The Long Night of Wilhelm Reich

[reiver33]

One

You can’t capsize a starship, not really, but from my perspective I was definitely looking up at the deck.

A pulsing light in my peripheral vision indicated one of my team had found something so I opened the channel.

“Dax, this is Cooper. What is it?”

“I’m in main engineering and it’s deserted. Tell you one thing, though, this definitely wasn’t an accident. Artificial gravity works fine here and it looks like someone has gone to a lot of trouble to screw it up over the rest of the ship.”

I swore under my breath. So much for this being the feel-good rescue mission that Alliance public relations wanted.

“Anything else?”

“Just a number of empty water bottles and ration packs, so it looks like someone has been holed up in here for a while. Bet if I opened up my face plate I could find where he’s been taking a dump. Want a camera shot of that, boss?”

“I’ll pass. Any sign of why our mystery man upped and left?”

“Nope, but he left more unopened packs than he’d consumed. Either he gave himself a wide margin of error before being picked up, or…”

“He’s still on board. Got it.”

I changed the comms to wide band.

“This is Cooper. Everyone listen up. We’re dealing with sabotage and at least one possible hostile hiding amongst the survivors-“

“Survivors? I’m in main habitation and it’s, like, silence city.”

“Can it Hughes! I want everyone to buddy-up and go combat ready. Clear your weapons but try not to waste any photogenic four-year-olds.”

“Whoopee-do!”

“You best go full auto, Baz, so you just might hit something this time out. But remember we’re the ones in the suits.”

“Screw you!”

“Dancing on the ceiling, bro.”

“Hey boss, if I accidently ventilate Hughes, do I get a promotion?”

“I’d settle for a transfer out of this chicken-**** outfit.”

“Enough of the chatter! Stay sharp and no one wander off on their own. Dex, you stand fast, I’m coming down to join you.”

“Roger that.”

We’d come in though the dorsal airlock as it opened onto an access corridor which ran the length of the Sookin Sin. I’d spent a fruitless few minutes trying to access the internal comms while the rest of my team spread out through the ship. There were supposed to be four hundred-odd passengers and crew aboard but so far we’d found just a series of topsy-turvy compartments devoid of life.

I shuffled round awkwardly in my armoured vac suit and clumped off towards the stern, passing through a series of bulkhead doors. It wasn’t until I reached the radiation warning zone that I engaged the magnetic soles and walked round the curved hull to stand on the original deck. Our usual kit had G-compensators which meant it didn’t matter which way was currently ‘up’, but some PR advisor back at Command felt full carapace armour was too hardcore for camera.

So I hung upside down, thankful I couldn’t see the expression on Dex’s face as I stumbled over the threshold with all the grace of a rookie during zero-G training.

“Very smooth, boss. Slick. Ever thought of trying out as an instructor?”

I straightened up, trying to recover my dignity.

“Remind me to put you on a charge when we get back, dickhead. Now, are the main systems operational?”

He shrugged, although the gesture was almost lost beneath the bulky suit.

“Other than internal gravity, everything else is in pretty good shape, all things considered.”

“Meaning?”

“Well, I seen all this before. It’s your proverbial ‘Hail Mary hauler’ - an old ore barge retrofitted for colonist transportation. You pack ‘em in and burn out your drives on a high speed, no frills, one-way trip to Nebula Gateway. Low overheads and the scrap value covers your docking fees.”

I slid up my polarized outer visor to get a better look.

“So nothing of any value that would warrant an apparent hijacking? I suppose that flipping the internal gravity would be an easy way to disable the crew ahead of a takeover.”

“But piracy, boss? That’s a bit last century, even way out here.”

“Yeah, I suppose, but-“

“Sergeant Cooper? This is Baz and Hooker. We’re in the forward, port-“

“Starboard, numbnuts.”

“Starboard cargo space, and you better come see this.”

“Less of the melodrama, Baz, just tell me what you’ve found.”

“Yeah, well, you know how there ain’t no alien life, like, anywhere?”

“No intelligent life you mean, and I’m beginning to think there’s precious little of that on board as well.”

“Yeah, right, boss. Well, this might not be alien, but it sure as hell isn’t-“

“It’s moving!”

Gunfire. Full auto.

 

[Jake Reynolds]

I like this.

