The Great Space (Scrapyard Ship Book 6) Page 9

  “Get in!” Reese and the other man yelled simultaneously.

  Chapter 16

  Bristol arrived in the captain’s ready room and found Orion, Billy, the admiral, and Jason in mid-discussion.

  “Take a seat, Bristol,” Jason said.

  Bristol did as he was told. Jason slid a SuitPac device across the table where it came to rest before him.

  “Yeah, I’ve seen these before.”

  “More than a few of us are still alive because of that thing. The significance of this technology means we can protect our assault teams, make them more effective, and create more opportunities to slip past the Craing where we can gain an advantage. That’s the plan, anyway.”

  “Okay, I still don’t know why I’m sitting here.”

  “Apparently, there’s a whole lot about them we’re unaware of. According to The Lilly’s AI, once expanded, these body-conforming battle suits have far more capabilities than any of us thought.”

  “Like what?”

  “For one thing, propulsion,” Orion interjected. “These suits are, for lack of a better term, miniature fighters.”

  “Cool,” he said, flipping over the little cigarette pack-sized device in his fingers. “So what do you need from me?”

  Jason answered, “The Lilly’s database has only cursory tech specs on these things. We need you to figure out their available propulsion technology and show us how to use it.”

  “And do it within the next twenty minutes,” Admiral Reynolds added.

  “Twenty minutes?”

  “Now nineteen minutes,” the admiral replied, stone-faced.

  “I’ll need Ricket’s lab, up on 4B.”

  “Get going, Bristol. We’ll check up with you a bit later,” Jason said.

  Bristol stood and hurried out of the room.

  “You sure we can trust him not to booby-trap the damn things?” the admiral asked to no one in particular. “He did just spend a few minutes down in the brig with his brother.”

  “Bristol is a royal pain in the ass. But he’s gotten us out of more than a few tight spots over the last few months. We don’t have much choice, anyway … we’re out of options and out of time,” Jason said.

  “So back to the plan, Cap. We get from here to the dreadnaught without being detected. We’re on the bridge, surprising the crap out of them. What then?” Billy asked.

  “We first ensure that the other dreadnaughts, especially the command ship, have no clue we’ve boarded the ship. Once there, it’ll take some time to enter the specific coordinates of each of the other dreadnaughts’ main cannons.”

  Orion said, “There is fairly consistent video communications going on between each of those ships. That’s a problem. A big problem. Any disruption, such as our blocking their video feeds, will alert Craing command that something’s amiss.”

  “So … what do we do?” Billy asked.

  Jason smiled, “We swap out the key players. As we speak, Gaddy is down in the hold with the Craing bridge crew from Captain Stalls’ pirated Craing ship. She is explaining to them, in no uncertain terms, that they will be replacing the current crew on board a specific ship and they will be expected to carry out our orders, to the T.”

  “And you just believe they will? That they won’t alert the others?”

  “Fear is a wonderful motivator. Right now, down in the hold with Gaddy, is our old friend Traveler. He can be highly convincing, actually terrifying, when he wants to be. Also keep in mind these same crewmembers, their fleet, were defeated one year ago by a single ship. They’ve been disgraced. They all know they’d be beheaded just as soon as they return to Terplin. Between the potential wrath of Traveler, and a beheading certainty on Terplin, I think we’re more than safe in that regard,” Jason said.

  “Now, it’s very important that our actions be coordinated, timed perfectly,” Orion said. “Four of the Vanguard ships’ main guns will be targeted, those within our boarded dreadnaught’s line-of-sight. But two dreadnaughts won’t be. Those two need to be dealt with directly by The Lilly.”

  “Back to the replaced Craing bridge crew. What will we do with them?” Billy asked.

  “From what we’ve observed there are several areas outside the viewing range of any of the bridge cameras. The overtaken crewmembers will be held there. The first to infiltrate the bridge will be Gaddy and the replacement Craing crew. Immediately, the AI’s security alerts will be dealt with, allowing the rest of our boarding party to come on board. They’ll need to stay outside the field of view of the cameras.”

  * * *

  It was closer to forty minutes before Bristol returned to the ready room. He entered wearing a new battle suit.

  “You’re late,” Jason said.

  “There’s a lot more to these suits than I figured,” Bristol said. “Most of my time was spent updating The Lilly’s own phase-synthesizer to manufacture these things, like the Minian can.”

  “Fine. Break it down for us, Bristol.”

  “First of all, yes, they have their own integrated propulsion system … not unlike that found on the Minian’s fighters. I’ve modified the menu system. Now there’s a whole range of settings under the heading of Propulsion. There’s a lot I still don’t know … didn’t have time to dink around with. But the propulsion aspects are now accessible and fairly straightforward to operate. I suggest we all go somewhere open, perhaps the flight deck, to practice.

  * * *

  Bristol handed out twelve freshly manufactured SuitPacs—first to Jason, Orion, Rizzo and Billy. Then Gaddy received hers, followed by seven of Captain Stalls’ Craing ex-crewmembers.

