Out of the Frying Pan and Into the Fire

From SSDC, Inc.

Written by: Scott Tulleners

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His opponent advanced a half step and dropped the hand guard of his fencing blade slightly. Ivan mimicked the drop. If he did it correctly, it would look unintent…

His opponent took the bait. Launching himself forward in a fast advance-lunge, he extended his epee for an attack to the top of Ivan’s arm.

Ivan followed the pattern he had set in previous touches and retreated half a step. He began a clockwise circular parry designed to sweep his opponent’s blade to the outside of his body. As expected, his opponent was ready and circled his blade clockwise also. Partway through his parry, Ivan lifted his hand slightly, exposing the bottom of his forearm. As his opponent dropped his hand to thrust at Ivan’s exposed forearm, Ivan dropped his hand guard to protect his forearm, advanced half a step, and finger-whipped his blade so that it would bend over his opponent’s hand guard. His intention was to use his hand guard to block the attack on the bottom of his forearm and simultaneously whip his blade over his opponent’s guard and onto his forearm.

He wasn’t quite fast enough. Both lights glowed as the scoring box buzzed.

Ivan muttered a Russian curse under his breath. The practice dummy stopped and retreated to the en garde line to wait for him to continue. Turning to the training screen, Ivan commanded, ‘Display the action with a focus on the forearms.’

The wall-mounted screen opened with a smaller screen in the upper left corner. As the wide angle began to play in the smaller screen, the larger screen zoomed in on Ivan’s forearm. Ivan watched intently, replaying the action several times.

Ivan was a hair taller than average height with the wiry build of a martial artist. He stayed in shape with a daily calisthenics routine and in condition with martial arts and fencing practice. The first two were practical, but the fencing was strictly for fun.

He was not a handsome man. His square face and prominent forehead gave him a rather brutish look. Ivan kept his thick black hair cropped close and used depilatory creams to keep his jaw clean-shaven. The slight fold of his eyes suggested that one of the Golobitski’s had taken an Asian wife, but his pale skin suggested that was relatively far back.

His usually spotless fencing whites were wet with perspiration. This session had been one of the most intense he had experienced since he had trained for the Hartford Junior Olympics. The shipboard practice dummies were wonderful training tools. They could be set to repeat specific actions or to a freeform setting that allowed the training room computer to direct it to a scaled level of skill. The flexibility of the system was incredible. The Black Star Space Lines had obviously spent a lot of money on the star liner to make it that way.

Ivan had walked in a few days ago to see a human doing unarmed combat with one of the Ram Python models. As he had watched, he had come to the conclusion that the muscular man had to be enhanced in some way. The contest was not as unequal as it might have seemed. The human was highly skilled, and a vicious, dirty fighter who knew quite a bit about the physiology of the big lizards. He had certainly used pressure points and nerve strikes to his advantage. What had impressed Ivan almost as much was that the training dummy had reacted realistically to the man’s attacks.

After watching him, Ivan modified his training regimen to finish his practices on the highest skill level. It was hard on the ego, since the dummy almost always got the touch, but he was getting more double-touches, and occasionally he would get a single light in his favor. That was always heartening since it meant he was getting better.

Ivan was replaying the action for the fifth time in slow motion when he sensed someone approaching him from behind. He turned to see a tall, aging Eridani striding toward him. The warrior moved with a silent grace that told of his prowess, even if Ivan had not known that the length of his long red hair signified great deeds accomplished.

The swordsaint’s plain black armor was spotless, and so far as Ivan could see, unscarred. A lock of braided gray hair with a shiny bead hung from his belt. The unornamented swordhilt protruding over his right shoulder appeared to be well used, but what was visible of the unreflective gray metal of the blade was free of nicks. It fit what he knew of the warrior race. The Eridani provided only the best equipment for their revered heroes.

The Eridani stopped in front of Ivan and gazed down at him impassively. He stood at least a head taller and was much stockier. Ivan knew he was severely out-classed if it came to combat.

Ivan felt his shoulders tense. Inhaling deeply, he tried to relax. Sometimes it took a few seconds for him to do so.

He hoped that he had not unknowingly affronted the warrior’s honor. The last thing he wanted was to get involved in another honor duel. He had done that once in a weapons practice his old platoon had conducted. He had won that duel, but that victory had caused a large amount strife in his unit. The Eridani were almost always vain about their fighting prowess, and having a ‘mudig’ human beat one of them was a grave embarrassment. The Eridani had a rather violent way of resolving embarrassing situations. It was all so pointless. He was a soldier, but he favored diplomacy over violence when it came to personal relationships.

As Ivan released his breath slowly, he tried to release all tension. It only partially worked

The deep lines of the Eridani’s face softened as he smiled. It was a curious expression, almost as much a predatory baring of the teeth as anything, but there was a studious lack of hostility or threat in the warrior’s posture. For an Eridani, a willingness to learn human customs was a rarity. An Orion friend had once told Ivan that it was a learned expression intended to help them deal with humans effectively. Randy Andy had added with a smirk that the Eridani used a more pointed way of relating to Orions.

He had gone on to explain that the Eridani used a different facial expression as their equivalent of a smile. It had something to do with their eyes. Ivan had never actually befriended one of the proud warriors to know exactly what it looked like.

‘You have repeated the same action thirty times. Why?’ The Eridani’s deep voice was almost gentle.

‘I haven’t perfected this counter-attack yet, ‘Ivan told him. ‘It’s a counter-attack that I can’t always rely on, so I’m going to work on it until I can repeat it successfully.’

‘What will you do then?’

‘I’ll add something else to work on. Sticking to the basics is the only way I’ll get better.’

The Eridani studied him intently. ‘It is rare that humans show such dedication to excellence. They do not have the devotion to duty to practice in such a manner.’

Ivan shrugged. ‘Maybe not to duty, but I have quite a few friends who work hard to develop their skills to the highest level possible.’ It wasn’t wise to blatantly contradict a warrior of Eridine. ‘Some of the others in my fencing club back home practice for three and four hours a day. I only have time to practice for about an hour and a half.’

The Eridani seemed content with the answer. ‘I have not seen that in humans before. I am pleased to learn of this. It gives me hope for your species.’

Puzzled, Ivan asked, ‘Hope?’

After observing him carefully for a few seconds, the Warrior of Eridine replied, ‘I fear the destruction of your people, for war comes.’

In a third class cabin one deck down, Deron Kline, or Dee to his friends, sat at his computer terminal. Interlacing his fingers, he turned his hands palm-out to crack his knuckles. Leaning back in his chair, he put his hands behind his head and glanced up at his companion.

‘All right Lieutenant. Just give the word,’ he told his companion smugly, ‘and we own this liner.’

Deron heard a faint whir of servos as Lt. Brandon Rudeski shifted his weight and looked down at Deron. He could see the Lieutenant nod through his armored visor as he told Deron, ‘Do it.’

Deron paused to enjoy the moment. In a few seconds, he would pit his skill against the some of the better cyber-jockeys and computer security systems in the Alliance. The back door he had secreted in the Black Star Space Lines software upgrade appeared flawless. It should be. He had spent almost three years developing it. Even so, something could always go wrong. When you added code to anything as ponderous as a system upgrade package, you could never be sure how it was going to work. The anticipation made his pulse race to think of it.

He decided to savor the feeling of nervous anticipation for an instant longer. The slight twitch deep in his belly was a welcome sensation. Deron lived for the excitement of that moment just before he broke into a system. For him, it was the proverbial moment of truth when he would discover whether his preparation was successful, or whether he was going to be caught. It was a heady draught.

Beside him, Rudeski shifted impatiently. He would not want to wait for very much longer.

In the past, Deron had waited as long as ten minutes to trigger his work. The nervous pleasure he took in the knowledge that long months, years in this case, of effort might fall apart in a matter of seconds made him eager to prolong that moment of anticipation. There was a point where he knew he had to trigger it, or he might lose the courage to do so. That instant just before he lost confidence was when he truly felt alive.

Before this, his work had always put only his own life in jeopardy. Now, Rudeski’s team was counting on him to work his magic. If he failed to foresee and overcome some obstacle, Hicks, or Kaash, or possibly Odo could be injured, killed, or captured and executed. His stomach gave an uneasy twist at the thought of failing his friends. The moment had finally come. Without moving a finger, Deron gave the mental command through his neural interface.

For that single instant measured in centuries, nothing happened. Then he got the command console image. Deron smiled broadly. The three years he had spent planning, splicing, and programming paid off as the carefully tailored code initiated.

He was quite proud of his work. As things stood now, if they tried to trace his work, they would find only what he wanted them to find. He had gone undercover as a Black Star Space Lines contract employee about a year ago to allow him to use the most recent software upgrade to spread his code throughout their network. It took a few, simple, innocent commands to trigger the whole thing and allow him to take control of the Anterion Class Star liner Oberon’s Dream.

He glanced smugly up at the Lt. ‘This ship is yours.’

Throughout the ship, the anti-hijacking devices initiated and the passengers slowly fell into an induced slumber. Some, like the Eridani and Python races, fought it before succumbing. Others, like the Misha, Fott, and Furbles, curled up and went to sleep immediately. Most of the other races were somewhere between the two.

Two members of Rudeski’s commando team converged on the first class suite assigned to one Rollo Royce. When they got there, they picked their way through the partiers in his suite seeking a match for the genetic signature on their bio-scanners.

A few centimeters on the short side of average, Winton Hicks was wiry rather than muscular. He was not a particularly memorable man. It was a trait he put to use effectively as the team’s infiltration specialist. Rumor among Rudeski’s Reavers had it that the team’s last refit was the result of a jaunt he took through the Balshrom facility on Torvalin. Neither he nor Rudeski would say anything about it, but a generous shipment of replacement hardware had mysteriously been delivered to a public storage facility where the team had picked it up.

Winton Hicks opened the door to the bedchamber. The bio-scanner indicated that an Orion male and a pair of human women were under the covers on the bed. He pulled back the sheets enough to expose a limp, masculine foot and tapped it with the wand of the scanner. The small ‘scanner’s screen blanked for an instant as it compared the genetic signature of the Orion with the signature contained in it’s memory. It finally came back with a match.

‘Isaac. He’s in here.’

Winton slung his thermatic and began to pull the lanky Orion from the limp embrace of the ladies he was frolicking with. Somehow they had twined themselves into the bed sheets. After struggling for a few seconds to unwind the Orion from his attractive playmates, he called to his teammate, ‘Hey Isaac, could you give me a hand? This guy is wrapped in pretty tight.’

His companion, a large minotaur-like Jezzadaic Priest was waving one of his many talismans around the parlor of the suite. The tall Jezzadaic lumbered his way to the bedchamber and gently unrolled the trio before pulling the unconscious women away from their hedonistic quarry. Slinging the Orion over his armored shoulder, Isaacithalonirdam made his way to the door. Shaking his head in amusement at the ease with which his friend had accomplished the task, Hicks followed.

‘M’friend, you make this easy.’

Isaac nodded ponderously. ‘Strength and size, properly used, can be a great asset, but patience is always needed for the proper application of these traits. Time and time again I am amazed that your species has managed to bring any project to completion. Human impatience is surely one of the…

Winton followed Isaac through the door. The big Jezzadaic continued talking as they moved down the expensively decorated hall toward the elevator. Winton made the necessary noises of agreement as they walked. Isaac was an excellent medic. His medical care was well worth putting up with his long-winded observations.

They turned a corner. At the far intersection, Winton could see Jean Luc, the team’s Ram Python, waiting patiently in front of the elevator. He was covering corridors in all three directions. As they moved toward him, Jean Luc shifted his thud gun to cover them.

They were halfway down the hall when the big lizard thumped his tail-mounted battle mace once on the deck in recognition. As Jean Luc shifted his aim away from them, Winton exhaled in relief. Being in the field of fire of a high-end omega weapon always made him jumpy, even in the hands of a professional like Jean Luc.

Jean Luc cocked his head to the side the way he always did when listening to orders. Nodding once, Jean Luc hefted his thud gun easily in one hand as he motioned with the other.

‘Come. Come. Hurry, Rudeski say ‘Hurry.’

Isaac and Winton walked faster.

As they got to where Jean Luc stood guard, the elevator doors opened and the three commandoes stepped in.

As the doors slid open on the engineering deck, Jean Luc moved out first, careful to be sure that the intersection and connecting corridors were clear. The delta wave generators placed in strategic points of the ship were supposed to knock all beings out, but Rudeski’s Reavers had not gotten their reputation by being sloppy.

Isaac took the middle position as they moved toward the engineering command bay. The doors slid open and they entered. They moved among the consoles toward the Auxiliary Bridge that was in the center of the room.

Enclosed completely in glasteel, the Auxiliary Bridge was designed to allow a skeleton crew to run the ship even if the engineering bay had to be opened to space. It had rations and water storage, and even a small space where a cot could be set up. All systems could be monitored or run from there. Shortly after Rudeski had given Deron the order to take control of the liner, he and Deron had moved to the Auxiliary Bridge.

Deron looked up as they walked in.

‘The ship’s security log mentioned a party. How bad?’

Winton Hicks looked distastefully at the peacefully slumbering Orion on Isaac’s shoulder.

‘Bad.’

Seeing the curious look on his friend’s face, Hicks explained, ‘Sodom and Gomorrah.’

Dee shook his head, snorted ‘Orions,’ and went back to monitoring the security sensors.

Rudeski told Isaac to check him for escape tools, put the prisoner in restraints, and to take him to the star liner’s holding chamber.

Hicks asked Lt. Rudeski, ‘Do you need me for anything?’

The Lt. shook his head. ‘We’re on course. We should make the rendezvous with the HaRuthasha in about 16 hours. The passengers and crew will be out until we transfer, so if you want to stand down, you can. If I need you, I’ll call you.’

With a nod, Hicks started to sit down in the seat next to Dee. He stopped as his armor was bumped from beneath. Hicks stood and glared at the apparently empty seat.

‘Darn it Odo, you could have warned me.’

Over the commo link, the diminutive Mutzachan replied dryly, ‘You could have asked.’

Moving to the chair on the other side of Dee, Hicks sat down.

‘Did it go as you planned?’

Dee grinned smugly. ‘Yep. I waltzed right in and took it over. It worked just like I planned it. Seamless.’ His grin widened. ‘I’m really excited about pulling this off. This is the highlight of my career so far. I can monitor everything on this ship. The automatic systems are designed to take care of everything anyway, so it wasn’t a big deal to change our course.’

He continued, ‘It was actually more challenging to go back through and make it appear that the tampering had been from the suite of our Orion friend there. I ‘erased’ any signs of tampering of course.’ With a smirk Dee added, ‘If it works as I believe it should, investigators will suspect Jade triggered an old slicing program. It was one I got from a former associate of mine. I’d love to see the look on their faces as they realize it’s a time bomb from about 5 years ago. It was cutting edge at the time, but now only highly effective. The authorities should still recognize DoorMat’s fingerprint though.’ Dee shook his head sadly. ‘They worked hard enough to set things up so they could shoot him without a trial.’

Winton put his hand on his friend’s shoulder. ‘I’m sorry to hear that, Dee.’ He leaned back into his seat. ‘It sounds like you’ve done a lot of work to throw off any pursuit.’

With an uncharacteristically modest shrug, Dee acknowledged, ‘I’ve done what I can. I don’t think anyone but one of their better cyber jockey’s could track what I’ve done.’ His expression brightened. ‘If they can, then they will be a real challenge to beat.’ He grinned. ‘I know. I sound like a total geek.’

‘Yep,’ Winton agreed with an indulgent grin, ‘That you do.’ Dee could be an egotistical pain, but he was also one of the best slicers Winton had ever seen. He was somewhat sheltered, even after almost six months with the Reavers, but he pulled his own weight and more. Their current op would have been impossible without the little cyber-jockey.

Dee interlaced his fingers and put his hands behind his head. ‘Well, I am. But think how much more difficult this operation would have been if I had not been able to work my magic.’

Lt Rudeski interrupted, ‘Have we heard from the ‘Ruth yet?’

Deron turned the chair. ‘Nope. I don’t think we should until we are about ten hours out.’

The Lt. nodded. ’Thanks.’ He turned back to the screen he was observing.

On the Transicruiser HaRuthasha, Captain Lizbet Serento hit the intercom. ‘Ralouf, report.’

‘Not much to report down here.’ The Orion drawled. ‘We’re still working to figure out why our long-range sensors kicked out. The hardware seems to be working fine. I can’t detect anything that would cause a problem. The only other option that I can see is outside jamming of some sort.’

He paused, half-expecting an explosion, but that would not come. Ralouf had known Lizbet Serento for over six years and had a pretty good idea of how she was likely to react. Still, he occasionally expected her to blow up like the late Captain Sorothras.

She didn’t surprise him. Her voice was studiously tension-free as she stated, ‘Nothing’s wrong? Keep on it, will you?’

‘Sure thing Boss Lady.’

As he cut the connection, he yelled to his assistant. ‘Razelprhing, kick it up a touch. If we don’t figure out what’s wrong with the sensors, we’re going to be in for it hot.’

The Goola Goola grimaced and turned back to his station. He began speaking to the console in a low voice. Ralouf watched him for a second before turning back to his own station. The space dwarf was mad as a hatter, but the best engineer he had seen in over thirty years experience on an engineering deck. He had an instinctive sense for troubleshooting a problem. Admittedly, his tendency to ask the equipment what was going wrong with it and to continue the conversation as though it were responding was disconcerting, but if Razelprhing couldn’t track an issue, then there was definitely something else going on.

That concerned him. They were supposed to make the rendezvous with the liner Oberon’s Dream in fourteen hours, and their long-range sensors were not working properly. Anytime a ship lost its sensors, it was always a problem, but losing their sensors for no perceptible reason was a real cause for concern. This was increased because their Imperator transicruiser was specially equipped for infiltration and stealth. The loss of their sensors took away the ship’s primary purpose and strength.

If their mission had not been so critical, it might not have been so serious, but their orders came directly from the Fat Man himself, so it was top priority. Ralouf nodded to himself. Yes, there was a definite cause for concern.

In the HaRuthasha’s ready room, the alert klaxon sounded. Anne Bishop grabbed her flight helmet and tossed her wingman’s to him. Rudy Degenered had been sleeping on the couch when the alert sounded, but he woke quickly and with the presence of mind to grab the tossed helmet as he stood to run for the flight deck.

They ran out onto the narrow catwalk that led to their cockpits. The Imperator transicruiser was not large enough for a proper flight deck, so instead it had been modified to allow for a pair of snub fighters to be docked back to back in the main cargo hold. The cockpits faced each other across the meter wide catwalk. It had taken Anne and Rudy about twenty minutes to figure out how to enter their slightly offset, sideways cockpits without falling out or getting in each other’s way. Ralouf, the chief engineer, had welded a pair of handholds to the catwalk handrail to make it easier to climb into their cockpits. Rudy, a relatively stocky and clumsy man, used the handhold to support himself as he climbed the side rails of the catwalk into his cockpit. Anne mounted her cockpit with the grace of a gymnast, using the handholds to swing herself lightly into her seat.

As Rudy and Anne strapped in, their flight mechanics came up to help them run their final flight checks. Captain Serento’s regular drills had allowed the launch crew to develop a high degree of speed and precision. Within two and a half minutes, they had gone through the initial flight procedures, used the remote sensors mounted on the walls of the fighter cradles to inspect the fighters, and were closing the canopies.

The flight mechanics exited the flight deck, cut the gravity, and evacuated the atmosphere. Anne and Rudy tightened their seat restraints the rest of the way and waited. Rudy went back into the semi-drowse that he was accustomed to wait for a launch. Anne was too high-strung to do anything like that, and waited impatiently for the launch or recall order. She was hoping it wouldn’t come to a launch on this mission. That would mean something had gone wrong. There was too much riding on its successful completion.

On the Oberon’s Dream, Deron called, ‘I have the HaRuthasha on sensors.’

Lt. Rudeski spun and walked over to look over his shoulder. ‘The ‘Ruth is visible and Captain Serento has not hailed us yet?’

‘Nope, not a word,’ Deron told him. ‘I can see she’s locked, cocked, and ready to rock, but I’ve not noticed anything that might indicate that she knows we’re here. Her intercept course is actually a bit off. I can correct, but it’ll add about an extra half hour before we can get to her.

The Lt. paused for a minute before nodded. ‘Do it.’

Deron gave the necessary commands. ‘It is done.’

Captain Serento turned again to her Misha Navigator/Tactical Officer. Eualo sat with his head resting on his hands. He had been in his race’s peculiar precognitive dream/sleep for about an hour. She was getting nervous watching him. Whenever he was out that long, usually that meant something big was about to break.

A glance at the ship’s status display showed all the systems were operating efficiently, but she knew the sensors weren’t working right. Somehow, she had the feeling there was some preparation she was overlooking. Ralouf was running diagnostics on all the systems to be sure they were in peak condition, and she had her snub fighters ready to launch. Her turrets were manned, and the ship was locked down for combat. Until Eualo awakened or the sensors displayed some information, there really was nothing more she could do.

The intercom whispered ‘Engineering.’

Serento keyed her mic. ‘Serento.’

Ralouf sounded worried. His usual drawl was clipped, and his tone was worried.

‘Lizbet, we have a problem. Razelprhing just ran a detailed check on the long-range sensor suite, and it appears that our problem is gone. We’re off-course, but the Oberon’s Dream has modified it’s course. We should intercept her in about two hours.’

A glance at the main screen showed nothing. Serento told him so.

‘I know. That’s my concern. I see Oberon’s Dream clearly. I also see something else, or rather the absence of something. I’m not sure what it is. If it’s jamming like I suspect, then it’s a very subtle form of it. I can’t put my finger on it, but I just have a feeling that…’

The rest of his comment was drowned out as Eualo shrieked. His normally transparent skin became a milky white. He began struggling to get out of his chair, but his seat restraints held him in place. Serento hit the quick release on her seat and stood just outside arms reach.

‘Eualo. Eualo.’

At the sound of her voice, the diminutive Misha calmed. He sat looking around his Tac/Nav panel wide-eyed, sharply drawing in his breath every couple of seconds.

Gently, Serento told him, ‘Eualo, you’re safe.’

His skin slowly regained its customary transparence. He shook his head. His normally soft voice was husky with fear.

‘No, we are not. We are going directly into harm’s way.’

He looked directly into her eyes. His normally nearly transparent eyes were clouded with white.

‘I saw the HaRuthasha take multiple weapons hits and explode.’

Serento was startled by that. She asked, ‘Who did it?’

Eualo closed his eyes. After concentrating for a few seconds, he replied softly, ‘I believe it was Arachnids.’

‘What actions led to our destruction?

Eualo paused for a second before he shook his head. ‘I am not sure. I believe we launched the fighters and maneuvered to protect the civilian liner.’

He shut his eyes and inhaled deeply. Serento was pleased to notice his breathing was deep and slow again. A minute later his eyes snapped open.

‘I just realized why we would die to protect people who hate us.’ He looked directly into her eyes. She noticed they were beginning to cloud again. ‘Michael Bernel is on that Liner. It is to protect the future of the Rebellion.’

Serento was taken aback. The Fat Man should have been en-route to Mars, not traipsing around in the boonies of the Andromeda galaxy. ‘You’re sure?’

Eualo nodded. ‘I did not recognize him, but I do remember why we were attacking an Arachnid ship instead of fleeing.’

‘And it was to protect The Fat Man?’

‘Yes.’

Pensive, Serento pursed her lips. After a minute of going through her options, she walked back to her command chair and strapped back in. Keying the intercom, she keyed the intercom to the fighters.

‘Rudy, Anne.’

Rudy responded. ‘Here.’

‘I need you to launch and…’

Eualo signaled that he needed to talk to her.

‘Just a second.’

Serento swiveled her command chair to face the tiny Misha.

‘Yes?’

Eualo shook his head. ‘We need to keep the fighters here. When the Arachnids come, we need them with us to provide a defense for the liner. The tactic we used, and the only one I could think of, was to accelerate on an intercept course, launch the fighters powered down, and then engage the Arachnid. We maneuvered on a course that would allow the fighters to intercept the Arachnid ship. We will have to sacrifice ourselves to allow them an attack run.’

‘I don’t like the sound of that. There has to be a better way.’ Serento bit her lip. ‘In the meantime we’ll have to contact the liner in another way.’

She keyed to intercom. ‘Rudy, Anne, False alarm. You can relax again, but be ready. Eualo thinks we’re in for a rough ride.’

Serento keyed Engineering.

The Orion’s drawl was back. ‘Ralouf here.’

‘I need to contact the Oberon’s Dream without risking anyone intercepting the message.’

Ralouf didn’t reply immediately. Serento could picture him running through a variety of scenarios in his mind. The Orion was…creative.

‘I assume you’re holding the fighters back for a reason, but I could modify a message drone to home in on the liner instead of base in a few minutes.’

Serento smiled. ‘Do it. I need to be sure that they get my message as soon as possible.’

‘They’ll get it.’ Ralouf told her confidently.

‘Good,’ Serento replied. She cut the line.

She turned back toward the Misha.

‘Now, we have some planning to do. I want to know exactly what you remember. I’m going to get Ratoloth in here to take command and we’re going to figure out how to keep the Fat Man AND ourselves alive.’

---

On the Oberon’s Dream, Deron sat up suddenly. ‘Lieutenant. I think we may have a situation.’

Rudeski got up from the chair he had dozed off in.

‘What is it?’

Deron pointed to the sensor screen. ‘I’m picking up something approaching us. It’ll pass close by, but it isn’t maneuvering to attack. The computer believes it’s a message drone.’

‘How long is it until it is at its closest point?’

Deron shrugged. ‘We should pass by in about 15 minutes. I’ll be able to get a better look then.’

With a nod, Rudeski replied, ‘Let me know if it does anything.’

Deron sighed and held his tongue. Sometimes he got tired of the military types restating the obvious. He grinned despite himself. Then there were all the times that the reminders saved his life. All in all, he could live with it.

A few minutes later, Cy Bergan walked in. Cy was a tall, lanky man with sharp, angular features that Deron always thought resembled a weasel. He had a biting wit and delighted in targeting Deron. Cy leaned his laser rifle/grenade launcher combo against the navigation console and sat down.

‘Just for the record,’ he announced to no one in particular, ‘This liner is just begging to be looted.’

Lt. Rudeski looked up sharply from the sensor screen he was observing.

Cy popped his helmet visor open and grinned. ‘Got your attention didn’t I, Lieutenant?’ He shook his head. ‘Nah, everyone’s still sleeping like babies. There were a few that had injuries from falls and stuff, but Isaac is working on them. We got the rest resting a bit more comfortably. Everyone’s in a cabin, but…’ His grin widened, ‘We couldn’t resist having some fun with it. We put a couple of the Orions in with the ugliest females we could find.’ He chuckled. ‘You should see the Sye-man we left the one guy with. I figure that will be a story to hear.’

Deron made a face. ‘That’s disgusting.’

Cy smirked, ‘You should have seen the one we were going to save for you.’

Rudeski interrupted. ‘Enough. No more jokes, Private. The Rebellion has a bad enough reputation without adding to it with stupid jokes. Do you remember where you put these beings?’

‘Lieutenant,’ Cy complained, ‘don’t tell me you’re going to have us separate them. It was enough of a pain to move them the first time.’

With a shrug, Rudeski told him, ‘You shouldn’t play games when you’re on a mission.’

Deron interrupted to say, ‘Lieutenant, the computer has ID’ed the contact as a message drone. Shall I initiate retrieval operations?’

Rudeski nodded.

Deron gave the command and turned back to see Cy walking back toward the door. Cy’s muttering faded as he shut his visor. Deron shook his head in bewilderment. He had been working with the team for about six months, and for some reason, Cy had taken an instant dislike to him. That animosity had never diminished his effectiveness as a team member, but it could be annoying.

Deron looked up at the Lt. ‘It’s decoding the message…Done. It’s from the ‘Ruth. I’ll put it on the screen over there.’ He pointed to one of the auxiliary displays.

Rudeski thanked Deron as he sat down to review the message. After a few minutes, he turned in his seat.

‘Deron, can you bring up the passenger roster?’

Deron gave the command and routed the roster to Rudeski’s screen. ‘Done. What’s up Lieutenant?’

Rudeski gave him a tight smile. ‘We are about to get a visit from the Arachnids, and Michael Bernel is on board.’

On the HaRuthasha, Ralouf and Razelprhing were finishing the final cuts on a sheet of hull armor. The Captain had apparently had another one of her occasional flashes of brilliance. She had them making flechettes from hull plates. Ralouf kept a number of odd-sized sections on hand in case they came in handy for some odd project of his, but he still didn’t quite believe they were going to try what she was suggesting. She was crunching the numbers even as they worked, trying to see whether she could really pull it off. It was an unlikely plan, but it sounded like it had potential. Of course Rudy and Anne didn’t like the modifications to their fighters, but that was fine. They wouldn’t gripe so much if it worked. A visit by an Arachnid patrol ship was definitely a cause for desperate measures.

The HaRuthasha was severely out-classed by the standard Moranath Arachnid patrol ship. The ‘Ruth just didn’t have the armor or weapons to slug it out. The ‘Ruth did have an advantage in its slightly stronger flux shields, and hopefully in the surprise of having a fighter complement.

The plan was for the ‘Ruth to do a hot burn to build up velocity, release the powered-down fighters, and then maneuver to engage the patrol ship and lure it into the fighters’ flight path. Once the fighters were within range, they would power up, ‘fire’ the flechette bundles using compressed air and then begin strafing and missile attacks. In the meantime, the ‘Ruth would be drawing the patrol ship’s attention and doing as much damage as it could. There were quite a few risks with this, but it was the best plan Serento and Eualo could come up with given the situation.

One common weakness in Arachnid patrol ships was their relatively weak flux shields. Arachnids built powerful flux shield generators into their capital ships, but preferred to rely on speed and maneuverability to protect their patrol ships. This may have worked against other forces the Arachnids had faced, but given the high degree of cooperation espoused by Alliance and especially Human fleet doctrine, it often left the Arachnids at a disadvantage.

To help offset this, later Arachnid designs had included the addition of a directional flux shield that was used to block attacks from the patrol ship’s strongest opponents. This worked well when used against a single opponent like a transicruiser, but Serento was counting on the powered down fighters to be her trump card. By giving the patrol ship something to focus on, she hoped to give Rudy and Anne a single pass on the weakly protected sides or stern of the Arachnid ship. They were going to release the flechettes from pods strapped to their fighters. Inertia would turn the hull armor flechettes into high-speed projectiles. Serento’s belief was that the impact of the flechettes would either weaken or knock out the patrol ship’s flux shields, leaving it exposed for missile and beam strikes. It wasn’t an elegant solution, certainly. Rudy and Anne couldn’t help but wince with every turn of the wrench as they helped their flight mechanics strap the hastily-fabricated flechette pods to their fighter’s wings. It hurt them to deface their sleek FireCats like that, but it was worth it if it offered them a fighting chance to avert the fate Eualo saw.

Rudeski assembled his team in the engineering bay. He started without preamble.

‘I just heard from the ‘Ruth. Eualo had one of his precognitive flashes and saw the ‘Ruth destroyed by an Arachnid patrol ship.’

He paused as Cy interrupted him. ‘Isn’t that just great. We’re on a stinking sky scow and we have Arachnids coming to visit. Fantastic.’