My only concern is that it is very Aliens, even down to the use of "out of this chicken-sh*t outfit". The dialogue flows nicely- there is an immediate impression that this is a squad whose members know each other well. I wouldn't mind seeing a bit more setting, though. The dialogue does a good job of showing us the characters, but it might be nice to have some description to give us a better feel for the ship. Also, nice name for the ship- Sookin Sin. I always like it when vessels, medieval or spacecraft, have unusual names, not just the old Windsong, Wave Minstrel sort of stuff. Though you never need to explain where it comes from, it implies realism.

I'd like to see how this develops.

 

[Menion]

Very good flow, I want more! couldn't find any parts in need of tweaking. Then again I'm sure someone will soon come and comb it out.

 

[alchemist]

Dax in one place, Dex in another. Otherwise, excellent as always. Aliens-y, as Dubrech said, with the gang being a little too ready to call each other names, but I imagine it's going to get serious...
Looking forward to next installment.

 

[J Riff]

Good one, I also noticed the one Alien-ish line.. but it didn't detract.

 

[reiver33]

I kind of went Aliens-ish as a shorthand way of setting the tone, given the limited posting length, but I'm trying for a twist...

Two

“Baz…Hooker…report!”

Nothing. I went Channel One.

“Squad, get on the clock. Baz and Hooker have a hard contact in the starboard cargo space, in the bow. Who’s nearest?”

“This is Tommo, I’m with Frazer in the port cargo bay.”

“Hughes here, boss, me and Grozneck are midships, port side.”

I tried to visualise the layout from what I’d seen on approach; flight deck, crew quarters and integral cargo bays forward, engineering space aft, connected by a long reinforced link. The colonisation modules were attached, right and left, down this spine.

“Right, Tommo and Frazer get in there and see what’s happened. Hughes and Grozneck, rear security at the lateral corridor aft of the flight deck. The cargo space is a dead end and I don’t want anyone looking over their shoulder. Me and Dax are right down the stern but we’ll hustle up.” I hesitated, “Until I get there Tommo is in charge. Everyone got that? Now mag-up, we’re cutting the internal gravity.”

I turned to Dax.

“You can shut this thing down, yeah?”

“Oh yeah, boss. You want it quick or safe?”

“Quick, we don’t have time to arse about.”

Dax levelled his pulse rifle and fired a burst into the AG control unit, being rewarded with a shower of sparks and a blue flash that left a bright after-image. One round ricocheted off a bolt into the equipment opposite, and an inspection panel blew out.

Dax looked round.

“That can’t be good.”

There were alarms and warning lights, and then the gravity died. All manner of crap lifted off the deck, including the contents of an improvised latrine in the corner.

“Tosser. What did you hit?”

“Uh, auxiliary power. No biggie, the main board is still green.”

I swore and led the way forward. You have to use a kind of long-legged, loping stride with mag boots in zero-G, and it really knackers your calves. We’d only gone through three sections when counter-rotating yellow warning lights kicked in and all the bulkheads started closing. I pulled up short and Dax almost blundered into me.

“Open the blast doors! If there’s someone on the flight deck then open the damn blast doors!”

“This is Tommo, Sarge. We’ve reached the starboard cargo bay. Thy hatch is open but its dark inside and there’s no sign of Baz and Hooker. We’re going in.”

“Wait! Hughes, where are you?”

“Jammed up, boss. Almost clear of the spine but we can’t get any further forward. It’s not us on the flight deck.”

****. I closed my eyes for a moment, concentrating.

“Right, listen up. Tommo, get in there and find our guys. This now officially a red zone mission so blast anything that isn’t Marine. Am I clear?”

“Roger that.”

“Hughes, I don’t see any manual release on these damn blast doors so the spinal corridor is U-S. But the modules attached to the spine, I think they’re all linked together as well. Go lateral and make your way forward through the joined access ports. You two go left, me and Dax will go right.”

“That’s gonna’ take some time, boss. Some of those access ports are already open, to make, like, larger compartments, but the others are all deadlocked. Without the codes we’ll have to blast the locking mechanism and hand-crank the doors.”

“Crap. OK, we’ll hang left as well and catch you up. Get a move on.”

I motioned Dax towards the nearest module on our left and switched to external comms.

“Harrison, this is Cooper.”

“Cooper here, Sarge. How’s it going? Any tasty colonist daughters need comforting after their ordeal?”

“Can it, we might need the cavalry on this one. What’s E-T-A on the Persephone?”

“Ah, at least an hour, boss. You want me and Harper to come aboard?”

“Negative. I want you to detach and stand-off in case we need a rapid evac from another airlock.”

