XV
Simla sent out a signal to try and locate the androids who should have already boarded this ship, but no confirmation bounced back to her. That was worrying, she needed the sheer brawn of the machines if she was to achieve her objective. Her comrades hesitated, looking to her for leadership and she suddenly felt very small and stupid. She was no soldier, she knew that, but then again neither were they; they were probably a salesman and a dentist, but dedicated to saving their mother planet. She had to find the strength to lead them. "We'll stick together and head for the bridge. I'll take point."
She located the direction of flow of the conduits that ran through the ship and, taking her gun, burned through the bulkhead. Light flooded in from the adjoining corridor. She stuck her head through the opening and glanced to left and right. It was clear. She scrambled through and squatted defensively as the others clambered after her.
"To the right and keep your eyes open."
They set off down the corridor which ran for almost fifty yards before reaching a T junction.
"I'm getting life-signs," one of her comrades announced and Simla glanced down at her read-out to confirm that there were several aliens lying in ambush around the next corridor.
She took a deep breath and said, "Here we go," before rolling to the ground and round the corner with her gun blazing. Alien fire whizzed by her. One of her shots caught one of the Riaz, sniping from behind a piece of machinery, in the shoulder and it staggered into retreat, while Simla's companions came charging round the corner and created a wall of fire behind which they advanced. A shot caught Simla in the midriff but the armour did its job and the destructive energy was absorbed. The Riaz were breaking and running for better cover. All except one, who seemed set on obeying her ancient instincts and coming to blows with her foes. With the humans mere feet from her and realising that her weapons fire was futile, she cast aside her gun and, claws waving, charged her smaller opponents.
Her fellow warriors went low and Simla leapt over the Riaz, twisting in mid-air so that she landed directly behind it. She grabbed it round the neck while the assault on its lower limbs brought it crashing to the floor. Simla punched it several times on its head while the smaller of her companions took metal-reinforced cord from her backpack and began trussing up its flailing limbs. At last, they had a prisoner. They left the Riaz, trying to move, and moved on. Twenty yards further on they found a large hatch that led to the forward part of the ship. Simla thumbed a code and the hatch swung open. Beyond it was another corridor, shorter than the previous one and dimly lit. At the end of it stood one of their androids, posed in mid-step and seemingly frozen. The sight unsettled Simla but as there were none of the enemy in view she and her companions rushed in, following their instinct to aid one of their own. Within seconds they found themselves walking in treacle and their suits started to weigh heavy on them.
"Back! Back!" Simla screamed, "It's an energy vacuum, it's sucking our suits dry!"
But it was too late, they were stuck. Simla tried everything she could think of, but the fact was that all the energy in their suits had been drained by the vacuum and that explained why the android was posed so unnaturally. It's sheer strength had carried it further than them, but eventually it too had been stopped in its tracks.
"Damn!" Simla cursed. The Riaz had been smarter than she'd expected. She'd thought to trap them and they'd trapped her. She bemoaned her lack of foresight as the hatch at the other end of the corridor opened and a squad of Riaz warriors emerged to look at their captured prey. Now it was the humans turn to be trussed up and made captive. They were brought before the Conquest Commander on the bridge and he eyed them with interest.
"You, we no kill," he said to them, "You, we take to Riaz. Study you. You not primitive as we think. Need study. If more ships with energy vacuum areas, we conquer. But shall return." He waved them away, but from the corner of his eye Simla saw one of their monitors showing the remnants of the Riaz fleet breaking formation and turning tail. They'd stopped them!
The humans were dragged down to what was obviously a brig and thrown onto low benches.
"What do we do now?" one of her fellows asked.
"They'll take us back to Riaz and dissect us," the other said, "We should have had a suicide option in these suits, because I don't think our future looks bright."
"We should have a party," Simla said, "We've stopped the bastards and sent them homeward to think again."
"You heard their Captain," one of the others argued, "they'll be back with more of these energy vacuum things and that makes our androids and our powered suits useless."
"We've bought time if nothing else," Simla said, "Time for Old Earth to prepare better. My only regret is that we can't warn them about these energy vacuums."
"We're not in the vacuum now. Could we transmit?"
"The suits only have a short range, but it's worth a try."
They all tried but none of their fellow humans was within range. Simla, with her hands and feet tied, stretched out on her bench.
"What are you doing?" her short companion asked.
"I'm going to have a nap," The Princess replied, "I'm whacked." She drifted off quickly, glad that she had been of some use in her short life.
Yaf's group had taken their ship and from the alien bridge he signalled the Robin to pick him up. He was informed by Thrane there that most of the Riaz ships had been destroyed or captured and only one, which they learnt from their captives was the flagship, had escaped and had last been sighted engaging its star-drive and heading back to Riaz.