Bishop snarled, ‘Let’em come. We took’em in Styvesk and we’ll take’em here.’ He smirked at Deron, who was still sitting at the control console. ‘Think you can handle an infestation, boy?’

Deron glanced over at him serenely. ‘I believe I can. It wouldn’t be my first encounter with the bugs.’

Cy snorted. ‘Yeah. Right.’ He added to no one in particular, ‘The newbie’s going to get us all killed.’

Rudeski commanded, ‘Enough.’ He glared at the two of them before continuing.

‘The other thing Captain Serento told us is that Michael Bernel is on this ship.’

That got everyone’s attention.

Bardish-ican, the team’s pulse gunner asked, ‘On this ship?’

When Rudeski nodded, the Eridani continued, ‘What is the plan to get him to safety?’

‘We have to find him first.' Rudeski told him. 'As always, he is traveling incognito. Deron and I have a basic search plan, but if anyone has any ideas, let me know.’

‘To further complicate things, the ‘Ruth’ is having sensor problems so she isn’t even able to tell us whether the bug ship is nearby.’

Isaac, the minotaur-like Jezzadaic priest rumbled, ‘What is our window to get him to the HaRuthasha and get away with enough time to allow the ‘Dream escape?’

Rudeski replied, ‘We have to find him at least an hour before the Arachnids arrive. If we find him in time, the Oberon’s Dream should be able to get away also. If we can’t find him, then we have to fight the bugs.’

‘In the event we can’t find him in time, Captain Serento has a plan that is risky, but may provide us the time to get away. The problem is she’ll have to fight the bug ship.’

He looked at each of them in turn as he continued. ‘I don’t think I have to tell you the ‘Ruth’s chances of survival in combat against even a bug patrol ship.’

He nodded toward Deron. ‘Deron believes he has narrowed down Michael’s location to a number of cabins. Deron has downloaded the search plan.’

Rudeski glanced at Deron. After a second, Deron nodded.

Rudeski continued. ‘The first step is to check his cabin. If he is not there, then we have to start searching.’

Rowan asked, ‘How are we going to recognize him? He is always disguised.’ The big man nodded toward Kaash. ‘Our feline friend there can smell him perhaps, but I suspect Cy, Bishop, and I won’t have a snowball’s chance of identifying him.’

Deron spoke up. ‘I’ve downloaded his stats into your bio-scanners. There are fifteen human males on board that roughly fit his profile. The best we can do is to keep track of where we find each of the possible candidates. Remember, he always has bodyguards. We need to get them too, and we have no way of knowing who or what race they may be.’ He admitted, ‘This is going to be difficult, but no different than some of the other Search and Rescue ops I understand you’ve done.’

Rudeski ordered, ‘Break into your teams and get started. I’ll let you know as things develop. The ‘Ruth should be within shuttle range within about half an hour, so we don’t have much time.’

The team of commandoes moved quickly and silently from the room.

---

Two hours later, the team still had not found Michael Bernel. They had located the fifteen human males, and none of them was the Fat Man. Deron was getting frustrated.

‘This is ridiculous,’ he griped to Odo. ‘I’ve been using the ship’s security systems to try to find him for the last two hours, and I STILL can’t find him. No wonder he drives the Alliance crazy. We’re his friends and we can’t find him.’

The short Mutzachan merely grunted. He found this human fascinating. When he had a puzzle to solve, he tended to complain bitterly about whatever he was working on, but his mannerisms and facial expressions invariably seemed to fall into the category humans referred to as ‘cheerful.’ Odo had also noticed that the closer he came to a solution, the more he complained.

Odo relaxed. Just for fun, he did some swift mental calculations based on previous observations he had made of the small human’s mental problem-solving process, and came up with a 93.5374682% chance the human was going to find Michael Bernel in the next five minutes. As Deron began explaining his next search criteria, Odo opened a channel to the rest of the team and began taking bets.

It was exactly 3.356 minutes later that Deron yelled ‘I’ve got him. He’s…’

He paused. His eyes widened. ‘Oh frackencrack.’

Deron turned toward the console where the Lt. was reviewing passenger information and bellowed, ‘We’ve got company. I just picked up an Arachnid Moranath Patrol Ship heading straight for us. It’s moving extremely fast. We have about fifteen minutes before it’s within weapons range.’ He glanced back at the console, but he was monitoring the systems with his neural interface rather than his eyes.

Under his breathe, he commented, ‘I wonder how they got so close so quickly?’

Rudeski snapped, ‘Get Serento on the comm.’

An instant later, Captain Serento’s face appeared on the main screen. From the camera angle, she was using the forward cockpit camera. Behind her, Eualo was wide-awake and furiously typing away on the tactical console.

Rudeski forced a calm into his voice. He HATED being in space combat. There was no cover in the void.

‘We’ve found Michael Bernel, but we haven’t gotten to him yet. We’ll provide what long-range fire-support we can.’

Serento glanced to the right. Turning back, she shook her head.

‘Negative. Get clear. We’ll squash this bug for you. Just get Michael clear.’

She hit a button on her left console.

‘I’ve just uploaded the course you need to take for the rendezvous with the Aru-anidan. Get moving. We’re going to be too busy to worry about you.’

Rudeski nodded. He fought the urge to clench his fists. He HATED watching friends go to their deaths without being able to do anything. He was about to comment that the ‘Ruth was severely outclassed and that the Oberon’s Dream turrets might help, but he held back. She was the expert. It was unlikely that he could tell her something she didn’t already know.

Serento leaned forward slightly to hit another button. Rudeski glanced at the sensor screen. The HaRuthasha was accelerating swiftly toward the Arachnid ship.

‘It’s going to be dicey, but Eualo and I think we have a bit of a surprise prepared for our Arachnid friends. Just get moving.’

Rudeski clenched his fists, but his voice was calm as he replied, ‘Good hunting Captain. Tear off a chunk or three for us.’

Lizbet Serento bared her teeth in a forced smile. ‘Thanks Lieutenant. We’ll do that.’ She glanced toward the left and hit a pair of buttons. ‘Prepare to launch fighters.’

Glancing back at the camera, she said, ‘Good luck to you, Lieutenant. Deron has the coordinates for the next rendezvous. Get moving.’

On the screen, Rudeski saw missile fire from the Arachnid. He saw no information on whether it hit.

‘May your shots run true, and your foe’s astray, Lizbet.’

The first Arachnid missiles set the threat sensors off shortly after Serento got off the comm, but Eualo destroyed them with precision laser shots from the anti-missile system. Serento executed a short burn to avoid the debris. The flux shields would have held, but she didn’t want to risk any unnecessary shield damage. The shields would be pounded soon enough.

The HaRuthasha was responding a bit quicker than usual. Having the fighters clear reduced it’s mass noticeably. That gave Serento more hope that they might just pull this off.

She checked the projected path of Rudy and Anne’s fighters. The Arachnid was still out of range of the fighters. Eualo suggested a trio of possible evasion patterns designed to lead the bug ship into the fighters’ optimal firing position. Two of them offered the fighters a good deflection shot at the bug’s side, but the third and most dangerous of the three gave Anne and Rudy a head-on shot. There were two difficulties with this. The first was making sure the HaRuthasha didn’t collide with the fighters as they coasted into attack range. The other was figuring out a way to maneuver so that the heavy directional shield generated by the patrol ship would not be facing the fighters when they took their shot.

Motioning for Ratoloth, her Executive Officer, to take control of the ship, she began plotting course adjustments. She had never tangled with a Moranath before, but the design was in common use, so she had a reasonable amount of information on Arachnid tactics and the performance estimates of the ship. After doing some figuring on potential trajectories based on the bug and her transicruiser’s performance profiles, she came up with what she believed was a valid solution. There was no way to contact the fighters without giving away both their position and existence. She would have to play it by ear. Fortunately, both Rudy and Anne had been flying with her for a bit over two years and she was sure they would trust her enough not to panic when it appeared that the HaRuthasha was on a collision course with them.

She sensed the HaRuthasha made a minor course correction. Ratoloth had modified the evasion pattern she had set up. She glanced over at her Exec. The gaunt Ikrini moistened his thin lips. His skin was gray with tension and he was breathing heavily. He kept his attention focused between the sensor screen and ship’s condition monitor.

‘We play a dangerous game.’ His voice was breathy with stress. He was an excellent pilot and executive officer, but even now, after working with him for a year and a half, she still grew concerned that the stress was going to overwhelm him. He had always come through though, so she had never seen a reason to replace him. But seeing him like this awakened the old concerns.

With a nod, she replied, ‘Long odds require desperate measures. I didn’t see any choice.’

He gave one of his peculiar barking ‘laughs.’ ‘I certainly see none.’ He paused. ‘Shields down to seventy-eight percent. We’re holding up well, but if we keep this up, we won’t be around to act as bait for Rudy and Anne.’

Serento merely nodded. She was reviewing the Arachnid ship’s maneuvers, hoping to get a better idea of how the ship’s captain thought. Any insight into her enemy’s mind that she could glean could mean a few more minutes of survival, and a few minutes of survival could mean the difference between victory and death.

On the liner, the battle looked very placid and peaceful. A pair of contacts slowly moved around the screen. The range was too great to be able to determine damage, and without the fighters, there was no radio traffic to monitor. They could only guess what was going on.

Deron noticed Rudeski’s clenched right hand would relax slightly every time the ‘Ruth changed course. That meant the ship had not been disabled or destroyed. The fight was pretty unequal, but the ‘Ruth had lasted for hours.

Several of the other commandoes were watching also. Odo, as Deron’s bodyguard, was there, of course, and visible for a change. The little Mutzachan was entertaining himself by draining the energy out of a battery and then charging it again. Rowan and Hicks were there, and Kaash, the Cizerack scout. The others had other duties to attend to. Isaac was dealing with a few of the minor wounds and bruises that occurred when the sleep-induced passengers fell down. Jean Luc was assisting Cy in undoing their practical joke. Bishop was patrolling the ship with Bardish-ican.

After they had awakened him and apprised him of the situation, Michael Bernel had decided to retire to his cabin to work. His trio of bodyguards, two Humans and an Orion, went with him. He left instructions to call him if there were any serious developments.

Over six and a half hours had passed before they saw two more contacts appear. After a minute, they heard Rudy calling the ‘Ruth to coordinate attacks. As Serento replied, they heard the crackle of consoles shorting out and the hiss of fire-retardant being sprayed. The Lt. finally realized that he was clenching his hand and forced himself to relax. He glanced around to see if anyone else had noticed it, and caught Deron watching him. Rudeski’s eyes widened. Deron smiled sadly and shook his head gently. He wasn’t going to say anything to anyone. It was hard to watch their friends dying.

Finally, after one exchange of weapons fire, they heard a whoop of triumph. The patrol ship began to tumble.

Immediately, Rudeski keyed the mic.

‘Oberon’s Dream to Eagle. Oberon’s Dream to Eagle. Come in Eagle.’

Anne replied, ‘This is Raptor Two. Eagle is drifting. We lost her a few minutes ago. Raptor One is maneuvering to render assistance.’

Rudeski turned to Deron.

‘How long will it take to get there? We need to help them.’

Deron made some computations.

‘We can be there in about three hours. The battle actually followed along behind us.’

‘Bring us around then,’ Rudeski told him.

With a smile, Deron nodded. ‘As ordered. I’ve already set our course. We’re set for flank speed.’ He yawned. As he checked the time through his neural interface, he exclaimed, ‘Wow. I’ve been on for over twenty-five hours.’

Rudeski glanced at his chronometer. ‘Go ahead and take a quick nap. I’ll have someone bring in a cot for you.’

Deron nodded his thanks. When Cy came in with a cot, he ignored Cy’s comments and collapsed on it.

Two and a half hours later, Rudeski awakened Deron with a steaming cup of coffee. Nodding his thanks, Deron asked woozily, ‘What did I miss?’

‘Nothing,’ Rudeski told him.

A bit more alert after his first sip of coffee, Deron ran through the systems to update himself on the ship’s status. Everything was green.

He glanced at Rudeski and asked, ‘How are the damage control operations going on the ‘Ruth?’

Rudeski shook his head. ‘Not well. The HaRuthasha is a total loss. Captain Serento and Razelprhing are injured, and Rudy’s flight mechanic, Steyvetski, was killed. They got off lightly for fighting a Moranath. It’s amazing they survived.’

Deron nodded. ‘Well, one positive is we’ll have the services of actual spacers instead of a cyber jockey using tricked-out skillware. That will be a definite plus. The other thing is we can get Serento and Razelprhing into the liner’s medical bay.’ He paused as he accessed the liner’s records. ’You know, we may want to wake up the Zen doctor. According to his record, he’s extremely skilled and has received some excellent ratings.’

Rudeski agreed. He called Cy and Rowan to put on one of the delta-blockers on the doctor and take him to medical if he was not already there.

The rescue operation took another two hours and required Rudy and Anne to land their fighters in the star liner’s small-craft bay and fly over to the HaRuthasha with one of the liner’s skiffs. They had some difficulty docking and getting the wounded and dead aboard, but after some work they were successful.

They got Serento and Razelprhing to the infirmary as Deron transferred command of the liner to Ratoloth and Eualo. They destroyed the remains of the HaRuthasha as they passed by.

At Rudeski’s request, they passed by the debris of the Arachnid ship to scan it quickly and mark its trajectory before moving on to a hastily scheduled rendezvous with the Aru-anidan, a rebel freighter.

With the ‘Ruth’s crew on the bridge, Deron decided to get some more sleep, and after clearing it with Rudeski, he headed for an empty cabin in third class. As he walked down the corridor, he ran through a systems check. Everything was on green.

He passed by Bardish-ican and Bishop as they made their rounds. Bishop grinned nastily as he saw Deron rubbing his eyes.

‘Getting tired little boy? Can’t play with the real warriors?’

Bardish-ican told the Kizanti, ‘He does his duty.’

Ignoring them, Deron walked past. He appreciated Bardish-ican speaking in his defense, but Bishop’s pettiness had begun to annoy him. Deron had decided soon after he had joined the Reavers that he would not let Bishop and Cy’s unfriendliness get to him, but sometimes, and especially when he was tired, it was hard to walk away.

The Kizanti sneered. ‘And barely that. He’s weak for a human. We should have allowed that Phentari to eat him on LVT358.’

As they turned the corner he had just passed, Deron heard the Eridani begin to lecture Bishop on the demands that honor placed on them to defend a member of the team. Their voices faded and he was alone in the corridor.

He was passing the training room when he heard a low thump of something heavy hitting the bulkhead inside. Curious, Deron used his neural interface to call up the training room security cameras.

At first he saw nothing. The lights were out to conserve power. Then as he shifted through the spectrum to infrared, he saw six multi-colored centauroid forms staggering around in the training room. A seventh was slowly dropping to the deck in a mist of warm red liquid. Deron could see the cool blue-green of the deck through a large hole in its torso. A spray of warm red liquid had splashed the centauroid and wall behind it. A cool blue, metallic object splotched with red had embedded itself in the wall at the center of the warm, red spray. A number of cool blue cases surrounded the Arachnids.

It took Deron a second to process what he saw. Then it registered with him. There were Arachnids on the ship.

For an instant, disbelief froze him in place. They should have been dead. Their ship was lifeless. It was dead in space. He had seen the sensor readings himself.

Deron felt his lungs constrict. A single Arachnid warrior was said to be the equal of four Alliance soldiers. The bugs had better equipment, and their physical size gave them great strength when compared to the average human. Deron was smaller than average. He always had been. His advantage had always been his mind. In any computer system ever created, he was their master. This was the real world. He was totally helpless before them.

He was turning to run when he thought about the civilians on the ship. They were unconscious and unable to defend themselves because of him. He couldn’t run. For their sakes he couldn’t run. He forced his panic down.

Deron checked the training room sensors again. One of the bugs was moving toward the door with some sort of cool blue metallic object in its hands. The others had started getting gear from one of several large octagonal cargo bins that they had brought with them.

Forcing himself to be calm, Deron gave the command to lock the doors of the training room. After double-checking to be sure the inside door controls were disabled, he commed the Auxiliary Bridge.

‘Rudeski, this is.’ His words came out in a high-pitched rush. With conscious effort, Deron forced himself to speak calmly.

‘…This is Deron. We have seven arachnids locked in the training room. One may be injured. I don’t have any further information yet. I can’t tell whether they are armored or armed. I believe they just got here, and that they are just now arming, but I’m not certain.’

Rudeski swore and cut the connection. A few seconds later, Deron heard booted feet running up from the adjacent corridor. Deron stepped off to the side. He heard the feet stop and an instant later, Bishop charged around the corner with his laser rifle ready. Bardish-ican followed with his pulse cannon.

Bishop hissed, ‘Down idiot. Arachnids are in the training room.’ and body-checked Deron into the wall as he ran past.

Angrily, Deron snarled, ‘Bishop, you jerk.’ He gently rubbed the sore spot on his chest where Bishop had hit him. It would bruise nicely in a bit. ‘I sealed the door. They would have to burn through to get out.’

He could hear several more pairs of booted feet running. A few seconds later, Jean Luc, Hicks, and Rowan with Odo trailing behind ran around the corner at the far end of the corridor. They charged down the corridor, split up and took positions on either side of the door. Jean Luc, Rowan, and Bardish-ican were on one side, and, Bishop, Odo, and Hicks were on the other. The first two, Bardish-ican and Hicks, pulled grenades.

Hicks glanced at Dee. ‘Can you tell us what they are doing?’

Deron accessed the security system. Five of the bugs were opening the canisters that surrounded them. They began pulling out unrecognizable objects. For an instant, he couldn’t tell exactly what they were doing, but then he saw one of them pull on what appeared to be a wire exoskeleton. It touched its wrist and its heat signature shifted down to a light blue as it was covered by the extension of panels from the exoskeleton. The sixth he saw had taken cover behind one of the cargo canisters and had its weapon aimed at the door.

As the newly armored bug pulled on its helmet, one of the others secured a body-mounted disintegrator pod to its armor. Deron saw the bug turn its head and the weapons pod tracked in the direction of its gaze.

A Ram Python training dummy was lying on the ground by the cargo canisters. The armored bug noticed it and strode toward it. A hard kick sent the training dummy flying to smash against the door. As the dummy hit the door, the bug skewered it with disintegrator fire.

The thump as the dummy hit made the commandoes outside jump.

‘What’s going on in there,’ Rowan hissed.

Deron replied. ‘Most of them are unarmored, but they appear to be arming.’

He scanned the training room again. He ignored Bishop’s snarled order to open the doors. Sudden inspiration hit him as he saw some of the training dummies standing in their charging pods.

‘Give me a quick second,’ he assured them, ‘and I’ll unlock the doors.’

He accessed the ship’s computer. The training system was inactive, but he brought it up. The training dummies were off-line, but with one exception, they were functioning at top condition. Black Star took good care of their equipment.

It took an additional precious second, but he accessed the training programs. The majority of the training dummies did not have weapons. That didn’t matter. He removed the safeties, and then put the skill and strength levels to maximum. He engaged the teamwork option and raised it to maximum, and removed the no-kill restraints. Finally, he set the system to attack all non-bipedal targets.

Deron smiled with self-satisfaction. ‘All right guys, I’ve set the target dummies to help. Don’t shoot them. They’re on your side.’

All the commandoes but Hicks looked startled. Rowan blurted, ‘What?’

Deron replied impatiently, ‘Just don’t shoot the target dummies, okay? I’ll give the signal.’

‘Three.’

With a mental command, he turned on the zero-g training mode. Three of the arachnids left the ground.

‘Two.’

‘One.’

He set the artificial gravity on maximum for an instant. All the arachnids staggered in the sudden three gees, and the three floating bugs hit hard.

Resetting the gravity to standard, he flashed the lights to their brightest setting for an instant before setting them to normal.

‘Go.’

The doors slid open. Bardish-ican and Hicks threw their grenades. Deron watched through the sensors as the grenades landed near the cargo canisters. The armored bug chittered and all the bugs dropped.

A second later, the twin explosions shook the deck slightly and the commandoes surged into the room. They spread out along the wall on both sides of the door and opened fire. Four of the five armed Arachnids rose from the cover of the cases and returned fire. The fifth stayed low and continued to pull on one of the armor exoskeletons. It pulled on its helmet before rising to join in the defense. The last Arachnid, unarmed and unarmored, hunkered down to use its fellows for cover.

Jean Luc was moving to take cover behind a weight bench when he was caught in a web shot by one of the Arachnids. Three of the six bugs began to fire at him. The other commandoes fired fast and hard to keep the Arachnids’ heads down, but the Arachnid armor was good enough that the two armored bugs were willing to take a few hits to get the kill.

The big Ram Python bellowed in impotent anger as multiple disintegrator shots chewed into his armor. The web held him, but as his rage grew, he strained against the sticky fibers and broke free.

Deron was startled to see Jean Luc reach over his back to holster his thud gun and pull his Naj free. He had never seen a Ram react with anything resembling sense when berserk. Bellowing as he brandished his huge ax, the big lizard charged the Arachnids.

Deron chose that moment to engage the training dummies. He accessed the training computer and issued a directive to avoid the rampaging Jean Luc. He wanted to avoid any damage to the dummies from a friendly, ax-wielding, completely berserk Ram.

The five training dummies resting in their charging cradles rose up and attacked the bugs. In instant later, the other four lying around on the floor stood and ran to engage the bugs. Five of them leaped into the air to deliver high kicks. Three of the jumpers landed on the same Arachnid, knocking it to its knees. It bellowed in outrage as it lashed out against its attackers. It attempted to fire on the training dummies, but the dummies were extremely difficult to hit. At least once, an Arachnid took a shot on one of the training dummies, only to have the targeted dummy sidestep an instant before the bug pulled the trigger. In one case, the dummy slapped the weapon aside, shattering it, and landed a hard kick on the Arachnid’s knee joint. That Arachnid went down a few seconds later with a crushed skull as three of the dummies attacked simultaneously with head kicks.

The commandoes had hunkered down behind whatever cover they could find. Odo was invisible by this point, but every few seconds, his shotgun would roar. Bishop had disappeared completely. Hicks had tipped and taken cover behind a Python-sized weight bench. Rowan was flat on his stomach behind the damaged Ram training dummy. Bardish-ican, disdaining cover, was moving forward to support Jean Luc.

Jean Luc was in a complete frenzy of rage. He was leaping around among the Arachnids, hewing about like a whirling dervish of fury. His great Naj was causing tremendous amounts of damage. What he didn’t chop with his axe, he smashed with his tail-mace. He chopped one Arachnid’s arm off at the elbow, but before he could behead it with his backstroke, another shot him in the back with a disintegrator. He staggered, but completed the swing. The blow didn’t sever the top of the Arachnid’s head, but split it wide open. Smashing the bug to his rear with his tail, Jean Luc jerked his Naj free and whirled, smashing the Arachnid’s weapon aside before closing.

The Arachnid backhanded him with the ruins of its weapon. Jean Luc staggered back. Roaring his defiance and fury, he drew back his Naj for a great two-handed swing. The bug punched at him, but Jean Luc sidestepped and buried his Naj deep enough that he couldn’t withdraw it with a single jerk. Rather than stand still to free the weapon, he left it there and stepped in for a talon and tail combination attack.

From behind, the unarmed Arachnid threw a small disc at his back. It stuck there for an instant. Jean Luc was oblivious to it. He was trading blows with the wounded bug. There was a brief flash, and the big Python shrieked in pain. Blood sprayed all over the Arachnid he was fighting as his chest armor boiled away in a great hole. Jean Luc fell to his knees. Deron winced as Jean Luc gurgled over the comm, trying to bellow his defiance. A kick from the bug he was facing sent him crashing to his back. He did not move.

Jean Luc’s death gave the commandoes new determination. They paired off and began concentrating their fire on individual bugs. As the bugs hunkered down behind their crates, Rowan shifted from his laser carbine to his rotary grenade launcher and fired a full volley of fragmentation grenades at them. The grenades arced toward the center of the clustered containers. Then the unarmed bug stood up, gestured, and the grenades clustered together in mid-air and went sailing back at him.

Rowan froze as the cluster of grenades landed on his back. He couldn’t believe what he had just seen

Hicks saw it also and yelled, ‘Rowan, grenades.’

As Rowan started to roll back through the door, the cluster of grenades lifted into the air on its own and soared back toward the bugs. It exploded partway there. Bardish-ican, who was directly beneath the cluster, was knocked off his feet, but he was back on his feet again in a few seconds.

Over the comm, Deron heard Odo tell Rowan, ‘You owe me, Rowan.’

Rowan rolled out into the corridor, stood shakily, and stepped back against the wall for a breath. Deron couldn’t believe he wasn’t badly injured His armor was cratered by shrapnel and a large gouge on the left side of his helmet marked a bug hand blaster hit. He noticed Deron standing there watching and shouted, ‘Get back to the bridge, you idiot. Tell Rudeski we need backup or we’re going to buy it.’

Readying his laser carbine, Rowan yelled, ‘Cover me guys, I’m coming back in.’

Having seen Jean Luc fall and realizing that Bishop was nowhere to be found, Deron called Rudeski.

The Lieutenant was curt.

‘Report.’

‘It looks like we just lost Jean Luc. I don’t see Bishop anywhere. The bugs are chewing us up pretty badly.’

Rudeski cursed under his breath. Over the general frequency, Deron heard, ‘Reavers, pull back.’

The firefight continued as the commandoes tried to disengage. The unarmed Arachnid suddenly stood to its full height. A nimbus of blue-green light played around its body. Pointing at Bardish-ican, who had taken cover behind one of the nearby training dummy cradles after the grenade exploded, the Arachnid gave a command and beam of blue-green light shot out at him.

The Eridani, anticipating an attack, sidestepped the blast and fired his pulse cannon. The plasma fire was sucked up by the nimbus of light surrounding the Arachnid and for a few brief seconds, added a yellow-white coloration before it was absorbed by the light surrounding the bug.

Deron moved back up the hall and around the corner. Accessing the security systems, he ran a rapid scan of the ship. Everything was fine until he came to a secondary cargo hold. There, in the center of the relatively empty bay, was a second group of arachnids. This group was only four strong, but they were donning armor and weapons.

He locked the cargo doors and contacted Rudeski.

‘We have four more Bugs locked in forward cargo bay six, and these have their armor on. We need to do something. I’ve locked them in, but I think it might be good to actually let them out without letting them know we know they’re there.’

‘We can’t let them link up with the others,’ Rudeski told him.

‘I realize that,’ Deron explained, ‘but if we condition them to go through doors with a certain command, we can monitor them more easily. We can also change the command without warning and delay them.’

Rudeski paused. ‘Do it and keep me informed. Any other dirty tricks you can think of?’

‘Nothing right off hand. The delta generators aren’t affecting them, so I know that isn’t going to work. I’ll keep wracking my brains.

‘Then Rudeski out.’

Deron was struck by another thought. ‘Hey Lieutenant, I also have a translator program that may give us a bit of an edge. I crafted it after researching an Arachnid database I plundered before I joined you guys. I’ll monitor their communications and run them through for you.’ He started the translator and set it up to monitor the Arachnids. ‘Where are you sitting?’ He accessed the security systems in Engineering and routed the information to a secondary monitor on the console where Rudeski was sitting.

‘Got it,’ Rudeski told him. ‘Now get back here. We need to figure things out.’

Deron agreed and began moving toward the lift.

---

In the training room, the situation had gotten more desperate. Odo was down after a matrix duel with the Arachnid Psi-crafter, but while he was unconscious, the Arachnid’s brains were splattered all over the ceiling. Hicks was pulling him out of the training room. Bardish-ican and Rowan were providing covering fire. Bishop still hadn’t reappeared.

Four of the Arachnids were left and they were keeping their heads down. As good as the Arachnid armor was, even it had its limits. Every so often, one of the armored bugs would pop off a few shots, but after the death of their Psi-crafter bug, they all seemed content to allow the commandoes to disengage.

Hicks got Odo outside and then provided covering fire for the other two. Bardish-ican was the last one through the door. As he cleared the door, Hicks slammed the button to shut and lock the door. Over the comm he yelled,

‘Deron, seal that door.’

There was the faintest click from the door as the magnetic locks were activated.

Hicks checked Odo’s condition. The Mutzachan was breathing with difficulty, and his usually grayish skin had an unhealthy pallor.

Bardish-ican called the Lieutenant. and informed him of the situation. Rudeski told him that they were needed on the forward decks. The Eridani acknowledged.

Rowan asked, ‘Deron, Is Isaac on his way? Odo is down.’

‘Yes, he’s just getting off the elevator now. He should be there in about a minute and a half…He’s turning the corner now.’

Hicks glanced down the corridor. The Jezzadaic was lumbering toward them. He was carrying the talisman staff his people called an Atohk in one hand and his medical kit in the other. His camou unit was off, and his gray armor had a few new black char marks. The center of his chest plate had a new gash burned into it.

‘What happened to you?’ Hicks asked. ‘You look like you’ve been in a firefight too.’

Isaac nodded as he bent down to examine Odo. ‘There is a second group of Arachnids on the ship. Bishop and Cy are currently engaged in delaying them on the forward decks.’

Rowan glanced guiltily at Hicks. ‘I guess I should have held my tongue. I should have known Bishop didn’t lose his nerve.’

Hicks exhaled. ‘You merely said what I was thinking. I certainly won’t tell him.’

Isaac rumbled, ‘Nor I. It is understandable that, in a moment of high stress such as you have just experienced, you might say something that another might find offensive. It is the nature of your species.’

Rowan glanced at Hicks and rolled his eyes. ‘Thanks. I appreciate the understanding.’

Isaac missed the sarcasm in his voice. ‘It is only reasonable to overlook such verbal indiscretions, especially if one knows your race’s proclivities.’ He pulled a rod from his belt and touched it to Odo’s forehead. As he muttered under his breath, the rod glowed dimly. Moving it back and forth across Odo’s forehead, he peered intently at the Mutzachan, watching for some obscure sign that his treatment worked.

Hicks stood slowly. With a sigh he told the other two, ‘Well, I’m ready. Let’s get this new bunch of bugs contained.’

They began walking toward the forward hold.

Lt. Brandon Rudeski was running the numbers, and they did not look good. With the four bugs in the training room and the four Bishop and Cy were fighting, the odds were longer than he liked. He had lost Jean Luc to a berserk fury, and while the big Ram had taken his toll, his impetuous attack served no real purpose. It had cut the bug numbers a bit, but Rudeski would have preferred to have Jean Luc alive and bug stomping.

Rudeski didn’t dwell on the fact that they had not been able to recover Jean Luc’s body. The thought of the big Ram going in one of the bug digestive bags to be eaten was particularly upsetting. He would have to do something about that. One possibility would be to have Bishop use his displacement device to hit Jean Luc’s body with a plas grenade. Bishop had actually liked Jean Luc, and he might be willing to do that. If Bishop wouldn’t, Rudeski had to find another way. There was no way he was going to let the bugs feed on Jean Luc.

Jean Luc and Bardish-ican were the team’s heavy-hitters when it came to close combat. Rudeski missed him already, but the situation made it more pronounced. There was always something reassuring about having the big Ram bellowing in a berserker fury as he hacked his way through the enemy.

Rudeski was distracted from his thoughts when Deron exclaimed ‘Crud.’

