Ad copy

𝐅𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐮 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐎𝐫𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 Zuri tapped at the microship screen, but it wasn’t changing, the station in front of her was huge. The docking bay alone would have taken three ships the size of theirs. Having pondered for an hour, they’d decided to leave Yasuko hanging nearby - the backup in case things went pear-shaped. The Filemu orbital remained powered up, glowing red and blue against the black of space. Someone was still home, two ships sat in the bay, but Yasuko had monitored ten of their picket sized ships streaming towards the moon base the day before. “Yasuko? Any reaction?” Zuri waited for a reply, Noah at her side adjusting his mirror sight, ready for what was to come. “None, too quiet. I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” “We can’t just blow it up in orbit, Yasuko. There’ll be people in there and the debris will cause issues.” “Then be careful. All of you. Taking you in.” Yasuko steered the small ship through the open docking bay, the sensor readings suffering a slight delay, with the information relaying back to her on the main ship. Smith controlled the second ship, currently attaching itself to the station’s upper ring and getting ready to enter through the hull. Once the ship’s feet touched the metal floor of the docking bay, Yasuko ran a full scan again, the last time she could really help. Sensors showed very little thermal differences in the vacuum, and there was no motion on radar or visuals. The Filemu ships were inert, their engines cold and no sign of any life inside. “Clear, Zuri. Handing over. Keep in touch.” Zuri opened the hatch, Noah leading out with his machine gun stowed and rifle ready. His HUD switched over to thermal, though he swiftly returned it to normal as his eyes flicked back and forth. At his back, Zuri held her machine gun at ease, eyes scanning the bay for any sign of movement. Her memories of the Haven Orbital front and centre, people were not the only threat. “Ships first, we can’t risk leaving anyone at our backs.” Noah edged forward on her order, keeping the armour as low as it would allow, and moving between the mixture of crates and discarded luggage that the mass exodus had left behind. “We thinking this is about 0.8g Noah?” “Yeah,” said Noah, checking the HUD display for the slaved power armour that guarded the microship. All good. “Most of the living quarters will be roughly that. I reckon the spindles will fall to about 0.6g.” Zuri moved to the left of the first ship, Noah to the right as they circled for full information. As Zuri reached the rear, she could see the hold doors were not completely shut, a sliver of light emerging from the edges. “Noah, the doors are not fully closed. Going to the rear.” Zuri slipped the machine gun out of the way, the cradle she’d got Yasuko to devise easing it to a locked position at her side. Rifle in hand, her thumb touching the data plaque containing her latest copy, she approached the picket ship. Thermals showed little extra heat inside, just the light source giving off a slight haze. Zuri raised her rifle above her head, adjusting the sight, so she got half a picture inside the ship. Inside, bodies lolled against their straps, bullet ridden and lifeless. Their luggage ripped apart by the attack, clothes scattered around. In the alleyway between the benches lay one man, an assault rifle in his hand, a hole from the chin to the top of his head. Zuri tapped her drone’s control on the inside of her wrist, the small, fist sized machine rose, and she used the HUD controls to send it up and over the door. It confirmed the lifeless contents of the ship, though the vacuum would have finished any that had survived. The pilot’s flight suit, holed through the back of the neck, completed her survey and Zuri brought the drone back. “Round here Noah, cover.” When he arrived, Zuri amped the suit’s power up, pulling the door downwards. Using this as a ramp, she stepped into the bloodbath, mind flicking through the possibilities. “Thoughts?” said Noah as he stepped aboard, noting that many of the dead had facial, body and hair similarities. “They all look related. Like family.” Zuri bent down to examine the probable suicide, pulling the pale-skinned man over to find a bloodied photograph stuck underneath. Reaching down, she distinguished the similarities between him and the man in the picture, with two children giggling on his lap beside their Asian mother. “I don’t think this is going to be an easy experience, Noah.” *** The nanobots reformed the metal hull, the small hole venting air before the pressure equalised. Smith dropped the standard drone through, stowing Noah’s zero-g version