Nebula (ESS Space Marines Book 4) Read online

  They were quiet again for a while. She could still hear the engineers at work, and the dull murmur of the other Marines. She stole a glance at the wall where the injured were lined up and it didn’t look like any of them had died during the interim, so that was a good thing.

  “Then I hope so too,” Jade declared with a nod. “I want to see my sisters again.”

  “I want you to see your sisters again too,” Andy said sincerely.

  Jade looked at Andy for the first time during the exchange and smiled a little. “My sixteen-year-old sister is a dancer,” she said, “and she’s really good. She’s already been admitted to a prestigious dance academy.”

  Andy smiled, this time more than before. It had taken Jade a while to start opening up, and despite the circumstance, Andy was glad for it happening now. “That’s impressive,” she said. “I never had any ability for that kind of thing.”

  “You fight really well,” Jade said. At Andy’s uncertain look, she went on. “They aren’t really that different, dancing and hand-to-hand combat, when you think about it. It’s all about footwork, balance, body position.”

  “I never thought of it that way,” the major said thoughtfully. “If only we could set it to music.”

  Jade laughed softly.

  Before either of them could say anything else, one of the engineers shouted. This sound was different than all the others had been, though. It was more exuberant. It sounded almost like a cheer, although the actual words were rather incoherent.

  Andy couldn’t help but turn her head back to look toward where they were all working, wondering what he was cheering about. Not that she would understand what she was seeing at the workstations, but maybe he would care to elaborate.

  “I’ve managed one of the major reboots and rerouting of power grid four. We’re going to have to go to the physical grid to finish it, but it’s ready to go,” he said to whichever other engineer might have been listening. “I have to stay here to monitor the fluctuations, though. I need someone, anyone, to go do that! And soon, before I lose it again.”

  “I’m on it!” another engineer called from the other side of the bay. Andy couldn’t see this one, but she was glad for it. This actually sounded like good news after all. If the ship could get some power back, they could get more lights and better air. Those two things alone would be something of a miracle after walking around in the dim light and thin air.

  Andy took a slow breath, turning back toward the hatch she was guarding and let the engineers go about their repair. Her job was to guard them while they did what they needed to do.

  She was just beginning to feel almost optimistic when the access hatch began to shake from the inside.

  Someone was coming through.

  Chapter 21

  “Oh, come on,” Andy all but hissed as she brought her weapon up and aimed it at the hatch.

  It was a natural bottleneck for anyone coming through there, since only one at a time would be able to come through and, in theory, they would be able to pick them off as they came out and keep a small problem from becoming a bigger problem. However, Andy wasn’t going to count on that, considering how things had been going so far.

  The hatched was pulled open by whatever device the Arkana had for it—either taken from one of the Marines or something of their own—and she could see pale hair, but very little of it. It took a moment to realize that the person who had opened the door was now laying down on the floor of the tunnel to minimize the area that could be targeted.

  The white shifted and an arm came through. Andy brought up her gun, aiming for the arm and pulling the trigger. Given the narrow target, her shot hit just beside it. She realized then that at the end of the arm was a hand holding a small weapon. Blindly, the arm swung back and forth as it fired.

  Andy and Jade both had to dodge out of the way, but they knew they’d have to take the shooter out fast or they would end up damaging engineering even worse than it already was when they were so close to getting it going again.

  By the time Andy and Jade righted themselves from their sideways dash, Andy saw that there were already three Arkana on the floor. It boggled her mind that they had gotten through the hatch and down on the ground so fast, and she wondered if they were part snake. Not that the ‘how’ really mattered, because they were there.

  “Be careful where you fire,” she said to Jade quickly, bringing her rifle up. She aimed fast and pulled the trigger...

  And her gun clicked. Jammed.

  She wanted to start shouting and cursing, adding to the cacophony around the room. She knew that Marines were engaging more Arkana in at least one other area, but she didn’t know which one or if it was both. She didn’t have the time to spare to look. She could also hear the engineers still hard at work, undoubtedly trying to keep doing their jobs while not putting themselves in the line of fire.

  Knowing her only option was hand-to-hand combat—and wondering why this happened so often—she surged forward to close the distance and keep their energy weapons from having an effective range to shoot from. The Arkana soldier saw her coming and didn’t bother trying to get a shot off and waste that time. He swung his rifle like a club and she ducked underneath it, coming back up with her own rifle in both hands. The long, hard barrel cracked into the Arkana’s chin and he staggered back a step, but kept his balance.

  She kept up with him, pushing forward with one end of the rifle while using the other side to stabilize it, swinging it almost like a door into his gut. He wheezed but kept his wits and brought on fist against her extended forearm. Instead of keeping her arm rigid, she let it bend with his hit to lessen the impact. It still hurt and badly, but he didn’t do any serious damage and she was able to take a big step back and get out of his range.

  He didn’t give her much time, swinging his rifle overhead like an axe. She brought her own up just in time to catch it before it caught her on the head. Andy felt the reverberation of the contact down her well-bruised arm and hissed with the pain. She tried to set it aside in her mind as she grit her teeth, stuck in a another evenly matched brawl.

