transparent wall they could see three heavy, thirty-five degree tracks for cargo and heavy machinery elevators. Two were angled up from aft to fore, the other one was angled opposite, and from what Cumberland could see in the dim, yellow emergency lighting that lined the tracks, there were several places where the heavy cars would be able to slip sideways. Above and below the heavy tracks were many others, for a network of smaller personnel lifts. If these were safe, we could get anywhere in the ship in seconds. He watched the space for a moment longer before he was satisfied that there was no activity to see. The hallway stretched to his right and left, and in the dim light he could just barely make out another hall on the other side of the tracks.
“It’s like a space station,” someone behind him murmured.
“Ah, not much different from one of the Enforcer Battlecruisers, only it’s not so cramped,” replied Loman.
“It’s plenty different, stay alert,” Cumberland replied.
They moved down the hallway towards where he knew there would be a lift access. When he saw the block of doors he opened a channel; “Command, I’m coming up on the deck eight access point now. What are your orders?”
“Hold there, we’re getting a few lifts on line and need you to secure that area.”
“Acknowledged.” A sound above caught his attention.
“Motion! Everywhere!” Called the sensor officer.
Cumberland batted an eight legged bot off his shoulder as he looked at the writhing ceiling above. There were buffer, sanitizer, repair and other bots he didn’t recognize covering the surface. Several of his men opened fire, reducing several at a time to a rain of metal and plastic shrapnel.
Several functioning bots landed on him and he shook them off. None attempted to harm him, in fact, they scurried away as soon as they hit the deck. Without hesitation he whirled towards the scanning officer and was about to grab his hand scanner when it was whipped out of his grip by something else, someone in a cloak suit. “The bots are a distraction!”
The hand scanner disappeared, and as Cumberland tried to get a clear shot, the tip of a nanonosaw blade came though the officer’s back. It was drawn through his side in the next instant as though the man was made of water, and his armour was air. Cumberland opened fire, hitting the scanning officer twice, but scoring several hits against his attacker.
What followed was bedlam. An invisible hand pulled Faltia straight out of the group and used him as a shield as they fired their heavy pulse rifles and sidearms at the crowd of soldiers. One of the cloak suited attackers’ suits failed after he’d been shot several times and, instead of retreating, the nafalli seemed to go berserk. He grabbed one of Cumberland’s men by the helmet and hurled him over his shoulder while he slashed at several others with his nanosaw blade, nearly cutting one in half at the waist.
The beastly alien didn’t last long, but he managed to distract half of Cumberland’s men so Sturges and Mazurek were both killed by the time they regained focus, the first was decapitated while the other was riddled with pulse rifle rounds.
“Phalanx! Phalanx against the wall! Now! Now! Now!” Cumberland cried as he either found a new depth of desperation or regained his clarity for a moment. They group fell back against the wall, half dropping to one knee and firing in a fanning pattern, while the others remained standing, adding to the cover fire until they saw a real target, which they’d focus on until they were sure it was dead.
A flash went off, not impeding their shielded sight for more than half a second, but he could hear his communicator reset. Alarmed, he pulled out his emergency hand scanner and saw the screen had frozen in the reset phase. The enemy had dropped an electromagnetic charge on them.
When he looked up he was pleased to see five enemy soldiers, not including the nafalli, laying motionless on the deck. The cover fire caught another in the back, making him visible for a split second. It was enough time for Cumberland to get several more shots off on the target, striking her in the waist, up the back and finally several times in the back of the head.
They managed to kill nine more before it was over, but had managed to take no prisoners. Cumberland took a quick, silent head count and realized that they had lost twenty-four people, including Sergeant Mazurek. “Command, we’ve defeated an enemy stealth squad. The eighth deck lifts are secure. Only our comms and rifle sights are working, they dropped an EMP and killed our scanning equipment.”
“We see that, Major. Won’t be able to get you re-provisioned or reinforced at the moment. Please hold there and keep those lift doors secure. Will keep you appraised of progress on repairs.”
Chapter 21
Ayan wasn't the only one disappointed that there was a heavy locked gate made of hundreds of interlocking metal circles in front of what the signs said was the City Central Transit Hub. Six armed guards stood in front of the ornate barrier, with a temporary sign at their feet that said; ‘Carthan Citizens or Visa Carriers ONLY.’ A pair of men in clothing typical of planet bound people, cloth pants and loosely fit, front sealing shirts, approached the barrier and the metal circles slid to the side so they could pass.
Everyone in Ayan’s group wanted to take a look at the great city they glimpsed at the top of the Greydock tower, or at least get a chance to see some of the cities built inside the place's massive girth. The journey for the foursome was boring in comparison to what Greydock promised; down in one lift that looked over used and under washed, through a checkpoint that barely paid attention to them at all after they provided their identification and then into a causeway where non-descript, tubular, twenty eight man planetary people carriers waited. They found one with peeling grey and violet paint waiting with PORT RUSH scrolling down its length in bright green letters.
The seats were set in pairs facing forward for the most part, with a few lined up against the sides. Laura fixed Ayan with a wary look as she strapped herself in with a provided seat belt. They only had to wait a few minutes before the vehicle detached from its moorings, rocking to the right, and with a low grind the nose tipped downward slightly as it rushed forward through an opening in the side of the upper city wall. From the tops of the seat up, the hull became transparent, including the roof, which provided a view of the dull grey sky. The only bulkhead they couldn’t see through was the front, where Ayan assumed the cockpit would be.
The four passengers sharing the rear of the people mover with them were all dressed in long, high collared scroll worked jackets. Their casual demeanour suggested that they had taken the trip often. Their heads were down, looking at an interactive screen only they could see somewhere above their laps.
She couldn't blame them. The hard, worn seats and the travel stained shuttle certainly weren’t worth attention, neither was the view. Ayan caught sight of a ruined city built against the bottom edge of Greydock’s wall. There were only a few buildings over twenty stories, and a few structures left around them. As they continued to turn around the city the shapes of two ancient ships imbedded in the ground became visible. Their gutted hulls looked skeletal, and they had been eaten by decades, perhaps centuries of corrosion. 'I wonder how long ago that happened?'
'Long ago, end of the Expansion Age,” said a female traveller who was focusing on an image that was invisible to everyone but her. She had an accent Ayan couldn’t place.
“Was there a war here?”
'No. They say the crew was infected by the Omni virus, and died. With no one to pilot, they fell out of orbit. Ships were so well made that they survived the atmosphere,' an older woman said as though she enjoyed telling the tale. “Others say those are old colony ships. Sank over time.”
“What do you think?”
“This moon eats a lot of things, why not a ship or two?”
'Thank you…'
'Emshi,' the traveller answered, finally looking up. Her eyes were both old style bionic implants and looked more like bright green lenses than human eyeballs.
Ayan shook her hand and smiled. 'We just got here, looking for food and supplies for some refugees.'