  Gaddy said, “Captain, these three, NaNang, Drig, and Rup-Lor, seem to be the most familiar with Craing bridge duties. I’d suggest that once on board we allow them to disable AI security measures and assist Orion with weapons-targeting.”

  “Very good, Gaddy.” Jason triggered his own SuitPac and waited the two to three seconds it took for it to expand outward and cover his body. All the others, including the Craing, followed suit. “Okay, Bristol … front and center. Show us how it’s done.”

  Bristol joined Jason at the front of the group. “Um … well, I guess I’ll show you a few things I just learned. I’m no expert. Keep in mind the suit had an anti-gravity aspect to it that wouldn’t do you good in space. Remember, these are propulsion characteristics we’re talking about.”

  Jason watched as Bristol took several strides away and then hesitated, probably accessing his own HUD menu. The first thing to catch Jason’s attention was the slight sound of rushing air. Then bright blue flames were emitted from multiple thrusters on his suit: two slits along his chest; his outer shoulders; his wrists and upper thighs; his upper and lower back; and on the soles of his integrated boots.

  Bristol rose into the air and hovered for several seconds. “If you take a look at your HUDs, you’ll see I’ve added a secondary video feed. What you’re seeing is my HUD. These are my settings … watch what I do on my HUD as I maneuver around.” With that, Bristol rose higher in the air, turned 180 degrees and flipped himself sideways, so he was now horizontal with the deck. He increased his backward thrust. With his arms stretched forward, in a Superman pose, he flew forward—slowly at first, then picking up speed, until he was jetting around the flight deck.

  Jason was about to tell Bristol to slow it down when he careened straight into a repair drone. Both fell to the deck in a tumble of arms and legs. Bristol got back up, seemingly unharmed. The drone stayed where it lay, unmoving.

  “Like I said, I’m not an expert at this or anything. Why that fucking thing’s hovering around during an important presentation …” He cut himself short.

  “Don’t worry about it, Bristol. Why don’t you take some time and get us familiar with the controls and HUD menu settings. We’ll break into groups of three. Time’s an issue so no more than five minutes of instruction per group.”

  Chapter 17

  They’d all made it safely into the modern, gargantuan-siz
ed, Caterpillar building. Nan was only now starting to get her breathing back in check. She glanced up and saw that Reese was staring at her accusingly.

  “Please tell me what happened to my partner?” Reese asked.

  “How could you ask such a stupid question? Those things … the things Jason called molt weevils … they cocooned her,” Nan retorted, incredulous.

  “Yes, I gathered that. I’m looking for specific details. What exactly did they do to Agent Clark?”

  Nan shook her head and thought back to the recent events on I-25. “We were crossing the highway. She was two steps behind me. In the distance we saw a woman being wrapped up … she was terrified. Both Clark and I stopped. I wanted to help, but what could I do? By the time we were on the move again, the alien thing jumped over a car, right next to Clark. It grabbed her up and just like the other woman she was being spun around and covered with that stuff, whatever it is.”

  “Did you see her die?”

  Nan stared back at Reese for several beats. “No. Not actually die. But …”

  “So there’s a good chance she’s still alive, inside that cocoon. All those people may still be alive. Right?”

  “I don’t know. Do I look like a scientist to you? What I can tell you is I picked up Clark’s gun. I killed the thing that captured her. Emptied a clip into it and it died. They can be killed just like you and me.”

  Reese seemed to contemplate on that. Nan’s eyes were drawn to movement outside the building’s front window. There were more molt weevils than Nan could count. Nan and Reese had cautiously entered the building through the front entrance, but others outside the doors were less fortunate, and were now encased in cocoons. Several creatures were sliming their way up the glass. Seeing their white underside flesh, and the gaping orifices at the apex of where legs met torso, totally disgusted her.

  “That’s so gross!”

  Nan turned to see Mollie pointing at the same creature.

  “They can climb? Can they get in here?” Mollie asked.

  The man who’d driven the pickup truck came over to them. He was burly and had a long gray beard. This guy’s got a strong biker influence, Nan thought. “Can they?” Nan repeated Mollie’s question.

  The bearded man walked up to the glass and tapped on the window. “They have teeth. You can see them there, in that orifice. They chewed through the wooden fence out front, but this building is mostly corrugated steel and, of course, some glass. They don’t seem to be able to penetrate either.”

  “So we’re safe?” Mollie asked, matter-of-factly.

  The bearded man turned back toward Nan and Mollie. “The roof isn’t solid steel like the walls. Wood, paper, tar, some rock … definitely not solid and I suspect they’ll be able to munch their way through it without much trouble.”

  Nan and Mollie continued to stare at the man.

  “My name is Gus. I own this large equipment dealership.”

  “Hi, Gus, I’m Mollie. This is my mom, Nan, and that guy is Agent Reese.”

  “Is there anyone else here?” Reese asked. “This place is huge; it’s like an aircraft hangar. You can’t be the only one around.”

