Warrior Chronicles 5: Warrior's Curse Read online

Liz interrupted, “George, if Bazal was able to communicate with you, you aren’t safe down there either. Especially with command codes.”

  “Agreed, Admiral. I believe we are safe, but until we know the extent of their abilities, I must disconnect from any ship which approaches their planet. I believe their telepathic range is limited however.”

  “Why do you think that?”

  “I removed vital information, including command codes, from my avatar and exposed it to the planet, Father. There was no indication it was compromised in any way.”

  “So what do you think the range of their telepathy would be? If they even have telepathy?”

  “I believe they are limited to the planet’s atmosphere,” George said. “But I do sense some sort of mental energy. The presence of it.

  Before Quinn, Cort, or Kimberly could say anything else, Liz addressed George. “George, so long as you are a part of my fleet, you are not to experiment on yourself or your avatar without permission from myself or your parents. Do you understand me?”

  George’s voice sounded truly contrite as he said, “Yes sir, Admiral Thoms. I’m sorry.”

  “General,” Quinn began. “We do need to establish George’s place in the chain of command.”

  Cort thought for a moment and said, “Yes we do. But we don’t have time to figure that out right now. George, within current parameters, you will take orders only from the senior staff. In this case, that is Admiral Thoms or her replacement, Colonel Faulks or her replacement, your mother, and me. You have no authority over anyone or any ship, except within those current parameters. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, Father. What if I receive conflicting orders?”

  “Use your best judgment.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  No one who heard the conversation had to figure out what Cort meant by the phrase or her replacement.

  “So what do we do to get down there?” Quinn asked. “We can’t do a suborbital drop. Since they don’t have meteors, it would attract too much attention.”

  “Could we warp to the planet’s surface?”

  “No, General,” Liz answered. “Blueshift of high energy particles at the front of the warp field would wreak havoc on anything at the destination locus.”

  “In English, Admiral?”

  Kim smiled. Cort was not a science buff and only followed enough of it to know how best to make war. She said, “There is a big boom wherever we arrive. In space we can mitigate it with shielding because of the shape of our warp field and how little matter there is, but in a planetary environment, even a short jump could ignite the atmosphere.”

  “That would be rather self-defeating,” Cort conceded sarcastically.

  “Our probes show a massive thunderstorm to the west of the largest population center,” Liz said. “We could descend slowly through the worst of the storm, drop your people, and get back out. You will be on your own until the party starts though. We can’t risk them seeing our ships until it’s too late for them to stop you.”

  “Where are the Jaifan signals coming from?”

  “One area to the east of the same city.” Liz highlighted a section of her holotable. The same area on a table in front of Cort lit up. “It appears to be a farm of some sort, but we can’t get close enough to tell for certain.”

  “So they are using our people for slave labor,” Cort speculated.

  “It would appear so, sir. But they may have moved humans to other areas. That could be an indoctrination or reception area. We only know what we have observed by way of the Jaifan transmitters.”

  “Okay. Quinn, we’re going in. Put everyone in CONDORs. Keep the Jaifans in reserve, but separate the old-broods out to take us down, and pilot shuttles when we start using them. I’m going up top to get into my HAWC.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “This is it, everyone. Let’s go get our people.”

  Eleven

  As the Kalashnikov lifted slowly back into the storm, Cort stood at edge of a open field, scanning the area. The grass around him had a strange purple hue. His scanners told him it was from a chlorophyll like chemical that aided in photosynthesis. The storm they’d used to camouflage their landing was moving across a low plain away from the city and night was approaching on the storm’s heels, so the Marines would have good cover for several hours.

  Quinn would take the lighter of the two CONDOR companies and scout the city, while Cort and his heavier company would move toward the site of the Jaifan signals. After performing weapons and systems checks, the two companies split up and began moving toward their objectives.

  Their first view of the presumed enemy came from one of Quinn’s people. She immediately fed the signal to Cort and the ships above. “Ares, this is Blenda. We have a visual on the city inhabitants. Sending feed now.”

  When Cort opened the window on his head-up-display, he said, “Once this starts, if it’s not human, it’s a target.”

  There were a dozen different species moving through the streets of the city, but the largest and most common race was the size of CONDORs, bipedal, and reptilian. They had long, thick tails like crocodiles, and their heads, shaped like small barrels, were topped with carapaces that resembled turtle shells. Wide set eyes and human-like teeth on the outside of their mouths gave them a truly disturbing countenance.

  The species, whose arms terminated in large hands with six talon-tipped fingers each, easily made up more than half of the aliens in the video feed.

  “Blenda, spread your battle line to the north of the city and observe until I have Alpha Company in position. Send everything you can to the ships, and study enemy behavior. I want to know everything we can by the time we are ready to go.”

  “Copy that.” Quinn started moving her people to comply with Cort’s orders.

