Tides of Mars (Omnibus Version) Page 16

  “The tragic disaster that happened in Las Vegas earlier is all over the news. They are reporting that what happened was a very near miss by a large asteroid. The only explanation anyone can come up with for it not simply impacting and fully destroying the southwest, is that the asteroid had enough velocity and momentum to simply keep going instead of giving in to the Earth’s gravity.

  “The later bright lights in the sky were the result of the asteroid exploding due to the extreme stresses it had just gone through. They’ve been strongly implying that some unknown property of the big rock amplified the explosion, thus making it so bright from Earth.

  “No one in the science community is buying it for a minute, but for now, they seem to be supporting the government’s official story. They’ll obviously have a lot of questions that’ll never get answered, but perhaps speculation about tonight’s events will serve to stimulate some formerly stagnant areas of research,” Cole replied. “If you take a right here, you can cut through Marine country and cut ten minutes off your journey.”

  Ariel stepped up to the hatch to open it, but Bri’tell jumped forward and opened it for her. Ariel stuck her tongue out at the old non-com as she stepped through the hatch. Bri’tell kept a straight face and bowed his head slightly to her.

  Once the other guard had passed through, Bri’tell closed the hatch, and jogged to catch up to his charge. They’d managed to make it through the barracks area, and were cutting across the vehicle bay. Once across it, they could simply step through the door, and be in the landing bay, close to the storage area Cole and Tewney had been moved to.

  However, when they got close to the exit, one of her two companions was blown past her to bounce off the bulkhead with a fist-sized hole through his chest. Ariel spun just as Bri’tell was turning as well. Both were drawing their weapons as they fell to the floor to make less of a target.

  One of the assailants miscalculated and shot Bri’tell’s left leg off just below the knee. Bri’tell had slapped his alert medallion as soon as the shooting started, but the side effect of getting shot with a pulse rifle at close range, as well as shock, made him unconscious before his body stopped moving.

  Ariel was facing two men dressed in full marine combat armor, and armed with pulse rifles only fifteen meters away. They had a clear line of sight on her, but hadn’t fired yet.

  Just as she took aim on one of the big motherfuckers, she felt an arm snake around her, and the hand on it covered her mouth. What caused her to stop was the soft hiss of an active vibra-blade beside her ear.

  The soft sibilant voice of Ensign D’espie whispered happily in her ear. “My Uncle, Baron Altrov, said I could play with you if I wanted, but I think simply raping, then slicing you open sounds like a lot more fun, doesn’t it, Princess Bitch!”

  Chapter Eighteen

  “What, D’espie, I thought you were gay? Are you sure I’m the right sex? If you kill me like that, then your boyfriends won’t get to play... Well, not with me anyway,” Ariel said sarcastically.

  “She’s definitely a dumb assed Earth bitch. You’re insults mean nothing!” D’espie replied, and the two armored mountains chuckled.

  “Really? I’ve heard some pretty lured rumors about you and some of your more colorful adventures,” Ariel sneered.

  “Oh, do shut up, little princess. You know nothing about me,” the little man snarled. “You are only making things worse for yourself. Maybe we should just kidnap your ass and go somewhere, were we can enjoy this a little more.”

  “I can understand your disdain for my political title, boys. But there is a part of my title you forgot about.”

  D’espie snorted. “Like what? ‘Dumb-Blond Princess’?

  As Ariel had been bantering back and forth with D’espie, he’d moved the humming blade farther away from her head. The two marines were still holding their pulse rifles, but they were pointed at the deck. Her own pistol was lowered, but none of the assholes had told her to drop it...yet.

  Ariel smiled at the two marines since she had her back to the loud-mouth. “Guardian!” She replied lifting her left arm and dropping straight down and turning slightly. She’d also brought her side-arm up. She shot D’espie under his jaw at the top of his neck. The .45 ACP round at this range, took the top half of his head off.

  Before his body hit the deck, Ariel sprung off her coiled legs; diving for the open maintenance door that D’espie had used to ambush her. She turned during the jump, and fired once before landing inside the cover she’d jumped for.

