch him up, "What can I do for you?"
"I was wondering who you were going to put on the ground when we get there?" asked Bert.
"On the ground?"
"Yeah," replied Bert casually. "Someone is going to have to be down there directing things or it will all go to rat shit."
Jon closed his mouth, "I don't know," he responded truthfully. "I thought we'd just send the shuttles down and pick up the people we were after."
"That's fine if they're properly organised themselves," said Bert. "But I'm willing to bet a month with my favourite concubine that they're going to be running around like headless chickens and you'll need someone to crack the whip."
"Are you volunteering?" asked Jon hopefully.
"I guess I am," replied Bert. "But if that's the case I'll want a couple of your people to go with me."
"Why?"
"I'll want someone to watch my back and help if there is any trouble," said Bert.
"In what way?" asked Jon.
"If I'm banging heads together there's a chance that someone will take offence. If they do I'll need someone there to take them down before they get to me."
"Kill them?" Asked Jon in shock.
"Not necessarily," said Bert calmly, "especially if we give them stunners rather than guns."
"I'm not sure if I've got anyone to spare," began Jon.
"Concubines would be fine," said Bert. "Especially if they were calm under pressure."
"I'll speak to the Captain and see what she says," said Jon.
It was clear to Bert that his request had shocked the sailor.
"If you would," he replied, "and the sooner the better as I'd like to get them equipped and give a little rudimentary training if I can."
Jon walked off shaking his head.
Chapter 4
"Commander."
"Ma'am."
"These are my concubines," said the Captain indicating a young man and a slightly older looking woman.
"Ma'am?" replied Bert.
"You wanted two people to watch your back."
"That's right, Ma'am," said Bert.
"These are they," said Alice, favouring Bert with a smile. "I'd be most appreciative if you could bring them back when you've finished with them."
Bert nodded, "I'll do that, Ma'am."
"David, Yvonne, this is Commander Murray. You'll be working with him until this, uhmm, problem is solved."
The two concubines nodded but looked confused. Bert took charge, "Come on, you two, let's go and get things organised."
He nodded to Alice and headed off, the two confused concubines following in his wake. He headed straight for the small medical bay and didn't say a word until the three of them were inside and the door was shut.
"Have either of you ever fired a gun before?"
David shook his head, "No."
Yvonne nodded, "I have," she said. "My dad was a hunter and he taught all of us kids to shoot."
"OK," said Bert and then paused. "I take it neither of you has a clue as to what is going on?"
"No, Sir," they responded in unison. Yvonne added, "I know we've been sent somewhere unexpected and there's a lot of tension in the air."
Bert nodded, "You're right there," he said. "Simply put, one of our bases is in trouble. We're being sent there to evacuate the base and destroy what's left behind. Where you two come in is that I'm going to be on the ground sort of directing things and I need someone to watch my back. It looks like you two have been given the job."
Yvonne swallowed and David looked shocked.
"How it's going to work is this," explained Bert, "You're going to be made to look like Marines." He waved towards the med tubes, "Physically at least. After that it's down to uniform. Yvonne will get a rifle and you'll get a stinger, David. When we go down to the planet you'll follow me around and keep an eye open."
Yvonne looked troubled, "Sir, we, err, are not allowed, you know, to urmm, harm volunteers."
"Normally that's right," said Bert, "but in this case you will be operating under my direct supervision. If you take down a volunteer, even kill one, it will be at my command. Any trouble that flows from this will be coming in my direction, not yours. As soon as you are returned to the Captain anything you've done whilst with me will be forgotten about."
"Can you do that?" asked David.
"AI?"
"Under the parameters of this mission 'any and all options are acceptable,'" responded the AI. "Commander Murray has given a legal set of orders and the concubines of Alice Freeman will not be held responsible for the death or injuries suffered by any volunteers," it paused, "or any others."
Yvonne and David stood there looking at Bert, who grinned back. "That's right, I'm even more god-like than normal," he said and chuckled. "Now hop into these pods so we can get you looking like Marines. I'll see you when you come out and we can get you fitted out then."
Slowly, nervously even, the two concubines entered the med tubes as Bert gave his instructions to the AI. As the two tubes sealed another concubine entered the room, "I'm here to keep watch, Sir," she said softly.
Bert nodded to the concubine but was listening as the AI said in his ear, "Transformation will be finished in eight hours. There will be some residual pain but it should be present for no more than two hours after they exit the med tubes."
Bert turned to the concubine, "I'll be back for those two in eight hours, if there are any problems, or you have questions, give me a call."
"Yes, Sir," responded the woman as Bert left.
The bridge of the Eddie Stobart was fully manned once more as the ship approached the Morgat system. Commander Murray had found a place to stand behind the Captain's command chair and was watching silently as the Fleet Auxiliary personnel went about their allotted tasks.
Tension was high, much higher than it was for a normal transition to normal space. No one was sure what they would find and more than one of the people present had spent the previous night working through their own version of a nightmare scenario.
For Bert this was a worrying time, he could deal with going into danger on the ground because there he could have some impact on events. Here he was entirely in the hands of the ship's crew, admittedly a crew for which his respect had slowly been growing but it was still out of his hands.
Alice Freeman had her own worries, headed by dropping into normal space under the guns of a Sa'arm dreadnought. She'd been trying to convince herself that the Navy wouldn't have sent her into a situation where she didn't have a chance but she hadn't been successful. Things change. They may not have known what was here when they sent her. Thoughts like that kept nibbling away at the back of her mind as she sat there trying to look calm.
"Prepare for transition," announced the AI, it seemed excessively loud on the nearly silent bridge. Although everyone had been waiting for the announcement it managed to take almost everyone by surprise. Gasps greeted the words as the crew reacted.
"Five, four, three, two, one," came the countdown. "Transition..."
"Position confirmed, Ma'am," reported Jon Webb.
"Thank you, Jon," replied Alice. "Gerry, what can we see?"
"Scanning, Ma'am," replied Gerry Stevens as he worked the ship's limited sensor suite hard.
The bridge returned to silence as everyone there did their job but most of them were distracted, waiting for Gerry to announce his findings.
"Ma'am, there's one other ship in the system as far as I can tell," said Gerry looking up.
"And?" responded Alice.
"It is a Sa'arm ship, Ma'am. It is in orbit around the moon we're here to visit," said Gerry glancing at his screen. "The AI identifies it as a Volturnus freighter which, according to this readout has a capacity somewhere between ours and a Kilo class ship."
"Is there anything from the base yet?"
"Not yet, ma'am," replied Jon immediately. "but even if they're watching for us it'll take the best part of four hours for a radio message to reach us. We're going to have to deal with that transmission lag until we can get hyperspeed communications established." He shrugged, "And to be honest I don't think that it would be worth the effort it in this case."