“You got it. We’ll be waiting for the call.”

I frowned, just for my own benefit, as the mission seemed to be heading down the toilet in short order. The Persephone was a Marine support carrier and our home during this current tour. Not exactly the battlewagon I’d like but she had more than enough firepower to trash the Sookin Sin in short order. My initial impulse was to get everyone back on the scout ship and await reinforcements. Preferably in the form of a large nuke.

I followed Dax into the module and it was like swimming through the contents of a garbage disposal; food, clothing, children’s toys, all floating about like discarded dreams. Dax had the first pair of access ports open and from the tone of voice he was grinning.

“Guess what, boss. The access code on both doors was one-two-three-four. I tried it on a hunch given that no crew on a junker like this want anything complicated to remember. Just call me Aladdin.”

“Huh? Never mind. I’ll tell Hughes before he runs out of ammo.”

I glanced past him into the next module but this one was in darkness.

“Hughes? Listen up. The access-“

“Sarge, we got a prisoner.”

“Prisoner? Passenger or crew?”

“Ah, plain flight suit with no insignia, so it’s kinda hard to tell. Claims to be…Grozy, shut him up!....Then hit him…Claims to be a scientist and his I-D has Core systems clearance, but the personal details are restricted, eyes-only, flag rank and above. We found him tied up in a storage unit.”

“Tied up? So he’s a friendly?”

“Sorry, boss, more like he’d tied himself onto the restraining web, like he was afraid of being sucked out or something. The guy is raving, keeps telling us to stand still in case we make the ship move.”

I sighed, as walking wounded nut-jobs were a complication I really didn’t need.

“Right, stand fast until Dax and I catch you up. Try and keep your new friend quiet without too much violence, OK? He’ll be easier to understand with his teeth intact.”

“You know Grozy, boss, Mr Kid Gloves himself.”

I switched channels.

“Tommo, give me an update.”

“I’m just inside the cargo bay. Frazer has my back. No internal illumination, in fact it’s like some kind of fog or mist in here, reflecting my helmet lights.”

“Easy, Marine, nice and easy. “ I went wide band so everyone could listen in, ”Frazer, you stay sharp.”

“No problem, boss. I’ve got Tommo on my motion tracker, solid contact. It’s weird though, it’s like he’s in the middle of, of, like fireflies, you know? Multiple transitory contacts but nothing definite.”

“Tommo, you hearing this?”

“Yeah, but I can still see squat. Lemmie just wipe my visor….****!”

“Speak to me!”

“This mist ain’t mist, it ain’t moisture.” His voice hardened, “It’s tiny bits of flesh.”

 

[J Riff]

Well this is twisting nicely. Alien-ish perhaps, but then marines are the same everywhere. Good dialogue, looks like about time for something to happen and I'm betting it's not a chest-burster.

 

[reiver33]

This is really just a continuation of the previous posting, but the whole thing was too long for a single entry.

Three

I felt cold despite the environmental controls in my suit.

“Tommo, outta there, now! Frazer, cover him.”

“Wait! I can see something, just a bit further in.”

“Tommo, back off. I got a contact, just appeared on my scope and its getting bigger. Right ahead of you man, less than three metres.”

“Frazer, get him out of there!”

“I can’t see him, he’s too far inside the cloud. The scope is all blurry, I can’t get a fix no more. Tommo!”

“What the fu-“

Gunfire. Two short bursts then a long, long stream that must have emptied the magazine. Then nothing.

“Frazier, report!”

“I can’t see him, man, he’s gone. Nothing on the scope, nothing. I ain’t going in there, no way.”

I could hear the panic in his voice, even trough the cheap helmet speakers, and needed to give him a way out if he was to be of any use later.

“Frazer, fall back now. That’s an order. Fall back to the junction and cover the cargo bay entrance. Anything that come out that’s not Marine, you open up. If it doesn’t stop then head port side and we’ll join up there. Got that?”

“Ah, yeah, Sarge. But Tommo, he’s just gone.”

I turned to Dax.

“We’d better pick up the pace. How far behind Hughes and Grozy are we?”

“Too far. At least ten, twelve modules.”

“Sod that.” I went external again, “Harrison?”

“We’re here, Sarge.”

“Dax and I are going E-V-A, port side-“

“We are?”

“-and I want you there to pick us up. We’ll stay external while you ferry us up to the bow.”

“Roger that. We’ll be there in thirty secs.”

