Escape (Jack Forge, Lost Marine Book 3) Read online

  “I’m trying to outrun them,” Morton said.

  “We can’t outrun them, Captain. We need to prepare.” Jack tapped the controls on the side of the holostage. The image zoomed out and showed the Devex warship on the tail of the civilian transport. The transport ship was bigger, but with no offensive ability, it was at the warship’s mercy. Jack had encountered the Devex enough times to know that there would be no mercy.

  The distance between the two ships was less than a million kilometers and shortening by the second.

  “Have you seen these Devex warships in action, Captain?” Jack asked. He tapped the controls and called up a set of data taken from the first Devex attack on the fleet.

  “Yes. I was in the fleet when they first attacked.” The captain stared blankly at the holoimage. “They clamp on,” he said in a distant voice. “They deploy those boarding arms and puncture the sides of a ship.”

  Jack called up the sensor data from a civilian transport that had been attacked during the fleet’s first encounter with the Devex. The holoimage showed the civilian transport with the Devex warship above. Huge arms extended out from the side of the black warship, arcing around to puncture the side of the transport. A dozen arms gripped the ship below.

  “Show internal sensor reports from the transport,” Jack said.

  The holostage showed the data from the transport. The arms punctured the ship’s hull at intervals all along the sides of the ship.

  Jack tapped on the holoimage at one point where the Devex warship had clamped on. The smooth white corridor of the civilian transport was smashed, and a dark opening was there at the end of the puncture arms. And through the arms came a stream of Devex warriors.

  “It’s how they both trap a ship and get their warriors aboard.” Jack pointed at the structure. “It’s ingenious, really.”

  It was not the first time Jack had watched this hologram data from the previous attack. He watched again now, hoping to find some weakness in the Devex attack. They were a powerful enemy. Jack was facing an impossible challenge.

  Out from the puncture arms came the Devex warriors armed with the massive, rapid-fire blasters they preferred. They poured a stream of energy bullets in all directions along the corridor, swiftly taking down the small Marine response that had rushed to counter the threat.

  Captain Morton watched in horror before turning away.

  “This is how they will attack,” Jack said. “We can’t hold them. We need to draw them in and fight them deep inside the ship. Maybe then we can outflank them. We might have a chance.”

  “I’ve ordered all able-bodied men and women to the armory,” Captain Morton said. “We will fight them off.”

  Jack canceled the data stream and returned to the image of the pursuing warship. In the few moments Jack had been making his defense plans, the Devex had closed in another few hundred thousand kilometers.

  Jack looked back at Sam and Hawke with the small squad of militia, all former cops. It was a small force. It was all they had. It would have to be enough.

  “I don’t think you should be arming civilians at this time.” Jack said.

  “What, and leave them defenseless?” Morton said.

  “All you will do is put lethal weapons in the hands of a hoard of frightened and untrained civilians. They will be a danger to themselves and others. Better they withdraw to the inner sections of the ship and let the professionals do their job.”

  Jack zoomed in on a few of the larger areas of the massive civilian transport looking for a place big enough to move the civilians and keep them safe.

  “The central arena,” Hawke said, stepping up next to Jack and tapping the controls to show the central arena. It was big and centrally located. “It is the largest single space on the transport. And it’s deep in the center of the transport.”

  “But it won’t hold everyone,” Morton said. “And what are they going to do in there? Sit and wait for your little group of militia to get wiped out?”

  “Don’t underestimate our ability, Captain,” Hawke said. “The militia is trained and ready to defend this ship. And we have Major Forge in command. The major has faced tougher enemies than a single Devex warship.” He turned and gave Jack a hopeful look.

  Jack maintained his stony expression. He didn’t feel as confident as the young squad leader, but he wasn’t going to shatter Hawke’s confidence by revealing his uncertainty. A confident Marine could overcome huge odds. It was a powerful ally. Jack wasn’t sure, on this occasion, if confidence would be enough, though.

