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They got to the far corner of the building and peered around to see their target. The ship was on the launch cradle and it looked like there was a crew of Allsa Komanae scrambling to get it fueled for take-off.
Nann pulled her sniper rifle from her pack and snapped the long barrel onto it. She quickly calibrated the scope then in rapid succession took out the three men manning the hoses and the one operating the fueling truck.
They heard a rumbling behind them and saw two cargo trains skimming past them on the way to the ship. The one closest to them slowed down.
“Major! Get everyone on board! I have the trains slaved to me,” Ray called out from the first open cargo bay. Leo sprinted the short distance to the second cargo car and jumped in. Maxim followed and the others ran for the end cars. The first train was drawing all the fire from the remaining Allsa Komanae by the ship’s loading bay. They were close enough for Maxim and Leo to hit their targets and the incoming fire quickly stopped as they picked off the guards.
Ray had their decoy train move to the opposite side of the ship as they pulled in by the open cargo bay. He shut down the trains and they sprinted to the cargo door. Ray saw a group of ten small rectangular storage pods waiting to be loaded. He scanned them and suddenly froze.
“Major!”
“What is it?”
“The pods! They contain… children. Most are human children!”
“What?!?” She ran over to the first pod and went to open it.
“NO! They’re in stasis. It’s safer for them to stay like that for now. We shouldn’t open them until we get them back onto our ship.” Ray moved into the cargo area and scanned the pods inside. “I have three more in here. The rest are just full of normal cargo junk.”
Nann and the Major kept watch as Maxim, Ray, and Leo moved the three pods outside onto their train in the last car. They moved the other ten onto the train which didn’t leave much room for the team.
“Ray! Can you hack your way into the ship’s navigation system?” Nann asked him.
“Uh, maybe. I can try but I’m going to need to get to a main terminal. The cargo area doesn’t have a terminal and the crew has locked the inner door manually from the inside.”
“Boys?” Nann said to Maxim and Leo. They rushed back into the ship. Moments later they rushed out and everyone ducked behind the engine of the cargo train. Nothing happened for a few seconds and Nann was about to ask when the charge blew. The noise was deafening and the lower half of the ship bulged outwards destroying the cradle the ship was sitting in.
They all peered over the engine at the destroyed ship. There was a tear in the hull plating up the side so wide Ray was able to fly through it into the Engineering department to find a terminal.
“Geezus! What the fuck was that?!? How much explosive did you use?” Nann griped, seeing the damage. “We should have been much further away!”
“Ship’s hull contained blast… mostly. I used only two seeds. It took three to blow windshield.” Leo muttered.
“You’re using that crazy organic shit from the Altarians? You know that stuff’s too powerful! The windshield would have been some kind of reinforced polymer on an armored personnel carrier! Of course it took more!” the Major barked.
“Bal said destroy ships. This does both,” Leo answered.
Ray returned. “Sorry Major, the ship is dead as is the rest of its crew. They were behind the door when it blew. The blast cut the power to the computers too. I’ll need access to a ship before Leo blows it up.
Taking a position on the engine Ray got the cargo trains moving again as his teammates got comfortable in the car directly behind the engine. Their shield train was still with them, out front between them and the remaining two ships.
Cha’Risa contacted the SEAL team at the second ship to let them know they were on their way. The Captain she reached reported the crew had locked themselves inside and without blowing a hole in the ship to get inside they were stalemated. They wanted the pilot for interrogation.
The trains approached the ship and they heard a siren start to wail.
“Uh Major, I think it’s preparing to launch.” Nann said.
“Leo, give Nann five seeds. Nann hit the side of that ship! Up top, away from the cargo hold.”
“Captain, pull your team back. We’re going to blow the ship!” Cha’Risa yelled into her comm.NôvelDrama.Org © 2024.
They watched the SEAL team beat a hasty retreat as the cradle began to enclose the ship in preparation for launching it.
