Forged in Space Read online

  “Mission directives clear us for approach, Captain.”

  Pretorius studied the rotating image of the moon. He’d studied the surface thoroughly during the flight here. He’d studied every mountain range and deep ravine on that surface, anywhere where a Chitin craft could hide. He used the live data streamed through the drones to study more closely the areas he’d identified as being the greatest threat.

  “Sir,” Chou urged Pretorius.

  “Move the ship into orbit around the moon, Mister Chou.”

  “Aye, sir.”

  “Leave one drone in orbit at the opposite side to the Scorpio and send the rest in system. I want every centimeter of the other moons scanned.”

  “Aye, sir.”

  “And keep a sensor watch on the planet. I want to know if anything bigger than a hydrogen atom escapes that atmosphere.”

  “Aye, sir.”

  Pretorius looked at the moon. The admiralty had identified this location as a prime spot for a surveillance facility that would give them data on movements throughout the solar system. If they could identify the location of a single Chitin craft before it attacked a ship of the fleet then it might be possible to outflank, outmaneuver, and outgun the enemy. Maybe a listening post out here could turn the tide of the war. Maybe it was the latest straw the admiralty was clutching at. And here was Pretorius, the hand reaching out. Hopefully, the Chits wouldn’t leap out of hiding and cut it off.

  Pretorius tugged at his cuffs and stepped away from the holostage. “Mister Chou, inform Major Cruz to assemble his team on the Marine deck. Let me know when they are ready. I want to meet the squad we are sending down there.”

  Chapter 5

  Jack installed the AI unit pulled from a scrapped water purification system. The drone needed a software update, but it was otherwise ready for action. Connecting the drone to the Scorpio’s AI, Jack patted the composite hull of the doomed little drone. He glanced across the maintenance hangar to Reyes. She was still busy with the Chitin.

  Jack saw a Chitin tentacle stiffen and stand out from the others. Then another. Jack walked slowly toward Reyes and her Chitin experiment. Another of the Chitin’s tentacles stiffened and stood out. And then the four tentacles suddenly lost their rigidity and flopped down to the bench. Reyes pulled her head-guard off and sat against the bench. “I’m getting there,” she said. She took her water bottle and drank.

  “I’ve seen these in action,” Jack said. sitting next to Reyes. That brought a look of surprise and admiration from Reyes.

  “I thought you were pretty green?” she asked, looking back to the Chitin on the bench.

  “I am,” he admitted.

  “I never thought I’d see one moving around,” Reyes said. “I thought I’d be safe on a destroyer. Hope I never see another moving around again.”

  “Except for this one,” Jack said.

  Reyes nodded and took another drink. “Except for this one. Only this is just the exoskeleton, a suit, an environment suit,” she said. “Whatever the Chitins are, they are inside these. I’m trying to get the damn thing open. I think there is a Chitin inside.”

  Reyes pulled her head-guard back on and looked at the control panel. “Step back a bit,” she said. “They can give you real heavy blow with those tentacles.”

  Jack stepped back and put a work bench between himself and Reyes. He climbed onto the bench and looked over Reyes’s shoulder to see what she was doing. The panel she had connected was delivering electrical signals of varying intensities to various parts of the Chit.

  A tentacle coiled up and then uncoiled and stiffened. Reyes re-set and the tentacle flopped back down to the bench.

  “It’s a bit of trial and error at the moment, but I think I have control over all movement. I just want to access some sort of opening in the body of the beast.”

  Jack looked closely at the Chit for the opening Reyes was looking for. The tentacles sprouted from the dark body. In many places, it was matte black and speckled with purple and green. Some places, the body was smooth. It was shining under the lights of the maintenance hangar and almost looked translucent, as if showing the black heart of the beast. Between the matte, speckled parts and the shining smooth parts, there was a network of fine, convoluted twisting lines. The body seemed to have smooth areas on the top of the head around the snout with its circle of white teeth.

  Reyes began directing pulses and varying frequencies to various parts of the Chit. The head moved sideways, the mouth parts pulling back the reveal more of the white teeth.

