Ilox Saga 1: Eris Monroe: More Than Human (27 page)

“We have to destroy the device,
and then we can go.” Eris took out her last thermite grenade and walked over to the Valdren tech.

“The Valdren Initiator…you still want to destroy it…right?”
asked Eli.

Eris nodded. “Think you can…” She pointed at her head with her left forefinger
. Eli understood.

“I’ll
see if it’s possible...” He began to concentrate on the device…and a slight tingle began to emanate at the back of his neck and spread down his spine. The Initiator was not self aware and certainly wasn’t an AI, though it did have complicated heuristic software that was difficult to penetrate. It took him a total of fifteen seconds to find a method for the device to destroy itself. To everyone else observing, nothing happened to the device except that the glowing green lights emanating from it slowly faded out and stopped completely.

“That should take care of it,” said Eli with satisfaction.
“Um…wow, I think I just solved something kind of important…” His eyes had grown larger. Eris looked at him questioningly.

“What?”

“I think the Valdren Initiator was giving me the headaches…because the moment I
killed
it…the pain stopped.”

“
That
is
interesting,” Eris noted that fact and tucked it away for later retrieval. It was a
very
interesting fact.

“Eris Monroe, why did your own companion try to kill you?”
Gelkar had flown back down to stand beside the towering human woman. “And where did that drone come from?”

“I don’t know…that’s why I’m taking
Tariv with us. Eli, are you sure the device is disabled?” She looked at Eli with a grim expression.

“Yes, though I’ve seen crazy things happen before around Valdren tech.” His eyes lit up with a new thought. “You think it might regenerate or come back to
life
?”

Eris nodded.
“I’m not going to take any chances of that happening…or that someone might come along and study the leftover pieces. Both of you get back to Doctor Xin and T’sell. I’ll make sure this thing is turned into slag.” As Eli and the Arrasian scientist moved quickly down the slope and out of sight, Eris leaped to the top of the mining console nearest the Valdren Initiator.

Good thing I brought two of these
she thought while positioning her last thermite grenade against the top of the Valdren artifact. She then pulled the pin after setting a delay of thirty seconds for timed detonation.

She
dropped deftly back down to the floor and hefted the limp body of the K’Tosk Sev Tariv. She checked his pulse and looked at his eyes – he was unconscious but still breathing. She then used the ‘soldier’s carry’ lift technique and draped him across the top of her shoulders. If he seemed to burden her, she didn’t show it as she jogged down the slope back to her squad and the waiting Arrasian scientist. The sound of the thermite exploding made her glance back briefly. The Initiator was burning with a bright green flame and turning to molten metal.
Hopefully between the thermite’s physical destruction of the casing and Eli’s mental powers, the Valdren device had been completely destroyed
.

“
Everyone, listen up.” She surveyed her remaining team members and the one new addition. She noted that T’sell T’savri was back on her feet and looking better, though she was scowling. “We’re heading back the way we came; we’ll be moving at double time,” ordered Eris forcefully.

“I’ve taken more physical samples from these transformed miners, Captain.” Lia Xinhao
was talking at an accelerated rate. The adrenaline from combat was still coursing through her veins. “Once back on the Sparta, I should be able to fully analyze what happened to them.”

“Thank you Doctor. T’sell, are you capable of moving on your feet?” Eris was abrupt and wanted answers immediately.

“Yes, Captain…I can move well enough.” T’sell felt much better. Most of the pain had completely subsided. “I’m…I’m sorry that I wasn’t there when you needed me.” She felt ashamed and looked at the floor of the mine – she couldn’t meet the eyes of Eris Monroe.

“Don’t worry about it. We’ve accomplished our mission, now it’s time to leave.” Eris was sincere and T’sell would have felt the sincerity even if she didn’t have telepathic awareness. She was learning to trust Captain Monroe with her life, something that the Zari
woman had never dreamed of in her long life span.
Trusting a human – one of the mindblind
…

“Professor Ruz’zel is coming with us,” Eris said with a smile.
She knew who he was.
She
had connected his name and face from a paper she had read back on Kanpur when she had been studying the Valdren data cube. He was a noted Arrasian researcher of the ancient Valdren
. She turned to the small alien. “That is, if you want to know much more about the Valdren…”

Gelkar’s wings buzzed with excitement.
The human Eris Monroe clearly was intelligent and seemed to be offering him a chance to learn
. He cleared his membranes with a momentary rustle and looked up at her – she was much taller than he was.

“I would be more than glad to assist you
, Eris Monroe, in any forensic tasks or experiments you need to perform,” Gelkar said with a slight bow. “Is it possible to go back and take my prototype shield generator?”

“
No, I don’t think so…it was set on fire when I destroyed that drone – forget about it.” Eris said. Gelkar Ruz’zel looked morosely back at the sloping tunnel they had just come from. Gelkar then turned to all those present and bowed once more.

“
I forget my manners…and should introduce myself first. I am Professor Gelkar…” Ruz’zel’s introduction speech was cut short by Eris.