"Agreed," said Alice, "we shouldn't be here long enough to need it."
She thought for a moment and then said, "Gerry, keep an eye on that ship and let me know if it starts to move." Gerry nodded once and turned back to his displays.
"Jon, head us towards the moon but keep it slow and easy. The last thing I want is to draw attention to ourselves."
"Ma'am," replied the First Officer and turned back to his duties.
"Should we deploy the modified pods?" asked Bert.
"Not yet," said Alice glancing towards the Marine. "We'll detach them about a light hour from the moon but keep them alongside us as we move in. I know that velocity would increase their impact value but the flight time from out here would give the Swarm a chance to evacuate the target area."
"A surgical strike rather than trying to disrupt the whole satellite," said Jon as he stepped up to the command chair.
"Don't get me wrong," said Bert, "I'm all in favour of that approach. Lobbing those pods from here would add another time constraint when we're on the ground. Having them in close may lower their destructive power but it does give us more control over when that impact is going to be."
Nobody left the bridge for the next four hours, conversations were muted as the Eddie slowly closed the distance to the base.
Almost on schedule the expected message arrived from the moon base and Jon looked the data transmission over before carrying the results across the bridge to where the Captain was waiting. Nobody even pretended to carry on working as the two ranking officers studied the report and quietly discussed what they were going to do.
Alice looked up and smiled, "It doesn't appear to be as bad as we'd feared," she said. "The Sa'arm have landed on the far side of the moon from the base and appear to be expanding on the surface. The two out-stations will be the first to be encountered if they continue to expand as they have been but we should have plenty of time to evacuate both of them before that happens."
There was a collective sigh of relief as the Captain returned her attention to the report.
"Commander, there is one thing here that may be of particular interest to you," said Alice.
Bert crossed to her chair and waited for her to continue.
"It appears that transporters do not work well around this moon," she said. "In fact they are limited to a maximum range of approximately five kilometres and aren't particularly trustworthy then."
"It looks like you will have to land to collect the people and not just the AI module," she concluded.
"Have they recovered the AI?" asked Bert.
"It's in the main habitat module but is still connected so that it can continue to run the base," replied Jon. "They tell us that they can have it disconnected and ready to move in thirty minutes.
"That means at least an hour," said Bert.
"You think they're lying to us?" asked Alice.
"Not lying," said Bert. "It's more a case of being overly optimistic in their own abilities and under-estimating what can go wrong. You never know, they may manage it but I won't be banking on it."
"Does this change your plans?"
"No, Ma'am. We'll drop on the two out-stations first and evacuate the personnel and any equipment they deem essential," said Bert. "Once that's completed we will do the same for the main base before you blow it out of existence."
Jon nodded, "And as long as the Sa'arm don't get involved it should be a straightforward operation." He glanced at the Marine, "I just wish I knew why they were here."
"Don't we all," said Alice before turning her attention back to Bert. "We should be in position to launch the shuttle in a couple of hours, Commander. I want you to evacuate the Beta out station first as it has the greater number of people. If the shuttle has sufficient capacity then go to the Gamma base and collect them as well. If not bring them back here first then go and get the other out station."
She nodded once before continuing, "That will leave the main base. It's further from the Sa'arm and is likely to fill a shuttle on it's own."
"Ma'am," replied Bert coming to attention for a moment, "I'll get started."
Alice watched as the Marine headed for the door, "Good luck," she whispered as he disappeared from sight.
"Jon, we will be dropping one of these pod bombs onto each of the out stations just in case the people we are evacuating 'forget' something important. See if you can manage to have it happen at the same time as Commander Murray begins evacuating the main base." She smiled grimly, "That should give the Sa'arm something to think about other than what we are up to."
"Yes, Ma'am."
"Justin, the Captain of the ship wants to talk to you."
"OK, I've got it," said the professor. The wait whilst the approaching freighter had closed the range to a point were face to face communications had become possible had been almost as nerve wracking as the much longer wait for the ship's arrival in system.
Moments later the image of Alice Freeman appeared before him. "Hello, Captain. You don't know how happy I am to see you," he said by way of a greeting.
The image smiled back, "Well, I'm glad we got here in time. Are you ready to begin evacuating?"
"Yes, we are," replied the professor. "I take it there are no changes to the plan you transmitted to us?"
"No," replied the Captain. "My shuttles are beginning their approach now. As soon as everything is out of your Beta base they will cross to the Gamma site and clear that one. Have you anything new to report?"
"No," said the professor. "The Sa'arm have continued to run a ferry service between their main landing point and the ship. We've detected elements spreading out from that position but it has been next to impossible for us to track them all."
The Captain scowled at that but she understood that the professor was using weather and communications satellites in a way that they'd never been intended for. The fact that he had any data at all was to be considered a bonus.
"Has anything been seen near your position?" she asked.
"Not yet," replied the professor, his tone indicating that he didn't expect that to remain the case for long.
"Well let's hope it stays that way," said the Captain before glancing off to her left.
Justin watched as her eyebrows rose in reaction to whatever had attracted her attention.
"Professor," she asked tuning her attention back to him, "how many shuttles have the Sa'arm been using to ferry things around?"
"It's difficult to tell but there are at least three because we've seen that many in operation at one time," replied Justin. He thought for a moment and added, "I would say there has got to be at least four and possibly as many as six."
The image turned away once more and asked a question.
Justin considered what had just gone on and asked his own question, "AI, are there any details on the shuttles the Sa'arm use?"
"Which class?"
"The ones that we have seen operating from the freighter in orbit?"
"The Lupercus class interface shuttle is the primary method used by the Sa'arm for deploying to the planet's surface from the Volturnus freighter and the Voluptas hive ships. It is capable of carrying up to three hundred bodies internally and appears to have external hard points although there are no recorded instances of them being used. As far as we have been able to ascertain it is unarmed."
Justin closed his eyes for a moment, "So the Sa'arm could use one of them to bring three hundred fighters here?"
"Yes," replied the AI.
"Oh, shit!!" muttered the professor.
He opened his eyes and looked straight into the worried eyes of the ship's Captain.
"I see you've just had the same thought I've had," he said.
"If you mean that we could suddenly find ourselves neck deep in dickheads, then yes," said the Captain brusquely.
"We're going to have to expedite the evacuation and watch for any reaction to our shuttles," said Justin.
"That's one thing," said the Captain. "It also means that the chances of something being left behind go up so destroying the base after you're out of there is going to be even more important."
"Agreed," replied Justin. "Have you decided how you're going to manage that?"
"Kinetic strike," said the Captain simply.
Justin nodded, it was the sensible answer. He'd contemplated blowing their own power plant but the AI had informed him that it couldn't be done. It wasn't a case of over-riding safeties, the system could lose pressure and stop working but couldn't be made to explode regardless of how many horror stories he'd heard in the past.