  Andy knew her strengths and her weaknesses, and she knew that the Arkana had the advantage on her in a straight out strength battle. They were both trained, hardened soldiers and he was winning—ever so slowly—in the pushing contest. She knew that she had to use her other advantages to get one over on him.

  She gave him one more hard shove and drove him back slightly, then she let go abruptly and jumped back. Unprepared for the sudden loss of tension, his weight carried him forward and down. Using his off-balance moment in her favor, she swung her own rifle around and cracked it over the back of his head. He dropped the rest of the way to the floor in a small, pale pile.

  Heaving a breath as the world tried to spin around her slightly, she turned to view the bay.

  Jade had both Arkana on the ground with gunshots and was trying to sniper shot the others around the bay while avoiding the equipment. Andy watched as an engineer was rushing toward a lower tunnel, which was engineering access. She realized that the woman was probably going to the grid.

  There was an Arkana soldier just about to grab her. Andy pulled her sidearm and fired quickly, hoping she would be accurate enough to save the engineer. Her shot took the Arkana in the shoulder and spun him around to face her. It hadn’t taken him down, but it gave the engineer enough time to dive into the tunnel and crawl away on her task.

  He raised his other arm, the one with the rifle. As he did so, Andy dropped to her knees and took a firing position again. She angled her aim up before he could aim low and got off a second shot, dropping him.

  “Major!” Jade called out a warning. A gunshot rang out, but it missed it’s target as an Arkana soldier came rushing at Andy from the side. Andy began to turn to get off another shot, but a white boot came up into her face. Her jaw snapped and she felt a tooth crack, blood filling her mouth as she was thrown onto her back.

  The Arkana woman threw herself to the ground,
going for Andy with a gleam in the eye that said this was personal.

  Fame was a terrible thing. Or perhaps infamy was.

  Just barely in time, as her head swam, Andy rolled out of the way and let the enemy soldier slam fists first into the deck plates. Rolling back, she drove her elbow over and down into the pale woman’s back. She cried out and flattened to the ground as Andy hit her again and again. When the woman stayed still long enough, Andy threw herself forward and got to her feet as quickly as her dizziness allowed.

  She spat blood from her mouth, and possibly a tooth, as she turned to see the enemy soldier pushing herself up on her arms. Andy, who had kept her weapon in hand like she had been trained, held it on the other woman.

  The Arkana looked back over her shoulder and sneered. “You’re nothing more than muddy filth that should be wiped from the universe, half-breed,” she hissed, out of breath. “You may win today, and maybe even tomorrow, but you won’t prevail. We will win the war, no matter what tricks you learn. You will never be anything but a mutant.”

  “Maybe so,” Andy said hoarsely, feeling her lip swelling. “I may be that and will always be that. But you won’t win this war. If I have to do it all alone, I’ll make sure of that.”

  Jade suddenly appeared and pushed a knee into the enemy soldier’s back. The woman grunted as she was pushed face-first into the floor, her hands and arms forcibly drawn back and bound behind her. She spat and cursed the whole time, but neither Andy nor Jade gave her much mind.

  “Starboard hatch secure,” Dan called from the other side of the room.

  “Port hatch secure,” Andy called back, if a little feebly.

  “Main entrance secure,” Roxanna called.

  Andy blew out a breath. “Engineering secure,” she said. “We can’t let our guard down though, people. There may be more and they may be coming.”

  There cam the usual “yes, sir” chorus.

  Suddenly, the lights came on.

  They weren’t at full strength, but there was a lot more than just the flickering emergency lighting. There was a slight hissing from the vents as the life support systems revved up again.

  Andy smiled, then stopped because it hurt.

  “OORAH!” Jade shouted, surprising everyone with both the loud sound and her exuberance, but no one chastised her for it.

  “Oorah,” the Marines echoed.

  Chapter 22

  The Marines stayed in engineering until they got communications back.

  “It’s good to hear your voice, Captain,” Andy said with a half-smile. Her whole body felt like she had been thrown around in a cage fight with a gorilla. She had seen them once in the nature preserve near the children’s home she’d grown up in. They were huge and somehow frightening. Their size and muscle mass was something that imprinted on her mind and that was the beast she felt like she’d gone toe-to-toe with.

  She wanted nothing more than to curl up and sleep for days.

  “It’s good to hear your voice as well, Major,” Wallace replied. “We were fortunate to not meet any further enemy top-side.”

  “They were all coming down to meet us here.” She couldn’t hide a certain wry sarcasm in her voice, but after what they’d all just been through, she figured she was allowed. “I don’t suppose there’s any news about the cavalry, is there?”

  “As a matter of fact there is,” he said. “Once we got communications going again, we received a hail from the ESS Mayweather. They and the Saint Charles are heading our way and are due to arrive in just over an hour. We only have to hold on that long.”

  Andy nodded. With life support and the lights back on, an hour didn’t seem so bad. “Do we know if the Arkana are still waiting for us outside?”

  She thought she could hear him shake his head. “Sensors are still down,” he said, “and we know they aren’t the type to want to have conversations. We certainly tried often enough early on in this mess.”

  Blowing out a breath, Andy nodded to herself. The conversation came to a close and the channel chirped closed.