Nann prepared a payload round and Leo dropped five of the seeds into the impact gel. She slapped the round into her sniper rifle, aimed, and fired before the cradle was completely in position. Seconds later the ground jumped under them as the cradle split open and the top half of the ship tore free and crashed to the ground.
“I think it’s a fair bet to assume this ship is dead too. Let’s get to the cargo before it burns up,” Nann called out over the noise.
They pulled up and Ray shot forward. He hooked a tentacle into the wreckage of the cargo bay door and ripped it open. He suddenly shot sideways as a plasma bolt fired out of the open doorway glancing off his side.
“OW! FUCK!” he yelled as Maxim leapt forward to fire three rounds into the Allsa Komanae lying on the floor of the cargo bay.
“RAY!” Nann screamed.
“I’m ok! He just grazed me but FUCK did that hurt!”
Leo walked up to Ray and gave him an angry shove. “You open door, you stand aside! Always!”
“Sorry,” Ray said.
“GO! Check cargo.” Leo said, rattled by the close call.
Ray swooped around Maxim and scanned the pods. “I have three more. All children. One is human.” He began unhooking the pods from the restraints. Leo and Maxim carried the pods outside where the SEALs took them to the cargo train.
“Why are they stealing children?” the SEAL Captain asked as he reached the cargo bay.
“No idea. Ray, is there any chance you could get anything from the computers in this ship?” the Major asked.
“Sorry, no. We only have one more chance.”
“What are you trying to do?” the Captain asked.
“We need a working computer terminal on one of these ships so Ray can read their navigation system to get the coordinates to the homeworld. Two out of the three ships have been destroyed. Last chance.” Cha’Risa explained.
The Captain nodded and spoke into his comm to reach the sailors at the last ship. He spoke quietly for a few seconds. He looked back at the others. “They’ve breached the ship and are making their way inside. They know we need the ship intact.”
Ray rushed away once more to a maintenance building on the edge of the tarmac and moments later they saw a large vehicle roll out of it and turn their way. It was some kind of firefighting equipment but best of all it had plenty of room for passengers. The cargo train which wasn’t riddles with holes was now full of cargo pods so the personnel climbed onto the large vehicle. Ray got the shield train moving towards the third and final ship and had the full train follow. Then he got their ride moving and pulled it up beside the second train.
“We have the pilot!” the Captain called out, listening to his comm. His team cheered.
They pulled up along the side the third ship and Ray shut down all of the vehicles.
The Major called Queen Elissa.
“Major Ash! Is everyone alright?”
“Yes though Ray has a nasty scar.”
“Oh my! Tell him to be more careful!”
“We found quite a few kidnap victims in the cargo of two of the ships. They are in stasis pods. They’re all children.”
“Children?” her voice was quiet.
“Yes, so far all children. They had to be recent abductions. Most seem to be human and the rest are from a bunch of different races.”
“I’ll send shuttles and Tik to pick them up.” The Queen’s voice had ice in it. “Excellent work Major. Please pass along my thanks to the others.”
“Thank you. Captain Vickers tells me we have a pilot in custody and we are going to ask Ray to try to read the navigation logs of this ship.”
“Excellent! The city administrators were killed by their staff before the SEAL teams got to them. It was a bloody battle but only minor injuries on our side. The teams are heading back to the ship. Keep me informed of your progress!” Queen Elissa said, her voice warming up considerably.
Ray was already flying over to the ship. The SEALs led the pilot from it and Ray went inside. He scanned the cargo and found five more children. The SEALs carried the pods outside and put them in the intact cargo bays of the shield train as Ray went up to the bridge. He scanned the computers and saw how he could interface with it. He found the navigation logs and began downloading them. Then he noticed something else.
The Major sent both cargo trains back to the spaceport double-time. Colonel Bertillon reported that all Allsa Komanae in the buildings were dead. They’d refused to surrender and fought to the death. All of the pilots in the base were dead as well. They’d taken their own lives rather than be interrogated. Cha’Risa frowned and watched their prisoner being led to the truck. Why was it acting so… calm?
SHIT!