Deron glanced up from his monitor. ‘Hey Lieutenant, the Fat Man just called. He wants to talk to you. Should I have Kaash disengage and help escort him? He should be able to skirt the fighting if he goes to the second level, but he’ll pass near the training room.’

He paused as he checked the training room sensors. ‘The bugs are not doing anything in there.’ He made a face. ‘They do have Jean Luc’s body in one of their digestion bags.’

Glancing back at the Lieutenant, he asked, ‘What do you want me to do?’

Rudeski started to order Kaash to act as escort, but stopped. Her firepower would be helpful to have against the four armed and armored bugs the rest of his team was fighting. He owed it to his team to provide as much support as possible, but he also owed it to the Rebellion to protect Michael Bernel. He rubbed his eyes. He was developing a headache.

He keyed his com. ‘Kaash, our patron is moving toward the Auxiliary Bridge. Disengage and meet at…’ He paused and glanced at Deron, who finished ‘At intersection 2-113.’ He commented to Rudeski. ‘I’ve engaged the ship’s auto guide to get her there. ’

With a nod, Rudeski acknowledged. ‘Keep an eye on the bugs in the training room. If one of them so much as belches, I want to know.’

‘Will do,’ Deron told him.

Rudeski sat down to wait for the man he and his team had broken their ties with the Galactic Defense Forces to follow.

The door opened a few minutes later and a non-descript human who went by the name Owen walked in. Owen was dressed extremely conservatively in gray slacks and a white shirt. He was a rather skinny man who did not look threatening in the least. When Deron had first met him, he had thought Owen’s large head and car-door ears made him look almost comic, but as with so many things, looks could be deceiving. On Torvalin, Deron had seen Owen kill an armed Eridani bare handed with a series of pressure point strikes. He was sure the man was a cyborg. No one could possibly move with the speed and power Owen did without augmentation.

A second later, their patron stepped into the room.

Michael Bernel was a unremarkable man of average height. The brown suit he was wearing made him look more like a moderately successful businessman than the most wanted and feared leader of the rebellion against the Galactic Alliance. His nom de guerre was The Fat Man, but over twenty years of life on the run had taken its toll. He was extremely thin now. His girth was not the only change caused by the privations of life as a fugitive. His close-cut sandy-brown hair was starting to gray. His face was lined, but those lines disappeared into a wide smile as he saw Rudeski rising to his feet in the Auxiliary Bridge.

He made his way slowly through the engineering consoles to the glasteel-enclosed Auxiliary Bridge. The Fat Man still had a slight limp from an assassination attempt on Torvalin three months before. As he entered the Auxiliary Bridge, Deron watched in amusement as Lieutenant Brandon Rudeski snapped a sharp salute. He had not seen the Lieutenant salute anyone else in the six months he had been with the team.

‘Sir.’

Michael motioned for Rudeski to sit. He glanced at Deron and back to Rudeski. Deron caught the slight nod Rudeski gave him. Michael’s smile widening slightly as he walked over to Deron and stuck out his hand. His voice was friendly and pleasant. Not what he would have expected from the man demonized by the Alliance as an insurrectionist, traitor, and baby-killer.

‘Hello. My name is Michael.’

Deron started to stand as he shook Michael’s hand. It was done almost without thought. Michael Bernel was a man who commanded respect from his own strength of character, not from a title or position. With a shake of his head, Michael stopped him.

‘Please don’t stand.’ The glance he cast toward Rudeski was good-natured, but contained a mild rebuke. ‘The good Lieutenant has been saluting me since he and his team joined us on Stoorvall. I don’t believe in ceremony. I’ve asked him not to, but he and his team are most insistent.’

He shook Deron’s hand. His handshake was firm, but not hard. Michael spent the next five minutes asking Deron questions about himself. Deron suspected he was somehow gauging him, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that Michael was sincerely interested in getting to know him. Some of Michael’s questions dealt with the current mission, but many were just friendly questions.

Michael listened attentively to Deron’s answers, and finally asked Rudeski with a note of gentle reproof in his voice, ‘So Brandon, why is it you haven’t told me about Deron’s area of expertise? From your description of Deron, I had the impression he was muscle with a background in security systems. SCRAP can use a man of his skills.’

Deron made eye contact with Rudeski and nodded his thanks. Turning back to Michael, he stated. ‘He was honoring my request. He and his team pulled me out of a corporate torture cell on Tizan a bit over six months ago and I’ve been with them ever since.’

A glance at Rudeski assured Michael it was so. He asked, ‘In the few months you’ve been with Rudeski’s team, you’ve heard of our SCRAP program, haven’t you? We can always use more slicers with your skill. Hacking into the Alliance hyper net is not for the faint of heart.’

With an off-hand shrug, Deron acknowledged he had, adding, ‘These guys broke me out of that Hansen Electronics hellhole. I would rather work with them.’ He nodded back to Rudeski. ‘They needed a cyber jockey, and after the situation on Tizan, I prefer to have serious fire-power to back me up.’ He looked Michael in the eye. ‘I don’t want to leave this team. They’re my family.’

Michael studied him for a second before nodding. ‘Fair enough.’

Turning to Rudeski he commented, ‘Deron has graciously patched me into the system so I was able to monitor the situation.’

He inhaled deeply before he continued. ‘Brandon, I’m sorry about Jean Luc. He was a good soldier. I remember him well. He protected me with his body when the grenades were thrown in through the windows on Torvalin.’ He nodded sympathetically. Deron could tell Michael was trying to control the pain in his own voice. ‘I know how hard it is for you to lose your people. I’ve lost enough of my friends to know. I wish I could tell you the end is in sight, but I can promise you that Jean Luc and the others will not be forgotten. When we beat the Alliance and set up a true republic, Jean Luc, Bryson, and all of our fallen heroes will be remembered properly.’

Rudeski’s jaw clenched as he nodded. Bishop had been extremely insubordinate the last time Deron had seen Rudeski react like that. Deron knew it wasn’t anger this time. He had been around Rudeski enough to know how much he truly loved and cared for the beings of his team.

To cover Rudeski’s discomfort, Michael changed the subject.

‘I understand there is a second group of Arachnids on board. I suspect your team is over-extended. I would like to recommend an alternative if you are interested.’

Lt. Rudeski nodded emphatically. ‘What do you have in mind? I’m looking for any alternatives I can find. As you say, my team is over-extended. I’m going to start losing people to fatigue-related mistakes if I can’t give them some rack time.’ He motioned to Deron. ‘He was monitoring the system for over twenty-four hours. Having Serento’s crew onboard has helped, but I need to give my team some down time to maintain effectiveness.

‘I believe this will help then, ‘Michael told him. ‘There are a number of mercenaries and military personnel onboard. I would recommend that you give them delta wave inhibitors and enlist their help in this fight.’

Rudeski rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Under ordinary circumstances, he would reject this idea out of hand. The last thing he wanted to do was to have his team work with people they didn’t know and with whom they had no real affiliation. Under the present circumstances however, working together to survive the Arachnid attack should be enough of a common goal to make it a possibility.’

He nodded pensively. ‘I’m going to screen the mercs we talk to, but I think we can make it work. My team knows not to say anything about who we really are, but we’ll have to think of a cover story. The extra firepower would definitely be a good idea.’ Rudeski nodded with more conviction. ‘I believe we can make this work. I’ll get right on it.’ Turning to Deron, he started to ask for the roster, but Deron pointed to the computer console Rudeski had been sitting at previously.

‘It’s all there on your screen. I’m checking the luggage register for weapons and armor and referencing the passenger list and personal files for each. I’m flagging the passengers with criminal records, as well as any who might have rebel sympathies.’ He glanced back at Michael. ‘If you have any projects you’d like me to work on, let the Lieutenant know. I’m always open to new challenges.’

The Fat Man thanked him and glanced over at Rudeski. ‘Good hunting Lieutenant. We need to destroy them quickly so they don’t harm any more of the civilians on this liner.’

Rudeski nodded impatiently. ‘My team is well aware that we need to keep civilian casualties down.’ He paused to rub his eyes. His headache was getting worse. ‘I’m sorry sir. You can count on us.’

With a nod, Michael left the Auxiliary Bridge. Deron watched him walk out of the engineering section. Glancing up at Rudeski he commented, ‘Hey Lieutenant, come take a look at this. This is the security footage we just shot.’

Rudeski moved to look over Deron’s shoulder at the screen. He watched as a young Orion man in a kilt-like Bwal and leather jacket nodded to Owen and preceded him out the door.

Deron commented, ‘I don’t know what he’s using, but it’s impressive. No wonder I couldn’t find him. I can see why he gives the Alliance fits.’

Rudeski grunted. He had files to scan.

Deron check on the bugs that Cy and Bishop were fighting. Through the security sensors, he saw five exact duplicates of Bishop exchanging fire with a trio of bugs. Cy was nowhere to be found.

As they pursued the Bishops down a hallway, Deron realized that the doors in the hallway were locked. For an instant, Deron was confused. He hadn’t…then he recognized the ‘feel’ of another slicer in the system. He couldn’t help but smirk.

‘Now that’s interesting,’ he commented under his breath. ‘It looks like one of the bugs is attempting to use the system against us.’ He laced his fingers together and pushed his palms out to crack his knuckles. ‘Let’s see what this guy has got.’

He triggered a trace program to track down the bug slicer, and then gave it notice of his presence by taking control of a door a few paces in front and to the right of Bishop. Then he initiated a mirage program that would allow him to control what the security systems registered.

‘Bishop, cut right.’

The Kizanti changed direction in mid-stride and dove through the opening door. Deron shut the door behind him as disintegrator fire gouged chunks out of the door and wall.

Bishop was breathing heavily as he gasped, ‘Deron, give me coordinates to the corner of the corridor we came from. I want to be behind the corner and out of their sight.’

Deron called up plans of the deck and ran a quick computation on the distance.

‘Bishop, first of all, take cover somewhere in the room. Then when I say, face the door and displace eighteen meters to nine o’clock.’

There was a pause. Then Bishop snapped, ‘Nine o’clock?’ Disbelief edged his voice. ‘Is that the best you can do? This isn’t...’

‘Just do it Bishop. They’re outside the door, and they have a bug slicer trying to override my control.’ Deron chose not to tell him the bug slicer didn’t have a chance. He wanted Bishop moving, not griping or arguing.

With a muffled curse, Bishop took cover in the closet. Deron initiated the mirage program that would convince the bug slicer that Bishop was still in the closet and told Bishop to displace. Deron noted with satisfaction that Bishop displaced to exactly where he had expected him to reappear.

Allowing the bug slicer to wrest control of the lock from him, Deron noted that the bugs were still waiting by the door. Apparently the mirage his system was generating for the bug slicer’s benefit was successful in misleading it. He was pleased to see his program upgrades were working.

He took a sip of coffee as he watched the cabin door open and the bug warriors fire at the closet. Their disintegrators and hand blasters blew great holes in the walls and door. Deron was thankful that the sleeping passengers, an elderly Orion couple, were on the floor behind the bed. Someone, he suspected Cy and Jean Luc, had arranged the sheets and blankets on the floor as though they were still on the bed and placed the couple in them. The Orion couple probably wouldn’t be entirely comfortable when they woke, but they were at least out of the line of fire.

The bugs ceased fire. One of them scanned the room and moved inside, followed by its companion. They found the sleeping passengers immediately of course. The lead warrior moved forward, and at first Deron thought it was going to ignore them. It examined them for an instant before turning away. Deron almost choked on his coffee as the bug warrior suddenly reared up and crushed the heads of the sleeping pair. It flexed its clawed feet as if savoring the feeling of warm blood, flesh, and brain matter before continuing its search of the room.

‘Lieutenant,’ Deron called urgently, ‘The bugs’re killing passengers. We need to do something.’

The snapped profanity that was Rudeski’s acknowledgement spoke eloquently of his frustration.

Fighting back his anger, Deron wracked his brain for a way to make the bugs pay for what they had done. There were times when he hated being so scrawny. The satisfaction he would feel blowing one of the bugs away would be immense.

When it became clear that Bishop was not in the room, the bugs began chittering back and forth. Deron remembered to trigger his translation program a few minutes into the conversation, but he didn’t believe the translator did a good job of translating. According to the translator, they were discussing recipes. He had the feeling he needed to do some more work on the translators.

‘Deron.’ Bishop’s voice was grim. ‘How many are in the room? I heard them firing.’

‘Two,’ Deron replied. ‘The third one is outside keeping an eye out. Where is Cy?’

‘I volunteered to keep these three busy. The Lieutenant has him waking up mercenaries.’ He sounded grimmer than usual. ‘I need help. My rifle isn’t powerful enough to crack their flux shields. They just absorb my fire.’

‘I’ll see what I can do to get some backup for you,’ Deron told him.

Deron checked on Cy’s location. He was the closest. Cy was walking down the corridor toward an Eridani’s room.

‘Cy,’ Deron said, ‘I’m going to wake him up.’

‘Go ahead,’ Cy replied.

Turning off the delta wave generator in the Eridani’s room, he gave a low tone to wake the sleeping SwordSaint.

The aging Eridani was on his feet with paired light swords in hand halfway through the tone. He was tall, with unblemished black armor. While most Eridani had highly stylized armor, his was undecorated. From his belt hung a single dreadlock with a polychromium bead woven into it. His long, red Mohawk flowed down his back, with a few errant strands hanging forward. After assuring himself there were no enemies in the room, he reached up and adjusted the black, atmospheric processor that was molded to his face.

Cy triggered the door chime.

‘Deron,’ Bishop asked, ‘what is it doing now?’

Deron checked back on Bishop. The bug in the corridor was clearly guarding its fellows as it glanced back and forth in both directions.

‘It’s standing watch. What are you going to do?’

There was a snarl in Bishop’s voice as he replied, ‘I’m gonna tie it down a bit. Is the door still open and is the bug still directly in front of the door?’

‘It is…on both counts.’

‘Good. There was a cold satisfaction in Bishop’s voice. ‘When I give you the word, let me know when it looks away.’

Bishop loaded a pair of grenades into the underslung grenade launcher on his laser rifle and asked Deron if he was ready. Deron said he was.

The bug warrior looked in Bishop’s direction. Deron waited. When Deron saw it glance away, he said, ‘Bishop, now.’

Bishop stepped around the corner and opened fire with his laser rifle. The first few shots splashed on the Arachnid’s flux shield, but as the Arachnid turned toward him, he triggered his grenade launcher. The grenade round impacted a few inches away from the Arachnid’s visor and stuck. The air around it took on a purple hue as the parasite round began to drain the bug’s flux shield.

The Arachnid shrieked in what Deron thought seemed like panic and reared up as it attempted to pluck the round from its flux shield. It tapped a control on its wrist and the parasite round fell to the ground. With a swift kick, it sent the round flying.

Bishop, waiting for the bug to drop its flux shield, triggered his grenade launcher and stepped back behind the corner again. The round struck the corridor at the bug’s feet and exploded. A web of sticky metallic tendrils wound themselves around its legs, body, and around everything else in that section of the hall.

Deron checked the room’s security sensors. The Arachnids in the room had apparently heard their companions shriek and started toward the door as the tangler grenade exploded. The tangle of sticky wire did not stick to their flux shields, but they still had difficulty making their way through the tough, sticky fibers that had blown into the room and stuck to walls and furniture.

‘Slick move, Bishop. It looks like they are going to be in there for a few minutes.’

‘Good.’ Bishop growled. ‘I want to take these bugs down and I’m going to need help. I’m running low on grenades. My laser isn’t doing anything. I need Jean Luc and Bardish-ican’s help.‘

Deron checked through the security cameras. Hicks, Rowan, and Bardish-ican were nearly to Bishop’s position. Deron told Bishop help was on the way.

Nearly panicking as he realized he had forgotten the bug slicer in the efforts to help Bishop in his fight, Deron checked on the Arachnid slicer’s progress. He brought up the security sensor in the room the bug had commandeered as its lair. Forcing himself to ignore his anger as he recognized the crushed remains of a family of humans – the crushed infant REALLY hurt - he observed the bug slicer for a minute before checking its progress through the ship’s network.

It was working to worm its way into the ship’s security system and take it over. Grudgingly, Deron had to acknowledge it was at least competent. It had gotten farther than he would have expected. It was too bad its efforts were doomed to failure.

His past experience with bug slicers had not painted them as worthy opponents. He had hacked more than one bug system in recent years. Once you had an idea of how they worked, bug security procedures were elementary at best. After working on the bug systems he accessed, he had written a number of programs to assist him in slicing bug systems, and now he was convinced he could enter any bug system at will. The truth of the matter was, even with the language difference and alien mindset, he had found it more difficult to slice into his elementary school’s network when he was a child then any of the Arachnid systems he had cracked. The impression Deron had from his months of hacking a captured bug system was they prized conformity, which he had come to believe destroyed creativity.

He smirked. That might explain why a skilled slicer, for a bug, like this one was relegated to a mere patrol ship instead of landing a cushy position somewhere else. Stupid bugs didn’t recognize skill, or the closest thing they had to skill, when they saw it.

On a whim, he issued a series of commands. One of the fail-safes he had written into the upgrade patch he had worked on for Black Star activated and kicked the bug slicer out of the system.

Deron brought the security sensors for the bug slicer’s lair back up. He couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight of the bug chittering angrily. It wasn’t until it went to gnaw on the remains of the infant that his anger returned. He was responsible for the death of that family. If he had not given the command that put the passengers and crew to sleep, they might have been able to flee to a safer location.

Issuing a command to lock the door, Deron also disconnected the computer terminal from the ship’s network. Anything that the bug slicer was going to try would only work on the local system. That should frustrate him a bit. The program Deron initiated would simulate all the connections and act as though it were still connected to the ship’s network. Of course the slicer could still decide to burn his way through the door, but that was at least one bug that wasn’t going anywhere for a while.

‘Deron,’ Rudeski asked, ‘where are all the bugs now?

Bringing up the schematic of the liner on the main screen, Deron highlighted the area around the training room, the room where Bishop had trapped the other three, and the bug slicer’s room.

Lieutenant Rudeski looked carefully at the screen for a few minutes. Finally, he turned to Deron.

‘So there are eight left?’

‘Correct,’ Deron told him. ‘There are four holed up in the training room. Then there are the three Bishop hit with the tangle grenade, and there is the one that was trying to hack the system. I’ve locked him in a cabin. He may be able to burn his way out, but he’s pretty much neutralized from the system. We should be able to burn him down at our convenience.’

Rudeski nodded. ‘Good. When we get a chance, I’ll send Bardish-ican and Bishop to dispatch it. For the others, if we can get some help, we should be able to destroy them piecemeal.’

Deron started to agree when the intercom buzzed.

Ratoloth didn’t want for a response before speaking. His voice sounded tight with stress.

‘We have intruders in the shuttle bay. We have intruders in the shuttle bay. Rudy said six Arachnids just appeared. He’s observing them arming and armoring as we speak.’

Rudeski groaned. ‘We can’t take much more. Is he under cover? Can we open the bay to space?’

‘Negative. They’re in the tool room. We would just lose Rudy if we did. They’ve already killed Anne. She got a few shots off. They didn’t have any weapons, so they mobbed her and ripped her to pieces.’

Rudeski paused. After a second of thought, he turned to Deron.

‘Put the tool room on screen, and get a hold of Rudy for me.’

Deron put the connection through and nodded. A second later, the tool room was displayed on the main screen.

The tool room was a relatively large room with wide, high doors. The walls were hung with tools and equipment, most of them unfamiliar. A long counter separated the shuttle bay from the tool room. Several long, built in shelving units were on the far side of the room. In the center of the open area beside a pair of large a-grav sleds, six arachnids were pulling on the last components of their armor. Deron noticed that three of them did not have the back-mounted weapons pods. Two of the bugs without the weapons pods had gray-green armor. The other had armor that matched the blue-green of the standard warrior, but it had navy blue highlights.

Deron commented, ‘I can’t get through to Rudy. I don’t know where he is.’

Rudeski cursed under his breath. ‘That’s just what we need. Lock the door down. Hopefully we can stall them for a few minutes. Keep an eye on them, and if they make any moves, let me know.’

Glancing at Deron, he asked. ‘How are we coming with our sleeping beauties?’

Mentally calling up a list of names, Deron replied, ‘We have six up. Two are Eridani and are already armored and equipped. Cy and Kaash are both talking to the candidates. We’ve already had two who have refused to fight with us. They are out again.’

Shaking his head, Rudeski commented, ‘Stupidity. Oh well, we’ve got at least six reinforcements. Hopefully we’ll get more. We could certainly use the help. Any heavy hitters?’

Deron nodded. ‘We have the Eridani, of course, and a pair of Pythons who are on leave from the Galactic Marines.’ He added, ‘I’m sending Cy to talk to them. I didn’t think sending a Cizerack would be wise.’

Rudeski shook his head. ‘Not a problem with Galactic Marines, but good thinking normally.’

‘The others are all mercenaries who generally aren’t particularly well equipped. They may or may not be good, but I’m no judge of martial skill. Black Star really doesn’t have much specific information on file. I can only guess their experience based on their equipment. We have eleven more to talk to.’

‘Hopefully the rest will be willing. We need any able body willing to carry a weapon. Even a recruit fresh from basic might be able give us an edge.

---

Ivan rubbed his eyes and sat up. He was a trifle stiff. He had been lying on the floor next to a bed. His stomach rumbled. It felt like it had been days since he had eaten. Looking around in confusion, he saw that he was in an unfamiliar cabin. A fluffy, pink bathrobe thrown over the chair by the make-up desk suggested that he was in a woman’s cabin. He was still in his fencing whites, but they had dried. Obviously he had been unconscious for a while. The last thing he remembered was talking to Arash-ican.

Before he could puzzle anything out, the door chime rang and an armored Cizerack walked in.

Inhaling sharply, Ivan forced himself to relax. Tension was never a good thing in a fight. Of course the Cizerack was a natural predator and he had no weapons. Hopefully this contact would be better than his last contact with a Cizerack. The last time, they had hunted him in the forests of Invodale.

The Cizerack’s armor was battered, but obviously fully functional. Its back-mounted weapons pod was inactive. The paired lasers were angled down and the Cizerack was taking pains not to point them at Ivan.

‘I am Kaash.’ The Cizerack’s voice was a low, breathy rumble. ‘You are Ivan Golobitski?’

Cautiously, Ivan rose to his feet.

‘I am. What’s going on?’

The big cat rumbled, ‘I belong to a team of mercenary bounty hunters…’

Ivan stiffened when he heard the word ‘mercenary.’ He didn’t care for mercs. They were the cause of much of the violence that plagued the Alliance. Though the beings of his unit, the Disciples of Horatius, were technically mercenaries, they were highly trained, disciplined, and devoted to eradicating the Arachnid threat. Admission was highly selective and all recruits, regardless of experience, were put through basic training. Part of this was to learn and hone combat skills, but much of the training was spent indoctrinating the recruits in a strict moral code. Many of the Disciples looked on their activities against the Arachnids as a crusade against the evil of the bug infestation. On the other hand, most mercs did whatever they felt necessary to finish a mission. Ivan had heard a rather sick joke that for most mercenaries, mass murder was a hobby.

The big cat continued. ‘…this space liner to capture an Arachnid spy. The ship has been boarded by Arachnids and we need every able-bodied fema…warrior to help us destroy the bugs.’

Though he was tempted to reject the request, Ivan also realized that if there were Arachnids on the ship, they had to be dealt with immediately. He had joined the Disciples of Horatius with the long-term intention of fighting the bugs, but the goal had been to transfer from the recon company to one of the combat battalions after he had a year or two of experience.. Ivan knew he was still too green to consider facing off against the bugs under normal circumstances.

There was also the problem of his armor and weapons. His rifle wasn’t going to touch an armored bug, and his armor wasn’t enough to keep him alive for more than a few seconds in an engagement with Arachnids.

Despite all of these reasons, Ivan knew walking away from this fight was not the right decision. Even without the code of honor stressed by the Disciples, there were the other passengers to consider. There were many families on the liner, and they were not in a position to defend themselves. Ivan had joined the Disciples partly to live up to a family tradition, but also because he wanted to defend the weak and helpless against the Arachnid threat.

The Cizerack was watching him intently, as she would have watched a brogue rat she was stalking. She was crouching slightly, as though she were preparing to spring.

Finally Ivan nodded.

‘Is there any way I can get my weapons and armor?’

The big cat relaxed.

‘Of course. We will get your armor and weapons out of the hold.’

Ivan couldn’t be sure, but from his experience with his late sergeant, who had also been a Cizerack, he thought the big cat sounded pleased. He thought he detected a slight purr in her voice. The situation had to be bad.

The big cat continued. ‘Do you know what hold they are in?’

Ivan shook his head. ‘I did not think to find out when I boarded.’

With a sigh, the cat replied, ‘We will have to find it then. Very well. Follow me.’

She turned and led Ivan into the hall. There were five other beings waiting there. There was a Human, an Orion, an Ashanti, a Phentari, and a Fott.

Ivan looked curiously at what he suspected would be his squad. He wasn’t sure how to view the Fott. A bio-engineered race of redneck bunny rabbits was hard to take seriously. This one looked competent enough, but who could tell with a species that were bio-engineered to go into a frenzy every April over Easter eggs.

He knew from personal experience to respect the Ashanti. The four-armed race had a natural spatial sense and loved games of strategy and tactics. He liked Ashanti. Kwala, an Ashanti from his old squad, had been a loyal friend.

The Phentari he viewed warily. It was shorter than the few other Phentari he had seen, but it was also stockier. An oval, black atmospheric processor covered the mandibles of its mouth and made it look a trifle less intimidating, but not by much. What Ivan had heard about the carnivorous, four-tentacled race was not pleasant. They were reputed to have a taste for human flesh. His grandfather and brother had both commented that Phentari enjoyed causing pain and intimidating other species. His brother Sergei had compared them with a vicious dog. As long as you didn’t show fear, they would usually leave you alone.

The tall, muscular human standing near the Phent didn’t seem to be intimidated in the least. His dark hair was cut short in a crew cut. He was wearing a pair of fatigue pants, combat boots, and a black t-shirt with the sleeves cut off. Ivan recognized him from the gym. He had been practicing hand-to-hand combat with one of the Ram Python-sized training dummies.

The man observed him coolly. Ivan stuck out his hand.

‘I am Ivan Golobitski.’

The man ignored his hand. ‘Crowlye.’

With a hiss from it’s atmospheric processor, the Phentari wrapped a tentacle around Ivan’s forearm. It took effort, but Ivan almost masked his flinch.

‘Good, its flesh is firm.’ Its deep voice had a breathy rasp caused by the atmospheric processor. ‘When it dies, I will eat well.’

Ivan glared at the Phent but said nothing. He didn’t want to risk it hearing any fear in his voice. He could only hope the squeamishness he felt did not show in his face. Its touch had left a slightly oily film on his skin. He had to work to overcome the desire to wash his arm where it had touched him.

The Orion, a lean man of average height dressed in a kilt, white turtleneck sweater, and what appeared to be a pair of pink bunny-slippers pulled over combat boots extended his hand.

‘Rondolph McSweeny is my name. I ask you to forgive my tentacled associate’s ill manners. He has not once eaten human flesh in the ten years I’ve worked with him.’

The Phentari puffed itself up in what Ivan recognized as s a rather successful attempt to make itself more intimidating. In doing so, it brushed against Crowlye. As it turned on him, the man stepped in close and snapped a palm strike into its side.

With a surge of air through its atmospheric processor, the Phentari stumbled backward. Its left leg was strangely wooden and it’s left tentacles hung uselessly.

‘Don’t touch me.’ Crowlye’s voice was even and emotionless. Ivan envied his composure.

Kaash snarled and stepped between them, ‘Stop. I will not permit racial problems. You don’t have to like each other, but we must work together to survive.’ She glared at each of them in turn. ‘We can’t afford to lose.’ She glared at the Phentari. ‘You may be willing to die, but if I suspect that you are going to try to kill any of the rest of us, I will hunt you down and kill you myself.’

The Orion stepped forward. ‘You needn’t worry about Jendaric. He is a stalwart companion. He enjoys troubling the humans in the unit, but you could not ask for a more loyal comrade-in-arms.’

The Phent didn’t turn its head, but it turned one of its eyes around backward to glare at Rondolph before it looked back and hissed at Crowlye. Its voice was strained. ‘I should kill you, human.’

Crowlye smiled contentedly, crossed his arms, and very pointedly turned his back on the Phent.

The Cizerack hurried them to the Auxiliary Bridge in engineering. The Phent had difficulty keeping up. It walked with a pronounced limp.

As they walked into engineering, the first thing Ivan noticed was that several armor and weapons totes had been brought in. The second thing he noticed was a small group of beings who were standing in a loose group. The majority of them were humans and Orions, with the occasional Python and Phentari. A pair of Eridani stood by Arash-ican, who was standing a bit apart. Ivan caught the eye of the aging Eridani, but Arash-ican gave no sign of recognition.

Kaash moved them into the group of beings. Crowlye moved purposefully toward a stocky human with thinning hair dressed casually in a pair of slacks and shirt. The man grinned as he saw Crowlye and they began talking quietly.

Ivan moved closer to them. He was debating on whether or not to join the conversation, but decided against it. Crowlye’s friend seemed pleasant enough. He was talking cheerfully with Crowlye, but there was something standoffish about Crowlye that did not seem open to casual conversation.

Glancing around at the mercenaries that ringed the room, Ivan noticed they seemed to be equipped with a standardized Kodiak armor. That was odd. Most mercenary teams were equipped according to the individual mercenary’s budget and whim. The Jezzadaic Priest standing by the door fit this image more closely. His armor was more battered than the other mercenaries’ suits and was of a completely unfamiliar type. He was leaning on a staff as he watched the crowd of beings closely.

One of them, a hulking Human with Rowan on his name patch, had a vaguely familiar unit emblem emblazoned on his armored left shoulder. Though he wracked his brain, Ivan couldn’t remember where he had seen the unit patch. It was a stylized horseman that he recognized as a saber-wielding Cossack from the Moroccan boots, long zhupan tunic, and red silk cap.

He also realized that the mercenaries, though not actually pointing weapons at anyone, were in positions where they could easily catch the group in a crossfire. With no real cover, if things got ugly, the mercenaries would be able to destroy all of them without a great deal of trouble.

After a few minutes, an armored man stepped out of the Auxiliary Bridge. From the way the mercenaries stood straighter and more alertly, it was immediately obvious that he was the officer. His visor was open, and his face showed great confidence as he surveyed the group standing before him. Ivan immediately thought of his brother Sergei. The man had a determination in his eyes that made Ivan suspect he could beat the Arachnids on resolve alone. Ivan found his confidence heartening.

The officer strode to the front of the group and started speaking.

‘Gentle-beings, I am Lieutenant Brandon Rudeski. My team took this ship to bring down a bug spy.’

There was a few seconds of shock, and then a few voices were raised in protest and disbelief. Ivan heard Crowlye utter a low, highly irreverent profanity. Doltharians were the most hated of the Arachnid minions. Usually they were Alliance citizens who were altered physically and mentally by the Arachnids and placed back in their usual surroundings as spies and saboteurs. They were nasty. Ivan had heard of one rather frail-looking human Doltharian killing a Ram Python in hand-to-hand combat. Others were rumored to have taken multiple pulse cannon hits, any one of which would have slagged a Ram Python, before being brought down. Doltharians were not someone he wanted to mess with.

