The Destroyers Book 3 Civil WarChapter 5 Mars and Space
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Aboard Space Dock One, Commodore John Thompson walked out of his office and headed for his personal shuttle. It was docked in one of the many launch bays on the twenty-mile long space dock. Walking through the concourse, he looked out at the USS Ark Royal. He saw the ship was almost completed. The command tower was going up as he watched. He picked up the pace and entered the shuttle bay to find his aide standing there. Lieutenant Susan Blake ... all of four foot nine inches of her, with her midnight dark hair in a ponytail ... stood there, with her computer pad in one hand.
"Lieutenant Blake what are you doing here?"
Smiling up at her boss, she said, "Sir, you didn't think you could slip away without me? Where you go, I go. That is what aides do. Now we best get onboard, so Capitan Harding can start the liftoff, and get you to your daughter. I assume something important has happened to her."
John looked at her in surprise and just had to ask, "How did you know about Jenny? Yes, something has happened to her."
"Sir, you filed the flight plan to the Oregon so logically that means something is wrong with your daughter. If it had been the Washington, I would have assumed it was your wife. I do not see you running off at the drop of a dime on your son's behalf. Therefore, I must assume something has happened to Jenny. It's not the baby, is it?"
Shocked, John looked at Sue and said, "What baby?"
Sue was startled at John's question and responded, "Oh my God! You didn't know? She is four months pregnant!"
John was staggered that he was going to be a grandfather, and then realized he might lose both.
"No, Sue, I did not know. Jenny was shot. She is critically hurt. She may not make it."
John started to collapse. Sue jumped forward, and caught her boss. She guided him up the ramp. Sitting him in one of the plush command chairs, she pressed the intercom pad.
"Kinisha, take us out. Get us to the Oregon as fast as possible. It's life and death, and this is NOT a joke."
Walking over to the replicator, she said, "Scotch three fingers."
The glass materialized. She carried it over to John, and handed it to him.
"Sir, drink this."
John took the drink, and drained it in one gulp.
He handed it back to Sue, and asked, "How did you know she was pregnant?"
"Sir, I initiated an Alpha program on all your kids, so I'd know if something was wrong. I figured as your aide, I should have that information to give you if you needed it. I would not have told you, but you hit me by surprise that she was hurt. Beside I love you, and I ... Oh, damn! I just fucked up." Looking up at John she said, "Sir, after you see to your daughter, I request to be transferred. I should not have said that. I know you love your wife, and would never hurt her with an affair, or take another wife. I will go away," she said as she turned away to hide her tears.
Stunned, John looked at the nineteen old women. He reached up, and took her hand.
"Sue, I don't know what to say. I will not transfer you. Let me think on it and talk to Martha, before we do anything hasty. Now what's the status of the Yamato?"
Turning she smiled at her boss as she pulled her datapad out of her pocket and brought up the data on the USS Yamato and started to report to John when the engines fired up.
On the flight deck, Kinisha, hit the ramp closure button, and fired up the engines. Having already gotten lift off permission she turned the shuttle around, headed for the open bay, and out through the force field. Coming around the giant dock, they passed over the USS Yamato and lined up on Terra. Throwing the throttles to emergency speed, she hurled the ship through space at fifty thousand miles per minute. The inertial compensators strained under the maximum burn. Kinisha checked her computers and saw it was going to take fifteen minutes to get to Earth. Turning on her com, she contacted the small space station in the Earths orbit and she said, "Homebase, this is Builder One I'm inbound to the USS Oregon, ETA to Terra is fifteen minutes."
"Roger Builder One, ETA one-five minutes. The Oregon is over the city of Bogotá at six miles. It is rendering assistance in a terrorist bombing incident, a hospital. I'm relaying your flight plan to them now. Homebase, out."
Ted sighted his plasma rifle on the Black Eagle tanks, while moving quickly so they could not get a lock on him. He switched the cannons to individual fire, and fired the top mounted plasma cannons first. The first round slammed into the tank on the right. The round slammed into the turret and it was blown off the chassis. It traveled for a few more feet, and came to a dead stop. The second round splashed against a boulder as the second tank quickly went into reverse and fired another round that pulverized a forty-ton rock next to Ted's Mech. Rock debris rained over the Mech as he ran up the side of the slope to the cliff face.
