Thorarinn Gunnarsson - Battle of the Ring

“Drop those weapons!”

The three Starwolves glanced up to see Commander Trace and two crewmembers standing at the door, rifles aimed to fire, as five additional crewmembers filed in to take up positions surrounding the prisoners. There was no question of escape or fighting back; this could not have come at a worse time. Baress’s rifle stood beside the door, while Consherra’s was lying beside the console. Velmeran had no weapons, Consherra was holding her weapons belt with the pistols clipped in their holsters, and Baress had laid both of his pistols on the console. Consherra looked questioningly at Velmeran, but he indicated for her to comply.

“Damn it all, anyway,” he muttered in disgust. “If I had not been so tired, they never would have been able to sneak up on us.”

“Now, move away from that console,” Trace directed. “Out into the open.”

The three Starwolves did as they were told.

“Might I ask how you managed to find us so quickly?” Velmeran asked.

“That was a very simple matter,” Trace said, lowering his weapons now that the Starwolves were safely surrounded. “The ship reported a partial power loss in that diagnostic room in the sick bay and here at the same time. Whatever the cause, it suggested where to find you.”

Velmeran shrugged indifferently. “I guess that I need to work that out before I try it again.”

“There will be no next time,” Trace said ominously. “I will not risk having you escape a second time. That is why I took that little memento out of your hide, remember. I knew at the time that I would probably have to kill you.”

“Do not be a fool,” Velmeran said sharply. “I am still in control of this situation. If you want to live, then you will get out of here now.”

“Whatever else happens, I will have the pleasure of killing you first,” Trace declared, unimpressed, as he aimed his gun. “Fire!”

The auxiliary bridge was rocked as every gun exploded at almost exactly the same instant. Flames and thick, black smoke enveloped each of the gunners, and pieces of the white-hot metal pelted the nearer half of the bridge like hailstones. The fire alarms rang shrilly as the ventilation to the area shut down to suffocate a possible fire as the single door to the bridge snapped shut; had they possessed a sense of smell, the Starwolves would have been overwhelmed by the odor of burnt flesh. A few seconds later the ventilation came back on at full power, drawing away the thick curtain of smoke to slowly reveal eight blackened, lifeless bodies.

The door reopened a moment later. The Starwolves assumed that it was an automatic function, and so they were caught by surprise when a sentry ambled through at its best pace. Baress dived for Consherra’s gun, while the other two prepared to dodge.

“Sentry, halt!” a voice commanded sharply, and the machine pulled itself to a stop. A moment later a tiny human peered cautiously through the doorway. “Don’t shoot, please. I’m not armed.”

“We will not fire,” Velmeran assured her.

Maeken Kea entered cautiously, glancing apprehensively at the bodies that were still smoking lazily. “So you got him at last. I assume that you have some way of causing guns to explode when fired?”

“On a small scale,” Velmeran answered evasively. “Am I correct in assuming that you are Captain Maeken Kea?”

“I am. I assume as well that you are Velmeran.” She did not make a question of that as she came to a stop three meters away.

“Of course. You do not seem particularly worried about the fate of your late Commander.”

“Bastard!” Maeken spat viciously. “I’ve only just found out about how he liked to play with nuclear weapons. I’ll not apologize for anything I’ve done to try to win this battle, but I am sorry for some of the tricks he pulled. For that, most of all. And for what he did to you. He’s paid for it all, I suppose. I’m just sorry that I had any part of it.”

“I am also sorry that you had any part of this,” Velmeran added. “Any other captain would have given me less trouble. But it is over now.”

Maeken frowned. “That is what I wanted to ask you about. It seems to me that you people have been a great deal busier than anyone first thought. I suppose that there is no question that you have done enough damage to assure the destruction of this ship.”

Velmeran nodded. “You could not stop it at this point even if you knew what to look for.”

“So I had assumed.” She paused a moment to glance at the charred bodies. “If you don’t mind, I would like very much to get my crew away from here. All I have are children with fresh commissions and harmless Feldenneh… technicians, not soldiers.”

“My mercenary common sense tells me that I should eliminate such a capable Commander as yourself,” Velmeran remarked frankly, and paused only a moment to consider the matter. “As soon as I leave this chamber, I am going to instruct the Methryn to attack in fifteen minutes.”

“Thank you, Commander,” Maeken said as she hurried to the communications console on the lower portion of the bridge to relay the order to abandon the ship. The Starwolves collected their weapons and left in a hurry. Velmeran was already in telepathic contact with Tregloran to relay his orders to the Methryn. They now had to use the lift to get away in time, and he doubted that he had the strength left to get himself out of the Fortress otherwise. It no longer mattered how many lights they tripped on the bridge.

Lenna, you have less than fifteen minutes to get yourself back to the fighters, Velmeran warned. She lacked the ability to reply in clear words the way the Kelvessan could, but he received the impression that she was already well ahead of them.

The lift accelerated quickly, the computer control compensating for the longer run with greater speed. It had completed most of the distance when the car began to break to a sudden, jerky stop. Velmeran appeared to listen to some distant voice.

“The Challenger knows where we are,” he explained. “She means to hold us here until a group of sentries can arrive to investigate, Baress, you are young and strong. Pop open those doors so that we can take a look.”

“I might be stronger than you at the moment, but I remind you that I am nearly twice as old,” Baress said as he took hold of the edge of each door and pulled them apart. They parted easily, revealing a blank wall of gray metal just beyond. “Definitely a wall. Is that what you expected?”

“I am afraid so. Give it a punch and see how thick it is.” Baress drew back an armored fist and put it through the panel, then peeled it back like foil. Baress tore open a way large enough to climb through in a matter of seconds, then slipped through to the other side to receive the guns and helmets that Velmeran passed to him. Soon they were all assembled in the corridor beyond.

“Sentries will be coming from every direction, so we had better hurry,” Velmeran warned. “The stairs leading down are about two hundred meters ahead.”

They found the stairs quickly and descended to the level of the outer airlock. Baress now led the way, assuming the role of vanguard since it was obvious that Velmeran would be lucky just to get himself out of the ship. They soon came to the access conduit that served as a channel for a maze of pipes that ran the length of the ship. The corridor that led to the airlock intercepted this a hundred meters farther down. Baress was about to step out onto the wide walkway that ran above the river of pipes when Velmeran pulled him back.

“Sentries,” he explained. “At least five. They are waiting for us.”

To prove the point, he broke off a half-meter section of handrail from a nearby service ladder and tossed it out onto the walkway. A barrage of powerful bolts centered on that target. Then the fire shifted to the entrance of the passage as the automaton tried to bounce bolts down the side corridor to their unseen targets.