  At the same time, Cort’s Alpha Company moved south and east around the city, heading for the source of the beacons.

  Once Quinn’s people were in place, she commed Cort again to talk about what they were seeing.

  “Ares, the lizards have to be the primary species. The structures are designed for them.”

  Quinn had proven herself a competent leader in both the attack back on Earth and in the Mars disaster, but he wondered about her combat instincts. “What does that tell you, Blenda?”

  “It means clearing the city is going to be a lot easier and a lot safer because CONDORs will fit everywhere. It also means that when we are done, we’ll have a beachhead in this universe. And sir, I want command of it. I’ve got nothing left back there.”

  “You’re getting way ahead of yourself, Colonel. We haven’t even got our people back yet.” Cort was happy that Quinn was thinking ahead, but he didn’t want her to start counting chickens just yet.

  “Sir, you and I both know that you have already considered it. Otherwise you wouldn’t have asked my opinion. This city is built for CONDOR size aliens. That makes it perfect for us. I’m not saying we have to wipe them out, but at the very least, we have to take this planet, if only to protect our universe. Am I missing something?”

  “No Quinn, you aren’t. We can’t close the wormholes, so we have to take or destroy this planet.”

  “We have to take it, General. If we destroy it, the wormhole still exists, and its terminus still exists. It’s better to control it. What we need to know is how to get back to the other universe. Until we know where that wormhole is and have control of it, this is just a one way trip. In regards to time anyway.”

  Cort was wading across a shallow, slow-moving river. There were three scout squads ahead of the platoon he was with, and the rest of the company was spread out behind them. The city stood several kilometers to their left. At least one Marine from every squad across both companies was also mapping the city with optical and tachyon scans. By the time everyone was in place, it was hoped the CONDORs would have a complete image of the area.

  “We’ll have to arm the sphere, either way. Liz could have punched a dozen holes in the damned thing. I don
’t think it was designed with defense in mind.”

  “I was thinking the same thing, sir. According to the fleet’s data, its only obvious purpose is to protect the planet from the black holes.”

  “I don’t get the physics, but that’s why we have to protect it. It’s a weakness defensively. If that sphere falls, the planet will be destroyed. So we can’t occupy it unless we can defend it.”

  “So you plan to keep it? Then I repeat, I want command. I’ve nothing left back there.”

  “I read in your file you were dating a squid back there,” Cort observed.

  Quinn sighed audibly. “Yes I was. Was being the operative word. He was a liaison officer on a Jaifan transport. He got pissed that I took this mission. When he found out I was going to be gone for a while, he jumped the gun. I stopped by his quarters to uh, say goodbye, but he was there with another woman.”

  “I’m sorry Quinn.”

  “Don’t be. I’m better off. He wanted kids; I don’t. It was just a matter of time before he found someone who would reprogram her synthetics for him. It wasn’t going to be me.”

  “I see.”

  “When your wife came through, I checked George’s core. He’s out of the service, has two kids on the way by two women, and is living with another. I dodged a plasma charge for damned sure.”

  “Sounds like it. Okay, send a burst transmission to the fleet. While they’re diddling themselves up there, they can start working on how to defend the sphere. Inside and out. I anticipate Alpha Company being in place by dawn, I’ll comm you then.”

  “Yes, sir. Blenda, out.”

  “Wait.” Cort was curious. “Why did you pick Blenda as your callsign?”

  “Blendasägnen was a Swedish noblewoman who, according to legend, led women against the Danish army when the Danes took advantage of their men being off fighting another war.”

  “I know who she was, I just wonder why you chose her.”

  “She proved that women can do anything men can. Plus we can have babies. So really, we’re better than you.”

  Cort laughed. “And you have tits. So yeah, you’re better than us.”

  “You have a way with words, sir.”

  “Yeah, Kim tells me that all the time. I’m suave and all that shit, Colonel. Ares out.”

  It was still an hour before the synthetic dawn when Cort’s lead elements began surrounding the area of the Jaifan beacon transmissions. Looking at the compound he was reminded of a prison camp, or maybe a work farm. There were long, low-roofed buildings he assumed were barracks and a large central building that probably served as the command area.

  To the north of the main area was a factory of some sort. It was a square structure, nearly a fourth of a kilometer per side. There was a four-meter-high fence around the factory building and a double fence around the entire compound, with a five meter space between the two. The area between the fences was well-lighted and patrolled by armed lizards. Something about the area bothered Cort, like he was remembering something, but he couldn’t quite pull it to the front of his mind.

  Cort received a comm from Alpha Company’s commander, a captain named Will ‘Bowtie’ Trask. He was a good Marine, and a competent leader, but Cort didn’t like him. He wasn’t able to identify what it was about Trask that bugged him, though. Cort missed Cellphone, and no doubt that was part of it.

