Star Crusades by Michael Thomas (whitelam books txt) 📗

the other two nothingbut a pistol. A fifth followed behind them with a Ski’lig rifle inher hands.

“Where now?” asked anensign.

“Keep moving!” Commander Campbell said.

“Yes. The further we can get away from the blast doors toCoventry the better.”

“You heard theCaptain. Let’s move.”

They moved over the widechasm towards a lattice that blockedaccess to the next space. One by one they moved there, passingthrough the open entry point, and into an even larger space withwater dripping down and collecting on the surface.

“Water?” Commander Campbellsaid, “What’s going on inhere?”

The entry pointremained open to what looked more like adrainage channel than a walkway. Captain Zacharias looked to thesides and noted several movable plates he suspected would functionmuch like internal blast doors or bulkheads.

“Sir, I’ve started mapping of theinternal of this ship, and it is showingsome similarities with the vessel captured on Eridani Prime,” saidthe Chief, “I think we...”

He stopped as they moved furtherinside the next section. They were at the bottom of a vastshaft that was lit by pulsing blue veinsrunning though the very walls. The bulkheads arched into torturedshapes and joined at the base of a single massive platform floatingout in the open. More bridges were moving in from the sides andfrom above.

“Is that what I think it is?” Commander Campbellasked.

Captain Zacharias put a handabove his eyes to shield them from thebright light at the top of the shaft. The platform was so bright itcould easily have been a nearby star blocking out hisvision.

“A ship,” said atech.

“It’s one of their attack ships,”said Captain Zacharias, “I cannot believeit. They carry it inside as though it were little more than ashuttle.”

The ship wasn’t easy tosee due to the platform it rested onobscuring much of its shape. The platform wasn’t solid, though,allowing condensation to run through and then drip down in streamsto the lower levels.

“The ship is vast,” agreedCommander Campbell, “Perhaps…”

He stopped as acrewman spotted something.

“Movement, at the top of theshaft.”

Some hid, but most remained outin the open, looking up and past theship. Captain Zacharias was sure he could see something circlingthe higher levels. Commander Campbell lifted his hand into a fistand signalled for the others to spread out, and to move to theshadows.

“I don’t like this,”said a man wearing body armour. He tookaim with his carbine and then looked back to CaptainZacharias.

“Sir, there’s more of them, hundreds ofthem.”

The Captain gulped. There were only sixty or so of them, and heknew they would be slaughtered out in the open if they wereattacked. He looked back and gasped as the opening began to close.It moved unlike anything he’d ever seen and sealed the area off ina matter of seconds. One of the crew rushed back and ran his handsover the lattice, but it was completely sealed, and so well builtthat the seams were no longer visible. What happened next sent achill of sheer terror through every single crewmember present, ashrill scream that ran through the open space and then echoedrepeatedly.

“They’re coming,” said Captain Zacharias, “ChiefThompson!”

The man moved to his side, whilepulling the thermal shotgun from thecustom mount he’d fitted it to. The man appeared to wield theweapon far too comfortably, revealing a history that the Captainwas unfamiliar with. Another scream filled the place, and as helooked up, he could see some of the shapes becoming larger as theyfell down towards them.

“Chief, we need to blow the ship. Andnow.”

Chief Engineer Thompson looked stunned.He moved closer as the screaming increased.

“Sir. We need to get furtheraway. At this range I can’t guarantee that…”

A flurry of spikes hit around them, one hitting Chief EngineerThompson in the shoulder. Two more struck below, tearing his rightarm away in a brutal assault on his body. More spikes hit aroundthem, injuring and killing with ease.

“Open fire!” called out theCommander, but most of them had already responded. Shots rose up tohit the creatures, but they had the space to manoeuvre and easilyoutfought the small group of Alliance personnel.

“What have I done?”said the Captain as he blasted away withhis pistol. Some of his comrades continued to fight, but as theunceasing fire maimed more, they began to give ground. Some rushedto the sealed wall to try and get through while others scatteredthrough the knee-deep water and further inside the ship.

“Chief! We have to do it!”

A medicstruggled to apply a gel patch to staunch the blood loss but took aburst of fire to the face that killed him instantly. The Chiefleaned back and aimed with his remaining arm. After emptying themagazine, he swung his Secpad unit around and pinned it to thenearest wall. He tapped it while grunting in pain, finally droppingit to the floor.

“It’s ready for you, Captain,” hesaid, spitting blood, “Send your encoded sequence, and the engineswill complete the overload. She’s primed to blow.”

Creatures howled and screeched asthe Ski’ligs attacked from the sides andabove. They must have sensed an easy kill because many didn’t evenbother using their rifles, hacking and slashing as they went by.Two of the Captain’s trusted crew fell to the ground, and then theunit’s cohesion collapsed. Most of them scattered, making them easyprey as they sloshed about in the water. The Captain looked to hisSecpad and moved a finger to activate the charges that would starta chain reaction in the already overloaded system.

God save usall!

Nothing happened, and a Ski’ligdropped to the ground in front of him. Its wing was damaged, and itheld up the rifle to fire at him. CaptainZacharias took aim with his pistol and fired, but the weapon wasempty. The Ski’lig made a sound that he was sure was laughter, andthen began to squeeze the trigger. At once, a low rumble shook theground, and a smile formed along Captain Zacharias’face.

“Hold on!” he yelled.

“You heard the Captain!” shoutedthe XO, “Hold onto something!”

The floor tore open, and part ofthe lattice wall erupted and pulled away. At the sametime, a swirling wind sucked anything nottied down. Captain Zacharias held onto the lattice wall with onehand, while gripping one of his crewman’s hands.

“Do not…let go!”

A terrible groaning soundgrew louder and louder as other parts ofthe internal structure broke apart. At least two crewmembers werepulled through the air