Captain Long looks at the chaos going on both beyond the bridge windows and on the bridge itself. Damage Control Central is being raided by the sounds of it, meaning the ship is about to fall to total chaos, even if everyone started calling into the bridge instead, or either reactor control plant, as they're supposed to. One engine room was on fire, at least two spaces are ruptured, and the announcing circuit is finally gone.
Outside, the Honolulu almost rammed the Gaia. Just from what she can see, it looks like a boarding craft hit their bridge, a curse the Polonia has been spared for now. The Providence is still stationary. After the bubble collapsed, they seem incapable of moving. What guns they have are firing, but its hull is littered with the parasitic boarding craft.
The Argonaut seems to have lost all power and is drifting helplessly. Their only hope is to jump out, which any one of the five starliners can do now, but with whatever weapon the enemy has, they can't risk disabling any more ships.
Long says as calmly as she can, "Keep us orbiting Providence at this distance. Have gunnery keep working up in ship class. Maybe if we can reduce their heavies enough, we'll catch a break."
"Aye Captain!"
Long is trying to stay outwardly composed. But, no captain is prepared for a siege like this. They can't run. Even if the starliners tried to scatter and jump, there's no guarantee that any of them would get away, and if they did, they'd be completely on their own.
That doesn't stop one of the captains from trying, though. The Argonaut flashes white, and Long has only enough time to cry out, "WHAT IS HE...!? NO!"
The bubble forms, but the ship is too far from all but part of the Honolulu. The windows polarize in time, but the bubble forms almost instantly. A large portion of the Honolulu's back end is obscured by the bubble. And, no sooner does the bubble form, does it suddenly vanish, with the Argonaut still in the same place. The windows depolarize, but it's impossible to know which of the enemy ships fired on the bubble to disable it.
Right now, though, Long is simply praying the Honolulu is still intact. Her stomach drops, though. The Honolulu's engines cease glowing. Within a minute, a gap is forming between two massive chunks of the ship where the atmosphere likely pushed them apart.
Captain Long didn't have really any combat time in the U.S. sea-Navy. When she became Captain of the Andromeda originally, she took it because it was the next step up in ship class from her sea destroyer, and it was a chance at something new. Technically, she became a civilian captain, similar to the Merchant Marines, because the starliners were pretty much cruise lines. But, once the admirals and politicians started coming aboard during the fall of Earth, she was suddenly a Navy captain again.
And even then, their ship-to-ship skirmishes have been complex and risky hail Mary maneuvers because they didn't have the means to fight conventionally. Now, they have the means to shoot at heavy ships and tiny fighters, but they were still naively far from ready for a large scale battle.
The picture is suddenly much fuller in scope for Captain Long, though. Three fifths of humanity are sitting dead in space, basically; one of those three possibly having killed the entire crew of another. Long can't really consider Captain Francisco a coward, though. This section of humanity only survived this far because they fled when the worst was occurring.
Some small part of Long thought, with all this distance they've gone, with how quiet and careful they were trying to be, that their luck was a sign that they were doing the right things. Should they have limited their time at this world more? What should their cutoff have been? Is this the origin of the signal Khla detected?
The answers seem obvious now as she watches the ongoing battle in horror. It's all a reminder of how small they really are in a universe that's really big. And, that universe is less scarcely populated than they thought –and hoped-.
The Honolulu's artillery continues firing, regardless of its current state. Their crew; some portion at least, is still fighting to survive.
Two of the enemy ships explode after the collective volleys from the human ships. But, with dozens more, it's not looking hopeful.
Long is seriously pondering jumping. One ship surviving is all it takes. But, does the preservation of the species outweight the preservation of humanity, her own included? She gently clutches the silver cross on her shoulder. She would never pray audibly in front of her crew, if only to show confidence outwardly, but she needs a push.
Silence fills her mind though. She doesn't believe God abandoned her just yet, but she's not so sure he's wholly present, either. Not like she once was.
This decision weighs heavily on her own shoulders, and she makes it. All doubt dissolves from her mind. It's time to commit and do whatever they can.
"Ahead flank. Come right to one four zero and up to zero three." When the helmsman and Leehelm look at her, Long adds firmly, "We need to close distance on those capitals and hammer them harder. This isn't doing enough damage."