“I’m gonna punch a hole in the module wall, so you’ll see the atmosphere venting. Use the forward autocannon and take out the access port facing you. I don’t see any way of forcing it to open onto vacuum.”

I could tell Dax was staring at me, even though his faceplate was opaque.

“Hey, boss, that’s a bit hardcore, if you don’t mind me saying. Harrison could just as easy turn this whole module into Swiss cheese.”

“Which is why we hide out in the next one. Jeez, Dax, give me some credit.”

“Oh, yeah, right.”

He disappeared into the darkened module and I took up station at the open access port, pulling out my sidearm. It’s like a pistol version of a shotgun and fires flares, designator rounds – and breeching charges. I only had two of the latter so using it to blow a way through the access ports hadn’t been a viable option. Punching a nice big hole in the thin skin of the module was another matter.

“Fire in the hole!”

Explosion decompression for fun and profit. It was like standing in a wind tunnel, and I felt myself swaying as the air rushed past me, bearing all manner of crap. I heard Dax cursing me, the Marine Corps and just about anyone else that came to mind. Some small boxes appeared from the second module and I was forced to shuffle aside in case they had any bigger brothers waiting their turn. The wall lights blew out and I could see there was a searchlight playing on the outer hull of the module. It was Harrison, way ahead of schedule. There were still objects streaming out of the undamaged module so all I could do was make myself small and offer up a silent prayer to the God of targeting systems.

Holes appeared in the external wall of the module, the internal wall of the module, and presumably the hull of the Sookin Sin itself. It almost felt like the wounded ship shuddered, but it was just a reaction to the small lateral thrust. A large section of the external wall simply disintegrated, reduced to scrap by multiple hits.

The firing stopped, the atmosphere was gone. I could see the scout ship manoeuvring with small jabs of thrusters as it turned broadside, parallel to the line of modules. Dax stuck his head through the access port.

“Is it safe? Only I’m pretty sure they stiff you over compensation for friendly fire injuries.”

I peeled myself from the wall.

“I’m fine, Dax, thanks for asking. Now get your sorry ass in here and-“

“Sarge, this is Hughes. Are we manoeuvring or what? Only bozo here is going ballistic and keeps screaming about how movement brings more…what into contact?...Protein? Into contact with what?...Hang on a minute.”

I clumped forward and looked out into space, Dax at my shoulder. The scout ship seemed a long, long way away although it could only have been a few dozen metres.

“Hughes, can’t this wait? Dax and I are a bit busy just now.”

I could hear muffled conversation and the definite sound of a gauntlet against flesh.

“Sarge, what the hell in an orgone accumulator?”

 

[Nik]

I don't mind the Alien quips: They show these are *educated* Grunts !!

Uh, their after-action report, should they survive to file one, is going to have to skate over some of their tactics. But, hey, when there's a missing crowd and a rising body-count, exigency rules apply...

 

[J Riff]

Orgone energy- the Universal Life Force proposed by William Reich in the 1930s, dismissed as pseudoscience, but we know better.

“Ah, yeah, Sarge. But Tommo - he’s just gone!” (seems more exciting at this instant, maybe worth an exclamation mark)
(or is he Orgone?)
even trough the cheap helmet speakers - could go, obviously this is still drafty or you woulda caught trough.
I heard Dax cursing me, the Marine Corps(,) and just about anyone else..- reads better to me.
reduced to scrap by multiple ( ) hits (from the ZapulatorCannon). Or sumpin.
Great! Really enjoying this one.

 

[reiver33]

Just mucking about outside for a bit...

Four

“Hughes, say again.”

“An orgone accumulator. Yeah, yeah that’s definitely what he called it. Professor pain-in-the-ass here is acting like it’s a planet buster on a short fuse. You want us to get some more intel from him?”

An orgone accumulator? What the hell was that? Unknown tech plus four hundred missing colonists put this way up on my list of things to avoid, but I didn’t have the option of just ignoring it.

“Try coaxing, not kicking, to start with and nothing too obvious if that doesn’t work. Dax and I are gonna try and reach the main airlock, port side, so we should be with you shortly.”

“Roger that.”

Dax went first; crouching to give himself a good push-off when I disengaged his boots. He went sailing into the void with all the grace of a flailing starfish, but didn’t impact on the scout ship that hard. His gauntlets were magnetised and he latched onto one of the struts, swinging there like some bizarre joyrider. I could see Harrison peering from the cockpit and he wasn’t impressed.

“Get off that damn antenna, Dax, it isn’t a load-bearing structure.”