"All of our people are ready," said Justin. "Let's get the show on the road."
Chapter 5
"Alpha Base, we are two minutes from your location."
Bert heard the pilot's words in his ear and automatically began checking over his own equipment. This wasn't meant to be a hot landing but habits are hard to break, especially ones that have kept you alive when faced with the death and destruction that usually accompanied the assault landings he was normally involved in.
Along side him the two pretend marines he'd created saw what he was doing and did their best to copy his actions.
Both of them looked the part now, their bodies had been resized to the two metre tall standard of the Confederacy Space Marines and their body mass had increased to match their impressive height. Dressed as they were in the Marine skinsuits it would be almost impossible for the casual observer to tell they weren't the real things.
Like Bert, Yvonne was carrying the standard laser-based assault rifle. Bert had spent an hour teaching her the basics of the weapon, loading and unloading and more importantly safety. Beside her sat David who was carrying a stinger, not the lightweight model the Marines used during extractions back on Earth but a heavy model that looked like a support weapon and was used to control rioting crowds aboard colony ships.
"Remember what I said earlier," said Bert. "Stick with me and try to remain silent. If there is a problem I'll try to deal with it but if I need someone stunned, do it. Don't hesitate or we could all be in trouble."
David nodded in understanding.
Bert turned to Yvonne, "I'll keep my rifle slung over my shoulder so that it is out of the way. You keep yours in hand. We'll only use them as a last resort." He shrugged, "We're here to help these people and as long as we all keep that in mind there shouldn't be any need for us to do anything other than point and smile." He shrugged, "I'm sure they are going to be as anxious to get away from this moon as we are."
Bert took a deep breath to steady his own nerves, "One minute," he called, echoing the pilot's report to the base they were approaching.
"Commander, this is Gerry Stevens."
"Go ahead," said Bert.
"There's a Sa'arm column heading your way," reported the Eddie Stobart's systems officer.
"How big is it?" asked Bert calmly though his heart rate climbed.
"About three hundred bodies but it's hard to be accurate. If they maintain their current speed and direction they'll get to the base in approximately six hours."
"Are they using any vehicles?" asked Bert.
"None that I can detect," replied the man in space.
"Right, let me know if they speed up," said Bert.
"Will do."
The connection in his ear went silent and Bert hissed, "Shit."
Neither of the concubines heard him and he decided it would be better for all concerned if they didn't know what was coming. He reviewed the operation and concluded that it was still a runner, it just had a definite end time now.
The shuttle came in hard and low, the pilot enjoying having a responsive craft to play with. The undercarriage compressed as the craft was set down firmly and the rear ramp dropped, revealing the entrance to the base.
Although Bert kept quiet he was impressed with how close the pilot had set down the shuttle. He released his harness and stood up, behind him the two concubines did the same. As the Marine headed quickly for the ramp they followed along obediently, the noise levels making normal speech impossible.
The door to the base slid open and a statuesque woman stepped out, she had a mask in her hand but simply held it there. Bert's implant informed him that this was Professor Teresa Porter, who headed up this part of the research team.
As the pilot spooled down the engines Bert headed straight for the professor and held out his hand, "Professor Porter, I'm Commander Bert Murray. If your people are ready we'll get them aboard and be on our way."
"We're ready, Commander," replied the professor, giving his hand a perfunctory shake. "We'll begin loading immediately."
She stepped back into the base and waved to a man by the door. He was already wearing his environmental helmet and as soon as the doorway was clear he picked up a silver packing box and headed out.
Bert looked at the array of equipment lined against the wall and winced, It was going to take some time to get that aboard. Hopefully the people in the shuttle would be able to get things stowed away quickly.
"How many people do you have?" asked Bert.
"There's just a dozen of us," replied the professor, leading the rescue party deeper into the base. In the canteen area she waved towards one of the tables, "The replicators are still working in here so make yourselves comfortable and we'll call you when everything is loaded."
"How long do you think that's going to take?" asked Bert.
"It took us a couple of days to unload when we got here but that was because we were using the Galileo shuttle. With that thing you've got it shouldn't take us more than five or six hours to get everything aboard."
"Professor," said Bert firmly, "You haven't got that long. We need to be out of here in three hours, tops."
"Why?" she asked, her lips compressing as she stared at the marine.
Bert took her arm, not brutally but she wasn't going to go anywhere he didn't want her to and moved to one side of the room and spoke quietly, "Because there is a Sa'arm column heading this way. If they continue as they are they will be here in six hours but that could change at any moment."
The professor looked shocked, then her demeanour changed from belligerent to worried in an instance.
"We need to be out of here in three hours," repeated Bert. "So I'd suggest that you prioritise your loading schedule and get your people to hustle."
Teresa Porter didn't say a word, just turned and rushed back the way she'd come.
Bert returned to the concubines and grinned, "Let's have a coffee then see what we can do to help get these people out of here."
Bert took his time over his coffee, he figured it was going to take some time for the professor to get herself in order and then to pass on the good news to her people. Only then was he likely to be needed to provide a little guidance or, if push came to shove crack the whip.
He was mildly amused when he noticed that David hadn't touched his coffee and Yvonne had barely made a dent in hers. He'd been fighting that long that those little signs of nerves didn't appear anymore. They were still there but they were buried under the need to get the job done. As an officer he was aware that they would need to be dealt with but not until he had the time.
"Relax," he said softly. "No matter how these people react we will be safe. If they don't get their shit together we will simply hop back on the shuttle and return to the ship without them."
Yvonne's eyes went wide as she realised the implication of his words, "But they'll get, you know, eaten by the dickheads," she said.
"True," said Bert, "and then they'll get blown to pieces when we destroy the base. But that won't be our problem." He took a sip of his coffee, "So, tell me, what's it like practically living on a ship?"
Yvonne shook her head, a little confused at the sudden change of subject. "Boring," she said after a moments consideration. "It's comfortable but there is nothing to do. There is no where to walk and nothing to see that you haven't seen a million times before." She looked at the coffee in her cup and then ignored it, "You don't get to meet people, not even when we visit the different colonies. We're only in orbit for a matter of hours before we're off again so we never get to go planet-side."
David nodded, "I know we're slaves but on the ship it doesn't seem like that," he said. "We all have responsibilities and, other than occasionally in the bedroom, we're treated the same as everyone else. I'm not sure if that would happen if we were living on one of the planets we visit."
"It might," said Bert, "or it might not. The colonies vary tremendously in the way they treat people. Some, like Demeter, have a fairly laid back approach but others." He shrugged, "You'd think you were back in ancient Rome or something the way they abuse the concubines."
"What about you, where do you live?" asked Yvonne.
"Me? I don't," said Bert. "No, that's not true is it? Nominally I do have a home on Frick but it has been a couple of years since I was back there. My concubines were returned to the Civil Service after the first nine months of separation. It wasn't fair to keep them locked up and I wasn't there to look after them."