The two enlisted watchstanders cautiously acknowledge, relaying orders and adjusting speed and course.
Long understands. They're afraid. She is, too. But, they need to do something. The ship is infected with boarders, with swarms more swirling the void around them. But, the ship itself can do nothing about those boarders. She must rely on bodies onboard to fight off the infection. During that time, they need to break enemy morale. If they can cripple enough of the enemy ships, they may flee. And, the enemy ship cannons don't seem to be affecting the ship's structure. Some electronic systems have failed, but the humans –as demonstrated several times just using the jump bubble- have hardened against some of the most powerful electromagnetic pulses the universe can produce –so far-. Those systems that can't take EMPs aren't necessary for combat. They just boost combat efficiency of data.
This leads Long to believe that the enemies aren't trying to damage the ships; merely disable them with EMP shots. But, they'll need more power if that's the case. Long's weapons, on the other hand, have two settings; artillery and hybrid. Both of which are lethal.
Long has abandoned hopes of a lucky jump, though. It's not only morally wrong to abandon so many lives, it's not practical long term. They were barely suriving with the labor teams taking turns on the Providence full time to build the Gaia. Now, one of their ships is cut in half, essentially.
But, those are now problems outside of the visible future. Long can only sail for the horizon. And this horizon is blockaded by alien insects she suspects she knows the names of.
If she's not wrong, they are the Zarakyssns.
***
Dr. Lopez clutches her laptop to her thighs as she tries to access the Providence's systems. Because there wasn't time to fully understand the technology, she merely copied the setup the Grodrrns use, down to the programming it uses in their language. She has to translate everything through the app she has, but it's a work in progress as is. Additionally she doesn't know what's actually locking up the navigation and propulsion systems. She only knows the ship has been locked in place by the engines not turning on nor the jump drive activating since the bubble was interrupted.
She's hidden in a cupboard under the counter in her lab. Most of the scientists fled to their quarters to be with their families and lock themselves down. It won't do any good though. Captain Murdock announced boarders are onboard. She's trying not to calculate the odds of any of the scientists making it to their quarters. They're low.
Lopez isn't sure what she's hoping for, but she messaged Hancock's helmet. In fact, she's going to again. She sends him a new message, "{Emergency hiding spot 6}". She looks at the long chat history of fif-sixteen messages that all say the same thing. He hasn't responded by text, but he usually doesn't. And, Lopez has all sound disabled on her computer.
Her heart is racing, and it's taking half of her focus just to control her rapid breathing below panting. She's not sure how Dzor found her that day on his ship, but she knows her breathing isn't helping. She's just praying her hiding spot buys her enough time for Hancock to reach her. He'll know what to do or where to go. He's much more calm in situations like this than she is.
She hears her lab door open forcibly. Hancock has a key, but he might not bother using it. Lopez's lab door is just a regular man door, not an airtight one, so it would be easy for one of proper physique to kick it open. She doesn't move or say anything, though. Hancock knows the secret. And, even if he didn't use it, he'd call out to her.
This is not Hancock. She can hear some sort of fast-paced clicking or chattering. Then, the whir of some sort of device. It could be anything, but the intervals of off and on seem to support a breathing unit. The footsteps are solid, but sound rather light. Or, maybe they're small. It's not a Grodrrn then. Grodrrns stomp heavily. Especially their soldiers.
Lopez listens silently, her heart and lungs burning from exertion.
She can't stop her task, though. If she fails and everyone else fails, they're all doomed. Every second that passes, more people die. When her father asked her to pursue her passion for science, develop her mind, and her mother encouraged her, Lopez did it. But, she never, ever could have expected the burden she would hold in her hands; the sheer responsibility she has for life or death of humanity. And now, the Cave Queen, too.
She does her best to type slowly and silently. Her keyboard isn't mechanical, thankfully, but it can still make noise. Namely, her fingers can make noise slapping keys at full speed.
She hasn't found the lockout yet in the jump drive itself, though it seems to think it's in mid-jump. She'll have to address that later, though. She needs to get the engines working again. That, or get the jump drive recharging. Maybe...
A cupboard door is ripped open, startling Lopez. She managed not to jump more than a twitch, but a squeak almost escaped her lips. It's not her cupboard, but it was nearby.
The being's chatter is throaty, clicking, and seems distorted by a speaker or something. She hopes it's not literally a cyborg bug. She hates bugs already. Last thing they need is to be overpowered.