Rudeski raised his voice to quell the murmuring. ‘During the course of our operation, this ship was attacked by an Arachnid patrol ship. We believe they were attempting to retrieve their agent. Our contact ship destroyed the bug ship, but was destroyed in the process. Through means we have not yet discovered, the bugs have managed to displace three teams onto this liner. They’ve killed several passengers already. We have their positions located, but we are out-gunned and out-numbered.

He paused and made brief eye contact with every sentient in the room as he continued.

‘We need assistance in destroying the bugs. I understand if you would rather not take part in this operation. But,’ he grinned humorlessly, ‘Don’t expect the bugs to play nice because you decide not to help us. To them, we’re all a source of protein and not much more. Are there any questions?’

One of the humans toward the front asked, ‘So what happened? Why and how were we all knocked out?’

Rudeski looked at the man and nodded. ‘Valid question.’ He glanced around at the members of his team who were in the room. ‘I don’t think I have to elaborate when I say Doltharians are not to be trifled with. Rather than risking civilian casualties, we decided we would knock everyone out and collect him while he was unconscious. That would minimize the chance of a confrontation and possible firefight.’

One of the Phentari asked, ‘How. How did you knock us all out?’

Rudeski shook his head. ‘That is classified.

He continued. ‘We’ve already tried to use it on the bugs, but they are unaffected.’ With a grim nod, he added. ‘We’ve already lost one of our team. If it had worked, we would have just disposed of them and gotten back in contact with our comma…patron.’

Crowlye’s friend called out, ‘How many Arachnids are there and what classes are they?

‘We’ve counted seventeen.’ Rudeski told him. ‘We believe at least three of them have been seriously wounded and we know that at least two have been killed. We suspect that one or more of them are bug Psi-crafters. My team’s Mutzachan just killed one in a matrix duel.’

‘Judging from their armor, there are nine warrior types and eight technician types. So far, we’ve only had actual contact with the warrior bugs and the Psi-crafter Odo killed.’

He shook his head. ‘I don’t have any more information than that. The bugs have been operating out of the shuttle bay and training room. They have rendered the sensors in those locations inoperable. One of our pilots was caught in the shuttle bay. He was calling us with information on their activities, but before we could get him out, one of the bugs found him and killed him.’

He glanced around the room. ‘For those of you who don’t know, the bugs carry an enzyme bag that digests any body they come across. This makes it suitable for bug consumption. I’m going to give each of you the same promise I have given my own team. I will do everything in my power to be sure your body will not end up in a bug’s stomach. One of my men dropped a plas grenade on Rudy’s bag so his body wouldn’t be eaten. I will do the same for you. Are there any other questions?’

There was a few seconds of silence as the assembled volunteers mulled over the situation. Then Crowlye called out, ‘Do we get our equipment, or are you going to be providing us with weapons and armor? Unless you have something better to offer, I have my Barrett eighty-two with me and I intend to use it. I am not going bug hunting with some unfamiliar pop gun.’

Over the low rumble of agreement from the others in the group, Rudeski replied. ‘I have a team collecting your gear from the various holds right now. We should have that shortly.’

To the left of Ivan, a trio of beings, two humans and an Orion, seemed extremely relieved. One of the humans, a short, stocky man who had large sections of his face and arms covered in new, pinkish synthetic skin, noticed Ivan observing their reaction and glared at him.

‘What’re you looking at…’ he demanded.

Ivan spread his hands in a studiously unconcerned shrug and focused on Rudeski. He used his peripheral vision to keep an eye on the trio when he heard the man mutter,

‘You’d better look away.’

The man muttered some other things, but Ivan couldn’t hear them. Something told Ivan he was better off that way.

Rudeski continued. ‘For those of you who don’t have weapons or armor, the captain gave us access to the ship’s armory, so we will have access to the ship’s weapons and armored space suits.’

Crowlye’s friend asked, ‘I assume we are going to be dividing up into fire teams? Have you given any thought on how you’re going to make a group as disparate as this into an effective fighting force?’

Rudeski nodded his head. ‘I’ve thought about that, and the best idea I can field is to allow you to divide yourselves into groups. I would prefer to see four to six on a team, but we’ll have to work together on this one. I would suggest seniority based on current rank. However, I am open to suggestions.’

He glanced at everyone in the group. ‘I realize these conditions are far from ideal, but we have to work together or die. One thing I would like to know is who else has had Galactic Defense Forces experience?’

A number of hands went up. Ivan counted eight. Ivan noticed that Crowlye and his friend were among them.

Rudeski continued. ‘Next question. Who here has fought the Arachnids before?’

Three of the hands went down, but four others went up. Both Crowlye and his friend kept their hands up and he made a mental note to try to get on their team. Glancing at the others, he noticed that Rondolph and Jendaric, the Orion and Phentari he had met earlier had raised hand and tentacle. Ivan noted that the Fott’s hand had stayed up. He suspected that Fott had a story worth hearing.

With a grim nod, Rudeski commented, ‘That’s better than I had expected, but not as good as I had hoped. This’ll have to do. Has anyone here worked together before? I don’t want to break up existing teams.’

Rondolph and Jendaric motioned that they were a team. Crowlye and his friend, and the trio Ivan had noticed earlier did likewise. The Python Marines motioned that they were together. The trio of Eridani did the same.

‘Good,’ Rudeski said. ‘Anyone with command experience, armor up and come see me.’ He swept the assembled group with his gaze. His voice did not allow dissent as he added. ‘Since my team took control of this ship, I will retain command authority.’ He added almost as an afterthought, ‘However, I am definitely open to anyone else with command experience stepping up with suggestions and ideas. I would suggest that everyone else join one of these existing teams. I would like to see at least one veteran with Arachnid experience in each group. Aside from that, armor up as your gear comes in and we’ll brief you as we get things figured out. I will be having one of my men come through to find out what your specialties are. I want to know how to use you most effectively.’

He turned and walked back into the Auxiliary Bridge.

The group dispersed and began moving among the armor carrying cases looking for their gear. Ivan started to head toward the gear when he heard Crowlye comment sourly, ‘This is as bad as the situation on VM526.’

Curious, he moved a bit slower to hear the reply.

The other man shook his head. ‘I don’t like it either, but we can’t just do nothing.’ He grinned. ‘You should be happy to have another crack at the bugs. You’ll have a chance to get another souvenir like that paperweight you lost in the attack.’

Ivan missed Crowlye’s response because a pair of what appeared to be ship’s crew in Battle Environment armored space suits escorted a pair of transport-bots into Engineering. They began unloading the armor cases onto the floor. The second case unloaded was his.

Making his way around a pair of the Eridani who were unpacking body-mount pulse cannons, he picked his armor case up and moved off to the side to armor up. He debated the necessity for his IR retardant jumpsuit, but decided to pull it on. The jumpsuit probably wouldn’t be as useful as it had been on his last assignment. It had kept him warm in the sub-zero temperatures of Invodale as well as hiding his IR signature.

He had bought Ceramic armor on the suggestion of his brother Sergei. Combined with his IR retardant jumpsuit, it minimized sensor contacts that relied on metal or infrared sensors. It had been useful on his last assignment when he was being hunted by ultra armor. The Cizerack pilot had been unable to see him, partly because of damage to her sensors, and partly because of the relatively low sensor return inherent in the composition of his armor.

A quick examination showed that the suit was undamaged. It was one of the habits Sergei had impressed upon him with numerous tales of troopers who had gotten into bad situations because they had not inspected their armor. Admittedly, there was often little that could be done in a field situation, but still, knowing that your IFF gear was not functioning or that your chest plate was cracked gave you the chance to avoid further problems.

Ivan put on his armor quickly. It was a process he drilled himself in regularly. That was another piece of Sergei’s advice. He didn’t pull his helmet on, but he did put on one of the sweatbands he now kept in one of his tactical pouches. He had forgotten to bring a sweatband on the Invodale mission, and he had vowed to never allow that to happen again. He had learned the hard way that you can’t fight as efficiently with sweat in your eyes.

When he had double-checked his armor’s fit and integrity, he glanced around. The others around him were armoring, arming, or waiting. Ivan moved toward the weapons crates to search for his rifle, pistols, and knives. After a few minutes of reading the slap tags on the outside of the boxes, he found his crate.

His weapons had been chosen with as much care as his armor and jumpsuit. At Sergei’s suggestion, he had chosen weapons with few metal parts to reduce his magnetic signature. The FN/Fal rifle he carried, an old design with a decent punch, had been completely redesigned with modern composites. His Glock 9 pistol was much the same. His captured Scorpion Model 66 machine pistol had started with a majority of metal parts, but he had been swapping out the metal parts for after-market composites as his budged allowed. The only metal he carried were any grenades issued and the heirloom kindjal knife his grandfather had presented him with when the Disciples of Horatius had accepted him into their ranks.

The presentation of the kinjal was a Golobitski tradition dating back centuries. A Cossack weapon, it had once been a Golobitski rite of passage to liberate one from the Cossack enemy. Now the tradition was for the family patriarch to pass on one of the heirloom kindjals and recount the history of the blade and its past bearers. His grandfather had reforged the blade while Ivan was at basic training. New metal had been added to a blade worn out by years of constant honing and use. It was the same knife his grandfather had carried during the Second Arachnid invasion.

The knife had been refurbished once before. It’s history with the Golobitski family dated to the Second World War on Earth, when it had been used against the Nazi’s at Stalingrad. Ivan’s knowledge of his family history and the history of the blade he carried had given him a renewed determination to survive his first mission. Knowing what Konstantin Golobitski had gone through as he hunted Wehrmacht armor in the rubble of Stalingrad made him realize that there was always a way to beat the enemy.

After checking his rifle and pistols, and seating his kindjal and Gerber fighting knife in their respective sheaths on his back and left leg, he started to make his way to where Crowlye and his friend were adjusting some of the liner’s armored space suits to fit them. A large-bore powder rifle was resting on the table beside Crowlye.

As he approached, Crowlye’s friend glanced up from the vambrace he was fitting, grinned at him in greeting, and looked back down at his vambrace. Crowlye stopped working on his chest plate and watched him impassively. There was no threat in Crowlye’s posture or demeanor, but Ivan could tell he was wary.

Smiling to reassure Crowlye that he intended no ill, Ivan asked,

‘Has anyone else joined your team yet?’

The other man replied without looking up from his adjustments.

‘No.’ He glanced up. ‘I’m Angus MacIverssen, and this is Crowlye.’

‘Ivan Golobitski.’

Angus grinned and nodded toward the field-muted Disciples of Horatius emblem on his shoulder. ‘The Disciples are a good unit. I served with Sir Reginald for about six months on Talmazad. How long have you been with them.’

Ivan replied. ‘Three months active. I…’ He hesitated, concerned that explaining further might ruin his chances of working with them. He wasn’t sure how Angus, and Crowlye especially, would feel if he told them that he was the sole survivor of his old squad. Most people assumed that he had survived that first mission because of cowardice. To his shame, his fear had certainly contributed to his survival, but mostly, he believed it was Providence. He knew it wasn’t any skill on his part that allowed him to live when the other more experienced members of his squad had died. The investigation had cleared him of any wrongdoing and he had even gotten a commendation, unwarranted though he felt it was, but he still felt a weight of guilt. He had panicked twice during the operation.

Angus saw his discomfort and told him, ‘There’s no shame in inexperience.’ He smiled to reassure Ivan. ‘Stick with us, and we’ll do what we can to help you through it. Just don’t lose your head and you’ll be fine.’

Ivan didn’t miss Crowlye’s look of resignation when Angus told him to stick with them. He nodded. ‘Thank you. Is there anything I need to be aware of right now? Any advice you can give?’

Angus looked at Crowlye with an unspoken invitation.

Crowlye shot Angus an angry look, but complied.

‘First, realize you can’t take a bug by yourself. Teamwork is the key. If you had heavy armor and a big gun, you might be able to kill one by yourself. With a popgun like your FN/Fal, you’ll just get yourself killed. Remember, there are far more dead heroes than living ones. It’s better for you to live to fight another day. Leave the stupid heroics to the Eridani and Pythons.

‘Second, remember their armor and weapons are better than yours. I’ve seen wanna-be heroes in mechanized battle armor go down within a few seconds of opening up on a bug. Play it smart, work with the others on your team, and you may survive.’

‘Third, remember that this is a star liner. The ship is divided into sections. The walls between cabins are relatively thin. Sometimes you can take a shot through the wall. Just watch for ricochets.

‘Don’t waste ammo trying to shoot through the bulkheads. A high-end thud gun might be able to get through. Your FN/Fal won’t.’

‘Be aware that there are power conduits, monitors, oxygen bottles, and all the other peripheral equipment mounted on the bulkhead. These also run through the cabin walls. Cutting through the walls is generally a bad idea. Try not to shoot anything high pressure containers.’

‘Fourth, missile fire is a bad idea on a ship. Most missiles use a lot of oxygen for their propellant. The ship’s environmental systems can handle a lot, but a whole series of missile volleys can cause problems. The bugs know this also. You shouldn’t have to worry too much about missile fire, but don’t get cocky. They may still take the shot.’

‘Any further questions?’ Crowlye gave Angus another hard look, but his tone was patient.

Ivan shook his head. ‘It sounds easy enough to remember.’

Crowlye smirked. ‘It SOUNDS easy.’

Angus broke in. ‘Just listen to what we say, follow your training, and we’ll destroy these bugs.’ He smiled confidently. ‘They can be beaten. Don’t think otherwise. The other thing to remember is they aren’t subtle. They are used to using hammer tactics, and so that is usually what they look for. Often a stiletto can succeed against them where a hammer will fail.’

He broke off as Arash-ican approached. The Eridani had changed armor. His black powered armor had a series of etched images of an Eridani warrior fighting a demon-looking creature on the chest, arms, legs, and other smooth surfaces of the armor. He was wearing his helmet, but his visor was up. He addressed the three humans.

‘I am fighting with you.’

Angus nodded. ‘Thank you, but wouldn’t you prefer to fight with your fellow warriors?’

The proud warrior shook his head. ‘I know their fighting prowess. I seek to discover yours.’

Ivan sensed as much as saw Crowlye roll his eyes. Angus was more diplomatic.

‘We thank you for assuming that we are…’

Arash-ican interrupted. ‘There is no need for thanks. I seek to understand how humans think when they fight. I am fighting with you.’

Angus started to reply, but Crowlye put a hand on his arm and shook his head.

He faced the Eridani. ‘All right, first off, if you’re going to fight with us, Angus is in charge. You listen to him. I don’t care how high you are in the Eridani hierarchy, you are not among Eridani. If you want to fight with this team, you will stay with us and fight as part of this team. You will not run off on your own, seeking glory, and chopping everything up with that fancy flashlight of yours.’

The Eridani’s eyes flashed angrily at the slur about his light sword. Crowlye ignored it and pressed on.

‘If I’m counting on you to guard my back, I want you there to guard it.’

He paused for an instant. Continuing more gently, he stated, ‘I realize you’re supposed to be really good, but you also have serious armor and weapons.’ He glanced back at Angus and Ivan. ‘We don’t. We are probably going to use methods that you won’t find honorable, and I guarantee we won’t meet them head-on like you’re used to.’

His expression hardened. ‘Are you willing to fight that way? If you aren’t, you need to find another team. In the meantime, work with us and we’ll get the job done.’

He stepped back and folded his arms, waiting for the reply.

Ivan could recognize the anger that seethed behind the Eridani’s eyes, even as Arash-ican kept his face impassive. The slight twitch of his upper lip baring his teeth was the only obvious sign that he was provoked. As he spoke, his deep voice was heavy with threat.

‘I do not suffer such insults lightly. I will, however, allow this one to pass. Never assume I will be so generous next time.’

Crowlye locked eyes with him. ‘You heard what I said. If you want to fight with us, you will do as Angus says. I want your word as a warrior.’

The Eridani continued to glare at him, but finally nodded his acceptance.

‘Good,’ Crowlye told him. ‘Now, just to put things in perspective, Angus was a Captain in the GDF. He commanded the Combat Engineers on Talmazad. He knows how to fight the bugs effectively, and with a minimum of casualties.’

The Eridani continued to glare as Crowlye and Angus went back to working on their armor. Ivan was uncomfortable in the ensuing silence. Crowlye had certainly earned his respect. As much as Ivan hated to admit it, Arash-ican intimidated him. Knowing he was as revered by the Eridani nation as he was, Ivan didn’t want to even think about fighting him. That hadn’t stopped Crowlye. The man was either highly skilled, or crazy. Of course, having seen him in the training room with the Ram Python training dummy, Ivan suspected it was a generous measure of both.

To occupy himself, Ivan checked his rifle and gear while waiting for Angus and Crowlye to finish adjusting the fit of their armor. He was checking the action on his Scorpion Model 66 machine pistol when he noticed the Fott picking his way toward him. In one hand it was carrying its helmet. The other was balancing a rather odd-looking double-barrel rifle on its shoulder. A pair of bandoliers full of impact and regular grenades was slung over both of its shoulders, but it didn’t seem to have a grenade launcher. Its rather substantial-looking armor was clean, but still had a dirty look about it, almost as though it had dirt ground in on the molecular level rather than merely on the surface. Despite the bulk of its armor, it was a tall, slender bunny, with brown fur on its face and a black left ear.

It stopped in front of Ivan and drawled, ‘Y’all look like you could use another gun. Who’s in charge?’

Ivan turned. ‘Angus, this Fott is looking for a team.’

Angus, who was testing the charge on the laser rifle he had been assigned, glanced up. Behind him, Ivan saw Crowlye looking closely at the Fott. Angus put down the laser rifle and stood. The Fott walked over to him and extended its paw.

‘I’m Fu-berry Flopsentail.’

Angus introduced himself and Crowlye, Ivan and Arash-ican. Ivan noticed that Crowlye seemed to treat the Fott with respect as he pulled him aside and started talking with him in a low voice.

Arash-ican had taken one of the rigid, uncomfortable-looking positions Eridani seemed so fond of assuming, but Ivan could see his eyes following the Fott and Crowlye, who were deep in conversation. Holstering his Scorpion, Ivan took Angus aside to ask him about Crowlye’s treatment of the Fott compared to how he treated Ivan and the Eridani. Angus was about to comment on it when one of Rudeski’s mercenaries stepped up on a console by the door.

‘Listen up.’ His gravelly voice boded ill for anyone who crossed him. He looked human, but there was something mean about him that made Ivan uncomfortable. One of his old squad mates had the same effect on him. He had never quite been able to pinpoint what it was about Volodray that caused his discomfort.

‘Who is qualified for Extra-vehicular combat? We have a trio of bugs who just left the shuttle bay and are working their way toward the bow of the ship.’

Fu-berry, Angus, Crowlye, the trio of Eridani, and the pair of Python Marines raised their hands.

The mercenary took a head count, spoke softly into his headset, and then bellowed, ‘Come with me.’

He jumped off the console and stalked out of Engineering.

After a moments hesitation, Ivan asked Angus, ‘I’m certified for EVA with 16 hours of zero-g combat training, but I’ve never been in a fight. Should I go with you?’

Angus nodded. ‘An extra hand never hurts. I assume you are familiar with the Battle Environment Space suit?’

When Ivan nodded, Angus told him, ‘You might as well come. They may not have a BES suit for you, but you can at least find out. Extra firepower can only help. You can’t use your rifle outside, but we may be able to find a weapon for you.’

Ivan nodded. He could feel the sweat starting to trickle down his forehead. He was thankful he hadn’t forgotten his sweatband this time.

---

The mercenary, who told them to call him Bishop, briefed them as they walked. A third team of six bugs had displaced to the tool room in the shuttle bay about fifty minutes earlier and began armoring and arming. Ten minutes earlier, they had cycled the airlock and three of them had gone onto the hull of the liner. Currently, they were working their way toward the bow. Their objective was still a mystery, but they needed to be stopped. Several members of his team had them pinned down outside an air lock by First Class.

Angus mentioned Ivan’s situation, and was told that, if Ivan was certified, it was enough and that they would find a suit and a laser for him.

Ten minutes later, Ivan was following Crowlye, Angus, Arash-ican, the two other Eridani, and a pair of Pythons on leave from the Galactic Marines out the airlock into the void.

Over the comm, he could hear the battle chatter of the mercenaries already engaged with the bugs. It sounded like the mercs were having a rough time of it. At one point, he heard one of them yell Rowan was down.

Outside, they emerged into blackness. The visor of his BES had a setting that would allow him to see into the Infrared spectrum. Ahead of him, he could see the greens, and blue heat signatures of the others moving across the hull of the star liner. The suits didn’t release a great deal of heat because they were on the dark side of the liner, but he could see the others in contrast to the hull of the ship. The hull was primarily a study in blues and greens, with the occasional bright red of a heat sink of some sort.

It took a few minutes to get reacclimated to the feeling of weightlessness. Magnetic locks built into the boots of his suit kept him on the hull, but there was nothing pulling him toward the surface. He had always found it an interesting feeling. It had a tendency to unsettle his stomach. Ivan was thankful he hadn’t eaten before coming out. During Basic Training, he had learned not to eat before zero-g training. Cleaning the inside of his training suit had been a real pain.

Ivan checked the laser rifle’s settings for the sixth time. He had trained with laser weapons, but he wasn’t entirely used to or comfortable with them. When Bishop had handed him the laser carbine, he had told Ivan it belonged to a merc who had elected not to fight with them. Knowing that the weapon he was using belonged to someone else made him a bit uneasy. He didn’t want to damage it if he could avoid it. His experience with laser weapons had convinced him that they were not as robust as his FN/Fal. It also had a slightly different balance, and while the accuracy and range of a powder weapon wasn’t as great as that of a laser, he still preferred the feel of his FN/Fal.

As they advanced along the hull, Bishop began to assign teams. He paired Crowlye and Angus together, the trio of Eridani, the Pythons, and Fu-berry and Ivan. He told them the plan was to flank the bugs by advancing to just below the curve of the hull, form a firing line, and then they would advance to line of sight and fire a volley. Timed with fire from Rudeski’s team, the hope was that they would be able to both surprise and overwhelm the bugs.

From what he could hear, it sounded like the mercs were having a rough time. Bug armor was pretty impressive anyway, and from what Ivan had seen of the mercenaries’ weapons, he suspected that most of Rudeski’s team would have difficulty penetrating it.

Finally, Bishop gave the command to halt. They spread out by team. He assigned each team a specific bug to shoot with secondary targets. Ivan and Fu-berry had the bug working on opening the air lock. Bishop gave the order to check their weapons, and prepare to fire. Ivan wanted to wipe his palms. He was thankful for his sweatband. He could feel the perspiration collecting in it.

Bishop gave the order to advance. Ivan triple-checked to be sure his safety was off and raised his laser carbine to his shoulder. Ivan and the team walked slowly to the top of the curve of the hull. Ahead, he could see the heat signatures of the mercenaries. They had taken cover wherever they could. The hull of the liner was relatively smooth, but it still had bulges that would offer some limited protection.

Pulse cannon, laser, and disintegrator fire traced lines between a pair of the bugs and the mercenaries. Ivan saw his target, the third bug, as a series of green hues hunched over behind the cover of its companions. Beside the rear bug, Ivan saw the flashing red lights of the airlock.

Ivan sighted in on the bug and waited. A few seconds later, Bishop gave the command to fire. Beside him, the Fott leaned forward and the recoil of his rifle drove him back. Ivan noticed small jets on his back fired to keep him in place. Fu-berry lowered the muzzle of his weapon and fired again. The Arachnid that was working on the air lock reared up as fire from multiple weapons hit it. Ivan noticed the other two bugs were under heavy fire also.

Streaks of yellow shot from Bishop’s leg and shoulder missile launchers as he launched a volley of rockets. The three Eridani and two of Rudeski’s mercenaries launched as well. Anti-missile missiles streaked from the Arachnids’ launchers as they attempted to shoot down both flights of missiles before the separate volleys overwhelmed them. There were a series of flashes as several of the missiles detonated, but many more made it through.

Ivan saw flashes as the remaining missiles impacted on Arachnid armor. One of the missiles struck a bug on the leg. There was a flash as the missile blew up and the bug lost contact with the hull. Its companion grabbed it swiftly and pulled it down to the hull again while firing its body-mounted disintegrator wildly.

Bishop fired a second volley of missiles, and an instant later, the Eridani fired also. Again, the Arachnids fired their anti-missile missiles. This time, there were fewer flashes in void, and more flashed against bug armor.

The bugs split their fire. Incandescent streaks shot about him, but none impacted on him. Ivan caught a flash from the corner of his eye as Fu-berry was hit. Ivan heard other yells of pain over the comm, and then Bishop bellowed ‘Fall back. Fall back.’

Bishop and the Eridani provided covering fire for the others to break contact. Ivan ducked down to break line of sight, and glanced at the Fott. Fu-berry was starting to float away. Moving as swiftly as he could, Ivan lunged at him and dragged him back down the curve of the hull. Once he was safely out of line of sight of the bugs, he glanced at the Fott’s condition monitor. The bunny was unconscious, with a great gash burned in his helmet.

‘Man down. The Fott has been hit. Man down’

A new voice came over his headset. Ivan guessed the speaker was human, male, and fairly young. ‘Get your wounded to the lower airlock. I’ll have a cart ready to transport them. Look for the flashing green lights.’

Bishop called for a head count. Angus, Crowlye replied, followed by the Pythons and the trio of Eridani. Ivan responded, and requested permission to get the Fott to the airlock. Bishop gave his approval.

Moving cautiously, but with as much speed as he could manage, he dragged the rabbit toward the airlock. At one point, he had a bit of a fright as he felt a thump from behind. His first thought was that he had been hit, but his suit did not register any damage and the impact had not been hard. As he turned, he saw the Fott’s rifle drifting by, still attached to the Fott by its connection cord.

Cycling through the open sequence, he stepped inside. At the last instant, he thought to lower the Fott so that the ship’s gravity would not slam him to the deck. He closed the hatch and cycled through the equalization procedure.

Air flooded the air lock. Ivan opened the hatch and stepped through. The mercenary Jezzadaic Priest was waiting there with an a-grav gurney. Together they lifted the injured Fott onto the gurney. The Jezzadaic pushed the gurney out of the airlock and Ivan shut the door to go back out. As he was cycling through the atmospheric evacuation procedure, he heard one of the mercenaries yell, ‘They’re going inside. Shut that hatch, Deron.’

Deron’s frustration was evident in his voice as he replied, ‘I can’t. I even registered a bulkhead breach warning to keep it locked. The Core AI has it logged and is reacting accordingly. They are using some other method to get inside. I can’t do anything. I’ll keep the inside hatch shut as long as I can, but we need someone there to welcome them properly.’

As the hatch opened, Ivan heard Bishop telling his team to go to the airlock he had just opened.

Ivan called, ‘The lock is open and ready to go. I’ll get this ready for you to go through.’

He turned and began the procedure for the entry cycle. As Bishop, one of the Pythons, and the trio of Eridani filed in, Ivan moved out of the airlock into the vacuum outside. There wasn’t a lot of room in the airlock.

Outside, Crowlye and Angus were waiting with the other Python. No one spoke as they waited for the airlock to cycle open again. The airlock door slid open and they stepped inside. As they waited for the atmosphere to equalize, Deron told them the mercenary team had engaged the Arachnids on the next level.

The inner door slid open and they stepped through into the airlock’s changing room. Crowlye took the lead, with the Python behind. Ivan and Angus followed. They moved to an elevator and took it to the next level.

They stepped off the elevator to the muted sound of weapons fire. Angus told Rudeski they were ready and was told to head down the corridor to the first intersection. The bugs were moving in that direction. Angus acknowledged and led them down the corridor.

Angus had Crowlye and the Python set up on the far side of the intersection. Once everyone was in position, Angus assigned primary and secondary targets. He and Ivan were to shoot the nearest bug, and then the bug closest to the far wall.

Ivan knelt about half a body’s length from the corner of the intersection and steeled himself to lunge out. As the firing grew closer, he realized he was trembling. The Arachnids were the most dangerous foe of the Alliance. He was about to go into combat against them armed with a nearly outdated laser carbine and protected by armor better suited for extra-vehicular repairs than combat. He kept thinking about Fu-berry. His armor was far more substantial that BES and a single shot had taken him down.

Forcing himself to take deep, slow breaths, he practiced the relaxation drills he always used before fencing. His stomach was uneasy, and his palms were sweating again. He was thankful his gauntlets had textured fingers and palms to minimize the chance of him dropping his rifle. A droplet of sweat trickled down his forehead and into his sweatband. Ivan checked his laser’s settings for the fifth time as they waited.

The cackle of disintegrator fire moved closer, followed by the slow, steady pounding of pulse cannon and Omega cannon fire. The harsh crack of a thunderbolt generator punctuated the weapons fire.

Then, he saw the far wall of the corridor char from multiple laser hits. A few seconds later, Deron said, ‘Angus, you have the three bugs about to turn the corner. If you’d like to step back away from the corner, I can tell you when they’re in the corridor. If your team stays low and aims high for the first few shots, I’ll have the others stay low also and you won’t have to worry about hitting each other in the crossfire.’

Angus agreed.

Ivan heard the hiss of a missile launch and an instant later, the deck shook slightly from an explosion. He glanced over at Crowlye. The man wasn’t paying attention to him. He was focused on the bugs approaching the corner.

Over the comm, Rudeski gave the command, ‘Angus, now.’

Ivan lunged forward. Slowing his drop with his off hand, he smoothly lowered himself to his stomach and raised the laser carbine.

The first thing he saw was an Arachnid dragging another back down the corridor. Ivan didn’t get a clear view of the injured bug, but it was seriously injured enough that it was not moving. The other bug was using both arms to drag it. It was firing with its body-mounted weapons to keep the pursuing team’s heads down. Farther down the hall, a third bug was moving toward them also. It was facing back down the corridor as it fired two hand weapons at the mercenaries chasing it.

Sighting on the closer, uninjured Arachnid, Ivan squeezed the trigger. Almost together, he heard the slow, steady pounding of the Python’s pulse cannon and the thunder of Crowlye’s Barrett The Arachnid staggered as multiple pulse blasts and laser fire burned away its flux shield and into its armor. Dropping its comrade, it turned around, pulled a pair of hand weapons and opened fire with hand and body-mounted weapons.

Ivan felt rather than saw Angus pull back around the corner as multiple disintegrator bolts impacted along the wall toward them.

‘Pull back, Ivan.’ Angus yelled over the comm. ‘Rudeski, we can’t stop them. One hit and we’re gone. We’ve got to move. They’ve got some big guns. Where is that other team?’

Ivan started to crawl back when he felt someone grab his ankles and drag him back out of the way. Across the hall, the Python and Crowlye pulled back also. Then the Python pulled a grenade.

‘How far from corner?’ he asked.

Deron replied, ‘They’re about ten meters.’

The big lizard growled ‘Fire in hole,’ and threw its grenade.

Angus, realizing what it was about to happen, yelled, ‘No grenades. You’ll…’

The Python dropped to the ground. Angus shut up and followed suit.