He finished his coffee in a swallow, "I'm sort of hoping that I'll find myself somewhere a little more settled after staff college but I'll worry about it when the time comes." He looked at the two concubines and grinned, "Come on then, that's enough swinging the lead. Let's go get these academics moving, before they become swarm bait."
The three of them arrived back at the entrance to a scene of chaos. The neatly stacked boxes were spread out all over the place, both inside and outside of the base. People were moving around aimlessly, picking up boxes and moving them around before dropping them back where they'd found them.
The professor was standing to one side staring off into space, a display tablet in her hand.
Bert took one look, crossed to stand beside the professor and yelled, "Stand still!"
His presence had brought a lot of the movement to a halt, the bellow completed the task.
"All of you, sit on a box and take five," he ordered.
Without waiting to see how the people responded he turned to the professor. "Wake up," he said firmly.
"I am..." muttered Teresa. "No I'm not, am I? I lost it."
Her shoulders shook and it looked as though she was going to dissolve into tears. Bert stepped up close and said quietly but firmly, "I could give you a hug but that wouldn't go down well. These people need guidance and leadership and that's your job."
He stepped back and eyed the professor, he hoped she'd pull herself together but he was prepared to do what was necessary to get things back on track, including stunning the woman.
For a couple of minutes there was no sign as to which way things were going to go but then Teresa squared her shoulders and raised her head.
"Thank you, Commander," she said sincerely. "Now what do we need to do first?"
"Decide what of this stuff is really needed and what can be replaced," said Bert waving towards the multitude of boxes. "Once that's sorted you get it loaded on the shuttle and stick the rest of it back in here."
Teresa looked at the tablet she was holding and muttered under her breath. Bert realised she was talking with the AI when the screen flickered and she started nodding.
"How much longer have we got?" she asked.
"Two and a half hours," replied Bert.
She stroked her finger down the screen, then tapped a spot, "All of these have to go, the rest can be duplicated easily." She looked up, "Listen to me, please."
The academics turned their attention to the professor.
"You know where the boxes are marked," she said. "We'll be taking anything with a code beginning with A and those marked B1 to B5. The rest can be stuck against that wall," she pointed to the back wall.
"If you packed them properly in the first place there's no risk of damage so don't treat them as though they were fragile. We have to be out of here in two and a half hours. Anything or anybody who's not on that shuttle will be left behind." She looked up from the tablet and smiled, "Now move it or I'll be taking names."
Bert was relieved when people jumped up, the tension had eased as the professor came out of her funk and it looked like things were going to work.
Bert was all smiles as the last of the designated, essential boxes was strapped down in the back of the assault shuttle. Beside him Professor Porter looked relaxed despite what had gone on before.
"Thanks for letting your people help us," she said gesturing towards David and Yvonne. "Things would have taken much longer without them.".
The two concubines had dumped their weapons and used their newly enhanced bodies to help the academics move the larger items into the hold of the assault shuttle. Bert had been annoyed at the lack of forethought that had had them arrive without a means of lifting the heavier items.
Happily it looked like brute force had been sufficient to save the day but it could have been very different.
"Glad we could help," he replied. "If you're ready?"
The professor took one last look around and sealed the base, "Do you think we'll ever return?" she asked.
"To this moon?" Bert shrugged, "I've no idea. If your work was that important then I'd say probably." He grinned wickedly, "But it won't be to this base. That's going to become a crater in short order."
The two of them crossed the short distance to the assault shuttle and stepped onto the rear ramp. Bert consulted the crew and was relieved to find that no one had gone missing and they were ready to depart.
"Let's get out of here," he instructed.
The pilot was waiting for that command and the engines began to spin up before Bert had finished speaking.
"Grab a seat," he said pointing the professor in the right direction. "It's only a short flight to the next base but we'll be keeping low so it might get a bit bumpy."
By the time he was secured the shuttle was ready to lift. Bert took a final look around the bay and gave the order to depart.
Minutes later Gerry's voice interrupted his thoughts, "The Sa'arm have speeded up. I think they spotted your departure and are going to investigate."
"Shit!" exclaimed Bert. "Hang on a sec, Gerry, I need to speak to the professor."
He unfastened the safety harness and shuffled down the shuttle bay to where Professor Porter had found a seat. He squatted down, "Professor, how sure are you that there is nothing in that base that can identify what you've been doing?"
"Why?"
"Because the dickheads are going to be all over the place in an hour or so. If there is anything there that will give them a clue as to what you were up to the whole hive mind will know about it."
"We can take out the base easily," he continued, "but clearing this place of the dickheads is a different ball game. We're just not equipped for it and I doubt if they can get a planet-buster here before the Sa'arm leave."
The professor closed her eyes and breathed deeply as Bert waited.
"There's nothing there," she announced. "It's just standard scientific equipment and supplies. Anything that could have given the game away is here," she finished gesturing towards the stack of boxes across the hold.
"You're absolutely sure of that?" asked Bert. "Nobody's left anything behind, no little clue that could reveal your big secret?"
"I'm sure," said Professor Porter. "Our secret is safe."
"Fine," said Bert before rising. He was talking to Gerry before he got back to his seat.
"There shouldn't be any problems letting the Sa'arm have the base," he reported. "Stick with the plan as it is."
He dropped back in his seat, "Let's hope that things continue to go to plan," he said softly so that no one else could hear.
"They're here," shouted Darlene as the assault shuttle flared in.
"Grab that box and get out there," snapped Keith Tucker as he hefted a similar sized box in his own arms. "Come on Veronica."
The three of them shuffled awkwardly towards the exit.
As the ramp of the shuttle dropped those inside saw the three people from the base staggering towards them, each struggling to carry a silver case. Bert was the first one onto the ramp and he grabbed the case off the first person to arrive.
"There are six more boxes back there," said the man. "Just inside the door."
Bert nodded and pointed at the people nearest the exit, "Move," he said simply, "the sooner they're aboard the sooner we can leave."
The two women from the base dropped their loads on the ramp and led the way back towards the base. The man turned to follow but Bert grabbed hold of him, "Professor Tucker?" he asked.
The man nodded.
Before Bert could say anything Gerry was speaking in his ear.
"Commander, one of the Sa'arm shuttles is heading for you."
"Confirm that," said Bert, his hand holding the man he'd grabbed in position.
"There is a Sa'arm shuttle dropping towards your location," said Gerry clearly. "It was on it's way down from the spaceship and has made a drastic change in course. Wait..."
There was a pause and then Gerry's voice returned, "It will be at your location in twelve, that's one two minutes."
"Dickhead shuttle approaching," repeated Bert, "ETA twelve minutes."
"That's right, Commander."