She listens with bated breath. She's not sure what to do. Even if she had the courage to swing her laptop, she can't afford to. If it breaks, too much would be lost. Not that it'll matter if she gets kidnapped or murdered with it.
Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!
A familiar feeling of terror starts to fill her body again, same as when a massive Grodrrn found her and Hancock in an alien electronic cubby. She couldn't do anything, not even scream. She could feel her body draining. She feels it now.
The cupboard door opens. She's met with a mechanical face –a helmet on better glance- with space for moderate-sized mandibles and humongous eyes. It has two legs and two arms, but they're super thin, like broom handles. It has a weapon at its side in its right, pincher-like three-pronged hand, and is holding the cupboard door open with its left. It studies her for only a moment, chattering something.
Lopez starts to shake. She hugs her laptop for nothing other than emotional security, like a blanket during her last moments of life or freedom. A tiny whimper hums in her throat. The alien steps back and aims its weapon at Lopez. A warm sensation spreads across the lower parts of her body, but it is far from comforting.
Something flashes in and slams the weapon, and the startled alien discharges it at a wall harmlessly. The interloper doesn't hesitate, though, and they manage to hit the alien several more times, causing it to fall on its back. It seems to wail as it tries to guard itself, making a long squealing sound before the newcomer pummels it some more with their weapon. Lopez hears a crunch, air escaping something, and the alien wails again, even more desperately. But, its voice starts to slip and fade, and soon becomes quiet as a foul smell fills the air. Lopez has dabbled in chemistry, and she recognizes sulfur in the smell.
Panting, the newcomer steps back and crouches to check on Lopez. Ten minutes ago, Lopez could have been content never seeing this face again. Lopez wouldn't know where to even start in a romantic relationship, but she has a silent rivalry with the one person closer to Lopez's own closest companion than her.
She's never hated Kenzie, since she's extremely nice and kind. Now, she doesn't care if Kenzie marries Hancock. Lopez could never be happier to see her than now. The scientist sniffles and cries, whimpering, "K-Kenzie? Y-You saved me..."
The young waitress smiles gently, relaxing the serious face she had. "Of course. It was just the one that I saw. Room for one more?"
Lopez starts to warn against, but Kenzie squeezes into the cupboard with her. She says nothing about their conditions. She instead whispers, "You okay?"
Lopez shakes her head solemnly. Who could be okay at a time like this? Kenzie adds, though, "I get it, but I mean; are you hurt?"
Lopez replies quietly, "No."
"Good. Good." The two sit in quiet for a moment. Lopez listens carefully before whispering, "W-... um... What made you... c-come...?"
"Here?" finishes Kenzie. She turns a little more disheartened. "I think you know why."
Lopez is stunned. She has no idea. She's usually rather cold to Kenzie. She shakes her head in genuine ignorance.
Kenzie sighs. She replies in a whisper, "Because... You know... Hancock will try to come for both of us, but... He'll have to choose. And... Well, you're... you. You're not expendable."
Lopez protests louder than she should, "You're not expendable! No one is."
Kenzie smirks. She retorts softly, "I'm a waitress. I don't have any college degrees or training or technical expertise... Just waitressing. I can't save humanity."
Lopez whispers distantly as she continues typing, "If I'm supposed to be who you're comparing yourself to, then you did save humanity. But, that assumes I can." She types the message, "{Kenzie's with me. Emergency hiding spot 6. Bring...}" She meant to delete the last word, but hit enter instead. It ended up being too embarrassing to finish, and she decides not to acknowledge it. Instead, she resumes her attempts at removing the interlock stranding them.
Kenzie adds to their brief conversation, "In any case, I figured, either Rex will come, or other marines will come to wherever you are, so it would be the safest place to be. I wasn't totally right, but..."
"Thank you..." mewls Lopez.
Kenzie pauses. "Don't mention it. I owe you plenty already."
Lopez works diligently. Kenzie's presence alone, like Hancock's often is, is enough to comfort her some. She does ask softly, "W-... Would you be comfortable... with its weapon?"
Kenzie shakes her head. "I'm scared I'll shoot a friendly person. But, even if I weren't, it looks like it's bolted to its arm."
Lopez gets a grim picture, until Kenzie adds, "Or, at least to its armor."