  Morton laughed. “A few retired cops and a handful of Marines. Don’t misunderstand me, Hawke,” Morton said, “I don’t doubt your resolve, or your ability, but the Devex are coming in numbers. You will be lucky to hold them for even ten minutes.”

  Morton looked at Jack as if for confirmation of this doom-laden prediction.

  Jack could not disagree. It was a hopeless situation.

  “If I have your agreement, Captain, I will start making preparations for the defense of the ship.” Jack said.

  Morton waved dismissively. “Do whatever you can, Major.”

  “Okay, first, we stop arming civilians. The militia is in enough danger without having to worry about a frightened civilian taking a shot at them. Next, order as many people as possible to the central arena. Everyone else is to remain in their quarters. Seal all the doors and sit tight. I’ll need the run of the corridors if I’m going to hold off this attack.”

  Sam wandered over to the holostage and stood next to Jack. He could sense Sam was distant, dreamlike, not quite his usual focused self, but Jack was pleased to have his old comrade by his side. He had fought with Sam on more occasions than either of them cared to count. If there was one person on board this transport he could trust, it was Sam Torent. Even a half-asleep Sam Torent was a better military asset than any dozen of the militia.

  “I’ll need a couple dozen high-yield explosive charges. Demolition, seismic charges, whatever you have on board,” Jack went on, “and I’ll need a dozen volunteers.”

  “What are you planning, Major?” Morton asked. He pushed himself away from the holostage and stared at Jack. “I won’t have you strapping bombs to my people.”

  “Calm yourself, Captain,” Jack said. “That’s really not my style. I’m not saying it won’t be dangerous, but I’d like as many of us to come out of this alive as possible. Now, Captain, do you have ordnance of any kind?”

  “Power cells. That’s all I can suggest. Set them to overload and they can pack a punch.” Morton looked at Jack, still suspicious.

  “Big enough to destroy those Devex puncture arms?” Jack asked.

  Captain Morton looked back to the holostage. He selected the data from the first Devex attack and selected the internal sensor data from one of the captured civilian transports. He focused in on one of the puncture arms where it had burst through the hull. The data from the internal scans gave details of the entrance diameter and an estimation of the Devex material strength.

  “We should be able to blast the puncture arms,” Morton said, turning to Jack with a slight smile. “Maybe take two power cells for each arm just to be sure, and I reckon they’ll destroy those puncture arms.”

  Jack nodded and clasped a hand on Morton’s shoulder. “If we can cripple those arms after they deploy them, I think we have a chance to save the ship, and your passengers. With a good plan and accurate execution, we can overcome the odds.”

  Morton nodded. He turned to the holostage and zoomed out to show the Devex warship clamped brutally to the civilian transport.

  “I knew the captain of that ship from before the evacuation,” Morton said. “We worked the outer system haulage runs for a couple of years. It was monotonous and dull work, running in convoy, a few civilian captains, each with a few million tons of asteroids. But he was always such fun. Happy. A real joker. Kept the lot of us entertained.” Morton watched as the data recording played out until the transport began to explode from the inside,
pushing the warship away as the blast slammed into the Devex shields.

  “We lost a lot of ships in that attack, and a lot of people too,” Morton said as he canceled the data playback with a sigh. He returned the holostage to show the current data of the Devex warship closing in on his ship.

  “I don’t know why the Devex are attacking us,” Morton said. “I don’t know why they are snatching civilians, but I for sure don’t want to find out firsthand. If you fail, and if it comes to it, Major, I will make sure I go down with my ship.”

  Jack nodded. “I understand, Captain. I’ll do my best to make sure it doesn’t come to that.”

  5

  Jack sat in a corridor near the outer hull of the civilian transport. A couple of power cells hooked onto his Marine tactical suit. A pulse pistol in his hand. A small group of militiamen stood around the corridor talking quietly, nervously.