Bert turned back to the man he had hold of, "You're Professor Tucker?"
The man nodded, his face unreadable.
"Is there anything else you need to recover from the base once those boxes are loaded?"
Professor Tucker shook his head negatively. Bert pulled him further into the shuttle and pointed to where Professor Porter was sat, "Sit there and strap in. We'll be leaving in a hurry when we go."
"But I need..." began the professor.
"No you don't," cut in Bert. "Sit down, now."
The professor looked at the big Marine and stepped away, the idea of physically trying to get past the man was a non-starter.
Bert went back to the rear of the craft and waited for the people he'd sent inside to return. Internally he had the AI keeping an eye on the time, letting him know as each minute passed.
Four minutes later, though it seemed much longer waiting there a stream of bodies appeared carrying the ubiquitous silver cases.
"Come on," yelled Bert, "we haven't got all day."
His tone rather than the words he used got the people moving a little faster.
"Toss those boxes on here and get strapped in," he called as they stepped onto the ramp. He kicked the first couple of boxes towards people who were already strapped in. "Hang onto those for now, we haven't got time to fasten them down properly."
Sure that someone was hanging onto each of the boxes he dropped back into his own seat. He gave the order to launch as he took hold of the safety harness.
The pilot didn't hesitate and the shuttle, it's engines still running, left the ground moments later.
Bert heard Gerry speaking to the pilot.
"The shuttle is trying to chase you," he said. "If you stay low and head West you should be able to outrun the thing."
Bert finished securing his harness and sat back, there was nothing he could do now to influence things. Either they'd escape or he'd die in blazing wreck.
Chapter 6
Bert charged up to the bridge as soon as the shuttle docked.
"Ma'am," he said as soon as he had the Captain's attention, "if the Sa'arm react as quickly as they did on that last hop we're going to have real problems getting anyone else off that planet."
"I believe you," replied Alice getting to her feet. "Have you got any suggestions as to what we can do to help?"
"I've no idea," said Bert honestly. "The best thing we could do would be to create some sort of diversion and then try to sneak in under cover." He shrugged and looked apologetic, "It would have been easier if we'd unlatched a couple of shuttles and carried out the evacuation in one lift, but..."
"I know," replied Alice, "hindsight is a wonderful thing but we didn't think we would be in that much of a rush, did we? We assumed we were going to be either too late to do anything to help or have plenty of time to carry out our mission."
"That's true," replied Bert nodding. "So what do we do now?"
"We're going to take out both of the out-stations with the pod bombs as soon as you reach the base," said Alice. "I'm also going to lob one of them in the direction of the Sa'arm's landing area and see if that will keep them busy."
She turned to her First Officer, "What about you, Jon, have you any ideas you wish to throw into the pot?"
"How about moving the two Galileo's?" He pointed to where Gerry was sat, "Gerry believes he can fly them remotely from up here. He wouldn't want to do anything delicate but just running them around above the surface should add to the confusion."
"That's a good idea," said Alice nodding. "Set it up and make sure they're outside the blast radius when the pods hit."
She turned to the Marine, "How long is it until you return?"
"We're going as soon as we've got the shuttle unloaded," replied Bert. "The academics know that their colleagues are hanging down there so they're basically throwing the stuff off. My guess is that it shouldn't them take more than an hour to empty the hold. The shuttle's crew is grabbing a meal now and I'm going to join them from here. We'll be back to the shuttle and ready to drop as soon as it is empty."
"Go and get your meal then Commander," said Alice. "Jon and I will see what else we can come up with in the way of a distraction for you."
Bert nodded once and retreated off the bridge.
As he left Alice grimaced towards Jon, "Remind me to get something armed added to our inventory. If we had a couple of fighters we could take a swipe at their freighter. I'm sure that would distract them."
"I'm sure it would," said Jon, "but a couple of fighters would have just been in the way for the last three years. Besides, I don't think the Navy would let you have them."
"You're probably right," admitted Alice sourly. "But there's got to be something we can add to our basic load that could serve in a dual role."
"Now that's something worth thinking about," said Jon before turning his attention back to the holograph that dominated the centre of the bridge. "In the meantime what do you want Gerry to do with these shuttles if he can get them off the ground?"
Alice cocked her head to one side, "They're armed aren't they?"
"A couple of lasers," said Jon, "nothing very impressive, I'm afraid."
"Do we know where the Sa'arm are concentrated?" asked Alice. "I seem to remember we were tracking several groups that had left the main landing site?"
"We've been following a couple of the large parties," agreed Jon and then looked happy. "You want us to attack them with the shuttles?"
"That's right," said Alice. "It doesn't matter if the attacks are effective. Whether they are or not, it should give the hive mind something else to think about. If the shuttle going to the base doesn't do anything aggressive there's a chance that they will ignore it while they deal with the attacks. Hopefully the confusion will last long enough for Commander Murray to evacuate everyone down there."
"I'll get on it," replied Jon, heading towards Gerry without waiting for a response.
Alice settled back into her command chair, it had been a long day and it hadn't finished yet, not by a long chalk.
Bert was leaning against the side of the door onto the flight deck. He'd been there as soon as they'd levelled out.
"Lets hope the Sa'arm don't have any satellites in orbit watching us," he said, half to himself.
"Unless the dickheads have started using stealth on their satellites they haven't," said the pilot without taking her eyes from the screen in front of her. Bert could just make out the wry smile that graced her face as she added, "at least that's what the AI has been telling us."
"They've not led us astray before," replied Bert, his tone hopeful rather than convinced.
"Then let's hope this isn't the first time," replied the pilot. She glanced over her shoulder, "I'd get strapped in if I was you, we're heading for the pass."
Bert nodded and headed back into the shuttle's hold. The flight plan they were following dropped them down on the far side of the polar icecap from the base and then led them along a tortuous path that they hoped would mask them from the Sa'arm ship in orbit and anything the dickheads had deployed on the ground.
The rear of the shuttle looked huge now that the academics and all of their 'essential' gear had been removed. Yvonne and David were sat near to the exit ramp looking calm. Bert was both surprised and pleased with how the two press-ganged concubines had performed so far.
The assault shuttle rock 'n' rolled its way along the twisting flight path, the pilot nervously tracking every move the auto-pilot demanded. In the back the motion was not as bad as it would have been in an aircraft made on Earth, the inertial dampers and compensators made sure of that, though they couldn't completely remove the effects of the constant changes in direction.
"Commander, we'll be reaching the base in two minutes," reported the pilot. "The pods should be hitting thirty seconds later so I'm going to keep things buttoned up until I'm sure we're not going to be caught in any blast waves."
"Roger," replied Bert though he thought the pilot was being too cautious. The two out-stations were hundreds of klicks away and the pods would only be in the megaton range. They might hear the 'bang' but that would be about it. Still it was her aircraft and an extra couple of minutes here or there wouldn't be a problem.
