The Catherine Kimbridge Chronicles #4, Retribution (13 page)

The timing could not have been worse. Debbu had been on his way to a secret facility located in the northern outskirts of the city in an installation called JasNair Observatory. There he would find a radio transmitter that the freedom fighters used to send a message to a waiting drone resting in a powered-down state on the surface of Naana
c’
s largest moon. The drone, which had been sitting idle for years, could only be used once. On power-up it would relay a specially coded hyperfield message to the Modos Liberation Front that an uprising on Naanac had begun. A very important return message would be sent. It was a disarm code for certain devices hidden about the planet. The information contained in that message would be absolutely critical if his world was to survive any potential victory.

The Modos Syndicate had specia
l‘
poison-pil
l
’ protocols in place for handling territories seeking to disengage from Syndicate control. If it looked like the world in question was about to secede then these protocols were triggered. The protocols, if implemented, did not allow the worlds in question to survive the attempt. The nature of th
e“
poison-pil
l
” varied from world to world. In the case of Naanac th
e“
poison-pil
l
” took the form of a series of high-yield thermonuclear devices that would foul the oceans and atmosphere. What life did survive would struggle for several millennia. This was a battle his people could not wi
n
… even with the help of the GCP. Finding a way to get to that radio station was a matter of life and deat
h
… not just for him but for his world.

Unfortunately, every time he tried to move he could feel the broken bone in his leg grating. Even worse than the pain of the leg was the pain he was feeling all over as his skin continued to dry out. It had been well over a day since he had been able to wet it. His people lived the majority of their lives on land but their amphibious nature meant they needed to keep their skin moist. Normally this was not a problem but normally he was not trapped by the collapse of a building away from a source of life-giving water.

He tried to shift the beam again and free his trapped leg. The scream that escaped his parched lips would have awaken the dead if that were indeed possible. The noise however did not go unnoticed. He heard a rustling near the collapsed opening of the roof. Someone must have overheard his scream. He immediately became quiet. He had no idea who was up there. They could be friend or foe. How was he to know? His heart began to race in panic. He was trappe
d
…
he was trappe
d
… his mind repeated the thought. He shook his fog-laden head. He was trapped. It did
n’
t matter who this was that had heard his scream. He was dead if he remained trapped much longer.

“
HELP
!
” he tried to yell but his voice was raspy
.“
HEL
P
… is anybody out there? HELLLLLP
!
”

A few stones fell from the opening above him as someone made their way toward the rift. A metallic head peered over the edge. It was not a sight he would soon forget. They only good news was that whoever this was he/it/she did not appear to be a Modos. If he had to guess he suspected it was a member of the so-called Galactic Coalition but in some sort of battle armor he was unfamiliar with. It looked formidable.

“
Are you all right
?
” a voice called down from above. The accent was the familiar metallic one Debbu associated with the GC
P’
s electronic translators. He immediately felt better. This was not the Syndicate.

“
I’
m pinned under a beam
,
” Debbu croaked weakly. His throat was so dry he was
n’
t sure the soldier would be able to hear him. Obviously he was hard to hear because the man moved closer to the edge. More stones and dust fell.

“
I’
ll be right dow
n
… I just need tooooo
o
… oh CRAPPPP
!
” the man yelled as a much larger mass of stones and dirt began to fall. These were followed by about three hundred pounds of soldier encased in a somewhat battered Mark Six combat suit. The latter came tumbling head over heels down through the now somewhat larger hole in the ceiling.

As the soldier fell a much bigger portion of the roof began to collapse with him. Debbu had been sure that this was the final moment of his life but the Creator obviously had additional plans for him because to his complete and utter amazement not a single piece of the flying debris touched him.

When the dust cleared the GCP soldier was upside down and half buried under a mass of stone and steel. Debbu thought he must be dead but the man began to move and with incredible strength began to dig himself out. Unknown to the Naan, the GCP Mark Six combat suit was fully equipped with momentum dampers and various other systems designed to keep its occupant safe. Still

Before the soldier had finished extracting himself from the rubble a second person made an appearance at the now quite significant opening above the wrecked garage. Whoever this was they looked completely different than the first soldier. This person was quite obviously a human female however she was dressed in what looked to be a light metallic form-fitting suit. Everything but her face was covered with some type of gray metallic cloth that showed no signs of seams or segmentation. To be honest he was quite baffled by her appearance.

“
Hold tight.
I’
ll be right down
,
” the woman yelled from above. Her accent held none of the synthetic components that had flavored the other ma
n’
s speech. Had he not been watching her speak he would have sworn he was listening a native of Naanac rather than a person born on a rock orbiting an impossibly distant star in another universe.