  As powerful as her gun was, it had no more effect on crysteel armor than a drop of rain would. Ariel was done, and she knew it. She closed and locked the door, for what good it’d do. She slumped against the wall and tried to think of something that would stop them.

  “Any ideas, Cole?” Ariel asked aloud.

  “You don’t need any, Ariel. It’s safe for you to leave the locker now,” Cole replied.

  “How? They’re right outside, aren’t they?” Ariel asked silently this time.

  “Actually one of them still is, but he’s in custody now. You kept D’espie talking long enough for Major Haillion to get his folks in position. They were breaching the bay as you killed D’espie and one of the marines.”

  A gentle rap on the door, and Ariel heard a muffled “Are you alright in there, Highness?”

  Ariel stood and unlocked the maintenance locker hatch. “How’s Bri’tell? Did he make it?”

  “He’s lost a lot of blood, but he did make it to life station before he died. He’ll be out of action while he regenerates the missing portion of his leg. As you probably know, Corporal Ahn’min was killed instantly,” Cole reported.

  “Does he have family, Cole?”

  The hatch door slid open to a grinning man in combat armor with his helmet removed. “Very good work, Highness. Would you be interested in teaching my animals how you did it?” He offered his hand to ‘help’ her step over the lip at the bottom of the hatch. Ariel took it as a sign of respect rather than because she was a ‘little woman’.

  Ariel returned the Major’s smile. “Honestly, Major, D’espie was intentional, but guy in armor was complete and utter luck. Any idea how I got him?”

  Haillion nodded. “The slug from your weapon hit him somewhere in the face milliseconds before the face plate snapped closed. It’s believed that you hit him on the left cheek bone...” he pointed to the area on his own face.”...but we can’t confirm it since there is little left for forensic examination. Uh, I think I should warn you, Highness, you’ve been elevated to the rank of ‘Goddess’ in the eyes of my herd. Luck or not, every last one of them still believes that what you’ve done is impossible.”

  Ariel chuckled “I guess it’s better to be lucky than dead.”

  “That it is Highness; that it is. With your permission, I’ll get on cleaning this mess up,” the Major asked.

  Nodding, Ariel said, “Carry on, Major.”

  As the big man walked away, Cole spoke. “To answer your question; Ahm’min is survived by his wife, Ahm’sune, and son, Ph’shaan. Ahm’sune is a civilian working in cryptology. Ph’shaan is currently in flight training here on the ship.”

  Ariel looked around and picked up the two spent casings from her shots. “I’m not exactly sure of the protocols here, but I think I should be the one to inform Ahm’sune of the death of her husband. Is there a reason her name is close to his?”

  “They’re from the Planet Cralken six. As on your planet, Ahm is a family name, however, in this case it’s the man that takes the woman’s family name,” Cole replied. “They take marriage very seriously. While they allow multiple partners in a marriage, the new family can only use the family name when there is at least one male and one female. All such joinings are for life. Divorce doesn’t exist.

  “It’s a socio-religious tradition that dates back almost to the original colonial planet fall. Cralken is a very old colony.”

  Ariel turned at the sound of Marines snapping to attention. Ariel
might be the heir to the Imperial Throne, but this was Marine country; even the air snapped to attention when an Admiral hit its decks. Hs'ean had arrived. “Haillion!”

  Stepping forward, the Major yelled back. “Sir!”

  She left the knuckle-draggers at attention as she stomped up to the Major. It was a sure sign that she was less than happy. Haillion snapped a salute once she got close enough.

  Hs'ean returned the salute. “Major, I want that future molecular particle cloud put in ultra-solitary; air doesn’t get in there without clearance! Am I understood?”

  “Yes Sir!” Haillion replied.

  “I’ll want to see you, and your second, in my office after morning chow. Carry-on... and Major?” Hs'ean said.

  “Sir?”

  “Good work. Excellent response time.”

  “Thank you, sir,” Haillion saluted, turned and started issuing orders.

  Ariel was Hs'ean's next stop. “Since the ship isn’t on full alert, I assume you’re okay, Highness?” The older woman grinned.