"Rita, missile action, full spread enemy tank," Ted ordered.
"Acquiring target ... locked on ... firing."
Fifteen missiles leaped from his missile pack, flew the three hundred yards and slammed into the tank. One of the missiles lost its lock on the target tank, and acquired the damaged tank. The missile plunged into the crew compartment and blew the remains across the battlefield.
Ted checked his damage screen and saw his legs could not take another hit, so coming to a stop he said, "Spiders, repair legs and shield generator."
Standing there, he watched the spiders go to work on repairing his legs as he scanned for any sign of movement. Turning up the audio sensors, he listened for anything he couldn't see and detected someone moving up the canyon. Swiveling the torso of his Mech that way, he brought up the telescopic sites. The crackling of the fire from the burning tanks could be heard as he focused on the boulders where he expected the person was hiding. Aiming his plasma cannon at the location, he turned his external com speakers on. He fired one burst, just behind the boulders, and spoke into the com.
Francisco Pena hated his job, just because he was the new person, did not make it right for him to have to crawl along the ground looking for whatever blew up the tanks. Hearing a crackling he looked back at the flames shooting up from the tanks and shook his head. Moving his hand quickly, he made the sign of the cross, and started crawling again.
Francisco yiked as the ground exploded behind him and looking back, he saw the ground was burning. The flames were burning so brightly that they hurt to even look at them. Shading his eyes from the flames, he noticed they burned a holy white, as if the angels were upon him. Suddenly a voice said something in English. Then he heard it repeated in Spanish.
"Whoever is behind the rock, the next burst will shatter it, and you. Therefore, I advise you to come out with no weapons. If you comply, you will live. If you don't you WILL die!"
Still staring at the flames, Francisco saw the rock was literality melting and he dropped his AK-47, stood up with his hands over his head, and stepped out.
"Please, Señor, don't kill me."
Ted stared at the man who stepped out from behind the boulder and noticed three things. One he was scrawny; two, his face was bruised as if someone had been beating him; and three, he had pissed his pants.
"I said I won't kill you. What is your name? Tell me where Carlos Fajardo is."
Francisco gulped as he looked up at the towering metal monster with the strange spiders like creatures crawling all over it. He noticed that they seemed to be repairing it, and he stammered in fear.
"Francisco ... Francisco Peña. I'm a new guard," he said. Turning he pointed at the way from which he had come, and continued, "Boss is that way in big cave with many weapons."
Seeing the thing move, he dropped to the ground huddling there as he prayed and crossed himself, muttering over and over, "Don't kill me."
Ted looked down at the worm and wished he could just step on it, but he had promised he wouldn't.
Ted snapped out, "I said I won't kill you. Now start walking towards Bogotá, when you get there, turn yourself in to the first police officer you meet. You will confess your sins to your priest and to the police, or so help me I will find you and stuff you out an airlock at fifty thousand feet with no parachute. Am I clear?"
Francisco started nodding his head so hard that it hurt when he stopped as he muttered, "Yes, Sir! I see police, I tell them everything."
Ted quickly said, "Now run!" as he pointed his plasma cannons at the man.
Francisco looked up at the giant weapon, pissed his pants again, and took off running down the road as fast as his skinny legs would carry him. Looking back, he saw the strange robot start moving away, as he ducked into the trees.
Ted watched his spiders work on one of the side screens, and saw that the armor plate had been restored. Turning on his com, he said, "Spiders return."
Re-powering his legs he started walking up the canyon. Turning on the external speakers, again, he started playing Ride of the Valkyries. Passing over the rough ground he poke into the external com system.
"Carlos Fajardo I'm coming for you. You shot and killed my wife you son of a bitch, I have killed your brother, and now it is your turn. Tremble in fear, and know your death is near," he said.
Stepping around another bend, he saw the opening of a large cave and he rotated his torso and let loose with his first barrage of missiles that slammed into the cliff face. Explosions blasted out of the wall, one of the five-foot missiles actually went inside, and a large explosion detonated out of the cave as one thousand pounds of explosives stacked on the truck detonated as the missile hit the truck.