  Sam Sung had died during a training accident at Phobos, but Cort didn’t think that was why he didn’t like Trask. There was something else that he couldn’t put his finger on. He had been so concerned about it that Bazal had scanned Trask’s mind as well as Cort’s, multiple times, trying to find what it was that bothered the general about Alpha’s captain.

  He was a good Marine though. So when Cort was picking his people for the rescue, Trask was at the top of the list. Working with people you didn’t like was a part of life Cort had gotten used to centuries before. How many centuries. In this time, how long has it been? How long have the abductions really been going on?

  “Stand by, Bowtie,” Cort said to the message. “Burst transmission: Ares to Admiral Thoms. Check data on mass disappearances throughout human history. Compare dates and locations with wormhole alignments. Send.” After seeing the message off, Cort acknowledged Trask and listened to what the captain had to say.

  “Ares, I’ve got two squads scouting downwind on the west side between the compound and the city. One of them did a spectral scan. Humans are definitely there, and I think they are being slaughtered inside. The spectrals show a lot of human waste, as well as a lot of human blood.”

  “You’ve confirmed it?”

  “Yes, sir. I’ve had every CONDOR on that side confirm the scan, and I’ve ordered laser-spectrals of the area around the largest building. I think it’s the slaughterhouse.”

  “Good work, Bowtie. Stand by.”

  Cort relayed the information to Quinn and ordered her to have her people perform the same scans Trask had. A few minutes later, she sent back her readings. It appeared humans were being cremated in several places around the city. Cort linked Trask to the comm and said, “No. We aren’t being cremated. We are being served.”

  “What do you mean, sir?”

  “We’re cattle. This compound is a feed lot. The low buildings are cattle sheds. The big building is a slaughterhouse. Quinn’s picking up the readings from restaurants. They aren’t cremating our dead; they’re cooking us. We’re on the menu.”

  Quinn said, “If you’re right sir... oh gods! I don’t even want to think about it.”

  Trask said, “We have to go in now, General.”

  “Agreed. I’d like to have more time to plan, but we can’t just sit by while they kill and eat our people.”

  “Sir, what if you’re wrong?”

  “I’m not, Quinn. But even if I was, we still need to rescue the humans inside the compound. Be ready to create a diversion for us if we need one.”

  Cort highlighted several places on a map of the compound, telling Trask where he wanted CONDORs placed. They decided the attack would take place just after the synthetic dawn, giving the Alpha Company Marines just enough time to get into position.

  A few minutes after everyone was in place, the light from the synthetic sun crept across the compound. Cort wondered at the effect, much starker than its organic equivalent. Watching what was almost a shadow line cross the area, he made a mental note to ask someone about it later. After checking his HUD to see that Bowtie’s people were in place, Cort stood up in his HAWC and began to walk across open ground to the outer fence. His active camouflage passed light around the ten meter tall suit, making it appear as little more than heat rising from the ground around him. When he saw something that brought him to a complete stop, he was all but invisible.

  “What the fuck?” He said as he fed his video to Bowtie and his staff.

  In the feed, Marines saw a naked man and a naked woman. The video immediately identified the woman as one of the missing Marines that had been taken in a recent abduction. The two were being led by a lizard from one building to another. Halfway across the open space, the lizard raised one arm, bring the two humans to a stop. The Marine bent over with tears in her eyes, and the man became instantly erect. Then the naked man stepped up to the woman and began to rape her.

  “Ares to Bowtie, take all visible lizards out on my shot.”

  “Your shot, sir?” Bowtie asked.

  Cort stepped ten meters to the left so the lizard and the man raping his Marine were in line. Then the railgun mounted to the armor rose from his back and fired one sub-charged round through the man’s head and into the chest of the lizard. You’ve heard that sound a thousand times, sergeant. Remember what it is, and remember your training.

  The now headless man raping Sergeant Lace Havisim crumpled to the ground and the lizard exploded. Cort had charged the round perfectly. Havisim fell to the ground as well, and after gaining her bearings, lay prone on the ground with her arms and legs spread. All around the base, Variable Energy
Rail Guns fired at every lizard in sight. VERGs also fired at anything that looked like it even might be a reasonable target.

  “Bowtie to Comms, start jamming. Repeat. Start jamming.”

  The CONDORs were designed to be able to block telepathic signals from Bazal in the other universe. Using the same tech, several Marines were now broadcasting that jamming signal throughout the compound they were surrounding. No one knew if it would work, but in planning meetings, Cort had decided to try it, just in case. The results were not what they had hoped for.

  There were eight Marines broadcasting the jamming signal. All eight were dead within seconds. Their medical telemetrics indicated they all died of massive strokes.

  “Move in!” Bowtie ordered as he saw Cort begin to run for the compound.