The War Across the Stars (20 page)

We concluded that the only place to go from the room was up a ladder.  Like the ladder before, it was rickety, and we had to advance one at a time, Phil going first.  I went last, but as I neared the top, the ladder shook.  Then the rung snapped, and my foot fell fast into the next one, breaking it as well.  I held on tight to the ladder, as to not slip and fall clear down to the floor. 

“James?” Cassidy asked, concern lining her tone.

“I’m good,” I said, my arm reaching the top.  I lifted myself out and pulled my pistol out. 

The room we were in was round, and oddly unguarded.  It seemed to be exactly like the structure we had found originally.  I saw the same stairway curving upwards, and the same doorway into the wastes.  Beside the hole was another metal hatch.    Through the doorway I could see a horrible snowstorm blowing snow powerfully. 

“Well, let’s check upstairs.  The UED has to have something here, right?” I said fairly quietly, concerned the UED could be near. 

We moved up the stairway, taking small, quiet steps.  It seemed that the stairway was incredibly long, but as we neared the top, I heard voices.  Phil’s hand came up in a fist, inferring we stop.

“Oscar Papa Nine, you may have company soon.  We’ve lost contact with the RADC team under Oscar Papa Eight,” a voice said through a COM device. 

“Copy that HQ.  We already have a team downstairs on watch.  Over,” a nearby voice replied. 

“Affirmative Oscar Papa Nine.    Just keep hold of that observation post, we need to hold as many of ‘em as we can.”

“10-4,” one responded. 

“That’s all, over,” the radio replied.

“Ramirez, how are things goin’ down there?” the voiced asked into the radio.  “Ramirez?  Come in.  Something must be messin’ with our signal.  Holton, go check it out.”

“Yes sir.”

A soldier approached the stairs and turned the corner.  As he took his first step down, Phil fired a shotgun blast into the man.  He flew backwards, and our team moved in.

“Keep one alive,” Ryan ordered.

As I popped up to the top level I saw four men.  One of them wore a hat in place of the helmet worn by the other three.  I assumed him in charge and shot his leg.  He went down, but drew his pistol and took several shots at me.  I stepped closer, knocking it out of his hand with my gun.  The pistol slid across the floor and over the ledge to the stairway.

“Very nice,” Ryan commented, looking at the three dead soldiers and our new prisoner.

“Who are you?” the soldier said through clenched teeth.

“Lieutenant Ryan Dunkelman, Elonian Rangers.  So who are you?” Ryan said.

“Master Sergeant Christopher White.  UED Marine Corps.”

“What are you doing here?” Ryan asked.

“Look, I’m not telling you anything.  Just kill me.”

“We’re not going to kill you.  In fact, I could be convinced to let you live after you’ve told us what you know.”

“Why should I believe that?” he asked angrily. 

“I don’t see a lot of choice right now,” Ryan pointed out.

“I’d rather die than betray the UED!” he screamed.

Ryan slammed his armored boot into the sergeant’s stomach.  He screamed in agony as Ryan repeated it.

“Now?” Ryan questioned.

“NO!” White replied, his eyes filled with determination.

“Ya’know… you are actually a pretty good soldier.  It’d be nice to have more men like you on our side.”

“You’re not going to convince me to be one of you!  Don’t even try!” White protested.

“Oh, I’m not.  I was just letting you know before I started the real interrogation,” Ryan said, with feigned excitement. 

“What do you… Oh…” White said as Ryan pulled out his combat knife.

He then seized the man’s hand and pressed the knife close to his fingers.

“Round one,” Ryan said as he began to press in on the knife.

Sergeant White’s face contorted with pain as his fingers began to drip blood.

“STOP!  I’ll talk… I’ll talk.  Just… stop.  Please,” he begged.

“Oh, unexpected.  I was getting excited for round two,” Ryan replied.  He had used this tactic before, creating a sense that he enjoyed their suffering, and that he had no limits.