The cab of the truck was hurled out of the cave opening. The explosion demolished a five thousand gallon tanker truck filled with diesel fuel. The resulting explosion hurled rock and car parts everywhere and black oily smoke billowed up into the air. Two men staggered out on fire and Ted watched them burn, with no feeling in him.
Moving up he started scanning for more life and detected them around the bend scattered in the canyon.
"Come out, Carlos, I want to play kickball with you. If you make me dig you out of your nest I'm going to be really pissed off."
Carlos listened to the loud music that he recognized as Wagner, and then the voice started talking, telling him what he was going to do to him. Walking over to his Hummer with the last two duffle bags in his hand, he tossed them onto the seat. He grinned as he thought of the two hundred and fifty million in United States currency inside them. Climbing into the Hummer, that he had left running in the cave, he started driving down the escape route. Behind him, another large explosion detonated as he went deeper through the mountain and came out on an old dirt road. Stopping at the entrance, he waited and listened for more explosions as he pulled out a small box with a button on it and pressed it.
Ted stepped around the bend. He spotted the second cave, and lined up on it. Suddenly, his shield started flickering as five mini-guns opened fire. Before he could react, twenty RPG's had streaked in and hit his shields. Walking forward Ted fired his plasma cannon and blew one of the mini guns off the cliff face and the other went silent. Sweeping his remaining machineguns around he stitched three men who had popped up armed with RPGs. Taking another step, his foot came down on the antitank mine, and the footpad disintegrated under the compact explosion. Six claymores detonated around him. Thousands of steel ball bearings hit his shields and they crashed down.
"Son of a bitch. Missiles action front saturation spread."
Firing his missiles directly ahead of him, they were set to explode every five feet apart. The entire cliff face exploded outward and tumbled down, burying two of the mini-guns and twenty other men firing on him. Swiveling his Mech's torso, he took the last mini-gun under fire. The twin blasts of his plasma cannon blasted the hidden gunner out of his hole, where he had been reloading.
Juan Santiago shook his head, climbed to his knees, and looked out of his gun position. He saw that the robot was firing his weapons on several men armed with RPGs. Climbing behind his mini-gun, again, he sighted on the robot. He could see the massive damage it had taken. Its hull was pocketed with hundreds of divots where the mini-gun fire had impacted on it. Checking his ammo belt, he saw he had about two hundred rounds left. Pressing the firing button, the barrels start twirling and he let loose with a continuous stream of bullets that tore into the robot. An explosion detonated from the thing's shoulder. Stitching the fire down the body his rounds start ripping into the chest area and then his gun went quiet. It turned to face him and he dropped and started scrambling away from his empty weapon.
Ted watched the man burn to death under the fire of an exploding star. When it flickered out, there was nothing left of the mini-gun or the gunman. More rockets impact his Mech. He swiveled the torso some more and let loose with his machineguns and plasma cannons. The fifty caliber rounds shatter the rocks the men are hiding behind and blood sprayed out and covered the cliff wall as his plasma cannon fired and hit among five men running away blowing them up and scattering their remains all over the canyon floor.
"Sir, I have an electronic signal from inside the cave ... it's counting down."
Ted started turning towards the cave entrance when another mini-gun opened up, the rounds started ripping into his Mech, his remaining missile pack exploded, and then the rounds walk down the hull ripping into the torso. Critical systems started flashing, his storage compartment, with 3400 rounds of fifty caliber rounds, exploded. The Mech staggered back as he leveled his plasma cannon on the target and let loose. The mini-gun went flying out of the bunker.
"Warning."
Ted punched buttons on his consoles, and said, "Shut the hell up. Detect for life scans."
"One life sign thirty feet from last target," a few seconds pass, and it continued, "Warning hydrogen reactor failure."
Ted shut the audio down, and said, "Shut the hell up, initiate spider repair." Turning his Mech, he started staggering towards the life form and saw a man crawling behind the boulders. Suddenly the man popped up with an RPG and fired it at him. Activating the tractor beam, he yanked the man up off the ground and turned the external com on.
Juan Santiago crawled along the floor of the fighting position that the men had made. Going around a corner, he headed down the small incline when he felt the heat blossom behind him.
When he looked, he saw his mini-gun go flying out of the bunker, and said. "Damn that was close."