“It bloody is now!”

I half-smiled and launched myself, although with far less force than Dax as I had to crouch and deactivate my own boots.

“In your own time, boss, I can hang about here all day.”

“Very funny. One more wisecrack and you can walk home.”

He shut up and I bumped gently onto the starboard nacelle, latching on firmly. The scout ship slid forward in a rush of modules until the Sookin Sin port airlock came into view. Henderson nudged us in close but the gap was still far wider than my earlier bravado had estimated. That’s the trouble with running a big mouth ahead of your brain – it might impress the troops but you end up having to put your ass on the line.

“Henderson, listen up. I want you to go lateral, like you were going to side-swipe this tub, then fire the opposite thrusters, real hard. Dax, you getting this? When Henderson starts breaking we detach and the momentum keeps us going. OK?”

Dax clearly wasn’t taken with this.

“And you call this a plan? Jeez, if fly-boy Henderson gets it wrong we get smeared against the hull. If we’re moving too fast we’ll just bounce off, and-“

“Stow it, Marine. That’s the plan and that’s what we’re doing. We need to link up with Frazer double time and this is the quickest way of getting on board. Henderson, you ready?”

The pilot sounded pensive.

“I dunno, boss. I can give it a whirl but this isn’t exactly a manoeuvre they teach in flight school.”

“It’s all, you know, physics. Just don’t roast us with the thrusters when you pull up, OK? Ready, Dax?”

“Yeah, yeah, as always. If nothing else it’ll make one helluva great shot when they film my life story.”

The airlock grew to fill my field of vision as Henderson closed the gap. As I felt the braking G-force kick in I detached and kept going, trying to twist and come down feet first.

I felt the impact in my teeth as both boots made solid contact, remembering to bend my knees and absorb any potential recoil. My body came down in a smooth crouch and I locked on - no problemo. Dax came in like a spread-eagled sky-diver, smacking his visor on the hull hard enough to make me wince. Still, he managed to latch on with both hands as his body bounced and ended up in a hand-stand pose. I laughed and he made some abusive comment under his breath.

“Frazer, this is Cooper. Dax and I are outside the port airlock. Get over there and make sure you’re the only reception committee.”

”Roger that, Sarge. There’s no movement, nothing on the scope. I’ll be there in twenty.”

While Dax sorted himself out I made my way over to the airlock external controls and opened the panel. Damn.

“Sarge, this is Frazer. I’ve got a red light on the airlock outer doors. No seal.”

“Same here, Frazer. Hang tight while I make a visual inspection.”

The airlock was big, capable of taking a standard cargo pod with room to spare. The twin semi-circular doors looked intact as I clumped round the perimeter, but I soon found the problem.

Human fingers, whole hands, crushed between the doors but not crushed enough to allow an air-tight seal. The hands of those trying to keep the outer doors open, the hands of those trying to escape whatever horror lay behind them.

OK, think this through.

There had been another ship docked here and the colonists had been fighting to get on board, to get off the Sookin Sin at any cost. I didn’t want to think about the panic as the other ship started to undock, so I didn’t. I have this ability to be selectively unimaginative and in my line of work that’s a positive boon.

That still left the problem of the port airlock, which was going to be jam-packed with the dead.

“Frazer, listen up. I want you to open the outer doors, then use the manual override and start to open the inner doors as well.”

“Sarge?”

“Yeah, I know, you’ll start to vent atmosphere but it’ll only be for a few seconds. I need to flush some…debris from the airlock and this is the quickest way of getting it moving.”

“Ok, Sarge, just a minute…Yeah, yeah, I see how to do that. Anytime you want.”

Dax was facing me across the airlock opening and I waved him away.

“OK, Frazer, punch it.”

Inset lights around the airlock perimeter came on as the outer doors retracted. I stepped back, just in case any errant limbs snagged on me. Moisture-laden gas began streaming out of the opening, turning to glittering crystals as it hit the cold of space. I could sense, rather than see, movement in the airlock well.

“That’s enough, Frazer, you can close the inner doors.”

“Roger that. It’s getting a bit windy in here.”

An interwoven mass of humanity drifted clear of the airlock, and I heard Dax take a sharp breath.

I’ve seen worse.

 

[Jake Reynolds]

"The guy is raving, keeps telling us to stand still in case we make the ship move."

