far rail gun. As she turned to make her way in that direction, a shadow detached itself from beneath the engine and launched itself at her.
The Terran slammed into her, his large body tacking Keryn to the ground, knocking her pistol free from her grip. As she slammed into the floor, her head missing a bucket full of long metal bolts by inches, the Terran shoved his hand into her stomach, forcing the air from her lungs and throwing his weight against her already broken rib. She let out a cry of pain as water filled her eyes. Blinking away the tears, she looked up just in time to move her head out of the way of a descending wrench. The tool struck the metal floor and sent a shower of sparks splashing against Keryn’s face.
Her hand shot forward as the Terran brought the wrench up for another swing, catching his wrist. Growling in rage, the Terran punched her in her broken rib and Keryn felt her arm buckling from the pain. She tried squirming out from underneath his weight, but he moved his own body to keep her trapped beneath his. Fighting to keep the wrench from crashing down on top of her, Keryn brought her knee up in between their two bodies, keeping the Terran at bay.
The Terran lifted his weight momentarily before throwing himself forward again, trying to crush Keryn beneath his body. She felt her knee strain from the force and bit back another yelp of pain. Growling as he tried to shake her hand free of his wrist, he lifted his body again. Quickly taking advantage of the situation, Keryn slid her other leg between them, catching the Terran’s mass with both of her feet. Pushing off, she used her legs to shove the Terran from her. Stumbling backward in surprise, the Terran staggered toward the rail gun. Though still over twenty feet away, the magnetic pull from the rails ripped the metal wrench from his hand, sending the Terran spinning before he collapsed onto the ground near the gun mount. The wrench flew through the air as the Terran spun, clanging loudly onto one of the rails. As the Terran began to stand, Keryn quickly looked around. Her pistol lay far out of reach, coming to rest far away from where the two struggled against each other. Looking to her left, searching now for any improvised weapon, she saw the bucket, bolts spilling over its brim. Smiling impishly, she grabbed the bucket and flung it toward the man. As it spun, the heavy metal bolts spilled free of the bucket before being caught in the rail gun’s magnetic field. Standing, the Terran watched in horror as dozens of deadly metallic projectiles flashed toward him. His body being between Keryn and the rail gun, the blunt bolts slammed into him one after another, tearing through his flesh and gouging strips from his arms and legs. When the bolts struck his chest and abdomen, they bored through his soft flesh, pulled unavoidably toward the rail gun by insanely strong magnetic forces. The bolts dug through organs and muscle, leaving tepid waste to fill their holes in their wake. As the last of the bolts finished its gruesome trek through his body, the bucket slammed into his skull. His neck twisting at an unnatural angle, the Terran collapsed to the ground.
Keryn stood slowly, wincing as she put weight on her injured knee and breathing through hitched breaths as the pain spread through her ribs. Retrieving her pistol, she moved around the engines, using the massive machines for support. By the time she made it to the far side, Adam and his three remaining soldiers stood among the slaughtered Terrans, nursing their own wounds. The tissue on Adam’s right thigh was torn, as though from shrapnel. Her own team slowly descended the stairs to the ground floor. Together, eight of the original twenty troops in Keryn’s team had survived the invasion of the engine room. Limping, everyone wounded, the team made its way to the exit, dreading the painful climb back up the stairs. As they exited the room and the metal doors slid shut behind them, Keryn heard the exhilarated calls over the radio. One by one, teams reported in that their missions were completed. Above all the others, Keryn could hear Alcent calling enthusiastically that the bridge had been taken with no shots fired. The Captain and her crew had surrendered without a fight. As Alcent finished his announcement over their radios, the intercom leapt to life above Keryn’s head.
“Attention to all Terrans still on board,” Alcent’s voice called out. “The Revolutionaries of Othus,” Keryn could hear the capitalized words in his speech, “have taken control of the
The speaker went dead momentarily, before coming to life again with a woman’s voice reading a clearly rehearsed script. “This is Captain Wajitri,” the female announced, “Captain…”
Her words cut short by a growling voice. “Stick to the script,” the voice called from a distance.
The Captain began again. “…former Captain of the
The intercom went dead again and Keryn’s radio crackled on her private channel. “Keryn, this is Alcent,” the Uligart’s voice said quietly into her earpiece.
Keryn depressed the talk button. “This is Keryn. Congratulations on your bloodless victory. Wish I could say it was that easy down here at the engine room.”
“It’s at least good to hear that you’re still alive,” Alcent said, continuing his nearly whispering tone. “Adam still with you as well?”
“Yes,” Keryn replied, wincing again as a sharp pain shot through her side. “Yes, he’s still very much alive.” She couldn’t quite tell if she could hear disappointment in Alcent’s responding sigh.
“I’ve got reports coming in from around the ship. It sounds like the few remaining Terran loyalists are surrendering in waves. I…” he paused, seemingly embarrassed. “I didn’t really plan this out. We got them to surrender but I’m not really sure what to do with them now.”
“Take all the captives, gather them together, and jettison them out of the closest airlock,” she said harshly.
“What about the Code of Ethics?” Alcent asked, surprised.
“I’ve never read it,” she replied. “Have you?”
Keryn could virtually see the smile spread across his lips. “No, I can’t say that I have. Not a lot of use for the Code of Ethics in the smuggling business.”
“Then find the closest airlock and send them on their merry way. I’ll be on my way up to the bridge, but it’s going to take me a while. In the meantime, set a course for the Falitan Galaxy. We’re heading to a planet called Beracus. I’ll join you on the bridge once you’ve finished with our prisoners.”
She turned to Adam, who already looked crestfallen. Following his gaze, she peered up the tall flights of stairs ahead of them. Her shoulders sagged as she started counting the metal stairs, stopping when the number became too depressing. Feeling the pain in her knee and seeing Adam’s wounded leg, she frowned.
“This is going to take a while.”
CHAPTER 28:
The heavy gravities caused during the slingshots around the gas giants took their toll on the crew. Many didn’t sleep well at night and woke in the mornings with muscles aching as though they had spent the entire previous day in the gym. The weight of the increased gravities felt a like a lead foot being pressed against their chests, making their lungs scream for air with every breath. For Yen, especially, the sore muscles and difficulty breathing only added to his sour mood. Aside from answering questions from his pilots about tactics and flight formations, Yen kept to himself during the accelerations.
He filled his time with thoughts of strategy and flight formations, making assumptions about Terran tactics and how best to exploit their weaknesses. He knew the Terran ships bunched together for better defensive overlap from their rail guns and fighter interceptors. If one of the ships exploded, it usually did collateral damage to the Destroyers nearby. Though they tried against the invading Terran ships a year ago, the Alliance had been unable to slip a large enough explosive to destroy one of their ships outright past their intricately woven defensive grid.
In the one conflict between the Terran Empire and the Interstellar Alliance, most of the ships that each side lost had been due to destroyed engines and disabled weaponry. The ships had floated listlessly in the combat, the massive bulks acting as flotsam and jetsam around which the smaller fighters had swarmed. Yen surmised that it was possible to cause a massive explosion in one of the Terran ships were a fighter able to sneak some of the plasma missiles past the defenses and strike either the weapon bays with its volatile plasma warheads or drive a rocket into the fuel cells in the rear of the ship. But maneuvering missiles to those locations while dodging machine