“Okay…” the man’s face winced.  “What do you want?”

“What is the UED doing here?  Exploring, Colonizing, Protecting?”

“Originally, we were exploring for a new colony.  We had encountered another alien species on Corzam, and wanted to be prepared if we ever found another.  So we… we sent multiple warships in each scouting party.  When Cope found this planet, without… a star, we realized the significance immediately.  We deployed forces to the surface, and were contacted by the locals.  Korth, I think he said his name was.  Look, I’m really just a grunt, I don’t know everything,” he explained.

“You’re doing well so far,” Ryan said, spinning his knife.  “With that in mind, I’d continue.”

“Okay, okay.  Uh… We’ve been ordered to hold these… these… towers.  We’ve dubbed them Observation Posts, it was the best our teams could come up with for their purpose.  Command is sure that these are important.”

“What do you know about the Tredecim?” Ryan inquired fiercely.

“The who?  Oh, yeah… the other natives.  We’ve been instructed to keep an eye out for them.  That’s all I know.”

“Who’s in command?”

“Cope.  Admiral Cope.”

“Where can we find him?”

“Last I knew, he was still in orbit on board the
Odyssey
.”

“Anything else you want to say?” Ryan asked, waving the knife slightly.

“No… that’s all.”

“How strong is your force planet side?”

“We have multiple battalions deployed down here.  You know you don’t stand a chance,” he said boldly.

“What’s that device on your ear?”

“My communicator… that’s it.”

“Give it to me,” Ryan ordered.

“Fine, here,” White said, removing it and handing it over.

Ryan observed it carefully, and then slipped it into one of his ammo pockets.

“We’re done here.  Best of luck to you Sergeant.   Rangers, let’s move,” Ryan concluded. 

He put away his knife, pulled his gun back out, and started down the stairs.  We followed quickly, ready to further explore this planet. 

“Good work there sir, as usual,” Phil said, laughing. 

“It’s really not as fun as it looks.  But yeah, we’re slightly better off.”

“So, where too?  We have one exit that we haven’t used yet, so… back into the snowstorm?” I asked.

“I guess so.  Maybe we should look for the Beholder.  If it’s still intact,” Cassidy suggested.

“It’s a start.  We need a goal.  Surely their former capital won’t be too hard to find.  But we also need to find Korth,” Nevin pointed out.

We filed out into the raging snowstorm once again.  We had no idea which direction to go, only that this landscape, one filled with towers and mountains, would not be the easiest to explore. 

“Let’s get up on another one of these hills.  Get as high as we can to get a good view,” I suggested.  “All things considered, there may be other survivors.”

“We can only hope,” Ryan responded. 

The hill was slick and icy.  Large rocks protruded from it in various locations.  With each step our boots would sink into the deep snow.  As we finally reached the peak, we were met with a surprising sight.  Rows of tents set up in the center of the valley.  They were blowing violently with the wind, rippling, but remaining planted in the ground.  A flag was blowing in the middle of the camp with seven stars encircling what appeared to be a planet.

“Sir… I think we found something,” Nevin said, staring at the encampment.

“That’s got to be UED,” Phil commented.

“Let’s hit it, see what sort of damage we can do,” Ryan said.

“Anyone else getting the feeling there’s gonna be a lotta guys here?” Cassidy asked as we began descending the mountain.

“Actually, James, you wait here.  Snipe ‘em off ‘till we give the signal,” Ryan said, looking back at me.

I nodded silently and took the few steps back to the top.  The rest of the team made their way to the base of the hill as I set up.  I lay in a prone position, and had my SR-4 up to my eye, observing the base.  It was fairly close, meaning most shots would be easy to hit. 

In less than a minute the group had arrived at the edge of the encampment and I saw them all raise their guns into a combat stance.  They advanced steadily, searching for targets.  I expected one to emerge from one of the many tents at any moment, but still nothing.  They turned a corner down one of the alleys of tents.  I was unable to see what was in front of them, as it was obscured by the rows of tents.  Then Phil, who was in front, stopped, raising his left arm to a ninety-degree angle.

