Trial by Ice (A Star Too Far Book 1) Read online

  She grinned. Some things made for a pleasant payback. She leaned over and took her second grenade and slugged it as hard as she could towards the front barricade. The grenade skittered and slid before coming to rest among a group of approaching defenders. The explosion was satisfying.

  She sliced through the electrical supply cord and dropped it into the expanse below. One hand over the other she descended into the building. Before her lay a mass of mangled men and a cracked open door.

  “C’mon in!” she yelled as she advanced on the wounded defenders.

  * * *

  William ran after the deserter. The diameter of the pipes dropped from the thickness of a man to slender pipes like saplings. Gusts of white gas purged out from the tips a few meters above.

  “Gah!” Berry howled as he grasped one of the pipes and began to push and pull. The stresses pinged the metal until it gave way after a second cycle. He almost fell backward before catching himself and pointing the ragged tip like a spear.

  William slowed himself and eyed the tip of the spear. It was pinched together. The white paint gave way to a gray serrated point. He continued in an arc and went farther into the pipes at an angle to Berry. He dodged the first thrust with ease as he kept his distance.

  Berry growled and stepped back before plunging the pipe forward. He lunged again before feinting and swinging the spear sideways, catching William on the shin.

  The pain shot up William’s leg. It was almost as if a steel ingot had smashed into him. He dropped onto the ground in an awkward roll and prepared himself to feel the searing pain of a stabbing at any second. Behind him was a lattice of piping that left him cornered.

  Berry leapt closer and held the pipe over his shoulders with the tip a meter away from William. His eyes were wild with a grin that spoke only of death. “All they had to do was offer me a hot meal.” He spat blood onto the wet roofing. “That’s all it took, we were damn neared starved, our tongues were like rocks.”

  The polymer knife was the only weapon William had. He scooted back against the piping and watched for an opening that would let him parry or slice into Berry. “It’s a shame you were sold so cheaply,” William said.

  Berry raised his lip in a snarl and raised the spear to strike. A sudden blast of air almost knocked him down. He took a step backwards and laughed loudly. “Care to dance with a VTOL?”

  William rolled onto his side and turned to see the insect like form of the VTOL that had attacked the capsules on those first days. The autocannon glistened with the mist. A cluster of cameras and sensors winked at the pair.

  Berry took a step forward into the raging wind. “And I’ll even have it on camera to watch again.” He raised his arm once again like a striking legionnaire.

  The VTOL opened fire. The autocannon spoke out with a horrendous roar that was guttural and animal-like at such close quarters. The VTOL rolled slightly under the recoil. The stubby cannon was pointed just over the heads of the two men sparring in front of it.

  In that moment of beautiful confusion, William rolled forward and lunged out with the blade. He plunged it as deeply as he could into Berry. This time the blade went home quickly. It passed between ribs and was buried to the hilt.

  Berry saw it coming just a fraction of a second too late. Had he not been injured, he might have parried it and managed to spear William. He looked down with surprised eyes and gasped once before dropping to his knees and tumbling to the ground. He looked up to William and looked almost sad. He coughed and was still. The pipe tumbled from his grasp with a clang muted by the rotors of the VTOL.

  William turned slowly to face the VTOL. The vicious craft hovered for a moment before wiggling its wings and sliding back into the mist. He stood for a second and listened, wondering what the hell just happened. He shook his head and stumbled back to the coupling. The sounds of the heavy autocannon still echoed from inside of the building.

  The remaining wires sliced with barely a spark. William scooped up the satchel and pistol when Avi collapsed next to him. The always cheerful Private sported a bullet wound to the chest and an angry yellow bruise growing on his head.

  “Oh shit, Avi,” William said as he helped Avi back to his feet.

  “Berry, eh?”

  William nodded. “C’mon, I’ve got an idea.”

  The two walking wounded shuffled across the slick decking until they arrived at the now empty elevator. William helped Avi sit before running back to the conduit. His hands closed on the thoroughly soaked bag of explosives. He hoped rain wouldn’t bother it.

