quietly slid open.
Inside the wide, round base was a winding staircase surrounding the central elevator tube. The elevator was used primarily for moving freight and equipment into the ship while crew used the stairs. With Tobias and his MK in the lead they began a slow, silent ascent up the stairs.
At the top they entered into the central generator and storage room, circular in shape, following the natural curvature of the ship. Beyond doorways on the outer wall of this room was a concentric hallway that wrapped around the entire ship; off this corridor where entrances to various other compartments, all set toward the ship’s exterior. There was another level above this one with two concentric corridors and more compartments. Topping it all off was the bridge, a prominent dome sitting in the middle of the disk.
Seeing that Adam was in no condition to engage in another fight with a Kracori, he was the last to enter the generator room at the head of the stairs. He heard a soft click and looked to see Tobias motioning with his hand. Tindal and Rutledge had already spotted it and were moving in that direction. It was a flash rifle, sitting on a table at the other end of the room, as conspicuous as could be. The young petty officer reached it first and snatched up the weapon before Rutledge had a chance. The Chief shot him an evil glare; Tindal just lifted the weapon to his lips and kissed it.
Tobias opened the nearest hatch leading to the outer corridor and did a quick look-see. Nobody; their luck was holding. At each hatch they came to, Tobias would stop and put an ear to the metal, listening for any sounds from inside the compartment.
At the third door, he heard what sounded like a grunt coming from inside. These interior doors were operated by recessed pressplates, not latches, so with Tobias on one side and Tindal on the other, Rutledge pressed the door release and stepped back. The door slid open smoothly and quietly — but not quietly enough for the occupant inside not to notice.
It was a Kracori officer, in the process of removing his shirt, and looking to be preparing for bed. His back was turned to the door and he nonchalantly turned to see who had opened it. His eyes grew wide when three burly Humans slammed into him, one pressing a clamp-like hand over his mouth while the other two held him down on the compartment’s single bed. Riyad, Adam and Sherri soon joined them inside the tiny compartment.
Tobias placed the barrel of his MK-17 against the temple of the alien. “Don’t yell out or I’ll blow your brains all over that wall over there. Tell me now, how many are there aboard?”
A look of defiance crossed the Kracori’s face and he shook his head. “I will tell you nothing, Human.”
“Fine,” Tobias said. He looked at Tindal. “Cut off his nose. Maybe that will make him talk.”
Adam could see Tindal hesitate; he knew he didn’t have a knife. But after the briefest of moments, Tindal leaned back and reached with his left hand behind his back.
“No! No! There are only four of us onboard.”
“Where are the rest?” Tobias asked.
“Most are aboard Ludif Jonnif’s ship. There is a celebration going on,” the alien nodded toward Adam “regarding him and the Juirean. It is a joyous day for us.…” The Kracori’s voice trailed off as he realized just how silly the statement now sounded.
“Where are they, the others aboard this ship?”
“When last I saw them, they were in a feeding room.”
“Where is that?”
“Next level up, next to the stairway exit.”
“Left or right?” The alien seemed confused. “When you come off the stairs, which way do you turn?”
“To the right. Yes, to the right.”
“Tindal, stay with him,” Tobias commanded. “We’re going up. If he’s lying … kill him.”
“No! No! I meant you turn left,” the scared alien corrected.
Tobias smiled, displaying all his pearly-whites at the alien. “That’s better.” And then he brought the butt of the MK-17 down on the head of the Kracori. The force was sufficient to break a hole in the creature’s skull and penetrate the brain. The Kracori officer died instantly.
“Let’s move,” Tobias said as he pressed through the others in the room and out into the corridor, the MK held ready in his right hand.
At a point in the curving corridor they came to the stairway that would lead them to the second level. Again with Tobias and Tindal in the lead, the team of six Humans climbed the stairs and positioned themselves at either side of the doorway just to the left of the stairs.
Rutledge once again tripped the entry pad and the door slid open. The two armed SEALs entered the room in tandem.
It only took a split second for the Humans to see that all three of the other aliens aboard were in the room. They opened fire with their weapons, and a second later all three lay dead, puffs of smoke rising into the room from the clean, level-one bolt-holes burned into their flesh.
Adam turned to Riyad. “Go down and get Kaylor and Jym and meet us on the bridge.” Riyad ran off.
Sherri and Tindal helped Adam up the last flight of stairs leading to the bridge, where he collapsed into one of the side console chairs, much to the relief of his burning ribs. A moment later, Kaylor and Jym followed Riyad into the room. The alien pilot slipped into the command seat and confidently began the preparations for lift off.
“Even this far from the others ships, our leaving will be noticed,” Kaylor said. Jym had taken a position at the nav console and was pulling up star charts even before his ass hit the seat.
“Nothing we can do about that,” Adam said. “Just do it as quietly as possible.”
Kaylor looked back at Adam as if to say
“Can we use the gravity drive to take out their ships?” Rutledge asked anxiously.
“We’d only destroy a couple and damage a few more. That would still leave the bigger ones near the tents to come after us,” said Kaylor, much to the Chief’s disappointment.
“How fast can we get up?” Tobias asked.
“Once we’re clear of the surface we can switch to gravity drive. But it will still take us a couple of minutes to reach space.”
“Jym,” Adam said, “get all the weapons online and charging. There doesn’t seem to be any way we can do this without fighting our way out-”
Just then a loud explosion reverberated through the spaceship as a brilliant light filled the pilothouse through the forward view port. Another of the Klin saucers had just engaged a chemical drive, sending a tidal wave of smoke and noise across the grass landing field.
“They’re coming after us!” Jym screamed.
“No, it’s the ship taking Hydon to their homeworld!” Adam corrected. “Kaylor, can you get us up using that ship as cover?”
“We’re ready, but the sound will still be significant on the surface, and that other ship will know we’ve followed them.”
“Just do it! We’ll deal with the consequences as they come up. Go!”
Kaylor did his thing, and seconds later the ship was engulfed in its own cloud of white chemical smoke. The landing field fell away quickly as all eyes turned to Jym’s screen, watching for any signs of pursuit. As the seconds increased — and still no other liftoffs — they began to relax.
But then the comm link buzzed.
Jym looked to Adam for guidance. Adam shook his head.
The link buzzed again. Kaylor switched to gravity drive and they experienced the customary surge of vertigo as the internal gravity wells took priority.
After the third buzz Adam nodded for the link to be opened.
“Krylorif, I was not aware you are to accompany us to Eilsion?” said the voice on the link.
“We are not,” Adam answered in quick short words. “Reconnaissance.”
Only a moment went by before the voice came back over the speakers. “I was not aware.” Everyone on the bridge held their breath. “Success with your mission, Krylorif. I envy you. We have three long months before