  “That’s better,” Ryes said. “You see that?”

  Jack remembered only too well how he’d seen that snarling action close up during the Battle of Training Moon. He had hoped to never see it again, but here was Reyes, excited by it.

  The Chitin head flopped as Reyes cancelled the current. “I think it’s about location and frequency. If I can just get the right...”

  Jack felt his heart leap as the body of the Chitin cracked along the fine twisted lines in its shell. The crack opened up slightly. There was a sudden hiss, like pressure being released. A deep purple ooze bubbled up and out of the crack, slowly flowing out and over the shell of the Chitin, the bench, and to the floor.

  Reyes moved quickly and grabbed an expander tool from the bench. She forced it into the small crack, the ooze covering her hands. Having fitted the tool in place, she jacked it open further. The shell made a cracking noise and Reyes stopped.

  Jack looked at the open cavity in the Chitin shell. The purple ooze stopped flowing and settled in the opening. Reyes disconnected the various wires. She pulled her head-guard off and dropped it to the bench. She looked up at Jack, who was standing and staring. She beamed up at him, smiling a bright smile that captured Jack, pulling his attention fully away from the slime-oozing broken Chit.

  “I’m in. I’m kravin’ well in.” She shook the ooze off her hands, and it splattered to the floor. She looked up at Jack. “I’ve kravin’ well done it.”

  She turned and looked at the fracture. “Now we can start to find out what they are about.”

  “Is that its blood?” Jack asked, looking nervously at the fracture.

  Reyes looked at her hands. “Maybe this is its body,” she said. “Their natural environment must be at a much higher pressure than ours.” She shook off more ooze. “Maybe whatever was inside has been burst by the low pressure.”

  “We know so little about them,” Jack said.

  “We know they try to kill us whenever they can.”

  “Maybe we could catch a live one and try and talk to it. Find out why they want to kill us.” Jack climbed off the bench, taking care not to slip on the ooze.

  “Okay,” Reyes said. “Good luck with that. I just want to know how they work. Not so bothered about what makes them tick upstairs.” Reyes tapped the side of her head.

  “I hope you two have a got a good reason to be slacking off.” Doyle’s voice made Jack jump.

  “I’ve cracked open this Chit,” Reyes reported brightly.

  Doyle came over to the bench, closely followed by George. “Good work, Sarah,” Doyle said. “I knew you’d get there.” He looked at the opening in the Chitin shell. George knelt on the floor and ran his fingers through the ooze.

  “Don’t put that in your mouth, George,” Doyle said, pulling the boy off the floor. “And what about you, Mister Forge? You been working or just looking at Reyes’s ass?”

  Jack felt his face burn red with embarrassment. He stammered and pointed to the drone. “I’ve fixed up the drone with AI from a scrapped water purifier.”

  “Let’s look.” Doyle walked over to the drone, George following. Jack glanced at Reyes nervously. Had she been offended by Doyle’s remark? Jack was hoping to get to know her, maybe date her. Doyle could have ruined everything if she now thought Jack had been looking at her in a lascivious way.

  Reyes smiled at Jack. If she could see the discomfort he was in, she made light of it. It made Jack feel a hell of a lot bette
r. He relaxed slightly.

  “Do you want to talk me through this?” Doyle shouted from the other side of the hangar. “Any time you are ready, Forge.”

  Jack jogged over and began explaining his work, where he’d found the AI unit and how he’d installed it.

  “Good work, Forge,” Doyle said, nodding and looking at the drone. “Looks like we’ve got a couple of real engineers on the staff at last. Between you, Reyes, and George, here we might get the Scorpio into something like a combat ready state.”

  Jack beamed and dusted off the top of the drone.

  “I’ll get George to take this over to the launch bay,” Doyle said.

  George shook his head and stepped closer to Doyle.

  “It’s not far. You know the way.”

  George shook his head vigorously and looked nervously at the doorway leading out of the hangar.

  “You can help out the team a little bit, George. Just take this over to the...”