with the gravity levels in the ring close to those on Vai. “Very messy in there, looks like a mix of restaurants and shops would you believe. Everything looks like it’s just been left. No people.” “None? Surely, they’d have left some of their indentured behind. No room on the ships for them all.” “Not in there. Are we going in?” “Yep.” Finn prepped his rifle, and as Smith dropped in with his machine gun armed, he followed through, the HUD showing what to expect. When he landed, the servos absorbing the seven-metre drop with ease, Smith had already taken position behind an upturned table. Finn’s eyes roamed, switching over to thermal for signs of life. There was nothing close by. “Drone going out,” said Smith, and Finn monitored the open gantry they were on, with Smith’s attention elsewhere. The HUD feed showed three or four restaurants on this level. They were all empty of life, with half-eaten food scattered about, left as if the people had just vanished. Smith dropped the drone by the open stairwell. They needed more information with the ring split into upper and lower levels. “Cover,” said Finn, moving out towards the drone’s position, treading as warily as the armour would allow, confident that Smith had his back. A sensor lock urged a switch to thermal, Finn switching the visor to track movement on the lower level. Small, probably a child or an animal. “Smith, drone up. Down to the left. Hit thermal.” “Got it,” came the reply, and the drone spun up, rising quickly with a buzz of urgency. Finn tracked the movement. Whatever it was, scurried underneath the benches in a pseudo park surrounded by false trees, swaying in an artificial wind, with vibrantly green grass, wrapped around a sparkling water fountain. The madness of space. The HUD feed shook as the drone dodged a shoe that only just sailed by, Smith bringing it in low as another flew. The drone came face to face with a small child, features Chinese in origin, eyes wide and body shaking as the boy screamed. Then the HUD image died, with the drone buzz rising before cutting off. “Crap, taken down.” But Finn was already on the move, the armour absorbing the jump down the stairwell as he sprinted towards the benches. “Stow the guns,” he shouted, following his own advice while speeding through the park, reaching the final bench as the two hurrying children screamed and ran for the corridor. Panicked, Finn knew only to stop them. To help. Army training told him he wasn’t the ideal candidate, but looking around he doubted the ghost of Smith would improve things. Finn sped past them, sliding to a halt, arms up and open-handed. “Stop, not—” before he could finish the older girl pushed the boy behind her, her face flush with exertion and body shaking. Finn reached up, eye-clicking the helmet seal and lifting the bulky protection from his head. “Please, stop,” he repeated, falling to his knees, trying to get to her level. The girl brought up a cutlery knife, blunt and obviously snaffled from the restaurant. The hand shook but her face said back off. Finn moved no closer. Feisty - reminds me of someone I know. “I’m here to help. Where is everyone?” *** Zuri stood in the second space craft, the hold thankfully empty of bodies, the electronic circuitry hanging from the cockpit controls next to a discarded set of tools. “Clear Noah.” She switched channel. “Finn, how’s it looking?” “Top ring is empty except for a couple of feisty kids. It’s an entertainment area by the look of it, a complete ring of everything from night clubs to mini parks. They even have real trees, and ducks. Would you believe they had live ducks according to the kids?” “Any parents? Do they know where they are?” “Nope, alarms went off, everyone left. They were separated from their mother in the crush. That’s it. We’ll track to the next level, Smith’s putting them in the microship as we speak, promising them chocolate. Apparently, robots are more fun than actual humans. More trustworthy than my ugly face, anyway.” “Okay. We have a picket ship full of bodies, likely a murder-suicide thing. Unpleasant. Meet you on the middle ring.” Zuri walked down the ramp, meeting Noah and taking the fireteam cover position. She followed him across to the entrance for the main corridor, wary and on edge all the way. On reaching the doors, Noah touched the control panel, the screen lighting up under his gauntleted finger. His HUD translated the options, and he hit the vacuum cycle, the door easing open and allowing them entry to the circular room. They took fire positions either side of the far door. The lack of a window, and therefore information, kicked in their training. Wary, despite the armour they wore. The door slid to the side, an energy bolt slamming into the wall behind Noah, before bouncing off at an angle and