  “Yeah, but my guards didn’t fare so well. Killing each other off like this is just insanity. We’re not going to be able to really start this with idiots like D’espie and company running around,” Ariel replied.

  Hs'ean nodded her agreement. “I initiated in-depth background checks as soon as I returned to the ship after Cr’ale left. The problem is, loyalty is such a personal thing, how can you screen for it? About the only things we can do is clamp down on external communications and pray we can keep a lid on this until we don’t actually have to worry about it anymore.

  “By the way, news of this incident has already spread from bow to stern, port to starboard and star-gallery to the gravity plates. It’s grown in the telling too; I’ve overheard how you took out four marines in assault armor, with only a survival knife and a skin suit!”

  “Jesus! It’s only been what? Five minutes? Ten maybe?” Ariel asked amazed.

  “About twenty minutes actually. Never underestimate the speed of underground communications on a starship, Highness. You’re rapidly becoming a legend with your people. We’re really going to need that,” Hs'ean said, pleased.

  Ariel sighed. “I know we’ll need it Sean, but we can’t just let them believe the rumors. Please handle this incident like you would any other.”

  “I can’t, Highness. You’re Royalty; anything involving you is automatically classified,” Hs'ean replied trying hard not to grin.

  “I’m not comfortable with people wrongly believing I’m some kind of larger-than-life, superhero. Can we declassify enough so people can see that at least?” Ariel asked. “Consider it an order if you need to.”

  Now Hs'ean did grin. “As you wish, Highness.”

  Ariel frowned. “If you’ll excuse me, Admiral, there’s a duty I need to attend to. Cole? Please guide me to Corporal Ahm’min’s quarters.”

  “Would you like me to accompany you, Highness?” Hs'ean asked suddenly serious. “This duty is never easy.”

  Ariel shook her head. “No, Admiral. He was under my command, this is my responsibility. I appreciate the offer though.”

  “I understand, Highness. With your permission, I’ll return to my quarters now?” Hs'ean asked.

  Ariel nodded her permission. “You know, I’m really going to get to dislike that protocol.”

  Hs'ean smiled sadly at her, and nodded. Ariel turned and headed for the hatch when she noticed two armored marines moving with her. “Cole?”

  “They’re two of ours, Ariel. Tech Sergeant Dressel,” Cole highlighted the stocky figure on her left. “Is the squad demolitions expert and one of two medics.” The highlight moved to the other armored figure. “The young lady on your right is Cl’enne; Covert Operations and Infiltration. As a member of the Imperial Intelligence Corps she has no official rank. She is posted to you as Corporal mKail of Tigress, your intelligence adviser. Her true identity is not listed in the Imperial Census Bureau computers. It is known only to I.I.C. Command, Phaethon Majoris and myself; Phaethon Majoris is the Emperor’s Personal AI.”

  Ariel nodded to the two. “Shall we go, ladies?”

  The visit with Sume was as bad as Ariel thought it would be. The poor woman was totally devastated. Her son arrived and took over comforting his mother. Ariel and her escort left shortly after that. After a quick check on the sleeping Bri’tell, they made it back to Cole’s new ship without incident.

  The new ship was beautiful, but Ariel was too tired to take the tour. “Thank you for the escort ladies. I think... I hope, we’re done for the night. I’m gonna shower and hit the rack. See ya tomorrow.”

  “Sleep well, Highness,” mKail replied.

  Both troopers came to attention and saluted. Ariel returned it and made a mental note to correct that as soon as she could.

  “Cole, I’d like a meeting with my guard tomorrow, right outside the ship. Let’s say just before lunch, eleven hundred ship time.” She thought to her AI as she closed the hatch to her cabin.

  Cole chuckled. “You might want to make it a bit later in the day, Ariel.”

  “Come on, I’m not THAT much of a wimp, I’m not gonna sleep that late!” Ariel replied as she quickly stripped off her clothes. Cole started her shower for her.

  “Okay. You should know that breakfast starts in twenty minutes. Its zero-six-ten ship’s time,” Cole said innocently.