Yaf immediately began signalling round the human fleet to find Simla but with negative results. Feeling the panic building inside him he found an intelligence officer who told him that a prisoner had given them information on the energy vacuum installed on the flagship. Yaf confirmed his worst suspicions when Shap arrived and told him that Simla had been assigned to capture the flagship. He could draw only one conclusion, that his beloved had been taken prisoner and even now was being dragged back to the alien home-world to God knows what fate.
"We have to go after her," he insisted to Thrane.
The old man shook his head sadly. "If they've gone to star-drive we'll never catch them."
"But, Simla .. !" Yaf pleaded.
The Admiral put a comforting arm around his shoulder, "I know, my boy, I know. A casualty of war, I'm afraid. My deepest sympathies."
Yaf snorted with frustration and Shap said, "Dr Vilek's star skipper ship could catch them." Of course, the Bullet!
Yaf leapt to the communication's desk and called Elfi. He quickly explained the situation and the petite scientist gave one brief nod and said, "On my way."
Half an hour later Yaf and Shap were crammed into the Bullet's tiny cabin with Elfi at the controls, hurtling in pursuit of the massive flagship.
"I hope you have a plan, big boy," Elfi said to Yaf, "because my little Bullet isn't really built for combat."
"All I need to do is get on board that ship. If I can't rescue Simla, at least I want to die with her."
"Simla wouldn't thank you for that sentiment. Let's work out a way to rescue her first before we prepare to lay down our lives."
Yaf considered the problem. "Well, there's no way we can slug it out with them and even approaching them is going to get us blown out of the sky."
"Agreed, and the closer we get to Riaz space the more likely it is they'll have friends waiting. So, we get to them fast and do what?"
Yaf fingered the amulet at his throat. "I could phase over to their ship," he offered.
"Sheer genius," Elfi replied, "For one thing you might never be able to phase back and for another I don't see how putting an unarmed Yaf onto their ship is going to help."
Shap, sitting on the floor with his head hanging, now lifted it. "Could I use this device?"
Elfi turned and gave him a sympathetic look. "Sorry, honey, it needs an organic mind to control it. If you wore it and triggered it you'd phase out, but that's all."
They sat in silence for a while. "If we can't save Simla we have to make this a suicide mission then," Yaf said finally, "We can't have them thinking their energy-vacuum device was successful or they'll be back with a fleet of them."
Elfi gulped. "And how do we commit suicide then?"
"Catch up with them and ram their star-drive. That should do the job."
Elfi thought about it and decided that the prospect didn't appeal. "Spectacular, but unnecessary. Auntie Elfi will once again save the day."
Yaf perked up. "Really?"
"Oh yes, sometimes I surprise myself with my own sheer genius. Did Simla tell you about Remo?"
"The remote controlled robot? Yes, she mentioned that it put bruises on her ass."
"Which you no doubt kissed better. But a Remo could phase over there with you controlling it. All it needs is the control cap." She flipped open a small storage compartment and triumphantly produced one of the devices."
Yaf grabbed it and put it on his head. "But we don't have a Remo unit," he complained.
Shap put his hand on Yafs shoulder. "I will be your Remo, First Minister Alrick, if Dr Vilek has brought the appropriate software."
"I am uncanny at times," Elfi smiled. She pulled a cable from her console and handed it back to Shap who connected it to a port on his neck.
"Now, Yaf," she continued, "normally this would take weeks and months of training. You have about an hour.
To add to our woes we have very limited space here, so you're not going to get to use your lower body, but if you can get the hang of controlling Shap's upper body and head, we may have a chance."
Shap's download completed and suddenly Yaf was looking through the android's eyes. "It's amazing." He tentatively lifted Shap's right hand. "Where's Shap's mind while I'm doing this?"
"It's okay, it's buffered. Give him the amulet and let's see if he can phase."
Yaf couldn't quite manage handing the amulet effectively to himself, so had to remove the cap to allow Shap to regain control of his limbs and take the amulet.
"Where should I send him, Doc?" Yaf asked.
"Phase him ahead of us out of the ship and bring him back immediately, otherwise we'll overshoot him."
"Ready, Shap?"
The android nodded and threw the switch on the phasing device. He shimmered for a moment and disappeared. Simla scanned her monitors. "He's there. Bring him back now."
Shap shimmered back into reality.
"So far, so good. Start playing about with movement, Yaf, try and get a handle on controlling him, because I don't think the Riaz will hang around for you."
