Forged in Darkness Read online

  Jack took hold of Reyes’s shoulders and looked her in the eye. “Don’t worry,” he said. “I’ll find out what I can.”

  “But I thought I’d killed him,” Reyes said.

  Jack brought her close to him. “Shhh,” he said softly. “Don’t let anyone hear you say that.”

  “His suit was cut. The atmosphere should have killed him instantly. He should be dead.”

  Jack looked at the image of Finch and Harts. These were two of the worst elements Jack had ever met. One was arrogant, the other conniving. Both destabilized the Marines around them. Neither should be allowed to bring their forms of destructiveness back to the battalion.

  The holoimage flickered on the bench. Reyes moved her hand to the controls. Jack reached out and took her hand to stop her from canceling the feed. He watched. There was something not right. Something bothered him. He watched.

  “We can’t be found watching this,” Reyes said.

  “Just wait,” Jack said.

  The flickering image from the med bay showed there was little happening. The medidrone moved along the aisle. A nurse filled out a document at the nurse’s station. Then Jack spotted it.

  “Go back,” Jack said. “Can you go back?”

  Reyes tapped the controls and played the image in reverse. Jack saw it again.

  “Stop. Play it back again.”

  Reyes replayed that portion of the feed again.

  “There. See that?” Jack pointed at Finch and Harts. The small gasp from Reyes told Jack that she’d seen it too. She gripped his hand a little tighter.

  Both Finch and Harts seemed to move in sync. They turned their heads slowly to the left, lifted them slightly, and slowly opened their mouths wide. A dark shadow, almost like drifting smoke, seemed to move about in the open mouths. Then, after a few seconds in that strange pose, their mouths shut, their heads moved down, and they faced forward. Perfectly in time.

  Jack looked Reyes in the eyes, her big, dark eyes. He felt the warmth of her hand on his. He realized they’d been standing there holding hands for some time. He loosened his grip and they let go of each other.

  Jack’s small communicator buzzed in his pocket. He took it out and read the message. He was being called to the command deck for a mission briefing.

  “I’ve got to go,” Jack said. He wanted to stay with Reyes, but duty called him away. He put a hand on her shoulder. “We’ll be fine.”

  “I know I will,” she replied. Then she leaned forward and kissed Jack’s cheek. “Don’t do anything brave…or stupid.”

  Jack felt his cheek where she’d kissed him. He wanted to feel it there forever. “Don’t let Slim give you all the easy stuff to do.”

  Jack turned to leave the maintenance hangar and walked toward the big double-doors. He heard Reyes speaking up.

  “Commander departing,” she said.

  Jack turned to see Reyes and Slim standing up straight and facing him, each giving a smart salute. Jack returned the salute and left. He knew he’d be welcome next time he visited.

  3

  Jack had never set foot on a destroyer’s command deck before. He never realized how many officers were required to operate the ship. He’d always thought the captain pretty much ran the show, but now he could see that over a dozen officers were involved. Each officer had a station with a bank of screens and several small holostages arrayed within reach.

  The center of the deck was dominated by the large holostage. The holoimage currently showed a number of ships with the carrier ship Monarch, command ship of the group, in the center. Around the carrier were the group’s frigates and corvettes, a dozen smaller ships in all. Holding formation further away from the carrier were the destroyers, three of them, their names highlighted on the hologram: the Aries, the Pisces, and the Scorpio.

  Walking across the command deck to the holostage, Jack felt out of place. He felt like an intruder. He expected at any moment that an officer would bark at him for intruding on the meeting. Captain Pretorius was occupied at the holostage. He was flanked by Agent Visser on one side, who watched Jack approach. On the other side of Pretorius, a young first officer was busy working at the control panel, occasionally glancing up at the holoimage. The name on his jacket said Chou. Commanders Trace Matavesi and Harry Griff welcomed the new commander colleague with nod and a smile.

