Twin Stars 1: Ascension (37 page)

Cole himself, wounded while providing cover for his troops to escape, was propped against the back wall waiting for the emergency nano-meds to seal a hole in his chest when Ensign Tran came to him.

“Colonel Cole. The enemy commander is asking for our surrender.”

“Never!” Cole cursed, and immediately regretted it as he coughed up blood. After a moment, he wiped his mouth and looked right into her eyes. “Surrender means torture and worse, soldier. Remember that.”

“Of course, sir.” She answered, “But you’re wounded, and I thought…”

“It doesn’t matter,” he waved his hand. “How many people do we have left?”

“That can fight…?” She said, and glanced around the room. “Five sir, including you, but…”

“Then I,” Cole said, pushing himself to his feet. “Will have to stand for all of us.” Then he began to walk for the entrance, slowly. “Prepare to cover me. I will drive a hole through their lines and you will follow.”

“Sir,” she said as she walked along beside him. “Your array is damaged. I don’t think that would be the best choice.”

“It’s the only choice, soldier.” He said, peering out the window at the massed pirate forces. There were easily thirty of them out there, most of them crouched behind rubble or other debris- weapons ready. It was a killing field, but Cole never expected to go out any other way.

“Prepare everyone to move. Have each person take one of the wounded, that should leave…”

“Sir!” She interrupted him. “I’ve got an incoming link from the
Silverthorne
.”

“The ship?” Said Cole, confused. They’d lost connection to the station Linkspace network some time before. “What do they have to say?”

“They say…Please stand by.”

Cole frowned. “Well? What does that mean? Stand by for what?”

Suddenly there was a huge roar from outside, and everything shook. Cole turned to see that the ground had exploded under one of the larger groups of pirate soldiers. Smoke and debris were flying everywhere, and men were running screaming.

“I think for that, sir.” Said the Ensign. “Looks like someone just made one of the buried power nodes explode.”

“Clearly,” said Cole, powering up his array. “Let’s move!”

* * *

“Command, the power has shut down and we cannot get in. What is wrong?”

“Ping An! We’re being attacked! Someone’s just ambushed six of my men.”

“Squadron Leader, the enemy on the promenade have broken free, I don’t know if we can hold them!”

“Ping An! There’s someone else in the system. I’ve lost control of the power grid!”

A cascade of voices rang in Ping An’s ears, and everywhere she looked she could see her plans coming apart. A moment before, she’d been ready to order her pilot to begin warming up the shuttle, but now in what seemed like an instant everything had changed.

What’s going on?
She wondered with a rising sense of panic, how could things turn so quickly? Could it be there was something she hadn’t seen? Were the Imperial forces already here?

No. She forced herself to think. No, they couldn’t be here. There was no-one else on the data feeds, and she hadn’t seen anyone enter the station. This was just a counter-attack, a delay, and she could take control of it. All she had to do was focus.

“Vaela,” she said as calmly as she could. “Just worry about getting control of the section where Dragon’s got the VIPs pinned. Dragon, use whatever it takes to get them out, pry those doors if you have to. Andrews, fall back to cover Dragon’s retreat when they get those doors open. Vickers, fall back and join Andrews. We can do this, people, we just need to hold it together.”

That should do it, she thought. She just needed to keep control and this would all work out.

Still, she wondered, what had changed? Where had this come from?

* * *

“We’ve got them on the run. You did it!”

“No,” Tysen sent back as he watched his shuttle pod maneuver into a docking position with one of the asteroid’s exterior airlocks. “Esther did most of it. I just bought us a little time.” He glanced at the AR map hanging to the left of his vision, it showed a layout of the colony. “You can see they’re regrouping to make a run for it with the Admiral and his men- if they can get to them.”

“Still, you’re still doing pretty well for someone who just got out of sickbay! We’re lucky you decided to end your beauty sleep when you did.”

Tysen paused, and looked concerned a moment, then answered. “Luck had nothing to do with it. I…” He hesitated, as if he wasn’t sure whether to continue or not. “…Heard her calling me.”

“Her?”

“Esther. She woke me up.”

He heard the disbelief in Kip’s voice. “Al, I think you’re still a little woozy. Maybe you better sit this one out.”

Tysen laughed. “Fine, don’t believe me. Right now we have more important things to do- Esther!”

A window showing the Squire’s face from the rear of the shuttle opened.

“Yes, Captain?” She answered primly.

“Did you find them?”

“I have. The person accessing the computer core is doing so from the location I’m putting on your map of the facility.”

Tysen felt the telltale bump as the shuttle linked with the airlock. “Excellent. Tell Colonel Cole to regroup and head to section 67-B. Then get me Mister Ulstead, let him know I’ve got another mission for him.”

“You’re going in, Tysen?”

“I am, they need help. But, you need to sit this one out, Esther.”

She looked displeased. “Tysen, I need to accompany you…”

“No,” he shook his head. “If anything happens to you, the ship can’t enter hyperspace and escape. They need you more than they need me. You’ll just have to use the station security systems and be my guardian angel.” He reached into a nearby storage bin and produced a dormant silver array cube. “Can you do that?”

“I will.”

“Then let’s do it.”

* * *

“Dragon, almost done?”

“Da. We have them, they didn’t have much fight in them after we used our gas grenades.”

“Good,” Ping An told him. “Then load them up and get back to the main hanger as fast as you can. You’ve got hostile forces moving under you.”

“We commandeered a grav-sled and my men are loading them on board now.” Then the pirate stopped in surprise- “Did you say they were under us?”

“Yes, and I don’t like it. So get out of there as soon as you can.”

“I will, Command.” His window closed.