The scientist nods. She's searching through the logic on the navigation systems, trying to find the interlock. Of course, 'logic' is a misnomer for Grodrrn systems. If Lopez had to describe the programming she's siphoning through, which is mostly Grodrrn in design, it's like each functional block was written by a different person in a different language. There is no consistent coding commands or functions. Their equivalent of an 'if, then' programming segment in one section is replaced by their equivalent of vectored lookups in matrices with several times the length that it should have. And, that's just one example she just came across. Their "ladder logic" for discrete inputs and outputs, like switches and digital inputs, and which should be broken down in a way that each 'ladder rung' or set of such inputs that work together, and should be discrete and specific in function, are more like the spans of a spider web in comparison. Inputs and outputs that should have little to do with each other, if aligned in the right combinations, can actually bypass other inputs and outputs that should be able to interrupt certain things no matter what.
Lopez understands. Supposedly, Grodrrns are extremely long-lived. And, they seem to run their entire culture on the philosophy of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Between those two factors, it's very possible their actual dialect evolved between changes to their programs, and rather than upgrade the whole system, they only modified what needed modified to make it work.
She realizes she's possibly looking at centuries worth of slow and lazy technological development. But, it would also be awe-inspiring as well, since it's centuries worth of apparently quite successful space navigation and dominance... if it weren't for the fact that she now has to navigate this colossal spiderweb wrapped around a haystack to find one little needle. And, the young scientist doesn't even want to think about the Grodrrn naming conventions. "Propulsion systems", "Propulsion drives", "Forward engagement", "Primary accelerators", "thrusters", "Navigation core" –not to be confused with "Core navigation"-, and "Primary engines" are just SOME of the names for the main engines IN THE PROGRAM, all translated from Grodrrn of course. Searching for the functional groups she wants is proving to be the biggest part of the challenge.
Lopez wonders if Grodrrns can even repair their own ships, or if they simply copy and paste everything and simply build new ships when one breaks. There's no way a Grodrrn technician or engineer could look at any of what Lopez is sifting through and not want to throw themselves out an airlock.
A white beam of light flashes across the crack of the door. More relief swells into Lopez. Her intial observation is that the aliens don't need flashlights. How doesn't matter right now, but seeing light means it's most likely a human. Of course, Lopez set the protocol for her hiding spots. Hancock forgot that once, and even though she knew it was him, she never broke protocol. He never forgot the codephrase again.
A long moment passes, though. Maybe she was wrong. Which is exactly why she doesn't break protocol.
There's suddenly a calamitous scuffle and rumble of noise from the overhead. It sounds like a wrestling match is taking place in the ceiling. Lopez and Kenzie both listen silently.
A male's voice yelps out, "Aaa-ugh!", grunting deeply as he apparently falls with metal clanging about and what remaining glass there is shattering. Just before Lopez makes the decision to check, the telltale "Squeee!" joins the man grunting and straining.
The distinctive thunder claps of three human weapon shots tear into their ears, startling Lopez even in her hiding space. The squealing stops, and a body collapses. The foul smell of rotten eggs from the sulfur renews in the room.
One of the two bodies stands up, distinguishable from glass crunching. It sounds like the human as he breathes heavily. He climbs up onto the lab work bench he likely tumbled off of as he fell.
Lopez peeks. It's definitely a marine in EVA uniform, and he's inspecting the ventilation duct with a flashlight. Satisfied, he climbs painstakingly down from the table and says, "My shirt has six too many flowers on it to be Hawaiian."
Lopez scoffs in relief and amusement. Hancock really is the best. She climbs out of the cupboard with Kenzie right behind her. The two help each other up, but Hancock quickly asks, "Who's hurt? I brought a first aid kit."
Confused, Lopez looks at him. He adds, "You said 'bring', but didn't finish. I have a defibrillator, too. Is everyone okay?"
Realizing what he's referring to, she squeaks, "Oh! Um... N-no... It was... W-We're both unharmed... I-I think. I-I never asked. I'm sorry." She looks at Kenzie sheepishly.
Kenzie smiles. "I'm fine. Glad to see you're okay, too."
"If it wasn't first aid, then what?" Kenzie looks at Lopez, but there's no way she can say it now.
However, in a surprise move, Kenzie says, "I was hoping you'd bring a change of clothes. I... kinda... slipped..."