  “Good of you to join us, Commander,” Pretorius said as Jack took a position in front of the holostage. “Get lost on your way to the command deck?”

  “Sir, no, sir,” Jack said. “I was in maintenance when I received the orders to attend, sir.”

  Pretorius stopped working and looked up at Jack, a twinkle in his eye and a slight smile at the corner of his mouth. “One ‘sir’ will be sufficient, Commander.”

  Commander Chou slid a holographic document over the surface of the holostage toward the captain. Pretorius looked down at the document, signed it, and slid it back to his second-in-command. When he looked up, any sign of amusement was gone. His expression was serious and businesslike.

  “We have orders direct from Fleet Command and Control Center on Eros. The Scorpio is being tasked with a mission to the outer system. A patrol corvette recently discovered a Chitin facility that Fleet Command believes to be part of the Chitin surveillance network. The Scorpio will approach this Chitin device and attempt to plant a demolition charge designed to send an electromagnetic pulse through the entire network. We will need to plant three of these devices in order to destroy the entire surveillance network.”

  Pretorius glanced at the assembled officers. Jack thought the captain’s gaze lingered a fraction longer on him. Maybe the captain was still to be convinced that Jack was a suitable candidate for the role of Marine Company Commander.

  “We are to proceed in complete secrecy and we will be operating solo.”

  Jack noticed Commander Chou hesitate. The second-in-command was quiet and busy, but the moment he heard that the Scorpio would be alone in the outer system, he paused. It was only a momentary response, but Jack read from it that Commander Chou was nervous about this situation.

  “A question, sir,” Jack said.

  “Go ahead, Commander.” Pretorius faced Jack.

  The officers all looked at Jack. The new guy was going to pop his head above the parapet. They were all interested to discover what they could about Jack from this first foray into the world of command.

  “Won’t we be vulnerable if we are discovered that far out, sir?”

  “We will be,” Pretorius said matter-of-factly. “We will be extremely vulnerable, unlikely to be able to defend ourselves long enough for any support to arrive. We will, in all likelihood, be destroyed if we are discovered. The Chitins will close in and destroy a lone destroyer, as we would if one of their war ships entered our space.”

  Pretorius gave Jack a look that asked if his question had been answered.

  Jack suddenly felt foolish. He realized now what an obvious question it was. Of course they would be in danger, operating alone so far from home space. It was clear to all at the briefing. It was unnecessary for it to be spelled out, but Jack had asked the question and the captain had given a candid answer. Jack was also nervous about the upcoming mission now.

  “Thank you, sir,” Jack said as he tried to avoid the eyes of the others at the holostage.

  “You are welcome, Commander. In future, please wait until the end of the briefing before asking any questions.”

  Jack felt a flush of embarrassment. His first command briefing and he was behaving like an excited schoolboy. He nodded and answered as confidently as possible. “Yes, sir.”

  “Extremely vulnerable,” Pretorius began again. “We are going out into hostile space. Alone. No hope of support. We will be going dark and will operate under silent running protocols. That means we will be at minimal power. No primary engine operations. There will be no EM communications, and that includes ship-wide communications as well as ship-to-ship and fleet communications. We will employ passive scans
only. We will be able to receive communications, but we will be unable to respond or send communications of any kind. We are strictly running on silent from the top of third watch.”

  Jack had been in combat situations and had fought Chitin hordes. He had been face to face with the enemy and had faced death multiple times. Fear was nothing new, but fear in the heat of battle was very different than fear of what was to come. Fear in the moment was a difficult emotion to handle, but fear of a threat as yet unseen was worse. It gave a man time to think and time made the threat seem huge, insurmountable, and unconquerable. No weapon could defeat the type of fear Jack was beginning to experience.

  “It is your responsibility to ensure your sections are silent by end of second watch.” Pretorius leaned on the holostage and looked at each of the assembled officers. “On the stroke of third watch, the Monarch Carrier Group will initiate a full engine burn. We will set our heading and engage our primary drive.”