  Avi nodded with a wide smile as he watched William run back with the satchel. “The only problem is, I’m going to have to climb down that damned ladder again.”

  William smiled as he focused on prepping the explosive charge. He estimated roughly a minute for the elevator to reach the command center. He pulled the time tab, slid the charge into the elevator and pressed the down button. Just as it started moving he ripped off the set tab. “I think we should move.”

  Avi nodded and struggled to his feet.

  William worried that the method to neutralize the nanite virus was inside. If they couldn’t take the command center it wouldn’t matter anyway. But still, the thought of leaving the entire planet in the midst of a horrible sickness stuck with him.

  The pair rushed through the mist back to the stairwell access. The air rushing through the entryway paused for just a moment as a dull roar shuddered the entire complex. Avi whistled. “Well, is that how they do it in the Navy?”

  “Absolutely, I’m coming for your job, Marine.”.

  Avi let out a pained laugh. The pair began the slow descent down the access ladder. The sound of gunfire was now limited to single shots. They still had no idea if the drones had ceased their assault. The view below was masked in an acrid smoke that smelled like plastic and tasted like bitter popcorn.

  At the first platform, they rested. William’s ribs felt like an iron jacket was being heated in a forge. He coughed a dry cough and expected to see blood come out, but none did. They applied a rudimentary dressing to the bullet wound, which luckily had not penetrated the lungs. Avi paled but declined any assistance.

  “A matter of pride, Mr. Grace,” Avi said anytime William asked.

  At the second and last platform, they were just below the smoky haze that hovered above the refinery floor. It danced in the turbulent air as it was slowly sucked out of the building. Below was a symphony of chaos.

  Streaming in from the door was a trail of bodies, some still moving, others wracked apart from the fire of the autocannon. Men and women shuffled among the dead and wounded. Scattered about was the inert spheres of the razor drones like drifting sand. The command center was crumpled. The middle collapsed down into itself with the outer edges shattered and torn.

  Packs of the civilians were ripping into the debris field pulling out the bodies of the dead mercenaries and an occasional live one. A single blocky orange dump truck shuttled the wounded away from the wreck command center. A group of wounded mercs sat in a circle surrounded by men with fierce eyes. William wondered if they’d last the day.

  Sebastien stood at the base of the piping and waited for Avi and William to limp down. His face was triumphant, but he wore no smile. “A bit of trouble up top?”

  William dropped down with shaky legs and helped Avi to the floor. Avi rested his back against a dull white pipe and closed his eyes.

  “A bit, but we delivered some trouble of our own,” William replied. “Is that it?”

  Sebastien beckoned towards the collapsed stairwell. “It’ll take some time to dig it out, it’s a damned mess. I’m sure there are more survivors inside, but the fight’s gone out of ‘em.”

  “Why aren’t we moving on the elevator?” William sat down on a large coupling. “The VTOL came in, fired above us on the roof.”

  “They already took the elevator.” Sebastien cocked his head towards the entry door. “Everyone else is outside, the VTOL is doing a sweep.”
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br />   “What? How can that be?”

  Sebastien finally smiled. “Selim found a skeleton crew at the elevator and made an assault. Seems they turtled up here, I think they planned on letting the virus knock out the civilians and then they could mop us up. Von Hess was able to sync with the VTOL.”

  William blinked and shook his head. Had they really finally done it? So long, so far, men lost, all to finally hold the elevator. He could hardly believe it. He stood stiffly, helped Avi to his feet, and followed behind Sebastien. “Where is everyone else?”

  “Helping the wounded, scrounging for supplies, or already at the elevator.”

  “Xan is trying to get a commlink going. Some interesting news out of the elevator too,” Sebastien said, as they emerged out from the refinery and into the open air.

  William stopped and stared outside. The price had been high for the civilians. Bodies were scattered as men had fallen in the initial assault. All throughout the yard lay bodies, some with bullet wounds while others were savaged by the razor drones. He felt sick. The price would be high, but he had no idea what the bill would look like.