Nice and spooky. I like it. I might make one suggestion, and that would be along the lines of taking a breath. Sounds weird, I know, but having read the four sub-chapters posted here its very frantic, and a little exhausting. It may be all right in a cinematic sense, where the different characters are on screen, but in a literary sense it makes for a lot of switching and frenetic keeping track of who is who and where they are.

Having said that though, I'm still enjoying it.

 

[Nik]

breaking for braking or retro or whatever but, otherwise, edge-of-seat stuff.
;-)

 

[alchemist]

Human fingers, whole hands, crushed between the doors but not crushed enough to allow an air-tight seal. The hands of those trying to keep the outer doors open, the hands of those trying to escape whatever horror lay behind them.

Brilliant.

 

[Clansman]

Brilliant.

and chilling, to the bone.

Great stuff, as ever, reiver.

 

[reiver33]

Five

Neither Dax nor I passed comment on the mobile morgue floating past, and I didn’t ask Henderson for his opinion either. When the airlock was clear we moved inside and I started the re-pressurisation cycle. The doors closed and I could see, and then hear, air filling the chamber. Lights went from red to green and the inner doors opened.

Frazer was waiting for us and while he didn’t exactly dance for joy I could see the sag of relief in his shoulders.

“Glad to see you boss, it was getting a bit lonely in here. What’s all that crap on the walls?”

I hit the button to close the inner doors and hide the stained airlock interior.

“Stand-to, Marine, we’ve still got a job to do. Anything to report while Dax and I were dawdling outside?”

“Ah, no. No Sarge, nothing. Nothing on the scope, apart from you two.”

Dax checked his weapon and clipped a second magazine to the bottom of the first. It’s not strictly Regs as it increases the chance of a jam, but I didn’t begrudge him the sustained firepower.

“We going in after Tommo and the others then, boss?”

I’d been thinking about this and looked along the lateral access corridor.

“Hang on a minute, Dax. Hughes, Grozy, you fallen asleep yet?”

“Hughes here, Sarge. I tried to catch forty winks but the Professor here kept me awake, what with all the screaming and suchlike.”

“I didn’t catch that last bit Hughes, get me? Look, there’s no way to by-pass the last spinal corridor bulkhead by going through the modules, so you’re jammed for now.”

“Peachy. You want Grozy to blast a hole in the hull and have the scout ship pick us up as we float by?”

I hesitated, as Grozy carried the squad support weapon, a multi-barrelled minigun, and it could probably do as Hughes suggested.

“That Professor of yours, you said he’s wearing a flight suit?”

“Yeah, maybe a bit stained but still functional.”

“Does he have the gauntlets, boots, neck collar and emergency helmet to go with it? If you’re going for a walk outside I’d rather he stayed in one piece.”

The flight suit issued to each passenger could theoretically function as an emergency vac suit, if you had time to fit all the add-ons. The helmet came with an integral ten minute air supply, which I thought was a bit generous as you’d probably freeze to death long before that. Almost everyone ditched them in favour of civilian garb as they were so damn uncomfortable.

Hughes sounded pensive.

“Well, to tell you the truth, Sarge, I was planning on sealing this bozo in the adjacent module and picking him up later.”

“Negative, I need to talk to him. Stand fast while we secure the flight deck and open the blast doors.”

“Roger that.”

I turned to Dax and Frazer.

“Right, listen up. We go along this corridor until we reach the junction that leads to the flight deck. Frazer, you hang back as rear security. Dax, you’re with me. I’m changing mags to fleshette and I’ll do any shooting. To begin with at any rate. We want to minimise damage to the flight deck controls and I don’t anticipate facing anyone in body armour. If I’m wrong…”

I could tell Dax was grinning.

“You duck and it’s my turn to rock and roll. Gotcha, Sarge. I’ll try and miss shooting your fat ass but at least it’s armoured.”

“These crap suits only give something like eighty percent coverage, so I’d appreciate you making an effort to keep your eyes open while firing.” This got a wry laugh from both Marines, “Right, let’s move out, in line.”

I kept us moving along at a steady pace, pausing to checking a couple of storage lockers on the way. There were some lost shoes and discarded personal items floating in the corridor, and with my outer visor up I could see signs of claw marks on the walls. All signs of panic, of a mob, of unthinking flight towards the port airlock. Not good.

“Sarge, I’ve been thinking.”

“Give it up, Dex, it doesn’t suit you.”

“I’ve been thinking that the guy holed up in engineering wasn’t the one who gizmo’d the gravity field. Like you said, that move dumps everyone not expecting it on the ceiling and is a great way to start a hijacking. Once you’ve pulled it off, you don’t want to wait days for your ride outta here, yeah?”