  Commander Chou tapped the side of the holostage and showed a graphic of the maneuver. The entire carrier group was fired up and moving.

  “The carrier group will arc away.” Pretorius pointed at the holoimage showing the entire carrier group performing a sharp turn. “We will cut our engines and be on a silent running course to the outer system.”

  Jack watched the graphic—the Monarch and the group veering off, the Scorpio continuing on its course, running silent, engines dead and cold.

  “The flight plan is calculated for a short burn to put us on to a series of slingshot maneuvers. We will be travelling at high velocity and hopefully in complete secrecy. We will achieve a distant solar orbit and move in on the first of these Chit listening devices.”

  “Sir,” Jack spoke up. He knew he was interrupting again, but this was important. “Can I recommend my people send any last-minute communications before we go dark?”

  The captain considered this. Jack though it was a sensible question.

  Pretorius tugged his cuffs. “No, Commander. Don’t instruct your people to send last-minute communications. We will be undertaking a clandestine operation. We must assume the Chits are monitoring us even now. The Monarch Carrier Group is covering our heading with their maneuver. We can’t give away the mission with a sudden spike in communication traffic. If we tell the crew we will be silent, they will all want to say good-bye to some sweetheart, mother or friend. No, Commander. Do not inform your people.”

  Jack felt the contradictory opinion hammering at his chest. The crew would be annoyed, angry or upset if they were told they had missed an opportunity to send a last-minute good-bye. The crew would work better if they were informed of the dangerous mission they were about to undertake. Jack could think of a dozen reasons why the captain should let the crew know what was coming.

  “Do you have a comment, Mister Forge?” Pretorius asked.

  Jack looked at the captain. Commander Chou and Agent Visser were both looking at Jack. Griff and Matavesi averted their gaze but waited with bated breath. Jack was being invited to comment. To contradict.

  Jack knew he was right. Jack knew everyone around the table had the same thought, even the captain, but Jack realized that the captain’s responsibility was to the mission. It was cold and heartless. It was war.

  “No, sir. No comments.”

  Jack knew the captain was right. It was going to create disappointment and anger, but it was wise of Pretorius to keep the communication patterns normal.

  “Any other questions?” Pretorius looked around the table. No one reacted. “Very well. Mister Chou has assignments for you to prepare for silent running and orders for the tactical flight to the outer system. Commander Griff, you should prepare your men to combat a Chitin incursion. If we are discovered, they might try and board us. I’d rather not let them have an easy time of it.”

  Griff stiffened and then turned to Commander Matavesi. “Trace,” he said calmly, “full VR combat simulations for all squads starting immediately.”

  “Yes, sir,” Matavesi replied.

  “And with your permission, Captain—” Griff turned to Pretorius. “—I’ll have Commander Forge prepare internal defenses.”

  “By all means, Commander.” Pretorius signed a document placed in front of him.

  “Get down to the maintenance hangar,” Griff said, turning to Jack. “Identify weak points and organize materials for barricades. Use your judgment, Jack, and make a start on the structures.”

  Pretorius looked up from the documents on the holostage, looking at each of the officers. Jack felt like the captain was looking deep inside him, searching for his true self. Jack was held by the steely stare. Pretorius’s personality was magnetic and he held the attention of all, even with a moment’s silence.

  “This will be a tough mission,” Pretorius said. “Dangerous, of course. Vital, for sure. If we destroy that Chitin network, we will gain a significant advantage in this war. Our responsibility is to get it done, and get it done right. We have to rely on each other to do what is in the best interests of the mission. I am relying on you all. And welcome to command, Mister Forge.”

  4

  Jack sat on a bench in the maintenance hangar and flicked through the hologram of the Scorpio, the corridors mapped out in flickering green lines. They were arranged to allow easy and speedy access throughout the ship. But the arrangement that was advantageous to the smooth operation of the ship would also benefit a Chitin boarding party.