  “We need to get the injured to sickbay,” she declared. “Thomas, Hennessey, and Yalwa help the others get there. Anallin, you go with them and get that shoulder looked at. We don’t need infection. Roxanna, Martin and I will remain here. I think the worst is already passed. Anath, you should go with them.”

  Her brother came around to where she stood. “I’ll stay with you until we’re sure that it’s clear,” he said with a tired smile.

  She looked him up and down. “You’re an idiot,” she declared, but she couldn’t help the smile that curved half of her mouth.

  “I must get that from my mother’s side then,” he said.

  It took her a moment, but then she realized he was complimenting her and she couldn’t help but smile again. It was a tired expression, but she appreciated it.

  When the Mayweather and Saint Charles arrived, the Arkana were gone. It was unclear if they had left immediately or were scared off by the new ships. Either way, they were gone and the two ESS ships got the Star Chaser out of the nebula.

  The propulsion systems were shot, and the Saint Charles had to tow them to the nearest starbase, which wasn’t the one they had originally set out for.

  “We’re going to have to expand sickbay,” Andy declared, blowing out a breath as she stood with her arms crossed next to the chief medical officer.

  He looked up from his old-fashioned notebook and pen. She told him that his data-tablets were likely working again, but he said he didn’t want to risk it. “I certainly wouldn’t mind an expansion, since your Marines, Major, have a habit of clogging up my space.” He smiled as he said it, however, and she knew it was without rancor.

  She shook her head. “Doctor, I would gladly keep all of my people out of here for anything but a social call.”

  The Selerid doctor patted her on the shoulder and then moved back among his patients, many of whom were indeed from the thirty-third. There were plenty of others, too. She saw the engineers that had been trapped in the access tunnels. They were both still alive, although the man just barely so. Krall was in a medical coma, but expected to make it.

  The medical systems were still in various states of functionality, but Martin was a good doctor and everyone was getting taken care of, one way or another.

  Her brother came up beside her. He looked better than he had earlier, though still tired. They were all tired.

  “Do you think they attacked us because they knew where we were headed?” she asked him the questions that had been on her mind for a while. She hadn’t wanted to broach it with the main staff yet. She wanted his Arkana opinion first.

  “It’s possible,” he said. “They came in force. Three ships to take on one is a little excessive even for them. On the other hand, it may have been circumstance. After the first attack, it could have just been nearby ships crashing the party.”

  She nodded slowly. She had thought of that too. “If they did know, then we have bigger problems. Such as...how did they find out?” Andy glanced at him, trying to keep the concern from her eyes and unsure of how successful she was. “But I doubt we’ll ever find out if they knew. I imagine the prisoners have all successfully offed themselves, now that we’re out of the nebula.”

  Anath sighed. “I imagine you’re right.” He rolled his shoulders. “Your captain has given me permission to start sleeping in a real room. I’m going to find one that isn’t blown apart and get some rest.” He stood next to her for a moment and then hugged her.

  She stiffened with surprise for a moment, then hugged him back.

  He left without saying anything else, and she moved deeper into sickbay. On the other side, Anallin was sitting on the floor. All the beds were taken up and the Hanaran’s injury didn’t need a bed, or so it refused to accept anyone saying otherwise. Anallin’s shoulder had been treated with a disinfecting sealant and would heal, given time. Jade, Dan, and Roxanna were sitting nearby, on the floor and leaning up against the wall. It warmed her
to see them all like that, and all still alive.

  Moving closer, she dropped herself to the floor next to Roxanna.

  “You all did great work,” she told them. “No matter how bad the circumstances get, you rise above it. I couldn’t be prouder.”

  “I think her brain is still feeling the effects of the thin air,” Dan commented with a smirk.

  “Shut up, Corporal,” she returned, but without any menace or command.

  She let her head lean back against the wall, then closed her eyes and sighed.

  The Star Chaser was going to be in dock for repairs for a while, and someone else would be getting the ambassador to the meeting. There was still plenty to do, though, and even more to think about. Had the Arkana known about their mission, or had they just gotten lucky? If they had known, how? Could they intercept outside communication? Or worse, did they have a spy? It wasn’t beyond possibility that there could be other half-breeds like herself who maybe hadn’t allied with the ESS like she had. They could hide among them, and work for the Arkana half of her heritage.

  It also didn’t escape her that someone could wonder if that spy was her.

  THANK YOU

  Thank you so much for reading Nebula, the fourth book in the ESS Space Marines series. I am so excited you took the chance to read it and I really hope you liked it. If you could leave a review for me, that would be awesome because it helps me tell others about my books.

  If you want to be the first to hear about new releases and special offers, be sure to sign up for our Science Fiction Newsletter. We have several fun things planned that will only be available to newsletter subscribers and can’t wait to share those with you too. To start with, you will get a free short story from the Niakrim War series. It tells the story of Cyrus Jones, one of the main characters in the series, and how he came to be part cyborg. All the information is on the next page.

  I have also included a preview of Mimic and the Space Engineer which is the first book in the Space Shifter Chronicles. After you read the preview, you can download the book on Amazon.