“We don’t have time for that
…we need to move fast. If you have to speak, use your link communicator. You do have a link, don’t you Gelkar?” Eris was in no mood for protocol. “There may be more of those transformed miners around and I don’t want them hearing us.”

“Yes, of course.
” He looked down and turned his head in a way that would have strained a human neck. “Well…no…actually it was lost…along with my helmet…in the chaos that transpired two days ago.” He seemed intent on telling more of his story when Eris began trotting back the way they had originally come. The squad, along with the Arrasian scientist, followed her with military precision while Professor Ruz’zel wondered what type of instruments Doctor Xinhao had available on her ship. The human female Monroe was forceful and had made a strong impression upon him
.
He maintained his silence, mindful of what the human had said as he followed the group – all the while buzzing his wings slightly.

Pulsing
orange link messages began appearing on all of their helmet displays once they had come within a kilometer of Platinum City. The amount of rock that had blocked the signals was becoming less massive, and they could communicate once more. Eris learned that Omega squad intended to rendezvous with her squad in Platinum City. Eris was quickly and thoroughly briefed on everything her Executive Officer had done, and what Chief Engineer Hasephrey Saephan had managed in her absence. With the success of destroying the Valdren device, Eris, her team, and the Arrasian scientist Gelkar Ruz’zel left the planet Furnace on the Starlifter - one step closer to the completion of goals that Dominic Gray had set out for them.

Marcus J. Griffon had amassed an impressive résumé, rising through the ranks to command a
top of the line Capital Ship and the Fast Attack Group in the Alliance Fleet. He commanded the
Blackrock
, a powerful battle-cruiser stationed in the Mirfak Quadrant. The fast attack group consisted of the Blackrock, cruisers
Phenomenal
,
Serenity
and
Takaras
as well as ten other smaller destroyer classed ships. All of the ships were under his unified command.  Holdfast, the ten kilometer long pride of the Alliance and a feat of human ingenuity was his base of operations, but it was rapidly dwindling as Blackrock’s FTL drive propelled the massive ship toward an outpost three hundred sixteen light years distant. Marcus was nervous – he had never seen the Admirals order anything so
odd
in all of his forty-seven years…though now they had given explicit instructions to use the first line of defense for the Holdfast in an attack on a corporation owned base located past the fringe of Alliance controlled space. He had been ordered to use conventional FTL drive to circumvent arriving at known jump points. Utilizing his jump drives would have made the journey much faster, and also more easily discovered - the admirals wanted a surprise attack. His ship and crew were ready…they had seen combat numerous times against pirate raiders in the Verge and come out of every encounter victorious. However, something about the mission made him queasy. The Alliance had a tense relationship with Earth’s Republic but they had never provoked them into open conflict. Attacking an outpost operated and owned by one of the premier Republic corporations might fray the status quo into a full blown military confrontation. What he had been ordered to perform would likely be the opening salvo in a galactic war. He turned to his second in command who had a puzzled look on his weathered face.

“
Give me all available information on the corporation Dynamic Space Development and the target,” ordered Marcus. He was determined to take maximum advantage of the next forty-eight hours. As his executive officer complied, Marcus felt the data flooding his cortex. It would take many hours to collate and file the details into anything that could be useful, but his neural implants were extremely effective and would handle the load efficiently. He had become a captain by following orders precisely and having a little luck. Showing outward confidence to his crew was not hard for he was a very confident man. He became less confident over the coming hours as he pored through every bit of data concerning the target he had been ordered to destroy. The DSD station was buried deep inside an asteroid six kilometers across. The weapons his small fleet of powerful ships could bring to bear would be sufficient to fragment the target into a million pieces, though it would take some time, approximately thirty minutes or so to reduce the large asteroid into smaller chunks of asteroid.

The Alliance Admiralty board had been explicit
in their instructions – they wanted the outpost completely vaporized with nothing left but bits of rock no bigger than a fist. Marcus never questioned his orders and like a good soldier he intended to carry them out to the utmost of his abilities. The two days it took to travel to the target system flew by and the group of fourteen vessels and dropped from FTL velocity only a few million kilometers from their target – an impressive feat of the principle navigator onboard
Blackrock
.

What happened next was decidedly unexpected.
His fleet was greeted with the sight of the DSD base under attack by two alien vessels of gargantuan size. Marcus took pride in the fact that Blackrock was a battle-cruiser with hardened durasteel armor plating and heavy kinetic shields. She was also over two hundred and sixty meters in length. The alien vessels made her seem like a toy in comparison. Pulsating violet energy beams lanced from the huge ships repeatedly striking the asteroid base and slicing into the
stone and iron composition of the six kilometer long oblong shape
.

“
What the hell? Give me readout on those ships! I want to know who and what they are.” Marcus sank back into the comfort of the captain’s chair to watch the main viewscreen of the bridge with apprehension. His adjutant, Roland Warren, rushed up to him with a datapad in his hands. Sweat was visible on his upper lip.