  Slim walked past, a dirty cloth in one hand and an equally filthy micro pulse coil in the other. He paused and looked at the flickering image. He rubbed the coil with the cloth.

  “You could seal the corridors at the main junctions.” Slim pointed at the four intersections where stairways joined the upper and lower decks, the only places where it was possible to move directly from the top deck to the base deck. “You’d force the Chits into the tighter sections and you can hold them there.”

  Jack kneaded his forehead, trying to wipe away the tension headache.

  “Don’t build barricades,” Reyes shouted from the other side of the hangar, where she was rebuilding a cannon pivot base. “Barricades will hamper your maneuverability. You’ll be sitting and waiting for them to come and kill you. The battalion will need to be mobile.”

  Jack rubbed his tired eyes. He could still see the green lines behind his eyelids. He was sure he would dream of these green holographic lines for nights to come.

  He lay back on the bench and groaned. Both Reyes and Slim were right. He needed to hold the Chits in tight spaces where his Marines could be most effective, but he also had to keep the corridors free for the battalion to move about the ship.

  Jack wondered what resistance the battalion could mount against a determined Chitin force. The Scorpio battalion was undermanned. Six squads were missing from Cobra Company. Boa Company had taken heavy losses at the Battle of Drydock and was down to eight full-strength squads. Adder was back to full strength thanks to the addition of a large number of replacements, but with so many replacements, all untested in battle, Adder was the least experienced company.

  “They gave you a nice medal. Pity they didn’t give you any ideas.” Slim walked off, still wiping the coil with the dirty cloth.

  Jack sat up. If he couldn’t defend the entire ship, then he would have to defend the most vital areas. The command deck would have to be held, but that would be useless if the Scorpio was dead in the void, so the engine rooms would also have to be held.

  He jumped to the floor and stepped over to the workbench with the flickering holoimage of the Scorpio. He tapped a few controls and lit up the command deck and the engine rooms. The corridors leading to those sections were defendable with several pinch points, which meant the defenders would be able to hold any attackers with minimal numbers.

  Jack estimated the numbers he would deploy at these points. The command deck only had a few entry points, but one was located at the forward end of the Scorpio’s main upper port corridor and was wide open. An entire company wo
uld need to be deployed to hold the command deck.

  The engine room was already well-defended by the narrow corridors. Three squads from Boa Company, the most experienced, should be enough to hold the engine rooms.

  Reyes brought Jack a coffee. “You might want to defend life support too,” she said. She sipped her coffee and looked over her mug at him.

  Realizing she was right, Jack tapped the controls and highlighted the life support control room, a large room almost as big as the command deck. It was isolated with only one corridor leading to it.

  “That should be easy to hold,” he mused.

  Reyes leaned over and tapped a few controls. The life support conduits threading through the ship lit up and showed another dozen possible entry points to the control room.

  Putting his mug down on the workbench, Jack sighed.

  “It will take an entire company to cover all those entry points.” Jack leaned on the bench. “And I haven’t even looked at the med bay or weapons control.”

  “Med bay is easy enough.” Reyes tapped a control and called up a surveillance image of the corridor outside of it. The image showed the main double-doors. “That’s the main entrance,” Reyes said, stepping back. “You can barricade that and hold the corridor with a few Marines.”

  Jack nodded. “There is another way in.” He switched the camera to show the interior if the med bay. “There is a conduit entrance at the back.” Jack looked at Reyes. He had once used that entrance himself to meet with Reyes when she was held under guard. “I’ll have to seal that as well.”

  Jack picked up his coffee and took a sip. He stepped back and stood next to Reyes. “I might even have a few squads left for a reserve force.”

  The image from the med bay panned around and showed two of the patients that Jack knew well. Finch and Bill Harts. Jack froze. He sensed Reyes tense up too.

  Finch and Harts were being discharged. They walked past the nurses’ station and headed out through the main door.