  George grabbed Doyle’s arm and held on tight. Jack started to feel very uncomfortable with the young man’s behavior, but Doyle took it calmly.

  “Okay. You can stay with me,” Doyle said. Immediately, George relaxed.

  “I can take it to the launch bay,” Jack said.

  Doyle shook his head. “I’ll take it.” He picked up a scrap of computer circuit from a pile of junk on Jack’s bench and handed it George. “Try and fix that for me, George.”

  George took the item and began pulling and prodding it, immersed in the work.

  “He was a galley hand,” Doyle said, nodding toward George. “That’s where the Chits came in. They cut through the hull and came in through the galley. They captured the entire galley staff. George was in the freezer when they infiltrated the ship and got locked in. Nearly died of hypothermia, but that freezer saved his life. I was there patching up the hull after the damn Chits left and I found him. He won’t leave my side now. I’m trying to get him to spread his wings a bit, but it’s still early days yet. Right, George?”

  George handed the broken circuits back to Doyle, who looked at them for a moment before praising George for his work.

  Jack had seen what a close encounter with the Chitins could do to someone. It was impossible to predict how someone would be affected. Some held their nerve and fought them. Some broke and ran. Some froze and remained rooted to the spot, stunned by the Chitins, their alien bodies, and their strange movement. No one came away from an encounter with the Chits and was quite the same again.

  “Jack Forge. Are you hiding in here?

  Jack spun around and looked at who had called out. Sam Torent came marching into the maintenance hangar.

  “Sam. What are you doing down here?”

  “I’ve come to get you for some real work,” Torent said. “I’ll have to pull you away from your toys. Who do you have to notify of your recall to the battalion?”

  Doyle looked Torent in the eye and then showed the stripe on his coveralls’ sleeve.

  Torent came to attention. “Sorry, Master,” Torent said, saluting. “Major Cruz has ordered Sixth Squad to assemble on the Marine deck. We’re not Sixth Squad without all veterans of the Battle of Training Moon.”

  Jack looked at Doyle. He hoped Doyle would refuse him permission to leave. Jack looked over to Reyes. She was wiping her hands free of slime and looking over. She gave Jack a smile, half-friendly and half-sad to see him go.

  “You’re a good engineer, Forge,” Doyle said. “Get back as soon as you can.” Doyle patted Jack on the shoulder. George copied and patted Jack too.

  Torent slung an arm over Jack’s shoulder and walked him away. “They keep some funny people down in maintenance. I can see how you fit in. Let’s get a pulse rifle in your hands. You remember how to use a pulse rifle, don’t you?”

  “Captain on deck,” Commander Finch shouted out as Pretorius entered. The stamp of boots as the squad came to attention echoed around the Marine deck. Major Cruz walked next to Pretorius.

  It was the first time Jack had seen their captain and only the second time he’d seen the major.

  Cruz was small but solid, a cannonball of a man. Pretorius was tall and filled with confidence. He was used to giving orders and having those orders be followed. He had the air of a man who knew what he wanted and knew how to get it. He displayed the sort of confidence that inspired others to be confident too. Then Jack noticed him tugging his cuffs. It was a minor motion, barely discernible, but Jack saw it and thought it a nervous twitch.

  “At ease, squad,” Pretorius said, his voice strong in the huge Marine deck. The captain stood in front of the squad and looked them over. Then he turned to Cruz and spoke quietly. Jack heard the hushed words. He watched carefully

  “I don’t recognize any of your team.”

  “This is the new squad. Our long overdue replacements, Captain.”

  “This is the squad from the Battle of Training Moon?”

  “Yes, sir. Sixth Squad of Cobra Company, Commander Finch’s company.”

  Jack detected a hint of displeasure in the way the captain’s eyes narrowed momentarily.

  “They are the squad with the most recent combat experience.” Pretorius nodded. “And you will be leading the mission, Commander?”

  Jack noticed Finch take a step back, clearly recoiling from the very thought of joining the mission.

  “I thought it would be better for me to direct the mission from the Marine ops center with Major Cruz here on board the Scorpio, Captain.”