***

Chairman Snatch Bait watched the external feed being piped into the bridge by the engineer he had sent outside to scrub the exterior hull of the
MS Typhoon
. It had been intended as a punishment detail and as such Snatch Bait would normally not even be remotely interested in watching the young fool
s
’ progress but a chance discovery made by the idiot changed that.

There appeared to be a device of unknown origin attached to the hull of the
Typhoon
. Snatch Bait immediately ordered an inspection of all the capital ships in the fleet. The results were concerning. Somehow over a dozen or more ships had one or more of the devices on them. All employed some sort of cloaking technology and were only found by literally bumping into the units while physically exploring the hull.

Snatch Bait was
n’
t sure what bothered him mos
t
… that there could be additional devices yet undiscovered; that they did
n’
t know what the damn things did when activated; or perhaps wors
e
… they did
n’
t know how the enemy had managed to plant them in the first place.

He ordered the devices removed and taken to one of two separate ships. The
Black Dread
was tasked with discovering what the devices did. Meanwhile the
MS Early Tide
would hold the devices not being examined so that in the event something happened to the
Dread
the Syndicate would still have some of the alien technology to examine.

Chapter Eleve
n
–
Rescue...

Cat bent down and misted water on the exposed arms and legs of the Naan named Debbu. When she found him, he had been trapped under a fallen metal beam. She and Private Stone had carefully lifted it off the alie
n’
s injured leg. Fortunately her Heshe encounter unit had the recorded schematics of a wide number of devices including a medical scanner. Her construction nanites quickly fabricated the required unit and she carried out a rapid assessment of the injury.

“The bone is broken in two places. I can move the pieces back in place and reinforce the base structure with a form-fitting stainless steel sheath over the bone but without a better understanding of your cellular anatomy I ca
n’
t actually knit the bone. The sheath will serve as an internal cast which can be removed later
.
”

The Naan looked her in the eyes. The expression of concern is a near universal one and his reflected the fear he was feeling.

Cat placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder
.“I’
ll use medical nanite
s
… very small microscopic machines that will build the support sheath from the inside. The good news is your neurophysiology is very similar to my species. That being the case,
I’
ll be able to put a temporary spinal block in place that will keep you from feeling any pain while the medical nanites do their work. With any luck yo
u’
ll be almost good as new in just a little while
.
”

Debbu gripped her arm with a webbed hand
.“
The pain does not matter. I need to be mobile. I was on a mission of immense importance. When can you begin
?
”

Cat smiled
.“
I already hav
e
… you should feel your legs go numb in just a few moments. After that you should be able to try walking carefully in the next five or ten minutes
.
”

***

Admiral Faragon rubbed his eyes. Lord in Heaven he was tired. Commodore Ruc
k’
s holographic image waited patiently.

“
Jaso
n,
” Faragon continue
d“
Your mission is absolutely critical to our success but I just do
n’
t have anything I can send you. The second fleet is out of the question. Every ship we have is engaged, destroyed or preparing to defend critical assets. The flood of Syndicate ships coming through the SgrA conduit is beyond comprehension. The bottom line is... we are working as fast as we can to free up assets to send your direction but w
e’
re looking at a couple of days at a minimum
.
”

Jaso
n’
s image flickered as he adjusted his stance
.“
Sir, I understand. Are there any supply ships available
?
”

Admiral Faragon waved his hand toward the nanite enhanced sapphire glass window in his office on Orbital One
.“
Those we have in abundanc
e
… but they are lightly armed and have negligible shields.
I’
m not sure how useful they could be to you in a fight
.
”

Jaso
n’
s image grinned
.“
Sir, Admiral Kimbridge has some interesting ideas about that. If you could send a couple our way it could be a real game changer for us
.
”

“
I might have known Cat would have something up her sleeve. Do you need anything special loaded on those transports
?
”

Jaso
n’
s smile broaden
.“
Why yes si
r
… Now that you mention i
t
… there is
.
”

***

            
 “
W
e’
ll need to find cover soon
!
” Cat yelled over the sound of scattered gunfire in the distance
.“
My sensor feeds are showing sixteen incoming dragonflies.
I’
m not worried about our thermal signatures with all the fires burning in this section of the city but you can bet those boys are
n’
t coming to just do a fly-by. How far away are those underground tram tunnels you were talking about Professor
?
”

             
Debbu glanced about the ruins that had until just a few days ago been a model of immaculate city living. His view was obscured somewhat by Private Ston
e’
s helmet. The private was carrying the university professor on his back. Although he could now walk with limited assistance he was too weak from his injuries and lack of food and water to make good time.

            
 “
I think tha
t’
s Spro
k’
s Gourmet Bug Market over there on the righ
t
… or at least what is left of it.  If i
t’
s true then the entrance should be just down that street
.
” He pointed down a larger but rubble-strewn street.