“Yeah, I get it. I figure the inside guy in this touching human drama was the flight engineer. Say maybe two or three disguised as passengers to secure the flight deck once everything goes tits up. Maybe the guy hiding back there just was a survivor, and the rad zone shielding helped? Who cares. I’ll settle for getting all of us off this tub alive, rather than answers, any day.”

“Roger that.”

We reached the junction that led to the flight deck. I checked inside while Dax and Frazer had my back.

“OK, the hatch to the flight deck is sealed, deadlocked, from the inside. I’ll have to blow it.”

“There’s a surveillance cam above you, boss. We’re not gonna take anyone inside by surprise.”

“Yeah, Dax, I see it. Crap. I can see nothing is going to be easy today. OK, stand back, I use another breeching charge.”

As I reached for my pistol the hatch opened. The lights were on but I couldn’t see anyone on the flight deck from this far back. Dex and I exchanged glances even though I couldn’t see his face, and I went in first.

There was a man strapped into the flight engineer’s chair, wearing a FarFreight company jacket and a rebreather unit. The atmosphere had tested negative for toxins when we first boarded, but the sight made me glad we were on internal air. I gestured with my rifle.

“Hands where I can see them. No sudden movements. Identify yourself.”

He swivelled in his chair to look at me and, even through the facemask and my external microphone, I could hear the mocking tone in his voice.

“Oh, it’s the Marines. I’m saved.”

I stepped aside to let Dax move past and tried again.

“Like I said, identify yourself.”

The figure in the chair sounded calm, collected, completely in charge.

“Where’s your officer? This entire situation is way above your pay grade and I don’t want ham-fisted grunts like you blundering about, making things worse.”

Unfortunately Lieutenant Morris had come down with suspected appendicitis three hours into the mission and we’d stashed him in a trauma tube for the duration. Now it was my turn to sound superior.

“The Lieutenant is indisposed. I’m Sergeant Cooper, and I’m in charge. If you want to talk to the Alliance military, you talk to me.”

His eyes creased and I could tell he was smiling behind the facemask.

“Well, Sergeant, I’m Major Teal, Alliance PsiCorp.”

 

[reiver33]

As much of the talk is comms chatter between individuals in blank-faced helmets I take the point about following a conversation. Would an ID prefix, representing the active channel on Cooper's head-up display, be too much of an intrusion? For example...

(Hughes, G.) "What the hell just happened?"

"Hughes? Say again?"

(Hughes, G.) "Sarge! We've got a situation here."

(Grozneck, Z.) "Get down, man, you're blocking my shot!"

Etc. Just a thought...

 

[J Riff]

Interesting idea, would it have brackets and punctuation tho, on his screen?
GROZNEK J - "Great idea Sarge!"

 

[reiver33]

Six

I snorted and made a two-fingered hand gesture that sent Dax round to stand behind Teal.

“Don’t make me laugh, PsiCorp is just a rumour put about to scare civilians. It’s a myth.”

Teal smiled again, although his eyes stayed hard.

“A myth you say? Then you should appreciate the fact that my code name on this mission is Zeus.”

I knew there was a Zeus Bar & Grill on Olympia Station, but other than that the name meant nothing to me and I shrugged. This seemed to piss Teal off no end and he slapped both hands on his chair arms in seeming frustration.

“Idiot! Although I should have expected nothing better than uneducated lowlife in the Marines. Now, I’m going to reach-“

I jammed the muzzle of my pulse rifle into his chest.

“Listen up, Major, and keep your mouth shut. Dax has his weapon pointed at the back of your head. If he moves it away, I shoot. If I move my weapon away, he shoots. Got that? So if we are in fantasy land and you try any mental tricks on either of us, it’s curtains. Understand?”

He glared at me.

“I’ll have you broken to the ranks for this.”

“Sorry, chum, been there, done that. Twice in fact, so far. But I always bounce back. Like they say, you can’t keep a good man down.”

Dax sniggered.

“More like it’s ‘cos **** floats, Sarge.”

“Thank you Dax, but I don’t want you to give the good Major here the wrong idea. The idea that we’re being at all frivolous and not taking the situation seriously. Because I am taking the situation seriously, I assure you.“ I ground my gun into his chest. “So seriously in fact, that one extra body more-or-less, floating out the airlock won’t matter...I’ve got three men missing in the starboard cargo bay, so if you know anything about what’s going on, I suggest you start talking.”

