Part 4 (2/2)
Grant's command vehicle was nestled at the rear of the crowded landing bay. He, and the troops already on board the craft, would accompany the reserve troop carriers. Staying behind with the s.h.i.+p while his lead forces engaged the enemy still did not feel right, but he was adapting to the fact that leaders.h.i.+p as a general was different from leaders.h.i.+p as a sergeant. His position in the rear provided the best option for observing the battle and directing his forces appropriately. Ultimately, it provided them with the best chance for success.
He reached his vehicle, then glanced at his watch-twenty minutes to landing. He made a final visual pa.s.s across the bay and stepped toward the open door of the carrier.
He almost made it.
The explosion rocked the already battered mothers.h.i.+p and tossed Gee from his seat. Before he hit the ground, he knew what was happening.
In a replay of events from six years earlier, the Minith had deployed their armed interceptors. They were under attack.
The engineer was not hurt and climbed back into his seat. He redirected the exterior vids from a view of the planet's surface to views of the s.h.i.+p's immediate exterior. What he saw gave him chills.
There were dozens of the deadly little s.h.i.+ps, and they were all heading straight for them.
Gee redirected his attention from the vids to the system controls that monitored the mothers.h.i.+p's hull integrity and life-support units. He was pleased to see that the initial pa.s.s had not caused significant damage, but he knew that could not last for long. A quick check of their time showed exactly how long those systems needed to last-eighteen more minutes.
”Gee, what's goin' on?”
”Minith fighters.” Gee's simple declaration came through the command carrier's speakers and Grant shook his head. He had hoped to make it to the surface of Waa without encountering the Minith s.p.a.ce fighters, but their luck had given out.
”d.a.m.n. How's the s.h.i.+p?”
”Good for now. But it won't last,” the engineer reported calmly. ”There are too many of them, and they have extremely efficient weapons.”
As if lending credence to his claim, the s.h.i.+p was rocked by a second, though less vicious, blast.
”On the positive side, they don't appear to be very accurate,” Gee added when the trembling halted.
”Well, that's something to celebrate, I suppose.” Grant did not transmit the sarcastic remark to the engineer. Instead, he sent a message across the all-units comm channel. ”Everyone seal your vehicles and get comfortable. This is going to get b.u.mpy the rest of the way.”
If the mothers.h.i.+p lost structural integrity in this portion of the vessel, the oxygen would be sucked from the bay quickly. Those within carriers vehicles should be okay, but the soldiers outside of carriers would die quickly. He was considering having as many of the unprotected crowd into nearby vehicles when t.i.tan's voice entered the carrier.
”Grant!”
”Kind of busy here, t.i.tan,” Grant growled, and the s.h.i.+p shook with another blast. Then another. The Minith fighters seemed to have improved in their accuracy.
”Just listen! You need to hear this. Patahbay says we need to get ready for the Waa.”
”The Waa? We're under attack! We'll be lucky to make it to the surface in one piece.”
”No, you don't understand! The Waa are about to-”
The shudder of an explosion, the loudest yet, cut off the other man's words.
”Dammit!” Grant's right fist slammed the side of the carrier in anger and frustration.
Rala gasped and her large ears twitched in surprise.
Without warning, a green beam of light lanced upward from the s.h.i.+p-building facility. She stared up in wonder, following the course of the beam as it pierced the sky.
When her gaze returned to the distant s.h.i.+pyard, the surprise she felt at seeing the unexpected light amped up yet another notch.
The hundred-plus Waa workers that had been scurrying about only moments before were now missing.
Her shock at the Waa's sudden absence was soon forgotten. Scores of carriers were landing and discharging their cargoes of well-armed Minith soldiers. The skies in the distance grew dark as hundreds of similar carriers approached the s.h.i.+pyard.
She doubted that she would get a chance to question any of the humans on board the incoming s.h.i.+p.
A pity.
Gee could do nothing but watch and wait as the s.h.i.+p was chewed up by each pa.s.sing run of the Minith fighters.
The portion of the s.h.i.+p's hull that had been repaired by the Telgorans was breached. Fortunately, no one remained in that portion of the vessel. and the internal part.i.tions designed to protect the rest of the craft worked as designed. But it was just a matter of time before one of the Minith attacks found an engine or the section of hull protecting the command center or the loading bay.
At this rate of destruction, they could not survive the remaining sixteen minutes it would take to reach the surface.
Gee was wondering how it would feel to die when the hum of the s.h.i.+p's engines went dead.
The resulting silence was powerful. It was also brief, as the most powerful explosion yet gripped the s.h.i.+p.
The end had arrived.
But before it could claim them, help from the Waa also arrived.
Gee watched the vid screen in wonder as a greenish spear of light shot from the surface of the planet and encircled the s.h.i.+p. The light quickly became a tangible force that captured the limping vessel and began pulling it with remarkable speed toward the planet.
The monitor in front of Gee flashed with a single phrase, and he stared at it in wonder. Instead of the Minith language he had come to expect from the s.h.i.+p, the phrase was flas.h.i.+ng in Earth Standard language.
”Landing Sequence Initiated.”
The sudden quiet filling the command carrier was interrupted by an announcement from Gee.
”Looks like the Waa have the s.h.i.+p in some type of retraction beam, Grant. They are pulling us to the planet.”
The engineer's voice was filled with apparent wonder and surprise. Grant's emotion was utter disbelief.
”Deus ex machina.”
”What?”
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