  Cole couldn’t tell if Ariel moaned in pleasure from the shower, or groaned because it was so early. They were getting closer, but he was still having trouble reading her emotions sometimes.

  “Shit! I didn’t realize it was that early! Okay, Cole you win; how about fourteen hundred then? I’ll want you to wake me about thirteen hundred so I can wake up, check with Hs'ean, and grab a bite to eat. I’m so fried right now; I’m starting to have trouble thinking! Damn this shower feels good! I really need to thank the designers for adding this in for me.”

  Cole knew there was nothing wrong with her ability to think, but she was really tired. This would be the perfect time for her final test. He just hoped nothing else would go wrong. He waited until her REM cycle started before he had the autodoc give her a shot.

  Coughing, Ariel woke to the urgent wail of several alarms going off. The emergency lights were on, and the air was smoky and tasted bad.

  “Cole? What the fuck’s going on?” She yelled. She suddenly realized that the space in her mind that her friend had filled was empty. Well, not totally empty, there was a ‘buzzing’ feeling in her mind.

  Slowly, her addled brain was beginning to work. It was hard for her to believe, but she accepted Cole’s absence for now. The alarms were coming from the cabin’s internal life support system which meant that she’d been ejected from Cole’s new ship.

  Something very bad had to have happened, because she couldn’t feel Divine Light’s AI or any of the smaller computer systems in the bay where Cole’d been parked. In fact, she couldn’t feel any computer systems.

  When she swung out of her bunk, she realized that gravity had gotten a lot less, and it was too cold to remain nude very long. Catching herself on the bulkhead from the injudicious movement. She lightly stepped her way over to the life support control panel. Moving gingerly until she got used to the lighter gravity of wherever she now was.

  The first alarm was an activation alarm telling her that it was now online and the life pod had been ejected from the ship. ‘Well duh!’ She thought to herself as she cleared the message silencing one of the tweeters. The next message was a bit more critical. It informed the occupant that the replicator had failed, forcing the unit to switch to reserve atmosphere.

  The next message told her that the reserve tanks had been exhausted, and CO2 levels were becoming critical. ‘The emergency system must have gotten damaged in whatever destroyed the ship. But what about the Divine Light? What’d happened to them?’ she asked herself. She needed more information, but first she needed to keep from asphyxiating.

  Luckily Cole hadn’t recycled her skin suit b
efore the pod was ejected. Putting it back on helped her warm up some, but she’d need more very soon. Opening the emergency panel in the bulkhead at the head of her bed, she removed an unarmored survival suit.

  Quickly donning the suit, she seated the helmet, activating the suit’s systems. She took a moment to breathe uncontaminated air. Almost as soon as the suit came to life, it linked with her implant and informed her there was a message in the communications buffer. Relieved that there was something in the buffer, she asked for immediate display. It was a text message from Cole.

  Ariel, I hope you survive to read this. After you went to sleep this morning, I had ‘slipped you a Mickey’ so to speak, so Guardian Admiral Hs'ean and Guardian Commander Tho’ren could set you up for your survival training. However, before any of that could happen the Divine Light self-destructed. There was no warning, I’ve been unable to track any escape pods.

  I had enough time to attempt to launch. We made it out of the bay and almost outran the plasma wave. All of my engines were destroyed in the explosion and all I have left are maneuvering thrusters. As of the time of this message, we’re caught in the gravity well of the fourth planet.

  I’m going to eject the life pods before impact, in hopes that you will survive. I will also attempt to eject before impact, but the mechanism was damaged in the explosion and may not work.

  I’ve tried to transmit a distress signal to the rest of the fleet, but I don’t believe it was received. However, the comms were very active. From the little I can piece together, the sector detection net is lighting up. It would be the height of coincidence for the Kragen to invade at the same time the Fleet Command ship is destroyed.

  If you have to leave the pod for any reason, be very careful; pieces of the Divine Light will be coming down for months; some of them will be quite large. You will also be clearly visible from orbit if there are indeed hostile ships searching for you. In the pod, you’ll look just like more wreckage.

  “It has been an honor to know you, Highness.