The explosion shook the deck. Pieces of the corridor wall flew through the intersection and down the corridor. The Python stepped out and opened fire as it moved across the intersection. Crowlye, startled, yelled, ‘Shragthon, what are you doing?’ Staying low, Crowlye peered around the corner and opened fire also.

‘Who threw that grenade?’ Rudeski sounded furious. ‘We have civilians in the rooms around there. We have to minimize collateral damage. No more grenades without permission. Am I understood? Sound off.’

One by one the mercenaries yelled acknowledgement. Ivan yelled his understanding and began to crawl forward to help cover Shragthon, but Angus stopped him.

‘We need to fall back. Our weapons and armor won’t last long enough against them. We can be more effective harassing them than we can be trying to engage them head-on.’

As the Python Lizard moved past them, Ivan glanced across the intersection. Crowlye was rising to his feet.

Angus called, ‘Crowlye, reengage at the next intersection. We’ll meet you there.’

‘Deron.’ Angus continued. ‘Who is in charge of the other team? Can you keep an eye on both them and the bugs and let us know what they do? I want to be able to duck into a room if the bugs follow us.’

‘Corporal Hicks is in charge of the team pursuing the bugs,’ Deron told him. ‘They’re moving up now.’

Rudeski interrupted. ‘It’s a good thought, Angus, but I’ve got Bishop and his team set for an ambush as the bugs enter your intersection. You can pull your team back. The Eridani will be hand-to-hand in a minute. Stay close though. They may need backup.’

Angus acknowledged as he turned and ran to the next intersection. Ivan followed him.

As Ivan rounded the corner, he heard the Python, one step behind him, bellow in pain. A massive weight smashed him to the floor. The corridor was in motion. Ivan lay there for a few instants, dazed despite the protection of his armored space suit. A heavy weight pinned him. He couldn’t move.

For an instant, the walls of the corridor closed in. In his minds eye, he saw the image of their Arachnid pursuers standing over him pumping disintegrator fire into his thinly armored back. Then Angus was there, his voice calming both of them as he helped the groaning Python to its feet.

As Angus helped him up, Ivan became aware of multiple weapons discharges and a bellowed war cry in a language he didn’t recognize. As Ivan forced himself to take slow, deep breaths, he rose slowly to his feet and glanced around the corner. At the intersection, two of the three Eridani and Bishop were engaging the Arachnids in hand-to-hand combat.

One bug was fiercely engaged with Arash-ican. The aging SwordSaint was pitting a pair of light swords against what appeared to be an Arachnid version of an energy staff in a spinning, whirling dance. Judging from the fluidity with which the Arachnid wielded its weapon, it was obviously a master. The two antagonists traded blows rapidly. The Arachnid’s fighting style seemed to rely on rapid, heavy blows to overwhelm its opponent’s defenses. It might have worked on a less skilled opponent, but it was fighting an Eridani Master. Arash-ican was using either and occasionally both of his light swords for defense and the free blade for attack His fighting style was much more fluid, relying on his mobility as much as his blades for defense. Twice in a period of seconds he seemed to float aside just enough to avoid the Arachnid’s attack. It was a lethal, but beautiful dance.

The Arachnid that had been dragging its wounded companion had engaged the other Eridani. This Eridani was not as skilled with his light sword as Arash-ican, but he was still a deadly opponent. The bug tried to blast him with its body-mounted disintegrator, but he dodged and the disintegrator bolt blew a hole in the corridor wall instead. His leaping counter strike crushed the barrel of the disintegrator.

The bug managed hit him in the arm with a hurried shot from one of it’s hand blasters and it nearly burned the Eridani’s left arm off. The severed limb swung as he moved, hanging on by a few pieces of flesh and armor wire. With a backhanded slash, the Eridani cut off the dangling limb. He ducked the bug’s next shot, and slashed at the bug’s arm, though it appeared that the bug’s armor absorbed the blow.

Bishop rolled behind the bug with a rod in his hand. Coming to his feet, he hit a button and an iridescent ball of energy formed at the top of the rod. Taking the rod in both hands, he swung a hard blow to the Arachnid’s back. The bug staggered and shrieked in pain.

The third Eridani, seeing Bishop’s attack, shouted something in a language Ivan did not understand. From the way the Eridani was holding back, Ivan suspected that it was a rebuke for engaging the Arachnid.

Bishop seemed to be momentarily distracted by the Eridani’s shout and hesitated for an instant. The bug lashed out with its back foot and sent him flying into the wall.

As the Arachnid whirled to fire its hand blasters at him, the Eridani with the light sword swept in and aimed a vicious cut at its front leg. The bug screeched in pain as the light sword pierced its armor and bit deeply into its flesh. It swung around with one of its hand blasters and knocked the Eridani into the corridor wall. The Eridani bounced off of the wall and the Arachnid, aiming for his ricochet point, fired the other hand blaster. Its second shot blew the Eridani’s head off.

The third Eridani charged in. Wielding a great axe, the Eridani smashed the bug’s hand blaster, and on the backstroke, buried his axe in its chest. He let go of his axe to duck as the bug lashed out with the shattered remnants of its hand blaster.

Ivan jumped as Rudeski barked, ‘Angus, reform your team and fall back to the First Class Lobby. The Arachnids in the shuttle bay have broken out and are moving toward First Class. You have to slow or stop them before they link up. Let the guys on Hicks’ team back up the Eridani.’

With a last glance back at the combat down the corridor, Ivan stepped away from the corner. It appeared that the Eridani with the axe and Bishop had hamstrung their Arachnid and were closing in for the kill, but Arash-ican was still trading blows with his. That fight was undecided.

‘We’re on our way, ‘ Angus acknowledged. He motioned for Ivan and the Python to follow him.’

Crowlye growled, ‘I’ll meet you there, boss.’

Angus led them swiftly toward the lobby. The Python was grunting softly with every step, but trotting behind him, Ivan could already see its back was beginning to heal. The wound did not appear to be deep. The Python’s armor had absorbed most of the damage, but it had to be painful. The Body Rehabilitation Injection that he assumed Angus had administered would speed the healing process, but it wouldn’t do a whole lot for the pain.

They met up with Crowlye at the next intersection. Behind them, they heard pulse cannon and disintegrator fire. Over the comm, Ivan heard one of the mercenaries shout, ‘Watch your back, Cy. They’re behind us. How…’ His comment became a scream of pain ended in a burst of static that almost seemed to resonate from the walls. Then there was only silence.

He saw Crowlye and Angus exchange questioning looks, but they said nothing.

Angus slowed his pace. ‘Rudeski, do we support your team, or continue to the lobby.’

There was only silence on the comm.

He repeated his question. Still nothing. Calling for Deron resulted in the same silence.

Angus stopped and turned. ‘We’re going back. Without Rudeski’s guidance, we are blind and deaf. If the team behind us got jumped, they’ll need our help.’ He looked at the wounded Python. The big lizard’s eyes were bulging with pain.

‘Are you going to be okay to keep fighting?’ he asked.

The Python groaned softly as it nodded its head.

Angus smiled encouragement. ‘Good.’

He turned to Crowlye. ‘The walls around the lift are hardened. Do you think you can booby trap the lift?’

Crowlye’s tone was wolfish as he replied. ‘I’ll make do.’

Angus added, ‘And Crowlye,’ but he stopped as Crowlye forestalled him with a raised hand.

‘I know, Angus, I know. I’ll watch the collateral damage. How long have we worked together?’

Angus chuckled. ‘You’re right.’ Turning to Ivan he told him, ‘I want you to keep an eye on the lift. The bugs are too big to use the access tunnels, so that should be safe, but keep your eyes open. If you hear or see anything, call us and get back to the rally point. We’ll meet at the forward observation lounge. I don’t want you trying to slow them down. If the comm isn’t working, come get us. Either way, disengage. Do not try to slow them by yourself.’

Ivan nodded his acknowledgement. If he had replied, he knew his fear would have come through in his voice. He hated operating alone. It always made him feel like he was being left trailing in the wind.

He asked Crowlye, ‘Is there anything I can do?’

Crowlye shook his head. ‘Keep an eye on the corridor. If anything comes up, fire a shot and let me know its there.’ Ivan could hear Crowlye’s bared teeth as he added, ‘I’ve got some bugs to kill.’

Ivan felt a tap on his shoulder armor and turned around. Angus sounded like he was grinning as he told Ivan, ‘Relax. You’ll do fine.’ He and the Python moved out.

Grimly, Ivan nodded. He forced himself to breath deeply and slowly as he began going through the mental relaxation exercises he used when fencing.

As the sound of their boots faded, Ivan shut his eyes and inhaled sharply. The prospect of waiting for the bugs to show up made his stomach twist slightly. He circled his shoulders. They were tight. His armor constricted him only slightly as he began the stretching exercises he always used for his upper body when he began to tighten up during a fencing tournament. Tight muscles meant slower reactions. On the epee strip, it would cost points. Slow reactions here could cost him much more.

Ivan tried not to dwell on the situation, but it was hard not to. He was supposed to be on leave and going home to visit his family. This was something the Disciples of Horatius did when a soldier was the sole survivor of a unit. He had spent time with the Disciples head shrinkers. They had gotten him past the greatest part of the grief and guilt and ruled that he needed to be sent home for a few weeks. Familiar and happy surroundings were supposed to help him finish healing. Getting involved in a life-and-death struggle against the greatest threat to the Alliance on the way home was not part of the deal.

Ivan finally forced himself to think of other things. After about ten minutes, Crowlye trotted out of the lift. Stopping by Ivan, he commented smugly, ‘That’ll get their attention.’

Ivan watched him trot off. In the distance, he could again hear the faint whine of disintegrator and pulse cannon fire. Every so often, he would hear an explosion and feel a slight tremor run through the deck. They were faint, but just strong enough to notice. Once he even heard Angus shout, ‘Down.’ Aside from that, he couldn’t hear anything through his commo headset. That was the unnerving thing. He didn’t like being alone much, but not being able to hear how the battle was going really bothered him.

---

As Ivan waited, a faint buzz grew on his consciousness. It wasn’t anything he could put a finger on, so he ignored it.

After twenty minutes, he began to get concerned. The weapons fire had ceased abruptly about the time he heard the buzz, but he still couldn’t raise anyone on his commo headset.

The buzz returned, stronger this time. This time, he couldn’t ignore it. He felt his vision start to tunnel a bit. It went away again after a minute, but it made Ivan wonder what was wrong. There was something odd going on. He felt as though someone standing just on the edge of his peripheral vision were watching him. The feeling became so intense that he found himself frequently glancing to his right and his left. There was no one there of course, but he couldn’t shake the feeling he would see someone there if he were quick enough.

He checked the settings on the laser rifle. It had over three quarters of a charge, and the safety was off. Somehow, that didn’t reassure him.

The sound of metal striking metal down the corridor toward alcove with the access ladder drew his attention. For a swift instant, Ivan thought maybe the bugs had found a way up the access ladder, but he realized the chances of that were slim. The Arachnids were simply too big. He also recognized the possibility that it might be one of their minions. A Scavernauck Juggernaut would have little problem climbing the ladder between decks, and from what he knew of them, they were capable of a lot of trouble.

Ivan knelt on one knee and raised his rifle. He wasn’t sure it would do much against a bug, but he was determined to get off at least one shot before he fled. He saw something lean out around the corner at the far end of the corridor and draw back. It didn’t look like an Arachnid, but he wasn’t going to take any chances. Backing against the side of the corridor to make it more difficult for it to fire on him, he waited.

After a minute, he heard, ‘Hello?’

It took him a minute to place the voice. ‘Fu-berry? Is that you?’

The Fott stepped into the corridor. ‘It is I. Told I was you were out of contact and asked I was to check on you. Where are the others?’

Ivan exclaimed, ‘I thought you were dead. I saw that rocket hit you and you started floating away.’

The Fott didn’t say anything as he walked stiffly down the corridor with his rifle slung by its strap over his shoulder. As he got closer he asked, ‘Where are the others?’

Ivan wasn’t sure what to think about Fu-berry. He had known the Fott for a total of an hour and had never had any previous contact with him or any other Fott, but Fu-berry was certainly not fitting the redneck stereotype. There was definitely something odd about him.

Ivan shrugged. ‘I don’t know. Angus took Shragthon back to fight the bugs we were fighting outside. Crowlye booby-trapped the elevator and caught up with them.’

There was something decidedly odd about the Fott, something that he could not put his finger on.

As the Fott got closer, Ivan began to realize part of what was bothering him. Fu-berry’s movements were stiff and slightly jerky. During the little bit of time he had seen the Fott, Fu-berry had moved with a certain grace. He was not moving that way now. There were a number of possibilities. The headshot may have thrown off his equilibrium. He was probably on painkillers, which might explain his clumsy movements, and possibly his odd speech.

Bemused, but touched by the Fott’s determination to be in the fight, Ivan asked, ‘Hey Fu-berry, do they have you on pain medication?’

Fu-berry paused. ‘Yes. I am.’

Ivan shook his head in admiration. ‘I have to admit that I’m impressed with your dedication. I haven…’

The Fott jerked forward suddenly as a small explosion erupted on his back.

Startled, Ivan dropped to the floor. Raising his rifle, he sighted down the corridor. At the corner of the next intersection he saw an armored humanoid raising a rifle to its shoulder. As Ivan hesitated for an instant, he saw the humanoid jerk back with the recoil of its weapon.

Beside him, he heard twin impacts on Fu-berry and then a roaring in an unintelligible tongue. Startled, he looked up in time to see an unarmored Arachnid staggering from the twin impacts. Fu-berry was nowhere in sight.

The Arachnid had already been in a fight. Laser burns had scored its tough hide. Large gashes on its rear leg and torso, and a wound that appeared to have nearly cut the top of its head off were patched in a light gray synthflesh. Its left arm was light gray synthflesh from just above the elbow down. Ivan noticed the glint of metal in its hands.

As the bug turned, Ivan realized his danger. If the bug decided to step forward and to the side, he would be crushed. Recognizing that he was a dead man unless he killed the bug quickly, he rolled over on his side and fired up at its belly.

The bug didn’t seem to be affected by his laser fire, but it did notice him. It reared up to crush him with its front talons. In what he later described as a moment of total stupidity, Ivan rolled toward it. He was not quite fast enough. The bug’s claw made a glancing contact with the bulge of his air tank as he rolled, and the force of the contact shoved him forward and completed his roll so that he skidded a few fee on his stomach.

The impact of the bug’s foot stunned him. He lost his grip on his rifle, but he wasn’t thinking about that. He was focused on breathing. His suit absorbed the impact, but the jolt had still knocked the breath out of him.

Overhead, he heard the bug shriek. He couldn’t tell whether it was in agony or anger. An instant later the shriek was cut short. A tremendous weight fell on his head, pinning his helmet in place. A pasty smell, like burnt flour assaulted his nose. He could feel his helmet starting to warp and he began to panic. An eternity of screaming later, he felt strong hands grabbing his arms.

A slow, soothing drawl sounded in his ears.

‘You just settle down. I’ll get you out. Don’t you worry none.’

Ivan calmed a bit. He realized he was hyperventilating. He felt his helmet connections being unfastened.

‘Hold still now.’

The hiss of a gas torch and the smell of scorched polymer almost brought back his panic attack, but Ivan managed to fight it off. After what seemed like hours of burning, it stopped. He felt his legs gently lifted and pulled. With relief and the still lingering panic that he was fighting so hard, Ivan pulled his head free.

The burnt smell grew stronger, but the exhilaration of being freed from his trapped helmet made the fouled air almost refreshing. He sat up and looked up at his benefactor. It was Fu-berry.

The lanky Fott leaned over to pick up his rifle before standing up and looking down on him.

‘You okay?’ he drawled.

Ivan nodded his head. After a minute of trying to breath, he gasped, ‘I will be. Thanks.’

Glancing back at the dead Arachnid behind him, Ivan asked, ‘How did you kill that thing?’ He nodded at Fu-berry’s rifle. ‘What kind of rifle is that?’ I thought it was some sort of shotgun, but I’ve always been told that a shotgun wouldn’t inflict that sort of damage.

The Fott chuckled as he patted the weapon. ‘This here’s my Foo-Foo gun. It’s one of them high-tech things. I’ve heard’em called Omega Cannons. It’s not quite like my shotgun, but it’s close enough.’

Fu-berry nodded toward the bug carcass that had pinned Ivan. ‘The bugs may be on their way to pick this one up. We may want to get a move on and let Angus know what’s going on.’

Ivan stood shakily. Glancing around to find the laser rifle, he saw the stock sticking out from under the bug’s carcass. Muttering a Russian curse under his breath, he bent to see if he could free it.

Fu-berry told him, ‘Leave it. It’s probably damaged anyway.’

The Fott pulled a sawed-off double-barrel shotgun from a back holster. Firing two blasts into the front and back halves of the corpse, he broke open the shotgun and pulled out the empty shells. Reloading it with two more slugs, he handed it to Ivan and told him, ‘It’s no laser, but it’s better than nothing,’

Ivan took the shotgun and thanked him. Fu-berry was right, but he still would have preferred something with more punch.

Pulling a trio of fragmentation and a white phosphorus grenade from his bandolier, Fu-berry handed Ivan his thud gun and pulled some wire from a cargo pouch.

‘You may want to get back just a bit. I’m going to make certain there ain’t nothing left of him to be retrieved by his buddies.’

Ivan moved quickly down the corridor to the far intersection. He turned in time to see Fu-berry pull a long knife from one of the holes he had blown in the Arachnid’s body. Grabbing what Ivan assumed were wires, he jerked them and ran around the corner of the intersection Ivan had been guarding. A few seconds later, the grenades blew and small chunks of bug flew everywhere.

Stepping back around the corner, Fu-berry motioned for Ivan to come and turned to survey his work. He was nodding his head in satisfaction as Ivan walked up.

As he handed Fu-berry his thud gun, Ivan commented, ‘The Lieutenant ordered us not to use grenades without his clearance.’

Fu-berry glanced at him and motioned for him to follow. He moved closer to the carcass and pointed to the gore-splattered wall by the ruins of the bug.

‘Don’t you worry none about the Lieutenant. There ain’t a hole in that wall. I used groups of two frag grenades because they’d blow up the corpse without damaging anything around it. One wouldn’t be enough to destroy the corpse completely, and three would have blown a chunk outa the wall.’ He patted Ivan on the shoulder. ‘You just relax. I’ve done this before.’

Nodding, Ivan glanced at the laser carbine Bishop had assigned him. The weapon was warped noticeably.

Fu-berry turned and started up the main corridor. As Ivan turned to follow, they heard a low explosion and the chittering of bugs from the direction of the lobby elevator. Fu-berry stepped quickly back around the corner. As Ivan stepped behind him, taking care not to slip on the gore, Fu-berry pulled a small length of pipe from a cargo pocket on his armor. Pulling a long cord from one end of the pipe, he plugged it into his body computer’s wrist jack and stuck the other end of the pipe around the corner. He watched his wrist-mounted body computer screen briefly before handing the pipe and his thud gun to Ivan.

Keeping close to the wall, Ivan accepted them, taking care not to twist the pipe and change the view. Reaching into another cargo pouch with his free hand, Fu-berry pulled a long piece of braided cord with a braided pouch in the middle and a loop on one end. Letting the pouch in the middle hang down, he slipped the middle finger of his left hand through the loop and grasped the other end of the cord. Pulling a tangler grenade, he set it in the pouch and told Ivan, ‘Now disconnect me from the periscope.’

When Ivan complied, Fu-berry pulled the pin on the grenade. Stepping partway into the corridor, he whirled the sling once and released the grenade. He stepped back out of the intersections swiftly. A second later, Ivan heard a muffled explosion from down the corridor.

Fu-berry took the pipe back from Ivan and hit the cord release. The cord rolled silently back into the pipe as he stuffed it back into its cargo pouch.

Accepting his rifle back, he drawled, ‘One of the guys in my unit is a bit of a tinkerer. He came up with that periscope for urban environments. I’ve found it to be useful in almost every setting. He don’t have anything that’s regulation anymore.’ The Fott chuckled. ‘He even electrifies his own tanglers. They’re more reliable than the ones you can buy.’ His chuckle took a slightly malicious tone. ‘They’re great for crowd control.’

Glancing back around the corner, he told Ivan, ‘You go ahead and check the next intersection. I’ll follow in a minute.’

With a nod, Ivan moved up the side corridor to the next intersection. After cautiously checking and seeing that it was clear, he turned back in time to see the Fott whirl another grenade toward the lobby. The next explosion was slightly muffled, but Ivan heard Arachnids shrieking. The high-pitched keening was annoying, but tremendously satisfying. The more bugs they were able to injure or kill, the better off they were. Of course Lieutenant Rudeski had forbidden the use of grenades, but Ivan was not about to say anything further. Fu-berry had saved his life.

The Fott moved rapidly to catch up with him, stuffing the sling in his cargo pocket with one hand while carrying his rifle with the other. In response to Ivan’s questioning look, he told him, ‘Frost grenade. Bugs hate the cold.’

Fu-berry took the lead. He had the firepower and full armor. As they moved forward, Ivan became more and more nervous. Several times he stopped the Fott for what he thought might be the sound of movement, but each time it turned out to be some noise of the liner itself. Without a helmet, he was seriously exposed. It did wonders for his perceptiveness, but he began to see and hear threats that weren’t there.

They found and began to follow signs of a running firefight. As they moved through the First Class section, the damage became more severe. Huge holes were blown in the walls. Here and there, the walls had scorch marks caused by arc burns from power conduits cut by weapons fire. In one place, they came to a section of the corridor that was slick with fire retardant. The one wall of the corridor was charred. In the gaps, Ivan could see the power conduit itself had been twisted and warped by intense heat.

Fu-berry whistled. ‘That’s not good.’ In response to Ivan’s questioning look, he pointed to the charred walls and added, ‘The automatic cut-offs for the power circuits aren’t working. The sleeves around the power conduits are kept at absolute zero to keep the conduits cool. Usually when the ship’s computer detects a rise in temperature, it redirects the power through a secondary conduit and shuts the faulty one down. If the conduit was damaged and caused a fire, there is something wrong with the ship’s computer.’ He added thoughtfully, ‘I wonder if the bugs were able to slice into the ship’s computer?’

Finally they came to a trio of suites that were blasted completely open, with most of the front wall broken down or shot away. Carefully, they picked their way into the most severely damaged suite. The acrid scent of unburnt propellant, smoke, and burnt wall polymer made Ivan’s eyes water.

Whole sections of the once sumptuously decorated suite were scorched and charred from weapons hits. The furniture was shattered, melted, charred, or broken. Only a single singed couch resting on its back in one of the holes blasted in the wall suggested that the furnishings had once been luxurious. There were chunks of bug armor, small chunks of what might have been arm rockets, and other detritus lying around, but no bodies of either mercenaries or Arachnids.

Fu-berry, searching through the wreckage which seemed to radiate from the central bedchamber, finally commented, ‘Looks like someone opened up with a whole volley of missiles. I think this is where the bugs made their last stand.’

Glancing around the ruined suite, Ivan asked, ‘But if this is where they were finished, where are the bodies? It doesn’t look like there is anyone here. I want to believe Rudeski’s team destroyed the bugs, but I don’t believe they would have cleaned up the mess so quickly. I would assume they would save cleanup for when the area was secure.’

Fu-berry glanced at Ivan. ‘I take it you’ve never fought bugs before?’

Ivan shook his head. ‘My grandfather and brother have.’

‘Sometimes they equip their troops with suicide bombs, and sometimes they fight to recover their dead. I’ve seen them throw live troops after dead. I’ve also seen them just leave their dead behind. The bugs are usually booby-trapped when they do that. I’ve never figured out a pattern. I just know staying near a bug corpse is a bad idea unless you have the firepower to fight them. Cleaning up is first priority when fighting bugs. They seem to know when they can recover the bodies. You don’t want bug corpses lying around. That was part of the reason I destroyed that bug in the corridor by the lift. I don’t think the bug we fought had a suicide bomb, but you can never be sure. Sometimes they will attempt suicidal maneuvers. They don’t follow any sane tactics I’ve ever seen. Even the Eridani aren’t that stupid.’

‘Eridani stupid?’ Ivan looked at him curiously. ‘I’ve always heard that they are incredible warriors.’

‘In a stand-up fight, not many can match them,’ Fu-berry acknowledged. ‘If you engage one in an duel, they are hard to beat.’ He patted his thud gun. ‘On the other hand, not many other races would willingly bring a sword to a gunfight. If it’s a covert mission, they’re not always the best to have around. I’m in Galactic Recon, and we had an Eridani for a bit. He was always running off and getting himself into trouble. We had to bail him out so many times my Lieutenant finally transferred him to a Marine unit. He could get himself killed honorably there without getting the rest of us killed also.’

They checked the suite out for a few minutes more, but found nothing of value. Finally Fu-berry suggested they head back to the Engineering section. Ivan agreed, but suggested that they stop by the forward observation lounge first since that was the rally point Angus had specified.

No one was in the lounge and there was no indicator that anyone had been there for awhile. There were containers of various liquids and snacks, but the coffee cups Ivan checked had long since grown cold. After resting for a few minutes, they decided to head back toward the engineering section.

They were forced to use the forward lift to go to the engineering deck since the three access ladders to the lower decks that they tried were locked down. As the lift doors opened, they heard the sound of disintegrator and pulse cannon fire in the distance. Fu-berry plugged in his periscope and scanned the corridor on either side. They were clear.

Cautiously, they exited the lift and began to move aft. The weapons fire grew louder as they got closer to the engineering bay. They didn’t see anyone until they came to an intersection by the shuttle bay. The weapons fire had grown in volume and intensity. In the distance, they could hear someone yelling something, but they couldn’t quite make out the words. Fu-berry stuck his periscope around the corner to see if it was clear. As he did so, a pair of humans sprinted down the corridor and through the intersection.

They were both smoke-stained, with armor pitted from multiple blaster hits. The shorter man on the right had been hit hardest. He had a large crater on the chest plate of his armor and the glasteel of his helmet was cracked from an impact above the left eye. They were firing their lasers blindly behind them as they ran. The man on the left was sobbing in terror. As they entered the intersection, a disintegrator bolt blasted the sobber. It burned through his back armor and blew out his chest plate in a spray of gore. As his body hit the deck and slid, the other man didn’t even break stride. He threw away his laser rifle, and ran harder. An instant later, a single rocket flashed past and detonated.

Fu-berry turned his periscope up the corridor to see whether the human made it. Ivan looked questioningly at him, but the Fott shook his head.

He turned the periscope back down the corridor. Ivan was close enough that he could see Fu-berry’s eyes widen behind his glasteel visor. Glancing at Fu-berry’s wrist-mounted body computer monitor, Ivan inhaled sharply as he recognized a pair of Arachnids moving swiftly down the corridor toward them. He started walking quickly back the way they came, but within a few steps he broke into a run. Fu-berry was only a few steps behind, but Ivan never heard the Fott hiss, ‘Slow down you idiot. They’ll hear you.’

Ivan ran toward the next intersection. The thought of facing a pair of Arachnids without a helmet and armed only with a sawed off shotgun terrified him. He had felt out of his league before he lost his helmet and laser rifle.

He was so focused on getting away from the bugs behind them that he turned the corner without looking and nearly ran into an Arachnid that was moving swiftly down the corridor toward the shuttle bay. The bug was as surprised as he was, but got over its surprise more quickly. It reared up on its back legs, screeched in his face, and brandished its hand blasters.

Eyes wide in terror, Ivan cowered. His mind was screaming ‘Run! Run!’ but his feet were planted. He could only stare at the light playing ominously on the steel-gray muzzles of the bug’s hand blasters.

Fu-berry, expecting trouble, had run to catch up. He saw the bug and tried to stop and raise his rifle, but when the bug screeched, he slipped. He landed on his backside and skidded into Ivan, who fell back on top of him.

The bug spread its arms wide and thrust its head forward as it screeched again. Its bulbous, gray-armored head was wide, and Ivan could see its eyes clearly through the visor of its helmet. Incandescent blue veins were clearly visible against the whites of its eyes, which were narrowed in a malevolent glare. Its pupils were a fiery red and glowed with hatred.

It fell silent for a quick second, and then Ivan and Fu-berry were buffeted by a palpable wave of fear.

In an instant, every childhood fear; snakes, the dark, bullies, and dying, returned. He felt the terror and hacking cough and nausea from the time he nearly drowned crossing a river on a family hiking trip. There was the burning pain in his leg and the queasy terror he felt as his older brother Sergei carried him ten kilometers home after a Rock Slider snake bit him. He relived the pain, shame, and fear he had felt on all the occasions that Jake McCready beat him up on the way to primary school.

As he lay there, frozen in his terror, he heard again the screams of his best friend, Jeneth Palmeri. They had been on their way to school when Jake McReady had jumped them. Jake had beaten Ivan up and taken his lunch money before turning his attention to Jeneth. A frail child, Jeneth had been unable to defend himself, and the impotent fury in his screams of pain had cut Ivan deeply.

The shrieks became deafening. Jake was again pounding on Jeneth. The dimly remembered fear of Ivan’s childhood echoed the waves of fear that buffeted Ivan, but as the screams of terror grew in intensity, Ivan’s fear began to melt before his anger.

In an instant, Ivan became aware of his present. Beneath him, Fu-berry was helpless as he shrieked in terror. As had happened so many years before, Ivan’s anger blazed up into a fury that coursed through his body.

Jeneth’s screams had goaded him to ignore the pain from his bruising and battered body and attack. He had pounded Jake’s face to bloody pulp to defend his best friend. This bug was just another bully. The last shreds of fear that shackled him burned away.

Under his back, he could sense the hard length of Fu-berry’s thud gun. As he rolled off the shrieking Fu-berry, he could sense the bug’s hand blasters tracking him. Ivan did not falter. He was resolved.

The bug screeched again. Ivan sat up and grabbed the barrel of Fu-berry’s thud gun. As he tucked the stock under his arm, he realized the bug had triggered its hand blasters. He felt no impact or damage. It could not stop him.

As he raised the muzzle of the thud gun, he saw the bug trigger its hand blasters a second time. Nothing happened.

The bug’s mouth shield popped open. Instinctively Ivan aimed for the motion and pulled the trigger.

The sticky fluid of the Arachnid’s web spray had traveled about five centimeters from its mouth glands when the flux pulse dispersed it. Part of the pulse hit the bug’s helmet and was dissipated by the internal flux shield, but the majority of it hit the bug through the open mouth shield. A gout of blue-green liquid gushed from its open face shield as the pulse pulverized the bug’s jaw and mouth. The bug’s head was shoved back by the impact. It dropped its hand blasters and began clawing for its throat. The screech growing in its throat was became a gurgle.

Ivan had been rocked back by the recoil of Fu-berry’s thud gun and had to sit up. As he watched the bug writhing in agony at his feet, he realized he had just made an incredible shot and seriously injured if not killed an Arachnid, the greatest threat humanity had ever known. He felt numb.

For a second, he sat there and stared curiously at his dying enemy. He had never really seen a bug close up. He had been too shaken to look closely at the bug that had fallen on his helmet by the First Class Lobby.

The bug was centauroid of course. Its four armored legs ended in talons. Its arms looked small compared to the rest of its body, but judging from the mass of its hand blasters, they were powerful. As he examined it, Ivan realized the Arachnid was not as insectoid in appearance as he had once believed them to be.