Teal sneered at me.

“You’re a fool, Sergeant, and way out of your depth. Now, my I-D is-“

“Worthless, Major. You certainly didn’t use it to get on board so that means you have a fake set as well. Good enough to pass muster back at Tigris customs. Now, to my way of thinking, one fake is just as good as another, so until we can verify your identity with higher command, you’re nobody. You going to tell me anything useful?”

I could see the anger in his eyes.

“The details of this mission are classified. So classified, in fact, that I doubt half a dozen officers within Command Interstellar know of its existence. So you’re just going to have to take my-“

I made another gesture and Dax struck the butt of his rifle sharply against the back of Teal’s head. The Major went limp in the seat harness. Dax laughed.

“For a psychic he sure as hell didn’t see that coming.”

“Roger that, Dax. You tie him up, feet as well, while I check out the controls.”

“Ah, Sarge, maybe I should be the one to, you know. No offence.”

“None taken. Change of plan. I’ll tie this bozo up while you check out the controls.”

I used strips of seat harness taken from the co-pilot position to secure Teal, although moving him first might have been the smart option. Dax leaned in awkwardly and messed with the screen, so I left him to it.

“Frazer, this is Cooper. Tell me everything is nice and quiet your end.”

“Like the grave, Sarge. I’m getting three contacts on the flight deck and intermittent ghost readings which I think are Hughes and co back in the modules. The bulkheads are pretty thick so I can’t be sure.”

“Roger that, we should be with you shortly. Dax, don’t make me a liar.”

“Almost there, Sarge. The security system has already been hacked or I’d have no chance though. Looks like chummy here has been busy. Got it!” He stood up, sounding smug, “Sometimes I amaze even myself.”

“Shouldn’t be that difficult. Right, Hughes, Grozy, the blast doors are open so get your ass in gear. Frazer, go meet them. Dax, stop preening, or being in the huff, or whatever, and grab your rifle.”

“We leaving the Major, here Sarge? Think he might be the real deal?”

“Naw, Dax. All that PsiCorp crap is just that, crap. I don’t even think he’s Alliance, or they’d never have sent in regular troops. If this was a black op gone wrong they last thing they’d want is legit military like us on hand to witness a fiasco. I might be the model of discretion but you know how Grozy runs on at the mouth.”

Dax laughed, as Grozy had a minimal grasp of English, and mostly just abuse.

We quit the flight deck and I closed the hatch behind us. Back in the lateral access corridor Dax and I met up with the others, plus their prisoner. I almost winced at the state of the professor, as it was obvious Grozy had been a bit heavy-handed. He’s a big lad, a bit direct, and I rely on Hughes to act as his minder.

“Right lads. As you see this survivor took quite a tumble when the gravity flipped. Facial lacerations, a bit of bruising, who knows. As you can see, Grozy here got some blood on his suit while rendering assistance, in the best traditions of the Corps. His actions will be commended in my report, and that’s official.”

I cut the comms for a moment so as not to hear any sniggering.

“ OK then. We’re going in to find Tommo, Baz and Hooker. We’re going in mob-handed, and I don’t care if we meet Grand Admiral Squires himself, we take down everything that isn’t one of ours. Then we get the hell out of here, pronto. Is that plan of operations clearly understood?”

There was a chorus of ‘Yeah’, ‘Sarge’, and similar agreements.

“But first I want some answers.” I turned to where the ‘survivor’ floated between Grozy and Hughes, his head lolling, “Someone wake him up.”

Frazer jabbed him in the neck with a combat stim and stood back, sharpish. We’re more or less used to them, but civilians can be a bit unpredictable when exposed to military-grade pharmaceuticals. The lolling figure, shuddered, coughed, and raised his head. He had bright blue eyes, the colour of cornflowers. I moved in so my visor filled his field of vision.

“Listen up, sunshine, because you are most definitely not amongst friends here. That means I’m going to ask you some questions and if you don’t answer, or I think you’re lying, I’ll put you off the ship. Now, an easy one to start with, for an extra ten minutes on board. Who are you?”

He coughed again, leaving spittle on my visor, and smiled.

“I’m Doctor Leitz, of the Reich Institute on Terra Nova.” He looked around, his eyes unfocussed, “Or I could be Don Juan, and this is Hell."

 

[StormFeather]

Oh Reiver - you've done it again!

I'm totally hooked, and can't wait for the next installment . . .