Star Crusades by Michael Thomas (whitelam books txt) 📗

fallen comrade, and the man soon cried out as some punchedthrough into his body.

“Now!” Captain Zacharias ordered.

Small groups moved out fromcover and opened fire at the creatures.Most of the shots went wide of the mark, but enough hit two of themto force them back.

“Keep pushing!” said one of thewomen, and as one the remaining crew surged forward like a wave. Gunfire from both sides lit up theinterior of the bizarre alien vessel. Two technicians were hit by afusillade of fire as they tried to grapple with the enemy. CaptainZacharias managed to fire a single shot before his peoplephysically leapt onto the heavies. They dragged them down likewolves tackling a larger animal. The fight was over as quickly asit had begun, and the sounds of weapons were replaced with heavybreathing and the cries of pain from the wounded anddying.

“Move the bodies,” said the Commander.

Captain Zacharias moved to thefront to survey the way ahead, while his crew dragged the bodies aside and hid them as best theycould. The first few minutes of the assault had proven more brutalthan he could possibly imagine, but at least it had been short. Nowthey were inside the ship, and he had no idea where to go next. Hetapped his Secpad and brought up the details for the ships they’dencountered so far.

“What now, Captain?”

Captain Zachariaslooked back to him and shrugged.

“We’ve only seen scans of wreckedships or the boarded on Eridani Prime.Who knows what similarities they might have with a ship likethis?”

“We’ve never even come across oneof these behemoths before,” said Commander Campbell, “It’s a lotdarker than any of the ships I’ve ever seen.”

“True,” said Captain Zacharias.

He reached out and touched the walls.They were smooth to the touch, yet warm, almost alive.

“I have to say, though, it is abeautiful vessel, a true work of art.”

Captain Zachariassignalled to the others.

“Keep moving forward. Bring thewounded.”

“What about thedead?” asked a young ensign.

“Move them to the shadows.”

The man looked stunned.“Sir!”

“You heard the Captain,” said another, “This is about survivalnow.”

Captain Zacharias gavethe man a nod and then turned hisattention to his Chief Engineer.

“I need information on thisplace, and fast. Can you find us somewhere safe tohole up for now?”

“It’s impossible to tellwhat kind of ship this is,” said Chief Thompsonas he moved alongside the pair, “I can tell you that it’sold.”

“How old?”

“At least two hundred years old, maybemore.”

Captain Zacharias gave a lowwhistle and then continued forward. Theywere on a walkway now, and as they moved further ahead, he couldsee a pit below that extended out fifty or so metres.

“What is it with these people and theseopen spaces?”

The others moved gingerly along; many constantly checking aroundthem for signs of danger. The Chief stayed towards the front andcontinued checking the internal structure with a scanner packhanging from his belt. He carried a militarised thermal shotgun inhis left hand, a weapon with a long history among crewmembers onships. The interior of this part was unlike anything any of themhad seen before. At first, the passages had been quite narrow asthey passed through the outer compartments. They were sealed andheavily constructed to operate as a form of secondary armour. Butas they moved further inside, it was clear the design was more likea honeycomb, with large open spaces joined together into a latticestructure.

“I think this ship is verydifferent to anything we’ve encountereduntil now. This lattice effect will make the ship incrediblydurable. You could blast a third of it off into space, and the restwould remain structurally sound and intact.”

“Well, if we had that kind ofweaponry we would, but we don’t. Everybody keep moving. We need toget away from the hull.”

The Commander nodded as he recalled therest of the plan.

“The blast?”

“Exactly,” said CaptainZacharias, “Last thing we want is to getsucked out of the ship.”

They passed through the narrow passages and small rooms, but soonenough moved out from the more confined part of the ship, and intoone of many alien looking environments.

“Incredible,” saidone of the engineers, “Trulyincredible.”

The survivors spread out, andthough most had made it, their numbers seemed so tiny comparedto the vastness of the ship’s interior.For even the briefest of moments, they were able to soak in thedetails and the strangeness of the place rather than worry aboutviolence. The interior was made of multiple large open spaces, withnarrow walkways, and a complex lattice structure holding the vesseltogether. It was more like the interior of a colossal birdcage thananything a land-dwelling species would use.

“Hold!” said a sergeant towards the front.

Captain Zacharias felt his chesttighten, and he lifted his pistol ready to defend himself.

“What’s going on?” asked a juniortech, just as a pair of shapes screameddown from the left. One whooshed past and slashed with a curvedweapon that left the decapitated sergeant still standing. Heremained there for a few seconds, and then tipped over and vanishedover the ledge.

“Bring them down!”Commander Campbell yelled.

A volley of panicked fire reached out around them as they blastedaway. These were not elite marines, though, but merely crew fromthe ship. Some had recent weapons training, but in the open spacesof the Ski’lig ship, it was hard to spot and track the enemy. FourSki’ligs came in and landed in front of them, blocking their path,but not even their armour or martial prowess was enough to stop theAlliance crew. Captain Zacharias took aim and shouted loudly,“Fire!”

Massed shotgun,pistol, and carbine fire cut them downuntil the fourth screeched and charged at them. In the tall spaceit had enough room to unfurl its wings and moved quickly towardsthem. Commander Campbell lifted his carbine and opened fire,putting a long automatic burst into the creature. It dropped down ametre in front of him and lay there unmoving.

“No!” Captain Zacharias said as two of the crew moved forwards,“Get back.”

They stopped just as the thingscreamed and lurched forward with bladesin its arms. Both Commander Campbell and the Captain opened fire,killing it before it hit the metallic deck. One of the unarmedcrew, a bloodied ensign, bent down and ripped the creature’s riflefrom its hands.

Captain Zacharias stepped outinto the open. Commander Campbell was right next to him, alongwith four crewmen all outfitted withlight assault armour. Two carried carbines,