The bug’s gray armor had a somewhat bulbous appearance, which is why he suspected they were popularly known as ‘bugs.’ The bug he was looking at lacked the external weapon mounts found on the armor of warrior bugs. Its armor was clearly not set up for the heavy combat it had seen, judging from the huge gashes torn in its armor. Someone had softened it up for him.

As it expired and fell quiet, he sagged backward. He had just killed an Arachnid with an incredibly lucky snapshot. Fu-berry was safe. Ivan sat there for a second and relaxed. They were safe. Then he remembered the pair of bugs that were following behind.

His confidence bolstered by the realization that the bugs could die, Ivan stood shakily. Grabbing the last of Fu-berry’s frost grenades, he moved to the corner.

Peering with one eye around the corner, he saw one of the blue-armored bugs moving cautiously toward him up the corridor. Behind it, a glint of silver at the far intersection caught his attention. The second bug was shielding a third, unarmored bug with its body as it crossed the intersection. In the one brief glimpse Ivan caught of the new bug, he noticed that it was gingerly carrying a chain strung with a cylinder. Ivan focused on the cylinder and noticed the bug seemed to be taking pains not to touch it. There were no distinguishing features on it. It looked like a simple tube of silvery metal.

It took the bug moving down the corridor toward him a second to notice him, but when it did, it opened fire. Its shots were hurried and blew a large chunk out of the corner below his chest. He felt a gentle push as the blaster bolt touched his armor. His side numbed slightly.

Ducking back around the corner, he pushed the arming stud on the frost grenade and tossed it around the corner to about where he estimated the bug would be. The grenade went off. He heard pained screeching. Stepping back from the corner, he raised Fu-berry’s rifle to his shoulder.

Cautiously, he moved sideways to where he could see the bug. The Arachnid was screeching in agony as it rolled around on its back on the deck. Ivan hesitated for an instant. He wasn’t sure what to shoot for. Looking at it more closely, he realized its armor had been pounded. Gouges had been torn into the blue-green material, but he didn’t know Arachnid physiology well enough to know where to aim for a killing shot.

Then, as the bug rolled over in its agony, Ivan saw a patch of armor that was slick with liquid. Assuming the wound to be deep, he sighted on it and pulled the trigger. He was expecting the recoil this time.

Nothing happened. His stomach tightened as he realized he had no way to defend Fu-berry and himself. Muttering disbelieving Russian curses, he glanced at the thud gun and noticed the selector switch was set for double-shot instead of single fire. He had fired both barrels at the first bug. The rifle was empty.

His newfound confidence evaporated as he glanced up and saw that the un-armored bug had disappeared and the other was turning to engage him. As aimed its hand blasters and opened fire with its body-mounted disintegrator, he ducked back around the corner.

Fu-berry was still shaking noticeably and trying to stand.

‘Can you walk?’ Ivan asked. ‘We’ve got to go. Another bug is coming.’

Fu-berry nodded and accepted his hand up. Ivan helped him as they moved past the dead Arachnid and slowly up the corridor. Ivan picked up Fu-berry’s shotgun.

‘Do you have another tangler grenade?’ Ivan asked.

Fu-berry shook his head. ‘Not with me.’ He checked his load and glanced up. ‘You used my other frost grenade?’

Ivan nodded. ‘A bug was coming to get us.’

Fu-berry stopped and reached his gauntleted paw into a cargo pouch. Pulling a handful of micro grenades, he gave some to Ivan and said, ‘Toss these behind us. Maybe we can scare it away.’

Arming the three micro grenades he was given, Ivan tossed them into the intersection and turned away. Two of them were smoke grenades, and the third a flash. Fu-berry threw his as well. They began making their way down the corridor. Behind them, smoke billowed in the intersection. Fu-berry was steadier now and walked without assistance. After he took back his thud gun and reloaded it, he broke into a trot with Ivan a few steps behind.

Ahead of them, a door slid open. Fu-berry aimed at it, but nothing came out. Over the room’s intercom, they heard Deron say, ‘In here guys.’

Without hesitation, they entered the room and the door slid shut and locked. They heard Deron whisper, ‘Quiet,’ and then nothing.

They waited in the darkness for quite some time. Once Deron said softly, ‘Hang tight. We’re coming to get you.’

As they waited, Ivan realized his side was beginning to hurt and he was getting hungry. He hadn’t eaten for quite some time. He had intended to eat after practicing his fencing, and that had been who knew how long ago.

As the minutes passed, Ivan’s side grew more painful. Fu-berry examined it with a small flashlight and pronounced second degree burns over an area of about three fingers width. He applied some anti-burn cream to help the pain and to sterilize the wound. They conversed softly, comparing observations on what had just happened as they ate some meal bars Fu-berry had in a cargo pouch.

Almost twenty minutes passed before they began to hear weapons fire. Finally the door slid open and they saw the Cizerack, Kaash, crouching low to the floor as she fired down the corridor. On the other side of the corridor, a Mutzachan was kneeling as he used an auto shotgun to lay down suppressive fire.

A Python in Galactic Defense Force Issue Kodiak armor stepped into view and began firing a body-mount pulse cannon. Ivan didn’t think it was Shragthon. Over the din, Ivan heard a bellowed, ‘Ivan. Fu-berry. Move..’

Ivan grabbed Fu-berry’s shotgun and ran outside. He used the Python’s bulk for cover as he ran up the corridor. His armor chaffed his burn, but he didn’t stop. Behind him, the Mutzachan shouted something and something detonated further down the corridor.

As he turned into the alcove with the access ladder, Ivan nearly ran into the grenadier from Rudeski’s team, who had just finished climbing down. Startled, the man started to raise his rifle, but stopped as he recognized Ivan as a friendly. His armor was singed in places, with large patched gouges in the center of the singed areas. His field-muted name patch, Rowan, was still visible, despite the fire damage. The unit patch that had stuck out in Ivan’s memory had been charred off. The man waved him on and started down the corridor to support his fellows.

His side hurt with the exertion, but Ivan scurried up the ladder. At the top, he saw an unaffiliated mercenary waving him forward.

They were escorted back to the Auxiliary Bridge by a pair of the unattached mercenaries. Their trip was uneventful this time.

As they and their escorts trooped in, Ivan noticed six of the mercs were sitting in chairs by one of the engineering consoles. Crowlye and Angus were sitting against a bulkhead toward the back of the engineering section. Crowlye was lying on the ground asleep, while Angus was working on his laser pistol. Angus glanced up as they walked in the door and nodded. Ivan waved in response.

They were led into the Auxiliary Bridge and met by Rudeski. It was immediately obvious in his voice that he was both stressed and tired. He had his visor up and they could see that his eyes were bloodshot and puffy. He was sipping from a container of hot coffee. Telling Deron they would be in the briefing room, he led them to a small storage room with some chairs and a table set up and motioned for them to sit. He offered them both a meal shake. They accepted eagerly.

'Gentleman, I need some answers. Before I say anything, I would like to hear what happened.’

Ivan and Fu-berry took turns explaining the events of the past few hours. Rudeski listened without comment.

Shortly after they started, Bishop burst into the room. He had his visor up and he looked furious. His armor had sustained a number of hits. The one to the right leg was the most serious. Whatever had hit him had stripped it to the point that they could see charred internal circuitry. He burst out, ‘Brandon, they nailed Rowan.’

Bleary-eyed, he asked Bishop, ‘Again? How seriously?’

The fury in Bishop’s eyes told him all he needed to know.

‘We recovered his body?’ It was as much a statement as a question.

‘Yes,’ Bishop spat. ‘But we still can’t get to Darnell and Tirax. The bugs are probably loading them into bags even as we speak.’ He cursed the bugs blasphemously.

His eyes widened slightly as he noticed Ivan and Fu-berry sitting to his left, but he ignored them. ‘Isaac isn’t sure he can resuscitate Rowan. We need that Zen doctor to take a look at him. Isn’t there a Sye-man on this scow?’

Rudeski paused for a second. ‘I think I saw one on the passenger list. Go get Deron to check.’

As Bishop turned to leave, Rudeski asked, ‘Did Rowan’s Cryo option trigger?’

Bishop didn’t even break stride as he walked out of the room. He just shook his head angrily.

Rudeski swore softly as Bishop walked out. He motioned for Fu-berry to continue. He rubbed his eyes and leaned back in his chair. Ivan couldn’t help but notice that his face was more lined than it had been when they had walked into the room.

Ivan listened with some amusement to how Fu-berry downplayed the terror they had both felt. He was a bit surprised to find that Fu-berry believed their panic was caused by a matrix the bug had generated. When Rudeski questioned Fu-berry about that, the Fott was extremely certain of that and commented that he had felt the effects of that type of matrix before.

Fu-berry continued to the point where Ivan rolled off of him and grabbed his thud gun before he motioned for Ivan to continue. Rudeski listened with a seeming indifference until Ivan mentioned the cylinder the unarmored Arachnid was carrying. Then he sat up suddenly.

‘Say that again,’ He commanded Ivan. ‘What did you say about that cylinder?’

Ivan retold how the bugs handled the chain and cylinder. Rudeski’s questioning took a good half hour. Ivan noticed he kept coming back to the cylinder and the buzzing they had heard.

Finally, Rudeski seemed to be satisfied. He thanked them and told them to get some food and sleep. They would be called when needed.

They went back out into the main section of engineering and found Crowlye and Angus sacked out. Angus was using his helmet as a pillow and Crowlye was asleep on his stomach.

As Ivan sagged against the wall by Crowlye’s feet, Crowlye asked dryly, ‘So where have the two of you been for the last four hours?’

The question gave Ivan pause. He glanced at his chronometer. It had only been a bit over two hours since they had left the airlock for First Class.

As he started working back the events of the previous few hours, Fu-berry replied, ‘I don’t know, and Rudeski sure wasn’t volunteering any information.’

Ivan looked sharply at him. ‘What are you talking about?’

Crowlye sat up and leaned against the wall. ‘Look at your chronometer,’ he directed, ‘and then look at one of the ship’s chronos.

Ivan’s wrist chronometer read 18:47 hours. The chronometer on one of the engineering stations read 23:05 hours. Ivan had to double-check it to be sure he read it correctly.

Mystified, he asked Fu-berry, ‘What happened?’

The Fott shrugged. ‘Darned if I know. I just know Rudeski ain’t telling us all he knows.’

Ivan looked at him quizzically. ‘You don’t trust him?’

Fu-berry shook his head. Glancing at Crowlye, he commented, ‘Galactic Recon has a saying. ‘Never trust an officer with clean boots.’’ He looked Ivan in the eye. ‘I ain’t saying that he has clean boots, ‘cause he don’t, but there’s something just a touch squirrelly about him. He don’t quite square with me if you get my meaning. I recognize his name. I just can’t recollect where I heard it.’

His eyes still closed, Angus commented, ‘I tried to do a search on him while you were fitting your space suit, Ivan. His slicer has the ship’s computer locked down tight. He fed me some interesting articles, but none of them were entirely accurate.’ He opened his eyes and raised himself on an elbow. ‘The whole team is not what they seem.’

‘Who do you think they are?’ Ivan was beginning to become alarmed. He had not gotten along with everyone is his old unit, but he could trust everyone, even Elendra-emra, to guard his back. The prospect of having to watch his back against supposed allies was not pleasant.

Crowlye snorted. ‘Who knows? Except for the Jezzadaic, their gear is GalDefForce, so they had to be military at one point. They could be anyone now.’

Angus interjected, ‘I don’t think they’re Corporate mercs. Their gear is not maintained well enough.’

Ivan looked at each of them in turn. ‘So what do we do?’

Angus told him, ‘We wait. In the meantime, I’d recommend putting your armor on, eating something, and then grabbing some rest.’

Ivan decided to follow Angus’ advice. At Angus’ request, Crowlye checked Ivan’s burn and applied a sterile dressing so Ivan could put on his armor. It felt good to be back in his personal armor. The Battle Environment Suit Bishop had commandeered for his use had fit for the most part, but after all the training he had done in his personal suit, the BES just didn’t feel like it quite fit.

His stomach was rumbling as he followed Fu-berry to the food table Rudeski had set up. The meal shake the Lieutenant had given him had held him for a bit, but he had grown ravenous.

---

Ivan was finishing the second of a pair of Mualwon filet sandwiches when Arash-ican stomped into Engineering followed by one of the Python Marines. Ivan thought it might have been Shragthon, but he couldn’t tell. Cradled in the Python’s arms was the other Python. Both Pythons were in terrible shape. Their armor was darkened by smoke, and the unconscious Python had several large impact craters blasted into his chest. The Python carrying him was barely in better shape. Blood ran in pinkish streams from a myriad of cracks in his armor. His right leg had a large gash blasted in it. As the Python limped to the small room the Jezzadaic had commandeered as his surgery. Arash-ican made his way to the Auxiliary Bridge.

Crowlye nodded after the Eridani. ‘That’s not a good sign. He looks like he’s going to try to convince the Lieutenant to do something stupid.’

‘How can you tell?’ Ivan asked.

With a snort, Crowlye replied. ‘He’s looking like a Ram Python.’

As Ivan looked confused, he added, ‘He had a very angry look on his face and he was even more stiff than usual. His royal warriorhood was probably insulted somehow and he’s going to make someone pay.’ As an afterthought he added, ‘I hope its not the Lieutenant. I may not trust him, but he has a good head on his shoulders.’ He nodded toward the room Isaac was using as his surgery. ‘Rudeski’s doing everything he can to take care of us.’

After a few minutes, the Eridani stomped out of the Auxiliary Bridge looking angrier than before. As the door opened, one of the mercenaries, Ivan thought he was one of the other humans, started to step through. Arish-ican shouldered him back through the door and didn’t break stride. As the irate mercenary stood and started to protest, Angus commanded,

‘Johaansen down.’

The mercenary hit the deck as if pole-axed. Angus swiftly made his way over to him.

Crowlye watched him go. ‘He’s another one that has a good head on his shoulders.’ He chuckled knowingly and glanced at Fu-berry. ‘He’s one of the finest officers I’ve served under.’

‘He was your CO?’ Ivan asked.

‘No,’ Crowlye told Ivan sharply. ‘He was one of the heavy equipment operators for the mining company we work for.’

Curiosity aroused, Ivan asked, ‘How is it that he is your commanding officer then?’

‘You ask a lot of questions.’ Crowlye snapped. ‘If you…’

Fu-berry interjected gently, ‘He snuffed a Bug.’

Crowlye looked skeptical. ‘He did what?’

Fu-berry explained. Ivan had to smother a smile as he realized the story had changed slightly since their debriefing with the Lieutenant. Fu-berry briefly mentioned the bug’s fear matrix, but downplayed it even more than he had for the Lieutenant. Instead, he described how he slid into Ivan and Ivan fell backward, pinning him in place. He praised Ivan for his quick thinking in rolling off and grabbing the thud gun, and especially praised Ivan for waiting to take the mouth shot. Ivan had to cough to cover any trace of a grin when Fu-berry said this. He made it sound like it was part of Ivan’s plan to kill the bug instead of pure dumb luck.

Despite the discrepancies between what had happened and Fu-berry’s account of the event, Ivan said nothing. He could imagine the Fott would be mortified if the others found out about his panic. His grandfather had always taught him to be concerned about the feelings of others, and embarrassing the Fott would have only caused problems. Besides, he had grown to like Fu-berry.

When Fu-berry finished, Crowlye looked dubiously at Ivan. ‘You didn’t feel the fear matrix it was generating?’

Hesitantly, Ivan replied, ‘Yes.’

‘And you still got off that shot…’

Suddenly Crowlye laughed. ‘Nice job.’

Angus, finished talking with Johaansen, walked over and sat down. ‘Nice job?’

Crowlye grinned proudly as he nodded toward Ivan. ‘The kid scragged a bug by himself.’

His expression curious, Angus commented, ‘I’d like to hear about that.’

Fu-berry recounted the tale. Angus, who had been watching Ivan’s expression closely during the tale, agreed that it was a good shot, but added, ‘You realize how fortunate you were, don’t you?’

Ivan nodded. ‘We’re both incredibly fortunate its blasters jammed when they did.’

Angus shook his head. ‘I’ve never seen a bug hand blaster jam, and to have both of them jam simultaneously is certainly an act of Providence…or something like that...’ Angus watched him closely. Ivan got the distinct impression he was waiting for something to confirm or deny an unspoken question. Since he had no idea what the question was, Ivan didn’t bother trying to answer it.

‘Bug weapons never jam?’ Ivan didn’t have to fake a quizzical look. He had never heard this before. Sergei had fought the bugs several times, but had never mentioned anything about their weapons never jamming.

Crowlye glanced at Angus, suddenly seemed to take his meaning and shook his head. ‘I’ve never seen or heard of a bug weapon jamming, and I’ve faced them during three different campaigns. Their weapons work on a different principle than anything we have. I also know that if anyone but a bug tried to fire one, it would detonate. The bugs don’t mess around.’

Fu-berry grinned. Ivan noticed his large incisors were a beautiful white. Fu-berry obviously took care of his teeth. He had always heard Fott were extremely careless about things like personal hygiene. There was certainly more to Fu-berry than met the eye.

‘I spent some leave time about a year ago with some grunts from the 151st Darkhorse Assault Regiment. They had just finished an action against the bugs. One of them, a guy from the 8th Recon Battalion...’He paused. When he spoke again, it was with a great deal of satisfaction. ‘That’s where I’ve heard Rudeski’s name. It was from that guy in the 8th. He said he was recovering from wounds received during the rearguard operation on Stoorvall. We were talking about the latest bug attacks and he mentioned the Reavers. Lieutenant Rudeski led the Reavers on Stoorvall. They were a platoon trained to destroy bug terror teams. He said command lost contact with them while they were trying to get some civilians to safety. Rudeski’s whole team was MIA after the withdrawal.’

Crowlye looked grim. ‘Well, we found them. Now the question is, ‘What they have been doing since, and where are the rest of them?’

‘I suspect they have lost a number of their people through attrition,’ Angus observed. If you’ll notice, their gear isn’t poorly maintained, but it isn’t up to Galactic Forces spec.’

Crowlye looked thoughtful for a minute and nodded. ‘True. So I’d like to know what are they really doing and for whom, whether they were lying about the Doltharian, and why they haven’t gotten back in touch with their old outfit?’

‘It’s obvious they haven’t forsaken their oaths to protect citizens of the Alliance,’ Angus observed. ‘Rudeski was livid when Shragthon threw the grenade.’

Ivan toyed with the idea of asking a question for a minute or two in the thoughtful silence that ensued. He had just decided that his asking wouldn’t be appreciated when Angus said, ‘Ivan. You look like you were about to say something.’ He glanced at the others. ‘Any observation you make, no matter what it may be, may call attention to something that could save one of our lives later. I don’t believe any of us will object to you voicing your thoughts.’ He glanced at Fu-berry for an instant, but his gaze lingered on Crowlye. ‘Am I correct?’

Fu-berry nodded. Crowlye nodded, but with considerably less enthusiasm.

With a shrug, Ivan replied. ‘Okay. I don’t see them as mercenaries. Mercs are generally not concerned about collateral damage. Is it possible that they are on some sort of a deep cover mission? You said the military uses teams like Rudeski’s to root out terror teams, right?’

Angus nodded.

Ivan continued. ‘Maybe the military detected a threat, sent them undercover to investigate and eliminate it, and it has been some time since they’ve been able to refurbish. That might explain why they still make limiting civilian casualties such a priority. That might also explain their willingness to sacrifice their transport to allow a civilian space liner get away.’ He added, ‘Few mercenary groups would do either of these things.’

Crowlye shook his head. ‘Doesn’t fit. If the military had to do something, they wouldn’t sneak around like this. They would send a regular commando team to…’

The rest of his observation was cut off when Rudeski charged out of the Auxiliary Bridge.

‘Gentlemen,’ he bellowed, ‘We have six bugs moving out of the shuttle bay. If our numbers are correct, that is all of the bugs that are left. I don’t know what they’re up to, but I want to whittle down their numbers a bit.’

He turned and looked at a stocky Orion. ‘Cavanaugh. You’re team is fairly heavily armed and armored. I want you to take your team up to First Class. They have been concentrating their efforts there, so there is a good chance they’ll be heading there now. Wait for the signal to peel off some bugs.’

Rudeski looked at Angus. ‘MacIverssen, I want you to take your team and use the cargo sleds to go through the engineering tunnels to the forward Engineering Bay. Your team is less heavily armed and armored. All I want you to do is to sting them a bit. Get them to think about you. Slow them down. Harass them. Break them up if you can, but don’t get yourself killed. I want to avoid casualties. Give Cavanaugh and his people a series of targets so he can pick them off piecemeal. I’m going to have the Eridani and some of my team hit them as well. We’ll have to coordinate a bit, but Deron and I will be directing things so you won’t get in each other’s way.’

Noting Fu-berry’s replenished grenade bandoliers, he added, ‘Frost and tangler grenades are fine, but no plas without my permission. Do you understand me?’

The Fott nodded and replied without a trace of drawl. ‘Clearly sir.’

‘Good,’ Rudeski said. He glanced around at each of them. ‘Good hunting.’

Cavanaugh’s team formed up and moved toward the door. Rudeski motioned toward one of the engineering tunnels. The thick doors opened steadily and lights came on as far as Ivan could see down the length of the tunnel. A pair of a-grav cargo sleds was parked in an alcove to the right. Angus led the team to the nearer of the two and climbed into the passenger seat. Fu-berry took the driver’s seat, with Crowlye and Ivan climbing onto the flatbed in back.

Fu-berry turned the sled on and accelerated smoothly. Ivan noticed that the tunnel was wide enough that six humans could walk comfortably side by side, even in full armor. It was tall enough for a tall Ram Python to walk comfortably erect with headroom to spare. That meant it was large enough for a bug to move comfortably also, and since the tunnels linked the engineering sections of the ship, if the bugs gained access…

‘Angus, is there any chance the bugs could use the tunnels against us?’ Ivan couldn’t keep the concern from his voice.

Deron’s voice cut in. ‘Not likely. First off, they’d have to access the tunnels. I’ve got the door from the shuttle bay locked down. Next, they’d have to find a way to fool the ship’s sensors into believing that they were something other than what they are. The ship’s AI has been given the necessary information to differentiate between Alliance personnel and Arachnids. Third, they would have to convince me that they are somewhere other than where they are. I’m keeping track of every bug outside of the shuttle bay. If one of them disappears for an instant, I’m aware of it. They won’t get by me.’

‘Fourth,’ He paused, and when he spoke again, Ivan could hear him grinning with self-satisfaction. ‘I figured out a way to convince the ship’s AI to evacuate the air between the shuttle bay’s door and the next decompression door. If they do figure out a way to get the doors open, every light on the board is going to go off. Finally, I’ve increased the gravity to about three times normal, and it fluctuates.’ A note of smugness entered his voice. ‘Anything trying to go through the engineering tunnel is going to get a bit of a shock.’

Angus looked back at Ivan. Ivan couldn’t see his face behind his helmet’s visor, but there was the trace of a grin in his voice as Angus commented, ‘It sounds like you’ve got it all figured out.’

Crowlye asked, ‘Have you upped the gravity in the corridor outside the shuttle bay also?’

There was a low exclamation Ivan couldn’t quite understand and then silence on the comm. A few seconds later, Deron complained, ‘Of all the stupid…. The passenger corridors aren’t set up for that kind of thing. Don’t ask me why, but they aren’t. I can raise the gravity to one a half times, but that is all. It doesn’t make sense. Engineering areas, and even the shuttle bay are set up for up to three gravities, but the passenger areas for only one and a half. Why would you need to set the gravity to three gees in Engineering anyway?’

‘Certain repair procedures work best in heavy gravity, ‘ Fu-berry drawled. ‘Usually a ship has a heavy room. It is kind of odd that they have the entire section set up for heavy gravity work. I wonder which company made this ship?’

‘I’ll let you know when we are done,’ Deron told him. ‘Right now we have to blast some bugs.’ Under his breath he added, ‘I can’t believe I can’t raise the gravity.

There was a touch of sarcasm in Crowlye’s voice as he commented, ‘Not very thoughtful of the designers. You would have thought they would have foreseen this and set up the gravity controls to cater to your whims.’

Deron was silent for a minute. When he spoke next, Ivan could tell he was working to rein in his irritation.

‘The tunnel is clear. Proceed to the forward engineering station. The bugs have entered First Class. They are moving down toward… What the....’

The comm fell silent.

When he came back on a minute later, Deron’s voice was steady again.

‘The bugs have another team moving out of the shuttle bay. I don’t know where they got these guys. There shouldn’t have been any more. This team is comprised of two warriors and a pair of techs. These bugs have brand new armor. The original team of six is continuing to advance into First Class.’

Rudeski broke in. ‘Angus, we’re going to have our hands full until we can figure out what the second team is doing. Your mission is the same, but I need you to focus on that new group. I’ll give you what support I can. There are a few guys in Cavanaugh’s team who aren’t as heavily armed and armored as the others. I’ll send them down to you as soon as I figure out exactly what I need to take out the first six bugs. In the meantime, slow them down as much as you can.’

‘Affirmative.’ Angus told him. ‘We’re on our way. Any idea of what they are armed with?’

‘Standard armament. Back-mounted disintegrators and hand blasters. No rocket packs that I can see.’

Angus thanked Rudeski.

Fu-berry brought the cargo sled to ground beside a large doorway with a gentle thump. Though Angus’ helmet muffled his voice, Ivan could hear him tell Rudeski they were at the first engineering bay. A minute later, he told Fu-berry to proceed to the next engineering bay.

As Fu-berry hit the a-grav lifters and accelerated, Angus tapped Ivan on the arm.

‘I’m going to pair you off with Fu-berry. I’ll be paired with Crowlye. They both have big guns. We’ll act as spotters and provide additional firepower if necessary. Neither of our rifles will do a whole lot against the bugs, but we can keep our eyes open and let Crowlye and Fu-berry focus on hurting them. Do you have any questions?’

Shaking his head, ‘Ivan replied, ‘None. I am to keep an eye on his back and make sure he knows of any threats.’ He glanced at Fu-berry. ‘You can count on me.’

The Fott nodded without glancing away from the tunnel, ‘I know I can.’ He pulled a pair of grenades from one of his bandoliers. ‘Take these grenades, just in case. The big one is a tangler. The other’s a frost.’

Ivan accepted them with thanks, but added, ‘I thought you didn’t have any more tanglers.’

‘Not on me,’ Fu-berry told him, ‘ but Deron scrounged some while you were getting into your armor.’

A minute later, they pulled into a maintenance bay. It was little more than an enlarged area of the tunnel. Workbenches were off to the right side. A door at the far end of the bay was shut, but Ivan could see a sign stating

EQUIPMENT stenciled on the door.

ROOM

They waited for about five minutes before Rudeski called and told them to proceed.

As they left the relative safety of the engineering tunnel, Ivan found his pulse racing and his breath speeding up. Once again he was going back into the fight with inferior armor and weapons against a better-equipped enemy he still knew practically nothing about. He knew he had been lucky on his first two encounters. From what little he had learned, he was terrified.

On Invodale, he had been hunted by a Cizerack in ultra armor. There was much about the cats that he didn’t know, but he still knew enough that he could make certain assumptions. In a fight, they preferred using their natural mobility over standing and slugging it out. A matriarchal society where males were severely limited in every way, they were also prone to underestimate males. He had been fortunate to survive, but he had been able to determine certain patterns that she was repeating and use that information to elude her.

The Arachnids were a completely different type of enemy. He had studied what was known about them, but that wasn’t a lot. They were known for taking brute force approaches to things. Subtlety and misdirection were practically unknown in Arachnid tactics. Generally, the warrior bugs came straight at an objective and used their superior equipment to overwhelm the defenders. This bunch was different. If Rudeski was right, in addition to having the superior technology, they were using stealth and diversions to achieve their objectives, whatever those might be. This meant the usual bug tactics had to be kept in mind, but that the bugs might do something completely unexpected. That scared him. They were tough enemies when you had a pretty good idea of what they were doing. If the Arachnids had a leader who was able to use misdirection and subtlety to achieve its goals, everyone on the star liner was going to be in trouble.

Deron told them the second bug team was still moving down the central corridor and that he and Rudeski believed they were making an attempt to take the Bridge. He directed Angus and his team down a side corridor, with the intention on positioning them for an ambush.

He stopped them at an intersection in the midsection of the ship whose relatively narrow side corridor gave them a clear view of the central corridor. Angus set Fu-berry and Ivan on the Bridge side of the intersection, and he and Crowlye set up on the aft side. They were all supposed to wait for Angus’ command, and then to fire on the first bug to cross the corridor. Angus told Fu-berry to ready a tangler and smoke grenade. He prepared a tangler for himself. Crowlye and Ivan were given frost grenades. Assuming the warrior bugs charged them, Deron was supposed to give the warning when the bugs were halfway down the side corridor. At that point, Ivan and Crowlye were supposed to throw a pair of frost grenades at the lead bug and Fu-berry was to follow up with a tangler behind it. Angus would slow the lead bug’s progress with a tangler in front of it. The frost grenades were intended to soften up the lead bug enough so that their weapons fire would be more effective. The tangler grenades would prevent it from advancing or retreating without a great deal of difficulty, and would also keep its fellows from supporting it as easily. The smoke was to be used to mask their movement through the intersection after they killed the first bug.

They waited there for a few minutes before Deron told them the bugs were almost at the intersection. Ivan placed his grenade against the wall within easy reach and selected burst fire. He could feel the sweat running down into his sweatband. Again, he was thankful to have it with him.

‘He’s almost there…’ Deron told them. ‘Almost…almost. You should have him…now.

Ivan inhaled sharply as Angus commanded, ‘Fire.’

Fu-berry stepped out and fired both barrels. Stepping out beside him, Ivan fired a pair of short bursts with his FN/Fal. On the other side, Crowlye fired a pair of shots from his Barrett, and Angus multiple shots from his laser.

The bug screeched and moved faster through the intersection. Ivan saw its body-mounted disintegrator swivel to track them. As it opened fire, Fu-berry grabbed Ivan and fell back behind the corner. As Ivan fell, he saw a series of disintegrator bolts blasting holes in the corridor wall as the bug walked its fire toward him. Burning chunks of the wall impacted his armor as blaster bolts burned over his head and hit the other side of the corridor. Breathing a quick thanks to the Fott, Ivan accepted the grenade Fu-berry handed him and prepared to arm and throw it.

Deron,’ Angus asked. ‘What are they doing now?’

Deron took a second to reply. ‘They’re still advancing down the main corridor. Both of the warriors have taken up positions to cover the side corridor, but that’s it. They are not pursuing.’ A second later he added, ‘They are across, and they are moving faster now.’

Angus asked, ‘Can you tell me how much damage we did?’

‘Not much that I can see,’ Angus told him, ‘but I don’t have the best angle. I can tell you more in a minute.’

Angus cursed. ‘Lets move.’ As he started up the corridor at a fast jog, he told Deron to keep an eye on the bugs and keep him informed of their progress.

They had moved past one intersection and were heading down the corridor when Crowlye, who was in the lead, bellowed, ‘Down.’

An instant later, Ivan saw several streaks burning down the corridor toward them. Almost as one, the team dropped. The rockets angled down for a hit, but the close quarters made it difficult for them to maneuver. Two of them flew past Ivan’s head and impacted the deck about two meters behind him. The warheads left a small impact crater and Ivan was peppered by shards of the metal deck.