  “We’re actually closed today. We have an open house next week. People come from all over the country to see our newest model Caterpillars.”

  Mollie made a face.

  “Not that kind of caterpillar, Mollie. We sell big trucks and tractors … heavy equipment,” Gus said. “I suppose we could shoot at the things from the roof, but that’ll only provide us a short-term reprieve. My limited amount of ammo won’t last long.”

  Two more molt weevils joined the others and began sliming their way up the glass.

  “It’s not just the glass. They’re on the outside walls as well,” Gus said. “I may have an idea.” He rushed out of the front reception room and down a hallway.

  Reese followed, with Nan and Mollie running behind him. With the electricity out, the back offices were dark. Nan could faintly see ahead that either Gus or Reese had turned on a flashlight. She reached down and took Mollie’s hand. “Stay close to me.”

  “I wish you’d let me bring Teardrop.”

  “I wish I had too.”

  More light streamed in from ahead. As they approached an open doorway, Nan could see that the rear of the building was an immense space. Completely open all the way to the ceiling two hundred feet above, several large framed skylights allowed in just enough light to provide visibility below. She saw the structure truly was a dealership, just as Gus had said. Large Caterpillar equipment was on display and the employees had gone all-out for their upcoming open house. Bright yellow tractors of various sizes filled the space. Each was positioned in a staged display-like setting—a backhoe doing roadwork; some kind of crane grabbing trees in a mock forest; a pipe-laying machine perched over a ditch; a purple pipe hanging from thick metal cables. It seemed the equipment got larger and larger, and the mock displays got progressively more elaborate, all the way back to the far end of the building, which was dark.

  Gus sidled over to Nan’s side. “Impressive, huh?”

  “Yes, that’s quite an inventory.”

  “You’re looking at over one hundred million dollars’ worth. And the ones here are floor models … not inventory.” Gus, with Reese close behind, headed to an area that looked to be primarily storage. Five fifteen-foot-long rows of thick, heavy gauge steel shelving reached high above their heads. He came to a stop at a grouping of ten large oil drums sitting on the concrete floor.

  “Most of this equipment requires special lubrication. What we have here is specially- engineered equipment grease. Stuff’s slippery as hell.”

  Reese knocked on one of the drums with his knuckles. “You’re going to throw grease on the things—then light them on fire?”

  Gus laughed out loud. “No, but that’s not a bad idea. We’re going to make it more difficult for them to crawl up the sides of the building. We’ll use that crane over there to transport the drums up to the roof.”

  Mollie looked up at Nan. “I was up there, Mom. It’s really high!”

  Gus continued: “I’ll need your help … even using equipment it will be a fair amount of work.”

  “I’m not adverse to hard work. Just tell me what to do.”

  * * *

  It took nearly four hours to maneuver the grease drums onto the roof. Gus had configured a wooden pallet, secured with four cables at each corner, to a crane that extended all the way up to the ceiling, where two trapdoors opened, allowing them outside access to the roof. Both Gus and Reese were drenched in sweat and grime.

  Mollie was put in charge of reporting on the status of the molt weevils. Up on the roof, she ran from one side of the building to the other, yelling at the top of her lungs: “They’re halfway up over here!” or “They’re three-quarters of the way up on this side!”

  Nan, arms crossed beneath her breasts, stood on the roof looking south toward Cheyenne Mountain. They were fine for now, but she needed to get to the NORAD and USNORTHCOM Alternate Command Center. She wondered if anyone there was still alive. Looking down below, her breath caught in her chest. “Good God,” she murmured to herself. The ground below was nearly covered with molt weevils. A virtual brown sea of jittering movement. It was obvious the things were reproducing at an astounding rate. Was the whole planet covered with them? Were they the means the Craing was using to take control of Earth? Her eyes moved back toward I-25 and the near-endless line of immobile cars stranded north and south. By every car there were cocoons haphazardly strewn about—some on the road, others lying atop hoods or car roofs. There wasn’t an alive human in sight anywhere. Were they the only survivors in Colorado Springs? Nan could not remember ever feeling this isolated and alone. She let her hand slide down to her lower belly and wondered if her unborn child would survive … will any of us? She hailed the one person who could save them.

  “Go for Captain,” she heard the familiar voice in her NanoCom.

  Chapter 18

 
; Jason heard the desperation in Nan’s voice. He wanted to be there for her and Mollie, to protect them. He contemplated doing just that—perhaps he could find a way. He could phase-shift down to the surface. Get them to a safe location. No, he needed to stay and fight the Craing. The very survival of Earth was at stake.

  “Nan, you’re one of the most resourceful people I’ve ever met. Whatever it takes, survive. Keep Mollie safe and make sure both of you survive. Do you hear me?”

  “Of course I hear you. You’re right. You do what needs to be done up there or our lives down here won’t be worth living anyway.”

  “Know this … if there comes a time when you need me there—to come get you …”

  “That’s not going to happen.”

  “If it does … I’ll find a way. I don’t know how, but I’ll get there.”