He held up two fingers to the concubines who nodded in understanding and then went through his own pre-landing checks.
Happy that all was well he glanced upwards and hoped that everything was going as well with the diversion as they seemed to be down below.
"On the glide path," reported Gerry quietly. No one had any difficulty hearing him. The bridge was silent as they watched the progress of the shuttle across the hologram. Above and beyond it were the three red tracks that indicated the falling pods and it was these that Gerry was referring to.
Alice sighed, attracting Jon's attention. She gave him a tight smile, "I'm just wishing we had some way of steering the pods," she said in a whisper.
Jon returned her smile, "We've done the best we can," he said. "If the powers that be aren't happy they can send the Navy here to show us how it should have been done."
"It wouldn't surprise me if the Navy is on the way already," replied Alice. She glanced around the bridge, "Even if we accomplish the task we've been given they're going to want to see for themselves."
Jon cocked his head to one side and considered what Alice had said. "You're right. Even if we destroy this moon completely and tell them that we have, they'd still check." He scowled, "Bastards," he muttered.
Alice only heard him because she was looking straight at him, "Ain't that the case," she responded.
"Thirty seconds to impact," reported the oblivious Gerry.
"Twenty... The pod approaching the landing site is taking fire. They've got some sort of anti-aircraft weapons set up."
Gerry looked up, "They've cracked the pod," he said. "I've lost telemetry,"
"How bad is that?" asked Alice.
"It's impossible to say," said Gerry. "If they've vaporised the pod then nothing's happened. If they've simply cracked it then the bits are going to be scattered all over their landing site. The damage won't be as concentrated but it'll cause them plenty of grief."
"What about the other pods?"
Gerry glanced at his display, "They're doing fine. They're hitting... Now!"
Jon and Alice glanced at the hologram but there was nothing to see, it was a projection, not a live image.
Gerry's hands were dancing over his console, "I've got hot spots where the two bases were." He glanced back, "Do you want me to swing the shuttles over the sites?"
"Not now," said Alice. "Use them as we planned but if they survive then try and get a few images of the bases." She grinned at Jon, "We can add them to our report."
"What about the main landing site?" asked Gerry.
"I don't want to tempt fate," replied Alice, frowning, "but see how much you can get with the shuttles after they've photographed the bases. They'll be shot down but maybe they'll get close enough for some decent pictures before they're destroyed."
Gerry nodded and turned back to his console.
"Let's hope the extraction is going to go as smoothly," said Jon.
The ramp at the rear of the craft dropped slowly, Bert was out of his seat as soon as the first hint of light showed around the edge.
"Let's do this the same as the last one," he said to the two concubines. "Stick with me to begin with and if there's no trouble join in with moving things."
David nodded and Yvonne responded with a grin, "Yes, Boss."
Bert shook his head but grinned at the pair before he headed toward the lowered ramp. Ahead of him he could see the entrance to the base but there was nobody waiting outside.
The door opened as he got close and he was relieved to see a familiar stack of packing boxes lined up, ready for loading.
"I'm Professor Bennett," said a man as soon as the Marine crossed the threshold of the base. Bert nodded and shook the outstretched hand. "Commander Bert Murray," he said in reply.
"You're ready to leave?" he added.
"Just about," replied Justin. "I thought we were ready but we discovered that the AI had a core backup that we didn't know about. We're bringing it up now." He glanced at the boxes stacked along the wall, "Other than that we're ready."
"Let's get started then," said Bert. "The shuttle's crew are ready to receive this lot, just put it down where they tell you to and they'll secure it while you come back for the next load."
"We'll leave the AI till last," said Justin. "That way we'll have power and control for as long as possible." He turned away from the Marine and waved towards a woman in the grey uniform of the Civil Service.
She returned his wave and tapped the man next to her on the shoulder. He gave her a grin and picked up the first of the boxes and headed straight for the exit. Behind him a row of people began to mimic his actions.
"Where's the AI?" asked Bert.
"We've got it in the old control room," replied the professor. "Down there and around to the right," he said pointing towards the rear of the room.
"I'll go and take a look at it," said Bert. He waved for the concubines to follow him and got out of the way of the professor and his people.
As he strode down the corridor he called up the orbiting spaceship, "Gerry, how are things looking?"
"Pretty good," came the immediate response. "The two out-stations are now craters, the pod bombs have done a superb job of obliterating them. The attack against the landing site wasn't as successful but it has caused some damage." There was a pause, "The two shuttles are just getting into position to begin attacking the dickhead concentrations we've been tracking and, as far as we can see, there is nothing heading in your direction."
Bert breathed a sigh of relief, "Thanks, Gerry. Keep me informed."
"Will do."
"Things are looking good," said Bert to his accomplices. "All we have to do now is keep everyone moving and we should be out of here in no time."
Bert looked around the room he'd entered as he spoke and spotted the large box with several umbilical cables running towards the wall. "That must be the AI module," he said.
"That is correct, Commander," answered a disembodied voice.
Bert jumped and then grinned at the two concubines, "Oops," he said.
Yvonne giggled at the face Bert pulled.
David was more serious, "Do you want us to start shifting stuff for them?" he asked.
Bert nodded, "You may as well, it doesn't look like we'll be having any trouble here. Dump your weapons on top of the AI box so we don't forget them and then see what you can do to help."
"How's it going?" asked Bert.
"So far, so good," replied the professor though he looked a little anxious. "Though it's taking longer to get the core modules up from the bowels than I thought it would."
"It always does," said Bert as he watched one of the academics walk past with another container.
"Professor, we're going to take a break," said the Civil Service rep.
"Consuelo, this is Commander Murray," said the professor. "Commander, Sub-Decurion Chavez."
Bert inclined his head, "Pleased to meet you."
"I'm not," said Consuelo with a grin to divert any offence. "I'd rather we'd carried on, all peaceful like. But given the circumstances I'm happy that you were close by."
Bert chuckled, "Yeah, I was happy lying on my bunk, whiling away the time until you kicked over this hornet's nest."
She chuckled, "The crew are lagging behind in securing the boxes so I'm taking everyone off for a ten minute break. We'll grab a drink and then finish off the packing."
"Commander!"
Bert winced as the voice in his ear shouted, "What!"
"There's a group of dickheads heading in your direction," reported Gerry a little quieter.
"How many and how soon will they get here?"
"I can't give you a count as they're using those high mobility vehicles they've got. I don't know how we missed them but they've just broken through the scrub line and are crossing the ice fields. They'll be with you in... about three and a half hours."
"Thanks, Gerry," replied Bert. "Keep a careful eye on them and let me know immediately if anything changes."
Bert frowned, "How much longer do you think you'll be?" he asked.
"An hour, maybe a little longer," answered Consuelo, Professor Bennett nodded in agreement.