Lopez is frozen. Kenzie noticed? But why would she...?
Hancock replies, "We can try, but these things are everywhere."
Kenzie asks, "You won't get in trouble leaving... other marines fighting?"
Hancock's face softens, "Haven't found any yet. Any time I moved towards gunfire in hopes of safety in numbers, I arrived to find the roaches dragging people off. Been trying to stay alive since so I could get to you two. I'm so thankful you're both okay." He turns to Lopez, saying, "Any ideas how to stop these things? Shipwide EMP? Open all the airlocks?"
Lopez shakes her head, "Too risky. I'm just trying to figure out why the ship can't move."
"Won't matter now. Bridge is captured. It's where I snuck into the vents."
Lopez thinks for a moment. She replies, "We can activate everything if I can figure out what's locking it out. The real problem is the interdiction. Something stopped us from jumping."
Kenzie urges, "Think and type, Levi, please."
Lopez nods in agreement. She takes a seat on the floor, partially paying attention as Kenzie asks Hancock, "So, what do WE do? If she's doing this, we need to be stationary and safe."
"Agreed. I think this lab is as good as it's going to get. The hallways are crawling with roaches. But, the lab is pretty central in the ship. They won't come in through the bulkheads, the only two ways in are the vents and the front door. Problem is, that works against us if they come in force. I can handle one or two at a time, but more than that, or if I run out of ammo, and... well..."
"Right... IS anywhere safer?"
"Grand scheme? No. Unless we can get to a shuttle and flee, but the bugs dragging people were headed the general direction of the hangar bay. I don't think their boarding craft can hold very many. They must be bringing bigger ships in that way."
"Tell me what to do, Rex. We'll hold this room."
Hancock hands her his sidearm. He says softly, "Until something changes..."
She nods.
***
Rena Coulson had to dismiss herself when the chaos began. She told the Cave Queen to lock her door and absolutely defend herself by any means. This is not a pretend exercise, but true battle.
She can hear it all around her. Sounds pound the ship. Electric tingles pulse in the air. Screams, cries, and panic echo.
She clutches her weapon carefully. It's slow compared to the weapons of the marines or the enemies, but it is what she knows. It's not often in her life that she's had to fight. She's defended her nest a few times, but beyond that, she tries to never be seen.
This marvelous machine, though, is filling with enemies quickly. She's heard many stories of war and battle on her world, but she never quite imagined this. The weapons boom like thunder or shriek like stones striking, but faster and harder.
She is the only being on the ship that can't see in full light, and there's no way she can fight with the helmet on. She needs her ears to be more efficient. She can see, but she can be snuck up on. If she can hear, she can still 'see'.
She stays low in her pool, ready to fire one of her arrows if she identifies a non-human entering the room. True, there are Grodrrns that are supposedly allies, but the Queen doesn't know them. Therefore, she doesn't trust or owe the Grodrrns the same loyalty she bestows upon the humans. The humans are flawed, of that there is no doubt. But, then, that simply makes them one of every species she knows of, her own included. Where the humans stand out is their courage in the face of danger to extend a hand instead of simply death. They are small and seemingly delicate, but they rush to the aid of others. They share all they have and more, and they stop at nothing to charge forward and aid an alien race they didn't know existed shortly before. The surface dwellers were often mild-mannered and kind, but not like humans. And, humans do something else; they play. They make otherwise mundane activities enjoyable; more enjoyable than she's ever known.
For all of her life, she did what her species does. She survived in her nest until surface dwellers came to trade. And that was it. In no time at all, she's seen the sun, stars, true play, love and affection, and friendship.
She adores the humans, especially those closest to her. And, she especially adores Mina for being the decision that gave her all of this.
She closes her eyes, listening. She can tell the direction of every sound. She knows the ship turned and accelerated, and it is firing its humongous marine weapons. She wonders where her beloved humans are. They are surely fighting, but where?
It crosses her mind that she could help. The humans said they don't want her in danger because for now, she's the last of her species. And more specifically, the last fertile member of her species. But, that does not make her incapable. She owes her life to the humans. She would gladly let her species slip into oblivion for the humans. She loves them.
One of two invisible arms tighten, and her eyes snap open, looking in the direction of the pull.
The humans one-sidedly protecting her is over.
***