“I must say,” The Lady said from her nearby seat. “It took you long enough.”

“I’m sorry to keep you waiting your Ladyship.” Answered Ping An with mock politeness as she continued working.

“If I have learned anything in my time, it’s patience my dear. Now, once we have them what will you do? Your ships are gone, and have you heard from your friends outside of the field?”

“No, I can’t reach them.”

“A pity. I imagine they’ve also gotten tired of waiting for you.”

Annoyed, Ping An stopped to look at the old woman. “Why, your Ladyship. I think you’re enjoying this.”

“Oh, I am.” Whitcombe grinned, which looked a little like a prune with a smile cut into it. “I am indeed. Nothing like a little adventure to get the blood moving again is there?”

Ping An shook her head. “Well, at least one of us is having fun.” Then she decided she’d better explain. “Don’t worry, I’ve got a plan to get us out of here. You see I…”

A holo-window suddenly flipped open in front of her.

“Ping An!” Whispered a small frightened voice.

“Vaela, what is it?”

* * *

“Ping An,” Vaela whispered, glancing nervously around. “There’s someone here! They’ve found me!”

The best access node Vaela had been able to find for the station systems was at the back of one of the station warehouses. Still filled with row upon row of boxes and piles of junk, Vaela sat alone with her equipment in a small island of light against the back wall of the silent room.

“How is that possible?” Ping An sent back. “Where are your guards?”

“I-I don’t know!” She stammered. “They went to check on something and they haven’t come back yet. Ping-An, you’ve got to get me out of here!”

“Okay. Okay. Calm down.” Her Captain said. “Don’t worry about them. You have an escape route planned, don’t you?”

“Yes, but…” Had something just fallen over? Vaela peered into the darkness but saw nothing moving.

“Just get your gear and go. I was going to tell you to pull out anyways, so get back here as fast as you can. There’s nobody anywhere near you on the sensors but your guards, and they’re out in the hall.”

“Alright,” Vaela said, starting to unplug her portable buffer unit from the control node. “I’m coming back.”

“That-a-girl! See you soon. Don’t worry, we won’t leave without you.”

The she closed the link.

“Well that’s reassuring,” Vaela said sarcastically as she pulled her things together. There wasn’t much to it, just a few cables and a small box. She was proud of the unit, she’d built it herself for help in handling large flows of information when she was breaking into systems.

CLICK-KLACK!

Vaela almost dropped the box as the noise echoed through the cavern, and for a moment she stood there, too scared to move. Then she quickly grabbed the last of the cables and shoved them and the box into a cloth bag. Reaching up, she grabbed the portable light she’d stuck to the wall above her, and turned, shining it around the warehouse.

Dull, corroded old metal and pieces of packing materials loomed all around her, but nothing moved in the shadows. She could see the light of the exit sign glowing dully across the gulf of blackness. It might as well have been on the other side of the solar system.

With one hand clutching the bag to her chest, Vaela started walking toward it.

After she’d gotten a short distance she heard a noise to her left.

CLICK!

She didn’t turn. She didn’t look. She just kept the light forward and kept walking.

TAP! TAP! TAP!

That noise was to her right.

Again, she just kept walking for the door.

CLICK! CLICK! CLICK!

The sound was following her, and she quickened her pace.

TAP! TAP! CLICK! TAP! TAP! CLICK!

More sounds, to her right and her left.

She broke into a run, pushing her legs to run as hard as she could.

All around her there were noises now, scuttling noises, tapping noises, clicking noised. They were coming after her, chasing her, drawing closer.

She didn’t know what they were- she didn’t care. All she knew was that she had to escape!

At last, with the noise threatening to overwhelm her, she reached the door and slammed the control button. When it didn’t open, she hit it again, and again, and…

The door slid open, and a dark shape loomed over her.

“G’day Shiela,” said the shape with a smile. “You’ll be coming with me.”

* * *

Ping An grabbed the grey breastplate and clamshelled it over her, letting the armor seal around her torso. Then she picked up the plasma assault rifle she’d stuck to the shuttle wall and checked it.

“And where do you think you’re going?” Asked The Lady.

“I’ve lost contact with Vaela and the rest of my teams,” Ping An said as she grabbed extra power-packs and stuck them to her hips. “I’m going to go get them.”

“You realize of course, that if you fail I was your prisoner and won’t support you in the slightest?” Said The Lady in an unconcerned tone, watching her impassively.

Ping An snorted. “How kind of you. Sorry, but I won’t fail.”

Then without a backward glance the pirate marched down the shuttle’s back ramp and pointed to a nearby group of guards.

“You men, with me.”

Grabbing another group of men, she led them over to where Captain Andrews’ men were working on the old grav trucks.

“These work?” She asked one of the surprised techs.

“Yes Captain, this one and those two.” The trucks he pointed to were jeep-style vehicles with a roofless open cab and open backs- they didn’t offer much in terms of cover, but they had speed.

“Load up, people.” She ordered. “We’ve got work to do.”

* * *

“Betsey?”

“Yeah Leederman?”

“Those medics are sure taking their time.”

Betsey’s finger stopped in mid air and hesitated over a control button, then she forced herself to press it and keep working.

“I know, they can’t get through. The tube shaft is blocked.” Then after a moment she added, more to herself than him. “Don’t worry, they’ll be here soon.”

“It’s cold in here.” Said the Ops man, who was laying on the floor next to her station.

It wasn’t cold, in fact it was starting to heat up in the confined space.

“Don’t think about it, just focus on the job I gave you.”

Since they’d gotten the ship’s Linkspace network up, she’d given him the job of checking to see who was wounded among the crew. It was simple work, he just needed to link to them and ask the ship’s sixty crew members their status.