glancing across Zuri’s hip. Not ready for the rear hit, her knees crashed to the floor, but she managed to squeeze off the machine gun in response. The spray of bullets smacked against the corridor walls with the ricochets swirling onwards until spent. “Zuri?” “I’m okay, anything?” Noah’s sight caught a thermal glow where the short corridor ended at the outside edge of the lower ring. A crude energy rifle slid round; the owner unwilling to expose themselves. Noah aimed and squeezed, his thoughts on the hands and gun. The bolt surged to its target, the weapon adjusting his aim. The energy gun fell to the floor and Zuri swiftly passed Noah, kicking the weapon away as she took the corner, her machine gun slung at her side again. These machine guns are alright in an upfront battle, but too unwieldy in these spaces. The human howls of pain were clear, but Zuri eased her trusted rifle around the corner. The enhanced electronic mirror sight showed a second and third potential enemy aiming her way. She pulled in as another energy bolt seared past, its tip heating her muzzle on its way by. “Throw your weapons down. We are not here to harm you, just to help anyone left behind.” “With armour and guns? Some help,” came a shaky reply. The howling man rolled out on the floor; the hand gone but his wrist cauterised. His chef uniform covered in pain induced sweat. “Who fired first?” said Zuri, wincing at the man’s distress. She could feel Noah’s presence behind, covering against the far wall. “Right now, we could kill you in a number of ways. Explosives, bullets, energy rounds, pull your arms off. Or…” The guns hit the floor, sliding across to the far side of the corridor. “Or you could surrender.” Zuri, checking first with her sight, stepped around the corner. “It’s her,” said a woman in a tightly tailored flight uniform, “from the telecast on Vai. You’re the one that sent this place crazy.” The woman entered Zuri’s personal space, even in the armour her neck prickled as the finger wagged. “You did this.” Zuri sucked in the air, trying to let the tension out before she spoke. “Yes, me. But it was necessary, they are—” “Monsters,” said the woman, “They are monsters disguised as people. But everything has consequences, even those with good intentions.” *** Zuri stood at the bulkhead door, its emergency light flashing on the panel at its side. Licking her lips, she reached out, double checking her HUD to ensure her suit’s seals were in place. Noah stood at her side, equally concerned. He reached out and grabbed her arm, letting her know he was there through the thick ceramic and kinetic gel suit. Gently patting his hand, she subsequently pressed the vacuum lock option. Her magnetic boots secured to the floor, and she waited for the door to spin open, before clicking the release. They’d moved through to the central hub with the three survivors leading them to the only usable door to this airless space. They both stepped through, awaiting the acts of monsters beyond. Zuri went through first, her eyes greeted by the bodies that lay piled at the door. She pushed her way through the swollen, bruised bodies. The magnetic boots clicking against the bloodied floor, where ruptured lungs had killed those who lasted the rapid oxygen depletion. Passing by the last of the human remains, with those at the rear holding the few children in a final embrace, Zuri could see similar horrors at the spindle door opposite. She reached out for Noah, pulling him close, needing something akin to human comfort. We did this. No, we instigated this, but we are not the monsters here. Walking through, she came to a table and chairs standing alone in the centre of the chaos. Slumped on the chair an Asian woman sat, bruised, bloodied, swollen and alone. “Finn? You’re getting this?” “Yeah.” “Can you send me a picture of those kids?” the image clicked in her HUD. The feisty eyes of the girl, knife out front, shadowed by the fearful ones behind. Squint and you could see the giggles, the bouncing knee, the proud parents. “Yasuko?” “Yes.” “Can you broadcast to the moon base?” “I can send, I don’t know if they’ll choose to receive it.” “Send these pictures,” Zuri scanned the scene, finishing with the mother. “Any message?” “Yes,” said Zuri. “We’re coming.” Join Finn and Delta Squad in the 8 books of the pulse-pounding series Weapons of Choice. Box Set just £9.99 or on Kindle Unlimited. On Kindle and Kindle Unlimited Box Set Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DMGG1DLV Also Bk1 on Audioook: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CL7PTXCJ/ ‘Stunning Series. Highly recommended.’ ★★★★★ Amazon Customer 'Love your military scifi? You'll love this series.' ★★★★★ 'Military science fiction with a space opera twist that comes at you in an adrenaline rush!' ★★★★★