Passing several dead bodies, he avoided the pools of blood, and continued on. Peeking over he saw the robot standing there and he quickly ducked down under the edge of the boulders. Grabbing an RPG that was loaded he popped up and fired it at the robot as he flew up into the air.
The missile slammed into the open compartment that stored the spiders. The explosion hurled them out of the compartment and scattered their broken remains all over the ground.
Juan heard the voice say, "Hey, fuckhead, where's Carlos? The motherfucker killed my wife, and you have five seconds to tell me, or I smash you into the cliff."
Looking up at the robot, Juan said, "Fuck you, she was a puta."
Ted fumed at the stupid Columbian, and slammed him into the wall of the cliff. Yelling in the com unit in English, he snarled, "I told you what would happen. Do you want to try again?"
Juan hung there, seeing stars, and shook his head. He realized the man was speaking in English, and replied, "Put me down gringo, and we fight man to man. I will kill you so you can join your whore."
Ted grinned at the request, and said, "You want to fight hand to hand? Okay, it's going to be your last mistake, you shithead."
Ted opened the door and climbed down the ladder. Looking up at the Lancer, he said, "AI, lower the man until he is five feet off the ground and then shut the tractor beam off."
The tractor beam shut off and the Columbian dropped to the ground. "Okay fuckhead you wanted hand to hand you got it."
Juan shook his head and whipped his dagger out, and said, "I'm going to give you a Columbian necktie, then I'm going to cut your prick off and stuff it in your mouth."
Ted looked at the man, and asked, "What's your name?"
Confused Juan looked at the man and said, "Why you want to know my name gringo? It won't do you any good. You're going to die."
"I want to know, unless you're scared to tell me," replied Ted.
Juan slapped his chest and said, "I not afraid! My name is Juan ... Juan Santiago! I have killed fifty gringos like you, and I will kill you, and take your robot as mine. Then everyone will fear me."
Ted reached down to his left boot, and pulled out his twelve-inch bowie knife out of his boot sheath and said, "No, shitface. First, I'm going to cut your hand off that holds your dinky knife. Then I will cut your balls off, then your feet. Between each cutting, I will ask you again where Carlos is. If you tell me I will kill you quickly, if not, I will skin you alive.
Juan swung his knife and missed the gringo. He was aiming where he had been standing, then he saw that the gringo was now to his side. Swinging around, he lined up and swung the blade again, as he snarled in his broken English, "You're fast gringo, but I will get you."
Ted looked at the man and all he saw was slime, as he replied, "You're slow and old, I don't believe you killed fifty people. I think you lied about it."
Juan charged the man and swung his knife but the man was suddenly gone and he felt a foot hit him in his ribs.
"Oooff!" he exploded, as the breath went out of him.
He flew through the air and landed five feet away with a bone-jarring jolt. Rolling to his feet, he picked up his knife and took a deep breath refilling his lungs, and snarled, "You're good gringo, but I'm better."
Ted walked towards the man, and replied, "Juan, just tell me where he is, and I will let you live like I did Francisco. Don't and I'm going to really hurt you."
Juan bent his knees, separated his feet, and slowly moved towards the gringo, as he said, "Francisco was a coward. After I kill you, I will find him and his family and kill them. However, before I kill him I will have fun with his wife and daughter. Their deaths will follow yours to hell."
"No, I don't think so." Ted said as he stepped in, and faked a kick and then punched Juan in the face when he dropped his arm to block it.
Juan staggered back, then came right back at the gringo swinging his knife. He saw it catch the gringos left arm, ripping the clothes and blood spurted from the wound.
"You're dead, gringo."
Stepping back Ted checked the cut and saw it was deep on his forearm.
"No, I don't think so. You see I was playing with you, now you die."
Stepping in Ted blocked Juan's next attack. He brought the blade down and around Juan started screaming as his hand dropped to the ground. "You still have a chance, I can help you regenerate the hand, just tell me what I want to know."
Juan staggered back and fell to the ground, tucking his bloody wrist into his shirt he reaches behind him for the pistol he kept in his waistband, and snarled, "Die gringo!" Whipping the pistol out and around he started to raise it.
Ted watched as Juan brought the gun out and he hurled the knife in an underhand throw. His enhanced strength hurled the knife across the ten feet and it buried itself to the hilt in his chest.
