Star Crusades by Michael Thomas (whitelam books txt) 📗

more.” He shook his head, “No longer. Now we’ve got theships, the soldiers, and the resources to do what we couldn’tbefore. Now, I…”

He stopped as he spottedLieutenant Jack Fletcher moving along thedeck with a small group of NCOs nearby.

“One moment.”

He moved away, leaving Alexis andValentine alone for a moment. Valentine looked to her friend andshook her head.

“I’ve only just slid out ofbed, and we’re going towar…again.”

Alexisnodded feverishly and placed one hand on Valentine’s left arm. Itwas clear she was excited at the news, and even Valentine had toadmit the thought of heading off to new lands to pay the Ski’ligs avisit was quite attractive. After all, they had devastated Allianceterritory, now it was their turn to fight back.

“Sister.” Alexis stared into Valentine’s eyes, “We’re going to war,and this time we’re not going to have our hands tied behind ourbacks. It’s payback time, and we’re not going there to takeprisoners.”

“Good.”

Alexiscontinued to smile.

“We’re gonna hunt down every lastone of them and burn their world to ash. Are you in? Or do you wantto take that transport to Earth for some R&R?”

All Valentine could think of wasthat last moment with Jane charging atthe Ski’lig leader, her final sacrifice to kill the unkillablebeast. She thought about it for so long that Alexis must havethought she’d changed her mind.

“Val? You having second thoughts?”

“You’re kidding,right?” Valentine said in a confidenttone, “You had me at taking the fight to them.”

“Excellent. Thencome with me. It’s time to get you suited up.Did anybody tell you we’ve got upgrades?”

“Upgrades? What kind of upgrades?”

“Two kinds,” she said with a wink, “One for business, and one for…well.Everything else.”

“Okay. I’ll bite. Show me.”

CHAPTER TWO

DragoonClass Frigate ‘ANS Coventry’,Epsilon Eridani

Captain Zacharias held his breathas he looked back to his crew. They hadn’t been given much time,but it had been enough to get the surviving members ofthe crew into position. He’d entered the systemwith eighty-eighty officers and men, and had lost a quarter alreadyin the space battle. Some had been killed in the fighting, withothers trapped in the hull or blasted into space.

Sixty-six againstthat monster, what can Ido?

He knew theirchances were almost zero. But he alsoknew that a ship-to-ship battle would have seen them all dead in amatter of seconds. Each was only too aware of the fate that awaitedthose captured by the enemy, a life of servitude and betrayal asthey were thrown against their own friends.

Whatever happens, we will choose themoment of our doom.

His fingers gripped around his pistolas the inner blast door hissed open, and in walked a boarding partyof six Ski’ligs.

“Now!”

ChiefEngineer Thompson tapped his Secpad unit, and a fraction of asecond later two charges detonated. He’d installed two of them, oneon each side of the passage and hidden behind the maintenancepanels. These improvised explosive devices hurled half a kilogramof ball bearings that sprayed the enemy, killing or maiming theentire party instantly. Captain Zacharias gasped as he watched themthrown to the walls or to the floor. There were more shapes behindthem, but while some remained upright, others dropped down on oneleg or lifted arms to shield their bodies.

“Good work, Chief.”

He then nodded to his ExecutiveOfficer.

“Forward!” Commander Campbell yelled, “We take the fight tothem!”

A cry rang out from the men andwomen abandoning their own ship. Theysurged forward, those at the front spraying fire into the alienship. A few of the terrible spikes struck one man, and he fellbackwards to the ground. Captain Zacharias bent down alongside himas his crew swarmed into the ship. There was only a modicum ofartificial gravity, and it was much darker than anything inside anAlliance ship. He had to strain his eyes as he struggled to seewhat was happening.

“Captain,” said the man with all the effort he could muster, “Don’tlet…”

He gasped and then faded, leaving his final words unknown.

“Bastards,” muttered the Captain, as he turned back and aimed with hispistol. He fired once, twice, and then emptied the magazine at thecold, heartless creatures.

“That’s the style!”shouted the Commander as he led them into battlewith the few Ski’ligs still standing. Those able to fight were cutdown by fire, and the others struggled to drag their wounded bodiesaway. But in the close confines of this part of the ship theylacked the ability to escape.

“Inside!”

Only a few of the enemy remained able to fight and were quicklyoverwhelmed by the enraged crew of the crippled Alliance ship. Thegunfight turned into a brutal melee, and in seconds it was over,but it was not the end. As they stripped the enemy dead of theirweapons or tended to their wounded, another three shapes moved outfrom the shadows and blocked the passage. They were bulkier thanthe winged Ski’ligs that had tried to board their ship. As well asbeing bigger, they lacked wings, and featured an external skeletalstructure that provided additional protection in battle. Theirfirearms had to be carried in two hands and were connected by feedsdirectly into the body.

“Get back!” screamed one of thecrew towards the front as the Ski’ligsopened fire.

Luckily, most wereable to dart out of the way, but a handful ofthose to the front were hit instantly. The rest scattered to thesides, taking cover behind the strange, curved bulkheads thatlooked more like the spinal columns and bones of a great creaturethan an artificial structure. Though they fired identicalprojectiles to those of the so-called spike rifles used by thesmaller alien soldiers, these weapons fired a fully automaticstream of them.

“Captain. We’ve got a problem!” Commander Campbell shouted over thedin of fire, “There’s no way through.”

The Captain leaned out to look athim as another burst of fire struck around him. The razor-sharpspikes embedded in the walls of the ship,some hitting the ground so hard they stuck up like scatteredcaltrops to bring down horses.

“I see them. Looks like heavies. We’ve got to push through beforethey send more to stop us.”

A large man that CaptainZacharias didn’t recognise managed to get close to thefallen Ski’ligs, and then he didsomething incredible. He lifted the body up like a shield andpushed it in front of him. Spikes whooshed by, and then the heaviesconcentrated on him. The metal spikes hammered into the body oftheir