  The entire militia force was suited up. Some were in Marine tactical suits from Hawke’s supply, others were in civilian fleet suits designed primarily for extravehicular activity. Others wore maintenance units, for use inside or outside the ship in any hazardous or deadly environment. However, no environment would be deadlier than these corridors the moment the Devex arrived.

  Even though the basic maintenance suits lacked the functionality of the tactical suits, they were useful enough. They would keep the wearer safe from the vacuum of space, and that was Jack’s primary concern. If his plan worked, the transport would be left with a dozen gaping holes along its sides. Anyone not sealed in their quarters, or in the central arena, would be blown out into space. If any of the militia were lost to the void, at least they would be protected for a short time while they awaited rescue. If one could be mounted.

  Jack checked his team. He had no time to get to know them, but they were a determined and brave group. He couldn’t access their vital signs—the basic suits weren’t equipped with the bioscanners of the Marine tactical suit—but Jack didn’t need scanners to know these brave men were afraid. Only a fool would have been anything other than afraid before a battle.

  Checking the positions of the Devex ships on his wrist-mounted holostage, Jack could see the Devex warship moving into position above the transport. The Devex ship was matching every move of the massive civilian transport as Captain Morton did what he could to evade the attacking ship, to buy a little more time, and to hold off the inevitable.

  Jack checked in with his militia team leaders, stationed along both sides of the transport. Hawke led one group, one was led by a retired police lieutenant, others by police sergeants, and the rest were led by regular cops, elected by their own group to lead.

  Jack would have preferred Marine officers—or even Fleet officers—to lead the groups, but he had to trust and hope that the best leaders for each of the small teams were in place. These teams all waited to take on the most powerful enemy any of them had ever encountered. The teams all needed strong and fearless leaders who would hold their groups together for as long as possible if the plan was going to work.

  It was all about the plan and executing it quickly.

  The team nearest Jack’s own was led by Sam Torent, though Jack had concerns about Sam’s current ability to lead effectively. His old friend was only just out of the medical bay, and he was dealing with the growth of a Mech arm. Jack would have had no hesitation in trusting Sam before, but now, with so much changed in such a short time, Jack had a doubt. But he had little choice.

  He opened a private communication channel to Sam.

  “Standing by, sir,” Sam said.

  “You going to stick to formalities, are you, old friend?” Jack said.

  Sam chuckled. “You all set?”

  “Yeah. Not long now.”

  “Copy that, Jack,” Sam said. “It’ll be over soon, and we can kick back with a couple of beers.”

  “When this is over, I think we all deserve a bottle of Amber, at the least.”

  Sam chuckled again.

  “The arm?” Jack said. He left the question hanging.

  “Strange,” Sam replied. “Feels…almost normal.”

  Jack found it was his turn to have a chuckle. “There is one thing that arm isn’t, Sam, and that is normal. It’s a Mech arm. You’re a cyborg, Sam.”

  “Cyborg Sam,” Sam said. “Sounds like an action hero. I’m a kravin hero, Jack.”

  “You sure are,” Jack laughed. Then, with a more serious and sober tone, he added, “If this thing goes badly...”

  “Ever known a situation like this to go well?”

  “Just make sure you get away, get back to the frigate. Bale is not far away, I assume. I ordered him to go dark and run silent. If you have to abandon the civilian transport, send out a distress call and I’m sure he’ll pick you up.”

  “And I suppose you’ll be the first to abandon ship if the plan fails, right?” Sam said

  Jack said nothing. He would not give up on this fight. He was in it to the bitter end, whatever end that might be.

  “Thought as much,” Sam said. “If you aren’t going to run, I sure as krav won’t. Don’t think I could stand to be stuck on that frigate with Bale in charge, anyway.”

  “You’d choose death over that?” Jack said.

  “I’d never choose it, Jack, but to be honest, I can’t believe we’ve lived this long. Everything we’ve been through. We’ve been on borrowed time for too long. Maybe this is the end of the line for you and me, Jack.”

  “And just when you got your arm back too,” Jack said with a dry chuckle.