Juan felt a sharp pain in his chest. Looking down he saw the gringo's knife buried to the hilt in his chest.
"No! I should have killed..."
"Stupid fuck."
Yanking his knife out, Ted turned and walked towards his Mech.
Carlos jerked the wheel over the rough terrain of the canyon and finally lined the Hummer up with the dirt road. Reaching over to the passenger seat, he flipped the remote over and saw there was twenty-five seconds left on the countdown.
"Bye, bye asshole, better luck next time."
Ted started climbing up the ladder mounted to the side of his Mech. Passing a single spider working desperately to repair the Mech; he shook his head at the stupidity of men. Going in the hatch, he sat down and as he was strapping himself into the chair, an explosion detonated from the cave hurling pulverized rock and machinery out of the tunnel.
Looking out the cockpit at the smoke, he said, "Son of a bitch, I hope that bastard wasn't in there."
Ted waited for the remaining spider to do the minimum repairs when he saw the AI's light flashing.
Reaching over he turned it on and said, "Sorry, Rita, you have a report for me?"
"Yes, Sir. The Mech is critically damaged, and you're down to one repair spider. I suggest you return to the ship for repairs. Also I have scanned the debris. No one was in the cave or the tunnel behind it when it collapsed."
"Son of a bitch, this guy has more lives than a cat. Scan for any vehicles."
"Scanning ... I have a single vehicle heading down the mountain at seventy miles an hour, one person inside. I advise you wait five more minutes for repairs before you go after him or her."
"What ... Why wait?" ask Ted in surprise.
"Sir, the chest cavity is open to any incoming fire and the slightest damage could hit the hydrogen reactor and cause this unit to explode, also your Mech's leg is damaged and must be repaired."
"All right. Five minutes, no more."
Stepping the Mech away from the shattered spiders, he aimed his plasma cannons and fired a single burst to melt them down.
"Why did you do that, Sir?"
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Luis Fajardo looked out the picture window of downtown Bogotá Columbia. Picking up the paper, he read the article again. Slamming the paper down, he turned and looked at his companions. "Damn it! We have to stop these people from distributing these serums. They are going to give this miracle drug away free, and our product won't affect the people who use it. That will prevent them from buying from us. We need to stop them, but how? Already sales are down fifteen percent, because the...
Let me say right up front that Gunther was definitely not a young man.I knew he had been around the Santa operation at the North Pole long before I arrived with my bright ideas for cost reduction. I was called in to promote increased toy production by the easily distracted Elves. Those little imps preferred being silly rather than busy little workers focused on their quotas like dedicated employees. As a small-sized human male, I was able to relate easily to the female Elves because they liked...
Fantasy & Sci-FiDeep in the hull of the T'Lari battleship, Ka'Nisk walked into the secondary bridge. He looked around as his crew gathered at their stations. "Are we ready?" he asked. Tb'Nar turned from his command turrets. "Sir, power is coming online. I have weapons status on three hundred of the missile bays, and thirty of the laser cannons. Engines are at forty percent power. Anti-gravity generators are online and ready to go. Shield generators are reading thirty percent. We can lift off...
Amy paced through the medical ward aboard the ship, while the spiders continued their maintenance. Down in the main cavern, the spiders scurried about the cavern, and over two gantries as they worked. Amy did a quick check and saw all systems were a go. She walked over to Ken and looked down at his peaceful face. She leaned down through the force field and kissed him, and tapped into Ken's nanobots. She was regretting what she had to do, but knew that she must. For they all needed to learn...
Jenny paced back in forth in her room. Her nerves were on edge as she walked in her cabin. All around her room hung the items for her upcoming wedding to Ted. She knew it was supposed to be a day of celebration, but with the casualty count still coming in from Reno, she was terrified that something would go wrong. Jenny stopped as her eyes fell on her long white wedding gown. Even with Jessica and Amy acting as their wedding coordinator, the date had been pushed back a few days due to the...
Va'Talki walked into the probe room. In his arms he held a struggling child that he tossed in the corner. "Don't you move," he said as he shut the door. Going over to a console built into the wall, he powered it up. The holographic board came up on the panel, and he started programming the automatic probe launcher. Pressing another control, he looked to his right, and watched as the probe launcher moved and a heavy laser battery moved into the tubes position as the iris...