Angus bellowed ‘Sound off.’

Crowlye and Fu-berry both replied unhurt, but it took Ivan a few seconds to regain his composure. His heart was racing and he was breathing fast. He had seen the engine flare as a complete circle around the body of the one missile. If Crowlye had not shouted when he did, the missile would have hit him in the face. From the way his arms and legs were shaking, he thought it better to stay put for a minute. It was going to take him that long to find his voice,

‘Ivan, are you okay?’ Angus called. When he got no immediate reply, he commanded, ‘Crowlye on front. Fu-berry. check Ivan. Deron, where are they, how many, and what do they have?’

Deron sounded confused. ‘What are you talking about Angus? I don’t see anything.’

With a curse, Angus shouted, ‘Are you blind? We almost lost Ivan and Fu-berry to a rocket attack and you didn’t see anything? Are you awake? You’re supposed to be our eyes and ears, and you can’t even warn us of a rocket attack?’ Angus growled, ‘You need to wake up, boy. This is not a video game.’

‘Blast it all, Angus.’ Deron retorted. ‘I don’t see anything on any of the sensors. The bugs are all moving just ahead of you in the central corridor. Whatever is there isn’t registering.’ He paused for a second to calm himself. Yelling at Angus while he was under fire wouldn’t help either of them. ‘I don’t see a thing in your corridor, Angus. I have no heat, movement, IR, UV, or life readings. As far as the security sensors are concerned, nothing happened. Every bug is accounted for, so unless a few more have displaced aboard without us knowing it then you are seeing things.’ He paused for a second. When he continued, there was a note of shock in his voice.

‘Wait a minute. How did…’

He cursed in frustration. ‘There is one bug about fifty meters back up the main corridor,’ he told them. ‘I don’t know how this is possible, but somehow I completely missed it. I didn’t see it stop. Literally a second ago it was with the others. Now it is fifty meters behind the others. It looked like it had just appeared there.’

Angus paused, his anger diffused by the sincerity and frustration in Deron’s voice. He asked quietly, ‘You said one is close by and doing nothing? How long has it been there, and is it moving at all?’

After a minute, Deron replied, ‘I just went through the security footage. It doesn’t appear to have moved in about a minute.

‘What kind of armor does that bug have,’ Angus asked.

‘Gray, with no body mount weapons.’

‘You said gray without a body mount?’

Deron snapped, ‘That’s what I said.’ If it wasn’t Bishop and Cy, it was Crowlye, or one of the other mercenaries. He was getting really tired of the attitudes.

‘That,’ Crowlye told Deron, ‘is one of the bug technicians. More than likely a Psi-crafter. There aren’t any other bugs around?’

‘No.’

Crowlye asked, ‘Where is it located?’

‘Turn left at the last intersection you passed. Follow that corridor to the main corridor. It is probably ten meters up the main corridor.’

Crowlye glanced at Angus. ‘We can take it. We won’t be able to get ahead of the other bugs, but they may come back to support it if we threaten it.’

Angus asked, ‘Deron, is Rudeski around?’

‘He’s talking to Cavanaugh and Bishop. They’ve just engaged the bugs.’

After a few seconds of thought, Angus nodded. ‘Lets take it.’

He glanced over at Ivan.

‘Are you okay?’

With a nod, Ivan told him he was and added, ‘Watch this.’ While they had been talking, he had been examining the impact crater.

Ivan put his hand flat on the floor beside the crater and swept it directly across the crater. ‘It looks like my hand has gone into a crater, but there isn’t a crater there. It was some sort of an illusion.’

‘What?’ More than a little surprise colored Angus’ reply.

‘Come here,’ Ivan said. ‘My hand is flat on the floor the entire time. There is no crater.’

Fu-berry and Crowlye began watching both ends of the corridor.

Angus stayed low as he quickly moved to where Ivan was kneeling. He got down beside Ivan and put his hand on the ground beside the crater. Sweeping it across the crater, he realized his hand never entered the crater he saw. For an instant, he couldn’t believe what he saw. As the reality started to dawn on him, the crater faded.

With a low whistle, Angus commented, ‘You’re right. It was an illusion.’

‘Great. We have to determine what is real and what is false,’ Crowlye groused.

‘Deron,’ Angus said. ‘Did you catch that?’

After a moments pause, Deron replied, ‘No. The main group of bugs are trying to flank the Eridani and I was helping to coordinate the response.’ He added a second later, ‘Arash-ican went into some kind of trance a few minutes ago and the other two were defending him.’

‘That’s nice, Deron. ‘Angus told him. ‘Now tell Rudeski that the bugs have at least one Psi-crafter. The attack was an illusion. Apparently they knew we were here and wanted to stall us. Tell Rudeski.’

‘Will do. Rudeski suspected they had a Psi-bug, but he didn’t know for sure. This is confirmation.’

Rudeski spoke a few seconds later, ‘Attention all teams. We just have had confirmation that the bugs have at least one Psi-crafter left. Confirm before you shoot. We don’t want friendly fire casualties. Also, be aware of the possibility of the Psi-crafter bug posing as one of us. Deron and I will coordinate as much as we can. If anyone has any other suggestions on how we can identify friend from foe, I would appreciate it.’

‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’ Crowlye griped. ‘Now we can’t tell friend from foe. Any hesitation in determining whether a target is a bug or one of us can get us killed.’

Fu-berry sounded grave. ‘The IFF works, don’t it?’

Ivan shook his head. ‘I don’t have an IFF.’

Angus was silent. Ivan saw his helmet move slightly as he nodded. A minute later, Angus pulled a connection cable from his commo panel and plugged it into Ivan’s helmet commo jack.

‘Ivan, can you hear me?’

Ivan nodded.

‘Do you know how to program your camouflage unit to put a yellow arm band on your armor?’

After a second of hesitation, Ivan nodded. ‘I can, but that’s going to give the bugs something to shoot for.’

‘I know that,’ Angus replied, ‘but we have to do something to distinguish friendlies from bugs. It’s not a perfect solution, but its what we could come up with quickly.’

‘I will do so.’

Angus disconnected. A minute later, he plugged into Crowlye’s commo jack, and then Fu-berry’s. Fu-berry’s armband appeared almost immediately.

Ivan made the changes and commented, ‘It might be good to use some sort of hand signal also. They might not know much about Cy-ball. Maybe if we meet someone from another team, we can use one of the Cy-ball ref hand signals.’

Angus nodded. ‘Good thought. I’ll tell Rudeski.’

Fu-berry commented, ‘That’s a good idea, Ivan.’

Ivan shrugged. ‘One of my ancestors was in a position that was overrun. When his squad finally tried to reenter friendly lines, they had been cut off for several days so they didn’t have the proper pass codes. They finally convinced the defending platoon leader that they were friendlies because of their command of profanity. The enemy spoke a completely different language, so when they began cursing him, the platoon leader commented that only a Marine could have a mouth that foul. This is kind of the same thing. Arachnids might not know Cy-ball. It has no military value.’

‘Do you know your family history that well?’ Crowlye’s voice was studiously neutral.

Ivan nodded stiffly. He couldn’t tell whether Crowlye was preparing to make fun of him or not. The man’s sarcastic wit could be harsh, and he was not interested in opening Golobitski family traditions and history to him.

Angus interrupted to tell them, ‘The signal that you’re friendly is going to be the man-down Cy-ball hand signal. Look for the yellow armband, but look for the signal also. Now lets go.

‘They began moving at a trot. Angus put Fu-berry in front at his request. Crowlye was next, with Angus third and Ivan in the rear. When Crowlye commented that they were running a risk of running into a bug ambush, Angus told him Deron was keeping tabs on the Arachnids, but to keep his eyes open. That didn’t fully satisfy Crowlye, but he didn’t say anything more.

A few minutes later, Deron commed them to say that Hartrell’s fire team was set up to cover the next intersection from the corridor on the far side. Rudeski wanted them to double-time it to the next intersection and prepare to fire from their side. He added that the bugs had stopped moving, so they had a few minutes to get there. Setting up a crossfire like that would test even Arachnid armor.

When they got to the intersection, Angus positioned Crowlye and Fu-berry on the far side of the intersection. They were to use the corner both for cover and to hide their presence as much as they could. Deron would tell them when the bugs were about to enter the intersection.

He and Ivan stayed on the near side. Angus had Ivan lie down at an angle to the corridor close to the outer wall of the side corridor. He explained that this way, Ivan could roll to the side and be under cover more quickly than he could get up. Angus knelt by the near corner.

‘This is Angus. We’re in place.’

‘Hartrell here,’ came a rough voice. Ivan thought he recognized it, but he couldn’t remember from where. ‘We see you.’

Ivan glanced down the cross corridor to the far intersection where Hartrell and his team was supposed to be set up, but he didn’t see anyone. He asked Angus, ‘Where are they? I don’t see them.’

Angus shook his head. ‘I don’t see them either, but Hartrell said they were in place, so I’m going to trust that.’

Glancing down the corridor again, Ivan nodded dubiously. It disturbed him that Hartrell’s team was not visible. Either they weren’t there, or they had excellent camouflage systems built into their armor. He just didn’t want to be left flapping in the breeze. Even a pair of technician bugs could probably destroy their little team, and if they were knocked out, the way to the bridge was dangerously exposed. If the Arachnids took the bridge, it would prove to be a grave setback.

Deron commed both teams. ‘The bugs are moving again. Prepare to fire.’

Fu-berry told him, ‘Let me know when they’re about to walk into the intersection. I’ve got a tangler grenade ready so we can pin them in place for a bit.’

Deron told him he would.

Fu-berry, who had been waiting with a grenade in his sling, suddenly whirled it and released. For an instant, Ivan was confused. He could see nothing in the intersection. But then as the grenade went off, he could see the sticky wires rebound and wrap around a centauroid shape whose position was marked more by where the wires were not than by where they were.

Angus yelled ‘Fire,’ but Crowlye had already opened fire. The corridor echoed with the report of his Barrett. His first shot ricocheted off of Arachnid armor, but his second impacted solidly. Fu-berry raised his thud gun to his shoulder and fired. The twin shots hit in roughly the same location as Crowlye’s second shot. He stepped behind the corner to reload. Ivan fired short bursts, concentrating his fire on the area he believed Crowlye and Fu-berry were firing at.

As he fired, the Arachnid began to shimmer into visibility. It’s position compromised, it shrieked its hatred at them. It was armored in the blue-green warrior’s armor and had the body-mounted disintegrator pod. It attempted to return fire, but as it twisted to fire on Angus’ team with its hand blasters, Hartrell’s team opened up with a pair of pulse blasters and a juicer. Great gashes opened in its armor as weapons fire from both sides knocked its flux shield down and penetrated.

Crowlye fired a shot that impacted on the side of its torso in the center of the tight pattern he had shot in its side. The Arachnid shrieked in pain and blue-green blood began to flow from beneath its armor.

It struggled frantically to pull itself loose from the tangles of wire that enmeshed it, and it actually freed one leg, but the volume of weapons fire began to tell. Finally it dropped its hand blasters and slumped over, still held partly upright by the tangle of wires around its legs and body. Angus yelled, ‘Deron, what are the other bugs doing?’

Deron cursed. ‘I just lost them. They just disappeared from my sensors. I don’t have vital signs, heat, motion, or anything.’ He made no effort to keep his frustration out of his voice. ‘I don’t know where they are or what they’re doing. Until I can figure out how to keep them locked in the security system, you’re on your own. I can’t do a thing for you.’

Crowlye muttered. ‘Stupid slicer. I HATE fighting bugs you can’t see.’

Angus told Deron, ‘We’ll adapt. Keep your eyes open and let us know of anything unusual.’ Turning to Fu-berry he asked, ‘Do you have any more regular tangler grenades?’

Glancing down at his nearly full grenade bandoliers, Fu-berry replied ‘Yes.’

‘Do you think you can bounce a regular tangler grenade off of the corridor wall?’

Fu-berry nodded.

‘Good’ Angus replied. ‘When I give the nod, throw a tangler and prepare to follow it up with a frost grenade. I want to pin them in place. If we can separate them, we can destroy them piecemeal.

As Angus told Hartrell how he was planning to support Rudeski’s team, Fu-berry prepared his sling. When Angus nodded, Fu-berry set the timer on a tangler grenade for three seconds, set it in the pouch of his sling and whipped it at the corridor wall. It flew fast and straight and bounced off the wall and down the main corridor. An instant later, it exploded.

‘Deron,’ Angus said, ‘Can you see anything in the tangle of wire?’

‘Nothing. It looks like an empty corridor.’

‘Thanks. Keep your eyes open. If any of those wires twitch, let me know.’ Angus motioned to Crowlye. ‘Crowlye, cover our advance. Follow when we’re in your way. Fu-berry, you’re on point. Ivan, you’re third.’

Ivan heard a faint click as Angus changed frequencies. A few seconds later, he came back on and told them Hartrell and his team was going to advance to the main corridor also.

Fu-berry had picked his way through the odd tangler wire to a point about three meters from the corner when Crowlye said, ‘I’m following now.’

Ivan glanced back as Crowlye stood and picked up his Barrett. As he glanced back toward the front, he heard a buzzing noise and saw Fu-berry stagger. One of Hartrell’s men had opened fire with a pulse blaster.

‘Bugs in the intersection. Bugs in the intersection.’ The voice was cool and calm. An instant later, a second pulse blaster and a juicer opened up. The plasma fire stitched its way diagonally up Fu-berry’s chest and into his helmet, and the molten iron of the juicer impacted squarely on his chest. Fu-berry fell backward, bounced off a tangler wire and slid to the deck.

‘Check fire! Check fire!’ Angus shouted angrily. ‘We’re friendlies. Check fire.’

Ivan crouched low as he picked his way through the mostly dried wire and pulled Fu-berry further back into the side corridor. Plasma fire impacted the wall above him and he crouched lower. Behind him, Crowlye bellowed, ‘Man down. Man down. The Fott’s been hit.’ Raising his Barrett to his shoulder, he leaned into it and fired a shot at the far intersection. The big gun boomed in the confines of the corridor.

‘That’s no bug weapon, you morons,’ he shouted. ‘Check fire or I’ll fire for effect.’

The plasma fire stopped abruptly.

Angus called, ‘Deron, do you see anything?’

‘Nothing,’ came the frustrated reply. ‘And Bishop’s team is up to their armpits in bugs. Is there any chance that you guys can help out? We have a battle royal shaping up in First Class.

‘Fu-berry’s been hit, but we may be able to disengage.’ As an afterthought he added, ‘I don’t know if I’d recommend sending Hartrell’s team to help. They just shot Fu-berry.’

There was anger in Hartrell’s voice as he retorted, ‘We saw a bug and we shot it. We can’t help it if your bunny rabbit got himself shot.’

‘Angus,’ Ivan glanced up from examining Fu-berry’s armor. ‘I think the bugs are doing this, just like the rocket attack. The bug that was impersonating Fu-berry dropped the illusion when Fu-berry shot it. Maybe what we need to do is to shoot every bug once just to dispel whatever illusions it might be creating.’ He paused and changed to the general frequency. ‘Deron, can you see all of us?’

When Deron told him he could, Ivan continued.

‘Would you be willing to confirm or deny targets for us? As much as possible, let us know if we’ll be in sight of one another.’

‘I’ll do what I can,’ Deron replied.

Crowlye interrupted to say, ‘Hartrell. I’m going to start firing down the central corridor. If any of you jokers shoot at me, I will return fire and I will not miss.’

Carefully, Crowlye picked his way through the tangler wire and knelt just back from the corner. After a second, he leaned out and began firing his Barrett. He shot several times. Hand blaster fire burned in from up the corridor and he ducked back. He called for a frost grenade. Ivan tossed him the one Fu-berry had given him and Crowlye tossed it around the corner. The grenade exploded and several bugs shrieked. The volume of fire on the intersection increased.

Then Ivan heard, ‘I have seen this before.’ Ivan recognized Arash-ican’s deep voice over the general frequency. The Eridani continued. ‘Kandura-emra, I am going… ‘ Arash-ican shifted into Eridani to finish his statement. Kandura-emra replied in the same tongue. It had the sound of a ritual answer.

Crowlye leaned out and fired another pair of shots. He ducked back as a fusillade of return fire tore up the tangler wire and walls. Wires whistled through the air as they were severed. Several shots impacted the Arachnid corpse in the center of the intersection. As the majority of the wires holding it upright were finally severed, it toppled over partway into the side corridor.. Angus moved up under the cover provided by the corpse and used the Arachnid’s body as a barricade to fire from.

Fu-berry tried to stand, but he was still unsteady on his feet. Ivan offered his arm for support. It gave him a chance to look more closely at Fu-berry’s armor. His chest plate looked like a juicer bolt had nearly burned through, and multiple plasma impacts had gouged chunks from his helmet and chest plate. Ivan suggested that he sit for a bit, and after declining initially, agreed.

The Fott’s voice was thick with pain as he pointed to his thud gun lying on the deck and told Ivan, ‘Take a few shots. Once my head stops ringing, I’ll get it back.’ He pulled a few shells from his tactical vest and handed them to Ivan. ‘Take these. Both barrels load from the bottom. They’re just like a regular pump shotgun in that. Remember, she kicks like an old mule.’

Gingerly, Ivan picked up the thud gun. He didn’t really know the idiosyncrasies of the weapon, but it felt a bit like one of the double barrel shotguns he had learned to shoot as a child. It was a bit heavier perhaps, but still similar in feel and balance. Hefting the weapon, he sighted in on the entry point of the Arachnid’s fatal wound. Remembering his earlier experience with the weapon, he changed the selector switch to single shot.

Because he didn’t want to get in Crowlye’s way, he decided he would join Angus behind the Arachnid corpse.

Picking his way through the remaining tangler wires to the corner, Ivan waited for Crowlye to lean out. As Crowlye fired, Ivan crawled behind the Arachnid’s body, using the tangle of wire and the Arachnid corpse for cover. When he raised himself to a crouch, he realized Hartrell’s team was nowhere to be seen. Selecting his team frequency, he commented, ‘Hartrell’s team is not here.’

‘Imagine that,’ Crowlye replied dryly over the general frequency. ‘Hartrell’s team shoots Fu-berry and then sneaks away quietly. Buncha cowards.’

Ivan waited for the bugs to focus their fire on Crowlye before taking a quick look. The two warrior bugs were laying down heavy suppressive fire with their paired hand weapons and body-mounted weapons pods. The other bug was in the gray technicians armor. It was sprawled on the deck and the other two were protecting it with their bodies. Ivan didn’t see much more. The nearer of the blue-armored bugs focused its fire on him and he had to duck back.

As he waited for a chance to take a shot, he heard a shriek of agony from one of the bugs. An instant later, the enemy blaster fire was reduced dramatically.. Popping his head out for a quick second, he saw the gray-armored bug writhing on the ground in what appeared to be its death throes. It had actually knocked over one of the blue-armored bugs. Taking advantage of the momentary lull in fire, Ivan raised the thud gun to his shoulder and stood enough to shoot over the dead Arachnid’s bulk. Flipping the selector switch to double shot, he leaned forward slightly, aimed for the fallen warrior bug’s head and triggered Fu-berry’s thud gun.

The thud gun bucked hard, but he was expecting the recoil. The blue-armored bug was trying to rise when Ivan’s shots impacted on its head. Stunned, it staggered and almost fell down again.

Ivan dropped behind the armored corpse. As he reloaded, slowly because of his unfamiliarity with the weapon, a long, pain-filled wail rang out. Whatever had happened seemed to antagonize and energize the bugs. He could hear two more shrieks join in. They sounded more like fury than pain, and they were getting closer. With a start, he realized the bugs were both charging, firing as they came. The blaster fire was random, and definitely intended to keep their heads down.

Crowlye yelled, ‘Fu-berry, a grenade.’

Fu-berry tossed him a frost grenade and took a tangler for himself.

Angus kicked Ivan’s leg to get his attention and bellowed, ‘Fire, they’re charging.’ He started to pop up to fire, but dropped down again as Crowlye bellowed, ‘Grenade.’

Crowlye and Fu-berry threw their grenades. Fu-berry threw short, but Crowlye dropped it just in front of the first Arachnid. The bugs shrieked as the frost grenade bathed them generously in liquid kayson, but they did not stop their charge.

Fu-berry’s grenade went off a few meters in front of the Arachnid corpse. Wires shot everywhere, and an instant later, the first Arachnid bellowed in fury as it was enmeshed in the metal fibers of the grenade.

The second bug did not stop. It was partly shielded by the bulk if its fellow, so the few wires that got past it did little to slow it. The Arachnid bulled its way into the tangle of wires, firing as it came.

Waiting until the fire was mostly directed toward Crowlye and the corner, Ivan popped up and fired instinctively. As he dropped back down again, he noted with satisfaction that after his shots, the tone of the bugs’ screeching shifted closer to that of the bug they had been protecting. He pulled two more of the shells for the thud gun from his leg cargo pouch. The first one slid into the receiver of the first barrel without issue, but he fumbled the second one in his haste to reload. The canister rolled out into the corridor away from the dead Arachnid’s carcass. For an instant, he couldn’t decide whether to try to reclaim the shell, or to get the last one from his pouch.

He was reaching into his cargo pouch for the last shell when he heard Angus yell. Glancing over, he saw Angus slump with a large gash burned in his helmet.

Ivan yelled, ‘Angus is down. Crowlye, hit those things with a grenade. I’m going to help Angus.’

He crawled toward Angus.

One of the Arachnids noticed the vibration in some of the wires and shifted its fire toward him. Several bursts splashed around him. Several of the wires whipped free as the blaster bolts cut them. One of the wires whacked Ivan across the back. He got to Angus and raised up slightly.

A burst of blaster fire glanced off his helmet and knocked Ivan to the ground. Stunned, it took him a few seconds to regain his composure. The deck was sliding around and he couldn’t determine which way was down. He was just regaining his wits when a burst of hand blaster fire hit the omega canister he had dropped. The canister detonated about a half a meter from his head.

Fu-berry had bought his thud gun for a variety of reasons. There is an old joke about rednecks and guns. The Fott were as red as they come, and since omega technology represented the biggest, newest, and best, it was natural for the rabbits to gravitate toward such weapons. The technology that it represented was a small part of what he liked about it. The Street Howitzer model he had chosen resembled a double barrel shotgun, both in appearance and in effect. The blast radius from a street howitzer shot spanned about two meters. It was a potent weapon, and when fired as intended, could knock down an Arachnid’s flux shield and penetrate its armor after just a few shots.

In this case, Ivan didn’t have a flux shield, and his armor was nowhere near Arachnid standard. The explosion was uncontrolled, and therefore unfocused, but the concussion still knocked him unconscious.

---

Ivan woke up slowly. He was lying on his back. Except for his helmet, his armor was still on. There was a stench in the air that brought to mind rotting flesh.

He opened his eyes-and shrieked. A ghoulish figure was hovering over him. Its skull-like face had open sores that oozed with some foul pus. Blood stained its blue robes. It looked like some Russian peasant legend come to life. His grandfather had described such things while sitting around the campfire during his childhood. Ghost stories were only fun as long as they remained untrue.

Ivan grabbed for his pistol. He was able to pop the tie-down before strong hands restrained him. He tried to fight, but he was too weak. He could offer little resistance to the hands that held his arm.

The ghoul clucked softly. ‘You have naught to fear from me, young one. I am your friend and not your foe.’

From his left, he heard Fu-berry’s gentle drawl. ‘He’s a Sye-man, Ivan. He has been tending to me and you and some of the others.’ The Fott chuckled softly. ‘You don’t get out much, do you?’

At Fu-berry’s voice, Ivan stopped struggling. Glancing to his left, he saw Fu-berry sitting on a folding camp chair. The fur above his eye had been shaved to expose a cut over his eye. It was sutured now, and clean, but dried blood ran down into the fur around his cheek. A large patch of fur was also shaved on his chest, and a bandage covered a wound. The chest plate of his armor was on the floor at his feet. There were multiple impact craters burned into it, but only one appeared to have penetrated.

The Fott asked, ‘How are you feeling?’

Ivan set his head back down. The room was beginning to sway a bit. After his fright, he had a case of the shakes.

It appeared that he was in one of the maintenance bays in the engineering tunnels. Glancing down between his feet, he saw a lighted tunnel similar to the one they had used when the bugs made their grab for the Bridge. Weakly he moved his hands to feel what he was lying on. It felt like a section of the pierced decking often found in engineering sections of starships.

‘I’m weak and my head hurts, but aside from that I don’t feel too bad. I’m not in a lot of pain. I am alive.’

‘I am pleased.’ The Sye-man’s voice was raspy and sounded as though he was out of breath. He bowed at the neck. ‘I am Aagimusinatinado. Please call me Aagi.’

He put a bony hand on Ivan’s forehead. The bones were very prominent, but when Aagi actually touched him, Ivan realized the Sye-man did have skin. It was thin. Ivan could feel and almost see his bones through the skin-and smooth, almost like touching paper. The Sye-man’s touch was gentle, and once Ivan got used to the feel, the warmth of Aagi’s hand was not unpleasant.

‘You had a severe concussion. I have repaired most of the damage, though you may still find yourself dizzy if you do anything swiftly.’

Ivan thanked him and asked Fu-berry, ‘What happened?’

Fu-berry shrugged, and then winced as the movement shifted his wound. Careful not to move his arms too much, he gently rested his hand on his chest. Motioning a request for Ivan to give him a minute, Fu-berry breathed slowly and carefully. Finally, he replied.

‘How much do you remember?’

Ivan thought for a minute.

‘Not much. I remember shooting at a bug in an intersection, but that’s about it.

Fu-berry chuckled. ‘You have missed a bit. We killed the bug, and then a couple of those idiots from Hartrell’s team opened fire and hit me. They claim I looked like a bug. The juicer pierced my armor, but my auto-doc kept me going until Angus and Crowlye could get me to Aagi.’

‘You’re okay? What happened to Hartrell and his team?’

Fu-berry wrinkled his nose distastefully. ‘They disappeared. I think they were scared of Crowlye.’ In afterthought he added, ‘They’re probably wise. He was extremely upset about that.’

‘Were there other bugs?’

Fu-berry nodded. ‘Three others, but they’re dead. We killed two before reinforcements came, and Arash-ican slew the last warrior bug in hand-to-hand combat. He got shot up a bit, but he is one tough SwordSaint.’

Ivan thought about that for a second. There was something wrong, but…

‘Oh. What happened to the fourth bug?’

‘We don’t know,’ Fu-berry told him. ‘We checked it out and it didn’t have a serious wound on its body.’ He allowed a note of satisfaction to enter his voice. ‘Whatever it was, I wish the rest of them would do the same. It would make everyone’s life easier.’

‘So the bugs are all dead?’ Ivan asked. ‘The ship is free?’

Fu-berry shook his head. ‘No, just that one group. Bishop is busy fighting them still. Four of the original six have apparently been able to withdraw back to the shuttle bay. I understand Rudeski is working on a plan to attack the shuttle bay.’

Ivan paused. He didn’t really want to ask his next question, but he felt he needed to.

‘Did we lose anyone?’

Fu-berry started to reply, but hesitated. Ivan didn’t like that. He braced himself for bad news. ‘Are Angus and Crowlye are okay?’

The Fott, nodded, but Ivan detected a note of uncertainty in his voice.

‘Crowlye’s fine, but Angus is in surgery. He got shot in the head, and while his helmet stopped a lot of it, he lost a chunk of his skull. We’ll have to see how he comes out. He’s going to be in therapy for a long time. One of Rudeski’s men got pounded pretty badly. Aagi helped as much as he could and they got him to the medical bay as fast as they could. I haven’t heard anything further. Everyone else who was hit was pretty much walking wounded. As uncoordinated as this was, we got real lucky. This could have been a disaster.’

Ivan nodded soberly. ‘I know.’

Aagi came over and gently laid a hand on Ivan’s forehead. ‘Rest. You must regain your strength. When you awaken, I will have food for you.’

Ivan heard Aagi mutter something and suddenly felt himself dropping into a gentle, blissful slumber.

It was the rumbling of his stomach that woke him. Ivan lay there for a few minutes, just trying to regain his strength. He felt extremely shaky and weak, as though he hadn’t eaten in days. For all he knew, it had been days.

He was in a room very similar to the one where Rudeski had debriefed Fu-berry and him after their rescue. Shelves with equipment lined the walls. He was the only one in the room, though several other makeshift beds were set up.

He shifted to a more comfortable position. It was odd. Aagi had not taken off his armor. Ordinarily, sleeping in battle armor was not extremely comfortable, but he had been so tired it didn’t matter. He had been wearing his armor for a while, and from the smell, he needed a shower desperately.

The door slid open and Aagi walked in.

‘How do you feel?’ he asked. He laid a gentle hand on Ivan’s forehead.

Ivan grinned weakly. ‘Hungry. Is there any way I can get something to eat?’

Aagi smiled. Ivan noticed that he no longer found Aagi’s appearance terrifying. As ghoulish and evil as his appearance may have been, his peaceful nature put all fears to rest. ‘I will bring food to you.’

Ivan thanked him and asked, ‘How long have I been out?’

‘Sixteen hours,’ Aagi replied.

‘How are Angus and Fu-berry?’

The Sye-man nodded. ‘Fu-berry is fine. He is assisting in the fight to finish off the few remaining Arachnids.’

Ivan lifted his head slightly. ‘There are only a few remaining?’

The possibility that they could beat the bugs excited him. For the first time in his life, the cliché about the weight of the world lifting from his shoulders made sense to him. He was going to live.

He had heard tales of fighting the bugs from his grandfather and brother, and he didn’t fully believe it was possible to beat them. He had not been willing to give up - the Golobitskis were not given to quitting just because the odds were against them - but he had fully expected to die. He could feel the tension that had filled him the moment the Cizerack had told him of the bugs flow out of his body. He exhaled in relief.

‘Yes, there are only three left.’ Aagi told him. ‘Lieutenant Rudeski and the others are engaging them right now in the Shuttle Bay. We don’t expect them to last much longer.’

‘Good’ Ivan rested his head against the deck plating that served as his bed. ‘I’m glad to hear that.’

Aagi was about to leave the room when Ivan realized that Aagi had never answered his question about Angus. His euphoria evaporated, Ivan asked, ‘Aagi? What happened to Angus?’’

Aagi slowly turned and regarded Ivan sadly for a minute before shaking his head. ‘I am sorry Ivan, but he is dead. The damage to his head was to great for me to save him with the ship’s medical facilities.’ He added, ‘Dr. Rolowanthe could not do much either. Angus’ body has been placed in cryo, but we can do nothing more. It is possible more may be done in a more complete medical facility, but not here.’

Ivan fought back tears. He tried to accept it, but it was hard. He had not known Angus long, but he had grown to like the man. He was a good officer. Ivan appreciated the fact that Angus had given him a chance to redeem himself in his own eyes.

Aagi left him alone. How long he lay there with the tears flowing he didn’t know, but he gradually realized that he could hear voices out in the main Engineering section. Earlier, he couldn’t hear anything. Glancing at the door more closely, he noticed the fade line in the paint where the door usually closed was about three inches from the edge of the door. It wasn’t visibly open, but Aagi had left it open enough for him to hear outside the room.