My COM crackled, making me jump with surprise.

“James… Come on down.  Be careful.  We’ve got a blood trail and a lot of blood.  No bodies,” Ryan stated.

“Copy that.  On my way down,” I said, exhaling. 

As I moved down the mountainside I started to wonder what had happened.  My first thought was that some of our Marines had survived, but I could not think of a reason that they would move the bodies.  The thought bothered me as it left so much unanswered.

“Sir?  Could it be a trap?” I finally said.

“We’ve considered, not seeing any signs of it though.  Checked a few tents already and still nothing but blood.  These tents ‘round here are in pretty bad shape as well,” Ryan replied.

My slow jog broke into a sprint as I tried to regroup with them as fast as I could.  Something didn’t feel right, but I couldn’t place what it was.  I finally caught up with them and saw the scene they had been describing to me.  It definitely didn’t look like something Elonian Marines would take the time to do.

“Well, I see only one logical option,” Phil said, staring at the bloody trail leading away from the base.  “We follow the blood.”

Ryan nodded in agreement and we began to trek alongside the trail of blood.  The snowstorm remained harsh, and as we moved further along the trail, it became less and less clear.  Two hundred meters from the camp, we found that the blood led into a cave in the mountainside. 

“Why am I not surprised?” Nevin asked.  “A cave.”

Cassidy laughed softly, but Ryan gave me an uneasy look.

“Well, this may be our worst decision yet, but let’s head inside,” he said.  “Phil, you’re on point.”

We moved into the dark tunnel, moving slowly, trying to be prepared in case anything was to attack.  I placed my sniper rifle back on my pack, pulling out my pistol and clicking on its under barrel flashlight. 

I heard rocks tumbling, somewhere to the left of me, and quickly swung my aim in that direction.  I saw nothing unusual, and then realized how complex this cave system must be.  The rocks must have been somewhere on the other side of the wall before me.  The ambiance of the cave was unsettling, but fortunately it kept me alert. 

Phil stopped abruptly and backed up a step.  Shining his light ahead, I now saw what he had found.

“Well, I guess we found the bodies,” Phil murmured.

Before us was a stack of nearly twenty dead UED Marines resting in a pool of blood.

“What… could have done this?” Nevin asked thoughtfully, taking several steps closer to the pile.

“Careful,” I warned, still keeping my guard up. 

Each man seemed to be wearing a white camo outfit with some sort of vest for armor.  Many of them had pairs of gashes as if a two-fingered claw had attacked them.  As I observed the bodies, something flashed out of the corner of my eye.  The next thing I knew Nevin was gone.  I quickly looked left to see a large creature rolling across the ground with him, slashing at his face.  I lifted my pistol to shoot when I too was knocked over, dropping my pistol.  It slid across the cave floor, its light illuminating various markings that adorned walls before coming to a stop facing the body pile.

I looked up to see a wide-faced monster barring its rows of dark teeth at me.  Its skin was a dark brown, almost magenta color, and it seemed to have a strong, yet agile build.  With one of its mighty hands it held me to the floor while the other one repeatedly began to bash me.  I struggled to punch back, but its grip was too strong.  My heart began to race as I ran out of options.  So far it hadn’t gotten through the tough armor, and as I fought to get it off I could only hope it wouldn’t.  At last, after a seemingly long time, I heard Phil’s shotgun fire a blast into the creature on top of me.  It rolled off of me from the force of the blow, but appeared to be getting back up. 

It then uttered something that almost sounded like a sentence, as opposed to an unintelligible roar, before being battered by another blast from the SG-13.  It collapsed to the ground, its dark blood spraying onto the cavern wall behind it.

I quickly looked over to Nevin to see the creature that had been on him now sprawled motionless beside him.  He slowly started to get up, but as he looked at me I noticed his visor had a small crack in it.