Yaf was amazed at the sheer number of capabilities the android had and was keen to try some out, but he knew his priority was in mastering the machine to the extent that it could operate as a warrior.
Nearing their quarry he asked, "And how are we going to stop them shooting the hell out of us the minute they spot us?"
"Sheer speed and incredible piloting skills," Elfi grinned, "All I'm going to do is a fly past. The minute I'm in range, Shap phases and you get him over there, but you'd better work out a plan for when you arrive, because I doubt they'll have a red carpet out for you."
This was a quandary as Yaf only had the roughest idea of the lay-out of a Riaz ship and, specifically, where Simla was likely being held. The best course of action, he decided, was to send Shap on a rampage of destruction on the ship's bridge. Once he controlled that, he could find Simla at his leisure.
"I need to phase directly onto the bridge," he informed Elfi, "otherwise I might run into one of their energy-vacuum things."
"I was thinking the same," the Doctor replied, "I doubt they'll be using that technology on their bridge with so many of the ship's vital functions being routed there. But it'll be at the bow end which means there's every chance of them getting us with a broadside as we pass them. "
Yaf hesitated. "I thought this ship was fast."
"I had thought of slowing down a little to give you a better chance of getting aboard."
"Forget it, full steam ahead, as Admiral Thrane used to say. If I end up in open space ahead of the Riaz I'm happy, I'll punch my way into the damn thing and take it. Just so long as I'm not behind it because Shap's thrusters are never going to let me catch it."
"Maybe I should give you some rope and you can lasso it. Okay, I've got it on sensors, get ready."
As it happened, Yaf needed neither Shap's thrusters nor Elfi's lasso because he managed to phase Shap directly onto the ship's bridge. There were only three unarmed Riaz officers there, including the Conquest Commander. He jumped up at sight of the android.
"Sorcery," he cried, "they from nowhere come." He sprang from his couch and attempted to come to grips with Yaf/Shap but the android felled him with one swift blow to his neck with the side of his hand. The other two Riaz hesitated and Yaf, controlling Shap, hesitated too. He still wasn't confident of controlling the android's legs. One of the officers started scrabbling for a weapon from a locker. Yaf/Shap tried to dive at him and fell flat on his face. The Riaz fell on him eagerly, attacking with broad, scimitar-like blades but luckily they failed to puncture his armoured body. Yaf had Shap twist round so he was facing upwards and rained blows up at his assailants. From this position he could really only reach the aliens' spindly legs, but the sheer volume of his assault was having an effect. Eventually, one and then the other, succumbed to the punishment and sank down beside Yaf/Shap with their legs broken. He wasted no time in taking advantage of this opportunity by taking the first by the throat and squeezing the life out of him, while his companion attempted a futile rescue with wild punches. Knowing that the alien could achieve nothing with his punches or sword, Yaf/Shap ignored him and dragged himself over to a console and attempted to pull himself back to his feet. He swayed unsteadily and some distant memory of being a toddler and grabbing for his mother's skirts flooded back to him.
"Kill you! Kill you" the Riaz on the floor was still screaming and Yaf/Shap found the noise rather annoying, especially with Shap's enhanced hearing. He thought of sparing the disabled alien but Halven flashed through his mind and he coldly took the weapon that the alien had been scrabbling for and shot him through the head with it.
With difficulty Yaf/Shap moved towards where he imagined the ship's engine controls were located. The control panel was alien and Yaf/Shap out of frustration punched at it and dented the metal but otherwise had no effect, the whine of the star-drive continued. 'How the hell do I stop this thing before it reaches Riaz space?' he thought to himself. He transmitted a message to the Bullet. 'Elfi, how do I stop this damn thing?" 'Transmit a visual of the control panel to me."
"Okay. Are you getting it?"
"Yeah, but it's not configured the same way as the other one, I'm as lost as you. Any one of those buttons could be a self-destruct. '
'Oh, all right, I won't press any then. So, what do I do?"
"Get to the engine room."
'I was going to go look for Simla. '
'She can wait. Get to the engine room and I'll tell you what to do to stop the ship.'
'So which way's the engine room?'
'Use Shap's sensors.'
I don't know if I can, he has a flood of information coming in and I can't really sort it out'
'Okay, start heading towards the stern and send me a visual every now and again. I'll guide you. And watch out for any energy-vacuum traps they may have set. Small steps and if your tread starts feeling heavy, get out of there.'
'This may take some time. It's a big ship and I'm still having difficulty walking.'
'Try flying instead. '
'What?'