  “And it’s a good arm. It’ll probably survive even after we’ve all been blown to bits, or worse.”

  Jack felt a creeping sensation of dread, one he hadn’t felt since his first encounters with a hostile enemy at the end of his training. He’d hardly had time to think about the danger from one moment to the next, his time as a Marine had been so fast and relentless. He had fought more battles than he could remember. He’d made friends, and enemies, he’d climbed the ranks from a Marine recruit to an officer and lost Marines under his command, and he’d had a rough time of it. But now, here in the calm before the most one-sided battle he’d faced, he had a moment to remember it all.

  He wished he could forget.

  The communicator came alive with the frightened but determined voice of Captain Morton.

  “I can’t evade them any longer! The Devex warship is extending its puncture arms. They’ll be breaching our outer hull any moment!”

  Jack checked the surveillance feed on his wrist-mounted holostage. The puncture arms were extending from the massive Devex warship, arcing around and lining up along the sides of the civilian transport beneath it. Like a giant spider catching its prey. The arms held position, poised to strike, and then they stabbed inward suddenly and gripped their prey in a deadly embrace.

  The creaking of the hull as the puncture arms took a solid grip filled Jack’s ears. His suit filtered out the deafening noise, but he felt the massive vibrations of the ship quake through his boots. Jack stood ready.

  A few meters ahead, the wall of the corridor exploded inward as the Devex puncture arm burst in. The black Devex material melted over the smooth white composite of the civilian transport corridor, flowing out like liquid metal before fixing in place and making a seal. A new black oval entrance was formed.

  The Devex were here.

  6

  The new opening in the side of the white corridor led down the center of the huge puncture arm that had pierced the side of the civilian transport, locking it in place and giving access for the Devex warriors to storm aboard. The sound of boots echoing along the dark entrance heralded their approach.

  Jack had encountered them before. Massive warriors three meters tall, heavy exoskeleton armor of drab silver over their enormous frames, and a helmet faceplate, completely opaque with a narrow horizontal slit presumably at eye level. There was one drawback for the massive Devex warriors attacking the civilian transport: their massive size made it difficult
for them to move along the corridors.

  Jack called his team to order. It was time to put his plan into action. It was time to fight off the Devex attack.

  “Stand ready to activate gravity traps. Remember the markings along the corridor. Don’t get caught yourself. Hold the line until the signal to withdraw. Here they come! Weapons ready!”

  The first Devex to charge in hit the gravity trap and collapsed to the deck. The localized gravity field pinned the warrior, but Jack noticed immediately that this warrior was not the expected three-meter-tall giant. It was closer to human size.

  Jack opened fire, his pulse rounds slamming into the Devex exoskeleton at close range. It was impossible to miss. The Devex armor soaked up the damage as Jack’s squad poured fire and fury onto the trapped warrior, the armor glowing white hot as it absorbed the punishment from the pulse rounds.

  And then another Devex came, and another, all hitting the gravity trap and collapsing to the deck. They came forward, crawling on elbows and knees. The forward Devex, the one taking much of the defensive fire, raised its blaster and a stream of fierce white energy bullets raked the corridor.

  A defender was snatched back by the stream of bullets, thrown along the corridor. Jack half-expected a med report to flash up on his suit’s HUD, but the militiaman who had just been hit was wearing a maintenance suit. Jack glanced at the fallen man and saw him staggering back to his feet. The suit had a burning scorch mark on the upper chest. It had taken a hit. It wouldn’t stand many.

  The first attacking Devex finally succumbed to the punishment it was taking and slumped to the ground under a hail of fire. Its body began to slide along the deck in a jerky motion until it reached the puncture entrance. Once free from the gravity trap, the body lifted and floated away back along the Devex puncture arm.

  The body hung in the air briefly before being pulled away. It looked almost human. Jack opened fire on the next nearest Devex crawling along the deck. They came in numbers, slowed by the gravity trap, but pressed forward by the Devex coming behind.