American Space Navy Near Space Dock One: 1-17-05, 11:29 A.M. American battle cruiser America Captain Richard Potter watched the Federation cruiser he was firing on, her shields had collapsed and now internal explosions were ripping through her hull. He knew that inside it was becoming a death trap and with the ship crippled he made his decision. "Ensign Wilcox, break lock, and target the next ship," he said as he watched two heavy cruisers coming to the Federation ship's rescue. Ensign...
After talking for an hour, everyone turned in and got some sleep. While they slept, Amy watched over them, by making an image of herself appear in each room. Sitting in a chair, she watched them sleep, and sighed with contentment. A crew, at last! It had been so long since she'd had anyone on board that she could talk with. She then went back to examining their plans about using the mech warriors as ground assault vehicles. She took what information she could find on the computer game (and...
She was running! From what, she didn't know. All she knew, was it was behind her, always behind her. When she looked, she could not find it. Its heavy breathing was heard, and its breath was on the back of her neck. Pain flared through her body, as she was missing something that was important to her. She was running through a ship, being pursued by the darkness, running through the sterile walls of force screens, it was so close she could feel it. It was behind her, and it reached out and...
Ted walked down the hallway, passing people who were being guided out of the medical bays, and were being lead back down to the shuttles. Passing a side passageway, he started to head into medical when he heard the crying. Turning around, he saw a brown haired girl sitting against the wall. Her dress was slightly dirty, and her knees were pressed tightly to her chest as she rocked. Walking over, he saw she was about eight years old. Kneeling beside her, he said, "Hi, I'm Ted. Are you...
The Federation battleship USS Washington: 1:50 P.M. Jessica handled the ship as though she was born to do it. The ship was shrugging off the enemy fire and her weapons were firing at the Washington D.C. shield trying to take it down. Turning her head she smiled at her husband and wife as the status reports came in from the fleet. "Enemy shield down to 36% power," reported Lieutenant Akiko Fujimoto. "Thanks, Akiko. Keep up the pressure," Tammy said just as Jessica screamed and the ship...
On the main screen, the shuttle with the NAT teams moved into the hanger and shut down. The image changed and they saw the twenty-four men and woman come down the ramp with their weapons on their shoulders. They were followed by eight techs, who would work the equipment in the dome. Ken sat back and watched the shuttle. His mind wandered back to the trial and all that had happened that day. Trial Ken looked up at the sound of the chimes at his door. "Come!" The doors slid open and...
1. Battle Another warrior met his end by means of my axe, reddened as it was, again, with a fresh new glisten. I surveyed the battling masses, a good foot taller than almost all other men I took advantage of a moment to plan my next engagement. There was a way through the melee to the other side of their ranks and axe swinging I carved a morbid path through. My blood was boiling, charged with the intensity of the battle, but cold it ran as I spied the means of my death. Mostly...
The girls separated and headed for their quarters, where they started packing their belongings. Tina skipped down the passageway to her cabin, and opened the door and stopped. "Oh no! Sampson, what have you done?" Walking in, she looked at the dog's head and chest. It was covered in pizza sauce. The table was overturned. Shaking her head, she started cleaning the mess up. Ten minutes later, she had the auto-vac vacuuming the floor. She led Sampson into the bathroom, got the shampoo out...
Governor Kailnis watched the strange ships come down. Before he could activate his defenses, the weapons on the freighter blew them away. "Order up the guard! We need to stop these invaders, send orders to the fleet to get us help..." an explosion stopped what he was saying and he turned his head and saw one of the armored hover cars explode as a giant war machine came in sight, and he continued, "Destroy that thing." Heavy laser cannons opened up from the top of the defense wall and...
I slid the report into the proper file just as he walked into the room. Dennis Butz stood there wearing his three-piece suit, looking as handsome and charming as any man could. But I was not to be tamed by his charm. "Hello, Linda," he said with a friendly grin. "Judge Herns isn't in today," I replied back in a frosty tone. "I'm not here to see her." "My plane leaves in less then an hour Dennis, what do you want?" I slammed the file drawer shut and walked past him to my desk...