'Snap has thrusters. See if you can trigger them. '
Yaf searched through Shap's routines and found the correct command. He willed it to function and found himself lifting from the ground and hovering in the air. There would be more Riaz to face as he made his way through the ship so he decided to take a weapon and bent down to pick up one of the Riaz scimitars. Earlier, this would have sent him sprawling again, but firing up Shap's thrusters had kicked in his auto-stabilisation gyros and they kept him vertical. He made his way to the door and as he opened it was immediately faced with a fusillade of fire from the corridor outside. He wasn't sure if the fire could damage Shap's armor, but it would have to be faced if he was to progress. He dropped to the floor and stretching out, became an android torpedo aimed at where the fire was coming from. Yaf/Shap flew through the air and struck the group of Riaz huddled behind some packing crates. Totally surprised, they went down like skittles and Yaf/Shap set to his gory work with the scimitar.
'I didn't need a visual of that, thanks very much,' Elfi commented.
'War is hell, honey. I don't like doing this any more than you do. Where to now?'
'Left, to the rear of the ship. If their general construction is the same the engine room should be about two thirds of the way back. Look for a big, big, hall, with lots of machinery.'
'Can do.'
He moved off in the direction Elfi had suggested and at nearly every junction encountered a Riaz ambush. He soon learned that their weapons' fire had no effect on Shap's metal hide and rather than let these annoyances delay him, merely sailed past them with his thrusters blazing. The disconcerted Riaz fired at his retreating back till their power packs ran out. Yaf wondered what they would do next. Would they have heavier weapons they would bring to bear? Or would they fear damaging the interior of their own ship with more fearsome arms. It made no difference, he had a mission to perform. Finally, he found the vast hall containing what could only be the enormous engine that drove the alien starship. The engineering crew had deserted their posts so the machines were thrumming with no-one at the controls. Awed by the complexity Yaf sent a visual to Elfi.
'Good,' she said, 'it seems to be their standard configuration.'
'Still means nothing to me.'
'Okay, just do what I tell you.'
She rhymed of a sequence of commands which Yaf/Shap did their best to follow. Valves had to be turned, switches thrown, pipes disconnected, all in a certain order.
'This seems awfully primitive,' Yaf commented, trying to force Shap's body through some closely-packed pipes.
'Only because we don't know which switch to throw on the bridge. That would throw servos to do the work or at worst, the engineers would know the job like clockwork. '
'Well, they all seem to have scarpered, which is a pity because I wanted to quiz one to find out where Simla was being held. '
'You're assuming she's still alive.'
'Oh, she's alive.'
'How do you know?'
'Because if she was dead my universe would have ended.'
Elfi snorted, 'God you're worse than her with your romantic notions. You guys were made for each other. '
'Without a doubt.' Yaf/Shap spun one more massive valve and it was obviously vital as the engines seemed to gasp for breath before fading slowly away.
'That's it, she's slowing,' Elfi reported. 'You can go look for your Princess now.'
The ship was so vast that Yaf he had no chance of just coming across the brig. His priority had to be the capture of one of the Riaz who would tell him what he needed to know. He started stalking the ship, playing some cosmic game of hide and go seek. It took him a while but he finally spotted a small Riaz, barely half the size of the previous ones he'd encountered, cowering behind a bulkhead and made a spring for it. It knew the territory better than him, however, and slipped away round a corner. Yaf fired Shap's thrusters and blasted after the little alien. Eventually, he cornered it in amongst a tangle of pipework in a duct.
"Come out of there," he ordered.
"No, you kill," the alien said in a quavering voice. "You kill all."
Yaf refused to feel guilty, this war had been of their making. "I no kill. You tell, where prisoners." He immediately stopped and laughed at himself. He was doing the translation matrix's job for it with his pidgin English. "I won't kill you. I only want to know where the prisoners are," he repeated.
"Prisoners. I know nothing. I prepare food."
God, he'd captured a cook and a male one at that, by the size of it.
"Okay, you don't know anything about these prisoners, but where is the brig?"
"You no kill?"
"You are my prisoner. I won't kill you."
The cook considered its options. "Okay, I you take. You no kill."
The little alien extricated itself from the pipes and with its springy gait led Yaf/Shap down amaze of corridors deep into the bowels of the ship. Eventually they reach a long row of sealed doors. "Brig," the Riaz announced and cowered away from him as if afraid that he would kill him now that he'd outlived his usefulness. Taf/Shap tore off the first door and found the cell empty. He gestured the little alien into it. "You stay here."
A second door removed another empty cell. Finally, with the third door opened he found the human prisoners sitting on benches. Simla jumped up and enthusiastically embraced him.
"Shap!" she cried, "You came forme."
"Uh, wrong hero, honey," Yaf said.