The Transference
ship was ten light years outside of Tek Nos. The T-ship would make another jump
soon, so it was now or never. Stryker flew the ship into the direct path of the
T-ship. It was bigger than any he had ever seen. It looked like a huge
dragonfly in space. “Hey, Free, I am about to hail the ship.”
“Go for it.”
“Ship of
Transference, the organic brain controlling our slipstream drive burned out
just a moment ago. We request to be towed.” Stryker waited for an answer.
“Position
yourself at the following coordinates.”
“Acknowledged,”
Stryker said. He pressed the intercom. “You guys got that?”
“Yes,” Free
said. “As soon as you are in position get down to the docking bay.”
“Okay.”
In the docking
bay, Stryker quickly put on his personal shuttle pack and followed the team outside.
Fortunately, the shuttle packs were capable of keeping up with a small shuttle
in short burst. Once they landed on the T-ship, they grabbed a ladder, climbed
fifty rungs, and opened a hatch.
So far, all of the information was good.
Free took point.
Stryker followed them into the hatch, on the other side; he found his team
surrounded by two-dozen android guards.
Stryker’s face
drained when Jacks pulled out a blaster and placed it to Free’s head and pull
the trigger. Free fell forward and lay motionless. Jacks shot him in the back
three more times and held his hands up. “I am on your side. I am Jacks of the
Nu Droids. I seek asylum.”
Vira raised her
hands. “How could you?”
Free’s hands
turned from a deep bronze to a gold metallic color, the wounds on his back and
head disappeared. Stryker tapped his thumb and pinky finger. Hidden
compartments in his forearm opened up and his blasters shot forward. He grasped
the blasters and fired into the crowd of Droids; Vira grabbed the nearest
guard, just as Free spun up and removed a guards head with his Vibraxian blades.
In less than five seconds, the only bodies standing were squad seven and squad
thirteen. Free withdrew his two middle blades and thrust his fist toward Jacks’
neck. His thrust pinned Jacks against the wall; trapping his neck between the
two outer blades. “You have one second to explain.”
“I was going to
gain their confidence and complete the mission.”
Claxons blared.
“I don’t know if
you are telling the truth or not,” Free said. He popped the two blades in the
middle and twisted his fist. Jacks head rolled to the floor. “But you can help
complete the mission by staying here and keeping watch.”
Stryker turned
to Vira and pointed his gun. “What’s going on?”
“I have no idea,”
Vira said. “You have to believe me, I would never hurt Free. Even if I had
known that he could survive, I would not have jeopardized the mission by
injuring him.”
“His intent
wasn’t to injure. He aimed for my spine,” Free said. “Let her go. We will need
her help.”
Stryker lowered
his gun. “Don’t try anything.”
She ran to Free.
“Let me check your wounds, if you are too damaged, I will take…point…. What
happened to your wounds? You regenerated?”
“Stay behind
me,” Free said. “I got point, but Stryker don’t be afraid to outpace me.”
“Got you
covered.”
“Vira stay close.”
Free’s knowledge
of T-ships allowed them to navigate the quickest path to the bridge. On the way
there, they passed through the frozen storage, a cascade of cryogenic tombs for
organic life. Life forms that even Stryker had never seen before.
They used precision
attacks, when they met the opposition. Some of the soldiers went down with one
shot to their upper spine. Others needed their head removed. The sentient tanks
were the hardest to stop. They had neither a spine nor an off switch. In fact,
they weren’t even androids, they were essentially cyborgs. Brains attached to
heavy machinery and forced to do work. They outnumbered the three of them two
to one.
“Get to the
bridge,” Free said. “I will take care of this.”
“I am not
leaving you behind,” Vira said.
“Come on,”
Stryker said, “trust me, he can handle it.”
Free picked up
one of the tanks and threw it upon the other.
“You would just
get in the way,” Stryker said.
Free fired a
laser blast out of his left palm and cut one of the tank’s legs. He then used his
new toy to beat the tank down.
Vira slowly
turned away and followed Stryker. They pulled the sliding door to the bridge
open. Two of the officers fired at them. “Don’t fire back,” Stryker said. “We
need all of the equipment intact!”
“Well we can’t
just sit here!”
“I am open to
suggestions.”
She looked down.
“If you are as good as they say you are,” she said as she lifted her head, “you
can take them out without getting me killed.”
“Wait, what are
you about to do?”
Please, feel free to comment below and follow me on Google and Twitter @ Frank_D_Rogers. For more information about my debut Sci-fi novel, click Here.
No comments:
Post a Comment