The voices he heard grew louder. Aagi’s voice was distinctive. The other voice, though soft, held a note of menace.

‘I don’t care what you think you are doing, you have no right to...’

Aagi interrupted him. ‘I have every right. You seem to think no one can see through your machinations. You forget my people knew yours from long ago, and we have taken precautions. Every one of the mercenaries wounded here is no longer in danger from your arts. They will not be your pawns when your plans come to fruition.’

The Zen’s voice, usually so gentle, took on a harsh edge. ‘Surely you realize by telling me this, you have given me reason to kill you. Why do you reveal this to me? What do you hope to accomplish?’

Aagi said nothing for a few seconds. Finally, he told the Zen, ‘I have already accomplished what I set out to do. Ponder my offer. You are not completely corrupt yet. You can still be saved from your folly.’

Before the doctor could say anything further, Aagi told him, ‘Now go and take care of your patients. I must take these sandwiches to one of the mercenaries.’

The Zen snarled, ‘You will experience the penalty for your folly, Sye-man.’

Ivan felt chills going down his spine at the hatred in the Zen doctor’s voice. The Zen Rigeln as a people were known for their pacifism. There was a group of criminals known as the Tza Zen who were noted for their cruelty, but they were hunted down in the sole example of Zen Rigeln violence. Even with the realization that the doctor was Tza, to hear a Zen make the kind of vicious threats he would have expected from a Phentari scared him. He was going to have difficulty trusting the good doctor.

The door slid fully open and Aagi entered with a tray of sandwiches and a glass with a clear fluid in it. Ivan assumed it would be water.

When the door clicked shut behind him, Ivan asked, ‘What was that about?’

Aagi very deliberately winked at him. It was a very unnatural act for him.

‘Just remember, things are not always as they seem. Even those who seem to be your closest friend can be your enemy, and the enemy you try to kill today, may protect you tomorrow. Keep that in mind, Ivan.’

Wide-eyed, Ivan watched him set the tray down. ‘What are you talking about?’ Another realization struck him. ‘You meant for me to hear your conversation with the doctor, didn’t you?’

Aagi smiled. ‘You must eat and regain your strength. You must be strong enough for what you will face.’

‘What do you know about what I am to face? Is that why I’m still in my armor.’

Aagi shook his head. ‘That is all the more warning I am able to give. I know a storm is coming, but like any storm, specifics will reveal themselves. Your race seems weak, but they have strengths few see. Arash-ican is beginning to notice this, so I have hope for the Eridani. His deeds here will gain him the audience he needs to make known his discoveries. If you survive, warn your people. Let them know they stand on the brink of disaster. They must prepare for the future.’

Ivan watched him uncertainly. ‘What does Arash-ican know of this? He gave me a similar warning at the beginning of the cruise.’

Aagi shook his head. ‘I don’t know. Anyone who is perceptive and knows to watch can see the signs. They are apparent. Be wary. Prepare yourself. I will not speak of this any further at this time.’

He turned, but Ivan asked, ‘Is that why I’m still in my armor?’

Aagi turned back to him and regarded him silently for a few seconds. With a gentle nod, he turned and walked out, leaving a very confused Ivan pondering his warning.

Over the next few hours, Ivan regained his strength rapidly. He slept most of the time, but pondered Aagi’s words when he was awake. He had heard of, but never experienced the healing abilities of Sye-man or a Zen Rigeln doctors, so it still came as a shock to him when he was able to sit up without dizziness or weakness. According to his wrist chronometer, it had been about three hours since Aagi had last been in. He was refreshed despite the fact he was still in his armor.

Ivan sat up. He was still in the room he had awakened in earlier. Glancing around, he noticed his FN/Fal and helmet were nowhere in sight. From Sergei’s comments from the one time he was hit, Ivan had expected to have all of his weapons removed. He was somewhat surprised that his Glock, Scorpion, fighting knife, and kindjal were still in their respective holsters and sheathes. He was not going to complain. That meant there were four fewer things to track down. He even had the tangler grenade Fu-berry had given him earlier.

For a minute or two, he debated the possibility of staying in the room and playing sick. He did not want to go back into the fight. He had already been shot once, and though his helmet had absorbed the damage, he just did not want to go back in.

That was when two things struck him. Fu-berry had been hit hard twice. He and Crowlye were still out there risking their lives. Ivan was alive because of them. If he didn’t go back out, he would be breaking faith with them. The second thing he realized was that he would disgrace himself again. He was a Golobitski. Even if no one else knew of his cowardice, he would know. Ivan had run twice before, and even though he had gone back into the fight, he would live with that for the rest of his life. He would not - could not - disgrace his family again by failing in his duty to his comrades.

He pulled out his kindjal and tested the razored outer edge with his thumb. It felt good in his hand. Holding the blade always brought back the memory of his grandfather and the pride he felt in presenting Ivan with his old blade. The older man, still vigorous even in his old age, had invited Ivan to walk with him in the woods behind their house. As they walked, he had recounted to Ivan the tales of the Golobitskis’ who had carried the knife before him. The old soldier had been so proud of him then. When they had embraced at the spaceport as Ivan was leaving to go to basic training, he had commended Ivan to the Trinity and urged him to fight with honor and courage as he and his fathers had.

Ivan sheathed the knife slowly. After whispering a prayer for guidance and courage, he stood and walked outside. He loved his grandfather and was determined to live up to his charge.

Outside, there was no one in the engineering section. Glancing around in bewilderment, he finally noticed Deron alone in the Auxiliary Bridge. He was slouched way down in a chair, almost as though he were trying to hide. Walking to the door, Ivan buzzed for admittance.

Deron jumped and looked around frantically. Seeing Ivan by the door, he keyed the intercom and asked, ‘Ivan, is that you?’ His words were slow, and a trifle slurred.

He sounded haggard and looked worse. His face was pale and his eyes had bags under them. His long black hair was pony-tailed, but several strands had escaped and were hanging in his eyes. The gray t-shirt he was wearing had sweat stains under the arms. Deron rubbed his eyes. ‘Where did you come from? Where have you been?’

The question confused Ivan. Glancing back at the equipment room he had awakened in, he replied, ‘I have been recovering in there. Why?’

‘Say that again?’

Ivan repeated himself.

‘What time is it?’

‘What?’ Deron’s question confused him. There were chronometers all over the Auxiliary Bridge.

With studied patience, Deron repeated his question.

Ivan glanced at his chronometer. ‘It is 03:08 hours. Why.’

Deron pointed to a clock on the wall. Ivan glanced at it. The time read 13:43.

As the significance of the time difference began to dawn on Ivan, Deron told him, ‘I checked that room about three hours ago. You weren’t there.’

It took Ivan a few seconds to digest this. Finally, he told Deron, ‘I couldn’t move, Deron. I was asleep until a few minutes ago.’

Deron looked at him suspiciously. ‘How can you prove you are who you say you are?’ He picked up a cup from the floor beside his chair and took a long sip. He glanced at it distastefully as he put it down.

Ivan thought for a second. ‘Can you replay the security footage and see what happened?’

With a nod, Deron turned and sat down. He sat there watching the screen for a few minutes. Finally, he stood. ‘I have one question to ask you. How old were you when your appendix was removed?’

‘I have never had my appendix removed.’

For a brief instant, Ivan feared Deron would not believe him. He didn’t understand what was going on, and to have Deron acting so skittish scared him. If everyone was gone and Deron was alone in here, things had gotten very desperate indeed.

With a sigh of relief, Deron relaxed visibly. ‘Thank God. You’re the first friendly face I’ve seen in about five hours. I lost radio contact with everyone about three hours ago.’

‘What happened? Where is Rudeski? Where are the others?’

Deron shrugged. The motion was totally lacking in energy. He looked exhausted.

‘The last I talked with him, Rudeski was directing the assault on the shuttle bay. Everyone else was with him. They moved the wounded up to the infirmary about six hours ago. I can see people in the security system, but I can’t contact anyone through any of the headsets or portable communications gear. The ship’s intercom works intermittently. I’ve talked to Ratoloth on the Bridge, and he’s been relaying messages for me.’

Ivan was completely confused. Aside from the lack of communications, admittedly a bad sign, it sounded like things were going well. He couldn’t see Rudeski leaving the command center unless the bugs were all in one location. The fact that the wounded had been moved from the safety of engineering to the infirmary suggested that Rudeski was confident of a victory. One thing that scared him was the barely suppressed panic he could detect in Deron’s voice. Earlier, the calm in Deron’s voice had helped Ivan remain calm during the worst of the fighting.

‘You look exhausted. What’s wrong? It sounds like things are going fairly well.’

Deron laughed humorlessly. ‘You’d think so, wouldn’t you. I thought it was going well until about two hours ago. The last time I talked to Rudeski, he told me to shut down the power to the Shuttle Bay’s equipment and parts storage room. He had the bugs contained there. They had killed one of the bugs by attacking from the main door, and then opening fire from the engineering tunnels. He told me they noticed that only two of the bugs were returning fire, but no one had hit the third bug.

He said that big Eridani, Rahash-aikan did some crazy Eridani thing where his spirit left his body so he could recon the storage room. When he came out of his trance, he was babbling that the bugs had opened one of the power conduits and the third bug was doing something with the conduit and a metal rod.

Ivan asked, ‘Was it Arash-ican who did the spirit thing?’

There was satisfaction in Deron’s tone as he told him, ‘That’s it. He’s the one.’

For an instant, Ivan had the impression he had passed some sort of test. Deron seemed to warm slightly, as though he had finally recognized Ivan as a friend. His expression was less grim, and Ivan noticed that his shoulders had relaxed. The tone of his voice had lightened slightly also, as though he were relieved about something.

‘Anyway, Arash-ican saw the bug working and he actually sounded scared when he came out of it. He told me to shut down all power running through the equipment room. I did so.’ He shook his head in disbelief. ‘I never thought I’d live to see the day that an Eridani showed fear.’

‘A few seconds after I shut down the power and the lights in the storage room, I lost contact with Rudeski, Bishop, Hicks, and everyone fighting. I could contact people from the ship’s crew, but everyone engaged with the bugs was out of communication.’

‘I began to worry, and then when I was running a visual security scan, I saw a bug walking around on the next deck up. I couldn’t contact Rudeski, so I let the bridge know. Ratoloth had someone go down and check on Rudeski and his team. They were still engaged with the bugs in the storage room. What was odd was they never noticed anything. They were able to talk among themselves as though nothing happened.’ He shook his head in confusion. ‘I don’t understand it.’

Ivan stood there and pondered what he had just been told. It was certainly odd.

Finally he gave up trying to figure it out. ‘Do you know where the bug is now?’

‘No.’ Deron shook his head. ‘It was making its way toward this section, but I promptly lost it. It almost appeared to go into the wall. My first thought was there was a glitch in the security sensors, but when I ran the diagnostics, they check out.’

Ivan asked, ‘Is it possible that you may have seen an illusion? After almost having my head blown off in an imaginary rocket attack, I am suspicious of everything that doesn’t seem …’ He trailed off as Deron shook his head.

‘With the rockets, I never saw anything. I saw this bug. I got a full spectrum sensor read on this one.’ After a moment of thought, he added, ‘Of course, if what I saw was real, then we have a whole new series of challenges. You’ve heard of a Molecular Dispersion Device, haven’t you?’ Deron asked him.

Ivan shook his head.

‘I’ve used one to access a restricted area in a…’ He grinned. ‘Actually, that’s not important. What is important is I’ve seen Odo do the same thing.’ In response to Ivan’s blank look, he added, ‘He’s the Mutzachan on our team. He was able to open a wall so we could walk through. He saved our butts. Maybe the bug did the same thing.’

‘If that is the case, then we have to be sure we guard the Auxiliary Bridge. You’ll want to alert the main Bridge also. Are you armed?’

Deron shrugged and pointed toward the console he had been sitting at. ‘I have a .38 revolver and two speed loaders. Aside from that, I have a brace of throwing knives. ’

Ivan looked dubiously toward the console Deron had pointed to. ‘No offense, but I don’t think a .38 is going to do much. I have a 9mm pistol and submachine gun. I can loan you the pistol.’ He glanced down at his Scorpion. ‘My FN/Fal would be nice to have right now. Ineffective against bug armor maybe, but nice.’

‘Oh.’ Deron’s exclamation got his attention. ‘The good news is the bug is unarmored, and as far as I can see, unarmed.’

Ivan brightened considerably. ‘That is good news. We may have a chance to kill it.’ He asked again, ‘Would you like me to loan you one of my pistols? Personally, I’d rather not rely on a .38.’

Deron shook his head. ‘Thanks but no. I’m familiar with my .38. I’d rather stick with that. Besides, ‘ his tone became grim once again, ‘the bug has to get through you. I’d rather give you as much firepower as I can.’ He spread his hands helplessly. ‘Sorry.’

Ivan nodded without enthusiasm. ‘I know.’ He pulled his Scorpion machine pistol. It had a higher rate of fire than his Glock, but it didn’t have quite the same penetration. After thinking about it for a second or two, he pulled his Glock also. He started to look around Engineering when another thought occurred to him.

‘Deron. Do you have any idea why the bug is unarmored? It doesn’t make any sense to me.’

Deron shook his head. ‘I’m clueless.’

Nodding pensively, Ivan asked, ‘Would you be willing to go back through the security footage and see what you can find out about the bug that Fu-berry killed by the First Class lobby? It wasn’t armored either, and it was near some fighting that literally blasted walls down.’

‘I’ll see what I can find.’ Deron replied dubiously. ‘I don’ t know that I’ll find anything really worthwhile, but it’ll give me something to do besides brooding.’

As Ivan moved around the Engineering section, Deron went back to his seat. He used the security sensors to be sure Ivan was not observing him before he sent a text-based memo to Rudeski. The system was old-fashioned but effective. It took his speech and sent it in a text form. He had been careful not to say anything that was not strictly accurate to Ivan. When he and Rudeski had figured out that the communications gear was not working, Deron was able to rig up a portable text messaging system with one of the crew-issued personal computer systems they had found in the Engineering bay. Rudeski could stay in touch with Deron, and Deron could stay in touch with everyone else for him.

‘Did you catch all of that?’ Deron had set up the system to record and send his whole conversation with Ivan.

Rudeski told him that he had.

‘I don’t believe the bug is impersonating the kid.’ Deron spoke slowly for the system. It was a quick fix he had cobbled together, so there were still limitations. Sometimes it translated the speech coherently and sometimes it didn’t.

‘He accepted my explanation that I hadn’t spoken to you in hours.’

‘It’s true. You haven’t,‘ came Rudeski’s terse reply a few seconds later.

Even though Rudeski couldn’t see him, Deron nodded out of habit. An instant later, he arrested the motion. It would be bad for Ivan to glance over and see him reacting to nothing. He might assume that Deron was speaking to the bridge, but better to be too cautious than not cautious enough.

‘I still don’t like the idea of not telling him what is going on. I’m acting as bait willingly. He has no clue. He seems game enough. I hate the thought that he might be killed and have no idea what was happening.’

‘He’s a merc,’ came Rudeski’s unworried reply. ‘He’s used to the idea of dying and not knowing why.’

‘I still don’t like it.’

Judging from the speed the words of Rudeski’s reply scrolled across the display and occasional out of context word, Deron suspected he was yelling.

‘I don’t care what you like. I have several hundred civilians and Mich…Mike to protect.’ The speed of the words being displayed slowed as Rudeski reined in his temper. ‘I don’t care what you like and don’t like. You’ll do as you’re ordered.’

Deron cut off the send function. ‘I still don’t have to like it.’

He went back to monitoring the security systems. He had a bug to catch.

In the meantime, Ivan was moving around the Engineering section figuring out possible firing positions. It was an exercise intended more to occupy his mind than for any practical purpose. Any attack would probably be too rapid to make use of such planning.

As he poked round the worktables, he found a bright yellow engineers protective helmet with multi-spectrum visor and air filters. After a second of consideration, he decided to put it on. It was unlikely to protect his head as much as his helmet had, but it would allow him to see in the dark or whatever conditions he might find himself in.

He was covering the yellow engineering helmet with some black electrical tape he had found when Deron called him on the intercom. Ivan made his way to the Auxiliary Bridge.

‘I found something interesting,’ Deron told Ivan. ‘That bug that Fu-berry shot actually took its armor off. It was a technician, according to what Crowlye said. Its armor was gray. It found this rod on a chain in one of the cabins…’

Deron paused. The suite number was familiar. He couldn’t remember where he had seen it. On a whim, he ran through the passenger roster and found that it had been assigned to one Rollo Royce. Jade Circuit, their original quarry, had gone by that alias. The bugs were after something Jade had.

‘It was in our target’s cabin.’

Deron reran the footage.

‘It took off its armor after it found the rod and did something…I can’t tell what. The whole room blurs. Anyway, the other bugs died to give it time to find and use the rod. After it found the rod, it took off its armor, and touching only the chain, it displaced.’

‘When I found it again, about thirty-five minutes had passed and it had reappeared in a corridor about twenty-five meters toward the aft. It displaced like this twice and was gone for a bit under two hours each. That was shortly before it ran into you and Fu-berry.’

He grinned. ‘Now this is where it gets interesting. About twenty minutes after you left that bug, another bug found the remains and searched it. The technician that found the cylinder took off its armor before it picked up and carried that cylinder back to the Shuttle Bay.’

Ivan thought about that for a minute. ‘So they don’t touch the cylinder, but they are able to displace.’ Looking intently at Deron he asked, ‘Do you know whether they are somehow using the cylinder to displace?’

Deron shook his head. ‘I can’t tell you. It seems to me they don’t, but who can say what they can and can’t do?’ He took another sip of coffee. He spit it out promptly. Wiping his lips with a napkin, he added, ‘That’s the best I can do for you.’

Ivan thanked him and went back to taping the helmet. As he was checking the helmet, he decided to holster his Glock and use the tangler grenade. He figured that the tangler might slow the bug up long enough for him to empty his pistols into it. It wasn’t a good solution, but it was the best he could come up with.

As he walked around, he noticed an engineering tunnel he had not seen before at the back of the Engineering bay. Judging from the door, the tunnel was smaller than the other tunnels they had used earlier. It was sealed, but he could feel the hair on the back of his neck rising. Something felt wrong about it. He went back to the Auxiliary Bridge and got Deron’s attention.

‘Where does that tunnel lead?’ He asked.

Deron grinned at the taped helmet Ivan had pulled on, but said nothing. He glanced at the ship’s schematics displayed on one monitor. ‘That’s the engine access tunnel.’ He flipped through the security sensors in the tunnel. ‘It’s clear.’

Ivan thought about that for a second. ‘You said the bugs in the storage room had a power conduit open?’

Deron nodded.

‘What if it’s in there?’ He pointed to the engine access tunnel. ‘It would have access to all the power that it needs, and it may be able to walk through the walls and avoid us.’

As he spoke, Ivan realized he really needed to check the tunnel. His grandfather had always told him to listen to his gut. He was getting a very bad feeling about that tunnel.

‘I’m going to check it out.’

Deron, who had set up the memo system to transmit to Rudeski, saw Rudeski’s comment that Ivan might be the bug after all and that he was going to alert the Reavers.

They had agreed that it was a safe bet that it would try for the engines, but they had expected an actual attack. That was the Arachnid way usually, but this bug had proven to be far cannier than they would have expected.

In anticipation of an assault, Rudeski had positioned the remaining members of his Reavers in the Engineering tunnels close by the Engineering bay. Bishop was in charge of the Reavers so Rudeski could remain in the shuttle bay with the remaining nine mercenaries and keep the bugs there pinned down.

Rudeski commed Bishop, ‘Be ready. Ivan is going to head into the engine access tunnels. We don’t know if it’s Ivan or the bug, but if it is the bug, then you’ll have to move fast.’

Bishop sneered, ‘The bug won’t know what hit it.’

‘I know I don’t have to tell you to watch your fire.’ Rudeski knew Bishop knew, but he wanted to remind him. Bishop could be a bit overenthusiastic in his application of firepower. A few poorly placed plasma or laser bursts could do major damage to the ship’s engines.

‘Yes mother,’ Bishop snapped. ‘We’ve all done this before.’

Rudeski double-checked the frequency. It was on their personal channel. He sighed. He trusted his team, but he didn’t need any headaches caused by the team hearing Bishop’s insubordinate attitude. He was going to have to have another talk with his chief NCO. Bishop could be as hard to get along with as a Phentari sometimes.

In the tunnel, Bishop turned to the rest of the team. ‘Final check. We’ll be going in soon.’

As the Reavers checked their gear, Bishop glanced at his greatly reduced team. Hicks was checking the connections of Bardish-ican’s back-mounted power pack. He was second in line only because Bardish-ican always demanded to be first. Hicks was a survivor. Before he had seen Hicks fight, he thought the man was a coward. He came out of the most hellacious firefights without a scratch, but it wasn’t because he wasn’t active. He was generally the last one to disengage.

Bardish-ican, as always, was ready to go. His pulse cannon was fully charged and ready. His armor was pitted in places, but fully functional. The Cizerack, Kaash, was checking Odo’s gear. The small Mutzachan was adjusting the fit of his tactical vest. For a race of egotistical blabbermouths, the terse little melon head was a welcome addition to the team. Bishop hated beings who couldn’t shut up.

He got the thumbs up from everyone, and they waited. They all knew what Deron had volunteered to do. Some of them actually liked their cyber-jockey. Bishop didn’t want to lose a valuable resource. He had gained some inkling of respect for the small human when Deron had volunteered to act as bait for the bug, but it was very small indeed. The human was more of a liability than an asset most of the time.

Bishop couldn’t help but wish that Jean-Luc were here. Not only was the big Ram Python a strong ally in a fight, but he always had a way of making some innocent comment that the rest of the team would find uproariously funny. Often that tension release made a difference in the team’s performance. Bishop did not allow himself the luxury of sentimentality, but he still wished Jean Luc were here.

Bishop glanced at Hicks. He could see the man’s eyes narrowed in concentration and concern. Hicks and Deron had developed a close friendship in the six months Deron had been with the team.

Hopefully the signal would come soon. Bishop hated waiting.

Ivan gritted his teeth as the tunnel doors grated open. It was obvious that nothing had come in that way. Small clouds of dust were kicked up as the tunnel pressure equalized. He had tensed with the noise, but, as he started his relaxation exercises, he realized it was getting easier for him to relax under pressure. Ivan couldn’t help but grin. Something told him the pre-bout nerves he always got at a fencing tournament were a thing of the past. Setting his visor to multi-scan, he started down the corridor.

‘Can you see me?’ he asked Deron.

‘No,’ Deron told him. ‘I don’t see anything on the tunnel sensors. As far as they are concerned, you aren’t there.’ He added, ‘I am picking you up clearly on the Engineering bay sensors though.’

Deron’s statement didn’t make Ivan feel any better. It suggested that his feeling might be correct. This was one time that Ivan would have preferred to be wrong.

‘Maybe this dark tape will work after all. Nothing like trying to sneak up on a bug with a brilliant yellow beacon on your head. I’m just glad we aren’t fighting moth men or something.’

Ivan intended to make a joke, but it came out flat. Somehow, trying to sneak up on an Arachnid armed only with a pair of 9mm pistols, a pair of knives, and a tangler grenade made jesting difficult.

The visor on the helmet gave him a vivid picture of the interior of the tunnel. It was wide enough for two men to walk side by side, and high enough for him to have to jump to touch the lowest of the myriad of pipes and tubes that made up the curve of the ceiling. Instrument clusters and control panels jutted slightly into the tunnel for the ten meters the tunnel ran before curving to the right. Small red lights provided the faint illumination that lit the tunnel. Ivan was thankful for the visor on the helmet. It made the whole tunnel seem like daylight.

From farther up the tunnel, he heard a clank, and then a loud, ringing clang. A blue glow began to emanate from around the corner.

Moving quickly but quietly, Ivan moved to the corner. He had the tangler grenade in his right hand. Shooting the Scorpion with his left hand was not too difficult. He practiced regularly with it, but even if he had did not, the Scorpion’s high rate of fire would have practically guaranteed a hit. Throwing a grenade with his left hand was a different story. Despite all his practice, he still did not have confidence in his ability to throw accurately. The right hand corner would make it difficult to throw, and would probably require him to expose his entire body. He was not happy about that.

Using some pipes for cover, he cautiously peered around the corner. What he saw made hair on the back of his neck stood up.

The Arachnid was near the far end of the tunnel. It was facing the side of the tunnel. The blue glow that Ivan saw cast horrific shadows, making it truly a creature of nightmares. For a minute, Ivan thought it was holding a ball of brilliant blue light, but as his visor adjusted to the increased light, he saw that it had taken the cover off of one of the ship’s main power conduits. The blue glow came from some arcane device - with a start, Ivan recognized the cylinder he had seen the unarmored bug carrying by the shuttle bay. The cylinder was levitating on arcs of blue energy that were extending from the open conduit. Remembering what Fu-berry had said about the conduits shutting down when they were breached, Ivan shivered. The bug had a way of keeping the fail-safes from kicking in and shutting down the conduit. He remembered the hall by First Class and shivered again.

Ivan suddenly realized the tangler grenade was a terrible idea. Fu-berry had told him about his friend who had wired a current into the grenade to make it a sort of taser weapon. The last thing he wanted to do was to throw his grenade near an open power conduit. His armor, and he suspected the engineering helmet, were more or less non-conductive, but he didn’t want to test that theory.

Ivan secured the grenade and pulled out his Glock He was beginning to have doubts about his ability to stop the bug. If it could bath in the kind of energy that the ship’s engines could generate without ill effect, he had serious doubts that his puny 9mm pistols would be of much…

He saw movement from the corner of his eye. As he turned to look back up the tunnel, something massive and heavy slammed into him. The impact lifted him off his feet and threw him against the far side of the tunnel. Lights exploded in his eyes and his ears rang. Something in the side of his chest snapped and a sharp pain shot took his breath. He hit the floor of the tunnel and pain exploded in his head, side, and left knee. With a whimper, he tried to roll, but he was picked up and flung further up the tunnel.

He hit headfirst. Pieces of the visor drove themselves into his face and eyes. Ivan tried to shake his head clear, but as he lifted his head, the pain became blinding. He screamed with agony. His face was wet and he couldn’t see. Pain flared every time he breathed. Tears mixed with blood as he tried to figure out which way was up.

Rough hands grabbed him a third time, but this time, they shoved him to the side. Dimly, through his pain he was aware of something moving past him. The crackling of the arcs from the power conduit grew in volume. He dimly heard the chittering of the bug though he was aware only of pain.

Time lost meaning for him, but finally he became aware of something other than agony. He was dying, and his mission was unaccomplished. He had to stop the bug. His guns were gone, and he couldn’t see to fight it with his kindjal. His left arm wouldn’t move.

Ivan moaned as the bones of his right arm grated against each other, but he groped painfully for some weapon to use among the various sheathes and holsters on his armor. Finally, his hand traced its almost uncomprehending way across his chest. It felt a rounded object. Operating on instinct that the hard cylinder would hurt his enemy, Ivan found the activation stud. He palmed it. His broken thumb lacked strength to push it in.

Time continued. Ivan screamed as the tangler grenade exploded on his chest, but before the first gasp left his lungs, he was unconscious.

Deron had monitored Ivan’s progress through the Engineering bay’s sensors. Everything looked fine as he moved cautiously up the tunnel. Ivan got to the corner without incident. Then the motion sensor returned a contact an instant before the bug lunged down from the ceiling. Deron didn’t have time to give Ivan any warning. Feeling completely helpless, Deron speared the button to open the Engineering Tunnel where the Reavers waited.

Calling Bishop, he exclaimed, ‘The bug’s got Ivan in the engine access tunnel.’ More calmly, he added, ‘Engineering is clear.’

The surviving Reavers burst into the Engineering bay the instant the tunnel door was wide enough to get through. They spread out along the walls and took cover. After verifying that the Engineering bay was secure, they sprinted along the walls toward the Engine access tunnel. Hicks and Bardish-ican used the control consoles as cover to get to the other side of the door.

They were queued up on either side of the open tunnel door and Bishop was giving the entry countdown when they heard an explosion. An instant later, they heard the crackle of a massive discharge of electricity. The lights went out and gravity began to fluctuate. The Reavers crouched as their visors adjusted for the lack of light. A faint odor of charring flesh wafted out of the tunnel. Odo began to float slightly in the reduced gravity, but Bishop pulled him back down.

An instant later, the emergency lights came back on.

‘Deron, report.’ Bishop’s command was more curt than usual. He hated fighting in an uncertain gravity field.

‘I’ve got nothing, but the security sensors never picked up Ivan as he went in. The main generator just went down and the automatic fire extinguishing gear was triggered, but there were no major fires. Oxygen in the tunnel is breathable, but I suspect its going to smell like something was burnt.’ He paused for a few seconds as he checked the ship’s condition monitor. ‘It looks like the power is stable again. The backups just came on. You should be okay.’ As an afterthought, he added, ‘From what the room’s sensors can see of the tunnel, it is clear to the corner.’

Bishop grumbled under his breath, but Deron couldn’t make out what he said. He was thankful for that.

The Reavers moved cautiously into the tunnel. The smell of burnt flesh was strong. Odo had point since he was the shortest. Bardish-ican took the second position and covered the top. Hicks monitored his motion sensor and was third. Kaash was fourth, and Bishop had rearguard.

As they got closer to the corner, Odo signaled for a stop. They all crouched.

‘Hicks, talk to me.’ Bishop’s tone was completely devoid of his usual anger.

‘No movement,’ came the terse reply.

‘Good. Odo go.’

Odo disappeared. A few seconds later, he said, ‘I’m by the corner. There are tangler wires extending from deeper into the tunnel. From the charring, it looks like they tapped into the engines. The wires are welded to the sides of the tunnel, but they are dead.’ The last statement sounded almost wistful.

‘Hicks,’ Odo asked, ‘any motion?’

‘Nothing.’

‘I’m advancing around the corner.’

Bardish-ican moved up to support him. Arachnids didn’t normally use grenades, and since their quarry was unarmed and unarmored, the danger was negligible, but the Reavers didn’t take chances.

About a minute later, Odo gave the all clear.

Bishop checked with Hicks for motion, and when he gave the clear, the rest of the team advanced with caution.

They stepped around the corner to a tunnel filled with wires. They were charred and fragile, and it took little effort to move through the tangle. About a quarter of the way from the far end was a portion of the charred husk of an Arachnid. Multiple wires had wrapped themselves around it. Several chunks of it had been blown along the tunnel, with its head, mouth open in a screech of pain or defiance, hanging from the ceiling.

Hicks whistled. The tunnel was a mess.

He asked, ‘Does anyone see what’s his name?’

Kaash moved past him and started nosing around by the epicenter of the wires. Suddenly she turned and stalked out of the tunnel. ‘He is there. There is blood in the air.’

Hicks pushed his way to the epicenter of the tangle of wires. Pushing them aside, he found a dirty, soot-covered suit of armor. ‘Here he is’ He knelt down and brushed off some of the ashes that covered the body. Pulling off the scorched engineering helmet, Hicks removed his armored gauntlet to check for a pulse. A second later, he bellowed, ‘Get Isaac down here. He is alive. He’s in bad shape, but his heart is still beating. We may still be able to save him…’