"If you can stick to that time frame there won't be any problems," said Bert after a moment's thought. "The dickheads are going to get here about two hours after that, so," he shrugged, "it would be better for all of us if we were somewhere else."
"I'll go and hurry them up downstairs," said the professor.
"Have your break," said Bert. "We're not in that much of a rush."
Consuelo nodded and went off to give her people the news.
"Commander."
Bert frowned as a strange voice echoed inside his head. "Yes," he responded.
"There is a problem retrieving the core dump, one of the concubines has been injured and her body is blocking the stairway." The statement identified the voice as the local AI.
Bert closed his eyes and sighed, "I'm on it," he said and head off in the direction the professor had gone moments earlier.
He figured he'd descended about a hundred concrete steps when he reached the scene of the accident. The professor was there, crouched over a woman whose leg was bent at an unnatural angle. Below her was a large container against which was resting another woman.
Bert bent down next to the professor, "Looks pretty bad but it'll be all right once we get her up to the ship," he said.
He pointed to the woman stood by the container, "Give me your smock."
"We need to immobilise the leg and then get her out of here." He prodded the professor who seemed to be in shock, "What's her name?"
"Georgina," replied Justin. "She's one of my concubines."
"Don't worry, Prof," said Bert casually ripping the grey smock he'd been handed into strips. "We'll get her leg bound up and I'll carry her out."
Georgina fainted as Bert gently but firmly moved her good leg to her injured leg and began tying the two together. Being careful not to cause any more damage than was strictly necessary he lifted the slim brunette into his arms.
Nodding towards the naked woman he said, "Help her carry that box, Prof." He waited until the professor had moved before beginning to climb the stairs. Even with his enhanced physique he knew that a hundred steps carrying a woman in his arms was not going to be easy.
Bert stepped into the open space at the top of the access shaft and heaved a sigh of relief. The climb had been as hard as he'd thought it was going to be and the muscles in his shoulders were screaming in protest.
"David," he yelled and was gratified to see the enhanced concubine drop the box he was carrying and rush towards him.
"Take it easy," said Bert as David went to grab the injured woman. "Her leg's pretty mangled but she'll be as right as rain as soon as she's popped into a med tube. Take her out to the shuttle and make her as comfortable as possible but ensure that she's secure. The last thing we need is for her to do more damage when we're leaving."
Bert carefully passed the unconscious woman over to David and sighed as his muscles relaxed. Yvonne joined him and he pointed back down the shaft he'd just climbed. "The professor and a concubine are bringing the core box up here. Nip down there and give them a hand, will you."
Yvonne nodded and quickly headed in the direction that Bert had indicated. As she left Bert stretched, trying to ease the tightness in his shoulders and ease the feelings of stress.
He didn't get a chance to relax, "Commander, you've got problems."
The voice in his ear caused him to wince, "What now?" he asked.
"One of the shuttles the dickheads are using is heading in your direction," said Gerry. "It'll be there in fifteen, twenty minutes, tops."
"Shit!" exclaimed Bert. "Keep me informed."
He looked around the room he was in and scowled, there were too many boxes lying around for them to get them all out in the time they had available. The AI was still connected and people were scattered all around the base. In simple terms, they were fucked and would be lucky to get out with their lives.
"Base AI," he demanded.
"Yes."
"Broadcast this over the base."
"Connected."
"Everyone, stand still and listen," he said and paused. "The shuttle will be leaving in ten minutes whether you are on it or not. Take the box you are carrying out there and strap in. If the box next to you is more important than the one you are carrying swap them before you leave. On no account is anyone to return to the base once they have boarded the shuttle."
Bert paused again, was there anything he'd forgotten? "Move it," he ordered.
As he finished Yvonne appeared in the doorway dragging the box on her own.
"Get that out to the shuttle and then get back here and help me with the AI," he ordered.
Yvonne didn't stop, she just dragged the box behind her as she headed for the exit.
"Professor," called Bert.
"Coming," was the distant reply.
"Just make sure your people are on the shuttle," said Bert. "I'll recover the AI and we'll get the hell out of here."
"Okay."
Bert changed rooms and looked at the box that housed the AI and shook his head. There were dozens of connections between the box and the various consoles around the room, it was going to take too long to unfasten them all.
"How fast can you shut down?" he asked.
"I cannot shut down," replied the AI. "I go into a hibernate mode which I can manage in three minutes."
"Can I just hack these connections off once you're down?"
"Provided you remove the four power couplings first there shouldn't be any permanent damage caused by using force."
"Open all the doors within the base, deactivate any safety systems, especially the fire and explosion suppression systems and then hibernate," instructed Bert. "In five minutes I will be uncoupling you so you'd better be out cold."
"Understood and proceeding."
Two doors in the back wall slid open and Bert was aware of raised voices echoing around the base. Carefully he tried to line up all the conduits on the floor so that they presented a flat black sheet, he had an idea but didn't have time to test it. If it didn't work the AI would never wake from its hibernation.
Bert watched his PDA slowly clicking through the five minutes, after three minutes Yvonne joined him and he pointed out the two power couplings on one side of the box. "When I give the word you unscrew those," he said. "And then step well back."
He picked up the two assault rifles off the top of the AI's module and checked that both had full magazines. Chambering the first round he selected single shot and placed the weapons back on top of the case.
"Now," he said and reached for the first coupling on his side of the box. Working quickly he released first one and then the second coupling. As the last coupling detached an alarm went off on the console to his right, he ignored it and reached for the rifle.
Raising the weapon he aimed at the furthest cable and gently squeezed the trigger. The power was dumped into the crystal in the chamber and a single, high energy laser pulse shot out of the weapon.
The cable he'd targeted emitted a shower of sparks and a dark, pungent odour started to fill the room. Strand by strand he worked down the line of cables he'd prepared, as the last one was hit he moved to the opposite side of the box.
"See if they're all broken," he said to Yvonne and then picked up the second rifle. Just as carefully as he'd done with the first batch he worked his way through the second row of cables.
As he finished he could hear Yvonne coughing but he didn't look that way, he started kicking away at the smouldering cables.
All bar one of the cables had parted and a good kick split that one. Bert looked up and saw Yvonne looking back at him.
"Are they free?"
She nodded in reply.
"Let's get out of here," he said and took hold of a handle on his side of the case. He paused until he was sure Yvonne had a firm grip and headed for the door. The AI module was surprisingly light despite its bulk and they had little difficulty in getting it out of the base.
Crossing the open ground Bert called to the pilot, "Are you ready to lift?"
"Affirmative," was the short reply.
"How close is that shuttle?"
"It'll be here in six minutes."
Bert relaxed, they'd made it. He walked up the loading ramp and said, "Secure the ramp and lift in thirty seconds."