Kevin sneaked through the darkened ship, his plasma rifle at 'port arms' and ready to fire. Watching for the 'bugs' as he walked down the passageway, he came to an intersection. Stopping, he looked carefully in all four directions, and listened. Detecting nothing, he leaned down and marked the floor in the way he had come. He turned and moved to the right. Moving past a door, he looked in. Then he heard the scream. Jerking his head up, he ran silently towards the screaming and came to...
The transport tube doors opened and they stepped out into the hallway outside of the medical bay. Turning she led them down the short corridor and into the medical section. Molly was helping a young man to sit up in his bed as they entered. She was holding a glass in her hand. Once the patient had taken a drink from the glass, she set it down on the table. "Molly, I have some guests for you," Tammy said. "Be right there, Tammy." Looking at the young man she said, "Lieutenant Myers,...
Molly watched her new friends drive away. When they were out of sight, she turned back to her mother. She stepped back in to her mother's arms and gave her a hug. Stopping the hug, she looked her mom in the face. "Mom, how about pizza tonight?" Kathleen looked at her baby, and she felt complete again as she realized the hole in her heart was once again filled. "What ever you want sweetie, the number for Pizza Hut is on the fridge like always." Shaking her head, she replied, "No mom,...
Tina Wayne stormed into her room. The com had just announced that Admiral Thompson had reassigned all the adults under the age of seventeen back to Mars base. Grabbing a vase off the nearest table and hurled it across the room. It shattered into myriad pieces, against the far wall. "How dare he do this to me? He has no right!" she screamed. Sampson came boiling out of her bedroom, a half chewed bone dangling from his mouth. Seeing his mistress he ran over to her, his two hundred pound...
Ko'Nar heard the accursed Marines coming. He stood there waiting. His knives were ready, and in the rooms on each side of the passageway, some of the Royal guard stood ready to fight. Hearing the breathing of the humans, he waited until he saw the gun, and swung his upper left arm. The knife hit his target in its eye, and it went deep into its brain. Screaming as he stepped around, he started to hack at the next human, as it pointed a strange weapon at him. The next thing he knew, he was on...
Ted looked down at Shawn, and said, "Raise construction dock one, I want to talk to the Commodore Thompson in person." "Aye-aye, Captain." Turning the com on again, he said, "USS Oregon to Space Dock One." "This is dock one, Ensign Vincent Hubber speaking. How could I direct your request?" "Ensign Hubber, Captain White needs to speak with Commodore Thompson ASAP." "I will transfer you to his office." Shawn quickly replied, "Thank you." "Commodore Thompson's office, how...
Corporal Ricker watched the T'Lari go through the dead ones, and start eating them. Within three minutes, it had cracked open a leg and sucked marrow out of the bones it found. Suddenly his com chimed in his head and he heard Tom Morris' voice. 'Corporal Ricker, this is Corporal Tom Morris. I am bringing in twenty-one survivors, one critically wounded, two KIA. Sean is one of the dead, but he went down fighting.' 'Okay, Tom. Let me take care of the T'Lari that's eating his...
Sammy stood there, her axe and knife clutched firmly in her hands as she looked up at the creature, trembling in fear. The fourteen-foot tall creature reared up, its twenty-foot long tail swinging up and over its head. Its front upper claws clicked together as the lower two hands held giant swords. Its mandibles clicked and crunched the remains of the small child in its mouth. She looked down on the two humans as her forked tongue cleaned her face of blood and gore. "I so love your small...
Commander Jimmy Hutcheson led the five groups of Seals down the Truckee River. A couple of fighters seemed to be flying search patterns so he had his men duck back under the water and hug the bottom of the river. Swimming along they pass the wreckage of downtown, and head the three miles toward the City of Sparks. Two hours later, after they surface near the backside of the 'Reno Hilton' the teams fanned out along the riverbank while Jimmy stripped out of his black suit and pulled on some...
Stepping out of the transport tube, Tammy walked into the medical bay, and over to a young girl. Looking down, she saw a beautiful child lying there, who should not have a care in the world. "Ashley, we will make it better for you, I promise." Tammy looked around the huge room, and saw Molly down at the far end talking to someone, and wandered down that way. As she got closer, she saw Commander Hutcheson sitting up in one of the beds. "Commander, you should start feeling better, now....