“Sir!
Ladar signatures indicate alien vessels are one kilometer or larger in length. Each ship is using directed energy weapons against the station…they’re tearing it apart.” Marcus Griffon had to make a snap decision faced with the uncertain scenario playing out in front him in real time.

“Helm
- bring us about, emergency jump out of system!” His voice had risen higher than he wanted.

“
Destination, sir?” The young pilot at the helm station was barely twenty years old and seemed shaken by the sight of the destruction.

“
Get us anywhere but here!” Moving capital ships was a slow process. They did not have maneuverability like smaller destroyers or fighters. It took time for them to build up speed. As the corporation owned asteroid base was quickly destroyed by pair of giant alien ships, Marcus had a sick feeling creeping up from the pit of his stomach. He ignored it and concentrated on the situation. Blackrock was still on combat alert; every man was at his post, ready to fight and they were waiting on his words to reassure them.

Like prowling beasts, the two alien ships sensed new prey and sprang towards the far slower Alliance battle group of fourteen ships
. They closed the distance surprisingly fast, easily moving four times faster than anything the Alliance could field. The first destroyer,
Able
Lancer
, was split in two at a distance of over two hundred thousand kilometers by two scintillating beams of violet energy that pulsed from the alien ships in a burst of destruction. The resulting primary fireball and secondary explosions from the destroyer were spectacular and beautiful to look at.

They weren’t going to make it
. His instincts had never failed him until this single point in his life. Anti-gravity engines were too slow to get them out of danger in time – there were no nearby jump points and the FTL engines took time to warm up…over five minutes. The unknown had a way of destroying plans – he knew nothing of the alien vessels…except that they had a devastating power like nothing he had ever witnessed.

With rapid precision, Captain Marcus Griffon fired off commands to his subservient escort vessels.
“Our shields and armor are nothing to this enemy…but we can still give them a fight! Engage at will.” He saw with satisfaction as his small task force expertly turned at various degrees throughout the battle space. The faster and more nimble destroyers sped to the sides to attack the enemy in flanking positions while the heavy cruisers took the fight straight to the behemoths rushing at them.

Phenomenal, Serenity and Takaras
- heavy cruisers that carried smaller armor plating and had fewer weapons and hardpoints than Blackrock were the first to engage the strange enemy ships. Blackrock was just behind them. The captain of Serenity, Allton Broadmore, was a close friend to Marcus. His face filled the tactical holoscreen.

“Captain Griffon, our main weapon is primed
- they will be in range in seconds. A coordinated attack from all three cruisers should destroy at least one of the enemy ships…”

Holographic images above the
tactical display showed three beams of energy from the primary weapons on board each heavy cruiser striking the closest alien vessel simultaneously. There was a blinding flash…and a moment later, sensors showed debris expanding from a hole in the alien ship, but it did not slow down and was not destroyed. Heavy cruiser Takaras suddenly blossomed into an expanding cloud of vaporized durasteel, plastics, and human flesh from its crew of six hundred souls. The enemy vessels had turned their attention to the on-coming cruisers and were ignoring the smaller destroyers, which seemed to have no success at penetrating the shields and armor of the alien war vessels.

Blackrock fired its main weapon, a
tachyon particle beam that accelerated the exotic particles to near-light speed and impacted with tremendous kinetic energy. Much like the strikes from the heavy cruisers, this too had an effect on the alien ship. It penetrated the shields and armor, but hit nothing vital.

A few seconds after Blackrock had fired its main weapon
, both of the remaining heavy cruisers, Phenomenal and Serenity, exploded in huge fireballs – twisted hunks of scattered debris blowing outward in a pyrotechnic display that was both spectacular and terrifying to watch. The sheer energy output of the enemy’s directed firepower was like nothing Marcus Griffon had ever seen. The pride of the Holdfast defense fleet was fast becoming a smoking ruin.

“Send out a recording beacon. I want to make sure the Alliance has all the data possible on these…ships…before this is all over,” Marcus ordered
. His staff quickly prepared an automated beacon for launch.

“Sir, it’s still possible we can maneuver and get out of the system before…” His
executive officer trailed with a glimmer of hope in his voice. No one wanted to die. As officers and men of the Alliance, they had been told for a decade they were better than everyone else. The propaganda was intense – they were to be the saviors of mankind. The Alliance symbol - a shield with a sword beside it, was portrayed as a bulwark against the chaos that the alien races represented. Yet, here on the bridge of the most powerful warship the Alliance had created, they knew the truth. They would all be dead in a few moments.

Blackrock shuddered one final time as the lethal beams of destruction found her in the glittering star field void of space. Captain Marcus Griffon died on his bridge, as a true officer of the Alliance would have wanted.
With the larger more dangerous Alliance warships dispatched, the enemy vessels turned their attention to the final remaining destroyers. Of the remaining nine, only two managed to activate their FTL drives to escape the destruction. The Fast Attack Group of the Holdfast Alliance had been annihilated in a matter of minutes.