He dropped the AI in the middle of the floor and patted Yvonne on the shoulder, "Well done. Get secured and we'll get out of here."
He took a last look at the base as the ramp rose into position and dropped into his seat.
Chapter 7
The speaker in the rear of the shuttle crackled into life, "Hold tight," said the pilot, "the dickhead shuttle is coming after us."
Bert frowned and then checked his straps to ensure they were tight.
The ride, which had been pretty smooth despite the rush suddenly became a lot more like a roller-coaster as the craft dropped and jinked at speed. The unsecured AI module began sliding around and Bert was lucky to trap it against one of the secured boxes with an outstretched leg. The position he was in wasn't comfortable but neither would be being hit by that box as it rolled around the hold.
"Relax everyone," reported the pilot a long five minutes later. "We've outrun the bloody thing."
Bert sighed in relief, he hated not being able to influence events when he was in any sort of danger. Being caught inside a craft like this was the stuff of nightmares as far as he was concerned. He unfastened his harness and dragged the errant AI module back into position and secured it in place.
As he was up he went to see how the injured woman was doing. He found her strapped across three chairs near the front of the cargo bay with David sat alongside her.
"How's she doing?" he asked.
"She's still unconscious," said the concubine, "but her breathing has eased and she doesn't seem as distressed as she was earlier. We've give her a mild pain-blocker that we found in the first aid kit but she needs to be in a med tube as soon as possible."
Bert nodded in understanding, "We'll be up to the ship in a few minutes and we'll get her transferred right away." He squeezed David on the shoulder and considered going up to the flight deck to see what was happening.
"Excuse me."
Bert turned at the call and found Consuelo Chavez, the Civil Service Sub-Decurion waving at him.
He crossed the short distance between them, "Yes?"
"Have you seen Professor Bennett?" she asked looking around.
Bert was surprised, "No, I haven't," he said and held up his hand to stop any comments. "AI, where is Professor Bennett?"
The AI on the assault shuttle wasn't the brightest spark but it could track any person on board through their nanites. "The Professor is not on board this shuttle."
"Your sure?" asked Bert sharply.
"The Professor is not on board this shuttle," repeated the AI.
"Oh shit!" said Bert, his face screwing up in frustration.
Consuelo looked at Bert as he swore, "There's a problem?"
"The Professor isn't on board," said Bert before looking upwards. "Is anyone else missing?" he asked.
"No other volunteer is missing," reported the AI, "but the Professor's concubine is absent."
Bert slumped down on the nearest box and rubbed his temples, how had that happened? And more importantly what did he do about it?
"Where is that dickhead shuttle?" he asked.
The pilot replied to his question, "It's orbiting the base. My guess is that they are assessing the situation and will be landing there shortly.
Bert agreed, it was the way he'd have been doing things if he'd been in charge and whether it was an individual or a hive mind running things it was still the right way to proceed.
"Get us up to the ship as fast as you can," he ordered and, shaking his head sadly he returned to his seat.
The shuttle squeezed into the hanger bay and settled down onto the deck gently, Bert was swinging out of the rear of the craft before the ramp had fully lowered.
The Captain was waiting for him, her face pensive.
"Ma'am, we've got a problem," said Bert as soon as he reached her.
"In what way?" asked Alice.
"The head honcho of this little expedition is still down there and so is one of his concubines," said Bert. He gave a shrug, "How it happened is unknown but I'm guessing that he realised his concubine wasn't there and went looking for her.
Alice looked away, her face pale. Beside her Bert held his breath, he knew what had to be done now but did this civilian?
A hand grabbed his shoulder and pulled him around, "You've got to go back down there," demanded Consuelo Chavez.
Bert scowled at the Civil Service officer and growled, "Wrong."
"The Professor is still down there," snapped Consuelo, "and so is his 'pregnant' concubine. You need to get back down there and rescue them."
Bert shook his head and snapped, "AI, what is the current status of the base known as Alpha?"
"The Sa'arm shuttle has landed close by and the base is surrounded. They appear to be waiting for the ground elements to arrive before they enter the base, though this is supposition on my part."
"How many dickheads are there around the base?" asked Bert, his eyes locked on those of the Civil Service officer.
"The best estimate I can compute is that there are two hundred Sa'arm on the ground with up to another three hundred approaching."
Bert looked directly at the Sub-Decurion, "We have one, virtually unarmed assault shuttle," his finger pointed at the Leopard they'd just arrived in, "and a single Marine available to us."
He glanced at the Captain before concluding forcefully, "We will not be staging any miraculous rescue missions."
He turned to the Captain, "Ma'am..."
"Captain," interrupted Consuelo, "You can't let the Sa'arm capture the Professor. His work is too important to fall into their hands."
Alice looked at Consuelo, her eyes glistening, "I know," she said simply. "My orders made that very clear." She turned to the Marine, "Yes, Commander?"
"How long until impact?" he asked softly.
It was the AI who answered. "Seven minutes."
Consuelo glanced from the Marine to the Captain and back again, "Impact?"
"We're going to destroy the base," replied Bert, "as we were ordered to do."
"You can't, "screamed Consuelo. "There are people still down there."
Bert turned to the Captain, "Give the order, Ma'am," he said. Although he didn't say anything it was implicit in his tone that if she didn't he would.
"They're already on their way," said the Captain softly. "The best we could do now would be to divert their impact point away from the base."
"Then do it," demanded Consuelo, tears streaming down her face.
"No!" declared the Captain harshly. "We are going to destroy that base now. The Professor should have been aboard the shuttle with the rest of you."
"You bitch," screamed Consuelo. A male concubine grabbed her and pulled her away before she could get near the Captain.
He led the crying woman away, his arm around her providing support as well as restraining her.
The end wall of the hanger suddenly became a giant view screen and the outline of the base could be clearly seen. Off to one side but still in the shot was the grounded Sa'arm shuttle. The individual dickheads were too small to be seen at this range.
All eyes in the hanger bay swung to watch, they couldn't help themselves.
They blinked instinctively as the screen flashed white, the base and everything around it disappearing from view.
Slowly an image reformed on the impromptu screen, an image showing a scene of turmoil and destruction.
A large crater was centred on the position of the base, the exposed rock devoid of any vegetation. Balanced precariously on the edge of the crater was the remains of the Sa'arm shuttle, a twisted wreck that could only be identified because of the colour.
"Destruction complete," announced the AI into the silence.
"Ma'am," said Bert, offering the Captain his arm.
The stunned woman took the proffered arm and allowed Bert to lead her from the hanger, neither of them looked back as they moved along silently. No one but the Marine saw the tears streaming down the older woman's face or felt the sobs wracking her body and he wouldn't be telling anyone.
She'd done her job and should be proud of that, but she was also a human being and that was what caused her the pain she was feeling, a pain that she'd carry to her dying day.
---oOo---
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