  “Medical supplies?” William asked as he felt his stomach tighten.

  Sebastien shook his head. “Inside the complex.”

  The three stood in silence as the mist washed over them and diluted the blood that seeped into the now hallowed grounds.

  “What’s the news?” William asked as he shuffled with Avi away, towards the gate.

  “There’s a ship docked above.”

  William shrugged. “I’d expect a launch to be there, they’d have to leave something.”

  “Not a launch, a ship, with a crew, a corvette I’m told.”

  The men stopped in the cover of the entry building.

  “Well not for long, they’ll be out of here once they realize what happened,” William said as he helped Avi down.

  Sebastien tapped his ear instinctively and nudged William. “Can you hear it?”

  William shook his head and watched as a smile spread across Sebastien’s face. “Comms?”

  Sebastien crunched his jaw and slid it from side to side. “Toothpick, this is Lumpy, I read you. Check Naval comms channel for the Gentleman.”

  William had forgotten about any communications system. He, along with all personnel, had a set of nanites implanted in the jaw and ear that would allow for nearby communication.

  William felt a dull pop in his jaw and a mellow tone before a click brought a voice into his head.

  “Gentleman, this is Toothpick, can you hear this?” the comm system echoed into his ear.

  He clicked his jaw to the side and felt that subtle tone shift in his ear to indicate he was transmitting. “I hear you, Toothpick, good work, any losses?”

  “Negative, we’ll see you soon, a truck is on the way,” Xan said.

  “Are these secure?” William asked Sebastien.

  Sebastien nodded. “The encryption is unique.”

  * * *

  The men waited in the steadily falling rain. A newer truck pulled up with Tero driving and Peter in the passenger seat. Both men grinned. Peter wore a slash on his right cheek that looked like he slept on a filet knife. He held a slender canister, which he offered to William. He was missing two fingers on his right hand.

  “Well done!” Peter shouted. The smell of alcohol seeped from him. His eyes wore the pain of loss and grief, but the triumph of the day shone through.

  William took the canister and pulled a surprisingly smooth smoky drink. He stifled a cough and handed it back. “Well done to you and yours.”

  The three climbed into the back of the truck and bounced slowly through the streets. People were streaming out of the hovels and beginning to mourn and celebrate. The slender canisters of alcohol seemed to be everywhere.

  “What about the virus?” William asked.

  “Vito shut it down, there’s a nanite system at the elevator.”

  William sighed. He slumped against the side of the truck. A weight that had been burning into the back of his mind finally cooled. He wondered how that guilt would ride when he set the elevator moving downwards with a bomb attached. He’d done enough to these people, he didn’t want to inflict more.

  They arrived at the elevator complex and pulled into a mostly empty yard. Shipping containers were stacked in neat rows. At the end of the line was a large gantry crane that hovered over them. The elevator itself emerged from the peak of a squat building. The darkness and rigidity seemed to pulse in the cloudy sky. It disappeared into the whiteness above. A pair of bulky climbers clung to the edges of the ribbon.

  William dropped to the ground and almost collapsed in pain. The tenseness in his ribs was stunning. He helped Avi down and the three men walked inside of the complex. Dark blast marks scorched the walls.

  Tik was the first soldier they met. She was sitting on a plain gray chair with an assault shotgun cradled on her lap like a small dog. Before her were half a dozen bound men. The plastic cord was wound from hand to foot and then to the next man.

  “Mr. Grace!” she called out with a salute. The shotgun never wavered from covering the sullen faced Samoans.

  William returned the salute with a stiff arm and continued into a hollow area where the ribbon disappeared into the floor. The room hummed with the tension of the ribbon.

  Selim greeted them with a salute and a smile.

  “Exceptional work, Sergeant. Mind regaling us with the tale?” William asked as he returned the salute.

  Selim shrugged and pointed to a cluster of chairs near the edge of the wall. “You look like you need a seat.”

  William nodded and shuffled over with Avi on his arm. Sebastien strode to the ribbon and looked upward.