Dreams and the Launching of the attack Richard grabbed the tail of the creature they had killed. With it still stuck in the hole, he braced his feet and tried to pull it free, or turn it. He heard another click as it turned in the other direction. The hum disappeared as a loud snap came from behind him. Looking over his shoulder, he saw a huge bed, with piles of human skulls around it. A computer console stood next to the bed. "Damn it! It wasn't the tail that took out the gravity, it was...
Ted watched the Chinook helicopter, flying due north, disappear behind some nearby mountains. "Rita, where the hell is that damn lander that I asked for?" Ted said as he scanned the sky. "It will be above us in forty-five seconds. I suggest you come to a stop so it can pick us up." Ted brought the fifty-ton Mech to a stop, and scanned for the lander. The two hundred thousand ton ship came out of the clouds and hovered directly above him. The iris opened in the bottom of the ship. A...
Asteroids tumbled around the two Crytherian freighters as they slowly skirted the Oort cloud, at edge of the system. Aboard the Crytherian freighter, Bountiful Trove, Captain Jelkisa watched their escorts hyper to the ninth planet, to check out the sensor target they have picked up. Watching the view screen, he said, "Navigator Tilsi, set coordinates for two destinations, one the ninth planet, the other for the planet Karsakini." Turning to another Crytherian he continued, "Liskeria,...
Wand, Book and Candle, Part 1 By Elliot Reid "If I chance to talk a little wild, forgive me; I had it from my father." I snapped the book shut, eyes unfocusing from the text. With my fingers I massaged my temples, kneading tension away. I was approaching my birthday with mixed feelings. In two days I'd be sixteen. I'd have crossed another threshold. Would I feel more grown-up? I looked over at the stack of comic books by my bed, beside the Joseph Campbell and the Homer that I was...
Night Skies Hotel VI: Destroyers of Worlds By Solari Author's note: "Destroyers of Worlds" is the third story in the three-part "Foundations" trilogy that shines a light on the wider Night Skies Hotel universe. The other stories in the "Foundations" trilogy are "Night Skies Hotel IV: The Lost Worlds," and "Night Skies Hotel V: Shadows on the Sun." It is recommended that the stories be read in order, or the reader risks not understanding the events that unfold. "What you consider...
Ken watched the Captains file out and head back to their own ships. Sitting in his chair, he smiled at Kala, and said, "I think your plan is going to work, at least the other Captains were excited about..." he said. He looked up as the doors open and Tammy walked in. "Hi, love, it's good to see you." Tammy walked in to the conference room and stopping as she saw the platinum haired woman sitting across from Ken. "Hello, Admiral, who's your friend?" 'Hello, sister, I am Kalaria,...
Ken looked up at the sound of the chimes at his door. "Enter." Susan walked in and faced Ken and came to attention. "At ease, Commander." "Thank you, Sir," Susan said. Then she continued, "Sir, the NAT's are going in, now." Ken stood up and hit save on his computer pad, saving the document he was working on, "Thank you, Susan, I will be right out." Walking to the huge bay window, he looked down on Pluto as Susan walked out of the room. 'What's down there?' he thought then...
Ted recovered first, as he looked at his baby sister, and said, "Lisa what are you doing here? What do you mean the ship has..." Lisa faded away, re-appeared in front of him, and replied, "That is what I meant big brother." Ted felt the blood drain from his face as he looked at his sister. His thoughts flashed to Amy, trapped in her capsule, and he lost his temper. He growled, "No! I won't have it!" Walking over to the com unit, he pressed an icon on the panel, and said, "This is...
Ken felt the connection close after talking to his mom, and he looked out at the bridge. His thoughts were on his sister who was lying wounded in the Oregon's medical bays. In his gut, he feared the worst because his dad was on the way to the Oregon. Looking around the flag bridge his eyes settled on Susan at the com station. He asked, "Susan any word on NAT team one?" "No, Sir. Nothing. NAT team two is going down now, they are going to have to re-bore the hole and see if they can get...
Amy watched from her sensors as her Admiral and his friends had their party. On the screen, her image wandered through the party chatting with her friends. The hours go by as off duty crew came in and had a dinner of the strange foods she has never tried. She vowed that Ken would share them with her one day. Over in a small meadow, some of the many kids played a game she'd had to look up. It was called baseball. Some others played volleyball. Going over the reports, she saw her shuttles...