  Pretorius nodded and seemed to consider the suggestion. “Who do you think should lead them on the ground?”

  “Their squad leader. Step forward, Torent.” Finch spoke in a voice harsh and dry, a voice on the verge of cracking like a sunbaked mud flat. “He has proven himself in battle, Captain. I have every confidence in the man.”

  “Their squad leader? No, Commander. I think you should lead them. The area is clear. Risk is minimal. I don’t think you should pass up the opportunity to get your boots dirty.” Pretorius turned to Major Cruz. “Any objections, Major?”

  “No, Captain,” Cruz replied with a strong voice.

  Finch hooked a finger under his collar and turned his head back and fore, his chin protruding forward.

  Pretorius turned his attention to the squad standing at ease, but Jack thought if they felt anything like he did then they were not at ease at all. Pretorius walked up to Torent, who stepped back into position on the right of the first row. Torent saluted as Pretorius stepped up.

  “As you were, Squad Leader,” Pretorius said. “You were at the Battle of Training Moon when the damn Chitins attacked?”

  “Yes, sir. Hell of a fight, Captain.”

  “So I understand. I read the reports. One of the squad fixed up a drone while under fire. Is that Marine here now?”

  Torent held out a hand and indicated Jack, who was standing next to him. The captain took a step over and faced Jack.

  “If you hadn’t fixed up that drone, Marine, we might have lost even more people down there. Good work.” Captain Pretorius nodded his approval.

  Jack looked up at the tall man. He noticed the deep creases in the captain’s skin. The captain wasn’t that old, but the war was taking its toll.

  “Thank you, Captain.”

  “How did you come to be in the Marines? I would have thought fleet engineers would have taken your application gladly.”

  “I didn’t apply for service, Captain. I was drafted after I failed to make the grade in university.”

  Pretorius tugged his cuff. “Nevertheless, it must be very satisfying to look back and know you were so vital to that day’s work.”

  “No, sir. It was utterly terrifying and I still have nightmares about it.”

  Finch strode forward, red and angry. “You stow that kravin’ mouth, Marine, or you’ll be on laundry duty for a month.”

  “Does that mean I won’t have to fight, Commander?”

  Finch had his tazer in his hand and a cruel look in his eye.
Pretorius calmed the commander with a light touch. The captain smiled at Jack, but there was a clear look behind the smile that told Jack that further insolence would not be tolerated. Pretorius was a natural leader of men.

  “You’ll fight, if you have to, Marine. I’ve read your file. You’ll fight if you have to.”

  Pretorius walked along the lines of 6th squad before taking his position in front of them.

  “Listen up. Your mission is to reconnoiter the moon. If we can establish a listening post out here, we can gain a significant advantage in this fight. There is hardly any atmosphere on Kratos, so you will be equipped with tactical suits. The VR deck is cleared for you to familiarize yourselves with this equipment. Make sure you bring it back in one piece, preferably with you safe inside it. Good luck, Marines.”

  The captain turned and walked off the Marine deck. Major Cruz told Finch to carry on and left behind the captain.

  Finch turned toward the squad, his face twisted in anger and annoyance. “Meat suit training on the VR deck right now.” Then Finch walked up to Jack and jabbed the tazer in his ribs.

  Jack felt the jolt spread over his bones and fizz in the base of his skull. He fell to his hands and knees. The second jab from the tazer was aimed between his shoulders. He fell flat on his face as the power ripped though his body a second time. He heard Finch talking in a screeching wail.

  “You show me up like that in front of the captain again, Marine, and you will be sorry.”

  The tazer bit again and Jack felt his tears burn like acid. Then he heard Torent speak.

  “I think the scroat learned his lesson, Commander.”

  Jack heard the tazer fizzing. “You make sure he has, Squad Leader. You make sure he has.” He could hear the sound of Finch’s footsteps walking away.

  “For a clever Marine, you are one stupid kravin’ scroat,” Torent said with a laugh in his voice. “Why don’t you do your talking on the training deck? On your feet, Forge. On the double.”

  “I think I need help.”