  Selim talked softly to himself for a moment before turning his attention to William. “Leduc will be here shortly with a patch for you and Avi.”

  “I guess I’ll take the help from the Army just this once,” Avi said, with a slow wink.

  “We came in, got close, it was buttoned up tight. There was only a handful of guards and they were all tucked inside. Tik dropped a present inside and then we swarmed in.” Selim shrugged. “We hardly even got shot at. Once we were in, the remaining troops surrendered.”

  “Hmm, that seems a bit odd,” William said as he watched Sebastien pace to the back side of the ribbon.

  Selim shrugged. “Doesn’t bother me any. After that, Von Hess found the VTOL console and the rest is history, right? Xan is still working on getting the comms going. Seems you cut every connection we needed.”

  “Oops,” William said. Not that he had much choice, it wasn’t like the wires were marked.

  Sebastien strolled back to the conversation. “Crow is coming, it’s time to get up the elevator.”

  William nodded and looked up the ribbon. “Did they break orbit yet?”

  “I’m not sure, we’ll need to check with Xan and Von Hess, they’re in the control room,” Sebastien said as he pointed down the hallway.

  “You okay, Avi?” William asked.

  “Yes, sir, I’m just going to nap a bit,” Avi said as he slumped down. He closed his eyes like he hadn’t slept in years and nodded off.

  Selim pointed to a body near the center of the room.

  William walked slowly over. Grue lay at his feet with shrapnel peppering his body. “Well, that’s Berry and Grue. James must be around somewhere, too.”

  * * *

  They walked through the silent corridor with polished concrete walls. The building felt old. The design was in the fashion of eighty years before. It was vaguely nostalgic, but unusual at the same time.

  They passed through a doorway with no door. Inside was a set of relatively simple control equipment. Xan and Von Hess sat near more sophisticated equipment.

  Xan nodded and continued to work at the console. A gaggle of wires and tubes emerged and were strung up the wall and into the ceiling.

  Von Hess sat in a cloth-lined chair like a hammock. His fingers were locked toge
ther on his chest and his eyes were barely closed. He tilted his head from time to time and was mostly silent.

  “Xan, how’s it look?” Sebastien asked.

  “Eh. The elevator is in working order, and it still shows someone docked. But I’ve got no feeds or details.”

  “Did they cut them?” William asked.

  Xan shook his head. “Negative. When they designed these they made them dirt ass simple, so simple a farmer could run it. Plus they wouldn’t function from the ground until someone came from up top. No camera necessary, unfortunately.”

  “So how do we take it?” William pointed at the yellow berthing light.

  “Insert with two teams, one in each climber. Hopefully they don’t have many troops upstairs. Stream in from two sides and pinch them. After that, you grind your way in,” Sebastien said.

  “What if they have a full compliment?”

  “They don’t. If they did, it’d already be on the ground.”

  The NCOs discussed the finer points of close-quarters assault. None seem satisfied with any of the methods discussed. Selim kept wishing for things he didn’t have and Crow kept dismissing the ideas that Sebastien did bring forth. All three grew tense as they argued over the objective that was so close at hand.

  “Can we talk to them?” William asked.

  Xan looked up and blinked. “Maybe, but not yet.”

  William turned to Von Hess and watched as his movements became more erratic. His teeth clenched and his fingers squeezed up tightly. Sweat began to bead on his forehead. The NCOs stopped the argument and watched, puzzled.

  “Is he okay?” Crow asked as he stepped closer.

  “Hess?” Eduardo called from the other room. The short man stalked in with his arms bared. The tattoo was a vibrant wreath of carnations that encircled and bloomed. “Well, he found something.”

  Hess’s eyes open. He sighed a deep whoosh and relaxed his body into the cloth below.

  “What is it?” Sebastien snapped.

  “Shhh, give him a moment, if the link was severed it’ll take a few minutes for him to recover,” Eduardo said. He held a hand out as if to keep everyone away. The tattoo slowly shifted into a haze of gray.